Since Iron Man first flew onto cinema screens back in 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has banded its movies together in phases, with each group of films telling a particular part of the broader story. The initial phase ran through until the first Avengers movie, the second spanned Iron Man 3 to Ant-Man, and the third kicked off with Captain America: Civil War and ended with Spider-Man: Far From Home. Now, the fourth phase is upon us — and it includes TV shows as well. So far, you might've been watching WandaVision; however, it's about to have company on streaming platform Disney+. Once the Mouse House is done telling Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision's (Paul Bettany) story (and nodding to classic sitcoms in the process), it's moving on to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Clearly, no one at Marvel and Disney+ has been taxing themselves while naming these series — so you instantly know who this one is about. Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan reprise the eponymous characters, with their characters teaming up and heading off on a global adventure. That tests their patience — as the initial sneak peek back in 2020 illustrated, and the just-dropped full trailer for the series now shows in more detail. The pair's exploits will span six episodes, and will bring back Daniel Brühl as Baron Zemo and Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter. Wyatt Russell (The Good Lord Bird) will also join the MCU as John Walker. As for when you'll be able to see all of the above in action, the series starts streaming on Friday, March 19, just after WandaVision wraps up its nine-episode run. And yes, the MCU's fourth phase will include more TV shows — such as Loki, which hits in May; Secret Invasion, starring Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury; and a series set in Wakanda. It'll kick off the film side of things with 2021 movies Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals. Check out the new full trailer for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWBsDaFWyTE The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will hit Disney+ on Friday, March 19. Top image: Chuck Zlotnick, ©Marvel Studios 2020. All Rights Reserved.
Have you ever watched Groundhog Day and found yourself thinking, "this is all ace and amusing, but I wish a masked murderer was running amok?" Have you ever settled down for Edge of Tomorrow and decided that the whole thing really could use some spooky college hijinks? If your answer to either of those questions is yes, then horror-comedy Happy Death Day just might be the film you're looking for. Here, reliving the same day comes with laughs, scares and a very determined killer. Sorority sister Tree (Jessica Rothe) is the character caught in a loop, but becoming a better person or stopping alien invaders isn't her aim. Instead, she just wants to work out why she keeps ending up dead — and, obviously, to figure out how to avoid it. Each day plays out the same way: she wakes up in the dorm room of a classmate, Carter (Israel Broussard), who she assumes she drunkenly hooked up with, before shuddering when her roommate Lori (Ruby Modine) tries to give her a birthday cupcake. Going to class, house meetings, ignoring her dad, getting ready for her own surprise party — nothing is particularly out of the ordinary. Or rather, it seems that way until she's brutally attacked, then finds herself doing it all over again. Given Hollywood's fondness for repetition, it's surprising that a film like Happy Death Day didn't happen earlier. There are plenty of elements here that movie fans will recognise — and that's not news to director Christopher Landon (Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse). This is a flick that's well aware that Groundhog Day exists, and that the slasher scenario has been done to death (note the sly references to "Monday the 18th"). It's also knows that the Scream franchise has already found the thrilling and funny side of calling out and exaggerating genre tropes. Still, don't underestimate how far a playful tone and knowing approach can go in this situation. Producer Jason Blum is something of a horror maestro these days, backing the Paranormal Activity and Insidious franchises as well as this year's hits Split and Get Out. Keeping that successful run going, his latest takes to its satirical task with glee — think slick, montage-heavy visuals, an upbeat vibe and soundtrack, and absolutely no misapprehensions about the sort of entertaining, tongue-in-cheek movie that it wants to be. Thanks to the great work of Rothe, Happy Death Day also boasts an impressive central performance. Focusing on an attractive young woman fending off a bad guy is hardly new territory given the picture's chosen genre, but the actress last seen in La La Land portrays her protagonist as more than just a victim in waiting. After starting in Mean Girls territory, her zest and take-charge attitude matches that of the movie. As such, audiences should have no qualms about watching her experience the same day again and again — even if the film itself doesn't necessarily warrant repeat viewings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ENyivsLb_g
If you're anything like us, you're probably hard at work making a list of what to see at Vivid 2019. A word of advice, though: keep Wednesday nights free. Why? Because each hump day throughout the duration of the festival, the Art Gallery of New South Wales will keep its doors open late for a free evening of music, discussion and art. The first Art After Hours, on the evening of May 29, will explore spirituality and inner life in a conversation between Meshel Laurie and Benjamin Law before a musical tribute to the films of Spike Lee (a Vivid Ideas speaker this year). Week two will feature a talk from poet-rapper Omar Musa and artist Abdul Abdullah on expressing culture and identity in Australia, along with a striking performance from Okenyo, while week three will go back to the moon landing by reimagining songs from the cassette played during the moon landing. There'll be heaps to do each night, with free mindfulness sessions, drawing workshop and artist-led talks. They're also a good opportunity to catch the gallery's current exhibitions: The Archibald Prize, Duchamp and The National.
It's been almost two years since Stranger Things last graced our streaming queues, and left everyone wondering what might've become of Hawkins' beloved police chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour, Hellboy). Just when the Netflix series is set to return for its fourth season hasn't yet been announced, but the platform knows that its viewers are all waiting eagerly — and, to keep us occupied, it has started teasing new glimpses at the long-awaited next batch of episodes. The platform initially provided a sneak peek at Stranger Things season four back at the beginning of 2020, which now seems like a lifetime ago. Given that things didn't seem to end too well for Hopper at the end of the show's third season — all thanks to the mind flayer, the Russian lab below Starcourt Mall and that pesky gate to the Upside Down — that initial glimpse picked up after the third season's Russian-set post-script. That said, while it did resolve the big cliffhanger, it also only ran for 50 seconds. This time around, the two new (and also brief) clips look backwards — and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown, Godzilla vs Kong) is the focus. Both sneak peeks take place in Hawkins Laboratory, with the first peering at security camera footage, and the second listening on as Dr Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine, Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal) performs tests on kids with special abilities. The latter video then works its way down a corridor to a door marked with the number 11, and then shows a quick look at Eleven's face. So, it seems that as well as hopping over to Russia, Stranger Things is headed to the past. It's worth remembering that, when the platform announced the show's renewal for a fourth season back in 2019, it did so with the catchphrase "we're not in Hawkins anymore". We'll have to wait to see what that all means for its cast of characters — including not only Hopper and Eleven, the latter of which was last seen leaving town with Joyce (Winona Ryder, The Plot Against America), Will (Noah Schnapp, Hubie Halloween) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton, The New Mutants), but also for Mike (Finn Wolfhard, The Goldfinch), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo, The Angry Birds Movie 2), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin, Concrete Cowboy), Max (Sadie Sink, The Last Castle), Steve (Joe Keery, Spree) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer, Things Seen & Heard). Check out the two new Stranger Things season four teasers below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRIpYFIlg5U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILwLN6hV-X8 Stranger Things season four doesn't currently have a release date — we'll update you when Netflix announces its plans. Top image: Stranger Things season three.
Heavy with smoke. Charged with intrigue. 1930s Shanghai is like Dickensian London; it's a locale explored so thoroughly by writers of fiction that reality and fantasy are having a hard time not tripping over each other. But these spaces are where "volcanic live artist" Moira Finucane creates her best work. Renowned for the creation of sumptuous worlds in which her burlesque performances take place, Finucane recreates the stage of a nightclub cabaret in 1930s Shanghai — the perfect setting for her blend of painstaking detail and raucous subversion. Chinese jazz fills the air where acrobats had flown, seconds before. And on the ground, an international array of singers and dancers appear from all quarters, slinking through the half-light of the club. At Shànghǎi MiMi上海咪咪's, the real and imagined fall prey to a far more powerful force — immersion. Shànghǎi MiMi上海咪 is part of Sydney Festival's dramatic and diverse 2019 program. Check out the full lineup here.
If you're chasing more of a thrill from nature, check out the white water kayaking along the surging rapids of the mighty Barrington River. Fed by the pristine, fresh waters that run from Barrington Tops, these rapids rush after periods of heavy rainfall, when the river swells to cover ground it ordinarily wouldn't. Kayaking and rafting tours are readily available, but are subject to rainfall prior, so keep an eye on the weather and get booking when the rain falls. If you want to sleep close to the water, there's camping available at Barrington Reserve. And if you're after something less thrilling, there are lots of spots for a calm dip or a riverside picnic. Image: John Spencer
French Canadian filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallee is famed for masterfully ingraining music into his films. The name of his most recent work comes from the chill out song 'Cafe de Flore' by Matthew Herbert, a song that holds extreme resonance for the characters, connecting them across time and place. The music in the film — dominated by the otherworldly Sigur Ros with a smattering of electro, pop and dance in between — is not merely decorative or utilised to invoke emotion; rather, it galvanises people in the most intense of ways and serves to remind them of the tragedy of love lost. In the world of Vallee's characters, music is life altering and transcendent, a profound expression and experience of love. Vallee presents us with two seemingly distinct stories, tales that will be joined at the end in the most surprising of ways. In modern-day Montreal, DJ Antoine (Kevin Parent) is deeply in love with his partner, Rose (Evelyne Brochu), but is emotionally displaced by his ineffable connection to his teenage sweetheart and ex-wife Carole (Helene Florent), the mother of his two children. Antoine questions during the film how one can have two soul mates in a lifetime. "If it's a soul mate," he asks, "it's not supposed to end, right?" Carole, in turn, is haunted by the disappearance of a love she thought was "written in the stars". The other story, set in an unspectacular Paris of browns and greys in 1969, follows Jacqueline (Vanessa Paradis) and her obsessive devotion to her son, Laurent (Marin Gerrier), who has Down syndrome, along with his fervent attachment to a little girl also with Down Syndrome called Veronique (Alice Dubois). How the two stories converge will be divisive for audiences — some will be in awe of the magnitude of it all while some will walk out and roll their eyes. I was unfortunately in the latter camp. The final revelation let Cafe de Flore down in my opinion, but it didn't take away from the beauty of it as a whole. The film has a hypnotic quality that truly entrances. The use of photos of times past; stunning, ethereal visuals; and the inclusion of scenes showing Antoine and Carole as teenagers bound by love and a shared passion for music infuse the film with a sense of nostalgia and history that renders it dreamlike and sad. It won't be to everyone's taste, but if you appreciate good music and a complex, interesting story, then this might have something for you. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y3HAgq7aQOk
There's nothing overtly amusing about Daniel Day-Lewis' performance in Phantom Thread. As '50s-era London dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock, he's tenacious in his attitude but delicate in his approach, inhabiting the demanding, obsessive and fastidious figure to absolute perfection. And yet, there's a joke behind his character that says much about this meticulous, mesmerising melodrama. In trying to find a name for the protagonist in their second big screen collaboration, Day-Lewis and There Will Be Blood writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson were simply trying to make each other chuckle. Mission: accomplished. Similarly, Phantom Thread isn't a film that drips with laugh-out-loud humour, but the comic origins of Woodcock's moniker — and their contrast with the movie's tense and refined air — really couldn't be more appropriate. Far removed from his last wander through the ups and downs of romance in Punch-Drunk Love, here Anderson plunges into the depths of a dark, difficult and devious love story. That said, given the story concerns a volatile couple who turn power plays and tussles for control into an intense form of foreplay, it's only fitting that he imbues proceedings with a sly, mischievous streak. When Woodcock first encounters Alma (Vicky Krieps) in a countryside restaurant, it seems a simple case of sophisticated man meets shy young woman; of opposites attracting in familiar circumstances. While he usually only has room in his life for his work, his no-nonsense sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) and his dead but never forgotten mother, Woodcock is drawn to the clumsy waitress, as she is to him. But it soon becomes clear that his designs on their relationship aren't the same as hers. Though he's fond of having a live-in muse, dress model and sometime lover, despite appearances she's not the type to meekly bend to his moody whims. With Cyril ever-present, the House of Woodcock soon starts to unravel — something that'd never happen to one of the high-end frocks his ceaselessly fusses over, obviously. Every textile metaphor you can think of applies to Phantom Thread. It's a film that's carefully woven from the fabric of human urges, teeming with hidden layers and positively bursting at the seams with emotional detail. It's also one made by the finest possible craftspeople, with Anderson and his three stars fashioning the cinematic equivalent of haute couture. In a role he says will be his last, three-time Oscar-winner Day-Lewis shows just why that's such utterly devastating news for audiences and the acting profession alike. Matching him immaculately are Krieps and Manville. Think of the former as the intricate beading that attracts the eye on an already breathtaking gown, and the latter as the painstaking stitching attentively holding everything together. As for Anderson, the filmmaker behind Boogie Nights, Magnolia and The Master sews another unique patch into his filmography. Making a movie about a perfectionist dressmaker, he's as exacting as Reynolds — and possesses the same eye for exquisite beauty in a film he shot on 35mm himself. Marvel at the way he infuses the household's breakfast routine with palpable tension over something as routine as buttering toast, and try to tear your gaze away from his stunningly framed images and the exceptional frocks within them. Even the ornate wallpaper manages to captivate. Anderson again finds his musical match in Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, who provides the equally effective, darkly seductive score. Sensuous, evocative and completely entrancing, if the end result was a garment, you wouldn't want to take it off. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCYB28iknIM
Among the wealth of new content that Netflix drops on viewers each and every year, Dead to Me proved one of the streamer's 2019 hits. Taking a few cues from 2018 film A Simple Favour, the show's ten-episode first season told the tale of two women who meet, become friends despite seemingly having very little in common, and help each other with their daily lives — then find themselves immersed in more than a little murky business. Now, the twisty dark comedy is returning for another season — and stars Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini are back as well. The former once again plays a just-widowed woman trying to cope with losing her husband in a hit-and-run incident, while the latter pops up as a positive-thinking free spirit. It has been some time since they initially crossed paths at a grief counselling session, though, so this definite odd-couple situation has evolved to feature more secrets, lies and complications, as well as more than one murder cover-up. When the show's first season ended, it did so with a huge cliffhanger. As the just-dropped full trailer for Dead to Me's second season shows, this new batch of episodes will see Applegate's Jen Harding and Cardellini's Judy Hale dealing with the aftermath of that big event. And, it also reveals that fellow series co-star James Marsden is back — although you'll obviously have to wait for the new season to find out just what that means. Created by 2 Broke Girls writer Liz Feldman, the series marks Applegate's first lead TV role since 2011-12 sitcom Up All Night. For Cardellini, it's a return to Netflix after starring on the streaming platform's drama Bloodline — and she also featured in A Simple Favour, too. Check out the full trailer for Dead to Me's second season below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmU7ylnmn_M Dead to Me's second season hits Netflix on Friday, May 8. Images: Saeed Adyani / Netflix.
