When you make an album that lasts the test of time, that feat is worth celebrating. Moon Safari isn't the only record from French electro-pop duo Air that's as stellar now as it was when it first met the world, but the dreamy 1998 release is the album that Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel have been celebrating in 2024. To mark its 25th anniversary, which arrived last year, the pair have been touring the globe to play Moon Safari in full live — starting in France, of course, but also heading everywhere from Switzerland, Italy, Germany and the UK to the US and Australia. For Vivid 2024, Air brought their current show to Sydney midyear — before the entire planet's eyes were on them during August's Paris Olympics closing ceremony, where they were part of Phoenix's set alongside Kavinsky, Angèle, Vannda and Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend. One trip Down Under this year isn't enough, however, so Air have now joined the Always Live lineup. From 'La femme d'argent' to 'Le voyage de Pénélope', the entire record will be performed live — 'Sexy Boy', 'All I Need', 'Kelly Watch the Stars' and 'You Make It Easy' included, of course. From there, Air's sets usually feature equally excellent tracks from across their career, such as 'Playground Love' from Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides soundtrack, plus 'Venus' and 'Cherry Blossom Girl' from the duo's 2004 album Talkie Walkie. For Always Live, Air are playing a one-night-only gig under the stars at Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, adding to an already jam-packed program that's bringing Jack White, The Offspring and St Vincent to Victoria as well for Australian-exclusive shows. [caption id="attachment_978773" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mathieu Rainaud[/caption] "We were a duo doing some electronic thing, dreaming of selling 10,000 copies and being recognised by other musicians as cool. Then suddenly, we met the world," explains Dunckel about Moon Safari, calling the album "a deep, universal spell, full of love and mystery". If you missed Air in Sydney, here's your second chance to catch them in Australia this year. And if you need any more encouragement, the Moon Safari set was captured live at London's Royal Albert Hall earlier in 2024, which you can stream below: Air Play Moon Safari heads to Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, with tickets on sale from 10am local time on Tuesday, November 12, 2024. Always Live 2024 runs from Friday, November 22–Sunday, December 8. For more information, and to get tickets, head to the festival website. Live images: Raph_PH via Flickr.
Melbourne's southeast has just scored a huge new Asian-fusion restaurant and bar — Chicki Chan — thanks to Johnny Jong and Kelvyn Yeoh. Jong is running the back of house as Director, leaning on his hefty 28-plus years experience to create this venture — having worked as Executive Chef at both Crown Sydney and Lucas Restaurants. And he has enlisted the help of Yeoh to run the kitchen, who's also worked at Crown and Lucas Restaurants — overseeing venues like Chin Chin, Hawker Hall, Yakimono, and Grill Americano. With such impressive credentials, you can't help but have high expectations for the duo's own restaurant. Similar to Lucas Restaurants venues (where the duo previously worked and seem to have gained inspiration), Chiki Chan is big on the vibes, decking out the two-storey space with a long bar backed by wave-like walls (plus another bar in the room out back), neon artwork, polished concrete floors, screens showing futuristic videos, and pumping music. They have clearly learned a few things from the one and only Chris Lucas, making the space ooze cool. When it comes to food, you can expect an eclectic mix of Asian-fusion eats — think Italian-style burrata with Szechuan chili oil, fennel jam and macadamias; crispy barramundi with an Asian remoulade, jalapenos and palm sugar sauce; and a coconut chantilly served with strawberry conssome, Thai basil oil and raspberry sorbet. Set menus are also on the docket — a necessary addition to any restaurant these days — which cost an easy $55, $65 and $85 per person. As expected, Asian-inspired cocktails make it onto the menu alongside Aussie wines and beers on tap, either found in the restaurant or adjoining Hiki Bar. At the cocktail bar, you can also find a tapas-srtyle food offering to appease the sip and snack crowds and those waiting for a table in the main dining room. Jong and Yeoh are ticking all the right boxes with Chiki Chan, clearly understanding how to stand out (while also fitting in enough as to not scare off customers) within Melbounre's highly competitive hospitality industry. You'll find the new Chiki Chan at 6 Centreway, Mordialloc, open 12pm–late from Wednesday–Sunday. For more details and to book a table, you can visit the venue's website.
Fitz (Jason Priestly), a devilishly handsome low-life of a used car salesman, is missing something. After years of womanising and substance abusing, he's on the hunt for his long-lost conscience. Fitz just didn't think he'd find him sitting at the office desk opposite his. Never much concerned with ending his sleazy ways, Fitz has a change of heart when, during a test-drive he is sure will secure him 'Employee of the Month' status, he crashes. The accident unleashes something with Fitz, a twinge of guilt and emotion we didn't know he had, that comes embodied in his conscience-turned-business partner, Larry (Ernie Grunwald). Now forced to face Larry each and every day, Fitz must (unwillingly) reexamine his dodgy ways. The hilarious pair and their bickering antics lend a humourous twist to this black comedy of a 'buddy' TV series. To win one of four Season One Call Me Fitz DVDs, just make sure you are subscribed to Concrete Playground then email your name and postal address through to hello@concreteplayground.com.au https://youtube.com/watch?v=MKEZS6DoX3E
Forty years after first forming, Cirque du Soleil still knows how to notch up firsts among its lineup of dazzling circus shows, especially for Australian audiences. In 2023, the Montreal-based company headed Down Under with CRYSTAL, its first-ever ice production on ice. In 2024, it's following that up with LUZIA, which takes inspiration from Mexico, and also marks Cirque du Soleil's first touring performance that features rain in its acrobatic and artistic scenes. LUZIA's name is a combination of the words 'lux' and 'lluvia' in Spanish, with the first translating as light and the second as rain. What that means in the production will be unveiled to Aussie audiences throughout the year, starting in Melbourne in March. Seasons in Adelaide from June, Perth from July, Brisbane from September and Sydney from November will all follow. While it has been four decades since Cirque du Soleil was created back in 1984, 2024 is the 25th anniversary of the troupe's performances in Australia, making LUZIA the tenth big-top show to hit our shores. So, although it's already an ode to Mexican culture, the production has even more to celebrate as it spends the bulk of 2024 and into 2025 making its way around the nation. Packing their bags to help: a team of 120 people, which includes 47 artists from 26 countries. First staged in 2016 and becoming Cirque du Soleil's 38th original production at the time, LUZIA has already been seen by 4.5-million people, a number that'll grow in Australia. Audiences are in for a trip to an imaginary version of Mexico, where the performance gets playful and surreal amid the light and rain. Some of the settings include an old movie set, the desert, the ocean and a dance hall, all backdropping the company's acrobatics, trapeze displays, contortionist feats, juggling and more. In the Cyr wheel, artists will roll and spin through the rain. And that trapeze work? That happens through showers. LUZIA also spans hoop diving on giant treadmills, a natural sinkhole, seven pins being flung in the air by jugglers and street dancing that includes footballs. Daniele Finzi Pasca wrote and directs the production, which begins with a parachutist falling into a field of cempasuchil flowers, turning a huge metallic key, then taking a magical journey. From there, the clown antics give LUZIA a beach clown and clown scuba diving, the acrobatics even take to a bike, a luchador mask makes an appearance in the swing segment — 1000-plus costumes are seen across the show in total — and a hair-suspension act features. Cirque du Soleil's LUZIA — Australian Tour 2024–25: From Sunday, March 24, 2024 — Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne From Sunday, June 9, 2024 — Adelaide Showground, Adelaide From Thursday, July 25, 2024 — Claremont Showgrounds, Perth From Wednesday, September 25, 2024 — Next to Royal Queensland Golf Club, off Curtin Ave East, Brisbane From Sunday, November 24, 2024 — Entertainment Quarter, Sydney Cirque du Soleil's LUZIA tours Australia from March 2024. For more information, or to buy tickets, head to the show's website. Images: Anne Colliard.
Much like the great parma or parmi debate of the 21st century (it's parma, by the way), books can be a great divider. You've either not opened a novel since it's become a voluntary activity post-high school, or you have a delicately balanced pile of reading stacked on your bedside table at all times. If your reading has fallen to the wayside lately, this is the perfect time to treat yourself to some new literary feeds. Whether you're looking to top up your Jenga pile of books or looking for a treat to reignite your love of lit — here are some of the best books, novels and non-fiction to keep you company, according to our writers. MELANIE COLWELL: Branded Content Editor, published her first book in Year One which was available for loan from the school library Recommends: The End of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird. You could call me crazy for recommending a book that follows a worldwide pandemic right now. Read the room, right? But in a sort of twisted way, it makes you realise that even though things have been pretty shit over the past 18 months, they could be a lot worse. Like, wiping out half of the world's population worse. In this tale, the fast-acting virus infects 90 percent of the male population — yes, even newborns and children — and it's 97-percent lethal. It's told through a series of all-female, first person narratives, from the doctor who first diagnosed the virus but was dismissed and labelled "hysterical" to the scientists desperately racing to develop a vaccine and the governments trying rebuild society when, thanks to the ol' patriarchy, the majority of the workforce is gone. This unsettling novel forces you to face a very loaded conundrum: what would life really be like without men? ELLEN SEAH: National News & Features Editor, hates pineapple on literally anything Recommends: The Lost Man by Jane Harper, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. I'm the type of person that has anywhere between three to five books simultaneously on the go. My housemate thinks it's moderately unhinged, but each to their own, right? The Lost Man is written by the same author as The Dry, which was recently released in cinemas starring the gorgeous Eric Bana. Out of her written works, I find that The Lost Man has a much more enthralling setting and character nuance compared to The Dry. It's still set in outback Australia and revolves around brothers Nathan and Bub Bright who meet for the first time in months after their middle brother is found dead. Promise that's not a spoiler. I also always come back to All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2015. It centres around a blind French girl in occupied France during World War II. Finally, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara is not a quick, or an easy read. But, it is one of the few novels I've inhaled — haggling away hours usually dedicated to sleep — in order to finish it. It's a 720-page commitment, based on a deceptively simple premise: it follows the lives of four friends and their relationships through and after college. SARAH WARD: Associate Editor, has been on both Japanese and German television Recommends: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino. Every time he adds a new project to his resume, Quentin Tarantino takes something he loves — usually a genre of film, or several — and serves up his own distinctive version. The inimitable filmmaker clearly adores novelisations, so that's where he's branched out next. He obviously has a heap of affection for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, too, so he's turned his last movie into his first-ever book. On the page, the novel doesn't merely stick to the script, however. It changes details, takes detours and adds in plenty of film history. It shifts its focus and delivers commentary on the feature's storyline, too. In its style, it sounds and flows exactly as you'd expect of a QT book; his way with words, and with dialogue especially, easily translates to the page. Reading the novel feels a bit like spending time with the director, in fact, while also getting a big dose of nostalgia — as anyone who spent too long as a kid reading novelisations of their favourite movies will completely understand. CORDELIA WILLIAMSON: Branded Content Manager, has a killer collection of OTT sunglasses Recommends: Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey, Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko. I'm not an audiobook fan. But, boy, when you're on a camping trip in woeful weather and your partner's taste in music doesn't cut the mustard — and Matthew McConaughey's reading to you — well, then, it's pretty damn good. The actor's debut book stunned me. More than just variations of his almighty catchcry 'Alright, alright, alright', Greenlights is a memoir, with a bit of self-help peppered throughout. Sure, it's navel-gazing, but it makes for one helluva read. From tales about his violence-fuelled (but loving) childhood and cutting his teeth in Hollywood to his time spent Down Under and wrestling matches in West African sandpits, raucous stories are what propel this book — so much so you question whether it is all real. Greenlights is, though, honest; offering pearls of unconventional wisdom alongside hilarious anecdotes. And, save your pennies and get the audiobook, rather than a hard copy. This man is worth his salt, and this book his voice. If you're the kind of person who has multiple reads on your nightstand at any one time, I cannot recommend Melissa Lucashenko's Too Much Lip enough. Gritty, hilarious and gut-wrenching, this 2019 Miles Franklin Award-winning novel is as much about familial bonds as it is a love letter to the Australian landscape. NIK ADDAMS: Branded Content Manager, dreams of one day becoming Poirot's sidekick Recommends: Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. While I was swept up in the romance of Isabel Allende's historical epic A Long Petal of the Sea and rode every wave in Meg Mason's stunning Sorrow and Bliss, I have long been of the belief that a good mystery novel is hard to beat when it comes to pure enjoyment. British writer Anthony Horowitz's Magpie Murders was one of the more impressive whodunnits I've read in a long time. It's as meta as it gets — it's told from the perspective of a book editor — and its primary plot device of a book within a book is one of the more ingenious approaches to the tried-and-true formula I've encountered in quite some time. Horowitz is a master of the genre, and Magpie Murders sees him at the top of his game. If you're looking for pure escapism, do yourself a favor and pick up this book. [caption id="attachment_730412" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sun Bookshop[/caption] COURTNEY AMMENHAUSER: Branded Content Producer, has successfully survived a cassowary chase Recommends: Glimpses of Utopia by Jess Scully. Last year the City of Sydney's Deputy Lord Mayor, Jess Scully, released a book that gave me hope in a pretty dark time. Glimpses of Utopia will take you around the world to look at how other countries have implemented future-thinking systems to help create fairer and more sustainable standards of living for its citizens. Ever heard of The Care Economy? Want to know more about a people-powered digital democracy? Been thinking about how your banking habits are contributing to climate change? If so, read this book, reflect on your choices and reimagine what the future can look like. Top image: Readings Carlton, Victoria.
No, this isn't The Onion or an ad for Portlandia. It may be the most hipster headline we've written for some time, but the news is interesting all the same. In 2002, New York-based artist Peter Coffin began a project called Music For Plants. Exploring the idea that plants can hear and respond to different types of sounds, he enlisted the help of a bunch of famous musicians and got to recording music in greenhouses all over the world. Twelve years later, he's released the relaxing, flower child goodness unto all of the internet and it's safe to say your Sunday listening has got significantly more chilled. With special compositions performed by Sonic Youth, Ariel Pink, Mice Parade, Yoko Ono, and members of Animal Collective, the two volumes Coffin has released via Soundcloud are surprisingly star-studded. Though you may find a couple of them familiar — Ariel Pink's offering 'Passing the Petal 2 U' also appeared on their 2007 EP Scared Famous — the general audience for most tracks has so far consisted of ferns and flowers. Of course, this is something you can deduct from the general meandering, floaty, chillwave style of both volumes. Most tracks are characterised by birds quietly chirping alongside delicate guitar picking, slow-paced melody and, one happy occasion, a vibraphone makes an appearance. One wouldn't usually pick Sonic Youth for such a collection, but their instrumental track 'Creepers and Climbers' fits in well; the perfect choice for the alternative pot plant among the bunch. Coffin has released both volumes online as publicity for his recent installation in New York. With the goal of recording a third volume, artists such as Kelela, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Teengirl Fantasy are currently bunkered down in a gallery greenhouse serenading more lucky foliage. Though we fully realise you are not a plant of any kind, we still recommend listening to the volumes below if you're after a weekend chill session. For optimum enjoyment, we suggest listening to the music while basking in the sun or being lightly sprinkled with a Spring rain. Though the music has not yet been tested on human brains, we're secretly holding out hope that it will somehow make us slightly taller. Via Pitchfork and Dazed Digital.
