When you're in a crappy situation, you call a plumber. After the news broke that alleged sexual harasser Kevin Spacey would no longer star in All the Money in the World, with his scenes to be reshot with Christopher Plummer, it was one of the internet's better observations. Controversy aside, the end result is astonishing. You'd never guess that 88-year-old Plummer only stepped into his role as real-life oil tycoon J. Paul Getty in November. Nor will you be able to imagine anyone else playing the part, including the excised, prosthetic-clad Spacey with his penchant for over-acting. Trust Ridley Scott, the now-80-year-old director of Alien and Blade Runner, to mastermind such an impressive technical feat. All the Money in the World is his second movie in less than a year, after 2017's Alien: Covenant — and while it mightn't seem like it at first, there's more than a little in common between the two titles, and with Scott's filmography in general. After spending decades contemplating humanity's complicated relationship with mortality — seen not just in his iconic science-fiction work, but also in the likes of Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and The Martian — Scott has jumped from a film that ponders the notion of creation as the only lasting legacy, to one about the downfall of a man who puts his faith in wealth instead. Plummer's Getty is more comfortable collecting objects than nurturing relationships, including with his own son (Andrew Buchan) — "there's a purity in beautiful things that I've never been able to find in people," the world's richest billionaire dismissively croaks. Getty Jr only contacts his father when he's broke and struggling to provide for his wife Gail (Michelle Williams) and four children, though it's his eldest boy, Paul (played by Charlie Shotwell as a 7-year-old), that the old man takes a shine to. Fast-forward nine years to 1973, and the now-16-year-old (Charlie Plummer) is abducted by kidnappers looking to get their hands on a slice of the Getty fortune, but the cantankerous patriarch insists that he doesn't have a cent to spare. That leaves the distraught Gail to work with Getty's security advisor, former CIA operative Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlberg), to secure her son's release. A word of warning: you'll hear the phrase "all the money in the world" more than once throughout the film. It's as if Scott and his screenwriters, adapting the 1995 book Painfully Rich, just couldn't help themselves. It's an unneeded wink in a movie that slides with thrilling ease into the icy waters of wealth, laying bare the darkness and ruthlessness born of excessive greed in the process. Balancing multiple negotiations, including Gail wrestling with both Getty and Chase, the family liaising with the captors, and young Paul trying to stay alive with the help of one of his abductors (Romain Duris), the movie also serves up the type of brawny, absorbing thriller we don't often see on screens these days. Working with his regular cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, Scott uses grey tones to contrast the haves and the have nots, immersing audiences in the detail and emotion of the scenario at every turn. Moreover, even when the film stretches its story a little too far amidst multiple twists and changes of allegiance, audiences will find themselves gripped by the work of Plummer and Williams. The pair play polar opposites in an equally effective manner — one a heartless man motivated by self-interest, the real villain of the piece; the other a desperate mother who'd give up anything, including money, for the people she loves. If only Scott had found someone other than Wahlberg to play the third person in their tussle. The actor might as well be fighting giant robots, given how by-the-numbers his performance is. All the money in the world clearly couldn't help with that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viQBNu9z6RQ
UPDATE, August 26, 2020: Bumblebee is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. According to journalist and author Christopher Booker, there are seven basic story archetypes. According to the writers of the Michael Bay Transformers movies, there are none. Thank goodness, then, for screenwriter Christina Hodson, whose new film Bumblebee manages to be both a Transformers spinoff and a coherent story at the same time. This is, put simply, a franchise reborn. Rebooted. Resurrected. It dispenses with all the bombast of the Bay cacophony machine – the inexplicable explosions, one-dimensional characters and hyper-sexualised teenagers – in favour of a small scale story about a teen girl and her first car. Yes, a girl, and instead of miniature ripped shorts and extreme push-up bras, this one's prone to wearing grubby overalls, Smiths tour t-shirts and a spanner in her back pocket. Even better, her characterisation doesn't feel contrived: her late father was a grease monkey and fixing cars was their special father/daughter thing. Now that he's gone, it's all she has left. Played by Hailee Steinfeld, Charlie is an instantly appealing lead to get behind. She loves her family but feels detached and alone because of her reluctance to move on and accept the new man in her mother's life. She's independent, but not wealthy enough to forge a new life for herself. She's pretty, but not in the 'rich girl' way like the cruel queen bee from across town who torments her at every opportunity. When Charlie eventually finds Bumblebee, an injured alien robot hiding on earth disguised as an old yellow VW beetle, the instant bond they form is as touching as it is (strangely) believable. Together they will help each other find what they're looking for, with their bond far more integral to the story than the intergalatic robot war that provides the film its backdrop. Does that mean Transformers fans will feel shortchanged? Absolutely not. The opposite, in fact, because everything about Bumblebee treats its mechanical stars with the love and respect of someone who grew up watching the cartoons in the 80s (the film itself is set in 1987). The robot design and colour palette is admirably faithful to the source material, the voice work is spot on, and *that* sound effect (aka the transformation garble) is used with gleeful abandon. Even better, the action is entirely comprehensible, even at its most frenetic. Take nothing away from the Bay-era special effects – they were utterly groundbreaking. But there was just so much of it going on at all times that keeping track of who was fighting what became an exercise in nausea. In Bumblebee it's rare to see more than two transformers on screen at any one time, and the agile direction by Travis Knight allows you to enjoy every punch, blast and transformation. In the scenes involving the other human characters, principally John Cena's robot-hunting soldier Agent Burns, the story does tend to lose its momentum, flicking between goofy comedy and comic-book villainy without ever properly nailing either. Thankfully, though, the focus remains squarely on Charlie and 'Bee' for the majority of Bumblebee, and it's a better film for it. A delight in its own right, Bumblebee is also the perfect pivot point for a welcome franchise reset. On that front, the future looks bright. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcwmDAYt22k
Back in the 1920s, a bunch of fishermen built a group of pocket-sized dwellings at Hyams Beach, just 60 metres from the water. Now, they've been transformed into Hyams Beach Seaside Cottages. Painted dusky pink, baby blue and canary yellow, each one has a little porch and ocean views, plus polished wooden floors and an ultra-comfortable, queen-sized bed inside. All seven cottages are designed for couples, and it's strictly no kids. Each one has a kitchenette, allocated car space and complimentary wifi, plus they all benefit from bush and ocean views from their private decks. [caption id="attachment_770531" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hyams Beach by Tourism Australia[/caption]
Since 1885, carousers on the North Shore have been gathering at the Woolwich Pier Hotel to sink a bev or two and catch some glistening harbour views. But, after a huge reno last month, the pub looks a fair bit different. The Pier, as it's known around town, has scored slick new design and a modern new menu inspired by French and Japanese cuisine. If you're a longstanding Pier drinker, you're in for a surprise. While the building has lost none of its heritage elements, the place is now a whole lot fancier. Alexander & Co., the firm responsible for venues like Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel, the East Village and Stanton & Co, has looked after the interiors, giving them a Sydney seaside stamp. Everywhere you go, you'll notice splashes of marble, leather and velvet. What was the unassuming dining room is now a European brasserie called The Eatery, and the bar has been transformed into The Parlour. For those looking to lay their eyes on the water, the wraparound balcony overlooking Cockatoo Island still has plenty of room among its 70 seats. Alternatively, you can follow the spiral staircase up to The Social, an indoor dining room that also boasts harbour panoramas. In keeping with these dramatic changes, head chef Glenn Tabudlo has launched a new menu. Start with small plates, such as tuna tartare with wasabi-ponzu dressing and rice crackers, before moving onto decadent mains, like Yamba prawns with braised kale, pont-neuf potatoes and lobster sauce Americaine, or crispy skin miso salmon with squid ink risotto, salmon roe, sesame mayo, togarashi, edamame and enoki with ponzu. Lovers of the chicken pot pie — don't panic. The much-adored staple is still available, as is a bunch of The Pier's tried-and-tested classics. Even though it has some fancy new furnishings, it is still a local pub, after all. Find the Woolwich Pier Hotel at 2 Gale Street, Woolwich. It's open 11am–11pm Monday to Thursday, 11am till midnight Friday and Saturday, and 11am–10pm Sunday. Images: Jessie Harris.
After playing more than his fair share of stoners, Seth Rogen co-writes and lends his voice to a film that was probably thought up in a pot-toking, munchies-craving state. What if our food was sentient, aware of everything around it, and had feelings, thoughts, hopes and dreams? What if each edible item interacted with others, and their exchanges mimicked humanity's issues with sex, religion, race and class? That's the world Sausage Party brings to the cinema, from its opening sing-a-long to its climatic display of a very different kind of food porn. As far as Rogen and co-writers Evan Goldberg, Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffir are concerned, talking grocery products just want to get laid. Otherwise, they're generally happy conforming to cultural stereotypes and being kept in their place via a placating ideology. Turns out food isn't so different from the people who eat it. In case it's not clear, this film is for adults only, with directors Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan — best known for helming Madagascar 3 and episodes of Thomas & Friends, respectively — operating in much ruder, cruder territory than they're used to. A sausage by the name of Frank (Rogen) serves as the film's protagonist, whose primary goal in life is to consummate his relationship with his hot dog bun girlfriend Brenda (Kristen Wiig). As the Fourth of July approaches, they're both eager to leave the Shopwell's store they call home and move into the utopia of The Great Beyond. But things change after a jar of Honey Mustard (Danny McBride) returns from the supposed paradise outside, screaming that everything they thought they knew is a lie. Working his way around a shop also inhabited by a Jewish bagel (Edward Norton), an Arabic flatbread (David Krumholtz), an affectionate taco (Salma Hayek) and more, Frank sets out to discover the truth — all while an obnoxious, juiced-up douche (Nick Kroll) stalks the aisles. In waxing philosophical about the nature of belief systems, Sausage Party's premise proves surprisingly smart and thoughtful, with its characters forced to face the fact that their ultimate fate involves being eaten by the humans they consider gods. Unfortunately, the anti-Pixar flick also feels decidedly over-stuffed, bogged down by everything from endless food puns and hit-and-miss gags propped up by Scorsese-level swearing, to an over-reliance on bodily functions, drug use and pop-culture references to generate a laugh. Thankfully, a stacked cast of Rogen's male regulars, including Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Paul Rudd and James Franco, helps keep Sausage Party bouncing merrily along. Everyone's clearly having fun spouting their inappropriate dialogue, even if their glee isn't always contagious. In that way, the film quickly becomes the movie equivalent of a tripped-out dinner party, one that boasts plenty of quality ingredients, but can't quite deliver a satisfying meal.
The last time that Black Mirror released new episodes, no one had ever heard the terms COVID-19 and ChatGPT, the world hadn't been through a huge lockdown due to a pandemic, Succession was only one season in and Twitter had a far less chaotic owner. They're just a few ways to answer the show's new question, with Charlie Brooker's dystopian sci-fi hit getting tweeting for the first time since 2019 to start teasing its upcoming sixth season. That social-media query: the very apt "what have we missed?". Obviously there are plenty of ways to respond, which Black Mirror creator quickly Charlie Brooker did. 🤔 — Charlie Brooker (@charltonbrooker) April 25, 2023 Those four words from the official Black Mirror Twitter and that one emoji from Brooker is all that's been pumped out into the ether about the show's return, but it's enough to get excited about given that it breaks the series' four-year silence. Wondering when you might be staring at your own black mirror again to watch Black Mirror? That still hasn't been announced. News about Black Mirror's next go-around isn't new, of course, and has been doing the rounds since 2022. Last year, Variety also named a heap of cast members, including Zazie Beetz (Atlanta), Paapa Essiedu (Men), Josh Hartnett (Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre), Aaron Paul (Westworld), Kate Mara (Call Jane), Danny Ramirez (Stars at Noon), Clara Rugaard (I Am Mother), Auden Thornton (This Is Us) and Anjana Vasan (Killing Eve). Back when the sixth season was confirmed, how many more grim dystopian tales were on their way hadn't been revealed, however, and that's still the case now. That said, it's expected that the new season will run for more than season five's mere three episodes — and apparently each new instalment is being treated as an individual film. Black Mirror fans will know that the series has also released a direct-to-streaming movie, aka the choose-your-own-adventure-style Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, back in 2018 between seasons four and five. How exactly will the series manage to be even more dispiriting than reality over the past few years? That's increasingly been one of its dilemmas — and noting that something IRL feels just like Black Mirror has become one of the cliches of our times — but this'll be the mind-bending effort's first round of episodes following the pandemic. No one has ever watched the Brooker-created series for a pick-me-up, though. Since first hitting the small screen in 2011, Black Mirror has spun warped visions of where technology may lead us — and, no matter what tale the show has told so far across its 22 instalments (including that interactive movie), the picture has usually been unnerving. So, imagine what the program will cook up after what we've all been living through since it last aired. Brooker has already riffed on COVID-19 in two Netflix specials, actually: Death to 2020 and Death to 2021, which offer satirical and star-studded wraps of both years with mixed success. For something completely different, he also jumped back into choose-your-own-adventure content with animated short Cat Burglar, which hit Netflix back in 2022, has viewers play through it as a thieving feline called Rowdy and gets you to answer trivia questions to advance the story. While you're waiting for Black Mirror's sixth season to arrive — and a release date for it — check out a trailer for season three episode San Junipero below: Exactly when Black Mirror season six might hit Netflix is yet to be revealed. We'll update you when further details are announced.
