Since opening in 2006, the Parramatta Artists' Studios has been a hub of creativity. Hundreds of artists have sketched, painted, sculpted and photographed here resulting in scores of exhibitions. Headquartered near Parramatta Town Hall, the Studios also recently gained a second home in the form of six warehouse studios in the nearby neighbourhood of Rydalmere so you can check out both if you have time. Get your culture fix by attending an exhibition opening or by joining a workshop. If you're a budding artist, there are six- and 12-month studio tenancies on offer, too. You can learn more about the program here or check out what's coming up over here. Image: Kalanjay Dhir by Andrew Vincent
Sydneysiders, you won't be getting your fix of bright lights this June. You won't be spending a couple of weeks holed up in a cinema, either. But, while both Vivid and Sydney Film Festival have postponed their 2021 events to August, the first month of winter definitely won't be quiet. Clearly seeing an empty slot on the city's social calendar, New South Wales Government's tourism and events agency Destination NSW is putting together a new festival that'll start the chillier season in style. Sydney Solstice is slated to take place from Tuesday, June 8–Sunday, June 20, with a big focus on dining, drinking, entertainment, arts and culture. The fest will take up residence at four Sydney precincts across the 13-day period, delivering a program filled with live music, performances, comedy, workshops, food and drink, exhibitions and installations. So, expect to spend plenty of time in the CBD and surrounding areas (including The Rocks, Circular Quay, Walsh Bay and Chinatown), over at Darling Harbour and its adjacent spots (such as Barangaroo, Glebe, Ultimo and Pyrmont), around the Oxford Street area (including Paddington, Darlinghurst, Surry Hills, Rushcutters Bay, Woolloomooloo, Elizabeth Bay, Kings Cross, Potts Point and Entertainment Quarter) and in the vicinity of Newtown (plus Enmore, Erskineville, Alexandria, Chippendale, Darlington and Redfern). As with most big events announced at the moment, Sydney Solstice is driven by a desire to get more folks out and about around town — and spending money supporting the economy. Destination NSW is particularly focusing on boosting the city's arts and culture, music and entertainment, and food and beverage industries, and also placing a big emphasis on NSW talent. Exactly what's on the lineup hasn't yet been revealed, with Destination NSW currently calling for expressions of interest from businesses interested in taking part — including restaurants and bars, entertainment venues, promoters, and arts and cultural organisations — until early April. The agency is specifically eager for big drawcards that are either completely new, or substantially reimagine or enhance existing activities, as well as other relevant events that can fall under the festival's umbrella. For now, until the program hits, you might want to block out your diary in advance. Sydney joins Melbourne in getting a new winter festival this year — although the Victorian capital's new event, Rising, was originally slated to launch in 2020, but was delayed due to the pandemic. Sydney Solstice will take place from Tuesday, June 8–Sunday, June 20. We'll update you with further details when they're announced — and you can keep an eye on the festival's website, too.
A moscato made with beer hops. Chenin blanc infused with pine resin. Queensland's only wine fermented in terracotta. They're some of the wildly delicious drops made by Australia's just-announced Top 50 winemakers for 2020, as chosen by Young Gun of Wine (YGOW). Running since 2007, the annual award showcases the up-and-coming wine labels and winemakers pushing the boundaries and making some damn-fine wine. The Top 50 were chosen by the industry's leading chefs, winemakers and sommeliers, including Louella Mathews of Sydney's Bibo Wine Bar, Mona sommelier Pip Anderson, Charlotte Hardy of Charlotte Dalton Wines and wine critic Nick Stock. And, full disclosure, I was also a judge — so I can personally vouch for these wines. If you're currently self-isolating, working from home or are just wanting to spend a little more time indoors at the moment, this list has arrived at a helpful time — you now have 50 wine labels to drink your way through, from the comfort of your apartment. On said list, you'll find 17 winemakers from Victoria, 14 from SA, six from NSW/ACT, WA and Tasmania, and one from Queensland. Dirty Candy Wine's Daniel Payne, Con-Greg Grigoriou from SA's Delinquente Wine Co, Frederick Stevenson's Steve Crawford, Alexander Byrne from Noisy Ritual in Victoria, Le Petite Mort's Andrew Scott from Queensland are some of the makers whose wines you'll be wanting to 'add to cart' right now. You'll have a chance to chat to some of these winemakers while you taste their wines, too — and for free. Because of current health concerns surrounding COVID-19, YGOW has cancelled its usual in-person tasting events, but, instead, it'll be hosting a series of virtual events in May. The free online series will see you chatting to winemakers and industry experts from your bed, couch or even bath while sipping on vino. You can sign up for those over here. Once you've tasted some of the wines from the list and chatted to some of the winemakers, you can vote in the People's Choice Award, which is open until June 1. Everyone that votes will get a $50 Langton's voucher — so, yes, you can purchase even more wine. The winners, including the People's Choice, Best New Act, Winemaker's Choice, Danger Zone and Young Gun of Wine, will then be announced on Monday, June 1. You can check out all the winners below: [caption id="attachment_765181" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Some of the 250 wines that were tasted and judged for YGOW. Photo by James Morgan[/caption] YOUNG GUN OF WINE 2020 TOP 50 NSW/ACT Daniel Payne from Dirt Candy Wine, Hunter Valley Angus Vinden from The Vinden Headcase, Hunter Valley Steve Mobbs from Dreaded Friend/Wallington Wines, Central Ranges Will Gilbert from Gilbert, Orange/Mudgee Tom Ward from Swinging Bridge, Orange Samuel Leyshon from Mallaluka, Canberra District QLD Andrew Scott from Le Petite Mort, Granite Belt SA Sholto Broderick & Louis Broderick from Basket Range Wine, Adelaide Hills Dylan Lee from Bird in Hand, Adelaide Hills James Hamilton from Golden Child, Adelaide Hills Michael Sexton from Main & Cherry, Adelaide Hills Sarah Adamson from Scout Wines, Adelaide Hills/New Zealand Tarrant Hansen from Spider Bill Wines, Adelaide Hills Alyson Tannenbaum from Vinteloper, Adelaide Hills Andre Bondar from Bondar Wines, McLaren Vale/Adelaide Hills Charles Seppelt & Skye Salter from Paralian Wines, McLaren Vale Mauricio Ruiz Cantu & Benjamin Caldwell from Somos, McLaren Vale Con-Greg Grigoriou from Delinquente Wine Co, Riverland Ansel Ashby from Gatch Wine, Riverland/Adelaide Hills/Clare Valley Steve Crawford from Frederick Stevenson, Barossa Valley Eden Valley/Adelaide Hills Nick Dugmore from The Stoke Wines, Kangaroo Island TAS Jonathan Hughes from Mewstone Wines, Tasmania Greer Carland from Quiet Mutiny, Tasmania Gilli & Paul Lipscombe from Sailor Seeks Horse, Tasmania James Broinowski from Small Island Wines, Tasmania Ricky Evans from Two Tonne Tasmania, Tasmania Hugh McCullough from Wellington & Wolfe, Tasmania VIC Chris Catlow from Sentio, Beechworth Raquel Jones from Weathercraft, Beechworth Natasha Webster from Empire of Dirt Wines, Geelong Ben Mullen from Mulline, Geelong Justin Purser from Dhiaga, Mornington Peninsula Glen Hayley from Kooyong/Port Phillip Estate, Mornington Peninsula Tara & Matthew Campbell from Mattara Wines, Mornington Peninsula/Grampians Alexander Byrne from Noisy Ritual, Victoria Chris Bendle from DCB Wine, Yarra Valley Tim Perrin from from Oakridge Wines, Yarra Valley Hadyn Black from Black & Ginger, Great Western/Grampians/Henty/Pyrenees Leighton Joy from Pyren Vineyard, Pyrenees Chris Dilworth & Loique Allain from Dilworth & Allain, Macedon Ranges Renata Morello from Lyons Will Estate, Macedon Ranges Ben Ranken from Wilimee, Macedon Ranges Bart Van Olphen from Chalmers, Heathcote/Mildura Jonathan Ross from Micro Wines, Geelong/Barossa Valley WA Alexi Christidis from Chalari Wines, Perth Hills, Swan Valley Garth Cliff from Vino Volta, Swan Valley/Swan District/Geographe/Perth Hills Natasha Arthur from Arthur Wines, Margaret River Dylan Arvidson from LS Merchants, Margaret River/Frankland River Remi Guise from tripe.Iscariot, Margaret River Kim Tyrer from Galafrey Wines, Mount Barker You can sign up for Young Gun of Wine's Top 50 virtual events here and vote in the People's Choice Award before June 1 here. To purchase the above wines, head to the individual wine label's website or order from online bottle shops such as Drnks, P&V, Vinomofo and Blackhearts & Sparrows.
If you've ever felt that anticipation of waiting for a beat to drop, you know the indescribable power that music has over us. The right song at the right time can lift moods, send tingles down our spines and trample us with memories. But are these effects in any way quantifiable? How does music change us neurologically or psychologically? Dr Sandra Garrido and Professor Katherine Boydell are researchers who have been attempting to answer these questions for a large chunk of their careers. As part of a free lunchtime lecture series, Sounds Like Science, the duo will delve into the link between music and mental health. The discussion will take place at City Recital Hall on Wednesday, July 18 at 12.30pm, so don't forget to BYO pack-lunch to this interactive seminar. Over the course of an hour, Garrido (a musician herself) and Boydell will discuss a few of the scientific studies in which music has proven an unlikely ally in wellbeing. They'll also break down how different types of music can affect mood, memory, anxiety and depression. So whether you're a music maker, a passionate listener or someone who assigns a song to every memory (from first kisses to epic holidays), Sounds Like Science is a great opportunity to better understand how music moves us. It can't explain why you dance like a weirdo, though. That's just something you do. This Sounds Like Science: Music and Mental Health will take place on Wednesday, July 18 at 12.30pm. To reserve tickets, visit the City Recital Hall website.
Earlier in 2020, when social distancing and public gathering rules were in place across the country, KFC did everyone a solid by offering up free home delivery for the first time ever Down Under. Life is slowly returning to normal now, but the fried chicken chain is bringing back the deal anyway — so you can round up your housemates again and tuck into those 11 secret herbs and spices. The reason this time: State of Origin. KFC's free delivery will be available across the next three Wednesdays to coincide with this year's postponed games — so on November 4, November 11 and November 18. The great news is that you don't have to care about the matches, or watch them, to get that chicken brought to your door without paying extra. The free delivery is simply available all day on each of those three days, from open till close at your local store. The limited-time offer is available nationwide, too — and there is no minimum spend required. To get your hands on some finger lickin' good chook with no added cost, you'll just need to head to Menulog's website or use the Menulog app. And while your food is on its way, you can meditate with KFChill, a wellness website that lets you unwind to the sound of chicken frying, gravy simmering or bacon sizzling away in a pan. Yes, it'll make you hungry. KFC is offering free delivery across Australia on all orders via Menulog, with the special available on Wednesday, November 4, Wednesday, November 11 and Wednesday, November 18. To order, head to the Menulog website and or use the Menulog app.
Whisked from her idyllic farm with the promise of a job cooking for a high-level government official, it is only when Hortense Laborie (Catherine Frot) gets to Paris that she learns the position will actually involve being the private chef for French president Francois Mitterand. She has a moment of faint surprise, but only a moment. The job offer is a bolt from the blue, but she knows she's up for it. Based on the true story of the first woman to be the president's chef, Haute Cuisine alternates between Hortense's time in the palace and a later spell as the inscrutable but beloved head chef on an Antarctic research station. In a clunky plot device at odds with the rest of the film's unhurried feel, an Australian journalist (Arly Jover, doing a deplorable accent) is making a documentary about the station and tries to unravel the enigma of Hortense, including why she left her high-profile role for such an unlikely and isolated outpost. Not unlike last year's similarly foodie-friendly Step Up to the Plate, Haute Cuisine is almost defiantly low-key, offering little in the way of revelation but instead opting for a detailed, quiet character study and a wealth of lovingly filmed food preparation scenes. Initially feeling isolated in her position, Hortense finds herself ill at ease in the rarified surrounds of the Elysse palace, all cavernous rooms and chilly stylishness. She is unsure of the tastes of who she is cooking for, is eyed suspiciously from the chefs in the much larger public kitchen and has running battles with bean-counting bureaucrats who can't understand the time and money she pours into sourcing the finest truffles and foie gras. Eventually she does meet Mitterand (played with sparkly eyed verve by Jean d'Ormesson, making his film debut at age 86) and the pair bond over the heartfelt, rustic food of his childhood. Working with the timid but capable sous chef Nicholas (Arthur Dupont) she becomes a favourite of the ageing president, only increasing the jealousy of her male counterparts. Haute Cuisine is a small story but it is an interesting historical vignette, and it is to the film's credit that it does not overstay its welcome a minute.
Beyond Cinema — the folks who brought the Titanic to Sydney Harbour and the mad hatter's tea party to the Botanic Gardens — are at it again. On Sunday, August 19, the crew will host its next Sydney extravaganza: an epic immersive party inspired by The Great Gatsby. And, in even better news, Tanqueray has jumped aboard, which means you'll be treated to a complimentary fresh apple martini on arrival. The over-the-top party will take place at a mansion in northern Sydney, which will be decked out in all the imagined opulence of Jay Gatsby's West Egg home. With a cocktail in hand, prepare to chat, flirt and Charleston your way around an authentic recreation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's universe, which will filled with colourful characters and soundtracked by live jazz. Wear your best crazy old thing. The party has packages available to suit an array of tastes and budgets. In the underground Speak Easy ($105), lay low among the New Jersey mob while mixing your own moonshine and snacking from food platters. In Gatsby's Dining Hall ($165), feast on roaming canapés, check out live performances and hole up in the Tanqueray central bar. There are also a bunch of fancier sit-down banquets, as well as several outdoor spaces, surrounded by stunning landscaped gardens. All packages come with wine, beer and soft drinks, but as you explore the venue (you're welcome to have a sticky beak at the other experiences), keep an eye out for Tanqueray's alfresco bars, serving up G&Ts. Baz Luhrmann's 2013 film adaptation will be screened, too — if you want to watch, you'll need to purchase a movie screening ticket on top of your package for three bucks. The only trick is getting your mitts on tickets. As you can imagine, they've been selling at top speed, but, if you're quick, you might score one of the few left over here.
