The Kings Cross Hotel is about to be transformed into an immersive wonderland as part of this year's Vivid Sydney festival. As part of the truly epic Vivid Music program (which includes the world premiere of Björk's digital project), the hotel will be in full swing with a slew of live music, theatre and cabaret throughout the three weeks of the festival from May 27 until June 18. On Friday and Saturday evenings, some of Sydney's cabaret pros will be setting up shop in the Hotel's plush Red Room as part of Avant-Cabaret. Grab yourself an opulent cocktail and see some of Sydney's best take the stage, from burlesque beauties Zsa Zsa La Fine and Betty Grumble, award-winning Aussie cabaret star Tom Sharah, David Bowie Unzipped's Jeff Duff, the inimitable, unmissable and highly glittery Matt Format, tale spinners Mikelangelo & The Black Sea Gentlemen, King of Dance Moves Brendan Maclean and more. AVANT-CABARET LINEUP: May 27 — Opening night party: Jeff Duff, Bridie Doll, Zsa Zsa La Fine May 28 — Betty Grumble & Saba Saliba June 3 — Tom Sharah & Matt Format June 4 — Trevor Ashley & Sabrina D'Angelo June 10 and 11 — Cabaret Sasquatch June 17 — Mikelangelo & The Black Sea Gentlemen, The Chocolate Girl, Oh Reach June 18 — Closing night party: Brendan Maclean, Zsa La Fine, Bridie Doll and burlesque performers The Kings Cross Hotel's Vivid takeover will run for the length of the festival, from May 27 until June 18. For more information on what's happening at the Hotel, visit their website.
With a sumptuous colour palette, interwoven plot lines, and unexpected humour, writer-director Rian Johnson (Looper) has assuredly marked Star Wars, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi as his own – a new chapter in the Skywalker saga that is at once deeply familiar and unique. Part two in the sequel trilogy picks up right where The Force Awakens left off, with the orphaned heroine Rey (Daisy Ridley) attempting to lure the only remaining Jedi, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), out of self-imposed exile. Meanwhile, the last remnants of the Resistance flee a resurgent New Order. The film opens with as dramatic a sequence as the franchise has ever seen, delivering an exhilarating and poignant battle that introduces a spectacularly menacing new class of space ship known as the Dreadnaught, pits ace pilot Poe (Oscar Isaac) against his superiors, and sets in motion a race against the clock. Unable to escape without detection and with only shallow reserves of fuel remaining until the New Order catches up with them, the depleted Rebel fleet limps through space like the Orca from Jaws – a hapless, crumbling ship pursued by a killer whose only remaining hurdle is time. But as ingenious as this setup may be, it also gives rise to the film's most pointless subplot. After waking from his coma, Finn (John Boyega) contrives a means by which he can disable the New Order's tracking device, albeit one that requires him to sneak off the fleeing vessel, travel to a Monaco-styled casino planet, track down a master codebreaker and infiltrate the enemy's warship undetected. This enormous MacGuffin sees Boyega partnered with the charming Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico, a Resistance engineer low in status but high in pluck. The problem is that their side adventure does absolutely nothing to advance the actual story. Finn's reluctant hero arc was already covered off in The Force Awakens, while Rose's belief in (and commitment to) the righteousness of the rebel cause is perfectly encapsulated in her fantastic introductory scene but goes unchallenged thereafter. Benicio Del Toro also pops up, then shortly thereafter departs, in an entirely forgettable cameo. Ultimately they all end up right where they began, having effected no material change except to deliver a heavy-handed critique of war profiteers. The great shame is that in both Boyega and Tran you have oodles of charisma, heart and talent that deserve scenes of equal calibre. Instead, they chew up time in a movie already guilty of using far too much of it. Thankfully the rest of the cast fares better. Hamill, Ridley and Adam Driver's Kylo Ren find themselves entangled in a fascinating and emotionally-driven power struggle, with each grappling with their complicated relationships to one another and their wider place in the universe. In an appropriate analogy to the franchise itself, Skywalker wrestles with his own understanding of legend and mythos, believing himself unworthy of hero status and wracked with the guilt of failing Ren in his training. Ren, in turn, remains conflicted about his place in the First Order and his murder of his father, whilst Rey feels the growing Force within her yet lacks the knowledge or training to understand it. It's in sequences featuring this core trio that The Last Jedi hits its highest notes. The exploration of Jedi lore, too, receives the kind of treatment that will delight the franchise's most ardent fans, including a moment of outstanding visual flair, involving replicated Reys, that reminds us of Johnson's unique style and character. And, of course, there's Carrie Fisher, whose few scenes remind us how affecting and groundbreaking a character Princess Leia is, and how captivating an actor Fisher was. Her departure is treated with all the deftness, restraint and respect that audiences could hope for. Perhaps the biggest departure from tradition, though, especially in the wake of the gritty spinoff Rogue One, is Johnson's use of comedy. With more gags, one-liners and quirky moments than all the other Star Wars films combined, The Last Jedi introduces a levity to the staid franchise in the vein of Roger Moore's turn as post-Connery Bond. At times it works, even to the point of guffaws, but ultimately the humour feels misplaced. In a story where loss abounds and crushing defeat looms large at every turn, the repeated cutaways to doe-eyed porgs purring like extras from a Pixar film distract more than they entertain. So, too, does Domhnall Gleeson, whose character General Hux plays more like a parody of a Star Wars villain. As a result, both the New Order and the film itself are robbed of their most enduring menace: the Empire. After all, pare back any of the previous films in this sprawling space opera and you'll find that, for all their Sith lords and rogue assassins, what truly terrified was a galactic military-industrial complex so vast and overbearing it was capable of repressing not just people but entire planets. Darth Vaders come and go, and individuals can be destroyed, but totalitarian regimes endure for generations. When an oppressed populace has only ever known a life under the iron fist, it cannot even contemplate an alternative. It's that, more than any great, dark mysticism, that provides the Star Wars universe with its most tangible threat. Overly long and consistently clunky, The Last Jedi ultimately proves a bit of a mixed bag. Its battle scenes are nothing short of spectacular, including a five-second shot involving Laura Dern and a hyperspace jump that almost singlehandedly justifies the entire film's existence. As a chronicle of Jedi mythology, too, the film delivers in a way the George Lucas prequels never managed, offering new and engaging insights into the Force and the balance between light and dark. Too often, though, the dialogue is exposition heavy and played for easy laughs. One senses Rian Johnson has in him a greater, more exploratory story to tell, one unburdened by so much expectation and history. The good news? He's set to follow Last Jedi with an entirely new Star Wars trilogy. May the force be with him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0CbN8sfihY
Looks like Sydney's going to get a taste of the old days; the lockout laws will be lifted for one night only on New Year's Eve. Confirmed by the state government and reported by the Daily Telegraph this morning, the laws are apparently being lifted to avoid crazy rushes to venues before 1:30am after the fireworks finish. In other words, you'll be treated like some kind of responsible adult for one glorious evening. Now, don't fuck it up. If you're venturing into the CBD on New Year's Eve (you dedicated shindig-seeker you), you'll be able to enter CBD/Kings Cross bars, pubs and clubs until 3am — so popping out for a cheeky 2am ciggie won't separate you from your bag and buddies this NYE. Last drinks at 3am, as per usual, and bars won't be changing their closing time. Seems there's been a bucketload of meetings on this one; according to the Tele, the state government was apparently advised to lift the lockouts by the City of Sydney, the police and the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing — all three said it would improve safety for the night. According to the office of Deputy Premier and liquor and hospitality minister Troy Grant, the lockout lift is a means to avoid accidents at Sydney's wharves in particular, with fireworks watchers heading into the city and trying to beat the clock to the kick-on party. "This is a commonsense approach for what is the biggest night on the Sydney calendar," said Grant. "Sydney is the greatest city in the world to spend New Year’s Eve and I want people to have fun, be safe and look after their mates... This is about striking the right balance between common sense, industry and individual responsibility." So Sydney, keep your punches in your damn pockets and celebrate the New Year with a window into the old way of things. Or just watch the fireworks from a Newtown pub and leave your eyelids unbatted on this one. Via Daily Telegraph. Image: Hai Linh Truong cc.
Brisbanites, put a hold on stuffing your face with burgers and doughnuts, because there's a new food trend in town. If you've checked out any of your social media feeds over the last week, you've probably heard the term 'raindrop cake'. But what is it? And why is everyone in the city suddenly desperate to try this seeming culinary marvel? The answer to the second question is easy: Harajuku Gyoza in South Brisbane was the first place in Australia to start selling the new dessert craze, though it's also now available at their Potts Point store in Sydney too. The answer to the first question is a bit more complicated, particularly when the clear, jiggly meal everyone is craving tastes like water-flavoured jelly and looks like a giant eyeball, a breast implant or ball of goo. Raindrop cakes were invented by New York chef Darren Wong, who wanted to try his hand at making the traditional Japanese summer dish Mizu Shingen Mocha. Sparking lengthy lines at Brooklyn's Smorgasburg outdoor food markets when they were unveiled at the beginning of April, they consist of a mixture of spring water and a vegan gelatin derived from seaweed. That explains their appearance and texture, but not why everyone is raving about them. Perhaps the fact that raindrop cakes melt if they're not eaten within 30 minutes has something to do with it. Maybe their kilojoule-free status (if you don't count the accompanying powder and syrup) has everyone excited? Or, the way they're served on cute little bamboo boats? It could be Wong's revelation that he was inspired by the raindrops in A Bug's Life — because who doesn't want to eat something that looks like it comes straight from an animated movie? Whatever the reason, raindrop cakes are certain to keep food-loving Brisbane residents talking — and flocking to Harajuku Gyoza — for the foreseeable future. The dumpling house's take on the trend comes in two versions: a twist on Wong's recipe made with sesame powder and brown sugar syrup; and their own concoction complete with fresh strawberries, blueberries and raspberries inside the raindrop, and condensed milk, kinako and crushed peanuts on the side. Yes, we recommend trying both of them. Jump on board the raindrop cake bandwagon by visiting Harajuku Gyoza's South Brisbane store at 184 Grey Street or their Sydney store at 9-15 Bayswater Road, Potts Point. Check out their website and Facebook page for more information. Image: Tim Ireland for Darren Wong.
