Redfern's hidden retro bar Misfits is adding yet another tasty element to its offering — by throwing its hat into the ever-expanding ring of bottomless brunches and lunches in Sydney. The newly launched Misfits Lunch Club runs on the last Saturday of each month. The lunch is hosted in the upstairs powder pink dining room from noon–4pm each Saturday. Expect shared starters like zucchini and fontina croquettes, haloumi with burnt honey and thyme, and bread with caramelised onion butter. For mains, you can choose from barramundi with broccoli purée and pine nuts, duck breast with beetroot and amaranth or vegetarian ravioli. The mains are also served with shared sides, like fried potato with dill and white anchovies, brussels sprouts with wagyu fat and roasted cauliflower with burnt butter milk. You can nab all that food for $45, but we know you're really after the bottomless bit. That'll cost you an additional $20, a price well worth it for three straight hours of unlimited cocktails. The drinks offering will change each month. While you indulge, the venue's resident DJ will spin beats all arvo, and we reckon there'll be more than a few nineties and noughties bangers thrown in there. You can book your spot via the website. Updated: July 31, 2019.
For the duration of the Village Bizarre, The Rocks Square, to be dubbed 'The Scene', will act as the event's nerve centre. Open every Friday between 6.30pm and 10pm, the spot will present a chameleonic programme, shifting from a 1920s speakeasy bar named The Gin Mill Social Club, to a cabaret lounge known as Club Bizarre, to a fantastical cardboard city, to Aunties Blackfella Bingo Hall. There'll also be a massive one night party - zin's Party Mode - on December 13. November 1, 8, 22 and 29 will see The Gin Mill Social Club. Pushing open a rusty corrugated iron gate, visitors will step nearly a century back in time - into the smoky, dimly-lit Prohibition Era, when drinking alcohol was a clandestine act and jazz provided the soundtrack to the goings-on of gangsters, mobsters and flappers. Time to dig out your feather boas, three-quarter length gloves, plumed headbands and cigarette holders, and brush up on your Charleston. The Jordan C Thomas Quartet will be providing beat jazz and jump swing, and there'll be live performers. December 6 and 20 will see Club Bizarre between 8pm and 10pm. Cabaret artists Kiki and Pascal will take over The Square, lit by moonlight and informed by a daring, imaginative, quirky aesthetic. Expect juggling, contortion, magic, acrobatics, singing and assorted hilarity. There'll also be live music, with the Rusty Spring Syncopators playing 'crusty blue, rusty rags and manly-janky jazz' on December 6 and the Green Mohair Suits singing 'like angels in a dirty bar' on December 20. To watch the teaser video, click here. https://youtube.com/watch?v=nv9-R9V7Uoo
Sydney is set for a new dose of traditional Cantonese cooking next week when Canton! Canton! opens in the CBD. The restaurant is by The Jewel Pantry Group, a dining group focusing on cuisines from the Asia-Pacific, which has taken over the old Tim Ho Wan Sydney outposts (and nabbed its chef) on George Street and Pitt Street Mall. Tim Ho Wan — the world's cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant — launched in Sydney in late-2015, before suddenly closing last year. While the Jewel Pantry Group has taken over the chain's former CBD outposts, there's no word yet on what will happen to Tim Ho Wan's Chatswood's store, which is also closed. The first of the dining group's venues to launch is Canton! Canton!, which has taken over the George Street site. The 68-seater has Executive Chef Jacky Chan at the helm, who used to run the kitchen at Sydney's Tim Ho Wans. He boasts 28 years' experience cooking Chinese fare, with a focus on dim sum — he's trained with top Hong Kong chefs and held the title of head dim sum chef at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore, too. [caption id="attachment_708286" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nikki To.[/caption] Expect yum cha, barbecue pork buns and the restaurant's signature Phoenix Claws (bean curd skin topped with braised chicken feet and abalone sauce) from 11am, followed by eight different congees (one topped with a preserved century egg), roast duck, pork belly and char siu all roasted in-house daily on the Hong Kong-style barbecue. For dinner, there are mains like braised pork belly with preserved veggies, alongside a compact wine list and a signature caramelised Malay cake for dessert. Three banquet menus ($33/45/58) are also on offer. The fit-out is courtesy of interior designer Dorian McCartney (Hydra Design) and architect Raymond Teo. The design is inspired by the street markets of Canton, with opium bed-inspired booths and antique tea crates previously used by Chinese shipping merchants. The hospitality group's second venue, Mr. Fatt, will open in the Pitt Street Mall site later this year as a 12-seat takeaway joint. While Canton! Canton! leans towards tradition, Mr. Fatt will instead offer a modern fusion of Singaporean and Malaysian fare. And you can expect more restaurants to join The Jewel Pantry Group's portfolio in coming months, with a Hainan rice specialty on the menu. Find Canton! Canton! at Shop GD04, 580 George Street, Sydney, from Monday, February 18. It's open from 11am–10pm daily. Images: Nikki To.
"Every day, she works in a man's world. Every night, she dances through the universe that is her dream." -Flashdance 'She' can be 'you' and while 'every night' will become a more manageable 'one night', 'her dream' is now 'your dream'! … Oh and 'dances' becomes 'dance'… And get rid of the 'man's world' part completely. Wait, what? Wrong Prom! That's what! After giddying success last year, Wrong Prom is back in 2010 with four new, dance-infested nights. Each evening is themed around a film and this year the heart and leg-warming classic Flashdance is up first, followed by evenings of Blues Brothers, Grease and Chicago. If your shape throwing is lacking, you can turn your lopsided triangles into dodecahedrons of power with an hour-long dance class at 8pm. Afterward, the instructor will step aside to watch with grim satisfaction the Lycra-ridden inferno of their handiwork. I suggest you get your favourite leotard washed and ironed because it is so on that your brain would explode if you actually knew exactly how on it is. The time has come to finally dispel all doubts about your commitment to Sparkle Motion once and for all. The time for your friends to exclaim, "she/he is a maniac, maniac on the floor and she/he is dancing like she/he's never danced before." So, Wrong Prom or So Right Prom? It's up to you, gentle friend. https://youtube.com/watch?v=ILWSp0m9G2U
Despite being written and set in a period rather distant from our own, Les Liaisons Dangereuses has the ability to grip and shock in a way Gossip Girl could only dream of. The plot is a little twisted. It begins with two seasoned courtesans, ex-lovers, limping slightly from their wounds but nevertheless on top. Forming an unholy alliance, they execute a plan for revenge involving clueless innocents, merciless seduction and a generous dose of cunning. Many will already be clued in thanks to one particular prior adaptation, Cruel Intentions. Despite the spoilers, there are a few key twists that ensure STC's production stays fresh. Director Sam Strong brings the same deft touch he lent to The Boys, ensuring that even the most detestable characters come across as... well, quite likable. Hugo Weaving has no small hand in this. While Valmont is rotten to the core, his charm is palpable; it oozes from the stage in thick waves. Other characters are a little less believable. Justine Clarke as Madame de Tourvel struggles to bring together 'chaste, yet desirable, beauty' with 'woman in the throes of love' — though to be fair, this is a complex request. Pamela Rabe is extraordinary as the spider at the centre of this web of intrigue, the Marquise de Merteuil. Excruciatingly intelligent and hard as diamond, she makes us sympathise with her womanly plight while never quite believing her reasons. Strong was clearly determined to pull this play into the present, or at least into a vaguely contemporary setting. Happily, this doesn't mean throwing polished, worldly glamour out of the window. Some of the costuming choices (by Mel Page) are reminiscent of popular style blogs (Satorialist, anyone?), yet they succeed in operating as tinted insights into character inclination rather than as Fantastic Man-contrived get ups. Dale Ferguson's set is a clever maze of doors and passages, which is almost as semiotically useful as it is practical. The design seconds the assertion of the direction: playfully self-aware yet utterly believable. All in all, Liaisons is a production singularly suited to STC: innovative without being too much of a stretch; exciting and cheeky while remaining resolutely sophisticated. This bodes good things for the company's future direction. Image © Brett Boardman.
When most people find out that a “wholphin” is the lovechild of a bottlenose dolphin and a false killer whale they’re likely simply to look it up on Google. But not the publishers of indie mag McSweeney’s, who were filled with such warmth and tingliness at this discovery that they decided to put together a DVD magazine of rare and unseen short films. Wholphin is a beautiful thing born of invention and exploration; a painstakingly curated collection of shorts, documentaries, instructional videos, foreign sitcoms and other cinema hybrids that must have involved watching a hell of a lot of weird stuff. Episode 14 features Will Oldham telling an eerie bedtime story, Amy Grappell’s award-winning exploration of her parents’ polyamorous past, a BAFTA-winning monochromatic stop-motion time travel epic and a whole heap of goodies from sasquatch fanatics the Zellner Bros. Speakeasy Cinemas will be hosting a Sydney screening of episode 14 in its entirety at FBi social. They will also be serving alcohol, which you might want to have handy if you’re going to be watching the first film to show you what it’s like to hear your own tonsils. So if regular movies have you thinking that cinema is as colourless as an ocean without wholphins, this is something you should probably check out.
The Grounds are at it again. The awe-inspiring venue will play host to an exclusive event featuring two leading international coffee champions from Denmark, who will share their insights and expertise in the field. A night with Coffee Champions will be held on Tuesday 21 May from 7pm until 9pm and guests will be invited to explore the journey of coffee from seed to cup. Klaus Thomsen and Casper Engel Rasmussen, co-founders of the Coffee Collective, will be guest speakers for the evening, as well as The Grounds' head barista Jack Hanna and master roaster George Sabados. Following the success of the barista and latte art workshops at The Grounds, Jack is incredibly enthusiastic about this exciting event, given his passion for the bean. "We're passionate about sharing our knowledge and expertise in coffee to our loyal customers and coffee lovers all over." And despite the focus of the evening being on coffee, The Grounds is notorious for their mouth-watering food and produce. Guests will be treated to a coffee-inspired cocktail upon arrival as well as canapes and grazing tables of food. So break up the working week and get along to this special occasion: if not for the coffee talk, at least for the food. For more information and ticket enquiries, visit The Grounds website.