Need a little fantasy in your life? You'll find a healthy serve of it at Melbourne's newly-opened Storyville — a bar inspired by fables, fairytales and all the fantastical things that captured your imagination as a little tacker. The Lonsdale Street spot is the brainchild of Steve and Keti Thomas, who've previously helped you escape reality at iconic themed drinking spots 29th Apartment and Pawn & Co. To bring the Storyville concept to life, they've tapped into the creativity of Josh Lefers (East 9th Brewing, Pawn & Co) for fitout that includes a lofty gold bird cage, novel-filled library, Narnia-inspired lounge and magical toadstool bar decked out with giant glowing funghi. The signature cocktail list comes sprinkled with literary nostalgia as well, with each crafty drink paying homage to a timeless favourite. Through The Looking Glass, featuring a boozy vanilla cream tea and served in a teapot with dry ice, is a nod to Lewis Carroll's iconic story, while for Mr Pilkington's Neighbour, a combination of apple liqueur, animal crackers and pork chop fat-washed bourbon combine to transport you to the pages of George Orwell's Animal Farm. Harry Potter, Hunter S. Thompson, A Clockwork Orange and more also get a nod — and you might even find yourself face-to-face with a garnish of real insects. Meanwhile, the food situation runs to cheese, charcuterie and a selection of jaffles, inspired by stories like The Three Blind Mice and that Dr Seuss favourite, Green Eggs and Ham. Head in a sip of polyjuice and a tumble down the rabbit hole. Find Storyville at 185 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. Head to their website for further details Images: Jean-Louis Carvalho.
Articulate, enthusiastic, candid, and at least a little bit enamoured with the sound of his own voice — you only have to be in a room with John Landis for a few seconds to see he was born to be an entertainer. In town for a career tribute as part of this year's Melbourne Festival, the 63-year-old director behind beloved Hollywood films including The Blues Brothers, Trading Places and the music video to Michael Jackson's Thriller, seems totally at ease in a room full of journalists, as he recalls anecdotes from a career that spans more than 40 years. YOU CAN'T PICK WHICH WORKS WILL HAVE A LASTING IMPACT While we now look back at movies like Animal House and The Blues Brothers as era-defining comedies, when asked if he had any notion that his films would still be celebrated 30 years after being made, Landis shakes his head with a smile. "The truth is," the filmmaker explains, "you work the same on a successful movie as you do on an unsuccessful movie. [Peter] Bogdanovich was the one who said 'the only true test of a film is time'. And unfortunately we're in a very schizophrenic business, because according to the media and the industry, the only true test of success is money. So many great films come out and tank, and many terrible movies are huge hits. So there's no rule of thumb." "The one that surprised me the most was Thriller," Landis says. "The album was already the most successful album of all time when we made the short … The Thriller video, on Beta and VHS, was $29.95, and they sold 8 million of them. That amazed me. And I think what still delights me, because it's so nuts, is Thrill the World, where they do the thriller dance. And if you go online, they do the thriller dance at weddings and bar mitzvahs … I guess it's the power of Michael Jackson." BAD MOVIES DON'T ALWAYS START OUT BAD Of course, not all of Landis' films have been so successful. Asked about the woeful reception to Blues Brothers 2000, he grins and responds, "the biggest problem with Blues Brothers 2000 is that it's lousy. We had terrible interference from the studio. It was rewritten something like 17 times before they gave us the green light… it was a terrible script. But I'm very proud of the music." Another one of Landis' lesser known works is 1996's The Stupids, which sat unreleased on a shelf for years after the financing company went bankrupt. Upon release, the film tanked at the box office and was panned by critics, although as Landis points out, eventual distributor New Line Cinema bought the film for more than it cost to make, and so "we all made money." "It was mis-sold. It's a children's film, and they sold it as a teenage tits and ass comedy. It was a horrifying experience." IF YOU DOWNLOAD RATHER THAN GOING TO THE CINEMA, IT'S YOUR LOSS Perhaps it's in part due to his rocky relationship with the Hollywood studios that Landis has spent most of the last decade working in documentary and television. "Hollywood as it used to be hasn't existed for a long time", Landis reflects. "I started in the mail room at Fox in the '60s, and it was already dying then. The film business has changed just like every other business, because of globalisation and economics and all kinds of things. Now, Universal, Fox, MGM, Warner Brothers, they're small subdivisions of huge multinational corporations. And these giant corporations, they're their own nation states. They don't even fucking pay taxes! So it has changed, and it continues to change." Even so, Landis remains mostly optimistic about the state of affairs in the movie business. "I think good movies will always be made. One of the big ironies is that technology improved, so now literally anyone can make a movie. The only thing I don't like, the only thing that makes me feel like an old fart, is that it breaks my heart that generations will see Lawrence of Arabia on their cell phone. Because nothing can reproduce the theatrical experience. Big house; beautifully projected — and you know that film is communal. The more people you are with watching a movie, the better the movie works. Comedies are funnier. Scary movies are scarier. Sad movies are sadder. It's contagious." A retrospective of John's films will be screening as part of the Melbourne Festival during October. Check it out here.
A slasher premise. A script by Dawson's Creek creator Kevin Williamson. A cast member of Party of Five being terrorised. That setup worked well twice in the 90s, first with Scream and then with I Know What You Did Last Summer. Indeed, when they each initially released, sequels followed in both instances. Here's the latest part of the trend: both franchises have made or are making 2020s-era returns after jumps to TV with flicks sharing the same name as the original movies in each saga and featuring OG cast members. First came 2022's Scream. Next arrives 2025's I Know What You Did Last Summer. Once again, Jennifer Love Hewitt (9-1-1) follows in Neve Campbell's (The Lincoln Lawyer) footsteps — and as Scream did, I Know What You Did Last Summer picks up with a mix of familiar and new faces. As the just-dropped trailer for cinema's return to Southport illustrates, Freddie Prinze Jr (The Girl in the Pool) is also back. Being stalked for their past misdeeds this time: Madelyn Cline (Outer Banks), Chase Sui Wonders (The Studio), Jonah Hauer-King (The Tattooist of Auschwitz), Tyriq Withers (Me) and Sarah Pidgeon (The Friend). If you're a fan of 90s horror getting a new lease on life, we know what you're doing this winter Down Under, then, with the new I Know What You Did Last Summer hitting the big screen on Thursday, July 17, 2025. You'll also already be well-aware of the basic setup: a group of friends are involved in a car accident, someone dies, but they cover it up and vow not to tell anyone. A year later, of course that secret haunts them, as does a vengeance-seeking killer. The new film layers in the fact that this has all happened in the past, with the quintet in focus needing help from two survivors of the Southport Massacre of 1997. Enter Hewitt and Prinze Jr, as part of a cast that also includes Billy Campbell (Mr & Mrs Smith), Gabbriette Bechtel (Idiotka) and Austin Nichols (The Six Triple Eight). Starting as a 1973 novel, which Williamson adapted into the first 1997 film, I Know What You Did Last Summer initially spawned two sequels: 1998's I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and 2006's I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. In 2021, an I Know What You Did Last Summer TV series ran for one season. On the franchise's return to the big screen, Do Revenge filmmaker Jennifer Kaytin Robinson directs — and continues her connection with the OG I Know What You Did Last Summer cast, given that Sarah Michelle Gellar (Dexter: Original Sin) featured in that 2022 movie. Check out the trailer for I Know What You Did Last Summer below: I Know What You Did Last Summer releases in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, July 17, 2025.
When it comes to food, using fire is a gamechanger — it transforms humble ingredients into incredible flavours. And few are as skilled at harnessing flame for this purpose as Duncan Welgemoed. Welgemoed is the head chef of Africola, a North African-inspired grill and smokehouse that's so renowned, it alone is almost worth booking a trip to Adelaide to visit. A little extreme? Well, luckily, you'll soon have a chance to taste Welgemoed's lauded food right here in Sydney. He has teamed up with Red Rock Deli to host one of its upcoming Secret Suppers on Thursday, June 20. [caption id="attachment_724626" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Josh Geelen[/caption] So, what can diners expect from the chef behind menu items such as grilled smoked tongue, a 'tea sandwich' of crispy chicken skin and hot chicken dripping and wood oven cauliflower with tahini cream? Well, we don't quite know — yet. The menu will stay true to the event's name and remain under-wraps until the night. But we do know that it'll be inspired by Red Rock Deli's limited-edition flavour, flame grilled steak and chimichurri, and that fire will play a big role. "At Africola, we channel the smoke element of fire to be essentially used as a seasoning. And that's what I've done with my dishes for the event," Welgemoed said. That's some truly next-level, elemental seasoning. The raw force of nature flavouring your food? It's practically magic. As a man with a burning passion for cooking by fire (thanks to his South African roots), Welgemoed has a keen admiration for other like-minded chefs. So, in an effort to get more information on his upcoming menu, we asked him about some of his favourites. [caption id="attachment_522922" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Firedoor[/caption] Sydney's vibrant restaurant scene is home to some notable inclusions in this 'hall of flame'. One venue that stands out is the aptly named Firedoor, where smoke and flames are the conceptual theme throughout the menu. Welgemoed sings high praise of the 203-day dry-aged rib of beef. "Lennox Hastie at Firedoor is one of the best fire cooks in the world. His technique is second to none," Welgemoed said. And, while it's hard to pin down a favourite dish at the Argentinian barbeque and grill restaurant Porteño, he assures us you can't go wrong with anything cooked on the asado (fire pit). Of course, sometimes you want the comfort of a classic dish done just right, and that's when you should head for The Unicorn. Welgemoed loves the half Bannockburn barbeque chook with brown mushrooms and tarragon sauce — just the right balance of fancy and familiar. Then again, if you need your dining experience to be both firey and very fine, the wood-fired potato bread from Ester comes highly recommended. Welgemoed prefers it with dashi jelly, but Ester's latest menu refresh sees it intriguingly paired with kefir cream and trout roe for a zingy, salty lift. [caption id="attachment_658136" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Fred's[/caption] Fred's in Paddington strikes the balance between home comfort (you feel like you're in someone's luxurious open plan kitchen) and upscale city dining. Welgemoed's chosen dish reflects this perfect marriage of impressive elegance and honest, wholesome flavour — grilled rack of lamb with wine grapes, cime di rapa, fennel seed and rosemary. Like the other venues, Fred's exemplifies an approach to cooking similar to Welgemoed's own by letting the ingredients speak for themselves. So, what might we deduce about Welgemoed's secret supper menu from his Sydney sparks of inspiration? Expect delightful, yet unpretentious, play with fire and flavour, the comfort of familiar touches with innovative twists and a decidedly global approach to three flaming good courses. We'll leave that idea smouldering with you for now. Duncan Welgemoed's Secret Supper will take place across two sessions on Thursday, June 20. Top Image: Josh Geelen.
We thought we were done with macarons, but the food universe says otherwise. Macaron masters Ladurée have made their way to Melbourne like it's 2009, with the world famous French patisserie opening in Chadstone. One of a number of new high-end food offerings at the recently renovated shopping centre, the store features a nine-seat marble bar decorated with mosaic artwork, along with a Parisian-inspired tearoom capable of seating 21. It's the brand's third Australian location, and first outside of Sydney. The standout item on the menu is obviously the macarons, sweet double-decker creations with which the name Ladurée has long been synonymous. Raspberry, salted caramel, rose petal, orange blossom — the question won't be which one, but how many of each. Customers can also purchase various other Ladurée items, including teas, chocolates, confectionaries and perfumed candles, along with various other items perfect for personal pampering and/or stuffing down your gob. Ladurée is now open at Chadstone. For more information, check out the Ladurée Australia Facebook page.
Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre at Melbourne Museum invites visitors into the world of First Nations fashion and textile design. Piinpi: Contemporary Indigenous Fashion runs until January 19, 2025 and reveals the depth and diversity of cultures across Australia. The title of the exhibition, Piinpi, is an expression from the Kanichi Thampanyu people (East Coast Cape York Peninsula) that reflects 'seasonal changes' and regeneration of Country. The gallery's curator, Kaantju woman Shonae Hobson, has commissioned works from some of the country's top designers. Those include hand-printed designs (using ancient techniques) by Gunnai, Wiradjuri, Gunditjmara and Yorta Yorta woman Lyn-Al Young, Teagan Cowlishaw's sparkly Deadly Kween jumpsuit (made from upcycled materials) and sculptural wearable art pieces by Grace Lillian Lee. [caption id="attachment_792476" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image: Grace Lillian Lee 'Body Armour'[/caption] Top image: Elisa Jan Carmichael, CIAF 2017 Saltwater Footprints Collection; Photo: Tim Ashton
If Dad's got a thing for charred meats and crafty brews, we reckon he'd be pretty stoked to join you at Grazeland's next weekend-long food fest. The Spotswood food precinct is getting into the Father's Day spirit with its inaugural BBQ Beer Festival, running from Friday, September 1–Sunday, September 3. The weekend's food lineup is a meat-lover's dream, with lots of Grazeland's vendors set to serve up special barbecue-inspired eats for the occasion. Expect a plethora of smoked meats, along with a globe-trotting array of grilled goodies from the likes of Flaming Skewers, El Gaucho, Zuya African BBQ, Mr Toum Lebanese Grill, Smokeworks and newcomer Caribbean Eats. [caption id="attachment_845962" align="alignnone" width="1920"] I in the Sky Productions[/caption] To wash it down, there'll be a dedicated beer zone pouring drops from hyped local breweries including Little Creatures, Brooklyn Fixation and Hop Nation. Try sips like Hop Nation's Turon Milk Stout and Little Creatures' limited-release pilsner. And as always, there'll be plenty of live tunes and DJs across the weekend, ranging from soft rock, to classic backyard barbecue tracks. Entry to Grazeland is $4, with the festival running 5–10pm Friday, 12–10pm Saturday and 12–9pm Sunday.