Visiting Sydney's rugged Blue Mountains region is always worth the two-hour drive from the city. There are hundreds of things to do — from bushwalks, to abseils, to waterfalls, to standing around and generally admiring the view. There's also the option to do all of that in one go — with a Blue Mountains canyoning adventure. The description on this RedBalloon adventure says you don't have to be a professional adventurer (no abseiling or canyoning experience is required). But requirements are being able to walk up steep steps for 20 minutes and swim for 25 metres, which we discovered makes it a full on adventure that even the more experienced in the group will enjoy. Dedicate one day out of your weekend to abseiling off cliffs over massive valleys, jumping over rocks in freezing water, canyoning, and swimming in waterfalls. The day starts with some beginner abseiling over the Megalong Valley (see below). Later, you'll go rock jumping through caves, and eventually abseil a 30 metre waterfall. Read this and find out what you're really in for. THE MORNING Arrive at The School of Mountaineering at 8:45am. There are two instructors per group of ten, so you're sure to get individual attention throughout the day. In the Megalong Valley you'll start off with a couple of practice runs abseiling off a cliff. The shortest is five metres, and the longest is thirty metres — they vary in difficulty and overlook the massive valley below, so if you're not too terrified you should look down and enjoy the view. You're only abseiling a minuscule portion of the distance to the ground, but you'll feel the height in your gut. These smaller trips are 'practices' because they're intended to get you ready for the tough abseil of the 30 metre Empress Falls at the end of the day. THE AFTERNOON The next part of the adventure is a twenty-minute hike down a mountain. Enjoy this trip down, because soon you'll be going the other way and you'll feel every step. Once you reach the creek at the base, change into a wet-suit and pop your clothes into a dry bag – make sure you close it properly, the water you're about to jump into is cold. Very cold. Your instructors will mention how cold the water is several times, but there is no way to properly oversell this point. You'll get used to the temperature pretty quickly, but you'll definitely want your clothes nice and warm when you're out. Your group will be instructed how to trek through the canyon you're in, which can be a dangerous activity if your head isn't screwed on straight. There are four water jumps through the canyon, at varying difficulty and at a maximum height of 5 metres. The safest option is the 'Grandma' jump, but once you get confident you can go for the more extreme 'Keanu Reeves' and 'Mission Impossible' styles. Take a breather and look up among the oasis of the temperate rainforest within this sandstone gorge. The peaceful air is unparalleled and makes it easier to forget the cold. The only way out the canyon is to abseil the Empress Waterfall. This is why the adventure is not for onlookers or the faint of heart – once you commit to the canyon, you're in it. THE WATERFALL Harnessed in, you go over the ledge of the waterfall and immediately duck into its cave. This rope is heavy duty and it's the most important time to remember your abseiling training because the waterfall crashing over your head is a major distraction (even though it's beautiful). At the end of the rock, take a final leap and land in the waters of Jamison Valley. Savour your success – a few minutes later you'll be heading back up those steep steps. Change out of your wet-suit and get going while the adrenaline is still kicking in. Book your Blue Mountains canyoning adventure (or gift it to someone else) at RedBalloon. Images: Marissa Ciampi and RedBalloon.
Hendrick's, the Scottish gin distillers who would have you believe their product is harvested fresh from a Monty Python animation, are embarking on a 'horticultural quest' to make Australia their new veg patch. No longer content to raid Mr. McGregor's garden, the liquidologists and drinkticians at Hendrick's are teaming up with the University of Sydney to create the first truly Australian-grown species of cucumber. Despite the presence of a horticulture professor in their fellowship, Hendrick's are asking the public to head to Facebook and vote on soil ingredients that will produce the most distinctly Australian crop. Day One is a choice between kangaroo and emu poop. There's every reason to believe Day Ten will see Barnesy or Farnesy forced to stand waist-deep in fertiliser for six weeks. Planting begins on October 4 and the harvest will take place in mid-November, with a subsequent soiree for attendees to sample the cucumber from down under. To further celebrate the efforts of their botanical pioneers, Hendrick's are giving a Concrete Playgrounder and ten friends the chance to win a sumptuously provisioned cocktail masterclass valued at $3000. Enter below, and remember, you need to vote for your chosen ingredient on the Hendrick's Gin Facebook page to be eligible to win. [competition]589976[/competition]
Sydney will join the likes of Tokyo, Warsaw and Vienna, when the globally acclaimed Red Bull Music Academy Weekender hits the harbour city in September. Making its first ever stop in Australia, the four-day travelling festival will welcome a collection of internationally recognised artists for a series of live shows, club nights, lectures, parties and art exhibitions at some of Sydney's best-loved venues. Sounds pretty bloody terrific to us. Set for September 8-11, the Weekender lineup will see the already announced (and seriously sold-out) Flight Facilities concert with Sydney Symphony Orchestra in The Domain. Today, the entire festival lineup has been announced, with plenty to look forward to over the four days. There'll be a conversation and performance by house music legend Larry Heard (aka Mr Fingers) on Sydney's newest permanent floating venue Seadeck. Ta-ku will make his directorial debut for his music doco (m)edian. There'll be an ambient set from Gigi Masin on Sydney Harbour with Young Marco and Jonny Nash as Gaussian Curve. Seminal LA label Stones Throw will take over Manning Bar to celebrate two decades of beats, with Beat Junkies founder and legendary turntablist J Rocc, alongside Mndsgn, Katalyst and Stones Throw label head Peanut Butter Wolf. There's a massive club night taking over Oxford Art Factory with Night Slugs' Bok Bok, Kilo Kish, Sydney's Marcus Whale,Cliques, Low Ton, Kllo, Kučka and Lewis Cancut. The whole festival will wrap up on Sunday with the Great Antipodean Reggae Soundsystem Carnival, which is one of the best names for an event we've seen in an age, and includes sets from Earthshaker Soundsystem, Heartical Hi Powa with Stryka D & Macky Banton World MC, K.B.I Soundsystem, Inner West Reggae Disco Machine and Gappy Ranks. The Weekender is one of many events to have spun-off from the Red Bull Music Academy, which boasts an 18-year history fostering musical talent and collaboration around the world. In Australia they've hosted club nights featuring the likes of Onra, Romare and Taylor McFerrin, and presented stages at Laneway and Splendour in the Grass. RED BULL MUSIC ACADEMY WEEKENDER FULL LINEUP András (live) Bok Bok Cliques Dan White Dopplereffekt Earthshaker Flight Facilities Frank Booker Gappy Ranks Gaussian Curve Gigi Masin Heartical Hi-fi (Melbourne) Inner West Reggae Disco Machine J-Rocc Kano Katalyst Kbi Kilo Kish Kllo Kloke Kucka Larry Heard Lewis Cancut Lorna Clarkson Low Ton Lucy Cliché Macky Banton World MC Marcus Whale Mndsgn Noise in my Head Peanut Butter Wolf Phile Simon Caldwell Stryka D Sydney Symphony Orchestra Tako & Kamie Tiller Ta-ku Xosar The Red Bull Music Academy Weekender hits Sydney on September 8. Tickets are on sale now here. By Imogen Baker and Tom Clift.
Crucial to doing brunch properly is not having to think about time. After all, it's its occupation of the not-breakfast, not-lunch never-never land that makes it so deliciously languid. You can't be early. You can't be late. And it's impossible to stay too long. Practically, though, Sydney brunches, especially when combined with views, can't always offer such temporal escapism. Too many people want in on them. Until now, that is. This summer, the Watsons Bay Hotel is bringing an all-you-can-eat buffet brunch our way. For hours on end, you'll be able to indulge while soaking up waterfront views and recovering from whatever shindiggery you've been up to the evening before. Whipped up by executive chef John Pye, the menu is no ordinary buffet production but features the likes of house-made granola trifles layered with summer berries and vanilla yoghurt; hand-carved, glazed Kurobuta ham and cranberry sauce sliders; Belgian waffles with crispy American-style bacon and maple syrup; and banana flapjack pancakes with salted caramel sauce and Chantilly cream. For drinks, a bespoke Bloody Mary bar will have you covered, and there's also the option of bubbles, fresh mimosas and home-made watermelon lemonade. $75 will buy four beverage coupons and as much food as you can avail yourself of. Upgrade to $100 to include a four-hour house drinks pack. The Bay Brunch will be happening on the summer public holidays of Boxing Day, New Year's Day and Australia Day. RSVP is essential — give the Watsons Bay Hotel a call on (02) 9337 5444.
If you, like us, plan your holidays entirely around food, you're in luck. We've teamed up with Zantac and we're giving away three mini holidays in Melbourne, Hobart and the Barossa Valley in South Australia. You'll wine, dine, sleep and adventure in luxe surroundings until you simply no longer can — how does that sound? Choose Melbourne and you and a guest will spend two nights at QT Melbourne in the CBD, have lunch and attend a coffee cupping course at Collingwood's famous specialty coffee house Proud Mary, and have dinner (and dessert) at Andrew McConnell's pan-Asian restaurant Supernormal on Flinders Lane. In the Barossa, you'll stay at The Louise (an incredible hotel that's side-by-side with a vineyard), head to St Hugo for a wine tasting and delicious winery lunch, then wind up at Fino at Seppeltsfield for dinner. Head to Hobart, and you'll stay at the Henry Jones Art Hotel, visit Bruny Island for a day of food, sightseeing and lighthouses thanks to Experience Oz and then feast on a South American-style dinner at Frank. Each prize includes return flights from any Australian capital city, two nights of accommodation and two foodie experiences (lunch and dinner). All you need to do is tell us your details and where you want to go — Hobart, Melbourne or the Barossa. It breaks our heart to tell you that you can only pick one destination, and you can only enter this competition once, so think long and hard about where you really want to go. If you're available to go on your adventure between Friday, July 28 and Sunday, September 10, head here to enter. To find out more about Zantac and how it tames heartburn fast, head to the website.
There’s been a lot of well-deserved hype surrounding British band alt-J recently, following the release of their second album This is All Yours. Hell, their October 2014 shows in Sydney and Melbourne sold out in a matter of seconds, leaving a whole raft of fans who were gearing up to stomp and sing along to the pounding ‘Breezeblocks’ pretty disappointed. If that was you, well, chances are you already know that the Mercury Prize-winning band is returning to our shores this May. There’s no more Enmore Theatre for these Leeds lads, though. This time round, they’re playing the slightly-harder-to-sell-out-instantaneously Qantas Credit Union (that’s the one that used to be the Entertainment Centre). What the show will most likely lack in Miley Cyrus (who sings the ‘I’m a female rebel’ line in ‘Hunger of the Pine’ and is a big alt-J fan and should really just go on tour with them already), it will make up for with killer support acts Asgeir and Mansionair.
Since relaunching in 2016, Stockade Brew Co has made some waves in the craft brewing industry, having won over 50 Australian beer awards in the last two years and turning out some of the Great Australiasian Beer Spectapular's wackier drops. Now, it's finally opening its own joint this May in Sydney's booming craft beer suburb. Located in an old factory space in Marrickville, the production brewery and bar boasts a communal dining space for 250 punters, plus a 14-person tasting room for private parties. Designed by RAD Studios, the fit-out includes steel screens and timber furniture that gives the industrial space an art deco feel, plus a custom-built bar made with upcycled barrels, lightbox menu boards and LED lighting. Stockade's sessionable core four beers — an 8 Bit IPA, Chop Shop pale ale, Duel hoppy lager and Hop Splicer XPA — have been consistently outdone by some of the brewery's pretty out-there seasonal releases, like the maple syrup beer or the white stout with cacao and chilli. Now the brewery will also be home to the Stockade barrel-aged program. At the moment, that means a Kentucky bourbon barrel-aged double IPA, which will be on tap for the venue's launch. The Stockade brews will sit next to four guest taps pouring the likes of Marrickville locals Bucket Boys and Melbourne's Hop Nation. Patrons can also expect wines from Urban Winery Sydney blended on-site in Stockade barrels and hop-infused cocktails using spirits from Australian craft distilleries. For beer nibbles, the team has gone down the food truck route, and will be teaming up with Eat Drink Collective for an offering that changes each month. American burger truck Baby Rey's will kick things off when the brewpub opens. Then, tasting sessions, brewery tours, butchery and cocktail masterclasses and beer and cheese pairings will round out this massive offering as of early June. "We've been really fortunate to have earned a lot of support for our beers over the last few years, so opening a space in the home of Sydney microbrewing felt like the natural progression," says owner Anton Szpitalak. "A brewery is a place for a beer drinker to connect with brewers and the process behind it, so having the tasting room at the heart of the warehouse brings this to the forefront." The Stockade Brew Co brewery and bar will open in May at 25 Cadagon Street, Marrickville. We'll let you know when we get an opening date — in the meantime, you can keep an eye on the Facebook page.
