Whether you're a Brisbanite eager to head to another state, or you live elsewhere in Australia but you're keen on holidaying in Queensland, the past two years have been more than a little difficult. They've been hard for a heap of reasons during the pandemic, obviously, but the Sunshine State's border closures have definitely been tricky to navigate. In November and December, however, that'll all start to ease. Today, Monday, October 18, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced that the state will start to reopen to the rest of Australia once the Sunshine State hits the 70-percent double-vaccinated mark among its eligible population. Queensland's domestic borders haven't been closed to the entire country this year, but with New South Wales and Victoria both experiencing lengthy lockdowns, they've definitely been shut to Sydneysiders and Melburnians — so this'll be welcome news to plenty of folks. "If we keep getting our vaccine, we can welcome family and friends from interstate hot spots in a little over a month who are fully vaccinated — and a month after that, in December, they can come without having to quarantine in time for Christmas, but they too will need to be fully vaccinated," said the Premier. "Queenslanders will acknowledge that that is a sensible and cautious approach to ensure that families can be reunited, but the people coming into Queensland will have to be fully vaccinated." Palaszczuk continued: "the faster we are vaccinated, the faster these deadlines will be achieved. It means that some of these dates may come forward if we get the vaccination rates up." BREAKING: Today we're releasing a plan for Queensland borders. Travel restrictions will ease when 70% and 80% of eligible Queenslanders are fully vaccinated.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/4PANA1CBjF — Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) October 18, 2021 So, when Queensland reaches the 70-percent double-jabbed mark — which is expected around Friday, November 19 — travellers who've been in a hotspot area within Australian in the past 14 days can enter the state again. They'll need to be double-vaxxed, to arrive by air and to have received a negative COVID-19 test result in the 72 hours before arriving. Also, anyone in this category will need to go into home quarantine for 14 days. Then, at the 80-percent double-vaccinated threshold — which is expected around Friday, December 17 — travellers from interstate hotspots can arrive by either road or air to enter the Sunshine State. They'll still need to be double-jabbed, and to have received a negative COVID-19 test result in the 72 hours before arriving. But, there won't be any quarantine requirements at that point. The announcement means that Queensland will be welcoming in travellers from elsewhere in Australia just as summer arrives — and that quarantine will be scrapped for double-jabbed Aussies before Christmas. When Queensland hits 70-percent double-vaxxed, international arrivals will still be handled as they currently are. At the 80-percent double-jabbed mark, though, double-jabbed overseas travellers will be able to undertake 14 days of home quarantine — if they've also received a negative COVID-19 test result in the 72 hours before getting to Queensland. Finally, at the 90-percent double-vaccinated threshold across the Sunshine State, all entry rules and quarantine requirements will be ditched for folks who've had both jabs. For the unvaxxed, the 14-day quarantine rule will still be in effect. At the same press conference, Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles revealed that more restrictions within Queensland will start easing at the 70-percent and 80-percent marks — covering things like gatherings, entering venues and the like. And, these relaxed rules will start having vax requirements attached, so both Queenslanders and visitors from interstate will need to be double-jabbed to take advantage of them. Exactly what that'll entail hasn't yet been revealed, so expect further details before mid-November. Queensland will start allowing domestic visitors back into the state from mid-November, when the 70-percent double-vaxxed threshold is met. For more information about Queensland's border policies, head to the Queensland Government website.
Ever since I started watching How to Make it in America I started noticing more and more graffitied vans looking very much like the Rasta Monsta van from the show. Although it's taken watching the television show to notice run-down but artfully graffitied vans about town, illustrated vans make quite an interesting addition to the otherwise boring-coloured vehicles that line the streets of the city. New York artist Kevin Cyr takes this admiration of cars-as-mobile-canvases-for-graffiti to another level. His Van Series of oil and silkscreen paintings capture the finer details of twenty vans and vehicles found in Brooklyn, NY, and take note of the commercial aspect of vehicles otherwise dismissed as well past their used-by date. [via Flavorwire]
This article is sponsored by our partners, Rekorderlig. Cider is having something of a renaissance, one that's not just limited to pub courtyards and picnics. The fruity beverage du jour is gaining a connoisseur-type following in culinary circles, appearing in pairings with food that would put your average sommelier or brewer to shame. Think light apple ciders with pork to conjure up memories of your Nan's Sunday roast with applesauce, or a richer, bolder variety to cut through the spice and cream of a dhal or mutter paneer. Testament to everyone's love of alcohol-fuelled food (and because everyone knows the alcohol content totally evaporates while cooking, right?), it's also being used in recipes. These chicken pistachio meatballs with Rekorderlig cider chutney prove how well cider lends itself to hearty, wintry meals of the kind you might expect to be served on a blizzardy night in a mountain log cabin in front of a crackling fire. In fact, these meatballs are straight out of the Thredbo Alpine Hotel, where Rekorderlig have a poolside lounge. This dish is boozy, fruity, nutty and gamey, and the perfect adieu to these final frosty nights of winter '14. Chicken Pistachio Meatballs with Rekorderlig Cider Chutney Meatballs (makes 50) 1kg chicken mince 500ml Rekorderlig Strawberry-Lime Cider 100g cranberries 100g sour cherries 50g pistachio nuts 10g salt 10g parsley 1 egg pinch of white pepper Soak the cranberries in Rekorderlig Strawberry-Lime Cider for 30 minutes. Place all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix by hand. Work the mixture till all the ingredients are combined. Place in the fridge at least one hour. Roll into desired size balls. Lightly coat balls in flour and saute very quickly. Sauce 1L chicken stock 1L white wine 500ml cream Reduce stock and white wine by half and then stir through 500ml of cream. Place the meatballs in a baking dish and cover them with the sauce. Bake in a medium oven for one hour. Chutney 60ml olive oil 1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped 200g sultanas 100g raisins 100g sugar 400ml Rekorderlig Pear Cider 100g ginger grated 800g pears, cored and finely diced dash of nutmeg 2 heaped tsp of ground all spice 1 pinch of cinnamon Saute the rosemary, sultanas and raisins. After one minute add the sugar and then fry the fruit until it starts to caramelise. Pour in the vinegar and bring to the boil. Boil for a few minutes and then add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer until the sauce thickens. Continuously stir so the pear doesn't stick to the bottom. Serve with a warm Rekorderlig Winter cider.
Whether you watched along from 2009–15 when it was in production or you discovered its joys via an obsessive binge-watching marathon afterwards, Parks and Recreation is one of the 21st century's TV gifts — and the beloved sitcom cemented its stars, from its lead roles through to its supporting parts, as audience favourites. Plenty of those talents also share something else in common: a fondness for touring Down Under. Nick Offerman has done it, taking to Australia's stages. Amy Poehler has made multiple promotional Aussie trips for Inside Out and Inside Out 2. Henry Winkler even headed this way to chat through his lengthy career. Now, add the latter's on-screen son to the list. Ben Schwartz, aka Parks and Recreation's Jean-Ralphio Saperstein, has a date with Sydney and Melbourne in 2025. [caption id="attachment_968141" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Disney/Image Group LA[/caption] Don't be suspicious: Schwartz will be performing his Ben Schwartz & Friends live improv show, which begins with just a couple of chairs onstage. Where it goes from there, you'll only discover on the night — because that's the joy of improv. He's doing two gigs, one at the Sydney Opera House on Saturday, May 3 and another at Hamer Hall on Sunday, May 4. Schwartz isn't just known for Parks and Recreation, although that's the first thing on his resume that'll always come to mind for Parks fans. Since his time in Pawnee wrapped up — since he stopped being one of the woooooooorst people in the fictional Indiana town, that is — he's also starred in murder-mystery comedy The Afterparty, voiced a certain spiny blue mammal in Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, loaned his vocal tones to Star Wars: The Bad Batch and Invincible, and featured in Space Force and Renfield. You'll find Arrested Development, This Is Where I Leave You, The Interview, The Walk, House of Lies, The Lego Movie 2, BoJack Horseman, Bob's Burgers, DuckTales and Central Park on Schwartz's filmography, too, and a whole heap more. Does his resemblance to Stranger Things' Joe Keery come up in Ben Schwartz & Friends? Again, you'll need to attend to find out. [caption id="attachment_842850" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Afterparty, Apple TV+.[/caption] Ben Schwartz & Friends Australian Dates 2025: Saturday, May 3 — Sydney Opera House, Sydney Sunday, May 4 — Hamer Hall, Melbourne Ben Schwartz & Friends plays Australia in May 2025, with ticket presales from 10am on Wednesday, July 31 and general sales from 11am on Friday, August 2. Head to the tour website for more details. Top image: The Afterparty, Apple TV+.
It's been a tough time for huge music festivals over the past two years, including one of the biggest there is: Coachella. The 2020 event was less than a month out from its April dates when it postponed until October due to COVID-19 — and then, a few months later, it cancelled that year's fest completely. The aim was to return in April 2021 instead; however, unsurprisingly, that didn't happen either. But now the event has announced that it's definitely intending to make a comeback in April this year — and it's dropped its hefty lineup, too.. Mark April 15–17 and April 22–24 in your diaries, whether you're just keen to check out the livestream — remember, Coachella was livestreaming its sets long before the pandemic — or you have US travel plans for this autumn. The full bill is a jaw-dropper, as usual, with Harry Styles headlining the Friday nights, Billie Eilish doing the Saturday nights and Ye (aka the artist formerly known as Kanye West) on Sunday nights. Elsewhere, a bonafide metric fucktonne of squealworthy acts fill out the rest of the bill — Australia's own Flume and The Avalanches, plus Swedish House Mafia, Phoebe Bridgers, Megan Thee Stallion, Doja Cat, Jamie xx, Run the Jewels, Fatboy Slim, Finneas and Joji, just to name a few. Anyway, let's be honest, you haven't truly read any of those words — you'll be wanting this: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Coachella (@coachella) For music lovers planning to watch along from home, Coachella will once again team up with YouTube to livestream the festival. That's no longer such a novelty in these pandemic times but, given the calibre of Coachella's lineup, it's still a mighty fine way to spend a weekend. For those eager to attend, the first weekend is sold out, but you can signup for the waitlist over at the festival's website — and also register for tickets to the second weekend, too, which go on sale on Friday, January 14 US time. Coachella runs from April 15–17 and April 22–24 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Find out more info and register for tickets or the waitlist at coachella.com.
There's something special about getting all your mates together during the summer months — being crammed into your favourite restaurant in Chinatown when the sun is shining really isn't making the most of it. No one wants to get to that first cold and grey day of the year and realise they've missed out on all the cool things that are only possible in the summer months. We've teamed up with Australian Venue Co to share just a few of the top happenings around Melbourne that'll help you make the most of the season with your mates — there's so much to see and do before we all hibernate for winter.
It's a great time to be a fan of Neve Campbell-starring 90s horror movies. The Scream franchise is coming back again with Campbell onboard, but that isn't the only spooky film from the era that she's known for. Also leaving an imprint was The Craft, with its tale of four high school outcasts who decide to get witchy. And, 24 years later, it's now getting a sequel. Called The Craft: Legacy, this second effort appears to not only follow on from the original, but to also borrow its main storyline. A teenage girl moves to a new town, gets tormented at school and then buddies up with three similarly unpopular classmates, who initiate her into their coven. Soon, they're using their abilities against their peers, and learning that their powers have consequences. As the just-dropped first trailer for the film shows, this description applies as much to the new movie as it does to its predecessor. Also evident in the teaser: plenty of famed moments from the first flick getting a do-over, so prepare to start chanting "light as a feather, stiff as a board". And yes, when an adult tells this new gang of girls to be wary of strangers, they do indeed reply with "we are the weirdos". Devs, Pacific Rim: Uprising and Bad Times at the El Royale's Cailee Spaeny plays Lily, the new girl in town, while Gideon Adlon (Blockers), Lovie Simone (Selah and the Spades) and Zoey Luna (Pose) also feature as her dark magic-loving pals. And, because Lily needs a reason for showing up, that comes in the form of her mother, played by Michelle Monaghan (Saint Judy), who moves their two-person family to a new town to live with her boyfriend, played by The X-Files' David Duchovny. Written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones (Band Aid), and adding to Blumhouse's growing slate of sequels and remakes — think Halloween, Black Christmas, Fantasy Island and The Invisible Man — The Craft: Legacy is headed to cinemas Down Under at the appropriate time of year. It'll hit screens on October 29, aka just before halloween. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxZ774gziwU&feature=youtu.be The Craft: Legacy releases in Australian cinemas on Thursday, October 29.
What's better than watching a heap of top Australian talent sit around and talk about music? Watching them do all of the above while answering questions, competing for points and just generally being funny, too. That's the concept behind ABC TV show Spicks and Specks, which took a few cues from the UK's Never Mind the Buzzcocks, pit Aussie musos and comedians against each other, and has proven a hit several times over. A weekly favourite when it first aired between 2005–2011, it just keeps coming back — including its current series of new specials. When the program was first revived back in 2014, it returned with a new host and team captains. This time, it's back with its original lineup. That means that Adam Hills, Myf Warhurst and Alan Brough have all stepped back into the quiz show realm yet again. When the trio did just that back in 2018, for a one-off reunion special, it became the ABC's most-watched show of the year. Unsurprisingly, that huge response played more than a small part in inspiring this new comeback. If you're already eager to show your own music trivia knowledge and play along — we all know that's as much a part of the Spicks and Specks fun as seeing the on-screen stars unleash their own skills (or lack thereof) — then you probably lapped up the show's Ausmusic Month special last year. And, in the first half of 2020, you probably enjoyed its 90s episode and episode dedicated to 00s tunes as well. Next up, it's tackling past decade, focusing on all the tracks, bangers, one hit wonders and more that released between 2010–2019. When it airs at 7.40pm AEST on Sunday, December 20, viewers can expect questions about the best and the worst songs the last ten years had to offer — and expect not just Adam, Myf and Alan, but musicians Kate Miller Heidke and Vance Joy and comedians Claire Hooper and Luke McGregor as well. The 10s-focused episode marks the fourth of Spicks and Specks' specials, wrapping up its four-show comeback over the past year. And, if you need a refresher in the interim, this comedic chat about a Star Wars Christmas album will do the trick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KNMtDu7TAY Spicks and Specks: 10s Special will air on ABC TV on Sunday, December 20 at 7.40pm. The show's Ausmusic Special, 90s Special and 00s Special are all currently available to stream via ABC iView.