Fried chicken lovers: start drooling. KFC is set to unveil a brand new burger inspired by the flavours in Peking duck, but there's a catch: the only place you can get your hands on it will be at their new music festival on Cockatoo Island. The Colonel will throw the music festival in the iconic Sydney Harbour spot with an all-star local lineup on Sunday, March 13, and yes, all tickets include free KFC Peking Cluk burgers. You lucky ducks. The Peking Cluk burger has been created in collaboration with local TikTok sensation Dimsimlim and is made from Original Recipe fried chicken coated in a hoisin glaze sauce with a healthy topping of dry spring onions, cucumber and cabbage slaw. As for the headliners at the festival — it's Peking Duk, of course. The rowdy DJ duo are stepping up to help the Colonel as KFC's official burger spokespeople, and will be performing at the festival alongside beloved Yolngu rapper Baker Boy and Sydney favourite Thandi Phoenix. Attendees will be treated to Peking Duk's brand-new live show that they created over the last two years. The show has only been seen a few times at the likes of Field Day and features big party energy, remixes of previous material and plenty of synthesisers. "We've been in the bunker making the live set totally different, totally unique. It's going to be fun and it's going to be an experience that nobody's had before," Peking Duk's Reuben Styles told Concrete Playground. Adam Hyde of the duo put it more succinctly: "Get clucked, go cluck yourself, cluck off and have a clucking great time on Cockatoo Island with the boys." [caption id="attachment_753774" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cockatoo Island[/caption] Cockatoo Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has hosted iconic musicians including The Wailers, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Skrillex and Lorde. "We've never done Cockatoo Island and that's such an iconic spot for gigs. So many epic artists have come through and done shows there," said Styles. "We didn't expect our first time playing there to be a KFC collab, but god damn it's going to be so fun." The festival will mark one of very few gigs the pair have been able to play since the start of the pandemic. "Anytime a gig goes ahead now it feels like a huge relief that we actually get to put on a party and play a set for people," Styles continued. "It's so hard to pump people up about a gig when you know there's such a high chance it won't go ahead. Doing more intimate shows like the KFC one is so great for the interim because you can say, 'Hey, here's a show, it's going to go ahead, let's all get excited.'" Style and Hyde, alongside festival buddy Thandi Phoenix and a heap of Aussie musicians took a stand last month against the NSW Government's restrictions on live music and religious gatherings. The group of musicians labelled themselves Thrillsong after it was revealed that Hillsong hosted a large youth event with many similarities to a music festival during a time when festivals were unable to go ahead. "I think it was a great thing," Styles proclaims about Hillsong's gathering. "It shined a light on how stupid the government's rules were to allow religious events to go down but no any other form of musical events." If you want to catch Peking Duk's new set and get your hands on the Peking Cluk burger, tickets to KFC's Cockatoo Island music festival are available via Moshtix now for $50, but be quick as they're sure to be snatched up quickly. There's no word yet whether the Peking Cluk burger will be on offer more widely in KFC stores. [caption id="attachment_636228" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Baker Boy by Bec Taylor.[/caption] KFC's Cockatoo Island music festival will be on Sunday, March 13 featuring Peking Duk, Bakery Boy, Thandi Phoenix and plenty of burgers. Tickets are on sale now. Top image: Peking Duk at Sunset Piazza, DNSW
This year has seen a lot of us spending a whole heap more time at home, and we can't think of a better excuse for a little domestic spruce up. Or, at the very least, a neat new rug to adorn your living room floor. If it is time for a rug refresh, expect to find some winning options among Miss Amara's huge three-week sale. The online rug retailer is dishing out deals with 15 percent off each of its three best-selling rug styles across three weeks. First up, its boho rugs, with designs like the luxe wool Camilla, are on sale from October 11–18. Then, you can nab 15 percent off minimal rugs from October 21–29, and score savings across the whole collection of tribal rugs from November 1–8. Having trouble choosing? Answer a few questions online about your space and your preferences, and Miss Amara's virtual stylist will help you find your ideal rug match. What's more, you can take your favourites for a visual test drive, thanks to the virtual room simulator. Just click the button that says 'See This In My Room' below any product, snap a photo of your space and see how well they pair. And to get even more of a taste, Miss Amara will even let you try a rug at home, with free refunds and returns if it doesn't tick the right boxes. As an added bonus, Miss Amara offers free delivery across Australia, too. https://www.instagram.com/p/CFrT2KLn0gt/ FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
A venue's atmosphere sets the tone. So the kind of atmosphere generated by a spacious interior, booming sound system, bright neon signage and the energy of 100-plus diners is powerful. That's what you get at Hawker Hall. This addition to the shining portfolio of restaurateur Chris Lucas (Chin Chin, Kisumé, Society and more) is a bustling, scaled-up establishment that pays homage to the intimate and grounded experiences of hawker-style Malaysian and Singaporean street food. The menu is extensive, starting with shared bites like san choy bao with chicken and shiitake; salt and pepper tofu with chilli and coriander; roti; dumplings and buns — like crispy prawn and pork wontons, mushroom and cabbage dumplings or bbq char siu pork buns. There are also salads, seafood and meat mains, noodles and rice, curries, sides and desserts. Beyond the choose-your-own-adventure menu, there are set menu banquets to speed up the delivery of food to your mouth. The main two are the 'Hawker Feed Me' and the 'Chef's Banquet', built around Hawker specialties like roast duck, char siu pork or coconut roast chicken. We could go on and on about the food, but we also need to mention the other pride of Hawker Hall: the drinks menu. Hawker Hall has a truly excellent selection of beers on tap, all independent brewers selected by the team. Plus, there's a cocktail happy hour every Thursday 4–6pm and a bottomless boozy yum-cha, where $66pp gets you a huge spread of reimagined dim sum classics and 90 minutes of free-flowing bevs.
The time has come. Nintendo's highly anticipated new mobile Mario Kart game has raced onto smartphones everywhere, giving fans what they've always wanted: the ability to play the iconic title anywhere and everywhere, and zoom around tracks inspired by real-life locations. Yep, Mario Kart Tour ticks both boxes. Released yesterday — Wednesday, September 25 — on both iOS and Android, the game is a big deal for Nintendo, marking Mario Kart's first foray into the mobile realm. For the past 27 years, if you wanted to hop in a red-coloured kart, pretend you're the company's famous character and hurl shells at your competitors (all virtually, of course), you had to have a Nintendo console or handheld device — such as a Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, Game Cube, DS, Wii, 3DS, Wii U or Switch. While Luigi, Bowser, Peach and the gang reappear in the game as they've always done, the fresh courses are also a huge achievement. Say goodbye Rainbow Road — Mario Kart Tour features tracks in Paris, Tokyo, New York and more. You can drive past Tokyo Tower, rush beside the Arc de Triomphe and zoom along Broadway, among other spots. The global tours will change every fortnight, too, so you can look forward to more locations. And, on select courses, some beloved Mario Kart characters can navigate their own special variations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgJO3000GXU Free to play (with in-app purchases), you use your finger to steer, drift and sling items. Otherwise, it's basically business as usual. Cycle through different karts and drivers, hit the accelerator and get ready to collect coins and unleash oh-so-many banana peels. Mario Kart Tour is now available for free on iOS and Android via the Mario Kart Tour website.
There's no opera quite like Wagner's Ring Cycle. Totalling 15 hours of brilliance, the lengthy production is being split into four nights of powerful, operatic wonder at QPAC later this year — all ticket packages include tickets to all four parts. Even if you've seen it before, we're sure you've not seen anything like this upcoming rendition, which is brought to Brisbane by Opera Australia. From Friday, December 1– Thursday, December 21, the production from Chinese director Chen Shi-Zheng will bring together performers from here and abroad. The version places Wagner's classic interpretation of Germanic mythology into a futuristic, parallel-universe setting, using digital art to create virtual landscapes. Breathtakingly original, the music is led by French conductor Philippe Auguin, who has headed up The Ring Cycle on numerous occasions. If you're an opera buff or just a fan of fantasy, futurism, timeless tales and truly epic theatre, this is an unmissable cultural event.
Any self-respecting food enthusiast with an interest in writing will attest that a Google search of your latest and favourite hangout is a must. Converge some compelling social media with a good shop experience and you're doing well. For Everyday Coffee, their mantra to 'provide consistently outstanding coffee through hard work, research, education and evolution; everyday' might sound like a complicated Twitter bio, but luckily, it's actually as simple as pie. In the safe, supremely experienced hands of Mark Free, Joe Miranda, Aaron Maxwell and Hugo Atkins, Everyday Coffee is nearly all about the black brew — the whole 365 days of the year. Undoubtedly these boys know their stuff, but things have been charmingly pared back to make sure your morning order doesn't become a ten-minute affair. Coffee aficionados can rest assured that they will be in good company, and those appreciative of the craft will be warmly welcomed; tea lovers, you're also included. Everyday Coffee's rotating selection of beans and roasts on offer ($3.50-$5) skims the surface of a fondness for collaboration, in both food and in thought. Coffee accompaniments come in the form of bagels reminiscent of a simpler time ($6) and a virtuous house made muesli ($8.50) that is, without fault, guaranteed to start your day perfectly. Also on offer is a rotating selection of carefully curated sweets for your afternoon lull, such as the sickeningly pleasing pecan pie ($7). Offering the perfect space for nearby creatives and coffee lovers alike, Everyday Coffee stands out for its attention to detail. The name may suggest something otherwise, but don't be fooled. It's about finding the best pleasures in the daily grind, and, with no time to waste resting on their laurels, Everyday Coffee does just that.
As if you wouldn't be excited: Clueless is set to make a comeback, with a new streaming series featuring Alicia Silverstone (Y2K) reprising the role of Cher Horowitz reportedly in the works. How is life treating one of pop culture's favourite 90s Beverley Hills teenagers three decades later? Who else from her high-school life will feature? What tale will the new small-screen sequel tell? These are all valid questions; however, none of them have answers just yet. Variety has revealed that the show is in development, with NBCUniversal's US streaming service Peacock behind it. Behind the camera, Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (The OC, Gossip Girl, Nancy Drew) are writing and executive producing the new series, alongside Jordan Weiss (Freakier Friday). Amy Heckerling (Vamps), who helmed the big-screen hit in 1995, is also an executive producer. If one of your most-pressing queries involves Paul Rudd (Death of a Unicorn), there's no word yet if the ageless actor will be back. Stacey Dash (Four.), Donald Faison (Extended Family), Jeremy Sisto (FBI), Elisa Donovan (NCIS), Breckin Meyer (Good Girls), Dan Hedaya (The God Committee) and Wallace Shawn (Evil) were also among the movie's cast, as was the late Brittany Murphy. And if this news sounds familiar, that's because reports also circulated back in 2020 that the same streamer was diving back into the world of Clueless with a series focusing on Dash's Dionne — but the new project with Silverstone is something different. This isn't the first time that Clueless has made the jump to TV, but it is the only small-screen series with Silverstone returning as the film's main character. After the movie's success, a Clueless television show ran for three seasons from 1996–1998, with Rachel Blanchard (The Summer I Turned Pretty) taking over the role of Cher, but everyone from Dash, Faison, Donovan and Shawn to Murphy, Meyer and Rudd either co-starred or popped up as guests. Another example of beloved 90s fare returning — Buffy the Vampire Slayer is also reported to be returning for a sequel series — the new Clueless isn't just an excellent development for fans of the OG flick, of course. It's equally great for Jane Austen devotees, too, given that the movie loosely adapts the author's Emma. There's obviously no sneak peek yet for the new Clueless, but check out the trailer for the original film below: There's no release date for the new Clueless TV series yet — we'll update you when more details are announced. Via Variety.
Like all true-crime series, an air of inevitability hovers over The Clearing. With an eerie Australian sect at its centre, plus a rare female cult leader, a brood of blonde-haired children and a penchant for LSD, this story was always going to get the drama treatment eventually. Based on The Family, the notorious real-life group that formed in the 60s and operated out of regional Victoria, the eight-part Disney+ series arrives after Rosie Jones' 2016 documentary that shares the group's name and 2019 series The Cult of the Family. That said, The Clearing actually takes its basis from fiction, although there's no doubting where JP Pomare's novel In the Clearing found its inspiration. While history's sinister and sordid chapters frequently reach screens, including Australia's own long-running Underbelly franchise, The Clearing isn't the type of project that arrives every day. Playing The Kindred guru Adrienne Beaufort and one of her chief acolytes Aunty Tamsin, Aussie actors Miranda Otto and Kate Mulvany knew that from the moment that they received the show's scripts — but playing such complex roles was both intriguing and complicated. Constantly seeking new challenges as thespians, both have built up formidable resumes — Otto's spans everything from 90s standouts Love Serenade and The Well, The Lord of the Rings films, Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds, and small-screen efforts Rake, Homeland and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina; Mulvany's includes The Great Gatsby, Secret City, Lambs of God, Elvis, The Twelve and Hunters — and they're both excellent in The Clearing. Still, for each, approaching the material required actively avoiding taking their cues from reality. Despite a fascination with cults, Otto steered clear of The Family's story. "I really couldn't get into any of that for myself. I couldn't even really go into the book, because there's so many layers in this script and so much that I had to do, that I couldn't really confuse myself with anything that might be different in a book," she tells Concrete Playground. "Sometimes on other projects, I will read the book as it's great source material. But when you start getting into 'did this happen?' or 'did that not happen?', I just thought that I'm just going to get so confused if I do that." Mulvany had the same reaction. "So much my character's journey is jigsawing along with [Otto's] journey, and so it was really, really important that we didn't have too much noise around our performances," she explains. "And that we really did go pretty much purely from the script, and our own knowledge of what a cult was, or what it is. I didn't even get a chance to read the book, so I had to really mould Aunty Tamsin on what I was given by the writers and the script." Joining the pair in The Clearing is a spectacular cast of fellow homegrown talents — Teresa Palmer (Ride Like a Girl), Guy Pearce (Mare of Easttown), Julia Savage (Blaze), Claudia Karvan (Bump), Mark Coles-Smith (Mystery Road: Origin), Hazem Shammas (The Twelve) and more — in a series that is unsurprisingly haunting and riveting from its first moments. With The Clearing streaming on Disney+ from Wednesday, May 24, we chatted to Otto and Mulvany about their initial responses to the show, researching cults, playing emotional vampires and seeking out female-led stories. ON THEIR FIRST RESPONSES TO THE CLEARING Miranda: "It was sent to my agent. I was told that it was about a female cult leader, which intrigued me automatically, because I'm very fascinated by cults and everything that goes with them. Then I received the scripts, and it was one of those nice things with a limited series where you get all the scripts together, and you're able to see the whole story unfold and the whole layered nature of it. Then I was just totally hooked. I love thrillers and puzzles." Kate: "I was a bit the same. I received the e-mail from the agent saying this has been offered to you, this Aunty Tamsin — and, of course, I read the first couple of scripts and went 'why am I the logical choice for this character?'. But then, as I read, there were a lot more pathways to her and from her that were really fascinating. It was a really great jigsaw to put together as an actor and as a character, so I was hooked from the start." ON PREPARING TO PLAY A CULT LEADER AND ONE OF HER ACOLYTES Miranda: "I've done a lot of research on cults generally. I was very fascinated by the Rajneesh Bhagwan cult — my aunty was in it in the 80s. I read Jane Stork's book [Break the Spell] about them, and watched Wild Wild Country, which was an amazing doc. And then I watched a lot of docs about other cults. But the the process for this, I don't know, we just sort of began. It's a funny thing, we had the scripts and we had everyone there and we just started — and it just kind of took on its own life in in some way." Kate: "Yeah. It did." Miranda: "I don't really feel like I sat down and intellectualised it and worked out exactly what I was going to do. I could make a plan, but then I'd have to throw the plan out because it didn't seem to work on the day. So in the end, it was really just working off the other actors and just finding it on-screen." Kate: "So much it was in the script as well, that it was popping off the page. But there was something so extraordinary about — I know my first day working with Miranda was, I think, your first day as Adrienne?" Miranda: "Yeah, that's right. Yes." Kate: "It was sort of a huge moment to have that — the first time we see her, the sun is behind her and she's approaching to to greet the children for the first time, and so that was a pretty good starting point." Miranda: "Yeah." Kate: "And a deep dive straight away, wasn't it?" Miranda: "I have to say, that day I totally started forgetting my lines. I was thrown in the moment — 'oh my gosh, this is such a lot'." Kate: "I don't remember that." Miranda: "You know, to suddenly be there and be in it — it was like 'oh wow'." Kate: "I don't remember that at all. I just remember you being extraordinary." Miranda: "I kept getting the names mixed when I was talking about the kids." ON FINDING WHAT DRIVES ADRIENNE AND TAMSIN Miranda: "That was a hard thing to find, actually. At first, they talk about 'are you driven by money, ego, power?'. And at first, I thought it was very much power — the power over people. But I found it really empty to play. It didn't really help me much. I couldn't get much from it. Then I had this particular scene with someone, and I realised in the moment that it was more about feeling so emotionally vacant or not able to feel things that that I was actually living vicariously in the moment of forcing these dramatic situations with people and seeing them in this emotional state, and then somehow by osmosis feeling that myself. It was like some enforced kind of feeling. I guess I described it as like an emotional vampire in some way — like not having that myself, then needing to force it in other people." Kate: "Yeah, it's pretty weird. But it was so strong. It was so powerful. And it means that the rest of us follow. Because, for Aunty Tamsin, Adrienne is constantly spoon-feeding these teaspoons of sugar — sweetness and delight, in terms of affection, or even a compliment, or even a touch. And then, of course, it's completely taken away. So for Tamsin, the powerlessness that she feels in her real life, she makes up for with her authoritarian rule over the children. It's still a vast emptiness behind that, but she's constantly given fuel by these spoonfuls of sugar that Adrienne feeds her — metaphorically." ON WHAT OTTO AND MULVANY LOOK FOR IN A ROLE Miranda: "For me, usually finding something that I haven't done before. I don't really want to repeat myself or play a similar character, so I'm usually often drawn to something that's quite different from the from the piece I immediately did before it. I work in antithesis to myself." Kate: "Same here, especially when they're female-led stories. There's something so delicious about diving into a world of a very female narrative — and we have so many strong female characters in this show, both as protagonists and antagonists. And that for me is something that I haven't had a chance to do enough of in my career. So that was a big thumbs up for me, that made me just go 'I would kill to play to play this role'." The Clearing streams via Disney+ from Wednesday, May 24. Read our full review.
