If you're a Queenslander who is currently in New South Wales or the Australian Capital Territory and you've been thinking about heading home, the Sunshine State has put a timeline on your return. The same applies to NSW and ACT residents pondering a holiday up north, or to anyone who has been in the two areas in the past 14 days and plans to mosey up to Queensland sometime soon — with the state implementing new border restrictions from 1am on Saturday, August 8. When the weekend kicks in, Queensland will completely close its border to NSW and ACT, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced today, Wednesday, August 5. Both regions have now been declared hotspots by Queensland's Chief Health Officer, which means that all visitors from NSW and ACT will be denied entry to Queensland, except for rare exemptions and returning Queenslanders. If you fall into those categories, you'll have to fork out for a 14-day stretch of mandatory hotel quarantine. The Premier advised that exemptions will be limited, however, including for compassionate reasons. During the shutdown, the aim is to only allow folks who live in border communities and essential workers such as truck drivers to cross. Anyone who fits that description will need to obtain a pass, with those who reside in the area requiring proof of address and photo identification to do so. https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1290786409465278464 The move comes in response to rising COVID-19 case numbers down south, and follows earlier decisions to ban visitors from Victoria, as well as several parts of NSW — once Queensland started reopening its border in mid-July to interstate travellers, that is. The restrictions on NSW visitors started with the Campbelltown, Liverpool and Fairfield City local government areas, then spread to include the entirety of Greater Sydney, a limit that came into effect this past weekend. "I know it's going to be tough on Queenslanders," Premier Palaszczuk explained. "But your health comes first. We need to protect not only our health, we need to protect the families, we need to protect our economy. We've seen what's happened in Victoria. We don't want to see that happening here." The Premier also stressed that Queenslanders shouldn't be thinking about travelling south. "It's also very important that Queenslanders stay in Queensland. Now is not the time to travel to New South Wales. Now is not the time to travel to Victoria," she said. The border closure with NSW and the ACT will be in effect at least until the end of August, when the Queensland Government will undertake a review. From 1am on Saturday, August 8, anyone who has visited New South Wales or the Australian Capital Territory in the past 14 days will not be allowed to enter Queensland unless they are a returning resident or are entering for one a few essential reasons. For more information, head to the Queensland Government website. Image: Yun Huang Yong via Flicker.
Campbell Parade mainstay Hotel Ravesis has muscled its way back onto Bondi's new cocktail spot radar, reopening with a bold new look and completely revamped offering. Gone are Ravesis' dated silver trimmings and stark grey walls, the hotel's new summery shake-up capitalises brilliantly on its beachfront address, showcasing panoramic ocean views from its Art Deco windows, and a coastal-chic fitout of flamingo pink and dazzling white. The two-storey stunner's sprawling wraparound terrace has been spruced up, and the space's assortment of breezy dining and bar spaces adorned with a healthy dose of wicker and greenery. Hotel Ravesis is currently restyling its collection of 12 boutique suites and rooms. The hotel will remain open throughout the process with all rooms due for completion by mid-2017. Chef Peter Streckfuss (The Lemon Tree, Catalina) is on the pans, delivering a Mediterranean-accented menu full of fresh, lively flavours. He's letting the top-notch local produce do all the talking, throwing down a variety of great seafood options, and shucking oysters fresh to order. The perfect match to some post-beach cocktails, we'd say. Even the entertainment program has been given a big old overhaul, pulling together a rotation of midweek solo artists and bands, and DJs throughout the weekend. On Wednesday nights an eight-piece superband of Sydney musicians called The Elements, made up of artists from The Whitlams, Skunkhour and the Bernard Fanning band, has the stage. Images: Nikki To and Katje Ford.
Running events in the arts and hospitality industries is hard enough at the best of times, let alone when your city is drifting in and out of restrictions and lockdowns. Despite this, 2021 had plenty of shining lights. The lockout laws were finally rolled back in Kings Cross, there was an avalanche of exciting new restaurant and bar openings, and some adventurous, thought-provoking and all-round joyous events took place over the year. From stunning plays to citywide festivals, 2021 still managed to deliver — and we've compiled a list of eight of the year's most memorable events. While many fantastic gigs, festivals and shows were cancelled due to the pandemic, these are the ones that, thanks to hard work and a whole lot of luck, managed to go ahead and fill our year with good food, music, art and culture.
When word arrived that a new version of Scott Pilgrim was on its way, it felt as inevitable as the person of your dreams having a complicated romantic past. That nothing ever truly dies in pop culture is old news. So is the fact that nothing fades into memory, especially when respawning can capitalise upon a fanbase. Turning Scott Pilgrim into a TV show is the latest example on an ever-growing list of leaps from the big screen to the small; however, sight unseen, making a Scott Pilgrim anime series felt more fitting than most similar jumps. Thanks to manga-style aesthetic that filled Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novels, the video game-esque plot about battling seven evil exes and the cartoon vibe that Edgar Wright brought so engagingly to his 2010 big-screen live-action adaptation, imagining how O'Malley and co-writer/co-producer BenDavid Grabinski (Are You Afraid of the Dark?) — plus Wright (Last Night in Soho) again as an executive producer — could bring that to an eight-part animation was instantly easy. Called Scott Pilgrim Takes Off rather than Scott Pilgrim vs the World, the Netflix series that streams from Friday, November 17 begins as a straightforward Scott Pilgrim anime, introducing the same tale that's been spread across pages and cinemas — and played through via a video game, too — right down to repeated shots and dialogue. Meet Scott Pilgrim again, then. The Michael Cera (Barbie)-voiced twentysomething bassist is once more fated to fall in love with literal dream girl Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ahsoka), who first appears to him as he slumbers, then fight the seven folks who dated her before him. When sparks fly, he also has his own amorous mess to deal with, including that he's dating high-schooler Knives Chau (Ellen Wong, Best Sellers) and remains heartbroken over being dumped by now-superstar singer Envy Adams (Brie Larson, The Marvels). Scott Pilgrim Takes Off's debut episode still has its namesake living with Wallace Wells (Kieran Culkin, Succession) in a one-room Toronto flat, and regularly having the ins and outs of his life recounted by his roommate to his sister Stacey (Anna Kendrick, Alice, Darling). Scott is reliably one third of Sex Bob-Omb! alongside his friend Stephen Stills (Mark Webber, SMILF) and ex Kim Pine (Alison Pill, Hello Tomorrow!), with Stephen's housemate Young Neil (Johnny Simmons, Girlboss) always watching on. And, when he first talks to Ramona IRL, it's at a party thrown by the acerbic Julie Powers (Aubrey Plaza, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre). Then, the band plays a gig that Scott invites Ramona to, and the first of her evil former paramours interrupts Sex Bob-Omb!'s set to throw down — with Matthew Patel (Satya Bhabha, Sense8) still hung up on the girl he dated for a week and a half in seventh grade. Beating Matthew will mean needing to vanquish the rest of Ramona's past loves next: movie star Lucas Lee (Chris Evans, Pain Hustlers), vegan fellow bassist Todd Ingram (Brandon Routh, The Flash), Ramona's college roommate Roxy Richter (Mae Whitman, Good Girls), twins Kyle and Ken Katayanagi (Julian Cihi, Only Murders in the Building), and record-label head Gideon Graves (Jason Schwartzman, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes). Accordingly, just like Kim shouting "we are Sex Bob-Omb!" at the beginning of a set, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off starts with comfortable familiarity. But at the end of the initial instalment, after every detail looks like the graphic novels and film given the anime treatment to the point of feeling uncanny, in drops the first twist. There's reimaginings, and then there's this playful take that adores the comics and movie, pays homage to them, riffs on and even openly references them, but charmingly shirks the idea of being a remake. So, what if that narrative didn't follow the path that viewers have seen before? What if there's a reason that this series' moniker mentions Scott not being around? What if that's just the kick-off point for a brand-new, gorgeously dreamy, wildly inventive and infectiously heartfelt Scott Pilgrim remix? This is still a story spun from a slacker fantasy while bubbling with sincerity and intensity about navigating love and life when you're working out who you are, but every new turn in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off deepens its tale, emotions and delights. It still dwells in a world where Scott orders a delivery from the rollerskating Ramona on a boxy computer (she slings Netflix DVDs, aptly), yet it feels even more divorced from time. Although still abounds with pop culture nods and throwback vibes as well — albeit without zero sounds from The Legend of Zelda, but with added lines of dialogue straight out of 90s tunes — this isn't the exact same Scott Pilgrim. Prepare to get meta, and also for an angle that Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs the World didn't have, putting the focus on Ramona not as the object of eight people's affections but as Scott Pilgrim Takes Off's protagonist. As she endeavours to work out what's going on, she's the audience's guide in a whodunnit (because alongside slotting into the film-to-TV trend like Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, this series embraces its mystery angle as A Murder at the End of the World has also been doing of late, plus plenty of other shows before it). As Ramona's other exes still need confronting, it's her rather than someone she's casually seeing that's wading and soul-searching through her history. If O'Malley, Grabinski and Wright had chosen to call their Netflix effort Ramona Flowers vs the World, it would've fit; that said, not only Ramona but the full slate of characters beyond Scott all benefit from the big shift. Accordingly, while the ex-by-ex structure stays — plus the fight scenes bursting with on-screen onomatopoeia — each episode builds upon Ramona, Wallace, Knives, Kim, Young Neil, Stephen, Julie, Stacey and Envy, as well as Matthew, Lucas, Todd, Roxy, the Katayanagi and Gideon. If re-enlisting the movie's massive supporting cast seemed like a mammoth achievement, expanding their characters' place in the story must've been a prime way to entice everyone back. What makes Ramona's exes tick, hopes and neuroses alike, cannily and cathartically helps shapes the show's sleuthing. More than that, unresolved emotions and struggles colour every battle. Bouncing ingeniously through an array of film genres in a video store-set fray is a particularly memorable and meaningful move. As brought to the screen with Science Saru's now-expectedly beguiling animation (see also: the big screen's Night Is Short, Walk On Girl, Lu Over the Wall, Ride Your Wave and Inu-Oh, all from filmmaker Masaaki Yuasa), different instalments also take their tone and approach from different sources. A Lucas-centric chapter that turns Liam Lynch's 2002 track 'United States of Whatever' into its anthem is a treat, for instance, and another episode is a self-referential marvel. Where Scott Pilgrim vs the World looked outward to dive into its characters, using its gaming and pop-culture nods as shorthand to explain who they are, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off peers inwards to get its mood, themes, intricacies and slant. Like Scott with Ramona, this series is something to tumble head over heels for, and one of the best examples yet of pressing play again on a beloved treasure. Check out the full trailer for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off below: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off streams via Netflix on Friday, November 17.
In what could be a nice new trend for the Australian music scene, a small British invasion is taking place and the first group riding the wave is the psychedelic indie band, TOY. As part of a new live music series, Bulmers Underground, TOY are on their way to Australia to headline shows in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. The band, formed in 2010, have wasted no time over the past 3 years making a name for themselves, woth various members coming from moderately successful bands in the past. The music that TOY creates are distorted rock’n’roll concoctions that evoke the psychedelic peaks of the 70’s, but are contorted and refined so as to make the music contemporary and refreshing. TOY’s debut album sold out of its initial pressing not long after release, and have since gone on to perform with The Horrors and Primal Scream. Be sure to grab a ticket before they are all snapped up, and keep your eyes peeled for more international guests from Bulmers Underground.
You asked — and Cadbury has gone and delivered. The confectionary giant has responded to hordes of over-eager fans and brought one of its most beloved creations back onto Aussie shelves: the humble but widely worshipped Caramilk. Cadbury has confirmed that its former fan favourite, with its golden-hued concoction of caramel and white chocolate, will indeed be making a comeback, returning to local supermarkets across the country from tomorrow, Wednesday, October 2. And, if you fancy being one of the first to get your mitts on the relaunched Caramilk, you can even nab a freebie this Wednesday, October 2. Cadbury will be handing out 1000 free Caramilk blocks at Town Hall and Central stations from 7am. Understandably, there are plenty of sweet-toothed Aussies who are salivating at the prospect — not least of all, those in the Facebook groups dedicated to requesting its return — and the blocks are expected to move quickly. The first 500 sold on eBay last week in just 28 minutes, so you better get to Woolies early tomorrow. They'll be available to buy for $4.80.
Lana's highly collaborative Chef Series returns in 2025, featuring a host of new one-night fusions between some of Sydney's best culinary talent. Executive chef Alex Wong and Restaurant Ka's Zac Ng are kicking off the event this year, drawing from the former's stellar reputation for seafood-driven, Asian-Italian cuisine and the latter's contemporary Cantonese cooking. [caption id="attachment_991075" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Leigh Griffiths[/caption] Ng is set to be the ideal partner, bringing decades of experience from many of Sydney's most respected restaurants. Building his reputation at Flying Fish, Sepia and XOPP by Golden Century, he now leads Ka – an innovative 10-seat chef's table where he blends Cantonese-style flavours with modern techniques and flair. For this exciting event, the duo will produce a fascinating sharing menu for $129pp, featuring dishes like mud crab tart with silken tofu, pork jowl with abalone, and scallop tortelli with coral prawn and trout roe. Make this lavish feast even more special with a Mercer Wines pairing for $65 extra. Presented in Lana's dining room in the converted Hinchcliff Wool Stores building on March 4, this bold collab is the first of several to come. [caption id="attachment_991077" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Steven Woodburn[/caption] Top image: Yusuku Oba
Sydney's Art Gallery of NSW has taken its weekly after-hours session online — and the next two editions are all about NAIDOC Week, a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and achievements. On Wednesday, November 11, you can join a discussion between author and presenter Yumi Stynes, Aboriginal rights activist and proud Bundjalung woman Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts, and four-time Archibald Prize finalist Blak Douglas (aka Adam Douglas Hill). Douglas' 2020 portrait of Dujuan Hoosan, star of the documentary In My Blood It Runs, is on show at the AGNSW until Sunday, January 2021, alongside Vincent Namatjira's award-winning depiction of sporting star Adam Goodes — the first-ever portrait by an Indigenous artist to take out the top gong in Archibald Prize history. The following week, on Wednesday, November 18, curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art Coby Edgar will chat with artist and Arrernte woman Marlene Rubuntja, whose stunning sculptures feature in the gallery's new exhibition entitled Joy. Both sessions will be streamed on the AGNSW's Facebook page and Youtube channel. If you're in Sydney and can make it to the gallery, you can also head along to a free Indigenous-led guided tour of the Yiribana Gallery. [caption id="attachment_789035" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Blak Douglas, 'Writing in the sand' (2020). Copyright the artist. Photo by Felicity Jenkins, AGNSW.[/caption]
Trailblazing graffiti artist Nychos is on his way to Australia. Gracing our shores in late February and early March, the Austrian artist who recently took New York City by storm will split his time between Sydney and Melbourne, presenting exhibitions, hosting workshops and leaving his unique mark on walls around town. In Sydney, Nychos will head a graffiti art workshop at Work-Shop on February 25. He'll also present a screening of his street art documentary The Deepest Depths of the Burrow. In Melbourne, the workshop and screening will take place on March 11. He'll also launch a pair of exhibitions, showcasing his new sculpture project, Vienna Therapy, featuring the three-foot-tall Dissection of Sigmund Freud in Federation Square from March 8-12, and his solo exhibition, MONOCHROME ORGANISM, at Juddy Roller Gallery in Fitzroy from March 10-24. In between his various public engagements, Nychos plans to create original wall art in locations around Sydney and Melbourne. Here's hoping it's as eye-popping as his Oakland T-Rex. Detail of the Oakland Tyrannosaurus Rex . Full wall coming soon. #translucenttyrannosaurus #nychos #isliceforaliving #anatomy #oakland #bayarea #lordscrew A photo posted by nychos (@nychos) on Jan 14, 2017 at 8:37pm PST Images courtesy of the artist.
HBO's Cordyceps infection isn't going anywhere soon — not for the seven more weeks that The Last of Us' first video game-to-TV season has left to air, and not for a further season after that either. In excellent news for fans of the PlayStation title, the Pedro Pascal (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent)- and Bella Ramsey (Catherine Called Birdy)-starring show it has inspired, and both, the US network behind it has officially announced that its first massive hit of 2023 will return for a second season. This development is hardly surprising, but still obviously hugely welcome. When it comes to mashing buttons, the 2013 game also inspired a 2014 expansion pack and 2020 sequel. Also, even just two episodes in so far, HBO's version has been attracting viewers faster than any sudden movement attracts zombies. When the series' debut episode aired on Sunday, January 15 in the US and Monday, January 16 Down Under — where it screens and streams via Foxtel and Binge in Australia, and on Neon in New Zealand — it became HBO's second largest debut ever. The first? A little show called House of the Dragon in 2022. In America alone, The Last of Us' movie-length first instalment has notched up more than 22 million viewers, while its second episode earned 5.7 million viewers just on one night — more than a million than that premiere chapter, and giving HBO its largest-ever growth from week one to week two of any series it has ever made. In other words, even after leaping to television with a huge gaming fanbase behind it, The Last of Us' popularity is spreading. Given how impressive the HBO series' first season is — how thoughtful, character-based, well-cast, and committed to exploring not just what's happening in its contagion-ravaged dystopian world but why life is worth fighting for — that too is unsurprising. For newcomers to the franchise on consoles and as a TV series, it's set 20 years after modern civilisation as we know it has been toppled by a parasitic fungal infection that turns the afflicted into shuffling hordes. Pascal plays Joel, who gets saddled with smuggling 14-year-old Ellie (his Game of Thrones co-star Ramsey) out of a strict quarantine zone to help possibly save humanity's last remnants. There wouldn't be a game, let alone a television version, if that was an easy task, of course — and if the pair didn't need to weather quite the brutal journey. As a television series, The Last of Us hails from co-creator, executive producer, writer and director Craig Mazin, who already brought a hellscape to HBO (and to everyone's must-watch list) thanks to the haunting and horrifying Chernobyl. He teams up here with Neil Druckmann from Naughty Dog, who also penned and directed The Last of Us games. Alongside Pascal and Ramsey, the series also boasts Gabriel Luna (Terminator: Dark Fate) as Joel's younger brother and former soldier Tommy, Merle Dandridge (The Flight Attendant) as resistance leader Marlene and Aussie actor Anna Torv (Mindhunter) as smuggler Tess. And, Nico Parker (The Third Day) plays Joel's 14-year old daughter Sarah, Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus) and Nick Offerman (The Resort) feature as isolated survivalists Frank and Bill, Storm Reid (Euphoria) pops up as Boston orphan Riley, Jeffrey Pierce (Castle Rock) plays quarantine-zone rebel Perry and Yellowjackets' Melanie Lynskey also guest stars. HBO hasn't announced when season two will arrive, but cross your fingers that it drops early in 2024. Check out the full trailer for The Last of Us below: The Last of Us screens and streams via Foxtel and Binge in Australia, and on Neon in New Zealand. Read our review of the first season. Images: Liane Hentscher/HBO.