Interactive detective game CluedUpp has taken over Australia's streets before — and if you like the idea of solving murders like you're in an episode of CSI, all while you run around town, then it's the pastime for you. Its next Sydney event on Saturday, June 18 will bring the TV series to life throughout the city, and get you sleuthing while enjoying and outdoor adventure. Yes, it's like Cluedo come to life, too. Forget Colonel Mustard with the candlestick in the study — this event will bring you and your friends closer to reality and out onto the streets to solve the case. The game will kick off at a secret location, and you can choose to start whenever you like between 9am–2pm. Then, how long it takes depends on how good of a detective you are. The best news of all, however, is that the event is dog friendly — and there are prizes to be won by both human and canine detectives. All you need to play is some friends and your phone. Dressing up to fit the theme is encouraged, so you can really get yourself into character. A ticket will set you back $97 per team of six, but you only need two humans to play. With only limited team spots available, getting in quick for your chance to solve the mystery is recommended.
The northwest suburb of Epping is set to host its own one-off festival when the first (and last) Langston Weekender hits town later this month. Launching into summer from Friday, November 30, until Sunday, December 2, the event will descend on buildings, carparks and roads surrounding Langston Place's soon-to-be demolished Westpac building — the soon-to-be demolished The three-day celebrations will transform the precinct into a hive of fun and colour, complete with market stalls, food and drink pop-ups, entertainment and art. A dedicated foodie hub will play host to a plethora of favourites, including Jerusalem-style street food from Knafeh, baked goods from Brickfields Bakery, sammies from Satriale's Deli, and specialties from Koi Dessert Bar, Burgers By Josh and Mecca Coffee. Meanwhile, a broad-ranging live music program will make its home within specially converted site The Underground, backed by libations from the likes of Grasshopper Bar and Wayward Brewing Co. Throw in live art performances by Andrew Dennis and Zara Pasfield and a special happy hour offering (to be announced via the event's Facebook page), and you've got yourself one heck of a street party. It'll also be one last chance to enjoy the space before it turns into a construction site for new development The Langston.
When the Nazis seized Germany during the 1930s, the party cemented its presence in many ways, however two stand out in Never Look Away. Firstly, Hitler's underlings began ruthlessly eradicating anyone deemed undesirable. Secondly, the growing facist regime deployed propaganda to condemn so-called degeneracy, including via art showcases about socially unacceptable pieces. Witness to both was a boy, Kurt Barnert (Cai Cohrs). He attended an exhibition with his beloved aunt Elisabeth (Saskia Rosendahl), was encouraged by her to explore his own creative streak and think for himself, and then watched on as she was taken away due to her mental health. Kurt is a stand-in for real-life artist Gerhard Richter, in a cinematic dance between fiction and history. But Never Look Away's message is clear: that some of Germany's greatest art masterworks are a product of living through the country's worst days, grappling with them and committing that conflict to canvas. If only Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's film took this idea to its core, instead of merely depicting it. If only it too was a work of great conflict and texture, rather than a curiously straightforward fictionalised biopic. The filmmaker's return to Germany after winning an Oscar for 2006's The Lives of Others, then heading to Hollywood for dismal Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp vehicle The Tourist, Never Look Away is a handsome, engrossing picture. It tells a compelling tale with impressive performances to match, never drags across its lengthy 189-minute running time, and earned Academy Award nominations for Best Foreign-Language Film and Best Cinematography for its efforts. That said, it's also as standard a version of the story as there is — and if our collective traumas have taught the world anything, it's that complexity remains even in the most clear-cut cases of good versus evil. As a young man forever shaped by childhood experiences both rewarding and tragic, Kurt (now played by Tom Schilling) emerges in post-World War II Germany as an aspiring artist. First, he paints signs. Then, he attends an East German art school, where he is taught to practise his chosen field with a communist mindset, and to specifically apply his skills to social-realist murals. Rallying against such strict confines, Kurt searches for creative freedom and challenges, which he finds in West Germany's Düsseldorf Art Academy under the tutelage of Joseph Beuys-surrogate Antonius Van Verten (Oliver Masucci). But he can't escape the past, not even in the arms of fellow student Elisabeth 'Ellie' Seeband (Paula Beer), whose gynaecology professor father Carl (Sebastian Koch) was responsible for sending Kurt's aunt to her death. Writer-director von Donnersmarck may have based his script on conversations with Richter, copious research and facts about the artist's father-in-law, and yet there's a prevailing feeling that colours Never Look Away's warm-hued frames. While its real-life details prove anything but, this is a neat movie. There are many ways to convey and explore the truth, with the German filmmaker choosing to easily join the dots. That his picture devotes so much time to showing how Kurt endeavours to interrogate the past, how that influences his work, and the thoughtful ways in which he brings his anguish and agony to his canvases, only shines a brighter light on Never Look Away's narrative and thematic tidiness. As Richter's pieces have screamed for decades across everything from photo-realistic images to abstract designs, there's little that's orderly about the way he's been sifting through his life via his art. Indeed, many of the film's best moments, focusing on Kurt in his art school studio as he struggles with making the paintings he's driven to create, show exactly how this is the case. As a result, Never Look Away does actually prove conflicted, albeit not in the way that a movie about an artist who sees the Nazis' horrors then falls in love with the daughter of an ex-SS officer should be. Rather, the film is conflicted about retaining its links to Richter and smoothing out his story for easy dramatic effect. It's also conflicted about sitting half-way between fact and fiction, not only filtering one man's tale through a simplified lens, but reflecting history through that same perspective as well. And viewers should feel conflicted watching it, too. Many of the picture's components are stellar, with the excellent Schilling, Rosendahl and Beer all turning in moving, nuanced performances, and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel giving the film a simultaneously classical yet probing look as well. Alas, as involving and visually striking as Never Look Away is, there's no mistaking that this is the glossy, not thorny, version of an inherently tricky slice of life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUrYfrTEYOU
Get ready to embark on a culinary adventure through the towns of Wyong and Toukley over two Saturdays this June. This family-friendly event series is the perfect opportunity to sample the diverse and delicious offerings of some of the region's favourite local restaurants. Indulge in exclusive tasting boxes featuring seasonal menu highlights from the curated selection of participating eateries. For just $5 per box, and a free second box when you buy one, you'll have the chance to sample a wide array of flavours from around the world. Whether you're craving hearty comfort food, cafe-style fare or a sweet treat, this tasting tour has something for every palate. Beyond the eats, the days will also feature family-friendly fun and entertainment. Stroll through the park, get up close with friendly animals at the petting zoo and let the little ones enjoy face painting. It's the perfect way to celebrate the vibrant communities of Wyong and Toukley. Taste of Wyong is taking place on Saturday, June 8 and Taste of Toukley on Saturday, June 22. For more information, visit the website.
If more good music and more delicious food are among your New Year's resolutions — which is completely understandable — then the CBD's Restaurant Hubert is ready to give you a helping hand. Nightly from Monday–Saturday throughout January, the French eatery will be serving up a four-course dinner, soundtracked by live jazz. Yes, its Jazz January program is back for another year. The curated lineup will bring you jazz of all kinds, with musicians hitting up the venue's stage each evening to keep you entertained while you eat. As for the menu, Restaurant Hubert is renowned for its French fare. For $88, you'll tuck into a shared menu featuring four courses — but, if you're not that hungry, you can still go a la carte and pick from the restaurant's regular offerings. Reservations are required, and Jazz January runs from 5pm till close each evening. [caption id="attachment_673758" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Cole Bennetts[/caption] Top image: Daniel Boud.
As soon as I was old enough to hold a pencil I have been doodling, writing and creating on paper, using it as a canvas for other creativity. Later on, I would get bored in class and fold paper airplanes and occasionally an origami fortune teller. Since this was the limit of my skills, I was under the assumption that this was the limit of paper as a platform and a creative form. The inaugural A4 Paper Festival looks set to shatter every preconception i've held about the use of paper. Organised by the Paper Convention Collective, the festival will gather Australian and international paper artists - including Japan's Yoshinobu Miyamoto, the UK's Hattie Newman, the US's Jesse Brown and our own Benja Harney. The Festival will go over 6 days, including lectures, workshops and exhibitions highlighting the diverse applications of paper: from installation art to sculptures to animation to self-published zines. Based out of The Paper Mill in Angel Place, 'spotlight' events will be held across Sydney including Object Gallery in Surry Hills and the Design and Architecture School at the University of Sydney. The Paper Convention Collective is a group of artists and designers dedicated to documenting the Paper Expressionist movement. The brain-child of Lisa Loxley, a fourth generation printer and greeting card extraordinaire, the Collective aims to create a support network for designers on a grass roots level as well as a platform for showcasing established and emerging artists. The appeal of paper art is its approachability. We've all folded a paper airplane or a paper crane. The Collective point out that paper is coming back in a big way as a 'backlash to the mass-market digital design style'. Maybe they're true and maybe we have had enough of the computer screen and miss the intimacy of paper. Or maybe it's just purely tactile memories of being bored in class and escaping into imagination through folding.
Returning for its second year, Chippendale's Ethical Christmas Market will once again take over the laneway behind cafe Something for Jess on Sunday, December 1. It's run by the cafe's owners, Valentina Borin and Rob Campbell, who are all about local, sustainable and ethical gift-giving. The market will kick off at 10.30am and feature 17 stallholders ranging from art and fashion to music and food. For starters, expect local art from Chippendale's Galerie Pompom, limited edition prints from Michelle Perry and watercolour animal illustrations by Erlen Meyer. Then there's bespoke jewellery by Red Sky at Night, luxe towels by Addison Art + Design and skateboard swag by The Totem Collective. Ceramic stalls by Nina Field and the Blue Mountains' MLK Design are also on the docket. Meanwhile, Ary Plants has created a range of floating gardens for the plant lovers in your life. And homeopaths will enjoy healing crystal designs by Nimala and naturally dyed fabrics by Natural Dyes. Alongside the stalls, the cafe will be slinging its vegan cheese toasties and Network Connection Records will be on the decks throughout the day. The first 100 guests to arrive will receive a free Christmas hamper, too — full of all-vegan, locally sourced goodies, of course.