It was a smash in Australia with Eryn Jean Norvill (Love Me) in the lead. When it made the leap to the UK starring Succession's Sarah Snook, it became the talk of London's West End, and also earned its one and only performer a 2024 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for her efforts. It's been picked up by Cate Blanchett's (Borderlands) production company Dirty Films to get the film treatment. And, now it's heading to Broadway. Sydney Theatre Company's version of The Picture of Dorian Gray keeps doing huge things — and its latest jump to the most-famous stage district there is will also keep Snook at its centre. She's making her Broadway debut playing all 26 of the play's parts, with the production hitting New York from March 2025. When STC's take on The Picture of Dorian Gray premiered in 2020 — and then also played theatres in Melbourne and Adelaide — it didn't just give Oscar Wilde's gothic-literature masterpiece a fresh spin; it turned it into a brand-new stage sensation. Not only does the show feature just one performer playing every single character but, to make that happen, it uses video to help. It's the work of writer/director Kip Williams, it's groundbreaking, and it's been understandably earning audiences raves and winning accolades. On the page, The Picture of Dorian Gray is exceptional, as well as astute and unnerving, as it follows the selling of its namesake's soul in order to keep indulging every corporeal whim, urge and desire. There's a reason that it just keeps getting adapted for the screen and in theatres, after all. But there's never been a version like Sydney Theatre Company's, which Broadway patrons now get to experience. "It was a singular privilege to bring The Picture of Dorian Gray to life in London and I am thrilled we will be able to share this astonishing production with audiences in New York," said Sarah Snook about the news. "From Oscar Wilde's timeless words to the masterful reinterpretation Kip Williams has created, this tale of virtue, corruption, vanity and repercussion is an electrifying journey for me as much as for the audiences, and I am filled with anticipation as we continue on this ambitious creative endeavour." "I was so humbled by the response from audiences in London to The Picture of Dorian Gray, and I could not be more thrilled to be bringing this work to Broadway. It has been extraordinary to witness the way Oscar Wilde's story continues to resonate with people today," added Williams. "I am so excited for audiences in New York to experience our show and to see the tour-de-force performance Sarah Snook gives in bringing to life the many characters in this new adaptation of Wilde's remarkable story." Check out the trailer for the Broadway season of The Picture of Dorian Gray below: The Picture of Dorian Gray will play Broadway in New York from March 2025 — for more information and to join the waitlist for tickets, head to the play's website. Images: Marc Brenner.
If you're not fond of clowns, find yourself scurrying past sewers and simply can't stand red balloons, there's probably one big reason for your phobias. Maybe you read Stephen King's horror tome IT, which first hit bookshelves back in 1986. Perhaps you saw the 1990 miniseries, which turned Tim Curry from The Rocky Horror Picture Show's Frank N Furter into the transdimensional evil entity known as Pennywise. In 2017, you might've seen the IT movie on the big screen, too, then backed it up in 2019 with sequel IT: Chapter Two. Whichever fits, your fears are about to get another workout — via your streaming queue, and if you dare. HBO has officially greenlit a prequel series set in the world of IT, and in King's go-to town of Derry, Maine. Fittingly called Welcome to Derry, it'll step through the locale's scares before the terror that viewers have already seen and experienced. Returning to oversee the show is filmmaker Andy Muschietti, who helmed the most recent two movies and next directs DC Extended Universe flick The Flash. So far, the rest of the details are scare, including the exact storyline, all cast members, when it'll arrive and how many episodes there are to look forward to. But Muschietti will direct multiple instalments, including the first. Also, the show is still based on King's novel, and will expand Muschietti's vision from his two features. "As teenagers, we took turns reading chapters of Stephen King's IT until the thick paperback fell to pieces," said Muschietti and his sister Barbara Muschietti, who'll also work on Welcome to Derry, announcing the news. "IT is an epic story that contains multitudes, far beyond what we could explore in our IT movies. We can't wait to share the depths of Steve's novel, in all its heart, humour, humanity and horror." "I'm excited that the story of Derry, Maine's most haunted city, is continuing, and I'm glad Andy Muschietti is going to be overseeing the frightening festivities, along with a brain trust including his talented sister, Barbara. Red balloons all around!" added King. If you've somehow missed all things IT so far, it follows the exploits of maniacal clown Pennywise, as well as the folks he's rather fond of terrorising. In the recent movies, Bill Skarsgård (Barbarian) put on the demonic makeup. In the first film, his targets were all kids. In the second, those teens — the Losers Club — were all grown up and still getting spooked. It's too early for a Welcome to Derry trailer, but you can watch the IT and IT: Chapter Two trailers below: Welcome to Derry doesn't yet have a release date, including Down Under — we'll update you when one is announced.
It's easy enough to understand why so many people move from sunless England to Australia each year, but it's pretty rare for a whole restaurant and its staff to pack up their bags collectively. Yet that's just what's happening with one of the world's most famous chefs, Heston Blumenthal, and his molecular gastronomy stronghold The Fat Duck. They'll be shutting down the iconic Berkshire restaurant and 'relocating' it to the Crown Melbourne for six months. "This is not a popup restaurant," Heston obliquely insisted at this morning's announcement. Although The Fat Duck won't be opening until February 2015, you'll probably need to develop your booking strategy soon if you want to sample the likes of snail porridge, egg and bacon ice-cream and the aurally enhanced Sound of the Sea. The sensational food experience ought to wash away that bitter taste you get from having to pass through the casino to reach it. Funnily enough, The Fat Duck is not the only world-renowned restaurant to try an international exchange: Rene Redzepi yesterday tweeted that Noma would be moving its operation to Tokyo for two months in 2015. If these two chefs are on board, expect to see many more taking up the experiment soon. Heston's Melbourne non-popup temporary restaurant will leave a different, permanent one in its wake, dubbed Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. Meanwhile, rumours of a Sydney Blumenthal excursion abound.
Oh, the swinging '60s. Skirts were short and life was groovy, baby. At least, that's what a dapper man called Austin Powers once said. But one person personified the '60s even more than Austin did, and they didn't even need a last name to do it. Twiggy was a fashion model with an androgynous figure and a Bambi-eyed stare who went from teen ingénue to cultural icon. Showing at ACMI from Saturday, 31 August, Philip Priestly's 2012 documentary, Twiggy: The Face of '66, retraces the steps of her enduring stardom including those infamous guest appearances on The Muppets as well as the many many mod-y clothes. Next weekend will be the Australian premiere, and Twiggy's skinny, blonde, mop-topped story is screening for a limited four sessions. Make sure you get along because this is a woman whose likeness was encased in a time capsule and blasted into space — she took the fashion world by storm and is still frickin' around. Just like Dr Evil. Kind of.
Summer holidays might be over for most, but there's still plenty more sunshine and good vibes in store for Melbourne's balmiest season. And a bunch of those are coming at you courtesy of iconic LGBTQIA+ arts and cultural celebration Midsumma Festival, which returns this month for its biggest edition yet. Back for its 34th year, Midsumma is set to deliver a truly enormous program of 195 dazzling events as it descends on venues across the state from Sunday, January 23–Sunday, February 13. With live music, performances, exhibitions, theatre, visual arts, cabaret, film screenings, parties, forums and more in the mix — all championing queer arts and culture — this is set to be one crowd-pleasing affair. It all kicks off in a blaze of colour on January 23, with 11-hour-long al fresco party Midsumma Carnival at Alexandra Gardens. Then, on February 6, the Midsumma Pride March will transform Fitzroy Street with a roving celebration featuring over 8000 marchers — and the full-day Melbourne Pride fiesta will wrap things up on February 13, marking the 40th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Victoria. In between, you'll catch a diverse array of happenings and events, headlined by Midsumma Presents — a specially curated program championing the unheard voices of this era's queer intersectional communities. Expect everything from a whimsical cabaret about composting to a comedy exploring the complexities of coming out, as well as a Galentine's Day screening under the stars. [caption id="attachment_599516" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Coal Photography[/caption] Midsumma's major project for 2022, AND/OR, is dedicated to showcasing disability-led works, inviting audiences to experience a range of new perspectives through its own broad-ranging program. Here, a collection of LGBTIQA+ artists share their lived experience of mental health challenges in the Queer My Head exhibition, one-on-one performance Benched examines the portrayals of bodies with disability, and a panel discussion explores the complex realm of intersectional identities. Also on the bill, you'll find Friday night drag showcases headlined by three legendary First Nations artists, a rollicking queer day party hosted by Poof Doof, a glittery glammed-up gala celebrating the iconic David Bowie, and an interactive fashion show dedicated to the art of upcycling. Elsewhere, catch thought-provoking theatre shows, side-splitting stand-up and a whole swag of drag, plus exhibitions, markets, illuminating talks and parties galore. Midsumma Festival 2022 will run from Sunday, January 23–Sunday, February 13, hosting a program of events at venues across the city. For the full lineup and to book tickets, visit the festival's website. Images: Dean Arcuri and Midsumma.
When Australia's international border reopens and holidaying overseas resumes, a long list of experiences we've all been missing will be back on the agenda. Some of those are great, such as being somewhere other than our own backyard. Some just come with the territory, like spending all that time in the air. And others will probably seem more exciting than they really are after such a long period without them, such as hanging out in airports, sipping drinks at the bar before your flight and browsing through gift shops. We all have our own balance when it comes to all of the above elements, how we handle tham and what we prefer. But if you're the kind of traveller who likes fewer stopovers and can cope with spending almost a whole day on a plane non-stop, you're probably a fan of — or dreamed of hopping on — Qantas' direct Perth-to-London route. It launched back in 2018, and it takes around 17 hours each way. It's certainly an experience, from the layover time you'll spend in the Perth airport if you're starting out from another city, through to what it feels like to sit on a plane (or get up and walk the aisles every now and then, for exercise) for that very lengthy spell. That flight won't be on the itinerary when Qantas restarts its international trips, however, with the airline opting not to resume the leg straight away due to Western Australia's strict border rules. Instead, the carrier is aiming to recommence the Perth-to-London route from April 2022 — and, if you think that means more stopovers in the interim, it's also looking into doing non-stop flights from Darwin to London over that gap period. "At this stage, WA doesn't intend to open to international travel until sometime next year, so we'll unfortunately have to temporarily move our Perth-London service until at least April 2022," said Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce in a statement. "Instead of operating from Melbourne to Perth and then on to London as it usually does, this flight will operate from Melbourne to London via either Darwin or Singapore, depending on conversations we're having with the NT in the coming weeks. We look forward to operating this flight via Perth again when circumstances allow." So, only needing to hop on one plane to get to the UK from Australia will ideally remain a reality. But, for that super-long flight, there'll be a different starting point. If you're currently thinking about your travel plans — when that's possible, of course — the Northern Territory is doing discounts of up to $1000 on trips if you're fully vaccinated and coming from an area of Australia that isn't considered a hotspot. Yes, that means that starting with a NT holiday and then heading overseas could be an option if your budget allows it. You might remember that, pre-pandemic, Qantas was contemplating starting non-stop routes from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to both London and New York, too. In fact, it had even run two trial journeys, and was poised to announce whether it was feasible in March 2020. We all know what happened to international travel then, though, so clearly the topic hasn't been a priority since. For more information about Qantas's plans for non-stop flights from Australia to London when Australia's international borders reopen, head to the Qantas website. Images: Qantas
Maybe hitting the ski fields just isn't your thing. Perhaps, after a few days spent snowboarding, you'd like to see the slopes from a different angle. You could just like climbing up to lofty peaks and peering down on everything underneath. Or, maybe walking over suspension bridges is your preferred adrenaline-fuelled activity. If some of the above apply to you, then add Whistler's newly opened Cloudraker Skybridge to your travel bucket list. A word of warning, however: spanning 130 metres from Whistler Peak across to the viewing platform at West Ridge lookout, it's also 2000 metres above the Whistler Bowl. Acrophobics, you might want to sit this one out — but for everyone that's fine with heights, it's the next reason to head to the famed Canadian region. The cantilevered walkway extends 12.5 metres out from the West Ridge, giving visitors a stunning view — and while that includes a bird's-eye vantage over those skiing below during winter, the skybridge is open all-year-round. Those eager to make the trip will need to buy a PEAK 2 PEAK 360 Experience ticket, which cost between AU$75–81. That also includes a heap of other activities, such as rides on the site's open-air chairlifts and gondolas, walking along its lengthy walking trails, and catching a video or an expert talk at the Alpine Theatre 1860 metres above sea level. Image: Mitch Winton via Whistler Blackcomb.
