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
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.
We know that most of you want to have your say in the postal vote on marriage equality, but we also know that you're probably going to put it off until the last minute. So do the organisers of the Festival for Marriage Equality, which is why they're encouraging as many people as possible put in their vote, en masse. After the success of the Yes Rally over the weekend, Sydney's activist collective Reclaim the Streets has organised the largest collective 'yes' voting event, with thousands expected to rock up at Prince Alfred Park on Saturday, September 23, to put in their vote together. After posting your vote at Strawberry Hills Post Office just across the road, you'll be able to get amongst eight stages until sunset, including Deeper Than House, Swerve Saturdays, SYD DEF JAM, INPUT, Roots Odyssey, Rabbit Prawn Kollective, The Church of Screaming Electro and Umami. If you enrolled to vote — which Sydney bars went to get to great lengths to make sure you did — you'll receive your form at some point in the next five to seven days. Just take it along to the event to sign, seal and deliver it off to the government. If you can't make it, make sure you put in your vote before October 27 as the final deadline is November 7. The Festival for Marriage Equality will take place on Saturday, September 23. Meet at 1pm at Prince Alfred Park, Chalmers Street, Surry Hills for a 2pm vote at Strawberry Hills Post Office across the road. For more info, check the Facebook event. Image: Yes Rally for Marriage Equality by Letícia Almeida.
The Manly Sea Eagles might represent Sydney's Northern Beaches in the NRL, but there's a new form of the sport that's about to make waves in the locale — literally. This is no ordinary rugby match, it is Aqua Rugby. Coming to Manly this November, Aqua Rugby is a three-day take on the classic Aussie pastime that takes the game from the pitch and onto the water. [caption id="attachment_902829" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Aqua Rugby Festival held at Manly, Sydney Australia - 5th March 2022 © Karen Watson for Aqua Rugby Australia[/caption] Instead of just getting it across the line, players score tries by making it across and then diving off a pitch floating in Manly Cove. Of course, they can fall off the pitch for many other reasons. That's the whole point. Pros and amateurs alike are encouraged to enter, but be warned, former league players have participated in the past, so you might be in for a challenge. For spectators, you can watch from the shoreline for free. Food trucks and other activities will dot the pavement, or you can get amongst ticketed events, including VIP spectating from a yacht or mingling with the players. Aqua Rugby will take place in Manly Cove on Friday, November 10 2022. For more information, visit the website. Images: Karen Watson
Father's Day happens around the same time every single year, and yet it somehow always manages to sneak up on us. And while dear ol' Dad probably won't complain if unwraps the umpteenth pair of socks or bottle of whisky (he's good like that), there is another way to make him feel appreciated with an unforgettable experience. Showcasing adventures for every type of dad, experience website Adrenaline is a good place to turn to snag him something awesome before September 1. From spine-tingling helicopter tours to caving explorations, and cooking classes that'll make him an expert behind the barbecue, Adrenaline has plenty of great packages to mark the occasion. To help you figure out what to get, we've highlighted six experiences that are bound to impress. But if you're still not sure, plug dad's personality traits into Adrenaline's Gift Guide and you'll get the perfect suggestion. HELICOPTER RIDES If climbing aboard a high-powered helicopter for a scenic flight doesn't get dad pumped to get out of the house this Father's Day, maybe nothing will. You'll have plenty of choices for scenic flights including those that climb high above Sydney's stunning skyline or explore beautiful out-of-town regions like the Hunter Valley or the the south coast. For dads who don't mind some thrill-seeking, there are also adventures involving military-style helicopters and a series of death-defying manoeuvres that'll get his blood pumping. Whether he prefers a quick scenic tour or an hour-long session that'll teach him the ins and outs of the aircraft, a helicopter ride will undoubtedly leave your dad stoked this Father's Day. INDOOR SKYDIVING Even if your dad thinks he's something of a daredevil, jumping out of an aeroplane isn't everyone's cup of tea. But an indoor skydiving package will help him experience the next best thing to leaping out of a plane at 14,000 feet. Fortunately, the indoor alternative is much safer than the falling-from-the-sky kind — plus, a rainy day won't ruin your plans. Adrenaline's indoor skydiving packages are suitable for most ages and fitness levels, so Dad will soon be making his way into iFly's specially created flight chamber for lift off. Donning a flight suit, goggles and a helmet, he'll be in safe hands as a personal instructor will be there to show him the ropes. SWIMMING WITH SHARKS Since we're on the trend of gifts that'll probably thrill and frighten your pop in equal