OneWave is a non-profit surf community tackling mental health issues with a simple recipe: salt-water, surfing, good mates and Fluro Fridays. Since March 2013, every Friday has become Fluro Friday. At 6.30am the crew dress up in the brightest fluro outfits they can find and surf/swim/do yoga at sunrise to raise awareness for mental health. OneWave was founded by Grant Trebilco, along with mates Sam Schumacher and Joel Pilgrim. "After a week partying at the Australian Surf Open three years ago I ended up in hospital and was diagnosed with bipolar," says Trebilco. "When I got out of hospital I moved back home to Mount Maunganui and it was surfing with my family and mates that helped me the most. I remember getting this one good wave and it was the first time I had smiled in so long. Sometimes OneWave really is all it takes. "The ocean was also the first place I told my friends about having bipolar. The support and understanding they showed me was unreal and I will never forget it. This was the inspiration behind launching OneWave. I wanted to share this recipe of saltwater therapy and start as many conversations as I could about mental health to help any one stuck in a funk. When I moved back to Australia, we were not sure how to launch OneWave and then on Friday, March 22, 2013 I randomly decided to get up at sunrise, throw on a shirt and tie and go surfing solo at Bondi to get people asking questions about mental health. That was OneWave's first 'Board Meeting' which 4 weeks later became 'Fluro Friday' and 2 1/2 years later there has been Fluro Friday's at more than 60 beaches Worldwide, run by locals who are passionate about the ocean and raising awareness of mental health in their community." Find OneWave at Bondi and Manly every Friday at 6.30am. You can't miss them.
After years of gigging and tireless campaigning from the likes of FBi Radio, Sydney-based foursome Gang of Youths are nationally-appreciated hot stuff right now. They’ve played sold-out shows alongside Vampire Weekend, Frightened Rabbit and Foster the People, done the Aussie festival circuit, toured the States, and been compared to Arcade Fire and Bruce Springsteen — and that was all before their debut album The Position was released last month. Now they’re setting off on a national tour, and the GOY-hungry public can’t seem to get enough of them; lapping up tickets faster than the band can announce new shows. GOY play rock that’s big on catharsis. Frontman David Leaupepe’s inspiration for the band’s raw, guitar-heavy debut was the emotional rollercoaster of his four-year long-distance relationship with a girl who had been diagnosed with stage four cancer. It makes for a sound that seems bound to fill stadiums one day — so consider yourself lucky if you manage to bag a ticket to one of these more intimate gigs. Supported by ECCA VANDAL + Big White.
Having completely sold out tickets, beloved two-day camping festival Secret Garden Festival boasts one of its biggest music lineups to date. With over sixty bands and DJs across four stages, Secret Garden is cranking things to 11 — without losing that intimate Secret Magic magic. Headlined by two huge international slam dunks — New York City's brutally honest story-weaver Sharon Van Etten and punk-as-fuck Parquet Courts — the Secret Garden lineup has gone next level this year under returning festival programmer Adam Lewis (Opera Bar, formerly Goodgod Small Club). Loyal fans of synth, beats and glitches have a lot to look forward to, with Client Liaison, Donny Benet, Hot Dub Time Machine, Fishing, Japanese Wallpaper, LUCIANBLOMKAMP, Willow Beats, UV Boi, Stereogamous ft. Shaun J. Wright (AUS/USA), NO ZU, San Holo (NL), Holiday Sidewinder, Frames, Juan Du Sol, Luen, Oisima, RY4, Total Giovanni, Yon Yonson, Tees, Softwar B2B Slow Blow. Gear up for spontaneous dance-offs with Shantan Wantan Ichiban, Levins, Shag, Mike Who, Ariane, Love Bombs, I Oh You DJs, Purple Sneakers DJs, Le Fruit DJs, Yo Grito! DJs and Heartbeat DJs. If you're down for tossing the feathers to a different type of harmony, the folk, roots and country element of the lineup is top notch. Sharon Van Etten is joined by Sydney's harmonic trio Little May, the likes of Pepa Knight, Heather Woods Broderick (USA), Steve Smyth, Jeremy Neale, The Morrisons, Wintercoats, Stolen Violin and Luluc. Hip hop-wise, Secret Garden have handpicked some of Australia's best; the names changing the game for Aussie hip hop — Remi, Baro and Milwaukee Banks, alongside Canadian producer Lunice. Garage, punk, psych, indie and alt-rock blares thick and fast at this year's festival, with those cheeky Parquet Courts heading Gooch Palms, Oh Mercy, Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders, Lake Street Dive (USA), Gang of Youths, The Griswolds, Devotional, Little Bastard, Joseph Liddy and the Skeleton Horse, Spookyland and Rolls Bayce. And if you thought call-and-response wasn't going to make an appearance at Secret Garden this year, Peter Combe and the Bellyflop in a Pizza Band are locked in to dredge up that nostalgia and have you washing your face with orange juice before you can clean your teeth with bubblegum. Secret Garden takes place 27 - 28 February on a 3,000 acre 'garden' on Sydney's fringe. Tickets are currently sold out. As always, the festival will be donating all proceeds to those who need it most, with all proceeds from ticketing and bar sales going to a range of charities. For more info on this year's festival, head to secretgardenfestival.com.au. SECRET GARDEN 2015 LINEUP (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER): Ariane Baro Client Liaison Devotional Donny Benet (Solo) Fishing Frames Gang of Youths Gooch Palms Grace Heartbeat DJs Heather Woods Broderick (USA) Holiday Sidewinder Hot Dub Time Machine I Oh You DJs Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders Japanese Wallpaper Jeremy Neale Joe Liddy & The Skeleton Horse JU?AN DU SOL Lake Street Dive (USA) Le Fruit DJs Levins Little Bastard Little May Love Bombs LUCIANBLOMKAMP Luen Luluc Lunice (CAN) Mike Who Milwaukee Banks No Zu Oh Mercy Oisima Parquet Courts (USA) Pepa Knight Peter Combe Purple Sneakers DJs Remi Rolls Bayce RY4 San Holo (NL) Shag Shantan Wantan Ichiban Sharon Van Etten (USA) Softwar B2B Slow Blow Spookyland Stereogamous ft. Shaun J. Wright (AUS/USA) Steve Smyth Stolen Violin Tees The Griswolds The Morrisons Total Giovanni UV Boi Velociraptor Willow Beats Wintercoats Yo Grito! DJs Yon Yonson
When we take that first sip of our barista-brewed coffee on a workday morning, a lot of us can't actually imagine living without coffee. But what about living without a roof over your head or a guaranteed meal? Unfortunately, this is what many homeless people around Australia face each day, but on Friday, August 7, you can help your fellow Aussies out simply by buying a coffee as part of CafeSmart. CafeSmart is an annual event from StreetSmart that raises money and awareness for the homeless and is back for its third year running. Last year, 415 cafes and 20 coffee roasters raised $120,000 to fund 91 community projects. Not too shabby. So how does it work? From every coffee purchased on August 7 at a participating cafe around Australia, $1 will be donated towards local projects. So if your go-to local isn't participating, shake things up for a day and head to one that is. Prefer a hot chocolate? You can also donate at the counter. Simply by aiming for a bighearted cafe, you'll be helping some of our country's most in-need humans, so treat yourself to a third or fourth coffee guilt-free. CafeSmart is happening around the country on Friday, August 7. Check the website for participating cafes near you. Image: Dollar Photo Club.
Frosted tips, mood rings, cargo pants — you know you owned 'em. Fish your best '90s gear out of the back of your parent's closet and head for a rather '90s New Year's Eve at The Bearded Tit. There'll be sets by Lorna Clarkson, Charlie Villas and the Tit's own Fleetwood Crack, alongside performances by Renny Kodgers and Captain Pipe, so expect this to be one eclectic affair. There'll be prizes for best dressed, so think big — you and five friends could easily pull a solid Spice Girl effort. There's no cover charge (which makes this a wildly affordable type of Sydney NYE), and there'll be '90s cocktails on the night.
Fromage friends, there's a new cheese in town. It's a semi-soft, washed-rind cheese that's landed behind the counter of Newtown resident cheese experts, The Stinking Bishops. And it's called Stinking Bishop. But rather than being the Sydney cheese shop's own product, it's actually the cheese that gave our favourite Friday night cheese spot its name. Earning the name Stinking Bishop with gumption, this highly-prized cheese's pinkish rind and pungent smell comes from being immersed in perry, a pear-based alcohol, periodically while it matures. If you're a budding cheese buff, you'll be glad to know that Stinking Bishop is allowed to mature traditionally in humid cave-like conditions. The cheese reportedly doesn't taste as strong as it smells, but we'll let you be the judge of that. As with all the cheeses at The Stinking Bishops, it's available on their cheese boards and retail, to take home with you. The cheese is produced in very limited quantities and The Stinking Bishops are hoping to make it a regular cheese on their menu, but this time they've only managed to get their hands on 10kg. So it goes without saying, you might want to put some pep in your step and get in on it. Remember to put down your cheese knife before running out the door though. Stinking Bishop is available at The Stinking Bishops, 5/63-71 Enmore Road, Newtown, while stocks last.
Jameson, the legendary distillers of one of Ireland's most famous whiskeys, are calling on eager filmmakers from around the world to pick up a pen and finally write out that short film script they've been thinking about. Now in its sixth year, Jameson First Shot is fostering the creative endeavours of young filmmakers — giving those who may find it difficult to break into the film industry a shot at the big time. It's a stepping stone for filmmakers who don't quite have their foot in the door yet — for those who want to break into the industry, but haven't had the chance to. It's a platform that gives talented individuals an opportunity to realise their ambition and potential, and a way for them to tell their stories. If you're an aspiring filmmaker, head to the First Shot website and submit a seven-page short film script. If your script is chosen as the winner, your film will be produced by a team of professionals that includes Dana Brunetti — he's the man responsible for Captain Phillips and The Social Network, and the brains behind getting House of Cards onto Netflix, something the world should be endlessly grateful for. Dominic West (best known for his role as Detective McNulty in The Wire) will also be the star of your film, taking the lead acting role. Winning First Shot gives filmmakers an opportunity to work with some of the biggest names in show business. Last year's winner, Jason Perini, had the opportunity to direct and work with Maggie Gyllenhaal. "The most exciting part of the filmmaking process was just watching Maggie act — her face was a special effect," he says. "What had the biggest impact on me was the result of really creative and collaborative people working together. All the crew and cast were so dedicated to making the film I had envisioned in my head. I don't think I will ever experience such ease and dedication again." Since filming wrapped, Perini has gone on to direct his debut feature film, Chasing Comets. "I never anticipated that within less than a year of winning, I'd be directing my own feature film," he says. [caption id="attachment_568922" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Image: Trigger productions.[/caption] To enter the competition, write an original piece of work, with the final draft being no more than seven pages in length. Base your script around the great, unexpected things that can happen when you get rid of your fear and invite life in. For a complete set of guidelines and a script template, head here. It isn't everyday you get the chance to have your passion project turned into a reality, so sit yourself down with a delicious whiskey and get writing. Entries close at 5pm on Monday, June 1.
Sydney abounds in whiskey bars, gin joints and wine libraries. But, until now, vermouth – that ancient potion of mystical, medical qualities – hasn't received its own shrine. Enter Banksii, a brand new bar-bistro, run by Bar H's cracking team and soon to open along the sparkling, harbour-side Streets of Barangaroo. On sommelier Rebecca Lines's drinks list, you'll find no fewer than 40 vermouth options. Drink 'em straight, drink 'em on ice, drink 'em while howling at the full moon and drink 'em in cocktails. In short, drink 'em anyway you like. "Vermouth has an exceptionally long history and by the 17th Century was incredibly popular in Europe and England as an aperitif," says Lines. "There has been a recent rediscovery of vermouth and we'll be focusing on it being served straight as an aperitif and in a tight cocktail list, focusing on classics such as martinis and negronis." What's more, she's organising a bespoke drop by the name of Maidenii, which you'll find on Banskii's taps, but nowhere else. Vermouth not your thing? Get into the 100-strong wine menu, emphasising both homegrown and Mediterranean wines. Meanwhile, chef Hamish Ingham — ex-Bar H, Pier, Becasse, Flying Fish and Billy Kwong, and 2004 Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of the Year — has been busy coming up with contemporary dishes that combine Mediterranean influences with Australian botanicals. By the way, in case you're wondering, the name Banskii is not in homage to the homonym-nal street artist, but to Sir Joseph Banks, Australia's first European botanist. Ingham will be serving up his creations morning, noon and night. For breakfast, you'll be getting stuck into rosemary sheep's milk yoghurt with fresh honeycomb and brioche, or grilled Cumberland sausage, fried egg, organic chickpeas and tomatoes cooked in vermouth. Lunch and dinner will be all about keeping things light and fresh, with star dishes including vegetable crudité with sesame yoghurt and mountain leaf oil; and roast spatchcock, botanicals, fried bread and agro dolce. And, for sweet tooths, there's banksia flower trifle with banksia syrup, sweet vermouth, rosella jelly and burnt vanilla custard. Yep. Banksia flower trifle. "I can't wait to get into the kitchen at Banksii," said Ingram. "I'm really happy with how the menu is coming together. The Streets of Barangaroo is going to be one of the most exciting dining precincts in Sydney, with the likes of Belles [Hot Chicken] and Bentley as our neighbours, we're in extremely good company." Luchetti Krelle is taking care of design matters, incorporating indoor-outdoor seating for 200 people and drawing from 18th century ideas (because that's when Sir Banks was around). If you've ever hung out at ACME, Momofuku Seiobo or The Butler, you've luxuriated Luchetti Krelle's excellence. Banksii will open on The Streets of Barangaroo in September 2016.