Brunch is the pinnacle of a good weekend — but hosting your own brunch party can feel like a huge effort. However, gathering your friends for a tasty start to the weekend is well worth it when you get to pick out the best pastries from your favourite local bakery, purchase top-shelf booze for fancy bloody marys and spin your favourite tunes. It'll impress even the most hungover of your besties. Here to help you deliver an elevated brunch party, we've partnered with premium French vodka Grey Goose to give you five simple tips that'll turn your weekend get-together into an elegant affair. [caption id="attachment_704266" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kitti Gould[/caption] SET UP AN INTERACTIVE BAR Let's be real, the most important part of brunch is not the food but the drinks, and anyone who tells you otherwise obviously hasn't experienced the healing powers of a good bloody mary before noon, and that's their loss. So getting the booze portion of the morning right is a must. To turn a slow party into one with a purpose, set up an interactive bar for people to experiment with their drinks and get creative. Ensure you've stocked the best liquor — and keep it simple. Purchase a bottle of Grey Goose vodka as a premium base for a mood-lifting spritz, and, of course, the humble bloody mary. Having a French themed do? Order the limited-edition Maison La Biche bottle for a chic upgrade. PAIR YOUR FOOD AND DRINK FOR PERFECT HARMONY The symphony of food and booze is all you need for a really great brunch, so it's worth thinking about what cocktails go with which breakfast foods. For what it's worth, we reckon the classic bacon and eggs fry up with a bloody mary is always a winner, but if you really want to win at brunch, try making a Morning Mule (Grey Goose vodka, orange juice, ginger beer) with buttermilk pancakes, or a Breakfast Martini (Grey Goose vodka, orange marmalade, cointreau and lemon juice) with freshly baked pastries. And for the health-conscious, opt for a Provence Spritz (Grey Goose vodka, French rose and pink grapefruit juice), always fantastic with an açaí bowl. Experiment a little! It'll elevate the whole party, plus you get to drink while doing 'research'. [caption id="attachment_752451" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Flickr/Creative Commons[/caption] OPT FOR AN EASY SELF-SERVE SET-UP Who amongst us isn't a little particular about our brekkie? Given it's often the first meal of the day, and one with the power to make-or-break your weekend, even the most relaxed guests can be fussy when it comes to breakfast food. So, in the spirit of diplomacy — and let's be honest, convenience — design a help-yourself table with grab plates and bowls and mountains of brunch staples (such as fresh fruit, yogurt, granola and juice) and plop them on the table. You're done with the serving part of the morning before it's even begun, plus it makes catering to dietary needs a breeze. [caption id="attachment_735735" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visit Victoria/Josie Withers[/caption] SPLURGE ON THE GOOD STUFF Don't be afraid to spend a little on the best produce you can afford. Good produce means less work for you, and brunch is the most decadent meal of the day so it's worth sourcing fruit and veggies from the farmers' markets, or forking out for some really fancy orange juice from the supermarket. Be comforted by the fact that a good artisan bakery haul can save any meal and you can top it off with premium spirits for those cocktails, it makes all the difference when you're catering at home. [embed]https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1x0bE4Gh2POCIMIpzP4dot[/embed] DON'T FORGET THE TUNES A good soundtrack can elevate your brunch party from a casual affair to an all-out party for the ages. Spend a bit of time ahead of the event thinking about your playlist of laidback tunes and singalong anthems (nostalgia is a quick pick-me-up in any occasion). Hit play and, with a healthy serving of hangover-busting cocktails, your guests are sure to find themselves dancing around the living room. Special shoutout to the likes of Angus and Julia Stone for chilled vibes, Jack Johnson for a retro feel, Nina Simone if it's THAT kind of morning, San Cisco for some light-hearted fun or any of the peppy indie supergroups from the last ten years. Feeling uninspired? Check out the Brunch Playlist above. It's your party, so pick whatever you feel will turn your brunch into an arvo dance party. Upgrade your brunch by choosing premium vodka Grey Goose. Each bottle is distilled in France, and the high quality vodka has a 100-percent traceable production process, from crop to cork.
Budding designers need to have this store on their radar. Located in Redfern, this upholstery store specialises in fabrics from local and international designers, including end-of-roll and end-of-season specials. Owner Bev MacInnes channels expertise from a career as an interior architect to source unique and unusual textiles for professional designers and amateur home-crafters alike. The store also offers made-to-order services including bespoke bedheads, cushions, curtains, lampshades and upholstered furniture.
You're unlikely to get authentic home-cooked Italian food unless your mama or papa is from the homeland. The rest of us have to do with an Aussified version. So it's a great thing that Sydney is overwhelmed with Italian restaurants. Is there a need for another? Serial restaurateur Mauro Marcucci certainly thinks so, adding the newly opened Baccomatto Osteria in Surry Hills to his oeuvre. The man behind Mille Vini and Enopizzeria has fashioned a minimalistic place to find rustic food adjoining the traveler lodge-like Cambridge Hotel. Baccomatto, meaning "mad mouth" in Italian, isn't trying to be fancy pants fine dining, but a relaxed place to socialise. In doing so, with authentic regional dishes and sauces, it succeeds where other stuffier places fail, in good-natured service and a lack of omnipresent Buddha Bar ambient beats in the background. The entrees are pretty small, with fried zucchini flowers ($4.50 each), fried mozzarella balls with an anchovy centre ($4.50) and rice balls with a ragu surprise in the middle ($4). Tasty but light. The bad boys come out with the mains – a ragu-like bombolotti in slow cooked tomato sauce with a scattershot of locally sourced bacon ($28) is again a tad small but delicious. The chargrilled spatchcock ($26) is spread-eagled on the plate and tender, although it needs an accompanying side dish. Try the roast potato with rosemary ($7). The desserts by contrast are generous – a hazelnut freddo ($13) with cocoa and raspberry puree swirls, and the light sponge cake with a ricotta and dark chocolate belly are a bravado finish. Relaxed but stylish, simple and subtle yet intricate, this "mad mouth" talks sense.
When your first year featured Nelly, Ne-Yo, Ja Rule, Bow Wow and Xzibit, and your second had T-Pain, Ashanti, The Game and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, what comes next? For Juicy Festival, it's now time for Ludacris, Keyshia Cole, SWV and Blackstreet. The nostalgic R&B and hip hop fest has locked in its return Down Under in January 2025, again starting in New Zealand with gigs in Christchurch, Wellington, Tauranga and Auckland. After that, it'll head across the ditch for its Australian shows in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Queensland. And, as always, it hasn't skimped on the lineup. After making an appearance at Usher's 2024 Super Bowl halftime show — and spending two decades as part of the Fast and Furious franchise — Ludacris leads the Juicy Festival bill. Expect to hear everything from 'What's Your Fantasy' and 'Area Codes' to 'Runaway Love' and 'Rollout'. Keyshia Cole's 'Love', girl group SWV's 'Right Here' and Blackstreet's 'No Diggity' are all set to be fest highlights, on a lineup that'll also see Akon, Tyga, Omarion, Fat Joe and Jacquees take to the stage. "This year's lineup is packed with artists responsible for some of R&B and hip hop's biggest hits of the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, and we're excited to see the crowd respond to the high energy of our artists," said festival promoter Matthew Spratt. "Every year we are excited to bring another line-up to Australia, and we believe we've come up with a high-calibre group of artists that people will be excited to see," added his colleague Glenn Meikle. "We've locked in some of the biggest names in R&B and hip hop from the 1990s and 2000s era, and they're just as excited about coming to Australia as we are to be hosting them," finished Spratt. When Juicy Fest debuted in January 2023, it attracted more than 100,000 attendees. The event hasn't announced 2025 venues so far, or exactly where in Queensland it'll be heading to, but tickets go on sale from Thursday, May 2. Juicy Fest 2025 Dates: Wednesday, January 8 — Christchurch, venue TBC Friday, January 10 — Wellington, venue TBC Saturday, January 11 — Auckland, venue TBC Sunday, January 12 — Tauranga, venue TBC Wednesday, January 15 – Perth, venue TBC Friday, January 17 – Melbourne, venue TBC Saturday, January 18 – Sydney, venue TBC Sunday, January 19 - Queensland, venue TBC Juicy Fest 2025 Lineup: Ludacris Akon Tyga Keyshia Cole Omarion Fat Joe SWV Blackstreet Jacquees Juicy Fest will tour Australia and New Zealand in January 2025, with tickets pre-registrations available from 6pm local time on Wednesday, May 1 — and tickets on sale from 6pm local time on Thursday, May 2. Head to the festival's website to register for pre-sale access.
No, it's not a crazy quilt stitched by a mad granny. These are bird's eye views of Holland's tulip fields, blooming into life just in time for the annual Tulip Time festival. Throughout winter, tulip bulbs lie dormant in the freezing ground. When the first few blooms poke their coloured heads through the earth for a breath of sunshine, everyone knows that spring has very much sprung. The festival runs from May 7-14 and celebrates Dutch heritage, culture and hundreds of varieties of the tulip. Over one billion tulips are exported internationally from Holland every year, so you can see what the fuss is all about. Plus these rainbow flower formations are pretty damn gorgeous to boot. [Via Lost At E-Minor]
When it made the leap to the big screen in the movie that's currently in cinemas, Downton Abbey brought in a couple of very special guests. But the King and Queen aren't the only new folks staying at TV's favourite stately manor. Come November, you could be walking through the site's lavish halls, wandering through its 300-plus rooms and even bunking down for the night. In a move that's clearly timed to promote the film, Airbnb is giving two people the chance to spend the evening of Tuesday, November 26 at Highclere Castle — the 19th-century country house in Hampshire, England, where Downton Abbey filmed each of its six seasons, as well as the movie. It's a place with a considerable past, and not just because of the famous show. The act that led to the founding of Canada was drafted there; however, before the current abode was build there in the 19th century, remodelling an existing structure, it was also the site of a medieval palace. Of course, it's Downton Abbey's history that the two chosen guests will be most interested in. They'll explore the spaces made famous by the show, such as the drawing room and the library, via a private tour. Then, they'll sip cocktails in the saloon, and eat dinner in the state dining room with the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon — with the site sitting in their family since the 17th century. The visitors will also sleep in a gallery bedroom with views over 1000 acres of parkland, and be waited on by the castle's butler. [caption id="attachment_742688" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Airbnb[/caption] If you're eager to stay and pretend you're a member of Downton's Crawley family, you'll need to have a verified Airbnb profile filled with positive reviews, and be passionate about the series. You'll also need to hop online to make your request to stay at 9pm on Tuesday, October 1, Australian Eastern Standard Time (12pm British Summer Time the same day). Just how the lucky guests will be selected hasn't been revealed, but you will still need to pay just like any other Airbnb booking. The one-night stay will set the winner back £150, or around AU$270. For further information, visit Highclere Castle's Airbnb listing. The service will start accepting requests to stay at the venue from 9pm on Tuesday, October 1, Australian Eastern Standard Time (12pm British Summer Time the same day). Top image: Downton Abbey, Focus Features LLC.
Newtown's King Street has a new gelateria in its ranks. Mapo opened last month and is scooping quality gelato with a focus on sustainable ingredients. Italian-born owner Matteo Pochintesta is a rare architect-turned-gelato maker who trained under the owner of Milan's gelateria Ciacco — and recently returned to Sydney to put his skills to the test. Sure, there are plenty of gelato shops along King Street, but Pochintesta is bringing a purist's sensibility to the local ice cream game. That means he's not turning out complicated flavour creations. Instead, Pochintesta is focusing on using the highest quality ingredients and all seasonal fruit. Signature flavours include the pistachio, made with certified premium Sicilian nuts, and the single-origin chocolate gianduja. Both are vegan, but do not include milk replacements, like most vegan ice creams do. Instead, Pochintesta keeps them creamy by mixing the solid ingredients with water — which, surprisingly, really does work. [caption id="attachment_716744" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kitti Gould[/caption] Other traditional Italian flavours include the fior di latte and the stracciatella (chocolate chip), both made with Barambah organic milk. For fruit flavours, expect in-season Australian varieties only — at the moment, there's organic nectarine, red plum, watermelon, and pineapple and mint. Flavours will remain limited to 12–14 at a time, with plenty of specials on offer. At the moment, those include blueberry and buffalo ricotta, matcha green tea and the incredibly creamy sea salt caramel — made with Pepe Saya butter, no less. For the cooler months ahead, liquorice, pear and cinnamon, and mascarpone and coffee are all on the docket. And, for the upcoming Easter holidays, Mapo has teamed up with Sonoma to create a decadent hot cross bun gelato. Plus, the shop will serve ice cream buns every weekend through Easter — stuffing those Sonoma HCBs with any gelato flavour you like. [caption id="attachment_716751" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kitti Gould[/caption] The shop is also looking to keep things as sustainable as possible, using all compostable packaging. Another noticeable difference is that the gelato is kept in shiny stainless steel vats instead of in your typical display case. Mapo does not use any stabilisers, and instead keeps their gelato fresh the old school way — by keeping it covered. Don't worry, you're still invited to give any flavour a taste before making your final decision. As the choices are quite straightforward, it's suggested you mix two — and, with the 'one scoop with two flavours' option only costing fifty cents extra, there's really no excuse not to. Mapo is now open at 123 King Street, Newtown. Opening hours are Sunday through Thursday from noon–10pm, and Friday through Saturday from noon–10.30pm. Images: Kitti Gould.
Joining the slate of hidden or underground speakeasies that are becoming a staple of Sydney's casual drinking scene is Circular Quay's new wine bar paying homage to its Italian heritage. Bar Messenger is an elegant establishment celebrating the history of Australian drops in an art deco-inspired venue. Hidden underneath a sculpture created by Australian artist Raynor Hoff that depicts Mercury — the Roman messenger god — is where you'll find the entrance (or just below Transport House for those who do not fancy undertaking a scavenger hunt to locate the artwork). In order to gain entry you'll have to follow the instructions printed beside the doorway-sized painting bearing the venue's name. Inside, you'll be met with stylish interiors designed by DAARC's Simone Barr, Brisbane-based architect and interior designer. Seating 120, the sophisticated wine bar features a warm earthy colour palette with splashes of green throughout, paired with eclectic light fixtures. Bar Messenger is home to an extensive wine list starring some recent bangers and a selection dedicated to 'Mercury's Marvels', featuring 2018 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz and 2022 Grosset Polish Hill Reisling which the bar's team deem to be worthy of the gods. The list extends beyond Australian wines, featuring international drops like the Italian Bianca Vigna Prosecco and Veuve Yellow Label Brut Reserve from France, alongside a selection of spirits, classic cocktails and various non-alcoholic beverages. For bites, the toasties will immediately draw your attention — take your pick from the grilled cheese, the mortadella or the black forest ham. You'll also find a variety of share plates to choose from. Head over to 10 Phillip St 3pm-11pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, or 12pm-11pm on Friday, to check out the hidden gem for yourself.
The second relatively prominent Aussie horror film of the year, Damien Power's Killing Ground sits alongside Hounds of Love in terms of brutality, bone-chills and its capacity to inspire feelings of nausea in its viewers. Where it doesn't match up, however, is in doing something new with the disturbing violence that it pedals. The film tells the story of a camping ground from three different perspectives. First up is a young couple, Ian and Sam (played by Ian Meadows and Harriet Dyer), who embark on a New Year's Eve jaunt away from the city, only to find there's already a tent set-up in the remote place they thought they'd have to themselves. Number two are the owners of said tent: a family of four complete with teenager and a toddler named Ollie. Three is a pair of reprehensible men, German and Chook (Aaron Pederson and Aaron Glenane). By the time the penny drops and Ian and Sam figure out that the tent is empty, the audience has already cottoned on: the three storylines aren't happening consecutively, and bad things have already occurred. It's a clever plot device, but the cleverness runs out there. The film succeeds, in part, in setting up an environment that for all its sun and lake views will make you feel bitterly cold inside. Aaron Pederson's German is a terrifying, unpredictable vision of unhinged male violence, and the sight of a distressed Ollie wandering around alone is both sickening and chilling. Once Sam and Ian have gauged that all is not well with Ollie's parents, the film quickly descends into a tale of violence, rape, and a whole lot of frustration on the part of the audience. The couple take a truly infuriating amount of time to realise they should just leave and call the police – Ian even willingly accompanying Chook on a search mission to the nearby falls which will "only take 15 minutes", even though there's a sign that says the falls are 4km away. I mean come on Ian, you're a doctor, you're supposed to be smart. But even more frustrating is that ultimately, it all feels as though it's for naught. For all its atmosphere, the film ends up being an unrelenting exercise in gratuitous violence with no apparent novelty or meaning. By the time the gruesome two hours are up, viewers will be left with not much more than a funny tummy and a reluctance to go camping for a while. Although if you do head out into the woods after this film, you'll be sure to check any neighbouring tents. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3ePiwb0NxQ
This spring and summer you'll be able to immerse yourself in the wilderness without leaving the city, when the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year exhibition takes over the Australian Museum. More than 100 photographs will transport you to spectacular scenery and put you eye-to-eye with Australian sea lions, New Holland honeyeaters and green sea turtles. As well as being completely captivating, the images show the incredible natural diversity of Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and New Guinea. To go beyond the images, head along to a night talk. On Thursday, September 6, finalist Kirsten Woodforth will be chatting about her photo Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoo Preening and the impact of human destruction on animal habitats. On Thursday, October 11, catch Justin Gilligan discussing his photographing adventures, which have taken him to Lord Howe, Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands. There'll be opportunities, too, for you to improve your skills, thanks to a series of wildlife photography workshops, to be hosted by Daniel Smith of Digital Camera Warehouse. Both beginners and enthusiasts are covered. The entries are judged on timing, patience, artistry and technique by photography veterans, and the winner will be announced on the eve of the show's opening at the South Australian Museum, which produces the exhibition Image: Matthew Smith.
