New show, same squabbles: that's it, that's upcoming Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon. A month out from starting to hit screens, the eagerly anticipated jump back into Westeros' past has just dropped its full trailer. Yes, it's as obsessed with fighting over the Iron Throne as its predecessor. Of course, that was always going to prove the case with HBO's push to keep all things Game of Thrones alive and flickering across our televisions and streaming queues. House of the Dragon's ten-episode first season is set 200 years before the events of GoT, and focuses on House Targaryen — and if it wasn't already evident that history always repeats itself in Westeros, it looks like that point will be hammered home in the new series. This time around, Paddy Considine (The Third Day) plays King Viserys — and it's exactly who should be his heir that sparks all the Succession-style fuss. He has a daughter, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy, Misbehaviour), who is also his first-born child. But because putting a woman on the throne isn't the done thing, the King's younger brother Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith, Morbius) considers that spiky iron chair his birthright. Battling it out over who'll take the seat will fuel House of the Dragon's storyline, with Rhys Ifans (The King's Man) playing Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King; Olivia Cooke (Slow Horses) popping up as Alicent Hightower, Otto's daughter; and Steve Toussaint (It's a Sin) playing Lord Corlys Velaryon, aka 'The Sea Snake', a nautical adventurer from a Valyrian bloodline as old as House Targaryen. The cast also includes Eve Best (Nurse Jackie) as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon, plus Sonoya Mizuno (Devs) as Mysaria, Prince Daemon's paramour. To answer the other obvious question — other than "will everyone still be fighting over the Iron Throne just like in Game of Thrones?" — yes, dragons do pop up. Flame-breathing scaly creatures and Targaryens go hand in hand, after all. To answer another question, as the trailer's very first words advise, yes "war is afoot" as well. This dance with dragons will arrive on Monday, August 22 Down Under (releasing in winter Down Under, when else?), if you don't already have it in your calendar. Foxtel and Binge in Australia and SoHo, Sky Go and Neon in New Zealand will be doing the honours, if you're wondering where to direct your eyeballs. When it starts airing, following Game of Thrones' eighth-season run, it'll be the culmination of years of planning to extend the GoT franchise by HBO. Firstly, the American cable network announced that it was considering five different prequel ideas. It then green-lit one to pilot stage, scrapped it and later picked a contender to run with: the upcoming House of the Dragon. It has also opted to give novella series Tales of Dunk and Egg the TV treatment, too, and to work on an animated GoT show. And, it's been reported that another three prequels are also under consideration — plus a Jon Snow-focused sequel series. Throughout all of this, GoT fans have been told one thing over and over, even without it being explicitly said. Our days of watching fiery fights between famous Westerosi names — and games over who gets to sit on the Iron Throne — are far from over, clearly, and won't be for quite some time. And, now that House of the Dragon is getting nearer, including dropping several teasers and now this full trailer, that's glaringly apparent. Based on a George RR Martin book, Fire & Blood, this tale harks back to Aegon I Targaryen's conquest of the Seven Kingdoms — which is what started the hefty 738-page first volume in Fire & Blood's planned two-book series — and then works through the family's backstory from there. Aegon I created the Iron Throne, hence the returning favourite's prominence. Also, you don't have to be the Three-Eyed Raven to know that fighting, battles for supremacy and bloodshed are always a part of every GoT narrative. Behind the scenes, Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal are acting as the series' showrunners. Sapochnik has a hefty GoT history, winning an Emmy and a Directors Guild Award for directing 'Battle of The Bastards', helming season eight's 'The Long Night', and doing the same on four other episodes. As for Condal, he co-created and oversaw recent sci-fi series Colony, and co-wrote the screenplay for the 2018 film Rampage. Check out the full House of the Dragon trailer below: House of the Dragon will start airing on Monday, August 22 Down Under via Foxtel and Binge in Australia and SoHo, Sky Go and Neon in New Zealand. Images: Ollie Upton/HBO.
Weird food museums have plenty in common with everyone's favourite doughy Italian dish — there's a type for everyone, and no one can resist their charms. Quite a number exist around the world, celebrating everything from ramen to currywurst to jell-o, but the latest will revel in the deliciousness that is pizza. Who doesn't want to while away a few hours in a pizza cave, pizza fun house or at the pizza beach, then play some pizza games? No one, that's who. They're just some of the attractions on offer at the pizza-themed space, which is is popping up in New York at a yet-to-be-disclosed location. Like the city's other over-the-top ode to a food that everyone loves, aka the Museum of Ice Cream, it's a short-term affair, running from October 13 to 28. Other highlights include an artist's gallery, presumably showcasing plenty of ace pizza-making; an interactive exhibit exploring the history of pizza, as well as promising to tell the dish's untold story (if it reveals that pizza also tastes great cold, well, that's something that everyone knows); and something called 'pizza zen', which, if it's meditation involving pizza, we're sure everyone will be onboard with. There'll also be a pizza screening room — if you'd like to watch clips of pizza, perhaps? So far, few concrete details about what any of these attractions actually entail have been revealed, but they sure will involve pizza somehow. The Museum is being called an "artistic tribute to pizza", according to its website, while the event's ticketing listing describes it as "a place to take amazing photos" and "a space to bask in multi-sensory, psychedelic pizza joy." Expect Instagram to be overrun with pizza photos, basically. If you're wondering about actually eating pizza, yes, attendees will also get a slice with their $35 ticket, from a vendor outside the venue. But, as every pizza fiend knows, one piece is never enough, so "the Museum will do its best to make additional pizza available." Via Eater.
Dream pop, psychedelic folk, alternative rock ... however you describe the music of Mazzy Star, there's no doubt that the duo has soundtracked the lives, loves and visions of the Californian underground for almost 30 years. Now, the pair is coming our way for the first time — and they're bringing a brand new, four-song EP with them called Still. It's Mazzy Star's fifth release. Of the duo's four studio albums, the best known is So Tonight That I See (1989), which features singles 'Fade Into You', 'Blue Light' and 'Into The Dust'. The understated vocals of singer Hope Sandoval and the echoey guitar playing of David Roback remain at the core of Mazzy Star's sound. But, the duo's path hasn't been linear: the pair broke up in 1997 and reformed in 2000, only to split up again, before reuniting in 2010. Two years later, Mazzy Star's acclaimed live comeback at Coachella got fans excited all over again. Mazzy Star's three Opera House shows — a part of Vivid Sydney — will be the duo's only Australian appearances.
The historic Abercrombie Hotel has suffered "sufficient damage" as the result of a suspicious fire early this morning. Emergency services were called to the pub around 2.40am to find the ground floor of the building engulfed in flames. Firefighters successfully doused the fire, but not before it could wreak havoc on the ground floor; the upper levels were also left with smoke and water damage, according to police. Police established a crime scene at the corner of Broadway and Abercrombie Streets and are reportedly treating the fire as suspicious. Gas bottles, fuel containers, and a sledgehammer were recovered from inside the pub. Despite this morning's reports from the SMH, part-owner Jaime Wirth told Concrete Playground that his pub maintains no connections to nightclub boss John Ibrahim. "The only details I have about the fire are from the SMH at this stage. I'm in Bali and have just woken up to it," said Wirth. "The Abercrombie has no links to John Ibrahim, and we have asked these false reports be removed." The Abercrombie was once a popular live music venue, until it closed its doors in January 2010 in order to make room for commercial construction. In July, it was announced that the pub would reopen. Now a popular uni student hangout, the Abercrombie was originally established to serve local Carlton United Brewery labourers in the once-industrial neighbourhood.
She's the grand dame of Sydney pools, with a one-of-a-kind location on the edge of the harbour and a history that dates right back to 1936. But according to the experts, the North Sydney Olympic Pool is in pretty bad shape and needs some drastic upgrades. Fast. In the wake of an engineer assessment, which deemed that the 50-metre pool and grandstand were "deteriorating rapidly" and "nearing the end of their usable life", North Sydney Council has submitted plans for a hefty revamp. The proposal clocks in at a cool $57.9 million, with the council only able to cover $28 million of the cost. It's hoping to secure the remaining $30 million from the State and Federal Government. If the funds do not become available, there are fears the pool could close. "Independent engineering consultants have confirmed that the 50m pool, concourse and grandstand require urgent remedial work so we are progressing to DA stage to keep the project on track," North Sydney Council General Manager Ken Gouldthorp said in a statement. "However, unless grant funding becomes available, we will need to look at our options. No one wants to see North Sydney Olympic Pool close." The new design features an upgrade to the existing 50-metre pool along with a new grandstand and indoor gym, a sundeck, a cafe, 25-metre indoor pool and a family leisure area complete with warm water play zone. [caption id="attachment_617786" align="alignnone" width="1920"] North Sydney Olympic Pool.[/caption] A revamp has been on the cards since back in 2014, when North Sydney Council first started developing potential design options for the project. It gathered extensive feedback on the six leading concept plans and ended up with this current proposal, which will soon be placed on public exhibition for a fresh wave of community consultation. Across its 83 years of life, the historic pool's played host to the Empire Games, survived a length change to fit in with the then new metric system, and witnessed 86 world records, set by the likes of Murray Rose, Dawn Fraser and Shane Gould. It's not the only Sydney pool to feel the effects of age — it was revealed late last year that Balmain's Dawn Fraser Baths was in need of a $6.7 million repair job, while Lane Cove Aquatic Centre's 50-metre pool was forced to close ahead of schedule due to safety concerns bumped up by a mix of old age and wild weather.
Picasso crossed Spain to Barcelona as a young man, before settling in to paint in France. To accompany the artist's Sydney show, the Art Gallery of NSW's series of celebrity talks brings dancer Rafael Bonachela to explain how the same two countries have influenced his work. With a gentle Spanish accent and a yen for making dance easy to enjoy, Bonachela has been reworking the Sydney dance scene since 2008, when he took up the directorship of the Sydney Dance Company. Bonachela's time with the company has seen it move from its blue period to more vivid and abstract movements. Having moved himself as a young man to Barcelona, where the new environment threw him into a world of dance and a more cosmopolitan life, he knows the strength of a locale's influence in the creative process. A spoken topography that might lead to another lingering look at Paris in the subsequent screening of Jean Cocteau's Orphée in the Gallery theatre. And while Bonachela may dance with an economy of movement, with his words he's generous to a fault. Orphée is free, but you may need to pick up tickets in advance from the Info Desk. Image by the Sydney Dance Company.
This time last year, everyone was watching one thing — and talking about it too. Now, twelve months since Netflix's '80s-set sci-fi/horror series Stranger Things became everyone's favourite new show, the streaming platform has released the full-length trailer for its second season. In the words of Hawkins police chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour), "nothing is going to go back to the way it was." Managing to dose up on even more nostalgia and find a clever way to work the ultimate '80s horror-themed track into the mix — yes, we're talking about Michael Jackson's 'Thriller', complete with Vincent Price's iconic voiceover — the trailer shows that the Upside Down isn't done with this band of bike-riding kids yet. Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) can't stop seeing all things creepy, everyone is definitely on edge, and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is reaching out to find her way home. Throw in some '80s arcade games, the expected unsettling vibe, that instant-classic theme tune and Winona Ryder, of course, and the scene is set for quite the second run. The trailer premiered as part of San Diego Comic Con's current explosion of pop culture, with the full series due to drop on Netflix on October 27 — just in time for Halloween, naturally. Watch it and try not to get goosebumps.
It was true of the first Dune film from Denis Villeneuve. It's been accurate of the Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival filmmaker's sci-fi spectacles in general. And it definitely applies to Dune: Part Two. That fact: that these movies look best on the big screen. But if you haven't had time to visit the cinema since Villeneuve's second trip to Arrakis arrived in February 2024, or you're keen to see it again on your couch, this Timothée Chalamet (Wonka)- and Zendaya (Euphoria)-starring sequel has now hit digital. Dune: Part Two is still showing in picture palaces. You just have options now when it comes to checking it out, such as streaming via YouTube Movies and Prime Video at home. Either way, you're in for oh-so-much sand, plus a continuation of Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049) adapting Frank Herbert's work, following in David Lynch's footsteps and managing what Alejandro Jodorowsky sadly couldn't (see: excellent documentary Jodorowsky's Dune). Villeneuve's debut Dune flick scored ten Oscar nominations and six wins (including an Academy Award for Australian cinematographer Greig Fraser); however, it only told part of Dune's story. So, Dune: Part Two keeps the tale going. War has arrived on the franchise's spice-laden planet, and Paul Atreides (Chalamet) and the Fremen are ready to fight. The former doesn't just want to face off against the folks who destroyed his family, but for the sandy celestial body, with Chani (Zendaya) at his side. In the prior flick, Paul had to head to Arrakis because his dad Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac, Moon Knight) had just been given stewardship of the planet and its abundance of 'the spice' — aka the most valuable substance in the universe — and then got caught up in a bitter feud with malicious forces over the substance. It also saw Paul meet the population of people known as the Fremen, including Chani, plus Javier Bardem's (Lyle, Lyle Crocodile) Stilgar, which is who he and his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson, Silo) are with in Dune: Part Two. Expansive desert landscape, golden and orange hues (again, Villeneuve helmed Blade Runner 2049), sandworms, the director's reliable eye for a spectacle and Hans Zimmer's (The Son) latest likely Oscar-winning score: they're all accounted for again. So are fellow returning actors Josh Brolin (Outer Range), Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) and Charlotte Rampling (Benedetta). Among the new cast members, Austin Butler ditches his Elvis locks as Feyd Rautha Harkonnen, the nephew of Stellan Skarsgard's (Andor) Baron Harkonnen. Christopher Walken (Severance) and Florence Pugh (The Wonder) also join the saga as Emperor Shaddam IV and his daughter Princess Irulen — and Léa Seydoux (Crimes of the Future) is another newcomer. More Dune is on the way after this, too, with a third film locked in, even if it doesn't yet have a release date. Check out trailer for Dune: Part Two below: Dune: Part Two is still screening in Australian cinemas, and is also available to stream via YouTube Movies and Prime Video. Read our review and our interview with cinematographer Greig Fraser.
Diaries out: Good Things, the Australian music festival that's boasted the reunited TISM, Bring Me the Horizon, The Amity Affliction, NOFX, Millencolin, Devo, Fall Out Boy, Limp Bizkit, Corey Taylor and Pennywise on its lineup across its past two years, will return to the east coast in December 2024 to kick off another summer. There's no word yet on who'll be taking to the stage, but you can save the date, with the fest again playing Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Good Things runs over a single weekend even though it hits up three cities, and that's remaining the same in 2024. First up is a Melbourne stop on Friday, December 6, before heading to Saturday, December 7 and Brisbane on Sunday, December 8. Venues haven't been revealed yet either, so whether Good Things is again taking over Centennial Park, Flemington Racecourse and Brisbane Showgrounds is yet to be confirmed. Wherever it sets up shop in 2024, both its past rosters and the parts of town that it has popped up in demonstrate that this isn't a small affair by any measure. 2023's fest also featured Bullet for My Valentine, Taking Back Sunday and I Prevail, plus Enter Shikari, Pvris, Behemoth and Sepultura — and, on the local front, Spiderbait, Frenzal Rhomb, Jebediah and Eskimo Joe. Accordingly, whoever does the honours in 2024 is following in some mighty hefty footsteps. There's no word yet as to when more details will be unveiled, so watch this space. 2022's lineup dropped in June, while 2023's arrived in August. Good Things follows fellow touring fest Listen Out and Brisbane-only event Sweet Relief! in locking in a 2024 return in what's been an immensely difficult year for music festivals, with Groovin the Moo announcing its dates then cancelling, and Splendour in the Grass sadly doing the same. Good Things 2024 Dates: Friday, December 6 — Melbourne Saturday, December 7 — Sydney Sunday, December 8 — Brisbane Good Things will hit the Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane in December 2024. We'll update you when the lineup is announced and tickets go on sale — head to the festival website for more information and to sign up for the event's mailing list in the interim. Images: Kane Hibberd.
