It's time to mark your calendars for the National Cherry Festival, the ultimate celebration of all things cherry. This annual event is set to take place in Young, NSW (the cherry capital of Australia!) from Friday, December 1 to Sunday, December 3. In case you've never been, the National Cherry Festival is a three-day extravaganza that brings together cherry growers and enthusiasts from all over Australia. Get ready to indulge in delicious cherry treats, including fresh cherries, cherry pies, cherry ice cream and more. You can also enjoy cooking demonstrations, cherry-picking competitions, live music performances, and even a seed-spitting competition. For those looking for a more relaxing experience, there will be a Cherry Blossom Walk, showcasing the stunning cherry blossoms that bloom during summer in Young. It's also a chance to meet and learn from local artisans showcasing their products and crafts, the history of the region, the cherry-growing process, and the impact of cherries on the local economy. Since Young is a four-hour drive out of Sydney, be sure to book local accommodation in advance and get the full weekender experience to celebrate of the sweetest summer fruits. For more information on the festival and how to enjoy it, visit the website. We advise against wearing white clothing.
Raw Comedy is the country's biggest open mic challenge, and the grand final will see 12 aspiring comics from all around Australia go head-to-head for a chance to perform at Edinburgh Fringe. Some of the best local comics in the business are Raw alumni, including Tom Ballard, Hannah Gadsby, Ronny Chieng, Josh Thomas, Demi Lardner and Danielle Walker. In case you need any extra incentive, this year's showcase will be hosted by Venezuelan-born stand-up Ivan Aristeguieta.
At first glance, The Salvation appears to have all the elements of a classic old-school Western. A bloody tale of savagery and greed with a hardhearted villain and a hero bent on revenge, you can feel the influence of the genre’s most iconic titles, from Stagecoach to Unforgiven to Once Upon A Time in the West. Unfortunately, despite possessing all the right ingredients, director Kristian Levring stumbles in his execution, delivering a mediocre movie that will leave audiences feeling shortchanged. Hannibal star Mads Mikkelsen plays Levring’s protagonist Jon, an ex-soldier in the Danish army who has immigrated to the New World. After seven years of hard work, he and his brother Peter (Mikael Persbrandt) build a homestead near the town of Black Creek, at which point Jon sends for his wife (Nanna Oland Fabricius) and young son (Toke Lars Bjarke) back in Denmark. The family reunion is short-lived, however, when the duo are murdered by a pair of convicts on the day that they arrive. When Jon takes his revenge, he finds himself the target of the ruthless gunslinger Delarue (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), whose brother was one of the men who killed Jon’s family. Levring is best known as one of the signatories of Dogme95, a filmmaking manifesto that stressed naturalism and forbade “superficial action". With The Salvation, he (thankfully) abandons these roots and embraces the full-bodied, widescreen aesthetic of the Western genre. Kasper Winding’s score captures both the hope and the menace of the barren American landscape, and while the cinematography doesn’t quite measure up to the best contemporary Westerns such as True Grit or The Assassination of Jesse James, it’s a handsome picture all the same. So why doesn’t it work? Perhaps it’s the feeling that Levring is ticking boxes, trying to include all the typical hallmarks of a Western without ever giving them the time to properly develop. Running barely more than an hour and a half long, The Salvation is a film that consistently takes shortcuts in order to keep the story moving forward. The hasty manner in which Jon’s family is dispatched borders on the absurd, as does his own transformation from mild-mannered farmer to veritable Man With No Name. The same needlessly hurried approach is taken with almost all of the story’s supporting characters. We soon learn that the villainous Delarue works for the unscrupulous Standard Atlantic Oil Company, who hired him to intimidate the folk of Black Creek into selling off their land. It’s an ugly arrangement with roots in historical truth, yet is only really dealt with in a single scene. Likewise, it would have been great to spend more time with the town’s morally put-upon priest-turned-sheriff (Douglas Henshell), who finds himself forced to “sacrifice a single sheep in order to save the rest". However, the film's most egregious crime is wasting Eva Green. She plays Delarue’s widowed sister-in-law Madeline, mute since Native American’s cut out her tongue as child and she’s a fascinating figure played imposingly by Green. Yet like almost everyone else in this movie, she just doesn’t have all that much to do.
The 1930s in Australia was a tumultuous time — it was a decade that saw the highs of engineering marvels like the Sydney Harbour Bridge completed, but also the lows of The Great Depression, an impending Second World War and a highly conservative society. However, out of these ups and downs came one of the most important eras in Australian art history, and this period is explored in a new immersive exhibition at the NGV's Ian Potter Centre. Through more than 200 works across photography, painting, printmaking, fashion, architecture and more, Brave New World: Australia 1930s considers how artists responded to the social and political concerns of the time, features Australia's pioneering female artists, who carved out a way forward in the modern art movement, and showcases those who focused hopefully on our emerging cities in their vibrancy, colour and culture. Image: Eugene Hyland.
Walking around Tokyo at night should rank high on everyone's travel bucket list. The glittering lights, the towering buildings, the hustle and bustle in busy streets and tiny alleyways, the sprawling city that seems to go on forever: they're all at their best when the sun goes down. And, that's when the Japanese capital's futuristic aesthetic shines brightest too — as Australian photographer Tom Blachford has captured in his new series, Nihon Noir. Across his array of images, Tokyo gleams with a sci-fi-like sheen, cloaked in shades of blue and red. It's part of a project with Asahi, with the Melbourne-based photographer aiming "to communicate the feeling that struck me the first time I visited Tokyo, that somehow you have been transported to this advanced and amazing parallel universe," as he explained to Wallpaper. Blachford cites Blade Runner as inspiration, which is gorgeously apparent in every image, as well as the distinctive visuals of Drive, Only God Forgives and The Neon Demon filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn. The photos are the result of six nights straight spent scouring the city and showcase the striking architecture on offer, as seen both from afar and up close. And, they'll make you want to book a Japan trip asap, of course. Via Wallpaper. Images: Tom Blachford.
The 80s were a booming time for teen movies, but one film from the era will always stand out from the crowd. Like protagonist, like picture, clearly. Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) might be the most popular student at his suburban Chicago high school, but he's not one for blending in — even when he's skipping school with his anxiety-riddled best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck) and laidback girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara), all while their principal is on their tail. Almost 35 years since it first reached cinemas, Ferris Bueller's Day Off has become not just a classic but an iconic flick — and, no matter how many times you rewatch it, it's easy to see why. Written and directed by the great John Hughes (Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club), it's as amusing as it is entertaining. And yes, it'll have you wanting to sing 'Twist and Shout' in a parade.
It has been 11 art-filled years since Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art first opened its doors, and the creative riverside hub just keeps going from strength to strength. As unveiled on Friday, July 13, GOMA is now home to an illuminating new permanent work: Night Life, a brand light installation by artist James Turrell. You might be familiar with the Arizona-based artist's piees if you've been to Mona or the National Gallery of Australia (NGA). He's the one behind the sky-centred installations at both galleries — at Mona, the gazebo-like Armana lights up at sunrise and sunset each day, and at the NGA in Canberra, Within without acts as an outdoor viewing chamber to enhance your view of the sky. All up, Turrell has created 80 'skyspaces' like these around the world. Brisbane's Turrell piece isn't a standalone structure like these other two Australian works. Instead, Night Life lights up GOMA's eastern and southern white façades from within the building, using an 88-minute-long shifting pattern of vibrant coloured light developed by Turrell especially for the location. GOMA director Chris Saines describes it as "a permanent solid light installation that is a deeply immersive field of slowly changing colour." When illuminated — which it will be from sunset to midnight each and every night from this point onwards — the gallery is visible from across the river and around South Bank's cultural precinct. Commissioned for GOMA's tenth anniversary, while Night Life is a new addition, it actually ties into the gallery's history. As Saines explains, "during the development of GOMA, lead architects Kerry Clare, Lindsay Clare and James Jones envisaged an artist-illuminated 'white box' on the gallery's main pedestrian approaches. More than a decade on, Turrell's architectural light installation realises the potential of GOMA's white box façade, and completes a major aspect of the architects' original design intention." Images: James Turrell's architectural light installation at Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art. Photograph: Natasha Harth, QAGOMA. By Lauren Vadnjal and Sarah Ward.
He turned the world's most famous shipwreck into one of biggest movies in history and reinvented 3D filmmaking to make another box office behemoth — and now James Cameron is bringing the ocean's depths to Sydney. Making its world premiere at Sydney's Australian National Maritime Museum from May 29, 2018 until January 30, 2019, James Cameron – Challenging the Deep will dive deep into the Titanic and Avatar director's rather expensive hobby: deep-sea exploration. When you make a movie about a necklace called the Heart of the Ocean, becoming obsessed with the sea is understandable, and Cameron has quite the array of artefacts, specimens, underwater recordings, inventions, cinema-scale projections, and film props and costumes to prove it. They'll all be on display, in a showcase that examines the filmmaker's passion for understanding and wading through our oceans. According to the The Sydney Morning Herald, Cameron himself will be in attendance to open the exhibition — taking a break from making four (yes, four) Avatar sequels. And if you're wondering why he's launching his latest project here, it could have something to do with his custom-built Deepsea Challenger submersible, which was made in Sydney. Back in 2012, Cameron piloted the vessel to the Mariana Trench, a cool 10,994 metres below the sea and also the deepest part of the ocean, becoming the first person to venture there solo. You might've seen a documentary about his efforts, 2014's Deepsea Challenge 3D, which is just one of the many movies to chart his fascination with what lurks beneath. After kicking things off with 1989's The Abyss, he not only sent Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio running around the RMS Titanic, but made his own documentary about exploring its real-life ruins, aka 2003's Ghosts of the Abyss. Expect The Abyss and Titanic to feature heavily in the exhibition. James Cameron – Challenging the Deep will display at Sydney's Australian National Maritime Museum from May 29, 2018 until January 30, 2019. For more information, visit the exhibition website. Image:NOAA/Institute for Exploration/University of Rhode Island via Wikimedia Commons.