measure, we're also going to suggest this exhilarating experience, too. This fin-filled (see what we did there?) experience will have him facing off to some creatures of the deep — well, actually, creatures of the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium. On this underwater adventure, your dad will get to spend 30 minutes hanging/floating around with more than 30 sharks, including grey nurse and seven-gill sharks, along with stingrays, sea turtles and plenty of exotic fish. Plus, you can watch the whole thing unfold from the spectators' tunnel — take a camera so your dad can brag to his mates at the pub later. KAYAKING TOURS There's something remarkably peaceful about paddling along a picturesque waterway in a kayak. If you think your dad might benefit from some quality downtime, help him chill out this Father's Day by booking him a kayaking tour. He'll have the chance to gain a new perspective on the city, as Adrenaline offers kayaking adventures that set out along Sydney Harbour, through Ku-Ring-Gai National Park or around Bundeena in Sydney's south. If you're looking for something that goes above and beyond, there's also a wide collection of tours that include morning tea, buffet lunches and even oyster and wine tastings. AMERICAN BARBECUE SMOKING CLASSES Given the way most dads concerns themselves with the barbecue, you'd think they were all born to be expert grill masters. But if you're tired of yours overcooking the meat, get him a gift that'll not-so-subtly hint that he needs to touch up his skills. One class that's bound to do the job is an American Barbecue Smoking Class, which will teach him the fundamentals of controlling the coals, picking out the best wood and learning how to prevent the meat from sweating. If he's going to keep demanding unbridled control of the barbecue on every special occasion, he ought to have the skills that every self-respecting cook needs to do the job perfectly. Plus, you'll get the added benefit of springtime barbecues that are better than ever before. QUAD BIKING Do you have the type of dad who is still just a big kid at heart? If so, zipping, skidding and leaping around Glenworth Valley on four wheels is sure to get his adrenalin pumping. Located just an hour north of Sydney, this long-running quad biking circuit involves over 3000 acres of bushland, rainforest and trails around mountains. Your dad will be letting rip on a Honda 250CC quad bike (with automatic transmission) through bush trails and water crossings. Following a safety briefing, he'll get to let his inner child go wild for an hour-and-a-half. Oh, and we recommend packing him a change of clothes — things are likely to get dusty (and maybe even muddy). To find Dad an unforgettable experience for Father's Day that'll blow his (last year's gift) socks off, visit the Adrenaline website. Plus, until September 1, Adrenaline is running a sitewide sale with up to 52 percent off, so you can save some coin at the same time.
"Shaken, not stirred." At Le Martini, those three words are bound to be uttered frequently. Shaken martinis are indeed on the menu. If you prefer your cocktail stirred, that's fine, too. Wet, dry, whatever else takes the watering hole's guest bartenders' fancy: that's what you'll find at the world's first-ever Grey Goose martini bar. James Bond is a fictional character, but if literature and cinema's super-suave spy was real, he'd be interested in this spot — and he'd have to head to Australia to check it out. When Le Martini opens its doors on Friday, May 24, Melbourne will the bar's home, giving the city martini-swilling bragging rights over everywhere else on the planet. Initially announced back in March, this 34-seat watering hole on the ground floor at Crown Melbourne isn't just heroing one kind of tipple. It's also about one variety of vodka. The aforementioned visiting bartenders will whip up their favourites, starting with New York's Dale DeGroff, whose career dates back to the Rainbow Room in the 80s. Accordingly, head by from 5pm–late Thursday–Sunday and DeGroff's Harry's Original, Grey Goose Millennium Dry and Grey Goose Martinié Speciale are your choices. The first takes its cues from the 1888 Harry Johnson martini, which was the first martini recipe with five ingredients to ever make it to print. The second serves up a crisp taste, while the third uses blanc vermouth, sauternes and a Sicilian olive. Don't know which type of martini suits you best? Le Martini's bartenders will assist. And to pair with the martinis, martinis and more martinis, French bites using local Victorian produce are on offer, with Bistro Guillaume at Crown Melbourne responsible for the culinary range. Oysters come with a mignonette, whipped cod roe baguettes and gildas are among the options, and so is a caviar with blinis and creme fraiche. While sitting beneath glass chandeliers, you'll definitely know that this is a Grey Goose bar; a window displaying the brand's bottles will remind you even when you don't have the taste of your martini on your lips. The space also splashes around blue on its walls, as well as its velvet curtains and banquette seats, and includes geese etched into its mirrors. Find Le Martini on the ground floor at Crown Melbourne, Southbank from Friday, May 24, 2024 — open from 5pm–late Thursday–Sunday. Head to the venue's website for more details.