Normally the words 'YouTube sensation' trigger an instant shudder of revulsion as the abominable lovechild of Bieber and Nyan Cat twerks into your imagination, but that's where it also began for British trip-hop trio London Grammar who will be gracing our shores in March — after last July's cancellation. Ever since the release of 'Hey Now', which clocked up over a million views in just under a month, the indie darlings have gone from strength to strength. With a platinum debut album If You Wait, three songs in this 2014's triple j Hottest 100 (including a top ten spot for 'Strong') and rave-reviewed appearances at festivals worldwide under their collective belts, the trio are set to continue their love affair with the Australian public when they hit up the Festival Hall on March 14. Fronted by the preternaturally talented Hannah Reid, whose vocal range has seen her compared to the likes of Florence Welch and Adele, London Grammar had to cancel their tour last year after Reid was struck down with pneumonia. This national tour has been long-awaited by Australian fans, many of whom were lucky enough to catch their memorable set at Splendour in the Grass just a few short years ago. London Grammar will play two rescheduled Sydney shows — Monday, March 9 at Enmore Theatre and Thursday, March 12 at Hordern Pavilion. Both shows are sold out. Supported by Until the Ribbon Breaks + Wet. https://youtube.com/watch?v=nMEHJPuggHQ
October means Sydney Good Food Month, probably the world's largest food festival. Seriously. The event program is a whopping 40 pages. Every year we look forward to a month chock-full of food parties, festivals, markets and awesome dining experiences. In the battle of the best food cities in the world, Good Food Month is a loud reminder that Sydney can definitely bring it. Save up your money, dig out your most stretchy pair of feasting pants and get stuck into at least these ten superlative events.
As governments around the world continue to drag their feet resettling refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict — and the country is bombarded with airstrikes and chemical weapon attacks — it falls once more to the non-political professions to show the government where the hands go on the humanitarian clock. This time, it's hospitality's turn. On June 18, UNICEF Australia will once again partner with some of the country's best chefs for a charity dinner celebrating Syria's strong culinary traditions. The dinner is part of month-long nationwide fundraising campaign called #CookForSyria, with money raised going to UNICEF Australia's Syria Crisis Appeal for Children. Three Blue Ducks in Rosebery will host the posse of gastronomers as they prepare a banquet comprising their signature dishes with a Syrian flourishes. Saint Peter's Julie and Josh Niland will serve up a smoked eel and beetroot jam doughnut with moutabbal (smoked eggplant dip), Palisa Anderson from Chat Thai will prepare pork sausages with nahm prik chilli relish and Kylie Kwong will serve up her famed saltbush cakes, prepared on the night with Syrian spices. Tickets are a steep $280 per person — but, remember, it's going to a good cause — and include canapés, cocktails on arrival and a shared Syrian-inspired feast and wines. It may seem on the surface like you're paying for the food, but 20 professional chefs jammed into a single kitchen also suggests a night of great theatre. Momofuku Seiobo's Paul Carmichael, Firedoor's Lennox Hastie and Africola's Duncan Welgemoed will be in the fray, with Monty Koludrovic (Icebergs, Bondi Beach Public Bar) and Andy Bowdy (Saga) contending for next use of the colander with equal ferocity. While the top guns will have their turn on June 18, UNICEF Australia is encouraging anyone with passing knowledge of an oven to contribute, too. Restaurants and cafes can produce a limited edition Syrian versions of favourite dish, donating $5 from each one sold to the charity. For those who deal in culinary delight on a slightly smaller scale, bake sales are your recommended course. While you're waiting for the oven to pre-heat, you can read more and register here. To reserve your spot at the one-off dinner, make a reservation via the Three Blue Ducks website. Images: Nikki To
First they housed a gaol, then an art school, and now, for the first time ever, Forbes Street's legendary sandstone walls will be surrounding an outdoor summer dance club. Over several Sundays between January 11 and February 22, Astral People will be bringing a serious dose of electronic talent — both local and international — to the National Art School for extended afternoon-evening sessions. So, if you've been holed up all winter partying in warehouses and underground caves, it's time to salute the sun. Each event will feature at least three DJs on the bill. From the US, there's the outspoken Moodymann (a.k.a. Kenny Dixon Jr.), Detroit-based techno and house producer Omar-S, leader of Motown resurgence House Shoes and weekend-mischief creators Mister Saturday Night. Meanwhile, DJ EZ will be bringing his combo of old skool and new skool garage, bass and underground house from the UK, while Ukrainian DJ Vakula will be taking care of the deep house and experimental side of things. Thirteen more locally-sourced acts, including Tornado Wallace, Andras Fox, Simon Caldwell and Otologic, round out the lineup. Head here for the program breakdown and to lock in your tickets to one of our picks for the summer's best parties.
When it comes to busting a move, there's always a new trend around the corner. Some dance styles, like ballroom, never go out of style. Others come out of nowhere and take over nightclubs; think disco, the Nutbush and voguing. Add tutting to the latter bunch, even if you haven't heard of it yet. The centrepiece of TUT, a new urban dance project by Shaun Parker & Company at Art & About Sydney, it's about to become Australia's next big dance craze. So what the heck is tutting? Tutting features highly intricate and rhythmic patterns of the hands, fingers and arms, and was derived from the hieroglyphics drawn on the ancient tomb walls of King Tutankhamun. Yes, your high school history lessons might actually pay off on the dance floor, but there's more to it than that. As Parker explains, it also has "throwback references to old-school hiphop, voguing, and locking and popping." And, it "really celebrates the unique individually of each dancer. Tutting is almost like a 'fingerprint' of each dance artist." But tutting isn't as ancient as it sounds. Many sources point to choreographer Mark "King Bugaloo Tut" Benson, who made tutting popular in the late '70s. No wonder Parker calls it "mind-blowing" — and given that the award-winning choreographer has worked with Sydney Theatre Company, Chunky Move and Opera Australia, he knows what he's talking about. Parker came across tutting while researching street dance styles in 2008. After being introduced to the style by one of his principal dancers, he was so impressed that he was working on tutting routines with teenage street dancers in Western Sydney soon after. Then, in 2009, YouTube marked tutting videos as a viral trend among amateurs. Inevitably, big time choreographers got amongst it. Here's San Francisco dancer PNUT tutting: You may have seen him tutting with Taylor Swift in the 'Shake It Off' video: Keen to get tutting? Not only can you watch this new sensation sweep the streets at free performances in the Dixon Street and Pitt Street malls across April, but you can be a part of it too. Head to Parker's website to apply to be involved, and even check out a handy tutorial if you need help getting into the groove. See TUT by Shaun Parker & Company at Art and About Sydney on April 7, 8, 14, 15, 21 and 22, or visit the event website for more information. Image courtesy of City of Sydney. Photo by Daniel Boud.
John Cleese and Eric Idle are silly walking their way to Australia, for a brand new live show premiering early next year. The Monty Python co-founders will visit major cities around the country for a series of one night only performances, combining scripted comedy, improvisation, musical numbers, aquatic juggling and audience Q&As. John Cleese & Eric Idle: Together Again At Last... For The Very First Time will begin on the Gold Coast on February 25, before travelling to the Brisbane Convention Centre on February 27, Adelaide's AEC Theatre on March 1, Canberra's Royal Theatre on March 5, Perth's Riverside Theatre on March 9 Sydney's State Theatre on March 14, and Melbourne's Hamer Hall on March 18. Tickets for the show go on sale at 10am on Monday, December 21. "Eric and I had huge fun touring the States in October and now we can bring our show to the friendliest people in the world," said Cleese. "No one show will be the same and all of them will annoy the Politically Correct." "Having enjoyed the World Tour of Florida, we were looking for somewhere else large aquatic reptiles of the sub family Crocodylinae also thrived," added Idle. "The Nile was booked, so we are coming to Australia. Having once married a Sheila and as the father of a half Australian son I look forward to touring one of my all-time favourite places." JOHN CLEESE AND ERIC IDLE: TOGETHER AGAIN AT LAST... FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME February 25 — Jupiters Theatre, Gold Coast February 27 — Brisbane Convention Centre March 1 — AEC Theatre, Adelaide March 5 — Royal Theatre, Canberra March 9 — Riverside Theatre, Perth March 14 — State Theatre, Sydney March 18 — Hamer Hall, Melbourne Tickets on sale Monday, December 21 at 10am. Book at venue websites, Ticketek or Ticketmaster.
And now, the end is near. And so we face the final curtain... My, what a ride it's been. 22 films, more than a dozen TV series, 80-odd main characters, $4 billion spent and close to $20 billion made. But as Tony Stark, the man whose original Iron Man film kicked this whole crazy thing off, says: "part of the journey is the end". In Avengers: Endgame, we're given an end worthy of that extraordinary journey. In the simplest sense, Endgame is a sequel to 2018's Infinity War, and the 22nd film in the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe. And yet, there's very little that's simple about this picture, marking as it does the extraordinary culmination of several dozen intricate and intertwined story arcs that extend all the way back to 2008. It's also, if you'll forgive the pun, a stark counterpoint in both style and content to Infinity War, presenting very much like an out-and-out drama instead of the traditional comic book spectacle. Where Infinity War was all bombast, Endgame offers reserve. Where Infinity War wrought intergalactic devastation and destruction, Endgame delivers intimacy and an examination of grief, loss and very private regret. It's comfortably the Marvel film in which the least happens, yet it never for one moment feels dull or lags — even with its 3 hour run time. Despite Disney's best efforts, spoilers are abounding online, so in the interests of preserving secrecy for those who've managed to silo themselves away from revelations, we'll keep any plot discussion to a minimum. The shock of Infinity War's conclusion, in which 50 per cent of all living things in the universe were snapped into dust by Thanos (Josh Brolin), looms large over those left behind. Survivor guilt affects everyone, most notably the remaining superheroes burdened with the additional feelings of failure, blame and empty vengeance. In one of the film's best scenes, Captain America (Chris Evans) sits in an AA-style support group, telling those in attendance it's up to them to move on, rebuild and make something of earth again. It's a beautiful speech and entirely true, but the hollowness behind Cap's eyes betrays his own failure to practice what he preaches. So too the rest of the Avengers. Thanks to the trailers, it's safe to say Ant Man (the ever-appealing Paul Rudd) plays a pivotol role in kick-starting Endgame's plan to rectify the devastation of Thanos's genocide, employing what he playfully terms "a time heist". Directors Anthony and Joe Russo and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely gleefully unpack some of the persistent myths of that particular device, ripping apart the plotholes of iconic chrono-cinema stories like Back to the Future and The Terminator. In Endgame, there's some impressive backtracking through the MCU's own history, which doubles as the launch pad for most of the film's lighter moments (a discussion about Cap's butt being chief amongst them). The humour, though, doesn't always land, and the main offender in Endgame, we're sad to say, is Chris Hemsworth's Thor. He's taken the failure to prevent Thanos' snap particularly badly, but save for a solid sight gag early on, Hemsworth's performance feels at odds with everything else in the film. Only when he abandons the attempted comedy does he again sizzle on screen, be it in one of the rare moments of action or in a tender moment with a key character from his past. And there are a lot of those, with Endgame drawing its cast list from the entire MCU catalogue. Most appearances are fleeting, but rather than feel like mere fan service, they serve to reinforce the scale of the franchise's achievement. With each new face we're reminded of another moment within another film from somewhere in our own past; an opportunity to engage in some time-travelling of our own as we revisit the experience of watching these films throughout the last decade. When the inevitable culmination arrives at the film's conclusion, it's so much more than a roll call. It's at once a reunion, a rectification, a resurgence and a cathartic, tearful farewell. Yes, tearful. There are deaths here, and having spent so long in the company of these characters, the emotional resonance of their departures isn't easily absorbed. Technically, the upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home is pegged as the official end to Phase 3 of the MCU, but emotionally there's no question Endgame lives up to its name. When the dust finally (and literally) settles, the payoff is thoroughly earned and the emotions are heartfelt and raw. But goodbye doesn't necessarily mean gone here, and in certain cases a character's departure simply means their baton is passed on to others. A few of these are shown; others, merely hinted at. Phase 4 will mark a significant reset for Marvel, and with the recent acquisition of 20th Century Fox, the path now lies open for drawing in the X-Men franchise to the growing MCU roster. According to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, however, it'll be a while before we see the likes of Magneto and Professor X alongside Captain America. Til then, Marvel's challenge will be to build, develop and deliver the same level of complexity and pathos into its next generation of heroes as with those we've just farewelled. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA6hldpSTF8
The future of Sydney's nightlife in the face of the NSW Government's infamous lockout laws might still be in a state of polarising uncertainty, but the perseverant bunch at nightlife lobby group Keep Sydney Open are attempting to reinvigorate one of Sydney's legendary night spots. Kings Cross has undeniably seen significant change since the introduction of the laws, including a well-covered (and debated) string of venue closures — for a discussion on whether the closures are directly linked to the lockout laws, meet every interested Sydneysider at the pub later. But now, KSO, alongside local collective Eastside Sydney, will take over seven of Kings Cross's nightlife venues for a full precinct festival, dubbed Meet Me in the Cross, on Saturday, July 1 from 9pm. Pick up a $30 ticket and it'll give you access to parties and nosh deals inside Kings Cross Hotel, The World Bar, Candy's Apartment, Potts Point Hotel, Crane Bar, Jangling Jack's and Sweethearts Rooftop. You can hop between bars until 3am. Who will you find having a mad boogie within these venues? Party-starved revellers and live performances from some of Sydney's best record labels and party crews like Future Classic, Astral People, Elefant Traks, Heaps Gay, Lovebombs and more. "Kings Cross is the heart and soul of Sydney nightlife," says KSO campaign director Tyson Koh. "We all know it has suffered in recent times, but the truth is venues are still kicking in the Cross — you can still see great local live bands and dance to amazing music ... Now it's time to support the venues and artists that make this city great in the best way possible: by having a party!"
