Hayao Miyazaki took five years to complete his latest animation, but you can make yours near instantly, with a new piece of software called Plotagon. The democratically easy-to-use and pretty much mind-boggling technology transforms your screenplay into an animated film. lt turns your layperson's screenwriting into code, creating an animated movie just as you envisioned it, with the set, dialogue, tone, movement, sounds and music to boot. That's right; you type the words, and then they just happen. But with an aesthetic reminiscent of The Sims, animations can be pretty wooden, and unless you buy from the Plotagon in-built store, your character and setting choices are limited. Okay, so maybe the program almost creates the movie you envisioned. But with software fast developing and designers constantly making tweaks, we can soon expect to create our own 3D characters.On the plus side, some of the characters have been created specifically for the app by legendary comic book creator Stan Lee (Spiderman, Hulk), so they may be better than the ones you'd spun yourself anyway. For the moment, it’s the ultimate platform for fan-fiction writers, and a space for 13-year-olds to live vicariously through a better-looking or more popular avatar. But with the possibility to add canned laughter after every line, a satirical sitcom will be this writer’s first project. Plotagon is free to download and currently in beta. Story via PSFK.
If ever there was anything Huckleberry Finn and Jim wished they sailed past as they made their way down the Mississippi River, surely it was a music festival. The Riverboats Music Festival is that dream come to life — and about 14,500 kilometres from Old Man River. Set in the twin-towns of Echuca-Moama, the festival takes place under towering river red gums in a natural amphitheatre next to the mighty Murray River. Sip local wine as you dance the night away to incredible music acts — this year will see Neil and Liam Finn headlining, as well as performances by Josh Pyke, Kasey Chambers and a whole stack of others. Mouthwatering regional food will also be on offer, as historic paddle steamers meander past on the Murray and the chorus of corellas welcome the sunset. Perhaps one of the prettiest and most laid-back music festivals in Australia.
Best known to most as the long-running antiques haven Young's Auction House, the historic site at 227–229 Camberwell Road has swapped the furniture and vintage treasures for vino and Mediterranean fare, stepping into its new role as Young's Wine Rooms. Imagined as a multifaceted wine bar and dining destination, it's the latest venture from the Klapanis family, who also brought us Hawthorn East's contemporary southeast asian hit, St Cloud Eating House. Step through the door into a space that respectfully blends old and new, with brick walls and exposed beams now married with natural tones and contemporary textures. A diverse collection of spaces makes this a spot for all occasions, from tapas and wine sessions in the Champagne and cocktail bar, to lazy lunches in the sun-drenched internal courtyard. Classic southern European flavours combine with traditional French technique for a menu that's generous and lively. You'll find a strong lineup of snacks — perhaps manchego and jamón croquettes ($6 each), harissa octopus ($14) with potato and parsley or fresh burrata ($15) teamed with basil and grilled peach. Meanwhile, the raw bar is plating up creations like a wagyu beef tartare ($17) with marash pepper and cos, and a selection of larger plates includes the likes of calamari ($27) with sultanas and radicchio and duck ($36) with carrot purée. Can't choose? A Feed Me menu is available for a very reasonably $65 a head. To match, you'll find a considered and well-travelled wine collection, with bottles from Greece and Croatia starring alongside approachable drops from both Europe and closer to home.
When it comes to whipping up Lego masterpieces, the sky's pretty much the limit; whether you fancy building a design based on Van Gogh's The Starry Night, or an un-killable plastic orchid. And here to remind us of that vast creative scope is Bricktionary: The Interactive Lego Brick Exhibition — Melbourne Museum's playful new showcase featuring a hefty one million plastic Lego bricks. Running from Saturday, September 3–Sunday, January 29, it's a hands-on exhibition for Lego enthusiasts young and old, based on Ryan 'The Brickman' McNaught's latest book, The Bricktionary: The Ultimate A-Z of Lego. Head along to check out more than 150 impressive Lego models; some of which have starred on TV's Lego Masters Australia and others that have never been seen before. And if wandering amongst giant brick animals, miniature worlds and other fantastical sculptures leaves you feeling inspired, you'll find six different 'build zones' on which to unleash your own creativity. You can design your own robot, or take on the challenge of knocking together a model that'll survive an earthquake. Images: Eugene Hyland
We all know that the Yarra Valley is celebrated for its award-winning wineries that produce top-notch chardonnay, sparkling wine and pinot noir. But did you know that there's more to this region than its stunning vineyards? With summer in full force, it's time to explore more of the wonders and beauty that Victoria has to offer — and the Yarra Ranges in particular is filled with hidden gems that will have you immersed in culture and nature. If you haven't got a clue where to venture out for the weekend, we've put together a list of unexpected ways to experience the region with friends, family or even on your own. From skating your way through the newly-opened Coldstream Station Pump Track to picking fresh berries at local farms, here's how to explore the Yarra Ranges this season. COOL DOWN The Yarra Ranges is teeming with spots that'll help you beat the summer heat — including many spots in the iconic river just waiting for you to cool off in. For something a little more organised, head to the legendary local Olinda Community Pool (pictured above). Located along Olinda-Monbulk Road, the solar-heated 25-metre pool welcomes visitors of all ages to have a splash, enjoy outdoor games, picnics and make use of the the free barbecue pit. For those spending the day with kids, your little ones will be kept entertained for hours with the splash zone, fountains and slide. As well as the pools, the Yarra Ranges is also home to some great water parks for those looking for a kid-friendly way to cool down in the summer heat. You can stay cool and keep the little ones entertained at the free-to-enter Seville Water Play Park, Warburton Water World and Lilydale Lake Splash Pad, where water jets operate daily over summer. Each of these spots also features barbecues and picnic areas, so you can sit back and relax as the kids explore these watery wonderlands. SPOIL YOUR POOCH Looking to treat your four-legged bestie this summer? Why not revamp their wardrobe and gift them new accessories to flaunt this season? Hounds Olinda — located in the beautiful Dandenong Ranges — houses some of the most adorable outfits sourced from local and international brands such as Dear Cooper, Smith & Burton, PetHaus and more. After a shopping spree with your pooch, take them on a fun day out by heading on over to the Olinda Recreation Reserve for a walk featuring stunning views. If you're thinking about treating yourself as well, indulge in a glass of red or white wine at Maddens Rise, which is 100 percent dog-friendly. GET YOUR DAILY DOSE OF ENDORPHINS Grab your mates for an exciting group activity at the brand-new Coldstream Station Pump Track. Having opened in December 2022, the 2.7-hectare site — formerly the Coldstream Railway Station — invites the public to ride, scoot and skate along a variety of tracks. In addition, the space features a viewing platform along the Yarra Valley Trail. While the rest of the precinct is still under development, the pump track will soon include park furniture, trail connections, landscaping works and more. CHANNEL YOUR INNER ART CRITIC Unravel the complexity of the region's creative scene by paying a visit to the TarraWarra Museum of Art (pictured above) established by philanthropists Eva Besen AO and Marc Besen AC. Showcasing an array of Australian and international art exhibitions, the museum sheds light on the concept of modernism through a contemporary lens. Collections within the premises are gifted from the private collection of Eva and Marc that they started in the 1950s. Continue your art journey and discover indie organisations like Leaf Studios & Gallery in Kallista, which was founded by a group of artists and friends who collaborate with one another and craft their own goods to sell. Another must-visit spot for culture vultures visiting the Yarra Ranges is Burrinja Cultural Centre. Located in Upwey, this non-profit community hub hosts a year-round program that spans a variety of art forms, including performances in its 400-seat theatre and hands-on workshops. You'll also find a stunning lineup of works by local and interstate creatives in its various gallery spaces. STOCK UP ON YOUR FAVOURITE FRUIT Add colour to your pantry with fresh fruits by picking them yourself at a variety of locations throughout the region while they're in season. For those on the hunt for sweet, ripe blueberries, make a pit stop at Folly Farm in Olinda, but make sure to register prior to your visit. Jay Berries, situated on Wandin Creek Road, is perfect for strawberries and blackberries, while Rayners Orchard offers a plethora of in-season fruits including peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums and more. During your fruit hunt, keep an eye out for local farm gates run by farmers, growers and makers who specialise in flowers, honey, fruits or eggs. PACK A PICNIC WITH LOCALLY SOURCED GOODS Up your picnic game and get a taste of what the Yarra Ranges has to offer by packing quality foods and treats in your basket from local producers. The Deli Platter in Olinda whips up fresh salads and pastries daily, while Chieftains Fine Foods offers a selection of premium deli products. Whether your picnic is scheduled for the morning or afternoon, don't forget your dose of caffeine from The Storehouse in Mount Evelyn. Alternatively, you could take the boozy route with an ice-cold bottle of beer courtesy of The Railyard Saloon (because it's 5 pm somewhere, right?). You won't be short of spaces in the Yarra Ranges to set up your spread. Our faves: Belgrave's Birdsland Reserve, where you'll find expansive green spaces, walking, riding and mountain biking trails and over 300 native flora and fauna, and the stunning Dandenong Ranges Arboretum, where you can unwind with your selection of local goods while soaking up panoramic views of the Yarra Valley. To discover more ways to explore the Yarra Ranges this summer, head to the website.
Next time that someone hands you a $100 note, you can be forgiven for thinking that it looks a little different — because a new range of the green-hued currency will be released into circulation from Thursday, October 29. Australia's banknotes have been getting a makeover since September 2016, when a different $5 note started doing the rounds. It was followed by a revamped $10 in 2017, a sparkling fresh $50 in 2018 and a brand new $20 in 2019. For the upgraded $100 note, the design still celebrates engineer, soldier and civic leader Sir John Monash, as well as internationally famed soprano Dame Nellie Melba. They're both recognised in several ways on the new notes, with not only their portraits displayed prominently, but with microprint featuring excerpts of a letter written by Monash, as well as text from Melba's autobiography Melodies and Memories. As well as changed artwork (albeit keeping the same colour scheme as old notes), the new $100 boasts the same improved security features as the revamped $5, $10, $20 and $50 notes, which are largely aimed to stop counterfeiting. A clear window running from top to bottom is the most obvious, and contains a number of features such as a reversing number and flying bird. As mentioned above, the note also includes microprint, plus a patch with rolling colour. And, in great news for the vision-impaired, the new series of legal tender has a tactile feature to help distinguish between different denominations. As happened with the other denominations, the rollout will happen gradually. The existing $100 banknotes are still considered legal tender, so you can still keep using them. Australia's new $100 notes will start circulating from Thursday, October 29. For more information about the banknotes, head to the Reserve Bank of Australia website. Images: Reserve Bank of Australia.
Show me someone who says they don't like road trips and I'll show you a liar (or someone you should be blocking ASAP). Road trips are the backbone of travelling around our giant island nation, and exploration is in our DNA — but what do you do when you yearn to take off into the great beyond but all your mates are busy? Well, why not take your dog? Chances are you have one (especially if you clicked on this story) — about half of Australian households do. So who needs friends when you can take your best furry mate down one of the most mesmerising road trips Australia has to offer? That's right. Pack your bags, grab your car 'cause we're ditching Perth and heading south along the great southern coast of WA, all the way to Esperance, with plenty of dog-friendly pit stops along the way. Don't have a car? Check out SIXT, which offers pet-friendly car rentals from Perth Airport, Perth City, Fremantle and Kewdale. Now, on with the show. PAW-FECT PERTH Hey, what's the rush? Before we scoot off, why not check out some of the best stuff to do with your pooch in the great capital — plus it gives you plenty to do at the end of your trip if you want to do this itinerary in reverse. Check out some of the West's best dog cafes in the form of Slate Cafe in Bennett Springs and The Dog's Breakfast Cafe in Swan Valley — the former features a fully enclosed dog playground with a large, grassed area, while the latter is home to an agility park and dog playground, as well as a doggie pool and spa. Kind of jealous. If you're looking to stretch your legs, the Swan River Foreshore Loop and the Sir James Mitchell Park to Charles Peterson Park walks are scenic, accessible, and most importantly, dog-friendly. DOG-FRIENDLY WINERIES IN MARGARET RIVER First stop: Margaret River, one of the best wine regions in the country. Take this golden opportunity to pretend to be a wine connoisseur with the peace of mind that comes with knowing your dog — who knows you actually don't know a thing about wine — can't talk to rat you out. Sip on fancy wines at dog-friendly wineries like Woody Nook Wines, Xanadu Wines, Passel Estate, Cape Mentelle, and Stonefish Wines. Just watch your little pal doesn't knock over a wine glass or two. If wineries aren't your thing, Drift Cafe, White Elephant Cafe, and The Hairy Marron are all lovely options for you and your pal to enjoy a nice coffee break together. Or if breweries are more your scene, you're in luck, with Margeret River being home to a bunch of dog-friendly options, including Cheeky Monkey Brewing Co, Margaret River Brewhouse, Beerfarm and Bootleg Brewery. If you feel like crashing for the night, check out RAC Busselton Holiday Park, a pet-friendly powered campsite nestled on the doorsteps of Busselton and Dunsborough — not too far from Margaret River. DOG-FRIENDLY CAFES IN ALBANY Need a pick-me-up? Stop by Albany's dog-friendly cafes, where you can indulge in a much-needed caffeine hit while your bestie scoffs down its third puppuccino (relax Rex). Dylans on the Terrace and Hybla Tavern are the paces to be when it comes to dog-friendly cafes and pubs, with both offering outdoor seating so you can both enjoy the fresh air. Albany also has plenty to offer in its many stunning beaches dotted along Frenchman Bay. Or if you'd fancy some lush green over sandy gold, head to Whalers Cove, which offers a nice five-kilometre loop bushwalk in the form of the Uredale Point Heritage Trail. [caption id="attachment_912573" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Albany Wind Farm. Image: Harry Cunningham (Unsplash)[/caption] CATCHING THE WIND AT ALBANY WIND FARM Next up, Albany Wind Farm, where you can witness wind turbines that make you feel as insignificant as raisin cookies at a potluck (no one's touching those). Enjoy the coastal breeze and panoramic views, while your little pal probably wonders why you dragged them to this windy wonderland. On a serious note, the wind farm offers some lovely walking tracks, including one leading up the coast and another to the lookout. Keep in mind that while the area is dog-friendly, off-leash is prohibited. [caption id="attachment_913228" align="alignnone" width="1920"] World of Travoluton 360, Flickr[/caption] CHECK OUT NATURE'S POOCH: ALBANY'S FAMED DOG ROCK That's right, it's a rock that looks like a dog — and on this road trip, you'd be a fool to miss it. There's nothing artificial about this rocky canine, the formation is completely natural. And besides being a testament to the endless wonder of mother nature, it's also the perfect spot to snap a cute pic of your lil pal in front of their giant rocky cousin — if that doesn't get you Insta engagement, nothing will. Once you're ready to hit the hay, you'll be spoilt for choice in Albany, as there's a cornucopia of pet-friendly accommodation options available. [caption id="attachment_784595" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Great Ocean Drive. Image: supplied[/caption] THE GREAT OCEAN DRIVE As you continue towards Esperance, take the scenic Great Ocean Drive. Brace yourself for stunning coastal views, turquoise waters meeting pristine white sands, and a reminder that nature's beauty is clearly showing off. The 40-kilometre loop of picturesque winding roads includes plenty of perfect spots to stop and take in the natural splendour of WA — a sight to behold for any species. [caption id="attachment_897522" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Weilim Zheng[/caption] EXPERIENCE ESPERANCE You've made it, now you both deserve to chill out — and what a perfect spot to do so. Running along Esperance's beaches must feel like winning the lottery to dogs — sandy, wet, and vast. Check out Eleven Mile Beach, Salmon Beach, Blue Haven, Fourth Beach, and Ten Mile Lagoon for endless sandy adventures for your favourite mutt. Saving the best for last, check out Lucky Bay to catch one of the only places in the world where kangaroos sunbathe on the beach (yes, you heard me) — so you might wanna bring a leash for this one. And once you're ready to rest those tired legs, head to RAC Esperance Holiday Park, where dogs are always welcome. Looking for a pet-friendly rental to take you and your best furry mate on the road trip of a lifetime (or looking for a bigger car to fit your furry mate)? Check out SIXT, which welcomes customers to bring their family and furmily along for the ride, so no one gets left behind. Auto club members including NRMA, RACV, RACQ, RAA, RACT, RAC and AANT will receive 15% off SIXT's daily rates. Click here to book now
Every Australian city has its fair share of standout pizza joints, but only one is home to the country's best pizza. If you had an inkling you were chowing down on some world-class pizza, Melburnians, you might have been onto something — with the head chef and co-founder of South Yarra's 48h Pizza e Gnocchi Bar taking out top honours at the recent Campionato Mondiale Della Pizza (World Pizza Championships). In April, pizza maestro Michele Circhirillo made the trek to Parma, Italy, to battle it out against the big guns in the internationally renowned competition. He claimed the title of Australia's Best Pizza overall, with 48h's Di Parma creation. It's a menu favourite featuring ingredients specific to the Italian region: mozzarella fior di latte, rocket, prosciutto di Parma and Grana Padano parmesan. For Circhirillo, who himself grew up in the northern Italian region of Piemonte, this was the third time competing in the revered pizzaiolo challenge. "It's such a great experience to live and breath pizza for a week," he muses. "All everyone does is talk pizza." Having named their pizza bar 48h, after the minimum time required for natural pizza dough to rise, it's clear that Circhirillo and co-owner Fabio Biscaldi are pretty serious about their dough. Even more so now that their careful concoction of flour, water and yeast has scooped them the ultimate bragging rights in the world's most serious pizza competition. https://www.instagram.com/p/BwQ9sjugxnK/ Melburnians can sample Circhirillo's award-winning pizza skills at both the South Yarra and Elsternwick restaurants, any day of the week. But how about some expert tutelage so you can recreate the magic at home? Among its series of hands-on kitchen masterclasses, 48h also offers pizza-making workshops, most taught by the master himself. The next one's coming up on Saturday, June 29. Find 48h Pizza e Gnocchi Bar at 373 Malvern Road, South Yarra and 15 Gordon Street, Elsternwick.