After opening several colourful Mexican cantinas around the city in 2019, Rockpool Dining Group has expanded its Sydney footprint again — this time, with a European and American-inspired joint that specialises in wings. Inside Circular Quay's Gateway Centre, Winghaüs by Bavarian has room for 145 people across a range of high-top tables, benches, bar stools and leather booths. It's the second Bavarian offshoot of its type to open in the country, with the inaugural Brisbane outpost launching last September. Chicken is the main culinary attraction — buffalo wings specifically — although you'll also be able to tuck into fried wings dusted in either chipotle or habanero powder, or opt for boneless chicken tenders. They're all available in servings of ten, 15, 20, 50 or 100 pieces, with eight hot sauces on offer — ranging from mild Texas barbecue to super-hot habanero — and five dips. For folks hankering for other US diner-style bites, chicken burgers, sides such as onion rings, potato gems and deep-fried pickles, plus New York-style cheesecake ($9) are all available. And if you like your desserts both sweet and warm, a selection of deep-fried chocolate bars ($8) are likely to prove a highlight, with hot, gooey Mars, Snickers and Picnics all on offer. While the menu skews American, European influences come through in the drinks and decor. Like The Bavarian, Winghaüs features a stein chandelier made from 500 one-litre glasses, and serves German brews such as Löwenbräu, Paulaner, Franziskaner, Spaten and Hofbräu. US tipples like Budweiser, Stella Artois and Goose Island also feature, plus Aussie beers like 4 Pines and Pirate Life. And, cocktail-wise, the bar's taps pump out margaritas, old fashioneds, spritzes, negronis and espresso martinis. The best time to head in is undoubtedly after work — the 5–7pm weekday happy hour includes 50-cent wings, $6 pints, $11 steins and $7.50 espresso martinis and negronis. Sydneysiders can also expect plenty to keep them entertained at the diner-style spot, whether you're settling in at the long bar or getting cosy in a leather booth beneath neon signs. Given that sports memorabilia line the walls, it should come as no surprise that big-screen TVs also play up to 20 live sports at a time.
When it comes to Australia's annual collection of Jewish cinema, variety isn't simply the spice of life — it's the festival's guiding principle. Showcasing the breadth and depth of Jewish culture and storytelling is this event's aim, and it has the range to match. In fact, 2017's Jewish International Film Festival lineup boasts 65 films from 26 countries, including Danish dramas, Aussie docos, Israeli love stories, restored Polish classics, Russian projects and everything in between. A heartbreaking array of factual efforts? Tick. The sounds of Yiddish? Tick again. Explorations of famous Jewish filmmakers? A Sundance-like range of US indies? Multiple perspectives on Israeli life? Just keep ticking. With the fest making its way around the country between October 25 and November 22, we've chosen our five must-see movies from this year's program. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83UoZcdX__Y MENASHE If you only see one Yiddish-language movie this year, make it Menashe, which has been earning ample praise since it premiered at Sundance back in January. Loosely based on the real life of its Hasidic first-time actor and star Menashe Lustig, writer-director-producer-cinematographer Joshua Weinstein's debut full-length film unravels the story of a grocery store worker desperate to keep custody of his son after his wife's death — but beholden to strict religious tradition that dictates otherwise unless he remarries. For extra authenticity, the film was reportedly shot in secret within New York's ultra-orthodox community. Screening in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. https://vimeo.com/224428115 IN BETWEEN Three female friends cope with life, love and navigating society's standards in In Between, a film that sounds oh-so-familiar — until it comes to its setting and cultural perspective. Screens big and small are filled with similar stories, but this isn't just Girls set in Tel Aviv. Rather, first-time feature filmmaker Maysaloun Hamoud delves into the difficulties confronting her trio of Palestinian protagonists as they try to wade through several layers of oppression, refuse to conform to expectation, and — crucially — fight to be themselves in a world of rules, tradition and control. Screening in Sydney and Melbourne. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjt3J9mM7aE REBEL IN THE RYE For a famous recluse who shunned the spotlight for the bulk of his adult life, the late JD Salinger is rarely far from public attention. Writing one of the most iconic novels of the twentieth century will do that. While Salinger refused to let anyone turn The Catcher in the Rye into a film (not that it stopped the likes of Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson and Leonardo DiCaprio trying), the author's own tale keeps popping up on screen. Documentary Salinger stepped through his story back in 2013, and now Rebel in the Rye dramatises his early years — with Nicholas Hoult as the scribe and Mad Men actor turned writer-director Danny Strong behind the camera. Screening in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. https://vimeo.com/209150832 SCARRED HEARTS After helming the nineteenth century-set Romanian art-western Aferim!, filmmaker Radu Jude once again opts for something far from ordinary with Scarred Hearts. Based on autobiographical writings by Jewish Romanian author Max Blecher, the film tells the story of a twenty-something man's bedridden state as he recovers from bone tuberculosis, falls in love with a recovering former patient, and endeavours to reach beyond his confined state. A tale of living, resting, trying to find small joys, and coping with both illness and Facism, suffice it to say that this isn't the type of film you see every day. Screening in Sydney and Melbourne. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKXAkITImGU BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY She amassed 35 acting credits to her name in both Europe and the US, and starred alongside everyone from Judy Garland to Spencer Tracy to the Marx brothers in her '40s and '50s heyday. That's only part of Hedy Lamarr's considerable true tale, however. Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story steps through the smarts behind the screen persona, with the Austrian-born talent not only an actress but an accomplished inventor. Self-taught, she devised a frequency-hopping signal that was used by the Allies during the Second World War, as this Diane Kruger-narrated documentary explores. Screening in Sydney and Melbourne. The 2017 Jewish Film Festival screens at Sydney's Event Cinemas Bondi Junction and Hayden Orpheum from October 26 to November 22, Melbourne's Classic Cinemas and Lido Cinemas from October 25 to November 22, and Brisbane's New Farm Cinemas from October 26 to November 1. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website.
Brightening up winter has always been Vivid Sydney's mission. Turning as much of the city as possible into a glowing sight has also been the festival's remit since its beginnings. Announcing its return for 2024, Dark Spectrum isn't the only example of how those aims come to fruition, but it's still a dazzling case in point. The luminous event heads into the Harbour City's depths, unleashes lasers and lights, adds electronic dance music as a soundtrack and gets attendees exploring a lit-up subterranean labyrinth. Dark Spectrum debuted in 2023, as a world-premiere installation in Wynyard's unused railway tunnels, which was the first time ever that the spot had been opened to the public. The light show beneath the streets has now joined the 2024 program, again in the same location, but this time as Dark Spectrum: A New Journey. Just like last year, we hope that you like lasers, secret passageways and bright colours, which will all be on offer from Friday, May 24–Saturday, June 15. As the name makes plain, this is an all-new version of Dark Spectrum, but the basic setup, of course, remains the same. A collaboration between Vivid Sydney, Sony Music, Mandylights and Culture Creative, this underground spectacle will again feature eight rooms, all heroing a different hue, with the entire concept initially inspired by raves and their dance floors. Across a one-kilometre trail — up from 2023's 900 metres — 300 lasers and strobe lights, 500 lanterns, 250 search lights and 700 illuminated arrows will make a shining impression. Wondering which tunes accompany this maze-like experience, which tasks everyone that enters with wandering through its expanse from start to finish as lights flash and flicker, and smoke and haze effects add to the mood? Dark Spectrum: A New Journey will draw upon club-favourite tracks from the past 30 years. And yes, if you want to dance your way through the chambers and tunnels, that's allowed (and understandable). "Vivid Sydney 2024 is exploring what makes us uniquely human, with a diverse program designed to foster connections, spark imagination and showcase the multitude of ways creativity enriches our lives. We are so excited to welcome back Dark Spectrum: A New Journey to Vivid Sydney 2024 to bring the festival theme to life with a brand-new wholly immersive experience," said Vivid Sydney Festival Director Gill Minervini. Also adding gleaming sights to the fest's lineup: the return of Lightscape, again at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney; 40-kilometre-long laser beams shooting out of Sydney Tower; artwork by Archibald Prize winner Julia Gutman on the Sydney Opera House's sails; projected pieces on a range of buildings in the CBD; 4000 solar-powered LED candles glowing amid the sandstone blocks at Barangaroo Reserve; and Barangaroo's Stargazer Lawn welcoming a circular projection of the brolga's mating dance. Dark Spectrum: A New Journey will run from Friday, May 24–Saturday, June 15, 2024, during Vivid Sydney 2024. For further information and tickets, head to the event's website. Top image: Dark Spectrum 2023, Destination NSW.
They're taking to hobbits to Isengard at the Orpheum this November, with one movie marathon to rule them all. Round up the Fellowship, stock up on lembas bread for sustenance and hide your finest pipe-weed from the Southfarthing for one sitting of all three of Peter Jackson's beloved OG Tolkien film adaptations at the Hayden Orpheum. Kicking off with The Fellowship of the Ring and ending with The Return of the King, this cave troll of a marathon clocks in at 558 minutes, starting the journey at 11am and including two 30-minute meal breaks (breakfast and second breakfast, if you will). If you make it to the final handful of endings, you can pat yourself on the back and smash a ringwraith screech at the nearest Cremorne resident on your way home (note: do not actually screech at the residents). Tickets are the precious and come in at $25 for the whole ordeal.