UPDATE, December 16, 2022: Top Gun: Maverick will be available to stream via Paramount+ from Thursday, December 22. As dripping with jingoism, machismo, militarism and sweat as cinema gets — and there really was oh-so-much sweat — 1986's Top Gun was a dream of a recruitment ad. The US Navy's aviation program couldn't have whipped up a stronger enlistment campaign in its wildest fantasies. Even if it had, getting Hollywood's gloss, a star who'd still be box-office catnip four decades later and Kenny Loggins' second-best movie tune (slipping in behind Footloose, of course) probably would've felt like a one-in-a-billion longshot. But all of the above, plus a lurid sheen and homoerotic gaze, didn't make Top Gun a good film. Loggins' 'Danger Zone' remains an earworm of a delight, but the feature it's synonymous with took a highway to the cheesy, cringey, puffed up, perpetually moist and aggressively toxic zone. The one exception: whenever Tony Scott's camera was focused on all that flying, rather than a smirking, reckless and arrogant Tom Cruise as a portrait of 80s bluster and vanity. Gliding into cinemas 36 years after its predecessor, Top Gun: Maverick is still at its best when its jets are soaring. The initial flick had the perfect song to describe exactly what these phenomenally well-executed and -choreographed action scenes feel like to view; yes, they'll take your breath away. Peppered throughout the movie, actually shot in real US Navy aircraft without a trace of digital effects, and as tense and spectacular as filmmaking can be in the feature's climactic sequences, they truly do make it seem as if you're watchin' in slow motion. Thankfully, this time that adrenaline kick is accompanied by a smarter and far more self-aware film, as directed by TRON: Legacy and Oblivion's Joseph Kosinski. Top Gun in the 80s was exactly what Top Gun in the 80s was always going to be — but Top Gun in the 2020s doesn't dare believe that nothing has changed, that Cruise's still-smug Maverick can't evolve, and that the world the movie releases into hasn't either. Early in the film — after Harold Faltermeyer's famous Top Gun anthem plays, text on-screen explains what the titular elite pilot training program is all about, a montage of fighter planes kicks in and then 'Danger Zone' sets an upbeat tone; that is, after the flick begins exactly as the first did — Captain Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell (Cruise, Mission: Impossible — Fallout) is given a dressing-down. Still as rebellious as his call sign makes plain, he's just wantonly disobeyed orders, flown a ridiculously expensive hypersonic test plane when he's not supposed to and caused quite the fallout. "The future is coming and you're not in it," he's told, and Top Gun: Maverick doesn't shy away from that notion. As its opening moments show, along with a touch too many other nostalgia-steeped touches elsewhere this sequel hasn't wholly flown on from the past; however, it actively reckons with it as well. Still hardly the navy's favourite despite his swagger, megawatt smile, gleaming aviators and unfailing self-confidence — well, really despite his need for speed and exceptional dogfighting skills in the air — Maverick is given one last assignment. His destination: Fightertown USA, the California-based Top Gun program he strutted his way through all those years ago. There's an enemy nation with a secret weapons base that needs destroying, and his talents are crucial. But, to his dismay, Maverick is only asked to teach. Given a squad lorded over by the brash Hangman (Glen Powell, Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood), and also including Coyote (Greg Tarzan Davis, Grey's Anatomy), Payback (Jay Ellis, Insecure), Fanboy (Danny Ramirez, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Phoenix (Monica Barbaro, Stumptown), Bob (Lewis Pullman, Outer Range) and the frosty Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw (Miles Teller, The Offer), he's tasked with training them to fly like he does, navigate a Star Wars-style impossible path that zips speedily at perilously low altitudes and, ideally, still survive the supremely dangerous mission. Yes, Bradley Bradshaw is a real name this franchise has given one of its characters. And, he's the son of Goose (Anthony Edwards, Inventing Anna), Maverick's beloved wingman in the original movie, whose death he hasn't come to terms with. Also, stressing that chip-off-the-ol'-block link via Hawaiian shirts, a moustache and a barroom 'Great Balls of Fire' singalong is among Top Gun: Maverick's clumsiest and most needlessly wistful moves — second only to its shirtless team-building beach football scene. Luckily, it's easy to excuse some such blatant nods backwards when interrogating why Maverick is like he is, what cost that's extracted from him and those in his orbit, and how he might climb beyond it is one of the film's main concerns. Plus, one of the feature's other blasts from the past, Maverick's reunion with his ex-adversary Iceman (Val Kilmer, The Snowman), couldn't be more movingly handled. Again, recognising that Maverick's heyday, and everything it instilled in him, has long been and gone proves as crucial in this sequel as those sensationally balletic jets swooping and spiralling above. Cruise's heyday as a mega movie superstar isn't yet behind him, though, and Top Gun: Maverick is also better for knowing that his hyper-committed showmanship is now rare. So, Kosinkski leans heavily on the Tom Cruise of it all — aka the spectacle that's a given when he's in action mode — while unpacking the Maverick of it all. That's how the film zooms deeper than the initial flick, especially into its protagonist, with screenwriters Ehren Kruger (Dumbo), Eric Warren Singer (American Hustle) and Christopher McQuarrie (the last two and upcoming two Mission: Impossible movies) imparting a convincing sense of human drama. Top Gun: Maverick still sports patriotism and militarism so thick it'd show up on radar. It's still sweaty, albeit not as much as the Fast and Furious franchise these days. And it still has a thin but charismatic romance, this time with Jennifer Connelly (who gets a winning music moment if you know what she was starring in back in 1986). And yet, it also faces the fact that flag-waving patriotism and testosterone-fuelled bravado are relics. Even better: while Top Gun: Maverick's exploration of loyalty, duty, camaraderie, bromance and facing your mistakes to be a better person comes second to its stunning aerial scenes, none of those themes completely fade from mind when the movie hits the sky. They're meant to up the stakes, and genuinely do. Indeed, Gun: Maverick's underlying emotions feel as authentic as the astonishing visuals that repeatedly defy gravity. With the latter, it comes as no surprise that Kosinkski's TRON: Legacy cinematographer Claudio Miranda does the honours, again delivering an astounding sight. Similarly, that such edge-of-your-seat sequences are stitched together by McQuarrie's Mission: Impossible editor Eddie Hamilton won't raise an eyebrow. Action cinema rarely gets more thrilling than this — and an action movie that's this visibly wondrous and entertaining, knows it's walking in familiar footsteps but puts in a bold effort to make this return trip mean something is electrifying and, yes, breathtaking.
As if Aesop didn't already lure us in with their disarmingly aromatic street samples, they've gone and fitted out their newest store with rich, glorious cedarwood. Teaming up with Japanese design and architecture firm Torafu Architects, Melbourne skincare and all-the-nice-things brand Aesop has unveiled the interiors for their latest chapter in Osaka. Snuggled in the Grand Front Osaka Mall, the seven square metre space is a delightfully minimal celebration of cedarwood, with shelves, islands and counters all super sleek blocks of once-baked pillars. Pairing down their interior design to match the stripped back branding of the products, Aesop worked closely with Torafu to be the prettiest kids on the block. "We wanted to create a natural feeling against the cold glass and stone materials decking the promenade. Looking for local materials, we found the once-baked Japanese cedar wood pillars," said Wei Ting of Torafu Architects. "When we presented the material choices to Aesop, they suggested using the pink colour for the walls. "While the rough veneer of the Japanese cedar creates a contrast with the homogenising effect of its surroundings, the top surface of the squared logs of varying length are punctuated by aptly placed sinks, thereby bringing about a soothing sense of rhythm to the store." Gotta love an aptly placed sink. Started in Melbourne in 1987 and seeing its first in-store customers in 2004 at a former underground carpark ramp space in St Kilda, Aesop are slowly infiltrating the world skincare market one unique store at a time, from Berlin to London's Covent Garden, the Hamptons to Shibuya, Tokyo. The makers of mindblowing moisturiser opened a rustic, oak and copper-clad store in Hong in February 2014, covered the roof of their December 2013 Chelsea, NYC store with one thousand different covers of literary journal The Paris Review and just months earlier used fruit picking ladders to quaintify their Marylebone, London store. Not to mention the myriad of pop-ups they've cranked out over the years, Aesop has realised over 25 instalments worldwide now. Founder Dennis Paphitis told Dezeen he was "horrified of the thought of a soulless chain," and aimed to invest time and significant funds toward unique design for each store. "There's a direct correlation between interesting, captivating store spaces and customer traffic within a store," he said. "I’ve always imagined what we do as the equivalent of a weighty, gold charm bracelet on the tanned wrist of a glamorous, well-read European woman who has travelled and collected interesting experiences. I felt and still do that it should be possible to grow in a lateral way without prostituting the essence of what the company is about." Now for some solid design porn. Here's Aesop's new cedarwood-clad, super sleek Osaka joint: Via Dezeen. Images by Takumi Ota.
First in Sydney, then in Melbourne and now in Brisbane, the biggest show in musical theatre this century has finally been sharing its Tony-winning take on 18th-century American politics with Australian audiences. Since 2021, being in the room where it happens hasn't required a trip to the US — but you will need to be in Brisbane in March to be in the room where Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda himself will be in attendance in-person for a Hamilton fan event. For the first time during the blockbuster musical's Australian time — and likely the only time, given that the show will leave the country for a New Zealand run when it finishes its Sunshine State season at QPAC's Lyric Theatre on Sunday, April 23 — Miranda is heading Down Under. The exact date hasn't been revealed, but he'll hit the River City to meet the local company of the production, and also to take part in that event for Hamilton obsessives. [caption id="attachment_773737" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hamilton filmed version courtesy Disney+.[/caption] "I have been waiting such a long time to come to Australia and I can't wait to be with the company down under in-person for the first time," Miranda said, announcing his visit. "I have heard such great things from friends and fans in Australia, it is going to be fantastic to be able to meet them and watch them perform." Just like exactly when in March Miranda will be in Brisbane, where the fan event will happen and what it will entail — and how folks will be able to attend — is yet to be revealed, with further details to come. Still, Brisbanites and Australians keen on a trip to the Queensland capital won't want to throw away the shot to see the man who made the game-changing, award-winning, rightly raved-about Hamilton what it is "Australian fans have been so patient waiting for Lin-Manuel Miranda's visit to Australia and we have something very special in store for them when he gets here," added Australian Hamilton producer Michael Cassel AM. [caption id="attachment_774807" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hamilton filmed version courtesy Disney+.[/caption] The Broadway hit's Aussie production features a cast that currently includes Jason Arrow as Alexander Hamilton, Martha Berhane as Eliza Hamilton, Callan Purcell as Aaron Burr, Akina Edmonds as Angelica Schuyler, Matu Ngaropo as George Washington, and Victory Ndukwe as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson. Sami Afuni plays Hercules Mulligan and James Madison, Wern Mak does double duty as John Laurens and Philip Hamilton, Elandrah Eramiha plays Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds, and Brent Hill steps into King George III's robes. Haven't become a Hamilton obsessive yet? Not quite sure why it has been the most-talked about theatre show of the past six years? The critically acclaimed hip hop musical, for which Miranda wrote the music, lyrics and the book, is about the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, as well as inclusion and politics in current-day America. In addition to its swag of Tony Awards — 11 in fact, which includes Best Musical — it has nabbed a Grammy Award and even a Pulitzer Prize. Until now, Brisbanites eager to see the show had to be content with trips south or watching the filmed version of its Broadway production, which started streaming via Disney+ in 2020 (and yes, it's as phenomenal as you've heard). And yes, the $10 ticket lottery has also hit the River City, offering Hamilton tickets for less than the cost of lunch. [caption id="attachment_870525" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Australian production of Hamilton by Daniel Boud[/caption] Hamilton's Brisbane season runs until Sunday, April 23 at QPAC's Lyric Theatre, South Bank, with tickets available via the musical's website. Details of Lin-Manuel Miranda's fan event are yet to be announced — we'll update you when more information comes to hand. Top image: Hamilton filmed version courtesy Disney+.
Moon Dog announced its plans to transform Footscray's iconic Franco Cozzo building into a huge drinking and dining venue at the end of 2022, and broke ground on the new Moon Dog Wild West site towards the end of last year. The crew has also confirmed that it still plans to open the new three-storey 800-person Wild West-themed mega venue (that's twice the size of Moon Dog World in Preston) at the end of March this year. Guests will enter the bar and restaurant through swinging saloon doors on Hopkins Street, and immediately be met with a huge mechanical bucking bull surrounded by horseshoe-shaped booths, an old western-inspired arcade and a barrel-ageing room. But the Moon Dog crew isn't just popping a bucking bull in the bar and calling it a day. The team does nothing by half measures. They're taking it one step further by starting up the Western Bull Riders Club, a bucking bull riding league for regulars who want to compete to be the best bull riders in Melbourne. Those who sign up for the Western Bull Riders Club will get a $100 voucher to Moon Dog Wild West, a team pin and T-shirt, plus an invite to the venue's pre-opening event. They'll also get their name up on the 'Bull Riders' board and be invited to competition nights, including the annual Western Bull Riders Championship. We didn't think Melbourne needed a fake bull-riding league, but here we are, living for Moon Dog's. The team has also shared its menu ahead of the March opening, showing off the Tex-Mex and Western-inspired eats. These will include classic jalapeño poppers, buffalo chicken ribs, a Mexi prawn cocktail and its Western barbecue bacon burger. They'll be served across all floors, including the huge rooftop space. On the bevs front, you can expect all the usual Moon Dog beers and seltzers to be pumping out of the 100+ taps across the venue, as well as plenty of seasonal brews. They even got three-time Australian Bartender of the Year Chris Hysted-Adams to design the cocktail list and shots menu. This will include an old-school pickleback shot, a regularly changing Old Fashioned that'll' be served in a barrel for four people, and a layered tequila sunrise slushie. Everything at the new Moon Dog Wild West in Footscray just screams unabashed fun. We have high expectations for this new opening, as well as Moon Dogs' upcoming Docklands and Frankston sites. Moon Dog Wild West will be located at 54 Hopkins Street, Footscray and is set to open in late March, operating from 11am–11pm Sunday–Thursday and 11am–1am Friday–Saturday. For more information, head to the venue's website.