Boom, boom, boom, boom: Vengaboys want Down Under audiences in a whole heap of rooms when the 90s Dutch Eurodance favourites return to Australia and New Zealand on their latest nostalgic tour. The Vengabus has headed this way for similar throwback gigs in 2019 and 2023, because this group likes to party — and it'll be back again in 2025. Pull out that old Discman, break out the cargo pants and start practising your smoothest dance moves from three decades back — you've got 90's Mania to prepare for. Vengaboys, aka Cowboy Donny, Captain Kim, PartyGirl D'Nice and SailorBoy Robin, will be busting out all of their well-known favourites, such as 'We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)', 'Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom', 'We're Going to Ibiza' and 'Up & Down', when they headline a series of shows that'll also feature DJ SASH!, Alex Party and Livin' Joy. All four acts will play at every one of the tour's nine Down Under dates in January 2025, starting on Friday, January 17 at Metro City in Perth. From there, 90's Mania will make its way around Australia, hitting up Sydney's Enmore Theatre, Waves in Wollongong and Southern Cross Club in Canberra, before pulling into Wrest Point Entertainment Centre in Hobart, Festival Hall in Melbourne and Brisbane's Eatons Hill Hotel. In NZ, Christchurch and Auckland's respective town halls will be jumping to close out the month. Yes, you'll now have Vengaboys tunes stuck in your head just from reading this — and likely DJ SASH!'s 'Encore Une Fois', 'Ecuador', 'Stay' featuring La Trec, 'Mysterious Times' featuring Tina Cousins, 'Move Mania' and 'La Primavera' as well (plus 'Wrap Me Up', 'Don't Give Me Your Life', 'Read My Lips', 'Saturday Night Party' and 'Cause I Can Do It (Right)' from Italy's Alex Party, alongside 'Dreamer', 'Don't Stop Movin', 'Where Can I Find Love', 'Something Beautiful' and 'Follow the Rules' from Livin' Joy). In all Australian stops except Melbourne, Nick Skitz is also on the bill. And in the Victorian capital only, Mark Pellegrini and Joanne join the lineup. 90's Mania 2025 Dates Friday, January 17 — Metro City, Perth Saturday, January 18 — Enmore Theatre, Sydney Sunday 19 January — Waves, Wollongong Wednesday, January 22 — Southern Cross Club, Canberra Thursday, January 23 — Wrest Point Entertainment Centre, Hobart Friday, January 24 — Festival Hall, Melbourne Saturday, January 25 — Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane Tuesday, January 28 — Christchurch Town Hall, Christchurch Wednesday, January 29 — Auckland Town Hall, Auckland 90's Mania 2025 Lineup Vengaboys DJ SASH! Alex Party Livin' Joy Australia only, excluding Melbourne: Nick Skitz Melbourne only: Mark Pellegrini Joanne 90's Mania tours Australia and New Zealand in January 2025, with presale tickets from 12pm local time on Monday, November 4 and general sales from the same time on Thursday, November 7. Head to the tour website for more details. Top image: Sven Mandel via Wikimedia Commons.
The Game of Streaming Services has a new, long-awaited and undeniably powerful player vying for the throne. Apple have unleashed their streaming champion, Apple Music, announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) at San Francisco's Moscone Centre today. Apple Music is set to launch on June 30, locked in for $10 a month (or $15 for the family plan, designed for up to six people). For this monthly fee, you'll get access to the full Apple Music library, 'expert recommendations', Apple's own curated lists of new music, and unlimited skips on Apple's radio stations. Will it work? Can Apple successfully sweep Beats Music under the rug? We're keen to try it out. So where's all this music coming from? Apple Music is linked directly to iTunes, iTunes on-demand and the cloud — we're talking 30 million songs. The streaming service combines music you've bought with music you haven't bought. The new Apple Music interface will show you music videos and artist pages, as well as 'For You' recommendations (one of Spotify, Pandora, Tidal's biggest opportunities for sweet, sweet business). All playlists will be user or DJ generated; a big bird-flip from Apple over algorithm-generated playlisting. Recommendations will also come from the social network element of Apple Music, Connect. Made particularly for artists, the service allows artists to make their own pages (or their labels, managers etc.), allowing artists to share new music and users access to behind the scenes content, photos, interviews, B-sides (yep, all the extra bits Tidal is offering). There's no word yet on the royalties artists will receive (Spotify and Pandora, for example, don't have the most ethical fees around), so watch this space. Radio plays a big role in Apple Music too, with the Beats 1 service (the one BBC's Zane Lowe left his top radio host spot for this year) announced by Apple's Jimmy Iovine today. Apple is calling this the world's first truly global radio station, one which will broadcast 24 hours a day to over a hundred countries worldwide from bases in New York, London and LA. In case you're wondering whether Siri will have her say in Apple Music, you're bang on the money. You can ask Siri to play her favourite song, bring up playlists, or use the service like Shazam with questions like, "Siri, play the LL Cool J song from the end of Deep Blue Sea." Boom. Streamed. Apple Music will be available on Mac, iOS, Apple TV on June 30 and (wait for it) PC and Android later this year. Apple are offering three-month trial membership so you can test it out for yourself. Via Apple and Wired.
From the adventurous team responsible for Cookie, Boney, The Toff in Town and Revolver Upstairs comes yet another street-transforming venue: The Magic Mountain Saloon, set to open on Wednesday 14 January. Owner Camillo Ippoliti, chef Karen Batson and architect Phillip Schemnitz have rejuvenated a 19th century warehouse on Little Collins Street and magicked it into a one-of-a-kind, saloon-inspired eatery and bar. Drawing on materials salvaged from the renovations, as well as timber, stone and steel, they've reimagined the space, infusing it with a historic yet ethereal feel. The bottom floor maintains a laidback Melbourne warehouse vibe, while a pop-top-style extension on the first floor creates a 1940s, loft-style atmosphere. Archways and balconies afford unusual perspectives on the city — at both street and skyline level. And fashion/art designer Misha Hollenbach (Perks and Mini, PAM) has filled two walls with beautiful murals. Batson brings twelve years of experience to the menu. Combining Thai and Australian sensibilities and flavour profiles, she encourages a casual, fun, tasty approach to eating. Breakfast goodies include freshly squeezed soya bean milk, coconut pikelets and papaya; heart-warming congee and rice soups; steamed eggs and roasted pork belly; and Thai staple Kanom Jeen. Then at lunch and dinner, the woodfired grill is ignited for the turning of classics into Thai-inspired specials and the creation of hearty surprises. Promising morsels include potted duck, spiced pineapple and onion roll; veal scallopini with apple eggplant and turmeric; stir fried kale and crispy pork; pork scratchings, sticky pork and beer batter mussels; and green prawns, cured kingfish and bitter melon, with lemongrass, mint and green chilli. Just as much care is going into the soundtrack as every other element, with Phil Ransom, who's been involved with the team's aforementioned venues, programming both recorded music and a rotating schedule of DJs. "We have always aimed to produce warm, vibrant and convivial spaces," says Schemnitz. "I hope that Magic Mountain Saloon will be a place that people look forward to coming to, whether it be to pause between home and office, to meet friends or lovers, to steal some quiet time from an increasingly hectic world or to go looking for late-night stimulation and excitement. I hope that it will be a place in which people walk through the door and feel better. Our cities need such places. They define us in a way that natural beauty might define other cities." Magic Mountain Saloon, found at 62 Little Collins St, Melbourne, opens on Wednesday, January 14. Opening hours are Monday to Thursday, 7am-3am (kitchen open till midnight), Friday 7am-3am (kitchen till 1am), Saturday 8am-3am (kitchen till 1am) and Sunday 8am-3am (kitchen till midnight). Image: Michelle Tran.
UPDATE Friday, October 28: The opening of Metung Hot Springs has been rescheduled due to flooding in the region. It's now set to launch on Friday, November 18, with bookings currently open. For more information, see the website. Victoria's hot springs fiends and bathing connoisseurs have a lot to be excited about. First, we learned the much-loved Peninsula Hot Springs crew was planning a new wellness and bathing precinct for East Gippsland, the Metung Hot Springs. Then, a proposal for a 900-kilometre trail linking the state's hot springs and other bathing spots was unveiled. And now, it's time to actually start planning those Gippsland-based bathing adventures, because the Metung Hot Springs has announced an initial launch date, with bookings to open in a matter of days. First phase of the $100 million precinct's long-awaited grand opening is slated for Saturday, October 29 — and you can jump online to book a visit from Monday, September 19. Much like its Mornington Peninsula sibling, the Gippsland site is set to be one giant haven of wellness and indulgence, nestled on 25 acres surrounded by coastal bushland and located within strolling distance of the quaint lakeside village of Metung. Guests will be able to soak in cliff-top barrels overlooking Lake King, let off steam in various architecturally designed saunas (including a floating one), pamper themselves at the day spa and rejuvenate while bathing in pools filled with geothermal water. There'll be bush walks to wander, plunge pools to get your blood pumping, and all-day dining options to refuel in between dips, too. Since its location four hours out of Melbourne is a touch too far for day trips, Metung Hot Springs will also feature onsite accommodation, including safari-style glamping tents each decked out with its own private balcony and geothermal bathing barrel. As announced earlier, the bathing precinct is also joining forces with — and renovating — the nearby former Kings Cove Golf Course, soon to relaunch as the Metung Country Club. It'll have its own resort-style accommodation and facilities, and a revamped clubhouse and restaurant, with 'stay, bathe and golf' packages on offer across the two sites. [caption id="attachment_869322" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Metung Hot Springs glamping[/caption] Meanwhile, those looking to indulge in some 'me' time can immerse themselves in the offerings of the onsite day spa, centred on authentic Larn'wa Aboriginal Lore wellness rituals incorporating native botanical spa products. The hot springs project is being brought to life with the help of $1.5 million in funding courtesy of the Victorian Government's Gippsland Tourism Recovery Package, as well as an additional $1.5 million from the federal and state governments' Local Economic Recovery Program In other related news, Victoria's proposed bathing and hot springs trail is set to start taking shape over the coming summer months, with the latest map and venue updates available to scope out here. And back on the Mornington Peninsula, Alba Thermal Springs and Spa is on track to open its own doors in a matter of weeks, now taking spa and bathing bookings from September 26 onwards. Metung Hot Springs will open to customers from Saturday, October 29, at 73 Storth Ryes Avenue, Metung, Victoria. Online bookings are open from Thursday, September 19.
If you thought rooftop bars were only for warm summers of spritzes and sunshine, think again. Melbourne has provided the goods with a bunch of winter-friendly venues for you to frequent over the chilly months. It won't matter if it's blowing a gail outside, because these spots have retractable roofs, in-built heated seating, warming snacks and plenty of booze to keep you warm. With bars home to bottomless waffles and cocktails fit for a wizard, there's no excuse not to soak up that city skyline this winter. Rain, hail or shine, these are the top bars in Melbourne that have got you covered.
Mörk has been kicking around since 2012, showing Melburnians just how good a hot chocolate can taste. Taking their cues from Melbourne's coffee culture, owners Josefin Zernell and Kiril Shaginov have grown this drinking chocolate brand to include three stores and a chocolate foundry — Mörk's own chocolate factory out in North Melbourne. You'll also see its drinking chocolate powders and pastries stocked at some of Melbourne's best cafes. But the owners aren't stopping there. They've spent the past two years creating the Mörk Looking Glass concept store on Centre Place — one of the graffiti-clad laneways near Degraves Street. Here, you'll find Mörk's classic drinking chocolate blends, cinnamon and cardamom buns, chocolate spreads and morsels, pre-mixed cocktails, and its famous Campfire Hot Chocolate — served with smoke, charcoal salt and a freshly toasted marshmallow (that's also made in-house). Coffee from Patricia is also available for those needing a caffeine fix instead of chocolate. Zernell and Shaginov have even dreamt up a new drink for Mörk Looking Glass: The Layered Chocolate. For this, a dark hot chocolate base is topped with caramelised banana, saffron custard and freshly grated lime zest. This team is using this site to showcase just how fun and experimental the humble hot chocolate can be. And while some of these new and experimental creations will make their way into the main storefront, most of them will only be available upstairs in the tasting room. Experimental chocolate bars, elaborate drinking chocolates that never made it onto the menu, chocolate cocktail pairings and creative desserts will all be on show during themed tastings in this space. Mörk Looking Glass will also be hosting collaborations at the new CBD store, which will be announced later. If you consider yourself a chocoholic, this new spot best be on your hit list. You'll find Mörk Looking Glass at 13 Centre Place, Melbourne, open 7.30am–5pm on Monday–Friday, and 8am–5pm on Saturday and Sunday. For more information, visit the venue's website. Images: Kristoffer Paulsen
Visiting a new city can be hard. Not only because you have to learn how to use their unique version of public transport, but most importantly because you need to maximise on eating only the most delicious food in the city. Stumble once and you've lost a valuable meal opportunity — a hurdle that is hard for an epicurious tourist to overcome. But take heart, we've compiled a list of ten eateries to visit when you come to Auckland so your mind will be consistently blown and all your worries of eating a subpar meal can be left in the overpriced taxi from the airport. AMANO, BRITOMART Amano is Pinterest personified. Bouquets of dried flowers dangle from exposed rafters, with the space huge and rustic and beautiful. And the menu is packed with bouquets of flavours that are mostly sourced from local growers or handmade onsite, so you can rest assured that anything you choose will have been made with a hearty dose of TLC. Whether you're a carnivore, herbivore or bonkers for a bit of pasta, your needs will be met and your expectations exceeded. Amano is cloud nine made of flowers, handkerchief pasta and happy bellies. COCO'S CANTINA, KARANGAHAPE ROAD If you're looking for a restaurant with personality and pizzaz, then look no further; charisma is in Coco's bones and bland isn't a word recognised in its vocabulary. Where owner-operators are celebrated and where community isn't a quaint concept but a way of life, Coco's is a restaurant with integrity. Your orders will be taken by waitstaff who feel like friends, and your food, sourced locally and very intentionally, will make you feel whole and perfectly full at the same time. Whether you're in the mood for a cheeky happy hour pomodoro or a romantic Italian meal, Coco's is the ticket. Don't forget to order a bowl of the legendary polenta chips, you won't regret it. GEMMAYZE ST, KARANGAHAPE ROAD Nestled in the back corner of the curious St Kevin's Arcade, Gemmayze St is a dining opportunity like no other. With all the finest Lebanese trimmings and traditional artefacts, Chef Samir Allen and his family aim to give everyone an authentic Lebanese dining experience. Ordering is simple, either you choose from the bursting menu or you simply say "bring" (in Arabic "jeeb") and the chef will provide you with a feast. Either way, you won't be disappointed. ORPHANS KITCHEN, PONSONBY Exploring national flavour and identity through offerings from the bush, ocean, orchards and fjords, Orphans Kitchen's food philosophy is beautifully holistic (they even have a rooftop hive where they collect honey). Beautiful on the inside too, its interior is warm and inviting. High tables surrounded by tall, sheepskin-covered chairs fill the main dining room, which hums with chatter that is occasionally lulled by a mouthful of food. The seasonal menu is homely and unpretentious, the flavours unique and unexpected. Hearty without being predictable, it's a culinary experience, unique to New Zealand, that you don't want to miss. PREGO, PONSONBY Before Ponsonby became the buzzy hive of restaurants and bars it is today, Prego was there. Since 1986, Prego has been serving up consistently great Italian eats with excellent service to match — not to mention a certain elegance and sophistication that has stood the ultimate test of time. Known as 'Ponsonby's Kitchen', Prego is known for its oven-baked loaf, amazing pasta and pizza that will hook you from the minute you take a bite (the bianco is a thing of dreams). The restaurant is an institution for a reason and a must-try for anyone who sets foot in Auckland. HAN, PARNELL Although it's tucked away on Parnell Road, Han should be at the forefront of your mind. Slick fit-out, slick service, slick food — the experience is one slick ride. Designed by Patterson Architects, the interior is a haven of industrial-chic, each table decorated with extractor fans that are as pleasing to the eye as they are practical. The modern Korean cuisine swaps traditional ingredients with finer, more exciting ones and introduces you to unexpected combinations — pork belly and kimchi in a pie, anyone? Han's authentic charcoal barbecue is a DIY experience not to pass up — the meat is prepared so perfectly by the chef, it's pretty much impossible for anyone to stuff up the barbecuing process. KISS KISS, BALMORAL If you've been hurt by undercooked pork belly and soggy bao before, Kiss Kiss will restore your faith in Asian-fusion. Found just off Auckland's busy Dominion Road, among some of the best Chinese eateries, Kiss Kiss can definitely stand on its own two feet. Its kitsch interior — dominated by neon lights, viewfinders and loud floral tablecloths — sets the tone for a fun evening. The pork ribs are insanely tender, the sauce worth licking every last finger for. The free-range lemongrass fried chicken bao is also a must-try, and it's small enough to allow you to fit more of the menu in. This bang-for-your-buck means you won't leave Kiss Kiss broke, but you will leave wanting more — after the food coma wears off, that is. FEDERAL DELICATESSEN, AUCKLAND CBD If you've ever wanted to experience a Manhattan deli from the 1950s, Fed Deli is just the ticket. From the mint green uniforms to the jars of pickles, cartons of cheesecake that line the walls to the kept promise of bottomless coffee — it's the attention to detail that makes the experience so effortlessly authentic. Sit in a cosy booth or take a seat at the counter where you can stare at the chefs and order off a menu stacked with New York deli-style food. Do not look past the poutine, it will be among the best you've ever had. The chicken salad sandwich doesn't go amiss either. Visit the 50s and one of Auckland's best eateries all in one night. CASSIA, AUCKLAND CBD Cassia was Auckland's first restaurants to introduce modern Indian dining, and we're sure glad they did. Owned and operated by Sid Sahrawat, one of New Zealand's most exciting chefs, Sid takes traditional Indian dishes and reworks them with modern, local ingredients. Located in the heart of the city, you'll find this south Asian gem off Fort Lane, down a set of stairs. Proving to the country that there is more to Indian food than just curry, the menu boasts mouthwatering flavour pairings you won't find many other places. There are only two mistakes you could make when visiting Cassia. One would be not ordering off the ever-changing G&T menu with its local offering of gins, and the other would be not leaving room for dessert. The apple sorbet with walnut, raspberry and white chocolate will be a welcome addition to your Auckland bucket list. IMA CUISINE, AUCKLAND CBD Ima means 'mother' in Hebrew. And if that doesn't prepare you for the onslaught of delicious food you will experience while visiting Ima, you can't say you weren't warned. Yael Shohat — owner of Ima, Israeli native and purveyor of all things delicious — wanted Auckland to experience the joy of a Middle Eastern family-style banquet, where plates and plenty of memories are shared. The interior is colourful, as is the feast, with every table bursting with displays of vivid generosity. The flavours are just as intense and wonderful, whether you're biting into the falafel or free-range chicken mesachan, your tastebuds won't be disappointed. Besides trying as much as you can, our only other advice is to wear pants with an elasticated waistband. LET'S DO THIS, HOW DO I GET THERE? Flights to Auckland from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are super short — around three-and-a-half hours on average — and Air New Zealand flies direct from all three cities and offers accessible fares. Once you arrive in Auckland, jump in a hire car and let your gustatory adventure begin. https://youtu.be/4kRccnc0F20 Book your flights to Auckland with Air New Zealand and start planning your next long weekend away. Looking for more Auckland food recommendations? Check out our Auckland restaurant directory here.
Now that dining and drinking out are back on the menu in Melbourne, you may want to branch out of the same ol', same ol' bar situation. Don't get us wrong, we love our trusty haunts, but sometimes you want to check out somewhere new. If that's the case, make tracks to Albert Park Lake Club Pop-Up stat. A collaboration between Albert Park venue Power House and locally loved Prahran pub The Smith, the two-month pop-up bar will take over Power House Deck, transforming the popular lakeside venue into a buzzy social space that'll serve up cocktails and fresh, summery bites. Celebrate the end of Melbourne's lockdown — and the glorious sunshine — by sipping cocktails and tucking in to the likes of calamari, wagyu katsu sangas and ice cream sandwiches. You'll be kicking back all while taking in views of Albert Park Lake. And, you can feel good while you imbibe, with $1 from every Lord Somers Spritz sold going straight to the Lord Somers Camp and Power House foundation. There'll be a $35 Bottomless Spritz special available every Monday to Friday from 5.30–6.30pm. On top of an hour of unlimited spritzes, you'll also get a red coral lobster and prawn roll to help line the stomach. Or, for a real treat, book in to The Smith's Brunch with Soul Lakeside Edition, which will include live soul tunes from the resident Gospel Choir, one brunch item and two hours of bottomless spritzes, house wine and select tap beer. The music-filled brunch will run on Sundays, from 11am–1pm and 2–4pm, and set you back $65 per person. Find the Albert Park Lake Club Pop-Up at Power House Deck, 34 Lakeside Drive. To book, head over here.
