Over the weekend, Brendan Cato of The Farmed Table and Matt Branagan of Work-Shop came together to teach a bunch of our readers how to cook up an outstanding barbecue. In partnership with Heineken 3, we showed you how to create the ultimate last-minute barbecue spread in under an hour. Then we decided that we wanted to take it to the next level, and teach you how to do it IRL. On a beautiful sunny day in Sydney's Prince Alfred Park, steak, vegetables and mussels were all cooked up and eaten, served alongside some cold Heineken 3s. Don't let the sporadic showers fool you — summer is most definitely on its way. It's time to pull your beachwear out from the depths of your cupboard, dust off your tatty straw hat and prepare for three months of good food, good music and stunning sunshine. Take a look at the photos from the day, and get inspired for your next summer afternoon barbecue — you'll be able to implement everything you've learned. Enjoy your summer afternoons with the new low-carb Heineken 3 — we're helping you make the most of them. Images: Steven Woodburn.
A brand new outdoor eatery along the banks of the Yarra River is giving new meaning to the idea of taking a 'long lunch'. Stretching 150m down the south side of Flinders Street Station, the newly opened Arbory Bar and Eatery is laying claim to the title of Melbourne's longest bar. The brainchild of Metro Trains in partnership with HQ Hospitality, The Arbory sits in the space previously occupied by the terminus of the Sandridge railway line, which was decommissioned back in 1987. With a pair of makeshift bars operating out of multiple illuminated shipping containers, the eatery was designed by renowned Melbourne architects Jackson Clements Burrows and Associates, and is inspired by the urban renewal of New York’s Highline. A peek at the Arbory drinks list reveals a handpicked selection of local wines, plus up to a dozen beers on tap. Chef Nicholas Bennett from Fatto across the river handles the menu, which includes options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We're already eyeing off the rare roast salmon with fennel, orange and hazelnuts, possibly (probably) followed by a salted caramel sundae. Although it's hard to say no to a double cheeseburger. Or a chorizo corndog with jalapeno mayonnaise. Point is you've got options. Still no word on whether Metro plans to do anything about train delays. But hey, at least now you can grab a bite to eat while you wait. Find the Arbory Bar and Eatery at Flinders Walk, Melbourne, behind Flinders Street Station.
It makes no earthly sense that Melbourne, the city that lives and breathes handmade wooden fruit platters, doesn't have a regular enough design and craft market. So many plant pots bereft of macramé holders, so many wine stoppers untopped with animal butts, so many heads unadorned by flower crowns. The good people at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) feel the same way and are bringing his injustice to an end, by hosting a bi-monthly design market in the ACCA forecourt. The Upmarket (great pun, friends) will bring Melbourne's best designers together on the first and third Saturday of every month in the ACCA forecourt. You can expect a full (and free) day of shopping with stalls featuring some of the best independent design on offer in the city (so much better than buying online). The Upmarket will also feature creative workshops for all ages, there'll be an entire section named The Larder, dedicated to take home organic and local produce, while The Heart of Dining will fuel your fire for the day with street food aplenty. Emerging and student designers can also get a slice of the pie by applying for one of the five rotating stalls dedicated to up-and-comers. So Melbourne, close that Etsy tab — you've got a market to attend.
A dive bar mightn't seem like the best place to find love, but when it comes to good eating, Heartbreaker is making us swoon. The recently opened city bar, from the team behind The Everleigh, has just launched its menu of mouth-watering bar snacks courtesy of acclaimed chef Jock Zonfrillo. They've called the concept Love Street Diner – and frankly, it's a name that couldn't be more fitting. The idea with Love Street seems to be to keep things simple, hence a menu with only six items. The food, like the rest of Heartbreaker, has a clear American influence, with barbecue rib hoagies, Philly cheese steak fries, chipotle onion rings and pork scratching with jalapenos, as well as a classic Reuben sandwich and Kentucky-fried pork roles with lettuce. Should go mighty nice with one of Heartbreaker's pre-mixed cocktails. That said, while the flavours are distinctly American, the service style seems closer to traditional Chinese yum cha. "Staff are going to wander around with grandstand trays," said Zonfrillo to Good Food. "You grab the food, swipe your card, and it's see you later...there will be a menu to order from too, but I think it's going to be so much better to be sitting there, food comes past, and you're like 'yep, I'll have one of them.'" In our case, admittedly, it's more likely to be 'one of each.' But can you really blame us? After all, we're in love. Heartbreaker's Love Street Diner is located at 234a Russel Street, Melbourne, and will be serving food from 6pm each day. For more information, check them out on Facebook. Via Good Food.
The sun is shining, the palm trees are gently swaying, and there's a laid-back vibe in the air; you must be in Brisbane. As well as almost able to guarantee holiday-like weather every day of the year, the Queensland capital offers locals and visitors alike the opportunity to enjoy a leisurely yet luxurious weekend. Think taking your pick of gourmet sausages or hash browns for breakfast at a brand new cafe dedicated to both, shopping for vintage threads at the city's only curated boutique market, or eating all the cheese your stomach can handle. Book a room at the Pullman Brisbane and make the hotel's King George Square digs your launching pad. Spend a whirlwind 48 hours eating, drinking, strolling and generally being merry, particularly if you follow our itinerary. [caption id="attachment_587777" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Morning After. Image: @____morningafter via Instagram.[/caption] SATURDAY A Saturday in Brisbane should be spent treating your tastebuds and your eyes to the best the city has to offer. That starts with the most important meal of the day, though don't feel like you need to rush to West End for an early morning bite, because breakfast at Morning After is available all day long. With a name like that, this eatery clearly knows that everyone kicks into gear at their own pace. Have a serving of brekkie carbonara and wander down Vulture and Boundary streets for your next adventure. [caption id="attachment_587791" align="alignnone" width="1280"] GOMA. Image: @qagoma via Instagram.[/caption] To be specific, keep moseying along until you reach the Gallery of Modern Art. For ten years now, the gleaming building on the banks of the river has showered Brisbane with the kind of exhibitions art lovers dream about. There will be something great on regardless of when you're in town (in 2015 and 2016 alone, GOMA has hosted shows focused on photographer Cindy Sherman, filmmaker David Lynch and the best contemporary pieces from the Asia-Pacific, for example). And if you somehow have a few hours to spare, be sure to check out the Australian Cinematheque within the building for a classy afternoon at the movies. [caption id="attachment_587781" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Fromage the Cow. Image: @vintage_lil via Instagram.[/caption] Next, prepare to make friends with Brisbane's water-based transport, the City Cats. Head down the river to Milton, then make a beeline by foot to Fromage the Cow on Park Road. Since this licensed fromagerie opened its doors it has become an indulgent favourite, serving up everything from twice-baked cheese souffle to croque monsieur and cheese toasties. We recommend opting for a flight, which will pair three slices of dairy goodness with three of your chosen type of beverage. [caption id="attachment_587783" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Cobbler. Image: @cobblerwestend via Instagram.[/caption] So, that's the cheese and wine section of day done and dusted. Now, it's on to the whisky and cocktail part of proceedings. You'll find plenty of both at Cobbler back in West End, and yes, you can travel part of the way by City Cat again if you want another chance to soak up the Brisbane river air. Once you arrive on site, even if you generally like your spirits untainted by mixers, we're going to strenuously suggest that you try a cocktail. Why? Well, Cobbler's menus are something special, with both Die Hard and Top Gun-inspired tipples served up in recent times. Working your way through their cocktail list is how you turn a few quiet drinks into an evening to remember. If you're in Brisbane on the right weekend you can stop by Test Kitchen, a fortnightly five-course degustation that takes place at Thomson's Reserve and lets you taste dishes before they go on the menu. [caption id="attachment_587785" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Food trucks at Metre Market. Image: @metremarket via Instagram.[/caption] SUNDAY Start your Sunday with sausages and hash browns. Skip the fast food brekkie though; at Annerley's Snag & Brown in the inner-south, you're going to want to take things slowly. Pick from chorizo, pork chipolatas, chicken, spinach and pine nut, and semi-dried tomato, thyme and polenta bangers, plus classic, sweet potato, and tomato and feta hash browns. There's other food available, but here, it's all there in the name. You'll need all the sustenance you can get for your next stopover: the Metre Market. Every public space around town might turn into a stall-based shopping spot come Sunday morning, but this is the only boutique, clothing-focused venture that's so selective about the vintage wares on display, you'll instantly walk out with a new wardrobe. Alas, Metre Market is an every now and then kind of deal, so we also have a list of alternatives. Secondhand fiends should head to Suitcase Rummage's regular pop-up events at Brisbane Square and Brisbane Powerhouse, while those with designer tastes can give their wallet a workout at South Bank's monthly Young Designer's Market. After a busy morning browsing, buying and wondering what you can realistically fit in your suitcase, there's only one thing to do. Treat yourself to some swoon-worthy sweet stuff (and no, we're not talking about Doughnut Time, though eating one of their epic pastries is something every visitor to Brisbane should do too). Instead, head to New Farm Confectionery for some salted caramel lollipops, chocolate raspberry bark, passionfruit sherbet and more. [caption id="attachment_587796" align="alignnone" width="1280"] New Farm Confectionary. Image: @nfconfectionary via Instagram.[/caption] So, you've feasted, shopped and had something sugary; now it's time for dinner in a heritage-listed building that once housed a medicine dispensary. Yes, really. The food menu at The Apo is a rotating affair, but we're sure one of the seasonal dishes on offer (such as Lebanese tacos with spiced goat and frozen Arabic coffee dessert martinis at the time of writing) will take your fancy. You'll want to grab an Apo Old Fashioned while you're eating, but save some room for a nightcap at Barbara around the corner. They're known for their cocktails and for being a classy late-night hangout everyday of the week – that's how you should bring an ace two days in Brisbane to a perfect end. [caption id="attachment_588386" align="alignnone" width="1280"] The Apo. Image: @theapo_ via Instagram.[/caption] Pullman Hotels make a great base to explore Brisbane for a weekend.
Now that the Olympics are over and done with, the real sporting contests can begin. Next week, more than 300 competitors will descend upon a small, abandoned town in Italy. Their purpose? To decide beyond all doubt the greatest hide-and-seek player in the world. The epic contest will take place on September 3-4 in Consonno at the foot of the Alps. Once known as the 'Land of Toys', the village is home to an old amusement park, but was abandoned after a landslide in the mid-'70s cut off the only access road. If you can think of a better place for a massive game of hide-and-seek, we'd certainly like to hear it. This year will see 64 five-person teams complete for gold and glory. One of the members of last year's winning team told Quartz that the two-day tournament was "pretty competitive", and that "each team had their tactics." Just don't expect his team to share theirs, because "obviously we will never disclose them." Sounds like a wise move, especially since a Japanese university professor began lobbying the Olympic committee to include hide-and-seek at the Tokyo Games in 2020. Although to be honest, as Olympic sports go, this probably wouldn't make for particularly good TV viewing. Image: Marcello Brivio.
Suffice it to say, it's been an exciting few days in the world of Australian politics. And by exciting, we mean depressingly familiar. Although the recent Liberal Party leadership spill did manage to spark some truly excellent memes, its primary function seems to have been to drive home just how shambolic things in Canberra have become. It's also a flat-out terrible turn of events for the federal Opposition, who you have to imagine will have a harder time taking back the leadership from a prime minster whose foot isn't permanently lodged in his own mouth. The good news is that Labor does appear to have finally cottoned on to the fact that in order win to the vote, you do need to occasionally take a position. As such, opposition MP and Shadow Minister for the Arts Mark Dreyfus has publicly pledged that, if elected, Labor will reverse the current government's $105 million worth of cuts to the Australia Council for the Arts. Speaking to The Australian last week, Dreyfus said that the raid on the Australia Council's funding, overseen by Federal Arts Minister George Brandis, was "a disaster for the arts" — an opinion that he shares with large swathes of the nation's artistic community, who have been protesting the cuts since they were announced back in May. The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance today released a statement describing Labor's decision as "good news" and have promised to continue their campaigning in the lead-up to the next election. That being said, Brandis may have more pressing concerns than a potential Labor challenge in 2016. According to The Daily Review, a number of artists and arts groups are planning to gather outside Malcolm Turnbull's Sydney electorate office at 2pm today, where they will petition the shiny new PM to sack his much-maligned Arts Minister and take over the portfolio himself. "We think Malcolm Turnbull would make a terrific arts minister," executive director of the National Association for the Visual Arts Tamara Winikoff told TDR. "If the PM actually took on the arts portfolio, in one fell swoop this action could profoundly change the way Australians value the arts and culture." If nothing else, it really can't feel good to be George Brandis right now. It's almost enough to make you feel sorry for him. Almost.
Melbourne cinephiles, here's what you'll be watching come August. That's when the Melbourne International Film Festival will brighten up the city's big screens for three movie-filled weeks — and they'll have quite the stacked lineup if their first 2017 titles are anything to go by. Fancy watching Charlie Hunnam and Robert Pattinson trek through the jungle in the excellent The Lost City of Z? Catching all six episodes of the eagerly anticipated, Nicole Kidman-starring, straight-from-Cannes Top of the Lake: China Girl? Seeing Aussie actress Emily Browning play a Melburnian in New York opposite Jason Schwartzman and the Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz in Golden Exits? Ace, you're in luck. All three feature in MIFF's 25-title reveal, and they have company. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fya_lWun_R8 The world's first feature-length painted animation, an unnerving horror about brothers escaping from a cult and a Sundance-winning exploration of the citizen journalists fronting the war on ISIS are also on the bill, demonstrating the festival's usual commitment to variety. Plus, with the Sydney Film Festival about to kick off, you could say that MIFF's program sneak peek smacks of great timing, with quite the number of New South Wales-bound flicks also heading further south. Films doing double duty at both events include the Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara and Michael Fassbender-starring, SXSW-shot Song to Song; the brief and banter filled The Party, swoon-inducing queer romances Call Me By Your Name and God's Own Country; transgender drama A Fantastic Woman; must-see, Samuel L. Jackson-narrated doco I Am Not Your Negro; and the New Zealand horror amusement park-based Spookers — as well as Aussie efforts Ali's Wedding, Australia Day, That's Not Me, Mountain and The Go-Betweens: Right Here. And, with the fest already announcing a huge science fiction retrospective — their first in their 65-year existence — it's safe to say that it's shaping up to be quite the jam-packed MIFF. The Melbourne International Film Festival runs from August 3 to 20. For more information, visit the MIFF website — and check back on July 11, when the full program is announced.