It seems a new international food celebration pops up every day. And while we're not sure if we believe in celebrating every single food day around, we can make an exception for chocolate, especially when it also involves 12-Micron. World Chocolate Day is happening on Saturday, July 7 and, to celebrate the occasion, Barangaroo's 12-Micron is providing seven days-worth of rich, chocolaty eats and drinks. A five-course chocolate-themed tasting menu will be available all this week, and the kitchen is not mucking around — it's serious choc business over here. Pepperberry-crusted wallaby carpaccio, raspberry and chocolate oil; rabbit assiette, truffle and chocolate; and white chocolate mousse, lemon aspen and yoghurt sorbet are but the tip of the chocolate iceberg. The tasting menu is $89 on its own or, for $145, you can opt for matching wines and original cocktails to go with. The choco cocktails on offer are sure to woo the staunchest chocoholic — none of which are for the faint of heart (or lactose intolerant). There'll be a Cherry Ripe vodka drink, as well as the Chocolate Caliente with mezcal, crème de cacao and chilli. Not quite in choco-comatose yet? The restaurant is also hosting a masterclass with executive chef Justin Wise and head pastry chef Ashley Smith on Saturday, July 7 from 2–5pm. For $145 per person, you'll experience some hands-on chocolate demonstrations, then enjoy the aforementioned, highly indulgent tasting menu with matching drinks. 12-Micron's Chocolate Week runs until Sunday, July 8. The tasting menu is available every day from 12–10pm. To make a reservation, contact the restaurant via phone or the website.
Your Friday night drinks will look a little different this week, as 40 venues across the city go on strike in support of Sydney's struggling night-time economy. The goal? To highlight various political party policies affecting our nightlife, before voters take to the booths for the NSW Election tomorrow Saturday, March 23. The bars won't be going dry for the entire night, but rather holding a brief pause in service at 6pm. They'll be shutting off the music, turning on the lights and allowing venue owners to get up and chat to their guests about the current threats to Sydney's nightlife. These include the lockout laws, which have led to the closure of 176 venues since they were introduced four years ago. Organised by the Night Time Industries Association as part of its Unite for The Night campaign, the strike (dubbed Unhappy Hour) hopes to encourage Sydneysiders to vote for parties with policies that prioritise the city's night-time economy — so that work can begin on reviving the industry and undoing some of the damage caused by strict new festival licences and lockout laws. You can read all about how the Coalition, Labor, the Greens, Keep Sydney Open and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers are all planning to tackle live music and lockouts in our extensive pre-election wrap-up over here. Bars all over town have jumped on board to take part in tonight's strike, including the Oxford Art Factory, craft beer haven The Taphouse, Darlinghurst's This Must Be The Place, Wild Rover and The Lord Gladstone. [caption id="attachment_684208" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marys, Sydney.[/caption] Here's the full list of venues involved: - Bistecca - Botany View Hotel - Bulletin Place - Button Bar - Cricketer's Arms Hotel, Balmain - Crooked Tailor - Dead Ringer - Duke of Clarence - Earls Juke Joint - Grandmas - Jacoby's - Lord Gladstone - Maybe Frank - Maybe Sammy - Mr Pocket - Odd Culture - Old Mate's Place - Oxford Art Factory - Papa Gedes - Pocket Bar - Pocket Terrigal - PS40 - Ramblin' Rascal - Stitch - Sydney Park Hotel - The Barber Shop - The Royal Albert Surry Hills - The Taphouse - This Must Be The Place - Venue 505 - Welcome Hotel Rozelle - Whirly Bird - White Cockatoo Petersham - Wild Rover - The Landsdowne - The Unicorn - Mary's - Soda Factory - El Santos - The Henson The above 40 bars will cease service temporarily at 6pm on Friday, March 22. For more information about the Unite for the Night campaign, head to uniteforthenight.org.au. Top image: Old Mate's Place.
Australia's real-time restaurant deals app, EatClub — which was launched by celeb chef Marco Pierre White — has now entered into the realm of takeaway eats. No longer just a way to book in to restaurants at a discounted price, EatClub now lets you redeem takeaway deals, plus order and pay for them via the app. To celebrate the launch of this new feature, EatClub's CBD restaurant partners are offering $5 dishes all week. From Monday, November 25 to Sunday, December 1, you can score a $5 feed. All you have to do is redeem a takeaway deal, then use the app's new ordering and payment feature to complete your order. To give you an idea of what's part of this sweet deal, you could be tucking into Kung Pao chicken from Superfly, a cheeseburger from Burger Project or a Roll'd noodle salad — all for just a fiver. This is in addition to all the deals the eateries already offer as part of the app's whole deal to start with. So, overall, you'll be able to score a delicious feed for less than a trip to your local chicken shop. To get involved, you just have to update the app, or download it if you're a newbie. Then claim a takeaway deal from any venue displaying a $5 icon on the map, select order and pay via the app and take your pick of a cheap treat (and anything else your heart desires). The chefs will whip it up in the kitchen, ready for you to pick up in no time. So your next cheap feed — which you'll tuck into while reclined on the couch — will be as tasty as it is convenient. Make sure you download the EatClub app here.
The West Wing first premiered in 1999, while Bill Clinton was president and over a year before George W Bush was elected. But when the latter happened, the acclaimed series inspired a strong and pervasive feeling — because every fan wished that Martin Sheen's President Jed Bartlet was really the commander in chief. That response wasn't just a case of escapism. It reflected The West Wing's top-notch writing and its passion. Unsurprisingly, even though the show wrapped up in 2006, that sentiment has echoed again throughout the past four years. In 2020, in fact, original cast members including Sheen, Rob Lowe, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, Bradley Whitford and Janel Moloney reunited in the lead up to the election for a special stage version of a season-three episode. Called A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote, it was filmed, of course. That means you can now stream the entire seven-season series and its trademark Aaron Sorkin-penned walk-and-talks, and also enjoy the political drama's most recent gift to the world. Yes, it's still as topical and timely as ever.
Saturday morning at Bronte Road Bistro is what happens when a classically trained chef starts making eggs for the hungover masses. It's a classic bistro doing cafe brekkies well and without fuss, with head chef Matt Barnett matching morning classics with Bloody Marys and champagne mimosas from 9am onwards. The bistro is an expressly bacon-and-egg-roll-free zone. Sydney's brekkie of the moment is baked eggs, and in the Bronte Road version, rich yolks spill out into a beautifully seasoned tomato mess. It's finished with a dollop of yogurt and a burst of mint and spring onions, and scooped up with a serious slab of woodfired bread. It takes a cheffy kind of confidence to present a pile of cavolo nero, goat's cheese and pan-fried mushrooms on bruschetta with little apart from a drizzle of olive oil and smattering of thyme. Barnett pulls it off by relying on fresh produce. It's the kind of food made by people who do things simply and properly. Spicy, meaty beans with labne and dukkah and scrambled eggs with walnut toast also look tempting. The sides go beyond the usual cafe cliches — pork belly hash sounds ridiculously good, but we opt for a vegetarian salad of crisp cabbage, sharp creamy Persian feta, sweet peas and zingy mint. Like everything else, it smacks of balance and consideration, and the bistro dining room shares a similar lack of adornment. The drinks menu also goes above and beyond. There's a hard ginger beer and Grey Goose with fresh-pressed apple juice — a little creative menu planning goes a long way. BRB makes a bold, strong latte, but the di Gabriela Earl Grey will satisfy tea drinkers usually chronically neglected in coffee-obsessed Sydney — there is not a soggy teabag in sight. An apple, pear and rhubarb crumble makes a lazy brunch special — which could be Bronte Road Bistro's credo. Smart service and a sunny location seals the deal. A friendly, solid Sunday morning option. The restaurant is also open for dinner from Tuesday to Saturday, 6-10pm.
Whether played by Julie Andrews in the original 1964 musical film or Emily Blunt in its 2018 sequel, Mary Poppins has always been a quintessentially English character. The beloved nanny is as well-known for being British as for her magical abilities and winning ways with an umbrella, after all. However the famous fictional figure also boasts a link to regional Australia — and now there's an Aussie museum dedicated to that fact. While Maryborough in Queensland's Fraser Coast region may seem worlds away from London, let alone Cherry Tree Lane, it's where author PL Travers was born. She also lived there until she was five, when her family relocated to Allora on the Darling Downs, as the 2013 movie Saving Mr Banks explored. Later, in her twenties, she moved to the UK, where she penned the eight Mary Poppins books that she's best known for. Because claiming any and every possible connection to fame is a thoroughly Aussie trait, Maryborough has long marked its link to Travers — the city hosts an annual Mary Poppins Festival, has been home to a bronze statue of the writer since 2005, and even has Poppins-shaped pedestrian crossing symbols on its traffic lights. With that in mind, the opening of The Story Bank of Maryborough is just the latest step in the town's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious celebrations, forming part of a hub focused on the Aussie-born writer. [caption id="attachment_732352" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Where Imagination Lays in Wait in Maryborough / Gerard via Flickr[/caption] Inside The Story Bank, which is located in the heritage-listed Australian Joint Stock Bank building where Travers actually entered the world, visitors will find a whole showcase about Maryborough's ties with Travers. The museum steps through her life story, her family and the influences on her work — and, as well as featuring plenty of Poppins-themed items (yes, expect umbrellas), it includes images and documents from Travers' estate. If you've ever wanted to Mary Poppins figurines everywhere (including sliding down bannisters, obviously), feast your eyes on book and film memorabilia, or pretend you're in Cherry Tree Lane, here's your chance. The site also features a theatrette, gallery and workshop space, all as part of a $1.5 million restoration project. As well as Travers and Mary Poppins, The Story Bank highlights other talented local artists, as well as the art of storytelling in general. Find The Story Bank of Maryborough on the corner Kent and Richmond Streets, Maryborough, Queensland — and head to the museum's website and Facebook page for further details.
As part of the Opera House's recent haul-in of contemporary acts, indie-rock veterans and virtuosos, Yo La Tengo, will be performing a unique two-part show that divulges the 'soft' and the 'loud' on March 13, 2014. Labelled "the quintessential critic's band", they have remained versatile yet reliable: an institution of high-calibre indie. For this performance, the seminal trio will draw from a catalogue spanning 30 years. Their repertoire spans immersive bossa nova lullabies through to clanging punk-rock freakouts, not to mention an encyclopaedic repertoire of covers, heralding a generation's love of the classic mix-tape. Lately, it seems the sleepy romance of their softer tracks has taken precedence with the recent release of Fade. The 2013 album is serenely melodic, dipping into surfer rock, motown, and '60s soul. It is a cohesive and beautifully melded arrangement of sounds, bespeaking a band that has truly come into its own. Yo La Tengo will also be swinging down Victoria way for Golden Plains Festival in March, performing alongside hip hop legends Public Enemy. Tickets will go on sale this Friday, November 1, from the Sydney Opera House website. https://youtube.com/watch?v=GRyeTCibkbE
Every story is built upon cause and effect. One thing happens, then another as a result, and so a narrative springs. Inspired by Andreas Malm's non-fiction book of the same name, How to Blow Up a Pipeline isn't just strung together by causality — it's firmly, actively and overtly about starting points, consequences and the connections between. Here's one source for this impassioned tale about determined and drastic environmental activism: the warming world. Here's an originator for that, too: fossil fuels, humanity's reliance upon them and the profits reaped from that status quo. Now, a few outcomes: pollution, catastrophic weather changes, terminal illnesses, stolen and seized land, corporate interests prioritised over ecological necessities, and a growing group that's driven to act because existence is at stake. Turning a text subtitled Learning to Fight in a World on Fire into a fictional feature, How to Blow Up a Pipeline joins all of the above, stressing links like it is looping string from pin to pin, and clue to clue, on a detective's corkboard. In his second feature after 2018's smart and effective camgirl horror Cam, writer/director Daniel Goldhaber isn't trying to be subtle about what dovetails in where. With co-screenwriters Jordan Sjol (a story editor on Cam) and Ariela Barer (also one of How to Blow Up a Pipeline's stars), he isn't attempting to rein in the film's agenda or complexity. This movie tells the tale that's right there in its name, as eight people from across America congregate in Texas' west with a plan — an octet of folks who mostly would've remained loosely connected, some strangers and others lovers and friends, if they weren't desperate to send a message that genuinely garners attention. Goldhaber's latest is explosive in its potency and thrills, and startling in its urgency, as it focuses on a decision of last resort, the preparation and the individual rationales before that. How to blow up hedging bets on-screen? That's also this tightly wound, instantly gripping, always rage-dripping picture. How to Blow Up a Pipeline's main players have a shared aim, but have taken different paths to get there. As the clock ticks on their mission, the film gets procedural as well as visceral, psychological and emotional — showing the method, and jumping backwards to flesh out motivations. The format is heist-flick 101, establishing a gang, then explaining how the motley crew came to be as they're pulling off their job. The treasure at stake: nothing less than a liveable planet. With cinematographer Tehillah De Castro (a recent veteran of Doja Cat, Olivia Rodrigo and Anderson .Paak music videos), editor Daniel Garber (a Cam alumni) and composer Gavin Brivik (yet another), Goldhaber makes a constantly bubbling throwback as much as an of-this-very-moment tension bomb. The details are all now, but the look and feel could've blasted out of 70s and 80s cinema. Those key on-screen figures: for starters, Xochitl (Barer, Saved by the Bell), a Long Beach resident who loses her mother to a heatwave, then gets mobilised when college eco-action groups aren't proactive enough; her childhood best friend Theo (Sasha Lane, The Crowded Room), who has the Californian city's proximity to oil refineries to blame for a rare leukaemia; and the latter's understandably stressed girlfriend Alisha (Jayme Lawson, Till). Also tied to each other: couple Rowan (Kristine Froseth, The First Lady) and Logan (Lukas Gage, The Other Two), complete with a history of making a splash for a cause. Then there's uni student Shawn (Marcus Scribner, Grown-ish), trading doomscrolling for something tangible; blue-collar Texan native Dwayne (Jake Weary, Animal Kingdom), after losing his family's land to oil companies via eminent domain; and self-taught bombmaker Michael (Forrest Goodluck, The English), who refuses to acquiesce to the many ways that America's Indigenous peoples, including himself, keep having the earth taken from them. As it charts blasting caps and more being assembled, and dives into everyone's histories as well, causation fizzes in How to Blow Up a Pipeline's structure, style, narrative and approach, too; William Friedkin's Sorcerer, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, Kelly Reichardt's Night Moves and Bertrand Bonello's Nocturama all plant seeds. On show is the nail-biting pressure that makes the first of those flicks, which owed a debt to The Wages of Fear, such dynamite viewing about transporting dynamite. Always evident is the flitting to the events behind the events, plus the unpacking of the loyalties amid loyalties, that's so key to QT's debut, alongside a few other shared plot points. And, echoing with oozing-off-the-screen force is a question that also gushed when Jesse Eisenberg (Fleishman Is in Trouble), Dakota Fanning (also The First Lady) and Peter Sarsgaard (The Batman) were blowing things up a decade ago, plus a game cast playing Parisian radicals in one of 2016's French standouts: what else can be done? Amassing this ensemble is a plan-comes-together feat itself, and the reason for naturalistic yet intense performances, a blend that isn't easy to make feel this raw and lived in. Here, everyone doesn't just get their moment as their characters navigate mistakes being made, equipment failing, drones hovering and bones getting broken — they blister. Goldhaber, Sjol and Barer's writing is that incisive, especially while moulding their entire script around joining dots, then more dots, then more still. They connect to healthcare struggles in a system where medical treatment to stay alive is the domain of the rich; to awareness-raising documentaries that share difficult true tales, but don't make a practical impact for their subjects; and to the massive and engrained chasm between the haves and the have nots. How to Blow Up a Pipeline doesn't ever forget for a second, though, that everything that this story links to is about people. When the film is propulsive, hectic and a non-stop cavalcade of building momentum, Barer, Lane, Goodluck and company are electrifying, and also exceptional at conveying who Xochitl, Theo, Michael and the crew are via their physicality, presence and expressions. When the movie gets talky as the synth-heavy score thrums, they give voice to the storm of complications lingering around their quest, destruction as a form of protest and going beyond endeavouring to appeal to energy companies' consciences. One such point arrives about a third of the way in, over drinks and chats about terrorism, if their planned efforts count and past revolutionaries that would've earned the label in their time. Even as debate bounces around the room, no one shies away from what they're doing, why and the commitment to sparking repercussions for those benefiting from destroying the environment. How to Blow Up a Pipeline doesn't ever dream of doing anything but staring straight on, either — and it's incendiary to watch.
Black Springs Cabin is one of four beguiling stays on Budgee Budgee Farm, a beautifully secluded, gum-lined 33-acre property just outside of Mudgee. From the outside, the lodging transports you back in time and gives big frontiersman energy thanks to a rustic facade of raw timber, brick and corrugated iron. Step inside, however, and thoughtful contemporary creature comforts like quality linen, attractive lighting, a Nespresso machine and walls adorned with artwork make the space feel anything but dated. While the term 'cabin' might imply limited space, once inside you'll immediately appreciate the generous size of the main living area which features a luxurious king bed positioned fireside for those cold country evenings that make Mudgee such an appealing destination for winter weekenders. [caption id="attachment_904521" align="alignnone" width="1920"] A spacious bedroom-living area with wood fireplace[/caption] For the uninitiated, Mudgee is a three-and-a-half hour drive from Sydney and has earned its now-stellar reputation as a destination for lovers of great produce and wine. Sheltered in the Cudgegong River Valley and surrounded by fertile farm land, the region is the third largest grape-producing area in the state, primarily for red varieties like shiraz and cabernet sauvignon. If you do book a stay during cooler months, you'll be kept warm by the indoor wood-burning fireplace that's fuelled by a pile of pre-chopped wood. For the marshmallow-inclined, there's an outdoor fire pit (an ideal spot to partake in the spoils of the region's rich winemaking history), and there's also a freestanding claw foot bath which, if you time it properly, provides an incredible vantage point from which to watch the sunset. As the essential amenities go, the kitchen includes an electric stovetop, fridge, microwave, toaster and kettle, and there's a BBQ out back if you want to keep things completely self-contained for your stay. Alternatively, Black Springs is an easy 15-minute drive to the cafes, restaurants and wine bars of charming Mudgee village that are well worth seeking out, as are the nearby vineyards and producers like Pipeclay Pumphouse, Small Batch Brewery and Robert Stein Winery. Black Springs Cabin is recommended for a couple's weekend away when your main criteria includes being surrounded by nature, unwinding in stylish comfort and peaceful seclusion. You can book now through Airbnb. Image credit: Amber Creative Now you can book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations everywhere.