Cybershaming and cybersexism, drug addiction and neurology, the 'extreme centre' of politics, climate change and capitalism, robots and unemployment, and sugar. They're all on the programme for the seventh incarnation of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas. Coming to the Sydney Opera House over September 5–6, this year's event will be bringing us a stack of Damn the Man activists, provocative authors and controversial intellectuals from all over the world, including Jon Ronson, Naomi Klein, Peter Greste, Tariq Ali, Dr Marc Lewis, Gabriella Coleman, Sarai Walker and AC Grayling. And that's just a smattering. September's a while away, you still have plenty of time to arm yourself with knowledge. Many of FODI's 2015 guests have launched some pretty brave, important and confrontational books during the past few years. Get through these between now and the end of August and you'll be racing to the mic with your questions. SO YOU'VE BEEN PUBLICLY SHAMED BY JON RONSON Another day, another weird or ill-informed or not-clearly-ironic-enough or plain-stupid tweet, another social media frenzy, another sacking, another life in tatters. Welsh journo, author, filmmaker and radio presenter Jon Ronson has delved into the phenomenon of cybershaming and come up with the insightful, honest, hilarious yet frightening book, So You've Been Publicly Shamed. He travels around the world, interviewing high-profile shamees, and exploring the dangers of the democratisation of judgement and justice. FODI TALK: Jon Ronson's 'Shame Culture' is on September 5 at 3.30pm. THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING: CAPITALISM VERSUS THE CLIMATE BY NAOMI KLEIN Reckon you've heard everything there is to know about climate change? Let's face it, it's not until Naomi Klein has put her pen to a topic that we can really say it's had a thorough going-over. In 1999, she gave globalisation a serious shake-up with No Logo, and in 2007, challenged the so-called success of the 'free market' with The Shock Doctrine. In This Changes Everything, Klein argues that climate change isn't so much about carbon as it is about capitalism. If we're planning on the market saving us, we'd better make new plans quicksmart. FODI TALK: Naomi Klein's 'Capitalism and the Climate' is on September 5 at 11.30am. THE EXTREME CENTRE: A WARNING BY TARIQ ALI If the similarity of major political parties has been disillusioning your faith in the political system, Tariq Ali's your man. In his latest book, The Extreme Centre: A Warning, Ali argues that, in way too many countries, politics have been same-same since 1989; with world leaders continually promoting the market's needs at the cost of all else. He examines corruption in Westminster, the EU, NATO and the dominance of the American empire. But it's not all doom and gloom — Ali finds hope in the formation of new, visionary parties in Scotland, Greece and Spain, and in Latin America's Bolivarian Revolutions. FODI TALK: Tariq Ali's 'The Twilight of Democracy' is on September 5 at 12.30pm. DIETLAND BY SARAI WALKER Once you've made your way through all this heavy nonfiction here, you may well be ready for a little escape. You'll find it in Sarai Walker's debut novel, Dietland. That said, this imaginative, funny book doesn't come without a message. It tells the story of Plum Kettle, a girl who tries her hardest to be invisible, because she believes that the fact that she's 'too fat' means that any attention is bad attention. Then, one day, she falls down a rabbit hole, into an underground community of women, where everyone approaches their own body — and their life — on their own terms. FODI TALK: Sarai Walker's 'Radical Fat Acceptance' is on September 6 at 2pm. UNSPEAKABLE THINGS: SEX, LIES AND REVOLUTION BY LAURIE PENNY Laurie Penny is just 28, but her CV reads like that of someone much older. Right now, she's working as a contributing editor at The New Statesman, writing an Orwell Prize shortlisted blog and touring the world talking about her fourth book, Unspeakable Things: Sex, Lies and Revolution. In it, Penny defends her version of feminism, which is fundamentally about everyone's freedom to choose. In the process, she traverses poverty, prejudice, online dating, eating disorders and riots. FODI TALK: Laurie Penny's 'Lost Boys' is on September 6 at 3.30pm. HACKER, HOAXER, WHISTLEBLOWER, SPY: THE MANY FACES OF ANONYMOUS BY GABRIELLA COLEMAN Anthropologist Gabriella Coleman has spent six years delving into the deep, dark world of Anonymous. Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy is the product of her adventures and an incredibly detailed look at the world of hackers, pranksters and digital activists. Coleman reveals her chats with numerous of the subculture's best-known figures, from Topiary to Tflow to Jeremy Hammond, while recounting their roles in major events, including Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring and WikiLeaks. FODI TALK: Gabriella Coleman's 'Inside Anonymous' is on September 5 at 12pm. WITHOUT YOU, THERE IS NO US BY SUKI KIM Since 2002, Seoul-born, New York-living writer Suki Kim has travelled back and forth to North Korea, returning with essays and articles covering major events — from Kim Jong-il's 60th birthday party, to his death in 2011 at the age of 69. During that year, she spent six months teaching English to the sons of the North Korean elite at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST). In Without You, There Is No Us, she gives us a detailed, intimate account of her experiences, providing a window into the education system of a nation we know so little about. FODI TALK: Suki Kim joins Michael Kirby and Anna Broinowski for the 'Inside North Korea' panel on September 6 at 2pm. COMMAND AND CONTROL: NUCLEAR WEAPONS, THE DAMASCUS INCIDENT AND THE ILLUSION OF SAFETY BY ERIC SCHLOSSER Eric Schlosser, author of 2000's Fast Food Nation, has turned his legendary investigative journalism skills to nuclear weapons. Like its predecessor, Command Control aims to make us feel very, very uncomfortable. We're not as safe as we like to think we are. Two plot lines drive the book's structure — the first is the 70-year history of America's nuclear arsenal. The second is the story of the 1980 Titan II missile explosion in Damascus, Arkansas — a 'mishap' that could well have led to a detonation. According to Schlosser, far too many of these types of incidents occur and it's only good luck, really, that's keeping us from a disaster. FODI TALK: Eric Schlosser's 'Nuclear Delusions' is on September 5 at 3pm. MEMOIRS OF AN ADDICTED BRAIN BY DR MARC LEWIS Neuroscientist Dr Marc Lewis first sought escape through drugs as a lonely, bullied boarding school student in New England. Starting with cough medicine, booze and pot, he made his way through the works; taking LSD, speed and heroin in California, nitrous oxide in Malaysia and opium in Calcutta. However, unlike many drug-addicted people, he eventually quit, and went on to become a neuroscientist and developmental psychologist. In Memoirs of an Addicted Brain, Dr Lewis recounts his experiences, focalising his drug-taking through its impact on his neurology. FODI TALK: Marc Lewis's 'Learning Addiction' is on September 6 at 2pm. RISE OF THE ROBOTS: TECHNOLOGY AND THE THREAT OF A JOBLESS FUTURE BY MARTIN FORD Fancy yourself as indispensable to your employer? Believe that, even if your job becomes obsolete, you'll be able to side step into another? Martin Ford thinks you should think again. The robots are coming. And they're going to be cleverer than most of us imagine. In his second book, Rise of the Robots, Ford argues that, unlike other technological developments, the advancement of artificial intelligence promises to leave numerous of us completely, utterly jobless, thereby causing a massive leap in economic inequality. FODI TALK: Martin Ford's 'Hello Robots' is happening on September 5 at 3pm. Learn more about this year's Festival of Dangerous Ideas program, running September 5-6 at the Sydney Opera House, over here. Top image: Dollar Photo Club.
Slip into a world of gangsters and glamour at a shindig inspired by one of Sydney's most notorious nightclubs. For two nights in October, The Festivalists will transform Sydney's Police and Justice Museum into a hive of shady activity, complete with go-go dancers, paparazzi and a backroom roulette table. Throw on your best '60s garb and leave your inhibitions at the door – they're not calling it Mayhem for nothing. Taking their cues from Chequers circa 1969, when the club famously hosted a party with Chicago mobster Joseph Testa in attendance, The Festivalists have teamed up with Sydney Living Museums on what promises to be the most scandalous ticket in town. On Thursday October 8 and Friday October 9, guests dressed to the nines will breeze past the photographers into a pop-up cabaret and bar, where Memphis Mae will take the stage for a 60s-style burlesque show. Maeve Marsden will emcee regular cabaret performances, while retired showgirl Elizabeth Burton spills her guts about life during Sydney's seedy hey-day. Venture a little deeper into the shadows and you'll find plenty more to get up to, including liquid light painting with Zender Bender, immersive theatre by The Jetback Collective, and pole-dancing 101 with Cody Cabana. There'll be prizes for best dressed – and if you're really feeling lucky, try your hand at the roulette wheel, or have a go at cracking open the club safe. In the meantime, The Festivalists' latest Hijinks event, a 007-themed cocktail party, is happening next Friday night at Madame Tussauds. Tickets to Mayhem: Chequers Club can be booked online or over the phone on 1300 488 849. $75 gets you in, and also covers food and your first drink of the night. Image by Brent Lederitz.
Aspiring artists and functioning alcoholics will both feel right at home, in this brand new BYO art studio in Surry Hills. Located on Holt Street around the corner from Central Station, Cork & Chroma is a 'paint and sip' studio that embraces one of life's universal truths: everyone is more creative when they've had a little bit to drink. Open evenings Wednesdays through Saturdays as well as Sunday afternoon, the studio is run by artist Hillary Wall along with her husband B.J. A visit costs $60 for a three hour session, during which time an artist will run you through the basics of acrylics on canvas, before you're let lose to create a masterpiece of your own. They also host private functions and parties, if you're looking to make a mess with your friends. You don't need to bring anything to our sessions, except your favourite bottle of wine to share with your mates while painting! We have everything you need for your creative night out, just pick your session and book online at corkandchroma.com.au 🎨🖌🍷✌️ #sydney #corkandchromasydney #surryhills #sydneylife #corkandchroma #creativesydney #sydneycreatives #whatsonsydney A photo posted by Cork & Chroma Sydney (@corkandchromasydney) on Apr 14, 2016 at 11:13pm PDT Canvas, paints, brushes, easels and glassware all come provided, while they also have a selection of nibbles for purchase, including cheese, chilli spiced nuts and Dello Mano chocolate brownies. All you need to bring is the liquid inspiration. Cork and Chroma is located at 55 Holt Street, Surry Hills. For more information visit www.corkandchroma.com.au.
Sometimes words just won't cut it. For photographer Tobi Wilkinson, explaining the everyday lives of the Gyuto Monks was only viable through her camera lens. This fiercely devoted bunch of Buddhist monks captured Tobi's attention at a five-day teaching of His Holiness the Dalai Lama back in Homebush in 2008. Since then, she's made four visits to their northern Indian monastery, and now brings her fourth exhibition Mindful Practice — The Gyuto Monks Summer Retreat to Bondi Pavilion this April. What sets this monastery apart is their undivided devotion to spirituality, and living it in all aspects of their lives. Home to tantric monks, who act out rather than simply study the scriptures of Buddha, this monastery exists as one of the toughest to belong to. "The Dalai Lama uses them as his ritual monks of choice when he holds teachings which require a high level of ritual detail," says Tobi. "Fewer than one in ten of every monk that joins the monastery lasts the distance." Historically, things haven't been easy for the Gyuto monks either, forced to flee from the Chinese army in 1959 (with only 90 of their original 900 men surviving the shift). Now, the monks are based in Dharamsala, India. Tobi sought to capture their fascinating way of life by absorbing herself in their monastery over numerous trips. "I'm both a woman and a Westerner and living with 500 monks was initially a daunting thought for me… Of course, they are shy and having a camera pointed at them all day takes some getting used to. But I've learned to be very discreet and slowly they have come to accept my presence there," she says. Putting in the hard yards proved crucial to getting a true insight into their everyday lives. "Regular days at the monastery require the monks to be at temple by 5.30am, but if I'm photographing either the morning bread being made or the preparation of the temple and disciplinarian, then I need to be up with those monks at 4.30am." Early starts aside, Tobi's respect for their monastic rituals allowed her privileged access to many of their most intimate ceremonies, such as the Summer Retreat (a period of closure and contemplation for the monastery to allows for uninterrupted spiritual practice). From shots of young monks caught in a 'line of shame' after failing an exam, to intimate moments between their oldest members, Tobi's latest exhibition provides a fascinating peek into this humble way of life. To provide further insight, the two-week program at Bondi Pavilion will include public chants, meditations, talks and personal pujas. The monks will also create a huge mandala over the two weeks, which will be tipped into Bondi Beach after its completion. "Merely by being with them you gain this sense of what life can be like if spirituality was something you could embody and live every day," she says. "I wanted to know more about this, I was hungry for it and I felt a strong need to try to show that to other people through my photos." Tobi Wilkinson's Mindful Practice will be exhibiting from April 11-24 at Bondi Pavilion Gallery, open 9.30am to 5pm daily. For more info, visit the website.
If seasonal change has left you in a dizzy headspin of brand new colours and fabrics and prints and jackets — or if, y'know, you just like some fancy new clothes now and then — you'll be pretty pleased to know that the Big Fashion Sale is coming back to Sydney for four days this March. The name pretty much says it all. This thing is big. You'll find lush items from past collections, samples and one-offs from over 40 cult Australian and international designers, both well-known and emerging, including Marni, Kenzo, Stella McCartney, Alexander Wang, Helmut Lang, Karla Spetic, Christopher Kane, Elke Jewellery and more. With discounts of up to 80 percent off and items for as little as $20, this is one way of upping your street cred with designer threads that'll leave your bank balance sitting pretty too. Prices this low tend to inspire a certain level of ruthlessness in all of us, though, so practise that grabbing reflex in advance. This is every man and lady for themselves. The Big Fashion Sale opening hours: Thursday, March 31 — 8am - 7pm Friday, April 1 — 8am - 6pm Saturday, April 2 — 10am - 6pm Sunday, April 3 — 10am - 5pm
First performed at PACT Centre for Emerging Artists in 2013, Nick Coyle’s Blue Wizard has been restaged at Belvoir with dramaturgy from Adena Jacobs especially for this year’s Mardi Gras. Coyle graces the downstairs stage at Belvoir like a gay, wizard version of Lally Katz in Stories I Want to Tell You in Person, dressed ready to party and full of the truth and grit of human (or wizardly) experience. Coyle’s premise is thrilling and absurd. A blue wizard from another planet "where everyone’s gay" wins a competition to travel to earth. Upon arrival he offers a spectacular, sparkly song and dance inviting us to celebrate his arrival with an orgy. Belvoir’s Sunday audience responded on this occasion with friendly reticence. On Coyle’s planet, each wizard is gifted with superpowers according to their colour. He is a blue wizard, which basically signifies that he is a benign floozy, ill equipped to survive the dull scene on earth lacking the three things he needs in life to survive: “diamonds, cocaine and jizz”. For all its adult content, this one-man extravaganza is like watching a child at play in the backyard. Coyle flits from one flight of fancy to the next and seems genuinely surprised that we’re not joining him on stage. This isn’t just Coyle shooting the breeze in sequined hot pants though; it’s an intergalactic epic that addresses one of the great questions of our age — time travel. Call it plagiarism, call it the zeitgeist, but Blue Wizard showed that love is the answer to time travel before Interstellar did. And for the record, Coyle is every bit as dashing as McConaughey, and the special effects are just as good. Lighting designer Damien Cooper’s exuberant use of strobes and lasers elevates the show from stand-up comedy to a full-blown theatrical experience. All the show needs now is a guest appearance from Lally Katz’s perfectly gay Hope Dolphin.
