The Prodigy, Basement Jaxx, Fred again.., Skrillex and Happy Mondays have played it. De La Soul, Aphex Twin, Carl Cox and deadmau5, too. For dance-music fans, and just music fans in general, The Warehouse Project's fame extends far past its Manchester home. The event itself is now roaming further than Britain as well, including debuting in Australia in 2024 and returning in 2025. Yes, Manchester's rave scene is heading Down Under again — and to Melbourne for the second year in a row. This time, Partiboi69, Hector Oaks, X-Coast, Miss Bashful, Carla Martinez are hitting the decks at PICA on Friday, April 25. The Manchester institution first went international in 2023 in Rotterdam and Antwerp, before making the jump to Australia. It was back in 2006 that The Warehouse Project first unleashed its club nights on its birthplace, kicking off in a disused brewery and then moving underneath Manchester's Piccadilly station, in a space that's also been an air-raid shelter — and also to a warehouse that dates back to the 1920s. Now, it calls former railway station Depot Mayfield home when it's on in its home city. The Warehouse Project Australia 2025 Lineup Partiboi69 Hector Oaks X-Coast Miss Bashful Carla Martinez Images: Duncographic.
Ascot Vale's permanent food truck park The Ascot Lot is making a name for itself as one of the most dog-friendly spots in the west. It's already held multiple pup parties — which have included gravy, bottomless drinks and daiquiris — and after a relative quiet 2020, the park is bringing back Pooches & Prosecco. Running from 12pm on Saturday, February 27, the dog-friendly session will feature lots of cute fluff balls and lots of sparkling wine. Victoria's Story Wines and Zilzie will both be on-hand to do some tastings and selling glasses and bottles in the dedicated Prosecco Bar, which you can then enjoy in The Ascot Lot's sprawling beer garden. You can pamper your pooch in the 'puppy mall' and even book them in for a free health check between 12–5pm thanks to Vets on Call. Don't have a dog to bring along? Maybe you can change that. There will be a chance to adopt over the weekend, with Second Chance Animal Rescue coming along with some adorable pups in need of a forever home. A fresh lineup of vendors will ensure that there are food options galore, too — including Crepes for Change, Pearl of the Quarter and Take Mie Out — and four-legged guests will even get free treats. Pooches & Prosecco runs from 12–10pm.
The multi-level site at 188 Bourke Street has been the home of karaoke haunt and rooftop bar Heroes since 2018. But the party destination just got even bigger and bolder, thanks to an expansion and relaunch at the hands of new owners Robert Whiting and Lucas De Siqueira. The pair has taken over the entire building, adding a new dumpling and bao bar on the ground floor to complement the existing layers of offerings. This will play host to a new outpost for Drumplings, the unconventional dumpling diner by Deon St. Mor (MOR Cosmetics, St Jerome's). It's slinging fusion fare with an unapologetically experimental attitude, with dumpling fillings ranging from red duck curry, to pepperoni pizza, to the legendary cheeseburger-inspired combination complete with pickles and mustard. Also in the lineup are bites like the crispy 'firecracker chicken', a range of stuffed bao and a handful of more traditional dumpling varieties. Plus, celebrity-themed cocktails including the Fireball-infused Baby Spice and the Cardi B — a coconut and pineapple margarita. The same menu of signature cocktails is also available up at the 100-capacity rooftop bar, where you can sip and socialise amongst vibrant mural art by Justine Millsom (aka Juzpop), while soaking up tunes from the guest DJ roster. The rest of the neon-fuelled five-storey venue includes an open mic bar on Level Two, and four private karaoke rooms across the basement and first floor. And you can tuck into bites from the Drumplings menu no matter which space you're hanging out in. Stay tuned for the coming warmer months, when Levels Two and Three are set to play host to additional programming, including Brazilian barbecues and live music gigs. Find Drumplings and the newly-relaunched Heroes at 188 Bourke Street, Melbourne CBD. It's open from 4–10pm Wednesday and Thursday, and 4pm–late Friday and Saturday.
Sydney's summer of sport is officially in full swing, and this season's lineup includes everything from blockbuster cricket and harbour-skimming catamarans to world-class football and top-rate tennis showdowns. And with action taking place throughout the city, each event offers the perfect jumping-off point to explore more of the city. Rather than racing in and out for a match, consider this your playbook for turning four of Sydney's biggest summer sports events into proper mini-escapes, with our picks of nearby restaurants, bars and hotels to help you make the most of your experience. Here's how to make the most of Sydney's summer of sport. [caption id="attachment_1043313" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tennis Australia/Steven Markham[/caption] United Cup Why it's unmissable The Australian summer tennis swing kicks off in Sydney on Saturday, January 3 with the return of the United Cup. This fan-favourite tournament sees national sides battle it out in men's singles, women's singles and mixed doubles, bringing a lively, festival-like vibe to Ken Rosewall Arena. The 2026 edition serves up plenty of reasons to get courtside, with local hero Alex de Minaur, Iga Świątek and Emma Raducanu among the headline names leading a stacked field. Find out more here. Eat here first If you're heading to a day session, kick things off at Happyfield, the enduringly popular American-style diner in Haberfield serving pancake stacks with 100-percent Canadian maple syrup, hefty breakfast burgers and top-notch single-origin coffee. Later in the day, Olympic Meats delivers hearty charcoal-grilled meat plates and other Greek favourites, while Sippenham is a cool, quietly confident neighbourhood hangout known for its seasonal plates and punchy wine list. [caption id="attachment_898451" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Happyfield[/caption] Celebrate here after Post-match, follow the fan flow back into the Inner West and drop into Deadwax, the late-night bar and listening room home to wagyu sandos, a massive vinyl collection and Enmore's only karaoke room. Make a weekend out of it Turn matchday into a mini-escape with a stay at Australia Street Suites, a boutique Newtown address offering stylish accommodation just steps in the thick of one of Sydney's most vibrant neighbourhoods. With easy transport links to Sydney Olympic Park, it's a relaxed, design-led base for a full weekend of tennis and inner-west exploring. Women's T20I Series v India — 1st T20I Why it's unmissable Women's cricket returns to the SCG this February, as the Aussies take on India under the lights in a primetime T20 showdown. The growing rivalry between these two powerhouses is one of modern cricket's most thrilling storylines, with both sides playing at the top of their game right now. Can Alyssa Healy and her side reclaim bragging rights in front of a home crowd after India knocked them out of November's ODI World Cup, or will the Women in Blue spoil the party? Find out more here. Eat here first The SCG's location in the thick of the eastern suburbs means it's within easy reach of some of Sydney's favourite restaurants. Enjoy a spread of Greek mezedes paired with ouzo coladas at vibey Redfern taverna Olympus, fuel up at Surry Hills' Argentinian steakhouse Porteño, or soak up the scene at Neil Perry's big-swinging Italian dining room Gran Torino. If it's water views you're after, Rick Stein at Coogee Beach plates up the legendary British chef's produce-driven seafood dishes, as well as sweeping views of one of the city's most beloved stretches of sand. Celebrate here after When stumps are called, wander up to sleek Darlinghurst neighbourhood bar Vin-Cenzo's (pictured above) for a pick from the impressive wine list and traditional Italian biscuits served in vintage tins, or settle in nearby at The Waratah, home to a cocktail menu that heroes native ingredients. Make a weekend out of it Extend your stay at The EVE — just steps from the SCG, you'll feel like you're a world away thanks to its tropical resort vibes. AFC Women's Asian Cup Australia 2026 Why it's unmissable For the first time in two decades, Australasia's biggest celebration of women's football returns to Australia, bringing some of the region's best national squads (and biggest names) to Western Sydney Stadium and Sydney Olympic Park's Stadium Australia. And with spots in the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup — and, for the first time, the AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament — up for grabs, you can expect teams to leave it all out on the pitch. Find out more here. Eat here first Kick off your matchday at Misc. This breezy 300-seater in Parramatta Park does it all, from cheeky breakfast items like the Lebs Benedict, featuring grilled sujuk, smoked butter hollandaise and pickled chillies on thick-cut milk toast, to all-day sharing dishes like daily market fish with a preserved lemon vinaigrette and a fall-off-the-bone lamb shoulder with minted labneh, zhoug and flatbread to mop it all up. [caption id="attachment_879092" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Parker Blain[/caption] Celebrate here after Keep the energy high after the final whistle at Lady Banks, Western Sydney's sky-high rooftop perched above Bankstown. Head up for sweeping views and summer-ready cocktails — the perfect perch to debrief every goal, near-miss and heart-stopping moment from the game. Make a weekend out of it Stay close to the action at the Crowne Plaza Sydney Macquarie Park. With brand-new rooms, sleek modern interiors and easy access to both Parramatta and Sydney Olympic Park, it's a smart base for turning matchday into a full Sydney escape. KPMG Sydney Sail Grand Prix Why it's unmissable SailGP brings the world's most exciting race on water back to Sydney Harbour this summer, turning the city's most iconic waterway into a high-octane racecourse. From tight duels and fierce national rivalries to near-flying boat speeds of over 100 kilometres per hour, every race unfolds just metres from shore, with Shark Island perfectly positioned as your front-row seat to the action. This year's event comes with a twist: racing kicks off at 5.30pm, delivering the first-ever twilight showdown in the event's local history. Find out more here. Eat here first Make a day of it on the harbour's edge. Start your pre-race wander at Flaminia, the polished new Italian restaurant bringing big coastal flavours to a prime harbourfront location. For something more laidback, Watermans — tucked along the Barangaroo boardwalk — serves Levantine-inspired plates backed by seasonal local produce. If you fancy a stroll into the city, Rockpool's steak-frites restaurant 24 York serves up MB2+ scotch fillet cooked to your liking for $48. Celebrate here after Take the post-race festivities skyward at Smoke Bar, Barangaroo House's sleek rooftop perch with panoramic views, sharp cocktails and a near-constant buzz. If you'd prefer something more intimate (but no less lively), slip into Maybe Sammy, the award-winning cocktail bar pouring playful, theatre-driven drinks in an elegant, pared-back setting. Make a weekend out of it Cap off your raceday with a stay at the Park Hyatt Sydney (pictured above), where balconies overlook the Sydney Opera House and morning swims on the rooftop pool come with postcard views. It's the ultimate base for a weekend built around the harbour. Ready to feel the Sydney side of summer? Discover the full calendar of what's on across the city at sydney.com.
Many of us head to Adelaide for its world-class wineries. While its vineyards are a true highlight of South Australia, you also can't miss the vibrant city centre. With chic wine bars and award-winning restaurants, Adelaide's CBD makes for a perfect weekend getaway. Situated in the middle of the city's block (that's surrounded by lush parkland), you'll find Hotel Indigo Adelaide Markets. The boutique accommodation is inspired by the city's festival influence, with colourful wall art and posters as interior decorations. Locally influenced decor is celebrated in the tessellated tile patterns and copper fixtures, which pay homage to the state's rich copper mining history. Filled with nods to the neighbourhood, Hotel Indigo Adelaide Markets is a central base to everything you could need to make the most of the city. Here's how to spend a weekend eating and drinking your way through Adelaide's CBD. [caption id="attachment_934956" align="alignleft" width="1920"] Adelaide Central Market[/caption] To Market, To Market The Adelaide Central Market is a gem of the city. Established in 1869, it's a hub of food and culture (and one of the largest undercover fresh produce markets in the southern hemisphere) where you can lose hours wandering the stalls and chatting with local producers. Don't miss Lucia's, the authentic Italian deli that has been a part of the market since 1957. [caption id="attachment_915248" align="alignleft" width="1920"] Osteria Oggi[/caption] Foodie's Paradise Don't think you have to be in the vineyards to experience Adelaide's food scene. Just a stone's throw from Hotel Indigo Adelaide Markets, you'll find several restaurants that rival the larger cities. Osteria Oggi on Pirie Street serves fresh, handmade pasta daily and offers a modern twist on the Italian you love. Long, communal tables are encouraged, and plates can be shared easily for an Italian-style feast. Right next door to Osteria Oggi is Soi 38. In 2014, the restaurant began serving street food snacks and dishes not found on other Adelaide Thai menus. Now, Soi 38 is an unrivalled dining experience that's serving regional dishes in the heart of the city. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Soi.38 Adelaide (@soi.38) Nearby, restaurant and bar Fino Vino offers a curated menu inspired by regional South Australia. Named a top ten restaurant in 2024 by Gourmet Traveller, Fino Vino is one to add to your must-try list when visiting the neighbourhood. View this post on Instagram A post shared by (@finovino_adelaide) Soak In the Neighbourhood Famous for its vino, sitting and sipping in the city's wine bars is a necessity when in town. When staying in the CBD, take a trip to Leigh Street. Located in the heart of the city, the cobbled street is full of character and heritage buildings. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Leigh Street Wine Room (@leighstreetwineroom) There are a number of small bars dotted down the street, but be sure to drop by Leigh Street Wine Room. The cosy bar serves over 400 drops and dishes up small plates to snack on while wine-tasting. On the same character-filled street, you'll find cocktail bar, Leigh Street Luggage, while award-winning cocktail bar, Maybe Mae, is located one street over. Really, you could spend all weekend flitting between Leigh Street haunts. Get Some Air After exploring the side streets of the city centre, find your bearings on its rooftop bars. Merrymaker is situated at the top of Hotel Indigo Adelaide Markets. Located 16 floors above the city streets, Merrymaker is Adelaide's tallest rooftop bar and serves a select menu of cocktails, aperitifs, and snacks. With a limited selection of seating available, it's recommended that you book a table at the award-winning Merrymaker in advance (even as a hotel guest) to avoid missing out on the breathtaking city views. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Merrymaker Rooftop Bar Adelaide (@merrymaker_rooftopbar) 2KW Bar and Restaurant is another rooftop bar in Adelaide with spectacular views of the Adelaide Oval, Festival Theatre and Government House. On the weekends, you'll find DJs spinning tunes as the sun sets over Adelaide. [caption id="attachment_1038261" align="alignleft" width="1920"] Hotel Indigo Adelaide Markets[/caption] Rest Up in Style With its stylish streets and reputation as a foodie hub, Adelaide's CBD is a vibrant neighbourhood that inspires. At the Hotel Indigo Adelaide Markets, you can continue the energy of the city in its colourful boutique rooms. On the ground floor, you'll find modern Italian restaurant and bar, Market & Meander, as well as its famous pink booths. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Market & Meander was recently named a top ten hotel breakfast in Australia. You can also rest and recover in the hotel's luxe pool and gym. Situated in the heart of the action, the boutique accommodation makes for the perfect base to continue to explore South Australia's capital. Want to stay in the thick of it? Find out more about Hotel Indigo Adelaide Markets here. Lead image: Hotel Indigo Adelaide Markets
When Sally Rooney's first page-to-screen hit arrived in streaming queues in 2020, it made instant stars out of Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal. The pair's recent respective roles in Fresh and The Lost Daughter sit among plenty more to come, but part of what made Normal People work so devastating well was watching its disarmingly relatable romance play out with fresh faces that could've been anyone. That same idea sits at the heart of Conversations with Friends, too, Rooney's debut novel but second book to leap to television. The quietly magnetic Alison Oliver makes her debut at the 12-part Dublin-set series' centre, and it's a perfect stroke of casting. Available to stream in full via Prime Video from Monday, May 16 — dropping ready to binge, revel in and obsess over, as Normal People did — Conversations with Friends doesn't opt for newcomers across the board, though. That's another savvy move, placing Oliver amid well-known actors Sasha Lane (Loki, American Honey), Jemima Kirke (Sex Education, Girls) and Joe Alwyn (The Souvenir: Part II, The Favourite), who immediately exude engrained confidence. Oliver's character, pensive literature student Frances, is in the same situation. She's always on-edge and on the verge of withdrawing whenever the show's four key characters spend time together, like she feels overwhelmed by everyone else's company. Conversations with Friends didn't have Oliver go method and live Frances' life, of course, but compared to her co-stars, she's a blank slate ready for viewers to see themselves in. Peeking into intimate connections and feeling as though they've been lifted from your own life, or from emotions you've navigated and weathered, is one of Rooney's key skills as a writer. It's true of both Conversations with Friends and Normal People in print, and it's a knack that the same creative team — Rooney as an executive producer, co-screenwriter Alice Birch (Lady Macbeth) and co-director Lenny Abrahamson (Room, Frank) — have brought to both TV adaptations. In text and flickering across the screen, both tales step into complicated romances that simmer with intensity. They confront class clashes and the difficulties that spring from them as well. And, they force contemplative women to confront what they want, who they are, how they'll grow as people and the others they might give their hearts to. In Conversations with Friends, 21-year-old Frances is first poised as the other half in a couple that's not a couple, at least anymore; she went to school with and used to date the outspoken and outgoing Bobbi (Lane), but now the two university students are best friends and spoken-word poetry partners. It's during one of their performances that successful writer Melissa (Kirke) spots the duo's act, compliments them afterwards and invites them over for a swim, then back to her well-appointed house for a drink. Enter Nick (Alwyn), Melissa's actor husband, who holds himself like he'd rather be anywhere but there but is too polite to upset the status quo. He's as reserved and introverted as Frances — and they catch each other's eyes, while Bobbi and Melissa gravitate towards each other. Soon, Frances is part of another couple, one that's only secretly a couple: between the sheets, in stolen moments, and with much awkwardness while trying not to be discovered by either Bobbi or Melissa. As was also such an influential part of Normal People, she's caught in a relationship that's as filled with terse, tense yet deep discussions as it is with instances where saying nothing says everything there is. Despite its name, cut out Conversations with Friends' loaded silences and you could likely reduce its running time by half, but you'd also rip away much of its heart and soul. It's a show about what can't or won't be said; about the interiority that we all live within, some more than others; and about how, when and why we open ourselves up to and allow ourselves to truly become vulnerable with others. Conversations with Friends is catnip for Normal People fans, in other words — and rewardingly so. There's no escaping the similarities, including in the midseason trip abroad, and in the dreamy-yet-naturalistic approach that Abrahamson and fellow director Leanne Welham (His Dark Materials) use to anchor viewers in the show's dramas. Watching along feels like sliding into the series' love quadrangle, observing along even more quietly than Frances often does, but experiencing every emotion — blatant and unspoken — along the way. The mood: swooning melancholy. The look: the kind of cosiness and uncertainty that drips from Ireland's overcast skies and sweater-friendly climes. The sensation: sensitive, realistically messy and deeply lived-in. Hitting bookshelves in 2017, Rooney's novel was her first success, earning buzz after a seven-way auction for the publishing rights, and garnering award nominations. It's a portrait of entangled lives, and the intricate webs that love, lust, friendship and loyalty weave, but it's also a character study of one woman learning how to face and reveal her true self. Frances' affair with Nick, and the ripples it sends through her bond with Bobbi, Bobbi's infatuation with Melissa, and Melissa and Nick's marriage, fuels just one of its narrative threads. Frances' complex relationship with her divorced parents (Derry Girls' Justine Mitchell and Tommy Tiernan), her view of her health and her unwillingness to ask for help even when she needs it most leave just as big of an imprint. It's little wonder, then, that Oliver is Conversations with Friends' most pivotal player — but she's also in fantastic company. Wanting to spend more time watching Bobbi and Melissa's growing connection isn't just a result of Rooney's layered story, but of Lane and Kirke's textured performances and bubbling chemistry. The same proves true of Melissa and Nick's stressed relationship, with Kirke and Alywn compellingly ebbing and flowing through the couple's ups and downs. "Who knows what happens between two people when they're alone?" Frances comments early, chatting to Bobbi about Melissa and Nick — and Conversations with Friends makes its audience desperate to know the answer no matter which possible combination of its four main characters it happens to be focusing on at any given moment. Check out the trailer for Conversations with Friends below: All 12 episodes of Conversations with Friends are available to stream Down Under via Prime Video on Monday, May 16. Images: Enda Bowe/Hulu.
