On the lookout for a dope new denim jacket? Or do you want to be rid of that weird-looking lamp taking up space in the living room? Then, by golly, you're in luck. The Garage Sale Trail works with local council partners Australia wide to get as many trash-and-treasure troves happening on the same day as possible. Last year, over 7000 garages opened their doors to bargain hunters, and they're doing it for the fifth time on October 25. Aside from the retro goodies up for grabs, the Trail is all about sustainability. Instead of ending up in landfill, unwanted clutter becomes a fantastic find. So get that tight pair of sunnies for peanuts and help the environment at the same time. The Garage Sale Trail began humbly in Bondi in 2010 and is growing bigger every year, so register online to make a quick buck from your old junk and hang out with the friendly folks in your hood.
Jurassic World: The Exhibition is a thing, and it's coming to Melbourne. Based on the blockbuster film of the same name, the exhibition will have its world premiere at Melbourne Museum in March next year. And, according to Dr. Patrick Greene, Museum Victoria's CEO, it's sure to "wow audiences and inspire young minds". The exhibit will feature incredibly life-like animatronic dinosaurs created by Melbourne locals, Creature Technology Company — the same team who developed the dinos for the Walking With Dinosaurs arena spectacular. Did you see the announcement? Terrifying. So it's a good thing they're not real — because if you've seen at least one of the Jurassic Park films, you'd know that dinosaurs aren't always friendly. The exhibition instead gives you a chance to get up close and personal with the creatures in a unique and engaging way. "Visitors to [the exhibition] will get an unprecedented opportunity to be in close proximity to the most amazing creatures to have ever roamed the earth," says Sonny Tilders, creative director at the Creature Technology Company. Jack Horner, one of the film's paleontological advisors (or, Official Dinosaur Guy), is working with the exhibition to make sure that it's both educational and fun. Visitors both young and old will be able to learn more about these prehistoric creatures without having to pore over a dry textbook. Gone are the days of boring museum presentations. Now you can learn about dinosaurs from interactive and theatrical exhibits that might scare your pants off at the same time. This unique experience allows you to experience the events of the film, without having to travel to reception-less Isla Nublar with its dubious emergency protocol. Jurassic Park: The Exhibition features encounters will the realistic life-size dinosaurs, so we can only assume that there will be thousands of people taking pictures pretending to be velociraptor-whisperer, Owen Grady, doing some 'Prattkeeping'. Jurassic World: The Exhibition runs from March 19 to October 9, 2016 at the Melbourne Museum. Advance purchase of tickets is strongly recommended. Image: Universal Pictures
The future. What will it look, feel, sound, smell and taste like? What's the logical progression of everything that's happening today, in our rapidly changing technological and social landscape? Will the future be like now, only more so? Auteur film director Spike Jonze answers this question via the plaintive eyes and breaking voice of Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) as he wanders the Los Angeles of the near-future in Her. This future is a warm and technologically intuitive space, where highly evolved, Siri-like operating systems are capable of falling in love with humans. Watching the film, we found that despite its themes of loneliness and emotional surrogacy, there's a few predictions we hope do come true. Computers are basically therapists In the future, while artificial intelligence-based computers programs like Samantha (dreamily voiced by Scarlett Johansson) definitely listen to what you say, what really matters to them is how you say it. In classic psychoanalyst form, they listen for signs of hesitation, anxiety or affection. When his OS quizzes him about his feelings for his mother, Theodore's ambivalent tone tells the computer all it needs to know. Video games are just as savvy: Theodore spends a lot of time chatting with a funny little virtual creature with a bad case of Tourette's, whose needless rudeness greatly amuses him. So, what happens when an OS can sense and respond to your emotions? You end up getting entertainment, companionship, sympathy and advice from an entity that also has the power to sort through infinite data and provide all kinds of practical services. It becomes the 100 percent efficient bosom friend you never had. The pedestrian is king Today, Nobody Walks in LA, because everyone has a car. It's a proverbial truth well documented by SNL's The Californians. But Spike Jonze's' LA of tomorrow is one big, car-less New York Highline (he even consulted with the Highline's creators to get the feel right). Broad and tranquil sky walkways connect Theodore from work to home, and a metro system takes him from the city to the beach. What's the advantage of travelling through life on foot? Safer, more populated public spaces; a healthier body; and the end of road rage. Despite Her's overarching theme of loneliness, from developments here in Sydney we know that pedestrian spaces tend to attract food trucks, live music and events, making everyone feel happier and more connected to their local community. Something we didn't see in the film that we hope to see in the cities of the future, is a skyline of buildings carpeted with vertical gardens. Clothes, technology and interiors are kind of friendly-looking Do we see any robo-babes or steampunks in future LA? No. We see an affluent middle-class clad in garb that references the 1930s, with high-waisted pants and clean colour-blocking. No one's trying to look cutting-edge; just well-presented. The style is actually shoppable — check out Opening Ceremony's Her capsule collection. As for interior design and gadgets, there's none of the usual super-slick chrome interiors, overly stark minimalism and cold blue lighting that films usually use to represent the world of the future. Nor are there paleo-future aesthetics or dystopian ruins. Instead, we experience lights that gently illuminate when Theodore enters his apartment; a smart pocketbook that looks like an old-timey picture frame; an elevator whose walls display a moving silhouette of trees. It's a wholesome, comfortable environment accessorised with objects and furniture in shades of blush and ochre. In fact, the colour blue is largely filtered out of the movie, to create a feeling of warmth and comfort deliberately at odds with Theodore's personal isolation. While we can't exactly filter out blue IRL, we Spike Jonze's vision of a cosy, inviting built environment that isn't trying too hard to be cool. Communication is hands free and softly spoken In future LA, almost every appliance is a voice-activated Siri. From printers to video games to letter-writing computer programs, machines respond to softly murmured voice commands much like Google Glass today. Riding the metro home, Theodore discreetly instructs his smart pocketbook to show him nudie pictures of a pregnant celebrity. What's the upshot of this subtle way of communicating needs? People become more softly spoken in general. The trend carries into advertising: Theodore first hears about the new artificially intelligent OS from a slo-mo advertisement in which a soothing voice heralds a new era in technology. Machines themselves also speak enticingly, as epitomised by the husky Samantha . Her is in cinemas now. Read our review of the movie here.
Anyone with a standing desk will tell you that staying seated for extended periods of time is quite possibly the worst thing you can do for your health. Why not kick those standing desk owners to the curb and spend an evening climbing the stalactite at Sydney Indoor Climbing Gym? We reckon rock climbing is definitely at least ten times better for you than standing still all day, which means you can impress your work colleagues with your defined guns and increased bone density, while cashing in on the two-for-one meal deal at nearby Botany View Hotel.
Under current COVID-19 restrictions in Australia, there are restrictions on where Melburnians can travel. Check out the latest information on the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services website. You can also check out more figures and graphs on its Victorian coronavirus data page. But, this doesn't mean you can't start dreaming — bookmark this for when you can explore once again. If a winter trip to Tasmania is on your agenda — and plenty of stomach-warming wine, too — then a pitstop at Devil's Corner probably forms part of your plans. Thanks to its towering onsite lookout, the well-known winery is a must-visit east coast destination even if you're not fond of vino. But for those who are partial to a drop or several, you'll find yourself sipping and soaking in the view at the vineyard's new pop-up cellar door over the next few months. Usually, Devil's Corner's cellar door is a hive of activity — and, between now and summer this year, it's undergoing a big revamp. The winery is expanding the facilities, in fact, but it isn't leaving vino lovers hanging in the interim. Instead, you'll hang out outdoors, enjoying your wine while hovering around a roaring fire pit. Called The Little Devil, the pop-up cellar door is doing wine tastings — by the glass, bottle and paddle — seven days a week. It's serving up takeaway wine sales, too. And, to line your stomach, food van Governors Bicheno is also onsite doing snacks and coffee. Like Devil's Corner's vines, visitors to The Little Devil will be exposed to the elements during the expansion. So, consider a coat, hat and even a rug mandatory accessories. When the expansion is complete, the permanent cellar door will sprawl across more space — and include both more shelter fo0r future winters, and revamped food and wine experiences. Find The Little Devil at Devil's Corner, 1 Sherbourne Road, Apslawn, Tasmania — open from 10am–4pm daily.
The 2013 Sydney Film Festival is bringing out Jeff Desom's intense, insanely complex-looking video installation Rear Window Loop. Projected on a 10m-long surface, the panoramic piece allows you to see the world as it appeared to Jimmy Stewart's paranoid, wheelchair-bound photojournalist Jeff in Hitchcock's Rear Window — possible murders and all. The effect is created by splicing scenes together in After Effects, a process more complicated than it sounds in this sentence. "I dissected all of Hitchcock's Rear Window and stitched it back together in After Effects," says Desom on his website. "I stabilised all the shots with camera movement in them. Since everything was filmed from pretty much the same angle I was able to match them into a single panoramic view of the entire backyard without any greater distortions. The order of events stays true to the movie's plot." The three-channel projection runs for 20 minutes. You can get a good idea of the process as well as the finished product in this video, also from Dessom's site. Rear Window Loop won Best Remix in the Vimeo Awards and Golden Nica at Ars Electronica and will be installed at the Sydney Film Festival Hub at Lower Town Hall, which since last year has been the festival's route to incorporating art happenings, interdisciplinary works and playtime, acknowledging the role of film outside the cinema. It's curated by Sydney's favourite cultured revellers, The Festivalists (Jurassic Lounge). The Sydney Film Festival has also announced the first 27 films of its 2013 program as a taster. Most hotly anticipated is the neo-Gothic thriller Stoker from Park Chan-Wook (Old Boy), which stars Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman and Jacki Weaver. Other highlights include Wadjda, the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia (and by a Sydney Uni graduate no less, Haifaa Al Mansour); Miss Nikki and the Tiger Girls, a documentary about Burma's first girl band by Australian director Juliet Lamont; and Comrade Kim Goes Flying, a romantic comedy that's also the first North Korean movie to screen at the festival. The full program will be revealed on May 8. You can see Rear Window Loop at the Sydney Film Festival Hub at Lower Town Hall from June 6-14 at 5-6pm and again from 10pm-midnight. The SFF itself runs from June 5-16.
Every meal is a happy meal at Queenies. But returning next month is the happiest meal of all: Queenies' Annual Stoner Dinner. The third such dinner in as many years, it's themed 'McQueenies' and pays homage to that ever-reliable late-night institution that we will always have a soft spot in our hearts for: McDonald's. For $55 a pop, you'll forget what munchies even are with a finger-lickin' good seven-course McMenu, including the breakfast sandwich of dreams. The kitchen is putting a highly creative spin on your Golden Arches faves, serving up courses like the ‘Smokers Delight’, which is simply soft serve and french fries, and ‘Burger Rings’ — onion rings with burger salt, bacon ketchup and jalapeño mustard. There’s the ‘Chicken Griddle’, the combination of southern fried chicken with hotcakes and maple hot sauce, and our personal favourite, the ‘10.35am Burgffin’, a pristine cheeseburger and egg muffin hybrid. But how can Queenies beat Maccas' desserts? They're going to try damn hard with one highly Instagrammable hot fudge sundae, an insane cornucopia of sugary goodness with peanut butter ice cream, hot chocolate sauce, peanuts, Violet Crumble, cream and kush brownie. Yep, that’s what the menu says. Kush brownie. Promising more satisfied bellies than ever, Queenies' Stoner Dinner is a tradition you'll want to make a habit. Give in to your wildest cravings and book it. By Katie Davern and Shannon Connellan.
