Do you like horror films? Australian director Mark Hartley obviously does. His infectious, gleeful enthusiasm for his popular if sometimes critically reviled genre of horror makes this a blood-soaked treat for like-minded fans. Having previously explored the rich if somewhat forgotten back catalogues of Australian exploitation cinema horror in his excellent doco Not Quite Hollywood, he takes the next logical step here, remaking Richard Franklin's 1978 cult favourite B-movie. The tagline of the original also serves as a neat plot summary: 'He's in a coma…yet, he can kill!' He is Patrick, a patient who somehow maintains his excellent condition while those around him waste away in a vegetative state in a creepy, isolated hospital. When a young nurse makes a ghoulish discovery that leads to her grisly end, the bright young Kathy 'Jac' Jacquard (Sharni Vinson) is recruited to the facility, which is overseen by Dr. Roget (Charles Dance) and his dead-eyed daughter, Matron Cassidy (Rachel Griffiths). Jac has just broken up with her boyfriend Ed (Damon Gameau) and is seeking a clean break. She soon finds an ally in the spirited Nurse Williams (Peta Sergeant), who fills her in on the shady happenings in the facility, a dimly lit Gothic hellhole. She takes a special interest in Patrick, who Dr Roget has adopted as his special project, administering electro-shock therapy and other techniques not prescribed in any medical journal. Alarmed at the bizarre experiments and freaked out that the comatose Patrick seems to be able to communicate with her, Jac confides in Brian (Martin Crewes), a former doctor and writer who advises her to report Dr Roget to the authorities and get out of town. But this wouldn't be a horror film if its hero took the safe option, and as Ed arrives in town to reconcile with Jac, he too gets drawn into the escalating terror wreaked by malevolent forces at the hospital. Patrick rattles through genre tropes (creaky elevator shafts, dirty-looking syringes, zombie-like patients wandering blackened corridors, moments of silence shattered by a pounding at the door) with an expert's assurance and a fan's relish. This is a film that knows exactly what it is, and that recognises that some things are cliches for a reason. Vinson, last seen in You're Next (a more nasty and realist film than Patrick) makes for a plucky heroine, while it's a shame Sergeant's character fades into the background somewhat as Jac delves further into Patrick's story. Their performances form part of an impressive film seemingly destined for cultish devotion. While Patrick may not convince the unconverted, horror fans will lap up every minute of its lean, gore-splattered running time. https://youtube.com/watch?v=0N5iCcPGqoY
The realisation that eventually comes to everyone underscores Once My Mother, one that dawned slowly upon filmmaker Sophia Turkiewicz. She grew up listening to stories her mother, Helen, would tell of her life, but could only see as far as the intersection with her involvement. More immediate family history weighed upon Sophia, driving a desire for distance as she grew from a girl into a woman. Unforgiving about time spent in an orphanage, she also demonstrated an unwillingness to look past the emotional scars of her upbringing. It follows that Once My Mother takes a universal process — that of discovering the real personality of our parents, of understanding the true impact of their past not just upon their lives but our own, and of showing compassion for any missteps along the way — and relates it to the audience in the only way possible: as a personal journey. Turkiewicz's documentary is dedicated to dissecting Helen's resilience through decades marked by difficulties of destruction, discrimination and displacement; however, it is also shaped by a daughter's burgeoning awakening to things only age and experience could help her appreciate. Read our full review here. Once My Mother is in cinemas on July 24, and thanks to Change Focus Media, we have ten double in-season passes to give away. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email us with your name and address. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au Brisbane: win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au https://youtube.com/watch?v=-fos7dm2inE
We're in the thick of summer festivals, and organisers of Splendour in the Grass and Falls Festival have launched a brand newie: Sydney City Limits. A sister festival for Texan mega-fest Austin City Limits, Sydney's version will be a one-day all-ages event full of music, food, art and market stalls aplenty. Gracing four stages in Sydney's Centennial Park will be a serious lineup of Australian and international artists. Over 30 huge names — including international acts Justice, Beck, Phoenix and Grace Jones, and local artists Gang of Youths, Tash Sultana, Vance Joy, Dune Rats and Allday — will converge on the inner-city park for the festival. Not a bad debut lineup. You'll also be nourished by a handful of Sydney's top chefs, restaurants and food trucks, all curated by the team behind Mary's and The Unicorn. And just like the festival's American counterpart, the creative arts will get a strong representation here, too. You'll be able to explore an openair art space that showcases snapshots of the city through painting, street art, photography, video and performance art by Sydney artists. There will also be artisan markets, with the opportunity to bring home fashion, jewellery, art and merchandise.
You can pick a Judd Apatow film from a mile off. Bromantic plot-lines, improvised dialogue and gross-out humour are his unmistakable calling cards, to say nothing of his vow to include at least one penis in every project. It’s just that, Trainwreck is also a Judd Apatow film, only you don’t realise it until his name appears in the final credits. From start to finish, it feels like an Amy Schumer film, and that’s a credit to both of them. If you don’t know who Amy Schumer is, you probably don’t have the internet. The current queen of comedy has had an amazing few years, including her own sketch show on Comedy Central, a sold-out stand up tour, countless guest spots and a hosting gig for the 2015 MTV Movie Awards. Trainwreck, which Schumer both wrote and stars in, is her first foray into film, and it’s a solid (if also circumspect) debut. Schumer plays Amy Townsend, a relentless party girl and writer for the trashy magazine S’nuff who's assigned to write a profile on celebrity sports surgeon Dr Aaron Conners (SNL’s Bill Hader). Amy soon finds herself in a serious, committed relationship with the doctor, one that flies in the face of her lifelong dedication to polyamory, making Trainwreck a traditional romcom with an entirely untraditional difference: a female lead playing the ‘guy role’ – drinking, swearing and laying waste to one sexual conquest after the next. To call it refreshing is a giant understatement. In the lead, Schumer falls short of an assured performance, but hits enough high notes to carry the film through its weaker moments. Her trademark honesty-bordering-on-overshare is evident throughout, proving endearing even when her character’s words and actions are anything but. Amy Townsend isn’t a particularly likeable person, but like her you do all the same. Opposite her, Hader is pleasantly reserved as the good doctor and greater man, whose goofy grin and sexual naiveté nicely round out the ‘opposites attract’ motif. But by far the most pleasant surprise is the performance by NBA superstar LeBron James as Aaron's former patient-cum-best friend. A few years back, Gary Oldman and Jimmy Kimmel teamed up for an amusing short called “Actors Against Acting Athletes”, in which Oldman railed against the influx of sportspeople in film – particularly basketball players. Cameos aside (e.g. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s turn in Flying High), it’s an entirely reasonable rant, especially since you’d be hard pressed to name many classics amongst Shaquille O’Neal’s twenty-three listed acting credits, let alone the twenty-six boasted by Dennis Rodman. James, however, is a terrific comic presence in Trainwreck, gleefully presenting himself as a Cleveland-obsessed romantic with a profound investment in Aaron’s love life and Scrooge-like stinginess, insisting on splitting every check despite his estimated net worth of $325 million. The scene between him and Aaron playing some casual one-on-one whilst discussing commitment and intimacy is arguably the finest in the film. There are many other cameos in Trainwreck. Some are clever (Daniel Radcliffe as himself in an art film called The Dogwalker, and WWE star John Cena as Schumer’s erstwhile boyfriend), but most are either unnecessary or downright bad (none more so than Matthew Broderick and Marv Albert in a bizarre intervention scene). Schumer’s the hottest ticket in town right now, so it’s understandable that Hollywood would be queuing up to get in on the action, but successful cameos require the deftest of touches to avoid completely breaking a film’s flow and reeking of ‘why not?’ stink – which wafts in more than a few times here. With a shorter run time and a tighter third act, Trainwreck might have proven itself a terrific romcom. As it stands it’s still a solid comedy that even boasts a few serious moments to tug at the heartstrings. Without question, Schumer’s only getting started, and we eagerly await the next instalment from this spectacularly funny comic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_KP9x80Z9Q
Usually when the Easter long weekend hits, music fans descend upon Byron Bay for five days of live tunes. Both in 2020 and 2021, that didn't happen — with Bluesfest cancelled last year when the pandemic began, then scrapped again this year after a new COVID-19 outbreak saw NSW Health issue a public health order to shutter the event. Thankfully for music lovers and festival devotees, the 2021 festival hasn't been ditched completely. More than a month after it was originally due to take place between Thursday, April 1–Monday, April 5, Bluesfest organisers have announced that it'll move to October instead. So, mark Friday, October 1–Monday, October 4 in your diary. That's another long weekend, although the rescheduled fest will be one day shorter than normal. Once again, the long-running festival will return to Byron Events Farm (formerly Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm) just outside Byron Bay. Originally, 2021's event was set to be headlined by Jimmy Barnes, Tash Sultana, Ocean Alley, Ziggy Alberts and The Teskey Brothers, but organisers haven't made any new lineup announcements yet. The fest will unveil its full new bill sometime next week, and revealed in a Facebook post announcing the new dates that it has "been adding more of Australia's absolute best talent". View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bluesfest Byron Bay (@bluesfestbyronbay) Bluefest also advised that season tickets for the festival will go on sale next week as well, with one- and three-day tickets available before that — but no specific dates were provided. Eager music fans can sign up for the waitlist now, and will be notified when tickets drop. Current ticketholders will be contacted by Moshtix with all the necessary information about the new dates, rolling your existing tickets over and getting a refund if you can no longer attend. And, because five-day passes were sold for the April dates, Bluesfest organisers are promising "something very special" for folks with those lengthier tickets during the October dates. Yes, that'll also be revealed sometime next week. Bluesfest 2021 will now run from Friday, October 1–Monday, October 4 at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, Byron Bay. The new lineup announcement is set to be announced sometime next week — to register for the ticket waitlist, head to Moshtix. Top image: Andy Fraser
With the Greater Sydney region in lockdown for seven weeks now, and set to stay under stay-at-home requirements until at least Saturday, August 28, everyone who lives in the city has been under strict rules regarding leaving the house. In some areas, the restrictions have been tighter than others, however — and three more parts of Sydney will be under those additional rules from 5pm today, Thursday, August 12. From this afternoon onwards, folks in the Bayside, Strathfield and Burwood Local Government Areas will be placed under the same tighter rules currently in place in the Parramatta, Georges River, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown, Liverpool, Blacktown and Cumberland LGAs, and in 12 suburbs in the Penrith LGA as well. Residents in these areas are only permitted to travel five kilometres from home in general, and may only leave their homes for work outside their areas if they're considered authorised workers. Also required: wearing masks whenever they leave the house. At New South Wales' daily COVID-19 press conference, Premier Gladys Berejiklian advised that the Bayside, Strathfield and Burwood LGAs are now considered areas of concerned due to their case numbers. "In relation to Bayside, the suburbs of particular concern are Bexley, Banksia and Rockdale, where additional cases have been identified overnight — so if you live in though suburbs in particular, please come forward and get tested," she said. "In Strathfield and Burwood, which are geographically smaller areas, we are noticing relative to the population an increasing number of cases — and as a precaution, those additional council areas have been brought into those areas of concern." Due to increasing concerns about community transmission, Burwood, Strathfield and Bayside Local Government Area (LGA) will now have additional restrictions from 5pm today, in line with previously identified LGAs of concern and 12 suburbs in Penrith LGA. — NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 12, 2021 The three LGAs about to come under tighter conditions are bound by the overarching stay-at-home rules that apply to the rest of Greater Sydney, too. So, as has been the case since late June, everyone can still only leave the house for four specific essential reasons: to work and study if you can't do it from home; for essential shopping; for exercise outdoors; and for compassionate reasons, which includes medical treatment, getting a COVID-19 test and getting vaccinated. Also, only businesses deemed "critical retail" are permitted to remain open. Stores that can continue to welcome in customers include supermarkets, grocery stores, butchers, bakeries, fruit and vegetable stores, liquor stores and fishmongers; pharmacies and chemists; and shops that primarily sell health, medical, maternity and infant supplies. Also allowed to stay open: pet supply shops, post offices, newsagencies, office supply stores, petrol stations, car hire places, banks, hardware shops, nurseries, and places that sell building, agricultural and rural goods. Any retail premises that don't fall into the above categories are closed to physical customers, but they can do takeaways, home deliveries, and click and collect orders. If you need supplies, only one person from each household can go out shopping each day to buy essential items — and browsing is prohibited, too. Carpooling is still off the cards, unless you're in a vehicle with members of your own household. And, you can still only exercise in groups of two outdoors — or as a household. NSW recorded 345 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. Of these locally acquired cases, 128 are linked to a known case or cluster – 101 household contacts & 27 close contacts – & the source of infection for 217 cases is under investigation. pic.twitter.com/aphtK5nZfO — NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 12, 2021 The Premier also noted that residents of two other parts of Sydney should be particularly cautious as well, even though rules aren't changing in these specific areas at the moment. "We are asking also people who live in the Inner West and Camden to be on extra watch and alert, and health authorities are watching the cases in those areas very closely. The stricter restrictions in the Bayside, Strathfield and Burwood LGAs come into effect as NSW reported 345 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases identified to 8pm on Wednesday, August 11, with only 116 cases in isolation for their entire contagious period. As always, Sydneysiders are also asked to continue to frequently check NSW Health's long list of locations and venues that positive coronavirus cases have visited. If you've been to anywhere listed on the specific dates and times, you'll need to get tested immediately and follow NSW Health's self-isolation instructions. In terms of symptoms, you should be looking out for coughs, fever, sore or scratchy throat, shortness of breath, or loss of smell or taste — and getting tested at a clinic if you have any. The Bayside, Strathfield and Burwood Local Government Areas will be placed under stricter lockdown conditions from 5pm on Thursday, August 12. Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour remain in lockdown until at least 12.01am on Saturday, August 28. For more information about the status of COVID-19 in NSW, head to the NSW Health website.
