There is something about taking a venue and making it new again that we really respond to. Renovations, redesigns, makeovers: They are inviting, and anyone who has visited The Bridge Hotel or The Richmond Club pre- and post-renovations would have experienced this. The gents behind these incredible makeovers, Sand Hill Road, are at it again with the redesign of The Prahran Hotel. They have taken the much-loved Melbourne venue and added stunning architecture to its already long list of characteristics. With a complete wall of concrete pipes that you can sit in and enjoy your parma, this redesign is incredibly well played. We chat to Matt Mullins from Sand Hill Road about redesigning spaces, the perfect pub and where he goes to enjoy a beer. Tell us about Sand Hill Road and how it came about. Sand Hill Road is a group of four guys. The same four guys [Doug Maskiell, Andy Mullins, Matt Mullins and Tom Birch] that were here when it started. We were all twenty five years old, working different jobs and, at the same time, starting to think maybe this work life wasn't what we wanted. The only thing we knew about was pubs. We knew what we knew from spending our misspent years in pubs. We started with one venue. We renovated it, all ourselves. It was before designers and architects were really briefed to redo Melbourne pubs. After the first one we thought, that's fun, and did it again and again. Since then we've done eight or nine pubs, and we're having a really good time! We use the same architects, Techne Architects and Justin Northrop. We also work with the same builders, Visual Builders. You can't build a place like the new Prahran Hotel without good relationships with architects and builders. What would you say the key elements of a 'great pub' are? We've always said that design is one of the areas where we can push the boundaries. Our market seems happy and excited by this, they love coming and being in an exciting building. But, no doubt about it, we talk about what our market is going to want in terms of the actual product. We talk about the food offering being accessible and good value, and high-quality pub food. We talk about that first. People need to be able to eat in small groups and large groups in the entire venue. We talk about them having a public bar, where anyone can come in and not be judged. People want the barman to know them and know what they drink. In the end, the product offering is a good, simple, honest pub offering. Do you think these elements that make your venues work are specific to a Melbourne audience? We spend a lot of time thinking about it, about if these things we're tapping into are Melbourne things or inner Melbourne things, or if it would have all worked in other areas. The answer is we don't know, but it feels like there is something very Melbourne about our market. It's something about the Melbourne market that really responds to a good, honest pub — to a public bar, to a chicken parma and a pot of Carlton. Being able to watch the footy in the background. We built our pubs around that specific market. What do you think it is that keep people coming back? People come to our pubs once or twice for the design. They come back for things like karma kegs, and the public bar that has become part of their life. They come to know us and they can feel at home there. In many ways the design comes second or third or fifth even. Tell us a little about Karma Kegs? The guys and I have been donating money to different causes over the years. About a year or two ago we thought we might be able to involve our patrons more in this aspect of our lives. They are the business and therefore it made sense that they could be part of the charity process too. Doug came up with the idea of the karma keg, on a Friday, at every venue. We donate a keg of Carlton, and punters decide what they pay for it and the whole lot goes towards a local charity. They always choose to pay more than what's it worth. It's incredibly cool. It tells you a lot about our patrons and how they feel about the community. How did you go about redesigning The Prahran Hotel? We start with asking 'who is the market for us and what do they want?'. We start with the general offering and then we talk about how we can design the building around offering that. The architects always ask, 'who is this pub for boys?' The pipes at The Prahran Hotel are pretty wild, they look really cool, but more importantly you get to sit in one of these pipes with the street on the one side and the venue to the other. The design came out of the need for that community beer garden. The beer garden was stuck out the back and was hard to see and get to. It wasn't doing what it was meant to be doing. We needed to bring it right up to the front. Access it from the public bar, and bring light into the heart of it. The pipes now wrap it around the courtyard, an extension of it so to speak. Do you look to the history of the pub when redesigning? Was that an element of the Prahran Hotel redesigning? We absolutely look to the history of the pub. Design can be a great way to incorporate or evoke the history of a venue. The Prahran was rebuilt in the 1940s in the streamline style, the architectural style that came after art deco. They really added the cruise-ship style in the remodel. Everything was done in big long horizontal lines, with portholes and curved brickwork. With the part of the hotel that we left, we borrowed from that era, specifically the circular motif. They were one of the things that inspired the circular pipes. Essentially, they are porthole windows. Iconic of the era. We took that idea and built them on top of each other, creating the wall of concrete pipes. Aside from your own venues, where do you enjoy spending time in Melbourne? I tend to go to venues for one of two reasons. Firstly, it's for us to learn something architecturally, and a good example would be The Boat Builders Yard. What they did there in terms of inside and outside and making things waterproof inside was fascinating and really interesting. The other reason I go to certain venues is to visit places my friends own. I like to know the publican — The Great Northern for me is the number one beer pub in Melbourne and one of the best in the country. What they know and advise with beer and food is out of this world.
Italian-born chef Nicola Coccia has fine dining credentials stretching from the Southern Highlands to Circular Quay, and shortly after writing his cookbook Farm to Flame, Coccia and his French-born wife Alexandra packed in the top end restaurant game for a sea change. The former owner of Bistro Officina in Bowral moved to Ettalong in 2019, and channelled his passion for cooking over flames into a cosy tavern, located right by the beach. Here, the $85 five-course menu is influenced by the Coccias' European upbringings, which is especially present in the list of wines, largely from Italy and France. Woodfired Moreton bugs are served with pumpkin seeds and smoked broth; handmade cacio e pepe is topped with black truffles; and flanked steaks with mushrooms and cavolo nero. Or, for a little extra, you can ask for black angus dry-aged rib eye served on the bone. And everyone gets to taste one of the most-talked about accompaniments: woodfired sourdough slices served with double smoked butter. [caption id="attachment_777049" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Head chef and owner Nicola Coccia by Kitti Gould[/caption] To dine in, you can choose from two seatings on Friday and Saturday nights — 5pm or 7.30pm — or lunch from midday on Sunday. The vegetarian set menu subs in smoked hen egg, broad beans, celeriac, chestnut and spigarello in place of the steaks. And the wine list leans heavily on organic, biodynamic and vegan selections from boutique wineries of Nicola's and Alexandra's home regions, as well as a couple of local craft beers (Murray's, Balter and Six Strings, for example). It also offers a takeaway menu of lasagne and tiramisu from Wednesday to Sunday, and out front you'll find its newest venture: a Louisiana-inspired fried chicken shop. The Hot Chook Shop (open Wednesday to Saturday from 5pm, and from 12 on Sunday) is a casual eatery found in the venue's front wine bar. Pull up a stool and order tenders, wings or drumsticks with the choice of three levels of spice, then wash it all down with a glass of on-skin pinot grigio or finish off with limoncello and doughnut ice cream. Images: Kitti Gould
First, it was avocados in Amsterdam. Now, it's peanut butter on toast in London. Forget variety; loving one particular thing, and only wanting to see that one thing on the menu — that's the latest food trend, so it seems. The pop-up cafe dedicated to slathering warmed, brown bread with a crunchy or creamy paste of nuts is the brainchild of Pip & Nut, a UK-based company that makes natural peanut, almond and coconut almond butter. Until February 12, the Pip & Nut Toast Bar will serve gourmet slices decked with a combination nutty toppings and other healthy ingredients, recreating the creations outlined in their recipe book. The hungry masses can choose from sourdough or rye toast for starters, then select the treats heaped on top. Options include marinated strawberries and almond butter, peanut butter with grated apple and maple syrup, peanut butter with fresh chilli, lime and coriander, and avocado and almond butter and spiced seeds. Yes, your stomach should be rumbling. Yes, you start hoping something like this pops up closer to home. Via Time Out London.
They're the masters of immersive thrills, such as smash-hit shipping container installations Seance, Coma and Flight — also known as the Darkfield series. But not even the folks at Realscape Productions are immune to the realities of pandemic life. They're currently locked down with the rest of Melbourne, putting their nerve-jangling real-life projects on hiatus until later in the year. Luckily, in the meantime, Realscape and Darkfield (UK creators) have teamed up for a brand-new audio experience fans can enjoy from the comfort of home. This one's called Double and, while it's delivered remotely, it's geared to be every bit as creepy and unsettling as its IRL predecessors. It launched on Friday, July 17 and is presented via the producers' new digital project Darkfield Radio. Like its siblings, it plunges participants deep into an immersive experience by perplexing the senses — this time, with the use of a 360-degree binaural sound, played through your own headphones. Double requires a two-person set-up, with players seated across a table from each other. The pair of you will then tune into a special 20-minute broadcast, at the exact time as hundreds of other players across the country. And there's just one rule to follow: everyone has to be who they say they are. True to form, the exact details are kept vague until you're living the immersion, but we do know Double pulls inspiration from the Capgras delusion, a condition which sees a sufferer convinced that a loved one has been replaced by an imposter (sometimes an evil-intentioned one). Prepare to have your truths shaken and the familiar warped, right there at your kitchen table. Top images: Alex Purcell
Succession with BDSM. A reminder that love can sear. A slinky two-hander that's sometimes about only having one free hand. Sanctuary is all of the above, plus a psychosexual battle and a romp of a twisty erotic thriller-meets-romantic comedy — and also a reminder that there's something about Christopher Abbott in chic hotel rooms being teased out of his comfort zone by blonde sex workers (see also: Piercing). There's something about the actor in confined settings in general (see there: Possessor, The Forgiven and Black Bear), but only this supremely confident affair about a significantly complicated affair pairs him with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood breakout Margaret Qualley. As they verbally tussle and sometimes physically tumble, unpacking class, control, chemistry, intimacy and authority along the way, they're a chamber-piece dream. Sanctuary's chamber: a sleekly appointed suite decked out in saturated colours and ornate patterns at one of the 112 hotels that share Hal Porterfield's (Abbott, The Crowded Room) surname. And the piece's point? The thorny, horny relationship between the born-to-privilege heir and Rebecca (Qualley, Stars at Noon), who enters his room with a sharp knock, a no-nonsense stare, business attire and a briefcase filled with paperwork. Hal's father has just passed away, and he's now Kendall Roy awaiting the anointing that he's been promised since birth. His companion runs through background-check questions, veering into the highly personal. Soon, after drinks, dismay and a snappy debate, he's on his hands and knees scrubbing the bathroom while she watches on. Now he's Roman Roy, complete with dirty-talk banter, but in a film directed by sophomore helmer Zachary Wigon (The Heart Machine) and penned by Micah Bloomberg (Homecoming). The early reveal that isn't really, because it's evident to everyone who can spot that Rebecca's pale bob is a wig? That she's being paid to be there not as a paralegal, but to satisfy her client's sexual whims. She's a no-contact dominatrix, in fact, and she's stellar at her job. Their entire opening exchange comes with a script — not just Bloomberg's, but one by the future hotelier CEO himself — although she doesn't stick to it slavishly. While this rendezvous isn't Hal and Rebecca's first, she isn't aware that it's meant to be their last until he gives her a $32,000 Audemars Piguet watch as a retirement present over post-submission, post-humiliation steaks and martinis. Now that he's taking on the big gig, he needs his insides to match his outsides, he tells her. Farewelling their arrangement isn't something that Rebecca planned on, however, and she wants — nay demands — more compensation for ending their ongoing transaction, and for her part in moulding Hal into soon-to-be-crowned corporate head honcho material. There's a puzzle-box feel to Bloomberg's clever and arching screenplay, with the narrative's layers matching the film's own, getting Sanctuary's characters and its audience playing the same game. Both groups slide into a scenario that swiftly flips, delivers danger in a meticulously orchestrated scenario, and where knowing what's real and what's purely an act is a riddle to be solved. For Rebecca and Hal, the stakes keep raising — both negotiate and threaten, cycle between flirtatiousness and bitterness, and dictate increasingly more drastic outcomes — in a cat-and-mouse fashion as desires, ultimatums, dance moves and furniture all fly. For viewers, picking how much truth sits in the pair's back-and-forth, where fantasy ends and reality begins, who really wants what, which is winning (and, if anyone can, or even genuinely hopes to) and when the next reversal will spring is just as lively. With plain-as-day resemblance to her mother, her Maid co-star and Sex, Lies and Videotape lead Andie MacDowell, to prove it, Qualley might be a nepo baby like Hal — and excellent at acting like Rebecca — but via Palo Alto, The Nice Guys, The Leftovers and Fosse/Verdon, too, she's been demonstrating her bright on-screen future for a decade now. She makes savvy role choices, including Sanctuary, which paves a way for a gleaming path in screwball comedies if that's all that she wanted to focus on (it won't be but, even just on paper, her upcoming parts in The Favourite director Yorgos Lanthimos' Frankenstein take Poor Things, plus Drive-Away Dolls, Ethan Coen's first solo stint away from his brother Joel, are glorious choices). As Rebecca, she's pulled in a thousand different directions, all heightened. She can be cool, calm and commanding in one moment; raw and wild the next; then deeply vulnerable after that. She's oh-so-gifted at saying everything with her eyes, but makes every barbed and spiky line land. Qualley's is an electric performance that's always a million things at once, and also astutely incisive at helping to interrogate a loaded haves-versus-have nots, employee-employer, battle-of-the-sexes dynamic. Crucially, she bounds through the feature with such alluring force that the movie's two blatant oversimplifications, equating sex work with scheming and sex workers with yearning for a romantic end, aren't story killers. She's well-matched by Abbott, who is as skilled as conveying introverted and repressive but posturing as Qualley is at getting fiery, exacting and expressive. Indeed, as Wigon clearly recognised, this duo makes slinging words a spectacle — among recent feuding film and TV couples, they're up there with Scenes From a Marriage's Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac for sheer potency. Sanctuary is infinitely more playful than that TV miniseries but, as it also gets heated in a claustrophobic setting where emotions run high, it still blazes. Wigon doesn't solely rely upon a war of words and feelings, as flung around by two actors giving their all and relishing it, though. Visually, cinematographer Ludovica Isidori (The Harbinger) actively pans, shifts, moves and spins, all while never giving even a moment's reprieve from the two quarrelling folks having showdown after showdown across one chaotic night. If a film's frames are a box, then Sanctuary keeps rattling every aspect that it can within that crate, then witnessing everything bounce. Just like Rebecca with Hal and vice versa, the end result is impossible shake off. And the title? That's Hal's safeword — but neither him or Rebecca, nor the shrewdly, saucily entertaining examination of sex, pleasure, ambition, entitlement and inhabiting a part that they're in, prefers playing it safe.
Creative space Commune is hosting Our Hood, a massive monthly precinct night that brings culture, art and music together with wellness, maker markets and food stalls. With the aim of bringing the neighbourhood together, the evenings provide a collaborative outlet and meeting space for the community. The latest iteration of the event will see FBi Radio present live performances from synth-rock trio The Goods, hip hop emcee Mirrah and the 20-women Bad Bitch Choir. On the culture side, they've also got talks and workshops hosted by TEDxHaymarket, on the topic of making meaningful connections, and flow yoga run by drag superstar Dusty Glass. Among the many food and drink stalls, there'll also be life drawing classes, art installations, a pop-up barber shop, plenty of mulled wine and a hidden rum bar. All events are also dog and family friendly, so it's really a catch-all kind of event. Image: Sam Ali.