If your adventures have taken you to Melbourne's Westgate Park in the past couple of days, then you might've noticed something a little unusual. The lake has turned a pretty shade of pink. And, before you ask, no, it wasn't Valentine's Day thing. Nor is it fairies. In fact, the change in colour is due to a bunch of factors all happening at once, namely: lots of salt, lots of sunlight, hot temperatures and a lack of rain. The lake bed is covered in salt crust and, when matters get extra salty, the algae growing there creates beta carotene during photosynthesis. Beta carotene is a red-orange pigment, contained in carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, mangoes and papayas, among other fruits and veggies. https://www.facebook.com/ParksVictoria/photos/a.148227085237259/2150798331646781/?type=3&theater In the case of Westgate Park Lake, the beta carotene has seeped into the water, giving it a somewhat magical look. This is not the first time the phenomenon has happened — you've probably seen it pop up on Instagram before — and it won't likely be the last. Given that the pinkness is a natural event, neither Parks Victoria nor we can tell you how long it's going to last, but it will probably start to fade as winter hits. If you're keen to take a peek, then find it on the eastern banks of Yarra River at Fishermans Bend. It's closest to Port Melbourne on one side and Yarraville on the other, and is most easily accessed by car or bus (take the 235 from the city or 606 from Elsternwick/St Kilda). Just note that Parks Victoria asks that visitors stick to official paths and avoid poking around the lake's edge. Although it might look tempting in these images, definitely do not swim in the water. Unlike the water, it will not be pretty.
UPDATE: APRIL 1, 2020 — GTMB has a new Tropica Taqueria takeaway menu, available for pick up and delivery, every day. As well as ready-made tacos and quesadillas, the takeaway option also include taco packs with eight soft tortillas, fillings, garnish, toppings and sauces. It also has bagels, coffee and grocery boxes — filled with milk, eggs, veggies and sourdough loaves — available for delivery. Full menu here. On the corner of Tucker and Patterson Roads in Bentleigh there used to be a rundown convenience store. But, in March, it was gutted and transformed into a pink and breezy cafe dubbed Good Times Milk Bar. While the old-school exterior has been left intact, the interior has been refreshed — it has a contemporary and cosy feel with pastel hues of pink and blue, graphic art designed by local creative studio Hours After and lots of leafy plants. Inside, there's plenty of seating with park benches and booths, and out the back there's a dog-friendly courtyard. At this cafe, both you and your tummy are guaranteed to leave happy. Breakfast is served all day until 4pm, and lunch from 11am, and there are daily rotating sandwiches, bite-sized sweets and diner-style shakes. To sweeten the deal, the milk bar turns into a burger joint from 4pm Thursday to Sunday. In the morning, we suggest starting with the cafe's take on eggs benny, the Meatsmith Pastrami Benedict ($18), which is served with potato waffle and and dill pickle or try the Moroccan eggplant ($19) served with harissa spiced lamb. Alternatively, you can bask in nostalgia with crumpets or boiled eggs and soldiers (with bacon crumb, no less). If you're feeling sweet, however, look to the ricotta hotcakes and and pair them with one of the cafe's signature shakes — Golden Gaytime, Lamington or Peanut Butter & Chocolate ($8). On the evening menu, you'll find the Classic (with a beef patty, American cheese and a pickle), the Seaside (with battered fish, wasabi peas and Kewpie mayo), a vegetarian option and seven different sides — including potato gems, onion rings, slaw and jumbo pickles. You'll also be able to get the aforementioned shakes at night, too. And no cafe worth its weight functions without a solid coffee program. Here, the beans are from North Melbourne roaster Small Batch and the coffee comes milky or as one of three different filters (including bottomless batch for $5). There's talk of the eatery extending its hours into the night and offering up burgers, but, with no word yet on when this will be happening, keep a keen eye on the website. Images: Simon Shiff
One of Melbourne's favourite lockdown success stories is this brainchild of Federico Congiu (Di Stasio) and Manato Deleon (DOC Pizza & Mozzarella Bar, Shujinko). The pair's ramen pop-up Parco Project — and signature lobster ramen — earned cult status in 2021. Now, the concept has spawned a permanent bricks-and-mortar ramen bar in Moonee Ponds, an intimate 19-seat restaurant that nods to the tiny venues of Tokyo. Here, Congiu draws on his time spent mastering the art of ramen while working in Miyazaki, Tokyo, Sapporo and Abashiri, to deliver a lineup of full-flavoured soups, rice bowls and sides made to crowd-pleasing recipes. The ramen features a clean and natural umami kick thanks to the use of house-made koji — a traditional Japanese ferment or edible fungus made from mould-inoculated grains. Often used to create ingredients like miso, sake and soy sauce, the product lends Parco's soups an extra level of flavour and is even thought to aid digestion. On the menu, you'll catch four ramen varieties, headlined by the signature offering — a thick chicken broth with spinach, dashi-marinated egg and either charred pork or chicken cha siu ($18.50). For an extra fix of richness, try the black truffle ramen — boasting pork neck cha siu and dashi egg ($19.50) — or fire things up with the addition of Parco's house 'spicy paste' to any ramen. You can also get your mitts on a bowl of that fan-fave lobster ramen ($23). Outside of the soups, you can dig into a range of donburi bowls, plus snacks like karaage chicken ($12), gyoza ($9.80) and parmesan-doused truffle fries ($7). BYO booze for an easy $5 per person.
Funlab (Holey Moley, Hijinx Hotel and Strike Bowling) has a thing for competitive socialising, now operating over 50 game bars across Australia. And one of its most popular sites — Holey Moley on Little Bourke Street — has just undergone a huge expansion. On Friday, October 11, the Funlab crew unveiled the new-look mini golf space, which has been decked out with new automated scoring and live leaderboards, bonus points scoring games, and a heap of other updated technologies. The main Caddyshack bar also grew to accommodate guests visiting the new downstairs venue Holey Moley Funhouse. Here, putters are invited to put down their clubs and participate in nine different challenge games — similar to those seen at the team's Hijinx Hotel. These include a ball pit, throwing challenges, an egg and spoon race full of obstacles, quick-fire memory games, and putt putt pong (we're not entirely sure what this is). For some of these games, you'll play as a team, but for the most part, you'll be fighting it out against one another. Like the upstairs mini golf bar, these games can all be played with a drink in hand — or at least the drinks can be put down for a few moments while you compete with your mates at each different gaming area. Holey Moley Funhouse will also similarly embrace nostalgic 80s and 90s vibes but feel more like a carnival than a mini-golf course. "Holey Moley Funhouse combines two of our guests' favourite experiences; Hijinx Hotel challenge rooms and the competitive and nostalgic fun of Holey Moley. We think we've not only created the latest and greatest new Funlab concept, but also Melbourne's most playful new bar!", shares Funlab CEO Michael Schreiber. Holey Moley Funhouse can be found at 590 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. For more information, you can visit the venue's website.
In Stay of the Week, we explore some of the world's best and most unique accommodations — giving you a little inspiration for your next trip. In this instalment, we take you to Pan Pacific Singapore. [caption id="attachment_892011" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Singapore Tourism Board[/caption] WHAT'S SO SPECIAL? This five-star hotel is right in the heart of Singapore, boasting views across Marina Bay, the South China Sea and surrounding city skyline. It also boasts a heap of extra luxe features, including three pools and an in-house spa. THE ROOMS This is a mighty big hotel, with 790 lavish rooms and suites available to guests. You can go for the more modest Deluxe Room — which is still an impressive 38 square metres in size and has sweeping views across either the city or bay. Alternatively, you can opt for one of the more luxurious suites or studios that have separate living and dining rooms, additional bedrooms and little kitchenettes. There's even the Urban Jungle suite which is made for families. It has a super fun jungle-themed room with an inflatable rocking hippo, a tepee and a treehouse bunk bed that sleeps two kids. FOOD AND DRINK As you'd expect in a city known for its food, this opulent hotel boasts a series of spectacular restaurants and bars. There is the fine-dining Cantonese restaurant Hai Tien Lo and the Keyaki Japanese Restaurant which has its own Japanese rooftop garden. But one of our favourites has to be Edge. Here, you get to feast on a high-end buffet that includes fresh oysters and lobster, roast meats with all the trimmings and a massive selection of local dishes. Quantity and quality combine at this spot. [caption id="attachment_864958" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Singapore Tourism Board[/caption] THE LOCAL AREA Pan Pacific Singapore is close to most of the city's best bits. Head to the adjoining Marina Market for boutique stores, walk along the nearby Singapore River for more entertaining and dining options or take a quick cab ride to any of the city's other great sites. Be sure to check out Little India, Chinatown and Arab Street as well as the famous island of Sentosa, if you seek beach clubs and water activities. Feeling inspired to book a truly unique getaway? Head to Concrete Playground Trips to explore a range of holidays curated by our editorial team. We've teamed up with all the best providers of flights, stays and experiences to bring you a series of unforgettable trips to destinations all over the world.
Making its drinks in a nod to Chinese tradition, Xing Fu Tang is a go-to for that authentic bubble tea fix. It's only a recent addition to Melbourne, but the Taiwanese brand is already earning a reputation for its quality liquid fusions, many showcasing the brown sugar boba pearls that are handcrafted in-store daily. It's easy to see why the brown sugar boba milk is the hero drink of the menu, with its dramatic marbled look and rich flavours. But you'll find plenty of other sips to tempt, too, from the colourful pearl-infused matcha and milk concoction, to the milk teas and lively fruit-driven drinks.
It was true in 2023 and it's the case again in 2024: The Calile in Brisbane is the best hotel in both Australia and Oceania. After earning those honours on the inaugural World's Best 50 Hotels list last year, the Fortitude Valley venue has backed up the accolades for a second year. This time, it isn't the only Aussie accommodation spot to make the cut, but it still ranked higher than anywhere else Down Under. In 2023, The Calile came in at 12th place. In 2024, it sits in 25th. The awards called the James Street hotel an example of "laid-back, sun-soaked, chic Aussie hospitality", noting that it "riffs on modernist Miami and Palm Springs while also nodding to the design stylings of 1960s Australia". Also getting some love: its onsite dining and drinking spots, such as Hellenika, Biànca, Sushi Room, SK Steak and Oyster, and Lobby Bar, some of which have scored Nigella Lawson's approval as well. "Brisbane is becoming an increasingly interesting place to dine and The Calile's six restaurants have been instrumental in making that a reality," the World's Best 50 Hotels noted. Praise was also showered upon the site's ability to ensure that indoors meets outdoors, the 30-metre pool surrounded by cabanas and the service. "The Calile's stunning botanical pool deck is undeniably the hotel's centrepiece, with sun lounges filled with tanned and leggy guests, overlooked by the curved balconies of the hotel's poolside rooms. The seven cabanas can be booked for dinner or cocktails, which are the best place to observe all the action of Brisbanites at play," the accolades continued. The Tasman in Hobart is the other Australian spot to nab a place in the top 50, coming in at number 48. It received attention for its "three distinct architectural eras cleverly melded into one seamless, luxurious whole". "What binds this eccentric collection of styles together is an uncompromising attention to detail, a sense of relaxed luxury and a uniquely Tasmanian style and pace," the awards also advised. If you're looking for Aussie spots for a staycation or vacation, there's your top two suggestions sorted. If you're keen to say at some of the world's best hotels beyond Australian shores, you have 48 choices, capped by Capella Bangkok — which was 2023's Best New Hotel — in first place. [caption id="attachment_973399" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Capella Bangkok[/caption] Passalacqua in Moltrasio in Italy dropped down from top spot last year to second this year, while Rosewood Hong Kong came in third and Cheval Blanc in Paris ranked fourth. From there, The Upper House in Hong Kong sits in fifth place, Raffles Singapore came in sixth, Aman Tokyo ranked seventh, Soneva Fushi in The Maldives nabbed eighth place, and The Atlantis Royal in Dubai and Nihi Sumba on Sumba Island in Indonesia round out the top ten. Per continent, as well as The Calile being named the best spot in Oceania, Capella Bangkok did the same in Asia, Passalacqua was named Europe's top hotel, Chablé Yucatán in Mexico did the honours in North America, Rosewood São Paulo notched up the feat in South America and Mount Nelson in South Africa scored the title in Africa. [caption id="attachment_918889" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Passalacqua © Ruben Ortiz[/caption] The World's Best 50 Hotels sits in the 50 Best stable alongside the World's 50 Best Restaurants, the World's 50 Best Bars, Asia's 50 Best Bars, Asia's 50 Best Restaurants and more. Debuting in 2023, the countdown highlights excellence among places to stay, and initially favoured Europe heavily among its selections — but its second year sees Asian hotels earn more spots on the list than anywhere else with 19 in total, including four from Bangkok alone. European accommodation spots are represented in 2024 by 13 places, North American hotels nabbed nine, Africa features four, Oceania scored four as well and South America has one. The World's Best 50 Hotels winners for 2024 were picked by more than 600 international travel experts, all with a significant number of stamps on their passports, with the list unveiled in London. [caption id="attachment_819667" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rosewood Hong Kong[/caption] "To have been selected two years in a row marks a significant affirmation of The Calile's place on the global hotel industry stage. This is a win for our team, our collaborators, our loyal guests and a win for Brisbane as a destination, and we are humbled to again represent Australia and be recognised as leading in the Oceania region," said The Calile Hotel co-owner Catherine Malouf, who attended the ceremony in the UK. Brisbane keeps garnering the international spotlight, as does the broader Sunshine State as well. The River City was named one of the best places to go in 2024 by The New York Times, travel guide Frommer's also selected the city as one of 2024's best spots to visit and TIME put it on its world's greatest places list for 2023. Further north, Palm Cove near Cairns topped Condé Nast Traveller's beach list for 2024, and was named the home of the best hotel in the South Pacific, and also Australia, by Tripadvisor. For the full World's 50 Best Hotels list for 2024, head to the awards' website. The Calile images: Cieran Murphy.
