For three months from Friday, August 8 to Saturday, November 8, legendary Japanese drinks company Suntory is turning Whisky Thief inside Sydney's Prefecture 48 precinct into ground zero for highballs, international guest bartenders, chefs and exclusive experiences. Suntory Bar features bespoke snacks by award-winning chef Tetsuya Wakuda. It's an exclusive chance to experience his food, with dishes created just for the residency in collaboration with the head chef of Prefecture 48's kaiseki restaurant, Garaku. The menu leans into Japanese technique with a modern edge. You'll find fried oysters with citrus mayonnaise and ikura, tuna tartare with shiso and ponzu and a "Wagyu Hambagu Burger" with Patatas Fritas. It's all designed to pair with Suntory's signature Highballs, but if you're trying the exclusive Tetsuya Wakuda snack, the recommended choice is the Hakushu Highball — a smoky take on the classic, crisp whisky and soda that's huge in Japan. The drinks cover plenty of ground, offering a deep dive into the full Suntory portfolio. You'll find a range of beers, spirits and creative cocktails showcasing Toki Whisky, Roku Gin, Haku Vodka and more. There's also a Haku-inspired Japanese slipper, BOSS Coffee reworked into an Irish coffee, whisky flights, a delicious Minus 196 spritz, and pours of Suntory The Premium Malt's beer. And for something unexpected, try Hibiki Harmony served neat over ice cream - call it a whisky take on an affogato if you will. Over the three-month stint, the bar will also host guest bartenders from around the world. They'll drop in for takeovers, special events and limited-time additions to the menu. The main Suntory Bar is open for walk-ins and bookings, Tuesday to Saturday each week. Suntory Bar is spread over two levels of Prefecture 48, a Japanese dining hub home to restaurants like Ibushi, Garaku and Omakase. The space has been given a full seasonal refresh to channel a modern Japanese garden and will bring the best parts of Japan's dining and drinking culture — including a post-work nomikai (drinking ritual) — to the heart of Sydney. If you're into Japanese spirits, rare collabs or just want a good reason to finish work on time, this one's worth locking in. Suntory Bar runs from Friday, August 8–Saturday, November 8 at Whisky Thief in Prefecture 48, 230 Sussex Street Sydney. It's open Tuesday–Thursday from 5–11pm and Friday–Saturday from 5pm–midnight. For more details and bookings head to the website.
Diaries out: if you want to see out 2025 and ring in 2026 at Lost Paradise, the annual end-of-year music festival in Glenworth Valley on the New South Wales Central Coast, you now have dates for your calendar. From Sunday, December 28, 2025–Thursday, January 1, 2026, the fest will return. Lost Paradise has confirmed its 2025 fest — and that's all that's been announced for now. It's worth noting, however, that the roster of acts taking to the stage in both 2023 and 2024 was revealed in August each year. Some people love last-minute New Year's Eve plans, going wherever the mood takes them. Others can't start planning early enough. If you fall into the latter category, this end-of-year staple is for you. For Lost Paradise newcomers, the multi-day event turns a slice of its setting — which is located an hour out of Sydney — into one helluva shindig, complete with live music and DJ sets spanning both international and Australian talents. This year, organisers are promising newly reimagined versions of the festival's Arcadia, Lost Disco and Paradise Club stages. Tunes are just one part of the Lost Paradise experience, though. Here, art, culture, wellness, and food and drink also get a look in — although how that'll be the case in 2025 also hasn't yet been unveiled. Lineups from recent years will give you an idea of the usual mix of musicians, with 2024's fest featuring Fisher, Tinashe, Royel Otis and Flight Facilities, as well as Marlon Hoffstadt, Sammy Virji, SG Lewis, Confidence Man, DJ Boring, Kita Alexander and more. 2023 ended with help from headliners Flume, Dom Dolla and Foals, alongside Basement Jaxx, Bicep and Carl Cox on the decks, among other acts. Since first unleashing its specific flavour of festival fun back in 2014, Lost Paradise has become a go-to way to wrap up one year and welcome in the next — including if you're keen to camp for its duration. [caption id="attachment_965687" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Byravyna[/caption] [caption id="attachment_965686" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Amar Gera[/caption] [caption id="attachment_965688" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Byravyna[/caption] [caption id="attachment_965685" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Jordan K Munns[/caption] Lost Paradise returns to Glenworth Valley, New South Wales from Sunday, December 28, 2025–Thursday, January 1, 2026. To sign up for presale tickets, head to the festival's website. We'll update you when the lineup is announced. Images: Jess Bowen, Jordan K Munns, Byravyna and Amar Gera.
There's a difference between embracing the fantastical and making fantasy. As a book since 2018, then a stage production and now a seven-part Netflix series, Boy Swallows Universe knows how to fly in the first direction without becoming the second. Author and journalist Trent Dalton spins a semi-autobiographical 80s-set story, which surveys his childhood and its challenges with clear eyes, but also brims with hope and zero judgement. That's protagonist Eli Bell's (Felix Cameron, Penguin Bloom) approach to everything, including his recovering addict mother Frankie (Phoebe Tonkin, Babylon), his heroin-dealing stepfather Lyle Orlik (Travis Fimmel, Black Snow), his alcoholic and agoraphobic dad Robert (Simon Baker, Limbo), and his elder brother Gus (Lee Tiger Halley, The Heights), who hasn't spoken since a traumatic incident in the siblings' past. It's also how he sees family friend, babysitter, father figure, and no-nonsense but supportive source of wisdom Slim Halliday, as played by Australian acting icon Bryan Brown in Boy Swallows Universe's leap to the screen. The character is one of Dalton's great inclusions and, as with much in the novel, doesn't merely stem from Dalton's imagination. The name, that he spent decades in the Queensland capital's Boggo Road Gaol for the death of a taxi driver, his multiple escapes from the notorious prison: they're all 100-percent real. So is the fact that the young Dalton knew the convicted murderer when he was a boy growing up in Brisbane's west. Casting Brown is like most talent choices in Boy Swallows Universe: a dream pick. Chatting with Concrete Playground about the part and the Brisbane-made series, he's full of praise about Cameron as 12-year-old force-of-nature Eli. "He's a fabulous young kid and he's done a fabulous job," he advises. But Brown's own inclusion, like Tonkin, Fimmel, Baker, Halley, Totally Completely Fine's Zac Burgess as the older Eli, Talk to Me's Sophie Wilde's as Caitlyn Spies and more, is just as pitch-perfect. To Eli, Slim is a man with answers, encouragement and no sugarcoating — someone who believes in him, wants the best for him, but won't skip over life's realities. Try to picture an Aussie actor who'd nail the role and Brown is alone in springing to mind. Boy Swallows Universe joins his almost five-decade-long resume, at a time when Brown jokes that "someone asking me to do a job now is quite a good thing". In the past five months, he's been on-screen almost constantly — in fellow streaming series C*A*U*G*H*T, the recut of Baz Luhrmann's Australia as miniseries Faraway Downs and in US-produced but Sydney-shot rom-com Anyone But You. His career has followed the same path since the mid-70s, and reads like a history of Aussie film and television. For both 1980's Breaker Morant and 1999's Two Hands, he has Best Supporting Actor Australian Film Institute Awards. In the latter as with Boy Swallows Universe, he was paired with up-and-comer: there, it was Heath Ledger. [caption id="attachment_935699" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jono Searle/Getty Images for Netflix[/caption] Brown's credits also span The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith, Newsfront, The Shiralee, Dirty Deeds, Beautiful Kate, Red Dog: True Blue and Sweet Country. The list goes on. Over in Hollywood in the 80s, after TV's A Town Like Alice was a hit overseas as well as at home, he earned Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for The Thorn Birds, led action-thriller F/X, famously mixed drinks with Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One) in Cocktail and starred opposite Sigourney Weaver (The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart) in Gorillas in the Mist. In 2004, he featured in the Ben Stiller (Locked Down)-led Along Came Polly as well. With Boy Swallows Universe, Brown was drawn in as everyone who has come across it in any form has been: by the story. Initially introduced via screenwriter John Collee's (Hotel Mumbai) scripts, he found it as astonishing as readers, theatre patrons and viewers keep doing. The series that results is now streaming — and we spoke with Brown about his first responses to Dalton's tale, his eagerness to play Slim, taking on someone with layers both on the page and in reality, mentoring Cameron, why everyone loves Boy Swallows Universe and more. ON BROWN'S FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH THE BOY SWALLOWS UNIVERSE STORY "The scripts. I hadn't read the book, and the producer Troy Lum (Palm Beach) sent me John Collee's — at that stage — eight one-hour scripts, and I thought they were quite wonderful, the scripts. That then led me to go get the book and read the book, and to thoroughly enjoy it and go 'this is a remarkable story this', given it was basically true. And so to be able to be a part of it, I was only too willing." ON WHAT APPEALED TO BROWN ABOUT PLAYING SLIM HALLIDAY "I think the fact that he was a crim, but we don't meet him doing anything criminal. We hear about what a crim he was, and how he'd been in jail for 30 years and how he'd escaped, but we see him as someone that really wants to help the boys not go the way that he did. So I think it's the fact that he's not as you would expect him to be. When someone says 'I've got a part for you to play, it's a crim, love you to do it' — [but] basically I'm babysitter in this." ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR A PART THAT ISN'T JUST A CHARACTER IN TRENT DALTON'S BOOK, BUT A REAL-LIFE PERSON "Basically I can only play the scripts. So if there's something missing in the scripts, then I go 'this conflicts with something else, I need to know more about it'. But the scripts were so well done, the character was so well-outlined, the relationship with the boy was so clear and it felt quite instinctive to be able to play — I didn't have to research his criminal activity. None of that came into the playing of this piece. So it was about trying to understand why he wanted to be with the boy and behave as he did, and pretty well the scenes answered that for me." ON PLAYING SLIM AS NO-NONSENSE BUT SUPPORTIVE, AND A FATHER FIGURE FOR ELI "Once again, I come back to how well something's written. If a character is written well, you're just pulling the glove on and getting on with it. It's where something comes into conflict or it doesn't make sense that you're at sixes and sevens in trying to play something. But this was so well-written on the page that I was able to play it pretty easily. It was a part that was enjoyable to play." ON HOW BROWN SEEES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SLIM AND ELI "I guess it is a bit father-son, but it's better than that. It's like he doesn't have to be the parent and exercise certain disciplines — he just has to be there as someone that appreciates and would always be there for the boy. And just that knowledge that he gives to the boy, there is someone solid here that believes in me, that's the relationship that I think that Slim brings." ON HOW THAT MENTORING RELATIONSHIP TRANSLATED WITH FELIX CAMERON OFF-SCREEN "People would probably say it did. We got on very well. We had a lot of fun together. He's a cheeky little bugger, and I really enjoyed mucking around with him. But behind all that there's a very bright young fella — and there's a fella who, obviously he's got wonderful parents. There's a boy that appreciates pretty well everything that's going on here. He appreciated doing this. It never went to his head in any way. I'm sure there were areas of confusion for him, but he never brought that to the table." ON WHY BOY SWALLOWS UNIVERSE CONTINUES TO STRIKE SUCH A CHORD "I think it is a story of hope. The boys want and hope that their life will be better, and do everything — they don't judge their parents, there's no judgement in this show about people, but there is the boys who just see that there's a life out there, and hope that they can have a life that's different to the ones that their parents are experiencing. I think that there's a joy in that. It's not a dour story. It's not a dark story. There's darkness in things that happen with the characters, but it's not a dark story. It's a story of hope and desire from the boys to have a real life, and I think you can't help but get affected by it." [caption id="attachment_935703" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Chris Hyde/Getty Images for Netflix[/caption] ON WHAT BROWN LOOKS FOR A ROLE "It's pretty easy. I read it. I go 'do I like the story?'. If I don't like the story, there's no point even thinking about the part. And if I do like the story, then I look at the character and I go 'how does this character contribute to the story?' and 'can I do something of value with that character that makes that story live?'. It's pretty straightforward. I know pretty well straight away if I don't want to something. But if I'm a bit intrigued, then I have to ask myself more questions as I go through it. Once again, it's instinct. I look at it and I go: 'am I there? Can I be there?'. And if I can, the other side of it is, I like to know who else is doing it, and I like to know who the production company is and who the director will be to make me feel confident about that it can be done well." Boy Swallows Universe streams via Netflix, arriving on Thursday, January 11, 2024. Read our review. Images: courtesy of Netflix © 2023.
If you prefer your overnight getaways with a healthy dose of wildlife thrown into the mix, Sydney's newest eco-retreat will be right up your alley — because it's located smack-bang in the middle of Taronga Zoo. Officially opening today — Thursday, October 10 — the Wildlife Retreat at Taronga is offering the ultimate sleepover with Sydney's biggest animals. Currently you can glamp overnight at the zoo as part of the Roar and Snore experience, but this is the zoo's first permanent accommodation offering. The impressive new structure is the work of acclaimed Australian studio Cox Architecture, and sees five lodges built into the zoo's bushland. There are 62 designer suites all up, with choices of harbour, bush, animal or treetop views. Best of all, the sounds and sights of Mother Nature will be literally out your front door — the retreat is located in a sanctuary where koalas, wallabies, red kangaroos, echidnas and platypus live. So you can wander out to spot some at your own leisure, or else join a tour of a still-quiet zoo at sunrise. The retreat is, importantly, located on Cammeraigal country, and we're told that Taronga worked with Cammeraigal Traditional Custodian Professor Dennis Foley and Gurindji Woolwonga woman Susan Moylan-Coombs to ensure that guests have access to information on local Indigenous history and culture. [caption id="attachment_745450" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The view from the restaurant, Me-Gal.[/caption] Food is set to be another big drawcard here, as the retreat also boasts a new restaurant, Me-Gal (the Cammeraigal word for 'tears'). It's dishing up an Aussie-accented offering centred around local produce and native ingredients — think Fraser Island spanner crab with fried saltbush, and NSW beef with king oyster mushrooms. As you have probably gathered, rooms at the Wildlife Retreat at Taronga don't come cheap. Rates start from $790 per night for two adults, which includes the two-course dinner, breakfast, general admission to Taronga Zoo, and a some very cute encounters Australian animals. But, as well as a pretty unique experience, your cash will go towards a good cause. As the retreat is owned and operated by non-profit Taronga Conservation Society Australia, each stay at the retreat will contribute to helping the zoo caring for its animals, as well as contributing to conservation and education programs across Australia. The retreat will no doubt be a drawcard for international tourists, but would make for a great night away for a special occasion where you really want to splash out. The Wildlife Retreat at Taronga is now open at Taronga Zoo Bradleys Head Road, Mosman. You can book now here.
Adapting The Narrow Road to the Deep North was always going to require a dream cast and crew. More than that, any attempt to bring Richard Flanagan's acclaimed 2013 novel to the screen was always set to demand a roster of creatives dedicated to doing the book justice, and to honouring the very real history that the work of fiction draws upon. The author didn't spin a true tale on his pages; however, much is shared with reality. Flanagan's text is steeped in the experience of Australian POWs during World War II, specifically those forced to work on the Burma Railway by the Japanese military. IRL, his own father was one of them. A cream-of-the-crop lineup is the aim for every screen project, of course, whether it's destined to grace cinemas or television. Streaming via Prime Video from Friday, April 18, 2025, The Narrow Road to the Deep North's talents should make other TV shows envious, Australian and international alike. For the first time in his career, filmmaker Justin Kurzel plies his skills on the small screen. For the five-part miniseries, he adapts a Booker Prize-winning novel again, as he did with True History of the Kelly Gang. Kurzel collaborates with screenwriter Shaun Grant once more, and unpacks complicated Aussie history again in the process as well, as the pair previously navigated with their take on Ned Kelly, plus Snowtown beforehand and Nitram afterwards. Standing before the lens for the duo: Jacob Elordi (Oh, Canada) on a rare return Down Under, Odessa Young (My First Film) falling into the same category, plus everyone from Irish great and Belfast Oscar-nominee Ciarán Hinds, as well as Japan's Shô Kasamatsu (Tokyo Vice), through to the Aussie likes of Olivia DeJonge (Elvis), Thomas Weatherall (Heartbreak High), Simon Baker (Boy Swallows Universe), Heather Mitchell (Love Me) and Essie Davis (One Day). In one of only five Australian texts to ever claim the prestigious literary award — Thomas Keneally's Schindler's Ark, DBC Pierre's Vernon God Little, and Peter Carey's aforementioned True History of the Kelly Gang and Oscar and Lucinda are the others — Flanagan charts the path of Dorrigo Evans. Before the Second World War, he has a future in medicine calling. Afterwards, he carves out a career as a respected surgeon. The Narrow Road to the Deep North jumps between the two, as well as his ordeal while being held captive as a prisoner of war. Elordi plays the younger Dorrigo in the series' 40s-era sequences. Hinds steps into the character's shoes in its 80s-set segments. The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a character study, as well as an exploration of multiple sides of war. It delves into culture clashes, interrogates heroism and steadfastly stresses the importance of remembering horrors gone by so that they aren't repeated. It's as much a love story, and a portrait of a long-lasting marriage, though — and yet those two aren't quite one and the same. As a young man, Dorrigo's future is also tied to Ella (DeJonge), whose family have ties back to drafting the Australian constitution. Decades later (played by Mitchell), she remains by his side. But before shipping out, before his medical prowess is needed in Syria, before being transported like cattle through Thailand to the jungle and before the compulsory strenuous labour that will claim the life of some of his friends, Dorrigo spends a summer embarking upon a secret affair with Amy Mulvaney (Young), the wife of his uncle Keith (Baker). It's this romance that he thinks of as he endures war's cruelties, and that also stays with him long afterwards. Casting Elordi and Young as the youthful Dorrigo and Amy are the best choices that The Narrow Road to the Deep North's guiding forces could've made for the two roles. For both actors, it also brought them home. Since 2018's Swinging Safari marked Elordi's first film, he's largely been busy overseas, meaning that Australian projects have been rarities his your resume. With Young, since The Daughter and Looking for Grace each made a splash in 2015, the same has also proven true. On the path from there to The Narrow Road to the Deep North, the pair have amassed an array of credits: The Kissing Booth trilogy, The Mortuary Collection, Deep Water, The Sweet East, Saltburn and Priscilla among them for Elordi; Sweet Virginia, A Million Little Pieces, Shirley, The Stand, Mothering Sunday, The Staircase (with DeJonge), Manodrome and more for Young. They also each have Sam Levinson projects to their name; as the world knows, Elordi is one of Euphoria's stars, while Young led the film Assassination Nation. "There couldn't be a better opportunity to come home," Elordi tells Concrete Playground about The Narrow Road to the Deep North. In fact, he responded so strongly to Flanagan's novel when Kurzel sent it his way that he started advising his family that the book was the key to understanding him, a statement that "I kind of regret saying", he also notes now. The Macbeth and Assassin's Creed filmmaker's involvement was crucial for him, too, as "an enormous fan of his work for my whole conscious movie life". [caption id="attachment_1000037" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Graham Denholm/Getty Images for Prime Video[/caption] That's similarly the case for Young, who reteams with Kurzel for the second time in two years, after featuring alongside Jude Law (Skeleton Crew) and Nicholas Hoult (Nosferatu) in the director's excellent 2024 crime-thriller The Order. "I would do anything that he asked me to do. I would love to work with him for the rest of my life, because I believe that he makes me a better performer," she shares. In our chat with Elordi and Young, we also dug into why Elordi felt such a powerful connection to The Narrow Road to the Deep North, and how infrequent that reaction is for him; Kurzel's penchant for difficult stories; and how Elordi and Young built chemistry together, as characters that Flanagan has compared to stars exploding in galaxies in real time. Covered as well: Elordi and his co-stars' commitment to authenticity in the POW scenes, and the sense of responsibility to the real-life men who worked on the Burma Railway that came with it — and what the two make of their respective journeys from starting out at home to overseas success, then coming back for a series they're clearly both proud of. On Why The Narrow Road to the Deep North Was the Right Project to Bring Both Elordi and Young Home After Their International Successes Jacob: "For me, it was Justin Kurzel. I've been an enormous fan of his work for my whole conscious movie life. So it was just the opportunity to be able to work with him." Odessa: "Yeah, me too. Sorry to copy." Jacob: "No, no, no. But of course, then you double down when it's Richard Flanagan's text. It's just there couldn't be a better opportunity to come home and try to make some cinema." On Elordi's Strong Reaction to the Novel, So Much So That He Told Family Members That the Book Was the Key to Understanding Him Jacob: "I kind of regret saying that now, because if you read the book, like it doesn't remind me of myself at all." Odessa: "You've changed." Jacob: "I think there's so many parts, there so many bits of him that are so inherently Australian, that it reminded me so much of a lot of the men in my life and the people that I know, and things like that. But it is a rare thing — but I feel like those things always happen for a reason. The right thing does find you at the right time, and you read it at a moment in time when it speaks to you. And that's always such a great treat." On Young Working with Justin Kurzel on Two Projects in a Row, with The Narrow Road to the Deep North Following The Order Odessa: "I think sometimes you just meet directors who make you a better actor, and he's one of them. I feel like I got a really lovely introduction to him working on The Order, because for me it was a low-pressure environment. I kind of got to be a bit of the relief from the very, very difficult story. He likes difficult stories, does Justin. And it was lovely. We just got to know each other under really low-pressure circumstances. And I just really, really love the way he works. It feels very natural to me. I would do anything that he asked me to do. I would love to work with him for the rest of my life, because I believe that he makes me a better performer." On the Importance of the Series Being Many Things, Including a Love Story, a Character Study, a Look at Multiple Sides of War, an Interrogation of Heroism and a Reminder Not to Forget Past Horrors Jacob: "I think that's what makes for great cinema, is all of those human elements and the minutiae in those moments. I think all of them compounded, especially in a piece about memory — it is what cinema is about. It's a whole life compressed and contained and examined and looked at and explored. And I think having them all is what makes it such a complete piece." On Building the Type of Chemistry That Author Richard Flanagan Compared to Stars Exploding in Galaxies in Real Time Odessa: "I think we just both probably sensed in each other quite early on in the rehearsal process that we were both ready to just put it all there. And, I don't know, we were just going to take it seriously. We're going to give as much as we could. Sorry, I'm using like sports terminology. Leave it all on the field." Jacob: "Full credit to the other side." Odessa: "Yeah, everyone was a great player today. No, but I think we got very lucky. I think we have just a natural understanding and trust in each other. You never know if that's going to work out that way, but it did." Jacob: "Yeah." Odessa: "And I think that for me — I won't speak for you, but I do sense this in you — there's no point in doing it if you're not doing it fully." Jacob: "Yeah." Odessa: "And I think we're both that kind of actor." Jacob: "Which is really just — it's either casting from Justin or just some profound luck." On Committing to Authenticity in the Series' Prisoner-of-War Scenes, and the Sense of Responsibility to the Real-Life Men Who Went Through It That Comes with It Jacob: "It would probably be the most-important thing. We're talking about real men, and we're talking about Richard Flanagan, the writer's, father — and Shaun Grant's grandfather. These are real people and the history, it's still there. And the trauma of it lives on generationally. So it's not about entertainment. It's not about shooting guns and making some great spectacle. It's about telling the truth and immortalising something as best that you can." On What Elordi and Young Make of the Journeys That They've Each Taken Since Their Early Australian Breakthrough Roles Odessa: "It's hard to characterise it. I think it's actually helpful not to think about it, and not to try to maybe intellectualise — at least for me — why I've chosen the things that I have. I think so much of the course of a career happens on instinct, and some of it's also dumb luck. But I feel incredibly proud and incredibly lucky, and I guess I haven't done so bad if I'm here celebrating this." Jacob: "It's an immense amount of luck — and I would say probably shared with a deep love for movies. And if you love movies and you love cinema, it's not so deliberate but you seek out the things that hopefully move you and mean something to you in that moment." The Narrow Road to the Deep North will stream via Prime Video from Friday, April 18, 2025. Images: Prime Video.