When Respect first breaks out its titular track, it's the original Otis Redding version that echoes in the background. The song plays in the Franklin household as Aretha (Jennifer Hudson, Cats) and her family listen, and the scene bubbles with anticipation for the thing everyone watching knows will come. Shortly afterwards, the Queen of Soul tinkers at the piano in the deep of night, her excitement buoyant after hearing her first big hit 'I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)' on the radio. Her sisters Erma (Saycon Sengbloh, Scandal) and Carolyn (Hailey Kilgore, Amazing Stories) join in, and they're all soon rearranging Redding's tune into the single that cements Aretha's status as a music superstar. For the entire film up to this point, viewers have also heard the Franklins, including patriarch and preacher CL (Forest Whitaker, City of Lies), refer to Aretha using a nickname. "Ree" they call her again and again, and soon "ree, ree, ree" is exactly what Erma and Carolyn sing on backing vocals. It's a neat and also exuberant moment. Respect quickly segues to Aretha and her sisters crooning 'Respect' at Madison Square Garden to a rapturous crowd, but watching the track come together has already proven electric. Something can be orderly and expected and potent and rousing all at once, as this movie happily demonstrates regarding its namesake — but for most of its 2.5-hour running time, Respect is content to careen between inescapably formulaic and occasionally powerful. In other words, Respect is a standard music biopic. The genre will never stop expanding — films about Elvis, Madonna, Boy George, Bob Marley, Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston are currently in various stages of development — but flicks about famous musicians have peppered cinemas with frequency recently. Thankfully, Aretha's stint in the cinematic spotlight doesn't merely shuffle through a greatest hits album like Bohemian Rhapsody. All her well-known songs are accounted for, though, and it definitely doesn't strive to shake up the template as Rocketman managed so vividly. And with Judy and The United States vs Billie Holiday still fresh in filmgoing music-lovers' memories, Respect can't help feeling like it's striking the same beats. The faces and tunes change, but the overall journey remains undeniably similar. The fact that so many iconic female singers' stories navigate comparable paths is a horrible indictment of the way women have long been treated in the music industry; however, the fact that the movies telling their tales can't completely shake that air of familiarity can never quite do them justice. Respect begins with young Aretha (lively debutant Skye Dakota Turner) being roused from sleep by her father to sing at one of his well-attended house parties. It's 1952, and to an audience that includes Dinah Washington, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald, she breaks out a rendition of the latter's 'My Baby Likes to Be-Bop' — and "she's 10 but her voice is going on 30" is the shared reaction. This obviously isn't the last time that Aretha unleashes her astonishing voice in Respect, and that everyone in earshot reacts accordingly. When she's accosted by an unnamed man in her bedroom afterwards, it isn't the last time the film veers between highs and lows, either. First-time feature director Liesl Tommy and screenwriter Tracey Scott Wilson (Fosse/Verdon) repeat that pattern, embracing it as comfortably as their key figure croons any song she chooses. But where their subject transcends every ditty she trills, Respect can't be said to do the same. Even viewers unaware of the ups and downs of Aretha's life will still know where each second of the film is headed. The choice to end with 2016 footage of the real-life singer piping '(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman' is a classic biopic touch, of course, but it's preceded by far more predictable choices again and again. Accordingly, as a child Aretha wrestles with her mother's (Audra McDonald, Beauty and the Beast) untimely death, and her own abuse, to evolve from singing in church for her father and family friend Martin Luther King (Gilbert Glenn Brown, Stargirl) to starting her career under her dad's ferocious guidance. From there, she struggles to turn her early Columbia Records releases into successes, yearns to make music that means something to her and defies her father by marrying small-time producer Ted White (Marlon Wayans, On the Rocks). The children she has as a teenager remain with her family as her path leads to Atlantic Records, veteran record producer Jerry Wexler (Marc Maron, Joker) and recording with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section in Alabama, which is where early hits like 'Respect' and 'Ain't No Way' come to life. But her marriage to Ted isn't happy, and coping with his violence takes its toll. So does touring, recording and working non-stop, including when she weds her tour manager Ken Cunningham (Albert Jones, Mindhunter), and later decides to make her best-selling gospel album Amazing Grace. It's never a smart idea to remind your audience that a better movie exists on the same topic, so the decision to recreate parts of Aretha's Amazing Grace performance — as also seen in the magnificent documentary of the same name that only reached cinemas in 2019 — is misjudged. This section of Respect does let Hudson shine, and Aretha's music do the same, though. Alongside the dazzling costuming, they're the film's biggest assets the whole way through. While the script sticks to well-worn territory, cramming its subject's story to fit the usual music biopic mould and giving the entire affair a handsome period sheen, Hudson injects power and presence into her portrayal. The Dreamgirls Oscar-winner has the talent to do Aretha's songs proud, too. But she also makes viewers wish that everything around her performance, the tunes she's singing and the clothes she's wearing didn't fall victim to the usual cliches. This film has ample respect for the woman at its centre, but it also approaches the act of bringing her life to the screen like it's simply taking care of business.
If you've ever felt guilty about staying at home on a Saturday night to play video games, learn Beyoncé dance moves off YouTube or watch six straight hours of Netflix — don't. The Sydney Opera House has just announced that they'll be hosting an epic overnight 24-hour festival dedicated to binging on pop culture in a totally acceptable social setting. Think Buffy marathons, Street Fighter, Shia LeBeouf — and cats. Bingefest is a brand new festival for the Opera House (their first newbie in five years) and will pull together this year's pop culture phenomenons to discuss, celebrate and — most importantly — enjoy them for what they are when it comes to the Opera House for 24 hours (or so) this December 17 and 18. The biggest announcement is that actor and artist Shia LeBeouf — along with collaborators Nastja Säde Rönkkön and Luke Turner — will be coming along to the fest. Best known for their live performance art like Take Me Anywhere, where they posted their coordinates and waited for the first people to find them and pick them up, the trio will be creating a work especially for Bingefest. No word on what it is yet though. The program — which will run from about 3pm on Saturday until 6am on Monday morning — includes a whole range of things we consume on the Internet, from TV and video games to podcasts and viral videos. Running overnight on the Saturday will be a Buffy marathon, in which lovers of the kickass femme vampire can relive the best episodes all over again (and all night), as well as a 24-hour Street Fighter session. Those familiar with the cult '80s video game will be able to drop in at any point in the night for a go. Other highlights include a talk from The AV Club, where four of their editorial staff will take you through all the TV you should have watched by now. Community's Dan Harmon and Luke McGregor and Celia Pacquola (from the soon-to-air ABC show Rosehaven) will write a TV-show from scratch in front of an audience, Serial producer Julie Snyder will discuss binge-worthy journalism and Amrita Hepi will hold two Rihanna and Beyoncé dance clases in the Opera House's ballet rehearsal room (perfect post-Buffy binge). Redfern Convenience Store will even be holding a pop-up snack store. Also, in what could be the most captivating performance we've seen this year, the Internet Cat Festival will make its Sydney debut. It will be held in partnership with the RSPCA and will be goddamn adorable. The festival will function as a curated reel of videos, played in the Joan Sutherland Theatre Northern Foyer on Sunday, December 18 at 2pm as part of the Bingefest's free program. Bingefest founder and curator Danielle Harvey says the festival is an opportunity for people to consume pop culture together as a community. As something that's largely consumed personally at home, the live participation of festival makes it a whole different experience. Danielle is a co-curator of other Opera House events like All About Women and the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, but unlike the other festivals that incorporate elements of pop culture, Bingefest will be 100 percent dedicated to featuring it in a more celebratory way. Bingefest will take place at the Sydney Opera House from the afternoon of Saturday, December 17 until the morning of Monday, December 19. FOr more info and to buy tickets, visit bingefest.sydneyoperahouse.com.
The title of John Patrick Shanley’s Four Dogs and a Bone (directed by Kate Gaul for Brief Candle Productions) should say it all. A short, savage affair which the losers will be lucky to walk away from. But instead of a bloody one-act scrap, what’s offered up is a series of lacklustre scenes largely devoid of the play’s titular animalism. The play is a satire of the American film industry and concerns itself with the machinations of four people — a producer, Bradley (Sonny Vrebac); Victor, a writer (Paul Gerrard) and two female leads, Collette (Amanda Collins) and Brenda (Melinda Dransfield) — attempting to negotiate the brutal labyrinth of commercial filmmaking. With the budget ceiling of his latest movie fast approaching, Bradley is looking to cut material and open to ideas about how this might be accomplished. The two actresses know the writing is on the wall, but not for whom. With the director nowhere in sight, all three descend on the writer (whose mother has just passed away, incidentally), angling to further their own cause with little care for the way it affects their colleagues or the quality of the film itself. Though adorned liberally with witticisms, Shanley’s plot is pretty basic and best served, I think, at a brisk clip. No time for reflection. Time is money and never more so than in Hollywood. This is the play’s first problem. It feels strange to say this about a 70-minute production, but it could have easily lost 15 or 20 minutes. Most of this dead space seems comprised of the time it takes the actors just to say the lines. Affecting an American accent was clearly a task for everyone in the cast, and much of the humour in the play’s one-liners and back-and-forth suffers from painstaking enunciation. Another factor which deadens the play considerably is its comedic execution. The actors appear to have wrung relatively little humanity from Shanley’s characters and, possibly as the result of some odd direction, there was a definite tendency towards playing the laugh rather than the scene. Instead of trying to spark off each other, the cast deliver their lines almost as interrupted monologues, confiding their schemes and dreams to the distant horizon of the fourth wall, but very rarely to the person sitting opposite them. For a script with no shortage of meat, Four Dogs and a Bone fails to satisfy.
Secret Garden Festival might be the most secretive festival to grace the summer scene, and tickets for the next instalment are on sale on Thursday, November 14. As per every previous year, the lineup and location are still a complete secret, so the cash dropped for one of these tickets is a lucky dip that commits you to a whole weekend of booze, bands, friends and fun. Once again, the first day is a theme day. The 2013 festival celebrated the theme of Secret Garcon, where Friday festival goers dressed up in their favourite Cosplay attire. 2014, however, is a whole new ballgame. The Friday celebrations will be Farmers vs Zombies: a band of 'zombies' will be let loose on gardeners, who will be armed only with Nerf weapons (BYO Nerf weapons) and are expected to clear the yard in two hours, when the festival proper kicks off. Badass. The rest of the festival is given over to all manner of entertainment, including bands, artists and various other performers doing various other things. As vague as that sounds, it's mysteriously exciting. The best dang thing about the whole deal is that the entire festival is not for profit. All proceeds from tickets, food and drinks bought at the festival go towards the Sarah Hilt Foundation, which supports victims of meningococcal. So the more you drink, dance and stuff yourself, the more you're helping the community. Tickets start at $120 for one day, or $185 for both. Additional costs are involved for hiring tents, the Friday morning banquet and a bus to and from and the Farmers vs Zombies.
Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen gets around. His experimental film Earth — designed to be accompanied live by the music of Yasuhiro Morinaga and Stefano Pilia — has toured the world. It made appearances at the Venice Film Festival and Cannes, and more traditional art shows at Fukuoka and São Paulo. After these exotic excursions, Earth is coming here too, to be part of the Sydney Festival. A kind of painting translated to the page, Earth works in the tradition of Nightwatching or other transitions from canvas to film. Chocolate shades of light and dark are drawn out of Italian tenebroso and into the moving image, in a 45 minute film shot in three long takes on a set made up like a dark rubbish dump. Designed to sit with a musical score as much as to be projected on a wall, the Woolloomooloo installation of Earth at Artspace has arranged to have the music come to the shadowy art. Melbournite instrumentalist and composer Oren Ambarchi will perform live pieces to accompany the film tonight (Monday 24) and tomorrow at 7.30pm. So if you want to find out what backing music might have pleased Carravaggio, come down to Earth and check out the soundtrack. *The unaccompanied exhibition runs Tuesday to Sunday
Few things will ever be better than seeing Mads Mikkelsen get day drunk and dance around while swigging champagne in an Oscar-winning movie, which is one fantastic film experience that 2021 has already delivered. But the always-watchable actor is equally magnetic and exceptional in Riders of Justice, a revenge-driven comedy that's all about tackling your problems in a different and far less boozy fashion. In both features, he plays the type of man unlikely to express his feelings. Instead of Another Round's mild-mannered teacher who's so comfortably settled into his adult life that his family barely acknowledges he's there, here he's a dedicated solider who's more often away than home. Beneath his close-cropped hair and steely, bristly beard, he's stern, sullen and stoic, not to mention hot-tempered when he does betray what's bubbling inside, and he outwardly expects the same of everyone around him. Mikkelson excels at transformational performances, however. He's also an exquisite anchor in films that dare to take risks. The aforementioned Another Round and Riders of Justice make a great double on his resume, in fact, and they're both bold and glorious in their own ways. In, Riders of Justice, Mikkelson's Markus isn't just the strong, silent type from the feature's first frame to its last. No matter what part he's playing, the Danish star is gifted at conveying subtlety, which is ideal for Markus' slow realisation that he needs to be more open with his emotions. And, while Mikkelson is usually expertly cast in most entries on his resume — the misfire that is Chaos Walking being one rare exception — he's especially in his element in this genre-defying, trope-unpacking, constantly complex and unpredictable film. With a name that sounds like one of the many by-the-numbers action flicks Liam Neeson has starred in since Taken, Riders of Justice initially appears as if it'll take its no-nonsense central figure to an obvious place, and yet this ambitious, astute and entertaining movie both does and doesn't. After a train explosion taints his life with tragedy and leaves him the sole parent to traumatised teenager Mathilde (Andrea Heick Gadeberg, Pagten), Markus returns home from Afghanistan. Talking is her method of coping, or would be if he'd let her; he refuses counselling for them both, and opts not to discuss the incident in general, because clamming up has always been his PTSD-afflicted modus operandi. Then statistician Otto (Nikolaj Lie Kaas, The Keeper of Lost Causes), his colleague Lennart (Lars Brygmann, The Professor and the Madman) and the computer-savvy Emmenthaler (Nicolas Bro, The Kingdom) arrive at the grieving family's door. They're a trio of stereotypically studious outsiders to his stony-faced military man, but they come uttering a theory. Mathematically, they don't think that the events surrounding the accident add up, so they're convinced it wasn't just a case of pure misfortune — because it's just so unlikely to have occurred otherwise. The nervy Otto, who was on the train with Mathilde and her mother Emma (Anne Birgitte Lind, The Protector), has even started to narrow down possible culprits with his pals. Markus, with his action-not-words mindset, is swiftly eager for retribution, but again, this isn't like most films of its ilk. Writer/director Anders Thomas Jensen (Men & Chicken) and screenwriter Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair) do take the movie to its blatant next destination, yet never in the routine and formulaic sense. Narratives about seeking justice often ride the expected rails on autopilot, getting from start to finish on the standard vengeance template's inherent momentum; this one questions and subverts every usual cliche, convention and motif along the way. Its chief tactic: putting characters first. Jensen and Arcel don't just twist and turn a recognisable setup for the sake of it, but ground every change and choice in the personalities and backstories of their protagonists. Accordingly, Markus isn't just taciturn because that's the kind of figure that always stalks around reprisal-centric flicks, Otto and Lennart aren't merely booksmart geeky sidekicks eager for attention, and Emmenthaler is keenly aware of how the world sees him, not only because of his fondness for technology but also due to his weight. Riders of Justice doesn't add flesh to its characters to neatly explain away their decisions, either, diving into the myriad of factors that push and pull people in various directions without them even knowing it. The term 'emotional intelligence' might be so overused in self-help speak that it now feels largely meaningless, but it genuinely applies to this attentive and layered film. With calm and control, Jensen and Arcel also take a darkly comedic approach to Riders of Justice's storyline, as plenty goes wrong on their retaliatory quest. While that's where the movie's anarchic plot developments come in, and its witty dialogue as well, the film never jeopardises its investment in its characters' depth. In one case in point, the four men decide to hide their plans from Mathilde. Needing a cover, Otto and his friends claim to be counsellors dispatched to help after all. "I've had over 4000 hours of therapy," exclaims Lennart, who is quick to both embrace the ruse and spit out the appropriate terminology — and this scenario not only speaks volumes about him, but leads the feature to keep unpacking what that means. Indeed, this is a picture with a thoughtful and tender core, particularly when it comes to men facing their troubles. It's also shrewdly aware that that's what its chosen genre is always about amidst the overblown violence, and purposefully opts for a different alternative. Action, thrills and confrontations still lurk in Riders of Justice, of course. Blood and brutality do as well, as does a definite body count. But, although convincingly shot and staged, these scenes are never the picture's reason for being, or its point. Riders of Justice packages hilarity with its payback, understanding and empathy with its bullet-riddled affrays, and morality and ethics with its showdowns. It's set at the end of the year, too, so it also counts as a screwball Christmas movie — and it uses the visual references that come with that merry period to underscore its musings on togetherness, redemption, and valuing what really matters most. Another movie it'd make a stellar double with: the Nicolas Cage-starring Pig, because this year has been great for star-led revenge crusades that delight, surprise and ruminate on much, much more than getting even.
When is a dance film more than just a dance film? When it brings a celebrated real-life performance to the cinema, fills its frames with dream-like visuals, and dives into the indigenous Australian experience. That's the case with Spear, which — its sublime showcase of fancy footwork and smooth moves aside — bears little other resemblance to the bulk of the dance film genre. Saturday Night Fever, Footloose and Step Up, this is not. Indeed, in an effort concerned with origins and evolution, understanding the movie's own leap from dance piece to film is pivotal. Spear blossoms out of a Bangarra Dance Theatre presentation first staged in 2000, and marks the feature filmmaking debut of Stephen Page, the company's artistic head. His close connection with the material is evident from the outset, and not just because his son, Hunter Page-Lochard, plays the lead character and his brother, David Page composed the accompanying music. Prior to this, Page's only credits are on a segment of The Turning and choreography work on Bran Nue Dae and The Sapphires. Nonetheless, his expressive offering demonstrates what all directors hope for: the strong imprint of a distinctive guiding hand. Given that the production relies upon imagery and movement much more than words and narrative, the importance of Page's task cannot be underestimated. In fact, as Spear cycles between rocky seaside cliffs, dusty outback plains and gritty urban locations, the feature's primary aim isn't to tell a story, but to convey a feeling and channel a sense of spirituality. Enter Djali (Page-Lochard), an Aboriginal youth trying to understand his heritage, and the audience's on-screen surrogate. As the film takes him through the past and present experiences of his people, sometimes accompanied by an Old Man (Demala Wunungmurra) or interacting with Suicide Man (Aaron Pedersen), its rhythmic sights and sounds wash over him — and over the watching viewer, too. Think of Spear as a series of exquisite dance routines, each fusing the traditional and the contemporary, and representing a plethora of issues: discrimination, marginalisation, violence, homelessness, abuse, and forced assimilation among them. Think of it as a process of layering, as well. Each individual section proves an intricate, intimate and distinctive creation in its own right, as well as a crucial piece of a bigger thematic and artistic puzzle. If it sounds unique, that's because it is. In fact, with its combination of exceptional physical feats, evocative presentation and somewhat abstract content, Spear is unlike any film most audiences will have seen. It's a stunning achievement, as well as a memorable one. The end result doesn't simply engage the brain but assaults the senses — so much so that it almost feels as though the movie could dance from the screen back into reality at any moment.
After blockbuster exhibitions in 2017 and 2019, The National: New Australian Art — an epic contemporary Australian art exhibition held across three major Sydney galleries — is back. Due to open on Friday, March 26, the program will feature works from 39 emerging, mid-career and established artists at the Art Gallery of NSW, the MCA and Carriageworks. At the helm for this edition of the biennial set of exhibitions are Matt Cox and Erin Vink (AGNSW), Abigail Moncrieff (Carriageworks) and Rachel Kent (MCA). Each gallery will exhibit a unique and distinct collection of new Australian art from artists such as Abdullah MI Syed and Lauren Berkowitz, plus artistic collective such as A Constructed World and the Karrabing Film Collective. The exhibitions will run simultaneously across the three galleries, all kicking off on the same date but finishing at various times until Sunday, September 5. Find out more at The National's website — and find out which artists are being exhibited at which galleries via the MCA, AGNSW and Carriageworks. [caption id="attachment_804284" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Bilirubin Bezoarn, 2019, installation view, photographer: Christo Crocker[/caption] Top image: Zan Wimberley
Maybe you loved her on Saturday Night Live. Perhaps you adore Parks and Recreation like it's a member of your family. Or, you could've watched and rewatched Baby Mama and Sisters over and over again — or binged your way through Making It, her competitive crafting show. However you became an Amy Poehler fan, 2021 is shaping up to be a great year. The talented comedian and actor is co-hosting the Golden Globes again with Tina Fey, Parks and Recreation has just hit Netflix and, come early March, Poehler's latest movie will also make its way to the streaming platform. That flick is called Moxie, and it both co-stars Poehler and marks her second stint as a feature filmmaker. It also heads back to high school — because popping up in Mean Girls, which Tina Fey wrote the screenplay for, clearly wasn't enough of a blast from the past. Poehler obviously isn't packing her school bag. Instead, she plays the mother to a teenager, Vivian (Hadley Robinson, I'm Thinking of Ending Things). The 16-year-old has always been quiet and studious, and tried to to avoid attracting any unwanted attention from her classmates. But, after finally realising that she's had enough of the toxic behaviour that runs rampant at her school, she takes a few cues from her mum's past, starts an underground zine and starts fighting for change. From the just-dropped first trailer, Moxie slides easily into the high-school genre; however, it also gives it a riot grrrl spin. Plus, as well as Poehler and Robinson, the film's cast includes Alycia Pascual-Peña (Saved By the Bell), Lauren Tsai (Legion), Patrick Schwarzenegger (Daniel Isn't Real), Josephine Langford (After We Collided), Clark Gregg (Agents of SHIELD), Ike Barinholtz (The Hunt) and Marcia Gay Harden (The Morning Show) — and it's based on the he novel by Jennifer Mathieu. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf34qI1hjKU Moxie will be available to stream via Netflix from Wednesday, March 3. Top image: Colleen Hayes/Netflix © 2020
“Your nose like a delicious slope of cream / And your ears like cream flaps / And your teeth like hard shiny pegs of cream.” Diner en Blanc — like Howard Moon's poem — will have you in all white. But sorry, Booshers: the third edition of this Sydney event is just for the sophisticated. Now on five continents, the Diner en Blanc began in Paris 26 years ago thanks to François Pasquier and friends. This year, around 3000 of Sydney's creme de la creme will once again dress in all white on Saturday, November 29, for the event held at an iconic location that remains secret until the very last moment (last year it was Bondi Beach. Wowza). Following an evening of elegance, fine dining and live music, the foodies then pack up their crystal, dinnerware, tables and litter. Like ghosts (white 'n' all), they leave behind no sign of their rendezvous. (But don't get any ideas: a white sheet thrown over your figure will not do for an outfit). Diner en Blanc guests must either be invited by a member from the previous year, or get on the waiting list for a ticket.
We've got a lot to celebrate this Sydney WorldPride which is why Carriageworks will be hosting Marri Madung Butbut (Many Brave Hearts): Sydney WorldPride First Nations Gathering Space. This six-day program features an array of both free and ticketed events running from Thursday, February 23–Tuesday, February 28, all celebrating First Nations LGBTQIA+ artists and communities. Kicking off the festivities is a free-to-attend opening night party. The Djarraba Disco will feature some of Eora and Naarm's best performance artists lighting up the dance floor on February 23. There are another 11 free events for you to experience throughout the festivities like Ōvah Ōvah, a Pasifika variety show celebrating Fa'afafine performers on Sunday, February 26; and, Koori Gras, an evening of performances from the likes of Nana Miss Koori, Nova Gina and BeeDazzled Shanks on Tuesday, February 28. [caption id="attachment_887906" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Katherine Griffiths[/caption] Ticketed events include the whirlwind cabaret experience Klub Village which combines drag, circus and dance. Plus, Joel Bray's stand-out play, Daddy, a provoking and hilarious Gindr-era love story. There is something for everyone to enjoy in this spectacular celebration. "Marri Madung Butbut is a place where everyone is welcome to experience the rainbow heart of the oldest surviving culture on the planet", says Festival Creative Director Ben Graetz. The Trading Blak Mini Market will be showcasing Aboriginal-owned businesses throughout the festival, and First Nations catering company Indigiearth will be in charge of the food, operating out of Carriageworks' Cornerstone cafe. Check out the full program online. [caption id="attachment_887950" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Bryony Jackson[/caption] Top Image: Daniel Boud & Jamie James
Legendary London bar Dandelyan and Paddington's Charlie Parker's are joining forces this winter to bring you an evening of genius mixology and extreme botany. Think never-before-tasted cocktails infused with unexpected ingredients, put together by some of the world's best bartenders. Having recently added World's Best Cocktail Menu 2018 to its bevy of awards — which also includes World's Best Cocktail Bar at the 2017 Spirited Awards and ranking second on the World's 50 Best Bars 2017 list — Dandelyan certainly knows a thing or two about mixing. It will be represented Down Under by cracking team James Wheeler and Will Meredith. They'll be working with Charlie Parker's trio Sam Egerton, Mario la Pietra and Tim LaFerla. We can't give you details of the concoctions you'll be sampling, as they'll remain top secret until you arrive at the bar. We can tell you, however, that months and months of thinking, experimenting and mixing have gone into their making. But, to give you an idea of Dandelyan's imaginative powers, the bar's current menu features the BC3 Negroni (with gin, Dandelyan pollen vermouth, propolis, Sri Lankan coconut flower spirit Ceylon Arrack, Campari and aged honey) and Settling Stones (Maker's Mark, bitter aperitif, vermouth and 'coastal' fig). "Given that our drinks are led by stories, the strength of the story tends to dictate which way the drink will go," says Meredith. "If a cocktail can hold an identity or personality whilst appealing to as many people as possible, then you're on to a winner." Beam Suntory is presenting the event, so you can count on the involvement of some of its award-winning spirits, including the Japanese craft gin ROKU, Auchentoshan American Oak, Canadian Club 1858, Jim Beam Double Oak and Maker's Mark. The Dandelyan x Charlie Parker's collaboration will take place over two evenings: Tuesday, August 28 and Wednesday, August 29. Each night will have two sittings (6pm and 8.30pm, and you'll be given the choice of just having drinks (two for $30 per person) or going all in, with three drinks and a selection of food by Danielle Alvarez of Fred's, for $80 per person. In case you won't be in Sydney in August, you might be excited to know that Dandelyan duo will also be sharing their wondrous skills at Maybe Mae in Adelaide, and Tiny's in Perth. It's not every day that two of the world's most applauded cocktail-makers breeze into town, so, chances are, spots will fill up pretty fast. To make a booking, contact Charlie Parker's via phone or website.