Things are set to get feisty and fearless at the Opera House when the fourth All About Women Festival takes over on Sunday, March 6. Leading the prodigious, 30-speaker-strong program? None other than the inimitable Miranda July, Sleater Kinney's Carrie Brownstein, Orange Is the New Black memoir author Piper Kerman and former US State Department director of policy planning Anne-Marie Slaughter. If you’ve ever wondered what makes July tick, here’s your chance. The celebrated writer, filmmaker, actor, artist, app maker, handbag wizard and bona fide enigma will be presenting an epic, autobiographical journey through her inner world, combining readings, film and interactive performance. July’s debut novel, The First Bad Man, was published in January this year. Sleater Kinney and Portlandia's legendary Brownstein will be talking about her October-released book Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, a candid look at life and music — and if you're a super fan, Sleater Kinney are playing the same night at the Opera House. Kerman, whose memoir inspired the insanely popular TV series Orange Is the New Black, will be chatting about women she’s met in American prisons and her ongoing battle to increase prisoners’ rights. And Anne-Marie Slaughter, who worked as the director of policy planning at the US State Department when Hillary Clinton was running the show, will be arguing that we can’t have it all — well, at least not all at once, anyway. Meanwhile, Amelia Telford, the Indigenous coordinator of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, will be talking about climate change and resource extraction with Crystal Lameman, a climate change activist living in Beaver Lake Cree Nation, Canada. Other speakers on the lineup include Hyeonso Lee, a refugee from North Korea whose memoir, The Girl With Seven Names, was published in July 2015 in more than 20 nations; Masha Gessen, an American-Russian journalist, writer and LGBT activist; Jennifer Clement, an American-Mexican journalist, who’ll be covering her investigation of the impact of the drug war on thousands of stolen Mexican women and girls; and French novelist Muriel Barbery, who’s just published her first book in nine years. Multipack tickets will go on sale on Monday, December 7, with single tickets becoming available on Wednesday, December 9. Find them and rest of the program on the website.
Winter schminter, let's party on the roof. There's a new weekly rooftop shindig in town, brought to you every Saturday night by the crew behind Aussie electronic label etcetc (repping the likes of Kilter, Paces and Set Mo). After their sold-out slam dunk of a Vivid showcase, etcetc have found themselves a nice little CBD rooftop, Taylor's Social, atop the 1865 heritage listed Republic Hotel on Bridge Street — accessible from a laneway entrance on Tank Stream Way. And it's going to be pretty; there's going to be a commissioned installation from Australian-born artist Anthony Lister making a modern party spot of the heritage-listed building, handpicked for their weekly DANCEetc. party. The music policy? All things house. Featuring a solid roster of up-and-coming talent, DANCEetc. will launch on July 18 with the likes of Set Mo, POOLCLVB, Acaddamy, LO’99 and Frames locked in for the first couple of weeks. Pair your deep house with fancy wines picked out by the crew's sommelier and botanical cocktails aplenty. DANCEetc will kick off at 8pm on July 18 atop the Republic Hotel, corner of Bridge Street and Tank Stream Way. For more info, visit etcetc. Image: POOLCLVB.
Tracey Moffatt fans have an exciting opportunity to see all eight of her montage films made with long-time collaborator Gary Hillberg this month at Casula Powerhouse. Exhibited together for the very first time, the works in Montages: The Full Cut, 1999 – 2015 span 17 years of the pair's creative partnership. Using the Hollywood film for inspiration, the montages – which vary in length from seven up to 24 minutes – combine found and edited footage from iconic films, telemovies and arthouse cinema to offer up an ode to cinema whilst revealing "the stereotypes that populate our collective cultural imagination." Expect a typically inventive dismantling of dominant cinematic tropes (love and romance, art, revolution) as Moffatt and Hillberg play with narrative and character conventions to create their own fictions. Developed by Sydney's Artspace, Montages: The Full Cut will tour nationally in partnership with Museums & Galleries of NSW until 2019. Side note: the exhibition coincides with the conclusion of the 2017 Venice Biennale, where this year Moffatt became the first Australian Indigenous artist to present a solo exhibition. Image: Montages: The Full Cut, 1999 –2015 Tracey Moffatt and Gary Hillberg, installation view Artspace, Sydney, 2016. Photo: Zan Wimberley (detail)
We all know Hyde Park is much better when conceived as a kind of Midsummer Night's Dream: a magical, atmospheric hub bounded by strings of lights. For another year, Sydney Festival is setting up the beloved Festival Village in Hyde Park, stretching along College Street past the Archibald Fountain and housing the Spiegeltent, Magic Mirror Spiegeltent and all your festival food and drink needs. The Village's free activities, music and nommy nomz will take you from day to night with the laidback, buzzy vibe that's unique to Sydney in January. Food vendors have your voracious stomach's needs completely covered from 12pm (check out these ridiculous Messina creations). But this is not just about slobbering gluttony, you barbarian. It's also about playtime. City of Sydney's Lawn Library offers books and workshops by day, and you can enjoy the creative surrounds of SydFest's 2016 artists-in-residence Province (aka Laura Pike and Anne-Louise Dadak). Festival Village is open January 7-26 (closed Mondays). Food from 12pm, licensed bars open from 4pm. Visit the Sydney Festival website for more info. Image by Prudence Upton.
If you're a Sydney-based cinephile, the end of daylight savings and the beginning of cooler weather means one thing: the Sydney Film Festival. Yes, the city's annual celebration of movies, movies and even more movies is fast approaching, with the 64th iteration of the festival taking place from June 7 to 18. Given that's just 63 sleeps away — and counting — it's time for a sneak peek of just what filmic delights will be on offer. While the full festival program won't be revealed until May 10, SFF has unveiled 28 titles that'll grace Sydney's screens in June as a teaser. They've also announced another screen, adding the Randwick Ritz to their slate of venues alongside the CBD's State Theatre, Event Cinemas George Street, Dendy Opera Quays, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the SFF Hub at Lower Town Hall, plus Dendy Newtown, Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace in Cremorne and Blacktown's Skyline Drive-In. So, that's where you'll be watching great flicks for 12 days, but here's what you'll be watching. Leading the pack is the Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck-starring A Ghost Story, which sees the duo re-team with their Ain't Them Bodies Saints director David Lowery — it sparked quite a buzz at Sundance earlier in the year. In the high-profile camp, it'll be joined by sweet and sensitive artist biopic Maudie featuring Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke, as well as gorgeous Swiss animated effort My Life as a Zucchini, which was a very deserving nominee for Best Animated Feature at this year's Oscars. The absolutely riveting Samuel L. Jackson-narrated race relations documentary I Am Not Your Negro is also on the bill, as is the Whitney Houston doco Whitney: Can I Be Me with director Nick Broomfield in attendance, as well as an extensive look at Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's life and impact in Winnie. The list goes on. Coming to Sydney straight from the Berlinale is genre-shifting Polish mystery Spoor, and the raw and resonant queer romance God's Own Country. Trust us when we tell you to add both to your must-see pile. SFF-goers can also look forward to female-focused martial arts flick Mrs K, Mexican sci-fi drama The Untamed, an on-screen friendship between an architect and an elephant in Thailand's Pop Aye, Afghanistan's first female feature directing making her debut with Wolf and Sheep, plus the unscripted, shot-in-one-night Indian road movie Sexy Durga. And, we know that we always say this, but it wouldn't be a major film festival without an epic Lav Diaz-directed effort. This time, it's his Venice Gold Lion winner The Woman Who Left — and it's only 226-minutes long. Hey, less than four hours is short when it comes to the Filipino filmmaker. On the local front, prepare to scale great heights with Sherpa's Jennifer Peedom once again thanks to her similarly lofty follow-up, Mountain. In fact, if you're eager to catch the documentary as early as you can, it's screening at the Sydney Opera House before the fest, with a live orchestra providing the score. Or, check out indie comedy That's Not Me by Melbourne husband and wife duo Gregory Erdstein and Alice Foulcher, with both writing, the former directing and the latter starring. Those keen on scary attractions won't want to miss Australia-New Zealand co-production Spookers, the latest film by Pulp: A Film About Life, Death and Supermarkets' director Florian Habicht, which looks behind the scenes at the Southern Hemisphere's largest horror theme park in Auckland. If that's not enough, docos about the first rock band to play in North Korea, the only zoo in the world located in an occupied territory, and the influence of Native Americans upon American blues music are also all on offer as well. So is a stint of outdoor movie-watching courtesy of a drive-in session of classic comedy-horror An American Werewolf in London. Already feeling spoiled for choice? That's okay. That's what film festivals are all about. Just remember that there's much, much more to come when the complete SFF lineup drops. If you haven't already, you'd best cancel all your other June plans right now. The 2017 Sydney Film Festival will run from June 7 to 18. Check out their currently announced titles by heading to the festival website. The full program will be released on May 10.
Sydney's rockstars will go head to head with the bigwigs of community radio, at the seventh annual Reclink Community Cup. In a dance as old as time — otherwise known as the mid 90s — muso team the Western Wailers will take on local media and radio royalty, aka the Sydney Sailors, in a highly entertaining and heckleworthy game of amateur charity football with a year's worth of bragging rights on the line. Played at Henson Park in Marrickville, proceeds from the Sunday, August 19 match will be donated to Reclink Australia and used to improve the lives of people suffering from disability, homelessness, substance abuse and economic hardship through participation in sport and the arts. Reigning champs the Wailers will be looking to keep the cup, while the Sailors will try to snatch it back. Your local MP Albo will be tossing the coin, and the match will be bookended by a series of live performances by the likes of Scabz and Bachelor Pad — all of whose musical credentials are a lot more impressive than their footballing ones. Hey, if you want to see professional athletes, go to the SCG.