Things are looking bright in the centre of Australia — not only thanks to Uluru's stunning Field of Light installation, which has been illuminating the Red Centre for the past two years, but also courtesy of the annual Parrtjima – A Festival In Light. When the latter first kicked off back in 2016, it became the nation's first Indigenous festival of its kind and unveiled the country's biggest-ever light installation. Now it's back for another luminous outing in 2018. Taking place between September 28 and October 7 at the Alice Springs Desert Park, Parrtjima – A Festival in Light returns with its another big feat: its biggest program yet. The focal point is the fest's ten nights of light installations, all crafted by Aboriginal artists and set against the MacDonnell Ranges. Attendees can feast their eyes on a light show that spans along more than two kilometres of the land mass, with this year's theme "from sunset to sunrise" — or walk across projections on the desert sands, wander among large-scale sculptures and mosey through a tunnel of light. An interactive experience also allows visitors to select a series of colours, then see their choices brighten up the bush using more than 500 LEDs. In addition, this year's event will also feature a second showcase of light in the Todd Mall, complete with a new installation about the area's caterpillar dreaming stories. It forms part of the festival's second hub, with curator Rhoda Roberts' program of music, film, dance performances and talks spread across the festival's two sites. Music-wise, that includes headliners Electric Fields, who'll play against the stunning scenic backdrop of the MacDonnell Ranges. The Tinkerbee Dancers lead the dance component, while a nightly cinema program will showcase local and national filmmakers. And for those so entranced by the lights — understandably — that they want to know more, Parrtjima's Behind the Lights session will feature Roberts, the festival's lighting designer Richard Neville and AGB Events project director Rodney Cambridge chatting about their glowing creations. The 2018 event marks Parrtjima's third instalment — and while it'll be back for a fourth in 2019, it's heading to a new timeslot. If you're planning a trip next year rather than this year, mark April 5–14 in your calendars. Parrtjima – A Festival in Light runs from September 28 to October 7 in the Alice Springs Desert Park, Alice Springs, Northern Territory. For more information, visit the festival website.
In one of the biggest Australian art exhibitions of the year, Patricia Piccinini's weird and wonderful creations took over an entire floor of Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art. Among its many eye-catching delights, a massive room packed with more than 3000 flower sculptures proved the undoubted centrepiece — and, come September, it's coming to Sydney. Called The Field, Piccinini's immense installation turns the gallery space into a flora-filled landscape, both immersing viewers in its sheer size and asking them to peer deeper at each of the individual sculptures that comprise the artwork. From September 13–16, Sydneysiders will get the chance to walk through and stand inside its wonders at Carriageworks as part of this year's Sydney Contemporary Art Fair. Given that The Field has never been seen outside of Brisbane, it's a rather big deal — and the version coming to Sydney will be re-imagined to specifically adapt to its new location, Carriageworks' Elston Room. As well as The Field, Sydney Contemporary Art Fair will present works from more than 70 Australian and international galleries, spanning six continents and including artists from 32 countries. If you're keen to get a look at Piccinini's piece, prepare to have company — over the past three years of SCAF, more than 60,000 visitors have attended. Image: Installation view 'Patricia Piccinini: Curious Affection' at Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art, 2018, featuring The Field 2018. Photograph: Natasha Harth, QAGOMA
By the time that 2024 is out, hopefully the Matildas will have Olympic gold medals from the Paris games. Sports fans, cross your fingers and toes now. But no matter how Australia's national women's soccer team fares midyear, the Tillies are set to score a bronze tribute to the squad before 2025 rolls in, with plans for Brisbane's ode to their 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup efforts progressing. Last year, after a whirlwind month of football that included the Matildas beating France in a stunning penalty shootout, and Sam Kerr kicking the goal of a lifetime in the semi-final loss to England, the Queensland Government announced that it would build a Matildas statue. The team will be immortalised in a bas-relief piece at the River City's Suncorp Stadium, where the epic match against France was played — was the Matildas' 3–2 loss to Nigeria in the group stage and 2–0 third-place playoff defeat by Sweden. The artwork will measure around six metres in width and two metres in height, with the Brisbane-based Urban Art Projects newly commissioned to deliver the sculpture. There's no exact date yet that the public piece will be unveiled, other than the end of 2024 — but you can factor seeing the celebration of Kerr, Ellie Carpenter, Mackenzie Arnold, Hayley Raso, Steph Catley, Katrina Gorry, Mary Fowler, Caitlin Foord and their teammates, and their history-making World Cup campaign, into your trips to the Milton stadium. Fans can expect "a high-quality, large-scale cast bronze bas-relief capturing an iconic moment of celebration from the tournament," says UAP Associate Paul Gurney, with the company employing "both robotic and hand-crafted techniques to achieve the players' likenesses in bronze". No Australian soccer team has made it as far into World Cup as the Matildas did in 2023 — not the Matildas themselves in the past, and not the Socceroos, either. Indeed, it's no wonder that their games kept smashing ratings records, with the England match becoming the country's most-watched TV program since 2001, and also likely ever. When the statue celebrating the Matildas is installed, it'll add both female and football representation to a site that currently features statues of rugby league stars Wally Lewis, Arthur Beetson, Darren Lockyer, Mal Meninga and Allan Langer, plus rugby union's John Eales. "In a nation that loves its sport, the Matildas were not only the most watched team on Australian television in 2023, their semi-final against England was the most watched event in Australian television history," said Queensland Minister for Women Shannon Fentiman. "They are inspiring women and girls to become more active and get involved in organised sport, and it is fantastic that their efforts will be recognised with a permanent tribute." Brisbane's new tribute at Suncorp Stadium celebrating the Matildas' 2023 Women's World Cup efforts is set to be installed by the end of 2024 — we'll update you when further details are announced.
There's a big, white container coming to The Rocks. But, like most shipping containers in the city, it's not being used to transport furniture. And the word 'séance' will be written on the side in black. It's kind of ominous. But Séance is actually a new installation where participants take a seat inside the tiny space, put on a headset and place their hands flat on the table in front of them. The lights go out and the container enters complete darkness. For the next 15 minutes, participants are fed 'suggestible information' through their headsets. You're probably thinking that there's something dark or supernatural about the whole thing — and going by the name, we don't blame you. But the installation's organiser assures us that 'séance' is simply a French word meaning 'session' or 'sitting'. And so Séance is a sensory experience that looks at the psychology of a group sitting together. Despite not being a horror or supernatural-themed piece, it's a scary indicator of how easy it is for confusion, information overload and the people siting right next to us to affect our judgment. Artists David Rosenberg and Glen Neath (who have collaborated in other sensory deprivation projects before) are the creative masterminds behind the project, which has been described as 'disorienting' and 'deeply unsettling'. It's not recommended for the claustrophobic or the easily frightened. After a residence in Melbourne, the installation come to Atherden Street in The Rocks from November 22 to December 10. Séance is open daily, three times an hour between 11am and 10pm until November 12. Tickets cost $20 each.
Since 2016, the cinema-loving world has had a Studio Ghibli-shaped hole in its heart. That's when the acclaimed Japanese animation house released its most recent film, the gorgeous French co-production The Red Turtle. Its last solo production actually came two years earlier, courtesy of 2014's When Marnie Was There. Still, much has happened in Studio Ghibli's world over the past decade. Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement, then changed his mind. In 2018, fellow co-founder and acclaimed director Isao Takahata sadly passed away. And, over the past few years, the company has been busying itself with its very own theme park. The latter is due to open in 2022 and become quite the tourist attraction — but that doesn't mean that fans aren't keen for more Ghibli movies. Thankfully, the studio revealed earlier this year that it's working on just that, with two new films on its current slate. One of those movies will be helmed by My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle icon Miyazaki, with How Do You Live? actually first announced a few years back. As for the second film, Australians will be able to watch it in the new year. Called Earwig and the Witch in English (and also known as Aya and the Witch), the movie marks the first Studio Ghibli completely made using computer-generated animation. Director-wise, it's helmed by Hayao Miyazaki's son Goro Miyazaki, who previously directed Tales from Earthsea and From Up On Poppy Hill. It's also based on a novel written by British author Diana Wynne Jones, who penned the book that Howl's Moving Castle was adapted from, too. And, Australian distributor Madman Entertainment has just advised that it'll be releasing the film Down Under sometime early in 2021, with an exact date still yet to be revealed. In terms of story, Earwig and the Witch focuses on a girl at an orphanage in the British countryside. She enjoys living there, but her world changes when she's chosen to live with a couple — including, as the title makes plain, a witch. Earwig doesn't know that her own mother also had magical powers, so she's thrust into a strange new world, all while trying to do what she's always wanted: belong to a family. In its English-language version, the film will feature voice work by Richard E Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Dan Stevens (Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga) and singer Kacey Musgraves, plus newcomer Taylor Paige Henderson as Earwig. We've said it before about Nicolas Cage's new show about swearing and the brand new full season of Spicks and Specks, but 2021 is definitely looking better than 2020. Earwig and the Witch will release in Australian cinemas sometime early in 2021 — we'll update you with an exact release date when one is announced. Images: Madman Entertainment.
If you've never been to an oyster room, here's your chance. A welcome addition to the lower end of George Street and a proper alternative to the vicinity's 'pubish' priorities, Morrison's Oyster Bar & Grill is a class act. Enter, and you're greeted by an industrial chic interior complete with exposed brick and concrete pillars. Bursts of colour complement the many pot plants and mosaic tables, while the mood lighting, dark wood, and fresh produce on display recall a sultry British Indian oasis. The space is suited to the after-work business crowd and also caters to smaller groups or couples. The food is also quite impressive at The Morrison but the oysters that you're here for. Perch yourself at the bar where you can watch the magic unfold as the Morrison's oyster maestros shuck your Pacific, Angassi and Rock oysters to order. The St Helens oysters are crisp on the palate and firm in texture. The Laurent-Perrier champagne compliments these well, but if you want to get experimental with your wine/oyster pairing just ask one of the helpful waiters. Morrison's Oyster Bar & Grill has injected lower George Street with that little bit of glamour we've all been waiting for. We'd recommend you'd get down there quick, because word's out. Interior images: Steven Woodburn. Food images: Mia Forest.
When news first broke of Sacha Baron Cohen's new film about a Middle Eastern dictator, it was difficult not to feel like the greatest idea for a comedy had been staring us all in the face and only he'd been clever enough to see it. Despots and madmen like Hussein, Kim Jong-Il and Gaddafi, wait … Kaddafi? Qadhaf- … like bin Laden were already so ripe for parody that the script would almost have written itself, not to mention the added benefit of not having to worry too much about allegations of slander. Add to that the phenomenal events of the Arab Spring and the overthrowing of both the above leaders and their contemporaries and The Dictator seemed poised to be the perfect film for the perfect time. Unfortunately, however, it instead feels like the kind of film a real dictator would have penned and put into production without anyone offering any sort of constructive criticism for fear of being executed. There are definitely some funny moments, and even a few brilliant ones, but on the whole it's a disappointingly infantile film lacking in so much of the subtlety that's underscored Baron Cohen's previous work. "Subtlety?" you say. Well yes — beneath the trademark political incorrectness and gross-out humour of a movie like Borat lurked Baron Cohen's artful capacity for revealing the ludicrous nature of his interviewees' prejudices. Perhaps it was the ambush nature of his earlier films — something no longer possible due to the notoriety they earned him — but exposing a person as a bigot is quite a different beast to simply creating a character and having him say the same sorts of derogatory things. In that sense, The Dictator is consistently offensive, and not in a way that should automatically be excused as 'edgy' or 'provocative'. If anything, it's just lazy. When it's not being so misogynist or homophobic, the jokes largely fall under the three broad areas of urination, defecation or masturbation, and one can only laugh so much at that kind of humour before it grows tiresome. Traditionally we call that period: 'puberty'. https://youtube.com/watch?v=cYplvwBvGA4
When the Victorian government committed to funding the Melbourne Metro Rail project, easing inner-city congestion was the topic on everyone's minds. With new transport infrastructure comes new names, however. With five new underground train stations set to join the city's network from 2026, suggesting those monikers has now been tasked upon the state's residents. If you've always wanted to name a piece of Melbourne, here's your chance. Naming is now open for stations at Arden, Parkville, Domain, and under the northern and southern ends of Swanston Street, with a deadline of October 22 for submissions. Entries can be lodged online, must be no longer than three words or 25 characters unless they're in an Indigenous language, and should be relevant to the geography or heritage of the place in question. Names of people held in high regard by the community will also be accepted, although participants are asked to avoid those of people who are still living. Alas, before you go thinking what we're all thinking, one idea has already been ruled out: Station McStationface. "Try to come up with something more original," the Premier posted on Facebook, clearly hoping to stop a repeat of the British Boaty McBoatface situation. That said, Trainy McTrainface was ruled a perfectly fine name in Sweden. "We want as many Victorians as possible to have their say on what they'd like the five new underground stations to be named," is the Premier's official statement, but entries will go through a vetting committee according to The Age. As for the new Metro Rail itself, it will includes two new tunnels as well, and create a new path into the city that doesn't rely on (but connects to) the City Loop. Here's what it will look like: Image: Binayak Dasgupta via Flickr.
She'll be back: Linda Hamilton, that is, and on the small screen sometime in the near future. The Terminator franchise star, who came to fame in the humans-versus-AI saga in the 80s, is making the leap to Netflix's favourite ode to that very decade. Yes, the actor who made Sarah Connor an icon is joining Stranger Things. When season five of the hit sci-fi series arrives, it'll bring with it a big ending, wrapping up the Netflix hit after the next batch of episodes. Everything from Succession to Barry has also said goodbye of late, and Stranger Things is next. It's clearly going out in style with help from its huge new addition to the cast, which the streaming platform just announced at 2023's Tudum — A Global Fan Event. 🚨Breaking News From #TUDUM🚨 Linda Hamilton is joining the cast of Stranger Things 5! pic.twitter.com/qYJMeGS700 — Netflix (@netflix) June 17, 2023 "I don't know how to be a fangirl and an actress at the same time," she Hamilton in a video played at the Netflix festivities. "I'm gonna work on that." Hamilton's casting marks the first mention of any new actors for the upcoming fifth and final season of Stranger Things; however, there's no news yet on who she'll play, where she'll fit in, what relationship she'll have with the usual Hawkins crew, how many episodes that she'll feature in or if she'll be visiting the Upside Down — or how pivotal she'll be to the show's big farewell. Hamilton, who also has everything from Children of the Corn, Dante's Peak and 80s series Beauty and the Beast through to Chuck and Claws on her resume, is the latest figure from four decades back to grace Stranger Things' frames. Winona Ryder (The Plot Against America) has been around since day one, of course, and Matthew Modine (Operation Varsity Blues), Sean Astin (Perry Mason), Paul Reiser (The Boys), Cary Elwes (Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre) and Robert Englund (Choose or Die) have all popped up as well. While the show will finish with season five, that isn't the end of the Stranger Things universe. Back in 2022, creators Matt and Ross Duffer revealed that their sci-fi show was working towards its endgame, but also said that they had more stories to tell in this fictional realm. Instantly, we all knew what that meant. Netflix doesn't like letting go of its hits easily, after all, so the quest to find a way to keep wandering through this franchise was about as surprising as Jim Hopper's (David Harbour, Violent Night) usual gruff mood. "Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things. At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four, but — as you'll soon see for yourselves — we are now hurtling towards our finale," the Duffers said at the time. "There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things; new mysteries, new adventures and unexpected heroes," the Duffers continued. Already that includes an animated Stranger Things series, which was also announced in 2022, doesn't yet have a name, but will boast the Duffer brothers as executive producers. Obviously, it's headed to Netflix. There's no sneak peek at Stranger Things season five yet, but you can check out the trailer for season four below: Stranger Things season five doesn't yet have a release date, but we'll update you when one is announced. You can the first four seasons now via Netflix — and read our review of season four. Images: Terminator: Dark Fate / Netflix.
