Over in The Rocks, The Glenmore's rooftop is one of Sydney's most scenic spots, boasting primo views across to the Sydney Opera House and the harbour. Usually, these sweeping views are perfectly accompanied by a pint or a cocktail, but head on up on the last Thursday of July and you'll find yourself involved in a different activity with TMPL's Rise on the Rooftop series of morning workouts. Across two morning classes (6.30am and 7.30am) on Thursday, July 28, this sky-high session will have you working up a sweat. TMPL is located in Republic Square in Darlinghurst. Its usual studio brings nightclub-style lighting and DJs serving up big dance tunes to your daily workout and this is the energy TMPL will be bringing to these picturesque sessions at The Glenmore. The workouts will consist of high-intensity interval training, where you push yourself through short bursts of intense exercise between active recovery time. Tickets to the classes are $30 each.
The Sydney Fringe Festival has been feeding us drips and drabs of their massive 2017 program since back in May and have now finally announced the full lineup — over 300 productions worth, presented from September 1 through 30. The month-long cultural festival brings theatre, music and dance together with visual art, film and comedy, not to mention cabaret, spoken-word and even circus performances. The 42 partner venues span inner Sydney, with this year's opening weekend extravaganza taking the form of an enormous 'masqueerade' from the Heaps Gay team. It will take over the brand new festival hub at Sydney Park, rocking over two nights on September 2 and 3. The 7000 square-metre warehouse space will go on to house multiple performance and exhibition spaces, with shows that include immersive light, art and theatrical experiences, musical performances, installations and even a 200-seat vegan feast by the Alfie's Kitchen team. Chippendale's Kensington Street will take on the official launch party, with shops, bars, restaurants and footpaths alive with music curated by Sydney-based songstress Ngaiire. With a focus on new art and activations, over 50 percent of the productions are world premieres, including Silent Theatre — this immersive production invites participants to the Urban Newtown Hotel, where they will voyeuristically observe from the streets below, watching through hotel windows and listening to the story of four playwrights through headphones. Other highlights include a Wig Exhibition by hairdresser Shaun McGrath, a world first GIF-iti exhibition from UK artist INSA and Cirque Africa — a sellout circus show featuring 38 performers from six African countries, all backed by a live African band. Yup, it's going to be one massive month around town so grab tickets now and clear your schedule. Head to the Sydney Fringe website for the full 2017 festival program.
How do you make a blockbuster ancient Egypt exhibition even bigger? At the Australian Museum's upcoming Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs, adding the royal coffin that provided the resting place for the showcase's namesake will do the trick. Already set to feature more than 181 rare artefacts and treasures, the Sydney event has now confirmed that the sarcophagus of Ramses II will also be on display Down Under — giving audiences a rare treat. It isn't often that the coffin is permitted to leave Egypt; however, it will head to the Harbour City after also recently displaying at the exhibition's stop in Paris. When that happens, Sydney will become just the second city in the world outside of Egypt to show the 3000-plus-year-old item. "The beautiful sarcophagus of Ramses II will be the star attraction in the Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs exhibition and is a wonderful opportunity for Australian audiences to see this rare, fragile artefact in real life," said Australian Museum Director and CEO Kim McKay AO. "Ramses' coffin is a work of inestimable value and a powerful symbol of one of the greatest leaders of the ancient world. Egyptians worshipped their pharaohs, and their devotion to Ramses II can be seen through the craftsmanship of the coffin." "The coffin of Ramses II was one of the most popular objects in Ramses & The Gold of the Pharaohs in Paris, so we anticipate Australian audiences will find this priceless artefact equally enthralling. Shown in Australia for the very first time, Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs and the extraordinary loan of the coffin direct from Egypt, highlights how dynamic international relationships develop across the globe," added World Heritage Exhibitions CEO John Norman. This piece of history is carved from cedar, and discovered with the pharoah's body more than two centuries ago, in 1811 within the Royal Cache at Deir el-Bahari. If you need a reminder on your Egyptian history, Ramses II ruled over the country from 1279–1213 BCE. When Saturday, November 18 rolls around this year, a collection of items from the pharaoh's rule will gleam in Australia, as first announced back in 2021 — including animal mummies, royal masks, jewellery, amulets and other golden items from the ruler's tomb, plus now Ramses II's coffin. Focusing on Egypt's third pharaoh from its 19th dynasty — a ruler also known as Ramses the Great, who enjoyed the second-longest reign of any pharaoh, and is considered a symbol of the country's prosperous ancient New Kingdom period — the overall showcase is set to be big. The Australian Museum has dubbed it the largest cultural collection Down Under in more than a decade, in fact. While the hefty number of objects featured is impressive, so is their rare status; some of the pieces included haven't ever left Egypt before. Bringing a slice of history to Australia's shores, Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs will be filled with items from museums and historical sites in Egypt, which are being loaned to the exhibition by Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. Also available for an additional fee when booking: letting attendees enter two of the ruler's monuments — the Tomb of Queen Nefertari, and the temples of Abu Simbel — virtually. [caption id="attachment_908641" align="alignnone" width="1920"] World Heritage Exhibitions[/caption] Presented in partnership with World Heritage Exhibitions, Neon and the Houston Museum of Natural Science, with support by Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, and also funding from the NSW Government's Create NSW Blockbusters Funding initiative, Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs heads to Australia after showing in Houston and San Francisco in the US, as well as its recent season until September in Paris. Australia will also play host to another huge exhibition about ancient Egypt in 2024, with Pharaoh set to feature at Melbourne's NGV International from June. Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs will display at the Australian Museum, 1 William Street, Sydney, from Saturday, November 18, 2023–Sunday, May 19, 2024 — head to the exhibition's website for further details and tickets, with booking well in advance highly recommended.
Ever wanted to own your very own theme park? Port Macquarie's old pseudo-Disney theme park Fantasy Glades is up for sale. Remember Fantasy Glades? A sort of creepy but loveable Disneyland, Fantasy Glades was home to Snow White's cottage, Cinderella's castle, the Old Woman in the Shoe's shoe, the Crooked Man's House, a totally whack Magic Dragon Cave and the freakiest Witch's Cottage you've ever, ever seen, before it closed in 2002. Now it's up for sale on Gumtree, for a measly $560,000. Why? "Massive price reduction, owner needs to move on," according to the listing. Oh. For just $500K, you can nab 1.6 hectares of tropical rainforest, dotted with creepy and pretty dilapidated fantasy character homes at Shelly Beach. Some of the former fairytale homes have been vandalised, because people suck. But you get your own castle. Your. Own. Castle. Owners Shane and Karen Hay are after a quick sale, hence the low price. It all sounds pretty heartbreaking. "Owner prepared to sacrifice this once in a lifetime opportunity. Your chance to own a piece of history... once one of Port Macquarie's favourite tourist attractions." If you ever visited Fantasy Glades, you'll be slightly cut up about this. It'd be like owning a piece of Peppermint Park. Fantasy Glades ran at 44 Parklands Cl, Port Macquarie for a whopping 35 years, after total legends George and Rosemary Whitaker opened the park in 1968. Then in the late '80s, FG was snapped up by the Spry family and Brian Hutchinson, and closed in 2002. But there was a glimmer of hope for Port's answer to Waltland, with the Hays buying the property in '09 hoping to restore the park to its former glory. But it looks like six years later, the Hays are skipping to the end of the Fantasy Glades story. Sad stuff. So, for $500K in Port Macquarie, you can buy your own theme park. In the Sydney CBD, you're looking at a laundry room on Bond. Maybe. For the interested or nostalgic, here's a map of your brand new home: YouLand. Images: Fantasy Glades.
This cocktail is a better antidote to your winter woes than you may think. In the spirit of Bacardi Rum Month, Sydney’s best bartenders are finding the warmer side to this tropical drink. At 150 years old, Bacardi lays claim to rum as we know it, with the modern production process developed by originator Don Facundo. His legacy transformed rum from the pirates’ pastime to the favourite speciality drink of the elite. Bacardi remains family owned and operated, and with Rum Month, they aim to inspire top bartenders to add their own twist on tradition. June 10 is International Pina Colada Day, and although the cocktail may remind you of summer days gone by, these bars are taking the opportunity to bring you their winter spin on the Puerto Rican classic. EARL'S JUKE JOINT In the true spirit of a New Orleans bar, Earl’s is home to great music, a chill crowd and fun-loving bartenders mixing up a great cocktail list. Owner Wijesena (ex-Shady Pines) is bringing the piña colada back to its simple roots; the original was not envisioned as the rich concoction of creamed coconut we think of today, but rather made with fresh coconut water and pineapple juice. The Old San Juan cocktail, using Bacardi Carta Blanca, coconut-infused tequila, pineapple drinking vinegar and freshly squeezed lime, is a contemporary take on the Puerto Rican original. 407 King Street, Newtown GRANDMA'S Your home away from home has perhaps the most unusual spin on this popularised cocktail: the Peanut Butter Colada, made with Bacardi Oro (Gold) and all of the modern ingredients, except for a nice spoonful of crunchy peanut butter mixed in. It may sound strange, but the creaminess and saltiness perfectly complement the cocktail, which is actually a top seller. This type of reinvention is exactly the reason Bacardi promotes Rum Month, and is clearly a drink your granny approves of too. 275 Clarence Street, Sydney CBD HELLO SAILOR The nautical decor will make you wish you were sailing on your imaginary yacht this winter, and what better drink to reminisce with than this summertime classic. Created specifically for Rum Month and with the warmth of Bacardi 8-year in mind, Hello Sailor’s Black Tea and Gingerbread Piña Colada ($17) is a cold weather variation on their beloved traditional. The drink may look like summer, but it packs all of the wintery flavours to heat you up. 96 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst HINKY DINKS With the mantra “cocktails first, questions later”, and a firm belief that “there is a cocktail for everyone and for every occasion”, it is clear Hinky Dinks takes its drinks seriously. The 1950s-style bar's celebratory drink for Bacardi Rum Month is the fun Asante Sana Squash Banana, bartender Sam Barnett’s funky twist. Bacardi Oro’s toasted almond and sweet banana notes inspired this cocktail, a combination of Chartreuse, pineapple and coconut. Bold like Bacardi Oro itself, and crisp like the piña colada is intended to be, this drink is sure to be a crowd pleaser. 185 Darlinghurst Road, Darlinghurst Top image: Dollar Photo Club.
When 30 Rock’s Liz Lemon walked down the aisle, a registry office became her chapel, and the only white ensemble in her wardrobe stood in for traditional wedding attire. With her love of Star Wars well established throughout the show’s seven-season run, Tina Fey’s iconic small-screen character stepped into matrimony in costume as Princess Leia, in a ceremony perfectly suited to her personality. This May in Brisbane, other brides will follow in her footsteps. On International Star Wars Day, couples can say “I do” as well as “May the Fourth be with you”, courtesy of a pop-up wedding concept spearheaded by marriage celebrant Josh Withers and wedding planner Danielle White. As the name suggests, a pop-up wedding is a wedding that pops up for one day in a specific location, with distinctive styling from reputable wedding vendors to provide an intimate, inimitable and easy opportunity to get married. It scales down the stress and ramps up the fun of tying the knot, in a one-size-fits-all package. The link between Withers and White’s no-fuss ceremony idea and Fey’s on-screen nuptials is merely coincidental, with the duo driven by wanting to offer an alternative to the usual wedding experience — in style, simplicity and price. Their background in the industry lead them to the realisation that everyone wants something different for their special day, and that the average “getting married” scenario doesn’t suit all tastes. “I’m definitely seeing more unique ceremonies and receptions,” says White of current trends. “At the essence of it, we think that falling in love is the best thing," Withers says. "If you want to commit to that, and get married, then that is something that should be celebrated — we are in the business of celebrating marriage. "The pop-up wedding came from knowing that large weddings are not for everyone. Six percent of people who wanted to get married last year didn’t or couldn’t because of either the financial burden or the emotional and mental stress. Or because the big thing just didn’t appeal to them.” More established in the United States but still a growing field there as well as worldwide, pop-up weddings add something special to the conventional antidote to the big day (the registry wedding), something classier to the customary offbeat idea (the Vegas chapel) and something more concrete to the usual stress avoidance technique (eloping). It's a concept that Withers and White hope will become an accepted substitute to the standard ceremony in Australia. April Fools' Day marked their first batch of pop-up weddings, celebrating the mischieviousness that increasingly surrounds the date. “Everyone’s doing some thing silly while you’re doing something awesome,” encouraged their website, with playfulness key in their pop-up offerings. “When you say you are getting married on April Fools' Day everyone will think you’re only joking!” On May 4, participating couples are treated to the full gamut of theming from George Lucas’s beloved sci-fi/fantasy film series. Of course, how much they embrace Star Wars is their decision, as is the use of costumes and props. In their allocated hour, each betrothed pair goes through the legally required formalities with their chosen celebrant, and then relaxes in the Cantina Lounge styled by Amini Concepts. As they enjoy a piece of cake and a glass of champagne, Josh Kelly from Jessie Dains Photography captures their happy “just married” memories. Though two to four friends or relatives can attend, guests are typically absent; it’s about the commitment, not the audience. With pop-up weddings proving popular, the list of future themes is limited only by Withers and White’s imaginations, and their observations of traditional weddings extending into the “poppier end of pop culture”. Requests are always welcome. Couples in Brisbane can book in for a trashy Brisvegas or op-shop-styled ceremony later in 2014. The concept will also take to the road, touring around the country for a boho-chic day in Perth as well as a Melbourne outing. As Withers notes, “people are cottoning on to the fact that there are other ways to get married.” White adds, “I think this is one that is going to stay.” To find out more about pop-up weddings, visit the Pop-Up Wedding website.
From icy winds to sudden rain and spells of balmy sunshine, it can be tricky to know how to dress for the unpredictability of Aussie winters. Layering is the key to getting through the colder months — you can still wear your favourite t-shirt or mini dress and add a light trench, puffer jacket or drapey scarf to stay cosy and elevate your look with minimal effort. We've selected some of our top seasonal clothing essentials that should be a part of your capsule wardrobe for many winters to come — provided you look after them properly. Enter the Philips Garment Steamer, which not only eliminates wrinkles on all iron-safe fabrics but also removes odours and kills bacteria so you can extend your wear between washes. The compact handheld steamer is ready in just 30 seconds and can be folded to fit in your bag so you can even bring it with you when you're going straight from work to happy hour. Trench Coat You can't go wrong with a simple trench coat. The versatile jacket has remained a beloved classic for more than a century for good reason. The layering staple is substantial enough to add warmth while still light enough to minimise bulk. Wear it on top of a t-shirt and jeans to add a layer of sophistication to a simple outfit, or style it with a dress and heels for a more elegant look. You can pick up a lightweight option from Kmart for only $35 or invest in a weightier version that'll see you through many winters to come by brands such as & Other Stories ($299), UNIQLO ($199.90), DISSH ($249.99) and Assembly Label ($300). Sweater Dress For those days when it's too cold to even think about what to wear, throw on an effortless sweater dress with a pair of boots to stay snug from day to night. We'd advocate for spending a bit more on a wool or wool blend that'll last for more than one season, like AERE's Merino wool blend dress ($170), which features a chic mock neck and slit, or Seed Heritage's knit dress ($199.95), which has a roomier fit and sits above the knee. Style it with a belt and statement earrings for an elevated look, or dress it down with sneakers for a more casual vibe. Waterproof Boots Stay prepared for bouts of unpredictable weather with a pair of waterproof boots that are comfortable and stylish. Merry People's colourful Bobbi range ($159.95) is crafted with natural rubber and boasts a comfortable neoprene lining and arch support, making it suitable for all-day wear, no matter the weather. The Victorian brand also has gumboots for kids, knee- and calf-length boots, and convenient waterproof clogs that you can slip on when you're hustling out the door. Another option is Human Premium's Jam Boots ($89.95) which are similarly made with lightweight EVA and a neoprene interior. Puffer Jacket Our Aussie winters might not be as cold as other parts of the world but that morning chill can be a brutal challenge, especially when you're trying to find enough motivation to venture out of the house. Combat the nippiness with a puffer jacket that you can easily shrug off as temperatures ease during the day. Throw it on top of your activewear to keep hot girl walks alive during winter or layer it with a sweater for some extra cosiness. There are a range of choices and prices depending on what you're after like this water-resistant jacket for outdoor adventures by The North Face ($550), a lightweight option by UNIQLO for your office commute ($99.90), or statement pieces by Toast Society and AJE ATHLETICA. Blanket Scarf Tie your whole outfit together with an oversized scarf that's basically a blanket you can wear. Not only will it keep you warm but it can be styled in a variety of ways while adding a pop of vibrance and pattern to a muted winter colour palette. The Acne Studios scarf became a coveted winter accessory two years ago but you don't have to drop $500-plus to achieve the same aesthetic. Country Road, Bul and Witchery have colourful alternatives made with alpaca, mohair and wool blends for under $200 while Princess Polly has a polyester version that's only $30. Shop the Philips Handheld Steamer 3000 Series and other products on the website.
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
A new and unique dining experience has arrived at Martin Place from the team behind some of Sydney's most renowned restaurants. Aalia is the new flagship restaurant from Esca, the hospitality group in charge of Nour, Lilymu, Henrietta and Cuckoo Callay. The group's latest and most extravagant offering, Aalia is opening in the new dining precinct in the former MLC Centre space. The 150-seat restaurant offers to take diners on a journey through the history of Middle Eastern food. The dishes have been created by the restaurant's Executive Chef Paul Farag of Nour to demonstrate the rich culinary diversity of the area. "Through food, we're trying to showcase a beautiful region of the world which almost everyone seems to forget has a luscious coastline, flanked by oceans, rivers, and seas," Farag says. "I want this menu to reflect a lighter way of shared eating — in the same way you assume a Mediterranean restaurant is going to be bright and fresh in flavour, this is truly the same principle for Middle Eastern cuisine." Diners will be presented with a wide array of raw and mezze options to begin their meal. Oysters, king salmon, potato and lentil tart, king prawn skewers and hand-stretched haloumi are all on offer for those looking to create an abundant table of shared dishes or ease into the meal before turning to the impressive selections of seafood and meat. As for the larger dishes, think Murray cod masgouf, almond-crusted john dory, lamb neck shawarma and mb5+ dry-aged wagyu rib. There's also Persian caviar service on offer, served with malawach, shallots, labneh, and a sprinkling of chives. The indecisive among us can leave the selections up to the chefs with the $125 per person banquet menu, curated by Farag himself. Designed to share, the degustation is available for parties of four or more and features the lamb shawarma, almond John Dory and haloumi, as well as eggplant mes 'a' aha, quail skewers, a spread of Middle Eastern sides and a decadent Valrhona chocolate kataifi for dessert. "The idea behind the menu itself is to start with a few raw dishes and mezze, followed by mains and sides, with each dish crafted to represent a particular region, or specific era of Arabic culture," Farag says. Highballs, spritzes and inventive cocktails are all on offer to accompany your one-of-a-kind feast. Start off easy with a peach vermouth and hopped grapefruit spritz, or opt for something a bit more stiff like the tobacco old fashioned made with raw cacao bourbon, date molasses and orange tobacco. Aalia is located at Shop Seven and Eight, 25 Martin Place, Sydney. It's open from Tuesday, March 1 for lunch and dinner Tuesday—Friday and dinner on Saturdays. Venue images: Christopher Pearce
It's not often you'll voluntarily fork out 30 bucks to watch a bastard mock you, but then Red Bastard comes along. The internationally renowned clown, alter ego of Los Angeles' Eric Davis, is heading to the Bondi Pavilion. Habitually selling out shows and receiving five-star reviews, Red Bastard will take to the stage on Saturday, March 1, for one night only. And supposedly, many audience members quit their jobs, reunite with estranged loved ones, propose marriage and end friendships throughout the course of the show. Led by Red Bastard and open to everyone, a two-day clown workshop will also take place on March 1 and 2.