Head On Photo Festival is on throughout May, with Sydney galleries showcasing the freshest photography from across the globe. A fine example comes from recurring festival prize finalist Jonathan May, who is presenting Desert Ink, a striking new series of black and white portraits, at Gaffa Gallery. While travelling around Indio, California, May began documenting the lives of eight Mexican tattoo artists and reformed criminals. In between drug-dealing and jail time, these men became passionate about cultivating their craft. May’s dramatic smoke-filled images reveal both former lives and new identities. As the men leave behind gang rivalries and shoot-outs, there is a law-abiding solidarity that mingles with their sinister appearances. Wearing their personal stories on their sleeves (or skin), these inked-up desert-dwellers make for interesting viewing. Come along for opening night on Thursday 30 April, 6pm.
International Margarita Day may fall on Wednesday, February 22, but why settle for only one day of citrusy, salty, tequila-y celebration? Solotel is spreading the love with a week-long tribute to all things margarita, taking place from Monday, February 20 until Sunday, February 26. For the whole week, eight of Solotel's venues are serving up watermelon and raspberry margaritas — with Patrón on the pour — for just $12 (plus $15 margies at The Golden Sheaf). It's the ideal bev to sip while you farewell the last few weeks of summer sun. Perhaps you'll choose the sunny courtyard of The Courthouse in Newtown, or the locally loved Public House in Petersham. Or, maybe level up your after-work drinks with margaritas at Barangaroo House's House Bar. Though, you're sorted at any of the other participating spots: The Erko, Edinburgh Castle, Sackville Hotel, Regent Hotel and Bridgeview Hotel. If you're into the Mexican cocktail, now's the time to enjoy it all over Sydney. If you know what's good for you, you'll pick a spot and get ready to raise a glass and celebrate the ultimate cocktail for a full seven days. Solotel's Margy Week hits a standout lineup of venues from Monday, February 20 till Sunday, February 26, with Patrón Tequila watermelon and raspberry margaritas for $12 ($15 at The Golden Sheaf). For all the details, head to the website.
With paedophilia now the throwaway punchline of every joke involving Catholic priests, Alex Gibney's Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God is a sobering reminder of the personal impacts of child sex abuse within an interminably sacrosanct organisation. Gibney has a way with scandal, having previously explored the USA's policy on torture in Taxi to the Dark Side and big business cover-ups in Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. His assured, forthright documentary style is at its best in Mea Maxima Culpa, following both personal accounts of victims and the much larger problem at work. Much of the film's focus rests on a group of vulnerable young boys under the care of Father Lawrence Murphy at a school for the deaf in Milwaukee in the '60s. Deliberately using their disability and disconnectedness from their families, Murphy regularly molested the boys in secrecy. One victim describes Murphy as a "ravenous wolf", often singling out children whose parents could not sign, thus minimising any chance of speaking out. It would take decades before they were able to. Father Murphy, who died in 1998 defended his actions with the sickening reasoning of nobly taking their sins upon himself to disrupt their "rampant homosexuality". Though eventually removed from the school, Murphy was largely protected by the church, which prompts the film to investigate this as not a distressing one-off incident, but as a widespread, hushed-up problem. According to Vatican correspondent Marco Politi, the first documentation dates back 1700 years ago, although the state refuses to make their archives public. Interviews with victims, lawyers, progressive clergymen and journalists mixed with archival footage supports Gibney's thesis of a conspiratorial protection offered by the Vatican — to the perpetrators, rather than the victims. The lucidity and openness of the subjects are only slightly let down by a few unnecessary re-enactments early on in the film. The defiant interviews with the men who have dedicated their adult lives to take their uncomfortable truths not just to their local archdiocese but all the way to the Vatican is what will stay with you. Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God is an incredibly gripping report of a papacy that remains largely above the law. With the recent election of Pope Francis, it couldn't have come at a better time. https://youtube.com/watch?v=lLZDLp7lx28
Summer has returned to Chippendale's Old Clare Hotel. The luxury inner-city lodgings, which opened for business back in 2015, has a stylish interior and a lineup of food offerings so good they border on offensive. With A1 Canteen, Automata and Barzaari already in the building, we didn't really need another reason to want to pay it a visit. But then who are we to say no to a high altitude pool and bar? The Old Clare Rooftop Pool and Bar, located on the fourth floor of the boutique hotel, has just reopened to the public for the warmer months. Visitors can once again enjoy killer views of the city while lounging around on deckchairs in the sun, sipping refreshing cocktails and eating snacks prepared by Barzaari downstairs. Expect summer cocktails a plenty with the Pain-Killer ($21) — tequila, pineapple and maraschino, served in either a glass or an actual coconut — watermelon spritz ($19) and an extra-boozy rosé cocktail dubbed Rosey All Day ($18). All the classics will be available, too, as well as beers, spirits and G&Ts. Eastern Mediterranean-inspired snacks start with Sydney Rock oysters covered in colourful roe and harissa-spiked chicken wings served with pickled chilli, then move on to prawns with falafel and two pizza-style pita breads topped with the likes of chermoula, toum (a garlicky yoghurt), pickles and lountza (smoked pork). If you're famished, order the next-level bagel — filled with smoked brisket, pickles, iceberg and labneh — and a slice of sticky baklava served with a scoop of salted caramel ice cream. [caption id="attachment_706205" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nikki To[/caption] The Old Clare will also use the rooftop space for group fitness sessions, which will be open to both hotel guests and the general public. The program has not yet been announced, but last time it included yoga, cardio boxing, circuit and personal training. We'll let you know as soon as it drops. The bad news for those wanting to take a sky-high dip is that you can only swim in the pool if you're a hotel guest. But maybe that means it's time to plan a staycation (or a night away for V-Day). The Old Clare Hotel can be found at 1 Kensington Street, Chippendale. The poolside bar is open from 3–9.30pm Wednesday and Thursday, and from midday–9.30pm Friday through Sunday. Images: Nikki To.
Whiplash is a film about a drummer, and it might just be the scariest thing you see all year. It's not Annabelle scary, as in paranormal pant-soiling scary, nor is it Silence of the Lambs scary, aka psychological pant-peeing. It's more disturbing, a sort of 'do whatever it takes', Talented Mr Ripley kind of film, chronicling the terrifying lengths people will go to in pursuit of a goal. It's a 'jazz thriller', really, and it's an exceptional, engrossing movie. Narrow in its focus, Whiplash concerns an ambitious young drummer named Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller), a first-year student at a prestigious New York music academy. When the school's premier conductor, Terence Fletcher (JK Simmons), invites him to join the marquee jazz ensemble, Neyman quickly finds himself embroiled in a gripping, exhausting, unsettling and even violent clash of egos driven by Fletcher's unyielding pursuit of excellence and Neyman's own determination to be the next musical great. Chairs are thrown, punches are thrown, and in any given practice session the trinity of 'blood, sweat and tears' becomes almost mandatory. The one small mercy for panic-stricken viewers who found The Exorcist to be an exercise in endurance rather than enjoyment was that the terror occurred predominantly within the confines of the bedroom. You knew when to be afraid, and in Whiplash that room is Fletcher's rehearsal space. What ought to be the epitome of cool is instead the Roman colosseum, with Fletcher its sitting Emperor. One of the bad ones. More Caligula than Caesar. He rules through fear and exploits his students' aspirations as a means of ensuring his own reputation remains one of excellence and achievement. A few minor roles notwithstanding (Paul Reiser has a nice turn as Neyman's softly spoken father), this is a movie focussed on the performances by Teller and Simmons, and they're both first rate. Teller spent hours on the kit every single day rehearsing for the role, and his percussive skills are as impressive as his acting ones. Both arrogance and insecurity bubble just beneath his character's surface, and his descent into physical and mental ruin is painfully believable. Opposite him, Simmons is a powerhouse of brute force and bravura; a fedora-wearing, baton-wielding drill-sergeant right out of Full Metal Jacket. He bullies, he abuses and he hurls bigoted slanders so often it's almost as though that's how he breathes. The explanation he offers is as unapologetic as it is simple: greatness only comes from being pushed beyond the comfort zone and penetrating the unknown. For a jazz movie there's surprisingly little of it, and while the final performance is nothing short of extraordinary, the lack of jam sessions and gigs feels at odds with Neyman's professed love of the art and his dogged pursuit of pre-eminence. The film's conclusion, too, is troubling, for while it delights on the musical front, conceptually it appears to reinforce what is plainly a flawed and dangerous approach to nurturing talent. Still, this a showcase of two outstanding performances and a clear standout in what has otherwise been a largely mediocre run of films in 2014. Must see. https://youtube.com/watch?v=8J6JH-R-TN0
Because we don't have enough incredible, intricately-made drinks on-hand at all times, New York cocktail bar Attaboy is taking a trip out to Australia to make a few concoctions for us. How thoughtful. Following in the footsteps of fellow NYC bar Please Don't Tell, which held a Melbourne pop-up last year, Attaboy will be doing two one-night-only residencies in our two biggest cities: at The Everleigh's Elk Room in Melbourne, and Dead Ringer in Sydney. It's a sort of homecoming for bartender Sam Ross, who was a part of the Melbourne bar scene before he moved off to New York. He'll be mixing drinks with fellow bartenders Michael McIlroy and Otis Florence tonight (Wednesday, February 10) in Melbourne, and Monday, February 15 in Sydney. There are no bookings, but they'll be starting their rockstar shifts at 9pm — so get there early to secure a prime posi. Attaboy, which has been a Lower East Side favourite since it opened in 2013, operates with no menu; the pro bartenders will make something that aligns with your taste or favourite spirit. So, head in with tasting notes — or an open mind. Attaboy will pop up at The Everleigh's Elk Room from 9pm on Wednesday, February 10, and Dead Ringer on Monday, February 15 from 9pm. For more info, visit Attaboy's Instagram.
Spending more time at home is much easier to stomach with a hefty range of desserts on hand, or at least that seems to be Gelato Messina's long-running pandemic motto. The gelato chain keeps spoiling our tastebuds with specials, with everything from decadent cookie pies to 40 of its best flavours and full tubs of its indulgent limited-edition desserts on offer over the past year or so. It has also whipped up its own take on that vanilla and chocolate-layered ice cream cake everyone considered the height of extravagance as a child, too — and now it's bringing that tasty take on Viennetta back for another round. If you've been indulging your sweet tooth as a coping mechanism lately — frozen desserts were subject to strict item limits last March, so plenty of folks clearly went big on sugary comfort food — then consider yourself primed for this super-fancy version of the nostalgic favourite. It's another of Messina's limited releases, with tubs of the rippled gelato creation available at all its stores for a very short period. There's a twist this time, however, with this Messinetta (as Messina calls its Viennetta) also inspired by its take on Golden Gaytimes. If you've tried a scoop of the brand's popular Have a Gay Old Time flavour, then imagine that, but turned into Viennetta. This limited-time-only dessert combines layers of caramel and milk gelato, then covers it with chocolate-covered biscuit crumbs, and finally tops it all with ripples of vanilla and caramel chantilly cream. And yes, the end result looks like the dessert you know and love, but in a caramel colour for a change. The latest release in Messina's new 'Hot Tub' series, the Have a Gay Old Time Messinetta can only be ordered online at 9am on Monday, August 2, with a one-litre tub setting you back $35. You can then go into your chosen Messina store to pick up your tub between Friday, August 6–Sunday, August 8. If you're in Sydney, just remember that you'll now need to be headed to a store within ten kilometres of your house. Gelato Messina's Have a Gay Old Time Messinetta tubs will be available to order at 9am on Monday, August 2, for pick up between Friday, August 6–Sunday, August 8 from all stores except The Star — keep an eye on the Messina website for further details.