There's never been more reason to dramatically point at a menu and shout "I CHOOSE YOU!" and not find yourself immediately kicked out. In a move that's about 15 years too late, Nintendo will be opening a brand new pop-up eatery in Tokyo entirely themed around that little sparky Pokemon legend, Pikachu. The inventively-named Pikachu Cafe will be open July 19 - August 31 to celebrate the opening of the exhibition Pokemon the Movie XY in Roppongi Hills in Tokyo. Decked out in Pikachu-inspired decor and serving up some pretty adorable Pikafoods, this new pop-up is so offensively cute we're enlisting known Charizards and Digletts to skip the airfares for us. Here's the Pikachu Curry: Pokeball Rice Thing with gravy: Pikachu Parfait (just terrifying): Pikachu Pancakes (yeah, might have lost some ideas with this one): And here's the Pokemon yoghurt drinks that come with SPECIAL COASTERS. Right? (Yeah, they pretty much just look like regular yoghurt drinks, whaddayagunnado.) If you're keen to get amongst the Pokemonstronsities, head to Roppongi Hills, Tokyo and hit the opening on July 19. This one's going to be the most 'grammable, nostalgic, web-friendly pop-up for miles. Via Eataku.
Never forget that the first American version of Godzilla thwarted the titular behemoth by using "an internet". That's the ridiculously awful 1998 film's legacy (well, that and fruitlessly trying to follow in Jurassic Park's footsteps more than its own Japanese predecessors). Deploying the same logic, Reddit should probably be the saviour in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. It isn't, but that might've proven more interesting. Continuing the new US-made series that began with 2014's Godzilla and will link up with Kong: Skull Island once next year's Godzilla vs Kong comes around, this 'MonsterVerse' sequel actually does take a few cues from its late-90s American counterpart — more than any movie should, and not to its benefit. Some come through in the story, including a routine finale in a sporting arena. Others are evident at the human level, corralling yet another array of dull, feuding characters scrambling all over the place. But the main similarity is something that all US Godzilla reboots have struggled with: not knowing what to do with its hulking star. It's unsurprisingly strange to watch people quaking in the famous kaiju's shadow, whether in awe, fear or both, while the film they're in focuses on their reactions instead of the towering figure. King of the Monsters ups the creature factor considerably, giving Godzilla friends (Mothra), frenemies (Rodan) and foes (King Ghidorah) amongst a 17-strong cohort of havoc-wreaking 'titans'. At a narrative level, it doesn't just lean into the idea that more of these giant, city-levelling critters exist — it makes that very notion its premise. Alas, the film prefers to explain that supersized lizards, insects, pterodactyls, mammoths and three-headed dragons are frightening via clunky dialogue and pained faces, rather than offer much monster-on-monster action. Taking over from Godzilla's Gareth Edwards, writer-director Michael Dougherty has a background in horror thanks to Trick 'r' Treat and Krampus, but misappropriates one of that genre's key elements. Watching scared folks react to mysterious bumps and jumps in the night works a treat, all thanks to the powers of suggestion and imagination, however the same isn't true when your whole movie screams "Aaaaaaah! Fucking huge monsters! And so many of them!" Five years after Godzilla emerged from the earth's depths to battle a massive unidentified terrestrial organism, humans are basically yelling the aforementioned line. The government wants to know how many titans exist so that it can exterminate them. Shadowy outfit Monarch, led by scientists Ishirō Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) and Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins), plead that people and Godzilla can live together, and that maybe good ol' Zilly could even save us all. Also working for Monarch in a Chinese facility, paleobiologist Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) appears to feel the same way, creating a bioacoustics system that can communicate with the creatures. When she's kidnapped, along with her technological breakthrough and her teenage daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown), another group enters the fray. Overseen by British soldier turned eco-terrorist Alan Jonah (Charles Dance, because every movie has to feature someone from Game of Thrones), their aim is to let all of the titans loose, watch as they do their worst and hope that the ravaged planet is reborn in the aftermath. Thanos would be proud. Also popping up is Emma's kaiju-hating ex-husband Mark (Kyle Chandler), who once worked at Monarch, has a bone to pick with Godzilla and loves yelling about it while trying to rescue his daughter. And so everyone fights over what to do, with the shouting getting louder as Jonah keeps awakening more and more titans. Human noise isn't what anyone wants from King of the Monsters, though. And if someone does want to watch people squabble in the face of literally existence-shattering critters, the last live-action Japanese Godzilla, 2016's Shin Godzilla, delivered just that in a smart, thoughtful and engaging way. Here, the paper-thin, consistently cliched story doesn't justify so much chatter. Indeed, it feels as if it's been written to slot in beside the big beasty battles, then hurriedly padded out and over-extended when those massive monster melees didn't turn out as planned. Godzilla and Ghidorah do go head-to-head, more than once. Mothra and Rodan get to flap their wings, and brief clips of other creatures are glimpsed as well. King of the Monsters doesn't completely shy away from its prehistoric giants, but they're never the main attraction — or even much of an attraction at all. There's welcome reverence and respect directed Godzilla's way, however the movie barely acknowledges the character's metaphorical significance, preferring to show its love via a few impressive wide shots instead. And while simply pairing it with its fellow iconic figures in the same picture is inherently exciting, King of the Monsters essentially rests there. When it comes to the film's frays, they arrive packaged in dim, dark, Game of Thrones-esque lighting, blighted by ugly special effects and hardly serving up a spectacle. In fact, the battles feel rushed, busy, and never as fun and lively as you'd expect given the whole titan-versus-titan situation. Hollywood is never going to admit that it just doesn't quite get Godzilla, but perhaps it should. Or, maybe it should stop trying to style American Godzilla flicks after whatever else happens to be popular recently — Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a clear influence on King of the Monsters, as is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it isn't a coincidence that the film taps Stranger Things' Brown for her big-screen debut. 65 years after the enormous lizard-style gargantuan made its initial appearance in the first Japanese Godzilla, it deserves better than by-the-numbers franchise-extending entries. The kaiju genre deserves better too, but at least it has Guillermo del Toro's great Pacific Rim. The fact that King of the Monsters delivers its most thrilling aspect in its credits — the sounds of the original, exceptional, still rousing Godzilla theme, not the obligatory post-reel stinger — screams louder than the movie's humans, and than Godzilla's own roars as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW3xYYJ6NoE
Over the past decade Hofesh Shechter has carved out a career as one of Britain’s most sought-after choreographers, delivering critical hits that showcase his prior talents as both a dancer and musician. Sun is the fourth show he’s brought to the Melbourne Festival, where it receives its world premiere. Before this, we spoke with Shechter from his adopted home of England. “Sun started with trying to find something a bit lighter, more positive. I was looking at my work thinking, 'It’s very dark, everything that comes out', which has a lot to do with my circumstances in life,” he said. Shechter was brought up in Israel, where he was called up for a period of national service. Form this, he somehow managed to continue his dance training but the experience forced him to question the realities of freedom. For Sun, he brought his initial ideas to the dancers and found they were transformed into something far more complex, with a sometimes awkward conflict between light and shade beginning to emerge. “In a way, this piece is dealing with a search for happiness," Shechter said. "Something very basic we all have — looking for a happy place under the sun. But there’s an undercurrent of danger and emotions that are much more difficult moving underneath.” This complexity is familiar to Shechter's work, as he draws from his talents across multiple art forms. Watching footage of his work, it’s clear that his musical background in particular informs the nature of his choreography — he creates movement born inside the music. In Sun he is combining prerecorded sound with original composition. “Having that strong connection between the music and the choreography allows for a fuller, more powerful experience,” he says. “In a way it just makes my life more difficult, because making a soundscape is extremely detailed and time consuming, and with the choreography as well it becomes a bit of a monster. But very rewarding.” He has an obvious passion for the connection between music and dance; not just because of the possibilities that stem from combining the two, but from the qualities they share closely beneath the surface. “It’s funny – when you’re making music you’re doing the job of arranging elements in time – it’s all about the relationship between one note to the other. So the two forms are very close friends and family.” Having worked constantly for the past ten years on pure dance as well as choreography for theatre and television, Shechter has been well-placed to observe the continuing evolution of his art form. But he’s reluctant to describe the ways in which that dance has changed. “As much as I want to think that dance is a unique department in an office that we’re working together, it is in effect made out of so many events – choreographers that appear and disappear. That makes it very hard to tell whether there is real progress or whether it’s just individual people. Contemporary dance is searching for itself. It’s still not clear what it is, and that puts the art form in a very interesting place.” Sun will be performed at the Melbourne Festival from October 11-16. Top image by Heather Judge.
It's Nicole Kidman's next miniseries role after The Undoing. It's based on the 2018 novel penned by Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty. It also stars everyone from Melissa McCarthy (Thunder Force) and Michael Shannon (Knives Out) to Luke Evans (Crisis) and Asher Keddie (Rams). And, it brought all of the above famous faces — and Bobby Cannavale (Superintelligence), Regina Hall (Little), Samara Weaving (Bill & Ted Face the Music), Melvin Gregg (The United States vs Billie Holiday), Asher Keddie (Rams), Grace Van Patten (Under the Silver Lake), Tiffany Boone (The Midnight Sky) and Manny Jacinto (The Good Place) as well — to Byron Bay, where it was shot. Yes, Nine Perfect Strangers was always going to be one of 2021's big TV shows — and viewers Down Under can now look forward to watching it on Amazon Prime Video. When the series dropped its first teaser trailer back in April, exactly where folks in Australia and New Zealand would be able to watch the eagerly anticipated program hadn't yet been revealed. Now, the streaming service has announced that it'll be airing it on our shores. It hasn't advised exactly when, though, so don't go pencilling a date into your calendar just yet. That said, Nine Perfect Strangers is due to start streaming week-to-week via Hulu in the US from August 18, so fingers crossed that Amazon will make it available here around the same time. Story-wise, Perfect Strangers casts Kidman as a wellness guru. She's unlikely to leave anyone feeling relaxed, however. Her character Masha oversees a resort that promises to transform nine city dwellers, and you can bet that things aren't going to turn out as planned for the show's titular figures. As with Big Little Lies and The Undoing, David E Kelley (LA Law, Ally McBeal, Mr Mercedes) is leading the charge behind the scenes. He's the show's co-writer and co-showrunner, with Long Shot's Jonathan Levine directing every episode. And yes, Byron Bay seems to be quite the TV hub at the moment, given that Stan's upcoming mystery-drama series Eden also shot in the area, and that Netflix is working on a docu-soap about Byron Bay influencers. Check out Hulu's new date announcement teaser trailer for Nine Perfect Strangers below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv3fA0D2cAk Nine Perfect Strangers is slated to air in the US on Hulu from August 18; however, Amazon Prime Video is yet to announce a streaming date for Australia and New Zealand. We'll update you when one is announced.
