Curated by boutique music agency I Heard A Whisper, White Noise offers up a program of choice aural delights to complement the rest of the festival's striking visuals and illuminations. On Friday, August 23, and Saturday, August 24, it goes venturing down laneways and into some of Melbourne's best-loved music venues, to deliver a high-energy showcase of emerging talent plucked from across the country. Trip through a broad range of genres, from upcoming acts like CLYPSO, The Merindas, DJ Colette, Pjenné & Millú, as they grace stages at Section 8, Jack & Bones, Boney, Globe Alley and newcomer Radar. To check out the full White Noise lineup, head to the White Night website. Images: Radar by Julia Sansone and The Merindas
Art meets science for this eye-opening, immersive Treasury Gardens installation, which is shining the spotlight on just how pollution is impacting different corners of the globe. Created by British artist Michael Pinsky, the series of five interconnected Pollution Pods will transport you to Norway's Tautra, London, New Delhi, Beijing and São Paulo, dishing up some confronting truths in the process. Each translucent, dome-like pod features a unique cocktail of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide, replicating the air quality and environmental factors of one of these cities. You'll kick things off enjoying the crisp clean air of Norway, while the other pods together share a much less cheery story. Pollution Pods are open Thursday–Friday 7pm–midnight and Saturday 7pm–2am. Image: Michael Pinsky
After closing out this year's Melbourne International Film Festival, one of this year's big Sundance hits is making its way to Australian cinemas next month, and the Lido is marking the occasion in the appropriate fashion. Starring Awkwafina, The Farewell tells the tale of a family who gather around their beloved matriarch when she's diagnosed with terminal cancer, but decide not to tell her so that she can enjoy what time she has left. If that instantly makes you want to spend more time with your own nanna, the Melbourne venue not only wants you to bring her along to see the movie — it'll let you do so for free. That's what this BYO grandma advanced screening is all about. Buy a single $21.50 adult ticket, and nab another one for your nan without spending a cent. You do need to select the appropriate package on the cinema's online ticketing page — and your gran will need to present a valid seniors card, or equivalent, when you collect your tickets — but that's all there is to it. Make a date in your diary for Saturday, August 24, with a free afternoon tea on offer from 1.30pm and the film kicking off at 2pm.
Maybe you've always wanted to hone your artistic talents, but have never found the right opportunity. Perhaps you have fond memories of your high school art classes. Or, you could find drawing the human form an expressive outlet — or simply just want to learn a new skill. Whatever your motivation, Melbourne's Ladies of Leisure is hosting Life Drawing Sunday Sessions that'll satisfy all of the above aims, all in a cosy, sunny room with a body-positive model. Even better — it doesn't matter how much practice you've previously had, or even if you've had none at all. Similarly, whether you own a whole stash of art supplies or don't know where to start, you'll still be in the right spot. Melbourne and Los Angeles-based artist Lani Mitchell will guide you through the process, with the freestyle drawing session celebrating creativity, flow and finding new perspectives. The class will also provide all the materials you'll need. Three more sessions are scheduled for August, at 2.30pm on Sunday, August 11, 18 and 25. The classes run for 90 minutes, and nabbing a $25 ticket asap is recommended — the last batch proved popular. Image: Bri Hammond.
It's safe to say Gami Chicken & Beer has secured its status as one of Melbourne's go-to fried chicken joints, slinging its signature, Korean-style chook from 16 locations across the city. After opening in Chadstone late last year, it's about to launch its seventeenth Melbourne spot, opening in The Glen Shopping Centre this week. And, to celebrate, Gami is giving Melburnians a few very good reasons to jump on board, handing out a whopping 1000 pieces of its boneless fried chicken — for free. These fried chicken morsels — RSPCA-approved and rocking Gami's signature blend of 17 herbs and spices — will be up for grabs from 12pm and again from 4.30pm, on both Thursday, August 8 and Friday, August 9 at the new location. The chain has yet to mention any restrictions, such as one piece per person, so we suggest heading in with an empty stomach. Once you're hooked, you're probably going to want to schedule a return visit pretty quick, to try other Gami favourites like the chicken spare ribs, the vegetarian chicken and the aptly named Potato Heaven, featuring three layers of cheesy potato goodness — all paired with beer from Brunswick brewery Thunder Road. Gami will giveaway 250 pieces of fried chicken giveaway at 12pm and again at 4.30pm on both Thursday, August 8, and Friday, August 9.
BeerFest has become permanent fixture on Australia's summer events calendar — and, while it's not coming to Melbourne in 2019, it is returning in February 2020. The festival is set to descend on St Kilda's Catani Gardens on Saturday, February 29, in a heady blaze of music, comedy, food and, of course, beer. For this year's Melbourne event, BeerFest will round up over 40 artisanal breweries and deliver hundreds of craft drops, all alongside a stack of great ciders, cocktails and wines. You'll kick off the season with tastings, food and beer matchings, and free, brewer-led masterclasses showcasing one-off creations. While the brewer list is yet to be announced, last year's event featured Melbourne's Henry Street Brewhouse and Urban Alley Brewing, Sydney's Young Henrys and Sauce Brewing Co, and the ACT's BentSpoke. What's more, this little shindig also packs a serious punch in the entertainment department — and while it's yet to drop the full bill there as well, Art vs Science will be headlining the whole thing. They'll also team up with Burnley Brewing and CryerMalt to create their own one-off beer, which you'll obviously be able to drink at the festival. There'll be plenty of laughs to be had, too, with the BeerFest Melbourne comedy stage also set to return. The on-sale date for tickets is yet to be announced; however expect entry to the festival to range between $20–50.
The end of winter is finally in sight. To farewell the (hopefully) last moments of chilly weather, Hanoi Hannah is making sure Melburnians stay warm until springtime with its new Soup Series. Every Monday in August, the beloved Vietnamese chain will roll out two new soups that move away from the well-trodden pho and give patrons a less frequented taste of the cuisine. The deal is available at two Hanoi Hannah outposts: New Quarter in Richmond and Elsternwick Vol. II. Each venue will launch a different soup each Monday and the dish will be available at the respective restaurants throughout the week, then reset with a different soup come the following Monday. The first week's selection, launching on Monday, August 5, includes an especially tasting sounding bun rieu in Richmond, which is pork, crab and noodles in a tomato broth topped with braised pork rib. Over in Elsternwick, the series will kick off with bun thang, a northern-style vermicelli dish with shredded egg, chicken, pork and pickled mushrooms. The Hanoi Hannah Soup Series is available at the New Quarter and Elsternwick locations for the month of August. Keep an eye on Instagram for weekly updates. Images: Karina Patten
The Bastille Day weekend might see some Melburnians scoffing French cheese, croissants and Champagne, but if you like things a little more fiery, make a beeline for some modern Indian eats at Hawker Hall. This winter, the Windsor food and beer hall is backing up its usual pan-Asian hawker fare with a limited-edition 'Little India' menu, helmed by new head chef Nabila Kadri. On Saturday, July 13, she'll be joined by Mischa Tropp (We Are Kerala, The Rochey) to deliver a flavour-packed lunch feast that celebrates their respective Indian backgrounds. For $49.50, you'll enjoy a shared spread of modernised classics, including onion and chickpea pakoras, persimmons matched with chilli salt, and curry leaf and turmeric-spiced chicken pastry parcels. Dig into mains like Mischa's mum's stir-fried coconut cabbage and a slow-cooked Keralan-style beef curry, then cool things down with a few crisp Kingfisher beers or wines by Avani. This one's a one-off, lunchtime-only affair, with bookings available from 11am. Tickets include all your food, while drinks are available from the bar.
Melbourne's newly opened independent cinema Thornbury Picture House is teaming up with Four Pillars Gin for a mini booze and film festival. On Thursday, July 25, the 57-seat High Street spot is hosting a double bill of The Fog and Suspiria paired with Bloody Shiraz gin cocktails. For the uninitiated, the former is an 80s supernatural horror flick by John Carpenter (Halloween) set in a fictional Californian coastal town. The latter, is Dario Argento's spooky and bloody 77 Italian masterpiece, which has recently been remade by Call Me By Your Name's Luca Guadagnino. To pair with these dark cult flicks will be The Nightshade, made with Four Pillar's highly coveted Bloody Shiraz gin, Campari and carrot juice. The screenings kick off at 6.30pm and 8.20pm but we suggest you get there a little earlier for drinks and to hear the pre-film entertainment: local band Tangerine Green. Tickets are $18.50 for each flick. Image: Nicole Clear
Few kinds of cheese cop quite as much love as the salty Cypriot favourite, haloumi. I mean, here in Melbourne, the brunch classic has even scored its own dedicated festival, which returns for its second edition this Saturday, October 26, and Sunday, October 27. Taking over the Brunswick East HQ of the Cyprus Community of Melbourne & Victoria, it's set to be a flavour-packed affair, celebrating both a much-loved cheese and the culture and traditions of its homeland. You'll have the chance to sample an array of top-quality haloumi, as well as picking up some tips and inspiration at an haloumi making demonstration. And once your appetite has been sufficiently piqued, you can explore the diverse lineup of food stalls serving up authentic Cypriot fare and haloumi-infused treats – from savoury bourekia pastries, to haloumi fries, to haloumi 'koupes', or cracked wheat pies. The Keo beer will be flowing and, of course, there'll be plenty of loukoumades for dessert. Meanwhile, the day's entertainment leans to the traditional, with a program of classic Greek and Cypriot dancing, live music and more. And what better way to work off all that cheese than kicking up your heels in a syrtaki or rembetika group dance session?