In a Venn diagram of people who love musical theatre and awe-inspiring acrobatics, the ideal audience for Pippin sits in the centre. The Tony Award-winning revival of the 1972 musical first burst onto Broadway in 2013 and amassed critical attention for its extraordinary stunts — from jumping through hoops to balancing on medicine balls and dangling from death defying heights. Its new look won the production four Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival. [caption id="attachment_784142" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Terry Shapiro[/caption] The musical tells the story of Pippin, a medieval prince searching for his place in the world. The play within a play is told by a travelling troupe of actors and acrobats who often address the audience directly. And, in addition to the edge-of-your-seat action, it's also packed with memorable tunes like 'Corner of the Sky', 'No Time at All' and 'Magic to Do', all composed by Oscar- and Grammy Award-winning composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked and Godspell). This summer, Australian audiences can experience the entertaining Australian production for themselves when Pippin comes to Sydney Lyric at The Star. As we live in uncertain times, there are flexible ticket options available, which might suit those planning to travel to Sydney especially for the show. Sydney Lyric at The Star also has a COVID-19 safety plan in place, in accordance with NSW Health. Pippin is showing exclusively in Sydney from November 24 to January 31. Tickets start at $69.90. Top image: Joan Marcus
As part of the Art Gallery of NSW's multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion, the main entrance directly outside the gallery's historic building is set for a makeover which will include new greenery, architectural pools and additional gathering spaces. Dubbed the Sydney Modern Project, the AGNSW renovation is set to be completed in 2022 and will see the cultural institution double its current exhibition space, incorporating an entirely new 7830-square-metre building and a gallery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. The current forecourt is mainly occupied by parking spots, located metres away from The Domain. The new plan will see this space make way for expanded public gathering spaces including two shallow reflection pools. The pools will be created from polished granite to reflect the front facade of the iconic Sydney building. Designed by landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson and architecture firm GNN, the forecourt aims to revitalise the AGNSW's main entrance as a welcoming space for the public and connect it to the Sydney Modern Project's new gallery and outdoor art campus. "Kathryn Gustafson's design for our new civic forecourt will provide visitors to the Art Gallery more space to gather and better connects our magnificent site on Gadigal Country to The Domain, the Royal Botanic Garden and the city," AGNSW director Michael Brand said. [caption id="attachment_698852" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sydney Modern Project 2018 render[/caption] Funded by a $344 million public and private collaboration comprised of $244 million from the NSW Government and $100 million raised by private donations, the Sydney Modern Project has been in the works since 2017 and was officially given the go-ahead by the government in 2018. It remains on track to be completed next year, despite any delays the COVID-19 pandemic may have caused. The gallery has managed to stay open during construction, however is currently closed due to Greater Sydney's current lockdown. If you're craving a trip around the Art Gallery of NSW, the home of the Archibald Prize is looking to help as much as possible with virtual tours of this year's Archie available for free online. Construction on AGNSW's Sydney Modern Project is slated for completion in 2022.
Ever spent the day holed up in your 9-5 cubicle musing on the lack of creativity in your life? Wondering where you could go to just make and do? Feel like you don't really have an artistic bone in your body but would love to just give it a go? Well, have we got the safe family environment for you. Hyde Park. Sunday. September 18. 12pm. It is here that the very first World Fingerpainting Day will be held. And if the social media kids behind RepoSocial have their way it will be a global event with guerilla finger painters around the world taking to their civic parks and getting their hands dirty with all and sundry. As the press release states, 'the goal is to get the forty year old banker painting next to the four year old girl.' Sound dodgy? Yeah, parks already have that rep. Either way, it's this writer's cyncial and jaded view that probably needs a touch up from that great God Creativity and his spawn, Free and Open Thought and Inner Child. Australia is an incredibly over-regulated country and as such I think it is probably a good thing to take advantage of events such as these which don't necessitate OHS heavy handedness or rigid rights and wrongs. Be flexible. It is actually much easier to be cynical than not (as much a speech to myself as to you). So get your fingers warmed up, don your oldest t-shirt and get ready to get messy. With the kids. With the bankers. With the shop keepers. With your locals. It is your city, Sydneyites, get boundless.
Suffocating repression and blind religious fervour underscore an atmosphere of stomach-clenching dread, in the much-hyped arthouse horror flick that took last year's Sundance Film Festival by storm. The disquieting debut of writer-director Robert Eggers, The Witch unfolds on the very edge of civilisation, where puritanical devotion inevitably gives rise to the very evil it so desperately fears. The Witch isn't a horror film in the way that modern viewers may expect, with Eggers mostly steering clear of graphic violence and sudden scares. Yet while the film's gnawing brand of terror may not be particularly immediate, its lingering effects are also far less easily dispelled. The film takes place in New England in the early days of pilgrim settlement, and concerns the unfortunate affairs of a family of colonists who find themselves exiled from their community for an unspecified religious offence. Travelling into the wilderness, they establish a farm on the edge of an ominous forest, only for further misfortune to befall them when newborn baby Samuel mysteriously disappears. As winter creeps closer and hope stretches thin, suspicion is cast upon eldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), who the rest of the family fear may have made a sex pact with the devil. On a production level, The Witch is immaculate. Close attention to period detail – from the threadbare costumes and setting to the carefully researched era-specific dialogue – lends the narrative an authenticity that in turn makes its supernatural elements feel uncomfortably real. A muted colour palette, dominated by greys, off-whites and faded greens, seems to drive home just how grim the family's situation has become, while leaving little doubt in our minds that evil lurks just around the corner. Combine that with a nerve-jangling orchestral score, and it's clear Eggers wishes to unsettle you from the moment the film begins, and leave you feeling that way for many hours after the house lights come up. He's aided in that eerie ambition by the fine work of his cast. As the family patriarch William, Ralph Ineson embodies the world-weariness and internal conflict of a man who believes it's his duty to provide for his family, but whose pride prevents him from seeing that he is leading them to ruin. As his wife Katherine, Kate Dickie captures the calcified intensity of a woman from whom all pity has been driven. So hard has been her life that even her religious conviction is rooted in bitterness. But it is to 19-year-old Taylor-Joy that all eyes will be drawn, her pale, striking features and compelling performance speaking to the true source of the film's terrifying power. For while Eggers makes it clear that there is indeed a witch lurking in the shadows of the woods, her supernatural powers are far less frightening than the threats – both real and imagined – that lie within the four walls of the farmhouse. The true terror of The Witch is that our family might turn against us, for reasons that are entirely beyond our control. The mere fact that Thomasin is a young woman is enough to make her the subject of suspicion, as Eggers explores in no uncertain terms society's ongoing fear of female sexuality. Tellingly, the film's mesmerising final few moments depict exactly what such a society fears most: a woman unchecked by repression, with full control of her body, finally embracing her dark, seductive powers to the ruin of the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQXmlf3Sefg
When trouble strikes, tragedy gets a catchphrase: "life goes on." You might hear it from well-meaning acquaintances, or even loved ones. As accurate as those words may be, however, the reality is far less simple. In the case of Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) in Manchester by the Sea, pain and heartbreak become like a second skin, numbing him to the outside world. As he goes about his job as a Boston janitor he encounters complaints, advice and even awkward romantic advances, and yet he can barely bring himself to react. "You're rude, you're unfriendly, you don't say good morning," his boss tells him after a complaint is lodged. Lee remains unfazed. Manchester by the Sea tackles heavy subject matter as Lee is forced to return to his hometown and take custody of his teenage nephew (Lucas Hedges) after the death of the boy's father (Kyle Chandler). From this relatively simple dramatic premise, writer-director Kenneth Lonergan (Margaret) masterfully pieces together fragments of past trauma, present malaise and future uncertainty, delivering a complex portrait of a haunting but rarely acknowledged reality. Whether we've charted the same journey as Lee or endured ordeals of our own, most of us are broken in our own way. Surviving that pain, rather than fixing it, is perhaps all we can really ever hope to manage. Lonergan stresses this idea in a number of different ways. Stellar performances from Hedges and Michelle Williams (as Lee's ex-wife) seethe with inner turmoil. The snowy Massachusetts setting, meanwhile, provides further obstacles. And then there's the filmmaker's approach to filling in Lee's backstory, via flashbacks that slip into the main storyline so seamlessly that it takes a moment to realise that the timeline has changed. Of course, that's how everyday pain manifests itself. It coats life with an extra layer, even when things otherwise appear fine. It intrudes seemingly at random, even when you're not expecting bad memories and heartache to rear their ugly head. In an Oscar-nominated performance, Affleck broods, frowns and furrows his brow. Don't think he's just serving up his own version of Sad Affleck though. Here, despair runs much deeper than a bad interview about a superhero flick. Conveying the deep-seeded misery that can only come from years of suffering and regret, Affleck plays Lee with naturalistic agony of the festering variety, while also providing a glimpse at something more. An exploration of grief and loss, Manchester by the Sea is undeniably bleak. But don't be surprised by the movie's sense of humour, either. Laughter is a necessary cathartic device even in the darkest of situations, and here it makes the drama feel that much more real. Combined with the movie's commitment to laying bare inescapable inner struggles, and Lonergan's latest proves both devastatingly relatable and sincerely affecting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsVoD0pTge0
Another Mardi Gras institution Fair Day is the educative, daytime, community-focused, counterpart to the seductive glitz and glamour of The Parade. Come on down and join more than 80,000 people who converge on leafy Victoria Park for a giant LGBTIQ love-in. There’s always amazing food on offer, a multitude of wares from local community vendors for your perusal, and countless opportunities to engage with Sydney’s vibrant queer community. Whether you’re out-and-proud, questioning, or just an ally, there’s something for everyone with educative stalls, stellar entertainment on the mainstage, everyone's favourite Doggywood pet pageant and even an all-day dance tent. Think of Fair Day as a giant picnic in the park to celebrate all things queer. Now doesn’t that sound nice? Image: Ann-Marie Calilhanna.
A music and art festival with an absolutely stacked lineup is taking over an abandoned Chinatown cinema. Pleasures Playhouse has been pulled together by influential Sydney party-starter Kat Dopper of Heaps Gay and Summer Camp. Dopper has curated a vibrant, varied and inclusive program of gigs, parties, film screenings and yum cha that will reactivate the Harbour City Cinema. Originally a space for Chinese films to be shown, the longstanding cinema will be given a new life throughout the festival after laying empty for the last 15 years. After closing in October 2022, there was a huge wave of support to make it a permanent fixture in Haymarket. While the venue hasn't been able to confirm it'll be sticking around long term, it has announced another six weeks of parties running until the end of the year. "This is one of the most exciting projects, I've been able to work on, literally a dream. Collaborating with all my favs to take over an unused space in Sydney to bring together some of the best of our arts scene to create a new cultural destination that promotes artistic excellence," said Dopper. The second run of programming will kick off on Wednesday, November 23 with Hannah Reilly and Jonny Hawkins' night of speeches I'd Like to Say a Few Words which will feature appearances from the likes of Froomes, Jane Caro and Nina Oyama. Adding to the excitement, the multi-disciplinary space has also announced that it will be open until 3am for this run of shows, meaning late-night dance parties are sure to feature heavily in the programming. [caption id="attachment_867881" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anna Hay[/caption] Top image: Anna Hay. Updated Monday, November 21.
If you're a fan of chicken wings, then you might already have July 29 marked in your calendar. It's your annual excuse to tuck into plenty of chook, because that's what National Chicken Wing Day is all about. At Rockpool Dining Group's various German-themed venues — aka Munich Brauhaus, The Bavarian and Beerhaus — you won't just find a whole heap of chicken, however. Wings will also be on special all day for just ten cents each. You can nab up to 20 at a time for just $2, although you will also need to buy a full-priced drink. If you fancy more than 20, that's fine — you'll just need to get more drinks, which we're sure no one will be complaining about. All wings come with buffalo sauce, but if you're keen on ramping up the heat, you can also take part in the Hot Wing Ghost Chilli Eating Challenge at Munich Brauhaus and The Bavarian. Those wings will be smothered in cayenne, habanero and ghost pepper, and if you can eat more than anyone else in a minute, you'll receive a $100 voucher. Ten-cent wings are available at all Sydney outposts of Munich Brauhaus, Beerhaus and the Bavarian.