Sound the trumpets and let the good times roll, because the Melbourne International Jazz Festival is back. Bustling into town for the start of winter, this year's ten-day festival will see more than 100 events (and 500 musicians) pop up around the city. As expected, the 2019 program is packed to the brim with concerts, interactive shows and late-night jams. Famed jazz musician Herbie Hancock, who started his career in the Miles David Quintet back in the 60s, will perform hits from his five-decade career alongside other standout guests like five-time Grammy Award winner Billy Childs and US powerhouse Ms. Lisa Fischer. Most events are ticketed, but there are a decent amount free gigs happening at bars and public spaces around the city — like the Jazz Out West program in Moonee Ponds and Maribyrnong and the free lunchtime sessions that are happening at Southern Cross on weekdays throughout the festival. If this is your first MIJF, this is a good way to dip your toe into the musical pool. Amateur singers can also take part in the en masse choir, named Jazz Assembly, that will take place at Fed Square, or head along to Melbourne Museum's special jazz edition of its after-hours Nocturnal party.
For everyone who'll always love Dolly Parton, the icon herself has unveiled excellent news: she's turning her life story and unrivalled career into a musical, which will debut on Broadway in 2026. Parton is writing the new stage show's music and lyrics. She's also co-penning the book for the musical. Will she pop up during a performance? You'll have to head along to Hello, I'm Dolly to find out. If the production's name sounds familiar, then you truly are a Parton fan: it shares its moniker with her very first studio album, which was released in 1967. In the almost six decades since — a year short of it when Hello, I'm Dolly premieres, in fact — Parton has done everything from dominate country music and star on the big screen to read bedtime stories and donate money to COVID-19 research. Her music is also no stranger to Broadway thanks to 9 to 5: The Musical, as based on the 1980 film of the same name, which made its leap to theatre's most-famous district in 2009. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dolly Parton (@dollyparton) "Hello, I'm Dolly, and I lived my whole life to see this show on stage," said Parton in a statement about the musical. Dolly diehards, you now have this in common with the legend. "I've written many original songs for the show and included all your favourites in it as well. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll clap, you'll stomp, it truly is a Grand Ol' Opera. Pun and fun intended. Don't miss it!" Parton continued. As well as composing the score and new songs for the show, and co-writing the book with Maria S Schlatter, Dolly is producing Hello, I'm Dolly with Adam Speers for ATG Productions and Danny Nozell for CTK Enterprises. There's no word on an exact opening date as yet, or any casting details or touring plans after its Broadway run, but Parton just keeps pouring cups of ambition. And if you're now begging for the musical to please head Down Under, we understand. There's obviously no clips or imagery from Hello, I'm Dolly available yet, but check out the trailer for 9 to 5 — the film — below: Hello, I'm Dolly will premiere on Broadway in 2026. We'll update you with any details of a season Down Under if and when they're announced. Head to the musical's website for further details in the interim.
It's not like Mexican or Mexican fusion is all that hard to find in Melbourne, but new Windsor Street taqueria Tacocat intends to make their own mark and rethink the taco. With a menu inspired by owner Craig Dick's world travels, the dishes fuse Mexican street food with elements of traditional foods from a wide array of cultures. While tradition is usually the name of the game when it comes to international cuisines, Tacocat is taking the road less travelled. There's a 'Tacocat Madam' for breakfast, made with pulled pork, melted cheese, tomato, fondue sauce and a fried egg on sourdough, or the 'Pho' taco with beef, bean sprouts, coriander, Vietnamese mint, spring onions and Sriracha. For those with a sterling palate, Tacocat also serves a chilli and garlic roasted grasshopper taco with guac and pico de gallo, quite an interesting twist on the traditional protein. There are plenty of more traditional taco options, as well as vegetarian options across the board. The idea came during a trip through Central America, Iran, and North Korea in 2016, where Craig decided he could fuse flavours from Asian cuisine with Mexican food. "I just thought the two were a natural fit," he explains. Tacocat's insistence on not sticking to one location continues into dessert, as well. For those who have never tried a deep fried tequila shot, they are the business, so it's good to see one included on Tacocat's menu, albeit tweaked into a full dessert. With Cinco de Mayo just around the corner, Mexican places are going to be amping up the festival game around town, and Tacocat is throwing their sombrero into that ring, too — head down on the day to score yourself a special taco for free. Find Tacocat at 118 High Street, Windsor. Open Tuesday to Friday 5–10pm, Saturday to Sunday 8am–10pm.
Thinking about work-life balance when January hits is an annual tradition. The Christmas break has been and gone, everyone is making resolutions for the new year, and better dividing your time between your professional and personal realms becomes a goal for most. Come January 2025, the subject will get a bigger push via a hugely anticipated TV returns — and so will how work-life balance can weigh on your mind, or not. Capitalising on perfect timing, Apple TV+ will finally end the wait for more Severance, the sci-fi mindbender where disconnecting from your job come quittin' time — and giving your gig 100-percent of your focus during your daily grind — has become literal in a nightmarish way. At Lumon Industries, employees agree to undertake the titular procedure, which splits their memories between work and home. That tale will continue from Friday, January 17, 2025, a date that no one will want surgically removed from their head between now and then. This news calls for a waffle party, an egg bar or a melon bar. In the upcoming second season of the series — which was one of the best new shows of 2022 — more celebrations must be on the way based on the first sneak peek at new footage from back in June. Apple TV+ has now added to that initial glimpse with a first proper teaser trailer for Severance's second season. It's still brief, putting most of its emphasis on the elevator that Lumon's workers take to its labyrinthine workspace, as well as the verbal agreement that the show's key characters gave to having their recollections severed. If you missed season one, its dive into the kind of scenario that Black Mirror might've dreamed up, and technology that could've been used if Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was about punching the clock instead of romance, pushed Macrodata Refinement division employee Mark S (Adam Scott, Loot) to the fore. He willingly signed up for severance, all to help process his grief over the death of his wife. And he's happy with the situation until his work BFF Petey (Yul Vazquez, The Outsider) leaves suddenly without saying goodbye, then new staff member Helly (Britt Lower, American Horror Stories) comes in to replace him — and instantly starts questioning 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. There isn't much more detail in the trailer, but the mood is disquieting — in typical Severance fashion. Tramell Tillman (Hunters), Zach Cherry (Fallout), Jen Tullock (Perry Mason), Michael Chernus (Carol & the End of the World), Dichen Lachman (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes), John Turturro (Mr & Mrs Smith), Christopher Walken (Dune: Part Two) and Patricia Arquette (High Desert) also star — and season two newcomer Gwendoline Christie (Wednesday) also pops up in the sneak peek. Ben Stiller (Escape at Dannemora) is back as a director on five episodes, 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 first trailer for Severance season two below: Severance returns for season two on Friday, January 17, 2025 via Apple TV+.
The original 300 was a divisive film; a pantomime of hyper violence and fascist doctrine with as much historical accuracy as a university freshman piecing together his O-Week. Still, it was also wildly entertaining and, visually, one of the first to follow in the wake of the Sin City graphic novel framing and design mould. Fast forward seven years and we're presented with the somewhat unexpected sequel; unexpected because 99.3 percent of all characters in the first film were killed off, and not in any sort of ambiguous 'daytime soap, did he really drown?' kind of way. It was more beheadings, dissections and Spartans skewered on spears like 6'2 devils on horseback. Instead, Israeli director Noam Murro's sequel is, much like The Bourne Legacy, a concurrent tale with the focus on the Athenian response to the same Persian threat that felled the infamous 300. Leading the Greek defence is Themistocles (played by Aussie actor Sullivan Stapleton), a war hero and politician whose actions during the Battle of Marathon both earned him fame and set in motion the eventual Persian invasion by the demigod Xerxes and his naval commander, Artemisia (Eva Green). Green is the standout in 300: Rise of an Empire. Adorned in a series of full-length gothic gowns-come-battle armour, her fearsome stare and contemptuous smirk command the focus in every scene she inhabits, to say nothing of that sumptuous Franco-British accent that makes a word like 'sword' an aural blanket in which to wrap yourself. With a backstory so bleak you scarcely judge her for tearing off a man's head and then kissing him, Green's Artemisia out-menaces Xerxes entirely, rendering the gold-painted God a mere passenger sporting an (at best) conservative Mardi Gras outfit. Stylistically, the film faithfully adheres to Zack Snyder's original monochromatic approach, and employs so much slow-motion that without it, 300: Rise of an Empire would just be a four-and-a-half minute ab workout video. Every flesh-tearing strike is luxuriated in with three-dimensional, Dolby-enhanced ecstasy, an orgiastic fountain of blood sprayed across the battleground as though each combatant were a warrior Pro Hart festooning his rug. The action's so video-gamey at times, you feel yourself ghost-thumbing 'Up Up Down Up Y' just to help the hero navigate the chaos, and yet the whole affair remains an entrancing visual style that should more than satisfy the fans of the original. https://youtube.com/watch?v=2zqy21Z29ps
Here's Underworld: Blood Wars in brief: in the millennia-old conflict between werewolves and vampires, the werewolves (or Lycans) are regrouping while the vampires are down to their last two covens. The good news, however, is that the Paris coven is impregnable. Never been breached in 15 centuries. Not once. Give up now, Lycans. It cannot. Be. Pregged. Well…unless you have a small, mid-priced sedan driven by animatronic Gucci model Theo James, which ploughs through the coven's single-frame, wrought-iron gate like a knife through butter that isn't even butter because it's actually nothing. Not to be deterred, however, the vampires quickly re-attach the gate with a solding iron, rendering the coven once again...impregnable. To quote The Princess Bride, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means". So here's what we need to do. First, we go buy some red baseball caps – bright red ones – then embroider them with the following message: MAKE UNDERWORLD OKAY-ISH AGAIN. The people will follow us. Landslide, guaranteed. The original Underworld, released in 2003, was not without its merit. It didn't have much merit, mind you, but some is still better than none. Kate Beckinsale proved a fantastic choice for the death-dealing werewolf hunter Selene, whose talents and temerity outstripped compatriot and opponent alike. Alongside her, Bill Nighy, Scott Speedman and Michael Sheen rounded out a not-unimpressive supporting cast capable of making even the most laughably bad line somehow resonate with a sense of class and purpose. Yes, it was fetishist-heavy and contained a whole lot of gun porn, but it was a film of its time and found a willing fan base to propel it into a franchise. Underworld: Blood Wars, however, is now the fifth film in said franchise, one that definitely ought to have stopped at two – and my, how the largely-passable have fallen. Honestly, people have written more compelling stories on toilet paper, and they didn't need a pen. This latest instalment takes every one of the already scant, okay-to-decent aspects of the original film and dispenses with them wholesale aside from Beckinsale herself. What little story there is comes across in heavy-handed dialogue which mostly exists to bridge one dull fight scene to the next. The characters, meanwhile, continue to clad themselves in comically revealing black lace or leather like extras from a Judas Priest video. Except for the ones in all white, because they're pacifist vampires, don't ya know. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSlaWHDu5WU
