It's more than alright to live above your means occasionally and embrace your more pretentious desires — in fact, it's good for your soul and your mental health (just maybe not your wallet). Perhaps for you it's doing a yoga class in a fancy-smelling studio, paying full price for avocados at the organic grocers, or buying the non-house red wine. Or going out for a 'light dinner' and then spending your rent money on wheels of triple-cream brie. Together with American Express, we want to help you treat the part of you that wants to get monthly massages but maybe doesn't touch on your Myki all that often. With this list, we will guide you through realising your Champagne dreams on your beer budget with some guidance on where you can whip your Amex out, wave it, promptly forget, and then not get too much of a fright the next day upon looking at your bank account. Got yourself in another dining situation and need some guidance? Whatever it is, we know a place. Visit The Shortlist and we'll sort you out.
With spring now sprung, it's time to get acquainted with some fresh talent. So, clear some room on your wine rack and make space on your bar cart, because the Builders Arms Hotel is coming at you with a one-day celebration of Victorian winemakers, growers and producers that's brimming with new things for you to sip, try and buy. On Sunday, October 16, Bloom will see some of the pub's current favourites gathered together for a special showcase of local tipples in the bistro and public bar. You'll spend the afternoon meeting the makers as you sample their wares — including Lucy Kendall from Gippsland's Allevare Wines, Edge Brewing's Michelle Vanspall, Dervilla McGowan from Anther Distillery, Little Frances Wines' Erin Pooley, the family duo behind T.I.N.A. (This Is Not Alcohol) and more. Nab a $25 ticket and you'll score five tasting tokens to spend on sips while listening to tunes by Georgia Bird and DJ Sarah. More tokens are available from the bar and there'll be a curation of Bloom pours starring on the day's drinks list, too. Further tasty things will be coming from the kitchen, thanks to a guest appearance from chef Trisha Greentree of Sydney's Fratelli Paradiso and 10 William Street. She'll be whipping up a menu of bar snacks and share plates for the downstairs crowd, as well as hosting a four-course lunch feast ($150 with matched wines) in the upstairs function space. [caption id="attachment_872113" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Harvard Wang[/caption]
UPDATE: OCTOBER 7, 2020 — The end is nigh for Rocco's Bologna Discoteca, but it's not all doom and gloom. The pop-up will be replaced by the more permanent Poodle and it's going out with a bang thanks to a three-day Bunga Bunga Party. Running from Friday, October 9 to Sunday, October 11, the party will see some of Melbourne's best chefs take over the menu. There'll be a croissant toastie with kimchi and cheese from Ramblr's Nick Stanton and Christ Watson from Meatsmith will whip up a pepperoni pizza melt. Also on the lineup: The Grandissimo. By Rocco's Josh Fry this giant focaccia features layers of salami, mortadella, coppa, cime de rapa, eggplant, pickles and cheese. Check it out below. First launching back in lockdown 1.0, Rocco's Bologna Discoteca was meant to close for good when two-storey bistro and bar Poodle took over the space in July. But with the return of stay-at-home orders, comes the return of Rocco's. Run by Chef Josh Fry (Marion and Cumulus Inc), the unapologetically kitsch pop-up on Gertrude Street has an epic lineup of sangas. There's a saucy NY-style meatball sub ($17); Rocco's Originario Bologna ($15.50) with fried bologna, green olives and plenty of cheese; the spicy Picante ($16.50), featuring fried bologna, pickles and provolone; a vegetarian crumbed eggplant one ($14.50); and the Bobby Baccala ($18), which is a salted cod melt. Other dishes include bone marrow garlic bread ($12), antipasto platters ($30), rocket salad ($8), fries ($8) and tiramisu ($12). You can either pop down to pick up the goods in person if you're a local or you can get them delivered via via Doordash and Deliveroo. You can check out the full menu and order via Rocco's website or call 0435 236 115. Rocco's is open from 12–8pm Friday–Saturday and 12–6pm Sunday and is available via Doordash and Deliveroo.
It isn't hard to find street art in Melbourne. In fact, it's one of the things that the city is known for. But only a specific part of the city is now the Victorian capital's first official street art precinct, and also the host of the Wall to Wall festival for 2024. That spot: Mordialloc, with the suburb's industrial laneways embracing turning public spaces into a canvas in a big way, including from Friday, April 26–Sunday, April 28. Wall to Wall's return is huge news not just because it will bring together Australian and international street artists to get painting, but because it marks the fest's comeback year since the pandemic. Last held in 2019, and initially starting out in the town of Benalla, the Melbourne event will welcome Smug, Adnate, Celeste Mountjoy, George Rose and Zoer among the folks adding a splash of colour to the Mordialloc precinct. [caption id="attachment_949521" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Adnate, Martin Ron.[/caption] This is actually Wall to Wall's second comeback stop, with Murray Bridge in South Australia the first — also in April 2024, running from Friday, April 12–Sunday, April 14. One of the aims of Shaun Hossack, who hails from Melbourne street art collective Juddy Roller and is curating the fest, is to grow the event. But paying tribute to the history of street art in Melbourne clearly ranks just as highly. Wall to Wall's Mordialloc home at the Mordi Village Arts and Cultural Precinct on Lamana Road will be filled with large-scale murals, and also host a block party on the Saturday featuring Adnate doing double duty as a DJ, plus April Kerry, Charles Eddy and Blo also on the decks. Attendees can look forward to hitting up food trucks, sipping spirits from local distillery Saint Felix, taking tours and shopping at markets, too, alongside learning new skills at workshops. [caption id="attachment_949524" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nicole Reed[/caption]
What better way to ride out the end of comfort food season, than a weekly shindig dedicated to your favourite carb-based food? That's the indisputable logic behind Marameo's new Pasta Party series, which kicks off Saturday, July 30, and runs weekly until August 27. On offer at the CBD restaurant from 12–3pm each week, the lunchtime fiestas promise to wrap up your winter with a warm hug of fresh pasta, wine and tunes. Across a two-hour sitting, you'll dig into a three-course pasta-centric menu starring the likes of gnocco fritto paired with prosciutto di Parma and mortadella, black truffle cacio e pepe, a 10-cheese lasagne, and saffron pappardelle with a rich wagyu shank ragu. Meanwhile, a DJ will be spinning tunes of the disco and funk variety, and the drinks will be equally free-flowing, with bottomless prosecco, wine and Peronis to wash down your pasta banquet. The pasta parties clock in at $100 per person, and you'll need at least four diners to nab a table. Images: Kristoffer Paulsen
Iconic LGBTQIA+ celebration Midsumma is back with a bang this month and as usual, the festivities will include the iconic annual Midsumma Pride March, descending down St Kilda's Fitzroy Street on Sunday, February 5. And local pub The Espy isn't about to let the occasion pass without throwing a fittingly huge afterparty. Kicking off at 12pm, the free Post-Parade Party will see the venue go all out with rainbow decals and lighting, bold floral displays and other themed fun, while the tunes and entertainment will be rolling on through until late. Highlights include famed London DJ Severino, Sunshine Disco Faith Choir in a special staircase gig, and a slew of drag and dance performances from local and international names including Jason Conti, Cushen, Sugar Plump Fairy, Juicy Fruit, Onyx and more. Meanwhile, the bar is whipping up Pride-inspired rainbow slushies for $18 a pop, with $2 from each drink going to support the Victorian Pride Centre. The cocktails will be available from Friday, February 3–Sunday, February 5, with The Espy set to match the final fundraising tally with a donation of their own.
For a good chunk of the past year, lots of normal, everyday activities have been off the cards for Melburnians. But with restrictions continuing to ease as the state moves through its latest reopening roadmap, that is slowly changing. And right now, anyone who wants to picnic while cruising along the Yarra can do so again — even if they don't own a boat. As of last month, GoBoat's 16-strong fleet of eco-friendly picnic boats are once again setting sail from Sandridge Wharf at Southbank, near Flinders Street Station. Aimed at making the whole boating experience more accessible for everyday folk, the outfit's Scandinavian-designed vessels are slow-moving, a breeze to operate and don't require a boating licence, making for fuss-free sailing sessions. In a win for the planet, they also run on silent, pollution-free, electric engines, and are crafted from a mix of reclaimed timber and recycled PET bottles. Oh, and did we mention they're pet-friendly? Surely you've got a very good boy who deserves a river jaunt. As you can imagine, due to COVID-19, GoBoat will be doing things a little differently from normal for the time being. While the vessels have an eight-person capacity, current government restrictions mean your crew is capped at a maximum of five double-jabbed people from up to two households, or a maximum of two single-dosed people — the same rules that currently apply for picnics and other outdoor social interaction. As per Melbourne's current regulations, all sailers will also have to wear a face mask whenever they're not eating or drinking. And, given the 15-kilometre rule that's presently in place, you'll need to live within that exact distance of both Southbank and your sailing route. There'll also be hand sanitiser available at the dock and the boats will be sanitised before every use. QR code check-ins are required for all passengers, sessions are capped at two hours (instead of the usual three) and for now, limited bookings will be available to ensure safe social distancing. Each of the contemporary GoBoats clocks in at 18-feet long, boasting a central picnic table with room for all the necessary snacks and booze. And despite what you might be thinking, they're pretty affordable — simply BYO food and drinks, round up enough of your housemates to jump aboard and a GoBoat session will currently cost you less than $26 per person, per hour. And it'll work out to even less once capacity ramps up to eight people, with GoBoat's rates coming in at $129 for a one-hour trip, $199 for two hours and $289 for three hours. Eventually, you'll be able to make a whole day of it. For more information about GoBoat, or to make a booking, visit the service's website. Images: Lean Timms
Electronic festival Let Them Eat Cake managed an eight-year run of tune-filled New Year's Day parties before COVID-19 hit pause on its 2021 edition. But, you can bet it's making up for that skipped beat, announcing today that the festival will return for a huge comeback outing on Saturday, January 1, 2022. The much-loved music and arts celebration returns to its Werribee Mansion home in just over six month's time. It is Australia's first New Year's Day festival that has been announced since the pandemic hit. Organisers, Novel — the same minds behind Pitch Music & Arts and Smalltown — are yet to reveal full details about the event's music lineup, though they're aiming high, with festival director Daniel Teuma saying, "We want to ensure this is our best one yet." Teuma also hinted that the musical offering will be largely local, saying "with the uncertainty around international borders re-opening, we decided to take a more sensible approach to the lineup. We can't say too much, but we are confident our 2022 edition will have something for everyone." The crew at Full Throttle Entertainment will be making the music side of things extra memorable, installing what's set to be the biggest sound system in town on New Year's Day. There'll also be a diverse lineup of food vendors, curated specifically to complement the tunes, artworks and visuals under the organisers' new, more cohesive approach. Delivering a finely tuned COVID-Safe festival has been top of the planning agenda — Let them Eat Cake 2022 will activate the sprawling Werribee Mansion grounds in a whole new way, with improved traffic flow and more opportunities for exploration beyond the main stage set-up. Under current public health guidelines, the new-look event would be allowed to safely host up to 7500 attendees. Let Them Eat Cake will descend on Werribee Mansion on Saturday, January 1, 2022. Pre-registration for tickets opens from 4.30pm Tuesday, June 22, with pre-sale tickets up for grabs on July 6 and general tickets available from July 7. The full program will be announced in September — hit the website for details and to buy tickets. Top Image: Duncographic
Do gelato and cocktails go hand-in-hand? Gelato Messina believes they do. To prove it, Messina has invited Starward Whisky to take over its Windsor outpost for three nights from February 21–23. The Messina Creative Department head chef Remi Talbot has joined forces with the Melbourne whisky's founder David Vital to bring the shop its first alcoholic pairing in the form of an eight-course gelato degustation. While menu details are sparse, we do know that one dish will comprise of apple and green shiso sorbet with pickled baby turnips and an oyster emulsion — and it'll be paired with a cocktail of Starward's Two-Fold whisky, apple kombucha, grilled melon vermouth and black lime. To find out the other seven dishes, you'll just have to head along on the night. Sessions are selling out quickly, so, if you'd like to go, we recommend booking in ASAP. It'll cost a pretty penny at $190 per head — but, if you're willing to break the bank for one night of culinary delight, we reckon this one will be worth it.
A beer festival that you and your doggo can enjoy together? Yep, that's a thing and it's happening this weekend at The Ascot Lot. On Saturday, April 17, the food truck park is throwing open its gates for the Beers and Boxers party, celebrating some great Aussie brews and friendly local pooches. As the name suggests, boxers are getting a special mention this time around, although four-legged mates of any breed are welcome. From 12pm, you'll enjoy tastings, tinnies, keg takeovers and other fun things from the day's guest breweries, with the lineup including Mountain Goat, Hawkers, Little Creatures, White Rabbit and Gage Roads. As well as the human beers, each stall will also be pouring some dog-friendly brews, so Rover can join in on the beer-tasting action. As always, there'll be plenty of food trucks slinging a global array of dishes and the bar will be pouring a whole range of other liquid treats to take your fancy. Entry is free and bookings are available if you want to nab your crew a good table.
