There's been a gradual takeover in the inner west cafe scene over the last few years of smaller, well designed cafes that focus primarily on coffee. Which, of course, a good cafe should. Not all of them however get the rest of the mix right, so it was a delight for locals that the newly opened the Counter in Petersham has managed to include all the right eggs in its basket. Complete with interesting design that includes pallet tables outside, bench seating inside and interesting interior touches such as distressed metal chairs hanging from the wall, this cafe has made the inhabitants of Petersham wake up and smell the coffee. And that's Single Origin or Coffee Alchemy coffee, with a house blend also from Australian Independent Roasters. Breakfast options are simple but with added tasty flares such as sourdough bread or homemade mayonnaise. The Smith's Sister ($14) is a classic option of slow poached eggs and bacon on sourdough, but with the added herb side salad, though a little wilted, and delicious cuts of bacon, it was a satisfying choice. To spice it up a bit, you could choose the Mr Smith Sambo ($9.50) which mixes a soft egg, bacon, tomato relish and mayonnaise between toasted sourdough; this sambo is a well-balanced combination with the right mix of flavours. The smashed avocado with Danish feta and two slow poached eggs on toast ($14) also looked like a good option if you want to mix up the traditional eggs on toast, or you could try the piled high roasted mixed mushrooms on toast with crispy prosciutto and a poached egg, topped with tarragon hollandaise ($15). If you can, save room for breakfast or lunch dessert as the collection of mostly in-store made cakes, muffins and baked treats looked mouth watering. While there is limited space and you might find yourself having a bit of a wait for a table, the delightful staff and fast service means you won't be frustrated by this smaller cafe. Overall it's lovely to see an addition like this just off Petersham's main drag that offers something pleasing, simple and tasty. Photo: Aidan Corrigan
“You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge”. So begins both the film and the song ‘Straight Outta Compton’, and it’s equal parts preview and warning. The ‘street knowledge’ of NWA’s leading trio — Dr Dre (played by Corey Hawkins), Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson Jr, playing his real-life father) and Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell) — was an affront to the establishment, a threat, even, but also helped facilitate the group's rapid rise from neighbourhood group to musical ascendancy. Acquired over two decades of daily exposure to gang violence, racial vilification and police persecution, it instilled in them a bravado, passion and unyielding determination that permitted neither retreat nor weakness. It also came at a price, however, because not all streets are the same, and when Crenshaw Boulevard became Rodeo Drive, the blinders and shortcomings of that knowledge became all too apparent. Straight Outta Compton, then, is not just an NWA biopic but a cautionary tale about loyalty, friendship and the corrosive effects of celebrity. Directed by F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job), this is a slick, provocative and timely film that absolutely warrants your viewing. Straight Outta Compton (© 2015 Universal Studios) is in cinemas nationally from September 3, and thanks to Universal Pictures Australia, we have 10 double in-season passes to give away. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter and then email us with your name and address. Read our full Straight Outta Compton review here. Follow the movie via its website or Facebook page. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au Brisbane: win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au
Sydneysiders venturing outdoors this morning could find the whole breathing thing a little less fun than usual — as you may have noticed, it's pretty smoky out there. As the result of a controlled burn in the Blue Mountains, a layer of smoke has made its way across the city and is expected to stick around throughout the morning. Needless to say, it's affecting air quality, with the Office of Environment and Heritage labelling it as "very poor" in the Sydney CBD and "hazardous" in southwest Sydney this morning. It's also prompted an alert from NSW Health. While haze from reduction burns is often unpredictable, NSW Health Director of Environmental Health Dr Richard Broome explained the smoke was likely to affect a number of places across Sydney while it's here, and that locals should simply be aware. "For most people, smoke will be no more than an irritation," he said. "However, I recommend that people with existing heart and lung conditions should avoid outdoor physical activity when there's smoke around." https://twitter.com/BOM_NSW/status/1130930049220317190 This follows a smoky Tuesday, too. While the Bureau of Meteorology confirmed a slight improvement to air quality yesterday afternoon, the smoke haze is back and laying it on strong today. The NSW Rural Fire Service tweeted that this particular smoke was from a controlled burn in the Blue Mountains, which started on Sunday. It's now postponed all other reduction burns in the Sydney area for a 24-hour period. https://twitter.com/NSWRFS/status/1130732398872711168 The haze is unlikely to lift until around lunchtime. If you suffer from asthma or any other heart or lung conditions, just be mindful that the change in air conditions could affect you. NSW Health advises that you carry your inhaler or any other medical relief.
Imagine if beach party preparations were as easy as pushing a button. Well with the new folding recreational island, they just might be. Originally designed as a luxury yachting accessory, the Recreational Island may either be docked at the back of a yacht, or stabilised in the water by four anchors. The island unfolds using a pressurised hydraulic system, measures 10 by 8 meters when opened, and can be easily stowed in a ship's garage when out of use. Designed by Henry Ward and currently under development by BMT Nigel Gee, the island may also be suitable for purposes other than swimming and dining. Concepts in the works include use as a rental room for hotels, an emergency helicopter landing platform and close-up seating for water sport judges. [via Designboom]
Mark Ruffalo has always been a stellar actor, and he has the resume to prove it. But he's in particularly excellent form in I Know This Much Is True. It isn't just because he's as reliably great as ever in the six-part HBO miniseries, which is adapted from the book of the same name. He is, of course; however he's also playing two roles. While identical twins Dominick and Thomas Birdsey look alike, they have their own struggles — including, in the latter's case, paranoid schizophrenia. Set in the 90s in Three Rivers, Connecticut, the series charts the intricacies of their intertwined lives as past and present troubles collide. It's no slouch behind the lens, either, with Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines filmmaker Derek Cianfrance directing and co-writing the entire thing.
They say the world is your oyster, and the folk on the New South Wales South Coast take it very seriously. So much so that they're putting on a festival to celebrate and showcase that salty, slippery, seafood delicacy. The Narooma Oyster Festival, set in the heart of Australia's 'Oyster Coast' will take place on a glorious Saturday, May 4. Head to the Big Oyster Bar where you will be able to feast on delicious oysters from eight south coast estuaries on the banks of the stunning Wagonga Inlet. If you're after a cool $500 in pocket money, the oyster shucking competition could be up your alley, but if you're new to the whole game, there are shucking demonstrations as well. For the most committed of oyster lovers out there, there is The Ultimate Oyster Experience, where you'll enjoy an exclusive master class guide by a local grower and sample Angasi, Pacific and Sydney Rock Oysters with complementary wines.
The Chinese Zodiac assigns an animal to each year in a rotating cycle of 12 years, with this coming year the year of the horse. We're still slogging through the year of the snake, but the year of the horse is almost upon us. And as the calendar ticks over, Sydney's 2014 Chinese New Year celebrations are happy to kick in a little early, with the City throwing in an equine component on top of its usual mix of street march, food and culture. It can take time to unfold the full breadth of leisure and show behind the City's annual lunar new year celebrations. Handily, we've narrowed this complex calendar down to a few highlights to help you get the best out of this year's festivities. Twilight Parade A firm favourite on the Chinese New Year activity calendar, this year’s Twilight Parade promises the same visual spectacle of vibrant dancers, rainbow-hued floats, and vivid fireworks that have characterised each year's bedazzling parade offering. All manner of horse-themed acts will be entertaining the crowds from 7pm until an eye-dotting ceremony at 8pm to 'bless' the Chinese New Year lions, then the parade kicks off at 8.15pm from Sydney Town Hall on George St. Sydney CBD buildings also get into the new year action with enchanting projections illuminating their facades whilst post-parade fireworks at Cockle Bay wharf will round off the night and help to scare away any back luck from the previous year. Free. February 2, from 7pm. Sydney Town Hall to Chinatown. Fireworks at Cockle Bay Wharf. Download a parade map here. Dragon Ball The Star Event Centre will be transformed into a glamorous, chandelier-swinging, big-band-grooving event with the return of the Dragon Ball, a fixture on the Australian Chinese social calendar from the 1930s to the 1970s when the event saw young debutantes presented to the Chinese Consul General with their families looking on. After a 40-year hiatus, this modern reincarnation of the Dragon Ball band returns for its second year of cranking out contemporary tunes and bringing to life the heady days of swing — think double bass and drums, trumpets and trombones, with a lilting, swing rhythm. This is a night to dust off your glam frocks and sashay out onto the dance floor for a cha-cha or a samba. February 8, 7.30pm to midnight, the Star, Pyrmont, $72pp + booking fee. Lunar Feasts Want to try something other than your beef and blackbean Friday night special? Sydney saddles up its chefs for the Year of the Horse with a rash of Lunar Feasts. There are banquets from as little as $20 at dumpling powerhouse Din Tai Fung in World Square, or try keeping up as Chow Bar and Eating House banquets you through some of its greatest hits for $60pp. Spice I Am's House Shop offers up some budget papaya salad at $20pp and Azuma Japanese Restaurant throws together a hotpot at $50pp. Still undecided? Check out the Lunar Feasts site for a full listing of eateries. Cinema Alley at Golden Age Cinema and Bar The 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art's Cinema Alley has been a stalwart over the last few Chinese New Years, taking over the laneway outside its Hay Street headquarters. This year, the Centre's celebration moves to Surry Hills' newly SMAC-approved Golden Age Cinema to screen two of Jia Zhang-Ke's films exploring modern China. At 6.30, Still Life follows people looking for their partners in the shadow of the gargantuan three gorges dam, while at 9pm, four desperate stories diverge in the multi-threaded A Touch of Sin. Outside in the bar and foyer, art by Chen Qiulin and Adrian Wong keep on with a theme of changing China. Cinema Alley at Golden Age Cinema and Bar is ticketed, free for the art and paid for the movies. Details here. Horses With the horse standing at the centre of this year's shift of the zodiac, the new year celebrations has no shortage of horse-themed events. There are equine exhibitions, like Woman Horse and the Macleay Museum's sideline in equine history, and NSW Evergreen Taoist Church is opening its doors to the public for a weekend of tours of its church on the site of the former barracks of the NSW Mounted Police. Meanwhile, at their current headquarters, the NSW Mounted Police are also giving you the chance to tour their stable and hang out with their horses. It's a tour that books out pretty early in its more regular incarnation, so it might be worth booking ahead. Chinese New Year Markets There'll be bamboo baskets piled high with steaming dumplings, bowls of soy-covered noodles waiting to be slurped, and Hong Kong/Australian break dance collaborations care of Compartmentalized at the Chinese New Year Markets in Belmore Park. There's live entertainment on the main market stage with a film screenings, martial arts performances and a wee bit of demonstration cooking. Want to belt out a tune? Battle it out at the karaoke competition, and if you're the crowd's favourite, you might end up taking home a swag of prizes. The official festival launch kicks off Friday night with an evening of fireworks to scare last year's baddies away. Free. February 24-26, Belmore Park, Eddy Avenue, Sydney. Beijing Silvermine Beijing Silvermine is a rare and unique collection of photographs capturing everyday life in China during the decades following the Cultural Revolution. Dug out of family archives, the anonymous subjects of these photographs become unknowing participants in mapping a period of immense social change. Beijing-based collector Thomas Sauvin struck up a deal to buy this 'silvermine' of abandoned memories, which were destined for destruction. From moments of exquisite intimacy between lovers through to the static poses of holiday-makers, Sauvin injects the photographs with a retrospective significance by re-casting the subjects as forgers of modern China. The exhibition also features two video animations produced by Beijing-based animator Lei Lei in collaboration with Sauvin, compiling the collection into a surreal imagescape. Until February 22, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. Mahjong Playlunch There's the thud of solid bakelite tiles as they're slid across the felt-lined table. whilst players drink cups of steaming Jasmine tea or nibble delicately on tasty dim sums. Suddenly someone calls 'mahjong' and the table erupts into chatter. It's a busy afternoon at the MahJong Room in Surry Hills, and the atmosphere is electric. Celebrate Chinese New Year with your friends at Mahjong Playlunch by learning this thousand-year-old game of skill and chance at Surry Hills' answer to the traditional mahjong houses of old Shanghai. Furnished with a mahjong playing set, a belly full of dim sums, and personal lessons from the staff, it's a cool way to while away an afternoon. $39/pp including dim sum and tea. Mahjong Room, 312 Crown Street, Surry Hills. Book via info@mahjongroom.com.au Dragon Boat Races Fast and furious, wet and wild — no it's not an ad for a summer roller-coaster ride, it's the frantic dash in a 12m-long painted boat known as Dragon Boat Races. Dating back 2000 years, the race was traditionally held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month of the Chinese Calendar to encourage rains for prosperity — the dragon, the symbol of water, was the object of worship for the ancient Chinese. Today, it's a heart-thumping sport boasting crews of roughly 20 rowers. Grab a waterside seat and watch some of Sydney's best dragon boat teams battle it out in this highly competitive, thrilling sport. Free. February 8-9. Cockle Bay, Darling Harbour, Sydney. Chinese History Tours So the current Chinatown is actually's Sydney's third. The first was in The Rocks, the second around the Haymarket, and the current one followed Sydney's markets to the top of Darling Harbour. It's a complicated and interesting history that, like most migrant communities (including the English), is a grab bag of culture shock, social clubs, a bit of crime, a bit of poverty and a lot of social mobility. This year, the Chinatown Historical Tours returns to take through the history of this third Chinatown by foot ending up with some optional Yum Cha. For a grander tour, Our Chinese Past by Bike takes you on a two-wheeled tour between all three incarnations of this cultural hub. Beijing Silvermine section by Annie Murney. Horses, Cinema Alley and History Tours by Zacha Rosen.
Aussie brick enthusiasts, get excited. Sydney will join the likes of New York, London, Hong Kong and Copenhagen on the list of cities boasting a flagship LEGO store very, very soon. The Harbour City is set to welcome the world's largest official LEGO store to Sydney Arcade, overlooking Pitt Street Mall, on Saturday, November 11. Announced earlier this year, the massive two-storey, 900-square-metre Sydney LEGO store will officially swing open its doors at 9.30am next Saturday morning and promises to be your one-stop shop for all things colourful plastic bricks. "Every new store contributes to the LEGO Group's global mission of inspiring and developing the builders of tomorrow," Vice President and General Manager of LEGO Australia and New Zealand Troy Taylor says. LEGO fans can expect an interactive storytelling table that will give them behind-the-scenes looks at their favourite sets and designs; Australia's first Minifigure Factory, where visitors can create LEGO versions of themselves or their loved ones; and a pick-and-build wall boasting an enormous catalogue of different pieces. Official Brick Specialists will be on hand to help guide you through everything the superstore has to offer — and if you're after a challenge to get your creativity flowing, there will be in-store builds and monthly events. Basically, you'll have everything you could need to bring your wildest imagination to life. There will also be Australia-specific elements of the store with large-format sculptures of Australian and Sydney cultural touchstones decorating the new Sydney LEGO store's space. "The world's largest LEGO Store will stand as a must-see destination for LEGO fans across the globe whilst bringing a world-class retail experience to Australia," says Executive Chairman of the store's retail partner Alquemie Group Richard Facioni. The flagship Sydney LEGO store will open at Sydney Arcade, Pitt Street, Sydney on Saturday, November 11.