You've read the books, you've watched the flicks, you've sat through the theatre production, and you've devoured your fair share of pop-up bars and themed experiences. But if you're eager to get your fill of wizard-related goodness any way that you can, here's another option: a series of immersive (and unofficial) wizard-inspired high tea events is coming to town. A Wizardry High Tea will return to Sydney in 2023 from Thursday, January 12–Sunday, January 15, then again from Saturday, July 8–Sunday, July 9, descending on the University of Sydney. So what sort of magical shenanigans are guests in for, you ask? Well, choose either a daytime (all-ages) or nighttime (over 18s) session and you'll enjoy appropriately themed cocktails and appearances from folks in costume, as well as immersive activities including spellbinding trivia and games. Of course, the high-tea spread will stick to the theming as well, though exactly what's on the menu is being kept under wraps for now. Tickets to the all-ages 'daybreak' sessions are $70, while 'twilight' passes come in at $95, with the latter including a cocktail.
Faces carve deep impressions in Longlegs, in both their presence and their absence. As Agent Lee Harker, Maika Monroe (God Is a Bullet) does so with a clenched jaw, permanently on-edge eyes and mere bursts of words, aka the guise of a woman who'll never stop being vigilant in every moment but doesn't always know exactly why. As the movie's namesake, as announced in the opening credits, Nicolas Cage (Dream Scenario) has audiences straining to catch whatever glimpse they can whenever they can — and when a full look comes, it's scorching and haunting in tandem in the stare alone. Blair Underwood (Origin) gives Harker's boss Carter a weary gaze, but with fully rounded life experience beyond his FBI gig evident behind it. Alicia Witt (Switch Up) plays Ruth Harker, mother to Lee, as distance and struggle personified. As she relays a tale as survivor Carrie Anne Camera, Kiernan Shipka (Twisters) demonstrates how disconnected a grim reality can be from a dream. For his fourth feature following 2015's The Blackcoat's Daughter, 2016's I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House and 2020's Gretel & Hansel — the first of which also starred Shipka — writer/director Osgood Perkins has clearly assembled an excellent cast for his unease-dripping, get-under-your-skin, torment-your-nightmares serial-killer thriller. Another face leaves an imprint beyond his actors, however. Bill Clinton's portrait assists with setting the scene as it adorns bureau offices, with the majority of the movie taking place in the 90s. Think the FBI and three decades back, and there's no lack of pop-culture touchstones. The Silence of the Lambs is one. Monroe's portrayal as a newly minted operative tracking a murderer is every bit as layered, complex and unforgettable — and awards-worthy — as Jodie Foster's (True Detective: Night Country) Oscar-winning performance was. Twin Peaks and The X-Files, Point Break, even Cage's own Face/Off: they all also hail from the 90s and spin stories around the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This lineage is impossible not to ponder every time that Perkins reminds Longlegs viewers of the period that he's working with via Clinton's likeness — and it's a bold move. Getting your audience recalling other films and TV shows can simply spark the wish that they were watching those titles instead, especially when the list is as glorious as the aforementioned flicks and series. But the filmmaker who first started out in horror as a child actor walking in his father's footsteps — Anthony Perkins played Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho; Osgood was young Norman in Psycho II — makes good on the gambit. No one with their peepers glued to Longlegs would rather be ingesting anything else, no matter how equally exceptional, as it weaves its hypnotic spell. Longlegs bedevils and bewitches early, and earlier than its main era. The pristine snow that surrounds a young girl (Lauren Acala, Motherland: Port Salem) in her yard is a visual blank slate, soon darkened in shadow when Longlegs arrives with happy birthday wishes — and the mood, as thrumming through in feature first-timer Andres Arochi's cinematography, plus Graham Fortin (Ari's Theme) and Greg Ng's (Allegiance) editing, is as thick as the white blanket across the ground with apprehension and tension. When the movie hops forward, already festering is the feeling of an innocent state sullied. That's before learning about Harker and Carter's case, with a string of murder-suicides resembling each other garnering their attention. Families perish, fathers attacking before turning their violence upon themselves, which might be open and shut if there weren't a spate of such incidents over decades, if questions about motive weren't glaring, if a compulsive force — supernatural or otherwise — hadn't earned some thought and if letters in code signed by Longlegs weren't also found at the scenes. There's more than a tightly wound ball of anxiety to Harker, who sports a surname that brings being pursued and toyed with by Dracula — who Cage played in 2023's Renfield — to mind. (Longlegs is the second 2024 horror film to nod to Bram Stoker in its characters' monikers, after Ishana Night Shyamalan's The Watchers.) The movie's lead is also a source of intuition and perhaps clairvoyance, which the FBI is keen to capitalise upon. Indeed, that's why she's been assigned to the Longlegs investigation. She's as dedicated as dedicated comes when sifting through the analogue array of clues, too, with paper and tape amid dimly lit, cabin-esque interiors adding to the tactile sensation. As terse phone calls with her mum illustrate, there's nothing distracting her from her gig, either. Via framing, frequently with symmetry, Perkins conveys that Harker isn't just consumed by chasing down Longlegs — it might be the on-screen fate of ample detectives, including in Se7en and Zodiac, two David Fincher masterpieces that are also patent influences, but the hunt is consuming her back. With the fellow chillers that beat Longlegs to existence, and with elements as familiar in horror as serial killers, the occult, crime-solving procedural crusades, fixated sleuths and all-encompassing disquiet — to name just a few genre go-tos plastered across Perkins' cinematic mood board — the approach is fondness-meets-the filmmaker's own interpretation. That's the picture's guiding principle everywhere, including in Monroe and Cage's immense contributions, each of which is among their respective career highlights. All of Longlegs' key parties know that viewers have seen plenty of these same pieces before in a myriad of ways, and possess a single-minded resolve to avoiding serving up the same. Monroe does this with It Follows and The Guest on her filmography, the 2014 one-two punch about evil lurking among the ordinary and safe spaces terrorised. Cage does it with four decades of efforts that've solidified him as not just a singular actor but the singular actor, and ceaselessly able to surprise. Perkins crafts Longlegs as a dollmaker might, with the utmost of care apparent in each and every component, all building a creation that feels like it's staring piercingly back at you. He isn't afraid of a surreal Lynchian vibe, showing that waking life can immerse you in as much of a frightscape as the worst that your brain can conceive while slumbering — perhaps the most-alarming realisation that there is — but, again, as run through his own filter. He also isn't scared of using sound design to burrow that agitation deep into the audience's subconscious, so that Longlegs is distressing your soul before you, like Harker, are even aware. Chief among the film's strokes of genius is how inescapable its intense dread is, regardless of which traditional horror symbols taunt those watching or how much of Cage as Longlegs can be seen. In an instant classic, all of its pivotal faces are mirrors, then, reflecting the viewer's own.
Architecture, film and dance all jostle for space underneath the ‘creative’ umbrella but rarely do they hold hands or play footsies. That was before cultural aphrodisiac SEAM 2009: Spatial Phrases entered the playing field and transformed Sydney’s arts and design scene into a commune of free love. A partnership between Critical Path and the University of Technology, Sydney’s Centre for Contemporary Design Practice, this inaugural event unites the ideologies of choreographers, architects, filmmakers and theorists in a glorious jamboree of creative merriment. Descending upon multiple venues across the city, SEAM 2009 includes a three-day Symposium, workshops, performances and commissioned installations all exploring ideas of movement across bodies and space.Internationally renowned philosopher, cultural theorist and social critic Brian Massumi will inspire audiences as one of the keynote speakers at the Symposia. Massumi is joined by Erin Manning, Andrew Benjamin and Pia Ednie-Brown in a stellar line-up of grey-matter hogs that will lure you into the gaps, the ‘seams’ between these creative fields, where new dialogues and shifting sands are the order of the day.
Since first appearing on our screens in an uncredited role in 1995's Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest, Charlize Theron has proven to be one of cinema's most versatile talents. She won an Oscar for playing real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster, then nabbed two more nominations for dramas North Country and Bombshell. She's a delight not only in dark, existential comedies (Young Adult, Tully), but also in irreverent rom-coms (Long Shot). And, over the past decade, she's proven particularly formidable in action flicks — as Prometheus, Mad Max: Fury Road, Atomic Blonde and The Fate of the Furious have all demonstrated. Staying in kick-ass mode, Theron will next hit the screen on July 10 in Netflix film The Old Guard — and this time she's playing a warrior. Specifically, her character Andy leads a secret group of mercenaries who've been protecting the world for centuries. As she explains in the just-dropped trailer: "let's just say we're very hard to kill". Yes, that basically puts Theron in superhero territory, with the film based on Greg Rucka's graphic novel of the same name — and with the scribe himself writing the screenplay. The Old Guard also boasts a great director behind the lens, marking the latest film by Beyond the Lights' Gina Prince-Bythewood. Also strutting their immortal stuff are KiKi Layne (If Beale Street Could Talk), Matthias Schoenaerts (Kursk), Marwan Kenzari (Aladdin) and Luca Marinelli (TV's Trust), with Maleficent: Mistress of Evil's Chiwetel Ejiofor among the cast as well. And, story-wise, the straight-to-streaming film charts Andy and her crew's exploits when their special abilities are exposed during an emergency mission, which pits them against forces eager to cash in, copy and capitalise upon their extraordinary skills and power. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK-X2d0lJ_s The Old Guard hits Netflix on July 10. Top images: Aimee Spinks/Netflix.
Comedian Carlo Ritchie, of improv duo The Bear Pack, is heading to the Art Gallery of NSW to spin tales of Rembrandt and the Dutch master painters into those off-the-cuff yarns the group is so well known for. To the sounds of cellist Ange Lavoipierre's accompanying melodies, Ritchie and special guests will use their powers of quick wit and on-the-spot decision-making to tell untold stories inspired by artworks from the Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age exhibition currently showing at the gallery. Through audience suggestions of objects and places, The Bear Pack will improvise characters and situations to create a cohesive, laugh-out-loud tale. The tales are untold, and will never be told the same again, so it's worth blocking off the full series of nights. The crew has previously captivated audiences by taking them on spontaneous adventures to the Pyramids, fire escapes, Aztec temples, maternity wards and even Subway. This time we're headed to 17th-century Amsterdam. There'll be four Bear Pack shows in January at AGNSW, every Wednesday at 6.30pm from January 10 to 30. They're free gigs and no booking is required, so we recommend getting in early as they regularly sell out at the Giant Dwarf.