Even if you won’t be rolling in the Byron grass with Outkast and Lily Allen come July, you can still get a slice of Splendour action with Festival sideshows. At least 22 international acts will bring some love to Sydney and Melbourne, with a few going west-side for Perth-based fans. Tickets go on sale via Secret Sounds at 9am AEST on Friday, May 9. Here’s who’s going where. Melbournians will be able to catch up with London Grammar at the Festival Hall on Tuesday, July 22, and Sydneysiders at the Horden Pavilion, on Thursday, July 24. Their debut album, If You Wait, sauntered straight into the ARIA Charts at no.2 when released in September last year. The week following, Foster the People will make appearances at the Palais Theatre on Monday, July 28, and the Enmore Theatre on Tuesday, July 29. Since last visiting Antipodean shores for the Big Day Out 2012, they've been busy putting together new album Supermodel. English songwriter Ben Howard will be playing songs from his Mercury debut album Every Kingdom, as well as a few more recent creations at the Palais on Wednesday, July 30; the Enmore on Thursday, July 31; and the Astor (Perth) on Friday, July 25. And for a dose of Memphis soul and infectious Afro-beat, see Kelis in action at Melbourne's Prince Bandroom on Tuesday, July 22, and Sydney's HIFI on Wednesday, July 23. Meanwhile, London electro-pop darlings Metronomy will appear at Perth’s Astor Theatre on Wednesday, July 23, Melbourne’s Forum Theatre on Friday, July 25, and Sydney’s Metro on Wednesday, July 28. They’re hitting Australia hot on the heels of playing Glastonbury and Primavera Sounds. Expect fresh yet timeless tunes from their Mercury Prize-nominated The English Riviera and new album Love Letters. There’ll also be guest appearances from Liverpool-based indie poppers Circa Waves, who’ll then play their own headline show on Tuesday, July 29, at Sydney’s Newtown Social Club. If you’re under 18, The Strypes will have you covered. They’re four Irish lads whose birth certificates prove they’re not yet legal, but they sound more like old guys who’ve been hanging out in blues-rock clubs for eons. They’ll be at Sydney’s Newtown Social Club on Wednesday, July 23, and Melbourne’s Northcote Social Club on Tuesday, July 22. Similarly bluesy and rock-driven are Nashville group The Wild Feathers. But they also throw a significant dash of folk into the mix. In fact, they recently played the ultimate in songwriter support gigs — Bob Dylan’s pre-show set. Catch them in Melbourne at the Northcote Social Club on Friday, July 25, and in Sydney at the Newtown Social Club on Saturday, July 26. Another folksy act is Seattle six-piece The Head and the Heart. One minute they were busking and playing open mics; the next, they were selling out San Francisco’s Fillmore and appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman. They’ll be bringing their intelligent songwriting, sweet harmonies and minimalist percuth. For a more punksy take on rootsy music, check out NYC four-piece Skaters, who’ll be at the OAF on Thursday, July 24, and Melbourne’s The Corner on Saturday, July 26. Triple J recently named their debut full-length, Manhattan, album of the week. At the other end of the groove spectrum is collective Jungle, who are all about floating melodies and ethereal electronica. They’re heading our way after accompanying Haim across Europe, impressing crowds at SXSW and playing Fuji Rock. Catch them at The Corner, Melbourne, on Tuesday, July 29, and the Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, on Wednesday, July 30. While we’re on the topic of the ethereal, Australian-turned-LA-resident Ry X will be travelling his homeland in two manifestations — as part of enigmatic trio The Acid and solo. See the former at Goodgod Small Club (Sydney) on Wednesday, July 23, and Northcote Social Club (Melbourne) on Thursday, July 24, and the latter at the Oxford Art Factory (Sydney) on Tuesday, July 29, and Howler (Melbourne) on Wednesday, July 30. Other sideshows to watch out for include Grouplove, The 1975, Sky Ferreira, Phantogram, Future Islands, Mikhael Paskalev, Asgeir, Darlia and Mas Ysa.
Melbourne might be one of Australia's most exciting cities, but it's what lies outside of its limits that'll really knock your socks off. No more than a few hours drive from the hulking glass towers of the CBD, you'll find that the Garden State is home to an incredibly diverse landscape of pristine coastlines, rugged mountain ranges, sprawling hillsides and hidden valleys — all of which offer some truly fantastic hikes. If you feel like you've reached the point where you could walk through the alleyways of Melbourne blindfolded, it's time to look beyond the city limits. Here are five stellar overnight hikes you can embark on near Melbourne — and where to camp along the way. Most are achievable with an average level of fitness, but be sure to review any trail thoroughly before heading off. You'll also want to stay tuned to any Parks Victoria updates regarding track closures. Once that's all done, dust off those hiking boots and head out of town for an energising nature getaway. FALLS TO HOTHAM ALPINE CROSSING, ALPINE NATIONAL PARK Set 2000 metres above sea level, this 37-kilometre hike provides every opportunity to completely unwind from the hustle and bustle of city life. From lush native wildlife to tranquil valleys and riverside wetlands, the high plains are a treasure trove of scenic beauty and crisp mountain air. While it's not the toughest walk in the state, you'll need a moderate level of fitness for some of the steeper parts; but fear not, there are also plenty of easy sections to balance it out. As a point-to-point track, it can be started from either end, though we recommend setting out from Falls Creek and towards Mount Hotham. While the trek is doable with one overnight stay, more leisurely hikers might consider doing it in two and the track is well set up for this. From the trailhead, it's roughly 14 kilometres to the Cope Hut Campsite and then another 14 kilometres to the Dibbins Hut Campsite. Want to take things a little easier? Alpine Nature Experience offers a three-night curated hike of the crossing, including hot showers and G&Ts. [caption id="attachment_847531" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Wilsons Prom, Garry Moore for Visit Victoria[/caption] EASTERN CIRCUIT, WILSONS PROMONTORY NATIONAL PARK Every person and their dog has heard of the Wilsons Promontory's eastern circuit, and that's because it's an absolute ripper of a walk. It forms part of the Southern Prom Circuit, beginning at the Telegraph Saddle car park; the 36.5-kilometre hike featuring a stunning and unmistakably Australian combination of rolling hills, curious wildlife and secluded beaches with clear turquoise waters. You have two options for this hike; you can head from Telegraph Saddle to Sealers Cove or alternatively to Refuge Cove. From either cove, you'll then venture to Little Waterloo Bay, finishing with a trek back to Telegraph Saddle. Although the walk is often nominated as one of the state's best, it's still one of the quieter sections of the Prom, making it the perfect choice for a peaceful nature escape. Again, it's doable with one overnight stay, but will be easier with two. [caption id="attachment_712104" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brian Doecke/Wikimedia.[/caption] LAKE TALI KARNG HIDDEN LAKE CIRCUIT, ALPINE NATIONAL PARK Part of the Alpine National Park near Licola, the Lake Tali Karng Hidden Lake Circuit looks just like a landscape painting — only it's real life. Set in the Victorian Alps and fed by the snow-melt waters of the Wellington Plains, the lake is approximately 14 kilometres from your hike's starting point at McFarlane's Saddle on Moroka Road. Along the way, you'll enjoy an awe-inspiring combination of snow gum forests, towering trees and grassy plateaus. Don't forget that the land you're on is sacred to the Gunaikurnai people of Gippsland, so please be respectful of their rules and refrain from camping at the lake itself. Instead, you can stay overnight at the serene Nyimba Camp, situated two-thirds of the way along the trail and around four kilometres from the water. [caption id="attachment_712106" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visit Victoria.[/caption] THE BEERIPMO WALK, MOUNT COLE STATE FOREST Offering mesmerising views from Mount Langi Ghiran all the way across to the Grampians and the Western Plains, the Beeripmo Walk is a winding 21-kilometre hike through impressively tall forests, trickling waterfalls and vibrant fern gullies. An hour from Ballarat and completed over two days, this trek is a perfect starting point for experienced bushwalkers looking to graduate to something a little more challenging. If you're really lucky, you might be treated to a few wildlife sightings of monarch butterflies, wallabies and even wild echidnas. For your overnight stay, choose between the ever popular Beeripmo Campground (around seven kilometres from your starting point), or venture a little further to the Mugwamp Campground. Either way, expect stunning views of the night sky, with some of the brightest stars you'll ever see. [caption id="attachment_847526" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cafuego, via Flickr[/caption] THE BURCHELL TRAIL, BRISBANE RANGES NATIONAL PARK Just over a one-hour drive from Melbourne, the Burchell Trail is a 40-kilometre hike that takes you from the north end to the south of the Brisbane Ranges National Park. The historic ghost town of Steiglitz (which, at its gold mining peak in the 1860s, was home to over 1500 people), and a vast array of native critters and flora are just a few of the sights you can expect as you traverse the rugged landscape. The trail is linear, so you'll either need to complete it as a circuit by doubling back the way you came, or arrange for alternative transport to ferry your tired legs back to your car. There are various campsites along the route, including Boar Gully in the north. Advance bookings are required. Top Image: Wilsons Promontory National Park, Visit Victoria. Mt Hotham, North East Victoria Tourism.
As far as cocktails go, mimosas rank among the easiest to whip up, even if you'll never give Australia's best bartenders a run for their money. But maybe you just never get the quantities of sparkling and orange juice right. Perhaps you always find either champers or OJ in your fridge, but not both. Or, you could love sipping mimosas at brunch picnics and aren't so fond of lugging around multiple different bottles. Whichever fits, new Australian brand mYmosa has a solution. It serves up mimosas in a can, all ready for you to enjoy without doing any mixing yourself. Pick up one of the label's tinnies and you'll be drinking Australian dry white wine paired with natural orange flavours, then carbonated — and you won't be doing any pouring yourself. If it sounds like the kind of tipple you now wished you'd thought of, you won't be surprised to hear that it came about after mYmosa founders Amanda Goddard and Bec Pini went on a work trip to New York City in 2017, found themselves sipping sparkling rosé out of cans — and mimosas at breakfast — and had a brainwave. The two Brisbane marketing and communications professionals then spent five years pursuing their mimosa-in-a-can idea, aided by a lull in work that came with the COVID-19 pandemic. Clearly, we now know how the duo spent lockdown. "Bec and I have always been known as the first to start a party and last to leave a party, so it just feels like a natural progression to create a beverage that can be enjoyed at any time of the day, anywhere and at any occasion," explains Goddard. "We are a classic start-up story, where the kitchen bench, a soda stream, ample variations of wine and orange became our laboratory," adds Pini. "Fast forward, and we have worked with a formulation team, a winery and a manufacturer to create our 'little darling'." mYmosa's 250-millilitre cans are vegan and gluten-free, and currently available via online bottle shop SIP'ER, retailing for $10 a tin or $34 for a four-pack. Or, you can nab cases of 16 via the mYmosa website for $128.40. While the brand has launched with one variety, Goddard and Pini are working through new formulations — so your canned drinks list might soon be growing. There's something to say cheers to, over an Aussie tinned mimosa of course. Find mYmosa cans on sale now via online bottle shop SIP'ER, retailing for $10 a tin or $34 for a four-pack.
Wearing a pair of R.M. Williams says 'I'm ready for anything'. You could be going to the pub, walking into a work meeting or heading out to the farm to milk the cows. Sparkly footwear doesn't quite conjure up the same feelings of practicality. Well, until now — because R.M. Williams have just released a special run of boots in gold metallic. Joining the likes of Saint Laurent, Gucci and Marc Jacobs, the Aussie bootmaker has combined the metallic trend with their timeless aesthetic, adding a gold colour option to their women's Yearling Adelaide boots. As with each R.M. boot, these have been crafted out of a single piece of leather and feature the same elegant stitching and tapered heel of the regular Adelaide range. R.M.s are arguably Australia's most iconic shoe. From a modest start in the Adelaide outback servicing the stockmen and women of the heartland, 85 years later, a diverse range of people still wear the boots — from farmers in the outback, to corporate businessmen, to the style set at fashion week. Australian designer Dion Lee has used R.M.s regularly in campaign shoots and runway shows, even creating his own for New York Fashion Week in 2014. This latest addition to the R.M.'s women's range is only available online via special order, which means it will take about six to eight weeks before they're delivered. At $545 a pair, they're not exactly cheap — but if you're looking for an investment piece, a pair of R.M.s is the very definition of the phrase. Continuing to embrace contemporary styles and adapting to modern fashion without sacrificing their DNA has surely guaranteed the longevity of this historic label. R.M. Williams' gold Yearling Adelaide boots are available to order online here.
A drive to the airport in a rideshare is one of life's mundane experiences, whether or not you're en route to a wedding, and also regardless of if you're meant to be collecting your partner and their dry-cleaned suit along the way. In Fake, this routine journey on an average Melbourne day is a masterclass in tension, a portrait of an unravelling and an unwanted realisation unfurling with no escape. With journalist Birdie Bell (Asher Keddie, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart) sitting in the backseat as much that she's trusted melts down, it's a stunning episode of television, arriving five instalments into this eight-part Australian thriller that brings its page-to-screen and reality-to-fiction tale to Paramount+ in full from Thursday, July 4. Viewers spend the preceding four episodes of Fake waiting for a moment like this. For those who haven't read Stephanie Wood's memoir of the same name, charting her time dating a former architect-turned-grazier who pairs his grand romantic gestures with erratic behaviour, there's still no doubt that it's coming. It has to, and not just because series creator Anya Beyersdorf (The Twelve) and her co-scribes Jessica Tuckwell (Year Of) and Hyun Lee (Born to Spy) have Birdie's beau Joe Burt (David Wenham, Elvis) note in voiceover that she was onto him from the get-go. While Fake is a love- and lies-fuelled saga, it's also about how someone gets taken in not by the kind of tales that Joe spins but by the emotions that they prey upon, even when their intuition tingles at the outset — and how deceptions like this, from someone manipulating others and someone fooling themselves alike, always shatter. The words "Joe, 51, grazier" on a dating app introduce the ex-property big shot to Birdie; however, everything that he utters on their first date almost halts their romance there. When the pair meet at a sleek bar, he has a business acquaintance (Yuchen Wang, White Fever) in tow and talks only of himself, grandstanding with the recognisable arrogance of someone who refuses to believe (or simply hasn't stopped once to consider) that they aren't the most-interesting person in the room. She cuts and leaves quickly, despite his insistence to the waitstaff that they'll share more wine. Then she ignores his persistent follow-ups afterwards, until she doesn't. Stylistically, Beyersdorf, her co-writers, and also directors Jennifer Leacey (Prosper), Emma Freeman (The Newsreader) and Taylor Ferguson (Fires) adopt two approaches to bringing both Joe's flurry of messages and Birdie's inner questioning to audiences. The contents of texts and emails are written across the screen, overlaid upon the scene's ordinary background — train windows feature heavily — and also spoken aloud, as worries about being almost 50, single and heartbroken from a failed IVF experience are similarly given voice through repeated snippets of conversation. Sometimes, Birdie's own words haunt her. Sometimes, Joe's do. Sometimes, the judgement of her sniping mother Margeaux (Heather Mitchell, Ricky Stanicky) echoes. Combined, the impact is inescapable: when his indefatigable pursuit joins her lifetime of doubts, especially that she's being too fussy and will always be alone, relenting to his overtures and investing in his narrative is the inevitable outcome. Fake relays its story within this psychological space — a place where it's clear to everyone, including to Birdie, that little is right — to explore how a person who investigates for a living succumbs to fantasy over fact. Joe gleefully spins dreams, beginning with his quiet farm life, then escalating into bigger and bolder promises. He also ticks the basics, such as showing interest, sticking around, declaring his love and making Birdie feel like romance hasn't passed her by. But Joe equally has a tale for everything that always seems tall. He misses as many dates as he makes, his excuses mushrooming as well. His ex-wife receives ample blame, frequently with the smack of convenience. He's cagey about specifics, too, and vague and defensive when questioned. When Leacey, Freeman and Ferguson, plus cinematographer Sky Davies (House of Gods), devote Fake's frames to staring Birdie's way, they push Keddie's excellent performance to the fore — and it is exceptional. She's the lead in a yell-at-the-TV type of show, where viewers can't help but say aloud that Birdie is making the wrong choice again and again, and grounding those ill-fated decisions in relatable emotions isn't a simple task. The more that Fake peers, the more that it also turns the sight of its protagonist hoping yet fraying into a mirror. One of Birdie's potential articles at work is about homelessness, a situation that's never as far away as most would like to think — and one of Fake's throughlines is that being Birdie with Joe isn't beyond anyone's realm of possibility. Wenham, no stranger to on-screen shadiness and slipperiness but with memories of SeaChange's Diver Dan still imprinted in Australia's pop-cultural memory, is equally first-rate. His remit isn't straightforward, either, selling the charm that still wins Birdie over in tandem with the sketchiness that's lurking beneath Joe's striving facade — and the character is almost ceaselessly striving — which is a gig on par with both Joshua Jackson (Fatal Attraction) and Edgar Ramirez's (Wolf Like Me) efforts in season one and two of medical-meets-romance scam series Dr Death. Indeed, Wenham does such an unshakeable job as Joe that by the time that Fake spends the aforementioned fifth episode in a car with Birdie, his presence doesn't stop cutting deep, nor showing the scars that it's carving, even just over the phone. It's hardly astonishing, then, that Fake is impossible to stop binge-watching once its first instalment puts its pieces in place: that warning-sign initial date, Birdie's loneliness trumping her niggling uncertainty, society's conditioning that to be a woman of a certain age without a partner and kids is to be a failure, the disappointment that we can all direct at ourselves if we haven't met our own expectations and, of course, the clash of Joe's dubiousness and his magnetism, for starters. It's also far from surprising that when the route to the airport beckons, and one of 2024's best episodes of TV with it, Fake's audience is right there in the Uber with Birdie, riding and feeling the same bumps. Check out the trailer for Fake below: Fake streams via Paramount+ from Thursday, July 4, 2024.