Icy poles and booze — they're the two staples of a long, hot Aussie summer. Back in October, we told you that the two had finally come together as one. Now, those Calippo-style Champagne icy poles we've all been hankering for since are finally on sale in Australia. The genius creation from POPS, a UK brand that has been keeping folks stylishly cool since 2014, have started popping up around Melbourne. Head to online alcohol delivery service tipple.com.au to order one of four flavours: the Champagne pop (called The Classic) contains half a glass of Champers (wahee!), while the Bellini blends hibiscus flowers, blood orange juice, peach Schnapps, and half a glass of Prosecco. Plus, there are a couple of all-ages products too, which see the alcohol swapped out for real fruit combinations (apple and elderflower, plus strawberry and mint). The timing couldn't be better, with the frozen delights arriving in our eskies just in time to be eaten in front of the fan (or, y'know, in the sun) this summer. As part of the Melbourne-first launch, they'll also be available at Arbory Bar and Eatery — and showering festival attendees with lickable icy alcohol goodness, including at The Pleasure Garden, Let Them Eat Cake and the Inverloch Sound of Summer. The POPS website also teases POPScycle bikes, so keep your eyes peeled. When POPS launched its first frozen Champagne treat, supermodels like Kate Moss and Bella Hadid were apparently quick to jump on board, if that's something to sway you. No word yet if you'll be able to buy a box for the freezer, but let's hope. For more information about POPS in Australia, visit wearepops.com. By Libby Curran and Sarah Ward. Via Food Mag.
"Most people say don't meet your heroes, but she exceeded all my expectations," Cailee Spaeny tells Concrete Playground. The Priscilla star's idol? Sofia Coppola. In the Devs, Mare of Easttown and The Craft: Legacy actor's biggest role yet, and the Lost in Translation, Somewhere and On the Rocks' filmmaker's latest moving, mesmerising and meticulously made picture, Spaeny plays the movie's namesake for the director that she's loved since she was a teenager. Winning her Venice International Film Festival's Volpi Cup for Best Actress, she's teamed up with her dream helmer to explore the teen experience and beyond of one of the most-famous women in the world, who was also in one of the best-known romances, marrying and divorcing a music superstar whose celebrity is virtually peerless: Priscilla Presley. Coppola knows how to bring tales about teenage girls to the screen, and to do so with the emotion, care and lived-in specificity that makes audiences feel like they're being seen — as Spaeny once did. Priscilla joins a directing resume that initially moved into features with 1998's The Virgin Suicides, and has spanned The Bling Ring and The Beguiled as well. In Marie Antoinette, the filmmaker's only other biopic to-date, she also took a name that everyone knows, jumped into her story when she was just 14 years old, then charted her complicated time by the side of a man with influence and power. Spaeny co-stars with Marie Antoinette's lead Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog) in the upcoming Civil War, in fact, and suspects that she put in a good word to help her get her Presley part. A performer who made her film debut in 2018's Australian-shot Pacific Rim Uprising, which was one of four movies that she had in cinemas that year (the others: Bad Times at the El Royale, On the Basis of Sex and Vice), Spaeny also believes that the right work finds you at the right period. That's especially the case with leading Priscilla, where Jacob Elordi (Saltburn) co-stars as Elvis, and which sees the two portray the blue suede shoes-wearing singer and the woman who fell for him when they were in West Germany — she was a schoolgirl residing there because her dad was in the army, while Elvis had been drafted — so swiftly after Baz Luhrmann's Elvis had Austin Butler (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Olivia DeJonge (The Staircase) do the same. "I always think roles come to you in your life at certain times to sort of help you in your own personal life, in your own journey," Spaeny shares. "I was just getting out of a really intense relationship that went on for about five years. I was in it very young. And I was trying to process those emotions and where I gave a piece of myself up, and how I grew from that. I processed all that and put it into the movie and her story, and the decisions that she made, and the mistakes she made, and where she got it right, where she got it wrong. It's always cathartic playing roles, but this one especially hit me in a real way that I'll always take with me." What was it like to physically transform into Priscilla? "It was something. I didn't look like myself. I think I just looked at myself in the mirror and I went 'okay girl, get it together, you've got to pull this off," Spaeny advises. "Everyone had put so much hard work into it. You see the hours and the sleepless nights. All the blood, sweat and tears that goes into every department: costumes, hair, makeup, production design. All the work Sofia put in, that Jacob put in. So when I saw myself in those costumes, I think it's just like 'okay, it's game time'." "It was fun. It was stressful. It was life-changing. There were lots of tears. There were lots of laughs. It was an experience that I will take with me for the rest of my life, and it's given me so much — much more than I ever thought it would. And I feel really lucky and I hope that everyone enjoys it when they go and see it, and they see all the heart that we put into our film," continues Spaeny. The movie opened in Australia on Thursday, January 18, then does the same in New Zealand on Thursday, February 1. Also covered in our round-table chat with Spaeny: preparing to play Priscilla, including meeting the woman herself; getting the part, and her past experiences auditioning for the filmmaker; why Coppola is her dream director; being born to love Elvis by being born in Tennessee; and seeing Priscilla for the first time while sitting next to Presley. ON HOW SPAENY PREPARED TO PLAY PRISCILLA PRESLEY "I tried to do as much as I could do preparing for this role. Taking on playing a real person, especially one who's still around, there is enormous responsibility. And also working with my dream director Sofia Coppola — she's been my dream director since I was 14 years old — I felt a lot of pressure. I mean, I always I hope that I always work hard on every project that I do, but this was another level. So you just do everything you can. You have as many conversations as you can with the director. The script is based off of her [Priscilla Presley's] book that she wrote in 1985, and I had that on me the entire time. Then I got the honour to sit down with Priscilla Presley herself, so I got to take in the woman herself and look into her eyes, and hear her tell these stories about this chapter in her life. That gave me more than I could have ever imagined. Taking that with me, and also having her support and having several conversations down the line during prep, and asking her all different kinds of questions and just getting to be around her in general, gave me so much. And then, taking time to have conversations with Jacob Elordi, who plays Elvis, and making sure we were on the same page and just making sure we felt comfortable around each other — that was a big part of the process, too. You just try to get everything you could possibly get into your brain in the amount of time you have, and you've got to cross your fingers and jump out of the plane and hope for the best, hope that you'll land on your feet. But also to have the level of collaborators and artists that we had on this set in terms of cast and crew was extraordinary. I think anyone who works with Sofia, because of the environment she creates, everyone brings their A-game and wants to work really hard for her and do their best. I think you really see that in this film." ON WHAT MAKES COPPOLA SPAENY'S DREAM DIRECTOR — AND THE PROCESS OF WORKING WITH HER ON PRISCILLA "I think the thing that really struck me, especially living in the Bible Belt in America being a young girl, a church girl, trying to navigate myself and my emotions — you've got so much going on inside you when you're a 14-year-old girl, and I think I'd never seen teen girls depicted in the way that Sofia represents them. The way that she doesn't underestimate young women, and how she gives them a voice to have wants and needs, and dark sides and be sexual — I just felt like everything that was in my brain just got unlocked, and that I had permission to be complicated. I think that was something that really stuck with me and cracked me open. I think that working with her was just a lot of pressure to get it right. I'm thinking in my head 'am I going to be the reason this is going to be the first bad Sofia Coppola film?'. I mean, it's just very overwhelming, but she's kind and had my back every step of the way." ON GETTING THE PRISCILLA ROLE AFTER AUDITIONING FOR PAST SOFIA COPPOLA FILMS "I know that Sofia wanted to find one actress who was going to be able to play from 14 to 27 — and I was 24 when I filmed the movie, but I look really young. I think that it was really important. You see it sometimes where you see films push the age, like they don't really look that young, but it's fine. Or they really don't look that old, but it's fine. But I think it was really important, especially in the beginning, for her to feel 14. I think she had to genuinely feel that age. So I think from a casting standpoint for Sofia, that was something that she was looking for. It's not really something I think about too much, but I'm glad it worked in my favour. I've been auditioning for her — she gave me my one of my first callbacks ever when I was 16 years old. So I think her casting director knew of me for a long time, and Sofia knew of me for a bit. I don't know if she even remembers that. I don't know. But I knew her casting directors remembered me and one of her producing partners remembered me. And then I auditioned for two other things for Sofia. Then this project came up and I got a call [saying] 'hey, can you meet Sofia in New York for coffee?'. Didn't know what it was, met her there, was really nervous. We started talking and I had no idea — I was just like 'what is this about?'. Then she pulled out her iPad and started showing me photos of Priscilla Presley, and asked me if I knew the story. I didn't, which was surprising because I was such a huge Elvis fan growing up. But then I went away and I was filming a movie with Kirsten Dunst, and Kirsten is such a longtime friend and collaborator and muse for Sofia. And I think Kirsten put in a good word for me. So there were talks about maybe doing a chemistry read with whoever was going to be playing Elvis, but that didn't end up happening. She just locked this in. She locked me and Jacob in, and said 'we're going for it'. We didn't have any read. We didn't do any sort of chemistry test. We just hit the ground running. I think that's the one thing about Sofia: she's really soft-spoken and kind, but when she knows what she wants, she knows what she wants. And when she sees it, she has it in her head. Everything is in her head. That's what makes her so brilliant and also exciting to work with." ON THE CHALLENGES OF STEPPING INTO PRISCILLA'S SHOES — AND WHAT MAKES HER STORY SO RELATABLE "The biggest challenge for me, obviously, is having to play a real person who at the end of this is going to watch the film. I had that time with Priscilla, and something funny happens — it's like at first, the movie's first, [and] how you're going to play this, [and] making this movie for Sofia. Then you sit down in front of the woman herself, you're right across from Priscilla, and almost all of that goes to the back burner. You just are like 'I want to protect this person. I want them to feel safe. I want them to feel like they identify with this story. I just want to protect them'. She's been through so much in her life, and you just want this to be done right by her. So that was the biggest challenge. In terms of the things that I related to, I think that what's so interesting about this story, and what I found so surprising, is that you think 'well, I'm not going to relate to Priscilla Presley, she's lived this one-of-a-kind life that no one could ever really compare with' — but she goes through such an emotional journey. Falling in love and doing everything she can, giving everything up to try to make that work, and [being] desperate to find a path and a way out to be with the love of her life, and then realising that that's not going to happen, and all the pain that he's going through and the confusion he's dealing with, and how that then transfers to her, and then she realises she wants something more for her life — I think those moments are universal. And there's some milestones that she goes through that I think a lot of young women can relate to. I think that's why it's gotten the response that it has, is because of that — because I think young women or women in general, or anybody, can see this story and find themselves somewhere." ON FIRST DISCOVERING ELVIS "I think the second I was born, Elvis was just playing. My mum had a shrine of Elvis in her home. She named one of her kids' middle names after Elvis. We went to Graceland growing up. We had his number-one hits on the CD in the car. It was just always around. In America, Elvis really is such a symbol — especially, especially in the South. And I was born in Tennessee. You just know Elvis. You're born, you know Elvis. I think especially where I came from, you just didn't have a choice: it was Jesus and Elvis." ON SITTING NEXT TO PRISCILLA AT THE FILM'S WORLD PREMIERE AT THE VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL "I had a couple opportunities to watch the movie before Venice, but I was just too nervous to watch myself in this movie. There's too much pressure and I just knew that if I would see the film, I knew I was going to spiral, so I didn't want to. I kept putting it off. Then I got to Venice and I asked them 'hey, can you pull me out when the movie starts? I don't want to see it'. And then I just had a voice in my head and I'm going 'Cailee, what are you doing? You're at the Venice Film Festival. You're with your dream director. Priscilla's here. You're celebrating this movie with these people that you care about. This is such a dream come true'. I brought my sister with me. I'd never been to Venice before. I'd just rode a gondola earlier in the day. It was such a dream moment. And I was like 'what am I doing? I'm going to not watch the film cause I'm scared? That's so lame'. So I told them 'okay, yes, I'll watch it'. But then they sat me right next to Priscilla Presley. Then I'm watching the movie going 'oh my god, what have I done? How am I going to watch this film while I'm sitting right next to the person who I'm playing?'. It was so bizarre and so surreal, and I was white-knuckling it the entire time I was watching the film. Sometimes I'd close my eyes during some scenes. But then the movie ended. We got the reception that we did. Then it was the first time that Priscilla turned to me and said 'you did it, that was my life and that was a great performance'. So to get that feedback from her was everything." Priscilla opened in Australian cinemas on Thursday, January 18, then does the same in New Zealand on Thursday, February 1. Read our review.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION When Jurassic World Dominion was being written, three words must've come up often. No, they're not Neill, Dern, Goldblum. Those beloved actors reunite here, the trio appearing in the same Jurassic Park flick for the first time since the 1993 original, but the crucial terms are actually "but with dinosaurs". Returning Jurassic World writer/director Colin Trevorrow mightn't have uttered that phrase aloud; however, when Dominion stalks into a dingy underground cantina populated by people and prehistoric creatures, Star Wars but with dinosaurs instantly springs to mind. The same proves true when the third entry in this Jurassic Park sequel trilogy also includes high-stakes flights in a rundown aircraft that's piloted by a no-nonsense maverick. These nods aren't only confined to a galaxy far, far away — a realm that Trevorrow was meant to join as a filmmaker after the first Jurassic World, only to be replaced on Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker — and, yes, they just keep on coming. There's the speedy chase that zooms through alleys in Malta, giving the Bond franchise more than a few nods — but with dinosaurs, naturally. There's the plot about a kidnapped daughter, with Taken but with dinosaurs becoming a reality as well. That Trevorrow, co-scribe Emily Carmichael (Pacific Rim Uprising) and his usual writing collaborator Derek Connolly (Safety Not Guaranteed) have seen other big-name flicks is never in doubt. Indeed, too much of Dominion feels like an attempt to actively make viewers wish they were watching those other movies. Bourne but with dinosaurs rears its head via a rooftop chase involving, yes, dinos. Also, two different Stanley Kubrick masterpieces get cribbed so blatantly that royalties must be due, including when an ancient critter busts through a door as Jack Nicholson once did, and the exact same shot — but with dinosaurs — hits the screen. What do Star Wars, Bond, Bourne and The Shining have to do with the broader Jurassic Park film saga, which started when Steven Spielberg adapted Michael Crichton's book into a box-office behemoth? That's a fantastic question. The answer: zip, zero and zilch, other than padding out Dominion as much as possible, as riffs on Indiana Jones, The Birds, Alien, Mad Max: Fury Road, Austin Powers, the Fast and Furious movies, cloning thrillers, disaster epics and more also do. In nearly every scene, and often at the frame-by-frame level, another feature is channelled so overtly that it borders on parody. And, that's on top of the fact that recycling its own history is just Dominion 101. There's no theme park, but when it's mentioned that dinosaurs are being placed in a sanctuary, everyone watching knows that the film's human characters will get stranded in that spot, trying not to be eaten by a Tyrannosaurus rex and the like. From all of the above, a loose narrative emerges — an overstuffed and convoluted one, too. A few years on from 2018's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, people are endeavouring to co-exist with dinosaurs. Unsurprisingly, it's going terribly. Run by Mark Zuckerberg-esque entrepreneur Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott, WeCrashed), tech company BioSyn owns that safe dino space in the Italian Dolomites, although palaeobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern, Marriage Story) and palaeontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill, Rams) also tie the firm to giant dino-locusts wreaking existence-threatening havoc. Plus, ex-Jurassic World velociraptor whisperer Owen Grady (Chris Pratt, The Tomorrow War) and his boss-turned-girlfriend Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard, Rocketman) head BioSyn's way when the adopted Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon) — who links back to the first Jurassic Park thanks to Forbidden Kingdom's ridiculous storyline — is snatched. Oh, and mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum, Search Party) works there, as does cloning whiz Henry Wu (BD Wong, Mr Robot). Read our full review. A HERO With apologies to Bonnie Tyler, cinema isn't holding out for a hero — and hasn't been for some time. The singer's 80s-era Footloose-soundtrack hit basically describes the state of mainstream movies today, filled as screens now are with strong, fast, sure and larger-than-life figures racing on thunder and rising on heat. But what does heroism truly mean beyond the spandex of pop-culture's biggest current force? Who do we hold up as role models, and as feel-good champions of kind and selfless deeds? How do those tales of IRL heroism ebb, flow and spread, too? Pondering this far beyond the caped-crusader realm is Asghar Farhadi, a two-time Oscar-winner thanks to A Separation and The Salesman. As is the acclaimed Iranian filmmaker's gambit, his latest movie is intricately complicated, as are its views on human nature and Iranian society. As Farhadi has adored since 2003's Dancing in the Dust — and in everything from 2009's exceptional About Elly to his 2018 Spanish-language feature Everybody Knows as well — A Hero is steeped in the usual and the everyday. The 2021 Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix-winner may start with a sight that's the absolute opposite thanks to necropolis Naqsh-e Rostam near the Iranian city of Shiraz, an imposingly grand site that includes the tombs of ancient Persian rulers Xerxes and Darius, but the writer/director's main concerns are as routine, recognisable and relatable as films get. One such obsession: domestic disharmony, aka the cracks that fracture the ties of blood, love and friendship. A Hero sprawls further thematically, wondering if genuine altruism — that is, really and wholeheartedly acting in someone else's interest, even at a cost to oneself — can ever actually exist. But it charts that path because of the frayed and thorny relationships it surveys, and the everyman caught within them. When A Hero begins, calligrapher and sign painter Rahim Soltani (Amir Jadidi, Cold Sweat) is no one's saviour, victor or ideal. While