If any sandwich were to receive an Order of Australia medal, it would be the bacon and egg roll. Artfully combining everyone’s favourite breakfast combo (bacon and eggs) with everyone’s favourite carbohydrate vehicle (bread), this humble sandwich attracts widespread adoration. You can get one for a few coins at a barbecue outside your local Bunnings or for the hefty fee of $16 at Bronte’s chef-hatted cafe Three Blue Ducks. Recently, the B&E has undergone several makeovers, acting as the battleground for cafe chefs to flex their breakfast sandwich muscle. During this road test we discovered rolls flirting with cafe foods of the moment like slaw, aioli, brioche and, of course, the vegetable steadily taking over the planet one green-smoothie-obsessed-young-professional at a time: kale. But no trendy food fad can fool The Bacon and Egg Roll Project. The blog — run by Concrete Playground reviewer Kara Jensen-Mackinnon and her colleague at The Roast Evan Williams — is dedicated to rigorous B&E taste testing in order to ultimately crown one bacon and egg roll to rule them all. Here’s a smorgasbord of their most telling B&E experiences so far. Three Blue Ducks The B&E at Three Blues Ducks is so goddamn delicious, I wouldn’t have cared if I walked away from that eating experience pregnant. The egg was glorious, with a yolk as runny as yolk can be without it being raw and gross. This B&E was packing two condiments: a pimento relish, which provided a satisfyingly saccharine note to combo alongside an herbed hollandaise. Said hollandaise coated the toasted bun with its herby goodness, and it’s slight lemon tang made it easier to forget I was fundamentally coating my bacon fat in liquid fat. My only beef, aside from the obscene price, was that the bacon was a little too thick. I’m not particularly fond of a thick slice of bacon, especially when it crosses into ham steak territory. At no point during my breakfast eating do I like being reminded that I’m eating the cooked muscle of a dead animal, and when a slice of bacon is too thick, that’s all I can think about it. In my opinion, bacon should never be thicker than an ant standing on all six legs. Rating: 7/10. Price: $16 143 Macpherson Street, Bronte Urban Bites Outside Newtown's Urban Bites cafe is a sign advertising a B&E special for just $5. “$5? I haven’t seen a B&E priced that low since a Saturday morning sports barbecue in the '90s,” I’ve thought many times when walking past the sign. After having this thought for perhaps the 15th time, I decided it may be worth forking out the fiver. Now, I don’t mind eating a cheap, basic bacon and egg roll. There’s no prerequisite for enjoyment that B&Es contain ‘housemade relish’ or be served on wooden boards. But there is one prerequisite for enjoyment: that the B&E is at least substantially bigger than my Macquarie University student card. As you can see by the side-by-side photo, the Urban Bites B&E failed this test. Also, if that photo doesn’t tell enough of a story, you should know that I consumed the entire B&E in just four bites. (Those were normal-size bites, not hot dog eating contest bites.) On the plus side, the bacon and the roll were passable. If size isn’t a factor, and you like your B&E’s with a pile of rocket next to them, then perhaps it’s worth a try? For the rest of you, not recommended. Rating: 3/10 Price: $5 72 King Street, Newtown Three Williams Three Williams in Redfern, with its polished wood, exposed copper pipes and expensive lighting fixtures, is everything you want your future adult loft apartment to be and more. This particular B&E is comprised of bacon, chilli egg and the curious additions of pickled slaw and ranch dressing, served on a toasted brioche bun. Now, the slaw was a major curve ball, there was a load of it on the roll, so the whole salt/sweet flavour balance of the B&E was off. I guess the real issue here is, I just don’t get slaw. I mean, it’s coleslaw right? At what point did we decide to universally drop the cole and start calling it slaw? Rating: 6/10 Price: $13 613a Elizabeth Street, Redfern The Pig & Pastry When a co-founder of the Bacon and Egg Roll Project visits a cafe that has ‘pig’ in its name, there’s going to be some high expectations. I had already placed an enormous burden on staff at Petersham’s The Pig & Pastry: this bacon better be the best goddam bacon to ever cross paths with my taste buds, or I’m writing a letter to the local council formally requesting your cafe remove ‘pig’ from its name. Fortunately, I won’t be sending that letter, as this bacon is indeed the best bacon to cross paths with my taste buds. To articulate the beauty of this cured meat through the limited form of human language is an unenviable task. It’s crispy to a fault, yet sufficiently succulent; it’s not overly fatty or oily, but neither is it immaculate and prissy. Essentially, this bacon is like a female CEO who is also successfully raising a family: it somehow manages to have it all. The rest of the package ain’t too shabby neither. A soft bap, grilled tomato and housemade tomato sauce all impress. The Pig & Pastry’s B&E is a triumph of the highest order. Merely reflecting on their bacon while writing this has sent me into a transcendent state I previously believed could only be achieved through years of strict Buddhist meditation. Rating: 9.5/10 Price: $9 1 Station Street, Petersham The Boathouse Balmoral The upside to the B&E at the Boathouse in Balmoral is that it’s served on a plank of polished wood outside in the sunshine on a deck suspended over the ocean. The downside is that you have to wait half an hour just for a table. I suggest heading to the Boathouse at least 40 minutes before you feel like you’re about to be hungry, otherwise you’ll risk causing a scene when you take bite out of someone’s face like that creepy dude who did all that bath salt. This B&E comes with a severe amount of B in varying degrees of crispiness coated with a sweet tomato relish encased in a toasted, perfectly chewy roll. My only real issue was the E. You see, my particular egg was overcooked and the yoke was too firm; jealousy washed over me as I noted at neighbouring tables, golden yokes were cascading over unsuspecting eater’s chins without eliciting so much as a grin. Rating: 8/10 Price: $12 2 The Esplanade, Balmoral Beach The Wedge Espresso Wedge Espresso’s B&E breaks many bacon and egg roll rules. There’s ham instead of bacon, a panini instead of a roll, cheese and avocado, and, I’m told by the menu, an egg which has been “smashed”. Let’s start with the ham. To be fair, this isn’t the first time I’ve caught a cafe trying this. I’ve seen Cornersmith in Marrickville and Raglands in Redfern also attempt the ham-bacon switcheroo. When you’re achin’ for some bacon — as I so often am — it’s hard to consider it anything other than straight-up fraud. A ham scam, if you will. But on this occasion, I must admit I don’t feel swindled. Maybe that’s because there are a lot of extras packed into this B&E. The aioli, avocado, cheese, tomato and rocket remind me a lot of Bill Murray and Wes Anderson: together, they achieve greatness. And salt and pepper flakes and a dash of olive oil on top of the panini are a nice touch also. Sure, Wedge Espresso break some B&E rules, but they’re the rebellious student with so much darn charm you can accept the ham scams and egg smashing. Rating: 7/10 Price: $13 53/55 Glebe Point Road, Glebe Gather on the Green I’ll let you in on a secret; I used to think relish was weird. While out at breakfast I’d openly say things like, “So it’s like a sauce jam hybrid? No thanks.” Gather on the Green in Camperdown was where I had my very first bacon and egg roll with relish experience, and it’s a moment I won’t soon forget. Which is why I consider the Gather on the Green bacon and egg roll with relish one of the best B&Es in the inner west. It boasts perfectly runny egg, super satisfying bacon and the perfect chewy roll. And not only that, this B&E taught me three valuable lessons: to try new things, that a sauce jam hybrid isn’t so weird, and that relish far surpasses any other sauce option on a bacon and egg roll, because (1) It makes you feel like a baller, and (2) It brings necessary sweet tang to the B&E combo. Rating: 9/10 Price: $6.50 15 Fowler Street, Camperdown Runcible Spoon There’s lots of things in life I’m not sure about: android operating systems, jazz-fusion, Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York. But occasionally, there is something in life I’m sure about, and at the moment I’m sure that Runcible Spoon’s bacon and egg roll is one of the best in Sydney. With seriously charred bacon, a perfectly runny egg and sourdough of that not-too-soft, not-too-chewy, just-right-consistency, the RS B&E is kicking goals all over the park. The only bone I can pick is that it’s not exactly structurally sound. Throughout consumption I could practically hear the B&E screaming, “it’s not going to hold!” as its delicious contents began spilling outside of the confines of the roll. So be prepared, by brekkie’s end, your plate is going to be scattered with various bacon and egg rubble. But good news, there’s another thing in life I’m sure about: bacon and egg rubble is the best kind of rubble to have to clean up. Rating: 8.5/10 Price: $8 27 Barr Street, Camperdown The Butchers Cafe Any place that shares a common wall with a bacon depository is a place where I want to eat bacon. The Butchers cafe is located a pork chop’s throw away from an actual butcher packed with meats so glorious that I can only imagine they are a constant feature in local dogs’ wet dreams. Now, this B&E is wonderfully old fashioned; there are no brioche buns in sight, just the most basic of ingredients cooked to perfection. The bacon, sourced next door, is impossibly thin, and as I’ve established in previous posts, I run on a platform of thin rashers. How glorious it would be to live in a world where all bacon rashers were so thin they were semi-transparent? As for the other B&E components: the egg was perfectly cooked and runny and the roll had superior chew factor, the only downside was the complete lack of sauce. Rating: 8/10 Price: $6.60 152 Sydney Road, Fairlight In the Annex "Kale and Egg Roll $8.50 + Bacon: $2.50", reads In the Annex’s menu. My mouth becomes dry; cold sweats begin to surface. Kale as the main ingredient and bacon as an extra? That’s the equivalent of Hoyts showing the movie 'Robin' and making people pay extra if they want it to include Batman. But, as I eat this Forest Lodge cafe’s B&E (or K&B&E), I find I’m very quickly also eating my words. The kale, which I assumed would be awkwardly hanging around outside the bacon and egg friend circle, actually fits in and gets along with everyone. And the bacon, being a particularly crispy number, is easily worth the extra coin. The glue holding the whole thing together is a combination of two condiments: aioli and chilli relish. When mixed during consumption, they create an intriguing lava-esque colour. Each bite feels a bit like a volcanic eruption, and my fingers decide to make like Pompeii circa 79 AD and get deliciously buried in the stuff. I leave In the Annex stunned. Two miracles took place: I enjoyed kale, and wasn’t annoyed about having to pay extra for bacon. It won’t be long till I’m back eating this B&E — and my words — again. Rating: 7.5/10 Price: $11 35 Ross Street, Forest Lodge By Kara Jensen-Mackinnon and Evan Williams.
2015 was a good year for movies. We shifted our love of all things fast and furious to the latest entry in the iconic Mad Max series (although Fast & Furious 7 also hit the high-octane spot), and cried buckets when Inside Out told us that emotions have emotions. We followed Joaquin Phoenix's Inherent Vice stoner detective around in a daze, delved into N.W.A's history thanks to Straight Outta Compton, accompanied Emily Blunt through the drug war in Sicario, and reignited our love of boxing movies with Creed. And the list goes on. That was then, though, and this is now. Well, almost. 2016 is swiftly approaching, bringing with it a fresh batch of potential cinema treasures. Superheroes and sequels feature as always — which is good news if X-Men: Apocalypse or Zoolander 2 sound like your kind of thing. Awards contenders such as '50s-set romance Carol, journalism drama Spotlight and harrowing holocaust effort Son of Saul arrive on Australian screens, alongside a few others that release overseas in 2015, such as Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's comedy Sisters, Quentin Tarantino's western The Hateful Eight and star-studded GFC effort The Big Short. Basically, it's all shaping up to be another great twelve months for film buffs — and anyone who heads to the cinema every now and then. To help stoke your excitement, we've found ten movies you should add to your 2016 must-see list. They'll be on a big screen near you before you know it. ANOMALISA If you've seen Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, you'll agree that a new Charlie Kaufman film is cause for celebration. Eight years after making his directorial debut with Synecdoche, New York, the writer turned helmer delivers his second stint behind the camera in the form of the animated Anomalisa. The tale of a man struggling with his mundane life might sound routine, but if there's one thing Kaufman doesn't do, it's ordinary. Don't expect the usual CGI fare either, with the movie using puppets made with 3D printers. In Australian cinemas February 4. HAIL, CAESAR! The latest Coen brothers flick sounds like the stuff that dreams are made of, with Josh Brolin, Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson, George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, '80s action heroes Dolph Lundgren and Christopher Lambert all starring in the '50s-set throwback to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. Here's hoping that it lives up to everything we're all already hoping for and fantasising about. Given that the Coens' resume includes Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou?, No Country For Old Men and Inside Llewyn Davis, we're pretty optimistic. In Australian cinemas March 3. KEANU No, Keanu isn't a film about a certain Mr Reeves — although we would watch out the hell out of that. Instead, it’s a movie about two friends who decide to pose as drug dealers to retrieve a stolen cat. Stay with us though, because it stars Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. Yep, their brilliant sketch comedy series might've come to an end, but that just means they have more time for other things. Will Forte also features, should you need any more convincing. In Australian cinemas April 21. THE NICE GUYS Even if you don't recognize the name Shane Black, we're guessing you're a fan of at least one of his movies. He wrote Lethal Weapon, directed the Robert Downey Jr comeback that was Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and now pairs Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe together in The Nice Guys. The former plays a private detective, and the latter an enforcer turned his unlikely partner on a murder investigation. Expect them to spout plenty of smart, wisecracking dialogue, in keeping with Black's style — and expect to have fun watching them. In Australian cinemas May 26. GHOSTBUSTERS Admit it: a certain Ray Parker Jr song just popped into your head. The catchy tune isn't the only thing that's memorable about the 1984 film — or its 1989 sequel — but the 2016 instalment looks set to add its own impressive elements to the mix. Case in point: the all-female cast of Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones are taking over from Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson. They'll play the next batch of New Yorkers dallying with the paranormal, and one thing's certain — they ain't afraid of no ghost. In Australian cinemas July 21. DOCTOR STRANGE If you've been suffering from superhero fatigue, one of Marvel's two 2016 films might provide the antidote. After the third Captain America movie reaches cinemas in April, the company that kickstarted the current wave of caped cinematic crusaders gets magical and mystical with Doctor Strange. Everyone's favourite otter lookalike, Benedict Cumberbatch, stars as a former neurosurgeon who learns the supernatural arts and becomes the Earth's primary protector against otherworldly threats. Mads Mikkelsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams and Tilda Swinton join him, in an effort that looks a little more offbeat than usual, like Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy. In Australian cinemas October 27. ASSASSIN'S CREED Film adaptations of video games haven’t had a stellar run. But with Warcraft also releasing in 2016, Assassin's Creed isn't the only movie trying to change that — however, it is the only one that re-teams the main on- and off-screen talent behind one of 2015's best efforts, Macbeth. Yep, after adapting the bard into something moody and brooding, director Justin Kurzel, actors Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, and cinematographer Adam Arkapaw, reunite for something completely different. Even if you've never played the game — which focuses on the rivalry between two ancient secret societies — the team behind this is reason enough to be excited. In Australia cinemas December 26. ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS: THE MOVIE It's been more than two decades since we first met the self-indulgent duo of Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone, but those champagne-swilling London ladies are still kicking on. After five series, a few specials and a handful of 20th anniversary episodes, they're making the leap to the big screen in an effort that's certain to earn its moniker. Yes, the alter egos of Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley are back, accompanied by the other characters — Eddy's long-suffering daughter Saffy, her dotty mother, and eccentric assistant Bubble, for example — you know and love. In keeping with the TV series, they'll be bringing a host of famous names along with them, and inspiring ample laughs in the process. Australian release date to be confirmed. JULIETA After taking to the skies but not quite flying high with 2013's I'm So Excited!, Spain's premier auteur gets back on track with Julieta. Chronicling the life of a woman across two time periods — now, and thirty years prior — might seem like familiar territory for Pedro Almodóvar, but he never really does the same thing twice. The movie is set to release in the filmmaker's homeland in March, so fingers crossed that it heads to Australian shores without much delay. And if you'd been looking forward to the director's latest but don't recognise the title, that's understandable — until less than a month ago, it was called Silencio. However Almodóvar changed the name to avoid confusion with Martin Scorsese's forthcoming effort, Silence. Australian release date to be confirmed. A STORM IN THE STARS Forget Victor Frankenstein, and make note of the James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe-starring reimagining of Mary Shelley's classic text that looks set to head straight to DVD in Australia. A Storm in the Stars tells the tale behind the iconic tale, and is a film gothic horror fans should be looking forward to. Elle Fanning stars as the author, The Diary of a Teenage Girl's Bel Powley plays her sister Claire Clairmont, and Romeo & Juliet's Douglas Booth features as poet Percy Shelley. That the movie also marks the English-language debut of Wadjda's Haifaa Al-Mansour is the icing on the cake. Australian release date to be confirmed.
