The unassuming streets of Newcastle have seen major rejuvenation in recent years. The former industrial centre has been transformed into a happening spot packed with hip bars and eateries plonked right beside a stunning stretch of coastline. Make the most of the salty air with a stay at The Beach House at Merewether. This luxurious private home provides the perfect digs for up to seven guests to chill out and lean in to the beachside lifestyle: quick morning dips after catching the sunrise from your deck's front-row seats, before bubbling away the afternoon in the backyard spa. Right on your doorstep is Bathers Way, a six-kilometre coastal path linking the nearby Merewether Ocean Baths (the largest in the southern hemisphere) to Nobby's Lighthouse in the north. Once the sun goes down, check out hidden spots in the CBD, like whisky speakeasy Coal & Cedar (to enter, you'll have to text a number scribbled on a brick wall) or the sprawling Foghorn Brewery, which houses a bar and restaurant in an art deco warehouse.
It came, it celebrated, and it filled Melbourne with art, music and performances. Across its official 12-day run from Wednesday, June 4–Sunday, June 15 for 2025, RISING proved another hit. Not ready to say goodbye to the winter festival's huge lineup — which featured 100-plus events from 610 participating artists, including 16 brand-new commissions — just yet? Didn't make it down from interstate to the Victorian capital? A few of its highlights are sticking around, so you can still enjoy a RISING experience in the coming days, weeks and even months. Swingers — The Art of Mini Golf was the first event announced for RISING 2025 — and the art exhibition that's also a putt-putt course will be the last to finish, too. Until Sunday, August 31, it's welcoming in audiences at Flinders Street Station to get tap, tap, tapping around greens designed by female-identifying and gender-diverse artists. Kajillionaire filmmaker and All Fours writer Miranda July is behind one of the surreal and mindbending creations, riffing on her latest book's name with an 'all fores' setup. [caption id="attachment_994702" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Eugene Hyland[/caption] Also helping to shape Swingers — The Art of Mini Golf: Soda Jerk switching from bringing TERROR NULLIUS and Hello Dankness to the big screen, plus Australian artists Kaylene Whiskey and Nabilah Nordin, Japan's Saeborg, the United Kingdom's Delaine Le Bas, Indonesia's Natasha Tontey, Atlanta rapper BKTHERULA and Hobart-based photographer Pat Brassington. If you haven't seen Hedwig and the Angry Inch before, this is your chance to redress that gap in your theatregoing, with this new Australian production of the rock musical starring Filipino Australian singer Seann Miley Moore. It's running at Athenaeum Theatre until Sunday, June 29. You've got even longer, until Saturday, July 12, to grab a seat at Fairfax Studio for The Wrong Gods — the new piece by S Shakthidharan, the playwright behind RISING 2024's Counting and Cracking. Embracing a playful stage musing on romantic woes with the appropriate soundtrack remains on the agenda at Heartbreak Hotel at Arts Centre Melbourne until Sunday, June 22, too, while Melbourne Theatre Company's Legends (of the Golden Arches) is at Southbank Theatre until Saturday, June 28. "We're thrilled and grateful that audiences have once again embraced RISING in 2025. It's a testament to Melbourne's appetite and reputation for culture that over 12 massive days and nights, people turned out in huge numbers making the city feel alive with creativity," said RISING co-Artistic Directors and co-CEOs Hannah Fox and Gideon Obarzanek. "It's exciting to see that momentum continue, with several works extending beyond the festival dates by popular demand. There's still so much to discover, whether it's artfully absurd mini golf at Flinders Street Station, or powerful new theatre and performance across Melbourne." [caption id="attachment_1009673" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brett Boardman[/caption] RISING 2025 Extended Seasons Until Sunday, June 22 — Heartbreak Hotel at Arts Centre Melbourne Until Saturday, June 28 — Legends (of the Golden Arches), Southbank Theatre Until Sunday, June 29 — Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Athenaeum Theatre Until Saturday, July 12 — The Wrong Gods, Fairfax Studio Until Sunday, August 31 — Swingers — The Art of Mini Golf, Flinders Street Station [caption id="attachment_994694" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Andi Crown Photography[/caption] RISING 2025 ran from Wednesday, June 4–Sunday, June 15 across Melbourne, but several events and shows are still enjoying their seasons over the next days, weeks and months — head to the event's website for further information.
The finishing touches are currently being put on a colourful new hotel with multiple dining options just metres from Sydney's Oxford Street. ADGE Hotel + Residencies is the ambitious new transformation of the Riley Street building formerly known as Cambridge Hotel. The new hotel will open in August with 93 guest rooms before expanding to 242 in early 2023 — all of which will be bursting with creativity and colour thanks to SJB. The Sydney-based practice has been in charge of the interiors as part of the $65-million transformation and has reinvented the space from a straight-and-narrow accommodation provider to a space filled with bold flourishes and personality. On entry to the lobby, you'll notice bright carpets, eye-catching furniture and a huge mural from Australian artist Adrian Hing. These standout features foreshadow what you'll find upstairs in your room, with each suite equipped with more retro-influenced carpets and plenty of colourful, one-of-a-kind light fixtures and eccentric pod-style bathrooms. Down in the lobby, you'll also find one of Surry Hills' best cafes, Soul Deli. The Korean favourite recently relocated from down the road, with owners Daero Lee and Illa Kim transforming its original 185 Campbell Street into a new wine and Korean tapas bar. Soul Deli brings Korean staples to the classic Australian cafe menu. Hotel guests and Sydneysiders alike can stop into the new lobby location for sticky fried chicken, house kimchi toasties, specialty coffee and Korean fried doughnuts. Joining this inventive breakfast and lunch spot within ADGE is longstanding eight-seat omakase restaurant Raida Noda's Chef Kitchen and a soon-to-open Italian restaurant with a high-profile chef set to be in charge. Bookings are now open for the hotel with rooms starting from $199 a night. ADGE Hotel + Residencies is opening in August at 222 Riley Street, Surry Hills.
As we inch closer and closer to Christmas, it not only means that work is nearly out for the year, but also that the summer festival season is about to begin. After a short hiatus in 2024, Spilt Milk is back and better than ever this year. The lineup is positively jam-packed and there's a whole lot of fun pop-ups, giveaways and bars setting up for each leg of the festival. The festival has a legacy of kicking off Australia's summer with huge lineups, large-scale art exhibitions, and a slick lineup of food and boutique bar experiences. As usual, Jim Beam will be back at Spilt Milk helping to make sure you and your mates have this year's best festival experience. To make sure you don't miss a second of fun, we've teamed up with Jim Beam to pull together absolutely everything you need to know about Spilt Milk 2025. [caption id="attachment_1008775" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Gregory Shamus via Getty Images[/caption] Who's Headlining Spilt Milk 2025? This year's lineup is one for the ages. On the bill, you've got Kendrick Lamar, Doechii, Sara Landry, and Dominic Fike headlining. You can also catch ScHoolboy Q, Nessa Barrett, Skin on Skin, Sombr, Rebecca Black, The Dreggs and more. Kendrick's last tour of Australia was in 2022, and, if his now iconic Super Bowl performance is anything to go by, his set simply can't be missed. Expect bell-bottoms and a bunch of shade thrown Drake's way. Fresh off her Grammy win for Best Rap Album this year, Doechii is another headliner we can't wait to see live. If her hit 'Anxiety' hasn't been in your head all year, it will be now. ARIA Award-winning Aussie Genesis Owusu has also just been added to the lineup. Owusu brings his unique blend of hip hop, funk, punk, and soul to the already stacked event. His track 'PIRATE RADIO' took over our playlists at the top of the year and even earned triple j's most played for back-to-back days. [caption id="attachment_1002003" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Supplied[/caption] What Are the Set Times for Spilt Milk 2025? With a lineup this good, you can't just show up and hope for the best. You really need to map out your plan for the day. We've done the hard work and collated all of the set times for you so you can plan when to drop by the Jim Beam Container Bar to slip into their Confessional Booth, snag some prizes, and still have enough time to make it to Kendrick. Of the headliners, Kendrick will take the stage at 9:35pm, Sara Landry at 8:35pm, Doechii at 8:05pm, Dominic Fike at 6:50pm all on the Angove Stage. You can catch the full list of set times in the Spilt Milk app. [caption id="attachment_1040567" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Supplied[/caption] Where's the Best Place to Hang Out Between Sets? Alongside one of the best festival lineups, the on-ground experiences at Spilt Milk are shaping up to be this summer's moment. Expect the kind of music, vibes, and memories that will define the year for you and your mates. Head to the Jim Beam Container Bar between sets or to kick off your day at Spilt Milk Ballarat and Canberra. Of course, you'll find a bar stocked with ice-cold Jim Beam drinks, like Ginger Beer, limited edition Vanilla Cola, and the classic Jim Beam & Cola. But, beyond just icy drinks, you'll find the best place to hang out and seek shade during the festival. This year, the Jim Beam setup will feature a container bar area, plenty of shade, and huge loungers to cool off on with your mates. Plus, there's a rooftop bar section atop the container with a view out across the whole festival. [caption id="attachment_1001754" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Billy Zammit[/caption] To free you from the guilt of past flaky friend discretion, you can step into the confession booth hosted by Will Gibb. Simply drop the lore of the most diabolical reason you have ever flaked on your mates, Will will hear you out and then determine what prize you're up for. It could be VIP upgrades for you and your mates' tickets, Jim Beam merch like a slick new cap, or even a disposable film camera to capture your day. The Jim Beam Mates Confessional will be open from 2–5pm in Canberra and Ballarat. That means you'll have plenty of time to confess your sins, nab a prize, and still catch the headliners. But, it's not just partying, you'll also find art exhibitions curated in collaboration with socially conscious art studios. This year, Spilt Milk has collaborated with Studio A, an art studio focused on empowering artists with disability, and Victoria Park Art's initiative that supports the same cause, for outdoor exhibitions you can peruse between sets. Best enjoyed together, visit Jim Beam's website for more information.
First, RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under sashayed its way Down Under. Now, the series that's been known as Drag Race Down Under since RuPaul handed over hosting duties to Michelle Visage for season four is sharing its talents with the world. Or, to be more accurate, Drag Race Down Under vs The World is welcoming queens from around the globe to compete against Drag Race Down Under favourites. Stan has announced that Drag Race Down Under vs The World is on its way — although there's no exact release date as yet. The streaming platform has also revealed that Visage, who has been involved in the Drag Race world as a judge since the third season of the OG RuPaul's Drag Race, is hosting. PLus, Rhys Nicholson is back on the judging panel, joined by season four's winner Lazy Susan. Whenever it hits, there'll be eight hour-long episodes of Drag Race Down Under vs The World, all pitting Down Under competitors from the four seasons so far of Drag Race Down Under against contenders from beyond Australia and New Zealand's shores. Viewers will also be tuning in for a show that's following in the footsteps of other Drag Race spinoffs such as UK vs The World and Canada vs The World. The drag queens at the centre of the series haven't yet been announced, either, and neither has the lineup of guest judges. "After four incredible seasons of Drag Race Down Under, we're delighted to bring back our Aussie drag fan-favourites and unleash them onto the world stage," said Michael Healy, Nine Entertainment's Executive Director, Entertainment Content Commissioning. "With a formidable and familiar panel, and the reigning queen Lazy Susan joining the esteemed judges' desk, Drag Race Down Under vs The World will showcase the extraordinary talent we have in Australia and give local audiences a front-row seat to watch our queens shine globally." Drag Race initially made the leap Down Under in 2021 — and if you've been watching since, it's time to start guessing which past queens will be making a comeback for Drag Race Down Under vs The World. Of course, there's no trailer yet for Drag Race Down Under vs The World, but check out clips from past seasons of Drag Race Down Under below: Drag Race Down Under vs The World doesn't yet have a release date, but will stream via Stan and TVNZ when it returns — we'll update you with an exact date when one is announced.
The world ignoring the threat of global extinction, an exploding volcano, the collapse of the USA, a potentially rocky romantic turn: the trailer for Futurama season 13 is here and features all of the above, as seen in the just-unveiled trailer. Also pivotal: a giant Bender doing battle with a kaiju, aka the type of moment in the longrunning animated series that we can't say you didn't know you needed because it has been probably on your wishlist for years and even decades. Rampaging robots and amorous rivals are just the beginning in the show's ten-episode latest run, which drops on Disney+ Down Under on Tuesday, September 16, 2025. As always, Futurama will continue charting the antics when a 20th-century pizza delivery guy gets cryogenically frozen for a thousand years, defrosting when 2999 is flicking over to the year 3000, then navigates chaotic days at an intergalactic courier company. Futurama has been telling that tale for more than a quarter of a century now, focusing on Philip J Fry (voiced by Billy West, Spitting Image), distant uncle to Planet Express cargo company Professor Hubert J Farnsworth (also voiced by West), plus the rest of the outfit's crew: one-eyed ship captain Turanga Leela (Katey Sagal, Dead to Me); robot Bender Bending Rodríguez (John DiMaggio, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts); fellow employees Hermes Conrad (Phil LaMarr, Craig of the Creek), Amy Wong (Lauren Tom, Dragons: The Nine Realms) and Zoidberg (also West); and everyone from self-obsessed starship captain Zapp Brannigan (West again) and his amphibious 4th Lieutenant Kif Kroker (Maurice LaMarche, Rick and Morty) through to scheming corporation owner Mom (Tress MacNeille, The Simpsons). The animated series hasn't spent the full 26 years since its 1999 debut on-screen, weathering a on-again, off-again run; however, it keeps coming back again, baby — thankfully. The Matt Groening-created show about life in the 31st century has been in vintage form across its recent 11th and 12th seasons, which both embraced the fact that anything and everything can and will happen as it always has. When Futurama's return was first announced in 2022, it was for a 20-episode run, so season 12 was always going to follow. Then in 2023, the show was also renewed for two more seasons beyond that, so not only is 2025's season 13 on the way, but also season 14 as well. Clearly, you can put a beloved show into suspended animation, but someone is going to thaw it out one day — and more than once, as fans have experienced for decades now. Initially airing from 1999–2003, the futuristic series then returned from 2008–2013, before now being given another run. Check out the trailer for Futurama season 13 below: Futurama streams Down Under via Disney+, with season 13 available on Tuesday, September 16, 2025. Read our review of season 11.
With Japanese-inspired, small-batch baked goods and calming, laidback vibes, Bakemono Bakers has been drawing crowds to a hidden laneway off Little Lonsdale Street since 2019. Following a recent renovation, the unassuming space is attracting more crowds than ever, and for good reason. The chefs blend European traditions and Japanese techniques to create handcrafted products from scratch, which are baked fresh in-house daily. The menu is kept tight and intentional, and while there are some seasonally influenced pastries, Bakemono has a range of signature items that customers continue to line up for time and time and again. These include the plain croissant, an item that exemplifies Bakemono's commitment to producing quality goods. The traditional croissant is prepared over three days and laminated with Isigny Sainte-Mère butter before being carefully baked to golden perfection. Bakemono's shiopan — traditional salt breads — are soft, pillowy and buttery rolls that customers can't get enough of. The renovated space maintains its industrial aesthetic, with details drawing inspiration from Studio Ghibli's Japanese animated fantasy film, My Neighbour Totoro. The dark timber display boxes, which showcase each pastry in all its glory, mimic the medicinal cabinets seen in the movie. In those backlit boxes, you'll find the likes of crowd-favourite twice-baked yuzu and almond croissants, blueberry danishes with mascarpone custard and crumble, soft melon-pans with crackled tops, and honey, sesame and sea salt scrolls that make any amount of time spent in the queue entirely worthwhile. It's best to arrive early, as these coveted baked goods often sell out before midday. Images: Supplied.
It's always great when a new lineup announcement tells you what you'll be doing, and also how you'll be feeling — and the latest addition to the Summer Camp bill definitely does exactly that. Get ready to murder the dancefloor, and no, you'd better not kill the groove. And if ain't love you're feeling about Sophie Ellis-Bextor joining the fest, then why does it feel so good? The UK pop star — aka the reason that you now have her own hit 'Murder on the Dancefloor' and Spiller's 'Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)' stuck in your head — headlines the new Summer Camp drop, and she has company. Also now making their way to the festival's debut shows in Sydney and Melbourne in November: DJ Kiddy Smile, DJ Jodie Harsh and Coucou Chloe. The event's lineup was already big — and now it's clearly even bigger. Ellis-Bextor and company join Years & Years, aka British singer and actor Olly Alexander (It's a Sin), as well as New Orleans' Big Freedia, Australia's own The Veronicas, plus Cub Sport, Ladyhawke, JessB, Kinder and more. DJ, gonna burn this goddamn house right down indeed. [caption id="attachment_863383" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Laura Lewis[/caption] Postponed from last summer, Summer Camp is a new touring pride festival — and yes, while the fest is no longer taking place during the season that shares its name, the weather is still bound to show up for the occasion. After first kicking off at Sydney's Centennial Parklands on Saturday, November 5, it'll then head to the Velodrome in Melbourne on Saturday, November 12. If the latter venue sounds new, that's because the fest is moving to a bigger site since its last announcement. In addition to live tunes from all of the above acts across two stages, the festival will feature dance, performance art and art installations, as well as food and beverage offerings. Over 150 DJs, drag queens, dancers and performance artists will be involved in each city. Given the name, it's clear what kind of vibe that festival founders Kat Dopper (creator of Heaps Gay) and Grant Gillies and David Gillett (creators of Red Mgmt, and former Sydney Mardi Gras marketing and international talent managers) are going for. So, expect a cruisy summer camp-meets-arts and music playground-type atmosphere that's also all about inclusivity and supporting young diverse artists. Summer Camp will also host big after parties in each city, with tickets only available to folks heading to the fest. Sydney's will take place in the new Liberty Hall at the Entertainment Quarter, while Melbourne's is headed to The Industrique Warehouse. Tickets for the after parties won't be available until September; however, if you're after tickets for the fest itself, the third release will go back on sale at 11am on Thursday, August 4. SUMMER CAMP FESTIVAL 2022 AUSTRALIAN DATES: Saturday, November 5 — Centennial Parklands, Sydney Saturday, November 12 — Velodrome, Melbourne SUMMER CAMP FESTIVAL 2022 LINEUP — FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT: Years & Years Big Freedia Sophie Ellis-Bextor Coucou Chlo Jodie Harsh Kiddy Smile The Veronicas Cub Sport Ladyhawke Kinder JessB Djanaba Tanzer Triple J Unearthed DJs: Half Queen Jawbreakers Mowgli May Charlie Villas — Sydney Cunningpants — Sydney Dan Azzo — Sydney Deepa — Sydney DJ Naian — Sydney Isa — Sydney Latifa Tee — Sydney Red Rey — Sydney Squeef — Sydney Stereogamous & Family — Sydney Zotdotcom — Sydney Butch le Butch — Melbourne Carolina Gasolina — Melbourne Dirty Versachi — Melbourne Hip Hop Hoe — Melbourne Nick Spurway — Melbourne Soju Gang — Melbourne Sophie Forrest — Melbourne Stev Zar — Melbourne PERFORMANCE & ART: Carla from Bankstown — Sydney Amyl — Sydney Brian — Sydney Burlee Chassis — Sydney Cassandra the Queen — Sydney Demon Derriere — Sydney Faggy — Sydney Fetu Taku & Dancers — Sydney Fox Pfluger — Sydney I Miss You Productions — Sydney Kade Power — Sydney Karna Ford — Sydney Karmaisavich — Sydney King Cxntessa — Sydney Lady Fur — Sydney Leilani — Sydney Lorcan Power — Sydney Marlena Dali — Sydney Millie Sykes — Sydney Radha — Sydney Stelly G — Sydney The General Public — Sydney Twiggy Styx — Sydney Tyra From Bankstown — Sydney Vic — Sydney Yummy — Melbourne Bede Nash — Melbourne Bettie Rosé — Melbourne Cerulean — Melbourne D Flowers — Melbourne Dandrogyny — Melbourne Glitter and Snatch — Melbourne House of Divine — Melbourne House of Silky — Melbourne Krayola — Melbourne Limmerence — Melbourne Max Drag Queen — Melbourne Minnie Taur — Melbourne Real Hot Bitches — Melbourne Real Sick Bitch of Melbourne — Melbourne Simple — Melbourne Summer Camp head to Sydney and Melbourne in November 2022. For further details or to nab tickets — with the third release back on sale at 11am on Thursday, August 4 — head to the festival's website.