In a land where medieval magicks matter-of-factly smush with select modern technology and Amelia Earhart marks the gap in space-time by voyaging fatefully overhead throughout, a young girl rallies a village to slaughter a beast. They corner it in the forest, tear its young from the womb and feast on its flesh. Unbeknown to them, one orphaned youngster escapes down the canals to mature into bitter, lonely, vengeful adolescence at the bottom of the sea. It believes it's misunderstood and alone, but there may be someone unexpected out there yet who empathises with its plight. In the village, a curse has turned the waters septic, driven the chickens to eat their own eggs and brought misery to all, and all blame Emmeline, the now-outcast girl who slew the monster and turned the tides towards misfortune. There's whimsy, and then there's Nick Coyle. The Pig Island player, Some Film Museums I Have Known hologram and Rommy scribe, so breezily wanders into the bizarre to bring out gems of startling poignancy that he must be a native of that otherworld. This is his smallest of shows — it's just him telling you a story for an hour with fun voices and few props — but it's a great tale and a precious hour. Go on a school night and it'll be the best bedtime story you've had.
Sydney Film Festival might be over, but the Art Gallery of New South Wales isn't putting away its projector. In fact, it's cranking it up every Wednesday, Sunday and on select Saturdays, all to celebrate women in cinema. Called Merrily We Go to Hell, the venue's latest program focused on formidable female filmmakers and their trailblazing work — dating from the 1930s onwards. Running from Wednesday, June 26 through until Sunday, September 1, the cinema series kicks off with the movie that gives the whole program its name: Dorothy Arzner's 1932 box office hit. In the pioneering director's hands, a rom-com becomes an exploration of scandal and adultery (and a then-unknown Cary Grant also pops up). Remarkably, Arzner was the only female director working in 1930s Hollywood. Other highlights include Ida Lupino's 1950s noir The Hitch-Hiker, glorious 1960s Czech New Wave classic Daisies, Elaine May's delightfully funny A New Leaf, Claudia Weill's female friendship-focused Girlfriends and Anna Biller's vivid, lurid The Love Witch. Or, you can catch Lynne Ramsay's Ratcatcher and Morven Callar, the Tilda Swinton-starring Orlando from Sally Potter, Lucrecia Martel's The Headless Woman and Indonesian feminist neo-western Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts.
Do you like Italian food? Then let us introduce you to the happiest place on earth. Your stomach has probably been craving pasta, pizza and gelato since news of Eataly World first started circulating — and those rumbles are only going to get louder now that the world's first Italian food theme park has announced its opening date. Due to open in Bologna, Italy on November 15, and calling itself an agro-food park, the site will take patrons on a trip from the field to the fork. That'll involve with six interactive experiences, more than 40 places to eat, over 100 stalls and shops, and a dedicated parmesan cheese bar. In fact, over nearly 20 acres, Eataly World will feature restaurants, kitchens, grocery stores, classrooms, farms, laboratories and more, showcasing everything from livestock, dairy products and the cereals that become pasta, to preserves, Italian desserts and the best in both boozy and non-alcoholic beverages. As well as boasting free entry — aka making a good thing even better — Eataly World will make daily classes part of its schedule, ensuring visitors don't just wander through this Italian food-focused realm, but can pick up a few new skills as well. To get around the massive area, bikes will also be available. Eating, drinking and cycling in Italy: it sounds like a culinary holiday dream. The park is the latest venture from Oscar Farinetti, the founder of Italian food and grocery chain Eataly, which has locations in New York, Boston and Dubai. And while it has taken some time to come to fruition — it was first announced a few years back, and then set for a 2015 opening that didn't happen — it looks like it has been worth the wait. Speaking to Eater last year, Eataly vice-president and Eataly World CEO Tiziana Primori said the park would mix entertainment with education. "We call it from the farm to the fork because you can see all the steps of the chain, from the animals to the raw materials and workshops and restaurants." The hope is that the park will attract as many as 10 million visitors each year, providing a boost to Bologna tourism in the process. The city already boasts a number of gastronomic attractions, including a medieval marketplace and the world's only gelato university. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou5uPuVBub4 Via Eater. Header image via Dollar Photo Club By Tom Clift and Sarah Ward.
Inspired by Andy Warhol's New York Factory, this two-room paean to live music, art and creativity pulls about 5,000 people a week. Join the hoards of music lovers, book a show for tonight and take note: for best band viewing, it's best to arrive early and bags a spot in the middle of the mezzanine. Once you've had a proper boogie, conquer that appetite you've just worked up with a visit to Mr Crackles, specialists in crispy-skinned, tasty pork that's slow-cooked for ten hours. You can eat it anyway you like: inside a roll, in the form of sticky pork rolls or as a cup of crackling.
Forget the trashy mags conveniently placed just near supermarket checkouts, and forget whatever the real-life royals are up to, too. These days, if you're keen on regal intrigue, then you're hooked on Netflix drama The Crown. And, after two eventful seasons, you're definitely eagerly awaiting the show's third batch of episodes — following the same characters but with an all-new cast. Since 2016, The Crown has peered inside both Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street, unpacking the goings-on behind Britain's houses of power. Set during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, the series has charted her wedding to Prince Philip, her coronation and the birth of her children (aka Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward). As well as delving into the monarch's marital ups and downs, The Crown has also explored the romantic life of her sister, Princess Margaret, plus the major political events throughout the late 40s, entire 50s and early 60s. During all this, viewers have become accustomed to seeing Claire Foy as Elizabeth, Matt Smith as Philip and Vanessa Kirby as Margaret. In the third season, however, they've all been replaced to better reflect the passing of time. Fresh from winning an Oscar for The Favourite earlier this year, Olivia Colman steps into ol' Lizzie's shoes, while Tobias Menzies and Helena Bonham Carter do the same with Philip and Margaret. Also joining the show is Josh O'Connor as Prince Charles, Erin Doherty as Princess Anne and Marion Bailey as the Queen Mother. Given the change of cast, and the fact that The Crown's last episodes hit Netflix at the end of 2017, the show's third season has been eagerly anticipated. While the just-dropped teaser doesn't include much at all in the way of detail, it does offer a 20-second glimpse at Colman as the Queen — and reveal that the series will return this November. A full trailer is bound to follow, giving fans a better look at the show's new stars. And, hopefully, touching upon the third season's storyline, which'll chart the years between 1964–1977, including Harold Wilson's (played by The Man Who Killed Don Quixote and The Children Act's Jason Watkins) two stints as prime minister. If you're waiting for the Margaret Thatcher era, and the arrival of Princess Diana, they're expected to be covered in The Crown's fourth season. For now, check out the third season's first teaser below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXrEnmracYw The Crown's third season will hit Netflix on November 17.
UPDATE: MONDAY, JULY 29 — Brick Lane has advised that all remaining seats for this limited-edition feast have now been booked out. We'll let you know if the restaurant decides to extend its offer. Even if your bank account's looking a little light pre-pay day, it needn't mean resorting to an entire week of Mi Goreng. Not when you've got the legends at Brick Lane offering what might just be the best value dinner deal around. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights in July, you can book a table at the cheery Darlinghurst restaurant and enjoy an eight-course feast for just $29. Better yet, that price includes an hour of bottomless wine and beer. Yowsa. If you've ever wrapped your mouth around some of Brick Lane's mod-Indian fare, you'll know this is exceedingly sweet value (usually it costs $55). The special edition menu will feature a mix of Brick Lane favourites an, including the likes of spiced cabbage momos, naan wraps and slow-cooked beef curry. You can view the whole menu here. The catch? You have to book a table at or before 6pm (and your sitting will be limited to an hour and a half). That might seem too early, but it's cold and dark by then anyway — and the deal is such good value that the early timeslot might just be worth it.
Do we really need another movie about male mid-life malaise? The answer, obviously, is no. Still, don't discount the partially crowd-funded Anomalisa on account of its seemingly familiar storyline. Springing from the mind of Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind writer Charlie Kaufman, who also co-directs with stop-motion specialist Duke Johnson, this animated effort is far from commonplace. Kaufman's latest sad-sack protagonist is author Michael Stone (voiced by David Thewlis). In Cincinnati overnight to speak about his latest book at a customer service convention, he's lonely and restless, not even raising a smile when he calls home to talk to his wife and young son. Instead, he meets up with an ex-girlfriend, an interaction that unsurprisingly ends badly. Everyone he encounters seems the same, until he comes across visiting call centre worker Lisa (voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh). She looks and sounds different to everyone else. In a sea of blandness, she stands out. As they spend an evening together, Michael realises why: Lisa is an anomaly. Yes, there's some titular trickery at work, though there's much more than that to this perceptive, precisely paced feature. Stylised touches of the classic Kaufman kind — everyone other than Michael and Lisa is stripped of their individuality because they're all voiced by actor Tom Noonan, for example — amplify an atmosphere that's both mundane and surreal. However, what shines brightest is Anomalisa's haunting understanding of the frailties and anxieties that linger inside all of us, whether we're following our usual routines, falling in love when we're not supposed to, witnessing romantic bliss turn sour, or simply stewing over our unhappy place in the world. There's something about animation that, in the right hands, can get to the heart of such existential, universal angst — and that's not just one of Kaufman's specific skills, as the astute and affecting works of Don Hertzfeldt also show. Perhaps it's a product of forcing viewers to emphasise with figures rather than actors. Perhaps it's the act of focusing on emotions over appearances. Perhaps it's the ability to splash even the strangest thoughts and feelings across the screen. Perhaps it's all of the above. Certainly, the vocal work of the mournful Thewlis, radiant Leigh and versatile Noonan deserves ample credit in Anomalisa's case, particularly given its dialogue-heavy nature (a remnant of the material's origins as a play that wasn't initially intended to make the leap to cinema). One of the movie's main pleasures stems from listening to Thewlis and Leigh talk, whether Michael and Lisa are sharing stories about their lives or awkwardly engaging in puppet sex. In fact, their fluid tones help achieve Kaufman's ultimate aim: making the audience forget they're not actually watching real people. There's nothing strained or tiring, or remotely ordinary, about that.