Australians are exceedingly lucky when it comes to travelling domestically. Aussie shores are home to an eclectic mix of bushland, pristine coastline, rainforests, turquoise waters and white sand beaches, along with biodiversity that is hard to beat the world over. And the list of things you can do in your own backyard only continues to grow every year. Here, we've puled together ten of the country's newest (and most) exciting travel experiences. Whether it be a luxurious cross-country train ride, a trip dedicated to dipping into coastal thermal baths or an art gallery farm stay in rural New South Wales, this list has something for every kind of explorer. Perfect for exploring the country when you don't have enough annual leave to head overseas. [caption id="attachment_702560" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] CONQUER THIS EPIC ISLAND WALKING TRAIL This newly opened mountain bushwalk trail on North Stradbroke Island was designed and constructed by the Quandamooka people, the island's traditional owners. At just over two kilometres long, the Mount Vane walking track boasts 360-degree views of Moreton Bay and Quandamooka country. It also links into two existing walks within Naree Budjong Djara National Park, making a ten-kilometre network of trails. Along the interconnected trails, walkers can now nab a view from the top of one of Straddie's highest peaks, trek half a day down to Karboora (the Deep Silent Pool, which is also known as Blue Lake) and find other high spots with scenic vantages — including sweeping over 18 Mile Swamp and over to the Gold Coast. For those keen to stay a few nights, new beachside cabins, eco-tents, glamping and safari tents are coming to this scenic spot in June. [caption id="attachment_718055" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kimberley Low[/caption] HAVE A WEEKEND RETREAT AT NSW'S MOST LUXE FARM STAY Located a three-hour drive south of Sydney, the town of Braidwood is now home to the renovated Mona Farm, a 124-acre country estate and your new excuse for an out-of-town holiday. The property is part luxury farm stay, part-nature retreat and part-art gallery, all wrapped into one. Mona Farm's six historic farmhouses have been revamped by Australian heavyweights such as Surry Hills' architect Louise Nettleton, Brisbane artist Sally Anderson and German kinetic sculptor Frank Bauer. Beyond the accommodation, over 20 Australian and international sculptors have been installed throughout the gardens and grounds, giving the natural surrounds a modern appeal. It really is a working farm, too, with Scottish Highland cattle, English Wiltshire Horn sheep, Wessex saddleback pigs and Clydesdale horses all sharing the land — plus platypus, long-necked turtles and rainbow trout sharing the lake. STAY ON THIS INSANE ISLAND RESORT IN THE WHITSUNDAYS After a huge $100 million redevelopment, Daydream Island Resort last month finally reopened after being devastated by Cyclone Debbie back in March 2018. The only resort on Daydream Island in the Whitsundays, it features a 200-metre living reef, three restaurants, a poolside bar and an outdoor cinema to boot. Crystal clear turquoise waters surrounding every corner of this tiny oasis. And the massive, newly landscaped pool wraps throughout the resort's tropical gardens and coral beaches, offering views of the Great Barrier Reef beyond. At resort's living reef, guests can learn from local marine biologists while helping to feed baby stingrays and exploring the new underwater observatory that includes over 100 species. While you're in the region, don't miss the chance to do a bit of exploring and check out the nearby Whitehaven Beach, which is listed as one of the best beaches in the world. Those keen to explore the Whitsundays further can book snorkelling, helicopter tours, sailing, jet-skiing and island-hopping experiences through the resort. CHECK OUT FOR A NIGHT SURROUNDED BY WINE IN THE HEART OF THE BAROSSA The Barossa Valley's rolling winery-filled countryside has scored a sleek new addition in The Villas, a secluded luxury retreat championing environmentally responsible architecture. Two thoughtfully designed structures have made their home in the quaint town of Marananga, an hour's drive from Adelaide. The work of Sydney firm Stephen Sainsbury Architects, the villas are constructed using a minimal impact and environmentally sustainable system called 'Ecoshelta', which has been used to build off-the-grid retreats across NSW and Tasmania. All topped off with views across the one-hectare of private property (yours to explore) filled with sugar gums, eucalypts and — often — 'roos. This retreat is also a prime basecamp for any winery hopping adventures, perched within walking distance of no less than five local cellar doors, not to mention the famed Seppeltsfield Road Distillers. With more than 150 wineries in the region, you certainly won't be short a good glass of plonk. ZOOM DOWN A ZIP LINE AT THE BIG PINEAPPLE As part of a $150 million redevelopment, the space around The Big Pineapple is looking a little different. As well as viewing the giant tropical fruit, you're now able zoom down a 120-metre zipline and complete five high ropes courses. TreeTop Challenge's new course — which opened in March— features 120 activities across eight acres, including a two-kilometre stretch of high ropes and 12 ziplines and flying foxes, including that massive 120-metre one. All up, it takes around half a day to complete. Eventually, it'll form part of an 'adventure precinct', which will include a water park, an on-site glamping site, a new craft brewery and a major distillery. SPEND A NIGHT AT AUSTRALIA'S ONLY 'URBAN RESORT' Fortitude Valley has just welcomed its next addition: The Calile Hotel. Two years in the making, the seven-storey, 175-room spot is calling itself 'Australia's first urban resort'. Yes, that means that going for a splash in the central pool, lazing around in cabanas or on a sun lounge, and eating on the hotel's outdoor deck are all on the agenda. So is hanging out at the spa, which is also open to the general public. The white brick design, by architects Richards and Spence, certainly highlights the tropical side of things. Think open-air spaces and breezeways, natural ventilation and plants aplenty. Inside the rooms, guests will find oak furniture, cork floors and sisal matting in the bathrooms, day beds for afternoon naps, linen robes and a mini bar stocked from local suppliers. The Calile also featuring nine suites and two premier suites, complete with poolside and terrace-style balconies as well as two private rooftop terraces — for when you're feeling like splashing some cash around. STAY IN A HARRY POTTER-THEMED HOTEL SUITE Grandiose Melbourne institution The Hotel Windsor has transformed one of its 180 heritage rooms into a wizarding wonderland — complete with pieces inspired by the Harry Potter franchise. Think wands, prints and tonnes of official merchandise, along with many magical limited-edition items. Guests of the suites — which have also been decked out with Hogwarts-appropriate vintage trunks, leather furniture and plush rugs — have exclusive access to all of it. The suite's launch corresponds with the current season of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Princess Theatre — located just down the block from the Windsor — and it will remain open for bookings until December 31, 2019. This means that the magical world of Harry Potter doesn't have to end post-show, but will just keep on going back at your hotel room. [caption id="attachment_699371" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Great Southern Rail[/caption] COMPLETE THIS BUCKET LIST-WORTHY RAIL JOURNEY If a long trip on a locomotive holds romantic, old-world notions for you, then you'll want to hop on one of the luxury Great Southern Rail trips, which will embark on its maiden journey from Adelaide to Brisbane in December this year. Passengers departing from Adelaide will stop at the Grampians National Park, then hop off again at Canberra, and also enjoy the northern New South Wales coast on their way to Queensland. For those boarding in Brisbane, dining by the beach in northern NSW awaits, as does a day in the Hunter Valley and Newcastle, plus some time at the Twelve Apostles. The company already operates two long-distance train treks, The Ghan (which runs from Adelaide to Darwin) and and the Indian Pacific (which journeys from Sydney to Perth), but this limited-edition journey will run only 16 trips between December 3, 2019 and January 30, 2020. It doesn't come cheap — starting at $1649 per person — but that price does include your food and wine onboard, any dining that takes place off the train, and all of the off-locomotive experiences across the multi-night trip. You can book now. STAY IN A SECLUDED DOME IN THE BUSH If a luxury getaway is on the cards in your near future, NSW has a stunning new outback accommodation option to add to your wish-list. Set on a 9000-acre, third generation beef and sheep property near Warialda in the state's north (about seven hours from Sydney and five from Brisbane), the newly launched Faraway Domes promises a luxury secluded escape, with the added bonus of a minimal carbon footprint thanks to an off-grid power supply. Designed to be able to create its own natural heating and cooling, the self-contained geodesic dome structure fits two and is kitted out in style. A surrounding elevated deck (complete with an outdoor bath) takes full advantage of those sweeping rural views. When you're not living it up in your gorgeous temporary home, you'll find plenty nearby to keep you entertained — Macintyre Falls, Copeton Dam, Cranky Rock Nature Reserve and the Ceramic Break Sculpture Park are located all within an hour's drive of the dome. TREAT YOURSELF AT AUSTRALIA'S FIRST ICE CAVE Melburnians — and Australians — now have even more of a reason to head down the Mornington Peninsula for a pampering session, as the acclaimed Peninsula Hot Springs has recently unveiled some swish new facilities as part of a $13 million upgrade. The award-winning wellness destination now has two cold plunge pools and seven new hot spring pools, an impressive outdoor Bath House Amphitheatre and underwater stages. The Hot Springs is also delving into cryotherapy for the first time with a new 'ice and fire' experience — which is worth the trip in itself. This will allow bathers to switch between hot and cold therapy — the hot being two new 30-person saunas, and the cold being a new (and Australian-first) ice cave and a 'deep freeze' treatment room, which is kept at a cool 25 degrees below freezing. Thermally heated glasshouses and an underground mushroom cave are also in the works.
It has not been a good month for controversial bike sharing service oBike. First, it was announced that the ill-fated bikes were vanishing off the streets of Melbourne. Now, the Singapore-based company has announced via Facebook and its app it will no longer be Singapore-based, stopping operations in the city on Monday, June 25, 2018. oBike was launched in Singapore a little over a year ago — in January 2017 — but faced difficulties meeting the requirements of the city's Land Transport Council. The council passed new laws in March 2018 requiring bike-sharing operators to register for new licences that regulated fleet size. Regulations were the reason the service pulled out of Melbourne, too, as the company was unable to comply with new guidelines imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, in which abandoned bikes blocking streets for more than two hours would prompt $3000 fines. There are also reports flooding social media that oBike is refusing to return deposits ($49 in Singapore and $69 in Australia), with some users saying the refund button has disappeared altogether and others saying that the deposits have been converted into subscriptions. If this affects you, a Consumer Affairs Victoria spokesperson recommends "consumers should first contact the business to seek a resolution. If the business does not resolve the issue, and a credit card was used for payment, the consumer can contact their bank or credit card provider for a chargeback." There's no word yet on whether the infamous yellow bikes will be leaving Sydney, with the oBike's recent announcement stating, "this decision will not affect oBike's operations in anyway in countries outside of Singapore". The company is still promoting its new rewards for parking responsibly and in designated parking spots in Sydney via Facebook. We'll continue to update the story as further announcements are made.
Time is usually of the essence on an out-of-town trip, so you want to make sure you're hitting the best spots, particularly when it comes to meal times. This autumn, Bendigo is running a roaming tour that does all the hard work for you, so you can spend less time researching and more time feasting. Welcome to Our Kitchens, taking place on Sunday, March 17, will feature five different kitchens, a whole heap of local produce and an insurmountably tasty time in general. The tour is led by local guides Food Fossickers, who are experts at where to find the foodie goods. Across a five-hour period, you'll sample the best of Bendigo's local produce, hear from chefs and food makers and make your way around town on foot to pop into the various venues. Your produce crawl will take you to Masons of Bendigo, The Good Loaf Sourdough Bakery, Sangria Spanish Tapas Bar, Wholefoods Kitchen, Hoo-gah and Indulge Fine Belgian Chocolates. Tickets are $75 per person and partakers will get a savoury dish and a sweet treat at each venue, plus a limited-edition plate, handmade by Bendigo Pottery, to take home. For an extra fee, you can match a locally produced beverage to each dish — which is probably wise as walking and learning can be thirsty work. The Welcome to Our Kitchens tour starts at 11am on Sunday, March 17. To book your tickets, head to the Bendigo Tourism website.
Asylum seekers. Refugees. Migrant communities. In today’s Australia, these descriptions aren’t likely to generate warm feelings and positive stories. More likely these are buzzwords for negativity, for political disagreements and protests. What people won’t read in the immigration reports is that many refugees and migrants come from cultures where textiles, sewing and clothes-making are everyday practice, meaning they arrive with skills which fit quite perfectly into Australia’s thriving creative communities. And in that lies the intersection between fashion and social good. That’s right, philanthropist and CEO of The Social Outfit Jackie Ruddock is giving you a very good reason to bust out those credit cards: her social enterprise employs and trains migrants in producing fashion with a contemporary Australian aesthetic. The local fashion industry is not without its challenges, but it's not going to disappear. So when it comes to providing stable employment opportunities, education and empowerment to those who already have the skills to create, it feels a bit like a no-brainer. Many migrants come to Australia from interrupted educations, and employment in a physical shop allows them to become part of Australia’s culture and economy. Through business interactions, speaking in English and seeing each piece from conception to creation through to sale, employees are getting a truly beneficial education in a real-life classroom. The Social Outfit itself came into existence after Ruddock launched a 365-day social experiment where she committed to wearing a piece of Ken Done’s fashion line and donating $3 per day to her chosen charity, The Social Studio in Melbourne. “It wasn’t my intention to set up in Sydney,” Ruddock explains, “but we’d built so much interest that we had to ask ourselves what it would look like.” So with her steadfast following and believe in the cause, Sydney’s own fashionable social enterprise was born. An independent venture from Melbourne’s flagship, built through close collaboration. Nothing is by accident, down to the Newtown shop fit-out, designed entirely by Nina Maya, a Sydney designer who also contributed to Colour Chameleon, The Social Outfit’s first line, made up of donated digital prints from the likes of Dragstar and Ken Done. Two square cut-outs hide among the wooden shelving, allowing customers a direct view into the sewing room behind the shop, where every single piece is hand-created. Just to add further to the social cause, much of the fabric used is excess from fashion designers, otherwise awaiting its fate in the landfill. They say that location is everything and the inner west was the ideal connection to the migrant communities of Western Sydney and the inner city shopping destinations. Equally important was the shop’s accessibility via public transport, making King Street an easy choice. Having only just opened up the volunteer-run permanent shop (they had a pop-up in The Rocks last year), Ruddock and the board of seven have already seen massive support from the local creative and fashion communities and the possibilities for development seem endless. Next up, they have partnered with Sydney TAFE to provide Certificate III in clothing production through the in-house sewing school. This is just one more way The Social Outfit is providing detailed education and hands-on experience and celebrating the contribution of these communities to a caring and creative Sydney. The Social Outfit is at 353 King Street, Newtown. Words by Annie Bettis; images by Rima Sabina Aouf.