On the Quay end of George Street, at the base of the Four Seasons Hotel, the warm and inviting Mode Kitchen & Bar sits ready to welcome you. Striking a winning balance between casual bistro plates and finer dining, uncomplicated dishes of Australian ingredients with Italo influences are served with pristine attention to detail. As well as the bistro-style menu of refined bites, you'll find a relaxed atmosphere and a new winning weekday offering. If you're heading to a show at the Sydney Opera House, need to warm up before you venture into Vivid Sydney's bright lights, peckish after finishing work in the CBD or looking for a terrific spot to perch yourself before dinner, the Milanese-style aperitivo is for you. From 4–6pm, Monday to Friday, a bountiful spread of Italian antipasto awaits clued-in Sydneysiders for just $30 — with a drink alongside, too. It's a truly delicious bargain by anyone's standards. As a start, there are wheels of sharp cheese, cherry tomatoes ripe on their vines, plump salty olives and plates upon plates of salumi. House-made focaccia and woodfired pizzas are stars, too, though there'll be a rotating lineup of seasonal favourites in competition. For the accompanying aperitivo, you'll choose from a list of crafted Italian cocktails; think classics like negronis and Aperol Spritzes, and fun ones like Milano-Torino sours. There'll be a selection of vinos and beers, too. After your first, you'll pay $15 for a cocktail (or just $6 for a frothy brew). Perfectly placed to explore the Harbour City's waterside beauty, Mode Bar & Kitchen is a top spot to launch your night — make sure you nab a reservation. Aperitivo takes over Mode Bar & Kitchen from Monday–Friday, from 4–6pm. Bookings are recommended, so to plan your visit, head to the website.
2015 was a good year for movies. We shifted our love of all things fast and furious to the latest entry in the iconic Mad Max series (although Fast & Furious 7 also hit the high-octane spot), and cried buckets when Inside Out told us that emotions have emotions. We followed Joaquin Phoenix's Inherent Vice stoner detective around in a daze, delved into N.W.A's history thanks to Straight Outta Compton, accompanied Emily Blunt through the drug war in Sicario, and reignited our love of boxing movies with Creed. And the list goes on. That was then, though, and this is now. Well, almost. 2016 is swiftly approaching, bringing with it a fresh batch of potential cinema treasures. Superheroes and sequels feature as always — which is good news if X-Men: Apocalypse or Zoolander 2 sound like your kind of thing. Awards contenders such as '50s-set romance Carol, journalism drama Spotlight and harrowing holocaust effort Son of Saul arrive on Australian screens, alongside a few others that release overseas in 2015, such as Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's comedy Sisters, Quentin Tarantino's western The Hateful Eight and star-studded GFC effort The Big Short. Basically, it's all shaping up to be another great twelve months for film buffs — and anyone who heads to the cinema every now and then. To help stoke your excitement, we've found ten movies you should add to your 2016 must-see list. They'll be on a big screen near you before you know it. ANOMALISA If you've seen Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, you'll agree that a new Charlie Kaufman film is cause for celebration. Eight years after making his directorial debut with Synecdoche, New York, the writer turned helmer delivers his second stint behind the camera in the form of the animated Anomalisa. The tale of a man struggling with his mundane life might sound routine, but if there's one thing Kaufman doesn't do, it's ordinary. Don't expect the usual CGI fare either, with the movie using puppets made with 3D printers. In Australian cinemas February 4. HAIL, CAESAR! The latest Coen brothers flick sounds like the stuff that dreams are made of, with Josh Brolin, Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson, George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, '80s action heroes Dolph Lundgren and Christopher Lambert all starring in the '50s-set throwback to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. Here's hoping that it lives up to everything we're all already hoping for and fantasising about. Given that the Coens' resume includes Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou?, No Country For Old Men and Inside Llewyn Davis, we're pretty optimistic. In Australian cinemas March 3. KEANU No, Keanu isn't a film about a certain Mr Reeves — although we would watch out the hell out of that. Instead, it’s a movie about two friends who decide to pose as drug dealers to retrieve a stolen cat. Stay with us though, because it stars Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. Yep, their brilliant sketch comedy series might've come to an end, but that just means they have more time for other things. Will Forte also features, should you need any more convincing. In Australian cinemas April 21. THE NICE GUYS Even if you don't recognize the name Shane Black, we're guessing you're a fan of at least one of his movies. He wrote Lethal Weapon, directed the Robert Downey Jr comeback that was Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and now pairs Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe together in The Nice Guys. The former plays a private detective, and the latter an enforcer turned his unlikely partner on a murder investigation. Expect them to spout plenty of smart, wisecracking dialogue, in keeping with Black's style — and expect to have fun watching them. In Australian cinemas May 26. GHOSTBUSTERS Admit it: a certain Ray Parker Jr song just popped into your head. The catchy tune isn't the only thing that's memorable about the 1984 film — or its 1989 sequel — but the 2016 instalment looks set to add its own impressive elements to the mix. Case in point: the all-female cast of Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones are taking