It pays to be curious on Clarence Street. By heading down a seemingly unremarkable laneway, you'll arrive in a courtyard where some of Sydney's best drinking can be found. Yet another surprise awaits through an unmarked backdoor and down a nondescript stairwell, where the jazzy, low-lit The Baxter Inn resides. There's also the understated rear entrance of the gin-soaked speakeasy, The Barber Shop. However, the third venue to call this courtyard home has nothing to hide. Named after the fellow who would go on to become King William IV, The Duke of Clarence wears its mock-Tudor heart on its sleeve. Styled as a ye olde British tavern, it's the kind of boozer where Charles Dickens might have penned Great Expectations over a couple of ales and a pork pie. The fit-out is not merely theatrical — it's also authentic. Everything from the floorboards to the leather couches and bar stools have been handpicked and shipped over from pubs and churches in the UK. The result is a cosy drinking den, complete with a library and a roaring fireplace, that feels like you're stepping back in time. Behind the bar you'll find cask ales, an extensive whiskey offering, over 500 spirits, numerous imported and local wines, and (in a rare deviation from the otherwise consummate pub-ness) a list of innovative signature cocktails. Like any gastropub worth its salt, the dining is as impressive as the drinking, with a food offering that is unmistakably British, yet elevated. The fish finger sandwich is a drastic improvement on the stodgy Birds Eye original, with fresh fish in a crisp batter coated in a light tartare sauce and served between pillowy fingers of white bread, crusts removed. Another Blighty classic, the scotch egg, retains a deliciously oozy centre, wrapped in a generous casing of pork and veal mince, spiked with fennel, chilli and punchy English mustard. Coming to The Duke of Clarence and not having the roast dinner with all the trimmings is a crime, especially as it's available every day and slathered in a lip-smacking slick of house-made gravy. Only have time for a quick bite? The ploughman's lunch — a board topped with vintage cheddar, a pork pie, freshly sliced leg ham, grilled bread, crackers and pickles — is a choose-your-own-adventure feed that is as quick as it is tasty. Image credit: Kitti Gould
On a chilly winter's day, it can be mighty tempting to just spend it wrapped up in blankets on the couch. But we've done enough of that recently. Instead, spend that free time exploring friendly pubs with crackling fireplaces, cosy cafes with comforting winter dishes, dramatic sunsets and brisk walks. When the time's right, wrap yourself in your warmest winter coat, crank up the car's heater and escape to the country. If you've only a day to spare, fret not. These ten pretty, winter-embracing towns are only a hop, skip and jump away. For hot mineral springs, top-notch restaurants and cool climate wines, head inland to the Southern Highlands or the Blue Mountains. Or, for whale watching and sparkling ocean vistas — without the hassle of summer crowds — make tracks to the coast. From pristine beaches and bountiful wine regions to alpine hideaways and bustling country towns, Australia has a wealth of places to explore at any time of year. We've partnered with Tourism Australia to help you plan your road trips, weekend detours and summer getaways so that when you're ready to hit the road you can Holiday Here This Year. While regional holidays within NSW will be allowed from June 1, some of the places mentioned below may still be closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. Please check websites before making any plans. [caption id="attachment_679241" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] BERRIMA, SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS Dotted with sandstone buildings and, some say, haunted by ghosts, this historical village lies a short drive from Sydney in the Southern Highlands. Start with a coffee and baked goodie at Gumnut Patisserie, before heading to Eschalot for hatted fare made with local produce from the onsite kitchen garden. Alternatively, you'll find hearty pub classics and two fireplaces at the Surveyor General Inn. Opened in 1834, it's the oldest continuously licensed pub in Australia. Also worth exploring are the Berrima River Walk (look out for platypuses), Harper's Mansion and Berrima's many independent shops. How far? A two-hour drive from Sydney [caption id="attachment_693681" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Peppers Cragieburn via Destination NSW[/caption] BOWRAL, SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS Another Southern Highlands settlement that isn't shy of winter is Bowral: a 13,000-person town on the Mittagong River that's surrounded by rolling farmland and wineries. On arriving, refuel with a coffee at Rush or Flour Water Salt, before strolling around town checking out Dirty Janes' epic collection of antiques and vintage clothing, as well as Browns Bookshop and the Bowral Art Gallery. Come lunchtime, settle in for a feast at The Mill. For an afternoon wine or coffee beside a roaring fireplace, check out Briars, Peppers Craigieburn or Bendooley (home to Berkelouw Books and a massive second-hand book collection). How far? A two-hour drive from Sydney MOUNT VICTORIA, BLUE MOUNTAINS Of the many indulgences that make winter worth enduring, a long soak in hot mineral springs is one of the best. You can do exactly that at the Japanese Bath House in South Bowenfels, a two-hour drive west of Sydney. Once you're completely relaxed, make tracks to Mount Victoria, which is about 15 minutes away. Here, you can catch a film at a 1930s cinema, while slurping up homemade soup (and homemade choc tops), before swinging by Mount Victoria Manor for a craft beer by the fire. This heritage-listed mansion was built in 1876 by John Fairfax, founder of the Sydney Morning Herald. If you're keen to hang around and catch a wintry sunset, drive to Sunset Rock Lookout, which you'll find at the end of Beaufort Avenue. How far? A two-hour drive from Sydney [caption id="attachment_679213" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Carrington[/caption] KATOOMBA, BLUE MOUNTAINS To experience a Blue Mountains winter without travelling as far as Mount Victoria, stop at Katoomba, which is 90 minutes' drive west of Sydney. Make your first destination Yellow Deli, where you can rest among handcrafted wooden furniture and an open fire. Just be aware that the cafe is run by a cult. If you'd prefer to avoid, grab a butterscotch latte and miso pumpkin toastie from Frankly My Dear. Next up, stretch those stiff legs with a bracing walk along the Prince Henry Cliff Walk, which journeys along cliff tops taking in incredible views for seven kilometres, before reaching Leura. The best spot in town for lunch is Leura Garage — its warming winter menu includes 12-hour braised lamb shoulder with pomegranate glaze, confit garlic and rosemary. Catch the train back to Katoomba for a fireside wine in The Carrington's grand 19th-century bar. How far? An hour-and-a-half drive from Sydney [caption id="attachment_664841" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Potager Mount Tomah[/caption] BILPIN, BLUE MOUNTAINS Located along the Bells Line of Road, which runs to the Blue Mountains from Sydney's northwest, this idyllic village is famous for its apple-growing powers. They're not the only fruit that flourishes here, however, and if you're keen to get all 'country' you can pick your own fruit at Bilpin Fruit Bowl. Alternatively, find out how local apples taste when transformed into cider at Hillbilly, then grab a burger for lunch from Maggie Lou's Bite. Another cosy spot, ten minutes' drive away in Kurrajong, is Lochiel House, which serves up Asian-influenced creations. Before returning to the big smoke, be sure to take a wintry stroll around Blue Mountains Botanic Garden and grab an apple-charged treat from The Potager Mount Tomah. How far? A two-hour drive from Sydney [caption id="attachment_679302" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mulla Villa[/caption] WOLLOMBI, HUNTER VALLEY This cute village, found two hours' drive north of Sydney, is the gateway to both the Hunter Valley and World Heritage-listed Yengo National Park. Begin your adventure with a comforting brekkie at Mulla Villa in the form of french toast with cinnamon sugar, whipped cream and berry coulis — then take a wander around Wollombi's historical buildings or get your bearings at Finchley Lookout, with 360-degree views over Yengo's rugged wilderness. Meanwhile, at the Wollombi Tavern, you'll find friendly folks and a fireplace. Just seven kilometres down the road is Laguna, where the Great Northern Trading Post serves up generous fare packed with local produce and hosts live gigs to spoken word performances and artisanal markets. How far? A two-hour drive from Sydney [caption id="attachment_769222" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] MORPETH, HUNTER VALLEY In the Hunter Valley's northeast corner is Morpeth, a picturesque 1500-person village on the banks of the Hunter River that's filled with 19th-century buildings. One of the tastiest, winter-friendly brekkies in town is at Common Grounds, where offerings include house-made spicy beans with black sesame crusted avocado. After that, take a relaxing walk along the river bank or check out Campbell's Store, home to 15 independent shops dedicated to various arts and crafts. Among the town's other warming experiences are the Australian Alpaca Barn and Mortels Sheepskin Factory, where you can learn all about the making of ugg boots. Finish up with a fireside brew at The Commercial or venture into the Hunter Valley for wine tasting galore. How far? A two-and-a-half-hour drive from Sydney [caption id="attachment_678638" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Settlers Arms Inn[/caption] ST ALBANS, HAWKESBURY Half the fun of day-tripping to St Albans is getting there. So don't rush. For the most part, you'll be travelling along the Old Northern Road, which leaves Sydney at Dural before making its way through rolling farmland and national parks. Next comes the cable ferry crossing at Wisemans Ferry, followed by the twists and turns of pretty Macdonald River. The main attraction at St Albans is the Settlers Arms Inn, a Georgian coaching inn — and pub — built by convicts and backdropped by mountains. While away the afternoon eating and drinking beside the open fireplace before gearing up for the drive home — or stay the night. How far? A two-and-a-half-hour drive from Sydney [caption id="attachment_679290" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] KIAMA, SOUTH COAST When cooler weather rolls around, beach-going folks swap swimming, surfing and sunbathing for the wonder of whale watching. From late-May to July and September to November, Australia's east coast hosts a continual spectacle of breaching, blowing humpbacks. For a day trip that involves splendid views of these magnificent creatures drive to Kiama, a 90-minute trek south of Sydney. The best vantage points are Blowhole Point, Bombo Headland and Marsden Headland. Should you work up an appetite, visit Flour Water Salt for coffee and freshly baked goods, Penny Whistlers for cafe fare with a coastal view or The Hungry Monkey for burgers. How far? An hour-and-a-half drive from Sydney PORT STEPHENS, NORTH COAST Another top-notch location for whale watching is Port Stephens, on the mid-north coast. You'll have to get up early for this one, though, as it's a 2.5-hour drive from Sydney. Warm up with a steep, 45-minute walk to the summit of Tomaree Head, where you'll be rewarded with sweeping views — and maybe spot a few whales. To see them close up, book an eco-tour with Imagine Cruises, whose trusty craft Envision holds just 22 people. Re-energise with a feast at one of Port Stephen's many cracking eateries, be it Little Beach Boathouse for premium seafood overlooking Nelson Bay, The Point Restaurant for Asian-inspired bites, or The Little Nel Cafe for its outstanding terrace that's perfect for soaking up winter sunshine. How far? A two-and-a-half-hour drive from Sydney Whether you're planning to travel for a couple of nights or a couple of weeks, Holiday Here This Year and you'll be supporting Australian businesses while you explore the best of our country's diverse landscapes and attractions. Top image: Leura Garage, Katoomba
North Sydney's culinary star has been on the rise for a while, thanks to an influx of excellent venues such as up-market steakhouse Poetica, pretty-in-pink Italian diner Bar Lettera and leafy rooftop retreat Rafi. But if there was any question as to the virtues of heading north of the Bridge in search of a fine feed, the arrival of Walker Street precinct is sure to silence any doubts. Four slick new venues created by Etymon Projects and located on Walker Street — just a few minutes walk from the upcoming Victoria Cross metro station — are set to make North Sydney a must-visit for any self-respecting foodie, with all four venues opening their doors from Tuesday, July 9. [caption id="attachment_964036" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sol Bread + Wine[/caption] You can start the day at Sol Bread + Wine, a bakery and cafe by day and intimate wine bar by night that channels a Mediterranean spirit with design cues from Italy and Spain. A palette of earth tones is accented with geometric tiles and warm timber furniture, creating a space that effortlessly transitions from breakfast bakery to a laidback cicchetteria serving top drops and sophisticated snacks. [caption id="attachment_964037" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Soluna[/caption] A striking presence in Sol Bread + Wine, a bold red spiral staircase delivers diners to the first-floor sister venue, Soluna. Open from lunch through to dinner, this 110-seat restaurant — as well as the attached 60-seat bar and 30-seat, armchair-filled lounge — is another flexible concept that is as much a place for intimate catch-ups with friends over a glass of wine as it is a go-to for larger parties celebrating a major occasion. The room is dominated by a green terrazzo bar, mirroring the verdant planting dotted throughout the space. [caption id="attachment_964038" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Genzo[/caption] At first glance, contemporary Japanese diner and sake bar Genzo is a playful space complete with vivid overhead LED lighting, anime influences and an eye-popping colour scheme. But don't let that fool you — this restaurant takes its offering very seriously. A temperature-controlled sake room, a selection of expertly balanced, Japanese-inspired cocktails and a menu focused on raw dishes and kushiyaki prepared over a traditional robata grill combine for a contemporary izakaya experience that will rival Sydney's best. [caption id="attachment_964039" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Una[/caption] Finally, new priovidore Una, will stock gourmet produce, artisanal goods and pantry essentials as well as house-made pastas and other take-home meals. A considered edit of local and imported ingredients, from cheeses and charcuterie to boutique wines and spirits, will make this luxury grocer a boon for any North Sydney gastronomes hoping to wow at their next dinner party. Executive Chef Rhys Connell, formerly of The Grantry and Sepia, will oversee all four venues of the new Walker Street precinct. "I realise [this is] an opportunity I've been working towards my whole career," Connell said. "The past couple of months have been a creative blur of menus, scribbling ideas down in the middle of the night and tastings for each venue, and we're now in such a great place with it all I just can't wait to open the doors." [caption id="attachment_964041" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rhys Connell[/caption] Find the Walker Street Precinct at 168 Walker Street, North Sydney, open from Tuesday, July 9. Sol Bread + Wine will open daily, 7am–10pm. Head to the venue's website for details. Soluna will open daily, 11.30am–late. Head to the venue's website for details. Genzo will open Tuesday – Sunday, 12–3pm and 5–10pm. Head to the venue's website for more details. Una will open Sunday–Wednesday, 10am–6pm, and Thursday–Saturday, 10am–10pm. Head to the venue's website for details. Images: Steven Woodburn
Tucked along the coast close to the Victorian-South Australian border, and just beyond the westernmost end of the Great Ocean Road, Nelson is a charming country town brimming with incredible outdoor adventures. With its tight-knit local community and hardy surrounding wilderness, this is one spot to put on your list if you're looking for top-notch hiking, surfing, fishing and more. Nelson might not be considered the end of the earth, but its veritable collection of stunning landscapes means you and your pals will struggle to find a place with better access to nature. Whether you get your kicks from underground walkways, remote inland hikes or riding rugged waves, we've teamed up with Wild Turkey to present a collection of experiences in this thriving border town where unforgettable memories are guaranteed. [caption id="attachment_841188" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visit Victoria[/caption] EXPLORE THE DRAMATIC PRINCESS MARGARET ROSE CAVE Situated along the banks of the Glenelg River, the Princess Margaret Rose Cave sees daring travellers descend into a subterranean cavern where calcite formations have ebbed and flowed over the last 700,000 years. Opened in 1940 as one of Australia's first show caves, the limestone lair is one of Nelson's standout destinations. Make the most of your time underground with a guided tour, during which you'll have 45 minutes to wander illuminated walkways flanked by crystalline stalagmites and stalactites that have expanded to over six metres in length. If you can't get enough of your surrounds, the Princess Margaret Rose Cave is located next to a picturesque campground, where you can find close encounters with native wildlife among a eucalypt forest. [caption id="attachment_841190" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visit Victoria[/caption] TACKLE THE GREAT SOUTH WEST WALK AND SPEND A NIGHT BENEATH THE STARS A staggering amount of rewarding hikes are located along the Great Ocean Road's 243 kilometres, but few are as impressive as the Great South West Walk. While the total distance of this epic journey through Victoria's western coast takes around 12 days to complete — the whole trail is longer than the Great Ocean Road itself — choosing a section or two to tackle is a far more realistic prospect for most. Across full-day hikes and laidback loops, the path meanders from the coastal edge inland through Cobboboonee National Park and side-by-side with the Glenelg River, meaning you'll see both lush forests and idyllic seaside villages. If you're looking to really connect with nature, pack a tent and set yourself up at one of the 14 well-maintained campsites along the way, which provide fitting amenities for an overnight stay. [caption id="attachment_843921" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Elliot Kramer[/caption] SEE WHERE THE RIVER MEETS THE OCEAN AT DISCOVERY BAY ESTUARY BEACH Exploring scenic beaches is one of the main reasons to cruise Victoria's western fringe. Discovery Bay Estuary Beach is a particularly beautiful highlight, as the meeting point of the Glenelg River and the rugged Southern Ocean. And whether you want to take it easy on the river side or test your mettle on the ocean side, the two kilometres of sandy shoreline means that the swimming and surfing potential is virtually endless. Fair warning: the beach isn't patrolled by lifesavers so be sure you know what you're doing before you set off. Situated about a five-minute drive from the centre of Nelson, this beach is also beloved for its fishing, with local anglers heading out by boat or seeing what they can catch in the shallows. Plus, the surrounding wetlands and sand dunes provide critical ecosystems for hundreds of rare waterbirds and plant species, ensuring you feel that enchanting connection with nature. [caption id="attachment_841194" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visit Victoria[/caption] SURF THE SOUTHERN OCEAN AT DISCOVERY BAY COASTAL PARK For even more surfing possibilities, heading further south to the Discovery Bay Coastal Park leaves you totally spoilt for choice. Spanning nearly 26,000 acres from Cape Nelson to the South Australian border, this spectacular national park welcomes you to soak up the diverse landscape from end to end. While you might feel the urge to dive in anywhere, several top-quality breaks present the best waves. Crumpet Beach and Blacknose Point are ideal for newbies, while Descartes is where more experienced surfers test their skills. Meanwhile, Discovery Bay Marine National Park offers outstanding underwater ecosystems, so be sure to pack your snorkelling gear. There's plenty happening inland, too, thanks to soaring coastal cliffs, impressive sand dunes and idyllic freshwater lakes and swamps. Feel free to take your time here — there are several vantage points within the park where you can catch one of the best sunsets in Victoria. [caption id="attachment_841197" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visit Victoria[/caption] HEAD TO CAPE BRIDGEWATER FOR OTHERWORLDLY ROCK FORMATIONS Set in an ancient volcanic crater, Cape Bridgewater's otherworldly landscape is perfect for road trippers seeking a unique adventure. Its jagged coastline is home to some of Victoria's highest clifftops, and the countryside beyond overflows with freshwater lakes that are excellent for fishing and water skiing. However, the coast remains the main attraction, with the Bridgewater Blowholes helping travellers get up close to rock formations forged in the basalt and scoria rock over millions of years. The cape is also well-known for its population of fur seals, with a dedicated viewing platform providing a glimpse of this year-round colony situated on the ocean edge. [caption id="attachment_843922" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Elliot Kramer[/caption] FISH AND PADDLE ALONG THE GLENELG RIVER Spanning 350 kilometres from Nelson's Discovery Bay to the lofty Southern Grampians, the Glenelg River boasts a thriving biosphere that makes for a captivating day on the water. With the waterway considered one of the state's top fishing destinations, you can cast a line for flathead, morwong and silver sweep throughout the year. If you decide to explore the inland reaches of the Glenelg River, Dartmoor is great for a pitstop. Here, Paestan Canoe Hire provides everything you need for a peaceful paddle beneath the shaded banks. For something a little different, tee off for a round at Dartmoor Golf Club or feast on classic pub grub at the Dartmoor Hotel Motel. Find out more about Wild Turkey's Discovery Series at the website. Top image: Visit Victoria
This is a true story: in 2014, Hollywood decided to take on a task that was destined to either go as smoothly as sliding on ice or prove as misguided as having a woodchipper sitting around. Revisiting Fargo was a bold move even in pop culture's remake-, reboot- and reimagining-worshipping times, because why say "you betcha" to trying to make crime-comedy perfection twice? The Coen brothers' 1996 film isn't just any movie. It's a two-time Oscar-winner, BAFTA and Cannes' Best Director pick of its year, and one of the most beloved and original examples of its genre in the last three decades. But in-between credits on Bones, The Unusuals and My Generation, then creating the comic book-inspired Legion, writer, director and producer Noah Hawley started a project he's now synonymous with, and that's still going strong five seasons in. For the TV version of Fargo, the setup mirrors the film. "This is a true story," all iterations of Fargo claim. "At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed," each season of the series goes on, as the movie did before them. "Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred," they also advise. What follows from there is always a twisty tale set in America's midwest, as filled with everyday folks in knotty binds, complicated family ties, crooks both bumbling and determined trying to cash in, and intrepid cops investigating leads that others wouldn't. Hawley's stroke of genius: driving back into Fargo terrain by making an anthology series built upon similar pieces, but always finding new tales about greed, power, murder and snowy landscapes to tell — including the latest, which starts releasing episodes via SBS On Demand in Australia and Neon in New Zealand from Wednesday, November 22. Consider Fargo a Coen brothers remix, too, nodding to its inspiration while existing in the same universe, and also winking at the sibling filmmakers' other features. It's a series where stars from Joel and Ethan's movies have key roles, such as The Man Who Wasn't There's Billy Bob Thornton, A Serious Man's Michael Stuhlbarg and The Big Lebowski's David Thewlis, to mention a few. References to The Big Lebowski's white russians, mugshots that ape Raising Arizona, O Brother Where Art Thou?-esque bluegrass and calling someone "friendo" No Country for Old Men-style also happily pop up. Lines of dialogue, monikers, shots, scenes, character types, plot specifics: from Blood Simple and Barton Fink to Burn After Reading and Hail, Caesar! — and Miller's Crossing, The Hudsucker Proxy, True Grit, Inside Llewyn Davis and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs as well — the links keep coming. Hawley's Fargo adores the Coenverse overall, enthusiastically scouring it for riches like it's the TV-making embodiment of Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter's namesake. That film hailed from Damsel's David Zellner instead, and took cues from the urban legend surrounding the purported Fargo ties to the IRL death of Japanese office worker Takako Konishi; however, wanting the contents of the Coen brothers' brains to become your reality is clearly a common thread. Of course, for most of the fictional figures who've walked through the small-screen Fargo's frames, they'd like anything but caper chaos. Scandia, Minnesota housewife Dot Lyon (Juno Temple, Ted Lasso) is one of them in season five. North Dakota sheriff, preacher and rancher Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm, Good Omens) isn't as averse to a commotion if he's the one causing it. Minnesota deputy Indira Olmstead (Richa Moorjani, Never Have I Ever) and North Dakota state trooper Witt Farr (Lamorne Morris, Woke) just want to get to the bottom of the series' new stint of sometimes-madcap and sometimes-violent mayhem. The events depicted in Fargo season five take place in 2019, after the film's 1987 timing, then season one's 2006 setting, season two's jump back to 1979, season three unfurling in 2010 and season four using 1950 as a backdrop. This is the most current of the franchise's interconnected stories in two ways, with America's recent political climate and corresponding polarisation key to its ten-episode narrative. Indeed, when Dot and her tween daughter Scotty (Sienna King, Under the Banner of Heaven) are introduced in the fifth season's opening scene, it's at a PTA meeting-turned-brawl. After Dot busts out a taser to escape the mob, her presence in the melee ends with an arrest by Olmstead, worry from her car salesman Wayne (David Rysdahl, Oppenheimer), disapproval from his debt collection company CEO mother Lorraine (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hunters) and the latter's in-house lawyer Danish Graves (Dave Foley, The Kids in the Hall) snapping into action. Similarly a consequence: the dawning realisation by those around her that this stay-at-home mum has secrets. Fans of the movie are in for a treat as Hawley treads in its footsteps more directly than ever, but still cleverly, entertainingly, and while reinforcing the idea that basic human nature sparks tales like this over and over. A home invasion and kidnapping, dispatched criminals doing a job that goes awry, a massive face wound and the line "it's a beautiful day" — uttered here by Olmstead — all feature. As Dot joins Fargo's array of indomitable women, so do Olmstead and Lorraine, offering three stripes on an upstanding, ruthless and caught in-between flag. And the saga's savaging exploration of masculinity? The Trumpian Tillman, who sees the law as a mere guide, is all about boosting his own status, has son Gator (Joe Keery, Stranger Things) following his lead and also sports the Anton Chigurh doppelgänger Ole Munch (Sam Spruell, The Gold) on the payroll, is its primary target. Season five kicks off with a title card in addition to the playful "this is a true story" spiel (it's well-established by now that Fargo trades in anything but, at least where narrative facts are involved). Defining "Minnesota nice" as "an aggressively pleasant demeanour, often forced, in which a person is chipper and self-effacing, no matter how bad things get" gives way to the school riot. In mere minutes, Hawley hammers home the truth that even putting on niceties is a rare occurrence in today's America — and 2019's. The season unpacks this notion, setting its sights on the society, attitudes, leaders and powerbrokers perpetuating self-serving fractures so deep that smiling and pretending to get along isn't possible. Fargo sees the fightback, too, both when class and gender are involved, and especially in the resourceful Dot. She could give MacGyver a run for his money, gets compared to a tiger and, out of necessity, never stops notching up ways to outsmart her foes. Add Temple's lead performance to Fargo's long list of standout portrayals; Frances McDormand received her first of three Best Actress Oscars (before also winning for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Nomadland) for the film, after all. Add Hamm to the franchise's can't-look-away villains, swapping his Mad Men charm for the prickliest of confidence. And, add another delight of a run to the show's pile, this time delivering a striking service station siege, the memorable use of The Prodigy's 'Smack My Bitch Up' and multiple references to The Nightmare Before Christmas along the way. Here's another genuinely true story: Fargo keeps proving one of the best film-to-TV adaptations there is. Check out the trailer for Fargo season five below: Fargo season five streams via SBS On Demand in Australia and Neon in New Zealand from Wednesday, November 22. Images: Michelle Faye/FX.
