If you haven't heard about Down Under yet, you will soon. No, we're not talking about the Men at Work song that you now have stuck in your head. Instead, we mean the new Aussie film that shines a spotlight on the state of race relations across the nation by turning the 2005 Cronulla riots into a black comedy. Yes, really. In actor-turned-filmmaker Abe Forsythe's second feature, two groups of Sydneysiders drive around their beloved beachside suburb after the bulk of the battle takes place, each trying to protect their patch of turf. In one car, Jason (Damon Herriman), Ditch (Justin Rosniak), Shit Stick (Alexander England) and Evan (Chris Bunton) search for people to beat up. In another, Hassim (Lincoln Younes) looks for his missing brother with his pals Nick (Rahel Romahn) and D-Mac (Fayssal Bazzi), and his uncle Ibrahim (Michael Denkha). If you're feeling a little awkward about the above the description, that's okay — in fact, pointing out the pointlessness of prejudice in all its forms is a big part of the point of the movie. As funny as it is thought provoking, Down Under premiered at the Sydney Film Festival to considerable acclaim, and now heads to the Melbourne International Film Festival before releasing in Aussie cinemas on August 11. [competition]581868[/competition]
Prepare to add another activity to that growing list of summer must-dos: Merivale and Summer Bright have just announced a slew of A+ Sunday afternoon shows at two prime waterside venues. And the best part? They're all free. Yep, all 16 of 'em. Returning for a second year, the Sunday Sundown sessions will be held over 16 Sundays from November 27 to February 26. They'll once again be going down from midday at the Coogee Pavilion rooftop and The Newport, which are both top-notch places to watch the sunset, in our humble opinion. Kicking off with a performance by Aussie hip hop artist Tuka, the Pavilion will go on to host Remi, Yolanda Be Cool and Sampology, among others. Up the coast at Newport, Client Liaison will kick things off on December 4 and will be followed by Montaigne, Ngaiire Triple J Unearthed acts Middle Kids and Jack River. Jarryd James will help welcome in 2017 playing New Year's Day, and The Bamboos will help celebrate Australia Day. But here's the full lineup. SUNDAY SUNDOWN 2016-17 LINEUP COOGEE ROOFTOP 27 NOVEMBER: TUKA + BAD EZZY 11 DECEMBER: BASENJI + SWINDAIL 1 JANUARY: ACT TBA + RUNNING TOUCH 8 JANUARY: YOLANDA BE COOL + GENERIK 22 JANUARY: NINA LAS VEGAS + DOM DOLLA 26 JANUARY: LUKE MILLION + DRO CAREY 5 FEBRUARY: SAMPOLOGY + NOAH SLEE 19 FEBRUARY: REMI + KUREN THE NEWPORT 4 DECEMBER: CLIENT LIASION + CONFIDENCE MAN 18 DECEMBER: MONTAIGNE + HEIN COOPER 1 JANUARY: JARRYD JAMES + CLEOPOLD 15 JANUARY: MIDDLE KIDS + JACK RIVER 26 JANUARY: THE BAMBOOS + ACT TBA 29 JANUARY: ACT TBA + SABLE 12 FEBRUARY: NGAIIRE + ALL OUR EXES LIVE IN TEXAS 26 FEBRUARY: SKUNKHOUR + SONS OF THE EAST Sunday Sunday will run every Sunday from midday at Coogee Pavilion and The Newport from November 27 – February 26. For more info, visit merivale.com.au/sundaysundown. Image: Bodhi Liggett.
Have you been painstakingly catching Pokemon all over town, but undeniably disappointed you can't bloody well eat the damn things? Get that bib on. Sydney's Hashtag Burgers are cranking out Pokemon-inspired burgers from their Down-N-Out burger CBD pop-up for the next two weeks. And they're pretty well adorable. The crew will be be releasing a limited number every day for the next two weeks from their In-N-Out-inspired pop-up inside the Sir John Young Hotel on the corner of Liverpool Street and George Street. Each burger has been dreamt up by chef Seb (ex-Thirsty Bird and Mr Crackles) and corresponds to the different type of Pokemon it looks like. And because Pokemon are random little critters, you're not allowed to choose which Pokeburg you'll receive — it's completely by chance. Go catch 'em all from today until September 3. Hashtag Burgers' Down N' Out pop-up can be found at the Sir John Young Hotel on the corner of Liverpool Street and George Street, Sydney CBD.
When it comes to rooftop bars, Parramatta hasn't exactly had its fair share of the sky-high pie — but this year, that's all set to change. After announcing their plans to open the bar in June last year, Australian developers Crown Group have today confirmed they are putting the final touches on their new hotel, Skye Hotel Suites at Parramatta's 28-storey V by Crown complex. And that also means that the new bar — which will be Parramatta's highest by far — is getting towards completion point too. Dubbed Nick & Nora's, the bar comes from none other than the Speakeasy Group, the team behind stalwart cocktail bar Eau de Vie and the due-to-open-soon Mjolnir. Though not technically on the building's top storey, located on level 26, the openair terrace bar will apparently afford 270-degree views of Sydney's skyline, the harbour and the Blue Mountains. Apart from that, details on the bar's menu are still scant — but judging from their other venues, expect some serious cocktails. The rest of the hotel will feature 72 luxe hotel suites, some flashy facilities — which include a swish pool that's only open to residents and guests — and a retail precinct that will include an outpost of Neil Perry's popular Burger Project. The rest of the building's design is the work of Allen Jack + Cottier and Koichi Takada Architects and — if it's anything to go by, Nick & Nora's is set to rival even the best of Sydney's current rooftop bars. The hotel is set to open in May, with the bar to open soon after. Nick & Nora's is set to open later this year on level 26 of V by Crown at 45 Macquarie Street, Parramatta. Stay tuned for more details on this one.
You know you're in for a night of good theatre when you're greeted with an opening scene of two people screaming and chasing each other round the set. It's the perfect opening for a play which depicts the gradual deterioration of a relationship as unspoken truths are brought to the surface. Steph (Julia Grace) is angry at Greg (Andrew Hnery) because she's found out through a friend that Greg has said something not too flattering about her face. Her reaction and his insubstantial defence of his actions cause her to leave. Gradually we're introduced to the other friends on the scene — Carly (Lucy Maunder), Steph's friend, and Kent (Stephen James King), Greg's colleague and supposed best bud — and we discover that it's not just Greg and Steph that are feeling lost in their lives and relationships. Written by Neil LaBute, known for his recurring commentary on beauty and its all-too-powerful effect on the world, this is the Australian premiere of Reasons to Be Pretty, and director James Beach has done a bang-up job. The American accents are initially jarring, as they tend to be on stage, but everyone maintains a solid American drawl, especially King, who's brutish gum-chewing and distinctive eye-blinking epitomises the stereotypical American slob. While the first act gets bogged down in the singular issue of who said what and what it meant, the second goes on to flesh out the characters into fully formed beings with whom, by the end of the play, the audience is emotionally attached. Every new revelation serves the purpose of highlighting who the bad guys really are, quite different from whom you assume at the beginning of the play. Henry, who plays Greg and co-produced this show, is a restrained but immoveable force delivering LaBute's biting one-liners with ease, while Grace's Steph, who chews up the scenery while she gradually tears it down in the first act, comes back with a powerful restraint in the second. Maunder's Carly, while she has the least inflammatory of roles, is revealed as a quiet force by the end. Whether you're familiar with LaBute's work or are interested in a simple evening of modern theatre, there are plenty of reasons to check out Reasons to be Pretty.