If you're a fan of author, comedian and NPR humorist David Sedaris, then you'll know that he's a frequent visitor Down Under. Missed him on his last trip in 2023? 2025 is your next chance to experience his snappy wit, as well as his discerning and astute ability to observe life's moments — both trivial and extraordinary — in both an observational and unique way. This will be Sedaris' seventh trip Down Under, spanning stops in both Australia and New Zealand — in Auckland, Canberra, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane — across January and February. If you haven't seen Sedaris live before, his shows are part of the reason that he's built up such a following. Onstage, he regularly weaves in new and unpublished material, too — and the satirist will throw it over to the crowd for a Q&A as well, and also sign copies of his books. Sedaris has more than a few tomes to his name, so you have options for him to scribble on, including Happy-Go-Lucky, Calypso, Theft by Finding, Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Holidays on Ice, Naked and Barrel Fever. [caption id="attachment_862850" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anne Fishbein[/caption] Sedaris is equally celebrated for his constant This American Life appearances and must-read pieces in The New Yorker, and boasts everything from the Terry Southern Prize for Humor and Jonathan Swift International Literature Prize for Satire and Humor to the Time Humorist of the Year Award among his accolades. If you've been searching for a supportive environment to use the phrase "how very droll", this is it. [caption id="attachment_862851" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Prudence Upton[/caption] An Evening with David Sedaris 2025 Australia and New Zealand Tour Dates: Friday, January 31 — Auckland Town Hall, Auckland Saturday, February 1 — Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra Sunday, February 2 — Regal Theatre, Perth Tuesday, February 4 — Norwood Concert Hall, Adelaide Thursday,February 6–Friday, February 7 — Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne Saturday, February 8 — Newcastle City Hall, Newcastle Tuesday, February 11 — Sydney Opera House, Sydney Thursday, February 13 — Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane David Sedaris is touring Australia and New Zealand in January and February 2025. For more information, or for general ticket sales from 9am on Thursday, June 27, 2024, head to the tour website. Top image: Anne Fishbein.
When news broke last month that Dominos had invented a $30,000 delivery robot, we thought we'd reached the apex of pizza-related technology. Turns out we couldn't have been more wrong. In a development that threatens to shatter the very fabric of existence, a pizzeria in Williamsburg, Brooklyn has invented...a pizza box. No, not a pizza box. A pizza box. A pizza box. Made from pizza. Behold. Introducing The PIZZA BOX PIZZA! A pizza box made entirely out of pizza! No waste, 100% pizza and 100% delicious. pic.twitter.com/2KxxndlK4Z — Vinnie's Pizzeria (@vinniesbrooklyn) April 27, 2016 Rendering all other modes of food transport and storage obsolete, this glorious edible container is the brainchild of Vinnie's Pizzeria owner Sean Berthiaume, who might actually be Thomas Edison reincarnated as a guy who really, really likes pizza. Having previously caught our attention after photos of his pizza with pizza topping went viral online, Berthiaume came up with this new creation while trying to think of ways to reduce waste. "I thought 'what if you can make something that you can eat every part of,'" he told NBC 4 New York. The pizzeria is still working out the finer points of delivery – for the time being, anyone who orders one will have it delivered to them wrapped in foil. A pizza delivered in a pizza box will run New Yorkers up a bill of around $40. Unfortunately we suspect that even if they did deliver internationally, both the box and its contents might go a bit stale in the time it takes to get to Australia. Via NBC. Header image via Dollar Photo Club.
Melbourne is alive in March. The mad month sees the city host the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, the Festival of Live Art and the Fashion Festival — but that doesn't mean you don't have time to squeeze in some art. Not when these exhibitions are at your fingertips, anyway. If you get a spare sec, you might want to get a quick refresher on 200 years of Australian fashion thanks to the NGV, or perhaps dive into the depths of unofficial Disney online forums. Got a bit longer? May as well road trip to Shepparton — not all this art is confined to the city limits. Whatever you have time for, make sure you see at least a few of these great shows before the month is out.
Are you the kind of person who loves surprise parties? Or, are you the first to run when someone even mentions the words? There are few events that divide public opinion more than the surprise party. Maybe you think they're a little passé, or maybe you've developed negative associations from memories of being crouched in a dark lounge room for half an hour longer than you wanted to be. But when they're done right, everyone will agree that a surprise party is always something worth doing. There's a reason this type of party has stood the test of time – it's exciting, exhilarating, and it makes the surprisee oh-so happy that all their friends have come together just for them. In partnership with Rekorderlig, here's our guide to getting all your friends together and throwing the ultimate surprise party. THE SURPRISE The key to a great surprise party is making sure the big surprise moment is one to remember. You can do this by doing a double down on your surprise by having a room full of the nearest and dearest surprise first, but then bring out a secret interstate guest or family member as a secondary surprise. Otherwise, you could throw them a party when it's not their birthday. Pick a date a month or week prior and get the jump on them. General rules for a good surprise are handing out glitter or streamers, having people hiding in all sorts of random places and leaping out, and having loads of balloons drop from on high as they arrive. [caption id="attachment_589828" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Wendy's Secret Garden.[/caption] THE LOCATION Make the location as special as the surprise itself by hiring a really incredible waterfront venue in the city, a rooftop bar, or throwing the party on a beach. You could hire the penthouse of an awesome Airbnb (providing parties are permitted, of course) or have a party in Wendy's Secret Garden, one of Sydney's finest hidden parks. The venue could make your party one to remember, so be sure to give it plenty of thought. THE DECORATIONS Having a theme will make things easier for you. Give a gentle nod in the direction of a cuisine or idea, and choosing food, drinks and décor will become a whole lot easier. If you have a backyard, a failsafe option is to turn it into a garden-party wonderland by winding fairy lights around trees, popping tea light candles into mason jars and having lots of outdoor seating. Lighting is integral to a good party, and can't be forgotten. Too bright and people will feel like they're getting drunk in a 7-11. Too dim and they won't be able to find the chips and dip. Get it right. THE FOOD Make sure that there's plenty to eat and plenty to drink. Head to the deli and lay out a few cheese boards or antipasti platters, and don't forget fairy bread (it's a classic for a reason) and and party pies and sausage rolls. For party drinks, make sure you're catering to all tastes – so cider for those who aren't partial to beer, wine, and soft drink for those who don't drink. Getting creative and making punch is a nice little twist, or you could grab a few Rekorderlig Cocktail Cans to keep it interesting. Make sure you have ice, plenty of eskies and plenty of fridge space. [caption id="attachment_592224" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Image: Parlour Gigs.[/caption] THE UNEXPECTED EXTRAS Why not go all out and throw a live gig in your backyard? You can, thanks to Parlour Gigs. This live music initiative from Melbourne musician Matt Walters came about after playing a house concert where he had such a great time that he started up Parlour Gigs to share the love. With over 800 musicians signed up and available to perform you can pretty much be guaranteed of finding the perfect musical act for your party. Other notable mentions for fun things to do are: hire a karaoke machine and sing a bunch of 80s hair metal, have your friend with good music taste DJ for the night, have a bouncy castle (they're surprisingly affordable), or just play a massive game of pass the parcel.
Between an immersive dinner experience in a historic house, performances by The Flaming Lips and Kamasi Washington and a swag of captivating theatre experiences inviting audiences into parallel worlds, this year's Melbourne International Arts Festival (MIAF) will be tough to ignore. The festival's 2019 program is set to deliver a diverse, vibrant celebration of dance, music, theatre, visual arts and architecture from October 2–20, with the entire city as its stage. For one of 12 Australian premieres, famous illusionist Scott Silven will host multi-sensory dinners for 24 people inside Chapter House, combining magic and storytelling (and, hopefully, some food). Another Australian premiere that'll be equally captivating is Yang Liping's contemporary dance masterpiece Rite of Spring. Tokyo-based art collective teamLab — made up of mathematicians, architects, animators and engineers — will take over Tolarno Galleries with sculptures of light and "cascades of shimmering luminescence", which will make you feel as though you're standing on a floating wave of light. If you've been lucky enough to visit Tokyo's Digital Art Museum or Shanghai's pop-up digital waterfall you'll know what to expect — they're both works by teamLab. Over at the Arts Centre, Black Mirror actor Maxine Peake will lead 15 musicians in a captivating exploration of enigmatic artist Nico and her 1968 masterpiece The Marble Index, in an Australian exclusive. In terms of music, there are some big names heading Down Under for the two-week festival. Psychedelic rock legends The Flaming Lips will perform their ninth, and most celebrated, record The Soft Bulletin in full to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The band's performances are never run-of-the-mill either — so, expect confetti cannons, elaborate costumes and neon unicorns. Jazz king Kamasi Washington — who has collaborated with everyone from Herbie Hancock to Kendrick Lamar and St Vincent — will be performing his latest album Heaven and Earth, as well as other top hits. Grammy Award-winning string quartet Kronos Quartet will be heading to Melbourne, too, and if the name doesn't immediately sound familiar, you'll most definitely recognise their Requiem for a Dream soundtrack. Elsewhere on the program — which, yes, continues – will see the return of Melbourne's beloved art trams, Nakkiah Lui's new show Black is the New White, a thought-provoking look at (and questioning of) 2019 Melbourne in Anthem and a world premiere of Chunky Move's new contemporary show Token Armies. This will be the last MIAF in its current format, too. Starting from 2020, MIAF will also form part of a new and bigger winter festival, in conjunction with White Night. Image: Borderless Tokyo Digital Art Museum by Sarah Ward.
Hey guys, gather round! Something actually good is happening in the world! Let's hang onto it with all our strength. The Art of Banksy exhibition that has been on display in the "dodgy car park behind the good car park behind Fed Square" (according to the exhibition team) for the past few weeks has begun to auction off works of art by Melburnian street artists for charity. In conjunction with the Banksy exhibition, 14 prominent local artists were invited to display their work alongside the exhibition. The lineup includes Bailer, Be Free, Conrad Bizjak, Dvate, George Rose, Heesco, Jack Douglas, Makatron, Mike Eleven, Psalm, Putos, Ruskidd, Sirum and 23rd Key. Their dedicated works are being auctioned off and the proceeds are being donated to STREAT and Melbourne City Mission, two kickass charities who work with local people who are homeless. See? There's good in the world. Simultaneously donating to charity and buying cool art? Yes you can. Check out the auction here. Image: Olga Rozenbajgier.
Drop whatever it is that you're doing: the ticket ballot for the 26th Meredith Music Festival is officially open. Running from December 9-11, the latest edition of the much-loved dickhead-free music festival will take place at its usual digs, Meredith's Supernatural Amphitheatre, which has gone and gotten itself a brand new sound system "tailor-made for the dynamic undulations of the Amphitheatre at all times of Magic O'Clock". Other changes for this year's festival include additional camping space, hundreds of new trees planted as part of Uncle Doug's Native Planting, and – perhaps most importantly – extra dunnies in the campground. Aunty, meanwhile, has been working hard on the lineup, which she promises will be announced "soonish". Standouts from last year included Father John Misty, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Ratatat, The Thurston Moore Band, Tkay Maidza, Neon Indian and Big Daddy Kane. The Meredith Ballot will be open from now until 10.26pm on Monday, August 8. Head on over to the festival website to sign up.
With the staggering amount of top-notch food vendors that currently call the Melbourne CBD home, you've got very little excuse for chowing down on a boring lunch, no matter how strapped for time or cash you are. But hey, this is Melbourne, and there's always room for more culinary quest options — especially when they involve a new incarnation of one our favourite local burger joints. The revamped 360 Collins plaza will soon play host to a new casual dining precinct, featuring a diverse lineup of eateries that includes 8bit's first fully licensed venue. It'll be the biggest venture yet for the beloved burger joint, set to open alongside other popular retailers like Code Black, Poked and Earl Canteen, and a sister venue to Lonsdale Street's Little Billy, called Billy's Lane. Slinging grab-and-go options galore, there'll be seven dining destinations all up, with the first set to open their doors this month. These eateries will encircle a roomy outdoor space, complete with grassy forecourt and plenty of al fresco seating, to get you out of the office and away from that desk. To celebrate the launch of the 360 Collins food precinct, there'll be a week of lunch break festivities from June 26–30, involving food and drink tastings, special dining offers, and live performances. Images: Chris Hopkins.
It's time to put Dunkeld's Royal Mail Hotel back on your weekend getaway radar, as it opens the doors to a new fine dining offering, Wickens at Royal Mail Hotel. Taking over a new standalone space on the property, the remote restaurant is accessible by a bush trail the winds down from the hotel. It's been designed by Melbourne-based Byrne Architects to highlight its connection to its natural surroundings, with floor-to-ceiling windows capturing striking views of Mount Sturgeon and Mount Abrupt. Inside it's a luxe fusion of sheepskin leather, sandstone and Australian hardwood. This respect for the land is mirrored in Executive Chef Robin Wickens' hyper-local menu, which'll change up regularly, dictated by the daily haul from the on-site olive groves, orchard and 1.2-hectare organic kitchen garden. The garden-fresh goodies will inspire textural plate additions like soils, foams, purées, petals and vegetable infusions. Diners can enjoy the spoils via an eight-course ($185) or five-course ($165) chef's tasting menu, with a special chef's table in the kitchen available to groups of up to four. Unsurprising, given the Royal Mail's award-winning 28,000-bottle cellar, the booze side of things sure isn't lacking, with three expertly curated wine matches on offer as well. Get a taste of the largest privately-owned collection of Bordeaux and Burgundy in the southern hemisphere with the five-course French match, celebrate locality with the all-Australian wine match, or mix things up with the cellar wine match. The restaurant is a replacement of sorts for the two-hatted Royal Mail Hotel dining room, which closed earlier this year. The hotel's casual diner Parker Street Project — which is a good spot for breakfast if you're staying the night — has now taken over the space, which is connected to the hotel. Find Wickens at The Royal Mail Hotel at 98 Parker Street, Dunkeld.
As enjoyable as perusing fridges full of boutique beer may be, sometimes we just don't have the time to deliberate over the perfect pale ale. Or sometimes, we might schlep our way down to the bottle shop, only to find the brew we have a hankering for is nowhere to be seen. Or worse yet, you might have confused the closing time of your local bottle-o, leaving you stranded and more than a little thirsty. Instead of sending out a distress signal, jump on the interwebs and check out Melbourne's online craft beer bottle shops. Whatever craft beer you're craving, you'll find it with one of these online beer havens. LIQUORUN Established in 2013, Liquorun all started when three teammates coming home from an interstate match wanted to throw a party but were out of luck when it came to supplying the goods. Liquorun delivers alcohol, food and cigarettes to the inner suburbs of Melbourne. To check if that includes your share house, visit their website. Once your address is registered, you can select beers from several different bottle shops in your area, therefore if at first you don't succeed in finding your one true brew, try and try again. Orders can be delivered up until 11pm and should arrive in 30-60 minutes, so if you want some late-night brewskis, you could be in luck. Liquorun is now set up in Brisbane and Sydney, because our fellow East Coasters shouldn't miss out on the fun. HOPS AND CRAFT These guys are dedicated to enhancing your boutique beer experience, and are all about the craft that goes into your, um, craft beer. While you can freely pick and choose from a serious range of Australian craft beers, if it's value for money you're after, subscribe to their beer club. You will receive a box of 12 carefully curated beers (and the occasional cider) every month, as well as a micro magazine they produce in house on all things craft beer related. For most orders, delivery takes between 3–7 days, so if there is something specific your heart desires, you best be organised. BEER BUD For those who know what they want when they want it, you can search beers by their type, by brewery, or by Australian region at Beer Bud. If in doubt, you can go directly to their Craft Beer and Craft Cider pages, but we really do recommend having a snoop around; their selection is insane. Beer Bud also has access to rare and limited releases that are often a little experimental and packed with flavour, including brews from Doctors Orders and KAIJU!. Low prices and fast delivery are all part of the deal at Beer Bud. CRAFTY BREW It's all about supporting independent Australian breweries at Crafty Brew. The greatest thing to do on Crafty Brew is to play on their Build a Box page. Select the quantity of beers you're after, the style (or styles) you like, the ideal beer strength and the price range. They will bring you a selection of possibilities to match your wish list and you can either skip over them or add them to your cart. It's like a personality quiz, but with beer. BEER DAYS If you're curious about craft beer from across the globe as well as local brews, we suggest ordering yourself a Beer Box today. Beer Days began as a company that hosted boutique beer events in Sydney. Now they have become equally well renowned for their bundles of joy – the Beer Boxes delivered straight to your door. You can choose between a box of 8, 12 or 16 beers and the frequency that you receive them. A few of this month's crafties include Brookes American Pale Ale and Sierra Nevada Kellerweis. For something a little stronger, you can upgrade to a Sixpoint Resin Double IPA, which will knock your damn socks off.