After a two-year hiatus and a cancelled 2024 run, Groovin the Moo is officially returning — though not quite in the format longtime fans might remember. Rather than its traditional multi-stop regional tour, the festival will stage a single-day, single-stage event in Lismore on Saturday, May 9. Organisers have described the move as a "deliberate and considered return", signalling a slower, more sustainable rebuild for one of Australia's most-loved regional music institutions. "Starting with a single stage and single-day show allows the festival to rebuild with care, while staying true to its regional foundations," organisers said in a statement. For nearly two decades, Groovin the Moo has been a rite of passage for regional music fans — bringing major international acts and emerging Australian talent to towns often skipped by big-city touring circuits. Past lineups have featured everyone from Billie Eilish and The Kooks to Gang of Youths, Amy Shark and The Veronicas, alongside breakout local artists who've gone on to headline their own tours. But like many Australian festivals, GTM has faced mounting pressure in recent years. Rising production costs, shifting audience habits and challenging ticket sales led to the cancellation of its 2024 edition just weeks after the lineup announcement. At the time, organisers cited insufficient ticket sales and a need to rethink the festival's long-term model. Now, with support from Great Southern Nights, the NSW Government and Destination NSW, the comeback show aims to test a more financially viable structure — while still honouring its regional DNA. "The festival belongs to regional Australia," said Fuzzy CEO Adelle Robinson. "Returning with a one-off show allows us to focus on doing it with the care and responsibility it deserves while the festival industry continues to navigate rising costs and increased pressure." ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd echoed the sentiment, describing the return as "a genuinely special moment for Australian music" and highlighting the importance of regional centres like Lismore in the broader live music ecosystem. For now, the message is simple: Groovin the Moo is back — just smaller, more intentional and (hopefully) built to last. The full lineup and ticket details will be announced in the coming weeks. This article first appeared in Rolling Stone Australia. Images: Supplied
Stephen King's literary output contains multitudes. Horror, which the author has been best-known for since his 1974 debut Carrie, is just one genre on his bibliography. Accordingly, a life-affirming tale about the fact that we all also contain multitudes — Walt Whitman's poem Song of Myself is naturally quoted — isn't a surprise from the writer. Filmmaker Mike Flanagan bringing King's novella The Life of Chuck to the big screen might've been less expected, though, if the director behind recent TV must-sees The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass and The Fall of the House of Usher wasn't again exploring characters not initially appreciating, then slowly dawning upon the fact, that the choices they're making aren't necessarily ones that are making them happy. Flanagan has adapted King's work before, first with 2017 film Gerald's Game, then with 2019 The Shining sequel Doctor Sleep. Neither was a fantasy/drama that celebrates life's wonders and small joys — and just relishing existing for the time that we each have in general — however. That's The Life of Chuck through and through, with Flanagan's characteristically perceptive version of the King story that was first published in 2020 compilation If It Bleeds proving one of the most-heartwarming viewing experiences of 2025. Consider the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival's People's Choice Award-winner if not an antidote then a helpful reminder whenever minor annoyances blight your days: this picture understands that revelling in the delights, not the dramas, is a more-fulfilling mindset. Being a part of the film's cast was an instant yes for Karen Gillan (Douglas Is Cancelled), who initially starred in Oculus for Flanagan. The 2013 horror movie brought the Scottish actor to the US before playing Nebula in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and rolling the dice in the Jumanji franchise joined her resume. And yes, The Life of Chuck immediately stood out, she tells Concrete Playground. More than that, the picture's thoughtful examination of relishing tiny, everyday wins and treasures, and discovering what and who truly light up your life, is "such an interesting thing to dive into just as a human being," Gillan advises. "It's a great question to ask yourself." "I found myself asking myself this in preparation for the film, and after having watched the whole film. I asked myself 'how am I spending my precious time on this planet in the way that I want to?' and 'am I doing the things that make me truly happy?'. And 'if it were to all end tomorrow, what would I go and do that I've been too scared to do?'. And it was such an interesting way to reflect on how I'm living my life. So I just found it really moving on just a human level." [caption id="attachment_1017401" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Amy Sussman/Getty Images[/caption] In The Life of Chuck, Tom Hiddleston (Loki) portrays the titular character, as do Jacob Tremblay (Queen of Bones), Benjamin Pajak (Honeypot KK) and debutant Cody Flanagan at various stages, all as the flick steps through its namesake's existence in reverse. The movie begins as the end of days approaches, with society crumbling with it. Think: the internet disappearing forever, the sea enveloping cities, ordinary routines proving pointless and the hospital where Felicia Gordon, Gillan's character, works being inundated with those unsurprisingly unable to face the fast-ticking clock put on everything they know. Confusion reigns, including about a particular new development that Felicia's schoolteacher ex Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy) also notices: TV and billboard advertisements filled with Charles Katz's image and thanking him for his "39 years of service", and radio ads as well. While there's nothing like being forced to confront your mortality to spark a reassessment of what's important in life, who matters, and how you want to spend the time that you have and direct your energy towards, that idea echoes in The Life of Chuck's following chapters, where nothing apocalyptic lingers in the narrative's timeline. And, it buzzes and hums in a movie that is anything but standard in digging into a concept that is no stranger to the screen. Spontaneously answering the call to dance, developing and embracing your passions, carving out time for life's pleasures where you can, treasuring your loved ones: in a picture also featuring Mark Hamill (The Sandman) as Chuck's grandmother and giving Ferris Bueller's Day Off great Mia Sara (Dorothy and the Witches of Oz) a rare screen part as his grandmother, these moments and realisations are essential. Everyone from Annalise Basso (Blind River), David Dastmalchian (Murderbot), Harvey Guillén (Companion) and Matthew Lillard (Five Nights at Freddy's) to experienced Flanagan cast members such as Kate Siegel, Rahul Kohli, Samantha Sloyan and Carl Lumbly (all most recently in his The Fall of the House of Usher), plus also Violet McGraw (Doctor Sleep), similarly get their time to shine in The Life of Chuck. Gillan receiving hers also added to her parts beyond Guardians of the Galaxy and MCU fare — to a filmography already overflowing with them, of course, going back to her first on-screen role in Rebus; then to The Kevin Bishop Show, The Well, playing Amy Pond on Doctor Who and more in the UK; and also the Jumanji films, NTSF:SD:SUV, Selfie, 7 Days in Hell, In a Valley of Violence, Gunpowder Milkshake, Dual, Late Bloomers, her feature directorial debut The Party's Just Beginning and other titles since. It is indeed refreshing when Gillian isn't donning the Nebula makeup for a role. "I would say that the biggest difference is that I just kind of feel like I'm at the spa every morning when I'm not in the Nebula makeup. Because the Nebula makeup is intense. And it's so cool and it's so worth it, but they've got the scalpels and stuff. It's not one of those spa-like experiences. And then any other job, it just feels so luxurious in comparison," she shares. "So I love playing Nebula, but it is really nice to just have a normal face." We also spoke with Gillian about reteaming with Flanagan, playing someone trying to look after everyone else as the world disintegrates, fleshing out a complicated relationship alongside Ejiofor in their brief screentime together and The Life of Chuck as a source of inspiration — and also being a King fan starring in a King movie, swinging from big franchises to more-intimate projects and the film's feeling of quiet urgency, among other topics. On the Unique Prospect of a Film That Celebrates Life and Its Wonders, the Multitudes That We All Contain and Treasuring the Small Moments "The script completely stood out to me. So I've worked with Mike Flanagan before, on a movie called Oculus. He's actually the whole reason that I moved from Scotland to America. And so it was one of my first roles in Hollywood. So when I got the call for this project, I was ready to sign up having not even read the script because I was so excited about working with him again. And I love all the Stephen King adaptations that I've seen. So it was a bit of a no-brainer. But when I actually read this script, it was like 'this is like nothing else I've ever read before'. It's so unique — even just the structure of it. It's told in reverse and the whole first chapter is the end of everything, and then you learn that that's all a metaphor for one man's life, Chuck. And it was just such a beautiful exploration into an ordinary man's life, and really focusing on those smaller moments that don't usually get screentime in movies — and showing the beauty of those moments." On What Excited Gillan About Stepping Into Felicia's Shoes "There were so many things about the character that I thought was really interesting. I really was intrigued by the fact that she had taken on this caretaker position in everyone's lives around her. And I kind of filled in a whole backstory as to why that would be the case — because it's not really explored so much in the short story or the film. But it was a really interesting character to dive into, because she's this real caretaker-type, and you can see that in her relationship with her ex-husband Marty. But then we throw her into the end of the universe, the end of everything, and you can just see how much she's still trying to fulfil that position and keep everybody going — and maintain optimism when everyone is just giving up around her. And I thought that was such a beautiful character trait." On Fleshing Out a Complicated Relationship Alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor in Their Brief Amount of Screentime Together "We didn't actually do so much reading the scenes with each other or anything like that. We just spoke and had conversations, and we did that both separately with Mike Flanagan to really flesh out characters and backstories, and then talked together. But the first thing that we ever shot together was the long phone call scene, and it was his side of the phone. So we made sure that we were present for each other — and so I hid in a bedroom upstairs and would just call him on the phone, and then we would film his side of the scene. So I was just in some random person's bed in the house, no one else was there in the house that we were in, just kind of talking to him on the phone. And that brought such a sense of authenticity to the whole thing. And then he did the same thing for me when I filmed my side of the conversation. What was nice about that was having not done it over and over again prior to that — like, the first time he properly heard that scene would have been through the telephone." On If a Film About Life's Quiet Wonders and Being the Centre of Your Own Universe Gets You Thinking About Those Ideas in Your Own Life "Yeah, it's so true. And this film really reminded me of that. And I found myself being really filled with gratitude for all the little things that sometimes you can take for granted. And yeah, I think honestly, it was just such an existential experience watching the film when it was all finished. I came away from it crying, but they were happy tears. And I just think that's so rare that film does that to its audience." On the Film's Tonal Balance — Proving Heartfelt and Sweet, But Also Clear-Eyed About the Truth That Life Is Fragile and We're All Only Here for a Short Amount of Time "I think you just have to trust Mike. He has it. And all I really tend to do is just try to approach each scene from the most-truthful place possible — and ask myself the question 'how would I genuinely feel if this was happening?'. And then what I do is I think of a time when I genuinely felt that emotion, and try to access it so that I don't really have to act — if that makes any sense — because I'm generally feeling something. And that's all I'm focused on. I'm not necessarily like 'how does this fit into the bigger picture?'. I think that, for me, is the director's job, and I'm just there to bring some authenticity and to genuinely feel things." On Starring in a Stephen King Adaptation When The Shining Is One of Your Favourite Films "I know — a non-horror one, which feels even more rare and unique. It was just mindbending. I'm like 'what? I'm in a Stephen King thing?'. That just seems like, to me, as big as it gets. And actually he loved the film, which was so cool — because I know that he wasn't a fan of The Shining, and he loved The Life of Chuck. And I got to meet him, and he came and supported the film, and came to the premiere at the Toronto Film Festival — and I met him and I was pregnant, and he told me to have a good one, and I'm never going to forget that." On the History Among the Cast and Crew of The Life of Chuck — and Not Just Gillan and Mike Flanagan's History Together "So I had such a good time on Oculus. Really, that's one of the best experiences I've ever had on a film. And then I found myself really wanting to have that experience again. Because I visited set, I visited Mike when he was filming The Haunting of Hill House, the series. And I was looking around and I saw all the same crew members as Oculus, and I was like 'I want to do this again'. And I was like 'put me in something'. And then he did. And it's The Life of Chuck. And it was just so great to reteam with him and see how he's evolved, and actually how he's exactly the same — which is mainly how I experienced it. He hasn't changed that much, even though his career has gone into the stratosphere. He's still the same old Mike. But he has evolved in ways as a filmmaker, and that's really cool to see. I just loved it. I had the best time." On the Ease That Comes with Repeat Director Collaborations "Definitely. It's just like any person that works with a new colleague or one that they've got a shorthand with. It's exactly that. You sort of have to feel each other, figure out each other's rhythms a little bit, get on the same frequency — and it's just so nice when you don't have to do that introductory period every single time. You can just dive back in. Some of the directors I've worked with have very distinctive ways of working, and sometimes you have to recalibrate and be like 'okay, so this director likes to give notes over a giant megaphone thing. This one is going to want me to improvise. This one's going to want me to stick to the script'. And so it's nice to just know what you're getting into again. And also they know how you work and can get the best out of you — because the best directors, in my opinion, are different directors to each actor, because each person needs something slightly different. And so it's nice when they really understand how I work as an actor." On the Impact That Working with Flanagan the First Time on Oculus Had on Gillan's Career "It really did bring me over to the States. It literally got me a visa to be able to stay in the States, which meant I was available for auditions and that's how I managed to have a career over in the States. So it just kickstarted everything for me. And it was a massive challenge for me as an actor to lead a film. I was young at the time and it was quite a demanding role. And so that made me have to level up and up my game. And so for my development as an actor, it really helped me get a lot better." [caption id="attachment_888782" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.[/caption] On Being Able to Swing Between Big Franchises Such as Guardians of the Galaxy and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Plus the Jumanji Films, and More-Intimate Projects "That just feels like such a treat as an actress. I'm like 'that's so great to not be completely pigeonholed, and to get to do projects of all different sizes and genres'. I mean, that's my dream. I would hate to be bound by typecasting or anything like that. [caption id="attachment_756013" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jumanji: The Next Level[/caption] I think I'm just looking for great characters and great stories, and it truly doesn't matter if it's a $200-million film or $200,000 film. It's like 'I don't care'. It's about making good cinema at the end of the day, and I just feel really lucky that I've had a variety of experiences." On If You Tap Into Something in Particular to Bring The Life of Chuck's Feeling of Quiet Urgency — That Life Needs to Be Lived Urgently to Be Lived Fully — to the Screen "I would say so. I was definitely asking myself questions about how I'm living my life. And I started to have these visuals — like, 'imagine if I just had an hourglass with the sand falling through it for my whole life, what level of the sand would it be at?'. And it's something so wild to think that it's constantly dwindling away. And you kind of forget that as you go about your day to day, and you think 'oh, that's not going to happen to me' and 'that's never coming' — but it is. None of us are getting out of this. And so, yeah, I think it's first of all really important to remember from time to time in your life. And I really had to think about that in terms of the character and what she would do in the moments where she knew that those were her last. Who does she want to reach out to? And I think what I learned is so much of the stuff that we focus on in our lives would just fall away in those final moments. Like, we think we focus on accolades, achievements, money — and none of that matters at the end of it all. What matters is being around the people that you love and love you. And that's definitely what I've found in the character." The Life of Chuck opened in Australia cinemas on Thursday, August 14, 2025 and in New Zealand cinemas from Thursday, July 31, 2025.