If one tried to chart Michael Winterbottom's films by genre, a labyrinthine map would emerge. From comedic road movie The Trip to notoriously, violently graphic The Killer Inside Me; postmodern comedy A Cock and Bull Story; meditative, quiet Genova; and absorbing war films A Mighty Heart and Welcome to Sarajevo, Winterbottom is defined by his chameleon-like ability to consistently, effortlessly shift. Loosely adapted from Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Trishna is set in contemporary India rather than late 19th-century England. If you're turned off the movie because you haven't read the book, I have one piece of advice: shelve that notion. I know only the basic plot line of Tess, and yet I was won over from the beginning. Trishna is a rich film in its own right. Starring the inimitably beautiful Freida Pinto as the titular character, the film chronicles her growing relationship with a young, wealthy British transplant in India to look after his father's hotels. Prefacing his responsibilities with a jaunt through the country with his friends from home, he meets Trishna, a poor, hardworking Indian girl living with her family on the desert fringes of Osian, an ancient town in Rajasthan. The romance develops slowly but commences with a sweeping gesture — Jay organises Trishna a job at his father's hotel in the hills around Jaipur. Her defection from the desert to the city is representative of emerging social migratory trends in the country. Indeed, the social and economic backdrop of India was ripe with adaptive potential for Winterbottom. As he has said, "Hardy was describing a similar moment in English life. A moment when, in the nineteenth century, the conservative rural communities were being transformed by the agricultural and industrial revolutions, when fewer and fewer people were being employed on the land, so people moved to the local towns or cities." The young couple's emerging relationship is fraught with external pressures and untimely occurrences. Soon, their idyllic romance, set against the backdrop of Mumbai after Jay defects from his designated role in Jaipur for business opportunities, begins to falter. Drawn back into the familial duties he so hates after his father has a stroke, the two move to another hotel where they resume their previous roles of owner and maid, but this time with devastating consequences. Shot beautifully and devoid of Bollywood kitsch, this is one to watch. https://youtube.com/watch?v=gdFiV9yDHG4
Join Cake Wines and their 'uncomplicated' approach to wine as they launch their second pop-up bar in the disused Cleveland St Theatre. Cake will host a number of events beginning at 6pm on Thursday night with the brand's Archi Bottle Prize awards. A live FBi Radio broadcast will be held on Friday night, and the bar will also be open from midday to midnight on Saturday as a part of the Surry Hills Festival in Prince Albert Park. As you sit and enjoy the Archi-Bottle Prize you can sip on your choice of Shiraz, Rosé, Chardonnay, Lucky Duck cider or Little Creatures Beer and chow down on gourmet food from Jafe Jaffles. For every bottle of Cake Wine purchased, 25 cents of the sale goes back to FBi and 4ZZZ Radio stations. And thanks to Cake, two Concrete Playgrounders will win a bottle of Pinot, redeemable at the bar. To go in the running just subscribe to Concrete Playground (if you haven't already) then email hello@concreteplayground.com.au
First came the Art Gallery of New South Wales' Art After Hours series. Then the City of Sydney's Late Night Library evenings, and the cavalcade of gourmet all-hours food trucks. Now it seems Sydney has a new witching hour institution. The MCA's response to the city's craving for grown-up late nights is ARTBAR, a slate of talks, installations, screenings and one-off performances programmed by guest curators on the last Friday of the month. The all-you-can-eat combo of drinks, DJs, live art and harbour views has proved a winning one: the nights continue to sell out. All these civilised small bars and intelligently curated nights are worlds away from the smokey, brawling pubs and tepid 7-Eleven meat pies of the old city's nightlife. Perhaps Sydney really is growing up. ARTBAR's guest this month is muscular and meditative video artist Shaun Gladwell. Gladwell, soon to feature at the Art Gallery of NSW, has been poached for a night to occupy one night at the MCA. Expect film, music and words as this official war artist and landscape-lover takes over your Friday evening.
It's time to get your Higgs boson on and fire up your Curiosity at the Ultimo Science Festival. Presented in association with the Powerhouse Museum, the University of Technology Sydney, ABC and Ultimo Tafe, the festival is taking place along Harris Street over 11 days and is just brimming with scientific delights. And scientific delights, it turns out, are delicious. Do you fancy yourself a bit of a Heston Blumenthal and dream of using molecular gastronomy to create the perfect chocolate souffle? Now you can! Are you an artist or scientist looking to see what happens when you meld your disciplines? You have a soiree for the occasion. Have you always wondered what it would be like to float in space or wanted to have your photo taken with a famous scientist? These activities are on offer, alongside more serious and educational ones. The huge program of exhibitions, shows, lectures, and hands-on activities has something for everyone, from the budding quantum physicist and aspiring astronaut to the merely curious, and many are free. Be you neophyte or professional, big kid or little kid, a world of science is waiting to be explored.
Sometimes I crave the film equivalent of a McHappy Meal: something mindless, comforting, and wrongly tasty. Other times I want a kick in the tear ducts, a savage one. Rarely do I encounter a film that strikes just the right balance between these two poles, that is at once intelligent and entertaining. Bernie is this kind of rare cinematic treat. The film is inspired by a piece in the 1998 Texas Monthly by crime reporter Skip Hollandsworth, which starts, "Marjorie Nugent was the richest widow in an eccentric town full of rich widows. Bernie Tiede was an assistant funeral home director who became her companion. When she disappeared, nobody seemed alarmed. When he confessed to killing her, nobody seemed outraged." Bernie (Jack Black) is queasily sweet, universally adored by his community, and the only person who can bear the manipulative Marjorie (Shirley MacLaine), who comes to control every minute of his life. Although the reward for his endurance is monetary (he becomes the sole inheritor of her oil and banking fortune), nobody doubts his intentions. There's something improbable, but also childlike, about his generosity and his inability to say no to people. Black curbs his most irritating tendencies to give an endearing, convincing, and ultimately confounding performance. The actor is undeniably a strange little man, and he channels his eccentricities perfectly into what the townspeople of Carthage, Texas, describe as Bernie's "tutti frutti" mannerisms (they suspect he might be a "little light in the loafers"). The morality and motivations of Bernie's actions and his relationship with Marjorie is spectacularly grey, and the film reminds us of how few characters in cinema walk the entire spectrum of moral inconsistency. I was surprised at how fondly I came to feel for this curious character. MacLaine is typically solid as scowling, witchy Marjorie — it's the kind of role she's spent decades perfecting. Matthew McConaughey, who cannot be better described than as "a dude who spent most of his career Owenwilsoning his shirtless way through life", has recently embarked on a mission to prove he is A Serious Actor with roles in The Lincoln Lawyer, Killer Joe, and Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike. Here he's the cluey district attorney, hell-bent on prosecuting Bernie. It's not quite enough to shed the horrific rom-com traumas of Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, but he shows a deft comic timing we haven't seen before. Director Richard Linklater has dabbled in documentary with Fast Food Nation, and perhaps that's why Bernie posseses the authenticity of a doco. It's difficult to track the overarching themes of Linklater's disparate films, but Bernie goes beyond the small world of Carthage to comment on the extremes of human behaviour. His masterstroke is to cast the gossipy Carthage townspeople as the film's narrators. No Hollywood creations could ever be as entertaining, disturbing, or delightful as these chicken-fried-bacon Southerners who are eternally, sweetly, and stubbornly devoted to Bernie. Bernie is an affectionate ode to the oddity of small-town America. This is a place where obscene oil wealth, diners where "you kill it, we cook it", rabid evangelism, and shooting armadillos in the backyard are all markers of a strange, salty standard of normality. Bernie never condescends to its subjects or its audience. It's absurd, but never ludicrous. And although Bernie's crime is revealed early on, we're kept in a state of enthralled disbelief until the bitter end, and that surely is the sign of a master filmmaker. https://youtube.com/watch?v=v7fPgD3EO-E
The Festivalists have seen a cracker few years with their boutique festivals increasing in number, from the long-running Young at Heart and Access All Areas to the recent Jurassic Lounge and Sydney Film Festival Hub events. Now in its seventh edition, Possible Worlds is one of the foundational projects for the Festivalists, and you can feel the passion in artistic director Matt Ravier's selection for this festival's seven days. Take for example the bookend choice for opening and closing nights. Starbuck, directed by Ken Scott, is a comedy that follows an inept kidult who after years of irresponsibility is facing a lawsuit that'll unmask his identity as the father of 533 IVF children. At the opposite end of the calendar and the spectrum is War Witch, directed by Kim Nguyen and winner of Best Film and Best Actress at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. This heavy drama is the confession of a 14-year-old girl to her unborn baby, detailing her actions as a member of a child militia in an unnamed sub-Saharan country. Two very different films, and yet both are borne from two individuals coming to grips with the question of legacy and responsibility to a future generation. It is not only amongst the films that such strands are drawn. Inspired perhaps by their live performance events, the Festivalists are also pairing select films up with live experiences for punters. A night out to see Indie Game: The Movie will leave you wanting to play and design games for the rest of your life — what better way to start, then, than with the chance to play games at the venue right after the film? Similarly, prepare to dress in disco fetish for the spoof comedy Roller Town, and limber up to dance it off in the glamorous musical Leave It on the Floor. Created with intelligence and love, and balancing an internationally aware program with a lot of fun ideas, this seventh Possible Worlds is set to be a very special week. Definitely try to see more than one film. Concrete Playground has three double passes to the Possible Worlds Closing Night Gala. To win, just subscribe to Concrete Playground (if you haven't already) then email hello@concreteplayground.com.au https://youtube.com/watch?v=BKXEh_kfPCY Films are screening at Dendy Opera Quays, Dendy Newtown and St Stephen's Church Hall, Newtown. Please see specific film listings for their venue. Image from Leave It on the Floor.