Whether you're looking to catch up with the Oscar nominees, or just can't say no to the idea of cheap movie tickets, you might want to pay a visit to Palace Central over the Australia Day long weekend. That's because the 14-screen complex at Chippendale's Central Park centre will be offering $10 tickets to all its regular sessions for three days, from Saturday, January 26 to Monday, January 28. And all the big flicks are screening — from The Favourite, which picked up ten nominations, to A Star Is Born (eight), Bohemian Rhapsody (five) and Green Book (five). If you're really dedicated, you could almost ticket off all the nominees for Best Motion Picture in one weekend. The inner-city cinema will also be serving up limited-edition lamington choc tops (because, Australia) and extra-large glasses of wine to celebrate the additional day off work.
UPDATE, August 3, 2020: Mary Poppins Returns is available to stream via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube and iTunes. Floating in on the wind with her umbrella in hand, Mary Poppins is back — in a most delightful way. More than half a century since the magical nanny made the leap from page to screen, this lively, loving sequel explores a notion that's already fuelled seven books. Directed by Rob Marshall (Into the Woods) and scripted by David Magee (Life of Pi), Mary Poppins Returns asks: what if the seemingly prim-and-proper governess worked her wonders on the Banks children once more? The answer both does and doesn't play out as expected. Imaginative songs, animated flights of fantasy and a friendly labourer all feature, as does the Banks house on Cherry Tree Lane. Kids learning life lessons and to embrace their creativity are part and parcel of the film as well, and so is the warmest of moods. But, letting time pass in the story as it has in real life, Mary Poppins Returns introduces adult versions of the tykes that Poppins once cared for. They need her help yet again, and so does the next generation snapping at their heels. Struggling to make ends meet during the Great Depression, widower Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw) is about to lose the family home. He's behind in the mortgage and, despite working for the bank as his late father did before him, the financial institution's president (Colin Firth) won't offer an extension. Michael's only option is to find proof that he own shares, with his sister Jane (Emily Mortimer) and his children Anabel (Pixie Davies), John (Nathanael Saleh) and Georgie (Joel Dawson) all doing their part in the search. Enter Poppins (Emily Blunt), as radiant and no-nonsense as ever – except when she's the source of the nonsense. If that idea seems like a conundrum, the nanny explains the predicament herself in one of the movie's catchy musical numbers. Reviving not only a long-beloved character, but one engrained in the youth of multiple generations, is far from an easy task. Thank the heavens that Poppins descends from for Blunt. Fresh from putting in a powerhouse performance in the virtually dialogue-free horror flick A Quiet Place, she charms and captivates stepping into Julie Andrews' shoes. Always entrancing, it's the kind of singing and dancing showcase that audiences mightn't have realised that the English actor could deliver. Whether she's schooling and being silly with the Banks poppets, or leading them into adventures with kindly lamplighter Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda) by her side, Blunt fits the part perfectly. More than that — she practically perfects the film's infectious air of fun in every way. While a spoonful of sugar isn't needed to make the movie go down a treat, it comes in the form of Marshall's love and care. The filmmaker's output can be hit and miss, with Chicago falling into the first category and Into the Woods the second, but Mary Poppins Returns is a winning effort. There's a juggling act at the picture's core, as the movie endeavours to pay homage to its popular predecessor without becoming a mere rehash. In a playful and well-judged manner, Marshall finds the necessary balance. His film deploys elements of the original — reflecting, reshaping, inverting, referencing — and yet it flies high as a kite on much more than nostalgia. Among the few elements that don't soar, nothing threatens to send the picture tumbling. The slight story feels like it could be whisked away by a breeze, but it's aided by the frequent diversions into song and dance. Rarely at her best in music-heavy scenarios (as the Mamma Mia! movies have shown), Meryl Streep is forgettable as the magical nanny's cousin, however her part is brief. And even when the film falters momentarily, Mary Poppins Returns has quite the distraction up its sleeves. From the eye-catching costuming to the colourful sets to the gorgeous animation, the movie serves up a visual wonderland. First Paddington, then Winnie the Pooh and now Mary Poppins, British treasures just keep coming back to the screen. But when they're this enjoyable, they're more than welcome. We're sure Poppins herself would approve of that sentiment. Among her many life lessons: realising when to relish what's in front of you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMe7hUb3TpI
It's been more than two decades since Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet changed the game when it came to screen adaptations of Shakespeare — and delivered a stunning soundtrack along with it. There are many things that make the 1996 movie great, from its stellar casting to the filmmaker's inimitable style. But tracks by everyone from The Cardigans to Radiohead to Everclear to Garbage rank right up there with its biggests strengths. It's no wonder, then, that Vivid Sydney is throwing quite the soiree to celebrate one of the best-ever collections of movie tunes. At Young Hearts Run Free, the Enmore will become a rock masquerade, with patrons dressing up, dancing the night away, and listening to live performances of the entire soundtrack. And as for the lineup, it's suitably epic — with Quindon Tarver, the original choir boy from the film, belting out his 'When Doves Cry' cover. He'll be joined by Tom Dickins, Ella Hooper, Jonathan Boulet, Abby Dobson, Hayley Mary, iOTA, Jordan Raskopolous, Billie Rose, Cash Savage, Laura Imbruglia, Andy Golledge, Jake Stone and Bad Bitch Choir.
You might not own your dream pad (yet), but you can certainly start decorating as if you do. And for those with an affinity for contemporary design, Balmain's Stem is the place to start. It's a mixed offering of furniture, homewares, and gifts alongside a selection of mens' and womens' fashion. Each brand has a distinct Scandinavian slant — think Marimekko, Elk, Alex Monroe, and Normann Copenhagen. It's a place to spend a leisurely Sunday afternoon, browsing stacks of handmade ceramics and bespoke garments. The sense of craft and care in each piece is obvious in the quality and will add an unexpected touch to any space — even your sharehouse.
Viennese electronic producer and ambient guitar wunderkind Fennesz is back in Sydney for the first time in over ten years. For those of you who aren’t already connoisseurs of underground electronica, Fennesz — the eponymous nom de guerre of Christian Fennesz — is a pioneer of genre-bending electronic music. Armed with only a guitar and a computer, he creates shimmering, swirling compositions that, while transcendent, remain firmly rooted in a natural sonic world. The inherent naturalism of Fennesz’s work may initially seem at odds with his chosen media, however it's a testament to his preternatural talent that this marriage of the natural and the electronic is at once organic and utterly engrossing. As the Rochester City Newspaper put it: “imagine the electric guitar severed from cliché and all of its physical limitations, shaping a bold new musical language". Fennesz is playing in Sydney for one night only at Carriageworks, and will be joined onstage by his ongoing collaborator, visualist Lillevan. American electronic music icon Keith Fullerton Whitman, whose epic soundscapes are similarly inventive and experimental, will precede the duo with a synthesizer set. This sumptuous audiovisual feast is not to be missed. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-F5Bt4A-Aw[/embed] Image: Maria Ziegelboeck
If your end-of-month plans included a trip to the Gold Coast to see Travis Scott, Logic, Chvrches and Carly Rae Jepsen, then we have bad news: Sandtunes, the new festival with all three leading the lineup, has been cancelled. The event has endured a tumultuous run since it was first announced in July, when it was billed as a two-day seaside music fest at Coolangatta Beach. In September, "after listening to responses from the local community", organisers moved the festival to the definitely not-by-the-shore Metricon Stadium. But it seems that patrons weren't impressed with the change of venue, even when ticket prices were slashed to help reignite interest. As the event notes, "without sand between our punters' toes, the very notion of the beachside festival in a stadium meant low sales". As a result, the debut fest won't be going ahead — on its scheduled dates of Saturday, November 30 and Sunday, December 1, or at all. https://www.facebook.com/SandTunesFestival/photos/a.352133325459956/410100329663255/?type=3&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARApmpGdy5jXx8Xi-9m6RCcZxSnRhY1fQxz9d-ZUZpM7EGPBFrtO1wf-gOYL8tJ0qZ-nxEwmhqno3z-rlZM-1sSPnoKyC5l7CHaq6J3pSmrLQJIrBQeGrziAYhbHJ5qYUVDLaE9HMU8sR6BvffsvLOyKj-cqCrTvjyqnZ0tgaCJJGEe_A9cL_17b23XlTQ3vUg5ZYjn2tqg7MInBAQmSmgVc84QzoHWNgXd7QloG2ER7vWs4JS7GH35iCwI9kS34Fj6jcSGwONORmWpmiUJbF3zmmzzTifplLQWUUoq4rAk-chmpA1emaWuC3FsBe-MsT0GUvOHyEE1oq0wZH3r3dGU&__tn__=-R That also means that the fest's plans not just to run this year, but to become an annual part of southeast Queensland's event calendar, have fallen by the wayside. "This whole concept started with bringing a great music festival to the beach which we see happening the world over in major locations like Spain (Barcelona Beach Festival) and Alabama (Hangout Music Festival). I'm disappointed because I believed this could have grown year-on-year into something really big but unfortunately, we weren't even able to get it off the ground here," said Paul Dainty, president and CEO of promoters TEG Dainty. While it's hardly surprising that the change of location away from the beach dampened music fans' enthusiasm, Sandtunes' timing in general wasn't fantastic, with the fest's dates overlapping with part of Schoolies. The rest of event's lineup was also slated to feature Juice WRLD, Dean Lewis, Sampa the Great, Tkay Maidza, Cub Sport, Kait, Kwame, WAAX, Kian, Alice Ivy, Genesis Owusu and Saint Lane. For folks keen to see Scott, it's especially unwelcome news — Sandtunes would've been the Texas-born rapper's only Australian performance this year. It seems that Carly Rae Jepsen's Aussie tour will still go head, just not in Queensland, with tickets for her Sydney and Melbourne shows still on sale at the time of writing. As for Logic, Sydney and Melbourne ticket sales have "been postponed while we work through some tour logistics", although co-presenter Triple J reports that his visit won't be going head. Sandtunes ticketholders who purchased by credit or debit card will receive refunds automatically within ten working days, while those who purchased in an agency will be contacted by phone with a fortnight to make refund arrangements. For more information about Sandtunes' cancellation, visit the festival website.