Next time you're contemplating escaping Melbourne for the weekend, consider taking the train. That way, you can forget all about keeping your eyes on the road and plant them square where they should be: gazing at rolling hills and clear skies. What's more, if you've been trying to finish that novel, write that song or have that chat, you'll – at last – have time on your hands. To help you get moving, we've studied Victoria's train network, in search of winter-friendly retreats within walking distance of stations. Book at one of these beauties and, as soon as you hear that whistle blowing, you'll know you're well on your way to fireside wines, comfy couches, a cosy bed and pretty scenery. HARPSICHORD HOUSE, KYNETON This former harpsichord studio in Kyneton — a town in the Macedon Ranges famous for its bluestone — is now a beautifully designed loft, dotted with creations by local artists and textiles from all over the world. The airy A-frame ceiling and expansive windows let in plenty of winter sunshine — but, if that's not warm enough, there's a wood fire, too. For an energising dose of greenery, take a wander around the private gardens, with free-range chooks for company, or stroll along the nearby river. Complimentary bicycles and picnic baskets are on-hand. Harpsichord House is suitable for a couple, but can comfortably fit up to four guests (and your dog, too). How far? A one-hour train ride on the Bendigo line. How much? $200–250 a night. BE & BE, CASTLEMAINE This super-cute cottage in the arty goldfields town of Castlemaine is perfect for a couple's getaway. This 150-year-old heritage-listed building has been transformed into cosy designer accommodation, with two beds, Scandi-style furnishings, heating and a rain shower. Be & Be is just one-kilometre from Castlemaine Station and a stroll away from numerous restaurants, cafes and bars. If you're planning on exploring, be sure to visit The Mill, an 1875 wool mill turned into a collective of independent eateries and shops. How far? A 90-minute train ride on the Bendigo line. How much? $280–320 a night. BUTTER FACTORY, EUROA Built in 1901, this spacious red brick building was one of more than 200 Victorian butter factories that, at the turn of the century, supplied Victorians with creamy dairy goods. These days, it's a boutique bed and breakfast, with six rooms, where old features – including factory machinery still attached to the walls – meet contemporary design. If a bath is crucial to your winter comfort, then ask for the Ensuite Queen Room. Wherever you stay, you'll be free to wander the Factory's lovely gardens and common spaces. There's a restaurant onsite and, should you feel like exploring, the gold rush town of Euroa has plenty of picturesque walking trails. How far? A two-hour train ride on the Albury line. How much? $155–220 a night. MOKEPILLY, MACEDON If you're short on time and low on cash, but dead-keen to take a break, Mokepilly is the spot for you. Jump on the train at Southern Cross and you'll be in Macedon, a village at the foot of Mount Macedon, in just over 50 minutes. The one-bedroom cottage, surrounded by gardens, features a queen-sized four-poster bed, a bath where you can soak your workaday worries away, a study nook with a book collection and a comfy lounge room with a massive sofa and complimentary Netflix: all for just 100 bucks per night for two people (or one!). If you're looking for places to feast and drink, try Mr Macedon for excellent cafe fare and Olive Jones for fireside wood fired pizza. How far? A 50-minute train ride on the Bendigo line. How much? $100 a night. THE WELSH CHURCH, MALDON To reach this converted church, built in 1863 in the pretty village of Maldon, you'll be travelling part of the way by steam train. Take the Bendigo V/Line to Castlemaine, then jump on the Victoria Goldfields Railway, which leaves at midday on a Saturday and returns at 10.30am the following morning. Located just 600 metres from the station, the breathtaking building sleeps four people across two bedrooms, among its high ceilings, timber floors and Scandi furnishings. The Jotul wood fire will keep you toasty and you're welcome to take your dog — just let the owners know when booking. How far? A 90-minute ride on the Bendigo line + a 45-minute ride on the steam train. How much? $240–360 a night. ARTISAN COTTAGE, BALLARAT Step off the train and into the 19th century with a weekender at the Artisan Cottage in Ballarat. This two-bedroom hideaway, built during the Victorian era, has everything you need to stay inside all day and all night, including comfy queen-sized beds covered in premium linen, a deep hot tub, a log fire, a private deck overlooking gardens and a massive TV with 3D DVDs supplied. At just $91 a night for two people or $120 for four, it's a steal. If you're keen to get and about eating and drinking, check out our guide to winter feasting around Ballarat, which has just about the biggest foodie scene in Victoria, outside Melbourne. How far? A 90-minute train ride on the Ballarat line. How much? $91–120 a night. LAKE HOUSE, BENALLA If you'd like to a bunch of mates to keep you company on the train, alight at Benalla, a pretty town with a lake and regional art gallery in Ned Kelly country. Here, you'll find Lake House, a five-bedroom Edwardian house with space for ten sleepers. You and your friends will be lazing about a grand lounge room beside an open fire, sharing a designer sofa built for ten — when you're not wandering around half-an-acre of landscaped gardens or gazing at Lake Benalla from the cheery sunroom, that is. If you're keen to get active at any point, take on the 5.7-kilometre walk around the water's edge. How far? A two-and-a-half-hour train ride on the Albury line. How much? $318 a night.
Descending on the city from August 30 to September 8, this year's edition of the Melbourne Writers Festival is set to be an especially amorous one, dishing up a jam-packed program that's all about L-O-V-E (yep, luuuuurve). From the sappy soulmate stuff, to all-important self-love, MWF has pulled together a diverse lineup of talent to help get to the heart of it all. Pulling inspiration from Raymond Carver's short story collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, the program sets out to explore our love for everything from people, sex, politics and country. And, no matter where you sit on that spectrum, it's got a little something for everyone. A slew of loved-up special events includes a rowdy rendition of a hen's night, helmed by comedy writers Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan (the Kates from Get Krack!n and The Katering Show), and a faux wedding reception for author and presenter Yumi Stynes. And we'll all be getting nostalgic about past heartbreaks, when the Museum of Broken Relationships exhibition makes its Aussie debut, bringing pieces from its permanent collections in Zagreb and LA and showing them alongside a few tear-jerking local contributions. You'll also catch conversations with some heavy-hitting international talent, including the USA's Tayari Jones (An American Marriage), Canadian novelist Patrick deWitt (French Exit), Scottish crime-writing star Val McDermid and experimental rock writer and Sonic Youth co-founder Kim Gordon. Elsewhere, legendary singer-songwriter Tina Arena joins Yorta Yorta soprano, composer and educator Deborah Cheetham for the festival's popular Duets series; Cold Chisel's Don Walker chats with Paul Kelly, reflecting on a couple of impressive musical careers; Daniel Mallory Ortberg — host of Slate's Dear Prudence podcast and founder of The Toast — digs deep into all those occasions when love just hurts; and even a performance by Ben Folds. Book Club will see a group of broadcasters, comedians, former politicians and authors discussing their favourite tomes, or you can enjoy a selection of the city's cringiest DIY wedding vows, as performed by comics Anne Edmonds and Nath Valvo. In short, you'll have a lot of new additions to your Goodreads list.
What would you do if you were a little less freaked out by consequences? Would you talk to more new people, fear a bit less, dance a little more like FKA Twigs, quit your desk job and dedicate yourself to the hobby or interest you've always wanted to turn into a career? Some sparkling young Australians are already flinging their inhibitions into a ziplock bag and seizing this little ol' life with both hands. Concrete Playground has teamed up with the Jameson crew to give you a sneak peek into the lives of bold characters who took a big chance on themselves. They've gone out on a limb and rewritten their path, encapsulating 'Sine Metu', the Jameson family motto which translates to 'without fear' — getting outside your comfort zone and trying something new. After all, we only get one shot at this. Take notes. Every kid fills their schoolbooks with sketches, but few actually consider turning their doodling into a career. In fact, Sydney-based illustrator Barry Patenaude certainly didn't think that his squiggles and scribbles could take him into the hectic freelance world of illustrating for big brands — even Concrete Playground (thanks Barry) — let alone illustrating his highly popular series Beers in the Sun. Instead, he followed the same path most of us do, progressing from high school to university, studying architecture and drafting, and then getting an office job. But sometimes, our true passions just can't be ignored; in fact, that's what embracing the 'Sine Metu' mindset is all about. WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU TOILETS TO DRAW, DRAW THEM WELL There's a reason most job choices — the ones that stem from a couple of years at uni, then lead to the 9-to-5 grind — are considered sensible choices. They're the kind of careers that provide security, as well as a clear plan for the future. If you'd met Barry when he was a child, he wouldn't have mentioned being an illustrator. "I did draw a lot," he says. "I did art at school, but I never really thought illustration could be a career path." There's such a thing as being too sensible, however — and if you ever find yourself using your artistic talents to sketch toilets, you might just come to this realisation. After pursuing all the practical options, Barry worked in an architecture office, designing buildings and delving into the ever-fascinating task of drawing toilets. That he found it a bit monotonous is stating the obvious. But, breaking away from the path you're already on is easier said than done, of course. And sometimes you need to experience all the boring stuff to shatter that mindset and discover what you really want to do. As Barry explains, "I finished school and was like, 'So the path is: you study, you get a job and then you work.' That's the mindset I had for ages, but over time it just didn't appeal to me. I didn't want to be an office jockey." SOMETIMES YOU'VE GOT TO SKIP TOWN FOR AN INTERNSHIP Like many big life decisions, it was a change of scene — and a change of city — that helped alter Barry's perceptions about just what his chosen profession should be. He had spent a few years travelling overseas and enjoying working holidays, but it was the move from Brisbane to Sydney that proved the true catalyst, or at least got the ball rolling. Not that that's actually what he was thinking about when he headed interstate with his girlfriend so that she could secure an internship. Sometimes, though, you just have to go where the moment takes you. As Barry started calling New South Wales home, "that's when I started drawing a lot more in my spare time," he advises, "and it was something I didn't realise that I had missed until I started doing it again". Illustrating became the thing he did on the side for a few years, leading to an art show in 2011, as well as paid freelance opportunities. Then, three years ago, his regular job switched from full to part time. It's the kind of news most employees dread, but he took it as an opportunity and royally bit the bullet. "I wouldn't have thought that I'd be in this position six years ago when I moved here, but it has worked out for the best I think," he says. "Like a lot of people, I was questioning what I was doing with my life. Now, I do have a path and I like where it is going, and it is definitely better than drawing toilets." ILLUSTRATE, INSTAGRAM, THEN LET THE BUSINESS COME TO YOU Today, Barry's decision to give illustrating a proper go might seem-like a no-brainer, but trying to make a living doing what you love is tricky, particularly when that involves a creative field, cultivating a gig-based resume, and never knowing what's going to come next. While his artwork is now featured on everything from bar walls to websites, getting to this stage wasn't an easy — or quick — process. Starting with a safety net — his part-time drafting job — certainly helped. So did just going for it; as Barry puts it, "you don't really have anything to lose. I mean, apart from your finances." He doesn't shy away from just how tough making his mark has been, but he also recognises the importance of self-belief and perseverance. "The first year was super hard. I was so poor. I just kept at it, and that's what I'm doing now — keeping at it. But it's definitely an evolution and a slow process. You've just got to have patience, and believe in your work, and let people realise that it's good." Take the project he has probably become best known for, Beers in the Sun. It actually started as a hobby and a way to unwind — and the fact that it combined two of his biggest passions certainly made it plenty of fun. It seems that people quite like pictures of their favourite beverages, with a flock of Instagram followers leading to media attention, more interest in his illustrations, gigs with booze brands, and yes, a few free brews to drink as well. When it comes to what will help kick your career into gear, "you just never know," says Barry. Want to experience a little bit of 'Sine Metu' yourself? Thanks to Jameson and The Rewriters, one extremely fortunate Concrete Playground reader (and their even more fortunate mate) will get the chance to 'fear less' and go on a big ol' adventure to Ireland. In addition to two return flights departing from your choice of Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, this epic giveaway comes with five night's accommodation and $500 spending money you can use to paint the Emerald Isle red. ENTER HERE. For more about how 'Sine Metu' influenced John Jameson's journey visit Jameson's website. Images: Andy Fraser.
Ready to crisp up your March? British producer Bonobo has arrived just in time for autumn with a string of highly-anticipated DJ shows around Australia. As well as tipping his hat to one of the world’s great endangered apes, the UK-based DJ, musician and producer (real name: Simon Green) effortlessly incorporates sample layers with complex basslines; creating that signature minimalist sound he's inspired budding producers with worldwide. Since the release of his completely self-produced and self-instrumented debut Animal Magic in 2000, Bonobo has released five full-length albums and a handful of EPs and singles — becoming somewhat of a downtempo pioneer in the process. His latest release The North Borders saw him play over 175 shows across three continents and 30 countries, including appearances at Coachella and Glastonbury. March will see Bonobo travelling to Auckland, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth for solo DJ sets, with a bucketload of visuals to enhance the experience.
Get the bacon and whisky ready, and start making your own canoe — Nick Offerman is coming to Australia in mid-2019. After last venturing to our shores in 2016, the Parks and Recreation star is headed back for with his all new All Rise show. Yes, Ron effing Swanson will be in the country again from June 2–21. All Rise sees Offerman do what he does best, other than star in beloved sitcoms and whip up items in his woodshop. Here, here'll be comedically contemplating life in a show that's described as "an evening of deliberative talking and light dance". If you've just started thinking about drunk Ron Swanson letting loose, that's understandable; however expect plenty of witty, reflective chatter as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrLZgP-OR6s It's been a big few years for the actor and comedian, with Offerman popping up in everything from Fargo, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Curb Your Enthusiasm to The Founder, Hearts Beat Loud and the forthcoming The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part since Parks and Rec ended. If you're a dedicated fan of not only Offerman, but his wife Megan Mullally, you might've noticed that his tour of Australia coincides with hers. With her band Nancy and Beth, Mullally is hitting up a spate of venues across the country between June 6–19, typically within days of Offerman's stops in each city. ALL RISE DATES June 2 — Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide June 5 — Crown Theatre, Perth June 8 — Palais Theatre, Melbourne June 12 — Canberra Theatre, Canberra June 14 — Wrest Point Casino, Hobart June 18 — State Theatre, Sydney June 21 — QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane Tickets go on sale at 2pm on Thursday, February 7, via Live Nation.
In concurrence with the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Referendum, The National Gallery of Australia, in partnership with Wesfarmers Arts, is hosting its 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial. This major exhibition, titled Defying Empire, will run from May 26 through September 10 and brings together both established and emerging Indigenous artists from across Australia in a showcase that focuses on themes of identity, racism, displacement and country. Among the 30 participating artists are Brenda L. Croft, whose art looks at themes of home, Fiona Foley, who focuses on race relations, Tony Albert, who examines war and its aftermath and Brook Andrew, who explores themes of ancestry. Other artists delve into heavy issues of nuclear testing, sovereignty and the stolen generations, using a mix of media from canvas painting, video and photography to weaving, sculpture, metalwork and glasswork. The exhibition reinforces the significance of Indigenous art in Australia's cultural identity and the ongoing struggle for equality. Image: Daniel Boyd by Nikki To, Megan Cope by Pat Scala/Fairfax Media.
