Sydney restaurateur and pioneering chef Josh Niland is adding yet another gong to his award-laden mantelpiece after winning one of the world's most prestigious laurels for cookbooks. Announced on Saturday, June 8, at an awards ceremony in Chicago, Niland's Fish Butchery: Mastering the Catch, Cut and Craft was recognised as the Best Restaurant and Professional Cookbook at the James Beard Awards. The book is Niland's third to focus on revealing the innovative techniques behind his revolutionary no-to-low waste approach to seafood, including his radical practice of dry-ageing of fish. Niland beat out fellow Australian chef-authors Mat Lindsay and Pat Nourse, whose book Ester: Australian Cooking was also nominated. [caption id="attachment_771911" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rob Palmer, from Josh Niland's The Whole Fish Cookbook[/caption] Niland is no stranger to the James Beard Awards, which celebrates the world's best cookbook authors, food illustrators, book designers, publishers and food journalists. This most recent win is his third to date, having already scooped the coveted Book of the Year Award in 2020 for his in-print debut The Whole Fish Cookbook, which also took out the Best Restaurant and Professional Cookbook category that same year. Another Aussie was also celebrating a win from this year's James Beard honours. Chinese Australian food writer Hetty Lui McKinnon, who currently lives in New York, won the top prize for Vegetable-Focused Cooking for Tenderheart: A Cookbook About Vegetables and Unbreakable Family Bonds — her fifth published cookbook. McKinnon underlines the poignancy of her work's title in an Instagram post: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hetty Lui McKinnon 雷瑜 (@hettymckinnon) Niland can boast about many award wins during his career, but the past year has been a particularly decorated period for the Sydney-based chef. In May, Niland's fine diner, Saint Peter — which is migrating from its Paddington address to a new home at the Grand National Hotel next month — was named as the only Australian venue to make it onto the 100-strong longlist of the annual World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards, ranking 98th. Also in April, American publication Food & Wine declared Niland's St Leonards restaurant Peterman as the second-best place to eat on the planet — and before that, in October 2023, Niland was named Chef of the Year at the 2024 Good Food Guide Awards. [caption id="attachment_855330" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rob Palmer[/caption] Find the full list of 2024's James Beard Award-winners on the accolades' website. Top image: Allen Benson.
Following the announcement of this year's theme for the Sydney Writers' Festival, Concrete Playground caught up with the festival's artistic director, Chip Rolley. Texan-born Rolley, 47, reveals his personal take on the 2012 theme: the fine line between what is public and private. Read what Rolley as to say about the question of privacy - "the question of our time" - and start getting amped for the festival, which kicks off May 14. Concrete Playground (CP): This year's SWF focuses on the line between public and private matters. Why do you think that this topic is relevant to modern readers and writers? Chip Rolley (CR): I'll never forget when the ex-News of the World journo Paul McMullan told the UK Leveson Inquiry into the media, "Privacy is for paedos." The audacity of it: if you're concerned about privacy, you must have something to hide. That crystallised for me the question of where we draw the line between public and private. The sense that that line is vanishing has been building for years. Not just because of UK scandal rags, or even the increased state security apparatus. But with social media we post things about ourselves that in previous times we might not have even told our loved ones. It seems to me it's the question of our time. CP: How does this issue affect the artistic community? CR: It turns out the question we are all asking ourselves now is one that writers have been asking themselves for years. Any person who writes a biography or a memoir asks themselves this question. How much do I reveal – about myself or family members? How far do I go into the personal life of the public figure I'm writing about? Fiction writers, who often rework the stuff of life into their novels wrestle with this as well. Sydney Writers' Festival seemed to me a natural opportunity to explore this issue and to look at Australia's and the world's writing through this prism. CP: Can the breaking down of the public/private barrier be beneficial to readers? Does this create a more authentic author-to-reader experience? CR: I don't know about "more authentic". There will always be an art to writing – to rendering life and experience through words. But those memoirs that take a really liberal approach to the question (have a look at Joshua Cody's [sic]) can often be invigorating as a result – but only if done well… CP: How has this affected the accessibility of literature? CR: In one sense the Internet and social media have made all of us writers. We are all exploring these issues – deciding what to reveal and what to keep to ourselves. Perhaps that will lead to a wider understanding of writing or a greater appreciation of art in doing it well. CP: Some forms of writing (autobiography, memoir, etc.) are distinctly personal. How do you expect works and authors who work in these genres to contribute to the festival? CR: We explore myriad genres every year and this year is no different. There are some events that directly address the theme, such as "You Must Have Something To Hide" (which looks like it will sell out). Two other big events – "The Feminist Supremacy?" and "Why Get Married When You Could Be Happy?" – take the temperature of the two great social movements of the past 40 years (the women's movement and the gay liberation movement) – both of which relied on the transformative idea that the personal is political. But the beauty of the theme is that it will pulse through all the events, whether they directly address this issue or not. It will percolate through conversations as people spill in and out of the venues and it will emerge in ways we don't even yet see. CP: Do you think it is possible to be a writer, yet maintain your privacy? CR: I do think it's possible, if only to save your material for a rainy day…
Red envelopes and firecrackers are strewing the streets of Chinatown, bowls of incense and fruit are lining the front of your favourite Chinese diner, and before you can say kung hei fat choi (Chinese for 'happy new year'), there’s a lion dancing in your doorway. This is the year of the snake, a sign of introspection and intuitiveness but also stylishness and exceptional good taste — Jessica Mauboy, David Wenham, and Audrey Hepburn are just a few of the characters born under it. Whether you're keen as a cracker to cheer on the parade floats, dying to slip on your glad rags for the jazzy Dragon Ball, or just want to gorge yourself on a Lunar Feast, here's a list of ideas to help you get your slither on this Chinese New Year. 1. Twilight Parade A firm favourite on the Chinese New Year activity calendar, this year’s Twilight Parade promises the same visual spectacle of vibrant dancers, rainbow-hued floats, and vivid fireworks that have characterised each year's bedazzling parade offering. Dancers and acrobats (and all manner of snake-like acts) will be entertaining the crowds from 7pm, there’s an eye-dotting ceremony at 8pm to 'bless' the Chinese New Year lions, then the parade kicks off at 8.15pm from Sydney Town Hall on George St. Sydney CBD buildings also get into the new year action with enchanting projections illuminating their facades whilst post-parade fireworks at Cockle Bay wharf will round off the night and help to scare away any back luck from the previous year. Free. February 17, from 7pm. Sydney Town Hall to Chinatown, 483 George Street, Sydney. Fireworks at Cockle Bay Wharf. 