You might have missed the moving party for Surry Hills' newest resident, Fat Angel, a Mediterranean-inspired joint which quietly opened at the end of October. Sitting on Elizabeth Street, Fat Angel has all the hallmarks of an on-trend Sydney bar — exposed brick walls, plenty of dark wood tones and polished concrete floors — alongside huge porthole-like lights made from sawn-off rustic wine barrels. The bar has a decidedly Mediterranean menu with share dishes like Greek lamb skewers with tzatziki, a mean-lookin' cheese plate, and a grilled seafood plate (thyme and lemon octopus, paprika marinated calamari and garlic prawns). But we're in Sydney, that means burgers found their way into this Mediterranean menu. Fat Angel does their own namesake burger, a delicious-sounding combination of bacon, beef, grilled onion, mayo and cheddar, alongside a grilled peri-peri chicken burger and a vege option. How about a side of rosemary polenta chips with that? Of course, one of the best ways to judge a bar is by its signature drinks. Cocktails are a big player here; there's the cutely-named Pink Power (vodka, lychee liqueur, fresh raspberry and rose petal) and just in case you've forgotten what 'hood you're in, there's the Surry Hill Side (Sailor Jerry spiced rum, coconut water, coconut liqueur, lime and fresh pineapple juice). Rounding out the list is a selection of classic cocktails because negronis. If you're not a mixed drinks person, there is a selection of imported beers and fine wines for you to choose from. Enjoy a Czech lager from the tap or pick from the modest wine menu, largely from Victoria and New Zealand. Fat Angel is now open at 512 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills. Image: Fat Angel.
They've taken you back to the skating days of Dogtown, knotted up the ascots at a pop-up Hunting Lodge and even travelled into space. Now, Sydney's experts in pop-up immersive parties, LOST Events, are delving into the underbelly of society with their next party — themed Sin City. Locked in for Saturday, October 31 (yep, Halloween), the next LOST party will take cues from crime, horror and noir films this time around. Location? The party will place in a "plush mystery crib", ten minutes from Oxford Street "that you can bank on being First Class". Here's the breakdown from the team, to give you a bit of a clue: "LOST Events lure invite the bloodied, bad and beautiful to hitch a ride to the corrosive core of Sin City. Take a trenchant trip to a time when life is loose, love came cheap and the Demon Dog LOST Boys ran this town and kept it looking goooood." Uh-huh. The most important detail of all — what should you wear? LOST are reminding punters they're entering the "chilling, ultraviolent and sleazy world of the hard-boiled", so think flawed antiheroes (Dirty Harry, Punisher), dirty cops (Training Day, The Departed), twisted weirdos (Zed in Pulp Fiction, 8MM), hard-drinking private investigators, tormented heroines, vengeful detectives, murderous billionaires and so on. LOST have even created a Sin City style guide on Pinterest, because they're great like that. As always with LOST events, there'll be more precise instructions sent to guests personally on the day. The doors only open three times on the day — "when you come in, once you've served your time, or when you're dead". What the hell this means, we have no idea, so expect everything and anything. LOST in Sin City is happening on Saturday, October 31 from 3-10pm. Tickets are $105, on sale Monday, August 24 from midday from LOST Events.
Melbourne boasts a George Costanza-themed hangout, Ipswich recently welcomed a German restaurant with a Breaking Bad twist, and now Brisbane has a bar and eatery inspired by a '70s television sitcom. That'd be Ginger's Diner — and don't be concerned if you haven't picked the reference yet. The new addition to Petrie Terrace is more than a little fond of M*A*S*H, but it is being rather subtle about it. Think of Caxton Street's latest hotspot as the kind of place the classic TV show's characters would frequent if they were on a break from their mobile army surgical army hospital. Yes, Ginger's has styled itself after a Korean hole-in-the wall joint — and yes, if you can't remember from stumbling countless reruns, M*A*S*H is set during the Korean War. Cocktails such as Klinger's Closet and Seoul Sojourn keep the theme going, while the snack-heavy menu surveys the best of the country's cuisine. If wasabi peas and nuts, kimchi pancakes with sesame and soy dressing, fried chicken with hot-sweet sauce and and bibimbap get your tastebuds tingling, then you're going to love Ginger's food lineup. And, it's available until midnight daily. Other than its TV ties and Asian dishes, there's another reason that Brisbanites should get excited about the 65-seat venue: its pedigree. There's a reason Ginger's is located right next door to Lefty's Old Time Music Hall, after all. They're both owned by Jamie Webb, the man behind Sonny's House of Blues, Gordita, Peasant and Los Villanos — aka some of the city's favourite restaurants and hangouts. For more information on Ginger's Diner, keep an eye on their website. Via Good Food.
Crucial to doing brunch properly is not having to think about time. After all, it's its occupation of the not-breakfast, not-lunch never-never land that makes it so deliciously languid. You can't be early. You can't be late. And it's impossible to stay too long. Practically, though, Sydney brunches, especially when combined with views, can't always offer such temporal escapism. Too many people want in on them. Until now, that is. The Watsons Bay Hotel is bringing an all-you-can-eat buffet brunch our way. For hours on end, you'll be able to indulge while soaking up waterfront views and recovering from whatever shindiggery you've been up to the evening before. Whipped up by executive chef John Pye, the menu is no ordinary buffet production but features the likes of house-made granola trifles layered with summer berries and vanilla yoghurt; hand-carved, glazed Kurobuta ham and cranberry sauce sliders; Belgian waffles with crispy American-style bacon and maple syrup; and banana flapjack pancakes with salted caramel sauce and Chantilly cream. For drinks, a bespoke Bloody Mary bar will have you covered, and there's also the option of bubbles, fresh mimosas and home-made watermelon lemonade. The Bay Brunch is back for September 27, October 4 and October 18.
12 days. 288 films. 59 countries. 37 world premieres. The 2017 Sydney Film Festival is almost upon us, and the numbers paint quite the picture. In short: whatever your favourite film genre or style, whichever actors and directors you like, and whichever nation's cinema output you can't get enough, you'll likely find it here. From June 7 to 18, the city's screens will be buzzing. We've called it cinephile Christmas before, and we will again — it's a label that happily sticks for Sydney's biggest annual film event. Indeed, in his sixth year at the helm, festival director Nashen Moodley has once again spoiled Sydney movie-goers with choices, ranging from Netflix-produced monster movies currently getting Cannes all aflutter, to the first full-length effort made by Afghanistan's first female filmmaker, to cerebral Aussie sci-fi. They're just three of the films on our must-see list, and there's many more where they came from. Grab your flexipass and get booking. THE LITTLE HOURS Aubrey Plaza as a nun? We live in a world where a reality TV star can ascend to the highest office in US politics, so of course we live in a world where this can happen too. After director Jeff Baena turned her into a zombie in 2014's Life After Beth, the Parks and Recreation star is getting into the habit in The Little Hours — in the 14th century. Alison Brie and Kate Micucci are also taking the same vow, bringing modern attitudes to medieval times. Dave Franco plays the man they all start lusting over, and the film takes inspiration from The Decameron, so expect sins aplenty. OKJA Okja has been receiving ample attention of late. One of the first-ever Netflix-made films to screen in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, it has helped spark waves of debate about the future of cinema — and when it premiered at the festival, the first five minutes were projected at the wrong aspect ratio, prompting boos. Forget all that. And, forget the fact that it'll be available on the streaming platform on June 28. All that matters here is that South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho has made another monster flick following his stellar 2006 effort The Host, it features his Snowpiercer star Tilda Swinton alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Paul Dano, and it's earning comparisons to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Yep, it's bound to make for quite the closing night. THE LEVELLING Winter is coming, and so is The Levelling starring Game of Thrones' Ellie Kendrick. There's tragedy, a homecoming, family struggles and secrets on the agenda here too, but it's safe to say that's about where any similarities between everyone's favourite TV show and this devastating drama end. Kendrick plays a trainee vet who returns to her father's farm under sorrowful circumstances, with her character wading through the fallout and audiences taken through emotionally weighty material. It's the first feature from Hope Dickson Leach, announcing the UK filmmaker as a definite talent to watch. WOLF AND SHEEP It's easy to imagine that, one day, someone will make a movie about Shahrbanoo Sadat. Her tale is simply extraordinary: the first female feature filmmaker from Afghanistan, she scored a residency at Cannes when she was just 20, and took out the top Director's Fortnight prize at the fest last year with Wolf and Sheep. For now, though, the results of her efforts makes a firm statement, as she tackles rural village life in her country with both realism and a fairy tale-like approach. It's clearly not the kind of film you see every day, made by a rising star driven to craft a movie that truthfully and candidly depicts the ups and downs of daily life in a country usually seen through war. THE UNTAMED It has been a great year for unnerving flicks of the genre-bending kind. Actually, that's an understatement. Colossal, Raw and Get Out have all refused to play by sci-fi and horror rules, and now add The Untamed to that list. The latest effort by former Cannes best director winner Amat Escalante, the creature feature delves into the chaos that arises when a couple come across a mysterious stranger. Sure, it's a premise that sounds incredibly familiar — even more so when you throw in an isolated cabin, too — but with the flick approaching its exploration of erotic urges with both otherworldly ties and social realism on its mind, expect the unexpected. SPOOKERS A word of warning if you're easily scared by creepy costumes: Spookers mightn't be for you. Firstly, the documentary focuses on just those kinds of folks as it steps inside the horror-themed New Zealand amusement park of the same name – yes, the people on screen get paid to play killer clowns and shuffling zombies. Also, SFF is heartily encouraging attendees to get into the spirit of things by following in their footsteps, which is bound to make for a rather lively and fun session. Berlin-born, New Zealand-based filmmaker Florian Habicht isn't known for making standard flicks (as his music doco Pulp: a Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets demonstrated), and this promises to continue the trend. LADY MACBETH Another adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth? Actually, no, not at all. Australian director Justin Kurzel did such an amazing job with his Michael Fassbender-starring effort that everyone else should probably give the bard's tragedy a wide berth for a few years; however it isn't even the basis for Lady Macbeth. Adapting the 1865 novel of the same name — which took inspiration from its literary namesake, but spun its own tale — it's the spirit of the famous character that proves important, rather than the specifics. Here, a teenager copes with being sold into marriage to a much older man, and a wily fight for freedom ensues. IN THE FADE Headed to Sydney straight from playing in competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival, In The Fade dives into a situation that's sadly all-too-timely: a woman coping with loss after a bomb attack. It's German director Fatih Akin's response to the current state of the world, and with him at the helm, the drama is likely to delve deeply into the emotional impact in a complex and compelling fashion. How the taking of innocent lives leaves an imprint on the ordinary people left behind seems to be his driving question, and one which his star Diane Kruger will help answer. The actress doesn't make many German-language films these days, if you needed another source of intrigue. MOUNTAIN Did Sherpa well and truly knock your socks off, or get you itching to leap skyward? Then prepare to scale great heights with Australian filmmaker Jennifer Peedom all over again. With Mountain, the documentarian with quite the knack for capturing towering terrain goes high-altitude once more, this time endeavouring to understand just why we're all so obsessed (and sometimes afraid) with climbing up in the world. There'll be stunning sights, given the subject matter, but also an orchestral feast too. The film is a collaboration with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, who provide a score that soars as much as the cinematography. Plus, one of the doco's SFF sessions will feature a live performance at the Sydney Opera House as part of Vivid. OTHERLIFE Imagine a drug that expanded your perception of time, but only in your mind. Or, watch OtherLife. Altering people's sense of passing moments in a scenario where seconds in reality feel like days in someone's head sits at the heart of this Aussie science fiction offering — and both the concept and the fact that Australia doesn't make sci-fi that often should pique your interest. So should filmmaker Ben C. Lucas, who previously helmed high school revenge thriller Wasted on the Young back in 2011. It was an ambitious effort, and if his latest shares his blend of bold ideas and stylish execution, we could be in for an inventive treat. Want more recommendations? We've been excited about a hefty chunk of SFF's program for a while now, so we'll try and keep it brief. Firstly, check out our glowing thoughts on Call Me By Your Name, A Fantastic Woman, The Other Side of Hope, The Party, On Body and Soul, Spoor, I Am Not Your Negro and God's Own Country, which we saw and loved at Berlinale. Next, take a gander at our eagerness for The Woman Who Left, 76 Minutes and 15 Seconds with Abbas Kiarostami, and Take Me Home from last year's Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival, as well as The Opposition and Nowhere to Hide from this year's Human Rights Arts and Film Festival. There's also Pulse from the Melbourne Queer Film Festival and My Life as a Zucchini from Gold Coast Film Festival, too. Plus, Ali's Wedding made our most anticipated Aussie films of year list, while The Beguiled and Happy End featured in our rundown of flicks to look out for this year. Ingrid Goes West, A Ghost Story, Step, Patti Cake$, Axolotl Overkill, 78/52 and The Nile Hilton Incident were all on our Sundance wishlist, and Song to Song and Most Beautiful Island made our SXSW picks. Phew. The 2017 Sydney Film Festival will run from June 7 to 18. To check out the complete program and book tickets, visit the festival website.