UPDATE, Friday, November 3: Fingernails screens in select cinemas from Thursday, November 2, and streams via Apple TV+ from Friday, November 3. In the world of Fingernails, 'Only You' isn't just a 1982 pop song that was made famous by Yazoo, is easy to get stuck in your head, and is now heard in this film in both French and English. It's also the philosophy that the first English-language feature by Apples filmmaker Christos Nikou has subscribed its characters to as it cooks up a sci-fi take on romance. In a setup somewhat reminiscent of Elizabeth Holmes' claims to have revolutionised blood testing (see: The Dropout), Fingernails proposes an alternative present where love can be scientifically diagnosed. All that's needed: an extracted plate of keratin, aka the titular digit-protecting covering. At organisations such as The Love Institute, couples willingly have their nails pulled out — one apiece — then popped into what resembles a toaster oven to receive their all-important score. Only three results are possible, with 100 percent the ultimate in swooning, 50 percent meaning that only one of the pair is head over heels and the unwanted zero a harbinger of heartbreak. When Fingernails begins, it's been three years since teacher Anna (Jessie Buckley, Women Talking) and her partner Ryan (Jeremy Allen White, The Bear) underwent the exam, with the long-term duo earning the best possible outcome — a score that's coveted but rare. Around them, negative results have led to breakups and divorces as society's faith is placed not in hearts and souls, but in a number, a gimmick and some tech gadgetry (one of the sales pitches, though, is that finding out before getting hitched will stop failed marriages). Even folks who've obtained top marks aren't always content to stop there. Some seek to reaffirm their positive result years down the track. To boost their chances of nabbing a love certificate, other couples take courses to amplify their amorous feelings for each other. Sessions include watching Hugh Grant movies ("nobody understands love more," exclaims the cinema marquee), tracking your paramour's scent, getting breathless underwater while staring into your other half's eyes and the adrenaline rush of tandem skydiving. As their friends go the retesting route — satirising the need for certainty in affairs of the heart pumps firmly through this movie's veins — Anna hasn't been able to convince Ryan to attend The Love Institute as a client. She's soon spending her days there, however, feeding her intrigue with the whole scenario as an employee. When she takes a job counselling other pairs towards hopeful ever-after happiness, she keeps the career shift from her own significant other. Quickly, she has something else she can't tell Ryan: a blossoming bond with her colleague Amir (Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal). As the operation's head Duncan (Luke Wilson, Fired on Mars) steps her through the official details, including the fact that it is biologically impossible for one person to be in love with two people according to the testing method, Anna starts feeling sparks fly with the co-worker assigned to show her the ropes. Amir has his own girlfriend (Annie Murphy, Black Mirror), but clearly reciprocates. Haddaway's Saturday Night Live- and A Night at the Roxbury-adored 1993 tune 'What Is Love' doesn't get a spin in Fingernails, but that's the question that Nikou and co-screenwriters Stavros Raptis (returning from Apples) and Sam Steiner (a feature first-timer) probe. The Greek writer/director and his collaborators contrast fondness as a contrived series of sensations with affection as a lived-in routine and passion as a butterflies-in-the-stomach response. So, Nikou's picture sees the mechanics, the comfort and the involuntary swirl — and sees Anna torn between everything that she's told, what she's supposed to be satisfied with and the yearnings that she's not meant to be experiencing. The filmmaker also makes a flick that pairs well with fellow new release Foe, exploring what technology can and can't tell us about love, and what will always remain innate, although Fingernails is never as dystopian, nor a thriller — and trades a definite future date for an undetermined era where mobile phones are welcomely absent. When he made his full-length debut with 2020's Apples, Nikou also sought love in an offbeat place, amid a pandemic of amnesia. In the process, he dived into the Greek Weird Wave that's become synonymous with The Favourite's Yorgos Lanthimos, whose own breakout Dogtooth was nominated for the Best International Feature Oscar. Fingernails' helmer was the second assistant director on Dogtooth, in fact, and now adds a picture to his resume that follows in the wonderfully absurdist footsteps of Lanthimos' The Lobster. Both are deeply romantic movies at their core, as well as sharply shrewd and witty flicks about human nature and societal norms. Both rally against conformity and expectation, too, and make physical the pains and struggles that come with the pursuit of affection. That said, Fingernails takes a more tender approach to its scenario. Dispelling the fascination with chasing one definitive perfect match by flouting that itself, it'd also make a great double with Celine Song's Past Lives, where there's nothing simple about a heart torn in two directions. Nikou's knack for casting is no different to Lanthimos' supreme skill in the same domain; what a quietly pining duo that Buckley and Ahmed make. Never seeming at risk of demanding that "yes chef!" be yelled his way, White gets myopic about relationships rather than cooking in a canny supporting role as someone who's blissfully emotionally oblivious — but, like Anna and Amir themselves, viewers are desperate to spend more time amid the real heat. Buckley and Ahmed turn in vulnerable portrayals that sear, even when the pacing unfurling their tale and the hues splashed around them are both muted. Nikou knows how feelings can both explode and simmer, serving up each. As he did in Apples, he also provides more memorable and meaningful dancing, this time as Amir cuts loose, Anna watches on, everything is evident and nothing needs to be said. The film looks away from the actual ripping out of nails — the idea remains suitably squirm-inducing, yet is never seen in gory detail because the audience flinches at the very notion anyway — but cinematographer Marcell Rév (Euphoria, The Changeling) utterly adores peering at Buckley and Ahmed. With different stars, he demonstrated the same focus in Malcolm & Marie with similarly intimate results. The premise here might be as high-concept as plots come, but seeing the longing, loneliness, melancholy, uncertainty, desire and revelations in Fingernails' two key performances couldn't feel more real. This is a movie that tingles with emotion — in its fingertips and everywhere.
UPDATE, October 18, 2020: Bombshell is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube and iTunes. Playing two women caught in the climate of sexual harassment that engulfed Fox News under former CEO Roger Ailes, Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie both turn in stellar — and now Oscar-nominated — performances in Bombshell. Aided by noticeable facial prosthetics, Theron steps into the shoes of real-life TV personality Megyn Kelly, serving up a pulsating vein of steeliness in every scene. As a fictional producer who calls herself an "influencer in the Jesus space" and an "evangelical millennial", Robbie's Kayla Pospisil possesses softer edges but still sports plenty of inner grit — especially when she summons up the guts to put her self-respect first, rather than her desire to feature on-camera on the right-wing network. But much like the unease that plagues both women until they decide to speak out, something definitely isn't right in the film that tells their tales. Bombshell is the slick, shiny version of this ripped-from-the-headlines story, which earned global attention when it broke back in 2016. Airbrushed to buffer away blemishes and avoid tricky spots, it's watered down to deliver an easy, glossy, simplified narrative. It doesn't help that 2019's Russell Crowe-starring The Loudest Voice already brought the same minutiae to the small screen — and in far greater detail, as you'd expect in a seven-part mini-series compared to a 109-minute movie. That said, Bombshell really isn't interested in diving as deep as its predecessor. Instead, wants to make a feisty flick about kick-ass women fighting back in a male-dominated realm. Fight back, Kelly did — although not at first. As the film unpacks, fellow anchor Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) leads the charge and initially suffers the consequences, going public about her inappropriate dealings with Ailes (a cartoonish John Lithgow) by suing him personally. Despite the head honcho's protests of innocence to Rupert Murdoch (Malcolm McDowell) and sons Lachlan and James (Ben and Josh Lawson), more women share their stories. Director Jay Roach (Trumbo) and screenwriter Charles Randolph (The Big Short) explore this, as well as Kelly's apprehension to join the chorus and Pospisil's experiences as a young, ambitious woman eager to score her big on-screen break. And yet, by championing these efforts but barely delving into Fox News' status as a conservative propaganda machine, Bombshell proves an empty shell of a #MeToo movie. The treatment that Kelly and Carlson (and the real-life women that Pospisil represents) received at the hands of Ailes — yes, literally — is infuriating and unacceptable, as all accounts of men exerting power over women for their own gratification are. Their ordeal doesn't just hark back to one man, though; it's inescapably intertwined with Fox News and the agenda it serves — notions that are scarcely considered here. Roach and Randolph hint at the network's public standing, illustrating the wider world's reaction to its political leanings via a woman who insults Carlson in a supermarket. The film paints Ailes as feverish about pushing the Republican party's perspective and currying favour with Donald Trump during the lead up to the 2016 election, even when the future president tweets sexist comments about Kelly. And, it lays bare the TV station's misogynistic internal culture, where women are forced to wear short skirts and sit behind clear desks. Still, it all feels like lip service in a movie that merely depicts, rather than dissects. If one was feeling generous, you could assume the film's powers-that-be just expect that everyone already knows Fox News' reputation, and the perspectives it pedals. Being realistic, however, Bombshell seems happy to brush past the network's toxic on-air views — because contemplating them in-depth means adding shades of grey that this visually bright feature is keen to avoid. Ailes is a clearcut villain, and deserves the scorn he's served, of course. But ignoring the fact that Kelly, Carlson and their fellow female Fox News employees all buy into a conservative agenda where behaviour like Ailes' continually festers, and do so because they share the same political views, means that Bombshell ignores the broader context that helped lecherous acts prosper at the network. Yes, it's an immensely complicated situation — but Bombshell rarely treats it as such, or recognises much in the way of texture. While Kate McKinnon is memorable as a Hillary Clinton-supporting lesbian who remains closeted about both preferences at Fox News, that's another case of the movie barely dipping its toes into more complex territory. Perhaps the film's skin-deep approach shouldn't come as a surprise, seeing that Roach also directed all three Austin Powers flicks and the first two Meet the Parents movies. Bombshell certainly tries to keep its tone light and sometimes even farcical, even though it deals with such heavy matters. Alas, what results is the kind of movie you'd expect given this tellingly glib piece of closing voice-over — one where its unambiguously heroic protagonists "got the Murdochs to put the rights of women above profits, however temporarily". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjOdDd4NEeg
UPDATE, March 30, 2021: Raya and the Dragon is currently screening in Australian cinemas, and is also currently available to stream via Disney+ with Premier Access (so you'll pay $34.99 extra for it, on top of your usual subscription fee). It'll hit Disney+ without any extra fee on June 4. Featuring a vibrant animated spectacle that heroes vivid green and blue hues, a rousing central figure who is never a stock-standard Disney princess and lively voice work from an all-star cast, Raya and the Last Dragon boasts plenty of highlights. The Mouse House's new all-ages-friendly release also embraces southeast Asian culture with the same warm hug that Moana gave Polynesia and Pixar's Coco sent Mexico's way — and it's always detailed, organic, inclusive and thoughtful, and never tokenistic. But perhaps its biggest strength, other than the pitch-perfect vocal stylings of Awkwafina as the playful, mystical half of the film's title, is its timing. Disney first announced the feature back in August 2019, so the company can't have known what the world would suffer through from early 2020 onwards, of course. But a hopeful movie about a planet ravaged by a destructive plague and blighted by tribalism — and a feature that champions the importance of banding together to make things right, too — really couldn't arrive at a more opportune moment. COVID-19 has no place in Raya and the Last Dragon; however, as the picture's introductory preamble explains, a virus-like wave of critters called the Druun has wreaked havoc. Five hundred years earlier, the world of Kumandra was filled with humans and dragons living together in harmony, until the sinister force hit. Now, only the realm's two-legged inhabitants remain — after their furry friends used their magic to create the dragon gem, which saved everyone except themselves. That's the only status quo that Raya (voiced by Star Wars' Kelly Marie Tran) has ever known. Her entire existence has also been lived out in a divided Kumandra, with different groups staking a claim to various areas. With her father Benja (Daniel Dae Kim, Always Be My Maybe), she hails from the most prosperous region, Heart, and the duo hold out hope that they can reunite the warring lands. Alas, when they bring together their fellow leaders for a peaceful summit, Raya's eagerness to trust Namaari (Gemma Chan, Captain Marvel), the daughter of a rival chief, ends with the Druun on the rampage once again. Directors Don Hall (Big Hero 6) and Carlos López Estrada (Blindspotting), co-directors Paul Briggs and John Ripa (both Disney art and animation department veterans), and screenwriters Qui Nguyen (Dispatches From Elsewhere) and Adele Lim (Crazy Rich Asians) mightn't have had much of a tale to tell if Raya and Namaari had gotten on without a hitch from the get-go. But the latter's early betrayal of the former, and her quest to steal the dragon gem, serves more than a key storytelling function. This is a movie about believing not just in yourself, but in others, and it doesn't shy away from the reality that trusting anyone comes with the chance of peril and pain — especially in fraught times where the world has taken on an every-person-for-themselves mentality and folks are dying (or being turned to stone, which is the Druun's modus operandi). If the narrative hadn't been willing to make this plain again and again, including when it picks up six years later as Raya tries to reverse the devastation caused by Namaari's actions, Raya and the Last Dragon wouldn't feel as genuinely affecting. Rolling around desert wastelands on her giant armadillo-meets-pill bug Tuk Tuk, Raya's mission involves collecting every part of the now-fractured gem — which has been scattered across Kumandra — as well as investigating a legend about Awkwafina's Sisu. It's rumoured that the aquamarine-coloured dragon still lives, and Raya is as intent on finding it as she is on piecing her homeland back together. Tracking down the perennially optimistic Sisu actually happens quickly (it's right there in the movie's buddy-comedy moniker, after all) and the film is all the better for it. So giddily buoyant that she's like a teenage girl, the friendly creature becomes the supportive, exuberant cheerleader encouraging Raya to be her better self and to see the best in others, and their match-up — and the meeting of stellar vocals behind them — works a treat. That said, there is an episodic feel to the pair's jumps from place to place, as they enlist the help of a baby pickpocket, plus orphaned ten-year-old and boat restaurant proprietor Boun (Izaac Wang, Good Boys) and lonely warrior Tong (Benedict Wong, The Personal History of David Copperfield). If you're cynical or even just practical, you can also see how all these characters and settings could give rise to their own toys, other merchandise and spinoffs, too. And yet, this is always a deeply moving feature, thanks to its commitment to recognising the risks as well as the rewards of placing your faith in others, its warmly beating heart, and the complexities of Raya and Namaari's relationship — which is never straightforward, and puts the one-note rivalries between young women so often seen in live-action high school-set movies to shame. A familiar Disney formula is at work underneath, and noticeably, but those easily spotted aspects provide Raya and the Last Dragon with its skeleton rather than driving every detail into well-worn territory. Also hitting the mark: the film's comic notes, especially through Awkwafina's voice performance; its balance of world-building fantasy and epic adventure, and of both hopeful and melancholy tones; and the way it equally plays like a fable and also feels ideally suited to the current moment. Tran, Chan and the rest of the movie's cast, including Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) as Namaari's mother, are just as wonderful, and the feature's finale leaves an imprint. Amid these fine-tuned elements and the always-breathtaking imagery also lingers another message, and one that's just as important as the flick's missive of unity. Clouds of familiarity linger over Raya and the Last Dragon, but they never hide the movie's many charms — because judging something based on its most obvious traits is ill-advised within this touching tale, and when it comes to the film as a whole as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T4GIqEYyNk&feature=youtu.be Top image: © 2020 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