We're all familiar with Sydney’s great affinity for Mexican food. These days, you can’t throw a sombrero without hitting a cute cantina filled with bright flags, smiling skulls and a slew of salt-rimmed margaritas. But decor and tequila aside, the real determining factor of a great Mexican joint is, of course, in the food — more specifically, the tortillas and their toppings. Whether you like them soft or crispy, from an authentic taqueria or shovelling them down at an all-you-can-eat competition, our picks of top ten tacos will go down a treat. We've even included a DIY version, so you can continue the fiesta at home. Dos Senoritas Top Taco: Baja fish and shrimp taco. The Baja-style seasoned mayo sauce is addictive. Touted as Sydney’s only authentic Mexican, Dos Senoritas upholds its longstanding reputation with a traditional Guadalajaran-style menu by native chef, Domingo Medina. While the decor could do with a refresh, it’s the award-winning tacos you came for and it’s here they abound. Just choose your shell, (gringo style - flour tortilla, street style - corn tortilla or tex-mex - crispy taco shell) and for $25, choose three tacos off the menu. There’s charbroiled chicken, marinated steak, spicy ground beef, Baja fish and shrimp or Dos XX (Mexican beer) battered fish. Tacos are served with rice and beans, guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream and coriander. The authenticity is apparent in the flavour and spice lovers will appreciate the use of real Guadalajaran chillies. 265D Victoria Road, Gladesville; 02 9817 3737; www.dossenoritas.com.au Al Carbon Food Truck Top Taco: Carnitas Tacos. Slow, slow cooked pork with unmisseable extras. Canterbury favourite La Lupita moved to CBD venue The Basement, but then headed back to Canterbury under a new name, PAZAR Food Collective. But the crew's part-time food truck has been chugging away the whole time. The tacos here are $6, slightly bigger than your usual and packed with flavour. 'Al Carbon' means 'cooked over charcoal' in Spanish, and these guys are all about tradition. Making tortillas fresh to order in the truck, you can expect north Mexican-style tacos and nosh from the Sonoran region. The Carnitas Tacos (super slowly roasted pork with ciccarones (crackling) and habanero onion lime salsa are full of crispy, porky deliciousness. The truck also churns out the epic Sonoran Hot Dog ($12), bacon-wrapped beef, Applewood smoked hot dog in a bolillo roll with frijoles, salsa Mexicana, Oaxaca cheese, guacamole, salsa de chile de arbol, smoked jalapeno mayo and American mustard. We know we're talking tacos here, but this is some kind of meaty wizardry. Various spots around Sydney; www.visitalcarbon.com El Loco Top Taco: Carne Asada. The lemongrass adds a burst of Asian flavour to the tender beef. At Dan Hong’s Surry Hills establishment all tacos on the $5 menu are flavourful and inspired combinations. Spit roasted pork with pineapple salsa is a stand out, but the pub also offers lemongrass beef with salsa verde and queso, prawn with salsa verde and pico de gallo, chicken with sweet corn salsa, and a marinated tofu taco for the often-neglected vegos. The secret taco changes daily and the staff are tight-lipped about its contents, but it’s known to sometimes be offal. A good tip for those who can’t handle their gluten, or are watching their waistlines: lettuce cups can be substituted for tortillas. If you’re feeling particularly ravenous, keep your eyes peeled for their ad hoc taco eating competitions which are often organised during festival season or on a Mexican holiday. The deal is to eat as many as you can throw down in 15 minutes, but beware: they’re slathered with Dan Hong’s spicy sauce. The next one for 2014 is on March 25, but a word of advice from this writer and past taco-eating female champion: you need a stomach of steel to come out of this comp unscathed. 64 Foveaux Street, Surry Hills or at the Slip Inn, 111 Sussex Street, Sydney; 02 9211 4945; www.elloco.com.au El Topo Top Taco: Jaias y jalapeno. The soft shell crab is fresh and tender, and the lighter option on the menu. Taking your tastebuds on a trip to Oaxaca, El Topo gives us a taste of traditional Central Mexican flavours. There are three tacos on offer: the cochinita pibil (roast pork, radish and pickled onion, $6), the pollo negro (grilled chicken, black bean, and corn salsa, $6) and the newest and most popular addition, the jaias y jalapeno (soft shell crab, mulato mayo and a jalapeno and cactus salsa, $8). But for those sceptics who think tacos just won’t fill you up, the best way to go about things is to order one of the bigger mains, and add some tortillas ($1 for two) on the side. Try the traditional slow-cooked lamb shoulder, with a traditional mole sauce ($30) or the 12-hour beef brisket with Oaxacan barbecue sauce ($34). This joint is oozing atmosphere, and with ample seating, including a courtyard and a long communal table. After a tough day of shopping, this is the best place to refuel with ample options at the ready. (Don’t forget the roasted crickets!) 500 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction; (02) 8383 5959; www.theeastern.com.au Chica Bonita Top Taco: Baja fish taco. Flaky fish with a spicy Baja sauce goes down a treat on a hot day. Lazing around at the beach can really work up an appetite, so as your newly golden belly growls with hunger, head on over to this tiny Manly bar that’s full of spunk and looks just like you’ve stumbled upon a little corner of Mexico. Put the fries-stuffed burritos out of your mind (but definitely consider them next time) and get the soft shell fish tacos, the best on the menu. They’ve got a crispy batter with a Baja-style spicy cream. The Tama Asada (grilled steak with fried corn and pickled onions) or the Cochinita Pibil (shredded pork with salsa and pickled onions) are also both satisfactory options. All tacos are $5 and are only available in the evening. To enjoy them properly, they should definitely be served with a crusty beer (salt-rimmed beer) or two. 7 The Corso, Manly; (02) 9976 5255; www.chicabonita.com.au Mexicano Top Taco: Chipotle beef taco. Slow cooked beef in spicy chipotle peppers gives an authentic taste of Mexico. A little further north in Narrabeen, Mexicano head chef Sean Prenter and his team showcase their fresh take on modern and street-style Mexican. Sean takes pride in sourcing fresh, quality and local produce so you can take comfort in your food being some of the tastiest and most authentic around. All the tortillas are traditionally hand rolled and pressed daily using wheat and corn masa flours. Must-try tacos are the Mexican fish taco, with battered local fish of the day and a spicy chipotle mayo ($16 for three) and the chipotle beef brisket ($16 for three) or for a hearty vegetarian option, go the roasted winter taco (pumpkin, eggplant, zucchini and local cheese, $13 for three). We also hear a little whisper that the owners are opening up a new taqueria-style venue, MX, in Mona Vale soon. Shop 2, 209-211 Ocean Street, Narrabeen; (02) 9970 8975; www.mexicano.com.au Flying Fajita Sisters Top Taco: Huachinango. The grilled snapper is a lighter option with ample flavour thanks to the guajillo salsa. Glebe’s long-standing Mexican haunt is known for it cheap tacos and glowing wall of tequilas. Using fresh, seasonally available produce as well as imported spices and sauces that are usually only found in Mexico or the US, the taco menu is well-researched and constantly changes. For $14.90 you get two fresh, soft corn tortillas which you can fill with either Huachinango (grilled snapper, in a guajillo salsa, black beans, and queso fresco), Huitlacoche y Hongos (mexican corn truffles, braised mushrooms, salsa verde and queso fresco), Pollo Asado (grilled chicken in a guajillo salsa, black beans and queso fresco) or the taco stalwart, Al Pastor (roasted pork with pineapple salsa). If you’re looking for a mid-week meal that won’t reach too deep in your pockets, Flying Fajita Sisters also offers Taco Tuesday, where tacos and shots of tequila are a measly $3, making it that much more easy to say ‘si’ to a taco fiesta. 65 Glebe Point Road, Glebe; (02) 9552 6522; www.flyingfajitasistas.com.au DIY taco recipe Turn your kitchen into a taqueria and host your own taco party. Put the cervezas on ice and try out our recipe for Californian Baja fish tacos. Fish tacos with avocado salsa Makes 10 tacos Avocado salsa 1 punnet cherry tomatoes, de-seeded, finely chopped ½ red onion, finely chopped ½ large avocado, cut into cubes 2 radishes, finely sliced ½ bunch coriander, finely chopped 1 lime Spiced fish 1 tbs plain flour 1 tbs ground sweet smoked paprika 1 tsp ground cayenne pepper 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp salt 1 tsp pepper 2 tbs olive oil 2 large white fish fillets 10 small flour tortillas 2 cups shredded red cabbage 1. To make avocado salsa, mix tomatoes, onion, avocado, radish and coriander into a small bowl. Squeeze over juice of half the lime and mix gently. 2. Mix flour, paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Add fish fillets one at a time, coating the whole fillet with the flour mixture. 3. Heat oil in a large fry pan and add fish fillets. Cook for 4 minutes on each side until cooked through. Allow to cool slightly, then transfer to a plate and slice into 1cm pieces. 4. Meanwhile, heat a small, dry frypan to medium heat. Fry the tortillas, one at a time, for 20 seconds on each side. Transfer to a plate and keep warm. 5. To serve, add a few slices of cabbage to the middle of a tortilla and top with 4 pieces of fish. Top with salsa mixture and douse with as much hot sauce as you can handle. El Topo and DIY taco photos by Leigh Griffiths.
Spending New Year's Eve without a plan is not cool. Do it, and you'll be the person with no taxi to hail (I dare you to try); do it, and you'll be the person left wondering how it's 2014 already, cursing yourself for all the things you haven’t done. Know what else you haven't done? You haven't listened to Concrete Playground and headed on out to one of the events we've lined up for you. Don't be that person. Here are some of the ways we thought you might like to spend your last moments of 2013 and first of 2014. New Year's Eve The Island Lounge on Clark Island We all know how crazy Sydney can get on New Year's Eve. With everyone trying see the amazing fireworks, it can be quite a pain to find a decent spot. So why not get out of the city for a better view? Clark Island is the perfect location to watch the city shine from afar. With plenty of seating areas, guests at the Island Lounge won't have to fight for a spot. Cosy up and enjoy the stunning panoramic views of the Sydney Harbour in a relaxing atmosphere of live music and entertainment. You won't have to worry about anything because at this luxury event, food, cocktails, entertainment and ferry transfers are all taken care of and included in your ticket. Tickets are priced at $440 per person. The event lasts from 5.30pm-12.30am. 18+ NYE On The Harbour If it's firework views you’re after with the chance of a good boogie (join the queue, pal), the King St Wharf’s Cargo Bar a better destination at NYE than at any other time of year. Art vs Science, Van She, Gold Fields and DJ sets from Alison Wonderland and Bag Raiders will bring in 2014 with cheer — and with no screaming children in sight. The event sells out year after year, so nab your tickets and BYO flippers in order to get down. Tickets range from $89-$180 per person. The event starts at 7pm. 18+. Image from Cargo Bar's NYE 2011 party NYE Festival at Wet'n'Wild Northern Hemisphere residents will lament their white Christmas when they see what we’ve got going on Down Under. While they’re putting on their earmuffs, we’ll be sipping a cold cider down a water slide in style to 'We No Speak Americano.' You heard me. Sydney’s newly opened Wet'n'Wild theme park is throwing an NYE party away from the harbourside crowds. So put your hands in the air from a water slide, or dance to Will Sparks, Yolanda Be Cool, Uberjackd, Faydee, Gtronic, Haezer and more on Australia’s largest artificial beach. Dayum. Tickets cost $110-$200 per person. 7pm till late. Image via Wet'n'Wild Sydney Animal House Toga Party at The Vanguard If paying $500 to live like a sardine just ain't your thang (we feel you), try out The Vanguard this New Year's. Because the resident movie buffs are chucking an Animal House-themed do, togas and all. To keep us and our garlands entertained, The Vanguard have curated an all-star soul band that includes Mojo Juju, Jeremy Davidson of The Snowdroppers and three of the guys from Gay Paris. Price: $63.80. Time: 7pm till late. Image via University of Wisconsin Archives Harbour Fireworks The Sydney Harbour fireworks are iconic, the Sydney Harbour Bridge is iconic, and this year’s creative ambassador Reg Mombassa (or the ‘Mombassador’) is iconic. Okay, it's safe to say that the annual event will once again be, um, iconic. The Sydney Harbour foreshore is visited by 1.6 million visitors each NYE, this year themed 'Shine'. Sure, nobody likes a crowd, but if you can't beat them, join them. So make like a sardine and head to Embarkation Park, Arthur McElhone Reserve, Mrs Macquarie Park or one of many less congested suburban parks (do we need to draw you a map?) to catch a glimpse of the fireworks. They set off at 9pm for the youngsters and then again at midnight. Price: free. 9pm and midnight. NYE Party at the House This is the ultimate. Combine New Year's with the 40th birthday of the country's most iconic landmark and you've got a massive banger on your hands. Located in the heart of the NYE action, this waterside resort-lounge setting on the western boardwalk of the upper concourse of Sydney Opera House is the perfect backdrop to celebrate. Partygoers will have a front row seat to the illustrious Sydney Harbour fireworks as well as to this year’s most extravagant light show, designed by artist and musician Reg Mombassa. Entertainment will be provided with live music from 14-time ARIA–nominated Sneaky Sound System, all-girl DJ duo The Faders and DJ RobKAY. Also, be sure to come hungry, because celebrity chef Matt Moran is putting together a special menu just for the event. As SSS' Connie Mitchell says, "Opera House – check. New Year’s Eve – check. Fireworks – big check. Banging new party outfit – definite check! Killer set? You bet.” Sounds like quite the bash. Tickets are priced at $554.95 per person and include all food and select cocktails. 7pm-1.30am. 18+. End of Year Party at The Bar at the End of the Wharf This event isn't only a verbal mouthful. For those of you who enjoy stuffing your faces on your day off, this NYE party is a feast of delicacies by the talented team from Fresh Catering. There will be heaps of canapes and champagne on hand when you need a break from all the dancing. Oh yes, there will be lots of dancing, with live entertainment from The Kundalini Experience (DJ Marc 'Kundalini' + live sax & percussion). On top of all of this, you'll have a bird's eye view of the Sydney Harbour fireworks display. Get ready for a spectacle of the senses. Tickets are priced at $350 per person. The party kicks off at 7pm. 18+ Image via Fresh Catering NEW YEAR'S DAY Field Day Have a field day and show 2014 who’s boss with a New Year's Day marked by dehydration, selfies and shared sweat from a mosh pit. Wiz Khalifa, A$AP Rocky, Flume, Solange, The Wombats, London Grammar, Ta-ku, Hermitude, Chet Faker and Flight Facilities will be playing into the night at the Domain event. Neatly tucked between the city and the Botanical Gardens, Field Day is one of the best for New Year's Day. So make use of your public holiday and put your hangover on the backburner. Price: $118-185. Time: 12noon till 10:30pm. NYD at Newtown Hotel If you're still functioning after the previous night's festivities and craving some more action, then head over to the Newtown Hotel on New Year's Day. With a wacky lineup of unique performers such as human cannonball/'One Man Guitar Party' Bob Log III and Italo funk disco poster-boy Donny Benet, it's safe to say this will not be a dull event. The party kicks at 3pm, so grab a bloody mary and shake off that hangover. This free event is 18+. Free entry. Image via Voodoo Rhythm Soul of Sydney: Secret NYD Block Party This exclusive New Year's Day event is keeping the party going, literally. With a variety of tunes including soul, funk, disco, boogie and house house, DJs and friends of Soul of Sydney will keep you movin' and groovin' into the new year. That's all we can tell you about this hush-hush event. You'll have to find out the rest for yourself if you're lucky enough to get an invite to this limited capacity event. Hopefuls can sign up on their waitlist and RSVP for more information. Image via Soul of Sydney. You Am I Ramblin' Gamblin' RoadStop Revue If you've been looking for a New Year's event that won't break the bank, you owe You Am I big time. The Aussie rock outfit are staging a car park takeover at The Vic for a free one-off gig coined The Ramblin' Gamblin' RoadStop Revue. Aside from welcoming the New Year, the day is for You Am I and the Addison Road venue to cheers their fans and patrons for their support. And cheers them you shall, because Young Henry's limited-edition Brew Am I pale ale will be on offer with a spit roast barbeque to line your stomach. Snowdroppers, Abbe May, Courtney Barnett, Phil Jamieson, Love Junkies and The Mountains will also be taking to the stage. From noon. Free. Sneaky and Icebergs present NYD 2014 Sneaky and Icebergs Dining Room and Bar are being ultra sneaky, keeping their NYD 2014 party very hushhush. The star-studded event — now in it’s 12th year — is back for one last time in this form. There’s no invitation for this one, you have to be a friend of a friend for the Maurice Terzini (Icebergs), Angus McDonald (Sneaky Sound System) and Dan Single (Ksubi)-founded event. We’re told there’ll be a few surprises on the day while you’re partying to Sneaky with celebs and drinking Belvedere by the glass. Holla at me, 2014. By Madeline Milani and Rachel Eddie.
Gelato Messina first introduced its cookie pies to the world in 2020, and tastebuds across Australia thanked them. Then, it kept bringing the OTT dessert back when we all needed an extra dose of sweetness across the year. In fact, the dessert fiends have been serving them up for more than 12 months now. Messina celebrated that one-year milestone back in April, of course — but it isn't done with cookie pies yet. Here's hoping that it never will be, because its latest version is certain to tempt plenty of tastebuds. Chocolate is involved, as it usually is, but Messina's new choc malt cheesecake cookie pie fills its choc malt cookie with vanilla malt cheesecake, then tops it with a choc malt crumble. With all that talk of chocolate and malt, it sounds a bit like it's taking a few cues from Milo. No, we're not complaining. Hang on, a cookie pie? If you're not familiar with the concept yet, it's a pie — obviously — but it's made of cookie dough. And it serves two–six people — or just you. You bake it yourself, too, so you get to enjoy that oh-so-amazing smell of freshly baked cookies wafting through your kitchen. This time, you'll enjoy the scent of vanilla and malt as well. The new pies will be available for preorder from 9am on Monday, June 7 — which is your chance to get yourself a piece of the pie. On its own, the indulgent birthday cake cookie pie will cost $25. But to sweeten the deal, the cult ice creamery has created a few bundle options, should you want some of its famed gelato atop it. For $35, you'll get the pie and a 500-millilitre tub, while with a one-litre tub or a 1.5-litre tub, it'll cost $41 and $45 respectively. The catch? You'll have to peel yourself off the couch and head to your local Messina store to pick up your order. They'll be available for collection between Friday, June 11–Sunday, June 13. Melburnians, ideally you'll be out of lockdown by then — but it's probably best to take note of your ten-kilometre bubble when ordering, just in case. You can preorder a Messina choc malt cheesecake cookie pie from Monday, June 7, to pick up from Friday, June 11–Sunday, June 13.