over from Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson. They'll play the next batch of New Yorkers dallying with the paranormal, and one thing's certain — they ain't afraid of no ghost. In Australian cinemas July 21. DOCTOR STRANGE If you've been suffering from superhero fatigue, one of Marvel's two 2016 films might provide the antidote. After the third Captain America movie reaches cinemas in April, the company that kickstarted the current wave of caped cinematic crusaders gets magical and mystical with Doctor Strange. Everyone's favourite otter lookalike, Benedict Cumberbatch, stars as a former neurosurgeon who learns the supernatural arts and becomes the Earth's primary protector against otherworldly threats. Mads Mikkelsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams and Tilda Swinton join him, in an effort that looks a little more offbeat than usual, like Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy. In Australian cinemas October 27. ASSASSIN'S CREED Film adaptations of video games haven’t had a stellar run. But with Warcraft also releasing in 2016, Assassin's Creed isn't the only movie trying to change that — however, it is the only one that re-teams the main on- and off-screen talent behind one of 2015's best efforts, Macbeth. Yep, after adapting the bard into something moody and brooding, director Justin Kurzel, actors Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, and cinematographer Adam Arkapaw, reunite for something completely different. Even if you've never played the game — which focuses on the rivalry between two ancient secret societies — the team behind this is reason enough to be excited. In Australia cinemas December 26. ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS: THE MOVIE It's been more than two decades since we first met the self-indulgent duo of Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone, but those champagne-swilling London ladies are still kicking on. After five series, a few specials and a handful of 20th anniversary episodes, they're making the leap to the big screen in an effort that's certain to earn its moniker. Yes, the alter egos of Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley are back, accompanied by the other characters — Eddy's long-suffering daughter Saffy, her dotty mother, and eccentric assistant Bubble, for example — you know and love. In keeping with the TV series, they'll be bringing a host of famous names along with them, and inspiring ample laughs in the process. Australian release date to be confirmed. JULIETA After taking to the skies but not quite flying high with 2013's I'm So Excited!, Spain's premier auteur gets back on track with Julieta. Chronicling the life of a woman across two time periods — now, and thirty years prior — might seem like familiar territory for Pedro Almodóvar, but he never really does the same thing twice. The movie is set to release in the filmmaker's homeland in March, so fingers crossed that it heads to Australian shores without much delay. And if you'd been looking forward to the director's latest but don't recognise the title, that's understandable — until less than a month ago, it was called Silencio. However Almodóvar changed the name to avoid confusion with Martin Scorsese's forthcoming effort, Silence. Australian release date to be confirmed. A STORM IN THE STARS Forget Victor Frankenstein, and make note of the James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe-starring reimagining of Mary Shelley's classic text that looks set to head straight to DVD in Australia. A Storm in the Stars tells the tale behind the iconic tale, and is a film gothic horror fans should be looking forward to. Elle Fanning stars as the author, The Diary of a Teenage Girl's Bel Powley plays her sister Claire Clairmont, and Romeo & Juliet's Douglas Booth features as poet Percy Shelley. That the movie also marks the English-language debut of Wadjda's Haifaa Al-Mansour is the icing on the cake. Australian release date to be confirmed.
Another Sydney stalwart has been given a new lease on life. Hotel William, a historic four-storey hotel on Darlinghurst's William Street, has reopened after a big round of renos as Hyde Park House — and it now boasts a public bar, cocktail parlour and lounge. But we're already heading up to the hotel's top level, where Slims Rooftop offers views across Hyde Park, izakaya-style eats and Asian-inspired drinks. The bright fit-out starts with retro frilly orange and pink umbrellas covering all-white furnishings, which include a mix of low and high tables, along with a few picnic-style benches. Heaps of tropical greenery and potted cacti add to the lush surrounds. It's no secret that cocktail-sipping and rooftops go hand-in-hand, and Slims follows suit with a selection of classics like Aperol spritzes and margaritas ($16–$18), sitting alongside signatures starring Asian ingredients. Sip on a Try Relaxing at Lake Tahoe (Suntory whisky with matcha tea and pisco) or the La Dolce Vita (rum with hibiscus tea, mint and lime), priced at $18 a pop. An all-Australian/New Zealand wine list and local brews by Balter, Modus Operandi and Young Henrys are also up for grabs. The menu focuses on modern Japanese-inspired small plates — think sushi rolls and poké bowls, along with snacks like truffle oil edamame ($9), pan-fried pork or veggie gyoza ($10) and wasabi karaage chicken ($17). If you're looking for larger dishes to share, there's a traditional teppanyaki slinging grilled goods like salmon teriyaki ($30), miso eggplant ($19) and barbecued prawns ($29). While Slims launched in early winter, with spring well on its way (and our first 30-degree day behind us) now's the time to head upstairs and throw back a spritz or two in the sun. Hyde Park House and Slims Rooftop are now open at 47-49 William St, Darlinghurst. The hotel's opening hours are Monday through Saturday from 10am–3am and Sunday from 10am–10pm. Rooftop opening hours are Tuesday through Sunday from noon until late.