Many road trippers heading north from Sydney aim for major hubs, such as Port Stephens, Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour. But, less than four hours away, there's a less-famous patch of coastline, national parks and green pastures called the Manning Valley. The area's lush beauty is down to its unusual waterway, the Manning River. It's one of the only major rivers in Australia that hasn't been dammed. Plus, it's a double delta, so it meets the sea in not one, but two places. Stick to the shore for empty beaches, impressive walks and a designer hotel dedicated to David Bowie, Nick Cave and Dave Grohl. Pop inland to sample at farmers' markets, groom alpacas and meet flying foxes in NSW's last bit of floodplain rainforest. Here's your guide to road tripping the Manning Valley. [caption id="attachment_604884" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Surfhouse Merewether[/caption] DAY ONE: INDIGENOUS HISTORY, SPARKLING LAKES AND WINE TASTING Road trips aren't for rushing. Break up yours with a couple of stops. Firstly, there's Newcastle — one-time steel capital of Australia, now creative hub by the sea — where laneways are dotted with street art, independent shops and cute cafes. Swing by The Tea Project for a just-right cuppa, Sprocket for locally-roasted coffee and The Edwards for mountainous cheese platters. Cashed up and wanting ocean views and oysters? You'll get them at Surfhouse Merewether. Find loads more Newie tips over here. Another hour on the road lands you in the Great Lakes region. If time's on your side, pretty Myall Lake and its eponymous national park are a worthy diversion. To take a journey into indigenous history, visit Dark Point, which, in 2002, was declared an Aboriginal Site of Significance. For more than 4000 years, the Worimi people met here for seafood feasts — look out for middens. You'll also be treated to spectacular views of Broughton Island, the only spot in New South Wales where you can camp the night among a sea bird colony. Continue along the Pacific Highway to Wootton to visit Great Lakes Paddocks Winery. You're welcome to sprawl out on the grounds for hours, trying the latest in verdelho and sparkling shiraz. Keep an eye out for live music events too. [caption id="attachment_604888" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Rudi's Farmers Market[/caption] DAY TWO: FARMER'S MARKETS, RAINFOREST AND A MUSIC DESIGN HOTEL Another 30 minutes north lands you in Taree, on the banks of Manning River. Start with a visit to Mentges Meats, where Rudi Mentges continues a 700-year-old family tradition, started on the Rhine, of turning local cuts into gourmet kranski, wurst and ham. Every Thursday morning, Rudi's Farmers' Markets takes over with a cornucopia of home-grown veggies, home-made jams, honey, raw cakes and fresh flowers. It's one of many farmers' and artisans' markets in the Manning Valley. Find out how tasty that produce can get when treated by a multi-awarding winning cafe. Bent on Food is in Wingham, a laidback town ten kilometres inland, which hosts the Wingham Akoostik Festival every October. Cafe owner Donna Carrier is a big fan of local farmers, as proven by the super-fresh, piled-up dishes, overseen by head chef Simon Livingston. Tuck into a spinach tortilla with chicken, feta, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted pumpkin and house-made basil pesto or local scotch fillet with house-made beetroot relish, cheese, lettuce, horseradish cream, Turkish bread and beer-battered chips. The cafe doubles up as a grocery shop, so you can take some valley goodness home with you. [caption id="attachment_604873" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Bent on Food[/caption] The Wingham Brush Nature Reserve, which harbours the only floodplain rainforest left in New South Wales, is lovely for a shady afternoon stroll. There are a variety of walks, but the easiest is the 1.9-kilometre boardwalk, along which you'll meet flying foxes, brush turkeys, white cedars and a massive Moreton Bay fig tree. Tinonee Road winds south out of Wingham, passing through The Bight and Mondrook. Now that you've indulged in local produce, it's time to find out what the artists have been getting up to. Make an appointment at Artisans on the Hill, to see art works, handcrafted jewellery, wood turning and more. Workshops are held occasionally. [caption id="attachment_604904" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Boogie Woogie Beach House[/caption] Tonight's digs are The Boogie Woogie Beach House, found 20 minutes east in the beachside town of Old Bar. This extraordinary designer hotel was "born from the love of music and not wanting to go home after a great night out". There are five unique rooms, four of which are dedicated to legendary musicians, namely David Bowie, Dave Grohl, Nick Cave and Louis Armstrong. Can't decide? Go for the fifth: The Mixtape. Whether you take a spa with Ziggy Stardust or shower with Nick Cave, you can count on a luxurious therapeutic mattress, a record player (with vinyls supplied), free wifi, a mini-bar and a HD flatscreen TV. Downstairs, Flow Bar hosts live music on Fridays and Sundays, and serves up consistently excellent food. In the morning, go for The Frenchie (brioche, Rudi's smoked bacon, lemon mascarpone, toasted pecans, wild berry compote, maple syrup). [caption id="attachment_604899" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Black Head Beach[/caption] DAY THREE: BEACHSIDE RESORT, OCEAN POOL, COASTAL WALKS South of Old Bar is a series of gold sand beaches, backdropped by dunes and national park. The safest for swimming is sheltered Black Head Beach, where you can jump in patrolled surf or laze about in a stunning ocean pool. Should you work up an appetite, drop into Gobblegutz Cafe in Hallidays Point for coffee and tasty gourmet wrap. Don't let the shopping centre surrounds deter you — the food is good and hearty. Next up, it's time for some explorations on foot. There's a network of walking trails to help you do just that. For coastal rainforest, secluded beaches, caves and and rock formations, head into Black Head Reserve. You'll pass by a tranquil lagoon and, chances are, find yourself sharing the path with brush turkeys. Check out other tracks nearby over here. [caption id="attachment_604870" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Ramada Resort[/caption] Tonight, you're sleeping over at Ramada Resort, right behind 5.5-kilometre-long Diamond Beach. To get as close to the water as possible, go for a one-bedroom apartment with water views, a two-bedroom apartment or a beach house. Whichever you choose, you'll score plenty of space and a spa bath. When the surf's too rough, take a windy stroll or stick to the resort, where you can dip in the pool, hit the tennis court or relax in the day spa. Jasmine Crittenden travelled to the Manning Valley as a guest of Destination NSW. Images: Peter Saw.
When Victoria's March long weekend arrives each year, festivalgoers have two reasons to head out of town — or head to the state from interstate — for a few days of tunes. Both are beloved parts of the cultural calendar. Both are such a hit that you need to enter a ballot to get tickets. And just as Golden Plains has already done, Pitch Music & Arts is announcing it 2025 details. Everyone should make the trip to the Grampians at least once, and here's as ace an excuse to do so as any: the return of the much-loved camping festival, which will host its eighth edition, taking over Moyston again. There's no lineup just yet — it drops on Tuesday, November 19, 2024 — but the 2025 dates have been locked in. The long-running celebration unleashes its fun across the Grampian Plains, with next years' festivities happening from Friday, March 7–Tuesday, March 11. Not only will its three stages play host to a sparkling lineup of local and international musical talent, as always, but the tunes will be backed by a hefty program of interactive art and installations. Basically, no matter who makes it onto the bill, attendees are in for a very big, very busy four days. Joy Orbison's 'flight fm' and 'better' have been used in teaser videos for 2025's fest so far, so that could be a lineup hint. 2024's roster featured Gerd Janson, I Hate Models, Job Jobse, Spray, XCLUB, Bambonou, Chippy Nonstop, Narciss, Mac Declos, Sedef Adasï and Hasvat Informant, among others, if you're wondering which type of electronic acts that Pitch usually welcomes. The ticket ballot is currently open — and is a necessity after the last three festivals all sold out — ahead of the program reveal; however, you can get excited now about a bigger Pitch One stage, Pitch Black getting a revamp and the Resident Advisor stage's red orb being part of the fun again. In between all the dance-floor sessions and arty things, festivalgoers will again be able to make themselves at home in the Pitch Pavilion, which is where yoga classes, meditation and sound baths usually help patrons unwind. The local-focused Club Serra will be new in 2025, championing homegrown talent. Pitch Music & Arts will return to Moyston from Friday, March 7–Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Head to the festival's website for further details, or to enter the ballot. The lineup will drop on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, with tickets sale details announced then as well. Top Images: Duncographic, William Hamilton Coates, Max Roux and Ashlea Caygill.
East Melbourne is ready to welcome the city's latest luxury hotel Lanson Place, which is slated to open in September this year. The group behind the new accommodation already boasts eight lavish properties throughout Asia, with this Melbourne site being its first Australian hotel. It's housed within and above the heritage-protected 1901 Salvation Army Printing Works by Parliament Gardens, which has been totally transformed through a $80 million renovation. The historic facade remains, but the interior has been gutted and replaced with luxe contemporary finishes — in line with Lanson Place's other international properties. The team has also included 325 commissioned pieces of art and sculpture that are said to be inspired by the building's storied past as a printing press. This includes the lobby's 40-metre-long ceiling installation which mimics both falling paper and the bark from a native melaleuca paperbark tree. As you move through the rest of the hotel, you'll find a 20-metre swimming pool, spa, fitness centre, coworking space, and a ground-floor all-day diner and bar that champions Aussie produce. 137 accommodations are also available, including classic hotel rooms, studio apartments, one- and two-bedroom apartments, and a couple of totally-luxe penthouses. You've got all the usual five-star amenities here, plus an extensive pillow menu for those fussy sleepers. Many of the rooms also boast uninterrupted views across Parliament Gardens and the city skyline. The Chief Executive Officer of Lanson Place Michael Hobson shared that "Melbourne has a unique appeal to domestic and international guests, with its sporting and cultural calendar that draws visitors consistently throughout the year. "We believe that Lanson Place will be a great fit for these guests, whether they are staying for a weekend getaway or a longer stay for work. We're looking forward to a long future in Australia." You'll find Lanson Place Parliament Gardens at 502 Albert Street, East Melbourne. For more details on the new hotel and to book a stay, you can visit the venue's website.
Today, the award-winning Balter Brewing Company became the latest in the ever-growing line of independently owned Aussie breweries that've been snatched up by the big guys. The Queensland brewery released this statement on its website today, announcing that it had been bought by mega company Carlton & United Breweries (CUB). The multibillion-dollar company already owns the likes of Budweiser, Corona, VB, Stellar Artois and (of course) Carlton Draught — and it has already snatched up some other local craft heroes, including Pirate Life and 4 Pines. CUB is currently owned by the even larger Belgium-based beer corp AB InBev, but that might soon change if a proposed $16 billion acquisition by Asahi goes ahead. https://www.instagram.com/p/B5qqoNHlS1o/ Craft brewers have been slated by beer aficionados for 'selling out' to big producers in recent years, and comments on Balter's Facebook post show some fans' disappointment and concern about maintaining the quality of the beer. But, over at Balter, the owners are promising that not much will change. Head Brewer Scotty Hargrave (ex-Stone & Wood) will stay on in his role and, in the statement — which directly addresses the sell-out mentality — the team has reassured customers that "the beer will stay the same". "Yes, we've sold the business, but no we haven't sold out," the team said in a collective statement. "Tomorrow we'll still show up to work with the exact same team, with same mindset and values that have made Balter to what it is today." The contract with CUB is meant to ensure minimal corporate interference overall, with the team saying: "The only reason we started chatting with CUB was their commitment to keep Balter largely as is. CUB have put that in writing and we'll hold them to it." As well as the brew team, the in-house marketing, warehouse crew and owners are all staying on board, too. According to the team, the sale will help manage the brand's exponential growth, and pay back the initial investment to the 46 families who helped get Balter off the ground. So what does the sale mean for you? Not much, initially. As to be expected with CUBs massive reach, you can expect to see a whole heap more Balter in big name venues around town, too. But, in turn, it might also mean that some independent-only bottle shops, bars and pubs may no longer stock Balter at all. If you're worried that the quality of the beer will stay the same, the only thing you can do is wait and see — the team itself is inviting cynics to try a tinnie in a month's time and see if they can spot the difference. And if you want to only buy local, you still have plenty of independent breweries to choose from. Balter is by no means the only craft producer to have been snapped up this year — beloved gin brand Four Pillars was acquired by another beer behemoth Lion in March, and a second Queensland favourite, Green Beacon, was bought by Asahi in August.
Bridge Road Brewers is located in the historic gold mining town of Beechworth, which is a town stuck in the 19th century in the most picturesque of ways (and a reason for a visit in itself). But the biggest draw for us is the beer, and Bridge Road is constantly turning out something new. While visiting, seek out the Chevalier series and the Mayday Hills collection — this line of barrel-aged and wild-fermented farmhouse beers are the best to come out of the brewery yet. Another reason to visit the brewery is the menu. The kitchen — under co-owner Maria Kraus — churns out Austrian–Italian-inspired pizzas and chewy pretzels that are baked daily.
If you're headed to Mexico, then you probably have two things on your itinerary: seeing the sights and sipping tequila. And while you can do both in the usual fashion, travelling from place to place, soaking up the scenery, and stopping for a few drinks here and there, combining them on the Jose Cuervo Express really is the ultimate holiday dream. Move over, Hogwarts Express — this is your new favourite train trip, and while it isn't fictional, it does still sound magical. Run by the Jose Cuervo tequila brand, this regular venture takes patrons from the city of Guadalajara to the aptly named town of, you guessed it, Tequila. You'll visit agave fields and take a tour of the Jose Cuervo distillery once you arrive; however, the journey really is just as important as the destination. On the eponymous locomotive, you'll down the spirit in question along the hour-long trek, all thanks to an all-you-can-drink tequila selection. There are three types of tickets available, with the open bar included in the most expensive tier — 2500 Mexican pesos, or around AU$182. While you're chugging along, a range of Mexican snacks and cocktails are also on offer, as well as boozy beverages other than tequila (i.e. rum, vodka and whiskey), should you feel the need to mix up your drinks. Off the train, you'll watch an agave harvesting demonstration, take part in a professional tasting session, wander through the distillery and cellar, and have time to explore the town at your own leisure. You'll also head to a Mexican show, but just what that entails has been left vague. Running most weekends — typically on Saturdays, but sometimes on Sundays instead — the Jose Cuervo Express offers two timeslots. Although the departure time only varies by half an hour (9am versus 9.30am), the 'sunrise' tour takes you on the train during daylight, then brings you back via bus, and the 'sunset' tour reverses the two, so you're on the train come evening. Both take a minimum of ten hours return, making for one hefty tequila-filled day. We're assuming that lemon and salt will also be included in the ticket price. For more information or to make a booking, visit the Jose Cuervo Express website. Images: Jose Cuervo Express.
If your idea of wellness is about relaxing massages, baths and tailored self-care, you'll no doubt find yourself drawn to Melbourne's soon-to-launch spa, Sense of Self. Set to open on Collingwood's Easey Street this spring, the unconventional bathhouse will take a healthier — and more playful — take on self-restoration in an era where lots of people spend all day sitting at a desk and social media takes serious toll on body image. The space will have communal bathing facilities and a hammam-style steam room where you can do a DIY clay or body scrub, or just chill out for an hour or so. Other services wellness will be available, too, meaning you'll be able to book in for a massage or mindfulness class. And, unlike other day spas, Sense of Self is set to be relatively affordable — a place for regular self care, rather than a one-off. A founding membership will cost just $30 a week and includes unlimited bathing and access to the mindfulness spaces, as well as one free scrub per week. You can sign up for this pre-opening — the rate will be valid for six months and you can cancel at any time. [caption id="attachment_716109" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Freya Berwick and Mary Minas[/caption] The project is the brainchild of filmmaker Mary Minas and botanist Freya Berwick, who are trying to offer a 'no bullshit' approach to bathing and relaxation. It's inspired by traditional bathhouses from across the world, as experienced on Minas' own international jaunts. Meanwhile, Berwick is lending her talents to developing a line of organic mud and body products for use at the spa. "We wanted to challenge the existing wellness model with a new kind of experience, one that demonstrates wellbeing isn't about performance or beauty," says Minas. While the warehouse space is still under construction, it will be designed by an all-female team, with SetSquare Studio, Chamberlain Architects and Hearth Studios teaming up to deliver a striking space filled with rich, tactile materials. Sense of Self is set to open in spring on Easey Street, Collingwood. Founding memberships currently available for those who'd like to get in early. One of these will get you unlimited bathhouse access for $30 a week for the first six months, as well as a free weekly scrub, exclusive invites and the option of bringing a friend for free each week. We'll let you know when it's set to open.
For two decades now, ever since Batman Begins proved such a smash back in 2025, the release of a new Christopher Nolan film has been a big occasion. Indeed, 'big' applies to much about the acclaimed director's approach. His movies are made for the big screen. The response is always huge. With The Odyssey, which releases in 2026, he's also making the first feature entirely shot on IMAX cameras. If you already have Thursday, July 16, 2026 marked on your calendar, then you're clearly keen for the filmmaker's first picture since 2023's Oppenheimer, which won him the Best Director Oscar. Here's another date of importance: Thursday, July 17, 2025. Tickets for The Odyssey at IMAX Melbourne have already gone on sale a year out from the movie's release, and they're already likely to sell out. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Odyssey Movie (@theodysseymovie) IMAX Melbourne is no stranger to showing Nolan's films, or for packing out its cinema while doing so. For The Odyssey, it will also be the only venue in Australia screening the movie on IMAX 1570 film and in the expanded 1.43 aspect ratio. If you haven't been keeping up with news about Nolan's 13th feature, the Memento, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk and Tenet director is adapting Homer's epic ancient poem about Odysseus' ten-year journey home to Ithaca after the also ten-year Trojan War. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Odyssey Movie (@theodysseymovie) Matt Damon (The Instigators) is playing Odysseus, Tom Holland (The Crowded Room) is his son Telemachus, and the rest of the cast also includes Zendaya (Challengers), Anne Hathaway (The Idea of You), Lupita Nyong'o (The Wild Robot), Robert Pattinson (Mickey 17), Charlize Theron (The Old Guard 2), Jon Bernthal (The Bear) and plenty more. IMAX Melbourne is one of a handful of IMAX cinemas around the world with tickets for its 70-millimetre sessions now on sale, and the only one in Australia. The Odyssey opens in Australian cinemas, including at IMAX Melbourne, on Thursday, July 16, 2026 — head to the IMAX Melbourne website for tickets.
Adding to the host of one-off dinners taking over Melbourne this winter, landmark Collins Street restaurant Society (by Chris Lucas) will host Westholme Wagyu and Starward Whisky for an immersive dinner. Taking place at the Lillian Brasserie on Thursday, July 31, Society x Westholme x Starward will spotlight beef from Westholme and whisky from Starward, alongside the talents of Lucas Restaurants chefs Joachim Lim from Society and Vincenzo Ursini from Grill Americano. Guests can expect five carefully curated courses, with wagyu dishes expertly paired with specialty whisky cocktails and neat pours from Starward's Melbourne-made range. Standout dishes include the house-cured wagyu bresaola with winter pickles, and caramelle pasta in a ragu of beef cheek and beef tail. We're already salivating at the thought of these decadent winter flavours. There will also be a selection of innovative cocktails to drink, including a Starward Nova Highball with mandarin and peach, and a modern rendition of an Old Fashioned featuring wagyu fat-washed Starward two-fold. With limited spots, all-inclusive tickets to Society x Westholme x Starward at Lillian Brasserie are expected to sell fast. Head to the venue's website to reserve a spot. Images: Supplied.
Santa is arriving early at The Vic Hotel, as the much–loved pub hosts a Christmas feast on Friday, July 25. Steeped in history, but with a modern touch, the timeless pub offers the perfect setting for a cosy Christmas in July dinner. The three-course menu thoughtfully combines classic Christmas flavours with a fresh, Aussie twist. Enjoy scallops with coriander, hazelnut butter and pangrattato for an entree. For mains, guests can expect hearty classics, including a turkey ballotine with cranberries, brioche stuffing, root vegetables and gravy, or twice-cooked pork belly, potato gratin, pickled kohlrabi and apple cider jus. Don't forget to leave room for dessert — it's an Aussie classic. We're talking an old-school pav with passionfruit, strawberries, blueberries and cream. But that's not all. On the day, the pub will also be hosting an ugly Christmas sweater competition. So, make sure you dress up in the ugliest sweater you can find. You'll get bonus points if it's got an extra Christmassy touch. Prizes for the ugliest, most creative and most festive sweaters will be announced at 7pm in the main bar. With limited seating, tickets for Christmas in July at The Vic Hotel are expected to sell fast. Visit the venue's website to reserve a spot. Images: Supplied.