Even though many of us love the idea of home-grown veggies, our work and social schedules often take precedence over sowing, seeding and weeding. However, a new fully automated hydroponics system promises to change all that. Titled 'Bitponics', it runs a 'Personal Grow Plan' (i.e. an entire season of gardening) via its Cloud. The soil is embedded with Wi-fi responsive sensors, which respond to humidity, air and water temperatures, light and pH levels. The Cloud automatically turns accessories on and off, and monitors the sensors' data. This information is sent to a web-based dashboard, accessible from any electronic device. In the case of sudden problems, the system sends immediate alerts, to which the user can respond remotely. 'Bitponics is a path into the future of urban home gardening,' explains Michael Zick Doherty, co-founder and lead hardware engineer. 'Through the development of open source technologies, we are making it possible for urban gardeners to care for their plants while they're away. Growing hydroponically is more than just about providing free food to your home - it is also about the educational experience that allows us to reconnect with what we eat, empowering us to eat healthy and protect our environment. It is also a great way for students in the classroom to use hydroponics as an applied method of understanding sciences such as biology and chemistry. They can see in real time the changes in the plants' environment and how this correlates to plant growth.' Still in development, a Bitponics Base Station will retail at $US499. Three different web services will be available: 'Trial' (free), 'Serious Grower' ($9 per month) and 'Commercial Grower' ($49 per month). [via PSFK]
Calvin Klein Swim has found its way to Australian shelves, landing a little late in the season, but just in time to see the end of summer. Launching across Australia today, the men's and women's swim collections deliver waterproof versions of those iconic logo waistbands made popular by Kate Moss and Marky Mark Wahlberg in 1992. Throughout both menswear and womenswear swim collections, it's all about the bold, high-impact and cutting-edge with the use of bright primary colours, blocks of black and white, and ultra modern cuts. Ladies, strength and femininity combine with provocative zip-front one-pieces, sleek black, white and gold one-shoulder numbers, and classic thin strap cozzies with 'Calvin' emblazoned down the side. It's your choice if you want to play Bond Girl, Olympian or both, but slipping into that logo-banded red bralette and matching split waistband bottoms, you'll undeniably feel as if you've entered some '90s mashup of Baywatch meets TLC video — move over Bondi Rescue. For the guys, there's a fair share of logo waistbands for your boardies, plus styles with a choice of one big 'Calvin' down the side or several little 'Calvin Kleins' dotted among surfboards. Along with swimwear, the brand brings with it a collection of sporty, beach-ready accessories including a branded towel and branded slides: right foot 'Calvin', left foot 'Klein'. As we ride out the rest of summer, everyone will certainly know who you're repping at the beach as you layout your towel, slip off your slides and show off your new mid-summer swimmers. Beach body by Calvin Klein. The Calvin Klein Swim menswear and womenswear collections are available from today at select David Jones stores, and online and in Calvin Klein stores nationwide from next week. Prices range from $59-199.
A Star Is Born has already graced the titles of four different films, and Licorice Pizza isn't one of them. Paul Thomas Anderson's ninth feature, and his loosest since Boogie Nights — his lightest since ever, too — does boast a memorable Bradley Cooper performance, though. That said, this 70s- and San Fernando Valley-set delight isn't quite about seeking fame, then navigating its joys and pitfalls, although child actors and Hollywood's ebbs and flows all figure into the narrative. Licorice Pizza definitely births two new on-screen talents, however, both putting in two of 2021's best performances and two of the finest-ever movie debuts. That's evident from the film's very first sublimely grainy 35-millimetre-shot moments, as Alana Haim of Haim (who PTA has directed several music videos for) and Cooper Hoffman (son of the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman, a PTA regular) do little more than chat, stroll and charm. The radiant Haim plays Alana Kane, a Valley dweller of 25 or 28 (her story changes) working as a photographer's assistant, which brings her to a Tarzana high school on yearbook picture day. Enter the smoothly assured Hoffman as 15-year-old Gary Valentine, who is instantly smitten and tries to wrangle a date. Alana is dismissive with a spikiness that speaks volumes about how she handles herself (a later scene, where she yells "fuck off, teenagers!" to kids in her way, is similarly revealing). But Gary keeps persisting, inviting her to the real-life Tail o' the Cock, a fine diner he claims to visit regularly. In a gliding ride of a walk-and-talk sequence that's shot like a dream, Alana says no, yet she's also still intrigued. As a smile at the end of their first encounter betrays, Alana was always going to show up, even against her better judgement (and even as she firmly establishes that they aren't a couple). Her demeanour doesn't soften as Gary interrogates her like he's a dad greeting a daughter's beau — a gag Anderson mirrors later when Alana takes another ex-child actor, Lance (Skyler Gisondo, Santa Clarita Diet), home to meet her mother, father and two sisters (all played by the rest of the Haims, parents included) and he's questioned in the same manner. That family dinner arises after Gary enlists the new object of his affection to chaperone him on a trip to New York, where he's featuring with Lance in a live reunion for one of their flicks. Upon returning to Los Angeles, Gary is heartbroken to see Alana with Lance, but all roads keep leading her back to him anyway. Charting Alana and Gary's friendship as it circles and swirls, and they often sprint towards each other — and chronicling everything else going on in the San Fernando Valley, where PTA himself grew up — Licorice Pizza is a shaggy slice-of-life film in multiple ways. Spinning a narrative that Anderson penned partly based on stories shared by Gary Goetzman, an ex-child talent turned frequent producer of Tom Hanks movies, it saunters along leisurely like it's just stepped out of the 70s itself, and also sports that anything-can-happen vibe that comes with youth. It's a portrait of a time, before mobile phones and the internet, when you had to either talk on a landline or meet up in person to make plans, and when just following where the day took you was the status quo. It captures a canny mix of adolescence and arrested development, too; teen exuberance springs from the always-hustling Gary, while treading water is both an apt description of Alana's connection with her would-be paramour and a state she's acutely aware of. Set to a soundtrack that bounces between Paul McCartney and Wings, Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman, and David Bowie ('Life on Mars' is put to transcendent use), it all breezes about like a relaxed 1973 summer, but plenty fills Alana and Gary's time and PTA's glorious feature. Gary auditions for TV ads, runs a PR firm with his mum (Mary Elizabeth Ellis, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and opens a waterbed business. Alana becomes his partner in the latter, meets with his agent (Harriet Sansom Harris, Atlantic Crossing), catches the attention of a Hollywood veteran modelled on William Holden (Sean Penn, The First) and volunteers for Joel Wachs' (Benny Safdie, Pieces of a Woman) mayoral campaign. As a backdrop to the pair's exploits, Richard Nixon implores Americans to use less petrol, and as the gas crisis kicks in. And when Cooper pops up, it's as Barbra Streisand's fiery then-boyfriend Jon Peters, who isn't impressed with his waterbed delivery. Cue one of Haim's most stunning moments, driving a truck after the drop-off, where she conveys more with her face and posture than words could ever express. As the film's two starriest vignettes make plain — plus another incident involving a not-quite-Lucille Ball (aka Lucy Doolittle, played by Search Party's Christine Ebersole) — Anderson is happy to both nod to and toy with reality. Licorice Pizza is firmly fiction, despite riffing on Goetzman's experiences, but it's also gleefully cognisant of how nostalgia for one's teenage and twenty-something adventures can feel slippery, starry-eyed and surreal. It'd make a great double with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood for exactly that atmosphere, although it'd also pair well with PTA's Boogie Nights, his woozily romantic Punch-Drunk Love and his daylight noir Inherent Vice. Alas, it does also include pointless scenes with a restaurant owner (John Michael Higgins, Saved by the Bell) who speaks to his Japanese wives (New Bear Tours' Yumi Mizui and Good Girls' Megumi Anjo), plural, in a caricature of an accent — calling out what passed for acceptable in the 70s, but also landing flatly and clunkily. Nothing else in Licorice Pizza could be described as gawky — not even Gary's posse of pals, who are rarely far from his side — or as anything less than effervescent. This marvellous coming-of-age comedy is as masterfully made as all of Anderson's work, and yet also far roomier than the likes of There Will Be Blood, The Master and Phantom Thread; as he showed with Inherent Vice, he can be meticulous and freewheeling at once. Licorice Pizza wouldn't be the film it is without either Haim or Hoffman, though, who PTA peers at devotedly, including in closeups, as frequently as he can (he's also one of the movie's two cinematographers). With Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood providing the score once again, he adores nothing more than seeing them run towards each other — figuratively and literally, blue daylight skies blazing and purple twilight hues twinkling behind them — and he makes everyone watching savour every slice.
Ever since the day that humans discovered how great smashed, fermented grapes taste, people have been struggling with wine stains. Abstaining from drinking red when you're wearing white might be a sensible-enough workaround, but it's not ideal, really. Don't worry, an Amsterdam-based company has invented a solution. Behold what Labfresh is calling "the next generation in shirts" — and if it does what it is supposed to, then it'll certainly live up to the hype. The crisp white items of clothing are stain, odour and wrinkle resistant thanks to sustainable cotton fibres made with water, oil and bacteria-repellent technology, as well as breathable and fast-drying. That means that as well as staying free from red splotches and other marks, it'll smell fresh if you need to wear it more than once. If that sounds like just the kind of thing you need when you're having an after-work tipple, then you're not alone. Since starting a Kickstarter campaign at the beginning of January, they've met and surpassed their funding target several times over. In fact, at the time of writing, they're just €382 away from quadrupling their original ask. Given that plenty of others have been dabbling in the area and making similar claims for a few years now, that's quite the response. The shirts are available in slim and regular fit, are expected to ship to customers around the world by April, and have been tested with ketchup, Sriracha sauce, red wine and olive oil too. A matching tie is also available in five colours to complete the stain-free look. Via MUNCHIES.
While you may have been spoilt these holidays, with a scented candle or an adult colouring book, you may not have gotten what you really wanted for Christmas. As the festive season comes to a close and we head into the new year, you can treat yourself to some new cruelty-free makeup, exceptionally soft linen and bottles of wine for just $8.50 a pop, thanks to a heap of online Boxing Day sales. We've rounded up some of the biggest right here.
Whether it's the glitz and glamour of the world's most beautiful people telling each other just how beautiful they are or the inevitable glut of wink-wink, nudge-nudge jokes from this year's host, Seth MacFarlane, the Academy Awards ceremony is testament to the vanity and vacancy of Hollywood. But given the level of offence he seems to have caused in some quarters, it seems like MacFarlane will be giving even Oscar-naysayers a reason to watch the carnage. Most notably, he said this: "I read [Best Picture nominee] Amour was co-produced in Austria and Germany, right? The last time Austria got together and co-produced something it was Hitler, but this is much better." He also told the Best Supporting Actress nominees, "Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein", and finalists for the Best Adapted Screenplay that they'd "basically copied stuff from Microsoft Word and pasted it into Final Draft". A few casual insults were, too, thrown at co-host Emma Stone, who surely matches MacFarlane in humour but outdoes him in subtlety. Almost entirely despite itself, the Oscars remains an entrancing and addictive viewing experience. And, as such, I'm willing to excuse the hordes of actors-cum-models parading their Gucci undergarments and thanking their parakeets to find out who history will remember as the greatest performers, filmmakers, artists and writers of 2012. The net is already abuzz with the extended diatribes of bloggers and punters who can't believe the Academy have snubbed Ben Affleck for his crowd-pleasing direction in Argo or how a movie as consistently wry and touching as Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom could miss out on just about everything. Yet what the nominations, and for that matter the long list of snubs and surprises, show is that 2012 was a rip snorter of a year for motion pictures. Whether it was the shocking wartime reality depicted in Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty, the overwrought yet utterly breathtaking beauty of Les Miserables or this year's best picture dark horse, Beasts of the Southern Wild, 2012 has been a monumental year in cinema. While it is far from a two-horse race, the frontrunners to take home a chest full of Oscar gold appear to be Stephen Spielberg's epic biopic Lincoln and the 3D magic of Ang Lee's Life of Pi, which snagged 12 and 11 nominations respectively. For the complete list of nominees for the 85th Academy Awards in feature films, click here.
Throw those GoPros, bubble bottles and novelty gumboots in your rucksack, Splendour in the Grass is returning to North Byron Parklands for another year of festival merriment. Triggering road trippin' pilgrimages country-wide since 2001, Splendour is a locked-in date on many a festival reveller calendar — and now you can make it permanent. The Splendour in the Grass 2015 dates have been confirmed. Splendour will return to North Byron Parklands on Friday 24, Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 July. Onsite camping will once again be available from Wednesday 22 July. The coveted lineup will be released soon. Until then, let the furious pub debates and Facebook ponderings commence.
You've heard of sky-high restaurants and rooftop bars; however if the latest proposed addition to New York goes ahead, it could put every other elevated eating and drinking spot to shame. As the name suggests, The Floating Restaurant won't just take over the top floor of a building. Instead, it'll be suspended by steel cables 60 metres above a historic landmark. And, not content with literally lifting diners up to another level, the eatery will also give patrons one mighty fine view. Hovering above the century-old former Glenwood power plant in Yonkers, The Floating Restaurant will boast all-glass walls that look out over the Hudson River thirty minutes north of Manhattan, and spy the city skyline as well. Blending the old with the new is the project's aim, and blending architecture with nature too. The design includes three floors including the kitchen, which is encased in greenery that further brings the outside in. Given all that, the fact that the cube is small — measuring little more than 13 metres long, and housing 11 tables — is hardly surprising. Yep, this place is going to be mighty exclusive. If it comes to fruition, expect a lengthy waiting list for a reservation. The idea comes from NY-based outfit Big Foot Developers, and while it's just in the planning stage, The Floating Restaurant is still a breathtaking concept. Of course, you're certain to inhale sharply if you ever get to dine inside the space. In fact, it's already being called a new future icon of the city. Via AWOL / Inhabitat. Image: Big Foot Developers.
After sell-out shows in the UK, everyone's favourite Queen rock anthems are coming to Australia this September, with four candlelight gigs coming to Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. While British rock band Queen still performs occasionally (bar the iconic Freddie Mercury) under the name "Queen + Adam Lambert", you can now can experience the band's musical genius as they once were, thanks to The Concert by Candlelight series. Returning for its fourth year, the series will host a live rock band and a cast of singers all the way from London's West End, busting out the group's legendary tracks set against the backdrop of hundreds of flickering candles. For those on the east coast, Queen by Candlelight will kick things off at Darling Harbour Theatre at ICC Sydney at 7.30pm on Friday, September 12. The show will then take the stage at The Great Hall at Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre on Tuesday, September 23, before making the journey west to the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre on Friday, September 26. The shows are one night only in each location. While it might not be the members of Queen themselves, with world-class singers and a live band taking to the stage to play iconic ballads like "Bohemian Rhapsody", "It's a Kind of Magic" and plenty more, it's the closest thing to the real deal you can get. So get in quick; we have a feeling these tickets aren't going to last long. Queen by Candlelight will be held in September in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. Performances start at 7.30pm. For more information or to book tickets, visit the website. Images: Supplied.