This time last week, Melbourne was enjoying the pandemic's version of normality — so much so that a new rebate scheme to entice diners to eat out in the CBD had just been announced. But a lot can change in just seven days, as Victoria's current COVID-19 cluster has shown. The state is now on day four of a seven-day lockdown, case numbers have been growing and the list of exposure sites just keeps ballooning, too. When the first cases were revealed last week, two venues were named on Monday afternoon. The list had gone up to 43 by Wednesday morning, and then hit a whopping 83 locations on Thursday. Now, on Monday, May 31, it has reached 271 locations. So if you've spent your time in lockdown binging whatever you can stream and constantly refreshing the Victorian Department of Health's rundown of exposure sites, that's perfectly understandable. Among the latest inclusions, Chadstone Shopping Centre is one of the big ones. The alert covers seven locations within the overall site over a single day including the entire centre itself — as a Tier 2 site — from 11.53am–2pm on Wednesday, May 26. If you went shopping during that window of time, you'll now need to get tested immediately and self-isolate until you receive a negative result. If you went to Bakers Delight between 12.40–12.45pm, Zimmerman between 12.50–1.30pm, Optus between 12.27–1.17pm, Breadtop between 1.03–1.37pm and Woolworths between 1.16–1.56pm, you fall into the same category. And if you were at Yokozuna from 11.55am–12.52pm, you were at a Tier 1 site, which requires getting tested immediately and self-isolating for 14 days regardless of the result. https://twitter.com/VicGovDH/status/1398903110207033347 Other recent additions to the list include the 412 and 525 PVT bus routes at various times on Wednesday, May 26 and Thursday, May 27 (all Tier 1); Target and Coles at Point Cook Shopping Centre from 3.30–5.30pm on Wednesday, May 26 (Tier 1); and various sites at Northland Shopping Centre on Saturday, May 22 (including Tier 1 for H&M between 2.30–3.50pm). Obviously, with 271 places now named, the list goes on — also spanning the likes of Dan Murphy's Brunswick East (Tier 2, from 2.30–3pm on Saturday, May 22), Brighton Beach Hotel (Tier 2, from 3.09–4.52pm on Sunday, May 23) and the La Trobe University library (Tier 1 on level one and Tier 2 elsewhere, all from 11.45am–2.30pm on Tuesday, May 25) as well. Melburnians can keep an eye on the local list of exposure sites at the Department of Health website — as usual, it will change as more sites are identified. For those looking to get tested, you can find a list of testing sites including regularly updated waiting times also on the Department of Health website. And, has remained the case throughout the pandemic, Melburnians should be looking out for coughs, fever, sore or scratchy throat, shortness of breath, or loss of smell or taste, symptoms-wise. For further details on the latest exposure sites and updated public health advice, see the Department of Health website. Top image: Google Maps.
Melbourne is about to launch into another frosty winter, but it's never too early to start planning your summer adventures — especially since the city is set to score a shiny new swimming spot. Or, a revamped version of an old favourite, to be exact, with the historic City Baths on Swanston Street receiving a multimillion-dollar makeover just in time for spring. A $2.5 million restoration project is currently underway at the iconic fitness centre, and is set to be completed and unveiled by the time those slightly warmer days of September roll around. First opened in the 1860s, the red-brick Edwardian Baroque building is no spring chicken, but it's about to get some serious upgrades to pull it into a new era of life. Some of the works — which kicked off back in 2019 — have included renovations for the lockers and kitchen, repairs to the spa and changes to the reception area to improve accessibility. Now, the crew of specialist restoration contractors will continue on with the fussier upgrade works required by the heritage-listed site, from carefully recreating the zinc fish-scale tiles adorning the cupolas on the roof to restoring the building's banded brickwork. The timber ceiling planks are being upgraded and will score a new lick of paint, the walls and columns will be given a spruce-up, and new skylights are set to be installed in the roof. [caption id="attachment_808113" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Wpcpey via Wikimedia Commons..[/caption] While the City Baths isn't closing entirely during the refurbishment, its pools, spa and sauna have had to be shut for certain short periods to make way for scaffolding and other construction elements. The venue is releasing details about any closures over on its socials. Find the Melbourne City Baths at 420 Swanston Street, Melbourne. Its refurbishment is slated to be finished by September. Top image: Elekhh via Wikimedia Commons.
Much-loved Frankston burger joint Southside Social is heading for the big smoke, set to open the doors to a second store closer to the city at the end of this month. The owners have pegged the burgeoning foodie hub of Windsor as the location for their first inner city venue. They've knocked up the 34 Chapel Street space, which will have 14 floor-to-ceiling street artworks on the wall when they open next Friday, April 28. While Southside Central borrows from its coastal counterpart in terms of styling and energy, this one's a two-level affair, with a restaurant space downstairs, a lounge area up top, and — wait for it — an openair rooftop. The plan is for a space that slips easily from daytime diner to after-dark hangout, with a relaxed vibe and DJs spinning old-school vinyl tunes each weekend. Fans of the original will be chuffed to learn they're pulling over the same menu of decadent dude food, even beefing it up with a few added extras. Meaning, for better or worse (just kidding, it's definitely for better), it'll soon be a whole lot easier to get your hands on some fancy fries and the Fatty 5-0, with its double beef, triple bacon, mac 'n' cheese, American cheddar, and sour cream mayo. There's also the Harlem Burger, which sees spicy fried chicken and maple mayo sandwiched between sugar-dusted buttermilk waffles. Of course, there'll be crisp beers, a swag of signature cocktails, and Southside's boozy shakes to wash it all down and send you out into the night. Southside Central will open at 34 Chapel Street, Windsor on Friday, April 28. Keep an eye on the Facebook page for more info.
There's nothing more satisfying than sitting down to a meal that you've created with your culinary talents — besides maybe enjoying a meal that someone else has cooked for you! Master the art of home cooking with the aid of Elizabeth Peddey, a culinary consultant, food writer and your new favourite teacher. She and her family lived in Southern Italy where her love of Mediterranean cuisine and culture deepened and it is this cooking style that is the basis for her culinary school in Elwood. There are various courses available including beginner — no cooking experience required, ideal for new cooks wanting to learn the basics, and intermediate for budding home cooks who want to expand their meal repertoire and improve their skills. If group classes aren't your style, you can book a private class — perfect if you want to surprise your partner or family with a home-cooked meal or enjoy a unique date night. The Cookery School also offers private bookable events for birthdays, launches, wine tastings, team-building experiences and more. If you'd like to get a taste of what you might be cooking, check out the website for recipe ideas and cooking videos. Image: Tatyana Consaul
Beauty pageants can be a tired business. More and more, the women end up looking eerily similar, everyone seems to be an expert at baton twirling, and then eventually someone mentions world peace and the audience's eyes roll out of their heads with boredom. Miss Gay and Miss Transexual Australia is exactly the alternative we might need. Now in its fourth year, this show is providing a fresh take on the medium featuring the most beautiful and stylish gay men, cross-dressers, drag queens and transexuals from across Australia. This year's theme, 'Dreams and Fantasy', may sound familiar, but with this new take the average show may be in for a much-needed shot of diversity. This show was one of our top picks for Midsumma 2014, see our full list here.
You know what's better than heading back to the office? Heading away on holiday. Scoot is helping make that idea even more tempting with its latest summer sale, running from now until Monday, January 12. Sure, this ultra-budget airline isn't exactly stacked with frills, but who needs them when the airfares are this cheap? What's more, Scoot has been extra crafty with its travel dates, ensuring there are loads of affordable options positioned around Australian long weekends throughout 2026. That means a little savvy planning can help you keep hold of your annual leave. For instance, you might maximise your time away around Australia Day with a carefully chosen airfare or book in eight days' leave around Easter to jet-set for 16 days straight. So, where are you headed? Chasing sun, culture or street food is made easy with stellar itineraries for Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and Malaysia. Filled with life-changing experiences, you'll return home refreshed, or at least motivated to book another overseas adventure. And demand for these destinations is expected to soar, so don't let your colleagues hand in their leave before you get the chance. Travel periods include: January 19–March 18, April 15–June 4, July 13–September 10, and October 5–October 24. As for the prices, these discounted fares are good for the wallet. Travel from Sydney to Koh Samui starting from $300, or fly Melbourne to Ho Chi Minh City starting from $240. Travellers in Perth can score an even better deal, with one-way fares to Bangkok starting from $179 or Penang from $159. With heaps more options, your next getaway doesn't have to wait. Scoot's Summer Sale is happening now until 11.59pm on Monday, January 12. Head to the website for more information.
As winter closes in, you might be tempted to take anything that requires leaving your warm and toasty home off of your schedule. We get it. But it's no excuse. Even if it's cold outside, there are plenty of winter-friendly (and delicious) reasons to get out and about this season — especially down south. Tasmania might be known for its chilly weather, but, these days, it's also got quite the reputation as a culinary destination — and for good reason. Top-notch culinary menus make use of the freshest, seasonal and local produce and can be found all over the Apple Isle. That's why we've made it our mission to discover the Tassie restaurants that'll warm both your belly and your cold little hands this winter. Here are five of the best. Hope you're hungry. [caption id="attachment_719307" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Chris Crerar.[/caption] STILLWATER — LAUNCESTON Stillwater is quite possibly the best-known restaurant in Tasmania. Situated on the edge of the Tamar River in Launceston — and set within a restored 1830s flour mill — the space is cosy, with warm lighting and timber furnishings, and boasts stunning views. The seasonal menu is a love letter to the island state, celebrating fresh, local produce and the region's best vineyards, distilleries and brewhouses. Our tip: opt for the Arras sparkling, which some might call Australia's best answer to Champagne, paired with flavour-packed seafood dishes like the fresh Moulting Bay oysters or the Tasmanian blacklip abalone with whipped tofu, brown butter ponzu, enoki and avruga caviar for a particularly indulgent experience. A visit on a clear winter day is something special — not only will you get a great view over the water, but be treated to the spoils of a Tassie winter. Expect a menu that makes the most of the abundant and rich produce available in winter like cauliflower, beetroot and brussels sprouts along with treats like oysters and black truffle. TEMPLO — HOBART Tucked away in the back streets of Hobart, Templo is all about intimacy. Which makes it a dream find on a cold winter night. Eating at this 20-seat restaurant feels as if you're at a friend's dinner party, with the exposed brick walls, low hanging lights and close quarters creating a warm atmosphere and cheerful vibe. Choose from a concise list of unique wines, and look to the large blackboard for the ever-changing, seasonal food offering. But while the dishes rotate often, they have a consistently Italian flair to them that's unmistakable and are all made with the freshest produce. If it's available, the gnocchetti with crunchy fried bread will knock your socks off. While seemingly simple, Templo is about shared food, unique wines and a solid communal vibe, making it a charming neighbourhood stalwart and an absolute must during Tasmanian winters. FRANKLIN — HOBART There's a confidence to Franklin that's reflected in every aspect of the restaurant. The contrast of the raw, exposed concrete interior and the soft kangaroo hides and heated floors (which are a real godsend when you step in from the cold) elevates the large space from a classy wine bar to something unexpectedly elegant. Housed in an old Ford showroom within Hobart's historic Mercury Newspaper Building, Franklin is the epitome of industrial-chic. And it's not just the interior design that's special — the food is distinctive, too. With one of Australia's most talented young chefs, Analiese Gregory, and a ten-ton woodfired scotch oven both in the open kitchen, the restaurant serves a menu featuring a made-from-scratch mentality. Everything occurs on-site — whole beasts are broken down, bread is baked daily, cheeses are made and meats are cured. It's a feast for both the eyes and the tastebuds that truly champions local produce. GERONIMO APERITIVO BAR AND RESTAURANT — LAUNCESTON The second you walk into Launceston's Geronimo Aperitivo Bar and Restaurant, your winter blues will disappear. Packed with old-school charm, the space is adorned with Carrara marble, recycled timber, Greek metals, Italian ceramics and lots of warming Euro food on every table. Each dish is designed to share, so it's best to cosy up with some mates and order up. When it's cold outside you'll want to make a beeline for the confit duck leg — which is spiced with orange and star anise and comes with hazelnuts and cabbage — or maybe the fried polenta dumplings and a serve of winter veg. The bar's cherry-tinted take on the manhattan will send you home warm, full and slightly boozed. DIER MAKR — HOBART Dier Makr is made for winter. Broody and a little bit dark, the eatery sits within a large, nondescript, grey building. It doesn't exactly scream "this is one of the best restaurants in town" — but that's beside the point. Once you've found your way inside, you'll find a sleek, intimate bistro and bar where a playful degustation menu will take you on a journey of the senses. Try the seared mussels with chicken fat and mizuna-spiked golden ale. And opt for the cauliflower cooked so many different ways — you'll never look at the humble vegetable the same. Dier Makr is all about showing off the best Tasmanian produce, with a selection of natural and minimal intervention wines to match. Plus, there's a walk-in cellar if you want to bring back a souvenir. Top image: Stillwater, courtesy Tourism Tasmania and Rob Burnett.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas across the country. After months spent empty, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Australian picture palaces are back in business — spanning both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. COUSINS Early in Cousins, lawyer Makareta (Briar Grace Smith, The Strength of Water) walks Wellington's streets, chatting to her cousin Missy (Rachel House, Baby Done) by phone about the latest threat to appropriate their family's land to build a highway. As they talk, a woman with a shrub-like bob of hair and a well-worn green coat almost crosses Makareta's path — and, unbeknownst to her, it's her long-lost cousin, Mata (Tanea Heke, Waru), that she's spent most of her years desperately looking for. In another movie, this near miss would be cutesy, convenient, and spark an onslaught of superficial wisdom about opportunities, coincidences and connections. Cousins isn't that film, thankfully. Here, Makareta and Mata come oh-so-close to finding each other because that's what life entails for a Māori woman who was taken from her family as a child. Stolen away by her white father, left with an uncaring guardian and schooled in a grim home for desolate children, Mata has spent too long at arm's reach from her nearest and dearest, as the film's fractured timeline loops back to explain. She's never all that far away physically — indeed, when she's allowed to stay with her relatives during one youthful summer, a much-younger Makareta (Mihi Te Rauhi Daniels) is shocked to learn that her cousin has been living locally — but by being stripped of her culture, her ties to the past and even the name her mother gave her, Mata may as well have been sent to the other side of the world. Based on Patricia Grace's 1992 book of the same name — and brought to the screen with exceptional performances, including from House, both Keyahne Patrick Williams and Hariata Moriarty (Savage) as younger versions of Missy, and Te Ao Marama Baker, Te Raukura Gray and Ana Scotney (The Breaker Upperers) as Mata at various ages — Cousins explores how Mata's removal from her family leaves a permanent mark. Following her years in institutionalised care and the abhorrent way she's treated by her guardian (Sylvia Rands, Top of the Lake) as well, it's a story and film about colonial trauma, systemic racism and the ills of history that have affected too many First Nations people in too much of the world, and it's a heartbreakingly moving and compelling piece of cinema. Co-directing as well as acting, Grace-Smith teams up with fellow Māori woman and Waru collaborator Ainsley Gardiner to tell a tale that's intimate, impassioned and unflinchingly brought to the screen. Cousins dives headfirst into the pain that removing Indigenous people from their land and culture sparks, and doesn't ever downplay how that hurt, loss, isolation and alienation causes ripples that never subside. And yet, with its calm gaze, as well as its penchant for lingering over brief but vibrant pops of colour and greenery, this is also a movie about fighting for what matters, valuing what you can when you can, and remaining both adaptable and resilient out of both necessity and unyielding fortitude. JOSEE, THE TIGER AND THE FISH With its eye-catching pastel hues and soul-stirring affinity for water, it'd be easy to accuse Josee, the Tiger and the Fish of following in Weathering With You, Children of the Sea and Ride Your Wave's footsteps — or in Ponyo's as well. But this charming and moving Japanese delight finds its origins in a 2003 live-action film of the same name, which itself was adapted from author Seiko Tanabe's short story. The new Josee, the Tiger and the Fish still slides in seamlessly beside its aforementioned anime peers, though. That isn't a criticism by any means. These movies aren't otherwise overtly connected, but Japan's affection for gorgeously animated tales of the heart, of hope and of H2O keeps giving rise to features that may as well be different volumes in a beloved series. Present here, too, is a clear sense of melodrama as two twentysomethings literally collide — physically, more than once, in fact — and try to work out what their futures might hold. Tsuneo (Taishi Nakagawa, Samurai Marathon) has always dreamed of becoming a marine biologist, while Josee (Kaya Kiyohara, Wish) has rarely been given room to think of anything other than the present. Once the pair's paths intertwine, though, they begin to find themselves in far more similar circumstances than either could ever have foretold. The meet-cute here is really a crash-cute: thanks to Josee's hurtling wheelchair and its speedy decline down a hilly Osaka street, she goes flying into his arms. Her grandmother (Chiemi Matsutera) invites him home, and then to join them for a meal — and while Josee is unhappy about the arrangement to the point of being outwardly rude, Tsuneo soon finds himself with a job offer to be her part-time caregiver. He also works in the local dive shop, as part of his studies and quest to earn a scholarship to Mexico. But even with his friend and coworker Mai (Yume Miyamoto, The Misfit of Demon King Academy) pining for him quietly, he's drawn to the impudent Josee. The film strands its titular character in her wheelchair, in peril and in need of help more than once, but Tsuneo is adamant that she needn't ignore her dreams or resign herself to escaping the world around her. Directing his first feature after credits on TV series such as Negima! Magister Negi Magi and Noragami, filmmaker Kôtarô Tamura tells not only a love story, but a tale about embracing life's chaos. His film celebrates the importance of understanding perspectives other than your own, and of fighting for your own choices. Add it to the list of sweet, charming, empathetic and heartwarming anime doing the same — although not one of them simply wades in familiar waters. HEROIC LOSERS Thanks to the vagaries of fate — and, of late, the havoc that the pandemic has played on cinema releases — films with similar elements sometimes brighten up the big screen at the same time. Heroic Losers is one of two movies debuting in Australian cinemas this week that unites a group of small-town locals around a shared cause (the other: Dream Horse; see below). It's also one of two features out this week that pits ordinary hardworking folks against the overwhelming forces making their lives more difficult (the second: Percy vs Goliath; again, see below). Heroic