Ordering a scotch at your local is your one way ticket to mad steeze with your mates, right? But what do we know about Scottish whisky, really? Every good whisky bar has an arsenal of scotch, but do you really know what you're ordering? In order to dispel the air of mystery surrounding scotch (and just so we can stop pretending we know what we're talking about), we've called upon Auchentoshan's head distiller Rachel Barrie to set us straight about this long-loved spirit. Rachel became the first female Master Blender 13 years ago (after 12 years working in the industry), making a few waves in the industry as a result. Suffice to say, she's the perfect person to answer all our Scotch questions. Learn up. [caption id="attachment_576038" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Lindores Abbey, Nathan Baker.[/caption] Where and when did Scotch whisky originate? The earliest recorded evidence of distilling in Scotland goes back to 1494 at Lindores Abbey in the Lowlands, where Father John Cor distilled 800 gallons of aqua vitae ('water of life') from eight bolls of barley (48 Scottish bushels), on the order of King James IV of Scotland. What were the original techniques used to distil Scotch whisky? How have things changed? Prior to the Industrial Revolution, distilling was conducted on a much smaller scale (and was often illicit) using small copper pot stills. During the Industrial Revolution, sometime between 1760 and 1840, malt distilleries were granted a license to distil by government, and industrial grain distilleries were set up primarily in the Lowlands, based on the steel continuous still design using grain (wheat or maize) to provide alcohol rather than malted barley. The grain distillation process was disputed at the time, and took decades to be accepted as Scotch whisky. Around 1860, blending grain and malt whisky commenced, creating blended Scotch whisky, which heralded the growth of the spirit in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Scotch Whisky Order of 1990 defines how Scotch whisky is made. Over the years, the law has been more tightly defined, and now every distillery in Scotland must be verified for Geographical Indication (GI) to ensure the highest standards of production quality and integrity. How does Scotch whisky differ to other whiskies like Irish whiskey, Japanese whisky or American whiskey? Scotch whisky has evolved over many centuries to create the greatest diversity of style of any whisky. Scotland grows high quality barley in the east, has peat in the north and west, and a year round supply of water in deep lochs, flowing rivers, and natural springs. Microclimate shapes maturation in oak casks (mainly ex-bourbon American oak and ex-sherry Spanish oak), and seasonal weather and local microflora help unlock balanced complexity, enriching the spirit with vitality and depth from youth to a ripe old age. Scotch whisky is unique in the rich complexity of flavours unlocked from the 115+ malt distilleries. Single malts are united by malt sweetness that harmonises fruit, floral, salt and smoke flavours from each distillery. AMERICAN WHISKEY American whiskeys are mainly distilled from corn and rye, and matured in American oak for a relatively short time (mostly five years or less). Grain produces a spicy/oily spirit combining with intense vanilla and caramel sweetness from the oak. IRISH WHISKEY Irish whiskeys are distilled mostly from unmalted barley and corn (with a small amount of malt), and pot and continuous stills are employed. Most Irish whiskeys are blends that are light, sweet, smooth and grassy. There are a small number of single pot still Irish whiskeys (made primarily from unmalted barley), and even fewer (for example Connemara) made from peated malt. JAPANESE WHISKY The handful of Japanese distilleries in existence were built less than a century ago, based on Scotch whisky production methods. In this short time, Japanese whisky has moved to design different styles, from light, clean and precise through to smoky and oily. [caption id="attachment_576044" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Gary Crawford.[/caption] How does taste differ between regions within Scotland? Each distillery's character is highly individual, however similarities in style can be found between regions. The Highland region is the largest, with Speyside having the most distinct style united by malt and fruit, much of which is blended with grain to make the heart of high volume blends. Islay malts have the dominant taste of smoke (from peat) and salt, with all other tastes woven in. Although very few distilleries exist in the Lowlands, the style is vibrant and refined with predominantly grassy, sweet and floral characters. What does it mean when you define a Scottish whisky as 'single malt' and 'single grain'? Both single malt and single grain whiskies are the product of only one distillery. Single malt whisky is made 100 percent from malted barley and distilled in copper pot stills at a single distillery. Single grain whisky is made from grain (wheat or maize), distilled in a continuous still (Coffey still) distillery. Feel like you've got a handle on scotch now? If you're a bartender, bar owner or know someone in the bar industry, listen up. Auchentoshan is looking for talented bar teams to come up with a brand new scotch-based cocktail for their 'Distilled Different' competition across Australia. More details on Auchentoshan's website.
It’s hard to believe that triple j was born in the same year that Gough Whitlam copped the old heave-ho as PM. The beloved radio station began its life as 2JJ back in 1975, with a broadcast that served the Sydney metropolitan area only. Four decades on, it's become the nation's chief music tastemaker, and (thankfully) hasn't wavered from its commitment to homegrown tunes. At Sydney Festival, triple j will celebrate its 40th birthday with a gargantuan, seven-hour long shindig, featuring performances from friends new and old, including Vance Joy, The Presets, Ball Park Music, The Preatures, Hilltop Hoods, Tkay Maidza, You Am I, The Cat Empire, Courtney Barnett, Remi, Nina Las Vegas, KLP, Adalita and more. If you're a never-fail triple j listener, you won't want to hear about this one on Saturday morning radio — get there. Beat the Drum is one of our top ten picks of the Sydney Festival. Check out our other favourite events over here.
When you have hair as thick and lush as I do, you don't think about hair all that much. But, for those less blessed in the follicles, this show is exactly what you need. Featuring Australia's Prince of Polyester, Bob Downe, The Big Hair Show and Catalunyan hair wizards Osadia, the festival village plays home to curlers, straighteners, a healthy dose of matte-finish styling clay, and a solid helping of hilarity. A strange, hands on mixture of art, performance and extreme barbery, The Hair Salon will be begging you to not leave your hat on. This program is one of ten Sydney Festival events happening in unexpected places. Check out the whole list.
Spending his time spontaneously bartending with RZA, doing the dishes at Scottish student golf mixers, and becoming "one of the most prolific party crashers of his generation", Bill Murray is now indisputably legendary. But aside from sporadically making peoples lives by simply showing up, Murray's film career runs rings around his moments of internet implosion. So, in a one-off marathon of long-overdue worship, the Golden Age are throwing their very own Bill Murra-thon. Coinciding with the actual date of Groundhog Day, Tuesday, February 3 and running through to Sunday, February 8, the Bill Murra-thon includes all your favourite classic Murray moments and his latest Golden Globe-nomination. Anchoring the Murray-love in the present day, watch the man growl and grumble through one of his most unflatteringly kickass roles yet, the misunderstood next-door neighbour in St Vincent (just don't watch the trailer, all the good bits are in the trailer). Then it's time to head back to golden era Murray, with the ironically ever-rewatchable Groundhog Day, the immortal Ghostbusters, and Wes Anderson heart-huggers Rushmore and Moonrise Kingdom. Finally, the red beanie on top — a screening of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou complete with salted popcorn, Campari and sodas and your ticket to Team Zissou: that gem of a red beanie. And while they're not screening, it's best if we all remember that time Murray totally saved the day in Space Jam and helped you talk to girls in Meatballs. Neva4get.
There's never a bad time for a piece of cake, particularly when it's made by one of the best dessert chefs in Sydney. We're talking about Andy Bowdy, of course — and as of 8am this morning, the online operation run by the former Hartsyard pastry chef has expanded his knee-weakening range, both in terms of the types of delicious morsels available and just where the hungry masses can get them. Andrew Bowden has officially opened his very first bakery cafe, called Saga, much to the delight of Sydney cake fiends and Bowden's ever-growing number of Instagram followers. If you like decadent, delectable sweet treats like pineapple tarts with salted coconut cream and coconut praline, or pecan pie Paris-Brest with caramel chantilly and brown sugar salted pecans, or cinnamon buns with maple pecans and fried papitas, you should hotfoot it to Enmore. Not convinced? How about White chocolate and mascarpone mousse with coffee and tequila soaked savoiardi biscuits, choc-hazelnut crumb, Nutella crémeux, hazelnut praline, Kahlúa jelly — available in two sizes "enough" and "fat fuck". And we haven't even started on his cakes — Bowden's cakes are the main event after all. He's got tiny versions of his cylindrical wonders on offer, like the Mini Matt's — vanilla butter cake, milk crumb, matcha mousse, toasted coconut cream, coconut chew, yuzu curd, caramel and "a teaspoon of torched meringue love". Bowden's new offering isn't just a cake shop though, serving food fare for all occasions — and all times of the day too. Bowden and his partner — and current Hartsyard manager — Maddison Howes have dubbed this Saga, we're guessing because opening your own cafe is indeed that. Given how creative their cakes are, we're sure this saga will be a long and delightful one. Find Andy Bowdy's Saga at 178 Enmore Road, Enmore. By Sarah Ward and Shannon Connellan.
After being hauled back from the financial brink last year, Tropfest is on the move. Prolific Australian Mad Max director and Tropfest board member George Miller took some time out from being critically acclaimed for his films today to announce that as of next year, the world's biggest short film festival will take place in Parramatta Park in Western Sydney. Tropfest founder John Polson said moving the festival into the geographical heart of Sydney — just a short train ride from Central station — was not just a matter of making the festival accessible to more people, but also an excellent opportunity for growth. "Tropfest needed a fresh base where it can be nurtured, expand and eventually become a multi-event festival." This is not the only change for the festival, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2017. Next year's Tropfest is scheduled for February 11 — the first time it has been held on a Saturday. While organisers are remaining tight-lipped, the shift suggests next year's festivities may carry on after the final credits roll. Tropfest submissions open in September.