When Peninsula Hot Springs unveiled its revamped facilities last year, the acclaimed Fingal spot added something extra exciting — especially if you're keen to pair your soak with some entertainment. At the Mornington Peninsula getaway's outdoor Bath House Amphitheatre, you can now not only relax in the 39-degree geothermal pool in the evening air, but direct your eyes at a movie on the big screen while you're there. The Peninsula Hot Springs bathe-in cinema is all about getting blissful in warm water while watching movies that explore themes of connection, nature and laughter. A different film plays at 7.30pm every Friday night until October 4, and it's a smartly curated lineup — you can giggle at The Dish under the stars, embrace the waves with Whale Rider, enjoy the classic boy-and-pelican friendship of the original Storm Boy or take The Castle straight from the pool room to the pool. Even better — catching a flick is included in the regular Bath House bathing price, which'll set you back $45 per person.
East Malvern's humble Central Park isn't quite as grand as the one in NYC, but it'll certainly be tastier with the East Malvern Food and Wine Festival coming to its green lawns on Sunday, November 17. The weather will (surely) be warming up by then and it'll be a wise call to spend a day in the park — especially when you add 20 Victorian wineries and a handful of breweries into the mix. Go along to taste vino from Bendigo, Rutherglen and Heathcote regions, beers from Cheltenham's Bad Shepherd Brewing Co, G&Ts from Great Ocean Road Gin and espresso martinis from Mr Black, and taste till your heart is content and you've forgotten tomorrow is Monday. Food-wise, there'll be snacks from 48h Pizza & Gnocchi Bar, Mishiki Dumplings, Nepal Dining, The Greek Shop, The Smoke Pit and an ice cream stall where you can really go all out and treat yourself. You'll be able to stock up on artisanal produce (including lots of cheese) and, if you or your mates have kids, you can send them to a magician masterclass. It's also dog-friendly, so bring along your fur babies, too. The event is free to attend — you'll just need to buy your food and wine as you go — but you can pre-buy wine-tasting packages if you're super keen. East Malvern Food and Wine Festival runs from 11am–5.30pm.
2019 is nowhere near over, but it has already been a standout year for South Korean cinema. Not only is Bong Joon-ho's Parasite one of the best films of the year — and one of the most talked about — but it earned the Asian nation its first Palme d'Or from the Cannes Film Festival. No wonder director Bong was greeted by a crowd at the airport when he arrived back from the south of France after the glitzy event. Parasite is also one of the movies on this year's Korean Film Festival in Australia lineup; however the smash hit isn't the only great flick on offer between Thursday, September 5 and Thursday, September 12. If you're keen to dive deep into the exciting and eclectic films produced by the country — which celebrates 100 years in the movie business this year — then you're in the right spot. Screening at The Capitol Theatre, this year's KOFFIA features everything from blockbusters to indies and dramas to comedies, but recent favourites you might've missed elsewhere. Catch cop flick The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil before it's remade in the US; laugh at body-swap comedy The Dude in Me, revel in Korean War tap-dance musical Swing Kids, giggle at the undead with The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale and see the lighter side of law and order with Extreme Job — or step into tensions with North Korean in The Spy Gone North and explore a real-life tragedy with Birthday. And, while you're feasting your eyes on all of the above, you'll also help commemorate KOFFIA's huge 10th year.
It has been a couple of years since The Jungle Collective first started taking over Australian warehouses and slinging plenty of plants, all thanks to its huge sales in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. These leafy excuses to fill your home with greenery always have a bit of a celebratory vibe, and its next Melbourne outing is all about ramping that up a few levels to mark the outfit's second birthday. Gorgeous green babies will be the main attraction — and there will be more than 150 varieties of them, too. It's happening twice, across the two days of Saturday, October 12 and Sunday, October 13. Going by previous sales, you'll be able to pick up everything from fiddle leafs and monsteras to giant birds of paradise and rubber trees, as well as many ferns and hanging plants. You'll also be able to shop for designer pots, get expert advice from the horticulturalists onsite, listen to jungle tunes and even nab a $5 discount if you wear something birthday-themed, such as a hat, shirt or badge. It's all happening at the Yarra Sculpture Gallery, Abbotsford, with sessions held at 9am, 10.30am, 12pm and 2pm on Saturday, plus 10am and 12pm on Sunday. While entry is free, you'll need to secure a ticket from Monday, October 7 to head along.
They're taking the hobbits to Isengard at Palace Cinemas Balwyn this spring, with one movie marathon to rule them all. Round up the Fellowship, stock up on lembas bread for sustenance and hide your finest pipe-weed from the Southfarthing for one sitting of all three of Peter Jackson's beloved OG Tolkien film adaptations on Sunday, September 8. Kicking off with The Fellowship of the Ring and ending with The Return of the King, this cave troll of a marathon clocks in at 686 minutes plus breaks, starting the journey at 10am and including short breaks between each (for breakfast and second breakfast, if you will). If you make it to the final handful of endings, you can pat yourself on the back and smash a ringwraith screech at the nearest Balwyn resident on your way home (note: do not actually screech at the residents). Without a ticket, expect at least one overenthusiastic cinema staff member to make an example of you, thundering "you shall not pass!" to raucous applause. So buy a ticket, precious, for $25 (or $20 if you're a Palace movie club member). CORRECTION: AUGUST 27, 2019 — Palace Cinemas has announced that it'll be screening the extended versions of all three Lord of the Rings flicks, so the movie marathon will be going for 686 minutes plus breaks, not 558. The above article has been updated to reflect this.
Twenty years after releasing their ninth and most celebrated record, The Soft Bulletin, Oklahoma rock legends The Flaming Lips are heading back Down Under. They're coming to Melbourne to play the highly acclaimed album in full, as well as some of their greatest hits. Taking over Hamer Hall as part of Melbourne International Arts Festival, The Flaming Lips will bring their signature technicolour shows to life two nights. Expect elaborate costumes, confetti cannons and even neon unicorns to fill the stages as the seven-piece band performs hits such as 'Waitin' for a Superman', 'Race for the Prize' and 'A Spoonful Weighs a Ton'. Released in 1999, The Soft Bulletin is widely accepted as the band's greatest album, named by NME as the Album of the Year and by Pitchfork as a 'masterpiece' and the third best album of the 90s. As well as playing this seminal album in full, The Flaming Lips will also perform some of their other greatest hits, including 'Do You Realize??' and 'Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1'.
If seasonal change has left you in a dizzy headspin of new colours and fabrics and prints and jackets — or if, y'know, you just like some fancy new clothes now and then — you'll be pretty pleased to know that the Big Fashion Sale is coming back to Melbourne for four days this September. The name pretty much says it all. This thing is big. You'll find thousands of lush items from past collections, samples and one-offs from over 50 cult Australian and international designers, both well-known and emerging, including Phillip Lim, Lanvin, Romance Was Born, Isabel Marant, Stella McCartney, Kenzo and more. With discounts of up to 80 percent off, this is one way to up your count of designer while leaving your bank balance sitting pretty too. Prices this low tend to inspire a certain level of ruthlessness in all of us, though, so practise that grabbing reflex in advance. This is every person for themselves. The Big Fashion Sale will be open 9am–6pm Thursday, 9am–8pm Friday, 10am–6pm Saturday, and 10am–5pm Sunday.