2. Dragon Ball Sydney Town Hall will be transformed into a glamorous, chandelier-swinging, big-band-grooving event with the return of the Dragon Ball, a fixture on the Australian Chinese social calendar from the 1930s to the 1970s when the event saw young debutantes presented to the Chinese Consul General with their families looking on. After a 40-year hiatus, a modern reincarnation of the Dragon Ball band will be cranking out contemporary tunes and bringing to life the heady days of swing — think double bass and drums, trumpets and trombones, with a lilting, swing rhythm. This is a night to dust off your glam frocks and sashay out onto the dance floor for a cha-cha or a samba. Visit Moshtix to book your tickets. February 23, 7.30pm to midnight, Centennial Hall, Sydney Town Hall, $60-70pp + booking fee. 3. Jurassic Lounge celebrates Chinese New Year It's the Tuesday night pop-up event that put the cool back into museums and saw us frolicking amongst the dino bones and grooving to late-night tunes. This year Jurassic Lounge at the Australian Museum will be celebrating the Year of the Snake with a night of contemporary Chinese-Australian art and performance. Grab a glass of vino and soak in the entertainment, including foley artist Les Fiddess (Lord of the Rings trilogy) creating live sound effects to old kung-fu movies, neo-burlesque star Diesel Darling and her pet serpents, and how-to demonstrations on Chinese lantern making and mahjong, all set against the kooky backdrop of taxidermy, dinosaur fossils and quirky science specimens. Tuesday, February 19, 5.30pm–9.30pm. $14 (or $26 with entry to Alexander the Great exhibition). 4. Mahjong Playlunch There's the thud of solid bakelite tiles as they're slid across the felt-lined table. whilst players drink cups of steaming Jasmine tea or nibble delicately on tasty dim sums. Suddenly someone calls 'mahjong' and the table erupts into chatter. It's a busy afternoon at the MahJong Room in Surry Hills, and the atmosphere is electric. Celebrate Chinese New Year with your friends by learning this thousand-year-old game of skill and chance at Surry Hills' answer to the traditional mahjong houses of old Shanghai. Furnished with a mahjong playing set, a belly full of dim sums, and personal lessons from the staff, it's a cool way to while away an afternoon. February 9 and 23, 2pm–5pm. Minimum group of four. $39/pp including dim sums. Mahjong Room, 312 Crown Street, Surry Hills. 5. Dragon Boat Racing Fast and furious, wet and wild — no it's not an ad for a summer roller-coaster ride, it's the frantic dash in a 12m-long painted boat known as dragon boat racing. Dating back 2000 years, the race was traditionally held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month of the Chinese Calendar to encourage rains for prosperity — the dragon, the symbol of water, was the object of worship for the ancient Chinese. Today, it's a heart-thumping sport boasting crews of roughly 20 rowers. Grab a waterside seat and watch some of Sydney's best dragon boat teams battle it out in this highly competitive, thrilling sport. Free. February 23–24. 8am–5pm. Cockle Bay, Darling Harbour, Sydney. 6. Lunar Feasts Want to try something other than your beef and black bean Friday night special? Sydney has gone all Year of the Snake with a rash of Lunar Feasts, from vegan Buddhist banquets to sumptuous eight course spreads. There are banquets from as little as $20 at dumpling powerhouse Din Tai Fung in World Square, or for something different, trendy Ms.G's in Potts Point is hosting an eight-course feast served with a delectable cocktail slushie for $50. You can go traditional at the Eight Restaurant with its Peking duck and seafood offering, or modern with rice paper queen Misschu's take on the Lunar Feast, complete with a frozen coconut and lychee crushie. Still undecided? Check out the Lunar Feasts site for a full listing of eateries. February 8-28 at participating restaurants. 7. Lion Dances Said to have originated around 200 BC, lion dancing is performed during Chinese New Year to bring good luck and fortune to each business where the lion drops by. The Chinese love a pun-based wordplay, and the traditional lion dance, or cai ching ('plucking the greens') has both a literal meaning — the lion stops at each business to eat a bowl of greens or vegetables — and a symbolic one. You see, the word for vegetable in Chinese is cai, which is also the word for fortune. Get it? Don't worry, if the symbolism has you in a spin, just grab a seat ringside and enjoy the colour, noise, and excitement which is the lion dance. Free. February 10 and 16. Chinatown, Sydney. 8. Chinese New Year Markets There'll be bamboo baskets piled high with steaming dumplings, bowls of soy-covered noodles waiting to be slurped, and cooking demonstrations courtesy of former MasterChef contestants Adam Liaw and Alvin Quah at the Chinese New Year Markets in Belmore Park. There's live entertainment on the main market stage with a cult steampunk kung-fu film screening, traditional Korean martial arts performances, hip hop, Vietnamese singing, and Cantonese opera. Want to belt out a tune? Battle it out at the karaoke competition, and if you're the crowd's favourite, you might end up taking home a swag of prizes. The official festival launch kicks off Friday night with an evening of fireworks to scare last year's baddies away. Free. February 8-11, Belmore Park, Eddy Avenue, Sydney. 9. Snake Snake Snake - An Exhibition of Contemporary Asian Australian Artists Enigmatic, intuitive, and refined, people born in the Year of the Snake are also said to be thoughtful and wise. With that in mind, head down to the Snake Snake Snake exhibition at Sydney Town Hall for a contemplative exploration of the themes of heritage, individual journeys, and the concept of home. Curator Catherine Croll has assembled an eclectic mix of work from emerging and established artists – those newly arrived in Australian and those with shared Aboriginal heritage – for a thought provoking exhibit that examines the depth and range of relationships and artistic exchanges between Australia and China, Vietnam and Korea. February 5-23, noon to 8pm daily. Lower Town Hall, Sydney Town Hall (entry via Druitt Street), 483 George Street, Sydney. 10.Chinese Garden of Friendship: Tea Ceremony It's not the Forbidden City, but step through the Chinese Garden of Friendship's ornate entrance way and you could be in old Beijing. With its tiled pagodas and paved stone paths and immaculately landscaped grounds complete with waterfalls and lakes, it's the perfect setting to learn more about one of China's traditional arts: the tea ceremony. In a Chinese tea ceremony, the emphasis is on the tea, rather than the ceremony. With Christina Leung, owner of Zensation Tea House in Redfern, as your guide, learn how to select and brew Chinese tea, appreciate its aroma, and some traditional forms of serving. February 12, 11am to noon. Cost included in garden entry $6/$3. Chinese Gardens open daily, 9.30am to 5pm Book at Darling Harbour - Chinese New Year Bookings. Check out our Ten Best Things to Do in Chinatown.
It's already one of the most anticipated films of 2017 — Danny Boyle's iconic 1996 film Trainspotting is finally getting the sequel you kind of don't want to see but can't look away from. Set to be released on February 9, T2 will apparently be loosely based on Irvine Welsh's 2002 novel Porno, which was released six years after the film of Trainspotting. And while Trainspotting was perhaps the most effective campaign against shooting up heroin (and the need to learn the dialect and slang of Edinburgh youth), T2 may well do the same for the amateur porn industry. Don't worry, there'll probably still be gratuitous drug use. The old guard is back, with Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle reunited by Boyle, and even John Hodge, the screenwriter of Trainspotting, has worked on the film. Here's the latest trailer, one of the more detailed we've seen pop up ahead of the film's release. Take a peek and see Mark Renton (McGregor) returning to the only place he can ever call home. Gang's all here. T2 is in cinemas February 9.