UPDATE: June 10, 2020: Honey Boy is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube and iTunes. A Vietnam veteran and ex-rodeo clown who treats his pre-teen son more like a buddy than a child, James Lort is the role that Shia LaBeouf was born to play. He has certainly studied it more closely and carefully than any other part — more than his time befriending shape-shifting aliens in Transformers, undoubtedly — because he spent his whole childhood watching it in action. That's what kids do with their fathers. They don't usually write screenplays about the experience, then step into their own dad's shoes themselves, but that's the situation that LaBeouf is in. Basing Honey Boy on his years as a child actor, and on his father's involvement, the result is an astonishingly personal and revelatory film that continues the American Honey and The Peanut Butter Falcon star's recent stellar streak. The names have been changed — LaBeouf's real-life father is called Jeffrey Craig LaBeouf, and the actor's 12-year-old on-screen surrogate (A Quiet Place's Noah Jupe) goes by Otis — but Honey Boy smacks of emotional authenticity. Even if LaBeouf and first-time feature director Alma Har'el didn't show an older Otis (Ben is Back's Lucas Hedges) being coaxed by his counsellor (Laura San Giacomo) to talk about his dad, the whole film would resemble a therapy session. Honey Boy is that introspective, but it isn't indulgent or needlessly navel-gazing. Rather, this piece of catharsis delves into one rather famous figure's demons while recognising that his experiences have universal resonance. Although we haven't all become Disney TV stars before puberty, we've all had our lives shaped by complicated influences. 'Complicated' may be an easy catch-all term for anything that isn't straightforward; however it definitely applies to Otis and James. As the latter constantly reminds the former, he's the hands-on parent that takes Otis to work, helps him learn his lines and oversees his career. But he's also erratic, haunted by his regrets and struggling with his four years of sobriety. One day, James is regaling everyone with his stories and gags on the set of Otis' TV series. The next, he forgets to pick him up once shooting is done. He also frequently leaves Otis alone in the Los Angeles motel room they call home, argues over just who's the boss — Otis' earnings support the family and he pays James to be his manager, so that's a thorny question — or gets envious over the volunteer mentor (Clifton Collins Jr) who wants to take Otis to a baseball game. LaBeouf frames these incidents as memories, flickering in and out after 22-year-old Otis crashes his car, causes a scene, gets sent to rehab in lieu of prison and is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. In the process, LaBeouf drenches the whole film in the confused emotional state of someone who's scarred by his upbringing (hence the PTSD), yet also appreciates his dad's own problems and just loves his father like every kid does. This isn't an idealised, nostalgic look backwards, or a work of unfettered anger. Honey Boy, like LaBeouf himself, pinballs between multiple extremes. It should come as no surprise that this frank and sincere movie was written while LaBeouf was in rehab himself, and that it always feels like he's confronting issues he knows will never completely be resolved. That's LaBeouf's recent career in a nutshell, both on and off the screen. Growing up in the spotlight, he has acted out his pain in reckless, risky and very public ways — and also channelled it into his art. When he wore a paper bag over his head, declaring "I am not famous anymore", he told the world he was more than just a celebrity. When he live-streamed himself watching a marathon of all of his own movies, he signalled his need to interrogate his history. Both received countless headlines, many dismissing LaBeouf as attention-seeking and vain; however they each exist on the same ruminative and purgative continuum as playing his own dad in a film about his childhood. It's no wonder that LaBeouf's raw performance as James feels so lived-in, whether the character is manic or melancholy, testing his son's love or baring his secrets at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. It's a portrayal based not just on fact, but on a lifetime of feelings — and it's the centrepiece of an emotionally heavy, unwaveringly honest and touchingly heartfelt feature that welcomes viewers into LaBeouf's traumas. That intensity isn't just his alone, though. Jupe and Hedges, two of the best actors in their respective age groups, potently capture Otis' conflict and turmoil. In bit parts, Collins, San Giacomo and FKA Twigs (as a "shy girl" who befriends the young Otis when James is out) also flesh out his volatile world. And, at every turn, Har'el finds an evocative and kinetic way to bring Otis' experiences to the screen, including by giving the whole film a dreamlike, hyperreal look and feel. The movie's first transition between the older and younger versions of the character, blasting each backwards while they're shooting — and while Jupe and Hedges both stare directly into the camera — immediately sets Honey Boy's reflective and expressive tone, and this intimate wander through LeBeouf's heart and soul doesn't let up from there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hroo3-sKc0w
The first half of Before Midnight made me excited for my early forties. Mediterranean holiday tans, wild-haired children running barefoot in another room, expansive dinner table conversation with a circle of worldly friends — it's a dream for a more carefree age. But then comes the second half of the movie, an epic, exhausting fight that will either be the end of the couple's relationship or just one of several milestone feuds that mark a long commitment. That's when the rare quality of Before Midnight emerges; this is not a film about idyllic love, this is a film about real love. This is the tarnished ever after. The couple is one we know oddly well, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy), who, in a typically Gen X act of slacker romanticism, spent one night walking and talking around Vienna in 1995's Before Sunrise and were finally reunited for a further afternoon in Paris in 2004's Before Sunset. In the nine years since, it turns out they've stuck with each other, but the insouciance of those early encounters has gone. "When was the last time we just walked around bullshitting?" Jesse says in one beautifully self-aware moment, as they rediscover the pastime on holiday in Greece. Instead, they've both been learning to deal with each other's crazy while simultaneously pushing a few years' worth of upset under the carpet. Jesse hates having to be separated from his pre-teen son, who's in the custody of Jesse's estranged ex in the US. Celine feels Jesse neglected her and their daughters while on his book tour and resents his general man-childness. Celine picks fights; Jesse papers over them. They might not ever resolve these deadlocks, but they have to move past them. With this series of films, dialogue is everything. In Before Midnight, it sparkles, dances and defies the bounds we expect of film. All three instalments are the product of a unique collaborative partnership between director Richard Linklater, Hawke and Delpy; from the start the actors have written parts of their own selves into the characters, and the possibility for honest exploration seems to have deepened with the passing of time. With nine years so far separating each film, the release of a sequel is becoming an event, so it's particularly great to see Before Midnight not only meeting expectations but raising the bar. People love Jesse and Celine with the intensity normally reserved for several-season TV characters (or real people, even). If we see fifty-something Celine and Jesse next decade — 'Before Noon', I imagine they'll call it — we'll be a very lucky audience.
A resident who lives near Melbourne's iconic Cherry Bar has recently been labelled "fuckwit of the year" for complaining about the venue's noise levels. Opening themselves up to unrelenting criticism from music lovers citywide, this neighbour wrote a small letter to the live music venue which has now been mocked and shared everywhere over the weekend. In the age of social media, it's almost always a bad idea, but in principle — do neighbours likes this really have a right to complain? In Melbourne in particular, this has been a huge problem. Earlier this year, many of the city's major venues were in dire financial straits as a result of noise complaints made by surrounding residents. Just one complaint could have seen the council stepping in and enforcing major renovations to soundproof the venue. For many smaller sites, this would put them at risk of bankruptcy. There were even concerns about this affecting the music scene at large — if this kept happening, surely the best venues would just move away? As a loud and proud bastion of hard rock in Melbourne's CBD, Cherry Bar is very familiar with this kind of trouble. As plans were going ahead to erect a 12-storey apartment building next door, the small venue was under pressure from the council to comply with noise regulations. Turning to crowdfunding from their loyal clientele, they raised over $50,000 in under 24 hours to go towards soundproofing the venue. This has now changed. And, as most venues aren't as blessed as Cherry, it's a very good thing. After years of arduous legal battles, Victorian parliament passed new Agent of Change laws last month which put the onus of soundproofing on the developers of residential complexes rather than inner-city venues. It was a momentous win for live music that guaranteed the future of many bandrooms on the brink. The City of Yarra then jumped on the back of this and offered $25,000 worth of funding to these venues in the name of good will. Go Melbourne! With all this in mind, it's a wonder this person bothered to get in touch. Shit's already getting done, right? "The noise made by your bar is affecting my sleep and work, especially since it lasts beyond midnight," the complaint read. "May i suggest u guys to reduce the noise made by at least a half ? [sic] There are many working adults and students living in this apartment, so the noise produced by your bar made it very difficult for us to rest at home after a long day of work." Then they get serious. "I have read about the noise restrictions in the CBD, and will consider reporting to the City of Melbourne or the Victoria Police if this matter is not solved within the next week." And that's where it all began: Fuckwit moves next door to Cherry Bar and complains about noise: http://t.co/2bYQZ3TBCq — Wil Anderson (@Wil_Anderson) October 18, 2014 Cherry Bar owners have since got back to the neighbour expressing their side of the story. "Cherry has been successfully operating for 14 years as a late night live music venue. We have never had a noise complaint," their letter read. "The good news for you is that we are proactively investing in $100,000 worth of soundproofing presently. We are approximately 3 weeks into the 4 week process." The moral of this story: you probably shouldn't move onto a street named after AC/DC if you don't like loud music. But in general, even if you live and breathe live music, it's easy to see the points these kind of neighbours are making. How many drunk trespassers and sleepless nights would it make to turn you into a fuckwit too? Via Tone Deaf and Music Feeds. Photo credit: Scootie via photopin cc.
There is nothing, nothing more purely joyous as hurtling down an epic plastic lane covered in soap bubbles and hose water. Slip 'N' Slides have pride of place in some of our Paddle Pop-dotted, sunburn-ridden backyard memories, but all is not lost to the slippery realms of memory. This year, a giant Slide 'N' Slide is coming to your city, with Nova's Slidestreet confirmed for Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne this summer. Created by the team behind Perth's ice skating pop-up, Winterland, the Slidestreet is inspired by the urban slide created by UK artist Luke Jerram. With its successful Perth run under its belt, the 315 metre-long Slidestreet is heading to Melbourne's Fitzroy Gardens on January 24 and Sydney’s Centennial Park on Australia Day, January 26. Melburnians, you lucky, lucky bunch, you could also be casually getting the world's longest slide in February — permit permitting. At $15 +BF a slide, it's a teeny bit exxy for something you could DIY with a little help from Bunnings, but sometimes you just have to hand over the cashola for novelty bragging rights. And if you thought an entire event could be created around the humble Slip 'N' Slide, you're bang on. The whole day will feature food trucks, icy summer treats, DJs, pop-up bars — yep, the whole bloody works. We're guessing this is to give the sad, sad, slideless spectators something to do while their ticket-holding friends have All The Fun. Importantly, according to the Slidestreet rules, Go Pro selfie poles are NOT allowed on the slide.
Another year, another buzz-worthy Adam Driver movie, another Sydney Film Festival. It's becoming quite the trend. With 307 titles on its 2019 program, this year's SFF boasts plenty of other movies to look forward to, hailing from more than 55 countries — but you'll also definitely want to see Adam Driver and Bill Murray battling zombies in Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die. Like 2018's BlacKkKlansman, The Dead Don't Die heads to SFF straight from the Cannes Film Festival in May, and it has company. While the festival typically announces a whole swag of Cannes titles closer to the fest, it has already bagged a few, including Pedro Almodóvar's Pain and Glory, starring Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz; Parasite, the latest satire by Okja filmmaker Bong Joon-ho; and Kleber Mendonça Filho's fiercely political Bacurau, his first film since 2016 Sydney Film Prize winner Aquarius. Running from Wednesday, June 5 to Sunday, June 16 at a plethora of Sydney venues including the State Theatre, Event Cinemas George Street, Dendy Opera Quays and Newtown, the Hayden Orpheum and the Randwick Ritz, SFF will also feature 23 world premieres. In fact, it's starting with one, opening with the Bryan Brown, Sam Neill, Richard E Grant, Greta Scacchi and Jacqueline McKenzie-starring Palm Beach. Other local flicks making their debut at the fest range from Hearts and Bones, featuring Hugo Weaving as a war photographer; the Sydney-shot Standing Up for Sunny, with Breaking Bad's RJ Mitte; and Indigenous Australian horror anthology Dark Place. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJcnsg4FHEA The homegrown highlights keep coming, with Michael Hutchence doco Mystify, the Mia Wasikowska-starring Judy & Punch, Vietnam War era-flick Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan, dystopian sci-fi I Am Mother and Jennifer Kent's exceptional The Nightingale also on the bill. They sit alongside the previously announced Animals, with Alia Shawkat; The Final Quarter, a documentary about Adam Goodes' battle against racism; and David Stratton's retrospective of films by pioneering female Aussie filmmakers. The overall highlights just keep coming, too, so prepare to spend plenty of time in a darkened room. Sundance standout The Souvenir (starring Tilda Swinton and her daughter Honor Byrne Swinton) and Berlinale Golden Bear winner Synonyms are among the 12 titles competing for SFF's $60,000 prize, as are German Oscar contender Never Look Away and Macedonian satire God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMlHDNdLGU8 Elsewhere, Blinded by the Light spins a coming-of-age tale around Bruce Springsteen's music, High Life sends Robert Pattinson into space, documentary Apollo 11 follows the real moon landing, and Skin sees Jamie Bell try to shake off white supremacy. There's also Her Smell, featuring Elisabeth Moss as a Courtney Love-style alt-rock singer; Kursk, a submarine disaster drama with Matthias Schoenaerts and Colin Firth; dance drama The White Crow, which is directed by Ralph Fiennes and follows Rudolf Nureyev's defection; and Come to Daddy, taking Elijah Wood worlds away from the Lord of the Rings. If that's not enough, SFF's usual program strands return — including a wealth of Aussie docos, a huge international documentary slate, a lineup of music flicks (such as long-awaited Aretha Franklin concert flick Amazing Grace and Martin Scorsese's Bob Dylan doco Rolling Thunder Revue), a showcase of female European directors, a feast of genre flicks and a focus on accessibility. Plus, Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish will join SFF's family slate, for a screening of The Secret Life of Pets 2; New Zealand filmmaking is thrust into the spotlight; and SFF pays tribute to Agnes Varda with a retrospective, complete with her final feature, Agnes by Varda. And if you're wondering how the fest will wrap up, that's being left a surprise for now. In a change from previous years, closing night's flick is set to be announced at a later date. Of course, there are plenty of SFF 2019 films to obsess over until then. The 2019 Sydney Film Festival runs from June 5 to 16. To check out the full program and to buy tickets, head to the festival website.
Halloween is ghost season, so what better way to celebrate (or, maybe, commiserate) these lost souls than trying to find them. Once a quarantine facility for newly arrived migrants, Q Station in Manly has been consistently voted one of the most haunted locations in Australia, so you know it's going to be really, really creepy. North Head is dotted with gravestones and is the burial place of more than 572 bodies. Many of the spirits that roam the area are the memories of British convicts and settlers who suffered horrifically from infectious diseases en route Down Under. While ghost tours run throughout the year, the special Halloween tours are a cut above the rest. There's the always popular Ghostly Encounters — a two-and-half-hour storytelling experience for those that want the nitty-gritty details of the station's tragic history — and the 90-minute Halloween Scream tour through the infamous shower block, the haunted hospital and the dreaded morgue. There are two bars on site slinging haunted cocktails, and Frankenstein will be hosting (un)happy hour from 5.30–9pm on Halloween night itself. The team encourages you to dress up Halloween-style to really get in to the spirit (or to raise them from the dead), so come in costume. If you've got it, haunt it.