He’s esoteric, abstract, kind of funny. Austrian artist Erwin Wurm is probably one of the world’s only improvisational sculptors. While other artists work in the medium of plastics or marble, Wurm works the medium of everything. His habit of quick modelling wicked sculpture from everyday objects to hand made his one minute sculptures hits in the 90s. More recently, he narrowed his family home to the Narrow House at the Austrian pavilion of the 2011 Venice Biennale. This month his work lands in Sydney with Crap Head. The humour at Crap Head is low key. Seriousness is not Wurm’s thing. The art itself is spread across a few key motifs. Wurm links back to his overweight auto, Fat Car by casting bronze sculptures like House I and Jogging trouser from loose items of clothing. Each bulges, overweight and empty. Fat Car itself only appears as a video variation, I Love My Time, I Don’t Like My Time, which brings the car to shaky, CG life spouting slogans from its bumper. A series of untitled sculptures stretch out jackets across looming, vertical boxes. In Untitled (2008), a rosy knit jacket sits over the figure’s square shoulders, a blue knit turtleneck protruding like a disappointed lip. The effect is satisfyingly ridiculous. Shy and pushy, its male feet point inward. It looms, malcontent. Untitled (hamlet) works the one minute sculpture theme, pushing bottles of cleaning products through a woman’s pale dress. She looks disappointed, as thought this is seriously not the first time. The one minute sculptures themselves are represented in a One Minute Sculptures video looping through a variety sculptural improv. Wurm stalks in, composing a series of precarious constructions. He pushes planks at a wall, balances a potato on a toilet brush or sticks stuff up his nose. These are good. Half of the appeal is watching how many of these improbable devices don’t actually fall over. Some do. For the rest, it’s the balance equivalent of Will it Blend? After each attempt Wurm leaves behind a shoe, stands on his head or just paces off screen, readying himself to compose the next. Image: Erwin Wurm, Untitled (2008)
Sydney's omakase options have skyrocketed in the past couple of months, with restaurants boasting impressive and extensive Japanese set menus popping up in The Rocks, The Star's Sokyo and now: Chatswood. Chase Kojima, one of Sydney's most renowned Japanese chefs and the mastermind behind Sokyo's new omakase menu has also just opened Senpai Ramen, a ramen omakase experience on Sydney's north shore. The 20-seat restaurant invites visitors to experience ramen in a new way. Omakase is a Japanese dining tradition that loosely translates to 'leave it to the chef'. Senpai Ramen offers a 90-minute dining experience featuring a seven-course set menu that eases you in with entrees before building towards four signature ramen varieties. "At Senpai Ramen diners will enjoy a fun and unique experience with our tasty seven-course degustation," Kojima says. "We use the best seafood and meats, and combine them with incredible Japanese and Australian flavours for a unique and absolutely exquisite experience." The menu will set you back $65, but you can add additional courses and dishes if you fancy. Kicking things off is a mini Chirashi seafood experience featuring sashimi and Saikyo-style miso-marinated toothfish, while the main event is four varieties of ramen Kojima has crafted. The brothy bowls feature ingredients like 12-hour pork broth, spicy miso butter and rare smoked duck. Located across from Chatswood Mall with Kojima's Saikyo and Butter Chatswood nearby, Senpai is easy to spot with its eye-catching neon lights. The bright blue and purple lights continue inside where diners are immersed in a futuristic sensory experience while they sample sashimi and ramen. With the restaurant currently only open for dinner (lunch is coming soon), spots are filling up fast so it's best to jump online ASAP and book your place. Senpai Ramen is located at G05/88 Archer Street, Chatswood. It's open 5–9pm Tuesday–Sunday.
UPDATE, December 17, 2022: White Noise screens in Australian cinemas from Thursday, December 8, and streams via Netflix from Friday, December 30. We're all dying. We're all shopping. We're all prattling relentlessly about our days and routines, and about big ideas and tiny specifics as well. As we cycle through this list over and over, again and again, rinsing and repeating, we're also all clinging to whatever distracts us from our ever-looming demise, our mortality hovering like a black billowing cloud. In White Noise, all of the above is a constant. For the film's second of three chapters, a dark swarm in the sky is literal, too. Adapted from Don DeLillo's 1985 novel of the same name — a book thought unfilmable for the best part of four decades — by Marriage Story writer/director Noah Baumbach, this bold, playful survey of existential malaise via middle-class suburbia and academia overflows with life, death, consumerism and the cacophony of chaos echoing through our every living moment. Oh, and there's a glorious supermarket dance number as one helluva finale, because why not? "All plots move deathward" protagonist Jack Gladney (Adam Driver, House of Gucci) contends, one of his words of wisdom in the 'Hitler studies' course he's taught for 16 years at College-on-the-Hill. Yes, that early declaration signals the feature's biggest point of fascination — knowing that eternal rest awaits us all, that is — as does White Noise's car crash-filled very first frames. In the latter, Jack's colleague Murray Siskind (Don Cheadle, No Sudden Move) holds court, addressing students about the meaning of and catharsis found in on-screen accidents, plunging into their use of violence and catastrophe as entertainment, and showing clips. In the aforementioned mid-section of the movie, when White Noise turns into a disaster flick thanks to a tanker truck colliding with a train — because its driver was distracted, fittingly — you can bet that Murray's insights and concepts bubble up again. Before there's a tangible calamity blowing in, life is still mayhem, as Baumbach stresses in White Noise's opening third. The professors natter all at once, with Jack and Murray even joining forces for a rapturous session on Hitler and Elvis Presley's commonalities — Baz Luhrmann's Elvis, this isn't — that's one of the film's tour-de-force scenes. Chatter awaits at home, too, where Jack's fourth wife Babette (Greta Gerwig, 20th Century Women) sports important corkscrew hair and mothers a blended brood spanning his kids Heinrich (Sam Nivola, With/In) and Steffie (May Nivola, The Pursuit of Love), her daughter Denise (Raffey Cassidy, Vox Lux), and their shared boy Wilder (debutants Henry and Dean Moore). Recalling Steven Spielberg's fondness for small towns and family dynamics, White Noise is both cosy and intricate in its everyday details (and oh-so-80s). The fact that everyone is always spouting and blasting something, again all at once, speaks volumes; little here, be it good, bad, sudden or expected, can be escaped. Baumbach keeps close to his source material, so much so that DeLillo's voice lingers in the dialogue; however, the director is no stranger to perceptively unpacking intimate bonds himself. Indeed, each one of his features across more than a quarter-century so far — including breakout flick The Squid and the Whale, quarter-life-crisis gem Frances Ha, the similarly arrested development-centric While We're Young, coming-of-age caper Mistress America and the adult sibling-focused The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) — has done just that. Only White Noise boasts "The Airborne Toxic Event", though, which tests its characters and relationships through apocalyptic horror, a frantic evacuation, and detouring ambitiously and hilariously into madcap National Lampoon's Vacation-esque territory. That ominous feathery plume makes the fear of death physical, as scary movies have for a century-plus. And, it makes it unavoidable, no matter how much the film's motley crew would rather divert their attention anywhere else. Also, it briefly turns it comical in a 'what else are you going to do but laugh?' manner. How does humanity, en masse and individually, trick ourselves into forgetting that our time alive is finite, fleeting, fickle and fragile — and that it could fade to black at any second? White Noise is that question in anxious filmic form with a satirical and savage bite. Accordingly, Murray waxes lyrical about grabbing groceries, and also about being someone who either kills or dies, while Jack and the teenage Denise start noticing the usually perky Babette's secret pill-popping. The Gladneys' patriarch and matriarch already proclaim how they couldn't live without each other as bedroom talk, but they're really ruminating on what it'll mean when they simply can't live. Buying and medicating your way away from that train of thought, and ignoring warnings and doctors, are all firmly in the movie's sardonically scathing sights. So is seeing how danger, terror and death inevitably bring people together — and, although set in the 80s, working with a novel penned in the 80s, the striking pandemic-era parallels sting (masks, conspiracy theories and all). In Baumbach's hands, White Noise is anything but unadaptable, but it is jam-packed. The themes, ideas, emotions, neuroses and tones flow as fast as all the talk — itself overflowing with big-thinking yet also screwball dialogue with a zippy rhythm — and then there's the always colour-saturated production design and costuming, the hypnotic choreography of bodies and vehicles, and the dream cast. Both Driver and Gerwig have already shown their sublime talents under Baumbach's guidance before, and both perfect the crucial-but-rare skill of conveying a world of character minutiae via their presence. Driver's size instantly makes him tower over the Gladneys' mania, just not as much as that black cloud, and soar over his college discussions. Gerwig, missed on-screen for six years while directing Lady Bird, Little Women and the upcoming (and Baumbach co-written) Barbie, is the face of soldiering on until you aren't or can't — equally warmly and heartbreakingly so. Impressive turns by Cassidy and Sam Nivola as the eldest two of the precocious children stand out, too, and Jodie Turner-Smith (After Yang), André 3000 (High Life) and Lars Eidinger (Irma Vep) also make an imprint in small appearances. Again, there's a lot to White Noise. Again, that's all by design, stems from the page, happily comes with built-in lurches and veers, and a hefty part of the point. (Life is a lot, death is a lot and confronting is a lot, after all.) As Danny Elfman's (Wednesday) score adapts nimbly to the many changes in mood, and cinematographer Lol Crawley (The Humans) helps make everything a spectacle, bearing life's transience keeps proving wildly careening, spiralling, amusing and entertaining. And when the closing credits roll, fancy footwork breaking out to LCD Soundsystem's 'New Body Rhumba' in an infectiously engaging display, a clear message has beamed in through the static: everything in life, like in supermarkets, has an expiration date, but knowing that fact means enjoying what you have while you have it. Top image: Wilson Webb/NETFLIX © 2022.
A visit to the north coast of NSW would not be complete without experiencing the striking underwater world that exists off the coast of Brunswick Heads. Julian Rocks is widely recognised as one of the region's premier dive sites, with the craggy outcrop providing several moorings that make reaching this location a relatively straightforward affair. There are suitable spots here for divers of all experience levels, meaning just about anyone can explore the surrounding waters frequented by manta rays, leopard sharks, and yes, the occasional great white, too. While this subtropical oasis certainly isn't for the faint-hearted, diving at one of Australia's top scuba locations will give you plenty of stories to tell. Head to Blue Bay Divers to book your trip now. Image: Sebastian Pena Lambarri, Unsplash
Everybody loves a luau, and everybody loves a rooftop party. So, on February 1, the Young Centenary Foundation have put together a genius combo of the two to kickoff the fundraising year. Featuring bright young Sydney-based DJ ROOF, the party in the sky will feature tasty treats from Brasserie Bread and Haverick Meats and delicious drinks from Tsingtao, Kopparberg and a slew of other sponsors, and it all goes to a good cause. The Young Centenary Foundation is a youth-focused organisation that raises awareness of and funds for research into diseases like cancer, cardiovascular conditions and others affecting our world. They’ve had massive success with events bringing in the coolest cats in town in their droves, like last year’s Low Rollers Party. Tickets will include food and booze, as well access to some sweet prizes from places like Yulli’s and Golden Age Cinema, so that should be all the reason you need to get down on a rooftop whilst helping out a charity.
When a film or TV program struggles, flounders or flat-out bombs, it often gets its audience wondering exactly what the folks behind it were thinking. HBO series Betty has the opposite effect. Within minutes of starting the New York-set show's six-episode first season, it's easy to see why filmmaker Crystal Moselle wanted to tell this story — and why she wanted to not only spend her own time with its characters, but also to share their exploits with the world. That feeling proves true even if you don't know Betty's history, because it was true of the show's predecessor as well. In 2018 film Skate Kitchen, Moselle followed five friends who spent their days ollying, kick-flipping, shredding, grinding and nose-sliding around NYC. The entire quintet was female, and the fact that they all loved to skateboard — a male-dominated pastime not just historically, but also still now — coloured their lives' many ups and downs. And, while Skate Kitchen unfurled a fictional story, it took its name from a real-life all-female skateboarding crew, used its members as the movie's stars and crafted its narrative by fictionalising their real-life experiences. Betty brings the group's tale back to the screen, both extending and expanding it at the same time. The central young women remain the same, and the same main talent all return — Skate Kitchen's biggest name, Jaden Smith, is nowhere to be seen though — but the show tinkers with some of the details. Camille (Rachelle Vinberg) is no longer a skateboarding novice, but a girl who feels more comfortable hanging out with the guys, for instance. The dynamic between the always-outspoken, often-stoned Kirt (Nina Moran), no-nonsense vlogger Janay (Ardelia Lovelace), wealthy but weed-dealing Indigo (Ajani Russell) and shy wannabe filmmaker Honeybear (Kabrina Adams) has also been massaged, as have the specifics of each character. You could see Betty as Moselle's attempt to bring a bit of skateboarding into her filmmaking, rather than just depicting it in front of the lens. No matter how often a skater does a manoeuvre, it's always bound to differ slightly from the last time — which is exactly the mindset that helps Betty glide away from Skate Kitchen's shadow. The two share much in common, of course. The director's eagerness to relay her characters' escapades via warm, dreamy visuals hasn't subsided, and nor has the pervasive vibe that manages to make everything within Betty's frames feel both of-the-moment and nostalgic all at once. But, with no criticism meant towards the excellent Skate Kitchen, it now plays like the teaser for Betty, in the same way that the movie itself was preceded by 2016 short film That One Day. Story-wise, each episode of Betty sprawls and scampers as its characters do the same. The plot's main thrust often remains straightforward — Camille leaves her bag at the skate park, and Janay helps her run around town trying to find it, for example — but Moselle and her team of co-writers aren't afraid to see where every element of every story takes them. Accordingly, the show bobs and weaves back and forth between its main players, letting the mood and the moment guide each episode where it needs to. In other words, Betty not only lets its viewers tag along, but styles and structures each episode like it's a hangout session itself. Moselle is no stranger to mining the connections between art and life. It's what drove her first feature-length film, acclaimed 2015 documentary The Wolfpack — which focused on seven home-schooled NY siblings who staged elaborate recreations of their favourite flicks because their parents would rarely let them leave the house. Viewers should watch Betty with that in mind, actually, which the TV show openly invites. This astute and engaging series offers a window into a world that has long seemed like a dream for teenage girls. It lets the audience step inside, skate along, hang out and try it on (or imagine what might've been for those whose all-girl skateboarding crew days feel long behind them). Betty doesn't ever over-stress the point, but it knows it's doing something revolutionary. Its scenes of female-only skate sessions through the city and primary school-aged girls jumping on boards for the first time are joyous, and Camille, Kirt, Janay, Indigo and Honeybear's fight to be seen as skaters first and foremost is ferocious. Indeed, Moselle is acutely aware that she's the only one telling this tale — examining the realities that female skaters face, and also celebrating their efforts and even their existence — and she does so exceptionally well. Check out the trailer for Betty below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCP1zqmdGs0 All six episodes of Betty's first season are available to stream via Binge. Images: Alison Rosa/HBO.