Few documentarians have the same taste for hot button issues as Academy Award winner Alex Gibney. From Julian Assange (We Steal Secrets) to Lance Armstrong (The Armstrong Lie), enhanced interrogation (Taxi to the Darkside) and sexual abuse in the Catholic Church (Mea Maxima Culpa), the New York filmmaker certainly isn’t afraid of controversy, as his latest film once again proves. Going Clear is a revealing and often disturbing look at the history, tenets and purportedly shady practices of one of the most divisive religious organisations in the world. If even half of what is alleged in it is true, then it’s not just an incredible doco, but a first-rate horror movie as well. Early sections of the film concern the early days of Scientology, and in particular the life of its creator, L. Ron Hubbard. Throughout the ‘30s and ‘40s Hubbard worked as a struggling science-fiction and fantasy writer, during which time his then wife claims he often remarked that “the only way to make any real money was to have a religion”. It was in the early '50s that Hubbard released Dianetics, a self-help book that would form the basis for Scientology. Yet as the movement grew, so too did its founder’s neurosis. The latter half of the film concerns Scientology under David Miscavige, who became head of the church after Hubbard’s death. This section leans heavily on a number of interviews with ex-Scientologists, including Oscar-winning Hollywood director Paul Haggis, as well as the head of the shadowy Office of Special Affairs — a kind of church secret service charged with running smear campaigns against members who dared to speak out. “People will judge me as really stupid,” says Haggis ruefully. “But then, I was really stupid.” With these chilling testimonials, Gibney dismisses the idea that the church is simply a group of harmless eccentrics. Stories of intimidation, brainwashing and emotional and physical abuse are but the tip of the iceberg — and the agony doesn’t always end once you leave. Many members who abandoned the church have found themselves cut off from their friends and family, while others have been targeted for ongoing public harassment. But perhaps the most telling thing about the film has been the way the church has reacted to it. Almost every person involved in the production of the documentary has had their character viciously attacked; the organisation has even gone after film critics who published positive reviews. So, at the risk of opening ourselves up to unwanted confrontation: go and see this movie as soon as you possibly can.
George Miller has done the near-impossible and made car chases interesting again. Not just interesting, mind you. Sensational. Mad Max: Fury Road is electrifying, breathtaking, white-knuckle cinema at its masterful best, and — given the entire film is a car chase — that’s no mean feat. Consider the problem. Chase sequences become interminably dull as soon as you recognise they are restricted by just two possible outcomes: ‘pursuer catches’ or ‘pursued evades’. Subject to a few notable exceptions (French Connection and Ronin being the standouts), these scenes merely interrupt the narrative and contribute little or nothing to the character arcs or overall plot. The difference is the road movie. Miller, who practically invented the genre 35 years ago, understands that everything changes when the chase is the story. It's cinematic inverted spectrum, where action is transformed from interruption to character defining narrative — an extension of the their very lives and personalities. Traditional distinctions like age and gender become irrelevant, and how a person drives, fights, shoots and stares becomes more important than what they say. Demonstrating an astonishing paucity of dialogue, the action of Mad Max: Fury Road doesn’t just speak more loudly than words — it positively deafens. In a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland, earth’s survivors now exist in a collection of militarised tribes fighting over the remaining reserves of gasoline and subject to the tyrannical rule of self-appointed demigods like ‘Immortan Joe’ (Hugh Keays-Byrne). The chase begins almost immediately when a one-armed big-rig driver named Furiosa (Charlize Theron), attempts to liberate Joe's young wives from their servitude as ‘breeders’ and Joe goes all out to recover them. Caught up in the action is Max (Tom Hardy), a wasteland loner captured by Joe’s minions and being used as a living blood bank for one of Furiosa’s pursuers, Nux (an almost unrecognisable Nicholas Hoult). Plot wise, it’s far from innovative; effectively Waterworld on sand with the design aesthetic of Fallout. Cinematically, however, Mad Max: Fury Road is unparalleled. The action is choreographed to mesmerising perfection, offering a balletic pageant of destruction with a refreshing absence of CGI. The sound, too, is staggering, with the menacing roar of V8 engines mirroring the Inception-like ‘BRAMMM’ that seems an almost constant fixture throughout. The combined effect is ferocious and irresistible, encapsulating all that makes cinema a uniquely immersive and transportive experience. Miller has crafted something extraordinary here, a modern masterpiece that could very well redefine the action standard. Don't wait for DVD on this one. See it where it's meant to be seen, and see it now.
In the art world, getting your work seen is often half the battle. Competing with household names for gallery spaces can feel like a lost cause, leaving many to throw in the towel altogether. But what if there was an event designed specifically with emerging talent in mind? Imagine a festival open exclusively to the undiscovered, the hidden gems of the creative world, that promises to connect artists directly with buyers. Good news, The Other Art Fair is making this all come true. Established in the UK nearly five years ago and launched in Sydney last year, The Other Art Fair offers a one-of-a-kind experience, focused on demystifying the art buying process for all involved. Creating a direct link between artists and buyers, art industry experts hand-pick a top notch lineup of emerging talent to showcase to visitors across four days. Now in its second year, the Fair returns to Sydney in October to bring a fresh selection of contemporary works to art lovers, critics and collectors. And in 2016, the Fair promises an entirely new vision led by the new soon-to-be-announced International Fair Director. Plus, the Selection Committee director is none other than Tracey Emin — yep, the Tracey Emin. After the overwhelming success of last year's debut, the fair is currently on the hunt for a new crop of emerging artists to get involved. Think you might be the next big thing? Head to theotherartfair.com.au/applications and enter before submissions close Monday, July 11. For further information, contact Fair Manager, Zoe Edema (zoe@theotherartfair.com).
Art Month 2016's program has landed — and, boy, does March look better already. It will be the first festival under new artistic director Barry Keldoulis, and while favourites like Collectors' Space and Art at Night will return, some new ideas will be thrown into the mix as well. One of these is this year's feature exhibition, which is designed to give an artist's insight into art and the art world. Titled Green Eyed Monster Eating its Own Tail, it features the works of Tracey Moffatt, Tom Polo, Heath Franco, Grant Stevens, Elvis Richardson, Gordon Bennett (aka John Citizen) and PJ Hickman — and gives some perspective on this very cultural landscape in which Art Month exists. "A key start point for the exhibition is the general suspicion of the wider public in regard to the insular nature of the art world and the idea promoted by the media that the art world is elitist," Keldoulis told us. "The role of Art Month is to overturn these assumptions, and this is an exhibition that explores these ideas in an engaging and often humorous manner, succinctly saying visually what may take hours to try to explain verbally…Why not ask artists themselves for insights into the insecurities, the ego bolstering and bruising, the delights and disappointments of seeking brand-name recognition in a simultaneously supportive yet competitive environment?" But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Art Month 2016 will kick off on Tuesday, March 1, when Beau Neilson opens the doors on a party at Eveleigh Creative Precinct. Visitors will head into a never-before-entered warehouse and discovering performances. Then, it's time to get stuck into the Art at Night part of the program. On March 3, head to Alaska Projects for a twilight tour through the East Sydney precinct; on 10 March, follow the Paddington and Woollahra night trail; and on 16 March, make tracks to Chippendale and Redfern. Between 7pm and 10pm after each event, Cake Wines will be running the official Art Bar nearby, providing drinks, live music and performances. Check out the rest of the Art at Night program over here — it's all free. Throughout the month, there'll be exhibitions, open studios, experiences, tours and talks galore. Hit Marrickville on the weekend of March 5-6 to visit 53 studios, galleries and artist-run initiatives — you’ll get to see artists doing their work, and chat to them about it. Get to Newtown on Saturday, March 12 by 10.30am to join Culture Scouts on a walking tour revealing the best of local street art. Jump on yer bike to join ARTcycle tours, which will be happening in various neighbourhoods every week. Wanna find out what's going on further afield? Curated bus tours will be travelling west, north and east. Meanwhile, Collectors’ Space is taking over an unoccupied house. We don’t know where yet — the venue won’t be announced until mid-February — but we can tell you that you'll be getting an insider's look at collections belonging to Sally Dan-Cuthbert, Courtney Gibson, Danny Goldberg and Jasper Knight. When you're ready to sit down and hear some wise words about art, grab a seat at a talk. On Thursday, March 3, City of Sydney public art consultant Barbara Flynn, curator and artist Glenn Barkley, Jess Cook of 107 Projects and artist Lindy Lee will get together to discuss how Sydney works as a creative community – and market. On Wednesday, March 9, hang out at The Bearded Tit alongside Kaldor Public Art Projects director John Kaldor, artist and publican Emma Price, and Jeff Khan from Performance Space to discuss whether performance art is collectable. And on March 12, find out what it's like for the sprogs, when a bunch of people — including Celia Bradshaw, Evan Hughes, Maddie Love, and Anna Shapiro — whose parents are famous art figures, reflect on their childhoods. More than ever, Art Month is about Sydney — it's all about lifting the city's art scene up to the renown of our harbour and pretty landscape. "When you look at the art being produced in Sydney — the artists that make it, the galleries that show it, and the collectors and art lovers who enjoy it — it becomes obvious that Sydney is a dynamic engine of creativity and that the city is a global arts hub," says Keldoulis. "Art Month '16 aims to unpick the puzzle of how a city like Sydney operates as a generator of ideas and an engine of creativity. Art Month's program investigates the various parts that make up the functioning whole." Art Month Sydney will run from March 1-20. For the full program and more information, visit their website.
Most people don't expect to feel particularly in touch with nature when they're standing in the middle of a shopping centre. And yet that's exactly the kind of feeling the team at Flower Child Cafe are hoping to inspire. Opening this week within the walls of Westfield Chatswood, this cafe, eatery and indoor garden is the brainchild of Chris Lu, formerly of Bondi Hardware and co-founder of Happy as Larry Pizza Truck, and Adam Choker, former manager at The Grounds of Alexandria. "I wouldn’t say I’m a big shopper or enjoy spending time in shopping centres. They all seem very unnatural," says Lu. "We wanted to bring the beauty of the outdoors inside...we want our customers to enjoy our amazing service, delicious food and lose themselves to where they are and the experience." The space was designed by Acme & Co, the same team behind the incredible interiors of The Grounds and Archie Rose. Customers will find terracotta tiles and a suspended garden bed, along with an open-plan kitchen meant to add a touch of theatrics. Ex-Merivale chef Nik Jovicki is responsible for the menu, which features dishes such as French toast with banana mascarpone, dark chocolate crumb, fresh berries and salted toffee, and prosciutto and asparagus soldiers with poached egg, buffalo mozzarella, tomato powder and burnt butter hollandaise. Flower Child Cafe also sells cakes and pastries delivered daily from The Grounds. For those who like to do their shopping early, it's a great addition to Chatswood's ever-growing dining options. Flower Child Cafe is open 9am - 5pm daily (and until 9pm on Thursdays) and can be found in Westfield Chatswood. For more information, visit their Facebook. Images: Nikki To.
When we first meet Sin-Dee Rella (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) and her best friend Alexandra (Mya Taylor), it's over a doughnut in a dingy shop on the corner of Santa Monica and Highland, a notorious Los Angeles intersection known for its high numbers of transgender sex workers. Sin-Dee is back on the block after a month-long stint in prison, although she won't be getting back to the hustle right away. First, she's got to track down her pimp and boyfriend Chester (James Ransone), who according to Alexandra has been stepping out behind her back — and with a biological woman, no less. At first description, Sundance hit Tangerine sounds like it could be a bit of a slog to sit through — a micro-budget indie film about people on the fringe of society with no good options and no way out. Thankfully, that could not be further from the truth. What on paper has the makings of a despondent 'issues' movie is instead a loud, stylish, ultra high-energy romp — a film that is both uproariously funny and unexpectedly poignant without ever resorting to cheap tricks, condescension or cliche. Of course the first thing that makes Tangerine stand out is not its subject matter but its style. Director Sean Baker shot the entire film using tricked-out iPhone 5s, a cost-saving measure that proved to be a blessing in disguise. The jerky, unvarnished camerawork suits the film's characters to perfection, while filters added in post-production ramp up the colours to unnaturally vivid level; rarely has LA's ugly side looked so electric on screen. On a technical level alone, this is a truly exciting piece of art, one that raises the bar for low- and no-budget productions while at the same time demonstrating how technology is democratising moviemaking like never before. Still, even more so than its incredible aesthetic, the true success of Tangerine lies in the collaboration between Baker and his two leads. Despite a combined zero hours of screen acting experience between them, Taylor and Rodriguez, who Baker recruited from a local LGBT centre, give two of the best performances of the year. It's hard to imagine 'professional' actors bringing the same levels of authenticity – or attitude – to the film's immensely quotable dialogue, much of which was improvised on set. Indeed, the unvarnished, no-fucks-given edge that both stars bring to the film speaks volumes about the hardships faced by poor transwomen of colour. Tangerine, to its eternal credit, never shies away from these hardships. But it also refuses to paint its characters as helpless victims. These women don't want or need your sympathy, although they certainly deserve your respect. So too does this film. As transgender issues continue to get more of the spotlight, narratives such as this – unflinching and, perhaps more importantly, entertaining – have the power to alter public perception. Frankly, it's hard not to root for characters like these. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALSwWTb88ZU
Many people also know January 26 as Hottest 100 Day — that fateful day when triple j announces the best 100 songs of the previous year, as voted by its listeners. While many people host private Hottest 100 parties, there are plenty of places to spend the countdown with like-minded music lovers. This year, the City of Parramatta is hosting its own, huge Hottest 100 Party in Parramatta Park, with artists like L-Fresh the Lion, Olympia and Froyo set to play with the countdown streaming between sets. There will also be another 'Australia Day Party' stage featuring Eskimo Joe, Thundamentals and Thandi Phoenix. Share in the Big BBQ (90 metres of meat) at both events, plus amusement rides and backyard cricket games.