If you're planning a winter escape to Victoria's High Country, make some time to stop in at Reed & Co Distillery in Bright: they're bringing back their epic Koji Bird pop-up restaurant. Koji Bird was originally created as a bit of a nod to the experience of the traditional Japanese Izakaya. It works for Reed & Co, since Izakaya loosely translates to "stay with alcohol". The first of these pop-ups took place in 2021, when the Reed guys were experimenting with Japanese Koji (a special fermentation culture). They combined it with wood-fired, charcoal chicken and thus, Koji Bird was born. Imagine something halfway between an Aussie chicken shop and an Izakaya bar: succulent chicken, koji-based spirits, hot sake flying off the bar, and plenty of fermented Japanese sauces like mirin, soy and miso. Bit of an unexpected flavour mix, but this thing sold out in 2021. It's as good excuse as any to pack your weekend bag and book a few nights in Bright. Reed & Co's Koji Bird series is running on select weekends in June, July and August. So plan ahead and book your table online, to avoid disappointment. Images: Supplied
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. DOG One of the many 80s comedies on Tom Hanks' resume, Turner & Hooch has already been remade in 2021 as a low-stakes streaming series with nothing worth wagging one's tail about to show for it. Still, it gains a big-screen spiritual successor in Dog, Channing Tatum's return to cinemas after a five-year absence (other than a brief cameo in Free Guy, plus voice-acting work in Smallfoot and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part). Sub out a police investigator saddled with a canine witness for an Army Ranger transporting a dead colleague's ex-working dog; swap Hanks' uptight everyman for Tatum's usual goofy meathead persona, obviously; and shoehorn in a portrait of America today that aims to appeal to absolutely everyone. The result: a good boy of a movie that Tatum co-directs, isn't without its likeable and affecting moments, but is also a dog's breakfast tonally. Like pouring kibble into a bowl for a hungry pooch each morning, Dog is dutiful with the basics: a man, a mutt, an odd-couple arrangement between seeming opposites with more in common than the human among them first thinks, and an emotional journey. Comedic hijinks ensue along the way, naturally, although Turner & Hooch didn't involve anyone getting cock-blocked from having a threesome with two tantric sex gurus by its four-legged scamp. Given that Tatum's Jackson Briggs needs to take Belgian Malinois Lulu 1500 miles from Montana to Arizona by car — she won't fly — Dog is also a road-trip film, complete with episodic antics involving weed farmers and fancy hotels at its pitstops. That's all so standard that it may as well be cinema's best friend, but this flick also reckons with combat-induced post-traumatic stress disorder of both the human and animal kind, and ideas of masculinity and strength attached to military service. When Dog introduces Briggs, he's working in fast food by necessity — think Breaking Bad's fate for Saul Goodman, with Tatum even channelling the same stoic demeanour — as he waits to get redeployed. All he wants is to head back on active duty, but his higher-ups need convincing after the brain injury he received on his last tour. But his direct superior (Luke Forbes, SWAT) throws him a bone: if Briggs escorts Lulu to their former squad member's funeral, after he drove himself into a tree at 120 miles per hour, he'll sign off on his re-enlistment. Lulu has also been changed by her service, so much so that this'll be her last hurrah; afterwards, Briggs is to return her to the nearest base where she'll be euthanised. Given that Dog is exactly the movie it seems to be, its ending is never in doubt. Accordingly, fretting about Lulu is pointless. The journey is the story, of course, so Tatum and co-director/screenwriter Reid Carolin — also making his helming debut, and reteaming with the former after penning Magic Mike and Magic Mike XXL (and the upcoming Magic Mike's Last Dance) — endeavour to make the small moments matter. That's a line of thinking on par with Briggs' readjustment to civilian life, and similarly howling through his burgeoning bond with Lulu past simply playing chauffeur. Yes, Dog is that obvious. An emotional throughline doesn't need to be novel to strike a chord, though, and this film yaps the message loud and clear. That said, it also trades more in concepts than in fleshed-out characters, making an already-broad story even broader. Read our full review. ANONYMOUS CLUB With her song and record titles — her lyrics as well — Courtney Barnett has long found the words to express how many people feel. It's a knack, talent and gift, and it's helped her rocket to Australian fame and global success within a decade of releasing her debut EP in 2012. As thoughtful and captivating documentary Anonymous Club shows, it's also something she's frequently asked about in interviews. But expressing those lines and the emotions behind them with a guitar and microphone as weapons, plus a riotous melody as armour, is different to sharing them quietly one on one. Directed by her long-time collaborator Danny Cohen, who has helmed a number of her music videos, Anonymous Club begins with this reality. Barnett can pour her heart, soul and observations about life's chaos into the tunes that've made her a household name, achieving something that few others can; when she's on the spot, however, she's as uncertain and awkward as the rest of us. Barnett's way with words and wordplay in her work, and her lack thereof elsewhere, thrums through Anonymous Club like a catchy riff. The subject doesn't fade, burrowing into the film as an earworm of a song inside a listener's head does, and feature first-timer Cohen doesn't want it to. His movie was shot over three years, starting in 2018, which places it between Barnett's second studio album and her third — and knowing that makes the phrases from their titles, and from her debut record also, echo with resonance throughout the doco. Anonymous Club could've been called Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, like its subject's first album in 2015. Tell Me How You Really Feel from 2018 would've worked as well. And, yes, Things Take Time, Take Time would've been apt, too, concluding a line of thinking that the film invites anyway — ultimately finding its moniker in a Barnett track from 2014, before all those releases. Across two tours spanning Europe, the US and Asia, plus stints in Melbourne, Anonymous Club watches Barnett sit and think, and sometimes just sit. It tasks the singer/songwriter with telling how she really feels, and shows her realising the truth that things take time. All of the above is captured on glorious 16-millimetre film and, even within a mere 83 minutes, the backstage documentary is overwhelming comprised of these ruminative, reflective moments — of snatches of Barnett's life caught as she hops between rooms that aren't her own, be it stages or green rooms or hotels or homes she's housesitting. Her thoughts and feelings come via brief chatter in front of the lens (or, more accurately, with the unseen Cohen behind it, shooting with a camera customised to record synchronised sound), and from overlaid snippets of the audio diary he asked her to keep. That's a job she tussles with — more words, more on-the-spot candour rather than deliberated-over lyrics, more struggles — but she still stuck at it for the project's duration. Frank, earnest and honest, so much of what's uttered is as revelatory as everything that Barnett has sung over the years. She confides in the fly-on-the-wall film via her Dictaphone recordings; as a result, a highly poised, posed, image-conscious portrait, this isn't. "I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about anymore. I just feel like I'm going around in circles and digging myself a deeper hole," she says at one point, and many other statements have the same tone. Jumping from America to Japan to Germany and elsewhere, life on the road gets to her. Back in Australia, life without a fixed space to call her own after spending so long touring has a similar impact. "My heart is empty, my head is empty, the page is empty," she offers, another telling statement. "It feels like I'm being part of this scripted performance of what we think we're supposed to see on stage, and it just feels really pointless," she also advises. Read our full review. PREPARATIONS TO BE TOGETHER FOR AN UNKNOWN PERIOD OF TIME Will they or won't they? Do they or don't they? Every time that romance and relationships are portrayed on-screen, at least one of these questions always echoes. In the entrancingly moody and astute Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time, it's the latter. Whether Hungarian neurosurgeon Márta Vizy (Natasa Stork, Jupiter's Moon) and fellow doctor János (Viktor Bodó, Overnight) will end the film in each other's company still remains a pivotal part of the plot, but if there's ever been anything between them — or if it's all simply in Márta's head — is the far more pressing concern. She's a woman smitten, so much so that she's returned home from a prestigious job in the US just for him. But his behaviour could be called vague, rude or flat-out ghosting, if he even remembers that they've crossed paths before — and, if they ever actually have. Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time first introduces Márta as she's unloading her János-sparked romantic woes upon her therapist. What could've been a standard rom-com or romantic drama setup soon twists into something far more alluring and intriguing, however. Indeed, as writer/director Lili Horvát (The Wednesday Child) ponders the role of memory in affairs of the heart, her film just keeps inspiring more trains of thought. How can we ever know how someone else really feels about us? How long will any romantic emotions last, and can they last? Is it ever truly possible to trust whoever our hearts fall or, or our hearts to begin with? And, can we genuinely believe those intense memories of love that implant themselves inside our brains, refuse to leave and inspire life-changing decisions — or is love too subjective, no matter how deep, real, shared and strong that it feels? These queries all spring from Márta's homecoming, after she meets János at a conference in New Jersey, then pledges to do so again a month later on a Budapest bridge. She shows, but he doesn't. Worse: when she tracks him down at his work afterwards, he says that he doesn't know her. While tinkering with memory is a familiar film and TV concept — see: everything from Memento and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to Mulholland Drive and Severance — Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time is interested in the emotional fallout from János' claims to have zero knowledge of Márta first and foremost. Confused, unsettled and still wholeheartedly infatuated, she just can't bring herself to return stateside, and also can't get János out of her mind in general. Scripted with empathy and precision by Horvát, and also shot and styled like a waking dream, Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time isn't easily forgotten either, siding its viewers with Márta over János. This is a haunting and beautifully acted psychological drama that lays bare just how all-encompassing, obsessive, intoxicating and mind-melting love can feel, all as it plays with recollection and its ability to shape our perspectives. The tone is loaded but uncanny — sweet but uncertain, too — and Horvát has fun getting both emotional and cerebral while having her characters cut open brains. The latter happens literally and yes, there aren't many movies quite like this one. Cinema doesn't boast too many performances like the exceptional Stork's, either, which draws viewers into every feeling, question, and pang of both intense affection and shattering uncertainty that flows through Márta. Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time opened in Melbourne from February 24, and screens in Sydney and Brisbane from March 17. IT SNOWS IN BENIDORM Forty-four years have passed since Timothy Spall first graced the silver screen — and what a gift he's given both cinema and television since. He won Cannes Best Actor prize for Mr Turner, earned five BAFTA nominations in five years between 1997–2002, popped up in lively Aussie crime flick Gettin' Square, stole every scene he was in in The Party and recently proved formidable in Spencer. He has everything from multiple Harry Potter movies to playing Winston Churchill in The King's Speech on his resume, too, and also routinely improves whatever he's in with his presence alone. In fact, he does exactly that with It Snows in Benidorm, which'd be a mere wisp of a film otherwise. Following a just-made-redundant bank employee to Spain, this meandering drama frequently mistakes mood for depth — and while Spall can't polish away its struggles, he's always the key reason to keep watching. A fan of the weather and little else, Spall's Peter Riordan has given decades of his life to his employer, and is so settled into the routine he's fashioned around his job that it's as natural and automatic to him as breathing. Accordingly, when he's unceremoniously let go, he finds it difficult to adjust. He's told that being freed from the monotony of his work is a gift, allowing him to retire early — so in that spirit, he heads off to the Mediterranean coast's tourist mecca to spend time with the brother he otherwise rarely talks to. But upon his arrival, Peter finds his sibling conspicuously absent. He still stays in his high-rise apartment, but what was meant to be a family reunion-style holiday now becomes a detective quest. Helping him is Alex (Sarita Choudhury, And Just Like That...), who worked with Peter's shady club-owning brother, might know more than she's letting on about his whereabouts, and also welcomes her new pal's tender companionship the more that they spend time together. Spall has spent his entire career being described by one well-meaning term: character actor. Here, he's centre stage in a character study instead. He's marvellous in the role — more so in the film's early scenes, where conveying both weight, importance, security and dreariness of Peter's lonely niche relies heavily upon his measured performance, but also whenever sharing moments with the always-luminous Choudhury as the complicated Alex. That said, as written and directed by Spanish filmmaker Isabel