With headliners like Addison Rae, Dom Dolla and Kid Cudi, Beyond the Valley's tenth birthday lineup has been a hit so far — tickets sold out in under an hour. Now, the camping festival has announced a run club with Salomon — and a chance to win a pair of much-coveted tickets and return flights to Melbourne. There will be two rounds of run clubs — one at Albert Park on 6 and 13 December, and one at Beyond the Valley's Barunah Plains site during the festival, which runs from 28–31 December. In the lead up to the festival, Solomon is hosting two special runs at Albert Park. Participants will set off at Albert Park, accompanied by tunes from one of BTV's resident DJs, snacks and bevvies. Runners will get the chance to try out shoes from the Gravel running line — but they're limited, so first in best dressed. For the first time in BTV history, Salomon will also host a daily run club during the festival at Barunah Plains. If you need a wholesome way to shake the night before the music starts again, gather at 9.30am in The Lounge Room for an early jog. To celebrate the partnership, Salomon is giving away an all-inclusive pair of four-day BTV entries with every full price purchase from the store. The tickets comes with premium camping passes, vehicle passes and return flights to Melbourne. They've also thrown in four pairs of Salomon shoes to keep you moving on the dance floor. For more information, visit Salomon's official website.
The weather outside may be frightful, but the banter with your mates is always delightful. It's well past time to invite your favourites over for a catch-up and a tipple. Want to impress your mates with your cocktail prowess? Check out these twists on classic cocktails — an ideal way to elevate your evening in. Pick your spirit and let's get mixing. TEQUILA — TEQUILA AND CHILL Instead of the classic paloma or tequila mockingbird, surprise your guests with a sophisticated spin on both with the addition of Chambord to your tequila of choice. Ingredients - 45ml Herradura Plata Tequila - 15ml Chambord - Cranberry juice - Lemonade/lemon soda - Mint leaves - Fresh lime Method Add Herradura Plata, Chambord, mint leaves and two squeezed lime wedges to a tall or highball glass. To increase the mint flavour, clap the leaves in your hands first — you might look silly, but it works. Fill the glass with ice and top with equal parts cranberry juice and lemonade. Stir to combine and garnish with a sprig of fresh mint, rosemary and lime wheel or go the extra mile with a dehydrated lime wheel. To make the dehydrated lime wheel, either use a dehydrator (obvious) or place lime wheels in a low-temperature oven for a few hours until all the juice has evaporated and you're left with a crisp garnish. GIN — EURO SUMMER Everyone seems to be jetting off for their European summer. Bring a taste of the Mediterranean to your chilly apartment with this cocktail. The secret is using a gin that is made with botanicals that evoke tastes of the Italian coastline. Gin Mare fits the bill as it uses olives, basil and other fresh herbs for its botanicals. Pair with some bruschetta and tiramisu and rug up with your blanket and imagine you're summering in Europe with your mates. Ingredients - 60ml Gin Mare - 30ml Lemon juice - 20ml Sugar syrup - Fresh basil and rosemary Method Grab your cocktail shaker and add all the ingredients. Shake and strain using a fine mesh strainer into a chilled glass filled with ice. Garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary and enjoy. RUM — WINTER SWIZZLE Rum is a dark spirit that showing up more and more on drinks lists in the city. It's a sweet alternative to peaty scotch or fragrant gin and is perfect for cooler nights. You could go for a classic dark 'n stormy or Moscow Mule, but if you want to elevate your evening, try this spin on a swizzle. Ingredients - 60ml Diplomático Rum - 10ml sugar syrup - Two dashes of aromatic bitters - 15ml cloudy apple juice Method Rum Swizzle recipes vary, but most have three ingredients in common: rum, fruit juice and a sweetener. To make this wintry version, add all ingredients to a chilled rocks glass, add ice and stir to combine. Top with fresh ice and a twist of orange peel or cinnamon stick. WHISKY — SCOTCH CITRUS SODA Sometimes the answer isn't a hot toddy, although they are always a good call when the winter chill sets in. If you have a scotch in your collection that you've been looking for a nice way to enjoy, why not opt for this citrusy take on a whisky soda? Perfect for cooler arvos on your (or your mate's balcony). Ingredients - 45ml Glendronach 12 yo - Fever Tree Clementine (orange tonic water) - Two dashes of aromatic bitters Method Get your highball glass and add ice. Pour in your scotch, orange tonic water and a couple of dashes of bitters. Stir to combine and garnish with a fresh orange slice. Go a step further and pair with baked brie with marmalade and walnuts. BOURBON — CANDY CANE Bourbon is a great cocktail base. Arguably some of the best and classic cocktails came from the States and so it isn't a surprise that their spirit is perfect for the practice with its smooth vanilla notes and slightly sweet characters. Instead of going down the savoury cocktail route, ramp up the sweetness and toast to your mates with this tasty, fruity and sweet spin on a whisky sour. Ingredients - 45ml Jack Daniel's Bonded - 15ml Chambord - 30ml lemon juice - 20ml sugar syrup - 15ml egg white or aquafaba (aka the juice from a can of chickpeas) - Two dashes of chocolate bitters Method Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker without ice and shake vigorously to get the egg white or aquafaba nice and foamy. Add ice and shake again. Strain through a fine strainer into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a dehydrated lemon wheel, or amp up the berry flavours of the Chambord with fresh raspberries. Top Image: Gin Mare.
Melbourne Design Week is back for 2025 — and this year, it's shining brighter, digging deeper, and getting sportier than ever before. For its ninth edition, Australia's largest design festival — which last year welcomed over 100,000 people — will see more than 350 events popping up around the city between Thursday, May 15–Sunday, May 25, from dazzling light exhibitions and neurodivergent-friendly design to design debates, pop-up book fairs and even a designer basketball tournament. The 11-day program is a love letter to creativity in all forms, presenting both high-concept ideas and hands-on experiences across architecture, lighting, furniture, publishing, sport and beyond. The event aims to showcase design thinking to all — whether you're a design die-hard or just keen for something interesting to do on the weekend, Melbourne Design Week is giving Melburnains and visitors alike the opportunity to explore the city in a whole new way. [caption id="attachment_1001834" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Elliat Rich, Tones of Shimmer (Gravel) 2022. Image: Sara Maiorino[/caption] Among the more eye-catching installations is 100 Lights, which takes over North Melbourne's Meat Market Stables with a glowing gallery of contemporary lighting by 100 artists and makers, including Adam Goodrum, Ross Gardam and Tantri Mustika. At this immersive display curated by Friends & Associates, you'll find table lamps, pendants and wall lights that showcase both function and cutting-edge form. Another fascinating highlight is Sibling Architecture's Deep Calm. This exhibition explores how design can support neurodivergent people, with a soothing showcase of weighted sofas and tactile rugs that represent the culmination of a year-long research project by the Curtin House-headquartered practice. [caption id="attachment_1001833" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image: Sibling Architecture[/caption] Events won't just be taking place in Melbourne, though. Bacchus Marsh will host exhibition A New Normal, which presents a suite of radical ideas by 12 Melbourne architects to make the city self-sufficient by 2030 — including public sculptures that double as water-treatment plants, waste-to-energy sports facilities, and adaptive reuse of abandoned buildings. The exhibition is set in the heritage-listed Boyd Baker House — one of Australia's most important modernist structures that collects its own water and features a design based on perfect geometry. A New Normal has become one of Melbourne Design Week's biggest success stories, with architects Kennedy Nolan and NMBW having both completed projects utilising concepts from the award-winning 2021 exhibition, and the project having gone on to be developed for Sydney, Perth and Guadalajara. Elsewhere, two legends of Australian design will embark on a well-earned victory lap: lighting designer Volker Haug and furniture designer Trent Jansen, who will both mark 20 years in the game with retrospective shows tracing their significant creative legacies. At the NGV, Melbourne Art Book Fair (Thursday, May 15–Saturday, May 17) returns to the Great Hall with over 100 publishers and a special focus on Southeast Asian designers — plus free kids' storytime sessions led by local children's book authors under Yayoi Kusama's towering Dancing Pumpkin sculpture in Federation Court. The program also features exhibitions exploring the sustainable reuse of timber from urban trees, typography shows, memorial-making workshops, curated book pop-ups, and, as part of Open House Melbourne, a two-day symposium called Beyond the Grave that delves into the architecture, places, issues and practices associated with the end of life. And if you've ever wanted to shoot hoops with a furniture designer, you're in luck — this year's program includes a two-on-two basketball tournament for designers and design enthusiasts at a Reko Rennie-painted court in Cremorne. Our city's collective obsession with sport will be further explored at Reimagining the Clubhouse: Melbourne Design Week's 12-hour denouement featuring the works of eight designers that challenge the concept of a traditional sporting clubhouse. It'll also host a trophy-making competition and the official Melbourne Design Week closing party at Collingwood Yards' Runner Up bar. [caption id="attachment_1001839" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Volker Haug, Fire Trees[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1001838" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Melbourne School of Design - Tout le cochon[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1001837" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Made Studio, OffCuts, Garrett In Workshop. Image: Alex Lark[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1001835" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anton Gerner[/caption] Melbourne Design Week 2025 takes place between Thursday, May 15–Sunday, May 25 at various venues throughout Victoria. For more information and the full program, head to the event website. Top image: Peter Bennetts, March Studio x Reko Rennie.
If we had kept going with the stone age, bronze age, iron age system, we would be probably be somewhere in the plastic one, so it is little wonder that so many artists are passing over paintbrushes and kilns to experiment with the possibilities of inflation. In a case of perfect irony, plastic might just be the most digestible of contemporary art ingredients. At home and abroad artists are taking full advantage of your inner child that knows all good parties need a jumping castle and dreams of seeing Woody Woodpecker at the Thanksgiving Parade in NYC (remember Mr Pitt?). Or, if you were a serious eight-year-old, the arguments for making art with a human-made material that is choking the planet practically write themselves. Inspired by the current Mobile M+: Inflation! exhibition in Hong Kong, here is a mini-retrospective of our favourite inflatables. Inflatable Guantanamo Bay prison cell, 2008 Starting at the serious end of the scale, let's go back to 2008 when Bush and Cheney were still kicking around the White House and Phillip Toledano released his online installation, America the Giftstop. "We buy souvenirs at the end of a trip, to remind ourselves of the experience. What do we have to remind ourselves of the events of the last eight years?" Toledano said. An artist and photographer, Toledano's satirical selection of souvenirs from the War on Terror included this life-sized inflatable Guantanamo bay bouncy prison cell. You can imagine his satisfaction in creating a hard-hitting piece of art that is ostensibly a bouncing castle, but then again, that is probably the point. Complex Pile, 2007 Statement on art? A screw-you to exhibition organisers? Paul McCarthy's idea of a gag? Or, a case of beauty where you least expect it? The house-sized inflatable dog turd that caught everyone's attention in Hong Kong is testament to the permission new materials give the artist. This work is currently showing as 'Complex Pile', but certain corners of the internet remember when it had a four letter name. This is not a one-off for McCarthy, whose other inflatable works include a disembodied head of George W. Bush and pigs mid-coitus. Jumping Castle War Memorial, 2010 Aussie artists have also been dragging out the old air-pump. Remember Brook Andrews' Biennale offering a few years ago? Paying tribute to the humble jumping castle, this highly politicised artwork broke the hearts of Sydney’s children by reversing the age restriction to 16+ and popping in a sneaky nod to the old habits of the British Museum — Aboriginal heads — in the turrets. Jumping Castle War Memorial poses some harrowing questions: who would jump on a war memorial? Who can resist a jumping castle? And, where should the memorial end? Baby Ruth, 1966 Forget your definition of art, or decent human beings; Andy Warhol had a knack for picking trends. So, here is our nod to the father of Pop Art and his inflatable Baby Ruth bars. These bad boys also served as his wedding present to the bride and groom of Mod Wedding, part of his 1966 multimedia event Exploding Plastic Inevitable. Subway Sea Monster (The Lochness), 2008 Gorilla art and inflatables seem like a natural match, but the logistics must be alluding some of the smaller-scale art makers out there. NYC street artist Joshua Allen Harris has come up with his own solution: building sculptures with everyday plastics, like garbage bags, and then taping them to subway vents. Like Marilyn before them, Harris's pieces blow up as trains pass below them. Cool, huh? In an added bonus Harris also has a conscience and has used the attention payed to his Polar Bear piece to raise support for the fight against global warming. Rubber Duck, 2007 This international bath time adventurer had its first outing in 2007 and shows no signs of stopping, unless you count this pancake performance in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour. Artist Florentijn Hofman describes his Rubber Duck as an exercise in ice breaking, a destroyer of barriers that knows no discrimination. He could be right: it is extremely accessible, and how much hate mongering could you do with a six-storey, bright yellow duck bobbing behind you? Hofman's Rubber Duck in happier times.
There's no denying Sydney loves its dumplings. The pillowy parcels of filled dough are the perfect winter warmer and pack a flavourful punch in a single mouthful. And few are as skilled in their making than Chris Yan — one of Sydney's top dumpling masters. The Shanghainese chef is the group executive chef of Lotus Dining Group — the restaurant group with eateries in Walsh Bay, The Galeries, Darlinghurst, the Chinese Garden of Friendship and Barangaroo (with a third Barangaroo spot due to open in July). So, it's fair to say he knows how to cook a mean dish — and not just dumplings. When he's not in the kitchen at one of his many restaurants, he's off collaborating with flavoursome chip brand Red Rock Deli. And, on Thursday, August 8, Yan will be hosting two intimate secret suppers for a limited number of guests. So, what can diners expect from the chef? Well, we don't quite know — yet. The menu will stay true to the event's name and remain under-wraps until the night. But, we do know that it'll be a unique three-course feast inspired by Red Rock Deli's limited-edition flavour, Thai red chilli and creamy coconut potato chips. So, in trying to crack the menu code, we thought we'd find out a little about the Sydney restaurants that Yan likes to visit on the regular (and the dishes he orders) for inspiration. He name-dropped a few of his recent favourites, which may give us an idea of what to expect. [caption id="attachment_652979" align="alignnone" width="1920"] China Doll at Woolloomooloo Wharf[/caption] First up: dumplings, of course. Specifically, traditional Nepalese chicken dumplings (momos) from Momo Bar. Unlike Yan's Shanghai-style dumplings, this north shore spot serves its dumplings with garlic yoghurt and paprika butter or with pickled sauce (achaar), which is authentic Nepali-style. Woolloomooloo's China Doll also made the list and is a go-to for Yan — he thinks the salmon sashimi with blackened chilli dressing is some of the best in town. If you're after something heartier (and cheaper), then Yan recommends heading to Pho Pasteur for an authentic beef noodle soup. [caption id="attachment_653246" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Pho Pasteur[/caption] Rounding out Yan's top five, is the chicken pad thai with glass noodles from Home Thai and Indonesian restaurant The Sambal. You'll often see the Shanghainese chef there feasting on the sambal terong Balado — a Balado-style eggplant sambal. So, what might we deduce about Yan's secret supper menu from his Sydney sparks of inspiration? Expect honest, simple Asian food that has flavour in spades. To register for tickets to Chris Yan's Secret Supper, head over here. And, while you wait for the big night to roll around, you can get cracking on this Yan-certified recommendation circuit. Top image: Kitti Gould.
Melbourne burger joint Royal Stacks launched three years ago. Since then, it has expanded interstate — and overseas, opening outposts in both Beijing and Chongqing. To celebrate the opening of its new Chinese stores, it's inviting a Mandopop star to come say hi to fans at the original Collins Street spot. Oh, and it's giving away free burgers, too. Five-hundred free burgers, to be exact. From midday on Saturday, March 16, the good people at the CBD's Royal Stacks will give away 500 of the eatery's signature Single Stack — that's an Aussie beef patty topped with tomato, lettuce, American cheddar, secret sauce and pickles. They're limited to one per-person, however, so if you're super hungry you'll have to pay up for a second. You could, alternatively, order one of the eatery's other signature dishes: it's concrete mixers. The super-thick frozen custard is available in a slew of flavours like Ferrero Rocher, cookie dough, Nutella and the new Twix and biscotti. While you're there, scoffing burgers and concrete mixers, you'll be able to chat to Bruneian singer and actor Wu Chun. Previously a member of famed boy bond Fahrenheit, Chun has also appeared in several Taiwanese TV shows, such as Tokyo Juliet and Sunshine Angel, and movies. Royal Stacks will be giving away 500 free burgers from midday–2pm.