UPDATE, December 16, 2020: Richard Jewell is available to stream via Netflix, Binge, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. All it took was a concert and a backpack for Richard Jewell's (Paul Walter Hauser) life to change forever. It's the summer of 1996, and the aspiring cop is thrilled to be working as a security guard at a gig during the Atlanta Summer Olympic Games. But as songs like the Staple Singers' 'I'll Take You There' fill the city's Centennial Park, Jewell spots an unattended bag under a bench. He swiftly informs the police on duty, who figure he's overreacting but evacuate the area anyway. As the crowd begins to disperse, the bomb explodes. While one person is killed, another suffers a fatal heart attack and 111 others are wounded, the toll would've been much higher if Jewell hadn't sounded the alarm. That's the real-life story that monopolised news headlines 24 years ago. It's also the tale that Jewell, with his desperate desire to work in law enforcement, was overjoyed to have attached to his name. And, it's the narrative that Richard Jewell tells, although Clint Eastwood's involvement should make it obvious that it doesn't end there. As demonstrated with gusto in the latter years of his five-decade directorial career, Eastwood is drawn to heroes. He's not just fascinated by people acting bravely, but by true tales of fortitude in the face of pressure, scrutiny, admonishment and even contempt by society, authorities and bureaucracy. American Sniper's flag-waving tribute to the deadliest marksman in US military history, Sully's recreation of the Miracle on the Hudson and subsequent investigation, and The Mule's account of an octogenarian forced to become a drug courier to make ends meet — they all fit the profile, as does Jewell's swift slide from saviour to suspect. Played with equal parts zealousness, assertiveness, awkwardness and friendliness by I, Tonya and BlacKkKlansman's Hauser, Jewell fit the FBI's profile, too. With no other real leads to chase, agent Tom Shaw (Jon Hamm) becomes certain that the security guard's demeanour, portly physique and obsession with cops makes him the culprit. That Jewell lives with his mother (Oscar-nominee Kathy Bates) doesn't help. Nor does the arsenal of guns in his bedroom ("it's Georgia," Jewell notes). So when Shaw slips his theory to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde) — a woman happy to trade sex for tips and just as dubious in her ethics in general, the movie intimates, a perspective that's been refuted by those who knew her — Jewell's transformation from hero to accused perpetrator becomes official. With Jewell, his devoted mum and no-nonsense attorney Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell) on one side and Shaw, Scruggs and the institutions they represent on the other, Richard Jewell becomes an us-versus-them battle — between an ordinary guy vilified instead of celebrated for doing an extraordinary thing, and the forces conspiring against him. With his threshold for subtlety waning over his past few films, Eastwood's feature is that blunt, as is the worldview that comes with it. His conservative politics are well-known, so lambasting the over-reaching government and decrying fake news should come as no surprise. Still, the lack of nuance with which Eastwood tells this tale — working with a script by Billy Ray (The Hunger Games, Captain Phillips and Gemini Man), and adapting a 1997 Vanity Fair article by Marie Brenner — casts a shadow over the movie. Jewell went through something that no one should have to endure. Eastwood doesn't downplay that ordeal, including the fact that Jewell's status as a suspect was widely publicised — even though he was never charged — but the clearing of his name wasn't. And yet, when it comes to portraying the FBI and media, Eastwood does exactly what they both did to his protagonist. Law enforcement and the press are treated so simplistically in Richard Jewell, especially Scruggs, that Eastwood slants the film in one direction and doesn't care to look elsewhere. You could read the filmmaker's version of Scruggs as another of his celebrated working-class characters doing whatever it takes to get by. Wilde's brash, committed portrayal of the now-deceased journalist certainly aims for that interpretation. But there's just not enough depth, balance and empathy on Eastwood's part to support it. Scruggs is a clear villain here — so much so that Eric Rudolph, the actual perpetrator of the attack, barely rates a mention. If Richard Jewell proved bombastic across the board, then its treatment of Scruggs mightn't stand out as much as it does. But Eastwood takes great care to show the complexity of Jewell's situation, laying out the details in a manner befitting any weighty police procedural or 'wrong man' thriller. His staging of the bombing is as tense, gripping and superbly crafted as anything in his 38 films behind the lens — and he smartly anchors the movie around Hauser's multifaceted performance as a man teeming with contrasts. What lingers, though, is the glaring contradiction at the heart of the feature. Richard Jewell advocates against one-note judgements while flaunting its own. It champions the truth about someone unfairly pilloried by the media, yet spins its own questionable story about a real-life figure. Yes, this is a film about a hero, but it didn't need to be a movie about a cartoonish villain as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpbKh4FqR2g
UPDATE, March 13, 2023: Navalny is available to stream via Docplay, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Man on Wire did it with The Walk, The Times of Harvey Milk sparked Milk and Dogtown and Z-Boys brought about Lords of Dogtown. Werner Herzog went from Little Dieter Needs to Fly to Rescue Dawn, too, and the Paradise Lost films were followed by Devil's Knot. One day, Navalny will join this growing list. Documentaries inspiring dramas isn't new, and Alexei Navalny's life story would scream for a biopic even if director Daniel Roher (Once Were Brothers) hadn't gotten there first — and so compellingly, or in such an acclaimed way, winning the 2022 Sundance Film Festival's Audience Award for its US doco competition in the process. When you're a Russian opposition leader crusading against corruption and Vladimir Putin, there's going to be a tale to tell. Usually only Hollywood screenwriters can conjure up a narrative like the one that Navalny has been living, though, typically in a Bourne-style spy thriller. Actually, John le Carré, Ian Fleming or Tom Clancy might've come up with something similar; still, even the former, the author responsible for such espionage efforts such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Night Manager, could've struggled to imagine details this staggering. Creating a fictional character as complicated, captivating and candid as Navalny's namesake would've also been a stretch. Indeed, there are two key aspects to this engrossing doco: everything that it explores about its subject's life, especially in recent years, which is a dream for a documentary filmmaker; and the engaging pro-democracy advocate himself. Often Navalny chats to camera about his experiences, demanding and earning the viewer's attention. In a movie that doesn't overlook his flaws, either, he's equally riveting when he's searching for a crucial truth. Another stark fact haunts Navalny from the outset: it was never guaranteed that he'd be alive to see the film come to fruition, let alone reach an audience. The outspoken Putin critic, lawyer and dissident confronts that grim reality early on, giving Roher the holy grail of soundbites. "Let's make a thriller out of this movie,' he says. "And if I'm killed, let's make a boring movie about memory," he continues. In August 2020, Navalny nearly didn't make it, after all. In an incident that understandably attracted international headlines and just as expectedly sits at the core of this documentary, he was poisoned while flying from Tomsk in Siberia to Moscow. The toxin: a Novichok nerve agent. The instantly suspected culprits: the Kremlin, as part of an assassination plot that he survived. No matter whether you're aware of the minutiae from press coverage when it happened — or of his treatment by Russia prior or since, in a country that hasn't taken kindly to his campaign against its president — or you're stepping through his tale for the first time while watching, Navalny couldn't be more gripping as it gets sleuthing as well. Among other things, it's an attempted-murder mystery. That fateful flight was diverted to Omsk because Navalny was so violently and deathly ill due to the Soviet-era toxin. His stint in hospital was tense, and evacuating him to safety in Berlin was never guaranteed. Although the poisoning is just one aspect of his story, and of this astonishing and anger-inciting film, identifying the people responsible is firmly one of Navalny's quests and Navalny's focuses. With extraordinarily intimate access, befitting his central figure's frankness and determination, Roher shot the aftermath of the incident as it unfolded; one moment in particular must be seen to be believed. Navalny takes up help from Christo Grozev, an investigative journalist from Netherlands-based group Bellingcat (or "a nice Bulgarian nerd with a laptop" as he's called here). As the evidence mounts, they start contacting the men they've worked out were involved. Most calls end promptly. Then, when Navalny impersonates a Kremlin higher-up, phoning to get answers as to why the plot went wrong, answers spill (answers that involve Navalny's underwear, in fact). With apologies to the most skilled screenwriters and authors that've plied their trade in spy narratives, this is an exchange so wild that it can only be true, as Navalny's audience witnesses while perched on the edge of their seats. This is a compulsive, revelatory, fast-paced movie, as directed with agility by Roher. There's as much of a pulse to its early summary of Navalny's career, including what led him to become such a target, as there is to his to-camera discussions and the unravelling of the Novichok ordeal. News footage and imagery shot on mobile phones help fill in the gaps with the latter, but the as-it-happens calls — and the digging before it — are so suspenseful and so deftly shot by cinematographer Niki Waltl (In the Bunker) and spliced by editors Maya Hawke (Janis: Little Girl Blue) and Langdon Page (Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures) that it's hard to see how any dramatisation could top it. Composers Marius de Vries (CODA) and Matt Robertson (a music programmer on Cats) add a nerve-shredding score, too, as part of the doco's polish. Navalny doesn't need it, as seeing its subject's flight back to Russia in January 2021 after recuperating to Germany — a flight back to charges and imprisonment — also makes plain, but the whole package is expertly assembled. There's still more in the absorbing documentary's sights, such as Navalny's relationships with his ever-supportive wife Yulia and children Dasha and Zakhar; his social-media following and the well-oiled flair for getting his message out there, including via TikTok; the charisma that's helped him strike such a wide-ranging chord; and his fondness of playing Call of Duty. Navalny is a frightening portrait of Russia, an account of battling its oppressive status quo and a layered character study alike — and, smartly and astutely, that means looking at the man in its moniker's past approach to consolidating opposition to Putin as well. Navalny has previously thrown in with far-right groups to amass a cohort against the Russia leader, a move that warrants and gets a thorough line of questioning, resulting in frustration on his part. As it lays bare what it involves to confront authoritarian power, demand freedom and fight against the state while putting your life on the line — be it in inspiring or dubious-at-best ways — this film has to be unflinching: it couldn't be as complex as it is otherwise.
Local ceramic shop Elph Ceramics is currently putting on fun workshops so you can make your own little ceramic houses at home. The Australian brand of handcrafted homewares is run by sisters Sophie and Eloise, offering virtual classes guiding you through creating adorable ceramic houses. Originally, the tiny houses were created to test glazes and clay colours, but soon became a hit with customers. The duo hosts in-person tiny house workshops in their NSW Southern Highlands studio, but with Sydney in lockdown, have taken the classes online. The classes run every Thursday until Thursday, October 14, but you'll want to reserve your spot as they've been filling up fast. When you book yourself in for a class, you're sent everything you need to make four to six tiny houses (enough for one to two people to join in) including air-dry clay and a wooden clean-up tool. All you need to bring yourself is a bowl of water, a plastic mat and your drink of choice. You then log onto the zoom call and the Elph team will guide you through making your cute new decorations. The class will set you back $85 plus $15 to ship the items. While you're booking your session, take a look at what else Elph has on offer at its online store.
While some social distancing and public gathering rules are still in place across the country — and Melbourne it preparing to go into lockdown again — some festivals are starting to look to the less-restricted future. Falls Festival has announced it's powering ahead with plans for its New Year's festival and, today, Wednesday, July 8, Bluesfest has just announced the first 50 acts for its 2021 festival. The festival's biggest-ever first lineup announcement, it features many artists who were set to perform at the 2020 festival, which was cancelled — like many — because of COVID-19. Famed American singer and repeat Bluesfest offender Patti Smith and Her Band, as well as the multi Grammy Award-winning George Benson and British trip-hop band Morcheeba are all set to headline the fest once again. Some of the artists new to the lineup include Aussie icon and the human scream Jimmy Barnes, Justin Vernon-led American indie folk band Bon Iver and blues-rock quintet The Teskey Brothers. https://www.facebook.com/bluesfestbyronbay/photos/a.154558221251307/4356464721060615/?type=3&theater The festival is set to return to Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm — just outside Byron Bay — for its usual Easter time slot, from Thursday, April 1 to Monday, April 5. This is dependent, however, on the continued relaxing of public gatherings restrictions. Under NSW's current laws, music festivals are prohibited. When the festival was cancelled earlier this year, it was the first time in 30 years it had not run, but the second year in a row it had come under threat. In 2019, the Festival Director threatened to move the festival to a spot outside of NSW because of the State Government's strict music festival licensing regime. Here's hoping it goes ahead — if save to do so — as planned in 2021, because tickets are already on sale. Time to start making Easter plans. Anyway, here's the full lineup (so far). BLUESFEST 2021 LINEUP Bon Iver Patti Smith and Her Band Jimmy Barnes George Benson The Teskey Brothers John Butler Xavier Rudd The Cat Empire Kool & The Gang The Gipsy Kings Kasey Chambers The Waifs Troy Cassar-Daley Michael Franti & Spearhead The Wailers Perform Songs from 'Legend' LP Morcheeba The Black Sorrows Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue Tori Kelly Buffy Sainte-Marie The Marcus King Band Christone "Kingfish" Ingram Jimmie Vaughan John Mayall Melbourne Ska Orchestra Chain Larkin Poe Weddings. Parties. Anything Backsliders Harts Play Hendrix Ash Grunwald The Wars & Treaty Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles Walter Trout The Bamboos Mick Thomas' Roving Commission Dami Im Pierce Brothers Emily Wurramara Roshani Ray Beadle Henry Wagons Hussy Hicks Pacey, King & Doley Daniel Champagne Nathan Cavaleri Little Georgia Byron Busking Competitions & Winners + more to come Bluesfest 2021 will run Thursday, April 1–Monday, April 5 at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, Byron Bay. Tickets are on sale now via Moshtix.