The Sydney satellite of the world's biggest comedy festival, Just for Laughs, based out of Montreal, returns in October to the Opera House. Gear up for pick-and-mix galas, compelling solo shows, and dirtier, more daring club nights calling on some of the coolest names from the international and local circuit. Drew Carey makes his live Australian debut, hosting the All-Star Comedy Gala, while Adam Hills hosts the curated collaboration of his favourite local and international comics, the International Gala. And no-one but Rhys Darby could host the Kiwi Gala. Otherwise known as Murray Hewitt from Flight of the Conchords, Darby will take to the stage to introduce the comic stars from the land "with rivers and gullies and hobbits and toothbrush fences". One of the most anticipated guests in the fest is the always outrageously dressed Noel Fielding, co-creator of The Mighty Boosh, star of Never Mind the Buzzcocks, and sexy deadpan conductor of characters and strange voices. Gracing the Australian stage for the first time in nearly 10 years, he'll be playing host to his own titular gala. It'll be an easy battle between logic and imagination on an acid trip. Joining these all-time faves is Aziz Ansari (Parks and Recreation), Gabriel Iglesias, Bill Burr, Ed Byrne, Dave Gorman, and Sam Simmons. Other highlights of the festival include The Nasty Show hosted by Jeff Ross, where crass and offensive comics fill out a club show set in the SOH Studio. With roasts, verbal assaults, and cringeworthy laughs, it's not a set for the fainthearted. On a lighter note, the Studio also plays home to Amp'd, the "music comedy show" for live music, improv, and skits.
If there’s one thing the movies of Noah Baumbach tell us — including the college exploits of Kicking and Screaming, the teenage unhappiness of The Squid and the Whale and the midlife crisis of Greenberg — it’s this: growing up doesn’t come easily. Sure, we all get older as the days, months and years pass, but that doesn’t mean we feel our age. While We're Young lives and breathes this sentiment, and its characters as well. “For the first time in my life, I've stopped thinking of myself as a child imitating an adult,” says documentarian Josh Srebnick (Ben Stiller) to his producer wife Cornelia (Naomi Watts), to which she replies, "you feel that way too?" It's an easy way of expressing the feature's theme in dialogue — a little too easy, in fact — but it rings true. They're trapped by expectations they can't fulfil and ambitions they haven’t achieved, and they're not ready for that realisation. Two events start Josh and Cornelia thinking that maybe their mid-forties life isn't what they think it is. First, friends their own age (Maria Dizzia and the Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz) have a baby and tell them constantly that they should do the same. Then they meet wannabe filmmaker Jamie (Adam Driver) and his wife, Darby (Amanda Seyfried), twenty-somethings they can nostalgically see decades-earlier versions of themselves in. Cue a whole heap of generational contrasts, of the young-folks-like-retro-trinkets versus older-people-prefer-technological-gadgets variety. Again, it's simple shorthand for a divide that looks obvious, but the film isn't just trying to show how things are different. Focused on a couple who don't feel in synch with their age group yet soon learn that they don't really fit in with younger friends and trends either, While We're Young is trying to understand why. That's a big challenge for a 97-minute comedy; however, it is one that the ever-perceptive Baumbach accepts. As he did with the delightful Frances Ha before this, the writer/director homes in on details so specific, they might as well be ripped from many of the audience's lives. And if his last film was his attempt at combining such wry observations with a French New Wave coming-of-age tale, this is him revelling in Woody Allen, comedy-of-manners territory. Though a Bowie song is again in the mix, While We're Young doesn't quite bounce along with the same zest as its predecessor, but it does roll with the punches of a story that morphs into a contemplation of authenticity. Thankfully, the film's bright frames boast that in spades, as it juxtaposes both sides of the age divide but, crucially, never judges. Everyone — Josh, Cornelia, Jamie and Darby alike — just wants to reconcile their dreams with their reality. Performance-wise, the good stuff keeps on coming, gifting Watts her best work in years, letting Stiller show a more chilled version of his Greenberg persona and playing with Driver's natural charm. That said, if there's one thing that doesn't sit right in the whole movie and its musings on getting older, it's one piece of casting. Seriously, who wouldn't want to hang out with Ad-Rock, baby or not, at any age?
Alternative art fest SafARI takes over galleries around Sydney this month and will be laying out live art all through the remaining March weekends. It's a festival celebrating independent artists, as well as an important kind of art space that many of them hold dear: the ARI. Sydney's art ecosystem runs from big galleries to smaller non-profit art institutions, past independent commercial galleries and through underground art spaces. Along its edge live Sydney's Artist Run Initiatives (ARIs) — one financial step below commercial, one legal step above underground. These are the focus of SafARI, the Biennale's unofficial fringe. ARIs are galleries where the artists are in charge of managing the space, not just the art. That can mean less bureaucracy and quicker art-making. "The organisation can be more responsive to cultural trends as they happen, on the ground, so to speak. They're grassroots, rhizomatic" " says SafARI co-curator Christiane Keys-Statham. And people tend get excited about these spaces. Why? "People probably get excited about them because they're awesome." Freelance curator Keys-Statham has taken the helm of the festival for the first time this year, co-curating with Tony Albert studio manager and fellow SafARI first-timer, Liz Nowell. This has become SafARI's new normal: a fresh take at every festival. For Keys-Statham, the artist-led passion at the festival was part of the appeal and Nowell leapt at the chance to get involved with Sydney's arts community "from the bottom up". But both were also drawn to the curatorially "DIY" nature of SafARI. "The entire festival is reimagined each edition." says Keys-Statham. Adds Nowell, "it's not often [that] you get to create something from scratch. Although SafARI has existed for 10 years, every festival is completely different from the last." 2014's revision is splayed across six of Sydney's ARIs, spanning space in Chippendale, Kings Cross, one car park and two railway stations, with March 14's opening night roaming most of the Chippendale contingent. Weekends, SafARI LIVE's performances include work from the likes of Brown Councillors Frances Barrett and Kelly Doley and Underbelly Arts star Beth Dillon. At the galleries, Paul Williams & Chris Dolman probe self-portraits, Gemma Messih & Ally Bisshop explore twilights, Nikki Lam scopes the classic sunbather and Victorian Platform stars ACAB Collective and Emma Hamilton bring their work up north. Artcycle also plans a March 22 bike tour around SafARI LIVE and there'll be a who's who of ARI experts discussing the form and function of awesome art spaces Sunday March 16, at discussion day SafORUM. (Both are free, but bookings essential.) Like so much ARI art treasure, it's fringe stuff. But it's not like it'll necessarily stay that way. Artists at SafARI 2014 could just as easily be Biennale artists of the future. (2014 SafARI performance artists Alexandra Clapham & Penelope Benton already have the curation of last year's Art Month under their belt.) According to Nowell, SafARI is a place to get in at the ground floor of emerging careers: "I liken it to watching a teenage Paul Kelly play to seven people in a smoky suburban pub — SafARI is all about discovering and celebrating the next wave." SafARI exhibitions will be open Wednesday to Sunday, 12-6pm March 14 to April 4. Image: OK YEAH COOL GREAT, Untitled from EVERYDAY (2011)
Whether you're a lifelong NRL fan or just someone chasing sporting highs after the Women's World Cup-sized hole left in your life, this Friday's semi-final promises to be a thrilling watch that'll take the Melbourne-Sydney rivalry to new heights. It's a clincher for the Melbourne Storm and Sydney Roosters, who will either move on to the Preliminary Finals against the Penrith Panthers or be eliminated for the year. After a close 13-12 victory against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, the Roosters will head to the Storm's home turf at AAMI Park for their fifth Finals face-off against the Melbourne team. It'll be a real nail-biter — the Storm previously defeated the Roosters 28-8 in round six, but were bested by the Broncos in a whopping 26-0 last week. You can expect some sparks on the field with former Storm player-turned Roosters' hooker Brandon Smith facing up against his old Storm teammate and close friend Harry Grant. It's also a clash between two of the most highly regarded coaches in the sport, though Roosters' coach Trent Robinson has the 2018 Grand Final and 2019 Prelim victories under his belt. Kickoff is at 7.50pm this Friday, September 15 at AAMI Park. With tickets starting from only $35 for adults and $25 for kids and concession, there's no excuse not to catch the action live. Get your tickets to the unmissable game at the NRL website.
Don't think about it too much. Hold your air guitar with pride and belt out 'Livin' on a Prayer' like you were born in the 80s. This power ballad party is throwing it back to cocktails at noon, boxy pinstripe suits and cans of hairspray longer than your forearm. There'll be epic singalongs to Toto's 'Africa', Journey's 'Don't Stop Belivin'' and Whitney Houston's 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)'. Don't cringe — it'll be fun. The December 21 party takes place at the Metro, where the space will be filled with closeted Aerosmith fans and out-and-proud Queen tragics. Expect emotions to run as high as Houston's top notes — and Bon Jovi's best to be blasted maximum volume. Ultimate Power is a UK/Ireland export and the nostalgic night has been rocking rooms since 2006. They've even wooed Glastonbury's crowds, so you're in for a festival-tested treat.
When Lou Reed's Metal Machine Trio played Vivid LIVE 2010, half the audience walked out within a half hour. For the Velvet Underground fans in the house, a “Night of Deep Noise" didn’t quite cut it, and with clearly no chance of hearing 'Heroin' or 'I'm Waiting for That Man', it simply wasn't worth hanging around for. It was a harsh reminder, for some, that our favourite artists do change with time, even if our playlists don’t — whether it be a change in musical direction, lifestyle or simply faded talent. Which is why, when Vivid LIVE announced The Cure on this year’s bill, I was suspicious. Having seen Robert Smith and co. at a festival in Spain in 2005 play only music from a recent and rather obscure new-direction album, I presumed the worst. It wasn’t that they were bad, it’s just that they weren’t my The Cure, the band that seduced me with 'Closer' and '10:15 Saturday Night', The Cure that I, and the thousands of Spanish fans screaming “Curé! Curé!” had anticipated. Thankfully all fears were obliterated with an announcement that the band will play 'Reflections' — a 180min (yes three hours) programme of music from their first three albums including punk-rock inspired The Imaginary Boys (1979), their second, darker album Seventeen Seconds (1980) and thoroughly gloomy gothic-rock album Faith (1981). Even better, each album will be performed by its original members including Robert Smith, Simon Gallup and Jason Cooper. Which means you'll hear 'Fire in Cairo', 'Boy’s Don’t Cry', 'A Forest' and 'Faith', all within the walls of the brilliant Concert Hall. There's probably no chance of hearing later upbeat mainstream hit 'Friday I’m in Love' but that wouldn't make for pure early Cure torment and gloom would it? Tickets go on sale on May 12th . One worth setting your alarms for!