Coixet (Elisa & Marcela), It Snows in Benidorm proves as thin as the chance of an avalanche in its sunny setting. The script is more interested in contrivance than letting its characters' thoughts and feelings stew naturally, and revels in a ruminative tone that's ponderous rather than revelatory. It's a holiday photo of a complicated getaway given two hours of focus, in other words, and it's as flimsy as waving around a strip of negatives. Coixet helms with emotion rather than story in mind, to the detriment of both. There's such a concerted effort to make audiences share Peter's listlessness at home and his awakening abroad that every second feels forced, and the narrative's leaps and languishing never seem authentic. Thanks to Spall, the end result fares better than Coixet's last English-language effort, 2017's abysmal The Bookshop — but the director's latest can't reach the heights of 2003's My Life Without Me and 2008's Elegy. It Snows in Benidorm's reliance upon comedy rarely hits its marks either, other than when dwelling in the British expat-filled hellscape that is Benidorm's nightlife scene. Indeed, its lasting imprint is a 'what if?', because Pedro Almodóvar and his brother Agustín Almodóvar sit among the movie's producers. Being left wondering what wonders might result if Spall and Choudhury teamed up for the Parallel Mothers auteur isn't a ringing endorsement of their current project, though. DEADLY CUTS The Full Monty wasn't the first to do it, and it definitely hasn't been the last. But for the quarter century since that crowd-pleasing comedy became an enormous worldwide hit, British movies about underdogs banding together to save their livelihoods and communities have no longer been scrappy battlers themselves. Irish film Deadly Cuts is the latest, joining an ever-growing pile that also includes everything from Calendar Girls to Swimming with Men — and first-time feature writer/director Rachel Carey knows the formula she's playing with. Each such picture needs to be set in a distinctive world, follow a close-knit group, see them face an apparently insurmountable task and serve up a big public spectacle that promises redemption, and every step in that recipe is covered here. But a movie can stick to a clear template and still boast enough spirit to make even the creakiest of plot inclusions feel likely and entertaining enough, and that's this low-budget affair from start to finish. It does raise a smile that AhhHair, the glamorous hairdressing contest that Deadly Cuts' main characters want to enter and win, is all about innovation in its chosen form. The movie itself would never emerge victorious at such a competition, but it's filled with broad, blackly comic fun along the way, even if it boasts about as much subtlety as a mohawk. The setting: Piglington, Dublin, an as-yet-ungentrified corner of the Irish capital, where the titular salon is a mainstay. The aim: saving the shop from being torn down and replaced with shiny new apartments. The wholly predictable complications: the determination of corrupt local politician Darryl Flynn (Aidan McArdle, The Fall) to forge ahead with the development, which'll boost his bank account; and the suburb-scaring thugs led by the overbearing Deano (Ian Lloyd Anderson, Herself), who throw their weight around at every chance they get. While lead stylist Stacey (Ericka Roe, another Herself alum) has her heart set on AhhHair glory — a dream that her colleagues Gemma (Lauren Larkin, Love/Hate) and Chantelle (Shauna Higgins, Dating Amber) share — their boss Michelle (Angeline Ball, perhaps best known for The Commitments three decades back) is much less enthused. In another of the script's obligatory choices, the latter has a far-from-joyous history with the event and its head judge D'Logan Doyle (Louis Lovett, Moone Boy), and remains reluctant even when basking in the contest's fame and acclaim might be the only thing that'll keep her salon and Piglington itself going. Of course, movies like Deadly Cuts always find ways to get their characters to the big dance, especially when the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against them. Once there, their mission doesn't get easier. "You've got about as much chance as a dark brunette going to a platinum blonde in one step without her hair falling out," one rival spits at them. There's pluck to Stacey and her hair-snipping crew as they sharpen up their scissors, unfurl their curlers and do everything they must to whip up show-stopping styles to dye/die for — and yes, Deadly Cuts does take its name seriously. As a result, there's the same verve to the movie itself, which dips itself not only in the usual underdog formula, but in twisted OTT crime comedy as well. Patchiness comes with the territory, including in quick-fire gags that don't always land and lines of dialogue that are blunter than rusty clippers, but Carey's film still strives forth with ambition and confidence. Buoyed by game performances, it's the movie equivalent of rocking a by-the-book do and an outrageous hue at once, even if it's far better when it's skewing darker. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on November 4, November 11, November 18 and November 25; December 2, December 9, December 16 and December 26; January 1, January 6, January 13, January 20 and January 27; February 3, February 10, February 17 and February 24; and March 3 and March 10. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Eternals, The Many Saints of Newark, Julia, No Time to Die, The Power of the Dog, Tick, Tick... Boom!, Zola, Last Night in Soho, Blue Bayou, The Rescue, Titane, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, Dune, Encanto, The Card Counter, The Lost Leonardo, The French Dispatch, Don't Look Up, Dear Evan Hansen, Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Lost Daughter, The Scary of Sixty-First, West Side Story, Licorice Pizza, The Matrix Resurrections, The Tragedy of Macbeth, The Worst Person in the World, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, House of Gucci, The King's Man, Red Rocket, Scream, The 355, Gold, King Richard, Limbo, Spencer, Nightmare Alley, Belle, Parallel Mothers, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Belfast, Here Out West, Jackass Forever, Benedetta, Drive My Car, Death on the Nile, C'mon C'mon, Flee, Uncharted, Quo Vadis, Aida?, Cyrano, Hive, Studio 666, The Batman, Blind Ambition, Bergman Island, Wash My Soul in the River's Flow and The Souvenir: Part II.
Happy hour is a well-worn tradition of bars and restaurants around the world. In Melbourne, if you walk into a bar there's likely a happy hour special at some point in the week. A new initiative running throughout January 2021, however, is one-upping all other happy hours. For the entire month of January, 30 much-loved Melbourne venues are offering 50 percent off their entire menu for one hour each day. Drink or dine at the likes of Fargo & Co, Albert Park Lake Club, State of Grace, The Duke of Wellington and The Smith from 5–6pm between Friday, January 1 and Sunday, January 31 and you'll receive 50 percent off your entire order. That means you could head to Harlow for $10 espresso martinis and $12.50 parmigianas, for $8 beef sliders and $3.25 Furphys at Middle Park Hotel, and to Trinket for $9 margherita pizzas and $11 pisco sours. All you need to do in order to get the discount is pay by mobile at the end of your meal using either the Australian Venue Co app or the Mr Yum Order at Table. There is no limit to the number of guests that can attend, meaning you can have a reasonably priced catch up with any sized group of friends. Melbourne's Happiest Hour is available from 5–6pm daily at the following 30 venues: Albert Park Lake Club Auburn Hotel Beer DeLuxe Fed Square Beer DeLuxe Hawthorn College Lawn Hotel European Bier Cafe Fargo & Co Golden Gate Hotel Harlow Hopscotch Imperial Bourke Street Imperial South Yarra Middle Park Hotel Newmarket Hotel O'Connell's Hotel Perseverance Prince Alfred Hotel State of Grace Studley Park Boathouse The Crafty Squire The Duke of Wellington The Exchange Hotel The Hawthorn Hotel The Local The Provincial The Smith The Station Hotel The Vincent The Wharf Hotel Trinket Images: Auburn Hotel
Melbourne's weather might be starting to cool off, but hump day is only about to get hotter. That's thanks to The Espy's new series of blink-and-you'll-miss-it Wednesday night offers, which promise to inject a bit more midweek fun into your life. Running Wednesdays from March 30–April 27, Change Your Plans will dish up a different range of specials and events each week, announced only via the venue's newsletter at 10am each Wednesday morning. Stay tuned and you'll have some pretty sweet hump day fun to look forward to, starting with this week's blisteringly budget-friendly offer: $1 dumplings from the Mya Tiger kitchen. The tasty morsels are available today only (March 30) across the entire venue, with a choice of both pork and chive dumplings, or the mushroom and choy sum number. Future weeks' offers won't be unveiled until the morning of each launch, though there's the whisper of some very good stuff to come. We're talking $10 lobster rolls, $5 spritzes and maybe even some cheeky free beers. [caption id="attachment_699782" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alex Drewniak[/caption]
For more than a century, watching a movie has involved staring at either a rectangle or a square. They're the shapes the silver screen is known for, and the small screen as well. But catch a film at the planetarium and everything becomes circular — which makes fulldome flicks, as they're called, something particularly special. Melbourne Planetarium plays movies on its dome via regular programs — films specifically made to take advantage of the different screening format — and the Melbourne International Film Festival includes a fulldome showcase in its annual lineup. But Australia only boasts one film fest that's solely all about hemispherical views. That event: the Dome Under Film Festival, which debuted in 2020 before the pandemic, and will return to the Victorian capital in February 2023. Running across Saturday, February 4–Sunday, February 5, Dome Under Festival's latest outing will once again see the best new fulldome releases from around the world head to Scienceworks. With sessions dedicated to family-friendly titles, children's movies, animation, experimental flicks, astronomy, science and world stories, the program features plenty of highlights — covering everything from dinosaurs, black holes and icy worlds through to visits to Akihabara in Tokyo, Indigenous songs and dances, and the Aurora Borealis. In total, 25 films from 14 countries will grace the dome, as handpicked by the Dome Under team. Each one will fill every inch of the planetarium's 16-metre domed ceiling — and play with 5.1 surround sound. Fulldome screenings might sound like a fad — cinema has seen more than its fair share of gimmicks come and go in its time — but once you've seen a movie made for the format, those notions quickly slip away. Indeed, there's a reason that Australia keeps embracing the medium, with the Brisbane International Film Festival also enjoying a foray into the same space more than a decade back, and Sydney playing host to Wonderdome across the summer of 2021–22. Something else that makes the dome screening experience extra special: you definitely can't just wait to see these flicks at home a month or so down the track. Dome Under Film Festival 2023 screens at the Melbourne Planetarium at Scienceworks, 2 Booker Street, Spotswood, from Saturday, February 4–Sunday, February 5. Head to the venue's website for tickets and further details.
Dating apps can be fun — especially when you score discounts on food and drink along the way — but they can also be exhausting. So, Rocco's Bologna Discoteca in Fitzroy has joined forces with dating event organiser Crush Club to give you a break. All you have to do is climb the stairs up to Discoteca's ballroom, and you'll find yourself at a massive Italian dinner party. Even better, you'll be surrounded by singles. On the menu is a four-course Italian feast, including subs, pasta and soft serve. Between dishes, you'll have time to grab drinks at Vince's Bar and change chairs, giving you the chance to meet as many people as possible. Flirt 'n' Feast for straight attendees is happening on Wednesday, June 18, while the queer edition is on Wednesday, July 2. Tickets, which include food but not drinks, are $80 each.
Did you know that over 1300 native plants are threatened or at risk of extinction? 1800 Tequila is highlighting this trend at The Greenhouse Bar by 1800 Tequila – The Bar Devoted to Biodiversity. The part bar, greenhouse and art installation is popping up in Melbourne for one weekend only — from Friday, October 27, until Sunday, October 29. Guests will enjoy bespoke cocktails made with Aussie botanicals, a cheese platter and a small gift. This is a celebration of Australian botanicals — their diversity and fragility, as well as their place in cocktails. It is the latest conservation-focused event from the tequila brand after The Bar Saved From Landfill in 2022. Botanicals are integral to crafting distinctive flavours and aromas. Without them, many of the cocktails we know and love would not exist. We are fortunate to have access to some of the world's most unique botanicals in our native plants. Research from 1800 Tequila says that three in five Aussies are unaware Australia is facing a significant biodiversity decline. It's up to us to educate ourselves on how to conserve these precious native plants. Guests will receive four cocktails made with native botanicals for punters — sip on a margarita spritz with lemon myrtle, garnished with saltbush air (sounds mysterious!). There's also an iced vovo punch with strawberry gum, an 1800 negroni with wattleseed bitter and lilly pilly vermouth, garnished with yellow kangaroo paw, and smoked bee pollen old fashioned, smoked with paper bark. Tickets to each session cost $25. 1800 Tequila will donate 100% of bar ticket sales to its charity partner, Botanic Gardens of Sydney and its Rainforest Seed Conservation Project. The Greenhouse Bar is taking place from 27–29 October, with pre-booked sessions from 2.30pm until the last sitting of the day at 7pm. Tickets are available to book now via the website. Image credit: Guy Wilkinson Photography. Images of Sydney installation of The Greenhouse Bar.
Cult favourite Aussie basics label Bassike is hosting a big online warehouse sale this month, selling its items from both its past season collections and its archive at significant discounts off the regular price — with pieces starting at $30. Both men's and women's fashion will be up for grabs for five days from 8am on Thursday, July 9 till midnight on Monday, July 13. Expect to find everything from swimwear and footwear to accessories, denim, cotton jersey pieces and lots of quality basics. If you're struggling with the winter cold, you'll (thankfully) be able to find warm clothing here, too. While exact prices have not yet been announced, previously physical warehouse sales have seen denim from $90, tees from $30 and jackets for $120 — no, these aren't basement bargains, but they are reasonable prices for these fine organic pieces. Spend more than $100, and you'll score free shipping, too. Bassike's online warehouse sale will run from 8am on Thursday, July 9 till midnight on Monday, July 13.
Melbourne's enormous Dandenong Market is a multicultural feast for the senses at the best of times, but come Sunday, March 28, it's taking things to the next level. Get those taste buds ready to experience the market's annual World Fare: a celebration of street food and culture, starring over 20 international vendors and a swag of the world's most exciting eats. Punters will have the chance to sink their teeth into a diverse menu of exclusive creations, from vegetarian manoushe served up by Why Not? Wooden Bakery, to Si Kat Pinoy Eatscetera's warm ube cheese pandesal — a purple yam-flavoured bread roll with a cheesy centre. And, of course, don't miss the globe-trotting array of dreamy dumpling varieties, including Kabul Kitchen's Afghan-style ashak and plump 'treasure pockets' a la San San's Dumpling House. From 10am–3pm, all those culinary delights will be matched by a program of live entertainment and cultural performances, journeying through most corners of the globe. Past outings have featured West African drumming, martial arts demonstrations, Bollywood shows, Maori Haka and plenty more. Dandenong World Fare runs from 10am–4pm.