This Australia Day, the Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel presents the annual Sydney event both your pooch and you will be pumped for: The Every Man and His Dog stand-up paddle race. Also open to those without a paddleboard (it can be hired on the day) or a four-legged friend (can't hire, go without), the race offers something for everyone, with different categories including long distance, sprint and a treasure hunt. You don't have to participate, if you're like us, you'll likely be crazily Instagramming from the shore. It's dogs on paddleboards, people. Dogs. On. Paddleboards. Kicking off at 7.00am, The Every Man and His Dog stand-up paddle race will leave your tummy grumbling. Luckily, the Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel have your back (or stomach) with their Australia Day shindig. $45 will get you a One Fifty Lashes Pale Ale or a glass of wine to accompany your grain-fed Angus rump with Yamba king prawns and chips. Live DJs will be playing all your go-to Aussie tunes, don't worry.
The Sydney premiere season of Australian Dance Theatre's Be Your Self commences on May 31. Garry Stewart's production transforms ADT's athletic dancers into "erupting, powerful, creative entities projecting startling physical images to a wildly unpredictable, cartoonish, electronic score." Identity is one thing, but understanding who we really are by breaking down the singular 'I' is another. Stewart challenges his audiences and revels in the power of the human body's ability to evoke thought, emotion and individualism. Collaborating with visionary New York architectural firm Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, Be Your Self fuses Stewart's uniquely audacious choreographic approach with spoken word, video and architectural design to create a visually exciting and inspiring new dance work. https://youtube.com/watch?v=lgDwVFxK5ZY
Carnivals were originally a festival to farewell the pleasures of the flesh before the Roman Catholic tradition of Lent. These days the focus tends to be more the party and less the restraint. Most famous Carnivals are done with for the year — Venice, Rio, New Orleans and our own Mardi Gras — but the Argyle in the Rocks is having its own go at drawing out the festival spirit. Last year they tested the water with a one day 'Carnivargyle', which this year they've expanded into a full month of anti-lenten excesses. 2011's Carnivargyle includes Brazilian dance, barbeques dripping with staple Argentinian green sauce chimichurri, and rhythmic demonstrations of capoeira. Thursday nights will see samba classes and tequila tastings, while Wednesdays and Sundays the space will play host to live latin bands. Gonzalo Porta & The Sydney Salsa All Stars lead a New Yorican (New York and Puerto Rican latino) evening Wednesday March 20, while the following Wednesday is a night of Afro-Cuban sounds. Friday and Saturday nights feature DJs pushing latin tunes, and barbeques in the expansive courtyard.
Yes, here comes the 'S' word: Sex.....es Festival. (Finally, a festival to call its own!) It seems that Performance Space wants to heat things up a little with some visual and performance art sexy times. Looking at sexuality and gendered identities in contemporary Australia, this is one festival that aims to be progressive and confronting — and refuses to shy away from embarrassing. The visual arts exhibition Sexes, which runs for the length of the festival, has 17 artists working across photomedia, video, installation, performance, sculpture, and collage, alongside a serve of theoretical discourse about all things gender. If live art is more your thing, never fear, because there will be a performance program that also comes under the heading of Sexes and aims to "generally prance around the themes and ideas" of sex and all that it entails. Another performance piece is Whelping Box (Oct 23 to Nov 3), where two performers will chain themselves to stakes to test their limits. By now you’re probally in the mood for some dance, which you can get in the form of Something in the Way She Moves (Nov 14-17), in which a middle-aged woman does the dance of the everyday. And finally, there's Clubhouse: Sex Club (you can't get much more illicit than that). But this isn't some sleazy club on the Kings Cross strip; this is a Sex Club that wants to talk about sex, watch dirty movies together, perform erotic readings (hopefully no 50 Shades of Grey), dance, and more.
With the temperature and acidity of the oceans gradually rising comes the possibility of the extinction of the colourful, gorgeous coral reefs that are home to thousands of sea creatures. So, MUSA (Museum Subacuático de Arte) was created in 2009 in an attempt to preserve the precious coral reefs, using the ocean floor near Cancun, Isla Mujeres and Punta Nizuc, Mexico as a museum for sculptures that would also help sustain life beneath the surface. Senior TED Fellow and artist Colleen Flanigan's innovative Biorock sculptures have been chosen to become part of the project. Flanigan's metal sculptures are designed to counter the damage already done by global warming and pollution and regenerate the coral by raising the pH level of the surrounding water and help them acquire sufficient calcium carbonate for the coral's exoskeleton. The Biorock structures will also provide the living reefs with an alkaline environment that will increase resistance to environmental stressors. $15,000 is needed to fund Flanigan's underwater installations in MUSA, so she's kickstarted a Kickstarter account. $12,542 has been donated to date, but there is still a ways to go before the April 12th deadline. If you donate just a dollar, Flanigan will even say your name as she plants a polyp — every little bit helps.
Next time you slather your hands with sanitiser, you could be covering them with your favourite booze as well. With alcohol a crucial ingredient in the now-essential product — especially sanitiser that's effective against COVID-19 — distilleries and breweries are doing their part to help boost supplies. To the delight of coffee liqueur lovers, that now includes Australia's much-loved Mr Black. While gin aficionados can splash their digits with Manly Spirits Co's gin-infused hand sanitiser and fans of distilled and fermented sugercane can disinfect with hand sanitiser from Queensland's Bundaberg and Beenleigh rum distilleries — and plenty of other boozy outfits are jumping on the trend, too — fans of caffeinated booze can look forward to freshening their fingers with their preferred tipple. Mr Black has whipped up its own sanitiser and is shipping it around the country. It's also donated a heap of bottles of its A-class sani to a bunch of charities, medical centres and COVID-19 testing clinics. You can grab a maximum of two 500 millilitre bottles, for $19.95 each, plus a $10 flat-rate national shipping fee. The hand sanitiser is made using a World Health Organisation recipe with 80 percent ethanol, and as bottles don't come with a pump they're designed to be used as refills. If you decide to invest in some actual coffee liqueur while you're on the site — the OG ($60), single-origin ($75) and amaro ($80) versions are all for sale, as is the most adorable 50-millilitre bottle ($5.99) — or some sweet merch, and spend over $100, you'll get free shipping. We think this hand sanitiser is going to sell out super fast, so head over to the website and order yourself a bottle quick smart if you're keen. Mr Black hand sanitiser is available for $19.95 per 500 millilitre bottle, maximum of two per person.
Here's what stuck with our critics. Top Five Movies - Rima Sabina Aouf, Editor-in-Chief Silver Linings Playbook Forget American Hustle; this January release was David O'Russell's big 2013 success. Not only is it funny and moving, it's a sensitive, generous portrayal of mental illness that means a lot to many people. The Act of Killing Your jaw just drops further and further with every minute of this documentary about the 1965-66 Indonesian genocide and the ongoing exaltation of its perpetrators. Upstream Color There is no filmmaker quite like Shane Carruth, and there is no forgetting the experience of watching Upstream Color, wondering what the fuck is happening and then letting go and running with it. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire It kicks so much arse. Short Term 12 The best Boxing Day release you've probably never heard of, Short Term 12 will make you feel all the feelings. Top Five Movies - Tom Glasson, Writer We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks A surprisingly sensitive inquiry into Wikileaks and the two men responsible for its overnight infamy. Complex and impressively even-handed, it's also far more compelling than last month's The Fifth Estate. Zero Dark Thirty People often forget (or simply don't realise) that Kathryn Bigelow directed Point Break. Fact is, she's arguably the best director of action right now, and Zero Dark Thirty was a sublime example, combining heart-pumping combat with deeply personal drama. Red Obsession Rightly described as a 'wine thriller', this documentary offered an enthralling, passionate and consistently amusing perspective on the extraordinary price boom of 2011, followed by its equally dramatic crash and China's growing obsession for the iconic Bordeaux reds. Moonrise Kingdom Perhaps the darkest of the Wes Anderson oeuvre, Moonrise Kingdom is also somehow his most romantic. Quirky, whimsical and wickedly funny, it's a delightful tale of young, forbidden love. The Gatekeepers Like the Shin Bet agents it scrutinised, this gripping documentary grabbed you by the throat from the opening scene and never let go. A remarkable and candid examination of one of the world's most secretive organisations. Top Five Movies - Lauren Carroll Harris, Writer Mystery Road Both bleakly beautiful and staunchly optimistic, and with an Indigenous cultural perspective that's rarely represented in the mainstream, I'm convinced that we'll look back on it as something important in Australian cinema. The Great Gatsby Luhrmann’s 21st-century bastard iteration of the sham-American-dream classic made me cry like a small child. I don't care how uncool it is to admit — this was the first version that made me feel the true tragedy of Gatsby (a perfect, shiny-eyed Leo DiCaprio) and Daisy's predicament. Behind the Candelabra Steven Soderbergh went beyond the cliches of both a 'gay film' and a biopic to deliver touching, if typically unsentimental, twin portraits: one, a dysfunctional, tragic relationship, and the other, a destructive American addiction to consumerism and celebrity. The Act of Killing A film that changed the documentary genre and terrified and transfixed audiences more than any fiction could. If it helps the victims of Indonesian war crimes achieve justice, it may even be one of the most effective documentaries. Top of the Lake Challenging, gorgeously shot, with difficult characters and deft observations of crimes against women and the relationship between childhood and adulthood — it had everything I expect from great film. It counts. *Tom and Rima would like to go on record with the actual no.1 film they've seen this year, Spike Jonze's Her. Unfortunately, it's not out till January 16. Look for it then, and on our 2014 lists.
Musical theatre fans just keep getting more reasons to celebrate Jonathan Larson. In the past few years, none other than Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda took one of the composer, lyricist and playwright's works and turned it into a movie. After tick, tick…BOOM! hit screens, a stage production toured Australia as well. Next, Aussie audiences can catch the show that made him an icon: Rent. In 2024, it too will do the rounds Down Under, kicking off in Brisbane in January. Larson created and composed the smash-hit production. Also, his Rent journey comes with quite the heartbreaking behind-the-scenes story. In the 90s, Larson passed away at the age of 35 on the day that that now-huge show premiered its first off-Broadway preview performance. So, he didn't get to see the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning phenomenon that it would become. Plenty of other people have — when it first hit Broadway, Rent ran for 12 years, making it one of the famed theatre district's longest-running shows. And among those prizes is the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer for Drama, all for a tale about seizing the moment, facing adversity and finding one's community. Loosely based on Puccini's La Boheme, and written to include real-life locations and events, the rock musical will bring tunes including 'Seasons of Love', 'Take Me or Leave Me' and 'La Vie Bohème' to Brisbane's QPAC Playhouse, then head to Arts Centre Melbourne, the Civic Theatre in Newcastle, Perth's His Majesty's Theatre and Canberra Theatre. If you need a refresher on the story — or you're coming to Rent for the first time, having missed past performances and the 2005 film version — then prepare to step back to New York in 1991. Over the course of the year, as their neighbourhood is being gentrified and HIV/AIDS casts a shadow, a group of friends chase their dreams and strive for their place in the world. "With Rent, Jonathan Larson unleashed a phenomenon — it would be difficult to find someone who hasn't at least heard of it. Rent is the musical of the 1990s and the early-aughts but it has proved itself timeless," said producer Lauren Peters, announcing the new Aussie run. "The characters who live in the East Village of 1990s New York navigate that which resonates so deeply with us in Australia in 2024: cost-of-living pressures, the threat of preventable disease, the subtle feeling that all the ways in which we can now communicate belie our disconnection." "And all of this sounds terribly heavy but Rent somehow takes all this and turns it into a joyous celebration of connection, chosen family and life itself — and it's that joy in the face of all of life's adversity and opportunity that is perhaps best captured in its iconic number Seasons of Love, a song which has achieved the rarest of Broadway feats and transcended the show for which it was written," Peters continued. View this post on Instagram A post shared by RENT: The Musical (@rent_2024) RENT AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2024: Saturday, January 27–Sunday, February 11 — Playhouse, QPAC, Brisbane Saturday, February 17—Thursday, March 7 — Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne Friday, March 15–Sunday, March 17 — Civic Theatre, Newcastle Saturday, May 11–Sunday, May 26 — His Majesty's Theatre, Perth Saturday, June 7–Sunday, June 16 — Canberra Theatre, Canberra Rent will tour Australia in 2024 — head to the musical's website for further details and to sign up for the ticket waitlist, with Melbourne pre-sale tickets available from Monday, September 25 and Brisbane pre-sale tickets available from Tuesday, October 3. Top image: Team Dustizeff via Wikimedia Commons.
This latest lower north shore Sunday session lets you spend a decadent afternoon eating loaded croissants, sipping bubbles and playing a casual game of pétanque as you watch the sunset. Greenhouse-inspired rooftop bar The Fernery is hosting a series of retro-French events across four Sundays, starting September 15. While you enjoy free rounds of the game — which is often played among the rolling vineyards of Provence — you can sip French rosé ($12 a glass) and Lanson champagne ($99 a bottle). Punters can also pair these drinks with one of the OTT croissants. Choose from one filled with oozy brie and truffle, or the sweet chocolate cookie crumble version — with each freshly baked pastry costing $17. For those hungry for something a little more substantial, the menu will also include steak au poivre with frites: a perfectly cooked peppercorn-crusted steak served with a creamy pan sauce and sweet potato chips ($28). Croissants and Pétanque runs from 11am–6pm.