Northerners, there's some unfathomably good cheesery coming your way. Alexandria's Salt Meats Cheese is set to open a second store in Mosman on July 1. Modelled on the Alexandria Salt Meats Cheese store, the new food emporium will take over 150 square metres on Military Road — with its own fromagerie, charcuterie delights, and wine and cheese bar at the ready. We're guessing Mosman fromage institution The Cheese Shop won't be too happy about this, but perhaps they'll be supportive of a fellow cheesesmith heading into the suburb. So why the northern venture? Salt Meats Cheese co-director Stefano de Blasi says the demand from Mosman was too prominent to ignore. "About 30 per cent of our customers at Salt Meats Cheese are from Alexandria so it made sense that we opened another store on the North Shore. This new hub is all about enhancing the lifestyle of locals," he says. "We do a lot of deliveries in that area so we thought it was time to now have a physical presence, too." "The store in Mosman is a different market. In Alexandria we are a destination, where everyone needs to drive and come to us for a good reason, whereas in Mosman, although there is a public car park next door, we are located in the middle of a pedestrianised area so locals can walk to us for all their everyday products and ready-made meals," he says. It's not just salt meat and cheese on offer at the Mosman store. There's a new breakfast and lunch menu in store, serving coffee and pastries for breakfast, pizza focaccia and paninos for lunch and wine, cheese and meat platters in the evening. De Blasic and his cousin Edoardo Perlo will manage the joint, serving imported wines, offering beer on tap and an offsite coffee roaster making a signature SMC blend. Fancypants Mosmanites wanting a little weekend seafood platter can order them to pick up too. SMC is hitting its stride since opening in 2011; the crew just recently opened their in-store shipping container pizzeria The Pizza Box, and they'll bring their Italian deli fare to Surfers Paradise in June 2015. Find Salt Meats Cheese at 3/803 Military Road, Mosman from July 1.
Update September 28, 2018: Due to popular demand, Ételek is sticking around. Stretching its stay from October till New Year's Eve, 2018, the pop-up restaurant will transition into a lighter menu in the warm months — we don't think you'll find matzo ball soup during summer. To book your visit, head to the website. Following the success of last year's stints at Bar Brosé and The Gretz, Adam Wolfers and Marc Dempsey are back with the next instalment of their pop-up restaurant Ételek. Wolfers, who is known for his work at establishments such as Monopole and Yellow, and Dempsey, a sommelier and front-of-house powerhouse who is currently manager at Cornersmith Marrickville, will come together to showcase a blend of Hungarian, Middle Eastern, and North African cuisines. The duo will takeover the site of the now-closed Antipodean restaurant in Potts Point from July 25 to October 13. Drawing on inspiration from his own Eastern European heritage — Ételek means 'food' in Hungarian — Wolfers will bring back pop-up signatures like his meat-free parsnip schnitzel and lángos (Hungarian fried bread) and will introduce newbies like nokedli (Hungarian dumplings) with sea urchin and walnut. Other dishes include everything bagel 'bites' — which we're expecting to become an Instagram favourite — and, for dessert, Jerusalem artichoke ice cream with matzo praline. Wolfers also plans on returning to his Yellow roots by featuring vegetable-focused dishes that showcase "ingredients through contemporary interpretations of the dishes [he] was raised on". While Wolfers masters the food, Dempsey will provide a fitting drinks menu. The wine list is set to focus on small "producers with heart" that work with ethical practices. "There will be wine for all palates and budgets,' Dempsey assures. While the three-month pop-up won't last nearly as long as we'd like, Wolfers hopes to create the feeling of a permanent fixture with "a regularly changing menu allowing for multiple visits". The Potts Point space has had an eye-catching makeover, too, with bright orange and pink material hanging from the ceiling and colourful tape wrapped around the seats and tables — a stark contrast to the otherwise industrial space. The duo will also collaborate with other industry favourites for one-off events, including a New York-style Sunday brunch session with Hartsyard's Gregory Llewellyn on Sunday, August 26, and a party with the talented team from Canberra's Bar Rochford on Sunday, September 16. The Ételek pop-up will be open for dinner from 5pm Wednesday to Saturday and for lunch and dinner from 2pm on Sunday from July 25 through to December 31. Images: Jun Chen
The MCA sculpture terrace is making the most of its killer harbour views again this summer, with the return of its collaboration with Future Classic. Dubbed FCxMCA, the event is a monthly series of Sunday happenings, blending music with contemporary art and inspired by the likes of MoMA PS1’s Warm Up sessions in New York City. Only Part One of the programme has been revealed so far. On November 15, check out Kenton Slash Demon, a Danish duo whose music De:Bug magazine has described as “house music as an Indian free jazz opera”. Following them is Harvey Sutherland, one of Australia’s favourite disco revivalists, who mixes lo-fi boogie with Roland house music. On December 13, two Melbourne-based producers who travel the world will be paying a visit: Roland Tings, with his Balearic influences, and Tornado Wallace, who combines house, techno and disco. For the first hour of every session, the MCA will keep its collection open exclusively for FCxMCA ticketholders. “We're excited to be partnering with the MCA again this summer to build on the series we created together last year,” says Future Classic founder Nathan McLay. “These are intimate parties with cutting edge talent in an extraordinary building that combine our love of contemporary art and music. We can't wait!" More dates and announcements for 2016 are set to be announced soon.
The UK's Gecko Theatre Company approach their performances as a collaboration of media, using theatre, dance, and stage and its props to create an environment all of their own. Their newest production Institute is a bewitching combination of stagecraft and choreography that manipulates the audience's perception of the players and their surroundings. Witty, funny, and shocking all at the same time, the performance, crafted by Artistic Director Amit Lahav, plays on your mind as it presents itself as both baffling and beautiful in equal measures. This is one of 15 next-level events to see at Sydney Festival. Check out the whole list.
Home to much of the festival's music, two Spiegeltents will be anchoring the expanding Festival Village, one of the real successes of last year and a true hub for hanging out in. Also within it will be a huge-scale art work from Ireland's answer to Banksy, street artist Maser. The maze-like, colour-splashed, two-storey-high installation, called Higher Ground, is said to be "a dream come true for those who always wished they could step inside a painting", and will be the focus of everyone's Instagramming this festival (which for the first time in two years, is Rubber Duck-less). Maser will be the artist-in-residence at the Village, though as he operates in anonymity, we don't expect to see too much of him. Read our interview with Maser and find out why he's happy for you to eat a sandwich in his art. Higher Ground is one of our top ten picks of the Sydney Festival. Check out our other favourite events over here.
Bayala means 'speak' in the tongue of Sydney's first people, and that's exactly what this series of talks, workshops and performances at Sydney Festival begs of you – to speak the language that lived here, long before we did. In 1790–91, Patyegarang, a young Aboriginal woman, taught 'First Fleet' English astronomer William Dawes the local language during frequent visits to his hut. That site is now known as Dawes' Point, under the southern pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This is where you can hear Lille Madden, a young Gadigal woman, reading the wordlists and sentences in language as spoken by Patyegarang. The installation will be open daily from 6am-11pm throughout the festival. Become immersed as Gadigal representatives read from notebooks written in 1790, or take classes with Darug and Gadigal teachers. Check out the rare collection of artefacts that preserve the language, or take your place in the massive performance of traditional songs about country, ancestors and healing. Head to the State Library to take the plunge to learn just a little more about the history that we all share. This program is one of ten Sydney Festival events happening in unexpected places. Check out the whole list.
Hot on the heels of the NGV's exciting announcement of a new gallery dedicated to contemporary art, the Melbourne gallery has launched its latest blockbuster: a collaborative exhibition with New York's revered Museum of Modern Art. MoMA at NGV: 130 Years of Modern and Contemporary Art takes a chronological look at art and design over the past century, from the late 1900s through to modern masterpieces. MoMA at NGV features more than 200 works from all six of MoMA's curatorial departments: Photography, Film, Architecture and Design, Painting and Sculpture, Drawings and Prints, and Media and Performance Art. The exhibition might be one of your only chances to see some of these works outside of New York with 127 of the showcased artworks having never left MoMA's walls before. You'll find masterful paintings that signalled a modern age with works from Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin; art based on emerging technology with Cubism pioneers Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque; collections of post-war American culture that are "bursting with energy"; as well as participatory artworks, pop-art icons, Space Invaders, and many more. The works are spread across eight expansive themed sections at NGV International, which, MoMA director Glenn Lowry calls 'mini villages'. "The spaces between them are alleyways and streets, so movement in this exhibition is always experiential," he said at the exhibition launch. "You go from one town to the next town and along the way you'll discover something." While all the works on display are must-sees, below we've selected five works that you absolutely shouldn't miss. SALVADOR DALI: THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY (1931) One of the most admired Salvador Dali paintings is The Persistence of Memory, which is based on the seaside landscape close to Dali's home in Catalonia, Spain. A master of warping time and space with his dream-like style, the painting can be found at the entrance to the Inner and Outer Worlds section of the exhibition. The painting is one of MoMA's most prized possessions, and even Lowry seemed surprised that it had been loaned out to the NGV's ("What? We lent that one?"). Like the Mona Lisa, The Persistence of Memory proves that sometimes artworks big in stature come in small packages — the work is only 24 by 33 centimetres big. So get in early (or make use of your elbows) to get up close and take in all the magnificent details found throughout Dali's work. EL ANATSUI: BLEEDING TAKARI II (2007) Using thousands of bottle caps that have been crushed and reshaped in many ways, Bleeding Takari II is made from materials collected by the Ghanaian artist El Anatsui. Linked together with carefully formed copper wiring, this large-scale work flexes and wrinkles in a different way each time it's installed. The work considers the trade of goods, and peoples, from West Africa to Europe. NGV director Tony Ellwood is particularly excited about this work, which demonstrates the type of diverse global works that the NGV and MoMA hope to continue to champion. "This a beautiful example of El Anatsui's work, and I think, in many ways, it heralds the future of contemporary art collecting for major institutions," says Ellwood. ANDY WARHOL: MARILYN MONROE (1967) One of the quintessential works of pop art and a distillation of American culture, the NGV showcases Andy Warhol's famed Marilyn Monroe series. Throughout his career, Warhol would create more than 800 printed images, although almost none more famous than this one. Produced five years after the famous actress's death in 1962, this collection of ten vibrant prints, while colourful in nature, peel back the complexities of fame suggesting a darker perspective on celebrity culture. JOHN BALDESSARI: WHAT IS PAINTING (1968) Displayed next to Warhol's prints, you'll find a vastly different kind of work in John Baldessari's What is painting. It's a self-referential question of genre — for this work, Baldessari hired a sign-painter to produce the lettering in careful detail. Exploring the definitions of art and painting, this 1968 work draws on a strong sense of irony as although this work fits the definition of paint on canvas, it defies our typical understanding of the format. "This fantastic Baldessari is one of my favourite works of art," says MoMA's Lowry. "The painting is about painting — and it challenges us to think about the very act of art making." ROMAN ONDÁK: MEASURING THE UNIVERSE (2007) Slovakian conceptual artist Roman Ondák is known for his large-scale works that often blur the boundaries between art and everyday life. Taking up an entire room of the NGV, Measuring the Universe is an artwork that relies on public participation to fill out what begins as an entirely blank space. Recalling parents measuring their children's height as they grow taller, participants have their height, names and the birthdate scrawled around the room. Over the three months of MoMA at NGV, these engravings will become layered, eventually forming a whirling galaxy-like mass of names. "It isn't art until you participate," explains Lowry. "In the end this work of art is about inscribing ourselves into the history of this institution." MoMA at NGV: 130 Years of Modern and Contemporary Art is on display at NGV International, St Kilda Road, Melbourne until October 7. You can grab tickets here. Images: NGV/Tom Ross.