Movie buffs who like to theme their viewing around the relevant time of year — holiday-related, primarily — are always spoiled for choice. Christmas films, spooky flicks at Halloween, Easter-relevant fare: you can build a binge session or several out of all of them. The same applies to Thanksgiving, all courtesy of the US, and The Humans is the latest addition to the November-appropriate list. This A24 release ticks a few clearcut boxes, in fact, including bringing a dysfunctional multi-generation family together to celebrate the date, steeping their get-together in the kind of awkwardness that always stalks relatives, and having big revelations spill over the course of the gathering (the calendar-mandated time for such disclosures, pouring out before the tryptophan kicks in). That said, even with such evident servings of underlying formula, The Humans is far creepier and more haunting than your usual movie about America's turkey-eating time of year. A hefty helping of existential horror will do that. Based on Stephen Karam's Tony-winning 2016 Broadway play — a Pulitzer Prize finalist as well — and adapted and directed for the screen by Karam himself, The Humans is downright unsettling, and for a few reasons. There's the tension zipping back and forth between everyone in attendance, of course — as crucial an ingredient at every Thanksgiving party as food, booze and warm bodies to consume them, at least if films are to be believed. There's also the bleak, claustrophobic, run-down setting, with the movie confined to a New York apartment close to Ground Zero, which aspiring composer Brigid (Beanie Feldstein, Booksmart) and her student boyfriend Richard (Steven Yeun, Nope) have just moved into at significant expense. And, there's the strange sounds emanating from other units, and perhaps this creaking, groaning, two-storey abode itself, which couldn't feel less welcoming. As a result, seasonal cheer is few and far between in this corner of Manhattan, where the Blake family congregates dutifully rather than agreeably or even welcomely. Also making an appearance: parents Deirdre (Only Murders in the Building's Jayne Houdyshell, reprising her Tony-winning part) and Erik (Richard Jenkins, DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story), Brigid's lawyer older sister Aimee (Amy Schumer, Life & Beth), and their grandmother Momo (June Squibb, Palmer), who has dementia and uses a wheelchair. No one is happy, and everyone seems to have something that needs airing — slowly and reluctantly when it's a matter of importance, but freely and cuttingly when it's a snap judgement directed at others. Watching The Humans, the audience hopes that no one has truly had a Thanksgiving like this, while knowing how well its fraught dynamic hits the mark. Thanks to Richard, film first-timer Karam has a straightforward way to start doling out backstory — a time-honoured function of fresh attendees to on-screen family dos, and not just in movies about Thanksgiving. Erik chats, filling the newcomer in, although the talk between everyone dishes out plenty of handy details. Religious and political affiliations cause strains, as do booze and money. The clash between the big city, where the Blake family daughters now live, and their hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania also informs the discussions. Health woes, relationship struggles, generation clashes, expecting more both from and of each other but getting less: that's the baseline. Brigid stews about not being given enough cash by her parents, and therefore jeopardising her career dreams; Aimee frets about treading water at work, being alone and a medical condition; Deirdre's conservative leanings bristle against her daughters' decisions; and Erik clearly has a secret. As anxious and agitated as the situation is — and as peppered with passive aggression and outbursts alike — there's always another feeling lurking throughout the barely furnished flat. That physical, visible, inescapable emptiness also speaks volumes about Brigid, Richard and their guests, but it's impossible to shake the sensation that this might've been a joyful affair in any other location. The same troubles and attitudes would exist, and the same players, but there's no avoiding how their grim surroundings are amplifying their bickering. When they're being guarded, coy, reserved or reticent (at times, they all fit) about the things they're keeping from each other, the apartment looms large with space and desolation. When they're flinging truths back and forth, it's tight and distressed. Or, is it actually just a regular old and dilapidated place in a crushing rental market, and it's the evening's occupants and their torment that's bringing the unease? For a film so firmly grounded in one location, to the point that the cliche about the setting being a character in the movie applies, The Humans can be slippery. Is Karam's setup as simple as a family squabbling? Is there more, or do we just want there to be more because that quarrelling — and the dancing around it, when that's the Blakes' preferred option — is so discomforting? They're the questions that dwell in the unit, which cinematographer Lol Crawley (Vox Lux) shoots like it's both dispiritingly ordinary and unshakeably otherworldly. Frequently, the film looks on from afar within the space as well, framing Brigid and company through doorways that make everything resemble a show. Sometimes, it hones in on physical minutiae as conversations play out. Are all family get-togethers performances? Do we all cling close out of habit and expectation, but keep ourselves distanced by nattering about the trivial and inconsequential? They're queries that hang heavy in the stilted air, too. As The Humans stretches on, discussions about dreams and nightmares prove revealing. The feature also points out the thin line between both, whether we're slumbering or waking, several times over in its talky frames. No one on-screen really needs reminding; that's where they're caught, even if just emotionally. Across the board, The Humans' performances are similarly anchored and weighty — whatever's going on around the Blakes or isn't, the pervasive dread keeps everyone trapped and festering, and Karam's six key cast members all play their parts accordingly. The effect is compelling, especially when paired with disquieting sound design straight out of a psychological thriller. Let's be honest, isn't that all holiday celebrations with the family anyway?
There's something secretive and special about slipping into an art gallery after hours. Add a few laughs and a glass of wine, and it's pretty difficult to imagine a more seductive reason to get out of your house for the night. Running on Wednesday, July 10, the Art Gallery of New South Wales is hosting a series of late-night events as part of NAIDOC Week — a week-long celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and achievements. The highlight of the night, kicking off at 6.30, is the talk by Zenadth Kes man Thomas Mayor on the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Mayor will be discussing what the Uluru Statement is and why it's important to the future of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander peoples. There are plenty of other events on throughout the night, too, including a one-hour live performance from husband and wife duo Microwave Jenny at 7:30pm, and guided tours of the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander collection at 6pm and 7:15pm. The late-night events start from 5.30pm on Wednesday July 10, to see the full details of the evenings events visit the Art Gallery NSW website.
Each year, we all anticipate the arrival of December 25. Because of the day off, that includes the promise of an afternoon spent dozing in a hammock — and for dessert fiends, it also includes Gelato Messina's annual Christmas cake. We hope you like a certain quintessential Australian dish, because that's what is on the gelato chain's menu again. Yes, Messina is bringing back its version of the trifle. The Christmas Coma will return for its fifth year running — and, although it seems like we say this every festive season, this time it's especially decadent. In fact, it's a choc-hazelnut trifle that's topped with choc gold sheet, as well as a milk chocolate hazelnut globe that's filled with Messinatella — aka Messina's version of Nutella — and it also comes in a pack with a bake-at-home gingerbread and dark choc chip cookie pie. First, the epic trifle. In 2021, the Christmas Coma will once again feature layer upon layer of everything that is good about Christmas — but instead of being soggy and slightly regrettable, this one will have you licking the glass bowl. So what's in it? Well, Messina is going with layers of Messinatella crémeux, chocolate mud cake made with Messinatella fudge, caramelised white chocolate mousse, choc-coated puffed rice and candied hazelnuts, vanilla cream chantilly, hazelnut semifreddo and choc-hazelnut crumble. Plus, it'll come with some Messina brandy custard to douse all over the mess. And, it all serves 20–30 (or less if you really commit). With the gingerbread and dark choc chip cookie pie, it's exactly what it sounds like. Messina has been slinging cookie pies for a few years now, and you'll just need to bake this one for 12 minutes before eating. All of the above comes in a Christmas Coma mega pack, which costs $2s0 and can be pre-ordered from Monday, November 22 — with times varying depending on your state, as the gelato chain has been doing with its specials this year. That said, if you sign up on Messina's website in advance, you'll get access to pre-sale window before pre-orders open to everyone, too. You'll then be able to pick up your Christmas Coma between Tuesday, December 21–Friday, December 24, all within regular store opening hours — and from all Gelato Messina stores across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. It comes in a Messina cooler bag and, if you keep it in there all sealed up, can survive for up to one hour. In each of the last few years, the trifle sold out super fast, so we suggest you don't wait on this one. The Christmas Coma will be available to order from Monday, November 22. Keep an eye on the Messina website for further details — or sign up to get access to a pre-sale window before pre-orders open to everyone.
Teacher-turned-indie goddess Alexis Krauss and waiter-turned-beats master Derek Miller will return to Australia next month. The duo's stentorian synthesis of driving riffs, shredding guitar and rhapsodic melodic hooks has been on high rotation for many a punk rock devotee since M.I.A. signed them to N.E.E.T. Recordings in October 2009. February 2012 brought the release of Reign of Terror, the follow-up to 2010 debut Treats. The sophomore album sees Sleigh Bells ascend to louder, heavier musical heights, but also carries them through deeper lyrical explorations. Krauss, a curious combination of Joan Jett street tough and Cindy Lauper airiness, croons, moans and belts her way through stories of suicide, brutality and loss. Krauss has described Reign of Terror as "innately much more melodic and guitar-oriented" and "more intimate" than their debut. As deducible from Reign's live opening track, 'True Shred Guitar', Sleigh Bells' shows are raw, feverish, dynamic affairs, powered by Krauss's relentless energy and Miller's rock-fuelled sound explosions. https://youtube.com/watch?v=YiwcUdX7XMw
“The play’s about a group of actors in crisis... so art is imitating life.” Actor Gareth Davies is in the middle of a manic final week of rehearsals for The Government Inspector ahead of its opening at Melbourne’s Malthouse, before a Sydney season at Belvoir. “But manic’s good,” says Davies. “The plays I’ve done that have been bad have been slow, sedate, very careful and cautious things that we were all totally prepared for, and you get up there in front of an audience and it doesn’t have a spark of spontaneity or panic.” In the plot of the original Russian play by Nikolai Gogol, a low-level clerk is confused with an important bureaucrat and worshipped as a god. In this collaboration between director Simon Stone, writer Emily Barclay and the cast, the gormless pen-pusher becomes a bitterly unsuccessful actor (Davies). A cast of frantic actors who are desperately putting together a show mistake him for a famous auteur and worship him accordingly. Stone recently said that this play is “the furthest away I’ve ever gone [from a source text’s foundations]". It’s a big claim from a director who’s built a career on adaptations that self-reportedly “rape and pillage” the classics. But Davies agrees that only the skeleton of the original work remains. “There’s various character archetypes and a basic story structure that’s there, but the setting’s entirely changed," he says. "Thematically it’s pretty similar — it’s fraud, it’s someone accidentally being placed in a position where everyone thinks he’s someone else and then kind of enjoying that. Once he’s realised that he’s essentially being totally dishonest with everyone he starts to really wallow, to enjoy the free booze and the free food and the way that people talk to him.” Like Gogol’s story, Stone’s choice of play was born out of misunderstanding: a sudden seismic shift prompted by the last-minute discovery of existing rights for Belvoir’s scheduled production of The Philadelphia Story. I put it to Davies that the frustration of those events seems to have bled into this work, but he’s more circumspect. “It is a starting point for our play, but it would have been pretty uninteresting to do an attack on that situation. With these actors, at the beginning, just like us, something that they knew and something that they wanted is taken away and then the story begins, but that’s as far as it goes — it’s just a crisis that sets off the story." As open as he is about its beginning, Davies is reluctant to give anything away about the latter parts of the play, especially the musical sections choreographed by Lucy Guerin and composed by longtime Stone collaborator Stefan Gregory. For Davies, this kind of mainstage production seems a little out of character, given his background in independent theatre as one of the founders of The Black Lung Theatre and Whaling Firm, whose work has terrorised audiences across Australia. Yet Stone’s process has in many ways reflected the same kind of approach. “The way we’re working here is much more similar to those shows. Often with mainstage work as an actor you’re one of the last people to find out about anything — by the time you arrive, the vision for the play is already there.” The world of The Government Inspector might be easy for the Malthouse and Belvoir to market to a theatre-savvy audience, familiar with the utter chaos that goes into creating a show, but Davies firmly believes in its wider appeal. “We’ve been really aware of this, of making it too in-jokey," he says. "It is about a group of people making a show, but in the end that’s not what you’re responding to. More than anything else, it’s a play about characters responding to crisis. In the end, we’re all human, and just as petty, and beautiful, and small-minded as everyone else.”
We don't really think about garbage too much after it has been thrown into a dumpster or plopped out on the sidewalk ready to be picked up by trash collectors. The quicker the smelly bags of banana peels and egg cartons are out of our sight, the better. But what if we had to constantly live with the consequences of consumption? Outside of Cairo lies the small town of Garbage City, inhabited by a working community of the poverty-stricken Zabbaleen people. For the Zabbaleen there is no way of disposing of the never-ending flow of trash, making Cairo and its surrounds one of the most polluted areas in the world. Workers collect, reuse or resell the waste but the accumulated rubbish on every street corner and rooftop of the city remains. Mekano Architects have recently proposed a plan that could help the area use the trash to its advantage. The Seeds of Life project is a proposal to recycle the trash from Garbage City into material to build a multipurpose skyscraper. The building consists of an exoskeleton of "wind stalks" in which living and working units can be inserted, with floor plans including everything from family homes to basketball courts, terraces for agriculture and water collection, and designated areas to bury organic waste and produce electricity. Garbage City gone green seems a nearly impossible feat, but if accomplished could mean a significant improvement in both the standard of living in the outskirts of Cairo and cleanliness of the environment. Maybe the architects could even use TED's Global Village Construction Set to assemble the recycled skyscraper city.
Kim Boekbinder is no stranger to the visual arts. Her new album The Impossible Girl fields a separate, beautiful illustration by a dozen different talented artists. A picture each for every song. Her album is available for free via Bandcamp if you just want to dip a toe in her talent (though you're welcome to pay her too). She's also just finished collaborating on an animated film, I Have Your Heart, which she's raising funds for on kickstarter. On Thursday, she'll be adding to her repertoire by performing at the Red Rattler in Marrickville along with performers Brendan Maclean and Helen Perris, whose visual flair will complement her own. Kim Boekbinder was raised in North America, and although she's been knocking around Australia indulging in the blissful exoticism of our local climes, she's heading back north soon and who knows when you'll get another chance to see her in Sydney. Her music is heartfelt, entertaining and rarely the same in the same place twice. Fans of alternative power couple Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman may regonise her red wig from their visit this Australia Day. But whatever your interest, Kim Boekbinder is cheap at half the price. And far from impossible to see this week. *Kim Boekbinder is playing an all-ages gig. Image from The Impossible Girl by Travis Louie.