It might be sunny in Sydney more often than it's not, but that doesn't mean the city is blessed with beach weather all year round. Sometimes it's too cold to dip a toe in, let alone do a few laps. That's where heated facilities come in. If you're a swimmer, it can be tough to maintain the motivation to throw yourself into freezing cold water, but the right pool — specifically one that won't freeze the flesh off your bones — can make all the difference. While we're blessed with an abundance of ocean pools that are always ready and waiting for a quick plunge, there are a few man-made pools — both indoor and outdoor — that are nicely heated during winter. If you're after a dip, even when it's chilly outside, we recommend giving the best heated pools in Sydney a try. Recommended reads: The Best Spas in Sydney The Best Ocean Pools in Sydney The Best Natural Hot Springs in NSW PRINCE ALFRED PARK POOL, SURRY HILLS In the middle of the always-buzzing Prince Alfred Park, this outdoor heated pool is the perfect place for your next wintertime swim. The facility utilises energy efficient heating that's regulated by the complex's green rooftop of native grasses. The pool also has a storm-water harvesting and filtration system to further add to Prince Alfred's green-thumb mentality. At $7.20, you can go for a casual lap session in one of the 25-metre lanes — at the moment, the 50-metre pool has been subdivided to allow for 18 half-length lap lanes. And no bookings are required, either. Prince Alfred Park Pool is open from 6am–8pm Monday–Sunday. No bookings necessary. NORTH SYDNEY OLYMPIC POOL, NORTH SYDNEY If you're looking for a heated swim with a view, it's safe to say your search is over. For $8.50, take a dip in this heated outdoor pool and bask in the scenery that's dotted with famous landmarks like the Harbour Bridge and Luna Park. The Olympic pool is especially fit for workout laps. Plus, you can take inspiration from these very historical waters — almost 90 world records were broken in this pool. At the moment, sessions are by booking only and are limited to one-hour per day. But, with just three swimmers allowed in each lane, you won't be fighting for space. Head to the website for full details. North Sydney Olympic Pool is currently closed for major renovations, but is slated to return later in 2023. VICTORIA PARK POOL, CAMPERDOWN In the heart of nine-hectare Camperdown Park lies a classic outdoor heated pool in Sydney with seriously chill vibes. The 50-metre heated pool — set at a cosy 25 degrees — is perfect for getting your laps in, as well as for a more relaxing swim across the length of the pool. Revel in the toasty waters and ample space for just $7.50 per casual swim. While there are no bookings necessary, only 24 patrons (three per lane) are allowed in the pool at a time, so we suggest swimming during off-peak times here. For full details on pool availability and rules, head to the website. Victoria Park Pool is open from 6am–8pm Monday–Sunday. No bookings necessary. IAN THORPE AQUATIC CENTRE, ULTIMO With an innovative wave shape, this facility includes three heated indoor pools. The 50-metre lap pool is perfect for focusing on your stroke, while the program pool provides all kinds of aquatic classes (including aqua-aerobics) and the leisure pool is a place to chill. Temperatures range from 25 to 30 degrees, creating warm and welcoming waters. At $8.50, head to the aquatic centre for a casual swim and remind yourself that the cold of winter shall pass sooner rather than later. But maximum capacity is reduced to 12 during peak hours, so be sure to check the time table before heading over to one of the best heated pools in Sydney. Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre 50-metre pool is open from 6am–8pm Monday–Sunday. Check the website for current program and leisure pool operating hours. DES RENFORD AQUATIC CENTRE, MAROUBRA Not sure whether you'd prefer an outdoor or indoor heated pool? This aquatic centre has one of each. You can work on your backstroke in the outdoor 50-metre pool, which sits at a tepid 26 degrees, or flaunt your stuff in the 25-metre indoor pool. But there is one catch — casual swims are not allowed at this time, so you'll have to purchase a minimum 10-visit swim pass to visit. Bookings during peak hours are also a must, and can be made separately for the Olympic and training pools over here. But this gorgeous Maroubra facility is worth the extra steps. Des Renford Aquatic Centre is open from 5:30am–10pm Monday–Thursday, 5:30am–8:30pm on Fridays and 7am–6pm on weekends. Pre-book for peak session times. COOK AND PHILLIP PARK AQUATIC CENTRE, CBD Close to the iconic St Mary's Cathedral, Cook and Phillip is home to three indoor heated pools with a spectrum of activities for you to dive into. At $8.50, you'll have access to a 50-metre lap pool, a leisure pool that includes a cool wave machine and a hydrotherapy pool built with ramp access — we expect you'll find any excuse to visit. Bookings are not necessary, but capacity limits are in place at both peak and off-peak hours. Luckily, the 50-metre heated lap pool has been cut into two 25-metre pools with a turning boom, so up to 48 patrons can swim at a time. Cook and Phillip Park Aquatic Centre 50-metre lap pool is open from 6am–8pm Monday–Sunday. Check the website for current leisure an hydrotherapy pool opening hours. ANNETTE KELLERMAN AQUATIC LEISURE CENTRE, MARRICKVILLE Located in leafy Enmore Park, this establishment has everything you could want in a heated swimming space. Whether you go through rounds of laps in the 50-metre indoor pool or leisurely drift through the heated program pool, you're guaranteed to get your swimming fix. The aquatic centre also has a learn-to-swim pool open to adults if you're keen on becoming a pro, or just want a more casual swimming experience. For $9.80, you'll have your pick of any of the three indoor heated pools, and no bookings are needed. Annette Kellerman Aquatic Leisure Centre is open from 6am–8.30pm Monday–Friday, 6am–6.30pm on Saturdays and 7am–6.30pm on Sundays. No bookings required but capacity limits are in place. OLYMPIC PARK AQUATIC CENTRE, OLYMPIC PARK As the name suggests, this facility provides for Olympic-level swimming. The