Need a way to keep cool over summer? Swap the beach for epic waterslides and huge inflatable pools at Australia's first mobile waterpark, Waterworld Central Sydney. The family-friendly affair will be taking over Moore Park's Entertainment Quarter for two months, so, as the mercury rises, you and your kids can get your thrills — and stay chilled. Race your mates on the multilane Epic Racer slide, go on an 80-metre water tubing ride or test your courage on the brand new Wave Slide. You can also splash about in one of the many enormous inflatable pools and see what it's like to walk on water by taking a spin on the giant zorb cylinder. Open daily from December 28 right through till January 26 (except New Year's Day), Waterworld Central will ensure you have plenty of outdoor aqua adventures this summer — no matter your age. Of course, there's the global pandemic to be mindful of, so pre-booking tickets is encouraged. Waterworld Central will be open daily from 10am–4pm from December 28–January 26, but will be closed New Year's Day. To pre-book your tickets, head here.
Across the past eight years, Sydney's All About Women festival has featured sessions on everything from hip hop and toxic masculinity to the post-#MeToo era — and, for its ninth iteration in 2021, it's once again presenting an exciting and eclectic program. When the event returns on Sunday, March 7, it'll feature talks, panels, workshops and films about the evolution of the feminist movement, its limitations, the gendered nature of household responsibilities, misogynistic online communities and the judgements built into artificial intelligence. There's also a session about coping with doomscrolling, because that topic couldn't be more relevant after the past 12 months. Once again, the fest will take place around International Women's Day — happening the day before, though, so it can still be held on a weekend. And while AAW has always covered a huge array of bases each and every year, there is a particular focus on power structures that limit the female experience in 2021. That subject will come through in sessions about identity, sexuality and resilience, and others that explore technology, entrenched inequalities and feminist futures. Talks about sex work and mindfulness are also on the bill, too. Leading the lineup of speakers is writer Isabel Allende, who'll be discussing her 2021 memoir The Soul of a Woman — which explores her role in the feminist movement across continents, cultures, and centuries. She's joined on the program by How to Be A Woman and More Than a Woman author Caitlin Moran, who'll examine the realities of of middle-aged life; Koa Beck, the ex-Jezebel editor-in-chief who penned White Feminism: From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind; and Laura Bates, author of Everyday Sexism and Men Who Hate Women and founder of the Everyday Sexism Project — with the ways in which the individual is often valued over the community and the corners of the internet swaying the mindsets of boys and young men all on the agenda. [caption id="attachment_797616" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Isabel Allende. Image: Lori Barra[/caption] For folks interested in AI, researcher and professor Kate Crawford will chat about machine classification and its role in entrenching inequality. Covering completely different subjects, one panel session will examine the often-complicated relationship between sex work and feminism, too, while another talk will help participants learn to cope with uncertainty in today's COVID-afflicted world. Or, attendees can head to workshops about making zines, weaving baskets — as led by Yorta Yorta woman Tegan Murdock and her mum Margaret Murray — and using music to help let go of the past. Unsurprisingly given the state of Australia's international borders, speakers from overseas will appear via video, rather than in-person. For those who can't attend AAW in person — including those located outside of Sydney — some sessions will be live-streamed as well, and made available to watch on-demand afterwards. The jump to online also includes AAW's film component. Two documentaries, Brazen Hussies and Coded Bias, will screen at the Opera House — and they'll also be available to stream online, alongside a lineup of short documentaries from female Australian filmmakers. All About Women 2021 will take place on Sunday, March 7 at the Sydney Opera House. Livestream tickets and event multipacks are on sale from 9am on Wednesday, January 20, with single-ticket pre-sales starting at the same time — and general public tickets available from 9am on Friday, January 22.
In 1948, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh bet a bunch of local actors in a Sydney pub that they could recite Australian poetry as good as any local. To prove it they went to a radio station and recorded Banjo Patterson’s Last Week and Clancy of the Overflow. The recording was marked ‘not for broadcast’ and has, until now, sat in the National Film and Sound Archive gathering dust. On Wednesday evening the dust is coming off and legendary Australian actor Jack Thompson is taking on the Oliviers in a bout of Banjo balladeering in the Mitchell wing of the State Library. This is a serious clash of past and present – kind of momentous I reckon.It’s also the launch of Kathy Leahy’s new book Lords and Larrikins: The Actor’s Role in the Making of Australia. Leahy and Thompson will be on hand to chat about the book, and discuss such topics as why in Australia we still call for control of the public artist.
The Sydney Opera House has had no shortage of high-profile visitors, but perhaps one of its most loved is Benny. He's the long-nosed fur seal who likes to hang out on the Opera House's northern VIP steps, and today he's getting the ultimate tribute, with a giant, eight-metre-long inflatable likeness of the creature popping up on Sydney Harbour. The Benny floaty will be kicking around for one day only to help launch the Opera House's new meme-loving chat bot, which'll share everything from random facts and insider stories, to ideas for your next date night. It'll also have a wealth of knowledge about the Bennelong Point marine environment, including plenty of fun facts about his fellow seals. "Speaking with a seal about the Opera House is probably the last thing people would expect," said Sydney Opera House General Manager of Marketing, Christina Erskine. "By creating an affable, informed and frankly adorable seal we want Sydneysiders to discover a completely different side to the Opera House and realise there's something for everyone to enjoy here." If you'd like to check out the inflatable seal in the flesh, he'll be floating around the Opera House for most of the day, but if you're stuck at your desk, you can watch the live stream of him at the Sydney Opera House Facebook page. Images: Daniel Boud
Author, comedian and frequent contributor to the New Yorker, David Sedaris, has released dates for his fourth Australian tour. In line with the launch of his newest title, Theft by Finding: Diaries (1977–2002), Sedaris is putting on a number of memorable shows for his cult followers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra. Often hailed as one of the world's foremost humourists, Sedaris is known for his snappy wit and has established himself as a unique observer of life's moments, both trivial and extraordinary. Ranging from observational comedy to social critique and readings from his outrageous personal diary, his live shows regularly traverse new and unpublished material. In addition, he'll be throwing it over to the crowd for a Q&A and signing copies of his book.
Yeah, we're thinking he's back — John Wick, that is. Five years after Keanu Reeves introduced everyone's favourite assassin (and dog owner) to the world, and two years after the film scored its first sequel, the action-packed franchise is bringing its third instalment to the big screen in 2019. Entitled John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum and due to hit cinemas in May, the series' latest follow-up picks up where the last flick left off, aka with Wick being hunted down by his fellow killers. With a $14 million price tag on his head, plenty of hitmen and women are out to collect the bounty. And all of this because, in the first movie, he became the proud owner of an adorable pooch. As Wick notes, of course, "it wasn't just a puppy". If you're not up on your Latin, parabellum means 'prepare for war', which is just what a kick-ass Keanu looks primed to do. This time, he'll have Halle Berry in his corner — and he's not adverse to brandishing some firepower while atop a horse or mowing down his enemies while he's riding a motorbike. With this year marking two decades since The Matrix first arrived and blew movie-goers' minds, he's not against quoting one of that film's most famous lines either. Like John Wick: Chapter 2, Parabellum does re-team Reeves with Laurence Fishburne once more, so prepare for another Neo and Morpheus reunion. As for the rest of the cast, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick and Jason Mantzoukas all return from the previous flicks, while Anjelica Huston ranks among the new additions. Behind the lens, former Keanu stunt double turned filmmaker Chad Stahelski directs again, as he has did with the previous John Wick flicks. The film's first trailer arrived earlier this year, and now a second sneak peek has dropped. Check them both out below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU8-7BX9uxs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v2P3cpPOXY&feature=youtu.be John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum releases in Australian cinemas on Thursday, May 16.
From 12.01pm today, Queensland is once again letting in tourists (with a border pass) from across Australia (except Victoria) to visit its white beaches and coral reefs. To celebrate, Virgin Australia is selling half-a-million cheap flights to the Sunshine State. Virgin? Yes. The same airline that, just months ago, entered voluntary administration. It has since been sold to US private investment firm Bain Capital and launched a comeback sale in early July. Now, it has just kicked off its Good to Go sale, which is running from Friday, July 10 until midnight on Tuesday, July 14 (or until sold out) and includes fares as low as $85. It's not quite as much of a bargain as Jetstar's earlier $19 flight sale, but the tickets do include a 23-kilogram baggage allowance for economy class bookings. [caption id="attachment_770853" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Australia[/caption] Sydneysiders can pack that bag and jump on a flight to the Gold Coast for $85, to Brisbane for $89 and to Cairns for $139, while Brisbanites can take their baggage to the Whitsunday Coast for $89, to Sydney for $99 and to Hamilton Island for $115. If you're hoping to head into Queensland in the next seven days, prepare for plenty of company: the government yesterday reported that 200,000 people had applied for the required border pass and that "congestion and delays" were expected. Virgin Australia's Good to Go sale runs until midnight on Tuesday, July 14.
Because you're reading this, we know you're not someone who received a pet for Christmas, only to decide it wasn't for you. We know you're one of the good folks. You're probably wishing that you did receive a loveable animal as a gift, even if you already have one — or several — that you adore. We understand your yearning, and so does the Sydney Dogs & Cats Home. And, while it references two types of pet in its name, it's currently trying to find permanent homes for the canines in its shelter, which is at capacity. So, to help encourage you to add some more wagging tails to your life, it's lowering its adoption fees — and completely waiving them in some instances. If you're keen on having a small dog for company, you'll find your adoption fee halved. For large and medium dogs, though, there's no adoption fee at all. Announced on Monday, July 11, the reduced and waived fees are in place for a week — and while you can't put a price on the happiness a new furry, four-legged friend will bring, it's hoped that the move will encourage people who have been thinking about adding a pet to their fam (and have considered it thoroughly) to make the commitment. Whichever size dog fits your life, all animals that find loving human companions via Sydney Dogs & Cats Home come vet checked, vaccinated and microchipped, as well as desexed and treated for fleas and worms. Sydneysiders eager to give a woofer a new home full of love and pats can currently view which dogs are up for adoption via the organisation's website. Then, if you see one that captures your heart, you can submit an enquiry online. After that, you'll hear back from the Sydney Dogs & Cats Home's team about progressing the adoption. There's more to welcoming an animal into your life than overdosing on cuteness, of course, as making the commitment to care for an animal is serious business. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sydney's only charity pound (@sydneydogsandcatshome) For more information about Sydney Dogs & Cats Home and its adoptions — or to view dogs available to new homes, and make an enquiry — visit the organisation's website.