There's something rather cool about being ahead of the curve when it comes to cinema; watching the latest and greatest flicks unfold on silver screen well before anyone else. Well, at Flickerfest Short Film Festival you can do just that. Yep, break out the popcorn, the internationally acclaimed festival is back at Bondi Pavilion from Friday, January 11 to Sunday, January 20, and there's a swag of world premieres on the bill. This year, the folks at Flickerfest received 2700 entries from more than 100 countries around the world, making the 2019 program a real doozy. Around 200 creative and inspiring shorts will screen throughout the ten-day festival, with a whopping 47 percent of films directed by women. Standout shorts from the homegrown lineup include Desert Dash — a film written, directed and starring formidable Australian artist Gracie Otto, which questions what life would be like in the Aussie outback if it was all just a game (spoiler: it's slightly twisted) — and the Australian premiere of Ghost Bear, a touching animation for kids by comedic heavyweight and Flickerfest alumnus Paul McDermott (that funny guy from Good News Week). The international program is as equally impressive, featuring a host of humdingers from our overseas friends. See Wes Anderson's favourite frontman Jason Schwartzman in a Norwegian comedy To Plant a Flag or dive into a gripping French drama about a ballerina navigating her dark and complicated life, starring renowned French actress Catherine Deneuve. But it's not all fun and games — the selected films are vying for various Academy-accredited awards, including Best International Film, Best Animation and Best Australian Film. And after the ten-day festival is done and dusted, the top flicks will hit the road, stopping off at more than 50 destinations across Australia, for an annual tour between January and May. To see the full Flickerfest 2019 program and grab tickets, head to the website. Plus, we've got ten double passes to give away. Enter with your details below, cinephiles. [competition]702377[/competition]
Strolling along a jetty is one of life's simple pleasures. Decking stretches from the shore out over the ocean, the water glistens as far as the eye can see, and the breeze — because there's always a breeze — is instantly refreshing. And, no matter where in the world you happen to be, the experience always feels comfortably familiar. The scenery might be different, but there's not much about moseying along a pier that changes from place to place. Well, that's usually the case. At Australia's new structure in the Eyre Peninsula city of Whyalla, in South Australia, the whole jetty concept has had quite the upgrade. The basics are still the same — it's still a platform that juts out over the sea, of course, and you still walk along it and soak in the coastal splendour — but this one has a huge circle in the middle, as well as LED lights along its handrails. If you're thinking about immediately adding it to your must-visit list, that's understandable. Instead of running in a straight line as most piers do, this $7.8-million concrete jetty boasts a loop in the centre — and visitors have to walk either one way or the other along the circle to get to the end of the structure. The design isn't symmetrical, which means you have two options: take the shorter, more direct route as you head to the big square platform at the jetty's tip, or meander along the lengthier arc for a leisurely spot of wave-watching. If you decide to wander along the entire jetty — walking the full circumference of the loop, as well as the straight sections at either end — you'll cover 315 metres. You'll also venture 165 metres out from the shore. In addition, you'll have ample space, as the whole thing is 4.5 metres wide. For accessibility purposes, a 45-metre ramp is currently under construction as well. [caption id="attachment_784064" align="alignnone" width="1920"] A render of the jetty[/caption] Officially opened on Wednesday, September 16, the Whyalla Jetty is the only jetty of its kind in the southern hemisphere — and given its eye-catching look, it's easy to see how that's the case. The design was selected by the local community to replace the old pier, which was destroyed by a fire in 2019 but was set to be superseded by the new jetty anyway. And, in picking a new structure, these SA residents have chosen well. To keep the jetty visible at night, bespoke lighting has been installed in its top brushed steel balustrade, too, with each 50-centimetre section of railing including a five-centimetre LED pod. So, as well as standing out due to its shape, this pier lights up the night. It has been built to last at least 80 years, so expect those lights to glow for some time. Visitors can meander along the jetty's expanse, obviously, as well as fish off the side; however, jetty jumping is strictly forbidden. There aren't any ladders or steps to take you down to the water either — so once you're up there, you'll be looking down at the sea from above. Find the Whyalla Jetty in Whyalla, on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula. For further details, visit the Whyalla City Council's website.
Newly incorporated Artist-Run-Initiative AIRspace Projects INC will be holding a fundraiser-meets-exhibition this month, starting with a celebratory opening night on December 1. For the past four years Sally Clarke and Brenda Factor have been running the formerly independent space and pulling together some killer exhibitions. Now the team are excited to be rolling out a bunch of new projects including video weekends and AIRseum — an unconventional museum dreamt up by artist, scientist and museologist Catherine Polcz. The exhibition spreads across four galleries and features both established and emerging artists including Liz Day, Yiorgos Zafiriou, Katy Plummer, Ali Noble, Stella Chen and Susan Andrews. You'll be able to snap up multiples, series, publications and even originals, all to support what the gallery calls "a struggling species" (i.e., artists). It's a good opportunity for would-be-investors, and a chance to buy a truly awesome Christmas present for someone. AIRfair will be open from 11am Thursdays-Saturdays from December 1 to 16. Image: Yvette Hamilton, A Loved One Sleeping #3 [detail], photographic print, Edition of 5. Image courtesy of the artist.
Pairing a trip to the movies with some popcorn or a choc top is right up there in classic combo territory. But you can do better. There's nothing wrong with that mix — it's a cinema staple for a reason — but a cocktail and a film is a stellar duo as well. That's what's on the bill at Sydney's boutique Golden Age Cinema, which is once again teaming up with Four Pillars Gin for a mini booze and film festival. Each Wednesday night in July, the intimate 56-seat Surry Hills spot is going with a slasher theme — and pouring concoctions made with Four Pillars' wares, obviously, focusing on its 2023 bloody gin range. On the bill at Slasher Sirens: A Gin & Film Festival: the iconic giallo scares of the OG 70s version of Suspiria, which'll forever change the way you think about dance schools and kicks off the program on Wednesday, July 5; and Scream, also going back to the initial flick, on Wednesday, July 12. There'll be buckets of blood on Wednesday, July 19 thanks to Carrie — the original again, not the remake — and Megan Fox getting demonic on Wednesday, July 26 with Jennifer's Body. Tickets are $24 per film, and each screening starts at 8.30pm. On opening night, you can also spend an extra $25 for a once-off mini tasting of three Four Pillars gins at 7pm. Whichever night you head along, there'll be cocktails on offer, including the Winter Fizz. It's made with Bloody Shiraz Gin, plus grapefruit soda, maraschino, lime and egg whites — and undoubtedly goes well with movie snacks. [caption id="attachment_779832" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cassandra Hannagan[/caption]
There's no such thing as an ordinary dish to chef Nelly Robinson, namesake of and driving force behind Sydney restaurant NEL, as his degustation menus keep demonstrating. KFC? Lamingtons? French onion soup? Pots of honey? They can all be given a fine-dining twist, and have. Paddington Bear's marmalade sandwiches? They're next. For the Harbour City restaurant's latest 11-course feast, it's going all in on dishes inspired by England. The theme: great British memories. So, of course everyone's favourite talking bear and his sandos get a nod. So do beef wellingtons, scampi and beer, Sunday roasts and chocolate orange. This limited-time special hits NEL from Wednesday, August 16–Saturday, September 30 — and, like all of the eatery's degustations, is a bucket list-worthy meal for Sydneysiders and visitors alike. That nod to Paddington Bear? It's made with Davidson plum marmalade, and dished up in a suitcase. And those NEL-style beef wellingtons? They're whipped up from slow-cooked stout beef cheeks, which come wrapped in cime di rapa, then topped with carrot puree and English peppercorn sauce. The pub grub-esque scampi and beer is a prawn-filled tart mayonnaise seasoned with and tajin, also featuring avruga caviar, and paired with a sarsaparilla-flavoured drink. As well as the chocolate orange — which doesn't resemble the Terry's supermarket-sold version — and the riff on a roast, spins on gammon and eggs, cheese and onion, fish and chips, korma scallops, and rhubarb and custard feature. Robinson is drawing upon his own formative years. "The team knew exactly where I was coming from when crafting of this menu began. It was really special to create a whole new menu honouring my childhood and roots," the chef advises. "As always, we have paired it with some sensational wines, too." Patrons can tuck in for $185 per person, with matched beverages starting at $85 each on top.
Exil is Sydney Chamber Opera's final hurrah for the season and it's something special. The post-Holocaust poetry of Paul Celan and Hans Sahl placed alongside Psalm 23, and set against Jane Sheldon's extraordinary vocal performance, forms the foundation for this take on contemporary Georgian composer Giya Kancheli's song cycle. Directed by Belvoir resident Adena Jacobs, Exil is a haunting attempt at expressing the inexpressible. As the grandchild of Holocaust survivors, Jacobs is conscious of the problems one faces in trying to represent that which no words can describe. Carriageworks is an apt setting for the performance, made all the more eerie by the frequent passing of trains. The design is minimalist, stripped down and cast in shadow, opening on Sheldon kneeling in a shallow pool of water, her bare back to the audience. While she faced a blank wall, her voice penetrated the distance between herself and the audience. Her solitary figure is made all the more haunting when the words of Psalm 23 are projected onto the wall to her right, and to her left the orchestra, conducted by Jack Symonds, are bathed in yellow light. In performing the song cycle created in 1994 and never meant for the stage, Symonds and Sheldon have been faithful to Kancheli’s minimalist, although heavily romantic and post-Mahlerian style. The slow speed of the music lends weight to Sheldon’s tonal range, and the effect was a rich and moving, at times anguished and fleeting representation of what no words can describe, that tongue of desperation to survive. Sheldon, praised by the New York Times for singing "sublimely", is a New York-based Australian soprano, who has worked under the direction of William Christie and has performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She is utterly captivating in the role — even more so given she is on her knees for the first part, barely moving, and spends the second half of the performance in a soaking wet woollen coat. And what does Exil achieve? It is testament to the power of poetry to fill that gap between experience and understanding, and the power of art to guide survivors from horror into the unknown days ahead. Sheldon's is a lonely voice against the scale of the most familiar of biblical prayers — "The Lord is my shepherd..." — and against the harrowing and pointed poetry of Celan and Sahl. The voice is lonely but not isolated — it is a harrowing voice because it calls for freedom for beyond torture, for human connection despite the imprisonment of soul. Performances are held on Saturday, December 7, Monday, December 9, Wednesday, December 11, and Friday, December 13, all at 8pm. Image by Louis Dillon-Savage.
Most years, the arrival of winter heralds more than just colder weather for Sydney's cinephiles. When June hits, so too does the Sydney Film Festival, unleashing hundreds of movies upon the city's cinemas. By now, we all well and truly know that little has been normal about the past 12 months, so SFF has been adjusting with the times. In 2020, it cancelled its physical event completely, opting for a virtual-only festival instead. This year, it's planning to come back as an in-person fest; however, it'll be doing so a bit later than normal. Movie buffs, you'd best block out the last couple of weeks of August in your diary, because that's when SFF will be starting up the projectors. The 2021 event will now take place from Wednesday, August 18–Sunday, August 29, so you'll be ending winter by running between cinemas and watching as many films as you can, rather than beginning it that way. While Sydney's COVID-19 case numbers have remained under control for the past month or so — on Sunday, February 14, New South Wales marked 28 consecutive days without any locally acquired cases, in fact — that hasn't been the situation overseas. Accordingly, it's hardly business as usual at big international festivals such as Berlinale and Cannes. After completely cancelling last year, the latter has postponed its 2021 dates from May to July. SFF typically programs a number of brand new titles straight from Cannes, so moving to the end of August allows it to keep accessing the kind of big-name flicks that'll premiere at the French event. If you're the type of cinephile who pays attention to Australia's nationwide festival scene — and travels interstate to keep getting your movie fix — you might've noticed that SFF's new dates overlap with the Melbourne International Film Festival's regular August timing. MIFF also hopped online in 2020, and has announced August 5–22 as its 2021 dates. Whether that'll change, or if diehard film fans will find themselves picking which fest to attend (or zipping from one to the other), is obviously yet to be seen. The 2021 Sydney Film Festival is now scheduled to take place from Wednesday, August 18–Sunday, August 29. For further details, head to the festival's website.
Back in November 2020, David Abram, owner of the now-closed Sydney cultural institution Freda's and new venture Cafe Freda's, told Concrete Playground that he was optimistic for the future of Sydney's nightlife and culture. "The reality is the talent is here. The ambition is here. We just need spaces, support and far less red tape," Abram said. While there is still a way to go, the ball has started rolling and this red tape has begun to be cut in the five months since Freda's closed. In November, a series of archaic laws surrounding live music venues were rolled back; in February, the last remaining lockout laws were finally abolished; and in March, COVID-19 restrictions on venues were removed, once again allowing dancing in New South Wales. Now, the latest development in the push to revitalise Sydney's night time economy is coming from the City of Sydney, which has announced plans to "revitalise Sydney after dark". As approved by the local government body on Monday, March 29, the city council's plan includes several reforms to restrictive laws — with the changes aiming to help businesses operate more freely and to encourage more small-scale cultural events to pop up in the CBD. Under the new reforms, local businesses and shops will be able to open until 10pm without needing to apply for permission from regulators. Also, a range of spaces around the city — including offices, retail spaces and community facilities — will now be able to hold "minimal impact small-scale" cultural events and activities without needing to apply for permission. [caption id="attachment_806020" align="alignnone" width="1920"] 107 Projects[/caption] "It is so important that we make and maintain space for artists in our cities," Lord Mayor Clover Moore said. "By removing red tape, we are making it easier for small businesses to open later, put on small-scale cultural events and set up maker spaces in the heart of our villages." The Erskineville Town Hall is also set to be revitalised under the new plan, with the City of Sydney leading a push for it to be turned into a multi-purpose cultural space, cinema and live music venue. The hall is currently available to hire for private hire, but doesn't run its own program of public events. The result of research and consultation since 2015, the proposed reforms will now be submitted to the New South Wales Department of Planning, Industry and Environment for final approval. And, according to the Lord Mayor, they'll be accompanied by similar plans from the Inner West Council to lift Sydney's nightlife throughout the inner city. For more information about the City of Sydney's plans for Sydney's nightlife, head to the council's website. Top image: Jamie Williams
Masters of late night snack fuel Ben & Jerry's have been dishing out pop culture-riffing flavours like Liz Lemon Greek Frozen Yoghurt, Stephen Colbert's AmeriCone Dream and, of course, Schweddy Balls for years. Then the masters of frozen confection go and create something called 'Free Cone Day', an annual event which defies haters. You can score an ice cream on the house, as part of the company's yearly, worldwide tradition thanking its fanbase for all the gluttonous support. On Tuesday, April 10, Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops around Australia are hosting the seventh annual Free Cone Day — scooping out free ice cream from 12pm until 8pm. Suss out your nearest Scoop Shop purveyor of frozen dairy heaven here, and rock up on April 10 to claim your cone. Check out Ben & Jerry's Facebook page for updates.