UPDATE Tuesday, June 15: The remainder of the phase two of the Adult Ballet Classes is cancelled due to current COVID-19 restrictions in Melbourne. Find out more via the Australian Ballet website. Exercising in winter is a struggle — even for the most actively inclined among us. If the mere thought of shivering through your usual gym routine is making you want to crawl back into bed, we've got the perfect solution for your pain. Australia's leading dance company, The Australian Ballet, has announced the second series of adult ballet classes kicking off from Monday, May 17. Running until the tail-end of June, everyone from beginner to advanced dancers are invited to pirouette into the state-of-the-art Primrose Potter Ballet Centre in Southbank. Classes run for 75 minutes and are led by current and former dancers of The Australian Ballet — Franco Leo and Jasmin Dwyer. Those with extra left feet, or very little prior ballet experience, are encouraged to join beginner classes which allows dancers to progress while building on posture, coordination and strength. Intermediate classes are a space to work on technique, while advanced classes focus on incorporating musicality and developing lyricism into your ballet. All classes are soundtracked by live piano, so you'll feel every bit the ballerina in the studio. Tickets are available as a package ($160 for the full series), but you can also dip your toes into the world of ballet with a casual pass ($33 per class). [caption id="attachment_812677" align="alignnone" width="600"] Supplied by The Australian Ballet.[/caption]
It's only been running since 2013, but the British Film Festival has achieved something most other fests can only dream of. In four short years, it has become the must-attend movie event brightening up cinema screens as the year comes to an end — and if you've been to one of the previous festivals, you'll know that it's always busy. Kicking off in Melbourne on October 26 and making its way around the country, the 2016 instalment promises another jam-packed year of Old Blighty's movie delights. From opening night's real-life love story A United Kingdom to the spirit-soaked comedy hijinks of Whisky Galore — and including a doco about a man determined to swipe Banksy's street art, the latest film from the director of the glorious Sunset Song, and a chance to see the likes of Goldfinger, Highlander and Oliver! on a big screen as well — the 2016 fest has it all. We recommend grabbing a Pimm's cup, munching on some jam-smothered scones, and adding these five must-see flicks to your viewing list. I, DANIEL BLAKE Only eight filmmakers have won Cannes Film Festival's coveted Palme d'Or more than once — and after nearly fifty years of making movies, the now-80-year-old director Ken Loach has become one of them. His latest feature, I, Daniel Blake, showcases just what the veteran does best: craft social realist dramas that get to the heart of British life. Starring English comedian Dave Johns alongside A Royal Night Out actress Hayley Squires, the film follows the titular character's attempts to obtain government support following a spate of health troubles, as well as the similar situation faced by a young single mother. Loach dissects the bureaucracy that comes with their predicament, resulting in an effort that's been called his angriest to date. It's must-see viewing. A MONSTER CALLS Things have been pretty hectic for Felicity Jones of late. She's currently running around Europe with Tom Hanks in Inferno, and will soon travel to a galaxy far, far away as the lead in forthcoming Star Wars side-story Rogue One. And, playing a mother with terminal cancer, she's also the reason that a young boy befriends a tree-shaped, Liam Neeson-voiced giant in A Monster Calls. Directed by The Orphanage and The Impossible's J.A. Bayona, the film adaptation of the beloved book promises to be that other kind of creature feature — you know, the heart-warming, spell-binding, moving and magical kind. OASIS: SUPERSONIC This one will have music doco lovers — and fans of the bad boy Britpop rockers who catapulted to fame, said they were bigger than The Beatles, and got into a top-of-the-charts tussle with Blur — rejoicing. Yep, Oasis made us wonder about champagne supernovas in the sky, asked "what's the story, morning glory?", and probably inspired you to call someone your wonderwall — however, they haven't received the comprehensive documentary treatment until now. Trust Amy filmmaker Asif Kapadia to be involved (though he's just an executive producer this time), with Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll's Mat Whitecross actually in the director's chair. You'll also spot the Gallagher brothers' names among the EP list, but that doesn't mean the doco presents a sanitised version of the band's tumultuous career. Noel and Liam have well and truly proven that they like a bit of drama, after all. TRESPASS AGAINST US In Trespass Against Us, Michael Fassbender plays a caravan-dwelling father and small-time crim who can't find his way away from his own not-so-positive paternal influence, who's played by Brendan Gleeson. Yep, the movie clearly delivers in terms of both casting and an intriguing tale — and then there's the behind-the-scenes talent. Filmmaker Adam Smith hasn't actually made a feature before, but the Skins veteran is known for his work with the Chemical Brothers — in fact, he has designed the visual elements for their gigs since their first show back in 1994, and also directed their stellar concert flick Don't Think. That's obviously why the electronic music legends are involved as well, lending their distinctive sonic stylings to the film's score. And yes, their first such effort since 2011's Hanna sounds amazing as expected. THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH Has ever a film's title described its star so perfectly? Has a performer ever been so accurately cast in a movie? We can only be talking about one feature and one musician-turned-actor, of course — and with David Bowie's passing in January, the British Film Festival is giving everyone the opportunity to see one of the big-screen highlights of his career. Playing the literally otherworldly Thomas Jerome Newton, Bowie really is a starman in this gorgeously restored version of the sci-fi classic. It's the role he was born to play, in a movie that's as astonishing today as it was when it was first released 40 years ago. The 2016 BBC First British Film Festival will be screening at Melbourne's Palace Cinema Como, Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay and The Astor from Wednesday, October 26 to Wednesday, November 16. For more information and the full program, visit britishfilmfestival.com.au.
Can you feel a tingling in your toes as your feet start to defrost? That’s the feeling of winter slipping away (or maybe you’ve been sitting cross-legged for too long) and with its demise comes the return of the 20th season of Australia's beloved Moonlight Cinema. Ahhh balmy nights on the grass, we have missed you. Heralding the coming of the warmer months, Moonlight Cinema is a summertime tradition and they always nail the balance between new releases and cult classics. While the film program is yet to be announced, the team have revealed they're bringing back one of their favourite, adorably novelty events. Moonlight Cinema fully understand that while your pooch may not be able to recite Mean Girls the way you want him to, you still want to bring him to the flicks with you. Now you can! The puntastically-named Doggie Nights is a night you can bring pooch along (ideally dressed as Regina George). Nosh-wise, Moonlight Cinema will again let you BYO movie snacks and drinks, but the unorganised can also chow down on a plethora of US style food trucks — the perfect, messy treat made for reclining on bean beds. Bean beds, doggies and snack trucks, is there anything better? This season includes screens in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth, running through December to March. Get your pens out and jot down these dates. MOONLIGHT CINEMA 2016 DATES: Sydney: Dec 3 – Mar 27 (Belvedere Amphitheatre in Centennial Park). Adelaide: Dec 3 – Feb 14 (Botanic Park) Brisbane: Dec 16 – Mar 6 (New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse) Melbourne: Dec 3 –Mar 27 (Central Lawn at the Royal Botanic Gardens) Perth: Dec 5 – Mar 27 (Kings Park and Botanic Garden) The Moonlight Cinema kicks off on December 3. For more information and bookings here.
You may have heard that Chinese artist and political commentator Ai Weiwei's work will be hitting Australia for the huge blockbuster summer exhibition Andy Warhol Ai Weiwei at the National Gallery of Victoria in December. But in a bizarre twist, the artist's work and freedom of speech is being threatened by none other than Lego, the Danish toy company that has brought delight to kids dads everywhere for generations. In a move that shocks nobody who’s ever stood barefoot on a tiny plastic brick, Lego have revealed themselves to be pretty damned villainous. Weiwei announced via Instagram on Saturday that Lego refused his studio’s order for bulk bricks on the grounds that Lego “cannot approve the use of Legos for political works”. The order was going to be used to build a room-sized installation of portraits of Australian activists who fight for human rights and free speech. Weiwei sardonically adds that Britain is opening a Legoland in Shanghai as a direct result of the special political relationship between the UK and China, which most definitely falls under the category of 'political works'. In September Lego refused Ai Weiwei Studio's request for a bulk order of Legos to create artwork to be shown at the National Gallery of Victoria as "they cannot approve the use of Legos for political works." On Oct 21, a British firm formally announced that it will open a new Legoland in Shanghai as one of the many deals of the U.K.-China "Golden Era." A photo posted by Ai Weiwei (@aiww) on Oct 23, 2015 at 6:04am PDT As expected, the resultant internet furore has been A+. One plucky Twitter user @dgatterdam astutely reused an Ai Weiwei quote “Everything is art. Everything is politics.” to generate debate while others proceeded to give in to their baser instincts and gave the (in some cases literal) middle finger to Lego. @aiww Uh oh, no one tell @LEGO_Group I used my Legos to make a political statement! #legosforweiwei pic.twitter.com/euOyW86xrP — Mila Johns (@milaficent) October 25, 2015 Both approaches worked in spreading the word however and it wasn’t long before the good people of the internet were offering up their own Legos for Weiwei's use instead. Weiwei made a statement yesterday that his studio will be collecting donated Lego in different cities to create the exhibition anyway (suck it, Lego, may you walk on a sea of thousands of your jagged blocks for eternity). He also said that he would be changing his exhibition piece to reflect the events and defend (more fervently) the tenants of free speech. In September 2015 Lego refused to sell Ai Weiwei Studio a bulk order of Lego bricks for Ai's artworks to be exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne on the basis of the works' "political" nature. Ai posted this notice on his Instagram on Friday, October 23rd. Lego's position triggered a torrent of outrage on social media against this assault on creativity and freedom of expression. Numerous supporters offered to donate Lego to Ai. In response to Lego's refusal and the overwhelming public response, Ai Weiwei has now decided to make a new work to defend freedom of speech and "political art". Ai Weiwei Studio will announce the project description and Lego collection points in different cities. This is the first phase of the coming projects. A photo posted by Ai Weiwei (@aiww) on Oct 25, 2015 at 10:37am PDT So how can you stick it to Lego and send your own blocks to the cause? We expect the Weiwei studio to announce collection points in the coming weeks and we’ll keep you updated. In the meantime, follow Weiwei's tweets, check the studio website and collect up all your old Lego pieces because soon enough they’ll be going down in history. Via New York Times/NPR. UPDATE OCTOBER 28, 2015: National Gallery of Victoria has been announced as the first international Lego collection point for the Ai Weiwei project. The artist today confirmed that the NGV will become the first Lego collection spot outside of Beijing. From Thursday, October 29, a car will be placed in the NGV sculpture garden in Melbourne as a repository for the Lego blocks. Donors are encouraged to bring in their Lego blocks and drop them through the sunroof of the vehicle.
After a successful 2013 collaboration between Dion Lee and angel-voiced Sarah Blasko on the killer show De Novo, the Sydney Dance Company is once again bringing to the stage a fusion of music, choreography and high fashion. This year the talent comes from costume designer Toni Maticevski and soprano Katie Noonan, who will weave their magic around a trio of dances by Rafael Bonachela, appropriately titled Triptych. Maticevski is better known for his red-carpet gowns than anything, but he’s turned his considerable talent towards interpreting the mood and music of the three pieces of choreography, and his designs range from pale nude chiffon twists for Simple Symphony to black and mesh for the “darker, sexier and more suggestive” mood in Les Illuminations. Rafael’s world premiere work, Variation 10, will feature the entire ensemble of the Sydney Dance Company swathed in shades of grey and silver, sheer ruffles, frayed edges and outlined cut-outs. Maticevski describes the look as “distressed ballerina”. It’s not the first time Maticevski has collaborated with the Sydney Dance Company. He crafted the costumes for the premiere 2013 season of Les Illuminations, which has been reimagined for the 2015 season. The images above are some sneaky shots of the as-yet-unfinished products in action. Triptych plays at the Roslyn Packer Theatre from September 25 – October 10. Book tickets via the Roslyn Packer Theatre website.
"Well, this changes everything." It's a common enough expression, used almost entirely hyperbolically in circumstances like preparing a bowl of cereal before discovering your milk's already past its due by date. Every so often, however, the adage is justified, as was the case in 1974 when it was revealed to the world that Germany's infamous WWII 'enigma code' had in fact been cracked some 30 years earlier by a small group of English mathematicians. That announcement changed history. Textbooks were rewritten, curriculums revised and almost every detail of the global conflict reexamined. For three decades, credit for the extraordinary intelligence windfall that helped expedite the War's end by as much as two years fell to an unnamed Allied spy within Berlin operating under the codename 'Ultra'. That man did not exist, and now The Imitation Game, based on the biography Alan Turing: The Enigma, explores the true source of the Allies' codebreaking secret. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Turing, a man whose name should rightly be known the world over, twice, and yet whose story remains largely unfamiliar. For one, he was the genius behind the machine that cracked the Nazi code, and two, he effectively pioneered development of both artificial intelligence and the digital computer. It's an astounding story, both for its marvel and misery, and The Imitation Game seeks to capture both. Artistic licence notwithstanding (there are no recordings of Turing, or at the very least no declassified ones), Cumberbatch's masterful performance brings to life a man whose mathematical genius was matched only by his social dyslexia and his torment at being gay in an age when homosexuality was still illegal under British law. Surrounding him is an all-star, all-English ensemble, including: Mark Strong, Keira Knightly, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance and Rory Kinnear. Newcomer Alex Lawther also deserves special mention in his turn as the young Turing, whose flashback scenes are perhaps the film's most poignant and emotionally charged. Director Morten Tyldum (Headhunters) balances his three timelines well, using the prep school years and wartime experiences to inform Turing's later disposition during his 1952 police interrogation in which he was charged with 'gross indecency'. Turing's ultimate fate was a despicable one, sentenced to state-sanctioned chemical castration by the same government that only ten years earlier had been saved by his extraordinary abilities. It was only in 2013, in fact, that he received a posthumous pardon by the Queen, and if there's a problem with The Imitation Game, it’s the way the subject of homosexual persecution is largely dispensed with upon the film's conclusion, despite being so deftly introduced and explored earlier. "Sometimes it's the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine." These words, first uttered to Turing by his childhood sweetheart (and then repeated — albeit a little clumsily — several further times throughout), underscore The Imitation Game's representation of Turing as an astonishing man who almost singlehandedly achieved the impossible without ever seeking, or receiving, any acknowledgment for it. His is a story that needs to be known, and thanks to this film, more will not just learn of Turing, but hopefully seek out and explore it in far greater detail thereafter.