he definitely isn't a villain, he's just been given a two-day pass from an Iranian debtor's prison, where he's incarcerated over a family financial feud. Owing 150,000,000 tomans to his ex-wife's brother-in-law, he's stuck serving out his sentence unless he can settle it or his creditor, copy shop owner Bahram (Mohsen Tanabandeh, Capital), agrees to forgive him. The latter is unlikely, so with his girlfriend Farkhondeh (debutant Sahar Goldust), Rahim hatches a repayment plan. She has stumbled across a handbag filled with 17 gold coins, and together they hope to sell it, then use the proceeds to secure his freedom — except, when they attempt to cash in, they're told that their haul won't reach anywhere the sum they need. Instead, with a mixture of guilt and resignation — and at Farkhondeh's suggestion — Rahim decides to track down the coins' rightful owner. Cue signs plastered around the streets, then an immensely thankful phone call. Cue also the prison's higher-ups discovering Rahim's efforts, and wanting to cash in themselves by eagerly whipping up publicity around their model inmate's considerate choice. The media lap it up, as do the locals. Rahim's young son Siavash (newcomer Saleh Karimaei), a quiet boy with a stutter that's been cared for by his aunt Malileh (fellow first-timer Maryam Shahdaei), gets drawn into the chaos. A charity that fundraises to resolve prisoners' debts takes up the cause, too. Still, the stern and stubborn Bahram remains skeptical, especially as more fame and attention comes Rahim's way. Also, the kind of heroism that's fuelled via news reports and furthered by social media is fickle above all else, especially when competing information comes to light. Read our full review. BENEDICTION To write notable things, does someone need to live a notable life? No, but sometimes they do anyway. To truly capture the bone-chilling, soul-crushing, gut-wrenching atrocities of war, does someone need to experience it for themselves? In the case of Siegfried Sassoon, his anti-combat verse could've only sprung from someone who had been there, deep in the trenches of the Western Front during World War I, and witnessed its harrowing horrors. If you only know one thing about the Military Cross-winner and poet going into Benediction, you're likely already aware that he's famed for his biting work about his time in uniform. There's obviously more to his story and his life, though, as there is to the film that tells his tale. But British writer/director Terence Davies (Sunset Song) never forgets the traumatic ordeal, and the response to it, that frequently follows his subject's name as effortlessly as breathing. Indeed, being unable to ever banish it from one's memory, including Sassoon's own, is a crucial part of this precisely crafted, immensely affecting and deeply resonant movie. If you only know two things about Sassoon before seeing Benediction, you may have also heard of the war hero-turned-conscientious objector's connection to fellow poet Wilfred Owen. Author of Anthem for Damned Youth, he fought in the same fray but didn't make it back. That too earns Davies' attention, with Jack Lowden (Slow Horses) as Sassoon and Matthew Tennyson (Making Noise Quietly) as his fellow wordsmith, soldier and patient at Craiglockhart War Hospital — both for shell shock. Benediction doesn't solely devote its frames to this chapter in its central figure's existence, either, but the film also knows that it couldn't be more pivotal in explaining who Sassoon was, and why, and how war forever changed him. The two writers were friends, and also shared a mutual infatuation. They were particularly inspired during their times at Craiglockhart as well. In fact, Sassoon mentored the younger Owen, and championed his work after he was killed in 1918, exactly one week before before Armistice Day. Perhaps you know three things about Sassoon prior to Benediction. If so, you might be aware of Sassoon's passionate relationships with men, too. Plenty of the film bounces between his affairs with actor and singer Ivor Novello (Jeremy Irvine, Treadstone), socialite Stephen Tennant (Calam Lynch, Bridgerton) and theatre star Glen Byam Shaw (Tom Blyth, Billy the Kid), all at a time in Britain when homosexuality was outlawed. There's a fated air to each romantic coupling in Davies' retelling, whether or not you know to begin with that Sassoon eventually (and unhappily) married the younger Hester Gatty (Kate Phillips, Downton Abbey). His desperate yearning to hold onto someone, and something, echoes with post-war melancholy as well. That said, that sorrow isn't just a product of grappling with a life-changing ordeal, but also of a world where everything Sassoon wants and needs is a battle — even if there's a giddy air to illegal dalliances among London's well-to-do. Benediction caters for viewers who resemble Jon Snow going in, naturally, although Davies doesn't helm any ordinary biopic. No stranger to creating on-screen poetry with his lyrical films — or to biopics about poets, after tackling Emily Dickinson in his last feature A Quiet Passion — the filmmaker steps through Sassoon's tale like he's composing evocative lines himself. Davies has always been a deeply stirring talent; see: his 1988 debut Distant Voices, Still Lives, 2011's romance The Deep Blue Sea and 2016's Sunset Song, for instance. Here, he shows how it's possible to sift through the ins and outs of someone's story, compiling all the essential pieces in the process, yet never merely reducing it down to the utmost basics. Some biopics can resemble Wikipedia entries re-enacted for the screen, even if done so with flair, but Benediction is the polar opposite. Read our full review. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on March 3, March 10, March 17, March 24 and March 31; April 7, April 14, April 21 and April 28; and May 5, May 12, May 19 and May 26; and June 2. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as The Batman, Blind Ambition, Bergman Island, Wash My Soul in the River's Flow, The Souvenir: Part II, Dog, Anonymous Club, X, River, Nowhere Special, RRR, Morbius, The Duke, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Fantastic Beasts and the Secrets of Dumbledore, Ambulance, Memoria, The Lost City, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Happening, The Good Boss, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The Northman, Ithaka, After Yang, Downton Abbey: A New Era, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Petite Maman, The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Firestarter, Operation Mincemeat, To Chiara, This Much I Know to Be True, The Innocents, Top Gun: Maverick, The Bob's Burgers Movie, Ablaze, Hatching and Mothering Sunday.
If you're bored with standard light bulbs, or are looking for a creative light fixture to add some style to a room, why not get imaginative and do it yourself? Creating your own orbs, hanging lights or lamps can actually be much simpler than you may think, and they also make use of materials you'll probably have lying around the house sitting stagnant and useless anyway. Establish an alternative ambience, add some creative flair or improve the decor of a room simply by adding some alternative lights you've made yourself. Here are 12 of the most impressive, innovative and easiest DIY light fixtures made from everyday household objects. Wine Bottle Plastic Spoon and Water Jug Bendy Bamboo Straw Chandelier Cloud Light Paper Flower Jars Paper Cups Doily Lamp Bowler Hats Cupcake Cups Orb [Via Buzzfeed]
In 1996, Independence Day topped the worldwide box office. In music, Los del Rio's 'Macarena' did the same on America's Billboard chart. And, on television, 3rd Rock From the Sun and Sabrina the Teenage Witch made their debuts. Get nostalgic for that year, no matter whether you lived through it or not, and you'll likely think about all or some of the above — plus everything from fellow movie hits Twister and Scream through to tunes such as 'Ironic' and '1979'. Well, unless you're the women of returning 2021–2022 standout Yellowjackets, that is. For Shauna (Melanie Lynskey, The Last of Us), Natalie (Juliette Lewis, Welcome to Chippendales), Taissa (Tawny Cypress, Billions), Misty (Christina Ricci, Wednesday), Lottie (Simone Kessell, Muru) and Van (Lauren Ambrose, Servant), 1996 will always be the year that their plane plunged into the Canadian wilderness, stranding them for 19 tough months. As teenagers (as played by The Kid Detective's Sophie Nélisse, The Book of Boba Fett's Sophie Thatcher, Scream VI's Jasmin Savoy, Shameless' Samantha Hanratty, Mad Max: Fury Road's Courtney Eaton and Santa Clarita Diet's Liv Hewson), they were members of the show's titular high-school soccer squad, travelling from their New Jersey home town to Seattle for a national tournament, when the worst eventuated. Films, songs and shows couldn't be more trivial when an incident like that sears itself in your history. [caption id="attachment_894477" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Colin Bentley/Showtime.[/caption] Afterwards, life would never be the same — not during the time they spent fending for themselves in the forest, and not a quarter-century later as well. In both its instantly addictive Emmy-nominated debut season and just-arrived second go-around, which streams weekly via Australia's Paramount+ and Aotearoa's Neon from Friday, March 24, Yellowjackets flits between these two time frames. Hailing from creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson (Dispatches From Elsewhere), it openly courts nostalgia itself in the process. References abound to pop-culture touchstones of the era, the soundtrack is a dark and grungy 90s dream, and the show's theme tune 'No Return' echoes with killer throwback vibes (even if Shrill's Craig Wedren and Anna Waronker, the program's resident composers, created it anew for the series). All that looking back cuts deep, though, with Yellowjackets pondering what happens when someone's yearning for days long passed is forever tainted by trauma. There's far more than wistfulness lost, robbed and infected at the heart of this survivalist thriller, of course; when it premiered, it was understandably pegged as Lost-meets-Lord of the Flies with an Alive twist, a neat but accurate-enough basic summary. All isn't always what it seems as Shauna and company endeavour to endure in the elements. Also, tearing into each other occurs more than just metaphorically. Plus, literally sinking one's teeth in has been teased and flirted with since episode one, too. But Yellowjackets will always be about what it means to face something so difficult that it forever colours and changes who you are — and constantly leaves a reminder of who you might've been. That's where the series' jumping back and forth remains so crucial, exploring shattering turns of events and the choices they spark, then watching their ripples keep biting hard decades later. When Yellowjackets ended its first season, it was with as many questions as answers. Naturally, it starts season two in the same way. In the present, mere days have elapsed — and Shauna and her husband Jeff (Warren Kole, Shades of Blue), who was also her best friend Jackie's (Ella Purnell, Sweetbitter) boyfriend before the crash, are trying to avoid drawing any attention over the disappearance of Shauna's artist lover Adam (Peter Gadiot, Queen of the South). Tai has been elected as a state senator, but her nocturnal activities have seen her wife Simone (Rukiya Bernard, Van Helsing) move out with their son Sammy (Aiden Stoxx, Supergirl). Thanks to purple-wearing kidnappers, Nat has been spirited off, leaving Misty desperate to find her — even enlisting fellow citizen detective Walter (Elijah Wood, Come to Daddy) to help. These narrative threads each connect backwards, where two months have gone by since season one wrapped up. There, as winter makes searching for food and staying warm an immense feat, Shauna is heavily pregnant and also severely grief-stricken. Van thinks that she has a solution for Tai's nighttime departures, but they're stubborn. Nat spends her days scouring the woods with Travis (Kevin Alves, Locke & Key), one of their coach's sons, for his missing brother Javi (Luciano Leroux, A Million Little Things) — and her nights attempting to counter Lottie's "witch-doctor messiah" turn. And Misty has a new pal there, too, courtesy of theatre devotee (and fellow survivor and soccer-team member) Crystal (Nuha Jes Izman, FBI). [caption id="attachment_894479" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kailey Schwerman/Showtime.[/caption] Prepare to get meaty: where the rightly buzzed-about initial season was happy mostly hinting at its wilderness secrets, season two ramps up the eeriness, chills and gore. Seeing still isn't always believing in Yellowjackets, but the pivotal crash keeps unleashing vicious consequences — and savagery not only festers but grows the longer that the 90s team is on its own in the cold, lacking a secure source of sustenance, and fraying mentally and as a group. Their predicament never stops being visceral; however, Yellowjackets has always known that the troubles firing up in everyone's hearts and heads are just ferocious. Indeed, cue a bigger dose of fantasy sequences, hallucinations and the supernatural, as the series retains its commitment to examining how the bleakest and most brutal twists of fate, and the options they inspire, turn coping into a lifelong struggle. In Yellowjackets' two timelines, it couldn't have assembled a better cast to slice into trauma, coping, yearning and ripping apart nostalgia — and anchor a series that's a psychological horror show, black comedy and teen drama as well. While its mysteries and cliffhangers made the first season make-a-date weekly viewing, Yellowjackets doesn't merely survive but thoroughly thrives because it feels so acutely human. Its women, then and now, navigate messy situations that no one should face in their worst nightmares. And yet, how these ladies process that fact, and persist — even how they fracture and fight, escape into whatever assists, latch onto the tiniest slivers of hope, and make devastating decisions, right and wrong alike — remains intensely relatable thanks to both complex writing and stunning performances. Lynskey, Lewis and Ricci on the same bill is another of the show's 90s dreams, and that trio is well-paired with Cypress, Ambrose and Kessell, not to mention well-matched by their younger counterparts. This ravenous TV feast will continue, too, with Yellowjackets unsurprisingly renewed for season three in advance of season two. Check out the full trailer for Yellowjackets season two below: Season two of Yellowjackets streams weekly from Friday, March 24 via Paramount+ in Australia and Neon in New Zealand. Read our review of season one. Top image: Kailey Schwerman/Showtime.
It isn't by accident that watching The Changeling feels like being read to, rather than simply viewing streaming's latest book-to-TV adaptation. Arriving from the pages of Victor LaValle's novel of the same name, this new horror-fantasy series is obsessed with stories, telling tales and unpacking what humanity's favourite narratives say about our nature, including myths and yarns that date back centuries and longer. Printed tomes are crucial in its characters lives, fittingly. Libraries, bookstores, dusty boxes stacked with old volumes, beloved childhood texts, a rare signed version of To Kill a Mockingbird with a note from Harper Lee to lifelong friend Truman Capote: they all feature within the show's frames. Its protagonists Apollo Kagwa (LaKeith Stanfield, Haunted Mansion) and Emma Valentine (Clark Backo, Letterkenny), who fall in love and make a life together before its first episode is out, even work as a book dealer and a librarian. The Changeling also literally reads to its audience, because LaValle himself wants to relay this adult fairytale. He doesn't appear on-screen with book in hand, but his dulcet tones speaking lyrical prose provides a frequent guide. "Once upon a time" gets uttered, naturally. Declarations that stepping through someone's story says everything about who they are echo, too. Deploying the author to say his own words here and there is an evocative and ambitious choice, and one that has the exact desired effect: this series doesn't just flicker across the screen, but burrows into hearts and minds. Within its narrative, The Changeling regularly muses on being caught between memories and dreams. Viewing it takes on that same sensation. Getting LaValle reading is savvy as well, then, helping the show's audience share a key sliver of Apollo and Emma's experience. Debuting on Apple TV+ on Friday, September 8, The Changeling believes in the power of tales — to capture, explain, transport, engage, caution and advise. In a show created and scripted by Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Fifty Shades of Grey and Saving Mr Banks screenwriter Kelly Marcel, there's nothing more potent and revealing than a story. They're how we share ideas, express emotions, pass on information and keep records. They spark our imaginations, help us make sense of the world and offer pure entertainment. As Apollo and Emma learn on an eight-episode first-season journey filled with haunting mysteries, told with eerie intrigue and painted through gorgeously entrancing imagery, they also convey warnings and encapsulate our darkest truths. Aptly, New Yorkers Apollo and Emma meet amid books, in the library where she works and he frequents. It takes convincing to get her to agree to go out with him — and while that leads to marriage and a child, The Changeling's astute thematic layering includes Apollo's repeated attempts to wrangle that first yes out of Emma. In-between early dates and domesticity, she takes the trip of a lifetime to Brazil, where an old woman awaits by Lagoa do Abaeté. The locals warn Emma to stay away but she's mesmerised. What happens between the two strangers sends the narrative hurtling, with the lakeside figure tying a red string around Emma's wrist, granting her three wishes, but advising that they'll only come true when the bracelet falls off by itself. The Changeling isn't a fairytale purely because it involves wishes. It hasn't been badged as an adult version of folklore's short stories just because it's set in the Big Apple this century — Apollo and Emma meet in 2010 — and centres on a couple's tumultuous relationship, either. Where the pair's romance takes them next is right there in the show's name, a term used to describe a baby that's believed to have been swapped out by fairies; however, knowing that, and that witches, curses, monsters and underground cities also pop up, is just scratching the surface of their tale as well. LaValle and now Marcel understand that happy endings, when they do come, are merely a minor part of the narratives that we call fairytales. Amid their supernatural elements, horror and trauma always lurks. That's true of everything from Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood to Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Beauty and the Beast, and of The Changeling. LaValle and Marcel's inspirations sprawl further, including to Greek myths, Scandinavian folklore, US history, Ugandan traditions, One Hundred Years of Solitude and Rosemary's Baby. The Changeling digs into parenthood's joys and stresses, especially for mothers. It lays bare the societal pressures, expectations and threats levelled at women constantly — and the myriad of male forces and reactions. In not only Apollo and Emma's story, but also in Apollo's mother Lillian's (Violent Night's Alexis Louder when she's younger, American Horror Story's Adina Porter when she's older), the series is intricately steeped in the immigrant and the Black American experiences. Courtesy of a stunning late episode solely devoted to Lillian, it recalls Angels in America while expanding upon the many tragedies inflicted upon folks on the margins. Directors Melina Matsoukas (Queen & Slim), Jonathan van Tulleken (Upload), Dana Gonzales (The Handmaid's Tale) and Michael Francis Williams (David Makes Man) make The Changeling as complex aesthetically as it is narratively and thematically. When the show's visuals glow, that's never solely a stylistic choice. When its imagery is shadowy and hazy, the series isn't just employing an easy way to get ominous. Meticulously framed, lit and composed, The Changeling knows the oft-quoted old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, ensuring that every single frame deepens its storytelling. Sometimes that results in sights so unsettling that they're difficult to shake. At other times, Apollo and Emma's antics are positively ethereal to behold. It takes immense performances to weather everything that The Changeling throws at its characters, and to also guide audiences through each twist, turn, leap and jump. To fans of Short Term 12, Get Out, Sorry to Bother You, Uncut Gems, Knives Out, Atlanta and The Harder They Fall, it'll come as no surprise that Judas and the Black Messiah Oscar-nominee Stanfield is exceptional — soulful, simmering with emotion whether Apollo is falling in love or living a nightmare, and electrifying in his gaze alone. Backo, Porter and Louder are also excellent, anchoring a multifaceted portrait of both womanhood and motherhood. When she pops up midway, Malcolm in the Middle great Jane Kaczmarek is equally brilliant. What phenomenal storytellers this series has amassed. What an enthralling tale they help read to viewers, too. Check out the trailer for The Changeling below: The Changeling streams via Apple TV+ from Friday, September 8.