After the turbulent year that has been, summer is finally here and it's time to celebrate. One of the easiest ways to do that is with an epic (socially responsible) house party. House parties are the places where friendships are forged, dancefloors are formed and memories are made, and summer is the primo time to make use of your own house and host your friends for a knees-up. With fun in mind, we've joined forces with Hennessy for this foolproof guide to making sure your party has all the elements needed for success. Stay up to date with the developing COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney's northern beaches and current restrictions at NSW Health. FIRST, ORDER THIS HOUSE PARTY PACK No one likes to socialise when they're hangry, so sorting out food should be your first port of call. That's why Hennessy has partnered with three different restaurants to create a series of collaborative feasts. Each comes with a limited edition bottle of Hennessy, ginger ale and a fun snack pack. In Sydney, fried chicken purveyors Butter will supply you and three friends with chicken wings, corn on the cob, mash and ramen-broth gravy, slaw and rolls for $180. In Melbourne, Japanese hot spot Mr Miyagi will sort you and three mates out with pork belly bao, peking duck nori tacos, fried chicken and spiced tuna tartare crackers for $250. And in Brisbane, party people can get around a feast for ten of spring rolls, chicken karaage bao and spiced chicken wings with gochujang aioli from Mr Mista for $230. Each pack also includes party cups, balloons, a deck of cards and a disposable camera to capture all the good times you'll be having. MAKE SUPER-SIMPLE COCKTAILS FOR WELCOME DRINKS Some of the best cocktails are ones you don't even need a recipe for, and the ginger mule is exactly that. Simply pour 40ml of Hennessy into a highball glass and fill the glass with ice. Top up with around 100ml of ginger ale and garnish with a lime wedge or slices of fresh ginger. Voila! Drinks are sorted. You could also consider batching these cocktails in larger quantities for easy serving. Find this recipe and more on Hennessy's website. [embed]https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1CzIHMGk079iUL3947oYnr[/embed] OPT FOR A READYMADE PLAYLIST Instead of fussing about with aux cords or searching for artists, leave the party soundtrack responsibilities to Hennessy. Yep, the cognac brand also has a surprisingly good selection of packed-out playlists for four different moods. Head to the aptly titled House Party curated by music maestros Cool Accidents. It's filled with party-starting anthems from Hello, DMX, Missy Elliott and N.W.A. Or, try out the Beach Club, Sunset Sessions and Pre-Party Mix playlists, which will have you sorted with progressive mixes of slinky house, hip hop and R&B. [caption id="attachment_786101" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cottonbro[/caption] SET UP SOME PARTY-STARTING GAMES AND ICEBREAKERS Now you've got food, tunes and drinks sorted, it's time to set up some party-starting games and social icebreakers. Putting a little bit of thought into some easy-to-execute games can result in some serious fun. Whip out old-school Twister from the cupboard or try a few rounds of celebrity heads (which you can do with just pieces of paper and pens). Outdoor games are also simple to set-up — borrow a Finska set from a friend or set up some classic backyard cricket. CONSIDER HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR SPACE Now you've got all the essentials sorted, it's time to think through the flow of the space and decorations. You don't have to go all-out, but considering how people will move and groove through your house is a worthwhile exercise. Set up a designated dancefloor (the playlist will help out with this) and hire some disco lights or smoke machines. Make sure there's seating areas, too, and not placed in thoroughfares. Your guests will pick up what you're putting down and they'll move about the space as you've intended. Hennessy's House Party Packs are available takeaway now till stocks last. To order from Butter in Sydney, head here. To order from Mr Miyagi, head here. And to order from Mr Mista, head here. Top image: Inga Seliverstova
The phrase "stand and deliver" gets stuck in your head quickly while watching The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, thanks to both its theme tune and its dialogue. That's to be expected with a show about a real-life highwayman — albeit a highly fictionalised version, and a series that's definitely a comedy. Those pivotal three words also apply to Apple TV+'s approach to the program's future. After the initial season tickled funny bones with The Mighty Boosh's Noel Fielding in the titular role, the streaming platform has announced that it's standing up and delivering a second season. Take a historical figure, but someone from several centuries back who isn't a worldwide household name. Use them as the basis for a comedy series that doesn't promise to stick to the facts for a second. And, enlist famous hilarity-inspiring folks to tell the tale. The above description summed up Our Flag Means Death, which has sadly departed the streaming seas after being cancelled following a two-season run. Now, since March 2024, it also fits The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin. Where Our Flag Means Death's Stede Bonnet was an 18th-century pirate, The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin's namesake stuck to land in the same era as a highwayman. You can look up how his story turned out, or you can enjoy how the series gives it the absurdist comic treatment as it follows Turpin and his gang of fellow rogues — across its already-available first season and, although no release date has been revealed so far, soon also in its second. Working in plenty of dick jokes — well, it is the show's main character's moniker — is high on The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin's agenda. So is Fielding in his usual comic mode, as seen on The Great British Bake Off and Never Mind the Buzzcocks as well. Turpin's quest: to evade the corrupt Jonathan Wilde (Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey: A New Era), who fancies himself as a thief-taker, and just generally stay alive. And if you're wondering what kind of antics that inspires, Fielding is also one of the series' writers, so anything and everything can and does happen. Wild costume changes were always going to be a given. So was Fielding playing charming but chaotic. "I know what you're thinking: who is this guy with the incredible cheek bones? Where does he get his hair done? One day, I'll be the most-famous highway man in all of England," Turpin tells a crowd to start of the show's season-one trailer — only for it to be revealed that he's standing on a gallows, about to be hanged. Joining Fielding in the cast: Ellie White (Wonka), Marc Wootton (High & Dry), Duayne Boachie (You Don't Know Me), Tamsin Greig (Sexy Beast), Asim Chaudhry (Barbie), Dolly Wells (The Outlaws) and Joe Wilkinson (Sex Education) — and also Noel's brother Michael (also The Mighty Boosh) and his Never Mind the Buzzcocks host Greg Davies (The Cleaner). There's obviously no trailer for season two of The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin yet, but check out the trailer for season one below: The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin streams via Apple TV+ We'll update you with a release date for season two when one is announced. Read our review of season one.
"I want my surfboard." If Nicolas Cage said this to you, you'd take notice. But in The Surfer, that request doesn't go as planned for the character that he's playing, with a group of local surfers just laughing and telling him that it isn't his board. That's how the first look at this Australian-made psychological thriller pans out — which isn't a trailer, but instead gives viewers a scene from the movie. It was back in 2023 that word arrived that the inimitable actor was hopping from playing himself in 2022's The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and then Dracula in 2023's Renfield to becoming an Australian surfer in a film called, fittingly, The Surfer. And now, here's your first glimpse at footage. [caption id="attachment_931569" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Radek Ladczuk[/caption] There's no release date for Cage's Aussie stint as yet, nor an actual trailer, but the initial clip follows a first-look image of the actor from late in 2023. Stan, which is behind the movie, will stream it in Australia; however, it will also play in cinemas Down Under first. Before that, it's premiering at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Slotting into Cage's resume alongside everything from crooning Elvis songs in David Lynch's Wild at Heart to having everyone see him when they slumber in Dream Scenario, The Surfer isn't the only Point Break remake that needs to be made (forget the terrible 2015 do-over). Rather, it sees Cage star as an Australian expat returning home from America, then getting in a beach battle with that local gang of wave riders. Cage's titular character makes the trip Down Under after years in the US, only to get humiliated by other surfers in front of his teenage son. Cue a turf war, plus Cage's protagonist refusing to leave the beach. Cue the stakes escalating and the movie's namesake having his sanity tested, too. The film shot in Yallingup in Western Australia, just in the single location, with director Lorcan Finnegan (Vivarium) helming and working with a script by screenwriter Thomas Martin. Featuring alongside Cage: an Aussie cast that spans Julian McMahon (FBI: Most Wanted), Nicholas Cassim (The Messenger), Miranda Tapsell (The Artful Dodger), Alexander Bertrand (Australian Gangster), Justin Rosniak (Mr Inbetween), Rahel Romahn (Here Out West), Finn Little (Yellowstone) and Charlotte Maggi (Summer Love). Check out the first clip from The Surfer below: The Surfer doesn't yet have an in-cinema or streaming release date — we'll update you when one is announced. Top image: Radek Ladczuk.
Stay tuned. More info coming soon.
Keli Holiday — the solo project of Peking Duk's Adam Hyde — is set to play two special headline gigs in Melbourne and Sydney this November, giving fans the chance to experience the energy of his latest single 'Dancing2' live on stage. The shows are locked in for Melbourne's Howler on Thursday, November 14, and Sydney's Mary's Underground on Saturday, November 16. Both will see Holiday deliver his signature mix of raw emotion and euphoric sounds, with Hyde describing the sets as a chance to "share some joy together and let's sweat." Born during the creative standstill of the pandemic, Keli Holiday became Hyde's outlet for heartbreak, sonic experimentation and reinvention. Now, with 'Dancing2', he's channelling it all into a slow-burning, string-laced modern love story inspired by meeting his partner Abbie Chatfield. "This song is about meeting a love that seemed a world away," Hyde explained. "There's so much noise and distraction going on constantly … We were both just dancing through the show as we all are. There was a definitive moment when we decided to connect with each other on an unspoken battlefield and we have been dancing together ever since." 'Dancing2' has been climbing the ARIA charts, peaking at number one on the Top 20 Australian Singles list. It's also made its way onto Spotify's Daily Top Songs, cracked the Shazam Top 50, and hit number one on TikTok's Viral Chart. The track marks a bold step toward the next chapter for the 2025 Rolling Stone Australia Readers' Choice Award winner, following 2022's KELI and 2024's JESTERMAN EP. Tickets for Keli Holiday's Sydney and Melbourne shows are on sale now via the official website.
Not all that long ago, the idea of getting cosy on your couch, clicking a few buttons, and having thousands of films and television shows at your fingertips seemed like something out of science fiction. Now, it's just an ordinary night — whether you're virtually gathering the gang to text along, cuddling up to your significant other or shutting the world out for some much needed me-time. Of course, given the wealth of options to choose from, there's nothing ordinary about making a date with your chosen streaming platform. The question isn't "should I watch something?" — it's "what on earth should I choose?". Hundreds of titles are added to Australia's online viewing services each and every month, all vying for a spot on your must-see list. And, so you don't spend 45 minutes scrolling and then being too tired to actually commit to anything, we're here to help. We've spent plenty of couch time watching our way through this month's latest batch — and, from the latest and greatest through to old and recent favourites, here are our picks for your streaming queue from June's haul. BRAND NEW STUFF YOU CAN WATCH IN FULL NOW I'M A VIRGO No one makes social satires like Boots Riley. Late in I'm a Virgo, when a character proclaims that "all art is propaganda", these words may as well be coming from The Coup frontman-turned-filmmaker's very own lips. In only his second screen project after the equally impassioned, intelligent, energetic, anarchic and exceptional 2018 film Sorry to Bother You, Riley doesn't have his latest struggling and striving hero utter this sentiment, however. Rather, it springs from the billionaire technology mogul also known as The Hero (Walton Goggins, George & Tammy), who's gleefully made himself the nemesis of 13-foot-tall series protagonist Cootie (Jharrel Jerome, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse). Knowing that all stories make a statement isn't just the domain of activists fighting for better futures for the masses, as Riley is, and he wants to ensure that his audience knows it. Indeed, I'm a Virgo is a show with something to say, and forcefully. Its creator is angry again, too, and wants everyone giving him their time to be bothered — and he still isn't sorry for a second. With Jerome as well-cast a lead as Atlanta's Lakeith Stanfield was, I'm a Virgo also hinges upon a surreal central detail: instead of a Black telemarketer discovering the impact of his "white voice", it hones in on the oversized Cootie. When it comes to assimilation, consider this series Sorry to Bother You's flipside, because there's no way that a young Black man that's more than double the tallest average height is passing for anyone but himself. Riley knows that Black men are too often seen as threats and targets regardless of their stature anyway. He's read the research showing that white folks can perceive Black boys as older and less innocent. As Cootie wades through these experiences himself, there isn't a single aspect of I'm a Virgo that doesn't convey Riley's ire at the state of the world — that doesn't virtually scream about it, actually — with this series going big and bold over and over. I'm a Virgo streams via Prime Video. Read our full review. BLACK MIRROR When Ron Swanson discovered digital music, the tech-phobic Parks and Recreation favourite was uncharacteristically full of praise. Played by Nick Offerman (The Last of Us) at his most giddily exuberant, he badged the iPod filled with his favourite records an "excellent rectangle". In Black Mirror, the same shape is everywhere. The Netflix series' moniker even stems from the screens and gadgets that we all now filter life through daily and unthinkingly. In Charlie Brooker's (Cunk on Earth) eyes since 2011, however, those ever-present boxes and the technology behind them are far from ace. Instead, befitting a dystopian anthology show that has dripped with existential dread from episode one, and continues to do so in its long-awaited sixth season, those rectangles keep reflecting humanity at its bleakest. Black Mirror as a title has always been devastatingly astute: when we stare at a TV, smartphone, computer or tablet, we access the world yet also reveal ourselves. It might've taken four years to return after 2019's season five, but Brooker's hit still smartly and sharply focuses on the same concern. Indeed, this new must-binge batch of nightmares begins with exactly the satirical hellscape that today's times were bound to inspire. Opening chapter Joan Is Awful, with its AI- and deepfake-fuelled mining of everyday existence for content, almost feels too prescient — a charge a show that's dived into digital resurrections, social scoring systems, killer VR and constant surveillance knows well. Brooker isn't afraid to think bigger and probe deeper in season six, though; to eschew obvious targets like ChatGPT and the pandemic; and to see clearly and unflinchingly that our worst impulses aren't tied to the latest widgets. Black Mirror streams via Netflix. Read our full review. GUY RITCHIE'S THE COVENANT Announcing his cinematic arrival with a pair of slick, witty, twisty and fast-paced British heist flicks, Guy Ritchie achieved at the beginning of his career something that many filmmakers strive for their whole lives: he cemented exactly what his features are in the minds of audiences. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch made "Guy Ritchie movie" an instantly understood term, in fact, as the writer/director has attempted to capitalise on since with differing results (see: Revolver, RocknRolla, The Gentlemen and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre). Ritchie's third film, the Madonna-starring Swept Away, has also proven just as emblematic of his career, however. He loves pumping out stereotypical Guy Ritchie movies — he even adores making them Sherlock Holmes and King Arthur flicks, with mixed fortunes — but he also likes leaving his own conventions behind in The Man From UNCLE, Aladdin, Wrath of Man and now Guy Ritchie's The Covenant. Perhaps Ritchie's name is in the title of this Afghanistan-set action-thriller to remind viewers that the film does indeed boast him behind the lens, and as a cowriter; unlike with fellow 2023 release Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, they wouldn't guess otherwise. Clunky moniker aside, Guy Ritchie's The Covenant is pared down, gripping and intense, and home to two excellent performances by Jake Gyllenhaal (Strange World) as Master Sergeant John Kinley and Dar Salim (Tatort) as his interpreter Ahmed. As the former leads a team that's looking for IED factories, the pair's collaboration is tentative at first. Then a raid goes wrong, Ahmed saves Kinley's life, but the recognition and support that'd be afforded an American solider in the same situation doesn't go the local's way. Where Afghan interpreters who aid US troops are left after their task is complete is a weighty subject, and treated as such in this grounded and moving film. Guy Ritchie's The Covenant streams via Prime Video. FLAMIN' HOT How? In pop culture's current true-crime and murder-mystery trends, that's a key question, with audiences keen to discover how killers are caught — or sometimes aren't. It's also the query at the heart of another on-screen obsession of late: product films. These aren't the movies that turn every favourite character and premise possible into never-ending franchises, as seen in the many various caped-crusader universes. Rather, they're origin stories behind everything from games (Tetris) to shoes (Air) and mobile phones (BlackBerry), and they just keep arriving in 2023. Marking the feature directorial debut of Desperate Housewives actor Eva Longoria, Flamin' Hot is firmly a product film, as Cheetos fans will instantly know. If you've ever wondered how the Frito-Lay-owned brand's spiciest variety came about in the 90s — and became so popular — this likeable, energetically made movie provides the answer while itself rolling out a crowd-pleasing formula. Eating the titular snack while you watch is optional, but expect the hankering to arise either way. This story belongs to Richard Montañez — and it's also an underdog tale, and an account of chasing the American dream, especially when it seems out of reach. Flamin' Hot's pivotal figure (Jesse Garcia, Ambulance) started working at Frito-Lay to support his family, after living the gang life since high school to rebel against his dad, but he wants to be more than a janitor. His attempts to work his way up the company ladder falter not through his lack of trying or willingness to learn everything there is about making junk food, but due to a stratified hierarchy that doesn't reward his efforts. But, as he takes cues about the factory's operation from engineer Clarence (Dennis Haysbert, Lucifer), who also struggles to get promoted, he realises that chilli-flavoured Cheetos would be a smash within the Latino community. His ever-supportive wife Judy (Annie Gonzalez, Vida) is committed to helping, as are his family and friends in general — but if getting Frito-Lay CEO Roger Enrico (Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel) onboard was easy or straightforward, there wouldn't be a film. Flamin' Hot streams via Disney+. BASED ON A TRUE STORY Murder-mystery comedies: everyone's making them, and on screens big (Knives Out and its sequel, See How They Run) and small (Only Murders in the Building, The Afterparty, Dead to Me). In fact, Based on a True Story star Kaley Cuoco has been in one lately thanks to two seasons of dark comedy-slash-whodunnit thriller The Flight Attendant. But the difference with the genre's latest streaming example is befriending a serial killer, which is the choice that Cuoco's pregnant real-estate agent Ava Bartlett and her just-fired tennis-coach husband Nathan (Chris Messina, The Boogeyman) make to chase a lucrative payday. How does palling around with the Westside Ripper, who has been terrorising Los Angeles, benefit the financially struggling couple? By making a podcast with them, as Australian-born creator and writer Craig Rosenberg (The Boys) finds his own way to riff on the Serial-sparked true-crime audio obsession. Ava is a devotee of folks talking about grisly deeds; if Only Murders in the Building existed in the Based on a True Story universe, she'd be its number-one fan. And, after working out that she and Nathan know the killer, it's her idea to hustle that information into what she hopes will be the next big podcast, all by enlisting said criminal to natter on with them. Based on a True Story clearly skews more darkly satirical than the fellow streaming series it most closely resembles — well, that and The Flight Attendant and also country-club comedy Red Oaks. It's messier as well, sometimes feeling like it's throwing in everything it can, and Cuoco could've easily walked out of her last series and straight into this. Still, with its love of twists, willingness to call out how the world's murder fixation is so rarely about the victims, and a well-cast lineup of talent that also includes Tom Bateman (Death on the Nile) and Liana Liberato (Scream VI), it's quickly addictive — yes, like the podcasts it's parodying. Based on a True Story streams via Binge. NEW SHOWS TO CHECK OUT WEEK BY WEEK DEADLOCH Trust Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan, Australia's favourite Kates and funniest double act, to make a killer TV show about chasing a killer that's the perfect sum of two excellent halves. Given their individual and shared backgrounds, including creating and starring in cooking show sendup The Katering Show and morning television spoof Get Krack!n, the pair unsurprisingly add another reason to get chuckling to their resumes; however, with Deadloch, they also turn their attention to crime procedurals. The Kates already know how to make viewers laugh. They've established their talents as brilliant satirists and lovers of the absurd in the process. Now, splashing around those skills in Deadloch's exceptional eight-episode first season lead by Kate Box (Stateless) and Madeleine Sami (The Breaker Upperers), they've also crafted a dead-set stellar murder-mystery series. Taking place in a sleepy small town, commencing with a body on a beach, and following both the local cop trying to solve the case and the gung-ho blow-in from a big city leading the enquiries, Deadloch has all the crime genre basics covered from the get-go. The