A road trip along Victoria's Great Ocean Road should be on every Australian's travel bucket list. Hit up the small beach towns of Torquay, Lorne, Apollo Bay, Port Campbell and Warrnambool to discover Aussie surf culture at its finest and spend some time within the region's stunning natural surrounds. But first things first: you've got to sort out your accommodation. You can live that camping life, but we have curated this list of luxe hotels, guest houses and villas for those wanting more comfort. TORQUAY RACV TORQUAY RESORT The RACV Torquay Resort is located right at the beginning of the Great Ocean Road, boasting sweeping views of the coast and the surrounding golf course. Whether you join a chill yoga class, unwind with a sweaty sauna session or treat yourself to a day at the luxurious day spa, there are plenty of ways to unwind at this Torquay property. BOOK IT NOW. THE SANDS TORQUAY The Sands Torquay has been a mainstay of the area's luxe accommodation offerings for quite some time. People come back here, over and over again. And now that it has had a massive makeover, there are even more reasons to stay here. We're talking an indoor pool, outdoor tennis courts, large dog-friendly rooms, and Bunker restaurant, which serves up elevated pub classics to locals and hotel guests alike. BOOK IT NOW. WYNDHAM RESORT TORQUAY This large resort is one of the only hotels located right on the beach in Torquay — most are set back further, with local beach houses lining the shores instead. The location is one of Wyndham's greatest features. You can get down to Torquay's Fisherman's Beach within a couple of minutes and walk right into town in under 20 minutes. It's ideal for those wanting a chill beachside getaway. BOOK IT NOW. LORNE MANTRA LORNE This old-school resort has been a popular place to stay in Lorne for decades, and it's easy to see why. Mantra Lorne's heritage buildings are set right on the beach, within 12 acres of landscaped gardens (including tennis courts and croquet lawns). No other local accommodation will beat this location nor its traditional feel that's been seamlessly blended with modern amenities. The refurbished indoor mineral pool and glam steam rooms are just a couple of examples of such contemporary offerings. BOOK IT NOW. CUMBERLAND LORNE RESORT Cumberland Lorne Resort is located up on the hills above Louttit Bay, boasting stunning views across town. But it isn't up in the middle of nowhere. It's still close to the best bits, surrounded by local cafes and boutique stores. Head here for a sleek and modern stay, with luxurious penthouses as well as one- and two-bedroom apartments available to those road-tripping along the Great Ocean Road. BOOK IT NOW. APOLLO BAY SEAFARERS GETAWAY Few Great Ocean Road accommodations compare to this one. You have uninterrupted views up and down the coast from each of the studios and lodges that sit within eight hectares of grassland. From here, you can either head up to The Otway National Park's undulating green hills and woodland or walk down to the Seafarer's pristine beach within minutes. Whales and dolphins can often be seen in the surf, koalas can be found in the gumtrees and alpacas can be hand fed in the field. What more could you ask for? BOOK IT NOW. APOLLO PANORAMA GUESTHOUSE Perched up in the hills, a little further back from the beach, this five-bedroom guesthouse looks down over Apollo Bay and a big stretch of the Great Ocean Road. It is made for groups of mates or a big family, thanks to its many rooms, the kitchen with double-vaulted ceilings and the large deck with barbecue. We wouldn't blame you for stopping your trek along the coast to spend the rest of your time up here. BOOK IT NOW. PORT CAMPBELL EASTERN REEF COTTAGES Staying here feels like spending time at your mate's old family beach house. It isn't a glam hotel nor is it a bougie bread and breakfast. It is a humble set of cottages set within lush green surroundings not too far away from town. Either go for the large four-bedroom cottage or nab one of the smaller units that look out over the courtyard. Each accommodation has its own kitchenette and all the essential amenities. Eastern Reef Cottages is a really decent budget option in the sleepy town of Port Campbell. BOOK IT NOW. SOUTHERN OCEAN VILLAS If you're coming up this way for the 12 Apostles, then this spot will more than do. The famous cliffs and rock plinths are just a five-minute drive from the accommodation, while the town centre is easily walkable. The villas also offer a variety of different accommodation options. Capable of comfortably accommodating two to six people, each villa has an open-plan kitchen, lounge and dining room with two or three bedrooms and a scenic outdoor deck (each with a barbecue). BOOK IT NOW. WARRNAMBOOL DEEP BLUE HOTEL & HOT SPRINGS The Deep Blue Hotel & Hot Springs, Victoria's very first hot springs hotel, is made for those who want to run away and really relax. We mean it — lean into that self-care lifestyle. Book some time in the many indoor and outdoor geothermal pools, treat yourself to a massage and scrub, then finish with champagne and oysters at the hotel's restaurant. You can then spend other days exploring the town and the nearby beaches — which can be seen from many of the rooms' private balconies. BOOK IT NOW. LADY BAY RESORT The Lady Bay Resort in Warrnambool is a self-contained accommodation located right across the street from the beach, allowing guests to do what the locals do — swim along the coast, hit the local bars and pubs and even do some work (if you must). There's also an in-house restaurant, arcade room and outdoor pool for those who just want to rest at the property. BOOK IT NOW. Feeling inspired to book a truly unique getaway? Head to Concrete Playground Trips to explore a range of holidays curated by our editorial team. We've teamed up with all the best providers of flights, stays and experiences to bring you a series of unforgettable trips to destinations all over the world. Top image: Weyne Yew (Unsplash)
Touchwood: usually a word you hear when you want to avoid bad luck. Now, it's something you'll find yourself hearing in relation to Richmond, cafes, or awesome green juices. In a collaboration between two groups of Melbourne's young gun hospitality entrepreneurs, the team behind Tall Timber and Station Street Trading Co. has joined forces with the gents from Pillar of Salt and the recently-opened Barry. Seems like a recipe for cafe success. From the moment you walk in, this cafe feels a little different. Its size will almost stop you in your tracks. Setting up shop in the old Blueprint furniture showroom, it has beautiful archways, high ceilings and huge glass windows at the front. The 120 seater also has a stunning courtyard out the back, just waiting for summer. The fit-out has been done by Therefore Studio and is heavy on woods, white walls, greenery and hanging lights. The menu, designed by chef Tristan White (ex-Red Door and Ladro), is aiming to please with familiar brunch and lunch favourites, which have been given a little extra love. The avocado toast, served with beetroot relish, burnt lime, pickled red onion, coriander, mixed seeds and sumac salt ($15) is good. Really good. For a serious flavour explosion try the fresh tequila and citrus cured salmon with poached eggs, smashed peas, dill, lemon creme fraiche, sauteed endive and sourdough ($17.50). If sweetness is more your thing, head straight for the peanut butter and jelly wholemeal waffles served with poached raspberries, whipped peanut butter ricotta and peanut brittle ($16). Wholemeal makes it healthy, right? Lunch items see anything from the quinoa and pomegranate salad with mint, coriander, rocket, citrus and harissa ($13.50) to the pulled pork tacos, shredded cabbage, coriander, fennel, and apple compote ($18.50). The drinks list is just as good. Coffee by 5 Senses done on a shiny Synesso machine. Cold drop, pour over and single origin are also all up for grabs. Tea is by Collingwood's Storm in a Teacup and the juices are fresh and filled to the brim with goodness. The Green Juice, a mix of cucumber, kale, celery, apple, lime and parsley ($8) will make any juice lover transcend to their happy place. Try your luck at Touchwood. Pun intended.
Move aside, bottomless brunch — there's a new amped-up concept dining experience in town and it's here for a tasty one-night-only appearance. Introducing, Hip Hop Hibachi, which is set to fire up Richmond's National Hotel on Thursday, March 24. Promising a new kind of weeknight feasting fun, the event will see you settling in with a table full of mates and your own private hibachi grill. Cook up a storm while grooving to classic hip hop hits as spun by DJ Nat. You'll choose from either the meat-based ($45 per person) or vegetarian ($35 per person) set menu, filled with traditional yakiniku and yakitori fixings, plus a range of Japanese sides. The raw ingredients are delivered to your table ready to be grilled to charry perfection right beneath your nose. We're talking sliced wagyu, pork belly and prawns for the carnivores; miso eggplant and marinated tofu to tempt the vegetarians; and additional side dishes ranging from miso and shiitake croquettes to crispy karaage chicken. Various sittings are available across the evening, though you'll need to have at least four diners to book a table.
Take a journey back through time with artist Eugenia Lim, in a playful new video piece that explores the history of Chinese immigrants in Australia. Filmed by Lim at Sovereign Hill Historical Park, Yellow Peril depicts a Chinese 'ambassador’ in a shiny gold Mao suit as she roams the rural mining town amidst the height of the Victorian gold rush. Taking its cues from the low key observational comedies of French filmmaker Jacques Tati, the work touches on questions of cultural and national identity, as well as the interwoven socio-economic destinies of Australia and its Asian neighbour. Yellow Peril is the latest of Lim’s works to explore issues of multiculturalism. A second generation Australian of Chinese-Singaporean descent, she has previously exhibited work at the Tate Modern, GOMA, ACMI and HUN Gallery NY. Yellow Peril will be exhibited at the BUS Projects gallery space in Collingwood from April 8 to 25.
Early in The Super Mario Bros Movie, pop culture's go-to red-capped plumber (Chris Pratt, Thor: Love and Thunder) sits down to dinner with his brother Luigi (Charlie Day, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and the rest of their family. Pasta is on offer for the Italian American brood, but it comes with something that the Nintendo favourite and gaming mainstay since 1981's first-ever Donkey Kong title quickly advises that he hates: mushrooms. Fans know that more fungi are in his future. In this animated take on the beloved character, his sibling, and their pals and adversaries, a trip to the Mushroom Kingdom is inevitable. And, while there, Mario will meet Toad — a pint-sized humanoid with a toadstool for a head, who is part of a whole race of such folks also called Toads. From the titular brothers through to Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy, The Menu), the fire-breathing Bowser (Jack Black, Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood) and even big gorilla Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen, The Fabelmans), The Super Mario Bros Movie stacks together the bulk of the gaming franchise's best-known figures — and Toad is one of them. It also assembles an impressive voice cast to help bring its players to life, including Keegan-Michael Key as its main mushroom man. Here, the actor and sketch-comedy great's tones prove as elastic as his face and limbs long have, especially in iconic skit series Key & Peele. How do you voice a diminutive critter who is as perky as he is tiny? Someone who Key likens to a golden retriever? With ample energy, as The Super Mario Bros Movie's viewers hear. While fellow Key & Peele namesake Jordan Peele followed up that five-season 2012–15 show with a jump behind the lens, helming Get Out, Us and Nope — and earning an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the former — Key has remained a constant on-screen. The pair also share Fargo, Keanu, Toy Story 4 and Wendell & Wild on their resumes, teaming up in front of the lens or through voice work on all four; however, Key's list of credits spans everything from Parks and Recreation and Schmigadoon! to The Predator and Dolemite Is My Name. He's broken out his vocal talents in Archer and Bob's Burgers, too, and in the photorealistic version of The Lion King as well. But signing on for The Super Mario Bros Movie couldn't have been an easier choice for the OG Donkey Kong aficionado. That instant enthusiasm comes through in a perky, peppy performance — a voice that's squeakier than viewers are used to from Key, but slides easily into a career that keeps bounding in every on-screen direction possible. During his Key & Peele days, he brought audiences President Obama's anger translator Luther, substitute teacher Mr Garvey and his creative pronunciations, a "Liam Neesons"-loving valet, one of the brilliant 'Aerobics Meltdown' sketch's fierce lycra-clad competitors and more. Of course he's been bouncing here, there and everywhere since. With The Super Mario Bros Movie now in cinemas, Concrete Playground chatted with Key about jumping at the part, finding his Toad voice, preparing for the part, drawing upon his improv background and what he looks for in a role. ON TURNING DONKEY KONG FANDOM INTO A SUPER MARIO BROS ROLE Do you need to be a Super Mario Bros fan to press start on being in one of the game's leaps to the screen? Bob Hoskins, who played the titular character in 1993's live-action movie, famously wasn't. But Key was — and instantly said yes to being involved in the second film bringing Mario and the game's characters to cinemas. "I was a fan of Super Mario, or Mario Bros in the beginning, from Donkey Kong. I was a big Donkey Kong fan way back in the day," Key advises. "So when they approached me and asked me to do Toad, I was like 'I'd be more than happy. I don't even need to see the script! I'm happy. I'm in. I'm your guy. Whatever you want, whatever you need, I'm your guy'." ON FINDING THE RIGHT VOICE FOR TOAD While Key sits among The Super Mario Bros Movie's well-known names, his vocal work stands out from Pratt, Day, Taylor-Joy, Black, Rogan and company. Listen to Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser and DK, viewers immediately recognise the actor behind them. That isn't the case with Toad and Key. "What I did is, I was impersonating a friend of mine and trying to get his vocal patterns and vocal rhythms. And I brought that to the table, and then the directors [Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic] and I both worked on the pitch, and trying to find where the right pitch would be — and if I could get the voice higher and higher, then higher and higher," Key notes. "And I finally got him some place up here [Key's voice gets higher], until we then got him even higher than that [Key's voice returns to its usual pitch]. Then, mostly the biggest trick was trying to figure out how to maintain that voice while I was in the booth — because sometimes you'd be in the booth for three-to-six hours, and you're trying to figure out how do you maintain that." "So I would just pretend I was — you know, I'm like: 'what would it be like if I was sucking on a helium balloon? How do I make my voice sound like that?'. And then I'm like: 'what else can I do? I don't know — wear tight pants? I'll wear tight pants!'. Anything to keep that voice at that high register." ON PREPARING FOR PLAYING A HUMANOID WITH A MUSHROOM FOR A HEAD The Super Mario Bros Movie starts in reality — animated reality, but in Brooklyn. Here, there aren't mushrooms as far as the eye can see, or coin blocks, or rainbow roads to race on Mario Kart-style. And there definitely aren't mushroom men like Toad. All it takes is a warp pipe to transport Mario and Luigi into the realm seen in Nintendo games for four decades now. That's where Toad comes in. Asked how you prepare for such a part — playing a toadstool-topped humanoid, specifically — Key is all about creativity and being upbeat (and one of humanity's favourite pets). "I think it's just making sure that you're sparking your imagination on any given day. Because what I did — I knew what Toad looked like, but I would just sometimes look at pictures of him and just go 'what am I getting from this picture? What am I getting about how I can portray this?'," he says. "There's something about him that's snappy and positive. He's also like a mushroom-man version of a golden retriever. I wanted him to have that kind of sensibility when I portrayed him." ON DRAWING UPON HIS SKETCH-COMEDY BACKGROUND In the sketch-comedy game, Key is a legend. Before Key & Peele, he spent six seasons on Mad TV, too, also often opposite Peele. And, prior to that, he's among the long list of comedy names to have come through improv troupe The Second City — as Peele also did, and Bill Murray, Mike Myers, Catherine O'Hara, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as well. That background came in handy with The Super Mario Bros Movie, including getting into character. "I did get to improvise. I got to improvise quite a bit. A lot of it ended up on the cutting-room floor, but I like to use the improvisation to get into the spirit of it more than anything else," Key explains. "Sometimes I would just improvise right before the line and then jump into the line, and that would give the line the feeling I wanted it to have, the sense and the spirit that I wanted it to have." "Sometimes, you can just use improvisation in that way and it still helps." [caption id="attachment_896345" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] ON WHAT HE LOOKS FOR IN A PART Key's time on-screen dates back a couple of decades, including a one-episode stint in ER in 2001, plus 00s roles in Role Models and Due Date. What appeals to him now, after Pitch Perfect 2, Tomorrowland, Win It All and The Disaster Artist as well, and also Friends From College, Veep, No Activity and Reboot? Movies and TV shows that stand out. "I look for something in the project that's a little different. Something that catches my eye is always going to be something that I've never seen before. So, if you take a project like Schmigadoon!, I go 'oh god, I've never seen anything like that — if they're interested in me doing that, I want to do that'," Key says. "And the same thing with Super Mario Bros. I figured it would make a lot of sense — I understand what the movie looked like in 1993, when they made the live-action one, but I'm like 'what would it look like if it were this animated movie with the technology that we have today to make animation?'. I thought 'this thing's going to look amazing'." "So I try to jump onboard things that have a little twist to them — some kind of fun, clever twist that makes them different than whatever your run-of-the-mill project might be." The Super Mario Bros Movie released in cinemas Down Under on Wednesday, April 5. Read our full review.
