Overnight, the Victorian Government's latest public health directive came into effect, making face masks mandatory for those living in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire. While the two regions have been in Stage 3 lockdown since July 7, residents are now required to don a protective face covering whenever they leave home for one of the four government-approved reasons: for work or school (if you can't do this from home), for care or care giving, for daily exercise or for food and other essentials. As of 11.59pm yesterday, Wednesday, July 22, anyone over the age of 12 must follow the new face covering rule, or risk being hit with a $200 fine. The change was announced three days earlier at Premier Daniel Andrews' press conference, to give people some time to stock up on masks or alternatives. But it's also thrown up a bunch of questions for locals who now have to worry about a brand-new accessory whenever they venture out their front door. Are there any exemptions? What actually counts as a face covering? What the heck is the point? We've broken it down. What exactly is a face mask and why do I need to wear one? The Department of Health and Human Services has published a handy info sheet online that leads by saying: "A face covering needs to cover both your nose and mouth. It could be a face mask or shield." It doesn't need to be medical grade and you can make your own — from paper, scarves and old clothes — but we'll get to that in detail shortly. According to the Department, face coverings add an extra physical barrier between people, by limiting the spread of water droplets released by coughing, sneezing and talking. You should continue to follow social distancing guidelines and hygiene measures, too. Who has to wear one? And when? Everyone that lives in metropolitan Melbourne or Mitchell Shire must wear a face covering when leaving their home. Under the current stay-at-home orders, which are set to be in place until Wednesday, August 19, you can only leave home for one of the four aforementioned reasons. When you do leave home, you must stay as local as you can — and visit your closest park, cafe, bottle shop, for example — and not travel across town. So, when you do leave home for allowed activities like buying groceries at the supermarket, going for a walk and grabbing a takeaway coffee you must wear a mask at all times, and the people working at those places should be masked-up, too. Phone, keys, wallet, mask — that's your new mantra. In what situations do I not need to wear one? Exemptions to the face mask rule apply to those with a relevant medical condition, those communicating with someone who is hearing impaired, kids under 12 and people whose job requires them to have clear enunciation or a visible mouth, such as teachers and live broadcasters. People are also exempt in instances when wearing a mask could cause OH&S issues. As for everyone else, there might be certain circumstances where you can go mask-free, though you'll still need to carry one with you at all times, ready for use, or risk copping a fine. For example, you're allowed to remove your face covering while eating or drinking, but you'll need to reapply it straight after. The same deal goes for people smoking or vaping. You can ditch the mask when driving in a car alone or with other members of your household, though you'll likely need to pop it on when you reach your destination. Those working from home can also do so without a face covering, unless caring for someone in their house that has COVID-19. Even when I'm exercising? If you're getting in a jog, or any exercise that leaves you out of breath or puffing, you can do so without a mask on your face. However, you'll need to have one on you to wear before and after the strenuous bit. According to the DHHS, walking doesn't fit the above category and requires a face covering to be worn at all times, even if you're social distancing. What should I do if I don't have a mask? If you don't have a legit face mask, you can use something like a bandana or scarf as an alternative. Or, get crafty and make your own version — the DHHS has handy instructions for whipping up a DIY mask here. There are also a stack of retailers and online stores selling both disposable and reusable options, many of which will deliver to your door. You can check out some we found here. Need some guidance on wearing the mask? The WHO has released a series of videos and infographics showing how to properly wear a mask, and covering the dos and don'ts. What happens if I go outside without a mask? If you don't have a valid reason for not wearing one, you could be slapped with a $200 fine. For more information about wearing face masks, and the Victorian Government's advice for metro Melbourne and Mitchell Shire residents, head to the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services website.
Did you turn green with envy when Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger played the ultimate scavenger hunt, aka hunting down horcruxes? Have you always felt that you could use your magical skills in the same way? The City of Melbourne understands and — given that it's already in the grip of wizard fever thanks to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child — it's giving Potter fans quite the Christmas present. On Sunday, December 15, the Magical Christmas Quest will take over the CBD. At 9am, the first clue will be revealed on the quest website — and at 10am, it's time to start 'accio'-ing your heart out. You'll search your way around the city, heading to six Melbourne locations, solving riddles and completing missions at each stop. And as you've probably guessed, you'll be getting into the Harry Potter and the Christmas spirit all at once. [caption id="attachment_674451" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Harry Potter and The Cursed Child by Manuel Harlan[/caption] Expect to be rewarded for your efforts, too. Sorry, you won't win a trip to Hogwarts — but the major prize-winner will nab a hefty haul. On offer is a VIP Harry Potter and the Cursed Child experience, which includes a pair of tickets to the both parts of the show, backstage access, a night's accommodation and a pre-show dinner for two at Sofitel Melbourne, plus a $500 Myer gift voucher (which you can use at the magical new Harry Potter store). We can't all be the Boy Who Lived — or the Person Who Wins the Quest, more accurately — but ten runners up will score a $100 Gift Finder voucher. You can play as a team or individually and dressing up as your favourite HP character is, of course, encouraged. Everyone who participates will go in the draw to win. The Magical Christmas Quest takes place on Sunday, December 15, with the first clue revealed at 9am that day on the quest website. Image: Harry Potter & The Cursed Child at the Princess Theatre.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. SISSY Scroll, swipe, like, subscribe: this is the rhythm of social media. We look, watch and trawl; we try to find a sense of self in the online world; and when something strikes a chord, we smudge our fingers onto our phones to show our appreciation. If wellness influencers are to be believed, we should feel seen by this now-everyday process. We should feel better, too. We're meant to glean helpful tips about how to live our best lives, aspire to be like the immaculately styled folks dispensing the advice and be struck by how relatable it all is. "You saved my life!", we're supposed to comment, and we're meant to be genuine about it. The one catch, and one that we shouldn't think about, though: when it comes to seeking validation via social media, this setup really does go both ways. As savvy new Australian horror film Sissy shows, the beaming faces spruiking easy wisdom and products alike to hundreds, thousands or maybe hundreds of thousands of followers — 200,000-plus for this flick's namesake — are also basking in the glory of all that digital attention, and getting a self-esteem boost back in the process. Sissy starts with @SincerelyCecilia, an Instagram hit, doing what she does best. As played by Gold Coast-born Australian actor Aisha Dee of The Bold Type in an astute and knowing stroke of casting, she's a natural in front of the camera. Indeed, thanks to everything from The Saddle Club and I Hate My Teenage Daughter to Sweet/Vicious and The Nowhere Inn as well, the film's star knows what it's like to live life through screens out of character. She's been acting since she was a teenager, and she's charted the highs of her chosen profession, all in front of a lens. So, it's no wonder that Dee conveys Cecilia's comfort recording her videos with ease. The actor hops into the spotlight not only once but twice here, but she's just as perceptive at showing how the world crumbles, shakes and shrinks whenever there's no ring light glowing, smile stretched a mile wide and Pinterest-board background framing her guru-like guidance. "I am loved. I am special. I am enough," is Cecilia's kind of mantra. Through her carefully poised and curated videos, such words have sparked a soaring follower count, a non-stop flow of likes and adoring comments. But she's so tied to all that virtual worship that her off-camera existence — when she's not plugging an 'Elon mask', for instance — is perhaps even more mundane than everyone else's. It's also isolated, so when she reconnects with her childhood best friend Emma (co-director/co-writer Hannah Barlow) during a chance run-in at a pharmacy, it's a rare IRL link to the tangible world. Cecilia is awkward about it, though, including when Emma invites her to her out-of-town bachelorette party that very weekend. Buoyed by memories of pledging to be BFFs forever, singing Aussie pop track 'Sister' by Sister2Sister and obsessing over movie stars, she still agrees to go. Sissy's first act is a Rorschach test: if you're already cynical about the wellness industry and social media, unsurprisingly so, then you'll know that nothing dreamy is bound to follow; if you're not, perhaps the blood and guts to come will feel like a twist. Either way, there will be blood thanks to Barlow and fellow co-helmer/co-scribe Kane Senes' game efforts, reteaming for their second feature after 2017's For Now. There will be chaos as well, and bad signs aplenty, and a rousing body count. Hitting a kangaroo en route to their remote destination clearly doesn't bode well, and also kicks off casualty tally. Then the old schoolyard dynamics bubble up, especially when Cecilia's playground tormentor Alex (Emily De Margheriti, Ladies in Black) is among the fellow guests. Pre-teen taunts resurface — "Sissy's a sissy" was the juvenile and obvious jeer spat her way back in the day, and repeated now — and the @SincerelyCecilia facade starts to shatter. Read our full review. ARMAGEDDON TIME What's more difficult a feat: to ponder everything that the universe might hold, as writer/director James Gray did in 2019's sublime Ad Astra, or to peer back at your own childhood, as he now does with Armageddon Time? Both films focus on their own worlds, just of different sizes and scales. Both feature realms that loom over everyone, but we all experience in their own ways. In the two movies, the bonds and echoes between parents and children also earn the filmmaker's attention. Soaring into the sky and reaching beyond your assigned patch is a focus in one fashion or another, too. In both cases, thoughtful, complex and affecting movies result. And, as shared with everything he's made over the past three decades — such as The Yards, The Immigrant and The Lost City of Z as well — fantastic performances glide across the screen in unwaveringly emotionally honest pictures. In Armageddon Time, Gray returns to a favourite subject: the experience of immigrants to New York. With a surname barely removed from his own, the Graff family share his own Jewish American heritage — and anchor a portrait of a pre-teen's growing awareness of his privilege, the world's prejudices, the devastating history of his ancestors, and how tentative a place people can hold due to race, religion, money, politics and more. The year is 1980, and the end of times isn't genuinely upon anyone. Even the sixth-grader at its centre knows that. Still, that doesn't stop former Californian governor-turned-US presidential candidate Ronald Reagan from talking up existential threats using inflammatory language, as the Graffs spot on TV. Armageddon Time also takes its moniker from a 1977 The Clash B-side and cover; despite the film's stately approach, the punk feeling of wanting to tear apart the status quo — Gray's own adolescent status quo — dwells in its frames. Banks Repeta (The Black Phone) plays Paul Graff, Gray's on-screen surrogate, and Armageddon Time's curious and confident protagonist. At his public school in Queens, he's happy standing out alongside his new friend Johnny (Jaylin Webb, The Wonder Years), and disrupting class however and whenever he can — much to the dismay of his mother Esther (Anne Hathaway, Locked Down), a home economics teacher and school board member. He dreams of being an artist, despite his plumber dad Irving's (Jeremy Strong, Succession) stern disapproval, because the elder Graff would prefer the boy use computing as a path to a life better than his own. In his spare time, Paul is happiest with his doting, advice-dispensing, gift-bearing grandfather Aaron (Anthony Hopkins, The Father), who's considered the only person on the pre-teen's wavelength. Gray fleshes out Paul's personality and the Graffs' dynamic with candour as well as affection, as seen at an early home dinner. There, Paul criticises Esther's cooking, orders dumplings even after expressly being forbidden and incites Irving's explosive anger — and the establishing scene also starts laying bare attitudes that keep being probed and unpacked throughout Armageddon Time. Indeed, Paul will begin to glean the place he navigates in the world. Even while hearing about the past atrocities that brought his grandfather's mother to America, and the discrimination that still lingers, he'll learn that he's fortunate to hail from a middle-class Jewish family. Even if his own comfort is tenuous, Paul will see how different his life is to his black, bused-in friend, with Johnny living with his ailing grandmother, always skirting social services and constantly having condemning fingers waggling his way. And, Paul will keep spying how Johnny is at a disadvantage in every manner possible, including from their instantly scornful teacher and via Paul's own parents' quick judgement. Read our full review. THE WONDER "We are nothing without stories, so we invite you to believe in this one." So goes The Wonder's opening narration, as voiced by Niamh Algar (Wrath of Man) and aimed by filmmaker Sebastián Lelio in two directions. For the Chilean writer/director's latest rich and resonant feature about his favourite topic, aka formidable women — see also: Gloria, its English-language remake Gloria Bell, Oscar-winner A Fantastic Woman and Disobedience — he asks his audience to buy into a tale that genuinely is a tale. In bringing Emma Donoghue's (Room) book to the screen, he even shows the thoroughly modern-day studio and its sets where the movie was shot. But trusting in a story is also a task that's given The Wonder's protagonist, Florence Pugh's nurse Lib Wright, who is en route via ship to an Irish Midlands village when this magnetic, haunting and captivating 19th century-set picture initially sees her. For the second time in as many movies — and in as many months Down Under as well — Pugh's gotta have faith. Playing George Michael would be anachronistic in The Wonder, just as it would've been in Don't Worry Darling's gleaming 1950s-esque supposed suburban dream, but that sentiment is what keeps being asked of the British actor, including in what's also her second fearless performance in consecutive flicks. Here, it's 1862, and 11-year-old Anna O'Donnell (Kíla Lord Cassidy, Viewpoint) has seemingly subsisted for four months now without eating. Ireland's 1840s famine still casts shadows across the land and its survivors, but this beatific child says she's simply feeding on manna from heaven. Lib's well-paid job is to watch the healthy-seeming girl in her family home, where her mother (A Discovery of Witches' Elaine Cassidy, Kila's actual mum) and father (Caolan Byrne, Nowhere Special) dote, to confirm that she isn't secretly sneaking bites to eat. Lib is to keep look on in shifts, sharing the gig with a nun (Josie Walker, This Is Going to Hurt). She's also expected to verify a perspective that's already beaming around town, including among the men who hired her, such as the village doctor (Toby Jones, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain) and resident priest (Ciarán Hinds, Belfast). The prevailing notion: that Anna is a miracle, with religious tourism already starting to swell around that idea, and anyone doubting the claim — or pointing out that it could threaten the girl's life and end in tragedy — deemed blasphemous. But arriving with experience with Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War behind her, the level-leaded, no-nonsense and also in-mourning Lib isn't one for automatic piety. A local-turned-London journalist (Tom Burke, The Souvenir) keeps asking her for inside information, sharing her determination to eschew unthinking devotion and discover the truth, but the nurse's duty is to Anna's wellbeing no matter the personal cost. Lelio's opening gambit, the filmmaking version of showing how the sausage is made, isn't merely a piece of gimmickry. It stresses the power of storytelling and the bargain anyone strikes, The Wonder's viewers alike, when we agree to let tales sweep us away — and it couldn't better set the mood for a movie that ruminates thoughtfully and with complexity on the subject. Is life cheapened, threatened or diminished by losing yourself to fiction over fact? In an age of fake news, as Lelio's movie screens in, clearly it can be. Is there far too much at stake when faith and opinion is allowed to trump science, as the world has seen in these pandemic-affected, climate change-ravaged times? The answer there is yes again. Can spinning a narrative be a coping mechanism, a mask for dark woes, and a way to make trauma more bearable and existence itself more hopeful, though? That's another query at the heart of Alice Birch's (Mothering Sunday) script. And, is there a place for genuine make-believe to entertain, sooth and make our days brighter, as literature and cinema endeavours? Naturally, there is. Read our full review. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on August 4, August 11, August 18 and August 25; September 1, September 8, September 15, September 22 and September 29; and October 6, October 13, October 20 and October 27. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Bullet Train, Nope, The Princess, 6 Festivals, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Crimes of the Future, Bosch & Rockit, Fire of Love, Beast, Blaze, Hit the Road, Three Thousand Years of Longing, Orphan: First Kill, The Quiet Girl, Flux Gourmet, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Moonage Daydream, Ticket to Paradise, Clean, You Won't Be Alone, See How They Run, Smile, On the Count of Three, The Humans, Don't Worry Darling, Amsterdam, The Stranger, Halloween Ends, The Night of the 12th, Muru, Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, Black Adam, Barbarian, Decision to Leave, The Good Nurse, Bros and The Woman King.