When Hercule Poirot returned to cinema screens in 2017's Murder on the Orient Express, the infamous Agatha Christie-penned sleuth was always going to hang around. Hollywood loves a franchise and, on the page, the fictional Belgian detective has featured in more than 80 tales. Accordingly, a sequel to the Kenneth Branagh-starring and directed movie was always inevitable. Death on the Nile is that follow-up, as once again based on the book of the same name. It's due to hit cinemas sometime in the future — in this COVID-19 world, movie release dates aren't really set in stone anymore, as anyone who has been hanging out for months to see Tenet or Mulan knows — and, as the just-dropped first trailer shows, it trots out the familiar Poirot formula. In the current film series, that means bringing a whole heap of famous faces together in a confined location, dressing them up in luxe threads, interrupting their trip with a murder, then watching the moustachioed detective put his skills to the test. Obviously, here, everyone is on a boat in Egypt. In fact, Poirot is on vacation on a glamorous river steamer when duty calls — in the form of a couple's idyllic honeymoon that's been cut short by tragedy. Branagh is back both on-screen and behind the lens, while this time around he's joined by Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, and even comedy legends Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. Also popping up: Murder on the Orient Express' Tom Bateman, Game of Thrones' Rose Leslie, Black Panther's Letitia Wright, Wild Rose's Sophie Okonedo, Sex Education's Emma Mackey and Victoria and Abdul's Ali Fazal. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRP57Bz842A&feature=youtu.be Death on the Nile is slated to release in Australian cinemas at a yet-to-be-revealed date — we'll provide exact details when they come to hand. Top images: © 2020 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Each year, the team behind Vivid Sydney clearly asks itself a question: where else can we dazzle with lights next? Ranging from gardens and tunnels to buildings and bridges, the answers brighten up not only the festival's annual program, but the Harbour City. Letting a train lit up with an immersive glow and pumping techno tunes loose on the New South Wales capital's rails is a new answer for 2024, however. Meet Tekno Train. This isn't your ordinary, everyday, average commute — this is a 60-minute trip filled with lighting and music that changes to match the train's speed and the landscape outside. And the tunes? Like the event itself, they hail from Paul Mac. The result is a 23-night-only railway experience that's an Australian first, with its music newly composed specifically for what promises to be a helluva ride. Here's how it works: between Friday, May 24–Saturday, June 15, you'll hop onboard a K-set train at Central Station, either opting for a scenic route to North Sydney and then Lavender Bay via a secret spur line (the slower, more family-friendly trip), or hitting up City Circle and South Sydney (which'll be the livelier and faster-paced journey). Whether you pick The Scenic Route or Tech Express, as the two choices have been named, you'll see Tekno Train's custom lighting beam and hear its electronic dance music soundtrack pulse through all of the locomotive's carriages. If you're wondering how it links in with this year's Vivid theme of 'humanity', Tekno Train puts the power of music to unite — even when people are doing something that they don't normally think twice about — in the spotlight. It also celebrates public transport, mass transit and community. And, of course, it'll get you seeing riding the rails in a whole new light, literally.
When Jake Bugg's self-titled debut album hit the UK charts at #1, he was just 18. Fast forward three years and it looks like only a 'Lightning Bolt' would stop him. He's released another two full-lengths, the latest being On My One, which came out on June 17. Combining blues, folk, country and surprising dash of hip hop, its preoccupation, Bugg told iHeart Radio is loneliness. Naw. "Some of the songs, they are personal, and some of them, whenever I want to get away from personal things, I write stories to try and put myself somewhere else," he said. The last time we Aussies saw him was in 2015, when he supported Mumford and Sons in their wildly popular Gentlemen Of the Road tour. There's more Splendour sideshow action where this came from. Check out our list of sideshows with tickets still available.
Forget about spending this Saturday cleaning. The creative powers that be didn't come up with daffodils, blue skies and the like so you could stay indoors burdened by brooms and brushes. Instead, take full advantage of your precious weekend with a cheeky day trip to the Blue Mountains. Catch the train to Leura, a quaint little village that feels worlds away from the bustle of the metropolis. Sweet tooths will want to make a beeline for The Candy Store, an iconic lolly paradise in the Leura Mall Arcade. Expect speciality treats, old-school delights from your grandparents' childhood and international confectionary. Once you've had your fill of sweet treats, have a poke around the many shops, where you'll find unique fashion, antiques and other delights. Wrap up the day in Katoomba, with dinner at Scenic World's EATS270, where you'll get uninterrupted views over Jamison and the Three Sisters, with a killer Angus beef burger.
This two-member Melbourne band brings their brand of indie pop to all of Oz in their Vacation tour this month. Big Scary's album, named one of Richard Kingsmill's Top 10 Albums of 2011, debuted in a string of intimate sold-out performances but has yet to embark on a tour of this scale. "This will be the biggest national tour we've ever done," said lead singer Tom Iansek. We've been practicing hard and we're looking forward to taking the Vacation songs, and a smattering of even newer material on the road." Iansek and drummer Jo Syme will treat audiences to Vacation singles like 'Mix Tape', 'Gladiator' and 'Leaving Home'. You can expect much more, however, from these two; they've been dubbed one of Australia's "most exciting new bands" by Triple J Magazine. https://youtube.com/watch?v=HS3lQSOVEL8
When it happened, the global financial crisis wasn't funny, and frankly it still isn't. That The Big Short manages to find humour amidst the ruins is a credit to writer-director Adam McKay — even if it is a very different brand from his usual shtick, seen in Will Ferrell flicks Anchorman, Step Brothers and The Other Guys. "What else can we do but laugh?", the film asks, tell-it-like-it-is style. It's a brand of humour informed by outrage: horrified at what happened, determined to explain it and furious that little has changed. That air of impassioned incredulity suits the facts the feature concerns itself with, namely the bubble in the U.S. housing and mortgage market that very few people saw coming. It also suits the source material, a non-fiction book of the same name by Moneyball author Michael Lewis. If you're still not certain how such a film could garner laughs, that's understandable. In telling a true tale that still inspires disbelief — and sifts through some complex economic concepts in the process — The Big Short benefits from McKay's savvy stylistic choices. Accordingly, when viewers meet the rare folks who thought something was wrong prior to 2008, they're not just following a straightforward narrative. Rather, they're switching between larger-than-life players, and listening to knowing narration by Ryan Gosling in character. In between, celebrities playing themselves help break down the complicated economic jargon, while the audience is given a glimpse of society's obsession with wealth and excess through rapid, infomercial-like montages. Taken together, it paints a slick, cynical, at times farcical picture, though the details themselves remain potent. Dr Michael Burry (Christian Bale) first notices the potential for the bubble to burst and decides to bet against the market by buying credit default swaps, something that money-hungry bankers had to create because no one had asked for anything like them before. Deutsche Bank trader Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling) starts shopping around the same products, convincing crusading hedge fund manager Mark Baum (Steve Carrell) that a collapse is imminent. Meanwhile, up-and-comers Charlie Geller (John Magaro) and Jamie Shipley (Finn Wittrock) are trying to move their garage-operated fund into the big leagues when they get wind of the situation. As the characters wait for the market to topple over, McKay delves into the shady practices that brought about such a precarious scenario. His sly tone and smart approach to the topic lays the circumstances bare in accessible terms, while making his anger perfectly clear. It's the closest a film can get to simultaneously educating, entertaining and shouting at its audience, and it makes for highly compelling viewing. The high-profile cast — which also includes Brad Pitt as a retired banker pal of Charlie and Jamie — are further weapons in McKay's arsenal. In fact, so skilled are their efforts that you might not grasp the movie's biggest joke until the end. Burry, Vennett, Baum and company might be the film's protagonists, but they're just as immersed in the fiscal mess as everyone else. In a situation where there can be no winners, they're the sympathetic parties only because they know that that's the case.
Two years after closing to the public back in early 2019 — and three years after first announcing it was undergoing a big makeover — Melbourne's Australian Centre for the Moving Image is set to reopen its doors on Thursday, February 11. And, when film and television lovers step back inside its Federation Square building, they'll notice plenty of changes. If you're going to shut down to undertake extensive $40 million renovations, you want people to see it, after all. Details have been announced over the past couple of years; however, that doesn't make the revamp any less impressive. So, visitors can expect revamped exhibition spaces, new immersive experiences and added interactive activations, including a permanent ode to Mad Max. And, the venue definitely looks different, all thanks to Melbourne architects BKK and experience design firm Publicis Sapient/Second Story. Also part of the makeover: the Lens, a handheld device made out of compressed cardboard that you use while physically moseying through ACMI's galleries, and tap at around 200 different touchpoints to collect objects of interest as you wander. You then take it home with you, and whip it out again to check out all the items you've collected — even after you've left the museum. One of the things you'll want to use the Lens on is ACMI's huge — and free, and permanent — The Story of the Moving Image exhibition, which has an online component and also physically sprawls across 1600 square metres. It's all about the past, present and future of screen culture in all of its forms, including optical illusions, the first projected images, and the ways in which cinema, TV and games have evolved over the past century. ACMI has also spent big on commissioning new work — to the tune of $880,000, which has gone towards 15 projects. Seventy percent are by First Nations artists, and 60 percent feature women in a lead creative role. Visitors will be able to see one, from Gabriella Hirst, during the venue's first solo exhibition after reopening. Called Darling Darling, the video work finds commonalities between the efforts to preserve colonial paintings of the Australian landscape and the real-world preservation of the Murray Darling Basin. The site's two cinemas are also restarting their screening program, beginning with Love & Neon: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai, a season dedicated to the acclaimed director. And, its curated streaming service, which launched in 2020, is still up and running as well. Other big new ACMI highlights include the Blackmagic Design Media Preservation Lab, which is dedicated to preserving Australia's analogue past and also ensuring that the country's digital present remains accessible — and the high-tech Gandel Digital Future Labs, which are aimed at fostering young creatives. There's also a retail space that boasts decor as vivid as the film and TV-focused items on sale, plus a new dining space called Hero. The latter is a collaboration with Melbourne chef Karen Martini and new venture HospitalityM, takes inspiration from Jacques Tati's 1967 film PlayTime, and serves bites to eat and casual drinks all day. HospitalityM will also run a coffee cart on Flinders Street, and sell cinema snacks. The Australian Centre for the Moving Image reopens its doors on Thursday, February 11, at Federation Square, Flinders Street, Melbourne. Images: Shannon McGrath.
Baked Patisserie is one for the south Sydney folks. Nestled in the industrial area of Kirrawee, this family-run business is the type of cake shop every Sydney suburb wishes it had. Baked Patisserie was an early adopter of the 'cronut' craze. It occasionally sells them, including a lamington version for patriotic sugar fiends. Filled doughnuts are also on offer, and they are everything you want in a sweet treat: pillowy-soft dough with a creamy filling (in classic flavours like cookies 'n' cream, Nutella and vanilla bean custard) and covered in sugar. Bring on the sugar high and immediate crash. Baked Patisserie makes cakes to order, too, so next time your four-year-old nephew wants a Hulk-themed cake for his birthday, you know who to call.
Surry Hill's stunning fitness space Paramount Recreation Club is offering Sydneysiders a new way to stay warm this winter. The wellness centre has teamed up with Bondi health brand Nimbus and Co to bring you an infrared sauna on its rooftop — and it'll be open to the public for three full months. The glass-walled sauna studio is located in the middle of a cacti garden and overlooks the city skyline. It features linen robes by In Bed, bespoke furnishings and greenery aplenty from the Plant Society. If you like to enjoy some tunes while you sweat it out, the sauna also includes built-in speakers, which you can pair your own devices to. Complimentary refreshments round out this luxe offering. And the sauna experience isn't just about perspiration, either, with this infrared version having additional detoxifying benefits. Supposedly, it has been found to improve skin and immune system health, increase metabolism, help de-stress, aid in better sleep and relieve pain. Even if you're sceptical of these benefits, it's certainly a fun way to warm up during the chillier winter days. A solo hour session in the sauna will set you back $60, $80 if you take a friend and $90 if you bring two. The Winter Sauna is open from Monday–Friday, 7am–8pm and Saturday–Sunday, 7am–2.30pm.
Long a staple of Good Food Month, the Night Noodle Markets are the ideal after-work hangout, combining the bustling atmosphere of an Asian hawker market with the opportunity to kick back with a couple of drinks and watch the sun go down in Hyde Park. Over 200,000 people attended last year, and with many of Sydney's top Asian restaurants amongst the stallholders, this year promises to be just as popular. The Night Noodle Markets open October 9-12, 14-19, 21-26. Opening hours are Mon-Tue 5-9pm, Wed 5-10pm, Thur-Fri 5-11pm, Sat 4-10pm. Check out the rest of our top ten picks of Good Food Month here.