UPDATE: January 12, 2021 — The Rocks Picnic has been postponed until further notice. We'll be sure to keep you updated with further information and dates. With the weather looking up, the sun setting later and vibrancy returning to the city, there's never been a better time to plan a full day out in The Rocks, especially on a Sunday. The historic precinct is well known for its sandstone terraces and bustling markets, but there's so much more to do in this slice of old (and new) Sydney when you know where to look. We've partnered with The Rocks to help you plan a bumper day out in the area, packed with art, music, good food and excellent views. [caption id="attachment_790083" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anna Kucera[/caption] 9.30AM – STRETCH IT OUT IN THE PARK Kick off the day with a salute to the sun or two at one of the free Yoga in the Park sessions. Every Sunday, you can move through an energising-yet-relaxing stretch and flow class, all with views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. You'll need to BYO mat and book ahead to secure your spot. As a bonus, each free class includes a voucher for a free coffee from one of the nearby cafes. 10.30AM – GET YOUR CAFFEINE FIX After your stretch session, we recommend hitting up one of The Rocks' best laneway cafes. The Fine Food Store has been tapping out beautiful brews and hearty brekkies since 2004 and, if you're dining in, you can take advantage of its bottomless batch filter for $8.50. Or, head to ASLAN Coffee Roasters, which offers up its own St Peters-roasted beans, including single origin and on-tap nitro coffee. 11AM – STOCK UP ON PICNIC ITEMS It's now time to hunt down everything you need for an easy-going Sunday arvo picnic. Brooklyn Boy Bagels has a market stall in The Rocks every Sunday, so make a beeline for its boiled bagels and try not to eat them all before lunch. Keep an eye out for the tasty cured meats by Backa Sydney, also at the markets, as well as fresh organic pickles from Rita's Farm. More of a sweet tooth? Make sure you check out the new store from Tokyo Lamington, where the classic Aussie sponge cake gets an upgrade in flavours like thai milk tea, yuzu meringue and black sesame. [caption id="attachment_790085" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anna Kucera[/caption] MIDDAY – HEAD TO THE PARK Now you've stocked up on snacks, it's time to take a seat in First Fleet Park, where you'll find live music every Sunday afternoon. Local musicians serenade park-goers with acoustic sounds, and there are park games, too, like an oversized snakes and ladder game, so you can channel your inner kid and challenge your friends to a battle while enjoying the ambient tunes. [caption id="attachment_785523" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Installation view of 'Lindy Lee: Moon in a Dew Drop' by Anna Kucera[/caption] 2PM – DIVE INTO THE MCA Now you're fed and feeling good, take in some culture. The Museum of Contemporary Art's three current exhibitions offer respite from the city and insights to the exhibiting artists' unique practices. Lindy Lee: Moon in a Dew Drop is a major survey of the Australian Chinese artist's career and it's free to check out. Anywhere but here: MCA Primavera Acquisitions draws on the gallery's collection of works by young Australian artists who've previously participated the annual exhibition Primavera, while Connections is a snapshot of First Nations art centred around the ways we interpret and interact with the world and each other. [caption id="attachment_786806" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anna Kucera[/caption] 3PM – GET SOME RETAIL THERAPY It goes without saying that The Rocks Markets should be your first port of call. The long-running markets brings together unique makers, craftsman, artists and collectors showcasing their goods from 10am–5pm every Saturday and Sunday. Afterwards, browse the standalone boutiques, such as Aesop for beautifully made skincare products and the Eloise Panetta pop-up for botanically dyed garments and accessories. [caption id="attachment_761767" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alana Dimou[/caption] 4PM – HEAD TO THIS ROOFTOP The Glenmore is a favourite with locals and visitors alike for its top-notch views of Sydney Harbour, including the Opera House. As there are almost no tourists in town, you'll have an even better chance of snaring a prime rooftop position for some afternoon brews. There's plenty of local and craft beers on tap, and a full menu of pub classics like chicken parmigiana and beer battered fish and chips. [caption id="attachment_660843" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alana Dimou[/caption] 6PM – FINISH WITH A COCKTAIL Cap off the day with a cocktail at Doss House. The cocktail bar is one of 19 bars and restaurants participating in The Rocks' new al fresco dining pilot, which allows venues to sprawl out into the streets, activating laneways and allowing punters plenty of room to enjoy a drink or a bite to eat (or both). The Doss House's extended outdoor area makes the most of Unwins Courtyard. Here, you can enjoy charcuterie platters complete with smoked wallaby, Bay of Fires cheddar, local honey and the wild boar salami, alongside an old-fashioned or a glass on wine, all amongst the historic sandstone buildings. The Rocks Picnic runs from 10am–3pm every Sunday over summer. Find more details, here. Top image: Anna Kucera
If you've ever needed a positive example of how one night can change everything, just chat to Nema Adel. He had no intention of becoming an artist. In fact, he had just completed a university degree in a completely unrelated field when he went to a Flying Lotus performance at the Sydney Opera House that sparked a new passion for real-time digital art. Four and a half years on, Adel is now a sought-after digital artist who has created activations for festivals such as Liveworks and Vivid. He is also one of the visionary artists to team up with Miller Design Lab in 2020 to celebrate our nightlife and its impact on culture to deliver exceptional moments to you and your home. Deciding to forge a career in a relatively new — and quite niche — artistic field has meant Adel's path has been anything but traditional, so Concrete Playground sat down with the artist to discuss his creative process. Read on to discover how he seeks inspiration and the importance of nightlife to his art, then check out the video above to see him in action. In addition to the Flying Lotus gig, Adel pinpoints one other serendipitous moment that propelled his career. At his first ever event in 2016, which involved digital projections on a bank of trees over a river, Adel met an artist from Germany who liked his work. What followed was a six-month stint touring Germany and Austria doing shows. "And that was my education," he says. Adel explains that because digital art is such a new and ever-evolving art form he is mostly self-taught. "If I go on Google, I won't get any answers to the things I want to know, because nobody has really done it before," he says. Instead, Adel relies on connecting with others around the world who work in similar artistic spaces, particularly through Instagram, to share ideas, new techniques and advice. In particular, he notes San Francisco-based company All Of It Now and its Creative Director Kev Zhu, who shares tutorials online and has worked with Drake on custom projections for arena tours, as a key source of inspiration and knowledge sharing. But mostly, "it's just loads of experimentation. Unlike fine arts and classical arts, where [there is a] technique that we've perfected over hundreds of years." Customisation is present throughout Adel's entire process. "The design mainly happens on the computer, but I don't know how that actually looks unless I set up the projection and understand it in reality. Then, I'll take it back to the computer, then back to reality, and keep ping-ponging back and forth." For that reason, Adel doesn't really have a traditional workspace. He has a studio at Marrickville's Create Or Die, a creative hub filled with artists that he loves to bounce ideas off or collaborate with, including graffiti artist Iro Kitamura. "He might be painting murals and I'll be projecting onto the mural painting. I really enjoy it as I don't have those fine art skills," he says. Adel also likes that his work takes him out and about. "I love my style of work so much because the space changes — different venues and different galleries — and that'll always inform how you're going to work." And he mostly works at night. "On the most basic level, I cannot do my craft in the middle of the day… the natural light will wash out my projection light. Without the nighttime, I don't have a craft." Beyond that, he acknowledges the symbiotic relationship art and nightlife have: "I work in a lot of events and I was able to keep practising through the nightlife that we have — whether it's working with musical artists or exhibitions. If you have an extensive nightlife, [artists] can keep rolling and keep becoming better". Of course, much of that has changed in the past few months due to restrictions on public gatherings. Adel has had many jobs cancelled and has made the decision to temporarily move out of his Marrickville studio for safety reasons. Though he knows many other creatives are trying to keep up the collaboration and creativity in this time, he isn't. For someone who believes that "creativity is a mirror" and will reflect the artist's mood or current situation, it makes sense that he'd prefer to pause on creating for now. "I've consciously decided to use this as a bit more of a rest period, and that's partly due to the fact that there is a lot less inspiration in my life at the moment," he explains. Instead, he is viewing this time as a "study period" by doing some online tutorials, perfecting techniques and keeping up to date on the software tools he relies on. But when normal life resumes and he is ready to boost what he calls his creativity "metre" again, Adel has a few tried and tested techniques for seeking inspiration. "Travelling or seeing a new place and taking photos — that'll always bring new ideas to me," he says. He also mentions going out to see live music as a huge influence, naming Freda's in Chippendale and Camelot Lounge in Marrickville as his go-tos. "When there are events on with artists from other countries, I love it. I have no idea what to expect… but their art has been formed in a different way. You want to get as many perspectives as you possibly can under your belt. "I'm also very inspired by the Studio Ghibli films…. They've managed to create rich stories from imagery, and I think for me that is the ultimate goal: not just creating things that look nice, but things which convey meaning. That's hopefully what I aim for in the next ten years." For more, check out Nema's collaboration with Miller Genuine Draft here. For more ways to celebrate your city's nightlife and recreate its energy in your own space, head this way. Images: Reuben Gibbes
Journey to where the sugar-white sand is oh-so-sweet on the feet and there are more shades of blue than you can count. The Maldives will have you dozing off while fish glide by at Huvafen Fushi’s underwater spa, or diving off your private deck into a crystal clear lagoon to join them at Cocoa Island by Como. Each atoll is an idyllic natural wonder and Mr & Mrs Smith has some sensational sunseeker offers that will have you barefoot and blissful in no time. One&Only Reethi Rah A PADI National Geographic dive centre, 12 beaches and eight dining destinations make up One&Only Reethi Rah, a lush, sprawling Maldivian island retreat. From huevos rancheros in the morning to lobster gyoza at Tapasake in the evening, your palate will take an international trip each day. Hint: the island’s boutique, Neo, stocks Louboutin espadrille wedges designed especially for the resort, just in case you tire of flip-flops. Action-hungry travellers can zip from the Grand or Duplex Villas to the resort’s climbing wall in a golf buggy, dice with danger on a shark safari, then watch the sunset while swaying in a hammock between the palms on a private sandy stretch. Lazy landlubbers might find the hammock too hard to leave from dawn til dusk. Cocoa Island by Como An exquisite blue lagoon is the true champion at Cocoa Island by Como, although the villas are nothing to scoff at either. From outside, the overwater villas resemble tradtional dhoni boats resting atop the lagoon. Understated bright white interiors paired with timber furnishings make the turquoise waters the statement – even more so from your private sun-deck. Bend like the palms at yoga every morning then feast on the daily catch at Ufaa, where a combination of Mediterranean- and Thai-inspired dishes use only the best seasonal produce and local seafood. Como Shambhala Spa has world-class treatments and guided meditation to ease lingering tensions. Anantara Kihavah Villas Enjoy nature’s best at Anantara Kihavah Villas, where sandy beaches and island isolation are just the beginning. There’s an underwater wine cellar and an overwater spa with views into the azure lagoon in each treatment room – you’ll also find yoga mats, sun hats and beach bags at the ready in every villa. Sway in the ocean breeze on the Overwater Pool Villa’s hammock-strung terrace or sink your toes into your own stretch of sand in a Beach Pool Villa (wine-coolers included). Take a dip at night in the 49-metre pool where LED lights in the tiled floor mimic the stars above to create the perfect stage for romance. Naladhu Reef-fringed Veligandu Huraa is where you’ll find the boutique resort Naladhu and its 19 villas nestled between a sheltered lagoon and the Indian Ocean. Enjoy sea breezes from bedroom to bathroom – a glass panel is all that separates the soaking tub from your private pool and the horizon beyond. Dive, snorkel and swim until your heart’s content in this romantic water-bound paradise. Under a thatched roof overlooking the lagoon is the Living Room, where torches light up the night sky and you can feast on grilled tiger prawns, spicy lemongrass red snapper and more internationally inspired dishes that draw from fresh market ingredients. Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa An eco-friendly oasis on one of the largest Maldivian atolls, North Huvadhoo, Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa instils immediate holiday calm. Floor-to-ceiling windows in minimalist villas ensure constant island views from verdant tropical fronds to azure waters. Fancy learning something new? Tackle the mojito mixology class, where you’ll have to try your concoctions so you know you’re getting it just right. There’s an intricate mosaic of marine life just steps (or strokes) away at the in-house reef, which you can explore with the resident marine biologist. Laidback foodies will love the Island Grill with its sandy floor and locally inspired dishes such as plantain ragout or Wagyu tenderloin with spicy papaya. Baros Baros is a boutique on the North Malé Atoll that’s sure to fulfil your castaway island dreams (with added luxury, natch). Hide yourself away in one of the secluded Water Pool Villas on the end of the winding jetty. Each has a private pool, canopied day-bed and personal Villa Host at your beck and call. Beach Villas are nestled among palm trees and tropical fronds and have an extra portion of privacy. Travel across the lagoon to a strip of sand for morning yoga practise, then explore the reef and learn about the resort’s coral planting programme that helps sustain the local marine habitat. Huvafen Fushi Everywhere you look you’ll discover a different shade of blue at Huvafen Fushi. The toughest decision you’ll have to make here is whether you want sand shores within reach in a Beach Villa or direct ocean dips from the overwater bungalows, which come with a private plunge pool. Visit the world’s first underwater spa, Lime, where you’ll float on a bed of relaxation while watching stingrays, clownfish and co. glide by. Enjoy fine dining paired with perfect wines at Vinum, but not before sampling something from the extensive cocktail list at UMbar — the Crouching Tiger (lemongrass, lychee, gin sake, ginger liqueur and jasmine tea) is delectable. Niyama On the deserted Dhaalu Atoll, Niyama’s hovering overwater bungalows will make you swoon with their reclaimed wood exteriors, luxurious marble bathrooms and lavish rain showers. Brilliant azure waters, shimmering sands and lush palm fronds are standard here; Subsix, the world’s first underwater club, is anything but standard, with its aquarium-like feel creating definite wow-factor as you sip cocktails among vivid corals and flirty fish. Opt for a Beach Studio with Private Pool on the sunset side of the island for its prime people-watching potential — Number 14 is right in the thick of the action. Viceroy Maldives The sparkling Shaviyani Atoll has water-a-plenty, especially when you consider that all the villas at Viceroy Maldives have private plunge pools to boot. Beach Villas boast monochromatic elegance; the Water Villas’ cool greys, blues and timber furnishings allow no loud, colourful distractions from the sounds of the ocean. Wander up to Treehouse for spectacular views and delicious mezze platters at sunset and cross wooden platforms to find your own secluded dining spot. Be your own bartender in a private beach cabana for two and mix favourite tipples or tropical concoctions into the early hours. Constance Moofushi Picture this: a crystal clear lagoon with vivid corals, swaying palms and tunes from the in-house DJ drifting on the sea breeze. Welcome to laidback luxury at Constance Moofushi. For a break from the party scene at Manta Bar, take your Moofushi Nasta Lemonade (home-made lemon and ginger marmalade with bourbon, fresh mint and cucumber) back to your Water Villa. Numbers 30–35 are perfect for counting stars on your private terrace and have the best of both worlds — sandy beach on one side; the Indian Ocean on the other. Browse more hotels in the Maldives, discover the Mr & Mrs Smith collection and exclusive offers online, or contact Smith’s expert Travel Team.
It's all change for Sydney's Laneway Festival with a new inner-city location for the first time: The Domain. According to organisers, it'll allow the festival to have bigger stages and better sound — and it will be a bit more accessible by public transport. Sure, it won't have the charm of the Rozelle location but we're sure it'll pack out with fans of dance-pop powerhouse Charli XCX, who is headlining this year's event. The British songwriter's latest album Charli features everyone from Lizzo to Troye Sivan and Sky Ferreira. The Laneway Festivals will be her only Aussie shows, which is the same case for fellow international heavy hitter, American rapper Earl Sweatshirt. They'll be joined onstage by Canadian electro artist — and TikTok sensation — BBNO$, New Zealand's Benee, London crooner Col3trane and Irish post-punk band Fontaines DC. On the local front, you'll be able to get down to DMA's, Hatchie, Stella Donnelly, Hockey Dad, King Gizzard and the Lizard Gizard and 2019's Triple J Hottest 100 winners, Ocean Alley. LANEWAY 2020 LINEUP The 1975 Charli XCX (exclusive) Ruel Earl Sweatshirt (exclusive) Ocean Alley DMA's JID Tones and I King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Hockey Dad BBNO$ The Chats Mahalia KAIIT Benee Stella Donnelly Oliver Tree Fontaines DC Omar Apollo Col3trane Hatchie Spacey Jane Kucka Pist Idiots JessB The Lazy Eyes Laneway Image: Maclay Heriot.