Between an immersive dinner experience in a historic house, performances by The Flaming Lips and Kamasi Washington and a swag of captivating theatre experiences inviting audiences into parallel worlds, this year's Melbourne International Arts Festival (MIAF) will be tough to ignore. Unveiled yesterday, the festival's 2019 program is set to deliver a diverse, vibrant celebration of dance, music, theatre, visual arts and architecture from October 2–20, with the entire city as its stage. For one of 12 Australian premieres, famous illusionist Scott Silven will host multi-sensory dinners for 24 people inside Chapter House, combining magic and storytelling (and, hopefully, some food). Another Australian premiere that'll be equally captivating is Yang Liping's contemporary dance masterpiece Rite of Spring. Tokyo-based art collective teamLab — made up of mathematicians, architects, animators and engineers — will take over Tolarno Galleries with sculptures of light and "cascades of shimmering luminescence", which will make you feel as though you're standing on a floating wave of light. If you've been lucky enough to visit Tokyo's Digital Art Museum or Shanghai's pop-up digital waterfall you'll know what to expect — they're both works by teamLab. Over at the Arts Centre, Black Mirror actor Maxine Peake will lead 15 musicians in a captivating exploration of enigmatic artist Nico and her 1968 masterpiece The Marble Index, in an Australian exclusive. [caption id="attachment_724480" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Flaming Lips[/caption] In terms of music, there are some big names heading Down Under for the two-week festival. Psychedelic rock legends The Flaming Lips will perform their ninth, and most celebrated, record The Soft Bulletin in full to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The band's performances are never run-of-the-mill either — so, expect confetti cannons, elaborate costumes and neon unicorns. Jazz king Kamasi Washington — who has collaborated with everyone from Herbie Hancock to Kendrick Lamar and St Vincent — will be performing his latest album Heaven and Earth, as well as other top hits. Grammy Award-winning string quartet Kronos Quartet will be heading to Melbourne, too, and if the name doesn't immediately sound familiar, you'll most definitely recognise their Requiem for a Dream soundtrack. Elsewhere on the program — which, yes, continues – will see the return of Melbourne's beloved art trams, Nakkiah Lui's new show Black is the New White, a thought-provoking look at (and questioning of) 2019 Melbourne in Anthem and a world premiere of Chunky Move's new contemporary show Token Armies. This will be the last MIAF in its current format, too. Starting from 2020, MIAF will also form part of a new and bigger winter festival, in conjunction with White Night. Melbourne International Arts Festival runs from October 2-20, 2019, at venues across the city. Tickets are available here, from Monday, July 22. Images: Borderless Tokyo Digital Art Museum by Sarah Ward; Yang Liping's Rite of Spring; Kamasi Washington.
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.
Are you a David? Do you have a mate or relative with that name? Are you willing to stand outside a restaurant asking strangers named David to dine with you? If the answer to any of these is yes, then check this deal out. For all of autumn, David's in Prahran is serving up free yum cha on Saturday afternoons to anyone named David (or other iterations like Davide, Davito and Daveed). That means Davids can feast on unlimited food for two hours, filling the table with baos, dumplings, Peking duck, chicken ribs, pork belly, salt and pepper calamari and a stack of other classic yum cha dishes without paying a cent. The fine print? Davids, you will need to bring along at least one mate. If they're not a David, they'll have to pay the $64 for unlimited yum cha. But being the good bloke you are, you'll split it with your guest, so you both get half-price yum cha. This offer is a one-time thing per David, so no showing up every Saturday lunchtime for free dim sum. And don't forget, you'll need to book ahead of time to secure your spot. Other than that, you're free to feast. Wear roomy clothes and prepare to test your limits at David's in Prahran.
Some people wind down by watching Nicolas Cage movies. Others prefer getting whimsical with Wes Anderson, indulging in Studio Ghibli's animated delights or rustling up a few laughs. Or, there's the group of folks that finds nothing more relaxing than binging movies and TV shows about architecture, design, sustainability and outdoor living. If the latter applies to you — especially in a year that's seen us all spend far more time in our homes — soon there'll be a new streaming service for that. Joining the ever-growing online viewing ranks (and giving Netflix even more company than it already has), Shelter will launch on Friday, July 31 with a lineup focused on design-centric content. Think documentaries such as Tiny, which steps inside six super-small homes; Art House, about the abodes of 11 creatives and the way they reflect their craft in their surroundings; and Homo Sapiens, which gets philosophical about the impact — and fragility — of human existence. Or, you can explore the work of architects such as Eileen Gray, Kevin Roche, Harry Seidler and Tadao Ando via separate docos. Home-centric series Dream Build and Charlie Luxton's Homes by the Sea are also on Shelter's launch lineup — as is the six-part Inspired Architecture series, which explores six Australian structures. The platform is also teaming up with global publications like Design Anthology and Green Magazine to host and present new content. And, it'll be expanding its range with fresh additions each month. When it goes live at the end of July, Shelter will be available online and via iOS and Android apps — costing AU$7.99/NZ$8.99 per month, with a 14-day free trial period on offer, too. And, it's partnering with Eden Reforestation Projects to do more than merely serve up something new for design aficionados to watch. For each paid subscriber Shelter has each month, it'll plant a native tree via the not-for-profit reforestation organisation — which works to plant millions of trees annually in impoverished and environmentally devastated areas of the globe. Shelter launches in Australia and New Zealand on Friday, July 31 — visit the streaming platform's website to sign-up for updates.
Prepare to say "accio remote!" and get comfier than Hermione Granger in a library. In the latest news that'll keep you glued to your couch this summer — and your latest fodder for an at-home movie marathon — everyone's favourite boy wizard is now working his magic on Binge. You won't need the Marauder's Map to find these enchanting flicks. Since Thursday, January 21, all eight movies in the Harry Potter series have hit the streaming platform, bringing their Hogwarts-set adventures to Australian audiences. If you've watched your DVD copies from the 2000s so many times that they're showing a little wear and tear — or your laptop no longer has a disc drive — this is butterbeer-worthy news. Yes, everything from Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe) first visit to Platform 9 and 3/4, the Yule Ball, the Triwizard Tournament, many a fluttering snitch and He Who Must Not Be Named are now at your fingertips. Prime viewing for wizards, witches and muggles alike — all 19 hours and 39 minutes of it. The Fantastic Beasts films haven't joined them, though with wizarding journey keeping its focus on the original franchise. If you're thinking that a time-turner might come in handy over the next few months, we completely understand. And if this sounds like somewhat familiar news, all eight movies were also available on Netflix back in 2019. That's the thing about streaming services, though — unless they're making and funding a movie or series themselves, films and shows can switch platforms as the rights deals behind them change. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG37G--drDs&list=PLnpIp0ksj4UlQWQlPaRd6WrI9XSmS6B4u Find Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Part 2 are all now streaming on Binge.