One of Australia's most redeeming qualities is its ability to give good afternoon sun. There's something about its familiar glow that almost demands casual drinks — whether it's cracking open a cold beer after a day out, heading to the pub after a long day of work, or deciding on a whim that your backyard is perfect for having friends over. We love summer afternoons, and we've partnered with Heineken 3 so you can get the most out of them. We've spoken to a few of our favourite chefs, musicians and artists, to get their insights on creating the perfect balmy afternoon. For a summer playlist, who better to ask for advice than Ned East, a.k.a Kilter? His genre-spanning tropical electronic beats scream summer, and he's been making waves playing his tunes around Australia — performing at Falls, Field Day and Southbound. This year he followed the sun into European waters, playing shows and festivals across France, Germany, Malta and the UK. We asked him for some tips on how to create the perfect party playlist for a summer afternoon. Because he's a nice guy, he provided one of his own. It's good. Listen to this and get inspired, then follow his tips in creating your own. YOUR PLAYLIST NEEDS TO BE CAREFULLY CURATED It's important to remember that your playlist should be delicately crafted — it shouldn't just be a bunch of tracks thrown together. It should be designed to be listened to in one fell swoop, just like Kilter's. That means no skipping, no jumping and absolutely no shuffling (tracks, that is). TAKE YOUR LISTENERS ON A JOURNEY There needs to be an effortless flow. Kilter's playlist has a strong dance tinge to it, cruising through a few downtempo tracks, moving into a house-centred, upbeat party vibe. Things get a bit crazy towards the end, but what else can you expect from a summer session? PICK A FEW BANGER TRACKS TO GET STARTED Kilter tells us to "start with the tracks you really want to play, then think about their order and how they'll be consumed". Choose a few of your favourite tracks that you know you'll definitely want to include, and use those as your base. That way, it's easy to get inspired, ensure you get a variety of music and make sure your playlist has some direction. Kilter's starting point tracks were Kwesta's 'Ngud' (featuring Cassper Nyovest), as well as 808INK's 'Suede Jaw' and Hayden James' 'Just a Lover' (Karma Kid remix) — he recommends if you're in need of some inspiration. CONSIDER YOUR SITUATION, AND LEARN TO LIFT THE VIBES Music has the magical ability to dictate someone's mood. It's essential to a summer afternoon when you're throwing back a Heineken 3, because it'll lift the vibes. "If it's a rainy day and you're playing summertime jams, it's going to make you feel a little bit better," Kilter says. "If it's a sunny day and you've got sunny music on, it's really going to take your vibes to another level". In his own words: "Get some friends over and have some beers in the sun. Let the music do its thing while you do your thing." Enjoy your summer afternoons with the new low-carb Heineken 3 — we're helping you make the most of them.
White knuckle thrillers, sun-dappled love stories and fish out of water comedies — you'll find them all in the lineup at this year's Spanish Film Festival. Taking over the screens at select Palace Cinemas around the country, the latest edition of this much-loved festival features 39 titles in total, including a loose remake of a recent Australian effort that will double as the opening night film. A kinky, sex-positive comedy inspired by Josh Lawson's The Little Death, Paco Leon's Kiki, Love to Love should get things off to a smoldering start. Other standouts on the program include crime thrillers such as The Bar and Smoke and Mirrors, and a retrospective stream dedicated to the works of iconic actor and singer Ana Belen. The festival will conclude with an early screening of The Trip to Spain, the much anticipated third chapter in the big screen travels of comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. Below, check out our list of the five must-see films of this year's Spanish Film Festival. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ywx8kAviZA MAY GOD SAVE US The title of Rodrigo Sorogoyen's new film is a little on the ominous side, but then from all reports that's rather fitting. Set in Madrid during a fiercely hot summer against the backdrop of anti-austerity protests and a visit by the pope, May God Save Us tracks a pair of veteran cops on the trail of a violent serial killer. A classic cat-and-mouse thriller, the picture won Best Screenplay at last year's San Sebastian International Film Festival, and has been compared by critics to the blood-spattered films of David Fincher. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm9QiTqOUdI SUMMER 1993 This year's centerpiece film arrives at the Spanish Film Festival on the back of considerable critical acclaim. Directed by Carla Simon Pipó, who won Best First Feature at the 2017 Berlinale, Summer 1993 follows six-year-old Frida, who after the death of her parents is swept from Barcelona to the Catalan provinces to begin a new life with her aunt and uncle. A simple, sensitive coming-of-age story, the film is a must-see for cinephiles, and might well be our number one pick of the entire festival. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f5La9q2_k8 THE DISTINGUISHED CITIZEN The latest effort from directorial double act Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, The Distinguished Citizen earned major plaudits at last year's Venice Film Festival, including a Best Actor gong for its leading man Oscar Martínez. A familiar face to Argentinean audiences, here Martínez plays Daniel Mantovani, a taciturn novelist who returns to his tiny hometown in order to accept an award and maybe find some inspiration. What follows has been billed as a biting big screen farce about jealousy, creativity and the perils of success. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B2x5XLbQhk THE QUEEN OF SPAIN In terms of star power, this sumptuous period piece from Oscar winner Fernando Trueba is likely the biggest title on this year's Spanish Film Festival program. Reprising her role from Trueba's 1998 film The Girl of Your Dreams, Penelope Cruz plays Macarena Granada, a Hollywood movie star who returns to her native Spain for a film shoot, only for the production to run afoul of Franco's regime. Both a send-up of fascism and a loving tribute to 1950s Spanish cinema, with supporting turns by The Princess Bride co-stars Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin, The Queen of Spain shapes up as a surefire crowdpleaser. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSDZ7IiYb_A THE TRIP TO SPAIN After touring the finest restaurants that England and then Italy had to offer, comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are back for their latest gastronomic adventure. Directed once again by Michael Winterbottom, The Trip to Spain promises more of the same for fans of the previous two Trip films, with charming vistas, mouthwatering food and free-flowing banter. Although it's due to receive a theatrical release later in the year, closing night is your chance to see one of the year's funniest films before any of your friends. The Spanish Film Festival tours Australia from April 18, screening at Sydney's Palace Norton Street and Palace Verona from April 18 to May 7; Melbourne's Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth and Kino Cinemas from April 20 to May 7, and Brisbane's Palace Barracks and Palace Centro from April 27 to May 14. For more information, visit the festival website. Image: Summer 1993.
Fans of Marcel Duchamp are in for a serious treat, with the Art Gallery of New South Wales named as the sole Australian stop for a huge exhibition celebrating the acclaimed artist's life and work. Kicking off in Tokyo on October 2, to mark the 50th anniversary of the artist's death, it's set to be the most comprehensive Duchamp exhibition to ever hit the Asia-Pacific region. The Essential Duchamp will open in Sydney in April 2019, showcasing an impressive 150 works and related documentary materials from throughout the art legend's 60-year career. It'll offer a rare glimpse at Duchamp's seriously fascinating life and a body of work that's considered one of the 20th century's most artistically influential. Some pieces, like Chocolate Grinder (No 2) from 1914 and 1910's Portrait of Dr. Dumouchel, have never before been seen in this part of the world. The exhibition's on loan from, and organised by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which boasts the definitive collection of Duchamp artwork. Director Dr Michael Brand said the Art Gallery of NSW's excited to be part of this important collaboration. "The Philadelphia Museum of Art is an encyclopedic museum of the highest order with a grand tradition of both research and innovative exhibitions," he explained. "The Gallery is delighted to introduce to Australian audiences for the first time, the full creative accomplishment of this maverick artist who changed the way we look at art." The Essential Duchamp will be on show at the Art Gallery of NSW from April 2019 to August 2019. For more info, visit the AGNSW website. Image: Gary Stevens via Wikimedia Commons.
One wrote novels that explored the loves and lives of well-to-do Britons during the 18th century. The other makes films that provide sharp, humorous looks at specific, highly interconnected sections of society. And yet, while Whit Stillman took inspiration from Jane Austen's Mansfield Park for his 1990 debut feature Metropolitan — which the filmmaker himself notes is considered "a stealth adaptation" by some Austen fans — it has taken him 26 years and five features to craft an official screen version of one of the author's works. Based on Austen's unfinished epistolary novella Lady Susan, the end result is Love & Friendship, a comedy of manners, match-making and possible marriages. Kate Beckinsale plays the recently widowed Lady Susan Vernon, who won't let rumours about her romantic entanglements get in the way of securing her next husband — or finding a suitable paramour for her teenage daughter, Frederica (Morfydd Clark). When she's not trying to win the affections of the young and handsome Reginald DeCourcy (Xavier Samuel) and setting up Frederica with the buffoonish Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett), she's confiding her schemes to her close friend Alicia (Chloë Sevigny). A sparkling satire of societal expectations ensues — and from the witty banter between characters to the light yet insightful way the story unravels, Love & Friendship feels like the film Stillman was destined to make. In the lead up to the movie's Australian release, we spoke with the writer/director about taking the time to see the project come to fruition, balancing his own sensibilities with the source material, and reuniting with after Beckinsale and Sevigny after his 1998 effort The Last Days of Disco. ON ADAPTING JANE AUSTEN "I happened upon the material, the story of Lady Susan Vernon — which her nephew, when he published it a century after her death, gave it the title Lady Susan, which is not Jane Austen's title. I thought it was really funny and different. And I had sort of not entirely admired all the Jane Austen adaptations because a lot of them lost the humour and her true perspective, and so I thought this is a way of having something very funny and very entertaining — a sort of pre-Oscar Wilde sort of comedy by Jane Austen and in her world. It intrigued me. "I wanted to take my time on it, and work on it when I didn't have paying jobs and could just do it at my own pace, just exactly as slow as it needed to be done. This kind of thing is like cooking — when you have a thing that is going to take a lot of time, it is going to take 12 hours of simmering something down. And so I knew that this was the 12 years of simmering something down. Well, maybe not that many years. But I knew it would take an amount of time." ON TACKLING A LESSER-KNOWN AUSTEN STORY "It was hugely liberating. Hugely liberating. A real benefit. But I also noticed that the film adaptations I liked best were often of non-masterpieces. So flawed novels sometimes make really, really good adaptations. And I was hopeful that this would fall into that category where there's enough things to be done to give the people working on the film a canvas to work on. What's really challenging and frustrating is to take a masterpiece and reduce it to a film, because it is an issue of reduction." ON CHANGING THE TITLE FROM LADY SUSAN TO LOVE & FRIENDSHIP "For me, it was a big thing. It was the first decision I made. I wouldn't have done the film as Lady Susan — it was the first thing I thought of. I hated the title Lady Susan, it wasn't Jane Austen's title. And I know that these character name titles don't work in most translation territories. "I really think that Love & Friendship is a wonderful Jane Austen title that she thought of herself, and she wasted it on a story I don't take seriously at all. There was a good title on an unimportant story, so let's put the good title on the good novella." ON BALANCING AUSTEN'S TRADEMARKS WITH STILLMAN'S OWN STYLE "Everything is tricky. Everything is a balancing act to the very end. When we were putting in the sound, at the very end, the laughter in the dancing scene, it's like, 'Do we have too much of James Martin laughing? Are we making this too broad, too ridiculous?' And we actually dialled that back. And so, yeah there's always this balance. I had been so immersed in this novel for so long, so immersed in the period — it's a lifelong interest — that it sort of felt that we could handle that and do that balancing." ON CASTING AUSTRALIAN ACTOR XAVIER SAMUEL "Woody Allen and other directors have talked about this — it is almost impossible to find good romantic leading men and this sort of classic mould, and Xavier was a godsend when we found him. "We almost lost him to a competing Australian film — his agent wanted him to take this higher-paying job in Australia. And, my gosh, I was so upset at the possibility of losing him that I told him that I didn't want to make the film if he wouldn't be in it. He is really important for the film." ON REUNITING KATE BECKINSALE AND CHLOË SEVIGNY AFTER THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO "That was really inadvertent. Chloë was actually in the film before Kate Beckinsale. I started so far back that I was actually in touch with Elizabeth Hurley, I think, about this when I first started thinking of it. Kate was far too young then, she was still in her twenties. But I always thought it was a lovely idea for Kate Beckinsale, but at the very start she was too young. And then, I think Sienna Miller was attached to the film as Lady Susan for a while. And then the clouds parted, the sun came out, and we were able to get Kate to play the part — and it is the part for which she was destined, and she was actually wonderful in it, and she was great to work with." Love & Friendship opens in Australian cinemas on July 21.
This winter, Melbourne's decided to descend into some hellish frosty tomfoolery. Best way to beat the cold? Snuggle into a dark cinema, your own personal cinema, with 20 of your mates and watch the perpetually captivating Greta Gerwig melt every cold heart in the room in Maggie's Plan. Writer-directer Rebecca Miller's new indie rom-com was one of our favourites at this year's Sydney Film Festival. The story of an extra-marital affair gone wrong and the attempts of the unflappable Maggie (Gerwig) to put things back together, Maggie's Plan was loved by our critics — Tom Clift said the film was "funny from start to finish, and does a great job of bringing dimension to its catalogue of flawed characters." Think Ethan Hawke as an unhappily married academic hailed as "the bad boy of fictocritical anthropology." And Julianne Moore as his domineering Danish wife. Yes. Please. So you've got the rundown, let's get you out of the cold and into a comfy cinema seat. Thanks to Cinema Nova, we're giving you to the chance to win an exclusive private preview screening of Maggie's Plan for you and 20 friends at Cinema Nova, Carlton. You'll be treated to a deluxe choc top on arrival (made in-house at Cinema Nova), and you'll take over your very own boutique cinema for the screening, a day before it releases in cinemas nationally on July 7. [competition]577630[/competition] Maggie's Plan is out nationally on July 7 by Sony Pictures. For more information about Maggie's Plan, visit the Cinema Nova website.
The Melbourne Festival has hit the big three oh — and what better way to celebrate than with a two-and-a-half-week-long party. The team behind Melbourne's flagship cultural event have pulled back the curtain on their 30th anniversary program, and it's every bit as exciting as we've come to expect. Clear your calendar and make room for more than 70 events, including 17 Australian premieres, featuring artists, musicians and theatre makers from all around the world. Headlining the event are a number of major theatre productions, including the smash hit West-End adaptation of George Orwell's seminal novel 1984. A nominee for Best New Play at the 2014 Olivier Awards, the timeless tale about the dangers of government surveillance and control will have its exclusive Australian season as part of the Melbourne Festival. Organisers have also programmed a number of supplemental events including a live reading at the Legislative Assembly Chamber in Victoria's Parliament featuring notable politicians, media personalities and actors, as well as a special film program at ACMI entitled Eyes Without a Face: Surveillance in Cinema. Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison, meanwhile, has teamed up celebrated opera and theatre director Peter Sellars on Desdemona, a restaging of Shakespeare's classic play Othello, featuring music from award winning Malawi singer-songwriter Rokia Traore, that uses the story of its doomed heroine to explore questions of violence, class, race and gender. Israel's Batsheva Dance Company will take to the stage with a pair of works by preeminent dance maker Ohad Naharin, while Belgian company Peeping Tom present the intensely physical dance theatre show 32 Rue Vandenbranden. Also making its Melbourne premiere is the award-winning Spiegeltent production LIMBO, combining circus, acrobatics and cabaret. Leading the music program is a tribute to Patti Smith's iconic rock album Horses, which will be performed in full by Courtney Barnett, Jen Cloher, Adalita and Gareth Liddiard. UK folk singer Laura Marling will play Hamer Hall for one night only, while Flight Facilities will team up with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for a performance at the Myer Music Bowl. Also in the mix is master film composer Clint Mansell and electronic jazz pioneer John McLaughlin. There'll be more music happening at the Foxtel Festival Hub, a cafe/bar/performance venue on the banks of the Yarra. Over the course of the festival, the hub will host the likes of Icelandic techno duo Kiasmos, English post-punk band The Fall, French ten-piece Babylon Circus, local favourites Bombay Royale and Cut Copy, and many, many more.