Among the many challenges that Australians have faced over the past year, our love of travel has been hit hard. Domestic border restrictions keep changing with frequency in response to new cases and clusters in different states, meaning that planning a holiday beyond your own city has been more than a little tricky. This was particularly true over Christmas and NYE, when an outbreak on Sydney's northern beaches saw many states quickly shut their borders to NSW — including Victoria. On January 1, 2021, Victoria closed its borders to all of NSW. A week ago, it reopened to regional NSW. From 6pm tonight, Monday, January 18, it's reopening to parts of Greater Sydney, too. From that time, 25 of Greater Sydney's 35 LGAs, as well as the Blue Mountains and Wollongong, will be changing from a 'red zone' to an 'orange zone', as part of Victoria's new traffic light-style system, which means travellers from those areas can enter Victoria — but they'll need to isolate on arrival and get tested within 72 hours, then when they receive a negative result they're free to leave isolation. They'll also have to apply for a permit before entry, too — like all Australians. Last week, Victoria introduced compulsory permits for anyone who wants to enter the state. If you try and enter Victoria without a valid permit, you risk being fined $4957. You can apply for one over here. Travellers who have been in the remaining ten Greater Sydney LGAs in the past 14 days, which are still 'red zones', cannot enter Victoria. Those LGAs are: Blacktown City, Burwood, Canada Bay City, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield City, Inner West, Liverpool City, Parramatta City and Strathfield Municipality. Folks who've been in a red zone can apply to receive an exemption or a specified worker permit. The former covers instances such as emergency relocations, funerals, essential medical care, and people needing to return home for health, wellbeing, care or compassionate reasons. https://twitter.com/VicGovDHHS/status/1350957562263384069 From 6pm tonight, NSW towns along the Victorian border will also move to 'green zones'. Travellers entering Victoria from a 'green zone' still need to apply for a permit, but do not need to get tested or isolate on arrival, unless they develop symptoms. These new 'green zones' include: Albury City, Balranald Shire, Bega Valley Shire, Berrigan Shire, City of Broken Hill, Edward River Council, Federation Council, Greater Hume Shire, Hay Shire, Lockhart Shire, Murray River Council, Murrumbidgee Council, Snowy Monaro Regional Council, Snowy Valleys Council, City of Wagga Wagga and Wentworth Shire. The loosened border restrictions come as Victoria records its 12th consecutive day of zero new cases of community transmission. Overnight, the state did record four new cases in hotel quarantine, all of which are linked to the Australian Open. https://twitter.com/VicGovDHHS/status/1350938786365120517 Of course, the current designated zones and regulations are subject to change, with Premier Daniel Andrews advising that designated red zones would be reviewed daily. Victoria also reclassified the LGAs of Greater Brisbane as 'orange zones' from 6pm on Saturday, January 16. For more information on Victoria's new permit system — or to apply for one — head to the Department of Health and Human Services website.
First in Sydney, then in Melbourne and now in Brisbane, the biggest show in musical theatre this century has finally been sharing its Tony-winning take on 18th-century American politics with Australian audiences. Since 2021, being in the room where it happens hasn't required a trip to the US — but you will need to be in Brisbane in March to be in the room where Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda himself will be in attendance in-person for a Hamilton fan event. For the first time during the blockbuster musical's Australian time — and likely the only time, given that the show will leave the country for a New Zealand run when it finishes its Sunshine State season at QPAC's Lyric Theatre on Sunday, April 23 — Miranda is heading Down Under. The exact date hasn't been revealed, but he'll hit the River City to meet the local company of the production, and also to take part in that event for Hamilton obsessives. [caption id="attachment_773737" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hamilton filmed version courtesy Disney+.[/caption] "I have been waiting such a long time to come to Australia and I can't wait to be with the company down under in-person for the first time," Miranda said, announcing his visit. "I have heard such great things from friends and fans in Australia, it is going to be fantastic to be able to meet them and watch them perform." Just like exactly when in March Miranda will be in Brisbane, where the fan event will happen and what it will entail — and how folks will be able to attend — is yet to be revealed, with further details to come. Still, Brisbanites and Australians keen on a trip to the Queensland capital won't want to throw away the shot to see the man who made the game-changing, award-winning, rightly raved-about Hamilton what it is "Australian fans have been so patient waiting for Lin-Manuel Miranda's visit to Australia and we have something very special in store for them when he gets here," added Australian Hamilton producer Michael Cassel AM. [caption id="attachment_774807" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hamilton filmed version courtesy Disney+.[/caption] The Broadway hit's Aussie production features a cast that currently includes Jason Arrow as Alexander Hamilton, Martha Berhane as Eliza Hamilton, Callan Purcell as Aaron Burr, Akina Edmonds as Angelica Schuyler, Matu Ngaropo as George Washington, and Victory Ndukwe as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson. Sami Afuni plays Hercules Mulligan and James Madison, Wern Mak does double duty as John Laurens and Philip Hamilton, Elandrah Eramiha plays Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds, and Brent Hill steps into King George III's robes. Haven't become a Hamilton obsessive yet? Not quite sure why it has been the most-talked about theatre show of the past six years? The critically acclaimed hip hop musical, for which Miranda wrote the music, lyrics and the book, is about the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, as well as inclusion and politics in current-day America. In addition to its swag of Tony Awards — 11 in fact, which includes Best Musical — it has nabbed a Grammy Award and even a Pulitzer Prize. Until now, Brisbanites eager to see the show had to be content with trips south or watching the filmed version of its Broadway production, which started streaming via Disney+ in 2020 (and yes, it's as phenomenal as you've heard). And yes, the $10 ticket lottery has also hit the River City, offering Hamilton tickets for less than the cost of lunch. [caption id="attachment_870525" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Australian production of Hamilton by Daniel Boud[/caption] Hamilton's Brisbane season runs until Sunday, April 23 at QPAC's Lyric Theatre, South Bank, with tickets available via the musical's website. Details of Lin-Manuel Miranda's fan event are yet to be announced — we'll update you when more information comes to hand. Top image: Hamilton filmed version courtesy Disney+.
No matter where you are in Australia, you've probably spent the majority of the year in your own state (if not the majority of the year in your own bedroom), with many states and territories keeping their borders firmly closed. But, the last of the interstate restrictions are starting to ease. With the exception of WA (which is currently open to only the ACT, Queensland and the NT and Tasmania, but is set to open to NSW and Victoria from December 8) and SA residents (who are still unable to visit Queensland), Australians can pretty much visit anywhere in the country without quarantining. To celebrate, Virgin Australia is selling over 60,000 fares to destinations around the country, starting from just $75 a pop. Hang on, Virgin? Yes. The same airline that, just months ago, entered voluntary administration. It has since been sold to US private investment firm Bain Capital, launched a comeback sale in early July and its voluntary administration officially ended on Tuesday, November 17. The 12-hour Happy Hour flight sale kicks off at 11am AEDT today, Thursday, December 3, and runs until 11pm tonight — or until sold out. In the sale, you'll find cheap flights on 25 routes to destinations across the country, with travel dates between December 5 and January 19, 2021. If you've been waiting to book Christmas flights home — or a summer getaway — now might be the time. Discounted flights are economy and include seat selection and checked baggage. Some of the routes on offer include Melbourne to Newcastle from $75, Sydney to Brisbane from $95, Adelaide to Sydney from $109 and Hobart to the Gold Coast from $169. [caption id="attachment_743607" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Whitsunday Beach by Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] The discounted flights are part of Virgin's relaunched weekly Happy Hour sale series, which will take place every Thursday for the foreseeable future. As we are still in the middle of a pandemic, flying is little different to normal. Virgin has introduced a range of safety measures, including hand sanitisation stations, contactless check-in and face masks provided to all passengers (but wearing them is not mandatory). Virgin is also waiving change fees and allowed unlimited booking changes between now and January 31, 2020. You can read more about its new flexible options over here. Virgin's Happy Hour sale runs from 11am–11pm AEDT on Thursday, December 3. Find out more about current interstate border restrictions over here.
Sydney Comedians Alistair Wallace and Tim Reuben are heading to the Old Fitz to perform their stand-up on the same night as each other. In the same venue. On the exact same stage. A double booking? Oh no. Don't worry, though, as this very deliberate coincidence provides the premise for their enjoyable double-act stand-up show, DoubleBooked. This 'mistake' allows the duo to compete for laughs, stage time and the approval of the audience over the course of the show, which comes to Sydney in its polished final form after successful sell-out runs at the 2012 Sydney Fringe and recent Adelaide Fringe Festival. The two have comedy credentials as well, with Alistair a founder of the thriving UNSW comedy scene and Tim a former RAW state semifinalist. Surely they will fire their seemingly incompetent manager after allowing this booking debacle to happen again, so see it while you can.
At last, there may be a way to put your otherwise life-crippling Facebook addiction to good use. Japan Tourism Agency is looking to hook up 10,000 ‘highly influential blogger-types, and others’ - aka social media junkies - with a free trip to Japan. All they require in return is that the lucky recipients do what they do best, and share their experience in cyber land. The tsunami-triggered nuclear disaster of March this year delivered a mighty suckerpunch to Japan’s tourism industry. The agency is prepared to spend 1.5 billion yen on their plan to kick start tourism with the round-trip tickets, once approved by Japan’s lawmakers. The plan could well pay off, with first-hand accounts offering a personal touch to sooth the security fears of would-be travelers unsettled by heavy media coverage of the 80,000 locals still displaced by radiation. But it also invests a lot of trust in their temporary marketers to document a positive experience. Fingers crossed they don't get food poisoning from too much raw fish or attacked by the notoriously-aggressive snow monkeys - whatever you do, don't look them in the eye - along the way. Golden ticket bearers will have to pay for their own accommodation and meals, but will save at least a grand on airline expenses. So if Facebook owes you one for all the hours it has robbed from you that could have been spent having real-life experiences, keep an eye out for the launch of a website by the Japan Tourism Agency to lodge your application once the Japanese government approves the initiative.
2023's inaugural SXSW Sydney saw everyone from Black Mirror's Charlie Brooker and Chance The Rapper to Future Today Institute founder and CEO Amy Webb and Nicole Kidman take to its stages. Who'll follow in their footsteps in 2024? That's the question now that the tech, innovation, screen, music, games and culture festival has confirmed that it will be back next year, running from Monday, October 14–Sunday, October 20 after its first Down Under stint proved a success. "To say SXSW Sydney left a mark on the city in its inaugural year is an understatement. The team pulled together a remarkable grand-scale event that brought together APAC's creative communities in a way the region had never seen before," said SXSW Sydney Chair Geoff Jones, announcing the news. "We are thrilled to announce the dates for SXSW Sydney 2024 in partnership with the NSW Government, and look forward to opening more doors for innovators across the tech and innovation, music, screen, games and creative industries." Locking in SXSW Sydney's 2024 return and dates came with a few stats from the 2023 event, revealing that it notched up 287,014 attendances from 97,462 unique attendees. Those figures came from 34,975 total tickets, with folks from 41 countries heading along to 1178 sessions. It's too early for SXSW Sydney 2024 lineup drops yet, with applications for the event's Session Select, plus its music, screen and games showcases, set to open in 2024 — and badges due to go on sale then as well. Among its wealth of highlights, 2023's SXSW Sydney featured Brooker chatting about his hit series and technology's future; Chance The Rapper talking about 50 years of hip hop; Coachella CEO Paul Tollett discussing his own fest; Kidman exploring her work as a producer on the likes of Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers, The Undoing and Love & Death; the Australian premiere of Kitty Green's The Royal Hotel; and the world premiere of The Wiggles documentary Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles. The full lineup spanned a 700-plus strong bill of talent, covering over 300 sessions, and featuring more than 300 gigs across 25 venues. From talks and concerts to films, TV shows and games, there was no shortage of things to see. That's all now in store again in 2024. SXSW Sydney 2024 will run from Monday, October 14–Sunday, October 20 at various Sydney venues. Head to the SXSW Sydney website for further details. Images: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for SXSW Sydney.