Event curators The Festivalists have a plan, it seems, to take over Sydney's nightlife. They've just pulled off an excellent bar and daily program of free events at this year's Sydney Film Festival. Their Jurassic Lounge was one of the breakout hits of the 2011 after-hours scene, and it's returning for two more seasons this year. Here's the formula: every Tuesday night, the Australian Museum is swamped with a thousand punters partaking in drinks, live music, games, and performance. The intelligently curated programs combine off-kilter stuff like slam poetry, alternative stand-up comedy, DJs from FBi Radio, palm reading, and storytelling from emerging writers. The new season line-up promises previews from the Sydney Underground Film Festival, a special queer culture night, a nerdy cosplay evening, and a sneak peek at the Sydney Fringe Festival. Jurassic Lounge is also jumping on the "diners, drive-ins and dives" bandwagon by offering a new Americana menu of hotdogs and sliders. With the expanded format, the door charge no longer includes a free drink, although it does still cover entry to the museum's Deep Oceans exhibition. When it works, Jurassic Lounge is a trip to the other side. And at its worst, it's a very trendy singles night for over-educated under-30s frolicking amidst a Gondwanaland of dinosaur skeletons, fossils, and native maritime animals. Either way, it's pretty fun.
This year's Spring Dance festival, curated by Rafael Bonachela (or "Raf" as he is affectionately introduced on the festival's home page), features several performances that can best be described as athletic. A very apt inclusion, given that this is an Olympic year, and one that is a necessary reminder of the immense physical aptitude that can be channeled into the arts as much as it is applauded in sport. Topping the podium at Spring Dance 2012 is Correria Agwa, two pieces presented by an 11-strong Brazilian ensemble under the direction of French choreographer Mourad Merzouki. You'll recognise this show from its posters depicting sweat-shining muscles under the heading of "Hip Hop 'It' Boys", which promises a vibrant mix of hip-hop, acrobatics and capoeira heat. The two sides to Correria Agwa — "running" and "water" respectively — reflect two very different athletic dynamics: the first a fierce, aerobic test of endurance, and the second, an agile precision of explosive acrobatic force. Perhaps too long a bow to draw, but it is in the combination of these two styles that we arrive at "running water", as together they are the dripping sweat that celebrates rigorous physical exertion. It is definitely recommended that you have a good shower after this show. https://youtube.com/watch?v=dvPOvJ1Jd3Q
Rainbow Chan, the quirky synth kid whose songs are as enticing as they are new, is releasing a new record. Her songs — sorry, beats — are a glorious mix of electronic and acoustic textures, married to create her glitchy sounds. Together with Outerwaves, these two are bringing us their latest stuff — a split 7" vinyl — out now through Silo Arts. And golly, we're a bit excited. Only 75 of these crystal-clear, hand-cut vinyls have been made, and you can grab yours through the Silo Arts website. Joining them on the line-up at FBi Social is Sydney's Albatross and Astral People DJs. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Z9R6pP6PUTE
Sydney's been running a little short on Australian art lately. The Art Gallery of NSW's Australian collection went missing not long ago, as the art institution took advantage of these galleries' remodelling to stage its big Picasso show. Remodelling over, they're back, taking advantage of the grand reopening to stage an Open Weekend showing off its returning collection. As well as offering ongoing shows like the Archibald and the newly opened Australian Symbolism exhibition, the weekend will fill itself with art and the ideas around it. Thomas Keneally will narrow his focus to colonial Sydney, architect and acting director talk up the new space and its design, Wendy Whiteley talks about the life and work of Brett, and Delia Falconer, author of Sydney, talks about the same. Get practical skills at the free, Margaret Preston-y Saturday print-making workshop, or weaving from Vickie West. Screening downstairs, Outsiders in Australian Film collects three short features on Saturday. On Sunday, Colin Friels face off against Miles Davis in the jazz showdown that is Rolf de Heer's little-known film Dingo. Richard Gill talks music and story and Holly Throsby sings in the lobby, adding to your musical options. Does a whole weekend of such Australian artiness all leave you with a powerful opinion? The gallery plans to collect those as well. Photo credit Mark Tedeschi.
Angela's Kitchen returns to Griffin's SBW Stables Theatre after a well-received run in 2010 and will start a national tour after it's done charming Sydneysiders in June. Julian Meyrick transposed and shaped Paul Capsis's improvisations to create a guileless tribute to Surry Hills' hardest working bingo fanatic, Capsis's grandmother, Angela. Meyrick and Capsis have further refined the piece in 2012 along with associate writer Hilary Bell. A performed family history could easily stray into sentimental terrain, but in Capsis's hands it is potent and hilarious. He has the rare ability to perform without artifice. Much like a clown, he marks each exchange with the audience as if in respectful conversation with us. Similarly, his treatment of space and objects is careful and almost reverential. A section called 'Some Old Wrecked, Precious Things' includes Angela’s crocheted rug, the jumper she knitted him and a book he stole from the Surry Hills library called Paul Is a Maltese Boy. He was always "nuts about Malta" and had the feeling growing up that his family wasn't from here but from somewhere over there, very far away. His obsession translates into a fascinating and tragic history lesson on the stage. Malta was the most bombed place during World War Two, with 35,000 buildings destroyed on the tiny island. Angela's arrival in Australia in 1948 started what Capsis calls 'The Mythical Family' of second-, third- and fourth-generation Australians. The play ends with Capsis seated as Angela in a red dress, wearing lipstick and her good shoes. His ability to morph across gender lines is remarkable (and is explored well in Paola Morabito's documentary short). He is a diminutive man with a monumental amount of dignity. Angela's Kitchen honours the woman who helped him get that way.
After a year out of commission, and a successful pozible campaign for a replacement press, the Rizzeria collective is set to bring their new printing press to the Oxford Street Design Store's back room. The relaunched Rizzeria will soon be the focus of workshops and print sessions, but first they're hosting an art auction to cover the first year's maintainance. The folks at the Rizzeria are still curating the contributions (it's not too late) to complete the auction's collection funding the upcoming workshop fun. In the meantime, an evening of art awaits.