Not everyone was a fan of the Opera House's last, occasionally boisterous venture into the world of pop-up bars with El Loco, but this year theatre-goers can probably breathe a sigh of relief; the Opera House's new pop-up bar is so chill they're even offering yoga sessions. This summer, the team behind Bondi institution The Corner House is bringing its brand of laidback Mediterranean cool to the Opera House with their pop-up, Garden Bar by the Corner House, as part of the Opera House's Summer Playground series of events. While there'll certainly be cocktails on offer, this bar's not just about the standard pre-event drinks. According to The Corner House owner Anthony Kaplan, Garden Bar by the Corner House will be "the ultimate summer hangout". There'll be a rotisserie and salad bar, and they're even serving breakfast. As far as entertainment goes, there'll be everything from live music to early-morning yoga. Garden Bar by the Corner House will head to the Opera House in January and stay till January 27. Image: El Loco at the House in 2013.
UPDATE, July 9, 2021: The Farewell is available to stream via Netflix, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Ask someone how'd they prefer to shuffle off this mortal coil, and you'll likely receive the most cliched of answers: to pass peacefully in their sleep. That's certainly better than any alternative (other than somehow managing to live forever), although it's rarely realistic. Still, if you could give a loved one that gift, sparing them the pain of knowing that the end was near, would you? If they were diagnosed with terminal cancer, had mere months or weeks left to live, and invasive medical treatment would only cloud their remaining days, is it better to let them carry on blissfully unaware? Whether such choices are tender mercies or rob one's nearest and dearest of the chance to say goodbye sits at the heart of The Farewell, a sensitive and stirring drama set within a culture where keeping impending death from the unwell is commonplace. Drawing deeply on her own experience, writer-director Lulu Wang also uses this complicated issue as fuel to contemplate identity, belonging, tradition and cultural displacement. Born in China and raised in New York, Billi (Awkwafina) is firmly ensconced in the Big Apple. An aspiring writer, she's constantly hoping for grants to fund her work, is perennially behind on her rent and largely relies on credit cards to get by. But when her father Haiyan (Tzi Ma) and mother Jian (Diana Lin) deliver the news that her beloved paternal grandmother, Nai Nai (Zhao Shuzhen), has stage four lung cancer, Billi is determined to journey back to China — even when her parents advise her not to go. She's conflicted, however, about her family's decision not to tell their mentally spritely, physically ailing matriarch about her condition. Instead, they're all making the trip under an elaborate cover story, rushing Billi's cousin Hao Hao (Chen Han) to marry his Japanese girlfriend Aiko (Aoi Mizuhara). Such subterfuge is standard in her homeland ("when people get cancer, they die," the Chinese saying goes, referring to the impact such an illness can have on one's will to live), but it rubs against the western sensibilities that've been instilled in Billi since moving to America. One of Wang's most affecting and astute moves, of which there are many, is to task her cast with conveying this moral and emotional dilemma in their every expression and movement. In an intuitive portrayal that's worlds away from her scene-stealing, over-the-top turn in last year's Crazy Rich Asians, Awkwafina lives, breathes and wears Billi's internal turmoil. When the character is plastering on the happiest face she can to hide the truth from Nai Nai, her hunched shoulders reveal her pain. When she's trying to have a quiet, genuine moment with the woman she knows will soon be gone — a vibrant, irrepressibly bossy old lady who bustles about like a near-unstoppable force of nature — sorrow lingers in her eyes. This isn't just Billi's burden, but one shared even by those who support the decision to keep Nai Nai in the dark, sparking stellar performances across the board. Guilt and regret seeps from recognisable Chinese American star Ma (Wu Assassins), playing the son who travelled across the globe to pursue a better life. Chinese Australian actor Lin (The Family Law) tussles with Jian's own difficulties, caught as she is between a crumbling husband and an angry daughter. And as Hao Hao, Han may barely utter more than a few sentences as he endeavours to contain his sadness, but he's always a tense ball of visible discomfort. Favouring the same approach in all facets of the film, Wang styles The Farewell with naturalism at the fore. Dialogue flows freely, often from Nai Nai as she snaps out wedding plans and comments on Billi's appearance as a grandmother is known to, but a picture truly speaks a thousand words here. Collaborating with cinematographer Anna Franquesa Solano, the sophomore filmmaker tells her tale free from any rose-coloured fondness. This is a warm movie, however it steadfastly depicts its central situation, setting and struggle as they are. In practical terms, that means realism and nuance — Billi and her family exist within the film's Changchun locale, and its day-to-day minutiae is baked into every scene, and yet her visiting protagonist doesn't play tourist, for example. The same description applies to the movie's handling of its illness storyline, which is never squeezed for easy sentiment or used as weepie fodder. Wang also finds the right balance between organic humour and earnest emotion, never overstating one or the other — a tactic that particularly resonates when Billi begins to question the existence she was given in America, as well as the links to her broader family and heritage she feels it has robbed her of. All of these choices reinforce The Farewell's takeaway message: that in life and death alike, there is no simple path. There are no clear-cut answers, either, including when you're tossing up whether to tell someone they're dying or keep that knowledge from them. Far from treating these notions as obvious, Wang navigates the many complexities that prove her point with a lived-in maturity. She has literally been there, seen that and emerged to tell the tale, after all. As a result, what could've been a straightforward tearjerker in other hands benefits from her personal and poignant touch, and never heads down the blatant route. This is a subtle, thoughtful and heartfelt film that serves up a continual array of surprises — the kind that can and do get thrown in everyone's way, because that's what grappling with life's ups, downs, comings and goings is like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0yh_ZIqq0c
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After dinner, you're sure to need supper. Billed as "the ultimate nightcap", the Vivid Sydney Supper Club will transform Mary's Underground into a cabaret club on Friday and Saturday nights throughout the festival. Like any cabaret worth its salt, there's a wide range of entertainment disciplines on the roll call: musical theatre, dance, comedy, burlesque, jazz, DJing and more (think Mahalia Barnes with her soulful music and theatrics and singing from First Nations actress and singer Ursula Yovich). Legendary local drag artist Trevor Ashley (pictured above) has the unenviable task of keeping all the plates spinning and, according to the Vivid Sydney website, "he'll leave the stage door ajar in case special guests drop by for an impromptu jam". Quelle intrigue! Image: John McRae
Passion is a pivotal part of every cocktail enjoyed at the end of a long week, every glass of wine sipped with dinner and every cold brew cracked open just because. If you've made the choice to drink a particular tipple, you should be passionate about it. Life's just too short to waste it on average drops. Unsurprisingly, passion is also one of the driving forces behind every spirit, vino and beer before it even reaches your lips. No one dedicates their life to making standout beverages if they're not devoted to the field. And that passion has been particularly important in 2020, with drinks brands everywhere forced to adapt to quite the challenging year — as South Australia's Never Never Distilling Co, Paracombe Wines and Little Bang Brewing Company can attest. For the past few months, BWS has tapped into both of the aforementioned sources of passion — into the enthusiasm of Aussie drinkers, and into the excitement of those responsible for the country's favourite bevvies. Via its Local Luvvas initiative, the bottle shop retailer asked the nation to pick its top local drinks, with the three chosen companies receiving an extra helping hand with getting their products stocked in more BWS stores. That means you now have more excuses to pick up Never Never, Paracombe and Little Bang's wares. To celebrate the news, and the passion behind it, we've chatted to the committed folks behind the scenes at each. [caption id="attachment_789218" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Meaghan Coles[/caption] A PASSION FOR COMPLEXITY When you're pouring yourself some gin, then adding tonic and whichever garnishes you prefer, it all seems so simple and straightforward. But the juniper-based spirit delivers a complicated array of flavours — and it's that complexity, as well as a "huge passion for South Australia's incredible food and beverage industry", that actually sparked Never Never Distilling Co co-founder and managing director George Georgiadis to start the business in the first place. His fellow co-founders Tim Boast and Sean Baxter share that passion, obviously. Boast, who is also Never Never's head distiller, is a staunch believer in tipples made with purpose, too. "Assuming you can get the fundamentals right and build from a strong foundation, a spirit crafted with a purpose in mind for the end product will ultimately deliver a better liquid," he explains. If you need an example, he suggests Never Never's Triple Juniper Gin, which was specifically designed to be the best gin possible for classic cocktails and G&Ts. A drink made with passion — and complexity and purpose — inspires the same in return. Awards bodies have shown that by showering the McLaren Vale-based distillery with accolades, including in this difficult year. In March, Never Never picked up the Best Regular Gin prize at the San Francisco World Spirit Awards, in fact. But it's the passion of the brand's local supporters that has helped immensely in a period where the company has been forced to "quickly take stock of our focuses, and be brave in what our strategies needed to be," says Baxter. "South Australians are probably some of the most discerning drinkers — you look at the history of wine in SA and the producers who put Australian wine on the map. We're seeing it now in SA gin, where local punters have access to so many incredible smaller producers that they'll actively seek out what's new and what's the best". A PASSION FOR HISTORY When Kathy and Paul Drogemuller bought an old dairy farm in the Adelaide Hills more than three decades ago, they were clearly fond of a good drop. Neither had a background in growing grapes or making wine, but they decided to plant a vineyard at their property at Paracombe, which had been burnt out by the Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983. They still kept full-time jobs outside of the farm; however, when they did some research on the area, they found a significant source of inspiration for their hobby. "We discovered that Paracombe had a history of wine going back to the mid-1800s," says Kathy. "There was a vineyard and operational winery exporting wine to England, and the first vintages of Penfolds Grange came from Paracombe. All this valuable history had died out, so we made it our mission to revive the district, raise it back from the ashes and put Paracombe back on the map." From there, the Drogemullers infused their passion into making the very best wine — and making the very best of their location in the process. "Great wine happens in the vineyard and should reflect a sense of place," notes Kathy, explaining how Paracombe Wines capitalises upon the area's ironstone, buckshot gravel and quartz-layered soils, as well as its cooler climate. The result, all these years later, is a range of wines across both whites and reds that locals love. "To start something from nothing, be involved in every process — growing, making, bottling, storing and distributing — all from our property and vineyard, and to produce a product that connects and brings people together around a table with food and family: that is a joy," says Kathy. And if anything was going to help Paracombe Wines "rise above adversity", as Kathy describes the company's journey in 2020, it's that local love. "We have seen that in these difficult times, people seek out to support local more than ever," she says. A PASSION FOR DELICIOUS AND CREATIVE BEER Asked how Little Bang Brewing Company came about, cofounder Ryan Davidson gives the most honest answer there is: "making things is fun, beer is delicious, beer costs money and we were unemployed," he says. But that was just the beginning of his beer-making journey with co-founder and head brewer Fil Kemp, with whom he worked in the games industry prior to starting their Adelaide brewery. "It was once we started brewing together that the fervour really kicked in. We're both rather obsessive when it comes to learning something new, and we encouraged each other a lot in those early days, seeking out every little bit of knowledge, history and expertise we could lay our hands on." That passion for learning has played a big part in Little Bang's 2020 journey, too, and in the kind of year that Davidson could never have imagined back when the company launched in 2014. "We've pivoted so much, we're getting dizzy. It's been a lesson in agility, that's for sure — keeping a constant eye on the news and being ready to redefine what we do, in almost every way, and at a moment's notice," he says. To the surprise of no one, Ryan notes that it has been exhausting. Still, he also says 2020 has been "extremely informative". He continues: "we've learned a lot about our customers, our business and ourselves that we wouldn't have had the chance to know otherwise". All those lessons — the early learnings when the brewery was starting out, and the new gleanings over the past ten months — help shape Little Bang's beverages. Davidson is passionate about something else, though. Naturally, he's still keen on free beer, but he's also enthusiastic about the local community that has blossomed around the company's brews. "We don't see Little Bang as just our business," he says. "It's just as much a creation of the day-to-day attitudes and ideas of all the staff here, and the huge variety of people who spend time at the taproom. We're just lucky enough to work here." To find these or other South Australian drinks as part of the BWS Local Luvva's initiative, head to your nearest BWS store.
You might not know that noted film banger of the 00s Bring It On has been made into a stage musical — and, having already done the rounds on Broadway in 2012, and hitting Melbourne last year, it's cartwheeling into Sydney in August this year. Responsible for the phrase "cheerocracy" and your unrealistic expectations of high school, it seems the original movie still has some decent cultural capital to give. If you've been wondering, in the last 19 years, what exactly the world of competitive cheerleading might have going on with it these days, this musical is for you. If you had a Kirsten Dunst poster on the back of your childhood bedroom door, this musical is for you. To be honest, if you've watched the film even just a few times, it's probably for you too. With music and lyrics by Tony Award-winning composer Lin-Manuel Miranda (of Hamilton fame) and the stage adaptation by Jeff Whitty (Avenue Q), the musical is only loosely based on the original film of 2000, which starred your girls Kirsten and Eliza Dushku. Unlike the five sequels that followed the movie — all of which went directly to VHS — the musical looks like it has a refreshing amount of sass, cutthroat rivalry and aerial stunts. Bust out your best spirit fingers and get them tapping on your keyboard if you want tickets — Bring It On: The Musical is making its way to Sydney's State Theatre in August, but it's only going to be step-pivot-split jumping around town for a strictly limited run of two weeks. https://www.facebook.com/StateTheatreAU/photos/a.10151164651379040/10157232212254040/?type=3&theater Bring It On: The Musical will run from Friday, August 27 to Sunday, September 8, 2019 at the State Theatre, 49 Market Street, Sydney. You can sign up for the waitlist via Ticketek.