Many museums say they're taking you 'travelling in time', but New York's adventurous New Museum has found an unusual way to displace you by 20 years. Their new project titled Recalling 1993 is transforming 5000 of the city's pay phones into time machines where people can escape reality and make calls 20 years into NYC's past. Until May 26, city dwellers and visitors can easily pick up any pay phone, dial 1-855-FOR-1993 and hear a recording about what was happening 20 years ago in that specific location. The installation was proposed by ad agency Droga5 and was inspired by the museum's exhibition NYC 1993 Experimental Jet, Set, Trash and No Star, which encapsulates the year in art. They describe it as "a pivotal year that began to shape the New York we know today". The stories on these geolocated time machines are told by New Yorkers to New Yorkers, including WNYC's Brian Lehrer, the Village Voice's Michael Musto, renowned chef Mario Batali, iconic trash TV presenter Robin Byrd and many others. You can hear a few select samples at the Recalling 1993 website. It's always great to see initiatives that take museum-goers beyond the building and into the streets. But this project's single masterstroke must be the way it revives the near-obsolete pay phone for one last hurrah. We'd be so bemused to pick up the receiver of one these days, it seems right there'd be a voice from the past waiting inside to connect. Via Inhabitat.
Happyfield is a relatively new addition to the local brunch scene, but it has already become one of our favourite cafes in Sydney. It mostly resembles an American diner, with bright yellow interiors and a menu packed with US breakfast and lunch staples. The 'proper' pancakes ($16) come stacked high, slathered in Pepe Saya butter and drenched in Canadian maple syrup. There's no specially made compote, hazelnut soil or whipped ricotta addition. There's a clear focus on the classics. That's also seen in the McLovin Muffin ($14). This breakfast bun comes filled with handmade chicken sausages, folded eggs, melted cheddar cheese, a few dollops of chipotle mayo and sprinkling of chicken and herb salt. Consider your hangover meal sorted. You'll also find a few detours from the well-worn path, like a Brooklyn bagel with smoked wagyu pastrami ($23), a crispy prawn katsu burger ($23) and even a 260-gram Cape Grim sirloin steak ($32), if you're someone who believes in ultimate autonomy over your brunch choices. Drinks-wise, you've got coffee from Single O (with bottomless batch brew available — $8), milkshakes (an obligatory menu item for any diner — $9.50), fresh juices ($8.50), house sodas ($7.50) and a bunch of boozy bevs. Start off with Happyfield's signature espresso martini ($16) that comes with a dash of maple syrup or opt for the limoncello spritz ($14) when the sun comes out. If you're heading on a weekend, head down to Haberfield early to nab a table, it's known to get busy. Appears in: The Best Cafes in Sydney Where to Find the Best Breakfast in Sydney
Among the many gifts that 80s cinema gave the world, Glenn Close's (Tehran) turn as a bunny-boiling jilted lover in Fatal Attraction is one of them. There's committed performances and then there's her Oscar-nominated effort as Alex Forrest, the book editor who embarks upon an affair with Michael Douglas' (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) married Manhattan lawyer Dan Gallagher, then doesn't appreciate being seen as a mere fling. How does another version of Fatal Attraction follow that up? Why would one bother? How can the film's erotic-thriller storyline leap to TV, find a way forward decades beyond the genre's heyday, and update its plot and long-outdated sexual politics to today? Streaming from Monday, May 1, Paramount+'s eight-part series endeavours to answer those questions — engagingly and intriguingly, and with an excellent cast. There's an air of inevitability to the new Fatal Attraction before its first episode even begins; in this peak time for turning movie classics into television shows, of course the rabbit-stewing hit is getting that treatment. From A League of Their Own and Interview with the Vampire to Dead Ringers and American Gigolo, streaming platforms can't stop remaking the past, a trend that also sees a Cruel Intentions show in the works, plus Harry Potter and Twilight series. Fatal Attraction circa 2023 doesn't just jump on that bandwagon. In finding a way to flesh out the OG film's 119-minute narrative to almost eight hours and give itself a point of difference, it's also a murder-mystery. That's a calculating but involving move, steeping the show in another current favourite approach — see: fellow recent whodunnits Poker Face, Bad Sisters, The Afterparty, The Undoing and The Flight Attendant — and putting far more than a scorned woman in focus. Brought to the small screen by Alexandra Cunningham (Physical) and Kevin J Hynes (The Offer), with the feature's screenwriter James Dearden (Christmas Survival) co-penning several episodes — the 1987 script adapted his own 1979 short Diversion, too — the latest Fatal Attraction starts with its adulterous lawyer in prison. Formerly an assistant Los Angeles district attorney and head of major crimes on the way to a judgeship, this Dan (Joshua Jackson, Dr Death) has spent 15 years in incarceration. Petitioning for his freedom, he tells the parole board that he's thought about Alex Forrest's (Lizzy Caplan, Fleishman Is in Trouble) death every day across that decade and a half. But there's another side to his words — because, once out, he's back to protesting his innocence. More than that, he's determined to track down the killer, with help from his ex-colleague and ex-detective Mike Gerard (Toby Huss, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story). Listening in on that hearing is college student Ellen (Alyssa Jirrels, Saved by the Bell), Dan's now-grown daughter, who hasn't had any contact with her father at his request during his time inside. In Fatal Attraction's present-day thread, she's handily a psychology student specialising in Carl Jung and his collaborator Toni Wolff, and calls her mother Beth's (Amanda Peet, Brockmire) second husband Arthur (Brian Goodman, I Know This Much Is True) dad. Dan wants to reconnect, a quest that unfurls in parallel to his search for the truth, as well as the show's flashbacks to the late 00s. In the latter, he's reaching 40 and flying high until his move behind the bench doesn't pan out, which coincides with new LA arrival Alex crossing his professional path as a victim's advocate. It's telling that Cunningham also has Dirty John on her resume, while Hynes has the new TV version of Perry Mason; combine the first's romance-gone-murderous stories with the second's legal dramas and that's where their spin on Fatal Attraction largely lands. In the process, there's noticeably little eroticism beyond a tumble or two in Alex's window-filled loft, but there is a vital look at the narrative from more than just Dan's viewpoint. His privilege is called out — he's the son of a judge, even making him a nepo baby — as the show also steps through his liaison with Alex from her perspective, and then from Beth's. There's no doubting that revisiting the same events through multiple characters' eyes helps fill the series' running time; however, it also helps reinforce that all tales are shaped by whoever is telling them. Indeed, when Fatal Attraction dives into Alex's history, including the lifetime of terrible treatment from her always-philandering dad and lack of affection from her mum, it puts her mental health in the spotlight, plus her thoughts, feelings and motivations. This iteration is never just about a man who strays from his nuptials and ends up with unwanted attention, prison time and his life upended, but equally about how Alex's time with Dan appears to her, and why. Playing out across both of the series' periods, Fatal Attraction is similarly concerned with how the past forever shapes our futures, a notion it unpacks in layers. That said, it also throws in a ridiculous and questionable late development to underscore that line of thinking, which blatantly and needlessly tries to set up a second season. When the show isn't making wild swerves and delivering cliffhanger twists, it benefits from having Caplan and Jackson at its centre. Sliding into Close and Douglas' shoes is no simple task, so neither attempts to imitate their predecessors, instead capitalising upon their own patent chemistry and respective strengths as performers. Caplan has always excelled at exuding intelligence and vulnerability in tandem — amid acerbic quips, it's what helped make her part in Party Down such a gem — and Jackson has been making charming but flawed his niche since Dawson's Creek, then Fringe, then The Affair. He can't sell being 55 in Fatal Attraction's later timeline, though, and visibly isn't treated well in the hair department. The series' smart casting extends to perennial scene-stealer Huss, who could turn Mike into another show's slippery lead; the ever-reliable Peet, who is never asked to play Beth as just the betrayed spouse; and Jirrels, including while saddled with talking through much of Fatal Attraction's psychological musings. With perspective such a key part of this retelling, strong supporting performances couldn't be more essential. In fact, that too is a crucial reason that returning to this tale proves impossible to ignore, like Alex: it's still a portrait of obsession, but it spies more than just one type of fixation and one basis for it. Check out the trailer for Fatal Attraction below: Fatal Attraction streams via Paramount+ from Monday, May 1. Images: Monty Brinton / Michael Moriati, Paramount+.
It's a chair made out of swords. So notes Daemon Targaryen's (Matt Smith, Morbius) description of TV's most-fought-over piece of furniture of the past 13 years: the Iron Throne. Not one but two hit HBO shows have put squabbles about the sought-after seat at their centre so far, and the second keeps proving a chip off the old block in a fantasy franchise where almost everyone meets that description. If the family trees sprawling throughout Game of Thrones for eight seasons across 2011–19 and now House of the Dragon for two since 2022 (with a third on the way) weren't so closely intertwined in all of their limbs, would feuding over everything, especially the line of succession, be such a birthright? Set within the Targaryens 172 years before Daenerys is born, House of the Dragon could've always cribbed the name of another HBO success. In season two from Monday, June 17 Down Under — via Binge in Australia and Neon in New Zealand — season one's black-versus-green factionalism remains a civil war-esque showdown over which two offspring of the late King Viserys the Peaceful (Paddy Considine, The Third Day) should wear the crown and plonk themselves in the blade-lined chair. The monarch long ago named Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy, Mothering Sunday) as his heir. But with his last breaths, his wife Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke, Slow Horses) — also Rhaenyra's childhood best friend-turned-stepmother — claims that he changed his pick to their eldest son Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney, Rogue Heroes) instead. In King's Landing, the response was speedy, with Rhaenyra supplanted as the next ruler before she'd even heard over at Dragonstone that her father had passed away. Based on Fire & Blood, which George RR Martin penned as backstory after A Song of Ice and Fire's first five books A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, House of the Dragon has also long painted Rhaenyra as the preferred type of chip off the old block. She too wants peace, not war. She also seeks stability for the realm over personal glory. If Viserys spotted that in her as a girl (Milly Alcock, Upright) when he chose her over Daemon, his brother who is now Rhaenyra's husband, he might've also predicted the dedication that she sports towards doing his legacy, and those before him, proud. Aegon, also the grandson of Viserys' hand Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans, The King's Man), sees only entitlement above all else. Martin's tales of family dynasties — the names Stark, Tully, Lannister, Baratheon and more also pop up again — trade in the cycles that course through the bonds of blood, especially in House of the Dragon. Everyone watching knows what's to come for the Targaryens in Daenerys' time, right down to an aunt-nephew romance as the counterpart to Daemon and Rhaenyra's uncle-niece relationship. (No one watching has started this prequel series, the first spinoff of likely many to Game of Thrones, without being familiar with its predecessor). Ice-blonde hair, ambition that soars as high as the dragons they raise and fly, said flame-roaring beasts of the sky, the inability to host happy reunions: these are traits passed down through generations. Some are a matter of genes. Martin continues to explore why the others persist. Season one took to its role as the next on-screen trek across Westeros with seriousness, devotion and reverence, leading to a front-ended run intrigue-wise with talk — scheming, plotting, proclaiming who should be next to sit upon several thrones — and laying the groundwork for more seasons to come monopolising the ten-years-later back half. It was exactly what fans of this TV franchise could've wanted, in no small part thanks to its fondness for overt mirroring that stresses the point that some things trickle down from parent to child no matter what. Season two has less establishing to do, and therefore a quicker pace and tighter focus. It's content in one time period. It also has not just the aftermath of a usurpation but also of a tragic death at the hands of Aegon's younger brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell, Saltburn), who bears a grudge and wears an eyepatch (the two are connected), to traverse. Rhaenys (Eve Best, Nurse Jackie), cousin to Viserys and Daemon, sums up one of the tragedies that House of the Dragon has committed itself to unpacking: that skirmishes will become such a given that no one will recall or care why the blacks (Rhaenyra's camp) and greens (Aegon and Alicent's) took up weapons and began torching each other with dragons in the first place. The audience won't forget. With images thankfully easier to discern — there's no repeat in the first four episodes of the dull-looking day-for-night atrocity of season one, its low point — the show's return witnesses the cost of pursuing the Iron Throne. It spends more time with the smallfolk, aka those beyond the royals and their cronies. It observes their reaction to the bad blood's brutality at its cruellest. And it does so even while making good on the big promise of Targaryens tearing into each other in a Seven Kingdoms period when dragons weren't a rarity: those mid-air sweeping and snapping dragon frays, which are gloriously brought to life. Scaling back the scene-setting and future-plotting is a gift to House of Dragon's cast in season two, especially to D'Arcy and Cooke. Rhaenyra's battle is really a battle with Alicent more than her son — and the two actors behind the parts expertly handle the task of conveying not only the duelling ambitions feeding the Targaryen tussle for the crown and throne, but also the emotional stakes and costs in their friends-turned-enemies portrayals. Best, as another Targaryen who should've been queen but was overlooked for Viserys, joins them in expressing what it means to walk every step with Westeros' engrained malice shaping your path beyond your control. Seeing their characters team up may now be left to fan fiction, but House of Dragon is a better series with their performances at its heart. As uttered with the snarling glibness that Smith oozes so well in his scene-stealing role, that aforementioned account from Daemon of what everyone is fighting over might sound flippant. It's designed to. But trust House of Dragon to encapsulate the undying source of its heat, and of the perpetual clashes within this conflict-riddled saga, with such a seemingly easy and ordinary turn of phrase. When the fact that leading means climbing across a path of violence, then sitting atop one, even if you're devoted to eschewing bloodshed — again, the Iron Throne is literally a chair made out of swords — and when that fact is such a routine aspect of life that no one thinks twice about it, what else but more feuding can spring? Check out the full trailer for House of the Dragon season two below: House of the Dragon season two streams Down Under via Foxtel and Binge in Australia, and SoHo, Sky Go and Neon in New Zealand, from Monday, June 17, 2024. Read our review of season one. Images: HBO.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas across the country. After months spent empty, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Australian picture palaces are back in business — spanning both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ivHf4ODMi4 JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH The last time that Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield appeared in the same film, Get Out was the end result. Their shared scene in Jordan Peele's Oscar-winning horror movie isn't easily forgotten (if you've seen the feature, it will have instantly popped into your head while you're reading this), and neither is Judas and the Black Messiah, their next exceptional collaboration. With Kaluuya starring as the Black Panther Party's Illinois Chairman Fred Hampton and Stanfield playing William O'Neal, the man who infiltrated his inner circle as an informant for the FBI, the pair is still tackling race relations. Here, though, the duo does so in a ferocious historical drama set in the late 60s. The fact that O'Neal betrays Hampton isn't a spoiler; it's a matter of fact, and the lens through which writer/director Shaka King (Newlyweeds) and his co-scribes Kenneth Lucas, Keith Lucas (actors on Lady Dynamite) and Will Berson (Scrubs) view the last period of Hampton's life. The magnetic Kaluuya has already won a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe for his performance, and is bound to be nominated for and likely win an Oscar as well — and if he wants to keep acting opposite Stanfield in movies this invigorating, ardent, resonant and essential, audiences won't complain. It's 1966 when O'Neal falls afoul of the law for trying to impersonate an FBI agent to steal a vehicle. With J Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen, Grace and Frankie) directing his employees to "prevent the rise of a 'messiah' who could unify and electrify the militant black nationalist movement" — his real-life words — the car thief is offered a deal by actual FBI Special Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons, I'm Thinking of Ending Things). If O'Neal cosies up to Hampton, then reports back on his comings, goings, political moves and general plans, he'll avoid jail. Initially apprehensive, he acquiesces to keep his freedom. With Hampton's raging speeches earning him a firm following, and his charisma and canny strategies broadening the crowds hanging on his words, O'Neal's task isn't minor. And the further he ingratiates himself into Hampton's confidence, becoming his head of security, the more he's torn about keeping tabs and doing the government's increasingly nefarious bidding. This isn't just a story about one young Black man coerced into bringing down a rising leader and revolutionary, however. It's also a tale about the figure who mobilised the masses as Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X had, until he was shot while he slept at the age of just 21. And, it's an account of the powers-that-be's abject fear of progress, equality, and the crusaders willing to put their lives on the line to fight for justice and a better world. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBjcbZla2cA GIRLS CAN'T SURF Exploring the gender imbalance in professional surfing, especially during the 80s and 90s as women in the sport were starting to attract the world's attention, Girls Can't Surf feels like a floodgates-bursting documentary. Watching female stars of the era talk about their experiences, including the vast disparity in prize money between men and women and how that affected their efforts to make a living, it's easy to see this candid and detailed film setting a template for a wealth of other movies. As fans of any type of women's sport well and truly know, differing treatment, pay, sponsorship and levels of respect aren't restricted to hitting the waves. Indeed, as the doco's high-profile parade of talking heads offer their thoughts and recollections — such as former world champions Frieda Zamba, Wendy Botha, Pam Burridge, Pauline Menczer, Lisa Andersen and Layne Beachley — many of their words could be uttered by any number of female athletes in a wide range of fields. That truth doesn't undercut the doco's power, or downplay what women surfers have been through. Rather, it underscores the importance of continually shining a light on the way the sporting arena has routinely sidelined, undermined and devalued anyone who isn't male. "If you can't see it, you can't be it" is one of Girls Can't Surf's resonant and universal sound bites, and it's easily applicable far beyond the film's specific stories and the sport in focus. Indeed, when Beachley talks about how she used to mill around surfing contests as a teen starting out in the field, and annoy the ladies she'd soon be competing against, you can see those words in action; if earlier generations of women hadn't already been hanging ten, Australia's seven-time champ wouldn't have had any footsteps to follow in. The film is filled with astute insights and telling connections such as these. It all leads to the well-publicised recent development, only back in 2018, of equal winnings for men and women being mandated by the World Surf League from 2019 onwards. That happy ending benefits today's stars, such as Stephanie Gilmore, Tyler Wright and Carissa Moore, but it came too late for Girls Can't Surf's interviewees. Once again, knowing that significant change has finally come to the sport doesn't diminish the potency of hearing about the horrors, struggles and rampant sexism that female surfers endured for decades — with two-time feature surf documentarian Christopher Nelius (Storm Surfers 3D) smartly bringing those tales to the fore, and the people sharing them as well. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb9PBr7Qhec MAX RICHTER'S SLEEP Since first opening its doors back in 1973, the Sydney Opera House has played host to a wealth of performances, spanning far further in genre than just the art form that gives the venue its name. But it was only during Vivid Live 2016 that the iconic locale serenaded visitors into an evening-long slumber, all as part of Max Richter's live recital of his eight-and-a-half hour work Sleep. Across 31 tracks comprised of 204 movements, the German-born British composer's concept album unfurls music based on the neuroscience of getting some shuteye. In its intonation, the ambitious yet soothing piece favours the range that can be heard in the womb for much of its duration. When performed for an audience, it is played overnight, with beds set up — and doing as the work's title suggests is highly encouraged. Attendees recline, listen and let Richter's blend of strings, synthesisers and soprano vocals lull them into the land of nod. If they'd prefer to stay awake, that's fine as well, but soaking in Sleep's ambient sounds while you're snatching 40 winks is all very much part of the experience. In its live version, Sleep has echoed through spaces in London, Berlin and Paris, too; however, it's the first openair performance in Los Angeles' Grand Park in 2018 that takes pride of place in the documentary Max Richter's Sleep. A filmmaker was always bound to be so fascinated with the concept that they'd turn their lens Richter's way, and that director is Natalie Johns (an Emmy nominee for Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live in Concert), who endeavours to capture the experience for those who haven't had the pleasure themselves. The resulting film doesn't run for more than eight hours, or anywhere close — but those watching and listening will quickly wish that it did. As a feature, Max Richter's Sleep isn't designed to advertise its namesake. Rather, it documents, explores and tries to understand it. Still, the movie so easily draws viewers into the music, and so deeply, that making its audience want to snooze in public while Richter and his band plays is a guaranteed side effect. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZSLvFo0eus COSMIC SIN Reminding viewers of far better movies while they're watching yours isn't a smart or recommended filmmaking tactic, but it's what writer/director Edward Drake (Broil) does best with Cosmic Sin. By casting Bruce Willis in this science fiction slog, it immediately brings The Fifth Element to mind. That influential 1997 movie just keeps inspiring flicks that don't feature Willis of late — see also: Chaos Walking — but it leaves a particularly heavy imprint here. Indeed, it's impossible not to think of the rosier era in the actor's career that The Fifth Element represents as Willis is grimacing his way through scene after scene in Cosmic Sin, and visibly putting in zero effort. It's difficult not to think of 1998's Armageddon, too, a movie that isn't at all great but is certainly better than this new space war-fuelled picture. Drake clearly wants audiences to make these connections, which is why his feature spends far more time than it should watching Willis meander around looking unimpressed and wearing plastic armour, all while playing a disgraced military head honcho on the comeback trail. And, it must be why the film squanders Frank Grillo, who also hasn't had a great run of late (as seen in Jiu Jitsu and Boss Level), but has been screaming for years for a movie that makes the most of his presence. The year is 2524. Earth is now an old hand at attempting to colonise other planets. And when one such celestial body tried to break away five years earlier, Willis' James Ford handled it by committing mass murder. Now, a group of aliens from a just-discovered civilisation is attempting to give humans a taste of their own medicine. Ford is brought back as part of a ragtag team tasked with defending life as everyone 500 years in the future knows it, which also includes General Eron Ryle (Grillo), his nephew Braxton (Brandon Thomas Lee, Sierra Burgess Is a Loser), quantum tech Fiona Ardene (Adelaide Kane, Once Upon a Time) and fellow veteran Marcus Bleck (Costas Mandylor, In Like Flynn). Cue a movie that's never as over-the-top as it needs to be to keep viewers even remotely interested, and a bland affair all-round. The film's fondness for tech jargon-heavy nonsense dialogue doesn't help. Cosmic Sin's vision of the future — including its laughable robot bartenders — also looks as awkward as its narrative and performances feel. And while Drake and his co-writer Corey Large (Breach, and also a co-star here) endeavour to ponder deeper themes, including humanity's historical penchant for exploring the world and conquering everything in sight, that too proves flimsy. It isn't intentional, but Willis' bored look says everything it needs to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVOH9540Sbg THEN CAME YOU With film distributors playing it coy and cautious when it comes to releasing their hopeful box office hits during the pandemic, movies that mightn't have otherwise made their way into cinemas are currently getting a shot at the big screen. In some cases, that's excellent news for small but exceptional features that would've likely been dwarfed by blockbusters. In others, flicks that no one should have to pay to endure are also reaching theatres. Then Came You falls into the latter category. A vanity project for American talk show host Kathie Lee Gifford, who stars in and wrote the not-at-all romantic or comedic rom-com, it'd test patience even if it was watched with just one eye half-open and after several drinks in the middle of a long-haul flight. As well as lazily using culture-clash tropes to throw obstacles in the way of its chalk-and-cheese central duo — a newly widowed American hardware shop owner (Gifford, Sharknado 5: Global Swarming) and the Scottish Lord (Craig Ferguson, Hot in Cleveland) whose crumbling mansion she books for the first stop on a globe-hopping getaway — this trite affair hasn't met a clunky double entendre it didn't love, or a predictable plot development that can be seen from Nantucket to Scotland. First, Annabelle Wilson and Howard Awd converse via email, which Then Came You has the pair read aloud in its opening moments. Then, she announces to her empty house that she has to make new memories or the old ones will kill her, heads to the UK, is shocked that Scotland has working trains, and alternates between flirting and arguing with her host. He has a sob story, too, and he's also struggling to retain his sprawling, stereotypical-looking estate. He has a high-powered London-based bride-to-be (Elizabeth Hurley, Runaways) as well — but there's never any doubting how Then Came You will end. Rom-coms frequently stick to a template; however, it is possible to liven up a creaky formula with snappy dialogue and warm, charismatic performances. As directed with the forceful gloss of a TV commercial by second-time feature helmer Adriana Trigiani (Big Stone Gap) and often set to the same repeated song (also co-written by Gifford), this film sadly struggles with both its core rapport and its leading lady's overacting. He's worlds away from his own former TV hosting gig on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and from his sitcom tole on The Drew Carey Show, but the fact that the reliably charming Ferguson fares best here, even with the grating material, hardly comes as a surprise. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on November 5, November 12, November 19 and November 26; and December 3, December 10, December 17, December 26; and January 1, January 7, January 14, January 21 and January 28; February 4, February 11, February 18 and February 25; and March 4. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as The Craft: Legacy, Radioactive, Brazen Hussies, Freaky, Mank, Monsoon, Ellie and Abbie (and Ellie's Dead Aunt), American Utopia, Possessor, Misbehaviour, Happiest Season, The Prom, Sound of Metal, The Witches, The Midnight Sky, The Furnace, Wonder Woman 1984, Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles, Nomadland, Pieces of a Woman, The Dry, Promising Young Woman, Summerland, Ammonite, The Dig, The White Tiger, Only the Animals, Malcolm & Marie, News of the World, High Ground, Earwig and the Witch, The Nest, Assassins, Synchronic, Another Round, Minari, Firestarter — The Story of Bangarra, The Truffle Hunters, The Little Things, Chaos Walking and Raya and the Last Dragon.
Clare Smyth has achieved a lot during her career as a chef. Her London restaurant Core was awarded two Michelin stars, Smyth was named the World's Best Female Chef at the 2018 World's 50 Best Restaurants and she cooked at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Smyth also worked at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Alain Ducasse's Le Louis XV (both three Michelin starred-restaurants), guest judged on Netflix's The Final Table and, locally, appeared on MasterChef Australia. But expect to see a lot more of her soon — the highly lauded chef set to open her first Australian restaurant in Sydney next year. Set to open in February 2021, the unnamed restaurant will be located in the Crown Sydney — yes, James Packer's controversial $2.4 billion casino and hotel — which is also set to launch on that date. [caption id="attachment_759287" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Food Story Media[/caption] While details on what exactly Smyth will be plating up are scarce for now, she says it'll have a similar emphasis to Core on "sustainable food sourced from local farmers and food producers". "The quality and diversity of the produce available in Australia is incredible." Smyth said in a statement. "I look forward to spending a lot of time [in Australia] further exploring its food and wine regions to create our menu which will showcase the best produce sourced from Australia's most dedicated farmers and food producers." Smyth's Aussie venture will be just one of 14 bars and restaurants opening at the Barangaroo site, with the other big-name chefs set to be announced in the coming months. Details are firmly under wraps at the moment, but we've been told "some of the most exciting names in the culinary food scene" from Australia and abroad will be involved. We'll let you know as soon as any more are announced. Clare Smyth's so far unnamed restaurant is set to open in Crown Sydney, Barangaroo in February 2021. Top images: Core by Food Story Media
In its opening moments, Bupkis unloads — twice, in completely different ways, while ensuring there's zero doubt that this is a series about Pete Davidson starring Pete Davidson as Pete Davidson. First, the former Saturday Night Live comedian gets Googling while alone in the basement of the Staten Island home he shares with his mother Amy (Edie Falco, Avatar: The Way of Water). The results about Ariana Grande, Kate Beckinsale and Kim Kardashian's ex aren't positive; one headline simply exclaims 'Yuck!'. So, to shake off the unpleasantness of reading '12 Things Horribly Wrong with Pete Davidson', which is one of the nicer statements, he switches from "scumbro" with "butthole eyes" comments to porn. He's wearing a VR headset, and he's soon deep in self-love. Then his mum walks in. Streaming from Thursday, May 4 on Binge in Australia and TVNZ+ in New Zealand, Bupkis clearly isn't wary about getting crude. It isn't concerned about satirising its central figure, either. Instead, this semi-autobiographical dramedy relishes the parody. At the age of 29, Davidson has reached the "you may as well laugh" point in his career, which is hardly surprising given he's spent the past decade swinging his big chaotic energy around. Or, more accurately, how pop culture has hung on every twist in his love life and off-screen mess far more than his eight SNL seasons and big-screen roles in Big Time Adolescence, The Suicide Squad, Bodies Bodies Bodies and more. Missed those flicks? Bupkis riffs on them, too, while also following in The King of Staten Island's footsteps. Partway through the eight-episode series, while keen to claim some perks for being Davidson's mother — other than doting on her son, that is — Amy shouts at wait staff that "Marisa Tomei played me!". Add that to Bupkis' gleeful, playful nods to reality. An opening statement before each instalment stresses the difference between fact and fiction, and why the show has the name it has, but art keeps imitating life everywhere. There's no switching names, however. Davidson is indeed Davidson, his IRL mum is called Amy and his sister is Casey (Oona Roche, The Morning Show). As in The King of Staten Island, they've been a trio since 9/11, and dealing with losing his New York City firefighter dad still isn't easy. Off-screen, Davidson must be a fan of My Cousin Vinny, plus the gangster genre. Hailing from the former as Tomei does, and famed for his performances in the latter like The Sopranos star Falco, Goodfellas, Casino and The Irishman alum Joe Pesci is a pivotal part of Bupkis as Davidson's grandfather Joe — a hilarious and delightful part, unsurprisingly. When Joe drops grim health news, the series gets one of its through lines, with Davidson determined to spend as much time with his grandpa as possible. He's clueless about what to do, though, whether he's hiring him a sex worker or seeking advice about why no one ever takes him seriously. Joe is blunt: "they see you as a joke because you are a joke — and you act like a fucking joke." There's roguish self-awareness to the way Bupkis leans into Joe's assessment — with Davidson lampooning himself, could there be anything else? — alongside an earnest-but-comic effort to unpack why that's such a widely held view. Joe also advises that he needs to stop trying to make himself happy and focus on other people for a change, another thread tying the show's episodic antics together. Sometimes, Davidson endeavours to prove he can look after a kid (there's that Big Time Adolescence nudge). Elsewhere, he attempts to push his career into blockbusters (which is where The Suicide Squad comes to mind, but here he's making a war epic with Brad Pitt). Often, he's unable to work out how to have a normal relationship with his girlfriend Nikki (Bodies Bodies Bodies' Chase Sui Wonders, who played his character's girlfriend in that savvy slasher and is reportedly Davidson's real-life paramour at the time of writing). Creating Bupkis with The King of Staten Island co-writer Dave Sirus and Crashing's Judah Miller (so, a veteran of another comedy where a comedian plays himself), Davidson also battles a troll who keeps posting a photo of him that he hates, looks back on the aftermath of his father's death with 'Cotton Eye Joe' as a soundtrack, and goes to rehab with Machine Gun Kelly and Black Bird's Paul Walter Hauser. He has Everybody Loves Raymond's Brad Garrett and Nine Perfect Strangers' Bobby Cannavale as surrogate father figures, and Ray Romano as a nemesis. Everyone from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Charlie Day and Miracle Workers' Steve Buscemi to SNL's Kenan Thompson and John Mulaney pop up, plus Jon Stewart, Al Gore and Method Man. He hangs out with an entourage — Evan (Philip Ettinger, Angelyne), Derek (Derek Gaines, The Last OG), Crillz (first-timer James A DeSimone), Dave (Sirus) and Gilly (Shane Gillis, Gilly and Keeves) — like the show is a Staten Island-set version of Entourage, and enlists Red Rocket's Simon Rex for a killer Florida-set Fast and Furious spoof. What is it like to be Pete Davidson? Returning to that key question again and again on-screen, the honest answer in Bupkis is anarchic and absurd, usually of his own making. If the series wasn't as sincere as it is, it could be accused of throwing anything and everything it can at the sitcom's walls and letting it all stick — but there's always insight shining behind even its silliest and most surreal stretches. When he's ruining funerals, missing his sister's graduation, proving the truth behind 'Is Pete Davidson on Drugs?' articles, not taking big gigs seriously and opting for mystery substances over a quiet night alone abroad over the holidays, Bupkis doesn't avoid the glaringly obvious, either: it's the sitcom's version of Davidson who is making his own choices. The King of Staten Island was also candid, raw and lived-in, as well as thoughtful and laugh-out-loud funny. Davidson delivered a compelling wayward-yet-vulnerable performance, too, while surrounded by excellent supporting players. No wild escapade is ever exactly the same twice, of course, as Davidson's on-screen characters keep experiencing — and repeating himself turns out entertainingly and astutely when he's this intent to keep interrogating his own existence. Pesci and Falco couldn't be more perfectly cast, both seeing through the tabloid facade (one with no-nonsense gruffness, the other with an abundance of warmth), but Davidson knows how to leave an imprint as himself. Here, he's again unloading his real struggles, and he's also unwilling to bask in sitcom happiness. The details might be embellished and fictionalised Curb Your Enthusiasm and Ramy-style, but that definitely isn't bupkis. Check out the trailer for Bupkis below: Bupkis streams via Binge in Australia and TVNZ+ in New Zealand from Thursday, May 4. Images: Heidi Gutman / Peacock.
A cafe, restaurant and bar, Oceans Narrabeen is a local's favourite located directly across from the beach. Serving Allpress Espresso, you can pick up your morning coffee before hitting the waves. After your swim, grab a wrap loaded with home-made baked beans, avocado, bacon, spinach and a fried egg or refuel with an açai bowl topped with granola, nuts and fresh fruit. For lunch and dinner there's plenty to choose from including fresh seafood, juicy burgers, tacos, salads and sticky ribs, too. If you're feeling thirsty, the cocktails are not to be missed — our picks are the Oceans' signature espresso martini and lychee and mint Bellini. Head to Oceans with friends to catch live music and a few beers. And, be sure to check their socials for seasonal specials, upcoming events and weekly deals. Images: Mel Koutchavlis
UPDATE, Thursday, March 28, 2o24: Oppenheimer is available to stream via Netflix, Binge, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Cast Cillian Murphy and a filmmaker falls in love. Danny Boyle did with 28 Days Later and Sunshine, then Christopher Nolan followed with Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception and Dunkirk. There's an arresting, haunting, seeps-under-your-skin soulfulness about the Irish actor, never more so than when he was wandering solo through the empty zombie-ravaged streets in his big-screen big break, then hurtling towards the sun in an underrated sci-fi gem, both for Boyle, and now playing "the father of atomic bomb" in Nolan's epic biopic Oppenheimer. Flirting with the end of the world, or just one person's end, clearly suits Murphy. Here he is in a mind-blower as the destroyer of worlds — almost, perhaps actually — and so much of this can't-look-away three-hour stunner dwells in his expressive eyes. As J Robert Oppenheimer, those peepers see purpose and possibility. They spot quantum mechanics' promise, and the whole universe lurking within that branch of physics. They ultimately spy the consequences, too, of bringing the Manhattan Project successfully to fruition during World War II. Dr Strangelove's full title could never apply to Oppenheimer, nor to its eponymous figure; neither learn to stop worrying and love the bomb. The theoretical physicist responsible for the creation of nuclear weapons did enjoy building it in Nolan's account, Murphy's telltale eyes gleaming as Oppy watches research become reality — but then darkening as he gleans what that reality means. Directing, writing and adapting the 2005 biography American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J Sherwin, Nolan charts the before and after. He probes the fission and fusion of the situation in intercut parts, the first in colour, the second in black and white. In the former, all paths lead to the history-changing Trinity test on July 16, 1945 in the New Mexico desert. In the latter, a mushroom cloud balloons through Oppenheimer's life as he perceives what the gadget, as it's called in its development stages, has unleashed. Pre-Los Alamos Oppenheimer is all nervy spark, whether he's excited about a Cambridge lecture by Niels Bohr (Kenneth Branagh, Death on the Nile), meeting other great minds in his field around Europe, taking his learnings home from to start the US' first quantum mechanics class, or cultivating what'll later be disparaged by a security clearance-decreeing Atomic Energy Commission panel as a far leftwing mindset. He's electric when an animated ideological chat with Communist Party member Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh, The Wonder) leads to slipping between the sheets for a tumultuous affair. When he meets botanist and biologist Kitty (Emily Blunt, The English) in the smoothest of sexual tension-dripping conversations, his inertia gets her answering "not very" when he asks if she's married. Determination mingles in, too, when Lieutenant General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon, Air) thunders into his classroom on a recruitment mission for top-secret work in a race to beat the Nazis. And, it lingers as the ball is put in motion, then keeps rolling, to construct the most fateful ball of them all. Post-Hiroshima and Nagasaki Oppenheimer is solidified in his certainty that his big bang, then the others that America's military detonated swiftly in Japan once they knew it worked, is on the wrong side of history. He's fragmented, though, by the response to his horror — including the McCarthy-esque committee mercilessly scrutinising him, his colleagues and others closet to him, while deciding whether they'll still give him access. Amid the political fallout for Oppenheimer's advocacy for scaling back afterwards, AEC commissioner Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr, Dolittle) is weaved in, also answering dissecting questions. Oppenheimer is a talky film, sound and fury echoing as heatedly in its words as when blazing light fills the screen. Both the discussions-slash-interrogations and the incendiary moment that forever altered all incendiary moments are impeccably, immaculately, thrillingly and viscerally staged. Nolan identifies chain reactions, and creates them. As he slams the movie's two parts together with his Tenet editor Jennifer Lane's exacting splicing — also letting the contrasting segments lensed so meticulously by Oscar-nominated Dunkirk cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema fling closer and bounce apart, and linking everything with Black Panther Oscar-winner Ludwig Göransson's evocative and relentless score — he crafts his most complex and complicated film yet. His subject demands it. Oppenheimer follows, digs into memory and can't sleep with what's happened. It notices what grows in darkness, shifts reality, reaches for the cosmic and hops through time, too, all in its own ways. It plays like a culmination of Nolan's work as a result — it's certainly made like exactly that — as its namesake tries "not to set the sky on fire", as Groves tells him, then attempts to kill the terrible threat of burning skies as a power-boosting military tactic. If someone told Nolan not to set the screen alight and aglow with his 12th feature in 25 years, and his second about World War II in six, he didn't listen — be it with his resonant ideas, his execution or his stars. He paints a fiery portrait of America, especially in monochrome. He unpacks the lengths that humanity will go to to gain control and garner recognition, and the grave costs. He fires moments at the screen that just keep expanding in impact, and combining like Dunkirk's onslaught from land, air and sea. An early gripping scene involving Oppenheimer as a student, an apple and cyanide is one. So is the immediate expectation to lead the cheering after the Trinity test, just as the full meaning of what's occurred dawns, in a sequence that uses dissonant sound to immersive and galvanising effect. And, piercing too is the rat-tat-tat of the interrogation dialogue. Murphy is spectacular, and has never been better as Nolan stares so intimately and contemplatively at his revealing face. How joyous it is to see Downey Jr, also never better, actually act again — his astounding, awards-destined performance is meaty, mesmerising, and something that's been sorely missed. Oppenheimer's is an explosive cast, also spanning Blunt at her steeliest; pivotal contributions by Josh Hartnett (Black Mirror), Benny Safdie (Stars at Noon) and David Krumholtz (White House Plumbers) as fellow scientists; and the influential Jason Clarke (Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty), Macon Blair (Reservation Dogs), Dane DeHaan (The Staircase) and Alden Ehrenreich (Cocaine Bear) among the lawyers, military and political aides. Present, too, each in small but significant parts: three consecutive 2017–19 Best Actor Academy Award-winners in Manchester by the Sea's Casey Affleck, Darkest Hour's Gary Oldman and Bohemian Rhapsody's Rami Malek. Nolan deploys them all in a film that bellows, billows and blasts. Watching, and plunging into Oppenheimer's mind, isn't a passive experience.