Since making her movie debut as "girl in a blue truck" in Dazed and Confused, then popping up in a Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel, Renee Zellweger has enjoyed quite the career. She belted out a tune on a rooftop in Empire Records, told Tom Cruise that he had her at hello in Jerry Maguire and became everyone's favourite romantically challenged Briton in three Bridget Jones flicks. Then, she razzle-dazzled her way to an Oscar nomination in Chicago, before nabbing a coveted statuette for Cold Mountain. It's an impressive resume. So, when we say that Judy may just be Zellweger's best work, we don't make that statement lightly. Stepping into a famous figure's shoes might be one of acting's most difficult feats, especially when that person is cinema royalty, but Zellweger doesn't ever feel like she's just impersonating Judy Garland. Rather, she wears Garland's ruby slippers as if they're her own — and they fit perfectly. Technically, because Judy is set in the year leading up to the eponymous star's death, Zellweger doesn't literally don that iconic pair of footwear, with the film enlisting newcomer Darci Shaw to do the honours in flashbacks to Garland's teenage years. Zellweger doesn't need glittering shoes to inhabit the part, though; with nuance and intensity simmering through her performance, she shines brighter than any jewel-toned item of clothing ever has. While the aforementioned leaps back into the past show where Garland started, the expectations placed upon her and the destructive impact of her showbiz childhood, Judy spends the bulk of its duration in 1969. Garland is 46, with more than four decades of experience to her name, but she's scrounging for work. Deemed unemployable by Hollywood's insurance agencies, which nixes her cinema stardom, The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis and A Star Is Born talent sings and dances through touring stage shows instead. Both broke and homeless, she's trying to provide for two of her children (Bella Ramsey and Lewin Lloyd). So, when she reluctantly takes a long series of gigs in London, it's largely to earn enough cash so she doesn't have to keep travelling away from her kids afterwards. Given the above state of affairs, plus years of using prescription pills to stay awake and to get to sleep (and drinking as well), Garland isn't in prime physical, emotional or mental health during Judy's period of focus. Remaining in the public eye since she was two has clearly taken its toll, understandably. And, while Garland knows this, she's addicted to the thrill of being in the spotlight — and she has an ego to with it, too, as her interactions with her British minder (Jessie Buckley) demonstrate. Still, what a joy it is to spend time with Zellweger's version of Garland, and not only when she's wowing crowds while strutting across the stage. In an always hypnotic, often heartbreaking portrayal that illustrates the star's on-stage strength and behind-the-scenes sorrow in tandem, Zellweger turns every scene into a revelation. Watching as Garland dotes over her youngest offspring, attends a party with her twenty-something daughter Liza Minnelli (Gemma-Leah Devereux) and falls swiftly for her fifth husband (Finn Wittrock), viewers see the yearning heart of someone who just wants to love and be loved in return. In her messier moments, of which there are many, we feel the kind of aching pain that all the cheering fans in the world can't fix. And, when she's crooning a greatest-hits collection from across her career — including 'Get Happy' and, of course, 'Over the Rainbow' — we understand why she keeps doing what she does even when it's almost killing her. For existing Garland aficionados, the result is like trotting down the yellow brick road — you can bask in all the glorious details you've ever wanted, while also getting a glimpse behind the curtain at the stark reality behind the magic. And if The Wizard of Oz is your only real frame of reference for Garland, Judy wholeheartedly explains that the now-80-year-old classic was neither the beginning nor the end of her tale. Accordingly, in adapting stage musical Over the Rainbow for the screen, director Rupert Goold (TV's The Hollow Crown) and writer Tom Edge (The Crown) have hit the biopic jackpot. There's a sense of formula at work in Judy's storytelling, as can happen in showbiz portraits, but it captures its subject in a winning way. And, come next year, Zellweger will likely be winning plenty more awards for her efforts — for such a captivating performance that does justice to a legend, she deserves to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C61wB6DTwiA
On the hunt for some fresh reading material? Or maybe you're keen to get a jump-start on that Christmas present shopping? Either way, you're sure to find a few winners at the Penguin Random House annual charity book sale. The event's 2019 edition descends on Collins Square's Walker Lane on Thursday, October 24, offering a smorgasbord of literary delights and all for an excellent cause. Entry to the mammoth sale is by gold coin donation, which, along with proceeds from the day's book sales, will go straight to supporting charity partner the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. It'll help the non-profit continue to spread the love of reading to children in remote Indigenous Australian communities — and help the communities to tell and publish their own stories. Last year's event saw book-lovers raising more than $17,000 for the cause. The sale is set to be stocked with an enormous range of bargain titles, covering a hefty spread of genres and with prices starting from as low as $5. Bring a bag and stock up.
If there's one way to top just about any situation, it's to add a bunch of very good doggos into the mix. Which makes this particular Christmas party one to trump them all. Pet accessories label Sebastian Says is swinging into the festive season with a bingo, beer and pizza party for hounds and humans alike. It's all happening at Port Melbourne's dog-friendly Italian restaurant Ciao Cielo on Sunday, December 15. You'll be able to unleash your competitive streak at the huge game of bingo, with the first 40 punters to register on the day scoring a Sebastian Says gift bag of goodies. The game itself promises a stack more giveaways, plus prizes ranging from pet grooming sessions to tasty dog treats. Humans can order modern Italian eats from the full Ciao Cucina menu, while their four-legged counterparts can snack on a range of bone broth doggy "beer" ($5) and gluten-free woodfired pizzas crafted especially for pooches ($8). During the day, you'll also be able to able to try and buy spiffy pieces from Sebastian Says' latest range of dog shirts, bandanas, collars and leads. Summer wardrobe, sorted — well for you pooch at least. Sebastian Says' Bingo Christmas Party runs from 11am–3pm.
When it rolls around each October and November, Palace Cinemas' British Film Festival, presented by MINI, serves up Australia's starriest cinema showcase. Take 2019's program, for example, which includes Keira Knightley playing a real-life whistleblower in Official Secrets, Helen Mirren facing off against Ian McKellen in The Good Liar, The Theory of Everything's Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones re-teaming for The Aeronauts, and Liam Gallagher getting the documentary treatment in Liam Gallagher: As It Was. Coming to our shores fresh from opening the London Film Festival, The Personal History of David Copperfield also ranks among BFF's highlights, too — as you'd expect from a witty flick based on Charles Dickens' novel, directed by Veep, The Thick of It, In the Loop and The Death of Stalin's Armando Iannucci, and starring Dev Patel, Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie and Ben Whishaw. Elsewhere, British movie buffs can catch moving social-realist drama Sorry We Missed You, with I, Daniel Blake's Ken Loach directing his take on the gig economy; Happy New Year, Colin Burstead, the latest darkly comic film from High-Rise's Ben Wheatley; and Hope Gap, starring Annette Bening, Bill Nighy and God's Own Country's Josh O'Connor. Running in Melbourne from Wednesday, October 30 to Sunday, November 24 at The Astor Theatre, Palace Balwyn, Kino Cinema, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como and Palace Westgarth, BFF's 2019 program also features a six-film retrospective paying tribute to Helen Mirren's stellar career, plus a 4K restoration of horror classic Don't Look Now. The list goes on, including the latest unsettling documentary from acclaimed documentarian Alex Gibney (Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief) — with Citizen K focusing on Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his exile in London.
Someone else's old designer threads could become your new favourite outfit, all thanks to Melbourne's latest secondhand clothing pop-up. Running as part of this year's Garage Sale Trail, and taking place from 10am–4pm on Saturday, October 20, Coveted Closets will fill Brighton Town Hall with pre-loved fashion and accessories. Even better — it all comes from the wardrobes of local fashion bloggers, stylists and industry figures, so you'll be picking up items and outfits from folks known for their style. They include The Fashion Advocate founder Claire Goldsworthy, designer Corinne Pettersen, The Age national fashion editor Melissa Singer, vintage lover Yahav Ron and personal stylist Sally Mackinnon. And as for brands and labels, you can expect everything from Fendi and Chanel to Camilla and Gorman. You'll also need to pay $2 for entry, but once you're inside you can browse and buy until your heart's content. Coffee and sweet treats will also be onsite, so you can keep up your energy while you're shopping.
UPDATE: MARCH 2, 2021 — Creed Bratton's Australian tour has been postponed to September 2022, with The Office star now playing Melbourne on Sunday, September 25. Current tickets will still be valid for all upcoming tour dates. The below article has been updated to reflect this change. Dunder Mifflin's most eccentric employee is coming to Melbourne, and he has plenty of stories to share. Best known for playing a highly fictionalised version of himself on the US version of hit sitcom The Office, Creed Bratton isn't someone that viewers will forget quickly — and if you enjoyed his antics as a quality assurance director at everyone's favourite Scranton paper company, then you just might want to check out his live stage show. Beyond The Office, the real-life Bratton has quite a history. He started as a travelling musician, played lead guitar on the first four albums by American rock group The Grass Roots, and has released his own solo records, too. On-screen, he has also popped up in Grace and Frankie, western flick The Sisters Brothers, and Comedy Bang! Bang!. Bringing his variety show to Melbourne's The Corner on Friday, October 15, Bratton is continuing what he's doing for years — solo stage shows, that is. As well as music and comedy, he'll chat through the ups and downs of his career, including the obvious: his time on The Office. If you've ever wanted to know why Creed loved spider solitaire so much, whether he actually did any work and if the character was ever really in a cult ("you have more fun as a follower, but you make more money as a leader," he once claimed), this might be your chance.
We're still a week out from December 25, but you won't have to wait quite that long for a visit from the jolly man in red. Santa's getting a jump-start on this year's rounds and popping by nostalgia-fuelled ice creamery Kenny Lover this Sunday, December 22. And he's got plenty of treats in store for kids both big and little. From 3–6pm, he'll be dishing out free scoops of his favourite flavours from the Kenny Lover lineup — milk ice cream spiked with chunks of freshly baked choc chip cookie, and a frozen riff on the classic Christmas pudding. Santa's also bringing a sack full of 200 free presents to hand out to those on his 'nice' list, ranging from toys for littlies to some sweet Kenny Lover merch for the grown-ups. [caption id="attachment_755696" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Julia Sansone[/caption] What's more, the big guy's even agreed to sit for some classic Santa snaps while he's there. Grab a festive photo with your bestie, your kid or your fur baby, and it'll be turned into a true-blue Aussie Christmas card on the spot. Santa will be at Kenny Lover from 3–6pm. Top image: Kenny Lover.