Sydney electro-pop outfit Van She have returned with their explosive sophomore, Idea Of Happiness. It's been four years since we last heard from the quartet, who dropped their highly acclaimed debut record, V, way back in 2008 — it peaked at #10 on the ARIA Album Charts. Kicking on with their signature style of electronic-infused disco-pop, their songs — which are filled with lush arrangements of trickling, arpeggiated synths and wandering vocals — ooze with a euphoric and joyous energy, as experienced in lead singles Jamaica and Idea Of Happiness. Van She will be launching their new material at the Metro Theatre this Saturday, with fellow Sydney outfits RÜFÜS, Panama and Beni all supporting, in what will surely turn into a giant discotheque featuring some of this city's finest electro-pop musos. https://youtube.com/watch?v=5OaanwN1vFQ
PVT are one of Sydney's favourite local music acts, and with good reason; their experimental style borders on the ecstatic, catching the eye of Brian Eno when he was programming the Luminous festival, Vivid's precursor, back in 2009. Since then the band has gone on to be named best local release of the decade by FBi Radio. Renowned for their live performances, the trio have approached recording as an ‘opportunity to create new space on stage’ - a mentality that will be fully harnessed for Vivid LIVE. PVT will be joined by additional orchestration to re-imagine songs from their innovative catalogue and to preview a selection of previously unheard material. With visual designers creating a light show unique to this performance, the evening will be an entirely original aural and visual experience.
The adaptation of a book to film is a tricky thing. There's a lot of fans that have the story replaying in their head, almost word for word, and so expect events on the screen to unfold just as they remember. Most adaptations get a bad rap, and are met only with online vitriol poured out on blogs everywhere. Good luck David Nicholls, writer of One Day: I think this might be met with a mixed response. One Day is an adaptation from an extremely popular book — so keep an eye on those fan blogs. Written in letters between the two protagonists, it's a difficult adaptation to make for film. So much nuance can come across in the context of a written letter that is much harder to subtly drop in on screen. Having said that, the film is not lacking in subtlety. There's a genuine attraction between Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess). Their growing love is played out quite quickly, across twenty years, each segment shown on the same date they'd met: their last day of university. Their characters develop realistically and slowly, as they mature and learn where their true affections lie. While it is an emotional ride, there were more than a few tears welling at the end of the film. Twenty years of growing romance is difficult to get across in 107 minutes. In the capable hands of Hathaway (despite her accent) and Sturgess, who both portray very real people in a confusing relationship, and director Lone Scherfig (also known for the brilliant An Education), a very touching, romantic story is told quite well. Its problem exist only in the limits from the length of the film, with some years of the character's lives flashing up for only a few seconds. Romantics and sentimentalists will undoubtedly like this film, and being among those ranks myself, I also did. Just be prepared for a staccato love affair.
After the success of last year's inaugural festival, the Korean Film Festival in Australia, is back again this year and promises to be even bigger. The programme includes 13 feature films and 7 shorts, chosen to showcase the best of contemporary Korean cinema and, for those keen to scratch a little deeper beneath the surface, there are industry forums, Q&As with directors, cultural performances and food tastings on offer too. With two movies picking up awards at Cannes last year, along with numerous appearances on the international festival circuit, Korean cinema has been garnering a fair bit of attention recently. A strong home grown film industry, fostered through many years of state intervention and protected by a quota system, has allowed it to compete with Hollywood. As the country has moved towards democracy over the last few years, so its creativity has evolved, allowing a national cinema which is quirky, idiosyncratic and challenging to flourish. The movies chosen for the festival programme cover themes of violence and corruption, relationships, sexuality and the nation's troubled past. https://youtube.com/watch?v=vfpy0rC67mI
Joann Sfar's debut film is less a biography of French provocateur musician Serge Gainsbourg than an irreverent, audacious tribute from one artist to his icon. Comic book artist Sfar bends the biopic genre to his will and that of Gainsbourg's seductive celebrity with a film that outwardly adheres to a linear, cradle-to-grave structure, but is in fact steeped in magical realism and entirely unconcerned about imparting truths of any kind. With no dates and barely any names given, Sfar throws us into the world of a wily Jewish boy, who manages to thumb his nose at the threatening reality of the Second World War with charm and sly obsequiousness. Sfar also brings his comic book sensibilities to life, bequeathing the future Gainsbourg with an alter ego in the form of a Jewish caricature that literally steps out of an anti-Semitic poster and into his life. Ironically, this 'ugly mug' (looking like a surrealist Guillermo del Toro character and indeed played by del Toro regular Doug Jones) has all the confidence and cocksure drive that Gainsbourg lacks, and isn't afraid to go to dastardly lengths to shape their intertwined existence. It is the 'ugly mug' that urges Gainsbourg to step away from his love of art and embrace the skills he so reluctantly learned from his lounge-musician father. Musical fame, fortune and fabulous love affairs follow, and all too soon he's being seduced by songstress Juliette Greco (Anna Mouglalis), bombshell Brigitte Bardot (Laetitia Casta) is frolicking naked about his flat, before he settles down to marry and sing that raunchy duet with Jane Birkin (Lucy Gordon). Eric Elmosnino's uncanny resemblance and transporting performance goes a long way to traversing many of the yawning gaps in detail (and those pesky truths) Sfar has purposefully omitted from his screenplay. But that doesn't quite prevent this willfully opaque portrait from becoming frustrating in parts. While no-one can fault the sumptuous design (Sfar's artistic eye translates superbly) Gainsbourg's staggering self-indulgence — painted with the barest scrape of context — ends up feeling stifling. It's an odd storytelling decision to be sure, but one that Sfar sticks to absolutely. Instead Gainsbourg is an impressionistic rendering, a decadent celebration and a downright sexy account of a supremely talented musician, and his ugly mug. https://youtube.com/watch?v=lQH4R2RwM1U
When most people are faced with some sort of hardship — and in Australia we're not short of a few what with bushfires, floods and drought — they band together for camaraderie and entertainment. After the 2009 Victorian bushfires, roughly 7500 people were displaced, living in temporary mass accommodation. We can't imagine how they managed to pass the time waiting to hear news, trying desperately to entertain young children. Or maybe we can? According to Bell Shakespeare, they started reciting Twelfth Night to each other. It's a very creative concept really. A group of strangers, using whatever they have around them (in this case a huge pile of donated clothing), recreating one of Shakespeare's most screwball-like comedies to pass the time and cheer them up while they wait for news. Though perhaps completely unrealistic, the connection between the real world and that of Illyria is seamless as each character gradually starts becoming their role rather than simply reading verbatim from the text. The costume changes are transparently performed in front of the audience but this only serves to add to the comedy, particularly when it comes to Brent Hill who hilariously plays three separate characters of different genders. Twelfth Night uses one of Elizabethan comedies most famous of comic devices to endless hilarity: cross-dressing. And in true Elizabethan style, two of the three main female parts in this production are played with great aplomb by men. All of the actors in this show deserve a standing ovation, particularly as each one has to perform numerous roles. Scene changes and character transitions are flawless or when they are flawed just become another funny episode as one character's plans go awry when he realises he will have to fight himself. Bell Shakespeare productions have a tendency of trying to place the text in some sort of modern setting and often this unfortunately adds very little to the production. In this case, the aftermath of some bushfire disaster is simply a device to have a mountain of clothes and other flotsam and jetsam covering the stage. In that sense then, it works. Though it is slightly jarring when we're suddenly transported back from Shakespeare to the contemporary world, it also offers a nice contrast of emotion between hilarity and drama. For a truly Australian take on a Shakespearean classic, without resorting to okka stereotypes, director Lee Lewis has produced a dynamic, inventive and completely enjoyable play.
A visual adventure awaits! Nightshifters is a video art installation of magical proportions. Under the cover of dark night eight contemporary video and new media artists will breathe new life into the postmodern industrial performance space that is CarriageWorks. CarriageWorks has commissioned Cordelia Beresford, Alexis Destoop, Sam James, Kate Murphy, Angelica Mesiti, Eugenia Raskopoulos, Dominic Redfern and John Tonkin to use their video art installations to create a hyper-real blend of architecture, space, light and sound in exploration of nocturnal visual alchemy. As part of Performace Space's Live Live series, Nightshifters explores the notion of 'liveness' through the conceptualisation of video art as a live performance. Far from our usual understanding of video imagery projected onto indifferent surfaces, these installations integrate with and transform the space around them, enlivening and infusing the beautiful architecture and its surrounds with a little visual magic. Also part of the Live Live series is Hold in which installation artist David Cross invites you to experience a gigantic inflatable fun house of co-dependence, fear and interpersonal faith in this trust-testing installation piece. Cross' work invites game punters to venture down an inflatable platform in a dark, tight space guided only by a stranger in a bid to explore our limits and fears in a truly visceral experience. Leave your trust issues at the door.