Dystopian thriller Snowpiercer is a difficult film to categorise. Adapted from a French graphic novel by celebrated South Korean director Bong Joon-ho (The Host, Memories of Murder), it exists at a weird intersection between action film, arthouse movie and genre flick, merging violence with scathing social commentary. Released in Australia on just two screens, it's hard to imagine the film scoring big at the box office, despite the presence of Chris Evans, aka Steve Rogers, aka Captain America. But for anyone who likes their blockbuster with brains, Snowpiercer should definitely be sought out. The film takes place 17 years after a botched attempt to halt global warming plunged the planet into a new ice age. The last remnants of humanity live aboard an enormous, fast-moving train, perpetually circling the globe. The wealthy elite live at the front of the train, surrounded by the luxuries and comforts of the old world. The rest live in the rear carriages, in squalor and in fear. Evans plays Curtis, the de facto leader of the tail section, who leads his people in a revolt to try take control of the engine. Each carriage the rebels capture means another new environment, which brings with it new threats and new discoveries. In this way, Bong mirrors the structure of a videogame, allowing him to maintain an arresting sense of momentum. His visuals are expectedly stylish, while the set design is top-notch; the filthy metallic greys of the tail section soon give way to images of increasing extravagance and excess. The train is a microcosm; a reflection of the growing social and economic divide we see in the world today. The allegory is a grim one, and the violence similarly is uncompromising. Nevertheless, Bong and his co-writer Kelly Masterson inject plenty of moments of black humour. Alison Pill plays a fanatical primary school teacher who reminds her students in a sing-song voice that outside "we'd all freeze and die!" Taking even bigger bites out of the scenery is Tilda Swinton as a cruel, bucktoothed bureaucrat who parrots the party line that "everyone has their place". In comparison to some of the more over-the-top supporting players, Evans feels rather on the stilted side. He's got the brooding intensity figured out, but struggles with the more emotional stuff — there's one dramatic monologue in particular, towards the end of the film, that may cause unintentional laughter. Thankfully, he's ably supported by a cast that includes John Hurt, Octavia Spencer and Jamie Bell, as well as a regular Bong collaborator Song Kang-so. The film's ending may throw some people, but then again, that's part of its appeal. A confronting think piece wrapped in a bizarre and bloody thrill ride, the highest praise you can offer Bong's film is that it really is unique. https://youtube.com/watch?v=nX5PwfEMBM0
When Quentin Tarantino first formed a film production company back in 1991, its name came from movie history. With A Band Apart, the then-fledgling director paid tribute to filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, to 1964 picture Bande à part and to the French New Wave, and nodded to the imprints that cinema's past always leaves on its future. Godard, François Truffaut, Agnès Varda, Jacques Demy, Alain Resnais, Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin, Jacques Panijel, Jacques Rozier and company didn't need QT's ode to cement their greatness, or that of the movement they brought to life in the 50s and 60s, of course — but that recognition is just one example of how far their influences spread. Indeed, watch any film that falls into the Nouvelle Vague and you'll spy the inspiration for countless more from around the globe in the seven decades since it sprang up. That's the impact that the movement's group of French film critics and cinephiles-turned-filmmakers have had. And the Art Gallery of New South Wales wants you to watch, dedicating its latest movie season to these crucial and significant gems. Screening from Wednesday, July 9–Sunday, September 7, 2025 in the Domain Theatre, the venue's Nouvelle Vague lineup is packed with masterpieces that sparked more — from Truffaut's coming-of-age great The 400 Blows and ménage à trois flick Jules and Jim to Godard's crime drama Breathless, Varda's thoughtful Cléo From 5 to 7 and the technicolour wonders of Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. You can head along from 2pm on Wednesdays and Sundays for a middle-of-the-day movie, or at 7.15pm on Wednesday evenings. Whichever you pick, attendance is free, but those complimentary tickets can be booked online or collected at the door from one hour before each screening.
"Sixteen-year-old Billie's reluctant path to independence is accelerated when her mother reveals plans for gender transition and their time together becomes limited to Tuesday afternoons." So reads the synopsis for 52 Tuesdays, the striking debut feature from Adelaide-based filmmaker Sophie Hyde. A nuanced exploration of issues surrounding youth, gender, sexuality and family, the film is also remarkable for its unique method of production: shot chronologically, one scene every Tuesday, for the course of an entire year. Hyde and lead actor Tilda Cobham-Hervey have since seen their little indie scoop up awards at Sundance, Berlin and the Melbourne Queer Film Festival. It hits cinemas in Australia on May 1. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y5WcMzEYRGU STANDING OUT FROM THE CROWD "The rules came first," recalls Hyde. "In film now, there has to be something that helps you stand out, especially if you're coming at it from a low budget, and you're unknown …the truth though is that we're always interested in different ways of making something …and that's something I'd take into anything. Let's not do something because it's always been done. Let's do something because it feels right." "You can't hide the messiness of a year," chimes in Cobham-Hervey. "You're always going to have a pimple, or you've just had a fight with Mum, and you actually can't stop the real world from coming into the film, which I think inevitably drenched it in a reality and authenticity." BECOMING BILLIE With a background in theatre and circus, Cobham-Hervey's role as Billie marked her first time in front of the camera. "It didn't feel like a huge commitment at the beginning," says the fledgling actress, who was in year 11 when shooting began. "Then suddenly halfway through we all had that realisation that this is really massive!" "I felt very different before it started to what I did at the end," she continues. "It was that interesting thing of initially not feeling very much like the character, and then reaching that point in the middle where those lines were really blurred … I don't know what I'd be without it." QUESTIONS OF GENDER As impressive as Cobham-Hervey's performance is, equally memorable is the work of Del Herbert-Jane as Billie's mother. "Del identifies as gender non-conforming", explains Hyde. "Whereas the character is a transgender man and wants to be seen as a man. So they're really different. But I think there is an experience in Del, in feeling different from how people treat you, which is something that's hard to understand if you don't experience that." "It's one of the great things that I feel like I learnt making the film", Hyde continues, "realising that every single person I meet treats me as my gender, and I treat them as their gender, and we just make this assumption immediately. If you try and take gender out of a sentence, you have to change like thirty words." "I found it hard in the film," agrees Cobham-Hervey, "saying in the same sentence, 'Mum' and 'he'. That's really hard to do in your brain." GETTING PEOPLE TALKING Despite the film's festival pedigree, local success is by no means a guarantee. "It's a story about family. It's a story about queer issues. It's about young people. And it's got a very arthouse vibe. Those are really quite different audiences," muses Hyde. "People, when they've seen it, respond in a really personal way. But whether we can get to all of those people, I don't know. "The truth is Australian films don't attract huge audiences at the cinemas … most films that we see now have marketing budgets three times their film budget, and their film budgets are hundreds of times ours." Nevertheless, the director hopes people will go to the effort to see the film in a theatre. "[In Berlin] we were playing in a young person's strand, and talked to loads of teenagers, which was amazing," says Hyde. "These sorts of films are great to see with a cinema audience, where you might actually have a conversation afterwards." 52 Tuesdays is in cinemas on Thursday, May 1. You can read our full review of the movie here.
Crank up Hozier — you're heading to church for dinner on your next trip to Bathurst. Well, it's not church, exactly, but a former church schoolhouse. Known as Church Bar, this candlelit hideaway serves up cocktails and woodfired pizzas. It's got over 20 types of pie, including two dessert ones: the Rose ($20) with white chocolate, mixed berries and homemade crumble and the Charlotte ($20) with melted milk chocolate, vanilla ice cream, strawberries, bananas and choc fudge sauce. But, before you get your sugar hit, try the Russel ($23), with sautéed mushrooms, grilled asparagus, a poached egg and parmesan cheese, drizzled with white truffle oil. Or, there's the spicy Piper ($21) with spicy chorizo, capsicum, jalapeño and chilli, one wih slow-cooked lamb shanks, sweet potato, rosemary and feta ($25) or the simple (but delicious) Vale ($17) with Napolitana sauce, buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil. For drinks, expect classic such as a caipiroska ($16), french martini ($17), bloody mary ($17) and espresso martini ($18) alongside the bar's signature cocktails.
Bayswater Kitchenette has nailed classic Italian food, the way it should be: simple, delicious and surrounded by great friends, even if you're dining alone. Co-owners Glenda Lau (the woman who sparked A1 Canteen's Instagram hysteria with her muffuletta) and Alessia Bottini (formally at Italian institution, Fratelli Paradiso) have rewritten what it means to have a home-cooked meal in Sydney, with honest food, local ingredients and excellent company. "It's not fancy food" says Bottini, but her Mama's Lasagna ($22) needs a little more recognition than that. The four-hour beef bolognese ragu simmers throughout the day before getting layered with oozy béchamel and fresh pasta that will make you so nostalgic you wouldn't say no to ordering a second serve. Although the menu is not strictly regional to Bottini's hometown of Ferrara, she's still whipping up some classics recipes from the family archives including the three-cheese croquettes ($14) which are made the traditional way with bread (not potato) and slinging out plates of mouth-wateringly crisp parmesan crumbed lamb cutlets ($28). To finish off the meal you must find room for dessert as the options of a classically delicious tiramisu or a creamy, caramel filled banoffee pie. Both, at $12 a serve, are too good to resist. The space is snug and at total capacity seats 24, including the six stools along the bar which are quickly snatched up by the recurring locals. One thing you won't find leaving the doors is a food delivery service with a bag full of goods, as this food deserves the effort of leaving the house. Instead, swing by on your way home and pick up one of the take-home dinner boxes at just $15 a pop. The daily take-home meals are constantly changing with keen Instagram followers running to the doors at the end of the day to pick up a slice of slow cooked red wine beef and vegetable pie or potato gnocchi with pork and fennel sausage, broccoli and gorgonzola sauce. Images: Cassandra Hannagan
UPDATE, November 30, 2020: Upgrade is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Watching Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green) is quite the sight to behold. Forget the terrible name, which sounds like it belongs to a Mad Men ad agency rather than a person — with his convulsive moves, the mechanic turned quadriplegic turned killing machine is positively hypnotic. Filmed by writer-director Leigh Whannell in a style that's somehow both twitchy and fluid, Grey dispatches with his enemies with super-human ease, combining the cool efficiency of John Wick with the technological flair of RoboCop and The Terminator. Indeed, alongside the body horror cinema of David Cronenberg and the thrilling science-fiction of John Carpenter, it's easy to spot Upgrade's action and sci-fi influences. Played with grim-faced precision by Tom Hardy-lookalike Green, Grey is not someone you'd want to mess with. But the character's flying fists aren't completely under his own control. Paralysed after a self-driving car crash and a subsequent attack by vicious thugs, he's now the recipient of a brain implant that has re-enabled his limbs. Called STEM, it's an experimental advancement designed by a young tech wiz (Harrison Gilbertson) who seems like he's up to no good, even though he's claiming he wants to assist. The fact that the secret chip has a mind of its own — or, rather, a voice (Simon Maiden) that compels Grey to hunt down the gang that killed his wife (Melanie Vallejo) — doesn't help matters. Bone-crunching, blood-splattered revenge is a dish best-served with an AI sidekick in Upgrade. Although the concept might sound more tired than wired on paper, it makes for a sharp, sleek and savage wander into genre territory. Every element that initially seems worthy of an eye-roll — pre-accident, Grey is vocal about his hatred for all things digital, for example — soon raises a smile thanks to the film's pulpy execution. Weapons immeshed into the human body? A villain that sneezes computer chips? A man virtually talking to himself for the entire flick? It all works. And while Upgrade comes from the mind of someone who has seen everything from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner to Her and Ex Machina, Whannell has dreamed their various parts into his own new creation. There's a scene, part-way through the movie, that couldn't better encapsulate Upgrade's charms — or its savvy ability to combine its numerous sources of inspiration into an engaging vessel all of its own. It's not the most inventive of the film's many set pieces, but it makes a firm and fitting impression nonetheless. Grey awakens from an operating table, STEM freshly inserted into his spine, and Upgrade has an "it's alive!" moment. Riffing on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is hardly new — nor is taking cues from James Whale's 1931 film that brought the novel to the screen. And yet here, it really couldn't be more apt. Upgrade is a thoroughly 21st-century incarnation of the 200-year-old tale about a man reborn from cobbled-together parts, this time including both flesh and circuitry. It's also a movie put together in the same dice, splice, borrow and reuse fashion. Furthermore, Upgrade proves a much more effective use of Whannell's skills than the Insidious and Saw flicks, the two franchises that brought him to fame after initially reviewing movies on ABC TV's Recovery. Instead of serving up by-the-numbers gore and spooks, there's smarts behind this gleeful mashup of genre staples — not to mention passion, personality, a swift pace, a gorgeous red and grey colour palette, and slick yet gritty futuristic visuals. To be fair, Whannell wrote rather than directed most of his previous hits (and also co-stars in the Insidious films), with the underwhelming Insidious: Chapter 3 his only other credit behind the lens. You'd never guess that Upgrade sprang from the same person, which might just be the biggest compliment you could pay this entertainingly schlocky cyberpunk action-thriller. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEnRNIvEKu8
UPDATE, November 6, 2020: A Cure for Wellness is available to stream via Netflix and Prime Video. When you're sitting through a bland attempt to remake a decades-old radio series, or a spate of diminishing sequels in an average-at-best franchise, you can forget that filmmakers don't just make movies — they also watch them and love them. With The Lone Ranger and the first three Pirates of the Caribbean flicks on his resume, it's rather easy to do just that where Gore Verbinski is concerned, but every now and then he does something to remind you. Back in 2011, the Oscar-winning animated western Rango did the trick, ensuring every viewer knew just how fond Verbinski is of the genre. Likewise, with A Cure for Wellness, his first horror film since The Ring, Verbinski wears his inspirations on his sleeve. And while it mightn't stand out as a landmark scary effort, it still makes for intriguingly creepy viewing. For the record, the veteran filmmaker appears to have seen and adored Rosemary's Baby, The Shining, Shutter Island and Crimson Peak, as well as countless '30s gothic fright fests, '70s Italian giallo films, '80s body horror flicks and everything Alfred Hitchcock ever made. Over the course of 146 minutes, A Cure for Wellness plays like the kind of feverish dream you might have after marathoning all of your favourite spooky movies, with your brain trying to mash everything into one over-the-top package. A labyrinthian sanitarium filled with complacent patients, eerie lullaby-like singing, ravenous eels no one else seems to see, and a history of unrest and incest: you can already spot how some of those filmic influences come into play, can't you? Along with a mysterious young woman (Mia Goth), this is what Wall Street up-and-comer Lockhart (Dane DeHaan) finds when he makes the trip to a wellness centre in the Swiss Alps looking for his company's CEO (Harry Groener). Lockhart thinks that he'll be in and out within 20 minutes, but after an accident he's stuck in plaster and unable to head home, which seems to suit the water therapy-loving doctor-in-charge (Jason Isaacs) quite nicely. There's no missing the fact that all of the folks seeking some rest and relaxation are high-flying business executives. Verbinski, who came up with the story with his Lone Ranger screenwriter Justin Haythe, isn't particularly subtle with some of the movie's ideas — and that's without even getting into a subplot involving pure bloodlines. But he's also largely unconcerned with splashing around in anything other than H20 galore, a mood of dread and tension, and gorgeously unsettling visuals in pale, icy shades. Diving deep into all three results in the cinematic equivalent of a gloriously macabre synchronised swimming routine; an intricately choreographed sight to behold that keeps the most interesting parts on the surface. And what a surface it is. Mastering a tone of unease, serving up a sleek, sinister feast for the eyes, and throwing in a wealth of affectionate nods to genre greats mostly keeps the feature afloat. Mostly. Unsurprisingly, A Cure for Wellness struggles with thin characterisations, and even more so when the predictable yet twist-heavy plot tries to wrap up its stretched-out antics. Still, if you've fallen down its well of unhinged delights you'll probably find them part and parcel of the fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mcVodJmBlU
Winter and comfort foods always go hand in hand, but fans of doughnuts should find the start of the frosty season particularly delicious. Each year, to kick off June, National Doughnut Day arrives. And, when the date hits, free round orbs are often on the menu. In 2023, on Friday, June 2, Donut King will be handing out freebies — and keeping Australians happy with their eponymous blend of sweets and carbs. The chain is known for its hot cinnamon doughnuts, and that's exactly what it'll be giving away at every store Australia-wide. Donut King hasn't advised exactly how many doughnuts are up for grabs, and it is a while-stocks-last affair. That said, the brand is intending to serve up a whole heap of its number-one treat to customers in exchange for zero cash, beginning at 1am AEST — if that's when your local store opens — and running through until 11.59pm AEST. The big caveat, other than the first-in-best-dressed rule: there's a limit of one free hot cinnamon doughnut per person. Also, you do have to hit up a Donut King shop in-person, with the giveaway not available for deliveries. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Donut King (@donutking_au) To snag yourself a freebie, folks in Sydney can make a date everywhere from Chatswood and Top Ryde to Leichhardt and Hurstville, while Melburnians can add Northcote, Sunshine, The Pines and Southland Westfield to their must-visit lists. Brisbane's choices include Indooroopilly, Carindale, Chermside and Mt Gravatt; Perth's venues cover the likes of Ocean Keys and Midland Gate; and Adelaide boasts stores in Glenelg, Tea Tree Plaza and more. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Donut King (@donutking_au) Donut King's free National Doughnut Day giveaway is happening in the chain's stores around the country on Friday, June 2. To find your closest shop and check its opening hours, head to the Donut King website.