The minds behind the multi-layered delight that is the legendary Strawberry Watermelon Cake — which has lit up Instagram feeds across the world since its inception in Sydney over a decade ago — are heading south. Sydney's Black Star Pastry is whipping up something just for us Melburnians, opening the doors to a summer-long pop-up in St Kilda. Making its home beneath Acland Street's Jackalope Pavilion — where you'll find blockbuster installation Rain Room — the temporary bakery follows a successful 2017 pop-up in Carlton, as well as plenty of outings at Melbourne's Night Noodle Markets over the years. The new pop-up store is serving up a selection of Black Star smash hits, the bill headlined, of course, by that Strawberry Watermelon Cake. Sporting layers of almond dacquoise, rose-scented cream and watermelon, this little beauty sells around one million slices annually across the brand's four Sydney stores and was even dubbed the "world's most Instagrammed cake" by The New York Times. Other favourites making the journey south include the Pistachio Lemon Zen Cake — another layered sensation featuring pistachio ganache, white chocolate mousse, lemon curd and crunchy pistachio dacquoise — and the Raspberry Lychee Cake, which fuses chocolate biscuit, raspberry marshmallow and vanilla cream. When Easter rolls around, Melburnians will also get to try the brand's famed hot cross buns. The sweet stuff is complemented by St Ali coffee and a contemporary, minimalist store space, featuring neon signage by UK artist Tracey Emin proclaiming "you loved me like a distant star". And, in a win for those who don't like waiting, customers can also pre-order a range of cakes online and skip the queues with express pick-up. While this Melbourne store is only a pop-up, Black Star Pastry has plans to open stores across Australia (and overseas) in 2020 — fingers crossed one of those lands in Melbourne. The pop-up will be open from open 8am–4pm Monday to Friday and 8am–5pm Saturday and Sunday until Easter 2020.
If come January you find yourself stuck in the city battling the inevitable post-holiday blues, consider Sunset Sounds one of your summertime saviours. Launching its sixth season, the free concert series will once again feature a program of gigs hosted at parks across the Stonnington area throughout the month. Returning for three Sunday sessions from January 5, Sunset Sounds is set to dish up a cracking mix of up-and-coming homegrown musical talent, best enjoyed from the comfort of your picnic blanket. Prahran's Victoria Gardens helps to kick-start the 2020 season in style, with hip hop group Billy Davis & The Good Lords supported by jazz singer Tanya George. Genre-blending band The Northern Folk headline the January 12 edition, gracing Central Park in Malvern East with help from Rach Brennan & The Pines. And the fun wraps up on January 19 at Malvern Gardens, as soulful guitarist Laneous takes to the stage, followed by Indigenous singer Emma Donovan. Each concert runs from 5-8pm, with a lineup of food trucks on hand serving cheese platters, gelato, fish and chips, and more — just in case you forget your picnic basket — to back the openair tunes and barefoot dance moves.
They're taking to hobbits to Isengard at the Astor Theatre this January, with one movie marathon to rule them all. Round up the Fellowship, stock up on lembas bread for sustenance and hide your finest pipe-weed from the Southfarthing for one sitting of all three of Peter Jackson's beloved OG Tolkien film adaptations — in their extended forms. Kicking off with The Fellowship of the Ring and ending with The Return of the King, this cave troll of a marathon clocks in at 686 minutes plus intermissions, starting the journey at 10am and including two 20-minute meal breaks (breakfast and second breakfast, if you will). If you make it to the final handful of endings, you can pat yourself on the back and smash a ringwraith screech at the nearest St Kilda resident on your way home (note: do not actually screech at the residents). Tickets are the precious and come in at $35 for the whole ordeal. And, to help ramp up your excitement, watch the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_WZxJpHzEE
You oughta know, Alanis Morissette is heading Down Under. The famed 90s singer will perform in Melbourne as part of her world tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of her chart-topping 1995 album Jagged Little Pill. So, get ready to sing along to 'Ironic', 'You Oughta Know' and 'All I Really Want' at Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday, April 14 and Wednesday, April 15, respectively. That first date was actually just added to the tour due to demand — because Melbourne clearly loves Alanis head over feet. The 90s icon will be supported by Australia's own Julia Stone. Stone has released two solo albums, with a third due out later this year — plus four together with her brother Angus, including Down the Way, which won Album of the Year at the 2010 ARIA Awards. Morissette's own collection of music awards is hefty, and includes seven Grammys and 12 Juno Awards. While her 1995 album Jagged Little Pill is the most critically acclaimed, the Canadian singer has released eight albums and is set to drop her highly anticipated ninth, Such Pretty Forks in the Road, in May. In the meantime, though, hype yourself up for the Aussie tour by belting out the following banger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jne9t8sHpUc
If you've ever had a sneaky little go with some small person's Lego blocks once they're all tucked up in bed, Legoland sees you, tips you their hat… and raises you an adults-only night at its Melbourne Discovery Centre. With no children to get in the way (or outdo your creations), you'll be able to have free rein of Legoland to check out the 4D cinema and rides, take a factory tour, and build to your heart's content in the brick pits. Challenge yourself by taking on the master builder or a speed build and vie for the prizes up for grabs — and go full inner child mode, obviously. It all takes place from 6.30–9pm on Friday, February 7 — and BYO shameless excitement, taste for glory, and creativity to enter the model of the month competition. It'll be a fierce one.
UPDATE: MARCH 13, 2020 — Due to fears surrounding COVID-19, Meatstock has been postponed from March 14 and 15 until August 15 and 16. All tickets will be automatically transferred to those dates. We'll let you know when more information is announced. If you're the sort of person who likes to eat meat until you start shaking with the meat sweats and can (m)eat no more, then a festival very relevant to your interests is coming to town. Meatstock Festival, a two-day celebration of all things animal, is setting up its smoky self in the Melbourne Showgrounds. Not just your regular food festival, bands on the Meatstock lineup include Jebediah, Cookin' on 3 Burners, Freya Josephine Hollick, Caitlin Harnett and the Pony Boys, The Soul Movers and Jim Lawrie, with more to be announced. Sure, there'll be less music than there is at Woodstock, but there will be 200 percent more tasty meat-related foods. The food stars of the show are Burn City Smokers, Limp Brisket, Black Barrel BBQ, Hoy Pinoy and more. Try some of each, or make your way through all of the food stalls and then fall into a sweaty, cholesterol-heavy heap — don't say we didn't warn you. Finally, for a little old-fashioned rivalry, the festival will be running its Butcher Wars, which will basically be a bunch of hopefully unbloodied people running around competing and wielding various knives. There's also Barbecue Wars too, heating up the grill in more ways than one. What a weekend.