spot scandalised by the death is a sitcom-esque quirky community, another television staple that McCartney and McLennan nail. Parody requires deep knowledge and understanding; you can't comically rip into and riff on something if you aren't familiar with its every in and out. That said, Deadloch isn't in the business of simply mining well-worn TV setups and their myriad of conventions for giggles, although it does that expertly. With whip-smart writing, the Australian series is intelligent, hilarious, and all-round cracking as a whodunnit-style noir drama and as a comedy alike — and one of the streaming highlights of the year. Deadloch streams via Prime Video. Read our full review. HIJACK Whether Idris Elba will ever get to play James Bond is still yet to be seen, but he resourcefully endeavours to save lives and bring down nefarious folks in Hijack, and adds another prime example of why he'd be excellent as 007 to his resume. This new series is also basically Idris Elba on a Plane, sans slithering snakes — or Idris Elba Cancels the London-Bound Apocalypse. Die Hard with Idris Elba, 24: Idris Elba: they fit as well. Fresh from battling lions in Beast, the Luther star plays Sam Nelson, a seasoned negotiator on his way home to the UK from Dubai, and a man who just wants to try to patch things up with his estranged wife Marsha (Christine Adams, The Mandalorian) and spend time with his teenage son Kai (Jude Cudjoe, Halo). Then fellow Brit Stuart (Neil Maskell, Small Axe) and his gun-toting team take over the aircraft before the first of the journey's seven hours is out, forcing Sam to play hero to try to keep himself and his fellow passengers alive. Unfurling in seven episodes, Hijack gets its audience experiencing the tension, chaos and life-or-death stakes in tandem with Sam, the rest of the flight's hostages, and the people on the ground across several countries that are attempting to work out what's going on. Creators George Kay (Lupin) and Jim Field Smith (Litvinenko) prove masterful with suspense, and at keeping viewers hooked — and, pivotally, at knowing exactly the kind of series this wants to be, the conventions and cliches it's leaning into, what's soared there before, and how to do it well. It can't be underestimated how crucial Elba is, though. Cast the wrong person as Sam, and the ability to get everyone from pilots and crew to agitated flyers, wannabe saviours and air traffic control on his side would seem ludicrous — and, at times, the hijackers as well. Hijack streams via Apple TV+. SECRET INVASION "I've had it with these Marvel tales without Nick Fury as the lead" isn't something that Samuel L Jackson has publicly uttered, with or without expletives — yes, more than a few things have Snakes on a Plane vibes this month (see also: Hijack above) — but viewers might've thought it over the past 15 years. The character that masterminded the Avengers Initiative initially appeared in 2008's very-first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. When Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 reached cinemas earlier in 2023, the franchise hit 32 cinema outings to-date, many with Fury playing a part. And yet, none have had his name in their moniker. That remains the case now, and on the small screen as well, where the MCU has also been spreading its exploits. Secret Invasion is still exactly what Marvel has needed for over a decade, however: a Fury-centric story. Perhaps Disney realises that, too; as well as bringing back Talos (Ben Mendelsohn, Cyrano), and introducing MI6's Sonya Falsworth (Olivia Colman, Empire of Light), insurrectionist leader Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir, One Night in Miami) and fellow revolutionary G'iah (Emilia Clarke, Last Christmas), Secret Invasion's first two episodes feature laments aplenty about Fury's absence. Within the ever-sprawling MCU's interconnected narrative, he's been AWOL lately for two reasons: The Blip, aka Avengers: Infinity War's consequential finger-snapping; and a stint since working in space, which'll get more attention when The Marvels drops on the silver screen in November 2023. Extraterrestrial race the Skrulls has noticed Fury's departure keenly, after he promised to help them find their own planet in Captain Marvel but hasn't followed through so far. Cue two factions of the shapeshifting refugees in Secret Invasion: those still waiting and others now willing to fight to take earth as their own instead. Cue far more Skrulls on Marvel's main base than humans, including Fury, know about as well. Secret Invasion streams via Disney+. Read our full review. THE CROWDED ROOM Since 2016, Tom Holland has been so busy doing whatever a spider can that stints away from his Marvel Cinematic Universe web-slinging have been few and far between. And varied, including the long-delayed (and terrible) Chaos Walking and the entertaining-enough Uncharted movie adaptation, plus straight-to-streaming flicks The Devil All the Time and Cherry. The Crowded Room boasts his best performance yet in his Spider-Man era, and provides a reminder that the star of The Impossible and The Lost City of Z, plus lover of dancing to Rihanna's 'Umbrella', will be absolutely fine when he stops pondering how great power begets great responsibility. His new ten-part series doesn't always meet its hefty ambitions, but it's always thoughtful in its attempts as it heads back to the 70s, spends time with a young man being interrogated about his past, explores mental health and, like most things of late, revels in being a mystery. Holland plays Danny Sullivan, who starts the serious jittering with nerves at New York City's Rockefeller Center. He's with Ariana (Sasha Lane, Conversations with Friends), they have a gun, and opening fire is their aim — but, although Danny doesn't want to shoot, he's swiftly in police custody. Lead cop Matty (Thomas Sadoski, Devotion) thinks that the public incident might just be the latest in a series of incidents. Enter Rya (Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout), who spends lengthy sessions interrogating Danny about his past as he awaits trial. The Crowded Room always remains a crime drama but, as it pieces together its protagonist's complicated story complete with glimpses of his doting mother Candy (Emmy Rossum, Angelyne) and abusive stepfather Marlin (Will Chase, Dopesick), it has much more on its mind. The twist in the premise is teased out, hardly difficult to guess, yet gives Holland ample room to turn in a compellingly pliable performance — in a series the brings 1981 non-fiction novel The Minds of Billy Milligan to the screen, albeit using it as inspiration rather than straight-out adapting it, a task that's been attempted since the 90s. The Crowded Room streams via AppleTV+. RECENT CINEMA RELEASES YOU NEED TO CATCH UP WITH ASAP ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED With photographer Nan Goldin at its centre, the latest documentary by Citizenfour Oscar-winner Laura Poitras is a film about many things, to deeply stunning and moving effect. In this Oscar-nominated movie's compilation of Goldin's acclaimed snaps, archival footage, current interviews, and past and present activism, a world of stories flicker — all linked to Goldin, but all also linking universally. The artist's bold work, especially chronicling LGBTQIA+ subcultures and the 80s HIV/AIDS crisis, frequently and naturally gets the spotlight. Her complicated family history, which spans heartbreaking loss, haunts the doco as it haunts its subject. The rollercoaster ride that Goldin's life has taken, including in forging her career, supporting her photos, understanding who she is and navigating an array of personal relationships, cascades through, too. And, so do her efforts to counter the opioid epidemic by bringing one of the forces behind it to public justice. Revealing state secrets doesn't sit at the core of the tale here, unlike Citizenfour and Poitras' 2016 film Risk — one about Edward Snowden, the other Julian Assange — but everything leads to the documentary's titular six words: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed. They gain meaning in a report spied late about the mental health of Goldin's older sister Barbara, who committed suicide at the age of 18 when Goldin was 11, and who Goldin contends was just an "angry and sexual" young woman in the 60s with repressed parents. A psychiatrist uses the eponymous phrase to describe what Barbara sees and, tellingly, it could be used to do the same with anyone. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed is, in part, a rebuke of the idea that a teenager with desires and emotions is a problem, and also a statement that that's who we all are, just to varying levels of societal acceptance. The film is also a testament that, for better and for worse, all the beauty and the bloodshed we all witness and endure is what shapes us. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed streams via Docplay. Read our full review. BLAZE In the name of its protagonist, and the pain and fury that threatens to parch her 12-year-old existence, Del Kathryn Barton's first feature scorches and sears. It burns in its own moniker, too, and in the blistering alarm it sounds against an appalling status quo: that experiencing, witnessing and living with the aftermath of violence against women is all too common, heartbreakingly so, including in Australia where one woman a week on average is killed by her current or former partner. Blaze has a perfect title, with the two-time Archibald Prize-winning artist behind it crafting a movie that's alight with anger, that flares with sorrow, and that's so astutely and empathetically observed, styled and acted that it chars. Indeed, it's frequently hard to pick which aspect of the film singes more: the story about surviving what should be unknown horrors for a girl who isn't even yet a teen, the wondrously tactile and immersive way in which Blaze brings its namesake's inner world to the screen, or the stunning performance by young actor Julia Savage (Mr Inbetween) in its central part. There are imagined dragons in Blaze, but Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, this isn't — although Jake (Josh Lawson, Mortal Kombat), who Blaze spots in an alleyway with Hannah (Yael Stone, Blacklight), has his lawyer (Heather Mitchell, Bosch & Rockit) claim that his accuser knows nothing. With the attack occurring mere minutes into the movie, Barton dedicates the feature's bulk to how her lead character copes, or doesn't. Being questioned about what she saw in court is just one way that the world tries to reduce her to ashes, but the embers of her hurt and determination don't and won't die. Blaze's father Luke (Simon Baker, Limbo), a single parent, understandably worries about the impact of everything blasting his daughter's way. As she retreats then acts out, cycling between both and bobbing in-between, those fears are well-founded. Blaze is a coming-age-film — a robbing-of-innocence movie as well — but it's also a firm message that there's no easy or ideal response to something as awful as its titular figure observes. Blaze streams via Stan and Binge. Read our full review. SHE SAID Questions flow freely in She Said, the powerful and methodical All the President's Men and Spotlight-style newspaper drama from director Maria Schrader (I'm Your Man) and screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz (Small Axe) that tells the story behind the past decade's biggest entertainment story. On-screen, Zoe Kazan (Clickbait) and Carey Mulligan (The Dig) tend to be doing the asking, playing now Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. They query Harvey Weinstein's actions, including his treatment of women. They gently and respectfully press actors and Miramax employees about their traumatic dealings with the Hollywood honcho, and they politely see if some — if any — will go on the record about their experiences. And, they question Weinstein and others at his studio about accusations that'll lead to this famous headline: "Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades". As the entire world read at the time, those nine words were published on October 5, 2017, along with the distressing article that detailed some — but definitely not all — of Weinstein's behaviour. Everyone has witnessed the fallout, too, with Kantor and Twohey's story helping spark the #MeToo movement, electrifying the ongoing fight against sexual assault and gender inequality in the entertainment industry, and shining a spotlight on the gross misuses of authority that have long plagued Tinseltown. The piece also brought about Weinstein's swift downfall. As well as being sentenced to 23 years in prison in New York in 2020, he's currently standing trial for further charges in Los Angeles. Watching She Said, however, more questions spring for the audience. Here's the biggest heartbreaker: how easily could Kantor and Twohey's article never have come to fruition at all, leaving Weinstein free to continue his predatory harassment? She Said streams via Netflix and Binge. Read our full review. Need a few more streaming recommendations? Check out our picks from January, February, March, April and May this year. You can also check out our list of standout must-stream 2022 shows as well — and our best 15 new shows of last year, top 15 returning shows over the same period, 15 shows you might've missed and best 15 straight-to-streaming movies of 2022.
Laughter: it’s what separates us from the animals. Well, that and the ability to comprehend our own mortality, but that’s hardly the best way to open a story about a comedy festival. LOL! We’re all going to die! So ignore that. Just shy of 30 years old, this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival will be the biggest in its history, with more than 550 shows across 145 venues. Of course there’s no guarantee that all of them will be funny, which is why we’ve trawled through the lineup to bring you our hand-picked recommendations, from big names to intriguing newcomers. Honourable mentions go to MICF staples including The Gala, RAW Comedy, The Great Debate and Upfront — consider our thumbs up there implied.
If you had big international holiday plans for this year, it's highly likely that they didn't end up happening. Instead, you've probably been doing what we all have: pretending. Whether you've been taking online tours of far-flung places, watching live streams from around the globe or just choosing your TV and movie viewing accordingly, virtually travelling the planet while sitting on your couch is a very 2020 trend. Also on the cards from December 5: pretending that you're in London, New York or Paris by simply heading to Fitzroy. That's where Wanderlust Melbourne will be popping up for two months until January 31, turning five rooms on Smith Street into destination-themed installations. If you wandered through Melbourne's previous dessert and Christmas-centric events, you'll know what you're in for. It's a photo-friendly pop-up, obviously, so prepare to snap yourself next to Big Ben and red telephone booths, on Broadway and having a hot dog in Times Square, and at the Eiffel Tower and sipping a drink outside a French patisserie. There'll also be a tropical beach-themed room, complete with sand and deck chairs, as well as a frosty winter wonderland — snowman and four-metre snow dome included. Tickets cost $29.50 per person, which lets you venture through Wanderlust Melbourne for an hour — with sessions starting on the hour between 12–7pm. Or, you can also book the space for a party with up to 99 of your mates.
If you're feeling a bit strapped for cash, Damiao Panda Fan has your back. They pride themselves on delivering high-quality ingredients for a fraction of the price - their lunch buffet will only set you back $35 per person. Fill up your table with stuffed fish balls, beancurd, lotus root, beef slices, mussels, sweet potato noodles and eat to your heart's content. Lunch hours are from 11.30am–3pm for $35 per person and dinner 5.30–10pm for $43 per person. Appears in: Where to Find The Best Hot Pots in Melbourne for 2023
A visit to New Zealand's South Island is filled with breathtaking views, invigorating treks and some seriously fine drops of wine. What to do is the easy part. But, with so many accommodation options out there, deciding where to stay can become a bit tricky. While camping within the country's incredible national parks is an excellent choice, camping may not be your thing — even if it is glamping. But, there are still tons of out-of-the-ordinary stays available. On your next trip to the South Island, do things a little differently when it comes to your accommodation — whether that's by staying in tiny homes, converted railway wagons, two-storey silos or on a floating catamaran. Here, you'll find five alternative places to book on a South Island journey. SILOSTAY, LITTLE RIVER Little River's multi-award-winning SiloStay "goes against the grain" and puts up visitors (instead of farm grain and feed) in two-storey cylindrical silos. Inside the one-bedroom metal structures, the ground floor is fitted with a custom-built kitchenette, living room, small toilet and balcony. Take the winding steel staircase to the upper floor bedroom, and you'll find the bedroom and a balcony. While the silos may have a rustic feel (originally being grain-holders and all), each comes with a flat-screen TV, DVD player, a mounted stereo unit in the headboard and free wifi, as well as bike and kayak racks. Plus, the silos are eco-friendly, using a sustainable pellet boiler system, a planet-friendly waste-water system and natural wool insulation. SiloStay also offers one-level accessible silos with the same features. Prices range between $200–$230 depending on the season, with discounts available for bookings of two nights or more. AQUAPACKERS, ABEL TASMAN NATIONAL PARK Comforting, soothing — there's just something about being rocked to sleep. Those babies really have it good. Enter Aquapackers. This converted catamaran offers floating accommodation set in Anchorage Bay in the centre of the Abel Tasman National Park where you can be rocked to sleep by the gentle ripples of the bay. And when you're not enjoying that rock-a-bye sleep, you can relax with some sun on the upper deck or a trek around the peaceful national park. After something a bit more energetic? Sign up for a coastal trek or water sports like sailing and kayaking — Aquapackers specifically offers guided kayaking and coastline walking tours. Rooms range from shared backpacker dorms ($110 per person) to private cabins ($245 per cabin) and each night's stay includes breakfast and a barbecue dinner, plus complimentary tea and coffee throughout the day. GOLDEN BAY HIDEAWAY HOUSE TRUCK, WAINUI BAY Though Wainui Bay's Golden Bay Hideaway offers five secluded, solar-powered and energy-efficient eco-home options, our favourite is the House Truck. Set in a remote bush location and overlooking the sea, this restored 1950s Commer truck has been transformed into a two-storey tiny house. The home features a woodfire stove, fully equipped kitchen, outdoor picnic table, two queen beds and, the best part, an outdoor bath looking out over the bay towards the mountains. The isolated setting means guests can comfortably enjoy a long bath under the stars with a glass of the region's finest wine in hand. All of Golden Bay Hideaway's homes are also solar-powered and energy efficient so you won't be Prices range depending on the season, with discounts for longer bookings — which can get you down to $110 per night if you book four or more nights. WAIPARA SLEEPERS, WAIPARA Set in the heart of New Zealand's wine country, 45 minutes from Christchurch, the team at Waipara Sleepers has converted a group of 1940s railway cars into stationary accommodation. The owners have maintained the original features of each upcycled wagon, securing each to a piece of train track in their country garden. Cars range from traditional four-berth bunk rooms ($25 per person) to more homey fit-outs with brass double beds, refrigerators and televisions ($50–$70 per room). All wagons have internal heating, a balcony and a separate seating area. Accommodation ranges from $25 per person in the shared bunk rooms to $50–$70 a night in private accommodation. For a cheaper, private space, there's also the Railway Hut ($40–$60 per night) — a tiny cabin that once housed railway workers. ST BATHANS POLICE CAMP, OTAGO If you've ever been even the teensiest bit intrigued by what it's like to spend the night in gaol, St Bathans Police Camp is happy to give you a little (but certainly more luxe) taste. The owners have repurposed the tiny town's historic 1864 gaol into a self-contained apartment. Plan a trip to the historic St Bathans, founded during the goldfields mining era (and now only home to six permanent residents), to wander the reserve formed by the gold mining processes and to check out some of the town's historic architecture. The gaol cell accommodation is located near the old constable's cottage — a much bigger three-bedroom option you can also rent — and looks out over the pristine Blue Lake. The old cell is now fitted with a queen bed, and the former lobby and office are now the kitchen, with an ensuite bathroom and veranda also installed. It's an old-fashioned fit-out, complete with rocking chair, timber walls and jail-house door. St Bathans Jail (Gaol) is available for $145 per night, including a continental breakfast. Start planning your trip to New Zealand's south with our guide to the South Island journeys to take here.
If there's something Melbournians have in common, it's coffee (and cocktails). Merging the worlds of caffeine and booze, Patricia Coffee Brewers, Grada and Tarts Anon are teaming up for a one-night-only event featuring cocktails conceptualised by Grada's co-creator Darren Leaney (ex-Capitano/Aru, current Caretaker's Cottage). Patricia Coffee Brewers, known for its quaint hole-in-the-wall aesthetic, will transform into a bar for the night. A variety of cocktails – think Espresso Martini, Pina-Colada, Manhattan and Old Fashioned – will feature Grada's locally-produced single-farm coffee along with modern modifications. Don't worry: desserts make an appearance as well, thanks to Tarts Anon, who have crafted a Grada Hazelnut tart made of shortcrust pastry, hazelnut caramel, Grada crème diplomat, caramelised choux pastry, and hazelnut and Grada financier cake. Spotlighting more coffee offerings, Stella, Grada's sister company, will also make a small menu of espresso and filter coffees available at the event. This day-to-night transformation event, dubbed 'Stella By Day, Grada By Night,' promises an immersive coffee experience. Stella By Day, Grada By Night will take place at Patricia Coffee Brewers on Thursday, April 11 from 5–9pm. Tickets are priced at $25, which will get you a cocktail of your choice and a slice of tart.
If you peek through the velvet curtains on Hardware Lane and adventure down the stairs, you'll find cocktail and dim sum hotspot Golden Monkey. Owners Adam Ong and Michael Chen have managed to blend Shanghai 1920s nightspot with moody opium den and make it work with Melbourne's nightlife. Successfully, evidently, as the venue's been open since 2005. It has a hint of mystery, romance and decadence — moody red lights illuminate the entrance, and folding shades provide an intimate space for booths and couches. It's open Thursday through Saturday and each night features a musical twist, from live bands performing R&B and soul, to DJs capturing the essence of Melbourne's nightlife on a weekend. You can expect cocktails from three menus – see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil – which cover everything from old-time favourites to in-house specialties. If you're feeling extra thirsty, order your group a punch bowl. The Concubine's Last Kiss, for example, features tequila, Pimms, Aperol, peach sencha and will comfortably quench four people for $58. There are snacks, too, like signature steamed soup dumplings, barbecue pork bao and custard buns, which are brought down from the kitchen upstairs at the adjoining East China Trading Company. Images: Julia Sansone.