Marco Pierre White is a star of kitchens and screens alike. He was the first British chef — and the youngest chef at the time — to be awarded three Michelin stars. He's popped up on everything from Hell's Kitchen to MasterChef, including in Australia. Back in 2019, he was one of Melbourne Good Food Month's huge headliners. He's also the culinary force behind cookbook White Heat, the 1990 tome that played up his "bad boy" image. He's been dubbed "the first celebrity chef" as well. And, he's trained fellow famed food figures such as Mario Batali, Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsay and Curtis Stone. That's a brief run through White's resume, but you're best to hear the full details — and the ups and downs that've come with being White — from the chef himself. So, in May, the culinary whiz is touring Australia's east coast capitals with his first-ever live theatre show. White's Out of the Kitchen gigs will chat through his beginnings, his training and his stardom, plus the kind of success that led to his "enfant terrible" label. That means hearing about his arrival in London with just "£7.36, a box of books and a bag of clothes", and his tutelage under Albert and Michael Roux at renowned French fine-diner Le Gavroche. And, there's nabbing those three Michelin stars at the age of 33, of course. Out of the Kitchen will start its Aussie run at Brisbane's Convention and Entertainment Centre, then see White head to Sydney's State Theatre and Melbourne's Hamer Hall. 2023 has already taken Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi around the country on a speaking tour, and is bringing Mauro Colagreco and his French Riviera eatery Mirazur to the Sydney in March, plus British chef Simon Rogan and his restaurant L'Enclume to the Harbour City for a five-week residency this winter, in what's clearly a great year for getting tips from the world's culinary masters. MARCO PIERRE WHITE – OUT OF THE KITCHEN: Tuesday, May 23 — Great Hall, Brisbane Convention and Entertainment Centre Thursday, May 25 — State Theatre, Sydney Tuesday, May 30 — Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne Marco Pierre White's Out of the Kitchen tour hits Australia in May 2023. For more information, or to buy tickets, head to the tour website.
Tiramisu is undoubtedly having a moment, with restaurants and eateries across the city whipping up versions of this cherished Italian dessert. However, with Mother's Day right around the corner, Piccolina Gelateria and Rocco's Deli have put something extra special together – the Tiramisu Gelato Sandwich – so you can celebrate in coffee-soaked bliss. With both businesses inspired by their Italian heritage, the brains behind Piccolina and Rocco's have teamed up to combine their mums' age-old tiramisu recipes for a modern-day collaboration. Of course, pretty much every Italian family has its own treasured tiramisu recipe, traditionally prepared by Nonna or Zia, passed down for generations and perfected over time. Now, Piccolina and Rocco's are leaning into this nostalgia with a gelato-filled dessert that marries classic flavours with a sophisticated touch that doesn't lose sight of what makes the original so good. Here, you've got coffee and marsala-soaked Savoiardi sponge, paired with Marsala ganache and mascarpone gelato. Then, the whole thing is coated in Belgian dark chocolate before receiving a fine dusting of cocoa powder. Whether you're spoiling Mum or just consider yourself a tiramisu fanatic, you won't want to miss out. Founded in 2015, Piccolina Gelateria is a Melbourne success story, spotlighting owner Sandra Foti's hand-crafted gelato and gelato cakes inspired by her father's homemade Italian treats. Over in Yarraville, Rocco's Delicatessen is a local institution, serving Italian-style sandwiches and desserts since 1977. Bought from Rocco Ida by Italian-born Louise McQueen and her son Christopher in 2016, this duo carry forward the store's Italian legacy. Available for a limited time only at $22, the Piccolina x Rocco's Deli Tiramisu Gelato Sandwich is ready for online and in-store orders at all eight Piccolina locations. Meanwhile, Rocco's Deli is also stocking a bunch alongside its must-try sandwiches and Mediterranean provisions. With Piccolina's collaborations usually flying off the shelves, don't wait if you want to impress Mum for the special day ahead. Find the Piccolina x Rocco's Deli Tiramisù Gelato Sandwich at your nearest Piccolina Gelateria location — like Hawthorn, Collingwood and Swanston Street — or drop into Rocco's Deli at 122 Roberts Street, Yarraville. Head to the website for more information.
In every generation, there might be a chosen one — vampire slayer, that is — but in the Australian outback, there's now Indigenous bloodhunters. That's the premise behind one of the most promising new local shows of the year, Firebite, which brings undead battles to the South Australian desert with a huge list of top-notch Aussie talent. You know you're watching an Aussie vampire series — or even simply viewing the just-dropped trailer for it — when the words "take that you bloodsucking bastards" are uttered. That's just one of the highlights of Firebite's first sneak peek, though. Also worth getting excited about: the stacked cast, which includes Rob Collins (The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson) and Shantae Barnes-Cowan (Total Control) as the show's Indigenous Australian vampire killers, plus Callan Mulvey (Shadow in the Cloud) as the king vamp of the last undead colony in SA, and also Yael Stone (Orange is the New Black) as well. Behind the lens, Firebite hails from one of Australia's finest filmmakers — Samson and Delilah, Sweet Country and The Beach director Warwick Thornton, who returns to the small screen after helming and starring in the latter, and also working on the second season of Mystery Road. Fellow Aussie directors Brendan Fletcher (Mad Bastards) and Tony Krawitz (The Tall Man, Dead Europe) are also involved, giving the Firebite three exceptional local helmers in one show. The trailer serves up more than a bit of a Mad Max vibe, but with vampires and Indigenous Aussies fighting back — and how it'll unfurl will be revealed come Thursday, December 16. The show is headed to AMC+, the new streaming bundle that just launched Down Under in November, and will drop new episodes every week. And yes, it's going to be a big few months for watching Australia's parched landscape on the screen, following the Jamie Dornan-starring mystery series The Tourist and the Zac Efron-led thriller flick Gold. But again, because it can't be celebrated enough, this is the only Aussie Indigenous vampire horror-fantasy show you'll be adding to your streaming queue. Check out the Firebite trailer below: Firebite starts streaming via AMC+ on Thursday, December 16. Images: Ian Routledge/AMC+.
If you find yourself thinking back on Law & Order re-runs, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs or Heath Ledger's turn as the Joker in The Dark Knight, you're probably thinking about one particular type of scene. There's an art to a good on-screen interrogation — to seeing characters verbally spar back and forth, as one probes for answers and the other tries to avoid their questions — that's riveting when it's done well. It's also hilarious when it's done comedically (see Brooklyn Nine-Nine); however, nothing beats a grim, serious, eyes-blazing, nostril-flaring confrontation between a suspected criminal and a savvy detective who are both confined to the same small room. Netflix, in its seemingly never-ending quest to turn every single possible idea into highly binge-able streaming content, is taking this concept and running with it in its new anthology crime series Criminal. Love interrogations, but not so fussed about all the stuff around them? Then you'll want to glue your peepers to this newcomer when it arrives later this month, because it's all about heated chats in police interview suites. In fact, that's all it's about. Announced back in June, the streaming platform's latest show will tell a dozen different tales across just as many 45-minute episodes — spending three episodes each focusing on cases in France, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom. Criminal will also unfurl its tense arguments with some considerable star power, with David Tennant and Agent Carter's Hayley Atwell among the UK cast. You might also recognise Laurence Anyways' Nathalie Baye and The Unknown Girl's Jérémie Renier in the French instalments, plus Phoenix's Nina Hoss in the German episodes. Behind the scenes, the claustrophobic, cat-and-mouse-style program also boasts a heap of talent, which'll again vary from country to country. Killing Eve writer George Kay and She's Out Of My League director Jim Field Smith will oversee the whole thing, and take care of the British chapters, while The Returned and Spiral helmer Frederic Mermoud, Downfall's Oliver Hirschbiegel and Dark Impulse's Mariano Barroso will do the honours in France, Germany and Spain respectively. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAZac21Y9D8 Criminal will release on Netflix on September 20.
The glittery night sky has long been a source of mystery and wonder, but, surprisingly, there aren't too many exhibitions or events across Melbourne that let you explore its depths—until now. Enter Discover The Night Sky, the Melbourne Planetarium's new monthly astronomy series hosted by renowned astronomer Dr Tanya Hill. Blending science and storytelling with awe-inspiring visuals, this immersive five-part, after-dark program dives into a different cosmic theme each month. Each session is projected across a captivating 16-metre domed screen, paired with a powerful 7.1 surround sound system. Settle into a plush, reclining chair as you journey through the universe to uncover the science behind eclipses and exoplanets, the Milky Way and mind-boggling black holes. Looking for a fun date night idea? Or something a little more inspired than the usual post-work pub beers? Discover The Night Sky is the antidote to midweek monotony. Stargaze through telescopes guided by amateur astronomers while sipping drinks and enjoying snacks from the Galaxy Bar. Host Dr Tanya Hill says looking up at the beautiful night sky—especially shared with others—can force you to slow down and open up to new perspectives. "What I'm really excited about is sharing with people the things we can't plan for. There's always something new that's being discovered about the universe, and I want to take people behind the headlines. We'll do a deep dive into the research and details of any new discoveries—what we've learnt, how they come about, and what mysteries still need to be figured out." Whether you're a space enthusiast or simply curious about the cosmos, the Melbourne Planetarium's Discover The Night Sky offers an engaging, educational, and beautifully immersive experience. 'Discover the Night Sky' will run on the last Thursday of the month from Thursday, July 31–November 27. Tickets are limited, to secure yours, visit the website. By Elise Cullen, images by Eugene Hyland (courtesy of Melbourne Planetarium)
First, the Dirty John podcast brought the tale of John Meehan to listeners' ears. Then, as tends to occur with true-crime hits, it was turned into a dramatised television series. Now, as also often happens when a TV show strikes a chord, it's kicking on for a second season — focusing on a completely different case, and once again heading to Netflix Down Under. Launching in Australia and New Zealand on Friday, August 14, Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story steps into the story of its eponymous figure. If it sounds somewhat familiar, that's because the events covered date back to the late 80s. In the early 90s, they even inspired an episode of Law & Order. More recently, Los Angeles Times podcast It Was Simple: The Betty Broderick Murders also explored the details — with the same publication behind journalist Christopher Goffard's original Dirty John podcast. Starring Amanda Peet and Christian Slater as as Betty and Daniel Broderick, as well as Legion's Rachel Keller in a pivotal role, The Betty Broderick Story is another Dirty John tale about sex, lies and murder. Here, a seemingly idyllic marriage first breaks down, then gives rise to a double homicide. If you don't already know the ins and outs, this is also another true-crime case best discovered by watching, with the mini-series unfurling the minutiae across eight episodes. Prepare for quite a few ups and downs, obviously. The eight-episode series has just finished its week-to-week run on US television, but Netflix will drop all eight episodes at once. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE-GwkeZQmI Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story drops on Netflix Down Under on August 14, 2020. Top image: Isabella Vosmikova/USA Network.
The arrival of Fitzroy's newest ramen spot Gogyo has't go unnoticed. An enormous new exterior mural, a modern interpretation of wuxing (the five Chinese elements) by celebrated Sydney-based artist Kentaro Yoshida, points to its entrance on the corner of Brunswick and Westgarth streets. And, in the kitchen, the team is shaking up the game by celebrating a gutsy style of signature ramen you won't find anywhere else in town. Japanese-born Gogyo has landed in Melbourne following the success of its Aussie debut, which launched in Sydney's Surry Hills in 2018. It's also from the same minds behind internationally revered ramen chain Ippudo and, as you might know, that equates to some serious street cred in the world of Japanese noodle soup. Gogyo has set itself apart from the pack with its burnt ramen creation dubbed kogashi. A smoky, sweet and intense dish crafted on a charred miso or shoyu base, it is then loaded with chicken broth, pork belly chashu and half an umami egg. While it's the headline act at the new Fitzroy restaurant, the black (but not bitter) soup is backed by a strong supporting cast of alternative ramen varieties and izakaya-style snacks. [caption id="attachment_760781" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kogashi ramen by Julia Sansone[/caption] The space itself is split between a minimalist front cocktail lounge and the restaurant, divided by traditional noren curtains featuring more of Yoshida's symbolic artworks. Step through into the dining room and you'll find a warm timber-filled space decked out with deep booths and a long open kitchen lined with stools. As for the menu, it's a mix of Gogyo favourites and Fitzroy exclusives. You might kick off with elegant snacks like scampi nigiri and spring rolls stuffed with sukiyaki-style wagyu, before diving into the likes of pork katsu curry or a poke-style sashimi number. There's a cracking karaage chicken, wagyu tataki finished with shiso and yuzu ponzu, and a miso chicken teamed with sticky rice and fennel pickle. Meanwhile, in the ramen corner, the two kogashi options steal the show, though there's plenty to tempt among the rest of the lineup, including a tonkotsu ramen laced with garlic oil and a fiery chilli shoyu soup. To match, there's a tight list of Aussie wines, Suntory brews on tap and a handful of elegant cocktails, like the whisky- and bitter orange-infused Salaryman. Images: Julia Sansone
You've probably heard of Melbourne Zoo's long-running Roar 'n Snore sleepovers. However, now there's a new way to meet the animals, with the launch of the first-ever Roar and Pour – a two-day beer and spirits festival set in the lush surrounds of the zoo. Held from Friday, March 21–Saturday, March 22, this evening encounter offers the chance to get up close with quality local and interstate brewers and distillers alongside the full range of animals after hours. With the sun just dipping beneath the horizon, you're invited to roam Melbourne Zoo's winding trails to catch rare glimpses of the animals kicking back at dusk – or bursting into activity. With many creatures only then finding their voice, the landscape comes to life with fascinating sounds. Though gates normally close at 5pm, this behind-the-scenes experience is a special opportunity to admire the animals from a different perspective. Over on the lawns, a dozen or so top-notch drink makers are getting down for this one-of-a-kind experience, including Kaiju Beer, Tallboy and Moose, Grainery Lane, Inner North Brewing Co, Brewmanity Beer Co and Watts River Brewing. For a bite to eat, head to the zoo's Picnic Lawns and Rail Gate Café for tasty snacks. Plus, an exclusive Coffee For Wildlife pop-up will shake up impactful espresso martinis using the zoo's in-house beans. Once you've finished meeting the animals, Roar and Pour also features a host of outdoor games, rides and entertainment primed for all-age fun. On the agenda are carousel rides, classic lawn games, serenity-inducing live acoustic music and even a silent disco. The zookeepers will also deliver a program of fascinating animal talks focused on lemurs, giraffes and lions throughout the night. If this beer and spirit festival seems up your alley, all adult tickets include a special tasting cup, which you can use to access free tastings from all drinks vendors spread across the zoo lawns. With visitors contributing to Zoos Victoria's efforts to save local wildlife from extinction, you can feel pretty good about spending the evening indulging in a choice beer or spirit as you get acquainted with the wildlife. Roar and Pour is happening at Melbourne Zoo across Friday, March 21–Saturday, March 22 from 5.30pm–9.30pm. Head to the website for more information.