If you, like us, have been struggling to maintain your bank balance this Christmas (the shopping, holiday plans and festival tickets all take their toll), we feel ya. To help you out, we've teamed up with Melbourne's biggest and best inner city festival, Sugar Mountain, and V MoVement, to give you the chance to win an epic festival experience. The stress of the festive season will melt away when you're grooving to Blood Orange with an 8bit burger in one hand and a beer in the other. Bliss. Up for grabs here are two VIP Sugar Mountain passes (yes), return flights to Melbourne from any major capital city (yessss) and we'll even put you up for two nights at QT Melbourne (a thousand times yes!). Prepare yourself for fluffy-robed luxury. But that's not all. Thanks to our buds at V MoVement, you'll be their VIP too with two side of stage passes to get up close and personal with the line-up on their own personal stage. V MoVement, just FYI, is an initiative by (you guessed it) V energy drink that aims to support grass roots dance music so it's no surprise they're popping up at the weird and wonderful Sugar Mountain. If you're a fan of EDM, this is the prize for you. Check out the line-up and read up on last year's Sensory Lab to yourself excited. We're even throwing in a year's worth of V energy drinks to bolster your energy levels after such an intense weekend. Damn. Not sure if anything under the tree can top this present. Head here to enter.
Cinderella horrifically mangled in a pumpkin car crash. Dodgem cars run by the Grim Reaper. Model boat ponds filled with dead bodies. Welcome to Banksy's Dismaland. Banksy has unveiled his biggest show to date, a family theme park that's highly unsuitable for children, a festival of "art, amusement and entry-level anarchism". Opened on a 2.5 acre site on the Weston-super-Mare seafront in the UK, Banksy's largest project has been kept under wraps for months, until today. According to the Guardian, locals and tourists were convinced the disused '30s lido space was being used for a Hollywood film set — fake crime thriller Grey Fox. Wander through cardboard airport security and you'll find a frankly terrifying theme park — a huge flip of the bird to Disneyland, even though Banksy banned any imagery of Mickey Mouse on site. Banksy personally selected 58 artists including Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer, Julie Burchill, Jimmy Cauty (former KLF) and more, most of whom never met the elusive legend. The theme park's 'attractions' are another world of messed-up. Banksy's own ten works include Cinderella's pumpkin crashed in a large castle, a grisly recreation of the death of Princess Diana, surrounded by paparazzi (and you get a souvenir photo on the way out, lovely). The Grim Reaper rides the dodgems. There's a Punch and Judy show, rewritten with a nod to Jimmy Saville. Yeesh. There's a model boat pond, filled with dead bodies and overcrowded asylum seeker boats. There's cute little model village, swarmed by 3000 riot police following civil conflict. There's a Jeffrey Archer Memorial Fire Pit, locked in for daily book burnings, and an armour-plated riot control car used in Northern Ireland, with a slippery dip. For the kids, there's a 'pocket money loans' shop, handing out sweet sweet junk change with a 5000% interest rate to land them in debt for life. There's an 'advice bureau' where you can buy tools to break into bus stop ads and replace them with propaganda. "Are you looking for an alternative to the sugar-coated tedium of the average family day out? Or just somewhere a lot cheaper?" says Banksy. "Then this is the place for you. Bring the whole family to come and enjoy the latest addition to our chronic leisure surplus." #Dismaland #dismaland_park #banksy #streetart #dismalanbeamusementpark # A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 6:21am PDT #dismaland #banksy A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 8:39am PDT Dismaland Park #dismaland #banksy #dismaland_park #streetart #banksyart #disney #ladydi #paparazzi A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 11:56am PDT Banksy's dismaland park #dismaland #banksy #dismalanbeamusementpark #disney #england #streetart A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 5:20am PDT #streetart #dismaland_park #dismalanbeamusementpark #dismalandpark #dismaland #banksy #fuckthepolice A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 5:53am PDT #dismaland #banksy @dismaland_park A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 6:33am PDT Dismaland park #dismalandpark #dismaland #banksy #dismalanbeamusementpark #disney @dismaland_park A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 5:36am PDT Dismaland bemusement park @banksy @dismaland_park A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 5:02am PDT #dismaland #banksy A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 6:47am PDT #dismaland_park #dismalanbeamusementpark #dismalandpark #Dismaland #banksy #england A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 5:42am PDT Banky's Dismaland is open until September 27. There'll be 4000 tickets available each day at £3 each at dismaland.co.uk. Via Guardian, Huffington Post, NY Daily News. Top image: Yui Mok.
Seafood towers are so underrated. The masses love a boozy brunch, big set menus and seafood deals, but a seafood tower combines a whole lot of these all in one. And right now, Etta's has got to be one of the best in Melbourne. Every Friday and Saturday arvo, you can drop by one of the best restaurants in Melbourne for a totally luxe seafood tower offering that'll cost a very reasonable $75 per person. On the tower, you'll find woodfired sand crab; chilled king tiger prawns; smoked mussels; raw snapper with sambal; watermelon and green mango; champagne-battered fish bites; and a bunch of different mayos and oils for dipping. As Etta is also one of the city's top wine bars, you can also pair this feed with incredible champagnes. You can add on NV Diebolt-Vallois Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut NV Frédéric Savart 'l'Ouverture' Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut, NV Larmandier-Bernier 'Rosé de Saignée' or Egly-Ouriet Ratafia de Champagne to make it even more lavish. But be aware that there will only be a limited-number of seafood towers available each lunchtime, so be sure to request one when making your booking. Yo're not going to want to miss out on this deal, which runs throughout November and December. Images: Jana Langhorst.
We're going to bet that you've left some (okay, maybe more than some) of your Christmas present shopping to the last minute — or at least too last minute to safely order online. And it doesn't help that so many people are so hard to shop for, whether they're super fussy family members or friends who seemingly have everything they could already want. If you're looking for something special, or unusual, then these are Melbourne's best local shops you should scope out. Words: Hannah Valmadre, Shannon McKeogh and Lauren Vadnjal
Chinese New Year is coming up on February 8 and in 2016 we’ll be ringing in the year of the monkey (goodbye year of the sheep, go sleep it off). And what’s the best way to partake of the celebration? We’ve got it right here and it’s more fun than a barrelful of monkeys. Well, actually it is a barrelful of monkeys. Dumpling masters Din Tai Fung are offering new limited edition ‘Monkey Buns’ for the month of February and they are literally the cutest food we’ve ever seen. Just look at them. Din Tai Fung are famous for their dumplings and are known to release beautiful and novelty dumplings for special occasions (check out these adorable little lamb buns from last year). The monkey bao buns are steamed-to-order and stuffed with a sweet filling of chocolate and banana. They’re part of a series of new dishes being added to the menu from February 1 including crispy golden seafood roll, braised Szechuan sliced beef noodle and vegetarian egg fried rice with mushroom and truffle oil. Unfortunately the monkey buns are only available in the Din Tai Fung restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne (not the food court outlets) so you’ll have to make an proper sit-down event of it. The only problem we can foresee is that eating those sweet little monkey faces may be hard… but we’ll probably manage it. Monkey Buns are available for $4.80 per piece from Din Tai Fung restaurants from February 1 – February 29.
Why make one drink when you can make ten? Batched cocktails have grown significantly in popularity across the cocktail world. They're a great, easy option for the amateur bartender — particularly useful when you're hosting a party, because you're not going to be stuck behind the bar all night mixing drinks if you plan ahead. You'd expect that bartenders would turn up their nose at a pre-mixed cocktail, but the trend has caught on in multiple Australasian venues — it turns out they love pre-mixing too. One of the main reasons why is that it's much more practical for bartender and consumer. They don't have to spend 15 minutes mixing and muddling up a complex cocktail, and you don't have to wait. Cocktail ingredients are pre-prepared (bars usually pre-mix cocktails two to three hours before opening), and the ingredients in the drink are left to infuse. When you're using gin, this means there's enough time for botanicals to infuse with the other ingredients, and richer, bolder flavours appear. In partnership with Bombay Sapphire, we asked Sean Forsyth (the Bombay Sapphire Australian ambassador) to show us how to mix up a big batch of Coffee Negronis — literally just the Negroni cocktail you know and love with cold-drip coffee added. Like a Negroni, coffee is sweet, bitter and complex — so it's the perfect ingredient to complement and spice up this famous gin cocktail. Get your hands on some cold-drip and you've got yourself a breakfast-appropriate cocktail. "If you walk into a bar and they don't know how to make a Negroni, leave," Forsyth says. He's right. To make a Negroni you just need to know how to mix gin, vermouth and Campari — it's easy. To make a batch of Coffee Negronis, you need water, a one-litre measuring jug, a funnel and a one-litre glass bottle instead of a shaker. It's getting much, much easier to make good cocktails. THE COFFEE NEGRONI (Serves 10) Ingredients: 250ml Bombay Sapphire 200ml Martini Rosso 200ml Campari 100ml cold drip espresso 250ml water 1 litre sealable glass bottle Method: Using a funnel and a one-litre measuring jug, build ingredients into a clean one-litre glass bottle Shake and add into the freezer one hour before service Pour into rocks glass filled with cubed ice Garnish with an orange slice Images: Kimberley Low.
It's time to make the pilgrimage to the Supernatural Amphitheatre once again, Golden Plains has opened the ballot for 2017. Taking place over a long weekend under a full moon, Meredith's other beloved festival returns for March 11-13, 2017. And they've announced on heck of a legend to top the bill: Neil Finn. As always, the lineup will appear on one stage in the Supernatural Amphitheatre, fronted by one of history's greatest songwriters. Crowded House legend Neil Finn will play a special career-spanning set under the full moon. It's been seven years since Finn played The Sup', so this should be pretty special. The full lineup will drop soon. Meanwhile, Golden Plains is set to be the same festival you know and love — no dickheads, no need to hide your goon sacks, no commercial sponsors — but with a new sound system, new campaground, new foods and kids under 12 can attend the festival free. The ballot for GPXI is open now until 10pm on Monday, October 17. Visit www.goldenplains.com.au for details.
Bulldog Gin is hosting two gin and tonic pop-ups in Melbourne throughout September to bring out the gin lover within you for the beginning on spring. The distinctive gin makers will be at The Penny Black in Brunswick, and Big Mouth in St Kilda, bringing you $8 gin and tonics until the 30th of September. Make the most of the change in weather by taking your drink out to the Penny Black's beer garden or sipping it downstairs by the window to soak up the sea breeze at Big Mouth. And if you happen to find yourself at either venue on a Friday or Saturday, you might just be lucky enough to have the bar staff shout you one. If you hvane't tried it, Bulldog Gin is a fresh, smooth twist on a classic London Dry gin, including exotic botanicals from around the world inspired by founder Anshuman Vohra's globe-trotting childhood. The quadruple distilled liquor features heavy citrus notes and is infused with Dragon Eye (a close relative of everyone's favourite summer fruit, lychees), juniper (of course), lotus leaves, liquorice, lavender, almond and poppy. Image: Steven Woodburn.
Besides naps and binge watching Netflix, there's very few things in life that will fix a grouchy mood better than a delicious snack. And when you inevitably find yourself in that irritated, hungry state — perhaps cooped up in your office, working on a deadline at the library, or just roaming the city streets on the verge of breakdown — that's exactly when you need those snacks the most. So for the love of your soul, here are the ten best snacks in the city — from sweet somethings to the hot, deep fried kind. They're all under $10, can all be eaten on-the-go, and are all absolutely delicious. NUTELLA AND BANANA JAFFLE, T-ROY BROWNS — $4.50 Every tummy needs a T-Roy Brown Nutella and peanut butter jaffle from time to time. Combining our two fave spreads, this Melbourne cafe has turned the all-too-familiar PB&J sandwich into one very sleek snack. Bursting with a mix of warm chocolate and peanut spread, these babies are available for the taking on the outskirts of Flinders Street Station, right next to the 24 hour gym. White shirts are not advised during consumption. 365 Flinders Street, CBD CHEESE AND SPINACH BOREK, THE BOREK SHOP AT QVM — $3 One of Melbourne's best savoury pastries is located in the heart of Queen Vic Market. Remarkably kind on your purse, these boreks are Melburnian legend. Don't be fooled by the low prices, the ultra-efficient ladies at Shop 95 know exactly what they're doing. Just be prepared to elbow your way in, because this Borek Stand isn't much of a hidden gem anymore — it's a rather popular one. You'll know why after you take the first bite. Shop 95, Queen Victoria Market, cnr Victoria and Elizabeth Streets, CBD BRAISED PORK BELLY BAO, WONDERBAO — $4.20 Surely a list of the CBD's best of the best cannot exclude the wondrous creations from Wonderbao. Set between their plant-your-face-on-it soft bao, Wonderbao's sticky braised pork belly buns are the perfect 3pm snack. Pickled mustard, fresh coriander and crunchy peanuts make up this gua bao dream from Wonderbao's A'Beckett street home. Splurge with some hot soya if you feel a cold coming on. Shop 4, 19-37 A'Beckett Street, CBD HERBED CHICKEN GOZLEME, GOZ CITY — $10 Regretting that lunchtime salad because you 'weren't hungry'? Do a runner down to Goz City, one of Melbourne's best Turkish takeaway joints. Warm timber and classic wooden stools make up this homey Lt Collins Street eatery, but if you don't have time to stop, grab your gozleme to go. Crammed with fresh herbs and tender chicken, Goz City's herbed chicken option is the ideal post-lunch filler. 502 Little Collins Street, CBD POTATO MAC AND CHEESE CROQUETTES, GRAND TRAILER PARK TAVERNA — $4.50 When the afternoon blues hit and you're in need of a delicious (preferably greasy) pick me up, there's really no time to skimp on carbs. Luckily, one of Melbourne's favourite burger joints also makes gloriously crispy snacks, which are perfect to snag on the go. The Grand Trailer Park Taverna's potato mac and cheese croquettes (pictured above in a burger) are stuffed with gooey cheesy goodness and piping hot potato — and they're guaranteed to make your afternoon considerably better. And at $4.20 a pop, you can grab two and still get change for a tenner. 87 Bourke Street, CBD LA GOURMANDE WAFFLE, WAFFLE ON — $9 If melted chocolate layered with fresh strawberries and topped with whipped cream doesn't make you happy on a bad day, I'm sorry — there's nothing we can do for you. But if it does, then you're in luck. Tucked between the sandwich shops in Degraves Street, Waffle On is a haven for work-weary Melburnians (as well as an occasional awkward date-spot.) Order a La Gourmande waffle (chocolate, strawberries and extra cream) when you're down in the dumps, and prepare to slip into a blissful post-waffle state. Shop 9, Degraves Street, CBD COFFEE AND DOUGHNUT, SHORTSTOP — $8 A doughnut a day won't keep the doctor away, but we'll pretend Shortstop's goodies do until further notice. Their magnificent sticky date and gingerbread doughnut combo is hellishly decadent, merging three of the best desserts together into one ridiculously delicious snack. You can also pick up your morning coffee in this deceptively small setup. Better yet, you can use your addiction to caffeine as an excuse to keep coming back. We certainly do. 12 Sutherland Street, CBD BBQ CHICKEN BAHN MI, PAPERBOY KITCHEN — $9.50 The humble bahn mi might be Melbourne's favourite takeaway roll. For breakfast, lunch and dinner, those of us true to Vietnamese baguettes munch away on the pickled vegetable and soy sauce combo. Paperboy Kitchen's BBQ chicken creation is perfect for your pesky second lunch craving. And while it isn't the dirt cheap bahn mi you can get elsewhere, it's got an edge you won't find in traditional offerings. Filled with marinated, free-range chicken and a killer sriracha-mayo combo, you'll be raring to go after dropping by Paperboy. 320 Little Lonsdale Street, CBD FETA, OREGANO AND GARLIC OIL CHIPS, JIMMY GRANTS — $7 Melburnian's can only resist the crispy comfort of deep fried chippies for so long. When you eventually cave to the urge, you might as well pick some of the best chips in Melbourne too. One of our favourite Greek restaurants, Jimmy Grants, is now located in the Emporium food court, and serves up fries layered with creamy feta, oregano and garlic oil. They're certainly good enough to warrant repeat visits. Many, many repeat visits. Emporium Cafe Court, 287 Lonsdale Street, CBD CINNAMON AND RAISIN BAGEL, 5 & DIME — $2 In all their hole-y, carb-filled glory, there's nothing quite like 5 & Dime bagels. If you haven't been to one of Melbourne's best bagel bakers at The Archway in Katherine Place yet, you've been doing coffee breaks wrong. Their cinnamon and raisin bagel is ideal for sweet tooths struggling with afternoon hunger pangs — and all you'll need is the change in your back pocket. For a laughably cheap two dollars, you might as well splurge and get housemade jam ($3.50) or seasonal fruit ($4.00) while you're there. 16 Katherine Place, CBD Borek image credit: avlxyz via Flickr; T-Roy Brown's image credit: clyde_yang via Instagram; Paperboy image credit: victoriatrian via Instagram
Looking for holiday accommodation with a little more oomph? Ever considered staying on a raft? With a sauna? In the town of Joensuu in eastern Finland, a bunch of mates have put their considerable DIY skills to good use. They've built a lake-worthy, multi-level raft with a sauna, named 'Saunalautta'. And next time you're in the mood for a floating holiday, you're welcome to rent it. This vessel is the ultimate year-round destination. Come winter (which, in Finland, means -20 degree temperatures), hang out in the sauna. Up to 15 people can warm up in there at once. Come summer, sprawl out on the upper deck. There's even a few hammocks, so you can get comfy with a book, and a viewing booth, affording 360 degree views. Not interested in lying around? Spend your break perfecting your 2 1/2 front flip from the dedicated, 5.7-metre high diving tower. Wondering how this Huckleberry Finn-esque contraption stays afloat? It's built on top of a series of recycled plastic drums. And what about going somewhere? A small outboard motor gets you moving. Both seasons, there's bunk space for five passengers to stay the night, a barbecue, a hot shower, a refrigerator and a sound system: basically everything you need to turn pirate for life. Hire isn't as expensive as you might think, starting at $410 a day. Head over here for more info, after you check out a few more snappies: Via Inhabitat.