If you'd been hoping to dance like Christopher Walken, pretend you're in Cruel Intentions, or just get transported back to the late 90s and early 00s when Fatboy Slim plays Melbourne's Sidney Myer Music Bowl in late April, we have bad news: that gig is sold out. But, thanks to a just-announced new addition to the British dance music legend's Australian itinerary, you can now hit the club — Revolver Upstairs, to be specific — for his 'live in the cage' DJ set for one night only. The man born Norman Cook will take to the decks on Wednesday, April 26, two nights before his openair show. And, tickets are just $43.95, although they're bound to get snapped up quickly. There will be some on the door on the night, too, but only until sold out. [caption id="attachment_897289" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Secretaría de Cultura de la Ciudad de México via Wikimedia Commons.[/caption] Cook's Australian tour marks his return after his 2020 headline shows — pre-pandemic — with his Melbourne gig at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl recorded for an epic live video that's notched up more than 2.4-million views. At Revolver Upstairs, he'll do a three-hour set from 10.30pm–1.30am, with Mz Rizk, Luke McD and Luke Vecchio also getting spinning beforehand, and Sunshine afterwards. [caption id="attachment_878697" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Secretaría de Cultura de la Ciudad de México via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Top image: Secretaría de Cultura de la Ciudad de México via Wikimedia Commons.
It's one of the quintessential Melbourne experiences we're all sorely missing right now: a pint and a feed enjoyed IRL at your local. And while it might be a while before it's back on the menu properly, Parkville pub Naughtons Hotel is dishing up the next best thing with its new Pub in a Box. As the name suggests, the venue's packaged up all the best bits of a pub visit into one covetable care pack, available for delivery and click-and-collect. The contents change up each week, though always include some cracking pub dishes (vegetarian options are available, too), accompaniments, a trivia card and — if you're ordering the two-person box — a curation of booze. Recent editions have featured the likes of house-made peppered beef pies served with mash and gravy, fettuccine with an eggplant and chilli sugo, loaves of house-baked sourdough bread, bottles of wine and tinnies of local craft beer. A solo serve box will set you back $45, while the two-person version comes in at $135. There are plenty of add-ons available, too; from cheese packs to desserts, plus Naughtons' full online selection of beer, wine and bottled cocktails. Jump onto the website to check order cut-off details and to suss out this week's menu. [caption id="attachment_826064" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Emily Weaving[/caption] Images: Emily Weaving
Know a very good boy or girl of the furry, four-legged persuasion? This weekend is their time to shine. On Saturday, February 25, food truck park and beer garden Welcome to Brunswick is set to become even more dog-friendly than usual, as it celebrates man's best mate with a day of festivities. The Good Dogs of Brunswick party will kick off from 12pm with DJ tunes spinning through the afternoon, $20 jug specials and food trucks, as well as a hot dog stand raising funds for Forever Friends Animal Rescue. If you and your pooch are up for some shopping, you'll find an array of pet-centric market stalls slinging everything from dog desserts and treats to funky accessories and leads. And for pups with a competitive edge, the venue will be running a whole swag of fun dog contests throughout the day, with prizes for the waggliest tail, the most petite pooch, the wrinkliest dog, the hound with the best rescue story and more.
Giant fluorescent orange fluffy birds, 30 ft high dogs shooting lasers from their eyes, costumes made entirely of marijuana leaves and onstage fake fellatio on a man wearing a Bill Clinton mask. Whatever you think of pop's favourite shock poppet, Miley Cyrus' Bangerz tour has been one of the global Tickets To Have. Now the Wrecking Baller is bringing Bangerz to Australia this October. Kicking off in Melbourne on Friday, October 10 at Rod Laver Arena, Cyrus will embark upon a five-date tour of epic visual proportions. Incapable of being able to stop, Cyrus will then head to Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth for what will most likely be Australia's most 'grammed tour since Beyonce's recent run. Tickets are going for $99.90 to $149.90, plus booking fees. Dainty Group presale tickets kicks off at 10am local time on Friday, June 20. General public tickets via Ticketek go on sale Monday, June 23 at 10am. Miley Cyrus Bangerz tour dates: Melbourne - Rod Laver Arena, Friday, October 10 Brisbane - Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Wednesday, October 15 Sydney - Allphones Arena, Friday, October 17 Adelaide - Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Monday, October 20 Perth - Perth Arena, Thursday, October 23
After spending the bulk of winter and spring in lockdown, Victorians look set to slowly ease back to normality as summer approaches. Already, the curfew has been scrapped, stay-at-home requirements have been lifted and the hospitality industry has been allowed to reopen. In the next batch of eased restrictions — set to be announced on Sunday, November 8 — both the 25-kilometre rule and the ban on metropolitan Melbourne residents travelling to regional Victoria are expected to disappear, too. This is all great news — as is Victoria's eight consecutive days without any COVID-19 cases or deaths, at the time of writing — but if your summer plans usually involve camping along the Mornington Peninsula foreshore, that still won't be on the agenda. The Mornington Peninsula Shire Council has announced that it won't be open its three council-run campsites until February 2021, making the decision "after careful consideration of the State Government's coronavirus roadmap and to ensure the health and safety of all Victorians". "Even as we hopefully move from Step 3 into the last step of the roadmap and then COVID-normal, social distancing, density quotients, group sizes and a range of other measures will still be required," said Mornington Peninsula Shire CEO John Baker. "It's not feasible to have foreshore camping under many of these conditions," he continued, noting that one of the major concerns at the always-popular sites "is the transmission risk from people having to use the shared toilet and shower amenity blocks". The news affects the Shire's Rosebud, Rye and Sorrento camping grounds — although they will still be open for use by the public. You can't pitch a tent, but you will be able to picnic at all three spots. They'll also be able to be used as overflow spaces when the beaches are busy, to help maintain social-distancing requirements. A number of non-Shire-managed camp sites sit along the foreshore, including Capel Sound, Crib Point Stony Point, Dromana, Shoreham, Somers and Whitecliffs to Camerons — with The Age reporting that these are still expected to open by December this year. For more information about camping in the Mornington Peninsula Shire area, visit the foreshore camping section of the Shire's website. Top image: Ewen Bell/Visit Victoria
There were short-lived rumours that Melbourne's art and hospitality scene had reached peak saturation, but the city quickly put those to bed when its cultural ecosystem grew and flourished once again. It was a year of innovative new restaurants and bars — bigger and taller than ever before — forward-thinking events and bold spaces, pubs and cafes. And they're not all from the big players — independent ventures are flourishing. The cafe culture is stronger than ever, too, with new cafes not only guaranteeing a stellar cup of Joe, but also innovative lunch snacks and sleek interiors that'll really make you reconsider that desk sandwich. At Concrete Playground we encourage exploration and showcase innovation in our city every day, so we thought it fitting to reward those most talented whippersnappers pushing Melbourne to be a better, braver city. And so, these six new cafes, opened in 2017, were nominated for Best New Cafe in Concrete Playground's Best of 2017 Awards.
Activewear fans, we've got some big news: P.E. Nation is bringing back its warehouse sample sale — but, this year, it's all online. The athleisure experts hosted their first ever sample sale in 2016 (and everything sold out in the first day) but, luckily, you don't have to worry about being crushed in a throng this year. You just need to have your mouse at the ready. Whether you're stocking up your own balcony-gym wardrobe (or WFH outfit, if we're totally honest) or doing a solid for sporty loved ones, you'll find an extensive array of swim, activewear, accessories, sweaters and jackets available from 12pm on Thursday, April 16 — and all for 60 percent off. There'll be accessories from $40, tops and bottoms from $60, outerwear from $140 and snow (for those future holidays) from $230. Remember the age-old advice of when it comes to sample sales, you need to get in quick. Given the following the label has amassed since General Pants Co. design director Pip Edwards and former senior Sass & Bide designer Claire Tregoning joined forces, its functional, fashionable bits and pieces are bound to be popular. So, keep an eye on the website. P.E. Nation's Online Warehouse Sale goes live on Thursday, April 16. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
If it's one of those weeks that feels like an eternity when the weekend is barely in sight, it's time to up your relaxation game with a session in a float tank. We're big fans of Beyond Rest, a gorgeously-designed space—all low lighting and clean lines—in Prahran, where a 60 minute float will set you back $79. First time giving flotation a try? Expect to spend about an hour bobbing in an egg-like bath filled with warm water and heaps of Epsom salts. Designed to block out all external distractions and give a sensation of weightlessness, flotation has been shown to alleviate aches, stress, anxiety and depression, and even stimulate creativity. Just what your mid-week slump needs.
It's the German culinary classic that's become a true blue Aussie pub favourite — and now the humble schnitzel is getting its very own ten-week celebration courtesy of The Bavarian. Folks, get set for Schnitty Fest. Running from Wednesday, March 31–Wednesday, June 9, the event sees the German beer hall chain's many outposts (Victoria's are at Highpoint and Knox) paying homage to this beloved dish with an exclusive menu of ten different schnitzel creations. On offer right through the festival, it's a truly diverse lineup, featuring everything from a Mexican-inspired schnitty topped with corn chips, salsa and spicy beef ($26), to a crumbed mushroom parma served with cabbage slaw and fries ($24). The Nashville variation takes a trip through southern USA by way of some southern fried chook, potato gems and a chipotle aioli ($26), while the aptly named Oktoberfest ($26) comes teamed with sautéed potatoes, mustard and wurstsalat (sausage salad). And the pork-based Schweineschnitzel ($26) will send all the traditionalists to bread-crumbed heaven. What's more, as a special hump day treat, diners will find the full range of schnitzels dropped to just $10 all day long every Wednesday. And as always, The Bavarian is pouring a slew of both Aussie and German beers to wash down your schnitty feast in style. [caption id="attachment_805249" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Oktoberfest schnitty[/caption]
I scream, you scream, we've all been screaming for ice cream — and, this February, our prayers are being answered once again. Victoria's annual Ice Cream Festival is back, taking place at three of the state's chocolateries and ice creameries: in the Yarra Valley, along the Great Ocean Road and on the Mornington Peninsula. You may want to prepare the smelling salts, because each venue will be trotting out 12 new flavours a day between Wednesday, February 9–Sunday, February 20 — for 12 days. That's 144 unique flavours all up, including scoops like Aperol spritz, blueberry boba bubble tea, cinnamon scroll and French toast, plus black garlic and chocolate, dill pickle and salted brown butter pecan. For $24, you can book into a tasting session that covers 12 of the day's flavours at once — or you can just rampage around the place like a deranged, hungry Pac-Man and try to taste 'em all from $5.20 a scoop. What's more, each of the venues — in Yarra Valley Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery in Yarra Glen, Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery in Bellbrae and Mornington Peninsula Chocolaterie and Ice creamery in Flinders — has lovely grounds for you to lay around in and enjoy. The view may well be lost on you as you slide into a sugar-induced happiness coma, but that's okay. They aren't inventing all those flavours for you to not try them.
You sure couldn't accuse Sydney restaurant Bill & Toni's of expanding too quickly. After all, it's only now — with more than 50 years under its belt — that the Darlinghurst institution is preparing to add three more venues to the family, including one in both Victoria and Queensland. So, why now? Well, the venue has a new owner, Chris Montel, who, since taking over last year, has swiftly made plans to launch three more outposts by the end of 2018. Surfers Paradise and Melbourne's Lygon Street will each get their slice of Bill & Toni's in the coming months, followed by a venue in Montel's own stomping ground of Cronulla later in the year. The aim for each, according to Montel, is to recreate the vibe and offering of the original — everything from the retro-leaning decor to the memorabilia lining the walls will be reimagined for the new spaces. The loveable old-school diner has cemented its status as a cult favourite of Sydney's Italian dining scene with its generous fare, pinball machines and the complimentary orange cordial that makes its way onto most of the tables. But, arguably, its charm lies in the fact that it's been around forever, and we're not quite convinced that will resonate with new cities and communities — especially Lygon Street, which is full of long-running old-school Italian joints already. While details for the Cronulla restaurant are still vague, the planned interstate outposts will be a little smaller, each boasting just one level and room for about 150 people, though they'll be dishing up the same short and snappy menu Darlinghurst folks have been loving for years. Time will tell if those hefty serves of crisp chicken schnitzel and spaghetti bolognese will win over a few new lifelong fans. Bill & Toni's will open on the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Cronulla in Sydney's south this year. We'll let you know opening dates and exact locations of the three new venues as they drop. Until then, you can visit the OG Bill & Toni's at 72–74 Stanley Street, Darlinghurst. Images: Kimberley Low.
If you dote over your vinyl collection with obsessive passion — or even if you just casually collect whichever albums you happen to come across whenever you're in your local record store — then you probably have one Saturday in April permanently marked on your calendar. That'd be Record Store Day, the annual celebration of ace music, a beloved format and the shops that trade in both. As happened last year, RSD has been postponed in 2021. Instead of its usual timeslot, the huge vinyl event will now take place in June. But that doesn't mean that your record pile has to remain static for the next couple of months, with record companies banding together for a huge vinyl sell-off: The Great Australian Warehouse Sale. Across the weekend of Saturday, April 17–Sunday, April 18, music aficionados will be able to snap up vinyl galore via indie record stores. Record companies such as Universal, Sony, MGM, Warner and more will be diving into their vaults, clearing out their warehouses and making as much stock available as possible, while individual shops will also be adding their own spin to the fun. Different stores will have different items on offer, so going crate-digging at your favourite shops is highly recommended. For further details — including which places are taking part — head to The Great Australian Warehouse Sale website.