Korean television made history in 2025, when season three of Squid Game broke Netflix viewership and ranking records. Parasite, Korea's big Oscar-winner, is in the spotlight at this year's Melbourne International Film Festival courtesy of new big-screen sessions with composer Jung Jae-il conducting and performing its score live. That movie's director Bong Joon-ho released his first feature, Mickey 17, since his most-acclaimed picture. They're just some of the ways that 2025 has already been excellent if you love Korean film and television. Here's another: from August–October, the Korean Film Festival in Australia is returning for its latest run. Back in 2010 when it debuted, it did so in Sydney. The Harbour City remains the event's main home in 2025, too. As the fest did in 2024, however, it's also taking the show on the road to regional locations — and when the KOFFIA Touring Program hits up Benalla, Toowoomba, Parramatta, Alice Springs, Victor Harbour and The Whitsundays, it will be free. Accordingly, the Korean Film Festival in Australia has a date with Event Cinema George Street from Thursday, August 21–Tuesday, August 26, kicking off its lineup of ten titles. Then, the KOFFIA Touring Program will visit Benalla Cinema in Victoria across Saturday, September 13–Sunday, September 14; The Strand Cinemas in Toowoomba for the first of its Queensland stops on Sunday, September 14; and Riverside Theatres in Parramatta over Friday, September 26–Saturday, September 27. In October, Alice Springs Cinema will play host from Friday, October 3–Sunday, October 5; Victa Cinema in Victor Harbour gives the event a South Australian location across Saturday, October 4–Sunday, October 5; and Proserpine Entertainment Centre in The Whitsundays will close out the tour, and add a second Sunshine State trip, over Saturday, October 11–Sunday, October 12. The schedule does mean that if you're in Melbourne, Brisbane or Adelaide and you want to attend KOFFIA in 2025, you do need to head out of town. At every stop that the festival makes, though, Hear Me: Our Summer is on the bill — including opening Sydney. The romantic drama co-stars former Iz*One member Kim Minju, remakes Taiwan's Hear Me and sees a love story blossom via Korean Sign Language. Sydney audiences can also catch the South Korean spin on 2011 Colombian film Hidden Face, with Parasite's Cho Yeo-jeong among the cast; see a new take on Mary Shelley's masterpiece via Frankenstein Father; watch more K-pop stars, including An So-hee leading the Seoul-set The Daechi Scandal and EXO's Doh Kyung-soo feature in Secret: Untold Melody; and get a dose of crime thrills via Dirty Money. A 4K restoration of 1999's spy thriller Shiri is showing in the Harbour City as well. If you're keen to hear more about a number of titles on the lineup in Sydney, Hear Me: Our Summer director Jo Seon-ho, Hidden Face helmer Kim Dae-woo and About Family's Yang Woo-seok are all attending the fest — and so is The Noisy Mansion's Lee Lu-da, plus actor Gyeong Su-jin. The last of those two movies are also on the touring program, with About Family a dramedy about a chef discovering that he might have grandchildren, and The Noisy Mansion focusing on a tenant and her neighbours trying to discover why their building is plagued by strange sounds. Sydney and regional audiences can catch Forbidden Fairytale, too, about a children's book author who starts ghostwriting online erotica. Korean Film Festival in Australia 2025 Dates Korean Film Festival in Australia Thursday, August 21–Tuesday, August 26 — Event Cinema George Street, Sydney KOFFIA Touring Program Saturday, September 13–Sunday, September 14, 2025 — Benalla Cinema, Benalla Sunday, September 14, 2025 — The Strand Cinemas, Toowoomba Friday, September 26–Saturday, September 27, 2025 — Riverside Theatres, Parramatta Friday, October 3–Sunday, October 5, 2025 — Alice Springs Cinema, Alice Springs Saturday, October 4–Sunday, October 5, 2025 — Victa Cinema, Victor Harbour Saturday, October 11–Sunday, October 12, 2025 — Proserpine Entertainment Centre, The Whitsundays The Korean Film Festival in Australia 2025 runs in Sydney from Thursday, August 21–Tuesday, August 26, with the KOFFIA Touring Program hitting Benalla, Toowoomba, Parramatta, Alice Springs, Victor Harbour and The Whitsundays between September–October. For more information or to buy tickets, head to the KOFFIA website.
Coogee's 47-metre-long rainbow walkway will become a permanent fixture of the eastern suburbs beach, with Randwick City Council voting unanimously to keep the design as an enduring public art installation. The vibrant rainbow was first installed in February this year, in support of the 2021 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Sydney's LGBTQIA+ community. The council voted to maintain the rainbow at Coogee Beach indefinitely at a council meeting on Tuesday, September 28. The pathway stretches along a 200-square-metre patch of the promenade right by the sand, curving around the bottom of the already-existing steps to create the image of a bright rainbow. It has since become a much-loved and much-photographed section of the beach for people and dogs alike. When the walkway's lively makeover was approved by the Randwick City Council back in December 2020, former Randwick Mayor Danny Said noted that the rainbow installation, "makes a strong public statement of support for our wonderfully diverse local community". The proposal to make the walkway permanent was brought to the council meeting by Said, who has since been replaced as mayor by Labour Councillor Dylan Parker. Parker was elected as Mayor of Randwick City Council on Thursday, September 30 with Lindsay Shurey of the Greens elected as Deputy Mayor. Other decisions made at the September 28 council meeting include a $22,000 grant to local not-for-profit Weave Kool Kids Club, planned upgrades to the La Perouse Museum and new restrictions to the Coogee outdoor gym. You can find all the information on the meeting on the council's website. The Coogee Rainbow Walkway is located at Arden St opposite Coogee Bay Rd, Coogee.
In Contagion, the most prophetic film of the 21st century so far, filmmaker Steven Soderbergh didn't just chart the outbreak of a deadly pandemic or introduce everyone to the term 'social distancing'. His eerily accurate thriller also delved into the quest to find a vaccine, too, so that life could go back to normal. And, that's the reality the world has been facing since COVID-19 first emerged — with pharmaceutical companies and medical researchers around the globe working furiously to come up with a solution. One of those companies is UK-based drug outfit AstraZeneca, and Aussies are now going to want to keep a close eye on its progress. As announced today, Wednesday, August 19, the Australian Government has signed a letter of intent with the company to manufacture enough doses of its vaccine, called AZD1222, for everyone in the country. The catch, and it's a big one: the vaccine needs to work. At present, AZD1222 is in phase-three trials, with the vaccine co-invented by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and also known 'the Oxford vaccine'. In interim data published last month, it has been deemed safe, and shown to generate a strong immune response as well. In a statement, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that "the Oxford vaccine is one of the most advanced and promising in world, and under this deal we have secured early access for every Australian". He further remarked, however, that this doesn't mean the vaccine will make it through trials. "There is no guarantee that this, or any other, vaccine will be successful, which is why we are continuing our discussions with many parties around the world while backing our own researchers at the same time to find a vaccine." Also worth noting: if the Oxford vaccine does work, it will be provided to every Aussie for free. Obviously, the government won't provide further details about how everyone will get vaccinated until a working vaccine actually exists. Speaking on radio station 3AW today, the Prime Minister did reveal that the vaccine will likely be compulsory, though. "I would expect it to be as mandatory as you can possibly make. There are always exemptions for any vaccine on medical grounds, but that should be the only basis. I mean, we're talking about a pandemic that has destroyed the global economy and taken the lives of hundreds of thousands all around the world and over 430 Australians here. So, you know, we need the most extensive and comprehensive response to this to get Australia back to normal," he commented. If you're keen to know more about AZD1222, science-wise, AstraZeneca's official rundown explains that it replicates viral vectors from chimpanzees based on a weakened version of a common cold virus. It also contains "the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein", with SARS-CoV-2 the official name of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. "After vaccination, the surface spike protein is produced, priming the immune system to attack the SARS-CoV-2 virus if it later infects the body," the company says. As well as the arrangement to supply 25 million doses of the Oxford vaccine to Australia, AstraZeneca has also made a deal to roll out 400 million doses in the European Union — and has other deals in place with Russia, South Korea, Japan, China, Latin America and Brazil, which covers more than three billion doses of the vaccine in total. Of course, the world will still need to wait to see if the vaccine is successful. And, if it is, we'll need to wait for it to be rolled out from there. AstraZeneca expects its late-stage trial results later this year — but the timeline afterwards hasn't yet been advised. For more information about the status of COVID-19 in Australia, visit the Australian Government Department of Health website.
There's no need to look overseas, or even interstate, when so much incredible wine is produced on your doorstep. Held from 11am–5pm on Sunday, August 17 at Carriageworks, the Winter Cellar Door sees NSW Wine bring together 20 of the state's best winemakers from seven diverse regions for a one-day tasting experience. With over 120 labels to sip and discuss, this jam-packed event is a stellar opportunity to meet the minds behind the wine and learn what techniques and styles are capturing attention in 2025. Best of all, you won't have to travel to distant cellar doors to experience choice vino produced by little-known wineries and acclaimed estates. As for the wineries heading to the big smoke, there's no shortage of respected names. Highlights include Margan, a lauded vineyard from Broke Fordwich, a wine-growing subregion in the Hunter Valley. Meanwhile, Phillip Shaw Wines offers a taste of his Koomooloo Vineyard in Orange, which has helped pioneer the region's high-altitude, cool-climate wines since 1989. Perfect for seasoned wine-lovers and the wine-curious alike, entry to the Winter Cellar Door is free, with tastings available from $5. Of course, you're welcome to drink by the glass and purchase your favourite bottles to enjoy at home. For those keen to skip the queue, buy a tasting glass ahead of time for $10 — you'll also go in the running to win a case of wine.
Everyone has a family story to tell, but we can't all be as good storytellers as Paul Capsis. In Angela's Kitchen he presents a fascinating play on the practice of biography, a microhistory of the migrant experience, a touching ode to a deeply loved woman and a reflection on his own lifetime of pretending and identity-seeking. Capsis — writer, performer, cabaret singer and Kosky pet actor — has devised this production in collaboration with director Julian Meyrick and sounding board/writer Hilary Bell. It uses monologues, multicharacter (but single actor) skits, costume, hand-tinted photos, archival videos, pieces of cloth and objects to create a montage of the life of his grandmother Angela and the close relationship they shared. But what really galvanises Angela's Kitchen is Capsis's warmth, wry metre, open, elastic face and ability to inhabit a character within seconds. Angela came to Australia from Malta with her family in 1948. It was one of the defining events in her life, along with poverty and World War II, during which residents of the strategically important tiny island would hide in deep-dug caves to escape the massive bombing campaign. Angela's family settled in Surry Hills, and it is in a modest kitchen there that Capsis relates to her most strongly. She was clearly a formidable woman and a nurturing influence, and through his bond with her, Capsis felt a life-long bond to Malta — a land of sun, sea and the explanation of self — even though he did not visit it until well into adulthood. His journey there parallels his grandmother's life story in this production. Angela's Kitchen progresses through chapters, and the best bits are entirely surprising (static reading of a 64-member family tree? Awesome) and build on Capsis's off-kilter sense of humour. He makes eye contact and speaks directly to the audience several times in an honest, sweet and very personal performance well cradled by the intimate space. There's something in here for everyone to appreciate, but Angela's Kitchen will most deeply resonate with people who have known the pull of their motherlands and forged transnational identities.
UPDATE, September 1, 2023: Aftersun is available to stream via Binge, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. The simplest things in life can be the most revealing, whether it's a question asked of a father by a child, an exercise routine obeyed almost mindlessly or a man stopping to smoke someone else's old cigarette while wandering through a holiday town alone at night. The astonishing feature debut by Scottish writer/director Charlotte Wells, Aftersun is about the simple things. Following the about-to-turn-31 Calum (Paul Mescal, The Lost Daughter) and his daughter Sophie (debutant Frankie Corio) on vacation in Turkey in the late 90s, it includes all of the above simple things, plus more. It tracks, then, that this coming-of-age story on three levels — of an 11-year-old flirting with adolescence, a dad struggling with his place in the world, and an adult woman with her own wife and family grappling with a life-changing experience from her childhood — is always a movie of deep, devastating and revealing complexity. Earning the internet's Normal People-starring boyfriend a Best Actor Oscar nomination, and deservedly so, Aftersun is a reflective, ruminative portrait of heartbreak. It's a quest to find meaning in sorrow and pain, too, and in processing the past. Wells has crafted a chronicle of interrogating, contextualising, reframing and dwelling in memories; an examination of leaving and belonging; and an unpacking of the complicated truths that a kid can't see about a parent until they're old enough to be that parent. Breaking up Calum and Sophie's sun-dappled coastal holiday with the older Sophie (Celia Rowlson-Hall, Vox Lux) watching camcorder footage from the trip, sifting through her recollections and dancing it out under a nightclub's strobing lights in her imagination, this is also a stunning realisation that we'll always read everything we can into a loved one's actions with the benefit of hindsight, but all we ever truly have is the sensation that lingers in our hearts and heads. That aforementioned question arrives early in Aftersun: "when you were 11, what did you think you'd be doing now?" Sophie asks. A query that's been uttered many times to many people, Wells does indeed mean to get Calum taking stock, remembering his youthful hopes and dreams, and seeing the chasm between what he once wanted and where adulthood has brought him. She also wants viewers sharing the train of thought with him, in a movie that doesn't just feel personal in every second — the filmmaker has called it "emotionally autobiographical" — but gets its audience feeling that it is personal to them. That's a remarkable skill, making a piece of fiction drawn partly and loosely from someone's facts feel as vivid to you as if you'd lived it yourself. And, for 90s kids like Sophie, it doesn't just spring from the meticulous period detail in the sets, wardrobe choices, and 'Macarena', 'Losing My Religion' and 'Tubthumping' on the soundtrack. Consider Calum's quietly, subtly shaken response to Sophie's innocent inquiry — the unsettled look on his face momentarily, owning the brief but loaded pause, before he remembers that he needs a dad's reaction — Exhibit A among the evidence that Mescal is doing career-best work. The actor still only has a handful of screen credits to his name, scoring his Academy Award nod in just his third movie role. He's never been anything less than phenomenal in anything he's been in. Earthy and charming, gentle and fragile, stoic and raw, so wounded inside and so reluctant to share it, and sporting a vulnerable gaze and a cast over one wrist, Mescal is simply heartwrenching in Aftersun, however, as it keeps diving into Sophie's remembrances of her oft-smoking, always supportive, tai chi-practising, playfully bantering, tenderly doting but also silently depressed dad. Understanding why the adult Sophie is scouring VHS tapes and her mind's eye for far more than mere nostalgia involves doing what everyone on a resort getaway does: hanging out. Aftersun spends much of its time in the simple holiday moments, including by the pool, at dinner, singing karaoke, day tripping, and in Sophie and Calum's room — and lets these ordinary, everyday occurrences, and the details that flow from them, confess everything they can. With a blue hue, the film pieces together the pair's history along the way, with Sophie living in Glasgow with her mum, Calum based in London but hardly settled or happy, and this vacation a rare chance for the two to enjoy quality time alone. It also hears the instances where he's mistaken for her older brother and, not unrelated, sees her yearning to be liked by the older kids staying at the same hotel as they drink, banter, party and represent a step closer to her dad's existence. Mescal gets a tilt at Hollywood's night of nights for his efforts, but Corio is just as extraordinary — perhaps more so given that it's her first acting role. Watching the duo together is a marvel and, befitting the wistful sensation that washes through the feature about its central voyage, a rarity. Aftersun is sensual and dreamy in its structure and texture, elaborately constructed to look and feel that way, and anchored by two sensationally naturalistic performances and one sublimely authentic rapport. Everything about the picture ripples with a lived-in air: Mescal and Corio alone and combined alike, the emotions so tremendously conveyed in their portrayals, the genuine rather than fetishised 90s minutiae, Catatonia's 'Road Rage' and All Saints' 'Never Ever' echoing among the pitch-perfect music choices, and those flashes of hazy lose-yourself-to-dance reverie that include the grownup Sophie as well as her vision of Calum. Sophie, Calum and the inescapable aching that haunts both make an unforgettable trio, but Aftersun adds more names to that list, Wells chief among them. One of her great feats in penning and helming a movie that itself is a great feat is ensuring it resembles a flickering memory, complete with making it look and play that way — aided by cinematographer Gregory Oke (Raf) and editor Blair McClendon (The Assistant) — with its faded, glitching videotape aesthetic. Her sense of pace, feel and emotional storytelling, and her ability to build layers everywhere, is as engrained as Mescal and Corio's easy vibe. Her way with all the details revealed in all those small things, and with music drops that say everything (the use of David Bowie and Queen's 'Under Pressure' is majestic and dazzling) is as well. There's nothing tiny about the talents on show here, or the story shared, or one of the most resonant, intelligent and shattering final shots any film has ever managed. "Wish we could've stayed for longer," Sophie says before that. When Calum replies "me too", he's speaking for all of us.
Once a year, Gelato Messina gives Australia's dessert fiends the chance to fill their freezers with its coveted frosty wares. While anyone can walk into the chain's stores on any day and leave with a stockpile of gelato thanks to its take-home packs, being able to choose from Messina's greatest hits is a special treat. Can't live without tubs of Robert Blondie Jnr (white chocolate gelato, blondie and white chocolate fudge sauce) at hand? Adore You Cannoli Live Twice (chocolate crème patisserie gelato with chocolate hazelnut fudge, candied hazelnuts, and crushed cannoli shells) so much that it's all you'd eat if you could? This is your annual time to shine. In the two decades that Messina has been in dessert business, more than 4000 special flavours have made their way through the chain's gelato cabinets around the country. Each year, it releases 260 specials, in fact. Yes, that's a lot of scoops. To celebrate some of these oldies but goodies, the chain brings a selection of these flavours back every now and then — and also occasionally busts out its entire top 40 greatest hits. That's happening again this winter, based on the past year's top flavours. Lucky folks in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Adelaide will be able to treat themselves to a treasure trove of limited-edition gelato varieties. Originally, the greatest hits specials were a buy-in-shop-only deal, but the chain went with preordered tubs in 2020, so no one had to worry about long queues and empty cabinets. In 2024, Messina is splitting the difference, meaning that year's run will be a little different. Only 20 of the 40 flavours will be available for preorder, then 20 more will be spread across its weekly specials for a month. So, gelato fiends can initially preorder 473-millilitre tubs of 20 flavours from Monday, July 22. You'll then need to pick them up from Sydney's Marrickville, Tramsheds, Bondi, Darlinghurst, Norwest, Brighton Le Sands and Rosebery stores; Fitzroy and East Brunswick in Melbourne; South Brisbane in Brisbane; Braddon in Canberra; Highgate in Perth; and Kent Town in Adelaide — all between Friday, August 2–Sunday, August 4. Individual tubs are filled with just one flavour and will set you back $19, or you can get three for $54, six for $100, nine for $135 or — if you have the freezer space — 20 for $280. After that, head by your local Messina weekly from Tuesday, July 23 to see which other 20 adored varieties temporarily rejoin the menu. For the first batch, Messina has unveiled the list of faves making a comeback. As always, it's stacked with deliciousness, just like your freezer will be. Get Baked (with baked caramel cheesecake gelato with dulce de leche and smashed baked cheesecake), Have a Gay Old Time (caramel and milk chocolate gelato with chocolate-covered biscuit crumbs) and Cinnamon Cone Crunch (cinnamon cereal milk gelato with waffle cone crunch) are all among the choices. Good luck trying to pick just one, or even a mere few. The first 20 of Gelato Messina's 2024 Greatest Hits will be available to preorder on Monday, July 22 with pick up between Friday, August 2–Sunday, August 4 from Perth's Highgate store (orders from 11am AWST); Fitzroy and East Brunswick in Melbourne, South Brisbane in Brisbane and Braddon in Canberra (orders from 12pm AEST); Sydney's Bondi, Norwest and Rosebery outposts (orders from 12.15pm AEST); Sydney's Marrickville, Tramsheds, Darlinghurst and, Brighton Le Sands venues (orders from 12.30pm AEST); and Kent Town in Adelaide (orders from 12.30pm ACST). The remaining 20 will drop in-store from Tuesday, July 23 across a month.