Passion is a pivotal part of every cocktail enjoyed at the end of a long week, every glass of wine sipped with dinner and every cold brew cracked open just because. If you've made the choice to drink a particular tipple, you should be passionate about it. Life's just too short to waste it on average drops. Unsurprisingly, passion is also one of the driving forces behind every spirit, vino and beer before it even reaches your lips. No one dedicates their life to making standout beverages if they're not devoted to the field. And that passion has been particularly important in 2020, with drinks brands everywhere forced to adapt to quite the challenging year — as South Australia's Never Never Distilling Co, Paracombe Wines and Little Bang Brewing Company can attest. For the past few months, BWS has tapped into both of the aforementioned sources of passion — into the enthusiasm of Aussie drinkers, and into the excitement of those responsible for the country's favourite bevvies. Via its Local Luvvas initiative, the bottle shop retailer asked the nation to pick its top local drinks, with the three chosen companies receiving an extra helping hand with getting their products stocked in more BWS stores. That means you now have more excuses to pick up Never Never, Paracombe and Little Bang's wares. To celebrate the news, and the passion behind it, we've chatted to the committed folks behind the scenes at each. [caption id="attachment_789218" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Meaghan Coles[/caption] A PASSION FOR COMPLEXITY When you're pouring yourself some gin, then adding tonic and whichever garnishes you prefer, it all seems so simple and straightforward. But the juniper-based spirit delivers a complicated array of flavours — and it's that complexity, as well as a "huge passion for South Australia's incredible food and beverage industry", that actually sparked Never Never Distilling Co co-founder and managing director George Georgiadis to start the business in the first place. His fellow co-founders Tim Boast and Sean Baxter share that passion, obviously. Boast, who is also Never Never's head distiller, is a staunch believer in tipples made with purpose, too. "Assuming you can get the fundamentals right and build from a strong foundation, a spirit crafted with a purpose in mind for the end product will ultimately deliver a better liquid," he explains. If you need an example, he suggests Never Never's Triple Juniper Gin, which was specifically designed to be the best gin possible for classic cocktails and G&Ts. A drink made with passion — and complexity and purpose — inspires the same in return. Awards bodies have shown that by showering the McLaren Vale-based distillery with accolades, including in this difficult year. In March, Never Never picked up the Best Regular Gin prize at the San Francisco World Spirit Awards, in fact. But it's the passion of the brand's local supporters that has helped immensely in a period where the company has been forced to "quickly take stock of our focuses, and be brave in what our strategies needed to be," says Baxter. "South Australians are probably some of the most discerning drinkers — you look at the history of wine in SA and the producers who put Australian wine on the map. We're seeing it now in SA gin, where local punters have access to so many incredible smaller producers that they'll actively seek out what's new and what's the best". A PASSION FOR HISTORY When Kathy and Paul Drogemuller bought an old dairy farm in the Adelaide Hills more than three decades ago, they were clearly fond of a good drop. Neither had a background in growing grapes or making wine, but they decided to plant a vineyard at their property at Paracombe, which had been burnt out by the Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983. They still kept full-time jobs outside of the farm; however, when they did some research on the area, they found a significant source of inspiration for their hobby. "We discovered that Paracombe had a history of wine going back to the mid-1800s," says Kathy. "There was a vineyard and operational winery exporting wine to England, and the first vintages of Penfolds Grange came from Paracombe. All this valuable history had died out, so we made it our mission to revive the district, raise it back from the ashes and put Paracombe back on the map." From there, the Drogemullers infused their passion into making the very best wine — and making the very best of their location in the process. "Great wine happens in the vineyard and should reflect a sense of place," notes Kathy, explaining how Paracombe Wines capitalises upon the area's ironstone, buckshot gravel and quartz-layered soils, as well as its cooler climate. The result, all these years later, is a range of wines across both whites and reds that locals love. "To start something from nothing, be involved in every process — growing, making, bottling, storing and distributing — all from our property and vineyard, and to produce a product that connects and brings people together around a table with food and family: that is a joy," says Kathy. And if anything was going to help Paracombe Wines "rise above adversity", as Kathy describes the company's journey in 2020, it's that local love. "We have seen that in these difficult times, people seek out to support local more than ever," she says. A PASSION FOR DELICIOUS AND CREATIVE BEER Asked how Little Bang Brewing Company came about, cofounder Ryan Davidson gives the most honest answer there is: "making things is fun, beer is delicious, beer costs money and we were unemployed," he says. But that was just the beginning of his beer-making journey with co-founder and head brewer Fil Kemp, with whom he worked in the games industry prior to starting their Adelaide brewery. "It was once we started brewing together that the fervour really kicked in. We're both rather obsessive when it comes to learning something new, and we encouraged each other a lot in those early days, seeking out every little bit of knowledge, history and expertise we could lay our hands on." That passion for learning has played a big part in Little Bang's 2020 journey, too, and in the kind of year that Davidson could never have imagined back when the company launched in 2014. "We've pivoted so much, we're getting dizzy. It's been a lesson in agility, that's for sure — keeping a constant eye on the news and being ready to redefine what we do, in almost every way, and at a moment's notice," he says. To the surprise of no one, Ryan notes that it has been exhausting. Still, he also says 2020 has been "extremely informative". He continues: "we've learned a lot about our customers, our business and ourselves that we wouldn't have had the chance to know otherwise". All those lessons — the early learnings when the brewery was starting out, and the new gleanings over the past ten months — help shape Little Bang's beverages. Davidson is passionate about something else, though. Naturally, he's still keen on free beer, but he's also enthusiastic about the local community that has blossomed around the company's brews. "We don't see Little Bang as just our business," he says. "It's just as much a creation of the day-to-day attitudes and ideas of all the staff here, and the huge variety of people who spend time at the taproom. We're just lucky enough to work here." To find these or other South Australian drinks as part of the BWS Local Luvva's initiative, head to your nearest BWS store.
Sport and the internet seem to have a love-hate relationship. The extra exposure can make athletes more human, but a mis-placed tweet can land them in hot water; the web can open up new audiences, but illegal streams of event coverage can encourage fans to stay home. Sony Ericsson, the US Open and foursquare have teamed up to see what tech can bring to tennis. The 2011 US Open is set to become the first integrated foursquare sporting event. Fans will be encouraged to check-in at each of the courts, unlocking prizes, and if they become mayor of a court, the chance to do the pre-match coin toss. Sounds like a neat idea to encourage attendance, but perhaps foursquare will be the real winners in the deal, gaining a partnership that puts them one up against other check-in apps, and providing prime exposure to the 300,000 tennis fans expected to attend. Hopefully the web-sport crossovers won't stop there. Perhaps clubs will do away with expensive managers and just use the fantasy league picks of their fans? Or perhaps CrickiLeaks will be the source of all new cricket scandals? Let's just stay away from chatroulette while Warney is still around though...
The campaign to change the date of Australia Day to, well, any day other than January 26 — on account of the undeniable pain it causes Indigenous Australians — has been long fought. In recent years it's even been joined by local councils and the Greens and, now, local broadcaster Triple J has made a symbolic move away from the day of 'celebration'. The radio station will move the date of its annual Hottest 100 countdown to January 27 in 2018. About time. Around this time last year Triple J copped a cavalcade of requests to change the date of the countdown, which culminated in the station throwing open a survey of how listeners would feel about the change. The results were enough to make Triple J change its mind — 60 percent of listeners said they supported moving the date. In Triple J's official statement, it recognised that the Hottest 100 has become a symbol in the debate about Australia Day. "The Hottest 100 wasn't created as an Australia Day celebration. It was created to celebrate your favourite songs of the past year," it said. "It should be an event that everyone can enjoy together — for both the musicians whose songs make it in and for everyone listening in Australia and around the world. This is really important to us." It's a symbolic change, but an undoubtedly important one. The countdown on Saturday, January 27 will be followed by the Hottest 200 on Sunday, January 28. Voting will open on Tuesday, December 12. You can read all the details here.
Huge news: Crown Street could soon be home to Australia's first ultra-exclusive Soho House Club, according to a report by the Australian Financial Review. The global private members club was originally set to open on Domain Road in Melbourne's South Yarra, but developers were forced to ditch plans at the direction of VCAT in late October, after strong opposition from local councils and a residents' group. Trenerry Property Group and Kanat Group will lead the transformation of the $20 million, three-storey space at 256 Crown Street in Darlinghurst. Plans for the 512-square-metre site are scarce at the moment, but we'll bring you more information as it drops. Soho House first opened in London in 1995 as a private members' club for clientele in the creative sphere. They've since opened over a dozen clubs across Europe and North America, as well as restaurants, cinemas, workspaces, spas and bedrooms. From New York to Istanbul, exclusivity is a common global denominator. We'll bring you more information as it becomes available. Top image: Jason Briscoe, Unsplashed
Our footballers adore them. Plenty of our musicians do, too. Yes, Australia's love affair with the most chaotic of hairstyles — the short-at-the-front, long-at-the-back do that is the mullet — runs deep. But here's something that'll surprise even the most devoted aficionados of this cult-favourite cut: mullet shoes. Shoes with a mullet. Sneakers with long hair attached. Kicks that are all business in front, party in the back. However you choose to describe them, the idea remains the same. And, while it might seem like a gag, these just-launched Volleys are 100-percent real. April 1 has been and gone for another year, and Volley's Heritage High Mullet Edition shoes weren't part of it. That said, Volley's latest limited-edition to its range is meant to inspire a few giggles. Again, they're sneakers with a detachable mullet velcroed onto the back — footwear that people are meant to slip on their feet and walk around in while letting that hairy patch drag along the ground in all its glory. But they've also become a reality for a cause that's no laughing matter, with Volley teaming up with the Black Dog Institute to release the shoes for the latter's Mullets for Mental Health campaign for 2022. "Volley is honoured to have joined forces with Black Dog Institute to create this mullet masterpiece. We feel that partnering with the Institute, particularly for the Mullets for Mental Health campaign, allows us to instil our light-hearted, larrikin spirit into a difficult topic to broach, making it less daunting and easier to spark conversation," says Volley Australia General Manager John Szwede. And don't go thinking that you can only run around in your mullet-adorned Volleys with their long hair swishing away. "We want people to be interactive with their mullet volleys – cut them, dye them, braid them and most importantly, wear them," explains Szwede. "We look forward to continuing this relationship with Black Dog Institute ongoing and we hope to create something truly unique and special for our audience and beyond." All profits from Volley's mullet kicks are being donated to the Black Dog Institute, too, so you'll be doing a good deed by adding them to your wardrobe. Sure, you'll also be committing a crime against fashion — and that synthetic hair will probably get quite grimy when you're stepping all over it — but rocking a mullet, whether on your head or now on your feet, has always meant throwing caution (and long locks) to the wind. For more information about Volley's Heritage High Mullet Edition shoes, or to buy a pair, head to the brand's website.
Just when you thought your smartphone might have reached it's multitasking limit, it’s about to take on a job usually left to the law enforcers: breathalysing. That’s right, soon it will be easier than ever for designated drivers to eliminate the risky guesswork involved in decided whether to knock back a sneaky last drink. The initial batch of the world’s first smartphone breathalyser, ‘Alcohoot’, has sold out, and will be ready for shipping in September this year. Keen socialisers can reserve one of the second lot for $75 and expect to have it in their hands by October. Compatible with iPhone, iPad and Android, Alcohoot is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which means that the device can handle at least 150 tests. Not only can you use it on yourself, you can also pass it around among friends. The accuracy of the testing system, which is reliant on platinum grade fuel cell sensors, is similar to that of a breathalyser used by police. If you’re interested in developing a detailed understanding of how your body responds to alcohol consumption, you can track your blood alcohol level throughout the course of any given night. If it turns out that you’re over the limit, you can use the app to contact local cabbies, or to find details of nearby restaurants and cafes. [Via Lost at E Minor]
The City of Sydney has unveiled an ambitious plan to create a more liveable and sustainable city over the next thirty years. The plan builds upon the Sustainable Sydney 2030 strategy that the City of Sydney has been working towards since 2017. The plan promises a better-connected and more open city with increased public spaces, town squares and greenery, improved public transport and greater cultural identity. Now labeled Sustainable Sydney 2030-2050 Continue the Vision, the new plan includes already announced projects like the completion of the Yananurala foreshore walk, boosting green cover across the city to 40-percent and creating a harbour that facilitates swimming, alongside infrastructure innovations including the permanent and temporary transformation of roads into public spaces, and transport improvements to the Metro train line and Green Square town centre. "All successful cities have long-term plans to ensure their economies and communities prosper, business invests with confidence and all governments work together providing essential infrastructure and services," said Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore. [caption id="attachment_849521" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Town Hall Square render[/caption] By far the most ambitious of the announced plans are three linked public squares the City of Sydney wants to create at Circular Quay, Town Hall and Central. The squares will be connected by the new and improved George Street and the light rail, radically changing these sections of the CBD. The plan for Circular Quay suggests removing the Cahill Expressway, creating an openair civic space in front of Customs House, while the vision for Town Hall features a far-reaching green space linking Hyde Park, Sydney Square and Town Hall Station. The future of the Cahill Expressway has been a focus of the current NSW Government on several occasions, with the road being used to host a week-long music and arts festival over New Year's and current NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet naming it one of ten iconic buildings he'd bulldoze. The City of Sydney's plan also prioritises cultural and economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. "The cities that will recover and thrive most effectively are the ones that provide affordable housing, working and cultural space, a myriad of cultural offerings, walking, cycling and excellent late-night public transport, green, cool calm streets, laneways, small bars and late-night activity," says Moore. [caption id="attachment_849518" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Central render[/caption] Sustainable Sydney 2030-2050 Continue the Vision will be presented to the council on Monday, April 11. Top image: Circular Quay render supplied by the City of Sydney.
UPDATE: MAY 13, 2020 — Marta is reopening for dine-in service from Friday, May 15. It's taking bookings for up to ten people per sitting this Friday and Saturday, with times available from 5.15pm, 6.45pm and 8.30pm. Next week, it'll be open Wednesday–Saturday nights. Bookings are essential and can be made by emailing book@marta.com.au or calling (02) 9361 6641. Keen to gift Rushcutters Bay with an authentic taste of Rome, Flavio Carnevale has pulled up stumps on his southern Italian-inspired Popolo to make way for new venture Marta. As Popolo prepares to relocate to slightly more formal CBD digs, the space at 50 McLachlan Avenue has been transformed into a bright and buzzy neighbourhood osteria and bar, as imagined by award-winning Melbourne architects, DesignOffice (who're responsible for the epic Higher Ground). The all-embracing space is decked out in black and olive neutral tones, boasting a sunny courtyard and an array of seating options to suit any occasion. Moving away from the food of the Basilicata region, Marta's food and drink offering will take its cues from the lively venues of Rome, where Carnevale's hospitality journey began. Head Chef Christuan Jordaan is leading a menu that is both refined and full of personality, featuring dishes like bombolotti carbonara, whole-fried artichoke and tiella gaetana, a pie-like dish of thin pizza layers filled with baby calamari ragu. Daily house specials hope to inspire regular visits and it will only be open for lunch on Sundays — and dinner six nights a week. Meanwhile, a bar area with high-topped tables will be ideal for those drinks-focused drop-ins — sessions spent sipping spritzes and quaffing wines poured from Carnevale's bespoke ceramic decanters.
First, New South Wales celebrated picnic day. Now, pool day is coming. With the weather heating up and NSW's vaccination rates increasing as well, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced that outdoor pools across the state will be able to open again from 12.01am on Monday, September 27. So, if your usual spring routine involves taking a dip, doing a few laps or just otherwise enjoying your closest pool, that'll finally be back on the cards in just over a week. Natural pools are already allowed to open, but this change applies to all of NSW's other outdoor pools, which'll be permitted to get splashing again — and yes, in all parts of the state. The councils behind each outdoor pool will need to have a stringent COVID-19 safety plan in place, however, and those plans will need to have been approved by NSW Health. But, as long as that is the case, outdoor pools across the state can start welcoming in swimmers again before the end of the month. If you're wondering how that'll apply to your local outdoor pool, you'll want to keep an eye on their website over the next week or so regarding reopening dates, hours and rules. Revealing the news at NSW's COVID-19 press conference today, Sunday, September 19 — alongside the announcement that Sydney's LGAs of concern will revert to the same rules in place across the rest of the city from Monday, September 20 — the Premier said the change comes after positive developments, including the state's vaccination rates hitting 81.9 percent first doses and 51.9 percent second doses based on NSW residents over the age of 16. "As a result of these positive signs, the New South Wales Government is pleased to announce that from next Monday, all public pools will be open in a COVID-safe way," said Berejiklian. "And those COVID-safe plans will be formalised and made public, making sure that we keep community safe as much as possible and prevent seeding, and that all of us appreciate the importance of enjoying the warmer weather and the positive mental health and recreation and exercise." Yes, if you're thinking ahead to NSW's next public holiday, Labour Day, on Monday, October 4, this does now mean that going for a swim in a public outdoor pool can be on your agenda — alongside picnicking with up to four other pals if you're all fully vaxxed, of course. New South Wales' public outdoor pools are allowed to reopen from 12.01am on Monday, September 27. For more information about the status of COVID-19 in NSW, head to the NSW Health website.