Seltzer brand Part Time Rangers has arrived with a new line of summer-ready drinks that are helping make a difference. The Peach Penguin is a flavour-packed addition to the brand's range and, as the name suggests, it has an affinity for one of the world's cutest creatures: the penguin. If you pick up a four-pack of these fruity vodka and peach juice drinks, you can feel a little better about your latest boozy purchase than usual. For every seltzer sold, Part Time Rangers donates to conservation initiatives around the world — and this time, a portion of the profits from the peach flavour are going directly to the Conservation Council of Western Australia and penguin expert Dr Erin Clitheroe. WA's Little Penguin has seen an 80-percent population decline since 2007 due to warmer ocean conditions and increased air temperature. It's species like the little penguin that the Conservation Council is working to save. On top of donating these proceeds to help provide assistance with the penguin population of Penguin Island, Part Time Rangers also wants you to get involved directly. After conducting a survey that found only five percent of young Australians consider the Little Penguin a conservation concern, the seltzer brand has launched a competition to try and raise awareness for these fluffy little animals. The seltzer brand is giving away an all-expenses-paid trip to Western Australia to help Clitheroe with her conservation efforts. The winner of this major prize will get to spend three days with the scientist, in what Part Time Rangers has described as a "scholar-sip". They'll also get return flights to Perth, four nights accommodation, $1500 to spend on food and transport, $2000 prize money and a case of seltzer. There will also be ten runner-ups who will each win a hat and a four-pack of seltzer. To enter, just head to the Part Time Rangers website and explain in 25 words or less why you want to fly to Perth and hang out with Dr Erin Clitheroe. Applications for the competition close at 5pm on Monday, February 20. Outside of the Peach Penguin flavour, you'll also find other drinks in the range — like the Pink Rhino, with proceeds going to Rhinos Without Borders, plus the Black and Yellow Elephant flavours, which both raise money for the Big Life Foundation. For more information on Part Time Rangers and the competition head to the brand's website. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
There's no need to shake off that Swiftmania, Australia. The world's biggest pop star right now has hit the country, unleashed the first three nights of the Aussie leg of her Eras tour, broken records and given everyone an enchanted time. There's no way that you could not know that Taylor Swift has arrived Down Under, with Melbourne her first stop. That trio of initial gigs even means that she makes more appearances at the MCG in 2024 than most AFL teams, in fact. So, you went along and it was gorgeous, and you're still keen to get your Swiftie on. Or, you're hitting the Sydney concerts at Accor Stadium from Friday, February 23–Monday, February 26 and want to get the full lowdown. Missed out completely? Eager to figure out how to cope? We can help you with that as well. We were lucky enough to hit up an Eras show in Melbourne, so we have the details. We've outlined logistical tips if you're watching Swift's three-hour spectacular in Sydney, too — plus Swift-related events across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. And yes, the Eras concert film will help fill that blank space in your calendar. Here's our Australian Eras tour 101: [caption id="attachment_941681" align="alignnone" width="1920"] TAS Rights Management[/caption] The Show (and Yes, It's as Sensational as You've Heard) Before even getting to the show, most fans have memorised the setlist, seen most of the performances on social media and created perfect recreations of Swift's Eras tour costumes. They know what's to come. But are they ready for it? Absolutely not. From the moment that Swift enters the stage — emerging from the giant flower petals that everyone has seen in countless videos of already — the MCG loses its shit. It's the feeling of being a part of the international tour that's been obsessed over for so many months that draws up the excitement. We don't need to be surprised. We just want to be a part of these legendary moments. Swift doesn't disappoint, on any level, for none of the three-hour show packed with hits. She runs through each of her albums, spanning 18 years of music, ticking off the bangers as the crowd screams the lyrics along with her — no matter what era they come from. She doesn't lose breath or miss a beat for a moment. She's done this show god knows how many times now and knows exactly what she's doing. She's a total pro. [caption id="attachment_941679" align="alignnone" width="1920"] TAS Rights Management[/caption] But while Swift soars in her most upbeat hits, the more-emotional ballads show her real vulnerability. The walls seem to really come down for a few moments. This is best seen in her ten-minute version of 'All Too Well', captivating the audience for the entire song while it's just her on stage with a guitar in a stunning red-and-black sequinned coat. She gets visibly angry, is particularly pointed with some harsh lyrics and takes the audience with her on the journey of hating the celeb we all know this song is about. From start to finish, Swift repeatedly reminds you why she is an icon — and that she's got plenty of more eras to come. Let's just hope that she brings them back Down Under to smash some more records and give us another (or first) chance to see her IRL. [caption id="attachment_941680" align="alignnone" width="1920"] TAS Rights Management[/caption] Tips to Help Make Hitting the Gigs as Gorgeous as Possible When it comes to the kit you'll be wearing, most Swifties go down one of two routes. You can sequin the house down and be inspired by her tour looks, or try to recreate one of her iconic music-video ensembles. Glitter is almost a must, even if it covers your bathroom at home for months afterwards. And friendship bracelets. You've got to invest in some if you want to participate in those sweet community feels at the concert, when everyone is swapping bracelets with one another, sharing their excitement for what's to come. It couldn't be more wholesome. While heels might go with your outfit, flats are probably the smartest choice. Everyone gets a seat, but you'll be standing and dancing for over three hours. Everyone in the crowd tries to sit down in between eras when the stage gets changed over and Swift quickly swaps into a new outfit, but it's not enough to save your poor feet (especially as there isn't that much time between albums). Beyond that, be sure to bring a portable battery for your phone. Even if you say you won't take videos, you likely will. And there are plenty of times during the night when fans turn on their camera lights and sway along to the slow jams. For most of us, this will kill our batteries in an hour. [caption id="attachment_940691" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ronald Woan via Wikimedia Commons.[/caption] If you're heading to one of the four Sydney shows, it's time to start planning your journey. Gates open at 4.30pm, and everyone has assigned seating, so there's no need to camp out overnight to secure the best spot. The show will kick off around 6.20pm, with Sabrina Carpenter handling opening duties. Get down early to see what she rhymes with Sydney during her iconic 'Nonsense' outros. While there is car parking available, it's almost fully booked up already, so public transport is the optimal option for heading in. Travel on PT is included in your ticket, and both express trains and major event buses are running each night to deal with the masses of Swifties making the pilgrimage to Sydney Olympic Park. If you're attending on the Friday or Saturday, leave yourself some extra time — Blink-182 is performing at Qudos Bank Arena on both these days, so there will be two lots of music lovers travelling to the same spot. Everyone's journey in will be a little different, of course, but if you head to Central, Redfern or Strathfield Station, you'll be able to get a direct train. While there are a couple of spots to eat near Accor Stadium, it's not exactly a cornucopia of food and drinks. Consider hitting up a venue near one of these key stations for an early dinner or a couple of celebratory cocktails. City Oltra is a perfect pitstop for a few slices of some of the city's best pizza and a glass of orange wine just metres from Central Station. If mimosas on a rooftop are more of the vibe, consider stopping over at The Old Clare Hotel. As for Redfern, The Sunshine Inn, RaRa Ramen, Redbird and BrewDog are all stellar options for a pre-gig feed. Or, if you're just after a few top-notch drinks, Arcadia Liquors always does the trick. Plus, Strathfield is filled with plenty of standout dining options. Our picks for a cheap and cheerful meal: Korean fried chicken and a bottle of soju from the no-frills CC Train, or a big brothy bowl from Hansang. Not Going? How to Play Along Elsewhere Look what you made Australia do, Swifties: put on Taylor Swift-themed festivities everywhere and anywhere, to prolong the lavender haze swirling not just around Melbourne and Sydney, but Brisbane as well. From candlelight tributes and colourful cocktails to painting pottery and showing off your knowledge of Swift trivia, you have options. Sydney: Sydney well and truly has Swift fever, so if you're a Lover lover but you're not heading to Accor Stadium, there are plenty of Taylor-themed events happening all across the Harbour City. There's Taylor Swift bottomless brunch at both Harry's by Giuls and Above 319, Eras-themed doughnuts at Miss Sina, and limited-edition cocktails at Moxy Sydney and Alibi Bar and Dining. Crown Sydney is hosting a Swiftie High Tea at Teahouse until Sunday, February 25. The extravagant afternoon activity features a lineup of sweet treats representing some of Swift's most beloved albums — like the 1989, a lavender ganache with yuzu and almond streusel — as well as some savoury mouthfuls like whisky teriyaki wagyu and Sichuan miso-baked toothfish. If you want to flex your knowledge, Taylor Swift Trivia is popping up across Western Sydney, including Guildford on Sunday, February 25 and Penrith on Wednesday, February 28. The Argyle is getting in on the action with a Taylor Rave on Thursday, February 22 and, if you think you'll be full of energy after the show and you're looking to kick on with some more big TS sing-alongs, Oxford Art Factory is hosting a series of unofficial afterparties on the nights of the Friday, Saturday and Sunday shows. [caption id="attachment_940473" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Paolo Villanueva via Wikimedia Commons.[/caption] Melbourne: While most of the Taylor Swift-themed parties and events in Melbourne took place just before or during her time in the city, there is one way to still join in the fun in the week following: Candlelight: A Tribute to Taylor Swift. The hour-long concert features Swift's music played by a string quartet. It's running at Collingwood Town Hall on Saturday, February 24 at 6.30pm and 8.30pm. The moody candlelit performance is a brilliant chaser for any Swiftie who went to the shows, or even those who couldn't nab the hotly fought-over tickets. Brisbane: Every Brisbane Swiftie, and most Brisbanites in general, is well aware that T-Swift isn't bringing Eras to the Queensland capital. To commiserate, you can calm down in a number of ways — including at Fritzenberger South Bank's Swift-themed trivia night on Wednesday, February 21, then at a tribute party on Saturday, February 24 at Fortitude Valley's The Sound Garden, where a DJ will be spinning all the requisite tunes. Also on Saturday, February 24, head to Clontarf's The Craft Haven to make and paint Taylor Swift-inspired pottery. Then, on Sunday, February 25, Fluffy is taking its cues from the singer back in Fortitude Valley. And, come March and April, Candlelight: A Tribute to Taylor Swift will help you embrace your Swift love story at Grand on Ann, too. [caption id="attachment_922251" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Trafalgar Releasing[/caption] How to Enjoy Eras Whenever You Want Back in October 2023, singing and dancing along to the Eras tour without actually attending the Eras tour became possible. That's when Swift released concert film Taylor Swift: The 'Eras' Tour, which took in over $260 million at the worldwide box office when it hit the big screen. It also got everyone excited when it arrived on digital. Its next stop, if you're ready for it: Disney+ from Friday, March 15, complete with five extra tunes — 'cardigan' and four acoustic tracks — that haven't featured in other versions of the movie. You don't need to be a Swiftie to enjoy the film. In fact, watching it might turn you into one no matter how you feel about the pop superstar going in. There's no denying that the singer knows how to put on a helluva show — and the cinematography on display, plus the energetic direction by Sam Wrench (Billie Eilish Live at the O2), gives viewers an intimate experience across 169 minutes while also stressing how massive the Eras tour gigs are. The feature was shot over three concerts at Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium in August 2023 — so, not at Swift's largest-ever gigs of her entire career at the MCG across Friday, February 16–Sunday, February 18, 2024 — and everything about it is dazzling. That includes the costume changes, choreography and setlist, and the fact that the tour and the film both exist as an ode to Swift's knack for reinvention. Check out the trailer for Taylor Swift: The 'Eras' Tour Concert Film below: Taylor Swift's Eras Tour plays Australia until Monday, February 26. Head to the tour website for further details. Taylor Swift: The 'Eras' Tour will stream via Disney+ from Friday, March 15, 2024. Read our review. Taylor Swift Australian Eras tour images: TAS Rights Management.
Unless you've spent the past few years north of the wall, you'll know that House of the Dragon is coming — the long-in-the-works prequel series to Game of Thrones, that is. HBO wasn't going to completely say goodbye to its huge fantasy hit when the original show wrapped up, of course, and plenty of other spinoffs are under consideration (including a Jon Snow-focused sequel); however, the first of the bunch starts airing on Monday, August 22 in Australia. House of the Dragon is set 200 years before the events of GoT, and focuses on House Targaryen. Yes, that means that dragons are obviously part of the series, and so is a Succession-style battle over who should sit on the Iron Throne. Always thought that you should park your butt on the hefty chair yourself? Thanks to Binge, which'll stream House of the Dragon when it starts, that's about to become a reality. No, you won't be making a trip to the show's sets — rather, the Iron Throne is coming Down Under. And yes, you really will be able to sit on it when it makes its way to your city. [caption id="attachment_864676" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ollie Upton[/caption] House of Dragon's version of the Iron Throne looks a bit different to the OG — newer, you'd expect, given it exists two centuries before the seat seen in GoT — and is covered in 1000 swords. This full-scale replica isn't small, either, measuring 3.7 metres wide, 2.8 metres high and 3.3 metres deep, and weighing 226 kilograms. Sydneysiders will get to live out their House Targaryen dreams first, with the throne first appearing at Sydney Town Hall, from 9am–5pm on Friday, August 19. It'll also head to the University of Sydney, in front of The Great Hall, from 9am–4pm on Wednesday, August 31–Thursday, September 1. Melbourne dates have been locked in as well, at Westfield Southland, on level one near Brioche by Philip, from 9am–5pm on Saturday, September 10 and 10am–5pm on Sunday, September 11. [caption id="attachment_864683" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ollie Upton[/caption] If you're a Game of Thrones fan elsewhere around Australia, start hoping like Arya crossing off her list that the Iron Throne will come your way — we'll update you when further dates are announced. And if you've forgotten the throne's backstory, it was forged from the blades of Aegon Targaryen's defeated foes, which were melted together by a dragon — of course — after he conquered Westeros. Check out the full House of the Dragon trailer below: IRON THRONE AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES: Friday, August 19 — Sydney Town Hall from 9am–5pm. Wednesday, August 31–Thursday, September 1 — University of Sydney, in front of The Great Hall, from 9am–4pm. Saturday, September 10–Sunday, September 11 — Westfield Southland from 9am–5pm on Saturday and 10am–5pm on Sunday. House of the Dragon's Iron Throne will tour Australia from mid-August. House of the Dragon will start airing on Monday, August 22 Down Under via Foxtel and Binge.
With a distinctly Chinese club culture only emerging in relatively recent times, acclaimed Chinese photographer Chen Wei's first Australian solo exhibition captures the enigmatic scene. The end of the country's Cultural Revolution saw many western influences and pastimes begin to flow into China, with the 1980s and '90s seeing the rise of nightclubs and electronic music. This brought young artists and intellectuals together in a previously unknown expressive environment — one that, at the time, was considered to be rebellious and progressive. While nightclubs are commonplace in China nowadays, Chen Wei set out to document the unique subculture and comment on societal changes that are taking place across the country. As nightclubs have become widespread, through his photo series, Wei argues that nightclubs reflect a culture that has accepted western influence and is now unsure of what the future holds. Running until May 7, The Club is presented at Fitzroy's Centre for Contemporary Photography. Image: Chen Wei In The Waves #5 (2013).
Whether you're in desperate need of some extra brownie points, or you're letting someone know they're pretty ace, flowers are a sure-fire way of imparting some warm and fuzzy feelings. After all, there's nothing like a big, vibrant bunch of freshly-cut blooms to turn a frown upside down. We've rounded up some of Melbourne's finest floral artists — six studios creating swoon-worthy bouquets and show-stopping arrangements for all occasions. Next time you want to say it with flowers, check out this lineup of Melbourne floristry stars — from the sustainability-focused to the downright luxurious and every kind in-between. And most of them can deliver those blooms with just a few clicks of your mouse.
1806 is Melbourne's old world gem where cocktail is king. Think 1920s prohibition theatricality to envisage a boozey sanctuary home to approximately 60 cocktails. Red velvet chairs accent the dark wooden decor and from anywhere you sit you'll see strapping bartenders, waistcoat included, shaking and stiring for your viewing pleasure. There's a mezzanine level, too, for those wanting an aerial view. With capable staff, table service and an unassuming entrance, 1806 is a small bar drenched in classic Melbournian charm. 1806, the year that the cocktail was first defined in print, is a fitting name for a bar where cocktails take centre stage. Fast forward to 2012, the year bar manager Nick Reed and bar owner Lisa Kelly released their new cocktail menu and book, and it's clear we've certainly come a long way. The extensive menu is categorised into theatrical themes, such as Kabuki, Broadway, comedy, and the like. We've the classics, Whisky Toddy, Georgia Julep, Old Fashioned and Negroni all on offer as well as contemporaries like Gin Fizz Tropical, Mai Tai and Cosmopolitan. As you peruse the menu, don't be surprised if you find yourself happily lost in the history of the cocktail itself, forgetting the all-important decision of what to order. While cocktails can take their time when the bar is at capacity every Friday and Saturday night, they are well worth the wait. Book ahead if you know you'll be heading their way. If after a tipple that will be delivered much quicker, opt for a beer or wine from the small but considered selection. Both selections are heavily Australian, and Hawkers, focused. 1806's food offerings are ideal for late-night cocktail-fuelled snacking or the essential pre-boozing lining of the stomach. IPA Korean fried chicken with honey mustard and pickled radish is a must order, while chilli garlic prawns, pulled pork sliders and caviar bumps will all satisfy your cravings. 1806 is a must visit for cocktail lovers. Images: Arianna Leggiero.
Melbourne's cocktail scene is about to heat up this winter as popular Spanish liqueur Licor 43 is partnering with five top South American and Spanish restaurants to introduce the Carajillo 43. This twist on the classic Carajillo (kah-rah-HEE-yoh) cocktail combines fresh espresso with the Spanish liqueur, known for its sweet, citrusy flavours, which come from a secret blend of 43 ingredients. For a limited time, from July 19, the first 43 amigos to order a meal can score a complimentary Carajillo 43 at each venue when they mention this promotion. Keep reading to find out where and how you can join the fiesta.
Fans of outdoor art, scenic walks and excuses to mosey around Sydney have spent the past few weeks rejoicing about the upcoming return of Bondi's Sculpture by the Sea. But it's not the only event set to give locals and tourists alike an excuse to soak in the Harbour City's waterside splendour, and soon — and see a heap of impressive creative pieces in the process. Slated to run between Thursday, August 11–Saturday, September 24, Waterfront Whale Tales is a new addition to the New South Wales capital's arts calendar. Yes, that name is a big clue. The free outdoor exhibition will feature 30 two-metre-tall whale tail sculptures, as created by 30 Australian artists, with each piece inspired by its location and the land. Creatives set to do the honours include 2022 Archibald prize winner Blak Douglas, illustrator and animator Chris Yee, and artist, author and illustrator Sha'an d'Anthes, aka Furry Little Peach. Curated by prolific curatorial group Art Pharmacy, the full range of sculptures will span a six-kilometre trail along Sydney's Western Harbour waterfront, reaching from Barangaroo to Sydney Fish Market. That means that it'll stretch past Crown Sydney, King Street Wharf, Darling Quarter, ICC Sydney, the Powerhouse Museum, the Australian National Maritime Museum and The Star. While visitors will be able to walk the full trail in a single stroll, there'll also be mini trails for shorter walks. And, there'll be an app that'll provide details of each, plus stories about the waterfront's past, present and future. Also available via your phone: freebies, discounts and prizes from local businesses along the trail, as well as a major prize for checking out all 30 tails. As well as aiming to get folks checking out the waterfront — attempting to attract up to 500,000 visitors, in fact — the trail has enlisted Indigenous Curatorial Advisors Uncle Graham Toomey and Aunty Joanne Selfe to help connect the artists to the Whale Story, as well as to the Gadigal and Saltwater Country that the exhibition will grace. "Traditionally, the whale holds within it intricate Aboriginal knowledge systems, a complex tapestry of science, of knowledge that interweaves with cultural and social practice," said Aunty Joanne. "The sculptures will feature the ancient tracks that connect the clans to each other and the sharing of stories and culture," said Uncle Graham. [caption id="attachment_804445" align="alignnone" width="1920"] James Horan; Destination NSW[/caption] After the event's six-week run, the sculptures will be auctioned, with net proceeds given to The Kids Cancer Project. If you're keen on one while you're taking the walk, you can also put in an expression of interest during the trail's dates. Sydney's Waterfront Whale Tales will run between Thursday, August 11–Saturday, September 24 along the city's Western Harbour waterfront from Barangaroo to Sydney Fish Market. For more information, head to the exhibition's website.