In the wake of last weekend's Defqon 1 dance festival tragedy, where two punters died and more were injured as a result of suspected drug overdoses, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has tabled a 'solution'. She's pulled together an expert panel to advise on how to make our festivals safer, which includes Chief Medical Officer Dr Kerry Chant, Police Commissioner Mick Fuller and Chair of the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority Philip Crawford. Ms Berejiklian announced the decision via social media, saying that the panel would provide advice on how music festivals and promoters can improve safety at their events, the efficacy of increased drug education, and whether new offences or harsher penalties are required. While many are calling for the introduction of pill testing, Ms Berejiklian has rejected the suggestion, saying the NSW Government does not support pill testing. "Pill testing doesn't guarantee the safety of a drug and what might be safe for one person may not be safe for another person," she told the SMH. "The last thing we would want to see is people getting a false sense of security." However, her comments have received much backlash online from the public and other politicians. https://twitter.com/RichardDiNatale/status/1041883391837126656 https://twitter.com/johannhari101/status/1041469528578908161 Australia's first and only pill testing trial took place at Canberra's Groovin The Moo festival earlier this year, allowing punters to have their drugs analysed for unknown and potentially lethal additives. Eighty-five substances were tested and a bunch of lethal ingredients were found. While no further pill testing trials have yet been announced, the advocacy group behind the Groovin The Moo trial, Harm Reduction Australia, is currently attempting to raise $100K to introduce pill testing throughout Australia. If they do succeed in raising the amount, however, they'll still need to gain the approval of the state governments. Ms Berejiklian has asked her expert panel to provide their advice within four weeks, following close consultation with the likes of the local government and those in the music industry. Image: Big Sound, Bec Taylor
First, Airbnb wanted everyone to stay in other people's everyday homes. It still does. Then, it started adding once-in-a-lifetime spots, usually themed around a pop-culture favourite (think: Hobbiton and Barbie's Malibu DreamHouse). Lately, the accommodation booking platform has been going big on celebrity abodes as well, so that you can enjoy a starry getaway. The newest on its books: Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis' oceanside guesthouse in Santa Barbara County. Didn't score a night at Gwyneth Paltrow's Montecito spot? This is your next chance to live the life of a Hollywood actor, albeit just temporarily. There's one big difference this time around, however: the reservation is for this weekend, on Saturday, August 19, with bookings opening tomorrow, at 3am AEST / 5am NZST on Thursday, August 17. Accordingly, you and up to three friends will probably need to already be in the US right now, or by this weekend. With such tight timing, this isn't quite the kind of Airbnb once-off that you can plan a whole vacation around. But, if all of the above suits you and you manage to nab the reservation, you'll be slumbering in the Kutcher-Kunis guesthouse for free. The That '70s Show and That '90s Show stars will be there to greet you upon arrival, and get you joining in on some of their top activities. So, get ready to hit the shore, go for a hike, soak in the coast views, and head down to the nearby shops and restaurants. And, once evening hits, board games and charades are on the agenda. The beachhouse also features Santa Ynez mountains vistas — and your booking will include meals and snacks as well. As always, the usual caveat applies: if you do get the reservation, the cost of travelling to Santa Barbara and back again, including from Australia or New Zealand, is all on you. Airbnb adds this extremely short-term listing to its roster after also offering up the Ted Lasso pub, Japan's World Heritage-listed Suganuma Village, the Paris theatre that inspired The Phantom of the Opera, the Bluey house, the Moulin Rouge! windmill, the Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine, The Godfather mansion, the South Korean estate where BTS filmed In the Soop and the Sanderson sisters' Hocus Pocus cottage in recent years. For more information about Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis' Oceanfront Oasis on Airbnb, or to book at 3am AEST on Thursday, August 17 for a stay on Saturday, August 19, head to the Airbnb website. Images: Katya Grozovskaya. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
Winter is coming and you are so unprepared. You're still wearing that old jumper with lint balls of fuzz. Your jeans have a rip along the crotch. Or worse still, they no longer fit you. Curse that damned muffin top. Luckily, though, UNIQLO are setting up shop just in the nick of time with their Pitt Street Mall pop-up store. This means 100 percent cashmere sweaters available in 24 colours and no-frills jeans — exactly how we like them. UNIQLO's most popular collections will be available at the 150 Pitt Street Mall store, as well as the exclusive SPRZ NY range that fuses fashion with art. As far as pop-up stores go, this one will be open for a long while. Opening on Saturday, May 3, and running until September 30, UNIQLO's temporary Sydney store will last longer than many candle shops intended to be permanent. Melbourne might have had their permanent UNIQLO store recently open its doors, but ours will be four times the size of Melbourne's previous UNIQLO pop-up store — ha! This ahead of the Japanese retailer's planned permanent store, set to open in Sydney late this year.
At this point in human history, we've left the world 'normal' far behind us. We live in an age of out-there ideas across all mediums, from entertainment to food and beyond. So why limit yourself to routine plans, basic weekenders and tickets to the same old festivals when you could shake up your calendar with something a little more unique? There's no shortage of offbeat events taking place in New South Wales in 2023, so we've partnered with Destination NSW to showcase some of the more left-of-centre and memorable attractions across this vast state. From existential dread to fabulous festivals and some good old-fashioned silly fun, we invite you to consider the following...
Prepare to have feelings: Pixar's Inside Out is getting a sequel, it's filled with even more emotions than the first gorgeous 2015 hit, and it also looks set to again be the kind of movie about emotions that sparks plenty of them itself. Slated to hit cinemas in June, Inside Out 2 returns to the head of Riley, who was 11 years old in the initial movie but is a teenager now. Cue more than just feelings of joy, fear, sadness, anger and disgust bouncing through her mind, as both the followup's initial teaser in 2023 and new full trailer show. Joy (Amy Poehler, Moxie), Fear (Tony Hale, Quiz Lady), Sadness (Phyllis Smith, Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar), Anger (Lewis Black, The Last Laugh) and Disgust (Liza Lapira, The Equalizer) are all still present and accounted for in Inside Out 2. But they have company of the oh-so-apt-for-adolescence type. Anxiety (Maya Hawke, Stranger Things) was introduced in the debut sneak peek. Now, Envy (Ayo Edebiri, Bottoms), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos, The Animal Kingdom) and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser, The Afterparty) have shown up as well. The story from there: Joy and the OG gang have some adjusting to do when Anxiety and her pals arrive, just as Riley (Kensington Tallman, Firebuds) does to high-school life and being a teenager. Of course, the battle between emotions plays out IRL as well as in Riley's brain. As viewers saw in the first flick, the emotions that Riley experiences are sensations; however, they're also characters trying to guide their human in the best way they can. Everyone who has been a teenager knows the whirlwind of feelings that can spring, and therefore why Riley's head is getting crowded. And, you'll also recognise that Anxiety, Envy, Ennui and Embarrassment aren't about to just become barely seen figures. Tallman, Hawke, Edebiri, Exarchopoulos and Hauser aren't the only new additions to the voice cast. Fans of the initial Inside Out will also spot that Hale and Lapira have also joined the fold, replacing Bill Hader (Barry) and Mindy Kaling (The Morning Show) respectively. Diane Lane (Feud) and Kyle MacLachlan (Lucky Hank) are back as Riley's parents, though. First-time feature director Kelsey Mann (who has a story credit on The Good Dinosaur) directs, while Meg LeFauve (Captain Marvel) wrote the screenplay, as she did with Inside Out. Check out the full trailer for Inside Out 2 below: Inside Out 2 releases in cinemas Down Under on June 13, 2024. Images: © 2023 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
You're about to play a game to the death for a huge cash prize. A former contestant pops up to tell you what you're really getting yourself in for. Would you heed his warning? The latest teaser trailer for Squid Game season two depicts this very scenario, as 455 newcomers contend for 45.6 billion won — and season one's competitor 456, aka Lee Jung-jae's (The Acolyte) Seong Gi-hun, attempts to inform them of the true brutality that they're signing up for When you've fought for your life and a ridiculous amount of money while donning a green tracksuit, you're probably not going to shake off the deadly endeavour easily. When you've barely survived a game that's hardly fair, you're also going to want to steer others away, as well as take down those responsible. That's the Squid Game season two situation, too, which Netflix has been teasing with multiple sneak peeks, including the just-dropped official teaser trailer. These games don't stop, even if viewers have had a three-year wait since its award-winning first season. As the show's protagonist gets back into his green tracksuit, and on bunks, his new fellow competitors are wary of his motives. Also part of the current glimpse at the series' new episodes: Lee Byung-hun (The Magnificent Seven) as Gi-hun's nemesis Front Man, plus Wi Ha-joon (Little Women) also back as detective Hwang Jun-ho. Netflix is promising raised stakes this time around, with audiences able to see the results when Squid Game returns on Boxing Day. If you usually spend the day after Christmas shopping, at the cinema or recovering from your food coma by trying to play backyard cricket, you now have other plans if you want to catch the next instalment of the South Korean thriller ASAP. After Squid Game season two arrives on Thursday, December 26, 2024, Squid Game season three will drop sometime in 2025. There's no exact date for the latter as yet, but it will be the final season, closing out the show's story. Squid Game was such a huge smash in its first season that Netflix confirmed at the beginning of 2022 that more was on the way, and also released a teaser trailer for it the same year, before announcing its new cast members in 2023 — and then unveiled a first brief snippet of Squid Game season two in a broader trailer for Netflix's slate for 2024, as it releases every 12 months. For season two, Gong Yoo (Train to Busan) also returns as the man in the suit who got Gi-hun into the game in the first place; however, a show about a deadly competition that has folks battling for ridiculous riches comes with a hefty bodycount. Accordingly, new faces were always going to be essential — which is where Yim Si-wan (Emergency Declaration), Kang Ha-neul (Insider), Park Sung-hoon (The Glory) and Yang Dong-geun (Yaksha: Ruthless Operations) all come in. If you somehow missed all things Squid Game when it premiered, even after it became bigger than everything from Stranger Things to Bridgerton, the Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning series serves up a puzzle-like storyline and unflinching savagery, which unsurprisingly makes quite the combination. It also steps into societal divides within South Korea, a topic that wasn't invented by Parasite, Bong Joon-ho's excellent Oscar-winning 2019 thriller, but has been given a boost after that stellar flick's success. As a result, it's easy to see thematic and narrative parallels between Parasite and Squid Game, although Netflix's highly addictive series goes with a Battle Royale and Hunger Games-style setup. Netflix turned the show's whole premise into an IRL competition series as well, which debuted in 2023 — without any murders, of course. Squid Game: The Challenge has already been picked up for a second season. Check out the new teaser trailer for Squid Game season below: Squid Game season two streams via Netflix from Thursday, December 26, 2024. Season three will arrive in 2025 — we'll update you when an exact release date for it is announced. Images: No Ju-han/Netflix © 2024.
Take an ordinary thing and work it into a picture of society. It's a formula that worked well with Salt: A World History, in the East Enders tea making of Britain from Above and here in Spirit of Jang In: Treasures of Korean Metal Craft at the Powerhouse Museum. There are many nooks and crannies here known only to the devoted, and this show takes place in one of its lesser known niches upstairs on level 4. 'Jang In' means 'craftsman', and this exhibition takes you from older, golden treasures to the clean lines of modern Korean design using things of crafted metal as its theme. A collection of golden artefacts dominates the first third of the exhibition. Older archaeological finds are arrayed in special glass cases: a horn-like golden ornament, a crown and a reconstructed saddle ornament decorate with only the wings of thousands of jewel beetles. Tiny figures of gold or bronze are engraved with all the delicateness of renaissance reliquaries — many are Korean reliquaries themselves. Beauty here is in the details, requiring much bending over and leaning in. But there are rewards in tiny wisps of gold which seem to have been accreted more than forged, or a seemingly art-deco metal Phoenix at rest on a flower blossom. These are joined by everyday things like dinner sets, or metal tableware whose use rotated with the seasons. At the back is a collection of modern Korean pieces. It includes the stark, sharp edged designs of Lee Kwang-sun, a collection of work by local Korean Australians and Lee Kyung-ja's vision of Nirvana, a populated sea of miniature Buddhas each stained with the designs of a different dream. Whether you're at the Powerhouse for Love Lace, or seeking things Korean directly, there's really no excuse for not searching out this show's little hideaway. Image: Cloisonné hair pin by Powerhouse Museum/National Museum of Korea.
For the second year in a row, Splendour in the Grass will be without one of its big-name acts, with Lewis Capaldi cancelling his plans to head Down Under in July. The Scottish singer-songwriter announced in a statement that he's taking a break from touring following his Glastonbury set, which means sitting out Byron Bay's annual excuse to wear gumboots, as well as his other planned gigs in Australia and New Zealand. "The fact that this probably won't come as a surprise doesn't make it any easier to write, but I'm very sorry to let you know I'm going to be taking a break from touring for the foreseeable future," said Capaldi via social media. "I used to be able to enjoy every second of shows like this and I'd hoped three weeks away would sort me out. But the truth is I'm still learning to adjust to the impact of my Tourette's, and on Saturday it became obvious that I need to spend much more time getting my mental and physical health in order, so I can keep doing everything I love for a long time to come," he continued. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lewis Capaldi (@lewiscapaldi) "I know I'm incredibly fortunate to be able to take some time out when others can't, and I'd like to thank my amazing family, friends, team, medical professionals and all of you who've been so supportive every step of the way through the good times and even more so during this past year when I've needed it more than ever." "I'm so incredibly sorry to everyone who had planned to come to a show before the end of the year but I need to feel well to perform at the standard you all deserve. Playing for you every night is all I've ever dreamed of so this has been the most difficult decision of my life. I'll be back as soon as I possibly can." Capaldi was set to lead the 2023 Splendour in the Grass lineup from Friday, July 21–Sunday, July 23 alongside Lizzo, Flume, Mumford & Sons and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs — the latter of which were slated to headline 2022's Splendour in the Grass lineup, but cancelled in the lead up. With his solo shows, the 'Someone You Loved', 'Before You Go' and 'Wish You the Best' talent was due to play two shows in Sydney and Melbourne, and one each in Perth, Adelaide, Auckland and Wellington, all in July. Before Glastonbury, he had also taken a break from touring. [caption id="attachment_907307" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alexandra Gavillet[/caption] Splendour now has three gaps in its lineup, with Slowthai and Rainbow Kitten Surprise also no longer appearing at the festival. Organisers have advised that replacements for all three will be announced this week. The festival will contact Friday-only ticketholders via Moshtix about the process for refunds, while folks with tickets to Capaldi's headline shows will automatically receive their money back in full via whichever method they paid with. [caption id="attachment_891054" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ian Laidlaw[/caption] SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS 2023 MUSIC LINEUP: Lizzo Flume (Australian exclusive: ten years of Flume) Mumford & Sons (Australian exclusive) Yeah Yeah Yeahs Hilltop Hoods J Balvin Sam Fender Idles Little Simz Tove Lo 100 Gecs (Australian exclusive) Arlo Parks Ball Park Music Iann Dior King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard 070 Shake Pnau Ruel Loyle Carner Benee Marlon Williams Hooligan Hefs Peach PRC Palace Dune Rats Tkay Maidza Noah Cyrus Skegss Sudan Archives Cub Sport Meg Mac X Club. Claire Rosinkranz Jack River The Smith Street Band Lastlings Jeremy Zucker Young Franco Sly Withers MAY-A The Vanns Telenova Vallis Alps Jamesjamesjames Kaycyy RVG Teenage Dads Balming Tiger Automatic Harvey Sutherland Gali Del Water Gap Royel Otis Shag Rock Big Wett Mia Wray Memphis LK Gold Fang Milku Sumner Forest Claudette Full Flower Moon Band William Crighton Hellcat Speedracer Triple J Unearthed Winners Mix Up DJs: Tseba Crybaby Latifa Tee Foura Caucasianopportunities Luen Mowgli DJ Macaroni Crescendoll Splendour in the Grass will take over North Byron Bay Parklands from Friday, July 21–Sunday, July 23, 2023 — head to the festival website for further details and tickets. Top image: Harald Krichel via Wikimedia Commons.