Space, the final frontier. An infinite continuum capable of sapping morale and robbing voyaging crews of both purpose and progress since, by its very definition, there can never be an end in sight. Such is the existential crisis facing Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) at the beginning of this third instalment in the revised Star Trek franchise – a notably low-key opening compared to its bombastic predecessors. Three years into their five-year deep space mission, Kirk and his crew are homesick, questioning their commitment to the cause and bored of their 'episodic' existence. An urgent rescue mission changes all of that, however, and when that rescue goes awry, Kirk and the team from the Enterprise find themselves stranded on a forbidding planet, unable to contact Star Fleet and being hunted down by a villainous character named Krall (Idris Elba). As it happens, the story scarcely stretches beyond that point, resting instead in the comfortable zone of 'crew in peril requiring brazen rescue attempt' – which is not to say that it's a bad film because of it. Co-written by Simon Pegg (who also plays Scotty) and directed by Justin Lin of the Fast & Furious franchise, Star Trek Beyond feels much more like an episode from the original TV series, where each member of the ensemble is afforded considerable and equal screen time. Spock, Bones, Uhura, Chekov and Sulu all feature prominently in Beyond, along with newcomer Sofia Boutella as Jaylah, a fearsome warrior castaway from another, earlier shipwreck. And while the laughs are fewer than might be expected for a script penned by Pegg, the action absolutely delivers, most notably in the film's dazzling climax, complete with fist-pumpingly-spectacular callback to the Beastie Boys moment from the 2009 original. Star Trek Beyond has featured prominently in the news ahead of its release, both on account of the sudden accidental death of one of its stars (Anton Yelchin as Chekov), and its decision to reveal long-time character and fan-favourite Sulu as gay. The latter issue is handled perfectly by Lin and actor John Cho, in that it attracts neither fanfare or spotlight since, at least in the world of the movie, nobody cares either way. As for Yelchin, it's another fine performance from the talented actor whose abilities far outweighed the requirements of his character. The dual dedications at the end of the film – 'In loving memory of Leonard Nimoy', and, then '...For Anton' – feel particularly tender and respectful, capping off a movie in which subtle nods to both the earlier movies and television series are everywhere. This is, as they say, 'one for the fans.' Still, newcomers will find more than enough to enjoy about Star Trek Beyond in their own right, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVD32rnzOw
When a big musical hits Australia, there are often two reasons to get excited: the fact that a new stage show is heading Down Under, and possibly getting to see it without breaking the bank. That budget-friendly option frequently comes courtesy of TodayTix, which loves slinging cheap seats via a ticket lottery. And, as has happened with Hamilton, Moulin Rouge! and Mary Poppins, it's rolling one out for Tina — The Tina Turner Musical. This is simply your best chance to see the show for less than the price of a dinner, with tickets costing just $35. To take part in the lottery, you will need to download the TodayTix app — which is available for iOS and Android — and submit your entry each week for the next week's performances. The lottery will go live at 12.01am every Friday morning, and is already up and running for its first week. Then, the winners are drawn after 1pm on the following Thursday. If your name is selected, you'll have an hour to claim your tickets from when you receive the good news. If you need a reminder, you can also sign up for lottery alerts via TodayTix, too. After premiering in London back in 2018, this stage ode to the music icon that's had Aussies dancing to 'Nutbush City Limits' for decades is making its way to Sydney from Thursday, May 4. No, it isn't taking to the stage in a church house, gin house, school house or outhouse — or on highway number 19, either. But Tina — The Tina Turner Musical will obviously have Theatre Royal Sydney enjoying Turner's greatest hits in one massive show. The list of musical numbers includes 'Nutbush City Limits', naturally, as well as everything from 'River Deep, Mountain High' and 'Proud Mary' through to 'Private Dancer' and 'What's Love Got to Do with It?'. Tina — The Tina Turner Musical makes its trip Down Under courtesy of TEG DAINTY, Stage Entertainment and Tali Pelman, in association with Tina Turner herself. Announcing the news, the singer said that "Australia has always shared abundant love with me, going back to my early concerts in the late 70s through the uplifting partnership with the National Rugby League. It is very special for me that we will be reunited." "The joy, passion and message of resilience in my musical is so important now as ever. Thank you from the bottom my heart for welcoming me with open arms once again," Turner continued. Penned by Tony Award-nominee and Pulitzer Prize-winner Katori Hall, plus Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, and directed by fellow Tony-nominee Phyllida Lloyd, Tina — The Tina Turner Musical clearly has quite the story to tell. The show steps through Turner's life and fame, including growing up in Nutbush, Tennessee, the hard work that led to her career, all of those aforementioned hits, her 12 Grammy Awards, her volatile time with Ike Turner and her huge solo success. There's no word yet as to whether Tina — The Tina Turner Musical will head to other Australian cities, but cross your fingers while you're doing the Nutbush, obviously. Tina — The Tina Turner Musical will open its Australian-premiere season at Theatre Royal Sydney from Thursday, May 4. To enter the TodayTix $35 lottery, download the company's iOS or Android app, and head to the company's website for more information — and to set up an alert. Images: Manuel Harlan.
Dig out those once-a-year novelty gumboots, Groovin the Moo has unveiled their 2017 lineup. Taking the large-scale music festival out of the city and into regional centres for another year, GTM will kick things off in South Australia before heading to Bendigo on Saturday, May 6. This year's lineup sees local talent front and centre with triple j Hottest 100 list-toppers Tash Sultana and Amy Shark (#3 and #2, respectively) taking the stage, along with The Smith Street Band, Montaigne, Hayden James and Methyl Ethel. Most of the international talent comes from the UK this year, with The Darkness, 21-year-old Loyle Carner and The Wombats making their way to the Moo, along with Germans Milky Chance. Here's the full lineup. GROOVIN THE MOO 2017 LINEUP Against Me! (USA) Allday Amy Shark Architects (UK) The Darkness (UK) Dillon Francis (USA) George Maple Hayden James The Jungle Giants K-Flay (USA) L-FRESH The LION Loyle Carner (UK) Methyl Ethel Milky Chance (GER) Montaigne Northeast Party House Slumberjack The Smith Street Band Snakehips (UK) Tash Sultana Thundamentals Violent Soho The Wombats (UK) Image: Tao Jones.
In her book The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron describes meeting people who are concerned about being too old to start learning an artistic pursuit. Her answer to the question, ‘But do you know how old I will be by the time I learn to really write or play an instrument or act?’ is ‘The same age you’ll be if you don’t learn to play at all.’ Hal Lasko is one artist who sees age as no barrier. Having just turned 98, and diagnosed as legally blind, he spends ten hours a day painting with Windows 95’s Microsoft Paint program. This year has seen his debut exhibition, and according to Colossal, his work has been described as a 'collision of pointillism and 8-bit art'. An array of pieces is available for sale online. Affectionately nicknamed Grandpa, Lasko was born in Taledo, Ohio, on July 28, 1915. After commencing work as a graphic designer, he was called to draft directional and weather maps for bombing raids during the Second World War. Once the bombing stopped, he returned to design, working for the likes of General Tire, The Cleveland Browns, Goodyear and American Greetings. Evenings would be spent painting. However, it wasn’t until retirement that Lasko could find enough time to focus entirely on art. And he was in his late 80s before he learnt how to use Microsoft Paint. Vision loss came in 2005, with the onset of wet macular degeneration. In the video below, documentary maker Josh Bogdan takes a journey through Lasko’s creative world. [via Mashable]
Book-to-film adaptations can go either way. Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather was so good that the novel's author, Mario Puzo, said he wished he'd written a better book. Conversely, The Cat in the Hat made you want to push sharp, salty popcorn into your eyeballs. It's usually when a film makes artistic changes from the source material that the ire of the book's fans is most extreme, and (arguably) nobody feels more passionately about the fundamentals of their favourite book than Christians. Now, I'll admit it's been a while since I read the Bible, but — try as I might — I simply cannot remember the bit about Transformers. Maybe it was in the Book of Michael? Or was it Bay? Suffice it to say, it was more than a touch surprising to see them turn up in the opening scene of Darren Aronofsky's highly anticipated film Noah. Rather than Autobots, however, these giant fallen angels (not to be confused with 'The Fallen' from, yes, Transformers) are called 'The Watchers'. Made ostensibly from stone and speaking with about as much clarity as an underwater Bane, they mark the first of several major departures from, or least reinterpretations of, one of the best-known stories of all time (the next being Noah's propensity to dispatch entire gangs of men with nothing but a tiny blade like he was some sort of biblical Jason Bourne). Thankfully, for Aronofsky, these embellishments and emendations contribute to, rather than detract from, what is literally the epic tale of good and evil. With a budget of US$125 million, Noah has the resources of a blockbuster and a narrative from scripture yet avoids many of the trappings of both. Cerebral and unsanctimonious, it is, in Aronofsky's words, "the least biblical film ever made". God is only ever referred to as 'the Creator', and themes of environmentalism and survivor's guilt outweigh those of sin and the downfall of man. As the film's eponymous lead, Russell Crowe is simply excellent. With his eyes alone he can sparkle with joy or threaten with burning menace, and in Noah that menace increasingly captures the character's singular, unwavering fidelity to his divine cause — culminating in a horrifying personal choice. Alongside him, Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson play the loyal yet conflicted wife and adopted daughter, while Anthony Hopkins offers an amusing turn as Methuselah. Rounding out the ensemble is Ray Winstone as Tubal-cain, a descendant of Adam's son inserted into the plot to provide the film with a specific antagonist rather than relying simply on the generality of 'all sinful humanity'. Cinematically, Noah is every bit the sumptuous spectacle the story deserves, with the highlight being an enthralling time-lapse chronicle of the 'first seven days' from the Book of Genesis (albeit with an amusing cross-fade just as evolution progresses to the point of simians, whereupon — cue dissolve — man pops separately into existence). No matter your faith (or even the absence of), this is an accomplished piece of direction and a powerful story of belief, devotion and — perhaps — obsession. https://youtube.com/watch?v=UAfJulXFYlc