indoor training and competition pools are currently open for lap swimming only and are suggested for competent swimmers. If you're already active in the water, this is the place to polish up on your stroke. You'll also see quite a few pros around, with squads regularly practicing here. Entry to the Sydney heated bool costs $9.30 while access to the steam and sauna facilities starts at only $14 per person. The indoor interactive pool is also great for kids (and for adults after more casual swims) — it boasts a waterslide, spray jets and five spas, great for a relaxing day in the water. Olympic Park Aquatic Centre is open from 5am–8pm on weekdays and 6am–8pm on weekends. Call ahead to check lane availability. LEICHHARDT PARK AQUATIC CENTRE, LEICHHARDT Leichhardt Pool boasts three indoor heated facilities to enjoy during winter for a $9.80 casual entry. Practice like a pro in the 50-metre Olympic pool which has seven lanes and is heated to a balmy 27 degrees. Or make a splash in the newly renovated program pool, which offers more casual lap swimming. Then there's the hyrdotherapy pool, with a walking-only lane and recreational lap swimming for adults. As no bookings are required, you can switch between each at your leisure (with capacity limits in place, of course). Though each heated pool has its own specific operating hours, so make sure to check the website before you visit. Leichhardt Park Aquatic Centre Olympic pool is open 6am–8pm daily. For all pool operating hours, visit the website. Top Image: Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre, Jesse Jaco
What will food look like in the future? Will it come in the form of a pyramid-friendly pill dispensed from your microwave? Will calories be an optional extra? Will Michelin-starred restaurants serve eye fillet in mason jars. For the latest episode in their 'Plate Project' series, Food & Wine asked some of the most original-thinking epicures of our time to imagine what we'll be eating 35 years from now. As you'd expect, the results are varied and not altogether that appetising. Some of the thinkers saw the humour in the challenge. Anthony Bourdain will be serving 1%-ers a giant bug, though perhaps that's more telling of his fetish for watching people devour splindly creatures whole than of any cynicism founded in unjust distribution of money. The architects and designers at AvroKO played on food as addiction with a plate serving everything form marinated white anchovies to a 2006 pinot noir in syringes (“Don’t forget to eat your garnish!”) On the more serious side, ethically sourced produce and fish farms ranked high as a topic of conversation. Vibrant garden-picked veggies are pitted against their factory-produced counterparts on the sculpture by ceramicist Jono Pandolfi, while author Paul Greenberg's plate substitutes salmon for farmed shellfish (cleans waterways), kelp (clears coasts of harmful nitrogen) and Peruvian anchoveta (high in omega-3s). And it's not just the food that raises issues, with chef Jose Andres taking a stab at people who still eat off paper plates. Though perhaps throwing them in the bin after eating suggests a very narrow frame of thought — anyone for a deep-fried plate? Via Fast Company. Anthony Bourdain, chef, author and TV host - Food of the Future for the 1% Jose Andres, chef - No More Waste Jono Pandolfi, product designer and ceramicist - Gardens vs. Factories Paul Greenberg, author - Improved Fisherman AvroKO, architects and designers - Pharm to Table Dave Arnold, instructor and inventor - Fried Plate Via Food & Wine.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe will likely never end, and Disney shows no signs of wanting it to — but if it ever does, every Marvel character you can think of will get their own Disney+ series first. Already, plenty have; see: WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Ms Marvel and She-Hulk. The next one to join them: Samuel L Jackson's Nick Fury, aka the Director of SHIELD and creator of the Avengers Initiative who acted as the connective tissue between most of the MCU's early instalments. (If Jackson didn't show up in a Marvel movie back then, was it really a Marvel movie?) Fifteen years after first appearing in the post-credits scene of the original Iron Man, the film that started it all, Fury will placed front and centre in Secret Invasion — a show that was announced back in 2020, but won't hit streaming until autumn 2023 Down Under. As seen in the just-dropped first trailer for the six-episode series, a war is looming with the shapeshifting Skrulls, and Fury can't keep ignoring the pleas from Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders, How I Met Your Mother) for help. Plenty of other familiar faces pop up, too: Australia's own Ben Mendelsohn (Cyrano) returning as Talos after Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home, Don Cheadle (The Wonder Years) as War Machine and Martin Freeman (Breeders) as the CIA's Everett Ross. Will their characters really show up? Or will we really be seeing Skrull impersonators? Obviously, that'll only be answered when Secret Invasion arrives. Because every actor ever has to fit into the MCU at some point, the above cast is joined by a few other huge names as well: Olivia Colman (Mothering Sunday), Emilia Clarke (Last Christmas) and Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami). The story clearly ties into Captain Marvel, which is proving a launching pad for more than a few recent and upcoming MCU chapters, such as streaming's Ms Marvel and big-screen release The Marvels — which teams up Captain Marvel (Brie Larson, Just Mercy), Ms Marvel (Iman Vellani) and WandaVision's Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris, Candyman), and also arrives in 2023. Fury, and therefore Jackson, did appear in two episodes of the Agents of SHIELD TV show in 2013 and 2014, so this won't be the character's first small-screen outing. Behind the scenes, Kyle Bradstreet (Mr Robot) created Secret Invasion, and writes and executive produces. Check out the trailer for Secret Invasion below: Secret Invasion will stream via Disney+ in autumn 2023 — we'll update you with an exact release date when one is announced. Images: Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.