Among Australia's most applauded movies of 2023, Warwick Thornton teaming up with Cate Blanchett, a thrilling horror debut and an extremely personal story about resilience have topped the nominations for the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards. On TV, a stellar media drama, excellent page-to-screen hit, glorious rom-com and the latest from The Kates have achieved the same feat. Yes, it's been a good year on screens big and small Down Under. That means that The New Boy (12 nominations), Talk to Me (11), Shayda (nine), The Newsreader (15), The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (12), Colin From Accounts (ten) and Deadloch (ten) all lead the way at Australia's annual accolades for the best movies and TV shows of the past year. The winners will be revealed in 2024, on Thursday, February 8 and Saturday, February 10, 2024 at HOTA, Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast, in tandem with a brand-new four-day festival also celebrating Aussie film and television. Previously called the AFI Awards, the AACTA Awards have spread the love to a heap of other productions, giving the aforementioned titles a heap of company. In the Best Film field, Of an Age, Sweet As and The Royal Hotel are up against Shayda, Talk to Me and The New Boy. Also on the big screen, the Best Indie Film category spans A Savage Christmas, Limbo, Monolith Streets of Colour, The Rooster and The Survival of Kindness. Among TV's big hitters, Best Drama Series spans Bay of Fires, Black Snow, Bump, Erotic Stories, Love Me and The Newsreader — and Best Narrative Comedy Series features Colin From Accounts, Deadloch, Fisk, Gold Diggers, Upright and Utopia. And, for shows that only run for one season, Best Miniseries covers Bad Behaviour, In Our Blood, Safe Home, The Clearing, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart and While The Men Are Away. Need something to watch over the holidays? You can also consider the 2023 AACTA Award nominations a list of must-see homegrown movies and TV shows, with everything from tender queer coming-of-age tales, outback thrillers and noir-ish detective stories to family-focused comedies, relationship dramas and jumps to the past covered. Among the highlights, the Best Director field overflows with talent, including Jub Clerc for Sweet As, Kitty Green for The Royal Hotel, Noora Niasari for Shayda, Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou for Talk to Me, Goran Stolevski for Of an Age and Warwick Thornton for The New Boy — but the same can be said for every category. And yes, the Matildas even earned some love, as they have been everywhere in 2023, this time for engaging documentary series Matildas: The World at Our Feet. Here's a selection of this year's major AACTA nominations, ahead of the awards' ceremonies on Thursday, February 8 and Saturday, February 10, 2024 at HOTA, Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast — and you can check out the full list on AACTA's website: AACTA NOMINEES 2023: FILM AWARDS: BEST FILM Of an Age Shayda Sweet As Talk to Me The New Boy The Royal Hotel BEST INDIE FILM A Savage Christmas Limbo Monolith Streets of Colour The Rooster The Survival of Kindness BEST DIRECTION Jub Clerc, Sweet As Kitty Green, The Royal Hotel Noora Niasari, Shayda, Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou, Talk to Me Goran Stolevski, Of an Age Warwick Thornton, The New Boy BEST LEAD ACTRESS Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Shayda Shantae Barnes-Cowan, Sweet As Cate Blanchett, The New Boy Julia Garner, The Royal Hotel Sarah Snook, Run Rabbit Run Sophie Wilde, Talk to Me BEST LEAD ACTOR Elias Anton, Of an Age Simon Baker, Limbo Thom Green, Of an Age Phoenix Raei, The Rooster Aswan Reid, The New Boy Osamah Sami, Shayda BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Alex Jensen, Talk to Me Deborah Mailman, The New Boy Tasma Walton, Sweet As Mia Wasikowska, Blueback Ursula Yovich, The Royal Hotel Selina Zahednia, Shayda BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Mojean Aria, Shayda Eric Bana, Blueback Wayne Blair, The New Boy Rob Collins, Limbo Zoe Terakes, Talk to Me Hugo Weaving, The Rooster BEST SCREENPLAY Kitty Green, Oscar Redding, The Royal Hotel Noora Niasari, Shayda Danny Philippou, Bill Hinzman, Talk to Me Goran Stolevski, Of an Age Warwick Thornton, The New Boy BEST DOCUMENTARY Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story Harley & Katya John Farnham: Finding the Voice The Dark Emu Story The Giants The Last Daughter This Is Going to Be Big To Never Forget BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Carl Allison, Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism Sherwin Akbarzadeh, Shayda Aaron McLisky, Talk to Me Katie Milwright, Sweet As Warwick Thornton, The New Boy BEST EDITING Dany Cooper, Carmen Katie Flaxman, Sweet As Geoff Lamb, Talk to Me Michelle McGilvray, Matt Villa, Courtney Teixera, Scarygirl Nick Meyers, The New Boy BEST SHORT FILM An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It Ashes Finding Addison Jia Mud Crab Not Dark Yet TELEVISION AWARDS: BEST DRAMA SERIES Bay of Fires Black Snow Bump Erotic Stories Love Me The Newsreader BEST NARRATIVE COMEDY SERIES Colin From Accounts Deadloch Fisk Gold Diggers Upright Utopia BEST MINISERIES Bad Behaviour In Our Blood Safe Home The Clearing The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart While The Men Are Away BEST LEAD ACTOR IN A TELEVISION DRAMA Tim Draxl, In Our Blood Travis Fimmel, Black Snow Joel Lago, Erotic Stories Sam Reid, The Newsreader Richard Roxburgh, Bali 2002 Hugo Weaving, Love Me BEST LEAD ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION DRAMA Kate Box, Erotic Stories Aisha Dee, Safe Home Bojana Novakovic, Love Me Teresa Palmer, The Clearing Anna Torv, The Newsreader Sigourney Weaver, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart BEST ACTING IN A COMEDY Celeste Barber, Wellmania Kate Box, Deadloch Patrick Brammall, Colin From Accounts Harriet Dyer, Colin From Accounts Kitty Flanagan, Fisk Nina Oyama, Deadloch Helen Thomson, Colin From Accounts Julia Zemiro, Fisk BEST COMEDY PERFORMER Tom Gleeson, Hard Quiz Jim Jefferies, The 1% Club Luke McGregor, Taskmaster Australia Rhys Nicholson, RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under Nina Oyama, Taskmaster Australia Charlie Pickering, The Weekly with Charlie Pickering Natalie Tran, The Great Australian Bake Off Cal Wilson, The Great Australian Bake Off BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION DRAMA Alycia Debnam-Carey, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Marg Downey, The Newsreader Michelle Lim Davidson, The Newsreader Heather Mitchell, Love Me Leah Purcell, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Brooke Satchwell, Black Snow BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A TELEVISION DRAMA Tim Draxl, Erotic Stories Alexander England, Black Snow William McInnes, The Newsreader Bob Morley, Love Me Hunter Page-Lochard, The Newsreader Guy Pearce, The Clearing BEST DIRECTION IN A DRAMA OR COMEDY Ben Chessell, Deadloch (episode one) Emma Freeman, The Newsreader (episode four) Glendyn Ivin, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (episode one) Matt Moore, Colin From Accounts (episode six) Trent O'Donnell, Colin From Accounts (episode three) BEST DIRECTION IN NON-FICTION TELEVISION Katie Bender Wynn, Matildas: The World at Our Feet (episode two) Stamatia Maroupas, Queerstralia (episode one) Josh Martin, Adam and Poh's Great Australian Bites (episode one) Rachel Perkins, Dylan River, Tov Belling, The Australian Wars (episode one) Henry Stone, Aaron Chen: If Weren't Filmed, Nobody Would Believe BEST SCREENPLAY IN TELEVISION Patrick Brammall, Colin From Accounts (episode six) Harriet Dyer, Colin From Accounts (episode three) Kate McCartney, Kate McLennan, Deadloch (episode one) Adrian Russell Wills, The Newsreader (episode four) Lucas Taylor, Black Snow (episode one) BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN TELEVISION Sam Chiplin, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (episode one) Earle Dresner, The Newsreader (episode four) Aaron Farrugia, Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe (episode one) Tania Lambert, Erotic Stories (episode two) Katie Milwright, Deadloch (episode one) BEST EDITING IN TELEVISION Peter Bennett, Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe (episode one) Danielle Boesenberg, Colin From Accounts (episode three) Angie Higgins, Deadloch (episode one) Angie Higgins, The Newsreader (episode four) Deborah Peart, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (episode one) Deborah Peart, Dany Cooper, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (episode six) BEST ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM Dancing with the Stars Eurovision Song Contest 2023 Lego Masters: Grand Masters Mastermind The 1% Club The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition BEST COMEDY ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM Hard Quiz RocKwiz Taskmaster Australia Thank God You're Here The Cheap Seats The Weekly with Charlie Pickering BEST FACTUAL ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM Alone Australia Gogglebox Australia Kitchen Cabinet Old People's Home for Teenagers Take 5 with Zan Rowe Who The Bloody Hell Are We? BEST DOCUMENTARY OR FACTUAL PROGRAM Matildas: The World at Our Feet Ningaloo Nyinggulu Queerstralia The Australian Wars War on Waste Who Do You Think You Are BEST CHILDREN'S PROGRAM Barrumbi Kids Beep and Mort Bluey Crazy Fun Park The PM's Daughter Turn Up the Volume BEST STANDUP SPECIAL Aaron Chen: If Weren't Filmed, Nobody Would Believe Celeste Barber: Fine, thanks Hannah Gadsby: Something Special Jim Jefferies: High & Dry Lizzy Hoo: Hoo Cares!? Rhys Nicholson's Big Queer Comedy Concert BEST LIFESTYLE PROGRAM Adam and Poh's Great Australian Bites Gardening Australia Grand Designs Australia Love It or List It Australia Selling Houses Australia The Great Australian Bake Off BEST REALITY PROGRAM Australian Survivor: Heroes v Villains FBOY Island Australia Hunted Australia MasterChef Australia Real Housewives of Sydney RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under BEST ONLINE DRAMA OR COMEDY Appetite Latecomers Me & Her(pes) Monologue The Disposables The Future of Everything
This year has been a real doozy. For us, one of the toughest parts of 2020 is missing out on live gigs, especially in the form of music festivals. It'll still be a while before Australia (and the rest of the world, for that matter) gets its festival groove back, but that doesn't mean you can't get those festival vibes into your life in other ways. We've teamed up with our fun-loving mates at Bacardi to help you do just that. Here are seven fun things you can do to throw your own mini festival at home. Think dance-inducing tunes, DIY glitter stations, epic decor and summery rum cocktails aplenty. All you have to do is figure out who's on the guest list, then get cracking. [caption id="attachment_790477" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mushroom Creative House[/caption] PICK A FUN THEME Like any good party, your festival should have a theme. You could go for the simple dress code option, whether that's donning fun, fruit shirts, bad hats, neon ballgowns, 80s disco or chic The Great Gatsby-style threads. Or, take things up a notch and make your festival's overall vibe specific to a well-known festival and do your best to emulate its atmosphere. Go for the colourful masquerade of the New Orleans Jazz Festival, boho chic looks of Coachella or make it an EDM-style bash like Belgium's Tomorrowland. Then, there's the all-out rave in the same vein of Barcelona's Sónar. And, you should work in one Aussie festival for good measure, too — our pick is Meredith Festival. Whatever you choose, the most important thing is to avoid cultural appropriation as you go all out and have fun with it. DECK OUT YOUR SPACE Next, deck out every corner of your space, giving each area a different purpose and feel. Try out rooms based around different music genres. One room could be electronica, another indie pop or R&B, one deep house and even a dedicated 90s den playing nostalgic tunes. But, music isn't the only reason we venture around the world for festivals, with some of the best multi-day parties having many other drawcards — think installation art, group-based activities and breakaway areas with things like outdoor cinemas and karaoke stages. So, work in some of these elements to ensure you're the master of a well-rounded mini fest, offering something for everyone. Be sure to balance it out, so there are both high energy and chilled out spaces to choose from. STREAM DANCE-INDUCING DJ ACTS No festival is complete without a stellar music lineup. While you exactly can't fly in the likes of Four Tet, Lizzo or Tame Impala for your at-home affair, you can still get some epic tunes blaring through your speakers — from streaming live gigs to revisiting old festival sets and whacking on a dance-worthy playlist. First up, check out Boiler Room, which offers heaps of sets from the world's top DJs via its Youtube channel. Think Aussie artist Flume, Canadian electronic songwriter Jessy Lanza, lauded British DJ Ross from Friends and Korean-American electro artist Yaeji, who also recently released her new mixtape in a session called Yaeji in Place, which is also worth a spin. For more Aussie content, there's Newtown Festival and Splendour-inspired Spotify playlists you can queue up. Create that multi-stage experience and build energy by setting up different streams in each of your themed rooms and move from emerging artists to big-name headliners just like the festivals do. Most importantly, though, make sure these acts will get your crew on the dance floor. WHIP UP NOSTALGIC PARTY SNACKS Your festival will need to have party snacks and there's nothing like having all of your nostalgic favourites in one place. That means party pies and mini sausage rolls galore. If you want to go fancy, ditch the frozen stuff and make your own. If you have a barbie, a pack of snags never hurts, either, and you could also chargrill some corn. Don't forget the fairy bread, chilli popcorn, cabanossi sticks and even jelly that's beem moulded into a fun shape while you're at it. We recommend you prepare to serve your eats at different intervals, so your guests can snack from the arvo well into the night. SET UP A DIY GLITTER STATION We've all been there, covering ourselves in as much glitter as possible when heading to a rave. After all, getting dressed up is part of all the festival fun. If you're not afraid to find sparkles scattered around your house for months to come, then give your guests the chance to up their look at a DIY glitter station. Order some biodegradable eco-glitter online, so you can rest easy that your partying ways don't impact the planet. Your DIY glitter station can have other makeup and accessories, too, like fun hair clips, hilarious sunnies, DIY lanyards and glitzy costume jewellery. Get glammed up, put the final touches on your look and get ready to party. [caption id="attachment_786187" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mushroom Creative House[/caption] SHAKE UP A SUMMERY RUM COCKTAIL One of the best things about hosting a festival at home is that you can serve any booze you fancy — and there won't be any overpriced, mediocre wine and beer at your mini fest, either. To really add to the party atmosphere, shake up a summery cocktail for the day. One of our favourites is a spiced piña colada. Simply shake up Bacardi Spiced, fresh pineapple and coconut water over some ice. It's sure to put all of your guests in the festive mood and it's also super easy to make. You can check out more fun rum cocktails over here if you're planning on making a few. Tip: an ice sculpture is always a fun thing to add to your punch bowl. HOST A POST-PARTY YOGA SESSION The day after a festival is always tough. You've had little sleep, your limbs are sore and, worst of all, the fun's over. To lighten the mood, host a post-party yoga session. Roll out the mats and deck out your space like a mini yoga studio. Choose a spot with bright, natural sunlight, put on some calming music and burn some incense. Unless you or one of your mates are a budding yogi, we suggest following Yoga with Adriene. Her chilled-out disposition makes her one of the best online yoga instructors out there. And she even has classes titled yoga for hangovers, yoga to calm your nerves and yoga for when you feel dead inside. You're sure to find something that will perfectly suit the post-festival mood. Do what moves you this summer thanks to the fun-loving folks at Bacardi. Once you've thrown your own epic mini fest, check out Bacardi's competition, where you and 20 mates could win the chance to attend Australia's smallest music festival. Top image: Mushroom Creative House
Huge news! Out of nowhere, everyone's favourite chaotic electronic musician Fred again.. is performing at the Sydney Opera House tonight, Tuesday, February 27. The English producer and DJ posted to his Instagram, showing him boarding a flight with his buddy and collaborator Joy Anonymous, teasing that they'd be performing wherever the plane landed. Now, Fred again.. has popped up on top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, announcing an ultra last-minute performance at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. Tickets are already available with tens of thousands of people jumping into the queue within minutes of the announcement. They're also limited to just two per person, to deal with the high demand. [caption id="attachment_943139" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Maclay Heriot, Laneway 2023[/caption] Fred was last in town for Laneway 2023 alongside Haim, Joji and Phoebe Bridgers, at which time he created pandemonium by performing at a slate of pop-up DJ sets around Australia and New Zealand alongside his festival appearances. Whether he'll be heading anywhere else in the country is yet to be confirmed. All we know is he'll be bringing his catalogue of hits to the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall from 9.30pm tonight. So, if you want to catch 'Delilah (pull me out of this)', 'Marea (we've lost dancing)' and 'Rumble' in the hallowed halls of the recently renovated Sydney icon, this is your chance. To stay up to date with any more shows that might be announced, you can follow along at Fred again..'s Instagram account. [caption id="attachment_943136" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Daniel Boud, Laneway 2023[/caption] [caption id="attachment_943137" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Daniel Boud, Laneway 2023[/caption] Fred again.. is performing at the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday, February 27. Tickets are now on sale. Head to the Sydney Opera House website for more information. Images: Daniel Boud, Laneway 2023.