What's the best part about making the most expensive film ever produced in a country of over one billion people? One word: 'extras'. All the computer wizardry in the world can't compete with the visual feast that is thousands of actual humans teeming across a screen with balletic precision, especially when they're dressed like Terracotta Warriors after a Taubmans Colour Chart treatment. Red archers, purple foot soldiers and blue 'crane spear wielders' form the basis of China's secret Great Wall defence, and they're an absolute delight to behold throughout famed director Zhang Yimou's first English language epic of the same name. The concept of a giant wall built to keep out illegal aliens receives more of a literal rendering in this supernatural saga that sees China's army pitted against waves of other-worldly beasts. Spawning from a distant, meteorite-affected mountain, these grotesque monsters inexplicably only attack the wall once every sixty years. Just as curious is China's determination to keep the threat a secret from the rest of the world. Thrust into the mix are western mercenaries William Garoi (Matt Damon) and Pero Tovar (Game of Thrones' Pedro Pascal), whose perilous search for the fabled 'black powder' of the Chinese alchemists sees them stumble unwittingly into the middle of this centuries-old conflict. Fears of another Hollywood 'white-washing' are, however, quickly dispensed with, for it's the Chinese who consistently prove to be the smarter, braver and more honourable participants in both life and in battle. It's refreshing, certainly, but hardly a surprise, for in addition to 'extras' there's another critical, one-word answer to the original question posed: 'audience'. Hollywood's increasing flirtation with a US-Chinese cinematic co-op stems in no small part from the desire to access one of the largest movie-going markets in the world. At a cost of $135 million, The Great Wall represents the first out-and-out attempt to make that union a reality. Damon might be a big deal in the West, but in The Great Wall he's surrounded by some of the biggest names in Chinese entertainment, including Zhang Hanyu, Eddie Peng, Kenny Lin Gengxin, Jing Tian and K-Pop star Lu Han. The problem with a film (and cast) of this size, however, is that it comes at the expense of character. None of the principals receive anything more than a cursory backstory and even less of an arc moving forward. The Chinese generals are unflinching archetypes, while the westerners are, for the most part, untrustworthy slaves to greed. The consequence is a lack of emotional investment on the part of audiences, who'll respond to each new death with pronounced apathy. Given The Great Wall's style and setting, comparisons with Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers are both fair and inevitable, and – at least visually – Zhang's film more than meets the challenge. Its costuming, in particular, sets it amongst the finest we've seen in a long time, yet its threadbare characters and generic plot leave much to be desired. Whether such an expensive gamble ultimately pays off for the movie's producers, only time will tell. Still, as the first major step in cinema's US-China alliance, there's at least enough here to offer reserved optimism for the future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avF6GHyyk5c
For those of you who secretly pat yourself on the back with every Facebook notification and retweet, meet your self-esteem boosting sidekicks: Molly and Olly. In case you needed reminding of just how popular you are, these mini robotic siblings are here to stroke your ego by releasing a sweet scent or treat upon every post, mention or retweet received. Created by software developing agency MintDigital, Molly and Olly bring social media interaction to another level. Once plugged into your computer, adorable Olly may be synced with any online network. When you receive a comment or a post, Olly will release a scent into the room; the more online notifications, the more aromatic your room. Molly, the slightly larger of the two, may similarly be synced to any network of your choosing. Instead of dispensing scents to congratulate you on a notification, however, this robot will give you your sugar fix by dispensing an edible treat. Social networking success never tasted (or smelled) so sweet. [via That's Like, Whoa!]
The mysteries of Hawkins, Indiana have taken Stranger Things' fans down a few snaky pathways — demogorgons, the upside down and the plight of Barb included. There's more still to come, with the Netflix sci-fi series slated to return for its third season in 2019; however, as far as twists and turns are concerned, a new attraction in Lafayette, Indiana might just have the show beat. We mean twists and turns in the most literal sense, because if you're trying to make your way through an enormous corn maze, you're going to come across plenty of both. That's what visitors to Exploration Acres will find between September 14 and October 28. This year, their corn maze isn't any old corn maze, either — it's Stranger Things-themed. The series' logo, a giant Eleven and the rest of the gang riding their bikes away from a demogorgon are all part of the huge patch of greenery, which spans 20 acres and features more than 16 kilometres of pathways. There are four mazes within the massive site, with entry costing between US$9.50–11.50 (AU$12.84–15.84). It might sound like the kind of promotion that Netflix would cook up — the streaming platform did create an online game based on its most popular titles, after all — but it's actually just a labour of love. Exploration Acres CEO and President Tim Fitzgerald coming up with the idea after binging the series, and demonstrated his fandom in a much, much bigger way than most of us. Via Lonely Planet. Image: Exploration Acres.
Tim Flach has captured wild animals in a way you may never have seen before. Studio-lit and beautiful, these animals create gorgeous subjects (although we're pretty sure they prefer their natural habitat to a black back drop and spotlight). Having spent years studying our bond with animals, Flach is known for his conceptual portraits of animals and the unique way in which he differs from a classic wildlife photographer. He has been awarded the Professional Photographer of the Year at the International Photography Awards and has published books, including Equus and Dogs Gods. He recently published More Than Human which features these photos and many more. His photographs challenge us to think of these animals and view them in ways in which we haven't before. He uses the defamiliarisation technique by placing familiar things, in this case animals, in an unfamiliar place to provoke questions and curiosity from the viewer. You can visit his website to view the entire More Than Human series.
What would you do if you were a little less freaked out by consequences? Would you talk to more new people, fear a bit less, dance a little more like FKA Twigs, quit your desk job and put on that festival you've always wanted to give a red hot go? Some sparkling young Australians are already flinging their inhibitions into a ziplock bag and seizing this little ol' life with both hands. Concrete Playground has teamed up with the Jameson crew to give you a sneak peek into the lives of ten bold characters who took a big chance on themselves. They've gone out on a limb and rewritten their path, encapsulating 'Sine Metu', the Jameson family motto which translates to 'without fear' — getting outside your comfort zone and trying something new. After all, we only get one shot at this. Take notes. For Brett Louis, co-founder and curator of Melbourne's ambitious festival Sugar Mountain, a 'Sine Metu' way of life is the only way. Thanks to Brett's meticulous curation over the years, Sugar Mountain has broken new ground with its blend of music, art and food — redefining what a festival can be (without fearing it won't work). We had a chat to Brett about his own business of taking chances. You can read the interview over here. Want to experience a little bit of 'Sine Metu' yourself? Brett's being a total legend and helping us give away a VIP Sugar Mountain Experience for two, so you can see for yourself what happens when bold humans take big creative chances with big payoffs. Enter here to win.
What better excuse for a Sunday sesh than a bit of Melbourne spring sunshine and a 10th birthday? On November 5, Abbotsford's Aviary Hotel is set to host a good old-fashioned beer garden birthday bash, simultaneously celebrating its first decade of life and bringing a brand new monthly Sunday session series into existence. Infusing the Backyard Boogie celebrations with their trademark upbeat vibes, the crew from Positively Positive will be heading up the decks and guaranteeing non-stop party jams until long after the sun sets. Meanwhile, the kitchen will be firing up the BBQ for a special lineup of al fresco eats and the Young Henrys crew will be keeping things cool with a few tasty beer and cider specials. You'll also be able to get your hands on two-for-one espresso martinis and a range of $18 cocktail jugs.
Many Melburnians have childhood memories of lining up at Queen Vic Market's American Doughnut Kitchen van to get a bag of fresh hot jam doughnuts. It's been kicking around since 1950, and still has masses of locals and tourists lining up every weekend to watch doughnuts be made right in front of them. The team has always managed the small space well, cramming a heap of staff into the van and pumping out hundreds of doughnuts each day. But it's finally time for an upgrade. In autumn 2024, the American Doughnut Kitchen will open a bricks-and-mortar store down in Prahran Market, slinging the exact same doughnuts. For a bit of fun, the new shop has been designed to give off the same look and feel as the famous van. You'll find the signature white and blue colour scheme, plus a similar open workstation where customers can watch the doughnuts be cut, cooked and filled with the mouth-watering raspberry plum jam before being tossed in a huge bowl of sugar. Like the van, these are the only doughnuts that will be available. The family running the shop see no need to experiment with new flavours and offer a heap of different varieties. Truly, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. However, one change is coming, with the American Doughnut Kitchen's Prahran market spot also selling coffee. That means you can get your sweet treat and caffeine fix all in one spot. "This expansion has been a long time coming and is a testament to our family's commitment to creating moments of delight and connection," said American Doughnut Kitchen Managing Director Belinda Donaghey. "Our doughnuts are not just a treat; they are a symbol of tradition and indulgence. We're excited to share our legacy with more doughnut lovers in Melbourne's south while still staying true to our roots as a market trader." The American Doughnut Kitchen is set to open its new Prahran Market store this autumn, with an exact date yet to be revealed. For more information, head to the venue's website.
It’s only January, but already 2016 is shaping up to be a really good year for art in Australia. Melbourne's NGV is currently showing the epic Andy Warhol | Ai Wei Wei exhibition and a collection of Australian surrealist works with Lurid Beauty, with a tight line-up of Degas, surrealist works and Whistler’s Mother coming to the gallery later this year (not the original of course, we all know Mr Bean has that). Sydney is currently being graced by The Greats, Grayson Perry and will soon get to enjoy a more contemporary exhibition by Tatsuo Miyajima. Known for his immersive and dramatic tech-inspired pieces, the Japanese installation artist will be bringing his work to the Museum of Contemporary Art this November as part of the 2016-17 Sydney International Art Series (pencil it in, guys). It's his first solo exhibition in Australia, and it will include all of his significant pieces as well as some video and performance works. While Miyajima's work may appear slick and futuristic, his philosophy incorporates some really profound ideas about life and death. As he summarises it: "Keep changing, connect with everything, continue forever". His installations largely feature LED lights and counters that countdown from one to nine. However, they never reach zero as Miyajima believes zero is a meaningless, Western concept. As he told Frieze back in 1992, there is no physical zero. Buddhist philosophy is also a major influence on his art, as well as his ideas about zero and nothingness. "In Buddhist philosophy we have the word ku, which means emptiness — which is very different from zero," he says. "The word ku is realistic emptiness, physical emptiness…ku contains the cycle of life and death." His work is best consumed as a spiritual experience, and we've got plenty of time to prepare for it. The MCA's 2016-2017 International Art Series featuring Tatsuo Miyajima will run from November 3, 2016 – March 5, 2017. FOr more info, visit the MCA website.