Go big for your next date night at Willo Restaurant & Bar: a hatted restaurant plating up striking dishes with Mediterranean and Australian influences. The glamorous space in central Parramatta boasts a grand indoor dining room and bar that spills onto the foyer outdoors. The Tiny Bird's Nest is a must — a delicate brioche filled with chorizo cream and topped with Italian meringue. Follow it up with Hokkaido scallops with artichoke and chilli oil, or crispy pork ribs with pesto. Bigger mains include a Venetian duck ragu pasta, girasoli stuffed with blue swimmer crab and prawns, and slow-roasted lamb with harissa and pomegranate. Top Images: Nikki To
The world is a big place. Making decisions is stressful. Choosing a place to holiday is hard. But if you're really in a bind — or a standoff with your holiday partner — Lonely Planet's latest travel list might be able to help you lock in your next destination. The travel publication has just released its annual Best in Travel list. Topping the list for the best country to visit in 2019 is Sri Lanka. This might not come as much of a shock — if you haven't already been yourself, you most likely have mates that have been over there on a surf trip, to hike through the tea fields or to visit family. According to Lonely Planet's editors, the island nation was given its number one place due to its "mix of religions and cultures, its timeless temples, its rich and accessible wildlife, its growing surf scene" and its affordable nosh. It recommends catching some surf at Arugam Bay, kayaking through the lagoons of Marakolliya Beach, catching the scenic train to Ella, getting some culture in Kandy and visiting the ancient ruins of Anuradhapura. Sri Lanka is still in relative infancy when it comes to tourism; the country's civil war only ended ten years ago, but tourism continues to grow at a rapid rate. The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority estimates that the number of tourist arrivals has grown from 448,000 in 2009 when the civil war ended to over two million in 2017. This has seen major hotel chains scramble to open properties in Sri Lanka and improved access to parts of the country that were previously harder to access. Lonely Planet calls it a "country revived" and, we predict, one that's likely to change rapidly with the fast growing tourism industry. Other countries on the list include Germany — which is set to score new museums in 2019 — as well as Zimbabwe, Panama and another new tourist spot, Kyrgyzstan. Unlike last year when New Zealand was ranked number five on the best countries list and Canberra came in as the third best city, neither Australia nor NZ made it onto the lists.
Add another impressive name to the long list of shows, plays and musicals alike, that've been treading the boards across Australia in recent years. That roster has spanned everything from The Book of Mormon, Hamilton and Moulin Rouge! The Musical through to Come From Away, SIX the Musical and The Mousetrap — but only Choir Boy hails from the Oscar-winning writer of the famously not-La La Land drama Moonlight. Tarell Alvin McCraney's other queer coming-of-age play premiered in London in 2012, then did the rounds of the US before opening on Broadway in 2018. It might've taken more than a decade since its stage debut for the show to make its way Down Under, but fans of Moonlight are in for a tale about sexuality, race, hope and gospel music, all focused around a young gay man finding his voice, that's certain to prove worth the wait. Story-wise, Choir Boy follows Pharus Young, who is determined to be the best choir leader that the Charles R Drew Prep School for Boys has ever seen in its 50-year history. That's easier said than done, though, given the rituals that've long been a part of the school, and the masculine expectations as well. Filled with a cappella gospel tunes, Choir Boy scored four Tony Award nominations back in 2019, including for Best Play and Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play — and won Best Sound Design of a Play, while also nabbing music director Jason Michael Webb a Special Tony Award. In Australia, it finally premieres Down Under as part of Sydney WorldPride, with four stops on its agenda from Tuesday, February 14: a month-long stint at Riverside Theatres Parramatta, then short stays in Brisbane, Canberra and Wollongong. Leading the cast is international musical theatre performer Darron Hayes, joined by Tony Sheldon (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert), Robert Harrell (The Shield), Zarif (Lonesome), Quinton Rofail Rich (Godspell), Theo Williams (Passing Strange), and debutants Gareth Dutlow, Abu Kebe and Tawanda Muzenda, while Dino Dimitriadis (Overflow, Cleansed) and Zindzi Okenyo (seven methods of killing kylie jenner, Orange Thrower) direct. CHOIR BOY AUSTRALIAN DATES: Tuesday, February 14–Saturday, March 11 — Riverside Theatres Parramatta Wednesday, March 15–Saturday, March 18 — QPAC, Brisbane Wednesday, March 22—Saturday, March 25 — Wollongong Town Hall Wednesday, March 29–Sunday, April 2 — Canberra Theatre Centre Choir Boy starts its Australian run from Tuesday, February 14 at Riverside Theatres Parramatta — head to the various venue websites above for further details and tickets.