Some workplaces encourage suggestions, speaking up and letting company leadership know if things aren't quite right. As Severance viewers discovered in season one, Lumon Industries hasn't historically been one of them. So what happens when a group of employees attempts to raise issues? In the just-dropped full trailer for the Apple TV+ series' second season, Mark S (Adam Scott, Loot), Helly (Britt Lower, American Horror Stories), Dylan (Zach Cherry, Fallout) and Irving (John Turturro, Mr & Mrs Smith) all find out, as Mr Milchick (Tramell Tillman, Hunters) informs them that they've now become "the face of severance reform" after their actions at the end of season one. The latest sneak peek at season two returns viewers to a world of innies, outies and workplace nightmares — and a sci-fi thriller mindbender with a first run of episodes that deserved all the praise that it received and more. Apple TV+ has released past teasers for the second season, but the latest unveils the most details yet of what's to come. Existence inside and outside Lumon isn't just on a collision course; the two are crashing into each other repeatedly, even if Mark S and co's secretive employer wants otherwise. Audiences will be clocking back in for more Severance come Friday, January 17, 2025, in a case of ideal timing. Thinking about how to best balance your professional and personal spheres, and the time you dedicate to them, is an annual tradition when each new year starts after all. The subject will get a bigger push via this hugely anticipated TV comeback — and so will how work-life balance can weigh on your mind, or not. If you missed the first season, disconnecting from your job come quittin' time — and giving your gig every ounce of your focus during your daily grind — has become literal in Severance in a hellish way. At Lumon, employees agree to undertake the titular procedure, which splits their memories between work and home. But as Macrodata Refinement division employee Mark S begins to learn, nothing about the situation is what it seems. The show dives into the kind of scenario that Black Mirror might've dreamed up, with technology that could've been used if Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was about punching the clock instead of romance. Mark S willingly signed up for severance, all to help process his grief over the death of his wife. And he was happy with the situation until his work BFF Petey (Yul Vazquez, The Outsider) left suddenly without saying goodbye, then new staff member Helly arrived to replace him — and instantly questioned the insidious setup, the rules and restrictions needed to keep it in place, and why on earth her "outie" (as the outside versions of Lumon employees are known) agreed to this in the first place. In season two, Mark and his work pals will attempt to dig deeper into the consequences of the severance procedure, and trying to escape it. They'll also find out the ramifications of messing with the system — and Lumon isn't just filled with the same familiar faces. Severance's return calls for a waffle party, an egg bar or a melon bar — or at least a big bunch of blue balloons with the face of Mark S on them. Jen Tullock (Perry Mason), Michael Chernus (Carol & the End of the World), Dichen Lachman (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes), Christopher Walken (Dune: Part Two) and Patricia Arquette (High Desert) are all back among the cast, alongside new cast members including Gwendoline Christie (Wednesday), Bob Balaban (Asteroid City), Merritt Wever (Memory), Alia Shawkat (The Old Man) and John Noble (Twilight of the Gods). Ben Stiller (Escape at Dannemora) returns as a director on five episodes, too, and executive producer across the whole season, with ten episodes on the way. Apple TV+ will drop instalments through until Friday, March 21, 2025. Check out the full trailer for Severance season two below: Severance returns for season two on Friday, January 17, 2025 via Apple TV+. Read our review of season one.
The last three times that Emily Blunt graced screens, all in 2021, she battled theme park ride-inspired chaos (in Jungle Cruise), monsters that pounce on every sound (in A Quiet Place Part II) and bad Irish accents (in Wild Mountain Thyme). That's quite the trio. The British actor isn't done battling yet, however, as the just-dropped trailer for her new western series The English demonstrates. Her quest here: taking on the old west and getting vengeance. Since first making a splash in 2004's My Summer of Love and then earning attention in a big way in The Devil Wears Prada a couple of years later, Blunt has amassed a killer resume, spanning everything from The Young Victoria, The Muppets and Looper through to Edge of Tomorrow, Sicario and Mary Poppins Returns. So her involvement alone gives The English a hefty push onto must-see lists, although that's not the six-part Prime Video show's only highlight. Also helping ensure The English is worth a look: the fact that it hails from writer/director Hugo Blick (The Honourable Woman, Black Earth Rising, The Shadow Line), boasts Blunt as an executive producer as well, and has Greg Brenman (Peaky Blinders) and Colin Wratten (Killing Eve) similarly in producing roles. And, on-screen, Blunt is joined by Chaske Spencer (Blindspot), Stephen Rea (The Stranger), Valerie Pachner (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore), Rafe Spall (Trying), Tom Hughes (A Discovery of Witches), Toby Jones (The Electrical Life of Louis Wain), and Ciarán Hinds (Belfast). As for The English's storyline, Blunt plays an aristocratic Englishwoman — hence the title — named Lady Cornelia Locke, who heads to America in the 1890s with revenge on her mind. Her mission requires teaming up with Pawnee ex-cavalry scout Eli Whipp (Spencer), then making their way across a country that's bloody and violent at every turn, with the new town of Hoxem, Wyoming their ultimate destination. Also included along the way: musings on race and power, and a series of unsolved murders. Check out the trailer for The English below: The English will be available to stream via Prime Video from November 11.
When 2020 ticked over to 2021, Australians were asked to direct their eyeballs towards a brooding mystery set against our dusty, yellow-hued landscape. We did just that, and in big numbers, too, with The Dry quickly becoming a huge box-office hit. A year later, when 2021 becomes 2022, we'll be tempted to do something similar — but this time it's a six-part Stan series that strands Jamie Dornan in the outback that'll be demanding our attention to start the new year. That show is The Tourist, which sees Dornan add another TV role to his resume alongside The Fall, Death and Nightingales, New Worlds and Once Upon a Time. The Irish actor boasts an eclectic filmography — he's highly likely to get nominated for an Oscar next year for his role in nostalgic drama Belfast, in fact, and he hit Aussie screens big and small in the vastly dissimilar Synchronic, Wild Mountain Thyme and Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar this year. For this new part, he plays the titular character, who has no idea why he's in the middle of Australia or even who he is. Written by brothers Harry and Jack Williams (Angela Black), and hailing from the Emmy-winning production company behind The Missing and Fleabag, The Tourist is a mystery-thriller, so its just-dropped first trailer starts out with an uneasy air — as Dornan's character gets pursued by a tank truck trying that's trying to drive him off the road. Things don't get easier after he wakes up in hospital with no memory, unsurprisingly, or when he's chased by plenty of other folks. On-screen, Dornan is joined by a heap of familiar faces, including Aussie actors Danielle Macdonald (French Exit), Alex Dimitriades (Total Control) and Damon Herriman (Mindhunter), English-born Australian talent Shalom Brune-Franklin (Line of Duty) and Icelandic American Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (Trapped). You'll be able to binge your way through The Tourist's twists and turns on Sunday, January 2, Check out the trailer below: The Tourist will be available to stream via Stan from Sunday, January 2.
Get ready for 18 days of around-the-block queues and arguing with people who refuse to put away their phone. That's right, Melbourne movie lovers: the Melbourne International Film Festival is a mere three-and-a-bit weeks away, and the freshly spoiled lineup is as diverse and enticing as ever. Of the more than 300 films and 52 countries represented on this year's MIFF program, the Australian contingent looks particularly impressive. The festival kicks off on July 31 with the world premiere of Predestination, a time travel thriller starring Ethan Hawke and Noah Taylor. Tony Ayres' period crime film Cut Snake has been tapped for the centrepiece gala, while closing night will feature Joel Edgerton and Melissa George in the Melbourne-set police drama Felony. Other local highlights include SXSW's Aussie darling The Infinite Man; Amiel Courtin-Wilson's grim but beautiful new drama Ruin; a destined-to-offend reboot of the classic Ozploitation film Turkey Shoot; and the latest cine-centric documentary from Not Quite Hollywood director Mark Hartley, Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films. American indie cinema will also have a strong showing this year, with major titles including Richard Linklater's 12-year passion project Boyhood, Kelly Reichardt's lauded environmental thriller Night Moves and James Gray's fourth consecutive Palme d'Or competitor The Immigrant. Nicholas Cage, meanwhile, proves he still knows how to act as the titular character in David Gordon Green's new character piece Joe, while Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig give rare dramatic performances in The Skeleton Twins, which also won a screenwriting award at Sundance. Speaking of major festival winners, MIFF patrons can look forward to not one but two new films from Quebecois enfant terrible Xavier Dolan, in the form of the breathtaking mother-son drama Mommy and the tense psychological thriller Tom at the Farm. The former film shared the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival with Goodbye to Language, a 3D experimental work from the 83-year-old Jean Luc-Godard. The tense, strikingly shot Czech drama Honeymoon won Jan Hrebejk directing accolades at his native Karlovy Vary last July, while a little closer home, the Dardenne Brothers' Two Days, One Night deservedly took the top prize at this year's Sydney Film Festival. Melbourne's programmers have also continued their impressive run of Asian cinema, with standouts including Wong Kar-wai's long awaited martial arts epic The Grandmaster and the immaculately photographed Chinese neo-noir Black Coal, Thin Ice. More daring MIFFers might also want to check out the latest blood-soaked opus from Japanese provocateur Sion Sono, Why Don't You Play in Hell, described by Film.com critic David Ehrlich as "quite possibly mankind's greatest achievement". From the documentary section, no film buff should skip Jodorowsky's Dune, a fascinating and often hilarious look at what many people consider the single greatest movie never made. Also on tap: master documentarian Errol Morris probes the mind of former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld in The Unknown Known, while Michel Gondry animates a series of interviews with Noam Chomsky, posing the question Is The Man Who Is Tall Happy?. Alternatively, if all that sounds too challenging, maybe try I Am Big Bird, a no-holds-barred expose about Sesame Street's resident yellow pigeon. MIFF 2014 runs from July 31 until August 17. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 11am on Friday, July 11. For more information, visit the MIFF website
Prepare yourself for a serious dose of girl power: Janelle Monáe and Kimbra have announced they're joining forces for an Australasian tour, on sale this Thursday. The two pop heavyweights, who bonded at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland last July, are coming to Australia for The Golden Electric Tour at the end of May. Scheduled for four shows throughout Australia, the dynamic duo is also making a stop in Kimbra's native New Zealand before closing out the tour in Melbourne. The award-winning pop powerhouses will co-headline the tour, combining forces for a portion of the show while also playing individual sets. Kimbra and Monáe first made sweet music together at an impromptu bar gig when they met last year. Their taste for eccentric pop music coupled with fierce vocals proved a heavenly match, thus the idea for a joint tour was born. To (successfully) hype us all up for the endeavour, the pair released an unfathomably adorable video singing a mash-up of Aretha Franklin's 'Rock Steady' and Michael Jackson's 'Wanna Be Startin' Something', both of which are sure to be on the set list. https://youtube.com/watch?v=SyqltX5lRhQ Monáe will feature tracks from her 2013 release The Electric Lady, as well as her celebrated 2010 debut album The ArchAndroid. Kimbra is expected to release the follow-up to her 2011 album Vows later this year, so fans should expect some new gems amongst the singalongs. Tour Dates: Friday, May 16 - Challenge Stadium, Perth Monday, May 19 - Hordern Pavilion, Sydney Wednesday, May 21 - Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane Saturday, May 24 - Vector Arena, Auckland Monday, May 26 - The Plenary, Melbourne Tickets go on sale 10am on Thursday, April 17 via Live Nation. Pre-sale is available for My Live Nation members at 10am on Monday, April 14.