Lightsabers, caped crusaders, fast cars and fairy tales — if you went to the cinema this year, we're betting that you saw at least one of the above. And, if you caught more than a couple of flicks, you probably roamed your eyes over creepy clowns, cheeky spies, immersive accounts of war and an acclaimed Aussie drama as well. From Star Wars, Wonder Woman, The Fate of the Furious and Beauty and the Beast, to It, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Dunkirk and Lion, they're the movies that Australians flocked to in 2017. Of course, they had company. Nearly 400 films were released onto Aussie screens over the past 12 months, and even the biggest cinephiles among probably skipped a couple. Based on box office figures, here's ten we think you might've missed, and should make the effort to catch up with. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDiVGDmgsFY RAW One of the year's best films, under-seen or otherwise, is also one that arrived with a bloody splash. When Raw premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2016, audience members reportedly fainted during its tale of a vegan teenager turned cannibalistic college student — and while they might've been overreacting, the French film isn't for the gore-averse. What it is, rather, is an unforgettable and visceral take on the savagery of growing up from first-time writer/director Julia Ducournau. She's matched in talent by her leading lady Garance Marillier, who makes viewers understand both the reluctance and excitement that comes with going to university, breaking free from her usual personality and casually snacking on severed limbs. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J5jcPqfYss PROFESSOR MARSTON AND THE WONDER WOMEN 2017 was a wonderful year — for films with 'wonder' in the title, at least. While Wonder Wheel is completely missable, and Wonderstruck only played select festivals, Wonder Woman kicked superhero ass. And, it wasn't the only movie about the famous comic book character to make it to cinemas, or the best. In Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, movie-goers received the origin movie they didn't know they needed, following the story of Diana Prince's creation by William Moulton Marston. The psychologist turned comic book author (Luke Evans) took inspiration from his own life with his wife (Rebecca Hall) and live-in girlfriend (Bella Heathcoate), as relayed with passion and personality by writer/director Angela Robinson. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLdhN4oMxCQ BAD GENIUS Mark our words: in the next couple of years, an English-language version of this Thai thriller will reach our screens. A high-stakes high-school exam flick, it's smart and slick, funny and fast-paced, tautly made and tension-filled — and it turns a situation we can all relate to into a nail-biting heist caper. Straight-A student Lynn (Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying) is the misbehaving high-achiever of the title, who first hatches a plan to make money by feeding her classmates test answers, and then bands together with her customers to cheat the biggest test there is. The premise was taken from reality, and part of the movie was shot in Sydney, but the real highlight is Bad Genius' lively style and thoroughly entertaining narrative. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2RYbGgBQeM THE LOST CITY OF Z Because these things always come in pairs, The Lost City of Z is one of two 2017 features that send former film franchise heartthrobs into the jungle. It's the only one you won't want to end, however. Robert Pattinson plays second fiddle to Charlie Hunnam in this account of geographer and explorer Percy Fawcett's life, and to James Gray's astutely measured direction, as well as cinematographer Darius Khondji's lush and striking images. Indeed, Hunnam does some of his best work as the man determined to find the fabled locale, while Gray shows that his skills apply not only in urban settings, but to vast Amazonian wilds too. A visually precise and painterly effort result, one that's an existential adventure, a lush-looking portrait of feverish obsession and an engaging biopic all in the same mesmerising package. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SMmn5fu2oI WINTER AT WESTBETH This Australian-directed, New York-shot documentary only received a tiny cinema run earlier this year, so you can be forgiven for missing it. That said, if you were a fan of Bill Cunningham New York or Iris, or like factual looks at real-life creative types doing what they love — and wearing their eccentricity on their sleeves — you'll want to redress that oversight as soon as possible. A small film that leaves a big imprint, it focuses on three elderly residents of Manhattan's Far West Village for retired artists, each coping with their advanced years by immersing themselves in their chosen fields. Guided by their tales, Aussie filmmaker Rohan Spong crafts an insightful and empathetic doco that's never anything less than revelatory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih9P0QCCrUw IN THIS CORNER OF THE WORLD With gorgeous watercolour animation and a bittersweet but graceful approach, In This Corner of the World turns a dark chapter of the past into a thing of beauty. That applies both emotionally and visually, in a film that enchants even as it delves into life in World War II-era Hiroshima. Teenager Suzu Urano (Non) finds things forever change when she weds a naval clerk in 1943 and moves to city where he's based; however, history dictates that more is still to come. It's the type of multi-layered wonder that Studio Ghibli would usually make, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that writer/director Sunao Katabuchi worked as an assistant director on Kiki's Delivery Service. His work here is certainly worthy of the comparison. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eByhbavkA6E HEAL THE LIVING In her third film, French writer/director Katell Quillévéré wades into tricky waters, but never forgets to admire life's beauty. Given that organ donation is her main topic, that's a simply stunning feat. Based on the book of the same name, Heal the Living follows the many people affected when a 17-year-old surfer's existence is cut short: his grief-stricken parents and girlfriend, the medical professionals charged with his care and the ailing woman in another city who might get a second chance through this tragedy. As well as the sensitive handling of the subject matter, the detailed depiction of hospital routines and the spot-on charting of intricate, intimate emotional terrain, the feature boasts movingly lyrical sensibilities, and a mastery of both poetic and clinical imagery. A word of warning: if you've ever been through something similar, you may find the experience especially devastating. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zzw4Lmej9s THE VILLAINESS John Wick: Chapter 2 and Atomic Blonde aren't 2017's only ace assassin films. From South Korea, say hello to The Villainess. The latest in a long line of kinetic, frenetic action flicks from the country's shores, it follows a woman trained to kill, forced to lend the government her skills and sporting one heck of a backstory. If it sounds familiar because you've seen plenty of similar fare — Luc Besson's La femme Nikita and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill included — don't worry; this isn't a mere walk down a well-worn path or an easy clone. Understandably, it's the fast and furious displays of carnage that particularly stand out thanks to director Jung Byung-gil's high-octane approach, as well as a memorable score. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl_eP39tXW0 SCHOOL LIFE Did a teacher change your life? Did you discover your true passion at school? Even if you answered no to both of those questions, there's no doubting the influence that education has on our identities — not just in the things we learn, but the people we encounter and the experiences we go through. Still not convinced? Let Irish documentary School Life show you. Set at a boarding school, it's a movie about many things: bright minds facing the future, dedicated teachers determined to do their best at their important task at hand, and two specific veterans still shaping the next generation as their own days fade. As they step through all of the above, documentarians Neasa Ní Chianáin and David Rane find the right balance between observation and emotion, and between affection and insight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cTenw8uVSw SONG TO SONG Love him or hate him, no one makes movies like Terrence Malick. As a result, when it comes to his dream-like explorations of human existence, you're either on his whisper-soundtracked, roaming camera-shot, attractive actor-starring wavelength, or you're not. Song to Song won't change anyone's minds, but those eager to go along for the ride will find the iconic filmmaker in top form in this particularly prolific phase of his career. Partially set and shot at SXSW, and featuring Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Iggy Pop and Patti Smith (among others), Song to Song proves an intoxicating dance-filled picture with oh-so-pretty folks coping with the complexities of love and life. Read our full review.
A Taiwan-born tea store with over 50 global outposts under its belt, The Alley LuJiaoXiang has made a name for both its slurpable drinks and those all-important 'beverage aesthetics'. Not only do these sips have serious swagger, but ingredients like the sugar cane syrup and signature tapioca pearls are made in-store from scratch. Sample those house-made orbs in the likes of a milk-infused black tea blend or tea latte, or go for one of the popular fruit tea concoctions, best enjoyed topped with some 'snow velvet' cheese foam. And if you fancy a bit of a mouth party, opt for something featuring The Alley's special brown sugar pearls. These rich little gems are served warm, making for an extra treat when mixed through cold milk. You can also find The Alley in QV Melbourne, Highpoint Shopping Centre, and on Bourke and Elizabeth streets in the CBD.
It has been more than two decades since Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone first brought its magic into our lives, and muggles still share one particular dream: to attend Hogwarts. Yes, it's a fictional setting. Yes, we all know that. But that still hasn't stopped all manner of places trying to make the school an enchanting reality, from HP-inspired wizarding schools to huge brunches held in Great Hall-like spaces to activewear decked out in house colours. London's Warner Brothers Studio Tour is going one step further as part of its The Making of Harry Potter exhibit: it's letting visitors try on authentic Hogwarts robes. Short of casting a spell to go back in time and star in one of the eight Harry Potter films — or somehow finding your way onto the Fantastic Beasts' set — that's as close as you're going to get to some actual Hogwarts action. The specific tour wizard obsessives will want to take is the Behind the Seams experience, which dives into the costumes created for the movie franchise — all 25,000 of them. Sketches, finished outfits and stories about their creation are all part of this wander through a workshop-like environment, with threads worn by Cedric Diggory, Professor Sprout and even Voldemort on display. That's all great and bewitching, but the main attraction is the chance to pick your house colours and pop on a robe that featured in one of the movies. We'd tell you to BYO wand, but you've probably already thought about that. Anyone finding themselves in London over the next few months can take the Behind the Seams tour between May 23 and July 22, with sessions running daily until June 2 and then every weekend afterwards. Tickets cost £65, which includes the one-hour costume frenzy — but no, you can't wear your Hogwarts garb for the whole hour, sorry — as well as the standard studio tour, complete with a walk through the Forbidden Forest and a wait on Platform 9¾. For more information, visit the Behind the Seams website.
Pick a genre, any genre, and the following statement will always prove true: no one does it like Steven Soderbergh. Now 36 years on from his Cannes Palme d'Or-winning narrative feature debut Sex, Lies, and Videotape, he's long been one of Hollywood's most-reliable filmmakers. The word 'reliable' can't capture the spark of a Soderbergh project, though — whether the ever-prolific director, cinematographer, editor and screenwriter is in heist mode in Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen and Logan Lucky; predicting the COVID-19 pandemic via Contagion and then diving into its daily reality (and technology's hellscape) in Kimi; spinning a franchise out of Channing Tatum's IRL origin story with Magic Mike and Magic Mike's Last Dance; reimagining medical TV shows in stunning fashion courtesy of The Knick; or telling a haunted-house story from the ghost's perspective in Presence. Spies battling spies: as familiar as that setup is on screens big and small, no one does that as Soderbergh has with Black Bag, either. With his second cinema release of 2025 after Presence, and his third film out of his past four that's penned by fellow veteran David Koepp (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) — kicking off with Kimi, and again including Presence — he's in Mr and Mrs Smith and True Lies territory, but this take is a particular gem. Black Bag is a twisty and witty espionage thriller filled with secrets, interrogations, surveillance, polygraphs, redirected satellites and not knowing who is on the level. It's as much a smart and sexy relationship drama as well, however. How can any romance work, even a long-established marriage, when either party can explain away anything as part of their clandestine jobs — and when deceit is what each does for a living? Aptly, the picture's title references spy code for confidential missions and details that can't be shared. An especially great line of dialogue also sums up the scenario: "when you can lie about everything, how do you tell the truth about anything?". In Black Bag's opening scene, courtesy of a sublime tracking shot lensed by Soderbergh himself — who directs, shoots and edits the film, as he regularly does on his flicks — George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender, Kneecap) winds from London's streets to an underground club to receive a new task. A well-experienced and highly regarded operative at the National Cyber Security Centre within Britain's Government Communications Headquarters, he now needs to ascertain who has betrayed the country by stealing a cyberworm called Severus, which can destabilise nuclear facilities. There's five names on his list, all his colleagues: Kathryn St Jean (Cate Blanchett, Disclaimer), Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga), Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela, Back to Black), Colonel James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves) and Dr Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris, The Man Who Fell to Earth). Among the six NCSC employees, George included, there's three couples; Kathryn is his wife. The quest to ascertain who's behind the betrayal starts with a dinner party at George and Kathryn's home — one that's really an interrogation, aided by not just food and wine but truth serum. Clarissa is the youngest of the bunch and the newest to the job, with her relationship with the older, fond-of-a-drink Freddie already chaotic. Zoe is everyone's psychiatrist at NCSC, and the fact that James is both her patient and her lover is patently complicated. George and Kathryn seem to enjoy the ideal marriage, one revered by their co-workers and friends, yet he's suspicious of movie ticket stubs and sudden trips. Loyalties aren't just tested over the course of Black Bag's snappy 93-minute running time; so is love's resilience. For George, choosing between his wife and his nation threatens to become a real possibility. [caption id="attachment_995111" align="alignnone" width="1920"] David Dettmann/StillMoving.Net for Universal Pictures[/caption] Soderbergh and Fassbender first collaborated on 2011's Haywire, another sinuous (and ace) thriller with intelligence ties. Take that, mix it with Out of Sight's slinkiness and the filmmaker's long-established love of a caper, then throw in a bit of The Agency — Fassbender's recent and also-excellent TV series set in the spy realm, where personal and professional crises equally overlap — and that's Black Bag's wheelhouse. This is a fun film, too, and often very funny, as its guiding force perfects its balancing act with style, skill and supreme precision. (Part of the picture's sense of humour: casting former Bond Pierce Brosnan among its agents.) It puts Fassbender into another high-stakes workplace situation as well, as is clearly the case with The Agency. While Industry, aka one of the best shows the 2020s, plunges into the world of finance, it too dwells in cut-throat employment circumstances, so Abela is in somewhat familiar terrain herself. Again, of course, whenever Soderbergh is making a film or TV show, similarities elsewhere are superficial. Any parallels across the 12 Years a Slave and Steve Jobs Oscar-nominee's resume of late — after the Hunger, Fish Tank, Inglourious Basterds, Shame, Macbeth, two-time Alien saga and four-time X-Men franchise star's absence from acting from 2020–2022, as broken by 2023's The Killer — is "just the way it sort of fell", Fassbender tells Concrete Playground. For Abela, adding Black Bag to a filmography that also includes Cobra, Rogue Agent and Barbie began with being hooked by and "whizzing through" Koepp's entertaining screenplay, she advises. Fassbender jumping back in front of the camera for Soderbergh, the "I need to be in this" moment for Abela, the importance of this being a relationship drama as much as a spy flick, interrogation scenes, back-and-forth banter for a director supremely skilled at bringing it to the screen: we also chatted with Fassbender and Abela about it all. On Whether There's Something That Draws Fassbender and Soderbergh Together for Twisty Thrillers with Espionage Ties Michael: "No, it just happened that way. It was such a joy for me to get to work with him, especially so early on for me. And just to see that knowledge of film, and how to have an all-encompassing understanding of what a film is, how to make it, what makes a good film, the architecture of it all — that was clear from the first time when I was working with him. How he enters a room and scans the room, it's almost birdlike. His precision and the confidence. And now internally, he might have that, but it definitely permeates on set. You can see that all the other crew members love working with him as well — that's not exclusive to actors. [caption id="attachment_995112" align="alignnone" width="1920"] David Dettmann/StillMoving.Net for Universal Pictures[/caption] It's a very relaxed atmosphere, and he just lets you do whatever you're going to do. And it's quite intimidating at first — you're thinking 'I hope he, is he happy with this? We're moving on after two takes. Does he think that he's just not going to get anything better?'. But that's how he likes to go, I think — to find that first freshness of whatever was given, and what was captured in that fresh one or two or three takes. I'm so happy that we got together to work on it on something like this, with an ensemble cast. It's kind of like a play in certain respects — certainly the dinner table scenes." On How Abela Knew That She Wanted to Add Playing the Strong, Determined But Also Sensitive Clarissa to Her Resume Marisa: "I think that it was honestly with the script at the very beginning. It's quite rare, I think, to get a script where you're just whizzing through it and it's kind of reading itself — and you just feel by the end of it how much fun it would be to be a part of a project like that. And when I realised who else was involved — and obviously I knew that Steven was directing, but when I heard about Michael and Cate and everyone attached — I was just so excited to be a part of it. [caption id="attachment_995110" align="alignnone" width="1920"] David Dettmann/StillMoving.Net for Universal Pictures[/caption] And I think that Clarissa really spoke to me on the first read of the script. As you say, I think that she's incredibly, she cuts through anything that's going on because she's able to speak honestly from a place of strength — but also, I think from a place of innocence and wanting to find out what is at the heart of this world for all of these people. I think she's still figuring out, at the beginning of this movie, whether this is a world that she wants to be a part of or not — whereas I think everyone else is quite entrenched into it. So I think that that discovery is an interesting place to come to from her." On How Important It Was That Black Bag Is a Relationship Drama as Much as a Spy Film Michael: "It's all about the relationships. That's why it always makes me think of a play as well. You're watching these relationships play out, and each of them are connected to one another, whether they want to be or not. He says early on 'this isn't necessarily the dinner party that you would choose'. These people aren't necessarily going to go out and socialise with one another, but they've been brought together — and then through the course of the movie, you start to figure out how they're all entangled in one another and how messy it is. And it's so right what Marisa is saying about the character of Clarissa, is that she's looking at it as the new person coming in, the youngest person in the room, going 'this is bullshit — can't you all see it?'. And they're looking at her going 'give it time, you'll see'. And it's all those dynamics going on, which make it interesting. But for sure it happens to be set, which also makes it interesting, in the espionage world. But it's just about relationships." On Black Bag's Commonalities with Fassbender and Abela's Other Recent Roles Michael: "That just happened to me on the same week, Black Bag and The Agency came, actually. And it wasn't — that's just the way it sort of fell, and there were two interesting projects that I wanted to do. I didn't sit down and go 'okay, I'm going into spy territory now for the next few years'. It just happened that way, as it often does. And it's just about finding material that stimulates — and you feel like 'okay, this is for an adult audience that would enjoy sitting down, going on this journey'." Marisa: "I guess it's the same with Industry in a sense, in that it is kind of in a workplace environment,, but you probably couldn't get two more different places of work. Especially for my character, for Yasmin in Industry. I think she would make the world's worst spy, probably. It's quite interesting to play two young women in probably what are quite male-dominated environments. I've never had an office job, but neither of them are particularly regular jobs anyway, so maybe I'm just enticed into that world in some way." On the Keys to Making an Interrogation Scene Sing Michael: "I think the setup. A certain form of repetition. Humour. And then, of course, somebody in the room is lying and everybody knows that, so the tension builds from that." Marisa: "Steven is so brilliant at building the tension in those moments. And what's nice is that then that gives you the freedom, as the actors, to just play your reality of the scene. Obviously every character is playing to win in that moment, which is playing to tell the truth or to find out the truth — or to cover up a lie. But they should all hopefully be as good at looking like they're telling the truth as one another, no matter who is telling the lie, because it's what they do for a living. So you have this built-in tension into it, but we're just focused on playing to win. And then it's up to Steven to linger on whoever for however long and make the audience think whatever it is that they think in those moments." Michael: "And the foreplay to the actual interrogation itself. The rigging up of the equipment, increasing pressure on the blood-pressure armband. The fact that sweat is being read. The pulse in the fingers. The machine is scribbling constantly. And the camera's set on a particular face, where the camera goes for reaction — then it's the camera placement and what Steven does." On Bringing Back-and-Forth Banter to Life for a Director Who Has Made It a Hallmark of His Films Marisa: "I think he's really great at casting. That is a massive part of it. I think that he knows each of these individual six characters are so different and so distinctive, but there's a real chemistry when we're all together — and having a scene like that, or two scenes like that in our movie, where everyone actually does get the opportunity to play together, I think the chemistry just speaks for itself in that moment. We're really lucky that that happened. And then I think in terms of, like I said, you're just really playing those moments. I think something that, in that first scene, lends a hand for all of us is that we've taken this truth serum. So there's a freedom in that conversation. Especially with, that was my first scene with Clarissa, where she's able to be quite brazen with George specifically at that table. I think there's a freedom in knowing that she's taken this serum and she's intoxicated and she's not quite adhering to social norms and boundaries, as she should do. So there's a freedom that comes with that." Black Bag released in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, March 13, 2025. Film stills: Claudette Barius/Focus Features © 2025 All Rights Reserved.