In honour of the Year of the Sheep, this year's Twilight Parade is going to be particularly woolly and adorable. The parade will be filled with spectacular lanterns, floats and dragons and, as always, will begin with the ancient eye dotting ceremony to awaken the spirit of the lion and end with a display of fireworks in Darling Harbour. This year the parade will feature some particularly home-grown treats, including a giant merino, shearers and knitting grannies, while projections will light up the city's building with the story of Chinese shepherds in Australia and images celebrating the sheep's characteristics of creativity and kindness.
No matter which city you live in, if you have a fondness for trivia — and a head full of otherwise pointless tidbits just waiting to be scribbled down quickly — then you've likely been to one of the many nights dedicated to such knowledge. During stints at home, you've probably tested your skills virtually, too, to help fill all that time within your own four walls. In 2020, Isolation Trivia hit the scene as a lockdown-friendly trivia night. It's still running strong this year, too, which is particularly great news for Greater Sydney and Greater Brisbane residents under lockdown. No, all the questions aren't just about staying indoors — but because that's now a regular part of our lives, these trivia nights are live-streamed. Aimon Clark, from Brisbane's Man vs Bear and Not On Your Rider trivia events, plays quizmaster. As you join in, you'll jot down your answers at home — and everyone can compare scores virtually, and battle for trivia supremacy. Isolation Trivia pops up around once a week, but to keep an eye on the next sessions — and to play along — you're best to head to the event's Facebook page. Top image: Not On Your Rider
Monster movies have their place. Slasher films, and every horror flick about fiendish foes, too. But features about real-life atrocities — events such as the Port Arthur massacre, where 35 people were murdered and 23 others wounded — should never share the same notions of evil. Director Justin Kurzel and screenwriter Shaun Grant understand this, and demonstrate a canniness so astute that it's unnerving. They make movies that take this notion as a given, unpacking dark chapters of Australia's history guided with it as their guiding principle. That's clear in Nitram, their new film about the events preceding that tragic incident in Tasmania in 1996, just as it was in their 2011 debut Snowtown. Both movies dive into loathsome true crimes. Both films are difficult, distressing, disquieting and disturbing, understandably. Both features are also brilliant for many reasons, the fact that they're about people rather than monsters high among them. It's terrifying to contemplate something so gut-wrenchingly abominable as the bodies-in-barrels murders, which Snowtown depicts, and to face the fact that people rather than evil were behind them. Nitram courts and provokes the same response as it focuses on something equally as ghastly, and similarly refuses to see the perpetrator in shades of black and white. In their third collaboration — with 2019's bold and blazing True History of the Kelly Gang in the middle — Kurzel and Grant don't excuse their protagonist. They don't try to justify the unjustifiable, explain it, exploit it, or provide neat answers to a near-unfathomable crime. Rather, they're exactingly careful in depicting the lone gunman responsible for Australia's worst single-shooter mass killing, right down to refusing to name him. (The movie's title comes from his moniker backwards, and it's all he's ever called on-screen.) Nitram does depict its eponymous figure's mental health issues and medication, and his status as an outcast, but not as reasons for what's to come. It shows his complicated relationships, mentions his struggles as a boy and sees how he's teased as an adult, yet never deems these motives. All such things can be part of someone's life, or not, and that person can commit heinous deeds, or not — and Nitram doesn't ever even dream of seeing that as a straightforward cause-and-effect equation. In his fifth stint behind the lens — 2015's blistering Macbeth and 2016's abysmal Assassin's Creed are also on his resume — Kurzel does adopt a hazy aesthetic, though. The film isn't dreamy, instead resembling anxious memories worn and frayed from too much time looping in someone's mind. Its imagery is boxed in within a constricted frame, heightening that sensation; however, cinematographer Germain McMicking (Acute Misfortune) shoots Nitram (Caleb Landry Jones, The Outpost) as if he's roving around the space to test the boundaries. The character does just that narrative-wise. He earns his wearied mother's (Judy Davis, Mystery Road) constant exasperation, and almost everyone else's dismay. His father (Anthony LaPaglia, Below) expresses more warmth, but is just as affected. After knocking on her door attempting to start a lawn-mowing business, eccentric lottery heiress Helen (Essie Davis, Babyteeth) shows Nitram kindness and showers him with gifts, but even with her he's still pushing limits. When she sees him shooting at an old car with an air rifle in her sprawling backyard, she forbids it. It's her sternest moment. She also asks him not to lunge at the steering wheel as she's driving and, as turbulent as ever, Nitram keeps doing it. Crucially, Nitram anchors its namesake's notions of right and wrong in a childhood interview with the real-life gunman, with the archival footage opening the film. In hospital after frolicking with fireworks, the boy who'll grow up to blight Australian history forever is asked if he has learned from the experience. "Yes" is his answer, "but I'm still playing with 'em," he continues. Nitram isn't ever so overt as to echo those words throughout the movie, and it also doesn't need to. The idea ripples through every scene anyway, whether its central figure is later trifling with firecrackers at a school as an adult, lapping up Helen's affection amid her beloved brood of dogs and the constant sound of Gilbert and Sullivan show tunes, or slapping his dad out of an emotional low. Another scene — a powerhouse due to the inimitable Judy Davis, and a searing monologue delivered with festering pain — cements the idea that Nitram is cognisant of how his actions affect others, but that truth also resounds in Jones' Cannes Film Festival Best Actor-winning performance. He plays the part like Nitram knows he's testing boundaries, and knows the effect he frequently has on others. While even later still, the character tells his mother that when he watches himself on camcorder footage, he's not certain who he sees, there's never any doubt he's cognisant of how the world perceives him. Jones' work here is fragile but weighty, volatile but lived-in, boisterous but anguished, and petulant but intimidating. It's all these things at once and, even with other menacing roles in his on-screen past, it's phenomenal. Davis, LaPaglia and Davis make as much of an impression, one stiffened by time, one stripped bare through denial, one lonely and generous, and Kurzel shows that his winning way with actors is just as masterful here as in almost everything (Assassin's Creed aside) on his filmography. His love of sound and fury remains intact here as well, and it certainly signifies plenty. Every second of Nitram is designed to keep unpacking not only the lead-up to the Port Arthur tragedy — an event that's purposefully never shown itself, but inherently tints the film with foreboding, tension, horror and unease — but also the views of masculinity that've become as baked into Australia as the ochre-hued soil. Every moment is meticulously crafted to unsettle, to challenge, and to confront the reality that something this abhorrent happened at the hands of this man. Nitram doesn't trade in answers, but it does come with a message. Its gun scenes haunt, including when amassing weapons proves effortless if you have the cash and inclination. These sequences also help explain why Kurzel and Grant have taken on a clearly nerve-wracking endeavour, as the movie's post-script underscores. Australia's response to April 1996, in enacting tough gun legislation and buybacks, helped console a grieving country, but those laws have since been watered down. Now, more firearms exist across the nation than did then. That too is blood-curdling and traumatic, and making sure it resonates is another of this tremendous film's achievements.
If you've worn that one summer outfit to death, are in need of a new set of sandals for all the beach trips you've got planned or are looking to start prepping your winter wardrobe, it might be time to pick up some new threads. Luckily, you can currently refresh your wardrobe with this huge 40 percent off sale over at The Iconic. There are hundreds of items on sale from a range of sought-after brands including Dazie, M.N.G and Commune as part of the site's Exclusive Edit Sale. Pick up a silky slip dress for your next night out, a tan overshirt that can slip over any autumn outfit or a black leather pair of sandals from Atmos + Here. You can browse the full selection of both women's and men's outfit as well as shoes, jewellery and accessories here. Once you find what you're looking for, the 40 percent discount will be applied on any sale items at the checkout. The sale is running through until 11.59pm on Monday, March 8. Find all the details here. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
There are lots of ways to spot a bad film while you're watching it. The audience laughing during the intended scary bits, for example, is a strong indication of a directorial misstep. So, too, is the moment you find yourself checking your watch and discover it's only 15 minutes in. Perhaps the most telling sign is when you realise that you've already picked everything that's going to happen on screen, and you start re-writing the script in your head in an attempt to make it more interesting. When all of these indicators make themselves known to you so early on, however, the only real question becomes: why are you bothering at all? That same question could well be asked of the phenomenal cast assembled for Life – a space-based horror film that only succeeds in being based in space. Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds, Rebecca Ferguson and Japanese A-lister Hiroyuki Sanada all lend their star power to a film that falls well short of deserving it, especially in light of such a generic screenplay. To be fair, both the premise and opening scenes offer promise. The crew of the International Space Station retrieve a Mars Rover carrying soil samples from the Red Planet that contain a microscopic living organism, the first indisputable proof of life beyond Earth. Rather than explore the inevitable and fascinating religious implications such a discovery would have back on earth, however, Life immediately turns its tiny sentient blob into an ingenious killing...blob. What follows is a by-the-numbers affair that's far closer to Gravity than it is Alien. Moreover, from go to woe, Life suffers from a collection of bizarrely muted performances operating within a remarkably limited emotional range. The differences, for example, between the celebrations over a crew member becoming a father, and the horror of witnessing a different crew member torn apart from the inside out are almost impossible to spot. There are innumerable unpredictabilities in filmmaking, but one surefire rule is that when a cast doesn't seem engaged in its own project, the audience's concomitant apathy is assured. Here the cast looks more bored than terrified. All in all, there's little to like about Life – and even less hope for the sequel it so blatantly attempts to set up in its final stages. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeLsJfGmY_Y
The Big Design Market is coming to Sydney at a big location, taking over Barangaroo's The Cutaway from Friday, September 20 to Sunday, September 22. This vibrant event brings creativity and passion for design, from all of Australia and beyond, direct to Sydney. It's the perfect chance to get in some early Christmas gift shopping, so you can avoid the same boring, last-minute presents — and entry is only a fiver. Not only is the market an innovative space for premium designers, but with a range of art activities and show bags on offer, too, it's not a bad way to spend a weekend. With 200 Australian and international stallholders, selling everything from ceramic homewares and jewellery, to handmade games and toys, fashion for every age and style, and a heap of gourmet food and drink producers, it can be hard to know where to start once you get there. Here are our picks for the stuff you can't miss at The Big Design Market this year, including a specially commissioned art installation. AKA BY AMELIA KINGSTON AKA by Amelia Kingston is a small, independent potter based in Stawell in the Grampians, Victoria. Kingston produces hand-thrown and hand-painted ceramic homewares and jewellery using locally and ethically sourced materials. AKA has a focus on original design, and as most pieces are hand-built, each item is as beautiful and unique as the next. We doubt you'll be able to find two plates the same, thanks to the artisanal methodology of the designer. We love them for the quirky aesthetics of each clay pot — from the spotty gold ceramics or even succulent rings. You're sure to find a great gift for a plant-loving friend. BIG BITE ECO Driven by the ethos of "waste not, want not", Seonaidh Murphy set herself the challenge of creating a brand that actively helped people make smarter choices. Luckily enough for Sydney, Big Bite Eco is coming to The Big Design Market to battle single-use plastics — say goodbye to plastic containers, cutlery and relying on cling-wrap. Big Bite Eco mixes beautiful designs with new and innovative technologies to create affordable products that will help you avoid waste both in the kitchen and while you're out and about at all those summertime picnics you have planned. JOURNEY OF SOMETHING Designer puzzles for adults: not something we write about every day, but considering how cute these are and how great puzzles are for training your brain, maybe that should change. Australian company Journey of Something combine form, function and fun when creating 1000-piece puzzles that you would be stoked to find in the cupboard of your Airbnb. Made from recycled paper, each puzzle features art from Aussie illustrators and artists, and comes in a handy drawstring bag for safekeeping. Someone go nab the Kardashian-covered puzzle by Billie Morris, pick up Leah Bartholomew's native flower arrangement, or piece together Matt Woodcox's beauty shelfie. Gift-giving made easy. CHOOSE YOUR ANIMAL This is one brand that could impress even the toughest animal-loving aunty for Secret Santa. Made from recycled plastic, Choose Your Animal is activewear with a difference. Each product — whether it's yoga pants, a swimsuit or shorts — is printed with a beautiful design featuring an endangered animal. With every purchase, founders Richard and Ursula Keane donate 10 percent of the profits to a charity dedicated to the animal on the garment. Plus, everything is made using plastic bottles, fishing nets, carpet, and textiles, so you can hit the beach knowing you are helping the planet. BILLY VAN CREAMY Melbourne-based brothers Alex and Mitch Wells started Billy van Creamy in the kitchen of their local bowls club back in 2014. Now, the pair are still handmaking natural ice cream fresh daily, but it's being served up to a much bigger crowd at their shops in Melbourne and Perth, and to Sydney punters at The Big Design Market. Billy van Creamy ice creams are made from scratch using local, organic ingredients. It's the flavours you loved as a kid but fresher — we're talking mint choc chip with actual mint in it, and salted caramel that's been homemade with raw organic sugar. The kicker? A vegan range with organic house-made cashew milk and coconut milk. MOO BREW Made in Tasmania by MONA's own brewery, Moo Brew are joining the fun at Sydney's biggest design market — and fittingly, too. Each can is not only lovingly prepared in Australia's state of luxury food goods but also bears bespoke and unique label art by John Kelly, thanks to art juggernaut David Walsh and creative director of Dark Mofo Leigh Carmichael. If you are so inclined, you could drink as many of the different styles as necessary to take in all the culture. From Moo's "velvet sledgehammer" of a stout, to its clean, crisp pilsner — which according to Moo Brew drinks well between noon and noon — there's plenty of beer for when you want a little break in between design hunting. [caption id="attachment_738267" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mural installation by Maylin Evanochko.[/caption] ART INSTALLATIONS The final treat for The Big Design Market ticket holders is the epic 45 metre-long mural from artist Maylin Evanochko. If that name rings a bell, it's because it's from the jewellery brand Mazdevallia. We can only begin to imagine how many colours and shapes we'll see in this year's art installation — Evanochko is known for beautiful patterns and dynamic imagery, which is sure to pop so close to the water and greenery near Barangaroo. Take inspiration from the bold colours and run with it for your pre-summer shopping at The Big Design Market. The Big Design Market will be open on Friday, September 20, from 10am–9pm; Saturday, September 21, from 10am–6pm; and Sunday, September 22, from 10am–5pm. Entry is $5 per person. To check out the full lineup, head this way. Top image: Amelia Stanwix.