No matter what cuisine rules your annual Christmas feast, we bet it'll work a treat with a sweet Italian finish. Especially one that comes courtesy of Piccolina Gelateria. The local frozen treats expert has unveiled a new creation just in time for the festive season: an indulgent panettone con gelato. The new limited-edition treat is the ultimate mash-up of two traditional Italian desserts, teaming a handmade Christmas panettone with plenty of Piccolina's signature gelato. For the uninitiated, panettone is classically crafted on a sweet, buttery dough spiked with spices, sultanas and candied fruit peel. And it's certainly a labour of love, usually taking around three days to make if you're doing it properly. [caption id="attachment_753962" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tim Allen[/caption] Piccolina's chefs are whipping up two varieties of the gelato cake, each of which is big enough to feed 12–14 people. There's the Nutella version, featuring handmade panettone stuffed with Piccolina's Better than Nutella gelato, coated in a roasted hazelnut and dark chocolate glaze, and crowned with a hazelnut truffle. Or, you might fancy the vanilla number, which is filled with classic vanilla gelato, slathered in white chocolate, and bedazzled with candied orange, gold pearl crisps and a golden cherry topper. They're preservative-free and are bound to look pretty darn fabulous on your Christmas table. [caption id="attachment_753950" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tim Allen[/caption] Clocking in at $85, each share-friendly cake comes hand-wrapped in a special edition canvas bag and finished with festive red ribbon. Piccolina's panettone con gelato can be pre-ordered via the website, otherwise a limited number are now available to buy in-store at Piccolina Collingwood, Hawthorn and St Kilda. Images: Tim Allen
Last week's Australian Interior Design Awards had us fawning over the most majestic new spaces and mentally redecorating our own little corner of the world. But they also seemed to capture something else — a more confident, unique sense of Australian style, all earth and light, outdoorsy and unfussy. The nature of the Australian aesthetic is fodder for an exciting mini-conference at this year's Vivid Ideas. In Australian Interiors, prominent voices in Australian design such as Sibella Court, Russel Koskela, Alice Blackwood and Rachel Castle will speak on their own practice, current style and future trends. Ahead of that, they talk to us about that big question, Australianness, and how it finds expression in design. Sibella Court Sibella Court is an interior stylist, product designer, historian, globetrotter and creative director who's designed some of our favourite Sydney spaces, such as Mr Wong, Palmer ? Co and The Fish Shop (pictured above). Do you think there is such a thing as a contemporary Australian aesthetic in interior design? Contemporary Australian design doesn't follow a trend; it is eclectic and a great mix of history and creation. Geographically, we are a shipping nightmare! Our lack of product access makes Australians more creative, resourceful and awesome. There’s an embracing of collaboration and a celebration of new and upcoming designers and artisans. Australian style is laidback, and our outdoors and surrounds are already so beautiful, we are a product of our landscape. What is the future for ‘contemporary Australian' interior design? What new trends do you see emerging? Australians have their finger on the (global and local) pulse when it comes to design. Perhaps due to our distance from the rest of the world we have a slight dose of FOMO! The lifestyle of Australia influences our design: a casualness and comfort to our style, as well as creatively experimenting with all sorts of different trends, without ever actually following a trend. Social media is a huge influencer of this, especially Instagram. It is a virtual portfolio, and everyone is watching. It’s a fantastic means of discovery of artists, designers and makers, and it lends itself to being the base of exciting collaborations. Russel Koskela Russel Koskela founded Koskela with his partner Sasha Titchkosky in 2000. They've become a fixture for minimal, sustainable, unique furnishings and Russel last year won both an Idea Award and Eat Drink Design Award for his designs. Do you think there is a contemporary Australian aesthetic in interior design? Yes I do, although I don’t think it’s completely definable. I think there is a relaxed casualness and playfulness to Australian interiors that reflects our climate and attitude. What is the future for ‘contemporary Australian' interior design? It’s very difficult to pick any trends as it’s almost like ‘anything goes’ at the moment. We really noticed this when we were in Milan earlier this year — there was something there for everyone. Even with colours it was almost impossible to pick trends. Alice Blackwood Alice Blackwood is Melbourne editor at Indesign Media, having last year completed a five-year stint as Editor of DQ (Design Quarterly) magazine. Do you think there is a contemporary Australian aesthetic in interior design? Absolutely there is. The way we live and the built environments in which we live directly reference Australia's unique natural environment, our climate, lighting, lifestyle, cultural habits and more. Our love for the outdoors, for example, is hugely influential on our approach to interior design, that creation of a seamless transition between indoors and out being a common element among most contemporary Australian spaces. If I had to apply a general descriptor to the Australian aesthetic, I would say, natural, honest materials; open spaces that allow for lots of natural light; clean, uninterrupted lines (moving away from poky, old Victorian spaces), and open-plan spaces that integrate kitchen and living into one. What is the future for ‘contemporary Australian' interior design? I tend to question, are we capitalising on our local vernacular properly? I've seen a real push-pull among furniture and interior designers — some are keen to 'own' the Australian vernacular, while some feel pigeonholed by it (we are, after all, constantly fighting our 'tyranny of distance') ... In terms of emerging trends, having just come back from the Milan Furniture Fair, I saw a profusion of mixed material use, as well as natural material use, which I think resonates very strongly with our Australian aesthetic. Marble was hugely popular, the cold, beautiful, elemental 'feel' of it resonating strongly with Aussie designers already. Do you have a personal favourite bar or restaurant interior that nails ‘contemporary Australian'? At Indesign Media, we're loving Mocan and Green Grout in Canberra, which we covered recently on Habitusliving.com. It’s located on Capital Hill, and does coffee and bicycles, (how cool!). The interior fit-out features lots of beautiful timber joinery, it receives lots of natural light during the day. The fact that it also specialises in bicycles resonates strongly, I think, with our love for health and wellbeing, and being active outdoors! As well, there’s no denying the growing popularity for cycling and bike culture in Australia. Rachel Castle Rachel Castle of CASTLE designs and manufactures her own bedlinen and homeware range that is full of colour, life and non-boringness. Do you think there is a contemporary Australian aesthetic in interior design? I think these days its really hard to pinpoint a definitive Australian aesthetic. Its like asking us to define our Australian fashion; it's so varied. I think the explosion of interiors blogs and online imagery banks such as Pinterest have allowed anyone and everyone to evolve their own unique aesthetic. I think in general though, we all try to keep it quite relaxed and uncontrived. I think people now are as interested in what they put in their homes as what they put on their bodies, so its wonderful to see such an engaged audience. It's no longer necessary to pick and look and stick to it. You can read the mags, the books, go online, and start to really hone your own aesthetic and source it online, from anywhere in the world. If I had to define a style I would say its a very personal mix of natural materials and products, lots of handmade product, with pops of colour and tons of white for backdrop, and am loving seeing a resurgence for indoor plants! My personal favourite. What is the future for ‘contemporary Australian' interior design? I think we're going to see everything start to pare back a bit. There has been a trend for pattern and pattern and more pattern, which I personally love, but I think it can become a little overwhelming, so am seeing a lot more recently, in the mags especially, a simplistic, cleaner look. Metallics and blush are everywhere, which hello we love, and a softer colour palette with the neutrals and greys and pastels starting to emerge. Do you have a personal favourite bar or restaurant interior that nails ‘contemporary Australian'? I would have to say Kitchen By Mike [designed by and sharing space with Koskela]. Utilitarian, communal, friendly, warm and earthly. Yummy food too. Sibella Court, Russel Koskela, Alice Blackwood and Rachel Castle are all speaking as part of Vivid Ideas' Australian Interiors: Objects, Furnitures, Textiles from 10am - 2pm on Saturday, May 24, at the Vivid Ideas Exchange on Level 6 of the MCA. It's one of our picks of the top ten events to see at Vivid Ideas — check out the rest here.
2022 marks 90 years since the ABC first started broadcasting in Australia, beginning as a public radio service all that time ago. Over the decades, it has also made the leap of television, and been a source of news, entertainment, after-school kids shows, oh-so-much Doctor Who and late-night music videos to keep you occupied after a few drinks. And, it's home to Spicks and Specks, the Aussie music quiz show that no one can get enough of. So, it's fitting that as part of the network's celebrations for its big birthday, it has confirmed that Spicks and Specks will return again this year for a new ten-episode season. What's better than watching a heap of top Australian talent sit around and talk about music? Watching them do all of the above while answering questions, competing for points and just generally being funny, too. Yes, that's the concept behind Spicks and Specks. It takes a few cues from the UK's Never Mind the Buzzcocks, pits Aussie musos and comedians against each other, and has proven a hit several times over. It was a weekly favourite when it first aired between 2005–2011 — and, as it keeps being resurrected. As fans will already know, Spicks and Specks has been enjoying more comebacks than John Farnham of late, although that has meant different things over the years. When the program was first revived back in 2014, it did so with a new host and team captains, for instance. And when it started to make a return with its original lineup of Adam Hills, Myf Warhurst and Alan Brough, it first did so via a one-off reunion special. That 2018 comeback proved more than a little popular. It became the ABC's most-watched show of that year, in fact. So, the broadcaster then decided to drop four new Spicks and Specks specials across 2019–20 and, for 2021, to bring back Spicks and Specks in its regular format. In 2022, ten more new episodes await. It's expected that Hills, Myf Warhurst and Alan Brough will settle back into their old chairs — new eps, same stars has been a big focus in recent years, of course — but plenty about 2022's run has yet to be confirmed. That includes exactly when it'll start airing, and who'll be hitting buzzers among the program's guests. Still, you can add playing along with the show from your couch — again — to your plans before 2022 is out. Spicks and Specks will return to ABC TV for ten episodes sometime in 2022. You'll also be able to stream the series via ABC iView. We'll update you when an exact release date is announced.
New York's Museum of Modern Art isn't the only major international gallery bringing its wares to our shores this year, with an exhibition from London's Tate Britain gallery heading to Australia from December. Entitled Love & Desire: Pre-Raphaelite Masterpieces from the Tate and displaying from December 14, 2018 until April 28, 2019, it'll bring more than 40 of the Tate's beloved works to the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, in an exhibition that'll focus on the artistic movement that started in 1848. Iconic pieces such as John Everett Millais' Ophelia and John William Waterhouse's The Lady of Shalott will be making the journey as part of the showcase. Part ode to early Renaissance efforts, part protest against the prevailing creative traditions of the mid-19th century, pre-Raphaelite art was sparked by a group of rebellious artists eager to create something different to the art of the time — and their preferred style, featuring detailed, colourful compositions painted in thin layers with small brushes, certainly managed that. In addition to the pieces from the Tate, the exhibition will also feature an additional 40 works loaned from other British and Australian collections. Each will help highlight the themes of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, examine the different styles adopted by the various artists adhering to its principles, stress the importance of draughtsmanship and emphasise the movement's fondness for collaboration. "This exhibition includes some of the most loved and visited paintings at Tate — some of which have never before been seen in Australia," said NGA director Nick Mitzevich. Love & Desire: Pre-Raphaelite Masterpieces from the Tate will be the NGA's major summer exhibition, although it's not the gallery's only new addition come the end of the year, with Yayoi Kusama's pumpkin-filled infinity room The Spirits of the Pumpkins Descended into the Heavens set to join its permanent collection in December. Love & Desire: Pre-Raphaelite Masterpieces from the Tate exhibits at the National Gallery of Australia, Parkes Place, Parkes, Canberra between December 14, 2018 and April 28, 2019. Images: John Everett Millais, Ophelia 1851-2. Oil paint on canvas. Tate collection presented by Sir Henry Tate 1894. © Tate. / John William Waterhouse, The Lady of Shalott 1888. Oil on canvas. Tate. © Tate.
Since 2011, DJ Tom Loud's travelling dance party Hot Dub Time Machine has ripped up stages the world over, offering a rolling crossfade of the last six decades of pop-music. Now, ready to sink his teeth into a new chapter of music-infused revelry, Loud's announced his latest project, Hot Dub Wine Machine — a series of al fresco get-togethers that'll take over four of the country's best-loved wine regions. This Australia-wide tour follows the raging success of Hot Dub Wine Machine's inaugural event, which saw over 6000 wine and music lovers flock to McLaren Vale's Serafino Winery in December last year. This time around, the scenic vistas and rolling hills of wineries Australia-wide will play host to the festivities, including the Yarra Valley's Rochford Estate on Saturday, March 25. The boutique event will run from early afternoon through to after dark, and feature a hand-picked smorgasbord of Australian musical talent. This will all lead into one of Hot Dub's signature sets, which will see audiences dancing their way from 1954 to today, as the DJ mixes an iconic song from each year. Backing up the tunes, expect a careful curation of locally-sourced gourmet eats, craft beer, cocktails, and of course, some sensational vino from these iconic Australian wine regions. Safe to say, it's probably the rowdiest event these wineries will host all year. Images: Pat Stevenson.
With Tilda Swinton as the model, W magazine was sure to have a wild spread for their May issue. But this is probably Tilda's most striking photo shoot yet. The cover story, rightfully titled 'Stranger Than Paradise' is strangely insane (and totally surreal). The series of photos actually pays tribute to some of Swinton's favourite artists. The 52-year-old star of We Need to Talk About Kevin and glass boxes poses with everything from glamorous Chanel and Givenchy clothing to centipedes — yes, you read right, centipedes. And you know what? Even with centipede face, she's gorgeous. Check out some photos from the series below.
Dance and classical aren't music genres you'd usually find swirling around in the same basket — unless you have a particular bent for the orchestral 'Sandstorm' covers found in the depths of YouTube. Synthony — A Generation of Dance Music is here to prove that the disciplines go hand in hand. Touring Australia since 2019, the event is returning to Melbourne on Friday, February 18. It'll see a 60-plus piece orchestra join forces with a selection of DJs and live performers at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, all to play the biggest dance tracks of the last 30 years. Expect the venue to take a few cues from the nightclub scene, with lights, lasers and mapped video all part of the experience — and a selection of dance floor bangers note-for-note. The lineup includes live performances from Savage, Emily Williams, Mobin Master and more — and The Synthony Orchestra, of course — with Madison Avenue's Andy Van on hosting duties.