School's back — and so is the escalating battle between humans and folks with superpowers, no shortage of chaos and gore, and nothing being quite what it seems at Godolkin University. Also returning at the centre of all of the above, as seen in the just-dropped full trailer for Gen V season two: the blood-bending Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair, Please Baby Please), her size-changing roomate Emma Meyer (Lizze Broadway, Kinda Pregnant), gender-shifting Jordan Li (Never Have I Ever's London Thor and Shining Vale's Derek Luh), the persuasive Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips, Overcompensating), super-strong Sam Riordan (Asa Germann, Monsters) and superhero Polarity (Sean Patrick Thomas, High Potential). This college-set spinoff from The Boys — which takes the latter's caped-crusader satirising to the next generation — first debuted in 2023 and was quickly renewed for a second run. Season four of The Boys arrived in 2024, and now it's time for Gen V's comeback from Wednesday, September 17, 2025, ahead of the Vought Cinematic Universe's OG series wrapping up with its upcoming fifth and final season. What if dealing with possessing superpowers turned higher learning into absolute mayhem? That's one of the concepts at the heart of Gen V — although the impact of part of the population having extraordinary abilities has always been at the core of the entire franchise. As the VCU's characters cope with the fallout from Homelander's (Antony Starr, G20) actions in The Boys, what if the Godolkin gang could rival him in strength? That's where Gen V is heading, too, the new sneak peek teases. As also seen in an earlier teaser for season two, there's a new uni head, Cipher (Hamish Linklater, Nickel Boys), on the scene with a far-from-trustworthy vibe. Indeed, he wants his pupils to be more powerful than ever. Marie's stint at the Elmira Adult Rehabilitation Centre, her home since the events of season one — and for some of her friends, too — comes to an end as well; however, going back to class isn't the same as it once was, including in a "Make America Super Again" world. Then there's the discovery of a secret program dating back to God U's founding. For those who missed Gen V 's initial season, Godolkin University is the college for superheroes that's meant to help prepare the best of the best for caped-crusader life — until exploding classmates, creepy secret facilities and unnerving professors complicate matters, that is. Season one spent its time with Marie, who knows that attending God U is a pivotal opportunity. After a traumatic experience when her powers kicked in, this is her chance to completely change her life, as well as achieve her dream of becoming the first Black woman in The Seven. Then, nothing turns out as planned. Also, things on campus (and underneath it) get shady, fast. The pair of glimpses at season two so far also dive into how the show is addressing an off-screen tragedy, after season-one talent Chance Perdomo (After Everything), who portrayed the magnetic Andre Anderson, passed away in 2024. Familiar faces from across the franchise feature in the new footage as well, alongside Ethan Slater (Wicked) joining the cast as Thomas Godolkin. Check out the full trailer for Gen V season two below: Gen V streams via Prime Video, with season two releasing from Wednesday, September 17, 2025. Read our review of season one.
Trump. Inequality. Charlottesville. North Korea. Taylor Swift's 'Look What You Made Me Do'. It's been a, er, testing year thus far. And if it weren't for our ability to talk about it — whether it's desperately debating asylum seeker policy in a pub corner, scrolling through Twitter for solidarity or listening to a critical analysis of covfefe on the way to work — we would probably all be hiding under makeshift bomb shelters in our kitchens by now. But when do we stop talking (and talking) about the state of the world and actually start doing something? That's what the Sydney Opera House set out to address this weekend at ANTIDOTE, a new festival that has replaced the Festival of Dangerous Ideas on their program with the intention of inspiring action. The inaugural ANTIDOTE, which ran over two days, featured a range of speakers, artists and activists whose subject matter moved, for the most part, past the visceral into the practical. They showed us that action isn't always seen through protest — that it can come through satire, by lifting yourself up with 20,000 balloons or just moaning really loudly until someone listens. While it's hard to say if the audiences at ANTIDOTE will put any of their newfound learnings into practice — except perhaps those who are bound by contract from immersive theatre game The Money — here's five things we took away from the festival. It's up to you to crawl out from your bunker and put them into action. [caption id="attachment_635687" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Prudence Upton / Sydney Opera House[/caption] IT'S ACTUALLY DIFFICULT TO SATIRISE DONALD TRUMP — THE ONION America's finest news source has been satirising US politics, everyday life and the power ranking of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen since 1988. They've found ways to cover presidents like George W. Bush ('Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over') and Barack Obama ('Black Guy Asks Nation for Change') — and so, with the election of Trump last year, you'd think it would have made The Onion's job a total cakewalk. Not so. According to managing editor Marnie Shure, video director Katy Yeiser, and senior writer Dan McGraw, who appeared in conversation with The Chaser's Craig Reucassel, Trump's absurd behaviour is inherently hard to satirise because readers often can't tell the difference between satire and reality. Unlike other government figures who usually say one thing but mean another, Trump just says what he means — and there's very little you can do with that. Although they seem to have managed just fine. [caption id="attachment_635686" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Prudence Upton / Sydney Opera House[/caption] PEOPLE WANT TO HELP THE HOMELESS BUT DON'T KNOW HOW — THE MONEY This was no more apparent than at Kaleider's performance of The Money. Held in the Utzon Room — with its views that dissolve into the harbour water — the concept is this: a select number of 'players' sit around the table and decide what to do with a wad of cash. They can put it towards anything legal they can unanimously agree on, but they can't donate it to charity or split it with each other. A group of 'silent witnesses' also present; they don't have a say unless they slap some money on the table, in which case they are then embedded into the decision-making process. At a session on Sunday, discussion quickly turned to acts of non-direct charity. With only $500 on the table — unlike the jackpotted $6000 that went to the YES campaign the night before — the participants wanted to find a way to use the money that would actually make a difference in someone's life. Homelessness — unlike organisations in which members had a vested interest in — was a neutral cause that no one could find a suitable opposition to. But the main question was how. Without giving directly to a charity that would help people without a home, the players decided (after much discussion and disagreement) to put the money on a gift card, that would then be donated to a non-profit to, hopefully, provide food and goods to those who need it. [caption id="attachment_635684" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Prudence Upton / Sydney Opera House[/caption] SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO SAY THE WORDS TO REALISE PEOPLE WERE WAITING TO SAY THE SAME THING — EVE ENSLER When Eve Ensler started first performed The Vagina Monologues in a Greenwich Village cafe in 1996, the word 'vagina' was rarely spoken out loud. Nowadays it's much less taboo. And while the playwright and activist thought her play would be redundant by now (if only), the ongoing response and shift of how society views women and their bodies is still a prime example of how art has the power to transform thinking and urge people to act. Ensler took to the stage in what can only be described as a fierce powerful takedown of the "predator-in-chief", the Australian Government's policy on asylum seekers and violence against women and girls. She urged the audience to speak out, refuse to be silenced, stop looking away and say the words that everyone's thinking — because that's how they get introduced into the conversation. She then proceeded to perform a monologue that ended in all-in audience moaning. [caption id="attachment_635721" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Letícia Almeida[/caption] TURNS OUT, HELIUM BALLOONS CAN LIFT A HUMAN — CHEROPHOBIA If you've ever watched Up, then the elation of artist Noëmi Lakmaier taking flight by way of helium balloons would not have been lost on you. Especially after the uncertainty and shared suspense of the coming-and-going audience members that visited over the nine-hour work. While her actual lift-off wasn't as dramatic as Carl and Russell's, it did offer a source of contemplation on happiness and fear for those who'd stuck around. Plus, the Concert Hall filled with 20,000 balloons was a pretty lovely sight to see. [caption id="attachment_635685" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Prudence Upton / Sydney Opera House[/caption] WE NEED TO DISMANTLE DOMINANT IDEOLOGIES — RENI EDDO-LODGE Reni Eddo-Lodge refuses to explain race to white people — which is fair enough, really. But after a blog post titled 'Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race' blew up in 2014, Eddo-Lodge has become a prominent journalist and blogger on the topic of, well, just that, having recently released a book of the same name. In her conversation with Benjamin Law she spoke about whiteness as an implicit but ever-present power structure that upholds the dominant ideologies that suit white people. So how do we break the cycle of dominance? Question them. Read up on indigenous history, campaign to change the date of Australia Day — don't accept the structural systems of society just because that's the way they are. Also, read her book. Top image: Letícia Almeida.
If heading to or from Aotearoa is on your to-do list for 2023, booking a flight with Air New Zealand means travelling with the newly crowned best airline of the year. In excellent news for NZ just a week after the country's Hawke's Bay region was named the 12th Great Wine Capital of the world, the carrier has earned some global love from the Airline Excellence Awards. The gongs are decided by AirlineRatings.com, with Air NZ nabbing the number-one position for a number of reasons, including its operational safety, motivated staff, moves in the environmental space and upcoming SkyNest economy beds. The latter, which let passengers lie flat during their trips for four-hour stints, won't be available until 2024, but that hasn't stopped the airline topping the 2023 rankings. Does it also bode well for next year's list? Probably. "In our objective analysis, Air New Zealand came out number one in many key areas, although it was a very close scoring for the top five," said AirlineRatings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas. This marks the seventh year since 2013 that Air NZ took out the top slot, although Qatar Airways did the honours in 2021 and 2022. Air New Zealand also won Best Economy Class and Excellence in Long Haul Travel from the Australia and Pacific region, while Qatar Airways — which came in second in the Top 25 premium airlines — was named Best Business Class for the fourth year in a row, as well as Best Catering and Excellence in Long Haul Travel in the Middle East. In the main list, the two carriers were joined by Etihad Airways, Korean Air and Singapore Airlines in the top five, with Qantas, Virgin Australia/Virgin Atlantic, EVA Air, Cathay Pacific Airways and Emirate rounding out the top ten. Then came Lufthansa / Swiss, SAS, TAP Portugal, All Nippon Airways, Delta Air Lines, Air Canada, British Airways, Jet Blue, JAL and Vietnam Airlines in the top 20, followed by Turkish Airlines, Hawaiian, KLM, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines. Best First Class went to Singapore Airlines; Virgin Australia/Virgin Atlantic earned the Best Cabin Crew gong; and Emirates was anointed Best In-Flight Entertainment and Best Premium Economy. Qantas also scored an accolade, receiving the Best Lounges award. For travellers on a budget, AirlineRatings.com gave out Best Low-Cost Airlines awards, too, with Jetstar getting the nod for Australia/Pacific, Southwest in the Americas, Fly Dubai in the Middle East, AirAsia in Asia and Ryanair in Europe. For the full AirlineRatings.com list, visit the airline safety and product rating review outfit's website.
In the latest effort to do the environment a solid by reducing the amount of waste that ends up in landfill, Western Australia has banned takeaway coffee cups that are lined with plastic and therefore can't be composted. Getting your caffeine fix to go in the state now means either sipping out of paperboard or bringing your own reusable cup, with WA leading the nation in scrapping the single-use item. Rules on plastics such as shopping bags, drink containers and straws vary state to state across Australia, with WA the first to completely ditch plastic-lined takeaway coffee cups. All plastic lids are also now banned, with scrapping both coming into effect on Friday, March 1, 2024. The move in Western Australia isn't sudden. It's part of the phase two of the state's Plan for Plastic, and comes into effect after a 12-month transition period, plus widespread consultation. The aim is to save 154-million-plus cups from landfill each year. And the fines for non-compliance are hefty, at up to $5000 for individuals and $25,000 for businesses. Anyone that supplies takeaway cups for hot beverages — be it coffee, tea, hot chocolate or anything else — is covered by the ban. Plastic trays for takeaway foods have also been phased out in the state at the same time, while lids for takeaway food containers, bowls, plates and trays will be ditched from Sunday, September 1, 2024, as will non-compostable plastic produce bags. Finding alternatives to disposable cups, and ways to recycle them, has been a focus across the country for years — as has encouraging folks to bring their own reusable cup. Cafes have trialled 'more recyclable' versions, given out free coffee if you have your own cup and reduced prices. Complete bans at the cafe level have popped up, too, as have reusable coffee cup sharing networks. WA's statewide ban on non-compostable takeaway coffee cups hasn't been implemented before Down Under, however, and here's hoping that other states take note. South Australia is set to do the same from September, while Queensland has announced previously that it's working to identify alternative cups and intends to ban plastic-lined versions, with no date set. The ban on non-compostable takeaway coffee cups and plastic lids in Western Australia came into effect on Friday, March 1, 2024. For more information, head to the WA state government's website.
In the age of streaming, DVD commentary tracks are no longer as much a part of the home-viewing process. If you're keen to hear insider details about the making of Sydney-shot 1999 sci-fi great The Matrix and 2025's Melbourne-made horror hit Together, however, SXSW Sydney has you covered. 2025's event has unveiled more details of its Screen Festival program for this year, with the return of its Screen Commentary sessions among the highlights. Costume designer Kym Barrett, who has also worked on everything from Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, The Nice Guys, The Shallows, Aquaman and Us to Charlie's Angels, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Three Thousand Years of Longing — and on The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, plus the Wachowskis' Speed Racer, Cloud Atlas and Jupiter Ascending — will talk through her efforts on The Matrix as the film plays. For Together, writer/director Michael Shanks will dig into his debut feature, which also opened 2025's Sydney Film Festival. SXSW Sydney has also announced Screen conference sessions as part of its roster of seminars, workshops and more, with Whitney Fuller, the Development Executive of Jordan Peele's Monkeypaw Productions, one of the big names. Fittingly, Fuller will be part of the festival's Women in Genre panel. Also, producer Liz Watts (The Royal Hotel) and filmmaker Tony Ayres (The Survivors) are teaming up for the What Is an Australian Story? session, while Fantastic Festival Director Lisa Dreyer, Rachel Watt from Watt Social, Yellow Veil Pictures' Joe Yanick and Oscilloscope's Alexandra Fredericks are set to get chatting as well. The panel lineup also spans Jill Kingston from Pacific Shadow Pictures, Enzo Tedeschi and Helen Tuck from Deadhouse Films, and Lake Martin Films' Kate Separovich unpacking all things indie horror from a filmmaking perspective, as well as Invention Studios' Carmen Knox and actor Remy Hii (Arcane) on deciding whether to make the leap to LA. SXSW Sydney's latest screen-centric additions join Paul Feig (Another Simple Favour) hitting the Harbour City as the Screen Festival keynote speaker and its first recipient of the new SXSW Sydney Screen Pioneer Award — and also a 14-hour Freaks and Geeks marathon, plus sessions of Bridesmaids and The Heat, to go along with his time at the fest. There's more to come; however, as similarly announced earlier, viewers will also be able to catch 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. [caption id="attachment_967878" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jaimi Joy[/caption] [caption id="attachment_923287" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for SXSW Sydney[/caption] [caption id="attachment_923317" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for SXSW Sydney[/caption] SXSW Sydney 2025, including the SXSW Sydney Screen Festival, runs from Monday, October 13–Sunday, October 19 at various Sydney venues. Head to the SXSW Sydney website for further details and tickets. The Matrix image: Ronald Siemoneit/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images. Together image: Ben King, Neon.
What do you get the Gelato Messina fan who has everything, including a freezer filled with ice cream, plus gelato-inspired candles, lip balm, lube and body wash, too? The perfect kicks to don while eating gelato, thinking about gelato, going out to get gelato and wishing they had more gelato, of course. While Messina already has its own clothing line, now the sweet-treat brand is launching its first-ever range of sneakers. And, like chain's wild and wonderful gelato flavours, these shoes are a limited-edition special. After fellow Sydney-born dessert chain Tokyo Lamington teamed up with the artists at Customs Den on its own footwear earlier in 2023, Messina has now gone and done the same. This time, pairs of Nike Dunk Highs have been given a handpainted makeover, which is never a small feat. With these gelato-hued shoes, each set took between eight and ten hours' work. Gelato is obviously a wide-ranging theme — as Messina fans know, the variety of flavours that the chain scoops up is limited only by its team's imaginations — so these sneakers hone in on one of its favourites. If you adore the brand's dulce de leche gelato, as everyone who tastes it does, then you'll spot why these new shoes feature caramel and cream tones. Yes, Messina's Argentinean caramelised milk, which it makes in-house, is the colour inspiration for these multi-tone kicks. Also featured on the shoes: Messina cartoons and the company's name, so everyone will know why you're sporting some truly rare footwear. Only 100 pairs are available, all numbered from one to 100, and they unsurprisingly don't come cheap. You'll pay $700 to show your love for Messina, gelato and dulce de leche on your feet — and every one will be made bespoke for each customer. Custom Den is taking pre-sale orders now until Wednesday, May 31, unless they sell out earlier. Once you've nabbed yourself a pair, you can expect them to be delivered within six-to-eight weeks. For more information about Gelato Messina's sneakers, or to buy a pair, hit up the brand's website.