Losers also boasts much in common with the treasure trove of heist flicks that have come before it. Writer/director Sebastian Borensztein (Chinese Take-Out) even includes clips of 1966's How to Steal a Million, and has the 55-year-old classic influence some of its characters' antics, too. But, premiering in Argentina almost two years ago before hopping its way around the festival circuit, including at Australia's Spanish Film Festival, this affable movie ranks among the best kind of formulaic fare. It makes you remember what you love about the genres it warmly falls into, as well as the pictures it fondly recalls — and it never leaves its viewers merely ticking through all of its standard-issue inclusions, then wishing they were watching one of those other pictures instead. The ever-reliable, always charming Ricardo Darín (Everybody Knows) plays Fermín Perlassi, a retired ex-footballer who wants to reopen a grain storage cooperative that stumbled in his small-town home of Villa Alsina a decade earlier. It's 2001, and he manages to encourage his pals and locals to support his dream. Alas, just days after Fermín deposits their life savings — and is manipulated into putting them into an account, rather than in a safe deposit box —Argentina's financial crisis sees the country's banks and their funds all frozen. This isn't the last crisis involving their money, but the group comes up with a plan. Again, as mentioned above, How to Steal a Million helps. So does the eagerness of Fermín and his gang — including Verónica Llinás (So Long Enthusiasm) as his wife, Darín's own son Chino (The Queen of Spain) as his son, and Luis Brandoni (You Only Live Once), Rita Cortese (Wild Tales) and Marco Antonio Caponi (Nobody's Watching) as well — to take their destinies into their own hands. Unravelling their heist antics, Borensztein helms a lively and likeable film that pairs its affection for their efforts with a matching affinity for the characters themselves. It all turns out as anyone can predict, but the good-natured journey is rarely anything less than pleasant. DELIVER US FROM EVIL Whether he's on screenwriting duties or he's behind the camera, a film that involves Hong Won-chan is always worthy of attention. The South Korean filmmaker penned the scripts for Na Hong-jin's gripping The Chaser and The Yellow Sea, then made his directorial debut with the entertainingly savage Office — and now, both as a writer and a helmer, he's added engaging action-packed gangster thriller Deliver Us From Evil to his growing resume. A big box office hit on home turf, this kinetic, frenetic and exceptionally choreographed affair charts the failed last hurrah of cop-turned-hitman In-nam (Hwang Jung-min, The Wailing). In Tokyo, he pulls off his final job without a hitch, but it turns out that his yakuza target has an unhinged brother that his bosses forgot to mention. And, as well as being unhappy about this turn of events to the point of seeking bloody and ruthless revenge, said sibling Ray (Lee Jung-jae, The Housemaid) shares a past with In-nam. That's enough to derail the latter's plans to live the good life in Panama for the rest of his days; however, it's not the only drama that pushes him off course. In Bangkok, his ex-girlfriend has been killed in a bungled kidnapping and extortion scheme, but her nine-year-old daughter Yoo-min (Park So-yi, Pawn) still needs rescuing. Deliver Us From Evil isn't short on plot, but it isn't needlessly overcomplicated or convoluted, either. As a storyteller, Hong has always been efficient above all else. Indeed, when multiple storylines weave through his scripts — as they usually do — they're always unfurled with exactly the flair and detail each needs and deserves. Here, he threads together In-nam's search for Yoo-min and his attempts to evade Ray, and does so with the same precision his two main characters show in their gruesome work. In this 108-minute movie, not a scene or second is wasted, in fact. While much of the minutiae, narrative-wise, hardly reshapes Hong's chosen genre, he firmly knows the difference between blandly sticking to a formula and deploying familiar elements in their best and most spirited forms. His keen eye for dynamic, slick but never mindlessly over-the-top action helps, including in frenzied chase scenes and brutal fist-to-fist battles. His willingness to let the camera linger upon its person of focus a beat longer than usual — whether In-nam, Ray or the transgender Korean woman, Yui (Park Jeong-min, Time to Hunt), In-nam teams up with to locate Yoo-min — also gives the movie its own pace. And, in its casting, Deliver Us From Evil is first-rate. Lee gets the more cartoonish role, but no scene featuring his menace, Hwang's blend of determination and desperation, or both, could ever wear out its welcome. DREAM HORSE Life-changing conversations can happen in bars — as Jan Vokes well and truly knows. Played in Dream Horse by Toni Collette (I'm Thinking of Ending Things), the Welsh supermarket employee and pub barmaid overheard Howard Davies (Damian Lewis, Billions) chatting about his past success as a racehorse owner. In his beer-fuelled boasting, he doesn't discuss how it almost left him bankrupt and divorced, but Jan is still inspired to both follow his lead and enlist his help. Having bred whippets and racing pigeons before, and won prizes for doing so, she decides she'll turn her attention to horses. Husband Brian (Owen Teale, Game of Thrones) isn't initially convinced, but soon she's studying guides, finding a mare and then a stallion, and convincing her friends and neighbours to put away a tenner a week to pay for this little endeavour. The syndicate's focus: a foal they name Dream Alliance, who spends his early days being raised on the Vokes' allotment, and eventually ends up with racing hotshot Philip Hobbs (Nicholas Farrell, The Nevers) as its trainer. Dream Horse wouldn't exist if success didn't follow, and it leaves no doubt that that's the case; however, director Euros Lyn (The Library Suicides) and screenwriter Neil McKay (Mad Money) chart lows as well as highs, and always ensure their characters are their primary focus. Dream Alliance was always going to gallop into cinemas, of course — and not just via 2015 documentary Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance. His is a story too crowd-pleasing for filmmakers to ignore, especially given the UK's penchant for against-the-odds tales about motley crews of struggling salt-of-the-earth characters who band together over an unusual but swiftly shared interest that ends up revitalising their lives in more ways than one. That's the template Dream Horse plays to, even though it's based on a true tale and an actual horse. The Full Monty, Calendar Girls and similar feel-good flicks provide as much inspiration here as the actual real-life details, in fact. Accordingly, this is a movie that's easy to get caught up in. It's almost impossible not to, really. That said, it's also a film that wears its warmth, sentimentality and shameless heartstring-pulling as a badge of honour. As a result, it's also impossible to ignore the buttons the movie keeps gleefully pushing, and the parts of the tale that must've been smoothed out to elicit the desired cheer-inducing response — even around Collette's committed performance. But this happily mawkish feature and its characters are all doing it for the "hwyl", a Welsh term that means "emotional motivation and energy", and neither is willing to let that mission dwindle even for a second. PERCY VS GOLIATH Not once but twice in Percy vs Goliath, snippets of news footage utter the three words that no one needs to speak aloud. Given its title, no one needs to spell out that seed-saving Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser (Christopher Walken, Wild Mountain Thyme) is locked in a David vs Goliath battle with agriculture and agrochemical behemoth Monsanto. By the time the biblical face-off is first mentioned in this underdog drama, it's well and truly clear that this is the case — whether or not you're familiar with the real-life story, or you've seen the 2009 documentary Percy Schmeiser — David Versus Monsanto. But actor-turned-director Clark Johnson (Juanita) and screenwriters Garfield Lindsay Miller (The Devil You Know) and Hilary Pryor (Moosemeat & Marmalade) go there anyway. They make a plethora of choices that are just as blatant and unnecessary, and it robs their film of its potency. Unexpectedly accused of stealing Monsanto's Roundup-resistant canola seeds, and determined to do whatever it takes to demonstrate his innocence and fight for the rights of his fellow farmers, Schmeiser's tale is rousing enough without needing to resort to obvious cliches. Undoubtedly, his quest was described in such terms by media at the time, and definitely would've been since as well, but Percy vs Goliath's viewers don't need to be spoon-fed so forcefully to understand why his battle matters. Thankfully, this by-the-numbers movie has Walken at its centre, which is usually a smart choice. The veteran actor might've been poorly served by his past two big-screen roles — his Irish accent in Wild Mountain Thyme is awful, and the less said about the never-funny all-ages exploits in War with Grandpa, the better — but he's reliably compelling here as Schmeiser. His character's troubles begin when he's sent a letter demanding $15,000 in payment for his supposed unlicensed use of Monsanto's patented technology. Schmeiser's wife (Roberta Maxwell, Hungry Hearts) is initially sceptical about enlisting legal help, his son (Luke Kirby, The Marvellous Mrs Maisel) is steadfastly against it and even their chosen lawyer (Zach Braff, The Comeback Trail) recommends settling; however, this farmer doesn't take kindly to being told he's a thief when he isn't, or being bullied by the big end of his industry. He initially isn't too fond of the environmental activist (Christina Ricci, Around the Block) who pops up to crowdfund for his cause, either, but sometimes he needs her bigger-picture thinking. Yes, everything in Percy vs Goliath unravels as expected, and Johnson, Miller and Pryor's choices emphasis that unmissable truth. The film didn't need to be as routine and drama-free as it is, but Walken gives it far more spirit than it possesses otherwise. THE MEDDLER In The Meddler, it doesn't take long for German Cabrera to admit the obvious: he has an addiction. By day, the Guatemala City resident works as a mechanic, a trade he's keen to teach to his four sons. By night, he leaves his family at home while he trawls the streets until dawn, doggedly searching for whichever splashes of blood, crime and drama that he can capture with his always-recording camera. Cabrera is compelled to document the city's chaos so that he can expose it, he explains. As the block of text that opens the film notes, 2100 homicides were reported in Guatemala City in 2013, making it the 12th most violent place in the world. Cabrera records everything that he can — nightly fights, drunken behaviour, medical emergencies and dead bodies alike — with TV networks airing his footage, and even eventually dedicating an entire segment called The Night Watcher to his visuals. He's proud about the fact that he doesn't get paid for his efforts. As The Meddler watches him as he watches on, he seems to enjoy what he's seeing, too. In fact, Cabrera takes his role as a self-appointed observer to heart, simply standing by camera in-hand while scenes and events scream for someone's intervention, and often just recording anyone who happens to stumble into his view. Directed by feature first-timers Alex Roberts and Daniel Leclair, The Meddler has charged itself with a complicated task — because its subject and his actions and motivations are equally complex. When the documentary spends time driving around with Cabrera, peers at him while he's on the road and hears him talk about his desires to better the city, it purposefully brings Taxi Driver to mind. When it spies his eagerness to voyeuristically seek out and shoot Guatemala City's nocturnal chaos night after night, it summons up Nightcrawler as well. Neither comparison paints Cabrera in a favourable light, or a straightforward one. The Meddler thrusts him to the fore and its filmmakers don't interject in his monologues, question his statements or try to explain his choices; however, the doco's aesthetic and editing choices don't wholly land on his side, either. Indeed, this is a knotty character study that appreciates Cabrera's stated quest, and also acknowledges all of the thorniness that comes packaged with him and his after-dark hustle. When the film uses his footage, it's chilling and unsettling. When it forces viewers to contemplate his presence in the night and accompanying penchant for sensationalistic imagery, it's just as eerie. GREAT WHITE When a giant shark chomps its way through the cinematic ocean, audiences are meant to side with its scared human prey. But some creature features give viewers multiple reasons to do the opposite — and to find their own way to liven up a dull and formulaic movie. Perhaps the film's non-fish characters are woefully one-note or unlikeable, or both. Maybe the script is so simplistic, even in a well-worn genre, that a shark munching random keys on a typewriter probably could've written something better. Or, it could be that every plot development, performance, visual, and score choice is so overwhelmingly predictable that tension is as rare as a vegan great white. Actually, there's no maybes about any of the last three statements when it comes to horror's latest shark-centric outing, which turns Queensland's waters into a buffet for a ravenous critter. Great White marks the feature debut of director Martin Wilson, and only the second movie script for screenwriter Michael Boughen (Dying Breed); however, that its producers have 2010 Aussie shark film The Reef and its now-in-production sequel The Reef: Stalked on their resumes — plus homegrown 2007 crocodile flick Black Water and its 2020 sequel Black Water: Abyss — will surprise absolutely no one. Great White's setup will be familiar to anyone who has even heard of a shark movie before, let alone watched one. The twist: despite reassurances by marine biologist-turned-seaplane pilot Charlie (Aaron Jakubenko, Tidelands) that the time just isn't right for teeth-gnashing ocean predators to fill their empty stomachs, climate change seems to have changed the titular species' habits. So, on a lucrative charter gig that'll help keep his business financially afloat, Charlie, his girlfriend Kaz (Katrina Bowden, 30 Rock), their cook Benny (Te Kohe Tuhaka, Love and Monsters), and their paying customers Joji (Tim Kano, Neighbours) and Michelle (Kimie Tsukakoshi, The Family Law) find themselves under threat. They've headed to a remote island of personal significance to Michelle, and Joji is clashing with Benny before they even spot the resident great white's last victim. To ramp up the stakes, Kaz is telling Charlie that she's pregnant, too. Quickly, the quintet become the creature's next targets, including while cast adrift in a life raft that could use Life of Pi's Richard Parker for company. Just as speedily, Great White's audience will wish that something — anything — that hasn't previously graced Jaws, The Shallows, 47 Metres Down or even The Meg's frames would happen in this thrill-free bob into been-there, done-that waters. SPIRIT UNTAMED The first time that a Kiger Mustang named Spirit cantered across the silver screen, it was in 2002's Oscar-nominated Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Back then, the film marked just the sixth theatrical feature that Dreamworks Animation had brought to cinemas — following Antz, The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Chicken Run and Shrek — and if anything stood out, it was the movie's hand-drawn animation. Almost two decades later, Spirit Untamed returns the energetic and determined horse back to theatres. The movie he's in still looks gorgeous, even if computers have replaced pencils in bringing him to life. That said, this isn't actually the franchise's second step, with Netflix series Spirit Riding Free also telling the apple-loving animal's story across 78 episodes since 2017. In both look and feel, Spirit Untamed has more in common with its streaming counterpart than its big-screen predecessor, unsurprisingly. It's happy to primarily court the show's young audience, too. Indeed, while voice work by Jake Gyllenhaal (Spider-Man: Far From Home), Julianne Moore (Lisey's Story), Walton Goggins (Fatman), Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Eiza González (Godzilla vs Kong) is designed to appeal to adults, there's little else but scant traces of nostalgia and pastel-hued imagery to keep anyone past their teens interested. Her vocals stem from a different actor — with Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold) doing the honours — but Fortuna Esperanza "Lucky" Prescott still sits at the heart of Spirit Untamed. Like Spirit Riding Free, the new film tells of Lucky's arrival in the frontier town of Miradero, her connection with Spirit and her efforts to save him from wranglers (led by Goggins). Also covered: her budding friendship with fellow horse-lovers Pru (voiced here by Little's Marsai Martin) and Abigail (Mckenna Grace, Annabelle Comes Home). They're the pals she needs when Spirit and his wild companions are snatched up by the nefarious rustlers, who plan to ship the horses off and sell them. Together, the pre-teen trio then sets off across the dangerous plains, determined to save the galloping animals and do the right thing. There's an obvious but still welcome and powerful message in Lucky's story, as she ignores her worried dad's (Gyllenhaal) warnings and her doting aunt's (Moore) fussing, choosing to follow her own heart and path instead. (Her father frets because her mother, voiced by González, worked as a horse-riding stunt performer and died during a show.) Similarly pleasing, even if the movie basically just remakes the TV show's first episode: that this all-ages wild west tale heroes women, although it pales in comparison to the recent Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on January 1, January 7, January 14, January 21 and January 28; February 4, February 11, February 18 and February 25; March 4, March 11, March 18 and March 25; and April 1, April 8, April 15, April 22 and April 29; May 6, May 13, May 20 and May 27; and June 3. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Nomadland, Pieces of a Woman, The Dry, Promising Young Woman, Summerland, Ammonite, The Dig, The White Tiger, Only the Animals, Malcolm & Marie, News of the World, High Ground, Earwig and the Witch, The Nest, Assassins, Synchronic, Another Round, Minari, Firestarter — The Story of Bangarra, The Truffle Hunters, The Little Things, Chaos Walking, Raya and the Last Dragon, Max Richter's Sleep, Judas and the Black Messiah, Girls Can't Surf, French Exit, Saint Maud, Godzilla vs Kong, The Painter and the Thief, Nobody, The Father, Willy's Wonderland, Collective, Voyagers, Gunda, Supernova, The Dissident, The United States vs Billie Holiday, First Cow, Wrath of Man, Locked Down, The Perfect Candidate, Those Who Wish Me Dead, Spiral: From the Book of Saw, Ema, A Quiet Place Part II, Cruella, My Name Is Gulpilil, Lapsis and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
With a warm glass of Pinot in hand, sit enjoying soft blues fill the room and listen as the wood fire occasionally pops from the corner. There isn't really a better spot northside to spend a winter's evening than at the Tramway in Fitzroy North. Soft lighting and the now seemingly requisite filament light bulbs glow, echoing the embers of the flames. With a section round the back reservable for events, the dining room and bar are kept separate, and therefore pleasantly civilised. Tramway has furnished the pub simply with warm woods and soft furnishings, creating a delightful atmosphere. The food here is delicious — think slow roasted pulled pork, adorned hot dogs and a crazily cheesy mac 'n' cheese. If you fancy a cosy escape from the buzz of Fitzroy proper, this is your best bet. Image credit: Lia Steele
In the ultimate food-meets-fashion fusion, Ralph Lauren has opened his first New York City restaurant next door to the brand's flagship store on Fifth Avenue. Polo Bar is Lauren's third restaurant, following his original RL Bar and Grill in Chicago and Ralph's in Paris. Inspired by the brand's signature Polo range, the lamp-lit New England style design takes luxury to new and heady heights. Caramel tones dominate the interior, with parquet floors underfoot and wood panelling extending onto the ceiling, while equestrian-themed art and an exclusive Henry Koelher polo match mural adorn the walls. If you're popping in for oysters and cocktails, then the brass-topped bar is where you'll head, with its rows of gleaming bottles and oversized silver champagne coolers. For those power lunches (and dinners-to-impress), sink into the tan banquettes of the restaurant itself. Polo Bar's menu features American classics, served on the restaurant's own tableware. There's a meat-heavy bent to the homestyle fare, with steaks and burgers the apparent focus of the kitchen, and beef sourced periodically from Lauren's own ranch in Colorado. We like the sound of the New York strip steak with brown butter, or the famous Polo Bar Burger with cheddar and crispy bacon. Alternatively, go for the roast chicken or the Loch Duart wild salmon, and succumb to outfit-envy as the Ralph Lauren models — or rather, waitstaff — serve you in their leather wingtips and silk ties. While there's apple pie and five-layer chocolate cake for dessert, you can’t go past Ralph's Coffee Ice Cream with dark chocolate shortbread cookies, made with the brand's own custom blend coffee. So while you're saving for that airfare, scrounge up a little more for a luncheon or two at this pretty establishment. Polo shirts welcome, of course. Via Grub Street. Images: Polo Bar.