Need some inspiration to live a life more sustainable? You'll find plenty of it at Fed Square's Zero Waste Festival, happening next month as part of the precinct's Sustainable September program. On Saturday, September 17, this celebration of planet-friendly living is set to feature talks, panel discussions, installations and fun activations, all designed to get you hooked on the idea of a waste-free future. You'll hear passionate zero-waste innovators chat tips, tricks and key topics; from the fight to shift our society's reliance on 'fast fashion', to easy everyday household changes that can help the planet. [caption id="attachment_866711" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Liam Neal[/caption] There'll be a premiere screening of new doco Going Circular, a Mending Circle that'll teach you skills to restore your old things to their former glory, and a hands-on puppet-making workshop using recycled materials. BYO pre-loved threads and hit the Clothes Swap to give your wardrobe a refresh; get old or damaged items fixed for free courtesy of the St Kilda Repair Cafe pop-up; and help keep the city looking fresh by joining clean-up group Beach Patrol for a morning litter collection session along the Yarra. There'll be plenty of food and coffee vendors slinging their wares, so visitors are encouraged to bring their reusable cups and containers. Stalls will also be offering reusable plates, cleaned onsite by the folks from Green My Plate. Entry to the festival and its program is free, though you can reserve your spot at the various talks and activities online. It'll cost you $10 to participate in the Adults Clothes Swap. Top Image: Vicky Rae Ellmore
While not every venue in Melbourne has made its courtyard a palace to pooches (yet), some places have realised that everyone loves a happy pupper — and they encourage you to bring your fur baby to eat, drink and get groovy with you. So even if your pooch is a cantankerous diva who guilts you for leaving them at home, demands their Instagram be updated every hour, on the hour, and simply cannot survive without a puppercino in the morning, you have options. One day we hope to live in a world where you can't eat a slice of pizza without a thousand baleful eyes staring at you, silently begging for a taste — a happy place where doggo and human co-exist on every dance floor. But, until then, you'll have to seek out the watering holes that explicitly welcome four-legged mates. We've hit the streets with poop bags and an American Express® Card in-hand, and — after many beers, pats, sloppy kisses and bequeathments of 'good boy' status — we've found Melbourne's best dog-friendly bars (which could really just be classified as Melbourne's best bars thanks to the high doggo quotient that makes up their clientele). Pro-tip: to maximise the number of dogs licking your face, just slip some bacon bits in your pockets to attract the attention. Works a treat. Got yourself in another dining situation and need some guidance? Whatever it is, we know a place. Visit The Shortlist and we'll sort you out.
Folks can't stop talking about Christy Tania. Not only did the renowned dessert chef bend minds with her 'Floating Ice Cream' creation on MasterChef earlier this year, but she has also launched her own permanent dessert shop. Opening its doors on Windsor's Peel Street, Tania's new sweet wonderland offers artisanal frozen treats for eating in and taking away. Fancy ice cream stores mightn't be a rare occurrence these days; however, as Tania's first permanent solo venture, Glacé is every bit as impressive as the rest of her artisan treats. The contemporary space offers a hefty range of frozen desserts and innovative flavours, crafted with local ingredients — such as her trademark ice cream push pops, with their layers of cake sponge and ice cream. Diners will find ice cream eclairs and ice cream macarons on the menu, because every dessert is better in ice cream form. When it comes to flavoursome scoops themselves, think creative concoctions such as boozy date (sticky date pudding soaked in rum with vanilla ice cream and salted butterscotch), coffee caramel (caramel milk chocolate ice cream with Kahlua and orange cinnamon crumble), and lamington (coconut ice cream and chocolate brownie with a swirl of raspberry sorbet), plus the zig-a-zig-ah-inducing ginger spice (vanilla ice cream with salted butterscotch and gingerbread crumble). Those keen on something more traditional can try the likes of 72% dark chocolate ice cream, strawberry passionfruit sorbet and coconut ice cream with pure coconut droplets. The fixed digs come hot on the heels of successful pop-ups in Sydney and Melbourne in May, which gave sweet tooths a taste of the flagship store's range. As for Tania herself, the chef first popped up in 2013, after famously steering Melbourne dessert bar Om Nom into its first chef's hat within just two months of heading up the kitchen. Since then, her inspired sweet treats have continued to dazzle and astound, both out of the Om Nom kitchen and during a host of MasterChef guest judge appearances, making jealous messes of audiences across the country. Find Christy Tania's Glacé at 1A Peel Street, Windsor. For more information, check out the eatery's website. By Libby Curran and Sarah Ward.
Meet Patriot, Potomac, Primrose, Poppet and Phil. They're each cute as a button, and they just might become America's next hard-working, helpful guide dogs. Born at the headquarters of US organisation Guide Dogs for the Blind, these labrador puppies will learn what it takes to become a seeing-eye companion for a human in need. While they won't all end up assisting the visually impaired to live fuller lives, they'll each try their best and look adorable in the process. That's the story behind Pick of the Litter, the documentary that'll make you want to hug your own doggo, get one, or volunteer to help train pooches that become guide dogs. The movie is part of this year's Melbourne International Film Festival lineup, screening on Sunday, August 5 and again on Sunday, August 19 — and it covers a program that's incredibly close to the way that Guide Dogs Victoria breed, raise and train their pups. If you've not only just added the film to your must-see list, but have started wondering how you can get involved, here's some good news — Guide Dogs Victoria staff and volunteers will be on hand at both sessions to let you know how you can assist. In even better news, they'll have company of the four-legged kind, so you can see a movie about gorgeous, life-changing guide dogs and pat a few before and after the screening.
With Preston Station finally reopened after a long year of removal works, Preston is back firing on all cylinders and ready to party. So it's celebrating the occasion with a huge free block party on Sunday, September 11. Swing by Preston Market from 11am for a big day of eats, drinks, tunes and general good vibes, served up by much-loved market traders and other Preston favourites. Food pop-ups will be slinging treats ranging from fairy floss to gelato, alongside sweet and savoury goodies from all the usual market vendors. Preston-based brewery Moon Dog will be serving ice-cold craft beer tinnies from its MD Land Drover, while The Drinks Swap pop-up will have an array of booze-free things to quench your thirst. [caption id="attachment_811005" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Moon Dog, by Samantha Schultz[/caption] As with all good parties, there'll be entertainment — and plenty of it. Catch neo-soul and RnB sounds from songwriting duo Alex & Sophia, see a belly-dancing performance by Azura Oasis and cut some shapes of your own with a communal boogie lead by Brunswick's very lively Famous Love Heart Dancers. While you're there, be sure to check out the special live reptile show, and shop up a storm with a trip around the market, where you can stock up on everything from fashion and art to homewares and vinyl. [caption id="attachment_868219" align="alignnone" width="1284"] Famous Love Heart Dancers[/caption]
In the lead-up to its tenth birthday, artisan cacao brand Mörk opened the doors to a second outpost for its much-loved range of fine drinking chocolates and other handmade sweet treats; this time taking over an old lift shaft in a CBD laneway. The new pint-sized digs in Equitable Place are slinging Mörk's signature hot — and chilled — chocolate drinks, along with a range of take-home products and sweet treats, all for takeaway. This tiny haven is also where you'll find the cult-favourite Swedish cinnamon buns from sister label, Söt by Mörk. The store's range of luxe drinking chocolate trips through varying degrees of cacao darkness, all ready to enjoy with your choice of regular, oat or coconut milk (from $6). Or, if you prefer coffee, the caffeinated lineup comes courtesy of a collaboration with Patricia Coffee Brewers ($4.5). That famed Campfire Hot Chocolate also gets a spin here, with its theatrical show of smoke, chocolate and toasted marshmallow ($9). The hole-in-the-wall is turning out a range of plant-based beverages, too, including a hazelnut and almond blend ($8), and a Bounty-inspired fusion of caramelised coconut and sea salt ($8). And should your sweet tooth need a little extra lovin', there's a cabinet full of goodies from the Söt line — gooey twice-baked chocolate cake, florentines finished with Rooftop Honey, and miniature pistachio bundts loaded with yuzu chocolate ganache, to name a few. [caption id="attachment_825088" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mork's Campfire Hot Chocolate, by Kristoffer Paulsen[/caption] Images: Kristoffer Paulsen
This year, the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival's ever-popular Crawl 'n' Bite series will provide even more opportunities for culinary exploration, with a whole new crop of roaming food and drink tours. Sink your teeth into the tastiest of Fitzroy and Collingwood, and discover just how diverse these foodie hotspots are, with the Smith and Johnston crawl. On Wednesday, April 5, this guided journey will have punters enjoying a bite and a drink at French-leaning Hell of the North, stylish gastropub Fitzroy Town Hall Hotel, and vivacious taqueria Hotel Jesus, across one adventurous evening. Six ticket options are available for the tour — choose the starting time and location that suits you best and get crawling.
By now, you've probably become well-accustomed to being shut up indoors, fantasising about dining out with mates and sipping drinks at buzzy bars. Well, here's another blissful image to add to your daydreaming montage: a summertime sipping session located 24 storeys above ground level, watching the sun set over the city. It's a dream that will soon become a reality — when the 627 Chapel Street building's luxury rooftop opens this summer. The yet-to-be-named bar and restaurant is the work of 627 Chapel Street developer Goldfields, which has also yet to announce an operator for the luxe sky-high space. It has, however, revealed it's considering "three well-known local groups", as well as an international bid out of Los Angeles. While mystery will continue to surround the plan for a little while longer, Goldfields has revealed a few key details about the design of the tower's rooftop bar. Taking cues from some of the world's most high-profile rooftop clubs, the 200-person terrace will look to fuse a modern Mediterranean aesthetic with a touch of sophisticated local flair. Fittingly, in a nod to its address, the site's footprint clocks in at 627 square metres. Across that, there'll be a mix of indoor and outdoor spaces, with an open-sided pergola, relaxed lounge areas and lush canopy trees. As you can expect, the developer says the rooftop will be a prime spot to spend those South Yarra sunset sessions, with the site boasting panoramic views across Melbourne. As for exactly which studio or designer will be bringing this luxe vision to life, that'll be up to the operators nominated by Goldfields. The makeover of 627 Chapel Street is set to come in at an eye-watering $300 million and is slated to be ready for occupancy by November this year. The unnamed rooftop bar and restaurant is set to open at 627 Chapel Street, South Yarra in the summer of 2021–2022. For more details, see the precinct's website.
Founded by husband and wife duo Bec and Chris Lutz in 2006, Design A Space is where you'll find creative works by many of Australia's most admired independent designers. It as a rotating selection of artists each month, and more than 150 notable designers who have set about creating fashion and accessories for the entire family. Many of the works uncovered at Design A Space are limited edition pieces that you won't find anywhere else. Add something bright to your wardrobe this winter, while supporting some of Australia's most respected emerging and established artists. Design A Space is also located at 20 Manchester Lane, Melbourne and 212 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. Images: Mark Lobo/Visit Victoria.
Hornbags of Melbourne, get ready to put those post-Christmas muffin tops to good use because Good Things is throwing the Kath & Kim-themed party of your dreams. On Australia Day eve, Kath & Kim's Aussie Shindig will see the South Yarra bar celebrate two of our most iconic silver screen heroines, complete with life-sized cutouts, a photobooth, and a free BBQ feast from 6-8pm. The legends in charge have come up with a cracker of a drinks list, starring Aussie-themed creations like Barbecue Shapes Margaritas, Bloody Marys with footy franks, vodka Passionas and of course, Kim's beloved Cardonnay (the h is silent). Post your favourite Kath & Kim moment on the Facebook event page before the party, for the chance to score yourself some free drinks. There's even a $50 bar tab up for grabs, going to the best-dressed foxymoron or hunk 'o' spunk on the night. Best start assembling your finest netball skirts, midriff tops, matching tracksuits and lycra in preparation.
Backing up a new album with a tour worked well for G Flip in 2023. In fact, they won an ARIA Award for Best Australian Live Act for their efforts. For 2025's new record Dream Ride, the drummer, singer and songwriter is doing the same in 2026 — kicking off their next run of homegrown dates eight years to the month since Georgia Flipo first uploaded 'About You' to Triple J Unearthed and sparked a helluva career so far. In Melbourne, G Flip is playing Margaret Court Arena on Saturday, March 7. The last time that the ARIA Award-winning drummer, singer and songwriter took a solo tour around the country, it was to sellout crowds. [caption id="attachment_1013156" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Matt Jelonek/Getty Images[/caption] For company in 2026, G Flip will have Toronto's The Beaches and Heartbreak High star Ayesha Madon in support at all gigs. Dream Ride, the album, features singles 'Disco Cowgirl', 'Big Ol' Hammer' and 'In Another Life' — and an 80s-inspired sound, as well as G Flip playing almost every instrument on the record. [caption id="attachment_1013154" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anne Sophie Bine[/caption] Top image: Amy Martin Photography via Wikimedia Commons.
St Kilda's Pontoon raged its way into 2018 with a packed-out shindig starring The Avalanches. Now, the venue has announced its second major Summer Sounds event for the year. This day party will feature Melbourne-based acts Cut Copy and Total Giovanni, both in DJ mode, with support from Edd Fisher, Pjenne, Kate Miller and Nile Delta. Electronica band Cut Copy broke through in 2008 with sophomore album In Ghost Colours and, in 2014, toured the Americas, Europe and Russia on the back of fourth album Free Your Mind. Meanwhile, five-piece Total Giovanni has been releasing its polyrhythmic, boogie-meets-disco-meets house tracks via local label Two Bright Lakes and bringing high-energy shows to a bunch of festivals and clubs Australia-over. The music will kick off at midday and go on late into the night. The annual pride march is taking place on the same day, so gear up for a big party. To keep you fuelled, Pontoon's eight-metre grill will be on the go, serving up snacks and share plates, and you'll find 16 beers on tap at the bar.