The Sydney Mardi Gras is almost upon us and, along with it, a feast of new queer cinema is about to descend upon the city. For 29 years now, the Mardi Gras Film Festival has added the latest LGBTQIA+ movies to Sydney's big celebration, and it's doing the same again in 2022 — but, as happened in 2021, it's going hybrid with both physical and online screenings. Accordingly, if you're a Sydneysider who's keen to get your big-screen queer film fix between Thursday, February 17–Thursday, March 3, you can, with the fest showing at Event Cinemas George Street, and holding one one-off sessions at Hayden Orpheum, Cremorne and Event Cinemas in Parramatta and Hurstville. But if you feel more comfortable watching from home during the current Omicron outbreak or you're a fan of LGBTQIA+ movies located elsewhere in Australia, you'll also be able to enjoy MGFF digitally as well. The fest's 2022 lineup spans 119 films from 37 different countries, covering 32 narrative features, 15 documentaries, four episodic screenings, a retrospective and nine programs of shorts — so yes, there's more than a bit to watch. That said, different flicks will play in cinemas and on-demand, as happens with hybrid fests, but more than half of the program will be available for those playing along at home and interstate. Opening the fest on the big screen is Wildhood, which is set in Canada's Atlantic Provinces and hails from MGFF's focus on First Nations filmmaking for 2022. In-cinemas only, it's joined by high-profile international film festival circuit highlights such as Great Freedom, an immensely moving drama about a man's experiences being imprisoned under Germany's former law criminalising homosexuality; and Benedetta, which follows a 17th-century nun who shocks her convent with visions, wild power plays and lesbian affairs, and happens to be the latest feature by Basic Instinct, Showgirls and Elle director Paul Verhoeven. Or, there's the Carrie Brownstein and St Vincent-starring mockumentary The Nowhere Inn, which has them both play versions of themselves, and The Novice, about a queer student on a university rowing team. Other standouts include Mexican magical realist drama Finlandia; documentaries about queer comic creators, lesbians in post-punk 80s London and American artist Keith Haring; and closing night's B-Boy Blues, which is based on the celebrated novel o the same name. Online, LGBTIQ+ cinema fans can also check out horror film The Retreat, which combines a cabin-in-the-woods setup with planning a queer wedding; Cannes-selected Taiwanese drama Moneyboys; the relationship-focused Ma Belle, My Beauty, about a long-term couple living in a scenic villa in the south of France; and Estonia's Firebird, which charts a romance against the backdrop of the Cold War. There's also documentary Coming to You, following two mothers fighting for LGBTQ+ rights in Korea; and As We Like It, an all-female version of Shakespeare's comedy As You Like It. Mardi Gras Film Festival 2022 runs from Thursday, February 17–Thursday, March 3 at Event Cinemas George Street, plus one-off sessions at Hayden Orpheum, Cremorne and Event Cinemas in Parramatta and Hurstville — and online nationally. For more information, visit the festival's website.
Two decades after Hae Min Lee's murder, the Baltimore high school student's horrific plight continues to dominate the true crime landscape. After featuring on the first season of Sarah Koenig's grimly addictive podcast Serial, it's now the basis for a new documentary series, The Case Against Adnan Syed. The four-part HBO series picks up where everyone's 2014 obsession left off — the trailers promise to reveal 'a new chapter' — not only exploring 18-year-old Lee's death in 1999 and her ex-boyfriend Syed's conviction in 2000, but the latter's ongoing quest to have the extremely complex legal matter reassessed in the years since he was found guilty. Everything from Lee and Syed's relationship, to the original police investigation and trial, to the developments up until now feature, with the film gaining exclusive access to Syed, his family and his lawyers. While the show started airing on HBO in the US in March, Australians can now watch the series, too — it's after airing on SBS throughout April, the four episodes are now available on SBS On Demand. Check out the HBO trailers below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQaTa5eTxnk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA1qzo2WEew The series couldn't come at a more crucial time for Syed, who was convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to life in prison, and has been fighting his case through the courts ever since. While he was granted a new trial in 2016, that ruling was subsequently appealed by the State of Maryland — only for the Court of Special Appeals to agree to vacate Syed's conviction and finally give him that retrial last March. Earlier this month in Maryland's Court of Appeals, that retrial request was denied, but Syed's attorney has committed to keep battling. Splashed across the small screen, it's certain to make for compelling viewing — but if you think you've spent too much time mulling it all over across the past five years, filmmaker Amy Berg has you beat. Unsurprisingly given how complicated the matter is, the director has been working on the project since 2015. And, with her excellent doco background — with Berg helming 2006's Oscar-nominated 2006 Deliver Us from Evil, about molestation in the Catholic Church; examining the West Memphis Three's quest for freedom in 2012's West of Memphis; and tackling the sexual abuse of teenagers in the film industry in 2014's An Open Secret — her new venture is certain to be thorough. As they did for West of Memphis, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis provide the score. The Case Against Adnan Syed is now streaming on SBS on Demand. Image: SBS. Updated: May 2, 2019.
If you're a fan of Gelato Messina and its frosty sweet treats, the past year or so has been mighty kind to your tastebuds. The dessert chain has released all manner of one-off specials, launched a new range of chocolate-covered ice cream bars in supermarkets and dropped a new merchandise line, for starters. And, thanks to a boozy collaboration, it has also been taking care of your cocktail cravings. Teaming up with Cocktail Porter, Messina started serving up DIY drinks kits last year — and Easter this year, too — letting you make your own boozy beverages using Messina products. Unsurprisingly, these make-at-home packages have proven popular, so one has just become a permanent addition to Cocktail Porter's range: the dulce de leche espresso martini kit. Basically, it's the answer to a familiar dilemma. No one likes choosing between tucking into dessert or having another boozy beverage — so these kits combine the two. To enable you to whip at dulce de leche espresso martinis at home, you'll get a box filled with vodka, coffee liqueur, premium cold-drip coffee and Messina's dulce de leche topping, plus Messina's chocolate hazelnut spread and shaved coconut to go on top. Then, you just need to follow the instructions and get drinking. You can pick between two different-sized packs. A mini espresso martini kit costs $85 and serves up six drinks — or you can opt for the large for $149, which makes 18 dessert cocktails. Cocktail Porter delivers Australia-wide, if that's your winter drinking plans sorted. You can also sign up for a subscription, which'll see a kit sent to your door each and every month. To order Cocktail Porter's Gelato Messina cocktail kits, head to the Cocktail Porter website.
Name an adored Australian movie or book — or a film that was adapted to a novel — and, in plenty of cases, there's a theatre version as well. The same works vice versa, too. As a result, we've all had multiple ways to enjoy Muriel's Wedding, Moulin Rouge!, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Wake in Fright, Bran Nue Dae, Jasper Jones and more. And, before 2022 is out, the same will prove true of Looking for Alibrandi. Melina Marchetta's beloved book was initially published in 1992, and has been devoured by teenagers for three decades since. In 2000, it hit the big screen, with Pia Miranda as Josephine Alibrandi — and the movie has been given a workout for two-plus decades now. But this year marks the first time that Looking for Alibrandi will make the leap to the stage, with Belvoir doing the honours. Playing the Upstairs Theatre from Saturday, October 1–Sunday, November 6, Looking for Alibrandi will still chart the same multi-generational story it has always told no matter the format, with 17-year-old Sydney student Josie at its centre. She's in her last year of school, dreaming of a bright future and trying to navigate the clash of cultures that comes with being Italian Australian. She also gets to know her dad, and falls in love for the first time. Director Stephen Nicolazzo (Loaded, Merciless Gods) is guiding this stage version of the best-selling book to theatres, as adapted by Vidya Rajan — and starring Chanella Macri (Australian Realness), Lucia Mastrantone and Jennifer Vuletic (Because The Night) as the Alibrandi women. And if you need something to tide you over until the play hits Malthouse and Belvoir, check out the Looking for Alibrandi film trailer below: Top image: Kristian Gehradte.
Can you feel a tingling in your toes as your feet start to defrost? That's the feeling of winter slipping away (or maybe you've been sitting cross-legged for too long) and with its demise comes the return of Australia's beloved Moonlight Cinema. Ahhh balmy nights on the grass, we have missed you. Heralding the coming of the warmer months, Moonlight Cinema is a summertime tradition and it always nails the balance between new releases and cult classics. The film program is yet to be announced, but we'll keep you updated as soon as it is. Nosh-wise, Moonlight Cinema will again let you BYO movie snacks and drinks (no alcohol in Brisbane, though), but the unorganised can also enjoy a plethora of snacks from food trucks — perfect, messy treats made for reclining on bean beds. Bean beds and snack trucks, is there anything better? This season includes screens in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth, running from November through to March. Get your pens out and jot down these dates. MOONLIGHT CINEMA 2019 DATES Sydney: Nov 28–Mar 29 (Centennial Park) Melbourne: Nov 28–Mar 29 (Central Lawn at Royal Botanic Gardens) Perth: Nov 30–Mar 29 (Kings Park and Botanic Garden) Adelaide: Dec 13–Feb 16 (Botanic Park) Brisbane: Dec 14–March 29 (Roma Street Parkland) The Moonlight Cinema kicks off on November 29. For more information and bookings here.
If you don't know your brut from your demi sec and you're keen to get schooled up, you won't want to miss an evening dedicated to champagne coming to Sorry Thanks I Love You in July. Across 90 minutes, attendees at the store's champagne masterclass will be taken through five premium drops by P&V's resident French wine expert Isabelle Webster (ex-Acme ) as well as hot topics like fashion and specialist wine production — including seasonality, sustainability and what makes champagne just so damn alluring. Running on Friday, July 1 from 6.30-8pm, tickets will set you back $90, which lands you five sparkling varietals and complimentary snacks. Set in the mini-atrium of the store at Level 1 of Westfield Sydney, you can check out some of the high-end fashion, gourmet food, craft beverages, jewellery and accessories while you're there. The event coincides with the close of Paris Fashion Week so if your passion for champagne is only equal to your passion for fashion, make sure to also check out some of the new season collections from the likes of Comme Des Garçons, Marni and Issey Miyake — perhaps with a glass of the good stuff in hand. Organisers say space is extremely limited, so book your spot sooner rather than later.
Maybe it's the twilight glow. Perhaps it's the stars twinkling above. Or, it could be the cooling breeze, the picnic blankets and beanbags as far as the eye can see, and just seeing a movie grace a giant screen with a leafy backdrop. When the weather is warm enough Australia-wide, a trip to the cinema just seems to shine brighter when it's outdoors. That's Sunset Cinema's whole angle, in fact, and it's returning for another season across the east coast. Over the summer of 2022–23 — and into autumn, too — this excuse to head to the flicks in the open air has seven stops on its itinerary: one in Canberra, three in New South Wales, two in Victoria and one in Queensland. In each, movie buffs can look forward to a lineup of new and classic titles, and a setup perfect for cosy date nights or an easy group hangs outdoors. NSW's run gets started on Friday, December 9 at St Ives Showgrounds, screening through till Saturday, January 28 with a lineup that includes box-office behemoths Top Gun: Maverick and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Disney's Strange World, Aussie drama Blueback and Olivia Wilde's Don't Worry Darling. Also on the bill: a heap of festive flicks leading into Christmas, such as Elf, Love Actually, Home Alone and The Nightmare Before Christmas; and three dog-focused films in January, spanning Marley & Me, Scooby-Doo and 101 Dalmatians. Sunset Cinema will also head to North Sydney Oval from Wednesday, January 11—Saturday, April 1, featuring the likes of 2022 hits The Menu and Everything Everywhere All At Once, Steven Spielberg's latest The Fabelmans, Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody, throwbacks such as There's Something About Mary and Crazy Stupid Love, and more. And, at the Wollongong Botanic Garden from Thursday, December 15–Saturday, March 11, the season covers many of the aforementioned titles — the Christmas lineup included — and also Mean Girls, Freaky Friday and The Parent Trap as part of a Lohan Fest. In Victoria, Mt Martha is first on the agenda, with Sunset Cinema hitting The Briars from Wednesday, December 21—Friday, January 20. Those festive films get a run here, too, as do classics Dirty Dancing and The Princess Bride — and many of the new titles showing at other venues. Melburnians don't miss out, however, thanks to a new St Kilda run from Friday, February 1—Saturday, March 4 at St Kilda Botanical Gardens. The lineup for that spot hasn't yet been revealed. And, in Brisbane, mark April in your diaries — with the exact dates, venue and program to be announced. At all stops around the country, BYO picnics are encouraged here, but the event is fully licensed, so alcohol can only be purchased onsite. Didn't pack enough snacks? There'll be hot food options, plus plenty of the requisite movie treats like chips, chocolates, lollies and popcorn. SUNSET CINEMA 2022–23 DATES: Canberra, ACT: Thursday, November 24—Saturday, February 25 at Australian National Botanic Gardens St Ives, NSW: Friday, December 9—Saturday, January 28 at St Ives Showgrounds Wollongong, NSW: Thursday, December 15–Saturday, March 11 at Wollongong Botanic Garden North Sydney, NSW: Wednesday, January 11—Saturday, April 1 at North Sydney Oval Mt Martha, VIC: Wednesday, December 21—Friday, January 20 at The Briars, Mt Martha St Kilda, VIC: Friday, February 1—Saturday, March 4 at St Kilda Botanical Gardens Brisbane, QLD — from April 2023, exact dates and venue TBC Sunset Cinema's 2022–23 season runs at various venues around the country from November 2022. Head to the Sunset Cinema website for further details.
Setting up a veritable culinary fete in November, the inaugural Taste of Sydney Collective is set to be a four-day extravaganza of upscale food and drink. And adding to the flavour-packed program (because good food means nothing without an equally excellent drink to pair it with) is Tanqueray. Across the four-day event, the celebrated gin purveyor will be hosting an elegant terrace bar, giving visitors the opportunity to sip a variety of signature gin-based cocktails — and retreat from the general foodie chaos expected during the event. Reminiscent of bygone cocktail lounges with art deco accents, the terrace will have an airy, sophisticated feel, and the cocktails on offer will follow suit. Expert bartenders will be on hand to create delicately balanced drinks that hero the unique citrus flavours of Tanqueray No. Ten — the distillery's revered small-batch drop and the gin of choice for bartenders around the world. With centuries of expert knowledge to draw from, Tanqueray is also providing an inside look at how the cocktails on offer are made with a series of specialist masterclasses. Tanqueray Brand Ambassador Krystal Hart will be hosting and providing you with her wealth of award-winning cocktail-making experience. During her 30-minute masterclasses, you'll learn to perfect a Tanqueray No. Ten elderflower collins or Tanqueray Flor de Sevilla spritz. To keep the high-end spirit crawl going, keep an eye out for the Ketel One espresso bike rolling around and be sure to stop by the Johnnie Walker bar, where a selection of bitters, mixers and garnishes will be ready for you to design your own highball. Plus, Singleton Whisky is hosting an exclusive dining experience, The Taste Residence, where top chefs including Mark Best (ex-Marque) and Scott Pickett (Matilda 159 Domain) will serve up dishes alongside Singleton single malt whisky cocktails. The Tanqueray Pop-Up Bar will run from Thursday, November 8 to Sunday, November 11. Masterclasses are $12 per person and can be booked via the Taste of Sydney Collective website.