It's a nice feeling to bring a little something into the world. Feeding it, taking good care of it. A plant is just like a pet, or even a child – just half the trouble. But if you live in an apartment, there's not always the room to undertake extensive horticultural projects. If your green thumb is itching to get gardening, IDEA award-winning Simple Garden will tickle your fancy. They've created a gardening 'starter kit' with everything you need to cultivate your own piece of earth. They even throw in the earth itself – just add water and the NutriRich soil brick will be just the stuff to raise your seedlings into healthy plants. Gadgets like the Lite Stick help provide enough natural light to indoor plants, while the colourful plastic pots are specially designed to improve air flow, water circulation and nutrient absorption. Sweet and self-contained, this is one hell of a city-living solution. [Via Cool Hunting]
If you've ever worn a little black dress, then you owe Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel a big thank you. Depending on your choice of suit, bag and perfume, you might owe her some gratitude there as well. The French designer's influence upon 20th-century fashion extends far and wide — and, even though she passed away in 1971, her imprint can be felt in the 21st century as well. So, when the NGV International sends some love her way at its next blockbuster exhibition, it'll have plenty to cover. Displaying at the St Kilda Road gallery from Sunday, December 5, 2021–Monday, April 25, 2022, Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto will arrive fresh from its current stint at Paris' Palais Galliera. Its stop in Melbourne is its first international jaunt, in fact. On show will be pieces from the French venue, as well as from the Patrimoine de Chanel, the fashion house's heritage department. More than 100 garments will grace the NGV's walls and halls, with the exhibition charting her career. You'll also be able to see what Chanel achieved with perfume, jewellery and accessory design, too. Some pieces will date back more than a century, given that the fashion icon opened her first boutique in Deauville in 1912, before making the leap to her own Parisian couture house in 1918. Expect to check out everything from black threads — obviously — to lace gowns, wool jersey and tailored tweed suits, and an array of beaded garments. As you peer at Chanel's designs, you'll see how womenswear developed, and both how and why she's left a mark that still lingers today. [caption id="attachment_819495" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Gabrielle Chanel (designer). Dress, spring–summer 1925, silk guipure lace, silk organza flower. Patrimoine de Chanel, Paris. Photo © Julien T. Hamon.[/caption] The NGV is also adding its own Chanel pieces to the exhibition, such as a white lace Evening dress that dates back to 1933, and a shirred red silk velvet and marabou-lined evening cape from around 1924–26. They'll form part of a showcase that's split into themed sections, with different parts devoted to her early work, the way her design language evolved in the 1920s and 1930s, the iconic scent that is Chanel No 5, and how the brand's pieces have favoured a look best described as "austere luxury". Also getting their own themed strands: suits, accessories and jewellery. To launch Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto, which will be ticketed — and will be the first-ever exhibition in Australia that'll solely focus on Chanel's contributions to fashion and culture — the NGV is bringing back its black-tie NGV Gala, which'll take place on Saturday, December 4. If you decide to wear a little black dress while you're checking out all things Chanel this summer, you'll likely have plenty of company. Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto will display at the NGV International, 180 St Kilda Road, Melbourne from Sunday, December 5, 2021–Monday, April 25, 2022. For more information, or to buy tickets, head to the gallery's website. Top image: Anne Sainte-Marie in a Chanel suit, photograph by Henry Clarke, published in Vogue US, 1955, retouched by ARCP. ParisMusées. © Henry Clarke, ParisMusées /PalaisGalliera/ADAGP. Copyright Agency, 2021. Installation Images: Tom Ross and Sean Fennessy
Studies show that 100 percent of human beings have, at one point in their lives, taken a spoon out from the drawer, scooped out peanut butter from the jar and leaned against the kitchen counter with their eyes closed, enjoying their makeshift PB spoon treat. Well, studies would show that if anyone bothered to do a peanut butter behavioural study. But the people at the Peanut Butter Bar don't need data to know peanut butter anything is a solid business plan. For two years, Christina Elbakht has been developing and testing the menu and it's nearly here. The bar is opening in Leichhardt in October and will sell peanut butter in all its forms. Elbakht claims they're all free from refined sugars, preservatives and fake stuff too, relying heavily on the natural nut butter. The aim of the game for Elbakht is to help people on restricted diets or eating plans have a good relationship with food and enjoy a treat once in a while. Or maybe she just wanted an excuse to eat a truckload of peanut butter. Either way, a peanut butter bar is a now a thing and their menu is full of it — expect PB delicacies like ice cream, milkshakes, balls, puddings and slices of all varieties. As far as themes go, it's pretty niche — and it will be interesting to see if the novelty has longevity. But, hey, we'll give peanut butter pudding a go. The Peanut Butter Bar will open at 161 Norton Street, Leichhardt in October. For more info, visit peanutbutterbar.com.au.
A teenager runs away with her best friend. Her distraught parents search for her. A retired detective lends a hand — and the situation he uncovers is both quite ordinary and a little bit odd. If there's one thing that Looking for Grace recognises, it's that daily life can be equally routine and strange. A tense scenario can have a lighter side. Stress can turn to laughter. In dramatic circumstances, people don't always know how to behave. No one — not the eponymous Grace (Odessa Young), her pal Sappho (Kenya Pearson), mother Denise (Radha Mitchell), father Dan (Richard Roxburgh) or former cop Tom (Terry Norris) — really knows what they're doing, particularly after the girls and a secret stash of cash goes missing. Trekking across Western Australia to attend a concert, Grace is happy flirting with a charismatic traveller (Harry Richardson), though Sappho is less content being the third wheel. At home, Denise tries to remain calm, while Dan is distracted by the affair he's been trying but failing to have with an employee (Tasma Walton). Their individual tales are offered up in chapters, splitting the broader narrative into separate but interlocking strands. Some details are revealed early, with Grace's section served up first, while other inclusions — the brief segment focusing on truck driver Bruce (Myles Pollard), for example — only become significant once all the pieces have been put together. Such fragmentation may help extend an otherwise slight effort, but it proves the least convincing aspect of the film. Thankfully, the feature's structure also highlights its strengths: the characters, the multitude of realistic reactions to their various predicaments, and the fine-tuned performances of the actors who play them. Indeed, Looking for Grace works best both as a series of character studies and as a showcase for the talents of its key cast. Writer/director Sue Brooks fleshes out the former more than the slender story might seem to indicate, and benefits from the latter, especially where the trio of Young, Roxburgh and Mitchell are involved. Young sells a crucial mix of confidence and restlessness, while Roxburgh ensures his troubled everyman never comes across as pathetic, even when Looking for Grace veers into suburban parody. Often caught between the two, the pitch-perfect Mitchell proves the feature's standout player, as well as a weathervane for its mood and fortunes. When she's hitting the mark, so is the film. Elsewhere, Brooks continues the love affair with the Australian landscape she started in 1997's Road to Nhill and furthered in 2003's Japanese Story. In fact, cinematographer Katie Milwright's dusty visuals provide the perfect counterpoint to the helmer's fondness for stylisation, with Looking for Grace also an exercise in contrasts. Brooks frequently layers conflicting elements over the top of each other, such as jaunty music over sparse images, to ensure the clash of the usual and the not so is always apparent. The movie veers in tone as a result, sometimes jarringly so — but just like life, it works much more often than it doesn't.
Summer hit Sydney in full force yesterday as the city sweated through its second hottest day ever recorded. Temperatures in Penrith hit a whopping 47.3 degrees at 3.25pm, according to live data from the Bureau of Meteorology. #SydneyHeat UPDATE: #Penrith has now reached 47.3 degrees at 3:25pm according to the preliminary live data from the weather station there. — Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) January 7, 2018 Earlier in the day, the Bureau mistakenly tweeted that Sydney had blitzed its previous record of 47.0 degrees from February 2017, before discovering old 1939 data from a now-closed Richmond weather station. Those temperatures remain the highest on record, clocking in at 47.8 degrees. #SydneyHeat: Sorry, in our earlier checks we missed a 47.8 degrees C temperature recorded at an old #Richmond station (now closed) in 1939. 47.3 today still beats the previous #Penrith record. — Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) January 7, 2018 In the city at Observatory Hill, the temperature hit a still-high 42.3 degrees at 1pm. While Sydney's weather's not expected to be quite as apocalyptic today, it's still set to be a scorcher, with temperatures in the low 30s predicted for the CBD and over 40 degrees in store for the western suburbs. Things will remain pretty sweaty tomorrow with highs of around 30 degrees, before we score a much more palatable top of 25 degrees on Wednesday.
Wellington is best known for its creative and culinary prowess, but the city's outdoor environment deserves its own accolades. Nestled between the Cook Strait and bush-covered hills clad in the protected Town Belt, this wilder-than-you-think spot boasts idyllic vistas every way you look — and alluring natural spots in spades. Indeed, there's no shortage of native bush or beach in this harbour city, but you don't need to be a hardcore outdoors-type to get amongst it. Thanks to Wellington's stunning geography, all the greenery and fresh air you could ever want is super close to its CBD restaurants, nightlife and galleries. For those who like to balance their busy urban breaks with sojourns in the countryside, book your flights ASAP, as you can get the best of both worlds. Pack your finest activewear and prepare to embark on a holiday where it's easy to walk off the after-effects of all that strong local beer, those delicious cocktails and that six-course wine-matched degustation. BAYS AND BEACHES Wellington city was built teetering on a waterfront that's sheltered by the surrounding harbour. This means there are a lot of beaches to choose from — some rugged and some peaceful wee spots with pontoons within paddling distance. Oriental Bay is a perennial favourite with Wellington office workers, thanks to its location just ten minutes from the CBD and its golden sand that's ideal for enjoying a cheeky yuzu olive oil gelato from Gelissimo. If you fancy going a bit more rugged, Island Bay or Lyall Bay are not far from the city and ideal for surfing. Don't forget to bring your wetsuit. [caption id="attachment_636628" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Kristina D.C. Hoeppner via Flickr[/caption] STREET ART AND SCULPTURE Get your exercise plus a dose of culture. Wellington's cosy city streets are freckled with beautiful street art and public sculpture, ranging from literary to graffiti and everything in between. Look out for Charlotte Hawley's cosy mural down Egmont Street, Xoe Hall's trio of Bowies in Hannahs Laneway and BMD's anti-shark finning wall opposite Te Papa. If you wander from one end of the waterfront to the other, you'll hit an array of ocean-inspired sculptures, as well as the official Wellington Writers Walk, where excerpts from works by the city's greatest writers and poets are immortalised in concrete and set against a marine backdrop. Dreamy. [caption id="attachment_636684" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Capture Studios[/caption] TOWN BELT About 170 years ago, some savvy folk decided central Wellington ought to be surrounded by a band of wilderness, and the city's Town Belt was born. Arching around the CBD in a horseshoe shape, it's been miraculously preserved as Wellington has gone from a tiny colonial outpost to a bustling capital. The belt offers walking options spanning relaxed ambles to more lengthy day-walks, with plenty of brilliant views and spots for a picnic. There's also a 360-degree view of the town from the top of Mount Victoria, which only takes about half an hour to summit starting from the Courtenay Place nightlife district. [caption id="attachment_636635" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Phillip Capper via Flickr[/caption] MATIU / SOMES ISLAND Encircled by Wellington's waterfront and a delightful 20-minute ferry trip from the city is Matiu / Somes Island, a nature reserve with a fascinating history. Originally named by legendary Maori explorer Kupe after his daughter, Matiu was a refuge in times of war. After a few stints as a quarantine zone, the area is now conservation land and pest free, which means plenty of NZ's beautiful and sometimes bizarre native birds can be spotted. Pack a picnic and make a day of it. [caption id="attachment_636638" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Croc Bikes[/caption] BIKING Wellington is beginning to gain a bit of a rep as a mountain biking destination. With so many great tracks covering the bush-clad hills that surround the city, even office workers mountain bike to work. How's that for lifestyle? If the hundreds of kilometres of mountain biking tracks in the Wellington region don't tempt you, there are some lower-key biking experiences in the city. Hiring a Crocodile Bike is a classic Wellington activity: you can grab a two- or four-person bike and cycle around the bays for a few hours. Or head to Switched On Bikes a rent an e-bike; these babies have redefined pedal power, so you can cruise the city's hills without breaking a sweat. Maybe you've been to Auckland, maybe you've gone to the snow in Queensland, but now it's time to set your sights on Wellington. The harbourside city may be compact, but that only makes for excellent walkability from its excellent restaurants, cafes and bars to its cultural hot spots and around the great outdoors. Use our planning guide to book your trip, then sort out your Wellington hit list with our food and drink, culture and outdoor guides. Top image: Simeon W via Flickr.
Austrian photographer Paul Schneggenburger's fascinating body of work The Sleep of the Beloved has broken through closed bedroom doors to illuminate one of the most private and intimate of human interactions: sleeping couples. Sitting permanently in the photographer's studio is a bed where couples are invited to come and spend the night. Schneggenburger simply sets the stage, lights some candles, and leaves the room with his camera set to long exposure capturing all the movements of the couples over a six-hour period from midnight to 6am. The resulting photographs are a beautiful blur of tangled bodies and ghostly movements demonstrating how sleeping can often be an unconsciously intimate act of love and affection or a quite static experience designed only for resting and rejuvenation. As the photographer asks: “What happens to lovers while they are sleeping? Is it a nocturnal lovers' dance, maybe a kind of unaware performed tenderness, or does one turn their back on each other?" Check out some of the photographs below and head over to Schneggenburger's website to see more of these gorgeous and fascinating images. Via CNN World.
When 2024 began, it started with a beloved Australian book becoming a just-as-loved hit homegrown TV miniseries. When the year comes to an end, it'll do so with an Aussie film about an international pop star releasing in cinemas. It feels fitting, then, that Brisbane-set page-to-screen favourite Boy Swallows Universe and unconventional Robbie Williams biopic Better Man have both scored big among the just-announced AACTA Award nominations — for 2025's ceremonies, but covering 2024 releases. Boy Swallows Universe topped the TV categories, earning a huge 22 nominations. It's up for Best Miniseries, of course, and made history by collecting eight nominations for its stellar actors, the most that any production has earned ever at the AACTAs. Better Man, which makes its way to Australian cinemas on Boxing Day 2024, received the most nods in the film fields — and by picking up a huge 16 of them, it also broke the record. Among the movies, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga nabbed 15 nominations for George Miller's fifth film in the iconic dystopian franchise, the same number that How to Make Gravy scored for its song-to-film journey. Next came horror delight Late Night with the Devil with 14 nominations, then Oscar-winning animator Adam Elliot's gorgeous and heartfelt Memoir of a Snail with 11. They're all up for Best Film, too, alongside Better Man and family-friendly four-time nominee Runt. The television cohort also saw Thou Shalt Not Steal pick up nine nominations, showing some affection for one of the year's absolute-best TV shows. Colin From Accounts and The Artful Dodger collected eight apiece, while Exposure scored seven, Fake picked up six, and Fisk and Total Control earned five each. Even from just the titles mentioned above, it's been not only an excellent year in Aussie film and TV, but a diverse one in terms of the types of tales that've been reaching screens big and small. Everything from mystery sequel Force of Nature: The Dry 2 to dark comedy Audrey, and from detective series High Country to the latest season of Heartbreak High and the Australian version of The Office, too, is also on the nominees list. As for who'll end up with a shiny trophy, the winners will be revealed on Wednesday, February 5, 2025 and Friday, February 7, 2025 at HOTA, Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast, in tandem with the returning festival with 100-plus that's also celebrating Aussie film and television. Until then, consider the nominations list a great what-to-watch guide for homegrown flicks and shows — Christmess, You'll Never Find Me, Last Days of the Space Age and Territory are just a selection of the other titles in the running. Here's a selection of this year's major AACTA nominations, ahead of the awards' ceremonies on Wednesday, February 5, 2025 and Friday, February 7, 2025 at HOTA, Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast — and you can check out the full list on AACTA's website: 2025 AACTA Award Nominees Film Awards Best Film Better Man Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga How to Make Gravy Late Night with the Devil Memoir of a Snail Runt Best Indie Film Before Dawn Birdeater Christmess Just a Farmer The Emu War You'll Never Find Me Best Direction in Film Better Man, Michael Gracey Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, George Miller How to Make Gravy, Nick Waterman Late Night with the Devil, Colin Cairnes, Cameron Cairnes Memoir of a Snail, Adam Elliot Best Lead Actress in Film Laura Gordon, Late Night with the Devil Sarah Snook, Memoir of a Snail Jackie van Beek, Audrey Anya Taylor-Joy, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Anna Torv, Force of Nature: The Dry 2 Phoebe Tonkin, Kid Snow Best Lead Actor in Film Eric Bana, Force of Nature: The Dry 2 David Dastmalchian, Late Night with the Devil Jonno Davies, Better Man Daniel Henshall, How to Make Gravy Guy Pearce, The Convert Kodi Smit-McPhee, Memoir of a Snail Best Supporting Actress in Film Alyla Browne, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Hannah Diviney, Audrey Kate Mulvany, Better Man Kate Mulvany, How to Make Gravy Ingrid Torelli, Late Night with the Devil Jacki Weaver, Memoir of a Snail Best Supporting Actor in Film Fayssal Bazzi, Late Night with the Devil Chris Hemsworth, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Damon Herriman, Better Man Damon Herriman, How to Make Gravy Richard Roxburgh, Force of Nature: The Dry 2 Hugo Weaving, How to Make Gravy Best Screenplay in Film Better Man, Simon Gleeson, Oliver Cole, Michael Gracey Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, George Miller, Nico Lathouris How to Make Gravy, Meg Washington, Nick Waterman Late Night with the Devil, Colin Cairnes, Cameron Cairnes Memoir of a Snail, Adam Elliot Best Documentary A Horse Named Winx Every Little Thing Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line Otto by Otto Porcelain War The Musical Mind: A Portrait in Process Best Cinematography in Film Better Man, Erik A. Wilson, Matt Toll, Ashley Wallen Force of Nature: The Dry 2, Andrew Commis Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Simon Duggan Late Night with the Devil, Matthew Temple Memoir of a Snail, Gerald Thompson Best Editing in Film Better Man, Martin Connor, Lee Smith, Spencer Susser, Jeff Groth, Patrick Correll Force of Nature: The Dry 2, Alexandre de Franceschi, Maria Papoutsis Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Eliot Knapman, Margaret Sixel Late Night with the Devil, Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes Memoir of a Snail, Bill Murphy Best Original Song 'Dream On' by Meg Washington, Electric Fields and The Prison Choir, How to Make Gravy 'Fine' by Meg Washington, Electric Fields and The Prison Choir, How to Make Gravy 'Forbidden Road' by Robbie Williams, Freddy Wexler and Sacha Skarbek, Better Man 'Side By Side' by Paul Kelly, Runt 'Streetlights' by Jacob Harvey, Under Streetlights Best Short Film And the Ocean Agreed Before We Sleep Die Bully Die Favourites Gorgo Why We Fight Television Awards Best Drama Series Fake Heartbreak High The Artful Dodger The Twelve Thou Shalt Not Steal Total Control Best Narrative Comedy Series Austin Bump Colin From Accounts Fisk Strife The Office Best Miniseries Boy Swallows Universe Exposure Four Years Later House of Gods Human Error Last Days of the Space Age Best Lead Actor in a Drama Zac Burgess, Boy Swallows Universe Felix