UPDATE: April 27, 2020: The Biggest Little Farm is available to stream via Google Play and YouTube. Say goodbye to your inner-city digs, pack up your belongings and head to the country — it's time to swap your concrete playground for a grassy, tree-lined, animal-filled one. That's how you might be feeling after watching The Biggest Little Farm, the warm and informative documentary that charts a just-married Californian couple's quest to follow all of the above steps in the name of a better life. John and Molly Chester's dream is simple, at least on paper. They want to run their own farm, relying on traditional methods and doing so in harmony with nature. One-crop spreads, soulless egg factories and the general type of commerce-driven farming that has become common today aren't for them. Instead, their rural utopia boasts a broad array of creatures and hundreds of different types of edible plants, creating a mini-ecosystem that supplies everything the pair eats — and everything that Molly, a private chef and food blogger, could ever need to cook with. The fact that a film exists about their efforts, and that it's helmed by John himself — a cinematographer and Emmy award-winning director when he's not working the land — signals the obvious: that the Chesters turned their vision into a reality. Spanning most of the past decade, The Biggest Little Farm chronicles the ups and downs of attempting to transform an unwelcoming 200-acre patch of soil into a thriving natural farming haven, all by following the advice of biodynamic farming guru Alan York. Taking over an abandoned farm, they strip away most of the existing crops, replacing them with new ones. They wait as the greenery grows, and as their newly acquired menagerie of chickens, pigs, ducks, sheep, dogs and other diverse critters all play their part. (Of paramount importance: the animals' poop, of which there's plenty.) First laughed at by their friends and family, the Chesters' support system expands, as does the farm they call home and the business side of the equation. Bookended by wildfires, with flames threatening to encroach upon the property an hour outside of Los Angeles, The Biggest Little Farm bubbles with timeliness — and not just because of Australia's current catastrophic blazes. The documentary actually first started screening at international film festivals back in 2018, coming in third in the audience choice award in Toronto that year, but the attitude it celebrates is a clear reflection of the growing recognition that much about humanity's current existence is harming the planet. Accordingly, as proved the case with Aussie doco 2040, watching the Chesters' plight proves educational, inspirational and aspirational. Their passion is infectious, whether they're helping birth calves, tending to an ailing pig or endeavouring to save their chickens from coyotes. The movie doesn't aim to take viewers through their feats step-by-step or teach audiences exactly how to follow the same path, but it does show what's possible for anyone willing to try. When the film leans into the adorable, heartwarming side of such an idealistic venture, cuteness abounds. An outcast rooster befriends a sow, oinking piglets run riot, and dogs lick lambs as if they were cleaning their own offspring. John doesn't shy away from the tougher realities of farm life, though — including wildlife predators, birds pecking through most of their fruit, a tricky snail infestation and serious animal health issues. First and foremost, however, he's viewing his experiences through a firmly upbeat, affectionate, resilient and persistent lens. This is a true tale that starts with a promise to a just-adopted dog, which John saves from an animal hoarder with more 200 critters and pledges to give a loving home, after all. When that pup barked so much that the couple got evicted, that's when John and Molly decided to chase their farming dreams. The movie's positive spin lends itself to lively animated sequences, bringing Molly's fantasies to the screen a suitably colourful, affable way. Still, as engaging as this rich, gentle documentary is — and as likely as it is to make you wish you could take the Chesters' lead — that jovial mood also results in a few overtly cliched touches. The film's music drips with sentiment, as if it doesn't quite trust that the on-screen critters are enough by themselves. The brightly coloured hues do more than just capture the farm's sights, literally painting a vibrant, sun-dappled picture. And, when it comes to the difficult reality of actually funding this sizeable venture (and making an independent doco about it at the same time), concrete details are glaringly absent. Plus, the personal voiceover sometimes verges on cloying. Worse: the reaction to someone's ill health and its impact on the farm plays as selfish, as if this parcel of land is more important than another person. These are all minor issues, but they do stop a valuable movie about eco-conscious living from being truly great rather than just very good. You'll still want to pack your bags and leave the rat race far behind, though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcQKWkpPB3U
Have you ever thought to yourself, mid-croissant and cafe au lait, that perhaps you were destined to call the City of Light home? That the sleek fashion, buttery entrées and full-bodied merlots of France are your true native roots? Well, you can save yourself the plane ticket, because from November 29 to December 1, Paris to Provence Melbourne will bring all the best bits of France to you. Put on your best Parisian pout and sashay down to the Como House and Garden to sample traditional French delicacies, sip many a wine and immerse yourself in that je ne sais quoi of French culture. This year the Francophile festival, which has been running for ten years, has new owners: Milk the Cow fromagerie. And you know what that means — more cheese. As well as hosting its regular cheese-filled stall, Milk the Cow will be running cheese and booze pairing masterclasses (with either sparkling wines, red and white wines or French cider) for $40 a pop. There'll also be live music, fancy dress parties for dogs, sabrage (opening champagne bottles with a sword) demonstrations, champagne breakfasts, French feasts and champagne masterclasses. If none of that tickles your fancy (did we mention there will be croissants?), the Paris to Provence marketplace also includes a veritable feast of over 50 stalls, covering off all the food and wine, fashion, homewares, gifts, language, books and travel tips you could ask for. Expect hot melty raclette, crêpes, lobster rolls, crème brûlée and a myriad of pastries. Paris to Provence runs from 12–9pm Friday, 10am–9pm Saturday and 10am–9pm Sunday.
The 90s were great. That shouldn't be a controversial opinion. Whether you lived through them or have spent the last couple of decades wishing you did — aka binging on 90s pop culture — Stay Gold's New Year's Eve shindig will indulge both your retro and your festive urges. Drinks, tunes, fashion: expect all of the above at the No Scrubs: 90s and Early 00s party from 9pm on NYE. Of course, it's up to you to make sure the clothing side of thing is covered, and to get into the spirit of the season. If you want to use Mariah Carey as a style icon, it'd be fitting. Expect to unleash your inner Spice Girl and Backstreet Boy too. TLC, Destiny's Child, Savage Garden, Usher, Blink-182, No Doubt — we'd keep listing artists, but you all know what you're getting yourselves into. Tickets are $23.30, with the fun running through until 3am.
UPDATE, March 19, 2021: Children of the Sea is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. It's not the first animated film to attempt the feat — or achieve it — but Children of the Sea turns the delights of the ocean's depths into a dazzling spectacle. Where everything from The Little Mermaid and SpongeBob SquarePants to Ponyo and Song of the Sea first swam, this gorgeous Japanese movie follows, although comparing this striking animation to its great underwater predecessors doesn't paint the whole picture. Directed by Ayumu Watanabe and adapted from Daisuke Igarashi's manga of the same name by the author, Children of the Sea also paddles in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Akira's slipstreams. If that sounds like a wild ride, then strap yourself in for more to come. An eco-conscious tale about a lonely 14-year-old girl and two boys raised by dugongs that makes a connection between the ocean's vibrance and outer space's infinite expanse, this is an ambitious movie to say the very least. Ruka (voiced by Mana Ashida) is Children of the Sea's aforementioned teen outcast. School is out for the summer but, after a violent incident gets her shunned by her peers in her coastal town, she's at a loose end. Only her mother's (Yu Aoi) day-drinking awaits at home, so Ruka ventures to the local aquarium where her marine biologist father (Goro Inagaki) works. It's here that she not only re-ignites an affinity for the water that she's felt since she saw something glimmering in the tank as a small child, but where she also meets kindred spirits Umi (Hiiro Ishibashi) and Sora (Seishū Uragami). Her new pals have a definite advantage over Ruka in the sea-worshipping stakes, though; until they came to live at the aquarium, where they're taken care of by scientists, the siblings dwelled among the ocean's marine life — and they have exceptional underwater abilities to prove it. Ruka connects with the cheeky, impish Umi and the pale, ethereal Sora just as a series of environmental anomalies start gaining attention — including whale sightings near Manhattan, a meteor crash in the water, and an otherworldly song that's drawing the sea's creatures to one specific spot for a once-in-a-lifetime gathering. Also pertinent: the fact that Umi and Sora seem to be fading, perhaps even dying, thanks to their new life on land; and the possibility that Ruka's link to the duo just might be stronger than anyone imagines. Children of the Sea could've combined the above components into a somewhat straightforward story — awkward teens, the natural world and supernatural elements have been doing big business in Japan's animated fare of late, including Your Name, Weathering with You and Ride Your Wave — but that's not what Watanabe and Igarashi have in store. They're thinking big, bold and existential, as filtered through the experiences of Ruka and her friends. And, in pondering how everyone has a responsibility to the planet, while also recognising that each individual is a speck in a world far vaster than any one of us will ever encounter, the film's creative talents aren't afraid to dive into seemingly conflicting notions. Marrying the ecological with the cosmic, Children of the Sea's wide-ranging aims do occasionally threaten to exceed its reach (that Igarashi's manga was published in five volumes between 2007–12 won't come as a surprise). Accordingly, anyone hoping for a linear and logical progression through the feature's narrative, rather than many a flight of fantasy and a last-act burst of mind-bending imagery, is watching the wrong movie. But through its vivid visuals, this eye-catching, heart-swelling gem always conveys a sense of of awe and wonder — and a feeling that, no matter what a certain big entertainment studio keeps telling us, animation has its unique charms. This film could never be remade as live-action, or be used as template for a version with photo-realistic animals. Indeed, all the special effects in the world can't replicate Children of the Sea's intricate watercolour renderings of the ocean, which look complex, glorious and larger than life. The same applies to the movie's kaleidoscopic array of pictures and hues, the energy and liveliness of its marine ecosystem, and even its detailed human characters, who are clearly animated but never resemble cartoons. Plus, matching its audio to its imagery, Children of the Sea boasts quite the finishing touch. A score by Studio Ghibli veteran Joe Hisaishi (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle — the list goes on) layers the movie with suitably swirling emotion, and the end result easily sweeps audiences away. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ymJvqelwXE&feature=emb_logo
Sure, summer's technically over, but in one little astroturfed pocket of the city, it's kicking on strong. Pint-sized bar Chuckle Park is gripping onto those warm weather vibes with both hands and it won't let go — well, not until it throws its Neverending Summer party on March 14, at least. Expect a lively little shindig, in celebration of the bar's brand-new cocktail menu and revamped opening hours. From 4–5pm, Mountain Goat will be doling out complimentary beers (one per person — don't go getting any ideas), while free tasters of the new cocktail lineup are up for grabs on the hour at 5pm, 6pm and 7pm. Buy a drink and post a snap of any of these new sips to your Instagram account on the night for the chance to win a $100 bar tab. Rounding out the festivities, there'll be cocktail paddles and specials galore on Jameson Whisky cocktails, set to a soundtrack of live tunes from JJ&Ray and DJ sets from some of Chuckle Park's resident acts.
Once again, German DJ legend Claptone is preparing to hit Aussie shores, returning to deliver the latest edition of his international smash-hit soirée, The Masquerade. Popping up in Melbourne for the third time, the mysterious, multi-sensory event is being presented in collaboration with Untitled Group — the creative minds behind the likes of Ability Fest, Pitch Music & Arts and Beyond the Valley. Having toured a selection of cities worldwide over the past few years, The Masquerade's next stop is Burnley Circus Park in Melbourne on Saturday, April 13. It's set to transform the space into a den of revelry for one afternoon, featuring a heady mix of performances, acrobats, sounds and quirky characters you won't forget in a hurry. Promising to ramp up the intensity levels, all guests will be given masquerade face wear as they enter the event — a reference to Claptone's own signature golden mask.