In Stay of the Week, we explore some of the world's best and most unique accommodations — giving you a little inspiration for your next trip. In this instalment, we take you to Monte Pacis in Lithuania, an outrageously grand monastery that's been partly transformed into a luxury hotel. If you're planning a big European getaway this summer, think about spending a few nights here. WHAT'S SO SPECIAL? It's a 17th century monastery located on a gorgeous lagoon surrounded by nature — need we say more? THE ROOMS The 13 rooms and apartments at Monte Pacis are decorated in baroque style, each complete with a minibar and private bathroom. Large canopy beds sit in rooms with double-vaulted ceilings and chandeliers dripping from large wooden beams. Ornately decorated and grand in scale, it feels more like a royal castle than the home of monks. And with so few people staying here at one time, you are almost guaranteed peace and quiet. FOOD AND DRINK The restaurant at Monte Pacis is known as one of the very best places to eat in the Baltics. It offers a four- or six-course tasting menu that changes seasonally (notably, much of the produce comes from the monastery grounds). Head chef Raimundas Dambrauskas is known for creating challenging dishes that rival Michelin-starred restaurants. On the booze front? The team has won awards for the extensive wine list, with some wines coming from other monasteries in the region. Be sure to add the (very) reasonably priced wine pairings onto your tasting menu experience. THE LOCAL AREA The hotel sits on the bank of Lithuania's Kaunas Lagoon, where you can swim and sail during summer and take wintery walks in the colder months — you might even be able to walk across some of the frozen parts. If that sounds too risky, you can simply stick to some of the many hiking trails that wind around the protected forests. The local city of Kaunas must be explored too. In 2022, it was named the European Capital of Culture thanks to the abundance of galleries, festivals and dining venues. There's stacks going on in this little known city — both ancient and modern. Next time you go gallivanting around Europe, be sure to add Lithuania to your list of must-visit countries. THE EXTRAS When staying at Monte Pacis, you are surrounded by history and tradition. That's why it's imperative you take a tour of the monastery and its grounds — seeing how monks, both past and present, use the space while marvelling at all the baroque artworks. The hotel's residents even have access to the historical literature library and spiritual literature room. Either attempt to read something from the shelves or bring your own book to enjoy within the staggering space. Feeling inspired to book a truly unique getaway? Head to Concrete Playground Trips to explore a range of holidays curated by our editorial team. We've teamed up with all the best providers of flights, stays and experiences to bring you a series of unforgettable trips in destinations all over the world.
Missoni, Desert Designs, Stella McCartney; not all of us can blow our allowance on these high fashion must-haves. But over the years, Target have made things a little easier with affordable capsule collections aplenty — and today they've announced their next big pull. Bringing things home with one of the industry's most sought after young guns, Target have announced a one-off women’s capsule collection by celebrated Australian designer Dion Lee . Available from July 2, 2015, the limited edition collection marks the latest 'Designer for Target' range; launching in 35 selected stores nationally and online — probably a better option if you're not one to wear mouthguards into stores (things can get hair-pully at these instore launches). Constantly pinned as a 'one-to-watch' young Australian designer, Lee's collections are sought after by cocktail dress-lovers and sharp jacket fiends alike. Lee's 35-piece Target collection marks his very first performance-wear range, with day-to-night clothing, loungewear, performance wear and accessories ranging between $25 and $119. Wanting to harness the brand's rapid expansion into this new performance-wear realm, Lee saw the pair-up as a no-brainer. "As our international business continues to grow, we were excited about the opportunity to create a collection that will give more women across Australia access to the Dion Lee brand,” says Lee. “The Dion Lee for Target collection is designed to reflect the lifestyle of the contemporary woman, mixing elements of tailoring, lounge and active wear, to create the ultimate modern wardrobe." “The active Australian lifestyle inspired me to create a range of stylish and effortless clothing for women to wear every day," says Lee. "The collection features signature tailored detailing, laser cut and technical fabrications, and a first- ever performance capsule... Even though the designs can be technical, I think style and function remain paramount." Dion Lee for Target will launch nationally and online on July 2.
After headlining Splendour in the Grass earlier this year, The National are bringing their moody, Nick Cave-esque brand of indie rock back to Australia in February 2014. The tour kicks off in Adelaide before heading to Sydney (where they'll be performing on the Opera House forecourt), Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Given we're an island on the other side of the world, it took the New York-based band a while to make their way Down Under, but better late than never right? We've loved them doubly ever since. The National first came to Australia in 2008 to promote their fourth album, Boxer, before coming back in 2010 and 2011 for the Falls Festival and Harvest. They took a break for a few years before returning with their sixth album, Trouble Will Find Me, which is being hailed as their best to date. After appearances at several major festivals like Reading and Leeds and Lollapalooza, The National are fast building a reputation as a must-see live act. Fans can expect to hear some of their older songs, like 'Demons', 'Bloodbuzz Ohio' and 'Fake Empire' (which was controversially used in a Mitt Romney election video without their knowledge) as well as newer stuff from Trouble Will Find Me. Update 4 September: The National will perform a second and final show on the Forecourt, on Friday, 7 February, after selling out their first performance in under an hour. Tickets will go on sale at midday tomorrow, Thursday 5 September. The 2014 tour dates are: Thursday 6 February – Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide Handsome Tours pre-sale from Thursday 29th August. General public tickets on sale Tuesday 3rd September, 9am AEST. Saturday 8 February– Sydney Opera House Forecourt, Sydney. Opera House pre-sale from Tuesday 29th August. General public tickets on sale Friday 30th August, 9am AEST. Sunday 9 February - Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne. Handsome Tours pre-sale from Thursday 29th August. General public tickets on sale Tuesday 3rd September, 9am AEST. Tuesday 11 February - Riverstage, Brisbane. Handsome Tours pre-sale from Thursday 29th August. General public tickets on sale Tuesday 3rd September, 9am AEST. Friday 14 February - Belvoir Amphitheatre, Perth. Perth Festival pre sale from Thursday 7 November. General public tickets on sale Tuesday 12 November, 9am WST. For more information see the Handsome Tours website.
Everybody loves condiments, but it's hard to imagine sitting down to a 33-minute documentary about one. Until, perhaps, we reveal that the condiment of choice is Sriracha, the punchy hot sauce that inspires cult-like levels of devotion the globe over. Sriracha is a Kickstarter-funded documentary by Griffin Hammond that follows the rise of the ubiquitous 'rooster sauce' in America after a Vietnamese refugee named David Tran decided to make his own version of the sauce, which originated in Thailand but is also popular in Vietnam as a condiment for pho. Tran founded Huy Fong Foods in 1980, and since then the company's revenues have grown by at least 20 percent every year — amazingly, without advertising. The documentary mainly consists of interviews with Tran, as well as several die-hard Sriracha fans. According to reviews, there's some interesting trivia in there and it does give you an insight into the company and its founder. But it's also been described as "one long Sriracha commercial" due to its lack of non-Sriracha-loving subjects. There's some anxiety among Sriracha lovers following the recent partial shutdown of the main Huy Fong factory in California. Combined with a new 30-day freeze on shipment, it's looking like a short-term shortage may be a reality. Have fortitude, heat fiends. You can watch the trailer for Sriracha below. The full documentary is available on Vimeo for $5. Via the NPR blog.
It's a problem anyone with a Netflix or Stan subscription can relate to: scrolling through a lengthy list of titles but still having trouble finding something to watch. And, it's a problem that gets worse if you're looking for homegrown content; however a new Aussie-focused streaming option is aiming to fix that. Meet Ozflix, the first video-on-demand service dedicated to Australian films. First announced back in 2015, it'll launch at 6pm on January 26 with a pay-per-view library of around 250 titles. With approximately 2000 Aussie-made films in existence, the streaming platform aims to become a one-stop-shop for local movies. "We are committed to making each and every Australian feature film available," says Ozflix CEO Ron V. Brown, who has been involved in the Australian screen industry since the 1970s. That includes the first works crafted in the 1900s, the newest releases, and everything from Newsfront to Strictly Ballroom, The Castle, Ten Canoes, Wolf Creek and The Dressmaker. The service will also feature three free original content shows that will delve into the history of local flicks, curate suggestions based on themes and directors, and discuss the careers of some of the country's most celebrated talent. Further original content is planned once Ozflix is up and running. Viewers will pay $6.79 to stream a new release, and $3.79 for all other films. A curated weekly selection will offer five films for $5.79, and Ozflix will provide 50% of each rental fee directly to the distributor or filmmaker. As well as promising an online home for Australian cinema fans both locally and around the world, the service comes with a hefty roster of high-profile support — actresses Deborah Mailman and Claudia Karvan, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert director Stephan Elliott, and Animal Kingdom producer Liz Watts among them. "This is basically an art gallery for Australian cinema," said Mad Max: Fury Road filmmaker George Miller. Ozflix launches at 6pm on January 26, 2017. For more information, visit their website.