Walking through stunning lights as far as the eye can see, moseying beneath a canopy of glowing multi-coloured trees, wandering between ribbons of flashing beams, taking the most luminous 2.1-kilometre stroll through nature that you can imagine — you'll be able to do all of this when Lightscape heads to Sydney for the first time in 2023. Already a hit in Melbourne, the after-dark light festival will be taking over the the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney from Friday, May 26–Saturday, June 17, beaming away from 5.30pm each night as part of another dazzling Sydney event: Vivid. While the leafy spot is already extremely scenic, and Sydney's annual lights, music and ideas festival is already vibrant to look at as well, saying that Lightscape will be brightening up both is quite the understatement. Prepare to see the garden illuminated by immersive and large-scale installations scattered along that 2.1-kilometre route, including sparkling trees, luminous walkways and bursts of colour that look like fireworks. A big highlight: large-scale works like giant flowers and glowing tunnels, both of which will make you feel like you're being bathed in radiance. Lightscape first hit Australia in 2022 after first taking over gardens across the United Kingdom and the United States. Developed by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in the UK, it's understandably proven a huge success — and more than two-million people wandered along its glowing trails in a season overseas. Fingers crossed for pop-up food and drink stalls scattered throughout Lightscape in Sydney — selling, we hope, mulled wine to keep hands warm during the chilly winter nights. Lightscape sits on a Vivid Sydney bill that'll also see the event host its first-ever food fest, and also feature plenty of other lit-up spaces around the Harbour City. The Vivid Sydney Light Walk is back for 2023, this time with 49-plus light installations and 3D projections along its illuminated eight-kilometre stretch; Barerarerungar from First Nations artist Maree Clarke will be projected across the Museum of Contemporary Art; and Jen Lewin's The Last Ocean will also be a highlight, hitting Sydney after premiering at Burning Man in 2022. Lightscape will light up the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, Queen Elizabeth II Gates, from Friday, May 26–Saturday, June 17. For more information or to buy tickets, head to the Vivid Sydney website.
Spooky season has returned, a time of ghosts and ghouls, flirting with lolly-based diabetes and getting into the spirit by bingeing all things horror. Generally the impulse is to line up a movie marathon of monsters and murderers, but why not mix a little interactivity into your goosebump-inducing genre consumption this year? With horror being such a beloved creative territory there's a boundless wealth of frightening indie games around, but to help you dip your toe into the terrifying here's a list of six (aka 1/111th of the spookiest number possible) to try… if you dare. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF3ZIJccpj8[/embed] MUNDAUN Folk horror is not a genre that shows up much in the gaming world which seems to have an overwhelming preference for sci-fi scares and general supernatural gore. Swiss developers Hidden Fields decided to buck trends with Mundaun, a first-person exploration game rendered in hand-pencilled fashion. You play as Curdin, a man visiting a small village in the alpine foothills to pay his post-funeral respects to his grandfather after the old man perished in a barn fire. Only problem is, grandpa's grave is empty. As you delve into the mystery of what happened to gramps, you uncover a historical deal made under the duress of war that has cursed the village, and it's up to you to do something about it by poking around the town of Mundaun and its surrounds, speaking with its inhabitants, and indulging in some light puzzle solving. There's a pinch of survival horror mixed in too, so you'll need to manage limited ammo and weapons to deal with a variety of enemies, from animated straw men to undead soldiers. The game's striking aesthetic lends an uneasy air that feeds excellently into the surreal, foreboding setting, steeped in a confluence of Christianity and Paganism. There's nothing else quite like it, so make sure you play with the lights off for the best experience. Spookiness Rating: 7/10 Available on: PC, Playstation 4/5, Xbox One/S/X, Nintendo Switch [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBuh9afznMg[/embed] YUPPIE PSYCHO If you've ever drawn a salary as a corporate wage slave, Yuppie Psycho is going to speak to you on another level. This survival horror game, developed by French/Spanish team Baroque Decay, puts you in the shoes of Brian Pasternack, a nervous young man on his first day at Sintracorp. His job? Kill the witch that has cursed the company for years. You'll spend your time roaming the 10 floors of the company's headquarters, rendered in gloriously retro pixel art. Almost from the get-go, it's clear that something is deeply, deeply wrong. Most of your coworkers are slack jawed and dead eyed, responding with gibberish when you try to talk to them. Someone keeps painting messages on the wall in blood. There's a cemetery in the woods on the 8th floor, and a spider monster in the archives. Alongside all of this standard horror, the game deftly mixes in the anxiety and imposter syndrome that accompanies starting a new job, as well as the existential despair that comes from mandatory motivational meetings, dealing with the spectrum of irritating co-workers and navigating the forced, two-faced jollity of a professional environment. With multiple endings based on choices you make, and even two vastly different paths to get to the end, it's a game you can pick up and play again and again. Spookiness Rating: 6/10 Available on: PC/Mac, Playstation 4/5, Xbox One/S/X, Nintendo Switch [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe4gVfZ1Q2I[/embed] WORLD OF HORROR 'A little bit of HP Lovecraft, a little bit of Junji Ito' is a great recipe for the vibe of a horror game. WORLD OF HORROR by Polish solo dev panstasz takes place at the cusp of the apocalypse. The Old Gods are awakening, panic and madness are spreading, and monsters are stalking the streets of Shiokawa, the small Japanese town where the action takes place. The primary thrust of the game sees you investigating a series of strange occurrences. It's a roguelike, so the changing raft of cases means no two runs are exactly the same which gives the game great replayability. The turn-based combat leans towards the challenging side (hey, no one said the end of the world would be easy), but an RPG-esque upgrade system will help ease the stress of late-stage runs — provided you make smart choices. Plus it's primarily an adventure game, so if you fear fast-twitch gameplay there's nothing to worry about here... beyond everything else happening. The Junji Ito inspiration comes through heavily in the lineup of monsters, mirroring the manga artist's off-putting creations in throwback 1-bit graphics that look like they came straight off the page. Fans of Japanese horror will definitely want to give this one a whirl. Spookiness Rating: 9/10 Available on: PC/Mac, Console release coming October 26th [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naCeKfdPbTs[/embed] CRITTERS FOR SALE Critters For Sale is weird, man. No other way to put it. Created by solo developer Sonoshee, this blend of point-and-click adventure and visual novel is a heady, paranoid time, as compelling as it is mildly repulsive. Play through five nonlinear short stories linked by broad themes of good vs evil, time travel and black magic, with woozy, grainy 1-bit graphics that help to heighten the general feelings of discomfort and discombobulation. Some feature multiple endings based on choices you make, which encourages multiple playthroughs supported by quality-of-life features that skip you to key story points so you don't have to start at the beginning every time. Others hide secrets that will only make sense once you've explored all the stories. Each tale comes from the perspective of a different character, so you're never quite able to find a stable narrative footing as you navigate between them, boosting your sense of unease. It's a highly-advanced horror game that bucks the modern trend of blood and brutality for an ineffable surrealism, leaving an impression on you long after you've completed its twisted paths. The faint-of-heart need not apply. Spookiness Rating: 9/10 Available on: PC [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrRWb7tFxR8[/embed] DREDGE Oceans are terrifying. Out where the water is an almost-black blue, where anything could be lurking below... that's nightmare territory. This is the niche in which Dredge, by New Zealand's Black Salt Games, floats. You're a nameless fisherman, freshly arrived to the island town of Greater Marrow after a shipwreck left you with no memories. The mayor gives you a boat and a job as the community angler and off you go to complete missions for a variety of characters, some with more sinister motives than others. The crux of the game is its day/night cycle. When the sun is up, you can roam the waves with relative impunity. Once the dark arrives your panic metre starts to fill, which can lead to reality-altering hallucinations and death if you push your luck. That's not to mention the sea monsters that inhabit the archipelagos you'll visit, which will have you navigating coastlines in frenzied fear, searching for escape. Mix all the above with a raft of compelling gameplay mechanics, such as a variety of fishing mini-games, the Tetris-like cargo management system and 128 different types of fish to catch and catalogue, and you've got an experience will truly hook you in. Spookiness Raiting: 6/10 Available on: PC, Playstation 4/5, Xbox One/S/X, Nintendo Switch [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI9zBBTyX-E[/embed] LITTLE NIGHTMARES II The decision to include a sequel over the original game took a lot of soul searching. But ultimately, since the focus here is spooks and scares, Little Nightmares II takes the cake (it's also technically a prequel, but let's not get bogged down in details here). Developed by Swedish team Tarsier Studios, Little Nightmares II is a 2.5D puzzle platformer that is packed with peril. You're Mono, a young boy in a paper bag mask who, along with a mysterious young girl as a sidekick, must make your way through the decrepit, dank Pale City to uncover what lies inside the Signal Tower at its heart. Along the way you'll have a lot to deal with, such as the television-addicted inhabitants who fly into an incoherent rage if you sever their connection to the cathode ray tube. The strength of the game lies in its set pieces, each of which is a polished jewel of terror. Talk to anyone who has played Little Nightmares II previously and they can wax lyrical about the School, the Hospital, or the end sequence, which features a twist that will slap a gasp out of you. The character design is also outstanding, with the adult inhabitants of the world represented as twisted grotesqueries, exactly what you'd expect from the point of view of a child. With a gameplay loop centred on dying, learning and dying again, and an atmosphere that will keep your anxiety levels at a roiling boil, Little Nightmares II is a key addition to the game library of any horror fan. Spookiness Rating: 8/10 Available on: PC, Playstation 4/5, Xbox One/S/X, Nintendo Switch
How does Ryan Coogler do horror? With the supernatural, a blues soundtrack, and blood and gore, and also with evil honing in on twin brothers who are trying to create a new haven for their Black community to let loose in after dark, and to simply call their own, in the Mississippi Delta in the 1930s. Both portrayed by Michael B Jordan (Creed III) — because the only thing better than one version of the actor in the filmmaker's Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is two in Sinners — Elijah and Elias, aka Smoke and Stack, are back in their hometown from Chicago with cash to splash and a dream to bring to fruition. They secure an old saw mill, then set about turning it into a juke joint as speedily as they can. The siblings' young cousin Sammie (debutant Miles Caton), a talented guitarist, is enlisted to assist. So is everyone from other musicians (Unprisoned's Delroy Lindo and The Penguin's Jayme Lawson) and friends (Omar Benson Miller, True Lies) to loves from before the brothers left for the city (Loki's Wunmi Mosaku and The Marvels' Hailee Steinfeld) and the local Chinese American shopkeepers (Based on a True Story's Li Jun Li and The Last Bout's Yao). Not just anyone can enter — but when Irishman Remmick (Jack O'Connell, Back to Black) insists on an invite through the doors after being drawn the bar's way by Sammie's powerful tunes, and is refused, he gets persistent. Remmick also gets toothy. Chatting about the picture back when its second trailer released, Coogler described Sinners as "very genre-fluid". He continued: "it switches in and out of a lot of different genres. Yes, vampires are an element of the movie. But that's not the only element. It's not the only supernatural element". Seeing how that proves accurate in the finished film, and how the man behind the movie has written and directed the hell out of it, is already one of 2025's best cinematic experiences. While marking the first time that Coogler hasn't explored a true story, taken on an existing franchise or brought an already-known character to the screen, there's never any doubting that the flick that results couldn't have sprung from anyone else — and that it builds upon one of the best filmographies in the business over the past decade. Although Sinners is Coogler's debut official and overt entry in the horror realm, in a way he's been stepping into that terrain since 2013's Fruitvale Station. When that feature charted the events leading to the death of Oscar Grant in Oakland, it examined a real-life incident far more distressing than any movie that's predicated upon bumps and jumps. Now, 12 years later, Coogler's path from his first film to his fifth is clear: in both, terrors and traumas can lurk for no more reason than being Black in America. [caption id="attachment_1000420" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marion Curtis / StarPix for Warner Bros.[/caption] Sinners also builds upon Coogler's tried, tested and terrific creative collaborations — with Jordan, yes, and also with cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw (The Last Showgirl), production designer Hannah Beachler (Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé), editor Michael P Shawver (Abigail), and two Oscar-winners in composer Ludwig Göransson (Oppenheimer) and costume designer Ruth E Carter (Coming 2 America), all back from either Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever or both. Their sense of connection, of support, of coming together to realise a vision, is evident in every frame. Sinners' cast also gush about it. Indeed, when Coogler, Jordan, Caton, O'Connell, Lindo, Li, Mosaku, Steinfeld, Miller and Lawson chat through their experience making the movie, they talk about the shorthand between the film's writer/director and its two-time lead; first-timer Caton enjoying a spectacular learning experience; the depth at every turn, including for the feature's villain; and the cultural richness and attention to detail. Also covered: the flick's impressive choreography behind its frays, cultivating a sense of place, wanting to be on set on days off and more. On the Shorthand That Coogler and Jordan Have Established Over Five Projects and More Than a Decade of Collaborating Michael: "The shorthand has done nothing but get stronger over the years, especially with this one being my first movies that I've done since I directed my first film — and just having a deeper sense of empathy of what Ryan goes through on a day-to-day basis, all the hats that he must wear, the amount of places that he has to be at the same time. Especially on this one, for me to be able to be an extra set of eyes for him and help where I can or anticipate his movements or needs allowed us to maybe get a little bit more done, especially when time is always an issue on set in general — but it's a just mutual understanding. I can't really explain the nonverbal communication that we have that's only gotten better over the years." On Whether Coogler and Jordan's Working Relationship Evolved After Jordan Directed a Film Himself Ryan: "I worked as his producer on Creed III. It was a lot of times where I would never rub it in his face like that, but he would say 'whoa, man, I see what you're dealing with' — but the reality is, man, our jobs are so different. Even what he did when he was directing Creed III, he was acting in that movie. He was having to go get punched in the face and then go look and check to see how he did, and then go back and get punched again. I'm not on-screen ever when I'm directing. I'm behind the camera. Mike is an empathetic guy. He grew up on film and television sets. What I like the most about working with him is he has an incredible work ethic, but he's also a very kind and family-oriented person. When you're number one on the call sheet — in this case, he was 1A and 1B — you have that culture. Oftentimes, it's going to come from there and it trickles down. People are watching how the lead actor communicates with the PA; with the assistant director, the AD; with the camera operator; with the sound. Do they like to let the sound person mic them, or do they want to complain? All of these things, man. He's such an incredible sport and just kindness is the default. That's just infectious on the set in terms of establishing the tone that everybody's going to work with. It's unacceptable to yell at a PA — Mike had never done that, Mike had never raised his voice." Michael: "That's right. That's right." Ryan: "In an industry where it can get very high stress, it can get very toxic, it's great to have somebody who understands the value of keeping it loving and respectful, so that's what I like about Mike the most. The other piece is, he wants to challenge himself constantly. What was great was I got that with every cast member. Everybody who went through the works and stepped on the set, they were trying to be better than they were on their last movie. I believe that they're going to be better than they were on this movie on their next one. That's the type of people that we hired and that culture starts with Mike, but I was fortunate enough that everybody came with that, and I was very happy with that." On Caton's Journey with His First Film Role Miles: "I started off when I was 16 years old, I got the opportunity to sing background for HER, and we began a tour all over the world. We opened up for Coldplay. Towards the end of that tour, I got a call one day saying, she called me and she said 'little bro, there was somebody in the crowd that heard you sing and they want you to audition for this role'. I took that and I ran with it. I sent a self-tape audition. After that, I got a callback. Then they sent a couple sides. It was a kid, a young kid just playing the guitar. I did that and I sent that off. The next thing I knew, I had went to LA to do an audition, and I got to meet Mike and I got to meet Ryan along with a couple other people. From there, I got to really talk with them about the role and just put my best foot forward. After that, I was able to really learn from them. Just being on this project, I got to grow so much. Every day was a learning experience. From the time I got on set to the end, I really did push myself every day to be better. Being around actors at this level, they all showed me so much love, man, so to be here in this moment, I feel super blessed." On O'Connell's Job Unpacking the Many Layers of Sinners' Unsetting Supernatural Force Jack: "I think villain is a fair description. There's probably an easier way of doing things, but in the film, we do it the hard way for Remmick. He's all about fellowship and love. All he wants is just to bite you on your neck, and then that's everlasting love, just a little bite. He's constantly saying 'I promise I won't hurt you'. It's the easy way, but we end up going the hard way. Listen, there's a real richness, a real depth, I think, to Ryan's writing. What we were striving towards was — it wasn't superficial. It was grounded in something that's rooted in history. That, to me, was the main thing I was loving to latch onto, was the cultural richness that our characters were representing in individual ways." On Lindo Being Tasked with Getting Physical and Fiery Delroy: "First of all, we have such a wonderful team who work on the fights. I had said earlier 'oh, Ryan has a wonderful team that he puts at all the actors' disposal'. I had talked earlier about the fact that when I was younger, I did dance class and fighting on film, and in the theatre — it's like choreography, right? It's choreographed. On some level, the more violent the fights are, the more critically important it is that it be choreographed to a tee. These fights were. I came to the project a little late, because I was working on something else, but when I arrived in New Orleans they were already in the thick of building the moves in the fight. The very first fight rehearsal that I went to, the fight captain showed me what they were working on and showed me very specifically 'okay, this is how you will slot in'. We just worked very methodically to achieve that, so by the time we got on camera to shoot those scenes, we all knew exactly what we were doing, what our responsibilities were. The other thing I would say really quickly, there was an openness which trickles down from Ryan and from Mike in terms of the generosity shown to all of the actors. If something was presented to me, there were a couple of things presented to me in the fight scenes where I said 'can I maybe try this?'. 'Absolutely.' There was always space to incorporate what felt more organic for me as an actor." On the Attention to Detail That Went Into Exploring the Chinese American Experience Li: "I was not aware of the Chinese American community in the Mississippi Delta at all. I had no idea about them. All I knew was that when I was presented with the sides during my audition process, I had no other information other than the fact that she was a Chinese American with a very thick, deep southern accent, which was what really piqued my interest — and also obviously because it was Ryan's project. When we dived into the research, it was fascinating. They were such a crucial part of the world at the time. They were the only people who were able to open up grocery stores specifically for the Black and white communities, but they also endured a lot of prejudice themselves. In a documentary made by a filmmaker named Dolly Li, there were a couple of people that she mentioned. One of the women's names was Frieda Quon, which is whom we used for our dialect inspiration. She always said that as long as we stayed in our lanes, we were fine, but trouble would start if we crossed over. I just love how fascinating it was, how deeply embedded they were in the culture and how you would never think that a person who looks like me would speak that way, and yet they did. They also made southern-style Chinese food and they built their own community. It was really a gift to learn about this." On Why a Sense of Place Was So Important, Especially to Smoke and Annie's Love Story Wunmi: "Annie's shop, her home, is in this picturesque environment with these massive shaded oaks — and what's the other tree, the one in Louisiana with the moss? It's so beautiful and romantic and really adds to the magic of their relationship, their love. It elevates it. I love how, in the scene when we see Annie and Smoke for the first time, is it dandelions you've got blowing behind Smoke?" Ryan: "Yeah, pussy willows." Wunmi: "You say willow?" Ryan: "Yeah, pussy willow." Wunmi: "It's so beautiful. The whole shop itself, I feel like I wish we could see the whole thing because Hannah Beachler, she did such an amazing job." Delroy: "She did." Wunmi: "There's smoke coming up through the floorboards and there were these little cards hanging from the ceiling. This candle's burning in the background. You can't see all of this. There were spiderwebs on these spell books. These are real spiders. It's not even set design. It just felt really magical. It felt like their home. When he comes into the store, he knows where to pick his pipe from. He knows that time has stood still for her and everything is as it was. I really loved their environment. It felt like it really added to the scene, it added to our intimacy, it added to our connection." On Navigating Mary's Journey, and the Night-Time Shoots That It Entailed Hailee: "I think the nights were crazy, and a lot of the nights took place inside the juke, too. We would go in and it would be light — and we'd come out, it'd be light again. What I loved, though, so much about the juke for Mary was that even though it was a new place to her, it was home. There were so many elements within that juke that were created, that were brought to life, that were home. The food; the people, most importantly; the music; just the way, the layout where you'd have Smoke and Stack up above, Annie in her corner, the stage and Mary just moving through and feeling this sense of familiarity having never been there before because of who was around her. I love that so much about this character and how she falls into this story, because she's in a place of not knowing whether or not she, to an outsider, not so much herself — an outsider may not believe that she belongs in that space, but she does, she knows that and she feels it. Being in that juke, being on that stage and even in our exterior location, looking at that structure that was built, it was like it became our home. It became Mary's home. It became her connection to her mother and her past that she'd been away from for so long, living a very, very different life that we didn't necessarily see, but we could only imagine how beautiful it might've been or looked, rather, or how different it might've looked. It wasn't what she wanted. This is home. I loved walking in there and hearing everyone's shoes creak on the wood and the chairs that we see a little bit in the movie of the juke coming together. It's just like you wonder where it all came from and how they got it all together. It was all these people that are in there that made it happen, that brought it together. We had just the most incredible team, some of who you mentioned, bring this to life and make this feel like a safe space that we could call home." On the Collaborative and Creative Vibe That Comes with Working on a Coogler Film Omar: "I've been doing this for a good amount of time now. I've been blessed to work for a long time. Ryan Coogler runs the most-egalitarian set I have ever been on, and I say that in the most-complimentary way. Once we got to set, once everybody came out of the trailers, everybody was equal. For somebody who's had an underdog element to his whole career, I value that so much. To me, that was something that I leave with — leaving that set and always being welcome to return to the set, and always being a part of it with looking forward to return to it, was that I know that we're all being treated equally. Ryan knows everybody's first name. It's 200-something people. Ryan's calling people out: 'Roger Stevenson, how was your weekend?'. It's stuff like that. It's very, very, very impressive." Jayme: "This is hands-down my favourite experience. I think the way Ryan really set the tone, that it felt like we could bring our stories with us as he shared his with us — it made for this collaboration where, I think I can speak for a lot of us, we found a level of freedom that oftentimes you don't get to tap into, because you're being led by somebody that has so much faith in you and trust in you with his brainchild. At no point did he ever feel so precious about it. It was a gift that he was willing to share — every day, like Omar said. I would show up when I didn't have to be at work. Now, I don't know anybody else that would want to do that, but to be able to watch Ryan work, I had to. I just wanted be in that room at all times, and I am forever grateful for that." Sinners releases in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, April 17, 2025. Film images: Warner Bros / Eli Ade.