Every year across ten days, FOOD (Food of Orange District) Week shows off the best mouthwatering fare from 'The Food Basket' of New South Wales, including the best local produce, chefs and restaurants, as well as cool-climate wines. Kickstart your salivating at the FOOD Week Night Market with food and wine from over 50 stalls, or head to FOOD HQ to pick the brains of local farmers, chefs and providores and buy their produce directly from them. If you need a lift to Orange from Sydney, hop aboard the FOOD Train. Departing from Central Station, you'll embark on a weekend-long journey filled with tasting menus, outdoor lunches and gourmet brunches. You'll also hear from local producers, explaining how their food gets from paddock to plate. There are several more gourmet experiences to be had during the week in Orange, including FORAGE, a gentle 4.1-kilometre walk through vineyards and paddocks with wine tasting and a nine-course degustation made with local produce along the way, and the Sunday Producers' Market in Cook Park, where local produce will be turned into breakfasts and brunches on the spot. There's also the inaugural Autumn Grazing Dinner with guest chef Alex Kearns from Glebe Point Diner. Enjoy the experience of wandering through Blayney while sampling local produce and wine and dancing the night away
Chippendale's warehouse-chic bar and nightclub Freda's is unveiling its newest food offering. Less than five months after opening its New York/Italian–inspired slice spot at the bar, Moon Pizza has announced it's throwing in the towel off to pursue other things. So, who will provide the food after a sweaty round of dancing? The bar's new food collaborator is called Cheesy Grin and it sounds like it will be a more than adequate replacement. It has previously popped-up at Grifter Brewing Co. and The Midnight Special, but will take up an extended residency at the Chippendale favourite starting on January 31. Chef Wesley Jones is at the helm and will serve up a well-rounded snack menu divided into four sections: ocean, landscape, sweet and salumi. And it has a strong selection of toasties. The 'ocean' section is inspired by Jones's upbringing on the south coast. Expect oysters — el natural or topped with nasturtium granita — and kingfish crudo, while under 'landscape' you'll find leafy green salads with herbs, flowers and veggies. The 'salumi' will include smaller nibbles, such as candied walnuts, beet pickles, stracciatella, roasted blood plum with lardo and a hearty meat plate. You can also choose to leave the deciding to Jones with the sample plate ($25). If you're hanging out for dessert, he'll also be whipping up deconstructed strawberry and white ganache doughnuts and a crumble flavoured with Grifter's pale ale, ginger ice cream and ganache. While the main menu will end at 10pm, Cheesy Grin will also be serving toasties right up until closing (which is 2am on Fridays and Saturdays), so you can cure that carb craving at 1am without hunting down a kebab store. The toasties will come on four different bread types — pretzel, brioche, sourdough and semi-sourdough — with a choice of fillings like sopressa and cured egg yolk, four cheeses, and snow peas and mint. If, on the opposite side of the evening, you're there early, you'll be able to order one of the few bowls of pasta available each night. At the moment Cheesy Grin's extended residency doesn't have a set end date, but we suggest you don't delay heading in to check it out. Cheesy Grin will open at Freda's on Wednesday, January 31. Head to the website for more details and the full menu.
As the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to grow, so does the smallest of its superheroes: Ant-Man, the former thief born Scott Lang, who can shrink down to an insect's size when wearing the right technologically enhanced suit. Charmingly goofy and also plain-old charming because he's played by Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door), this petty criminal-turned-caped crusader scampers through his third self-titled film in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania — and the franchise-within-a-franchise ramps up its ambition as more flicks arrive. Ant-Man can expand as well as contract, of course, but that isn't new. What's different, and about as welcome as a sting on bare legs at a picnic, is that the Ant-Man movies are no longer happy being largely standalone jaunts. This threequel has a key series-building task first, foremost and at a giant cost: kicking off the MCU's phase five. The perhaps unofficial job, too: bringing more than a zap of Star Wars into this other Disney-owned behemoth. It's lucky that the Mouse House does have both Marvel and Lucasfilm in its stable, otherwise the latter might be all abuzz about the former's latest release. Anyone who fears that too many blockbusters are becoming too similar won't feel fortunate while watching the new Honey, I Shrunk the Superhero, however, which doesn't ever saddle a character with saying "help me Ant-Man, you're my only hope", but still includes a scene that basically does the exact same thing. That moment is surrounded by shots of zap-heavy fighting in the corridors of an existence-threatening villain's stronghold that could easily be a Death Star, as even the most casual of visitors to a galaxy far, far away will spot. That said, Ant-Man's current escapades aren't happening in the space above, but in the minuscule realm that exists between atoms. At least it isn't called Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Battles. Imagining a world — this very world — where Disney eventually decides to mashup two of its biggest screen properties, and the box office's heftiest hits, is easier than an ant spiriting away strewn food crumbs. It's also a cinch to see Quantumania's similarities to all things Star Wars as the first step in that direction, in fact. Filmmaker Peyton Reed, who directed 2015's Ant-Man and 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp as well, did add two episodes of The Mandalorian to his resume in-between that last flick and Quantumania. But such a blockbuster team-up isn't where this MCU chapter itself heads in its dragging 125-minute running time. Instead, it has the rest of Marvel's phase five to set up, plus a nemesis that'll linger into phase six — so much so that it feels much less interested in Ant-Man than a movie called Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania really should be. That's it's hardly fussed at all about The Wasp, aka Scott's significant other and world-saving partner Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly, Crisis), should come as no surprise, then. In the 31st MCU film's opening beats, Ant-Man is indeed the star of the show. He's a celebrity basking in the fame of being among the Avengers and dealing with Thanos, and he's written a memoir about it — a book, Look Out for the Little Guy, that'll genuinely exist IRL come September. But the bliss of Scott's success gets cut down when he learns that his now 18-year-old daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton, Freaky) has been secretly tinkering with Hope and her ant-obsessed physicist father Hank Pym (Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method). The trio's project: sending signals down to the quantum realm. Hank's wife and Hope's mother Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer, French Exit) is also unimpressed, given that rescuing her from that microscopic place, where she spent 30 years, was no minor part of the plot of the last Ant-Man entry. Viewers should savour the precious time outside the quantum realm in Quantumania; there isn't much of it. No sooner are the Lang/van Dyne/Pym swarm talking about Cassie, Hope and Hank's experiments than they're all transported to said subatomic space, with working out how to get home far from their only worry. Janet had led the others to believe that all she found when she was gone was nothing upon nothing, but entire civilisations and species, akin to Star Wars' different planets, people and critters with a dash of Dune's and Mad Max: Fury Road's landscapes and themes, lurk below. So does the banished, trapped and genocidal Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors, The Harder They Fall), the time-hopping, world-destroying new adversary who likes annihilating things just because he can — and he desperately and nefariously wants out as well. Various past MCU stars have decried the green-screen acting that's burrowed into CGI-heavy pictures, including Oscar-winners — not for Marvel movies — Christian Bale and Anthony Hopkins. Their complaints haunt Quantumania, a film where almost everything around its cast is special effects, and little that cinematographer Bill Pope (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) could do could salvage the feature's murkiness. Marvel's reliance upon pixels can look stunning, as seen in the first Black Panther, but the quantum realm's got nothing on Wakanda's blandest detail. Any sense of visual marvel has been not only shrunk but dulled. Any sense of anything but dutiful interest shares the same fate. So does the personality that was so crucial to the first Ant-Man, with any signs that Reed once helmed Down with Love and Bring It On absent, and screenwriter Jeff Loveness (Rick and Morty) unsuccessfully attempting to balance comedy with a drudging innerspace-opera epic. Marvel has an offbeat problem: maintaining its sillier, more playful side, which is its better side, has proven a struggle in the Thor franchise and the Guardians of the Galaxy flicks (the third of which immediately follows Quantumania, and looks to be nodding to The Fast and The Furious), too. Although Bill Murray cameos, The Good Place's William Jackson Harper reads minds and Rudd tries his hardest whenever the film dares focus on him, the third Ant-Man is as by-the-numbers and tonally flat as the MCU has ever been. Alongside ditching the upbeat vibes, plus all that open and derivative riffing on another screen saga, the scale-tinkering fight scenes that have been prior highlights make scant impression against surreal backdrops where getting larger and smaller barely seems to matter. Leaning heavily upon the likeable main quintet and a colony of smart ants is Reed and company's solution, but they're all squandered. The formidable Majors lives up to his name, though — one that perfectly fits the pint-sized titular character's big bad, and the figure who'll loom over seven more pictures in two years before 2025's Avengers: The Kang Dynasty arrives. The MCU is going massive on Kang, patently; if only it'd kept the Ant-Man pictures small.
When you go to the movies, you abide by the usual cinema etiquette rules. You don't kick the seat in front of you, you refrain from checking your phone and lighting up the darkened theatre with its bright glow, and you don't natter away through the flick and annoy everyone around you, for instance. And, you wear clothes — well, unless you're going to Fantastic Film Festival Australia's nude session of Patrick, that is. Yes, you read that correctly. Starring Kevin Janssens (Revenge) as the titular figure and featuring Flight of the Conchords' Jemaine Clement as a musician, Belgian film follows a handyman who works at a remote nudist colony, so attendees are asked to strip down for the session (or just wear their underwear). The nude screening takes place at 4pm on Sunday, April 25 at the Randwick Ritz, and you'll need to sit in the cinema five balcony if you're attending sans attire. There are a few ground rules, though. Photography is completely off limits, you'll need to bring a towel to sit on, only patrons over the age of 18 can attend and you're asked to respect your fellow movie-goers' personal space. You also need to rock up fully clothed, and then disrobe in the cinema. And, if you have to go to the bathroom during the movie — or want something from the candy bar — you'll need to get dressed again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U68CKW0mjg&feature=emb_logo Top image: Charlie De Keersmaecker and Cosima Finkbeiner.