This is no laughing matter. This is work. Just because Tom Ballard of Triple J Breakfast fame and glory happens to work as someone who is paid to make people laugh, doesn't mean you should laugh at him about it. Nor should you laugh at his acquaintances (most of us would agree that the people we work with are acquaintances rather than friends, right?). They will be working with him to entertain you too. Be careful not to laugh at them either for they are Matt Okine, Michael Hing, Dave Jory, Daniel Townes, Eric Hutton and Rhys Nicholson. They take all this laughing business very seriously — so much so that they even win awards for it! Elana Stone is perhaps Tom's only acquaintance on the evening's bill that doesn't take laughing so seriously. Instead she is what he describes as 'actual talent', which is nice. She's a singer, song-writer and all-round happy lady who (it wouldn’t surprise me) might just be laughing at all the others, alongside you.
Need new drama? The New Theatre has concentrated it for you at its third annual Brand Spanking New season. A collection of authors, actors and directors have been pulled together by Stories from the 428 curator, Augusta Supple, to tell their disparate stories over a common set. This project offers seventeen different writers, each of whom is putting on a new piece especially for this production. The resulting plays, monologues and stranger devices have been arrayed for your joint delectation over twelve nights, starting Wednesday. Reuniting some authors from the 428, Brand Spanking New's writing line-up also includes four alumni of Radio National's audio-dramatic Airplay series. Alli Sebastian Wolf's work also features — whose fast-talking, fast-drinking and fish-loving Hideous Demise of Detective Slate played at the Boiler Room earlier this year in Sydney's Fringe. It shared space there with fellow Brand Spanking New scribe Alison Rooke's Combat Fatigue. With so many avenues of talent converging on the New Theatre's stage, great things should be expected from this short season. Brand Spanking New is running from October 27 until November 6, Wednesdays to Saturdays.
It's National Ride to Work Day! People, this is a joyous battle cry — a call to arms to the 10-year-old BMX-bandit inside. Remember speeding around your neighbourhood on your two-wheeler with your crew, wind in your hair, no hands? Now fast forward ten years or so as an older, less carefree you sits in stalled traffic, running late for work again, stewing in your own angry juices as you try and explode the car in front of you with your mind powers. Well the time has come to leave your car and your bad attitude at home — to get up out of that bus-seat and to not board that train. On Wednesday 13 October from 7 - 9am, National Ride to Work Day offers you the chance to recapture the exhilaration and freedom of your youth by cycling across town, whilst simultaneously lending a hand to the environment by helping to reduce pollution. And this time your bike crew is MASSIVE! More than 150,000 of your fellow Australian workers are expected to join in this annual City of Sydney event. Refreshments, maps and even massages will be provided by the City at two sites: Hyde Park South and Union Street Pyrmont. If your bike skills are a little rusty sign up for a free City of Sydney Cycling Confidence course to brush up on your skills. City of Sydney Cycling Ambassadors, Ian Roberts and Nell Schofield, will also be giving tips to new riders on the day.
If you like documentaries, then you'll want to meet Margaret Mead ... in a manner of speaking. Mead is the late, great cultural anthropologist, who clocked some 52 years working at the American Museum for Natural History and championed the popular appeal of her profession. This commemorative festival began way back in 1976, making it America's longest running celebration of international documentaries. Now coming to Australia for the first time, a select seven documentaries will carve out their very different windows on the world, from the comfort of the Australian Museum. Kicking off the seven weeks of Tuesday night screenings is a Q&A presentation of Darlene Johnson's River of No Return, which ventures alongside 45-year-old mother Frances Daingangan as she is cast in Rolf de Heer's acclaimed Ten Canoes and into a reality vastly different from her own. In Cooking History, Peter Kerekes tests the old adage, "an army marches on its stomach," while Sergiy Bukovsky's The Living remembers Stalin's devastating starvation of Ukraine's rural population. The complexities of Hindi culture are personified by an aged medicine man in Babaji, an Indian Love Story, and the experiences of four blind couples are brought to remarkable, sensory depth in Juraj Lehotsky's Blind Loves. The Last Days of Shishmaref starkly show how global warming threatens to end 4000 years of occupation and make the world's first climate-change refugees of the Inupiaq Eskimos, whereas Hotel Sahara finds the meeting of the Saharan desert and the Atlantic Ocean a deeply symbolic setting for the precarious lives of refugees. https://youtube.com/watch?v=iO42wQ0Qr5U
Apart from the occasional jaunt on the Manly ferry, most people haven't really had the opportunity to experience Sydney Harbour from atop the waves, let alone explore the intriguing islands that dot these glistening waters. As part of the Crave Sydney International Food Festival, you can Island Hop your way around Sydney Harbour and experience the cultural, historical and gustatory delights on offer for the whole month of October. Explore Shark, Clark and Goat Island as part of the Island Hopping day-trip on Saturdays and Sundays from October 9 -24. Goat Island offers an historically rich snapshot of Sydney in the 1800's; Shark Island is a great place to lay out a picnic or explore the nature trail; while Clark Island showcases Aboriginal culture. If the culinary arts are more your thing, Fort Denison Restaurant offers a unique dining experience with incredible views over the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Dining in the middle of Sydney Harbour — who’d have thunk it? Picture yourself cruising out into the middle of the harbour and, in a setting you'd find hard to rival anywhere in the world, sampling the specially created menu inspired by Australia's culinary history and using local produce and wines. You also get a glass of sparkling and a guided tour of the island to cap it off. So go spend a day on our resplendent harbour, indulging your tastebuds and experiencing a side of Sydney that you didn't know you didn’t know about.