Head into any Woolworths store from today — Tuesday, February 19 — and you'll find its $1 a litre milk is a thing of the past. In an effort to do right by Australia's struggling dairy industry, the supermarket giant is boosting the price of its home-branded two- and three-litre fresh milk varieties by ten cents a litre, with the difference eventually heading back into our farmers' pockets. Two-litre milk products will now be priced at $2.20, with the three-litre version upped to $3.30, at Woolworths stores nationwide. Since 2000, Australian dairy farmers have operated in a deregulated industry. This means that they are able to export their products much more easily as they can compete with international milk prices, but it also means they are often at the mercy of the international market price, which is, on average, quite low at around 42 US cents per litre. This, along with cheap domestic milk prices and high feed prices because of the drought, might explain why farmers are doing it tough of late. The cheaper the milk on your supermarket shelf, generally, the worse off the farms that made it. So, while this latest Woolworths price change might sound minor, it has scope to be a significant win in the fight against discount dairy — especially as the supermarket has promised to pay the extra ten cents it's collecting per litre back to the suppliers. https://twitter.com/Dairy_Australia/status/1097305276556800001 "Removing $1 milk is not just intended to restore farmers' financial confidence, but it will also boost confidence in regional communities and small businesses that rely on the industry," Australian Dairy Farmers CEO David Inall said in a statement yesterday. While Woolworths, as well as Coles, don't have a great reputation for supporting Aussie farmers, they're making steps (albeit small) to change this. Both supermarket giants introduced Drought Relief Milk in late 2018, with ten cents from each litre sold going to drought-affected dairy farmers. There's no word yet on whether Coles and Aldi will also increase the price of their home-branded $1-a-litre milks, but we'll let you know if they do.
Talking to an audience, or one-to-one, former-billionaire Chris Anderson still comes across as pretty approachable. Anderson is curator — and owner — of the smart, global talk-fest, TED, where talks are notes-free and never more than 18 minutes long. Anderson was in Australia last weekend for TEDxSydney's 2012 collection of talks about robots, quantum computing, imaginary friends and the durability of dirty words. After all but one of the other speakers had taken to the stage, Anderson spoke briefly about TED-Ed, which combines videos and mash-ups into a kind of "magic blackboard", and the Worldwide Talent Search for TED2013. After he left the stage, Concrete Playground was lucky enough to sit down with Chris Anderson for almost exactly a TED Talk's worth of time. You come across, from a distance, as very gentle. Do you find that helps you run a big conference like TED? I don't think anyone's ever asked me that before. Interesting. I think I probably am gentle. Maybe I'm gentle. There's lots of ways to run a business. And I do many of them really badly: but I do have a great team. And TED has a life of its own. So, it's amazing to see it take off around the world. Every day is a surprise. Teenagers get ignored a lot in public. Why did you pick teenagers as your target for TED-Ed? Well, our existing talks are aimed at adults and are certainly devoured by a lot of university-age students. And a little bit in schools. But they're not optimised for school use. They're too long. They displace too much class time. They're aimed at adults. And so, given that ideas matter most for people whose world views are still being formed, and given how important education is to everyone's future, we kind of have no choice, but to do something for that age group. And we spent a lot of time thinking about it. And talking to teachers, and listening. And this is where we've ended up. We've got a lot of interest among 18 and up. And we just wanted to move down. And maybe, if this is successful, we'll continue the trip down. Towards, you know, birth. [laughs] What was school life like for you? You talk a lot about better ways of education. Is that informed from a bad experience or a good experience when you were younger? I was brought up in an international school in the Himalayas in India. And it was a fabulous experience, actually. In fact, if I had a wish … if every kid could spend a few years in an international school, a lot of issues would go away. Because, without even trying, you end up a global soul. And, you know, all the big problems in the world are essentially global problems. So, it would be nice if the people who were trying to solve them were taking a global perspective instead of a tribal perspective, which is why we can't solve a lot of what's out there. So, no — it was a wonderful experience. It was lots of time outdoors. Lots of time in nature. And an incredible cast of characters in the school. So, it was great. I watched the TED-Ed talk 'Questions no one knows the answers to'. I really enjoyed that one. When do you think we might know the answers to some of those questions? You're in a good position to have an idea. There was a bunch of different questions thrown into there. I mean, one of the questions — about 'Why aren't we seeing alien life?' — I think there really is chance that in the next fifteen years that we learn a lot on the question. There's a lot of technologies coming online that will allow real spectroscopic information from nearby planets. We might be able to detect vegetation. There's a lot of things that might show up. And we're involved in this project right now to open up, crowd-source, the search as well. To get millions of people looking for signals, not just a few scientists. I would die happy, if we found real contact with another intelligent species out there. It would be totally thrilling. What do you think might be some of the new questions, once we get rid of the old ones? I certainly think it's right that the more we know, the more questions we have. Reality is infinitely complex. And you have to just view it as: each step of the journey is interesting, exciting and useful. I think I've said before that learning something is a different psychological process to consuming something. That most things we do have a law of diminishing returns. You eat ice-cream, and the fourth and fifth taste aren't quite as nice as the first taste. Knowledge — it actually works the other way. The more you know about the world, the more your sense of wonder explodes. And that's actually really cool. That gives me a lot of hope for the future of TED for one thing. You've said before that there's always one talk that really surprises you. What really surprised you today? I thought the talk on quantum computing was mind-blowing. And if quantum computers come along, all bets are off as to what that means for technology. Charles C Mann wrote a great book called 1491 updating America's pre-Colombian history with things he thought every kid should know. What do you think that grown-ups, kids, should know at the moment, much more generally? I think one of the things is how flawed and quirky human nature is. We don't yet have that mental model. A lot of kids are brought up to believe that they're special snowflakes, or [that] their only job in life is to find their passion and it'll all be okay. And the truth is we're really complex biological machines. And we do a lot of things amazingly, and we do a lot of things really badly, actually. Because we evolved for a different era, and a different set of environmental requirements. And so, knowing that, and learning to navigate around that is a really important part of education. What are you reading right now? Do you have time to read? Less time. I think that's probably true of everyone. We're launching this TED Books initiative, based on shorter books. On the idea that most ideas don't have to be expressed at 80,000 or 100,000 words. They can actually be expressed in maybe 20,000 words. So, TED Talk: 2,500 words. TED book: 20,000 words. Then, non-fiction book: 80,000 words. So, there's a sort of niche there. And it means that you can sit down and read in an hour and a half. I think that's actually a great length. So that's what I'm reading right now: we're going to be publishing these new TED books, one every two weeks. And I'm reading a lot of those. And they're pretty cool. Are you happy? I am happy. Most of my life I've been happy. They say it's seventy percent hard-wired, and the rest is magic. I'm unbelievably lucky —I've got one of the world's most enjoyable jobs, surely. And you know I get to see this thing growing in a way I couldn't have imagined. I'm married to an amazing woman who's a much better impacter of the world than I am. [laughs] So, yeah. I'm a lucky person. Photo by the amazing Enzo Amato, and additional assistance by Tully Rosen.
Google has just released photos of their in-the-works augmented reality glasses prototype. And while the glasses might not be the sexiest on the market, they certainly have functional appeal. The initiative, 'Project Glass', represents the company's first attempt at a wearable product. The glasses appear and function much like regular eyeglasses...that is, if your eyeglasses' lens could stream video, text messages, maps, and the weather forecast - all in real time. Operating via voice command, these glasses can also record video or take pictures of what is being viewed through them. Project Glass' Google Plus press release stated the initiative's belief that, "technology should work for you - to be there when you need it and get out of your way when you don't." The beta release of the glasses is expected to generate conversation and feedback to the company about what customers would like to see from Project Glass. https://youtube.com/watch?v=9c6W4CCU9M4 [via PSFK]
The National Gallery of Victoria is wrapping up this wild year in style, hosting the blockbuster second edition of its much-hyped NGV Triennial. Taking over the gallery from Saturday, December 19, the exhibition looks set to be the biggest art event to hit the city in three years, featuring works from over 100 artists, representing 30 different countries. Among them, you can expect a diverse response to this year's themes of illumination, reflection, conservation and speculation. With a lineup like this — and many months of missed art appreciation to make up for — it's hard to know where to even start. But we're here to help. We've delved into the program and pulled out five must-see artworks set to grace the gallery's hallowed spaces this summer. Start plotting your post-lockdown art gallery debut now, with this roundup of five captivating artworks to check out at the NGV Triennial. [caption id="attachment_795343" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Dhambit Mununggurr, 'Can we all have a happy life' 2019-20, courtesy Salon Indigenous Art Project. Installation view at NGV International, photographed by Sean Fennessy.[/caption] DHAMBIT MUNUNGURR: CAN WE ALL HAVE A HAPPY LIFE If you've got a thing for hues of blue, this immersive work from Yolnu artist Dhambit Munungurr will surely resonate. While artists from her home of Yirrkala (Northeast Arnhem Land) traditionally paint using hand-ground ochres and other natural pigments, Munungurr was granted special permission to switch to acrylic paints after a 2005 car accident left her with ongoing injuries. She's since developed a special love for the colour blue and as such, her recent works have left a significant mark on Yolnu art as a whole. This NGV installation Can we all have a happy life (2019–2020) is the latest to embrace the artist's go-to colour palette, featuring a vibrant series of 15 bark paintings and nine larrakitj (hollow poles). [caption id="attachment_795344" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cerith Wyn Evans, 'C=O=D=A' 2019–20, courtesy White Cube, London. Installation view at NGV International, photographed by Tom Ross.[/caption] CERITH WYN EVANS: C=O=D=A Big and bold is the name of the game for Cerith Wyn Evans' latest work, titled C=O=D=A (2019–20). The London-based artist has created a large-scale, neck-tilting celebration of light and movement, with his series of neon 'drawings' suspended brightly together in mid-air. Among them, you'll spy frantic scribbles, carefully structured shapes and even doodles referencing chemical compounds, each design experienced in countless new ways from different angles as audiences move around the installation. The full display towers at up to six metres high, challenging viewers to continually switch their perspective as they explore how each shape interacts with the next. [caption id="attachment_795349" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Atong Atem, 'Studio series' 2015, courtesy MARS Gallery, Melbourne. Installation view at NGV International, photographed by Tom Ross.[/caption] ATONG ATEM Atong Atem serves up some fresh cultural perspectives with her series of early photography works offering a vibrant exploration of identity. Born in Ethiopia in the 90s and now based in Melbourne, the artist has developed her body of work honing in on migrant stories and post-colonial practices in the African diaspora. For this portrait project she gives a nod to the old-school studio photography practices of her homeland, via a collection of staged shots dripping with colour. The vintage-inspired images are heady and impactful, featuring a festival of patterns and hues delivered through props, backgrounds, textiles and garments. [caption id="attachment_795351" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Stuart Haygarth, 'Optical (tinted)' 2009 (foreground), Mark Rothko, 'Untitled (Red)' 1956 (left) and Sabine Marcelis 'Dawn XXXIII' designed 2015. Installation view at NGV International, photographed by Sean Fennessy.[/caption] STUART HAYGARTH: OPTICAL (TINTED) A collection of over 4500 recycled tinted prescription spectacle lenses are the unlikely heroes of this stunning piece by British artist Stuart Haygarth. Optical (tinted) (2009) speaks to ideas of consumption, time and loss, as a thing of beauty is hatched from a bunch of discarded objects. Best known for his work repurposing everyday items into unexpected lighting installations, Haygarth here puts together a layered, shimmering sphere of used lenses. The intricate work features a careful assembly of elements, with cloudier lenses at the core making way for clearer glass pieces towards the outer edges. It's then lit from within, creating a sort of dazzling disco ball that'll have you reassessing your thoughts about waste and trash. [caption id="attachment_795355" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Porky Hefer, 'Plastocene – Marine Mutants from a disposable world' 2020, courtesy Southern Guild, Cape Town. Installation view at NGV International, photographed by Tom Ross.[/caption] PORKY HEFER: PLASTOCENE — MARINE MUTANTS FROM A DISPOSABLE WORLD We'd imagine there won't be too many times in your life you'll get to admire a giant octopus crafted from hand-felted cigarette butts. But this supersized oceanic beauty will be just one of many featured in a new large-scale installation by Porky Hefer. Plastocene – Marine Mutants from a disposable world (2020) sees the South African artist and his collaborators create a series of handmade sea creatures plucked from some dystopian future. The work's built on the notion of species being able to transmutate, eventually adapting themselves to fit a world of polluted oceans and plastic waste. The NGV Triennial 2020 will be on show at NGV International from Saturday, December 19 until Sunday, April 18, 2021. For more info and to see the full program, visit the NGV website. Top image: Cerith Wyn Evans, 'C=O=D=A' 2019–20, courtesy White Cube, London. Installation view at NGV International, photographed by Tom Ross
It's been a long time between Australian visits for UK disco-pop queen Jessie Ware. The last time she graced our shores was for Laneway Festival all the way back in 2013. In the time since, she's released four albums, including the immensely critically acclaimed What's You Pleasure in 2020 and its equally vibrant recent follow-up That! Feels Good!. But, it looks like the drought may be coming to an end, with Ware letting it slip that she's got plans to perform at Australian music festival Summer Camp later in 2023. On the most recent episode of her podcast Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware, the singer and her mother Lennie were joined by a fellow pop icon: Australia's very-own Dannii Minogue. While the episode traverses the dynamics of the Minogue family and the delights of panna cotta, one eagle-eared Twitter user noticed that Ware dropped the unannounced goss that she'd be heading Down Under soon. "I'm actually going to Australia in November for this festival called Summer Camp," Ware said while discussing travel plans, and the possibility of doing a Table Manners series here in Oz. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Summer Camp Festival (@summercampfestivalau) Summer Camp hosted its inaugural festivals in Sydney and Melbourne in 2022, combining top-notch tunes and LGBTQIA+ pride through a stacked lineup featuring Years & Years, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Big Freedia, Cub Sport and The Veronicas. The festival was also set to arrive in Darwin and Perth; however, after it was postponed from February to November, it was forced to reduce its scale to a two-date run. The festival hasn't announced its 2023 plans as yet, but its website does state "2023 dates coming soon". If Jessie Ware is to be believed, it looks set for a November comeback. We'll be sure to keep you updated whenever some concrete news comes through on a Jessie Ware tour of Australia, or a return for Summer Camp. If you want to hear the specific section of the podcast, it kicks off just after the eight-minute mark. Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware is available wherever you find your podcasts, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. You can keep up to date with the latest Summer Camp announcements at the festival's Instagram account. Top image: Raph_PH via Wikimedia Commons.
Cadbury, stahp. Cadbury, please staaaahp ruining everything we hold dear. We don’t know who keeps telling Cadbury that we want new, exciting and messed-up chocolate flavours, but they’ve released three new grotesque creations to the coveted Milk Tray lineup and it truly is a sign of the end times. Introducing Kale Crème, Wasabi Crunch and Beetroot Jelly, the next generation’s equivalent of Top Deck, Snack and Caramello. Let’s have a moment of silence to mourn simpler times. Apparently, Beetroot Jelly is meant to cater to health nuts (who will not be eating chocolate anyway, so why ruin it for the rest of us?), while Wasabi Crunch will capitalise on the popularity of "Asian flavours" (because there are apparently no more dessert-appropriate flavours in all of Asia to choose from). Then there's Kale Crème, the most vulgar flavour of them all, which is a response to a demand for savoury tastes. You guyyyys, we meant peanuts. Salt. Maybe chilli. These are the savoury flavours we want, and of all the savoury flavours you had to choose from kale was the winner? It’s not even tasty in its natural form (and don’t you dare pretend it is, health nuts) Unsurprisingly, it was reported that testers found the wasabi too sharp and the kale too bitter, although beetroot did pass (still doesn’t mean it should take up a whole pocket in a Milk Tray though). News.com.au were brave enough to see what lies beneath the new Milk Tray additions, here's their snap: Dramatics aside, Cadbury have been getting fairly… experimental with their flavours lately (need we remind you of Vegemite chocolate?) and this is not the first time the Milk Tray has been changed (RIP lime cordial). But after 100 years, the international confectionery giants are still trying to appeal to a younger audience who apparently can’t get enough of gimmicks. Well, you know what, they’re probably right. We need to try that Kale Crème. Goddammit, you’ve got our number Cadbury. Via The Vine. Image: Dollar Photo Club.