Sydney's got a brand-new free festival to tempt night owls, culture vultures and everyone in between. Set to light up Macquarie Street East for 24 hours from 6pm on Saturday, February 4, the inaugural Mopoke fest will deliver a luminous program of art, music, food and creativity well worth staying up late for. Named after Australia's smallest owl variety, the 24-hour celebration of arts and culture will transform the inner-city precinct into a playground for inquisitive souls and curious minds, sprawling from Shakespeare Place through to Hyde Park Barracks. The eastern stretch of Macquarie Street will become pedestrian-only for the festival's duration, playing host to a smorgasbord of pop-ups, activations and artistic offerings, all linked by black-lit paths. Wander through to discover theatre performances, gigs, live art, magic shows, a 10-strong multicultural rotation of food trucks and more. You can unleash your own creativity in a glow-in-the-dark Playdough Garden, while Hyde Park Barracks is set to keep the gates open all night long, playing host to an art and design market featuring everything from ceramicists to tattoo artists. The Mint and its surrounds will light up with a glowing after-dark garden, as well as a native flower market showcasing blooms by some of the city's best-loved florists, set to a soundtrack of classical music. Meanwhile, the Sydney Eye Hospital courtyard will be reimagined as an artists' plaza filled with magicians, theatre shows and live art, its fountain glowing in the dark and its building facades lit up through the night. Also shrouded in black light will be Hunter Lane, where you'll catch a DJ and silent disco jamming long into the evening, while the rest of the State Library of NSW grounds will feature an art installation, live jazz and a pop-up bar. You'll want to venture up to the new-look Library Bar for cocktails, spoken word poetry and astronomy chats, too. And in The Domain, a fiery affair awaits visitors, with a luminous white piano soundtracking a troupe of fire-twirlers, which you can watch from the comfort of your own picnic lounge. Sticking to the theme, the site will also host a pop-up bar slinging smoke-forward sips and cooking stations dishing up an array of flambéed desserts. Mopoke Sydney will run from 6pm on February 4–6pm on February 5, along Macquarie Street East, Sydney CBD. For more info, see the website.
Melbourne's famed burger joint 8bit has finally arrived in Sydney, joining a string of other eateries in Darling Square's new food precinct Steam Mill Lane. To celebrate the opening, it's giving away free burgers this Thursday, May 3. Yep, burgers — for free. Best pop a "work lunch" into your calendar now. From noon until 2pm, the good people at 8bit will give away 300 of the eatery's signature cheeseburgers — that's a beef patty topped with tomato, lettuce, red onion and pickles, then sauced with the holy trinity of ketchup, mustard and secret sauce. Lucky for Sydneysiders, the 130-seat diner is 8bit's largest joint yet, so there will be plenty of space to tuck in. Of course, these bad boys will only be available until sold out, so make sure you get there right at noon to secure one.
Everyone has a childhood memory about discovering chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. A staple at several ice cream chains, the flavour is as simple as it sounds. Take some ice cream, add chocolate chip cookie dough, then mix it all together — with dessert fiends then able to lick their way through a creamy but also chunky mashup of two sweet treat favourites. Ben & Jerry's is one of the brands that has been dishing up the frosty treat for years, introducing it in 1984. In 2021, however, it has just launched a range of cookie dough chunks that don't come with ice cream. Available for a limited time only, you can snack them from the packet rather than enjoy them in a cone or cup. Two types are on offer, in 180-gram and 227-gram pouches. If you're all about choc chips, you can grab a whole packet of doughy chunks filled with them. If you're keen to mix it up, you can opt for both chocolate chip cookie dough and fudge brownie pieces in the same packet — so a version of Ben & Jerry's Half Baked flavour, sans ice cream. The separate packs of cookie dough chunks are only available until sold out, with the range on offer in select Ben & Jerry's Scoop Stores now — in Manly, Bondi and Chatswood in Sydney; Flinders Lane, Burwood Brickworks and St Kilda in Melbourne; Mooloolaba, Noosa, Surfer's Paradise and Pacific Fair in Queensland; and Hillarys, Joondalup, Fremantle and Northbridge in Western Australia. Ben & Jerry's cookie dough chunks are available at select Ben & Jerry's stores in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia for a limited time — in 180-gram and 227-gram packs.
Who says you can make a film festival out of just three films? But, on the other hand, who says you can’t? Presented as part of the Anode independent arts festival, Speakeasy Cinema celebrates the influence of the contrary and controversial on all forms of culture through a series of documentary films. The first of Speakeasy’s selections will be Beautiful Losers: Making Something From Nothing. “Urban art†can be so hit and miss these days, so when Aaron Rose of New York’s iconic Alleged Gallery wanted to make a film about art and design in 1990s New York as he understood it, the first people he looked to were his friends. These include filmmaker Harmony Korine, skateboarder and artist Ed Templeton and his wife, photographer Deanna Templeton, graphic artist Mike Mills and other key figures in New York’s art and design world. Beautiful Losers shows us what art is to the people who make it, what it means to be a creative and genuinely “countercultureâ€, and the impact this can have on the rest of the world.Next up is Obscene: A Portrait of Barney Rosset. After founding Grove Press in 1951, Rosset published Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter and Jean Genet, among others, and was integral in helping to distribute the works of the Beats; Kerouac, Ginsberg, Corso et al. It is worth mentioning this first off, as the film focuses predominantly on Rosset’s crusade against censorship or, as his son rightly suggests, hypocrisy. This is a man who possessed a similar visionary genius to his greatest writers, and almost single-handedly restored an author’s right to shock a jaded public into awareness. If you’ve ever waffled on about creative integrity and the importance of free expression, you don’t know the extent of your argument until you know about Barney Rosset.Speakeasy will finish with a screening of The Universe of Keith Haring. Directed by Christina Clausen, the film reflects on the life of influential pop artist Haring. True to its title, the film splits open Haring’s universe; his motivations, his success and failure and the stellar coincidence of being, as Haring says, “in New York at the right timeâ€. That time being, of course, one that centred on Grace Jones, Madonna and other fiercely visual icons with whom Haring eventually worked. Interviews with Haring’s family and many acquaintances, famous and non, are interspersed with clips of Haring himself, affording some significant insights into what the man behind the radiant baby was really about.These films will screen across two days and, if you’ve ever had an interest in art, books or creativity in general, this weekend could be one of the most informative and inspiring of your life.Image: Keith Haring in 1987, Photograph by Annie Leibovitz.
One of the best in the west is heading to Surry Hills this weekend, when chef Pasi Petänen takes over the grill at Shwarmama for one day only. The famed Finnish chef who is behind Newtown restaurant Cafe Paci — and an earlier Darlinghurst pop-up of the same name — is heading east to serve up ox-tongue shawarma and loaded snack packs, plus choc-meringue cookies. The limited-edition dishes will be available from midday until sold out. After that, it'll be the kebab shop's usual lineup of sabich stuffed with eggplant and egg, hummus plates and shawarma filled with spiced, marinated chicken. To drink, you'll find coffee, Yulli's Brews beers and a couple of wines on tap. The takeover is to celebrate the first birthday of Shwarmama, which is a joint project by Mat Lindsay (Ester, Poly) and Paramount Coffee Project's Russell Beard (Reuben Hills), Mark Dundon and Jin Ng. Making it through the past 365 days (relatively) unscathed is definitely worth celebrating. Images: Kitti Gould
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, chocolate fudge and bubble tea gelato. Earlier this year, it made its own spin on Caramilk gelato, too. For its latest offering, the Australian dessert chain is still turning something that everyone loves into gelato. This time, though, it's taking inspiration from a drink. Can't choose between sipping a cold brew coffee made with oat milk or licking your way through a few scoops of ice cream? Gelatissimo has the solution. That very combination is on the menu from Tuesday, June 1, adding a new vegan special to its range — but only for a limited time. Exactly how long it'll be hanging around hasn't been revealed, so getting in quickly in recommended. Whether you opt for a cone or a cup, you'll be tucking into gelato made with oat milk that's specifically designed to go with coffee. And as for the caffeinated part of the flavour, that comes about via a concentrate made by steeping coffee beans in water for around 24 hours. You can get the cold brew with oat milk flavour in stores Australia-wide, including within your five-kilometre radius if you're in Melbourne. Or, Gelatissimo also delivers take-home packs via services such as Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Doordash. Gelatissimo's cold brew with oat milk gelato is available from all stores nationwide from Tuesday, June 1.
Australian art-inspired surf brand Mambo is venturing into the food scene, in a way that we probably should've expected. It's opening a pop-up canteen reminiscent of your primary school tuckshop. Making the most of the long summer days (and just before school goes back, too) the Mambo Tuckshop will pop up for just four days, rolling open the shutters from January 25–28 in North Bondi. Mike Eggert and Jemma Whiteman of Pinbone (known for their recent Mr Liquor's Dirty Italian Disco and Good Luck Pinbone pop-ups) have directed the menu, and they've collaborated with some of Sydney's best restaurants to create the food. Korean fried chicken experts Paper Bird, cured meat maestros LP's Quality Meats, pastry chef Yu-ching Lee (known on Instagram as Lemonpiy) and Aussie ice-block brand Pure Pops are some of the names taking part. With your hard-earned pocket money you'll be able to purchase devon sandwiches, warrigal greens and ricotta rolls, beef and 'Mambomite' pies, wattleseed vanilla slices, and, importantly, $1 apple and lemon sour straps. Just like your school days, it'll be a grab-and-go situation — no word yet about whether you'll be able to put in a lunch order for later. And, in case you're wondering, the Mambo brand is still alive. While standalone Mambo stores no longer exist (RIP) you can buy Mambo clothing and accessories from Big W. Mambo Tuckshop opens at 266 Campbell Parade, North Bondi on Thursday, January 25 and runs until Sunday, January 28. Opening hours are 10am–4pm. For more info, visit the Facebook event. Images: Nikki To.