One of a growing collection of cult Korean fried chicken joints to venture Down Under, Bonchon opened the doors to its first Aussie eatery in Craigieburn Central in early 2022. Born in the buzzing southern city of Busan in 2002, Bonchon — meaning 'my hometown' — is now an international name in the chicken game, boasting over 370 global outposts. Now, Aussies are getting their first taste of the brand's signature sauces — spicy and soy garlic — and its original recipe double-fried chook. Bonchon's menu famously extends to a range of pan-Asian dishes and other Korean specialties, which are also making an appearance here — you can balance your fried chicken fix with the likes of loaded kimchi fries ($14.90), kimchi coleslaw ($8.90), prawn and ginger potstickers ($12.90), and popcorn cauliflower bao ($15.90). There's a classic beef bulgogi with rice and sweet soy ($16.90), an assortment of mix-and-match 'k-bowls' ($15.90), and a lineup of Korean-inspired burgers, too. And don't forget to match your feed with one of the soju-infused house cocktails, including a soju margarita ($16.90) and a strawberry cosmo ($16.90). Meanwhile, that signature chook comes battered, double-fried and hand-brushed with sauce to order, available across a whole range of bone-in and boneless combination packs (from $12.90).
Holed up above Swanston Street for over a decade now, this second-hand goliath is one of the largest vintage stores in the country. With racks packed full of one-of-a-kind fabrics cut into new fashionable styles, old leather boots and bags at bargain prices, and a huge collection of band t-shirts, Retrostar is a destination in itself. It's easy to lose an entire afternoon trying on countless outfits, flipping through the styles of yesteryear and swiping free lollipops from their friendly service counters. Bonus: they also regularly host warehouse sales with thousands of pieces priced at just $5. Be sure to get their early to avoid the carnage.
Australia's music festival scene hasn't had a great run in 2024, with everything from Splendour in the Grass and Groovin the Moo to Harvest Rock and Spilt Milk cancelling — but two end-of-year staples are returning to celebrate 2024 turning into 2025 with live tunes. Victoria's Beyond The Valley and New South Wales' Lost Paradise also have something else in common: plenty of the same acts on their respective lineups. Beyond The Valley dropped its roster for this year first, and now it's Lost Paradise's turn a day later, with Fisher, Tinashe, Royel Otis among the big names doing double duty. Accordingly, if you're looking to travel to a regional spot for a huge music fest on and around New Year's Eve, you have choices. [caption id="attachment_965689" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Jess Bowen[/caption] After initially locking in its Saturday, December 28, 2024–Wednesday, January 1, 2025 dates back in July, Lost Paradise has unveiled a lineup filled with must-see names, all headed to the Glenworth Valley on the New South Wales Central Coast an hour out of Sydney. Flight Facilities doing their Decades mix is another massive highlight. So are Marlon Hoffstadt, Sammy Virji, SG Lewis, Confidence Man, DJ Boring and Kita Alexander, across a multi-day fest that features live music and DJ sets spanning both international and Australian talents, and regularly sells out — 2023's fest did. Tunes are just one part of the Lost Paradise experience. Art, culture, wellness, and food and drink also get a look in, with the 2024 event also spanning Dr Karl getting chatting, yoga and healing arts, craft sessions, workshops and more. So, you can not only farewell one year and see in the next with a party, but by relaxing, feasting and learning something. Making 2024's Lost Paradise extra special: the fact that this year marks ten years for the fest, which has become a go-to way to wrap up one year and embrace the next since 2014 — including if you're keen to camp for its duration. Just as in 2023, this year's Lost Paradise is also opting to steer away from a traditional first-, second- and third-release ticket strategy. Instead, ticket prices gently increase in accordance with demand, while maintaining fair market pricing. It's also committing to sustainability by using almost 100-percent recyclable materials in its decor and staging — and art — while implementing recycling across the site, waste sorting and a pledge for attendees that requires ticketholders to acknowledge their own environmental responsibility. Lost Paradise 2024 Lineup: Arcadia: Fisher Tinashe Royel Otis Caribou Flight Facilities (Decades set) AJ Tracey Confidence Man Teenage Dads The Rions Glass Beams Pretty Girl (live) Neil Frances Flowdan & Neffa-T Lola Young Telenova Kita Alexander Rum Jungle Nick Ward Don West Radio Free Alice Total Tommy Djanaba Casual Fan Surely Shirley Civic Video Micra Krystal Rivvers Micah Jey Green Hand Band Triple J Unearthed winner Lost Disco & Paradise Club: Marlon Hoffstadt Sammy Virji Denis Sulta KI/KI DJ BORING Sg Lewis Tinlicker (DJ set) Interplanetary Criminal Girls Don't Sync Oden & Fatzo (live) Malugi CC:Disco! Sally C Fish56octagon Chloé Caillet Jennifer Cardini Moxie Little Fritter Sarah Story Dameeeela James Pepper Caleb Jackson Elijah Something Who Is Arcadia B2b Half Cut Lost Soundsystem Conspiracy Crew Entity Uncle Ru Disco Dora Chloe Harry Hooper Mash Gabriella Spritz Sasha Milani B2b Fuchsia Sim Select Tokyo Sexwale Dayzzi B2b Daug Cozi Oscill8 Oliiv + more to be announced Shambhala Fields: Dr Karl Aretha Brown You Wouldn't (with Will Gibbs and Pat Clifton) Cooper Chapman Plastic Free Mermaid Emmanuel Asante Rache Moore Gwyn Williams Damon Gameau First Nations Culture with Uncle Phil + more to be announced [caption id="attachment_965685" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Jordan K Munns[/caption] [caption id="attachment_965687" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Byravyna[/caption] [caption id="attachment_965688" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Byravyna[/caption] Lost Paradise returns to Glenworth Valley, New South Wales from Saturday, December 28, 2024–Wednesday, January 1, 2025. To sign up for presale tickets, head to the festival's website — with presales starting on Tuesday, August 27 and general sales on Wednesday, August 28. Images: Jess Bowen, Jordan K Munns, Byravyna and Amar Gera.
As the brunch plague engulfs Melbourne further and further every week, it can be tricky choosing a cafe to dine at. Next of Kin makes the decision process easier — for southsiders, at least. Opening up on the quieter end of Glen Huntly Road earlier this year, the Elsternwick cafe is suave yet unpretentious, and it manages to nail the tricky combo while securing some much sought-after individuality too. Envision a culinary cafe built for food and design obsessives: you'll be hugged by lofty seats, overlooked by large copper bowl light fixtures, and a wall of bushy plants make you feel like you're dining in an urban rainforest. While the menu is small, it oozes with modern, healthy variety. Sceptics of fish for breakfast, snap out of it. The cured ocean trout with sweet potato croquettes, pickled beetroot and fennel salad ($19) is one of the cafe's specialties. For something nimbler, the sheep's milk yogurt panna cotta ($11) with summer fruits is one to consider. The lunch favourite is spiced lamb shoulder tacos with manchego, chipotle mayo and lime ($18.50). And it's happy news for coeliacs and gluten-challenged folk too, as half of the menu options are gluten-free. Of course, these creations haven't just appeared out of thin air. Next of Kin is owned by Nick Cocker of South Yarra's Cafe Gaia and headed by ex Press Club sous chef, Lance Mueller. Together they've created a menu that is both tasty and kindly considerate. Don't want the deliciousness to end? There's also a window of takeaway options including bagels, Bircher muesli, and a range of pastries you can carry on home. Naturally, Next of Kin boasts specialty coffee, which comes straight from Fitzroy roasters, Proud Mary. And if coffee doesn't do it for you, a Mork Hot Chocolate, Remedy Kombucha or a cup of Prana Chai will. Otherwise, a spirulina, avocado, kale, Medjool date, brazil nut and — breath — organic orange juice smoothie may entice the nutritiously conscious. Seriously, there couldn't be any more superfoods packed into that thing. Keeping to itself like the shy kid in class, Next of Kin is easy to miss from the outside. But don't underestimate it — because on the inside it's a talented freak, and it will blow you away if you just give it the chance.
Tasmania's food scene is filled with incredible tasting experiences centred around local and seasonal ingredients. If you're the kind of traveller who seeks wild flavours that stray from the norm, the island offers a remarkable collection of makers specialising in unique creations made with the very best produce. No matter which corner of Tasmania you decide to explore, you'll find inventive producers carving out their culinary niche. We've partnered with Tourism Tasmania to highlight the region's most imaginative farmers, fishers and distillers, ranging from Australia's original truffle farmers to small-batch potato vodka pioneers. Let's dig in. [caption id="attachment_866630" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Samuel Shelley[/caption] DISCOVER EDIBLE UNDERGROUND MUSHROOMS It's not every day you stumble across a disused 19th century railway tunnel and find incredible gourmet cuisine inside — but that's precisely what visitors discover when they journey to Tunnel Hill Mushrooms in the charming community of Mount Rumney on Hobart's outskirts. With the perfect conditions inside the dark, dank tunnel for growing tasty mushies, this excellent operation specialises in winter strains of oyster mushrooms. Therein you'll find the white, grey and tan oyster varieties alongside shiitake. Head along for a tour of the tunnels to explore this underground farming practice — bookings are essential. [caption id="attachment_866631" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Moon Cheese Studio[/caption] TAKE A SALT SOMMELIER TOUR All good foodies worth their salt (bad pun intended) can appreciate the difference between cheapo table salt and the premium flakes you find in specialty stores. You can deepen your appreciation further with the Salt Sommelier Tour — an exploration into how Tasmania's nutrient-rich waters deliver a superior flavour and texture from one of Australia's finest salt producers, Tasmanian Sea Salt. Throughout this in-depth journey into the world of salt, you'll roam the saltworks to see how this celebrated maker combines age-old techniques alongside clean energy to harvest its pure product. Along the way, you'll be served locally produced small bites topped with a sprinkling of the good stuff. EXPLORE LAVENDER AND OLIVE PLANTATIONS Set on 52 stunning acres in the Huon Valley, Campo de Flori (pictured above) is a destination loaded with indulgent experiences. The property is renowned for its lavender, saffron and olive plantations, all of which you're welcome to explore up close with a guided tour from owners David Peck and Lisa Britzman. If you consider yourself an olive connoisseur you can test out the farm's goods via a tasting and learning experience that delves into each of the property's nine cultivars. You can also wander through rows of award-winning lavender on a walking tour which includes a sampling of Campo de Flori's farm-grown lavender tea and sparkling lavender lemonade. [caption id="attachment_867687" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Stu Gibson[/caption] LEARN THE SECRETS OF TASMANIAN ABALONE Tasmania's brisk southern waters make it home to some of the world's best abalone. The expert crew at Candy Abalone use traditional Japanese drying techniques to produce the luxurious product which you can learn about in detail on an insightful hour-long tour of its impressive facilities. First, you'll receive an overview of the drying and processing rooms before trekking down to the beach to see the oyster lease in action. Punctuated with views of Barilla Bay Oyster Farm and the Coal Valley, the tour concludes with a sampling of organic ginger beer and freshly shucked oysters. [caption id="attachment_866443" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Australia[/caption] HUNT FOR TRUFFLES Over the years, truffle farming has exploded beyond the borders of Italy and France to eventually arrive on Australian shores. As the first kid on the block, The Truffle Farm in the central northern town of Deloraine launched the national industry by digging gorgeous black truffles out of the dirt in 1999. From there, a booming local movement in produce was born. Join second-generation truffle farmer, Anna, and her chief truffle hunting hound, Doug, for a 75-minute experience that is paradise for truffle aficionados. A selection of tours and experiences will get you familiar with the trufferie, uncover black pearls hidden in the earth and, of course, you can feast on a farm-style lunch platter or gorgeous truffle pizza paired with local wine and beer. [caption id="attachment_866632" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Samuel Shelley[/caption] SAMPLE SMALL-BATCH POTATO VODKA Perched above Marion Bay, the Hellfire Bluff Distillery didn't start out producing vodka, but it sure has mastered it. With the first potato crop planted over 30 years ago, this place has long supplied Tasmanian supermarkets with a top-notch produce — yet rather than feeding the cows with cast-off spuds, an idea for a vodka distillery was conceived. True Tasmanian ingenuity! Today, the distillery has attracted international acclaim for its small-batch, paddock-to-bottle tipples (it was recently awarded Australia's Best Varietal Vodka at the World Vodka Awards in 2022), and also produces gin, coffee liqueur and limoncello — among other drops. With the distillery door open seven days a week, those cruising Tassie's Turrakuna/Tasman Peninsula with a yen for brilliant spirits can't miss a stop at the farm. SAVOUR WASABI CHEESE Ashgrove Cheese has made exceptional dairy products for over two decades. Set between Launceston and Devonport, the sprawling farm's free-roaming cows produce everything from cheddar and havarti to gloucester and feta. However, no visit is complete without a sample of Ashgrove's extra sharp wasabi cheese. Using Tasmanian-grown wasabi to add delicate but zesty heat, it's perfect on an adventurous cheese platter or melted into a steak. Head to Elizabeth Town in northern Tasmania to enjoy a pasture-to-plate menu across breakfast and lunch. There's even a fancy 'high cheese' selection served with tea, coffee and sparkling wine. Who's hungry? Ready to plan a trip for your tastebuds around Tasmania? To discover more, visit the website. Top image: Samuel Shelley
Drive-in meets rooftop at Melbourne's newest outdoor cinema, opening in Dockland's Harbour Town precinct on Boxing Day. The latest addition to the seemingly endless list of open-air screens around town (not that we're complaining, mind you), punters at The Backlot Rooftop Drive-In will enjoy new release films and 360-degree views of the city without ever having to get out of their car. Operated by the same team behind Backlot Studios, a private cinema and event space in Southbank, this modern-day drive-in will boast two separate screens, with each lot able to accommodate up to 65 vehicles. Tickets start at $50 per car — so depending on how many mates you can squish into the backseat and/or boot, this could prove to be a bit of a bargain. There'll also be a separate 'blue-deck' seating area, for movie-lovers who don't own their own car. Tickets for this section will be sold at $15 per head. The Backlot Rooftop is yet to reveal which movies they'll be showing, although we reckon you can expect blockbusters and plenty of them. Star Wars under the stars, for example, feels like it's probably a given. There'll also be pop-up takeaway stalls on-site, as well as a candy bar stocked with all the usual suspects including choc-tops and freshly popped popcorn. Speaking to The Age, co-founder Tony Ianiro confirmed that the cinema would operate "seven days a week, all-year round," and said they were also scoping out potential sites in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. You can view the program as it's updated here.
If you haven't made the December pilgrimage to southeast Queensland's Woodford Folk Festival at least once, have you truly celebrated the end of the year to the fullest in Australia? No, no you haven't. Due to the pandemic, however, that hasn't been an option for the past few years — but the beloved festival has confirmed its return to see out 2022 and welcome in 2023. Mark December 27–January 1 in your diary, and prepare to catch a heap of bands, wander between arts performances and get a little muddy. Exactly who'll be playing the fest, which takes place about 90 minutes north of Brisbane, hasn't yet been revealed. But the 2019–20 fest boasted Lior, Horrorshow, The Herd, Kate Miller-Heidke, Electric Fields, Emma Louise, Archie Roach with Paul Grabrowsky, and Kasey Chambers, which gives you an idea of the kind of mix of artists that's usually on the bill. Also typically part of the Woodford experience: over 2000 artists putting on more than 1600 shows across the festival's 25 stages, in venues that range from a 25,000-seat amphitheatre to chilled-out hangout spots. Exactly what this year's figures will hit also hasn't been advised as yet, but this is never a small-scale fest. Indeed, announcing the event's return, Woodford General Manager Amanda Jackes advised that "over the past two years, Woodfordia organisers have delivered 1372 shows with 1032 artists over eight national tours and eight multi-day events, to an audience of 20,000 with overnight visitation totalling 50,192. To put this into context, as only one event, Woodford Folk Festival hosts 1800 shows across 25 stages featuring 2800 individual artists and performers to an aggregate audience of 132,000 with overnight visitation totalling 222,356." Beyond the numbers — yes, Woodford is massive — Founder and Director Bill Hauritz said that "this year will see the festival built from the ground up with new ideas, new programming, a new layout but always maintaining the festival tradition of the key corner stones of what has made it so successful for a long period of time." "In the past we have spent a lot of time planning, sometimes two and three years ahead, which we've been unable to do during COVID times," he continued. "Instead, we've been creative in the space and using the time to both restructure our organisation, always making improvements to our considerable systems." The festival will once again take over its Woodfordia parklands base, which now boasts a lake — and is in the process of getting 20 permanent glamping tents installed. And, as always, the fest's lineup will span everything from music, art, circus and cabaret to yoga, dance and comedy again, plus spoken word, comedy, workshops, bars, cafes and restaurants. If you're already keen to buy tickets, they're expected to go on sale in mid-June. The 2022–23 Woodford Folk Festival will run from December 27, 2022–January 1, 2023 at Woodfordia on the Sunshine Coast. For more information, head to woodfordfolkfestival.com Images: Woodford Folk Festival via Flickr.
For too long the precious black liquid that keeps your brain afloat during 8am meetings on Monday has gotten all the attention. But what about the intricately designed disposable cup? It's easy to forget about (let alone give any sustained attention to) the vessel of cardboard that carries that lovingly brewed coffee to our lips — but we'd be pretty lost without it. Coffee Cups of the World is an unabashed display of one man's beautiful takeaway coffee journey across the world documented on Tumblr and Instagram. "I want people to look at the coffee cups and be conscious of them," New Zealand professional food photographer Henry Hargreaves told Cool Hunting. "The to-go cup is the best piece of advertising for coffee shops, but not everyone gives it enough attention." Until now, that is. Hargreaves (who you might know for his eerie food photography series of death row inmates' last meals) has collected coffee cups from cafes in Europe, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. He has even enlisted a friend from South Africa to send him a bunch and — great news — is now encouraging the public to do the same. See more of Hargreaves's work at the Coffee Cups of the World Tumblr and on his online portfolio. Via Cool Hunting
Indoor plants brighten up just about any space. That's precisely why the founders of Pop Wilder decided to start the business in the first place — they discovered how much happier they were with a bit more greenery in their lives. Featuring seasonal plants that are robust against Australia's climate — and your forgetfulness — its range includes plenty of popular choices, plus a few that can be tough to come by on your own. The store is something of an airy jungle, so pop in and see what inspires you. And if you can't, Pop Wilder is more than happy to come directly to your home if you 's prefer. Images: Tracey Ah-kee.