At first glance, mid-week raving and healthy living don’t seem to go hand in hand. The energetic people behind Morning Gloryville are here to turn that preconception on its head with their ingenious way to start your day in style. From 6.30 to 10.30am on the last Wednesday of the month at Paddington Uniting Church, Morning Gloryville will host a monthly all-ages, drug and alcohol free rave to kickstart your day. Music will be pumping with an eclectic mix of '90s dance to jungle beats and soul tunes; you’re encouraged to jump around and shake those cobwebs loose before heading to work. Local DJs Klue, DJ Tricky and Person Three will be storming the decks, along with a dance team to get the party going. But it’s not just the furious dancing that's helping you start your day off on the right foot. The Morning Gloryville sessions will also include yoga, massage, fresh smoothies and healthy food. The recommended dress code is simply 'dress to sweat', but loads of colour and festivalwear is also encouraged — anything to help you seize the day. The only real rule is sobriety; let your inner dance monster show the world what it’s made of unimpeded by plonk. The Morning Glory rave started in London’s Shoreditch — where else — by Sam Moyo and Nico Thoemmes. "We’ve noticed the habit that when people start getting really serious jobs or have a family, or if they want to live free of alcohol and drugs, then they almost stop partying and stop dancing in that way. We thought that was a shame," says Thoemmes. "Morning Glory is a revolution of conscious clubbing. For us it’s really important to get people embodied and dancing and moving freely." It has since gathered a global following with offshoots in Barcelona, New York, Tokyo, Amsterdam and now Sydney. Morning Gloryville is a great alternative for those who truly dread climbing out of bed during the chilly winter months to head to the gym. If you’re looking down the barrel of 8-12 hours at a desk or in an office environment, this is one sure fire way of getting an endorphins hit. The first Morning Gloryville event will be launched on July 23 and entry is $20 for adults and children under 12 rave for free. Via BBC and Fresh 92.7.
Australia's leading festival on gender All About Women is returning to the Sydney Opera House for its seventh season in 2019. This year features an especially impressive lineup of emerging female voices from around the globe, brought together for one day of talks, workshops, panel discussions and live podcast recordings. As usual, the festival will coincide with International Women's Day, taking place on Sunday, March 10. This year's cutting-edge topics include: 'feminism outside the Western world' with Arab-Australian human rights advocate Sara Saleh; 'female anger and desire' with US author Soraya Chemaly; 'toxic masculinity' with writer Clementine Ford (author of Boys Will Be Boys and Fight Like a Girl); 'problems with wokeness' by UK fashion stylist and cultural commentator Ayishat Akanbi; and 'hip hop feminism' with the US journalist who coined the term, Joan Morgan. The 2019 lineup has been curated by the Sydney Opera House's Head of Talks and Ideas Dr Edwina Throsby, and includes Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist Emily Steel — who investigated the sexual harassment claims against Fox News and Vice News. Steel will talk alongside other heavy-hitters, including Indian activist Sohaila Abdulali, television presenter Osher Günsberg, German philosopher and former war correspondent Carolin Emcke and gender politics author Gemma Hartley. On January 16, 2019, the festival announced the second half of its lineup, which has a distinctly political edge. A roll call of current and former female politicians from the US and Australia will be taking to the stage — fitting at a time when record numbers of women are heading to Congress in the States. Former Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop, Linda Burney, the first Indigenous woman to be elected to Australia's lower house, and SA Greens Senator, Sarah Hanson-Young will discuss life in parliament for women in a panel titled 'Leading While Female', while Tina Tchen, former Chief of Staff to First Lady Michelle Obama, will talk about her career with political commentator Jamila Rizvi. The podcast hub will return with live recordings of cult shows, including the New York Magazine's The Cut on Tuesdays, Slate's The Waves and The Guardian Australia's The Witch Hunt. Other highlights include an exhibition on 'mental load' by French comic artist Emma and a free public event where attendees will imagine 'a collective feminist future'. Interactive workshops are also on the docket and include carpentry and flower arranging. Images: Prudence Upton and Yaya Stempler.
Former Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning has announced a huge, 17-date national tour — including several all-ages shows — to promote his debut album, Battleships, out June 7 on Dew Process/Universal. It's been a long wait for Fanning fans (which, in keeping with the precedent set by Beliebers and Directioners, we'll henceforth be calling Fan-nings), with this tour their first opportunity to see the great man since Powderfinger's farewell tour in 2010. He'll be traversing the country, from Nambour to Hobart, along with his special guests, Big Scary and Vance Joy. And if you're in Townsville on August 17, you'll get a special mini-festival when that already-awesome lineup is bolstered by The Rubens, The Medics AND Snakadaktal. With Fanning also announced for Splendour in the Grass following hot on the heels of the release of the album's debut single (and title track), it's sure to be a busy few months for one of Australia's favourite songwriters. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, May 7, via an exclusive fan club presale through bernardfanning.com. The Telstra Thanks presale is available from Wednesday, May 8, before the public on-sale kicks off on Friday, May 10. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Fi8OciiVIA4
In the world of photography there are few trends as divisive as the rise and rise of Instagram and Hipstamatic. Battle lines have been drawn between those who view the advent of such filter apps as a positive democratising force, spreading the artistry of photography to the masses, and on the other side, those who think they're just a refuge for teenage poseurs and their collections of cats. New York artist and photojournalist Benjamin Lowy has become an unintentional figurehead for the former, thanks to his stunningly evocative photographs of war-ravaged North Africa and the Middle East. Lowy, whose work has graced the cover of TIME Magazine (the first photo taken from a phone to do so) and been featured at London's Tate Modern, has spent the last five years making Afghanistan his second home, creating his first body of work made entirely with Instagram and his ever-resilient iPhone. For Lowy, the decision to use his iPhone was made more out of convenience than out of any great artistic or journalistic ambition. He found that the burden of lugging around his camera meant that his initial passion in photography was "losing some of its mystical wonder", and when he reverted to the phone, he found a fresh perspective on the world around him. "I've been shooting with my phone for years and posting it online. I didn't see it as art, it was just another form of self-expression," Lowy told us. "I started finding myself being able to express myself a little more viscerally and easily because [the camera] was in such a small package." As a wartime photojournalist Lowy found that the ubiquitous images of "raids, explosions, suicide bombers" had increasingly desensitised people to the horrors of war. When he first began using his iPhone, Instagram resembled more of a passing fad than a cultural mainstay, and Lowy thought that this brave new world of photography may go a long way in getting people to sit up and take notice. "When you think of Iraq or Afghanistan, people saw those same images day in and day out," he says, "and because people kept seeing those images all the time it was easier to tune them out. So my idea throughout the course of my career has been to constantly experiment with images and aesthetics in order to gain the public's attention." While these images are often filled with the explosive and dynamic moments of war, what is much more unique about these photographs is their depiction of everyday life in Afghanistan. They show us a foreign land that although ravaged and decimated by war is eerily familiar to our own world. "It is a different place from the place we all know and we all call home but at the end of the day people are all the same," Lowy said. "Our blood is all red, when we wake up in the morning we want to have our cup of tea or coffee and send our kids to school and live peacefully ... The simple things that make humans humans are all the same regardless of where you live." Lowy's iAfghanistan exhibition is on display in the State Library of NSW, Macquarie Street Foyer, from May 17 to July 22 as part of the Head On photo festival. We've featured a small selection of our favourites below. Images courtesy of Head On photo festival and © Benjamin Lowy.
New Year's Day can be a tough one. Resolutions to vaguely commit to, missed midnight pashes to mourn, dusty bear heads to nurse. There's only one real cure for the escapades of New Year's Eve: salt water, free-flowing Veuve Cliquot and one of Sydney's most ostentatious parties. The top spot for 'who dat, who dat' people-watching and jealousy-inducing Instagramming, Bondi Icebergs has announced the 2015 lineup for their infamously exclusive Icebergs New Year's Day Party. Set atop one of Bondi's most postcardy venues, Icebergs' NYD pool party is the Field Day for punters who want things a little more high-heeled and beachside. For a cheeky four hundy (yep, that's a casual $400 per ticket), you can compare New Year's resolutions with Bondi's chia-lovin' party people and throw back as much Veuve, Ciroc Vodka and head chef Monty Kulodrovic-crafted canapes as your NYE regrets require. Hosted by Icebergs' Maurice Terzini and musically curated by Angus McDonald (one half of Sneaky Sound System), the lineup is a beats-heavy fusion of Sydney-born, California-based shindig starters Bag Raiders, LA disco kings Poolside, Spice Cellar's Murat Kilic, (of course) Sneaky Sound System, ARIA-nominated Nicky Night Time, resident Icebergs go-to Miss Annie and newcomers Slowblow, Marc Jarvin and Pink Lloyd, Valerie Yum and Sam Francisco. Recent instalments have welcomed the first glorious day of the new year with the likes of Flight Facilities, Frankie Knuckles, Aeroplane and The Cuban Brothers, and so continues yearly furious discussions surrounding the moment the bass is likely to drop. “The 2015 event promises to be our best yet, with our recently refreshed interior design, a belter of a line-up and a pumping sound system, the place is going to be rocking," says Terzini. "It’s my favourite day of the year — we strip out all of the tables and chairs and turn what is on a normal day, one of Sydney’s top restaurants, into one of the world’s most energetic beach clubs." Exclusive beach parties with four-hundy price tags obviously aren't the easiest things in the world to chuck your name on the door for. Ticket registration is rather mysterious, through this link here. VIP packages are also be available if you've got cash to drop, hit up the team at VIP2015@idrb.com.
Car parks are usually thought to be places to simply park a car. Or a slightly different vehicle. But lately they’re being used for more arty happenings. First a Kings Cross car park was used in SafARI, and now The Vic’s abandoned car park is been transformed into a beer garden and multipurpose creative space called The Projects. Street art is a big part of these arty bits n’ pieces, most likely because they have a handy giant 20 x 8 metre wall to play with. Every fortnight it’s going to be graffiti-ed or street art-ed up by artists including Sofles, Roach, Pudl, Numskull. For the last Sunday before Christmas their Marrickville back lot will become extra Skate friendly. Their Skate Day threatens flatbanks and quarters, small-form basketball and even a little food on the side.
The Lunar New Year is nearly upon us, and The Galeries is celebrating the Year of the Pig in a big way. Think competitions, cash prizes, a pop-up food cart, lion dances, art and culture — along with a special degustation lunch. The main event is The Galeries' six-course feast. Hosted by Masterchef Australia's Callan Smith, the roaming degustation will take place on Saturday, February 2 from 12–3pm. Seven competition winners (and their plus ones) will hit six venues across The Galeries and indulge in a spread of Lunar New Year-inspired dishes. You'll start with a Golden Berries tea from T Totaler, followed by 'piggy' sweet custard buns at Lotus Bar and Dining, 'The Porkaroo' slider at Grill'd and more traditional delights at Jim's Malaysian and Yayoi. The food tour finishes with dessert at NZ Natural — the team have created a pink, pig-shaped macaron sundae for the occasion. Nab a ticket by entering the competition here. For more Lunar New Year fun, visit the CBD spot between Thursday, January 31 and Saturday, February 9 to test your skills on the 'get lucky' box — the person who guesses the correct number of fortune cookies inside will win a $2000 cash prize. There'll be trays of fortune cookies passed around during this time, too, with traditional blessings inside. Between February 5–7, Asian-fusion pop-up station Pig Out will be serving up 'lucky' noodle boxes from 5–8pm, featuring edible delights that include Black Star Pastry's famous watermelon cake and Lotus' 'piggy' buns. Local artists will also be showcased throughout the space, including freelance illustrator Freda Chiu, who created a visual narrative for the Year of the Pig, and a lion dance, presented by the Leung Cheung Martial Arts Academy Inc., that'll take place at 1pm on Tuesday, February 5. Plus, Caishen (the Chinese God of Prosperity) will wander the space giving blessings on Thursday, January 31 from 1pm. For more information on the Lunar New Year festivities and to enter the competition, head to The Galeries' website.