in·cu·ba·tor? ?[in-kyuh-bey-ter, ing-] –noun 1. an apparatus in which eggs are hatched artificially. 2. an enclosed apparatus in which prematurely born infants are kept in controlled conditions, as of temperature, for protection and care. 3. an apparatus in which media inoculated with microorganisms are cultivated at a constant temperature. Oxford Art, you technologically cultivatory hut, you. As the first trade event of its kind for the creative industries, the inaugural Incubator seeks to provide a playground for innovative artists and industry professionals to demonstrate that 'right place, right time' is as easily constructed as envisioned. With the shadowy undergarments of Sydney's industry hotspot divided into a marketplace of film, music, media, fashion and creative services for what organisers call a 'who's doing what in the creative industries' kind of showcase, the evening seeks to throw directors, producers, distributors, buyers, sales agents, licensees, cinematographers, editors, graphic and web designers, art directors, animators, illustrators, writers, photographers, stylists, singers, musicians, dancers, actors and other creative folk in a Tupperware colander to spin a little sum'sumthin' and encourage a mixing, networking, creative Waldorf. Run by not-for-profit charity PIIP, this professional evening is a promising sign that Sydneysiders take their creatives damn seriously, as talk of 'syncing deals', 'distribution networks' and 'licensing negotiations', at least promises to raise the amount of pro-fesh lingo bandied about. With special music performances from KillaQueenz, Nathan Kaye, Cameras, Act Yo Age, Stephanie Brownlee, Mojada, We Are Fans, The Sculptures, Paper Moon (solo acoustic), Mickl Sayers, Skii Harvey, Kempsey, Charmaine Bingwa and showreel screenings to boot, all proceeds of this nurturing little hub of incubation will profit muso2muso and The Filmmakers Fund only to add extra ribbons and twigs to this savvy and snugly-clad nest. Hatch, pretties, hatch! https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ix95SLgBUQA
We tend to typify musicians as a sensitive lot: delicate, emotional and at risk of becoming whiskey-guzzling wash-outs should their dreams fade away. However, there's certainly no post-competition style depression at work amongst the members of Synergy Percussion. Rather than sitting back on their laurels and lazily pointing out commendations like this one — from Peter Sculthorpe, no less — they've decided it's time to start a second band and put their money where their mouth is. Enter Moth: a group of award-winning musicians that aim to pose a challenge to the typical 'classical' genre expectations. Incorporating elements of pop, jazz and dance music, not to mention a mysteriously-named 'squidstrument', they are bravely pushing onwards and upwards. Without giving the game away, I'd be expecting to hear some luscious soandscapes, soaring melodies and perhaps even a driving bass line or two. https://youtube.com/watch?v=cLKPWzdPU3A
Claustrophobia takes on a whole new, terrifying dimension when told from the point of view of soldiers in a tank. Writer-director Samuel Maoz' starkly personal portrait of the 1982 First Lebanon War is a searing, nerve-snapping experience, as Maoz locks his audience inside the dank, green-hued tank, where the only view to the outside world is through the gunner's scope. It's a striking conceit, made more visceral by its reflection through the eyes of first time gunner Shmuel (Yoav Donat). Joining tank commander Assi (Itay Tiran), Yigal (Michael Moshonov) the driver and the outspoken loader Herzl (Oshri Cohen), Shmuel is quite literally driven into the line of fire and forced to make a series of harrowing decisions. Maoz' screenplay is sparse, and in limiting the camera to the confines of the tank or juddering eye of the periscope, Lebanon at times almost feels like a nightmarish computer game. But fantasy this most certainly is not, as Maoz has emphatically described the process of making this film as the catharsis that brought him back to life. Impressive then, that Lebanon stays so consistently taut and willfully confounding, as the human cost of war reverberates around the tank's armoured walls. Slightly overplayed, however, are the 'fourth wall' breaks, as Maoz has a series of characters look to camera, all compellingly framed within Shmuel's crosshairs. If rattling around Kathryn Bigelow's hurt locker wasn't quite lean and mean enough, then Lebanon is sure to impress. Forgiven for some sentimental strokes, Maoz has produced an unforgettable piece of cinema; a haunting experience that doubles as the document that — 24 years on — finally laid the filmmaker's ghosts to rest. https://youtube.com/watch?v=7BUu8_BzU3w
The Somedays gallery/store is making a habit of hand picking the best artistic talent from our southern neighbour state and spoiling/embarrassing us with their brilliance. They have the pleasure of hosting design collaboration Tin&Ed's first solo Sydney exhibition and I will bet my left arm it won't be their last. The exhibition is titled United Eye. It features pieces of 'HOLY-GRAMS' — a recent Tin&Ed installation that drew crowds to the Melbourne festival. There are also risographic prints which continue the HOLY-GRAMS theme of cultural and societal icons and symbols. I'm not going to pretend I didn't have to google 'risograph'. Don't worry — I'll save you the trouble — it's a simplified, rustic photocopier that applies ink to a hot roller which is set on the paper that passes through. Im told it delivers a more authentic result than most traditional mass-produced prints. Hours were spent labouring over the handmade cut-outs that will feature in United Eye. Each cut-out represents one or more recognisable icons that have featured in society's exploration of spirituality, culture and existence. There is a flawless, simplistic flow to them which represents so many ideas but maintains the uniformity of a neatly constructed font set. Looking at the risographs and cut-out silhouettes, I can't help but think of Keith Haring. In my opinion United Eye is an example of what Haring might have achieved if he didn't restrict his subject matter to social causes. Tin&Ed should need no introduction with a condensed CV that is intimidating to say the least (AMEX, Nike, MTV, Vice, MYER to name a few clients). It's little wonder you need to RSVP to opening night.
How do the French do it? How do they manage to craft such gratifying, character driven dramatic comedies with such guileless grace, and yes, it must be said, joie de vivre? Last year Summer Hours stole our hearts, and now taking a trip to Copacabana promises to have the same effect. This case is perhaps less of a mystery, as the luminous Isabelle Huppert takes centre stage with an ebullient performance as the adventurous, harebrained single mother Babou. Acting alongside her real-life daughter, Lolita Chammah, as the solidly sensible Esmeralda, Huppert's Babou captivates and infuriates in turn. A relic of the 60s with her beehive dos and loud clothing, Babou is a force of nature. Never one to hold down a job, her flighty antics have worn threadbare for Esmeralda, who wants nothing more than to settle into the institution of marriage with her boyfriend. The eternal free-spirit Babou is of course aghast, and insult is added to injury when Esmeralda intimates that her mother should not attend the wedding, lest she be saddled with half of the bill. Indignant, Babou drives to Belgium and takes up a job spruiking for time-share real estate agents where she finds surprising success. Writer/director Marc Fitoussi rounds out his film with a well-drawn supporting cast. Each provide a window into the many facets of Babou's personality, and now sensitive to her daughter's scorn, she gains insight into the more unsightly truths about herself. In this way Copacabana feels like a coming-of-age drama, one in which Huppert — best known for her unflinching dramatic chops in films like The Piano Teacher and Claire Denis' recent White Material — brings all her masterful skills to bear in the subtly of Babou's transformation. Fun, affirming and supremely joyful, Copacabana is a superb reminder that life is about the journey, not the destination. The Hayden Orpheum is offering an opening night (25/11) ticket special: $10 for "Mothers & Daughters". Click HERE for more details. https://youtube.com/watch?v=h7O1A2p-5pU
With Sydney Laneway Festival tickets well and truly sold out, it looks like it's all about the sideshows for those of us who didn't get in early enough. Thankfully, Yeasayer are one of the first to say yea to this alternative, having announced a club show at the Metro. Yeasayer embody the contemporary Brooklyn band reputation: swinging between ambience and hooks, experimental and pop. They cater to the current craving for tribal rhythms, dark disco and sickly sweet harmonies, whilst providing listeners with a little bit more 'something'. In short, they are all charm with the substance to back it up. Those who missed out on Yeasayer's (also sold out) tour earlier this year will not want to miss this chance to see the band in action. Those who caught it, I'd suggest you head along anyway — you already know it will be worth it. https://youtube.com/watch?v=a6VatNuR_Uk
Like the title suggests, Winter's Bone makes for a rather frosty trip to the cinema. Set in frigid winter and against the stark forests of Missouri's Ozak region, Debra Granik's (Down to the Bone) sophomore effort is steeped in unapologetic, deeply affecting verisimilitude. In adapting Daniel Woodrell's novel, Granik intriguingly combines this cinema verite with the structural conventions of a film noir. It's a striking mix, which sees poverty-stricken but proud 17-year-old Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) struggling to raise her young brother and sister in the face of a catatonic mother and an absent, meth-crook of a father. When the police inform Ree that they'll lose the house if her father doesn't make his court appearance, she tenaciously sets about 'huntn' for dad.' Granik underscores Ree's indefatigable hunt with scenes of poignant domesticity. She needs to teach her siblings to survive, and does so with the same blunt stoicism that she brings to her increasingly harrowing search. As Ree, 20-year-old Lawrence is an absolute revelation; her performance easily ranks amongst this year's best. The film itself has already taken home the Grand Jury prize for Best Picture at Sundance, alongside a litany of deserved critical acclaim. Further adding to this film's appeal is its female take on the film noir. Ree may be as hardboiled as your classic private eye, but she consistently comes up against women who obliquely then brutally stand in her way. "Ain't you got no men to do this?" one asks her. "No ma'am, I don't." And like their resolute leading lady, Granik and Lawrence manage masterfully well without. https://youtube.com/watch?v=bE_X2pDRXyY
"I'm not pessimistic" filmmaker Josh Fox says in his opening line of narration. Just how on earth he can remain so in the face of the devastating realities he uncovers in his debut documentary GasLand is anyone's guess. Having been approached by a natural gas company willing to pay $100,000 to drill on his family's land, Fox started asking around; his questioning taking him on the most surprising and downright outrageous journey across America and into the dark heart of the natural gas industry. The situation really needs to be seen to be believed — and in that vein, GasLand is absolutely required viewing, especially as there are drilling plans here in Australia. But here are a couple of pearlers to get your ire on the rise: the American natural gas industry does not have to abide by environmental legislation including the Clean Water Act or the Safe Drinking Water Act. And considering the process of hydraulic fracturing (or fracking*) used to release underground gas reserves requires a secret concoction of 596 chemicals and millions of litres of water, this is a diabolical state of affairs indeed. GasLand chronicles the damning results: sick families, poisoned wells and flammable tap water. Wielding a banjo and a lyrical sensibility, Fox transforms his documentary into more than a provocative call to arms; this is documentary as poetry. Sure The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is evoked, but with his beautifully subjective camera and measured, poignant narration, Fox proves himself as much an artist as an important and powerful voice that joins the choir of filmmakers daring to declare such inconvenient environmental truths. So how precious is water to you? And even if you're a glass-half-full kind of person, does it count if the water is flammable? Ahead of GasLand's release on November 18, Josh Fox is in Australia for a series of Q&A screenings, so don't miss the opportunity to see this fantastic documentary and talk to the man who demands to protect the water everywhere, especially the drops we drink. *Anyone who has seen Battlestar Galactica will no doubt agree the situation is fracked in both senses of the term. Sydney Q&A screenings: Wednesday 10 November at Palace Verona Thursday 11 November at the Chauvel Friday 12 November at Palace Norton Street https://youtube.com/watch?v=BYEBwbB6xuA
It's almost that time of year again. With our leg of the tour set again at the Sydney College of the Arts (SCA) in Rozelle, Laneway's rolling around the country once more with some of the biggest current independent acts. From Les Savy Fav to Holy Fuck, Foals to Yeasayer and Warpaint to Menomena, it's gonna be amazing. Check out the full lineup. And while you wait for the day to arrive, check out the Feature Album Series to whet your appetite, starting with Warpaint's The Fool. Laneway is sold out, but keep your eyes on the interwebs and you may just get lucky.