Sydney is no stranger to boozy brunches. They've popped up in the west with fried chicken waffles, on rooftops with endless Champagne and by the beach with tacos and margaritas. But, none do it quite like Surry Hills' Nour. The Crown Street palace of pastels and plants — and boundary-pushing Middle Eastern fare — has just brought on a new team of A-class chefs and launched a brunch offering with cocktails in teapots, breakfast pizza and possibly one of the best (and smokiest) bloody marys in the city. Executive Chef Ben Williamson (from Brisbane's Gerard's) together with Head Chef Mike Dierlenger (The Bridge Room) have overhauled the restaurant's general menu and unveiled its first-ever breakfast lineup, which is only available one day a week. On Sundays from 10am–2pm, you can find a spot on the sunny banquette (surrounded by pillows) or out the back (here, surrounded by plants) and order an appropriately boozy breakfast teapot. Made to share between two, the pots cost $36 and come filled with either bourbon, apple juice and earl grey or gin, lemon myrtle and peppermint. You could, instead, go for the bloody mary (made with gin, harissa and extra-smoky tomato juice) or a Blossom Pipe ($20), with cardamom, pineapple and vodka served in an elaborate glass pipe. Nour is known for using traditional Middle Eastern flavours in new and interesting ways — and its brunch is no different. Designed to share, the breakfast dishes include a falafel crumpet (with crisp edges and a soft interior) topped with tahini and a pickled quail egg; burnt butter hummus topped with whole golden chickpeas; and a lineup of manoushe: a popular Lebanese pizza typically eaten for breakfast. Cooked to order in a woodfired oven and topped with the likes of sujuk (spicy sausage) and stretched cheese curds, it'll dissuade you from ever eating cold, leftover slices of Domino's in the morning ever again. Another daytime highlight is the Baalbek eggs: a thin flatbread topped with soft-yolked fried eggs, tahini yoghurt and lamb awarma (which is spiced, cooked and preserved). You could, in theory, eat this with a knife and fork, but it's suggested you use your hands; tear off a piece of bread and use it to scoop up a salty, yolky mouthful. For the decision-averse, Nour's brunch menu also includes two banquet options for $45 or $69, with optional bottomless booze add-ons. For an extra $30 a head you can choose from 90 minutes of endless bellinis or rosé.
Open Marrickville is a brand spanking new Council event, organised by the community, endeavouring to unlock communal and cultural creativity and talent. The event spans 10 days each one full of storytelling, music, dance, art, theatre, food and collating multiculturalism’s stories and celebrations through a series of mini cultural festivals. Kicking the affair off is Welcome, an event by Marrickville Metro Migrant Resource Centre. Highlights of the festival include an Open Day at the Portuguese Ethnographic Museum on 1 July, ‘Shot!’ the open Marrickville short film festival at Urchin Books on June 27 and 28 and (dis)position: Cigdem Aydemir's Chrissie Cotter Gallery show. Read the full program here. Royal Exchange roof photo by Newtown Graffiti.
Yabun — which means "music to a beat" in the Gadigal language — is an annual festival featuring a wide range of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander talent. Held each year on January 26 in Camperdown, Sydney, on Gadigal Land, the festival consists of Corroboree, performances from First Nations musicians, a marketplace, discussions and speeches. After two COVID-impacted years, the festival is returning to its regular programming in Victoria Park. The musical lineup features a mix of up-and-coming and longstanding songwriters and performers. Heading up the musicians are Tia Gostelow, Aodhan, Denni and DRMNGNOW, who will be joined by Robert K Champion, Kyarna Rose and Matty Walker. In addition to the live music, there'll be traditional cultural performances, panel discussions and heaps of activities for adults and kids alike. There will also be a bunch of art, design and activist stalls for you to peruse. If you can't make it down, you can also watch via a live stream on the festival's website or tune into the yearly broadcast of the festival on Koori Radio 93.7fm. It all kicks off at 10am and will run until 10pm.
Spinning a tale about US government-backed operatives plotting to kidnap a Mexican teenager, Sicario: Day of the Soldado was always going to strike a chord. That said, the film's storyline hits home particularly hard at the moment — a time when children are being taken from their parents at the US-Mexico border, and a tweet-happy president keeps raging about cartels and building a wall. Reality casts a long shadow over this sequel to 2015's surprise standout Sicario. Indeed, there's no way to wade into such murky, politically loaded territory without stirring up more than a few real-world parallels. In the movie as in life, the war on drugs has been overtaken by the war on immigration, and there's absolutely nothing pleasant about it. After attempting to stop the influx of illicit substances into the US in Sicario, military contractor Matt (Josh Brolin) and hitman Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) reunite to tackle the cartels' latest cash cow. With the smuggling of people rather than drugs now the US administration's main concern, the duo is given free reign to do whatever they must; there are no rules this time, as the American tells his Colombian counterpart. Opening fire in traffic, prolonged gunfights with Mexican cops, abductions in broad daylight — if it helps to secretly start a battle between rival mobsters, then it's on the agenda. Their main task: kidnap 16-year-old Isabel Reyes (Isabela Moner), the daughter of a powerful cartel boss with ties to Alejandro's own sad story, and make it appear as though another gang is responsible. It's with an expectedly unsettling air that Sicario: Day of the Soldado becomes a tense exercise in distress, dancing through dark terrain, and ramping up the anxiety and carnage at every turn. From a soundtrack that drones with each blasting note, to bright yet gritty visuals that lay bare the stark situation on the ground, to a seemingly relentless onslaught of action set-pieces, nothing about the film shies away from its uneasy content and mood. That's an achievement that the picture shares with its predecessor, although this follow-up doesn't quite belong in the same company. With the original film's director Denis Villeneuve, cinematographer Roger Deakins and composer Jóhann Jóhannsson (who passed away earlier this year) all absent, it's left to their replacements Stefano Sollima (TV's Gomorrah), Dariusz Wolski (All the Money in the World) and Hildur Guðnadóttir (a cellist on the first flick) to offer up as close a copy as they can, instead of trying anything different or distinctive. 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' might be the motto behind-the-scenes, but it proves a mixed bag on-screen. As the film watches its characters coldly and brazenly apply a familiar approach to a new scenario and expect the same successful result, it doesn't escape attention that the movie does the exact same thing. Well, with one major difference, and a crucial one. Where Sicario centred on a female FBI agent (Emily Blunt) thrust into a murky realm she wasn't prepared for or willingly to go blindly along with, this second effort dispenses with the character altogether. In her absence, so too does the film do away with the idea that someone might stand up for doing what's right, rather than what the government and its ruthless agents deem necessary. That's not to say that Brolin and Del Toro don't sweat moral complexity from their furrowed brows, or that their protagonists don't get caught in situations that test even their tenuous ethical limits. They do both, although that's more thanks to the actors than returning screenwriter Taylor Sheridan (Wind River). What's missing here is an outside perspective — a view on this dog-eat-dog world that doesn't just accept the bleak circumstances, the by-any-means mindset, or the cruelty that goes with it. Still, Del Toro comes closest to demonstrating the humanity that often gets caught in the crossfire, even when he's holding a weapon and training it at someone else. The path his assassin takes, and the world-weary performance Del Toro turns in, makes the otherwise grim but standard Sicario: Day of the Soldado worth watching. But the less said about the movie's sequel-baiting last few minutes and the teen gang protege subplot that accompanies it, the better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBOxhfWvVDc
UPDATE, December 20, 2021: Happiest Season is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. Heading home for the holidays and stepping into a sea of interpersonal dramas is a familiar on-screen set-up, as a new movie every Christmas or so reminds us. By now, then, we all know the formula. Adult children make the pilgrimage to their parents' place, rivalries and animosities flare up, secrets are spilled, chaos ensues and, by the end of the film's running time, everyone has learned something. Happiest Season fits the template perfectly. With the merriest time of the year in full swing, the Caldwells converge on the Pennsylvanian family home, with their celebrations given an extra edge due to patriarch Ted's (Victor Garber, Dark Waters) mayoral campaign. His fastidious wife Tipper (Mary Steenburgen, The Book Club) insists on snapping every moment for his Instagram feed, all as stern eldest daughter Sloane (Alison Brie, GLOW) arrives with her husband (Burl Moseley, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), two children (Asiyih and Anis N'Dobe) and plenty of unspoken tension in tow; zany middle sister and aspiring fantasy writer Jane (Mary Holland, Between Two Ferns: The Movie) is largely ignored; and Pittsburgh-based political journalist Harper (Mackenzie Davis, Irresistible) returns with the girlfriend, Abby (Kristen Stewart, Charlie's Angels), that none of her relatives know about because she hasn't come out to them yet. If someone other than The Faculty, Girl, Interrupted, Veep and The Handmaid's Tale actor-turned-filmmaker Clea DuVall had made Happiest Season, the above paragraph would accurately reflect the feature's character hierarchy — because Sloane would take centre stage, and Harper and Abby would hover around the narrative's edges. But DuVall did make Happiest Season and, with co-writer Holland, she flips the movie's focus, even while still sticking with a well-worn general premise. Accordingly, this festive flick resembles a comfy sweater that often gets a wear, but seems welcomely different on this particular occasion. As Aussie queer teen rom-com Ellie and Abbie (and Ellie's Dead Aunt) also demonstrated this year, it shouldn't be so subversive to take an overused genre that's heavy on recognisable tropes, then strip away the engrained heteronormativity. But it is, in both high school-set romances and movies about meeting your partner's parents over eggnog. After filling the credits with details of the formative stages of Harper and Abby's relationship, the feature introduces them properly as they're touring local Christmas lights. The towering Harper is giddier than one might expect of someone of her age, but the calmer Abby isn't fussed about the season after losing her parents when she was a teenager. When the former asks the latter to come home with her for Christmas, though, Abby gets excited. She wants to pop the question anyway, and figures there's no time or place better to make the festive-loving Harper her fiancée — although her best friend John (Dan Levy, Schitt's Creek) points out that asking Harper's dad's permission beforehand is hardly a progressive step. It isn't until Happiest Season's central couple has almost reached the Caldwells' that Abby discovers Harper's subterfuge. Not only do Ted, Tipper and company not know that Harper is gay and in a relationship, but Abby is asked to pretend she's straight as well (yes, one gag literally places her in a closet, because of course that happens). In the broad strokes, the movie doesn't serve up any surprises. But like moving its focus to Harper and Abby, this Christmas rom-com is all about the details. Amid the sibling struggles, the re-emergence of old flames both male (Jake McDorman, What We Do in the Shadows) and female (Aubrey Plaza, Parks and Recreation), and the always-hectic whirlwind that surrounds every seasonal family affair — and every attempt to run for political office, too — Happiest Season explores two crucial themes in a meaningful way. First, it unpacks the performative nature of human existence, where too often we're all trying to match other people's perceptions and expectations without consistently remaining true to ourselves. And, it also interrogates how coming out isn't a simple or straightforward act, even in seemingly loving circumstances. These are weighty ideas and, while Happiest Season is light and jovial overall, it doesn't sugarcoat its heavier moments. It doesn't devote all of its running time to them either, but DuVall and Holland's script finds a delicate balance — with the part played by Holland herself at first seeming to be the movie's most overtly exaggerated role for comedic effect, but eventually proving more thoughtful, for instance. It's easy to see how the screenwriting pair could've turned this into a different picture, with the initially tentative friendship that springs up between Abby and Plaza's Riley, and the commonalities they feel as women who've been pushed aside so Harper could maintain a lie, 100-percent begging for an entire movie of its own. But DuVall never forgets the task that she has clearly set herself: to make a queer meet-the-parents Christmas comedy. The film's warm-hued, Hallmark-style imagery never lets the audience overlook the fact that Happiest Season willingly sticks to a formula in order to update it, either. Also apparent is just how well Stewart and Davis anchor the movie's generic and more soulful elements alike. This shouldn't come as a surprise, with Stewart picking most of her post-Twilight roles astutely (see: Clouds of Sils Maria, Certain Women, Personal Shopper and Seberg), and Davis always a memorable addition to any cast. In their hands, their characters feel lived-in. So does Happiest Season's central relationship, especially as it navigates considerable ups and downs, including an ongoing series of questionable decisions by Harper. Steenburgen, Plaza, Levy, Brie, Garber — they're all reliably great, too, but it's likely this LGBTQIA+-friendly dose of merriment wouldn't have found the right mix of festive familiarity and emotional substance with other leads. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_jjELPpKkk
After cancelling his 2018 Australian tour due to an ongoing injury, Childish Gambino has this morning announced he'll be returning Down Under this July. The US hip hop star will be hitting up Sydney on July 24, Melbourne on July 17 and Perth on July 14 for stadium shows — and to Byron Bay for an already announced headline spot at Splendour in the Grass. This will be Childish Gambino's — AKA Donald Glover, AKA writer/director/star of Atlanta, if you haven't already worked that out — first Aussie shows since performing at Falls Festival in 2016. At the shows, expect to hear 'This Is America' and last year's two-song Summer Pack, as well as hits from his lauded three albums Camp, Because the Internet and Awaken, My Love!. While you're waiting for tickets to go on sale, you can watch his new movie, Guava Island, which co-stars Rihanna. It premiered for free on Amazon Prime yesterday, and is now only available for subscribers. If you don't have a subscription, you can still catch a couple of teasers on Childish Gambino's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BwLNcCxn6Fd/ Tickets for the three shows will go on sale at midday on Thursday, April 18. Childish Gambino will perform at RAC Arena, Perth on Sunday, July 14; Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne on Wednesday, July 17 and Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney on Wednesday ,July 24.