When the Mardi Gras Film Festival returns each, it's wonderful news for Sydney's cinephiles. For folks located outside of the Harbour City, it's been fantastic news, too, for the past few years. Catering to movie lovers Australia-wide is fast, and welcomely, becoming a pandemic-era film fest staple — and MGFF has been jumping on the trend heartily. That includes in 2023, thanks to a 21-title online lineup. Not in Sydney but still want to watch along between Wednesday, February 15–Thursday, March 2? If you're in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide or elsewhere across the country, you still have a feast of queer cinema coming your way. More flicks are available at the fest's in-person event compared to its digital lineup, but a nice selection will be screening online for those playing along at home and interstate. LGBTQIA+ movie lovers watching on from the couch can check out 21 features. Highlights span Black as U R, a doco about the lack of attention paid to the black queer community; Icelandic spoof Cop Secret; Blitzed!, about the eponymous London nightclub, with Boy George, Princess Julia and Spandau Ballet sharing their memories; and Youtopia, which explores the inadvertent formation of a hipster cult. And, there's also In Her Words, an ode to 20th-century lesbian fiction; A Place of Our Own, an Indian drama about two trans friends; and All Man: The International Male Story, exploring how a menswear catalogue became a homoerotic handbook — as well as the COVID-era set sci-fi road-trip flick Unidentified Objects, a winner at Outfest LA.
We dump our rubbish in the bin and then it’s whisked away to a happy ending. But what if it suddenly all came back to haunt us?Activate 2750 has Melbourne-based artist Ash Keating, in association with the MCA, SITA Environmental Solutions and Penrith City Council, using a short film and gorgeous stills to reveal the bizarre fairytale of a glitch in the waste disposal process.Heeding the adage, “build it and they will comeâ€, two Transformer-masked custodians erect a mound of intercepted rubbish at the centre of Penrith’s shopping district and, like undead baseballers, a clan of trashy pilgrims blow in for the party.
"Written and directed by" is a significant phrase in Hollywood. In an industry notorious for taking a screenwriter's story and completely bastardising it during production, directors like Christopher Nolan, Woody Allen and the brothers Wachowski and Cohen have all demonstrated the virtues of controlling a film's production from its very inception right through to its, well… Inception. In essence, the words "written and directed by" offer audiences the greatest guarantee that the film they're about to see is the closest thing to the film the director actually set out to make. Which begs the question: why did Boaz Yakin set out to make this movie? Safe, starring England's best whispering frown — Jason Statham — is a violent action flick written and directed by Yakin; however, 'written' might be a touch generous. Statham has more hair than this film has plot, and with lines like "I’ve been in restaurants all night but all I've been served is lead", the dialogue is equally sparse. As an action film, Safe operates squarely within the boundaries of its genre's logic. The Chinese bad guys are Chinese, so they all know martial arts. The Russian bad guys are Russian, so they all laugh while killing people and sound exactly like Boris Badenov from Rocky and Bullwinkle. Last but not least, the cops and politicians are all so corrupt, the only person who can stop them is a good cop who's not a cop any more. Throw in a young Chinese maths prodigy (Catherine Chan) whose memory is abused by the Triads as an untraceable ledger for their illegal activities and you've got all the ingredients you'll need. All the ingredients, that is, to bake yourself a pie. A pie made of lead. A death pie.
Brisvegas is living up to its (much-loved) nickname and will play host to not one, but three music festivals in September. The annual Brisbane Festival will run alongside industry pioneer BIGSOUND and newcomer Sweet Relief! to form the Brisbane Music Trail. For those further down south who aren't blessed enough to live in perpetual sunshine, there's never been a better time to visit Queensland's capital as international music icons Groove Armada will be joined by Aussie stars The Avalanches, Paul Kelly and Cut Copy, along with up-and-comers from across the country. The first Sweet Relief! will take place on Saturday, September 16 at outdoor entertainment venue Maritime Green. Groove Armada and The Avalanches will headline, with performances from Ladyhawke, Cut Copy and DJs Nina Las Vegas, Latifa Tee and YO! MAFIA. Festival-goers can also register to participate in a dress-up contest judged by media personality Osher Günsberg and drag diva Jimi The Kween, which could see them win over $10,000 in prizes, including a four-day getaway to Far North Queensland. From Tuesday, September 5 to Friday, September 8, all eyes will be on BIGSOUND: one of the country's biggest music industry gatherings. For over 20 years, BIGSOUND has launched music careers and brought together a community of tastemakers and industry leaders. Past artists who have been discovered there include Flume, Gang of Youths, Tash Sultana, Ball Park Music and Thelma Plum. This year is no exception, with a lineup that includes rising stars 1tbsp, Izy, POOKIE, FELIVAND, KUZCO and Khi'leb, and attendees from Roc Nation, SXSW, Paramount, CAA and Interscope Records. Brisbane Festival will run from Friday, September 1 to Sunday, September 23 with a packed program of free events, family-friendly experiences, art installations, theatre shows and cultural performances. Musical acts include Paul Kelly, the Soweto Gospel Choir and Gretta Ray. Don't miss the kick-off on Saturday, September 2, as the fireworks spectacular, Riverfire by Australian Retirement Trust, sets the sky alight above Brisbane River. Get your tickets and find out more at the Queensland Music Trails website.
There's nothing like a midweek spot o' fried chicken and noodle, especially when it comes from the meat-lovin' mind behind Manly Wharf's Papi Chulo. As part of March into Merivale, open this week, PC head chef Patrick Friesen is branching out from last year's Thai-focused project to launch this year's instalment of the Work in Progress pop-up. Chefs know their late night supper spots, finishing work well after you've digested your dins and are happily tucked in. Friesen's taken inspiration from his favourite late night Sydney eateries. He's designed a bite-sized menu of Asian-style fried chicken, Hong Kong noodles and snacky nibbles for his MIM pop-up. "The menu is influenced by the late night haunts that other chefs and I like to go to smash fried chicken, noodles, and beers after a busy service," says Friesen. "It’s a small menu, but full of the tasty things you want to eat with a few drinks or on a solo lunch mission." Think fried chicken with ginger nuoc cham, served with kimchi, pickled daikon and garlic cucumbers. Think pnomh penh wings with lime white pepper, Sichuan duck with tofu lo mein, and pork and prawn wonton mein with egg noodles. But you won't be left with a mouthful of delicious, delicious fried chicken and nothing to wash it down. Friesen's nosh will be paired with a specially-created cocktail menu, with the likes of the Shaky Pete (Beefeater 24 gin, ginger, 150 lashes pale ale) and Down the Stairs (Zubrowka, pressed apple, lemon, cinnamon) sounding pretty delicious for $18 a piece, or you can choose from the Australian/New Zealand-heavy wine and beer selection. Work in Progress will sit at 50 King Street from Thursday, February 26. Open Monday to Friday 12pm-3pm, 6-10pm (kitchen); 12pm-late (bar). Want more on March into Merivale? Head over here.
If you’re passionate about keeping emerging and experimental art on the boil, here’s a chance to put your money where your mouth is — and take home an artwork in the process. The annual Firstdraft Auction is upon us and nearly 70 sculptures, paintings, photos and drawings are up for grabs. You’ll find them on display at the Firstdraft Gallery from Thursday, September 18. Silent bidding will kick into action when the clock strikes midday, continuing until the official launch event — and the live segment of the auction — starts at 6pm the following day. Oodles of Firstdraft alumni and supporters have donated works, including the likes of Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro, Hany Armanious, Justene Williams, Alex Seton and Jasper Knight. The event is one of the artist-run initiative's most important fundraisers, with proceeds going towards its ongoing support, production, dissemination and discussion of contemporary art. So roll on up and make like you're Charles Saatchi.
Australian movie lovers, prepare to be spoiled for choice when it comes to getting your next big-screen fix. With Sydney out of lockdown and Melbourne likely to do the same this month, cinemas across the country are about to be inundated with high-profile features — and, with film festivals showing them. One such event getting the projectors whirring is the annual British Film Festival, which'll tour its 31-movie lineup of Brit flicks around the country between Wednesday, November 3–Wednesday, December 1. Gracing the fest's titles is a who's who of UK acting talent, so if you're a fan of The Crown's Olivia Colman, Claire Foy and Josh O'Connor — or of everyone from Jamie Dornan, Colin Firth, Judi Dench and Benedict Cumberbatch to Helen Mirren, Michael Caine, Joanna Lumley and Peter Capaldi — you'll be spying plenty of familiar faces. The festival will open with true tale The Duke, starring Mirren and Jim Broadbent, with the latter playing a 60-year-old taxi driver who stole a portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. From there, highlights include the Kenneth Branagh-directed Belfast, about growing up in 1960s Northern Ireland; Last Night in Soho, Edgar Wright's new thriller featuring Anya Taylor-Joy and Thomasin McKenzie; romantic period drama Mothering Sunday, with Colman, Firth and O'Connor; and Best Sellers, a literary comedy with Michael Caine and Aubrey Plaza. Or, there's also Stardust, a biopic about the one and only David Bowie — and The Electrical Life of Louis Wan, about the eponymous artist, with Cumberbatch and Foy leading the cast. Opera singing in the Scottish highlands drives the Lumley-starring Falling for Figaro, which also features Australian Patti Cake$ actor Danielle Macdonald; Benediction marks the return of filmmaker Terence Davies (Sunset Song), this time focusing on English poet and soldier Siegfried Sassoon; and Firth pops up again in World War II-set drama Operation Mincemeat with Succession's Matthew Macfadyen. Plus, To Olivia dramatises Roald Dahl's marriage to Oscar-winning actress Patricia Neal, Stephen Fry explores bubbly booze in documentary Sparkling: The Story of Champagne, and novelist Jackie Collins also gets the doco treatment. And, as part of the British Film Festival's retrospective lineup, Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon will grace the big screen — the former in a 4K restoration to celebrate its 50th anniversary. BRITISH FILM FESTIVAL 2021 DATES: Wednesday, November 3–Wednesday, December 1 — Palace Norton, Palace Verona, Palace Central and Chauvel Cinema, Sydney Wednesday, November 3–Wednesday, December 1 — Palace Electric, Canberra Wednesday, November 3–Wednesday, December 1 — Palace James Street and Palace Centro, Brisbane Wednesday, November 3–Wednesday, December 1— Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas and Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas, Adelaide Wednesday, November 3–Wednesday, December 1— Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX and Windsor Cinema, Perth Wednesday, November 3–Sunday, November 21 — Palace Byron Bay, Byron Bay Friday, November 5–Wednesday, December 1 — Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Pentridge Cinema and The Astor, Melbourne The 2021 British Film Festival tours Australia between Wednesday, November 3–Wednesday, December 1. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website.