Clint Eastwood is getting sentimental in his old age. The laudable director and gritty actor, who only last year seethed, "Get off my lawn," is now all about the group-hug, rugby style. Taking the true story of Nelson Mandela's reunification aspirations for the 1995 Rugby World Cup, Eastwood somehow manages to sit on the sidelines; serving up neither a political thriller nor a sports drama. The premise is intriguing. Based on John Carlin's book Playing with the Enemy, South African screenwriter Anthony Peckham chronicles the story of Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman – surely born to play this role), freed from prison after 27 years and rising to the presidency of a divided nation. A potent symbol of this schism is the Springbok rugby team, captained by Francois Pienaar (a beefy Matt Damon); their green and gold jerseys hated by the new 'rainbow nation.' With South Africa hosting the World Cup, Mandela calls on Pienaar to lead his team and with it the nation, to victory, glory and unification. 'Invictus' refers to the poem by William Ernest Henley, which inspired Mandela and translates to the powerful meaning, 'unconquered'. Alas Eastwood hasn't managed to conquer this profound historical moment; instead he seems at pains to tell us how important this is, be it through exhaustive pontificating by Freeman, hokey scenes (such as a black boy refusing to take a Springbok jersey) or spelling it out through an entirely unnecessary song, "Colourblind." And yet, despite being at risk of drowning in sentimental symbolism, Invictus is still worth a look. It's a thought-provoking and at times compelling tribute to an astounding event in South Africa's history. If only Eastwood had been more ambitious with the drama, and more imaginative with the rugby scenes (be prepared to see a lot of scrums). Then again, a scrum is just the kind of aggressive, impassioned and symbolic group hug that Eastwood was after. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Cq19ASZP-Rc
It was a bit of a sad time for funk for a while there. In the noughties cool was poached from the genre by those dastardly New York indie bands - The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs et al. But wait! Groovers of the world need not fret... There has been a funk resurgence lately – with folks like Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Mayer Hawthorne, Amy Winehouse etc. – and it seems Sydney Fest's new Artistic Director Lindy Hume still dons the flares and afro wig sometimes too, as she's programmed a whole bunch of funk/soul/hip hop artists this year. Becks Bar has a lineup heavy with beat driven tunes including Los Angeles 8 piece funk band The Breakestra. These guys play authentic groove laden funk/soul with an emphasis on getting booties to shake. J Rocc (of beat Junkies fame - not the pro wrestler, sorry to disappoint) and our own soul/dub outfit Space Invadas are set to open the proceedings.
Known for their "angular", "clean", "repetitive", "art rock", "experimental noise rock" sound, when I caught My Disco live a few months ago at the Melbourne International Arts Festival (they headlined and sold out the same enormous venue Fischerspooner played the night before), I was pleasantly shocked to hear a bit of... shall we say, cosmic calypso in the air. It sounded totally right, absolutely natural, and the aforementioned sell-out crowd went pretty wild. I'm eagerly anticipating the launch of their new 12" Young which is rumoured to be inspired by their interests in German minimalism. Cosmic Kraut? The traveling tour party of My Disco, Qua and New War pulls up in Sydney this February. Invest now in a ticket, high quality ear plugs (they get loud) and a new stylus for your record player to play their new offering when you get home.
If you’re thinking of naming your latest single after vermin and their plight for fresh produce during the festive season - sorry, it’s taken. With officially the weirdest song title in history (ok maybe second only to Constipation Blues by Screaming Jay Hawkins) Sydney band The Danimals are set to launch their double A-side Hornets nest/Christmas worms quest for fresh apples at Spectrum his month. Founded by South-African born Jonti Danilewitz, The Danimals began as a solo act before attracting gifted artists from the likes of Sherlocks Daughter, Mercy Arms, Phrase and I like Cats, to form a genre defying super band whose tunes “focus on undulating rhythms and the deconstruction of traditional song structures.” Since hopping off a Boeing onto US soil, The Danimals have worked with some exceptional artists weighted in cool-cred, including Mark Ronson, Santigold and Sean Lennon and have been nominated for TED: The Lab winners and SMAC awards. Now the boys are back on home turf and will be joined by Sydney group Fashion Launches/Rocket Launches and other special guests for a “brain exploding, psychedelic live experience” on January 15th. TO WIN A DOUBLE PASS TO SEE DANIMALS EMAIL US AT HELLO@CONCRETEPLAYGROUND.COM.AU
These Byron transplants are the kind of people who give you the shits: classicaly trained musicians who write great songs, are years younger than you, and still manage to be really lovely people who will lend you their guitar amp if you need it. Lots of Sydneysiders who are worth their musical salt are tipping The Jezabels to be one of the next bands that blow up from our pretty harbour city. Completely devoid of irony, their music is built around the mingling of piano and guitar over strong driving rhythms whilst singer Hayley Mary manages to channel bits of Kate Bush and Patti Smith, really wearing her lyrical heart on her young sleeve. They are great live, so why the hell not go and see them with the Sydney upstarts Papa Vs Pretty.
St Jerome's Laneway Festival has a knack of bringing out people we might otherwise miss in our backwater down here in 'Straya, and Wild Beasts definitely fit into that camp with their (ahem) camp, verbose, literary penmanship and sonic approach. Their sound takes from the great pompous artists of pop music; they toe the line of pretensios, only narrowly saving themselves with melodies and rhythms that are both vital and gorgeously simple. With their heavily alliterated and poetic songs like Brave Buoyant Bulging Clairvoyant and Hooting and Howling, you never quite know if they are taking themselves too seriously or taking the piss. The main singer Tom Fleming sounds like a mix of Morrisey and Antony; with one of those voices that people either love or hate. Britain certainly loves them with the Sunday Times calling Two Dancers "one of 2009's indisputable masterpieces". Let's see if 'Straya loves them too.