In most places, the sight of cranes littering the skyline is a sign of change, with each giant machine usually working on a new building or development. In Bristol in the United Kingdom until late September, one particular crane isn't simply obscuring the view as it helps construct a new living space — it's offering a glimpse of stunning vistas and somewhere to stay itself. The latest project from Canopy & Stars, Crane 29 is a treehouse built into a crane high above the city's harbourside. Offering cosy, lofty accommodation for two, it's perched eight metres in the air and will remain open for 100 nights over the British summer. Inside, visitors will find plenty of touches that aim to conjure up the feeling of actually sleeping in the trees, rather than in a apartment in a crane. Wood-lined walls, wooden furniture and fixtures, greenery aplenty, planters designed to attract birds and butterflies, an indoor hammock and organic toiletries are all part of the sustainably built package. And, in case you're wondering, we're guessing Crane 29 is still being called a treehouse just because it sounds much, much better than cranehouse. Anyone keen to climb up for a night in the distinctive space can't just book in, however; due to the demand, potential patrons must enter a lottery and then cross their fingers. Successful applicants will pay £185 for a weeknight stay, and £250 for a weekend evening. Via AOL UK. Images: Canopy & Stars.
With the memory of 2017's shambolic Oscars ceremony beginning to fade, so too are the major contenders starting to slip out of Australian cinemas. But with the latest home-grown effort Jasper Jones copping it from all sides and the new Wolverine stalking the multiplexes yet again, the dedicated cinephile may well be thinking it's going to be a while between drinks. Not this year. The Sydney Film Festival may not kick off for another couple of months, but this time round it's getting an epic run-up. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Sydney Film Prize, Golden Age Cinema and Bar in Surry Hills will be screening all of the previous winners in the lead-up to the June festival — one a week for nine weeks. The Sydney Film Prize is the Festival's official competition, awarding $63,000 to a "provocative, controversial or cutting edge film that moves the art form forward". In its ten years, the Prize has recognised numerous works and artists that have gone on to bag acclaim at film festivals all over the world. If you still don't get how big this is, Steve McQueen's Hunger will get the ball rolling on April 4, with Nicholas Winding Refn's Bronson and Only God Forgives to follow. Others in the pack include Asghar Farhadi's Oscar-winning A Separation, last year's winner Aquarius, the Dardenne brothers' Two Days, One Night, starring Marion Cotillard, and Yorgos Lanthimos' Alps about a group of people paid by the bereaved to impersonate their deceased relatives. Or, you know, down the road they're showing one about a giant gorilla fighting dinosaurs. Your call. TEN YEARS OF THE SYDNEY FILM PRIZE PROGRAM April 4 – Hunger (2008) April 11 – Bronson (2009) April 18 – Heartbeats (2010) April 26 – A Separation (2011) May 2 – Alps (2012) May 9 – Only God Forgives (2013) May 16 – Two Days, One Night (2014) May 23 – Arabian Nights Volume I (2015) May 23 – Arabian Nights Volume II (2015) May 24 – Arabian Nights Volume III (2015) May 30 – Aquarius (2015) Ten Years of the Sydney Film Prize will screen at Golden Age Cinema from April 4 till May 30. For more info and to book tickets, visit ourgoldenage.com.au.
Everything is coming up Lorde. Fresh off topping the US Billboard alternative songs chart and announcing that her highly anticipated debut LP, Pure Heroine, will be released on September 27, she has now announced an accompanying October tour of our shores that is set to sell out immediately. The teenage songstress from across the ditch has had a meteoric rise to fame in the past 12 months, with her EP The Love Club downloaded more then 60,000 times before hitting double platinum when available for sales, and her hit tracks 'Royals', 'Love Club' and 'Tennis Court' continue to dominate Australian airwaves. She is so popular here that she was given the formidable task of filling Frank Ocean's Splendour in the Grass shoes after his late withdrawal, and whilst this may have overwhelmed many 16-year-old musicians performing only their eighth gig, she did it with aplomb, performing one of the best sets of the festival. Her song 'Royals' begins "I've never seen a diamond in the flesh". Well this is your chance to see a musical diamond in the flesh, who, if she continues at this rate, will soon be joining Russell Crowe and Phar Lap on the list of Kiwis we wish to call our own. Get in quick though; the last time she was here she sold out immediately and tickets will certainly not be this cheap the next time she arrives. Tickets are on sale on Monday, 19 August. The full tour dates are: Wednesday, 16 October - The Zoo, Brisbane Tickets through 1300 762 545 or www.oztix.com.au Thursday, 17 October - Metro Theatre, Sydney Tickets through (02) 9550 3666 or www.metrotheatre.com.au Saturday, 19 October - Zierholz at UC, Canberra Tickets through 1300 762 545 or www.oztix.com.au Monday, 21 October - The Corner Hotel, Melbourne Tickets through (03) 9427 9198 or www.cornerhotel.com All tickets: $30.00 + BF (presales) $46.95 + BF (presales with digital album) $35.00 (door sales)
We've seen social media play it's part at the pointy end of politics with Egypt's facebook revolution, but does it have a role in regular democracy? Iceland seems to think so. The country suffered badly at the hands of the financial crisis, causing the collapse of their banking system, and bringing down its government. In such a dire situation, tearing up the rule-book and starting again starts to look like a good idea, but who exactly should be involved in drafting a new constitution? Well, it's a document for the people, so why not have it written by the people? Given that their current constitution was copied from Denmark's in 1944 with a bit of find-and-replace work, a new version is probably due. Iceland's constitutional council has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and is using the social media channels to get the public involved in drafting the new constitution. Draft clauses are published to the council's website so the public can see exactly what they're up to, and provide feedback. The draft constitution, which will include checks to prevent further financial crises and changes to the way elections are run, is due to be put to a referendum at the end of July. Involving the entire population in the political process hasn't really been feasible in any nation since democracy's early days, but perhaps the internet is the way to manage it in the modern world. Australia's Senator Online has been trying to get at least one internet-driven representative into a 'traditional' parliament, but Iceland's constitution could be the first example of a democracy built on the internet involvement of its population. [Via Guardian UK, image via flickr]
After first being identified on Wednesday, June 16, Sydney's current cluster of COVID-19 cases keeps growing. Five new local cases were reported to 8pm yesterday, Monday, June 21, and a further seven have been diagnosed since last night's cutoff. In response, the New South Wales Government has announced that it is extending the current mask mandate — so Sydneysiders will need to keep donning face coverings for another week. In a press conference today, Tuesday, June 22, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian advised that folks in the entire Greater Sydney area — excluding the Central Coast and the Hunter Valley region — will need to keep wearing masks until 12.01am, on Thursday, July 1. At present, face masks are already compulsory on public transport across Greater Sydney, as well as indoors in public settings in seven local government areas in Sydney (City of Sydney, Inner West, Randwick, Bayside, Canada Bay, Waverley and Woollahra); however, from 12.01am this Thursday, June 24, all of these requirements will apply citywide. So, if you live or work in Greater Sydney — or visit — you'll need to wear a mask inside in hospitality venues, shops and any indoor situation where you aren't eating or drinking, as well as on public transport. Basically, unless you're at home, you'll need to mask up indoors. "It is only when you are eating or drinking indoors at a venue that you can't or shouldn't wear a mask," said the Premier. "In every other circumstance, if you live or are in Sydney, you must wear a mask for another week beyond Wednesday midnight." https://twitter.com/NSWHealth/status/1407141304207765512 Back on Sunday, when the mask rules were last updated — to require mandatory masks indoors in seven Sydney LGAs — the Premier noted that the government was happy with that level of settings at the time, but would expand the rules if needed. Accordingly, after case numbers have been growing over the past two days, that's exactly what's happening. If you're wondering if more restrictions might be in store in the near future, Premier Berejiklian advised that the state will follow "the health advice." Asked specifically today if a lockdown might come into effect, she said that "at this stage, because all but one case is linked to an existing case and that case was only discovered a few hours ago, that gives us a degree of confidence that what we have asked people to do matches the risk that is there at the moment. If that changes, if we suddenly have a number of unlinked cases and if we suddenly have them outside the geographic region they are concentrated in, that will obviously adjust the health advice and we will respond to that." As it always does, NSW Health has been updating the COVID-19 venues of concern list, and will continue to do so as more places keep being identified. Anyone who has visited these venues during the times specified are required to get tested and self-isolate as per NSW Health's instructions. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in NSW, head to the NSW Health website.