Great news, budding entrepreneurs. We've found a very simple equation for immediate business success. Okay, not really. The truth is there is no such thing. In most cases, it takes a pinch of courage, a splash of creativity and a dash of good timing to make it happen. But, there's always something to be gained from hearing the stories of those who've taken the plunge and pulled it off. As far as restaurant groups go, Three Blue Ducks is becoming an Australian powerhouse. But, its success hasn't cost the guys behind it their down-to-earth attitude. Since launching the first Bronte cafe eight years ago, the team has grown to six co-owners (or 'ducks' as they're affectionately named), employing over 240 people across four venues in NSW and QLD (with a fifth slated to open in Melbourne later this year). We sat down with one of the original ducks, Mark Labrooy, to talk about (realistic) business growth, the importance of avoiding trends and why data is helping to improve resourcing and reduce waste. We've teamed up with Westpac to bring you some of Labrooy's top tips to celebrate its Presto Smart payment terminal, which seamlessly connects to a range of point-of-sales systems. Presto gives small businesses a leg up and makes payments and reconciliations a breeze so they can achieve scale — just Three Blue Ducks has done. ESTABLISH YOUR OWN VOICE What do your mum's famous lasagne recipe and your favourite pair of jeans have in common? They're classics that have stood the test of time. Every bite reminds you of childhood meals spent around the dinner table, and every wear confirms that you'll never find denim that feels as comfy as this. The same principle goes for any successful business. To stand out from the pack, it's important to create a product that's unashamedly one-of-a-kind. For the folks behind Three Blue Ducks, their shared passion for ethical and authentic food has been the foundation of the business from day one. "We thought we should do the food we like to eat at home in the venues, and that started to become the ethos around what we do," explains Labrooy. "I think that's what makes you authentic. If you just run with the pack and do what everyone else is doing, I think you lose your voice." USE POP-UP VENUES TO TEST THE WATERS Stepping outside our comfort zone is daunting, whether in work or life. Once you've hit your stride, it's tempting to sit back and let things happily tick away. But to stay relevant, businesses should be prepared to pivot and evolve so, once the Three Blue Ducks team had consolidated their Bronte outpost, they saw a chance to try something new. "The first new venue we did was a pop-up in the snow at Falls Creek, and it was sort of a nudge along," explains Labrooy. Opening a new location is always a risk. What if the market doesn't embrace your venue? Is this the right time to make a move? Are there strong competitors you'll need to contend with? But with risk comes reward. Plus, creating a temporary pop-up means you can experiment with new concepts and ideas without the commitment of a permanent store. "We opened this new venue and we did really well, and it gave us a boost of confidence," tells Labrooy. [caption id="attachment_663257" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] EMBRACE OPPORTUNITIES THAT ALIGN WITH YOUR ETHOS As cheesy as it sounds, sometimes things do happen for a reason. It could be spotting a 'For Lease' sign in your dream neighbourhood or meeting another like-minded entrepreneur looking to embark on their next project. When unmissable opportunities arise, jumping in can keep you ahead of the game. "We had an opportunity that presented itself with The Farm in Byron Bay, and that was a really big play for us," tells Labrooy. He reveals this venture was the business's most challenging to date. However, creating a farm-based restaurant with unlimited access to fresh local produce was always something the team wanted to pursue. "We had the opportunity to design a restaurant and kitchen completely to our specs," Labrooy explains. "We had access to all the farmers that were growing produce on the property. We used to think about ordering eggs, but now we have 500 chickens giving us fresh eggs daily." [caption id="attachment_693841" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nikki To[/caption] BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY Whether you're creating a coffee bar or launching a boutique, connecting with your customers is key to success. As a bricks-and-mortar store, you become part of your local area — and you should use those community relationships to your advantage. This insight continues to inform every Three Blue Ducks venue as the team prioritise giving back to the local areas they call home. The Byron Bay location is a testament to this, as Labrooy tells, "there's no business in the Northern Rivers that even remotely comes close to what we're doing. There's around $4 million dollars of wages that go back into the local economy, plus $4.5 million of produce purchased from local suppliers… we don't use big companies, we use local people with small businesses instead." LEVERAGE DATA TO TEST, LEARN AND GROW Launching a new business is full of unknowns. When are the busiest parts of the day? How many staff should you hire? What quantities of stock do you need on hand to meet demand? In most cases, the first couple of years are about trial and error. For Three Blue Ducks, understanding customer behaviour has always been a valuable resource. By analysing data trends, the team is able to make informed business decisions to maximise profitability and reduce waste. "In Bronte, for example, in November, we know that there is the Sculptures by the Sea and we have thousands of visitors... So we know that's going to be a really busy time of year for us. We order more produce and roster on more staff so we can accommodate," tells Labrooy. "It's all about understanding when are our peaks and troughs and how we manage our restaurants in terms of staffing, food costs and ordering, so we can really reduce our waste." Now that you have some top tips, it's time to take the first steps towards scaling up your business. And when it comes time to set up your payment technology, look to Westpac's Presto Smart terminal. It's made for speedy payments, busting queues, reducing keying errors and seamlessly connecting to a range of Point of Sales systems to help you keep track of cashflow. Please note that the above information is intended to be general in nature and should not be relied upon for personal financial use. Request more info and speak to Westpac here. Top image: Nikki To.
Celine Song understands the power of a moment. Past Lives, her debut feature, is filled with scenes and meetings — minutes and mere seconds, too — that are so potent they're almost overwhelming. Making the leap to cinema from the stage, the playwright-turned-filmmaker has crafted a quiet, patient, contemplative and deeply felt romantic drama that knows intimately how emotions can swell to bursting point in something as simple and commonplace as a glance, walk, Skype call or drink at a bar. One of the movies that had 2023's Sundance Film Festival talking, plus everywhere from Berlin to Sydney to New Zealand since — and is destined to be showered in awards love, too — Past Lives is well-aware of what it's like to spend oh-so-many moments wondering what could've been or still might, and about what's meant to. Arriving after focusing on the stage, getting experimental with Chekhov live and online with The Seagull on The Sims 4 and writing for the initial season of streaming series The Wheel of Time, Song's first effort as a filmmaker springs from a specific moment, in fact — and one that she also recreates on-screen with her characters Nora (Greta Lee, Russian Doll), Hae Sung (Teo Yoo, Decision to Leave) and Arthur (John Magaro, The Many Saints of Newark). Past Lives takes inspiration from the writer/director's own experiences in a number of ways. "I would say it's an adaptation of my life, or inspired by," she tells Concrete Playground. It was the power of a moment sat in a New York bar with her American husband and Korean childhood sweetheart, however, that helped put the picture in motion. "I wasn't sure if there was a movie in it, but I think that what I really did feel is that it did feel like a significant and special moment, and a very revelatory moment in my own life," Song shares, chatting in August when she was in Australia for the Melbourne International Film Festival. "I feel like living your life as an ordinary person, I think that there are moments in your life where your life suddenly feels completely extraordinary — and it's totally epic, too. Then you just suddenly feel the total sheer scale of your life expand." "That kind of was this weird moment where I was like 'huh, nobody in this bar probably knows this or feels this, but I think that I just am feeling so massive sitting here in this little bar with these two people'," Song continues. "I think that it made me feel like 'maybe this is something that might connect with other people?'. And then, more and more, I learned that it does connect with a lot of people, and that honestly has made me feel less lonely more than anything." Past Lives begins with Nora, Hae Sung and Arthur sipping and chatting as fellow bar patrons observe, guessing about who the trio are to each other. From the outset, the film connects with that powerful moment in Song's own existence, with the three figures that'll wander through her feature's frames coping with love and life, and with viewers doing their own watching and pondering as well. From there, the movie heads backwards, first to Nora (Moon Seung-ah, Voice of Silence) and Hae Sung's (Leem Seung-min, Good Deal) time together as pre-teens, before the former and her family move to Canada. Then, it jumps forward twice in 12-year increments, checking in wth the pair — and Arthur once he enters Nora's life — as time passes on and distance stretches their youthful bond. As this tender and heartbreakingly honest picture unfurls, Past Lives' audience doesn't just experience an affinity with folks realising that they're having a moment, but with the "what if?" questions in life, being torn between the past and the present, and trying to work out who you truly are. With its title drawn from the Korean concept of in-yeon, aka the fate that connects anyone who crosses paths, Past Lives' viewers feel a date with destiny as well. Getting swept away by Past Lives is easy; making it play that way wasn't, of course. Song chatted us through the details, including subjectivity, authenticity, getting the personal to feel personal to everyone else, and the ins and outs of casting when you're taking cues from your own life. ON MAKING SONG'S FIRST FEATURE "I wish that I could give you some a lofty thing that I was trying to do. But honestly, I think because it was my first movie, it was just getting through the day and getting a movie made more than anything. I think that every day, the number-one goal that you're facing is just 'okay, how do I make this movie — how do I get through today, and get the footage and get the performances I need?'. That really was the primary drive. I wish I had big, lofty dreams for things, but it was so much more like I was like learning how to do it as I go because it was my first movie. That really was so fully occupying me that it was hard actually for me to feel like I could have any goals beyond making the movie." ON TAKING INSPIRATION FROM REALITY, AND FROM SONG'S OWN STORY "It really does start from that amazing subjective place — that is the part that is the autobiographical moment, which is that moment in the bar. But then, of course, in turning it into a script there is an objectification of the subjective moment, where it becomes a script that you're writing. And then from there, there's another layer of objectification, where you, with hundreds of people who are working on the movie, turn it into a film — which is then a whole other set of objectification. And, part of it is the subjectivity of the actors, for example: they come into the picture and you're working with the actors to create these characters. So, by the time that I was making the movie properly and then finishing the movie and all that, I really was looking at the thing as making this movie. I think that at that point I felt pretty distant from the aspects of the movie that were that started from an autobiographical place. But now that what I really love is it's kind of full circle now — the audience is coming to meet this movie, and they're actually then able to experience it subjectively. They feel like it connects with them autobiographically on their own, too. I think that's the process of making personal work, and I think that's really what the process was for this. I really do think of it as a very personal film because of that. And the words I would usually use, I would say it's an adaptation of my life, or inspired by, or something like that." ON MAKING A PERSONAL FILM THAT FEELS PERSONAL TO AUDIENCES, TOO "That's always the dream and goal for it, because I feel like I have to believe that if I'm being as honest and authentic with the experience of what it's like to be a person, I just know that there is an audience that's going to also connect to it like that. I've really treated it very much as a test of how real can I be with the audience, and how real can the filmmaking be. Of course, I'm talking about the truth of the thing, rather than the facts, because some of it is about the truth of what it's like to be a person. As long as it is communicated in the best way, as clearly as possible — I think I used the word 'clearly' often, as you want to be able to tell the story as clearly as possible — at the end of it you really do want the audience to come along for this journey. And even though it's really specific, I think that the dream is that you're able to see yourself in it and you're able to connect it to your own life. This movie doesn't have conventional ideas of spectacle. We don't have wild costumes. We don't have VFX. We don't do anything that is outside of what is likened to human experience. So I think some of it just had to be relying on the authenticity of performance, and that's where the story is going to be. That's how the story was going to connect with the audience — they're going to feel how real the movie is going to be, the way that the movie is going to reach everyone. I've been finding that no matter what walk of life you come from, you're going find something in the movie that you feel connected to." ON MAKING AN AUTHENTIC "WHAT IF?" STORY WHEN EVERYONE SHARES THAT TRAIN OF THOUGHT "That really is the the part that is difficult about making a movie where you can really feel connected to it. It's going to live and die on if the audience will come along for the journey and believe it, and believe the characters and believe the story. I think without question, that's where you're going to be able to see very, very high emotional standards. We do, of course, all experience 'what could have been?'. Sometimes it's the person, but sometimes it's a city — and sometimes it's a lifestyle or a job. If you ever have had an experience like that, I think you're going to connect to the movie." ON THE INTRICACIES OF CASTING WHEN YOU'RE TAKING CUES FROM YOUR OWN LIFE "I don't think that I was looking for actors who were going to play basically those people [IRL]. I was looking for people who were going to play the characters that I've written. So something that I wanted is to make sure that none the actors thought that what they were trying to do is to replicate people who exist. I wanted then to come with me in finding the characters that we're trying to to pick for the screen, because it's a completely different thing altogether — characters in movies are very different than people in real life. People in real life, it's not so clear what their arc is. In our lives, I don't think that we know what our arc is in our real life, because we don't live in narrative. We live in a life, compared to characters in a film who have to live in a narrative, because that's what we're going to be watching. Without question, the actors were not being asked to replicate real people. What they were being asked to do is the scenes, and part of the thing that I was looking for in the actors is, first of all, are they great actors? The way that I wanted to make the movie, sometimes I would ask the actors to just do the whole scene — which is, of course, something that comes from my background as a playwright — and I really wanted them to be able to do the whole scene if I asked them to. That's something that only actors that are really excellent actors are able to do. So, that was the first thing that I was looking for. The other thing I'm looking for is what I would call a soul match to the characters, where I really wanted the actors to have some deep kind of soul connection to the characters — it has to do with the way they're talking about the characters, but it's also, more importantly, the engine or the fire that a character has to have. It is something that the actors themselves could have — that the heart of Nora is going to be found in Greta's heart as well. I think you could really feel that in the film, where Nora is showing up but it's not just that Greta is playing Nora. I know that for the film, the only way that this movie can work is that Greta had become Nora. That's what's both amazing about casting and also what's very difficult." ON THE RESPONSE TO PAST LIVES SO FAR — AND THE SUNDANCE EXPERIENCE "You just hope for the best for the movie that you're making kind of in secret. I really did think about it as something that was a bit of a secret between me and everybody who was working on the movie. Then, as for how the world was going to receive it, that's been an amazing part — it's just nothing but joy and like excitement. I remember at Sundance, I'd been working on the movie again in secret with the people who worked on the movie with me for many years. Then I remember waiting at the backstage of Sundance, knowing that it's going to be in the in the public's hands from this moment on. I remember really feeling in that moment like everything's going to change, and this is going to be a moment where I'm going to have to let go of control or let go of everything. It really was like wandering into the unknown. I think that every time that there has been such a warm response, which is how it been, it's just such an exciting thing — because great word of mouth means that more people are going to come see the movie, and I think that's always the dream for it. You want to be able to share this thing that you made." Past Lives opened in cinemas Down Under on August 31. Read our review. Images: courtesy of A24.
After the year we've had, everyone could use a little extra dancefloor time. That's where White Claw Weekend is coming in, with a brand new series of live music sessions hitting coastal venues up and down the eastern seaboard this summer. Local acts like Roland Tings, Bag Raiders and Groove City are part of the stacked events calendar. They'll be taking over venues like Manly's newly refurbished Wharf Bar, Watson's Bay Boutique Hotel, Port Melbourne's Exchange Beach Club and Brisbane's urban playground, X Cargo. Harvey M will kick things off on Monday, December 27 in Port Melbourne before Dugong Jr takes over on Tuesday, December 28. Alice Ivy will wrap things up at the Exchange Beach Club on New Year's Day, before the party heads up to NSW's Wharf Bar with Mickey Kojak on Sunday, January 9. Wharf Bar will also host Chase Zera, Barley Passable and POOLCLVB across January 16, 23 and 30. Roland Tings and Groove City will perform at Watson's Bay Hotel on February 4 and 18, while Close Counters will perform in St Kilda on February 13. Bag Raiders will make their appearance at X Cargo on Sunday, March 27. Along with home-grown live tunes, the White Claw team will be bringing along plenty of alcoholic fizzy drinks to keep you cool through summer. Head to the White Claw website to keep up to date with the lineup and to buy tickets. [caption id="attachment_836974" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Wharf Bar[/caption] White Claw Weekend Acts Dugong Jr Harvey M Alice Ivy Mickey Kojak Chase Zera Barley Passable Poolclvb Groove City Roland Tings Close Encounters Bag Raiders White Claw Weekend will run from Monday, December 27 to Sunday, March 27 at various locations across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Tickets are available via the White Claw website.