It was back in March 2022 that the world first learned of Mrs Davis, who would star in it and which creatives were behind it. Apart from its central faith-versus-technology battle, the show's concept was kept under wraps, but the series itself was announced to the world. The key involvement of three-time GLOW Emmy-nominee Betty Gilpin, Lost and The Leftovers creator Damon Lindelof, and The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon writer and executive producer Tara Hernandez was championed, plus the fact that Black Mirror: San Junipero director Owen Harris would helm multiple episodes. Accordingly, although no one knew exactly what it was about, Mrs Davis existed months before ChatGPT was released. A puzzle-box drama that's equally a sci-fi thriller, zany comedy and action-adventure odyssey, Mrs Davis now follows ChatGPT in reaching audiences — hitting screens, including via Binge in Australia, from Friday, April 21. Don't even bother trying not to think about the artificial intelligence-driven chatbot, or pondering the growing number of programs just like it, as you're viewing this delightfully wild and gleefully ridiculous series, however. There's no point dismissing any musings that slip into your head about social media, ever-present tech, digital surveillance and the many ways that algorithms dictate our lives, either. Mrs Davis accepts that such innovations are a mere fact of life in 2023, then imagines what might happen if AI promised to solve the worlds ills and make everyone's existence better and happier. It explores how users could go a-flocking, eager to obey every instruction and even sacrifice themselves to the cause. In other words, it's about ChatGPT-like technology starting a religion in everything but name. That premise isn't particularly outlandish, and nor is speculating where artificial intelligence might lead humanity; on the page, science fiction has been theorising about playing god and creations going rogue since Mary Shelley penned Frankenstein. In those footsteps has sprung everything from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, and the Alien, The Terminator and The Matrix franchises to the TRON movies, WALL-E, Ex Machina and Her on the big screen, plus Alita: Battle Angel, After Yang, M3GAN and more. Indeed, endeavouring not to think about the latter — the unhinged horror-comedy that proved a box-office hit earlier in 2023 — is futile while watching Mrs Davis, too. It isn't just the prominence of AI that binds the pair, but the willingness to go all-in on OTT leaps, detours, and jumps in tone and genre. In fact, Mrs Davis thrusts that somersaulting to a gleefully berserk yet magnificent extreme. The titular Mrs Davis isn't actually married — not to anything but amassing users, then keeping them plugged in — and certainly isn't a person with a surname. In some countries, the AI is called mum or Madonna, such is the loving light that it's seen in by its devotees. But Simone (Gilpin, Gaslit) doesn't subscribe. A nun raised by magicians (The Dropout's Elizabeth Marvel and Scream's David Arquette), she enjoys sabbaticals from her convent to do whatever is necessary to bring down folks who practise her parents' vocation and the show's central technology alike. She also enjoys quite the literal nuptials to Jesus Christ, is divinely bestowed names to chase in her quest and has an ex-boyfriend, Wiley (Jake McDorman, Dopesick), who's a former bullrider-turned-Fight Club-style resistance leader. And, she's tasked with a mission by the algorithm itself: hunting down the Holy Grail. No summary of Mrs Davis can do its plot justice, or the rollercoaster ride it takes from the get-go. In its opening episode alone, the show throws in the Knights Templar sacking Paris for the fabled treasure to end all fabled treasures, Simone zipping about on a motorcycle in her habit, surreal diner chats between the nun and her husband Jay (Andy McQueen, Station Eleven), a car crash staged by magicians, a shipwrecked man called Schrödinger Ben Chaplin, The Dig) with a cat, Nazis, big Kill Bill vibes — well, it is about a blonde in a distinctive outfit kicking ass and seeking revenge, often while placed against western-esque backdrops — and a factory pumping out hippopotamus meat. There's more in that debut instalment, as there is in each that follows, so much so that any chapter feels as if anything can occur at any time. Battling an algorithm is firmly in Mrs Davis' circuitry, but it never seems like it was spat out by one. There's a scene approaching halfway through Mrs Davis' eight-episode run where Simone watches a screen, just as everyone streaming the series is doing. When she exclaims "what the fuck?", it isn't the first time that the show inspires that reaction. When this mind-bender isn't nodding to everything that's ever grappled with AI in pop culture, winking at Lost and obviously elbowing Indiana Jones, it's also skewering commercials, bringing Arrested Development to mind and hopping on The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou's boat. It has heists and Arthurian legend, details out of Dan Brown and Robinson Crusoe, secret societies and Hands on a Hardbody-inspired endurance contests, the great Margot Martindale (Cocaine Bear) as Simone's Mother Superior and a comically exaggerated Australian (Daisy Jones & The Six's Chris Diamantopoulos, who definitely isn't an Aussie) as well — and it never stops ramping up its absurdity, its excitement to veer anywhere and everywhere all at once, and those what-the-fuck moments. Spin all of the above together and out comes infectious, addictive, must-watch-more fun — constantly surprising viewing, too, especially in these commissioned-by-algorithm times. Mrs Davies does genuinely contemplate what technology's constant advancements may mean for humankind; however, it wants to be rollicking entertainment as it does so. To that end, it helps that the show's three helmers each sport experience in twisty on-screen tales that often aren't afraid to take big steps into the unexpected. They direct a series now that's glossily made but always anarchic with its slickness, its pinballing from one out-there development to the next and its pacing, benefiting from Harris' time on The Twilight Zone and Brave New World, Alethea Jones' background on Made for Love and Dispatches From Elsewhere, and Frederick Toye being a Watchmen and Westworld alum. When Mrs Davies begins, going with the flow is the only response. Although a new burst of idiosyncratic madness is rarely far away, there's always meaning in whatever is happening, with the series examining not just AI and its influence but also parent-child bonds, plus also our species' undying need for both storytelling and something to believe in (and frequently the two at once). And, crucially, at the show's core is the always-phenomenal Gilpin. No matter how eccentric and ambitious Mrs Davies gets, she's its anchor, including while navigating everything that it catapults Simone's way. She's in excellent company — even Diamantopoulos ensures that what could've been a lazy Aussie caricature earns its comedic beats — and she has everyone on- and off-screen along for the ride with her. Check out the trailer for Mrs Davis below: Mrs Davis screens in Australia via Binge from Friday, April 21. Images: Binge/Peacock.
For ten years, Royale Brothers has been known as the spot to go for burgers in Brighton. This hole-in-the-wall burger joint was started by the owners of The Pantry — more or less a local institution — who know a thing or two about running a cafe. And so, following such success, have decided to transform Royale Brothers into Royale, a contemporary cafe inspired by old-school Australian diners (not to be mistaken with American diners). Thankfully, most of its burgers remain on the menu. But the team is now also slinging breakfast dishes and classic Aussie diner fare. Kick things off with waffles or pancakes with a bunch of toppings; a brekkie bun, brekkie burger and brekkie sandwich; avocado on toast; and a big breakfast platter with bacon, hash browns and guacamole. For lunch, you've then got spaghetti bolognese, a range of different chicken schnitzels with chips, caesar salad, seafood basket and nachos. It's a really playful menu full of crowd-pleasing dishes. Thickshakes, coffee, juice and sodas round out the offerings here, all served up within newly designed digs. And we do hope booze will eventually make it to the menu, as it would make a stellar boozy brunch spot. You'll find the newly revamped Royale at 1 Church Street, Brighton, open 10am–8.30pm from Sunday–Thursday, and 10am–9pm on Friday and Saturday. For more details, you can check out the venue's website.
As anyone who's seen the doco Amy knows, during Amy Winehouse's troubled final years, the media was excruciatingly obsessed with her drug and alcohol issues. But, a new exhibition, arriving in Melbourne later this year, is bringing us another perspective. Titled Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait, the show covers four concepts: faith, fashion, music and London life. Expect to see loads of never-before-seen-in-public objects, such as family photos, dresses (including the dazzling Luella Bartley number that Winehouse wore at Glastonbury 2008), cookbooks, stories, records and musical instruments. Acting as soundtrack will be a mixtape Winehouse put together at the age of 13. The exhibition was conceived and curated by Amy's brother, Alex, and sister-in-law, Riva, in collaboration with the Jewish Museum of London. Since premiering in London in 2013, it's travelled to San Francisco, Vienna, Tel Aviv and Amsterdam, and, right now, it's at the London museum, Camden. Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait arrives at the Jewish Museum of Australia, St Kilda, on October 22 and will show until March 22, 2018. Image: Rama via Wikimedia Commons.
It's the first Cirque du Soleil show that uses a central stage, placing its action in the middle of the arena, meaning that patrons face each other while they watch. It focuses, fittingly for a circus troupe, on a clown. Corteo is the production in question, and is also already proving a hit in Australia ahead of its 2025 season's arrival — with an extra 25 performances freshly locked in due to demand. When a clown ponders its final farewell, what does it see? This show has the answer. When Corteo initially made its way to the stage in Montreal in 2005, it won over audiences by setting its acrobatic feats within a funeral procession imagined by a jester — a carnival-like parade that muses on humanity's strengths and vulnerabilities — in a space between heaven and earth. Two decades later, it's one of the troupe's most-beloved performances. Cirque du Soleil announced earlier in 2025 that it would celebrating that Corteo milestone Down Under this year — and now that a five-city tour of Australia has just gotten bigger. The production's stints at Perth Arena, Melbourne's John Cain Arena, Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney and Brisbane Entertainment Centre have all been extended by a week, albeit with shows focused around the weekend. Accordingly, Perth will now enjoy Corteo from Friday, August 8–Sunday, August 17; Melbourne between Friday, August 22–Sunday, August 31; Sydney from Thursday, September 4–Sunday, September 14; and Brisbane across Thursday, September 18–Sunday, September 28. Adelaide's dates at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre from Thursday, October 2–Sunday, October 5 remain unchanged. Over its 20 years of life so far Corteo has proven a smash, with over 12-million audience members in 30 countries on four continents seeing it so far. As its clown protagonist conjures up the festive parade that ushers him from this world, attendees witness a poetic yet playful performance — one where the acrobatics are unique, too, and where angels watch over. The show hits Australia after LUZIA was the last Cirque du Soleil production that bounded this way, kicking off in 2024 — and notching up another first, as the Montreal-based company company's debut touring show to feature rain in its acrobatic and artistic scenes. Before that, 2023 saw Cirque du Soleil bring CRYSTAL, its first-ever ice production on ice, Down Under. Cirque du Soleil's Corteo — Australia and New Zealand Tour 2025 Friday, August 8–Sunday, August 17 — Perth Arena, Perth Friday, August 22–Sunday, August 31 — John Cain Arena, Melbourne Thursday, September 4–Sunday, September 14 — Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Thursday, September 18–Sunday, September 28 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane Thursday, October 2–Sunday, October 5 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide Cirque du Soleil's Corteo tours Australia from August 2025. For more information or to buy tickets, head to the show's website. Images: Maja Prgomet, Johan Persson and Aldo Arguello.
Some Pixar movies bring childhood obsessions to big screen, as seen in the Toy Story and Cars films. If you loved monsters as a kid, the Monsters, Inc flicks definitely also count. Other features made by the beloved animation studio explore exactly what it feels like to be a child — as seen in the wonderful Inside Out, of course, and now in the company's upcoming release Turning Red. We say 'upcoming', and that is indeed accurate — but after both Soul and Luca hit streaming over the past six months, the studio's next movie won't release until March 2022. So, you'll be waiting a while to get another dose of heartwarming animated cuteness. Based on its just-dropped first trailer, Turning Red looks like it'll be worth it, though. Marking the first feature from writer/director Domee Shi, who won an Oscar for her delightful 2018 short Bao, Turning Red takes its moniker literally. Many Pixar flicks do, of course (see also: Finding Nemo, Up, Brave and Onward, for instance). Here, 13-year-old Mei Lee (Rosalie Chiang, also making her movie debut) is an ordinary teen who gets embarrassed by her mum Ming (Sandra Oh, Killing Eve) fairly often, and can find adolescent life a bit overwhelming. So far, so relatable — but when she's overexcited by all of the above, Mei Lee also happens to turn into a fluffy red panda. If you're thinking about the Hulk but red, female, younger and more adorable, that's the kind of vibe the trailer gives. Disney does own both Pixar and Marvel, so that isn't a big leap. Just how Mei Lee copes with her sudden transformations is exactly what the flick will cover, obviously — and, at this stage, viewers will be able to see the end result in cinemas next year rather than on streaming. Check out the trailer below: Turning Red is slated to release in Australian cinemas on March 31, 2022. Top image: © 2021 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
If you've been making plans to revamp your style, but haven't been able to rustle up the coin, here's your chance. For five days, Hugo Boss will be hosting a mega sale at its outlet stores. You'll be able to score a further 50 percent off a massive range of premium clothing — from comfy t-shirts and soft sweaters to suave suits and women's dresses. Whether you're after a suit for a special occasion or looking to level-up your wardrobe, Hugo Boss's end-of-year outlet sale will have you sorted for a fraction of the fashion label's usual prices. You'll have to get in quick to score though, with the sale only running from Wednesday, December 11 to Sunday, December 15. In Melbourne, you can head to the BOSS Outlet in Preston and DFO Essendon to get these quality threads for such a steal. Opening hours at the Preston outlet are Wednesday–Friday, 10am–6pm; Saturday, 10am–5pm; and Sunday, 11am–5pm. At DFO Essendon, the Hugo Boss outlet is open from 10am–6pm daily. Hugo Boss end-of-year outlet sale will run from Wednesday, December 11 to Sunday, December 15. To find your closest outlet, visit the website.
It's a war that's been waged for decades among regional bakeries the country over: who's dishing up Australia's best pie? Whose pastry comes closest to perfection? Which filling reigns supreme? Well, this year's top dog has officially been named, with Kyneton's Country Cob Bakery taking out top honours at the 2019 edition of Australia's Best Pie and Pastie Competition. While you might have your own thoughts about which pie makes the best road trip accompaniment, this nationally recognised contest is run by the experts at the Baking Association of Australia. The 2019 competition saw 12 professional judges sample a whopping 1760 pies from 345 bakeries, across three days. And for the third year in a row, Country Cob claimed the top title, this time winning over tastebuds with a caramelised pork and pepper pie creation loaded with local ingredients. It's an impressive run for baker brothers Ryan and Chan Khun, who've owned and operated the bakery for the past three years. [caption id="attachment_726906" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The award-winning pie.[/caption] The two backed up their big win with 11 other gold medals, including taking out the title of Best Seafood Pie for their curry scallop number, and scoring Best Gourmet Pie with that same champion pork round. Other winners included Gusto Bakery's curried pumpkin, feta and spinach number for Best Vegetarian Pie (which you can find in Fairfield and Moonee Ponds), and Whittlesea Bakehouse claimed the title of Best Plain Chunky Beef Pie. Further afield, JoJo's Gluten Free in the Bass Coast Shire took out Best Gluten-Free Pie as well as Best Pastie overall. Coeliacs might want to lock in a road trip ASAP. And if you fancy sampling Country Cob's primo pie for yourself, Kyneton sits about an hour north of Melbourne just off the Calder, making the perfect pit-stop on a trip to Bendigo. The champion pastry will be sticking on the menu for the foreseeable future. Find Country Cob Bakery at 130-132 Mollison Street, Kyneton, Victoria — it's open from 6am–4.30pm on weekdays and 6am–3pm on weekends.