Attention NFL fans — or just anyone who's down for a US-themed party — mark your calendar for Super Bowl Sunday Monday, because The Wharf Hotel is about to throw a hell of a party. While the US gets to experience the big game prime time Sunday night, Melburnians are going to need to convince their bosses for a late start on Monday, February 12, or chuck a sickie to get in on the fun, as the game is set to kick off at 10:30am on this side of the planet. For those free and willing, The Wharf Hotel has collaborated with Pepsi to create Melbourne's first-ever Super Bowl LVIII Dome Experience, an event that claims to transform how you watch live sport. Set to float on the Yarra River, the Pepsi Dome Experience will offer a 360-degree viewing perspective. Picture yourself immersed in the game, lounging on beanbags, while enjoying a siren-to-siren package of unlimited drinks (selected bottled beer, wines, and Pepsi) and a lineup of American-themed snacks. Dome tickets aren't cheap ($190), and they're very limited, but if you're looking for a unique way to experience the game, this package might be for you — just get in quick. If you're on a tighter budget, the tailgate party is your go-to. This complimentary event unfolds on The Wharf's outdoor lower level, featuring a mega screen for live game coverage, with a nice background of the Melbourne skyline. Entry is free, but RSVPs are essential through the venue's website. For those seeking a more conventional viewing experience, general reservations are available, with tables inside, on the garden deck or the covered promenade. No matter where you sit, you'll be able to see the game, thanks to multiple screens throughout the venue. Doors open from 8am, while the Dome will open from 10am.
Australia's cities are filled with must-try places for a bite, whether you're seeking out Sydney's very-best restaurants, Melbourne's top eateries or Brisbane's latest openings, but there's still nothing like a home-cooked meal. Alison Roman understands this. The Brooklyn-based food writer and chef may live in New York and have access to its thriving dining scene, but she's a big fan of eating in — and she has viral recipes such as #TheCookies, #ThePasta, #TheStew and #TheDip to prove it. Roman also has two cookbooks currently in bookshops, and possibly on your own shelves: Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes and Nothing Fancy: Unfussy Food for Having People Over. Come April in Australia, Sweet Enough: Desserts for People Who Don't Do Dessert will join them. To launch the latter, and to make her first trip ever Down Under, Roman is hitting our shores on a three-city tour to get chatting about home cooking, those internet-famous dishes and why she adores her own kitchen. [caption id="attachment_894215" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Chris Bernabeo[/caption] The viral recipe queen and New York Times-bestselling scribe leads this year's Melbourne Writers Festival lineup, which is her first Aussie stop. She'll discuss her career and her journey to the dessert-focused Sweet Enough with Benjamin Law on Friday, May 5 at Melbourne Town Hall — plus her love of culinary imperfection. Next destination: a stint at Brisbane Powerhouse on Sunday, May 7, where she'll be in-conversation with Belinda Sweeney, touching upon everything from having her own CNN cooking show to releasing her first baking book. And, last but by no means least, Sydney Opera House will add Roman to its impressive list of 2023 guests — see also: Michael Sheen during Amadeus, Bikini Kill on their first trip to Australia in more than a quarter-century and the whole All About Women lineup — on Tuesday, May 9. In the Harbour City, she'll be talking with Melissa Leong, and expect her food newsletter A Newsletter and YouTube series Home Movies to also get a mention. "I was scheduled to come to Australia in March of 2020 but the world had other plans, so I am beyond thrilled to finally make it over," said Roman, announcing the tour. "A first-time trip to Sydney was already going to be special, but speaking at such a legendary venue as the Opera House is more than I could have dreamed of. I really, truly can't wait." ALISON ROMAN AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2023: Friday, May 5 — Melbourne Town Hall, Melbourne, as part of Melbourne Writers Festival Sunday, May 7 — Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane Tuesday, May 9 — Sydney Opera House, Sydney Alison Roman tours Australia in May 2023. For more information — and for tickets — head to the Sydney Opera House (for pre-sales from 8am AEDT on Thursday, March 23 and general sales from 9am AEDT the same date), Melbourne Writers Festival and Ticketek (from 9am AEST on Thursday, March 23) websites. Top image: Alison Roman by Chris Bernabeo.
It isn't every day that wandering through Federation Square involves walking past — or through — a whopping 3000 kilograms of clothing waste. Thanks to an eye-catching, awareness-raising, three-day-only pop-up, however, Melburnians can currently do just that. Until Thursday, April 28, a hefty pile of discarded fashion is sitting in the middle of the Victorian capital, all to draw attention to how many threads are thrown away by Australians. The sustainability focused installation is a collaboration between Kathmandu and zero-waste advocate Joost Bakker, and it'll instantly teach you something — because the 3000 kilograms of discarded clothing that's pivotal to the piece only represents the amount of textiles disposed of by Aussies in a mere five-minute window. That's how much that gets thrown away every five minutes, in fact, with Kathmandu and Bakker's team-up designed to make that stark truth hit home. "The thing that shocked me the most — I just thought I'd use 500 kilos of clothing, but then I got 200 kilos of clothing in just one day," Bakker tells Concrete Playground. "I just went 'oh my god'. There's just this huge volume. I just couldn't quite comprehend the volume, and the weight. And then when you see these piles of clothing, or you see factories full, or you see it in landfill — the energy, the water, the labour, everything that's gone into creating that, and it's just thrown into landfill, it's crazy." The 3000 kilograms of clothes that Bakker has amassed for this project — with the help of clothing recycling centre Upparel — is used in a tunnel structure that visitors to Fed Square can mosey through. Still, it's hard not to feel the the scale of it. Again, that's completely by design. "My core belief is that people are aware, they'll do something about it," says Bakker. "Even if it's just one person who walks through that structure and gets inspired and comes up with a solution — that's what's so exciting. Globally, so many people are putting their energy into finding solutions that, over the next ten years, it'll be a thing of the past. I have no doubt that clothing waste will not exist very quickly because we're all putting our energy into it and trying to find solutions. Humans are amazing at finding solutions when we put our energy and efforts into it, and that's what's happening now. That's really what this installation is all about," he continues. The reason for the collab with Kathmandu: the company asked, and gave Bakker free rein to come up with his own way to highlight the fashion-waste problem. "I thought it was quite inspiring that a brand wanted to actually highlight this, and so I got quite excited," he notes. "I wanted to really come up with a way that you could actually immerse yourself in a volume [of textiles]. If you have a pile of clothing, it's very difficult to get a sense of how much that is," Bakker tells CP. "So I wanted to create a structure where you were really in it and immersed in it. And I'm based in Monbulk, I'm surrounded by flower farmers, and I was able to access plastics that are used for greenhouses — these are all offcuts, and we've put lots of layers of offcut plastic to create that structure that allows you to see the enormous waste that's generated." Kathmandu is also launching a new 100-percent biodegradable BioDown puffer jacket, which Melburnians will see hanging through the installation. It's made from materials — outer, inner, down, zips, threads, tags and all — that are treated with a special additive that helps accelerate biodegradation, but only in a landfill environment. The jackets will hit stores from Thursday, April 28. Bakker notes that it's moves like these that'll help see textile waste eliminated — an issue that's only been around for half a century or so anyway — and unwanted fashion items reused and recycled instead. "My belief is that waste is just a human thing. Waste is something that pretty much is only a fifty-year thing, it's a very short space of time that we've generated a waste industry. Even if you go back 60, 70 years, everything was a resource, so we didn't have things like landfills and waste dumps," he explains. "I view waste as something beautiful. It's amazing how many people have commented 'the structure is actually really beautiful, but it's filled with waste, it's filled with something that we discard, something that we don't put any value on'. All my work has been about turning that around," Bakker continues. "In nature, there's no waste. You don't walk around a forest and go 'oh my god, I'm surrounded by all this rubbish'. It's only a human thing, because everything becomes something else again. I think the sooner that as a society we embrace that idea, we can completely design waste out of everything. It can happen really quickly, and I think it will happen really quickly, because we are all aware now." Kathmandu's fashion-waste installation is on display at Federation Square, Flinders Street, Melbourne, from Tuesday, April 26–Thursday, April 28.
This review was written about the Sydney run of Beautiful One Day at Belvoir St Theatre in November 2012. Beautiful One Day shows that devised theatre still has a unique power to bring people together for true sharing, collaboration, and storytelling. With the support of Belvoir, leading Indigenous theatre company Ilbijerri and documentary performance maestros Version 1.0 went and tested the waters at the Aboriginal community of Palm Island. When their suggestions for a project weren't rebuffed, they developed the work with the residents, three of whom join the seasoned performers on stage. Palm Island is a place we've mainly seen in snippets on the news — not anybody's best angle. It captured headlines in 2004, after the death in custody there of Mulrunji Doomadgee, whom the coroner found to have massive internal injuries. After the autopsy report was made public, there were demonstrations that turned to rioting. This event, still a trauma and a focus for the people of Palms, is at the chronological centre of the play, although in this version of the story, it is part of a continuum of acts of violence committed by white Australia for which there has never been justice. At the same time, the island has a continuous history of asserting its rights, including through large strikes in 1957 against the Aboriginals Protection Act, which had Aboriginal people under state control since 1897. As mentioned, this is devised theatre without writer or director, so linear story is not its strength — though nor its intention. Instead, the Beautiful One Day team — performers Magdalena Blackley, Kylie Doomadgee, Paul Dwyer, Rachael Maza, Jane Phegan, and Harry Reuben, plus additional devisors Sean Bacon, Eamon Flack, and David Williams — build layer upon overlapping layer of story, context, and meaning. A big success is that they set up an atmosphere of chattiness with the audience from the get-go, creating a feeling of lightness and inclusion. They use a Version 1.0-influenced toolkit of multimedia (presented, not excessively, across three screens), interviews, transcripts of historical and legal documents, and fictionalised scenes to build a picture of Palms. A nod to the 'telling their own stories' trope has the performers actually reading and acting out memoirs from books literally printed and bound, a nice little kick in the pants for anyone who thinks Aboriginal history is sidelined mostly because it's oral in form. The scenes about Mulrunji's death can't match the breadth and discovery of Chloe Hooper's award-winning book on the subject, The Tall Man, which is among the great works of creative non-fiction produced in this country. If the story of what happened to Mulrunji and in the subsequent trials and inquests appears more damning in this viewing, it is because the facts are condensed into a smaller space, in which it is impossible for the officers of law and justice involved to hide. It seems a pity, though, that in some moments, the police are portrayed cartoonishly, as a means to a joke. Even if it doesn't bring new facts to the conversation, Beautiful One Day certainly brings a new feeling. In trying to get a view of Palm Island from Palm Island, rather than of Palm Island from the mainland, the picture they conjure is one of hope. The island has seen conflict and absurdity, but looked at up close, there's at least an equal share of normalcy and paradise. There'll be more once its people can truly say they're no longer "living under the act".
It's the seventh film in the Jurassic franchise. It takes its characters to a secret island that was home to the research facility for Jurassic Park's original prehistoric animal sanctuary. Thanks to the latter, it's filled with dinosaurs too dangerous for the original wannabe tourist attraction. The movie: Jurassic World Rebirth, which is also the next picture to get a cast member of Oscar-winning 2019 film Marriage Story facing off against creatures that went extinct millions of years ago. Yes, that's a niche bit of trivia. But life has indeed found a way to get Scarlett Johansson (Fly Me to the Moon) battling dinos after it also got Adam Driver (Megalopolis) doing the same in 65 — and, of course, after Laura Dern (Lonely Planet) starred in the OG Jurassic Park, plus Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World Dominion. In Jurassic World Rebirth, Johansson plays covert operations expert Zora Bennett, who has a date with the movie's main island to obtain genetic material that could help develop drugs to save human lives. Arriving three years after Jurassic World Dominion and set to stomp into picture palaces in July, the new Jurassic flick also takes Jonathan Bailey (Wicked) and Mahershala Ali (Leave the World Behind) on its upon a clandestine mission. After the first sneak peek at how that turns out dropped in February, a brand-new trailer has been revealed. The vibe? The words "you don't see that every day" are uttered early, and dinosaurs are a threat by land, air and sea. The idea at the heart of picture: on the landmass at its centre, different species of dinosaurs to those that the films have featured before roam — species that were couldn't go into the OG park because they would've caused too much havoc. Bennett heads there with Bailey's palaeontologist Dr Henry Loomis and Ali as her righthand man Duncan Kincaid — and company — in what seems to be shaping up, in part, as a Jurassic heist film with pesky rampaging ancient beasts. Alongside Johansson, Bailey, and Moonlight and Green Book Oscar-winner Ali, the Rebirth's lineup of on-screen talent also spans Rupert Friend (Companion) as a pharmaceutical executive; Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Lincoln Lawyer) as a civilian who gets dragged into the mission after becoming shipwrecked; Luna Blaise (Manifest), David Iacono (Dope Thief) and Audrina Miranda (Lopez vs Lopez) as the latter's family members; and Philippine Velge (The Serpent Queen), Bechir Sylvain (Black Mafia Family) and Ed Skrein (Rebel Moon) among Zora and co's crew. In the storyline, five years have passed since the events of Jurassic World Dominion — which, for audiences, followed 2015's Jurassic World and 2018's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in the Jurassic World saga, plus 1993's Jurassic Park, 1997's The Lost World: Jurassic Park and 2001's Jurassic Park III in the OG Jurassic Park trilogy. Jurassic World Rebirth director Gareth Evans (The Creator) is new to the franchise, but knows a thing or two about flicks about fighting giant creatures courtesy of 2010's Monsters and 2014's Godzilla. Rebirth does have a key link back to the debut Jurassic Park movie, however, with screenwriter David Koepp returning after co-penning the initial film and scripting the second solo. (Koepp also returns to grappling with dinosaurs after a three-movie run writing screenplays for Steven Soderbergh with Kimi, Presence and Black Bag.) Check out the latest trailer for Jurassic World Rebirth below: Jurassic World Rebirth releases in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, July 3, 2025.