UPDATE: April 20, 2020: The Guilty is available to stream via SBS On Demand, Google Play and YouTube. Some time in the not-too-distant future, Jake Gyllenhaal will sit in a nondescript cubicle, strap on a headset and try to save a woman's life. He'll do so while playing a police officer who's been demoted to phone duties, tasked with taking emergency calls, who suddenly finds himself talking to a kidnapping victim as her abduction is in progress. The camera won't move from his grey office location as he frantically attempts to resolve the fraught situation, and the movie will be all the more gripping for it. But no matter how effective this forthcoming flick is (or not, depending on how it turns out), exceptional Danish actor Jakob Cedergren and stellar thriller The Guilty will always have gotten there first. An English-language remake of Gustav Möller's Oscar-shortlisted debut was always bound to happen. It's the kind of high-concept film that Hollywood loves, regardless of where the idea came from. Tense Ryan Reynolds vehicle Buried, the involving, Tom Hardy-starring Locke, and Halle Berry's awful The Call have all played with aspects of the same concept, however The Guilty might just be the best of the talk-heavy bunch. With claustrophobic visuals and an uneasy mood, it's not simply smart, savvy and suspenseful, although each of those descriptions apply. More than that, this single-setting, real-time screw-turner is downright masterful in achieving its aim — that is, ensuring that one guy making and taking phone calls ranks among the most intense 85-minute periods in cinema history. In a standout role that deserves to bring Cedergren to broader attention, the Danish TV mainstay plays Asger Holm, a short-tempered, nearly-axed cop who couldn't be unhappier with his current assignment. One call virtually bleeds into the next in his frustrated mind, until a particularly fearful plea for assistance stands out. Iben's (Jessica Dinnage) story is distressing from the outset, involving domestic violence, being whisked away from home against her will, and two young kids left behind to fend for themselves. And so Holm springs into action, doing everything he can without leaving the phone to track down the kidnapped woman, as well as her reportedly explosive ex-husband (Johan Olsen), before it's too late. The immense skill required to not only engage and excite an audience's imagination, but to truly activate it, can't be underestimated. While the printed word achieves the feat with frequency, cinema typically prefers to be more explicit. Even when mystery is involved, movies tend to avoid relegating their most thrilling moments to spectators' heads — the same is true for the bulk of their action and drama, for that matter. Streamlined without ever proving simplistic, The Guilty takes the opposite approach, forcing its viewers' minds to fire on all available cylinders. The details shown on screen are far from sparse, including the range of emotion on offer from the picture's controlled but expressive leading man, and more subplots than one might expect given the movie's premise. But even as cinematographer Jasper Spanning spends much of the film's running time honing in on Cedergren's piercing, pensive eyes, the tale that's literally told via snippets of conversation couldn't be more vivid. Thank Möller's tight, taut script, as penned with economical but evocative precision with co-writer Emil Nygaard Albertsen. Thank their star as well, once again. And, with hearty enthusiasm, thank the craftspeople responsible for creating the film's fine-tuned soundscape. The fields of sound editing and sound mixing can confuse even the most dedicated cinephiles come Oscars time each year, with the former referring to finding and assembling individual sources of audio, and the latter involving the act of stitching them all together. Here, both disciplines are on show, although experienced sound editor Oskar Skriver has done a particularly astute job of finding the right sound for every single moment — and making audiences hang on each and every voice and noise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qYyTJM6Kvo
Shipwrecks, breaching whales, windswept clifftops and seemingly endless swathes of national park — a visit to a lighthouse often feels like a journey into the 19th-century, when lonely lightkeepers spent their days and nights looking out to sea, ensuring sailors and their cargo didn't come a-cropper on hidden rocks and jagged headlands. Since 1995, all of Australia's lighthouses have operated without keepers (the last to go was Tassie's Maatsuyker Island's), which means you can now sleep over in their former cottages built, mostly, in the late 19th-century. Here, we take a look at five spectacular lighthouses on the NSW coast, from north to south. Get ready to loll about in four-poster beds, spend hours and hours mesmerised by the ocean, swim at empty beaches and take long coastal walks. Fair warning: many of these beauties book out weeks, or even months, in advance, so don't dilly-dally, especially if you're keen to get away before the warm weather skedaddles. [caption id="attachment_655268" align="alignnone" width="1920"] National Parks NSW.[/caption] CAPE BYRON LIGHTHOUSE, CAPE BYRON STATE CONSERVATION AREA Welcome to Australia's easternmost point and its most powerful lighthouse. Cape Byron Light's blinding beams have been guiding ships to safety since 1901 and these days, half-a-million visitors swing by each year, many arriving on foot from Byron Bay along a stunning, dedicated walking track. Stay in one of the lightkeepers' cottages and you'll be among the first to see the sunrise over Australia, without abandoning the comfort of your bed. The light-filled dwellings have been transformed into cosy accommodation, with a design aesthetic that reflects their turn-of-the-century origins. [caption id="attachment_655277" align="alignnone" width="1920"] National Parks NSW.[/caption] SMOKY CAPE, HAT HEAD NATIONAL PARK While Cape Byron Lighthouse represents the most easterly shining light in Australia, Smoky Cape on the mid-North Coast ranks in as the highest. Get ready for some dizzying views from 140 metres above the sea and luxe accommodation in the lightkeepers' cottages, built in 1891. Think four-poster beds and period furniture, as well as mod cons, including TVs, renovated kitchens and washing machines. When you need a break from staring out at the ocean, have a wander around Hat Head National Park, which is dotted with pretty swimming beaches and easy-going bush walks. [caption id="attachment_655603" align="alignnone" width="1920"] National Parks NSW.[/caption] SUGARLOAF POINT LIGHTHOUSE, SEAL ROCKS Since 1875, this lighthouse has been warning seafarers of Seal Rocks, a hazardous rock formation that tore many a ship apart with a single blow. Situated on dramatic Sugar Loaf Point, backdropped by Myall Lakes National Park, the site gives you incredible ocean views towards Crowdy Head in the north and as far as Port Stephens in the south. Choose from three cottages: a three-bedroom residence that once belonged to the head keeper and two more humble two-bedroom dwellings, which the assistant keepers called home. In between watching out for ships, keep an eye out for whales, go swimming in crystal clear water and conquer the Treachery Headland Walk. [caption id="attachment_655363" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Peter Saw.[/caption] MONTAGUE ISLAND HEAD LIGHTHOUSE, MONTAGUE ISLAND NATURE RESERVE This stay gives you not only a lighthouse but an island, too. Montague lies nine kilometres off Narooma, on the Far South Coast. It's a nature reserve, so you can expect to meet hundreds of seals and more than 90 species of birds. What's more, the watery views are 360 degrees, foregrounded by the island's grassy slopes and pristine bays. If you're travelling with a crew, you're in luck: there's room for 12 in the head keeper's cottage and eight in the assistant keeper's. Take a tour, which gives you some insight into Montague's history, and come evening, join the ranger on the daily little penguin count. Keep in mind that this lighthouse stay is for the more adventurous — those ready to take a boat trip across from Narooma, then climb the island ladder and up a steep hill upon arrival. Access to and from the island can be cut off due to sea and swell so make sure you come well prepared. GREEN CAPE LIGHTHOUSE, BEN BOYD NATIONAL PARK Found at the end of a winding dirt road, overlooking treacherous Disaster Bay, Green Cape is the most remote lighthouse on the list. If your aim is to travel backwards in time, make this one your choice. The cosy keepers' quarters come with open gas 'fireplaces', plus a clawfoot bath found in one of the cottages, and between June and November, the whale show can be pretty impressive — especially from September to November when the whales head south with their young. When you're not kicking back and relaxing, take a walk through the rugged, invigorating wilderness of Ben Boyd National Park and make sure you take the lighthouse tour: the views from the top are extraordinary. Make sure you plan ahead for your lighthouse stay to ensure you can book accommodation. Find and book lighthouse accommodation here. For more inspiration to get outside and explore, visit National Parks NSW and check out their Instagram @nswnationalparks.
Vivid Sydney 2019 is nearly upon us. This year, the CBD's three-kilometre Vivid Light Walk will span precincts at Darling Harbour, Barangaroo, Circular Quay and Luna Park with a total of 50 large-scale projections. Yup, it'll be the biggest Vivid yet, and we've teamed up with American Express to make sure you do it right — without bringing along anything unnecessary. Find yourself among 500 fireflies, take a selfie with your favourite Pixar character, hit a rooftop bar and hang out with robots, or view the whole spectacle on a ferry ride. Here's how to make the most of Vivid, carrying nothing but your phone, ID and credit card. Think how easy it'll be to slip through the crowds without any excess baggage. [caption id="attachment_624496" align="alignnone" width="1920"] James Horan.[/caption] SEE THE LIGHTS FROM THE WATER The best bits of Vivid aren't necessarily viewed on foot — this year, take to the water to catch all those lights in action. You don't even have to book an expensive boat ride, either. Instead, head to Darling Harbour wharf and hop on a ferry. We recommend taking it across to Luna Park, one of Vivid's newest precincts. And you don't even need to pack your Opal, with all Sydney ferry (and train) services now accepting contactless payment via your American Express, debit or credit cards. Simply tap on at your usual Opal card reader and you're good to go. When you're ready to return, take the ferry back to Circular Quay instead to really get your Vivid views (and your money's worth). [caption id="attachment_719031" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Firefly Field by Toer, render.[/caption] IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS This year, the Royal Botanic Garden precinct is more immersive than ever and it's a must visit with your phone in hand. Of the 15 light installations throughout the gardens, our top pick is the Firefly Field — it consists of an interactive field of 500 'fireflies' that will dance about as you snap away. Other exhibitions include light cascades at the River of Light and the lawns in the brightly lit Dancing Grass installation. Make sure to stop at Jungle Boogie, where you can play a giant instrument which activates a psychedelic forest scene. [caption id="attachment_719032" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Pixar/Disney render.[/caption] TAKE A SELFIE WITH YOUR FAVOURITE PIXAR CHARACTER Beloved animation studio Pixar is celebrating Vivid Sydney in its own way — with a 30th-anniversary projection at the Argyle Cut in The Rocks. Expect all of your favourite characters to make appearances, including Finding Nemo and Toy Story (plus a sneak peek of Toy Story 4). Apart from the characters, the installation will show visitors how art, design and technology take these animations from early stages all the way through to the finished film. Featured art mediums will include watercolours, acrylic paintings, pencil drawings and digital paintings, among others. HIT A ROOFTOP LOUNGE FOR A DRINK AND ENVIABLE VIVID VIEWS Sometimes all the Vivid hubbub can be a bit too much. If you still want to enjoy the sights without fighting the masses, head to the rooftop at Cruise Bar, where the American Express Vivid Lounge will be set up throughout Vivid (you don't even need an American Express card to get in, just register for access here). The lounge is situated at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, right in the heart of Circular Quay. This means you can enjoy some of the best Vivid views with a drink in hand, including spectator-favourite the Opera House sails and the glittering harbour beyond. CHECK OUT VIVID'S NEWEST PRECINCT Back for a second year, the Luna Park precinct is offering heaps of over-the-bridge Vivid activations, plus harbour views aplenty. Thousands of LED lights will be strung across the ferris wheel and thrill ride Volaré, with ride passes starting at just a tenner. There will also be roving street performers in glowing costumes and Mediterranean-inspired dining at the park's restaurant, Altum. From there, the spectacular lights on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House and Circular Quay are all in view. [caption id="attachment_670777" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cole Bennetts.[/caption] CATCH A SPECIAL VIVID GIG AT THE OPERA HOUSE While the Vivid 2019 headliners The Cure are fully sold out, there are plenty of other top-notch acts in town for the occasion that have tickets available. There's an added matinee show for jazz legend Herbie Hancock, an open-air dance party with godfather of deep house Larry Heard aka Mr. Fingers and a tenth-anniversary collaboration between Jónsi (vocalist for Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós) and his partner Alex Summers. Jónsi & Alex will perform their ambient record Riceboy Sleeps for the first time on stage — backed by a 21-piece orchestra and 12-member choir in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, no less. It's sure to be an unforgettable gig. [caption id="attachment_718921" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marri Dyin.[/caption] JOIN A PERFORMANCE AT BARANGAROO'S WINTER WONDERLAND Barangaroo will be transformed into a winter wonderland for Vivid 2019. Winter Camp will take over Exchange Place with a glowing, six-metre puppet called Marri Dyin — a spirit who portrays the important influence of First Nations women. Make sure to stop by during the night performances, occurring Thursday through Sunday, when Marri Dyin invites visitors to join her by the fire and practice hunting and gathering. The artistic performance honours the land's traditional custodians, the Gadigal people, and the powerful Cammeraygal woman for whom Barangaroo is named. [caption id="attachment_719357" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Robot Spaceland render.[/caption] HANG OUT WITH ROBOTS IN DARLING HARBOUR Darling Harbour has taken a sustainable approach to Vivid this year with its Robot Spaceland. The central figure is the 16-metre tall 'Ecobot', which is created from a collection of crushed cars. It's fictitiously tasked with saving Earth from extinction and advancing its sustainable initiatives. Ecobot's mates include a group of sentient robots, who actively up-cycle cars and junk into the Tree 1.0 — an organic landscape created from waste. Three additional robots share the massive exhibition space, all focused on planetary preservation and restoration — and all bright and colourful, of course. Plus, this one's free, so you'll just need your phone for some snaps. When you need a break from the crowds but not the lights this Vivid season, American Express has your back. Gain access to the American Express Vivid Lounge — even if you don't yet have an American Express card. All you have to do is sign-up here. Top image: Hamilton Lund.