Another restaurant has joined the expanding Campbell's Stores waterfront precinct. But unlike its neighbours, there's no menu at Bay Nine Omakase. 'Omakase' translates loosely to "I'll leave it up to you", and the guy you'll be leaving your dinner to is Tomohiro Marshall Oguro, Bay Nine's Head Chef and one of the youngest omakase head chefs in Sydney. This guy has a serious pedigree. He's trained under renowned seafood specialist and restaurateur Stephen Hodges, acclaimed sushi chef Naoki Fukazawa (Yoshii, Sushi-E, Ocean Room) and Executive Chef and founder of Manmaruya, Hideki Goto. So what about the restaurant? Well, Bay Nine is a few scattered tables and a cosy 10-seater counter where you sit around Oguro while he prepares 11 courses of high-quality Japanese food. All you have to do is watch and eat. It's dinner and theatre, all in one spot. The fit-out is classic wabi-sabi minimalism: all blond timber and soft underlighting, wrapped in a heritage-listed 19th-century warehouse space. The omakase menu will change every day, depending on what's in season and what fish is available at the city's best seafood suppliers. Oguro developed some serious industry contacts while running the wholesale operation at Cummins Seafood. Basically, you're getting the freshest, top-quality ingredients, prepared by one of Sydney's hottest young chefs. But as Oguro says, when it comes to omakase, produce is really only half the story. "You can have the freshest seafood prepared expertly and run your omakase counter with precision, but if you can't engage with your guests, you're starving them of a true omakase experience," he says. "I believe it's just as important to develop a genuine connection with each guest sitting across from me." To wash down your sushi — which comes seared, salted, blanched, steamed, grilled and everything in between — there's a 40-strong sake menu, including dedicated sake flights (highly recommended) and a solid range of Japanese craft spirits. If you're feeling really fancy, there's also Bay Nine's Icon Collection, which includes a $3,500 magnum of 1996 Penfolds Grange Hermitage Bin 95. Maybe clear that one with your SO first. An 11-course omakase dinner at Bay Nine will set you back $180, but there's a six-course and eight-course option, too. You can find Bay Nine at Bay 9 (duh) 7-27 Circular Quay West, The Rocks. Check out their Instagram here.
Synth-driven Sydney duo Bag Raiders cut their club teeth remixing the likes of Cut Copy, Midnight Juggernauts, Kid Sister and Lost Valentinos and, after blasting to widespread acclaim on the back of their production debut in 2007, signed to the legendary Modular records. They have been successfully storming the airwaves ever since. Their still-golden single Shooting Stars cracked 2009's Triple J Hottest 100 and their debut self-titled record was nominated for the 2010 J-Award for Australian Album of the Year. Their self-titled album blends choppy synthesizers, chant-out-loud choruses, blissful filter gems and no-holds barred Hacienda house into a seductive electro pop cocktail. There's more vocal work than in the duos early instrumental releases, including guest spots by Dan Black (Sunlight) and Gisselle Rosselli (Crave You). The record features possibly the only pan-flute club track ever made. Currently in the midst of a sixteen date Australian tour, Bag Raiders take their keyboards, drum-kits, laptops and decks to The Forum this Saturday. Renowned for their remixes and live shows, Bag Raiders were a massive highlight of Harbourlife last year and promise to deliver a panoramic show full of juicy high-tech sweetness. The eighties promised us this would be the future, and they were right. https://youtube.com/watch?v=SMyQg2mQaP0
The Kings Cross Hotel is about to be transformed into an immersive wonderland as part of this year's Vivid Sydney festival. As part of the truly epic Vivid Music program (which includes the world premiere of Björk's digital project), the hotel will be in full swing with a slew of live music, theatre and cabaret throughout the three weeks of the festival from May 27 until June 18. Along with five-storey dance parties and cabaret performances, from June 1 the venue will go into immersive theatre mode on Wednesday and Thursday nights. Visiting Hours will see the Hotel become a mysterious old hospital with performances taking place across the five floors. It's been produced and directed by bAKEHOUSE Theatre, so you know it's going to be legit. And a little creepy. Running over six nights, the theatrics will kick off at 7pm. Groups will be staggered at 30 minute intervals to keep space uncrowded and make sure you're totally immersed, from start to finish. The Kings Cross Hotel's Vivid takeover will run for the length of the festival, from May 27 until June 18. For more information on what's happening at the Hotel, visit their website.
Get Ugged up, rugged up and ready to embrace all things chilly at the Bathurst Winter Festival. The two-week event runs from Saturday, July 6 to Sunday, July 21 and celebrates the magic of the colder months. Sure, summer's great, but there's something about cosying up with a hot chocolate or medium-bodied glass of red that just hits differently come July. Located three hours northwest of Sydney, the city of Bathurst will light up in a blaze of colour and light as interactive installations are projected onto the town's historic architecture. Head along to the Winter Playground where you can enjoy live music, comfort food, warm drinks, wine events, show rides and an outdoor ice skating rink. The events and activations are spread across Bathurst and much of the festival is free — including a huge food and drinks festival, a pet parade and more. Either way, it's a great excuse for a weekend away this winter. The Bathurst Winter Festival runs from Saturday, July 6 to Friday, July 21. For further details, head to the website.
If you've wandered through Surry Hills or the CBD recently, you've probably seen quite a few passenger-less trams zooming around. And you've probably been wondering, like us, if they'll be taking passengers anytime soon. The answer is yes: next week. It's been a heck of a long time coming, but after multiple delays, you'll finally be able to board a tram on Sydney's new light rail from Saturday, December 14. Finally. Finally. And you'll be able to do so for free, too. Trips on the L2 Randwick-Circular Quay line won't cost a cent during the opening weekend. Time to make the most of your tax dollars. https://www.facebook.com/SydneyLightRailProject/photos/a.1175128939280346/2838116559648234/?type=3&theater To summarise the saga that is the CBD and South East Light Rail project: it was first announced back in 2012, construction began in 2015 and, since then, it's faced legal stouches, cost blowouts (to almost $3 billion) and delays galore, due to everything from awry overhead wires and a discovery of thousands of Indigenous artefacts. It was initially meant to be completed in early 2019, but that was pushed out to March 2020. Now, Transport for NSW has announced the first commuter services will be up and running by December 14. Just in time for all that Christmas shopping and economy boosting, of course. The project's completion also tidily coincides with the scrapping of the lockout laws in the CBD on January 14, 2020. Cynics will say it's more than a coincidence. After kicking off on 11am on Saturday, December 14, trams will run daily between 5am–1am. It'll also be a turn-up-and-go service with trams running every 4–8 minutes between Circular Quay and Central, and 8–12 minutes between Central and Randwick between 7am–7pm on week days (what's considered "peak" times). It'll be just one of the lines, the L2 line from Circular Quay to Randwick, that'll be up and running, however, with the L3 Kingsford to Circular Quay stretch expected to open in March 2020. It's not the first time trams have run through Sydney's CBD — just the first time in almost 60 years, with the old tram tracks ripped up back in 1961. Commuter services on the L2 Randwick Line (Randwick–Circular Quay) of the CBD and South East Light Rail will start on Saturday, December 14, 2019.
Pyrmont's Terminus Hotel is transforming into a burger-slinging, beer-pouring, beats-playing festival of hops and carbs for three days this June long weekend. Aptly dubbed Brews, Beats and Burgers, the event will play host to some of the finest brewers from across Sydney and regional NSW, who'll be pouring their weird, wonderful and damn tasty drops. You'll be able to pair these cold ones with something off the extended burger menu, which'll have vegan and gluten-free options to boot. There'll be live music, too, and, if you need any more convincing, it's completely free. [caption id="attachment_659299" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kitti Gould[/caption] Images: Kitti Gould
The Dollar Bin Darlings are taking over Petersham's Oxford Tavern for a huge free Mardi Gras party. The Darlings are known for their raucous parties at Sydney venues like The Bearded Tit and their weekly Hot to Tot events at The Oxford Tavern. Accompanied by their team of Bottom Dollar Buddies and go-go dancers, the Sydney mainstays will return to The Tav on Saturday, March 6 for a six-hour dance party. Expect big dance floor-ready tunes and extravagant entertainers throughout the night until 3am, accompanied by The Tav's top-notch selection of beers and wine. If you get peckish while on the dance floor, you can also sample your choice of barbecue treats from The Oxford Tavern's renowned kitchen. This is your chance to eat tender barbecue ribs and party at the same time. Entry is free, however spots will fill up quickly. To avoid disappointment you can book a table.
When any and every film festival rolls around, plenty of numbers get mentioned. With the 2022 Sydney Film Festival now fast approaching, the Harbour City's annual cinema showcase is no different. This year will mark the fest's whopping 69th event, as well Festival Director Nashen Moodley's 11th time bringing the latest and greatest flicks to the glorious State Theatre and other Sydney picture palaces — and, if its first 22 movies are anything to go by, it's set to be another winner. There's no such thing as a bad SFF, of course, because its program always spans so far and wide — and how you watch your way through it is always dictated by personal choice. But 2022's event already has a new Aussie horror standout that proved a hit at SXSW, the latest from freshly minted Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain, multiple Sundance award recipients, and the new comedy from inimitable Berberian Sound Studio, The Duke of Burgundy and In Fabric filmmaker Peter Strickland. Yes, we're already spoiled for choice. Taking place between Wednesday, June 8–Sunday, June 19 — back in its usual timeslot after moving to November in 2021 due to lockdowns and restrictions — SFF 2022 will show some local love to Sissy, the aforementioned Australian horror film. Starring The Bold Type's Aisha Dee, it follows a successful social media influencer who gets stuck in a remote cabin with her old high-school bully. Also in the homegrown camp: street dancing documentary Keep Stepping, car-bound docudrama The Plains and the music fest-focused 6 Festivals, with the latter about three friends who decide to hit up as many live gigs as possible after one is diagnosed with brain cancer, and also featuring cameos by the likes of Bliss n Eso and Peking Duk. Hailing from further afield are the Chastain-starring The Forgiven, which also marks the latest movie by Calvary and War on Everyone's John Michael McDonagh; Strickland's Flux Gourmet, which sees the director reteam with Game of Thrones' Gwendoline Christie; 80s-set, Charlotte Gainsbourg-led Parisian drama The Passengers of the Night; and genderqueer musical Please Baby Please, which follows a 50s couple in Manhattan who witness a violent incident and undergo a sexual awakening. Or, there's also Sundance Film Festival-winning doco The Territory, which follows an Indigenous fightback over rainforest land seized for farming; Yuni, the latest coming-of-age tale by Indonesian The Seen and Unseen filmmaker Kamila Andini; We Met in Virtual Reality, a documentary filmed entirely inside the world of VR; and Incredible But True, a time-travel caper from Deerskin and Rubber's Quentin Dupieux. Other titles of interest include Bootlegger, which stars Reservation Dogs' Devery Jacobs; doco A House Made of Splinters, another Sundance winner that was filmed in pre-invasion Ukraine; Sirens, about the Middle East's first all-female, queer death metal band; and Gentle, which stars real-life bodybuilder Eszter Csonka. As for what'll join them — among a lineup that usually spans hundreds of films — that'll be revealed on Wednesday, May 11. You can already start getting ready to spend most of June in a cinema, though, obviously. The 2022 Sydney Film Festival will run between Wednesday, June 8–Sunday, June 19. Check out the event's just-announced titles by heading to the festival website. The full program will be released on Wednesday, May 11 — head back here then for the rundown.
In a year that has already seen Australians spend plenty of time on their couches, Netflix is serving up a new reason to stay seated, get cosy and start your next binge. From Thursday, September 17, beloved US sitcom Friends will land on the streaming service — so if your sofa happens to be a Central Perk-style shade of orange, you'll have an extra reason to celebrate. All ten seasons of the show will hit at once, which means you'll have 236 episodes to work your way through. Obviously, that's a whole heap of time in the company of New York's most famous posse of pals. Whether you once had your hair cut like Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), spout catchphrases like Joey (Matt LeBlanc) or are known to sing about cats like Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) — or have spent way too much time thinking about Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler's (Matthew Perry) relationship, or about Ross' (David Schwimmer) pet monkey, too — you'll be in your element. In fact, you could even say your favourite TV mates will be there for you. https://twitter.com/NetflixANZ/status/1295843163123245057 Of course, Friends fans will already know that the show's entire run is currently available in Australia via fellow streaming service Stan, and has been for some time. If that continues to be the case, you'll now have two places to get your 90s and early 00s sitcom fix. The past few years have been eventful for Friends aficionados. An orange couch toured around Australia, anniversary marathons have screened in cinemas, boozy brunch parties have showered the show with love and trivia nights are still held regularly. A musical parody of the series is about to liven up Aussie theatres as well. And, at some point in the near future, the whole gang will even reunite for a TV reunion special — which was originally due to surface earlier this year, but has been delayed due to the pandemic. All ten seasons of Friends will hit Netflix on Thursday, September 17.
Banish any hump day woes with a trip to the picturesque Redleaf Pool. A favourite of eastern suburbs locals, Redleaf Pool (or Murray Rose Pool) is a long serving gem for all ages. Swim out to one of the two pontoons or lap up the final rays of afternoon sun while along the boardwalk. Either way, bring a little picnic (chilled rose and cheese encouraged) and someone special and settle yourself in for the afternoon. Come sunset, watch the sun dip below the horizon, as the waves gently lick the supports below and remember, you're more than halfway through the working week. Image: simplethrill / Flickr.