Australia and New Zealand haven't been treated to Beyoncé's Renaissance tour, but we are getting the next best thing: RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONCÉ. The latest chance to worship the superstar on-screen was announced back in October and will hit cinemas worldwide in December. And, it will be arriving Down Under at the same time as the US: on Friday, December 1. What runs the movie world right now? Concert flicks, which are having a big-screen moment again. In the space of mere months, three huge examples of the genre are playing cinemas worldwide, much to the delight of folks who like getting their film and music fix in one go. First came Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour in October. In Australia, Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense, aka the best concert flick ever made, has returned to picture palaces since mid-November. Next, RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONCÉ will do the same — and it has dropped another trailer to celebrate. Beyoncé is no stranger to splashing her sets across a screen, after HOMECOMING: A Film By Beyoncé did exactly that on Netflix back in 2019. That movie covered the superstar singer's time on the Coachella stage, and came with a 40-track live album as well. This time, Bey is focusing on her 56-performance, 39-city world RENAISSANCE tour in support of the 2022 album of the same name. Now wrapped up after starting in Stockholm in Sweden in May and finishing in Kansas City, Missouri in the US on Sunday, October 1, the RENAISSANCE tour featured everything from 'Dangerously in Love 2', 'Cuff It', 'Formation' and 'Run the World (Girls)' to 'Crazy in Love', 'Love On Top', 'Drunk in Love' and 'America Has a Problem'. Given that audiences in Australia or New Zealand haven't experienced that setlist for themselves, with the tour skipping Down Under shows so far, RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONCÉ is the first chance for Bey fans in this part of the world to join in without heading overseas. "When I am performing, I am nothing but free," said Beyoncé in the concert film's initial trailer. "The goal for this tour was to create a place where everyone is free," the musician continued, in a sneak peek that includes behind-the-scenes glimpses, crowd shots and, of course, spectacular concert footage. In the latest trailer, Beyoncé expands upon her daily challenge. "In this world that is very male-dominated, I've had to be really tough to balance motherhood and being on the stage," shares the singer. RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONCÉ charts the tour from its first show until its last, as well as the hard work and technical mastery that went into it on- and off-stage, as 2.7-million-plus fans have seen in person. Check out the latest trailer for RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONCÉ below: RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONCÉ will release in cinemas Down Under from Friday, December 1 — head to the film's website for tickets and further details. Images: Julian Dakdouk / Mason Poole.
A star-studded Friday night clash between the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder gives the loser from the season's first bout a chance to turn the tables. With the intercity rivalry bound to amp up the passion and drama, this headline-grabbing event represents one of the biggest matches on the Big Bash League's calendar. Setting the Sydney Cricket Ground alight on January 17, the non-stop action delivered by some of the world's best players ensures the buzz of the crowd resonates even louder.
When Flume was named on the Coachella bill, Australians hoped it'd be the prelude to a local tour. When he was announced as one of Spilt Milk's headliners for its upcoming November and December fests, we hoped that solo shows would also be on the itinerary. Now arrives the news that music fans have been waiting for: the Aussie star's Palaces world tour will play a heap of cities before the end of the year. Flume will hit up Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Hobart, all in support of his new album — which, handily, drops this Friday, May 20 and is also called Palaces. So, you now know what you'll be listening to for the next few months, and also when you'll be able to dance to its tracks played live. Your destinations: Red Hill Auditorium in Perth, Brisbane's Riverstage, The Dome in Sydney, John Cain Arena in Melbourne, the Adelaide Entertainment Centre and Hobart's Regatta Grounds. The tour will kick off in Western Australia in mid-November, making its way around the nation before finishing in Tasmania in early summer. The string of shows marks Flume's first live dates on home soil since 2019 — for obvious reasons — and he'll have impressive company. Also joining him: Caroline Polachek, Channel Tres, Toro y Moi and Vera Blue, plus appearances by MAY-A. Tickets go on sale at 10am local time on Thursday, May 26, with pre-sales from 10am on Wednesday, May 25. [caption id="attachment_854347" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nick Green[/caption] FLUME'S 'PALACE' 2022 TOUR AUSTRALIAN DATES: Friday, November 11 — Red Hill Auditorium, Perth, with Channel Tres, Toro y Moi (DJ set) and MAY-A Wednesday, November 16 — Riverstage, Brisbane, with Channel Tres and Toro y Moi and MAY-A Friday, November 18 — The Dome, Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, with Channel Tres, Caroline Polachek, Toro y Moi and MAY-A Thursday, November 14 — John Cain Arena, Melbourne, with Channel Tres, Caroline Polachek, Toro y Moi and MAY- Wednesday, November 30 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide, with Vera Blue Friday, December 2 — Regatta Grounds, Hobart, with Vera Blue Flume's 'Palace' tour will travel Australia in November and December. Tickets go on sale online at 10am local time on Thursday, May 26, with pre-sales from 10am on Wednesday, May 25. For more information, head to Flume's website.
2024 is Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist's year. By the time that July hits, each will have had two movies hit the silver screen in Australia within mere months. But, of course, only one brings the Dune: Part Two, La Chimera and The Bikeriders stars together, and also tennis and a spicy love triangle as well. That'd be Challengers, which is currently in cinemas Down Under, and has also made the fast-tracked leap to streaming while it's still unleashing its steamy games, sets and matches in picture palaces. Gone are the days when films quickly jumping between the big and small screens is new, with Dune: Part Two, Wonka and Force of Nature: The Dry 2 among the fellow flicks that've done the same this year. Challengers following suit is still great news, however, if you haven't had the chance to make it to your local theatre yet to see one of the year's highlights. Accordingly, you now have more viewing options — such as YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Directed by Call Me By Your Name, Suspiria and Bones and All filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, Challengers follows Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), Art Donaldson (Faist, West Side Story) and Patrick Zweig (O'Connor). As teenagers, they're all rising tennis talents, with Tashi the best of the lot. When she first crosses paths with both Art and Patrick, who are doubles partners and school roommates, it's at a party celebrating her bright future — and sparks fly, but it's Patrick that she's seeing when she's at college with Art. Enter a career-thwarting injury, then a jump forward to when Art is a multiple grand slam-winner, Patrick has never tasted major professional success and the two former best friends have fallen out of touch. Further complicating the trio's relationship, Art is also now married to Tashi. And, as he prepares for the US Open to finally notch up his career slam by having a hit at a tournament in New Rochelle, he's also on a collision course with Patrick on the court. It's no spoiler to say that Art and Patrick meet again as opponents, with Tashi — who is also now Art's manager — watching on. As set to a thumping score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Oscar-winners for Soul), Guadagnino filters the entire movie through that pivotal match, with flashbacks to various earlier points (including the days leading up to the contest) to tell the threesome's full tale. "I think the competitiveness is also out of an obsession with each other. At the beginning of this film, in terms of the competitiveness, when they're younger that's there but — I don't want speak to their characters, but Art is is on the way of falling out of love with tennis. And I think Patrick is just desperate for connection," said O'Connor about the dynamic between the trio when he was in Australia to promote the flick alongside Zendaya and Faist. "I think all three of them are desperate for connection, whether it's Art seeking to restore the the love in his marriage or Tashi to restore this three-way love affair. I think Patrick, likewise, the tennis to him is the the utmost connection. He's always searching for that with Art, and with Tashi, too. And so I think the competitiveness comes secondary to that," he continued. Check out the trailer for Challengers below: Challengers is still screening in Australian cinemas, and is also available to stream via YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our review, as well as what Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist had to say about the film when they were in Australia. Images: Niko Tavernise © 2024 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Setting our minds alight for another year, Vivid Ideas is the integral third part of the Vivid Sydney ethos. Dedicated to connecting industry with emerging talent and global leaders in over 100 events, the 18-day program will see events focused on discussion and creative collaboration. This year sees exiting keynote talks running alongside major industry events like Song Summit, X Media Lab and SPARC Design and partnerships with the Sydney Film Festival. While it's extremely difficult to pick and choose from this year's unique Ideas program, we've highlighted what are set to be some of the most exciting events of 2012. Check out the full program to see all the amazing things going down. 1. Bridging The Digital Divide When: May 28, 7.30-9pmWhere: The Vivid Ideas Exchange (The Forum)Price: $15 Grappling with some of the most complex ideas of the Festival, Bridging the Divide presents Young Australian of the Year and founder of Robogals network Marita Cheng alongside an expert panel discussing new systems for building an educated, imaginative workforce. Focusing on the importance of digital skill development, innovative thinking and how e-learning can change how and who has access to the creative economy, the panel's discussion looks to shed fascinating light on the future of creative ideas. 2. Etsy Success Sydney When: June 2, 9am-6pmWhere: The Vivid Ideas ExchangePrice: $100 Etsy Success is a full-day extravaganza engineered to help designers and creative entrepreneurs connect, learn new skills and make their businesses more sustainable. Featuring the much-touted keynote speech from Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson, the program also showcases a host of other awesome people including TMOD and Veggie Patch's Georgie Swift and Milenka Osen, panel discussions on online etiquette, DIY media and PR and workshops covering the basics of product styling and photography. The ticket also covers all-day catering and a cocktail reception for mingling purposes. 3. Awesome Soup When: June 2, 7.30-9.30pmWhere: The Vivid Ideas Exchange (The Forum)Price: $30 Dedicated to furthering the pursuit of awesomeness in Sydney, Awesome Soup helps turn vague, meandering thoughts into reality. Hosted by the Awesome Foundation, Awesome Soup awards a $1000 no-strings-attached grant to the best submitted application. Previous winners have included he Green Bans Art Walk and Exhibition, a project to develop the world's smallest patch synthesiser, and Physique, a weekly '80s themed aerobics night. Places are limited, but sure to be, well, awesome. 4. Portfolio Masterclass 1 When: June 3, 1-3.30pmWhere: The Vivid Ideas Exchange (The Forum)Price: $15 Having an impressive portfolio is vital for aspiring creatives. The Portfolio Masterclass is designed to provide insights and tips for those who've just finished study or are looking at taking a step up from a junior role, focusing on building your online presence and standing out from the crowd in some of the most fiercely competitive industries around. Developed by The Loop, the Masterclass sessions provide an invaluable opportunity for up-and-coming creatives to hear from leading figures in creative industries. 5. Shane Smith (VICE) Interview When: June 5, 9pmWhere: The Vivid Ideas ExchangePrice: $15 Shane Smith is the CEO and founder of the media behemoth that is VICE, which has been producing unique content across print magazines, books, films and online for the past decade. Shane joins Vivid via video link from New York to discuss the next chapter in the VICE story and his experiences in creating the Vice Guide to... series. 6. Conversation: Henry Holland and Jessica Fletcher When: June 6, 7-8pmWhere: The Vivid Ideas Exchange (The Forum)Price: $25 Designer, businessman and blogger Henry Holland is the golden boy of British fashion. Collaborating with intimidatingly well-dressed luminaries such as Agyness Deyn, Alexa Chung and Pixie Geldoff, he has gone on to launch his own fashion house and work with companies like Pretty Polly, Levi's and Superga. Alongside Henry, House of Holland's International sales director Jessica Fletcher will chat about the role of celebrity in fashion. 7. rage: Celebrating 25 Years When: June 6-16, 10am-6pmWhere: CarriageworksPrice: Free Australia's ever-steadfast hollering night-owl, rage has been beaming into living rooms across the country for 25 years. To celebrate, a large-scale installation of televisions is being set up in Carriageworks. The exhibition will pay homage to the legacy and influence of the world's longest-running music television program. Celebrating the advances in music video technology since the '80s, the exhibition will feature videos from at home and abroad, as well as archived footage of guest hosts such as Kylie Minogue, Nick Cave and the bedroom-eyed Tim Rogers. 8. FailCon When: June 7, 10am-4pmWhere: The Vivid Ideas Exchange (The Forum)Price: $99 Failure is a wonderful thing. That's the premise behind this year's FailCon, an event which celebrates the fact that people make mistakes and that it's important to learn about the stuff-ups and the miseries in order to ensure future success. Commencing in San Francisco in 2009, FailCon has created a global niche for itself, where technology entrepreneurs, developers, designers and investors can come together to learn from their mistakes. This year's speakers feature Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, Tim Ross of radio's Merrick and Rosso, and Matt and Pip, founders of creative networking community The Loop. 9. Keynote: Jake Nikell (Threadless) When: June 7, 7-8.30pmWhere: The Vivid Ideas Exchange (The Forum)Price: $25 Threadless is the crazy-successful website encompassing an online community of 1.8 designers, design afficionados and T-shirt wearers. Jake Nickell, who co-founded the website back in 2000, has been instrumental in creating a platform for emerging designers and creatives to connect and gain international exposure, with over 1000 designs submitted, voted on and bought every week. Jake will be travelling from Chicago to chat about the Threadless story and explaining how to nurture high-quality user generated content. 10. YouTube Superstar When: June 7, 6-8pmWhere: CarriageWorksPrice: Free Presented by MusicNSW and Carriageworks, YouTube superstar is all about the art of making unforgettable music videos. Some of Australia's leading clip directors such as KROZM and SPOD share their advice to musicians, filmmakers and stylists, and Madeline Palmer, producer and programmer for ABC TV's rage, offers her thoughts on what makes a video a success and what stands the test of time.
Easily taking out the title for the cutest and fluffiest fundraising initiative of the year, Pawgust is doing the real good work — raising money for Guide Dogs, while letting you spend some quality time with your best four-legged pal. It costs more than $50,000 to raise and train a Guide or Assistance Dog, and these pups are dearly needed by those they assist. There are over 450,000 Australians who are blind or have low vision, and to them, Guide Dogs are often a constant companion providing a vital service. Pawgust is a simple premise, but a sweet one: just walk your dog. Spend 30 minutes every day walking your doggo, for 30 days, or the whole month of August. Registering for Pawgust means you'll get sent a pedometer to use to measure your steps and how far you travel with your furry mate all up – half an hour is approximately 2km, so seems likely you'll make some decent tracks. The other side of the challenge is a little less dog-friendly: raising funds. Reach out to the people in your life who like dogs (or just like you) and get them digging into their pockets – if you're stuck for ideas, the pack you receive upon registering has some ideas and plans for how to reach out. If you're reading this dogless, that's okay too: you can just walk alone, or enlist a human two-legged friend to do it with you. There are even prizes up for grabs for those who raise the most funds or walk the greatest distance, but let's face it — achieving something pretty cool with the help of your dog is probably its own reward. To register you and your pup for Pawgust, head to pawgust.com.au.
When it comes to what we drink, we can be creatures of habit. We reach for our go-tos: a cheap-yet-standout bottle of vino, ready-to-sip cocktail cans and brews we know and love. But, if you knew how simple it is to craft winning cocktails, you'd be stocking up your bar cart, filling your ice tray and inviting your mates round for a few cheeky ones ASAP. So together with The Bottle-O, and in honour of World Gin Day — which on Saturday, June 10, is fast approaching — we've found a few easy-peasy, three-step wintery cocktails that'll have you sipping gin like a pro. Ready to up your G&T game? Impress your mates with a martini? Add a slice of summer to the cooler months with a gimlet? We've got you. MALFY ROSA G&T The classic G&T is a favourite among many. It's deliciously bitter, spotlights your gin of choice and always refreshing. In this recipe, there's the added juiciness of Malfy Gin Rosa's grapefruit notes and the sweet kiss of a Med-inspired tonic. A wedge of citrus will add some party to your glass (and a sprig of rosemary will jazz it up further), but it'll be just as delicious without. And, if you're pressed for time (or really cannot be bothered), opt for a four-pack of Bombay Sapphire G&Ts or Gordon's Pink Gin & Sodas (if you'd rather leave the tonic) — just stealthily pour the fizz into a glass and your pals won't know the difference. Ingredients Serves one 30ml Malfy Gin Rosa 60ml Fever Tree Mediterranean Tonic Grapefruit to serve Method Add Malfy Gin Rosa to a glass with ice and top up with tonic water. Garnish with a wedge of grapefruit and enjoy. ROKU GIMLET If you're starting to feel the winter blues — and a tropical holiday is nowhere in sight — this short, sweet, citrusy cocktail is the drink for you. It looks fancy, but once you've secured your coupe, the hardest part is done. You want your glass to be chilly, the liquor to be a delicious pour like Roku Gin and a selection of salty snacks alongside. If you can't find the Japanese spirit, opt for any of the other top-quality (yet affordable) options, like Hendrick's or Four Pillars. Ingredients Serves one 50ml Roku Gin 50ml lime syrup Lime to garnish Method Add Roku Gin and lime syrup to a mixing glass with ice, then stir until the glass feels very cold. Strain into a chilled coupe glass, top with a slice of lime and enjoy. FOUR PILLARS RARE DRY GIN MARTINI If you're looking to impress, the martini is having somewhat of a resurgence. Although its taste divides cocktail-lovers everywhere (some think it's perfection, some know it's too strong), it's the hero on many a cocktail list. Well, the secret to a good martini is in the quality and temperature of your gin: you want something special, and you want it ice cold. Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin is the bottle for you. It's classic, herbaceous and citrus-forward — and it's Aussie made. Just quietly, a nip or two of Hendrick's would do nicely too. Ingredients Serves one 60ml Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin 15ml dry vermouth 2 dashes orange bitters Lemon peel to garnish Method Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice, stir and then strain into a chilled martini glass. Top with a twist of lemon peel and enjoy. Whether you're a seasoned gin lover that's looking for a hot new way to enjoy your pour this winter, or you're a newbie looking to take a delicious dive in, these three recipes will sort you out. Celebrating World Gin Day on Saturday, June 10 will be that much more exciting with a group of friends, some gin chilling in the freezer and a trio of recipes that are easy to nail. To begin with gin, head to your local The Bottle-O and take your pick. The Bottle-O is the independent store slinging your favourite boozy sips all over Australia — and a standout spot to nab the gin for your cocktail of choice this World Gin Day. Ready to dive in? Head to the website. Imagery: Declan Blackall.