There's never a bad time for ice cream, the sweet treat fiend that lurks inside of us all often whispers. It's certainly one of the main thoughts running through your mind when you're heading to a gelato parlour at 9.30am on a Saturday morning. Of course, Gelato Messina isn't any old purveyor of frosty goodness — and their Gelato Appreciation Classes aren't any old excuse to eat dessert for breakfast or brunch. If you've ever stood in front of the counter at one of their 15 Australian stores — or their sole venture in Las Vegas — and wondered just which flavour you could possibly choose because they all look so delicious, then their Gelato Appreciation Class will be your idea of a damn good time and then some. In short, you can taste them all. Messina lets customers do that anyway, but no one really tries 40 or so types in one visit. After you've spent a morning finding out how the magic is made and eating the kinds of dishes they don't scoop up everyday, however, you'll feel compelled to sample every single variety on offer. When you sit down in the Messina classroom, as well as being greeted by your own Messina recipe book, you'll discover that there's more than 5000 flavours in their catalogue thanks to the ever-changing array of experimental specials that pop up each weekday. That's just one of the insider titbits Messina's chefs share over the two to two-and-a-half hour session. There's definitely more where that came from. On an autumn morning, a cosy room of 16 ice cream-loving folks sat in Brisbane's brand new Gelato Messina store in South Brisbane to watch and learn how fior di latte gelato, strawberry sorbet and the famous Dr Evil's Magic Mushroom cake are made — and try them all, and even more. Held as part of their array of events alongside hands-on gelato-making workshops and their seven-course Creative Department dinners, Messina pitch the classes as part degustation, part look behind the scenes, and it's a description that fits. At one moment, you'll be watching a Messina staffer make gelato and talk you through the process — and then you'll be scooping and devouring small bites of the fresh-churned goodness. The next, you'll be finding out that the machine in Messina's Sydney headquarters pumps out a massive one-and-a-half tonnes of gelato per hour, and your stomach will grumble on cue. Then, you'll be tucking into one of several desserts. Perhaps you'll get one that comes in a tuna-like tin, and features smoked brown butter gelato, milk chocolate namelaka (aka a Japanese ganache-like substance), compressed apple and flourless chocolate sponge, for example. Over a fun, relaxed session, you'll keep eating, listening and learning — and hearing amusing anecdotes, including one that involves their Fitzroy digs being mistaken for a nightclub thanks to its hefty line down Smith Street. Prepare for stories about Messina's new dairy farm, the ratio of air that's whipped into their gelato, and even their future plans. Indeed, if you're a big fan, that's almost as ace as all of the gelato you'll be munching on. And, as well as the recipe book and a Lister Messina tote, attendees get a takeaway pack stuffed with gelato to take home. Arrive hungry, but don't expect to leave that way. Gelato Messina hold their Gelato Appreciation Classes in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane throughout the year, with tickets available via their website. Bookings are now open for their first Brisbane sessions, which will be held on July 15, August 19 and September 23.
Once, Ned Kelly and Mark "Chopper" Read called it home. Soon, a microbrewery, pub, 15-screen cinema and apartments will do just that instead. Yes, the times are certainly a-changin' at Coburg's Pentridge Prison, with 2017 marking 20 years since the site stopped its incarceration operations — and also marking the first time they're throwing a two-day festival. What was formerly Victoria's longest running gaol will host an all-ages fest filled live music, market stalls and food trucks on April 8 and 9, in what is hoped will become a yearly event. Attendees keen to get a dose of the facility's past can break up the eating and tunes with hourly tours of the prison's B Division, exercise yards and solitary confinement cells. Music-wise, the lineup features local acts such as Big Words, Cumbia Massive, Billy Davis and Funkalleros, while meals on wheels will be served up by Mr Burger, Beatbox Kitchen, Pasta Face, White Guy Cooks Thai and Billy Van Creamy, among others. Indeed, the fest has lured the likes of Zero 95 and Fancy Hanks to turn into food truck vendors for the event, treating visitors to their tasty fare beyond their usual four walls. It wouldn't be an outdoor food festival without picnic rugs aplenty — with everyone in the vicinity encouraged to hang out on the grass in the Pentridge piazza — or a beer garden bringing some booze to the celebration. Best of all, the event is free. Unlike the site's residents from times gone by, you won't want to leave. Pentridge Festival takes place at Pentridge Prison, Coburg on April 8 and 9. For more information, visit pentridgecoburg.com.au.
No one alive today was living and breathing during Leonardo da Vinci's lifetime in the 15th and 16th centuries; however, Melbourne's The Lume is doing its best to help its patrons experience the Italian Renaissance-era great's existence. Opening on Saturday, March 16, Leonardo da Vinci — 500 Years of Genius sees the venue — which is Australia's first permanent digital-only art gallery — devote its surfaces to stepping into the artist and inventor's tale. His paintings grace the walls. His machines are dotted around its halls. Even original sheets from his notebooks, that boast his writing and sketches, are on display. Leonardo da Vinci — 500 Years of Genius was first announced in 2023, and is understandably The Lume's major 2024 exhibition, alongside a massive reason for folks living outside of Melbourne to head to the Victorian capital this year. Back in February, the venue also revealed that pages from da Vinci's Codex Atlanticus feature, displaying in Australia for the first time ever. Add them to the must-see list next to the world's most-famous enigmatic smile, The Last Supper, the artist's anatomical drawings and more. Attendees at the Grande Experiences-run Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre site can see what The Lume is calling its "most ambitious, immersive and breathtaking yet". That's quite the claim for a collection that follows a van Gogh celebration, a focus on Monet and his contemporaries and the First Nations-centric Connection. Given everything that's a part of Leonardo da Vinci — 500 Years of Genius, though, that statement also isn't surprising. No one will forget the Mona Lisa after heading to the exhibition. The artwork is almost everywhere within the 3000-square-metre space, and in a larger-than-life fashion — because that's how Grande Experiences' whole setup works. The iconic piece also links in with the segment of the showcase that's all about French optical engineer Pascal Cotte, who invented a multispectral camera and has peeled back the artwork's layers using his research. So, get excited about Mona Lisa Revealed, which includes an exact 360-degree replica — the only one in the world — as created thanks to Cotte's 240,000,000-pixel multispectral camera. The Last Supper also enjoys the spotlight in a big way, with emphasis on the 'big'. Similarly among Leonardo da Vinci — 500 Years of Genius' highlights: 40 of da Vinci's machine inventions, which are on loan from the Museo Leonardo da Vinci in Rome. Leonardo is just as well-known for his flying machine concepts, with his 15th-century vision of human flight scoring The Lume's attention. This part of the exhibition heroes recreations made in Italy from the artist and inventor's sketches, and also uses the materials and techniques that he would've at the time. Letting visitors check out pages from Codex Atlanticus is a huge coup. The 12-volume set is filled with da Vinci's drawings and writings, detailing his thoughts and featuring his sketches on a wide array of topics. It's priceless. It includes entries from its author from between 1478–1519, dating up to the year of his death. Since 1637, it has called Milan's Biblioteca Ambrosiana home — and it's thanks to a relationship between it and Grande Experiences, which is also behind Rome's Museo Leonardo da Vinci, that some of its sheets can display Down Under. Stepping through da Vinci's journey at Leonardo da Vinci — 500 Years of Genius also spans recreations of Florence's streets, Venice's canals and Milan — as brought to life via sight, sound, scent, touch and taste. Flying over Florence using virtual reality, dining at a Renaissance-themed experience where The Last Supper provides the backdrop, being turned into a da Vinci sketch thanks to AI, seeing how you align with the artist's Vitruvian Man drawing: that's all on offer, too. That said, Leonardo da Vinci — 500 Years of Genius isn't solely about its namesake's well-known works, with the 3000-square-metre multi-sensory gallery also exploring his inspirations and those creating their own masterpieces at the same time. Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling and works by Caravaggio can all be sighted, for instance. In Queensland, at HOTA, Home of the Arts, Grande Experiences's Italian Renaissance Alive will also take a broader look at the Italian Renaissance period from late March — but anyone wanting to be steeped in da Vinci's works in particular will need to head to Melbourne. Leonardo da Vinci — 500 Years of Genius opens at The Lume, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, 5 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf, Melbourne, from Saturday, March 16, 2024 — head to the venue's website for tickets and further information. Images: Alicia Taylor.
Live every week like it's scam week: on streaming platforms throughout 2022 so far, that's basically been the motto. Indeed, a line from one of the year's big swindle hits so far, Netflix's Inventing Anna, sums up this current spate of con artist-obsessed viewing perfectly: scam culture is here to stay. Dramatising the Theranos scandal, eight-part miniseries The Dropout is the third high-profile release in a month to relive a wild true-crime tale — following not only the Anna Delvey-focused Inventing Anna, about the fake German heiress who conned her way through New York City's elite, but also documentary The Tinder Swindler, which steps through defrauding via dating app at the hands of Israeli imposter Simon Leviev. Made by Hulu in the US and streaming on Disney+ via its Star expansion Down Under, as fellow reality-to-screen 2022 release Pam & Tommy did as well, it also dives into the horror-inducing Dr Death-esque realm. When a grift doesn't just mess with money and hearts, but with health and lives, it's pure nightmare fuel. To tell the story of Theranos, The Dropout has to tell the story of Elizabeth Holmes, the Silicon Valley biotech outfit's founder and CEO from the age of 19. Played by a captivating, career-best Amanda Seyfried — on par with her Oscar-nominated work in Mank, but clearly in a vastly dissimilar role — the Steve Jobs-worshipping Holmes is seen explaining her company's name early in its first episode. It's derived from the words "therapy" and "diagnosis", she stresses, although history already dictates that it offered little of either. Spawned from Holmes' idea to make taking blood simpler and easier, using just one drop from a small finger prick, it failed to deliver, lied about it copiously and still launched to everyday consumers, putting important medical test results in jeopardy. That's the quick version of Theranos' gambit for the uninitiated, but The Dropout takes its time unfurling the full roster of ups and downs (including the fact that it was valued at $10 billion in 2013 and 2014). Created by showrunner and co-writer Elizabeth Merriwether — who was also behind TV sitcom New Girl — it draws its details from the American ABC News podcast of the same name, and doesn't skimp on the infuriating and complicated minutiae. In the beginning, Holmes is the kind of teen who listens to pop tunes to pump herself up and convince herself that she can do anything. She's studious and serious, and also desperate to be known for something. Then, as the series jumps between key years in Theranos' lifespan, she adopts an all-black, turtleneck-heavy wardrobe and deepens her vocal tones to get backers to invest their cash in an idea that doesn't work. A veil of secrecy surrounds the company, including for employees — and to say that questions aren't aren't welcomed is an understatement. Female fraudsters are doing it for themselves, screwing over everyone else and speaking in distinctive voices: that's another theme pumping through both Inventing Anna and The Dropout. But where the former is gleefully glossy and never overly interested in the why of it all, the latter knows that, for the people who relied upon Theranos for crucial health results, it's in potential life-or-death territory. It plays this tale straight and grim, and is also well-aware that it needn't be subtle about getting its point across. Of course, there's an inherent statement lurking in the reality of Holmes' life and lies, and the fact that they so easily tick all of the expected boxes. Hailing from a wealthy family, getting into Stanford, convincing her parents to invest her tuition money into Theranos when she dropped out (hence the title), boasting the connections to stump up other funders: it all follows a familiar path, which is a glaring indictment upon a society that gives rise to these types of scams over and over. When Seyfried's version of Holmes is seen talking to the camera, another recent account of a woman and a swindle springs to mind: The Eyes of Tammy Faye, for which Jessica Chastain is nominated for Best Actress at this year's Academy Awards. That film and the first four episodes of The Dropout share a director in Michael Showalter, who has a thematic niche at present, and also keeps working with talented actors putting in phenomenal lead performances. The skill on Seyfried's part to convey all of Holmes' personality quirks without coming across as cartoonish or a caricature can't be underestimated; it's impossible to stop watching her Holmes, even as every move she makes is exasperating. She's surrounded by an impressive lineup of fellow cast members — Lost's Naveen Andrews as Holmes' boyfriend and Theranos' Chief Operating Officer Sunny Balwani chief among them, plus everyone from Stephen Fry and Succession's Alan Ruck to Law & Order mainstay Sam Waterston and Inventing Anna's Kate Burton — but Seyfried is mesmerisingly exceptional, without ever really earning sympathy for Holmes in the process. We may just be living in peak scandal-to-screen times, with new examples dropping faster than almost anyone can reasonably watch them. Joe vs Carole, featuring original The Dropout star Kate McKinnon, is just new to streaming queues, too; WeCrashed, the Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway-starring WeWork drama, also arrives in March; and Super Pumped: The Battle For Uber, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the company's former CEO Travis Kalanick, has premiered in the US ahead of arriving Down Under. Still, while The Dropout has plenty of company, it's easily one of the genre's standouts. The complex tale it relays, the performance it brings with it, the message it screams and the fact that, at every turn, it fleshes out the who, what and why: they're all pivotal and potent. Scam culture might be here to stay, but it isn't enough to just gawk its way — and The Dropout and its powerful take truly understands this. Check out the trailer for The Dropout below: The first four episodes episodes of The Dropout are available to stream via Disney+, with new episodes dropping weekly. Images: Beth Dubber/Hulu.
If you've ever felt unsafe in an Uber, because of a predatory driver, other riders or something going on outside the car, this new in-app feature might help ease your mind — a 'panic button' that lets riders contact emergency services directly through the Uber app. It's part of a new Safety Toolkit, trialled in the USA earlier this year and currently being rolling out in Aus, which is designed to help both riders and drivers stay protected and connected during a trip. According to the Uber website, you'll soon be able to access the new Safety Toolkit by clicking on a small shield icon located at the bottom right of the map. It'll allow you to connect instantly to 000 — with the app showing your location and address in real time, so you can pass it on to an operator if required. Drivers will be able to access the same emergency assistance feature on the left side of their own driver app. Another new function allows both riders and drivers to keep their loved ones in the loop, by adding up to five people as 'Trusted Contacts' — you can then arrange to share your whereabouts and trip status with them at any time, with just a subtle tap of a button. The Safety Toolkit also features a new SafetyCentre — a sort of hub, where you can learn all about insurance details, driver background checks and information of how to access Uber's 24/7 support. The launch of the new Safety Toolkit follows two alleged sexual assaults on female Sydney Uber passengers in recent weeks and an investigation by CNN into the prevalence of sexual assaults by Uber drivers in the US. After CNN released its report, Uber published a statement saying it had committed to making trips safer by rolling out new technology and screening drivers more thoroughly (and frequently). The new Safety Toolkit is expected to appear in Aussie apps over the upcoming weeks.