Pioneering pop art with Campbell's soup cans and Marilyn Monroe portraits helped make Andy Warhol a huge star, but that's only a fraction of his creative output. In fact, the above mightn't have come about if he wasn't so interested in photography — and if you'd like to learn more, an upcoming Australian exhibition has just the details, works and snaps. Running from Friday, March 3–Sunday, May 14, 2023, Andy Warhol & Photography: A Social Media will take over the Art Gallery of South Australia with an impressive exploration of Warhol's fascination with taking photos. It's the first exhibition in Australia on the topic, and it will display more than 250 works, including photographs. Warhol's experimental films will also feature, given the focus is on his talents with a camera; however, there will also be a selection of his screenprints and paintings. [caption id="attachment_872132" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Gerard Malanga, born 1943, No title (Andy Warhol), 1971, gelatin silver photograph, 33.7 x 22.6 (printed image), 35.6 x 27.8 cm (sheet); National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Purchased 1973[/caption] So, you'll be able to see images that Warhol snapped himself, including AGSA's own collection of 45 Warhol photographs, which will be shown together for the first time. You'll also be able to check out some of those famous pop art portraits — Monroe's, unsurprisingly, as well as Elvis Presley's — with examining how Warhol's photos flickered through his other art a key focus. This is a wide-ranging survey that also peers at Warhol, however, complete with behind-the-scenes glimpses into his life. And, it will look into the lives of friends and other celebrities such as Muhammad Ali, Bob Dylan, Debbie Harry, Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Liza Minnelli, Lou Reed and Elizabeth Taylor. As a result, Warhol's works will sit alongside others by his creatives he collaborated with and contemporaries; think: Brigid Berlin, Nat Finkelstein, Christopher Makos, Gerard Malanga, Robert Mapplethorpe, Duane Michals and Billy Name. [caption id="attachment_872133" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Andy Warhol, born Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1928, died New York City, New York 1987, Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts (photo shoot for the Rolling Stones 'Love You Live' album cover), 1977, New York, Polaroid photograph, 10.8 x 8.6 cm (sheet), 9.5 x 7.3 cm (image); V.B. F. Young Bequest Fund and d'Auvergne Boxall Bequest Fund 2018, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, © Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. ARS/Copyright Agency[/caption] The exhibition's title nods to the social aspect of the showcase, hopping between Warhol, his pals and his peers. It also references his enduring influence in today's social media-heavy times. "Some 35 years after his death, this exhibition attests to Andy Warhol's enduring relevance as an artist and cultural figure in an era defined by social media. With cross-generational appeal, this is an exhibition of our times which begs the question, was Warhol the original influencer?" said AGSA Director Rhana Devenport ONZM, announcing the exhibition. [caption id="attachment_872134" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Andy Warhol, born Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1928, died New York City, New York 1987, Bianca Jagger, Liza Minnelli and Jacqueline Onassis in Liza's dressing room, New York, no. 12 from the portfolio Photographs, 1978; published 1980, New York, United States, gelatin silver photograph, 30.0 x 42.3 cm (image), 40.9 x 50.5 cm (sheet); James and Diana Ramsay Fund 2020, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, © Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. ARS/Copyright Agency[/caption] "Photography underpinned Warhol's whole artistic practice — both as an essential part of his working method and as an end in its own right," adds Julie Robinson, AGSA's Senior Curator of Prints, Drawings & Photographs, and also Andy Warhol & Photography: A Social Media's curator. "He took some 60,000 photographs in his lifetime. His candid images, which capture his own life as well as the lives of his celebrity friends, offer audiences a revealing insight into Warhol the person, taking viewers beneath the veneer of his pop paintings and persona." Andy Warhol & Photography: A Social Media forms part of the 2023 Adelaide Festival program, kicking off with the fest but running for a couple of months afterwards. That's plenty of time — more than the 15 minutes of fame that Warhol has become synonymous with — to make a trip to SA to see one of the year's certain Aussie gallery highlights. [caption id="attachment_872135" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Andy Warhol and Henry Gillespie, image courtesy Henry Gillespie[/caption] Andy Warhol & Photography: A Social Media will display at the Art Gallery of South Australia from Friday, March 3–Sunday, May 14, 2023. For more information or to buy tickets, head to the AGSA website. Top image: Oliviero Toscani, born Milan, Italy 1942, Andy Warhol, 1975, New York, United States of America, pigment print on paper, 32.0 x 46.0 cm (image), 40.0 x 50.0 cm (sheet); Public Engagement Fund 2021, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, © Oliviero Toscani.
It's getting easier and easier to break free from your pesky plastic bag habit, especially now that the Victorian Government has followed through with its promised statewide ban on single-use plastic shopping bags. Confirmed 12 months ago, the new legislation was introduced to parliament today and, if passed by both houses, the ban will come into effect from November 1, 2019. That means in just four months, all single-use lightweight plastic shopping bags (with a thickness of 35 microns or less) could be given the boot — even those made from biodegradable or compostable plastic. The single-use bags will be removed from all Victorian retail outlets, which includes supermarkets, corner stores and even your favourite local vintage shop. Best make sure you've got a solid collection of reusable bags ready to go. [caption id="attachment_663522" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Queen Victoria Market banned plastic bags earlier this year.[/caption] Plastic bags that won't be included in the ban include garbage bags, bin liners, animal waste bags and those thin 'barrier bags' you get with your fruit and veggies. The legislative shakeup comes off the back of extensive community consultation, which found an overwhelming number of Victorians supported a ban ban on single-use bags. Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths enforcing their own nationwide plastic bag bans just under a year ago, while local shopping spots including The Queen Victoria Market and South Melbourne Market have also scrapped the plastic. As well as being a big win for the environment, the move brings Victoria into line with South Australia, the ACT, the Northern Territory, Tasmania and Queensland, who have all banned single-use plastic bags. NSW is now the only state that hasn't committed to a ban. If passed by both parliament houses, Victoria's statewide ban on single-use plastic bags will come into force on November 1, 2019.
If you're the type of spirits aficionado who likes their tipples to taste exactly how they always have, then you probably aren't all that fond of creative booze flavours. You mightn't be a fan of bloody shiraz gin, for instance. You likely didn't even give lamington vodka a try. And, well, peanut butter whiskey isn't going to be your thing either. For anyone that's now wondering how to make a peanut butter and jelly cocktail, this latest flavour from Sheep Dog Whiskey is probably already having the exact opposite effect. Yes, peanut butter whiskey is now a real thing that exists, and can be sipped by fans of both peanut butter and caramel-hued spirits. And, after launching in the US, where it's made, it is now available in Australian bottle shops. Taste-wise, you can expect the obvious — so, peanut butter and whiskey — however, this tipple also apparently comes with notes of vanilla and caramel popcorn as well. And if you're wondering how to drink it, the brand suggests going neat — or adding it to your next espresso martini. Other options include combining it with grape liqueur so that you really can have a PB&J-flavoured tipple, or whipping up a peanut butter old fashioned. Naturally, if you're not fond of peanuts, this definitely isn't for you. Sheep Dog Peanut Butter Whiskey is now available in Australia for $55 RRP a bottle — from BWS, Dan Murphy's and First Choice.
Crap in a suitcase and you too might win an Emmy. Actually, don't try that at home. It worked well for Australian actor Murray Bartlett, though, after he just nabbed one of TV's most prestigious awards — and gave his mum back home Down Under a shoutout in the process — for the all-round phenomenal first season of The White Lotus. In 2022, the Emmy Awards did what the Emmy Awards always do: gave a heap of gleaming trophies to a heap of ace TV shows, and the folks who make them, of course. Oh, and it also had people dancing to the Law and Order theme, among other classic television tunes; enlisted Oprah to stress how massive the odds are of anyone ever winning; and paid tribute to the one and only Geena Davis as well. The winners, which included frontrunners Succession, The White Lotus, Ted Lasso and Squid Game, all showed that it really has been an exceptional time for TV lately. The nominees list illustrated that anyway — and even if Severance, Better Call Saul, Yellowjackets, What We Do in the Shadows,Only Murders in the Building, Barry, Station Eleven and Scenes From a Marriage didn't end up emerging victorious, they're all still among the absolute best shows that graced the small screen over the past year. That's the ceremony done and dusted. Looking for a rundown of how it all went down, as well as a list of winners? We've got that taken care of. Now, here comes the next part for all of us at home: celebrating all of the series that earned Emmy recognition this year by getting watching or rewatching. Here's ten you should check out ASAP. THE WHITE LOTUS With Enlightened, his excellent two-season Laura Dern-starring comedy-drama from 2011–13, writer/director Mike White (Brad's Status) followed an executive who broke down at work. When she stepped back into her life, she found herself wanting something completely different not just for herself, but for and from the world. It isn't linked, narrative-wise, to White's latest TV miniseries The White Lotus. The same mood flows through, however. Here, wealthy Americans holiday at a luxe Hawaiian resort, which is managed by Australian Armond (Murray Bartlett, Tales of the City) — folks like business star Nicole (Connie Britton, Bombshell), her husband Mark (Steve Zahn, Where'd You Go, Bernadette), and the teenage trio of Olivia (Sydney Sweeney, Euphoria), Paula (Brittany O'Grady, Little Voice) and Quinn (Fred Hechinger, Fear Street); newlyweds Rachel (Alexandra Daddario, Songbird) and Shane (Jake Lacy, Mrs America); and the recently bereaved Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge, Promising Young Woman). From the outset, when the opening scene shows Shane accompanying a body on the way home, viewers know this'll end with a death. But as each episode unfurls, it's clear that these characters are reassessing what they want out of life as well. In The White Lotus, a glam and glossy getaway becomes a hellish trap, magnifying glass and mirror, with everyone's issues and problems only augmented by their time at the eponymous location. In terms of sinking its claws into the affluent, eat the rich-style, this perceptive, alluring and excellently cast drama also pairs nicely with the White-penned Beatriz at Dinner, especially as it examines the differences between the resort's guests and staff. EMMYS: Won: Outstanding Limited Series, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series of Television Movie (Murray Bartlett), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series of Television Movie (Jennifer Coolidge), Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie (Mike White), Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie (Mike White) Where to watch it: Binge. Read our review of season one. SUCCESSION Fans of blistering TV shows about wealth, power, the vast chasm between the rich and everyone else, and the societal problems that fester due to such rampant inequality, are living in a golden time. Just in the past 12 months or so, The White Lotus has fit the bill, as has Squid Game; however, Succession has always been in its own league. In the 'eat the rich' genre, the HBO drama sits at the top of the food chain as it chronicles the extremely lavish and influential lives of the Roy family. No series slings insults as brutally; no show channels feuding and backstabbing into such an insightful and gripping satire of the one percent, either. Finally returning in 2021 after a two-year gap between its second and third seasons, Succession didn't just keep plying its astute and addictive battles and power struggles — following season two's big bombshell, it kept diving deeper. The premise has remained the same since day one, with Logan Roy's (Brian Cox, Super Troopers 2) kids Kendall (Jeremy Strong, The Trial of the Chicago 7), Shiv (Sarah Snook, Pieces of a Woman), Roman (Kieran Culkin, No Sudden Move) and Connor (Alan Ruck, Gringo) vying to take over the family media empire. This brood's tenuous and tempestuous relationship only gets thornier with each episode, and its examination of their privileged lives — and what that bubble has done to them emotionally, psychologically and ideologically — only grows in season three. It becomes more addictive, too. There's no better show currently on TV, and no better source of witty dialogue. And there's no one turning in performances as layered as Strong, Cox, Snook, Culkin, J Smith-Cameron (Search Party), Matthew Macfadyen (The Assistant) and Nicholas Braun (Zola). EMMYS Won: Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Matthew Macfadyen), Writing for a Drama Series (Jesse Armstrong) Where to watch it: Binge. Read our review of season three. SQUID GAME Exploring societal divides within South Korea wasn't invented by Parasite, Bong Joon-ho's excellent Oscar-winning 2019 thriller, but its success was always going to give other films and TV shows on the topic a healthy boost. Accordingly, it's easy to see thematic and narrative parallels between the acclaimed movie and Netflix's highly addictive Squid Game — the show that's become the platform's biggest show ever (yes, bigger than everything from Stranger Things to Bridgerton). Anyone who has seen even an episode knows why this nine-part series is so compulsively watchable. Its puzzle-like storyline and its unflinching savagery making quite the combination. Here, in a Battle Royale and Hunger Games-style setup, 456 competitors are selected to work their way through six seemingly easy children's games. They're all given numbers and green tracksuits, they're competing for 45.6 billion won, and it turns out that they've also all made their way to the contest after being singled out for having enormous debts. That includes series protagonist Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae, Deliver Us From Evil), a chauffeur with a gambling problem, and also a divorcé desperate to do whatever he needs to to keep his daughter in his life. But, as it probes the chasms caused by capitalism and cash — and the things the latter makes people do under the former — this program isn't just about one player. It's about survival, the status quo the world has accepted when it comes to money, and the real inequality present both in South Korea and elsewhere. Filled with electric performances, as clever as it is compelling, unsurprisingly littered with smart cliffhangers, and never afraid to get bloody and brutal, the result is a savvy, tense and taut horror-thriller that entertains instantly and also has much to say. EMMYS: Won: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Lee Jung-jae), Directing for a Drama Series (Hwang Dong-hyuk) Where to watch it: Netflix. TED LASSO A sports-centric sitcom that's like a big warm hug, Ted Lasso belongs in the camp of comedies that focus on nice and caring people doing nice and caring things. Parks and Recreation is the ultimate recent example of this subgenre, as well as fellow Michael Schur-created favourite Brooklyn Nine-Nine — shows that celebrate people supporting and being there for each other, and the bonds that spring between them, to not just an entertaining but to a soul-replenishing degree. As played by Jason Sudeikis (Booksmart), the series' namesake is all positivity, all the time. A small-time US college football coach, he scored an unlikely job as manager of British soccer team AFC Richmond in the show's first season, a job that came with struggles. The ravenous media wrote him off instantly, the club was hardly doing its best, owner Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham, Sex Education) had just taken over the organisation as part of her divorce settlement, and veteran