Prepare to tantalise your taste buds at the Auburn Ramadan Street Festival 2023. This beloved local event promises to be a great night out for food and culture fans alike, bringing together a diverse range of authentic street vendors and local restaurants. Hosted on Auburn road on Saturday, April 15, from 5.30pm to midnight, this festival is an excellent opportunity to explore the rich culture of the local community. Sample delectable dishes from traditional Middle Eastern, African and Asian cuisines while enjoying the buzzing atmosphere and bustling crowds. Whether you're a seasoned foodie or just looking for a fun night out, the Auburn Ramadan Street Food Festival has something for everyone. From savoury falafel to sweet baklava, juicy burgers to crispy lokma, you'll be spoiled for choice with the selection of dishes on offer. But it's not just about food — the festival also offers a chance to connect with the local community and learn about the customs and traditions of Ramadan, a traditional Muslim month of fasting in the daylight hours and feasting by night. So mark your calendars and head to Auburn this Ramadan for a culinary adventure to remember. The Auburn Ramadan Street Festival will run from 5.30pm to midnight on Saturday, April 15. Funding for the event is provided by Multicultural NSW. For more information on the festival, visit the website.
Holding this in Paddington Town Hall is fitting (har) for several reasons: (1) FASHAN is SRS BIZNISS; (2) it's based around community participation, even if not of the 'objection to proposed development' type; (3) if you're in that area, you're probably already paying attention to your outfit. Civic-mindedness goes beyond the venue, though, with the Fashion Forward Festival giving emerging labels a platform and raising funds for the AIDS Trust of Australia. A bit more underground and a lot more public-access than RAFW, the well-cut edge of Australian design is showcased and paraded here across a couple of days of garments, swimwear and accessories. The venue is practical, too: as well as fresh-faced and probably still only faux-jaded designers, some buyers and some people who would like to be buying, there will clearly be models at a fashion thing, and models are really tall. Not to suggest that they'd hit their heads on the ceilings of a less capacious space, but in terms of sense of scale this ends up being like an average-sized situation through a magnifying lens. That'll make you feel like you have brilliant attention to detail, which you're going to need to spot the careers as well as pieces being launched. A lot of care is taken in the festival's look(s) and there's a lot to care about in where the money it raises is going.
If you avoid glass observation decks atop high structures like the plague, then you might want to look away. Those cash-grabbing, genius high rise developers have taken our apparent insatiable desire to stand on a floor of reinforced glass at great heights to the next level and turned the standing attraction into a sliding one. Yep, a see-through glass slide has just opened on top of Los Angeles' highest skyscraper. Terrifying. The slide — aptly named Skyslide — is part of the iconic U.S. Bank Tower's new Skyspace development, which opened on Saturday, June 25. Skyspace has turned the tower's 70th floor into an impressive open-air observation deck (the highest of its kind in California), and the slide is just an extra addition for people who feel that merely looking at a view of Downtown LA from 1000 feet is not enough. That said, the slide is relatively short at about 14 metres — it only travels the length of one floor, from the 70th to the 69th. So it's a bit of a short-lived ride. But if you're scared of heights, you can at least take comfort in the fact that it'll be over before you know it. Well, we assume there's nothing quite like moving at high speed in a glass tube on the side of a building to truly appreciate the view. Even if it is only for 3.5 seconds.
In true country-WA style, the Southern Forests region is a horticultural hub known for diverse and delicious produce. And the community celebrates that fact each year with the Manjimup Cherry Harmony Festival, where you can taste the best and juiciest local cherries, and cherry-flavoured goodies (imagine enjoying fresh cherry ice cream on a warm summer day). The perfect excuse for a weekend getaway, the festival has a bunch of different free and ticketed events, from street parades, market stalls and live entertainment, to a long table lunch among the cherry trees of Newton Orchards. There's also a cherry tour — where you can learn about food innovation and ride a tractor through one of Manjimup's oldest orchards — and Koomal Dreaming, which will allow you to experience Wadandi and Bibbulman country through the eyes of the traditional owners. Manjimup Cherry Harmony Festival takes place on Saturday, December 14. Find the full program, including ticketing information, on the festival website.
Between Laneway, Golden Plains, Don't Let Daddy Know and Pitch Music & Arts, lineups for 2024 music festivals just keep coming. Next on the list: Souled Out. If you like new wave R&B, this is your next must-attend event — especially if you're keen on seeing Summer Walker, PartyNextDoor and Tinashe live. Souled Out's 2024 lineup also includes Bryson Tiller, Majid Jordan, Smino, Lucky Daye, Libianca and more, as part of a roster that balances well-known names, up-and-coming talent and local acts. As you might've spotted, variety is a big focus among its tunes, with the fest's array of talent not just playing the same styles of R&B. As they hit the stage, they'll be playing tracks that span subgenres such as neo soul, trap soul and Afrobeats. Walker's place on the bill is big news, given that it will be her first trip to Australia. As for PartyNextDoor, aka Jahron Anthony Brathwaite, his resume includes writing 'Work' for Rihanna. Along with the rest of the lineup, Walker and PartyNextDoor will get behind the microphone at three 2024 stops, all in March: at Parramatta Park in Sydney, Doug Jennings Park on the Gold Coast and Caribbean Gardens in Melbourne. Souled Out will be new to its trio of 2024 destinations, but it isn't new overall after launching in Brisbane in 2023. Also on the bill: DJs Joe Kay, Andre Power and Sasha, who'll be spinning tracks away from the fest's main stage that work in 90s R&B favourites. SOULED OUT 2024 LINEUP: Summer Walker PartyNextDoor Bryson Tiller Majid Jordan Smino Tinashe Lucky Daye Libianca Thuy Will Singe Lara Andallo Joe Kay Sasha Mistah Cee Andre Power SOULED OUT 2024 DATES: Friday, March 22 — Parramatta Park, Sydney Saturday, March 23 — Doug Jennings Park, Gold Coast Friday, March 29 — Caribbean Gardens, Melbourne Souled Out will tour Australia in March 2024, with ticket presales from 12.30pm on Monday, November 13 and general sales from 12.30pm on Tuesday, November 14 — head to the festival website for more information.
Here's something that you oughta know: Alanis Morissette is heading Down Under. The famed 90s singer was actually set to hit our shores back in 2020 as part of her world tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of her chart-topping 95 album Jagged Little Pill. But the pandemic forced those plans to change, so now she'll perform in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney in 2022. Get ready to sing along to 'Ironic', 'You Oughta Know' and 'All I Really Want' at Perth's RAC Arena on November 5, Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena on November 8 and 9, and Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena on November 11. Morissette was also part of the cancelled 2020 Bluesfest bill, but if the festival returns to its usual Easter timeslot next year — after the 2021 fest was scrapped, then moved to October — that obviously won't happen again. At her four stadium shows, the 90s icon will be supported by Australia's own Julia Stone. Stone has released three solo albums and four together with her brother Angus, including Down the Way, which won Album of the Year at the 2010 ARIA Awards. Morissette's own collection of music awards is hefty, and includes seven Grammys and 12 Juno Awards. While her 95 album Jagged Little Pill is the most critically acclaimed, the Canadian singer has released nine albums, including her latest, Such Pretty Forks in the Road, in 2020. It's clearly a great time to be an Australian Morissette fan, with Broadway's Jagged Little Pill musical, which was inspired by her album and features a heap of the musician's songs, also headed our way. It'll reopen the Theatre Royal Sydney this September. In the meantime, though, hype yourself up for the Aussie tour by belting out the following banger: ALANIS MORISSETTE 2022 AUSTRALIAN DATES Saturday, November 5 — RAC Arena, Perth Tuesday, November 8 and Wednesday, November 9 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Friday, November 11 — Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Tickets for Alanis Morissette's rescheduled tour are on sale now.
Two-year-old Melbourne-based label Búl has brought its sharp tailoring to the Strand Arcade in the form of a pop-up that will be open til September. Greeting you with pine wood panels, tree stumps and white, mottled-marble counters, the space has a feel that's directly on target for those coveting the cleanly organic. The design (by architect Michael Macleod) plays perfect host to the AW13 collection, which is muted and classic in silk, leather and knit, from the gorgeous two-tone Kabli jacket to the Haldjas boot. Designer Virginia Martin cut her teeth at Proenza Schouler, Cynthia Rowley, Heatherette and Trovata before going solo at age 25 and consciously integrates a serene coastal influence into every season of Bul. Want 15 percent off all full-priced items at the Búl pop-up at The Strand? Just mention you're using the Concrete Playground reader discount (valid until Sunday, June 9).
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the latest installment from the empire of J.K. Rowling. It's the first in a series of prequels to the Harry Potter films, that start in New York City in 1926. The film relies on the classic Pandora's box trope to drive the superficial layer of narrative. A magical trunk full of beasts is released upon New York and, in this case, Pandora is Newt Scamander, an eccentric British wizard played by Eddie Redmayne. Scamander, just in case you aren't as obsessed with the Potterverse as we are, is referenced throughout the Harry Potter series as the author of a foundational Hogwart's text book titled, you guessed it, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". Written by Rowling herself, the crust of the plot is a little bit slapstick. Essentially, after a series of bumbles in a muggle bank (or a 'no-maj' bank, as the Yanks would say), Scamander's trunk is swapped with the trunk of Jacob Kowalski, a typical, goofy muggle and aspirational baker played beautifully by Dan Fogler. When Kowalski unwittingly releases the cheeky beasties from the trunk, Scamander must team up with Porpentina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), a low-level Magical Congress employee scheming to get her Auror stripes back. This is where we dip down into the mantle of the plot and things get a bit more complicated. Turns out there are a faction of individuals in the community who believe magical beings are superior to muggles and that wizards should come out of hiding to enslave them. Without giving too much away, as the good guys race around New York collecting up their escaped creatures, Colin Farrell's character Percival Graves is lurking in the wings, trying to collect power. Also a church of fanatical, witch-hating muggles are seeking to expose magic. Also, a malevolent force is tearing around NYC ripping up side walks. Also, the evil wizard Gellert Grindelwald is on the loose. Fantastic Beasts' goblet truly runneth over with plot and this might not be a good thing. The difficulty with this particular film franchise is that it has to be ambitious, since they've slated another four films at least. So this first installment labours to lay the foundations for the series. But the audience has no road map as to what is and isn't significant. There are numerous scenes, and indeed entire subplots, that could have been cut, seemingly without compromising any of the story arcs. Perhaps they'll bear fruit in later editions, but until then they're just kind of...there. Fortunately, the film makes up for its pacing problems with cauldron-loads of charm. From the overtures of friendship between Scamander and Kowalski to the soft-core romance blossoming every-damn-where; from the timely Ron Weasley-esque notes of comedy to the practical use of magic, everything in this film is just so damn whimsical. Untethered from any pre-existing book, this film takes magic use to it's logical conclusion: domestic automation. For some unknown reason, Hogwarts students learned how to turn each other into teapots but never seemed to learn any practical spells that would make their lives any easier. This film rectifies that annoyance completely and for Potter fans it's immensely satisfying. Also, we can't leave without mentioning the beasts, which as the film's title suggests are truly fantastic. The strongest part of the movie are Scamander's creatures and their various quirks – it's a handy plot device that the protagonist carries around a trunk full of talented beasts, and the script uses them to it's full advantage. And ultimately, that's the key to the film's success. At times it does feel as though the cheesiness of the Potterverse doesn't quite translate into this rather more adult world. Nevertheless, the magic that's powered Rowling's creations until now remains as palpable as ever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vso5o11LuGU
Caress/Ache, directed by Anthony Skuse for Griffin Theatre, feels like the moment immediately after you bust a piñata — there’s a whole heap of stuff spilling out in all different directions, fragmented chaos of varying quality. The play tells a number of stories that loosely connect under the theme of touch, although with a heavy-handed projection containing germane biological facts preceding each scene, it tends to feel rather forced. Mark (Ian Stenlake), is a surgeon who has lost a patient and can no longer stand physical contact with Libby (Helen Christinson), his wife. Cameron (Gary Clementson) comes clean to his partner about a great deal of touching he did with another woman, and Alice (Zoe Carides) is a mother whose son is on death row, her fear being that he will be executed before she can embrace him again. A thread which follows Cate (Sabryna Te’o), a girl training to be a phone sex operator, is easily the funniest and probably the best executed of these. Structurally, it is a play full of contradictions and sudden gear changes. Suzie Miller’s writing contains more than the odd cliche and careens rather wildly in tone from poetic to melodramatic to conversational and back again. The actors are staunch in their efforts to realise each scene truthfully, but titters from the audience during one particularly emotional scene were proof of the significant challenge posed by the dialogue. This disunity persists at the design level. Sound design by Nate Edmondson contains a great deal of momentum and wonder; the problem is it belongs to a different show. It’s strange and disappointing to watch a man brood in a bath when the music dictates that Brian Cox come on and inform the audience about the birth of the universe. The bareness and sterility of the set does focus attention on the small moments of human contact, but at the same time it made many of the scenes feel as though they were being performed in a void. The introduction of a bath in the latter half exacerbated this problem — it is referenced by a couple of the performers while the rest of the cast were forced to act around it. There are some genuinely nice moments in Caress/Ache; the difficulty is sorting them from story threads which strain furiously against each other, denying the piece cohesion. Caress/Ache is no papier-mache shell, but, like anything that’s been hit by a bat a couple of times, it doesn’t quite hold together.