Lady Gaga doesn't shy away from innovation. Ridiculous costumes and outrageous hairstyles aside, the 25-year old artist has harnessed the power of the interwebs to reach over 10 million Twitter followers, 35 million Facebook fans and 1 billion YouTube views. Teaming up with Google, Gaga and her little monsters have created a 90-second ad for Google's Chrome browser. The underlying message? The web is what you make of it. Gaga's not the first musician to endorse Google Chrome. Late last year Arcade Fire released an interactive video clip which made use of the brower's extensive capabilities. https://youtube.com/watch?v=sDPJ-o1leAw [Via Engadget]
Fan art has been deemed the domain of the obsessive. Whether that is reserved for the creator or extends to the viewer is still undecided. Nevertheless, Seinfeld - the show about nothing that graced our television screens for 9 years and 180 episodes - is being remembered in a unique way in Newcastle's ArtHive. During the month of May and thirteen years after the show ended, ArtHive, an artist-run initiative, will be home to a new exhibition, Art Vanderlay. The showcase, curated by Jessica Louttit, will showcase art inspired by the show's 9-season run and feature works from local artists including Mike Foxall, Ry Wilkin, Sarah Mould and "many sponge-worthy others in one huge Seinfeld fan flaunt." The opening night on May 27 will see the exhibition come to life with episodes of the hit television show being beamed onto the walls, prizes awarded for the best character costumes, as well as catered to the brim with your choice of muffin tops, black & white cookies, Junior Mints and Pretzels. To get in contact, share your ideas, get more details, yada yada yada, keep an eye on the gallery's blog at subjecthive.blogspot.com https://youtube.com/watch?v=t_nCmj9IyLo [via Lost at E Minor]
When you're a stellar sleuth renowned for solving complex cases, what's your holy grail? That question will soon be answered in the Knives Out world. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is the third film in the detective franchise and will arrive before 2025 is out — and in its just-dropped initial sneak peek, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, Queer) is excited about "the impossible crime". Netflix has unveiled its first look at Wake Up Dead Man in a date-announcement teaser, which reveals Friday, December 12, 2025 as the day that you'll be watching. Accordingly, this trailer is short on plot details — but there are snippets of what's in store, including a church and its graveyard featuring prominently. Also included: a glimpse at much of the characteristically stacked cast. Just like in 2019's OG Knives Out and 2022's Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Blanc keeps pointing the finger at well-known faces. Onboard this time around: Josh O'Connor (Challengers), Glenn Close (Back in Action), Josh Brolin (Brothers), Mila Kunis (Goodrich), Jeremy Renner (Mayor of Kingstown), Kerry Washington (Shadow Force), Andrew Scott (Ripley), Cailee Spaeny (Civil War), Daryl McCormack (Bad Sisters) and Thomas Haden Church (Twisted Metal). The new teaser also includes character names, including advising that O'Connor plays a reverend and Renner a doctor. The whodunnit saga's writer and director Rian Johnson (Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi) is back behind the lens on what is being teased as Blanc's "most dangerous case yet" — and he's giving audiences two big sleuthing returns in the same year, given that Poker Face, which he also created, has already made a comeback in 2025. So far, the Knives Out franchise has stuck to a three-yearly pattern. Also, although Johnson has plunged his detective into a familiar setup, he's always ensured that the end result was anything but routine. His trusty scenario to date: bringing a group of people together in a specific setting, then watching on when one thing that always occurs in a whodunnit happens. That'd be a murder, in a formula that Agatha Christie also loved, as book-to-film adaptations Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile and A Haunting in Venice have shown. The author's play The Mousetrap and 2022 flick See How They Run, which riffs on it, make the same point. And, so does this clearly Christie-inspired franchise. The cast across Knives Out and Glass Onion has always been impressive. Chris Evans (Red One), Ana de Armas (Ghosted), Jamie Lee Curtis (The Last Showgirl), Michael Shannon (A Different Man), Toni Collette (Mickey 17), Don Johnson (Doctor Odyssey), Lakeith Stanfield (The Changeling), Christopher Plummer (Departure), Katherine Langford (Savage River) and Jaeden Martell (Arcadian) all featured the first time around. In the second flick, Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown), Janelle Monáe (Antebellum), Kathryn Hahn (The Studio), Leslie Odom Jr (The Exorcist: Believer), Jessica Henwick (The Royal Hotel), Madelyn Cline (Outer Banks), Kate Hudson (Running Point) and Dave Bautista (Dune: Part Two) co-starred. Check out the date announcement video for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery below: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will release on Friday, December 12, 2025. Read our reviews of Knives Out and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
If you're a fan of iconic late-90s/early-00s high school-set dramedies, big-name Hollywood comedies, entertainingly twisty mysteries and TV shows about teenage witches, then SXSW Sydney 2025 is doing you a simple favour: Paul Feig, the director, writer, producer and actor who created Freaks and Geeks, helmed Bridesmaids and A Simple Favour, and co-starred in the OG Sabrina the Teenage Witch, is heading Down Under for this year's event. Not only is Feig the 2025 SXSW Sydney Screen Festival keynote speaker and also the filmmaker in the spotlight at the fest's big-screen retrospective, but he's also being celebrated with a brand-new accolade. When the event runs between Monday, October 13–Sunday, October 19, 2025, it'll debut the SXSW Sydney Screen Pioneer Award, and Feig is its inaugural recipient. If you're a fan of The Heat, Spy, Last Christmas and this year's Another Simple Favour, too — and also Feig's excellent 2018 Ghostbusters with an all-female spirit-hunting team — then this keeps proving great news. Exactly which titles among those flicks will be among SXSW Sydney's screenings is yet to be revealed, however. The same is the case with whether the Feig-helmed Unaccompanied Minors, The School for Good and Evil and Jackpot! might pop up. Here's something to cross your fingers for, though: The Housemaid, Feig's latest movie, is due to make its way to cinemas at the end of 2025. So, while there's absolutely no word yet that it'll be playing SXSW Sydney before its general release, you can start hoping that the Sydney Sweeney (Echo Valley)-, Amanda Seyfried (Long Bright River) and Brandon Sklenar (Drop)-starring film might score a spin when Feig makes the trip Down Under to get chatting. "I'm so honoured to receive the first-ever Screen Pioneer Award from SXSW Sydney. SXSW is my favourite festival in the world because they are committed to entertaining audiences. They've been supporters of mine for so many years and to have my work celebrated in this way, and to be able to share it with Australian audiences through this retrospective, is incredibly special. I look forward to the conversations, the Q&As, and the Tim Tams come October!" said Feig. Added Fenella Kernebone, Head of Conference Program, "Paul Feig's films have reached huge audiences — from Bridesmaids, The Heat and Spy to Ghostbusters and A Simple Favour, his career has been defined by genre-shaping stories that put powerful, complex and hilarious women front and centre. Paul has spent his career breaking moulds, challenging industry norms, and proving that female-led films can be both critically acclaimed and wildly successful. We're thrilled to welcome him to SXSW Sydney and can't wait to hear his insights from a career built on visionary storytelling, sharp comedy and a deep commitment to elevating others." Also big: SXSW Sydney's Screen Festival has announced its first six features beyond the Feig retrospective, so get excited about seeing By Design, $POSITIONS, Dead Lover, Zodiac Killer Project, The Last Sacrifice and Bokshi. Among that group, body-swap effort By Design features Juliette Lewis (The Thicket), Mamoudou Athie (Kinds of Kindness) and Robin Tunney (Dear Edward); horror-comedy Dead Lover is a SXSW Austin award-winner; Charlie Shackleton (The Afterlight) digs into a famed serial killer; and everything from comedy to folk horror features. Shorts Stomach Bug and Chasing the Party have a date with the fest as well, among other titles, with the former a BAFTA-nominee and the latter boasting Sam Rockwell (The White Lotus) as a producer. The new round of SXSW Sydney announcements for 2025 — following its dates, that its free programming is expanding, plus a few batches of speakers and music artists — also span Slo Mo podcast host and former Google X Chief Business Officer Mo Gawdat, Google Maps co-founder Lars Rasmussen, Passes founder Lucy Guo and MIT Technology Review Executive Editor Niall Firth as fellow speakers across the rest of the technology, music, film and gaming event. Signal President Meredith Whittaker is already on the keynote list from past program drops. The initial 50 Conference Program sessions and the first 40 titles at the Games Festival Showcase have been revealed, too, which is ace if you're keen to learn more about exploring space, sustainable design, the creator economy, people living in the ocean, writing true stories for TV, indie game marketing, cutscenes, cyber intelligence, digital sovereignty and AI ethics — or to mash a whole heap of buttons. SXSW Sydney 2025 runs from Monday, October 13–Sunday, October 19 at various Sydney venues. Head to the SXSW Sydney website for further details. Top image: Frank Micelotta.
In the latest addition to the ever-growing trend toward themed wine festivals, Oinofilia will hit Melbourne's Meat Market on June 24 as Australia's newest event entirely focused on Greek wine. The festival is brought to you by Bottle Shop Concepts, the crew behind wine events Pinot Palooza and Game of Rhones, and will celebrate all things Greek wine, food and culture. The name appropriately comes from the Greek term for "a love of wine". As the oldest wine-producing region in Europe, the festival will showcase 80 wines from 20 of the country's best producers, with wines made everywhere from the Aegean and Ionian Islands to Crete. To accompany the drinks, sister restaurants Elyros and Epocha will join forces with Prahran Market's Sweet Greek and Collingwood's Meatsmith to curate an authentic feast of spit-roasted meats, grilled seafood, pickles, breads, cheese and pastries, among other Greek delicacies. The location is ideal as Melbourne has the largest Greek population outside of Greece. Bottle Shop Concepts' wine festival empire will also continue to expand, with the company recently announcing a new Barossa Valley event, launching this July. The Oinofilia Greek Wine and Food Festival will take place on Saturday, June 24 from 11am through 5pm at the Meat Market, 5 Blackwood Street, North Melbourne. Check the Oinofilia website for tickets and more information.
Generally well-regarded, Australian owned and operated Coopers Brewery has come under fire this week for their involvement in this painfully uncomfortable Bible Society video. The video depicts two Liberal Party MPs, Andrew Hastie and Tim Wilson, discussing marriage equality in a 'lighthearted way', washing it down with a few ice-cold bottles of Coopers Light. Yeesh. If you're confused how Coopers got roped up in such a casually offensive and poorly executed pun, the sad news is that they pretty much tied the noose themselves. As a congratulatory gift to the Bible Society's bicentenary this year, Coopers released a collaboration limited edition light beer which features the Christian non-profit's logo and Bible verses on each case — 10,000 of them, to be exact. The brewery — which is family-run and openly Christian — and their association with the Bible Society flew under the radar until the society's 'Keeping it Light' campaign went live over the weekend, which is meant to showcase "light discussion on the heaviest topics". The Bible Society's somewhat haphazard video (which, it must be noted, Coopers has claimed they had no involvement in) acts as the first in a planned series using the Coopers Light beer as a gateway for their 'light' discussion. Shortly after the video was released, The Sydney Morning Herald published these statements by the two MPs, who seemed to find nothing wrong with the video's content. With 64 percent of Australian's in support of marriage equality, the video came across as patronising and flippant to a large chunk of the public who feel same-sex marriage shouldn't be a debate at all. Coopers' involvement with the video is questionable. Their first response was a sort-of apologetic statement essentially defending the video's content, saying it was "a lighthearted but balanced debate about an important topic". When this did not quell the backlash and boycotts, they then released a second statement claiming that they "did not give permission for [their] Premium Light beer to feature in, or 'sponsor' the Bible Society's 'Keeping it Light' video". The Bible Society has since released their own statement backing up this claim, stating that they were "entirely responsible" for the video and that no money changed hands in regards to the campaign. Twitter, not surprisingly, exploded. The hashtag #BoycottCoopers has taken over social media over the last few days, with consumers and venues alike speaking out. Venues across the country are pulling Coopers stock from their bars, including Sydney's Hollywood Hotel and Newtown Hotel and Melbourne's Old Bar and Sircuit/Mollies Bar & Diner — the latter of which posted this video of their GM throwing all their Coopers stock into the bin. Whatever their involvement with the production of the video, it doesn't look like Coopers is getting out of this one anytime soon. It certainly muddies the waters in relation to how religious groups and brands can influence consumers and secular institutions — particularly as Coopers has been a donor to the Liberal Party in the past, which not one, but both MPs in the video belong to.