Australia is home to tens of thousands of species of wildflowers — many of which are grown exclusively in Australia — making it one of the biggest and most diverse collections in the world. While some bloom in seemingly endless fields of brilliant colour, others grow in hard-to-see spots, among trees and grasses. Most get started in early spring, but, in cool environments, like the Snowy Mountains, the real action doesn't kick off until summer. Here's your guide to some of the best places for wildflowers in Australia — from the alpine meadows of Kosciuszko National Park to the wattle-filled picnic areas of Warrandyte State Park, just outside Melbourne. [caption id="attachment_740494" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Elinor Sheargold[/caption] NSW: KOSCIUSZKO NATIONAL PARK Once the snow has melted, Kosciuszko National Park transforms into a wonderland of wildflowers. Hundreds of species grow here, including 21 that are unique to the area. One of the nicest ways to see them — while conquering Australia's highest mountain — is along the Kosciuszko Walk, which travels for 13 kilometres from Thredbo to the summit of Mount Kosciuszko. If you're looking for an even more epic adventure, go for the Main Range Walk: a 22-kilometre loop that takes in several glacial lakes. Either way, you'll meet bright yellow billy buttons, pink everlasting daisies, yellow and purple eyebrights and alpine mint bush, among other delights. When to visit: December–January. [caption id="attachment_631474" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Pam Goldie[/caption] NSW: MUOGAMARRA NATURE RESERVE Need a wildflower fix, but don't want to travel too far from the city? Make tracks to Muogamarra Nature Reserve, which lies an hour's drive north of Sydney, near the Hawkesbury River. More than 900 native species live here, from brilliant red waratahs and angophoras to pink boronias and native orchids. Plenty of animals enjoy the sights, too, so don't be surprised to come across echidnas, wedge-tailed eagles and lyrebirds. To deepen your knowledge, join a guided walk, be it the Aboriginal Heritage Walk, the Muogamarra Highlights Walk or the six-hour Peats Bight Walk. There's only one catch — Muogamarra is open just six weekends each year in August and September. When to visit: August–September. [caption id="attachment_740505" align="alignnone" width="1920"] John Spencer[/caption] NSW: TOORALE NATIONAL PARK If you're up for a road trip, make Toorale National Park your destination. You'll find it at the back of Bourke, around 11 hours' drive northwest of Sydney. Perched on the banks of Darling River, the park is made up of enormous floodplains and waterways, which create ideal conditions for flowers to bloom. See the most spectacular scenery on the Darling River Drive, a 41-kilometre loop that, in spring, passes through fields of teeny-tiny sunray daisies. After rainfall, you'll be surrounded by bluebells, native peas and pigweed. It's also an excellent route for stargazers and birdwatchers, especially those who like baby emus. You can camp by the water, too, at Yapara Paaka Thuru (Darling River Campground). When to visit: September–October. VIC: GREATER BENDIGO NATIONAL PARK Bendigo isn't only an excellent escape for culture vultures, it's also perfect for wildflower watchers. That's because the city is more or less encircled by national park. Begin your escapades at One Tree Hill Regional Park, with a three-kilometre hike to the summit. It's steep, but worth the visual rewards — expect to be immersed, not only in golden carpets of wattle, delicate wax flowers and an array of native orchids, but also by panoramic regional views. Another flowery spot nearby is Solomon Gully Nature Conservation Reserve, which is a 10-minute drive south of town. When to visit: September–December. [caption id="attachment_740501" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Julian Kingma for Visit Victoria[/caption] VIC: GRAMPIANS NATIONAL PARK A whopping one third of Victoria's wildflowers are in Grampians National Park. In fact, it was once described as the 'garden of Victoria' and, given that Victoria was once known as 'The Garden State', that's saying something. If you're visiting in early spring, head for Heatherlie Quarry, Mount Zero and Mount Stapylton — all in the Grampians' northern section. Also impressive is Wartook Valley, where acacia blooms from late August. Come spring, the best views are around Halls Gap, where the last weekend of September is dedicated to the Grampians Wildflower Show. When to visit: August–December. [caption id="attachment_703439" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nick Carson via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] VIC: WARRANDYTE STATE PARK Want wildflowers without any driving? You're in luck. Melbourne has its very own stash of blossoms in Warrandyte State Park, on the banks of the Yarra, 45 minutes' drive northeast of the CBD. It's the closest state park to the city. There's a diverse and colourful variety of flora to spot, from chocolate lilies (which are purple, not brown) and milkmaids to blue pincushions and pale sundews. Most bloom between September and December, though some, like ivy-leaf violets and common heath, last longer. In between looking down for flowers, look up for koalas. When to visit: September–December. [caption id="attachment_726968" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ben Nott for Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] QLD: GIRRAWEEN NATIONAL PARK The name's a giveaway. Girraween means 'place of flowers'. And they look even more dramatic here than in other spots — thanks to the massive granite boulders and outcrops, which create stunning backdrops. The show starts early, in late July, when thousands of wattle trees turn gold. But it's in spring that things really get going, with pea flowers bringing showers of red and purple, followed by native sarsaparilla, native bluebells and stacks of daisies, in a spectrum of colours. The cornucopia of blossoms is a magnet for flower-loving wildlife, including butterflies, crimson rosellas, wedge-tailed eagles and lyrebirds. Girraween National Park is three hours' drive southwest of Brisbane. When to visit: July–January. QLD: GURULMUNDI Not many people live in Gurulmundi, a locality in the Western Downs located five hours' drive northwest of Brisbane. So you won't be bumping elbows while photographing wildflowers. To help you make the most of the many blooms that grow here, there's a dedicated wildflower trail. Made for driving, this 100-kilometre loop officially begins in the nearby town of Miles and takes you off the beaten track, onto unsealed roads and into out-of-the-way places. Along the way, you'll cross the 5000-kilometre-long Dingo Barrier Fence: the longest fence in the world. Follow the wildflower signs for the most beautiful vistas. When to visit: September. QLD: BIRDSVILLE Birdsville might be best known for its legendary pub and spring races, but there are wildflowers, too. Lots and lots and lots of them. That's because the town is in the Diamantina River floodplains, which means fertile soil. The best time to visit is after spring rain, because it drives the seeds to sprout. And, given the terrain is so flat, the results aren't hard to see. Keep your eyes peeled on the road into Birdsville and, if you're exploring further, into Betoota and Bedourie, as well. Just some of the exotic flowers you're likely to see include poached egg daisies, the hairy darling pea, wild stock and desert nightshade. When to visit: After it rains. Top image: Wildflowers in the Grampians by Christine O'Connell; Barrington River by John Spencer; and Muogamarra by John Spencer.
When an Australian actor makes it big, it can feel as if there's more than one of them. Joel Edgerton, who has been on local screens for almost three decades and made the leap to Hollywood with the Australian-shot Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones, is such a talent. He's usually everywhere and in almost everything (such as The Stranger, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Thirteen Lives, Master Gardener, I'm a Virgo, The Boys in the Boat and Bluey in just the past two years), and viewers would follow him anywhere. Dark Matter wasn't written to capitalise upon that idea. Rather, it hails from the page of Blake Crouch's 2016 novel, with the author also creating the new nine-part Apple TV+ sci-fi series that it's based on. But, streaming from Wednesday, May 8, 2024, the show's lead casting leans into the notion that you can never have too much Edgerton by multiplying him in the multiverse. For the characters in Dark Matter, however, the fact that there's more than a single Jason Dessen causes considerable issues. The series' protagonist is a former experimental physics genius-turned-professor in Chicago who's teaching disinterested students about Schrödinger's cat. He's married to artist-turned-gallerist Daniela (Jennifer Connelly, Bad Behaviour), a father to teenager Charlie (Oakes Fegley, The Fabelmans) and the best friend of award-winning college pal Ryan Holder (Jimmi Simpson, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia). And, he's been happy living the quiet family life, although pangs of envy quietly arise when he's celebrating Ryan's prestigious new accolade. Then, when another Jason pops up to pull off a kidnapping and doppelgänger plot, he's soon navigating a cross between Sliding Doors and Everything Everywhere All At Once. Everything is a multiverse tale of late; a mere few examples span superhero films and television shows Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the Spider-Verse movies, Loki and The Flash; TV gems Fringe and Russian Doll; and the interdimensional animated chaos of Rick and Morty. Dark Matter is also a soul-searching "what if?" drama, exploring the human need to wonder what might've been if just one choice — sometimes big, sometimes small — had veered in a different direction. While a box is pivotal mode of transport like this is Doctor Who, as are all manner of worlds to visit, this is high-concept sci-fi at its most grounded. Neither version of Jason wants to hop through parallel worlds in the name of adventure or exploration — they're simply chasing their idea of everyday perfection. The first Jason chose Daniela and Charlie over devoting his existence to his career, round-the-clock work and only seeing the inside of a lab. Drugging and abducting him to reveal what could've eventuated if he didn't chart that path, the second Jason slides into his life to trade places. The everyman Jason unwillingly gets transported to a plane of reality where he's a famous billionaire — as well as the recipient of prizes and kudos, and also the creator of the technology that's allowing tumbling through the multiverse to happen — while the interloper Jason assumes his spot as a husband and dad. Dark Matter ties into the proverb "the grass is always greener", too, as both Jasons face the ups and downs of the road not taken, mostly for worse not better. For Jason One, if only verdant pastures were all that changed as he urgently attempts to return to his Daniela. With Jason Two's psychiatrist partner and colleague Amanda (Alice Braga, A Murder at the End of the World) for company, anything can await behind the infinite expanse of doors in a dimly light corridor that literalises the quantum state of superposition. Again, though, journeying to dystopias and paradises, and through disasters and futuristic havens while they're at it, isn't the point, even if each of the above makes an appearance. If you've ever felt as if you've been wading through copies of the life that you're meant to have, with nothing completely falling into place as it should, that's Jason One's experience as minor details morph from world to world. Edgerton's job, fittingly, contains multitudes. As the initial iteration of Jason, he plays thoughtful, considerate, dedicated to his loved ones and desperate to find his way back to them — all while tussling with the show's high-tech premise, often while stranded within that endless hallway. As Jason Two, he's a calculating imposter endeavouring not to get caught in the dream reality that he's ruthlessly stolen, but also arrogant in his confidence that he's pulled off his existential heist. A click on the soundtrack signals Dark Matter's jump between Jasons, but it needn't: Edgerton conveys their differences alongside their similarities like an artist painting the same portrait in dissimilar styles, and does so in one of the best performances of his career. Grappling with regrets, possibilities, the haunting knowledge that other futures are always possible and the distress of grasping that you mightn't have appreciated what you had until it was gone, Edgerton isn't the only actor excelling at doing double duty. For Connelly, in a show that spirits someone else off on a quest as another of her on-screen alter egos once was nearly four decades back in Labyrinth — a series where frosty climes and trains also play a part, bringing her last small-screen role on Snowpiercer to mind — shifts in body language say everything. And, they aren't the only cast members serving up layered performances. Braga, Fegley and Simpson are no slouches; in smaller but no less pivotal roles, neither are Dayo Okeniyi (Hypnotic) and Amanda Brugel (Parish). With Wayward Pines and Good Behaviour, Crouch's work has ventured from the page to episodes before — and with his involvement. His latest series has echoes within Apple TV+'s slate, too, because the platform's love of science fiction, twists and mysteries just keeps growing, including with Constellation already in 2024, Silo in 2023 and Severance in 2022. There might only be a lone idyllic realm for Jasons in Dark Matter, but that isn't the case for the streaming service's viewers. An absorbing and addictive trip that's also firmly anchored in relatable yearnings and musings, this Edgerton-led series is one to enthusiastically dive into. Check out the trailer for Dark Matter below: Dark Matter streams via Apple TV+ from Wednesday, May 8, 2024.
Dukes Coffee Roasters has been one of Melbourne's best coffee roasters since 2008, and we're lucky enough to have our own outpost down at Barangaroo. The blond timber and smooth curves here mimic those of Dukes' Melbourne store, though this space is bigger, lighter, and brighter than its southern sibling. Brewing from 7.30am every weekday, the cafe brews Dukes' full range of coffee black, with milk or as a filter. Alongside that, it has a tidy selection of sandwiches, pastries and sweet treats. Better yet, the team is committed to supporting both the planet and every one of the communities involved in the coffee's production. Each bag of coffee beans has been ethically traded and can be traced right back to the farm from which it came. Dukes is not the Barangaroo precinct's first Melbourne blow-in, joining fellow southerners Belles Hot Chicken and Shortstop Donuts.
Some museums are filled with art. Others are dedicated to interesting pieces of history. The National Communication Museum in Melbourne, Australia's latest, falls into the second category. It's also a museum with a hyper-specific focus, celebrating the technology that's allowed humanity to interact and, in the process, shaped how we engage with each other. Rotary phones, cyber cafes, MSN Messenger: they all get a nod here. Opening to the public on Saturday, September 21, 2024, and marking the first new major museum in Melbourne for more than two decades — since the Melbourne Museum launched — the National Communication Museum lives and breathes nostalgia, then. Phone boxes, burger phones, the speaking clock that you could call to get the time and only shut down in Australia in 2019: they receive some love as well. But this space isn't solely about looking backwards, with peering forwards also part of its remit. Yes, that means grappling with what artificial intelligence might mean for communication in the future. Emily Siddon, NCM's Co-Chief Executive Officer and Artistic Director, calls the two-level Hawthorn site "a trip down memory lane", but also notes how it looks at the present and what might come. "The technologies featured in NCM were developed in response to the innate human need to communicate and connect — yesterday, today and tomorrow," she explains. "It also answers the pressing questions about communication technology today. Things like: how far away are we from uploading our consciousness? How am I tracked and where does my data go? And how can I tell real from fake or human from machine?". Across an array of rooms featuring both permanent and temporary exhibitions — located in an old 1930s telephone exchange building, which includes a working historical telephone exchange — visitors can dive into First Nations storytelling, celebrate the speaking clock, explore a 90s-era internet cafe and check out an interactive display that takes its cues from regional Australia's phone booths. There's also a section dedicated to research, spanning both successful and unsuccessful ideas, plus launch exhibitions dedicated to surveillance, the human-made satellites sent into space to circle the earth and the infrastructure underpinning digital communication. Find the National Communication Museum at 375 Burwood Road, Hawthorn, from Saturday, September 21, 2024 — open 10am–5pm Wednesday–Sunday. Head to the venue's website for more details. Images: Casey Horsfield.
There isn't a trace of the unwashed artist, student or dole bludger in Surry Hills anymore. I say this from my vantage point at a table in Rosie Campbell's on a Thursday night (on the corner of Crown and Campbell street, in case you hadn't figured it out). The idea of Rosie's is to bring a bit of Jamaica via New York to 2010, but despite the cute fit-out, what you notice at Rosie's is that the clientele comprises solely of Surry Hills' new white collar residents, the types who aren't complaining too much about the current real estate prices. Instead, they're sipping on cocktails that seriously nudge a lobster, cooling out to good reggae and hip hop, and getting stuck into some excellent jerk chicken, made with the venue's amply used signature jerk sauce. The venue is the latest from Graham Cordery and The Experience Group, who's other Surry Hills venue, The Soda Factory, has become a solid staple with a passionate following that come for more than just the famous Tuesday Dollar Dawgs. Following a rather life-changing trip to Jamaica, Cordery was inspired to bring home what he loved about the country: "the contrasting bright colours [and] the vibrancy that really makes you feel alive". The dishes on offer centre around three main flavour groupings, all of which are executed nicely. Deceptively smooth cocktails, like the Montego Bay Punch (of Pampero white and dark rums, Don Julio Plata tequila, pineapple, papaya, rockmelon, sugarcane and almond, $19), as well as a moorish Bowl of Corn with jerk mayo ($8), highlight the sweet and coconutty. A beautifully bright snapper ceviche ($20) and a mango-studded Island Jerk Salad ($16) are fresh and herbal, while the ribs ($19), sweet potato fries ($8) and that wondrous jerk chicken ($18) fill the gap with plenty of warmth and spice. Holding onto your crowd for dessert on Crown Street will always be a challenge with you-know-who just a few steps down the road, but Rosie's presents a good case for staying in with the offer of a warm caramel rum cake ($14). You might be in Surry Hills, but as the final sip of that rum-spiked punch hits you while you have a spoonful of caramel-soaked cake in your mouth, you could, maybe, just be soaking up the rays someplace warmer.
Diamond Head Campground lies in the sheltered southern corner of Dunbogan Beach, on the watery edge of Crowdy Bay National Park. There's plenty to do, from swimming in the calm, aquamarine water to exploring spectacular Split Rock. Walkers will be keen to conquer one of the nearby hiking trails, which take in swamp mahogany and paperbark forests, as well as coastal panoramas aplenty. Just check NSW National Parks website first, as some are still closed because of the bushfires. The campground has 75 pitches for tents, but you're welcome to pull up in your caravan or motor home, too. Among the facilities are showers, toilets, barbecues and picnic tables, so you're fully covered here. [caption id="attachment_770660" align="alignnone" width="1920"] National Parks NSW[/caption] Top image: National Parks NSW
CBD bike shop Clarence Street Cyclery has been a go-to bike shop for 45 years. The family-operated store has more than 150 pedal bikes on display in its Victorian-era shop, and you're guaranteed to receive good advice from its team whether you need a new lock, some lights or a whole new set of wheels. [caption id="attachment_777009" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cassandra Hannagan[/caption] It stocks Trek Bicycles, as well as Electra cruisers, and if you're unsure which model will suit you best, the staff here will help you make the best decision. It also has a broad range of lifestyle and mountain bike helmets to booties and arm warmers for the more serious cyclist. Images: Cassandra Hannagan
Clear your calendar - Darlo After Dark is taking over Darlinghurst from June 19-29, serving up winter nights packed with live music, street performances, solstice rituals and all the good things that happen after dark. Curated by the team at Arts Matter, this ten-day festival spans ten venues between the Coke Sign and Green Park, encompassing Victoria, Burton and Liverpool Streets, as well as Darlinghurst Road. The neighbourhood will transform into a kind of cultural crawl - part pop-up, part performance, part party. This one's for the night owls, the curious, and the creatively inclined. Expect a sultry solstice performance from Malaika Mflame at The Darbury (yes, there'll be mulled wine). Over at Gino's Trattoria, you can catch live opera while tucking into Southern Italian eats. And if you wander into Ouzo, you'll find James Domeyko on sax, soundtracking your night with ambient jazz while you snack on Greek small plates. There's also limited-edition solstice ice cream from Messina, sake tastings at Nomidokoro Indigo, and tarot readings tucked away inside Dust Antiques. Need something hands-on? Head to Rainbow Studios for lantern-making workshops or craft your own whimsical flower crown at the twilight markets. Cap it off with an intimate screening of The Witches of Eastwick at Govindas Cinema - a dark fantasy comedy that hits that perfect sweet spot between witchy and wicked. This isn't your average winter festival — it's layered, hyper-local and full of surprises. Start early, stay late, or just wander. The fun is in the in-between. For more information, visit DarloVillage and be sure to follow us on socials @darlovillagesydney. Images: Supplied
Sydney has been teased with the prospect of having its own Taco Bell for over a year now. But, after a much-anticipated opening up in Newcastle last month, it's finally here. From 11am, Tuesday, December 17, you'll be able to waltz into Blacktown's Westpoint shopping centre and grab a Cheesy Chipotle Burrito, Crunchy Taco or a big ol' frozen margarita. While it is Taco Bell's third attempted foray into the Australian market — the chain tried to launch here in 1981 (and was then taken to court by Sydney store Taco Bell's Casa) and again in 1997, but both attempts were unsuccessful and the brand withdrew — this time, the US chain seems to be doing things seriously. It launched its first NSW store in Jesmond last month and opened one (and soon a second) in Melbourne — and that's in addition to the seven Queensland locations that've popped up in the last two years. Going by the Newcastle menu, we can safely assume that quesadillas, burritos, Crunchwraps, nachos, power bowls and, of course, tacos (including the Gordita Crunch with both a crunchy and soft tortilla) are all on the lineup. It looks to be affordable, too, with $2.50 tacos, $3.50 mini quesadillas, $3 churros, $4 burritos and $3 cinnamon twists. And there's booze, including frozen margs and Coronas and a bit of local flavour thanks to Coopers Light and Young Henrys pale ale. [caption id="attachment_753094" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Taco Bell Newcastle[/caption] If you manage to make it to Blacktown for opening day, you can snag yourself some limited-edition merch and one person will score free tacos for a year. Keep an eye on the Taco Bell Facebook page for upcoming freebies and limited-edition menus, too. It won't stop there, either, with Taco Bell saying it'll open a minimum of 40 stores across NSW and the ACT in the next five years. We'll let you know when anymore locations are announced. Find Taco Bell at Westpoint, 17 Patrick Street, Blacktown from 11am on Tuesday, December 17. Top image: Taco Bell Robina by Hugo Nobay.
This leafy inner west suburb is home to local artists, students and creative start-ups, and the charming mix of cafes, bars, restaurants and shops along Glebe Point Road reflects the laidback attitude of the people who choose to live and work there. Alongside secondhand bookshops that have thrived in the area for decades, you'll find pocket breweries and cute grocery stores — plus, it's all within a short walk from Sydney's CBD. With so many unusual and distinct businesses along one stretch, it can be hard to know where to start. So with the help of American Express, we've picked out the best places to shop at in Glebe so you know you're supporting the indie businesses that make it such a great place to visit. Follow our locals' guide to Glebe Point Road and shop small with your Amex Card.
Boat Harbour is not your typical beach. Far from offering a lazy day in the sun, this is one of the last beaches in Sydney where you can drive your 4WD. Located on the northeastern side of the Kurnell peninsula, the 150-metre beach is accessible via 4WD-friendly sand dunes which, once traversed, spit you out onto Boat Harbour, with its calm and shallow waters. On weekends, this strip of sand fills up with families bringing their barbecues and gazebos down to set up for the day (driving onto the beach means no gear-laden walks from the car park). The beach is unpatrolled but is known for its calm waters, making it a popular destination for stand-up paddleboarding, line fishing and snorkelling, too. And, if you don't feel like getting wet, check out the sea life in the rock pools that hug the shoreline instead.
A glass of bubbly is always a pleasure, but the return of World Champagne Day provides ample excuse to add a little more sparkle to your upcoming weekend. Taking over QT Hotels & Resorts across Australia from Friday, October 24–Sunday, October 26, the brand's lineup of luxe off-beat stays have teamed up with true-brut style Perrier-Jouët for a cork-popping experience. To mark the occasion, guests are invited to double-down on their love of champagne, as your first flute purchase scores a second pour of top-quality champers on the house. Just swing through any of QT's signature restaurants — like Gowings & Parlour at QT Sydney, Pascale Bar & Grill at QT Melbourne and Yamagen at QT Gold Coast — to toast yourself with a fizzy encore to match.