Stay tuned. More info on its way. Images: Kitti Gould.
Despite its oceanic name, lower north shore eatery Johnny Lobster, which opened in 2015, spent more time serving up poultry than seafood. Consequently, the owners decided to listen to the people and metamorphosise. Since February, Johnny Lobster has been known as Johnny Bird and its menu has been dedicated to free-range fried chicken. "In the restaurant biz, you don't get to choose your signature dish. Your diners do that for you," says co-owner Tom Baker. "Over 50-percent of the food we sold at Johnny Lobster was fried chicken. So rather than continue to airfreight crustaceans from the North Atlantic, we decided to just go with it." The menu's centrepiece is fried chicken, which is served with sauce — such as Sticky Sichuan or Nashville Hot — and sides, including fried pickles, sweet potato fries and mac'n'cheese. On top of that, there are burgers — the staple being the Johnny, packed with fried chicken, pickles, coleslaw, tomato relish and chipotle mayo. "Each cut of chicken at Johnny Bird is treated differently. It's a time-consuming process but you can taste it," says head chef Jason Hall. "The wings are cooked sous vide at a low temperature for three hours before frying. Tenderloins are wet-brined in heavily seasoned buttermilk to increase moisture in the final cut and our boneless thighs are soaked in seasoned natural yoghurt for 48 hours." To match such carefully prepared offerings, there's a handpicked selection of craft beers from Young Henrys and Moon Dog, plus a bunch of signature cocktails, including the Waist Not (gin, watermelon-rind vermouth, soda) and the Cold Fashioned (Mr Black Cold Brew Liquor, rye whiskey, orange bitters). Johnny Bird is open Tuesday to Sunday, 11:30am-10pm at 48 Willoughby Road, Crows Nest.
There hasn't been much to get excited about during the pandemic, but seeing fantastic film festivals jump online and offer their usually city-limited programs to Australians everywhere is definitely a rare silver lining in these difficult times. One such fest doing just that is the Sydney Underground Film Festival, which went completely virtual in 2020 and is repeating the feat in 2021. As Sydney's go-to event for all flicks weird, wonderful, out-there and anarchic, SUFF will keep doing what it's been doing well for 15 years now — but by beaming an impressive heap of movies into homes around the country. From Thursday, September 9–Sunday, September 26, cinephiles looking for something other than the usual streaming options can binge their way through the fest's 30 features and documentaries. If you like your strange and surreal movies in bite-sized servings, there'll also be nine short film programs featuring more than 100 titles. From the full-length selection, highlights include opening night's road trip comedy Sweetie, You Won't Believe It from Kazakhstan-based director Yernar Nurgaliyev; documentary Alien on Stage, about a group of UK bus drivers who decided to create their own amateur stage production based on Ridley Scott's famous sci-fi/horror classic; and Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché, which explores X-Ray Spex frontwoman Poly Styrene's story from her daughter's viewpoint. Other standouts span Cannon Arm and the Arcade Quest, which follows an attempt to become the first in the world to play an arcade machine from the early 80s for 100 hours in a row; absurdist Japanese comedy Wonderful Paradise, as based around an eviction street party in the Tokyo suburbs; and coming-of-age comedy-thriller First Date. Or, there's Fanny: The Right To Rock, about the first all-woman band to release an album with a major record label; Ukranian effort Stranger, which sees people start to disappear from bodies of water; and Lorelai, starring familiar faces Pablo Schreiber and Jena Malone in thoughtful drama about working class life in America. SUFF will also celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Miss Osbourne, which stars the inimitable Udo Kier and isn't your usual take on the famous tale — because, just like attending ace film fests, celebrating big cinematic milestones is also something you can do at home. The digital-only 2021 Sydney Underground Film Festival will run from Thursday, September 9–Sunday, September 26. For further information, or to buy tickets, head to SUFF's website.