Usually when September rolls around, the AFL finals take over Melbourne. But 2021 isn't a normal year, just as 2020 wasn't before it. With Melbourne currently under its sixth lockdown, all of the footy finals have been played elsewhere — in Tasmania, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth — with the grand final also heading out of town for the second year in a row. On Saturday, September 25, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs will battle it out at Perth's Optus Stadium, with whoever emerges victorious taking home the 2021 AFL premiership cup. Yes, two Victorian teams will face off in Western Australia in the decider, just like two Vic teams did at the Gabba in Brisbane last year. Thankfully for Victorians, one thing about the grand final is staying the same this year: the annual public holiday on the Friday beforehand. Last year, it moved dates when the game shifted to October. This year, it'll remain in September — on Friday, September 24, in fact. So, you'll still be able to celebrate the pinnacle of this year's footy season, and get excited about watching the Dees take on the Dogs. That said, Melbourne will still be under lockdown, so the city's residents will be doing so at home — and without a grand final parade, obviously. [caption id="attachment_823646" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Optus Stadium, Government of Western Australia[/caption] Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed last month that the public holiday was gazetted, and would go ahead as planned. "I think it might be a 'go and get vaccinated' day. Yes, it's a gazetted public holiday, as we've committed," he said. "What I want is to get all of us vaccinated and get to the other side of this so that certainly next year's grand final Friday, we can be at a parade. I think that'd be a fantastic thing — and then go to a packed MCG," the Premier continued. Not into AFL? You can still look forward to a long weekend. Victoria's AFL Grand Final public holiday will still go ahead on Friday, September 24. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Victoria and how to protect yourself, head to the Victorian Department of Health website.
If you know no other Shakespeare, you probably know A Midsummer Night's Dream. It’s the one with fairies, often seen being put on in parks and botanic gardens. Expect no prancing or wing-and-tutu ensembles from this latest version by Bell Shakespeare, however. So determined is this production to separate itself from the usual woodland fantasia aesthetic that it is being presented simply as The Dream. It aims to be a darker version of the play, the focus more on the dramatic elements of a script usually played as a fluffy comedy. It has also been economised and the cast streamlined, with actors switching roles as scenes jump abruptly from one story thread to another. One moment, they’ll clown about as the amateur actors preparing a play for the king, then they’ll throw on robes and thunder as outraged nobility and star-crossed lovers, then the lights go dim and a sinister soundtrack indicates it’s fairy time. The fairies are played as creatures of the night, wearing leather jackets and moving animalistically, heightening the sinister nature of a myth usually painted in gloss. It’s bold in concept and fast-moving in execution, certainly different from any Botanic Gardens Dream you’ve seen, but it does rely on you having some familiarity with the play. If you don’t already know who the characters are, the fast pace is likely to confuse the fairy dust out of you, especially at the beginning. There is also a tendency to rush over some of the gentler moments. The scenes which work best are those involving conflict or madcap comedy but romance scenes, so central to the story, are lacking tenderness. The romantic leads, eloping lovebirds Hermia (Lucy Honigman) and Lysander (Gareth Reeves) and unlucky in love Helena (Nikki Shiels) and Demetrius (Johnny Carr), are never quite believable as couples. The constant bluster between them, combined with the inexplicably ocker accents used for these characters, makes their relationships seem more like ones you'd see unravelling on Swanston Street at 2am rather than coming together in a fairy-haunted forest. Oberon (Ray Chong Nee) and Titania (Janine Watson) are delightful though, the thunderous and manipulative nature of their relationship perhaps more more forgivable in a fairy king and queen. Julie Forsyth is memorable as Puck and Richard Piper gives the role of Bottom both its comic dues and some character nuance. All the cast deserve credit for the energy and physicality of their performances, which sees them on stage constantly, often clambering over the set or executing whirlwind scene changes. Despite all the energy, it kind of fizzles out at the end. This is partly due to the reduced cast. In the original, the performance of the peasants’ play prompts an all-cast-on-stage moment with the nobles watching the peasants and the fairies watching the nobles, a classic Shakespeare performance-within-performance moment. With only one set of actors to represent all three groups, this isn’t possible and the performance of the peasants’ play after the plot has been resolved and the romantic leads have all left feels unnecessary. Ah well, if you want to see a classic take on this play, one’s sure to pop up in a park near you soon enough. The Dream, while perhaps overshooting its mark in going dark and dramatic with a story about fairies and love potions, certainly offers some new perspectives on a work more complex than it is often given credit for.
The National Gallery of Victoria has your summer art fix sorted, showcasing works from over 100 artists as part of its ambitious NGV Triennial exhibition. And now the fun is set to continue after hours, too, with the ultimate supporting act — a month-long series of tunes, performances, eats and drinks, dubbed Triennial Extra. Taking over the NGV International precinct nightly from Friday, January 15–Sunday, February 14, this free festival will be making the most of those balmy summer evenings to come. As well as late-night access to the NGV Triennial from 5-9pm, visitors can tuck into an exclusive menu of modern Indian eats, with a pop-up restaurant from Adam D'Sylva's acclaimed Tonka descending on the NGV's Garden Restaurant. Elsewhere, you'll find pop-up bars from the likes of Asahi and Yering Station, and bespoke Triennial-inspired pastries from the famed Lune Croissanterie. [caption id="attachment_796275" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tonka's modern Indian fare, by Tim Grey[/caption] Meanwhile, Melbourne Music Week has jumped on board to help curate a lineup of DJ sets, gracing the Triennial Summer Stage in the fairy-lit Grollo Equiset Garden each night. Across the month, you'll catch sounds from the likes of Andee Frost, Pjenné, Sui Zhen, Claire Knight, IN2STELLAR, Edd Fisher and many more. And that's just a taste of what's on offer, with the full Triennial Extra program dropping on Monday, January 11.
It has been an immensely tough few weeks for southeast Queensland's Binna Burra Lodge, with the beloved Gold Coast hinterland site devastated by bushfires at the beginning of September. While the heritage-listed venue is currently planning its reconstruction process, including when it'll welcome patrons back through the doors, the iconic spot has announced a piece of good news — a new climbing attraction that'll open in 2020. While a specific launch date is yet to be revealed — unsurprisingly, given that the 86-year-old site is in rebuild and fundraising mode — Binna Burra Lodge will become home to Australia's first commercial via ferrata. The Italian term translates to "iron path", and is used to describe cliff-face climbing routes that use steel cables, fixed metal rungs, bridges and ladders to let folks of all skill levels to make the journey. Receiving $1.48 million in funding from the Queensland Government, the via ferrata will open up a section of cliff that's usually only accessible to highly experienced rock climbers (and even then, only by using special equipment). When it launches, anyone will be able to scale the track safely, enjoying its adventurous thrills and impressive views, with 30 people at a time able to use the system. Binna Burra Lodge expects that its new addition will be popular, anticipating that more than 50,000 Australian and international visitors will flock to the region as a result. The via ferrata will join the site's range of existing outdoor activities, which — when the venue becomes operational again — include bushwalking, abseiling, flying fox, archery, camping and trekking through the hinterland. [caption id="attachment_742692" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Binna Burra Lodge's sky lodges, before September's bushfires. Via Binna Burra Lodge.[/caption] Via ferratas are common in Europe, especially through the Alps — and particularly in the Dolomites in Italy, as well as throughout Austria, Germany and Switzerland. If you're wondering how they work, they typically rely upon a length of steel rope, which is affixed to the rock at certain intervals. Climbers then attach themselves to the cable, while also stepping on metal pegs and rungs, and using ladders and bridges, to make their way through the course. Binna Burra Lodge's via ferrata is expected to open in 2020. For more information, visit the site's website. To donate to the venue's reconstruction fundraising campaign, visit the GoFundMe page. Top image: Binna Burra Lodge.
UPDATE, APRIL 4: Disney has announced a new release date for Mulan, with the film now hitting cinemas on July 23, 2020. UPDATE, MARCH 13: Due to concerns around the coronavirus, Disney has announced that Mulan will no longer release on its initially scheduled date of Thursday, March 26, 2020. At present, a new release date has not been announced — we'll update you when one has been revealed. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia and how to protect yourself, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website. In Chinese history, the legend of Hua Mulan dates back to the sixth century. At the movies, the formidable female warrior first fought her way across the big screen in a 1927 silent film. The character is no stranger to the page, stage or cinema, but many folks know the tale thanks to Disney's 1998 animated musical. Now, as it has done with everything from Alice in Wonderland to The Jungle Book to Aladdin, the Mouse House is turning the story into its latest live-action remake. Once again, Mulan (played by Chinese American actor Liu Yifei) will evolve from dutiful daughter to kick-ass combatant, all to protect her family in a time of war. She's originally due to be married off to a husband chosen by a matchmaker, until the Emperor of China issues a decree stating that one man per household must serve the Imperial Army as it endeavours to fend off northern invaders. To save her ailing ex-soldier father from having to fight, Mulan disguises herself as a man, takes on the name Hua Jun and becomes an icon. Forget rousing tunes and talking dragons voiced by Eddie Murphy — this time, the tale hits the screen without the singing and smart-talking sidekicks, but with plenty of sword-swinging, arrow-flinging antics. In New Zealand director Niki Caro's (Whale Rider, The Zookeeper's Wife) hands, this version of the story goes heavy on the action and empowerment, as seen in the spectacularly choreographed scenes in the just-released first trailer. As well as Liu (whose resume includes The Forbidden Kingdom and The Assassins), the new Mulan features Jet Li as the Chinese Emperor, Gong Li as a witch, Donnie Yen as the protagonist's mentor, Jason Scott Lee as a villainous army leader, and Yoson An (The Meg, Mortal Engines) as her fellow fighter and love interest. The film hits cinemas next year — check out the teaser below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01ON04GCwKs After being delayed from its original release date of March 28, 2020, Mulan will now open in Australian cinemas on July 23, 2020.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER What do you call a movie filled with giant screaming goats, magic weapons vying for attention like romantic rivals, a naked Chris Hemsworth and a phenomenally creepy Christian Bale? Oh, and with no fewer than four Guns N' Roses needle drops, 80s nostalgia in droves, and a case of tonal whiplash as big as the God of Thunder's biceps? You call it Thor: Love and Thunder, and also a mixed bag. The fourth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to focus on the now 29-title saga's favourite space Viking, and the second Thor flick directed by Taika Waititi after Thor: Ragnarok, it welcomely boasts the New Zealand filmmaker's playful and irreverent sense of humour — and the dead-serious days of the series-within-a-series' first two outings, 2011's Thor and 2013's Thor: The Dark World, have definitely been banished. But Love and Thunder is equally mischievous and jumbled. It's chaotic in both fun and messy ways. Out in the cosmos, no one can swim, but movies about galaxy-saving superheroes can tread water. Thor Odinson (Hemsworth, Spiderhead) has been doing a bit of that himself — not literally, but emotionally and professionally. Narrated in a storybook fashion by rock alien Korg (also Waititi, Lightyear), Love and Thunder first fills in the gaps since the last time the Asgardian deity graced screens in Avengers: Endgame. Ditching his dad bod for his ultra-buff god bod earns a mention. So does biding his time with the Guardians of the Galaxy crew (with Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper and company popping up briefly). Then, a distress call from an old friend gives Thor a new purpose. Fellow warrior Sif (Jaimie Alexander, Last Seen Alive) has been fighting galactic killer Gorr the God Butcher (Bale, Ford v Ferrari), who's on a mission to do exactly what his name promises due to a crisis of faith — which puts not only Thor himself but also New Asgard, the Norwegian village populated by survivors from his home planet, at grave risk. In MCU movies before Ragnarok, many of which Thor has smouldered and smiled his way through, he would've attacked the problem — this time literally — with enchanted hammer mjolnir. It's been in pieces since the last standalone Thor film. Courtesy of the god's ex, it doesn't stay that way for long. Love and Thunder nabs itself two Thors for the price of one, after Dr Jane Foster (Natalie Portman, Vox Lux) hears mjolnir a-calling following a stage-IV cancer diagnosis. Soon, the astrophysicist is also the Mighty Thor, brandishing the mallet, wearing armour and sporting flowing blonde locks. When the OG Thor finds out, he's overcome with post-breakup awkwardness, but there's still a god killer to stop and also kidnapped kids to rescue. Cue a couple of Thors, plus Korg and New Asgard king Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson, Passing), trying to prevent the worst from happening. Love and Thunder is a film where those yelling oversized goats pull a boat into the heavens; where Hemsworth is gloriously in the goofiest mode he has, aka the best mode; and where Russell Crowe (Unhinged) plays a tutu-wearing, lightning bolt-flinging Zeus with the worst on-screen accent this side of House of Gucci (Greek instead of Italian, though). The movie is rarely more than a few seconds from a one-liner or a silly throwaway gag, and it loves colour more than a rainbow does — except when it doesn't, including in the desert-set opening that introduces Gorr and his god-slaying necrosword, and when it follows him into an eerie shadow realm. Love and Thunder also adds Bale, an actor forever linked with helping bring superheroes back to the blockbuster realm via Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, to the ranks of terrific caped crusader foes. This Thor flick contains plenty, clearly; however, for everything that works, something else doesn't. Read our full review. COMPARTMENT NO 6 Handheld camerawork can be a gimmick. It can be distracting, too. When imagery seems restless for no particular reason other than making the audience restless, it drags down entire films. But at its best, roving, jittery and jumpy frames provide one of the clearest windows there is into the souls that inhabit the silver screen in 90-minute blocks or so, and also prove a wonderful way of conveying how they feel in the world. That's how Compartment No. 6's cinematography plays, and it couldn't be a more crucial move; this is a deeply thoughtful movie about two people who are genuinely restless themselves, after all. Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen (The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki) wants what all of the most perceptive filmmakers do — to ensure his viewers feel like they know his characters as well as they know themselves — and in his latest cinematic delight, he knows how to get it. How Kuosmanen evokes that sense of intimacy and understanding visually is just one of Compartment No. 6's highlights, but it's worthy of a train full of praise. With the helmer's returning director of photography Jani-Petteri Passi behind the lens, the film gets close to Finnish student Laura (Seidi Haarla, Force of Habit) and Russian miner Ljoha (Yuriy Borisov, The Red Ghost). It peers intently but unobtrusively their way, like an attentive lifelong friend. It jostles gently with the locomotive that the movie's central pair meets on, and where they spend the bulk of their time together. It ebbs and flows like it's breathing with them. It rarely ventures far from their faces in such cramped, stark, 90s-era Russian surroundings, lingering with them, carefully observing them, and genuinely spying how they react and cope in big and small moments alike. Pivotally — and at every moment as well — it truly sees its key duo. With their almost-matching names, Laura and Ljoha meet on a train ride charting the lengthy expanse from Moscow to Murmansk. She's taking the journey to see the Kanozero petroglyphs, ancient rock drawings that date back the 2nd and 3rd millennium BC, and were only discovered in 1997; he's heading up for work. Laura is also meant to be travelling with Irina (Dinara Drukarova, The Bureau), her Russian girlfriend, but the latter opted out suddenly after an intellectual-filled house party where mocking the former for her accent — and claiming she's just a lodger — threw a pall of awkwardness over their relationship. Making the jaunt solo is still sitting uneasily with Laura, though. Calls along the way, answered with busy indifference, don't help. And neither does finding herself sharing compartment number six, obviously, with the tough- and rough-around-the edges Ljoha. It's been 71 years now since Alfred Hitchcock gave cinema the noir thriller Strangers on a Train. It's been 27 years since Richard Linklater also had two unacquainted folks meeting while riding the rails in Before Sunrise, which started a terrific romance trilogy starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. Accordingly, the idea behind Compartment No. 6 is instantly familiar. Here, two strangers meet on a train, a connection sparks and drama ensues. Kuosmanen, who nabbed an award at Cannes for The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki and then earned the 2021 competition Grand Prix, which comes second only to the prestigious Palme d'Or, for this, is clearly working with a well-used setup. But even though this isn't a movie that's big on surprises, it's still a stellar film. It's also a reminder that a feature that's personal and raw, also attuned to all the tiny details of life in its performances, mood and style, and firmly character-driven, can make even the most recognisable narrative feel new. Read our full review. SUNDOWN In Sundown's holiday porn-style opening scenes, a clearly wealthy British family enjoys the most indulgent kind of Acapulco getaway that anyone possibly can. Beneath the blazing blue Mexican sky, at a resort that visibly costs a pretty penny, Alice Bennett (Charlotte Gainsbourg, The Snowman), her brother Neil (Tim Roth, Bergman Island), and her teenage children Alexa (Albertine Kotting McMillan, A Very British Scandal) and Colin (Samuel Bottomley, Everybody's Talking About Jamie) swim and lounge and sip, with margaritas, massages and moneyed bliss flowing freely. For many, it'd be a dream vacation. For Alice and her kids, it's routine, but they're still enjoying themselves. The look on Neil's passive face says everything, however. It's the picture of apathy — even though, as the film soon shows, he flat-out refuses to be anywhere else. The last time that a Michel Franco-written and -directed movie reached screens, it came courtesy of the Mexican filmmaker's savage class warfare drama New Order, which didn't hold back in ripping into the vast chasm between the ridiculously rich and everyone else. Sundown is equally as brutal, but it isn't quite Franco's take on The White Lotus or Nine Perfect Strangers, either. Rather, it's primarily a slippery and sinewy character study about a man with everything as well as nothing. Much happens within the feature's brief 82-minute running time. Slowly, enough is unveiled about the Bennett family's background, and why their extravagant jaunt abroad couldn't be a more ordinary event in their lavish lives. Still, that indifferent expression adorning Neil's dial rarely falters, whether grief, violence, trauma, lust, love, wins or losses cast a shadow over or brighten up his poolside and seaside stints knocking back drinks in the sunshine. For anyone else, the first interruption that comes the Bennetts' way would change this trip forever; indeed, for Alice, Alexa and Colin, it does instantly. Thanks to one sudden phone call, Alice learns that her mother is gravely ill. Via another while the quartet is hightailing it to the airport, she discovers that the worst has occurred. Viewers can be forgiven for initially thinking that Neil is her cruelly uncaring husband in these moments — Franco doesn't spell out their relationship until later, and Neil doesn't act for a second like someone who might and then does lose his mum. Before boarding the plane home, he shows the faintest glimmer of emotion when he announces that he's forgotten his passport, though. That said, he isn't agitated about delaying his journey back, but about the possibility that his relatives mightn't jet off and leave him alone. Sundown is often a restrained film, intentionally so. It doles out the reasons behind Neil's behaviour, and even basic explanatory information, as miserly as its protagonist cracks a smile. The movie itself is eventually a tad more forthcoming than Neil, but it remains firmly steeped in Franco's usual mindset: life happens, contentedly and grimly alike, and we're all just weathering it. Neither the highs nor lows appear to bother Neil, who holes up at the first hotel his cab driver takes him to, then starts making excuses and simply ignoring Alice's worried calls and texts. He navigates an affair with the younger Berenice (Iazua Larios, Ricochet) as well, and carries on like he doesn't have a care in the world. His sister returns, frantic and angry, but even then he's nonplussed. The same proves true, too, when a gangland execution bloodies his leisurely days by the beach, and also when violence cuts far closer to home. Read our full review. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on April 7, April 14, April 21 and April 28; and May 5, May 12, May 19 and May 26; and June 2, June 9, June 16, June 23 and June 30. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Fantastic Beasts and the Secrets of Dumbledore, Ambulance, Memoria, The Lost City, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Happening, The Good Boss, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The Northman, Ithaka, After Yang, Downton Abbey: A New Era, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Petite Maman, The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Firestarter, Operation Mincemeat, To Chiara, This Much I Know to Be True, The Innocents, Top Gun: Maverick, The Bob's Burgers Movie, Ablaze, Hatching, Mothering Sunday, Jurassic World Dominion, A Hero, Benediction, Lightyear, Men, Elvis, Lost Illusions, Nude Tuesday and Ali & Ava.
If acts of kindness are among your new year's resolutions, then the Lost Dogs' Home would like to invite you to a garden party. The organisation currently has more than 100 cats and kittens in need of homes, and what better way to meet them than at a summery evening gathering, in between snacks and chats? The Meownificent Garden Party will be happening at the Home's shelter in North Melbourne, on Wednesday 24 January from 4pm. All felines in attendance will be desexed, microchipped, vaccinated and treated for worms and fleas. Should you find a cat that takes your fancy, you can take him/her with you for free. Meanwhile, kittens will be $110 each — that's half the usual price. To take a peek at the guests' profiles in advance, head to their website. "What better way to start 2018, than by welcoming a new furry family member to fill your home with fun and companionship?" said Ben Pocock, general manager, shelter and outreach services at the Lost Dogs' Home. "Your perfect match is bound to be here waiting for you." The party, which will go on until 8pm, will also feature summery treats, giveaways, games and activities, with people of all ages welcome. Don't forget that, even though kittens and cats are easy to fall in love with at first sight, they do need years of ongoing cuddles and care, so have a good, long think before bundling a cutie into your arms and rushing off into the sunset. The Meownificent Garden Party takes place at 4pm on January 24 at The Lost Dogs' Home, 2 Gracie Street, North Melbourne. For more information, visit their website.
If you're a dinosaur fan in Sydney, life keeps finding a way to indulge your interest in prehistoric creatures. Sydney's latest: Jurassic World: The Exhibition, which roars into town with life-sized, lifelike critters, as well as a celebration of 30 years since the first Jurassic Park movie initially rampaged across the big screen. A showcase with the same name displayed in Melbourne back in 2016, but this Harbour City visit comes after stops everywhere from London, San Diego, Paris and Madrid to Seoul, Shanghai and Toronto — running from Friday, September 22, 2023–Sunday, February 18, 2024. Expect to feel like you've been transported to Isla Nublar, complete with a walk through the big-screen saga's famed gates. From there, you'll walk through themed environments featuring dinos, including a brachiosaurus, velociraptors — yes, get ready to say "clever girl" — and a Tyrannosaurus rex. Also linking in with the animated Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous series, there'll be baby dinos, including the show's Bumpy. Sydneysiders and visitors to the New South Wales capital can get roaming, and staring at animatronic dinos, at the 3000-square-metre SuperLuna Pavilion at Sydney Showground in Sydney Olympic Park. Now, all that's left is to decide which Jurassic franchise character you want to emulate (the best choices: Laura Dern's palaeobotanist Ellie Sattler, Sam Neill's palaeontologist Alan Grant and Jeff Goldblum's mathematician Ian Malcolm, of course). And no, when Michael Crichton penned Jurassic Park in 1990, then Steven Spielberg turned it into a 1993 film, they wouldn't have expected that this'd be the result three decades — and five more movies — later.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE People have orgasms every day, but for decades spent closing her eyes and thinking of England in a sexually perfunctory marriage, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande's lead character wasn't among them. Forget la petite mort, the French term for climaxing; Nancy Stokes' (Emma Thompson, Cruella) big wrestling match with mortality, the one we all undertake, has long been devoid of erotic pleasure. Moments that feel like a little death? Unheard of. That's where this wonderfully candid, intimate, generous and joyous sex comedy starts, although not literally. Flashbacks to Nancy enduring getting it over with beneath her now-deceased spouse, missionary style, aren't Australian filmmaker Sophie Hyde (Animals) or British comedian-turned-screenwriter Katy Brand's (Glued) concern. Instead, their film begins with the religious education teacher waiting in a hotel room, about to take the biggest gamble of her life: meeting the eponymous sex worker (Daryl McCormack, Peaky Blinders). For anyone well-versed in Thompson's prolific on-screen history, and of Brand's work before the camera as well, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande inspires an easy wish: if only Nancy had a different job. Back in 2010, the pair co-starred in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, a title that'd also fit their latest collaboration if its protagonist cared for kids rather than taught them. Jokes aside, the instantly charming Leo is used to hearing that sentiment about his own professional choices. Indeed, Nancy expresses it during their pre- and post-coital discussions, enquiring about the events that might've led him to his career. "Maybe you're an orphan!" she says. "Perhaps you grew up in care, and you've got very low self-esteem," she offers. "You could have been trafficked against your will — you can't tell just by looking at somebody!" she continues. There are plenty of "if only" thoughts and feelings pulsating through Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, a film where its namesake's tongue couldn't be more important — yes, in that way, and also because talk is as crucial as sex here. If only Nancy hadn't spent half of her existence in a pleasure-free marriage. If only a lifetime of being middle class and socially conservative, and of internalising Britain's stereotypical 'keep calm and carry on' mentality, hadn't left her adrift from her desires. If only being a woman in her mid-50s wasn't seen as a libidinous void by society at large, a mindset that's as much a part of Nancy as the wrinkles and ageing body parts she can barely look at in the mirror. If only prioritising her sensual needs wasn't virtually taboo, too, especially in her mind — even after, two years since being widowed, she's booked an expensive rendezvous with Leo. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande unpacks those if onlys — not the Nanny McPhee one, obviously, but the idea that Nancy's life is immovably stuck in the same rut it has always been. As played by Thompson at the height of her acting powers, at her absolute splintery, finicky yet vulnerable best even with Last Christmas, Years and Years, Late Night and The Children Act on her recent resume, she's nervous, anxious, uncertain and always on the cusp of cancelling, including once Leo strolls into the room, beams his easy magnetism her way and starts talking about what she wants like it's the most natural thing in the world. Slipping into the sheets and knowing what excites you is the most natural thing in the world, of course, but not to Nancy. As her four appointments with Leo progress, she comes up with a lineup of carnal acts she'd like to experience — and she may as well be reading from her grocery list. But getting her to shed her inhibitions is as much his focus as shedding her clothes, and the twentysomething won't let Nancy keep getting in the way of herself. Read our full review. CRIMES OF THE FUTURE It takes a brave filmmaker to see cancer and climate change, and think of art, evolution and eroticism in a possible future. It takes a bold director to have a character proclaim that "surgery is the new sex", too. David Cronenberg has always been that kind of visionary, even before doing all of the above in his sublime latest release — and having the Scanners, Videodrome and The Fly helmer back on his body-horror bent for the first time in more than two decades is exactly the wild and weird dream that cinephiles want it to be. The Canadian auteur makes his first movie at all since 2014's Maps to the Stars, in fact, and this tale of pleasure and pain is as Cronenbergian as anything can be. He borrows Crimes of the Future's title from his second-ever feature dating back 50-plus years, brings all of his corporeal fascinations to the fore, and moulds a viscerally and cerebrally mesmerising film that it feels like he's always been working towards. Long live the new flesh, again. Long live the old Cronenberg as well. In this portrait of a potential time to come, the human body has undergone two significant changes. Three, perhaps, as glimpsed in a disquieting opening where an eight-year-old called Brecken (debutant Sotiris Siozos) snacks on a plastic bin, and is then murdered by his mother Djuna (Lihi Kornowski, Ballistic). That incident isn't unimportant, but Crimes of the Future has other departures from today's status quo to carve into — and they're equally absorbing. Physical agony has disappeared, creating a trade in "desktop surgery" as performance art. Also, a condition dubbed Accelerated Evolution Syndrome causes some folks, such as artist Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen, Thirteen Lives), to grow abnormal organs. These tumours are removed and tattooed in avant-garde shows by his doctor/lover Caprice (Léa Seydoux, No Time to Die), then catalogued by the National Organ Register's Wippit (Don McKellar, reteaming with Cronenberg after eXistenZ) and Timlin (Kristen Stewart, Spencer). When Crimes of the Future stages one of Saul and Caprice's gigs, it drips not with blood but spectacle and seduction. Indeed, it's no wonder that a curious Timlin utters that catchy observation about medical slicing and intimate arousal shortly afterwards. Alluring, eerie, grotesque and enthralling — and the epitome of the feature's sparse yet entrancing look and mood in the process — it's a powerhouse of a scene, with a self-autopsy pod at its centre. Saul lies still, Caprice uses an eXistenZ-esque fleshy video-game controller to get the contraption cutting, and an enraptured audience hang on every incision. Saul and Caprice do, too, although their visibly aroused reactions have nothing on their time later in the suite alone. (Cronenberg does love eschewing traditional ideas about what titillates; see also: his 1996 film Crash, about characters excited by car crashes. It's a clear precursor to this, and the movie that purred so that 2021 Palme d'Or winner Titane, by filmmaker Julia Ducournau, could rev.) Crimes of the Future's scalpel-equipped coffin is just one of Saul and Caprice's Lifeform Ware gadgets; if eXistenZ, Naked Lunch and Dead Ringers procreated, these are the devices the three flicks would spawn. HR Giger could've conjured them up as well, and thinking of the biomechanical artist's contribution to Alien, which saw him share an Oscar for visual effects, is as natural as feeling spellbound and perturbed by Cronenberg's movie in unison. This is a grimy world where a bed covered with skin and tentacles floats in Saul's home, calibrated to cater to his "designer cancer"-riddled body's needs as it slumbers — and where a chair that looks like a skeleton reassembled as furniture contorts Saul as he's eating, something he is having increasing trouble with otherwise. In other words, it's a world where the old flesh isn't doing what it always has, new flesh is sprouting in a changing and devastated reality, and technology fills in the gaps as it is always designed to. Read our full review. BOSCH & ROCKIT Remember the name Rasmus King. Based on 2022's slate of Australian films and television shows, that shouldn't be hard. The Byron Bay-born newcomer hadn't graced a screen, large or small, before this year — and now he has no fewer than four projects pushing him into the spotlight before 2023 arrives. Most, including surfing TV drama Barons, capitalise upon the fact that he's a pro on the waves IRL. Two, 6 Festivals and the upcoming sci-fi featurette What If The Future Never Happened?, get his long blonde locks whipping through the Australian music scene. The latter is based on Daniel Johns' teenage years, actually, and has King playing that pivotal part. If he's half as impressive in the role as he is in father-son drama Bosch & Rockit, Silverchair fans will have plenty to look to forward to. When writer/director Tyler Atkins opens his debut feature, it's in the late 90s, along Australia's east coast, and with King as eager surfer Rockit — son to weed farmer Bosch (Luke Hemsworth, Westworld). Sometimes, the titular pair hit the surf together, which sees Rockit's eyes light up; however, Bosch is usually happy tending to his illicit business, making questionable decisions, and coping with splitting from his son's mother Elizabeth (Leeanna Walsman, Eden) with the help of other women. Then a couple of unfortunate twists of fate upend Rockit's existence, all stemming from his father. Begrudgingly, Bosch is pushed into stepping outside his drug-growing comfort zone by an old friend-turned-cop (Michael Sheasby, The Nightingale) and his corrupt partner (Martin Sacks, Buckley's Chance). When a bushfire sweeps through the region shortly afterwards, he's forced to go on the run to stay alive. Bosch & Rockit approaches Bosch's absconding from Rockit's perspective, adopting the line that the former gives his boy: that they're going to Byron for an extended holiday. Atkins doesn't feed the same idea to its audience, but ensures that viewers understand why a bright-eyed teenager would take his dad at his word — not just because he doesn't know what Bosch does for a living, which he doesn't; or he's naïve, which he is; but also because he's eager to hang onto his biggest dream. There's sorrow in King's spirited performance, with Rockit more affected by his parents' split, bullying at school and the isolation that comes with finding solace in the sea, usually alone, than Bosch has the shrewdness to spot. There's earnestness as well, because what struggling kid who's desperate for the kind of love that genuine attention signifies, as Rockit visibly is, won't blindly believe whatever fantasy their dad or mum sells them for as long as possible? King does a magnetic job of conveying Rockit's inner turmoil, and expressing his uncertainty, too. There's an effortlessness to his portrayal, whether Rockit is lapping up Bosch's presence like a plant swaying towards the sunlight, listlessly left to his own devices when his dad decides he'd rather chase Byron local Deb (Isabel Lucas, That's Not Me), or finding a kindred spirit in Ash (Savannah La Rain, Surviving Summer), another restless and yearning teen vacationing under less-than-ideal circumstances and feeling like she's alone in the world. Avoiding formulaic plotting isn't Bosch & Rockit's strong suit, however, as the film makes plain at every turn. That's evident in both of its namesakes' trajectories, for starters — with Bosch a small-time crim falling afoul of the wrong people, with help from bad luck, then trying to start anew; and Rockit an innocent kid stuck with subpar parents, forced to grow up faster than he should, but hanging onto whatever he can. Read our full review. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on May 5, May 12, May 19 and May 26; June 2, June 9, June 16, June 23 and June 30; and July 7, July 14, July 21 and July 28, and August 4 and August 11. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Petite Maman, The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Firestarter, Operation Mincemeat, To Chiara, This Much I Know to Be True, The Innocents, Top Gun: Maverick, The Bob's Burgers Movie, Ablaze, Hatching, Mothering Sunday, Jurassic World Dominion, A Hero, Benediction, Lightyear, Men, Elvis, Lost Illusions, Nude Tuesday, Ali & Ava, Thor: Love and Thunder, Compartment No. 6, Sundown, The Gray Man, The Phantom of the Open, The Black Phone, Where the Crawdads Sing, Official Competition, The Forgiven, Full Time, Murder Party, Bullet Train, Nope, The Princess and 6 Festivals.
Succession with BDSM. A reminder that love can sear. A slinky two-hander that's sometimes about only having one free hand. Sanctuary is all of the above, plus a psychosexual battle and a romp of a twisty erotic thriller-meets-romantic comedy — and also a reminder that there's something about Christopher Abbott in chic hotel rooms being teased out of his comfort zone by blonde sex workers (see also: Piercing). There's something about the actor in confined settings in general (see there: Possessor, The Forgiven and Black Bear), but only this supremely confident affair about a significantly complicated affair pairs him with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood breakout Margaret Qualley. As they verbally tussle and sometimes physically tumble, unpacking class, control, chemistry, intimacy and authority along the way, they're a chamber-piece dream. Sanctuary's chamber: a sleekly appointed suite decked out in saturated colours and ornate patterns at one of the 112 hotels that share Hal Porterfield's (Abbott, The Crowded Room) surname. And the piece's point? The thorny, horny relationship between the born-to-privilege heir and Rebecca (Qualley, Stars at Noon), who enters his room with a sharp knock, a no-nonsense stare, business attire and a briefcase filled with paperwork. Hal's father has just passed away, and he's now Kendall Roy awaiting the anointing that he's been promised since birth. His companion runs through background-check questions, veering into the highly personal. Soon, after drinks, dismay and a snappy debate, he's on his hands and knees scrubbing the bathroom while she watches on. Now he's Roman Roy, complete with dirty-talk banter, but in a film directed by sophomore helmer Zachary Wigon (The Heart Machine) and penned by Micah Bloomberg (Homecoming). The early reveal that isn't really, because it's evident to everyone who can spot that Rebecca's pale bob is a wig? That she's being paid to be there not as a paralegal, but to satisfy her client's sexual whims. She's a no-contact dominatrix, in fact, and she's stellar at her job. Their entire opening exchange comes with a script — not just Bloomberg's, but one by the future hotelier CEO himself — although she doesn't stick to it slavishly. While this rendezvous isn't Hal and Rebecca's first, she isn't aware that it's meant to be their last until he gives her a $32,000 Audemars Piguet watch as a retirement present over post-submission, post-humiliation steaks and martinis. Now that he's taking on the big gig, he needs his insides to match his outsides, he tells her. Farewelling their arrangement isn't something that Rebecca planned on, however, and she wants — nay demands — more compensation for ending their ongoing transaction, and for her part in moulding Hal into soon-to-be-crowned corporate head honcho material. There's a puzzle-box feel to Bloomberg's clever and arching screenplay, with the narrative's layers matching the film's own, getting Sanctuary's characters and its audience playing the same game. Both groups slide into a scenario that swiftly flips, delivers danger in a meticulously orchestrated scenario, and where knowing what's real and what's purely an act is a riddle to be solved. For Rebecca and Hal, the stakes keep raising — both negotiate and threaten, cycle between flirtatiousness and bitterness, and dictate increasingly more drastic outcomes — in a cat-and-mouse fashion as desires, ultimatums, dance moves and furniture all fly. For viewers, picking how much truth sits in the pair's back-and-forth, where fantasy ends and reality begins, who really wants what, which is winning (and, if anyone can, or even genuinely hopes to) and when the next reversal will spring is just as lively. With plain-as-day resemblance to her mother, her Maid co-star and Sex, Lies and Videotape lead Andie MacDowell, to prove it, Qualley might be a nepo baby like Hal — and excellent at acting like Rebecca — but via Palo Alto, The Nice Guys, The Leftovers and Fosse/Verdon, too, she's been demonstrating her bright on-screen future for a decade now. She makes savvy role choices, including Sanctuary, which paves a way for a gleaming path in screwball comedies if that's all that she wanted to focus on (it won't be but, even just on paper, her upcoming parts in The Favourite director Yorgos Lanthimos' Frankenstein take Poor Things, plus Drive-Away Dolls, Ethan Coen's first solo stint away from his brother Joel, are glorious choices). As Rebecca, she's pulled in a thousand different directions, all heightened. She can be cool, calm and commanding in one moment; raw and wild the next; then deeply vulnerable after that. She's oh-so-gifted at saying everything with her eyes, but makes every barbed and spiky line land. Qualley's is an electric performance that's always a million things at once, and also astutely incisive at helping to interrogate a loaded haves-versus-have nots, employee-employer, battle-of-the-sexes dynamic. Crucially, she bounds through the feature with such alluring force that the movie's two blatant oversimplifications, equating sex work with scheming and sex workers with yearning for a romantic end, aren't story killers. She's well-matched by Abbott, who is as skilled as conveying introverted and repressive but posturing as Qualley is at getting fiery, exacting and expressive. Indeed, as Wigon clearly recognised, this duo makes slinging words a spectacle — among recent feuding film and TV couples, they're up there with Scenes From a Marriage's Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac for sheer potency. Sanctuary is infinitely more playful than that TV miniseries but, as it also gets heated in a claustrophobic setting where emotions run high, it still blazes. Wigon doesn't solely rely upon a war of words and feelings, as flung around by two actors giving their all and relishing it, though. Visually, cinematographer Ludovica Isidori (The Harbinger) actively pans, shifts, moves and spins, all while never giving even a moment's reprieve from the two quarrelling folks having showdown after showdown across one chaotic night. If a film's frames are a box, then Sanctuary keeps rattling every aspect that it can within that crate, then witnessing everything bounce. Just like Rebecca with Hal and vice versa, the end result is impossible shake off. And the title? That's Hal's safeword — but neither him or Rebecca, nor the shrewdly, saucily entertaining examination of sex, pleasure, ambition, entitlement and inhabiting a part that they're in, prefers playing it safe.
Modern day love dramatically differs from the romance of yesteryear due to courtship via digital means. While this is certainly not the case for everyone and their relationships, social media and hook-up apps undeniably play a huge part in navigating today’s love landscape. A new publication, created by Clara Bradley, looks to explore how digital communications have affected the way we love with a little help from some talented folk. A collection of artists, photographers, writers and designers have contributed to Tenderness Journal. Producing a tangible piece of print media that explores the implications of digital media is interesting in itself; perhaps the old ways are the best? We’ll soon find out. Along with the book launch there will also be an exhibition of the artists’ photographs at Fitzroy’s latest venue dedicated to the arts scene, Grey Gardens Projects. Contributors to Tenderness include James Andrews, Kiah Pullens, Kirrilee Bailey, Clara Bradley, Benjamin Chadbond, Hugh Coldwell-Ross, Mim Connell, Melissa Edwards and many others.