After three months behind closed doors, the Woollahra Hotel is officially back online following some well-earned renovations. Built in the 1930s, the Woollahra Hotel is one of the east's landmark pubs — so it's nice to see the owners have opted for some gentle tweaking – rather than a complete overhaul. From the outside, Woollahra's still got that classic art deco aesthetic, with toffee-colored bricks and rounded cornices, but the front bar and restaurant have both been given a serious spruce. So what's changed? Well, the locals' front bar looks as good as ever, polished to within an inch of its life. It's still a great spot to bend an elbow after a game at the SCG or Moore Park. The biggest shift has been in the kitchen, where new head chef Jordan Muhamad (ex-Rockpool, Spice Temple, Chin Chin) has given the menu an Asian-inspired twist: think steamed snapper, a selection of house-made curries and Hiramasa Kingfish sashimi. And that's just the bar menu. There's also Bistro Moncur, newly refurbished, led by head chef Mark Williamson, dishing up some of Sydney's best French grub. Moncur has always been fancy date night territory: Barossa chicken pâté, grilled sirloin and saffron crab omelettes, with a mix of local and international wines to wash it all down. Moncur Cellars' Mark Blake is handling the vino, and he's clearly got a thing for organic, vegan and preservative-free drops. There's a top-shelf cocktail menu, too, re-designed from the ground up. Woollahra's open-air terrace is still there, with its fern-covered vertical garden, pink neon and dangling pendant lights, which are sure to please the Instagram crowd. A bit of razzle-dazzle with a rump steak never hurt anyone, after all.
Almost everyone holds a fond childhood memory of them. Whether you’re a Miss Piggy or a Kermit, Jim Henson’s much-loved Muppets are an institution in many households. And in many countries around the world. Except now they’re all grown up, and coming to Sydney for six special shows. Direct from adults-only seasons in Edinburgh, Toronto and New York comes Puppet Up! Uncensored, a fascinating combination of puppetry and improvisation, and an experience that is sure to paint your childhood friends in a whole new light. With over 60 different puppets (old faves, plus a whole crop of new characters), the recreation of classic Henson/Frank Oz sequences and commentary from Patrick Bristow (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Whose Line Is It Anyway?), Puppet Up! Uncensored promises to be an interesting improv experiment. That said, reviews have been mixed, with some complaining that the show's formula of audience-prompted skits (almost always crude) proves a lack of direction and storyline. Whatever your take, prepare for a night of nostalgia and blatant inappropriateness
UPDATE, January 26, 2022: Gold opened in select Australian cinemas from January 13, and is available to stream via Stan from January 26. Gold's title doubles as an exclamation that Australian filmmakers might've made when Zac Efron decamped to our shores at the beginning of the pandemic. Only this outback-set thriller has put the High School Musical, Bad Neighbours and Baywatch star to work Down Under, however, and he definitely isn't in Hollywood anymore. Instead, he's stuck in "some time, some place, not far from now…", as all-caps text advises in the movie's opening moments. He's caught in a post-Mad Max-style dystopia, where sweltering heat, a visible lack of shelter, a cut-throat attitude, water rationing, and nothing but dirt and dust as far as the eye can see greets survivors navigating a rusty wasteland. But then his character, Man One, spots a glint, and all that glisters is indeed gold — and he must guard it while Man Two (Anthony Hayes, also the film's director) seeks out an excavator. Exactly who stays and who goes is the subject of heated discussion, but Gold is an economical movie, mirroring how its on-screen figures need to be careful about every move they make in such unforgiving surroundings. As a filmmaker, helming his first feature since 2008's Ten Empty, Hayes knows his star attraction — and he's also well-aware of the survivalist genre, and its history, that he's plonking Efron into. Almost every male actor has been in one such flick or so it can seem, whether Tom Hanks is talking to a volleyball in Castaway, Liam Neeson is communing with wolves in The Grey or Mads Mikkelsen is facing frosty climes in Arctic. Although Gold purposefully never names its setting, Australia's vast expanse is no stranger to testing its visitors, too, but Hayes' version slips in nicely alongside the likes of Wake in Fright, The Rover and Cargo, rather than rips them off. The reason such tales persist is pure human nature — we're always battling against the world around us, even if everyday folks are rarely in such extreme situations — and, on-screen, because of the performances they evoke. Efron isn't even the first import to get stranded in sunburnt country in 2022, after Jamie Dornan did the same in TV miniseries The Tourist, but he puts in a compellingly internalised performance. Man One's minutes, hours and days guarding an oversized nugget pass with sparing sips of H20, attempts to build a shelter and altercations with the locals, including of the two-legged, canine, insect and arachnid varieties, and the toll of all this time alone builds in Efron's eyes and posture. His face crackles from the sun, heat and muck, but his portrayal is as much about enduring as reacting, as both Efron and Hayes savvily recognise. Writing with costumer-turned-scribe Polly Smyth as well as directing solo, Hayes puts more than just survival on Gold's mind, though: when the titular yellow precious metal is involved, greed is rarely good. Here, staying alive at any cost is all about striking it rich at any cost, and also about the paranoia festering between two new acquaintances who've randomly stumbled upon a life-changing windfall — as heightened by the film's stark, harsh, post-apocalyptic setup. When a third person (Susie Porter, Ladies in Black) enters the scenario, Gold grimly lets its life-or-death and lucky break elements keep clashing, but also pairs Man One's desperation with the mental decline that blistering in the sun, being parched with thirst and starving with hunger all bring. Greed proves perilous in a plethora of ways in the film's frames, including inside its main character's head. The mood: dire, drastic but also frantic, the latter not in pace but in how urgently Man One obviously wants the situation to work out. As lensed by cinematographer Ross Giardina, who also worked as a second unit director of photography on The Dressmaker — another feature to make strong use of the Aussie landscape while led by an high-profile overseas actor — Gold ensures its bleak tone ripples in every image. Just how grey, white and almost blue the desert can look here is one of the movie's most striking features, in fact. Where The Tourist blazed away its cooler hues, and most other outback-set fare lets ochre and golden shades radiate, Gold is sun-dappled to the point of often being sun-bleached. As shot in South Australia, all of its wide vistas look particularly ominous as a result, and never let the feature's tension subside for a second. Another of Gold's astute moves springs from its determined focus; don't expect backstory here. Barely glimpsed signs make it clear that this likely isn't Australia, but Hayes sports a heavily put-on American accent to match Efron — because keeping everything ambiguous to retain an unflinching gaze on two men and their big piece of gold is the lean aim. In early scenes, the remote outpost where Man One enlists a ride from Man Two is dystopian-standard sparse, and all that's said about Man One's need to head east is that he's en route to work in a mining camp. The details of why the world has turned to hot dust don't matter, with Hayes and Smyth leaving plenty of room for viewers to read in their own takes on how human nature — the movie's main subject — has turned the planet into this scalding hell. From its performances and visuals to its weightiness, Gold is patently well-made. Again, it's well-acted, including by Hayes (who, among his many acting credits dating back to the early 90s, also had roles in The Rover and Cargo). With every image it bakes onto the screen, it's inescapably well-lensed, which applies when peering closely at Efron in a fraying state and surveying all that desert stretching out around him. It ruminates upon familiar but still meaty matters, and thoughtfully so, all within a stingingly suspenseful feature. Gold is also never more than the sum of its parts, but those parts always do what they're meant to — and glitter as brightly as they need to.
Unroll your posters, dust-off that secret diary and get ready to rock your body right: the Backstreet Boys are bringing their latest world tour Down Under. Get ready for another hefty dose of 90s nostalgia, too, given that you can now see the huge boy band at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Saturday, March 4–Sunday, March 5. Backstreet's back — alright. Get ready to belt out the lyrics to 'Everybody (Backstreet's Back)', 'As Long As You Love Me', 'I Want It That Way', 'Larger Than Life' and 'Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely' when the famous five — aka AJ McLean, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter, Howie Dorough and Kevin Richardson — head our way for a very nostalgic arena tour. The Backstreet Boys will also be performing songs off their 2019 album DNA, which debuted at number one on the charts when it was released and features Grammy-nominated single 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart'. Fingers crossed that they also break out tracks from their new festive record A Very Backstreet Christmas, even though it won't quite be the season. Either way, we know you'll most likely be there for the 90s and early 00s goodness — and to break out your 'Everybody' moves.
Vegans tired of being excluded from affordable mainstream menus or, at best, treated as an after-thought, here's some cheerful news — for both you and the rest of the animal kingdom. Domino's Pizza has today — Monday, January 8 — added vegan cheese to its list of ingredients. Yep, your pizza eating habits no longer need be restricted to vego-only (or exxy sit down) joints — they can now extend to cheap on-the-way-home snacks and in-bed feasts. To celebrate, three vegan pizzas will be hitting the menu for a limited time. These are the vegan avocado veg, the vegan spicy trio and the vegan margherita. Most importantly, though, you'll be able to turn any pizza on the menu into an animal-free one by asking for vegan mozzarella and parting with an extra $2.95 (which is quite reasonable, really). Plus, all Domino's bases and sauces are plant-based. The decision to introduce vegan cheese came about as a result of a survey that Domino's conducted via its Facebook page in late 2017. "We were blown away by the response," said Nick Knight, CEO of Domino's Australia and New Zealand. "The popularity of, and demand for, vegan products has increased considerably over the years, so it's great we are now able to offer this high-quality, non-GMO, plant-based and preservative-free vegan cheese." Domino's created the cheese — which is also free of gluten, soy and cholesterol — in its LuvLab, aiming to mimic the taste, texture and melting power of dairy-based cheese. But we'll believe it when we try it. Obviously our fair city has plenty of pizza options that we'd recommend over Domino's, but, nonetheless, this can only be a sign that more readily-available vegan options will hit mainstream food outlets in the near future. To begin, the cheese will be available for a limited time, and, if it proves popular with customers, it'll be instated permanently.