The show must go on for the folks at the Moulin Rouge. 15 years after the release of Baz Luhrmann's smash-hit movie musical, the story of doomed lovers Christian and Satine is coming to the stage. The lavish adaptation is currently in its early stages, and will be directed by two-time Tony nominee Alex Timbers. "I first encountered Alex Timbers through the remarkable and inventive production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and the brilliance of Here Lies Love," said Luhrmann in a statement. "I immediately recognised the young director's creative spirit and felt we shared similar sensibilities and instincts." Writing duties will be handled by acclaimed playwright and screenwriter John Logan, whose resume includes the recent James Bond outing Skyfall as well as the Tony Award-winning play Red. "It's immensely gratifying to know that a new wave of artists will be leading Moulin Rouge! into its rightful theatrical realm," said Luhrmann. The show is being developed by entertainment group Global Creatures, who previously worked on the theatrical adaptation of King Kong and helped bring Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom to the stage. A premiere date and location for Moulin Rouge! has yet to be announced.
When you're trying to settling on viewing plans for an evening — any evening — there are almost as many ways to pick what to watch as there are movies and television series vying for your attention. One of the easiest options? Working your way through award-winners, whether you know you've already seen and loved plenty of them, you've been meaning to catch up with a heap or you just want to discover what all the fuss has been about. 2023's first excuse to pack your streaming queue and stack your cinema visits based on a Hollywood organisation is the Golden Globes, aka the Hollywood gongs that always kick off each year — and honour both films and TV series. Taking place on Wednesday, January 11 Australian time, the 2023 awards handed out trophies to many of 2022's absolute best on the big and small screens, giving you quite the list of things to watch and/or rewatch. Whether you're keen to hit the silver screen to catch a filmic gem, stream a stellar flick or binge your way through an excellent series or two, here are 15 of the Globes' best winners that you can check out immediately. (And if you're wondering what else won, you can read through the full list, too.) MOVIE MUST-SEES EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Imagine living in a universe where Michelle Yeoh isn't the wuxia superstar she is. No, no one should want to dwell in that reality. Now, envisage a world where everyone has hot dogs for fingers, including the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon icon. Next, picture another where Ratatouille is real, but with raccoons. Then, conjure up a sparse realm where life only exists in sentient rocks. An alternative to this onslaught of pondering: watching Everything Everywhere All At Once, which throws all of the above at the screen and a helluva lot more. Yes, its title is marvellously appropriate. Written and directed by the Daniels, aka Swiss Army Man's Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, this multiverse-hopping wonder is a funhouse of a film that just keeps spinning through wild and wacky ideas. Instead of asking "what if Daniel Radcliffe was a farting corpse that could be used as a jet ski?" as their also-surreal debut flick did, the pair now muses on Yeoh, her place in the universe, and everyone else's along with her. Although Yeoh doesn't play herself in Everything Everywhere All At Once, she is seen as herself; keep an eye out for red-carpet footage from her Crazy Rich Asians days. Such glitz and glamour isn't the norm for middle-aged Chinese American woman Evelyn Wang, her laundromat-owning character in the movie's main timeline, but it might've been if life had turned out differently. That's such a familiar train of thought — a resigned sigh we've all emitted, even if only when alone — and the Daniels use it as their foundation. Their film starts with Evelyn, her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's Short Round and The Goonies' Data) and a hectic time. Evelyn's dad (James Hong, Turning Red) is visiting from China, the Wangs' daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) brings her girlfriend Becky (Tallie Medel, The Carnivores) home, and IRS inspector Deirdre Beaubeirdra (Jamie Lee Curtis, Halloween Ends) is conducting a punishing audit. Then Evelyn learns she's the only one who can save, well, everything, everywhere and everyone. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy (Michelle Yeoh), Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture (Ke Huy Quan). Where to watch it: Everything Everywhere All At Once streams via Binge, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. Read our full review. BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER Black Panther: Wakanda Forever isn't the movie it was initially going to be, the sequel to 2018's electrifying and dynamic Black Panther that anyone behind it originally wanted it to be, or the chapter in the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe that it first aimed to be — this, the world already knows. The reason why is equally familiar, after Chadwick Boseman died from colon cancer in 2020 aged 43. At its best, this direct followup to the MCU's debut trip to its powerful African nation doesn't just know this, too, but scorches that awareness deep into its frames. King T'Challa's death starts the feature, a loss that filmmaking trickery doesn't reverse, no matter how meaningless mortality frequently proves when on-screen resurrections are usually a matter of mere plot twists. Wakanda Forever begins with heartbreak and pain, in fact, and with facing the hard truth that life ends and, in ways both big and small, that nothing is ever the same. Directed and co-written by Ryan Coogler (Creed) like its predecessor — co-scripting again with Joe Robert Cole (All Day and a Night) — Wakanda Forever's emotional tributes to T'Challa and Boseman hit swiftly, after the former's tech-wiz sister Shuri (Letitia Wright, Death on the Nile) agonises over not being able to save him. In a swirl of song, dance, colour, movement, rhythm and feeling on par with the first instalment, but also solemn, Wakanda erupts in mourning, and the film makes plain that the Black Panther audiences knew is gone forever. A year later, sorrow lingers, but global courtesy wanes — now that the world knows about the previously secret country and its metal vibranium, everyone wants a piece. Such searching incites a new threat to the planet, courtesy of Mesoamerican underwater kingdom Talokan and its leader-slash-deity Namor (Tenoch Huerta, Narcos: Mexico). The Atlantis-esque ocean realm has vibranium as well, and it's not keen on anywhere else but Wakanda doing the same. If Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett, Gunpowder Milkshake), Shuri and their compatriots don't join Namor to fight back, Namor will wage war against them instead. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture (Angela Bassett). Where to watch it: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently screening in Australian cinemas. Read our full review. RRR The letters in RRR's title are short for Rise Roar Revolt. They could also stand for riveting, rollicking and relentless. They link in with the Indian action movie's three main forces, too — writer/director SS Rajamouli (Baahubali: The Beginning), plus stars NT Rama Rao Jr (Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava) and Ram Charan (Vinaya Vidheya Rama) — and could describe the sound of some of its standout moments. What noise echoes when a motorcycle is used in a bridge-jumping rescue plot, as aided by a horse and the Indian flag, amid a crashing train? Or when a truck full of wild animals is driven into a decadent British colonialist shindig and its caged menagerie unleashed? What racket resounds when a motorbike figures again, this time tossed around by hand (yes, really) to knock out those imperialists, and then an arrow is kicked through a tree into someone's head? Or, when the movie's two leads fight, shoot, leap over walls and get acrobatic, all while one is sat on the other's shoulders? RRR isn't subtle. Instead, it's big, bright, boisterous, boldly energetic, and brazenly unapologetic about how OTT and hyperactive it is. The 187-minute Tollywood action epic — complete with huge musical numbers, of course — is also a vastly captivating pleasure to watch. Narrative-wise, it follows the impact of the British Raj (aka England's rule over the subcontinent between 1858–1947), especially upon two men. In the 1920s, Bheem (Jr NTR, as Rao is known) is determined to rescue young fellow villager Malli (first-timer Twinkle Sharma), after she's forcibly taken by Governor Scott Buxton (Ray Stevenson, Vikings) and his wife Catherine (Alison Doody, Beaver Falls) for no reason but they're powerful and they can. Officer Raju (Charan) is tasked by the crown with making sure Bheem doesn't succeed in rescuing the girl, and also keeping India's population in their place because their oppressors couldn't be more prejudiced. GLOBES Won: Best Original Song (for 'Naatu Naatu' by Kala Bhairava, M.M. Keeravani, Kala Bhairava, Rahul Sipligunj). Where to watch it: RRR streams via Netflix. Read our full review. THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN In The Banshees of Inisherin, the rolling hills and clifftop fields look like they could stretch on forever, even on a fictional small island perched off the Irish mainland. For years, conversation between Padraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell, After Yang) and Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson, The Tragedy of Macbeth) has been similarly sprawling — and leisurely, too — especially during the pair's daily sojourn to the village pub for chats over pints. But when the latter calls time on their camaraderie suddenly, his demeanour turns brusque and his explanation, only given after much pestering, is curt. Uttered beneath a stern, no-nonsense stare by Gleeson to his In Bruges co-star Farrell, both reuniting with that darkly comic gem's writer/director Martin McDonagh for another black, contemplative and cracking comedy, Colm is as blunt as can be: "I just don't like you no more." In the elder character's defence, he wanted to ghost his pal without hurtful words. Making an Irish exit from a lifelong friendship is a wee bit difficult on a tiny isle, though, as Colm quickly realises. It's even trickier when the mate he's trying to put behind him is understandably upset and confused, there's been no signs of feud or fray beforehand, and anything beyond the norm echoes through the town faster than a folk ballad. So springs McDonagh's smallest-scale and tightest feature since initially leaping from the stage to the screen, and a wonderful companion piece to that first effort. Following the hitman-focused In Bruges, he's gone broader with Seven Psychopaths, then guided Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell to Oscars with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, but he's at his best when his lens is trained at Farrell and Gleeson as they bicker in close confines. GLOBES Won: Best Motion Picture — Comedy, Best Screenplay — Motion Picture (Martin McDonagh), Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy (Colin Farrell). Where to watch it: The Banshees of Inisherin is currently screening in Australian cinemas. Read our full review. GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO Guillermo del Toro hasn't yet directed a version of Frankenstein, except that he now has in a way. Officially, he's chosen another much-adapted, widely beloved story — one usually considered less dark — but there's no missing the similarities between the Nightmare Alley and The Shape of Water filmmaker's stop-motion Pinocchio and Mary Shelley's ever-influential horror masterpiece. Both carve out tales about creations made by grief-stricken men consumed by loss. Both see those tinkerers help give life to things that don't usually have it, gifting existence to the inanimate because they can't cope with mortality's reality. Both notch up the fallout when those central humans struggles with the results of their handiwork, even though all that the beings that spring from their efforts want is pure and simple love and acceptance. Del Toro's take on Pinocchio still has a talking cricket, a blue-hued source of magic and songs, too, but it clearly and definitely isn't a Disney movie. Instead, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is an enchanting iteration of a story that everyone knows, and that's graced screens so many times that this is the third flick in 2022 alone. Yes, the director's name is officially in the film's title. Yes, it's likely there to stop the movie getting confused with that array of other page-to-screen adaptations, all springing from Carlo Collodi's 19th-century Italian children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio. That said, even if the list of features about the timber puppet wasn't longer than said critter's nose when he's lying, del Toro would earn the possessory credit anyway. No matter which narrative he's unfurling — including this one about a boy fashioned out of pine (voiced by Gregory Mann, Victoria) by master woodcarver Geppetto (David Bradley, Catherine Called Birdy) after the death of his son — the Mexican Oscar-winner's distinctive fingerprints are always as welcomely apparent as his gothic-loving sensibilities. GLOBES Won: Best Motion Picture — Animated. Where to watch it: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio streams via Netflix. Read our full review. ELVIS Making a biopic about the king of rock 'n' roll, trust Baz Luhrmann to take his subject's words to heart: a little less conversation, a little more action. The Australian filmmaker's Elvis, his first feature since 2013's The Great Gatsby, isn't short on chatter. It's even narrated by Tom Hanks (Finch) as Colonel Tom Parker, the carnival barker who thrust Presley to fame (and, as Luhrmann likes to say, the man who was never a Colonel, never a Tom and never a Parker). But this chronology of an icon's life is at its best when it's showing rather than telling. That's when it sparkles brighter than a rhinestone on all-white attire, and gleams with more shine than all the lights in Las Vegas. That's when Elvis is electrifying, due to its treasure trove of recreated concert scenes — where Austin Butler (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) slides into Presley's blue suede shoes and lifetime's supply of jumpsuits like he's the man himself. Butler is that hypnotic as Presley. Elvis is his biggest role to-date after starting out on Hannah Montana, sliding through other TV shows including Sex and the City prequel The Carrie Diaries, and also featuring in Yoga Hosers and The Dead Don't Die — and he's exceptional. Thanks to his blistering on-stage performance, shaken hips and all, the movie's gig sequences feel like Elvis hasn't ever left the building. Close your eyes and you'll think you were listening to the real thing. (In some cases, you are: the film's songs span Butler's vocals, Presley's and sometimes a mix of both). And yet it's how the concert footage looks, feels, lives, breathes, and places viewers in those excited and seduced crowds that's Elvis' true gem. It's meant to make movie-goers understand what it was like to be there, and why Presley became such a sensation. Aided by dazzling cinematography, editing and just all-round visual choreography, these parts of the picture — of which there's many, understandably — leave audiences as all shook up as a 1950s teenager or 1970s Vegas visitor. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama (Austin Butler). Where to watch it: Elvis streams via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE FABELMANS "Movies are dreams that you never forget," says Mitzi Fabelman (Michelle Williams, Venom: Let There Be Carnage) early in Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans. Have truer words ever been spoken in any of the director's flicks? Uttered to her eight-year-old son Sammy (feature debutant Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord), Mitzi's statement lingers, providing the film's beating heart even when the coming-of-age tale it spins isn't always idyllic. Individual pictures can come and go, of course. Only some — only some on the Jaws, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park and West Side Story filmmaker's own resume, in fact — truly stand the test of time. But as former concert pianist Mitzi understands, and imparts to her wide-eyed on-screen Spielberg boyhood surrogate, movies as an art form are a dream that keeps shining in our heads. We return to theatres again and again for more. We glue our eyes to films at home, too. We lap up the worlds they visit, stories they relay and fantasies they inspire, and we also add our own. To everyone that's ever stared at the silver screen in awe, The Fabelmans pays tribute far more than it basks in the glow of its director. Because everyone is crafting cinematic memoirs of late, Spielberg adds this tender yet clear-eyed look at his childhood to a growing list of self-reflective flicks; however, he's as fascinated with cinema as a dream-sparking and -making force as is he with fictionalising his own tale. Slot The Fabelmans in alongside James Gray's Armageddon Time, Kenneth Branagh's Belfast, Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza and Alejandro González Iñárritu's Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths from the past year or so, then, but don't merely consider it Spielberg jumping on a trend. Focusing on Sammy's film fixation, including as a teen (played by Gabriel LaBelle, The Predator) and as his fragile family hops around the US following his computer-engineer dad Burt's (Paul Dano, The Batman) work, this is a heartfelt, perceptive and potent movie about how movies act as a mirror — a vividly shot and engagingly performed one, too, complete with a pitch-perfect late cameo — whether we're watching or creating them. GLOBES Won: Best Motion Picture — Drama, Best Director — Motion Picture (Steven Spielberg). Where to watch it: The Fabelmans is currently screening in Australian cinemas. Read our full review. SMALL-SCREEN STANDOUTS ABBOTT ELEMENTARY The Office did it, in both the UK and US versions. Parks and Recreation did so, too. What We Do in the Shadows still does it — and, yes, there's more where they all came from. By now, the mockumentary format is a well-established part of the sitcom realm. Indeed, it's so common that additional shows deciding to give it a whirl aren't noteworthy for that alone. But in Emmy-winner Abbott Elementary, which is currently streaming its second season, the faux doco gimmick is also deployed as an outlet for the series' characters. They're all public school elementary teachers in Philadelphia, and the chats to-camera help convey the stresses and tolls of doing what they're devoted to. In a wonderfully warm and also clear-eyed gem created by, co-written by and starring triple-threat Quinta Brunson (Miracle Workers), that'd be teaching young hearts and minds no matter the everyday obstacles, the utter lack of resources and funding, or the absence of interest from the bureaucracy above them. Brunson plays perennially perky 25-year-old teacher Janine Teagues, who loves her gig and her second-grade class. She also adores her colleague Barbara Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph, Ray Donovan), the kindergarten teacher that she sees as a mentor and work mum. Actually, Janine isn't just fond of all of the above — she's so devoted to her job that she'll let nothing stand in her way. But that isn't easy or straightforward in a system that's short on cash and care from the powers-that-be to make school better for its predominantly Black student populace. Also featuring Everybody Hates Chris' Tyler James Williams (also The United States vs Billie Holiday) as an apathetic substitute teacher, Lisa Ann Walter (The Right Mom) and Chris Perfetti (Sound of Metal) as Abbott faculty mainstays, and Janelle James (Black Monday) as the incompetent principal who only scored her position via blackmail, everything about Abbott Elementary is smart, kindhearted, funny and also honest. That remains the case in season two, where Janine is newly single and grappling with being on her own, sparks are flying with Williams' Gregory and James' Ava can't keep bluffing her way through her days. GLOBES Won: Best Television Series — Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy (Quinta Brunson), Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical or Comedy or Drama Television Series (Tyler James Williams). Where to watch it: Abbott Elementary streams via Disney+. THE BEAR First, an important piece of advice: eating either before or while watching The Bear is highly recommended, and near close to essential. Now, two more crucial slices of wisdom: prepare to feel stressed throughout every second of this riveting, always-tense, and exceptionally written and acted culinary series, and also to want to tuck into The Original Beef of Chicagoland's famous sandwiches immediately. The eatery is purely fictional, but its signature dish looks phenomenal. Most of what's cooked up in Carmen 'Carmy' Berzatto's (Jeremy Allen White, Shameless) kitchen does. But he has taken over the family business following his brother's suicide, arriving back home after wowing the world in fine dining's top restaurants, and nothing is easy. Well, coveting The Bear's edible wares is across the show's eight-episode first season — but making them, keeping the shop afloat, coping with grief and ensuring that the diner's staff work harmoniously is a pressure cooker of chaos. That anxious mood is inescapable from the outset; the best way to start any meal is just to bite right in, and The Bear's creator Christopher Storer (who also directs five episodes, and has Ramy, Dickinson and Bo Burnham: Make Happy on his resume) takes the same approach. He also throws all of his ingredients together with precision — the balance of drama and comedy, the relentlessness that marks every second in The Original Beef's kitchen, and the non-stop mouthing off by Richie, aka Cousin, aka Carmy's brother's best friend (Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Dropout), all included. Carmy has bills to pay, debts to settle, eerie dreams and sleepwalking episodes to navigate, new sous chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri, Dickinson) mixing up the place and long-standing employees (such as Hap and Leonard's Lionel Boyce, In Treatment's Liza Colón-Zayas and Fargo's Edwin Lee Gibson) to keep happy. Every glimpse at the resulting hustle and bustle is as gripping as it is appetising — and yes, binging is inevitable. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy (Jeremy Allen White). Where to watch it: The Bear streams via Disney+. Read our full review. EUPHORIA From the very first frames of its debut episode back in June 2019, when just-out-of-rehab 17-year-old Rue Bennett (Zendaya, Spider-Man: No Way Home) gave viewers the lowdown on her life, mindset, baggage, friends, family and everyday chaos, Euphoria has courted attention — or, mirroring the tumultuous teens at the centre of its dramas, the Emmy-winning HBO series just knew that eyeballs would come its way no matter what it did. The brainchild of filmmaker Sam Levinson (Malcolm & Marie), adapted from an Israeli series by the same name, and featuring phenomenal work by its entire cast, it's flashy, gritty, tense, raw, stark and wild, and manages to be both hyper-stylised to visually striking degree and deeply empathetic. In other words, if teen dramas reflect the times they're made — and from Degrassi, Press Gang and Beverly Hills 90210 through to The OC, Friday Night Lights and Skins, they repeatedly have — Euphoria has always been a glittery eyeshadow-strewn sign of today's times. That hasn't changed in the show's second season. Almost two and a half years might've elapsed between Euphoria's first and second batch of episodes — a pair of out-of-season instalments in late 2020 and early 2021 aside — but it's still as potent, intense and addictive as ever. And, as dark, as Rue's life and those of her pals (with the cast including Hunter Schafer, The King of Staten Island's Maude Apatow, The Kissing Booth franchise's Jacob Elordi, The White Lotus' Sydney Sweeney, The Afterparty's Barbie Ferreira, North Hollywood's Angus Cloud and Waves' Alexa Demie) bobs and weaves through everything from suicidal despair, Russian Roulette, bloody genitals, unforgettable school plays, raucous parties and just garden-variety 2022-era teen angst. The list always goes on; in fact, as once again relayed in Levinson's non-stop, hyper-pop style, the relentlessness that is being a teenager today, trying to work out who you are and navigating all that the world throws at you is Euphoria's point. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Drama (Zendaya). Where to watch it: Euphoria streams via Binge. OZARK In 2022, Julia Garner schemed her away into New York's upper echelons in the instantly addictive Inventing Anna, playing IRL faux socialite Anna Delvey — and won the unofficial award for wildest accent on TV, too. She didn't end up nabbing a Golden Globe for her part, despite being nominated; however, the acclaimed actress hasn't been going home empty-handed at awards ceremonies. The reason? Fellow Netflix series Ozark. The Assistant keeps picking up Supporting Actress gongs for the crime drama, for her blistering performance as Ruth Langmore. When the show started back in 2017, Garner wasn't in its top-two biggest names, thanks to Jason Bateman (The Outsider) and Laura Linney (Tales of the City), but she's turned her part into an absolute powerhouse. Ozark's focus: a financial advisor, Marty Byrde (Bateman), who moves from Chicago to a quiet Missouri town — yes, in the titular Ozarks region — after a money-laundering scheme goes wrong in a big way. That's a significant shift for his wife Wendy (Linney) and kids Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz, What Breaks the Ice) and Jonah (Skylar Gaertner, Daredevil), but it doesn't see Marty change his ways. Instead, more laundering is in his future, as well as crossing paths with Ruth, who hails from a criminal family. Across its four-season run, Ozark has always been lifted by its performances, which is unsurprising given that Bateman, Linney and Garner are all at the top of their games. It's a masterclass in tension, too, and in conveying a relentless feeling of dread. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical or Comedy or Drama Television Series (Julia Garner). Where to watch it: Ozark streams via Netflix. BLACK BIRD 2022 marks a decade since Taron Egerton's first on-screen credit as a then-23 year old. Thanks to the Kingsman movies, Eddie the Eagle, Robin Hood and Rocketman, he's rarely been out of the cinematic spotlight since — but miniseries Black Bird feels like his most mature performance yet. The latest based-on-a-true-crime tale to get the twisty TV treatment, it adapts autobiographical novel In with the Devil: a Fallen Hero, a Serial Killer, and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption. It also has Dennis Lehane, author of Gone Baby Gone, Mystic River and Shutter Island, bringing it to streaming. The focus: Jimmy Keene, a former star high-school footballer turned drug dealer, who finds his narcotics-financed life crumbling when he's arrested in a sting, offered a plea bargain with the promise of a five-year sentence (four with parole), but ends up getting ten. Seven months afterwards, he's given the chance to go free, but only if he agrees to transfer to a different prison to befriend suspected serial killer Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser, Cruella), and get him to reveal where he's buried his victims' bodies. Even with new shows based on various IRL crimes hitting queues every week, or thereabouts — 2022 has seen plenty, including Inventing Anna, The Dropout, The Girl From Plainville and The Staircase, to name a mere few — Black Bird boasts an immediately compelling premise. The first instalment in its six-episode run is instantly gripping, too, charting Keene's downfall, the out-of-ordinary situation posed by Agent Lauren McCauley (Sepideh Moafi, The Killing of Two Lovers), and the police investigation by Brian Miller (Greg Kinnear, Crisis) to net Hall. It keeps up the intrigue and tension from there; in fact, the wild and riveting details just keep on coming. Fantastic performances all round prove pivotal as well. Again, Egerton is excellent, while Hauser's menace-dripping efforts rank among the great on-screen serial killer portrayals. And, although bittersweet to watch after his sudden passing in May, Ray Liotta (The Many Saints of Newark) makes a firm imprint as Keene's father. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television (Paul Walter Hauser). Where to watch it: Black Bird streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. THE WHITE LOTUS Lives of extravagant luxury. Globe-hopping getaways. Whiling away cocktail-soaked days in gorgeous beachy locales. Throw in the level of wealth and comfort needed to make those three things an easy, breezy everyday reality, and the world's sweetest dreams are supposedly made of this. On TV since 2021, HBO's hit dramedy The White Lotus has been, too. Indeed, in its Emmy-winning first season, the series was a phenomenon of a biting satire, scorching the one percent, colonialism and class divides in a twisty, astute, savage and hilarious fashion. It struck such a chord, in fact, that what was meant to be a one-and-done limited season was renewed for a second go-around, sparking an anthology. That Sicily-set second effort once again examines sex, status, staring head-on at mortality and accepting the unshakeable fact that life is short for everyone but truly sweet for oh-so-few regardless of bank balance — and with writer/director/creator Mike White (Brad's Status) still overseeing proceedings, the several suitcase loads of smart, scathing, sunnily shot chaos that The White Lotus brings to screens this time around are well worth unpacking again. Here, another group of well-off holidaymakers slip into another splashy, flashy White Lotus property and work through their jumbled existences. Another death lingers over their trip, with The White Lotus again starting with an unnamed body — bodies, actually — then jumping back seven days to tell its tale from the beginning. Running the Taormina outpost of the high-end resort chain, Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore, Across the River and Into the Trees) is barely surprised by the corpse that kicks off season two. She's barely surprised about much beforehand, either. That includes her dealings with the returning Tanya McQuoid-Hunt (Jennifer Coolidge, The Watcher), her husband Greg (Jon Gries, Dream Corp LLC) and assistant Portia (Haley Lu Richardson, After Yang); three generations of Di Grasso men, aka Bert (F Murray Abraham, Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities), Hollywood hotshot Dominic (Michael Imperioli, The Many Saints of Newark) and the Stanford-educated Albie (Adam DiMarco, The Order); and tech whiz Ethan (Will Sharpe, Defending the Guilty) and his wife Harper (Aubrey Plaza, Best Sellers), plus his finance-bro college roommate Cameron (Theo James, The Time Traveller's Wife) and his stay-at-home wife Daphne (Meghann Fahy, The Bold Type). GLOBES Won: Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television (Jennifer Coolidge). Where to watch it: The White Lotus streams via Binge. Read our full review of season two. THE DROPOUT Dramatising the Theranos scandal, eight-part miniseries The Dropout is one of several high-profile releases this year to relive a wild true-crime tale — including the Anna Delvey-focused Inventing Anna, about the fake German heiress who conned her way through New York City's elite, and also documentary The Tinder Swindler, which steps through defrauding via dating app at the hands of Israeli imposter Simon Leviev. It also dives into the horror-inducing Dr Death-esque realm, because when a grift doesn't just mess with money and hearts, but with health and lives, it's pure nightmare fuel. And, it's the most gripping of the bunch, even though we're clearly living in peak scandal-to-screen times. Scam culture might be here to stay as Inventing Anna told us in a telling line of dialogue, but it isn't enough to just gawk its way — and The Dropout and its powerful take truly understands this. To tell the story of Theranos, The Dropout has to tell the story of Elizabeth Holmes, the Silicon Valley biotech outfit's founder and CEO from the age of 19. Played by a captivating, career-best Amanda Seyfried — on par with her Oscar-nominated work in Mank, but clearly in a vastly dissimilar role — the Steve Jobs-worshipping Holmes is seen explaining her company's name early in its first episode. It's derived from the words "therapy" and "diagnosis", she stresses, although history already dictates that it offered little of either. Spawned from Holmes' idea to make taking blood simpler and easier, using just one drop from a small finger prick, it failed to deliver, lied about it copiously and still launched to everyday consumers, putting important medical test results in jeopardy. GLOBES: Won: Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. Where to watch it: The Dropout streams Disney+. Read our full review. HOUSE OF THE DRAGON In its very first moments, House of the Dragon's opening episode delivers exactly what its name promises: here be dragons indeed. Within ten minutes, the Iron Throne, that sprawling metal seat that all of Westeros loves fighting about, also makes its initial appearance. By the time the 20-minute mark arrives, bloody violence of the appendage-, limb- and head-lopping kind fills the show's frames as well. And, before the debut instalment of this Game of Thrones prequel about House Targaryen's history even hits its halfway mark, a brothel scene with nudity and sex is sighted, too. Between all of the above, the usual GoT family dramas, squabbles over successors and power struggles pop up. Of course they do. House of the Dragon was always going to check all of the above boxes. None of this can constitute spoilers, either, because none of it can come as a surprise. Game of Thrones' fame and influence have become that pervasive, as have its hallmarks and trademarks. Everyone knows what GoT is known for, even if you've somehow never seen this page-to-screen franchise yet or read the George RR Martin-penned books that it's based on. After green-lighting a different prequel to pilot stage, scrapping it, then picking this one to run with instead — and also making plans to bring novella series Tales of Dunk and Egg to TV, working on an animated GoT show, exploring other potential prequels and forging ahead a Jon Snow-focused sequel series — House of the Dragon is the first Game of Thrones successor to arrive in streaming queues, and it doesn't mess with a formula that HBO doesn't consider broken. Its focus: the Targaryen crew 172 years before the birth of Daenerys and her whole dragon-flying, nephew-dating, power-seeking story. Cue silky silver locks aplenty, including cascading from King Viserys I's (Paddy Considine, The Third Day) head as he takes to the Iron Throne over his cousin Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best, Nurse Jackie). She had a better claim to the spiky chair, but gets passed over because she's a woman. Years later, the same scenario springs up over whether the king's dragon-riding daughter Princess Rhaenyra (Upright's Milly Alcock, then Mothering Sunday's Emma D'Arcy) becomes his heir, or the future son he's desperate to have, or his headstrong and shady younger brother Prince Daemon (Matt Smith, Morbius). GLOBES: Won: Best Television Series — Drama. Where to watch it: House of the Dragon streams via Binge. Read our full review. Top image: HBO.