Lives don't just thrive in New York City apartment buildings. As Only Murders in the Building keeps showing, sometimes they end, too. Folks connected to the fictional Arconia complex haven't been having a good run in the hit mystery-comedy series, but neighbours and podcasters Mabel Mora, Charles-Haden Savage and Oliver Putnam — as played by Selena Gomez (Emilia Pérez), Steve Martin (It's Complicated) and Martin Short (Grimsburg) — keep investigating their untimely demises, and talking about it. Audiences keep watching, too. You'll next be viewing the trio's antics and sleuthing along with the series' latest whodunnit scenario from spring Down Under, with Only Murders in the Building setting a Tuesday, September 9, 2025 premiere date for its fifth season. There's no trailer as yet, but the show has unveiled its first-look image, and also enlisted Gomez, Martin and Short in a clip announcing the day to pop in your calendar. [caption id="attachment_972138" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Disney/Eric McCandless)[/caption] Yes, it's happening again: to continue to live up to its title, there's been another murder in the building. This time, Charles, Oliver and Mabel refuse to accept that the death of a beloved figure was accidental. As they endeavour to prove that's the case, mobsters and powerful billionaires all become involved, as do more Arconia residents. Michael Cyril Creighton (American Horror Stories) is back among the cast as well, as are Meryl Streep (Extrapolations), Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Bride Hard), Richard Kind (Poker Face) and Nathan Lane (The Gilded Age). Season five also features Bobby Cannavale (Unstoppable), Renée Zellweger (Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy), Logan Lerman (We Were the Lucky Ones), Christoph Waltz (Old Guy), Téa Leoni (Death of a Unicorn), Keegan-Michael Key (Dear Santa), Beanie Feldstein (Drive-Away Dolls), Dianne Wiest (Apartment 7A) and Jermaine Fowler (Sting). [caption id="attachment_912213" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Patrick Harbron/Hulu[/caption] By now, everyone should already well-aware of Only Murders in the Building's setup. Each season, a new murder takes place in the apartment tower that its main sleuthing trio call home. It was true in 2021's season one, then 2022's season two, 2023's season three and 2024's season four. Also accurate in every season: when Mabel, Charles and Oliver are on the case, a heap of fellow big-name talent both help and hinder their investigations. There's no trailer yet for Only Murders in the Building season five, but check out the date announcement video below: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Only Murders in the Building (@onlymurdershulu) Only Murders in the Building streams Down Under via Disney+, with season five premiering on Tuesday, September 9, 2025. Read our reviews of season one, season two and season three. Top image: Disney/Patrick Harbron.
After spending two seasons giving viewers a glimpse at life when dinosaurs roamed the earth, Prehistoric Planet is getting icy with its just-announced third run. When the acclaimed natural-history series returns in November 2025, it's saying goodbye to Tyrannosaurus rex and its fellow dinos, and hello to woolly mammoths and snow sloths instead — and hi to sabre-toothed tigers and three-feet-tall dwarf elephants as well. Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age is also giving its megafauna-filled trip to the past a new voice. Just a few years ago, no one knew that they needed to hear David Attenborough talk about dinosaurs while watching spectacular photo-realistic recreations of the planet's ancient creatures — and then this series arrived. Attenborough returned for the second season, too. Next up, however, Tom Hiddleston (Loki) is loaning his vocal tones to narrating Prehistoric Planet's third go-around. This docuseries, which proved one of 2022's best new shows when it premiered, has always worked a particular type of magic: letting viewers peer backwards in time to the planet's past thanks to its impressive photorealistic special effects. Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age is deploying its approach to a frozen world, to spend time with the animals of its titular period, including across a variety of terrain, and through the big freeze and the big melt. While there's no Attenborough, Hans Zimmer is still providing the original score, aided by Anže Rozman and Kara Talve from Bleeding Fingers Music. And filmmaker Jon Favreau — who has used the same type of visuals on The Jungle Book and The Lion King — remains an executive producer, as does BBC Studios Natural History Unit's Mike Gunton. While audiences only had to wait a year between the first and second seasons of Prehistoric Planet, more than two-year gap will have passed between season two and Ice Age when the latter starts streaming its five-episode stint via Apple TV+ from Tuesday, November 26, 2025. In 2024, Prehistoric Planet Immersive also added to the franchise with two short episodes of five minutes and under, but only via Apple Vision Pro. There's no trailer yet for Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age, but check out the sneak peeks for season one and season two below: Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age will hit Apple TV+ from Tuesday, November 26, 2025. Read our full reviews of Prehistoric Planet season one and Prehistoric Planet season two, as well as our interview with executive producer Mike Gunton and series producer Tim Walker.
To put it lightly, 2020 has been a pretty surprising year for most. And, while so many small businesses have been forced to downsize in recent months, business owner Lauren Lance found herself in an unexpected position: signing the lease on a second location for her bespoke plant store, The Borrowed Nursery. "I've been so fortunate that I'm in an industry that has seen growth," says Lance. "People are taking more pride in their house because they're spending more time in them." Pre-COVID-19, Lance's focus for The Borrowed Nursery was for it to be a plant hire company servicing people from Brisbane to Byron Bay. The initial inspiration struck when helping some friends plan a wedding. "We were mixing and matching pots to plant succulents in, and I thought there might be something in this idea," she says. As a former interior designer, Lance quickly identified a gap in the market. "There was corporate plant hire available, but nothing where you could be a bit more creative about what you were choosing," she says. "It was all about finding an identity of our own. We wanted to focus on a more 'design' approach." [caption id="attachment_780820" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Shaelah Ariotti[/caption] The early days were a flurry of activity, and Lance remembers scribbling down her daily figures on scraps of paper: "I was not tech savvy. Eventually I realised I needed systems in place, to see which plants were doing well, and where we were making money." After starting with a traditional point of sale system, Lance moved the business across to Square. "We had a machine from a bank, but there were too many limitations. With Square, we could still get all the information and tracking we needed, but it was more user-friendly and cost-effective for the business." After outgrowing its original space, The Borrowed Nursery moved into a new spot at Mermaid Beach. Now with triple the floorspace, Lance was able to start offering the nursery for event hire, too. The industrial-chic venue is a dream location, with soaring ceilings, exposed beams, painted brickwork, and peach-hued doors. Unsurprisingly, the hiring arm of the business was a huge success, and Lance was able to hire the space out for weddings and engagement parties, baby showers, corporate workshops and photo shoots. The business was moving rapidly when suddenly the industry came to a standstill. Under Queensland's lockdown restrictions, with weddings and events postponed indefinitely, The Borrowed Nursery had to pivot in order to survive. "It was really nerve-racking at the start. The plant hire and event hire just completely dried up," she says. [caption id="attachment_780817" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Shaelah Ariotti[/caption] Luckily, Lance was able to lean into the online retail side of the nursery, and noticed that people were buying plants in "volumes we usually only see at Christmas". Shoppers were particularly interested in air-purifying plants, with increased sales of snake plants, ribbon plants and devil's ivy. With people entertaining more at home, The Borrowed Nursery was also quick to boost its homewares line, adding cheeseboards and platters for sale. "Last week we even branched out and added in a cocktail mix, which is kind of random but it's really working, and it's nice to support another local brand," says Lance. Going forward, the business owner is excited to open her next outpost of The Borrowed Nursery, at a location recently secured in Albion, Brisbane. [caption id="attachment_780818" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Shaelah Ariotti[/caption] Following Queensland's lockdown period, The Borrowed Nursery is currently focusing on traditional bricks and mortar retail. But Lance feels confident the e-commerce side of the business will be supported as it expands. "Square helped us with Click and Collect, and it's good to know that it's in the background for our next stage," she says. "You have to ride the wave. You have to be resilient. And you have to remember what your motivation is. For me, it was always about creating something from nothing, creating something truly unique, so that has kept me going." Find out how Square is supporting small businesses with the tools they need to grow, here. Top image: Shaelah Ariotti
Some people attend the Australian Open for the love of the game. while others go for the love of a good tennis get-up. As the official Performance Apparel and Footwear partner of the tournament, New Balance just dropped its AO 2026 collection — a lineup of graphic tees (the favourite 'Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi' slogan is back), seafoam hues and cheerful pieces inspired by American tennis star Coco Gauff's love of the beach — and it's upping the ante again with a relaxed pop-up at Federation Square. From 15 January 2026 – 27 January 2026, stop by the first-of-its-kind New Balance store for finishing touches on game day: tennis-inspired haircuts and manicures; warm-up rounds of lawn balls and arcade games; and fuel from Melbourne favourites Nico's Deli and Coffee Supreme. Hope Street Radio DJs will be on deck with live sets. Cricket fans won't want to miss 19 January — legendary Aussie captain Pat Cummins will be on the lawn ball field at 4 pm. New Balance will be recreating some of the most iconic on-court looks this season. At the French Open 2025, Coco Gauff matched her blue tennis skirt with cat-eye claws to clinch a title — and the stylish player is a favourite to take home the Australian Open too. From 17 January, the artists from Buff Nails will be on hand to craft a cat-eye manicure inspired by her AO kit — a replica of the kit will also be exclusively available at the pop-up. The pop-up is also doing right by a hairstyle that's ruled Aussie sports for years: the mullet. The shaggy cut is a signature of local tennis champion Jordan Thompson — he wear it with a casual backwards cap when he plays, bucking the sport's usually polished style. From 23 January — 25 January, the barbers at Brotherwolf are bringing their scissors and shears to Fed Square. The first three early birds get their mullets cut for free, so roll in at 10 am. Images supplied
By the time October hits, 3600 Australian pharmacies will be administering COVID-19 vaccinations with the Moderna jab. It's the third coronavirus vax to be used in Australia after AstraZeneca and Pfizer, with doses of Moderna arriving on our shores in the past few days — and now being rolled out to chemists nationwide. During the week beginning yesterday, Monday, September 20, 1800 pharmacies will receive their batches and start getting Aussies to roll up their sleeves for Moderna. Next week, from Monday, September 27, that number again will join the Moderna rollout. So, if you haven't had your jabs yet, you now have more options — both in terms of which vaccination to receive and where to get it. Exactly how many pharmacies will be stocked with Moderna in each state varies; however, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed that 721 chemists across his state will be administering the shots from this week. Obviously, which pharmacists themselves are doing Moderna jabs also varies, but the Australian Government Department of Health's Vaccine Clinic Finder website lets you find where you can get it, or the other COVID-19 vaccines if that's what you'd prefer. Moderna's vax got the nod from Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration back in August, with the TGA advising that "the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine has shown strong efficacy preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and severe COVID-19 in clinical trials." In early September, it was approved for 12–17-year-olds, too, meaning that it's now approved for all Aussies over the age of 12. The Australian Government has an agreement with Moderna for 25 million doses of the vaccine, which includes 10 million this year and 15 million in 2022. Elsewhere around the world, Moderna's jab has also received approval or authorisation to use in emergency situations in countries such as United Kingdom, Canada, the European Union, the United States, Switzerland and Singapore. Partly funded by a donation from the one and only Dolly Parton, Moderna's vaccine is actually the fourth to get the nod in Australia, following AstraZeneca, Pfizer and a jab from Johnson & Johnson — the latter of which hasn't been included in the country's vaccine rollout so far. Like the Pfizer vaccine, the Moderna jab is an mRNA-based vaccine. So, it uses a synthetic genetic code called RNA, which tells the cells in our bodies how to make the coronavirus' unique spike protein. Then, once our bodies have done just that, making the protein that's encoded by the mRNA vaccine, we're able to recognise the spike protein as being foreign to our system and launch an immune response against it. Two doses of the Moderna vaccine are required — and while the AstraZeneca jabs are recommended four–12 weeks apart, and the Pfizer jabs three weeks apart, Moderna's should be administered within 28 days of each other. Wondering what that the Moderna approval means in terms of boosting Australia's vaccine ability (because actually getting a jab hasn't been particularly straightforward under the country's slow-moving rollout)? Back when the Moderna vax got the tick, Prime Minister Scott Morrison advised the 25 million doses would join the 125 million doses of Pfizer and 53 million doses of AstraZeneca that are already part of the vaccine campaign. "The first one million doses is on track to arrive next month and will go to pharmacies. Then we will have three million in October, three million in November and three million in December," the PM said. And if you'd like to keep an eye on the country's vaccination rates now that a third vax is in the mix — with those rates tied to easing restrictions nationally, and on a state by state level (as seen in the New South Wales and Victorian roadmaps out of lockdown) — we've rounded up where you can do just that. For more information about the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, head to the TGA website. To find out where you can get vaccinated, check out the Australian Government Department of Health's Vaccine Clinic Finder website.
With so many beauty products floating around, it's hard to know if your current ten- (or one-) step skincare routine is making any kind of difference. It might seem obvious, but Carla Oates, founder of The Beauty Chef, recommends starting with what's on the inside — with products that work on improving your gut and skin microbiome. The Beauty Chef first saw success with its GLOW®️ Inner Beauty Essential: a probiotic supernutrient powder that features powerhouse ingredients such as vitamin C, biotin, niacinamide, prebiotics and zinc to give your skin a serious glow-up, while supporting healthy hair, nails, digestion and energy. The entrepreneur has since spent the past 15 years creating a line of innovative inner beauty products for skin, gut and whole-body wellness that are now sold at David Jones, MECCA and Sephora — as well as beloved by people across the globe. In partnership with Klaviyo, we caught up with Oates to uncover her path into the industry, her advice for fellow entrepreneurs and the importance of listening to your gut. How did The Beauty Chef come about? As a child, I suffered from eczema and allergies. My mum took me to see a naturopath who dramatically changed what I ate, removing processed foods and allergens like gluten and dairy. My allergies and eczema subsided, so I experienced firsthand that what we eat can affect our skin and health. My daughter also experiences eczema and allergies. With the assistance of health professionals, we removed specific trigger foods from her diet, and I began researching the link between gut and skin health. As I explored this link more closely, I decided to put my family on a gut-healing protocol, which included eliminating certain foods and introducing lots of lacto-fermented whole foods with beneficial bacteria into our diet. Friends and family took notice and I realised I was onto something. Why focus specifically on inner beauty? Inner beauty is so important. When people start to delve deeper into understanding what makes skin healthy, it's not so much about what they're putting on their skin but how they're nourishing it from within. I focus on inner beauty because so many benefit from it. I've spoken to people who have tried all sorts of concoctions to remedy their skin on the outside, but it's only once they look to support their skin and health from the inside that results become abundantly clear. Can you break down the gut-skin connection for us in simple terms? The simplest way is to use the analogy of our gut as a garden. If the soil in the garden isn't healthy, balanced and thriving with a good array of nutrients and bacteria, then the plants that grow within its soil will struggle to blossom. The gut is where 70 percent of our immune system lies. It's where we make nutrients, regulate hormones, detoxify enzymes, neutralise pathogens and make neurotransmitters, so it's super important to get your digestive health in check. For someone just discovering The Beauty Chef, where should they start? GLOW®️ Inner Beauty Essential or GLOW AGELESS™ Inner Beauty Essential are five-star probiotic supernutrient formulas that promote healthy glowing skin, hair and nails, energy and gut health. From there, you can target any other specific skin, gut health or wellbeing concerns with products from the rest of our range — all our products are designed to work together for enhanced results. What challenges did you have to overcome as a woman establishing her own business? When I launched in 2009, ingestible beauty was a foreign concept. Pioneering the category wasn't easy because retailers didn't have a category for it. One of the hardest things was convincing manufacturers to support our low volumes. I had to find my CEO voice and seriously hustle to help them see my vision and understand the product. In the beginning, I was wearing every single hat, from product development to marketing and even HR. Now, we have 30 full-time staff at our head office. A key learning for me has been understanding and accepting that I can't be and do everything all the time. And, as the business expands, it's imperative to support that growth with leaders who are specialists in what they do. Networking with other female founders is also very important for me, both professionally and personally. No matter how different our businesses may be, we face similar challenges. When you connect, you can relate to each other and share learnings. How has Klaviyo helped your business? Klaviyo email and SMS have helped The Beauty Chef streamline our communications with our customers. We now have one central platform for key communications to our customers and can effectively personalise and segment to ensure long-term retention. Do you have any advice for other budding entrepreneurs? Do what you love because success requires hard work, so you might as well spend the hard work doing something you wholeheartedly enjoy. Plus, you are bound to be more successful doing something you have fire, passion and drive for. Try not to get caught up in trends and make sure you're creating products that serve a purpose and provide a solution that is unique. And be gutsy and follow your gut instinct. Discover The Beauty Chef's full range of products at the website, and find out more at the Klaviyo website.