Love: it’s not about the big stuff. Helping someone find their glasses, squeezing their hand when they’re getting ready for a tough situation and sharing stories of mundane days are what matters, rather than grand gestures. Most movies prefer the latter, selling the fairytale rather than reality. Love Is Strange lingers in little things because it is not most movies, for better and for worse. What the latest film from writer/director Ira Sachs (Keep the Lights On) is instead is a gentle portrait of a strong romance in a sticky situation. It’s a slow effort that meanders through a series of unfortunate but not outlandish nor appalling turns — and a gradual revelation of moments that don’t test the bond of just-wed couple of 39 years George (Alfred Molina) and Ben (John Lithgow) but do try their patience. When George and Ben finally get married, their happy times are short-lived. A music teacher at a Catholic school, George loses his job because of his marital status, but Ben’s pension isn’t enough for them to live on. Forced to sell their New York apartment, they stay separately with friends and relatives as they wait to get back on their feet. From then on, their time together is rare, precious and all-too fleeting. Their frustrations become evident as George battles with the partying lifestyle of his young cop hosts (Cheyenne Jackson and Manny Perez), and Ben begins to feel unwanted bunking in with the teenage son (Charlie Tahan) of his filmmaker nephew (Darren Burrows) and stay-at-home writer wife (Marisa Tomei). And for all the film’s elegant imagery, artfully picked shots and evocative Chopin score, their frustrations also become the viewer’s. There’s a difference between yearning and mournful, just as there are shades of grey in domestic drama. The issues Love Is Strange ponders are certainly thoughtful inclusions, such as the intertwining of identities in a relationship, the impact of ageing and the limits of privacy and generosity among friends; however, they’re not deserving of the mood of heart-wrenching tragedy the film presents more often than not. Love Is Strange also struggles in its strongest area: casting. That’s a big call for a movie easily improved by the work of its wonderful leading men, but an apt comment when it strands its strongest elements apart for the bulk of its duration. Molina and Lithgow create subtle, lived-in characters and convey a realistic long-term relationship, their performances always the right kind of earnest. It is their chemistry that enhances the ambling material, and the film — like the lovers they portray — feels every second of their absence. Of course, that’s the point of the story, albeit an unsatisfying way to get it across. Perhaps the title really does say it all: Love Is Strange, and so are small, sweet and slight movies valiantly yet not always effectively trying to capture the importance of connection in the finer details rather than bold statements.
Still coming down from its 40th birthday extravaganza, the Opera House has just announced the full line-up for its summer 'playground', with Neil Finn and Architects of Air as the star attractions. Finn will hit the Concert Hall stage on March 22, with a full band and a repertoire of old and new tunes. His first solo album in ten years, Dizzy Heights, is due for release on February 7, 2014. Produced by David Fridmann (Tame Impala, The Flaming Lips), it takes Finn's songwriting into unexplored frontiers, with creative textures, striking string arrangements and soaring soundscapes. Between January 3-27, Architects of Air (who treated us to Mirazozo in 2011) will transform the forecourt into a multi-sensory experience, with their massive inflatable sculpture EXXOPOLIS. 53 metres long and nine metres high, it's an immersive luminarium, comprised of tunnels and domes, and filled with light and sound. Architectural inspiration includes Gothic cathedrals, Archimedean solids and Islamic stylings. There'll also be larger-than-life magic performances from The Illusionists 2.0; a return of cabaret-burlesque-circus company La Soiree; a fresh program of live music, from Grizzly Bear to Neko Case to The National; and live entertainment for children and families. Plus, between December and March, the Opera House and surrounding spaces will be transformed into the 'ultimate summer playground'. The Western Foyers will be turned into a pop-up paradise, with concept bars, restaurants and cafes, while the forecourt will host a revolving fleet of gourmet food trucks offering both sweet and savoury goodies. "It's been a huge year at the Sydney Opera House," said CEO Louise Herron AM. "Like the rest of Sydney, we are looking forward to getting into the summer spirit, kicking back and having some fun. The Opera House will be packed with entertainment, seven days a week for every member of the family, from 4 to 94. So come and join us."
One of the country's premier film events, the Melbourne International Film Festival, has released a sneak peak of 2013's programming. Artistic director Michelle Carey admits that she is "especially excited about the MIFF 2013", and after a glance we can see why. Three years ago Wentworth Miller's Stoker was voted one of 2010's best unproduced screenplays, and now the rest of us finally have a chance to see what all the fuss is about. The unnerving tale is centered on 18-year-old India, who, fresh from burying her father, meets the mysterious uncle her mother has invited into the family home to fill their void. The cast includes a trifecta of Australian talent, with Nicole Kidman, Jacki Weaver and Mia Wasikowska breathing life into the Stoker family. To add to the hype, it is also the English language debut of celebrated South Korean director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy). Other movies on the radar include Tim Winton's The Turning (starring Cate Blanchett); festival patron Geoffrey Rush's turn as an eccentric art auctioneer in Italian box-office smash The Best Offer; Shane Carruth's highly anticipated follow-up to cult time-travel puzzler Primer, titled Upstream Color; and US gore-fest of a horror flick You're Next. The documentary contingent looks set to more than hold its own this year as Australia's almost-rock legend Jeremy Oxley's battle with schizophrenia and alcoholism takes centrestage in The Sunnyboy, and UK director Ken Loach looks to the England of old in The Spirit of '45. Loach's exploration of British domestic policy pre- and post-Thatcher is a rallying call to UK politicians to reject austerity and remember that great 20th-century experiment, the welfare state. What would a film festival be without something to call the next Woody Allen? MIFF fills that category with the black-and-white comedy Frances Ha. Star Greta Gerwig (To Rome with Love) co-wrote the film with director Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale). It contains dialogue like this: Guy: What do you do? Frances: It's kind of hard to explain. Guy: Why, is what you do really complicated? Frances: Because, I don't really do it. So it looks like they are onto a good thing. An annual event, the MIFF runs from July 25 to August 11. For more information, head to the website and keep an eye out for the full program, which will be released on July 2. Image: Festival patron Geoffrey Rush as Virgil Oldman in The Best Offer
Not all that long ago, the idea of getting cosy on your couch, clicking a few buttons, and having thousands of films and television shows at your fingertips seemed like something out of science fiction. Now, it's just an ordinary night — whether you're virtually gathering the gang to text along, cuddling up to your significant other or shutting the world out for some much needed me-time. Of course, given the wealth of options to choose from, there's nothing ordinary about making a date with your chosen streaming platform. The question isn't "should I watch something?" — it's "what on earth should I choose?". Hundreds of titles are added to Australia's online viewing services each and every month, all vying for a spot on your must-see list. And, so you don't spend 45 minutes scrolling and then being too tired to actually commit to anything, we're here to help. We've spent plenty of couch time watching our way through this month's latest batch — and, from the latest and greatest through to old and recent favourites, here are our picks for your streaming queue from April's haul. Brand-New Stuff You Can Watch From Start to Finish Now Ripley Boasting The Night Of's Steven Zaillian as its sole writer and director — joining a list of credits that includes penning Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York and The Irishman, and also winning an Oscar for Schindler's List — the latest exquisite jump into the Ripley realm doesn't splash around black-and-white hues as a mere stylistic preference. In this new adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1955 book, the setting is still coastal Italy at its most picturesque, and therefore a place that most would want to revel in visually; Anthony Minghella, The Talented Mr Ripley's director a quarter-century back, did so with an intoxicating glow. For Zaillian, however, stripping away the warm rays and beaches and hair, blue seas and skies, and tanned skin as well, ensures that all that glitters is never gold or even just golden in tone as he spends time with Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers). There's never even a glint of a hint of a travelogue aesthetic, with viewers confronted with the starkness of Tom's choices and actions — he is a conman and worse, after all — plus the shadows that he persists in lurking in and the impossibility of ever grasping everything that he desires in full colour. On the page and on the screen both before and now, the overarching story remains the same, though, in this new definitive take on the character. It's the early 60s rather than the late 50s in Ripley, but Tom is in New York, running fake debt-collection schemes and clinging to the edges of high-society circles, when he's made a proposal that he was never going to refuse. Herbert Greenleaf (filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan, who has also acted in his own three features You Can Count on Me, Margaret and Manchester by the Sea) enlists him to sail to Europe to reunite with a friend, the shipping magnate's son Dickie (Johnny Flynn, One Life). As a paid gig, Tom is to convince the business heir to finally return home. But Dickie has no intention of giving up his Mediterranean leisure as he lackadaisically pursues painting — and more passionately spends his time with girlfriend Marge Sherwood (Dakota Fanning, The Equalizer 3) — to join the family business. Ripley streams via Netflix. Read our full review. Fallout A young woman sheltered in the most literal sense there is, living her entire life in one of the subterranean facilities where humanity endeavours to start anew. A TV and movie star famed for his roles in westerns, then entertaining kids, then still alive but irradiated 219 years after the nuclear destruction of Los Angeles. An aspiring soldier who has never known anything but a devastated world, clinging to hopes of progression through the military. All three walk into the wasteland in Fallout, the live-action adaptation of the gaming series that first arrived in 1997. All three cross paths in an attempt to do all that anyone can in a post-apocalyptic hellscape: survive. So goes this leap into a world that's had millions mashing buttons through not only the OG game, but also three released sequels — a fourth is on the way — plus seven spinoffs. Even with Westworld' Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy as executive producers, giving Fallout the flesh-and-blood treatment is a massive and ambitious task. But where 2023 had The Last of Us, 2024 now has this; both are big-name dystopian titles that earned legions of devotees through gaming, and both are excellent in gripping and immersive fashion at making the move to television. Fallout's vision of one of the bleakest potential futures splits its focus between Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell, Yellowjackets), who has no concept of how humanity can exist on the surface when the show kicks off; Cooper Howard aka bounty hunter The Ghoul (Walton Goggins, I'm a Virgo), the screen gunslinger who saw the bombs fall and now wields weapons IRL; and Maximus (Aaron Moten, Emancipation), a trainee for the Brotherhood of Steel, which is committed to restoring order by throwing around its might (and using robotic armour). The show's lead casting is gleaming, to the point that imagining anyone but this trio of actors as Lucy, Howard-slash-The Ghoul and Maximus is impossible. Where else has Walton's resume, with its jumps between law-and-order efforts, westerns traditional and neo, and comedy — see: The Shield, Justified, Sons of Anarchy, The Hateful Eight, Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones, as a mere few examples — been leading than here? (And, next, also season three of The White Lotus.) Fallout streams via Prime Video. Read our full review, and our interview with Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell and Aaron Moten. Heartbreak High When Heartbreak High returned in 2022, the Sydney-set series benefited from a pivotal fact: years pass, trends come and go, but teen awkwardness and chaos is eternal. In its second season, Netflix's revival of the 1994–99 Australian favourite embraces the same idea. It's a new term at Hartley High, one that'll culminate in the Year 11 formal. Amerie (Ayesha Madon, Love Me) might be certain that she can change — doing so is her entire platform for running for school captain — but waiting for adulthood to start never stops being a whirlwind. Proving as easy to binge as its predecessor, Heartbreak High's eight new episodes reassemble the bulk of the gang that audiences were initially introduced to two years ago. Moving forward is everyone's planned path — en route to that dance, which gives the new batch of instalments its flashforward opening. The evening brings fire, literally. Among the regular crew, a few faces are missing in the aftermath. The show then rewinds to two months earlier, to old worries resurfacing, new faces making an appearance and, giving the season a whodunnit spin as well, to a mystery figure taunting and publicly shaming Amerie. The latter begins their reign of terror with a dead animal; Bird Psycho is soon the unknown culprit's nickname. Leaders, creepers, slipping between the sheets: that's Heartbreak High's second streaming go-around in a nutshell. The battle to rule the school is a three-person race, pitting Amerie against Sasha (Gemma Chua-Tran, Mustangs FC) and Spider (Bryn Chapman Parish, Mr Inbetween) — one as progressive as Hartley, which already earns that label heartily, can get; the other season one's poster boy for jerkiness, toxicity and entitlement. Heightening the electoral showdown is a curriculum clash, with the SLT class introduced by Jojo Obah (Chika Ikogwe, The Tourist) last term as a mandatory response to the grade's behaviour questioned by Head of PE Timothy Voss (Angus Sampson, Bump). A new faculty member for the show, he's anti-everything that he deems a threat to traditional notions of masculinity. In Spider, Ant (Brodie Townsend, Significant Others) and others, he quickly has followers. Their name, even adorning t-shirts: CUMLORDS. Heartbreak High streams via Netflix. Read our full review. Such Brave Girls If Such Brave Girls seems close to reality, that's because it is. In the A24 co-produced series — which joins the cult-favourite entertainment company's TV slate alongside other standouts such as Beef, Irma Vep, Mo and The Curse over the past two years — sisters Kat Sadler