Low-fi. Wild ferment. Skin contact. Sounds like different incarnations of your mate's high school band, but actually this is just the lingo of the world of minimal intervention winemaking. It's a movement that's been gaining popularity in Australia and New Zealand for a while now, and the wines produced as a result of it have been floating around restaurants and bars for the better part of a decade. For some, seeing 'skin contact' on a wine list is like a guiding light — but, often, it can be confusing as to what that actually means. So what is minimal intervention winemaking exactly? In its purest form, minimal intervention means winemaking that doesn't add or remove anything at the cellar — it's about turning grapes into wine with as little interference from the winemaker as possible. Unlike your typical drop made with more traditional methods, there are less sulfites and commercial yeast added throughout the process. Instead, yeast that was already on the grapes when they were picked is left to ferment and make it into wine. So, how can you tell when you're sipping one? What flavours should you expect in the glass? And how long can you keep a bottle in your fridge before it ends up down the sink? To help you wade through the winemaker speak, we've teamed up with Stoneleigh to deliver the ultimate untraditional wine cheat-sheet. With this, you won't have to fumble your way through weighty wine lists (and, after that, chicken out and order the house red anyway). We'll have you picking the most interesting wine on the menu in no time. HOW IT'S MADE Let's start at the vineyard. In the case of minimal intervention wine this is, arguably, the genesis of every great bottle. The process begins with fruit picked at optimum ripeness, which is then harvested and crushed. From here, juices are drained and pressed from the skins, then poured into a fermentation vessel and left at room temperature. This is where things really kick into gear. The fermentation of the natural yeast usually begins within a few days and continues for up to a month. It's similar to the style of fermentation that happens in kombucha, kimchi and sourdough. In the case of Stoneleigh's Wild Valley Sauvignon Blanc, 70 percent of the wine is aged in French barrels, while the other 30 percent goes into stainless steel tanks. Once fermentation is complete, the two are blended to produce a balanced and ripe wine that has more texture and depth. The key difference here from conventional winemaking is there's no chemicals, herbicides, and pesticides, added yeast, sugar or machinery in sight. The result? Keep reading to find out. [caption id="attachment_644048" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brook James[/caption] HOW IT TASTES As minimal intervention winemaking adopts a hands-off approach, it's often said these wines are the ultimate representation of the land from which the grapes are sourced. Each vineyard will have its own unique environment that produces naturally occurring micro-flora (the stuff that makes wild fermentation happen) and, as such, its own distinct taste. Without the typical stabilisers and filtering process of conventional wines, the flavour profiles of this wine vary wildly from cellar to cellar. It's a spectrum that shifts from wild and crisp to cloudy and funky. Oh, and expect there to be plenty of sediment in the bottom of your glass. Unlike conventional wines, there are no agents (typically egg white or gelatin) added or filtering prior to bottling — so there will be floaties. But don't worry, these are completely harmless and 100 percent fine for ingestion. Think of it like the pulp in a freshly squeezed OJ. Grown in New Zealand's Rapaura valley, Stoneleigh's Wild Valley Sauvignon Blanc is a wine as very distinct. If you track down a glass, you'll smell stone fruit and lemon curd, and maybe even taste some paw paw. HOW TO STORE IT These wines, unlike their conventional counterparts, are best enjoyed young. Without stabilisers and additives, they prove more unstable and harder to age than a traditional drop. So Stoneleigh recommends consuming its Wild Valley Sauvignon Blanc within two years of purchasing to drink it at its peak. The same rules around typical wine storage still apply for low-intervention wines. Store horizontally away from sunlight in a cool, dry place and keep sealed and corked until you're ready to drink. Once open, the wine's flavour will be at its for the next two or three days — don't leave it any longer. [caption id="attachment_644050" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brook James[/caption] HOW TO PAIR IT Being region-specific wines, many wild fermented wines are a perfect match for vegetable dishes. Look for savoury low-fi drops that play on the earthiness of root vegetables like carrots, parsnips and beetroot. Next time you're hosting a barbecue, skip the six-pack and nab a chilled glass of natural vino instead. Grab bottles with light, bright acidity that work well alongside charred seafood dishes like prawns and scallops or grilled barramundi. Stoneleigh's Wild Valley Sauvignon Blanc is suited to a range of dishes. The winemakers recommend pairing it with an oily fish such as salmon, topped with parmesan herb crust drizzled with fresh lemon or perfect with a range of cow's and goat's milk cheeses. Start your journey through minimal intervention wine with Stoneleigh Wild Valley, whose 2017 sauvignon blanc recently won gold at the New York International Wine Competition 2019. Top image: Brook James.
Now that title's got your attention, let's talk. The year 2015 was a tough 365 days for artist Bryony Kimmings — she broke up with her fiancé, experienced post-natal depression and her son was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy. Most people wouldn't go on to create a musical theatre piece based on those events, but then most people aren't Bryony Kimmings. I'm a Phoenix, Bitch earned rave reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival earlier in the year and was called "an exhilarating ride" by The Guardian. Guaranteed to inspire as much as entertain, Kimmings shows us all how we can triumph over adversity.
If you're in the midst of a mid-life crisis, you might want to skip over this news: it's been 20 years since Placebo released their debut album. Yep, 'Nancy Boy' has been around since 1996. The album Without You I'm Nothing (which included 'Every Me and Every You') was released in 1998, and even 'Running Up That Hill' is almost 15 years old now. It's been so long since these songs were released that fans band of the UK band probably never expected to hear them live again. But this morning Placebo has announced they will bring their 20 Years of Placebo tour to Australia this September. And yes, they'll be playing old stuff. The worldwide tour kicked off this late last year — the band is currently touring Mexico and will head to Europe before coming to Australia in September. As well as Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, they'll make stops in Perth, Adelaide, Newcastle and Canberra too. It will be their first Australian appearance since Soundwave in 2014. 20 years is a long time and the band has a huge discography (seven albums) to pull bangers from — and they've promised to play all those songs you listened to on repeat as a teenager. "Let's just say there will be songs in the set that I've sworn never to play again," said frontman Brian Molko. "I think it's time that we purposefully acknowledged what a lot of Placebo fans really want to hear. They've been very patient with us since we rarely play our most commercially successful material. A 20 year anniversary tour seems like the right time to do so. That's our intention. This tour is very much for the fans and a chance for us to revisit a lot of our early material." Tickets will go on sale at noon on Monday, May 29 through Ticketek. Or, if you're a Telstra customer, they have a pre-sale happening this week. 20 YEARS OF PLACEBO TOUR DATES Monday, September 4 — Perth Arena Wednesday, September 6 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre Friday, September 8 — Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne Saturday, September 9 — Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Monday, September 11 — Brisbane Convention Centre Tuesday, September 12 — Newcastle Entertainment Centre Thursday, September 14 — AIS Arena, Canberra
With the Sydney Harbour as its backdrop, Homeground festival will debut at the Opera House April 5-6 as a celebration of our First Peoples' music and dance. It replaces the previous six-day multi-arts festival Message Sticks, aiming to come out swinging with more energy and focus. Held across two stages along the western boardwalk, the free event will showcase a broad range of performers and challenge what you may think of as Indigenous arts. One of the most spectacular shows will get underway 9pm on Sunday with Australian songwriter Shane Howard, Amy Saunders, Emma Donovan and Yirrmal closing the festival at the waterside festival bar, Bar Badu. Musicians Dubmarine, Steve Pigram, Shellie Morris, Casey Donovan, Moana and the Tribe (NZ), Breabach (Scotland), Djakapurra Munywarryun, Janawi dancers, Street Warriors, Still Gins, Ursula Yovich, Pirra, Jesss Beck, Bow & Arrow, Marcus Corowa and Thaylia have also joined the lineup. Dancers Move it Mob Style, NAISDA, Wagana Aboriginal Dance Group, Eric Avery, Thomas E.S Kelly & Dancers and international guests will also entertain audiences over Saturday and Sunday. Homeground will ultimately showcase Indigenous Australia's uniqueness and cultural diversity to audiences. Head to the website for the full program.
Childhood cartoons painted a pretty impressive picture of what the future would hold – flying cars, robots, space travel, a three day work week… sure, we've got smart phones now, but we're still a long way from The Jetsons. So it's good to see that boffins are hard at work bringing those old sci-fi ideas to the real world, and have built a prototype car that you can control with your mind. Seriously. German researchers have used available-now technology to create BrainDriver, a car (VW of course) that can be controlled by thought alone. The electrical impulses of brain waves are picked up by an EEG headset, originally designed for gaming, which allows the 'driver' to order the vehicle to accelerate, brake, turn left or turn right by simply thinking it. Unfortunately, given the complexities of the human brain not everyone is capable of giving clear instructions, and the car is a proof of concept rather than something that will be available to all, so your X-Men fantasies will have to stay off the road for now. To date, they've taken the mind controlled car for a spin at an airport, but also plan a test in Berlin traffic later in the year. Now if only they could make it fold down to the size of a briefcase, we'd really be living in the future. https://youtube.com/watch?v=iDV_62QoHjY [Via Wired]
Every December, the Geminids meteor shower lights up our skies. Considered to be the most spectacular meteor shower of the year, it's caused by a stream of debris, left by an asteroid dubbed the 3200 Phaethon, burning up in Earth's atmosphere. The shower kicked off back on December 4, but it's expected to be at its peak in Australia overnight between Sunday, December 13–Monday, December 14. So, if you fancy starting off your week with a stint of stargazing, you'll have something spectacular to look at — from around 9pm in Brisbane, 10pm in Perth, 11pm in Sydney, 11.30pm in Adelaide and 12am in Melbourne. The best time to catch an eyeful will be after midnight, when the moon has set and its light will not interfere, and before sunrise. Some years you can catch as many as 120 meteors every 60 minutes — and this year the peak happens the day before the new moon, which will make it easier to see. [caption id="attachment_699423" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, Jeff Dai.[/caption] For your best chances, it's worth getting as far away from bright lights as possible — this could be a good excuse to head out of the city to a clear-skied camping spot — and pray for no clouds. To see the meteors, you'll need to give your eyes around 15–30 minutes to adapt to the dark (so try to avoid checking your phone) and look to the northeast. The shower's name comes from the constellation from which they appear to come, Gemini. So that's what you'll be looking for in the sky. To locate Gemini, we recommend downloading the Sky Map app — it's the easiest way to navigate the night sky (and is a lot of fun to use even on a non-meteor shower night). If you're more into specifics, Time and Date also has a table that shows the direction and altitude of the Geminids. The Geminids meteor shower will be at its peak during the night on Sunday, December 13–Monday, December 14. Top image: A composite of 163 photos taken over 90 minutes during the Geminids by Jeff Smallwood for Flickr.