Disney and Marvel. When the union was forged, many wondered whether it would be death of both or the start of something special. Then The Avengers made about a trillion dollars and it looked like things might be okay. Key to the acquisition was Disney’s hands-off approach, guaranteeing the gritty Marvel world would not suddenly be required to include musical numbers like: “I’m a Wolverine and I’m the best you’ve ever seen”. The latest offering — Big Hero 6 — is a Disney movie based on a Marvel comic that perhaps 11 people in the world have ever heard of. That meant the Disney team could largely ignore the source material and simply ‘Frankengrab’ the parts they liked, which in this case was little more than the film’s title. The action takes place in the city of San Fransokyo, a portmanteau blending not just names but also architecture, with the iconic San Francisco Bay playing backdrop to a very aesthetically Asian metropolis. Living in it are the bothers Hamada: technology prodigies who direct their talents in wildly different arenas. Hiro builds robots for underground gambling, while his older brother, Tadashi, tries repeatedly to entice him to the prestigious Institute of Technology. When tragedy strikes, Hiro finds himself inadvertently partnered up with Tadashi's prototype robot ‘Baymax', and it’s here that Big Hero 6 hits its stride. Baymax is, quite simply, a revelation. Tender, naive and scene-stealingly funny, he’s a bulbous inflatable carer-bot, a sort of Stay Puft Marshmallow Man with a med degree. Voiced by Scott Adsit (30 Rock), Baymax is singular in purpose: he wants to help people. But with several kinks yet to be ironed out, his efforts often prove more troublesome than beneficial. Add to the mix a mysterious, murderous villain who compels Hiro to train Baymax in martial arts and you get a Kung Fu Panda adventure mixed with the traditional Disney themes of loss, love and learning. There is, of course, a video game undercurrent to the action, because tied into the release of Big Hero 6 is a video game; however, the blend of characters, comedy and carnage is in the right ratio. The animation is also spectacular. Speaking at the screening, producer Roy Conli showed us some of the new technology developed specifically for this film to be made, and none was more impressive than the world-building engine responsible for San Fransokyo. The city is enormous and unbelievably detailed. It feels real, which keeps the story grounded when it might otherwise stray too far into silliness. The star, though, is Baymax. Adsit’s ability to emote through an expressionless blob is a giant accomplishment, responsible for more than few tears and sniffles throughout. Big Hero 6 may not be quite up to the level of Pixar in terms of story, but it’s still a great addition to the Disney family of films and one that all members of the family will enjoy.
With patches of spring starting to infiltrate the city, one might be forgiven for assuming that winter has done its dash. Perhaps. But theatre is not a beast governed by the seasons and August has some seriously chilly offerings to impart. A bitter old man losing his mind and his furniture as he hurtles headlong into death's maw. A rebel racing to tear down an asylum before his brain fries. A Gordian knot of emotional destitution that its creator would never see performed. Dispense with the mittens, sure. But theatrically speaking, you're not out of the woods yet.
Time to wake your brain up from its summer slumber and get those mind grapes squeezing juice again, because Melbourne is getting a dose of none other than the inimitable Miranda July. In what can't be called anything less than a coup, the celebrated writer, filmmaker, actor, artist, app maker, handbag wizard and bona fide enigma will be gracing the stage with her talkher talk Lost Child! at Sydney Opera House's All About Women, then heading to Melbourne Town Hall on Monday, March 7. Recently read The Last Bad Man and wondered who the hell was this woman behind it? Or just fascinated by the whole persona of this wonderful woman? Well, she'll be talking through her very varied and unique works, from her time as an artist in Portland to where she is now. And we daresay she'll be answering a few audience questions — so get yours ready. Image: Miranda July.
While we suspect he'll always be remembered best as the world's most famous boy wizard, you certainly couldn't accuse Daniel Radcliffe of always playing in the same sandbox. Since wrapping up the Harry Potter series, the actor has played Alan Ginsberg in Kill Your Darlings, taken the stage in Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishman, and most recently appeared as a flatulent corpse in the surprisingly heartwarming indie film Swiss Army Man. His latest project is an Off-Broadway play, one that is noteworthy not just for Radcliffe's part, but for its unusual policy when it comes to mobile phones. While whipping out your cell is generally considered sacrilege in the theatre, Privacy takes the opposite approach — actively encouraging audience members to take selfies during the show in order to explore questions of privacy and accountability in an increasingly connected world. As Radcliffe dives into the open world of social media, audience members are able to post their photos to the theatre website, at which point they're projected onto a giant screen behind the actors. Further chances for crowd participation come when a character types "is it wrong…" into Google, with viewers prompted to shout out possible autofill possibilities. Of course Privacy isn't the first time theatres have allowed or even encouraged the use of mobile phones. Theatres in Melbourne such as Malthouse and La Mama have experimented with special 'tweet seats' in the past, sparking furious debate as to whether the practice should be allowed. What's interesting in this case is how the play actually incorporates phone users into the performance. This could very well be the beginning of a brave new world. Via PSFK.
Announced as the very first headliner for the 2017 Vivid program, indie folk-rock band Fleet Foxes are making their triumphant return to Sydney — for the first time in five years. The US band will bring their bright dance-around-the-forest songs to the Sydney Opera House for four exclusive shows on May 26–29 this year. These will be the band's only shows in Australia, so tickets will be allocated via a ballot system. Those who miss out or can't make it to Sydney needn't despair, however — the final show will be live streamed on Facebook from 8pm on May 29. Fans of Fleet Foxes will know the band have been extremely quiet of late; they haven't released an album since Helplessness Blues back in 2011. The band is set to release their third album this year — which, according to Consequence of Sound, is called Ylajali — and has already locked in some European tour dates post-Vivid, meaning that we could potentially be the first to hear their new material.
A FREE concert by The Flaming Lips, a cardboard city with a FREE flying fox, a Birdman screening live scored by the film's drummer Antonio Sanchez, and a steamy story session with Sydney’s sexiest senior citizens are all happening in Sydney this January, when the Sydney Festival turns forty. Yep, as of 2016, the city’s biggest and best-loved arts shindig will be over the hill. And, by way of celebration, we’re being treated to a program of truly epic proportions. Today, the organisers spilled the beans on the 157 events (including 89 free ones!), 383 performances, 34 venues, 902 artists and 22 nations that will be coming together from January 7 to 26. Let’s start with The Flaming Lips. Oklahoma’s most famous psychedelic alternative rock outfit will be hitting The Domain to headline the festival’s legendary Summer Sounds concert, hopefully with clothes and without Miley Cyrus, and definitely pumping out their cult tunes alongside their chart triumphs. And it'll cost you zero dollars. Meanwhile, SydFest is expanding to a bunch of new spots, including Barangaroo Reserve and Vaucluse House. Barangaroo’s new cultural space, The Cutaway, is gearing up to host one of the festival’s biggest free events for the people. French artist Olivier Grossetête is inviting you to help build The Ephemeral City, an enormous, temporary urban development made of cardboard. Afterwards, you’ll be able to get a damn good view of your work, thanks to free flying fox rides on a mammoth 165 metre zip line. A strong sense of community spirit also informs the theatrical elements of the festival’s programming. Bursting onto new storytelling territory is a show titled All the Sex I’ve Ever Had, which sees a slew of Sydneysiders aged over 65 bring their experience and insight to personal stories of romance and sex. Then there’s The Object Lesson, an installation/performance inviting you to join illusionist Geoff Sobelle on a journey through an absolutely enormous pile of objects. You'll contemplate every "thing that ever passed through your hands — a massive, meaningful, meaningless pile of junk that describes in debris your tiny human history". On the music front, we’re excited about Cut the Sky, a powerful indigenous performance work meditating on a dystopian future and featuring songs by Nick Cave and Ngaiire. As we mentioned, quadruple Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer Antonio Sanchez will be improvising a live score to a screening of Birdman (he improvised the actual score, so this will be the first and only time this SydFest score is played). And, for the first time ever, FBi is presenting its SMAC Awards as a huge festival, open to the general public. Other gigs on the schedule include the inimitable Joanna Newsom at the Sydney Opera House launching new album Divers, underground rock trio The Dirty Three and Mexrissey — a Mariachi-style revamping of songs by Morissey and The Smiths. There's also a new folk series happening amongst the gorgeous acoustics of St Stephens Uniting Church. As usual, Hyde Park's Meriton Festival Village is delivering a whizz-bang array of music, comedy, cabaret and circus acts, while About an Hour is heading back to Carriageworks for another season of 60-minute, $35 events featuring theatre, dance, music and storytelling. Clear your calendar, this is going to be a busy summer. Dive into the entire Sydney Festival program at the festival website. Check out our picks for the best 'bang for your buck' events and best gigs at Sydney Festival. Image: Todd Spoth.
Vivid Sydney is very nearly upon us and just when we thought it couldn't get any better — what with the lights and Bjork, Spike Jonze, Bon Iver and House of Cards creator Beau Willimon all coming out this year — they go and blow our wee minds by announcing this year's food hub, an all-star Sydney burger bar themed like a vintage arcade game. The pop-up, named 8Bits+Bytes, is a collaboration between local creative studios Motti+Smith and Paper Moose. They've got Sydney burg royalty on board to battle it out to get their name to the top of the leaderboard. Coming in to bat will be legends Mary's, Milk Bar by Café Ish, Pub Life Kitchen, Surry Hills' Bangbang Cafe, and Sammy's Burger Bar. Prepare your body. Aesthetics-wise, the pop-up will be styled to look like the inside of an 8bit arcade game with giant pixelated trees, burgers and storm clouds. A huge LED light wall (three metres tall by 30 metres long) will tell the tragic, pixelated tale of a burger's adventures through life. Be sure to play before you eat though, because the gaming is all interactive (hello motion tracking gaming technology). But onto the meat of the matter: the burgers. Each burg bigwig is in competition with the others to win your heart (and your vote) with a burger they've created especially for the occasion. Votes will be cast by hashtag across social media (as democratic elections have always been done), and will be tallied in real time on a digital scoreboard. So what's going to be on offer? Glad you asked. Mary's will be cooking up a Pac Man Burger, a tame twist on their classic with grass-fed beef, triple cheese, Mary's BBQ Sauce and onion rings. Café Ish has teamed up with the guys from The Jugernauts to create the Double Dragon: a milk bun filled with a double wagyu beef patty, double American cheddar, kimchi, green oak lettuce, miso sauce, seaweed, aioli and a milk bun (is your mouth watering yet?). Also teaming up with the food blog are Bangbang, who has designed the HACKRoulette (a cheeseburger topped with chilli con carne, more cheese and umami sauce served with a shot of pickle juice), and Sammy's Burger Bar on the Polish Pounder, a medium custom ground beef patty, cheese, sauerkraut, Polish slab bacon, horseradish mustard sauce and a dill pickle on a toasted brioche bun. Pub Life Kitchen have yet to announce their menu, but we're sure it will be just as enticing — there's some stiff competition after all. To be a fair judge, you will have to try all the burgers — perhaps several times each, and perhaps while playing motion tracking video games. Just to be fair. After all, you decide who wins, although what they win is unclear at this point...but really, at the end of the day, if we're stuffed full of burgers, don't we all win? 8Bits+Bytes will pop-up at Martin Place for the entirety of Vivid Sydney from May 27 - June 18. For more info on the festival, visit their website.
After years of popping up at farmers markets and on Sydney brunch menus, Brooklyn Boy Bagels has just opened their first Sydney bakery cafe. Claiming the title of 'Sydney's first true artisan New York bagel maker and bakery', BBB has now taken up a more permanent residence in a little shop on an otherwise unremarkable stretch of Bunnarong Road in Matraville. Previously only available through tracking down their pop-up stalls or by ordering delivery, BBB's delicious wares are some of the more authentic in Sydney. These bagels are about as traditionally New York-style as they get in Australia, made with the blood, sweat and tears of local self-proclaimed dough raiser and actual Brooklynite Michael Shafran, who first brought the power of the bagel to Sydney in 2013. With their slogan reading "If it ain't boiled, it ain't a bagel," BBB boasts traditional, handmade bagels. Shafran believes the most important aspect of creating is the boiling process, boasting on their website that they don't cut corners — rather, they go through the proper (and painstaking) kettle-boiling, hand rolling, cold fermentation process. Mastering the art of bagels is just the beginning for Shafran, who's slowly introducing his various other New York loves into the bakery, including Mecca coffee, NY-style pretzels, breves (coffee with half milk/half cream) and babaka, a Jewish rolled cake with his own personal spin of either salted caramel or the traditional filling of cinnamon and chocolate. Find Brooklyn Boy Bagels at 448 Bunnerong Road in Matraville, as well as at farmers markets, pop-ups and cafes around Sydney. Images: Brooklyn Boy Bagels.