By now, it's pretty common knowledge that businesses around Australia have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Depending on what state the business is in, it's weathered multiple lockdowns, seating restrictions and ongoing financial uncertainty. And, through the hardest times, we've also seen resilience and adaptability from small business owners to meet these newfound challenges. Many businesses across the nation have changed the way they operate in order to stay afloat. And, so, in partnership with Square, we've spoken with five business owners across the country to find out how they adapted, what they changed, and what new elements they'll keep in the future. All these small businesses rely on business tools provided by Square, which helps the businesses with contactless payment systems, online stores and delivery services. So you can continue supporting your local with all the convenience you've come to expect from online shopping. THE BLOW DRY BAR THAT TURNED TO ONLINE COMMUNITY BUILDING The hair salon that keeps Melburnians looking photo-ready with exquisite blow drys and dry styles has seen its doors temporarily shut twice this year due to lockdown. The BLOW first closed its doors for seven weeks from March 17, and then again in July, which has meant Founder Phoebe Simmonds has looked to other opportunities to keep going. "We're focusing our efforts on community building activities, as well as expanding a new concept — The BLOW On-The-Go at Sephora Sydney," says Simmonds. For the hair salon, this time has been an opportunity to really connect with its customers online by sharing customers' stories via Facebook. Its Sydney pop-up offers a speedy dry styling service, which has an online booking system supported by Square. "Though we can't currently provide hair styling services or events in Melbourne, we can lean into our network of femme and fierce leaders to share stories of how they're conquering isolation with confidence," she says. "Our community has responded really well, and we love being able to maintain a connection with them. I've learnt a whole new level of resilience, creativity and flexibility. Owning a successful business now comes down to being able to manage ambiguity with grace, grit and a tonne of openness and positivity." THE COFFEE ROASTER AND CAFE THAT TURNED TO GROCERY BOXES AND TAKEAWAY MEALS Melbourne's beloved cafe and coffee roaster in the heart of Collingwood is usually known for its hustle and bustle, so when restrictions set in, Proud Mary had to pivot straight away. "We've completely changed our focus from bustling, noisy and vibrant dining in, to developing the best convenient and fast takeaway offering we can," says General Manager Tom Gunn. "We've pivoted to three different operational styles. Never let a good crisis go to waste, as they say. When we closed the cafe, we started doing delivery of grocery boxes and pre-prepared meals. The community has been fantastic; we've got to know so many more people who are more of the grab-and-go crowd, which we might've missed out on if things had remained normal this year." Gunn and his team has used the lockdown as a chance to develop the cafe's menus, ideas and processes. He says Proud Mary will continue its digital offering into the future, too. THE SPAGHETTI RESTAURANT THAT PIVOTED TO ONLINE STORE During Sydney's lockdown, Mark and Vinny's — the restaurant and bar in Surry Hills known for its spaghetti and spritzes — had to immediately adjust to manage the new dine-in restrictions. "We decided to try our hand at takeout as a matter of survival," says co-owner Vince Pizzinga. "One of the most successful initiatives was creating our own online store using Square, which was hugely helpful in allowing our customers to order directly with us." This was a game-changer for the business as it avoided the crippling fees of popular delivery services, which could exceed 30 percent. Now, post-lockdown, the venue is keeping up the online takeout service to complement the in-house dining, which helps the bottom line given its reduced seating restrictions. "This experience has forced me to take a closer look at how we operate and find ways to be more resourceful and pragmatic," he says. [caption id="attachment_780766" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Shaelah Ariotti[/caption] THE PLANT NURSERY THAT CHANGED ITS STOCK TO SUIT THE MARKET Bespoke plant store The Borrowed Nursery, in the sunny Gold Coast, saw a shift in customer behaviour as soon as lockdown hit. "We lost our venue and plant hire aspects of the business straight away," says owner Lauren Lance. "But we also saw immediate growth in the retail element, so we focused on stocking more items and different item lines, for example home entertaining items and serving ware. "There has been a huge growth in indoor plants with people spending more time inside; they're wanting to make their interiors into an oasis." Being in the lucky state of Queensland, the business hasn't seen a huge downturn during lockdown or endured a second, however, Lance say she's continuing to be adaptable: "Move quickly, read the situation and focus on what works," she says. THE FRIED CHICKEN BAR THAT TEMPORARILY CUT ITS HOURS AND MENU In Fortitude Valley, shipping container-turned-eatery The Lucky Egg had to plan its survival strategy early, as lockdown meant it wouldn't be seeing its usual late-night fried chicken-loving customers. "At the beginning of the lockdown, we closed Lucky Egg for a few weeks while we came to grips with the situation and developed a plan," says Founder Jesse Barbera. "We reopened offering delivery and pick-up with reduced trading hours, and cut back our menu to focus on our most popular products," she says. "Being in the Valley, a good share of our revenue comes from late-night trade on weekends, which we knew we wouldn't get, so we had to slim down as much as possible." Luckily, it did, and now, post-lockdown, the venue has reopened with limited capacity — and making use of its outdoor space — as it slowly returns to normal trading hours. The business has its full menu back, and is even looking to expand its offering. "We've learnt not to take anything for granted," says Barbera. "We've also learnt that our hard work has paid off, and the loyal customers we have are worth their weight in gold." Find out how Square is supporting small businesses with the tools they need to grow, here. Top image: Vince Pizzinga, co-owner of Mark and Vinny's.
In a year when we're all spending a whole lot more time at home than we ever planned to, you may have become obsessed with upgrading your abode (and we don't blame you). One of the best ways to brighten up your space is with pops of colour, and that goes hand-in-hand with one of the most colourful art movements of the last century — the pop art era. Distinguished by its flashy imagery and bold colours, pop art flourished in the 1950s and 60s across the UK and US, and, to a degree, Australia. Whether you're an art lover or just want to freshen up your space, we've picked out six simple ways you can bring a slice of pop art into your life, with help from our friends at LEGO Art — from kitschy statement jewellery to patterned cushions and build-your-own artwork. We've also made sure you can order these items from the comfort of your home. Each item can be shipped directly to your doorstep. [caption id="attachment_782323" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nikita Majajas by Liz Ham[/caption] WEAR POP ART-INSPIRED JEWELLERY FROM DOODAD AND FANDANGO Sydney-based jewellery brand Doodad and Fandango is all about that pop art look, thanks to founder Nikita (Margarita) Majajas' obsession with Japan's Harajuku fashion movement. She creates wearable art that's inspired by the bakelite and celluloid costume jewellery of the 1930s and 50s, and she wants her customers to experience the glamorous look of the era with new, modern designs. These products are anything but fast fashion — every piece is handmade to order using locally sourced, collector's-grade material and the process is sustainable, too. Plus each item is just really fun — think a Stud choker ($140), Act Now earrings ($80) and even a range of bolo ties ($90) to choose from. BUILD ANDY WARHOL'S MARILYN MONROE AND FRAME IT We've been loving the rise of adult colouring books, paint sets and other calming kidult trends. And now a childhood favourite is offering a much more adult version of your favourite coloured bricks. There's a new LEGO Art range which is specifically designed for grown ups. Our pick is the iconic Marilyn Monroe portrait ($199), based on the artwork by Andy Warhol, one of the leading figures of the pop art movement. Each set comes with four different building options, so you can recreate and display the entire portrait series — all with a Warhol signature tile to boot. If puzzling together colourful squares isn't therapeutic enough, the experience also comes with a specially curated soundtrack to listen to as you build. SIP FROM THESE POP ART-INSPIRED MUGS Miss perusing the museum gift shop after seeing an exhibition? Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art has you covered. Whether you live out-of-state or are just being 'rona safe, you don't have to head into the museum to check out its store. The online shop offers a huge range of art-adjacent products that can be delivered direct to your doorstep. Including these Andy Warhol-themed mugs ($24.99), dubbed the 'Andy Tea-Hall'. It's sure to make your daily (or hourly) cuppa a bit more fun. The shop also offers heaps of other ceramics and homewares, as well as jewellery and gift ideas. BRIGHTEN UP THE LOUNGE WITH PATTERNED CUSHIONS World-renowned Finnish brand Marimekko has a penchant for patterns, and it has been brightening up homes and wardrobes around the world for six decades. Expertly crafted to last, the brand's products are the perfect addition to any house. While there are stores all over Australia and New Zealand (and over 100 around the world), you can also simply order online. Marimekko's designs come in all different hues and patterns, with pillows, covers and cushions all on offer — think orange groves, vivid greens, floral patterns and bold black and white shapes. All of the textiles are printed at the company's factory in Helsinki. Cushion covers (50 x 50 centimetres) start from $53, and shipping is free if you spend over $150. STOCK YOUR LIBRARY WITH POP ART BOOKS A coffee table book is a great way to bring pop art into your home without committing to it long-term. There are (not surprisingly) heaps of books on the subject, and Brisbane's Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) is a good place to start. Its online shop offers stacks of art books and specialises in Australian and First Nations art and artists. If you're just beginning your pop art collection, our top pick is Flavia Frigeri's Pop Art: Art Essentials ($20). The book follows the movement from its beginnings in post-war consumerism all the way to its global rise in the 1960s. Explore works by well-known artists like Roy Lichtenstein alongside Japan's Ushio Shinohara and Argentina's Marta Minujín. Delivery is a $15 flat rate across Australia, $30 for New Zealand and $10 if you live locally. SPORT YOUR LOVE FOR WARHOL WITH WEARABLE PIECES OF ART If you're looking for other ways to show your love of pop art without decorating the house, there's a huge range of clothing, jewellery and other art-related fashion accessories up for grabs from the Museum of Contemporary Art. This wooden Andy Warhol brooch ($29) is a hand-painted statement piece that closely aligns with Warhol's quote, "Fashion wasn't what you wore someplace anymore; it was the whole reason for going". Created by Milk Thieves' designer Emma Lee, the brooch was handmade on the South Coast using sustainably sourced, laser-cut bamboo. And it'll add a bit of nostalgic pop culture into your accessory roster. Discover more about the new LEGO Art range, here.
There's never a bad time to bust out the lyrics to 'Footloose', the Kenny Loggins-sung, Oscar-nominated theme to the film of the same name that helped Kevin Bacon dance to fame four decades back. Still, although the track doesn't get a spin in X, Pearl or MaXXXine, its opening line feels particularly relevant to the trilogy, which Bacon has now joined. Since coming up with the idea for three horror movies inspired by pornographic film classifications in the US in 2019, writer/director Ti West (The House of the Devil, The Innkeepers, The Sacrament) has been working so hard to bring a unique slasher saga to the big screen. Working so hard to chase a dream and do more than punch a card has also throbbed within every instalment. Before it had Bacon (Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F) as a sleazy private detective and Australia's own Elizabeth Debicki (The Crown) as a film director, the franchise first had X initially mark the spot in 2022, with the New Zealand-shot feature kicking it back to 1979, to a Texas farmhouse where a porn production featuring an aspiring adult-film actor turns bloody. The talent: Maxine Minx, a force of nature in the movie played by Mia Goth, the X series' own force of nature. Fresh from stealing scenes in Emma, and with standout roles in Nymphomaniac: Vol II, A Cure for Wellness, Suspiria and High Life also on her resume, Goth cemented herself as the consummate horror star in two X roles. She captured Maxine's lust for a life worthy of her ambitions and desires, shooting her shot in the X-rated game, and for survival. She also made the elderly Pearl, one of the remote property's owners, an unforgettable adversary. When X reached audiences, splashing around gore like it truly was a 70s horror flick — and styled playfully to look the part, as if it'd just been unearthed in a dusty barn or basement — good news already beckoned when the film hit the spot with viewers. West and Goth had shot a sequel immediately after the first film, stepping back to 1918 when Pearl was a young woman with her own hopes for the future that spanned far beyond rural life. This time, as the movie's eponymous figure covets chorus-girl gigs and also gracing the pictures, West also took cues 50s-era musicals and melodramas. He didn't hold back in getting bloody, though, and nor did Goth for even a second. Again, viewers lapping up Pearl knew that more was coming. MaXXXine brings the trilogy to a close by once more exploring the pursuit of a Hollywood-tinted dream, also paying tribute to everything that gives movies that I-want-to-be-in-them sheen and equally championing a woman who isn't going to settle for anything less than her fantasies by choice. It's now 1985, Maxine has made it in porn, but she wants to move out of skin flicks and go legit, winning a role in — what else? — a horror sequel. The timing steeps the picture in the backlash against supposedly inappropriate pop-culture wares, while also setting it against the Night Stalker killings, all as someone begins taking a literal stab at Tinseltown's starlets and others in Maxine's orbit. [caption id="attachment_965315" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Stewart Cook/Getty Images for A24[/caption] West and Goth's three films haven't ever lacked name power. West has been a genre favourite ever since 2009's The House of the Devil, which also gave a slasher a satanic panic spin. Goth's stature was rising already in 2022, and fast. Jenna Ortega (Scream VI) and Scott Mescudi (Silent Night) were among X's other actors, while Pearl precedes the next Superman — playing the Man of Steel, too — on David Corenswet's (We Own This City) resume. But it's the 80s in MaXXXine, so everything is bigger, including the film's array of familiar faces. Cue not just Bacon and Debicki cutting loose in the franchise, but also Giancarlo Esposito (The Boys), Lily Collins (Emily in Paris), Bobby Cannavale (Bupkis), Michelle Monaghan (The Family Plan) and Halsey (Americana). With Bacon, who visibly relishes getting shady as questionable detective John Labat, MaXXXine's love of the 80s and its cinema couldn't be paired with a better icon from the period. With The Night Manager, Widows and Tenet's Debicki as Elizabeth Bender, the female filmmaker helming The Puritan 2 — Maxine's hopeful big Hollywood break — the movie earns another opportunity to explore the expectations enforced upon women and the battle to buck them. Ahead of MaXXXine reaching cinemas Down Under on Thursday, July 11, 2024, we chatted with Bacon and Debicki about joining the trilogy, covering Debicki's admiration for Goth, the full-circle feel for Bacon and another way that the feature wears its love for cinema on its frames: multiple scenes set on the Universal backlot on the Bates Motel set from Psycho. On Sliding Into a Franchise with Such Commanding Performances by Mia Goth at Its Centre Maxine Minx will not accept a life that she does not deserve in MaXXXine. That isn't just an observation — it's a mantra. If it was revealed that Goth had been uttering the same words IRL but about starring roles, in fact, it wouldn't come as a surprise. In the saga's latest chapter, nothing is going to get in Maxine's way, not a serial killer, not a private detective rifling through her past, not the weight of expectation when it comes to her first chance in Hollywood. How does acting against a performance like that help Goth's co-stars? Debicki, who also shares Everest on her filmography with Goth, has nothing but praise. "I think she's phenomenal and she's quite mesmerising. She's really a unique creature. She occupies a very interesting energy field. And I felt that when I watched the two films. I've been a fan of hers for a long time because I think what she's been doing in this genre is really kind of radical — she's amazing to watch on screen," Debicki explains. "So it was really just delightful for me, because the first thing I shot was the golf cart monologue and I spent maybe eight hours talking. We were just going round and round in a golf cart, and I was just chewing her ear off, and she was a very good sport about it." "But she exudes Maxine energy. There's no other way to put it. And so because she's the centre of the film and we all come in and out and shoot however many days, she's the vibration — in a way — that you meet, and each character meets and reflects off. I don't know how else to put it. She's the thing we all orbit around. So she really has to hold that space, and she does it amazingly well." Debicki knows Bender's perspective on Maxine, too, as any actor playing a part should of their on-screen alter ego. "I found her kind of maddening, as in the character. She's so on another stratosphere that as Liz Bender, I want rip her down to earth and get her to react the way I want her to. But also, you know that Liz Bender knows her value is that she's kind of on another planet." Seeing MaXXXine's finished product only cemented Debicki's appreciation, however. "I just think she's amazing in this film. And I felt that watching it too — a mesmeric performance that really holds you for the whole thing. I'm a big fan." On Throwing It Back to Footloose-Style Pop-Culture Backlashes, Getting a Start in Horror and All Things 80s From the instant that X started flickering, West's commitment to revelling in the film's period setting was as clear as the determination in Goth's eyes that she, like Maxine, wasn't going to let anything that she wanted pass her by. The years changed, but that era-appropriate dedication didn't fade in Pearl. MaXXXine makes it three for three, while expanding the movies beyond the farm that was so pivotal to the initial two instalments. That sense of immersion isn't just about aesthetics, either. It must've felt that way on paper, and it definitely plays like it on-screen: casting Bacon is a stroke of genius, especially in a feature arriving 40 years on from Footloose that places him in another picture where music and entertainment is considered evil by some. He's also in an 80s-set slasher film after the OG Friday the 13th, an 80s slasher film, was one of his early on-screen credits. Ask Bacon if being in MaXXXine feels a bit like a full-circle moment and of course he sees it, too. "You know, it really does. It's also 40 years since Beverly Hills Cop, and I'm in the new Beverly Hills Cop. And MaXXXine takes place in 85, which is a year hence from when both of those movies came out," he tells Concrete Playground. "I think it really hit me — there's a scene out on Hollywood Boulevard at night. And I walked up there and I saw all the period cars, and I saw that the sets were dressed and the stores, things that were all super, super authentic, and the way that people were dressed. And I went 'wow, this is really like time traveling'." On the Layers of Mythology, Horror Love and Film History That Come with Shooting on the Bates Motel Set Still on blasts from the past, MaXXXine nods back further than the 80s (or even the 70s, when mentions of X's events pop up). Not once but twice while she's on the Universal lot making The Puritan 2, including with Bender and then Labat for company, Maxine walks in the footsteps of Marion Crane. As immortalised by Janet Leigh — mother of Jamie Lee Curtis, for more horror ties — the character's mid-shower fate in one of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpieces gave cinema the definitive slasher sequence. West doesn't dare attempt to recreate the scene, even if the 1998 remake with Anne Heche (All Rise) did, but love for Psycho is splattered on welcomely and gloriously thick. Accordingly, MaXXXine is well-aware of film history, and strengthens its homage to filmmaking at every possible point, with working in the set to one of the earliest slasher flicks while making a slasher flick one such tactic. Yes, that adds another layer to the picture's cinema worship — and swirls in more meta hijinks for Bacon, more eeriness for Debicki and more fun for both. "I think that the two times that we shot on the lot, for me, were very meta in a way. Not even just the Bates Motel horror movie part, but just the whole making of films and running through the flats, and going in and out of these fake buildings — it was great. That was some of the most fun I've had making a movie in a really long time," Bacon advises. "And certainly to end up with that chase scene at the Bates Motel, to walk up those steps and, you know, knock on that door — great, great moment for me." "The same for me," Debicki adds. "There's a very specific — I'm very esoteric today — but there's a very specific energy off that set. I think it's what you bring. It's a pretty creepy place. Would you agree, Kevin? Like it's got a super creepy, it's a creepy vibe." "It does," Bacon concurs. "So you feel it," continues Debicki. "It's something about how it's sort of exactly how you remember in the film, but really kind of dilapidated. Some of the crew were going in and out of the actual rooms in the motel, and someone was like 'come and look at this'. And I was like 'I am not'. Because actually it feels super weird to me." "So I loved it. It really helped me, again, to have that scene where we drive up and we land in this place that's steeped in this mythology. It's just really fun, actually, to have that. And it really helped me. If we'd been shooting off a mockup of that set, it wouldn't be the same performance, I don't think, from either of us." MaXXXine opens in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, July 11, 2024. Read our review.