Black and white, light and dark — as basic as these contrasting ideas are, they're concepts that have formed the backbone of Chinese art for centuries. Contemporary artists are still struggling with the idea of luminescence versus the void, and the upcoming exhibition at White Rabbit, The Dark Matters, will turn this dichotomy on its head. Expect to see a number of big names in Chinese contemporary art, including Tang Nannan, based in the Fujian Province in China, and Brooklyn-based Lin Yan. The defining characteristic of Yan's work has been described as "the way it uses elements of multiple styles to bring histories, past and present, together," and it's this manipulation of styles and media that defines The Dark Matters. It's an exhibition that endeavours to clarify the yin and yang informing Chinese art throughout time. White Rabbit Gallery is focused on contemporary Chinese art produced after 2002, and The Dark Matters looks to celebrate one of the more prevalent themes in this realm. Image: Huang Wen-Ying, Searching II, with viewer.
We knew it. We knew it. They'd never leave us. They'd never just go. James Murphy is dancing himself clean and reuniting All His Friends, LCD Soundsystem, to headline this year's whizzbanger of a Coachella festival. Oh, and Guns N' Roses. Yeah, they're playing too. Take a big ol' breath and let them squeals out. Every last trilby-wearing tween celebrity, President’s daughter and your smug, smug US-based friends will be rubbing their paws together after Coachella festival lineup, tweeted today. Running over two weekends from April 15 to 24, the Californian festival has delivered their usual jaw-dropper of a lineup. Where do we start? Ready to break hearts and take names, Sufjan Stevens is hitting the big stage with the loud, loud likes of M83, Sia, A$AP Rocky, Ice Cube (!), Calvin Harris, Disclosure, Ellie Goulding, Purity Ring, Run the Jewels, RL Grime, Rae Sremmurd et al. Homegrown folks like Flume (whose name is at least three font sizes bigger than Hudson Mohawke) and Courtney Barnett will be reppin' the motherland. Anyway, let’s be honest, you haven’t truly read any of those words — you’ll be wanting this.
Sydney lost a stalwart of the Kings Cross nightclub scene when Hugos closed its doors back in 2015. But the site of former venue is slowly being brought back to life. First, the team from Double Bay's now-closed Casablanca announced they were opening a Miami-inspired lounge bar in the Bayswater Road space, and now two of Sydney's young-gun restaurateurs have revealed they'll be launching a 'concept' Mexican restaurant in the same dwelling. Fei Jai and Barrio Cellar's owners Nicole Galloway and Peter Lew have revealed grand plans for their new space — which, by coincidence, is just across the road from their former venue, Barrio Chino. Their next project, a restaurant revolving around authentic, Mexican seafood and vegetable dishes, will occupy the long-vacant premises. Reese Griffiths, founder of The Agave Cartel, has come on board to oversee the agave-heavy drinks list, and talent from Mexico City will soon be confirmed as head of kitchen. The menu will be a bit more refined than that of Barrio Cellar's, and will include authentic Latin American delights with a strong regional focus, such as ceviche, aguachile, charcoal whole fish and tostadas. There'll also be a tortilla dish with tlayuda (a traditional black bean puree) charcoal meats from Oaxaca in Mexico's south that pays homage to the building's former pizza-making resident. "Mexican is a very special culture and cuisine so we wanted to create a menu that celebrates the rich traditions and flavours, while treating it with a contemporary hand. Simple food that's seriously flavourful and visual," says Galloway. Chula's interior is styled with the Mexican countryside in mind. With tones that channel countryside and beach, along with vintage cabinets, linen, tiled murals and an agave garden, you'll feel like you're in a Mexican country cantina. The new restaurant's name, Chula, has a double meaning. In Mexican slang, it's both 'pretty' and 'hot', and both the restaurant's stunning interior and picante menu can be described using this one word. "Kings Cross is our home, we raise our children here, we've had four businesses in the area," Galloway says. "King Cross has gone through an enormous amount of change over the last few years, and the idea of it coming back to life with new residential projects, bars, eateries and retail is an incredibly exciting prospect." There's currently no confirmed open date for Chula, but if you're looking to get back into the Hugos space, Flamingo Lounge is set to open at the end of the month. Chula will be located at 33 Bayswater Road, Sydney. An opening date will be released further down the track. We'll keep you updated.
You'll have to stock up on Marina Abramovic wonderment this year at Pier 2/3 and MONA, the Museum of Contemporary Art has cancelled the performance artist's 2016 retrospective exhibition. Reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, Abramovic has attributed the opening of two other exhibitions (a retrospective solo exhibition at MONA called Private Archaeology, running June 13 to October 5, and Kaldor Projects’ Marina Abramovic: In Residence at Pier 2/3 from June 24 to July 5), along with financial reasons, for the closure of the show. "I'm so sorry," she said. "They say that it is complicated. One reason was there were two exhibitions in Australia. It was too much to make a third one. The trustees they didn't want any more." MCA spokeswoman Myriam Conrie confirmed the closure to SMH, saying, "The MCA had initial discussions with the artist and her studio, but with her other commitments in Sydney and Hobart the show was not viable. No public money was spent." Abramovic's MCA retrospective was to combine photography, video, sculpture, installation and live performance, and feature material from the artist's personal archives that has never been publicly exhibited. Abramovic's celebrated performance Nightsea Crossing was supposed to feature, with some serious face-offs in store. Enthusiasts will simply have to get along to Kaldor Public Art Project's Marina Abramovic: In Residence at Pier 2/3 or make their way to Hobart for MONA's Private Archaeology. Private Archaeology opens at MONA on June 13 and runs through October 5. Kaldor Public Art Projects’ Marina Abramovic: In Residence at Pier 2/3 Walsh Bay opens June 24 and runs through July 5. Via Sydney Morning Herald. Image: Lisson Gallery. Words: Shannon Connellan and Tom Clift.
The 2018 Alliance Française French Film Festival might be one year short of a major milestone, but the Gallic cinema showcase is still celebrating its 29th iteration in style. As always, that means a feast of films is on the agenda at the crowd-drawing and -pleasing annual event — 47 features, two documentaries and one televisions series, in fact. Touring the country from February 27, starting in Sydney before heading to Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth, Hobart, Adelaide, Parramatta and Casula, this year's AFFFF will bookend its program with amusement. The festival kicks off with comedy C'est la vie! from The Intouchables duo Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, before coming to a close with rom-com 50 Is the New 30. In-between, everything from acclaimed efforts to star-studded dramas to the latest work from master directors will grace cinema screens around Australia, celebrating the best in French film from the past twelve months. Sitting high amongst the highlights are the AIDS activism-focused BPM and the Juliette Binoche-starring Let the Sunshine In, which will both receive a nation-wide run after screening at last year's Melbourne International Film Festival. In the high-profile camp, they're joined by a Marion Cotillard double, with the acclaimed actress featuring in last year's Cannes opening night pick Ismael's Ghosts and comedy Rock'n Roll; romantic drama The Return of the Hero with Mélanie Laurent and The Artist Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin; Isabelle Huppert in coming-of-age effort Reinventing Marvin; and Gael Garcia Bernal in If You Saw His Heart. Or fans of prominent French filmmakers can get their fix courtesy of François Ozon's Double Lover and Xavier Beauvois' The Guardians, marking the latest flicks from the respective directors of Frantz and Of Gods and Men. The Artist's Michel Hazanavicius tackles an icon, turning the life of Jean-Luc Godard into Redoubtable, while Laurent Cantet jumps from 2008 Palme d'Or-winner The Class to thriller The Workshop. Elsewhere, actor-director Mathieu Amalric helms and features in Barbara, about an actress starring in a biopic about a famed chanteuse AFFFF 2018 will also shine a spotlight on queer cinema for the first time, to celebrate marriage equality, and also include its usual selection of family-friendly fare for younger cinephiles. And, for those keen on catching some TV on the big screen, three episodes of Paris, Etc will whisk you away to the French capital, following the lives and loves of Parisian women. The Alliance Française French Film Festival tours Australia from February 27, screening at Sydney's Chauvel Cinema, Palace Norton Street, Palace Verona, Palace Central and Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace from February 27 to March 27; Melbourne's Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, Kino Cinemas and The Astor Theatre from February 28 to March 27; and Brisbane's Palace Barracks and Palace Centro from March 8 to April 4. For more information, visit the festival website.
Anita Sarkeesian is one of the world’s bravest women. One of the key players taking aim at misogyny in the world of video games, Sarkeesian has been both applauded and attacked worldwide for her outspokenness about the gaming industry — she even explained #Gamergate to Stephen Colbert. Her blog Feminist Frequency and video series' Tropes vs. Women and Tropes vs. Women in Video Games have seen anti-feminist trolls sending serious threats her way — Sarkeesian even had to cancel a speaking appearance at Utah State University after terrorist threats. But haters be damned, the feminist critic at the forefront of gaming debates is finally coming to Sydney, one of All About Women’s most important speakers. Returning to the Sydney Opera House as part of the Ideas at the House program, All About Women returns for its third year in 2015 for one day of panels, readings and talks, celebrating, discussing and analysing women and their stories. Ideas at the House have attracted the likes of Tavi Gevinson, Yoko Ono and Alice Waters to the SOH stage over the years, and this year's AAW is one of their most ambitious programs yet. Most fittingly this year, AAW lands smack bang on International Women's Day, March 8, joining a global high-five to women worldwide. Joining Sarkeesian for this year’s festival is a powerhouse of a lineup over 19 sessions. Sarkeesian will join the ever formidable Germaine Greer — wouldn’t be AAW without her — for a panel called How to Be a Feminist, alongside ever outspoken novelist Tara Moss, feminist pop culture writer Clementine Ford, The Atlantic contributing editor Kate Bolick and kickass author, editor and English professor Roxane Gay. Ever the provocative writer, Gay will lead her own talk, Bad Feminist, focused around her controversial book of the same name which debates, “We don’t all have to believe in the same feminism.” Gay loves Sweet Valley High and blasting rap with degrading lyrics, can she still identify as a feminist? National Geographic Society Explorer-in-Residence and modern day Steve Zissou, 79-year-old Sylvia Earle, will teach us How to Save The Planet, while Eat Pray Love author Elizabeth Gilbert picks up where her straight-up killer TED talk left off (that one with the cheeky nine million views), reflecting on the handicaps of creative ‘genius’. Amazingly, Gilbert’s hairdresser is also a boss writer; Syrian-born, US-raised Rayya Elias talks ‘80s New York City, drug addiction, homelessness and the punk/performance scene. Contributing editor for The Atlantic and author of one of their most successful cover stories, 'All the Single Ladies' (with over one million readers), Kate Bolick will unpack the idea of singleness ahead of her 2015 book release, Spinster, while Washington Post staff writer and New York Times bestselling author Brigid Schulte delves into her book Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has The Time. The ever convivial Annabel Crabb will unpack her book, Breaking the Wife Drought, Judith Lucy discusses her new ABC show All Woman, while author of Hideous Kinky, Esther Freud (yep, of those Freuds), talks about her own childhood — imagine growing up a Freud. Greer brings in her Emeritus Professorship in English Literature to team up with her contemporary John Bell for the talk Shakespeare’s Women, then returning after two sold-out years at AAW, the Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe tell stories of survival, human resilience and joy. Being a woman in 2015 has never been more discussed, with Emma Watson carving up the UN, Beyonce flashing the F word in our faces, Jennifer Lawrence sticking it to the perves and Malala Yousafzai showing us all what true bravery looks like. Let's rep it on the home front shall we? All About Women comes to Sydney Opera House on March 8, 2015. Check out the full program and the AAW festival calendar at sydneyoperahouse.com/aaw. Tickets from $25, on sale 9am Monday 15 December through SOH or 02 9250 7777. Top image: Alex Lazara.