UPDATE, November 13, 2020: Bohemian Rhapsody is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. To see Freddie Mercury take to the stage is to see a giant, one who leaps, slinks, prowls, thrusts and struts above the masses. Mercury wasn't a tall man, but he couldn't have had a bigger presence when he was performing. It's evident in every clip of Queen's gigs, and each of the British band's music videos too, but it's never more apparent than in the group's Live Aid show. For 20 minutes at Wembley Stadium on July 13, 1985, in a set played to 72,000 London concert-goers and beamed via television to a global audience of 1.9 billion, Mercury was the towering champion of the world. Unsurprisingly, Queen's Live Aid performance forms a crucial part of Bohemian Rhapsody. Mercury's walk to the stage gives the film its opening moments, via glimpses of his moustache, sunglasses, crotch and singlet-adorned back, while the actual set itself provides the movie's climax. Filmed on the first day of the picture's production, it's an electrifying sequence made all the more so by Rami Malek's spot-on performance as Mercury. But the fact that the blistering show was a greatest hits set really couldn't be more appropriate for the film endeavouring to recreate its glory. The Live Aid gig featured 'Bohemian Rhapsody', naturally, as well as 'Radio Ga Ga', 'We Will Rock You', 'We Are the Champions' and more, and it gave everyone watching exactly what they'd hoped for. Bohemian Rhapsody is a greatest hits movie. It's the neat, easily digestible version of Queen's career, and of Mercury's professional and personal ups and downs along with them. It's also highly sanitised, and even factually altered where it's more dramatically convenient. Here, the Zanzibar-born Parsi man originally known as Farrokh Bulsara chats to Brian May (Gwilym Lee) and Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy) at a pub gig on the night their lead singer quits, talks them into giving him a shot as their new vocalist, and unleashes his now-iconic four-octave range to change music history. Chart success, tours, fame and raucous parties all follow, even after the band's first record label exec insists that the six-minute 'Bohemian Rhapsody' will never be played on radio. Meanwhile, when he's not brandishing his flamboyant stage persona, Freddie struggles with the expectations of his stern father (Ace Bhatti), his complicated feelings for his girlfriend Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton), his sexuality, plenty of drugs and his eventual diagnosis with HIV. Like the best-of releases that fill record stores and try to condense a musician or band's finest work to a single disc, a greatest hits film is never going to cut as deep as a proper album. That doesn't instantly make Bohemian Rhapsody a bad movie, or make best-of records bad records either. You know what you're getting when you listen to a greatest hits album, and it's exactly what's on offer with this formulaic biopic — but it's still largely enjoyable. This isn't exactly real life, and in many parts, it's purely fantasy. And yet, it's an engaging, albeit highly superficial interpretation of Queen and Mercury's heyday as painted with the broadest of strokes and featuring all of the expected tracks. As with many rock biopics before it, Bohemian Rhapsody is all about the gloss, sheen and popular hits that reinforce the existing image of Queen and Mercury, rather than daring to delve beneath the surface. Covering a 15-year time span, this is the band-approved version of the story, not the reportedly darker affair that was originally set to star Sacha Baron Cohen. Still, Bohemian Rhapsody energetically takes to its chosen task. Director Bryan Singer — as well as the uncredited Dexter Fletcher, who took over when Singer was fired two-thirds of the way through shooting — bounces through a template that strings simplistic drama between songs, often using the former to give weight to the latter. The filmmakers also capitalise on a fact that has made the Mamma Mia flicks such a huge success with fans: a killer soundtrack can do plenty of heavy lifting. Great songs don't make for a great movie by themselves, and Bohemian Rhapsody never reaches greatness, or even approaches it. It's entertaining as it hits its intended marks, although it remains noticeable (and even insulting to Mercury's legacy as a queer icon) that the picture skims over certain details. But, regardless of its handling of reality, the film delivers a supersonic turn by Malek. Far, far away from the reserved tension of Mr Robot, he walks, talks, belts out a tune, wears the tightest of pants and juts out his noticeable teeth just like the charismatic Mercury. Malek also gives texture to the movie's slight dives into deeper territory that isn't necessarily in the script — in particular, when Mercury grapples with the loneliness behind his life of excess, fights to retain his connection with Austin and learns of his illness. Both splashed loudly across big and small stages, and giving soulful, lonely stares in quiet moments, it's a performance that's a kind of magic. He will rock you, even if Bohemian Rhapsody itself favours making a big noise over taking on the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27zlBpzdOZg
UPDATE, July 24, 2020: Vox Lux is available to stream via Binge, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube and iTunes. Fame's sharp edges have punctured the cinema screen several times of late. They cut deep in A Star Is Born's moving pop star epic, which tracked the ups and downs of celebrity with wrenching emotion and heightened drama. And they sliced superficially in Bohemian Rhapsody, as it neatly and cleanly explored Freddie Mercury's quest to remain true to himself as he stepped into the spotlight. In Vox Lux, the difficulties and complexities of success slash savagely and hack furiously, with Brady Corbet writing and directing a blunt yet brilliant onslaught of a movie. As he did in The Childhood of a Leader, the actor-turned-filmmaker relentlessly charts the ascension of an influential fictional figure who owes their rise to struggle and trauma. Perhaps unexpectedly, the difference between a troubled kid becoming a fascist ringleader in the former film and a shooting victim becoming a superstar singer in the latter is paper-thin. Celeste is that singer and, as Willem Dafoe's all-knowing, somewhat ominous narration explains, her story is significant. Initially just an ordinary American girl, she grows up to be a victim, then a symbol — and then a star and a pariah. As a teenager (Raffey Cassidy) in 1999, she escapes a Staten Island school shooting with a bullet lodged in her spine and disturbing memories embedded in her brain. Savvy even in her darkest hours, the 13-year-old parlays her distress into a heartfelt ballad with her sister Ellie (Stacy Martin), sparking global attention and a prosperous music career under the guidance of an opportunistic manager (Jude Law). As a long-established public figure (Natalie Portman) in 2017, Celeste has since endured the rollercoaster ride that is fame, and is worse for wear for the experience. She's now a largely absent mother to her own teen (also played by Cassidy), and a target for the tabloids, especially after a terrorist attack is carried out by perpetrators wearing costumes from one of her early music videos. Three acts of violence punctuate Vox Lux: the two mentioned above as well as 9/11. A classroom erupts with gunfire, ending Celeste's childhood. A plane hits the World Trade Centre, just as the rising star is farewelling her adolescence. A beach resort becomes the site of the world's latest massacre, all on the eve of Celeste's big comeback tour. Each incident proves the narrative equivalent to the sparing bursts of silence deployed by composer Scott Walker, punctuating his booming, needling orchestral score. They find further parallels in the soulful instances when cinematographer Lol Crawley peers closely at Celeste, lingers and truly sees her, rather than presenting the character as a product of her surroundings via mid and long shots. They're the moments when everything stops and changes, however Vox Lux is primarily concerned with the exact opposite. Tragedy strikes, and people are lost again and again, but life, pop music and celebrity worship all adapt, evolve and continue. A tale of multiple chapters, periods and sources of pain, all operatically building to a huge pop concert finale, Vox Lux knows that the show will go on. It also knows that everything comes at a cost, especially the type of whirlwind that transforms Celeste from a mousy slip of a girl to a strutting, spiky, leotard-clad adult with a chip on her shoulder as broad as her newly adopted accent. Penetrating insight is baked into the movie's frames, as its protagonist turns trauma into success, then sees her success defined by, reactive to and almost reliant upon the world's seemingly never-ending cycle of trauma. When tragedy and popular culture have become irreversibly intertwined, there's no alternative. There's no reprieve, either. As a result, when Portman's version of Celeste sings "I'm a private girl in a public world" during Vox Lux's third act (crooning bangers composed by Sia, who's responsible for all of the film's original pop tracks), it's the movie's most obvious observation. Still, it's also a powerful statement, recognising how hurt, despair, and humanity's darkest moments have become grist for the entertainment and escapism-driven mill that is our 21st-century existence. Corbet eschews subtlety for force, but he's smartly mirroring his subject matter. Everything that his film says about fame, celebrity, success, myth-making, trauma and public spectacle shouldn't come as a surprise. Yet there's knowing something, and then there's revelling in the crash, rush and mess that arises when a movie dissects its topic in such a provocative and piercing way. For a filmmaker whose visuals demonstrate a love of control — with every inch of Vox Lux proving as slick and stylish as a music clip, and as enamoured with its own style as well — Corbet also clearly loves chaos. He loves making a splash, engineering a reaction, then waiting for the fallout he knows will eventuate. When bullets intrude upon a classroom and later a beach resort, it's jarring. When the film flits from near-stilted scenes of violence to glossy concerts — and from staring up at New York City buildings to watching the younger Celeste grapple with her injury — it bathes in the evident contrasts. And when Cassidy's shy portrayal of Celeste gives way to Portman's larger-than-life vision, it's similarly grating by design. Indeed, the movie's two versions of its fractured protagonist, as played to perfection by its lead actors, couldn't better encapsulate Corbet's overall approach. For better and for worse, Celeste shines in the space where the fragile meets the gleefully in-your-face, and so does everything else about the exceptional, memorable Vox Lux. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMCYE9hKP68
Every suburb needs the essentials. For most cities that would be a grocer, a coffee shop, a chemist and some form of semi-reliable public transport. But these days, Sydney is spoiling its residents — if not with an abundance of public transport options, then with a tonne of poke places. And Balmain is the latest Sydney 'burb to cop one with Bowl.R opening on Darling Street today. It seems like a poke joint opens every other week in Sydney at the moment, but this will be Balmain's first eatery to serve up the Hawaiian raw fish salad. Like most of its competitors, Bowl.R will give you the option to build your own bowl with ingredients like trout, tuna and miso cauliflower as well as all the regular toppings. From Saturday, October 28 the eatery will also be serving up breakfast on weekends from 8am. But what sets this poke place apart is its dessert option: vegan soft serve. Bowl.R's Vice Cream — which is dairy-, gluten- and refined sugar-free — will be available in a cone or a smoothie bowl. Bowl.R opens today — Saturday, October 21 — and to celebrate, the team will be giving the first 100 customers either a poke bowl or vegan ice cream cone. Store opens at midday, so get in quick. Bowl.R is now open shop one, 308 Darling Street, Balmain. It will be open daily from 12–8pm and, from October 28, all day from 8am–8pm on weekends. For more info, visit their Facebook page.
Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, a musical sound was projected across the galaxies in search of intelligent life. This sound was soul-fi, mixing equal parts space laser and soulful rhythms, merging future and past with galactic synths and organic soul. The musical creators are the Gnarls Barkley-esque duo of Space Invadas. Consisting of Australian hip hop producer Katalyst alongside vocalist Steve Spacek, they are well qualified for this latest musical incarnation. Katalyst's music is taken to a new dimension with the addition of Spacek, who has previously collaborated with Mos Def and Common. Now, in their current form, they can be heard on Triple J and FBi, their tunes transmitting across time and space to seduce new audiences. And be sure to keep a watchful pair of ears on Russian-born Fantine Pritoula, an important part of the Space Invadas live band and a future soul diva in her own right. Fantine will be supporting Space Invadas as guest vocalist following a successful collab on "Super Sweet". To win one of five double passes to see Space Invadas just visit our Facebook page, click 'Suggest to Friends' and tell your mates about Concrete Playground, then confirm your entry on our wall. https://youtube.com/watch?v=tAO8k71bCyY
You can't stop the Boosh! First it was Dixon Bainbridge closing down the Zooniverse, then it was the army of nannas plaguing the Nabootique, and were it not for a regrettable run in with the crack-fox, I too would have been bouncing on the Boosh castle with 'The Doctor and the Pencil' (Noel Fielding and Dave Brown). Yes, the Mighty Boosh journey continues, this time Down Under with everybody's favourite shaman, Naboo the Enigma (Mike Fielding). Both brothers from the cult series have continued to tour with comedic acts, stage shows and DJ sets embracing their unique characters. So don't miss your chance to see Naboo as he mashes up indie-electro tunes with a mix of psychedelic classics, hopefully with Boosh flavour — "croutons, croutons, crunchy friends in a a land of broth". Supporting Naboo will be the Vines and Howling Bells DJs, Murray Lake, Sampology (Visual Set) and Sosueme DJs. Dressing up is encouraged, but remember, it's what's inside that counts! https://youtube.com/watch?v=Dh3NrphoASE
Powerhouse Museum Ultimo is set to look a whole lot different thanks to a $500-million makeover — and the plan for the revamp has just been given the green light. The approval for the concept that won 2022's design competition is the latest step towards kicking off construction on the project. "Planning consent allows us to move into the next important phase of the project and to get on with the job of reinvigorating one of Australia's most revered museums, securing its future for many generations to come," Powerhouse Trust President Peter Collins AM KC said. "We will now continue to consult with the community and stakeholders as we refine the final design of the museum and ensure the community provides input into the renewal during the next phase of the planning process." If you'd like to have your say, you can participate in the consultation on the design by completing the online survey before Friday, March 10. Celebrating the current strengths of the building while providing it with a major transformation, the concept has been designed by Australian team Architectus, Durbach Block Jaggers Architects, Tyrrell Studio, Youssofzay + Hart, Akira Isogawa, Yerrabingin, Finding Infinity and Arup. This team's design was unanimously selected by the jury following a design competition. Included in the transformation are expanded exhibition spaces, a new urban space connected to the neighbouring Goods Line that will work as a public square, revitalised creative studios at the Harris Street end of the building and increased outdoor spaces throughout the museum. "The new building casts a reimagined lens on the heritage fabrics and cityscapes from multiple levels of this escarpment – from uses, circulation, terraces and gardens," said Design Director Camilla Block. "Respectful and immediate, the reimagined building lives alongside the Powerhouse core, a powerful embodiment of both geography and backdrop." Aesthetically, the renders reveal a new facade of concrete and red brick emerging from the heritage-listed elements of the museum. "Congratulations to the team for their deeply considered response to the Ultimo site, honouring the history and heritage of the Powerhouse museum whilst simultaneously reimagining how we can continue to engage our communities into the future," Powerhouse Chief Executive Lisa Havilah said. The revamped museum will also feature a new rooftop learning camp called Powerhouse Academy. This space will offer secondary and tertiary students from regional NSW and around the country the opportunity to come to Sydney and participate in immersive learning experiences. The project has undergone a rocky history to get to this point. Back in 2015, Powerhouse Museum Ultimo was earmarked for closure, as part of a move to shift the entire facility to Parramatta. Then, when that idea didn't prove popular, the New South Wales Government committed to revamping and revitalising the existing site, allocating $480–500 million to the makeover. The other Powerhouse Museum location will still be established in Parramatta and is under construction at the moment. Head to the Powerhouse Museum Ultimo's renewal homepage for all the information on the site's transformation. Images: Powerhouse Ultimo renewal concept design created by Architectus, Durbach Block Jaggers Architects, Tyrrell Studio, Youssofzay + Hart, Akira Isogawa, Yerrabingin, Finding Infinity and Arup.
Come July, one of the most peaceful patches of Adelaide will become the most fiery. Don't worry, it's only temporary. Already a hit everywhere from Stonehenge to the Pont du Gard, and also in Melbourne, French art collective Compagnie Carabosse is bringing its acclaimed Fire Gardens back to Australia — specifically to the South Australian capital for 2024's Illuminate Adelaide. While the festival's full program won't be unveiled until Wednesday, May 1 — so, for interstate residents, what else will tempt you to SA hasn't been revealed as yet — this sprawling and suitably glowing installation is worth getting hot and bothered about already (in a good way, of course). For 12 nights, running Thursday–Sunday for three weeks between Thursday, July 4–Sunday, July 21, Fire Gardens will take over the Adelaide Botanic Garden. The North Terrace spot will be filled with thousands of fire pots, sculptures and terracotta urns — more than 7000, in fact. Pathways will be illuminated, archways will be lit by candles and huge spheres will roar and crackle. The installation will also feature luminous kinetic sculptures, and pair its sights with live music. Given that the group has been starting fires professionally for more than two decades, Compagnie Carabosse knows what it's doing — not only when it comes to safely cloaking a huge expanse of grass, plants and trees in flames, but in tapping into humanity's innate fondness for and primal attraction to fire. This isn't just about watching things burn, obviously, but about art. The soundtrack will also boost the mood and allure. Although Fire Gardens has popped up around the world, this iteration will be crafted specifically for Adelaide Botanic Garden. That means that you really won't see anything like it anywhere else. And, of course, you haven't seen the gardens set on fire before anyway. "The Illuminate Adelaide Fire Gardens experience is being designed specifically for our Botanic Garden, with Compagnie Carabosse already plotting and mapping out its largest-ever installation designed exclusively for Adelaide and the first time ever during an Australian winter," said Illuminate Adelaide co-founders and Creative Directors Lee Cumberlidge and Rachael Azzopardi. "Fire Gardens is the perfect way to experience Adelaide in July, and we know audiences will be blown away by this spectacle of leaping flames, fiery urns and smouldering archways." Fire Gardens will be part of Illuminate Adelaide 2024, running from Thursday, July 4–Sunday, July 21 at Adelaide Botanic Garden, North Terrace, Adelaide. For more information and tickets, head to the festival's website. Images: Sylvie Monier, Jess Wyld, Regina Marcenkiene and Vincent Muteau.