It's time to hit the galleries, as 22nd Biennale of Sydney is set to return from Saturday, March 14 through Monday, June 8. Sure, three months might sound like a lot of time, but this massive biennial showcase spans over 700 artworks and 101 artists from 65 different countries — as well as several galleries across our city, from Campbelltown to Cockatoo Island. The 2020 edition is entitled Nirin, which means 'edge' in the language of western NSW's Wiradjuri people. It is helmed by a new First Nations artistic director, famed Sydney-born, Melbourne-based interdisciplinary artist Brook Andrew. Andrew has selected an impressive lineup of artists and creatives — many of them First Nations — from around the world to exhibit at the Art Gallery of NSW, Woolloomooloo's Artspace, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Cockatoo Island, MCA and the National Art School for the exhibition's 12 weeks. The showcase brings together artists from all over the globe, with fresh perspectives on Australia that span culture, gender and place. Expect installations, performances, sculptures, videos, paintings and drawings that examine what it means to be First Nations. Here are ten highlights that you can't miss. Due to current concerns surrounding COVID-19, the Biennale has implemented precautionary measures at all its galleries, in line with advice from WHO and the NSW Department of Health. Venues are cleaned more frequently and hand sanitiser is readily available. It's also asking all visitors to practise good general hygiene and stay at home if they're feeling unwell. You can read its full statement and any updates over here. [caption id="attachment_765015" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Teresa Margolles, 'Untitled', 2020, mixed-media installation. Installation view (2020) for the 22nd Biennale of Sydney, National Art School. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich. Photograph: Zan Wimberley[/caption] UNTITLED BY TERESA MARGOLLES, NATIONAL ART SCHOOL Teresa Margolles' mixed-media installation Untitled is one of the most powerful and heart wrenching works of the entire Biennale. The Mexican artist's work acts as a memorial to murdered women and transgender women across both Mexico and Australia. Over 70 women were murdered in Australia last year alone. Untitled compiles acts of violence and trauma from several sites in each country — with Sydney-specific sites included. Margolles collected particles from these murder scenes through sponging the area with water and collecting any particles or residue that remained. The water collected from each site is used in the actual work, incorporated as droplets (each representing one life) that fall onto an electric copper hot plate in regular intervals. As you hear the water evaporate, it signifies the loss of a life, though every drop leaves a mark. Surrounding the installation is a blood-red butcher curtain, giving the entire scene an eerie edge. Margolles' work is a very visceral and emotive piece, with the viewer acting as witness to forgotten acts of violence. [caption id="attachment_765017" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Barabara McGrady. Installation view (2020) for the 22nd Biennale of Sydney, Campbelltown Arts Centre. Courtesy the artist. Photograph: Zan Wimberley[/caption] NGIYANINGY MARAN YALIWAUNGA NGAARA-LI BY BARBARA MCGRADY WITH JOHN-JANSON MOORE, CAMPBELLTOWN ARTS CENTRE Sydney-based photographer and Gomeroi/Murri/Yinah woman Barbara McGrady brings modern First Nations issues front-and-centre with her collaborative work, Ngiyaningy Maran Yaliwaunga Ngaara-li (Our Ancestors Are Always Watching). This Biennale installation acts as a photographic archive of McGrady's extensive work, which truly represents contemporary Aboriginal history. The artist aims to 'engage audiences with images through a black lens and document the diverse Aboriginal experience' — across themes such as sports, song and dance, community, politics and protest. The blacked-out room screens multi-channel audio-visuals across several large televisions, while R&B, rap and other culturally-specific music plays through the speakers. Black couches invite viewers to hang around and truly immerse themselves in the exhibition. [caption id="attachment_765039" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Colectivo Ayllu artists, Artspace. Courtesy the artists. Photograph: Zan Wimberley[/caption] COLECTIVO AYLLU/MIGRANTES TRANSGRESORXS, ARTSPACE The massive Artspace installation by Collectivo Ayllu is a collection of 11 works, which together form a labyrinth-like exhibition of four 'stations' all up. The political action group, formed in Madrid in 2009, includes five artists from South America: Alex Aguirre Sánchez (Ecuador), Leticia/Kimy Rojas (Ecuador), Francisco Godoy Vega (Chile), Lucrecia Masson (Argentina) and Yos Piña Narváez (Venezuela). The work aims to critique western heteronormative values through the lens of the Spanish colonisation of the 15th and 16th centuries — of which all of the Collective's members identify as descendants. This powerful installation tells the repeated and ongoing story of colonial pain and adds a contemporary lens to it. The floor of the entire winding exhibition is covered in sand, making reference to the images of colonisers landing on the beaches of South America and around the world. The artists have constructed the installation as an Andean huaca – a fundamental Inca sanctuary or sacred place. [caption id="attachment_765020" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Installation view (2020) photographed in the Grand Courts at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Photograph: Zan Wimberley[/caption] RETAULE DELS PENJATS AND MÀRTIR BY JOSEP GRAU-GARRIGA, AGNSW At AGNSW, the Biennale has been very appropriately integrated into the galleries on the ground floor, which primarily houses European art. This artistic decision forces the viewers to re-evaluate the history of art in Australia and the Euro-centric lens it often takes. Taking centre stage in the AGNSW Grand Courts is Retaule dels penjats (Altarpiece of the Hanged People) — a prominent 1970s work by Spanish artist Josep Grau-Garriga. His three-storey textile installation truly takes over the space, reaching to the ceiling, and works as a direct dialogue with the architecture of the gallery. His three-dimensional woven characters are a hanging memorial to tormented and suffering victims of war and martyrdom, which the viewer is forced to address — this massive installation literally cannot be missed. [caption id="attachment_765050" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Photo by Emma Joyce.[/caption] WATAMI MANIKAY BY THE MULKA PROJECT, AGNSW A stunning work by the Yolŋu digital artists of The Mulka Project, Watami Manikay (Song of the Winds) will transport viewers to another time and place. The artist collective works with digital technologies and video art. This specific project weaves the kinship of Yolŋu clans through the four winds in the form of a three-walled, floor-to-ceiling video projection that moved from sunrise to sunset — depicting lapping waves and sunny beaches. The focal point of the installation is a painted larrakitj (hollow ceremonial log), which represents the gunḏa rock that grounds each clan to its identity. It changes colour and glows in time with the mesmerising film. The cyclical work aims to express the 'countless generations of evolving Yolŋu art practice'. [caption id="attachment_765024" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Museum of Contemporary Art installation view. Photograph: Zan Wimberley[/caption] WHAT LASTS! (SARCOPHAGUS) BY AHMED UMAR, MCA For artist Ahmed Umar's autobiographical work he created an earthenware tomb, one which is meant for him. The lid of the ancient-looking, ceramic sarcophagus includes a full body cast of Umar. It is part of a sculptural triptych that the artist created after opening up about his sexuality — and being considered 'dead' by close family members. The tomb is both a reminder of the pain of oppression and a celebration of his death. This piece is a protest against his upbringing in Sudan, and Umar (dressed in traditional Sudanese clothing) also physically protests alongside the artwork (he'll appear at various times throughout the festival). He holds a sign that reads 'Sudan executes gay people under its government endorsement'. His form of protest creates a timely and meaningful piece of art that needs to be seen. [caption id="attachment_765051" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Photo by Emma Joyce.[/caption] KUINI HAATI 2 AND TOGO MO BOLATAANE BY KULIMOE'ANGA STONE MAKA, MCA For Biennale 2020, Christchurch-based and Tongan-born artist Kulimoe'anga Stone Maka has created an expansive tapestry which nearly takes up an entire gallery floor at the Museum of Contemporary Art. The two-in-one painting re-enacts the meeting between Queen Salote of Tonga and the UK's Queen Elizabeth II, when the latter visited Tonga in 1953. The tap cloth depicts Maka's actual memory as a ten-year-old boy, with yellow barricades around the piece recalling the crowds on the day. His memory also includes seeing someone with blue eyes for the first time — which you'll notice as blue dots on the tapa cloth. The artist's technique nods to the Tongan art of ngatu 'uli (black-marked bark cloth), which has a 'material connection to his homeland'. Through his work, Maka is simultaneously telling both a personal and global story of connection. THE LAST RESORT BY LATAI TAUMOEPEAU, COCKATOO ISLAND Tongan Australian artist Latai Taumoepeau's The Last Resort depicts an all-too-real dystopia where idyllic island landscapes have literally become garbage dumps. It specifically explores the vulnerability and fragility of the Pacific Island nations' saltwater ecosystems. Performer Taliu Aloua wears brick sandals and holds an 'ike (Tongan mallet), while surrounded by a wall of glass bottle-filled sacks. A sea bed of glass lays at her feet. She repeatedly (and very loudly) smashes the bottles with her feet and mallet, and adorns broken sacks in replace of a lei around her neck. This ongoing endurance performance acts as a response to the physical and emotional (as well as geo-political) labour of Pacific Island people against the agents of climate change. Their connection to the land and the true destruction happening to it is viscerally depicted here. RE(CUL)NAISSANCE BY LÉULI ESHRĀGH, COCKATOO ISLAND Sāmoan artist Léuli Eshrāgh created a peaceful and beautiful ceremonial space for the 22nd Biennale. Re(cul)naissance honours precolonial kinship systems, using natural light to shun western religious beliefs of bringing 'light' to colonised nations; instead, this work fully embraces Indigenous practices that are 'considered deviant by western missionaries'. The work specifically interacts with Sāmoan and other Indigenous concepts, namely 'mālamalama — the process of enlightenment through paying attention to symbiotic pō (the origin of the universe), lagi (multiple heavens) and other kin animals. The space and video performance openly explores multiple genders and sexualities in an engaging way that offers up a future 'free of colonial shame'. Eshrāgh collaborated with artists Tommy Misa, Sereima Adimate and Kiliati Pahulu on this project. [caption id="attachment_765031" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Laure Prouvost installing 'Into All That is Here With The Two Cockatoo Too' (2020), Cockatoo Island. Courtesy the artist; Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels; carlier | gebauer, Berlin / Madrid; and Lisson Gallery, London / New York / Shanghai. Photograph: Zan Wimberley[/caption] INTO ALL THAT IS HERE WITH THE TWO COCKATOO TOO BY LAURE PROUVOST, COCKATOO ISLAND French artist Laure Prouvost's Biennale artwork is potentially the most unsettling of the bunch. Into All That Is Here With The Two Cockatoo Too is a site-specific work that uses the entirety of the island's Dog Leg Tunnel. Within the dark tunnel, Prouvost provides an immersive experience that touches many senses and mimics the 'daily flow of images and texts that assail us'. Think of it as content overload, while trying to traverse a house of horrors. You'll hear whispers throughout the tunnel, and one of those voices may just be the artist herself — who at times will be lurking in the shadows and encouraging you to sit with her. Further in, the tunnel begins to 'wind' as constructed black curtains make you weave in-and-out, which starts to feel endless. Needless to say, you better not be afraid of the dark for this one. Top image: Hannah Catherine Jones 'Ode to Diaspora'; photograph: Zan Wimberley
Now that we all carry digital maps in our pockets, finding our way around is as simple as whipping out our smartphones, typing in a location and following the stated directions. And, with Google Maps featuring extensive real-life images of the globe's roads and spaces in its Street View mode, it couldn't be easier to double-check that the place in front of you is your intended destination. If the above describes your usual process when you're trying to navigate your way to somewhere new, then you'll also be keen on Google Maps' new Live View feature. Using augmented reality, it combines the service's directions with Street View, superimposing arrows, street names and directions over the actual view that's in front of you — rather than a map or photographic representation of it — literally pointing users in the right direction. Whether you've been distracted while walking around New York and ended up in the wrong place, or found Tokyo's busier districts a bit of a labyrinth, this'll help. The same applies if you're notorious for paying more attention to the sights and sounds around you instead of looking at where you're going, which, when travelling, is an experience we can all relate to. After testing Live View with its local guides and via Pixel phones over the past few months, Google is now expanding the feature — which is currently still in beta testing — to Android and iOS devices. To use it, your phone will need to support ARCore (the company's platform for building augmented reality experiences) and ARKit (Apple's equivalent). Then, after typing in a location into Google Maps, you'll just need to tap the directions button, select walking directions and look for the Live View option. The rollout comes part of the tech giant's broader suite of updates in the travel space. Users can now also use Google Maps to track hotel and flight bookings, find restaurants tailored to their tastes and use their Location History timeline to make notes on each place they visit. Google Maps' Live View is now available on Android and iOS devices. For more information, visit Google Maps.
When Hartsyard owners Dorothy Lee and Jarrod Walsh announced they were stepping away from the beloved Enmore Road venue in June, they left the door open for something to come in its place. Four months on, with the restaurant officially closed, the Hartsyard crew has announced what they have in stall for the space — Irene's Enmore. This new neighbourhood restaurant will be headed up by chef Neville Dsouza who has previously worked the kitchens of Gowings at QT Sydney, Yellow and Cirrus. Dsouza is aiming to maintain the friendly, welcoming nature of Hartsyard while introducing a flavour and produce-driven vegetable- and seafood-heavy menu. Irene's is named after Dsouza's aunt. "She was beautiful and full of life and always cooked Sunday lunch for the whole family. It is the reason why Neville cooks and this new joint is in her memory," a statement from Lee and Walsh reads. On the menu you'll find inventive takes on comfort food, ranging from fried okra, burnt eggplant and crumbed fried pork, to fried chicken with fermented chilli and grilled prawns with a garlic cream. Another element of the menu is a holistic approach to serving goat, with the likes of goat curry, goat sausages and charcuterie popping up in order to make use of the whole animal. Drinks wise, there will be a curated wine list and Dsouza's favourite Indian beer Kingfisher Larger. Irene's Enmore will open on Friday, November 4. As for Lee and Walsh, the duo are transitioning their talents to The Old Clare Hotel in Chippendale (a perennial inclusion in our list of the best hotels in Sydney). The pair will be bringing favourites from the Hartsyard menu and a range of exciting new dishes to the multi-space hotel. The move to The Old Clare will see them revamp the food and drink offerings across both the hotel's ground-floor watering hole The Clare Bar and its popular poolside rooftop bar, plus Lee and Walsh will be opening an entirely new restaurant at the venue. Irene's Enmore is located at 33 Enmore Road, Newtown. It's opening on Friday, November 4 and will be open 6–10pm Monday and Thursday, and 5pm–late Friday–Sunday.
Counting your steps has the obvious benefit of motivating a healthier lifestyle. But nothing motivates us quite like free food does. Combine the two and you get the Energy Exchange Cafe, a food-for-steps experiment that will pop-up within Chippendale's Concrete Jungle from August 28 through 30, 8am–2.30pm daily. You read correctly — no cash is needed for this dine-out brekkie. The cafe is a collaboration between Tim Robards — a TV personality and "wellness expert" (his words, not ours) — and Uncle Tobys. The deal is as straightforward as it sounds: show your steps and get a free meal. The menu 'prices' range from 3000 to 10,000 steps, with every dish accompanied by a free coffee. Patrons can use their preferred step-tracker to show accumulated steps from the previous day, or the day of, or even sign an 'energy pledge' for the steps they intend to take — honour-system style. The menu is loaded with nutrient-rich and filling dishes to get you through the day. Yes, the menu also features lots of oats. Choose from creamy turmeric porridge topped with a poached egg, kale and crisp chickpeas (10,000 steps); orange juice-soaked bircher with fresh strawberries, apples and grapes (8000); blue algae smoothie bowls with fresh blueberries and crunchy granola (10,000); or mixed berry hotcakes topped with a heaping dollop of cream (6000). Plus chia seed bliss balls (3000), oat banana bread (3000) and — of course — an avocado on toast (5000) option, too. Images: Kai Leishman
Playing with light and meticulously showing attention to detail are the biggest lessons to learn from this year's Australian Interior Design Awards. Entering its 11th year as one of Australia's premier design events, the Design Institute of Australia-backed awards handed their highest hospitality accolades to Melbourne's light-filled coffee roasters and Penfolds' stunning flagship outside of Adelaide. Competition was fierce for the Hospitality Design award, with commendations given to Melbourne's Chinese spot Ruyi and Canberra's sleek bakery bar A. Baker. Among the 31 shortlisted entrants were Woolloomooloo's Riley Street Garage, Surry Hills' Single Origin Roasters, Brunswick warehouse venue Howler, rustic Manly spot Donny's Bar, Prahran's Japanese gem Mr Miyagi, the new Sydney CBD chapter of The Local Bar, Bondi's groundbreaking Sensory Lab, buzzing live music venue Newtown Social Club, Degraves St's elegant cafe The Quarter, Southbank Japanese restaurant Gochi and more new additions to the Australian bar and restaurant family. But there can only be two top dogs. Taking out the award for Hospitality Design, Fitzroy's Industry Beans was applauded for turning a factory shell into a light-filled, timber-clad cafe and specialty coffee roastery. "The use of the ubiquitous timber pallet creates a strong and defined interior," said the jury citation. "The pallets give the cafe an overall industrial aesthetic and add a surprising amount of warmth to the design." Use of light won the jury over in the end, with winning design firm Figure Ground Architecture's louvres letting in the final votes for the top spot. "The quality of light in what could have been a dark and dreary space shows a consideration of the connection between the interior and the exterior," said the jury. "The designers have exhibited a simple and clear concept that has realized the interior’s true potential while weaving it into surrounding street life." South Australia's Penfolds' flagship Magill Estate Restaurant took out the restaurant top spot in the Hospitality Design category, with the jury applauding Melbourne-based archtiect Pascale Gomes-McNabb's All Boxes Ticked finish. "Beautiful lighting, sophisticated use of colour and a thoughtful composition of elements create a delightful and intriguing interior at Penfolds Magill Estate Restaurant," said the jury, praising Gomes-McNabb's attention to detail, custom furniture and bespoke glass lighting. "The designer has tailored shapes and forms specifically to the space, creating a refreshing take on a winery restaurant." Co-presented by the Design Institute of Australia, designEX and Artichoke magazine, this year's awards saw more than 400 projects entered; increasing the entrants by 11 per cent from last year. Event manager Jacinta Reedy told The Australian that back to basics was highly favoured this year. “The jury recognised in these projects’ new directions in interior design, including clever use of raw materials, a love of simplicity and restrained approach to design,” she said. Check out the rest of the Australian Interior Design Awards winners over here.