champion Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein, Uncle) and current hotshot Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster, Judy) refused to get along. Ted's upbeat attitude does wonders, though. In Ted Lasso's also-excellent second season, however, he finds new team psychologist Dr Sharon Fieldstone (Sarah Niles, I May Destroy You) an unsettling presence. You definitely don't need to love soccer or even sport to fall for this show's ongoing charms, to adore its heartwarming determination to value banding together and looking on the bright side, and to love its depiction of both male tenderness and supportive female friendships (which is where Maleficent: Mistress of Evil's Juno Temple comes in). In fact, this is the best sitcom currently in production. EMMYS: Won: Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Jason Sudeikis), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (Brett Goldstein), Directing for a Comedy Series (MJ Delaney) Where to watch it: Apple TV+. Read our review of season two. ABBOTT ELEMENTARY The Office did it, in both the UK and US versions. Parks and Recreation did it too. What We Do in the Shadows still does it — and, yes, there's more where they all came from. By now, the mockumentary format is such a well-established part of the sitcom realm that new shows deciding to give it a whirl isn't noteworthy. But in Abbott Elementary, the gimmick is also deployed as an outlet for the series' characters, all public school elementary teachers in Philadelphia, to help convey the stresses and tolls of doing what they're devoted to. In a wonderfully warm and also clear-eyed gem created by, co-written by and starring triple-threat Quinta Brunson (Miracle Workers), that'd be teaching young hearts and minds no matter the everyday obstacles, the utter lack of resources and funding, or the absence of interest from the bureaucracy above them. Brunson plays perennially perky 25-year-old teacher Janine Teagues, who loves her gig and her second-grade class. She also adores her colleague Barbara Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph, Ray Donovan), the kindergarten teacher that she sees as a mentor and work mum. Actually, Janine isn't just fond of all of the above — she's so devoted to her job that she'll let nothing stand in her way. But that isn't easy or straightforward in a system that's short on cash and care from the powers-that-be to make school better for its predominantly Black student populace. Also featuring Everybody Hates Chris' Tyler James Williams (also The United States vs Billie Holiday) as an apathetic substitute teacher, Lisa Ann Walter (The Right Mom) and Chris Perfetti (Sound of Metal) as Abbott faculty mainstays, and Janelle James (Black Monday) as the incompetent principal who only scored her position via blackmail, everything about Abbott Elementary is smart, kindhearted, funny and also honest. A second season is on its way, too. EMMYS: Won: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Sheryl Lee Ralph), Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (Quinta Brunson) Where to watch it: Disney+. EUPHORIA From the very first frames of its debut episode back in June 2019, when just-out-of-rehab 17-year-old Rue Bennett (Zendaya, Spider-Man: No Way Home) gave viewers the lowdown on her life, mindset, baggage, friends, family and everyday chaos, Euphoria has courted attention — or, mirroring the tumultuous teens at the centre of its dramas, the Emmy-winning HBO series just knew that eyeballs would come its way no matter what it did. The brainchild of filmmaker Sam Levinson (Malcolm & Marie), adapted from an Israeli series by the same name, and featuring phenomenal work by its entire cast, it's flashy, gritty, tense, raw, stark and wild, and manages to be both hyper-stylised to visually striking degree and deeply empathetic. In other words, if teen dramas reflect the times they're made — and from Degrassi, Press Gang and Beverly Hills 90210 through to The OC, Friday Night Lights and Skins, they repeatedly have — Euphoria has always been a glittery eyeshadow-strewn sign of today's times. That hasn't changed in the show's second season. Almost two and a half years elapsed between Euphoria's first and second batch of episodes — a pair of out-of-season instalments in late 2020 and early 2021 aside — but it's still as potent, intense and addictive as ever. And, as dark, as Rue's life and those of her pals (with the cast including Hunter Schafer, The King of Staten Island's Maude Apatow, The Kissing Booth franchise's Jacob Elordi, The White Lotus' Sydney Sweeney, The Afterparty's Barbie Ferreira, North Hollywood's Angus Cloud and Waves' Alexa Demie) bobs and weaves through everything from suicidal despair, Russian Roulette, bloody genitals, unforgettable school plays, raucous parties and just garden-variety 2022-era teen angst. The list always goes on; in fact, as once again relayed in Levinson's non-stop, hyper-pop style, the relentlessness that is being a teenager today, trying to work out who you are and navigating all that the world throws at you is Euphoria's point. EMMYS: Won: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Zendaya) Where to watch it: Binge. HACKS In 2021, Hacks' first season quickly cemented itself as one of 2021's best new TV shows — one of two knockout newbies starring Jean Smart last year, thanks to Mare of Easttown as well — and it's just as ace the second time around. It's still searingly funny, nailing that often-elusive blend of insight, intelligence and hilarity. It retains its observational, wry tone, and remains devastatingly relatable even if you've never been a woman trying to make it in comedy. And it's happy to linger where it needs to to truly understand its characters, but never simply dwells in the same place as its last batch of episodes. Season two is literally about hitting the road, so covering fresh territory is baked into the story; however, Hacks' trio of key behind-the-scenes creatives — writer Jen Statsky (The Good Place), writer/director Lucia Aniello (Rough Night) and writer/director/co-star Paul W Downs (The Other Two) — aren't content to merely repeat themselves with a different backdrop. Those guiding hands started Hacks after helping to make Broad City a hit. Clearly, they all know a thing or two about moving on from the past. That's the decision both veteran comedian Deborah Vance (Smart) and her twentysomething writer-turned-assistant Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder, North Hollywood) had to make themselves in season one, with the show's second season now charting the fallout. So, Deborah has farewelled her residency and the dependable gags that kept pulling in crowds, opting to test out new and far-more-personal material on a cross-country tour instead. Ava has accepted her role by Deborah's side, and is willing to see it as a valid career move rather than an embarrassing stopgap. But that journey comes a few narrative bumps. Of course, Hacks has always been willing to see that actions have consequences, not only for an industry that repeatedly marginalises women, but for its imperfect leading ladies. EMMYS: Won: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Jean Smart) Where to watch it: Stan. Read our full review of season two. THE DROPOUT Dramatising the Theranos scandal, eight-part miniseries The Dropout is one of several high-profile releases this year to relive a wild true-crime tale — including the Anna Delvey-focused Inventing Anna, about the fake German heiress who conned her way through New York City's elite, and also documentary The Tinder Swindler, which steps through defrauding via dating app at the hands of Israeli imposter Simon Leviev. It also dives into the horror-inducing Dr Death-esque realm, because when a grift doesn't just mess with money and hearts, but with health and lives, it's pure nightmare fuel. And, it's the most gripping of the bunch, even though we're clearly living in peak scandal-to-screen times. Scam culture might be here to stay as Inventing Anna told us in a telling line of dialogue, but it isn't enough to just gawk its way — and The Dropout and its powerful take truly understands this. To tell the story of Theranos, The Dropout has to tell the story of Elizabeth Holmes, the Silicon Valley biotech outfit's founder and CEO from the age of 19. Played by a captivating, career-best Amanda Seyfried — on par with her Oscar-nominated work in Mank, but clearly in a vastly dissimilar role — the Steve Jobs-worshipping Holmes is seen explaining her company's name early in its first episode. It's derived from the words "therapy" and "diagnosis", she stresses, although history already dictates that it offered little of either. Spawned from Holmes' idea to make taking blood simpler and easier, using just one drop from a small finger prick, it failed to deliver, lied about it copiously and still launched to everyday consumers, putting important medical test results in jeopardy. EMMYS: Won: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series of Television Movie (Amanda Seyfried) Where to watch it: Disney+. Read our review. DOPESICK 'Eat the rich' dramas have been having their day across small screens and streaming queues (see: Succession, The White Lotus and Squid Game above), inescapably so. That said, shows in another big current trend are everywhere, too. Dramatised true tales just keep enlisting stacked high-profile casts to wade through murky IRL details, Dopesick included — which adapts Beth Macy's non-fiction book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America. You don't need to have read that text to instantly know that it's about the impact of opioids throughout the US. Everyone has heard of painkiller OxyContin, which originated from US pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma. Everyone now knows that it is highly addictive, and that that simple fact is the cause of too many woes. If you aren't aware of all the details — or even if you are — prepare for grim viewing via this eight-part affair. The names don't mirror real life, but the story is factual — and infuriating. Michael Keaton (Morbius) plays Samuel Finnix, a mining town doctor who is convinced by Purdue rep Billy Cutler (Will Poulter, Midsommar) to begin prescribing the then-new OxyContin to patients — such as Betsy (Kaitlyn Dever, Dear Evan Hansen), who has a back injury. Also covered: the legal efforts by assistant US attorneys Rick Mountcastle (Peter Sarsgaard, The Lost Daughter) and Randy Ramseyer (John Hoogenakker, Castle Rock) to make Purdue accountable, with the series never holding back about the ills that the drug has caused. The word for the end result: harrowing in oh-so-many ways and for oh-so-many reasons, and also empathetic towards the people affected by opioids. EMMYS: Won: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series of Television Movie (Michael Keaton) Where to watch it: Disney+. OZARK In 2022, Julia Garner schemed her away into New York's upper echelons in the instantly addictive Inventing Anna, playing IRL faux socialite Anna Delvey — and won the unofficial award for wildest accent on TV, too. She didn't end up nabbing an Emmy for her part, despite being nominated; however, the acclaimed actress didn't go home empty-handed. The reason? Fellow Netflix series Ozark. Not for the first time, The Assistant star picked up the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series gong for the crime drama. Actually, this marks her third win, all for her blistering performance as Ruth Langmore. When the show started back in 2017, Garner wasn't in its top-two biggest names, thanks to Jason Bateman (The Outsider) and Laura Linney (Tales of the City), but she's turned her part into an absolute powerhouse. Ozark's focus: a financial advisor, Marty Byrde (Bateman), who moves from Chicago to a quiet Missouri town — yes, in the titular Ozarks region — after a money-laundering scheme goes wrong in a big way. That's a significant shift for his wife Wendy (Linney) and kids Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz, What Breaks the Ice) and Jonah (Skylar Gaertner, Daredevil), but it doesn't see Marty change his ways. Instead, more laundering is in his future, as well as crossing paths with Ruth, who hails from a criminal family. Across its four-season run, Ozark has always been lifted by its performances, which is unsurprising given that Bateman, Linney and Garner are all at the top of their games. It's a masterclass in tension, too, and in conveying a relentless feeling of dread. EMMYS: Won: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Julia Garner) Where to watch it: Netflix. Top image: Mario Perez/HBO.
The super-adorable Finders Keepers Markets have been home to Sydney's most creative and quirky designers for almost five years. Now the independent hip-fest has grown up and burst forth from the confines of Carriageworks to return to their new home at Eveleigh's Australian Technology Park for the second time. The biannual, designer-centric, come-one-come-all mini-festival has managed to bridge the gap between local market and exclusive exhibition, creating a space for independent designers to engage with the wider community. You'll be able to nab some marvellous treats difficult to find anywhere else. From bespoke leather goods to bespoke stationary, upcycled journals to upcycled bicycle reflectors, every stall will be a unique shopping experience that combines innovative design with grassroots feel-goodery. As usual, there will be live music, a cafe, a bar and thousands of other Sydneysiders celebrating independent art and design. Finder Keepers is open 6-10pm on Friday, 10am-5pm on Saturday.
Science fiction doesn't always like engaging with death. Source Code director Duncan Jones doesn't have that problem. Jake Gyllenhall's Coulter, who seems at first like a drone pilot back from Afghanistan, finds himself suddenly on a double-decker train to Chicago, and seemingly in someone else's body. Coulter struggles to find a bomb on the train in a series of jumps into the past where he relives the same eight minutes over and over. But he's also trying to discover where he is in a bald present full of military technicians who don't feel like answering any of his questions. Jumping back and forth between sci-fi [spoilers] and the hazy surreality of dream, Source Code feels a bit like an acting exercise, constantly improvising a new version of the same scene. A lot of its essential parts involve people who won't talk about the past, but unlike Jones' previous Moon this makes getting into the characters a bit more difficult. Towards the end though, the film makes a brief crash through the territory of Alejandro González Iñárritu's crushing Biutiful, and brushes quite well through the same themes of fathers and children, imminent death and sober reflections on mortality. Reliving the same moment over and over has been played out many times, most nimbly in Star Trek and Groundhog Day. Films like the Matrix used to be consumed in piercing these apparently illusionary worlds and escaping closer to the real world, but since September 11 they've become more interested in the dream and dreamer, and less interested in the waking up. The zeitgeist is beginning to find reality unappealing to return to. Source Code owes a lot to the Matrix (one promo story [spoilers] in particular), and its biggest strength is its biggest weakness: uncertain ground under what is real, and what is dream. https://youtube.com/watch?v=_3QkJ_a1nlw
After a year of travelling inside our own states (and around our own apartments), the last of the interstate borders are finally opening. Apart from WA (which is still closed to SA) and Queensland (which is opening up to SA from Saturday, December 12), Australians can visit anywhere in the country without quarantining. To celebrate, ridesharing service DiDi is offering half-price rides to airports across the country from now all the way through till Sunday, January 31 2021. This is great news if you have trips home to see the fam or summer getaways planned. You can, of course, choose from Ola, Uber or DiDi. If you go with the latter, though — you'll get a much cheaper trip. The newer of the three, DiDi is offering every rider two half-price trips (with a max saving of $20 a trip) to eligible airports, which include Melbourne Tullamarine, Melbourne Avalon, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Newcastle, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast airports. You just need to jump onto the app, use the code 'EXPLORE' and you'll get access to the discounted trips. DiDi has implemented a range of safety measures in a bid to reduce the spread of COVID-19, too, including two-person passenger limits in an Express and four in a Max, installing over 2000 in-car partition screens and distributing face masks to drivers. DiDi Chuxing launched in China in 2012 and has quickly become a huge player in the global ridesharing game — it has since bought out Uber's Chinese operations and has stakes in numerous companies, including Ola, Taxify, Lyft and Grab. To get your two half-price DiDi trips — from now until Sunday, January 31, 2021 — download the app (for iOS or Android) and use the code EXPLORE. Find out more about current interstate border restrictions over here.