Just a few short months ago, no one could've predicted that the Queensland border would become one of 2020's most debated topics. It's a subject that has inspired plenty of comments, especially among interstate and federal politicians calling for Queensland to open back up — with the state closing its border to help stem the spread of COVID-19, then keeping it shut while other restrictions have been easing. Today, Tuesday, June 30, that chatter can finally stop — with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirming Friday, July 10 as Queensland's official date for reopening to interstate visitors from all states and territories except Victoria. That date was initially outlined in Queensland's COVID-19 roadmap, and discussed earlier in June, with a final call on opening up the border always expected at the end of this month. That's great news for folks who live in New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, of course — however, with coronavirus case numbers spiking in Victoria over the past couple of weeks, residents of that state won't be allowed into Queensland as yet. In fact, as Premier Palaszczuk announced, "Queensland has very large concerns about the state of Victoria", which means that, "due to current community transmission levels, the border with Victoria will remain closed — and will be strengthened". https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1277816426724638721 A week prior to the Queensland border opening to all other areas of the country, the state will implement a new regime for visitors from Victoria — to come into effect from noon on Friday, July 3. Anyone travelling from Victoria, including Queenslanders, will be refused entry unless they go into forced quarantine for 14 days, in a hotel, at their own expense. Folks coming to Queensland from other states from July 10 will also need to complete a border declaration form. On it, they'll need to certify that they haven't travelled to Victoria in past 14 days — and the government has advised it'll be checking these statements, and that making a false statement will be an offence. Also, while Victoria has been singled out at present due to its COVID-19 situation, Queensland will review its border position with other states should outbreaks occur elsewhere. The aim is to avoid community transmission in Queensland, with Premier Palaszczuk noting that "if the Chief Health Officer reviews any state or territory at any time, and there is community transmission like Victoria, we may have to take action". If you're a Queenslander hoping to hop over the border for a mid-year holiday — and come back home without any hassle — the confirmation of July 10 as the official border reopening date is also a welcome development. That said, Premier Palaszczuk has urged all Queenslanders not to go to Victoria. Queensland's announcement comes on the same day that South Australia revised its plans to open its borders, revealing that it won't open to Victorian residents on July 20 as initially advised — with details to come regarding NSW and ACT residents, and inhabitants of other states already allowed to enter SA. To find out more about Queensland's COVID-19 restrictions, and the status of the coronavirus in the state, visit Queensland's online COVID-19 hub. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia and how to protect yourself, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website. Top image: Hill Inlet in the Whitsundays by Tourism and Events Queensland.
Theatre lovers rejoice, because Sydney is about to bear witness to a Broadway debut: Waitress is coming to town. The long-awaited Australian debut of the production is confirmed for a premiere at Sydney Lyric Theatre in July 2026. Sara Bareilles, the creative force behind the musical's original score, expressed her excitement about the Australian premiere. "It's been a dream of mine to see Waitress (finally) find its way to Australia," she stated. "This story is about dreams, friendship and the courage needed to learn to love oneself, which feels so universal, and so timely." The musical, inspired by Adrienne Shelly's beloved film, tells the story of Jenna, a small-town waitress and expert pie maker trapped in a difficult marriage who dreams of escape. When a baking contest and unexpected romance present new opportunities, Jenna discovers that change might be closer than she imagined, supported by her fellow waitresses in a tale of resilience and self-discovery. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2N_svvx-uA[/embed] Producer John Frost from Crossroads Live highlighted the production's impressive credentials, noting its four Tony nominations and six Drama Desk nominations during its original Broadway run. Waitress became a huge hit on Broadway where it played for almost four years," Frost explained. The musical has since enjoyed successful runs in the West End, multiple US tours and international productions, establishing itself as a global phenomenon. The production holds particular significance in theatre history, having made Broadway history with women filling all four top creative positions. Alongside Bareilles' music and lyrics, the creative team features Jessie Nelson's book, Lorin Latarro's choreography and Tony winner Diane Paulus's direction. This groundbreaking achievement occurred when the musical opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on April 24, 2016, running until January 5, 2020. Original producer Barry Weissler acknowledged the lengthy journey to bring Waitress to Australian audiences, stating: "Collaborating with our longtime partner John Frost and his team at Crossroads Live, we are thrilled to finally have the chance to share this story 'baked from the heart' with audiences in Oz." Critics have consistently praised the musical's blend of humour, heart, and memorable music. The Times called it "5 Star musical pie," while New York Magazine described it as "sweet, sassy, passionate & delightful!" The Washington Post praised it as "simply delightful! A glorious reminder that life is messy and wondrous!" Tickets go on sale later this month. Join the waitlist to get yours as soon as they're available.
The last time that Vince Gilligan created a series around an actor that he'd already worked with, television gained one of the best shows of the 21st century, one of its finest-ever tragedies and a spinoff on par with its inspiration: the Breaking Bad-connected Better Call Saul. Next up on his resume comes another project based around a star that he's already made exceptional TV with, and that should be just as keenly anticipated, with Pluribus led by Rhea Seehorn (Win or Lose). As Kim Wexler in Better Call Saul, Seehorn was nominated for two well-deserved Emmys, but missed out to Ozark's Julia Garner in 2022 and The White Lotus' Jennifer Coolidge in 2023. Here's hoping that she earns accolades for her next effort with Gilligan. This time, the duo reunite for an Apple TV+ sci-fi drama, which has just dropped its first teaser trailer and announced its premiere date. [caption id="attachment_864124" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Better Call Saul, Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television[/caption] From Friday, November 7, you can watch what occurs when Seehorn plays the planet's most-miserable person, who needs to save the world from happiness. That's all of the plot details that have been revealed so far. The first-look clip doesn't expand on the narrative, but does feature a woman licking doughnuts and placing them back in a box for others to help themselves to. If you're keen for anything that The X-Files alum Gilligan whips up — especially with the stellar Seehorn involved — then you'll be pleased to know that the nine-episode first season of Pluribus isn't all that's on the way. Already, the show has been renewed for a second season. [caption id="attachment_757257" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Better Call Saul[/caption] On-screen, Seehorn is joined by Karolina Wydra (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Carlos-Manuel Vesga (The Luckiest Man in America), Miriam Shor (Magic Hour) and Samba Schutte (Parallel). Behind the scenes, Gilligan has fellow Better Call Saul veterans Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock and Diane Mercer for company among the series' executive producers, as well as Allyce Ozarski (I Love That for You) and Jeff Frost. Also, if you're wondering right now if Gilligan isn't all that fond of pastries given the role of a particular chain in Better Call Saul, that's understandable. Check out the date announcement video for Pluribus below: Pluribus starts streaming via Apple TV+ on Friday, November 7, 2025.
Collingwood's newest Mexican joint doesn't have a heaving tequila selection, a dinner menu, or a single cerveza in sight, but it is dishing up a lunchtime offering that'll keep you coming back for more. Opening on Smith Street just before Christmas, Frankie's Tortas & Tacos is located in a tiny car park kiosk most recently home to a kebab joint. It has chain-link fencing, a charmingly low-key vibe and room for not much more than 15 diners. The menu might be short and simple, but it's the stuff lunchtime regulars dream of, served speedily out of a busy streetside kitchen and best enjoyed perched on one of the venue's red plastic stools. You can leave the formalities at home — here, it's paper plates all the way. A trio of tortas — or Mexican sandwiches — features soft, white Vietnamese-style rolls, stuffed with beans, avocado, queso, lettuce and coriander, and served with house-made pickles. There's a classic al pastor starring marinated pork cooked on a shawarma-style spit, another with crumbed beef and a vegetarian-friendly mushroom number. Tacos play the simple game, too, with a lineup of just three options, each jazzed up with onion, coriander and a dollop of salsa. You'll find an al pastor with pineapple and another meat-free mushroom creation (both gluten-free), along with a beef asada. Add a squeeze of lime and a few splashes from the hot sauce collection and you're good to go. Just don't leave it too late to visit, as the kitchen only serves up limited portions each day. While you can't match this Mexican feast with a beer, Frankie's is slinging daytime-appropriate sips like Jarritos Mexican sodas, glass bottles of Coca Cola, horchata (a sweet rice milk drink) and a cold brew and filter from Abbotsford's Blume Coffee. Find Frankie's Tortas and Tacos at 384 Smith Street, Collingwood. It's open Tuesday to Sunday, from noon until 4pm (or until sold out). Images: Tracey Ah-Kee
Get a glimpse into the production of an intriguing adaptation of Oscar Wilde's savage fairytale The Nightingale and the Rose. Co-directed by two-time Archibald Prize winner Del Kathryn Barton and filmmaker Brendan Fletcher, the 14-minute animation — which won the award for Best Australian Short Film at last year's Melbourne International Film Festival — will screen as part of a three-month exhibition at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. Featuring the voice talents of Mia Wasikowska, David Wenham and Geoffrey Rush, as well as a unique score by singer-songwriter Sarah Blasko, the film provides the backbone for Del Kathryn Barton: The Nightingale and the Rose. Running until mid-September in ACMI's Gallery 2, the exhibition will take visitors behind the scenes of Barton's creative process, incorporating never-before-seen paintings, props from production, and a rare 1913 edition of the Oscar Wilde anthology in which the story first appeared. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkHzTsFJ73I
The Albion Hotel's is what you'd call a true 'risen from the ashes' story. Two years ago, the historic South Melbourne pub took quite the beating, burning to the ground just ten days before it was due to reopen. Now, its team of owners — which includes ex-Collingwood AFL player Dane Swan and former rugby league legends Danny Williams and Robbie Kearns — have brought the venue back to life, ready to at last unveil the finished project in early February. We're told to expect an entirely different offering to any of the pub's many previous incarnations, as it returns to its original name of The Albion. This time around, expect a mammoth three-level space, crowned with one of Melbourne's biggest rooftop bars. Up here, find yourself quaffing gin cocktails and tap beers, matched to sweeping views of the city skyline. One floor below lies a plush lounge bar, decked out with leather booths and brass accents, while a modern front bar takes over the ground level. It's an all-encompassing venue that's been designed to cruise easily from daytime to the after-dark hours, with a state-of-the-art sound system and a nifty 5am weekend licence pegging it as a favourite for late-night dance floor sessions. Meanwhile, the brand new kitchen will be plating up a menu that celebrates both local produce and global flavours, featuring the likes of soft shell crab bao, cider-braised pork belly and a seared nori tuna. This isn't the only old pub to open next month — Melbourne University's Prince Alfred is getting a new lease on life too. The Albion will open Wednesday through Sunday at 172, York Street South Melbourne, from February 2018. For more information, keep checking back here and at thealbion.bar.
Melbourne's Il Mercato Centrale is finally here. This huge Italian food hall and market — the first of its kind in Australia — was first announced back in 2022 and was expected to open late in he same year. Unfortunately, the highly ambitious venture encountered a heap of issues that pushed the opening back a couple of years. But all those woes are now in the past, as the team officially opened the 546 Collins Street site at 4pm on Thursday, September 19. First off, the 3500-square-metre space, spread across three stories, truly is enormous. The first floor has a market feel but with more flash, fun and tech. Each of the vendors is slinging their own specialty goods, with none competing with the other. Here, you can find fresh produce to take home or have them cook it up for you on the spot. Then, up one floor, you'll find a fine-diner, gelateria, distillery, wine bar, cocktail bar, and a smattering of other food vendors. Head up another staircase to then find a multi-purpose space for holding big events and regular workshops and masterclasses — hosted by Il Mercato Centrale's vendors. There's a lot going on, and it's best to explore in person, but to help you start planning your visit, we've put together this quick guide to all the vendors who've set up shop on Collins Street's huge new drinking and dining destination. What's more, you won't need to spend all your time running around from stall to stall when dining here — simply scan a QR code and order from a selection of these spots in one transaction, and have them ready to pick up or be delivered to your table (wherever that may be in the food hall) within a few minutes. Il Forno Damian Malone's Il Forno bakery sits right at the entrance of Il Mercato Centrale, showing just how important good bread is to Italians. The team here is milling its own flour, making it into handmade loaves of bread and pastries. Quickly pop in before work for a cheeky croissant, or stop by after a day in the office to take some fresh bread home. Il Caffe No Italian food and drink destination is complete without standout coffee. And Il Mercato Centrale has enlisted the help of Jerry Lee to bring it to life on the ground floor. Locally roasted Mosaic by Lavazza coffee is being used in espresso shots, and it's served in quintessentially Italian in style. That means you're not going to find your bougie filter coffees or Melbourne magics here. It is simple and to the point. But for fun, the team is selling its playful coffee caviar. Before you get turned off, there's no fish product in it — simply espresso that's had a little science intervention that transforms it into tiny balls that pop in your mouth. La Pasta Fresca It's almost impossible to find fresh pasta in the CBD that you can take home. That is until right now, thanks to Angelo Sperlinga, who is running this spot. He's been selling pasta for over 27 years now and has absolutely nailed the art. You'll find a stack of different kinds of pasta here, varying in shape, size and regional origins. Stop by to take these away, or order them with your choice of sauces for lunch or dinner at the new Il Mercato Centrale in Melbourne. La Pasticceria Neapolitan pastries are championed at this pastry stall, run by Alessandro Grillo and Vincenzo Marino. Yes, that means you'll be filling up on sfogliatella, baba, zeppole, and all sorts of cakes and biscotti. Grab a few with your coffee when dining in, or box up a bunch of your faves to take back to the office. La Pizza al Taglio Traditional Roman pizza al taglio is championed at this stall, which is run by Nicoló Conenna who — like many of the traders here — hails from Italy. Here, you'll find thick-ish crust pizza, fat foccacia sandwiches loaded with meat, veg and cheese, plus some morish arancini — some of which come stuffed with different kinds of pasta rather than rice. Cheese is heavily used here, so be sure to pop a Lactese tablet if you and dairy aren't the best of friends. La Frutta e la Verdura Bivano & Sons is running the fruit and veg tall at Il Mercat Centrale, selling locally grown produce as well as fresh juices. Even though this is sitting in the back corner of the ground floor, you won't miss it thanks to the brightly coloured fruit draped all over the front of the stall. La Carne e i Salumi This butcher and steakhouse has one of the sexiest stalls in the market — that is, if you're a meat eater. There's a large glass display right out front with large cuts of meat slowly spinning around on hooks. Drop by for legendary eats like capocollo di calabria and bistecca alla fiorentina, cooked over the grill to order. Prefer to take some of the raw steaks home? Too easy. They'll wrap them up, give you cooking tips and send you on your way. I Calamari Fritti Out of all the stalls at Melbourne's Il Mercato Centrale, this one is the most specialised. Here, Paula and Gary Harding are almost exclusively selling freshly fried calamari. Yeah, there are a few little salads also up for grabs, but it is all about the salt and pepper calamari, and Italian crumbed calamari — a recipe passed down from their Sicilian nonna. If we can nab a seat outside on Collins Street, this is what we'll be ordering to go with our many rounds of Aperol spritz. La Mozzarella Like it says in the name, La Mozarella (run by the That's Amore crew) is where you get your cheese — specifically, buffalo mozzarella. Traditional Italian methods and recipes are at the heart of the team's practices, preserving the ancient art of cheese-making with patience, dedication and love. But mozzarella isn't the only cheese sold here. You've also got fresh ricotta, burrata, caciovalla and provolone, among many others — either served to eat there or taken home for cooking. We'll likely be ordering a few burrata balls while sipping on Italian wines upstairs at the Enoteca. Il Pesce Wild-caught and farmed seafood seafood can be found down the back of the ground floor market section, run by George Milonas. His diverse range includes a variety of Australian seafood such as fish, shellfish, mollusks, and oysters, which can all be cooked onsite or taken away. Strangely, the team is even selling sushi here — clearly, they know just how much Melburnians love their lunchtime sushi rolls. Il Cioccolato This isn't your average chocolate shop. Alessandro Luppolo has brought some next-level bean-to-bar creations to Il Mercato Centrale that look just as good as they taste. Its collection includes single-origin dark and milk chocolates, plus a smattering of innovatively crafted bonbons — the flavours of which change semi-regularly. L'Enoteca Just as coffee is an Italian essential in the morning, wine is just as important from the afternoon onward. Nailing the vino was always going to be important at Il Mercato Centrale, and they've done a bang-up job by getting Marco and Michelle Singarella to run the wine bar. You'll find an impressive range of artisanal wines from Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and France, plus a few tap wines from local and Italian producers. Sit at the bar and order some drops by the glass, or run in to take some bottles home. We highly recommend nabbing a table up here, ordering some fresh oysters and arancini to go with your sip-and-snack session. I Connoli La Canolleria is another well-known artistan setting up shop in Melbourne's Il Mercato Centrale. These guys can already be found at Queen Vic Market, South Melbourne Market and their bricks-and-mortar shop on Lygon Street, where they make some of the city's finest cannoli. These are made the traditional way, with fresh ricotta, and come with a heap of different classic flavours. Il Bar Centrale This ground-floor bar is pumping out all your usual suspects, from local and Italian beers and wines to simple cocktails and mixed drinks. Order these from your table or with the team themselves, drinking late into the night. La Distilleria Yes, Melbourne's Il Mercato Centrale has its own gin distillery. Because, why not? Australian Distilling Co. is in charge here, making and serving its wide range of gins, which the team will help you pair with whatever food you've ordered from the other vendors. You'll soon be able to participate in gin masterclasses here as well, making and bottling up your own gin to take home. Il Gelato Rovena Xeba is serving up brilliant artisanal gelato, gelato cakes, waffles and crepes from her small stall upstairs. She uses organic milk, fresh fruits, vanilla beans, organic eggs and butter to create a range of products that embody the quality and tradition of Italian gelato making. A particular highlight has got to be her signature Spaghetti Ice Cream — a playful twist on classic gelato. First off, the gelato is made with organic milk and vanilla beans, which is pressed through machinery to resemble spaghetti. It's topped with homemade strawberry coulis — simulating tomato sauce — and finished with white chocolate shavings as grated cheese. It's fun, but far from being naff. It still tastes damn good. I Cocktail The food hall and market's own bar has taken up prime position on the second floor, right in front of the stunning windows overlooking Collins Street. Here, bartenders are mixing up all your usual Italian cocktails, plus a few signature sips with plenty of flair. Sit up here and watch the theatrical cocktail-making, or simply have the bevs delivered to whatever part of Il Mercato Centrale you've set yourselves up at. La Pizza Napoletana This is one of the stalls we were most looking forward to visiting, for Valerio Violetti is running the show. He's known for creating some of the best pizza in Australia — and has plenty of awards to prove it — and the pizzas he's making here are no joke. Il Mercato Centrale worked hard to get him here, and we are all too grateful for their perseverance. Here, he and his team are plating up sensational Napoletana pizza, cooked up in one of the two huge puma-shaped pizza ovens. This is a must-visit spot at the new CBD food hall. La Pasta Fatta in Casa Annapaola D'Alessio's pasta stall — located right next to La Pizza Napoletana — is yet another standout spot. Here, D'Alessio and her team are making handmade pasta for the masses, without losing out on quality. You can take this home, but it would be an absolute shame not to try their cooked pasta dishes. They'll change seasonally, so be sure to pop by regularly for some of Melbourne's best pasta. Lo Smash Burger For us, this is one of the more surprising stalls. We never knew smash burgers were particularly Italian, but we certainly aren't upset to find them at Il Mercato Centrale. Its signature smash burger features a patty made from a blend of angus brisket and chuck beef, smashed onto a hot griddle to create a crispy crust and juicy interior. Topped with melted cheddar, lettuce, and pickles, this burger will satisfy even the fussiest eaters out there. Il Riso Restaurants get risotto wrong all the time. It is a true labour of love that needs to be precisely prepared and cooked. And risotteria crushes it. The risotto is super creamy but still has just the right amount of bite. The team also plates up a bunch of other rice-based eats— perfect for the coeliacs out there. You'll be surprised with just how good the crew's rice-based pasta tastes, while the arancini are beyond perfect. Il Ristorante Chef Jerry Kim is running the fine-dining restaurant here at Il Mercato Centrale, which is currently still under works. Sadly, a lot of its furniture wasn't delivered in time, so this space feels a little underwhelming right now. Still, once it is done, you'll be visiting Il Ristorante for contemporary takes on classic Italian cuisine — served in a more formal setting. La Piadina Piadina, a traditional Italian flatbread, is heroed at this small stall up on the second level. These come stuffed with all kinds of classic fillings like ham and cheese, salmon or — our fave — eggplant parmigiana. These bites really transport you to Europe, as the seemingly simple ingredients are so damn good that not much needs to be done to them. Biting into these will make you feel like you've gone to your mate's nonna's place for lunch. Il Mercato Centrale Melbourne can be found at 546 Collins Street, Melbourne. The Italian market and food hub is open 7am–10pm from Sunday–Thursday, and 7am–midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. For more details, you can visit the venue's website.