We’re only six weeks into a season far too cold for denim cut-offs and more suited to umbrellas than feather headdresses, but if you’re under the age of 50 and you like music then chances are you’re already saving coin for one of our many summer music festivals. Preliminary lineups for Harvest, Stereosonic and Falls Festival and Big Day Out have all recently been announced, with others set to reveal juicy details shortly. But while even the most civilised festival has its fair share of regrettable decisions, warm beers being chugged in the parking lot and liquid deposits being made in plastic water bottles, the truth of the matter is that at most of our own large-scale gatherings it’s easier to mislay a sense of refinement than it is to lose both your friends and your sunglasses. Ergo, Concrete Playground has handpicked a few overseas festivals that manage to combine brazen antics, booze and grannies in souped-up shopping carts with more cultivated offerings. 1. GOOGAMOOGA WHERE: BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, USAWHEN: MAY The inaugural GoogaMooga in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park offered festivalgoers not just sonic goodness from 20 performers ranging from Holy Ghost! to Preservation Hall Jazz Band, but also a little Extra Mooga alongside. With Anthony Bourdain leaving the stage just in time for James Murphy’s DJ set, and grain going head to head with grape at the Beer vs Wine smackdown, Googa Mooga is just a celebration of all things great in life. 2. ALL TOMORROW'S PARTIES (UK) WHERE: EAST SUSSEX, ENGLANDWHEN: DECEMBER No one can create an arts and music festival better than an artist or a musician, so this English festival gets a different musical or visual creative to invite their favourite performers to play each year. Past curators have included Portishead, The National and Matt Groening, with B-side festival I’ll Be Your Mirror offering music, film and arts events outside of the holiday resorts. 3. BONNAROO MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL WHERE: MANCHESTER, TENNESSEEWHEN: JUNE Nashville is great for wearing rhinestone cowboy hats and dancing to Johnny Cash cover songs, but Manchester is where country and bluegrass music meets indie rock, world music, folk, gospel, reggae and electronica. The 100-acre entertainment village also features a classic arcade, on-site cinema, silent disco, comedy club and theatre performers, but it’s also the peaceful vibes that had Rolling Stone name Bonnaroo one of the 50 moments that changed the history of rock and roll. 4. BUMBERSHOOT WHERE: SEATTLE, WASHINGTONWHEN: SEPTEMBER The name of this music and arts festival comes from “bumbershoot”, a colloquial term for umbrella, which is a far cooler tag than its original 'Mayor’s Arts Festival'. Now in its 42nd year, music, film, comedy, spoken word, dance, theatre and performance are just some of the genres falling under its canopy. 5. STOCKHOLM MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL WHERE: STOCKHOLM, SWEDENWHEN: AUGUST Here are two things you probably already know about Stockholm: it’s beautiful, and it breeds creativity like Lara Bingle breeds LOLs. The island of Skeppsholmen is where these two things culminate each year, with acts including Patti Smith, Bjork and Antony and the Johnsons playing against a backdrop of intelligent art and glittering water landscapes. 6. OUTSIDE LANDS WHERE: SAN FRANCISCO, USAWHEN: AUGUST San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park holds many rich nuggets of culture, from fascinating buildings and major museums to scenic picnic spots and lakes. In August it also plays host to Outside Lands, a festival geared towards the green movement that celebrates the neutral terrain that became San Francisco’s common ground during the tumult of the 1960s. Food, wine and immersive art are dotted around the park, while the musical lineup — ranging from Metallica to Tame Impala to Norah Jones — really does offer something for everyone. 7. ICELAND AIRWAVES WHERE: REYKJAVIK, ICELANDWHEN: OCTOBER What started as a one-off event in an airplane hangar is now one of the premier annual showcases for new music in the world. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Bravery and The Rapture all played Airwaves in the infancy of their musical careers, and Rolling Stone dubbed it “The hippest long weekend on the annual music festival calendar”. But Airwaves and the exquisite city of Reykjavík don't offer just music — hose the stale beer out of your hair, hop on a bus and alleviate your hangover via geysers, waterfalls, lava fields and the world-famous Blue Lagoon. 8. CACTUS FESTIVAL WHERE: BRUGES, BELGIUMWHEN: JULY Because the only thing better than great music and great beer is Granny Turismo.
Come on Barbie fans, let's go party — under the stars, in costume, while watching the biggest movie of 2023 and not thinking about dying. Moonlight Cinema is returning for 2023–24, with its November–December lineup celebrating Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie's pink-hued big-screen comedy. The openair cinema season is throwing Barbie-themed shindigs where wearing pink, rose or similar shades is encouraged while watching the film beneath the evening sky. That's just one of the highlights of this summer's (and late spring and early autumn's) date with Moonlight Cinema, which kicks off in Melbourne on Friday, December 1, 2023 and runs till Saturday, March 30, 2023 in the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Also worth getting excited about: festive flicks ('tis the season), nostalgic sessions of Jurassic Park and The Mighty Ducks, The Hunger Games prequel Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and Sydney-shot Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria)-starring rom-com Anyone But You. If nothing says Christmas to you like catching a festive film under the heavens, ideally while kicking back on bean beds and eating a picnic, then you're in luck as usual. When the beloved Australian outdoor movie-viewing setup returns, it'll again show some of the merriest pictures that it can find. On the list: Love Actually, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Die Hard, Home Alone, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Elf — so, the usual selection, not that these jolly pictures ever get old. Movie lovers can also look forward to seeing preview screenings of Taika Waititi's Next Goal Wins, plus the Natalie Portman- (Thor: Love and Thunder) and Julianne Moore (Sharper)-led May December. Throw in the animated Trolls Band Together, plus everything from Dumb Money and Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One to Asteroid City, and there's already a heap of titles on the bill. If you're wondering what else Moonlight will screen across its full season, it now drops its program month by month. The films and the setting are just two parts of the Moonlight Cinema experience. Also on offer: an official Aperol spritz bar, which is new for 2023–24. Nosh-wise, the event will again let you BYO movie snacks and drinks, but the unorganised can enjoy a plethora of bites to eat onsite while reclining on bean beds. A beauty cart will be handing out samples, too. And, dogs are welcome — there's even special doggo bean beds, and a snack menu for pooches.
Whatever you've been dreaming about getting for Christmas, here's one thing that you don't have to write a letter to Santa for: a festive action-comedy about a Christmas Eve heist where a certain red suit- and white beard-wearing fellow kicks ass and tries to save the day. Making Violent Night an extra present of a film when it hits cinemas in December (when else?) is the man getting jolly, too: Stranger Things favourite David Harbour. The actor behind Hopper will get ho-ho-hoing in the seasonal flick — and dispensing with mercenaries like he's a Father Christmas version of John Wick. Hawaiian shirts are out, clearly, replaced by the expected Santa getup. The same no-nonsense attitude remains, though, as seen in the movie's just-dropped first trailer. Harbour as the merriest figure there is rescuing Christmas when a kid calls for his help? That's the basic plot, but there is slightly more to it. Those aforementioned mercenaries break into a wealth family compound on the night before the big festive day, taking everyone hostage. But Santa also happens to be there — and uttering lines like "time for season's beatings" as he gets to work. Those John Wick comparisons are by design, with 87North, the producers of franchise plus Nobody, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Bullet Train and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, behind the film. And yes, there's more than a little bit of Die Hard thrown in as well — just in a home rather than Nakatomi Plaza. Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Jake Peralta would approve. On-screen, Harbour is joined by John Wick's John Leguizamo, plus Cam Gigandet (Without Remorse), Alex Hassell (Cowboy Bebop), Alexis Louder (The Terminal List), Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones) and Beverly D'Angelo (Shooter). And behind the lens, Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola (Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, the Dead Snow franchise) is in the director's chair — and the script is penned by by Pat Casey and Josh Miller, after writing the terrible Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Check out the trailer below: Violent Night opens in cinemas Down Under on December 1.
Summer is here, which means that it's time to leave the den that we've crafted for ourselves for our winter hibernation. We need to go outside, and there's no better way to get into the 'outside' than by roughing it under a canvas sheet with fire and nature. But camping doesn't have to be all about being at one with nature; it can be about surviving in the coolest way possible. With this level of bad-assery in mind, here are the top ten gadgets you need to make camping an excellent trip to the great outdoors instead of a terrible trip to the hospital with hypothermia. TENTSILE STINGRAY TREEHOUSE TENT First on your pyramid of camping needs is shelter, and this is the coolest shelter around. The Stingray hangs from the trees, keeping you safe from bugs, animals and all those things that go bump in the night. Going for about AU$850, this genius tent is 4.6 metres square and can hold a whopping 400kg. Now all you have to worry about are the Drop Bears. US$749 from tentsile.com MUSUCBAG LITE Despite having a potential gross-out for a name, this is the 'handiest' sleeping bag you'll ever see. Because it has hands. And feet. Ever get sick of having to get up out of your sleeping bag to get some water or a snack? Fear not, the MusucBag has you covered. Now you can sit around drinking with friends without having to leave the comfort of your bedding. It's like the Snuggie of the camping world. The 'classic' is 119 euros from musucbag.com. TRANSPARENT CANOE For the more sporty of us, summer camping trips are all about getting in or on the water, whether it's the beach or a not-at-all scary lake. For these grand occasions, there's Hammacher's Transparent Canoe. Can't decide between snorkelling or kayaking? Fine, because now you can row your heart out and check out the depths beneath you, all at the same time. US$1900 from the Hammacher online store. BIOLITE CAMPSTOVE Possibly the coolest innovation in heat since the discovery of fire, the BioLite CampStove takes the heat from an internal fire to create electricity that charges phones, tablets, lights and anything else with a power cord. One chamber holds a fire made from twigs that's suitable for cooking, which fuels a generator in another chamber. It's about the size of a drink bottle, affordable and eliminates the need for lighting a giant fire every time you want a cup of tea. The BioLite CampStove is simply one of the coolest inventions in town. US$129.95 from the BioLite online store. KANZ FIELD KITCHEN Camping can seem somewhat less appealing when you think about the fact that it means eating a whole load of tinned spaghetti — it's hard to lug around the gear necessary to cook a decent meal. Instead, why not pack up the portable and awesomely nifty Field Kitchen? It houses a two-burner stove top, cabinets and a prep area, all in less than a metre cubed. Get the fully pimped propane version for US$1640 from the Kanz online store. LIFESTRAW Not only is it important to be comfortable and have your phone charged whilst camping, it's also important to have clean water, which is where the life straw comes in. The straw looks like a little water bottle, and can filter 1000L of filthy, stagnant water into the purest elixir you've ever had. Handy for when you just can't boil up some river water and wait for it to cool. US$19.95 from the Lifestraw store. Plus, for every straw you buy, part of the funds go towards distributing LifeStraw Community institutional water purifiers to schools in Africa. BEAR GRYLLS SCOUT ESSENTIALS KIT Whether or not Bear Grylls really does do all the wicked stuff he appears to on television, there's no doubt that he's the ultimate survival guy, and this kit is all the basics he deems necessary to live outside. There's a scout knife, a first aid kit, a compass and an LED light, just for starters, and it's all packaged up polypropylene case. £35.99 at the Bear Grylls website. VICTORINOX TINKER DELUXE SWISS ARMY KNIFE This isn't just a camping essential; this is a life essential. Everyone needs a Swiss Army Knife because they can do just about anything. Victorinox are always coming up with innovations that already improve on the perfect design, and the Tinker Deluxe is one of the best examples. With a knife, a can opener, scissors, pliers, screwdriver and the always handy bottle opener, this camping/life essential is well worth the $80 it costs to have one. YETI TUNDRA 65 WHITE COOLER The Tundra 65 isn't the cheapest cooler in town, but it sure is the best. It holds 60L, which is about 39 cans of beer. Which is a lot. Plus, the walls are super thick, so it keeps these cans of beer cooler for much longer than your regular old cooler. It may cost a pretty penny, but what a price to pay for beer that's still cold until you've finished the case, which is what camping is all about, isn't it? US$399.99 from Yeti, FESTIVE BRAZIL HAMMOCK Finally, it's essential to touch on the more comfortable side of sleeping outdoors — glamping, if you will. For those of us who really don't like getting dirty or sleeping on a thin mat, glamping is an opportunity to enjoy the fresh air and beautiful views outdoors in comfort. And for that, there's the Festive Brazil Artisan Crafted Hammock. Not only is it big enough for two, it's all done up in pretty rainbow colours, and is finished with crocheted draping, hand crafted by Brazilian artisans. At $160, it's the perfect excuse to skip the hike. US$159.99 from Novica.