Less is traditionally more in the tiny homes that have boomed in popularity over the last few years. This is not the case with Stella the Stargazer, an exceptional pop-up that will tour regional Victoria over the next six months. Stella's unique approach to luxury is considered and environmentally sensitive. The distinct interior design headed up by Port Fairy-based Ample champions upcycled and repurposed materials, including the use of corrugated iron and Victorian hardwood in the construction process. An indulgent, annular shower is surrounded by adjustable glass louvres designed to envelop you in the natural surroundings. Plus, there's an outdoor fire pit that doubles as a barbecue. Glass sliding doors open onto the modular deck with openair seating, and you'll find plenty of local wares featured throughout; from Dindi Naturals toiletries, to threads from Weave Home Australia, Society of Wanderers and Grampians Goods Co. [caption id="attachment_879299" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image: Ample, Brook James[/caption] But the crowning jewel of this enchanting tiny palace is a roll-out, queen-bed-sized sleeping platform that's primed for stargazing on calm evenings. Provisions boast a local lean, with guests enjoying a curated welcome hamper of cheese and charcuterie, a bottle of wine and breakfast provisions — showcasing regional bread, bacon, eggs and granola. Famed chef Alejandro Saravia (Farmer's Daughters, Victoria by Farmer's Daughters) can also ensure you don't have to venture far, with a DIY dinner experience available to add to your stay. The evening's menu runs to the likes of Farmer's Daughters pork terrine served with Snowy River black garlic chutney; a warm roasted pumpkin on a bed of creamy stracciatella; and Cherry Tree Organics roasted lamb shoulder served with roasted carrot and marjoram. Currently, the limited-time tiny stay by Visit Victoria is situated at the idyllic Blue Gables vineyard in Maffra, but she'll move on from Thursday, December 15, and head to the Great Ocean Road for the end of summer. [caption id="attachment_879298" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image: Ample, Brook James[/caption] Stella the Stargazer will make her home in Maffra, Gippsland, from October 14–December 15, 2022. She'll then stop in a new location along the Great Ocean Road from February 3–April 6, 2023, before moving to the Grampians from April 17–June 18, 2023. Rates are $330 per night Monday–Thursday, and $390 per night Friday–Sunday.
UPDATE JULY 8, 2017: To mark the opening of their Westfield Burwood store on Saturday, July 8, Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart is giving away a free tart to the first 100 customers that visit between 1–2pm. You just need to follow them on social media to redeem it. We know. We've all done it. Home alone with a block of cheddar, a few scraps of brie and a lone Kraft Single. It all seemed so promising. When your mum/housemate/significant other returned, though, the truth became apparent. You'd made a cheese quagmire in your microwave, hadn't you? Hadn't you. Fortunately, the guys behind PappaRich, the ST Group, have been helping us realise all of our cheese dreams without the weird kitchen smell three weeks later — bringing Malaysian chain Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart to Australia last year. With multiple stores in Kuala Lumpur and other areas of the country, the cheese tart connoisseurs have been opening Australian stores over the last year — they currently have five across Victoria, one in Sydney's World Square. Now, they're opening two more Sydney stores, launching one within Macquarie Centre on June 16 and a Burwood store inside Westfield opening Saturday, July 8. Their namesake is the cornerstone of their offering: a savoury-sweet three-cheese situation encased in a shortcrust shell, designed to be eaten either hot or cold. The cheese, while made with local produce, is based on the distinct taste and texture of the dairy products of Hokkaido. The Japanese island is known for their dairy — it produces half of Japan's total milk and a huge 90 percent of their natural cheese — and HBCT have worked tirelessly to replicate it. Malaysia has gone nuts for it, and Australia has jumped firmly on board —people have been queuing out the door to get their hands on one (or 12). You'd better believe further expansion is planned for 2017 — they just announced plans to open inside Queensland's Pacific Fair in July too. Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart is now open at World Square, George Street, Sydney and Macquarie Centre, Kiosk MQ17, Herring and Waterloo Road, North Ryde. They're set to open at Kiosk K1, Westfield Burwood on July 8. For more info and to look out for an opening date, keep an eye on their Facebook page. Images: Tim Grey.
Melburnians now have even more of a reason to head down the Mornington Peninsula for a pampering session, as the acclaimed Peninsula Hot Springs unveils some swish new facilities as part of a $13 million upgrade. The award-winning wellness destination now has a revamped program of offerings as part of its biggest expansion since opening back in 2005. This includes the addition of two cold plunge pools and seven new hot spring pools — which, if you've ever jostled for a spot in the top pool on a busy Saturday, you'll know is good news. An impressive outdoor Bath House Amphitheatre has also been added to the Fingal site, which is set to host a whole swag of shows. Baths also now have views of the stage and underwater speakers have been installed so visitors can get stuck into some live entertainment while they're submerged. The Hot Springs is also delving into cryotherapy for the first time with a new 'ice and fire' experience. This will allow bathers to switch between hot and cold therapy — the hot being two new 30-person saunas, and the cold being a new (and Australian-first) ice cave and a 'deep freeze' treatment room, which will be kept at a cool 25 degrees below freezing. The idea is that, by jumping between hot and cold, you will sweat out toxins, cleanse your skin and potentially burn calories. The venue also has a new cafe, a cultural meeting space designed in collaboration with local Indigenous elders, and a multipurpose wellness centre for classes and talks. Meanwhile, a new on-site veggie garden marks the start of a planned three-acre terrace 'food bowl', which will grow produce for the Peninsula Hot Springs' kitchens. Thermally heated glasshouses and an underground mushroom cave are also in the works. If that doesn't sound like enough, there's more growth in store for the Peninsula Hot Springs, with glamping facilities and 126 rooms of accomodation to be built on-site over the next three years. The Peninsula Hot Springs is located at Springs Lane, Fingal. Booking is recommended on weekends. Updated: October 5, 2018.
We've all heard of paying more for a single origin or manual brew but how about for a good cause? Similar to CafeSmart, buy a Change Coffee on Friday, December 4 from a participating cafe and put your caffeine addiction to good use. Cafes all over Sydney are participating in #ChangeCoffee this year, from Hemingway's in Manly to Harry's in Bondi. Head out to your closest coffee shop and make your morning brew count. Basically, you pay for two coffees, but take away one. So it'll cost you twice as much as your regular cup but the extra half will go to the Eniwe Children's Fund. Since forming in 2010, the Fund has raised over $300,000 to help run community projects in South Africa's Western Cape — an area particularly affected by HIV and AIDS. We're all well aware of the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS. To put it in perspective, in 2014 there were an estimated 1.2 million AIDS-related deaths across the globe. The number of orphans due to AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa alone is staggering and nearly 90 percent of newly infected kids live in the region. Change Coffee initiative is all about doing what you can to help those kids. To put it in perspective, can you guess what the world's second most traded commodity is? It's coffee and there's no denying that us Sydneysiders consume a lot of it. That extra cup could go a long way in helping improving the lives of kids who have been affected by AIDS in the area. If you've sworn off caffeine (not for long) or can't handle more than one cup a day but still want to contribute, you can donate online. Here's the list of participating cafes for #ChangeCoffee.
After announcing its dates earlier this year, Moonlight Cinema has revealed the first part of its 2018–19 program. In short: pack your picnic basket and get ready to watch a heap of flicks under the summer evening sky. Kicking off on Thursday, November 29 in Centennial Park, this initial lineup boasts plenty of this year's favourites, a smattering of all-time faves and a few sneak peeks at new movies coming out soon. Tried-and-tested highlights include A Star Is Born, A Simple Favour and Crazy Rich Asians, plus Halloween, Bad Times at the El Royale and Venom if you're after something darker. And it wouldn't be a movie season under the stars (or a pre-Christmas lineup) without Love Actually, Elf and Dirty Dancing, now would it? You can also catch pre-release sessions of twisted period drama The Favourite, from The Lobster filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, as well as Transformers spin-off Bumblebee. Or, opt for Viggo Mortensen-starring likely Oscar contender Green Book, or Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan battling it out in Mary, Queen of Scots. Heist flick Widows, amusing sleuths Holmes and Watson and the wizarding antics of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald are all also accounted for — as is Moonlight's usual food truck and licensed bar offering, and its reserved bean beds. This first announcement just covers the outdoor cinema's screenings until the end of January. A February and March lineup will be announced early 2019.
With Kings Cross bearing more 'For Lease' signs than an estate agent's front window, the area's future as a nightlife hotspot has been looking bleak. So bleak, in fact, that two doco makers have taken it upon themselves to investigate the fallout from the lockout laws. But it's not all doom and gloom. Places are opening as well as closing — and a few savvy hospitality figures are even looking at the changes as an opportunity for reinvention. Among them are artist Orlan Erin Raleigh and her partner Jon Ruttan, founder and former owner of Mojo Record Bar. Along with consultant Nikita Ward, they've opened Jangling Jack's Bar & Grill at 175 Victoria Street, the spot formerly occupied by Bootleg Bar and Italian Food. Despite the lockouts, the couple believe quality operators will eventually revolutionise Potts Point. "Jon and I passionately believe that the main street of Kings Cross could be like Bourbon Street in New Orleans, with music and old cinemas," she says. "It's such a strong community vibe up here and the demographic is much older than people realise. It's not an 18-year-old nightclubbing haven anymore. So we set up Jangling Jack's to be a local, calm and mellow place, for people to enjoy dinner and phenomenal drinks." Starting from scratch, Raleigh and Ruttan built what she describes as their 'dream bar'. "All the design elements are based on our fantasy — where we would want to sit and drink," she days. "There's no theme. It’s more about classic elements. When you step inside, it's that feeling of being transported in time, like in Midnight in Paris. To some people it looks like Louisiana; to others, it looks like Chicago...[or] like Kings Cross in the '30s." The bar top is made of 120-year-old Australian spotted gum. The stunning lampshades, designed by Raleigh herself, were custom-made in Arkansas. The walls, which look like emerald pressed tin, are dotted with original, 1930s posters of blues musicians. Seating is a mix of booths and high stools, and an eclectic assortment of rugs cover the floor. The drinks menu doesn't follow a theme, either. This decision was to ensure that Jangling Jack's was an 'everyman's bar', says Raleigh. "We don’t specialise in any particular booze. It's the best of absolutely everything: curated gins, phenomenal scotches and blends, great vodkas." Expect the likes of Four Pillars Gin, the Melbourne Gin Company and West Winds, but don't be surprised if big names like Bombay are missing. Bar manager Adam Cork (ex-The Hazy Rose) is turning these spirits into classic cocktails with a twist. Take the Tiki's Hummingbird, for example; it's like a margarita, but has a homemade sherbet rim and a touch of orange blossom. Others are tributes to legendary local historical figures, like the Witch of Kings Cross — artist and occultist Rosaleen Norton — and the Juanita Nielsen, named after the publisher and anti-development campaigner who mysteriously disappeared in 1975, never to be found. Meanwhile, Canadian-born, Creole-trained chef David Ferreira (ex-Fat Rupert's) keeps the kitchen open as late as the bar, with a menu delivering moreish, value-for-money small and medium share plates. There's some delicious gluten-free fried chicken, drizzled in honey butter (for $16), and a hearty lamb roast, as well as a rotating weekly special. "The idea is that people can come in on a date, have a drink and a snack, and get away for about $50," Raleigh says. "We want it to be the sort of place where you come more than once a week." You'll find Jangling Jack's at 175 Victoria Street, Potts Point. They're open 4-11pm Tuesday and Wednesday, 4pm-1am Thursday to Saturday, and noon-11pm on Sunday. For more info, visit their Instagram. Images: Diana Scalfati
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, 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. Meet at 1pm at Prince Alfred Park, Chalmers Street, Surry Hills for a 2pm vote at Strawberry Hills Post Office across the road. Image: Yes Rally for Marriage Equality by Letícia Almeida.
Rather than a wasted day of woe, Sundays are meant for nourishment, for homecooked meals, meaningful chats and creative beverages. We’re here to help. Secret Garden Festival and Concrete Playground — keen weekenders and lovers of good food, new friends and general tomfoolery — have teamed up with The Guardian to create the ultimate Sunday fortress of fun, Cubby House. Taking over the rolling lawns of Vaucluse’s historic Strickland House on Sunday, October 25, Cubby House is a temporary hidden haven of local food and drink, lawn games and talks, created purely for you to reclaim the weekend and stand you in good stead for the week to come. Eat a hearty Sunday roast from Newtowners Raven’s Eye, catch up on the news with talks curated by The Guardian, find comfort in a Golden Age Cinema cocktail, chuckle over comedy from Giant Dwarf, play your favourite lawn games, pop into a workshop or two and learn a few mad skills, then we’ll even help you sort out your errands in time for Monday. “We are celebrating Sunday by nourishing brains, playing games, learning new things, having a big belly laugh and making new mates,” says Secret Garden festival director Clare Downes. “People can kick off their shoes, drink a Bloody Mary, learn to fish, and complete some Sunday errands — all across Strickland House and its beautiful gardens. "Secret Garden and Concrete Playground are doing this because we believe it’s something that’s missing from our Sundays and we figure there are others who probably need Cubby House too." There’s nothing like a Sunday spent relishing local, damn good, nourishing food, so we’ve invited the weekend-happy crew from Raven’s Eye, Newtown’s first Italo-American diner, to do one heck of a sit-down Sunday roast. We’re talking slow-cooked meats and roasted veggies by head chef Matt Ouwerkerk, the whole shebang. Instead of filling your Sunday brain with the Blade trilogy and soulless junk food, find a spot on the lawn and listen to talks from Australia’s top journalists and funniest comedians, handpicked by our mates at The Guardian and Giant Dwarf. No time to read the paper this week? Settle in for our news wrap-up. Triple j’s Tom Tilley will unpack the headlines with some of Australia’s best journos, including Michael Safi (Guardian, previously Global Mail, SMH, ABC Radio National), Adam Brereton (editor of The Guardian's 'Comment is free' section) and Bridie Jabour (Guardian, previously NewsCorp, Fairfax). Take in comedy from The Bear Pack, then pull up a pew for an in-depth In Conversation talk, with some of Australia’s brightest minds. “Cubby House represents a meeting of likeminded people and businesses. The event will give our collective audiences a chance to connect with Concrete Playground and the Guardian in real life, designed with the sense of humour and fun that Secret Garden is so known and loved for,” says Concrete Playground founder and director, Rich Fogarty. "The Guardian is thrilled to be part of this special Sunday and supporting the speakers series. Instead of reading the news in bed, you can hear the latest stories live and dissected by leading journalists,” says Tory Loudon, Head of Events and Programs at The Guardian. “Get a taste of the news behind the headlines and hear how stories are put together, how the media works and snag a little gossip, all with a glass of wine in your hand and good food in your stomach — the perfect Sunday." Nourished your belly and your mind? It’s time to fill your ears with Sunday sounds. We’ve invited some very special guests over for sessions on the Cubby House lawn, Sydney's country-lovin' foursome All Our Exes Live in Texas. The Cubby House music has been handpicked by Sydney music guru, FBi Radio broadcaster and board member and Secret Garden music programmer Adam Lewis, responsible for introducing you to your new favourite bands at Goodgod Small Club and Solotel venues like Opera Bar and Goros. Sundays spent lazing on the lawn wouldn’t be complete without one thing: games. Find all your favourite lawns games waiting for you at Strickland House, probably the prettiest place to play croquet in Sydney. And if you’re going to spend Sunday lazing about, you might as well learn a bloody thing or two. Take a DIY workshop, from fishing tips to drawing classes. Feeling a bit all over the shop pre-Monday? Don’t get the Sunday guilts; get your boots polished, get your holey jeans mended, send a postcard to your Grandma, then visit Concrete Playground’s Event Concierge, to help you book a fun-filled, jam-packed week ahead. Don’t you feel more organised already? Cubby House will take over Strickland House, Vaucluse Road, Vaucluse on Sunday, October 25 from 12-5pm. Tickets are $85.20 (inc. BF) and unfortunately, it’s over 18s only, sorry kids. For more details and tickets, head to cubbyhou.se. Follow Cubby House on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for updates. Images: Concrete Playground, Secret Garden, Voena, Beata Mazur.