Accidentally hit 'reply all' in that email your boss really shouldn't have seen? We understand. The good news is that Concrete Playground may just have an opportunity for you to earn some extra office brownie points. CP and the fine-dining chefs turned mobile restauranteurs at Eat Art Truck are giving you the chance to win an exclusive food truck lunch for you and 10 of your workmates. Marrying the joys of scrummy dude food with street art, Eat Art Truck is usually found filling the bellies of city workers and night revellers at some of their regular haunts like Queen's Square, Customs House and Barangaroo. And now, for one lunch only, chefs Stuart McGill (last seen at Tetsuya's) and Brenton Balicki (formerly of Quay) will bring their custom truck directly to you. The truck is restricted to specific trading locations, however if you work in the CBD you could be tucking in to a smoky pulled pork bun with mustard cabbage or BBQ beef bun instead of that soggy sanga. We know, we know - time is money as they say, but that's no biggie for the truckies, as CP's Jessica Keath found out, Stu and Brenton aim for a five minute turn around for each order they whip up, and they'll be by your side by 12 noon. To be in the running to win lunch for you and 10 friends: Subscribe to Concrete Playground (if you haven't already)Make sure you work within 5km of the Sydney CBD and have access to private parking (i.e. company carpark or forecourt) or are nearby one of Sydney's approved food truck locationsEmail your name and office location, plus details of private parking available for the truck, to hello@concreteplayground.com.au Don't work in the city? Forward it to a friend that does and get them to enter for you, or hop on Eat Art Truck's Facebook page and beg them to add your suburb to their lunch beat.
Mardi Gras isn’t just a month-long party it’s also a brilliant opportunity to showcase some of the most exciting queer cultural work from around the world. Alexi Kaye Campbell’s Olivier Award-winning play The Pride centres on the challenges facing homosexual relationships in the late fifties and the 2000s. Flitting from 1958, where Oliver and Phillip must hide their love both from society and themselves, to the present day, where anonymous sex and empty style collide with the human heart, Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s production is a poignant and powerful exploration of our turbulent times, our restrictive society, and our troubled past.
If you've ever wanted to turn your childhood into a movie, Theater Camp is the latest film that understands. It's also happy to laugh. Unlike Minari, Belfast, The Fabelmans, Aftersun and Past Lives, this isn't a drama, with Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Noah Galvin and Nick Lieberman making a sidesplittingly funny mockumentary about a place that's near and dear to them. What happens when four friends reflect upon their formative years, when they all fell in love with putting on a show? Theater Camp is the pitch-perfect answer. Looking backwards can be earnest and nostalgic, as Gordon and company know and embrace. Going for Wet Hot American Summer meets Waiting for Guffman and A Mighty Wind, they're just as aware that it can be utterly hilarious. Watching Theater Camp means stepping into Gordon, Platt, Galvin and Lieberman's reality. None are currently camp counsellors, but the realm that they parody genuinely is personal. The film's core quartet initially came into each other's lives via youth theatre. With Gordon and Platt, the picture even boasts the receipts — aka IRL footage of the pair performing as kids — from a time when they were appearing together in Fiddler on the Roof at age four and in How to Succeed in Business at five. This team was first driven to bring their shared experiences to the screen in an improvised 2020 short also called Theater Camp. Now, they flesh out that bite-sized flick to full length as enthusiastically as any wannabe actor has ever monologued. All four co-write, while Booksmart and The Bear star Gordon directs with fellow first-time feature helmer Lieberman. Gordon, Dear Evan Hansen stage and screen lead Platt, plus Galvin — who similarly portrayed that Broadway hit's title role — act as well, playing three of the adults at AdirondACTS. Gordon and Platt cast themselves as Rebecca-Diane and Amos, Theater Camp's co-dependent life-long best friends forever. The film's central vacation spot was the joined-at-the-hip characters' ultimate escape, and still is. That said, their move into teaching at the same venue is a clear sign that their aspirations as performers haven't come to fruition. Every year now, Rebecca-Diane and Amos guide teen campers through all things theatre — and towards putting on the season's big show, an original that the duo also write and direct. But Theater Camp's summer in focus isn't any old summer. Before the thespians of tomorrow arrive, while the financially struggling AdirondACTS is in fundraising mode, founder Joan (Amy Sedaris, Somebody I Used to Know) falls into a coma due to "the first Bye Bye Birdie–related injury in the history of Passaic County". While she's incapacitated, that leaves her finfluencer son Troy (Jimmy Tatro, a YouTuber and now The Afterparty and Strays talent) in charge. Also in upstate New York while the sun shines, the histrionics ramp up and everything becomes a performance: the camp's put-upon backstage go-to Glenn (Galvin, The Good Doctor), who is largely ignored and underappreciated by his peers; costume guru Gigi (Owen Thiele, Hacks) and dance instructor Clive (Nathan Lee Graham, Katy Keene), who couldn't be more passionate about their respective disciplines; and staff newcomer Janet (Ayo Edebiri, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem), who knows less than the students. Representing a neighbouring private-school camp that's been flashing its cash for years trying to buy AdirondACTS' land from Joan, lawyer Caroline (Patti Harrison, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law) struts around in an effort to convince Troy to sell. And there are kids, of course, of varying skills and with an array of theatre-related hopes (Minari's Alan Kim, Young Rock's Bailee Bonick, Chapelwaite's Donovan Colan and The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers' Luke Islam are among them). Gordon, Platt, Galvin and Lieberman focus their script on the production of Joan, Still, Rebecca-Diane and Amos' centrepiece musical for the year and a tribute to their absent mentor — and, as finances keep proving an issue, Troy's cluelessness constantly has an impact and Caroline is adamant about snapping up the facility, on saving the entire site. Chaos ensues, which is predictable in the film's broad strokes but, crucially, never in its minutiae. While foreseeing that arguments, tantrums, rivalries, broken dreams, battling egos, budget woes and behind-the-scenes mishaps will all flow is easy, the particulars, and the whys and hows of what's going on, rarely take the expected route. Indeed, because they've been there, lived that and are now eagerly and warmheartedly satirising it, the Theater Camp crew perfects the art of going specific to get universal. Accordingly, if you were once a budding drama geek as well, prepare to be seen and spoofed but also celebrated. Prepare to be showered in lines, references, costumes, sets and moments that couldn't be more authentic, in fact. If you don't know your Damn Yankees from your Hamilton, though, prepare to plunge into a madcap world that's the epitome of youthful fervour and adult malaise swishing together. Theater Camp mightn't dazzle if it didn't feel so bona fide — and if it didn't so gleefully and visibly love playing around in its very own microcosm, just like children discovering their own place to belong at a theatre camp and actors finding themselves in role after role. Gordon, Platt, Galvin and Lieberman couldn't have better riffed on their favourite time as kids and what might've been if they hadn't found success, or enlisted a more-willing cast. In the crowded mockumentary field, they're also spot-on at cannily deploying the genre's tropes. Watching Theater Camp also means wanting to sit down to see Blackmail and Botox, A Hanukkah Divorce and The Briefcase, The Door & the Salad next. No one can, because they're each purely creations of this very amusing flick; what fun the film's key foursome must've had coming up with those titles alone. Theater Camp is a stage-adoring screen gem that's a lively labour of love and a clear work of fun, too: to lampoon treading the boards, summer camps and the exact place where both meet, and to do so this entertainingly, requires knowing the theatre scene and its training grounds intimately. Wanting to catch The Crucible Jr and even an immersive stage version of Cats (that surely couldn't be worse than 2019's cinema take) — yes, that equally springs from laughing heartily through this ode to performing as a dream, a job, a future, an obsession and a way of life.
UPDATE, October 18, 2020: Bombshell is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube and iTunes. Playing two women caught in the climate of sexual harassment that engulfed Fox News under former CEO Roger Ailes, Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie both turn in stellar — and now Oscar-nominated — performances in Bombshell. Aided by noticeable facial prosthetics, Theron steps into the shoes of real-life TV personality Megyn Kelly, serving up a pulsating vein of steeliness in every scene. As a fictional producer who calls herself an "influencer in the Jesus space" and an "evangelical millennial", Robbie's Kayla Pospisil possesses softer edges but still sports plenty of inner grit — especially when she summons up the guts to put her self-respect first, rather than her desire to feature on-camera on the right-wing network. But much like the unease that plagues both women until they decide to speak out, something definitely isn't right in the film that tells their tales. Bombshell is the slick, shiny version of this ripped-from-the-headlines story, which earned global attention when it broke back in 2016. Airbrushed to buffer away blemishes and avoid tricky spots, it's watered down to deliver an easy, glossy, simplified narrative. It doesn't help that 2019's Russell Crowe-starring The Loudest Voice already brought the same minutiae to the small screen — and in far greater detail, as you'd expect in a seven-part mini-series compared to a 109-minute movie. That said, Bombshell really isn't interested in diving as deep as its predecessor. Instead, wants to make a feisty flick about kick-ass women fighting back in a male-dominated realm. Fight back, Kelly did — although not at first. As the film unpacks, fellow anchor Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) leads the charge and initially suffers the consequences, going public about her inappropriate dealings with Ailes (a cartoonish John Lithgow) by suing him personally. Despite the head honcho's protests of innocence to Rupert Murdoch (Malcolm McDowell) and sons Lachlan and James (Ben and Josh Lawson), more women share their stories. Director Jay Roach (Trumbo) and screenwriter Charles Randolph (The Big Short) explore this, as well as Kelly's apprehension to join the chorus and Pospisil's experiences as a young, ambitious woman eager to score her big on-screen break. And yet, by championing these efforts but barely delving into Fox News' status as a conservative propaganda machine, Bombshell proves an empty shell of a #MeToo movie. The treatment that Kelly and Carlson (and the real-life women that Pospisil represents) received at the hands of Ailes — yes, literally — is infuriating and unacceptable, as all accounts of men exerting power over women for their own gratification are. Their ordeal doesn't just hark back to one man, though; it's inescapably intertwined with Fox News and the agenda it serves — notions that are scarcely considered here. Roach and Randolph hint at the network's public standing, illustrating the wider world's reaction to its political leanings via a woman who insults Carlson in a supermarket. The film paints Ailes as feverish about pushing the Republican party's perspective and currying favour with Donald Trump during the lead up to the 2016 election, even when the future president tweets sexist comments about Kelly. And, it lays bare the TV station's misogynistic internal culture, where women are forced to wear short skirts and sit behind clear desks. Still, it all feels like lip service in a movie that merely depicts, rather than dissects. If one was feeling generous, you could assume the film's powers-that-be just expect that everyone already knows Fox News' reputation, and the perspectives it pedals. Being realistic, however, Bombshell seems happy to brush past the network's toxic on-air views — because contemplating them in-depth means adding shades of grey that this visually bright feature is keen to avoid. Ailes is a clearcut villain, and deserves the scorn he's served, of course. But ignoring the fact that Kelly, Carlson and their fellow female Fox News employees all buy into a conservative agenda where behaviour like Ailes' continually festers, and do so because they share the same political views, means that Bombshell ignores the broader context that helped lecherous acts prosper at the network. Yes, it's an immensely complicated situation — but Bombshell rarely treats it as such, or recognises much in the way of texture. While Kate McKinnon is memorable as a Hillary Clinton-supporting lesbian who remains closeted about both preferences at Fox News, that's another case of the movie barely dipping its toes into more complex territory. Perhaps the film's skin-deep approach shouldn't come as a surprise, seeing that Roach also directed all three Austin Powers flicks and the first two Meet the Parents movies. Bombshell certainly tries to keep its tone light and sometimes even farcical, even though it deals with such heavy matters. Alas, what results is the kind of movie you'd expect given this tellingly glib piece of closing voice-over — one where its unambiguously heroic protagonists "got the Murdochs to put the rights of women above profits, however temporarily". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjOdDd4NEeg