That glass of wine or icy cold beer you've been sipping solo and feeling guilty about it — it's about to become a thing of the past if you're a pet owner. Our furry companions share life's ups and downs, and now critters of both the feline and canine variety can share a beverage too thanks to the invention that is animal-friendly wine. It's the tipple that'll make humans feel better without even drinking it, and one that cats and dogs will enjoy... we think. Actually, it might just be something two-legged folks like the idea of more than their four-legged friends — but who doesn't want to pour their kitty or pooch a hard-earned drink? Currently available in the US, pet wine doesn't actually involve alcohol. Don't give your mouser or pup real booze, folks. Instead, it's made from beets, herbs and catnip, and comes in cutely named varieties such as The Doggy Mary, The Meowmosa, Catbernet, Chardognay and Pinot Meow. They're just some of the products startup Apollo Peak has been selling for the last two years, alongside special cat wine glasses — and they now have competition thanks to Pet Winery and their Catinis and Dog Perignon. Like all great ideas, someone else got their first, with a Japanese company releasing Nyan Nyan (or meow meow) Nouveau for cats back in 2013. Still, your purrfect pal surely won't mind, even if felines are known for their discerning tastes. Plus, your barking buddy now gets to join in the fun too. Via Good Food.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas across the country. After months spent empty, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Australian picture palaces are back in business — spanning 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, comedies, music documentaries, 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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdF25b1tv1g THE NEST Before watching The Nest, you mightn't have imagined Jude Law playing Mad Men's Don Draper. He didn't, of course. But this new 80s-set psychological thriller about a corroding marriage brings that idea to mind, because it too follows a man who spends his days selling a dream, thinks he can talk and charm his way into anything, and may have unleashed his biggest spin upon himself. More often than not, Law's character here has used his charisma to get whatever he wants, and to evade whichever sticky personal and professional situations he's plunged himself into. Indeed, stock trader Rory O'Hara slides easily into Law's list of suave on-screen roles, alongside the likes of The Talented Mr Ripley and Alfie. But there's also a tinge of desperation to his arrogance, as the actor showcased well in miniseries The Third Day. A Brit who relocated to New York and married horse trainer Allison (Carrie Coon, Widows), Rory looks the picture of Reagan-era affluence but, when he suddenly wants to return to London to chase new work opportunities, the cracks in his facade start widening. As directed with a heightened sense of dread by Martha Marcy May Marlene filmmaker Sean Durkin, The Nest busts open those fractures, with Allison, her teenage daughter Sam (Oona Roche, Morning Wars) and her son Ben (Charlie Shotwell, The Nightingale) all weathering the repercussions. While it's obvious from the outset that trouble is afoot, Durkin isn't in any rush to unleash The Nest's full nightmare. He wants his viewers to linger in it, because his characters must. Allison is forced to live with the knowledge that little is right, but the way she chain-smokes hurriedly illustrates that she also knows how far her fortunes could fall. Every move Rory makes is driven by his need to paint a gleaming portrait of himself, and he knows that it's a reverse Dorian Gray situation: the shinier and flashier he makes everything seem to anyone who'll listen, the more he rots inside. Durkin doesn't just rely upon an exacting pace and a festering mood of gloom, though. Reuniting with cinematographer Mátyás Erdély (Son of Saul) after 2013 miniseries Southcliffe, he gives every second of The Nest an eerie look — whether staying a few beats longer than normal on its opening shot, lensing vast rooms to emphasise their emptiness, repeatedly peering at the film's characters through glass or breaking out the most gradual of zooms. All that tension and unease conveys not only Rory and Allison's domestic discontent, but also the false promises of chasing capitalism-driven fantasies. And, with Coon as essential as Law and Durkin, it drives an excellent thriller that knows how how gut-wrenching it feels to realise that the life you don't even love is a sham. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZg2iEf-fTA EARWIG AND THE WITCH If you wanted to use Studio Ghibli's name as an adjective, it could mean many things, including beautiful, playful, moving, heartwarming, thoughtful and bittersweet. Thanks to the delightful combination of these traits in the company's work to-date, everyone knows a Ghibli film when they see it, as has proven the case for almost four decades. But, seven years after When Marnie Was There — and five years since French co-production The Red Turtle — the Japanese animation house has released a movie that doesn't slide instantly into its gorgeous and affecting catalogue. The studio's first film made solely using computer-generated 3D animation, Earwig and the Witch immediately stands out thanks to its plastic-looking visuals. That smooth, glossy imagery is impossible not to notice. It feels generic, and that sensation lingers. Indeed, almost everything in this slight, bright, likeable but rarely memorable addition to Studio Ghibli's filmography also earns the same description. And, despite focusing on a determined young girl, featuring a witch, and even including a talking cat and other helpful tiny critters, Earwig and the Witch rarely works Ghibli's usual magic. A by-the-numbers movie from the company is still better than many other family-friendly features — and this is average rather than awful, too — but the animated effort makes its audience work to uncover its modest charms. In a thinly plotted picture that tries to tick off as many of the studio's known traits as possible — and also endeavours to squeeze Ghibli's sensibilities into the broader anime mould, all while appealing more firmly to children than adults — viewers first meet Earwig (Kokoro Hirasawa) as a baby. After trying to shake off the dozen other witches chasing them along a highway during the opening scene of this Gorō Miyazaki (Tales from Earthsea, From Up on Poppy Hill)-directed film, her mother (Sherina Munaf) leaves her on an orphanage's doorstep, promising to return after her never-explained troubles subside. Ten years later, Earwig still roams the facility's halls. She brags to her offsider Custard (Yusei Saito) that she knows how to get its staff and its residents to bend to her will, and to whip up shepherd's pie on demand. And, she actively doesn't want to be adopted by the couples who stop by looking to expand their families. But when Earwig is chosen by witch Bella Yaga (Shinobu Terajima) and sorcerer The Mandrake (Etsushi Toyokawa), she has no option but to relocate to their enchanted cottage. Bella Yaga doesn't want a daughter, however. Instead, as based on the novel by Howl's Moving Castle author Diana Wynne Jones, the witch is in need of an assistant to cook, clean and crush rat bones for her spells. Seeing a chance to learn magic herself, though, Earwig isn't willing to acquiesce easily. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8t4VuMb__E WILD MOUNTAIN THYME It doesn't happen every week, thankfully, but every now and then a movie proves so ridiculous that it's impossible to forget. Some films overtly strive for silliness from the start, while others become ludicrous slowly and/or unintentionally — and Wild Mountain Thyme falls into the latter category. For most of its duration, this rom-com is somehow both bland and over the top. It sticks to a formulaic setup that takes a few cues from Romeo and Juliet, brings in neighbouring Irish farmers instead, and demonstrates zero reason for its central couple to remain apart. It does all of the above while throwing in so many shots of green Irish fields, you'd be forgiven for expecting to spy a sea of four-leaf clovers. And, it tasks Christopher Walken with narrating the feature with a terrible accent, and uses his first line to tell us that his character is telling this tale from beyond the grave. Again and again, Wild Mountain Thyme makes you question why its cast are involved, and wonder what Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan and Jon Hamm could've been doing instead. All those observations keep applying as its minutes drag by, too. But then comes a reveal that's as absurd as everything that Cats managed to serve up, and as unnecessary as well. Writer/director John Patrick Shanley won an Oscar for penning the script for Nicolas Cage and Cher-starring romantic comedy Moonstruck, which wasn't afraid to march to its own beat; however, there's no precedent for his latest movie's big leap. Worlds away from A Quiet Place's horrors — but perhaps not far enough from the Fifty Shades franchise's messiness — Blunt and Dornan play Rosemary Muldoon and Anthony Reilly. The pair have lived side by side all of their lives, and she has always had a crush on him, but nothing more than awkward friendship has ever arisen. Soon, though, something else upsets their patch of turf. As made clear in the opening narration, Anthony's father Tony (Walken, still having a bad run after The War with Grandpa) might not be long for this world. In his waning days, he's not convinced that his son has what it takes to keep working the land, so he's contemplating giving everything to his American nephew (Hamm, Richard Jewell) instead. Cast Blunt, Dornan and Hamm in the same rom-com, and there's obviously going to be a love triangle. At least Hamm doesn't have to put on a bad accent. There's a lyrical feel to the way Wild Mountain Thyme regards life, love and the land, but that's one of the very rare bright spots in a movie that only seems capable of operating in the lowest or highest of gears. It also features perhaps the least believable day-trip from Ireland to New York and back, but, if nothing else, it showcases Shanley's versatility — because last time he wrote and directed a movie based on his own play, as he does here, it was vastly dissimilar, four-time Oscar-nominated drama Doubt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZqVPMNgwP8 WILD THINGS There's much that's confronting in Sally Ingleton's Wild Things, including everything that the activists in its frames are fighting for. As long as the response to global warming remains woefully inadequate, it should feel distressing whenever you're reminded how the planet is changing, how quickly, what's at stake and what could be in store — even in a documentary that champions everyone who is doing everything they can to try to bring about much-needed action. But it's the torrent of anger directed at protestors at Queensland's Adani mine site that makes an immediate impact from Wild Things' array of footage. While the expletives shouted barely register, the tone behind them certainly does. So too does the sight of the same screaming semi-trailer driver inching his bulky truck closer and closer towards the standing activists, and yelling that he's doing it because he's got a job to do. Comparing his ire and threats with the signs held peacefully by the crowd, and the calm explanations from attendees about why they've taken up the cause, certainly sends a message. The earth is burning, and many who work in industries that exacerbate the planet's precarious state are simply burning with rage at anyone attempting to make a difference, rather than doing something to help face the situation themselves. Joining TV docos Australia's Great Flood and Acid Ocean among the environmentally focused works on her resume, Ingleton's film also joins a growing list of features about climate change. And, specifically, it sits among a subset of the eco-conscious genre that's only going to keep adding to its numbers: movies about activists. Where 2020's I Am Greta showed the battle from Greta Thunberg's perspective, including the toll it can take, Wild Things splits its focus between several groups on our own home soil. School kids who help plan giant marches and demand meetings with politicians, doctors willing to camp in trees to try to stop logging, grandmothers hoping to leave the world intact for their families, communities who've sprung up around their shared cause — they all earn Ingleton's attention. Along the way, the documentary also weaves in a history of Australia's environmental protests, calls upon ample footage of both past and present activities in action, and pays careful attention to the country's scenic landscape. Indeed, in terms of style, Wild Things sticks to a familiar template, as its heavy use of talking-head interviews demonstrates. But the power of the stories it's telling and the movement they belong to don't need slick packaging; these tales, this topic and the passion of those striving to bring about real efforts to combat the planet's warming resonate more than enough. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx8l_Hhm2Oo WRONG TURN Horror films may routinely tally up a hefty body count, but franchises in the genre rarely stay dead for long. The latest to return after a hiatus: Wrong Turn. Like the most recent Halloween movie, it keeps things simple by taking the same name as the original film in its series. Unlike that excellent addition to an entertaining saga, however, Wrong Turn circa 2021 is a reboot. The same broad concept carries over, but it's given new faces and a slight twist. So, once again, a group that doesn't usually hail from rural Virginia heads that way, only for its members to find themselves at the mercy of the locals. This time, it's Jen Shaw (Charlotte Vega, Warrior Nun), her boyfriend Darius Clemens (Adain Bradley, Riverdale), and their pals Milla (Emma Dumont, The Gifted), Adam (Dylan McTee, Roswell, New Mexico), Gary (Vardaan Arora, Blindspot) and Luis (Adrian Favela, Booksmart) who've made the trip, with plans to spend a couple of days hiking the Appalachian Trail. They're warned to stick to the official track by everyone in town, but shrug off those cautions when Darius suggests a scenic detour. And, they're soon doing more than just walking, with a community of mountain-dwellers who call themselves The Foundation crossing their paths — and showing their displeasure about the outsiders encroaching on their home. It's a credit to screenwriter Alan McElroy, who also penned the original 2003 Wrong Turn, that the series' seventh instalment doesn't stick as faithfully to its predecessor as it could've. That said, his script can't manage to successfully balance its nods to the franchise's slasher formula and its eagerness to cut into creepy cult territory — supplementing one set of horror tropes with another, basically — or to supply its cast with anything other than boilerplate dialogue. The film also stays in obvious terrain by painting its enthusiastic young hikers as a snapshot of liberal America, exposing their prejudices against small-town folks, then pitting them against the skull-wearing, vengeance-happy Appalachian inhabitants. The situation is never as simplistic as hipsters versus hicks, thankfully, but the movie isn't interested in diving particularly deep either. Director Mike P Nelson (The Domestics) and his crew do relish each and every savage trap set in the woods, as well as the minutiae of The Foundation's insular base, though. Indeed, while the feature's physical horrors prove engaging-enough at best, it frequently seems as if the filmmaker — and the film overall, in fact — would much rather focus on bloody kills and creepy decor, instead of paying lip service to bigger ideas. Nonetheless, although seven years elapsed between 2014's Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort and this average-at-best flick, don't be surprised if more now follow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdppl5Fnmys THE FOOD CLUB Since 2011, whenever a film follows a mature-aged group of travellers while they go on vacation to forget their daily woes, it earns comparisons to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and its 2015 sequel. But another movie also casts a shadow over The Food Club, with its tale of three women holidaying in Italy and endeavouring to confront their romantic struggles in the process often reminiscent of the cringe-worthy trip to Abu Dhabi in the awful Sex and the City 2. That resemblance doesn't do this new Danish comedy any favours. Thankfully, The Food Club also bears a likeness to every other movie that's charted the new lease on life gained during a getaway, because most features in this category routinely prove that generic. The long list spans everything from How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Under the Tuscan Sun to Eat, Pray, Love and Made in Italy, and the feeling that if you've seen one then you've seen them all doesn't subside here. In the hands of director Barbara Topsøe-Rothenborg (One-Two-Three Now!) and screenwriter Anne-Marie Olesen (Scandinavian TV series Black Widows), the combination of amorous entanglements, existential malaise and a scenic setting plays out as it usually does. It's Christmas Eve when Marie (Kirsten Olesen, Wild Witch) learns that her life is about to fall apart, after her husband Henrik (Peter Hesse Overgaard, The Legacy) tells her that he's seeing another woman. Their children and grandchildren have just gifted them a week in Italy to learn to cook the country's delicious dishes, however, and she's not willing to see that go to waste even in her anger and pain. So, when she passes on the present to her lifelong best friends Berling (Stina Ekblad, Thicker Than Water) and Vanja (Kirsten Lehfeldt, Equinox), they're thrilled — but they insist that Marie still goes with them. At first, she's barely interested in her surroundings or the food, preferring to compose text messages to Henrik instead, but the change of scenery and facing a few hard truths alters her outlook, and Berling and Vanja's as well. The Food Club is as predictable as it sounds, and it's scripted with zero surprises and plenty of time for the genre's cliches, but the film's three leading ladies do everything they can with their stock-standard parts. It's always obvious that Olesen's Marie will reassess her willingness to be at Henrik's beck and call, that Ekblad's no-nonsense Berling is hiding her self-doubts behind her overly libidinous facade, and that Lehfeldt's bereaved Vanja will learn how to move on from her loss, of course, but the three actors bring texture to their roles that isn't abundant in the straightforward script. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on July 2, July 9, July 16, July 23 and July 30; August 6, August 13, August 20 and August 27; September 3, September 10, September 17 and September 24; October 1, October 8, October 15, October 22 and October 29; and November 5, November 12, November 19 and November 26; and December 3, December 10, December 17, December 26; and January 1, January 7, January 14, January 21 and January 28. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as The Craft: Legacy, Radioactive, Brazen Hussies, Freaky, Mank, Monsoon, Ellie and Abbie (and Ellie's Dead Aunt), American Utopia, Possessor, Misbehaviour, Happiest Season, The Prom, Sound of Metal, The Witches, The Midnight Sky, The Furnace, Wonder Woman 1984, Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles, Nomadland, Pieces of a Woman, The Dry, Promising Young Woman, Summerland, Ammonite, The Dig, The White Tiger, Only the Animals, Malcolm & Marie, News of the World and High Ground.