When we think of the perfect way to close out the working week, it invariably comes back to a great night out and an alcoholic beverage of sorts — which is why we haven't been able to get enough of the NGV's Friday Nights. Changing up the pace of your usual Friday night out and typical gallery visit, these lively evenings combine a headline exhibition with world-class tunes and some gin drinks brought to you by a Bombay Sapphire pop-up bar. Even though summer has officially left us, there are still a few more weeks left of summer's blockbuster show, Escher x Nendo: Between Two Worlds, before it wraps up on Sunday, April 7. To get you out there, we've picked out a few must-see things to experience before the exhibition is through. Grab a spritzy ginger, mint and gin cocktail from the Bombay Sapphire garden bar, and jumpstart your weekend surrounded by art, music and your fellow culture vultures. BOMBAY SAPPHIRE POP-UP BAR We'd be lying if we said drinking cocktails while museuming wasn't at least a little part of the appeal of NGV Friday Nights. And it's easy to understand why, with Bombay Sapphire partnering with the NGV to transform its garden into an awesome openair bar. The design draws inspiration from Escher and Nendo's hypnotic works inside, offering up a creative and lush area to rest your feet while sipping fresh cocktails. At this garden bar, you can try the full range of Bombay Sapphire Twists, combining fresh citrus and herbs together across spritzy options. Opt for something fruity like the raspberry and basil, spicy like the mint and ginger, something fresh with lemon and thyme or classic like a good ol' gin and tonic, as you discuss the mind-bending works inside. [caption id="attachment_700126" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sean Fennessy.[/caption] ESCHER X NENDO: BETWEEN TWO WORLDS If you somehow haven't yet heard the buzz, Escher x Nendo: Between Two Worlds is something of a landmark event. Pairing the mesmerising artworks of celebrated Dutch artist MC Escher and Japanese design studio Nendo, the exhibition weaves the duo's creative spirits seamlessly come together in a massive presentation that's taken over the NGV. From captivating installations to warped spaces and paper works, experiencing this show is a must for, well, everyone. The blockbuster exhibition runs till Sunday, April 7, coinciding with the final NGV Friday Nights event. Make sure to plan your weekends accordingly so you can get at least one visit in before it's all over. BACH X REIMAGINED: PRESENTED BY ANON The NGV Friday Nights sessions might be dominated by some of the biggest electronica names in Aussie music, but that doesn't mean we can't also take a moment to appreciate a bit of Bach. Exploring the possibilities of classical music, renowned Melbourne-based collaborative project Anon unites a host of Australian live performers to reconceptualise the legendary compositions of Bach. The project brings forth new baroque, jazz and classical songs and explores Escher's own admiration and enjoyment of the composer — he believed Bach's work had a similar 'infinite appeal' that's also found in Escher's own art. Anon performs three times at each event, plus there's a specially commissioned soundscape that's been designed as part of the Friday Nights sessions. [caption id="attachment_611703" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Wayne Taylor.[/caption] MELBOURNE DESIGN WEEK, MELBOURNE ART BOOK FAIR AND JONTI The NGV's March 15 Friday Nights showcase is a particularly special time to visit. That's because there's even more to check out than usual with the timely launch of Melbourne Design Week 2019 and the Melbourne Art Book Fair — which will also see the Bombay Sapphire bar popping up for the full run of Melbourne Design Week and the opening night of the book fair. This year, the week's theme focuses on 'Design Experiments' seeing more than 200 exhibitions, talks and workshops consider how design will play an important role within our collective futures. Also in attendance will be Australian hip hop and electronic producer Jonti. Emerging from his bedroom studio to collab with an eclectic selection of international artists such as The Avalanches, Warpaint and Badbadnotgood, Jonti is sure to present a soundtrack to this Friday Night you won't want to miss. [caption id="attachment_636238" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Confidence Man at BIGSOUND 2017 by Bec Taylor.[/caption] CONFIDENCE MAN It probably shouldn't come as a surprise, but if there's something Melbourne-based duo Confidence Man has in spades, it's confidence. And in all honesty, it's completely justified. Coming off the release of the 2018 debut album Confident Music for Confident People, the pair has graced pretty much every major venue and festival stage Australia has to offer and has recently turned its attention to the hoards of European and American fans. But before the duo jets off overseas, the dancing duo is bringing energetic tracks to the final NGV Friday Nights session of the season on April 5. Delightfully self-assured, this is bound to be a non-stop dancing send-off. Check out the full lineup of Friday Nights here and make tracks to the NGV to sip some spritzy Bombay Sapphire concoctions as you absorb a whole heap of culture. Tickets for non-members are $35 online or $40 at the door.
You can never have too many occasions to eat cheese; however Melbourne's newest celebration of everyone's favourite dairy product isn't just keen to shower cheese fiends with creamy goodness. A collaboration between Bottle Shop Concepts and Bruny Island Cheese Co cheesemaker Nick Haddow, Mould: A Cheese Festival wants dairy-lovers to explore and devour the mild, hard and soft bites that Australia's best cheese wizards have to offer. Corralling 20 local producers together, and showcasing more than 80 different varieties, the festival with paint North Melbourne's Meat Market yellow from 11am to 6pm on September 2. Yes, it'll make everyone discover just how many times they can say the word cheese before it starts to sound strange — but, it'll also feature flavoursome fare from Yarra Valley Dairy, Holy Goat Cheese, Woodside Cheese Wrights, Pyengana Dairy Company, Shaw River Buffalo Cheese, That's Amore, Grandvewe and more. Think of it as a cheese tasting trip around Australia without leaving Blackwood Street. Of course, snacking on samples and purchasing slices and slabs to take home with you are just two ways to enjoy cheese. Don't worry, Mould: A Cheese Festival has other cheese-tastic fun in store as well. In fact, the fest will boast cooking demonstrations and masterclasses so you'll know just how to make the best cheesy wonders, as well as everything from grilled cheese sandwiches and 'flaming Reubens' to raclette and cheese-flavoured gelato. You can thank Maker & Monger, Harper & Blohm and Pidapipó for all of that, with Tivoli Road Bakery joining in to serve up that cheese-accompanying staple: bread aplenty. It wouldn't be a cheese festival without beverages to wash it all down with, so expect a bar serving Aussie tipples such as Patrick Sullivan and Pennyweight wines, Starward whisky, Stone & Wood beer and Napoleone cider — and expect to spend plenty of time trying to pair your cheeses and your pints oh-so-perfectly. Tickets cost $45, which includes tastings, classes, one free glass of vino and a PLUMM wine glass to keep (and cheese dreams later, obviously). Mould: A Cheese Festival takes place from 11am to 6pm on September 2 at Meat Market, 5 Blackwood Street, North Melbourne. For more information, head to the fest's website and Facebook page.
Break out the cocoa and firelight as QVM's long-running Winter Night Market returns for another 13-week schedule loaded with heartwarming highlights. Taking place from 5pm every Wednesday between Wednesday, June 4–Wednesday, August 27, this after-dark fiesta comes to life with Melbourne's standout street food, warming beverages, specialty retail shopping, live music and free entertainment. Spread across Queen Victoria Market's labyrinth of laneways and sheds, the sensory overload on display is an easy way to breathe a little more fun into your mid-week schedule. Wander the space searching for the most tantalising aromas, then catch an array of lively musicians and roving street performers as they produce magic by the moonlight. Plus, roaring fires mean keeping the brisk at bay is made simple. So, what sumptuous bites await? Spanning returning favourites and new offerings, one of the first-timers for this year is Cannoleria, with Sicilian-style treats featuring flavours from tiramisu to pistachio and Nutella. Keeping the Italian theme going, La Trafila will serve up its artisan pasta dishes, while The Little Paris offers crowd-pleasing French cuisine, like raclette and garlic butter snails. As for faves from past years, the Churro Kitchen is back with their famous churro bowls, served warm with vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. Plus, Smashville will flip juicy burgers and Southern fried chicken, while the Soup Factory ladles soothing options like king crab chowder into bread rolls. ReWine will also pour its signature spiced mulled wine, while visitors can maximise the cosy vibe with a spiced milo cocktail or a warm butter beer. Good food and drink are essential to any winter night market, but this extravaganza also presents over 60 specialty stores and stalls. Roam for a vintage fashion bargain or add some handmade jewellery to your collection. For something a little more mystic, sit for a tarot card reading or dance like nobody's watching as the Guru Dudu Silent Disco returns with its 20-minute walking tours. Though the chilly season is about to descend on Melbourne, there's no reason to stay on the couch when Wednesday comes around. Instead, let yourself get swept up by QVM's Winter Night Market's toasty treats, upbeat entertainment and community spirit. The Winter Night Market returns to Queen Victoria Market from Wednesday, June 4–Wednesday, August 27. Head to the website for more information.