Got two minutes? Instead of mindlessly scrolling your feed, you could be watching an intimate performance by one of Sydney's leading spoken word artists. Got more than two minutes? Entertain yourself with tips on how to make a monster, or a photo collage, with whatever materials you have to hand. It's your lunch break, even when you're WFH, so give yourself permission to watch something more inspirational than spreadsheets and Zoom meetings. You'll feel a lot better for it. In partnership with the Art Gallery of New South Wales, we've picked five uplifting, playful and illuminating video clips from the Gallery's digital space, Together In Art, that we think are well worth your time. And, if you have heaps of time spare, we suggest checking out Together In Art's collection of pocket exhibitions, interviews, performances and how-to videos, which the Art Gallery of NSW's team is adding to every day. Want to visit in person? The Art Gallery's doors are open to the public once again. It'll be observing strict physical distancing and hygiene measures, including timed ticketing. Find out more, here. In the meantime, treat yourself to a short break with one of these five clips below — whether you're at home, on your commute or in the office. LISTEN TO L-FRESH THE LION BREAK THE SILENCE For when: you need bringing back into the moment Liverpool-born hip-hop artist L-Fresh the Lion has been repping Sydney's southwest on his chest since day one — and during the Gallery's temporary closure to the public, the local lyricist broke the silence with the first verse from his track 'Peace & Light' wearing a red T-shirt that simultaneously promotes his upcoming third studio album (South West) and his ongoing commitment to his roots. "Welcome to the bounce of the rhythm of my heartbeat," he says, in the intimate spoken word performance filmed from above, as the artist stands between stationary escalators. If you only take away one thing from the two-minute performance, it should be to make more time to stop and listen to your heart speak. Already seen it? Check out Delta Goodrem's soaring 'Keep Climbing', performed in the Grand Courts. HEAR GAIL MABO TALK ABOUT THE EXHIBITION 'UNDER THE STARS' For when: you need to tap into the bigger picture When it feels like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, it's time to have a change of perspective. In this six-minute video, artist Gail Mabo shares some of her personal memories about her father — land rights advocate Eddie Koiki Mabo — and the generations-old significance of the constellation Tagai in the islands of the Torres Strait. Gail takes us behind her artwork Tagai, commissioned for the exhibition Under the stars, which opened just two days before the Gallery's temporary closure to the public. It's an intricate bamboo map, based on ones used by her ancestors. She tells us about its significance, how she made it from bamboo grown by her father when he was a groundsman at James Cook University, and where to look for the stars that are a tribute to her mother and her father — "a man who changed history," she says. Keen to see it in person? 'Under the stars' is open again. MAKE A MONSTER WITH RAMESH AND SANTI For when: you're in a playful mood Sydney-based artist Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran is best known for his rough-edged, new-age idols. They're vibrant, playful in scale and form, and draw on social, historical and political references. From his Rydalmere studio, with five-year-old Santi, he shows you how fun it can be to let your imagination run wild and get messy with art making. Yes, this video is geared towards children, but aren't we all just big kids at heart? Let go of your office persona, and any expectations of perfectionism, and be inspired to make a human-animal form with air-drying clay or playdough. In this how-to, you'll watch fantastical beasts come to life with multiple eyes, snouts and a pink nest of hair. As Santi says, "Use your imagination." Too messy? Learn how to turn your old magazine pile into a Dada poem with Tony Albert. LISTEN TO NGAIIRE'S VOICE REVERBERATING THROUGH THE EMPTY GALLERY For when: you just want to touch that person you miss most Singer-songwriter Ngaiire is known for her soulful R&B vocals and evocative lyrics. 'Fall into my arms' is the final track on her second album Blastoma, written about her experience with cancer when she was younger. Here, in a video filmed only six days into the Gallery's closure, Ngaiire captures a moment in time when all we wanted to do was touch another person. Her heart-felt vocals fill the space as she wanders around, passing artworks by Uta Uta Tjangala, Sidney Nolan, Rah Fizelle — and most memorably, around the polished steel sculpture of Captain James Cook, called The English Channel by New Zealand artist Michael Parekowhai. This was the Gallery's first Together In Art performance, and in our opinion one of the most affecting. If you're seeing it for the first time, prepare for the feels as you recall what it was like going into lockdown all those weeks ago. Not ready for those emotions? Try this equally enjoyable improvised composition by Fijian guitarist Joji Malani. MAKE A COLLAGE PORTRAIT WITH DEBORAH KELLY For when: you want a new hobby "I think I might like to have a swan out of flowers," says artist Deborah Kelly, in this video tutorial made on Yuin Country (southwest New South Wales). And if you're not already in love with your new art teacher, you have no soul. This wholesome five-minute clip runs through how to make a simple portrait collage, first with an existing photograph and second without one. And all you really need is old magazines or books, cutting tools and glue. Kelly, who works with collage as well as performative interventions in her art practice, gently guides you through tips and tricks for cutting out shapes like swans, flowers and butterflies, before positioning the pieces over a photo — Kelly uses one of performer Emma Maye Gibson (who you might know as Betty Grumble). Then, let her blow your mind by turning those swan cutouts from earlier into eyes. We won't spoil it by telling you how she makes the nose. Want more? Watch artist Desmond Lazaro and his son make a beautiful flower pattern. Together In Art can be experienced through the Art Gallery of NSW's website, daily posts across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and the weekly Together In Art e-newsletter. Top image: Joji Malani performing at the Art Gallery of New South Wales by Matt McGuigan.
Among the wealth of new content that Netflix drops on viewers each and every year, Dead to Me proved one of the streamer's 2019 hits. Taking a few cues from 2018 film A Simple Favour, the show's ten-episode first season told the tale of two women who meet, become friends despite seemingly having very little in common, and help each other with their daily lives — then find themselves immersed in more than a little murky business. Now, the twisty dark comedy is returning for another season — and stars Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini are back as well. The former once again plays a just-widowed woman trying to cope with losing her husband in a hit-and-run incident, while the latter pops up as a positive-thinking free spirit. It has been some time since they initially crossed paths at a grief counselling session, though, so this definite odd-couple situation has evolved to feature more secrets, lies and complications, as well as more than one murder cover-up. When the show's first season ended, it did so with a huge cliffhanger. As the just-dropped full trailer for Dead to Me's second season shows, this new batch of episodes will see Applegate's Jen Harding and Cardellini's Judy Hale dealing with the aftermath of that big event. And, it also reveals that fellow series co-star James Marsden is back — although you'll obviously have to wait for the new season to find out just what that means. Created by 2 Broke Girls writer Liz Feldman, the series marks Applegate's first lead TV role since 2011-12 sitcom Up All Night. For Cardellini, it's a return to Netflix after starring on the streaming platform's drama Bloodline — and she also featured in A Simple Favour, too. Check out the full trailer for Dead to Me's second season below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmU7ylnmn_M Dead to Me's second season hits Netflix on Friday, May 8. Images: Saeed Adyani / Netflix.
UPDATE, December 14, 2020: Marriage Story is available to stream via Netflix. Talk about a bait-and-switch. Marriage Story opens with Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) and Charlie (Adam Driver) penning tender, generous prose about each other, explaining why they fell in love and built a life together. As they speak, writer/director Noah Baumbauch pairs their praise with glimpses of the New York-based couple's romantic highlights. But these aren't love letters. Rather, as viewers disconcertingly discover, they're part of a pre-divorce therapy exercise. And while Marriage Story does indeed tell the tale of the pair's marriage, this devastatingly astute and empathetic drama does so within a portrait of their relationship's dying days and its rocky aftermath, particularly focusing on the custody battle over their young son Henry (Azhy Robertson). 'Talk' is a keyword here. It's not by accident that Baumbach starts his 12th film with two hearty, revelatory monologues — the first of many. Chatter has often played a large part in the acclaimed filmmaker's movies, with his characters exposing their woes and shortcomings with a sea of words — and his actors, including the astonishing Johansson and Driver here, benefit from meaty, multifaceted roles as a result. Greenberg's titular grump, Frances Ha's buoyant but directionless twenty-something and The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)'s feuding family members all fit the above description. Everyone in While We're Young and Mistress America, too. In his ever-perceptive way, Baumbach hones in on figures whose lives are a shambles, then watches as they natter their way forward — revealing their fragile core while revelling in the minutiae of their existence. Nicole moves back to Los Angeles and tells her new lawyer (Laura Dern) about frustrations she hasn't dared voice in years: about being a rising Hollywood commodity who married an experimental theatre wunderkind, putting her wants and needs on hold, and feeling like Charlie was always directing their lives. And, as she does so, we don't just hear her story — we also learn about who she is, what she holds dear and where her path might lead, all while we listen and watch. When Charlie tries to juggle making the leap to Broadway for the first time and jetting back-and-forth to LA to see Henry, we go through the same process with him as gets annoyed with Nicole's decisions, pinballs around town, yet hardly makes the most of his time with his son. Marriage Story overflows with these kinds of scenes. The movie's duelling monologues basically continue from the outset, even when Nicole and Charlie are talking to others, or singing (which they both do) — and even when they're not saying a word. Taking the audience through these moments, and through the couple's clearly tumultuous times, Johansson and Driver are exceptional. It's through their achingly realistic work, and their way with Baumbach's witty and incisive script (and, yes, its words) that Marriage Story comes alive. Between this, his excellent performance in The Report, and standout turns in The Dead Don't Die and The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, Driver is having a fantastic year (and Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker isn't even out yet). Meanwhile, demonstrating that she's acting's successor to the great Annette Bening, Johansson makes her biggest on-screen impact since the trio of Lucy, Her and Under the Skin. The two aren't just impressive — they make you feel Nicole and Charlie's ups and downs and, especially, the raw uncertainty about their new futures. And, they'll likely earn a string of well-deserved nominations and awards for their efforts, as should Dern as one of the uncompromising figures caught in the middle. (Ray Liotta and Alan Alda are also memorable as the legal eagles in Charlie's corner.) These are all sharp, layered performances that fill a big screen — perhaps a contentious point given that Marriage Story was funded by Netflix, and plays in cinemas before hitting the streaming platform in a few weeks. It might seem counterintuitive, but Baumbach's intimate, dialogue-heavy films and their accompanying portrayals soak up the light and room that a larger canvas provides, as if the director is putting his scenarios and characters under a magnifying glass. (He is, of course; that's what movies do.) His naturalistic imagery, lensed here by the visually talented Robbie Ryan (I, Daniel Blake, American Honey, The Favourite), also relishes the heftier format, laying bare the everyday interiors that fill the feature's frames, as well as the space that frequently blankets its protagonists. Indeed, in the movie's biggest confrontation, to watch Driver and Johansson go head-to-head against the beige walls of the west coast apartment Charlie doesn't even want to be renting is to witness the heart and soul of Marriage Story. Two people, ordinary surroundings, relatable circumstances, a whole lot of talk and a mess of whirling emotions — that's this shattering but phenomenal drama in a nutshell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHi-a1n8t7M
You'd think that after seven books, eight films, just as many video games, a real-life MOOC that lets you study magic and 17 years of worshipping a fictional teenager, we'd have run a little dry on news about Harry Potter. Instead, this week has featured news of a West End play, a spinoff film trilogy, and new material being written for the '2014 Quidditch World Cup'. It seems like the wizarding world is still very much alive, and nowhere more so than the Universal Studios Harry Potter theme park in Orlando. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was first established in 2010, but this year sees its first major expansion effectively doubling its size. The upgrades include a surprisingly functional Platform 9 3/4, a full Hogwarts Express experience, and most spectacularly of all, a Gringotts ride that replicates the ornate mayhem of the characters' dramatic expedition in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was announced today that the ride will include high-def animation, 3D projection, live special effects courtesy of Bellatrix Lestrange and the Death Eaters, incredibly realistic (if not kind of anti-Semitic) Gringotts goblins and — best of all — a 60-foot dragon. Hurtling through the bank vaults on a rickety old cart just like the one in the film, Escape from Gringotts is definitely a ride for the hardcore fans. And, though it's a world away from our local equivalents like Dreamworld or Movieworld, it's worth keeping in mind if you're ever up for spilling a few galleons on flights to the States. Via Variety and MTV.
It's happening again, awards fans. 2024 has already delivered one Emmys ceremony, after Hollywood's 2023 TV accolades were delayed until January due to last year's strikes, and now it's time for the official 2024 event. With the nominees freshly announced on Thursday, July 18 Australian and New Zealand time, absent are some of the shows that notched up big wins or nominations last time around, such as Succession, Beef, The Last of Us and The White Lotus. In their place, Shōgun, True Detective: Night Country and Baby Reindeer have earned a whole lot of affection — plus returnees The Bear and Only Murders in the Building, of course. The Bear is sure to feature when 2025 nominees come around as well, because 2024's contenders span the hit culinary dramedy's second season, not its just-dropped third season. So, it might make history again next year, as it has this year. Who now holds the record for the most amount of nominations by a comedy in a single year? This stellar series with 23, beating 30 Rock with 22 in 2009. Historical Japanese drama Shogun — one of the year's best new TV show so far — topped the full list of nominations with 25, with Only Murders in the Building notching up 21, the long-awaited True Detective: Night Country picking up 19 and The Crown nabbing 18. Mere months after getting the world obsessed with its true tale, Baby Reindeer collected 11 nominations. Other shows tallying up plenty of love include The Morning Show and Mr & Mrs Smith in the drama fields; Abbott Elementary and Hacks among the comedies; and Fargo, Lessons in Chemistry and Ripley from the limited series. After finishing up with its third season in 2023, the sublime Reservation Dogs finally received the Emmys' attention in the Best Comedy category, with D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai also nominated for Best Lead Actor in a Comedy. Lily Gladstone and Kali Reis' nominations for Under the Bridge and True Detective: Night Country, respectively, saw them become the first Indigenous women recognised in the acting categories by the awards. Other standout noms include Matt Berry for What We Do in the Shadows, Walton Goggins for Fallout, Slow Horses picking up its first nods, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig for not only Loot and Palm Royale but for guest-hosting Saturday Night Live, Ryan Gosling for the same gig, Bowen Yang for his cast role on the famous sketch series, True Detective: Night Country's Jodie Foster and John Hawkes also collecting nominations, and Robert Downey Jr recognised for playing multiple roles in The Sympathizer. On the Australian front, Elizabeth Debicki and Naomi Watts picked up nods for The Crown and Feud: Capote vs The Swans. Downey Jr, like Da'Vine Joy Randolph for Only Murders in the Building, scored Emmy affection just months after each winning Oscars for Oppenheimer and The Holdovers. Sadly, because not all excellent shows win gongs — or even noms — Poor Things' Emma Stone hasn't done the same with The Curse. But that omission sparks the usual reminder: if a show is excellent, as the also-ignored Tokyo Vice is, shiny trophies are just a bonus. The 2024 Emmy winners will be revealed on Monday, September 16, Australian and New Zealand time, so you've got a couple of months to predict who'll emerge victorious. Here's a rundown of the nominations in the major categories: Emmy Nominees 2024: Outstanding Drama Series The Crown Fallout The Gilded Age The Morning Show Mr & Mrs Smith Shōgun Slow Horses 3 Body Problem Outstanding Comedy Series Abbott Elementary The Bear Curb Your Enthusiasm Hacks Only Murders in the Building Palm Royale Reservation Dogs What We Do in the Shadows Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series Baby Reindeer Fargo Lessons in Chemistry Ripley True Detective: Night Country Outstanding Television Movie Mr Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie Quiz Lady Red, White & Royal Blue Scoop Unfrosted Lead Actor in a Drama Series Idris Elba, Hijack Donald Glover, Mr & Mrs Smith Walton Goggins, Fallout Gary Oldman, Slow Horses Hiroyuki Sanada, Shōgun Dominic West, The Crown Lead Actress in a Drama Series Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age Maya Erskine, Mr & Mrs Smith Anna Sawai, Shōgun Imelda Staunton, The Crown Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Matt Berry, What We Do in the Shadows Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building Jeremy Allen White, The Bear D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Reservation Dogs Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary Ayo Edebiri, The Bear Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building Maya Rudolph, Loot Jean Smart, Hacks Kristen Wiig, Palm Royale Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Matt Bomer, Fellow Travelers Jon Hamm, Fargo Tom Hollander, Feud: Capote vs The Swans Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer Andrew Scott, Ripley Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Jodie Foster, True Detective: Night Country Brie Larson, Lessons in Chemistry Juno Temple, Fargo Sophia Vergara, Griselda Naomi Watts, Feud: Capote vs The Swans Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Tadanobu Asano, Shōgun Jon Hamm, The Morning Show Mark Duplass, The Morning Show Billy Crudup, The Morning Show Takehiro Hira, Shōgun Jack Lowden, Slow Horses Jonathan Pryce, The Crown Supporting Actress in a Actor in a Drama Series Christine Baranski, The Gilded Age Nicole Beharie, The Morning Show Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown Greta Lee, The Morning Show Lesley Manville, The Crown Karen Pittman, The Morning Show Holland Taylor, The Morning Show Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Lionel Boyce, The Bear Paul W Downs, Hacks Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear Paul Rudd, Only Murders in the Building Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary Bowen Yang, Saturday Night Live Supporting Actress in a Actor in a Comedy Series Carol Burnett, Palm Royale Liza Colón-Zayas, The Bear Hannah Einbinder, Hacks Janelle James, Abbott Elementary Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary Meryl Streep, Only Murders in the Building Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Jonathan Bailey, Fellow Travelers Robert Downey Jr, The Sympathizer Tom Goodman-Hill, Baby Reindeer John Hawkes, True Detective: Night Country Lamorne Morris, Fargo Lewis Pullman, Lessons in Chemistry Treat Williams, Feud: Capote vs The Swans Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Dakota Fanning, Ripley Lily Gladstone, Under the Bridge Jessica Gunning, Baby Reindeer Aja Naomi King, Lessons in Chemistry Diane Lane, Feud: Capote vs The Swans Nava Mau, Baby Reindeer Kali Reis, True Detective: Night Country Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series Néstor Carbonell, Shogun Paul Dano, Mr & Mrs Smith Tracy Letts, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty Jonathan Pryce, Slow Horses John Turturro, Mr & Mrs Smith Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series Michaela Coel, Mr & Mrs Smith Claire Foy, The Crown Marcia Gay Harden, The Morning Show Sarah Paulson, Mr & Mrs Smith Parker Posey, Mr & Mrs Smith Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series Jon Bernthal, The Bear Matthew Broderick, Only Murders in the Building Ryan Gosling, Saturday Night Live Christopher Lloyd, Hacks Bob Odenkirk, The Bear Will Poulter, The Bear Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Olivia Colman, The Bear Jamie Lee Curtis, The Bear Kaitlin Olson, Hacks Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Only Murders in the Building Maya Rudolph, Saturday Night Live Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live The 2024 Emmy Awards will take place on Monday, September 16, Australian time. For further details, head to the Emmys' website.