There are some things you can hear about, some things you can ken from a tv tube, pair of pc speakers or a sharply printed word. And then there's Fantine Pritoula's voice. Named after the mother of the better-known Cosette in the great humanist epic Les Miserables, Fantine has all the soul, all the fire, all the ever-present vocal power that her namesake lacks in fiction. It's hard to think of her as an emerging artist, but Fantine still hasn't had some of the high-profile exposure of other local acts. Wednesday night that changes, as she launches her first single, 'Rubber Room', by showcasing her talent at Goodgod Small Club. Fantine grew up in Russia, the Dominican Republic (a Spanish-speaking country on the same island as Haiti) and Perth. All these cultures, and more, mix in with her songs, her covers and her style. It's a surprise that she's only now producing her first single, after so much musical work around town. She's been promoting this show on the streets of Sydney, Mariachi-style. But don't be fooled, her shows won't stay this small for long. Get a listen in, while it's still possible to do it on a whim. Tickets will be on sale at the door on the night. Photo by Luke David Kellett https://youtube.com/watch?v=n5wgd-nOhaQ
Originally presented as Vasily Kandinsky: Around the Circle in New York's iconic Guggenheim Museum, this in-depth retrospective of Vasily Kandinsky — one of the early 20th century's most notable modernists — is coming to the Art Gallery of NSW. Visitors to Kandinsky get to experience the changing inspirations and themes in his work, tracing his beginnings in Germany, his return to his home country of Russia, and his final settling down in France. As much as his surroundings had a transformational impact on his masterful work, he was also influenced by his decade of teaching at the Bauhaus school. "Kandinsky was unwavering in his desire to uplift humanity and in his belief in art's capacity to transform self and society," says Sydney exhibition curator Megan Fontanella. "His story, ultimately one of hope and resilience, continues to resonate a century later. It has been my distinct pleasure to partner with the Art Gallery of New South Wales in bringing Kandinsky's work to new generations in Australia." Kandinsky is remembered as a pioneer of abstract art and a theorist of his time, which visitors to the exhibition will see in the many paintings, woodcuts and watercolours on display. This comprehensive showcase will explore the legacy of an artist who was as influential as he was experimental. More than 50 of his works are on display at the AGNSW, including early- and late-career highlights like Blue Mountain (1908–09), Dominant Curve (1936) and Composition 8 (1923). Tickets to Kandinsky are available for $35 for adults, $32 for concessions, $30 for members, $18 for kids 12–17 and $88 for a family pass.
Under normal circumstances, a cup of coffee (or several) is an essential part of a busy, bustling day for most folks. It's the caffeinated elixir that kickstarts your engine, puts a spring in your step and gets your brain functioning — and working and waking hours just wouldn't be the same without it. In these COVID-19 times, everyone's routine has clearly changed; however that hankering for a cuppa is probably still going strong. And if you like your coffee in cold-brew form from one of Melbourne's favourite roasters, you can now get your fix by stashing a huge cask of the good stuff in your pantry. South Melbourne's St Ali is already selling — and delivering — beans, house blends, Nespresso-compatible capsules, six-packs and slabs of iced lattes and filter coffee, and even its own 75-percent alcohol hand sanitiser. New to its list are goon sacks of cold-brew concentrate, as made from the roastery's Orthodox blend. Called St Ali Cold Brew 2.0 Concentrate, they come in four-litre packages and will set you back $55 — and deliver Australia-wide. Each cask is designed to last, too, with St Ali recommending that you pour it in 30–50 millilitre serves. That'll give you around 100 caffeinated beverages — as mixed with milk, water and/or ice. If it's cocktail hour, you can always add in booze as well. [caption id="attachment_755831" align="alignnone" width="1920"] St Ali[/caption] For further information about St Ali's cold brew 2.0 concentrate, or to place an order, visit the roastery's online store.
Keeping up a healthy lifestyle can be challenging, especially when work gets busy, 4pm cocktails roll around, and your lovely boss just bought a box of choccies to thank you for all that overtime. We've all made goals to lead a healthier life at work, whether it's incorporating more exercise, eating fewer snacks or saying no to midweek drinks once in a while — but sticking to those resolutions is another story. Our daily slip-ups — whether it's ditching your homemade salad for a takeaway slice of pizza, or skipping the gym because you're just too exhausted — can all add up over time. But some of the simplest improvements to your health don't have to come with revolutionary lifestyle changes. Whether you start your day with a walk or swap your morning toast for a fibre-rich crispbread, there are quick ways to kickstart (or restart) your 2020 health resolutions. In partnership with Ryvita, we've come up with six healthy changes that you can adopt into your working day. EAT A HEALTHY TREAT TO AVOID INDULGENT SNACKING LATER We're all guilty of mindless snacking, especially when trying to focus on a task at work. When 3pm hits, it's easy to reach for the nearest sugary hit to give us more energy or to plug the gap our bland salad lunch left behind. By planning ahead — and knowing your trigger times for not-so-great habits — you can master those cravings by preparing a healthier, more satiating snack ahead of time. Health experts say Australians aren't getting enough fibre in their diets, and so packing in a high-fibre snack can help you make a healthier snacking choice in your week. Eating Ryvita crispbreads is an achievable way to contribute to the dietary fibre target of 30 grams per day, and you can get creative with your toppings — think pea and mint hummus, scrambled eggs, wasabi mashed avo and more. Ryvita has high-fibre recipe ideas, here. [caption id="attachment_748260" align="alignnone" width="1920"] City of Sydney[/caption] ENJOY SOME CULTURE AT LUNCH Getting out and about to enjoy the city you live in shouldn't be something restricted to weekends or before and after work. There's plenty of things to do to stimulate your mind, and it's a far more exciting lunchtime break than eating your sandwich in the staffroom. For keen readers (or anyone who needs to escape for a little while), why not head to the local library and find a quiet corner for a short break? Or, if you only have ten minutes, go to your nearest bookshop and browse the new releases to read on your commute. Prefer to keep moving? Take a wander around an art gallery or museum (just for a short while) and you can distract yourself from spreadsheets and see artworks or learn a snippet of history. If you can't escape the office, use your break to flex your creative side — story writing tasks or colouring books are just as engaging when you want to take your mind off work. TAKE YOUR MEETING FOR A WALK Why catch up in a stuffy, fluorescent, lifeless boardroom when you could walk and talk? The walking-talking catch up can transform your personal and professional energy — research by Stanford University has shown that walking leads to an increase in creative thinking, plus it allows for more honest and open exchanges if you feel like you can't speak your mind in front of other colleagues. While not all meetings are suitable for walking (tough negotiations or ones with presentations), they're great for consulting with your team or exploring solutions. You're also increasing that step count while you're at it. [caption id="attachment_762267" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jopwell[/caption] TAKE MINI STANDING BREAKS Repeat after us: taking a break at work is not a waste of time. Walking away from your desk once in a while is hugely important to help boost your performance. Taking mini breaks throughout the day improves your energy, relieves stress and drives your productivity. Whether it's setting up a yoga mat in an empty room and doing some meditation or actually listening to your watch when it tells you to stand up every hour, these small breaks help you focus when you return to the work task at hand — and they make you feel better, too. Mini breaks are an easy (and free) positive change you can make to your workday. [caption id="attachment_762289" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Helena Lopes[/caption] DO SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE ELSE Doing something for your colleagues is another way to get your body moving, with the bonus of supporting your work Significant Others. Go on a coffee run, empty the dishwasher, reach out to a colleague you don't usually interact with. By doing something for someone else — without doing it in exchange for a promotion or other perceived benefit to you — can create wonders for your sense of wellbeing and community. Take a moment to bond with your new friend at work and you'll notice the difference in how you feel. [caption id="attachment_762291" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Christina Morillo[/caption] LISTEN TO A PRODUCTIVE PODCAST OR PLAYLIST There are thousands of podcasts out there, providing countless episodes on how to become a more productive individual, and there are plenty that focus on health and wellness, too. Slate Magazine's Political Gabfest or The Saturday Paper's 7am will have you brushing up on international and domestic politics that'll help you elevate your kitchen chat; ABC's The Pineapple Project, hosted by journalist Jan Fran, and Ladies We Need to Talk, hosted by Yumi Stynes dive head-on into financial and lifestyle advice and queries that can feed into your work/life balance goals. And, The Tim Ferriss Show interviews successful people at the top of their game, giving you something to aspire towards. For more high-fibre recipe ideas from Ryvita, head here. Top image: Jopwells from Pexels.