Coinciding with National Youth Week, The Smart ARTS Festival commences on April 8, bringing with it opportunity for dozens of Sydney's talented young artists to showcase their ideas. Founded in 2001, the festival is a collaboration of ideas and community, expressed through an array of mediums such as painting, sculpture, printmaking and photography. Running throughout April, the festival will include a variety of events such as career forums, talks, workshops and exhibitions. The festival will kick off with a launch party on April 8 at the Pine Street Creative Arts Centre — a night of live art exhibitions, projections, origami, interactive art and spoken word performances. Consider yourself artistically challenged? Not to worry, the program is not just for artists — it's an opportunity to learn more about art and celebrate the people who are at the forefront of our burgeoning art scene. With so many events to try out, you may even find your inner Kahlo or Picasso. Running from the April 8-17, the Smart ARTS festival will be held in different locations around Sydney. After April 17, the Smart ARTS exhibition and Artefiction will continue until April 28 at the Pine Street Creative Arts Centre. All events are free for people aged 15-26, but some will require bookings.
Cybersecurity might not be anyone's Roman Empire, but with a majority of our time spent online, it's highly likely that you or someone you know will eventually be a victim of a cybercrime (if you haven't already). Combine that with an inescapably popular topic of discussion — AI — and you have a complex interplay that's worthy of a Black Mirror episode. Who better to delve into the double-edged sword of AI in the workplace than Australia's largest financial institution and biggest corporate adopter of AI, Commonwealth Bank? As part of the SXSW Sydney Conference, CommBank will host a discussion on 'The Rise of AI in Cybersecurity' with two fascinating panelists: a reformed hacker and a tenured cop. [caption id="attachment_922153" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Yasmin London and Andrew Pade[/caption] CTRL Group Co-Founder Bastien Treptel has a unique, first-hand understanding of the dangers of cybercrime — as a teenager, he hacked into a major ASX 100 company just to order a pizza. Evolving from his unlawful ways, he founded an information security firm and currently hosts the CyberHacker podcast. Meanwhile, Qoria's Director of Digital Wellbeing, Yasmin London, has experience from the opposing side of the law — she was previously a tenured police officer for over a decade and, before that, a world champion swimmer. Rounding out the rest of the speakers are CommBank's General Manager of Cyber Defence Operations Andrew Pade, who has over 20 years of experience in cybersecurity, and the CSIRO National AI Centre's Strategic Engagement Manager, Rita Arrigo, who is working on a collaborative network to implement the responsible use of AI in the commercial sector. 'The Rise of AI in Cybersecurity' will be presented by Commonwealth Bank as part of the SXSW Sydney Conference. The panel will take place from 12–1pm on Tuesday, October 17 at the ICC Sydney.
To make earth's natural world look beautiful takes no effort at all, but doing the same with Pandora requires immense computing power. Given the latter is an imagined realm in James Cameron's Avatar movies, it can only exist via those ones and zeroes, and the imagery they generate — and yet in 13-years-later sequel Avatar: The Way of Water, the extrasolar moon can be as breathtakingly immersive as anything IRL. Indeed, when this second dip in what's now officially a franchise is at its best, and has audiences eagerly awaiting its third, fourth and fifth instalments in 2024, 2026 and 2028, it's an absolute visual marvel. When that's the case, it's also underwater, or in it. Yes, The Way of Water takes its subtitle seriously, splashing that part of its name about heartily in as much magnificently detailed 3D-shot and -projected glory as its director, cinematographer Russell Carpenter (a True Lies and Titanic alum) and hard-working special-effects team can excitedly muster. For Cameron, darling it really is better down where it's wetter. It's also surprising that he hasn't made a version of The Little Mermaid, a Free Willy entry or a SpongeBob SquarePants movie, such is his flowing love for H20. Plenty on his resume makes this fondness plain, including 2014 documentary Deepsea Challenge that he didn't helm, but chronicles his own journey to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench — aka the deepest part of earth's seabed. To the detriment of The Way of Water, however, there's more to Cameron's latest than soaking in underwater joys. When this flick gets wet, it's a wonder to peer at. It stresses the franchise's love of nature implicitly, and its eco-friendly message about valuing and not exploiting it. It makes viewers wish that what they're seeing truly was genuine. When it surfaces to spin its by-the-numbers story, though, it's often lucky to be an average paddle. A movie that cost US$350 million-plus can't just swim and stare beneath the stunning CGI sea, sadly, as much treading water as The Way of Water does. This long-in-the-works followup to the highest-grossing film ever doesn't tell enough of a tale, certainly isn't concerned with sailing through new narrative oceans, and stretches out its slight plot to a lengthy-and-feeling-it 192 minutes. Over a decade has passed on Pandora, too, since Avatar's protagonist Jake Sully (Sam Worthington, Under the Banner of Heaven) made it his home as new member of the Na'vi, its inhabitants. In The Way of Water, the ex-solider, his Indigenous warrior wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña, Amsterdam) and their family are forced to swap their lush, leafy backdrop for the waves, turning Jake from a Marine into a marine-dweller. Why? Earth's armed forces are back, vengeful and still keen to colonise after ruining their own planet. Avatar viewers, so everyone given its box-office tally, will recall that Jake was originally human; "the sky people", the Na'vi call them. Audiences should also remember that he navigated Pandora plugged into a body resembling his blue-skinned, three-metre-tall hosts, which is why Avatar is called Avatar to begin with. That concept largely sinks away this time around, after Jake permanently embraced his adopted guise at the end of the last film — other than to bring back Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang, Don't Breathe 2) and his crew. With his memories paired with Na'vi anatomy, the saga's chief antagonist is now cerulean as well, and hellbent on tracking down Jake, Neytiri, their teenage sons Neteyam (Jamie Flatters, The School for Good and Evil) and Lo'ak (Britain Dalton, Ready Player One), younger daughter Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Best Food Forward) and the adopted Kiri (Sigourney Weaver, Call Jane). Swiftly, seeking refuge with turquoise-hued water clans is the Sullys' only hope for survival. If anyone had forgotten that Cameron directed Aliens, The Abyss, The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Titanic — or Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep, docos about deep-sea exploration — The Way of Water provides a hefty reminder. The filmmaker cribs liberally from his past work, as seen in all of the military might and technology. He does so to such an extent that a sinking ship plays a massive part, all in a movie that co-stars Kate Winslet (Mare of Easttown) as the queen of the aquamarine-coloured Metkayina reef people. No one hogs floating debris, but making Cameron's script with Mulan's Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver a Cameron greatest-hits package is comical. That said, that approach speaks to what's important to the director, and where he'd rather spend his time and energy. It was true of the initial film as well, with its FernGully: The Last Rainforest, Pocahontas and Dune nods. The Avatar flicks would prefer to be experiences than stories, plunging spectators in instead of doling out plot points. One day, Pandora will undoubtedly stun as a virtual-reality space. One day, the world that Cameron has created will welcome headset-wearing devotees slipping into their own avatars and roving around. With its use of 3D and a higher frame rate, The Way of Water snorkels as far in that direction as it can while tied to cinemas — and that hyper-clear submersion is what it leaves audiences wanting oh-so-much more of. Kudos to the director for going against the tide in a world saturated by 'content' (complete with that bland label lumping everything on-screen together), of course. More kudos to him for valuing cinema as an audiovisual form above all else. Still, that passion, focus and aim can't lift The Way of Water's soggy narrative or deepen its shallow dialogue. And, away from the sea, the feature's doubling of images per second can't overcome the same struggles The Hobbit movies and Gemini Man had. Sans water, that annoying motion-smoothing soap-opera look bubbles up, gimmickry sets in, and Pandora and the Na'vi appear far, far less visually spectacular. Conveying emotion isn't The Way of Water's struggle, however, with assistance from its state-of-the-art performance-capture technology. Gleeful earnestness and idealism is as ever-present as azure and ultramarine tones, especially in the movie's ocean-adoring middle third. That's when this sequel is a family drama above all else, as well as a coming-of-age drama. Forget Quaritch's revenge, even if that's what kicks the flick into its action-packed — and overlong — finale; when The Way of Water charts Lo'ak's journey as the Sullys' black sheep, particularly after he bonds with an also-outcast whale-like sea creature known as a tulkun, or when it hones on in Kiri's spiritual connection with underwater plant life, it's tender, heartfelt and personal. That's when the Titanic riffs, Weaver playing a teen and Quaritch's Na'vi form cheesily crushing his old human skull all get swept away, and when this uneven film floats.
UPDATE: JULY 1, 2020 — Due to worldwide cinema closures and other concerns around COVID-19, Tenet will no longer release on its initially scheduled date of Thursday, July 17, 2020. Instead, it will now release on Thursday, August 13. This article has been updated to reflect that change. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia and how to protect yourself, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website. Every ten years, Christopher Nolan sends audiences on a wild journey. The Batman Begins, The Prestige and Interstellar filmmaker makes movies more often than that, but a decade seems to be how long it takes to indulge his weird and wonderful side. In 2000, that led to Memento, the film that helped bring the writer/director to broader attention. In 2010, Inception and its dreams within dreams were the end result. Now, come 2020, Nolan will be trifling with time and tasking BlacKkKlansman's John David Washington with trying to stop World War III, all in the trippy Tenet. Until now, little has been known about Tenet, other than its name, its release date — July 16, 2020 Down Under — and its cast. And while the just-dropped first trailer doesn't spill many of the film's secrets, it does paint a very intriguing picture. In fact, rumours trying to connect the film to Inception are already circling, just based on the two-minute sneak peek. Washington plays a spy, partnered with Robert Pattinson, who is trying to stave off something worse than a nuclear holocaust. He's also welcomed to the afterlife, told to start changing the way he sees the world and, in one scene, senses that a fight will take place before it happens. Things also move in reverse, stunts defy logic in more than just the usual action movie ways and Michael Caine pops up. And, in case you weren't already thinking of Inception anyway, the trailer is scored with an ominous, droning thrum. Tenet also features Australian actor Elizabeth Debicki (Widows), Harry Potter's Clémence Poésy, Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Himesh Patel (Yesterday), Martin Donovan (Ant-Man) and Kenneth Branagh — with the latter also starring in Nolan's last film, the World War II epic Dunkirk. As for what else is in store in the filmmaker's 11th feature — other than dazzling visuals, an ambitious story and messing with viewers' heads in general — that's something Nolan isn't likely to give away until the film hits cinemas. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdOM0x0XDMo Tenet is slated to release in Australian cinemas on August 13, 2020. We'll update you if that changes again.
This summer, Melbourne's National Gallery of Victoria has brought together works from two of New York City's legendary 80s art figures. The world-first Crossing Lines exhibition showcases the art of Keith Haring alongside that of his good friend and creative rival Jean-Michel Basquiat. Emerging during the early 1980s, both artists found their start on the street before becoming hot properties in galleries around the world. Regarded as two of the most influential artists of the late 20th century, Crossing Lines draws parallels between the pair's differing and distinctive visual language of lines, signs and symbols. Both Haring and Basquiat commented heavily on society and politics in their practice; Haring was a champion of gay rights and sexual expression and, as an African-American artist, Basquiat explored race prominently in his work. Running until April 13, 2020, across painting, sculpture, objects and photographs, the NGV presents 200 artworks amassed from prominent galleries and private collections. Throughout the exhibition, visitors will be taken on a deep dive into each artist's personality and struggles, experiencing how they navigated their way from being relatively obscure street artists to global icons within only a short few years. As you make your way through Crossing Lines, you'll see some of the work Haring and Basquait created on New York City's streets and subway stations, as well creations from their early shows that propelled their careers onwards. Near the end of the exhibition, there's an array of important works created in the lead up to their deaths, which were both tragically premature. With so much to unpack, we've picked out six of the most impressive works you can find at Keith Haring | Jean-Michel Basquiat: Crossing Lines. KEITH HARING: UNTITLED (1983) Featuring many of Haring's trademark characters, this untitled work explores one of Haring's most discussed topics: technology and mass media. From the rise of personal computers to video games and cable television, the 1980s was an era of technological innovation. While many hailed these developments, Haring often expressed his concerns about how computers would influence society and especially its relationship with art. In 1983, Haring wrote: "The human imagination cannot be programmed by a computer. Our imagination is our greatest hope for survival." KEITH HARING: PROPHETS OF RAGE (1988) Whether it was the AIDS epidemic, the anti-apartheid movement or children's health, Haring was renowned for using his art to bring attention to many of society's most important issues. Painted in 1988, Prophets of Rage is Haring's take on race relations in the United States during such a turbulent era. Diverging from Haring's more lighthearted creations, this work demonstrates how he used his art vocabulary to tackle major topics like injustice. KEITH HARING: A PILE OF CROWNS, FOR JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1988) Found towards the end of the exhibition, one of the key pieces presented at Crossing Lines is titled A Pile of Crowns, for Jean-Michel Basquiat. Following the death of Basquiat on August 12, 1988, Haring produced this touching tribute to his friend, combining Basquiat's iconic crown motif with his own distinct use of line and symbolism. Haring was deeply heartbroken by the death of his friend, journaling extensively about his life. Alongside this work, you can find a handwritten draft by Haring for Basquiat's obituary. JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: UNTITLED (1982) While Haring was known to carefully plan out his murals, Basquiat found it almost impossible to stop adding to his. Layered with endless references and metaphors, throughout his work you'll notice his iconic crowns, skulls and copyright symbols. This work from 1982 sees Basquiat at his best, producing a vivid yet chaotic artwork that can be examined through multiple lenses. With the lines, colour and layers coming together with great effect, this work alludes to the concept of American identity. JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: ISHTAR (1983) Basquiat was known to have a deep interest in ancient mythology. This massive triptych painting — named after the Egyptian goddess of war and fertility — is again layered like almost all of Basquiat's work, with the background created using photocopied drawings, which was a common practice in his work. Drawing from a host of influences and cultural materials, Basquiat would often recreate text from books he was reading. In the top left corner, you can make out a list from Harold Bayley's 1912 book The Lost Language of Symbolism. JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: CANTASSO (1982) As one of Basquiat's landmark paintings, Cantasso marks an important moment in his career where he went from a modest graffiti and street artist to an internationally celebrated star. Featuring bold lines and colours emblematic of Basquiat's work, Cantasso is an attention-grabbing piece that displays his admiration for artists ranging from Pablo Picasso to the frenetic work of Cy Twombly and Jean Dubuffet. Cantasso is also recognised as the first in a series of Basquiat's work that included exposed stretcher-bars, where he would fashion ad-hoc canvasses out of just about any material available to him. Keith Haring | Jean-Michel Basquiat: Crossing Lines is on display at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne until April 13, 2020. It's a ticketed exhibition — you can buy them in advance on the NGV website. All images: Installation view of Keith Haring | Jean-Michel Basquiat: Crossing Lines for NGV International. © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring Foundation. Shot by Tom Ross.