For all the photos of you that exist out there on the web, odds are very few of them show you as you actually are. With The Naked Self , theatremakers Michele Lee and Tanya Dickson hope to strip away some of the artifice, inviting audiences to share a less curated version of themselves. In your own private booth, participants will be invited to undress, and prompted to share details about how they really see themselves. You'll also be able to listen to the audio self-portraits of other people, forming intimate connections with strangers you'll never meet or even see. This is part of the Festival of Live Art 2016 program. Image: Sarah Walker
When Australia was saying goodbye to border restrictions, the country's various states started giving away vouchers and incentives to get folks travelling around the nation again. Those days are gone, but Queensland still wants everyone — Queenslanders, interstate residents and New Zealanders alike alike — to make holiday plans in the Sunshine State. To help, it's giving away five impressive getaways over five weeks. The catch: you will need to actually answer your phone. If you're the kind of person who always texts about everything over calling, you'll need to change your ways if you want to score a free vacation. First, you'll need to register online, too, to be on the Sunshine State's call list. Then, it's time to wait for the phone to ring. [caption id="attachment_842401" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tropical North Queensland[/caption] On offer: a different free getaway each week, starting with a 12-night road trip for two through Queensland's outback. The first holiday focuses on the Sunshine State leg of the Savannah Way, and will see you start off in Mount Isa, get a 4x4 hire vehicle with rooftop tent for hitting the bitumen, camp in Burketown and Croydon, go up in a hot air balloon, spend two nights in Karumba, glamp (and soak) at Talaroo Hot Springs, stay at (and tour) Undara Volcanic National Park, then end with an evening at Crystalbrook Flynn in Cairns before flying home. You'll need to be able to go between July 8–21. After that, you could nab an island-hopping stint in the Torres Strait for four nights, which covers four people and will happen from May 28–June 1; a four-night Sunshine Coast Hinterland trip for two that's all about artisanal experiences, and runs from July 28–August 1; and six nights in the Bundaberg and Capricorn regions, including hiking the Carnarvon Gorge, from August 15–21. [caption id="attachment_650357" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] Or, there's a gather-the-gang getaway in the Granite Belt wine region, flying you and five mates to Brisbane, then sending you out Stanthorpe way. Running from July 14–17, it includes three nights staying at the Barrel View Luxury Cabins. Tourism and Events Queensland is teaming up with Virgin Australia, Air New Zealand, Webjet, MyQueensland, Accor, Helloworld, Luxury Escapes, Expedia/Wotif and Experience Oz on the giveaways, which folks from around Australia and in New Zealand can enter. Do so once and you're in the draw for all five holidays — or however many are left after you sign up before 5pm AEST on Wednesday, April 19. You can only win one, however, and you don't get to choose. Also, if you get lucky, you will be up for some costs such as food. [caption id="attachment_702568" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland / Jewels Lynch[/caption] To go in the running for the Queensland Is Calling giveaways, sign up online — and find out more via the Queensland.com website, too. Top image: Talaroo Hot Springs. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
Portarlington Mussel Festival has become one of the largest yearly events to take place in the tiny bayside community. Last year, over ten tonnes of locally harvested mussels were served to 30,000 seafood-loving punters. For its 12th year, Australia's mussel capital will host over 100 food stalls, peddling not only shellfish but fresh local produce too. There'll be live music, art and photography exhibitions, cooking classes and demonstrations, a car show (possibly muscle cars?), kids' activities, and beer and wine tastings. Special guests The Eagles Story will be among over 20 performers providing entertainment for the day, including Avalon, Jazz Connection, Chrissy Burrell, The Big Bash Band and Hip Cats. There'll be a $2 entry fee per person, with all proceeds returned to the community. Established in 2007, the festival highlights the importance of the Bellarine's aquaculture industry — 60 percent of Australia's mussels come from Portarlington. Despite the town's remoteness, you can jump on a ferry from Melbourne or even better, do a coastal road trip. Image: Archangel12 via Flickr.
Record Collectors Corner merged their stock with the late and great Missing Link in 2010, thus creating a megastore that caters for a diverse crowd. They get the latest imports from the USA and Europe, as well as supporting local musicians both popular and independent. Missing Link used to be well known for its punk and metal music, but now Record Collectors Corner covers everything from classic rock to psych, prog, indie, blues, jazz, hip hop, reggae, soul and funk.
During winter, it's mighty tempting to rid your after-work agenda of anything that involves leaving your blanket fort. But this season, we're on a mission to make sure you make the most of the bonus nighttime hours, so we've teamed up with Samsung Galaxy S9 to bring you the After Dark Guide — a series dedicated to the best things to eat, see and do in Melbourne when the sun goes down. To celebrate this partnership, we hosted the ultimate winter party and invited a bunch of you along to join in on the after-dark fun. The nighttime shindig at Ferdydurke featured an epic spread from Plentiful Catering and signature concoctions by the Ferdydurke team. Throughout the night, resident DJs provided the tunes that made the dancefloor too irresistible to ignore. The dim, poster-lined Ferdydurke, with its pink-tinted lights, put the Samsung Galaxy S9's Super Low Light Camera to the test. Cole Bennetts (photographer for the Samsung x Concrete Playground campaign) was on-deck to share his knowledge on all things photography, helping our party-goers capture these epic moments for the chance to win their own Samsung Galaxy S9 and a restaurant voucher. All the evening antics were photographed by Sarah Chav on a Samsung Galaxy S9, as seen in this gallery. Feeling inspired to get out and about this season? Check out our guide of the best things to do this winter after dark.
As the force behind Cake Wines, Glen Cassidy has been shaping Sydney's epicurean side for six years now — and enjoying partaking in it as well. The brand is known for getting involved with the city's cultural events, while the man himself is full of tips and praise for Sydney's dining and drinking scene — particularly Redfern, the evolving inner-city suburb where Cake Wines opened its own cellar door in 2016. In partnership with Pullman Hotels and Resorts, we're helping you explore more on your next holiday and make sure you get those experiences that the area's most switched-on residents wouldn't want their visitors to miss. In Sydney, we've called in Glen, whose favourite spots range from the restaurant that's home to Gourmet Traveller's 2018 Chef of the Year to the joint slinging his favourite burgers in town. A stay in one of Pullman's two locations in central Sydney — Hyde Park and Quay Grand Sydney Harbour (there's also two more at Sydney Airport and Sydney Olympic Park) — will not only put you in the thick of all this action, it will let you rest and digest in five-star luxury at the end of the day. Read on for Glen's top Sydney food hot spots in his own words, and check out the rest of our Explore More content series to hone your itinerary for some of Australia's best holiday destinations. ESTER The team at Ester in Chippendale are big supporters of interesting wines — mostly natural, I think. The food is simple, but with what seems like a few very personal twists by the 2018 Gourmet Traveller Chef of the Year, Mat Lindsay. These guys have got the "local undiscovered but always full" vibe totally dialled. I love going there and sitting at the bar, with a couple of share plates and a few vinos. I've had some memorable afternoons there with Cake staff over the years. HUBERT Best in the game? Probably. The wine list, the menu, the atmos — CBD restaurant Hubert is a reimagining of classic dining, but without the stiffness that often accompanies food and wine this good. Hats off to the team (the Swillhouse Group, also behind Sydney establishments Shady Pines Saloon and the Baxter Inn) who have created this special place, and to the crew who work there. They deliver killer service and vibe, week in, week out. CAKE WINES CELLAR DOOR Yep, ok, I'm biased, but our Cellar Door in Redfern captures everything we love about food, wine and culture in this city. We have all our wines, different cultural programming each week, a solid selection of simple pizzas and charcuterie — all in a beautiful space down on Eveleigh Street. Vibes are always high at the Cellar Door as Redfern continues to evolve, and we're super proud to be part of it. ACME What's not to like? Acme in Rushcutters Bay boasts simple but creative cooking, a banging wine list, great staff and just an all-round vibe. Their creative approach to Italian food means you'll see dishes like cold spaghetti with okra, sesame and ponzu, and pig's head macaroni with egg yolk. We recently had a staff night out there for the launch of Ochota Barrels' new wines and the food was beautifully matched. No wonder they've just been awarded one hat by the Good Food Guide. REDFERN CONTINENTAL AND GDR Legends of the game. Redfern Continental presents a near-perfect example of casual dining, with a hidden gem of a night spot out the back. A complement to the pan-European offering in front, Gunther's Dining Room (aka GDR) is loosely East Germany themed, with curywurst and traditional German hotdogs on the bar menu. Factor in a killer wine list with selections from all around the world, and you've got it made here. $1 Oysters on Sundays in the bar are a must. This place is a regular haunt for Cellar Door staff. Redfern on the come up! SUPERIOR BURGER I grew up near this joint, so I am fond of the crew that is making such a positive contribution to the rapidly changing region that is Western Sydney. In a city overrun with burgers, I can hand on heart say these guys are the best I've tasted by far. The love, skill, energy and drive Jovi [chef Jovan Curic, formerly of Pub Life Kitchen] and the crew have for creating the best-tasting burgers comes out in spades. Get in your car and head to Wakeley — you will not regret it. HANOI QUAN Hanoi Quan offers a truly authentic northern Vietnamese experience. It's been at this spot in Marrickville since forever and gives nothing away from the outside. Had it not been introduced to me by the one and only DJ Arno, I wouldn't know about it, and I can honestly say my life would not be the same had I not tried their signature combination pho and grilled pork vermicelli. BART JR A new kid on the block in Redfern, Bart Jr is a cosy little joint that is quickly becoming my go-to. They have a great wine list (I drank a bottle of Piss Christ there only last week!), plus a fresh and simple menu that changes weekly. Do yourself a favour and stop by today. George, Anne [George Woodyard and Anne Cooper from Scout's Honour and Morris] and the crew have brought something special to the area for sure. DA ORAZIO PIZZA + PORCHETTA Food + wine + music = vibe. It's a hard combo to nail but full respect to Maurice [Terzini, the restaurateur who is also behind Icebergs] and the crew who balance this beautifully (shouts to Picnic on the bookings!). The Napoli-style pizza is made from dough that's left to rise for 48 hours before heading to the woodfire stove, while a whole Berkshire pig hits the spit roast every day (explaining the titular pizza and porchetta). Bondi needs more joints like this. FATIMA'S LEBANESE RESTAURANT Ok, this is the straight-up best "late night on the way home and don't want to get something gross" spot around. We are talking next-level Lebanese food. When it comes to takeaway, kebabs are as legit as they come, served by a proper maestro who has been there since as long as I can remember. Get the lot with chilli sauce, hummus, tabbouleh and salad. Fatima's will make sure you arrive home in one piece. Explore more with Pullman. Book your next hotel stay with Pullman and enjoy a great breakfast for just $1.