and Lizzie Davidson both star and take inspiration from their lives and personalities. Making their TV acting debuts together, the pair also play siblings. Josie (Sadler) and Billie (Davidson), their on-screen surrogates, are navigating life's lows not only when the show's six-part first season begins, but as it goes on. The entire setup was sparked by a phone conversation between the duo IRL, when one had attempted to take her life twice and the other was £20,000 in debt. For most, a sitcom wouldn't come next; however, laughing at and lampooning themselves, and seeing the absurdity as well, is part of Such Brave Girls' cathartic purpose for its driving forces. If you've ever thought "what else can you do?" when finding yourself inexplicably chuckling at your own misfortune, that's this series — this sharp, unsparing, candid, complex and darkly comedic series — from start to finish. Creating the three-time BAFTA-nominated show, writing it and leading, Sadler plays Josie as a bundle of nerves and uncertainty. The character is in her twenties, struggling with her mental health and aspiring to be an artist, but is largely working her way through a never-ending gap year. Davidson's Billie is the eternally optimistic opposite — albeit really only about the fact that Nicky (Sam Buchanan, Back to Black), the guy that she's hooking up with, will eventually stop cheating on her, fall in love and whisk her away to Manchester to open a vodka bar bearing her name. Both girls live at home with their mother Deb (Louise Brealey, Lockwood & Co), who also sees a relationship as the solution to her problems, setting her sights on the iPad-addicted Dev (Paul Bazely, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves) a decade after Josie and Billie's father went out for teabags and never came home. With actor-slash-director Simon Bird behind the lens — alongside first-timer Marco Alessi on one episode — if Such Brave Girls seems like it belongs in the same acerbically comedic realm as The Inbetweeners and Everyone Else Burns, there's a reason for that, too. Such Brave Girls streams via Stan. Read our full review. Baby Reindeer A person walking into a bar. The words "sent from my iPhone". A comedian pouring their experiences into a one-performer play. A twisty true-crime tale making the leap to the screen. All four either feature in, inspired or describe Baby Reindeer. All four are inescapably familiar, too, but the same can't be said about this seven-part Netflix series. Written by and starring Scottish comedian Richard Gadd, and also based on his real-life experiences, this is a bleak, brave, revelatory, devastating and unforgettable psychological thriller. It does indeed begin with someone stepping inside a pub — and while Gadd plays a comedian on-screen as well, don't go waiting for a punchline. When Martha (Jessica Gunning, The Outlaws) enters The Heart in Camden, London in 2015, Donny Dunn (Gadd, Wedding Season) is behind the counter. "I felt sorry for her. That's the first feeling I felt," the latter explains via voiceover. Perched awkwardly on a stool at the bar, Martha is whimpering to herself. She says that she can't afford to buy a drink, even a cup of tea. Donny takes pity, offering her one for free — and her face instantly lights up. That's the fateful moment, one of sorrow met with kindness, that ignites Baby Reindeer's narrative and changes Donny's life. After that warm beverage, The Heart instantly has a new regular. Sipping Diet Cokes from then on (still on the house), Martha is full of stories about all of the high-profile people that she knows and her high-flying lawyer job. But despite insisting that she's constantly busy, she's also always at the bar when Donny is at work, sticking around for his whole shifts. She chats incessantly about herself, folks that he doesn't know and while directing compliments Donny's way. He's in his twenties, she's in her early forties — and he can see that she's smitten, letting her flirt. He notices her laugh. He likes the attention, not to mention getting his ego stroked. While he doesn't reciprocate her feelings, he's friendly. She isn't just an infatuated fantasist, however; she's chillingly obsessed to an unstable degree. She finds his email address, then starts messaging him non-stop when she's not nattering at his workplace. (IRL, Gadd received more than 40,000 emails.) Baby Reindeer streams via Netflix. Read our full review. Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV One of the most difficult episodes of documentary television to watch in 2024 hails from five-part series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. It's also essential to see. In its third chapter, this dive into the reality behind Nickelodeon's live-action children's TV success from the late-90s onwards gives the microphone to Drake Bell, who unravels his experiences while first working on The Amanda Show (led by Amanda Bynes, Easy A) and then on Drake & Josh (co-starring Josh Peck, Oppenheimer) — specifically his interactions with dialogue coach Brian Peck, who became immersed in Bell's life to a disturbing degree and was convicted in 2004 of sexually assaulting him. The case wasn't a major scandal at the time, incredulously. Even with Bell's name withheld because he was a minor, it was the second instance of a Nickelodeon staff member being arrested for such horrendous crimes in mere months, and yet widespread media coverage and public awareness didn't follow. Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV marks the first time that Bell talks about it publicly. Witnessing him speak through the details is as harrowing as it is heartbreaking. Originally releasing as four episodes, then adding a fifth hosted by journalist Soledad O'Brien to reflect upon the revelations covered, this docuseries has much that's distressing in its sights — much of it under television producer Dan Schneider. From sketch series All That onwards, he was a Nickelodeon bigwig; Kenan & Kel, Zoey 101, iCarly and Sam & Cat are also among the shows on his resume. Former child actors such as Giovonnie Samuels, Bryan Hearne, Alexa Nikolas, Katrina Johnson, Kyle Sullivan, Raquel Lee and Leon Frierson talk about the pressures on set, and the inappropriate jokes that they didn't realise were inappropriate jokes worked into their material. Ex-The Amanda Show writers Christy Stratton (Freeridge) and Jenny Kilgen step through the misogynistic environment among the creatives; that they were forced to split a salary between them but do the same amount of work as their male colleagues is only the beginning. Parents, including Bell's father Joe, share their unsurprisingly upset perspectives. Bynes' post-Nickelodeon fortunes also get the spotlight. Clips and behind-the-scenes footage are weaved in throughout, too, and looking at any of the network's shows from the era the same way again is impossible. Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV streams via Binge. Scoop What did it take to get one of the most important interviews with a member of the royal family that has ever aired on British television (and most important interviews in general)? That's Scoop's question — and not only do director Philip Martin (The Crown) and screenwriters Peter Moffat (61st Street) and Geoff Bussetil (The English Game) ask it while adapting Sam McAlister's 2022 book Scoops, but their compelling journalism thriller answers it in detail. The bulk of the feature is set in 2019, spending its time among the BBC staff at news and current affairs show Newsnight as they first try to lock in and then attempt to execute a chat with Prince Andrew. The end result, aka the program's 'Prince Andrew & the Epstein Scandal' episode, will go down in history; even if you didn't see it then or haven't since, everyone knows of that discussion and its ramifications. Getting it to the screen was the result of hard work, dedication and smarts on the parts of booker and producer McAllister, host Emily Maitlis and editor Esme Wren — and a tale that deserves to be just as well known. Billie Piper (I Hate Suzie) plays McAllister as whip-smart, fiercely determined and indefatigable when she's chasing a story, but undervalued at her job, so much so that her colleagues regularly accuse her of wasting time following up the wrong guests instead of simply complying with their requests. She's certain that a class clash isn't helping — and just as confident that she knows what she's doing, including when she begins corresponding with the Duke of York's (Rufus Sewell, Kaleidoscope) private secretary Amanda Thirsk (Keeley Hawes, Orphan Black: Echoes) about getting him on-camera to discuss his connection to Jeffrey Epstein. She needs backup from both Maitlis (Gillian Anderson, Sex Education) and Wren (Romola Garai, One Life), as well as the entire team's support, in bringing the chat to fruition. Just like the IRL interview itself, this polished how-it-happened procedural is riveting viewing as it slides into its genre alongside Spotlight and She Said. Scoop streams via Netflix. New and Returning Shows to Check Out Week by Week Sugar Colin Farrell's recent hot streak continues. After a busy few years that've seen him earn Oscar and BAFTA nominations for The Banshees of Inisherin, collect a Gotham Awards nod for After Yang, steal scenes so heartily in The Batman that TV spinoff The Penguin is on the way and pick up the Satellite Awards' attention for The North Water, Sugar now joins his resume. The Irish actor's television credits are still few — and, until his True Detective stint in 2015, far between — but it's easy to see what appealed to him about leading this mystery series. From the moment that the Los Angeles-set noir effort begins — in Tokyo, in fact — it drips with intrigue. Farrell's John Sugar, the show's namesake, is a suave private detective who takes a big Hollywood case against his handler Ruby's (Kirby, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off) recommendation. He's soon plunged into shadowy City of Angels chaos, bringing The Big Sleep, Chinatown, LA Confidential and Under the Silver Lake to mind, and loving movie history beyond sharing the same genre as said flicks. Softly spoken, always crispy dressed, understandably cynical and frequently behind the wheel of a blue vintage convertible, Sugar, the PI, is a film fan. The series bakes that love and its own links to cinema history into its very being through spliced-in clips and references elsewhere — and also foregrounds the idea that illusions, aka what Tinseltown so eagerly sells via its celluloid dreams, are inescapable in its narrative in the process. Twists come, not just including a brilliant move that reframes everything that comes before, but as Sugar endeavours to track down Olivia Siegel (Sydney Chandler, Don't Worry Darling). She's the granddaughter of worried legendary film producer Jonathan (James Cromwell, Succession); daughter of less-concerned (and less-renowned) fellow producer Bernie (Dennis Boutsikaris, Better Call Saul); half-sister of former child star David (Nate Corddry, Barry), who is on the comeback trail; and ex-step daughter of pioneering rocker Melanie (Amy Ryan, Beau Is Afraid). Trying to find her inspires heated opposition. Also sparked: an excellently cast series that splashes its affection of film noir and LA movies gone by across its frames, but is never afraid to be its own thing. Sugar streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. The Sympathizer Fresh from winning an Oscar for getting antagonistic in times gone by as United States Atomic Energy Commission chair Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer, Robert Downey Jr gets antagonistic in times gone by again in The Sympathizer — as a CIA handler, a university professor, a politician and a Francis Ford Coppola-esque filmmaker on an Apocalypse Now-style movie, for starters. In another addition to his post-Marvel resume that emphasises how great it is to see him stepping into the shoes of someone other than Tony Stark, he takes on multiple roles in this espionage-meets-Vietnam War drama, which adapts Viet Thanh Nguyen's 2016 Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name. But Downey Jr is never the show's lead, which instead goes to Australian Hoa Xuande (Last King of the Cross). The latter plays the Captain, who works for South Vietnamese secret police in Saigon before the city's fall, and is also a spy for the North Vietnamese communist forces. It's his memories, as typed out at a reeducation camp, that guide the seven-part miniseries' narrative — jumping back and forth in time, as recollections do, including to his escape to America. As the Captain relays the details of his mission and attempts to work both sides, The Sympathizer isn't just flitting between flashbacks as a structural tactic. The act of remembering is as much a focus as the varied contents of the Captain's memories — to the point that rewinding to add more context to a scene that's just been shown, or noting that he didn't specifically witness something but feels as if he can fill in the gap, also forms the storytelling approach. Perspective and influence are high among the show's concerns, too, as the Captain navigates the sway of many colonial faces (making Downey Jr's multiple roles a powerful and revealing touch) both in Vietnam and in the US. Behind it all off-screen is a filmmaker with a history of probing the tales that we tell ourselves and get others believing, as seen in stone-cold revenge-thriller classic Oldboy, 2022's best film Decision to Leave and 2018 miniseries The Little Drummer Girl: the inimitable Park Chan-wook. He co-created The Sympathizer for the screen with Don McKellar (Blindness) and it always bears is imprint, whether or not he's directing episodes — he helms three — with his piercing style, or getting help from Fernando Meirelles (who has been busy with this and Sugar) and Marc Munden (The Third Day). The Sympathizer streams via Binge. Loot Across ten extremely amusing initial episodes in 2022, Loot had a message: billionaires shouldn't exist. So declared the show's resident cashed-up character, with Molly Wells (Maya Rudolph, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem) receiving $87 billion in her divorce from tech guru John Novak (Adam Scott, Madame Web), then spending most of the sitcom's first season working out what to do with it (and also how to handle her newly single life in general). That she had a foundation to her name was virtually news to her. So was much about everything beyond the ultra-rich. And, she was hardly equipped for being on her own. But Loot's debut run came to an entertaining end with the big statement that it was always uttering not so quietly anyway. So what happens next, after one of the richest people in the world decides to give away all of her money? Cue season two of this ace workplace-set comedy. Created by former Parks and Recreation writers Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard, in their second Rudolph-starring delight — 2018's Forever was the first — Loot splices together three popular on-screen realms as it loosely draws parallels with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his philanthropist ex-wife MacKenzie Scott. At her charity, as Molly's staff become the kind of friends that feel like family while doing their jobs, shows such as 30 Rock and Superstore (which Hubbard also has on his resume) score an obvious sibling. As its protagonist endeavours to do good, be better and discover what makes a meaningful life, The Good Place (which Yang also wrote for) and Forever get company. And in enjoying its eat-the-rich mode as well, it sits alongside Succession and The White Lotus, albeit while being far sillier. Loot streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. The