More than a quarter-century ago, a TV sitcom about six New Yorkers made audiences a promise: that it'd be there for us. And, as well as making stars out of Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow, Friends has done just that. Sure, the hit series wrapped up its ten-season run in 2004, but the show has lived on — on streaming platforms, by sending an orange couch around Australia, by screening anniversary marathons in cinemas and in boozy brunch parties, for example. In news that was bound to happen someday — no pop culture entity truly comes to an end in these reboot, remake, revival and spinoff-heavy times — Friends is living on in a much more literal sense, too. First hinted at in 2019, officially confirmed in 2020 and just releasing its first teaser trailer (and announcing a US air date), the show is coming back for a reunion special on HBO's streaming platform HBO Max. Naturally, the whole gang is involved. Yep, it's 'The One Where They Get Back Together' — which is exactly how the trailer for Friends: The Reunion describes the special. That said, it's worth noting that the special is unscripted, which means that Aniston and company aren't literally stepping back into Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey, Ross and Phoebe's and shoes. Instead, the actors behind the characters will chat about their experiences on the show — all on the same soundstage where Friends was originally shot. And, let's face it, the fact that they'll all be on-screen at the same time in the same place celebrating the series that so many folks love is probably enough for fans. Aniston, Cox and the gang will have a few other famous faces for company. More than a few, in fact. The guest list is hefty, and spans folks with connections to the show and others that must just love it — including David Beckham, Justin Bieber, BTS, James Corden, Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Lady Gaga, Elliott Gould, Kit Harington, Larry Hankin and Mindy Kaling, as well as Thomas Lennon, Christina Pickles, Tom Selleck, James Michael Tyler, Maggie Wheeler, Reese Witherspoon and Malala Yousafzai. Initially slated to air last May — with those plans delayed due to the pandemic — the special will now stream via HBO Max in the US on Thursday, May 27. For folks Down Under, just when and where it'll surface hasn't yet been revealed; however, it's bound to be here for us sooner or later. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MedRN92V6lE Friends: The Reunion will be available to stream in the US via HBO Max on Thursday, May 27. It doesn't currently have an air date or streaming date Down Under — we'll update you when one is announced.
Mayday! Playwrights Festival is taking over TAP Gallery for a three-week program in May with a showcase of short-form theatre works written by a collection of Australia's premier contemporary writers. The essence of the festival is impulsive, instinctive and immediate. It has given Australian playwrights the opportunity to take their work from the page to the stage in a much shorter time frame than usual. The festival is a celebration of collaboration, with the works on show the product of responses to a call-out by festival directors Jeremy Waters and Augusta Supple demanding "Help! We have an empty space, can you help us fill it?" Answers abounded in the form of established and emerging playwrights, actors and directors, and the festival was created. The season features three different shows, with each show playing for four nights in its respective week. Week one (May 8-11) sees the works of award-winning playwright collective 7-ON brought to life in the provocative No Nudity, Weapons or Naked Flames, directed by Mayday! festival co-director Augusta Supple. The second week will bring a collection of monologues to the main stage in The Solitudes and introduce Australia to a host of beautifully crafted characters before Little Gods rounds out the festival with the intricately intertwined playwright and directing debut of AFI Award-winning actor Nicholas Hope. "The overwhelming interest and response to our Mayday! Festival is proof that our theatre community is brave, bold and ready," says Supple. So be one of the bold and answer the call of Mayday!.
After the disrupted domestic-only ski season in 2020 — and with travellers from Australia permitted to enter New Zealand without quarantining from mid-April 2021 — thrill-seekers from both sides of the ditch could be hitting NZ's pristine slopes from as early as June. That means it's less than 70 days until NZ Ski's fields, including Coronet Peak and The Remarkables in Queenstown and Canterbury's Mount Hutt are up and running for winter. The operator has plenty going on this season, including opening the country's first eight-person chairlift and night skiing events. Mount Hutt is set to be the first to open from Friday, June 11–Sunday, October 17. It will be open seven days with capacity on the mountain increased thanks to the brand new Nor'west Express eight-seat chairlift. With a ride time of only two minutes, the lift will have capacity to carry up to 3000 skiers per hour. It also features a loading carpet to assist those who are new to using chairlifts. The field's full moon skiing event will also return. Coronet Peak will be open from Saturday, June 19 right through until Sunday, September 26. The ski field plans to operate its popular after-hours night skiing events every Wednesday and Friday from June 25 onwards. The 48th dog derby is also on the cards. Fellow Queenstown favourite The Remarkables will be open every day of the week from Saturday, June 26 through to Sunday, October 17. The mountain's Sugar Bowl development includes two brand new trails and a new snowmaking system mean better snow coverage on the Serpentine side of the mountain. Cardrona Alpine Resort's Olympic-sized superpipe will be open from Saturday, June 12 until Sunday, October 17.. The ski field is also adding another chairlift to its network, which opens up a new major section of skiable terrain on the southern face. Sibling ski field Treble Cone is scheduled to open from Saturday, June 26–Sunday, September 26, and for cross-country skiers and snow-shoers, Cardrona's Snow Farm is intending to open for the 2021 winter from Friday, June 18–Sunday, September 19. The largest ski area in the nation, Mt Ruapehu, is preparing to open its Happy Valley (Saturday, June 5), Turoa (Saturday, July 3), Whakapapa (Saturday, July 3) fields, too, which will give skiers and snowboarders access to the mountain's natural pipes, steep chutes and vertical drop of 722 metres. The alpine village says the opening will be subject to snow conditions. With the quarantine-free trans-Tasman travel bubble set to open from Sunday, April 18, a rise in visitor numbers is expected across all fields. All ski field 2021 season plans are dependent on snow conditions, as well as COVID-19 guidelines and expectations set out by the New Zealand Government. For more information about NZ's ski fields, head to the various websites for Mount Hutt, Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Cardrona Alpine Resort, Treble Cone, Snow Farm and Mt Ruapehu. Images: NZSki.
Back in August last year, we lost a treasured jewel in the Kings Cross nightclub crown when Hugos called last drinks for the final time, with owner Dave Evans claiming that Sydney's lockout laws had made operating a nightclub impossible in the precinct. But according to The Daily Telegraph, that jewel has been found, polished, and ready to make a stunning re-entry to Sydney's bar scene in February next year. Eric Jury, owner and operator of Double Bay's Casablanca, has paid money to bring Hugo's back to life, albeit with a few minor changes to the club-slash-bar-pizza joint Sydney night owls knew and loved. Jury — who told The Tele he believes that the lockout laws have actually made the Bayswater Road area a nicer place — will be reopening Hugos as a pop-up bar initially, in order to dip his toe into the bathtub that is post-lockout Kings Cross. The plan will then be to open again as a permanent fixture next August, depending on how much business is drummed up in the probationary period. With Casablanca shutting down next year to make way for continued residential development in Double Bay, Jury is looking to bring back the Hugos vibe of drinking, dancing and generally enjoying your life whilst adhering to a strict dress code — a vision that is likely to induce a mild, elation-induced panic attack in Sydneysiders who love dressing up to get down. Although Jury's version of Hugo's might not be exactly how it's remembered by past patrons, it's a rare occasion that we get to report on a bar that's actually reopening (rather than closing) in Kings Cross.
New South Wales' live music scene has another casualty: Central Coast's Mountain Sounds festival. A week out from the fest's 2019 event, which was due to take place on February 15 and 16, organisers have announced that it won't proceed this year. The news comes after Mountain Sounds already scaled down the festival earlier this month, reducing its number of stages as well as cutting 20 acts from its lineup. In a statement about the cancellation, the folks behind Mountain Sounds have highlighted "the government's war on festivals", particularly "newly imposed safety, licensing and security costs". The fest's powers-that-be explain that they've been "put in an impossible situation as it was unrealistic for us to pull this money together, particularly given the timeframe". The cash that the festival references is in the vicinity of $200,000, which would've covered 45 police working across a 24-hour period. Organisers also state that they were given these figures just this week, after being advised mid-January that 11 police officers would be acceptable. With drug deaths at music festivals in the spotlight in recent months, and the government ignoring increased calls for pill-testing as a harm-minimisation technique, events are increasingly being asked to change and scale down their operations. Earlier this week, dance fest Psyfari also announced its cancellation for the same reason — and also directed the blame firmly at the current political climate If Mountain Sounds had staged its fifth incarnation this year, audiences would've been treated to live sets by Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett, Sydney-based electronica act What So Not and folk siblings Angus and Julia Stone, followed by a plethora of 2018's favourite acts, including Thundamentals, Middle Kids and Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever. Organisers note that they're "devastated" about the cancellation, but "the combination of excessive costs, additional licensing conditions and the enforcement of a stricter timeline" left them with no alternative. Regarding the future, it's "unclear at this point in time but we will find a way to continue our passion and commitment in bringing music and arts to the coast," Mountain Sounds explained. Anyone booked in to attend this year's cancelled festival should expect to receive further information about their ticket purchases in the next week.
A sudden Nutella shortage has gripped the nation, leaving our pancakes dry and Melbourne is to blame. The supply of industrial-sized tubs used to fuel the Melbourne Nutella industry has dried up, forcing cafes to buy smaller tubs directly from supermarket shelves, leaving no Nutella for the little guys (the rest of Nutella-less Australia). Ferrero Australia has stated they will not be receiving new shipments from until August 7. That's like, a whole week. So this is it. All the years we’ve spent wondering how the end would come and here it is. Doooooooom. Listen Melbourne, we get it (FYI this is coming from a Nutellaless Brisbanite). You love Nutella. You slap that thick, creamy hazelnut spread on everything you can get your grubby little mitts on, from waffles to doughnuts to pizza. We know the second your sculpting classes pay off, you’re going to create a lifelike human form out of Nutella and live happily together for the rest of your life. We really have no problem with this; we wholeheartedly endorse your hazelnut love. But there’s one teeny issue: there’s no Nutella left for the rest of us. Yeah, so maybe we’re being a little dramatic. But for the time being you’ll have to get your Nutella fix from one of the many, many establishments that serve Nutella-themed treats. Desperate Sydneysiders, get your starved bodies down to Brewtown in Newtown for a Nutella cruffin (muffin-croissant, FYI). For Melburnians, try Peko Peko in Fitzroy and grab a Nutella dumpling; and Brisbane-based Nutella freaks can pick up a Nutella pavlova or Nutella lasagne at the Chester Street Bakery. Once you have your sweet hazelnut treat, take it home, lock all the doors and window, and savour every last morsel. Via Good Food. Image: ninacoco.
Calling all French film fans: for the whopping 34th year, Australia's Alliance Française French Film Festival is screening a feast of flicks from the other side of the world. Hitting Palace Central, Palace Verona, Palace Norton St, Chauvel Cinema and Hayden Orpheum Cremorne in Sydney from Tuesday, March 7–Wednesday, April 5, this year's cinematic celebration will screen 39 movies throughout March and April — and the full program is something special. AFFFF's 2023 opening-night pick: Masquerade, spinning a tale of glitz, glamour and the Côte d'Azur's far-less-glossy underbelly under La Belle Époque's director Nicolas Bedos' guidance — and with Pierre Niney (Yves Saint Laurent) and Isabelle Adjani (The World Is Yours) among his stars. As a bookend on closing night, it's joined by Freestyle, which takes to the road with Benjamin Voisin (Lost Illusions) and Marina Foïs (Stella in Love), and promises to end the fest as memorably as it begins. In-between, must-sees include Saint Omer, with documentarian Alice Diop drawing from true events to craft a drama about a young Parisian journalist and novelist attending murder trial, then wading through the complexities it surfaces within her own family history; One Fine Morning, the latest film by Bergman Island's Mia Hansen-Løve, this time a family drama starring Léa Seydoux (Crimes of the Future); and The Innocent, as written by, directed by and starring Louis Garrel (A Faithful Man), based on his own experiences, and also featuring Noémie Merlant (Tár). There's also Final Cut, a French remake of Japanese cult hit One Cut of the Dead from The Artist director Michel Hazanavicius, starring Romain Duris (Eiffel); Winter Boy, the new film from Sorry Angel's Christophe Honoré, an autobiographical drama focusing on 17-year-old Lucas (newcomer Paul Kircher); Brother and Sister, with Marion Cotillard (Annette) playing a stage actor and sibling to Melvil Poupaud (Summer of 85); and Other People's Children, a Virginie Efira (Benedetta)-led effort about being a stepmother that's also inspired by director Rebecca Zlotowski's (Planetarium) own life. Two Quentin Dupieux films sit on the program, too, with the director of Rubber and Deerskin adding both Incredible but True and Smoking Causes Coughing to the lineup — and a sense of humour that only he possesses. Plus, there's award-winner Playground, which focuses on a seven-year-old girl; On the Wandering Paths, which brings Sylvain Tesson's novel to the screen so swiftly after The Velvet Queen also turned his work into cinema (including at AFFFF 2022); and The Origin of Evil, an account of a dysfunctional family that's one of three AFFFF 2023 movies to star Full Time's Laure Calamy. This year's focus is firmly on the new over the classic, but when it comes to looking backwards, 1988 French box-office smash The Big Blue does the honours. The full list of 2023 AFFFF titles goes on, as cinephiles have come to not just expect but thoroughly enjoy from a fest that's the largest celebration of French film outside of France.