This editorial is sponsored by our partners, The Rocks. The Rocks Village Bizarre has become a success story in the rejuvenation of the area. The Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority event has reclaimed the cobblestone laneways and heritage-listed haunts with an ever-changing program of events that continues to inspire curiosity. It is returning from November 1 until December 20, and every Friday night the tourists will ship out and Sydneysiders will reclaiming their own, expecting the unexpected. Two events that will allow the public to involve themselves are the Magnificent Revolution YouTube Battle, taking place at 8.30pm on Friday, November 1, and the inaugural Bike Shorts Film Competition, hosted by Magnificent Revolution on Friday December 6. Anyone can enter and there are two categories: Standard Shorts that can be up to five minutes long and Micro Shorts, where Instagrammers can submit 15-second cycle-themed clips. Just make sure to hashtag them with #bikeshorts and #villagebizarre. If the satisfaction of your work being presented on a projector powered by bicycle is not enough to tempt you, perhaps the prize pool is. With $1,000 cash, a mentorship with Emmy and AACTA award-winning Firelight Productions, a Go-Pro camera and accommodation in The Rocks up for grabs, be sure to get filming. It is free to enter the competition and more information can be found here, with entries closing November 25. You can find Bike Shorts on 'Revolutionary Road' at the intersection of George and Playfair Streets. Why not cycle down there and make it a whole evening of two-wheel power. Lycra bike shorts are in no way required but feel free to wear some to give the crowd something extra to enjoy. Want to win a Go Pro HD camera? They're accepting entries to the Micro Shorts competition right up until 3pm on Friday December 6. To enter, take a video around the theme of 'cycle' and upload to Instagram with the hashtags #bikeshorts and #villagebizarre. To watch the teaser video, click here. https://youtube.com/watch?v=nv9-R9V7Uoo
A new exhibition from acclaimed British artist and Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry will open this month – his first major survey in the Southern Hemisphere. A cross-dressing icon and former YBA, the artist is best known for crafting beautiful ceramic pots and his feminine alter-ego, Claire. Perry's foray into pottery might be thought of as injecting an ancient medium with "a perversion to match the curtains", to use his own words. His designs channel a broad range of themes, from trashy twentieth century culture to autobiographical reflections. The exhibition will feature a diverse selection of Perry's work, bringing together sculptures, prints, and drawings. It will also include his large-scale and highly detailed tapestries produced in conjunction with the 2012 TV series In the Best Possible Taste, which was a compelling insight into how taste reflects class in contemporary Britain. Fascinated with identities, Perry creates kitschy and colourful commentaries on power, fame, religion, and sex. His lurid patterns and outright irrelevance ought to make for a pretty exciting summer in Sydney.
The past year hasn't been easy for New South Wales' hospitality and entertainment businesses. Temporary closures, pivoting to takeaway and delivery, stocking sought-after grocery items, enforcing social distancing, operating at limited capacity, using QR codes — these have all been on the cards to help stem the spread of COVID-19, and they've all had a sizeable impact. So, as part of the State Budget for 2020–21, the NSW government announced a new scheme to help both sectors. Originally called 'Out and About' but now named 'Dine and Discover', the program is designed to encourage folks to head out of the house, have a meal, and see a movie or show. And, to do so on multiple occasions. Initially, the state government had set a launch timeframe of January 2021 for the $500 million scheme, following a pilot period. After Sydney's recent coronavirus clusters and the northern beaches lockdown, that timeline has now been updated — with the testing phase happening in February and vouchers starting to be rolled out across the state from March. The Rocks will lead the charge in the trial period, as will Broken Hill in the state's west, with both pilots starting in early February. Customers will be invited to take part, while businesses can register to participate. Then, the testing will be rolled out to the Sydney CBD, northern beaches area and Bega Valley from late February, ahead of the vouchers going statewide the next month. Exact dates haven't yet been given but, when Dine and Discover comes into effect, every NSW resident over the age of 18 will be eligible to receive $100 in vouchers. You'll score four $25 vouchers, in fact, with two available to use at restaurants, cafes, clubs and other food venues, and the other two specifically for cultural institutions, performing arts, cinemas and amusement parks. There are a few caveats, understandably. You won't be able to use your vouchers on tobacco, alcohol or gambling, for starters. And, you can only use each voucher once, including if your transaction totals less than $25. You'll also need to use your vouchers separately, because the idea is to get NSW folks heading out several times to several different places. [caption id="attachment_791611" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Cassandra Hannagan[/caption] To access the vouchers, you'll also need a MyServiceNSW account — and the corresponding app, so you can use the vouchers digitally. You'll only be able to redeem them at participating and COVID-safe registered businesses, however, with the exact details about where you can use them set to be revealed before the scheme goes live. Hospitality company Sydney Collective has already announced that it'll double the value of the vouchers at eight of its NSW venues when they come into effect — so it'll give you an extra $25 on top of each $25 voucher. Obviously, the state's social distancing requirements and other COVID-19 hygiene practises will still apply to anyone venturing out of their house for something to eat, a night at the flicks or some time mashing buttons. And if it all sounds a bit familiar, that's because the UK implemented something similar earlier in 2020, offering up half-price meals to encourage folks to eat out — although it has been suggested that the British scheme might've contributed to a rise in coronavirus cases. The NSW Government's Dine and Discover scheme will start its trial phase in February, before a statewide rollout from March. For more information, visit the government's website. Top image: Cassandra Hannagan
Hold onto your butts, film lovers. The 62nd Sydney Film Festival has just dropped its full program, and it is seriously impressive. With more than 250 titles from 68 countries, including a number of major grabs from Cannes, Toronto and Sundance, Sydney cinephiles are going to be spoiled for choice when the festival roles around in just four weeks time. The 2015 festival will be bookended by a pair of Australian features, both making their world premieres. Brendan Cowell’s previously announced Ruben Guthrie will open the festivities on June 3, while Neil Armfield’s Holding the Man, starring Ryan Corr, Anthony LaPaglia, Guy Pearce and Sarah Snook, will bring things to a close on June 14. Other Australian films in the lineup include Last Cab to Darwin, starring Michael Caton as a cancer-stricken taxi-driver; The Daughter, theatre director Simon Stone's modern-day take on Henrik Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, starring Geoffrey Rush, Ewen Leslie and Miranda Otto; Strangerland, an outback thriller featuring Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving and Joseph Fiennes; and Sherpa, a documentary about disaster on Mount Everest that could hardly feel more timely. The latter three films will compete for $62,000 in this year’s Official Competition, along with nine international features including Italian crime epic Black Souls, American indie dramedy Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Iranian anthology film Tales, minimalist French superhero flick Vincent and Swedish existential comedy A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, as well as a sprawling, three-part Portuguese adaptation of Arabian Nights. Rounding out the competition are three films notable for their formal ambition. Raucous American comedy Tangerine, about a pair of transgender sex workers, was shot entirely on an iPhone 5, while German heist film Victoria unfolds Birdman-style in a single elaborate take. But perhaps most exciting is Tehran Taxi, the new effort from Iranian director Jafar Panahi. Once again defying a government-imposed ban on filmmaking, this new work takes place entirely within the confines of a taxi, with the director himself at the wheel. Other exciting titles outside of the competition include Peter Strickland’s lesbian BDSM romance The Duke of Burgundy, harrowing Ukrainian sign-language film The Tribe and South Korean people-smuggling drama Haemoo, as well as the latest work from Abel Ferrara, a biopic about controversial Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. These join previously announced films including German post-war thriller Phoenix and Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy. The festival also announced a number of high-profile documentaries. Director Asif Kapadia follows up his masterful Senna with a look at the life of Amy Winehouse in Amy, while special festival guest Alex Gibney explores the murky world of Scientology with Going Clear. A number of local docos will also compete for the Documentary Australia Foundation Award, including Gayby Baby, about children raised by same-sex parents, and Gillian Armstrong’s Women He’s Undressed, about Oscar-winning Australian costume designer Orry-Kelly. The latter will screen on a cruise ship in Sydney Harbour. The Sydney Film Festival runs June 3–14. For the full program and to book tickets, visit the festival website.
Combining modern art, live performance and philanthropic fundraising, the MCA Social has been likened to 'a killer New York museum party without the fancypants elements'. Yes, the dress code is 'Cocktail Glamour', but don't let that fool you. We have been assured that the evening will transform the contemplative art space into a loud and young party house. Overlooking one of the world's most ridiculous rooftop views, party-goers will be privy to tunes from Melbourne synth-pop-sensations Client Liaison, Alaska Projects' orchestral-concoction Musical Alaska and DJ Annie Conley. The night will also feature a site-specific installation by local sculptor/inventor/cucumber-wearer Tully Arnot. It will be a brilliant opportunity for modern-art-loving young professionals to connect, make pithy comments and enjoy the open bar. Oh yes, there's an open bar. Tickets are a little exy, but rest assured in the knowledge that all profits from the social will support Primavera, the MCA's annual exhibition for creatives under 35. In the past, Primavera has helped launched the careers of Australian artists David Griggs, Nell and The Kingpins. In a city where young artists struggle to break through (and break even), initiatives like Primavera are an absolute godsend for our local creative culture. In fact, attendees of the MCA Social will not only gain access to the live music, performance art and open bar but receive an exclusive sneak preview of Primavera 2013. Tickets are on sale now at the MCA website.
Just ten short years ago, few people cared about Westerosi power struggles, how many times Sean Bean dies on-screen, if Jon Snow really does know nothing and whether winter is coming. Game of Thrones has existed on the page since 1991, but it was the first season of HBO's huge fantasy-drama series in 2011 that made that three-word title a household term, got everyone hooked on the fight to assume the Iron Throne and had us all watching along for seven more action-packed seasons. Over the past decade, no TV series was bigger — not only in popularity and pop culture impact, but when it comes to small-screen battles and bloodshed, plus labyrinthine plots filled with cunning plotting and double-crossing. Oh, and dragons, too. Whether you loved or hated how it ended, Game of Thrones is always going to sit high on everyone's rewatch list (because, let's face it, everyone has watched it once already).
Spotify, the digital music service that allows you to instantly discover, play and share over 16 million music tracks on demand, has arrived on Australian shores. Available locally from today, Spotify allows music-lovers to enjoy music whenever and wherever they like. Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon developed the program in Sweden in 2008. Since its launch Spotify has risen to become the largest and fastest growing music service of its kind, now available in over 15 countries. Spotify allows its 10 million users worldwide to simply search for any artist, song or album on their phone, iPad or computer and immediately start playing without any buffering. Spotify tapped into the inherently social nature of music and that’s why users can easily share music with friends, create playlists and check out what their mates are listening to. The service's integration with Facebook makes sharing and collaborating easier than it’s ever been. There are three services offered by Spotify. A free (but ad-supported) option is available, as is an ad-free subscription for $6.99 a month. A premium service, which offers enhanced quality and exclusive content and offers, costs $11.99 a month. Spotify also offers a range of helpful apps, which open up a whole new world of discovery and enjoyment. Some of these include the Triple J app, which showcases all the music playing on Triple J's airwaves; Tunewiki, letting you sing along to your favourite lyrics; Rolling Stone Recommends, which provides reviews for users; and Songkick Concerts, to find out all the upcoming tours and shows in your area. Head to Spotify.com to register.
If you don't already have a date with Bluesfest in 2025, here are two new reasons to head along: ten-time Grammy-winner Chaka Khan and rains-blessing rock group Toto. The pair have joined the Byron Bay festival as part of a new lineup drop — the fest's fourth for this year's event — that showcases its commitment to variety. There aren't many fests in Australia where audiences will find the Queen of Funk and the yacht-rock favourites behind 'Africa' on the same bill. Across the Easter long weekend, so from Thursday, April 17–Sunday, April 20, 2025, Bluesfest will also welcome 'Sailing' and 'Ride Like the Wind' singer Christopher Cross — another yacht-rock inclusion — as well as the Polynesian tunes of Maoli. Clarence Bekker Band, Hussy Hicks, Eric Stang, The Steele Syndicate and The Royals round out the latest batch of artists. Khan is playing an Australian-exclusive set to celebrate 50 years in music, and returns to Australia two years after headlining the 2023 Melbourne International Jazz Festival. Among the Chicago-born singer's hits: 'I'm Every Woman', which was later covered by Whitney Houston; the Prince-penned 'I Feel for You'; and 'Ain't Nobody' with her funk band Rufus. As well as hearing the drums echoing tonight in 'Africa', Toto's discography includes fellow anthems 'Hold the Line' and 'Rosanna' — and its members are known for playing on a wealth of albums from other artists in the 70s and 80s, including 'Thriller'. [caption id="attachment_986631" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Michelle Brody[/caption] Bluesfest's 2025 lineup already features Crowded House, Ocean Alley and Vance Joy, plus Hilltop Hoods, Budjerah, Kasey Chambers and The Cat Empire — and Xavier Rudd, John Butler, Tones and I, Missy Higgins, George Thorogood & The Destroyers and many more. Before it started announcing its roster of talent in August 2024, the festival advised that it would bid farewell with its 2025 event, marking the end of an era — and coming at a time when Australian fests have been struggling and cancelling (see: Groovin the Moo, Splendour in the Grass and Spilt Milk, for just three high-profile examples). Bluesfest saying goodbye may no longer be happening, however, with reports that discussions are underway about the festival's future and also that artists are already being booked for 2026. [caption id="attachment_969986" align="alignnone" width="1920"] LD Somefx[/caption] [caption id="attachment_969990" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Joseph Mayers[/caption] Bluesfest 2025 Lineup: First announcement: Crowded House Vance Joy Ocean Alley Tones and I Gary Clark Jr Rag'n'Bone Man RY X Allison Russell Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram Brad Cox Here Come the Mummies The California Honeydrops Marc Broussard Pierce Brothers Taj Farrant Fanny Lumsden 19-Twenty WILSN Cimafunk Neal Francis Second announcement: Hilltop Hoods Xavier Rudd John Butler The Cat Empire Kasey Chambers Melbourne Ska Orchestra CW Stoneking Budjerah Lachy Doley Group Ash Grunwald Kim Churchill Miss Kaninna The Beards Velvet Trip FOOLS ROSHANI Sweet Talk The Memphis Three featuring Fiona Boyes, Jimi Hocking and Frank Sultana Third announcement: Missy Higgins George Thorogood & The Destroyers Rodrigo y Gabriela Nahko BJ The Chicago Kid Melody Angel Don West Fourth announcement: Chaka Khan Toto Christopher Cross Maoli Clarence Bekker Band Hussy Hicks Eric Stang The Steele Syndicate The Royals [caption id="attachment_969988" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Roger Cotgreave[/caption] [caption id="attachment_969989" align="alignnone" width="1920"] LD Somefx[/caption] [caption id="attachment_969987" align="alignnone" width="1920"] LD Somefx[/caption] [caption id="attachment_867504" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kurt Petersen[/caption] Bluesfest 2025 will run from Thursday, April 17–Sunday, April 20 at Byron Events Farm, Tyagarah. Tickets are on sale now — for further information, head to the Bluesfest website. Top image: Lachlan Douglas.