A fire has broken out at the historic Mosman Rowers on Centenary Drive, with the incident starting in the fireplace on the building's second level. Emergency services were called to the site earlier this morning, with large plumes of smoke seen coming from the three-level harbourside building. Fire and Rescue NSW reported that several crews and trucks were on-site and have since controlled the blaze. The fire was was contained to the second floor, the newly opened Archie Bear cafe. According to Mosman Rowers, all staff and customers were evacuated and have been accounted for. No injuries have been recorded. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvxh6lFg3Nk/ Mosman Rowers is one of the oldest sports clubs in Sydney, and, after falling into disrepair, had reopened just last month under the Bird & Bear Group. The club announced via its Facebook page that the venue would remain closed until further. Mosman Rowers is located at 3 Centenary Drive, Mosman, and will remain closed until further notice. Image: Mosman Girl.
Like all true-crime series, an air of inevitability hovers over The Clearing. With an eerie Australian sect at its centre, plus a rare female cult leader, a brood of blonde-haired children and a penchant for LSD, this story was always going to get the drama treatment eventually. Based on The Family, the notorious real-life group that formed in the 60s and operated out of regional Victoria, the eight-part Disney+ series arrives after Rosie Jones' 2016 documentary that shares the group's name and 2019 series The Cult of the Family. That said, The Clearing actually takes its basis from fiction, although there's no doubting where JP Pomare's novel In the Clearing found its inspiration. While history's sinister and sordid chapters frequently reach screens, including Australia's own long-running Underbelly franchise, The Clearing isn't the type of project that arrives every day. Playing The Kindred guru Adrienne Beaufort and one of her chief acolytes Aunty Tamsin, Aussie actors Miranda Otto and Kate Mulvany knew that from the moment that they received the show's scripts — but playing such complex roles was both intriguing and complicated. Constantly seeking new challenges as thespians, both have built up formidable resumes — Otto's spans everything from 90s standouts Love Serenade and The Well, The Lord of the Rings films, Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds, and small-screen efforts Rake, Homeland and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina; Mulvany's includes The Great Gatsby, Secret City, Lambs of God, Elvis, The Twelve and Hunters — and they're both excellent in The Clearing. Still, for each, approaching the material required actively avoiding taking their cues from reality. Despite a fascination with cults, Otto steered clear of The Family's story. "I really couldn't get into any of that for myself. I couldn't even really go into the book, because there's so many layers in this script and so much that I had to do, that I couldn't really confuse myself with anything that might be different in a book," she tells Concrete Playground. "Sometimes on other projects, I will read the book as it's great source material. But when you start getting into 'did this happen?' or 'did that not happen?', I just thought that I'm just going to get so confused if I do that." Mulvany had the same reaction. "So much my character's journey is jigsawing along with [Otto's] journey, and so it was really, really important that we didn't have too much noise around our performances," she explains. "And that we really did go pretty much purely from the script, and our own knowledge of what a cult was, or what it is. I didn't even get a chance to read the book, so I had to really mould Aunty Tamsin on what I was given by the writers and the script." Joining the pair in The Clearing is a spectacular cast of fellow homegrown talents — Teresa Palmer (Ride Like a Girl), Guy Pearce (Mare of Easttown), Julia Savage (Blaze), Claudia Karvan (Bump), Mark Coles-Smith (Mystery Road: Origin), Hazem Shammas (The Twelve) and more — in a series that is unsurprisingly haunting and riveting from its first moments. With The Clearing streaming on Disney+ from Wednesday, May 24, we chatted to Otto and Mulvany about their initial responses to the show, researching cults, playing emotional vampires and seeking out female-led stories. ON THEIR FIRST RESPONSES TO THE CLEARING Miranda: "It was sent to my agent. I was told that it was about a female cult leader, which intrigued me automatically, because I'm very fascinated by cults and everything that goes with them. Then I received the scripts, and it was one of those nice things with a limited series where you get all the scripts together, and you're able to see the whole story unfold and the whole layered nature of it. Then I was just totally hooked. I love thrillers and puzzles." Kate: "I was a bit the same. I received the e-mail from the agent saying this has been offered to you, this Aunty Tamsin — and, of course, I read the first couple of scripts and went 'why am I the logical choice for this character?'. But then, as I read, there were a lot more pathways to her and from her that were really fascinating. It was a really great jigsaw to put together as an actor and as a character, so I was hooked from the start." ON PREPARING TO PLAY A CULT LEADER AND ONE OF HER ACOLYTES Miranda: "I've done a lot of research on cults generally. I was very fascinated by the Rajneesh Bhagwan cult — my aunty was in it in the 80s. I read Jane Stork's book [Break the Spell] about them, and watched Wild Wild Country, which was an amazing doc. And then I watched a lot of docs about other cults. But the the process for this, I don't know, we just sort of began. It's a funny thing, we had the scripts and we had everyone there and we just started — and it just kind of took on its own life in in some way." Kate: "Yeah. It did." Miranda: "I don't really feel like I sat down and intellectualised it and worked out exactly what I was going to do. I could make a plan, but then I'd have to throw the plan out because it didn't seem to work on the day. So in the end, it was really just working off the other actors and just finding it on-screen." Kate: "So much it was in the script as well, that it was popping off the page. But there was something so extraordinary about — I know my first day working with Miranda was, I think, your first day as Adrienne?" Miranda: "Yeah, that's right. Yes." Kate: "It was sort of a huge moment to have that — the first time we see her, the sun is behind her and she's approaching to to greet the children for the first time, and so that was a pretty good starting point." Miranda: "Yeah." Kate: "And a deep dive straight away, wasn't it?" Miranda: "I have to say, that day I totally started forgetting my lines. I was thrown in the moment — 'oh my gosh, this is such a lot'." Kate: "I don't remember that." Miranda: "You know, to suddenly be there and be in it — it was like 'oh wow'." Kate: "I don't remember that at all. I just remember you being extraordinary." Miranda: "I kept getting the names mixed when I was talking about the kids." ON FINDING WHAT DRIVES ADRIENNE AND TAMSIN Miranda: "That was a hard thing to find, actually. At first, they talk about 'are you driven by money, ego, power?'. And at first, I thought it was very much power — the power over people. But I found it really empty to play. It didn't really help me much. I couldn't get much from it. Then I had this particular scene with someone, and I realised in the moment that it was more about feeling so emotionally vacant or not able to feel things that that I was actually living vicariously in the moment of forcing these dramatic situations with people and seeing them in this emotional state, and then somehow by osmosis feeling that myself. It was like some enforced kind of feeling. I guess I described it as like an emotional vampire in some way — like not having that myself, then needing to force it in other people." Kate: "Yeah, it's pretty weird. But it was so strong. It was so powerful. And it means that the rest of us follow. Because, for Aunty Tamsin, Adrienne is constantly spoon-feeding these teaspoons of sugar — sweetness and delight, in terms of affection, or even a compliment, or even a touch. And then, of course, it's completely taken away. So for Tamsin, the powerlessness that she feels in her real life, she makes up for with her authoritarian rule over the children. It's still a vast emptiness behind that, but she's constantly given fuel by these spoonfuls of sugar that Adrienne feeds her — metaphorically." ON WHAT OTTO AND MULVANY LOOK FOR IN A ROLE Miranda: "For me, usually finding something that I haven't done before. I don't really want to repeat myself or play a similar character, so I'm usually often drawn to something that's quite different from the from the piece I immediately did before it. I work in antithesis to myself." Kate: "Same here, especially when they're female-led stories. There's something so delicious about diving into a world of a very female narrative — and we have so many strong female characters in this show, both as protagonists and antagonists. And that for me is something that I haven't had a chance to do enough of in my career. So that was a big thumbs up for me, that made me just go 'I would kill to play to play this role'." The Clearing streams via Disney+ from Wednesday, May 24. Read our full review.
A new Australian ridesharing service that caters exclusively to female customers and hires only female drivers has officially started operations in Melbourne and Brisbane, with Sydney soon to follow. Created by comedian and single mother Georgina McEnroe, Shebah is designed to provide an alternative to women and parents who feel uncomfortable or unsafe using other ridesharing apps such as Uber. "My daughter and her friends had had some bad experiences with Uber," McEnroe told The Sydney Morning Herald. "The thought of getting in a small space with a guy seemed inherently unsafe." As of this week, Shebah will be operating in Queensland from North Lakes to Brisbane, down to Thornlands and then heading west to Bray Park, Albany Creek, Ferny Hills, Mount Ommaney and Inala, as well as on the Gold Coast from Coomera, Coolangatta, Currumbin Valley and Chinderra. In Victoria, the service will stretch from Bundoora to Essendon, Tarneit and through the western suburbs, as well as out to Doncaster and Ringwood, to Dandenong, Dromana and Blairgowrie. It will also operate within a 20 kilometre radius of the Geelong CBD. As for NSW, the service has assured its followers on Facebook it will be up and running as soon as they have enough drivers to support passenger demand. All Shebah drivers will be required to complete relevant legal checks, and in return will receive 85 percent of each fare. Shebah takes 14 percent, while the remainder goes to women-centric charities including Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia and the Northern Centre Against Sexual Assault's Respectful Relationships Program. The Shebah app is available on the App Store and via Google Play. For more information visit www.shebah.com.au.
Few things spell summer so much as outdoor cinema, and Flickerfest does it with highlighter pens and capital letters. The festival sets up shop at Sydney's quintessential beach, Bondi, for 10 days in January to showcase its impeccably picked short films. Flickerfest is renowned for being Australia's only competition accredited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science and recognised by BAFTA, which means award winners here go on to be considered for Oscars. In 2013, this recognition has extended from the Best Short Film and Best Animation categories to cover the Best Australian Short, too. It's a huge badge of honour for Flickerfest, which had its humble beginnings 22 years ago at Balmain High School. For us in the audience, it means 116 fine films selected from 2300 fierce local and international contenders. They're shown in programs of about 100 minutes, which include Australian and international competition streams in five parts, the Greenflicks environmentally themed films, and a Celebrity Shorts grouping studded with stars from Michael Fassbender to Judi Dench. With their not-so-commercial prerogatives and YouTube-able length, short films are a very fun watch — and yet we rarely get to see them in public screenings. Flickerfest is our premier remedy for this, first in Sydney and then around the country as it goes on national tour. You'll find day and stormy-weather sessions in the art deco Bondi Pavilion, as well as the accompanying bar.
It's now a whole lot easier to get your mitts on one of those recognisable (and authentic) Fjällräven rucksacks, as the Swedish outdoors label behind the bags has launched its first-ever southern hemisphere store. Opening on level two of Melbourne Central, the new space will give locals a chance to shop the internationally renowned brand in person, browsing an extensive range of its sustainably made clothing, accessories and outdoors equipment. Here, those brightly coloured box-shaped Kanken rucksacks (and the mini versions) will be on show in 55 different colours alongside menswear, womenswear, tents, sleeping bags, and plenty of other travel accompaniments. The 'concept store' also offers complimentary coffee, free wi-fi and loads of expert advice for those plotting their next outdoors adventure or even just an overseas jaunt. Fjällräven, now famous worldwide for its clever fusion of functionality and style, has been kicking on since 1960, when founder Ake Nordin made and sold his first aluminium-framed backpack. The label has since expanded to a huge line of fashion and equipment for nature-lovers and style-savvy city dwellers alike. Find Fjällräven at Shop 241, Level 2 Melbourne Central, Corner Latrobe and Swanston Streets, Melbourne. Updated: December 8, 2018.
Whether it's being time poor or just a little bit lazy, relying on the big supermarket chains for your weekly grocery shop is all too easy. But if you're becoming conscious of where and what products you're buying, it may be time to return to a good ol' fashioned neighbourhood grocer. We've teamed up with American Express to highlight some of Sydney's most impressive local grocers — to help you shop small. Many of them are still family owned and run, so not only will you be supporting the small guys but you're also buying from families that have been in the fruit and veg biz for generations. They really know their stuff, and they're passionate about sourcing fresh produce locally and sustainably, which means your goodies will be seasonal, grown by Aussie farmers and (hopefully) free from nasty additives. Plus, many have expanded their product range beyond the green goodies to include bread, eggs, deli products, pantry staples and other household items, so you'll actually be able to cross more off your shopping list than you expected. But if you really can't justify the extra time it may add to your trip to the shops, some offer home delivery, too. You've really got no excuses to get your five a day in.
The campaign to change the date of Australia Day to, well, any day other than January 26 — on account of the undeniable pain it causes Indigenous Australians — has been long fought. In recent years it's even been joined by local councils and the Greens and, now, local broadcaster Triple J has made a symbolic move away from the day of 'celebration'. The radio station will move the date of its annual Hottest 100 countdown to January 27 in 2018. About time. Around this time last year Triple J copped a cavalcade of requests to change the date of the countdown, which culminated in the station throwing open a survey of how listeners would feel about the change. The results were enough to make Triple J change its mind — 60 percent of listeners said they supported moving the date. In Triple J's official statement, it recognised that the Hottest 100 has become a symbol in the debate about Australia Day. "The Hottest 100 wasn't created as an Australia Day celebration. It was created to celebrate your favourite songs of the past year," it said. "It should be an event that everyone can enjoy together — for both the musicians whose songs make it in and for everyone listening in Australia and around the world. This is really important to us." It's a symbolic change, but an undoubtedly important one. The countdown on Saturday, January 27 will be followed by the Hottest 200 on Sunday, January 28. Voting will open on Tuesday, December 12. You can read all the details here.
It's home to both enviable views of Sydney Harbour's most famous calling cards and all the luxury hotel holiday dreams you've had bookmarked on your desktop. And that's not all Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney is known for. It's also got some mighty fine dining options to boot, even for those who aren't staying at the hotel. In addition to Blu Bar on level 36, which runs one of our favourite high teas in the city, it also houses Altitude. The restaurant boasts spectacular views (also on level 36) and the diverse flavours of both land and sea — plus some very indulgent (or, as we prefer to think of them, very necessary) desserts. And, just in time to fulfil all your belly-warming needs of autumn and winter, Altitude has just unveiled a hearty new menu courtesy of chef Insup Kim. The offering focuses heavily on grilled proteins — from charred octopus and roasted whole flounder to dry-aged rib eye and slow-cooked lamb shoulder. You can pair these with a selection of sides including charred cauliflower, creamy mash and brussel sprouts. But don't forget to leave room for the decadent desserts designed by executive pastry chef Anna Polyviou — in particular, the Anna's Mess. Yep, the OTT dome dessert that has featured on MasterChef Australia is now back on the menu by popular demand. And, thanks to Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney, we're giving you and a plus one the chance to try out Altitude's new menu for free. The three-course dinner is valued at $320 and includes Polyviou's famous dessert. Enter your details below for a chance to win. [competition]714391[/competition]