"We found love in a hopeless place," sings Rihanna, the sound of exuberance in her voice. With her declaration of romance gracing the soundtrack several times, American Honey has its unofficial anthem. The song in question couldn't be more fitting in the latest exploration of individuality and independence from Fish Tank and Wuthering Heights director Andrea Arnold. The film treks through desperate, desolate towns, but doesn't dwell in any one spot, or indulge in hopelessness for long. Instead, it combines the heady excitement that accompanies the first flourishes of something new, with the less-than-glamorous reality that inevitably seeps to the surface. Indeed, love isn't the only thing the film's road-tripping teen protagonists find, as they go door to door selling magazines across middle America. Cramped in close confines in cars and cheap hotel rooms, they witness wealth and poverty, meet kind and predatory strangers, and confront memories and emotions they don't have the words to express, but can convey only through their eclectic taste in music. That, plus a crew member who whips out his manhood whenever he can, and Shia LaBeouf sporting one hell of a rat tail. It's LaBeouf's Jake, a middle manager, who inspires 18-year-old Oklahoma resident Star (Sasha Lane) to flee from her sleazy dad and into a vehicle with the ragtag gang. She seeks nothing more than a pay cheque and a different scene, even if the former isn't easily earned, and the latter isn't quite the escape she thought it would be. The quick-thinking, smooth-talking salesman tricks that have served the charismatic Jake so well don't come naturally to Star, though amorous feelings for her new pal quickly do. Staying on the good side of the group's scantily clad, profit-obsessed leader, Krystal (Riley Keough), is a taxing job in itself. Landscapes fly by, spied out the van's windows, yet the more things change, the more they seem the same. Star can't help but have the celestial bodies she's named for in her eyes as fresh experiences, people, places and parts of life open up to her. A first-timer spotted on spring break by writer-director Arnold, Lane is as unguarded and realistic as you could want in such a film, and gives the impression of living rather than acting. Likewise, LaBeouf appears to coast rather than perform, in what may be the perfect vehicle for his careening off-screen ways. In support, Keough electrifies with little more than a steely glare and a no-nonsense demeanour. The entire cast, both leading and background, feel totally authentic — and while that's a term that gets bandied about a lot by film critics, the truth is American Honey oozes it from every frame. It's a product of Arnold truly going the extra mile, taking the cast on the road just as seen in the movie, and adopting stylistic choices designed to immerse viewers in the story. Boxing the film into a 4:3 aspect ratio demands the audience's focused attention, as does the dream-like sheen that tints her minutiae-filled images. Accordingly, there's potent, probing poetry in every shot, just as there is in every element of Star's ebbing, flowing life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJbJsAdDilk
Prepare to spend more time scrolling through streaming queues from this November onwards — that's when Apple's new film and television platform will arrive. Called Apple TV+, announced earlier this year and just revealing that it'll launch on November 1, the new subscription service will feature a heap of new original television shows, movies and documentaries. They'll all be available ad-free and on demand, with access via the company's existing Apple TV app and the Apple TV+ website. The platform will debut just a few weeks before Disney's new streaming service, Disney+. And, like the Mouse House's foray into the world of online viewing, Apple TV+ will come relatively cheap. Australian viewers will be able to subscribe for $7.99 per month, while New Zealanders can sign up for $8.99 per month. While Apple doesn't have its own decades-old library of content to draw upon, like its sizeable competitor, it is investing a heap of cash into new shows. The company has revealed a sizeable lineup of new original series it hopes will attract your TV-loving eyeballs — and plenty of stars to go with them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVsM4gvkQXo Fancy watching Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carell navigate the world of morning television in the appropriately titled drama series Morning Wars? Jason Momoa in a new sci-fi show called See, which is set in a world where humans are born blind? A reboot of 90s kids favourite Ghostwriter? A new docu-series from Oprah — and the return of her book club? They're all on the way, and will be available from the outset. Most series will premiere with three episodes, then roll out one new instalment per week afterwards — although some will drop full seasons at once. At launch, the above shows will also be joined by Dickinson, with Hailee Steinfeld playing poet Emily Dickinson, plus Snoopy in Space, a new Peanuts production about the beagle's desire to become an astronaut. Or, you can look forward to documentary The Elephant Queen, exploring the animal species and their proximity to extinction, and For All Mankind, which'll ponder what could've happened if America was still literally reaching for the stars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rg0y7NT1gU Down the line, Apple TV+ will also be home to Servant, a new psychological thriller from M. Night Shyamalan; Truth Be Told, which is based on a novel about true crime podcasts and features Octavia Spencer and Aaron Paul; and Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Mackie-starring flick The Banker, about two African American entrepreneurs trying to make it in the 50s. The list goes on, spanning a revival of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories anthology series; crime thriller Defending Jacob, starring Chris Evans; and a TV remake of Terry Gilliam's film Time Bandits, with a pilot directed by Taika Waititi. There's also a comedy set in a video game development studio from the folks behind It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a yet-to-be-named CIA undercover agent series starring Brie Larson, and new series from La La Land director Damien Chazelle. As well as being available on iPhones, iPads, Apple TV and the iPod touch, the Apple TV app is accessible via select Samsung smart TVs, and will hit Amazon Fire TV, LG, Roku, Sony and VIZIO platforms sometime in the future, too. Apple TV+ is set to launch on November 1. For more details, or to sign up for future updates, visit the streaming platform's website.
It's considered one of the greatest whodunnits of all time. Or rather, one of the greatest whodidn'ts. Penned by Agatha Christie back in 1934, and first adapted into a film in 1974, Murder on the Orient Express takes a train full of passengers, kills one of them off, then asks "probably the greatest detective in the world" to find the person responsible. Naturally, everyone's a suspect, especially to the famous Hercule Poirot. He's soon slinging questions and making deductions, in a story full of mystery and suspense. At least, that's how it played out both in the book and the initial film. But try as it might, Kenneth Branagh's new version doesn't quite manage the same feat. The British actor and filmmaker stars, directs and fills his locomotive with high-profile performers including Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Michelle Pfeiffer, Josh Gad and Daisy Ridley. And yet despite their efforts — and the fine work of Pfeiffer and Ridley in particular — the end result is far from an engaging or intriguing journey, or even one worth taking. We first meet Branagh's arrogant (and ludicrously moustachioed) Belgian investigator as he's fussing over eggs at the Wailing Wall, before showing off his prowess in a case that involves a priest, a rabbi and an imam. Once the job is done, Poirot is eager for a break, but duty calls even when he's mid-railway trip. After the discovery of a body with a dozen stab wounds, our hero sets to work. Among the potential culprits caught in his gaze: a princess and her servant, a count and a countess, a nun, a doctor, a governess, a professor, a car dealer, a divorcee, a butler and a secretary. Working with cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos (Denial, Cinderella), Branagh approaches the tale with aesthetic flair — shot with the same 65mm cameras used on Dunkirk, Murder on the Orient Express is a feast of roaming shots, inventive angles and visual detail, with the production and costume design teams also putting on a show. There's little sign of the same texture or care in the rest of the movie, however, with the director himself the main offender. As depicted on the screen by everyone from Orson Welles to Alfred Molina, Poirot has always been a bundle of quirks, but here he's as pompous and self-satisfied as he is eccentric — while also being presented as a genius and a source of laughs. Christie herself grew tired of the character after he appeared in more than 80 of her stories. Watching Branagh's performance, you probably will as well. Perhaps we've just seen too many brilliant masterminds of late, considering the number of Sherlock Holmes adaptations we've all sat through. Or perhaps there's simply more to portraying a famous character than wearing ridiculous facial hair, acting smug and leaning on an accent. Also hindering the film is the obvious and easy way that Poirot pieces everything together, and Branagh's failure to properly utilise his ensemble cast. If the film's protagonist can join the dots faster than he can brush his moustache, audiences aren't likely to be enthralled. And sticking a heap of well-known faces in the same frame isn't the same as giving them all something to do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFDGjNdRqTk
"You wanna get through this?" asked Furiosa in the film that introduced her to the world. With the heat of a blazing sun in a desolate future Australia scorched by ecocide, the answer to that question was baked into Mad Max: Fury Road's frames. All that the characters in the dystopian franchise's fourth film in 2015 wanted was to survive, its namesake (Tom Hardy, Venom: Let There Be Carnage) and the long-running hero's new hero in Furiosa (Charlize Theron, Fast X) included. Of course, merely getting through the phenomenal George Miller (Three Thousand Years of Longing)-directed addition to a saga that the iconic Aussie filmmaker started in 1979 couldn't have been further from its audience's mind. Mad Max: Fury Road wasn't just the return of an Australian franchise three decades after its last instalment; it was the return of the Aussie franchise. It was post-apocalyptic action cinema at its most spectacular, too — and the action film that all action films are now judged against. Viewers got through it not only revved up and buzzing, but seeking more like a war boy chasing Valhalla, especially as further chapters were teased by Miller. It took nine years, but now the fifth Mad Max flick is finally racing onto silver screens: prequel Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. As Furiosa, The Witch, Split, Emma, The Queen's Gambit, The Northman and The Menu's Anya Taylor-Joy dons a shaved scalp and grease smeared across her forehead. As Dementus, her captor from childhood — and the adversary that she devotes her pre-Fury Road life to getting revenge on— Chris Hemsworth trades a Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero for a wasteland warlord. Much to the amusement of both while they're chatting with Concrete Playground about the film, the latter can't quite leave his time as the MCU's resident hammer-wielding god behind even while he's riding a chariot made out of motorbikes across a hellscape. A cape that turns red via a flare gun's crimson smoke guarantees it. "You did bring it up," Taylor-Joy says to Hemsworth about the wardrobe choice that pushes his four Thor films, 2022's Thor: Love and Thunder being the last, to mind. "I said it to George, I go 'you know I wear red cape in that film we're trying to forget about, and that character we're trying to remove myself from?'," Hemsworth tells us. "And he said 'oh, I didn't think of that. Anyway, cool.' And I was like 'so it stays red?'. And he's like 'yeah, it stays red'." [caption id="attachment_956846" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jasin Boland[/caption] Scarlet capes aside, the only thing that anyone should be thinking about during Furiosa is Furiosa. That, and the magnificent cinematic series that Miller has been crafting for 45 years now. Back then, he didn't foresee a future for anything Mad Max. He couldn't predict the response to Fury Road, either. "You can't. It's like life; there's almost no point in trying to prognosticate," the former doctor explains to Concrete Playground. Talking through why that's the case Steven Spielberg anecdotes spanning both E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Jurassic Park — and charting how the technology that helped bring the Babe pictures to life (Miller scripted and produced both, and helmed sequel Babe: Pig in the City), and then the Happy Feet flicks, led him back to the world of his directorial debut. Miller hasn't just been making visions of a potential sunburnt fate that increasingly no longer feels purely fictional — especially with Fury Road and now Furiosa, he's been making dystopian magic. We also chatted with him about the route to the saga's fifth entry, plus the decision to cast Taylor-Joy instead of digitally de-ageing Theron. And, with Taylor-Joy and Hemsworth, we dived into entering such a significant franchise, living the Aussie dream, the threads that connect Furiosa and Dementus, Taylor-Joy's love for her character and why this is Hemsworth's favourite part in years. On Never Imagining 45 Years Ago That Mad Max Would Still Be Going All of This Time Later George: "Not in a million years. I mean, to be perfectly honest, the first Mad Max was so difficult to make, I didn't even think I'd make another movie — let alone make more Mad Max movies. But one thing led to the another. As John Lennon said, life is what happens when you're making other plans, and that's what happened to me. Luckily for me, the first Mad Max had some resonance with audiences — and I couldn't even figure out why. Because for me, it just wasn't anything close to what I thought was a film that would work. And then I realised 'oh, I'd better find out why' and that led me to do Mad Max 2 — which was technically and physically a much more difficult film to make, but I understood then what makes a film. I'd learned all the things I did done wrong on Mad Max. And then that basically started my lifelong inquiry into how to make films and why we make films, or why we tell stories on film. So here I am still curious about that process all these years later. Never expected to be, but here I am." On Taking on a Mesmerising Fury Road Character and Stepping Into an Iconic Australian Franchise Anya: "Oh my goodness, I think my brain does a very clever thing where anything that could possibly stop me from taking an opportunity, it just keeps in the back of my mind and I don't think about it until it's way too late. But I will say that I have a lot of friends that made Fury Road and they had one piece of advice — and it was just 'trust George'. This is a man that's been living with this character for forever. He's had this script in his mind for forever. He wasn't going to let us mess it up. He was going to deliver exactly what it is that he wanted." On Living the Aussie Dream of Starring as a Wasteland Warlord in a Mad Max Film Chris: "I remember watching these films with my dad many years ago, and the nostalgia and vivid memories I have around it is incredible. And to be not just working with George Miller, but on a Mad Max film, was kind of this pinnacle for me. And I don't know where I go from here. It may all be downhill. But it was a dream come true. I peaked too early. I'm retiring. There it is." On the Huge Response to Fury Road — and Not Being Able to Predict How Much the World Would Love the Film George: "People say set goals. The only goals you should set are what you can do in front of yourself. You can't lay out plans because life's too unpredictable in every endeavour in life, no matter what people say. That's why I think that John Lennon quote is so true, really. But on Fury Road, that was an exercise in basically realising one day that filmmaking had changed from the celluloid, analogue filmmaking, where we made the first Mad Maxes. Fury Road was a decade into the digital dispensation, which we kind of really got into fairly early with the first Babe movie. That was done at Universal Studios, which had made Jurassic Park, which was the first big movie where Steven [Spielberg] used the digital technology. There were 63 shots of dinosaurs and that basically heralded the new digital age of filmmaking. They saw what was happening with that, hadn't yet released that and said 'hey, if you guys wanted, this would be good if you wanted to shoot the pigs and the animals live action, you could do it'. So that's what got me on that path. The story is always privileged over everything else in filmmaking, but the technology and the tools are also a fascinating thing because the new technologies can really help you make films — interesting films that are in some way unique. So, almost a decade later when [Australian cinematographer] Andrew Lesnie, who shot Babe, went off to shoot Lord of the Rings, and he came back to Sydney after the first one and showed me the first motion capture of Gollum, I suddenly thought 'hey, this penguin story we've got, we can make the penguins tap dance'. And so that technology, motion capture, I'd never even heard the words before and now we could use it in animation — and so on and so on. So, by the time we got to Fury Road, all that technology, that's another decade later, almost. I thought 'holy cow, there's things we can do with a basic action film like this, we could never dream of doing way back two, three decades before'. So that led to Fury Road. You put all that you know, your skills and what you've learned along the way into a film like Fury Road. You go through the process and push it out there and people will make of it what they will — there's no other way you can do it. You can never anticipate whether a film is going to be successful or not. You really can't. I met Steven Spielberg for the first time about a month and a half before E.T. came out. He showed me a trailer of this film. I thought, 'gee, that's very moving'. I was very touched by the trailer. And he no idea at the time that it would become E.T., that it would have such a cultural impact. He was more concerned with some other film that he was working on at the time. So you can never predict. You can't tell either way. You don't know if something's going to be successful. I'm just very thankful that after Fury Road, which was a pretty arduous film to make, that it had some traction and ultimately it led us to do to make Furiosa." On Avoiding Feeling Daunted About the Massive Reaction to Fury Road While Making Its Prequel Chris, to Anya: "I get a little bit of what you were saying — you could spend your entire day kind of thinking of all the..." Anya: "Reasons not to do something." Chris: "Yeah, the consequences. And all of the should, could, etcetera. And it ends up distracting you from what you should be doing, which is just focusing on the character and the story and so on. Plus, the more films I do, I realise how much of it is just out of your control. That used to scare the hell out of me, and now I find it really comforting. I'm like 'there's a lot of people involved in this, it's not my fault'. We're all a part of this massive collaboration or jigsaw puzzle that's trying to be assembled — and it works or it doesn't, but as long as you put your heart and soul into it, then, great. If you try to take it personally and look at it like 'oh, there's this many years and so on', occasionally it's a motivation but it shouldn't be a distraction. Anya: "I'd also say rather than thinking about all of that as something that was scary, we both wanted to do this because in recent memory we'd seen Fury Road. We knew what that was. We knew what an adventure it would be and we wanted to be a part of the team that made such an incredible creation — and now we've done it. So if anything, it's just more exciting to get to work with these incredible artists." On Digging Into the Commonalities Between Furiosa and Dementus, Even Though They're Adversaries Chris: "Quite a lot in the rehearsal process, what I found so impressive from Anya, and what I take away now in that everything I do, is the how fiercely protective she was of the character Furiosa. I suggested doing something in one of the rehearsals with the younger Furiosa and she overheard and said 'hang on, hang on, no, no, no, no, no, she wouldn't take the bear. She wouldn't do this. She wouldn't do it'. And I thought 'oh wow, okay'. That was, I found, inspirational, but it also did drastically alter the way I had to then perform that action. And it was sort of to bury it [a teddy bear] within her grip and then she drops it within the film, you see, as opposed to holding on to it like I was suggesting. And so a lot of our early conversations in the rehearsals definitely, I think, spawned or dictated where these characters were going to go and evolve to or change throughout the film. That was just one thing that always stuck in my mind that I thought I was very thankful for." Anya: "Thank you for saying that, Chris, genuinely. People say that hurt people hurt people. And I think that you can explain egregious action, but I don't think that you should excuse it. That's not something that necessarily makes sense to me. So I think in this relationship, despite the fact that they both have a lot of pain, you can't argue the fact that he is a focal point for a lot of the things that have gone wrong in her life." Chris: "Yeah, it's a beautiful examination, too, of people put in traumatic situations facing adversity." Anya: "Yeah. Everyone's a victim." Chris: "But ultimately it being a decision on the individual. It's not the circumstances that define us, it's ultimately our free will and our decision to act accordingly to that thing. And two people who both have suffered but react very differently and behave very differently — I found that interesting." On Deciding Not to Use De-Ageing Technology and Instead Cast Taylor-Joy as the Younger Furiosa George: "It was a big, big issue. Once we decided to go ahead and realised that close to a decade had gone by — and this is a story that starts with Furiosa at ten and takes her to 28. It happens from childhood to adulthood, whereas Fury Road was compressed into three days and two nights, a completely different exercise in filmmaking. I thought 'gee, who are we going to find to fill those big, big shoes of Charlize?'. And then it turned out to be relatively quick because Edgar Wright showed me an early cut of the movie he'd made — Last Night in Soho, a movie he'd just done with Anya. I saw the movie. I'd seen just clips of her earlier movies, but I hadn't really seen a full movie that she'd done – and I was really struck by her presence. There's a timeless quality about her. She seemed to be very, very in the role. It was a tricky role, it involved dance, there was a lot of precision. And I turned to Edgar and talked about the movie, and then I said 'Anya, she'd be great for...' — he had no idea that I was talking about Furiosa. I said 'she'd be great for...' and before I finished the sentence, he said 'do it, do it, she's got it all, she's got it all' or some words to that effect. I asked him recently is that what he said, and he said it was something different. But my memory was 'she's got it all, she's got it all, do it'. And so I talked to her. I got to understand a little bit about how she approaches her work. She had a lot in common with Charlize. They both were skilled ballet dancers from a very young age, which is a really, really good marker for somebody who's got physical skills. They had that precision. She rode motorbikes. She came from a big family, she was the youngest of them, rode motorbikes when she was a little kid — illegally, of course — in Argentina, and so on. And then we went through the process of working on the film together, and I subsequently learned that it was the right decision, because she was equal to the task — and not only to take on what Charlize had done, but who could match what Chris did with Dementus. These two adversaries had to be evenly matched from the top to the end of the movie, and she was able to do that. I think the movie depends on them both being worthy adversaries." On Conveying So Much of Furiosa's Story Without Words Anya: "It's really extraordinary — characters have always been real for me, and I think with each script I understand how I'll be able to tell the story. Sometimes I'm a little bit ahead of them, and so I can tell it more with hindsight. And with this script, I just knew straight away that I was going to have to tell it in real time — that it was just going to feel very real for me and I'd have to experience it, and that's how I was going to be able to bring the truth of this story to light. I will say that I'm so grateful to both Chris and George for just respecting how much I cared about her. Like, I was really fighting for her every single step of the way, and rather than seeing it as something intense, they saw it as something beautiful — and I really appreciated that. On Hemsworth Getting His Favourite Role to Play Since He Was in Rush Chris: "I think like Rush, when I did Rush, I had just done Thor and a few other things, action films, and it was the great departure from that space. And look, I love playing Thor and if the opportunity came up and there was a story, I'd love to do again. But I definitely feel like I've also run out of ideas with it, whereas this just spawned an abundance of the creativity in me, which I sort of had forgotten about, I think. And it gave me an opportunity to experiment and try different things and lose myself in a role, and get back to the joyful playfulness that we have as kids — and just experimenting with removing the critic and that judgmental voice and just having fun. As odd as that may sound, because he's a murdering psychopath, but it was enjoyable. This is what acting's about. It's about transportation and inhabiting other spaces and someone else's shoes." Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga releases in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, May 23, 2024. Read our review.