Surfing and gig-going have always been two of Australia's best-loved pastimes, and last year we scored a festival celebrating the best of both worlds. And, now, it's back for its second round of autumnal beachside festivals. Returning this April, The Drop festival will cruise around the country as it follows the Aussie leg of the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour and it's bringing a banging little lineup of musical gold along for the ride. Surfing the festival wave for 2019 are brother-sister folk band Angus and Julia Stone, the perennially pastel indie pop duo Client Liaison and NSW surf rock band Hockey Dad, along with other local legends The Jungle Giants and Alex the Astronaut. Held on the first weekend of each area's surfing event, The Drop is set to grace some of the Australia's best surf spots, each outing featuring a locally focused offering of food, drink and culture, to match the tunes. As well as heading to the official WSL events in Torquay, Margaret River and Coolangatta, this year, the festival will also kick off Surfest Newcastle and Vissla Sydney Surf Pro in Manly — both WSL Qualifying Series events. THE DROP FESTIVAL 2019 LINEUP Angus and Julia Stone Client Liaison Hockey Dad The Jungle Giants Alex the Astronaut Images: Miranda Stokkel.
The lull between the end of the Queen Vic Market's Summer Night Market in March and the start of the winter one in June is an annoying one — especially when you've just gotten used to spending Wednesday nights outdoors. To fill that gap, the QVM is launching an autumn European night market for the very first time this April. Get ready for Wednesday night paella, frites, barbecue, currywurst, all with a distinctly European flair, to help you celebrate the end of hump day or forget the disappearing summer. Europa is offering up a lot more than just food at its 20 food and 20 retail stalls. You can escape from the action over a beer at The Brexit Bar, join in at the silent disco or head over to the amphitheatre-style stage which will have live performances each week, all with roots in a new European region. Bringing some Spanish flamenco dancing, Ukrainian egg-dyeing, and French décor to the Queen Vic seems only fitting as the market has been a big part of the culture of Melbourne's European settlers since the 1830s. Europa Night Market runs from 5–10pm.
Why drink at one watering hole, when you can head to two, three, six or more? That's always been the motivation behind everyone's favourite boozy journey, aka a pub crawl. And, it's the exact same type of thinking behind the Urban Wine Walk. Taking another wander around Melbourne, it's the bar-hopping excuse every vino lover needs — if you need an excuse, that is. From midday until 4.30pm on Saturday, May 11, you'll saunter around the city — and between the likes of Good Heavens, Union Electric, The Mill House, Jack & Bones and more — sampling wines and having a mighty fine time. As for the tipples, they'll be taken care of by a range of local and national producers. Tickets cost $65 and places are limited. This moving cellar door will not only serve up more than 35 wine tastings, but also your own tasting glass — plus a voucher for another beverage, and a guide to help you plan your mosey between bars. Image: Good Heavens.
Join some of the brightest minds in science, design and architecture as they tackle arguably the most important question facing humanity today. As the global population creeps towards nine billion and global temperatures reach a tipping point, cleaner, more resilient cities could hold the key to our salvation. But only if we're willing to build them that way. This high energy symposium, co-presented by Melbourne Design Week and The New York Times, will be chaired by Craig Reucassel of The Chaser and War on Waste, and will feature Breathe Architecture director Bonnie Herring, Finding Infinity founder Ross Harding, University of Newcastle professor Sue Anne Ware, and environmental activist Joost Bakker. It will also include an interactive keynote address by Dutch artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde about the social role of art and design. Image: Daan Roosegaarde.
Meet Patriot, Potomac, Primrose, Poppet and Phil. They're each cute as a button, and they just might become America's next hard-working, helpful guide dogs. Born at the headquarters of US organisation Guide Dogs for the Blind, these labrador puppies will learn what it takes to become a seeing-eye companion for a human in need. While they won't all end up assisting the visually impaired to live fuller lives, they'll each try their best and look adorable in the process. That's the story behind Pick of the Litter, the documentary that'll make you want to hug your own doggo, get one, or volunteer to help train pooches that become guide dogs. The movie is coming to the Astor Theatre, screening at 4pm on Sunday, February 17 — and if you think it's something your own pet pupper would like, you can bring it along with you. Yes, you can not only spend 81 minutes exclaiming "awwwwwww" at adorable, helpful dogs on-screen, but do so in four-legged company. And if you don't have your own furball, head along anyway — if everyone else brings theirs, you might get in a pats a few before and after the screening.
Autumn might just be the best part of year to explore Victoria's regional towns and surrounding nature. At this time, the leaves are turning golden, the weather is cool enough for long leisurely walks and a heap of new produce comes sprouting from the earth. If that isn't enough of an excuse to head off on a weekend getaway, Scrub Hill — a two-acre property in between Ballarat and Daylesford — is calling city folks out to the countryside for its very first Sunday Lunch Series that celebrates autumn in all of its delicious glory. On Sunday, April 14, Chef and writer Ella Mittas will cook up a four-course long lunch that guests will feast on within Scrub Hill's new glass marquee overlooking the property. Winemaker Owen Latta will also be on hand, creating bespoke wine pairings (included in the $160 ticket), plus the team will serve up a few aperitifs from vermouth producer Maidenii. With all this booze included in the event, you're not going to want to drive back to your accommodation. Thankfully, the team has prepared for this by organising a private shuttle to and from Daylesford. The moment that you step on the bus, you'll be in their very capable hands, letting them make all the decisions for you. Simply follow their lead, drinking and eating the Sunday arvo away surrounded by rolling hills.
The DC Extended Universe is dead. With Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the comic book-to-screen franchise hardly swims out with a memorable farewell, hasn't washed up on a high and shouldn't have many tearful over its demise. More movies based on the company's superheroes are still on the way. They'll be badged the DC Universe instead, and start largely afresh; 2025's Superman: Legacy will be the first, with Pearl's David Corenswet as the eponymous figure, as directed by new DC Studios co-chairman and co-CEO James Gunn (The Suicide Squad). Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom ends up the 15-feature decade-long current regime about as expected, however: soggily, unable to make the most of its star, and stuck treading water between what it really wants to be and box-ticking saga formula. Led by Jason Momoa (Fast X) — not Adrian Grenier (Clickbait), as Entourage once put out into the world — the first Aquaman knew that it was goofy, playful fun. Its main man, plus filmmaker James Wan (Malignant), didn't splash around self-importance or sink into seriousness in giving DC Comics' aquatic hero his debut self-titled paddle across the silver screen (after Momoa played the same part in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League). Rather, they made an underwater space opera that was as giddily irreverent as that sounded — and, while it ebbed and flowed between colouring by numbers and getting winningly silly, the latter usually won out. Alas, exuberance loses the same battle in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. In a film that sets sail upon a plodding plot and garish CGI, and can't make an octopus spy and Nicole Kidman (Faraway Downs) riding a robot shark entertaining, any sense of spirit is jettisoned overboard. Having spent its existence playing catch-up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DCEU does exactly that for a final time here. It isn't subtle about it; see: calling Aquaman's imprisoned half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson, Insidious: The Red Door) Loki and ripping off one of the most-famous throwaway MCU moments there is. As with 2023's fellow Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, there's also such a large debt owed to Star Wars that elements seem to be lifted wholesale from a galaxy far, far away (and from a competing company, although it was still terrible when Disney was plagiarising itself). Just try not to laugh at Jabba the Hutt as a sea creature, as voiced by Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building), introduced reclining in a familiar pose and, of course, surrounded by a school of amphibious ladies. Not intentionally by any means, it's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom funniest moment. 2018's initial Aquaman used past intergalactic flicks as a diving-off point, too, including Jupiter Ascending, but with its own personality — no trace of which bobs up this time around. Wan helms again, switching to workman-like mode. While he's co-credited on the story with returning screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (Orphan: First Kill), Momoa and Thomas Pa'a Sibbett (The Last Manhunt), there's little but being dragged out with the prevailing tide and tonal chaos on show. Worse: ideas from abandoned spinoff The Trench, which was first floated as a horror effort about a villainous Atlantean kingdom but later revealed to be a secret Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Ambulance) movie, get clunkily flushed in. While this should be Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring alum Wan's wheelhouse, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom feels like the narrative equivalent of pouring the dregs of whatever's in Arthur Curry's liquor cabinet into one tankard. Now king of Atlantis as well as a father to Arthur Jr — the water-controlling Mera has become his wife, too, but that doesn't mean that Amber Heard (The Stand) says more than 50 words — the half-human, half-Atlantean best-known as Aquaman has another tussle with pirate David Kane to face. Bumped up to chief baddie, Black Manta is aided by dark magic manifested in the black trident, as found by a marine biologist (Randall Park, Totally Killer) who's endeavouring to prove that Atlantis exists. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom's evil threat is also climate change, as exacerbated by its nefarious enemy on his vengeance mission after the events of the first movie. With the human and undersea realms alike beginning to boil, only Aquaman teaming up with Orm will give the planet a chance to survive. Pairing Momoa and Wilson odd-couple comedy-style like they're Hobbs and Shaw would've been one of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom's best moves if the material was up to it. Their escapade amid the foliage on a volcanic South Pacific island — where the film wants to be a tropical creature feature, and also a Journey to the Centre of the Earth- and Jumanji-esque jaunt — is certainly the most promising visually. But here as across the entire flick, relying upon Momoa's charm to do the heavy lifting appears to be the number-one approach. In some pictures with some stars, that can work. Rom-com Anyone But You manages it thanks to Sydney Sweeney (Reality) and Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick), for instance. In Aquaman, Momoa had a mischievous ball and was a delight to watch. What everyone involved in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom hasn't factored in is that this version of Arthur has swapped underdog roguishness for the overblown kind. Momoa remains visibly enthusiastic as the wettest of the DCEU's world-saving cohort, but Aquaman's cockiness is laid on as thickly as a kelp forest. Although there's no doubting that the movie's star can handle the part, it's a less-engaging, more one-note turn than his last jump into this ocean, and sells him short. Momoa commits, though, with the kind of gusto that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom lacks virtually everywhere else. What happens when a film that clearly wants to be as ridiculous as it can be, or as dark, clashes with staying within the genre's routine lane? This shipwreck, which ends the franchise it's in and the saga's busiest year — after Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash and Blue Beetle — with one of its worst entries. At least it didn't have to worry about setting up sequels or connecting to other DCEU fare, aka a welcome lifeboat.