Warwick Thornton, Cate Blanchett, Deborah Mailman, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis: name a better Australian quintet. The director of Samson & Delilah and Sweet Country, the two-time Oscar-winner and recent Tár tour de force, the local screen mainstay, and the Bad Seeds bandmates and seasoned film composers all combine not for the ultimate Aussie dinner party, but for The New Boy. None are debuting in their jobs. All are exceptional. They're each made better, however, by the luminous and entrancing Aswan Reid. As well as playing the titular part, the 11-year-old first-time actor lives it among such a wealth of acclaimed and experienced talent — and he's such a find in such excellent company, while saying little in words but everything in every other way, that Thornton's third fictional feature owes him as much of a debt as its applauded and awarded household names. There's a spark to Reid from the moment that he's first spied grappling with outback law enforcement under blazing rays as Cave and Ellis' (This Much I Know to Be True) latest rousing score plays. His sun-bleached hair couldn't be more fitting, or symbolic, but it's the confident way in which he holds himself as New Boy, plus the determined look on his face, that sears. Wily and wiry, the feature's eponymous figure is toppled by a boomerang, then bagged up and transported to the remote Catholic orphanage doted on by Sister Eileen (Blanchett, Nightmare Alley) in the 1940s. The cop doing the escorting notes that the kid is a bolter, but the nun is just as fast in her kindness. She sees what Thornton wants his audience to see: a boy that beams with his presence and through his sense of self, even though he's been snatched up, taken from his Country and forced into a Christian institution against his will. Sister Eileen is as drawn to him as the movie, but — and not just due to the red wine she likes sipping and the subterfuge she's keeping up about the resident father's absence — she isn't as certain about what to do. The path that any new arrival at the monastery is supposed to follow is preordained: uniforms, a dorm bed, porridge, helping in the fields, obedience and church. New Boy barely subscribes, donning only shorts, sleeping on the floor and cutting in front in the food line, which Sister Eileen permits. The abbey's two other adults, the nurturing Sister Mum (Mailman, Total Control) and farmhand George (Wayne Blair, Seriously Red), are welcoming yet know the reality that's facing all of the boys in their care, particularly the First Nations kids. In the priest's name, Sister Eileen might write letters to the government urging them not to send her charges away when they're considered old enough to work — the endgame to the state, especially with the Second World War impacting labour — but Sister Mum and George are lived proof that acquiescing and assimilating is the only outcome that will be accepted. There's a spark to the new boy, too, and literally. He's meant to pray away his Indigenous spirituality in the name of dutiful conformity, and in favour of Christianity, but the faith and culture that's as old as Australia's Traditional Owners glows. He's curious, though, including about the ornate, life-sized wooden cross that's sent from France for safekeeping during the war. He wants to undo its nails, free Jesus from crucifixion and give it the property's snakes as gifts. As Thornton peppers in religious imagery, New Boy displays more in common with its carved figurine than Sister Eileen knows how to handle. This is a tale of survival and, while always its namesake's story first and foremost, it also sees two sides to it: the First Nations lad ripped away from all he knows, as well as the nun that's gone renegade within a system that sees her as lesser because she's a woman. Writing and directing — as he did with Samson & Delilah, but not Sweet Country — Kaytetye man Thornton takes inspiration from his own experience as a child sent to a missionary boarding school ran by Spanish monks. In the process, he makes a moving and needfully blunt statement about the clash that's too often been enforced upon the country's First Peoples since colonisation. Indeed, simmering with anger but also hope, The New Boy is a clear, unshakeable rebuttal of the perennially ridiculous idea that only one faith, culture or way of life can exist. And, crucially, it feels as personal as Thornton's work gets; he isn't in front of the lens as he was with the also-remarkable The Beach, where he charted his own escape away from the incessant hustle and bustle of modern life, but the sensation that emanates from the screen is overwhelmingly the same. Thornton works as his own cinematographer on The New Boy, another trademark touch — see also: anthology film The Darkside, documentary We Don't Need a Map, plus the episodic Mystery Road and Firebite — which allows him to load every inch of every immaculate frame with deep and blistering emotion. There's no such thing as a passive image anywhere in any film by any director, but Thornton's beautifully shot movies ensure that his viewers can't evade the landscape that's been forever changed by white settlement. Here, he roves over the plains outside of South Australia's Burra, where every structure for the feature was erected from scratch, and where shimmering yellow fields of wheat grow atop the ochre earth that's been inhabited by Indigenous Australians for thousands of years. He sees how the terrain has been reshaped, but never forgets who was there first. With his oh-so-perceptive eye, Thornton's visuals stunningly do what New Boy does: expresses everything with little speaking necessary. In her first on-screen role in a solely Australian film since 2013's The Turning, Blanchett talks, of course. Where much of the picture around her bubbles with loaded patience, and Reid's innate naturalism, The New Boy's biggest star is the storm amid the deceiving calm. Consumed by her struggles with her own faith while tasked with instilling it into her charges, and also now challenged by the new boy that defies her sense of logic, Sister Eileen rarely stops moving, fretting, surveying, asserting, preaching and confessing — and Blanchett is magnetic to behold. That said, it's a performance with a needed counterbalance. Without Reid's serenity, Blanchett might've come on too strong. Without Reid, too, the fact that the eponymous character's quest to endure is tinged with hard-won optimism amid its palpable fury mightn't have shone through. No matter what happens, or how rarely he's accepted for who he is, New Boy always persists.
Over the past decade, streaming has become a firm part of every film and TV fan's life — providing more viewing choices, more places to find movies and television shows, and more excuses to spend hours and hours on the couch. But, it has also sparked a familiar dilemma. Too often, thanks to all of the options available, it's easy to while more time deciding what to check out next than actually watching something. Netflix is planning to release a solution to this problem in 2021, via a new feature. Due to rollout globally across the platform in the first half of the year, it's basically a shuffle function — and will automatically pick something for you to watch, rather than letting you keep scrolling and scrolling (and scrolling) trying to make a decision. The streaming platform revealed the news as part of its latest update to investors about its 2020 earnings, noting that the feature "gives members the ability to choose to instantly watch a title chosen just for them". Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer Greg Peters said that the function would allow Netflix subscribers to indicate "that they just want to skip browsing entirely, click one button and we'll pick a title for them just to instantly play". Obviously, it seems that Netflix will be drawing upon its algorithm — as aided by your past viewing choices — to take your viewing choices out of your hands. It won't be called "I'm feeling lucky", Peters also noted, but that's the approach it'll be asking subscribers to go with in terms of finding something to watch next. The company has been testing this type of functionality in various forms over the past few years — and the concept is hardly new, as users of music streaming services know. In France at the end of 2020, Netflix also trialled a linear channel, which just played films and shows one after the other in the way that broadcast television does; however, Peters said that it is currently "unclear how that's going to work out". The idea behind these new features — whether they're just being trialled, or they're due to become permanent — is to keep people watching and encourage more folks to join up as subscribers, of course. More and more new streaming services pop up all the time, all vying for your eyeballs, or so it feels at least. That's also the reason that Netflix introduced its Top Ten lists in 2020, if you've been wondering why the platform started telling you that everyone was watching Tiger King, The Queen's Gambit and The Midnight Sky. Netflix's new shuffle feature is due to launch sometime in the first half of 2021 — we'll update you when more details are announced.
Capers can be one of many different things depending on when you visit. On weeknights, it's a wine bar and restaurant suitable for parents. On Friday and Saturday nights, it morphs into the place to be for Gen Zs, which makes sense when you consider that cousins and co-owners Christian Evripidou and Anastasios Konnari opened it as a youthful alternative to old-school Greek tavernas. The interiors have the cosy, lived-in feel of a house, while the sun-dappled courtyard is a dreamy in summery months. The homestyle food menu is divided into 'meze' (small plates that comprise things like marinated olives, grilled halloumi and Cypriot sausages) and 'piata' (larger plates that include the likes of spanakorizo, pastitsio and the famed dakos salad). In a nod to its inner north patrons, there's a vegan moussaka with dairy-free bechamel and mushrooms in place of mince. Wines from Greece and Cyprus occupy primacy alongside a few local varieties, while cocktails incorporate Greek liqueurs and ingredients like traditional spirit skinos mastiha, plomari ouzo and Anglias Cypriot brandy to spin magical numbers like the Greek Salad Martini, a combination you didn't know you needed but won't regret trying. There are also beers, speciality spirits and non-alcoholic options.
It was only in the '90s that the sage Cher Horowitz said "So, okay, I don't wanna be a traitor to my generation and all, but I don't get how guys dress today. I mean, c'mon, it looks like they just fell out of bed and put on some baggy pants and take their greasy hair (ew) and cover it up with a backwards cap and, like, we're expected to swoon? I don't think so!" Although these were years with many charms (grunge, Yoho Diablos, etc), we feel blessed to now be into the 2010s, where men are free and willing to shower, blow the occasional pay cheque on dapper duds and experiment with wacky sartorial choices, like colour. There are plenty of shopping destinations in Melbourne to encourage your haberdashery habit, but a few do it more stylishly than others. These are our picks of the best menswear boutiques fit for a new-age dandy, an old-fashioned brute and something in between. Incu If you live in Melbourne you're probably already a frenzied Incu evangelist, likely to froth at the mouth and start speaking in tongues at the very mention of twin brothers Brian and Vincent Wu, the men behind the myth, who as it stands are actually far too normal and nice to be cult leaders in the weird, non-fashion sense of the word. What might come as news to you is that late last year the Flinders Lane store was joined by a new outpost that took up residence right across the way from the QV women's store. Now the two siblings can stare out lovingly at one another all day as numbed office workers walking by shovel sushi into their mouths and drool at the window displays featuring the likes of A.P.C, Norse Projects, Saturdays Surf and Incu's in-house label, Weathered. Shop 6A, 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, 03 9663 9933; Shop ACL9, QV, Albert Coates Lane, Melbourne, 03 9662 3730; incuclothing.com Up There This one might not be number one, but it's, you guessed it, Up There! Calling a clothing store what you say when you see sky writing made sense for the original store, which was situated above ground on McKillop Street, but since the South Melbourne sibling, which opened late last year, lies firmly on street level amidst the steaming dim sim enjoying locals, it’s just downright silly. Forgive them that small oversight and the charming shop boys (who also double as fashion bloggers) will woo you with literal fancy pants (and other items of clothing) by Yuketen, Norse Projects, Bleu De Paname, Monitaly and more. Heck, they'll even repair your pants when you inevitably split them in a humiliating fashion. Level 1, 15 McKillop Street, Melbourne, 03 9670 6225; 224 Clarendon Street, South Melbourne, 03 9690 5226; uptherestore.com Customer Just like Incu's Wu brothers, Alexander and Tim Britten-Finschi are super-stylish siblings who live, socialise, design and run a menswear store together. Heck, they may as well have been born conjoined, although that may have hindered the sewing process somewhat. The duo's Flinders Lane store is filled with a hi-lo blend of wares by Pageant, Christopher Esber, Song for the Mute and the boys' own label From Britten, which recently received the coveted L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival's National Designer Award. We presume that as children, their mum, fashion designer Linda Britten, dressed them in threads so fine they'd make Suri hang her head in shame — fashion's in their blood. Level 6, 289 Flinders Lane, Melbourne; customerstore.com.au Aussie Disposals Although it's not exclusively a menswear store, there is something that really gets the pheromones going about a chap decked out in a military jacket who looks like he could yield a Swiss army knife like Bear Grylls whilst pitching a tent with his spare hand. Approach this store with caution though, as the overzealous shopper is likely to emerge wearing a legionnaires hat, zip-off pants and a high-visibility vest that screams 'unhinged' rather than the desired 'doing camo with aplomb'. You have been warned. Multiple locations; aussiedisposals.com.au Handsom According to their website, Handsom "make nice clothes" — plain and simple. While that statement is true, it kind of sells the label's artfully speckled chambray shirts, slim-cut woollen slacks that cannot be described as anything less than dapper and delightful cardigans that look fit for Paddington Bear himself and make you want to snuggle into them and breathe in the wearer's presumably oaky scent short. They make flipping fantastic clothes (for the fairer sex, too) is more like it! 163 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, 03 9078 7306; handsom.com.au Someday Store Stumble into Someday and you could be forgiven for thinking you've teleported to a leading flagship concept store in Tokyo or New York, until you wander to the nearby stairwell to be slapped in the face with the heady scent of fish and stale beer wafting upstairs from the Toff. No such luck, you're in Curtin House, princess. That doesn't seem so bad when you’re surrounded by a superbly curated selection of wares by the likes of Neighbourhood, White Mountaineering, Visvim and of course PAM, the fashion label by the store's co-owners and real-life partners in crime and covetable items, Misha Hollenbach (Perks) and Shauna Toohey (Mini). Not a pair to be limited in anything they do, alongside menswear the duo has filled Someday with girls' get-up, rare books, music and miscellaneous collector's items. Level 3, Curtin House, 252 Swanston Street, Melbourne, 03 9654 6458; somedaystore.com Images via incuclothing.com, uptherestore.com, From Britten, handsom.com.au, somedaystore.com
It's with vibrant detail that Coco bursts onto cinema screens. A tale of following your heart while honouring your family, Pixar's latest effort is both a colourful sight to behold and an exuberant journey; a film exploding with dazzling visual and emotional fireworks. Within frames heaving with intricacy, there's never a dull moment as the movie sashays from modern-day Mexico to the Land of the Dead during the country's Dîa de los Muertos celebrations. Often it's the little things that stand out, from the grain of the many flowers never far from view, to the weathered skeleton bones that literally dance through the streets, to the melancholy look on an old woman's face. That's the animation studio's forte, of course. It's the reason their talking toys filled us with joy, that their rodent chefs charmed us, and their feelings with feelings left us in tears. As Toy Story, Ratatouille and Inside Out all demonstrated, their films might paint with pixels rather than living people, but they vibrate with the texture of reality. Coco fits the mould perfectly, at once a lovingly realised venture into several new worlds and a familiar mosey through Pixar's usual terrain. What if the dead had feelings is just one of the questions it asks. What if we confronted our own feelings about death is another. Helmed by studio veteran Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3) with writer and first-time co-director Adrian Molina at his side, Coco takes its name from the grandmother of 12-year-old Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez). While she sits quietly through the last phase of her life, still yearning for the father she lost when she was a girl, he dreams of being a musician, but is forbidden by his music-hating family. Their reasons for this stem from personal tragedy, but it's not enough to stop Miguel from strumming his guitar. His desperation to retrace the footsteps of his entertainer hero (Benjamin Bratt) eventually leads him beyond the mortal coil, on a quest to find his great-great-grandfather and win his musical blessing. If Alice in Wonderland had followed a Mexican boy chasing his dreams, or if Marty McFly had taken the DeLorean through the barrier between life and death, Coco might very well have been the end result. The spirit of these youthful adventures seeps through this film, in a manner that proves delightful rather than derivative. Indeed, this is a story about remembering your past even as you step into the future. As well as following Pixar's own tried and true template, the script weaves its influences into a moving escapade bearing the expected touches, but never failing to surprise. That remains true even if you've seen The Book of Life, the outwardly similar 2014 animated effort that also sees its characters frolicking through the Mexican afterlife. It mightn't be the first family-friendly feature to play in this territory, or the first to explore the conflict between ambition and responsibility. Nevertheless, Coco enchants with warmth and authenticity from start to finish. In fact, as bright as its images shine, as high as its heartfelt emotions soar, and as perfectly as its voice cast fill their roles — including Gael García Bernal stealing scenes as a dead prankster — it's the film's embrace of its setting and culture that truly makes it sing. This isn't Pixar playing tourist south of the border, but paying tribute: to people, songs, lives and beliefs. The gorgeous detail that infuses every frame is a testament to seeing what others often don't, and it couldn't encapsulate Coco's beauty better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DIm1PyBSwc
One tells of a woman seeking passion instead of a loveless marriage. The other follows star-crossed lovers held back by their respective families' long-simmering feud. Beloved on the page, and rarely far away from a screen or stage, they're two of the most famous stories of the past few centuries. And, both Anna Karenina and Romeo and Juliet are among the big highlights of the Australian Ballet's just-announced 2022 season. Anna Karenina will kick off the Australian Ballet's year with stints in Melbourne (from February 25–March 9) and Sydney (April 5–23). Here, in a co-production with the Joffrey Ballet that had its world premiere in Chicago in 2019 and then debuted locally in Adelaide this year, Leo Tolstoy's masterpiece comes alive with ex-Bolshoi Ballet dancer Yuri Possokhov's choreography. The story remains the same, with its eponymous figure seeking happiness but finding ruin — but you can expect quite the sweeping and sensuous production. Dancing with the Bard, the Australian Ballet's version of Romeo and Juliet will then close out its 2022, with Shakespeare's most famous duo also taking to the stage in Melbourne (October 7–18) and Sydney (December 1–21). Clearly, there's nothing like bookending a year with two stone-cold classics. John Cranko's production has been regular in the company's repertoire ever since it premiered back in 1974, in fact, and will again turn medieval Verona into a sumptuous onstage realm — all set to a score by Sergei Prokofiev that dates back to 1935. [caption id="attachment_830095" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Pierre Toussaint[/caption] Both Anna Karenina and Romeo and Juliet were originally meant to be highlights of the Australian Ballet's 2021 season, but we all know how this year has turned out. Also in the same camp: Harlequinade, a comedy by Marius Petipa, who choreographed Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. It'll bring its story of young lovers Harlequin and Columbine to Melbourne only (from June 17–25). As well as this rescheduled trio, plenty of other highlights will pirouettes across the stage, including Kunstkamer, which was created at Nederlands Dans Theater and has never before been performed by another company; and triple bill Instruments of Dance, which includes a nine-part ballet designed for 25 dancers and set to a score by Sufjan Stevens. And, there's also Counterpointe, which'll take its focus on ballet's extremes to Adelaide only — plus a regional program that'll tour Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and the Northern Territory. [caption id="attachment_830092" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Pierre Toussaint[/caption] THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET 2022 SEASON: Anna Karenina: February 25–March 29 at Arts Centre Melbourne; April 5–23 at the Sydney Opera House. Kunstkamer: April 29–May 15 at the Sydney Opera House; June 3–11 at Arts Centre Melbourne. Harlequinade: June 17–25 at Arts Centre Melbourne. Counterpointe: July 7–13 at Adelaide Festival Centre. Instruments of Dance: September 23–October 1 at Arts Centre Melbourne; November 10–26 at the Sydney Opera House. Romeo and Juliet: October 7–18 at Arts Centre Melbourne; December 1–21 at the Sydney Opera House. Season packages for the Australian Ballet's 2022 Sydney and Melbourne performances go on sale from 12.01am on Wednesday, October 27. For further details, head to the Australian Ballet website. Top image: Simon Eeles.