Cameron, Boy Swallows Universe Rob Collins, Total Control Brendan Cowell, Plum Sam Neill, The Twelve Noah Taylor, Thou Shalt Not Steal Best Lead Actress in a Drama Asher Keddie, Fake Deborah Mailman, Total Control Leah Purcell, High Country Anna Torv, Territory Phoebe Tonkin, Boy Swallows Universe Sherry-Lee Watson, Thou Shalt Not Steal Best Acting in a Comedy Patrick Brammall, Colin From Accounts Aaron Chen, Fisk Harriet Dyer, Colin From Accounts Kitty Flanagan, Fisk Genevieve Hegney, Colin From Accounts Asher Keddie, Strife Michael Theo, Austin Felicity Ward, The Office Best Comedy Performer Wil Anderson, Taskmaster Australia Aaron Chen, Guy Montgomery's Guy-Mont Spelling Bee Anne Edmonds, Taskmaster Australia Tom Gleeson, Hard Quiz Guy Montgomery, Guy Montgomery's Guy-Mont Spelling Bee Charlie Pickering, The Weekly with Charlie Pickering Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Essie Davis, Exposure Rachel Griffiths, Total Control Heather Mitchell, Fake Deborah Mailman, Boy Swallows Universe Sophie Wilde, Boy Swallows Universe Asher Yasbincek, Heartbreak High Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Simon Baker, Boy Swallows Universe Wayne Blair, Total Control Bryan Brown, Boy Swallows Universe Travis Fimmel, Boy Swallows Universe Lee Tiger Halley, Boy Swallows Universe Ewen Leslie, Prosper Best Direction in Drama or Comedy Boy Swallows Universe, Bharat Nalluri Colin From Accounts, Trent O'Donnell Colin From Accounts, Madeline Dyer Fake, Emma Freeman Thou Shalt Not Steal, Dylan River Best Direction in Nonfiction Television Anne Edmonds: Why Is My Bag All Wet?, Simon Francis Better Date Than Never, Mariel Thomas Muster Dogs, Sally Browning Stuff the British Stole, Marc Fennell The Jury: Death on the Staircase, Tosca Looby, Ben Lawrence Best Screenplay in Television Boy Swallows Universe, John Collee Colin From Accounts, Patrick Brammall, Harriet Dyer Fake, Anya Beyersdorf Fisk, Penny Flanagan, Kitty Flanagan Thou Shalt Not Steal, Tanith Glynn-Maloney, Sophie Miller, Dylan River Best Cinematography in Television Boy Swallows Universe, Shelley Farthing-Dawe Boy Swallows Universe, Mark Wareham Exposure, Aaron McLisky Territory, Simon Duggan Thou Shalt Not Steal, Tyson Perkins Best Editing in Television Boy Swallows Universe, Mark Perry Colin From Accounts, Danielle Boesenberg Exposure, Leila Gaabi Fisk, Katie Flaxman The Artful Dodger, Rodrigo Balart Best Entertainment Program Dancing with the Stars LEGO® Masters Australia vs The World Mastermind Spicks and Specks The 1% Club Tipping Point Australia Best Comedy Entertainment Program Guy Montgomery's Guy-Mont Spelling Bee Hard Quiz Have You Been Paying Attention? Thank God You're Here The Cheap Seats The Weekly with Charlie Pickering Best Factual Entertainment Program Alone Australia Gogglebox Australia Muster Dogs Stuff the British Stole Take 5 with Zan Rowe The Assembly Best Documentary or Factual Program Australia's Sleep Revolution with Dr Michael Mosley I Was Actually There Maggie Beer's Big Mission Miriam Margolyes Impossibly Australian Ray Martin: The Last Goodbye Who Do You Think You Are? Best Children's Program Bluey Eddie's Lil Homies Hard Quiz Kids Little J & Big Cuz Play School: Big Ted's Time Machine Spooky Files Best Stand-Up Special Anne Edmonds: Why Is My Bag All Wet? Lloyd Langford: Current Mood Mel Buttle: Let Me Know Either Way? Melbourne International Comedy Festival — The Allstars Supershow Melbourne International Comedy Festival — The Gala Rove McManus: Loosey Goosey Best Lifestyle Program Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly Australia Gardening Australia Grand Designs Australia Grand Designs Transformations Restoration Australia Selling Houses Australia Best Reality Program Australian Idol Australian Survivor: Titans V Rebels MasterChef Australia Shark Tank Australia The Amazing Race The Great Australian Bake Off Best Online Drama or Comedy Bad Ancestors Buried Descent Girl Crush Urvi Went to an All Girls School Videoland
Everyone needs a hobby — and if adding to your gin shrine is how you pass the time, Four Pillars has launched yet another tipple to boost your collection. After recent collaborations with Melbourne venue Arbory Afloat and the national QT Hotels chain, the award-winning distillery has teamed up with Qantas on a celebratory drop called QF100. The reason: last year, the Australian airline turned 100, so this new gin is designed to mark that hefty milestone. And, to reflect the carrier's ties to Longreach in Queensland — where it was born, and where the Qantas Founders Outback Museum is based — QF100 is made with botanicals sourced from the central western Queensland spot. Accordingly, when you say cheers to Qantas' centenary with you next cocktail, you'll be tasting lemongrass, macadamia and lemon myrtle. The botanicals were foraged in the area under the guidance of local Indigenous elder Suzanne Thompson — and lemongrass features heavily because it was growing in the region in abundance at the time. Like Four Pillars' other collabs, this one is a limited-edition affair — and, its 700-millilitre bottle bottles have already sold out via the distillery's online store. But, Qantas is still selling it online, and serving it in new signature centenary cocktails at its lounges. You can sip the 'Longreach Fizz' at its Qantas International first lounges in Sydney and Melbourne, the Brisbane International lounge and the brand's six domestic chairman's lounges. Four Pillars and Qantas' QF100 gin has sold out via Four Pillars' online store, but it's still available to buy via Qantas for $90 for a 700-millilitre bottle.
The concept of having a tipple with your trim certainly isn't new, but this hair salon has taken it to a whole other level — with caviar, oysters and cocktails to boot. Having recently closed its outposts in Surry Hills and the Ivy Complex, Christopher Hanna set its sights on a heritage-listed building in the CBD. The new space, located on Bridge Street, functions as an upscale hair and beauty salon with a twist: it has a luxe in-house bar. Owners Guy Binder and Sam Badawi enlisted the guidance of hospitality consultant Mikee Collins (NOLA, Ash St Cellar) and Sydney designer Melissa Collison to create the bar. And they've certainly gone all out, to say the least. Plush velvet seating lines the wall and the curved bar is awash with copper and black marble. Above, there's tiered shelving displaying a vast spirit selection and magnums of Champagne. While the primary function will be to offer patrons an indulgent salon experience — a head massage followed by a martini, if you please — the bar will also be open to the public. And its menu is fittingly extra. You can order an espresso martini (poured from a nitrogen draught tap) with a side of caviar, which costs between $145–250. If your budget is a bit lower, there's a selection of Australian, New Zealand and French drops that cater to most budgets and a few share plates too, like antipasti, charcuterie and chicken liver parfait. Next time you really want to treat yourself, this might be the place. Christopher Hanna is located at 13-15 Bridge Street, Sydney. For more info, visit christopherhanna.com.au
Tasmania is an evocative place. The tiny island state is easily one of Australia's most diverse landscapes, featuring everything from white, sandy beaches and the inspiring peaks of Cradle Mountain to hidden wonders like Little Blue Lake. But it's not just the terrain that offers up surprises; Tasmania is also a haven for the unconventional. With Hobart's globally renowned Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), the large botanical mazes and rural towns turned into openair galleries, Tasmania knows its way around the weird and wonderful and isn't afraid to revel in it come rain, shine or snow. With that in mind, we've created a jam-packed winter guide to Tassie's most eclectic cultural and artistic experiences. So strap yourselves in (and put on your warmest winter woollies), it's going to be a strange ride. [caption id="attachment_498713" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Museum of Old and New Art (MONA).[/caption] THE MUSEUM OF OLD AND NEW ART — HOBART Affectionately referred to as the 'museum of sex and death', MONA isn't your stock-standard cultural institution. Instead, it's more like a sprawling underground playground that could easily double as a Bond villain's home (just look at its imposing void-like entrance and spiral staircases). Each exhibition has been specially curated to provoke — from James Turrell's permanent, mind-bending light installations in the newly minted Pharos wing to the bold, ever-changing seasonal shows like Greg Taylor's famous vaginal sculptures. As MONA is the host of Australia's most sinister festival, Dark Mofo, winter is the ideal time to visit, with numerous artists and works freshly displayed within the museum's walls as well as sprawled across Hobart. And once you've finished expanding your mind, you can also expand your stomach at one of MONA's many eateries. The combination of Faro's Spanish and Greek tapas (try the martini garnished with pig eyes if you're brave), waterfront views and stark architecture is fantastic. [caption id="attachment_719412" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tasmania and Jonathan Wherrett.[/caption] CASCADES FEMALE FACTORY — HOBART History often dwells on the lives of men rather than women, but that's not the case at the Cascades Female Factory, located at the foothills of Mount Wellington. Built in 1828, the factory was once a women's only convict facility and workhouse, so it seems fitting that it's now one of the only sites in Australia that is fully dedicated to highlighting the trials and tribulations of female convicts. Daily tours offer a glimpse into the day-to-day lives of the thousands of women and children that once lived and worked on the factory grounds. Or, if you love a little drama, make sure you're bundled up for the outdoors and catch the spooky two-person theatrical tour Her Story that takes place across the factory's grounds every day at noon. [caption id="attachment_719424" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tasmania and Diane and Lindsay Stockbridge.[/caption] SHEFFIELD MURALS — SHEFFIELD If there's one thing that you can always rely on in Tasmania, it's that the small island knows how to exceed expectations, particularly when it comes to art. So it's no surprise that the town of Sheffield is a totally normal rural Tasmanian town, except for the fact that it also doubles as the most impressive openair gallery. Covered in murals from head to toe — or from sheds to churches, to be more accurate — the 'Town of Murals' is a colourful wonderland that is well worth the one-hour drive from Launceston. Plus, each winter there are new murals to see, with the annual mural fest occurring at the end of April. [caption id="attachment_719427" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tasmania and Rob Burnett.[/caption] THE SHIP THAT NEVER WAS — STRAHAN Whoever said history had to be boring? Certainly not the people behind Australia's longest-running play, which turned 25 earlier in 2019. Filled with cheeky convicts and comedic tragedy, The Ship That Never Was immerses you in the true story of the great escape from Sarah Island. Intrigue, twists and laughter abound in this hilariously dramatic tale that manages to impart some interesting historical facts about the convict settlement of Macquarie Harbour while keeping the audience endlessly entertained. So get snug with one of the blankets and heat packs provided (you'll need it) and settle in for some educational entertainment. [caption id="attachment_719429" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tasmania and Rob Burnett.[/caption] QUEEN VICTORIA MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY — LAUNCESTON If you've come to Tasmania, then chances are you're at least a little bit intrigued by the state's interesting past. If that's the case, then the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery should be your first stop during a trip to Launceston — or stops, rather. Split into two locations — the QVMAG Museum at Inveresk and QVMAG Art Gallery at Royal Park — this arty institution is a great way to get up close and personal with Tasmania's heritage and culture. Plus, both spots are great indoor options if the weather is just a bit too chilly. An exhibition by local artist Angela Casey that's full of dark sentiments and sinister depictions, The Enquiring Light will be showing throughout winter alongside the permanent archaeological exhibition, which includes life-size dinosaur replicas. Get ready to live out all of your Jurassic Park fantasies. [caption id="attachment_719414" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tasmania and Rob Burnett.[/caption] TASMAZIA AND THE VILLAGE OF LOWER CRACKPOT — PROMISED LAND Get lost. No really, do it — but not just anywhere. Do it at the self-proclaimed 'largest maze complex in the world'. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Mount Roland, the strange tourist site that is Tasmazia is actually pretty fantastic. There are eight mazes to lose yourself (and your mind) in, plus the Village of Lower Crackpot. The miniature town's charming exterior hides a darkly subversive humour that is slowly revealed through hilarious nods to the absurd — like its monument to whistleblowers and its School of Lateral Thinking. Our favourite is the Lower Crackpot's Correctional Centre, which is filled with plush guillotines and fake punishments. [caption id="attachment_719954" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Derwent Valley.[/caption] THE WALL IN THE WILDERNESS — HOBART Staring at walls isn't generally considered a stimulating activity, but the Wall in the Wilderness isn't your average roof-holder. Using a series of timber panels, artist Greg Duncan has hand-carved a 100-metre-long depiction of the history of Tasmania's central highlands, creating a wall like no other. From the area's Indigenous people to the early pastoralists and hydro workers, the astounding artwork commemorates the people that lived in the harsh region. It has been critically compared to Michelangelo's painting of the Sistine Chapel — so you know it's worth the trip. Top image: Faro at MONA by Jarrad Seng.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. THE FRENCH DISPATCH Editors fictional and real may disagree — The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun's Arthur Howitzer Jr (Bill Murray, On the Rocks) among them — but it's easy to use Wes Anderson's name as both an adjective and a verb. In a sentence that'd never get printed in his latest film's titular tome (and mightn't in The New Yorker, its inspiration, either), The French Dispatch is the most Wes Anderson movie Wes Anderson has ever Wes Andersoned. The immaculate symmetry that makes each frame a piece of art is present, naturally, as are gloriously offbeat performances. The equally dreamy and precise pastel- and jewel-hued colour palette, the who's who of a familiar cast list, the miniatures and animated interludes and split screens, the knack for physical comedy, and the mix of high artifice, heartfelt nostalgia and dripping whimsy, too. The writer/director knows what he loves, and also what he loves to splash across his films, and it's all accounted for in his tenth release. In The French Dispatch, he also adores stories that say as much about their authors as the world, the places that gift them to the masses, and the space needed to let creativity and insight breathe. He loves celebrating all of this, and heartily, using his usual bag of tricks. It's disingenuous to say that Anderson just wheels out the same flourishes in any movie he helms, though, despite each one — from The Royal Tenenbaums onwards, especially — looking like part of a set. As he's spent his career showing but conveys with extra gusto here, Anderson adores the craftsmanship of filmmaking. He likes pictures that look as if someone has doted on them and fashioned them with their hands, and is just as infatuated with the emotional possibilities that spring from such loving and meticulous work. Indeed, each of his features expresses that pivotal personality detail so clearly that it may as well be cross-stitched into the centre of the frame using Anderson's hair. It's still accurate to call The French Dispatch an ode to magazines, their heyday and their rockstar writers; the film draws four of its five chapters from its eponymous publication, even badging them with page numbers. But this is also a tribute to everything Anderson holds The New Yorker to stand for, and holds dear — to everything he's obsessed over, internalised and absorbed into the signature filmmaking style that's given such an exuberant workout once again. One scene, in the first of its three longer segments, crystallises this so magnificently that it's among the best things Anderson has ever put on-screen. It involves two versions of murderer-turned-artist Moses Rosenthaler, both sharing the boxed-in frame. The young (Tony Revolori, The Grand Budapest Hotel) greets the old (Benicio Del Toro, No Sudden Move), the pair swapping places and handing over lanyards, and it feels as if Anderson is doing the same with his long-held passions. Before Moses' instalment, entitled The Concrete Masterpiece, the picture's bookending story steps into Howitzer's offices in the fictional French town of Ennui-sur-Blasé. Since 1925, he's called it home, as well as the base for a sophisticated literary periodical that started as a travel insert in his father's paper back in Kansas. Because Anderson loves melancholy, too, news of Howitzer's death begins the film courtesy of an obituary. What follows via travelogue The Cycling Reporter, the aforementioned incarcerated art lark, student revolution report Revisions to a Manifesto and police cuisine-turned-kidnapping story The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner is The French Dispatch's final issue turned into a movie — and an outlet for both Howitzer's and the director's abundant Francophilia. Read our full review. DON'T LOOK UP Timing may be everything in comedy, but it's no longer working for Adam McKay. Back when the ex-Saturday Night Live writer was making Will Ferrell flicks (see: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Step Brothers), his films hinged upon comic timing. Ensuring jokes hit their marks was pivotal to his scripts, crucial during editing, and paramount to Ferrell and his co-stars. Since 2015, McKay has been equally obsessed with timeliness. More so, actually, in his latest film Don't Look Up. As started with The Big Short, which nabbed him a screenwriting Oscar, his current breed of politically focused satires trade not just in laughs but in topicality. Skewering the present or recent state of America has become the filmmaker's main aim — but, as 2018's Vice so firmly illustrated, smugly stating the obvious isn't particularly funny. On paper, Don't Look Up sounds like a dream. Using a comet hurtling towards earth as a stand-in, McKay parodies climate change inaction and the circus that tackling COVID-19 has turned into in the US, and spoofs self-serious disaster blockbusters — 1998's double whammy of Deep Impact and Armageddon among them — too. And, he enlists a fantasy cast, which spans five Oscar-winners, plus almost every other famous person he could seemingly think of. But he's still simply making the most blatant gags, all while assuming viewers wouldn't care about saving the planet, or their own lives, without such star-studded and glossily shot packaging. Although the pandemic has certainly exposed stupidity on a vast scale among politicians, the media and the everyday masses alike, mining that alone is hardly smart, savvy or amusing. Again, it's merely stating what everyone has already observed for the past two years, and delivering it with a shit-eating grin. That smirk is Don't Look Up's go-to expression among its broad caricatures — in the name of comedy, of course. Trump-esque President Orlean (Meryl Streep, The Prom) has one, as does her sycophantic dude-bro son/Chief of Staff Jason (Jonah Hill, The Beach Bum). Flinging trivial banter with fake smiles, "keep it light and fun" morning show hosts Brie Evantee (Cate Blanchett, Where'd You Go, Bernadette) and Jack Bremmer (Tyler Perry, Those Who Wish Me Dead) sport them as well. But PhD student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence, X-Men: Dark Phoenix) and her astronomy professor Dr Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) aren't smiling when she discovers a Mount Everest-sized comet, then he realises it's on a collision course with earth and will wipe out everything in six months and 14 days. And they aren't beaming when, with NASA's head of planetary defence Dr Teddy Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan, The Unforgivable), they try to spread the word. The world is literally ending, but no one cares. Conjuring up the premise with journalist/political commentator David Sirota, McKay turns Don't Look Up into a greatest-hits tour of predictable situations bound to occur if a celestial body was rocketing our way — and that've largely happened during the fights against climate change and COVID-19. The President's reactions stem from her clear-cut inspiration, including the decision to "sit tight and assess" until it's politically convenient or just unavoidable, and the later flat-out denial that anything is a problem. The character in general apes the same source, and bluntly, given Orlean is initially busy with a scandal surrounding her next Supreme Court nominee, and that her love life and the porn industry also spark headlines. The insipid media and social media response, favouring a rocky celebrity relationship (which is where Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi come in), is also all too real. The list goes on, including the memes when Dibiasky gets outraged on TV and the worshipping of Mindy as an AILF (Astronomer I'd Like to Fuck). Read our full review. DEAR EVAN HANSEN Dear Dear Evan Hansen: don't. If a movie could write itself a letter like the eponymous figure in this stage-to-screen musical does, that's all any missive would need to communicate. It could elaborate, of course. It could caution against emoting to the back row, given that cinema is a subtler medium than theatre. It could advise against its firmly not-a-teenager lead Ben Platt, who won one of the Broadway hit's six Tony Awards, but may as well be uttering "how do you do, fellow kids?" on the big screen. It could warn against shooting the bulk of the feature like it's still on a stage, just with more close-ups. Mostly, though, any dispatch from any version of Dear Evan Hansen — treading the boards or flickering through a projector — should counsel against the coming-of-age tale's horrendously misguided milk-the-dead-guy narrative. When the most interesting thing about a character is their proximity to someone that's died, that's rarely a great sign. It's the realm of heartstring-tugging illness weepies and romances where partners or parents are bereaved, sweeping love stories are shattered and families are forever altered, and it uses the sickness or death of another person purely as a prop to make someone that's alive and healthy seem more tragic. That's worlds away from engaging sincerely with confronting mortality, loss, grief or all three, as so few movies manage — although Babyteeth did superbly in 2020 — and it's mawkish, manipulative storytelling at its worst. Dear Evan Hansen gives the formula a twist, however, and not for the better. Here, after a classmate's suicide, the titular high schooler pretends he was his closest friend, including to the dead kid's family. A anxious, isolated and bullied teen who returns from summer break with a fractured arm, Evan (Platt, The Politician) might be the last person to talk to Connor Murphy (Colton Ryan, one of the Broadway production's understudies). It isn't a pleasant chat, even if Connor signs Evan's cast — which no one else has or wants to. In the school library, Evan prints out a letter to himself as a therapy exercise, but Connor grabs it first, reads it, then gets furious because it mentions his sister Zoe (Kaitlyn Dever, Dopesick). Cue days spent fretting on Evan's part, wondering if he'll see the text splashed across social media. Instead, he's soon sitting with Cynthia Murphy (Amy Adams, The Woman in the Window) and her husband Larry (Danny Pino, Fatale), who inform him of Connor's suicide — and that they found Evan's 'Dear Evan Hansen' note on him, and they're sure it's their son's last words. With his high school misery amply established through catchy songs, and his yearning to connect as well, Evan opts to go along with the Murphys' mistaken belief, including the idea that he and Connor were secretly the best of pals. As penned for both theatre and film by Steven Levenson (Tick, Tick... Boom!) — with music and lyrics by Benji Pasek and Justin Paul (The Greatest Showman) — this plot point is meant to play with awkwardness and longing, but it's simply monstrous. Indeed, the longer it goes on, with Evan spending more time with Connor's wealthy family than with his own mum Heidi (Julianne Moore, Lisey's Story), a nurse always working double shifts, the more ghastly it proves. It's lazy writing, too, because this isn't just a tale that defines its lead by their connection to a deceased person; it's about someone who intentionally makes that move themselves, then remains the recipient of all the movie's sympathies. Read our full review. RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY It's the franchise about zombies that just won't die. The series with a disdain for big corporations and the chaos they wreak that keeps pumping out more instalments, too. After six movies between 2002–16 that consistently proved a case of diminishing returns — and the original horror flick was hardly a masterpiece to begin with — welcoming viewers back to the Resident Evil realm smacks of simply trying to keep the whole saga going at any cost. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City does indeed extract a price from its audience, stretching their fondness for the video game-to-film franchise, their appetite for John Carpenter-inspired riffs and their penchant for overemphasised 90s nostalgia. Primarily set in 1998, and endeavouring to reboot the series without its previous star Milla Jovovich, it strenuously tests patience as well. After an orphanage stint filled with familiar Resident Evil figures — siblings Claire and Chris Redfield as kids, plus nefarious Umbrella Corporation scientist Dr William Birkin (Neal McDonough, Sonic the Hedgehog) — Welcome to Raccoon City first gets gory en route back to its titular town. The now-adult Claire (Kaya Scodelario, Crawl) hitches a ride with a trucker, who then hits a woman standing in the road. The victim still gets up afterwards, because unnaturally shuffling along after you've been killed comes with the territory. The walking dead are a new phenomenon in the desolate locale, however, following Umbrella's decision to shut up shop and leave the place a crumbling shell. Of course, the night that Claire arrives back to reunite with Chris (Robbie Amell, Upload), who's now a local cop, is the night that a virus zombifies Raccoon City's residents. Any movie that features besieged police officers trying to fend off attackers will always tread where Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 has already stomped, and Welcome to Raccoon City writer/director Johannes Roberts knows it — just as he splashed his awareness of shark horror flicks gone by across both 47 Metres Down and 47 Metres Down: Uncaged. Restarting a well-known series by blatantly taking cues from another filmmaker, and from 80s and 90s horror overall, isn't the path to success, though. As this dispiritingly generic feature keeps proving, it's about as smart as constantly splitting up while fending off the undead and navigating labyrinthine spaces, which Claire, Chris, and the latter's fellow cops Jill Valentine (Hannah John-Kamen, Ant-Man and the Wasp), Albert Wesker (Tom Hopper, Terminator: Dark Fate) and Leon Kennedy (Avan Jogia, Zombieland: Double Tap) unsurprisingly keep doing. Welcome to Raccoon City fares better with action over logic and originality, although nodding so forcefully to the filmmaker behind Halloween and The Thing stands out within the Resident Evil franchise. When it comes to Raccoon City's infected inhabitants, plus foes more frightening — their onslaughts, and Claire and company's attempts to evade them — Roberts finds a balance between stripping things back to ramp up the suspense and trying to imitate the video games that started it all. In the film's midsection, it all gets monotonous nonetheless, even while switching between first- and third-person perspectives and going big on monstrous creature design. Callouts to technology gone by, such as Nokia phones with Snake and VHS tapes (and, the flipside, marvelling over whiz-bang new tech by 90s standards like Palm Pilots and chat rooms), get repetitive and old fast, too. All things Resident Evil have as well, something this movie can't change despite its overt angling for a certain-to-eventuate sequel. NEW ORDER If only one word could be used to describe New Order, that word would be relentless. If just two words could be deployed to sum up the purposefully provocative film by writer/director Michel Franco (April's Daughter), savage would get thrown in as well. Sharing zero in common with the band of the same name, this 2020 Venice Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winner dreams up a dystopian future that's barely even one step removed from current reality. And, in dissecting class clashes, and also examining the growing discontent unsurprisingly swelling worldwide at the lavish lives indulged by the wealthy while so much of the world struggles, the mood and narrative are nothing less than brutal. Screens big and small have been filled with eat-the-rich stories of late — Parasite, Us, Candyman, Ready or Not, The White Lotus, Nine Perfect Strangers and Squid Game among them — but New Order is its own ravenous meal. The place: Mexico City. The setup: a wedding that goes undeniably wrong. As the ceremony gets underway at a compound-style residence that's jam-packed with the ultra-wealthy and ultra-corrupt, the chasm between the guests and the staff is glaring. Case in point: bride-to-be Marianne (Naian González Norvind, South Mountain) couldn't be more stressed when she's asked for money to help ex-employee Rolando's (Eligio Meléndez, La Civil) ailing wife, who also worked at the house, and plenty of her family members are dismissive, arrogant and flat-out rude about their former servant's plight. Then activists start making their presence known outside, as well as further afield in the city's streets — and interrupting the nuptials by storming the mansion, too. The military respond swiftly and brutally, sparing no one in their efforts to implement the movie's telling moniker. Franco doesn't want any second of New Order to be easy to watch. The film's opening foreshadows the bloodshed and body count to come, but even when it then gets immersed in a ridiculously lavish but characteristically chaotic upper-class wedding — as such events stereotypically are — all the slick excess so rampantly on display remains positively ghastly. There's a sense of insidiousness in the air that the filmmaker lets fester amid all the gated home's glass and steel, then pushes into overdrive as the violent uprising gathers steam. There's an utter lack of hope as well, because nothing can or will turn out well in this situation. It can't end nicely for the bourgeoisie previously oblivious to or cruelly uncaring about the 99 percent and, as authoritarianism kicks in to a savage degree, the ideals of fairness and equality being championed by protestors aren't shared by their government. One word that can't be used to describe New Order: subtle, or any synonym denoting a delicate approach. Franco wants the parallels between his fictional situation and reality, and the unsparing critique of the latter he's making with the former, to be noticed — and to be not only unavoidable, but searingly, blisteringly haunting. He's brash and bold with the film's style as a result, as well as blunt. He's forceful, but also masterful, and makes every image and sound resound with palpable anger. Franco's also trading in obvious concepts as he tears down the rich, greedy, powerful and unscrupulous, lays bare the ease with which a fascist nightmare can take hold and posits that the fight against both is never easy, but he's still moulded all those notions into an emotionally dynamic whirlwind. New Order is screening in Melbourne only. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on August 5, August 12, August 19 and August 26; September 2, September 9, September 16, September 23 and September 30; October 7, October 14, October 21 and October 28; November 4, November 11, November 18 and November 25; and December 2. For Sydney specifically, you can take a look at out our rundown of new films that released in Sydney cinemas when they reopened on October 11, and what opened on October 14, October 21 and October 28 as well. And for Melbourne, you can check out our top picks from when outdoor cinemas reopened on October 22 — and from when indoor cinemas did the same on October 29. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as The Suicide Squad, Free Guy, Respect, The Night House, Candyman, Annette, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Streamline, Coming Home in the Dark, Pig, Big Deal, The Killing of Two Lovers, Nitram, Riders of Justice, The Alpinist, A Fire Inside, Lamb, The Last Duel, Malignant, The Harder They Fall, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, Halloween Kills, Passing, Eternals, The Many Saints of Newark, Julia, No Time to Die, The Power of the Dog, Tick, Tick... Boom!, Zola, Last Night in Soho, Blue Bayou, The Rescue, Titane, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, Dune, Encanto, The Card Counter and The Lost Leonardo.
The rare and precious ability to inhale more hot dogs than anyone else in five minutes could score you both fame and fortune at The Dip this week. To celebrate its third birthday, Goodgod's canteen is hosting a hot dog eating contest with prizes including $100 in Dip dollars, a jug of Goodgod's finest punch and a copy of Levins's cookbook, Diner. Observe the mingled joy and pain on the faces of their previous spicy wing eating contest entrants. Those seeking more inspiration need look no further than one of the competitive eating world's most legendary face-off, Kobayashi versus a giant bear. The night sounds like lots of fun for non-entrants, too, since you can drink, dance, eat deep fried birthday cake (non-competitively) and watch the sweaty, straining faces of those striving for the noble title. The hot dog eating contest is on Thursday, May 29, at 8pm. Email do@thedip.com.au to register for the comp.
Filmmakers frequently trade in dreams and reality, plus the space where the two meet, clash and contrast. Directing a movie that's steeped in the daily actuality of being a woman in Mumbai, Payal Kapadia does exactly that with her first fictional feature. In All We Imagine as Light, three nurses go about their lives in India's most-populous city — big-smoke existences that appear independent, but are dictated by patriarchal societal norms, class and religious stratifications, and the growing gentrification of the nation's financial capital. Making the leap from documentary to narrative films after 2021's A Night of Knowing Nothing, Kapadia sees her characters' plights with clear eyes. Her 2024 Cannes Grand Prix-winning picture isn't afraid to embrace their hopes and desires, however, or to be romantic and poetic as well as infuriated and impassioned. Head nurse Prabha (Kani Kusruti, Maharani), her younger colleague and roommate Anu (Divya Prabha, Family), and their elder co-worker Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam, Snow Flower) all seem to be enjoying their own paths. In everything from where they live to who they love, though, their choices aren't completely their own. Hailing from Kerala, Prabha is married to a husband that she barely met before they wed, and who now works abroad in Germany. As she tends to the wounds and helps with the woes of others, the life that she so desperately wanted has failed to come to fruition. While fellow Malayali nurse Anu is carefree and in love, her boyfriend Shiaz (Hridhu Haroon, Mura) is Muslim, so their romance plays out in secret — and simply finding somewhere to be intimate is a constant mission. Maharashtrian Parvaty faces moving back to her Ratnagiri village due to Mumbai's changing skyline, with her chawl earmarked for demolition in favour of a high-rise, and her rights to her home given little consideration. For spending time with Prabha, Anu and Parvaty in this character- and mood-driven rather than story-driven gem — for juxtaposing the perceptions and the truths about their existences, too, and of women who head to Mumbai to forge their careers in general — Kapadia cemented herself as one of 2024's cinematic revelations. Awards and nominations have kept following. When it received Cannes' second-most prestigious annual prize after the Palme d'Or, so coming in behind Anora, it did so after becoming the first Indian film in 30 years to play in the renowned festival's official competition. From there, All We Imagine as Light earned two Golden Globe nods, with its guiding force a Best Director nominee. Oscar buzz lingers, even if the film wasn't selected by India as its submission for the Best International Feature category. Another tick of approval, among many, came when Kapadia's picture was named as one of Barack Obama's ten favourite movies for 2024. Is this response all that the writer/director dared to imagine when All We Imagine as Light first sprang to mind as a student project? "No, of course not," Kapadia tells Concrete Playground. "I took some time to raise the funding for this film. It was raised using a lot of funds from public institutions all over Europe, so it was a long process that they have there, and you just want to be able to make the film. That's your main priority. So we were just slowly, slowly building the budget to be able to shoot it. For us, everything has come as such a bonus — the making of the film itself was such a great, great thing for us that we, at points, would think 'are we going to be able to do it?'. Because it really takes time and that's fine. I appreciate the process. But you don't really think of what will happen. You hope, of course, that it'll do well and people will see it. But this was quite unexpected, I have to say." "I'm really so grateful," Kapadia also advises, while recognising that the fact that she's still just one of two women contending for the Best Director Golden Globe at 2025's ceremony — alongside The Substance's Coralie Fargeat — should be a relic of the past, as should cinema's poor history of appreciating female filmmakers. "And it's not just about women and a gender thing, but representation in all ways. There is diversity that needs to be there in representation, which is people of all races and castes and class. If selection committees were more diverse, I think this problem would not exist," Kapadia notes. All We Imagine as Light isn't just helping to push diversity in filmmaking accolades to the fore, but also the diversity of Indian cinema with audiences outside of the country itself. "I think in India, we have a very self-sustained ecosystem of cinema." Kapadia says. "I think that the West needs to start looking more at Indian cinema and accepting that there are different ways. There are different ways of acting. There are different ways of performance. We come from a very theatrical, sometimes melodramatic background, and that is also a way. So I think that the diversity of Indian cinema is not restricted to Bollywood. There is Tamil cinema, which is absolutely incredible; Malayalam cinema, which is really doing very avant-garde stuff; and, of course, Telugu cinema has now travelled with RRR and things like this." What did it mean for All We Imagine as Light to break a three-decade drought for Indian films in Cannes' competition? How did the film evolve from an idea for a graduation film? Kapadia also chatted with us both — as well as what influenced the movie's narrative elements, and inspires the filmmaker in general; the many layers to the script, and how to balance what is told visually versus what's conveyed in dialogue; how the writer/director's non-fiction filmmaking background had an imprint; bringing a different vision of Mumbai to the screen; and more. On All We Imagine as Light Being the First Indian Film to Play in Competition at Cannes in 30 Years "I think it was really great that we were in competition. It's also a bit scary, because it's your first fiction movie and it's competing with all these big directors who you've admired and who you studied at film school. So you're a bit nervous, like 'oh my god, what is it going to be?'. So I think for for me it was a lot of nerves, and I was a bit like 'will I be, will it …', about standing up to all these expectations of this thing about 30 years. But the truth is that in India, we do have — like this year, there was an Indian film in every section in Cannes. And that's really great because I think that having not having a film in 30 years is a bit of a disappointment for us as Indian filmmakers. I think that Indian films have been doing really well in other festivals. And a lot of competitions, in Venice and Locarno, there's more or less always an Indian film. So I think this 30-year pressure was a bit overdue, in that it should have had more Indian films. But yeah, I was nervous that I hoped that the film would be accepted and wouldn't feel like it was not worthy of being there." On the Movie's Evolution From Student Project to Earning Global Attention and Accolades "I had to make my what we call a diploma film at the Film and Television Institute of India. I had a very two-page thing about two two women who are friends, roommates, but have two different ideas of morality, and this was the starting point. But it was a very short 20-minute thing. And I had already thought that they should be nurses. So I was spending a lot of time trying to do more research about nursing. That's when I realised that I couldn't have done this in 20 minutes. I knew nothing. I needed more time to to think about all these things, to really explore this subject. I felt that 20 minutes was not enough. So I put it aside. But at that time I already got in touch with Kani Kusruti, to play the younger nurse at that time because it was eight years ago. And then I stopped the project and I did something else for my diploma. And I had put it aside for some time, and then I thought I should get back to it. A few years later, I got back to it and I started doing more research, meeting more people, spending a lot more time working on the details of the script. I was also making another movie at the same time, A Night of Knowing Nothing. So it was an on-off thing that I was doing, coming back to this film from time to time. And as I met more people, I got more stories that made it into the film, with all the interviews that I did and all of the young women I spoke to — and some part of myself, growing older also, because I went from being from the younger nurses age to the older nurse's age in the span of all this time. And I think that as you grow older, your perception of things also changes, of course. So my gaze also began to change a bit. And finally, this is the film that you see." On Where the Movie's Main Narrative Elements Sprang From, Including Focusing on Three Women Across Generations, Classes and Languages "I was thinking a lot about this question of friendship, and how certain friendships are very big city-driven. These people probably couldn't or wouldn't have met, or wouldn't have been friends, if it wasn't for Mumbai. For example, when you live in a city like Mumbai, you have to have a roommate — because it's really expensive, and sometimes you just have the roommate because you need to fill up the slot of the bed next to you because you need somebody to pay half the rent. So that's an odd kind of relationship, because you might not get along with this person. You don't want to be their friend. But now you're stuck with them for the 11-month lease. So that's a unique friendship. So Prabha's Anu's boss, in a way. She's the head nurse. But now she's stuck with this girl who is very different from her — and they are age-wise also different from each other, and their perspectives to life are very different. I was interested in this juxtaposition of two people who are so different in their way of thinking, but have to share a room, and what could come out of this relationship. And even Parvaty, who works with Prabha now, she's Maharashtrian and she speaks a different language. And they would not have met if it wasn't for Mumbai, because she would never have gone to Kerala. And there's nowhere else that Prabha would have probably gone. So that friendship is also unique because, again, it's a very Mumbai friendship between a Maharashtrian woman and a Malayali nurse. So I wanted to kind of have these unique