Things are getting a little spicy this month with Mingle Seasoning and Bissel B's collaboration. Known for its plant-based products, Mingle Seasoning is adding its flare to Bissel B's bagels with its limited-edition chilli lime 'Lil Salty' blend. Dubbed the 'birria bagel', the collaborative effort is comprised of slow-cooked beef featuring flavours inspired by the birria taco. The concoction is then packed within a delectable Bissel B bagel with veggies and herbs. A side of birria taco-inspired sauce is served alongside the bagel, as well as slices of corn. To make things more exciting, 100 free birria bagels will be given out to customers at Bissel B's Elsternwick location on Saturday, April 13, starting at 10am until stocks run out.
There's no swapping faces in John Woo's latest English-language action-thriller. Instead, the iconic Hong Kong filmmaker brings guns, chases and a quest for revenge to the festive genre. As anyone who rightly considers Die Hard among the pinnacle of Christmas movies already knows, seasonal cinema offerings don't need to drip in schmaltz, holiday humour, or Santas and reindeers to be an end-of-year present. Still, in making his first Hollywood effort since 2003's Paycheck, the director behind Hard Target, Broken Arrow and Face/Off in the 90s — plus Mission: Impossible II in 2000 — keeps the ties of family gleaming in Silent Night. That said, from the moment that the picture opens with a man in a Rudolph-adorned jumper, fuzzy red pom-pom and all, in a battle on Texan back streets with gang members who've just torn his brood apart on Christmas Eve, Woo also goes the brutal route. Silent Night's name echoes in several ways. Recalling a tune that's all about the jolliest time of the year is just one. Setting scenes in a period when halls are decked with boughs of holly is merely another. If protagonist Brian Godlock (Joel Kinnaman, The Suicide Squad) gets his wish, there'll be no more noise — let alone violence and bloodshed — from the criminals responsible for killing his young son (Alex Briseño, A Million Miles Away) with a stray bullet from drive-by crossfire as the boy rode his new bike in the front yard. Woo's main stylistic conceit comes to fruition instantly, however, because Silent Night largely avoids dialogue. Aided by meticulous sound design, that choice isn't a gimmick purely for the sake of it. Rather, Robert Archer Lynn's (Already Dead) script has Brian lose the ability to speak in the introductory sequence's fallout. The film's propulsive arrival is all frenzy, mayhem and intensity as Brian runs, cars packed with armed men blasting with abandon can't fell him, but being shot in the throat by villainous head thug Playa (Harold Torres, Memory) heralds blackness. If there's any doubt that Woo is enjoying staging the chaos, his use of slow motion says plenty. So does spotting a red balloon drifting away. Elsewhere, while the filmmaker mightn't work in his trademark doves, a bird does flutter. With cinematographer Sharone Meir (Echo 3) doing the lensing, Silent Night realises that stripping out chatter means heightening the visual experience, whether the picture is in frenetic or plotting mode. But there's also an earnestness to the movie and its aesthetics; this is a grim and bloody Christmas flick, and it's well-aware in every inch. As Brian prepares for his vengeance mission in training montages, then endeavours to execute his plan, an emotional underpinning anchors Silent Night's almost total lack of words (text on-screen features via SMS messages, and the radio still blares), too. He's a man robbed of the ability to verbally process his trauma. He can't shout, swear, scream or cry out. There'll never be any catharsis from just uttering his feelings aloud to a kindly listener. So, he's driven to act. As played with expressive physicality by Kinnaman, he's obsessively haunted into doing the only thing that he thinks he can — even if it means that his marriage to the also-mourning Saya (Catalina Sandino Moreno, From) suffers, and regardless of police detective Dennis Vassell's (Scott Mescudi, Crater) request for his assistance to lawfully bring the culprits to justice. There's a full-circle touch to Silent Night's disdain for talking as well, given how stellar the clearly Woo-influenced John Wick films have proven by also letting actions say far more than words, albeit never to this degree. Before that, it was the similarly Keanu Reeves-led The Matrix movies that help cement Woo's brand of stylised imagery as a Tinseltown standard, as far too many imitators have continued to ape ever since. Although Woo has kept adding to his resume over the past two decades, thanks to two-part war epic Red Cliff, wuxia effort Reign of Assassins, the also-split The Crossing and action-thriller Manhunt, he makes his Hollywood comeback with passion. In its look and feel, Silent Night is a work of relish — and, in its staircase sequence alone, a reminder of what American cinema has missed while it has been content taking Woo's cues over boasting him behind the camera. The filmmaker, his flair and his knack for eschewing words have it, then — plus the committed Kinnaman and Moreno — more than the plot, no matter how well-grounded in Brian's situation it proves. Death Wish, Taken and their own mimics have mined dads dishing out retaliation before, after all. Indeed, as fellow 2023 release Retribution demonstrates, Liam Neeson has resided comfortably in the "father in a fray for his family" niche ever since busting out his particular set of skills 15 years back. Silent Night isn't here to hold up Brian as a hero gleaming as brightly as a star on a Christmas tree, though. In other hands, that might've been the vibe, but there's no doubting that he's unravelling in desperate pain as he fixates upon his vigilante rampage. Marco Beltrami's (Renfield) score has it, too: this is an action-melodrama as much as an action-thriller. Woo hasn't just switched conversation for an onslaught of operatic sights and grunting, crunching sound effects — amid the kinetic altercations, of which there's many, he also lingers on his cast to see what's getting his characters ticking, pondering, yearning, hurting and swirling. This film spies in silence what wouldn't be done justice in dialogue, with feelings simmering and steaming in looks and gestures. Silent Night's action choreography impresses, unsurprisingly, but so does its emotional dance. Pass the Parcel might be a birthday-party game rather than a Christmas one, but it sums up this movie: each layer offers a gift, some expected, some exquisite.