Now that summer is here, you've probably got more than a few road-trip ideas rolling around inside your head. However, when it comes to mapping out your journey, figuring out the most delicious pit stops to make along the way is almost as important as wayfinding between striking landmarks and breathtaking activities. While the hours spent in the car might be long and occasionally tedious, knowing that a delicious feast awaits makes the time go that much faster. Fortunately, the team at ROLLiN' Insurance has put in the hard work to determine which road trips in Australia offer the most mouth-watering adventures. And as it turns out, Victoria scores high on the list overall. Analysing 22 of Australia's most popular road trip routes, ROLLiN' gave each a score based on the quantity and quality of culinary stops along the way. Plus, the routes were weighted based on specific Google Maps metrics and social media buzz, helping to arrive at a largely scientific index that means your next adventure could be your tastiest yet. Ranked sixth on the nationwide list, the coastal Melbourne–Sydney route is Victoria's best according to the results. While the full distance features 654 total food stops, the Gippsland stretch from Lakes Entrance to Sale is a particular highlight, offering local produce, cosy cafes and refined dining. Meanwhile, seafood lovers can stop at The Roe Australia in the 'burbs to discover a unique sea urchin experience. As you may have predicted, the Great Ocean Road also ranks highly, landing at seventh on the list. Spanning 240 kilometres along pristine coastline, Fishos Torquay is a standout stop, featuring wild-caught seafood served overlooking the beach. Plus, with 4.5 stops every 10 kilometres, this world-renowned stretch is best for those who regularly find themselves a tad nippish. Rounding out Victoria's trio, the Great Alpine Road ranked ninth overall, admired for its highly rated food stops. But for adventurers seeking Australia's top foodie road trip, they'll need to head to the Legendary Pacific Coast. Stretching around 1000 kilometres from Sydney to Brisbane, this drive meanders through the Hunter Valley's beloved wineries, Port Stephens' soaring dunes and the bohemian surf beaches of Byron Bay, with its 658 food stops attracting over 116,000 Instagram posts. So, pile into the car this summer and get ready to feast. Head to the website to read the full report.
A new player is stepping up to bat in the Australian hospitality scene, and in Melbourne. Introducing The StandardX, scheduled to open in Fitzroy on Thursday, August 8. The StandardX is the latest brainchild of Standard International, known for its lifestyle hotels in cosmopolitan hotspots like New York, Miami and London. But The StandardX is set to be a new direction for the brand, with the Fitzroy concept acting as "a rebellious younger sibling" of The Standard Hotels across the globe, distilling The Standard experience to its "x factor", and going for a more minimalist and cool approach. It seems that Fitzroy is the perfect location for the new concept. Melbourne's own Hecker Guthrie has infused the hotel's 125 rooms and public spaces with a contemporary yet unpretentious aesthetic. Macrame-clad pillars, a fireplace in the lobby and a warm colour palette also give the entire property a cosy charm. As for the food, don't expect the standard hotel restaurant. Led by Executive Chef Justin Dingle-Garciyya, the rooftop dining area will be exclusive to hotel guests, offering an array of Medellin-inspired dishes, including tacos and ceviche. The rooftop bar will be the perfect spot to enjoy a cocktail after dinner, or before a night out, or at 10am — it's a hotel, after all. With panoramic city views and the privacy that comes with exclusivity, it's set to be a pretty nice spot to have a sip and take in the majesty of the Melbourne skyline for locals and tourists alike. Dingle-Garciyya is also heading up the all-day restaurant BANG, which sees a medley of classic Thai street food dishes receive contemporary twists. Anyone can dine here, from lunch through to dinner. The same can be said for The Box — a retail concept offering on-the-go snacks and drinks. With room rates expected to hover between $250–350, The StandardX is positioning itself as a premium choice for travellers and Melburnians looking for a unique hotel experience that blends luxury with Fitzroy's artistic and cultural heritage. Nick Cave, Ollie Olsen, Stuart Grant and Rowland S. Howard are even among the hotel's inspirations. The StandardX is opening on Thursday, August 8 at 62 Rose Street, Fitzroy. You can head to the hotel's website for further details.
It's been just over six months since Melbourne scored its last offering from renowned chef Jessi Singh. Last June, he opened colourful, unconventional Indian joint Daughter In Law and, the year before that, his eatery Don't Tell Aunty landed in Sydney's Surry Hills. Now, the restaurateur — who originally co-founded other hits including Horn Please, Kyneton's Dhaba at The Mill and Babu Ji in Melbourne and NYC — has opened a new wine bar and boutique booze store on Flinders Lane. Sticking with the family theme, this latest venue has been named Mrs Singh. It feels a little more grown up than its siblings — but it just as playful. Sporting a mix of textures and colours, diners are met with a heady vision of orange panelling, blue marbled flooring, rich reds, green velvet, a terrazzo-topped bar and striking gold accents throughout the 65-seat space. Singh fans will be familiar with the soundtrack of party jams and rotation of retro Bollywood flicks projected on the wall. [caption id="attachment_759088" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Coco Bunny[/caption] Drinks are the main game here, led by a 300-strong wine list from award-winning sommelier Dheeraj Bhatia (Sydney's Est.). A produce-driven cocktail lineup stars sips like the signature Mrs Singh — a fusion of mezcal, beetroot, Aperol, agave, lime and black salt — and the Coco Bunny which, with carrot juice, turmeric, ginger and gin, is basically boozy breakfast juice. A roving champagne trolley amps up the luxury and there's even a retail selection of beers and wines available to take home, complete with suggested picks. On weekdays, the bar is open for lunch, serving a simple menu of two $25 thalis: one vegetarian and one with butter chicken, rogan josh and goat curry. After work, though, the menu opens up to a longer list of drinking-optimised plates after-hours. You might find yourself tucking into flaky paratha bread with mango, chilli and 15-month comté, a lobster roll teamed with curry chips, or some sweet and spicy cauliflower. Scallop ceviche is done with lashings of coconut and chilli, and the tandoor oven pumps out serves of chicken, prawn and paneer. Or you can always settle in with the chef's selection menu for an easy $75 per person and free up more time to spend on that drinks list. Images: Peter Tarasiuk.
A decade ago, English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur FC scored a new American coach and assistant in an advertisement hyping up soccer coverage by US TV network NBC. In that four-minute commercial, Ted Lasso made his debut, taking a gig across the pond without knowing a thing about the sport — or letting that whole lack of familiarity with the world game stop him. At his side: a bearded, sunglasses-wearing, cap-donning offsider, who dutifully offered advice and tried to steer him in the right direction. Unsurprisingly given how successful Ted Lasso has now become as an award-winning sitcom, viewers warmed to the sketch and its characters. A year later in 2014, the clueless coach returned in another ad, this time back in the US and using his Premier League learnings on home turf. But it'd take six more years before the Apple TV+ series that's widely and deservedly loved would grace screens, and before Saturday Night Live alum Jason Sudeikis and his We're the Millers and Horrible Bosses 2 co-star Brendan Hunt would return to the roles of Ted and Coach Beard. Now, Sudeikis has two acting Emmys for the first two seasons of the smash-hit show, and another two as one of its executive producers — and Hunt has a nomination for his on-screen supporting part, and shared those latter two wins. "It's wonderfully insane," Hunt tells Concrete Playground while chatting about Ted Lasso's long-awaited third season, which starts streaming from Wednesday, March 15 after an almost two-year gap since 2021's season two. Even if you hadn't seen the two ads that sparked the show, Hunt's face might've been familiar when Ted Lasso first hit Apple TV+ — his resume also includes appearances on everything from Parks and Recreation and Community to How I Met Your Mother and Key & Peele — but co-creating, -producing, -writing and -starring in one of the biggest comedy smashes of the past four years has made him instantly recognisable. He's also the man behind one of the show's most beloved characters, which is no mean feat given how widely adored the AFC Richmond crew are. A man of few words who's always at Ted's side, Beard hasn't stopped intriguing viewers yet. When Ted Lasso started its run as a series, its namesake and his righthand man Beard moved to London, and switched sports. So far, so familiar from the ads. But Ted Lasso as a series has a warmer tone, a busy roster of other players and the hearty embrace of audiences worldwide thanks to its kindness as much as its comedy. The gap between season two and three has been keenly noticed and felt — and not just because season two ended with a bombshell, after AFC Richmond assistant coach Nathan 'Nate' Shelley (Nick Mohammed, Intelligence) defected to rival club West Ham United, burning bridges with his old team and, pointedly, with Ted. How will Ted and Nate handle their new status quo? How has Hunt handled the Ted Lasso rollercoaster ride so far? Why is Beard such a fan favourite? They're just some of the things that we discussed with Hunt — alongside season two's delightful Beard After Hours episode, of course. ON TED LASSO'S JOURNEY FROM A SKETCH TO A SITCOM — AND ITS HUGE SUCCESS "Yeah, it's bonkers. You know, we took that first gig in that first campaign, and the main selling point was 'oh and we get to go to London for three whole days!'. Cut to: last year when we're in London for ten months. I think last year we were in London so long, we were like 'eh, London'. But that first one was super fun, and it went well enough that they had us go the next year, and that was fun too. And then Jason, [Ted Lasso co-creator] Joe Kelly and I got together [and went] 'alright, we've got to find a way to do more of this'. And then we wrote a pilot and put together a season arc — that was in late 2014/early 2105, and it felt like 'oh wow, we're going to have a TV show any minute now!'. And we didn't. We didn't for years. Years passed. Jason's career, he's going fine. Joe's career, he's going fine. Me, I'm baking on a rock, holding on for dear life in Los Angeles. And I had officially gotten to the point where I had given up any hope of anything Ted Lasso happening — like I was no longer even asking Jason if anything was happening. Then one day out of nowhere, he was like 'hey, is that pilot we did, is that still online somewhere?'. Yeah man, of course it is, that's how online works. He goes, 'oh, because Im talking to [Scrubs creator and sitcom veteran] Bill Lawrence tomorrow'. And then suddenly things moved very, very quickly after years of nothingness and heartbreak. I mean the last four years — it is what it is, and I just cannot, cannot, still cannot believe what has happened. I try not to think about it. I try to just get on the ride and pull down the harness and shake it and make sure it's secure, and then 'weeeeeeeeeeeeee!' — and then not think about the actual physics of the loop-de-loops, because it's insane." ON WHY TED LASSO HAS STRUCK SUCH A CHORD WITH AUDIENCES "In the ads, it's a sketch. And a thin sketch idea can work really well for five minutes, but it's unlikely to work for 30. So we just had so much fun doing the first two — 'like, we've got to find a way to do this' — and as soon as were making the TV show, we knew from early on, and this was Jason's idea, that something has to be going on in Ted's life to make him do this crazy thing. And we came upon the idea that he's going through a divorce. We weren't going to play the divorce for laughs — we were going to play the divorce for real. Jason and Joe and I, we've all been through a divorce. It's nothing to mess with. It's a very hard time. And once we had that in there, then the reality of this character is more fully formed and is now baked in, and is something to keep returning to. That's what led the way to panic attacks. That's what led the way to finding out his history with his dad, and stuff like that. I think we wouldn't be sitting here still talking about this show if it was still what it was in the original campaign." ON COACH BEARD'S ROLE IN THE SHOW — AND HIS FAN APPEAL "I think the main thing was still have him standing next to Ted as much as possible, because then people understand why he's there. No, it's just the idea that Ted wouldn't do this crazy thing alone. He would do it with someone he trusts — someone who would help him with the finer points, such as offside. And Beard's whole mission — we come from an improv and sketch-comedy culture, and one axiom you hear in that world is while you're offstage, while you're watching your partners improvise, ask yourself 'what does the scene need?'. Then you come into the scene with that. Well, Ted is the scene that Beard is watching, and Beard is always asking 'what does Ted need?'. That is rarely for Beard to talk, because Ted's pretty good at that bit. So Ted and Beard just have a very unspoken yet incredibly clear relationship and dynamic, and one's not going to take such a journey like this without the other — they're bosom buddies. I think it's [Coach Beard's fan appeal] just sort of a happy ancillary result of how little he talks, because he's on camera a lot by dint of the aforementioned standing next to Ted, who will most often be in the centre of your screen. And when someone is on camera that much but isn't talking, well, that's mysterious. Now you don't know what that dude's really about. It makes him a bit if a blank canvas that people can project themselves on and make their own assumptions about, but they're still unable to fill up that whole canvas themselves. So that accidentally discovered air of mystery, once we knew that was there, then it was like 'we can play with this and have good fun with it'." ON SEASON TWO'S BEARD AFTER HOURS EPISODE "We started writing season two before season one had come out, and season two was going to be ten episodes as season one was. We'd been going for three or four months before season one came out, so by then we had the season worked out — we had it mapped out, we had the dynamics, we had the peaks and valleys, and where things were going to go. Then suddenly the show comes out and, as you may have heard, that went pretty well. Almost first thing Monday morning, Apple was like 'you have two more episodes, please do two more episodes!'. And we're like 'okay, alright'. But we can't just mess with the dynamics we'd created for the scenes, so we had to come up with two episodes that were kind of standalone. We had a bit of a discard pile of things we were thinking of doing, and one was the Christmas episode, and the other was an episode where we follow Beard around. On top of that, where it's placed in the season, we really liked from sort of a mischief standpoint — because the episode before is a very big episode where a lot of big things happen, and by the end of that episode, you're definitely ready for next week and to find out where these things are going to go. And instead we go 'no, no, sorry, you're getting Beard for 45 minutes'. 45 minutes! 'Yeah, sorry, his is how it worked out'. And then, the week later, then we finally get back to business. So it was a happy accident, essentially, and it ended up being a pretty fun diversion." ON SEASON THREE'S BIG THEMES "Certainly for Ted, he made a promise in season one if they ever got back he'd try to win the whole fucking thing. Well, now they're back, and he doesn't give promises lightly. So he has to decide if he's going to go whole hog with that and, if so, is that at the risk of the values that he's trying to teach? And at the same time, Nate is off at West Ham having to figure out if what he's done or what he's doing, and what he has now, is worth the bridges that he's burned. With Rupert in his ear, that can go a few different ways. Other than that, we're looking at some of the same things we always have — vulnerability and honesty, and love and pain. And every ten minutes or so, somebody apologises for something." Season three of Ted Lasso starts streaming via Apple TV+ from Wednesday, March 15. Read our full review.