Everyone should make the trip to Victoria's Grampians at least once, and here's as ace an excuse to do so as any: the return of much-loved camping festival Pitch Music & Arts. In 2024, it'll host its seventh edition, taking over Moyston again — and the fest's just-dropped lineup is worth getting excited about. The long-running celebration unleashes its fun across the Grampian Plains, with next years' festivities happening from Friday, March 8–Tuesday, March 12. Not only will its three stages play host to a sparkling lineup of local and international musical talent, but the tunes will be backed by a hefty program of interactive art and installations. Basically, you're in for a very big, very busy four days. On the lineup: Janson, Patrick Mason, I Hate Models, 999999999, Job Jobse, Marcel Dettmann and VTSS, for starters. X CLUB., CC:DISCO!, DJ BORING, Kia and Jennifer Loveless are also on the bill, plus everyone from Chaos in the CBD, Sally C, Gabrielle Kwarteng and SALOME to jamesjamesjames playing back to back with Willaris. K, Glass Beams, Sophie McAlister and Tangela. The tunes will be paired with a yet-to-be-announced arts program, but past years have seen street artist Adnate, installation king Clayton Blake (winner of Best Art at Burning Man 2018) and Gumbaynggirr woman Aretha Brown from KISS MY ART do the honours. In between all the dance-floor sessions and arty things, festivalgoers can again make themselves at home in the Pitch Pavilion, which is where yoga classes, meditation and sound baths usually help patrons unwind. If that all sounds like your true calling, you'll have to enter the Pitch Music & Arts 2024 ballot where, just like in 2023, entrants will be required to make a 'Pitch Pledge' — a written commitment to positively contributing to the Pitch community, leaving no trace and behaving respectfully while onsite. PITCH MUSIC & ARTS 2024 LINEUP: 999999999 Ahadadream Akua Anz Aroha Aurora Halal Bailey Ibbs Bambounou Bertie Bitter Babe Cakes Da Killa CC:DISCO! Chaos in the CBD Chippy Nonstop Chlär Clara Cuvé Cromby dameeeela b2b DJ PGZ Dan Shake Daniel Avery DJ BORING DJ Gigola Gabrielle Kwarteng Gerd Janson Glass Beams Hasvat Informant Horse Meat Disco I Hate Models jamesjamesjames b2b Willaris. K Jennifer Loveless JNETT Job Jobse Kessler Kia KiNK KSMBA LB aka LABAT Mac Declos Mama Snake Marcel Dettmann Mark Blair Matisa MC Yallah & Debmaster MCR-T Memphis LK Moopie Narciss Nene H Nite Fleit ØTTA Patrick Mason priya RONA. Sally C SALOME Sedef AdasÏ Shampain SHERELLE Sophie McAlister Special Request Spray Surusinghe Tangela THC TYGAPAW VTSS X-Coast X CLUB. Yikes Pitch Music & Arts will return to Moyston from Friday, March 8–Tuesday, March 12, 2024. Head to the festival's website for further details, or to enter the ballot before 12pm AEDT on Wednesday, November 8. General tickets will go on sale from 6pm AEDT on Monday, November 13. Top Images: Duncographic, William Hamilton Coates and Ash Caygill.
Death and vengeance are the common threads in Damián Szifron’s Wild Tales, one of the most deliriously savage black comedies to hit cinemas in years. Argentina’s nomination to the most recent Foreign Language Oscar race, the film consists of six separate vignettes, following six everyday people driven to the point of no return. The ensuing mayhem resembles the spawn of the Coen Brothers, Almodovar, Tarantino and Bunuel; a wicked tour de force as sharp as a corkscrew and every bit as twisted. Whether it’s a wealthy couple trying to cover up their son’s indiscretions, a lowly waitress taking revenge on the man who ruined her family or just two drivers struck down by a serious case of road rage, every chapter in the film is propelled by a wonderful inevitability: eventually, everything will be thrown horribly, hysterically and often violently out of control. And believe it or not, there’s actually method to Szifron’s madness — an intelligence lurking beneath all that wonderful chaos. The cathartic pleasure we feel watching his characters rebel against what’s socially (and ethically) acceptable comes directly from our own frustrations with the everyday world. Wild Tales is in select cinemas (Sydney: Dendy Newtown and Palace Verona. Melbourne: Palace Brighton Bay and Cinema Nova) from May 21, and thanks to Sony Pictures, we have 15 double in-season passes to give away. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter and then email us with your name and address. Read our full Wild Tales review here. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au
Don your rainbow flags, bust out the glitter and pop on some platform boots (or comfy walking shoes) for Melbourne's annual celebration of gender and sexuality solidarity. In 2020, the Midsumma Pride March marks its 25th year of the LGBTQIA+ community coming together, loud and proud. At 11am on Sunday, February 2, the parade will head down Fitzroy Street in St Kilda to declare that marching for pride is as important now as it was 25 years ago, and to celebrate love and community with our friends, family, lovers and allies. The fanfare will make its way to the foreshore of Catani Gardens, where the party will continue on the Summer Pride Stage. All of this is a part of Midsumma Festival 2020's huge program of queer arts and cultural events coming to Melbourne for 22 days this summer. Image: Dean Arcuri.
Usually a bustling hub of shoppers and diners, Southgate has been much quieter of late with much of the city working from home and the country closing its borders to international tourists. But come next year, it could be a hive of activity once again, with new plans underway to for an ambitious multimillion-dollar transformation of the riverside precinct. ARA Australia, which currently owns and manages the precinct, has just submitted its $800-million development application to the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. If approved, the precinct could have a new 21-storey tower, 2000 square metres of elevated parkland and a reimagined dining and entertainment precinct as early as November 2023, with construction hoped to kick off in early 2021. While Southgate is already home to a plethora food and drink spots, ARA is hoping to open a range of new casual and formal dining options, as well as a food hall, supermarket and exhibition space. Its proposed sprawling park, which will be located on top of the food and retail precinct, will have prime Yarra views, too, and will be directly accessible from the river promenade, Arts Precinct and St Kilda Road. [caption id="attachment_772040" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Render courtesy of ARA Australia[/caption] The 21-storey tower, designed by Fender Katsalidis architects, is hoped to be sustainable, with the company aiming for 5-star Green Star and 5.5 star National Australian Built Environment Rating System ratings. Before any of this happens, of course, the development application needs to be approved by the DELWP — we'll let you know if and when that happens. To find out more about ARA's plans for Southgate, head to the Southgate website. Top image: Render courtesy of ARA Australia
Sometimes, Zac Efron earns headlines because he's spending the pandemic in Australia. Sometimes, it's thanks to whichever film he has in cinemas. And, sometimes it's because he's been in the gym preparing for a movie, as has Jeremy Allen White. That flick getting the Gold and The Bear stars bulked up and bringing them together? The Iron Claw. In this wrestling drama, the Von Erich family is rumbling onto the big screen, with help from not just Efron and White but also Harris Dickinson (Scrapper), Maura Tierney (Your Honor), Holt McCallany (Mindhunter) and Lily James (What's Love Got to Do with It?). The IRL brood get the biopic treatment in this 80s-set effort from Martha Marcy May Marlene and The Nest director Sean Durkin — and if you're wondering why, then you've clearly never heard of the "Von Erich curse". As the just-dropped trailer for the A24 film shows, the Von Erich brothers are all keen wrestlers under the guidance of patriarch Fritz (McCallany), who is pushing his inseparable offspring to be the best. The line between encouraging and domineering is thin, however, in a tale that piles on more than its fair share of tragedies along with championships. "Ever since I was a child, people said my family was cursed," says Kevin (Efron) in the first sneak peek at The Iron Claw, which is named after a wrestling move associated with Fritz and the family. "Mom tried to protect us with god, pop tried to protect us with wrestling," he continues. "He said if we were the toughest, the strongest, nothing would ever hurt us. I believed him. We all did." What happens from there will hit picture palaces in the US on Friday, December 22, and then on Thursday, January 18 Down Under. From the first footage from the film — which comes set to Blue Öyster Cult's '(Don't Fear) the Reaper', cowbell and all — viewers can expect training scenes, pressure, plenty of skin, Fritz issuing his sons rankings regarding his favourites, complicated family bonds, trauma, in-the-ring action and James as Kevin's wife Pam. Check out the trailer for The Iron Claw below: The Iron Claw hits cinemas Down Under on Thursday, January 18. Images: Brian Roede / Eric Chakeen.
Puppies underwater. That's all you really need to know. But if you're looking for some more context, photographer Seth Casteel is actually one of the world's biggest catches — the man teaches puppies to swim. Teaches. Puppies. To swim. According to Mashable, Casteel has taught over 1500 dogs to paddle their way to glorious swimming success, building up their doggy confidence so they can impress the canine babes in their teen years. Shooting the lessons for his just-released and made-for-everyone-ever's coffee table book Underwater Puppies. Casteel has been doing this for a while; his first book Underwater Dogs followed the same vein. Not since these outrageously excellent photographs of dogs captured mid-shakedown have we squealed with such unfettered delight. Just look at this dude: https://youtube.com/watch?v=4ZZNVrU9w34 So here you go, the ultimate scrollworthy medicine for an average Thursday. ACK. Ruger Corey Rolley Pringles and Pick Me Reason Popsicle Monty Ava Ginger Iggy Via Mashable. Images: Seth Casteel.
UPDATE: JULY 17, 2020 — All of the Hella Mega Tour dates for Australia and New Zealand have been cancelled due to COVID set backs. Tickets will be refunded but no new dates will be released. For more information, head to the event Instagram. We hope you'll have the time of your life with the latest retro tour announcement. We hope it makes you feel just like Buddy Holly, too. Bands who were big a couple of decades back just keep teaming up and heading to our shores for nostalgia-dripping gigs — and, in music to our greedy ears, Green Day, Weezer and and Fall Out Boy have revealed that they're all doing just that come November 2020. Hot on the heels of a similar announcement by The Offspring and Sum 41 just last week, the bands who gave us 'American Idiot', 'Undone — The Sweater Song' and 'This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race' will be hitting up Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, before heading over to NZ for shows in Auckland and Dunedin. It's the latest leg of the trio's Hella Mega Tour, which they first announced in September last year, and which sees them play across Europe, North America, and now Australia and New Zealand. Green Day, Weezer and and Fall Out Boy have all actually released new music lately, with Green Day's 13th album dropping today, February 7, and Weezer's 14th album expected in May. That means they'll all have new tunes to bust out as well. But, admit it — if you're excited about seeing this trio of American rock bands share a stage, then you're excited about hearing their respective back catalogues live. Given they've been doing their punk-styled thing since the late 80s, Green Day certainly have plenty of iconic tracks — whether you prefer early 90s hits 'Welcome to Paradise' and 'When I Come Around', the late 90s-era likes of 'Good Riddance' and 'Nice Guys Finish Last', or mid-00s songs like 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams'. Weezer's discography is just as hefty — and if they don't play 'Island in the Sun' while they're touring these islands in the sun, you're allowed to be upset. As for Fall Out Boy, the tour comes just after they dropped their second best-of album last November, so you know they'll treating audiences to everything from 'Dance, Dance' to 'Uma Thurman'. Local support for all shows comes from New Zealand power-rock four-piece The Beths. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erG5rgNYSdk THE HELLA MEGA 2020 AUSTRALIAN and NZ TOUR DATES Perth — Sunday, November 8, HBF Park Melbourne — Wednesday, November 11, Marvel Stadium Sydney — Saturday, November 14, Bankwest Stadium Brisbane — Tuesday, November 17, Suncorp Stadium Dunedin — Friday, November 20, Forsyth Barr Stadium Auckland — Sunday, November 22, Mt Smart Stadium Fan pre-sale tickets for The Hella Mega Tour go on sale at 10am local time on Monday, February 10. Then, there will be a Live Nation pre-sale — that starts at 10am local time on Tuesday, February 11 in Australia, and 10am local time on Thursday, February 13 in New Zealand. Finally, general tickets on sale at 11am local time on Friday, February 14. Visit the tour website to sign up for pre-sale and for further details.
Ever since the ABC's War on Waste aired in May this year, we've seen a significant shift in the way people think about waste — from the bananas amount of bananas that are thrown away each day to the single-use coffee cups and plastic items we thoughtlessly use whenever we like. But it's that last item — plastic — that's seen some big companies spring to action. Last month grocery chains Coles, Woolworths, and NSW-based Harris Farm announced that they would ban single-use plastic bags by from 2018 — a huge (and influential) example of big business leading change. Now Hobart City Council is planning to take city-wide action by phasing out single-use plastic takeaway containers and cutlery completely. According to the ABC, the council voted 10-1 to amend draft environmental health bylaws which will see the items banned by 2020. They'll be replaced by compostable alternatives, which will be processed at a proposed new facility. If the changes are implemented, Hobart will be the first Australian city to completely ban single-use plastic containers — and it's quite possible others will follow suit. Last year France last year committed to phasing out single-use plastic plates, cups and cutlery across the entire country by 2020. Slowly, it seems the tide is finally changing — and hopefully we'll see a lot less plastic in it. Via ABC.
For all the logicality of urban planners and architects, we often end up with some pretty weird conglomerations of concrete and steel around town. Once in a while, we all end up staring at a nonsensical urban nook while waiting at the traffic lights and thinking, 'why?'. Austrian choreographer Willi Dorner and his company take that reverie one step further with Bodies in Urban Spaces. They see an odd little city space and think: human Tetris. So how does it work? Dorner enlists a group of movement artists (whose skills are not solely focused on dance — he also hires climbers, martial artists and circus performers) and choreographs a performance that sees these 20 human bodies, clad in bright colour-blocked clothes, gracefully shove themselves into any sort of architectural gap they can find, hold their positions for several minutes and then effortlessly wriggle out of the tight spot and move on to the next. What it means for the passer-by is that your eyes fall on brightly colour-blocked human staying perfectly, magically still in an otherwise dead space. "Bodies in Urban Spaces is an invitation to let go, to take the time for a new look at the city, an opportunity to think so that we can form opinions about what makes a city a liveable space, and eventually make changes to achieve that goal," says Dorner. Bodies in Urban Spaces premiered in 2007 and has been co-produced by festivals and venues across Europe and the US ever since. It will be appearing in Sydney for Art & About on Friday, October 11, and Saturday, October 12, from 12.30-2pm. Check out more of their cheeky and surreal appearances around the world in the images below.