When Toumani Diabaté was five years old he picked up the Kora (a 21 string hybrid between a harp and a lute) and taught himself to play. His father Sidiki Diabaté was a renowned Kora musician in Mali, and Toumani found that he could educate himself simply by listening. A child prodigy, Toumani was born a Griot (a class of travelling poets, musicians and storytellers who maintain an oral history in various parts of Western Africa), and his music both reflects and extends from this inheritance. Influenced not only by family tradition, Toumani engrossed himself in American soul music, as well as acts such as Jimi Hendrix and those British heaven climbers Led Zeppelin. The combination makes his music one of both gentle sway and energetic flutter, immediate and stimulating - the kind of sound that sooths an impatient ear and seduces the most stubborn of hips. Apart from performing his Grammy nominated album The Mandé Variations at State Theatre, Mr. Diabaté will also stage a free performance with his Symmetric Orchestra on January 16 in The Domain at 8.00PM.
Arts Mobile Sydney is a free love-in at a secret location - kind of like that rave you went to in 1992 except this time you won't get stuck sharing lolly pops with the guy dressed as Sailor Moon who thinks he is Donald Trump hasn't slept for 11 days and has lost his tennis racquet. Because he'll be too busy participating in the live interactive artworks based on office therapy, Chinese whispers, balloon painting or park bench wrapping to even notice you. Setting out to intervene people's daily routines in the CBD and to encourage community participation in contemporary art outside the gallery context, Arts Mobile in mid-January will have ten emerging artists on site inviting passers by "to watch, play, create and take home works of art." Register at www.artsmobilesydney.com to receive the location by text on the day. BYO glow sticks and PLUR. Image: Ascent by Arts Mobile participating artists MamaDada. Photo by Alex Wisser.
"The only thing more terrifying than the last 12 minutes of this film are the first 92", so states the tagline of the Dario Argento film Suspiria, and, unlike the tagline of 2006's Wicker Man remake ("some sacrifices must be made"), it's true. Speaking of sacrificial lambs, Suspiria will be remade in 2010, but please don't shoot the messenger! As Argento demonstrates, there are far more dramatic ways to be killed, and I for one will be at the Chauvel's Argento Festival this February and March to bask in the giallo gory glory. Teaming Argento films with horror classics from the same era is an interesting idea, much more suitable than the double bill I saw aged nine in an outdoor cinema in Illawarra. Turner & Hooch followed by Dead Poet's Society (I laughed, I cried). The beauty of Argento's films isn't just in their sheer bloodiness (see image above); they're beautifully shot, particularly Suspiria and its 70s-does-art-deco production design. Blood! Guts! Witches! Zombies! Udo Kier (briefly)! It's all here for you to enjoy. That is, if you are over 18 and don't have a weak stomach. Friday 26th February Suspiria (1977) Dir. Dario Argento Ancient witchcraft at a dancing academy, all set to an incredible Goblin score. One of the very best horror films ever made. Dawn of the Dead (1978) Dir. George A. Romero No flesh is too big or...mall for these zombies! Friday 5th March Tenebrae (1982) Dir. Dario Argento Murdery mystery mimicry! I would have put this on a double bill with The Eyes of Laura Mars, but I am not the curator, and so... The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Dir. Tobe Hooper The ultimate midnight movie, hard not to get all cut up over this one. Friday 12th March Phenomena (1985) Dir. Dario Argento Jennifer Connolly talks to bugs, extreme boarding school creepiness ensues. Last House on the Left (1972) Dir. Wes Craven Extreme rape/sexual torture scenes, be warned. It was based on the same Swedish folk tale as Bergman's beautiful film The Virgin Spring but you'd never know it. Friday 19th March Deep Red (1975) Dir. Dario Argento A psychic is killed, then, well, so is everyone else. One of his best, with a fantastic Goblin score. Eaten Alive (1976) Dir. Tobe Hooper The ultimate in crocsploitation (here I refer to the giant reptile, not the horror that is the shoe brand).
Apparently this show is a fundraiser for Sounds In Motion but details are sketchy - I've tried researching what Sounds In Motion is, but not much comes up. Anyway, charity aside, two great bands are playing: Belles Will Ring, the Blue Mountainer psych rockers, and Songs, the newly ubiquitous Sydney via NZ popsters. Belles have been a little quiet on the live scene lately; they've been focusing on recording in a big old house behind the Blue Mountains, and this show should be a chance to hear some of their new songs. These tunes will be probably see the light of day on the the follow up to their last release, the mini LP Broader Than Broadway. Songs (above) released their self titled debut LP in November, and it has received a whole load of praise, especially from the Aus Blogosphere - all of it deserved, with their smart songwriting and melodies sure to keep haunting you long after listening. Silver Moon and Mucky Fingers are also playing, so this is a fundraiser you want to support.
Polemical, political satirist Bill Maher is a man on a mission… against God. Taking the stance that religion is a hiding to the end of the world; Maher is not so much peddling nihilism as his is doubt. Doubt about the historical validity and exclusive strictures of organised religion. Evolution, homosexuality, fundamentalism and the afterlife are all levelled by Maher’s caustic wit as he interrogates members of major religious institutions, as well as Jesus (from a Christian theme park), while still making time to poke fun at the ‘Church’ of Scientology. Maher adheres to the Michael Moore school of documentary, grounding his film in personal experience and peppering his interviews with pop culture clips and amusing subtitles. Theirs has a heavier, brasher touch than Andrew Denton, Louis Theroux or even John Safran, all of who have undertaken similar steps towards Enlightenment. Maher frequently uses his subjects as punch lines, and though his holier than thou approach can grate; you can’t fault his comic timing. Religion and comedy are certainly a combustible mix, particularly with Borat and Brüno director Larry Charles at the helm; you know nothing is sacred. But although Maher and Charles clearly don’t have God on their side, with final cut, they definitely get the last laugh. https://youtube.com/watch?v=-Gxc0XEoQpQ https://youtube.com/watch?v=yXdwTlByZFo https://youtube.com/watch?v=vp_NbI8Gdio https://youtube.com/watch?v=0ghIU_tlX0k
January 1st is a bit of a doozy when it comes to a party (it's always either a really bad idea or a really bad idea), but by January 2nd, things are on the mend (a little). By then, you're up and walking, feeling a little disheveled perhaps but fine, just a little sloppy. The folks at Popfrenzy Records know this limbo state all too well, which is why they're throwing a party called Slopfrenzy to help ease your pain. If your New Years Resolutions for 2010 involve going to a party with truly incredible international acts that aren't doing any other non-festival shows in Sydney in the form of Telepathe (NYC) and Micachu & the Shapes (UK), as well as local faves Seekae (winners of this year's best live act at the SMAC awards!), Canvas Kites, Shady Lane + more to be announced AND dancing to the sultry sounds of DJs Radge, Smart Casual and Enari, why, you're in luck because Slopfrenzy makes that seemingly impossible list quite plausible. May as well just tick that accomplishment off now.One of the headline bands Micachu & The Shapes are making their very first visit to Australia this January, and their debut album Jewellery is a near perfect party soundtrack. Live, they're lots of fun. I've seen them play in tiny warehouses and underground clubs, and each time the crowd (and me) just could not get enough of they're rough, loud and suprising pop. Telepathe are a two lady duo, who make haunting dance beats that make you contort your body into funny shapes in response (in a good way). In their hometown of New York, it's pretty tough to nab a ticket to see them and here they're playing live and also DJing.Slopfrenzy is all taking place at the Civic Hotel in the city's CBD, on Cuba Gooding Jr's birthday, January 2nd. Tickets are available through Moshtix and Incu Clothing stores.https://youtube.com/watch?v=8TRkZpFgJcI https://youtube.com/watch?v=_Un5SJ1aAGM