Guys, we did it. We helped art happen in the face of corporate suckiness. You may remember how last month Lego refused to fulfil Chinese artist and political commentator Ai Weiwei's order for bulk bricks on the grounds that they “cannot approve the use of Legos for political works”. This bizarre and freedom of speech denying move — one that should shock nobody who’s ever stood barefoot on a tiny plastic brick — came just two months before Weiwei's huge blockbuster summer exhibition at Melbourne's National Gallery of Victoria, Andy Warhol | Ai Weiwei, which will kick off on December 11. When news broke of Lego's tyrannical response, it wasn’t long before the good people of the internet were offering up their own Legos for Weiwei’s use instead. So what did Weiwei do? He announced that he would be collecting donated Lego in different cities to create the exhibition anyway. A collection point was set up in in the NGV sculpture garden in Melbourne as a repository for the Lego blocks. Donors were encouraged to bring in their Lego blocks and drop them through the sunroof of a car parked in the garden. And it worked. In the wee hours of this morning, Weiwei started posting images of his new artworks to Instagram. The portraits are of activists who fight for human rights and free speech, and so far include privacy activist Edward Snowden and the Republic of The Gambia's opposition treasurer, Amadou Sanneh. A photo posted by Ai Weiwei (@aiww) on Nov 19, 2015 at 8:11am PST A photo posted by Ai Weiwei (@aiww) on Nov 19, 2015 at 8:26am PST A photo posted by Ai Weiwei (@aiww) on Nov 19, 2015 at 8:11am PST We love you Weiwei. Andy Warhol | Ai Weiwei comes to the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne from December 11 to April 24, in collaboration with The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh. For info and tickets, head to the NGV website. Words: Imogen Baker and Lauren Vadnjal
Would you rather spend your hard-earned pennies on a funky piece for your house than on new clothes? Are you the kind of friend that your mates come to for interior decorating advice? Then, you're also probably the kind of person that shudders at monstrous televisions that often break, not make, a living room's feng shui. Thankfully, we've teamed up with Samsung to give one lucky design geek a brand-new The Serif. This stylish TV was designed to be a focal point in the living room, and to complement interior aesthetics instead of being an eyesore taking up space in the corner. Developed through a collab between two of the world's most esteemed industrial designers — Paris-based brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec — The Serif TV features an iconic 'I' shape when viewed from the side. Its seamless form means it looks good from any angle. So, you can position it on its own legs, on a counter or on a traditional TV cabinet, and it'll not only integrate seamlessly into your home but also transform it into something resembling those chic spaces you drool over on Instagram. The major prize winner will receive one 43-inch The Serif TV and one limited-edition artwork by the Bouroullec brothers. We've also gotten our hands on 99 more of those artworks to share as runner-up rewards. To be in the running, enter your details below. To find out more about The Serif, visit the Samsung website. [competition]831045[/competition]
The power of Back to the Future isn't really a curious thing. As viewers have known since 1985, the Michael J Fox-starring sci-fi/comedy is timeless delight. But as well as making film lovers weep with joy for almost four decades, the iconic movie is now making other folks sing — the cast of the newly minted Olivier Award-winning Back to the Future: The Musical, that is. Exclaiming "great Scott!" is obviously the only fitting response to this development — and there's clearly plenty to get excited about. Yes, Back to the Future: The Musical is a real thing that exists, and has been racing towards clocktowers on-stage in the UK since early 2020 (around a pandemic hiatus or two, of course). Yes, it just picked up the Olivier Award for Best New Musical. Yes, the show does indeed follow the Marty McFly and Doc Brown-led story we all know and adore, but with songs, including renditions of Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B Goode' and Huey Lewis and the News' 'The Power of Love' and 'Back in Time', naturally. Now, the news that might have you speeding 88 miles per hour towards Britain: for now, Back to the Future: The Musical is solely treading the boards in Britain. But if a trip to London is on your agenda between before Sunday, October 23, the show is playing at the English capital's Adelphi Theatre until then. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Back To The Future: Musical (@bttfmusical) If you won't be making a visit overseas by plane or DeLorean, start crossing your fingers that the production eventually makes its way Down Under — or pop on your own white lab coat, start tinkering around with electronics and whip up your own time machine to try to make it happen. Also featuring music and lyrics by OG Back to the Future composer Alan Silvestri and acclaimed songwriter Glen Ballard (Ghost the Musical), plus a book by Bob Gale — who co-penned all three Back to the Future film scripts with filmmaker Robert Zemeckis — Back to the Future: The Musical was nominated for seven Olivier Awards. It only won the big one, but emerged victorious over heavy-hitters and fellow screen-to-stage shows Moulin Rouge! The Musical and Frozen. Check out the trailer for Back to the Future: The Musical below: For more information about Back to the Future: The Musical, or to buy tickets for its London season, head to the show's website. If an Australian and/or New Zealand season is announced, we'll let you know faster than you can speed towards a clocktower. Top image: Sean Ebsworth Barnes.
Last night, the best chefs in the world descended on the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore for the annual World's 50 Best celebrations. And while there were plenty of Australians present at the awards — including the event's host, Australian journalist and TV personality Annabel Crabb — no local restaurants made the top 50. Australia's highest ranking restaurant was Attica in Melbourne, which came in at number 84 in the long list announced last week. Fellow Victorian Brae also came in at 101. This year, the list expanded to 120 for the first (and only) time, as a one-off nod to San Pellegrino's (the award's primary sponsor) 120th anniversary. The top five restaurants for 2019 were dramatically different from previous years as former World's 50 Best winners — including Eleven Madison Park and Osteria Francescana — were barred from the list, and instead added to a 'Best of the Best' lineup. The top gong, for the first time in the event's 17-year history, went to a French restaurant: Mirazur. Run by Argentinian-born chef Mauro Colagreco, whose cooking is also inspired by his Italian grandparents, Mirazur is located in an old 1930s villa in the French Riviera, near the Italian border. And, we're guessing it's going to be pretty hard to get a booking there for the next little while — so, we suggest planning a French vacay for 2020 (or beyond). Rounding out the top five were Copenhagen's Noma at number two, which reopened in a new space with a new seasonal menu last year; Spain's Asador Etxebarri at number three; the soon-to-close Gaggan in Bangkok at number four; and fellow Danish restaurant Geranium at five. Other new and notable additions to this year's list include a first-time inclusion for Dominique Crenn's famed San Francisco spot Atelier Crenn and NY's Cosme, by the 2019 Best Female Chef Daniela Soto-Innes, which was the highest ranked US restaurant. https://www.instagram.com/p/BzI0i_OlDGg/ The winning restaurants were chosen by a 1000-strong global voting panel which, for the first time, had an equal gender balance. Five restaurants led by females made the top 50, the same number as last year. You can check out the full list of the World's 50 Best Restaurants here and read more about the long list here. First image: Mirazur by Nicolas Lobbestael.
Come March 2021, it will have been 12 months since the Australian Government implemented an indefinite ban on international travel due to COVID-19, only allowing Aussies to leave the country in very limited circumstances. Accordingly, just when jetting overseas will be back on the agenda has been the subject of much discussion. Last year's prediction that opening up to the rest of the world wouldn't happen in 2020 proved accurate, in fact — and now it looks like that could remain the case in 2021 as well. This isn't particularly surprising news; however, with a COVID-19 vaccine currently being rolled out around the globe — with the first jabs slated to hit Aussie arms sometime in February — there was hope that 2021 could see a slow return to normality. But Australia's ex-Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy has now forecast that the travel situation is unlikely to change soon, even with the vaccine. Appearing on ABC New Breakfast on Monday, January 18, Murphy — who is now the Secretary of the Department of Health — said "I think the answer is probably no. I think we will go most of this year with still substantial border restrictions. He continued: "even if we have a lot of the population vaccinated, we don't know whether that will prevent transmission of the virus, and it is likely that quarantine will continue for some time". "At the moment, we have this light at the end of the tunnel — the vaccine — so we're going to go as safely and as fast as we can to get our population vaccinated," he also advised. "And then we'll look at what happens." https://twitter.com/breakfastnews/status/1350911014544449538 Murphy also said that, early on in the pandemic, he told Prime Minister Scott Morrison that he didn't want to "predict more than two or three months ahead" — because, "one of the things about this virus is that the rule book is being made up as we go". Eager travellers might remember that last April, Murphy advised that international travel wouldn't be back for at least three-to-four months. With COVID-19 cases continuing to spike elsewhere in the world, that timeframe just keeps extending. At the moment, Australia has implemented a 'travel bubble' with New Zealand — reinstating international travel just between the two countries before Australia's international border reopens to all nations worldwide. It's presently only one-way, though, meaning that New Zealanders can come to Australia, but Australians aren't yet able to holiday in NZ. It's worth noting, as everyone should be well and truly aware, that Australia's domestic border situation keeps changing with frequency, too — including recent updates in response to cases in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne — so travelling anywhere beyond your own city probably isn't guaranteed to be straightforward for the foreseeable future. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia and how to protect yourself, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website.
This January marks the launch of the South Melbourne Night Market's tenth summer season, and it's celebrating with a fittingly huge anniversary program, jam-packed with treats suitable for you and anyone you want to bring along. Running Thursday evenings from January 4 until February 22, the twilight sessions will be headlined by a summer-perfect mix of eats and drinks, so you can take full advantage of those balmy nights. Think crisp salt and pepper seafood from Ink-credible Calamari, Caribbean-style island fare from The Real Jerk, Poke Time's vibrant Hawaiian bowls and lush single origin soft serve crafted by the team at Atypic Chocolate. Wash it all down with a chilli margarita from newcomer Bambu, or settle in with an ice-cold craft beer or rosé during a pit-stop at one of Swords' two market bars. You'll browse artisan wares from the likes of Hew, BhunnyDesigns and Birgit Holdinghausen, while listening to live tunes. There's even a kids club, so if you're bringing littlies along, you can keep them entertained with some art and craft projects of their own.
When it was announced in April last year that German supermarket giant Kaufland was expanding to Australia, it was surprising news. Now, almost a year later, the chain has made an announcement that's even more surprising: it's not expanding to Australia. In a total 180, Kaufland today revealed to the public and its 200 local employees that it would make an "orderly withdrawal" from the Australian market. The reasons for why it has decided to pull the plug on Australia are still a bit vague, with a short statement merely saying that the company wants to concentrate on its "European core markets in the foreseeable future". The withdraw won't be so simple, either. With plans to open a slew of stores across Australian — including 14 in Victoria and three in Queensland — Kaufland has already purchased numerous properties and even, according to The Sydney Morning Herald, started construction on a store in Adelaide and a huge 115,000-square-metre distribution centre in Melbourne. The Australian reports that the company has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars here. In the statement, acting CEO Frank Schumann apologised for the "disruption" the decision will cause. Launched in 1984 and now with 1200 European stores to its name, Kaufland is owned by the Schwarz Group — the world's fourth largest retailer. The chain is big in Germany and parts of Eastern Europe, but this was set to be its first foray into a Pacific market as an alternative to Aldi. The withdrawal has shocked the retail sector — and while it might be good news to Woolworths and Coles, it certainly doesn't reflect well on the current state of the Australian retail market.