Road-tripping along the border of Victoria? Mildura's Kar-Rama Hotel probably isn't the kind of stay you'd expect to encounter this far from the big smoke. Yet as the town's newest boutique accommodation, it offers the sleek design and effortless comfort you're likely looking for after a long drive. Whether checking in for work or spending the weekend exploring Mildura's wine and dining scenes, this choice spot is ripe for unwinding. The 34 chic rooms strike a modern interpretation of mid-century design, with pastel tones reflecting the region's sun-drenched landscape. Each offers a plush king-sized bed with premium linen, high-end Leif botanical amenities, Nespresso coffee machine and inviting Bemboka robes, ensuring your stay is a relaxing one. Then, it's just a short trip to the lobby lounge, aka Chill Haven, where you can enjoy a drink and soak up the poolside perspective. That's right – this boutique motel has a heated butterfly-shaped pool, making it easy to cool off with a refreshing dip. Find a spot in the sun on a lounge and suddenly Mildura feels a little more Mediterranean. Surrounded by retro furnishings, this urban oasis in the countryside is the perfect sun-drenched retreat if you're seeking a little serenity on your trip. When you're ready to explore, Kar-Rama is ideally located. Those keen to roam the outdoors will find stellar swimming spots and eco-adventures along the Murray River, just a short drive away. There are also cultural attractions that offer a deeper insight into the local region, such as the Mildura Arts Centre and the Australian Inland Botanic Gardens. Meanwhile, award-winning cellar doors like Oak Valley Estate, Capogreco Winery Estate and Trentham Estate are all easily within reach. Speaking of dining, you're welcome to grab a continental breakfast from Kar-Rama's reception. Alternatively, the team is happy to guide you to the best spots in town. Head to Blk.Mlk Specialty Coffee or Kaffenio for caffeinated goodness, then dine on top-notch cuisine at restaurants like Andy's Kitchen, Brass Money and The Italian Mildura. With the local scene on the rise, you're never far from a stellar feed. "We are excited to see Kar-Rama Hotel open its doors in Mildura, bringing a high-quality accommodation offering to the region," says Andrew Bullock, CEO at 1834 Hotels, the hospitality group behind the property. "We look forward to working closely with the owners to drive its long-term success, strengthening the region's hospitality landscape and providing guests with a seamless and memorable stay." Kar-Rama Hotel is open at 153 Deakin Ave, Mildura. Head to the website for more information.
Imagine sitting under the gentle glow of candlelight, enjoying a live performance of Coldplay's "Sky Full of Stars." Thanks to The Concert by Candlelight series, this could soon be true. Returning for its fourth year, the series will host The Music of Coldplay by Candlelight across three locations, Sydney, Perth and the Gold Coast. While it may not be the band itself, world-class vocalists and a live band from London's West End will honour legends Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman, and Will Champion with powerful performances. The performers will kick things off at 7.30pm Darling Harbour Theatre at ICC Sydney on Saturday, September 13. The show will take over The Star Theatre on the Gold Coast on Friday, September 19, before making the journey west to Perth's Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday, September 27. Given that Coldplay visited fans down under relatively recently in 2024, it's unlikely they'll be gracing us with their presence anytime soon. So, The Music of Coldplay by Candelight may be the closest thing to the real deal Aussies can get, at least for a while. Each concert is a one-night-only event, and they're coming up faster than you think. So get in quick; tickets are likely to sell out fast. The Music of Coldplay by Candlelight will be held in September in Sydney, Perth, and the Gold Coast. Performances start at 7.30pm. For more information or to book tickets, visit the website. Images: Supplied.
Hidden underground in the basement level of the new four-storey Sydney venue Hinchcliff House is Apollonia, a cocktail bar with an affinity for negronis and romance. The dimly lit bar is named after a character from The Godfather and looks to embody the stricken nature of Apollonia and protagonist Michael in the film. Whether you're swinging by to grab a drink or heading downstairs for a nightcap after your meal at one of the building's other venues, you're going to want to start and end with the cocktail list. Here you can sip the Love at First Sight, a dry gin, amaro and strawberry gum cocktail, or A Letter Never Sent, a wheat vodka and Italian honey liqueur creation. Further down the menu, you'll find a milk gin, citrus and lavender drink called the Hills of Savoca, or a Wedding Cake made with rye, local coffee amaro and amaretto foam. You can, of course, stray off on your own drinks journey, with an expansive list of spirits and liqueurs to choose from. If you stick around until midnight on a Friday night, you'll be treated to The Thunderbolt. This weekly tradition at Apollonia is a toast to what's important: friends, life, love and negronis. Images: Jiwon Kim Updated Tuesday, May, 1 2023. Appears in: The Best Bars in Sydney Sydney's Best Underground Bars for 2023
Push open the door at Bart Jr and the first thing you'll notice is the welcoming hum of banter. It only takes a quick glance around the room to see that this is a place that lends itself to a long session of good conversations over shared meals, a couple of glasses of wine, or a cocktail or two. Bart Jr — the second Redfern venue from the Scout's Honour crew — has kept it simple when it comes to the wine list. There's one of everything, all served by the glass, and, for the most part, they're all locally grown and often biodynamic. If you're looking for a red or white to bookend a long day, the Vinteloper Watervale Riesling from the Clare Valley ($11) and the Lethbridge Ménage a Noir Pinot Noir from Geelong ($12) are excellent wines to start with. There's also a number of local craft breweries on rotation on tap and in the fridge. You may be sat right alongside other diners or even perched next to them on a communal table, but this isn't a boisterous all-in drinking session — while being inclusive, everyone is engrossed in their own worlds. In this way, Bart Jr epitomises the friendly local, right down to the Redfern-focused photography series by a local artist. This friendliness of sorts even extends to the bar's namesake, which refers to a local and notoriously loose cat named Bart who roams the neighbourhood leaving a trail of lovers behind him. Given that he's inspired genuinely friendly service and food that's made with affection, Bart, we support your lifestyle — and we recommend you down a Dirty Aperol in his honour. Like most of the cocktails on their list, this one takes a classic and adds a Bart Jr twist — in this case, the addition of olive brine brings together the spritz and the martini, giving a new kick to the summer staple. As we've said, the food here is designed to be shared. Adding some glamour to the light and casual vibe, you'll be using a gold knife and fork to tuck into a plate of sheeps' milk haloumi generously topped with burnt honey, rosemary, currants and hazelnuts ($18). And while this may seem decadent, Bart Jr's menu strikes the balance between being rich and flavourful, but not overpowering. Take the gorgonzola dolce on toasted sourdough ($18) — topped with an abundance of greens, radishes, caramelised onion and fennel, this dish has strong creamy flavours while still keeping it fresh. A must-order. We recommend chasing your hit of dairy with the beef carpaccio with anchovy cream, pickled onion, fried capers, chives and pine nuts ($22) and the charred brassica in miso and egg yolk ($16), which, rather than just being a veggie side, is a dish unto itself. It's this next-level bar food, casual seating and dedication to good drinks, that makes Bart Jr a no-brainer for catch-ups with mates. Images: Katje Ford.
Visit the Chau Chak Wing Museum for an expedition back to one of the world's oldest civilisations. The Egyptian Galleries brings ancient Egypt to life with two imaginative (and free) exhibits that explore the culture's lasting legacy. The Mummy Room weaves together archaeological artefacts and modern science to showcase the lives of four different Egyptians. The exhibit features the coffins and mummified bodies of Meruah, Padiashaikhet, Horus and Mer-Neith-it-es, who lived in Egypt between 1200 BCE and 100 CE, and uses innovative CT technology to uncover previously indiscernible details about their health and lifestyles. Accompanying the captivating exhibit is Pharaonic Obsessions, which highlights the Egyptomania that swept Australia in the 19th century. On display are a range of ancient Egyptian artefacts collected by different Australians, such as ornate funerary objects and decorative tiles and columns. While you're there, check out the museum's other art, science and history exhibits — all of which you can explore for free. Get more details on The Egyptian Galleries and other exhibits at the Chau Chak Wing Museum's website.
Forged over six decades so far, Robert De Niro's resume contains multitudes. 2025 marks exactly 60 years since his uncredited on-screen debut in Three Rooms in Manhattan — and if a New York-shot French drama seems an unlikely pick for his first-ever movie, it's a case of De Niro starting to build his wide-ranging filmography from the outset. Comedies, thrillers, musicals, horror, dramas and action fare all have a place among his work. His name instantly brings a particular genre to mind, though: gangster flicks. For one, The Godfather Part II, he earned his first Oscar. For Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon), he made a helluva early impression in Mean Streets, then was spectacular in 90s masterpieces Goodfellas and Casino, plus in 2019's The Irishman. With Barry Levinson, another director that he's collaborated with again and again, De Niro one-ups his past organised-crime movies in a specific way, however, including Once Upon a Time in America and The Untouchables. The Alto Knights is a tale of two IRL mob bosses, Frank Costello and Vito Genovese. Neither figures are new to the screen. They're not even new to Levinson's pictures, after both popped up in Bugsy back in 1991. But here, the Academy Award-winning Rain Man filmmaker and directing veteran — helmer of Diner, The Natural, Good Morning, Vietnam, the first episode of iconic police procedural series Homicide: Life on the Street and two instalments of Dopesick, too, and more — focuses on the pair's relationship as the two childhood pals become fierce rivals. And to stress the connection between Frank and Vito, and draw attention to the parallels between the duo, he has his Sleepers, Wag the Dog, What Just Happened and The Wizard of Lies star play both men. De Niro doing double duty for one of his go-to filmmakers. De Niro leading a gangster picture with a script by Nicholas Pileggi, the crime reporter who wrote the non-fiction books Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family and Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas, then co-penned the screenplays for their movie adaptations Goodfellas and Casino with Scorsese. De Niro in a mobster flick produced by Raging Bull, Goodfellas and The Irishman's Irvin Winkler. That's the recipe behind The Alto Knights. It was Winkler who had the idea for De Niro to portray both Frank and Vito, Levinson tells Concrete Playground — and the choice is one of the feature's best moves, especially when the actor is literally facing off against himself. When he's in Frank's shoes, De Niro is all about attempted respectability, as someone who sees diplomacy as the best way to rule the Big Apple's criminal underworld. Switching to Vito, he's the hot head who'll do anything, and bring down anyone, to regain the top job. Costuming, hair and makeup help, but De Niro makes both roles distinctive as the two men, who both grew up as Italians in NYC hanging out together around the titular social club, find themselves battling it out after Vito takes control of the Luciano crime family, then flees to Italy following a run-in with the law, then returns for the throne Frank is now perched on. As has proven true across many of Levinson's movies, since the chatter-heavy Diner with Kevin Bacon (MaXXXine), Mickey Rourke (The Wheels of Heaven), Steve Guttenberg (High Potential), Daniel Stern (For All Mankind), Paul Reiser (Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F), Tim Daly (Life & Beth) and Ellen Barkin (Poker Face) gave him his directorial debut, there's a storytelling element to The Alto Knights. With the film structured around Frank telling this tale to viewers, add another familiar component to the picture's setup. The narrative shared is one not just about friends turned foes, or about power struggles between mob bosses both vying to sit at the top of the mafia ladder, including the impact upon those around them — Debra Messing (Bros) plays Frank's wife Bobbie, Kathrine Narducci (Godfather of Harlem, and De Niro's past co-star in both The Irishman and A Bronx Tale) is Vito's counterpart Anna and Cosmo Jarvis (Inside) portrays Vito's righthand man Vincent Gigante — but of a moment that changed America and organised crime within it forever. That's one of the reasons that Levinson was so interested in hopping onboard, he advises. And of getting De Niro acting opposite himself as the film's two lead characters, it helped that the two-time Oscar-winner (for Raging Bull as well) and seven-time nominee beyond his two victories (for Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, Awakenings, Cape Fear, Silver Linings Playbook, The Irishman and Killers of the Flower Moon) is "one of the great actors in the history of cinema" and "has great instincts as an actor", he notes. Speaking with Levinson, we dived into the decision-making behind that pivotal casting, digging into Frank and Vito's connection, and the organic nature of De Niro's performance. On Casting De Niro as Both Frank Costello and Vito Genovese This is a film with history, not only because it heads back to the 50s — and to the decades around it. But if The Alto Knights had made it to the screen before now, those twin De Niro performances mightn't have been at its centre. "Well, it came about — originally this goes back, I guess people have been trying to do a movie about Frank Costello for years," Levinson explains. "And Nick Pileggi got involved and was working on something, and I came onto the project. And somehow we were talking about Vito, and he was a character in it, but the idea was 'well, why don't we just follow what took place?'." "That they were best friends as kids, they hung around The Alto Knights place, and as they grew older, best friends, they started to grow apart. One was much more ruthless and spontaneous in doing things. The other one was much more deliberate, almost a corporate sensibility about how to run the mafia. And then the clash of the two," he continues. "And so when we began to really get that together, Nick's writing, and we had a draft of it, we gave it to Irwin Winkler. And Irwin Winkler liked the draft and he said 'what about Bob playing both roles?'." "And I was thinking for a second, and I went 'well, that's s an interesting way to — we are talking about one of the great actors in the history of cinema, so it's not like this is impossible for him to do. Let's see what he thinks'." "And he responded well, and then that's how that all came about." On What Appealed to Levinson About Digging Into Costello and Genovese's Connection in The Alto Knights, Especially After Featuring Both Figures as Characters in 1991's Bugsy When Frank and Vito last played a part in a Levinson movie more than four decades ago, they weren't the focus. Bugsy hones on its namesake, with Warren Beatty (Rules Don't Apply) as Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel. But because Bugsy had his own key childhood link to Charles "Lucky" Luciano, they're all in the same slice of the mob world. Before Vito and Frank's stints at the apex of the Luciano crime family, Lucky was in the job first. (In a film that also flashes backwards, NCIS and Mayor of Kingstown alum Amadeo Fusca plays him in The Alto Knights.) A Frank- and Vito-centric film interested Levinson "because we were watching the mafia as Vito took over, and then because of having to leave the country and turning it over to Frank, it began to change," he says. "And that change led to a feud between the two of them, basically because of Vito wanting control again. You go 'well, that's a great conflict. That's a story to explore'." "And then: 'what happened because of that?'. It wasn't like it was just two guys and one killed the other or whatever, maybe. It changed the whole, in the sense it brought the hearings on organised crime, that all came about because of the incident that takes place in the film." "And you'd say 'well, this is an interesting arc of the mafia and what happened. That's a story that's interesting'. That was basically 'can we tell that story?'." On the Direction That You Give Someone When They're Playing Two Different Characters in the Same Film How do you guide someone as a director, if you even need to in the case of an actor of De Niro's calibre and experience, when they're tasked with portraying two completely different characters and giving two completely different performances in the one movie? And how does the process of building the two parts work? "He has great instincts as an actor," Levinson calls out to begin with. "And as we would go along in the process leading up to the filming of it, you're talking about one character, you're talking about the other character, this piece of information, that piece of information — you just start adding that. Bob absorbs it." "Then you're going through the whole process of makeup. 'What does this one look like? What does that one look like? How do we do this? How do we handle that?'. And then that starts coming in — and then 'what is the rhythm of the way they talk to one another?'. One is slow, much more deliberate. The other one is faster, quicker, more sort of dangerous in the way that he throws ideas around. And then you start putting these pieces together," Levinson adds. "And then, of course, in the process of the shooting, we would sit down in Bob's trailer and go over the scene and tweak it a little bit and tweak it a little bit. And 'hey, what about this?'. And then you add to it and you keep building for it. And at the end of the day, after you build all that, you want to create the spontaneity. And that's what Bob can do — he's not mechanically going through one character or another." "There's a spontaneity about them that it feels like these two guys are talking to one another, and they're making up things as they go along, rather than 'I say my line, now you say your line'. It just feels more organic." The Alto Knights opened in Australian cinemas on Thursday, March 20, 2025.
Quirky giftware store Octopus Design is the younger sibling of Paddington's Opus. While the Newtown venue is smaller, it makes up for it in heart (and cheekiness). Octopus Design is an absolute goldmine for those last-minute gift shopping moments — from books and games to eclectic homewares and gadgets, you'll be able to find something for absolutely everyone. The store is always changing and the ever-revolving stock means that Octopus is a totally different shop every time you visit. Plus it's pet-friendly, so you can stop in when you're walking your darling pooch around the streets of Newtown. Images: Arvin Prem Kumar
If the kids in your life have lots of energy heading into the school holidays, or you want to relive the era of jumping castle parties from when you were the kid in your parents' life, look no further. With hours of fun for the whole family (and a momentary well-deserved break for parents), everyone's favourite inflatable obstacle course, Monster Jump Sydney, is returning to the Entertainment Quarter this July. Running from Saturday, July 5 to Sunday, July 20, this ultimate school holiday activity is perfect for getting outdoors and active. The 280-metre inflatable obstacle course boasts over 30 challenges. You'll find yourself sliding and jumping, climbing walls and slides, jumping over hurdles, and ducking under and around inflated barriers while putting a whole lot of concentration into staying upright. Whether you're racing friends to see who is the fastest or you prefer to enjoy the course at your own pace, Monster Jump will get the adrenaline pumping. Unlike other obstacle courses, there's no mud or sharp edges here, only one of the best cardio exercises you've done in months. And this year, the action will be turning up a notch with the introduction of the Monster Sports Jam Inflatable. Perfect for sport-lovers or the kind of people who find a way to make things competitive, pick your game and take on a range of epic sporting challenges. Try your luck at basketball, a jousting station, or even a wrecking ball, just to name a few. Tickets to Monster Jump Sydney are based on preset two-hour session times, so come ahead of time to get your wristbands before your time slot. Session times are 10am-12pm, 11am-1pm, 12pm-2pm, 1pm-3pm, and 2pm-4pm. Tickets to Monster Jump Sydney are available on the website now. Make sure to pre-book to secure your preferred session time and avoid missing out. Images: Supplied.
Head south of Sydney or north of Victoria and you're sure to find quaint towns complete with awe-inspiring national parks and world-class wineries. The NSW south coast and southern highlands provide just this, plus an idyllic mix of rolling hillsides and romantic beachside homes perfect for you and your partner's next getaway. If you're looking to get out of the big city, there is an abundance of secluded stays scattered across southern NSW ready to serve as your landing pad to unwind and explore some of the most beautiful landscapes the state has to offer. We've done the hard work for you and found these one-bedroom (or more — in case you wanted to bring your favourite couple, too) cabins, lakeside stays and bushland cottages so that you can live out all your rom-com fantasies surrounded by rustling trees and ocean breezes. Recommended reads: The Best Places to Go Glamping in NSW The Best Tiny Houses You Can Book Around NSW The Best Hotels in Sydney The Best Places to Stay in the Blue Mountains The Bower, Mount Kembla This two-story bungalow allows you to live among the trees for the period of your stay. Just fifteen minutes outside Wollongong, you can experience the slow-moving small-town lifestyle with the nearby comforts of the city. From $350 a night, sleeps five. Bawley Point Cottage, Bawley Point Combining the best of both worlds, this south coast stay is part bushy cottage, part beach house. You can use the provided kayaks and head on an action-packed trip or just sit and read among the trees. From $220 a night, sleeps four. Soul Wood, Termeil Wake up to views of the bushland from this wooden tiny house. The dreamy outdoor bathtub is surrounded by tall native trees that will have you feeling completely immersed in the natural surroundings. From $300 a night, sleeps two. Beachfront Glamping, Bawley Point To say you're going glamping is an insult to this luxury beachfront tent. Soak up the great outdoors from the tent-style bedroom while enjoying the luxuries of a private kitchen and bathroom from the attached unit. From $320 a night, sleeps two. The Lakeside Barn, Wildes Meadow An architectural gem on the south coast, this waterfront barn was created in the 90s from the wood of old Darling Harbour wharf buildings. The barn contains a modern bathroom and kitchen, spacious living areas and a top-floor bedroom that looks out onto the lake. From $333 a night, sleeps two. Creekside Tiny House, Foxground Wake to the sounds of the gurgling creek at this modern tiny house. Located just outside of Kiama and Gerringong, the quaint stay places you nearby a variety of local hiking trails and beaches. From $298 a night, sleeps two. Studio Barn, Nowra This transformed barn somehow packs in a spacious living and kitchen area, a bedroom, a newly fitted bathroom and a private garden out back. It's a cute and affordable spot for those looking to explore the natural wonders of Kangaroo Valley. From $300 a night, sleeps two. Fig Tree Cabin, Moruya This pet-friendly cabin welcomes all of your non-human friends with open arms. From the pugs to great danes and even horses, the property will save you paying any expensive kennel fees while on your romantic adventure. From $140 a night, sleeps two. Lyra, Kangaroo Valley Relax in style with this lush Kangaroo Valley house, overlooking the Barrengarry Mountain range. The house is built from locally sourced timber and rocks and is flooded with light thanks to the large front windows and glass roof panels, bringing as much of the surrounding rainforest into your stay as possible. From $690 a night, sleeps six. Buru, Pebbly Beach Buru is more of a group couples retreat than a solo getaway — so find a couple of other lovebirds and book out this stunning, secluded stay. The renovated 1960s house backs onto a idyllic white sand beach and contains both an indoor and outdoor fireplaces perfect for cosy nights after a day of swimming, surfing and exploring. From $1164 a night, sleeps eight. New Atlas, Meroo Meadow Gaze out onto Cambewarra Mountain from the back porch of this bright beachy home just outside of Berry and less than 20 minutes drive from Seven Mile Beach. From $309 a night, sleeps four. The Old Schoolhouse, Milton This sun-drenched one bedroom loft sits on farm land just a couple minutes outside of the rural town of Milton. Sip coffee from the balcony overlooking the farm or pay a little extra and take your relaxation up a notch by sending a masseuse to the loft thanks to the accommodation's Indulgence Package. From $316 a night, sleeps two. The Lazy Curl, Woodburn This minimalist cabin will provide you with a simple and serene stay in the heart of the south coast. Its eco-friendly design generates energy through solar and collects rainwater and its indoor fireplace will keep you feeling toasty even on cold winter nights. From $245 a night, sleeps four. Monga Mountain Retreat, Reidsdale Stay in Monga National Park while living out your cottage-core dreams at this lovely bushland cabin. Comfy chairs sit on a patterned rug and quaint appliances are scattered around the wood-laden kitchen. From $155 a night, sleeps two. Tawillah Luxury Retreat, Milton This countryside couples retreat has serene views of the Milton countryside and the nearby Budawang Range. Just a two minute drive from town, enjoy a seclude getaway with a beautiful deck, sun lounges and a fire pit. From $460 a night, sleeps two. All photos courtesy of Airbnb. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
Your favourite restaurant's wine list might be impressive, but if the best drops are only available by the bottle, you've got to be willing to pay up to get a taste. However, Coravin has come up with a range of nifty products that allow wine-lovers to pour by the glass without popping the cork. Throughout May, they're spreading the gospel around the globe with the Coravin World Wine Tour. Taking over five much-loved wine bars around the country, every bottle on their menus will be poured by the glass. Returning to previous destinations including Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, the tour is also adding Perth and Noosa to its stops for the first time. Making the most of the brand's by-the-glass tools, vino fans will have the chance to indulge in rare and diverse bottles without having to stump up for the full cost. Held from Thursday, May 1–Saturday, May 31, there's a good chance a sophisticated wine bar near you is getting involved. In Sydney, the Coravin World Wine Tour touches down at Love, Tilly Devine. Tucked away in a Darlinghurst laneway, this cherished spot is bursting through the week with wine-lovers who know their stuff. With 300 bottles to choose from, guests can sip their way through the list, or pair a glass or two with dishes from a highly seasonal food menu highlighting local farmers, growers and makers. In Melbourne, Richmond's Clover is where you can celebrate a shared love of natural vinous pleasures, complemented by fire-cooked delights. "It's really going to, quite literally, open up the possibilities for our guests to try something new, and allow our team to open more and more of their favourite wines; some a little unusual, and all delicious," says James Griffin, Beverage Manager at Love, Tilly Devine. "A few to look out for are the incredible skin contact wines of Staffelter Hof, the world's oldest working winery at nearly 1,200 years old, Patrick Sullivan's superb Victorian single-vineyard chardonnays, and the irresistible Poppelvej wines of Uffe Deichmann, McLaren Vale's best lo-fi Danish winemaker." Meanwhile, Adelaideans are invited to Jennie Wine Bar to experience its refined wine collection, where each bottle has a story to tell, from its environmental origins to its grower's personality. More than just a wine bar, you can roam the walls to find the perfect bottle to take home. Shadow Wine Bar is Perth's debut host, where a sleek industrial space comes to life with cuisine and wine delivered with a special nod to Italy. Lastly, Noosa's 16-seat Atelier Wine Bar offers a contemporary cellar-like space primed for indulging in 150 world-class vintages and elegant European-inspired small plates. "A new generation of wine drinkers are increasingly curious, adventurous, and willing to experiment with new varieties and styles. Offering more wines by the glass allows drinkers to find their new favourite variety, region, or style, without taking the risk of buying a whole bottle," says Coravin Founder, Greg Lambrecht. "We are delighted to be working with five iconic Australian wine destinations to bring our World Wine Tour to five states, giving Australian wine lovers an unparalleled level of choice for wine by the glass." The Coravin World Wine Tour takes place across multiple venues around Australia from Thursday, May 1-Saturday, May 31. Head to the website for more information. Images: Kera Wong, Jack Fenby, Jacqueline Jane.