UPDATE, Friday, June 21, 2024: May December is available to stream via Binge, Prime Video, YouTube Movies and iTunes. A line about not having enough hot dogs might be one of its first, but May December is a movie of mirrors and butterflies. In the literal sense, director Todd Haynes wastes few chances to put either in his frames. The Velvet Goldmine, Carol and Dark Waters filmmaker doesn't shy away from symbolism, knowing two truths that stare back at his audience from his latest masterpiece: that what we see when we peer at ourselves in a looking glass isn't what the rest of the world observes, and that life's journey is always one of transformation. Inspired by the real-life Mary Kay Letourneau scandal, May December probes both of these facts as intently as anyone scrutinising their own reflection. Haynes asks viewers to do the same. Unpacking appearance and perception, and also their construction and performance, gazes from this potently thorny — and downright potent — film. That not all metamorphoses end with a beautiful flutter flickers through just as strongly. May December's basis springs from events that received ample press attention in the 90s: schoolteacher Letourneau's sexual relationship with her sixth-grade student Vili Fualaau. She was 34, he was 12. First-time screenwriter Samy Burch changes names and details in her Oscar-nominated script — for Best Original Screenplay, which is somehow the film's only nod by the Academy — but there's no doubting that it takes its cues from this case of grooming, which saw Letourneau arrested, give birth to the couple's two daughters in prison, then the pair eventually marry. 2000 TV movie All-American Girl: The Mary Kay Letourneau Story used the recreation route; however, that was never going to be a Haynes-helmed feature's approach. The comic mention of hot dogs isn't indicative of May December's overall vibe, either: this a savvily piercing film that sees the agonising impact upon the situation's victim, the story its perpetrator has spun around herself, and the relentless, ravenous way that people's lives and tragedies are consumed by the media and public. While Oscar nods mightn't have come of it, May December is also an acting masterclass by two thespians who already have one such shiny trophy on their mantles each, plus a performer who turns in a stunner of a portrayal that's his best yet. With Haynes behind the camera, this is no surprise: watching the talent before his lens, even when they're Barbie dolls in Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (the genuinely plastic rather than Margot Robbie kind), means bathing in pure emotion. In her fifth film for the director after Safe, Far From Heaven, I'm Not There and Wonderstruck, Julianne Moore (Sharper) perfects the clash of control and insecurity within Gracie Atherton-Yoo, the movie's Letourneau substitute. It's a magnificent effort from someone who is never anything less than that — and Natalie Portman (Thor: Love and Thunder), who plays a part so sharp that it cuts as Elizabeth Berry, an actor preparing to play Gracie in a new picture, is every bit her equal. With Charles Melton (Riverdale) as Gracie's husband Joe Yoo, there's a case of art imitating life, in a way. His character spends Elizabeth's visit and his entire time with Gracie coming second, and he's behind his co-stars in terms of fame, but it's Joe's plight that's the core of May December and also Melton's performance that hauntingly lingers. This film begins with faeces as well, which isn't emblematic of what's to come, either, but still an important inclusion. A package of it sits on the Yoo family's doorstep when Elizabeth arrives to meet them for the first time — and Gracie makes it clear that this has happened before. May December sets its narrative 23 years after Gracie and Joe were initially caught together. They were colleagues at a pet store aged 36 and 13, respectively. They now have three kids, one (Piper Curda, The Flash) at college and twins (debutant Gabriel Chung and Somewhere in Queens' Elizabeth Yu) graduating high school, and have built a life after Gracie's prison sentence. Still residing in Savannah, Georgia, as they always have, she baked cakes and he's most passionate about raising monarch butterflies. There's a wariness over Elizabeth's project among the Yoos, but reassurance that this will be a sensitive take is also part of her time with her latest subject and her spouse. Make no mistake, because Haynes and Burch don't: for the role that she's hoping will elevate her beyond the TV series that she's best-known for, Elizabeth sees Gracie and Joe as mere source material. She interviews others, such as Gracie's first husband (DW Moffett, Monarch) and her eldest son from that marriage (Cory Michael Smith, Incomplete), each conversation saying as much about the actor as the woman she's set to bring to the screen. As rigorously rendered by Portman, she also becomes enamoured with the scenario that she's unfurling. A moment where Elizabeth loses herself explaining sex scenes to school kids — and the conflict between portraying pleasure and pretending not to actually feel pleasure — is savagely revealing. As Killers of the Flower Moon also does, this deeply astute movie has much to say about how circumstances like Joe's become sensationalised news and entertainment fodder, what that betrays about society and why people lap it up; add reflecting on its own existence and purpose to May December's many profoundly intelligent layers. When mirrors appear, they're frequently used around Gracie and Elizabeth. Of course, the latter is being a mirror herself. Cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt — Kelly Reichardt's regular collaborator; see: Showing Up, First Cow, Certain Women, Night Moves and Meek's Cutoff — visually recalls Ingmar Bergman's 1966 psychological drama Persona, as the movie in general does, as the lines between its two women start to blur. May December is partly a movie about what Gracie and Elizabeth spy when they're studying what's in front of them, and how divorced from reality both are. Gracie embraces a carefully erected fantasy where there's nothing more than love to her relationship with Joe, regardless of her domination over their household and repeated dissolving into tears in their bedroom. Elizabeth only takes in how she can become Gracie to her own advantage. Although Haynes and Blauvelt ensure that Moore and Portman are everywhere, neither of their characters will or can confront themselves or their manipulations. Finally challenging everything that's been his daily existence since he was a child, and the role that he's been inhabiting whether he truly wanted to or not — or was capable of making that decision at such a young age — is the shy Joe. The only word that fits: devastation. May December knows this before Joe accepts it, which campy lines about frankfurters on bread accompanied by dramatic music — the film adapts and reorchestrates the score from 1971 Palme d'Or-winner The Go-Between, in fact — oh-so-cannily play into. With its rich and meticulous visuals, tonal seesawing that can court laughs and welcome melodrama, and evocatively grand music, Haynes' feature isn't being erratic. It's crafted with shrewd understanding that discomfort is the only way to respond to what it's depicting, and that there's no one mood that suits. So, Haynes plunges May December and its audience into the full emotional spectrum. Consider the film a cocoon where transformation takes place, to soaring results.
Only one Australian festival this summer can whip it, whip it good. When Good Things returns for 2023, it'll hit Melbourne with new-wave icons Devo on the bill. The 'Girl U Want' band will be celebrating 50 years since first forming in 1973, and also saying goodbye on a farewell tour that'll mark their last-ever Australian shows. Devo's famous energy dome hats will be on display at Flemington Racecourse on Friday, December 1 on a jam-packed Good Things lineup that is brimming with nostalgia-inducing acts — including Fall Out Boy. The group behind 'Sugar, We're Goin Down' and 'Uma Thurman' are festival headliners, playing both tunes dating back to their 2000s heyday and recent tracks. From there, Good Things keeps rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin' with Limp Bizkit; will see Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor hit the stage solo; and is guaranteed to burst with punk energy thanks to Pennywise. Bullet for My Valentine, Taking Back Sunday and I Prevail are also on the bill, plus Enter Shikari, Pvris, Behemoth and Sepultura. [caption id="attachment_913268" align="alignnone" width="1920"] swimfinfan via Wikimedia Commons.[/caption] Fresh from featuring a reunited TISM in 2022, Good Things boasts a packed roster of local names in 2023, too, celebrating Australian alternative rock with Spiderbait, Frenzal Rhomb, Jebediah and Eskimo Joe. On both the international and homegrown front, the list goes on, including Hanabie, While She Sleeps, Magnolia Park, Short Stack, Boom Crash Opera, Luca Brasi and more. And yes, this is a fest where you can likely hear 'Whip It', 'Dance, Dance', 'Society' and 'Buy Me a Pony' live on the same day, plus 'The Last Fight', 'Leaving Home', 'Punch in the Face' and a very non-George Michael cover of 'Faith' as well. GOOD THINGS 2023 LINEUP: Fall Out Boy Limp Bizkit Devo (The Farewell Tour celebrating 50 years) I Prevail Bullet For My Valentine Corey Taylor Pennywise Spiderbait Slowly Slowly Enter Shikari Behemoth Sepultura Taking Back Sunday PVRIS Bloom Boom Crash Opera Eskimo Joe Frenzal Rhomb Hanabie Jebediah Luca Brasi Magnolia Park Make Them Suffer Ocean Sleeper Royal & The Serpent Short Stack Slaughter To Prevail Stand Atlantic Tapestry The Plot In You While She Sleeps Top image: Drew de F Fawkes via Wikimedia Commons.
It's impossible to fit Gippsland on a plate, but every year, Victoria's chefs, brewers and cheesemakers give it a red hot crack. Yep, it's that time of year again. The East Gippsland Winter Festival is back for 2024, running from Friday, June 21–Sunday, July 21 with more artisanal plates than anyone could consume in an average human lifetime. If you haven't attended before, bring your appetite. It's an incredible celebration of everything Gippsland — the people, food, produce and communities that make this place special. The event runs for a full month, with activations, dining experiences and live music popping up all over the region. Some of this year's highlights include the Guy Grossi x Sodafish collaboration lunch at Lakes Entrance, sword fighting and fireside dining at a Medieval Fire Festival in Bruthen, a sunrise bathe and breakfast (in old wine barrels, no less) at Metung Hot Springs, and a special high country lunch at Moscow Villa Hut. We recommend basing yourself somewhere central, like Bairnsdale or Bruthen, and then strategically filling your diary with delicious events and winery activations. You can browse the full program and book your spot at the website.
Three Day Clay is back with its sixth pop-up shop, just in time to snag a gift for mum this Mother's Day. You'll be able to browse through a curated range of striking ceramic works by local artisans at Pauli Concept Space along Brunswick's Sydney Road from Friday, May 10–Sunday, May 12. Founded by Kate Brouwer from Asobimasu Clay and Kelly Murphy from Benna, Three Day Clay will showcase thirteen different artists and their creations, from tableware and vases to sculptures and wall decor. Artists include Arcadia Scott, Eun Ceramics, Yen Qin, Juyeon Ceramics, Kayleigh Heydon, Oh Hey Grace and Stof Ceramic. On top of that, you can enjoy a free glass of sparkling wine on Friday night while you shop, or make use of Sunday morning's early hours to find a last-minute gift while your mum enjoys breakfast in bed. As its name suggests, Three Day Clay will take over Pauli Concept Space for just three days, from 10am–7pm on Friday, May 10; 10am–4pm on Saturday, May 11; and 9am–3pm on Sunday, May 12. Images: Ben Glezer
Big Paws Little Paws wants to celebrate dog mums and their furry families this Mother's Day, with a day of dog-friendly activities. Bring your fur baby along to an indoor dog playground in Ravenhall on Saturday, May 11, for a morning of crafts, socialising, gifts and giveaways. Be greeted with a Pawtini upon arrival before getting busy with a doggy glamour station, professional photoshoots, a craft station, Woof Wonderland Market and other activities. In addition, every ticket comes with a $10 voucher for Big Paws Little Paws services and a $2 contribution to Second Chance Animal Rescue. Check out Eventbrite for additional details and to purchase a ticket for $20 (doggos get free entry). Mama Paws will take place on Saturday, May 11, with two sessions from 10–11.30am and 11.30am–1pm.