Looking for a top-notch tipple to sip? Plenty of prizes, nods and gongs have you covered. Looking for a great wine bar to drink them in, when and where it is safe to do so? That's the domain of the Wineslinger Awards, which has just announced its top 50 venues for 2020. As voted on by more than 100 industry experts — think sommeliers, winemakers, hospitality tastemakers and journalists — the Wineslinger Awards were created in 2018 by Rory Kent, who also founded the Young Gun of Wine Awards. Where the latter prize aims to recognise stellar up-and-comers, the former is all about excellent and innovative places where vino lovers can enjoy an ace drop. In this year's list, Wineslinger has shared the love around the country. Fifteen bars are located in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, 12 in Victoria, eight in Western Australia, and five each in South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland. Even better — almost half of the 2020 top 50 have been named for the first time, with 20 venues earning that honour. For folks looking for your next drinking spot, that means you have plenty of places to add to your must-visit list. Some are located in wine regions, others have been plying their trades for decades, and others still have only just opened — yes, during the pandemic. From the top 50, Wineslinger will single out a number of venues for trophies, which'll be awarded at a virtual presentation on Monday, October 19. The top gong is simply called 'Wineslinger', naturally, while other prizes span the self-explanatory 'Best New Haunt', as well as the 'Maverick' award for a venue that pushes the limits. And, for vino aficionados at home, there's also the 'People's Choice' prize — which is open for online votes right now, closing at midday on the day of the ceremony. As part of the public vote, Wineslinger is also supporting hospitality relief fund Tip Jar, via a $1 donation for every vote received. You can win prizes for having your say, too — including a heap of wine, obviously — but knowing that simply nominating your pick will help raise money for the industry is pretty great motivation. [caption id="attachment_781186" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Love, Tilly Devine, Darlinghurst via Nikki To[/caption] WINESLINGER AWARDS 2020 TOP 50 NSW/ACT 10 William Street, Paddington Alberto's Lounge, Sydney Bar Rochford, Canberra Bentley Restaurant & Bar, Sydney Bibo Wine Bar, Double Bay Dear Sainte Eloise, Potts Point Ester, Chippendale Fix Wine, Sydney Fleet, Brunswick Heads Love, Tilly Devine, Darlinghurst Ode Bar, Bondi Poly, Surry Hills Ragazzi, Sydney Where's Nick, Marrickville WyNo x Bodega, Surry Hills QLD Cru Bar + Cellar, Fortitude Valley La Lune Wine Co, South Brisbane La Lupa, West End Maeve Wine Bar, South Brisbane Snack Man, Fortitude Valley SA Hellbound, Adelaide Leigh Street Wine Room, Adelaide Mother Vine, Adelaide The Salopian Inn, McLaren Vale The Summertown Aristologist, Summertown TAS Havilah, Launceston Lucinda, Hobart Sonny, Hobart Stillwater, Launceston Tom McHugo's Hobart Hotel, Hobart VIC Bar Liberty, Fitzroy Carlton Wine Room, Carlton City Wine Shop, Melbourne Embla, Melbourne Etta, Brunswick East France-Soir, South Yarra Geralds Bar, Carlton North Marion, Fitzroy Napier Quarter, Fitzroy Old Palm Liquor, Brunswick East Union Street Wine, Geelong Winespeake, Daylesford WA Lalla Rookh, Perth Le Rebelle, Mount Lawley Liberté, Albany Lulu La Delizia, Subiaco Madalena's Bar, South Fremantle Petition Wine Merchant, Perth Settlers Tavern, Margaret River Wines of While, Perth To vote in Wineslinger's People's Choice Award before midday on Monday, October 19, visit the awards' website. Top images: Snack Man, Fortitude Valley; Ode Bar, Bondi; Marion, Fitzroy; Le Rebelle, Mount Lawley; Hellbound, Adelaide.
Twirling elegantly around the stage as part of a world-class ballet performance is one thing, but just imagine getting to do so kitted out in stunning outfits by Jean Paul Gaultier. Announced today, a dark contemporary retelling of Snow White by France's Ballet Preljocaj is set to launch at the Sydney Opera House this June, complete with a wardrobe of captivating costumes by the internationally acclaimed haute couture designer. Gaultier's work will complement what promises to be a multi-sensory masterpiece; the show features choreography from renowned French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj, gorgeous set design by celebrated artist Thierry Leproust and a soundtrack of lush Gustav Mahler symphonies. Preljocaj's Snow White adaptation made its Australian debut at QPAC for the 2016 Brisbane Festival, last year scoring the Helpmann Award for Best Ballet. "I was very keen to tell a story, offer something magical and enchanted," explained Preljocaj. "I have followed the version by the Grimm Brothers, with just a few personal variations based on my own analysis of the symbols in the tale". Snow White will be the first story ballet to be programmed by Sydney Opera House Presents in the newly relaunched Joan Sutherland Theatre. Images: Jean-Claude Carbonne.
They're the masters of immersive thrills, such as smash-hit shipping container installations Seance, Coma and Flight, also known as the Darkfield series, but not even the folks at Realscape Productions are immune to the realities of pandemic life. They're currently locked down with the rest of Melbourne, putting their nerve-jangling real-life projects on hiatus until later in the year. Luckily, in the meantime, Realscape and Darkfield (UK creators) have teamed up for a brand-new audio experience fans can enjoy from the comfort of home. This one's called Double and, while it's delivered remotely, it's geared to be every bit as creepy and unsettling as its IRL predecessors. Launching this Friday, July 17, Double is being presented via the producers' new digital project Darkfield Radio. Like its siblings, it plunges participants deep into an immersive experience by perplexing the senses — this time, with the use of a 360-degree binaural sound, played through your own headphones. Double requires a two-person set-up, with players seated across a table from each other. The pair of you will then tune into a special 20-minute broadcast, at the exact time as hundreds of other players across the country. And there's just one rule to follow: everyone has to be who they say they are. True to form, the exact details are kept vague until you're living the immersion, but we do know Double pulls inspiration from the Capgras delusion, a condition which sees a sufferer convinced that a loved one has been replaced by an imposter (sometimes an evil-intentioned one). Prepare to have your truths shaken and the familiar warped, right there at your kitchen table. If you live in metropolitan Melbourne or Mitchell Shire, do remember that you're not allowed visitors in your home — unless it is to deliver care or essential services — but, you can visit your partner if you don't live together. For more information on the stay-at-home orders, head to the DHHS website. Tickets for Double are $10 and on sale now through the website. Early-bird tickets are available for $7 for the first week of shows, starting Friday, July 17. Images: Alex Purcell
If you attended the Sydney Biennale back in 2010, you’ll remember the most standout artwork: a huge video installation showing an eerie, digitally manipulated vision of a holiday resort, soundtracked by Beethoven. It was The Feast of Trimalchio (2009) masterminded by Russian art collective AES+F, and now they’re back in town with a new offering, Angels-Demons (2012). Active since 1989, this is AES+F’s first solo show in Sydney. The angel-demons are 7 sculptures of colossal babies with bat wings and spined tails, each almost 2 metres tall with a gleaming black mirror finish. While their unnatural scale and demonic appendages are menacing, their postures are innocent: they’re learning to walk, reaching out with tentative hands, and flexing their wings. But what about when they grow up? AES+F describe the work as an “apocalyptic parade,” where the apocalypse heralded is not an end, but the beginning of an era where “evil may look good and vice versa.”
Almost every coastal town of a certain size has a pub overlooking the beach. But they're not all like Shoal Bay Country Club. The much-loved local has been around since the 1930s and, after being sold to The Eastern Group in 2016, it received a much-needed $6 million facelift. The refurb was unveiled in early 2018, revealing a light and airy venue that takes full advantage of its epic vantage point of the bay and has an unmistakable Mediterranean feel — think a predominantly white and wood palette with pops of aqua blue and bright yellow. The venue opens bright and early at 6.30am with breakfast served in the downstairs cafe, Mermaids. Start with a coffee or Lean Green smoothie before diving into sweet potato and carrot fritters, buttermilk waffles or smashed avo with feta and lime. Then, from 11.30am, the kitchen and patio swing open their doors for lunch and dinner with an extensive menu of pub classics on offer, including schnitties, beer battered fish and chips and wagyu beef burger. There are plenty of options, too, from charcuterie boards and mac 'n' cheese balls to buckets of prawns and seafood platters. Oh, and there's no getting past the Napoli-style woodfired pizzas, served with kale basil pesto and fior di latte, peri peri chicken or garlic prawns. For drinks, you can enjoy cocktail jugs and a wine list largely populated by Aussie and NZ drops. Expect live music starting from 6.30pm in the courtyard on Friday and Saturday nights before DJs take over to keep the fun going into the wee hours. On Sundays, there's live music in the courtyard all afternoon, plus crab races, poker and $5 drinks from 7pm. If you're keen for all the action but not for the crawl home, Shoal Bay Country Club runs a courtesy bus covering Shoal Bay, Fingal Bay, Nelson Bay and Corlette. Alternatively, the venue is linked with the Ramada Resort, and it also has its own luxe two-level, four-bedroom penthouse.
Since late in 2019, when Disney launched its own streaming platform, fans of its animated classics, beloved hits and many, many super-popular franchises have been able to binge their way through the Mouse House's back catalogue from the comfort of their couch. For a few weeks in March and April this year, however, movie buffs are being asked to leave their houses to check out a selection of the company's famed titles — all thanks to the pop-up Disney+ Drive-In, which is returning to Sydney. Yes, a streaming service is running a drive-in. Or, to put it another way, a product designed to get everyone watching on small screens at home is now endeavouring to lure viewers out to watch its flicks on a big screen from their cars. That's a very pandemic-era situation, with Disney+ teaming up with Openair Cinemas to make it happen. The drive-in will arrive back at CommBank Stadium's northern private car park in Parramatta on Sunday, March 6, screening films most nights until Sunday, April 17. As for what'll be screening, the Disney+ Drive-In is working through the Mouse House's hits — including both the animated and live-action versions of The Lion King, fellow family-friendly hits Moana and Encanto, Pixar's Cars and Coco, and a sing-along session of Frozen. Or, you can check out live-action throwback favourites such as Freaky Friday, 10 Things I Hate About You, Pretty Woman, Moulin Rouge! and Mrs Doubtfire — or head to the much more recent Cruella and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Popcorn, snacks and drinks will be available onsite — or you can bring your own. It's strictly a no-alcohol affair, though. And, ticket-wise, you'll generally be paying per car — unless you decide to book a seat in the drive-in's new area, called The Park. That's where you can sit on bean loungers, get table service and listen via dedicated volume-controlled radios.
Meet Philip Lewis Friedman (Jason Schwartzman), an emerging writer on the cusp of the release of his second book. He likes to tell off his ex-girlfriends for their lack of support and dress down his former college roommate for not living up to his standards. He assumes his talented photographer girlfriend, Ashley (Elisabeth Moss), will hang around despite his lack of attention and affection. There's no mistaking it; he doesn't really seem like a nice guy. Philip is the lead character in Alex Ross Perry's third film after Impolex and The Color Wheel, but Listen Up Philip does more than just follow the ups and downs of a self-absorbed jerk. In an act of structural daring, it tells his tale alongside Ashley's awakening that she's much better off without him. Also included is the plight of Philip's new mentor, Ike Zimmerman (Jonathan Pryce), a famous novelist renowned for his self-imposed isolation, but now having second thoughts about his life choices after spending time with his new protege. Indeed, wondering about decisions made in the pursuit of a dream — be it about professional success, romantic fulfilment or perpetuating an enigma — sits at the heart of the film, a line of thinking almost everyone can relate to. It's easy to see where things strayed from the expected path for the trio, even if it isn't always easy to watch how things move forward, particularly for the ever self-sabotaging Philip and the just as egotistical Ike. Also striking is the intersection and influence of their deeds, on each other, and on others on top of that. Listen Up Philip may start out with a stereotype of movie depictions of writers, complete with wrestling notions of ambition, arrogance, inspiration and irrelevance; however, what it does so brilliantly is map out the flow-on effects of anxiety, envy and striving for success. Thankfully, as awkward and abrasive as many of the scenarios in the script rightfully prove, Perry approaches the film with humour, empathy and balance. The narration of an all-seeing, never-sighted figure (voiced by Eric Bogosian) helps make the comic and considerate skew apparent, as does perfect casting. Schwartzman and Pryce play to the movie's sharpness, and Moss and Krysten Ritter (as Ike's long-neglected daughter) to its unanticipated understanding. In fact, Listen Up Philip actually resounds with more warmth than you might think. Moss brightens every scene she is in, not just stealing the show but demanding the camera's focus on her expressive face and her command of emotion. Hers is a performance of the lived-in variety, a feeling the feature matches in its handheld movements, naturalistic lighting, super-16mm film stock and jazz score. Actually, it's that textured sense of reality that makes the movie shine, even more than showing the bleakness of poor choices while revelling in dark comedy. In that embrace of complication, there's a lot to like, and even love — even the initially unlikeable Philip.
Quick show of hands: growing up, how many of us would have loved to commit our lives (and tastebuds) to chocolate? While our Willy Wonka-inspired dreams might have only been just that, for Koko Black chocolatier Remco Brigou, it has been a dream come true. The Belgian native holds the envy-inducing title of head chocolatier and product innovator at the artisan chocolate brand. Brigou's latest creation is an incredibly luxe range of ice creams in collaboration with Connoisseur. It's a surprising first for Koko Black, which has never ventured into ice-cold desserts despite delighting chocolate lovers around the nation for nearly 20 years. While two flavours — a classic vanilla and an indulgent honeycomb — are available at supermarkets around the country, Brigou's three exclusive creations for Koko Black lounges in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth are dressed up with ingredients including melted chocolate, pistachio and chocolate pearls. To celebrate the new Koko Black x Connoisseur ice cream range, we sat down with Brigou to talk about the new collaboration and what he loves about chocolate. [caption id="attachment_833239" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Julia Sansone[/caption] Hi Remco! Tell us a little about your journey. How did you become Koko Black's head chocolatier and product innovator? I started in hospitality at the age of 15, working and studying in Belgium, and by the age of 18 I had decided to specialise in chocolate and pastry. My love for chocolate and baking started when I was very little and has been my passion for as long as I can remember. From here, I worked with Marcolini in Brussels as their chocolatier and at 25 I moved to Australia for adventure, travel and a new challenge. I started working with Koko Black as the head chocolatier leading the development of our full retail and lounge menus with new owner Simon Crowe — together we formed a vision to bring an Australian edge to artisanal chocolate and build the Koko Black brand as we know it today. [caption id="attachment_833240" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Julia Sansone[/caption] What is your favourite thing about what you do? What keeps you inspired? I love chocolate and the possibilities are endless — from flavours within various [types of] chocolate to the flavours you can add and create. The discovery of new things, flavours and tastes is what inspires me. A lot of people might think that making chocolate is a dream job. Are there less glamorous things in the job that people might be surprised to find out? Not really, it truly is a dream job for me. I still love it as much as I did as a young boy. What is your favourite type of chocolate and why? Dark chocolate is definitely my favourite for its variation in flavour, depending on the origin of chocolate. It's versatile and can pair beautifully with so many different flavours. I'm often asked which is my favourite Koko Black chocolate, [but that's] like choosing a favourite child as they all have things to love. However, I think the dark hazelnut cluster might be the frontrunner. [caption id="attachment_833027" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Julia Sansone[/caption] Tell us about the Connoisseur collaboration. How did this come to life and what excited you about it? We are always teaming up with fellow Australian artisans to make, create and have fun together. So when we were thinking of ice cream, Connoisseur [was] the top pick. Like us, they are premium, artisan and Australian-made, and they also love to create new flavours and combinations. It's been really fun to work with them. For the new flavours, we took the best of both brands — their vanilla ice cream and our dark 54-percent dark chocolate — for an elevated classic. The other flavour was created to reflect one of our best-selling items, Tasmanian leatherwood honeycomb. This required a delicate balancing of flavours to capture the true taste of the leatherwood honey, with our dark chocolate and honeycomb coating. [caption id="attachment_833238" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Julia Sansone[/caption] Were there any challenges you had to overcome to create Koko Black's first ice cream? How did you get past these? The balancing of flavours always takes some work, but it's the part I enjoy most. For more information on the luxe new collaboration, head to the Connoisseur and Koko Black websites. Images: Julia Sansone