Exploring art galleries can at times be a sterile and overwhelming experience. Sprawling layouts, visitors' lack of knowledge, sleep-inducing audio guides, and a dearth of viewer interactivity with the world of the artworks and artists can quickly turn a cultural adventure into more of a cultural chore. Yet arts organisations across the globe are transforming how tech-savvy visitors can experience their works, with the help of innovative, entertaining, and interactive apps. Using multimedia, geolocation, augmented reality, and dozens of other features of mobile technology, these apps have the capacity to transform even the most unengaged of armchair critics into bona fide art aficionados. Take a closer look at these 10 of the best current arts apps, from online exhibitions to DIY art and pocket-sized glossaries. 1. Magic Tate Ball It seemed to be a match made in pun-lovers heaven: combining London's beloved Tate galleries with the concept of the Magic 8-Ball to create perhaps the most entertaining art gallery app available. The process is simple: once you have opened the app, give your iDevice a good shake and the Magic Tate Ball will take the date, time-of-day, your GPS location, live weather data, and ambient noise levels and spurt out the piece of artwork from the Tate collection that most closely matches your surroundings. So a hot day may have the Tate Ball tempting you into a pool with Australian David Hockney's A Bigger Splash or a loud, bustling pub may give you Georg Baselitz's sculpture carved from a chainsaw, all of which comes with a smattering of interesting details about why your particular surroundings produced that artwork. The brilliance of this app lies in its ability to utilise a fun gimmick to draw in people who only have a passing or casual interest in art, providing a refreshingly unique way to discover some of the highlights of the Tate's massive collection. 2. MCA Publications The Museum of Contemporary Art has become renowned for pushing artistic boundaries and embracing new technology. It therefore should come as no surprise that their newly launched e-publication provides a fascinating and highly interactive insight into the breathtaking exhibition of the legendary Gangnam-styling British-Indian artist Anish Kapoor. The iPad app takes the user on a virtual tour of the exhibition complete with photographs, in-depth descriptions of the various works, videos from the curator and Kapoor himself, and even a behind-the-scenes look into the immense task of engineering and installing the immense artworks. Add to this the intuitive nature of the app and you have yourself a brilliant tool for getting under the skin of the artist and understanding the awe-inspiring collection now on show at the MCA. 3. Watercolours of Namatjira For those of us whose brushwork leaves a lot to be desired, this app provides an interactive insight into how iconic Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira is able to create his vibrant watercolour paintings of the Australian landscape. Developed by Big hART, it allows you to create virtual replicas and redesigns by filling in stencils of the artist's work with your own choice of colours and brush sizes, with the paint then soaking into the screen just like it would have on Namatjira's own canvas paper. The end results are both realistic and often surprisingly spectacular, allowing users to gain a firsthand understanding of the watercolour process and tempting them into a more detailed exploration of the Namatjira community development project, theatrical show, and vast array of beautiful landscapes. 4. Art Gallery of NSW: Contemporary and Australian Produced in association with The Nest, the Art Gallery of NSW's two companion apps for iPad do a couple of things really well: they provide richly detailed vision of the gallery's most celebrated works, and they do it in a really interesting interface that encourages browsing by feel and intuition. Once you focus on a work you like, you can also take in additional material, such as sketches, photos, and curator insights. 5. Frank Lloyd Wright - Fallingwater History's most celebrated architect and his most celebrated work have been given the app treatment to awesome effect. Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, described by the American Institute of Architecture as the "best all-time piece of American architecture", can now be explored in three-dimensional glory from the comfort of your iPad. By combining photographs, archival drawings, floor plans, and videos in a sumptuous multimedia feast, this app allows budding architects the ability to explore Fallingwater in a unique and comprehensive way that is not possible on any other media platform. With more than 275 photographs, 360-degrees panoramas, and 25 minutes of video footage, this app is possibly the most perfect marriage of content and form yet imagined for tablet technology. 6. Art Authority Art Authority seems so simple in its concept yet quite unbelievable in its execution: collect the most famous and beloved works of art from across history and put them all together in a single, virtual gallery. This remarkable app includes a database of nearly 60,000 artworks from over 1000 different artists, taken from Ancient times all the way up until the present day. Perhaps even more impressive is the way Art Authority displays and organises the 10GB worth of art. Paintings are presented in beautiful, intricate frames on textured wallpapers resembling a real gallery and can be viewed in almost any thematic form you desire from time period to artist to subject matter. You can even take your virtual art tourism into the real world with the Art Near Me function, which allows you to locate nearby galleries and artworks. 7. Muybridgizer The technological pioneers at the Tate galleries in London have done it again, this time creating an interactive app that allows iPhone users to step into the shoes of the experimental motion capture artist Eadweard Muybridge. Created to accompany the Tate Britain's Muybridge exhibition, this app allows you to take filtered photographs and then piece them together to create a frame-by-frame animation that you can speed up, slow down, or reverse simply by swiping your finger across the screen, cleverly and playfully pastiching Muybridge's iconic videos of flying horses, waltzing couples, and cantering bison. Add to this the fact that they have managed to turn Muybridge's quite unpronounceable name into a verb and you can see why the Tate can almost undoubtedly stake claim to the title of most linguistically canny and technologically savvy gallery in the world. 8. MoMA - Art Lab Emphatically disproving the myth that iPads can only function as a medium for media consumption, the Museum of Modern Art - Art Lab app allows users to create some truly awesome pieces of virtual artwork. By playing with shapes, lines, and colours, you can make everything from collages to sound compositions and shape poems. What separates this app from your regular Etch A Sketch, however, is the way it combines simple drawing functions with the techniques and artworks on display at MoMA. You can trace a Matisse or read how Van Gogh created his starry, starry night or, if your creative flair dries up, check out the ideas section for a bit of inspiration from the world's premiere modern art gallery. In this way the MoMA app brilliantly combines the user's individual creativity with an interactive tour of the MoMA's world-beating collection. 9. Pocket Art Gallery If you've ever dreamed of becoming an art curator — selecting and hanging some of the world's most incredible artworks in your own home — then who else but the Tate could make that dream a virtual reality. The Pocket Art Gallery app allows users to select from a hundred famous artworks and then position them wherever they may desire while looking through the phone's camera. Augmented reality enables you to 'hang' a Picasso above your fireplace, a Turner in your workplace, or a Jackson Pollock in your bathroom. With the app linked into Facebook and Twitter, you can impress your socially networked friends with all the awesome and ingenious images you produce. 10. Tate Guide to Modern Art Terms Thanks in equal part to the complexities of the artist's technique and to the linguistic pretentiousness of the art world, keeping abreast of the terminology used by artists can be a mystifying and mind-boggling exercise. The Tate (again) is hoping to make the beguiling vernacular of artists more accessible and understandable with their Guide to Modern Art Terms. The app includes over 300 art terms covering everything from styles to schools to movements, allowing the user to search via category or through the app's image gallery. So if you're struggling to get your head around fauvism or want to find the word for sculpting concrete, then check out this super-handy app.
ANTE, a Newtown jazza kissu (or listening bar), is one of the very best bars in Sydney, especially if you're a fan of fine sake — of which there are over 65 kinds available. Grab a seat at the long timber bar overlooking the huge selection of vinyl and sake, and let the bartenders talk you through all the options. You can follow their lead on particular sips, but we recommend getting the sake tasting flight, especially if you're new to the world of sake. It features a great cross-section of sakes and will help you discover your own preferences. A decent range of Japanese spirits, cocktails and beers are also up for grabs, alongside a truly impressive selection of eats — designed to pair with sake. The menu changes fairly regularly, but it tends to include a handful of pastas, izakaya-style bites and decadent desserts. Like many of the other best bars in Sydney, ANTE takes its food very seriously.
It's hard to beat a burger for low-key indulgence — and what better filling to go for than crispy, crunchy and juicy fried chicken? Whether you prefer Southern-style, Korean or karaage, there's something about the decadent beauty of the fried chicken burger that immediately satisfies cravings. Scouring countless pubs, bars and burger joints, we laboured night and day to determine our favourites — okay, we just ate lots of burgers. Then we compiled a killer list of some of Sydney's best spots to hit up for the ultimate fried chicken burger experience.
Moore Park's Entertainment Quarter has scored a brand new pub, with the newly named Watson's taking over the much-loved former site of Irish bar PJ Gallagher's. Following a multimillion-dollar renovation, the new venue features a modern look with a fully renovated indoor and outdoor dining space plus a fresh lineup of pub feeds and tap beers. Included in the upgrades is the opening of the upper level of the pub, two al fresco decks and a courtyard bar with a four-metre screen ideal for watching sport. The deck is shrouded by three fairy light-lit Moreton Bay fig trees and will feature acoustic live music alongside all the sports action. A new tallowwood and Rivera stone top bar has been installed inside the pub which will serve a selection of 32 tap beers. On the menu at Watson's, you'll find a classic range Australian pub meals including herb and parmesan schnitzels ($27) or parmi ($29), fish and chips ($23), and a roast cauliflower salad ($22). There are also a few inventive twists on fast food and pub standards. Think a three-piece feed featuring think buttermilk chicken tenders served with fries, gravy, corn-on-a-cob and a dinner roll ($27), or the pub's take on a dinner party classic — the French onion cob loaf served with celery and carrots for dipping ($17). Accompanying mains is a dessert menu with tiramisu ($14) and sticky date pudding ($14), and a vast drinks list featuring spritzes ($16), espresso martini on tap ($16) and cocktail carafes made with vodka, T2 rose tea, lemon juice and lemonade ($38).
The Amalfi Coast might seem a world away from Pyrmont, but a new neighbourhood pasta bar with an affordable concept is bringing the region's cuisine to you. Founded by brother-sister duo Ben and Emily Calabro, Rosa offers handmade pasta and laid-back dining with a stellar price to match – no dish on the menu is over $30. When you consider some of the prices in tourist hotspots like Positano and Sorrento, Rosa starts to look better and better. With the Calabros also behind the beloved Pyrmont cafe Quick Brown Fox, lending their hand to simple and authentic Italian cuisine doesn't seem like much of a stretch. In the Rosa kitchen, chefs Daniel Grey and Kira Sherry serve guests handmade takes on classic pasta dishes like linguine prawn alla busara; penne pesto with basil, pork sausage, fried garlic and pine nuts; and pan-fried gnocchi with roast pumpkin, sage, burnt butter and hazelnut. Launching with a Euro-summer vibe in mind, Rosa is also set to become a go-to spot for sunset apéritivo snacks. Choose from freshly baked focaccia from neighbours Pioik Bakery, paired with burrata and heirloom tomato salad, tarragon and black cherry vinaigrette. Another stellar option is artichokes with lemon rind, garlic, chilli flakes, fennel seeds and oregano. Meanwhile, if you feel like an Italian feast at home, every dish is available for takeaway too. The drinks menu is similarly summery, with apéritifs like limoncello, Campari and Aperol spritzes presented alongside the complex sweet-bitter taste of a negroni sbagliato. There's also a selection of local Australian and Italian wines, along with a host of classic martinis and sours to complement your pasta dish. "We wanted to capture the spirit of the Amalfi Coast – fresh, warm, and welcoming – and bring that to Pyrmont," said Ben Calabro. "Rosa is all about creating a sense of home with our delicious pasta, our hospitality, and surroundings. We grew up eating pasta with our family around the table, and we wanted to create a space that feels like home, from our family to yours." Local interior designer Nicola Stillone was brought on board to give this laid-back eatery a sun-drenched makeover befitting the Amalfi's luxurious scenery. Throughout the restaurant, several spaces deliver the ideal ambience for your next gathering, with intimate indoor seating, a private upstairs dining area primed for celebrations, cosy romantic date-night spots on the balcony, and a leafy street-side al fresco spot. Rosa is open Tuesday–Sunday from 11.30am–9.30pm at 182 Harris St, Pyrmont. Head to the website for more information.
At Suntory, the spirit of "Yatte Minahare" — "You never know until you try" — remains as strong now, as it did 126 years ago. It has led to the creation of Japan's first whisky distillery, the reimagining of classic cocktails like the highball, and it now houses some of the world's finest brands –Yamazaki, Hakushu, Toki Whisky, Roku Gin, Haku Vodka, Maker's Mark, Jim Beam, -196 and BOSS Coffee to name a few. As Suntory looks to the future, let's travel back 126 years to the very beginning, when Shinjiro Torii, Suntory's first Master Blender, saw an opportunity and "went for it." Where it All Started Over a century ago, in a small store in Osaka, Japan, Shinjiro Torii had a dream: to create an authentic whisky in Japan. Having saved enough from his early Akadama Port Wine successes, Torii, with much resistance from family and colleagues, invested his whole fortune into the establishment of the Yamazaki Distillery in 1923. He didn't know it then, but this uncharted move transformed the spirits industry in Japan and changed the whisky-drinking world. Since then – despite some challenges along the way – the brand has grown into a global leader of drinks, with products found in countless venues across Australia and the world. Shaping how Japan drinks and what the global community knows about flavour and innovation. Successive leaders have carried forward Torii's legacy, future-proofing Torii's vision while staying true to the company's founding values of Yatte Minahare: Giving Back to Society and Growing for Good. The Recipe for Success Suntory's ability to innovate while staying grounded in its Japanese roots is a testament to the brand's vision. Take Suntory Whisky Kabukin, for example. Launched in 1937, it was Japan's first big foray into the whisky business, helping to cement Suntory's reputation as a trailblazer in the industry. The whisky's signature square bottle (Kakubin means "square bottle") became an enduring icon, and today, it remains a beloved part of Japanese drinking culture — particularly in the form of the highball, a whisky-soda cocktail that Suntory helped popularise. But Suntory's innovation continued beyond whisky. In 1992, the brand launched BOSS Coffee, a flash-brewed cold coffee in a can designed to keep Japan's workforce fuelled. This product quickly became a hit, and even today, BOSS Coffee remains a go-to drink for coffee lovers (and tradies) seeking convenience without sacrificing quality. The company's relentless pursuit of innovation led to another groundbreaking product with -196 — a vodka based ready-to-drink beverage that's taken the world by storm with its flavour and the bold process by which it's made. The 'Freeze Crush Technology' involves freezing and pulverising whole fruits in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -196°C. While Suntory has a significant global presence, its inspiration remains true to its founding philosophy: to inspire the brilliance of life. From the pristine water used at its distilleries to the careful selection of ingredients for its products, Suntory's emphasis on nature and tradition flows through everything it creates. The House of Suntory line, which includes celebrated names like Suntory Whisky, Toki, Roku Gin, and Haku Vodka, exemplifies this approach and its connection to nature. Each product in the collection pays homage to something unique from Japan's rich cultural heritage. For Roku Gin, this is done by using six carefully selected Japanese botanicals, while Haku Vodka is crafted from 100 percent Japanese white rice for an exceptionally smooth finish. [caption id="attachment_1017676" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Jiwon Kim[/caption] The Spirit of Suntory in a Glass If you've walked down the bar-lined streets of Japan or even visited one of Australia's top whisky bars, you would have encountered the highball cocktail. A balanced combination of whisky and soda (and a wedge of lemon), it has long been a fixture of Japanese drinking culture, and Suntory has played a vital role in its revival. While the highball originated in the UK, Suntory perfected the drink, rolling out Tory's Bars in the 1950s, where patrons could sip highballs after a long day at work. Today, the highball is trending. Sipped by young folk in bars, paired and reimagined by the best bartenders in the world. Celebrating 126 Years As Suntory celebrates its 126th anniversary, it remains deeply rooted in the values that Shinjiro Torii instilled over a century ago. "We have grown from our roots in Japan to become a truly global company," says Greg Hughes, president and CEO of Suntory Global Spirits. [caption id="attachment_1017677" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Jiwon Kim[/caption] From the first drops of Akadama Port Wine to the pioneering Japanese whisky and beyond, Suntory's history is marked by a continuous drive to innovate. Whether perfecting the highball or creating products like Minus 196, the company's story is one of bold experimentation, guided by a deep respect for tradition. As Suntory moves into the future, one thing is clear: it will continue to shape how the world drinks, one glass at a time. The best time to sample Suntory's work will be when Suntory Bar takes over Whisky Thief inside Sydney's Prefecture 48. Running from Friday, August 8 to Saturday, November 8, Suntory will be serving refreshing highballs and signature Suntory and experimental cocktails alongside select snacks for three months. Find out more about Suntory's legacy and full range of products at the website.
If you're a soccer fan, you've probably nabbed tickets to the upcoming Western Sydney Wanderers versus Sydney FC Derby Match by now — it's taking over Parramatta's Bankwest Stadium on Saturday, May 1. The two rival teams are going head-to-head in what promises to be the biggest event in the Wanderers' season. But the party doesn't have to stop once the game wraps up. Parramatta has heaps of late-night bars that are perfect for celebratory kick-ons. Here are six spots that'll keep the good times rolling — and the good news is they're all less than a 20-minute walk from the stadium.