Something delightful is happening in cinemas across the country. After months spent empty, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Australian picture palaces are starting to reopen — spanning both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney and Brisbane (and, until the newly reinstated stay-at-home orders, Melbourne as well). During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made over the past three months, including new releases, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njIoUGIDrwA DIRT MUSIC An adaptation of a beloved novel, a tourism campaign for Western Australia and a soapy, Nicholas Sparks-esque romance: combine all three, and that's the long-awaited big-screen version of Dirt Music. For most of the past two decades, Australian filmmakers have been trying to give Tim Winton's 2001 multi-prize-winning book the cinematic treatment; however, the movie that results doesn't prove worth the wait. Winton's work, and its poetic, descriptive prose, isn't the easiest to turn into a script or movie. The Turning was able to translate short stories into a short film collection, and Simon Baker's version of Breath was soulful, well-acted and found a way to explain, explore and convey the lure of the ocean, but Dirt Music has long been considered difficult to adapt. It's clear why thanks to Gregor Jordan's film. Strip out the lyrical words and spend too long inserting shot after shot of the scenic location, and all that's left is a padded-out love triangle populated by stock-standard tortured souls. Georgie Jutland (Kelly Macdonald) is unhappy in her live-in relationship with commercial fishing magnate Jim Buckridge (David Wenham), so when often-shirtless town outcast Lu Fox (Garrett Hedlund) motors his boat into the patch of ocean she's skinny-dipping in, it doesn't take long for something to spring between them. But the ex-musician turned poacher has a troubled past, as flashbacks to happier times in a band with his brother (George Mason) and sister-in-law (Julia Stone) — and to hanging around his rural house with his niece Bird (Ava Caryofyllis), too — demonstrate. And, when Lu is attacked, he's very quick to take off through WA's rugged outback and to its scenic remote islands. What feels rich on the page is far too thin and flat in the hands of Jordan (Ned Kelly) and screenwriter Jack Thorne (Enola Holmes), and while Macdonald and Hedlund are both great actors (see: Boardwalk Empire and Mudbound), they're hemmed in by the script's lack of depth. Also distractingly noticeable is how heavily Dirt Music stresses its surroundings, and therefore its all-round homegrown nature, while also enlisting overseas talent to play its quintessentially Aussie protagonists. Indeed, at almost every point, this film goes through the motions rather than meaningfully and substantially trying to convey the heart and essence of its source material. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgUZ2AHp4rU MISS JUNETEENTH It doesn't take long in the observant, tender but clear-eyed film Miss Juneteenth for a simple truth to arise. Working two jobs and still struggling to get by, Turquoise Jones (Nicole Beharie) hasn't been living the life she wished for as a child, and she's striving to ensure that things are better for her 15-year-old daughter Kai (Alexis Chikaeze). Also evident: that Turquoise was on a different path a decade and a half ago, after winning the local Miss Juneteenth beauty pageant and earning a scholarship to the historically black college of her choosing. Doing the math, it's easy to work out why Turquoise's plans faltered, and why she's so determined that Kai enter the upcoming pageant, wow everyone, win and make the most of the coveted opportunity. Miss Juneteenth is a movie about choices, though — a movie about grabbing what you can when so much is snatched away or simply out of reach for unfair reasons — and it never forgets that it takes strength and courage to truly understand what the best options are. The feature directorial debut of writer/director Channing Godfrey Peoples, Miss Juneteenth makes a careful and graceful effort to balance two ideas: that American society doesn't just have a problematic history with race relations, but that inequality is now engrained in everyday life; and that choosing one's own future, rather than ever simply towing a mandated line, is wholeheartedly worth fighting for even with seemingly insurmountable obstacles in the way. Turquoise describes her 2004 crown win as feeling "like I was walking into a new life", while Kai would prefer to join her school's dance team and hang out with her boyfriend (Jaime Matthis) than don formal gowns, memorise Maya Angelou poems and learn which cutlery to use when. Little about Miss Juneteenth's message, themes or the clashing predicament the film covers is new, of course. Nor is the time spent watching, with a cynical eye, the pomp and ceremony of the eponymous pageant. And yet this affecting drama always proves keenly observed, sincerely handled and authentic, as aided not only by naturalistic cinematography, but the picture's naturalistic central portrayals — including complex, nuanced performance from Shame, Black Mirror and Little Fires Everywhere actor Beharie. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK3eDfkXBzg SAVAGE Tattoos covering his cheeks, nose and forehead, a scowl affixed almost as permanently, but raw sorrow lurking in his eyes, Jake Ryan cuts a striking sight in Savage. He's a walking, drinking, growling, hammer-swinging advertisement for toxic masculinity — how it looks at its most stereotypical extreme, and how it often masks pain and struggle — and the performance is the clear highlight of the Home and Away, Wolf Creek and Underbelly actor's resume to-date. Playing a character named Danny but also known as Damage, Ryan's efforts also perfectly epitomise the New Zealand gang drama he's in, which similarly wraps in-your-face packaging around a softer, richer core. Savage's protagonist and plot have had plenty of predecessors over the years in various ways, from Once Were Warriors' exploration of violence, to Mean Streets' chronicle of crime-driven youth, plus the bikie warfare of Sons of Anarchy and even Aussie film 1%, but there's a weightiness on display here that can't just be wrung from a formula. That said, although written and directed by feature debutant Sam Kelly based on true tales from NZ's real-life gangs spanning three decades, Savage does noticeably follow a predictable narrative path. Viewers first meet Danny in 1989, when he's the second-in-charge of the Savages, which is overseen by his lifelong best friend Moses (John Tui, Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw, Solo: A Star Wars Story). The film also jumps back to two prior periods in his life, in 1965 and 1972, to explain why Danny is in his current situation physically, mentally and emotionally. Aided by suitably gritty and restless camerawork that mirrors its protagonist's inner turmoil, Savage packs a punch when it lets that unease fester in quiet moments. It's also particularly astute when honing in on Danny and Moses's complicated friendship, and how pivotal it is throughout their constantly marginalised lives. There's never any doubting that Savage is a movie about family, including the traumas they can inflict, the hurt that comes with being torn away from loved ones at a young age, the kinship found in understanding pals and the concept of brotherhood in gangs, and the feature is at its most affecting when it lets these truths emanate naturally. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB1kzj5xH7g&feature=emb_logo BLOODY HELL All that Bloody Hell's protagonist Rex (Ben O'Toole, Detroit) wants is to ask out bank teller Maddy (Ashlee Lollback, In Like Flynn), but he happens to time his latest attempt to do just that with an armed robbery. The whole ordeal leaves him dateless, turns him into both a viral star and a convicted criminal, and eventually sees him en route to Finland to flee the resulting infamy and attention. There, however, worse awaits. In this Gold Coast-shot film, Rex is American, but he could be forgiven for exclaiming this horror-comedy's title like a stereotypical Aussie, and doing so more than once. Shortly after his arrival in Europe, he's kidnapped, strung up and stuck at the mercy of a twisted Helsinki family with vicious plans — although Alia (feature first-timer Meg Fraser), who doesn't quite in with the rest of her relatives, just might be the only chance he has to both escape and survive. There's an added twist to Bloody Hell, and it stems from a serious case indecision and self-doubt. Whether deciding what to do in the bank or facing a grim situation chained up in a basement, Rex is mighty fond of talking to himself, with director Alistair Grierson (Sanctum) and screenwriter/editor Robert Benjamin bringing this fact to the screen visually — tasking O'Toole with playing two roles, including the cooler, more confident version of Rex that pops up to try to assuage his worries. It's a gimmick in a film that otherwise follows a predictable storyline, but O'Toole's committed dual performances make it work. Indeed, Rex's back-and-forth banter with himself, and the rhythm that springs, comprises many of the movie's best moments. Fraser also shines, in a part that'll hopefully be her springboard to bigger things, and Grierson delivers a slick dose of jumps, bumps, gore and laughs with gusto. This is the type of movie that gels together better the longer it continues as well, after taking time to both set up its scenario and settle into its vibe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZvrlkF4TjM LUCKY GRANDMA Lucky Grandma might be the second American-produced film about a Chinese grandmother in as many years, but no one should be mistaking Sasie Sealy's feature writing and directing debut for The Farewell. That isn't a criticism of either movie, both of which offer up something special in their own ways, but rather it's recognition of how their similarities are truly only superficial. Here, the titular elderly woman (Tsai Chin, Now You See Me 2) is first seen chain-smoking and glaring her way through a fortune teller's appointment. When Grandma Wong is told that luck is coming her way — and on a specific day — she's quickly on the bus to Atlantic City. And when she spies a hefty stash of cash in the bag belonging to the gentleman sitting next to her on the return ride home, she barely hesitates. This string of events comes with consequences, however, with local Red Dragon gangsters soon following her every move. To cope, the feisty senior enlists the help of their rivals, the Zhongliang gang, and pays the towering Big Pong (Hsiao-Yuan Ha) to stick by her side as her bodyguard. Chin, who has featured in everything from You Only Live Twice to The Joy Luck Club, is such a gruff, no-nonsense delight to watch in Lucky Grandma — and Sealy smartly lets audiences peer her way closely and regularly. As Grandma Wong tries to evade one set of mobsters with the help of another, and test whether she really is having a stroke of good fortune, Chin navigates both the silly and more reflective aspects of the film's narrative with pitch-perfect precision. There's much to wade through, too. Sometimes, Lucky Grandma is a drama about a widowed woman trying to make the most of what's left of her life. Sometimes, it's a crime caper that's hopping around Chinatown with glee. In Sealy's hands, that combination always works — even if it doesn't seem like it should — and this dark comedy proving both engaging and entertaining. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q4jVzVbkss THE LEADERSHIP From gender equality to climate change, The Leadership charts a course through a sizeable array of topical subjects. Indeed, this jam-packed documentary touches upon everything from toxic workplace behaviour to the destruction of the natural world — so much so that it often feels as if one film won't do justice to everything that it keeps bring up. These topics are all not only important, but thoroughly worthy of standalone investigation; however, they all tie into the feature's primary focus. The main point of interest here is the Homeward Bound program, which takes talented women working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics on a 20-day intensive leadership course while sailing around the Antarctic, with its maiden voyage overseen by Australian leadership expert Fabian Dattner. As Ili Baré's debut feature documentary lays bare, that first trip was eventful and notable in a plethora of ways. Again, there's much to cover — so many ideas to sift through, so many viewpoints to explore and such a wealth of data to share — that it often feels as if The Leadership could go in any direction. The onboard cinematography alone, peering over the Antarctic, could fuel its own film. The tension that springs throughout the voyage could do the same; many a fictional thriller has coasted by on far less. But in unpacking the many challenges facing Homeward Bound's first participants and facilitators, who all take to the seas and head south with the best of intentions, The Leadership hits its mark. This documentary could've simply served up familiar messages amidst scenic icy landscapes, but what it offers instead is a fascinating fly-on-the-wall look at what happens when great, noble and crucial aims — including around lifting up women by women in fields that aren't known for their gender inclusivity — don't turn out as planned. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD_7hl87a3Q THE OUTPOST In The Outpost, in north-eastern Afghanistan circa 2009, a unit of US soldiers stationed in difficult circumstances just try to do their jobs. They're tasked with getting local villagers onside and also stopping the Taliban in the area, a mission made all the more complex thanks to their base's location — with Combat Outpost Keating sitting right in the heart of a valley surrounded by mountains where enemy fighters can easily hide. Still, they persevere. And in telling this true tale about their efforts and the resulting Battle of Kamdesh, The Outpost itself takes the same approach. This is a workman-like film with a clear aim and a no-fuss attitude to making it happen. As tends to be the case with US-focused war films, patriotism plays an unavoidable part, and there's no escaping its occasional lack of nuance (one character calls the part of the world they're stationed in a shithole, and it stands out); however, for most of its two-hour running time, this is a movie more concerned about men in a tough situation just trying to see it through than flag-waving and celebrating the country that put them there. To play its real-life figures, The Outpost features plenty of recognisable faces, including Scott Eastwood (Pacific Rim: Uprising) and Orlando Bloom. Some characters make it through the combat, some don't — and, while death's lingering presence is felt, the film doesn't try to trade in easy tears. Indeed, there's a matter-of-fact air to the lengthy scenes where the unit plans and prepares, fights back when they're under attack, stages dangerous quests and tries to survive the main battle. Adapting Jake Tapper's non-fiction book The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor, director Rod Lurie (Straw Dogs) prefers to show the soldiers in action, doing their jobs and attempting to simply get by, rather than continually overtly playing for sentiment. That tactic results in a well-staged, well-performed addition to the always-growing war movie canon. It doesn't quite threaten 1917 as this year's most visually immersive example of the genre, but it's still impressively choreographed and executed. Also, The Outpost constantly benefits from casting Caleb Landry Jones (Get Out, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Dead Don't Die) as the most complicated, conflicted and compelling of the unit's men. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on July 2, July 9, July 16, July 23 and July 30; August 6, August 13, August 20 and August 27; September 3, September 10, September 17 and September 24; and October 1. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as The Personal History of David Copperfield, Waves, The King of Staten Island, Babyteeth, Deerskin, Peninsula, Tenet, Les Misérables, The New Mutants, Bill & Ted Face the Music, The Translators, An American Pickle. The High Note, On the Rocks, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Antebellum. Top image: Savage, Domino Films, Matt Grace.