The tiny, non-profit gallery aptly named CAVES on Swanston street is hosting an exhibition of the work of Annika Koops, kicking off on February 5 and running until February 27. Koops, just FYI, is prolific homegrown artist whose work has been exhibited across Australia and who manages to combine the enviable attributes of being technically brilliant and precise with an ideologically broad and abstract practice. Koops has grown a name for herself through her hyperreal still-life painting and portraiture. Bump Function promises to continue Koops’ manifesto while looking at the interaction of man and machine — albeit with a slight twist. It explores the digital realm and the tools and patterns used to navigate and describe it as a starting point, but they are then reimagined as analogue in her native medium of oil painting. The result is a slick combo of the ironic internet art that’s so popular nowadays with the classic precision of oil painting. The pieces will be accompanied by an essay by Liang Luscombe and we can’t wait to see what they’ve got.
Taking his homegrown charm to fans one last time, Bored Nothing is wrapping things up in spectacular classic pub style. Launching his second album 'Some Songs' (the first to be recorded outside his beloved bedroom set-up), frontman Fergus Miller will be playing two unforgettable shows in both Sydney and Melbourne. Born and bred in Geelong, Miller has decided to call it a day after three years of recording and producing the dreamy, melancholy tracks Bored Nothing is famous for. After two months gallivanting through Europe for late 2014 touring, a string of support gigs for Brisbanites The John Steel Singers and the release of a handful of hypnotic singles, the new year feels like the perfect time to end Bored Nothing's killer run on a truly great note. Pinned for two packed-out performances in Sydney and Melbourne, these intimate east coast gigs are a fitting send off before Miller sheds his Bored Nothing moniker once and for all.
You could say that humans and space got fairly chummy in 2012 as they reconnected in many new and exciting ways. It was a fantastic year for NASA. As many new discoveries and advancements were made with the planet Mars, we have extended our view of space and said goodbye to a space legend. Through highs and lows, Earth has become but a dot in our ever-increasing knowledge of the universe, and these moments have significantly increased potential for space exploration in the future. Perhaps the worlds of Futurama, Star Trek, or Total Recall are really not that far away after all. Here are 10 of the most remarkable space moments from BBC News that occurred in 2012. 10. The Supermoon Once a year, a cosmic event occurs in which the full moon appears 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than in other months. 2012's 'Supermoon' occurred in May and produced some truly spectacular photographs. 9. First Triathlon in Space NASA astronaut Sunita Williams became the first person to run, bike, and swim her way through a triathlon - in space. The US commander of the Expedition 33 crew on the space station 386km from Earth completed the Nautica Malibu Triathlon held in California along with her fellow athletes. She completed the course using exercise equipment: a stationary bike, a treadmill, and a strength-training machine specially formulated for weightlessness. 8. 26 New Alien Planets in 11 Solar Systems In January 2012, NASA announced that its Kepler telescope discovered 11 previously unknown solar systems, within which there were 26 alien planets, known as exoplanets. The size of these planets ranges from 1.5 times larger than Earth to even bigger than Jupiter, with their orbital periods ranging from 6 to 143 days and all of them located closer to their stars than Venus. This find almost doubled the quantity of planets discovered by Kepler in its two-year history and reinforces the exponential number of planets, particularly exoplanets, that exist in our universe. 7. The Earth Sings The Earth really gained a voice as NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission managed to capture radio waves emitted by energetic particles of the Van Allen belts in the magnetosphere and rendered them into an audio recording. This 'chorus' apparently sounds similar to a whale's song. 6. Space Shuttle Endeavour's LA Trek Endeavor was the fifth and final spaceworthy shuttle to be used in NASA's space shuttle program. The retired orbiter conducted 25 space missions during its 19-year career from 1992 to 2011. In October, the 155,000 pound Endeavor made its final mission, trekking the 12-mile journey from the Los Angeles International Airport to the Californian Science Centre, avoiding trees, utility poles, and the mass of stunned onlookers. 5. SpaceX Dragon attaches to the ISS The Dragon is a reusable spacecraft developed by SpaceX, a private American space transportation company, that in May became the first commercial spacecraft to be successfully attached to the International Space Station. The Dragon delivered a series of cargo shipments, which brought 20 metric tons of supplies into space. This advancement brings the possibility of private space flight significantly closer to reality. 4. Space Jump Breaking the world record for not only the highest jump from a platform (128,100 feet), the longest distance freefall (119,846 feet), and the maximum vertical velocity (833.9 mph), stuntman Felix Baumgartner also broke the YouTube record for the most concurrent views ever on livestream (8 million viewers). This Austrian daredevil really took record-breaking to new heights. 3. Farthest Ever View into the Universe This view captured by the Hubble Space Telescope depicts thousands of galaxies within the constellation Formax, billion of light years away. The composite image from 10 years of telescopic views shows planets so far away that they don't even exist anymore. The title eXtreme Deep Field feels highly appropriate here. 2. Goodbye to a Space Pioneer and Legend The end of an era arrived when the world bid farewell to Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon in 1969. The world renowned astronaut passed away at 82 after complications from a heart bypass surgery but will forever be remembered for his incredible feat. 1. Curiosity Rover Makes History on Mars The most impressive advancement to occur in the space arena in 2012 was the Curiosity Rover's incredible experiences on the red planet. Since making her landing on August 5 — an event so tense it was deemed 'the seven minutes of terror' — the rover has discovered an ancient streambed where water once flowed, analysed soil, rock and atmospheric samples on the planet, been the first machine to 'check in' on Mars, and snapped an incredible self-portrait that would leave even MySpace users flabbergasted. And her trip has only just begun, with 20 more months to go before her return.
The trio behind Collingwood's 70s-themed wine bar Gum has launched into the loaded deli sandwich game with new venture The Continental. Located next door to the team's small bar on Johnston Street, this spot is loading up fresh focaccias with a heap of different Mediterranean flavours — the white anchovy number with whipped ricotta, capers, rocket, red onion and salsa verde is already a hot fave. The mortadella sanga with manchego, Sicilian olives and that verde sauce is another winner — especially when you add crisps inside for an extra $2. There are currently just seven sandwiches available, with none pricier than $19. They're not the cheapest, but these big lunchtime bites are full of top-quality Aussie and imported produce. And though the deli is mostly set up for takeaway trade, visitors are invited to stick around to play a spot of pool. There aren't any seats, but you can take a bite of your sanga while you're waiting for your turn. On the drinks side, $3.50 espressos are the only dine-in option. It's a lot like Europe's coffee culture where you quickly down an espresso at the bar before getting on with the day. All other food and drinks are served in takeaway containers, whether you're staying or leaving. The Continental has really charming European social club vibes, both in the style of service and its design. Old brown tiles — that'll remind you of your nonna's, yiayia's or abuela's kitchen — line the floors, and there's a smattering of kitsch artwork on the walls. Other than that, the space is pretty sparse – the focus here is on quality sandwiches and deli fillings that are given plenty of love. And if you want to sit down with your sanga, you can always take it next door to Gum (when it's open) and pair it with some natty wines. What's not to love about that? You can find The Continental at 171 Johnston Street, Collingwood, open 10am–3pm, Tuesday–Sunday. For more information, head to the venue's website.
Melancholy, cantankerousness, angst, hurt and snow: all five blanket Barton Academy in Alexander Payne's The Holdovers. It's Christmas in the New England-set latest film from the Election, About Schmidt and Nebraska director, but festive cheer is in short supply among the students and staff that give the movie its moniker. The five pupils all want to be anywhere but stuck at their exclusive boarding school over the yuletide break, with going home off the cards for an array of reasons. Then four get their wish, leaving just Angus Tully (debutant Dominic Sessa), who thought he'd be holidaying in Saint Kitts until his mother told him not to come so that she could have more time alone with his new stepdad. His sole company among the faculty: curmudgeonly classics professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti, Billions), who's being punished for failing the son of a wealthy donor, but would be hanging around campus anyway; plus grieving head cook Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Only Murders in the Building), who is weathering her first Christmas after losing her son — a Barton alum — in the Vietnam War. The year is 1970 in Payne's long-awaited return behind the lens after 2017's Downsizing, as the film reinforces from its opening seconds with retro studio credits. The Holdovers continues that period-appropriate look in every frame afterwards — with kudos to cinematographer Eigil Bryld (No Hard Feelings), who perfects not only the hues and grain but the light and softness in his imagery — and matches it with the same mood and air, as if it's a lost feature unearthed from the era. Cat Stevens on the soundtrack, a focus on character and emotional truths, zero ties to franchises, a thoughtful story given room to breathe and build: that's this moving and funny dramedy. Christmas flicks regularly come trimmed with empty, easy nostalgia, but The Holdovers earns its wistfulness from a filmmaker who's no stranger to making movies that feel like throwbacks to the decade when he was a teen. In the first of his eight pictures actually set in the 70s, Payne tells a tale that audiences can plot out from the setup alone. The Holdovers also charts a story so on the director's wavelength that, even though it's only the second of his films that he didn't also script, it comes as no surprise that he specifically commissioned it from screenwriter David Hemingson (Whiskey Cavalier) after reading a pilot by him set in a boarding school, and also watching 1935 French effort Merlusse. But spying where this account of three lonely souls thrust together over the holidays is heading doesn't temper its delights and depths; the journeys that Paul, Angus and Mary take; or spending time in the trio's presence. While movie narratives are often predictable — that there's only so many basic plots is a common writing concept — the devils and joys are in the details, relationships and idiosyncrasies, as Payne unpacks with help from excellent performances. The Holdovers knows how to construct and flesh out characters; in Paul's gruff demeanour with his class, who he's happy to flunk — and particularly ferocious about putting the most privileged in their place — the film says plenty about the man and how everyone around him sees him. He's hardly thrilled with his chaperoning gig, taking to it like teaching. Angus, one of his outspoken but socially awkward pupils, is equally miserable. And Mary is just endeavouring to get through a tough time heightened by the supposedly merriest part of the year. That each will come to better understand the other, plus themselves, is exactly what's expected, and what Payne and Hemingson dive into. The layers unpeeled, however, are exquisite — not only showing what's led the three figures to this physical place in their lives, and to their current emotional and psychological juncture as well, but letting viewers see themselves in each and every one. Payne and Giamatti reteam following 2004's Sideways, which brought the former the first of his three directing Oscar nominations to-date, and also gave him a statuette for co-writing the adapted screenplay. The Holdovers is a welcome reunion, again casting Giamatti as a dispirited teacher, but his older years are felt. The corduroy-wearing, pipe-smoking Paul is a holdover in several manners, including as a former Barton student now working at the academy, someone whose dreams haven't come true and a man maintaining his frostiness after a lifetime of not fitting in. Every aspect is naturalistically grounded in Giamatti's acerbic Golden Globe-winning portrayal, as is the fact that choosing something different, breaking his routines and no longer holding himself over is a trickier prospect when you've spent more time set in your ways than you have left to change. This virtual three-hander pairs its biggest on-screen name with two just-as-exceptional performances by Randolph and newcomer Sessa. She's another 2024 Golden Globe-recipient and he, after being discovered as an elite Massachusetts boarding school perhaps not unlike Barton — it's one of five used as locations in the movie — kicks off what's certain to be a promising career. There's such soulfulness in the no-nonsense, just-getting-by Mary, who has no other option but to keep overseeing the academy's kitchen after the worst thing that can ever happen to a mother, and gives Rustin and The Idol's Randolph her best role since Dolemite Is My Name. And there's such spark mixed with pain in Sessa's young Dustin Hoffman-esque turn (a comparison reinforced when Paul and Angus hit the cinema to see western Little Big Man, which stars Hoffman, and by The Holdovers overall harking back to The Graduate times). Think: Dead Poets Society and With Honours, too. Think: The Shining as well, thanks to the snowy, sprawling and empty site where the characters and their thoughts are left to roam. But The Holdovers finds its own space as it ponders striving against remaining in a spot in your life that's anything but what you truly want, and also how one person's flaws and failings can be another's source of inspiration — packaging both with ample laughs. This is a witty and amusing film with dialogue that bounces and proves finely observed at the same time, as its characters and the entire movie also do. Down Under, The Holdovers' release has been held over until after Christmas, pitching its big-screen arrival as awards season heats up — Giamatti and Randolph are highly likely Academy Award-nominees — but it's also perfect bittersweet future festive viewing.