Big Door Prize If there was a Morpho machine IRL rather than just in The Big Door Prize, and it dispensed cards that described the potential of TV shows instead of people, this is what it might spit out about the series that it's in: "comforting". For a mystery-tinged dramedy filled with people trying to work out who they are and truly want to be after an arcade game-esque console appears in their small town, this page-to-screen show has always proven both cathartic and relatable viewing. Its timing, dropping season one in 2023 as the pandemic-inspired great reset was well and truly in full swing, is a key factor. Last year as well as now — with season two currently upon us — this is a series that speaks to the yearning to face existential questions that couldn't be more familiar in a world where COVID-19 sparked a wave of similar "who am I?" musings on a global scale. The difference for the residents of Deerfield in this second spin: their journey no longer simply involves pieces of cardboard that claim to know where the bearer should be expending their energy, but also spans new animated videos that transform their inner thoughts and hopes into 32-bit clips. When the Morpho first made its presence known, high-school teacher Dusty (Chris O'Dowd, Slumberland) was cynical. Now he's taking the same route as everyone else in his community — including his wife Cass (Gabrielle Dennis, The Upshaws) and daughter Trina (Djouliet Amara, Fitting In) — by letting it steer his decisions. But whether he's making moves that'll impact his marriage, or his restaurant-owning best friend Giorgio (Josh Segarra, The Other Two) is leaping into a new relationship with Cass' best friend Nat (Mary Holland, The Afterparty), or other townsfolk are holding the Morpho up as a source of wisdom, easy happiness rarely follows. Season two of this David West Read (Schitt's Creek)-developed series still treats its magical machine as a puzzle for characters and viewers to attempt to solve, but it also digs deeper into the quest for answers that we all undertake while knowing deep down that there's no such thing as a straightforward meaning of life. As well as being extremely well-cast and thoughtful, it's no wonder that The Big Door Prize keeps feeling like staring in a mirror — and constantly intriguing as well. The Big Door Prize streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. An Excellent Recent Film You Might've Missed Showing Up Kelly Reichardt and Michelle Williams are one of cinema's all-time great pairings. After 2008's Wendy and Lucy, 2010's Meek's Cutoff and 2016's Certain Women, all divine, add Showing Up to the reasons that their collaborations are an event. Again, writer/director Reichardt hones in on characters who wouldn't grace the screen otherwise, and on lives that rarely do the same. With her trademark empathy, patience and space, she spends time with people and problems that couldn't be more relatable as well. Her first picture since 2019's stunning First Cow, which didn't feature Williams, also feels drawn from the filmmaker's reality. She isn't a sculptor in Portland working an administration job at an arts and crafts college while struggling to find the time to create intricate ceramic figurines, but she is one of America's finest auteurs in an industry that so scarcely values the intricacy and artistry of her work. No one needs to have stood exactly in Showing Up's protagonist's shoes, or in Reichardt's, to understand that tussle — or the fight for the always-elusive right balance between passion and a paycheque, all while everyday chaos, family drama and the minutiae of just existing also throws up roadblocks. Showing Up couldn't have a better title. For Lizzy (Wiliams, The Fabelmans), who spends the nine-to-five grind at her alma mater with her mother (Maryann Plunkett, Manifest) as her boss, everything she does — or needs or wants to — is about doing exactly what the movie's moniker says. That doesn't mean that she's thrilled about it. She definitely isn't happy about her frenemy, neighobour and landlord Jo (Hong Chau, Asteroid City), who won't fix her hot water, couldn't be more oblivious to anyone else's problems and soon has her helping play nurse to an injured pidgeon. Reichardt spins the film's narrative around Lizzy's preparations for a one-night-only exhibition, including trying to carve out the hours needed to finish her clay pieces amid her job, the bird, advocating for a liveable home, professional envy and concerns for her alienated brother (John Magaro, Past Lives). The care and detail that goes into Lizzy's figurines is mirrored in Reichardt's own efforts, in another thoughtful and resonant masterpiece that does what all of the filmmaker's masterpieces do: says everything even when nothing is being uttered, proves a wonder of observation, boasts a pitch-perfect cast and isn't easily forgotten. Showing Up streams via Netflix. Need a few more streaming recommendations? Check out our picks from January, February and March this year, and also from January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December 2023. You can also check out our running list of standout must-stream shows from last year as well — and our best 15 new shows of 2023, 15 newcomers you might've missed, top 15 returning shows of the year, 15 best films, 15 top movies you likely didn't see, 15 best straight-to-streaming flicks and 30 movies worth catching up on over the summer.
As we approach the winter solstice — and shortest and coldest days of the year — our sights are firmly set on winter cabins, hot springs and wintry weekends away. But staying in the city doesn't mean you can't take advantage the best bits of winter — after all, it's your biggest opportunity to gorge on hot cheese, down endless mugs of steaming mulled wine and spend time by the fireplace. But if you're looking to go all out and really immerse yourself in Sydney's winter (which is comparatively mild, mind you), put on a beanie and head to one of these pop-ups. From winter wonderlands to cosy cheese-filled teepees to a tropical harbourside 'beach', they're all designed to let you embrace (or, in some cases, escape) even the most toe-freezing days of winter.
There's nothing quite like a 15,000-foot freefall to get your blood pumping. The first 60 seconds of this skydive experience is the cheek-flapping, terrifying fun you'd expect after being tossed from a perfectly functioning aircraft. The following six-or-so minutes of parachute gliding lets your mind return to your physical form while you gaze at the curve of the earth, spying south coast sites like the Nan Tien temple before landing at Wollongong's North Beach. Unless you're a seasoned (and accredited) skydiver, you'll be gearing up and riding tandem with a pro who can also film and take photos of the entire experience. Media packages start at $129 on top of the $389 standard jump price. Top image: Destination NSW
If you're a fan of dazzling Australian cinema, and one particular director with a style like no other, then this year's Vivid Sydney comes bearing spectacular spectacular news. It's an announcement worth breaking out a ballroom dance for, or popping on your blue suede shoes, too — because filmmaker Baz Luhrmann has just joined the already-packed lineup. The reason: a little film called Elvis, Luhrmann's biopic about the king of rock 'n' roll, which hits cinemas in late June. He's taking to the Vivid stage before then, on Sunday, June 5, in line with the movie's Sydney premiere — in a separate conversation session called The Business of Baz, where he'll chat through the flick, his entire career and his distinctive directorial approach with Marc Fennell. Luhrmann will be in the building at the State Theatre, for an hour-long chat starting at 3pm. On the agenda: everything from Strictly Ballroom through to The Get Down — yes, including Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!, Australia and The Great Gatsby in-between — as well as the power of storytelling, how he finds creativity in chaos, and his partnerships with costume designer Catherine Martin and screenwriter Craig Pearce. [caption id="attachment_853870" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Warner Bros Pictures[/caption] Attendees will be saying "thank you, thank you very much" to behind-the-scenes anecdotes about Elvis, as well, plus details about Luhrmann's path from from Narrabeen High School on Sydney's Northern Beaches to Hollywood, his passion and singular vision, and just what makes him tick in general. Happening the day after the film's Australian premiere on the Gold Coast — and shortly after its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival — the Vivid chat doesn't include a screening of Elvis. But the premiere is happening afterwards, from 6pm, also at the State Theatre, with Luhrmann, Martin, and actors Austin Butler (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and The Dead Don't Die) and Olivia De Jonge (Better Watch Out) in attendance. If you're keen to go along to that as well, you can purchase premiere package tickets that include both the in-conversation talk and the screening. Vivid Sydney 2022 runs from Friday, May 27–Sunday, June 18, with The Business of Baz taking place from 3pm on Sunday, June 5. For further information and tickets, head to the event's website. Top image: Destination NSW.
Surry Hills' newest workout space is a far cry from your average gym. After all, this one's located high up on a gorgeous rooftop, with the Sydney skyline making an idyllic backdrop to your sweat sessions. Set to open its doors in April, Paramount Recreation Club is out to take your fitness game to new heights...literally. Focused on pulling together physical, social and mental health, it's a wellness space for the modern day, featuring a swag of classes, integrated health services and even an impressive food offering. With the goal of drawing the community together, there'll also be a program of regular talks, events and activities. In a designer space that takes its cues from some serene Southern California health retreat, you'll be able to boost your skills in everything from yoga and barre, to skipping and Olympic lifting. Find some mental space with a meditation session, or get that blood pumping with the 60-minute Paramount Workout signature class. If healing's more your focus, members can also access services like physiotherapy, massage and dietetics throughout the week. And, to reward yourself post-workout, there's the Kiosk menu, developed by Griff Pamment and Sam Christie (Longrain, Cho Cho San and The Apollo), and pulling influences from Indian, Japanese and Mediterranean cuisine. Visitors can grab a feed to go, or enjoy it with a side of sprawling city views on the rooftop terrace. The gym is just one part of Paramount House's recent renovation, which also includes the new Paramount House Hotel — also set to open in April 2018. Paramount Recreation Club will open in April 2018 on the rooftop of Paramount House, 80 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills.
A music documentary with a glossy sheen and a warm heart, 20 Feet From Stardom tells the stories of some of popular music's most accomplished backup singers, including those who have shared the stage with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. While names like Darlene Love, Lynn Maybry and Merry Clayton may be almost completely unknown, classic soul, pop and girl group songs from 'Walk On The Wild Side' to 'Da Doo Ron Ron' and 'Gimme Shelter' would have been infinitely lesser without them. Possessed with the ability to perform vocal pyrotechnics which would blitz most Idol contestants, many of these backup singers yearn for their own moment in the spotlight, but as Springsteen observes "that walk to the front (of stage) is a difficult one". Though their ambitions of breaking out of the shadows of stardom were often frustrated by the whims of a notoriously fickle industry, the selfless contributions they made were immense and their stories are rarely less than compelling. Though primarily an upbeat affair, Morgan Neville's film is unafraid of tackling more emotionally complex terrain as he covers the backstory of Phil Spector's monstrous exploitation of backing singers and the politics around Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Sweet Home Alabama', which featured African-American backing singer Merry Clayton contributing to a track intended as a rebuttal to Neil Young's anti-racist 'Southern Man'. There's also a note of lament for the perceived declining importance of backup singers, as technology evolves to make their prodigious vocal talents a luxury when Auto-Tune and studio wizardry can produce the same result. As well as collating priceless archival footage performances of the film's stars with the likes of The Talking Heads, Paul Simon and Elton John, the documentary has corralled some of its subjects together for some perfectly shot performances of some of their greatest works. Although it has been decades since their prime in some cases, their voices are as sweet as ever, and when they join forces to belt out the evergreen 'Lean On Me', the results are simply spine-chilling. Neville's ambitions of pushing these overlooked but hugely talented musicians into the full blare of the spotlight is beautifully realised. https://youtube.com/watch?v=tWyUJcA8Zfo
Forget your morning coffee: tea is having a big ol' moment. Having had major success in Redfern since opening on Abercrombie Street late last year, specialty tea brewers The Rabbit Hole have opened a second venue at Barangaroo South. Opening yesterday, Wednesday, June 23, their spinoff will build upon the popularity of their first, bringing the same eclectic selection of teas, along with sweet and savoury food, to the bustling harbourside precinct. The Rabbit Hole is owned and operated by Amara Jarratt and Corinne Smith. The co-creators of the Sydney and Melbourne Tea Festivals, and founding members of the Australasian Specialty Tea Association, these two certainly know their stuff, and are all too happy to share their expertise. Visitors can expect an extensive menu of original and seasonal teas, as well as tea lattes, tea-infused hot chocolate, and tea sodas on tap. "We really want to redefine what tea's about," Smith told Concrete Playground. "It's about infusing food with tea in other ways, and presenting a good combination of sweet and savoury, but not in a traditional format." Indeed, the tea extends well beyond the drinks list, with a food menu featuring everything from black tea-infused beef and pickle sandwiches, to green tea noodle soup, to earl grey chocolate cake. "Take everything you thought you knew about tea, and start again with us," says Smith. Smith also says that business at Redfern has been "going gangbusters," and believes that attitudes towards tea are finally beginning to change. "There are actually people who like tea and don't drink coffee, shock horror," she says with a laugh. "You can get amazing chocolate, amazing wine bars, go to cafes that serve single-estate coffee, but tea has really missed out and been relegated to the backseat up until late." "I think that traditionally tea has been in the feminine realm," she continues. "Our experience in the wholesale business is that a lot of cafe owners a male... I think that a lot of the guys who have gone into coffee are just starting to realise that there's a lot of cool stuff about tea, and that it's not all doilies and fancy vintage teacups as they once might have thought." The Rabbit Hole is now open at Shop 1, 23 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo South. Their Redfern location can be found at 146 Abercrombie Street, Redfern. For more information follow them on Facebook or visit therabbithole.com.au.