If your sandwich obsession is rivalled only by your love of a top-notch cuppa, you'll find plenty to like about one recent culinary addition to Melbourne Arts Precinct. Having made its home on Kavanagh Street at the end of last year, OlMate's is a new sanga and coffee joint that's already earned itself a loyal following of brekkie and lunch fans. This one's the brainchild of Reverence Coffee Roasters' Andreas and Annie Martinu, along with Martin Mcevoy and Nicholas Tan. And with Palermo Head Chef Michael Dalton helping steer the menu, it's got some chops. Decked out in fresh green and white, OlMate's is celebrating the beauty in simplicity with a short-but-sweet food offering matched to quality Reverence coffee. Sandwich fiends can expect well-crafted, refreshed classics like the Big Tuna — a riff on the tuna melt featuring nori aioli and provolone on Tuscan-style flatbread — plus the plant-based roast cauliflower roll with green chilli sauce, and a hot egg salad brekkie muffin. The roast beef sanga heroes spice-crusted meat, mint and coriander chutney, and comes paired with a rogan josh dipping sauce. And a hefty salad sandwich teams beetroot, sprouts and other goodies with either lemon roast chicken or vegan-friendly crushed chickpeas. Sips by Reverence showcase the roaster's Lion Tamer blend alongside a rotating single-origin batch brew, with a fun illustration of co-owner Andreas gracing the statement green takeaway coffee cups. Otherwise, you can match your feed with an icy beer from the likes of Bodriggy, Hop Nation or Balter. Find OlMate's at 20 Kavanagh Street, Southbank — open from 7am–2.30pm weekdays and from 8am–2.30pm Saturdays.
With international borders regulated — and looking to stay that way for a while — a trip to Europe is a pipe dream at this point, but you don't actually need to leave Australia to feel like you've left the country. Right here in our own backyard, we have white sand beaches rivalling those on the Mediterranean, wineries that wouldn't be out of place in the rolling hills of Tuscany, quaint fishing towns similar to port villages you'd find in Ireland (and Normal People) and hotels in underground caves like those in Turkey. Go ahead and start dreaming, these trips may not be as far off as you think. [caption id="attachment_720252" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Vasse Felix by Tourism WA[/caption] FOR TUSCAN WINERIES, VISIT MARGARET RIVER IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA While Australia is home to heaps of wine regions, one of the most idyllic is Margaret River. Located a three hours' drive from Perth, it's one of the most isolated wine regions in the world. And, its maritime-influenced climate and rich soils make it perfect for grape growing, as well as feel like the old-world vineyards of Italy and southern France. Margaret River's principal grape many varieties you'd find in French terroirs, include cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, chardonnay, semillon and sauvignon blanc; while a number of wineries also use Italian grapes such as vermentino, sangiovese and fiano. The region is home to over 90 cellar doors and has wineries ranging from the well-established Vasse Felix to the rule-breaking Blind Corner. To add to the European atmosphere of your trip, rent a villa set among those rolling vineyards. [caption id="attachment_782264" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Adam Bruzzone via SATC[/caption] FOR TURKEY'S CAVE HOTELS, VISIT COOBER PEDY IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA The desert surrounds of Coober Pedy are best known for two things: opals and villages located underground. After the discovery of opals, many miners descended on the outback town and dug their homes into the landscape to escape the heat. It's unlike anything else you've ever seen — unless, of course, you've been to the Turkish region of Cappadocia. Also known for its cave dwellings and impressive rock formations, Cappadocia bears an uncanny resemblance to this South Australian counterpart. Which makes a lot of sense — approximately 60 percent of Coober Pedy's tiny 2500 population has southern and eastern European heritage. To this day, about half of the opal capital's population live in homes that are excavated into hillsides. When you visit, you can stay in one, too, thanks to plenty of underground cave accommodation, including this Airbnb stay. [caption id="attachment_782390" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Robert Blackburn via Visit Victoria[/caption] FOR QUAINT IRISH VILLAGES, VISIT PORT FAIRY IN VICTORIA Live out your Normal People fantasies at the charming fishing village of Port Fairy. Think old stone churches, cottages built in the 1800s and greenery abound. Set along the Great Ocean Road, this coastal town reminds you of Ireland for a reason. The town's original name was actually Belfast, named after the hometown of one of the early European settlers. Many Irish immigrants settled here in the mid 19th century and their influence is still evident today thanks to over 50 heritage buildings that are protected by the National Trust. And, much like the Republic of Ireland's coastal town Sligo, the filming location of Normal People, you'll find rolling green hills, quiet beaches and buildings rich in history. [caption id="attachment_784301" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] FOR GREEK ISLAND BEACHES, VISIT GRANITE BAY IN QUEENSLAND Warm turquoise waters, secluded swimming holes and long stretches of sand await you at Granite Bay, located within Noosa National Park. You could easily use that exact same description to depict the stunning coastal beaches of Greece, but since you can't make it to the likes of Zakynthos or Milos right now, opt instead for Noosa's fairy pools. These natural tide pools lie between basalt rock and are as dazzling as any you'll find on the Greek Islands. There are also sandstone caves, walking tracks and lookout points to enjoy here. Granite Bay has one perk over Greece, too: its renowned surf. [caption id="attachment_784203" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tilba Festival[/caption] FOR OLD-WORLD UK TOWNS, VISIT CENTRAL TILBA IN NEW SOUTH WALES The National Trust-classified village of Central Tilba is nestled in the foothills of Mount Gulaga and will transport you back in time — or to the many old-world villages that dot the rural areas of the United Kingdom. The lush backdrop is matched by the town's heritage-listed cottages, artisan shops and quaint growers markets. The region's architecture and bucolic landscapes will make you think you're road tripping around Scotland, not New South Wales. And it also has the added benefit of striking coastal views. FOR BAVARIAN BIER HALLS, VISIT HAHNDORF IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA Few Aussie locations hit the European vibes as on the nose as the South Australian town of Hahndorf. It's Australia's oldest German settlement, made rather obvious by the Bavarian name. Settled in the 1800s by Lutheran migrants, the small town's German-style architecture is matched by its many German pubs, restaurants and shops. If you want to learn more about the town's history and culture on your visit, head to the Hahndorf Academy, which houses the German Migration Museum. Or travel a bit north of town where you can find the artist studio of German-born painter Sir Hans Heysen. The entire region feels like something out of a folktale. [caption id="attachment_797856" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Vijay Chennupati via Flickr[/caption] FOR PROVINCIAL BLOOMS, VISIT BRIDESTOWE LAVENDER FARM, TASMANIA You don't need to travel to Provence, France to explore the famed lavender fields found there. Tasmania is home to its very own bucolic lavender offering, and it was founded with proper French blossoms at that. That's thanks to London perfumer CK Denny, who migrated to Tasmania in 1921 with a packet of French Alps lavandula angustifolia seeds in his pocket. Bridestowe Estate is set on 260-acres of Nabowla farmland, about 45-minutes' drive northeast of Launceston. The region's climate is rather similar to Provence, and now produces some of the finest lavender the world has to offer. If the expansive, bright purple views aren't enough to draw you here, the soothing bath products will. FOR THE AZURE WATERS OF MALTA, VISIT FOR COCOS KEELING ISLANDS OFF THE COAST OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA Why go to the blissful Mediterranean archipelago of Malta when you can find true paradise right here in Australia? The Indian Ocean boasts its own group of islands that you'll never want to leave. Instead of overlooking the North African Coast, embrace the azure waters of the Cocos Keeling Islands, an Australian territory roughly a six hours flight from Perth. Both locations offer some of the best diving in the world, with abundant marine life unique to the area. Not to mention plenty of other water sports to choose from and, in Cocos Keeling's case, 25 uninhabited islands to explore. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy. Top image: Vijay Chennupati via Flickr
Melbourne's summer might not last forever, but you can bank on some year-round tropical feels at The Luwow's new CBD tiki bar. After five years shaking colourful cocktails and playing retro tunes on Fitzroy's Johnston Street, followed by a bit of a hiatus, the much-loved venue moved into new digs in the city late last year. It's now bringing the party vibes to Little Collins Street, in a space that's a little more intimate, but every bit as lively as the original. Here, owners Skipper Josh Collins and Barbara Blaze — also behind Perth's Hula Bula Bar and Devilles Pad, and new Sunshine Coast resort The Luwow Lodge — have created yet another high-voltage, kitschy hideaway. It's filled with hand-carved totem poles, jungle plants, leopard print and bamboo, as well as treasures picked up from across the South Pacific. Vintage sounds plucked from the duo's own collection of vinyl deliver a toe-tapping mix of rock 'n' roll, ska, surf, exotica and 60s garage, while DJs work the decks each weekend. [caption id="attachment_762096" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tracey Ah-kee[/caption] Following in the footsteps of its predecessor, The Luwow 2.0 is whipping up a bold cocktail menu of rum-heavy drinks, many crafted with natural sweeteners like organic coconut blossom nectar. You'll find concoctions like a gutsy mai tai, the flaming share-sized Voodoo Volcano and the Don Zombie — a blend of rum, pink grapefruit, star anise, pomegranate and cinnamon. Fancy some holiday-style drink prices? The daily happy hour (4–6pm) offers a slew of $10 tiki cocktails, along with pints of Red Stripe lager for an easy $7 a pop. Like the space itself, the food offering here comes chock full of pan-Pacific flavour. Try corn tortillas topped with the likes of slow-roasted pork shoulder and salsa verde, an Oaxacan cheese quesadilla or the mulitas — a crispy corn taco sandwich loaded with cheese, guacamole and your choice of fillings. [caption id="attachment_762095" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tracey Ah-kee[/caption] Of course, the tiki bar concept isn't without controversy. With cultural appropriation, colonial nostalgia and exploitative use of First Nations peoples' iconography and tradition at its core, the concept is often seen as exploitative, offensive and problematic. In many Pacific Islander communities, a tiki is a deity. In tiki-themed bars, it's a kitschy drinking vessel. Others insist, however, that tiki bars aren't meant to be taken too seriously — that we should instead focus on its fun side and drink that mai tai. Perhaps 2020 will be a turning point for how we view tiki bars, collectively. Find The Luwow at 212 Little Collins Street, Melbourne. It's open 4pm—midnight Monday—Thursday and 4.30pm–1am Friday–Saturday. Images: Tracey Ah-kee
It has finally happened, Melburnians. After two prolonged periods spent empty this year, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Melbourne picture palaces are back in business. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made over the past three months, including new releases, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer from this week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_jjELPpKkk HAPPIEST SEASON Heading home for the holidays and stepping into a sea of interpersonal dramas is a familiar on-screen set-up, as a new movie every Christmas or so reminds us. By now, then, we all know the formula. Adult children make the pilgrimage to their parents' place, rivalries and animosities flare up, secrets are spilled, chaos ensues and, by the end of the film's running time, everyone has learned something. Happiest Season fits the template perfectly. With the merriest time of the year in full swing, the Caldwells converge on the Pennsylvanian family home, with their celebrations given an extra edge due to patriarch Ted's (Victor Garber, Dark Waters) mayoral campaign. His fastidious wife Tipper (Mary Steenburgen, The Book Club) insists on snapping every moment for his Instagram feed, all as stern eldest daughter Sloane (Alison Brie, GLOW) arrives with her husband (Burl Moseley, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), two children (Asiyih and Anis N'Dobe) and plenty of unspoken tension in tow; zany middle sister and aspiring fantasy writer Jane (Mary Holland, Between Two Ferns: The Movie) is largely ignored; and Pittsburgh-based political journalist Harper (Mackenzie Davis, Irresistible) returns with the girlfriend, Abby (Kristen Stewart, Charlie's Angels), that none of her relatives know about because she hasn't come out to them yet. If someone other than The Faculty, Girl, Interrupted, Veep and The Handmaid's Tale actor-turned-filmmaker Clea DuVall had made Happiest Season, the above paragraph would accurately reflect the feature's character hierarchy — because Sloane would take centre stage, and Harper and Abby would hover around the narrative's edges. But DuVall did make Happiest Season and, with co-writer Holland, she flips the movie's focus, even while still sticking with a well-worn general premise. Accordingly, this festive flick resembles a comfy sweater that often gets a wear, but seems welcomely different on this particular occasion. It shouldn't be so subversive to take an overused genre that's heavy on recognisable tropes, then strip away the engrained heteronormativity, but it is. Amid the sibling struggles, the re-emergence of old flames both male (Jake McDorman, What We Do in the Shadows) and female (Aubrey Plaza, Parks and Recreation), and the always hectic whirlwind that surrounds every seasonal family affair — and every attempt to run for political office, too — Happiest Season also explores two crucial themes in a meaningful way. First, it unpacks the performative nature of human existence, where too often we're all trying to match other people's perceptions and expectations without consistently remaining true to ourselves. And, it also interrogates how coming out isn't a simple or straightforward act, even in seemingly loving circumstances. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97nnV0fNd30&feature=youtu.be AMERICAN UTOPIA There may be no catchier lyric in music history than "same as it ever was", the five words repeated in Talking Heads' 1981 single 'Once in a Lifetime'. As uttered again and again by the band's inimitable frontman David Byrne, it's a looping phrase that burrows into your skull and never leaves. So when American Utopia opens with the musician sat at a table holding a brain and talking about what its various parts do, it feels as if Byrne is acknowledging what everyone already knows in the deepest recesses of their consciousness: that Byrne long ago got cosy in our craniums and has been nattering away to us ever since. As he stares at grey matter while wearing a grey suit — a perfectly fitting one, unlike the famed big number he wore in iconic 1984 Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense — he has something else on his mind, however. American Utopia starts with the part of our bodies where we all mentally reside, but slowly and smartly evolves from the cerebral to the communal. It segues from one man alone on a stage lost in his own thoughts to 12 people singing, dancing, playing instruments and connecting, and also pondering the state of the world and how to better it in the process. And it takes its titular concept seriously along the way, confronting America's political and social divisions in Byrne's witty, wise and impassioned between-song chats, but never satirising the idea that the US could be improved to the benefit of everyone. American Utopia is a concert film like its predecessor but, as that masterpiece proved, the whole notion means more to Byrne than merely standing in front of a camera and busting out well-known hits.From the sublimely soothing 'This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)' to the punchier 'Burning Down the House', plenty of Byrne's best-known songs do grace American Utopia. 'Once in a Lifetime' is among them, of course, as are 'Road to Nowhere' and 'Everybody's Coming to My House', with the film's playlist spanning his career with Talking Heads and solo. Across a range of styles and tempos, each track is a wonder, and not just in the way that fans already know. As should be obvious from the way in which Byrne has conceptualised this stage performance — which he toured in 2018, then adapted for Broadway in 2019, and has now turned into this standout movie directed by Spike Lee — this is a meticulously crafted work. Basking in the glory of Byrne and his band is inevitable and would happen regardless, but soaking in everything that American Utopia does is another marvel entirely. Before the film forces you to do so, you probably won't have realised how enlivening, wondrous and cathartic it is to see the act of connecting so firmly thrust to the fore. It takes an incredible amount of work to make something so tightly constructed seem so loose and natural, and that's just one of the reasons that American Utopia is yet another of the star's masterpieces. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFqCTIdF7rs&feature=youtu.be POSSESSOR In Possessor, technology permits assassins to hijack the bodies of people close to their targets, letting them assume not just their identities but their physical presence to fulfil their murderous missions. Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough, The Grudge) is one such killer, and she is so exacting and accomplished at her job that her no-nonsense boss and handler Girder (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Annihilation) keeps trying to push her further. Such work comes with consequences, though, with Tasya slowly estranging herself from her husband (Rossif Sutherland, Catastrophe) and young son (Gage Graham-Arbuthnot, Becky). During the luridly shot undertaking that opens the movie and the assignment that the often neon-hued flick spends the bulk of its time on, Tasya also begins to realise that separating herself from the folks she's temporarily inhabiting is becoming difficult. In the first job, Tasya's consciousness takes over a woman called Holly (Gabrielle Graham, On the Basis of Sex) to gun down a high-flying lawyer at a swanky hotel party. Every mission should end with extraction via suicide — the possessed person's, as forced by the possessor, who then returns to their own bag of bones, flesh and blood — but Tasya can't pull the trigger on her host body. When she's later sent into Colin (Christopher Abbott, Vox Lux), the fiancé of the daughter (Tuppence Middleton, Mank) of a ruthless business mogul (Sean Bean, Snowpiercer), she similarly struggles to retain control. As depicted in gory detail, being able to stick a probe into your head and mind-hop into someone else's may be pure science fiction, but writer/director Brandon Cronenberg intentionally apes The Matrix when he shows how the tech behind his premise operates. Our present analogues to Possessor's body-jumping concept exist in the online world, virtual reality, avatars, catfishing, trolling and even just anonymous commenting while you're tapping at your keyboard or phone, and this film makes it ferociously clear that it all has a significant cost. Cronenberg isn't just taking cues from his father David — whose 1999 film eXistenZ, also starring Jason Leigh, toyed in somewhat similar territory — or from a beloved sci-fi franchise. As many works that reflect upon humanity's true nature via dystopian futures tend to, the writer/director adds an entry to both the body horror and science fiction canons that seems like it might've appeared in a feverish dream after a life spent consuming those exact types of tales. But Possessor also always feels like a unique creation, and never a film puppeteered by its influences in the same way that Tasya pulls the strings of her marks. Cronenberg's feature boasts far too much of its own chilliness, daring and determination, as well as the filmmaker's fondness for particularly gruesome imagery, to merely be the sum of its various sources of inspiration. Possessor also has its own wellspring of nihilism pumping through its veins, not only tackling big notions in a bold and ultra-violent way, but proving deeply, gut-wrenchingly, existentially dark. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp3WjuJJYB8 MISBEHAVIOUR The fact that it took 50 years to bring Misbehaviour's true tale to the screen is nothing less than remarkable. Following the protests staged by the women's liberation movement at the 1970 Miss World Pageant in London, it harks back to a noteworthy and important chapter of history — so much so that you would've expected filmmakers to have been clamouring to give it the cinematic treatment. A plethora of compelling topics are baked into this story, after all, including calling out the gross sexism inherent in objectifying women and ascribing their worth according to their looks, questioning society's narrow view of beauty and making plain the racial prejudice that's also frequently in play. But you don't need a movie about all of the above to tell you the obvious, and also the reason that a film about this incident hasn't existed until now. Much may have changed in the past half-century, but the feminist quest for recognition, fairness and equality in every way isn't over yet. Indeed, it's galling how many of Misbehaviour's observations about the way women are treated — and how women of colour fare on top of that — continue to ring true in 2020. Director Philippa Lowthorpe (Swallows and Amazons) and screenwriters Rebecca Frayn (The Lady) and Gaby Chiappe (Their Finest) are eager to pay tribute to pioneering feminists, but they're also very keen to make a feel-good, cheer-inducing movie that fits a clear formula. So it is that a seemly mismatched group comes together, united by the shared goal of improving how women are regarded by society, and decides to target the giant, glitzy and televised spectacle that is the Miss World Pageant — which 100 million people will watch. The two main instigators, aspiring history academic Sally Alexander (Keira Knightley, Official Secrets) and graffiti-spraying anarchist Jo Robinson (Jessie Buckley, I'm Thinking of Ending Things), are initially worlds apart, but squaring off against a common enemy has a way of bringing people together. Also earning the film's attention: contestant Jennifer Hosten (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Farming), pageant founder Eric Morley (Rhys Ifans, Berlin Station) and the year's host Bob Hope (Greg Kinnear, Strange But True). The result is a rousing, overt and easy movie that ticks all the boxes it has placed on its own checklist, but doesn't do anything more — and it definitely could. Getting caught up in Misbehaviour's plot, purpose and impressively staged climax is almost a foregone conclusion. Being happy that it's hitting screens and telling this tale at all after all of these years is as well. But so is knowing that this is the most standard and clearcut rendering of this story possible. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tibarzGOUSk LET HIM GO Hell hath no fury like a grieving mother and grandmother in Let Him Go, an involving drama that shows that few actors can convey quiet anger and unflinching determination quite like Diane Lane. The Unfaithful and Under the Tuscan Sun star plays Margaret Blackledge, a Montana rancher with a way with horses, and with strong, silent ex-sheriff George (Kevin Costner, Yellowstone) for a husband. Soon after the family's rural idyll is first established, she not only loses her adult son (Ryan Bruce) to a tragic accident but, just a couple of years later, is shocked to discover that her newly remarried daughter-in-law Lorna (Kayli Carter, Bad Education) has left the local town in a hurry one night with Margaret's three-year-old grandson Jimmy (Bram and Otto Hornung). Determined not to see more of her family members ripped away, she convinces George that they should set off on their trail. Complicating their plans is he fact that Lorna has wed into the Weboys, who hold significant — and criminal — influence over their patch of America's north. As the Blackledges learn after finally tracking down their new relatives-via-nuptials, brash Weboy matriarch Blanche (Lesley Manville, Misbehaviour) isn't keen to relinquish her claim on the only link Margaret has left to her dearly departed child. Adapted by writer/director Thomas Bezucha (screenwriter of 2018's The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society) from the novel of the same name, Let Him Go follows a straightforward narrative with a smattering of hits and misses — but its two main female roles are so superbly cast, and the film's handling of tension so finely tuned, that it proves gripping for the bulk of its running time. The last time that Bezucha dabbled with complicated family antics, in 2005's The Family Stone, he was in far lighter territory; however, he's more than adept at handling the fierce confrontations, simmering and overt suspense, and pulpy revenge-fuelled setpieces that are pivotal here. And, he does so in a fittingly pared back but forceful manner; Let Him Go takes its time and doles out only the necessary details, butt does so with maximum emotional impact in mind. While Costner is also solid as a man trying to deal with his own heartache and disappointment in his own way, and Booboo Stewart (The Twilight Saga) leaves a lasting impression as a Native American teen the Blackledges cross paths with on their journey, Let Him Go is at its best when it cedes the screen to the potent Lane and the gloriously overt Manville. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU-Z90SEqGQ&t=20s CORPUS CHRISTI No one wants to live in a world where Parasite, the best movie of 2019, doesn't exist. But if it didn't for some reason, it's highly likely that Corpus Christi would've been this year's Best International Feature Film Oscar winner, rather than just a nominee. This Polish drama also focuses on people pretending to be something they're not. As directed by Warsaw 44 and The Hater's Jan Komasa, and written by the latter's screenwriter Mateusz Pacewicz, it casts a wry eye over much about life in its homeland today, too. And it isn't afraid to call out hypocrisy, societal divisions and greed, either — literally, in the latter case, with its protagonist making a speech about it at the local sawmill. There are few other similarities between Corpus Christi and the movie it lost to, but perhaps the only one that really matters is how blisteringly and rousingly it unfurls its on-screen gifts. Well that, and how striking every second of the film looks, pairing its grey, hazy aesthetics with its complicated account of an ex-juvenile delinquent who poses as a small-town priest. The imposter's name is Daniel and, as played with soulful intensity by Bartosz Bielenia, he's a complex figure. First seen serving out the final days of his reform school sentence, he has made a fan out of the facility's head priest Father Tomasz (Lukasz Simlat). In fact, if his criminal record didn't preclude it, he'd follow in the elder man's footsteps and join the seminary. Instead, he's released to work in a sawmill. Through a series of events that never feels convenient or strained, however, he's soon welcomed by the locals as their new spiritual advisor. Daniel genuinely has faith and believes in his task, so the jump from playing lookout as his fellow inmates dispense a brutal beating to endeavouring to help his congregation is easy. Loosely inspired by real-life details, Corpus Christi gifts its young protagonist an unexpected second chance — and an unlikely opportunity to follow his heart and make a difference to an insular community — but he's not the only figure within its frames with a troubled past to overcome. As a film about a masquerading cleric, tension and foreboding seethes through every second, but it's the bubbling and brooding movie's contemplation of what redemption and benevolence really means that hits the most potent notes. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THXebxAFCzY THE TRANSLATORS Like Agatha Christie and Knives Out before them, the makers of The Translators know that a good whodunnit serves up two major joys. That'd be the puzzle and the journey — because whichever intriguing narrative is being thrust their way, audiences want to sleuth along with the characters, piecing clues together in their heads; and, they want to enjoy each and every one of the story's many ins, outs, twists and turns as all the details unravel, too. In fact, this French film embraces those truths heartily. Writer/director Régis Roinsard (Populaire) and his co-scribes Romain Compingt and Daniel Presley even go a little heavy on convoluted minutiae and attempts to keep everyone guessing. Still, they mostly deliver an entertaining thriller — and, as always proves the case in this genre, if you enjoy the game and the ride enough once, it doesn't really matter if you won't be clamouring for a second helping The Translators' premise is killer — in a film that doesn't shy away from a body count, but is actually more concerned with stolen pages from the yet-to-be-released last book in the bestselling The Man Who Did Not Want to Die series. The latest novel has only been seen by its secretive author, arrogant French publisher Eric Angstrom (Lambert Wilson, The Odyssey) and the nine translators the latter has assembled to prepare the text in multiple languages for a simultaneous worldwide debut. The enlisted team of experts are working in a bunker under stringent conditions, however, so when Angstrom receives an email threatening to leak the new book unless a huge ransom is paid, he's both perplexed and angry. Also starring Olga Kurylenko (The Man Who Killed Don Quixote) as a Russian translator who purposely dresses to resemble the fated heroine in the novel the group is working on, as well as Alex Lawther (The End of the F***ing World) as a noticeably young Brit, The Translators isn't big on depth but still keeps viewers engaged. Hurtling forward like someone furiously thumbing through an airport novel, and offering a slick, swift-moving affair that ticks all the whodunnit basics (even as it gets a little too carried away with the exaggerated drip-fed clues, surprise reveals and reversals) will do that. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTxobgjD3hE CITY OF LIES It has been almost a quarter-century since Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace (aka the Notorious BIG/Biggie Smalls) were gunned down in separate incidents within six months of each other — and, over that time, fewer films about either or both have reached screens than one might expect. Known not only for their music but for being the focal points of the supposed East Coast-West Coast hip hop feud, the pair's plights have inspired exactly zero worthwhile movies, though, and that includes the long-delayed City of Lies. Based on the non-fiction book LAbyrinth by Randall Sullivan, this conspiracy thriller views the deaths of two of the 90s' biggest stars through the efforts of LAPD detective Russell Poole. There is real-life grounds for that angle, and the on-screen Poole (Johnny Depp) is constantly noting and fighting against the racial prejudice that existed in the Los Angeles police department at a time just after the Rodney King assault, trial and riots, as well as the OJ Simpson case. But there's no escaping the fact that the film approaches some of the most momentous events in rap history through a white cop. In 1997, Poole is assigned to another shooting — of a black officer by a white officer — just days after Notorious BIG's death. Soon, however, his investigation of the former leads him to the latter, and to the conclusion that the LA police were involved in killing Biggie, all as his superiors demand he ignore the evidence. Decades later, long after he has resigned from being a cop, a journalist (Forest Whitaker) wanders into Poole's apartment for a 20-year piece on the rapper's murder — and the writer might've been accused of dredging up the past if Poole's walls weren't covered in case details and materials. Where director Brad Furman turned legal thriller The Lincoln Lawyer into a slick and entertaining affair, almost everything about City of Lies is misjudged, and it drags on rather than drawing viewers into its theories or even the cases it covers. Depp plays crusading but hard done by with little discernible effort, and the decision to film the movie's 90s scenes with the same type of hues and lighting usually reserved for 70s-set features smacks of the same. And while Whitaker is the best thing about City of Lies, his determined performance isn't enough to salvage the film. If you're wondering what else is currently screening around Melbourne, we've also picked the 12 best flicks that started gracing the city's silver screens when indoor cinemas were given the green light to reopen. When outdoor cinemas relaunched before that, we outlined the films showing under the stars, too. And, we've run through all the pictures that opened in the city on November 12 and November 19 as well. You can also read our full reviews of The Personal History of David Copperfield, Waves, The King of Staten Island, Babyteeth, Deerskin, Peninsula, Les Misérables, Bill & Ted Face the Music, An American Pickle, On the Rocks, Antebellum, Kajillionaire, The Craft: Legacy, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Radioactive, Brazen Hussies, Freaky, Mank, Monsoon and Ellie and Abbie (and Ellie's Dead Aunt) all of which are presently showing in Melbourne. And, you can check out our rundowns of the new films that released in other cities over the past few months — on July 2, July 9, July 16, July 23 and July 30; August 6, August 13, August 20 and August 27; September 3, September 10, September 17 and September 24; October 1, October 8, October 15, October 22 and October 29; and November 5 — as a number of those movies are now showing in Melbourne as well.
By the beard of Zeus, everyone's favourite TV newsman is back — in podcast form. Not content with his regular job at KVWN Channel 4, or with being the star of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, Ron Burgundy is giving another medium a whirl. Announced late in 2018, The Ron Burgundy Podcast is now staying classy on the iHeartRadio platform. His new show released its first episode on February 7, and will drop new instalments each Thursday. In total, two 12-episode seasons on their way, with the second batch due to hit mid-year. Yes, it's kind of a big deal, as is the fact that Will Ferrell reprises his role as the fictional San Diego newscaster. The entire show is co-produced by Funny or Die, which Ferrell co-founded, so it was always likely that he was going to be involved. While The Ron Burgundy Podcast could've just featured the anchorman chatting while sipping scotchy scotch scotch and talking over his beloved dog Baxter, that's not the finished product. Rather, the character tackles a different topic each week, starting with a subject that no one can get enough of: true crime. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u_jcTy3JHM Serial, this isn't — but If you've ever wanted to unlock Burgundy's glass case of emotion about the Zodiac Killer, all of your favourite true crime binges and whether obsessing over the genre is a little bit creepy, now you can. In true Ron Burgundy style, he had some words about his new venture. "Listen, I don't know what a podcast is, but I currently have a lot of time on my hands and a lot to talk about. I am also broke. Therefore, I am very excited to do this podcast. It is literally saving my life." The first episode of The Ron Burgundy Podcast is now available on iHeartRadio, with new episodes dropping every Thursday.
Across four seasons of Stranger Things so far, entering a rift to the Upside Down hasn't transported anyone Down Under. But jumping into the hit Netflix series' world keeps proving a reality in Australia — first via one of those portals popping up in Bondi back in 2022, and next courtesy of Stranger Things: The Experience, which has just locked in its Aussie debut at Luna Park Sydney as part of Vivid's just-unveiled 2025 program. Luna Park Sydney and immersive experiences based on Netflix shows keep going hand in hand of late; since the end of 2024, the Harbour City tourist attraction has been hosting Squid Game: The Experience, letting small-screen fans dive into another streaming smash. At the time of writing, playing Red Light, Green Light with Young-hee in Luna Park's big top is on the agenda until late April. Stranger Things: The Experience will run from Friday, May 23–Saturday, June 14. The must-attend event falls into the Ideas portion of Vivid's lineup. Get ready to visit 1986 — and also Hawkins, Indiana, of course — in what promises to be an interactive stint of Stranger Things-loving fun. Locations from the show are part of the setup, as is a supernatural mystery. And yes, you can expect to feel nostalgic, even if you don't have your own memories of the 80s because you hadn't been born yet. Stranger Things: The Experience isn't just about visiting recreations of settings that you've seen while watching Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown, The Electric State) and the gang. The installation features its own storyline, where playing along means trying to save Hawkins from yet another threat. And yes, you will take a trip to the Upside Down. You'll also be able to drink themed cocktails. Based on its time in other cities, Demogorgons and/or Vecna might await, too, along with Christmas lights, Scoops Ahoy and Surfer Boy Pizza. The experience initially opened in New York in 2022, and has enjoyed dates with Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Seattle, Toronto, London, Paris and São Paulo since, with a Rio de Janeiro stint also on the way. "The rift is open and we're excited that our Stranger Things fans will get to jump into the magic once more," said Greg Lombardo, Head of Experiences at Netflix, back when the New York iteration launched. "This time they will take on the challenges themselves and work alongside Eleven, Mike, and the rest of the gang to fight the evil monsters plaguing Hawkins. As Dustin would say, you always say we should never stop being curious, to always open any curiosity door we find," Lombardo continued. Hanging out for new Stranger Things back in your Netflix queue? That's due to happen in 2025, when the show's fifth and final series arrives — although there's no exact release date as yet. Stranger Things: The Experience arrives at Luna Park Sydney, 1 Olympic Drive, Milsons Point from Friday, May 23. For more information, head to the Vivid Sydney website. Vivid Sydney 2025 runs from Friday, May 23–Saturday, June 14 across Sydney. Head to the festival website for further information. Images: Netflix.
Joining Melbourne's recent burst of rooftop bar reveals this winter is Lonsdale Street Spanish haunt Bomba, with its revamped upper level. Reopening last week after a hefty three-month makeover, the space now boasts a fresh fitout, a gin-inflected drinks list and a standout new Spanish jaffle. The rooftop is sporting an all-weather retractable roof and a second terrace space. The space, refitted by Ola Architecture Studio, is complete with a central copper bar, lots of high tables and a projector screening 70s Spanish flicks onto the building opposite. The reimagined drinks list shows lots of love for gin, featuring a careful selection of Australian and Spanish distilleries and a gin-centric lineup of house cocktails — like the Dewy Dilligence, crafted on dill gin, fino sherry, beetroot and apple cordial, and lemon. You'll also spy Central Victoria's Animus Gin starring in a few of those signature sips. A bigger, eight-strong tap list throws its weight behind indie Melbourne breweries, while the wine selection's focused both on organic and small Aussie producers, and lesser-known Spanish gems, brought in by the owners' Armada Imports. There's also a range of tap cocktails, including a classic sangria and a spiced wintery blend of Melbourne Moonshine Apple Pie, brandy and pear, dubbed All Things Nice. Meanwhile, the food situation leans to the snacky, featuring a tapas menu of old favourites and new creations, a covetable selection of Spanish cheeses, and the soon-to-be-legendary 'bikini' — a Catalan riff on the toastie, stuffed with fillings like jamón ibérico and truffle, or smoked ham hock, mahón cheese and mozzarella. Find Bomba Rooftop at 103 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, open daily from 3pm. Images: Peter Tarasiuk and Fiona Hamilton
Carlton North's Babajan Eatery has become a local go-to over the past two years, and the cafe has even been given an international nod by The New York Times. Now, the Turkish and Middle Eastern restaurant is opening for weekend dinner service, too. Friday and Saturday will see the cafe reopen from 6pm with both a la carte and set menu options. The latter will cost just $40 per person and centres on barbecued dishes — think 12-hour braised lamb shoulder and crispy skinned snapper with tomato, kalamata olives and tahini. If you opt for a la carte, there's also the pickled and barbecued octopus ($15) and lamb kofte ($24) on mains. Or guests can go for small shared dishes, including barbecued sucuk (spicy dried sausage) and shaved pastrami snacks ($6 each), plus Turkish bread and olives ($8); or small plates like the pan-fried keflagraviera (hard Greek cheese) and oven-baked eggplant with garlic yoghurt ($14 each). To accompany your meal, Babajan offers booze from 11am each day. The drinks menu includes local and European wines by the glass and bottle, locally brewed beer from Moon Dog and Two Birds and a range of middle eastern-themed cocktails for $16 a piece — from the Lady Sultan (Turkish raki liquor, black raspberry liqueur, ruby red grapefruit, blueberry and rose) to the Grand Bazaar (gin, pomegranate molasses, cinnamon, ginger and lime). Of course, the brekkie everyone loves is still available, with a focus on Turkish pastries and egg dishes like the baked eggs with pistachio dukkah ($22), and the crab and halloumi omelette ($26). The cafe slings Brunswick's Code Black coffees and a specially-made tea blend from Tea Drop, too. Images: Ben Christensen.