Missoni, Desert Designs, Stella McCartney; not all of us can blow our allowance on these high fashion must-haves. But over the years, Target have made things a little easier with affordable capsule collections aplenty — and today they've announced their next big pull. Bringing things home with one of the industry's most sought after young guns, Target have announced a one-off women’s capsule collection by celebrated Australian designer Dion Lee . Available from July 2, 2015, the limited edition collection marks the latest 'Designer for Target' range; launching in 35 selected stores nationally and online — probably a better option if you're not one to wear mouthguards into stores (things can get hair-pully at these instore launches). Constantly pinned as a 'one-to-watch' young Australian designer, Lee's collections are sought after by cocktail dress-lovers and sharp jacket fiends alike. Lee's 35-piece Target collection marks his very first performance-wear range, with day-to-night clothing, loungewear, performance wear and accessories ranging between $25 and $119. Wanting to harness the brand's rapid expansion into this new performance-wear realm, Lee saw the pair-up as a no-brainer. "As our international business continues to grow, we were excited about the opportunity to create a collection that will give more women across Australia access to the Dion Lee brand,” says Lee. “The Dion Lee for Target collection is designed to reflect the lifestyle of the contemporary woman, mixing elements of tailoring, lounge and active wear, to create the ultimate modern wardrobe." “The active Australian lifestyle inspired me to create a range of stylish and effortless clothing for women to wear every day," says Lee. "The collection features signature tailored detailing, laser cut and technical fabrications, and a first- ever performance capsule... Even though the designs can be technical, I think style and function remain paramount." Dion Lee for Target will launch nationally and online on July 2.
Move over Egypt: this summer, visiting the Australian Museum means venturing to South America. After dedicating the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024 to blockbuster exhibition Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs, the Sydney institution is wrapping up this year and starting 2025 with another massive must-see blast from the past. In an Aussie-exclusive season, Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru will display 134 priceless artefacts and head back over 3000 years. When it opens on Saturday, November 23, 2024, this historical showcase from Peru's Museo Larco and Museo de Sito Manuel Chavez Ballon will feature jewels, masks and other treasures, some of which have been found in royal tombs. As the name makes plain, gold is a focus. In fact, Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru boasts the most-opulent collection of Andean gold that's ever left Peru. As well as peering at its items across the exhibition's six-month stay, attendees will be able to explore Machu Picchu via virtual reality — although that part comes at an extra fee. This highlight of the program is the first-ever VR 'fly-through' of the famous site, organisers advise, and will get Australian Museum visitors feeling like they've been transported both back in time and to the other side of the world via not just VR, but also 360-degree motion chairs and drone footage. "One of the Seven Wonders of the World, Machu Picchu is a top bucket-list destination for many Australians, and this exhibition will further inspire visitors with its state-of-the-art storytelling alongside treasures from these intriguing ancient empires," said Australian Museum Director and CEO Kim McKay AO, announcing the exhibition. "I'm delighted that the Australian Museum will be hosting this exhibition highlighting the rich history and culture of ancient Peru, enabling the people of NSW and beyond to experience Machu Picchu and all our country has to offer," added Consul-General of Peru Mr José Alberto Ortiz. "Through the representation and interpretation of the myths and rituals of Andean civilisations and their rediscovery and reappraisal in the 21st century, it seems possible to reconstruct the foundational images of modern Peru." "I know the public will be captivated by our unique culture dating back more than 3000 years and will be fascinated by the stories of five empires which are still present in our country today," Ortiz continued. Sydney is just the fourth place in the world to welcome Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru, after the exhibition's stops in Boca Raton in the US, Paris in France and Milan in Italy. Expect the Australian season to be busy, given the nation's love of historical exhibitions at the Australian Museum — breaking attendance records, Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs, which was also produced by Neon Global, sold more than 508,000 tickets. Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru opens at the Australian Museum, 1 William Street, Sydney, from Saturday, November 23, 2024 — head to the exhibition website for further details, and tickets from Tuesday, October 8, 2024. Images: Neon Global.
Everyone remembers studying ancient Egyptian history in school. Pyramids, pharaohs, boy kings, mummification: they aren't easily forgotten. Your next chance to explore this chapter of the past will get you walking through works from centuries ago, covering the time of Tutankhamun, Ramses II, Nefertari, Khufu and even Alexander the Great, all as part of an impressive exhibition at Melbourne's NGV International called Pharaoh. Meet the venue's midyear blockbuster for 2024, which will fall into Victoria's annual Melbourne Winter Masterpieces season. Following on from 2023's Pierre Bonnard: Designed by India Mahdavi, this middle-of-the-calendar spectacular will run from Friday, June 14–Sunday, October 6 and feature items from the British Museum. That loan is quite significant, too, with Pharaoh including the venue's biggest-ever borrowing of ancient Egyptian jewellery, as well as pieces that previously haven't been shown. [caption id="attachment_918948" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Statue of Ramses II as a high-priest, Abydos, Egypt, 19th Dynasty, reign of Ramses II, about 1279-1213 BC, Limestone, H 171cm, W 71.5cm, D 98cm, © The Trustees of the British Museum.[/caption] In total, more than 500 works will be on display as the NGV peers back at Egypt from the 1st Dynasty to the Roman era — so, from around 3000 BCE to the 4th century CE. Expect to see plenty of gleaming artefacts given that focus on ancient Egyptian jewellery. The exhibition will also span coffins and other funerary items, as well as examples of architecture spanning tombs, temples, and also massive monuments and sculptures. "Pharaoh seeks to introduce a new generation of visitors to the perennially fascinating visual culture of ancient Egypt through an unprecedented exhibition of sculpture, architecture, jewellery and more from the British Museum in London," said NGV Director Tony Ellwood AM, announcing the exhibition. "The NGV's exhibition will place precedence on the exceptional craftsmanship of the ancient Egyptians, highlighting their refined artistic sensibility and technical skill." [caption id="attachment_918946" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Shabti of Pharaoh Sety I, Tomb of Sety I, Valley of the Kings, Thebes, Egypt, 19th Dynasty, reign of Sety I, about 1294-1279 BC, Blue faience, H 22.8 cm, W 9.6 cm, D 9.6 cm, © The Trustees of the British Museum.[/caption] Among the specific highlights, a hefty wall from a 2.5-metre-high, three-metre-wide limestone wall from a mastaba tomb dating back to the Old Kingdom is one of them — complete with hieroglyphic texts carved into the surface. Also going big: a huge fist made of stone from a statue of Ramses II that hails from Memphis, in the temple of Ptah, and weighs in at almost 1.5 tonnes. Still on that particular ruler, Pharaoh will feature an enormous limestone statue of Ramses II that shows him as a high priest. Visitors will also be able to see a seated statue of Sety II, Ramses II's grandson, which is also notable for being one of the most complete sculptures that still exist from the time. Or, check out Pharaoh's oldest item, a five-centimetre-wide ivory label that shows the 1st Dynasty's King Den. Jumping forward, a green siltstone head of the 18th Dynasty's Tuthmose III wearing the cobra headdress will also feature. [caption id="attachment_918943" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ivory label with King Den, Abydos, Egypt, 1st Dynasty, about 2985 BC, Ivory, H 4.5cm, W 5.3cm, D 0.3cm, © The Trustees of the British Museum.[/caption] Among the gold, silver and gemstone-studded jewellery, everything from rings and necklaces to collars and girdles will be on display — and as sourced from tombs, so will amulets that were placed to protect the deceased, to examine the role that adorning bodies played in ancient Egyptians' beliefs about the afterlife. Pharaoh won't just focus on jewels used after death, however, with pieces from places such as Akhenaten's royal city Amarna also part of the exhibition as it examines everyday life. Still on royals, the showcase will boast objects from Deir el-Medina, where the craftspeople who were responsible for carving and decking out the Valley of the Kings' royal tombs resided. Here, attendees will see letters, notes, sketches and poems carved on limestone fragments. "The British Museum's collection of ancient Egyptian objects — one of the most comprehensive outside of Egypt — tells the fascinating story of life and death in the ancient Nile Valley in unparalleled depth and breadth. We are thrilled to be able to share the collection with the Australian public and celebrate the extraordinary artistry of the ancient Egyptians with a new international audience," added Daniel Antoine, the British Museum's Keeper, Egypt and Sudan. While Pharaoh is exclusive to Melbourne, it's about to become a great time to step back to this chapter in the past Down Under, with Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs also on the way to the Australian Museum in Sydney to display more 181 rare artefacts and treasures. [caption id="attachment_918944" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ornament of a winged scarab holding a sun-disc, Provenance unknown, possibly Thebes, Egypt, 12th Dynasty, reign of Senusret II, about 880-1874 BC, Electrum, lapis lazuli, cornelian and feldspar, H 1.8cm, W 3.5cm, D 3cm , © The Trustees of the British Museum.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_918947" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Statue of a lion erected by Amenhotep III, reinscribed by Tutankhamun, Gebel Barkal, Sudan, 18th Dynasty, reign of Amenhotep III, about 1390-1352 BC, Red granite, H 117cm, W 216cm, D 93cm, © The Trustees of the British Museum. [/caption] [caption id="attachment_918942" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Head of colossal statue, probably of Amenemhat III Bubastis, Egypt 12th Dynasty, reign of Amenemhat III, about 1854-1808 BC Granodiorite H 83cm, W 85cm, D 71cm © The Trustees of the British Museum.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_918950" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ostracon showing Khnummose worshipping Meretseger, Deir el-Medina, Egypt, 19th–20th Dynasty, about 1295-1069 BC, Limestone, H 16.5 cm, W 20.2 cm, © The Trustees of the British Museum.[/caption] Pharaoh will display at NGV International on St Kilda Road, Melbourne from Friday, June 14–Sunday, October 6, 2024 — head to the NGV website for further details and tickets. Top image: Plaque of Amenemhat IV, Probably Byblos, Lebanon, 12th Dynasty, reign of Amenemhat IV, about 1808- 1799 BC, Gold, H 2.9 cm, W 3.1 cm, D 0.1 cm, © The Trustees of the British Museum.
A great bar isn't just about the tap count, but that figure can be a sign of a more-the-merrier situation for beer lovers. When the number is hefty, usually so are your drinks choices, including trying tipples that you mightn't have had a chance to otherwise. So when a 120-tap bar awaits, it really is a case of imagining the possibilities. The Great Australasian Beer Spectapular, aka GABS, loves getting creative with beers — and loves letting attendees at its annual festivals sip and sample over 100 different varieties each year. In 2025, when the fest returns to Melbourne in April, then to Brisbane and Sydney in May, it'll set up that 120-tap bar, all in a straight line. Exactly 100 of those taps will pour beers, and the weirder and wilder the flavours, the better. The other 20 will feature spirits, cocktails and other beverages. For many of the brews on offer at GABS, this is either the first time or the only place that you can taste them. It's too early for details on specific beers as yet, but sushi beer, cookie stouts and lollipop sours have featured in the past. Think of a foodstuff — peanut butter, coffee, earl grey tea, chicken salt, pizza, fairy floss, bubblegum, doughnuts, red frogs and sour gummy bears, for instance — and there's likely been a brew made to taste exactly the same at GABS. This year, GABS is doing two-day visits to its three Aussie stops. Across Friday, April 4–Saturday, April 5, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre will be saying cheers. Then, from Friday, May 23–Saturday, May 24, it'll be time to clink cups at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, before ICC Sydney hosts the last event of the tour on Friday, May 30–Saturday, May 31. If you're a newcomer to GABS, it started off as a Melbourne-only celebration of ales, lagers, ciders and more. Then it began spreading along Australia's east coast capitals, as well as to New Zealand. The event surveys both Australian and New Zealand breweries, plus sometimes some guests from further afield — Schlenkerla and Weihenstephan, both from Germany, are the first names on the list in 2025 — with more than 60 normally showcasing their wares annually. Also on the bill: other tipples, including non-alcoholic beers, seltzers, whiskey, gin, cocktails and wines. GABS is known for dishing up a hefty lineup of activities to accompanying all that sipping, too, which usually spans a silent disco, roaming bands, circus and sideshow performers, games and panels with industry leaders, plus local food trucks and vendors to line your stomach. And you might just find a ferris wheel or a mullet bar — yes, dispensing the haircuts — as well, as they've popped up in the past. Great Australasian Beer Spectapular 2025 Friday, April 4–Saturday, April 5 — Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne Friday, May 23–Saturday, May 24 — Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane Friday, May 30–Saturday, May 31 — ICC Sydney, Sydney GABS will take place across Australia's east coast throughout April and May 2025 — head to the event's website for further details.
Next time you swing past your local petrol station, you might be able to pick up more than just questionable coffee and Cadbury chocolate bars. In fact, you may be able to leave with a full tank, a rotisserie chicken and some luxe mac 'n' cheese. David Jones and BP have teamed up to open 31 super-fancy convenience stores across Sydney and Melbourne by the end of 2020. The duo has already opened ten trial stores across the two cities, with the first opening in Melbourne's Bayside back in November 2019. The new stores are set to open in Merrifield, Clyde, Epping, Caroline Springs, Eltham, Greenvale and Kingsway in Victoria, as well as in NSW's Kellyville, Marsden Park, Seven Hills, Willoughby, Caringbah, Mosman, Sydenham, Penrith, Thornleigh, Asquith, Engadine, Peninsula, West Ryde and Ourimbah. And they'll each be selling more than 350 different products. As well as top-shelf groceries, such as meats, fancy olive oil and peanut butter, they'll be home to a heap of ready-to-eat and heat-at-home meals. Pick from the likes of salads, sandwich and pastries — all David Jones quality, of course — and meals like green curry chicken, butter chicken, lasagne, mac 'n' cheese and free-range rotisserie chook, which are prepared on site each day. Because we live in pandemic times, each store will also offer a range of items for delivery via UberEats. Called Everyday by BP X David Jones, the delivery service is already available from Sydney's Artarmon, Ashfield, Kingsford and Rozelle, and Bayside, Brighton, Clarendon, Greensborough, Ringwood and Tally Ho in Melbourne. On the menu: pulled pork empanadas, haloumi fritters, bolognese and passionfruit cheesecake mousse. For more information about BP X David Jones stores, head to the BP website.
Send in the terrifying clown: that's what Stephen King did when he penned IT back in 1986, as did a 1990 miniseries adaptation of his horror novel, then the hit 2017 IT movie and its 2019 sequel IT: Chapter Two. A prequel to those two recent films, IT: Welcome to Derry is doing the same. Pennywise is back, and Bill Skarsgård (Nosferatu) in the part, in a small-screen return to the franchise that's premiering in October 2025. If you've read much of King's work, then you would've agreed with some of the first words spoken in the initial teaser trailer for HBO's new IT series: "anywhere but Derry". That's a great motto if you're keen to avoid unnerving and supernatural events, which have frequented the fictional town's streets in the author's pages for decades — and in their leaps to the screen, too. The just-dropped second sneak peek at the show keeps demonstrating why the Maine locale isn't an ideal place to live. "Things are certainly different here" is quite the understatement, in fact, as is "things do happen from time to time". King's go-to setting is clearly at the heart of the series, which steps through Derry's scares before the terror that viewers have already seen and experienced. Alongside the transdimensional evil entity known as Pennywise, there's a spate of missing children, more kids seeking answers, a new family moving in, uncaring police, violence in the streets, a curfew, eerie smiles and cackles, voices in the pipes and a crimson balloon — as per the two teasers so far. If you've somehow missed all things IT until now, it follows the exploits of that maniacal clown, as well as the folks that he's rather fond of terrorising. IT: Welcome to Derry's cast includes Taylour Paige (Brothers), Jovan Adepo (3 Body Problem), Chris Chalk (Feud), James Remar (Megalopolis), Stephen Rider (What Lies Under the Tree), Madeleine Stowe (Soundtrack) and Rudy Mancuso (The Flash). Returning to oversee the show is filmmaker Andy Muschietti, who helmed the most-recent two IT movies and last directed DC Extended Universe flick The Flash. He's also behind the camera here on multiple episodes, expanding his Derry-set vision from his two features. And yes, HBO and its streaming service HBO Max are in franchise mode of late, adding The Penguin to the world of The Batman, expanding the Game of Thrones realm with not only House of the Dragon but also the upcoming A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, announcing a new drama series set in The Conjuring universe and locking in a Harry Potter series that readapts the books. IT: Welcome to Derry falls into the same camp. Watch the latest IT: Welcome to Derry teaser trailer below: IT: Welcome to Derry is set to stream via HBO Max in Australia and Neon in New Zealand from sometime in October 2025 — we'll update you with an exact release date when it is announced. Images: HBO.