"A pink, glittery, existential dance party in their heart." That's what Greta Gerwig hopes that audiences will find when her third film as a solo director splashes its rosy — and rose-hued — frames across the silver screen. The movie in question is Barbie, marking Mattel's six-decade-old doll's live-action debut. And, no matter how you feel about the toy itself, the feature boasts no shortage of reasons to get excited: the Lady Bird and Little Women filmmaker guiding the show; the fact that Gerwig co-wrote the film with her Frances Ha, Mistress America and White Noise helmer Noah Baumbach; Margot Robbie not only starring but producing and originating the project; a killer cast, including Ryan Gosling as Ken; and the self-aware sense of humour that's bounced through not one, not two, but three trailers before the picture hits cinemas Down Under on July 20. Gerwig and Robbie know that Barbie is a product with history. First reaching stores in 1959, as one of the first-ever dolls that weren't of babies, the plaything has sparked more reactions than the toy itself sports outfits — and this figurine in all of its many guises has never been short on wardrobe options. As a flick, Barbie aims to unpack those swirling responses and, yes, play with them. The feature's marketing tagline might be adamant that "if you love Barbie, this movie is for you" and also "if you hate Barbie, this movie is for you", but Robbie adds to it. "It's also a film for people who feel indifferent about Barbie. But when I pitched that to marketing, it didn't really roll off the tongue in the same way." The Australian Babylon, Amsterdam and The Suicide Squad actor shared her thoughts in Sydney, as did her Maggie's Plan, Jackie and 20th Century Women star-turned-filmmaker helmer Gerwig. In the leadup to the picture's release, Barbie is going global, with a trip Down Under one stop on the feature's promotional tour. Also visiting: Issa Rae and America Ferrera, with the Insecure and Superstore talents popping up on-screen alongside Robbie. Rae plays President Barbie, while Ferrera is Gloria, one of the film's few non-doll characters. Weeks out from Barbie hitting cinemas, the Gerwig-directed, Robbie-led, Rae- and Ferrera-costarring movie has already achieved a feat that would likely seem unthinkable if any other talents were involved: this is one of 2023's most-anticipated cinema releases. Actually, Barbie scored that status months out — years even, after the Gerwig-and-Robbie pairing was locked in back in 2021. Audiences are eager, but the folks that've been given the chance to bring this Barbie flick to them couldn't be more thrilled, too. Talking about the film at a beachside Bondi event at Icebergs, where the venue's famous pool even scored a temporary Barbie-themed makeover, the team's enthusiasm is palpable. "It's a movie that I think can really cut across generations and gender," notes Gerwig, who advises that the feature has been made for everyone aged eight to 108. Also covered at Gerwig, Robbie, Rae and Ferrera's Australian press conference: making a "wild, bananas Barbie movie", the huge opportunity to play with something so globally recognised, expanding the character, challenging stereotypes, following Wonder Woman's lead and breaking all of the Barbie rules. ON HOW IT FEELS NOW THAT BARBIE WILL SOON BE IN CINEMAS Greta: "At this very moment, just being in this setting and being with all of you — and the beach, and we're in Australia, and all these talented people — I really am feeling like what a spectacular life this is. It's overwhelming and amazing, and I just feel very grateful that Margot came to me almost four years ago and said 'do you want to you write a Barbie thing?'. And I'm grateful that in my postpartum haze four years ago, I said yes. It's just been such an extraordinary confluence of so many people coming together who are just outrageous and smart and talented — and that we got to make this wild, bananas Barbie movie is just an extraordinary blessing." ON WANTING TO MAKE A BARBIE MOVIE IN THE FIRST PLACE Margot: "I was aware that the Barbie IP was floating around, had gone up and running, and hadn't come to full fruition. So we've been keeping tabs on the property, and when there seemed like there was an opening, we jumped at the opportunity. We sat down with the Mattel CEO, Ynon [Kreiz], and that was five years ago, and pitched what we as our production company would want to do with a Barbie movie. And I knew even at that time that I would want to do it with someone like Greta Gerwig. She was the dream writer/director for it. I didn't know if she was going to say yes to it, but there are very few people in my mind that I want to make a Barbie movie with, Greta being the top of the list — and thank goodness she said yes. But the reason we went after the property is because it seemed like a very big and exciting and scary opportunity. It's globally recognised — the word itself is globally recognised. And not only that, people have very strong feelings about Barbie in a lot of cases. So it felt like a really exciting place to start a film, and start with the audience, where they already feel a certain way — perhaps that, at the very least, they have associated childhood memories with it. And it seemed like we could do something special with it." ON BEING A PART OF BARBIE'S ON-SCREEN WORLD Issa: "It was spectacular. Greta approached me and, just in our interview-slash-meeting, told me that she envisioned a world, a Barbie world, where I was President. I was super flattered by that, and also questioned her taste in political leaders. But it's a world that is perfect and beautiful — and seeing her brilliant writing, and the cast attached, it was a no brainer for me. So I was just honoured to to play in the world." America: "It was Margot and Greta's involvement that made me interested in what the script was. It was irresistible to be invited to — to take a peek into the world that these two incredibly talented and intelligent, respected women in our fields were going to do with Barbie. I never imagined myself in a Barbie movie, and I just opened the script and I was laughing on page one and then I was crying — and then I was laughing and crying. I had so many feelings and, truly, my first thought was 'are they even going to let Greta make this?'. I did not go into it feeling invested in Barbie — I didn't grow up playing with Barbies, I didn't feel represented in the world of Barbie — but Greta and Noah's brilliance created a world that made it relevant to me. And it is really exciting to get to be a part of a moment that is expanding such a dominant, influential female iconic character in our global culture, to include more of us. And also to include people with perspectives that aren't necessarily positive and kind toward the very long legacy and history that Barbie has." ON TACKLING A CHARACTER WITH SUCH HISTORY — AND BREAKING ALL THE BARBIE RULES Greta: "I grew up with a mum who didn't love Barbie, which only made me more interested in Barbie. So I had a lot of hand-me-down Barbies — a lot of Barbies who were Kate McKinnon's version, like their clothes were all on backward. That Barbie is very close to my heart. When we signed on to write it and I went to the Mattel headquarters, they opened up all the archives and took me through everything from 1959 till now, and the designers and the people who work there were just really fun to talk to and really interesting. But I would say that actually what we we did is, if there were rules, I think we broke all of them. That was part of it, in a way: 'tell me what your sacred cows are and I will do something naughty with it'. Margot, as a producer, was so instrumental in the whole process of just saying 'I want to make this. I want to make her version of this movie, her vision and and really protect it'. But yeah, if anything, it was an introduction to all the rules so they could be broken." America: "I remember when Greta and I first started speaking, she gave me a list of movies to watch to get in the vibe and the feel and the tone, and actually one of the movies I watched was a documentary called Tiny Shoulders about the expansion of the brand. I learned so much watching that. I did know a little, but through the making of this movie and the little bits of research that are either in the movie or that you caught researching it, it's really phenomenal to get a sense of how long the Barbie legacy has been — and how there have been times in the legacy where she was a revolution, and other times where she was behind her times and she needed to catch up. Just the mere fact that she was the first doll a girl could play with that wasn't a baby doll is something that I didn't really ever know. So there was there was an appreciation right from the start of how long her legacy is and how varied her place in our culture has been." ON CHALLENGING THE BARBIE STEREOTYPE Margot: "I definitely didn't want to portray Barbie as being vapid in any way. The thing about our how our story is constructed is that Barbie can be anything — Barbie can be president, Barbie can be a Nobel Prize-winner, you see all this stuff at the beginning of the movie that sets up how incredibly intelligent Barbie is. But at the same time, she hasn't been exposed to so many of the concepts that she's going to be exposed to in the real world. So it was a fine line between playing naivety without it coming across as unintelligent, because I didn't want it to seem ditsy— and that's just not interesting to play. It's not interesting to watch, either. There are times in the movie where we lean into stereotypes — we literally call my Barbie 'stereotypical Barbie' — so we're very much leaning into some stereotypes so that we can, in a way of being self-aware, play up the comedy, and also have a deeper conversation about some sort of issue. But then there are other times where you're like 'okay, if we play up that particular stereotype, it's going to be boring for people for the hour and 40 minutes that they're watching this movie'. It was an interesting challenge to find 'okay, what how do we portray the fact that she hasn't been exposed to certain things that she's going to learn along the way, but it doesn't mean that she's not intelligent?'." ON GETTING HELP FROM WONDER WOMAN — AND PASSING THAT HELP ON Margot: "Obviously I want the movie to do well because we all worked so hard and we love it so much. But I think it is important when a movie like this does do well — like, if Wonder Woman hadn't done what Wonder Woman had done, I don't know if people would have given us the budget we got to. And if this does well, then the next person who wants to make [something female-led]. It's so important." Greta: "We were just saying this the other day. I think all the time, I was like 'I'm so grateful that Patty Jenkins made Wonder Woman'. And yeah, whoever comes next, it will be..." Margot: "I remember when they were trying to come up with comps [comparable films] for this movie, and there's not that many. And it's important to have them. It makes a difference on the business side of things to have those comps, and have the proof in the pudding that they've made money and done well. Hopefully we can be an extra stepping stone for the next thing." Check out the trailer for Barbie below: Barbie releases in cinemas Down Under on July 20. Images: Barbie press tour photography by Caroline McCredie for Warner Bros/NBC Universal. Barbie film stills via Warner Bros.
Australia's war on waste has received a significant boost, with the Federal Government pledging to ensure that 100 percent of the country's packaging is recyclable, compostable or reusable in the next seven years. Announced by Minister for the Environment and Energy Josh Frydenberg, the target will be implemented by 2025 or earlier. The Commonwealth will also work with state and territory governments to increase the nation's recycling capabilities — and prioritise 'waste-to-energy' projects, which convert waste that is unable to be recycled into energy. Also on the agenda: ramping up the purchase of recyclable materials by the various levels of government by using more recycled paper, and building roads and construction projects out of recycled mattter. The focus not only on mandating the widespread uptake of recyclable packaging, but also finding ways to use and process it forms part of the country's response to China's decision to stop importing waste. Since the beginning of 2018, Australia has been struggling to find solutions for the 1.3 million tonnes of recyclable materials it previously sent to Chinese facilities each year, a figure that accounts for 35 percent of our recyclable plastics and 30 percent of our recyclable paper and cardboard. Earlier this month, it was discovered that one Queensland council had been sending recyclable matter to landfill instead. The promise to scrap non-recyclable packaging in general arrives as several other eco-friendly bans are coming into effect — or, in the case of Hobart's Australia-first commitment to get rid of single-use plastic containers, are set to by 2020. Single-use bags are on their way out in most states, with Queensland joining the fold this coming July and Victoria following suit, leaving New South Wales as now the only state that hasn't made the same pledge. Elsewhere, Aussie bars venues have begun phasing out straws, and campaigns to reduce the use of single-use takeaway coffee cups also continue.
Already in 2023, streaming viewers have watched Sam Richardson get spiteful in one of the most kindhearted sitcoms in recent years, and get nominated for his second Emmy for it. They've witnessed him host oh-so-silly game shows, too. It isn't just Ted Lasso and I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson that've been keeping him on-screen, but also rom-com Somebody I Used to Know and voicing Shaggy in new Scooby Doo take Velma. Only The Afterparty, which returned to Apple TV+ for season two on Wednesday, July 12, has him playing buddy cop with Tiffany Haddish, however. Actually, The Afterparty has the ever-busy Richardson playing a wealth of roles, but only stepping into one character's shoes. Aniq Adjaye is a wedding guest, doting boyfriend and eager-to-please potential future son-in-law. He's the guy who finally made good on his high-school crush at his reunion in season one, after getting accused of murder when a classmate would up dead at, yes, the afterparty. And, he's whatever his fellow revellers see — because this murder-mystery comedy from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street, and The Lego Movie's Christopher Miller is a whodunnit about perspective. The clever, inventive and entertaining twist? Every episode not only takes a different character's viewpoint, but filters their recollections through a parody of a different genre. Sometimes, then, Richardson dives into a romantic comedy within the ensemble murder-mystery comedy. That's what the show's two Aniq-centric episodes — the opening chapters of both 2022's season one and now 2023's season two — have delivered, and delightfully. Richardson is the series' lead no matter which on-screen figure's memories guide each instalment, though, teaming up with Haddish's (The Card Counter) Danner to interrogate his fellow partygoers. So, sometimes Richardson is also plunged into the world of action. Or, he's whisked into a musical, a teen drama or police procedural. In season two, the list includes a Jane Austen-style period romance, both Hitchcockian and erotic thrillers, Wes Anderson's aesthetic and film noir. The Afterparty's second go-around takes Aniq and his other half Zoe (Zoe Chao, Party Down) to her younger sister Grace's (Poppy Liu, Dead Ringers) nuptials to the wealthy-but-awkward Edgar (Zach Woods, Avenue 5). After the ceremony, then the reception, then the post-proceedings, there's a body, a winery full of suspects and questions to ask. There's also Richardson proving as versatile as ever, a skill that's served him exceptionally on everything from underseen Tim Robinson-costarring comedy Detroiters to stealing scenes upon scenes as Veep's Richard Splett — plus a six-episode run on The Office, cinema stints as varied as Spy and Promising Young Woman; and Werewolves Within and Hocus Pocus 2 as well. With The Afterparty season two now streaming, Richardson chatted us through the joy of the show's comedic layers, his odd-couple dynamic with Haddish, living the murder-mystery dream as a big fan of the genre, how he'd respond if one of the series' situations crossed over to his real life, I Think You Should Leave's unhinged reactions and more. ON MAKING A MURDER-MYSTERY COMEDY THAT'S ALSO A ROM-COM, AN ENSEMBLE COMEDY AND A SPOOF OF EVERY GENRE IT CAN FIT IN "There's so much that I love about all these things. I'm a big fan of a murder-mystery — Sam Richardson is. I'm a big fan of a rom-com. And I'm a big fan of an ensemble comedy. So the show is all three of those things. So I got to do that the first season, and then the second season we get to heighten all of that. Now Aniq is investigating not just to protect himself, but to try to figure out actually who the murderer is with him outside the gaze of suspicion. He's now trying to solve this mystery, and also his retelling of the story is a rom-com sequel. So now everything's all heightened when he's telling the story — big setpieces and big physical-comedy bits. That's a really fun thing for me to do, and to get to work with the new cast — everybody's so funny —and all these new genres." ON MAKING A BUDDY-COP COMEDY WITH TIFFANY HADDISH, TOO "They're an unlikely pair [Aniq and Danner], but it turns out they're good partners. One balances the other. And getting to perform with Tiffany — she's so funny. So it's good to play off of that dynamic and that energy. It was such a great thing to do and to get to play with. The two of them — her methods are unorthodox at first, and then his methods are maybe a little sloppy. So together they're able to get through this thing, but [make] an unlikely pair." ON TICKING MURDER-MYSTERY OFF THE ACTING BUCKET LIST "There's nothing more fun than being the one to get to put the pieces together at the end of the mystery — that sort of monologue that Sherlock Holmes has where he explains all the pieces that he's seen, that you've seen as the audience, but now I'm giving you the grand thing, the Colombo sort of speech, the "one more thing, you thought I didn't know this, but ha!". Getting to be in that role is a dream come true for me." ON THE CHALLENGES AND FUN OF JUMPING BETWEEN GENRES FROM EPISODE TO EPISODE "It's definitely both, because you are getting pulled in a bunch of different ways. But that is the fun of it, because you get to explore your character and these genres from all these different perspectives. As an acting exercise, and as a challenge to an actor, you get to say not only 'what is the perspective of this character whose story I'm in, the person who's telling the story, what's their perspective on me?' but also 'what is the trope of this genre?'. 'What is this character in a film noir? And who who is the person within that trope? Who is this person in this Jane Austen story? What is that person in this trope?' But then also at the same time, 'what does the character telling the story think of me? Does this person think I'm untrustworthy? Do they think that I'm a weak person? Do they think that I'm more maybe more bold than I am? Do they think that I'm behaving surreptitiously?'. So that's a fun thing to explore in a show like this." ON THE BEST GENRE TO DIVE INTO SO FAR — AND A DREAM PICK FOR THE FUTURE "I really do love the the big rom-com sequel that I got to do this season — big set pieces and physical comedy. I also really enjoyed the Wes Anderson-style episode, the costumes of the Jane Austen [episode]. Each one has it's [merits] — it's so hard to pick one. But if there was another genre that I would want to do, it'd would be a kung-fu movie. That would be so much fun." ON PLAYING OLD HIGH-SCHOOL BUDDIES WITH SEASON ONE'S CAST — THEN STRANGERS AT A WEDDING WITH SEASON TWO'S "The first season, the cast, and getting to play with that cast, was terrific. And then also the idea that you have this shared history and so you're looking back on these relationships that you've had — but what's the dynamic now? — was such a great thing to get to do. So in this season, there are some dynamics that have existed before. But for Aniq especially, he's meeting so many people for the first time. And so getting to be introduced to these characters, and then to get to work with some of these actors for the first time as well, it was such a great fertile playground for reactions. You're absorbing these people for the first time — whereas on the other side of the coin, you get to fall back on 'oh, this guy behaves like this and I know they do'; this time, you get to be like 'this guy behaves like this, what are they doing?'. So it's two sides of the coin, but the coin is still 25 cents." ON HOW RICHARDSON WOULD REACT IF HE WAS LIVING A MURDER-MYSTERY IRL "I fear that day happening greatly. But I do wonder how I would react, because you want to hope that you'd be bold and be like 'no, it has to have been this'. And you'd answer all the things. I myself, I do like to solve things. So I really would be trying to look at things objectively and be like 'well, no it couldn't have been this because these three people were here at this time, that person was there, and I know they were, and they said that before'. That's kind of how I approach things anyway, so I think if somebody got murdered in my high school, I'd figure out who it was." [caption id="attachment_903580" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Netflix © 2023[/caption] ON WHAT RICHARDSON LOOKS FOR IN A ROLE "Good money. I look for, you know, does it pay my insurance? I am entirely joking — but also not. I really just like characters who have very fun wants, and characters who are able to react to things. So for I Think You Should Leave — I Think You Should Leave is its own sort of thing. That's my best friend's show, and it's sketch, and I very much love sketch and I love playing these characters who have wants that are a little bit unrealistic, and then the reaction to not getting those wants is also unhinged. That's a fun thing to get to do. But then with with shows like Detroiters, the wants there are to spend time with your best friend and represent your city in the best way. I think it ultimately comes down to wants — the interestingness of what characters want, and getting to see how these characters go about trying to achieve them, is what I look for most." Season two of The Afterparty streams via Apple TV+ from Wednesday, July 12. Read our full review of season two.