Kevin Rudd can rest easy in his political grave (at least, for one thing), because the Asian-Australian connections continue to be cultivated. Amidst the Chinese New Year celebrations comes Crossing Boundaries, an exhibition that applauds the artistic exchange between Asian and Australian worlds. Everything from sculpture, installation, ceramics, performance and forums will be on offer as the unique cultural works of more than 20 Asian-Australian artists are presented. Curated by Catherine Croll, Crossing Boundaries includes renowned artists Hu Ming, Guan Wei, Lindy Lee, William Yang, High Tea with Mrs Woo and more at the Town Hall event that'll run from January 22 until February 9. Gotta zip.
Sydney, you're spoilt for choice when it comes to eating and drinking before, during and after Vivid. Go open air at the Opera House for Korean fried chicken and Archie Rose cocktails, feast on a multi-course dinner curated by Nigella Lawson and served underground, or visit a plant-based American diner (complete with a roller skating rink). Alternatively, head to Kingsleys Woolloomooloo for a two-course pre-Vivid dinner while overlooking the harbour. You'll start with shared plates of seared Hokkaido scallops with champagne beurre blanc, caviar and chives, and locally caught calamari with citrus mayo, togarashi and green onion. Both come with warm sourdough with smoked butter. Come main time, meat lovers will be tucking into a 300 gram, 120-day grain-fed, MB2+ Black Angus sirloin with cafe de Paris butter, red wine jus and shoestring fries. Or go for the potato gnocchi and baby burrata with a decadent sauce of confit tomato, asparagus, chervil, white wine, lemon, butter and parmigiano reggiano. Whatever you pick, the two courses, which are available from 5-7pm throughout Vivid, will set you back $89 a head. And, once you're done, you'll be just a stone's throw from all the lights of the city.
A broad national network of mental health treatment centres, including up to 57 additional clinics for adults, is part of the Federal Government's landmark $2.3 billion investment in the mental health sector. It represents the single largest Commonwealth commitment to mental health and suicide prevention in history, according to the Coalition. Announced as part of the 2021–22 Federal Budget on Tuesday night, the new National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan brings the government's total estimated mental health spending to $6.3 billion in 2021–2022. The lion's share of spending ($1.4 billion) will go towards improving the accessibility of mental health services for vulnerable Australians. This includes improving access to community-based mental health services ($487.2 million) with an initial 32 new centres for adults, and expanding the existing Headspace network for youth aged 12–25 through the establishment of ten new dedicated clinics ($278.6 million). "The past twelve months have no doubt been some of the most difficult for many young people. It's not surprising that we've seen an increase in need across all parts of the mental health system," Headspace CEO Jason Trethowan said in a statement. "We know increased investment in early intervention is key to supporting young people's mental health." [caption id="attachment_811701" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Pexels stock image: Anastasia-Shuraeva[/caption] Almost $249 million of the spend is allocated to prevention and early intervention, including investments into broadening the digital services available in Australia through a new, world-class digital platform. The system will be home to online professional counselling as well as offering peer and clinical support under Head to Health. A further $298 million is promised for suicide prevention, with the government committing more than half of this spend ($158.6 million) to ensuring Australians who attempt suicide receive continued care and support once they leave hospital. Another $107 million is dedicated to supporting vulnerable groups in the community, which includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-specific services such as a 24/7 crisis line run by Indigenous Australians. $202 million is also committed to training and growing the mental health workforce. "We have a monumental task ahead of us to ensure that our system levels up to our expectations, and treats people with the care and compassion they deserve," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement. "[This] is an investment for all Australians." Currently, one in five Australians experience mental health issues every year. 3,000 Australians lose their lives to suicide each year and it remains the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15–44 years old. You can read the Federal Government's National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan online. A media release is also available to the public, or head to the government's website to view a range of available fact sheets.
Assumptions are dangerous. You can never say everyone is normal. You can never say your home is permanent. You can never say you really know and trust your loved ones. You can never say all the lyrebirds are dead. Cate invites June over for birthday dinner. It sounds like a pleasant arrangement, but what would have been a nice house in the 'burbs with a laid table, sauvignon blanc, cultured chatter and cake has become something altogether different. Every Australian's worst nightmare has struck them. Like the insidious acrid tendrils of fire smoke, the atrocities of Black Saturday creep into Lyrebird, written by award-winning writer Amelia Evans and directed by recent NIDA graduate Jemma Gurney. A vast wasteland of charred remains stretches out beyond these five connected yet displaced friends and family, who now live in caravans and use Port-a-Loos. Forced to hang in limbo, homeless, "until the insurance comes through," they must wait. And wait they do. June (Lucy Miller) convincingly fills the stage as the bubbly family wrecker and shares both tension and laughter with Cate (Sara Zwangobani), the bitter zipped-mouth housewife. The absent patriarch, Tim (Jordan Kelly), lets his eyes drift above and beyond the audience, always searching and hopeful. Meanwhile, the younger playmates, Jess (Maeve MacGregor) and Henry (Christian Willis) awkwardly contend with snap, sex, death, alcohol and early adulthood. Evans, who grew up in a national park in Kinglake, muses, "It's so much bigger than us; the bush is so overwhelming, so much more significant than these little humans." Set designer Gez Xavier Mansfield re-creates this nebulous yet thrilling phenomenon of the bush on stage through unusual materials and fabrics, conveying a burned-out environment that you can almost smell. Experimental and powerfully atmospheric, sound designer Nate Edmondson's ghost-like echoes, incongruous whizzing, birdcalls and siren trills from 'Heart of Glass' by Blondie leave you filled with a wistful, hollow abandonment felt only in the bush. No-one knows how each of us would deal with this tragedy until it happens. Some bitterly retreat, some become jolly and reckless, others remain in control or fret, and the odd one goes mad and eats lasagne off the ground. As despair brings people closer, it also lances the truth — a truth ready to ignite and reveal itself. Assumptions are much too dangerous. I think I heard a lyrebird call...