If one dancer can convey a range of emotions with movement, then how about two? Four? Ten? Twenty? Choreographer Stephanie Lake's latest dance work invites the audience to consider a superorganism of 50 bodies, all moving together as one. However, not always in perfect synchronicity. This way, we get to experience both the beauty and the ugliness of collectivism — very much an allegory for the times in which we live. Both chaotic and beautiful, Colossus provides an immersive experience that's sure to stay with you long after the final, lone dancer has left the stage. Image: Mark Gambino.
Gelato appreciation class. It's a thing. A real thing. It's not some fake class like 'Video Appreciation Class' at high school which is straight-up just watching Ten Things I Hate About You every Wednesday. It's legit. And of course, Gelato Messina are behind it. One of Messina's fastest-selling event every time, gelato class is an event worth jumping on right now. We mean now. Join the team at Messina HQ in Sydney or Fitzroy in Melbourne every Saturday and you'll find out what goes on behind the scenes of everyone's favourite gelato joint. What a bloody glorious way to spend your Saturday morning. Classes are now open for booking from January to April 2016. There are two types of classes: a Gelato Appreciation Class for $160 per person, a part gelato making class, part info session, part science lesson, and part gelato degustation with Messina's chefs; and a Hands On Gelato Class for $250 per person, where you'll learn the finer details of making gelato — and pasteurise and plate your own gelato or sorbet. Dear sweet mother of Benedict Cumberbatch, what a classroom. Book your delicious, delicious education at Gelato Messina's website.
You may have noticed the unusual name on tap at your local craft brew pub: Akasha. Brewed in Five Dock, Akasha Brewing Company is pouring across Sydney at the likes of the Banks Hotel, Royal Albert and Baxter Inn. The etymology of the name, a reference to the 'fifth element', goes much deeper than Bruce Willis and multipasses. Similar to earth's four elements, beer too has four main ingredients: water, grain, hops and yeast. So, what is the fifth, 'mystery' element that makes a beer great? Well, that's the brewer himself. In Akasha's case, Dave Padden is the man behind the curtain. Formerly of Riverside Brewing Company, Padden struck out on his own last year and has been contract brewing from the Rocks Brewing Company in preparation of the grand reveal. With 20 years' brewing experience under his belt, the public opening of the Akasha brewery has been the talk of town for the better part of 2015. Now, with brewing well underway in their the Five Dock location, the cellar door opens this Friday with much applause from locals and the craft beer community alike. Padden brings a love of American style beers to the Australian market, but isn't brewing big beers just for the sake of it. Akasha is all about accessibility and making hoppy beers that can be loved by both IPA and lager drinkers. Their four core beers (not so surprisingly named after the four elements) are each hoppy in their own right. "The Tradewind Lager is a gateway beer, using Australian hops that add flavour without the bitterness," says Padden. Even the Fire Within Amber Ale is clean and refreshing while being obviously hop forward. "We're all about creating beers that satisfy the need for sessionable, easy-drinking while also appealing to the beer nerds out there" says head of marketing and sales Ben Galanos. Along with co-founder and business partner Wesley White, these three musketeers go way back and are committed to brewing the beers they, and we, love to drink. As their slogan goes, "It's all about the beer." The tasting room will take the place of the brewing floor, transforming the weekday workspace with upcycled share tables made from reused pallets. The cellar door is also one of the few places you can get Akasha to go — they won't be selling in bottles until the New Year, so make sure to grab a growler during your visit. With beer that "awakens the soul", we're certain you won't be disappointed. The Akasha Brewing Company cellar door will open at 10A Spencer Street, Five Dock this Friday, December 4 at 2pm. Their regular hours will be Friday – Saturday from 2pm – 7pm.
Staying ahead of the curve in Sydney's constantly evolving food scene is difficult. New restaurants, bars and cafes pop up every week, and in Sydney, a city already saturated with food and drink options, it's incredibly easy for hospitality businesses to fall behind. In partnership with William Blue at Torrens University, we're asking the hospitality graduates who run our favourite Sydney restaurants to talk about how they got started in the industry. In 2015, Adelene Stahnke helped to open Bang Street Food in Surry Hills with her partner Tapos Singha and designer Nicholas Gurney. In 2016, the same team opened Bang Street Food spin-off Trunk Road in Darlinghurst. Stahnke is only 23 years old, so helping to start up two successful Sydney restaurants is no small feat. We asked her how it all happened, and if she has any tips to share. FIND A GAP IN THE MARKET (AND STICK TO IT) "Tapos kept talking about wanting to open a Bangladeshi restaurant in Sydney. I thought it was a great idea, and really inspiring because nobody had brought great, traditional Bangladeshi food to the city yet. I encouraged him to stick to his dream because I could see that there was a gap in the market, and I had a really strong feeling that a space would open up in Sydney. Tapos pitched the idea to his business partner, and once a space appeared in Surry Hills everything took off from there." LEARN EVERYTHING YOU CAN ABOUT THE CUISINE YOU'RE COOKING "Tapos went back home to Bangladesh for a few months to get some ideas flowing for the menu, and I went to Melbourne to cook at Tonka [an Indian-fusion restaurant] with Adam D'Sylva. I wanted to get some experience in sub-continent food because I didn't know much about it beforehand, and I think it's important to learn everything you can about a style of food before you start a business with it. I worked at Tonka with the goal to learn as much as I could and it was a really great experience. When Tapos and I both arrived back to Sydney, he showed me the menu and I understood the dishes in a way that I wouldn't have, had I not worked at Tonka. The menu was great, but it needed some refining, which is where I came in. I made sure that the menu would appeal to Surry Hills, while making sure that the Bangladeshi soul was still there." KNOW WHEN YOU'RE ON TO A GOOD THING — AND RUN WITH IT "At Bang we have a dish that people really love called 'Bang Boti Kebab', which is a roti kebab with steak filling. That dish really blew up so we thought we would take the opportunity and run with it. We said, 'let's do a restaurant based on that dish but in a smaller space, something cheap where we can do take-away as well'. That's how Trunk Road, our second restaurant, came about. We waited until we found the perfect space — a little terrace house in Darlinghurst — and the boys built the whole restaurant while my dad tiled it. I moved over to run the kitchen at Trunk once it was up and running. It's just a one-person, solo kind of thing in a really small kitchen, very different from Bang. We only serve four types of the 'roadie' kebab, a curry and some snacks." SURROUND YOURSELF WITH PEOPLE THAT SHARE YOUR ASPIRATIONS "In order to establish a really good business you need to have a concept and stick with that concept. It's also very important to have people around you that can compliment you and share your aspirations. Stay focused, and as long as it's still your hobby, you can make money from it because you love it. Having your own business is a lot of work, there are long hours right from the start. It's very different when it's your own project as opposed to working for someone else. Work everywhere you can and get experience in everything. I've studied hospitality and worked in hotels as well as fine dining, breakfast spots in Darlinghurst and Indian restaurants. You never know what will come in handy." William Blue at Torrens University offers courses in Culinary Management, Event Management, Tourism and Hospitality. Find out more about the diverse career options in hospitality, and kick-start your career via the website. Images: Kimberley Low.
Sydneysiders showed their determination to keep their city open on Sunday, February 21, with more than 15,000 people rallying in the streets to #KeepSydneyOpen. Ironically, the protest happened the morning after Melbourne’s White Night, which saw more than 600,000 people pass through the Victorian capital between 7pm and 7am, drinking, eating and dancing till the sun came up. Drawing Sydneysiders young and older, casually interested or passionately engaged, the Keep Open Sydney rally crowd showed remarkable diversity. Not only young partiers marched from Belmore Park along Elizabeth Street to Hyde Park, but also baby boomers, long-time residents, students, creatives, live music fans and business owners alike. Numerous prominent Australian musicians and music industry figures turned up to voice their support through speeches and performances. DJ and radio presenter Nina Las Vegas quipped, “You can’t expect an Olympic swimmer to win gold without pools, right?” continuing, “These lockout laws are destroying Sydney nightlife.” Dave Faulkner of The Hoodoo Gurus said that the venues he’d cut his teeth in “couldn’t operate under the current lockout laws” and pointed out that, according to a 2011 Ernst and Young study, “live music in bars, pubs and clubs in NSW contributed nearly $400 million dollars to the state’s economy, with a net flow on of $200 million into the wider community.” Isabella Manfredi, lead singer of Sydney band The Preatures, said, “The most distressing thing about these laws for me is that the way they were implemented with no consultation with the community. It took a whole lot of different venues, small businesses and entrepreneurs both young and old and lumped them in together under one blanket culture. And they called that culture anti-social.” Both Royal Headache and Art vs. Science performed live sets, before Future Classic's Chad Gillard dropped Tom Budin's recently released banger 'Mike Baird'. The brains behind the rally, Tyson Koh, founder and campaign manager of Keep Sydney Open, spoke passionately and rationally to wrap things up. “We believe that safety and late night socialising aren’t mutually exclusive. With considered, innovative policies we can achieve a desired outcome together and keep Sydney open.” Images: Kimberley Low.
Although saying goodbye to Pei Modern's ricotta dumplings and cracking Chardonnay selection has been one of the toughest calls of 2017, we do, at last, have a replacement. From today — Thursday, July 20 — Francesco Mannelli (ex-est., Balla, and Uccello) has settled into the space on the ground floor of the Four Seasons Hotel as head chef of Mode Kitchen & Bar. Like Pei Modern, the restaurant will fall somewhere between bistro and fine dining. On the menu are simple dishes based on Mannelli's favourite produce, such as kingfish with the surprising addition of macadamias, sultanas and pickled onion, risotto heaped with fresh Tasmanian truffle and a melt-in-your-mouth wagyu beef cheek with chestnuts and cabbage. Match your choice with a pick from the 200-strong wine list or go for a cocktail such as the Negroni-like Contessa, which swaps out Campari with Aperol for a lighter finish. ACME designer Luchetti Krelle — who is also behind the fit-outs for Bar Brosé, Banksii, The Butler and Barrio Cellar — has taken care of the interior for the 200-seater with a glamorous, 1920s art deco-inspired revamp. The entire restaurant is now encircled by fluted glass, giving it an intimate feel and, most importantly, successfully separating it from the hotel foyer. The furnishings include flashes of velvet, dashes of brass, marble and leather, as well as a variety of seating options, including bar stools, lounges, banquettes and semi-private spaces — meaning you can stop by for a drink, a group dinner or a spanner crab sandwich between meetings. Mode Kitchen & Bar is now open on the ground floor of the Four Seasons, 199 George Street, Sydney. It will be open lunch and dinner seven days a week. For more info, visit modekitchenandbar.com.au.
If the words bubbly and antipasto are your requirements for a damn good time, read on. Sydney's first ever Italian sparkling wine festival, Bolle Italia is coming to the recently opened Bar Machiavelli in Rushcutters Bay this October. This brand new festival will give wine enthusiasts and people who just really like the sound of a popping cork the chance to taste a glass (or a bottle) of some of the world's best sparkling wines — in particular paying tribute to world-class Italian sparkling wines from Friuli to Sicily and Piedmont to Sardinia. Festival founders and Italian sparkling wine importers Heath Felton and Marco Zaccariotto created the festival after they noticed the increased demand for quality sparkling wines in Australia over the past few years. "The Bolle Italia wine festival will give Australians the rare opportunity to taste quality Italian sparkling wines coming into the market, and learn how to recognise the difference," said Felton. For those wanting to improve their dinner party chit chat, sommeliers will be running masterclasses, so you can drop comments like 'creamy' or 'nuanced flavours of brioche and lemon zest' and actually know what you are talking about. If pairing your bubbly with a meal is more your thing than swilling the cheapest sparkling from a plastic flute at the races, be sure to nab a ticket to the Bolle Italia Degustazione — a six-course degustation with an exclusive menu designed by Bar Machiavelli's owner and chef, Paola Toppi, for 2016's Good Food Month. Bolle Italia will be happening on October 9 and 10 at Bar Machiavelli. More information about the festival and tickets are available at bolleitalia.com.
If December doesn't already boast enough reason to celebrate, this Saturday, December 19 marks Batch Brewing Co's second birthday. Public House Petersham is on the case and is throwing the Batch guys a beer birthday party, featuring six iconic Batch brews, birthday games, live music, and beer goodies. The brewery is known for its bold, American style beers that use unconventional ingredients with even more unusual names; think sours like the Chapeau Raspberry and a wheat ale named Tiny Coconut Bubbles. The must try for this celebration, though, is the Macbatch – a two-month oak aged ale. Two tasting paddles will be on offer ($12 each) so you can try the range — the 'Beginners' and the 'Adventurous', each recommended with a matching food tasting plate. Not sure which category you fall into? Come 'round for the free beer tastings with the Batch crew from 4.30pm – 5.30pm. Saturday 19th December from 3pm at Public House Petersham; 292 Stanmore Rd, Petersham