Packing well for holidays is one of the vastly underrated artforms of our time. Knowing exactly what to bring and what to spend your dimes on before the actual trip takes a long-practiced, realistic ability to predict the weather, activities and highly Instagrammable moments of your future vacation. But not everyone's got the coin to drop on exxy designer threads before they land. So we've taken it upon ourselves to pack your suitcase with affordable goods, whether you're headed for a riotous camping adventure to your chosen annual music festival, hitting art galleries and destination restaurants on a cultural endeavour, or opting for the classic ol' beach holiday. Best bit? It's all from the one place — ASOS. And because they know some of the world's most keen travellers are penny-pinching students, they're offering a 20 percent discount just for students from Wednesday, February 23. THE MUSIC FESTIVAL CAMPING WEEKEND You've loaded up your rental (or pa-rental) car with tents, tarps and tinnies. You've pored over the festival timetable and listened up to the lineup. You're in full-on camping festival mode, and the trick here is to pack light, but pack smart. You've got to toe the line between statement pieces and everyday essentials — you'll need both for this adventure. Word to the wise? Leave the exxy cocktail dresses and dress shirts at home, but remember to bring pieces that make you happy; you'll be in them all day in the hot sun, pouring rain and occasional mud-slips. And bring more undies than you think you'll need. WOMENS ESSENTIALS Reclaimed Vintage Pull Over Hooded Festival Jacket $95 Cheap Monday Denim Short Dungarees $99 Pimkie Wellie Boot $34 MENS ESSENTIALS Nike Court T-Shirt 739479-100 $51 ASOS Check Shirt in Viscose With Long Sleeves $53 ASOS 5 Panel Cap In Black Canvas With Contrast Patch $26 THE ARTY CULTURE ADVENTURE Whether you're scooting between galleries, tasting All The Wine or sauntering through some serious shopping districts, culture adventures can be the trickiest for packing light. You'll want to bring every last pair of kickass shoes in your closet. You'll have plans to debut every new outfit you've recently impulse bought. But here's the thing, you're carrying your wardrobe with you. So choose a couple of pieces you can wear day-to-night and one pair of all-purpose, super fly shoes. That way you can throw more dosh on new pieces on your holiday shopping sprees. WOMENS ESSENTIALS ASOS Oversize T-Shirt Dress With Curved Hem $47 Glamorous Bell Sleeve Smock Dress With Festival Embroidery $51 ASOS OTTAWA Heels $74 MENS ESSENTIALS ASOS Super Longline Long Sleeve T-Shirt With Hooded Drape Neck $38 Reclaimed Vintage Drapey Duster Jacket $138 River Island Chukka Boots In Brown Faux Leather $95 THE CLASSIC BEACH HOLIDAY Towel, sunnies, bathers, sunscreen, book, beer. So begins the checklist for the age old beach holiday, the classic retreat for city slickers. This vacation's the easiest to pack light for, but that doesn't mean you have scrimp on style. Invest in a few new beachy staples and you'll be staging your own magazine shoots on your next ocean-bound road trip. Just remember to slip, slop, slap, wrap etc. WOMENS ESSENTIALS South Beach Mix and Match Wrap Cut Out Bikini Top $30 ASOS Stripe Rope Belted Beach Shirt Dress $60 ASOS Strappy Maxi Dress $38 MENS ESSENTIALS ASOS Mid Length Swim Shorts With Turtle Print $38 Base London Tiberius Leather Sandals $74 River Island Round Sunglasses In Silver $43
Usually, when a new year hits and Hollywood starts handing out shiny trophies for the best movies and television programs of the past 12 months, audiences are asked to get watching not once but twice. First, there's all of the ceremonies — and then there's the must-view list that springs from those newly anointed winners. The initial cab off the rank each year, the Golden Globes, did their thing for 2022 on Monday, January 10. This isn't a normal event for these accolades, however. After multiple controversies surrounding the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organisation behind the awards, the Globes weren't given out at a star-studded event. Plenty of films and TV shows still emerged victorious, though. Yes, even without sitting through the three-hour-plus televised ceremony, you still have a whole heap of freshly minted Globe-recipients to see — and you can watch most of them right now. Whether you're keen to hit the big screen to catch a filmic gem, stream a stellar flick or binge your way through an excellent series or two, here's 12 of the Globes' best winners that you can check out immediately. (And if you're wondering what else won, you can read through the full list, too.) MOVIE MUST-SEES THE POWER OF THE DOG Don't call it a comeback: Jane Campion's films have been absent from cinemas for 12 years but, due to miniseries Top of the Lake, she hasn't been biding her time in that gap. And don't call it simply returning to familiar territory, even if the New Zealand director's new movie features an ivory-tinkling woman caught between cruel and sensitive men, as her Cannes Palme d'Or-winner The Piano did three decades ago. Campion isn't rallying after a dip, just as she isn't repeating herself. She's never helmed anything less than stellar, and she's immensely capable of unearthing rich new pastures in well-ploughed terrain. With The Power of the Dog, Campion is at the height of her skills trotting into her latest mesmerising musing on strength, desire and isolation — this time via a venomous western that's as perilously bewitching as its mountainous backdrop. That setting is Montana, circa 1925. Campion's homeland stands in for America nearly a century ago, making a magnificent sight — with cinematographer Ari Wegner (Zola, True History of the Kelly Gang) perceptively spying danger in its craggy peaks and dusty plains even before the film introduces Rose and Peter Gordon (On Becoming a God in Central Florida's Kirsten Dunst and 2067's Kodi Smit-McPhee). When the widowed innkeeper and her teenage son serve rancher brothers Phil and George Burbank (Spider-Man: No Way Home's Benedict Cumberbatch a career-best, awards-worthy, downright phenomenal turn, plus Antlers' Jesse Plemons) during a cattle-run stop, the encounter seesaws from callousness to kindness, a dynamic that continues after Rose marries George and decamps to the Burbank mansion against that stunning backdrop. Brutal to the lanky, lisping Peter from the outset, Phil responds to the nuptials with malice. He isn't fond of change, and won't accommodate anything that fails his bristling definition of masculinity and power, either. GLOBES Won: Best Motion Picture — Drama, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Best Director (Jane Campion) Nominated: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama (Benedict Cumberbatch), Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture (Kirsten Dunst) The Power of the Dog is available to stream via Netflix. Read our full review. WEST SIDE STORY Tonight, tonight, there's only Steven Spielberg's lavish and dynamic version of West Side Story tonight — not to detract from or forget the 1961 movie of the same name. Six decades ago, an all-singing, all-dancing, New York City-set, gang war-focused spin on Romeo and Juliet leapt from stage to screen, becoming one of cinema's all-time classic musicals; however, remaking that hit is a task that Spielberg dazzlingly proves up to. It's his first sashay into the genre, despite making his initial amateur feature just three years after the original West Side Story debuted. It's also his first film since 2018's obnoxiously awful Ready Player One, which doubled as a how-to guide to crafting one of the worst, flimsiest and most bloated pieces of soulless pop-culture worship possible. But with this swooning, socially aware story of star-crossed lovers, Spielberg pirouettes back from his atrocious last flick by embracing something he clearly adores, and being unafraid to give it rhythmic swirls and thematic twirls. Shakespeare's own tale of tempestuous romance still looms large over West Side Story, as it always has — in fair NYC and its rubble-strewn titular neighbourhood where it lays its 1950s-era scene. The Jets and the Sharks aren't quite two households both alike in dignity, though. Led by the swaggering and dogged Riff (Mike Faist, a Tony-nominee for the Broadway production of Dear Evan Hansen), the Jets are young, scrappy, angry and full of resentment for anyone they fear is encroaching on their terrain. Meanwhile, with boxer Bernardo (David Alvarez, a Tony-winner for Billy Elliot) at the helm, the Sharks have tried to establish new lives outside of their native Puerto Rico through study, jobs and their own businesses. Both gangs refuse to coexist peacefully in the only part of New York where either feels at home — but it's a night at a dance, and the love-at-first-sight connection that blooms between Riff's best friend Tony (Ansel Elgort, The Goldfinch) and Bernardo's younger sister María (feature debutant Rachel Zegler), that sparks a showdown. GLOBES Won: Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy (Rachel Zegler), Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture (Ariana DeBose) Nominated: Best Director (Steven Spielberg) West Side Story is currently screening in Australian cinemas. Read our full review. ENCANTO Five years after Lin-Manuel Miranda and Disney first teamed up on an animated musical with the catchiest of tunes, aka Moana, they're back at it again with Encanto. To viewers eager for another colourful, thoughtful and engaging film — and another that embraces a particular culture with the heartiest of hugs, and is all the better for it — what can the past decade's most influential composer and biggest entertainment behemoth say except you're welcome? Both the Hamilton mastermind and the Mouse House do what they do best here. The songs are infectious, as well as diverse in style; the storyline follows a spirited heroine challenging the status quo; and the imagery sparkles. Miranda and Disney are both in comfortable territory, in fact — formulaic, sometimes — but Encanto never feels like they're monotonously beating the same old drum. Instruments are struck, shaken and otherwise played in the film's soundtrack, of course, which resounds with energetic earworms; the salsa beats of 'We Don't Talk About Bruno' are especially irresistible, and the Miranda-penned hip hop wordplay that peppers the movie's tunes is impossible to mentally let go. Spanning pop, ballads and more, all those songs help tell the tale of the Madrigals, a close-knit Colombian family who've turned generational trauma into magic. This is still an all-ages-friendly Disney flick, so there are limits to how dark it's willing to get; however, that Encanto fills its frames with a joyous celebration of Latin America and simultaneously recognises its setting's history of conflict is hugely significant. It also marks Walt Disney Animation Studios' 60th feature — dating back to 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs — but its cultural specificity (depictions of Indigenous, Afro Latino and Colombian characters of other ethnicities included) is its bigger achievement. GLOBES Won: Best Motion Picture — Animated Nominated: Best Original Score — Motion Picture, Best Original Song — Motion Picture Encanto is currently screening in Australian cinemas, and is also available to stream via Disney+. Read our full review. DUNE A spice-war space opera about feuding houses on far-flung planets, Dune has long been a pop-culture building block. Before Frank Herbert's 1965 novel was adapted into a wrongly reviled David Lynch-directed film — a gloriously 80s epic led by Kyle MacLachlan and laced with surreal touches — it unmistakably inspired Star Wars, and also cast a shadow over Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Game of Thrones has since taken cues from it. The Riddick franchise owes it a debt, too. The list goes on and, thanks to the new version bringing its sandy deserts to cinemas, will only keep growing. As he did with Blade Runner 2049, writer/director Denis Villeneuve has once again grasped something already enormously influential, peered at it with astute eyes and built it anew — and created an instant sci-fi classic. This time, Villeneuve isn't asking viewers to ponder whether androids dream of electric sheep, but if humanity can ever overcome one of our worst urges and all that it brings. With an exceptional cast that spans Timothée Chalamet (The French Dispatch), Oscar Isaac (The Card Counter), Rebecca Ferguson (Reminiscence), Jason Momoa (Aquaman), Josh Brolin (Avengers: Endgame), Javier Bardem (Everybody Knows), Zendaya (Spider-Man: No Way Home) and more, Dune tells of birthrights, prophesied messiahs, secret sisterhood sects that underpin the galaxy and phallic-looking giant sandworms, and of the primal lust for power that's as old as time — and, in Herbert's story, echoes well into the future's future. Its unpacking of dominance and command piles on colonial oppression, authoritarianism, greed, ecological calamity and religious fervour, like it is building a sandcastle out of power's nastiest ramifications. And, amid that weightiness — plus those spectacularly shot visuals and Hans Zimmer's throbbing score — it's also a tale of a moody teen with mind-control abilities struggling with what's expected versus what's right. GLOBES Won: Best Original Score — Motion Picture Nominated: Best Motion Picture — Drama, Best Director (Denis Villeneuve) Dune is currently screening in Australian cinemas. Read our full review. NO TIME TO DIE James Bond might famously prefer his martinis shaken, not stirred, but No Time to Die doesn't quite take that advice. While the enterprising spy hasn't changed his drink order, the latest film he's in — the 25th official feature in the franchise across six decades, and the fifth and last that'll star Daniel Craig — gives its regular ingredients both a mix and a jiggle. The action is dazzlingly choreographed, a menacing criminal has an evil scheme and the world is in peril, naturally. Still, there's more weight in Craig's performance, more emotion all round, and a greater willingness to contemplate the stakes and repercussions that come with Bond's globe-trotting, bed-hopping, villain-dispensing existence. There's also an eagerness to shake up parts of the character and Bond template that rarely get a nudge. Together, even following a 19-month pandemic delay, it all makes for a satisfying blockbuster cocktail. For Craig, the actor who first gave Bond a 21st-century flavour back in 2006's Casino Royale (something Pierce Brosnan couldn't manage in 2002's Die Another Day), No Time to Die also provides a fulfilling swansong. That wasn't assured; as much as he's made the tuxedo, gadgets and espionage intrigue his own, the Knives Out and Logan Lucky actor's tenure has charted a seesawing trajectory. His first stint in the role was stellar and franchise-redefining, but 2008's Quantum of Solace made it look like a one-off. Then Skyfall triumphed spectacularly in 2012, before Spectre proved all too standard in 2015. Ups and downs have long been part of this franchise, depending on who's in the suit, who's behind the lens, the era and how far the tone skews towards comedy — but at its best, Craig's run has felt like it's building new levels rather than traipsing through the same old framework. GLOBES Won: Best Original Song — Motion Picture No Time to Die is currently screening in Australian cinemas. Read our full review. TICK, TICK... BOOM! "Try writing what you know." That's age-old advice, dispensed to many a scribe who hasn't earned the success or even the reaction they'd hoped, and it's given to aspiring theatre composer Jonathan Larson (Andrew Garfield, Under the Silver Lake) in Tick, Tick… Boom!. The real-life figure would go on to write Rent but here, in New York City in January 1990, he's working on his debut musical Superbia. It's a futuristic satire inspired by George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, and it's making him anxious about three things. Firstly, he hasn't yet come up with a pivotal second-act song that he keeps being told he needs. Next, he's staging a workshop for his debut production to gauge interest before the week is out — and this just has to be his big break. Finally, he's also turning 30 in days, and his idol Stephen Sondheim made his Broadway debut in his 20s. Tick, Tick… Boom! charts the path to those well-worn words of wisdom about drawing from the familiar, including