Miranda Devine. Yeah, you've heard of her. Maybe you connect her with the profile shot that gazes smugly at you from the pages of the Telegraph somebody's discarded on the seat of the bus, or then again, maybe you're picturing the scenes of speechless, apoplectic rage with which your friends and loved ones are occasionally wont to speak of her. But make no mistake, there's nothing wrong with Miranda Devine's opinions per se. She just likes things clean, white, middle-class, conservative and heterosexual. Nothing wrong with that, she's entitled to her opinion. In fact, she's so entitled to it that she is the "leading columnist" with the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun, who gift her an entire page in Australia's most popular tabloids in which to exercise her right to free speech. Which is all well and good until you get crazy-eyed hysterics ringing up talk-back radio and using her articles to back up what are often reactionary and evidence-free arguments. On Sunday, August 14, The Daily Telegraph published her column entitled 'It's a Myth Conception: The problem of a fatherless society.' While ostensibly about the pregnancy announced last week of Senator Penny Wong and her partner Sophie Allouache, Devine manages to complete some truly spectacular logical acrobatics to take us from a pregnant lesbian couple to the seemingly connected statement, "You only had to see the burning streets of London last week to see the manifestation of a fatherless society." Makes sense, right? To a lot of people it doesn't, and one of the people it rubbed up the wrong way was Tom Ballard, Triple J breakfast presenter, comedian and self-described "professional homosexual". Check out Tom's measured, yet whimsical, response below. https://youtube.com/watch?v=KkMv_GzhETk
Our global plastic binge is creating some terrifying statistics. We're still going through 500 billion single-use plastic bags per year and using 17 million barrels of oil to manufacture enough plastic water bottles to meet annual demand. A team of Melbourne-based entrepreneurs have decided to combat our not-so-fantastic plastic obsession. They've come up with Australia's first ever 'Positive and Pure' paper water bottle, Do Water. It's made from paper that comes from Forestry Stewardship Council certified forests, which are managed sustainably and responsibly. The Do Water team discovered that, unfortunately, bottling water in 500ml paper packs is impossible in Australia. So they travelled far and wide, looking for an ideal location, which turned out to be an artesian well known as Acqua Smeraldina, located high in the mountainous region of Sardinia, Italy. There, purified by granite, the water has been gathering minerals and nutrients for hundreds of years. To maintain their stringent standards, the Do Water team lab-tests the site every two hours. The water, rather than being transferred to a factory for treatment, is bottled at the source, reaching the consumer's mouth just as it leaves its home. Of course, delivering the bottles from Italy to Australia poses a potentially not-so-green dilemma. So the Do Water crew transports them via container ships, the carbon impact of which is much lower than that caused by air miles. The hope is that, one day soon, they'll be able to conduct the whole enterprise on Australian shores. "We want to help reduce the overall lifecycle and footprint of plastic bottles in Australia by providing an alternative made from a natural and renewable resource," the Do Water site explains. "We couldn't find anyone offering such an alternative, so we decided to do something about it."
If your NYE fantasy involves avoiding raging crowds and having lots of food and wine delivered to where you're sitting while you sit back and do absolutely nothing, then dinner at the Bentley crew's newest restaurant Cirrus is the go. What's more, Barangaroo Reserve is just a stumble away, so you have the option of checking out the fireworks from a killer spot (as long as you buy a ticket for $33.30). Cirrus will be serving its usual sustainably-caught, super fresh seafood-heavy menu. Star dishes include Moreton Bay bugs with house-made XO and mud crab from the Northern Territory with green garlic and tarragon. You're welcome to dine any way you like — be that a la carte or via a multi-course, share-style menu. To nab one of the 40 waterfront seats, we suggest booking as soon as possible. That said, wherever you are, you'll be luxuriating in plenty of personal space among the marble-dashed Pascale Gomes-McNabb-designed interior.
He went from being the cute kid in Batman Begins to the most hated character in Western pop culture. Jack Gleeson, the actor who played King Joffrey Baratheon in Game of Thrones is coming to Australia next month as part of the national nerd-out that is the Supanova expo. Prepare your poisons — but seriously, please don't poison him — Joffrey lives again. Unfortunately (or very fortunately, depending on where you live) Gleeson will only be hitting up the Brisbane and Adelaide legs of the show. He will be filling the spot made available by Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell) as she had to withdraw from the expo to fulfil commitments for her role in The Hunger Games. Gleeson will also be joined by Peter Cullen, the voice actor who plays Transformers' Optimus Prime. This appearance will be made all the more interesting as, after 'leaving' Game of Thrones, Gleeson has actually quit acting completely. Though he's now focusing on his university studies instead, there's undoubtedly a lot to be said about the devastating consequences Joffrey's character has had on his career. Really — how can we see him as anything else but the evil boy king? His Q&A should prove for some really interesting insight into the mechanics of intense fandom. Those in Melbourne and Sydney will have to wait until April and June respectively. And, at that point, the expo will be making the rounds without Gleeson. Hardcore fans and haters will have to take this clip as some kind of small consolation: Supanova will be at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from November 28-30 and at the Adelaide Showgrounds November 22-23. For more information about the lineup or Sydney and Melbourne offerings, see the website.
Let's face it — you don't necessarily expect to walk out of a bar feeling smarter. But the global initiative Raising the Bar looks to do just that, pulling education out of classrooms and injecting it into unexpected locations with talks on all things wacky, sustainable and scientific — including addiction, cybercrime, manufactured blood vessels and climate change. Hailing from New York then annually touring Hong Kong, London and beyond, Raising the Bar returns to Aussie shores in partnership with the University of Sydney and City of Sydney, to take over Sydney bars for one night only. Fifteen Sydney haunts — including The Abercrombie, Brix Distillers, Atomic Brewery, Soultrap and the Ace Hotel —are getting involved in this free event, with each venue hosting talks at 6pm and 8pm. The venues will be open for business, too, so you can grab a drink and some food to snack on while you try to wrap your head around the game-changing, boundary-pushing subject matter. Some of Sydney's brightest minds will come together to discuss research findings and specialist areas — from CEOs and up-and-coming visionaries to local professors and lecturers. And the conversation topics are about as varied as you can get, so it's unlikely you won't find something to sink your brain into. Speakers include Prof. Stefan Williams on his years of experience in underwater exploration, Josh Ismin on the therapeutic potential of magic mushrooms, Paul Millett on the vertical future of farming and Barbara Stephen on Sydney's growing role in the global entertainment industry. Registration for each individual event is a must, so to check out the full program and nab your free ticket, visit the website.