Designer garden pot business The Balcony Garden and leading wholesaler Exotic Nurseries are joining forces to present a huge warehouse sale with everything you need to give your home some fresh greenery. On October 19 and 20, you can score up to 90 percent (yes, nine-zero) off designer pots and planters from The Balcony Garden in Frenchs Forest, and access to beautiful indoor and outdoor plants from Exotic Nurseries. While the actual plants won't be discounted, the nursery usually only sells wholesale, not to the general public — so it's a good chance to get your green thumbs on them. As well as all this, there'll be experts on hand to offer plant care and garden styling advice. Pick up an incredibly trendy fiddle leaf fig, an artisan pot to put it in, and the confidence boost needed to keep your new plant alive. The sale will run from a 8am–2pm across both days. And if you go a little overboard and can't fit all your purchases in your car, or on the bus, shipping can be arranged for a little extra. The garden pot and plant warehouse sale will take place from 8am–2pm on Saturday, October 19, and Sunday, October 20, at The Balcony Garden.
If you're heading to the tropical north, chances are you're going for nature. Whether it's the spectacular reefs, the captivating wildlife or the towering rainforest, if you love nature, you'll want to keep it as pristine and protected as possible during your stay. From immersive rainforest education experiences to luxury eco-stays, there are plenty of ways to lighten your footprint while on holiday in Tropical North Queensland.
If there's two things that the end of the year always includes, it's Christmas decorations and plenty of drinks. They're both all well and good separately, but they might be even better combined — in a Christmas tree made out of tinnies, for instance. A real object that now exists ready for the merriest portion of the 2021 calendar, this Christmas tinnie tree isn't fashioned out of old cans. So, it doesn't merely celebrate the remnants of your past beverages. Instead, it gives you a place to stack new cold ones just waiting to quench your thirst. And yes, it comes with beers, as they're obviously essential to the whole concept. Craft Cartel is slinging these mighty jolly centrepieces this festive season, after giving beer lovers Australia's largest case of craft beer back in 2020. If you're keen to add one to your home — and to get sipping — it'll cost you $399, which covers a flat-pack tree that you then put together yourself, 48 brews ready to wet your whistle and delivery to your door. If you're wondering what you'll be drinking, those 48 tinnies span 24 different varieties — so, two of each. And, alongside cans from Ballistic, Slipstream, Sydney Brewing, Gage Roads, Modus Operandi and Brick Lane, there's seven limited releases among them, such as Stockade's The Mountie Maple Imperial Stout, Akasha's Korben Double IPA, Sauce's Caribbean Fogg Hazy Pale Ale and Moon Dog's Splice of Heaven Mango Ice Cream IPA. Design-wise, the tree itself uses sustainable timber, and is crafted to resemble a traditional pine tree — all thanks to Australian designer Ian Tran of Domus Vim. Who doesn't want to place all their presents around a tower of beer? No one, that's who. And if you decide it needs some tinsel as well, that's up to you. For more information about the Christmas tinnie tree, or to buy one, head to the Craft Cartel website.
Sometimes in life, the good comes with the bad. Maybe you've found yourself in a small American town after escaping from a lab, and you're desperate to discover everything about your past — all of which obviously is far from great — but also you make some fantastic new friends and discover frozen waffles in the process, for instance. Or, for all of us who've been watching Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown, Godzilla vs Kong) navigate that path in Stranger Things, perhaps you find out when one of your favourite shows is finally returning after a lengthy three-year gap, but you also learn that it now has an end date. Sorry Stranger Things fans, but the latter situation is now your reality — because the show has revealed when it'll drop its fourth season and also announced that there'll only be one more season to follow after that. The series' creators Matt and Ross Duffer revealed the news in a letter posted on social media, and also confirmed a few extra details about those season-four episodes that you'll be able to watch soon. So, sticking with the happy part of the announcement at first, Stranger Things season four will arrive in two parts — with the first dropping on May 27 and the second on July 1. And, while you'll have a gap between your binging this time around, the show's fourth season has "a runtime of nearly twice the length of any previous seasons," the Duffer brothers advised. Indeed, that's why it's being released in two volumes. uoos noʎ ǝǝs pic.twitter.com/pJ71dRgmo1 — Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) February 17, 2022 Now, the not-as-cheery news: the Duffers are planning to wrap up Stranger Things after its fifth season. Yes, that means you have all of season four and then a whole other season after that to look forward to — but it also means that your time with the 80s-set Netflix sci-fi series is officially limited. The Duffers also mention that they have more stories to tell in the Stranger Things world, though, so you know what that usually means: spinoffs. Netflix doesn't like letting go of its hits easily, after all, so the quest to find a way to keep wandering through this franchise is about as surprising as Jim Hopper's (David Harbour, Black Widow) gruff mood. If you need a refresher on where things are at before May hits, quite a few season four trailers have released over the past two years, starting back in February 2020. Since then, a couple more teasers dropped in May 2021, then another one in August, followed by yet another in September and one more in November. Across the clips, viewers have been taken to California, which is where Eleven, Joyce (Winona Ryder, The Plot Against America), Will (Noah Schnapp, Waiting for Anya) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton, The New Mutants) have washed up following season three. Eleven is settling in as well as she can settle in anywhere, as she explains in a letter to Mike (Finn Wolfhard, The Goldfinch) — but she also can't wait until she can see him in person again. And, we've also caught a glimpse of what happens to beloved police chief Hopper after the last season's big cliffhanger and Russian-set post-script, and spent time with Steve (Joe Keery, Spree), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo, The Angry Birds Movie 2), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin, Concrete Cowboy) and Max's (Sadie Sink, The Last Castle) in a haunted house in Hawkins. Plus, we've headed back to Hawkins Laboratory and its whole eerie setup, too. It's worth remembering that when Netflix announced the show's renewal for a fourth season back in 2019, it did so with the catchphrase "we're not in Hawkins anymore". That clearly applies in a number of different ways. And if you're wondering about timing within the show itself, season four will pick up six months since the Battle of Starcourt. Also, there'll be a new supernatural threat — of course there will — but if the series' latest mystery is solved, Eleven and the gang might be free of the Upside Down forever. Check out the most recent Stranger Things season-four sneak peek below: Stranger Things season four will be able to stream via Netflix in two parts, with Volume One dropping on May 27 and Volume Two hitting on July 1. Images: courtesy of Netflix.
Remember Sexy Tales of Paleontology or 100 Years of Lizards? These quirky and fun shows were not for everybody, but they won over crowds in sold-out shows at festivals throughout Australia. If kooky comedy is your thing, then you're sure to like the newest play brought to you by Sexy Tales Comedy Collective, Creature of the Nightfill. This new and nutty masterpiece is written by Patrick Lenton, directed by Ngaire O'leary, and the cast includes Alex Williams, Sarah Hodgetts, Laura Hamilton Neil, Emrys Quinn, Dominic Burke and Stephen Jones. The show's website writes that Creature of the Nightfall is "on the surface an absurd crime parody which aims to solve the mystery of how to make you laugh" but deep down is a story of dignity and friendship.
If you haven't spent much time in Kings Cross lately, this year’s Kings Cross Festival is the perfect reunion. On Sunday, October 12, Macleay Street will be transformed into an eating/walking/exploring pedestrian artery with a Long Table Lunch as the centrepiece. You’ll be able to try dishes from 20 local renowned restaurants — including Jimmy Liks, Barrio Chino and Popolo — without hurting the hip pocket, and get the inside scoop on Kazbah Souk, opening officially in late October. Stalls of artisanal delights, juice and coffee from local baristas will keep you hydrated for the whole weekend, and those after more of a kick can head to the pop-up wine bar or a number of tasting stalls showcasing wines from NSW makers. Headlining the artistic side of the festival is Tim Denoodle, whose ‘Somewhere City’ will be showing at Gallery Mercure. Those overwhelmed by the neighbourhood galleries can meet art advisor James Dorahy for an Art Walk starting at Michael Reid Elizabeth Bay and finishing up in the inner east's most popular car park, Alaska Projects. Get a further dose of Alaska at Sunday Studio Sessions and chat to the artists making work there. You can get in on the fun by hastagging #kingscrossfestival on your best Insta pic of the ‘hood until October 10 for a chance to have your art projected on the Australian Institute of Architects on the Saturday night, October 11. With the Cross still being contested ground in the wake of the lockout laws and evolving nightlife culture, this festival is the perfect time to come together and show the old stomping ground some love.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. HOUSE OF GUCCI For the second time in as many movies, Lady Gaga is caught in a bad romance in House of Gucci. Yes, she's already sung the song to match. The pop diva doesn't belt out ballads or croon upbeat tunes in this true-crime drama, unlike in her Oscar-nominated role in A Star Is Born, but she does shimmy into a tale about love and revenge, horror and design, and wanting someone's everything as long as it's free. Eschewing the earthy naturalism of her last film performance and tapping into her famed on-stage theatricality instead, she's perfect for the part of Patrizia Reggiani, aka Lady Gucci, aka the daughter of a trucking entrepreneur who wed into one of the world's most prestigious fashion families, helped unstitch its hold on its couture empire, then went to prison for murder. She's exceptional because she goes big and lavish, and because she knows that's the type of feature she's meant to be in: a soapy spectacle about money and power that uses its depiction of excess as an interrogation technique. Complimenting Gaga for nailing the brief — for acing it so dazzlingly that she's sauntering down her own catwalk as most of her co-stars virtually watch from the floor — gives House of Gucci a tad too much credit, though. Ridley Scott's second film in mere months following The Last Duel, and his third in a row to examine wealth and influence after 2017's All the Money in the World, this fashion-world saga skews large, lush and luxe with each choice, too, but doesn't land every sashay with quite the outsized lustre of its crown jewel. If House of Gucci's veteran director was picking an outfit instead, he would've chosen a killer gown, then wavered on the accessories. Some of his other decisions gleam, as seen in the movie's knowingly maximalist and melodramatic air. Others prove fine, like its jukebox-style soundtrack of 70s and 80s bangers. A few moves are so cartoonish — Jared Leto's ridiculousness, and the Super Mario-style accents sported by almost everyone on-screen — that they play like cheap knockoffs. The story itself is a standout, however, as adapted from Sara Gay Forden's 2001 book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed. When Patrizia meets law student Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver, Annette) at a 70s-era party, mistakes him for a bartender, then realises who he is, it sparks a rollercoaster of a relationship — starting with Maurizio being disinherited by his father Rodolfo (Jeremy Irons, Love, Weddings and Other Disasters) for their marriage. Still, the newest Gucci knows what she wants: a place in the family's dynasty. She isn't the lone cause of the Guccis' unfolding, thanks to Rodolfo's brother Aldo (Al Pacino, Hunters), his penchant for watering down the brand and tax evasion, and his wannabe-designer son Paolo (Leto, The Little Things), but she's the Lady Macbeth pushing Maurizio to seize the company by any means. And, because the reason that House of Gucci even exists was written in news headlines over a quarter-century ago, she's behind Maurizio's killing in 1995. "I don't consider myself a particularly ethical person, but I'm fair," Patrizia offers partway into the movie, a moral code that still sees her order his hit after their divorce — helped by a TV psychic-turned-pal (Salma Hayek, Eternals), because that's the kind of tale this is. Interviewed in 2016, Patrizia called herself "the most Gucci of them all", an idea that Scott and his screenwriters Becky Johnston (Arthur Newman) and Roberto Bentivegna (short El otro lado) don't ever give Italian-lilted voice to, but still use as their basic pattern. In the sartorial realm, Gucci might stand for high-end indulgence, but House of Gucci sees both the allure and the cost of the brand reflected in Patrizia's status-hungry actions. Read our full review. GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE Spraying reboots, remakes, sequels and prequels across cinema screens like a spirit supposedly sprays ectoplasm — gushing reimaginings, spinoffs and seemingly never-ending franchises, too — Hollywood ain't afraid of no ghosts. It loves them in horror movies, obviously, but it adores the spectre of popular intellectual property even more. These phantoms of hits gone by can be resurrected again and again, all to make a profit. They haunt both cinemas and box-office blockbuster lists, making film-goers and the industry itself constantly feel like they're being spooked by the past. With 14 of Australia's 15 top cash-earning flicks of 2021 all falling into the been-there-done-that category in one way or another, looking backwards in the name of apparently going forwards is now mainstream filmmaking 101, and the big end of town rarely likes bustin' a money-making formula. After more than a few pandemic delays, that's the world that Ghostbusters: Afterlife floats into — a world that's made worshipping previous glories one of the biggest cash-spinners show business could've ever dreamed up. The fourth feature to bear the Ghostbusters name, but a new legacy sequel to the original 1984 