"Driving." That's one of the words that Justin Hurwitz uses to describe the sound of Babylon, with his score to Damien Chazelle's new Hollywood-set film after La La Land frequently thumping with a propulsive beat. An array of other terms come to mind while hearing the two-time Oscar-winning composer's latest effort kick in throughout the Margot Robbie (Amsterdam)-, Brad Pitt (Bullet Train)- and Diego Calva (Narcos: Mexico)-starring movie, including at party after party, too. It's urgent. It's infectious. It's as spirited as the liveliest of raucous shindigs. From go to whoa, a handful of quieter moments aside, it bustles with big and jazzy lose-yourself-to-dance energy. For the picture that just nabbed him his fourth Golden Globe, Hurwitz is soundtracking the City of Stars' Jazz Age, after all. And, as viewers of his and Chazelle's past features know — Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, Whiplash and La La Land, with their fourth collaboration on First Man being the only exception — this pair doesn't just like but loves jazz. Babylon's score doesn't simply stick with the obvious, however. Exploring an era where giving oneself over to Los Angeles' star factory and its indefatigable shenanigans was all the rage in the movie's view, it takes its inspirations as broadly as Hurwitz can find them, all to help set a pace and vibe for a flick that throws almost anything it can at the screen — from glitz and glamour to copious amounts of drugs and body fluids — to paint its buzzing, pulsating portrait. [caption id="attachment_885697" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alex J. Berliner/ABImages[/caption] Babylon follows its three central figures — Robbie's aspiring actor Nellie LaRoy, Pitt's established star Jack Conrad and Calva's industry jack-of-all-trades Manny Torres — as they weather everything that chasing their dreams thrusts their way. Given that the picture commences in 1926, that means traversing the Golden Age's wild highs and big changes alike, with the latter spanning the move from silents to synchronised sound from The Jazz Singer onwards, what that meant for actors now featuring in talkies, and shifting moral and societal standards of the period. Nellie parties herself into her big break, then gets saddled with the realities and contradictions of sudden fame. Even with his years of experience, Jack's ongoing lustre in the limelight is far from secure. And Manny does whatever he needs to to get jobs, turn them into better gigs, and keep climbing his way up. For all three, the successes are glorious, but the costs are significant. There's no reprieve from Tinseltown's relentlessness, or its allure, in Babylon. Hurwitz's earworm of a score is similarly persistent; having it lodged in your head long after watching comes with viewing the film. But what does it take to create that irresistible sound? To give a 1920s- and 1930s-set movie a unique but fitting soundtrack? To hark back a century ago, but interpret it with modern sensibilities? Ahead of Babylon's release Down Under on January 19, we chatted with Hurwitz about making a feature that it feels like he and Chazelle were fated to, his processes, the film's rock 'n' roll and modern dance music influences, and more. [caption id="attachment_885698" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brad Pitt, Diego Calva and Director Damien Chazelle on the set of Babylon from Paramount Pictures.[/caption] ON GETTING JAZZY WITH DAMIEN CHAZELLE — AGAIN When you've teamed up with someone on five films, you clearly share a connection — and a wavelength. For Hurwitz and Chazelle, that started two decades back, when they both attended Harvard, met as freshmen and became roommates. And, before they were making movies, they were making music as early members of indie pop band Chester French. Yes, jazz was an influence. Chazelle was a jazz drummer, after all, and Hurwitz a pianist and percussionist. It's no wonder that the genre had an influence on their filmmaking; in fact, it'd be more surprising if it didn't. Still, while Babylon might seem like a dream for the duo, it's a long-in-the-works effort for Chazelle but a relatively new project for Hurwitz. "I didn't know about this film till 2018," he advises. "Damien told me that this was what he was writing. He'd been working on it for a long time, which I actually just learned — I learned a couple of days ago that he'd been thinking about this movie for like 15 years. I had no idea. So I guess it was part of his evolution somehow, from the other jazz movies he made." "For me, I didn't start thinking about this until a few years ago, and didn't start actually working on it till 2019. There's definitely some commonalities with the other things we've made, but I hope it's different — I hope the music sounds like its own thing." ON TURNING CHAZELLE'S SCRIPTS INTO MUSIC How does a composer start conjuring up the sound for a film, especially when it is intricately tied to a specific period of music history? For Hurwitz, it's "the script. I always start with the script". With Babylon, he says, "Damien sent me a script, and we started marking it up and talking about where is there going to be music and where won't there be music." "A lot of the music sequences were very complicated because there were a lot of performances, but also the same pieces of music had to then extend into other parts of the movie. You might have a little bit of a performance, or a little bit of Jovan's [Adepo, as a trumpeter Sidney Palmer] character playing, but then that music spills over into a montage into something else. So we had to think about what could serve the performance, but also what could serve the sequences dramatically." "You really start with asking 'what do we want to feel?' Just looking at the scenes, what do we want to feel? And then I sit down, I start writing music at the piano or using some samples, some virtual instruments, and just trying to create sounds that feel — whether it's an aggressive driving piece, if we really want to feel something that's pounding you in the face, or if we want feel something sweeter. Whatever it might be, I just start trying to noodle around and sketch in the melodies that have whatever mood we're trying to feel." ON DRAWING ON MORE THAN THE OBVIOUS MUSICAL INFLUENCES Jazz Age-set film, Jazz Age-adoring score, right? That might be the easy and obvious equation, but it wasn't Hurwitz's approach to Babylon. In its narrative, its visuals and its atmosphere, Chazelle is always pushing — as are his characters, and is Hollywood back at them. And, as tunes like 'Voodoo Mama', 'Call Me Manny' and 'Damascus Thump' make plain, so is Hurwitz. "I know certainly I was trying to push the music, ironically, a lot more contemporary than anything we've done — even though this movie is 1920s, and it's an earlier time period than anything we've done," he explains. "I was trying to push the music more modern, more aggressive, more inspired by rock 'n' roll and modern dance music. So for me it feel pretty new — like a new flavour." "I was really trying to stay away from music from the era, actually. I didn't want to listen to 1920s music, because we didn't want to have 1920s music in the movie really. So I was taking more inspiration from rock 'n' roll — imagining what it could feel like if you had rock 'n' roll riffs played on brass, played by a jazz band or a horn section. Or things that could easily be on a distorted guitar, but what if you give it to a couple of trumpeters? So that was a thought process." "I was listening to the Rolling Stones and AC/DC, and things like that. And also listening to a lot of electronic dance music, and getting inspired by the dance rhythms and dance hi-hat and driving, 808 kick-drum feels — and sort of risers and drops, and those sort of moments that build anticipation and then explode and get you wanting to mood. I was taking inspiration from modern dance music for that kind of feel." ON THE RANGE OF SOUNDS IN 'BABYLON' Hurwitz didn't just vary his influences when composing Babylon's music (one tune, 'Manny and Nellie's Theme', even sparks La La Land flashbacks). For a film that he describes as having "a lot of other weird stuff", he employed a wide range of instruments and noises. "There's a lot of circus and carnival sounds," he says. "I was recording kazoos and slide whistles, and party horns for some of the tracks." "There's erhu, which is a bowed Chinese instrument. There's a lot of world percussion. There's African percussion, Latin percussion, Asian percussion. There are very eclectic sounds in this movie, to match the very eclectic world of this movie — and of the 20s." "People were really thinking about far-off places of the world, so there was a lot of exoticism, even if it was campy exoticism. Like, you go to theatres [from then] in LA and it's Egyptian style and it's all a little campy — it's obviously not really Egyptian. But people were just interested in it back then, so we tried to bring in certain flavours. That's a very long way of saying that the influences were far and wide." Babylon screens in Australian and New Zealand cinemas from January 19. Read our full review.
Whether you're a big nature nerd or err on the indifferent side to the science of it all, chances are you've seen at least some of Sir David Attenborough's Blue Planet. The BBC nature documentary series — narrated by the man himself and accompanied by an epic score from Hans Zimmer — first aired back in 2001, and its follow-up second season, Blue Planet II, was released just last year. But the bits you've seen on TV or YouTube are sure to be belittled when the BBC brings the live show to Australia this April. Like the performances of Harry Potter and Star Wars we've seen in recent months, Blue Planet II Live in Concert will see the documentary screened in all its glory accompanied by a live orchestra. And it's a big score. The music for Blue Earth II was composed by none other than Hans Zimmer (responsible for epics like The Lion King, Gladiator, The Dark Knight Rises and Inception) alongside Jacob Shea and David Fleming. In Australia, the score will be performed by three of the country's leading orchestras and, in lieu of Attenborough, Ab Fab's Joanna Lumley will be narrating in real time. The show will travel around Australia in March 2019, visiting Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney for just three shows all up. Tickets go on October 15. In the meantime, you can watch ehe first season of Blue Planet on Netflix. BLUE PLANET II LIVE IN CONCERT TOUR DATES March 8, 2019— Sydney Theatre, International Convention Centre, Sydney (with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra) March 9, 2019 — Plenary, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) March 11, 2019 — Great Hall, Convention and Exhibition Centre (with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra) Blue Planet II Live in Concert will tour Australia from May 8–11, 2019. Presale tickets will go on sale on Monday, October 15. For more info, visit blueplanet2live.com.au. Image: Hugh Miller, copyright BBC NHU (2016).
This is what cheese dreams are made of: Flinders Street favourite Arbory Bar is hosting daily three-cheese fondue until the end of August. Running throughout winter, indulge in a hot, buttery combination of Swiss Gruyere, San Rocco La Fontella and Truffle Pecorino at one of Melbourne's best bars. The hot cheese will set you back $20 per person and is available for pairs to up to groups of four. "Alongside the molten fondue, you'll find sliced French baguette, truffle potato rosti, pretzels and pickles, for all your dipping pleasures. There's something for everyone," Executive Chef James Gibson says. If you're really looking to ward off Melbourne's dipping temperatures, you can add a selection of cured meats to the table for an additional $20. The Arbory team has promised a rotating selection along the lines of capocollo, bresaola and prosciutto, so you'll have an excuse to visit a couple of times this winter. Images: supplied.
Chamomile gin, quinoa vodka and moonshine are among the spirits now available for tasting just outside of Melbourne in Healesville, following the opening of brand new distillery Alchemy. The business has taken over a century-old bakery, which you'll find hidden away up a laneway, off the main street. And not only is there a cellar door, there's a cocktail bar and accommodation too. At the centre of Alchemy's operations is a hybrid pot still with a 100-litre capacity. This mighty machine enables founders Evan Kipping and Jannick Zester to experiment with a variety of left-of-field flavours and ideas. While the aforementioned chamomile gin, quinoa vodka and moonshine are Alchemy's core products, there's also a bunch of small-batch spirits on the go at all times. "Sinking our teeth into making multiple spirits has allowed us to collaborate with local producers," says Zester. "We've been overwhelmed with support and are currently playing with local strawberries, cumquats and grapes from the Yarra Valley." You're invited to taste Alchemy's offerings and/or settle in for a signature cocktail, craft beer or local wine — either indoors, at the bar, or out in the sunny beer garden splashed with greenery. If you want or need to sleep over, there's a two-bedroom apartment overlooking the main street that'll sort you out. To get more deeply involved, join Alchemy's barrel-ageing program. The crew is giving 100 people the opportunity to own their own 20-litre barrel. You'll start by going through the whiskey-making process, including mashing, distillation and fermentation, then, throughout maturation, make return visits to sample your creation. Two years down the track, choose to release the whiskey, stick with it as it continues to age or pop it in a bottle and take it home. Alchemy Distillers is now open at 242 Maroondah Highway, Healesville. For more info or to book a room, visit alchemydistillers.com.
Hidden behind the expensive bars and high fashion boutiques of one of Melbourne's most famous shopping strips, there's an entire world frozen in time. One of our city's longest-running vintage stores, Chapel Street Bazaar offers kooky old furniture, collectables and the best dress-up costumes you'll ever find. These goodies are lined up along labyrinthine pathways, stacked on shelves and left bustling up against one another in forgotten little side rooms and attics. It may look like junk to some, but to the discerning eye this stuff is all treasure. Images: Parker Blain.
Life has been a cabaret for one of the world's inimitable designers since 2018, when Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show first premiered in Paris. Couture, colour, flair, excess, passion, a larger-than-life attitude: they're all channelled into this fashion show-meets-musical revue that steps through its namesake's career and promises a time at the theatre like nothing else. More than 200 original Gaultier pieces feature. His 50 years making threads are in the spotlight. Unsurprisingly, the whole thing also plays out like a party. So far, London, Tokyo, Munich, Porto, Lisbon, Milan, Barcelona and Osaka have also revelled in the Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show experience. Next, it's Brisbane's turn. The River City will welcome the Australian debut of the show — and the Aussie-exclusive season, too — during Brisbane Festival 2024. Donning attire that Gaultier would approve of isn't a prerequisite of attending the production, but you know that you want to dress the part if you're heading along. Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show will kick off with Brisbane Festival itself, starting on Friday, August 30. The Australian season runs until Sunday, September 15, taking over the South Bank Piazza — which forms part of the Festival Garden for the duration of Brisbane Festival. "I am pleased and honoured that my Fashion Freak Show will be presented in Australia, as part of the Brisbane Festival," said Gaultier about the production's trip Down Under. "I could never imagine that it would travel this far and I hope that the Australian audiences will enjoy the show as much as I enjoyed making it with the fantastic team that you will see in Brisbane. It's the story of my life told through music and dance and fashion. The story of a boy from the suburbs who dreamed of being a couturier — who lived his dream with all the highs and lows of his destiny." Of course Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show emphasises its titular figure's boundary-pushing work, his focus on individual expression, and his championing of queer aesthetics and LGBTQIA+ causes. Alongside the hefty range of outfits, it also features a suitable genre-defying soundtrack of disco, funk, pop, rock, new wave and punk tunes as actors and dancers — plus circus artists as well — take to the stage. The diverse cast of faces bringing the show to life spans even further, too, with celebrities and other special guests filming cameos that play during the production. [caption id="attachment_960525" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jean-Paul Gaultier: Freak & Chic[/caption] In another highlight of Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show's Brisbane visit, a couture piece by Queensland Indigenous designer Grace Lillian Lee has been chosen by Gaultier to feature for the season. "The coming together of Grace Lillian Lee and Jean Paul Gaultier will forever be one of my proudest moments and the epitome of Brisbane Festival as local and global," said Brisbane Festival Artistic Director Louise Bezzina. "And in an Olympic year when eyes will turn from Paris to Brisbane, the festival is perfectly placed to host this shining blockbuster event that brings together superstar talents from Europe and First Nations Australia." [caption id="attachment_960526" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Grace Lillian Lee[/caption] Lee is no stranger to Brisbane Festival thanks to 2021's First Nations Fashion: Walking In Two Worlds, and will debut her first solo exhibition The Dream Weaver: Guardians of Grace from Friday, August 30–Saturday, September 21 during this year's fest. For more of Brisbane Festival's ode to Jean Paul Gaultier, the event has also included a screening of documentary Jean-Paul Gaultier: Freak & Chic on its 2024 lineup. Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show will play the South Bank Piazza, Festival Garden, South Bank, Brisbane from Friday, August 30–Sunday, September 15 as part of Brisbane Festival 2024. Head to the festival website for tickets and more details.