The clip for Matt and Kim's single 'It's Alright' begins with some half-naked horizontal dancing and ends with a pillow fight. What happens in the interim might teach you "a few things", according to the New York-based dance punk duo. Quite a few people must've been gaining an education, given that the single's LP, Lightning, debuted at No.1 on the iTunes Alternative Chart. What's more, Matt and Kim's Twitter account has been receiving an abundance of responses to their #itsalrightxxx campaign. According to lead singer/keyboardist Matt, who chatted to Channel V, it's all about "trying to spread the word (of how to spice things up)". Fortunately for Antipodeans looking for some tips, distance won't be a barrier for too much longer, with Matt and Kim coming out to play Groovin' the Moo as well as headline shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The scary thing is that their live performances are reputed to be even more explosive than their recordings. Look out.
Waterfalls have served as tourist attractions and natural wonders. And thanks to TLC we know we should never chase them. Powerful and beautiful forces of nature, flowing waterfalls can actually freeze whilst falling creating amazing and bizarre shapes. It's one of the most spectacular visuals of something frozen in time, quite literally. Take a look at the photos below to see some of the largest and coolest frozen waterfalls captured on camera.
The humble face mask is about to enjoy a peak in popularity, after the NSW Government strongly recommended Sydeysiders start wearing face coverings, at a press conference over the weekend. Premier Gladys Berejiklian has outlined four key situations where masks should be worn: if you're in an enclosed space and can't social distance, such as at a supermarket or on public transport; if you're working a customer-facing job, such as hospitality or retail; if you're attending a place of worship; and if you're in an area where there is high levels of community transmission. Some NSW businesses are also calling on Sydneysiders to mask up, including Woolworths, Bunnings and — most recently — Uber. The ride-sharing app sent out an alert to Uber users last night, Thursday, August 6, saying the company "now recommends wearing a face cover in NSW when riding or driving with the Uber app". https://twitter.com/_samanthateague/status/1291499784964956161 It's not the only change Uber has made during the pandemic, either. Early on — back in April — Uber announced it was distributing tens of millions of masks to drivers around the world and it launched an in-app COVID-19 hub. To improve hygiene and social distancing, Uber also no longer allows riders to sit in the front seat and it encourages hand-washing/sanitising before getting in the car. The announcement comes as the rate of community transmission has increased over recent weeks in NSW, with 12 new cases recorded in the 24 hours leading up to 8pm on Wednesday, August 5. Ten of those are linked to known cases and two are under investigation. With cases confirmed across a number of suburbs, NSW Health is asking anyone who lives in or has visited the following areas in the past 14 days to get tested if they have any symptoms: Bankstown, Cambelltown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Liverpool, Parramatta, Potts Point, Carnes Hill shops, Prestons, Bonnyrigg, Wetherill Park, Mt Pritchard, Cabramatta and Perisher. You can find out closest testing clinic over here. For more information about the status of COVID-19 in NSW, head to the NSW Health website.
George A Romero has been called "the father of the zombie film". The late, great director — the creative force who helped usher in a horde of shuffling undead-focused movies thanks to his iconic and influential Night of the Living Dead in 1968 — is also the father of a new zombie flick-loving filmmaker. When you're the daughter of the man who is also responsible for Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead, and you're making your directorial debut, adding a new addition to the horror genre clearly just comes naturally. Tina Romero's Queens of the Dead is a horror-comedy about a Brooklyn warehouse drag party that gets overrun by a zombie outbreak. It's also the opening-night film at Sydney Underground Film Festival for 2025. That's how the event is kicking off its 19th year — with gore, glitter, and the no-longer-living terrorising the dance floor and eating flesh — with SUFF screening at Dendy Newtown from Thursday, September 11–Sunday, September 14. One year out from celebrating its next huge milestone, 2025's ode to wild, weird, wonderful, surreal and sublime cinema has anniversaries on the brain already. Marking 45 years of Xanadu is one big highlight, complete with a disco-themed afterparty at Bootleggers after the screening. Or, you can catch a 30th-anniversary session of Steve Buscemi (Wednesday)- and Catherine Keener (Joker: Folie à Deux)-starring indie comedy Living in Oblivion instead. Still on blasts from the past, SUFF is also heading back to the 80s with cult-classic UHF, where Weird Al Yankovic (The Naked Gun) plays a man who finds himself becoming the manager of a low-budget television station. You won't just be watching and hearing the picture, either — you'll also be smelling an array of scents due to the return of SUFF's scratch 'n' sniff experience, complete with cards giving you the full sensory treatment. Courtesy of the rest of the program, when audiences aren't checking into Japanese horror Tokyo Evil Hotel, catching Cheech & Chong's Last Movie or charting Butthole Surfers' career in documentary Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth and Nothing But, then everything from Ebony and Ivory from An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn and The Greasy Strangler's Jim Hosking to dark comedy Snatchers and exploitation horror Pater Noster and the Mission of Light awaits. Plus, among SUFF's 2025 documentaries, Coexistence, My Ass! focuses on Israeli Persian actor-turned-activist/comedian Noam Shuster-Eliassi, Yellow House Afghanistan explores life under Taliban rule, The Life and Films of Andy Milligan pays tribute to its filmmaking namesake, the Iggy Pop-narrated Exorcismo dives into Spain's "Clasificada S" cinema and Occupy Cannes is all about Troma's efforts at one of the world's most-prestigious film festivals. When it wraps up for this year, the festival will close with the 16mm-shot Fucktoys, which takes inspiration from tarot's Major Arcana cards as it follows a hustler seeking salvation. "Underground film at its best doesn't just break rules — it reimagines what cinema can be. This year, SUFF celebrates the artists who are doing just that: fearless female filmmakers, radical Australian auteurs, and emerging voices who aren't asking for permission — they're forging new cinematic languages," said SUFF co-Festival Director Nathan Senn, announcing the lineup. "The films in this year's program are provocative, unruly, visionary; they unsettle and electrify in equal measure. At a time when sameness dominates, SUFF takes pride in being a home for the strange, the subversive and the gloriously unclassifiable." Sydney Underground Film Festival 2025 screens at Dendy Newtown, King Street, Newtown, from Thursday, September 11–Sunday, September 14. For further information, or to buy tickets, head to SUFF's website.