Sydney Cellar Door wants you to curl up under the shade of a Moreton Bay fig and imagine yourself among the vines of Mudgee as Hyde Park is transformed yet again for Sydney Cellar Door, a part of NSW Food and Wine Festival 2015. Featuring the best winemakers, growers, artisans and restaurants from across NSW, this year's Sydney Cellar Door is filled with particularly lovely and intimate touches. You can wander through an urban vineyard as you sample wines and produce and build your perfect picnic basket of fresh bread, Pukara Estate olive oil and Brilliant Food smoked fish in the Producer's Picnic Tent. Along with favourites from past years, including Salt Meats Cheese, Porteno and Bodega, this year brings some new restaurants to the fold, including burger boss Mary's and Rosebery's Clubhouse Bar and Restaurant. But all that you really need to know is that there will be wine and there will be cheese. We know those are your favourite things. Friday 4pm - 10pm, Saturday 11am - 9pm, Sundays 11am - 6pm
Offering up panoramic views of Sydney Harbour from high atop the Rocks and housing some standout restaurants and bars, Shangri-La Hotel is far from your standard hotel. And for Chinese New Year, it's getting creative — playing host to two gastronomical events The first, held in Shangri-La's all-day buffet restaurant Cafe Mix, will be an interactive Asian banquet. As well as an array of traditional Chinese dishes — including honey-glazed BBQ pork, clay pot feasts and must-have Beijing duck pancakes — there will be make-it-yourself noodles and sang choi bao stations. Like your noodles extra spicy? Hate coriander? Have a particular obsession with crushed peanuts? Let your idiosyncrasies run free. Expect plenty of seafood, plucked fresh from the ocean, too. There'll be everything from juicy prawns to creamy crab and an array of fish. The buffet will run nightly from 15–24 February and can be enjoyed for a cool $85. It'll also be open for lunch — without the seafood section — over two weekends in February (17-18 and 24-25) for the cheaper price of $65. In previous years it has been pretty packed, so booking ahead is a good idea. Alternatively, head to a high tea with twist in the Lobby Lounge. Prepared by pastry chef Anna Polyviou, the luxe afternoon feast — ringing in the Year of the Dog — will include Asian-fusion sweet treats and savoury dishes. Think mini banh mi, spring rolls, roast duck, scones and desserts speckled with black sesame. The Chinese New Year high tea will be held daily from 1–5pm from Friday, February 16 to Sunday, March 4. It'll set you back $55 and you can book your place here. Images: Nikki To
Having made its international premiere at New York's Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), this exhibition has hit the Powerhouse. At its heart is the increasingly intense relationship between digital manufacturing and, well, everything — from art and design to science and architecture. The computer revolution has changed every part of the process. More than 60 artists are bringing their perspective to the mix. You'll be seeing works from New York-based sculptor Barry X Ball, Iraqi-born British architect Zaha Hadid, Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen who's collaborated with everyone from Tilda Swinton to Lady Gaga and Israeli industrial designer Ron Arad.
Heads up, Mother's Day is just around the corner. (It's happening on Sunday, May 9, in case you temporarily forgot.) You can frantically message your siblings later, because there's pressie planning afoot — and we've found a showstopper for your dear ol' mumsie this year thanks to Gelato Messina. Never one to miss an opportunity to experiment with new ways to inhale sweets, Messina has been cooking up quite the delicate novelty dessert for Mum since 2015: an Italian-inspired box of chocolates. These brownie point-winners have been selling out every year since, and they're sure to bring it home again in 2021. An important note, though: while these chocolate bon bons were filled with gelato to begin with, Messina went for an all-chocolate version in 2020. And, that's what's on offer again this Mother's Day. They're made from single origin Ecuadorian chocolate, no less — and, with Messina recently stepping up its in-house chocolate-making capabilities, you'll be tasting some of the gelato chain's new varieties. Each box comes with nine handmade chocolate bon bons in nine different flavours — Davidson plum, earl grey, alfajores, lamington, mandarin white choc, Messina Rocher, strawberry pate de fruit, 80-percent dark chocolate and yuzu white chocolate. So, your mum will have quite the variety to feast on. And hey, if she doesn't like one of the flavours, maybe she'll share it with you. The Mother's Day boxes are going for $49 a pop, and will be available to order from 9am, Thursday, April 22. This year, you'll need to pick them up, too, with the bon bons available for collection between Friday, May 7–Sunday, May 9. Gelato Messina's Mother's Day Bon Bons will be available to order from 9am, Thursday, April 22 for pick up between Friday, May 7–Sunday, May 9.
Long before its new sequel declared so in its title, The Craft already had a legacy. A horror-thriller about teen witches using and abusing magic to cope with high school's troubles, the 1996 Neve Campbell-starring cult favourite is the quintessential movie of that exact description. It's supremely 90s. It has the cast, look, soundtrack and mood to match. In using the occult to explore adolescent angst, it splashes everything from stormy skies and candle-lit rooms to hordes of rats and snakes across the screen, filling its frames with trusty genre imagery. And, it leans into the torment and toil of being a young woman finding one's way in the world, and of dealing with sleazy schoolboys, racist prom queens, society's obsession with appearance and the tyranny of class differences, too. The overall film has its struggles, but it has always stood out — and retained its place in pop culture. Written and directed by actor-turned-filmmaker Zoe Lister-Jones (Band Aid), The Craft: Legacy is clearly the product of someone who already knows all of the above. It's also the work of someone keen to pay tribute to the original, embrace what she sees as its strengths, redress its wrongs, and update it for a new time and a new generation. But it's possible for a 24-years-later follow-up to show affection, make some smart changes, move with the times and still feel like the remnants left in a cauldron. Or, for it to recall one of its predecessor's famed moments — one it recreates, briefly — in an unintended fashion. When this feature's coven play with levitation, the words "light as a feather, stiff as a board" aren't heard; however, by the end of the movie, they best describe everything that's just happened. Starting as its inspiration did, The Craft: Legacy begins with the arrival of a teen in a new town. Lily (Cailee Spaeny, Devs) and her mother Helen (Michelle Monaghan, Saint Judy) move in with the latter's boyfriend and his three sons — and if the in-car sing-along to Alanis Morrisette's 'Hand in My Pocket' doesn't nod firmly enough in the 90s' direction, the casting of The X-Files' David Duchovny as Adam, the author of a self-help book called 'The Hallowed Masculine' and the object of the head-over-heels Helen's affection, does. Navigating a new school, Lily soon finds herself taunted by resident jock and bully Timmy (Nicholas Galitzine, Share) in an unpleasant classroom incident. But she's also found by Lourdes (Zoey Luna, Pose), Frankie (Gideon Adlon, Blockers) and Tabby (Lovie Simone, Selah and the Spades), who are looking for the west to their north, south and east. They become fast friends, trifling with spells and testing their abilities. They also sneak into Timmy's room and enchant him into becoming the best version of himself. While Timmy provides an early source of nastiness, it's hardly a spoiler to note that he isn't The Craft: Legacy's antagonist. Instead, he's transformed from a jerk that makes fun of menstruation to a sensitive soul who waxes lyrical about Princess Nokia's politics. Any movie that does that was never going to let its darkness spring from its central quartet, either. Lily and her new friends must learn to use magic responsibly, but their mistakes are lessons rather than cautionary tales. The Craft: Legacy also gets its witches to turn a homophobic classmate's coat into a rainbow-hued statement piece, and burn slut-shaming slurs off of lockers. It has Lourdes stand up for trans women like herself, correcting Frankie when she says that giving birth is one of the fairer sex's strengths. It verbally and visibly champions inclusivity at every turn, so it finds its enemy in a glaring source — that'd be toxic masculinity — and the creepy character who personifies it. Often, when a sequel, remake or reboot gestures forcefully at the movie it's based on, it can prove convenient, blatant and overt all at once. Alas, that's how the bulk of The Craft: Legacy plays. In fact, in mimicking setups, scenes or specific lines, Lister-Jones is generally canny and even economical about references to her film's predecessor — so they're frequently the only parts that don't feel bland and routine. If only the same amount of effort had gone into fleshing out the main characters, who are nearly interchangeable, even with their racial and gender diversity. If only the same care had be expended in giving them personalities (loudness is one of the gang's defining traits), backstories and any weirdness, actually. If only the same thoughtfulness had been afforded its villain and all that he stands for, too. Rather than seeing young women become consumed by their blossoming power, and also punishing those who refuse to conform, it's a welcome shift that The Craft: Legacy calls out the patriarchal norms and attitudes that put teenage girls in that situation. And yet the film just seems happy enough to have made that switch, instead of giving it any true weight or substantial depth. The Craft: Legacy is light thematically, and also in plethora of other ways. Visually and tonally, it views witchcraft as fun and colourful. Emotionally, there are few stakes and horrors, so almost everything feels unimportant and anticlimactic. As a result, there's also a stiffness to the film — as though it's trying so hard to be loose, open, breezy and upbeat that it actually proves strained and wooden instead. A likeable cast of women can't change that. Neither can a late plot inclusion that's predictable, but possesses more intrigue than the rest of the movie. It's fitting that The Craft: Legacy's witches treat their abilities like superpowers, because the film recalls oh-so-many caped crusader flicks in one inescapable regard: by focusing its energies on laying the groundwork for a sequel that isn't guaranteed, and failing to conjure up much more than the bare minimum in the process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxZ774gziwU
Having a parma and a pint at your local will be a reality once again come Friday, May 15, with the NSW Government tonight revealing that pubs and clubs will be able to reopen to dine-in customers — with some restrictions. On Sunday, NSW Gladys Berejiklian announced the first stage of eased restrictions for the state, which will come into place on Friday, and includes five visitors allowed inside a house, gatherings of ten outside and the reopening of restaurants and cafes — but this new rule did not, at the time, extend to pubs and clubs. Tonight, however, NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet confirmed that pubs and clubs will also be allowed to reopen their restaurants to dine-in customers from May 15, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. [caption id="attachment_680429" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Parma by Giulia Morlando[/caption] Like restaurants and cafes, pubs and clubs will be allowed a maximum of ten customers at a time, and a strict one customer per four square metres must be maintained. Bars and gaming facilities will be closed, but table service will be allowed. So, you won't be able to walk up to the bartender and order a jug, but you will be able to sit down and have a pint or two alongside your meal. The news comes as NSW earlier this week recorded zero new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours for the first time since the pandemic began. For more information about what restrictions will be eased on Friday, May 15 in Sydney, head to the NSW Government website. Top image: Tanya Saint James
Psychic Synth is Pia van Gelder's newest work, presented by Performance Space at Carriageworks as part of their Score season of music, movement, noise and technology. In a dark room housing an immense multi-sensory interactive installation, viewers are connected (via headset) to van Gelder's machine. They then watch as it proceeds to react to their actual mental energy, creating correspondingly vivid and psychedelic sounds and visuals, and generally doing weird and wacky futuristic stuff, unique for each person. Van Gelder, the artist behind last year's Tetrasynth, makes installation art from custom-built technologies or commonplace devices she hacks and gets to act in new and surprising ways. She's also been known to curate festivals and exhibitions, and is a member of Sydney collective Dorkbot, the eclectically creative folk doing strange things with electricity once a month out of COFA. The weird futuristic environment of Psychic Synth explores our relationship with machines (something van Gelder calls 'machinic affinity'), and will be available to make psychedelic art out of your brainwaves for most of the month of August. Image from Tetrasynth by Pia van Gelder.
For movie lovers, there'll never be anything quite like watching a film in a cinema. It's the place where big-screen dreams shine bright in the darkness, and where nothing — as long as your fellow audience is respectful enough — can get between you and its celluloid fantasies. It's also where the latest version of West Side Story looked an absolute treat when it hit picture palaces last Boxing Day; however, a great flick will still draw you in even if you watch it at home. Come Wednesday, March 2, this Steven Spielberg-directed, Golden Globe-winning, seven-time Oscar-nominated version of the beloved musical will hit streaming via Disney+, following a long list of recent movies — Dune, The Matrix Resurrections, The French Dispatch and Spencer among them — to get fast-tracked from cinemas to home viewing. So, if you missed it on the silver screen when COVID-19 cases went up over Christmas, or just didn't make it along because life doesn't always find a way, you can now settle in for the famed NYC-set spin on Romeo and Juliet on your couch. Yes, that means that the Jets and the Sharks are facing off once more — on your TV screen. If you're new to all things West Side Story, the two gangs have long been tussling within the movie's narrative, and also on the stage and in film. That first happened back in 1957 on Broadway, thanks to iconic musical figures Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents. West Side Story has rarely been far from theatres worldwide since — and, in 1961, when the first movie version followed, it became an instant classic. The westside-set story: in fair NYC and its rubble-strewn titular neighbourhood where the flick lays its 1950s-era scene, the Jets and the Sharks aren't quite two households both alike in dignity. Led by the swaggering and dogged Riff (Mike Faist, a Tony-nominee for the Broadway production of Dear Evan Hansen), the Jets are young, scrappy, angry and full of resentment for anyone they fear is encroaching on their terrain (anyone who isn't white especially). Meanwhile, with boxer Bernardo (David Alvarez, a Tony-winner for Billy Elliot) at the helm, the Sharks have tried to establish new lives outside of their native Puerto Rico through study, jobs and their own businesses. Both gangs refuse to coexist peacefully in the only part of New York where either feels at home — even with the threat of gentrification looming large in every torn-down building, signs for shiny new amenities such as Lincoln Centre popping up around the place and, when either local cops Officer Krupke (Brian d'Arcy James, Hawkeye) or Lieutenant Schrank (Corey Stoll, The Many Saints of Newark) interrupt their feuding, after they're overtly warned as well. But it's a night at a dance, and the love-at-first-sight connection that blooms between Riff's best friend Tony (Ansel Elgort, The Goldfinch) and Bernardo's younger sister María (feature debutant Rachel Zegler), that sparks a showdown. This rumble will decide westside supremacy once and for all, the two sides agree. Also popping up among the cast: Ariana DeBose (The Prom), who looks set to win an Oscar for playing Bernado's girlfriend Anita, plus the great Rita Moreno (One Day at a Time) — who also played that exact role in the original movie and earned an Academy Award for her efforts. And, the film's long list of talent continues off-screen, thanks to a screenplay penned by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner Tony Kushner (Lincoln), and choreography courtesy of fellow Tony-recipient Justin Peck. The result is lavish and dynamic, with Spielberg pirouetting back from the awful Ready Player One to make one helluva first musical — a swooning, socially aware story of star-crossed lovers that dances across the screen with rhythmic swirls and thematic twirls. Tonight, tonight, there's only this lavish and dynamic version of West Side Story tonight. Check out the trailer below: West Side Story will be available to stream via Disney+ on Wednesday, March 2. Read our full review.