Larson's path to the autobiographical one-man-show of the same name before Rent. And, it manages to achieve that feat while showing why such a sentiment isn't merely a cliche in this situation. That said, the key statement about mining your own experience also echoes throughout this affectionate movie musical in another unmissable way. Lin-Manuel Miranda didn't write Tick, Tick… Boom!'s screenplay; however, he does turn it into his filmmaking directorial debut — and what could be more fitting for that task from the acclaimed In the Heights and Hamilton talent than a loving ode (albeit an inescapably overexcited one) to the hard work put in by a game-changing theatre wunderkind? GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy (Andrew Garfield) Nominated: Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy Tick, Tick… Boom! is available to stream via Netflix. Read our full review. SMALL SCREEN BINGES SUCCESSION For fans of blistering TV shows about wealth, power, the vast chasm between the rich and everyone else, and the societal problems that fester due to such rampant inequality, 2021 has been a fantastic year. The White Lotus fit the bill, as did Squid Game, but Succession has always been in its own league. In the 'eat the rich' genre, the HBO drama sits at the top of the food chain as it chronicles the extremely lavish and influential lives of the Roy family. No series slings insults as brutally; no show channels feuding and backstabbing into such an insightful and gripping satire of the one percent, either. Finally back on our screens after a two-year gap between its second and third seasons, Succession doesn't just keep plying its astute and addictive battles and power struggles — following season two's big bombshell, it keeps diving deeper. The premise has remained the same since day one, with Logan Roy's (Brian Cox, Super Troopers 2) kids Kendall (Jeremy Strong, The Trial of the Chicago 7), Shiv (Sarah Snook, Pieces of a Woman), Roman (Kieran Culkin, No Sudden Move) and Connor (Alan Ruck, Gringo) vying to take over the family media empire. This brood's tenuous and tempestuous relationship only gets thornier with each episode, and its examination of their privileged lives — and what that bubble has done to them emotionally, psychologically and ideologically — only grows in season three. It becomes more addictive, too. There's no better show currently on TV, and no better source of witty dialogue. And there's no one turning in performances as layered as Strong, Cox, Snook, Culkin, J Smith-Cameron (Search Party), Matthew Macfadyen (The Assistant) and Nicholas Braun (Zola). GLOBES Won: Best Television Series — Drama, Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Drama (Jeremy Strong), Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Supporting Role (Sarah Snook) Nominated: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Drama (Brian Cox), Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Supporting Role (Kieran Culkin) All three seasons of Succession are available to stream via Binge. SQUID GAME Exploring societal divides within South Korea wasn't invented by Parasite, Bong Joon-ho's excellent Oscar-winning 2019 thriller, but its success was always going to give other films and TV shows on the topic a healthy boost. Accordingly, it's easy to see thematic and narrative parallels between the acclaimed movie and Netflix's highly addictive Squid Game — the show that's become the platform's biggest show ever (yes, bigger than everything from Stranger Things to Bridgerton). Anyone who has seen even an episode knows why this nine-part series is so compulsively watchable. Its puzzle-like storyline and its unflinching savagery making quite the combination. Here, in a Battle Royale and Hunger Games-style setup, 456 competitors are selected to work their way through six seemingly easy children's games. They're all given numbers and green tracksuits, they're competing for 45.6 billion won, and it turns out that they've also all made their way to the contest after being singled out for having enormous debts. That includes series protagonist Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae, Deliver Us From Evil), a chauffeur with a gambling problem, and also a divorcé desperate to do whatever he needs to to keep his daughter in his life. But, as it probes the chasms caused by capitalism and cash — and the things the latter makes people do under the former — this program isn't just about one player. It's about survival, the status quo the world has accepted when it comes to money, and the real inequality present both in South Korea and elsewhere. Filled with electric performances, as clever as it is compelling, unsurprisingly littered with smart cliffhangers, and never afraid to get bloody and brutal, the result is a savvy, tense and taut horror-thriller that entertains instantly and also has much to say. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Supporting Role (Oh Yeong-su) Nominated: Best Television Series — Drama, Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Drama (Lee Jung-jae) Squid Game is available to stream via Netflix. TED LASSO A sports-centric sitcom that's like a big warm hug, Ted Lasso belongs in the camp of comedies that focus on nice and caring people doing nice and caring things. Parks and Recreation is the ultimate recent example of this subgenre, as well as fellow Michael Schur-created favourite Brooklyn Nine-Nine — shows that celebrate people supporting and being there for each other, and the bonds that spring between them, to not just an entertaining but to a soul-replenishing degree. As played by Jason Sudeikis (Booksmart), the series' namesake is all positivity, all the time. A small-time US college football coach, he scored an unlikely job as manager of British soccer team AFC Richmond in the show's first season, a job that came with struggles. The ravenous media wrote him off instantly, the club was hardly doing its best, owner Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham, Sex Education) had just taken over the organisation as part of her divorce settlement, and veteran champion Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein, Uncle) and current hotshot Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster, Judy) refused to get along. Ted's upbeat attitude does wonders, though. In Ted Lasso's also-excellent second season, however, he finds new team psychologist Dr Sharon Fieldstone (Sarah Niles, I May Destroy You) an unsettling presence. You definitely don't need to love soccer or even sport to fall for this show's ongoing charms, to adore its heartwarming determination to value banding together and looking on the bright side, and to love its depiction of both male tenderness and supportive female friendships (which is where Maleficent: Mistress of Evil's Juno Temple comes in). In fact, this is the best sitcom currently in production. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Comedy (Jason Sudeikis) Nominated: Best Television Series — Comedy, Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Supporting Role (Hannah Waddingham), Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Supporting Role (Brett Goldstein) Ted Lasso's first and second seasons are available to stream via Apple TV+. THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD Two words: Barry Jenkins. Where the Oscar-nominated Moonlight director goes, viewers should always follow. That proved the case with 2018's If Beale Street Could Talk, and it's definitely accurate regarding The Underground Railroad, the phenomenal ten-part series that features Jenkins behind the camera of each and every episode. As the name makes plain, the historical drama uses the real-life Underground Railroad — the routes and houses that helped enslaved Black Americans escape to freedom — as its basis. Here, though, drawing on the past isn't as straightforward as it initially sounds. Adapting Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same moniker, the series dives deeply into the experiences of people endeavouring to flee slavery, while also adopting magic-realism when it comes to taking a literal approach to its railroad concept. That combination couldn't work better in Jenkins' hands as he follows Cora (Thuso Mbedu, Shuga), a woman forced into servitude on a plantation overseen by Terrance Randall (Benjamin Walker, Jessica Jones). As always proves the case in the filmmaker's work, every frame is a thing of beauty, every second heaves with emotion, and every glance, stare, word and exchange is loaded with a thorough examination of race relations in America. Nothing else this affecting reached streaming queues in 2021 — but even one series like this made it a phenomenal year for audiences. GLOBES Won: Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television The Underground Railroad is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video. HACKS It sounds like an obvious premise, and one that countless films and TV shows have already mined in the name of laughs. In Hacks, two vastly dissimilar people are pushed together, with the resulting conflict guiding the series. Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder, North Hollywood) and her new boss Deborah Vance (Jean Smart, Mare of Easttown) couldn't be more different in age, experience, tastes and opinions. The former is a 25-year-old who made the move to Hollywood, has been living out her dream as a comedy writer, but found her career plummeting after a tweet crashed and burned. The latter is a legendary stand-up who hasn't stopped hitting the stage for decades, is approaching the 2500th show of her long-running Las Vegas residency and is very set in her ways. They appear to share exactly one thing in common: a love for comedy. They're an odd couple thrust together by their mutual manager Jimmy (Paul W Downs, Broad City), neither wants to be working with the other, and — to the surprise of no one, including each other — they clash again and again. There's no laugh track adding obvious chuckles to this HBO sitcom, though. Created by three of the talents behind Broad City — writer Jen Statsky; writer/director Lucia Aniello; and Downs, who does double duty in front of and behind the lens — Hacks isn't solely interested in setting two seemingly mismatched characters against each other. This is a smart and insightful series about what genuinely happens when this duo spends more and more time together, what's sparked their generational conflict and what, despite their evident differences, they actually share beyond that love of making people laugh. And, it's a frank, funny and biting assessment of being a woman in entertainment — and it's also always as canny as it is hilarious. GLOBES Won: Best Television Series — Comedy, Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Comedy (Jean Smart) Nominated: Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Comedy (Hannah Einbinder) Hacks is available to stream via Stan. Read our full review. MARE OF EASTTOWN Kate Winslet doesn't make the leap to the small screen often, but when she does, it's a must-see event. 2011's Mildred Pierce was simply astonishing, a description that both Winslet and her co-star Guy Pearce also earned — alongside an Emmy each, plus three more for the HBO limited series itself. The two actors and the acclaimed US cable network all reteamed for Mare of Easttown, and it too is excellent. Set on the outskirts of Philadelphia, it follows detective Mare Sheehan. As the 25th anniversary of her high-school basketball championship arrives, and after a year of trying to solve a missing person's case linked to one of her former teammates, a new murder upends her existence. Mare's life overflows with complications anyway, with her ex-husband (David Denman, Brightburn) getting remarried, and her mother (Jean Smart, Hacks), teenage daughter (Angourie Rice, Spider-Man: Far From Home) and four-year-old grandson all under her roof. With town newcomer Richard Ryan (Pearce, The Last Vermeer), she snatches what boozy and physical solace she can. As compelling and textured as she always is, including in this year's Ammonite, Winslet turns Mare of Easttown into a commanding character study. That said, it's firmly an engrossing crime drama as well. Although yet again pondering the adult life of an ex-school sports star, The Way Back's Brad Ingelsby isn't just repeating himself by creating and writing this seven-part series, while The Leftovers and The Hunt's Craig Zobel takes to his directing gig with a probing eye. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television (Kate Winslet) Nominated: Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Mare of Easttown is available to stream via Binge.
In the depths of a long, frosty Melbourne winter, there's nothing sweeter than a belly-warming sip of rich hot chocolate. Of course, this is Melbourne, so there's every chance that whichever hot chocolate you choose will actually be an amped-up version of the standard. Think warm drinks infused with spices, piled high with jazzy extras or served deconstructed, arriving at your table in a haze of smoke. Just how creative can the humble hot chocolate get? Hit these Melbourne cafés to find out. BOOZY MÖRK HOT CHOCOLATE FROM TRANSFORMER Constantly reminding us that vegetarian food can be just as fun and fancy as the meaty stuff, Fitzroy's Transformer is knocking up a hot chocolate creation as decadent as any other around town. It's grown-up too, featuring a boozy hit of Sailor Jerry to really warm those cockles. What lands at the table is almost too pretty to destroy — a mousse-like mix of Mörk chocolate, peppermint, orange and cinnamon, topped with an edible flower and waiting to be doused with the accompanying blend of almond milk and rum. Added bonus: your vegan mates can drink it too. FAIRY FLOSS HOT CHOCOLATE FROM HASH SPECIALTY COFFEE If you need proof that Hash's flair for experimentation extends beyond specialty coffee and creative cafe fare, look no further than its most attention-grabbing (and relatively Instagram famous) hot chocolate creation. Arriving at the table as a bottle of rich, liquid chocolate and a cup holding a huge tower of fairy floss, this show-stopper promises to add a bit of theatre to your cafe session. The fun here lies in the pour — drizzle that molten mess over the mountain of sugar and watch it all capsize into a pool of decadence, with the sweet and bitter elements balanced in perfect harmony. WEEKLY CHANGING HOT CHOCOLATE SPECIAL FROM DARLING ST ESPRESSO Darling St Espresso is always keen to push the envelope a little bit further, both on their menu of clever brunch eats and across a tempting selection of liquid offerings. To sit alongside its classic hot choccie with toasted marshmallows and a white-chocolate-meets-fairy-floss version, the Moonee Ponds cafe is dreaming up a new, slightly outrageous hot chocolate special each week. Bound to cause some serious drink envy, these beauts come teamed with some very snazzy additions — expect the likes of a Ferrero Rocher-infused hot chocolate with peanut praline and a Nutella-filled waffle cone, and a cookies and cream number made on creamy white hot chocolate and piled high with Oreo pieces, chocolate bits and whipped cream. And, yes, one with pop rocks too. CAMPFIRE CHOCOLATE FROM MÖRK CHOCOLATE BREW HOUSE If chocolate heaven exists, it's located on Errol Street in North Melbourne, at Mörk's specialty chocolate brewhouse. These guys are serving up cacao's answer to the specialty coffee movement, with their cafe "dedicated entirely to the art of liquid chocolate". Here, you'll find no shortage of mind-blowing hot chocolate variations to send your sweet tooth into a tizz, though the cult favourite Campfire Chocolate is a must. This one's a multi-sensory, DIY situation — pour thick, liquid chocolate over a glass filled with smoke, sprinkle over a pinch of the house-smoked salt, dip in the accompanying scorched marshmallow and find yourself transported to straight to some roaring campfire in the woods. MEGA HOT CHOCOLATE FROM UNCLE DREW Think of this monster hot chocolate from Clifton Hill cafe Uncle Drew as the freakshake reimagined for a winter audience. An absolute whopper of a drink, it's got more ingredients than a MasterChef Pressure Test, and will probably take you just as long to finish. The impressive arrangement features a smoothie jar of lush hot chocolate, crowned with a full-sized brownie, a pile of whipped cream, toasted marshmallows and a hefty drizzle of melted chocolate. Best arrive hungry for this one.