Squid Game is a "remember when" show. We all remember when we first saw the South Korean Netflix series, became obsessed, couldn't binge it fast enough, and talked about it and nothing else for days, weeks and more. If you watched it when it initially debuted, that was back in 2021 — and we've been waiting for more ever since. 2024 is finally set to deliver, with Netflix advising shareholders as part of its fourth-quarter earnings review that Squid Game will be back this year. There's no other new details so far, but the series is set to return before 2025 rolls around, alongside season three of Bridgerton and season two of The Diplomat. One of the best new TV programs of 2021, Squid Game was such a huge smash that Netflix confirmed at the beginning of 2022 that a second season was on the way, and also dropped a teaser trailer for it the same year. And, it turned the show's whole premise into an IRL competition series as well, which debuted in 2023 — without any murders, of course. Squid Game: The Challenge has already been picked up for a second season. After getting the world seeing marbles, hopscotch and tug of war as far more than ordinary, innocent activities that everyone enjoyed when they were kids, the streaming platform also revealed in 2023 exactly who'll be playing Squid Game season two. Lee Jung-jae (Deliver Us From Evil) returns as the show's protagonist Seong Gi-hun, while Lee Byung-hun (The Magnificent Seven) will be back as the masked Front Man as well. They'll be joined by Wi Ha-joon (Little Women) as detective Hwang Jun-ho, plus Gong Yoo (Train to Busan) as the man in the suit who got Gi-hun into the game in the first place. A show about a deadly competition that has folks battling for ridiculous riches comes with a hefty bodycount, which means that new faces were always going to be essential in Squid Game season two. Yim Si-wan (Emergency Declaration), Kang Ha-neul (Insider), Park Sung-hoon (The Glory) and Yang Dong-geun (Yaksha: Ruthless Operations) will all join the series. If you somehow missed all things Squid Game when it premiered, even after it became bigger than everything from Stranger Things to Bridgerton, the Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning series serves up a puzzle-like storyline and unflinching savagery, which unsurprisingly makes quite the combination. It also steps into societal divides within South Korea, a topic that wasn't invented by Parasite, Bong Joon-ho's excellent Oscar-winning 2019 thriller, but has been given a boost after that stellar flick's success. Accordingly, it's easy to see thematic and narrative parallels between Parasite and Squid Game, although Netflix's highly addictive series goes with a Battle Royale and Hunger Games-style setup. Here, 456 competitors are selected to work their way through six seemingly easy children's games. They're all given numbers and green tracksuits, they're competing for 45.6 billion won, and it turns out that they've also all made their way to the contest after being singled out for having enormous debts. Check out Netflix's Squid Game season two cast announcement video below: Squid Game's first season is available to stream via Netflix — we'll update you with an exact 2024 release date for season two when one is announced. Images: Netflix.
April 14, 2018, will forever go down in history as the day Beyoncé took to the Coachella stage and made it her own. If you were lucky enough to be there, you'll no doubt remember it forever. If you watched the live stream — and it became the most-watched live-streamed performance of all time, so you probably did — then you'll never forget it either. Whichever category you fell into, you likely wish you were closer to the action — to the stage for the 105-minute performance, to the 100-plus dancers, to its powerful homage to America's historically black colleges and universities, and to the backstage antics as well. Enter Netflix's Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé, the concert documentary you definitely knew you needed, but didn't know existed until now. On Wednesday, April 17, the streaming platform will release the in-depth look at Beyoncé's epic show, revealing "the emotional road from creative concept to cultural movement" according to the official synopsis. The film reportedly clocks in at 137 minutes, so expect a lengthy and intimate tour through the festival set everyone has been talking about for a year, including behind-the-scenes footage and candid chats that delve into the preparation process and Beyoncé's stunning vision. Even if Beyoncé hadn't put on such a fierce 32-song performance complete with a marching band, Beychella still would've made history. Her performance was a year in the making, with the music superstar originally scheduled to play in 2017, but dropping out due to pregnancy (with twins Rumi and Sir). And when she finally appeared before the California crowd, she became the first black woman to headline the fest — and only the third woman to do so in 20 years. News of the film comes just as one of Beyoncé's 2018 co-stars, her sister Solange, announced that she was pulling out of this year's Coachella due to "major production delays". Check out the trailer for Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB8qvx0HOlI Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé hits Netflix on Wednesday, April 17.
In Woody Allen's latest film, Cate Blanchett plays Jasmine, an unpleasant socialite who's fallen on hard times. Jasmine finds herself at odds with her adopted sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins), whom she plans to stay with until she is back on her feet. Jasmine had little time for Ginger when she was living high on the hog in Manhattan and finds herself appalled at Ginger's working-class lifestyle and new boyfriend, Chili (Bobby Cannavale), a mechanic. The story flashes back and forth between Jasmine's glamorous New York life of polo matches and Hamptons holidays and her later comeuppance in California. Along the way, Ginger and ex-boyfriend Augie (Andrew Dice Clay) make a rare visit to New York, where Jasmine suggests husband Hal (Alec Baldwin) can invest money for Ginger and Augie. The flashbacks find Jasmine in wilfully ignorant bliss, raising the question of whether she should have taken more of an interest in his staggering accumulation of wealth. The prickly figure of Jasmine, a character who is by turns contemptible and pitiful, washing Xanax down with vodka as she endlessly recounts stories from better times, is perfectly realised, and Blanchett's compelling work lights up one of Woody Allen's darkest films. Blue Jasmine is in cinemas on September 12, and thanks to Hopscotch Films, we have ten double in-season passes to give away. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email hello@concreteplayground.com.au with your name and address. https://youtube.com/watch?v=BXnktqEWvGM
Shannon Bennett's new seafood restaurant Iki-Jime on Melbourne's Collins Street is branching out. It's putting seafood on the back-burner for three nights as it puts dessert front and centre. The restaurant is hosting a series of dessert degustations, taking place on a Wednesday each month. On each night, four courses of dessert will be served up to the sweet-toothed guests sitting at Bar Jime (located just in front of the pastry chefs and bartenders at work). While exactly what desserts you'll be eating will change each time, expect interactive and theatrical dishes — such as chocolate domes that melt in front of your eyes and plates that look like paintings. Different cocktail pairings will be available each night, too, with the December ones featuring spicy Christmassy spirits, and February's showcasing Tassie gin. The dessert degustation itself will set you back $55, with cocktail pairings an additional $30. To make reservation, head to the website. Images: Emily Weaving. Updated: December 12, 2018.
Feeling a big dose of wanderlust and itching to get away? We don't blame you. But sometimes it can be hard to know where to go, and also what you should do when you get there — which is exactly where a trip on the high seas comes in handy. There are more than a few reasons that you should consider hitting the water for your next getaway. Think: taking the stress out of navigating, getting to explore multiple locations, having ample opportunities for 'me time' and finding yourself with an abundance of entertainment options. Need further details? We've partnered with P&O Cruises to run through a couple of things that make cruising a great holiday option. YOU ONLY NEED TO UNPACK YOUR BAGS ONCE One massive benefit of jumping onboard a cruise ship is only having to unpack and repack your bags once. Every seasoned jetsetter knows the pain of having to pack and repack over and over — but on an ocean vessel, you can organise your things in your room and make yourself at home. Your toothbrush can stay in the holder, your clothes can go in the drawers and your skincare will be ready for you in an easy-to-find (and use) arrangement. And you won't ever need to wake up early to try to jam your suitcase shut because you're carting all of your stuff around with you from destination to destination. THERE'S NO CHANCE OF GETTING LOST If you've never been lost while on an adventure, you deserve a round of applause. For most of us mere mortals, this is a problem we're well-acquainted with — along with arguing over directions and getting flustered when driving in new terrain. Cruise ships, however, take all of that stress away by sailing you to exactly where you need to go (no Google Maps required). Instead of getting Siri to help navigate or debating with your travel partner over which turn you were supposed to take, you can just put your feet up and enjoy the ride. YOU CAN EXPLORE MULTIPLE DESTINATIONS Not only do you get to hang out in the fresh ocean air, sip cocktails with a view and relax in the sun when you're on a cruise, but you also get ferried to some amazing locations, which you then get to explore. Think tropical beaches and oceanside towns, plus places where you can take a trip through limestone caves filled with glow worms, snorkel over coral hotspots and hang with wild dolphins. Plus, some cruises also provide shore tours, which take you to hand-picked sights with some stellar tour providers. You get to just hop onboard the ship and be taken straight to a heap of incredible spots. YOU'LL HAVE PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITY FOR 'ME TIME' There's nothing like a bit of time to rest, recoup and recharge — and the pampering on the side is a pretty great bonus, too. Accordingly, one huge positive of cruise getaways is the ample opportunities they provide for a more than a little stint of 'me time'. Enjoy some solo exercise with a bit of yoga or a run around the onboard jogging track. Ease into a deckchair and escape into a good book, or relax in a salon chair as a beautician pampers you or a hairdresser tends to your locks. As a bonus, there's always retail therapy to fill your solo time if that's more your cup of tea. THERE'S AN ABUNDANCE OF ENTERTAINMENT You'll never be bored on a cruise ship with all the entertainment options on offer. While riding the ocean waves, you'll find plenty of music in the evenings, ranging from acoustic to jazz and R&B. You can flit between heading to theme parties, watching movies and checking out screenings of major sporting events. Plus, hitting the pools and waterslides, feasting at a fancy dinner, and taking part in deck games, table tennis and golf putting. You can take special event cruises too, such as an Elvis-themed trip or an onboard comedy festival with The Big Laugh. With so much to watch, listen to, laugh at and participate in, the time onboard will surely fly. For more information about P&O Cruises, head to the company's website.
He might hail from the UK, but internationally renowned artist Bruce Munro is leaving quite the impression Down Under. He's the creative mind behind Uluru's stunning Field of Light installation – which has pulled over 450,000 visitors and been extended three times since launching in mid-2016 – and, more recently, he illuminated Albany's tree-lined Avenue of Honour for ANZAC-inspired work Field of Light: Avenue of Honour. Now, the artist has taken on the Top End for Bruce Munro: Tropical Light, his third Australian installation and first-ever city-wide exhibition, which opened in Darwin last week. Free to visit and running until April 2020, the Northern Territory installation features eight large-scale illuminated sculptural works, inspired by Munro's own travels across the region. Peppered through the CBD and Darwin's waterfront precincts, they make up a self-guided 2.5-kilometre sculpture trail audiences can enjoy at their leisure. Bruce Munro, Pukul Lima Expect to find plenty of pieces referencing the Top End's vivid sunsets and native creatures, along with many an ode to Mother Nature, all showcasing Munro's strong affinity for light. There's Light Shower, Wave Lagoon Canopies, which features 3000 drops of light; the spherical Green Flash in the Old Town Hall Ruins; and Time and Again, Palm Tree Grove — a waterfront piece made up of 37 radiant, stainless steel lilies. Munro's sculpture trail is accompanied by works from five local artists, including acclaimed aerial photographer Paul Arnold and a series of solar jellyfish lights by Bev Garside. Bruce Munro: Tropical Light runs until April 30, 2020, across Darwin. It's illuminate from 7–10.30pm every night.
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
Nine days after Woolworths implemented its nationwide plastic bag ban, it has reneged on the ban — well, temporarily. After being inundated with complaints from customers in-store and on social media, the supermarket giant this morning posted to Facebook saying it will be giving out free reusable plastic bags until July 8. The reusable bags, which for the past nine days cost shoppers 15c, are thicker, more durable and are made from 80 percent recycled plastic — and were meant to encourage shoppers to bring them back, again and again, rather than buying a new one each time. The temporary, complimentary bag offer is only valid in certain states, NSW, Vic, WA and Qld, as the other states and territories have already had single-use plastic bag bans in place for several years (SA leading the pack, introducing it back in 2009). With Coles set to introduce its nationwide single-use plastic bag ban on Sunday, July 1, it will be interesting to see if the supermarket giant follows Woolworths' lead or, even, delays the start of the ban. Either way, the supermarkets will need to have their single-use bag bans running soon as Queensland will flat-out ban single-use plastic bags from July 1, and Victoria is set to do the same next year. NSW is yet to announce whether it will join suit.
The last time that the Victorian Government amended the state's COVID-19 restrictions, it revealed that capacity caps on small- and medium-sized venues would ease before the end of the month. Announcing new changes today, Tuesday, May 25, the Greater Melbourne region is now going in the opposite direction. With five new coronavirus cases identified in the city's northern suburbs in the past 24 hours — four that were announced yesterday, and another that was revealed this morning — Acting Premier James Merlino has revealed that new restrictions will come into effect at 6pm this evening. The city isn't going into lockdown, or closing down schools or workplaces. For now, it's capping at-home and public gatherings. Within your house, you'll only be able to welcome five visitors per day. If you have plans to hang out with your nearest and dearest in public, you'll also need to limit that to 30 people. And, masks will become mandatory again in indoor settings for everyone over the age of 12, unless an exemption applies. The Victorian Government isn't stopping Greater Melbourne residents from leaving the area; however, it has announced that these new restrictions will travel with you if you venture further afield. "For example, if you visit someone outside metropolitan Melbourne, they must have not more than five visitors at that house in that day," advised the Acting Premier. No limits have been brought back in for weddings and funerals so far, unless they're being held at a private residence, where the five-person rule will apply. Nothing is changing for the hospitality industry, either, but the aforementioned changes for small- and medium-sized venues will be postponed. Just when they'll now come into effect hasn't yet been revealed. More changes are likely to be announced for bigger crowds, such as football matches and major events, though — with discussions regarding those types of activities currently underway. https://twitter.com/VicGovDH/status/1396956831143055360 Explaining the changes, Merlino noted that "it is harder to contact trace in those private and informal settings. That is why we've got the limit of five visitors per household in the home and 30 gathering outside." At present, caps aren't being brought in for employers or venues because "our workplaces and businesses have COVID-safe plans and QR codes, [so] it is much easier for contact tracers." As it always does during new outbreaks, Victoria's Department of Health has started announcing which venues are currently considered exposure sites. Two were identified yesterday, and that list has grown overnight — and will change again if and when more sites are identified. For those looking to get tested, you can find a list of testing sites including regularly updated waiting times also on the Department of Health website. And, has remained the case throughout the pandemic, Melburnians should be looking out for coughs, fever, sore or scratchy throat, shortness of breath, or loss of smell or taste, symptoms-wise. Greater Melbourne's new restrictions will come into effect at 6pm on Tuesday, May 25. For more information about the rules moving forward, head to the Victorian Department of Health website.