UPDATE, December 20, 2022: Everything Everywhere All At Once is available to stream via Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. Imagine living in a universe where Michelle Yeoh isn't the wuxia superstar she is. No, no one should want to dwell in that reality. Now, envisage a world where everyone has hot dogs for fingers, including the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon icon. Next, picture another where Ratatouille is real, but with raccoons. Then, conjure up a sparse realm where life only exists in sentient rocks. An alternative to this onslaught of pondering: watching Everything Everywhere All At Once, which throws all of the above at the screen and a helluva lot more. Yes, its title is marvellously appropriate. Written and directed by the Daniels, aka Swiss Army Man's Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, this multiverse-hopping wonder is a funhouse of a film that just keeps spinning through wild and wacky ideas. Instead of asking "what if Daniel Radcliffe was a farting corpse that could be used as a jet ski?" as their also-surreal debut flick did, the pair now muses on Yeoh, her place in the universe, and everyone else's along with her. Although Yeoh doesn't play herself in Everything Everywhere All At Once, she is seen as herself; keep an eye out for red-carpet footage from her Crazy Rich Asians days. Such glitz and glamour isn't the norm for middle-aged Chinese American woman Evelyn Wang, her laundromat-owning character in the movie's main timeline, but it might've been if life had turned out differently. That's such a familiar train of thought — a resigned sigh we've all emitted, even if only when alone — and the Daniels use it as their foundation. This isn't a movie that stays static, however, or wants to. Both dizzying and dazzling in its ambitions, the way it brings those bold aims to fruition, the tender emotions it plays with and the sheer spectacle it flings around, Everything Everywhere All At Once is a magnificent dildo-slinging, glitter cannon-shooting, endlessly bobbing and weaving whirlwind. Everything Everywhere All At Once is the movie version of a matryoshka set, too. While Russian Doll nods that way as well, the possibilities are clearly endless when exploring stacked worlds. Multiverses are Hollywood's current big thing — the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DC Extended Universe, the Sony Spider-Man Universe and Star Trek have them, and Rick and Morty adores them — but the concept here is equally chaotic and clever. It starts with Evelyn, her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's Short Round and The Goonies' Data) and a hectic time. Evelyn's dad (James Hong, Turning Red) is visiting from China, the Wangs' daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) brings her girlfriend Becky (Tallie Medel, The Carnivores) home, and IRS inspector Deirdre Beaubeirdra (Jamie Lee Curtis, Halloween Kills) is conducting a punishing audit. Then Evelyn learns she's the only one who can save, well, everything, everywhere and everyone. There's a great gag in that revelation, playing smartly yet savagely with perspective — because Everything Everywhere All At Once is all about how we choose to see things. Imagine trudging over to your local tax department, trolley full of receipts in hand and possible financial ruin in front of you, only to be told mid soul-crushing bureaucratic babble that it all means nothing since the very fate of the universe is at stake. But, at the same time, imagine realising that it's the simplest things that mean the most when space, time, existence and every emotion possible is all on the line. Although that isn't how a different version of Waymond puts it to Evelyn, it's what sparkles through as she's swiftly initiated into a battle against dimension-jumping villain Jobu Tapaki, discovers that she can access multiple other iterations of herself by eating chapsticks and purposefully slicing herself with paper cuts, and gets sucked into a reality-warping kaleidoscope. For Evelyn 1.0, everything the film throws her way is overwhelming, unsurprisingly. The Daniels have done a stellar job of ensuring viewers feel the same. Everything Everywhere All At Once splashes around more gleefully overstuffed absurdity than even a 139-minute-long movie can usually handle, but relentlessness is part of the point. When you're making Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse meets Inception meets Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets The Matrix meets Hong Kong marital-arts cinema, a notion few folks in any multiverse could dream up, havoc comes with the territory. As shot by Larkin Seiple (Swiss Army Man) and edited by Paul Rogers (Scheinert's solo flick The Death of Dick Long) with unfaltering flair that's 100-percent designed to overload the senses, that on-screen anarchy is what makes the movie so immersive and Evelyn's plight so relatable. And, it's essential to anchoring the feature's 'nothing matters, everything is fleeting, revel in the small stuff' mantra. While it was penned for Jackie Chan, Yeoh is the movie's chosen one well beyond the script. Her casting lets the Daniels see acting stardom in one of Evelyn's other lives, but it's her flexibility and grounding that's crucial. Everything Everywhere All At Once walks such a thin tightrope between the raucous and the ridiculous that plenty could've faltered. In another universe, it did. But always beating away at the centre of this film in this reality, amid the countless costume changes, hairstyles and all (with enormous credit due to the inventive behind-the-scenes teams), is Yeoh. She deploys the quiet ferocity that's marked her performances for four decades, and twists through everything from existential malaise and intergenerational trauma to the everyday struggle that is living a life, including as a mother and wife, that's worlds away from your hopes and dreams. Yeoh is a joy to watch in whatever is lucky to have her — including Last Christmas, Boss Level, Gunpowder Milkshake and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings recently — and her work here shakes her entire career to-date together, then lets the best, boldest and most bizarre possibilities shine. Everything Everywhere All At Once is a tribute to its lead as much as anything else, but it's also so much else: a marvellous calling card for Hsu, a glorious return for the exceptional Quan, and a movie that makes weird and wonderful use of Curtis, too. It's an anything-goes free-fall through interdimensional mania where everything does and can happen — as brilliantly choreographed — and a clear-eyed examination of the ties and troubles of family, of uprooting your existence to strive for a future that mightn't come, and of weathering the mundane and the sublime in tandem. It's a whirl, a swirl, a trip, a blast and a juggle as well and, in this universe, the Daniels wouldn't have it any other way.
After years of anticipation, from the first whispers to watching the plans unfold and the drip feed of food and drink openings in the precinct, Sydneysiders can finally start enjoying its fancy new public library inside Darling Square's Exchange Building, which opened its doors just this week. Replacing the now-closed Haymarket Library (and four times its size), Darling Square Library has opened across two storeys of the slinky-like inner-city building, designed by Japanese architect Kenga Kumo and made using 20 kilometres of timber, offering plenty of new places to relax, study and work, with free wifi and public computers. The schmick new library has more than 30,000 books that are free to borrow, and millions more digital items, including ebooks, movies, magazines, a large Asian literature collection, retro gaming consoles (including Nintendo, Atari and Sega), and robotic and electronic kits. There are also lounges and desks scattered inside and out, meeting and seminar rooms, a dedicated kids area, workshop spaces and an ideas lab where you can attend free workshops to help you use the 3D printers, laser and dye cutter, soldering irons and more. [caption id="attachment_748258" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Courtesy of City of Sydney[/caption] If it's been a while since you stepped foot inside a public library, all you need to know is that it's free to signup and borrow if you're a NSW resident — and you can wander the aisles and enjoy the space even if you're not a member. You can check it all out straight away or head to the official opening on Saturday, November 9 — there'll be DJs, plus you can hear all about the workshops and events on offer, see the laser cutter in action, and enjoy some free coffee and gelato. And, speaking of food, forget stale egg sandwiches and sub-par coffee from the uni cafe. When you're studying here, you'll be fuelling up for a study session at one of the many (many) new eateries now whipping out delicious food right there inside the Exchange Building, and throughout the Darling Square precinct, including a Japanese pasta spot, a milk bar from the Devon Cafe team and next-level toasties and cakes from the crew behind Enmore's Saga. Find Darling Square Library at level 1–2, Darling Exchange Building, 1 Little Pier Street, Haymarket. It's open 10am–7pm, Monday to Friday, and 11am–4pm, Saturday and Sunday. To check out the opening library workshops, head to the City of Sydney website. Image one: Parker Blain. Image two–four: Courtesy of City of Sydney.
This article is sponsored by our partners, Toshiba. There’s no doubting the quaint charm of the ubiquitous sushi train. But there’s also no reason why Japanese food innovation should stop at the nearest station. Consequently, Toshiba is about to take the humble sushi roll to a whole new adventure. For three nights, they’ll be bringing the world’s first ever sushi roller-coaster to Sydney and feeding you Zushi-made delights in the process — all for free (free!). From Friday, October 30, to Sunday, November 1, the mad culinary fairground attraction will pop up at District 01, an arts space in Randle Street, just a few minutes’ walk from Central Station. Between 6pm and 9pm, you’ll be able to pop in, put in your order and watch it zip, dip and dive its way to your table. This is what happens when uber-advanced tech combines with cutting-edge cooking. THE ROLLER-COASTER First up, the event will operate on a first-come, first-served basis. Bookings aren’t possible. So, whoever’s waiting at the head of the queue when the doors open at 6pm will be eating first. There’s seating for about 18 people at any one time. To gain admission, you’ll need evidence that you’ve ‘liked’ Toshiba’s Facebook page, so don’t forget your mobile device. Once seated, you’ll make your order via one of Toshiba’s very latest tablets powered by Intel inside and then wait for the roller-coaster to do its thing. The epic steel contraption starts life at ceiling height in the kitchen, wraps its way around the room and descends to the dining table. Your sushi travels along it at break-neck speed, taking an array of ups and downs on the way to its destination. THE FOOD The roller-coaster won’t be the only new invention of the night. Surry Hills-based sushi gurus Zushi are putting together four very special, custom-made creations. We can’t tell you exactly what they are (no spoilers!), but we can reveal that they’re inspired by Zushi favourites. We can also assure you that they’ll be constructed extra carefully and packed tightly into cute, hardy little carts to ensure that they survive their ride without suffering any damage. Zushi chef Lee has been in the business for 27 years and is big on sourcing local ingredients. He’s known for creative takes on both sushi and izakaya-inspired dishes, and Zushi is definitely among the more fun and inviting of Surry Hills’ many eateries. It’ll be exciting to find out what Lee comes up with for this new dining experience. SERIOUSLY JAPANESE The pop-up, which is another chapter in Toshiba’s Seriously Japanese campaign, will take on a distinctively Japanese theme. Walking in, you’ll find yourself face-to-face with a show chef, who’ll be chopping up a sushi storm, while the roller-coaster rattles overhead and a big screen displays Japan-inspired graphics. You’ll then be greeted by geisha-costumed waitresses and waited on by suited 'salary men'. To keep you entertained throughout your seating (as if the roller-coaster isn't enough), there’ll be music, lights and visuals. Areas in the room will be decorated according to various Japanese themes, with props and toys. Think everything from paper lanterns to fortune cats (referred to as ‘maneki neko’ in Japanese) to Godzilla. The aim is slick-technology-and-ingenuity-meets-quirky-cute-funny. Keep up to date with developments at Toshiba’s Australia and New Zealand Facebook page.
Practise your Cockney accent, rehearse your favourite drunken London tale and prepare for high tea: the British Film Festival has arrived in Australia for the first time ever. There'll be a dozen contemporary features, five 20th-century classics (The Third Man and Lawrence of Arabia among them) and a chance to quiz Eric Bana during a live Q&A session, and a simply smashing opening night party. One film not to miss is Jump, a massive hit at the Toronto International Film Festival that captures the stories of three troubled individuals, who find themselves entangled by doomed romance, theft and revenge. Another much-talked-about feature is eccentric rock movie Good Vibrations, which comes to the British Film Festival following sold-out sessions at the 2013 Melbourne International Film Festival. Set against Ireland's Troubles of the 1970s, it follows the story of rebellious, maverick music lover Terri Hooley, Belfast's 'godfather of punk', and his determination to show the world the power of the seven-inch single. The star power is in Dom Hemingway, a gangster film in the style of Sexy Beast. It stars Jude Law as the outrageous, volatile Dom and Richard E. Grant as his best friend, Dickie. Following Dom's release after 12 years of imprisonment, the two travel from London to the south of France, encountering all number of misadventures along the way, from a car accident to an inevitable femme fatale. There's also the latest offering from Uberto Pasolini (producer of The Full Monty), Still Life, a drama in the British humanist tradition. The British Film Festival is on in Melbourne (November 20 to December 1), Sydney (November 21 to December 1), Brisbane (November 27 to December 8) as well as other cities around Australia. Thanks to the festival, we have 15 double in-season passes to give away. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email us with your name and address. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au Brisbane: win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au
No one in Australia expects to feel cold in January. Summer is in full swing, after all. It's prime beach and pool season, obviously — and, even though the festive period is over and everyone is settling back into the year after the holidays, thoughts of lazing around by or splashing around in a body of water aren't ever too far from anyone's minds. Whether you're fond of cooling down with a refreshing dip, or you prefer to escape to the vicinity of the nearest fan or air-conditioner, you might want to put those plans into action across the rest of this week. From today, Thursday, January 21, temperatures are expected to be mighty hot all around the nation, according to the Bureau of Meteorology's latest major cities forecast. As per BOM's city-specific forecasts, some of those temps are due to stick around a bit longer than that, too. After an expected top of 27 degrees on Thursday, Sydneysiders can expect a few sweaty days, with temps staying at 30 or above from Friday until mid-next week. Still in NSW, Newcastle will hit 34 on Sunday, while Wollongong will get to 31. That isn't as warm as Canberra in the ACT, though — with the Australian capital forecast to hit 38 on Sunday and 39 on Monday. Sunday and Monday will be warm in Melbourne, too, with tops of 35 and 37 forecast. They'll come after a 31-degree Thursday, then expected maximums of 26 and 27 on Friday and Saturday. Thankfully, a drop to 22 is forecast for Tuesday. https://twitter.com/BOM_Vic/status/1351781371715477504 Brisbane will get to 27 on Thursday, 29 on Friday, and 30 from Saturday–Monday, and 33 on Tuesday and Wednesday — so it'll be warm, but also usual summer weather. In Adelaide, the mercury will rise to 35 on Thursday, dip down to 32 on Friday, then soar to 39 on Saturday and a whopping 41 on Sunday. Also in the centre of the country, Alice Springs can expect its maximum temperature to stay between 35–39 degrees for four days from Thursday, while Darwin's will sit at 32-33 across the same period. In Perth, it'll actually get a tad cooler over the weekend — starting with a 34-degree maximum on Thursday, then going up to 36 degrees on Friday, before dropping to 26 on Saturday and Sunday. And down in Hobart, a top temperature of 27 is forecast for Sunday, with 30 expected on Monday — following other maximums of 22, 23 and 25 in the days prior. Of course, while these are BOM's forecasts as issued at 6.05am on Thursday, January 21, conditions may change — so keep an eye on the Bureau's website for the most up-to-date information. For latest weather forecasts, head to the Bureau of Meteorology website.
Teen singer-songwriter Budjerah is practically going from one end of the state to the other this November, starting in Lismore near the Queensland border and heading right down to Tumut in the Snowy Mountains. You may know him from an appearance on last year's The Voice, but the youngster from Northern NSW spot Fingal Head has made great strides since then, signing to the same management company as national heavyweights Tash Sultana and Tones & I. So, jump on the chance to see Budjerah at these intimate performances before he inevitably makes it big. The Coodjinburra artist is performing at Lismore City Hall on Saturday, November 14 for $40 a pop — you can get your tickets here. Otherwise you can head to Hurstville Entertainment Centre on Saturday, November 28 or Tumut River Brewing Co. on Sunday, November 29 and catch him for free. You'll still need to book your spot, though, which you can do over here for the Hurstville gig or via the Tumut River Brewing website. For the latest info on NSW border restrictions, head here. If travelling from Queensland or Victoria, check out Queensland Health and DHHS websites, respectively.