Melburnians, when it comes to burgers, puppies and glamping, you absolutely can't get enough. And now another opportunity to disappear into a bell tent has arisen. This time, you'll be heading to Terindah Estate, a winery on the Bellarine Peninsula, 20 minutes' drive east of Geelong and 80 minutes' southwest of Melbourne. Terindah has partnered with Twilight Glamping to bring you Glamping Amongst The Vines, a pop of up 15 luxury bell tents. Perched near a private beach, this temporary village overlooks epic views of Port Phillip Bay, backdropped by the Melbourne skyline. The scene is particularly dramatic, come sunrise and sunset. In between soaking up nature, kick back on a queen-sized bed (or a twin, if you're travelling with a mate), draped in luxurious linen and plenty of cosy blankets. Every tent also comes with a jute rug, chairs, side table, mirror, towels and USB-powered lantern. Shower facilities are also located on site. There's no need to cook – nor go anywhere – if you're not in the mood. For $25 per person, Terindah will deliver a French breakfast basket, packed with fresh pastries, chocolate bread, orange juice and coffee ($25 per person). To keep you going through the day, you can add a picnic hamper ($100 for two), crowded with terrines, smoked and cured meats, fresh sourdough bread, Manzanillo olives, cornichons and pickles. You can choose to devour this on the beach, or eat it amongst the wines. Another culinary option is The Shed, Terindah's onsite restaurant, which is open for brekkie on weekends and dinner on Saturday nights. If you don't have a car, you also have the option of catching a ferry to the new beachside glamping site. Jump on the Port Phillip Ferry at the Docklands and you'll be picked up when it docks at Bellarine's Portarlington Tents are $200 per night. Images: Ferne Millen.
After confirming the plans last year, and introducing the legislation to parliament back in June, the Victorian Government has followed through with its promised statewide ban on single-use plastic shopping bags, with the ban finally coming into effect on Friday, November 1, 2019. Considering supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths began enforcing their own nationwide plastic bag bans over a year ago — and local shopping spots including the Queen Victoria Market and South Melbourne Market both scrapped plastic over the last couple of years — you've probably already got a solid collection of reusable bags ready to go. If not, we suggest you invest, tout de suite. Victorian retailers — including supermarkets, corner stores and your favourite vintage shop — can now be fined for supplying customers with any single-use lightweight plastic shopping bags (with a thickness of 35 microns or less), including those made from biodegradable or compostable plastic. Under the new law, even individuals who run a small business online or as a market stall could be fined a maximum of $6000. [caption id="attachment_663522" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Queen Victoria Market banned plastic bags earlier this year.[/caption] Plastic bags that aren't included in the ban include garbage bags, bin liners, animal waste bags and those thin 'barrier bags' you get with your fruit and veggies. Although if want to do your extra bit for the environment, you can get reusable cotton or mesh produce bags from homewares stores, supermarkets and online retailers — the same spots where you'll find reusable takeaway containers, drink bottles, straws and cutlery. When disposing of that stockpile of old plastic bags, remember that these, and other soft plastics, must be kept out of your kerbside recycling bin — instead, you can recycle them (and things like glad wrap, zip lock bags and plastic food packaging) at most supermarkets through REDcycle. So get in the habit of always carrying around a reusable bag whenever you leave the house — keep a stash in your car, or there are plenty of options that fold up nice and small and won't take up much space in your handbag or backpack for those spontaneous purchases. As well as being a big win for the environment, the ban brings Victoria into line with South Australia, the ACT, the NT, Western Australia, Tasmania and Queensland, who have all banned single-use plastic bags. NSW is now the only state that hasn't committed to a ban, after a bill proposed by NSW Labor failed to make it through the lower house last week. Victoria's single-use plastic bag ban kicks in on Friday, November 1. To find out more, head to the Victorian Government website.
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But during these pandemic times while scores of venues are closed, it might also be the only way to get your mitts on your favourite cult dish. Right now, dining out is off the cards and we're all inside racking up plenty of spare hours perfecting those kitchen skills. So, what better time for the minds behind some of the world's greatest cult dishes to share their culinary secrets? From Disneyland's sugar-dusted churro bites, to IKEA's much-loved meatballs, a bunch of famed spots have revealed their secret recipes for you to recreate at home. Add a few of these classics to your iso cooking repertoire. DISNEY'S CHURRO BITES AND MICKEY MOUSE-SHAPED BEIGNETS Disney's renowned collection of theme parks might be temporarily closed in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19, but your inner child will be chuffed to hear it's simply relocating the magic...to your house. Along with virtual tours and new online offerings, the company's keeping that whimsical spirit alive by sharing some of its best-known recipes through its Disney Magic Moments series. Top of everyone's kitchen hit-list are the classic Disney churro bites, which are on the menu at every single Disney park across the globe. The recipe is fairly straightforward and if you've been lucky enough to wrangle some flour (if not, here's where you'll find some), you should already have most of the ingredients at home. Oh, and we're sure the four-person serving size is just a suggestion… Elsewhere on the site, you'll find recipes for its sugar-dusted Mickey Mouse-shaped beignets. PIZZA EXPRESS'S DOUGH BALLS Internationally loved, UK-born chain Pizza Express has done its many fans a solid, by releasing the recipe for its legendary dough balls into the world. While its restaurants are shut in accordance with public health measures, the group's fluffy, buttery snacks are yours for the making. Nab some yeast and flour, along with a few other pantry basics, and you could be pulling a tray of these beauties out of the oven in no time at all. Fancy something a little heartier? Pizza Express has also dropped the recipe for its classic margherita, so bring on the at-home pizza parties. https://twitter.com/PizzaExpress/status/1250363279945367553 IKEA'S MEATBALLS IKEA's Swedish meatballs have earned almost as much buzz for the furniture giant as its signature flatpack home accessories. And while those blessed balls are off the menu with the chain's in-store restaurants temporarily closed due to COVID-19, there's nothing stopping you recreating the goodness at home. IKEA has released its once-secret meatball recipe to the internet gods, complete with a handy, illustrated step-by-step guide. Each batch makes enough pork and beef meatballs — and matching rich cream sauce — to serve four. And chances are, you can knock it all together in less time than it takes to assemble one of IKEA's flatpack creations. DOUBLETREE BY HILTON'S CHOC CHIP COOKIES If you've ever stayed at a DoubleTree by Hilton hotel, chances are you're a sucker for the complimentary warm chocolate chip cookies the group serves each of its guests on arrival. But you no longer need to book in an overnight stay to sink your teeth into one of these cult baked goods — the recipe's now available online. With most travel plans on hold while the world's in pandemic fighting mode, Hilton has shared the blueprint for its covetable cookies so you can have a crack at baking them yourself. Whip up a batch of these minimal hassle treats and inject a little jet-setting, hotel-living style into your iso situation. [caption id="attachment_768714" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Flickr/Alpha[/caption] MCDONALD'S SAUSAGE & EGG MCMUFFIN Thanks to the magic of drive-through and delivery, there's pretty much no need to forego your Macca's fix here in Australia, even when self-isolating. But if you've jumped on the home cooking bandwagon hard, you can now have a go at perfecting your own version of the humble McDonald's sausage and egg McMuffin. After shutting all of its stores in response to the pandemic, McDonald's UK has gifted the world with the recipe for the brand's globally-loved breakfast treat. With just four ingredients and only a handful of steps, this one sure seems like a pretty easy culinary project and judging from the #McDonaldsAtHome feed on Twitter, has proved successful for plenty of folks. How will your DIY McMuffin stack up to the original? ACME-STYLE PASTA DISHES FROM MITCH ORR It was a sad day when Rushcutters Bay favourite ACME shut its doors for good last year. But the award-winning restaurant is back in spirit — kind of — to help cure those isolation blues and answer all your pasta cravings. Chef and co-owner Mitch Orr has taken to Instagram to share a slew of his own go-to recipes and it's about as close as you'll get to having ACME reincarnated, at your house. Jump over to his page for a step-by-step photo guide to dreamy dishes like pasta arrabbiata, creamy boscaiola, a classic bolognese and a 'turbo schnitty' featuring Lao Gan Ma chilli sauce.
Wine lovers of Australia, rejoice: picking your next bottle of plonk just got a whole lot easier. In fact, you don't even need to choose — or leave the house — thanks to top Melbourne sommelier Virginia Selleck and her new, curated online wine shop. Joining the ever-growing ranks of wine delivery options, Magnum + Queens promises a rotating array of specially selected stock brought to your door Australia-wide, with each month's offerings following a different theme. To celebrate their launch, May's batch has been dubbed The New Guard. Customers can opt for small, medium or large packs of three, six or 12 bottles, then enjoy Selleck's favourites from around the globe. Individual bottles are also available, and folks that sign up for a subscription will get access to specials, rare vintages and other hard to find drops. Not your usual online bottle-o, but not a traditional wine service either, Magnum + Queens wants to expand your wine-drinking remit; expect industry stalwarts among their wares, but also expect grape-based goodness from tiny wineries, family-run outfits, new brands, innovative winemakers as well. That could include varieties from France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and our local efforts, and even Spanish sherry and Japanese sake. "Our aim is to introduce customers to carefully selected, quality wines from all over the globe, and specifically from small, sustainable, craft producers that focus on new varietal wines that are interesting and delicious," says Selleck. A joint venture with photographer Kirsten Dickie, Magnum + Queens arrives at what's proving a busy time for the sommelier — after working at Melbourne's Cumulus, Inc, Rockpool Bar & Grill, The Stokehouse and Prince Wine Store, she's now the wine director at Wilson & Market. Find Magnum + Queens at www.magnumandqueenswine.com.
We might not have a harbour like our mates up north, but we do have a Yarra River dotted with its fair share of breezy riverside venues. And that collection of waterfront haunts is about to get a little bigger, when new pontoon bar and eatery Yarra Botanica opens its doors in March. Yes folks, Melbourne's set to score another floating bar — and we don't even have to wait until the start of another summer to enjoy it. The work of Australian Venue Co (Fargo & Co, State of Grace, Kewpie, College Lawn Hotel), Yarra Botanica will make its home at Southbank from early spring, delivering a year-round, all-weather food and drink destination where Victorian produce reigns supreme. [caption id="attachment_840167" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sandridge Bridge, Dietmar Rabich via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] As the name suggests, the two-level venue is working to a strong botanical theme, lush with native plants and Indigenous aquatic vegetation, and consciously designed to have minimal impact on the surrounding environment. Onboard, you'll find planter boxes, climbing vines, herb gardens and plenty of edible plants destined for the drinks menu. What's more, only Victorian drops will appear on that list of libations, with the bar committed to pouring exclusively homegrown sips in strong support of the Drinks Victoria program. The extensive lineup is set to showcase plenty of gin — garnished with botanicals from the onsite herb gardens, if you fancy — along with a hefty spread of cocktails, beer, wine and spirits. The matching food offering will feature mostly Victorian produce, with the seasonal menu running to pub-style snacks, share plates and wood-fired pizzas. Expect a focus on fresh local seafood, too. The space itself is a multifaceted one, decked out with group-friendly booths, day beds and sprawling market umbrellas, with an array of comfy spots for kicking back to enjoy the waterfront views. And as for the entertainment, there's a whole stack of goodies to come, including DJs, live tunes and boozy brunch sessions. Yarra Botanica will launch on the river at Sandridge Bridge, Southbank, from March 16. We'll share more details as they drop. Top Image: A render of Yarra Botanica
You don't need to go far to find creativity in Melbourne. Each suburb is brimming with street art, independent boutiques and quirky food vendors. But the smaller guys — those with side hustles, passion projects and small businesses in their garage — are a little harder to find. Enter The Melbourne Collective, a design market which brings all of these local creatives together to showcase products. It's a much-needed platform to find new supporters — and you get the opportunity to discover some new pieces to gift to your mates or yourself (you deserve it). The market's spring outing will take place on Sunday, September 16 at Federation Square. Running from 10am to 4pm, the market will offer everything from home decor and ceramics to stationery and fashion. There'll also be food (vegan options, too) for your inevitable realisation that you've been shopping for a whole day without sustenance. Entry is free so you can save your dollars for all those unique and innovative wares you didn't know you needed.
Co-Studio is a contemporary space located in Collingwood, its aim is to break from the mould of traditional salons and foster a supportive working environment. Ellen opened the studio in October 2020 as one of the first co-working salons in Melbourne, creating a safe space for hairdressers to work independently while still having the support of a team. The interiors are light and warm with a central communal table for colouring which allows guests to relax during their treatment and work from the salon. Co-Studio currently hosts three hairdressers with a range of specialties and a newly opened beauty room upstairs.
Shanghai Village is one of Melbourne's favourite dumpling houses. It's a cult favourite, where the styling is low-key, the pace is whirlwind and the drinks are BYO. Sample some of their prized dumplings and you'll quickly understand why its status as a local food hero is well-deserved. Brave the queues and the bustling dining room to reward yourself with a late-night banquet of cheap and cheerful Chinese fare. That should leave you and your comrades sufficiently fuelled for an evening spent belting out jams at one of Chinatown's many lively karaoke haunts. Image: loololoo8 via Instagram.
Anything can be festive with the right theming, and that includes doughnuts. Accordingly, it should come as zero surprise that Krispy Kreme will soon release a line of Christmas goods, aka doughnuts iced in red, green and white. What you might not be expecting, however, is the new range of doughnut-inspired Christmas biscuits for dogs that it has just dropped first. You know the thinking behind this new canine snack: anything humans can eat, dogs think they can munch on as well. Of course, as every responsible pet parent knows, that isn't the case. But this festive season, that's where Krispy Kreme's latest limited-edition range of 'doggie doughnuts' comes in. The company has dipped their paws in this territory before, back in 2021. This time, the round dog bikkies are all about the jolliest part of the year. Even better: they're decked out exactly as the Christmas range of doughnuts for humans will be when they arrive, so you and your pupper can go all matchy matchy with your snacks. Krispy Kreme's new dog treats sure do look like the real thing anyway, and once again hail from a collaboration with Coolum-based pet treats business Huds and Toke. They come in four packs for $10.95, with each biscuit featuring different decorating — so there's a Christmas tree-inspired bikkie, one that's meant to look like a Christmas pudding, another that's inspired by Santa's belly (including a blet) and a white, sprinkle-topped number simply dubbed 'festive ring'. The biscuits aren't made from doughnuts or chocolate, of course; instead, they use a hard-baked cookie base that uses peanut butter, carob and other canine-friendly ingredients. The bikkies are also meant to be good for chewing and for teeth cleaning — so they'll get your four-legged friend's tail wagging and help take care of their dental health. And yes, a big caveat: they are just for pets. So, just like how Fido or Rover can't have your doughnut, you can't have their version either. Find them now at Krispy Kreme stores around the country, including via drive-thru and click-and-collect. Krispy Kreme's Christmas doggie doughnuts are now available from the chain's stores — including via drive-thru and click-and-collect for a limited time.
As its name suggests, Melbourne's newest Japanese-accented restaurant leans right into the contemporary. The Future Future has officially arrived — in Richmond, at least — and it's already wowing with its incredibly considered offering. Design-wise, the Swan Street eatery wholeheartedly embraces that Japanese concept of wabi-sabi — that is, exploring the beauty in imperfection — as well as the philosophy of omotenashi, which is the concept of offering primo service without expectation of a reward. Out of the kitchen comes a technique-driven menu that's high on creativity and filled with revamps of classic Japanese dishes, that are fun, yet innovative. Unsurprising, given head chef Atsushi Kawakami's resume includes stints at some of Melbourne's hottest Japanese eateries, including Kappo, Izakaya Den and Hihou. You're in for plates like raw wagyu teamed with puffed wild rice and a wasabi-infused creme fraiche, meatball katsu-sandos, and donburi rice bowls filled with combinations like sweet-soy salmon, crisp tofu skins and green tea dashi broth. The hibachi grill also gets a solid workout, turning out skewers threaded with panko-crumbed barramundi, kewpie and tobiko, or maybe Japanese chicken meatballs, matched with sweet soy and an onsen egg. The drinks offering champions quality over quantity, running to an interesting lineup of whisky, sake, wine and beer from both Australia and Japan. Right now, you'll find the likes of a friulano and a pinot noir, both on tap, from the Mornington Peninsula's legendary Quealy Winemakers, alongside selections from one of the world's only female-owned and -led sake breweries, Japan's Imada. Crafty cocktails include the likes of the Tokyo Express-o, blending vodka, cold drip coffee, umeshu and maple syrup, and the Harajuku Highball, featuring strawberry whisky and vermouth. Meanwhile, a custom line of dapper tea cups, sake sets and candle holders round out the slew of thoughtful touches, courtesy of Copenhagen's Studio Arhoj. Images: Josh Robenstone.