friendships, which are, for me, very Mumbai friendships, in the film. And the character of Parvaty wasn't really that important when I started writing the film, but as I began to do more research into the housing situation — which for me was something that I had seen, but I hadn't delved into in a big way — I felt that it was something that I had to really address in the film." On Layering the Impact of Societal Expectations, Cultural Clashes and Gentrification Upon the Film's Characters Into the Script "It was quite a balancing act, because if you have three different trajectories, it's always a bit difficult to balance. And what we shot was a lot more than than you see in the film, of course. But I think we had a good editor, and along with him, we were finding that balance between the three stories and how they reflect on each other. How Parvaty doesn't feel lonely, even if she doesn't have a family — she doesn't want to go live with her son. While Prabha is somebody who's been so obsessed with the idea of a family, of a husband, and how that reflects on her — and how Prabha sees how free Anu is. And Anu is just a young girl, and she just wants to have sex with her boyfriend. It's a very fundamental thing. And the city doesn't really allow that. So I was thinking of it that it's not individual stories, but how they reflect on each other and what they gain from each other's interactions with them. It was a difficult thing — and I also feel sometimes that I could have had a longer film, but my producer was like 'two hours is good enough'." On Drawing Upon Kapadia's Background in Non-Fiction Filmmaking "The way that we shot the film has a lot of non-fiction process to it. When I was writing the script, my same cinematographer shot my previous movie also, which was the documentary. So while I was writing the script, we would go out into the city and we would both shoot. Then we would come back and we would analyse what we chose to shoot, as if we were making a documentary — because in a documentary you can shoot a lot, and then you can come back and edit it, but in fiction, everything is fixed. So we have to understand how we want to look. So we did a lot of tests of how our gaze should be towards the city. How do we feel about the lensing, and the camera movement, the feeling of space? So we thought a lot about these things, and that came from documentary, because we were shooting like documentary in our research. And we also, I spoke to a lot of people at this time, like 100, 200 people, at least. Some people, I thought I will cast them in the film, so I would call them for screen tests, but then that ended up just being long conversations and no possibility of acting, but just conversations in the afternoons. So I wanted to keep some sense of that in the film, those interactions somehow, to keep them as well. So we came up with this thing of putting a small, short documentary-like footage in the beginning and in the middle of the film — and giving it a sort of sense of a city symphony. And just talk about how diverse Mumbai really is. It's a city that is made by people who come from outside. There was nothing there. It was a bunch of islands. Only the Koli people lived there, and the British came and they reclaimed the land, and invited people to come to live and work there to create a new port. So the fundamental idea of this city is that it's made up of people who are not from there, and I wanted to highlight that somehow." On What Was Most Crucial for Kapadia to Convey About the City That She Was Born in, Then Came Back to as an Adult After Going to School Elsewhere "The multilingual quality of the city. And also one of the things that is very important to me was the trains. Because it's what you end up seeing the most, because you spend a lot of time in the transport. And they become a space for a lot of different interactions — or relationships of the ladies compartment, where you make friends. You see the same people, you don't know them but you always nod because you know you'll see them tomorrow. And you try to think about their life outside of that compartment. But for those two hours, you are in that journey together. And all these things, I think a lot about. Maybe I'm too romantic about it, but I don't know, it's how I feel. Also this question of gentrification was important to me, and the right to people owning property, and who has this right. I feel I could have made another whole film about it, because it's so complicated and there is so much anger that one feels towards this situation. I wanted to also in a visual way talk about that. So you always see the buildings and then also the smaller houses and the slum area all together in a frame, and I wanted to give a visual sense of what the city is." On Knowing What to Convey Visually and Where to Let Dialogue Tell the Story "This is a real struggle. It's something that, as a filmmaker, you think about a lot because you don't have the visuals exactly on paper. You can't exactly say what they will be. And you have to rely a bit on the writing of the visuals and of the dialogue for the person who's giving you the grant to be able to understand it. But for me, I can put an image of the city and I know what I'm thinking. So this is a big, big issue for me, about finding that balance. And finally, when I'm editing, it's when I actually realise the balance and I can let go of a lot of information — which is being, I hope, conveyed visually and it doesn't need to be told in lines. But its a big balancing act and I hope to get better and better at it because sometimes I feel — it's complicated, I have a complicated relationship with this." On the Guidance That Kapadia Gave Her Cast When They're Tasked with Revealing Complicated Characters Via Actions and Expressions as Much, If Not More, Than Dialogue "We we did a lot of rehearsals before shooting. For three weeks, we we all stayed together. We did it like a theatre workshop. So we worked on each of the characters' body language, on how silences are — and we did a really fun exercise, which was that we did many scenes where the actors would play the characters, but between dialogues say what the character is thinking. So if there was silence, you would hear what Anu's mind is going on, thinking to herself about — let's say how she's planning something or how she's bored or whatever. So we would do these exercises where the thoughts were all spoken out, so we all know how to think about it. And the actors are really, really great, and they brought in a lot of their own thoughts about this, and I think it was way beyond what I had even thought. It was really collaborative and rich process for me." On What Inspires Kapadia as a Filmmaker "Everything inspires me. I think that that's the privilege of being a filmmaker, that life seems more interesting than cinema, and I want to make films about everything all the time. It's crazy. I feel, I think just being in the world and seeing the world around you, really everything is so inspiring. And for me, my films are also about very daily things, so that is why daily life for me is is my inspiration." On the Importance of Conveying Prabha, Anu and Parvaty's Ongoing Fights for Agency "It was really what you're saying, that it is these tentacles of this patriarchal society that still hold you down, and in spite of being financially independent and physically away from the family, it is something that is for me, certainly, a real pity. It's a matter of genuine anger. Because I've seen it in people in my family as well, and girlfriends around me, and it's something that always just makes me very frustrated. So I wanted to bring out that frustration in the film and say that at least if this society is failing us in so many ways, if we could find some utopian-like space where we could all connect, at least in a way that is beyond our immediate identity and beyond our immediate morality, to at least be supportive of one another — it's a small move, but it's, for me, a big one." On How the Film's Sometimes-Romantic, Sometimes-Clinical Aesthetic Adopts Its Characters' Different Gazes "I wanted to shoot the film from the gaze of the characters. So for Anu, whenever we see her and Shiaz, the city seems very nice. They're walking through the Mohammed Ali Road and eating kebabs and the beautiful lights, and the smoke coming out. Because I think cities are better when you are with a friend or when you are with a lover. If you are in that mood, then somehow things look better. They might not be, but it's how it is. You don't mind sitting in a really crowded public bus — you don't mind that there is traffic because it means you'll have a little bit more time together. And these very normal things that would annoy you suddenly become okay. So I wanted to have that kind subjectivity to the film, whenever we are with Anu and Shiaz, then we also feel delighted at everything. And if you see the city through the wet droplets, that all looks so. Then with Prabha, it's more about the daily grind. She's not going to look at how beautiful it is, but just go from one place to the other, and it's a functional look. And for Parvaty, there is a sense of this complete injustice, feeling that she's going to be thrown out of a place that she's been calling home for 22 years. So I was trying in some senses to have a different gaze to the city, because I think it is all these things. It is a place of freedom for a lot of young women. It is a place of anonymity and that anonymity gives freedom. But it's also a harsh reality and a difficult city. So I was hoping that through these different gazes these layers came out." All We Imagine as Light opened in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, December 26, 2024.
The clown prince of crime is dancing all the way to the Oscars, with Joker topping the pool at this year's Academy Award nominations. It's the second year in a row that a comic book film has featured among the most prolific nominees, after Black Panther earned seven nods in 2019. As well as being the most-nominated movie in 2020 with 11 nominations, Joker is now the most-nominated superhero flick of all time — with the Joaquin Phoenix-starring movie beating the eight received by The Dark Knight, including Heath Ledger's posthumous Best Supporting Actor statuette for playing the same character. Remember when, back in 2018, the Oscars wanted to introduce a new Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film? When that was announced, the backlash was fast and furious, causing it to be scrapped — and if Joker's prominence this year and Black Panther's last year prove anything, it's that such a category really isn't needed. Plenty of other popular films sit alongside Joker in the 2020 nominations, with The Irishman, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and 1917 each nabbing ten apiece, and Little Women, Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit earning six each. Also ratcheting up a half-dozen: the best movie of 2019, aka Bong Joon-ho's Parasite. Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, Film Editing and Production Design, Parasite's big showing is historic — amazingly, it's the first South Korean movie to ever earn a nomination in the Oscars' 92-year history, including in the foreign-language category. Alas, while the film's recognition might seem like an important step forward, much of this year's major categories show little in the way of diversity among their nominees. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AST2-4db4ic When the winners are announced on Monday, February 10, Australian and New Zealand time, no female filmmaker will be crowned the year's best director thanks to the field's all-male nominees. As Issa Rae noted as she read the nominations alongside John Cho, "congratulations to all those men". Greta Gerwig's Little Women apparently directed itself, for example, although the actor-turned-filmmaker did receive a nod for Best Adapted Screenplay. And, when the acting prizes are handed out, it's highly likely that they'll be given to a white performer. While the nominees don't quite repeat the #OscarsSoWhite controversy of four years ago, when no people of colour were recognised, only two earned nods this year: Antonio Banderas for his sublime performance in Pain and Glory, and Cynthia Erivo for biopic Harriet. Fancied contenders such as Hustlers' Jennifer Lopez, The Farewell's Golden Globe-winner Awkwafina, Us' Lupita Nyong'o and Dolemite Is My Name's Eddie Murphy were all shut out — as was The Farewell in general. Plus, while there was plenty of love of Parasite, that didn't extend to any of the movie's actors. Of course, the Oscars always serve up snubs and surprises. Another big shock: Adam Sandler missing out on a Best Actor nomination for fantastic thriller Uncut Gems. Sandler and the Academy Awards mightn't seem like obvious bedfellows, but the actor is in career-best form as a diamond jeweller and compulsive gambler. On the local front, Aussie Margot Robbie scored a nod for Best Supporting Actress for Bombshell, playing a reporter caught up in the sexual harassment scandals at Fox News, while New Zealander Taika Waititi received a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for Jojo Rabbit. The 92nd Academy Awards will take place on Monday, February 10, Australian time. Here's the full list of nominations: OSCAR NOMINEES 2020 BEST MOTION PICTURE The Irishman Ford v Ferrari Jojo Rabbit Joker Little Women Marriage Story 1917 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Parasite BEST DIRECTOR Martin Scorsese, The Irishman Bong Joon Ho, Parasite Sam Mendes, 1917 Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Todd Phillips, Joker PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story Saoirse Ronan, Little Women Charlize Theron, Bombshell Renee Zellweger, Judy Cynthia Erivo, Harriet PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE Adam Driver, Marriage Story Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Joaquin Phoenix, Joker Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Laura Dern, Marriage Story Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit Margot Robbie, Bombshell Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell Florence Pugh, Little Women PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes Al Pacino, The Irishman Joe Pesci, The Irishman Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY 1917 Marriage Story Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Parasite Knives Out BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Jojo Rabbit Joker Little Women The Irishman The Two Popes BEST ORIGINAL SCORE Joker Little Women Marriage Story 1917 Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker BEST ORIGINAL SONG I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away, Toy Story 4 (I'm Gonna) Love Me Again, Rocketman I'm Standing With You, Breakthrough Into the Unknown, Frozen 2 Stand Up, Harriet BEST FILM EDITING Ford v Ferrari The Irishman Jojo Rabbit Joker Parasite BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM Corpus Christi (Poland) Honeyland (North Macedonia) Les Miserables (France) Pain and Glory (Spain) Parasite (South Korea) BEST ANIMATED FEATURE How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World I Lost My Body Klaus Missing Link Toy Story 4 BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE American Factory The Cave The Edge of Democracy For Sama Honeyland BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY The Irishman Joker The Lighthouse 1917 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN The Irishman Jojo Rabbit 1917 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Parasite BEST VISUAL EFFECTS Avengers: Endgame The Irishman The Lion King 1917 Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker BEST COSTUME DESIGN The Irishman Jojo Rabbit Joker Little Women Once Upon a Time in Hollywood BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING Bombshell Joker Judy Maleficent: Mistress of Evil 1917 BEST SOUND MIXING Ad Astra Ford v Ferrari Joker 1917 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood BEST SOUND EDITING Ford v Ferrari Joker 1917 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT In the Absence Learning to Skateboard In A Warzone Life Overtakes Me St Louis Superman Walk Run Cha-Cha BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM Dcera (Daughter) Hair Love Kitbull Memorable Sister BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM Brotherhood Nefta Football Club The Neigbour's Window Saria A Sister
It can seem like when summer disappears, so do our social lives. A bit dramatic? Perhaps. But you have to admit that when the temperature drops, your free time becomes a little less about beach days and barbecues and a little more sweatpants and streaming. But when you've only got limited daylight hours at your disposal, why would you want to spend them all inside? Sydney still gets plenty of sunshine at this time of year and, when a day like that comes along, the best place you can be is by the water with a glass of wine in your hand. So, we've found special lunch deals at two well-loved Sydney restaurants that'll get you out from behind that Netflix queue and soaking up a little more vitamin D. First up, there's Ripples Chowder Bay — the Italian-style restaurant set in a heritage listed building overlooking Sydney Harbour. Throughout autumn, the restaurant is running a special weekday lunch — choose any two courses from the a la carte menu, plus a side and glass of Cape Mentelle wine for just $49 per person. You could stick with an entree and main — think king prawns with smoked paprika aioli and whole market fish — or opt to swap your starter with dessert and have the belly-warming combination of beef fillet with truffle mash and banoffee pie. Whatever you decide, we recommend nabbing a seat on the deck to enjoy your meal al fresco. Meanwhile, Manly Pavilion is skipping the side and offering its two-course lunch menu, with a glass of either Cape Mentelle sauvignon blanc semillon or cabernet merlot, for $45. This decadent long lunch will be on offer Tuesdays to Fridays in the slick bistro dining space. The menu features squid ink linguine with stewed calamari, smoked angus beef brisket, tiramisu and more. And, in some very good news for you (and your somewhat bare social calendar), we're giving you and three mates the chance to enjoy one of these luxurious long lunches. Enter your details below for a chance to win. [competition]714822[/competition]
Spring, plus light- to medium-bodied red wine: what a pairing. It's the duo that not only sits at the heart of Australian wine-tasting festival Pinot Palooza, but has helped the vino-swilling event become such a hit. The weather is sunny, the tipples are heady, and sipping your way through a heap of the latter is on the menu — including in 2023. Earlier in 2023, the beloved wine fest announced that it was not only returning for 2023, but also settling back into that coveted spring timeslot. Now, it has locked in venues and put tickets on sale. The Melbourne-born wine tasting festival will celebrate its 11th year by hitting up Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane again. To close out winter, it'll also make its debut in Perth. On offer at Claremont Showgrounds in Perth, Sydney's Carriageworks, Brisbane Showgrounds and The Timber Yard in Port Melbourne: more than 50 winemakers slinging their wares. Pinot Palooza will spread the party over three August days in Western Australia, as well as three October days in the Sunshine State. In New South Wales and Victoria, it'll be a two-day affair. In its decade of life until now, the fest has welcomed in thousands of vino lovers. Indeed, an estimated 65,000 tickets were sold globally before its 2022 events. When COVID-19 hit in 2020, the popular celebration was shelved for two-and-a-half years, before making a comeback last year. The response? More than 12,000 folks heading along around the nation. 2023's vino-sipping fun will cover organic, biodynamic, vegan and low-intervention wines, and more. Set to share their tipples among producers from Australia, New Zealand and further afield: New Zealand's Burn Cottage and CHARTERIS; Small Island, Ghost Rock and Meadowbank from Tasmania; M&J Becker from NSW and Moondarra from Victoria. The food lineup will feature cheese, salumi, terrines, patê, olives and other perfect vino accompaniments, with Tasmania's Grandvewe Cheese and Victoria's Mount Zero among the suppliers. And, while Pinot Palooza is a standalone fest only across the east coast dates, in Perth it's part of an already-announced collaboration with cheese festival Mould. PINOT PALOOZA 2023: Friday, August 25–Sunday, August 27: Centenary Pavilion, Claremont Showgrounds, Perth Friday, October 6–Saturday, October 7: Carriageworks, Sydney Friday, October 13–Sunday, October 15: John Reid Pavilion, Brisbane Showgrounds Friday, October 27–Saturday, October 28: The Timber Yard, Port Melbourne Pinot Palooza will get pouring around Australia from August–October 2023. For more information and tickets, head to the event's website.
If you thought the days of sipping wine by the beach with your mates were over now that winter is around the corner, think again. Coogee Bay Hotel is bringing the goods this weekend with its annual Wine Affairs Festival, celebrating homegrown Aussie wines and New Zealand drops. On Friday, May 17, an intimate six-course dinner, hosted by Yalumba winemaker Marc Van Halderen, will kick off the festivities. Each dish will be paired with new release wines from Yalumba — one of Australia's oldest wineries in the Barossa Valley — and there'll be live jazz, too. Places are extremely limited for this one, so bookings are essential. Tickets cost $99 per person. Following the opening feast, the Wine Affairs Festival will run across Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19, from midday until sundown. Expect to sip wines from over 20 wineries from around Australia and New Zealand, including Audrey Wilkinson, See Saw, Squealing Pig, De Bortoli and McGuigan Wines, plus more. Plus, you can pair your favourite drops with a selection of delicious cheeses, have fun in the photo booth and sit back and relax to live jazz. And if you don't think you can face the journey home after all that wine tasting, turn your visit into a staycation. Coogee Bay Hotel is offering a special accommodation package for Wine Affairs visitors, which includes breakfast and tokens for the festival. Coogee Bay Hotel's Wine Affairs will take place from May 17–19. To reserve a spot at the intimate Friday dinner, head this way. Entry to the Wine Affairs Festival is free and you can pre-purchase tokens for tastings and bottles over here.