Couple Crystal Bailey and Mitchel Lindsay work with concrete — but not in the usual way. Instead of laying foundations or paving footpaths, they make some pretty special concrete homewares, including lightweight pots and planters. These wares are sold in their St Peters store, along with a collection of Australian designers and brands — making it a one-stop shop for all the dream homewares to your dream home.
They may have replaced the old red and yellow prize tickets with flashy magnetic 'Powercards', but don't worry, the Timezone experience is as great as it ever was. Take part in the Big Buck or Pinball championships, or play some Street Fighter in memory of the 1994 live action film starring your favourites, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Kylie Minogue. Then switch to the easiest game, Whack-a-Croc, and make sure that you collect enough points to win a poorly manufactured toy.
Is art the stuff on the walls, or the stuff that drips out of your pen? A lot of the elements of Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art invite opinion and controversy — although, just as many of the things in the galleries are quite obviously paintings, sculpture or photography. Or occasionally, quite obviously ordinary urinals too. But if you want to make sure that the things you see on the walls or floors at the MCA work for you as art, then you have the option of taking it all into your own hands. Drop in for one of their Weekend Art Sessions and make some of it yourself. Collage, charcoal, pencil, sculpture. The contents of the workshops vary as much the attendees. Similar sessions have included the rent-fabric mentoring of cut-out artist Kate Scardifield, and have explored the US West Coast art scene. The Weekend Sessions are run by MCA educators, they're run regularly and they're regularly running out of space. So if you want to start your art in the surrounds of a big-gallery space, on a weekend afternoon the MCA is your place to be. Image by Charlie Brewer.
Spoiler Alert: Buried may be entirely what you expect. The simple premise of this film is of a man buried alive. But what you may not expect is that the film never shies away from this one idea. For 90 minutes you are stuck with Ryan Reynolds inside a coffin, but by the end of it you will probably marvel at how far this movie goes while boxed within these constraints. The greatest challenge for director Rodrigo Cortes is the cynical film goer. How can a film containing just one man, in just one box, keep one enthralled for a whole 90 minutes? To test this I dragged along a cynic — a disbelieving, slightly irritable cynic. But from the opeining credits to the first interminable minutes of darkness and silence, we had both succumbed to the promise of an unusual and challenging film. Although initially I was smug, in my large comfy cinema with my large delicious cola, something happens during the course of the film — Paul Conroy's (Reynolds) oxygen starts running low and his hip flask runs dry and I cannot help but feel tight in the chest. Cortes has won his battle. That something is a magical combination of director, actor and camera that occurs between the confines of those wooden walls. With little light, an immense amount of feeling is generated. Camera angles explore the entire terrain and I am reminded of a child playing with a brown cardboard box: Cortes' imagination within these confines is without limit. Everything feels tense and gritty. Suspense builds as the human tragedy surrounding Conroy unfurls and the clock keeps ticking. Unlike the similarly enclosed drama of Phonebooth, the action never strays form the plight of Paul Conroy. His only connection to the outside world is a phone with decreasing battery and poor reception. If acting is mostly re-acting then Reynolds has done well to shrug off his early lighter roles. Some of the phonecalls are simply harrowing, and the mandane frustrations of call centres and answering machine messages become yet another nail in his coffin. High concept films are designed to answer a simple premise. Jurrasic Park asked "what if we could clone dinosaurs?", Jaws: "what if sharks attacked?". Buried asks "what if you were buried alive?" but the question you will ask yourself going into this film is "can I watch a man in a box for 90 minutes?". My answer is, you wont be able to look away. https://youtube.com/watch?v=jqxvtTQpsJw
For the second year in a row, movie buffs will need to get their Melbourne International Film Festival fix purely from their couches. After the 2020 fest jumped online due to the pandemic, the 2021 event was meant to go ahead as a hybrid of both in-cinema and digital sessions. But then not one but two lockdowns hit, venue restrictions were put in place when the city wasn't under stay-at-home conditions, and the COVID-19 situation in Melbourne in general has kept complicating plans, leading MIFF organisers to scrap its in-cinema screenings. Initially, in-person sessions were set to span the festival's first week or so, before the event closed up online; however, just days before this year's MIFF kicked off on Thursday, August 5, the fest flipped that order and expanded its virtual component. It was due to then add in-person sessions from Thursday, August 12, but that'll no longer be happening. "MIFF's heart was in a return to cinemas this year, and this is a goal that we have pursued with determination to this point," said Artistic Director Al Cossar. "It is with deep sadness and profound frustration that we must take the step of cancelling our Melbourne cinema-based screenings for 2021." This year's MIFF was designed to be able to adapt to changing conditions, given that it was always likely that the pandemic would continue to impact the festival's plans — and so it is well-positioned for the move online. "Despite the duress of this moment, we are proud that elements of our program can still continue," said Cossar. "Through our XR platform, global audiences anywhere can continue their season of MIFF's exciting range of immersive experiences; and, centrally, through MIFF Play we can continue to deliver the very best Australian and international films to audiences not just in Melbourne but right around the country, at a time that it's most needed." Via MIFF Play, the festival is screening more than 90 features, with its catalogue of titles growing in recent days. Exisiting highlights include college-set rom-com Freshman Year, Spanish influencer satire La Verónica, New Zealand thriller Coming Home in the Dark and Norwegian comedy Ninjababy, while the Mads Mikkelsen-starring Riders of Justice and psycho-thriller music mockumentary The Nowhere Inn — featuring Carrie Brownstein and St Vincent — sit among the just-added newcomers. More films are set to become available on Saturday, August 14, too, such as documentary Hopper/Welles, which sees Dennis Hopper and Orson Welles meet and chat back in 1970; Night of the Kings, a prison thriller set on the outskirts of Abidjan; and Stray, a doco about the 100,000-plus stray dogs that rove freely around Istanbul. And, other titles will drop later in the fest, like Australian drama Little Tornadoes, which is co-written by The Slap's Christos Tsiolkas; Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror, a documentary exploring the folk horror genre; and closing night's Language Lessons, which takes place via video calls. MIFF's digital platform is available Australia-wide, ensuring that cinephiles around the country — including those in lockdown elsewhere, like in Greater Sydney — can enjoy its lineup as well. That facet of the online program proved popular last year, unsurprisingly, with 2020's virtual festival resulting in MIFF's biggest fest yet, audience-wise. The 2021 Melbourne International Film Festival runs via MIFF's online platform MIFF Play until Sunday, August 22. For further details, visit the MIFF website.
For the second time in a mere eight months, Sydney Film Festival is back. Get ready to watch 200-plus movies on silver screens all around Sydney between Wednesday, June 8–Sunday, June 19 — at the State Theatre, Event Cinemas George Street, Dendy Newtown, Palace Central, Palace Norton Street, Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace Cremorne, Ritz Cinemas Randwick, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre and Art Gallery of NSW. Overseen by Festival Director Nashen Moodley for the 11th time, this year's SFF spans 101 features, 53 documentaries and a whole heap of short films from 64-plus countries. (And 27 world premieres as well.) Highlights include the entire Official Competition lineup, aka the movies vying for SFF's big cash prize for films that are "audacious, cutting-edge and courageous". That's where you'll find this year's Berlinale Golden Bear-winner Alcarràs, a family drama from Spain; Blaze, a blend of live-action, puppetry and animation directed by acclaimed Aussie artist Del Kathryn Barton; and supernatural witch flick You Won't Be Alone, which stars Noomi Rapace (Lamb). And, it's home to a number of titles arriving straight from playing Cannes, too — such as Godland from Icelandic filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason (A White, White Day); Close, a teen-focused drama by Girl filmaker Lukas Dhont; and All the People I'll Never Be, about a French woman's quest to discover her Korean roots. Other big-name inclusions across the rest of the program span New Zealand comedy Nude Tuesday, which'll enjoy its world premiere at SFF; Australia's own Seriously Red, a SXSW hit about a Dolly Parton impersonator; One Fine Morning, from acclaimed French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve (Bergman Island); the Dakota Johnson (The Lost Daughter)-starring rom-com Cha Cha Real Smooth, which earned plenty of fans at Sundance; and Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, where Emma Thompson (Cruella) plays an older women who hires a sex worker — with 52 Tuesdays and Animals filmmaker Sophie Hyde behind the lens. Or, there's queer comedy Fire Island, about a group of friends on a wild summer holiday; Aubrey Plaza (Best Sellers)-led heist film Emily the Criminal; Cannes 2021 Jury Prize-winner Ahed's Knee, the latest from Synonyms' director Nadav Lapid; time-travel romp Incredible But True, as directed by Rubber and Deerskin's Quentin Dupieux; and One Year, One Night, which features Portrait of a Lady on Fire's Noémie Merlant. Plus, from the documentary slate, there's Sundance Audience Award-winner Navalny, about the Russian opposition leader poisoned with a nerve agent; Lynch/Oz, which takes a yellow brick road through David Lynch's filmography; Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel, a step inside New York's iconic Chelsea Hotel; and stranger-than-fiction effort My Old School, where Alan Cumming (Schmigadoon!) lip-synchs to audio recordings of Scottish con-artist Brandon Lee. SFF's full lineup also covers the usual returning favourites among its strands — so its ten-film focus on female directors from Europe is back, as is its selection of movies about music, its weird and wonderful horror and genre flicks, a range of family-friendly fare, a celebration of filmmaking talent with disability, and twelve titles from First Nations creatives. The latter includes all six episodes of Mystery Road: Origins, the new prequel series that focuses on Indigenous police officer Jay Swan, which is one of the fest's massive local highlights. Another: a big-screen showing of the newly restored 4K version of Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom, arriving just before his new movie Elvis reaches cinemas. SFF also announced its first 22 movies back in April, and a few other details since — such as a retrospective focusing on the documentaries of American filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, plus Pacific First Nations anthology We Are Still Here in the coveted opening night slot.
There are plenty of ways to describe something that's fun while it lasts, but finishes up prematurely. And yes, many of them could be followed by "title of your sex tape". So, with US TV network NBC announcing that beloved sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine will come to an end after its next season, we're sure you're going to be thinking about Jake Peralta's favourite retort for a while. We're sure the phrase will be uttered at least once in the show's final batch of episodes, too, with Brooklyn Nine-Nine due to wrap up with a ten-episode eighth season. Those final instalments won't air until either the second half of 2021 or the first half of 2022, so you have some time to come to terms with the news — and to prepare to say goodbye to Peralta (Andy Samberg), Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero), Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz), Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio), Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews) and Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher). And yes, even to farewell Hitchcock (Dirk Blocker) and Scully (Joel McKinnon Miller) as well. In response to the announcement, showrunner Dan Goor said that "ending the show was a difficult decision, but ultimately, we felt it was the best way to honour the characters, the story and our viewers". This definitely isn't a noice development, but if you've been following news headlines over the past year, ending B99 shouldn't come as much of a surprise. In response to 2020's Black Lives Matter protests — and their efforts to raise awareness about police brutality after the death of George Floyd — the first four scripts for the show's eighth season were scrapped. Several cast members, including Samberg, also spoke publicly about rethinking B99's approach in light of the events. https://twitter.com/nbcbrooklyn99/status/1359958366433341440 When the series ends, it'll do so after 153 episodes of Brooklyn-set antics, all based around the fictional 99th precinct — with quite a few Halloween heists thrown in. And, it'll cap off a tumultuous run for the show off-screen, because B99 was threatened with being axed for its entire first five seasons, and was even cancelled in May 2018. That move was made by Fox, its original American network; however, after an outcry followed, rival US channel NBC picked up the series just 31 hours later. It first committed to a sixth season of cop comedy, then picked it up for a seventh, and later renewed it for an eighth before that seventh season even aired. Whenever any B99 news hits — happy or sad — there are plenty of appropriate ways to mark this development. You could break out a sorrowful yoghurt, Terry Jeffords-style. If you're more like Captain Raymond Holt, perhaps you'd like to treat yourself to a trip to a barrel museum. You could also channel your inner Gina Linetti (Chelsea Peretti) and dance about your distressed feelings, you could organise your entire house as you know Santiago would, or you say cheers to Peralta by watching Die Hard over and over. Brooklyn Nine-Nine will come to an end after its next — and eighth — season. The show's final ten episodes will air sometime either in the second half of 2021 or the first half of 2022 — we'll update you when more details are announced.