Feeling like Kylo Ren but wish you could be as blissed out as Yoda? May the force — and may Headspace's new Star Wars collaboration — be with you. Yes, May the fourth is here for another year, which means celebrating like you're in a galaxy far, far away. Or, thanks to this new range of mindfulness tools, meditating like you're a jedi and falling to sleep to the sound of porgs. Already a go-to for mindfulness and meditation, Headspace has teamed up with the Star Wars franchise to mark the most important date there is for the space-opera saga's fans — and make sure that everyone's cool, calm and collected while doing so. If you're eager to de-stress, these are indeed the breathing exercises and sleepcasts you're looking for. On offer from Wednesday, May 4 — when else? — the one-to-five-minute breathing exercises all feature cute animated clips with either Yoda, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and BB-8. In the Yoda-led exercise, you'll find your focus while watching an X-Wing levitate. In the Chewie version, you'll be transported to his home planet Kashyyyk, and then use your breath to make the forest come to life. The R2-D2 exercise gets the cute little robot flashing as you inhale, recharge and reset — and the BB-8 one gets it rolling in much the same way. (Notice that C-3PO isn't included, because that droid can't help anyone relax.) Prefer banishing the dark side via sleepcasts? You have three options there, all of which use famous sounds that you'll recognise from the Star Wars movies. X-Wing Voyage is rather self-explanatory, taking you on a tour of the Star Wars galaxy in one of the eponymous vessels — and going to a different planet in each chapter. With Tatooine Sunset, you'll hone in on that particular planet instead, exploring everything from its endless sea of dunes to its moisture farms. And via Islands of Ahch-To, you'll fall asleep while visiting the very first jedi temple. If you've seen Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens, you'll remember that that's where Luke Skywalker ventured off to when he was in seclusion. And yes, you'll hear porgs. Of course you will. To access all of the above, you'll need to sign up for Headspace — but it's doing a limited-time 30-day free trial offer from Wednesday, May 4. And yes, this is answer to the plea you've never uttered: "help me Star Wars-themed Headspace content, you're my only hope for finding some bliss." To access Headspace's new Star Wars content from Wednesday, May 4, head to the service's website or app. Top image: Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker. (c) 2019 and TM Lucasfilm Ltd.
On just about any given day, taking a stroll down Chapel Street is bound to reveal some pretty chic looking people. But if it's the stylish gents that are catching your eye, there's a good chance they've paid a visit to Jay Dillon. Presenting a selection of classic designs for fashion-conscious men, this long-standing store is ideal for those who look to make a statement with what they wear. Jay Dillon stocks statement menswear from high-end brands such as Cutler & Co, Bugatti, David Smith and Pearly King, as well as a range of shirts from the namesake designer himself, all complete with his signature bold patterns and colours.
Make a lavish meal go heaps further, as not-for-profit social enterprise Scarf presents its annual gala fundraising dinner, 'Do More Than Dine'. Transforming lives through hospitality, last year saw over 100 young people from asylum seeker, refugee and migrant backgrounds register for the organisation's training programs. However, with only enough funding to provide 40 traineeships, Scarf is looking to raise $125,000 from this year's showcase, which takes place on Thursday, May 1, at Square One Rialto. Scarf's long-term partners, The Mulberry Group, have helped unite an array of celebrated chefs and suppliers for an exclusive five-course feast. Drawing from her diverse heritage, Rosheen Kaul is overseeing the canapés, with creations like freshly shucked oysters with blood plum and smoked olive oil offering the perfect start to the evening. Then, Helly Raichura of Enter Via Laundry fame is leaning into her Keralan, Goan, Kashmiri and Mughlai expertise for the entrees. As for the mains, Kyle Nicol (Hazel) turns to Common Ground Project for a highly seasonal offering, while pastry chef Rosemary Andrews (Mietta) takes care of dessert. Then, this dining experience rounds out with a selection of cheeses from the lauded supplier, Calendar. Beyond the kitchen, pioneering food journalist Dani Valent and 2024 Scarf graduate Thelma Rutsate have taken on hosting duties, while former MasterChef Australia judge Matt Preston and auctioneer Gowan Stubbings present a 'Money Can't Buy' live auction. Items up for grabs include a one-of-a-kind chef knife, a guided private dining experience at Reed House, a 10-person Fermentation Masterclass with Caitlin Koether at Little Molli, a 12-month 'Olive Oil Club' membership from Mount Zero Olives, and loads more. Throughout the night, past Scarf graduates will deliver a food and beverage service, showcasing how the social enterprise has equipped them with the skills and confidence needed to succeed in the industry. Plus, you'll hear stories from those now working in esteemed venues, from Mjølner to Pullman Melbourne Albert Park. "We're raising essential funds so we can keep increasing trainee numbers and ensuring those who join our programs are getting the best possible training, mentoring and paid work experience, so they can transition into ongoing jobs in the hospitality industry," says Scarf CEO and Co-Founder Hannah Brennan.
Just days out from taking to the stage together for the first time in more than a decade and a half, Oasis have given fans Down Under a gift: releasing more tickets for their spring 2025 shows in Australia. The Manchester-born band is kicking off their Oasis Live '25 tour in Cardiff, Wales on Friday, July 4, but have dates with Melbourne from the end of October and Sydney in November — and if you haven't already nabbed tix to those Aussie gigs, you've got another chance to get some. On sale now: tickets that were held for the production for Oasis' three Victorian and two New South Wales concerts. The group is playing Marvel Stadium in Melbourne across Friday, October 31–Saturday, November 1, then again on Tuesday, November 4. In Sydney, Liam and Noel Gallagher and company will hit up Accor Stadium on Friday, November 7–Saturday, November 8. [caption id="attachment_975640" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Batiste Safont via Wikimedia Commons.[/caption] Given how popular these gigs were when they were announced in 2024 — so much so that extra concerts were quickly added, and Melbourne's shows were declared a major event, meaning that they'd fall under anti-scalping laws — getting in ASAP is recommended. This year marks 20 years since Oasis last toured Australia. There's comeback tours and then there's Britain's most-famous feuding siblings reuniting to bring one of the country's iconic groups back together live — aka the biggest story in music touring of the past year, since Liam and Noel announced in August 2024 that they were reforming the band, and also burying the hatchet. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Live Nation Australia (@livenationaustralia) Initially, Oasis locked in a run of shows in the UK and Ireland. Then, they expanded their tour dates, also confirming visits to Canada and the US, plus Australia, Japan, South Korea, Argentina, Chile and Brazil. Oasis broke up in 2009, four years after their last Australian tour, and following seven albums from 1994's Definitely Maybe through to 2008's Dig Your Soul — and after drawing massive crowds to their live gigs along the way (see: documentary Oasis Knebworth 1996). If you're feeling supersonic about the group's reunion, you can likely expect to hear that track, plus everything from 'Live Forever', 'Cigarettes & Alcohol', 'Morning Glory' and 'Some Might Say' through to 'Wonderwall', 'Don't Look Back in Anger' and 'Champagne Supernova' when they hit Australia. [caption id="attachment_975202" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Simon Emmett[/caption] Oasis Live '25 Australian Dates Friday, October 31–Saturday, November 1 + Tuesday, November 4 — Marvel Stadium, Melbourne Friday, November 7–Saturday, November 8 — Accor Stadium, Sydney [caption id="attachment_975205" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Oasis Knebworth 1996, Photo by Roberta Parkin/Redferns[/caption] Oasis are touring Australia in October and November 2025, with tickets on sale now. Head to the tour website for more details. Top image: Simon Emmett.
Melbourne's bar scene is off to a high-flying start in 2022, with news it's set to score a sparkling new rooftop drinking destination. Perched eight storeys above Bourke Street, The Stolen Gem is gearing up to throw open its doors from Thursday, February 17. Once a private event space, the venue and its sweeping 360-degree views will now welcome everyday punters for the first time, the site reborn as a sky-high cocktail bar and terrace celebrating Aussie spirits and top-notch sushi. It's a snappy, modern space, with pops of neon and a striking bronze bar complemented by the impressive vistas visible from the all-weather terrace. The drinks offering is an eclectic and locally-focused one, headlined by a crop of signature cocktails featuring seasonal botanicals foraged by Yarra Valley's Spurrell Foraging. Expect concoctions like a cinnamon and brown sugar espresso martini, a pavlova spritz crafted on Melbourne's Nosferatu Gin, and the S'more Fashioned — starring peated Tassie vodka and a house-made vanilla bean syrup. Drops from the likes of Echuca Distillery, Grainshaker and the Mornington Peninsula's award-winning distillery Jimmy Rum feature throughout; as do considered ingredients like ginger mint, aloe vera foam and house-made grapefruit cordial. A concise vino selection champions Australia's best winemaking regions, and you'll find just a handful of beer options on tap and in the fridge. While you're soaking up the views and sipping primo local booze, you can also be chowing down on produce-driven canapes from the kitchen. Or, for a touch of luxury, there is the venue's exclusive sushi boxes courtesy of a collaboration with Prahran's Uminono. There'll be a limited number of the freshly-made boxes on offer each day, and they're expected to be snapped up quick. Find The Stolen Gem at Level 8, 388 Bourke St, Melbourne, from February 17. It'll open from 4–10pm Wednesday and Thursday, and 12pm–1am Friday and Saturday.
The 2014 Big Day Out lineup has been revealed, and it... sort of lived up to all those weeks of hype. Organisers spoke of their excitement at landing three "white whales", and the top of the ticket is pretty monumental. Pearl Jam is a classic choice for BDO headliner, Arcade Fire a welcome return visitor to the main stage, Blur a seriously impressive 'get' — and Snoop's good-natured, laaiiiiidbaaack style will be a nice counterpoint to the snarling grunge and indie-rock mania. And lucky Regine and that chick from The Lumineers — they'll have the backstage ladies loos virtually all to themselves! Here's the line-up in full: Pearl Jam Arcade Fire Snoop Dogg aka Snoop Lion Major Lazer Steve Angello Flume The Lumineers Tame Impala Dillon Francis Mac Miller Ghost Grouplove Flosstradamus Portugal. The Man Toro Y Moi DIIV The Naked And Famous Big Gigantic PEZ Mudhoney Cosmic Psychos Northlane The 1975 Loon Lake Kingswood Bo Ningen The Algorithm DZ Deathrays Peking Duk Ben Morris Rüfüs Gold Coast tickets are on sale on August 7; Sydney August 8; Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide on August 9 and Auckland on August 12 from the Big Day Out website.
If you're healing along the Great Ocean Road, you should pay a visit to some of Australia's most stunning rock formations, coastal shrubbery and ocean views at Loch Ard Gorge. Situated close to the community of Port Campbell, this place offers a famous combination of crystal clear waters, sharp golden cliffs and a soft sandy beach. Just a few minutes' drive from the Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge is a great opportunity to break out the bathers and take a refreshing dip in the ocean. Nearby, you'll find several limestone caves to explore, too, along with a host of coastal walks ideal for stretching your legs. [caption id="attachment_711543" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visit Victoria[/caption] Top image: Visit Victoria
For the first time in history, Sydney Film Festival's Official Competition and the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or have been won by the same film: Bong Joon-ho's Parasite. The final feature to screen as part of this year's SFF competition — and the recipient of rapturous audience applause after its first session in the State Theatre — the twisty family thriller took out 2019's $60,000 prize. Visiting Sydney for the second time in three years, after presenting Okja as the festival's closing night film back in 2017, Bong was on hand to receive the award. "This festival is really amazing, especially the audience… really special and extraordinary," the South Korean filmmaker said in his response to the accolade. "This is the most meaningful prize for me — in this beautiful city and beautiful theatre, and one of the most beautiful audiences in the world." A dark, devious, devastatingly smart and deceptively hilarious movie about two South Korean families — one struggling to get by, the other living in the lap of luxury — Parasite couldn't be a more deserving winner. From its slippery narrative that plays with several genres, to its exceptional performances from a cast led by Bong regular Song Kang-ho (The Host, Snowpiercer), to its scathing statement on class and its exquisite and astute production design, this tense, urgent and constantly surprising piece of cinema is one of the best films of the year so far. Also, as Bong told the Sydney audience, it was inspired by the time the director spotted a smudge on his pants. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEUXfv87Wpk Selected by a jury consisting of Australian producer John Maynard (Jirga), Australian director Ana Kokkinos (Head On), Brazilian actor and filmmaker Wagner Moura (Marighella), New Zealand director Gaylene Preston (My Year with Helen), and Indian artist and filmmaker Ritu Sarin (The Sweet Requiem), Parasite emerged victorious in a hotly contested field — competing against Berlinale Golden Bear winner Synonyms, Oscar nominee Never Look Away, Pedro Almodovar's sumptuous Pain and Glory, the Tilda Swinton-starring The Souvenir, gentle New Zealand drama Bellbird and the Australian duo of Judy & Punch and Hearts and Bones, among others. It joins an impressive list of previous SFF prizewinners, including The Heiresses (2018), On Body and Soul (2017), Aquarius (2016), Arabian Nights (2015), Two Days, One Night (2014), Only God Forgives (2013), Alps (2012), A Separation (2011), Heartbeats (2010), Bronson (2009) and Hunger (2008). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtLKQ09ikBg Also receiving a gong at SFF's closing night was She Who Must Be Loved, a documentary about pioneering Indigenous figure Alfreda Glynn, which took out the Documentary Australia Foundation Award for Australian Documentary (a $10,000 prize). It's slated to hit NITV on Sunday, July 14 at 8.30pm. Short film All These Creatures also nabbed the Dendy Live Action Short Award and the Rouben Mamoulian Award for Best Director, while fellow shorts Sohrab and Rustum and Ties That Bind picked up the Yoram Gross Animation Award and the Event Cinemas Australian Short Screenplay Award, respectively. The 2019 Sydney Film Festival ran from June 5–16. If you missed Parasite at the festival, you'll be able to catch it at Australian cinemas from Thursday, June 27.
Come on Barbie fans, let's go party — under the stars, in costume, while watching the biggest movie of 2023 and not thinking about dying. Moonlight Cinema's 2023–24 dates and November–December lineup are both here, and celebrating Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie's pink-hued big-screen comedy is on the agenda. In fact, the openair cinema season is throwing Barbie-themed shindigs where wearing pink, rose or similar shades is encouraged while watching the film beneath the evening sky. That's just one of the highlights of this summer's (and late spring and early autumn's) date with Moonlight Cinema, which kicks off in Brisbane and Sydney on Thursday, November 23, opens in Perth the next day, and then in Adelaide and Melbourne the following week — running till February in Queensland South Australia, and March elsewhere. Also worth getting excited about: festive flicks ('tis the season), nostalgic sessions of Jurassic Park and The Mighty Ducks, The Hunger Games prequel Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and Sydney-shot Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria)-starring rom-com Anyone But You. If nothing says Christmas to you like catching a festive film under the heavens, ideally while kicking back on bean beds and eating a picnic, then you're in luck as usual. When the beloved Australian outdoor movie-viewing setup returns, it'll again show some of the merriest pictures that it can find. On the list: Love Actually, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Die Hard, Home Alone, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Elf — so, the usual selection, not that these jolly pictures ever get old. At Sydney's Centennial Parklands, Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens, Brisbane's Roma Street Parklands, Adelaide's Botanic Park, and Perth's Kings Park and Botanic Garden, movie lovers can also look forward to seeing preview screenings of Taika Waititi's Next Goal Wins, plus the Natalie Portman- (Thor: Love and Thunder) and Julianne Moore (Sharper)-led May December. The first might ring a bell if you're a fan of soccer and you remember the American Samoan team's big 2001 defeat to Australia 31–0, plus the documentary of the same name about it. The second sees Carol filmmaker Todd Haynes dive into a scandal, with Portman playing an actor and Moore the woman she'll be portraying. Throw in the animated Trolls Band Together, plus everything from The Little Mermaid, The Creator, Joy Ride and Asteroid City to No Hard Feelings, A Haunting in Venice, Dumb Money and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and there's already a heap of titles on the bill. Killers of the Flower Moon, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and The Super Mario Bros Movie are among the other flicks popping up. The lineup does vary per city, however — and if you're wondering what else Moonlight will screen across its full season, it now drops its program month by month. The films and the setting are just two parts of the Moonlight Cinema experience. Also on offer: an official Aperol spritz bar, which is new for 2023–24. Nosh-wise, the event will again let you BYO movie snacks and drinks (no alcohol in Brisbane, though), but the unorganised can enjoy a plethora of bites to eat onsite while reclining on bean beds. There'll also be a VIP section for an extra-luxe openair movie experience, plus a platinum section that levels up a night at the movies even further in Sydney and Melbourne. A beauty cart will be handing out samples, too. And, dogs are welcome at all sites except Perth — there's even special doggo bean beds, and a snack menu for pooches. MOONLIGHT CINEMA 2023–24 DATES: Brisbane: Thursday, November 23, 2023–Sunday, February 18, 2024 in Roma Street Parklands Sydney: Thursday, November 23, 2023–Sunday, March 24, 2024 in Centennial Parklands Perth: Friday, November 24, 2023–Sunday, March 24, 2024 in Kings Park and Botanic Garden Adelaide: Thursday, November 30, 2023–Wednesday, February 14, 2024 in Botanic Park Melbourne: Friday, December 1, 2023–Saturday, March 30, 2024 in Royal Botanic Gardens Moonlight Cinema kicks off in November 2023, running through until March 2024. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the cinema's website — and we'll update you with further program details when they're announced.