In our (not so) humble opinion, Sydney's restaurant scene is among the world's best. And guess what? Our city's takeaway game is just as strong. It's just as well, too, because not every night can be about dressing up and hitting the town. With takeaway on everyone's lips right now, literally, we've taken this chance to round up some of Sydney's most famous takeaway dishes that'll take just another lowkey night at home to new heights. From Indian kebabs and charcoal chicken to some of the best pizza and Thai in the city, this list has you — and that bucket list of legendary Sydney dishes you've been wanting to devour — fully covered. Go ahead and tick off these eateries one by one, and enjoy the top-notch at-home dining that awaits. Just make sure you brush the crumbs off your laptop before your next Zoom call. Recommended reads: The Best Restaurants in Sydney The Best Fried Chicken in Sydney The Best Cafes in Sydney The Best Ramen in Sydney
"I think if someone like Bong says 'I'd like to work with you' once and then again, you just say yes," Daniel Henshall tells Concrete Playground. In the past decade, Bong Joon-ho has directed three films: Parasite, picking up the Palme d'Or at Cannes and four Oscars in the process, plus two pictures featuring an Australian actor who initially came to fame in Snowtown, aka one of the nation's most-haunting movies. In Okja, Bong and Henshall's first collaboration, the former tasked the latter with playing an animal-rights activist in a sci-fi action-adventure about battling the meat industry. Reteaming with the writer/director for Mickey 17, Henshall now portrays the righthand man to a wannabe dictator — an egomaniacal politician with clear real-life parallels — who is attempting to set up his own space colony, and cares little for the lives, human and other, that are lost in doing so. "I think I read it after I'd already said yes," Henshall continues. "So I was already on my way to doing it before I got to really appreciate how brilliant and bizarre and epic and fun this film is. I think it's really funny, this one." He's right: while there's darkness in every Bong picture, and the filmmaker's career-long cinematic exploration of exploitation in its many guises continues in Mickey 17, this is a comedy as much as it's a science-fiction flick. Adapting Edward Ashton's novel Mickey7, Bong ensures that humour flavours what's otherwise a bleak premise, with the movie's namesake (Robert Pattinson, The Batman) unwittingly signing up to die again and again and again — enough so he's lived at least 17 lives, hence the title — to assist the sinister Kenneth Marshall's (Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things) designs on an intergalactic empire march forward. This is a tale about expendables — a term that applies literally in Mickey 17, but could've been used to describe much else across Bong's filmography, be how a serial killer regards his victims in Memories of Murder, the way people considered lower-class in Snowpiercer and Parasite are treated, or the animals in the food chain in Okja. Mickey's job, which he didn't read the paperwork for before agreeing, is basically a human guinea pig and crash-test dummy. Death comes with the gig, as does being cloned each time that he says farewell. There's one key rule, however: there can only be one of Mickey, or of any expendable, at a time. Multiples are expressly forbidden. When the 17th Mickey is left for dead on Niflheim, the icy planet that Marshall is endeavouring to make his own, but survives, Mickey 18 is generated. Keeping the fact that there's two of them a secret; navigating his other self's different personality; fighting with himself over his security-agent girlfriend Nasha (Naomi Ackie, Blink Twice); feuding with frenemy Timo (Steven Yeun, Beef); avoiding scientists Dorothy (Patsy Ferran, Miss Austen) and Arkady (Cameron Britton, The Umbrella Academy); being stuck at the whims of Marshall and his sauce-loving wife Ylfa (Toni Collette, Juror No 2); communicating with Niflheim's indigenous creatures, which are nicknamed 'creepers': that's all now on Mickey's plate. Rarely far from Marshall's side, Henshall's Preston is the type of person who'll do anything for the man that he's pledged his allegiance to, including helping to shape his boss' image as fervently as he's constantly stroking his ego. Unlike Mickey of any number and his job, Preston is participating willingly. How did Henshall respond when Bong thought of him for the part? "The first reaction was 'this is more bonkers I'd ever experienced of his work'," he advises. "Parasite is proper bonkers, but this film was bizarre and excellent and unique and funny and humane and violent and scary, and all within this genre. And it was all the things that he brings to his work, all the commentary and the satirical nature of his work. I thought 'oh man, this is such a wonderful, delicious soup'. And Preston is a wonderful ingredient in that soup. What a strange character in this world, right? And from what he had said briefly about the character, it just seemed like a lot of fun — a lot of fun." [caption id="attachment_994744" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alex Vaughn[/caption] Henshall can thank Snowtown for plenty in his career. His performance as John Bunting in his first-ever film role — beforehand, single episodes of All Saints and Rescue Special Ops, plus a main part in soap Out of the Blue are on his resume — is that unforgettable, and everything from fellow Aussie movies These Final Hours, The Babadook, Acute Misfortune, Measure for Measure, A Sunburnt Christmas, The Royal Hotel and How to Make Gravy (which we chatted with him about in 2024) through to international productions Ghost in the Shell and Skin have followed. So too have TV roles at home in Bloom, Lambs of God, Clickbait, Mystery Road: Origin, Savage River and The Newsreader, and overseas in TURN and Defending Jacob. He can directly credit Justin Kurzel's debut crime drama based on the real-life South Australian murders for being cast in both Okja and Mickey 17, though, after Bong was on the Cannes Film Festival Camera d'Or jury in 2011 when Snowtown played at the prestigious festival, then approached Henshall after seeing the movie. How did that first meeting with the filmmaker lead to not one but two performances in front of Bong's lens? Having collaborated with him twice now, why does Henshall think that the South Korean director is so drawn to digging into humanity's penchant for exploitation? What energy did acting alongside Mickey 17's cast, with many of his co-stars turning in such distinctive portrayals, give him for his own performance? Alongside what gets him excited about a new project, what he makes of his career so far and more, our conversation with Henshall spanned all of these topics. On How Snowtown Led to Okja, and Then to Mickey 17 "So Bong was the head juror of the Camera d'Or back in 2011, which is a prize given to the what the jury deem is the best first film by a debut filmmaker at the Cannes Film Festival — and Snowtown played there. And so after the first screening of Snowtown, Bong waited around and he was very sweet, and came up and said hello, and gave me a card and said 'yeah, it'd be great to work with you'. There's a bit of protocol there that says they can't say much about the film or howthey responded to it, just because of the secrecy of the ballot at the end of the week and who wins what, but he said 'I'd like to work with you, very lovely to meet you' — and then he went on his way, and it was very lovely. I went back to an event at Screen Australia, I think, and Jennifer Kent — the writer/director of The Babadook and The Nightingale — was there. She with there with her producer, as she was selling The Babadook to get some international money before making it. And she taught me at acting school. She came up to me and she said 'I heard you met someone today'. And I said 'oh yeah, yeah' — and I was going through my mind who I may have met that she was so excited about. And I said 'oh yeah, there's this beautiful man from Korea'. And she was like 'yeah, I know who he is: director Bong Joon-ho'. And I was like 'oh yeah, yeah'. And she's like 'you don't know who he is, do you?'. And I'm like 'oh, no, no' — and she's like 'you're an idiot, you need to watch this, this, this, this, this and this'. And I was like 'okay, I will, I will'. [caption id="attachment_994759" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Okja, Netflix[/caption] So I went home when Cannes finished and I watched the films. And I was very happy that I didn't know who he was when I met him, because I think I would have been very shy because the films were incredible. Anyway, I was a bit naive. It was the first thing I'd ever been to outside of Australia to do with work, and I thought it was a nice gesture and nothing more. So years go by and we get a phone call, and he'd like to meet for me to work on Okja. I was on a plane the next day. He said 'I'm in LA, I'd love to meet you. I've got this film. I think you'd be great in it'. I'm like 'can I get there quicker?'. So I got on a plane and we met, and I think he'd already cast me in his mind, but he just was doing an energy check. He wanted to see, just to see, I think — he doesn't just cast the people he thinks are going to be great in the film, I think energetically he wants to put together an ensemble of people, not just in front of the camera but behind the camera, who are going to work best to make the film come to life. And I think he knew from meeting me that that might be a good thing. So, obviously you don't know until you do it, but I guess he trusted his intuition. And not long after that I got offered Okja. And then, I get a call out of the blue while I haven't had much work — it's 2022, I haven't had much work or I'm in-between jobs, and I think a couple of things have been pushed, and I'm about to go to start a job on a film. And I get this call from his American producer Dooho Choi, who was a friend of mine because we worked together on Okja, and he says 'hey, Bong wants to work with you again'. I thought he was joking and just having a laugh, and he was like 'no, no, I'm in London and you need to get here'. And I was like 'oh'. So then that happened, and I went to London a couple of months later and I got to do the thing — again. So I'm feeling very blessed and very grateful that I that I got to do it, not just once but twice, because I felt a lot more comfortable the second time working with him in the way that he works. And, of course, with the brilliant people that he brings together to make his very unique, excellent films. So I felt like part of the family the second time. There's a lot of co-collaborators that he worked with again, so I got to be part of that family again and we got to reunite and work together again, and I felt a lot more comfortable in my skin this time." On the Theme of Exploitation Continuing to Recur Across Bong's Career, Including in Okja and Mickey 17 "I think he's a very socially aware guy. I can't speak to what his reasons are, really — he's a very open and lovely human, but I haven't talked in-depth with him about how he came to do [this], because, as you say, there are themes that he, in every one of his films, these themes sort of show up. And I haven't really had a chance to talk in depth about that with him. So that, I couldn't speak to that, other than I think he sees the absurdity in humanity, and while it moves him to, I assume, sadness at times, he just sees the hilarity in the indifference. And I think what he's trying to do — and again this is my take on it — I think what he's trying to do is to show us there's a better way through the absurdity. I think that means a lot to him. I mean, he came out of — again, you'd have to speak to him, but this is my assumption knowing a little about the history — he came out of a military dictatorship, like in 1988 that was thrown over in Korea, and Korea came into this sort of industrial boom, which made people start having a bit more equity across the board and more finances to consume things. And he is the result of that, in that he can now comment on his experience through his art. And he does it so uniquely and so brilliantly. But I think the thing is, it's a lofty goal, but I think the hope when you make something and you spend so long doing it and you commit your life to doing it is to show people that there is a better way. That we can — because there are good people in every one of his films, right? And a lot of the darkness, he shows through absurdity. And you're right, there are some really dark moments in this film in the way that we treat the original habitants, the aliens, of this planet Niflheim, and the way that we treat the expendable, Rob Patterson's characters — character or characters — and the class system within this this spaceship. He's constantly making fun, not just of the people who are being awful, but the people down the scale. So I think that's the goal. Again, this is just me surmising. But that's what I receive when I see his work outside of the work that I've been involved in myself, is that you're pointing out to us that there's a better way — and look how silly we are as a race when ego and hubris and self-interest gets involved. And community is much better together rather than at odds." On Being Part of Such a Stacked Cast — and the Energy That His Co-Stars' Committed Performances Gave Henshall for His Own "It's so much fun, because those guys are so committed to what they're doing and what they're being asked to do by Bong, that it helps inform what you're supposed to do and where you're supposed to be as the character, and how you're supposed to respond to something — whether that be physically, emotionally or verbally. And so when people are giving you so much; I mean, Rob gives so much, Mark gives so much, Toni gives so much, Naomi gives so much. Everybody was coming to work wanting desperately to make this work. And everybody has such a different energy level. Everybody is such a unique, standout character for their moments. The scientists with Cameron Britton and Patsy Ferran, at odds with each other, that classic dynamic. Steven Yeun — Steven Yeun blew me away. Again, everybody's giving their personal story so much value. And our commitment that when you step into that soup or that mesh, you feel it, the energies are pushing and pulling you, and you know what you're there to do, what you're supposed to do there, what you've been asked to do and your intentions. So to play those intentions within that sort of tête-à-tête coming at you and you're responding to it, it's so much fun. You're in such good hands with the crew and Bong behind the camera. I can only speak positively about it. It's just so much fun. Even though he's very prescriptive and he has the film in his head — he only shoots the frames that he's going to use in the edit. So that might interrupt your speech or that might interrupt the dialogue. You only might get a chance to respond at one certain moment. You don't get to play the whole scene out on camera. And he knows exactly what he needs for that, so he might direct you in a certain fashion, and he'll show you the storyboard, and so you get an idea of what you're supposed to be physically — but within that he wants you to play and find something that's not within the storyboard, but you have to just hit those mark physically. And when you're getting the response from that you're getting from Rob — I just remember when doing the read-through and Rob was doing that voice, and I'm like 'this is so great, this is going to be so much fun to work opposite'. And then Mark was finding his voice, and I'm like 'these energies are just wild and within the Bong universe — I can't wait'." On What Excites Henshall About Getting to Skew in a Lighter Direction, Even If There's Still Darkness Evident, Than Projects Like Snowtown, The Royal Hotel and Acute Misfortune. "It doesn't have to be a dark turn for me to get excited to do the work, to flesh out of character. I think that's just the stuff that I've been lucky enough to have been thrown, and I really enjoyed investigating why men like those roles from those films that you mention, to question and investigate why these guys are the way they are and then try to portray that as best I can. But anything on any spectrum excites me. The thing with Preston in this film, Bong's world, there's always a sense of playfulness and absurdity and commentary, and you don't necessarily play that but you lean into the idea of it — and that's really exciting. And I cherish to be able to flesh something like that out in his world. Anything that comes along that is lighter or more comedic, too, that's a different type of challenge and a different type of investigation and curiosity. That's really fun to do, too, depending on who you're working with and the story and the context of the character within that story. But working with him — and his characters are arch at times, and you're fulfilling certain tropes within the story for him, but there's a menace to Preston. And an underlying nastiness, an ugliness that I think comes from an ideology that's dark, but it's portrayed in this sort of very humorous observation of people who can be like that, that end up working for or being part of a belief system. In Preston's terms, it's in with this sort of corporation church, and there are some uglier elements there that we don't delve into but are quite obvious if you look at them hard enough. And that's really fun and it's zany — you know, he's wearing a £2000 suit on a spaceship. Why does he look like that? Where did that come from? Who is he? Bong said to me, the first time we met and talked about this film and this character, he said 'I want you to be shiny and smell like shampoo. You've got no hair, but I want you to be shiny and smell like shampoo'. So that excites me. What does that mean? That's very fun, and inspires the imagination and your curiosity. And then at one point, he said to me 'you think you're Mick Jagger. Nobody knows this. You don't show it. But that's what's happening internally for you'. And again, whatever that means, that's a really fun, exciting thing to play within the context of the dynamics between Mark's character, my character, Toni's character, Rob's character. What a fun direction. What a fun note to give. And then there's the intentions, I think he's trying to influence heavily without offending someone who is obviously very intimidated and insecure but has a great deal of power. And I think he's trying to get in the ear of Marshall as best he can by inflating his ego so as to serve his own mission, which I think is to further his position. So there's a menace and a malice there, and an intention that isn't very light — especially when we're talking about the loss of life, whether it be creeper or human, to get to a certain place. And then you justify that because you have a certain belief in a certain, in god, but it's done in this very sort of absurd way. So all of that excites me." On What Henshall Looks for in a New Project at This Stage of His Career "Well, the people, really. I've been very fortunate to work with some really great people — not just incredible artists or practitioners or craftspeople, but good humans. And I've been taken to some really exciting places that, had I not been in this industry, had I not chosen this career, I wouldn't have gone to. And also the people that are in these places, I wouldn't have met. It's not just fellow film and TV folks — it's people that you meet on the ground wherever you are. So that's been incredible. What excites me about a new project is the possibility of new friendships and new collaborations, and also the possibility to apply everything that you've learnt from the past experiences. Every job is similar in context in many ways and you can rely on those things, but the variables are different — it's a different crew, perhaps, or different people that you don't know yet how they work, what makes them tick, how best to fit into the job, how best to form a relationship with them to get the best out of you and them. That's all very exciting and terrifying. Is it going to work? Who knows? We don't know until we're doing it and then when we're doing it, you can't really go back and do it again. I know you get the time to do multiple takes, but to really know someone you have to sort of do the time with them, whether it be a director or cinematographer, a crew member, or an actor, writer, producer. Many things. [caption id="attachment_983107" align="alignnone" width="1920"] How to Make Gravy, Jasin Boland[/caption] So that's all exciting. And to employ all the things that you've relied on in the past and then push yourself into new challenges — that could be location, that could be many things. The role, the people you're working with, opposite, as an actor, it's all new and exciting. So I enjoy that challenge. Also, obviously, the depth of the scripts and the role that you get to play — and what part of your experience do you get to employ or get to use? Hopefully it's something fresh. And as you grow, you have new experiences and new perspectives, so you get to play things differently, I suppose. [caption id="attachment_994760" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Okja, Netflix[/caption] And the opportunity to be working. Just working. It doesn't happen for all actors, as you know, and it's a very fickle thing. And you can be working a lot and then you don't work for a while or you don't work at all. So there's the joy of working, which I adore. And I adore what I do, so I really love all that. The chance to play something different, as you sort of intimated. Some of the stuff that I've done in the past has been very dark. I think more recently, I've done stuff that's been less dark. I've played less-troubled people or people who have exorcised some of the darker parts of themselves, have been better human beings, I'd say — or more-loving human beings. So that's been really fun. I played something quite comical recently, that's been really fun. I'm just enjoying the different parts of myself that I get to peruse, too, then put in place with whatever character presents. But yeah, the people and the challenge of the work and all the different variables, that's what excites me. I think it's a multi-faceted answer." [caption id="attachment_994745" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alex Vaughn[/caption] On What Henshall Makes of His Journey as an Actor So Far "I think I'm incredibly fortunate to have worked with the people that I've worked with and worked on some of the projects I've worked on. I've been taken all around the world. I've met some of the great, really great people, not just as practitioners but as humans. I've gotten to work on projects with director Bong. I've gotten to work with Justin Kurzel. I've gotten to work with Emma Freeman. Kitty Green. I've gotten to work on a television show in America for four years. I've gotten to play some really sinister people with some major issues, both mentally, physically and emotionally, and that's been an incredible exploration of perspective. And I've learnt a lot from that. I've learnt a lot from the people that I've worked with, young and old. It's just been brilliant. I feel very fortunate. I feel very fortunate that I can continue to do it. I feel very lucky. And I hope it continues, because I really enjoy it." Mickey 17 opened in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, March 6, 2025.
Over the past few years, Gelatissimo has whipped up a number of creative flavours, including frosé sorbet, gelato for dogs, and ginger beer, Weet-Bix. fairy bread, hot cross bun, cinnamon scroll and chocolate fudge gelato. Most recently, it made a bubble tea variety, too. For its latest offering, the Australian dessert chain is taking inspiration from another beloved foodstuff — in case you can't choose between slathering Belgium's Lotus Biscoff cookie butter spread over bread or licking your way through a few scoops of ice cream. Yes, that very combination is now on the menu, with Biscoff gelato earning the honours as Gelatissimo's August flavour of the month. Now on sale, it starts with buttery cinnamon biscuit gelato — which is then layered with slabs of cookie butter, then topped with crunchy biscuit pieces. If you're only just learning about Lotus Biscoff cookie butter spread, it's made from the crumbs of Lotus Biscoff caramelised biscuits, and is basically a cookie-flavoured version of peanut butter or chocolate spreads like Nutella. Understandably, it has picked up quite a following — and, in its spreadable form, comes in creamy and crunchy varieties. At Gelatissimo, the Biscoff gelato will only be available for the month of August at all stores Australia-wide — and only while stocks last. That includes via delivered take-home packs via services such as UberEats, Deliveroo and DoorDash. Gelatissimo's Biscoff gelato is available from all stores nationwide for the month of August.
Those hobbits will go on. In JRR Tolkien's pages, they went on perilous Middle-earth adventures. On screens big and small for decades so far (and into the future, with more TV episodes and movies on the way), they've trekked, ate second breakfasts and attempted to project precious jewellery. Onstage in Australia in 2025, they'll also be marking an eleventy-first birthday, receiving a gold ring, taking a quest to Mordor and attempting to fight evil, all in The Lord of the Rings — A Musical Tale. Dating back to 2006, just after the original live-action movie trilogy, this stage musical was revived in the UK in 2023, opened in the US in July 2024 and will hit New Zealand this November. After that, it'll then take the hobbits to Australia from January 2025. First stop: Sydney's State Theatre. The Market Street venue will host the only Aussie season announced so far, kicking off on Tuesday, January 7, with how long it'll be playing yet to be revealed. Lord of the Rings fans elsewhere across the country, take note, too: you might need to go there and back again to discover what happens when Middle-earth gets melodic. Your guides for the show are the hobbits, of course, as Frodo and company celebrate Bilbo Baggins, then depart The Shire upon a life-changing journey. Thanks to Tolkien, what occurs from there has enthralled audiences for 70 years now, with The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers initially hitting bookshelves in 1954. There's been no shortage of ways to indulge your Lord of the Rings love since Peter Jackson's features — including his Hobbit trilogy — helped fan the flames of pop culture's affection for Frodo, Samwise, Pippin, Merry and the franchise's many non-underground-dwelling characters. Cinema marathons, visiting the Hobbiton movie set, staying there overnight, hitting up pop-up hobbit houses, sipping hobbit-themed beer: they've all been on the agenda. Only The Lord of the Rings — A Musical Tale is combining all things LoTR with tunes and dancing, however, in a show that sports a book and lyrics by from Shaun McKenna (Maddie, La Cava) and Matthew Warchus (Matilda the Musical, Groundhog Day the Musical), plus original music by Slumdog Millionaire Oscar-winner AR Rahman, folk band Värttinä from Finland and Matilda the Musical alum Christopher Nightingale. The Lord of the Rings — A Musical Tale will make its Australian premiere at the State Theatre, 49 Market Street, Sydney, from Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Head to the production's website for further details and to sign up for the ticket waitlist. Images: Liz Lauren.
How many times can James Cameron break his own record? How many shades of blue can shimmer across the screen in one movie? Will Avatar's 13-years-later first sequel also dazzle the Oscars, as its predecessor did? Will Avatar: The Way of Water influence everything that comes after it, special effects-wise, also as the initial flick did, too? They're just some of the questions that the mere existence of this Avatar follow-up sparks. Here's another: will you get Eiffel 65's 1998 hit 'Blue (Da Ba Dee)' stuck in your head, even though it surely isn't in the film? Audiences will start finding out the answers to these queries in mid-December, when Avatar: The Way of Water hits cinemas worldwide — and Cameron has dropped a full trailer for the movie in the interim. This is Avatar: The Way of Water's second sneak peek, following an earlier look back in May — but this is one of those films that you might only truly believe exists once you're sat in a theatre watching it, because it has been in the works for that long. If you saw Cameron's initial entry in this sci-fi franchise back in 2009, you'll undoubtedly be buying a ticket. Indeed, given that the original Avatar quickly became the highest-grossing picture of all time — a record this one will try to break — it's highly likely that you did and will. Amid blue-hued CGI-filled waters and skies, and surrounded by the franchise's blue-toned Na'vi people, Avatar: The Way of Water steps back into the story of the Sully family, aka Jake (Sam Worthington, Fires), Neytiri (Zoe Saldana, The Adam Project) and their children, on the habitable moon Pandora. This time around, staying safe and alive remains a focus, as trouble keeps finding the Sullys, battles mount and striving to keep together also requires their focus. Also set to feature: Sigourney Weaver (Ghostbusters: Afterlife), Stephen Lang (Don't Breathe 2), Cliff Curtis (Reminiscence), Joel David Moore (Bones), CCH Pounder (Godzilla: King of the Monsters), Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie), Kate Winslet (Mare of Easttown) and Flight of the Conchords' Jemaine Clement. If the two sneak peeks so far have you excited about re-entering Avatar's blue-heavy world, get ready for more where that came from. A third movie is due in 2024, a fourth in 2026 and a fifth in 2028. Check out the latest Avatar: The Way of Water trailer below: Avatar: The Way of Water releases in cinemas Down Under on December 15. Images: Photos courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
When Studio Ghibli was first formed back in 1985, the Japanese animation house came about thanks to three parties: filmmakers Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and producer Toshio Suzuki. While Miyazaki has become synonymous with the company in the three decades since and Suzuki is now one of Japan's most successful producers, Takahata deserves just as much acclaim and attention. Indeed, it was his first stint behind the camera that helped establish Ghibli on the international stage. Further, his most recent movie earned him an Academy Award nomination for best animated feature. Before his passing this week at the age of 82, Takahata's career also spanned a busy stint in television during the '60s and '70s, as well as producing roles on three important animated titles — Miyazaki's pre-Ghibli flick Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, his first studio effort Castle in the Sky, and the company's gorgeous collaboration with Dutch animator Michaël Dudok de Wit, The Red Turtle. As a filmmaker himself, he may have only helmed five features, but they're all Ghibli classics. In fact, if you're a fan of the beloved outfit, they're definite must-sees that demonstrate the studio's visual, emotional, thematic and narrative range. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vPeTSRd580 GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES The most heartbreaking animated film ever made — and one the most heartbreaking films ever made in any format, too — Grave of the Fireflies proved Studio Ghibli's first masterpiece. In fact, it's a movie the studio has never come close to matching since, even though the company's stellar flicks continually enchant and delight. Given the war drama is a rare Ghibli effort that plunges into dark territory, telling the tale of two siblings desperately struggling to survive in the last days of the Second World War, that's completely understandable. Takahata's handling of the film's moving and sorrowful story couldn't be more astonishing, from the fleshed-out characters tussling with life and death, to the striking visuals, including the titular glowing bugs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfkQlZArxw0 ONLY YESTERDAY Like his filmmaking debut, Takahata's second directorial effort doesn't resemble much of Studio Ghibli's output. Based on the 1982 manga of the same name, Only Yesterday eschews child-focused fantasies for the incredibly relatable inner turmoil of 27-year-old Tokyo worker Taeko. Rather than entering fanciful worlds, the film follows its protagonist's attempt to reconcile her childhood dreams with the life she's now living. It's a mature, thoughtful effort — and one that was only re-released two years ago, with an English-language voice cast of Daisy Ridley and Dev Patel. Upon its initial stint in cinemas in Japan in 1991, it became the highest-grossing Japanese film of the year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7cowIHjCD4 POM POKO Another box office hit — in fact, Pom Poko was the highest-grossing Japanese film in Japan in 1994 — Takahata's next flick introduced the world to mischievous racoon-like critters. Called tanuki and finding their basis in folklore, the creatures can transform into almost anything; however their habitat outside of Tokyo is under threat from developers. With ecological matters a common thread in Ghibli movies, this touching delight proves a quintessential addition to the fold, combining magical wonder with a message. It's an endearing fable, and one that matches its narrative with memorable imagery, as always. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C9ujuCPlnY MY NEIGHBOURS THE YAMADAS My Neighbours the Yamadas is the studio's most visually distinctive effort. Based on the manga Nono-chan, it's the company's first fully digital film, but it favours the look of a hand-drawn, watercolour-painted comic strip over the usual Ghibli aesthetic. The stylistic choice suits the content perfectly, not only immersing audiences into the series of vignettes about the Yamada family, but offering a visible reminder that nothing is ever as simple as it appears. That's a statement that keeps bubbling to the fore as the quirky flick delves into recognisable situations with humour and heart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9QnebAVHVk THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA In The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, the eponymous girl blossoms within a bamboo shoot. She's not the only thing that blooms in this hand-drawn beauty, which marked Takahata's first film as a director in 15 years. Rumoured at the time to be his last feature and sadly proving to be case now, it's a gentle, elegant and entrancing story that charts the princess' growth, depicts her turmoil as her own desires clash with everyone else's expectations, and evolves from a seemingly standard setup into something subversive and meaningful. And, like almost everything throughout the filmmaker's career, it's a movie that no one else could've made in the same way.