One of Sydney's leading hospitality groups is set to venture outside of New South Wales for the first time, with Merivale announcing its upcoming entry into Melbourne. The industry giant, which is helmed by CEO Justin Hemmes, will take ownership of Tomasetti House at 277 Flinders Lane in the heart of the Melbourne CBD. The historic building, built in 1853, is located just off of Flinders Street — a five-minute walk from Federation Square. Merivale currently operates more than 60 venues across Sydney, including popular restaurants Totti's and Mr. Wong, Sydney stalwarts The Beresford and Vic on the Park, and expansive bars Ivy and Coogee Pavilion. Hemmes' collection of bars and restaurants has been growing in recent years, with the purchase of venues such as The Duke of Gloucester Hotel and Hotel Centennial. Earlier in 2021, Hemmes and co purchased waterside bar The Quaterdeck on the NSW south coast, marking Merivale's first venture outside of Sydney. "Melbourne's CBD has suffered terribly from the hardships of the past year. We are committed to doing everything we can to help reinvigorate the city and support it in its road to recovery," Hemmes said in a statement. "Its local hospitality industry is one of the best in the world; brimming with creative culinary talent and supported by a passionate community of diners." [caption id="attachment_702661" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Totti's by Nikki To[/caption] Originally opened as a warehouse, Tomasetti House has operated as everything from a warehouse to a bar and nightclub across its 150-plus years. Most recently, the building has been in the hands of hospitality and tourism group Millet Group who have operated The Mill House out of the building's ground floor. Merivale is set to receive the keys to the multi-storey building late this year, with further details and plans yet to be announced. Merivale will open its first Melbourne outpost at Tomasetti House, 277 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, with further details yet to be revealed. To keep an eye out for future announcements, head to the Merivale website. Top image: The Mill House
Sydney is doubling for 1920s Long Island and New York — again. When Baz Luhrmann (Elvis) decided to bring The Great Gatsby to the screen, he did so by filming in the Harbour City. Then, a decade after the Australian director's Oscar-winning movie hit cinemas, a The Great Gatsby-themed club popped up in town host a The Great Gatsby-inspired cabaret variety show. Cut to 2025 and that event, aka GATSBY at The Green Light, is returning to the New South Wales capital, kicking off in December. Once more, Sydney Opera House is following in Luhrmann's footsteps, with GATSBY at The Green Light making its Harbour City comeback between between Saturday, December 13, 2025–Sunday, March 15, 2026. The production is taking over the venue with an array of excuses to pretend that it's a century ago — and that you're on the other side of the globe. The GATSBY part of the big event's moniker refers to the entertainment, while The Green Light is the temporarily rebadged locale where this party-esque experience will occur. First, the show: taking its cues from F Scott Fitzgerald's book, which is marking its 100th anniversary in 2025, GATSBY gives the classic text the aerial, burlesque, dance and circus treatment. As performers show off their skills, live contemporary music accompanies their efforts. Odette will be crooning, Oscar Kaufmann is set to do hat stands, Miranda Menzies will play with fire and show off her hair-hang skills, Bayley Graham will tap dance, Florian Brooks will juggle and Bettie Bombshell is part of the fun, too. Spencer Craig is playing Gatsby, as is Jacob McPherson in the character's younger guise, while Mariia Borysiak is Daisy. Then, the club: The Green Light gleans inspiration from prohibition-era speakeasies. Yes, drinks are involved. Indeed, while you watch, you'll be able to say cheers to the entertainment with a beverage in hand. Images: Daniel Boud / Prudence Upton / Anna Kucera.
Whether you love it or hate it, have flung cutlery at it or only first heard about it thanks to The Disaster Artist, The Room will always retain a unique spot in popular culture. Writer, director, producer, star and all-round enigma Tommy Wiseau might have other projects on his resume — including this year's Best F(r)iends: Volume One with The Room's Greg Sestero — but there's truly nothing like his debut movie. Telling the tale of a banker called Johnny (Wiseau), his fiancée Lisa (Juliette Danielle) and his best friend Mark (Sestero), the film refuses to adhere to any filmmaking rules, conventions or just general common sense, with random images of spoons, men playing football in tuxedos and unnecessary sex scenes all part of the package. And, for reasons only known to Wiseau, it's now available in 1080p high-definition — and for free — on YouTube thanks to the man himself. Wiseau has uploaded the movie to his own YouTube channel, and it's all there — the "oh hi, doggy" moment, the cancer subplot that's brought up out out the blue and dropped just as suddenly, and Wiseau screaming "you're tearing me apart, Lisa!" all included. That's your viewing sorted, well, forever — but don't go throwing spoons at your own screen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-htzzL-JOUg&feature=youtu.be
Everyone's favourite magical nanny is back — and if watching Mary Poppins Returns isn't enough of a nostalgic delight, then head on over to The Grounds of Alexandria. Until Sunday, February 3, the Sydney favourite has transformed its already impressive garden into a Poppins-themed wonderland. Think cherry blossoms, London lamps and many a kite, of course. The short-term makeover is inspired by Cherry Tree Lane, the street temporarily inhabited by Poppins when she floats down to care for the Banks family. You'll wander beneath pastel pink trees, spy more than a few umbrellas and find yourself expecting lamplighters to break into song. And yes, it's perfectly fine if you wander through the space humming the original flick's iconic tune 'Let's Go Fly a Kite' to yourself. Drop by at 10am, 12pm and 2pm each day to find bubbles filling the garden as well — and, whatever time you visit, you'll be able to tuck into a limited-edition Poppins cake made from lemon zest sponge, filled with cherry purée and cream cheese centre, and definitely featuring a spoonful of sugar. The Grounds of Alexandria is functioning as normal during the Mary Poppins Returns pop-up, and the Garden Bar, Potting Shed and cafe will be open.
To criticise a Tarantino film is an undertaking not without its share of reservation. Perhaps even trepidation. The first instinct is self-doubt: “Did I miss something? Was I simply in the wrong mood? Is three hours just the norm now?” After so many hits, there's an almost ‘infallibility’ to the man, a near reverential status through which both fans and critics dismiss any purported shortcomings as either misinterpretations or outright lunacy on your part. There’s no denying Tarantino’s talent – he’s a writer and director of extraordinary vision whose early films in particular command regular repeat viewing. But he is, ultimately, just a man. And men, and their movies, sometimes fall short of perfection. So, then, we come to The Hateful Eight, the opening titles of which declare it 'the 8th film by Quentin Tarantino’ (Kill Bill is counted as just one film for those playing at home). It’s also the second (though presumably not last) western from a director who recently said "you have to make at least three Westerns to call yourself a Western director. Anything else, you're just dabbling". Set in the unforgiving snowy mountains of Wyoming a few years after the Civil War, the film's a slow-burn thriller played out almost entirely in two tiny, cramped locations: a four-person stagecoach and an isolated cabin by the name of 'Minnie’s Haberdashery'. Cast-wise, many of the Tarantino regulars are there, along with a handful of newcomers. Kurt Russell leads the pack as John ‘the Hangman’ Ruth, a ridiculously moustachioed bounty hunter escorting wanted felon Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to the gallows. Along the way they happen upon two additional passengers: fellow bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L Jackson) and the soon-to-be local Sheriff Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins). Tarantino’s opening dialogues have become iconic, and this one's so long it comprises the entire first two ‘chapters’ of The Hateful Eight, accounting for almost a full hour of the film. It’s not without its charms, but compared to the unrelenting tension of Inglorious Basterds, or the glorious bastardry of Reservoir Dogs, this feels overblown and indulgent. By far its most compelling character is also its least involved: Daisy, a feral, black-eyed murderess whose wry smile after having her nose broken offers more menace and mystery than the sixty minutes of material that surrounds it. The remainder of the film plays out at Minnie’s, and if nothing else it’s a masterclass in cinematography. Shot on Ultra Panavision 70mm film stock (last used fifty years ago on Khartoum), Tarantino captures astounding depth and detail within an almost impossibly small space. It’s here, too, where we discover the rest of the ‘eight’: the loner cowboy (Michael Madsen), the Confederate General (Bruce Dern), the dandy Hangman (Tim Roth) and the Mexican stablehand (Demian Bechir). Trapped by the blizzard outside that absolutely makes you feel cold, suspicions steadily compound until, inevitably, tensions boil over into a phenomenally violent conclusion. That’s no spoiler, by the way. It’s just Tarantino. There’s still a lot to like about The Hateful Eight. The performances are outstanding, the story’s engaging and it’s peppered with all the usual Tarantino easter eggs (Red Apple cigarettes, anyone?). The score, too, by veteran composer Ennio Morricone is terrific, so unsettling it almost deserves to be christened the ‘hateful ninth’. Like Django Unchained before it, race relations (or the lack thereof) underscore much of the movie's themes, representing a definite politicalisation for the director, whose script offers up lines such as “when n****** are scared, that's when white folks are safe”, later countered with “the only time black folks are safe is when white folks is disarmed”. Ultimately, though, length returns as the film’s principal failing. It’s so long that some cinemas are even showing it with a 12-minute intermission, and it's hard not to escape the feeling that a concerted edit down to 90 minutes would have robbed it of nothing whilst ensuring the wonderful 'slow burn' steered clear of 'sluggishness'. …unless I just missed something? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnRbXn4-Yis
The man knows how to rock a hat: Timothy Olyphant (Full Circle), that is. He knows how to play a determined lawman with a piercing stare and an unassailable sense of honour, too, and television has been all the better for it for nearing two decades. Pop culture's revival culture has benefited as well — first with HBO's 2004–06 western masterpiece Deadwood returning as 2019's Deadwood: The Movie, and now with 2010–15's US Marshal drama Justified making a comeback as miniseries Justified: City Primeval. Olyphant was perfect in both the first time around, and proves the same the second. Indeed, Deadwood: The Movie's only problem was that it was just a made-for-TV film, not a another season; Justified: City Primeval's sole issue is that it spans only eight episodes, and that a next date with the Stetson-wearing Raylan Givens hasn't yet been locked in Streaming Down Under via Disney+, this continuation of Justified's initial six seasons arrives eight years after the show ended for viewers, but also finds Raylan with a 15-year-old daughter. It's with Willa (Vivian Olyphant, Timothy Olyphant's real-life offspring) that he's hitting the road when a couple of criminals reroute their plans. Now based in Miami, Florida rather than Justified's Harlan, Kentucky, Raylan is meant to be taking Willa to camp, only to be forced to detour to Detroit, Michigan to testify. It isn't a brief stop, after the Deputy US Marshal makes the wrong impression on Judge Alvin Guy (Keith David, Nope), then is personally requested to investigate an assassination attempt against the same jurist — teaming up with local detectives who are adamant about Detroit's particular ways, including Maureen Downey (Marin Ireland, The Boogeyman), Norbert Beryl (Norbert Leo Butz, The Girl From Plainville) and Wendell Robinson (Victor Williams, The Righteous Gemstones). You can take Raylan out of rural America and into the Motor City, as Justified: City Primeval does, but even with silver hair atop his calm glare he's still Raylan. So, he'll always stride around like a lone gunslinger who has seen it all, will confront anything, and is perennially valiant and resolute — and silently exasperated about humanity's worst impulses, too — as Justified: City Primeval welcomes. New location, passing years, the responsibilities of fatherhood, more and more lowlife crooks: they haven't changed this character, and audiences wouldn't have wanted that to happen. One of Justified: City Primeval's chief joys is how comfortably that Raylan, and Olyphant playing him, steps straight back onto the screen like the figure, thespian and franchise never left. In Detroit, the Deputy US Marshal meets his latest lawbreaking adversary in Clement Mansell (Boyd Holbrook, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), aka the Oklahoma Wildman, whose love of singing The White Stripes and Beach Boys songs is only matched by his penchant for wreaking illicit havoc. Mansell is ruthless, including in committing murder, and also enlisting reluctant past acquaintance Marcus "Sweety" Sweeton (Vondie Curtis-Hall, Blue Bayou) — a musician who almost made it onto George Clinton's 'Atomic Dog' and now owns a dive bar — in his violent rampages. He's equally calculating in using his girlfriend Sandy Stanton (Adelaide Clemens, Under the Banner of Heaven) to conjure up a shakedown scam with ties to the Albanian mob, all while promising her that they'll get a big payday and get away. Even his attorney Carolyn Wilder (Aunjanue Ellis, an Oscar-nominee for King Richard), who has seen more than her fair share of dirtbags because that's the gig, knows that he's a sociopath. Seasoned Justified viewers will spy Justified: City Primeval's overarching narrative path going in. As long as they've seen a crime drama before, newcomers will as well. Raylan has a villain to take down in a deeply corrupt world — but, taking over from the OG series' creator Graham Yost (Silo, and an executive producer here), fellow Justified veterans Dave Andron (Snowfall) and Michael Dinner (Electric Dreams) can't be accused of connecting easy dots or making obvious choices. Both before and now, Justified has always been as much about painting rich portraits of its characters, good and bad, as it has been about its righteous-versus-evil face-offs. So, Justified: City Primeval delivers ample intriguing new additions, most of which pair up with Raylan so winningly that they could earn their own spinoffs. A series about Raylan and Willa, her teen rebelliousness bouncing off his perpetually wearied mood? The younger Olyphant makes a memorable impression, and adds seeing more of that dynamic to the wishlist. An odd-couple cop setup with Raylan and Robinson? That'd also work. Raylan's pursuit of the unhinged Mansell, and the latter's eagerness to keep it going, give Justified: City Primeval a compelling duel — and plenty of mirroring; they both drip charm, are whip-smart and canny, just on opposite sides of the law-and-order divide — but Raylan and Wilder are the show's meatiest duo. Sharing a sense of exhaustion, the Marshal and the lawyer each understand what it's like to ride through a murky and compromised world, endeavour to try to find a way to cope, and have to live with the costs. (That Ellis is as phenomenal as the older Olyphant assists.) 2023 marks 30 years since Raylan first appeared in print, in the pages of iconic crime writer Elmore Leonard's 1993 novel Pronto. While he returned in 1995 sequel Riding the Rap, it was 2001 short story Fire in the Hole that inspired Justified. Once the show became a hit, Leonard wrote 2012's Raylan, in what'd become his last published tome before his death in 2013. To revisit the character with Justified: City Primeval, however, Andron and Dinner dive into the author's back catalogue elsewhere, adapting and reworking 1980's City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit. The text's full title virtually screams for Raylan. On the screen, he slides in so seamlessly that it feels like he's always been in this tale. That's a testament to a series that doesn't just know its protagonist, but the work of the man who created him. Raylan might be Leonard's best character, but his bibliography is a wealth of riches — complete with Out of Sight, which became Steven Soderbergh's sparkling crime caper and shares a connection to Justified: City Primeval; and Rum Punch, which Quentin Tarantino turned into the sublime Jackie Brown. Justified: City Primeval excels at bringing Raylan Givens back to the screen, and Timothy Olyphant in the part. It's fantastic as a Leonard adaptation. And, although visually filled with thematically appropriate shadows, it's as shiny as Raylan's badge as a revival. The widespread trend keeps embracing beloved programs from years gone by, but the difference between the very best — see: Twin Peaks, aka the most stunning example there is and likely ever will be, and also Deadwood: The Movie, Veronica Mars, and the recent Party Down and Futurama — and the rest is considerable. Justified was a superb modern western from the get-go. Now Justified: City Primeval is a first-rate city-set neo-western that knows how to feature its familiar ingredients expertly, evolve them, and use them to comment on what changes and doesn't about humanity. Check out the trailer for Justified: City Primeval below: Justified: City Primeval streams via Disney+. Images: FX.
In the catchy theme tune to one of the best, wildest and most cathartic TV shows ever made, aka Billy on the Street, comedian Billy Eichner promised to make dreams come true. How? By taking to the New York City pavement to ask ordinary folks about movies, music and TV shows, often with a celebrity in tow. Each episode also involved Eichner yelling at his unsuspecting contestants about their questionable pop culture taste or utter lack of entertainment knowledge — yep, right there on NYC's streets, with a camera pointing their way — and the end result was a hilarious dream to watch for audiences, too. Now, thanks to new rom-com Bros, Eichner is fulfilling fantasies in a different way. The Parks and Recreation and Difficult People treasure becomes the first openly gay man to co-write and star in his own major studio film, which is set to hit cinemas Down Under in October — and its just-dropped, extremely self-aware first trailer hilariously plays up exactly what making a mainstream queer rom-com means. What does that entail? "Something a straight guy might like?" Eichner's character Bobby Leiber asks. "Am I going to be in the middle of some high-speed chase, then all of a sudden fall in love with Ice Cube?" he continues. Based on the first sneak peek, no, that doesn't happen. Also the first gay romantic comedy from a major studio to feature an entirely LGBTQ principal cast, Bros sees Eichner play a podcaster who has been asked to write exactly this kind of flick — hence those questions about how it might turn out. This isn't just a queer rom-com about penning a queer rom-com, though. Along the way, Eichner's Leiber falls in love himself (with Killjoys' Luke Macfarlane), and navigates the chaos that ensues. Eichner co-wrote the script with director Nicholas Stoller (Bad Neighbours and its sequel), while Judd Apatow (The King of Staten Island, Trainwreck) produces. On-screen, the cast includes Ts Madison (Zola), Monica Raymund (Chicago Fire), Guillermo Díaz (Scandal), Guy Branum (Hacks), Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live) and Amanda Bearse (Married with Children). Check out the trailer for Bros below: Bros opens in cinemas Down Under on October 27.
Restrictions and lockdowns have meant many Melbourne art galleries have spent more time closed than open in 2020. But it seems the culture gods have smiled down and cut us a little slack when it comes to one of the biggest, most anticipated art events to hit the city in three years. The NGV Triennial is set to return for its blockbuster second iteration this summer, taking over NGV International from Saturday, December 19. Breaking Melbourne's art drought with a free large-scale exhibition of international contemporary art, design and architecture, it'll showcase 86 projects by more than 100 artists, designers and collectives. Held every three years, the Triennial made its huge debut in 2017, pulling a hefty 1.23 million visitors and remaining the NGV's most visited exhibition even today. Triennial 2020 looks set to follow suit, as artists from over 30 different countries share a diverse spread of works reflecting on a truly unique time in our world's history. Here, they're diving deep into the themes of illumination, reflection, conservation and speculation. Expect to see US artist Jeff Koons pay homage to the goddess of love Venus with a towering mirror-finished sculptural piece, while renowned interior designer Faye Toogood reimagines a series of gallery spaces with commissioned furniture, tapestries, lighting, sculpture and scenography. She'll nod to the NGV's 17th- and 18th-century collections, while playing with the concepts of daylight, candlelight and moonlight. [caption id="attachment_785399" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cerith Wyn Evans, The Illuminating Gas at Pirelli HangerBiocca, Milan, 2019. Photo by Agostino Osio.[/caption] Turkey's Refik Anadol has put together a video work, capturing digitised memories of nature with help from artificial intelligence and machine learning. Meanwhile, a showcase by Yolngu woman Dhambit Mununggurr is replete with her trademark blue hues, including a set of 15 large-scale bark paintings. Lauded Japanese architect Kengo Kuma joins forces with Melbourne-based artist Geoffrey Nees, using timber from trees that died during the Millennium Drought at Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens to construct a pavilion. The structure will then feature as part of a multi-sensory walkway delivering audiences to a new piece by South Korean artist Lee Ufan. British artist Alice Potts uses flowers and food waste to create a set of bioplastic face masks, Spanish-born designer and architect Patricia Urquiola crafts giant-sized socks from upcycled textile furnishings, and South Africa's Porky Hefer sheds some light on ocean pollution with his large-scale dystopian under-the-sea scenes. If ever there was an exhibition worthy of your post-lockdown gallery-hopping debut, it's this. The NGV Triennial 2020 will be on show at NGV International from Saturday, December 19 until Sunday, April 18, 2021. For more info and to see the full program, visit the NGV website. Top images: 1. Kengo Kuma & Associates, Tokyo and Paris, Kengo Kuma and Geoff Nees. Botanical pavilion 2020 (render), commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Purchased with funds donated by Connie Kimberley OAM. Copyright and courtesy of the artists. 2. Refik Anadol, render of Quantum memories 2020, commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Purchased with funds donated by Loti & Victor Smorgon Fund and Barry Janes and Paul Cross 2020.