More than a quarter-century ago, a TV sitcom about six New Yorkers made audiences a promise: that it'd be there for us. And, as well as making stars out of Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow, Friends has done just that. Sure, the hit series wrapped up its ten-season run in 2004, but the show has lived on — on streaming platforms, by sending an orange couch around Australia, by screening anniversary marathons in cinemas and in boozy brunch parties, for example. In news that was bound to happen someday — no pop culture entity truly comes to an end in these reboot, remake, revival and spinoff-heavy times — Friends is living on in a much more literal sense, too. First hinted at in 2019, officially confirmed in 2020 and just releasing its first teaser trailer (and announcing a US air date), the show is coming back for a reunion special on HBO's streaming platform HBO Max. Naturally, the whole gang is involved. Yep, it's 'The One Where They Get Back Together' — which is exactly how the trailer for Friends: The Reunion describes the special. That said, it's worth noting that the special is unscripted, which means that Aniston and company aren't literally stepping back into Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey, Ross and Phoebe's and shoes. Instead, the actors behind the characters will chat about their experiences on the show — all on the same soundstage where Friends was originally shot. And, let's face it, the fact that they'll all be on-screen at the same time in the same place celebrating the series that so many folks love is probably enough for fans. Aniston, Cox and the gang will have a few other famous faces for company. More than a few, in fact. The guest list is hefty, and spans folks with connections to the show and others that must just love it — including David Beckham, Justin Bieber, BTS, James Corden, Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Lady Gaga, Elliott Gould, Kit Harington, Larry Hankin and Mindy Kaling, as well as Thomas Lennon, Christina Pickles, Tom Selleck, James Michael Tyler, Maggie Wheeler, Reese Witherspoon and Malala Yousafzai. Initially slated to air last May — with those plans delayed due to the pandemic — the special will now stream via HBO Max in the US on Thursday, May 27. For folks Down Under, just when and where it'll surface hasn't yet been revealed; however, it's bound to be here for us sooner or later. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MedRN92V6lE Friends: The Reunion will be available to stream in the US via HBO Max on Thursday, May 27. It doesn't currently have an air date or streaming date Down Under — we'll update you when one is announced.
Is the Avatar franchise set to win its third Academy Award for Best Visual Effects? With its characteristically rich and stunning visuals, the just-dropped first trailer for Avatar: Fire and Ash makes that case. The latest film in the sci-fi saga is set to arrive three years after Avatar: The Way of Water, and 13 years after all things Avatar initially hit cinemas with what's still the world's biggest box-office blockbuster. Get ready to return to Pandora: come December 2025, James Cameron will usher viewers back to the Na'vi-inhabited moon, and into the middle chapter in the director's planned five-film series. In past entries, forests and reefs have proven home to the franchise's blue-hued residents, but volcanic plains join in this time around. So, meet: the Ash People. Oona Chaplin (Treason) portrays Varang, the new clan's leader. Her message in the sneak peek: "your goddess has no dominion here". When Avatar: Fire and Ash plays in picture palaces Down Under from Thursday, December 18, viewers will also see Michelle Yeoh (Star Trek: Section 31) and David Thewlis (Sherlock & Daughter) among the cast. Leading the ensemble, Sam Worthington (Relay) and Emilia Pérez Oscar-winner Zoe Saldana (Elio) are back as Jake Sully and his warrior wife Neytiri, alongside fellow returnees Sigourney Weaver (The Gorge), Stephen Lang (House of David), Cliff Curtis (Invincible), Britain Dalton (Dark Harvest), Trinity Bliss (The Life of Chuck), Jack Champion (Everything's Going to Be Great), Bailey Bass (Interview with the Vampire) and Kate Winslet (Lee). Cameron once again directs, and co-wrote the screenplay with the also-returning Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Mulan). Since the first Avatar in 2009, the filmmaker behind it has only helmed movies in the franchise. If getting excited about one new Avatar film isn't enough, the two final flicks that are set to follow Avatar: Fire and Ash are slated for release in 2029 and 2031, respectively. Check out the Avatar: Fire and Ash trailer below: Avatar: Fire and Ash releases in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, December 18, 2025 Images: courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Melbourne has added another independent cinema to its collection, with the Thornbury Picture House opening its doors. Making its home within a former garage on High Street, the art nouveau theatre and adjoining bar are the brainchild of Gus Berger, whose name you might remember as the one behind St Kilda's George Revival Cinema back in 2013 and 2014. For his latest project, Berger has created a moviegoer's dream: a 57-seat cinema rocking a big six-metre screen, a top-notch Krix 5.1 sound system and an expertly curated program of big screen gems. Open from Wednesday to Sunday each week, the venue's aims to showcase an impressive mix of documentaries, cult classics, festival favourites and international titles, with the first fortnight's lineup featuring Ai Weiwei's doco Human Flow, Oscar winner The Shape of Water, Aussie classic Death in Brunswick, New Zealand comedy What We Do in the Shadows and a session of iconic silent film The General with a live score. In addition, Thornbury Picture House will be giving plenty of screen-time to local filmmakers — it's the new home of Berger's long-running Red Hot Shorts event, and there are plans for it to host a new northside film festival in the not so distant future. Meanwhile, the site's interiors pay homage to the building's art nouveau origins, sprinkled with historic film gear and classic movie posters. The bar, too, is a nod to the good old days, with the original garage features brought to life alongside recycled wooden furniture and pops of green foliage. Here, you can chase a film with Aussie spirits, local beers from the likes of Stomping Ground and Hawkers, a tidy selection of independent wines and batch brew coffee by Padre. Of course, there's plenty of homemade popcorn to round out the moviegoing experience. Find Thornbury Picture House at 802 High Street, Thornbury, or visit thornburypicturehouse.com.au for session times and further details. Images: Tinny Tang.
Comings and goings are part of every soap opera, especially any series that's notched up decade after decade on the small screen. With Neighbours marking its 40th anniversary in 2025, plenty of faces have arrived and departed the show since 1985. Now the Aussie staple itself is saying farewell — again. The long-running series initially wrapped up in 2022, then was resurrected by Amazon in 2023, but has now been cancelled for a second time. "We are sad to announce that Neighbours will be resting from December 2025. New episodes from the 40th-anniversary season will continue to air on Prime Video and Ten four times a week until the end of the year, with all the big soapie twists and turns that our viewers love," announced the team behind the series on social media. "Audiences all around the world have loved and embraced Neighbours for four decades and we are very proud of the huge success over the last two years, including often appearing as one of the Top 10 titles in the UK and the show's first ever Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Daytime Series in 2024. As this chapter closes, we appreciate and thank Amazon MGM Studios for all that they have done for Neighbours — bringing this iconic and much-loved series to new audiences globally," said Neighbours Executive Producer Jason Herbison. "We value how much the fans love Neighbours and we believe there are more stories of the residents of Ramsay Street to tell in the future." Herbison's statement leaves the door open for a continuation, if another TV network or streaming platform were to decide that everybody needs more Neighbours. When the show first said goodbye in 2022 — when it was originally cancelled after being dropped by its UK network, Channel 5, leaving local backer Network Ten without enough funding to continue the series — it did so with help from some of its big-name past stars. Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Barbie star Margot Robbie and The Brutalist Oscar-nominee Guy Pearce all returned for its initial sendoff, before the series made a comeback in 2023. Since its mid-80s debut, Neighbours has aired more than 9000 episodes, all charting the lives of characters either living in or connected to the show's cul-de-sac in the fictitious Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough. As well as Minogue, Donovan and Pearce, 80s-era Neighbours boasted a four-episode stint from Russell Crowe (Kraven the Hunter). In the 90s, Natalie Imbruglia got her start there. Liam Hemsworth (Lonely Planet) was a regular in the 00s, as was Robbie, and Chris Hemsworth (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga) popped up in one 2002 episode before moving over to rival Aussie soap Home and Away. Also just as sizeable: the show's four decades of twists, amnesia spells, shock returns from the dead, and Ramsay and Robinson family dramas. Neighbours will continue to air until December 2025 via Network Ten and Prime Video in Australia, Prime Video in New Zealand, and Amazon Freevee in the UK and US — then say farewell. Images: Fremantle / Prime Video.
Musician, actor, cook book author, wrestling MC, wine brand owner, 2024 Paris Olympics correspondent and performer: these labels all describe Snoop Dogg. Here's another that's set to join the Californian rapper's list: AFL Grand Final headliner. The hip-hop icon will take to the stage at the MCG on Saturday, September 27, 2025, leading this year's pre-game entertainment. Whichever teams make it to the season's final match, they won't want to be dropping anything like it's hot — but the man who hits the turf before them is bound to be singing about just that. AFL Grand Final headliners typically work through a range of their best-known and most-loved hits, so even if you aren't sipping on gin and juice at the game, you'll likely be hearing Snoop rap about it. Cross your fingers for not only 'Drop It Like It's Hot' and 'Gin and Juice', but also 'What's My Name?', 'Snoop's Upside Ya Head' and plenty more to make it into his set before the game's 2.30pm AEST kickoff. "It's an absolute honour to be hitting the stage at the AFL Grand Final — it's one of the biggest events on the Aussie calendar. Can't wait to bring the energy and celebrate with the fans. Let's make it unforgettable," Snoop Dogg said about the gig, as per the AFL. "The AFL Grand Final is the biggest event on the Australian sporting calendar — and this year, it just got a whole lot bigger," AFL CEO Andrew Dillon advised. "Snoop Dogg is a pioneer, a performer and a true entertainer. He's played to packed stadiums around the world — but we think 100,000 fans at the MCG might just be his most-iconic crowd yet." "We want Grand Final Day to be an unforgettable celebration of footy — and beyond the four quarters of the match, a celebration of culture, energy and entertainment. Snoop fits that brief better than anyone." "From Long Beach to the biggest stage in Australian sport — Snoop Dogg is coming to the MCG for the Telstra Pre-Game Entertainment, and we're ready to make history." Snoop Dogg last played in Australia on his 2023 'I Wanna Thank Me' tour, which was postponed from 2022. In headlining the AFL Grand Final, he follows in the footsteps of Katy Perry in 2024, KISS in 2023 and Robbie Williams in 2022, all recent overseas talents who've helped kick off the biggest day in Aussie Rules. The Killers, Black Eyed Peas, Sting, Chris Isaak, Ed Sheeran and Tom Jones, and Meatloaf have all done the honours since 2010, too. If you're a Western Bulldogs fan, you might be thinking that Snoop's prime spot on the 2025 lineup is a sign. Given that he's also gone by Snoop Lion, you can claim that as well if you're a supporter of the Brisbane Lions, 2024's premiers. Snoop Dogg is headlining the 2025 AFL Grand Final Pre-Game Entertainment at the MCG, Melbourne, on Saturday, September 27, 2025. For more information, including tickets to the game when they're available, head to the AFL website. Top image: Andrew Chin/Getty Images.
Whether you're buying for your mother, partner or sister, we've rounded up some of the top gifts for her, with a little bit of help from Amazon to help you out. We've sought out goodies for foodies, fashionistas, fitness-lovers and beauty queens. Plus, if you've left gifts to the last minute, Amazon has some of the latest delivery days out there, which is good news for those of us who tend to resort to last-minute Christmas shopping. 1. Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life This book by authors Héctor García and Francesc Miralles is all about how to live a happy, healthy and long life, and who doesn't want to learn how to do that? The word Ikigai is the Japanese word for 'a reason to live' or 'a reason to jump out of bed in the morning'. This book will help you work out what your ikigai is and how to change your life for the better. A great read for anyone you know who's looking for a certain spark or loves learning about concepts from other cultures. 2. Asēdos Floral Vanilla Eau De Parfum You can never go wrong with gifting a new perfume. This spray from Asēdos is the perfect subtle and sweet option to gift to a woman like your mother-in-law, who has been non-specific about what scent they prefer. The top notes are pear, coffee, lemon and bergamot, while the middle notes are jasmine sambac and orange blossom. Scents of patchouli, cedar and musk round it out. 3. Gym Bag Perfect for the gym, yoga, the beach or even as a weekend bag (that fits for carry-on luggage), this duffle bag for women from VNPONV is roomy, practical and looks good. The bag comes in beige, black or grey and features a zippered waterproof PVC-lined pocket for wet clothes or towels and swimsuits, an extra-small makeup bag for easy storage and a separate shoe compartment with vents. Plus, it is made with durable and water-resistant nylon to protect your items. 4. Design Lives Here This one's for all the design lovers out there. Design Lives Here: Australian interiors, furniture and lighting is a hardcover coffee table book detailing the ins and outs of Australian design and is the perfect gift for anyone you know who spends hours watching Grand Designs re-runs. The book showcases the best of Australian residential architecture and interiors, featuring many homes from local designers and makers. 5. Bracelet Watch The Anne Klein Women's Genuine Diamond Dial Bracelet Watch is so gorgeous to look at. It's hard to imagine anyone would be disappointed finding this under the Christmas tree this year. The intricate watch features a mineral crystal lens with a green sunray dial with rose gold-tone hands and markers. The allure doesn't stop there – a rose gold-tone adjustable link bracelet, jewellery clasp and extender paired with Japanese quartz movement are the perfect finishing touches. 6. Bamboo Bathtub Tray The ultimate gift for the women out there who don't take any time to relax, this Wooden Bath Caddy Tray is perfect for long, relaxing baths with a book and a glass of wine. Its extendable design means you can adjust the tray to fit your tub with slots, so when you slide the wine glass into the slot, it won't tip over. Its sleek bamboo design is also perfect for elevating the overall bathroom aesthetic. 7. Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love Another gem from the massively popular cook Ottolenghi, The Ottolenghi Test Kitchen is all about creating inspired recipes using humble ingredients. Whether you're buying for a newbie in the kitchen or for a seasoned cook who sometimes wants to keep things simple and easy, this book is a godsend. Expect dishes like a one-pan route to confit tandoori chickpeas and a tomato salad, just to name a few. 8. Ceramic Bowl Set A great gift for the women in your life who have an obsession with ceramics and homewares or for someone who just moved house, this set of six bowls from HUIRUMM is the perfect colourful addition to any kitchen. The bowls are safe for dishwashers, microwaves, ovens and freezers and the perfect size for cereals, soups, ice cream and side salads. 9. Louis Vuitton Catwalk If you know a lady who loves fashion, then this hardcover book by Jo Ellison may be the perfect gift. The book details the story of luxury brand Louis Vuitton, opening with a concise history of the house, followed by brief biographical profiles of Marc Jacobs, the first creative director, and Nicolas Ghesquière, who helms the brand today, before exploring the collections themselves, organised chronologically. Even if they don't read it, having this perched on the bookshelf is almost as fashionable as the clothes from the brand itself. 10. Ceramic Jewelry Tray Dish Have you noticed your girlfriend or sister's jewellery strewn all over the house? Enter the BIGPIPI Ceramic Jewelry Tray Dish. Designed in a cloud shape, this tray features a smooth, ceramic surface and will help organise and protect jewellery and other items you reach for daily, like keys, skincare and makeup. Plus, it also makes a nice decoration on the bedside table. Images: Supplied. This article contains affiliate links, Concrete Playground may earn a commission when you make a purchase through links on our site.