Not all that long ago, the idea of getting cosy on your couch, clicking a few buttons, and having thousands of films and television shows at your fingertips seemed like something out of science fiction. Now, it's just an ordinary night — whether you're virtually gathering the gang to text along, cuddling up to your significant other or shutting the world out for some much needed me-time. Of course, given the wealth of options to choose from, there's nothing ordinary about making a date with your chosen streaming platform. The question isn't "should I watch something?" — it's "what on earth should I choose?". Hundreds of titles are added to Australia's online viewing services each and every month, all vying for a spot on your must-see list. And, so you don't spend 45 minutes scrolling and then being too tired to actually commit to anything, we're here to help. We've spent plenty of couch time watching our way through this month's latest batch — and, from the latest and greatest through to old and recent favourites, here are our picks for your streaming queue from May's haul. Brand-New Stuff You Can Watch From Start to Finish Now Hacks Sometimes you need to wait for the things you love. In Hacks, that's true off- and on-screen. It's been two years since the HBO comedy last dropped new episodes, after its first season was one of the best new shows of 2021 and its second one of the best returning series of 2022 — a delay first sparked by star Jean Smart (Babylon) requiring heart surgery, and then by 2023's Hollywood strikes. But this Emmy- and Golden Globe-winner returns better than ever in season three as it charts Smart's Deborah Vance finally getting a shot at a job that she's been waiting her entire career for. After scoring a huge hit with her recent comedy special, which was a product of hiring twentysomething writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder, Julia), the Las Vegas mainstay has a new chance at nabbing a late-night hosting gig. (Yes, fictional takes on after-dark talk shows are having a moment, thanks to Late Night with the Devil and now this.) At times, some in Deborah's orbit might be tempted to borrow the Australian horror movie's title to describe to assisting her pitch for a post-primetime chair. That'd be a harsh comment, but savage humour has always been part of this showbiz comedy about people who tell jokes for a living. While Deborah gets roasted in this season, spikiness is Hacks' long-established baseline — and also the armour with which its behind-the-mic lead protects herself from life's and the industry's pain, disappointments and unfairness. Barbs can also be Deborah's love language, as seen in her banter with Ava. When season two ended, their tumultuous professional relationship had come to an end again via Deborah, who let her writer go to find bigger opportunities. A year has now passed when season three kicks off. Ava is a staff writer on a Last Week Tonight with John Oliver-type series in Los Angeles and thriving, but she's also not over being fired. Back in Vanceland , everything is gleaming — but Deborah isn't prepared for being a phenomenon. She wants it. She's worked for years for it. It's taken until her 70s to get it. But her presence alone being cause for frenzy, rather than the scrapping she's done to stay in the spotlight, isn't an easy adjustment. Hacks streams via Stan. Read our full review. Bodkin When podcasting grasped onto IRL mysteries and the world listened, it started a 21st-century circle of true crime obsessions. First, the audio format dived into the genre. Next, screens big and small gave it renewed attention, not that either ever shirked reality's bleakest details. Now, movies and TV shows are known to spin stories around folks investigating such cases to make podcasts, turning detective as they press record. And, as Only Murders in the Building did, sometimes there's also a podcast venturing behind the scenes of a fictional affair about podcasters sleuthing a case. While Bodkin mightn't come with an accompanying digital audio series stepping into its minutiae, it does take its fellow murder-mystery comedy's lead otherwise. Swaps are made — West Cork is in, New York is out; deaths pile up in an Irish village, not an apartment building; three chalk-and-cheese neighbours give way to a trio of mismatched journalists — but the shared format is as plain to see as blood splatter. Call that part of the 21st-century circle of true crime obsessions, too, as one hit inspires more. Bodkin is easy to get hooked on as well, even if it's not as guaranteed to return for additional seasons. Siobhán Cullen (The Dry), Will Forte (Strays) and Robyn Cara (Mixtape) give this seven-part series its investigating threesome: Irishwoman-in-London Dove Maloney, a hard-nosed reporter who just lost a source on a big story; American Gilbert Power, who capitalised upon his wife's cancer for his first podcast hit; and enthusiastic researcher Emmy Sizergh, who wants to be Dove and, much to her idol's dismay, is fine with following Gilbert's lead to get there. They're thrown together in the show's titular town not by Dove's choice, but because she's bundled off by her editor. Gilbert and Emmy are well-aware that she's not there willingly — Dove isn't the type to hide her disdain for anything, be it her latest assignment, Gilbert's medium of choice and his approach, and Emmy's eagerness. Bodkin beckons courtesy of a cold case from a quarter-century back when the village gathered for its then-annual Samhain festival (an influence upon Halloween). Three people disappeared, which Gilbert is certain is a killer hook for the next big hit he desperately needs for the sake of both his reputation and his finances; however, Dove is adamant that there's much more going on than the narrative that Gilbert has already decided to tell. Bodkin streams via Netflix. Read our full review. Outer Range It was true of season one of Outer Range and it doesn't stop proving the case in season two: thinking about Twin Peaks, Yellowstone, Lost, The X-Files, The Twilight Zone and primetime melodramas while you're watching this sci-fi western series is unavoidable. In its second go-around, throw in Dark, too, and also True Detective. Here, an eerie void on a Wyoming cattle ranch sends people hurtling through time, rather than a cave beneath a nuclear power plant — and that concept, time, is dubbed a river instead of a flat circle. The idea behind Outer Range, as conjured up creator Brian Watkins for its debut season in 2022, has always been intriguing: what if a tunnel of blackness topped by a mist of floating energy suddenly opened up in the earth? Also, where would this otherworldly chasm lead? What would be the consequences of taking a tumble into its inky expanse? What does it mean? It isn't literally a mystery box Dark Matter-style, but it also still is in everything but shape — while contemplating what effect such a phenomena has on a rancher family that's worked the land that the ethereal cavern appears on for generations, as well as upon the broader small-town community of Wabang. Getting trippy came with the territory in season one, in an entrancing blend of the out-there and the earthy. Season two doubles down, dives in deeper and gallops across its chosen soil — a mix of the surreal and the soapy as well — with even more gusto. Just like with a vacuum that materialises on an otherwise ordinary-seeming paddock, no one should be leaping into Outer Range's second season unprepared. This isn't a series to jump into with no prior knowledge, or to just pick up along the way. It isn't simply the premise that Outer Range takes its time to reveal in all of its intricacy, a process that remains ongoing in season two; the characters, including Abbott patriarch Royal (Josh Brolin, Dune: Part Two), his wife Cecilia (Lili Taylor, Manhunt), their sons Perry (Tom Pelphrey, Love & Death) and Rhett (Lewis Pullman, Lessons in Chemistry), and stranger-in-their-midst Autumn (Imogen Poots, The Teacher), receive the same treatment. Outer Range streams via Prime Video. Read our full review. Jim Henson Idea Man Making a documentary about Jim Henson can't be a difficult task. He's the man who created The Muppets, co-created Sesame Street, co-helmed The Dark Crystal and directed Labyrinth — and stepping through all four, complete with footage from them and behind-the-scenes clips as well, could fuel several portraits of the iconic puppeteer. Jim Henson Idea Man features plenty from that key Henson quartet, all teeming with insights. When viewers aren't getting a peek at The Muppet Show being made, they're exploring the technical trickery behind Kermit singing 'Rainbow Connection' in the swamp in The Muppet Movie. Or, if you're not hearing about how the Bert and Ernie dynamic was fuelled by Henson and Frank Oz's real-life personalities, you're being taken through the first version of The Dark Crystal where little was in any known language, then hearing from Jennifer Connelly (Dark Matter) about the picture that made "dance, magic dance" one of the most-famous lines from a movie song. Ron Howard (Thirteen Lives) has a dream job, then. He also makes the most of everything that a tribute to Henson needs. But, affectionate as it was always going to be — Henson is that rightly beloved, and always will be — his doco also dives deeper. Talking heads, including Oz (Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker), other colleagues and Henson's four surviving children, are on hand to chat through the man behind the on-screen magic amid the treasure trove of material. Again, this Cannes-premiering documentary is a tribute and an authorised one, but it also examines the impact of its subject's devotion to his work on his marriage, as well as on his wife and fellow puppeteer Jane's career. Howard and screenwriter Mark Monroe (The Beach Boys) are loving but clear-eyed in their approach — and wide-spanning in their range for anyone who hasn't delved into much of Henson's work beyond The Muppets, Sesame Street, The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. As it hops through a birth-to-death timeline, the attention given to Henson's experimental films is essential and a delight. For 1965's Time Piece, he was nominated for an Academy Award, with the short held up here as a key to understanding the inner Henson beyond his public persona. Getting viewers discovering or rediscovering that piece, and what it conveys about its creator, is high among Jim Henson Idea Man's many gifts. Jim Henson Idea Man streams via Disney+. Eric In the space of a mere two days to close out May, two tales of two puppeteers have popped up on streaming. Eric is pure fiction, but it's impossible not to think about Jim Henson while watching it, regardless of whether you also have a small-screen date with Jim Henson Idea Man. Creator and writer Abi Morgan — who has previously penned the likes of Shame, The Iron Lady, The Invisible Woman, Suffragette, River and The Split — puts a Henson-esque figure with his own hit TV show for kids at the core of her six-part miniseries. Played by Benedict Cumberbatch (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar) in a performance that's bound to receive awards attention, Vincent Anderson even physically resembles the man behind The Muppets and Sesame Street, but he definitely isn't Henson. Firstly, Anderson is an abusive alcoholic. Secondly, his nine-year-old son Edgar (debutant Ivan Morris Howe) goes missing one morning on his walk to school. And thirdly, the eponymous Eric is a seven-foot-tall monster muppet who his boy scribbled to life on the page and then starts following Vincent as his mental health struggles after Edgar disappears. As a series, the 1985-set Eric is ambitious — and, as well as exceptionally acted, also instantly involving and deeply layered as it ponders how a sunny world can turn unkind, cruel and corrupt. It's an ordinary day when Edgar trundles out his New York City door alone, and routine even in the fact that Vincent and his wife Cassie (Gaby Hoffmann, C'mon C'mon) have been fighting. But soon the Anderson family is plunged into crisis. As he frays visibly, Vincent still can't tear himself away from work, becoming obsessed with turning Eric into his show's newest character. Cassie is certain that reward money from her husband's rich parents, who he's estranged from, will help rustle up information on her son's whereabouts. At the NYPD, detective Michael Ledroit (McKinley Belcher III, One Piece) is working the case while handling his own baggage. He's still trying to find another missing kid from 11 months ago, too, but with far less support because that child is Black. Ledroit is also a closeted gay Black man in a workplace and at a time that's hardly welcoming, with a dying partner at home. Eric streams via Netflix. Read our full review. The Veil It's simple to glean how and why Elisabeth Moss (Next Goal Wins) was cast as The Veil's Imogen Salter, the MI6 agent whose speciality is complex undercover gigs, even if the part in this six-episode miniseries initially seems like the opposite of her recent work. In The Handmaid's Tale, Shining Girls and The Invisible Man, trauma and abuse came her characters' ways — but the flipside, of course, is persisting, enduring and fighting back. The inner steeliness that it takes to survive dystopian subjugation, domestic violence and an assault isn't far removed from the outward resolve that Imogen wears like a second skin. The more that The Veil goes on, the more that the show and Moss unpack why its key intelligence agent sports such armour, plus the emotional underpinning that's definitely familiar territory for the actor. The role by the end of the series screams her name, in fact, but the cool, calm, collected and ass-kicking Imogen does as well. Watching Moss as a top-of-her-game spy who puts everyone in their place is the kind of idea that should always get an immediate green light. The Veil is gripping from start to finish, and also a better show because it has Moss at its centre. Imogen isn't her character's real name, a detail that's par for the course in espionage antics and also symbolic of someone trying to construct a new facade atop pain that won't fade. Her latest gig puts Adilah El Idrissi (Yumna Marwan, The Stranger's Case) in her sights, a woman who similarly mightn't be who she says she is. At a snowy refugee camp (Australian Wakefield actor Dan Wyllie plays its man in charge) on the border of Turkey and Syria, the latter is attacked for her purported ties to ISIS — not just as an operative but as a mastermind, which she denies. Working with French DGES agent Malik Amar (Dali Benssalah, Street Flow 2) and American CIA agent Max Peterson (Josh Charles, The Power), Imogen's task is to obtain the truth out of Adilah, who says that she just wants to get back to her young daughter. It's also plain to see why creator and writer Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders, SAS Rogue Heroes), plus directors Daina Reid (a Shining Girls and The Handmaid's Tale alum) and Damon Thomas (The Big Cigar), put Moss and the also-excellent Marwan together for much of the series. The Veil streams via Disney+. The Idea of You He's just a boy, standing in front of a girl, asking her to love him. The Idea of You doesn't use specific those words, aka a gender-flipped version of the Notting Hill quote that became entrenched in popular consciousness a quarter century ago, but it follows the same broad tale and conveys that exact sentiment. He is Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine, Mary & George), the twentysomething pop idol who fronts British boy band August Moon. She is divorcee Solène Marchand (Anne Hathaway, Armageddon Time), an art dealer hitting her 40s who's a mother to teenage Izzy (Ella Rubin, Masters of the Air). And as they meet-cute — not at a bookstore but at Coachella, where Solène is escorting her daughter and her friends to see August Moon, including a VIP meet-and-greet with Hayes and his bandmates backstage — there's no avoiding thinking about Hugh Grant (Unfrosted) and Julia Roberts (Leave the World Behind). Thanks to the internet, although author Robinne Lee has rebuffed the idea that she wrote the novel The Idea of You as fan fiction, there's no escaping Harry Styles popping into your head, either. Actor-turned-writer Lee (Kaleidoscope) knows a thing or two about fanfic: she featured in the movie adaptations of the Fifty Shades books. But the potential Styles of it all doesn't matter when the style of the tale, especially on-screen, is a rom-com about a woman being seen at a time in her life when traditionally the opposite happens. There shouldn't be an air of wish fulfilment to this story in a perfect world, or a race to join the dots to connect it to a celebrity and make that the crux of the narrative's importance. Writer/director Michael Showalter (Spoiler Alert) and co-screenwriter Jennifer Westfeldt (The First Lady), both of whom are actors themselves, thankfully don't opt for that path. Instead, while the movie's characters could've used more flesh in the script and cliches remain apparent, The Idea of You gets layered performances out of Hathaway and Galitzine to make its setup feel emotionally authentic. The details: that cute meeting, her reluctance, his perseverance, chasing their hearts on August Moon's tour of Europe, then navigating the reality behind the fantasy. The Idea of You streams via Prime Video. The Tattooist of Auschwitz How do you bring a tale of the holocaust's horrors and the human spirit's tenacity to the screen when it's as complicated as The Tattooist of Auschwitz? Many of complexities surrounding Heather Morris' book aren't on the page, but rather in the story's dialogue between truth and fiction — with the narrative based on a real-life concentration camp survivor's recollections, but questions raised about inaccuracies in the text's account. As a six-part miniseries, The Tattooist of Auschwitz confronts the queries surrounding its contents, which reached shelves in 2018, by constantly noting how unreliable that memories can be. Each episode opens with "based on the memories of holocaust survivor Lali Sokolov" before sections of the phrase fades, leaving just "the memories of Lali Sokolov" lingering. Backtracking as the elderly Lali (Harvey Keitel, Paradox Effect) recounts his time at Auschwitz to probe how true the specifics are, offer different versions, revise the minutiae and sway the perspective is also an element of the show, as are other figures — such as Stefan Baretzki (Jonas Nay, Concordia), an SS officer overseeing the younger Lali (Jonah Hauer-King, The Little Mermaid) — appearing like ghosts to put forward another viewpoint. Screenwriters Jacquelin Perske (Fires), Gabbie Asher (Sanctuary) and Evan Placey (Soulmates) — and also director Tali Shalom-Ezer (The Psychologist), who helms the entire miniseries — frame The Tattooist of Auschwitz as a portrait of a man looking back at his life and an examination of the fact that every recounting is always guided by storytelling choices. It's a canny move, recognising that Lali's experiences as a Slovakian Jewish prisoner during World War II can only be filtered through his eyes, especially as gutwrenching horror surrounds him but love still springs. Being enlisted with the titular job, which brings a sliver of benefits and freedoms within the camp; falling for fellow detainee Gita (Anna Próchniak, Unmoored) while he's inking; the fraught nature of their fight to be together in such grim circumstances; the reality of death everywhere around them; his relationship with the volatile Baretzki: as Lali at age 87 chats through it with aspiring writer Morris (Melanie Lynskey, Yellowjackets), that this is his journey and that his recounting isn't infallible remain constantly in mind. Keitel is particularly excellent, but the most haunting element of the compelling series, unsurprisingly, is the moments that it spends with the dead — moments where there's no possibility of different perceptions — who stare straight to camera when they pass. The Tattooist of Auschwitz streams via Stan. New and Returning Shows to Check Out Week by Week Colin From Accounts When Colin From Accounts arrived for its first season in 2022 with a nipple flash, a dog and strangers committing to take care of a cute injured pooch together, it also began with a "will they, won't they?" story. Ashley (Harriet Dyer, The Invisible Man) and Gordon (Patrick Brammall, Evil) crossed paths in the street in Sydney when she gave him a random peek, then he was distracted behind the wheel. Thanks to the titular pet, the pair were soon intricately involved in each other's lives — and a delightful small-screen Aussie rom-com was the end result as they endeavoured to work out what that actually meant. In season two, which picks up after the duo gave Colin From Accounts to new owners and then immediately regretted the decision, a couple of things are different from the outset: Gordon and Ashley are on a quest to get their pup back and they'll stop at almost nothing for their family to be reunited, and this award-winning series is now in "should've they or should've they not?" territory about its central romance. Falling in love is easy. Being in the honeymoon period, whether or not you've actually tied the knot — Colin From Accounts' protagonists haven't — is clearcut, too. Taking a relationship further means peeling away the rosy and glowing surface, however, which is where the series follows its medical student and microbrewery owner in its second season. Accordingly, through surprising news, meeting family members, historical baggage and more, Ashley and Gordon are still trying to navigate the reality of intertwining their lives, and also who they are as a couple. Creators, writers and stars Dyer and Brammall keep performing their parts to perfection; given they're married IRL and no strangers to working together (see: No Activity), the chemistry and naturalism isn't hard to maintain, but they're not just playing themselves. They're also particularly gifted with dialogue, ensuring that everything that the show's characters are saying — be it amusing, heartfelt, acerbic, insightful or all of the above — always feels authentic. Colin From Accounts streams via Binge. Read our full review. Dark Matter When an Australian actor makes it big, it can feel as if there's more than one of them. Joel Edgerton, who has been on local screens for almost three decades and made the leap to Hollywood with the Australian-shot Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones, is such a talent. He's usually everywhere and in almost everything (such as The Stranger, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Thirteen Lives, Master Gardener, I'm a Virgo, The Boys in the Boat and Bluey in just the past two years), and viewers would follow him anywhere. Dark Matter wasn't written to capitalise upon that idea. Rather, it hails from the page of Blake Crouch's 2016 novel, with the author also creating the new nine-part sci-fi series that it's based on. But the show's lead casting leans into the notion that you can never have too much Edgerton by multiplying him in the multiverse. For the characters in Dark Matter, however, the fact that there's more than a single Jason Dessen causes considerable issues. The series' protagonist is a former experimental physics genius-turned-professor in Chicago. He's married to artist-turned-gallerist Daniela (Jennifer Connelly, Bad Behaviour), a father to teenager Charlie (Oakes Fegley, The Fabelmans) and the best friend of award-winning college pal Ryan Holder (Jimmi Simpson, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia). And, he's been happy living the quiet family life, although pangs of envy quietly arise when he's celebrating Ryan's prestigious new accolade. Then, when another Jason pops up to pull off a kidnapping and doppelgänger plot, he's soon navigating a cross between Sliding Doors and Everything Everywhere All At Once. Everything is a multiverse tale of late, but Dark Matter is also a soul-searching "what if?" drama, exploring the human need to wonder what might've been if just one choice — sometimes big, sometimes small — had veered in a different direction. While a box is pivotal mode of transport like this is Doctor Who, as are all manner of worlds to visit, this is high-concept sci-fi at its most grounded. Neither version of Jason wants to hop through parallel worlds in the name of adventure or exploration — they're simply chasing their idea of everyday perfection. Dark Matter streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. Excellent Recent Films You Might've Missed on the Big Screen Anatomy of a Fall A calypso instrumental cover of 50 Cent's 'P.I.M.P.' isn't the only thing that Anatomy of a Fall's audience won't be able to dislodge from their heads after watching 2023's deserving Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or-winner. A film that's thorny, knotty and defiantly unwilling to give any easy answers, this legal, psychological and emotional thriller about a woman on trial for her husband's death is unshakeable in as many ways as someone can have doubts about another person: so, a myriad. The scenario conjured up by writer/director Justine Triet (Sibyl) is haunting, asking not only if her protagonist committed murder, as the on-screen investigation and courtroom proceedings interrogate, but digging into what it means to be forced to choose between whether someone did the worst or is innocent — or if either matters. While the Gallic legal system provides the backdrop for much of the movie, the real person doing the real picking isn't there in a professional capacity, or on a jury. Rather, it's the 11-year-old boy who loved his dad, finds him lying in the snow with a head injury outside their French Alps home on an otherwise ordinary day, then becomes the key witness in his mum's case. Also impossible to forget: the performances that are so crucial in telling this tale of marital and parental bonds, especially from one of German's current best actors and the up-and-coming French talent playing her son. With her similarly astonishing portrayal in The Zone of Interest, Toni Erdmann and I'm Your Man's Sandra Hüller is two for two in movies that initially debuted globally in 2023; here, she steps into the icy and complicated Sandra Voyter's shoes with the same kind of surgical precision that Triet applies to unpacking the character's home life. As Daniel, who couldn't be more conflicted about the nightmare situation he's been thrust into, Milo Machado Graner (Alex Hugo) is a revelation — frequently via his expressive face and posture alone. If Scenes From a Marriage met Kramer vs Kramer, plus 1959's Anatomy of a Murder that patently influences Anatomy of a Fall's name, this would be the gripping end result — as fittingly written by Triet with her IRL partner Arthur Harari (Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle). Anatomy of a Fall streams via Stan. Read our full review. May December A line about not having enough hot dogs might be one of its first, but the Julianne Moore (Sharper)-, Natalie Portman (Thor: Love and Thunder)- and Charles Melton (Riverdale)-starring May December is a movie of mirrors and butterflies. In the literal sense, director Todd Haynes wastes few chances to put either in his frames. The Velvet Goldmine, Carol and Dark Waters filmmaker doesn't shy away from symbolism, knowing two truths that stare back at his audience from his latest masterpiece: that what we see when we peer at ourselves in a looking glass isn't what the rest of the world observes, and that life's journey is always one of transformation. Inspired by the real-life Mary Kay Letourneau scandal, May December probes both of these facts as intently as anyone scrutinising their own reflection. Haynes asks viewers to do the same. Unpacking appearance and perception, and also their construction and performance, gazes from this potently thorny — and downright potent — film. That not all metamorphoses end with a beautiful flutter flickers through just as strongly. May December's basis springs from events that received ample press attention in the 90s: schoolteacher Letourneau's sexual relationship with her sixth-grade student Vili Fualaau. She was 34, he was 12. First-time screenwriter Samy Burch changes names and details in her Oscar-nominated script — for Best Original Screenplay, which is somehow the film's only nod by the Academy — but there's no doubting that it takes its cues from this case of grooming, which saw Letourneau arrested, give birth to the couple's two daughters in prison, then the pair eventually marry. 2000 TV movie All-American Girl: The Mary Kay Letourneau Story used the recreation route; however, that was never going to be a Haynes-helmed feature's approach. The comic mention of hot dogs isn't indicative of May December's overall vibe, either: this a savvily piercing film that sees the agonising impact upon the situation's victim, the story its perpetrator has spun around herself, and the relentless, ravenous way that people's lives and tragedies are consumed by the media and public. May December streams via Binge and Prime Video. Read our full review. Need a few more streaming recommendations? Check out our picks from January, February, March and April this year, and also from January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December 2023. You can also check out our running list of standout must-stream shows from last year as well — and our best 15 new shows of 2023, 15 newcomers you might've missed, top 15 returning shows of the year, 15 best films, 15 top movies you likely didn't see, 15 best straight-to-streaming flicks and 30 movies worth catching up on over the summer. Top image: Christine Tamalet / FX.