UPDATE, July 6, 2021: Antarctica Flights will also be flying out of Canberra this year, departing on November 7. For further details, head to the Antarctica Flights website. Seeing the South Pole is a bucket-list dream at the best of times, and even more so in these pandemic-afflicted times. But, if you have a bit of spare cash to burn, it's actually achievable — including while Australia's borders remain mostly closed to international travel. Eager to head overseas just for one day? Then you'd best get in quick to score a seat on the upcoming Antarctica flights out of Australia. As it has in previous years, sightseeing group Antarctica Flights is taking bookings for a series of rare, sky-high charter tours. And if you're wondering how the day trips can go ahead during COVID-19, that's because they're classified as domestic flights. You won't even need to take your passport with you. Departing Perth (November 14, 2021), Adelaide (November 21, 2021), Brisbane (November 28, 2021), Melbourne (December 5, 2021 and February 6, 2022) and Sydney (December 31, 2021 and February 13, 2022), these flights will cruise above the dazzling Antarctica Treaty area for around four hours. Each flight path is carefully chosen to maximise viewing from both sides of the plane and to ensure the best views should the weather turn nasty, while some passengers will rotate seats to allow everyone an equal shot at the spectacular scenery below. Travelling on a Qantas 787 Dreamliner, the whole trip clocks in at around 12.5 hours — depending on your departure city — during which you'll hear from expert Antarctic explorers, talking about the polar environment and its fascinating history. All that, while enjoying some better-than-average Qantas plane food, full bar service and, in the lead-up to the views, a spot of in-flight entertainment — classic flick Happy Feet, or some Antarctic docos, of course. As expected, this kind of plane trip doesn't come cheap — you're looking at $1199 to be seated without direct access to a window. Other options, including Standard Economy Class ($2199), Superior Economy Class ($3199) and Premium Economy Class ($3999) involve seat rotations throughout the flight, so passengers can spend time both close to the window and further away. Of course, you and your favourite travel buddy could drop $7999 each on Business Class Deluxe tickets to have a window seat and the one next to it all to yourselves for the entire flight. Regardless of which type of seat you fork out for, COVID-19 safety measures will be in effect — including temperature testing and pre-flight health and safety forms; providing disposable masks, sanitiser and disinfectant wipes; enhanced cleaning procedures; and not selling all seats in Economy Class. Antarctica Flights' 2021–22 season is open for bookings now, with flights out of Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney between November 14, 2021–February 13, 2022. Images: Antarctica Flights
If a great getaway to a beach, island or faraway city can be life-changing, what does a journey to space do? So ponders Constellation, among other questions. This new Apple TV+ series, which started its eight-part first season on Wednesday, February 21, is another of the platform's beloved mysteries — see also: Criminal Record, The Changeling, The Crowded Room, Hijack and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters since mid-2023 alone, and that list isn't exhaustive — with no shortage of queries floating through its tense frames. Inquiries are sparked instantly, from the moment that a mother in a cabin in northern Sweden, where there's snow as far as the eye can see but a frost infecting more than just the temperature, leaves her pre-teen daughter to follow a voice. The screams that she seeks out are yelling "mama!" — and what they mean, and why she's abandoning one girl to find another, is just one of the matters that Constellation interrogates. The woman is Jo Ericsson, as played by Noomi Rapace with the maternal devotion that also marked her turn in Lamb, plus the protective instincts that were key in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant as well — alongside the scrutiny and adaptability that was evident in her work in You Won't Be Alone, and the fierceness that helped bring her to fame as Lisbeth Salander in the original Swedish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo films. Jo is an astronaut, and Europe's representative on the International Space Station when Constellation jumps backwards from its opening icy horror to a different kind of terror. Not long out from returning back to earth, she FaceTimes with her nine-year-old daughter Alice (Rosie and Davina Coleman, The Larkins) and husband Magnus (James D'Arcy, Oppenheimer). Then, something goes bump in the sky. Trauma leaves people changed, too; what if this incident, during which setting foot on our pale blue dot again is anything but assured, isn't the only distressing facet of travelling to the heavens? On the at-risk ISS, on a spacewalk to locate the source of the collision, Jo finds the mummified body of what looks like a 60s-era Russian cosmonaut. There'll soon be another astronaut dead inside the station, destroyed infrastructure, the first escape pod shuttling her three remaining colleagues back to terra firma and Jo left alone trying to repair the second so that she herself can alight home. Where both Gravity and Moon spring to mind in Constellation's initial space-set scenes, plus Proxima in the show's focus on mother-daughter connections (Interstellar, Ad Astra and First Man have dads covered), it's the earthbound Dark that feels like a touchstone once Jo is back among her loved ones. There's a similar moodiness to this series, a feeling that characters can't always trust what they think is plainly apparent and a certainty that nothing is simply linear about what's occurring. Her stint above the planet has made its imprint on Jo, but it's her everyday life that seems altered. Whether or not Alice can speak Swedish, the colour of the family car, if Jo can play the piano, why Magnus is chilly towards her: with each, what confronts Jo post-ISS conflicts with what she can recall prior to ascending to the station. Roscosmos' Irena Lysenko (Barbara Sukowa, Air) is also wary of her claims about spying a decades-old USSR cadaver. And the NASA equivalent, Nobel Prize-winning former Apollo astronaut Henry Caldera (Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul), is concerned only with a quantum-physics experiment that was taking place on the orbiting base, gathering data about a possible new state of matter, which Jo has no recollection of. It might appear convenient that the psychological effects of long-term space travel fuel Jo's research mission on the station, but Constellation creator and writer Peter Harness — who boasts Doctor Who, Wallander, McMafia and The War of the Worlds on his resume — could never be accused of valuing neatness over depth. Unravelling the show's debut season with patience and deliberation, and with Joseph Cedar (Our Boys), Oliver Hirschbiegel (Unwanted) and Michelle MacLaren (an Emmy-winner for Breaking Bad) directing, he's dedicated to ensuring that the series intensely ruminates on the liminal. Constellation is about disorientation and transition, about the space where being too much of something and not enough of another smash and clash, and about coping with realising that life is always what happens in-between — as well as the fact that sometimes that truth applies more literally than others. As a thriller and a mystery, Constellation names Jo's daughter cannily; tumbling down the rabbit hole is a solid parallel. Viewers won't spy cakes and bottles labelled "eat me" and "drink me", but there are pills and supplements. No one goes chasing a walking, talking white bunny; however, a rabbit toy does feature, and clinging onto what Jo knows is real is just as elusive. While there's no Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Bud Caldera (also Banks) mirrors much about Henry, except that he's now working the sci-fi convention circuit. And although cries of "off with her head" are absent, the dismissals from those around Jo about what's happening with her perception is its own equivalent. Alice in Wonderland comparisons were always going to fit a story about curiouser and curiouser minds pursuing wild adventures, then endeavouring to reclaim their footing. At times, especially in remote lodgings in freezing woodland, the dark fairy-tale vibe beats stronger. But again, even when Constellation dances with fantasy like it's clutching onto a waltz partner — and does the same with eeriness as well — the series never stops being grounded in human bonds, emotions, yearnings and existential concerns. As the reality of both being alive and facing mortality, the urge to understand our place in the cosmos and the sheer enormity of the universe thrum throughout the show regardless of whether it's in space or on land, each is always brought back to people, rather than remaining mere concepts. Rapace, Banks, both Coleman sisters and Sukowa are especially instrumental in anchoring Constellation's twists, turns and big-thinking ideas in the show's characters — and making it so compelling. It isn't just as slickly made as Apple TV+'s fellow excellent recent sci-fi series Severance and Silo, then, and as gripping in its mysteries, but as rivetingly acted. Banks, doing double duty after over a decade as Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul's Mike Ehrmantraut, is particularly emblematic: that there's a chasm between what we want to comprehend and what's around us gleams in his eyes as both Henry and Bud, while his twin parts equally demonstrate how differently it glints from person to person. Check out the trailer for Constellation below: Constellation streams via Apple TV+ from Wednesday, February 21. Read our interview with Jonathan Banks.
Situated just across the street from the Sun Theatre, Cornershop in Yarraville is something of an institution in the west. Lively staff, vintage tables and a pastel green counter with a wooden top greet you when you walk in, and a menu filled with mouthwatering standouts like the zesty coconut dahl with poached eggs ($16.50) and the moreish bacon and egg butty with HP sauce ($15) makes it difficult to choose what to eat. Local roasters Profile provides the coffee, which is served with milk from Fitzroy's Saint David Dairy (or alternatives from Bonsoy and Milklab). It tastes just that little bit better when sipped on a sunny day in the Cornershop courtyard.
No one wants to get married, then feel like they need to add more spice to their relationship. But if you've always wanted to tie the knot with help from some secret herbs and spices, there's a solution. Don't just pick up some KFC for your nuptials — get the fried-chicken chain to throw the ceremony for you, all thanks to the return of KFC Weddings. So, you've found that special forever someone — someone who deals with your drama, puts up with your quirks and shares your passion for all the important stuff, like, say, finger-lickin'-good chook. Clearly there's just one thing left to do, and that's to seal the deal at your very own official KFC nuptials. After cooking up an idea we never knew we needed and launching its own wedding service in 2019, the chain is back at the romance game again. Fried chook obsessives across Australia now have another opportunity to get hitched via KFC's unique service; however, there is a caveat: you must propose using the Colonel's wares. The brand has brought back its weddings to promote its new BBQ onion ring burgers, and it wants you to pop the question using its onion rings as rings. The burgs feature two onion rings, so that's one for you and one for your other half. All couples are invited to apply, as long as you're both over 18. There's just one wedding up for grabs this time, which you can try to score by going to KFC, getting a BBQ onion ring burgers, proposing using its onion rings and taking a snap to prove it. You'll also need to provide a 15-second-long video that introduces you and your partner, and sum up your need for a KFC wedding in 100 words. There's no time to waste — if you want to be the lucky duo that gets a call-up, you need to enter before Monday, November 27. So what's involved in the ultimate KFC nuptials, you ask? Well, you can bank on KFC theming via a KFC stylist, KFC chicken for catering thanks to a KFC food truck, and also a budget to take care of a venue, entertainment and photos. All up, the prize is worth $80,000, and you'll need to get hitched within 12 months of winning. We can only hope the bride will be throwing buckets instead of bouquets, and that there'll be plenty of wet wipes to go around. If you're keen to kick off married life with some secret herbs and spices, you can apply for your own KFC wedding online until Monday, November 27, 2023.
Since 1989, the Piscine Molitor – Paris’s most glamorous interwar swimming spot and namesake of Yann Martel’s fictional hero – has been dry as a bone. Where the world’s first bikini model strutted her stuff and Tarzan once served as lifeguard, graffiti artists have been busy tagging and ravers have been busy, well, raving. In fact, a 2001 dance party run by French collective Heretik saw a 5,000-strong crowd occupy the space. But as of Monday, the indoor pool has been re-filled and re-opened in yet another incarnation. It is now part of a luxury 124-room MGallery hotel, complete with gym, spa, restaurant and bar. And the privilege of visiting for a day comes at the whopping cost of €150 (about $220). Both the 33-metre pool and the 50-metre lido have received a somewhat controversial renovation. Of the original façade, designed by Lucien Pollet, only one small section remains. But the architect behind the changes, Jean Phillipe Nuel, defends them. "We tried to conserve the dialogue between past and present," he told The Guardian. "For example, in the lobby under the original two-metre high ceiling (now mirrored) is a Rolls Royce bought by Eric Cantona, tagged by the American graffiti artist JonOne." Nuel has also managed to preserve several distinguishing Art Deco features, including the mosaics, stained glass images of bathers, blue doors and green railings crucial to Pollet’s original vision: that the Piscine Molitor should resemble an ocean liner. All the fancying up is perhaps less in keeping with Martel’s artistic decisions. The long-surviving, spiritually explorative Pi received his name because his “honorary uncle”, Mamaji, had told his father: “If you want your son to have a clean soul, you must take him one day to swim in the Piscine Molitor”. No mention of an enormous bank account. Via The Guardian.
Since 1999, Teage Ezard's eponymous fine diner has lived on Flinders Lane. But now it is no more, with Ezard this week announcing the permanent closure of the CBD spot. Together with Ezard's other more casual restaurant Gingerboy — and much of Melbourne's hospitality scene — Ezard temporarily closed in late March due to COVID-19 restrictions. That closure was switched to a more long-term decision on Thursday, June 4, when the acclaimed chef announced on social media that the restaurant would not be reopening. "Today we announce the end of an era," Ezard said in the post. "As we work towards exciting new beginnings, we have decided to close Ezard restaurants." Ezard's Yarra Valley restaurant, Ezard at Levantine Hill, has also shut up shop, with the winery announcing it will be offering 'an exciting new wine and food offer' when it reopens to the public on June 25, 2020. https://www.instagram.com/p/CA_m4S5jtIa/ As for Ezard, he says new projects (yes, plural) are in the works for 2021. "For many months, we have been evaluating, reshaping and planning for exciting new projects to come in 2021. As a company, we're exploring casual dining and experiential ventures," Ezard said. The chef's hawker-style CBD spot Gingerboy remains open and continues to be takeaway-only for the time being. Both pick up and delivery are available at present, with the restaurant offering its dumplings, curries and bottled Korean barbecue sauce to-go. Ezard is now closed. We'll let you know when more information about Teage Ezard's new ventures are announced.
It's been more than five decades since a group of Italian immigrants in the South Gippsland village of Mirboo North commissioned a statue of St Paul from back home and had it sent over, so kicking off the inaugural St Paul's Festival. Fast forward to 2023 and that annual celebration of all things Italian is still going strong — now known as the Mirboo North Italian Festa, it'll take over the town for its next edition on Sunday, February 12. You'll want to be sure to bring your appetite so you can sink your teeth into the day's generous lineup of Italian food stalls — slinging pizza, handmade pasta and pillowy gnocchi, arrosticini, spicy salsicce, tiramisu and plenty more. What's more, you can pair your culinary haul with anything from imported beers and vino, to espresso and Aperol spritz from the outdoor pop-up bars. There'll also be market stalls, grape stomping and regional Italian cooking demonstrations; not to mention entertainment galore including comedy, traditional dancing and live tunes.
There ain't nothing quite like country music, is there, partner? First popping up in the American South more or less a century ago, it's a simple yet satisfying genre that has found fans worldwide. Some of the most recognisable artists in history have been country singers — with a podium including Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Shania Twain, Kenny Rogers and more. If you know or love any of the above artists, you'd best secure some tickets to the upcoming Country by Candlelight tour. Having sold out theatres across the UK, it's headed down south (or down under, in this case) to tour across Australia and Aotearoa throughout February and March. After a series of February shows in NZ, the Australian tour will arrive in Queensland for a Gold Coast show at The Star Theatre on Sunday, March 1. The following week, it's Sydney's turn at Darling Harbour Theatre on Sunday, March 8, before moving to Melbourne Town Hall on Thursday, March 12. Then, the tour will hop across the country to PCEC Perth on Sunday, March 15, before an additional Queensland show at QPAC Brisbane on Thursday, March 19. Finally, the tour will conclude in South Australia at Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide, on Sunday, March 22. Each show starts at 7.30pm and should wrap up (encores notwithstanding) by 10pm. Country by Candlelight will tour across cities in Australia and New Zealand from Sunday, February 15 to Sunday, March 22. For more information or to book tickets, visit the website.