film, this reanimated franchise entry certainly sports a fitting subtitle; treating its source material like it's nirvana is firmly filmmaker Jason Reitman's approach. To him, it might've been. Although he established his career with indie comedies such as Thank You for Smoking and Juno, he's the son of director Ivan Reitman, who helmed the OG Ghostbusters and its 1989 follow-up Ghostbusters II. To plenty of fans, those two initial comedy-horror flicks were something special as well; however, acknowledging that fact — and trying to recreate the feeling of being a kid or teen watching the first Ghostbusters nearly four decades ago — isn't enough to fuel a new film. To be fair, the younger Reitman isn't particularly interested in making a new movie; Be Kind Rewind's "sweded" Ghostbusters clips are more original than Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Instead, he directs a homage that sprinkles in links to its predecessor so heartily that it's probably easier to name the scenes and details that don't scream "hey, this is Ghostbusters!" as loudly as possible. And, even when Reitman and co-screenwriter Gil Kenan (Poltergeist) appear to shake things up ever so slightly, it all still ties back to that kid-in-the-80s sensation. Sure, Ghostbusters: Afterlife's protagonists aren't adult New Yorkers, but they're small-town adolescents who might as well have ambled out of one of the era's other hot properties: Steven Spielberg-helmed or -produced coming-of-age adventure-comedies about life-changing, Americana-dripping, personality-shaping escapades. Phoebe (Mckenna Grace, Malignant) is one such child, and a new inhabitant of the cringingly titled Summerville, Oklahoma at that. With her mother Callie (Carrie Coon, The Nest) and brother Trevor (Finn Wolfhard, The Goldfinch), she's made the move because the granddad she never knew just passed away, leaving a dilapidated rural property to his estranged family. The townsfolk speak his nickname, "dirt farmer", with mocking and intrigue, but his actual moniker — and all that equipment he's left behind — brings big changes Phoebe's way. While being Dr Egon Spengler's granddaughter doesn't initially mean too much to her, other than giving her love for science a genetic basis, she's soon segueing from testing out ghost traps with local teacher Mr Grooberson (Paul Rudd, The Shrink Next Door) to cracking Egon's secret efforts to stop a world-shattering supernatural event. Read our full review. NEVER GONNA SNOW AGAIN Start how you mean to go on is common-sense filmmaking advice. It's the medium's obvious first step, but it's also an elusive achievement. And, it's a feat that's usually only evident in hindsight — when a viewer can see if a stellar introduction really did signal just as sublime things to come, or vice versa. Never Gonna Snow Again perfects the concept, however. In its arresting opening moments, a man walks out of a forest and into a gated community in eastern Poland, and everything about the scene ripples with moody intrigue. The grey fog infusing the film's setting, the enigmatic look on the mysterious protagonist's face, the feeling that anything and everything could happen: filmmakers Malgorzata Szumowska (Mug) and Michal Englert (also the movie's cinematographer) deliver it all at the outset, and then back it up over their feature's 116 minutes. In Never Gonna Snow Again's initial images, that inscrutable man is Ukrainian masseur Zhenia (Alec Utgoff, Stranger Things), who walks out of a forest and into a gated community in eastern Poland. His destination is lined with lavish identical houses — the kind that the song 'Little Boxes' has satirised for almost six decades now — but he's about to be its most extraordinary visitor. His hands can help knead away physical troubles, a must for everyone with his profession. But as he works his physical magic, his touch can soothe minds as well. Trundling his massage table from well-appointed home to well-appointed home, he quickly builds up a devoted client list of well-to-do residents desperate for his help. He steps into their worlds, spying their outward gloss — the similar wreaths on each door, the doorbells chiming with snippets of classic music — and palpating away their inner pain. As that glorious opening scene establishes almost-unnervingly well, there's a surreal, seductive and otherworldly atmosphere to Never Gonna Snow Again, which Szumowska and Englert let float through their frames like a lingering breeze. There's also a devastatingly savvy interrogation of the type of rich lives that pine for Zhenia's involvement, including their complete obliviousness to him as anything more than a salve for their ennui. Much festers in the feature's McMansions. As it contemplates the everyday malaise that dulls wealth's superficial glow, as well as the vast chasm between gleaming exteriors and empty insides, much haunts Never Gonna Snow Again, in fact. Thematically, it wades into familiar territory — at a time when Succession and The White Lotus are the best shows on TV, and Parasite won the Best Picture Oscar just a year ago, it's probably easier to name movies and TV shows that don't shred the rich to pieces — but it stands out like a pink-hued home in an estate plastered with white and grey. Plenty dazzles in Never Gonna Snow Again, too, including Szumowska and Englert's confident handling, which knits together magical realism and razor-sharp observations about class — and about modern life's rubbish in general as well — with canny precision. Indeed, the movie could've easily crumbled in other hands, and likely will if anyone ever erroneously decides it needs an English-language remake. Perhaps the filmmaking duo's smartest decision is also their most visible, however, because Utgoff's performance is just that magnetic. He's the presence that all those well-to-do clients warm to, lean on and rely upon, and the source of comfort so reliable and cosy that they aren't ever challenged to shatter their bubbles to think about him as a person rather than a set of helping hands — but he has Never Gonna Snow Again's audience constantly pondering and questioning. CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG Nostalgia might be one of pop culture's most-called-upon forces — see also: Ghostbusters: Afterlife — but it can't turn every childhood favourite that reaches cinemas into a winner. Leaping from the pages of Norman Bridwell's illustrated books, the new live-action Clifford the Big Red Dog film is a huge generic slog, shoehorning its oversized, crimson-hued hound into a jumble of routine scenarios that are about as rare as wayward dog faeces in a public park. The giant scarlet woofer gallops into a by-the-numbers, family-friendly action-adventure flick that's a missive against judging things by their appearances, a cautionary tale about bullying and a takedown of nefarious corporate interests. Ron's Gone Wrong barked up all the same trees recently and, while it was hardly an instant classic, it runs circles around this. The point of Clifford the Big Red Dog, no matter what the narrative spins, is right there in the title: it's a story about an abnormally large, unusually ruby-coloured canine, and that's what people want to see. Despite 80 books to the character's name, it's a one-note idea that screenwriters Blaise Hemingway (Vampires vs the Bronx), Jay Scherick and David Ronn (Baywatch) — working with a screen story by Justin Malen (Yes Day) and Ellen Rapoport (Desperados) — unsurprisingly set about fleshing out, but also often sideline their eponymous mutt in the process. Clifford's hijinks couldn't sustain an entire feature, but he's really just a big red sidekick for the bulk of the film. He's an enormous cherry-toned sign for accepting things that are different, too, a well-intentioned message that couldn't be more glaring given that a big red dog yaps the very concept. Clifford isn't originally a giant pet when Emily Elizabeth Howard (Darby Camp, Dreamland) first makes his acquaintance in a Central Park animal-rescue tent run by the mysterious Bridwell (John Cleese, The Very Excellent Mr Dundee). He's definitely the same shade as a tomato, though, and his bond with Emily is instant — even if her mess of an uncle, Casey (Jack Whitehall, Jungle Cruise), says she can't take him home. And yet, this little critter still finds his way into his new pal's backpack. The next morning, he's also no longer a tiny pup. Plus, when he starts attracting attention around New York, he's targeted by a tech billionaire (Tony Hale, Being the Ricardos) who wants him for scientific purposes — but the already-teased Emily, who is taunted at her private school for being there on a scholarship, won't let anyone either take or victimise Clifford for standing out. The look and mood in Clifford the Big Red Dog is sunny with a side of saccharine, and it has John Debney's (Home Sweet Home Alone) relentlessly cheery score to match. With the movie's namesake blazing away in every frame he's in — not due to his hue or size, but via the terrible CGI bringing him to digital life — director Walt Becker (Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip) was never going to helm a subtle film, but everything here is exactly as nuanced as a towering vermillion puppy. The result isn't quite as doggone awful as pooch-driven buddy cop flick Show Dogs, although that's an extremely low bar. It's never as goofy as it should be, however, and it really should sport all the goofiness it can dig up (smatterings of toilet humour don't count). Clifford the Big Red Dog can also only wish it was as visually creative and emotionally endearing as the recent page-to-screen all-ages movie standard: the Paddington films, which keep being pushed into a menagerie of their own by every pale imitation. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on September 2, September 9, September 16, September 23 and September 30; October 7, October 14, October 21 and October 28; November 4, November 11, November 18 and November 25; and December 2, December 9, December 16 and December 26. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Streamline, Coming Home in the Dark, Pig, Big Deal, The Killing of Two Lovers, Nitram, Riders of Justice, The Alpinist, A Fire Inside, Lamb, The Last Duel, Malignant, The Harder They Fall, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, Halloween Kills, Passing, Eternals, The Many Saints of Newark, Julia, No Time to Die, The Power of the Dog, Tick, Tick... Boom!, Zola, Last Night in Soho, Blue Bayou, The Rescue, Titane, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, Dune, Encanto, The Card Counter, The Lost Leonardo, The French Dispatch, Don't Look Up, Dear Evan Hansen, Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Lost Daughter, The Scary of Sixty-First, West Side Story, Licorice Pizza, The Matrix Resurrections, The Tragedy of Macbeth and The Worst Person in the World.
When your nine-to-five plays out like a well-oiled machine, it can sometimes feel like each week is a little same-same. But Sydney is brimming with a fine bounty of things to experience and explore each and every day. So aside from casual laziness and a little lack of inspiration, there's really nothing stopping you from squeezing some adventure and spontaneity into your schedule. We've teamed up with Mazda3 to help you celebrate the little things that bring a sense of adventure to life. Shake things up, as we give you seven different detours to take each week in Sydney. From Monday to Sunday, enrich your everyday with one completely achievable outdoor activity that inspires you to take the scenic route as you go about your daily routine. This week get out and about — go on a street art tour, fit in a picturesque jog and learn to boulder. Plus, we've got your future detours sorted for the new few weeks here. All require no more effort than a tiny break from the norm — what's your excuse for not trying them all?
We've talked before about the rapidly expanding genre of films we like to call 'BDF', or 'big, bumb and fun'. And let's be clear, that label's in no way intended as an affront. On the contrary, when done right, we love the BDF because it satisfies that very basic need every now and then to be entertained without having to tax our brains. More often than not, the BDF rears its head around holiday seasons in the form of disaster and/or alien invasion movies, with San Andreas, Pacific Rim and perhaps even the first Transformers all finding the right balance between the three key ingredients. When it goes the other way, however, usually on account of too much emphasis on 'the big' at the expense of 'the fun', these films quickly become joyless affairs that achieve little more than wasting your time and money. Think Batman vs Superman, Suicide Squad or Independence Day: Resurgence. In the seventies-set Kong: Skull Island, we're happy to say, that balance is back. Obviously it's a BIG movie – afterall, this is King Kong were talking about. It's also undeniably dumb. The dialogue is consistently bogged down in exposition, there's not a great deal of plot to speak of, and the characters make some pretty bizarre choices throughout. I'm no helicopter pilot, but if I suddenly discovered a high-rise sized gorilla and watched it hurl seven other choppers to their fiery death, I'd probably get the hell out of there, not fly directly towards it. Most importantly, though, this is a fun film. The action is well-paced and easy to follow despite director Jordan Vogt-Roberts' heavy reliance upon special effects. The one-liners, meanwhile, are solid enough, and John C. Reilly's downed WWII pilot, who never escaped the eponymous island, steals every scene in which he appears. It is, in short, an old-school monster movie complete with heroes, heroines, clowns and grizzly old soldiers. Then, of course, there's the big guy himself, although in truth the word 'big' doesn't really do him justice. In stark contrast to the original film, there's no caging this fella. He's a sixty-story silverback with a menacing glare and a mean right hook. When Kong battles the island's many monsters, it's like a street fighter up against ninjas: brute strength and stamina versus speed, stealth and agility. The humans, by comparison, are rendered little more than spectators. Of those humans, Kong: Skull Island boasts an impressive cast including Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston, John Goodman and Samuel L. Jackson, all of whom lend their considerable weight to a script that probably deserved less. Interestingly, it also features Chinese star Jing Tian, who recently appeared in another film by the same production house: The Great Wall. Tian's inclusion, while only minor, allows Chinese distributors to smack her image on all their posters and, potentially, open up a giant market that might otherwise be inaccessible to a US blockbuster such as this. One suspects this trend will see a rapid surge in the coming 12 months. Hopefully they develop a more nuanced means of including international cast members than the awkward crow-barring that occurred here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAbI4w95cTE