Welcome to the new breed of combat movies. In Eye in the Sky, soldiers fight terrorists from the comfort of their desks, while the bulk of the people debating which course of action to take, and even those actually carrying out the strike, aren't on the front lines, but watching on from other continents. Their task is seemingly simple: apprehend two extremist ringleaders in Kenya. In the UK, Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren) oversees operations, with her mission changing from a capture to a kill when she discovers a suicide attack may be imminent. On the ground in Nairobi, undercover agent Jama Farah (Barkhad Abdi) spies on the culprits, manoeuvring an insect-sized camera into their safe house. His aren't the only images of the scene, with two Las Vegas-based drone pilots (Aaron Paul and Phoebe Fox) looking on with their fingers on the trigger. But when a nine-year-old girl (Aisha Takow) wanders into the target zone, Powell is forced to seek advice from her superiors, including the supportive Lieutenant General Frank Benson (Alan Rickman) and a raft of indecisive politicians worried about the potential ramifications. The mechanics and morality of war are the movie's main concerns — and while many a cinematic dissection of conflict has probed the same topic, director Gavin Hood (Ender's Game) has crafted a film that's purely a product of its time. Technology is key, both in the way the story unfolds for the characters, and the way it is presented to the audience. Powell and the majority of her colleagues observe matters from the safety of their own countries, yet can take lives at the press of a button. Viewers share the same position, and see the same intercut spy cam, drone and satellite footage — though they can only watch on with a combination of horror, anxiety and flabbergasted amusement, unable to intervene or do more. Indeed, Eye in the Sky is designed to inspire many a question, and leave everyone pondering the various troubling answers. That it succeeds isn't simply a result of the film's intelligent approach to its subject, but of its tone: part military thriller, part bureaucratic farce. Viewers will find themselves inching towards the edge of their seats, even as they chuckle grimly as yet another person in power tries to avoid making a hard decision. There's no ducking the films more heavy-handed elements, including an intrusive score, conveniently increasing stakes, and the blatant attempt to evoke an emotional reaction by placing a child in peril. But there's also no avoiding its effectiveness, both in contemplating a difficult subject and constructing an exercise in tension. The considered mood Mirren brings to her pivotal role proves the perfect weathervane for the film's fortunes, and of the way in which it achieves its aims. She's the movie's robust centre, brimming with as much texture as toughness. Among the rest of the cast, Paul plays his part with the right amount of worry and uncertainty, while the late Rickman's trademark wry charm gets a fitting final outing. Given the intensity of the situation that surrounds them, that they provide the complex feature with convincing portrayals is no small feat.
Little sister and new quasi-neighbour to the iconic Grossi Florentino, Arlechin is the latest Melbourne laneway haunt to add to your list, opening quietly last week off Mornane Place. Here, the Grossi team have crafted a sophisticated destination for eats, drinks, and late-night revelry, all tucked neatly away from the rest of the CBD's hustle and bustle. Doubling as the group's wine cellar, Arlechin's a suave little bunker, with rows of bottles lining the walls. It's dapper as hell, yet warm and inviting enough to tempt long, lazy visits, and with an air of fun that keeps it all from being too serious. From the kitchen, a seasonally driven menu has its own cheeky edge, with the likes of a meaty bolognese jaffle, Sloppy Joe, smoked eel parfait, and chilli fried quail making ideal eating at any time of night. Of course, there's also some seriously good drinking to be done here, between the crafty signature cocktails, aperitifs and a wine list that trips through Italy, France and our own backyard. Hole up here for the evening and see what mischief transpires. Find Arlechin at Mornane Place, Melbourne. Open seven nights 5pm until late.
The best documentaries have a way of transcending their subject matter, of using particular stories to explore significant human themes. Such is the case with All This Mayhem, the first theatrical effort from director Eddie Martin. Although ostensibly set in the world of professional skateboarding, the film is in fact a deeply personal portrait of brothers Tas and Ben Pappas — the Melbourne-born siblings who helped reinvigorate the sport, only to fall victims to the perils of their spectacular rise to fame. "This is the challenge, getting people [to] realise that it's not just a skate film," Martin told us. "For us, it's a story about brothers that just happens to be set in the world of skating. They're Greek boys, and it is like a Greek tragedy in a sense." The film begins with the siblings as teenagers, and chronicles their journey from a skate ramp in Prahran, Melbourne to becoming the two highest ranked skateboarders in the world. But with the success came money, and drugs, and soon the two brothers began throwing their good fortune away. Martin intercuts archival footage with a series of interviews with Tas, who speaks with devastating candour about the duo's fall from grace — one that culminated in his younger brother's tragic suicide in 2007 and his own incarceration for drug smuggling the following year. Now, after successful screenings at local film festivals, along with a recent UK premiere at the prestigious Sheffield Doc/Fest, All This Mayhem has hit Australian cinema screens. https://youtube.com/watch?v=8wDiszmA2o8 Just getting on camera was a huge act of trust "As a teenager I used to skate at Prahran Skate Park, and that's where I first met the boys," remembers Martin. "Then I stopped skating and we parted ways, but I still saw Ben around socially … then when he passed, that was obviously a huge shock for everyone. No one saw that coming." After Ben's death, the Pappas family was approached by a group of documentary filmmakers, but Tas wasn't happy with the direction they wanted to take the film. "They had approached Tas, who had said no, but they were still moving forward, and it just felt really exploitative," says Martin. "So we got ourselves motivated to go and talk to Tas, to try and do it properly." "Tas and Ben are incredible characters," Martin continues. "They've got a lot of heart and a lot of humour, and I knew Tas had the presence to carry the film. Obviously he had trust issues because of what had happened with that project … so it was just a process of making sure that everyone felt comfortable and that we were all on the same page and doing it for the right reasons." They don't shy away from rock bottom Since his release from prison, Pappas has slowly returned to skating, while steering clear of the temptations of his former life. As he tells it, part of his reason for wanting to do the documentary was as a way of reaching out to his estranged children in the United States. "I had to bear my soul, so my kids could see who I truly am … hopefully they'll see it one day and want to come find me," Pappas says. "Eddie's been a godsend. He's very understanding. He knows how sensitive the material is." Despite their friendship, Martin doesn't pull any punches when depicting the depths the brothers fell to. "We lived like pirates," says Pappas, looking back. "I didn't think about tomorrow. I didn't think about it [as a] career, or that my days were numbered … once I became number one, it was the best time in the world, but I remember thinking 'now what?' So then I really got right stuck into the drugs. I tried for years to get off them, but then I'd end up back on them even harder every time I relapsed." "It's like ripping open old wounds," he continues. "Sometimes I can watch the doco and it means nothing. And then other times I'll watch it and I'll find I'm depressed for days afterwards. Watching my little brother go all gaunt and then die … it wasn't really my brother, in the end." Mercy is the message "We've been blown away by people's response to the film," says Martin. "The response from the exhibitors has been so strong in the UK that they're going to bring it out on 30 screens, which is huge for an Australian film, let alone a doco." When asked about the positive response, Pappas says it feels "undeserved." At the same time, he's pleased by the prospect that his story might help others. "I've got a lot of regret, and I don't really esteem myself too highly with a lot of the stuff that I've done," he says. "But people seem to be forgiving. God is merciful, I've started learning that. If I've been shown this much mercy, I sort of have to try and help some kids who are going the wrong way." All This Mayhem opens on July 10 exclusive to Cinema Nova in Melbourne and Dendy Newtown in Sydney. Read our review here.
Pecans, pretzels, chocolate chip cookie crumbs, both chocolate and caramel syrups, whipped cream, cherries and rainbow sprinkles — and no less than 16 scoops of icecream. 'MUUUUURICA. Yours for a cheeky $100, the 'Kitchen Sink' sundae is the latest monstrosity from New York City joint Bubby's High Line. Apparently this mountainous beast's supposed to serve eight to ten hungry humans (but more likely to be ordered by groups of four max), this behemoth confection is next level indulgence and almost guaranteed cardiac arrest. But wait, no sparklers? If you're not feeling the whole 16-scooper, there's a $50 'Little Kitchen Sink' with half the scoops. That's still 50 nuggets for basically ice cream and a cute little flag. Seriously, if I'm going to throw down a pineapple for an out-of-the-punnet dessert, it'd better be scientifically-crafted into a freakin' Messina mushroom. Disney World's not going to be happy with Bubby's High Line, as the theme park's Beaches and Cream parlour has been churning out a colossal and literal 'Kitchen Sink' sundae since the '90s. These are the ingredients for Disney's WTF best-seller: ½ cup fudge topping, warmed ½ cup butterscotch topping, warmed ½ cup peanut butter topping, warmed 1 medium banana 1 cinnamon spice cupcake, quartered 1 angel food cupcake, quartered 2 scoops vanilla ice cream 2 scoops chocolate ice cream 2 scoops strawberry ice cream 1 scoop mint chocolate chip ice cream 1 scoop coffee ice cream 3 tablespoons chocolate syrup ¼ cup marshmallow crème ¼ cup strawberry topping ¼ cup pineapple topping 1 can dairy whipped topping 1 brownie, quartered 1 regular-sized chocolate bar, quartered 4 chocolate cookies with cream filling 1 tablespoon sliced toasted almonds 1 tablespoon dark and white chocolate shavings 1 tablespoon chocolate cookies with cream filling, crushed 1 tablespoon chopped jellied orange slices (approximately 2 large slices) 1 tablespoon milk chocolate chip morsels 1 tablespoon peanut butter chip morsels 1 tablespoon chocolate sprinkles 1 tablespoon rainbow sprinkles ½ cup drained maraschino cherries America aren't the only ones crafting gargantuan messes on the dessert menu. Max Brenner's recent menu change includes the 'Chocolate Mess to Share', a nostalgic party served in a nanna-like cake tin (that comes with a cooking spatula 'serving tool') in which devil's food cake, about five scoops of ice cream, whipped cream, rainbow sprinkles and that MB chocolate sauce hang out waiting for you to make poor (read: top notch) life choices. Or if you're into the oversized, Big Ol' Mess dessert industry, order anything from Paddington's beloved Micky's Cafe. Their 'sundae cake' can be made to order for bookings of over six (just six people needed) for just $5 pp. Devour layer upon layer of meringue, ice cream, rocky road, strawberries, housemade honeycomb, their infamous chocolate fudge. Eh. Screw it. Via Grub Street.
You've probably noticed times are tough for hospo venues, especially those of the live music variety. However, until the end of June, you can do them a small favour with the help of purpose-driven, non-alc beer brewing legends, Heaps Normal. When the time comes to replenish your non-alcoholic beer stocks at home, online customers have the option to send a free case of Heaps Normal to their favourite venue. No strings attached — your local watering hole just gets a free case of beer to sell at their pleasure. "Aussie hospo venues – particularly live music venues – have been doing it tough lately and we're keen to give back. We figured the best way to do that was to let our community decide where the good karma should flow," says Heaps Normal's Chief Brand Officer Tim Snape. This good deed might just be the right move for you as well. Rather than waking up with a splitting headache after a big night out, the brand's tasty brews won't leave you with a hangover that stretches long into next week. "All you need to do is purchase a case of Heaps Normal for yourself and let us know which local watering hole you want to shower with a little good Karma (Case). We'll even throw a handwritten love letter from you in there, too," says Snape. When you're ready to bank that karma, you're welcome to gift any case from Heaps Normal's core range, from the down-to-earth Another Lager to the newly released Third IPA. Then, it's just a matter of your choice arriving at your go-to venue's door, ready to satiate thirsty customers keen to sidestep tomorrow's agony. Heaps Normal's Karma Cases campaign runs until the end of June. Head to the website for more information.
Kids have all the fun. Always covered in craft supplies, shimmering with the remains of runaway glitter, primary schoolers are treated to a pretty luxurious life. They spend all their day running around, making art and eating. It's the dream. Now, one element of your amazing childhood is becoming acceptable for adults — the colouring book. Inspired by the work of the art world greats, illustrator Marion Deuchars has created a colouring book for grown ups. Schooling you on the styles of Dada, pop art and surrealism to name a few, Draw Paint Print Like Great Artists runs through the life and work of artists such as Salvador Dali, Henri Matisse, Frida Kahlo, Jasper Johns and Joan Miro. Full to the brim with beautiful illustrations, interesting facts and surprisingly fun activities, the book effortlessly combines your long lost primary school craft time with some of the art history you missed in high school. Alternatively, if you're up to date on your modern art theory, you could use the book as a little creative kickstart. "Every artist learns by looking at the work created by others, and then picks up bits of that and makes their own art in their own way," Deuchars said. "It may be something as simple as using scissors rather than a pencil, or being fascinated by a new shape or a playful exercise to take your imagination somewhere unfamiliar." Once regarded as child's play, creative exercises like this have been gaining prominence recently. In a simlar style, MOMA's Art Lab app offers its users an opportunity to unwind and experiment with digital technologies. Keri Smith's Finish This Book was packed full of outlandish tasks and artsy activities to complete, and it was a bestseller! This is definitely a trend we can get behind. Now we just need to get some quality crayons and convince our boss that nap times are a valid way to spend the afternoon. Draw Paint Print Like Great Artists is available via Laurence King. It's approximately $23 plus shipping. Via Huffington Post.
There's nothing that says 'Australian' quite like being the first ever company to crowdfund booze. But one company has found a way to combine Sydneysiders' two favourite beverages in one delicious, stylishly packaged drink. Sydney-based distillery MR BLACK recently launched a $10,000 Pozible campaign, harnessing the power of crowds and their love of coffee and alcohol to help launch their flagship product, MR BLACK Cold Drip Coffee Liqueur. The rewards for pledges range from invites to their launch party to actual bottles of MR BLACK, varying in size depending on the donation. According to head distiller Philip Moore, "MR BLACK is not for everyone. It’s not some cloying, sickly-sweet kiddie drink that makes your teeth hurt. Using the cold-drip method we’ve created a rich, intense coffee liqueur that actually tastes like coffee." MR BLACK is the brainchild of Moore and designer Tom Baker, and it's already getting quite a bit of attention from overseas, especially after winning the gold medal at the 2012 International Wine & Spirits Competition in London. Co-founder Baker says that not only are MR BLACK "at the intersection of Sydney coffee and bar culture" but they're also big supporters of the arts and creative scene — their bottle artwork is designed by local artist Dale Bigeni.