Brisbane might be the centre of the political world during G20, but come March 2015, there’s no other place Australia’s cinephiles will want to be. The auteur’s auteur, David Lynch, is coming to town. Yes, you read that correctly. Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art has pulled off their greatest programming coup yet, presenting Australia’s first David Lynch exhibition from March 14 to June 7. Exclusive to the Queensland capital, David Lynch: Between Two Worlds is the largest retrospective of Lynch's practice to date, charting 50 years of his output across all media — and we mean all of it. Developed closely with Lynch himself, the exhibition features more than 200 works. Lynch is best known as a filmmaker; however he has worked as a visual artist for 50 years, producing an extensive body of paintings, photography and works on paper. Lynch’s film prowess is the stuff of cinema legend, his inimitable mind creating the wonders that are Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive. Bold, strange and with a singular style, his films really are incomparable. His output on the small screen is just as iconic, courtesy of a little TV show called Twin Peaks and its film prequel, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. You might have heard of them. If you were already excited about the beloved series returning for a third season in 2016, as announced just last month, then the exhibition’s anniversary celebration of what many rightfully consider the best television show ever made is going to be right up your alley. In addition to a complete collection of his film, video and television efforts at the Australian Cinémathèque, including a specially-curated program of Lynch's short and feature films, works for television, documentaries and independent projects produced for online platforms, the exhibition will take over the rest of the Gallery of Modern Art. Rarely seen paintings and drawings from the mid 1960s, lithographs, an important presentation of Lynch's photographs of factories and nudes, and recent large-scale paintings are among the creative treats on offer. There’s plenty more news to come, too, with details of exclusive events — including a chance to get up close and personal with the man himself at an artist in-conversation session, as well as public programs and special musical performances still to be announced. Get the pie and coffee ready for December, when tickets go on sale. Visit www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/davidlynch for more information. Images: David Lynch — Derek Hudson/Getty Images David Lynch, United States b.1946 / Head #3 2013 / Gelatin silver print on Baryta paper / Courtesy: David Lynch and / © The artist
Film festivals love milestones. Queer Screen Film Fest notches up 12 years in 2025, which is no minor feat; however, it's celebrating a number of other anniversaries with one key screening. This year marks a decade since Holding the Man first reached cinemas, and also 30 years since Timothy Conigrave's memoir was initially published. A session of the Ryan Corr (Sting)- and Craig Stott (Barrier)-starring instant Australian classic is indeed on the event's lineup, then — at Sydney Opera House, and also to commemorate the 40th anniversary of New South Wales LGBTQ+ health organisation ACON. One of two film festivals run by Queer Screen, which also organises the Mardi Gras Film Festival during the first half of each year, Queer Screen Film Fest is otherwise taking over Event Cinemas George Street across Wednesday, August 27–Sunday, August 31 for its 2025 edition. The program is solely in cinemas this year, opening with romantic thriller Plainclothes. So, it's, starting with Russell Tovey (Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes) and Tom Blyth (Billy the Kid) in a tale about a closeted undercover police officer. Plainclothes is also part of something brand-new for Queer Screen Film Fest: its own Emerging Narrative Feature Competition. Six titles on the bill are in contention for a jury-decided $2500 prize. While the competition is designed to recognise filmmakers directing either their first or second narrative feature, all of 2025's entrants are from first-timers. As well as Carmen Emmi's Plainclothes, Rohan Parashuram Kanawade's Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Jury Prize-winnering romance Cactus Pears, the Cannes Critics' Week-selected Love Letters from Alice Douard and South Korea's Lucky, Apartment by Kangyu Ga-ram are up for the inaugural gong, as are Elena Oxman's Outerlands with Billions' Asia Kate Dillon and Superman's Louisa Krause, plus Sauna, the first Danish feature with a trans actor and character in a lead role. Fellow highlights across the full Queer Screen Film Fest program — a lineup with 14 Australian premieres — include the Dylan O'Brien (Saturday Night)-led Twinless, a two-time Sundance award-winner, including for both its star and for writer/director James Sweeney (Straight Up); the Western Sydney-set From All Sides, the feature directorial debut of Bina Bhattacharya (a writer on Here Out West); and closing night's Really Happy Someday, which picked up the Best Canadian Feature Award at 2025's Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival.
Not a single rock 'n' roll lover in Australia will want to miss this upcoming performance by Wanda Jackson. Before performing at Bluesfest over Easter weekend Jackson will be performing a string of sideshows, one of them landing her at Sydney's Factory Theatre, where she'll be supported by Ezra Lee and his band. Jackson is internationally known as the Queen of Rock and the First lady of Rockabilly and has been inducted into the Rockabilly and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fames in 2009. Her music career has been ongoing for over 50 years, and she is best known for the songs 'Tears Will Be the Chaser for Your Wine', 'Fujiyama Mama', 'Heart Trouble', and 'I Remember Elvis'. She worked closely with Elvis Presley and has garnered admiration from artists including Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.
International travel could possibly be back on the cards for Australians by Christmas, but you'll be able to get a 26-film glimpse of Italy first. The reason: the 2021 Italian Film Festival. As it does every year, it's showcasing a stacked lineup of new and classic cinema from its chosen part of the globe, as part of its touring program. In a change from previous years, this year's fest will start in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, then move to Byron Bay and Sydney in line with New South Wales' roadmap out of lockdowns. Next, it'll hit up Canberra and Melbourne as they emerge from stay-at-home conditions as well. Wherever you're located, your leg of the festival will start with The Ties — and with a marriage in crisis. Starring Alba Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro) and Luigi Lo Cascio (Human Capital), and helmed by Daniele Luchetti (La Nostra Vita, My Brother is an Only Child), this moving film follows a couple's tumultuous romance over the course of decades. It heads to the Italian Film Festival after opening last year's Venice Film Festival, and becoming the first Italian movie in more than a decade to do the latter. At the other end of the 2021 Italian Film Festival, the event will close with a classic: Roberto Rosselini's Rome, Open City. It's part of a four-film retrospective of the director's work, and also falls within the fest's look back at iconic Italian leading ladies. This event always comes with a big appreciation for Italy's filmmaking past, which is where documentary Fellini Forward: From the Creative Genius of Federico Fellini, about the acclaimed director, also fits in. Elsewhere, festival highlights include Cannes Film Festival Director's Fortnight winner To Chiara, about a 15-year-old who discovers her father might have criminal ties; Nanni Moretti's Three Floors, which is set across a Rome apartment block; Hidden Away, a biopic about artist Antonio Ligabue; and You Came Back, a thriller that makes ample use of Venice's lagoons. Or, there's also comedy Three Perfect Daughters; drama Tigers, about footballer Martin Bengtsson; and Sirley, which sees director Elisa Amoruso draw upon her adolescence for her first fictional film. ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2021 DATES: Wednesday, October 20–Sunday, November 14 — Palace James Street and Palace Centro, Brisbane Wednesday, October 20–Sunday, November 14 — Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas and Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas, Adelaide Wednesday, October 20–Sunday, November 14 — Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX and Windsor Cinema, Perth Friday, October 20–Sunday, November 7 — Palace Byron Bay, Byron Bay Wednesday, October 27–Sunday, November 21 — Palace Norton, Palace Verona, Palace Central and Chauvel Cinema, Sydney Wednesday, November 17–Sunday, December 12 — Palace Electric, Canberra Friday, November 19–Sunday, December 12 — Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Pentridge Cinema, The Astor and Cinema Nova, Melbourne The 2021 Italian Film Festival tours Australia between Wednesday, October 20–Sunday, December 12. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website.
Swizzle sticks at the ready, drinks aficionados. After the success of last year's inaugural Maybe Cocktail Festival, the event is returning in April 2024 with more than 30 international bartenders and 20 events serving world class beverages over a week-long celebration of booze, hospitality and craft. Coming from the PUBLIC Hospitality group and the Maybe Sammy team — no stranger to legendary bar feats, having topped the list of the 500 best bars in the world in 2023 — the festival will hit venues across Sydney and showcase acclaimed bartenders and cocktail-slinging spots from Italy, England, Mexico, Scotland, China and, of course, some of the best of the Australian bar scene. [caption id="attachment_925486" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Steve Woodburn[/caption] The impressive lineup (with highlights listed below) has been curated by Maybe Cocktail Festival Director and Director of Hospitality at PUBLIC, Stefano Catino, with an even bigger showing of international guests turning up for year two. "Last year we held 16 events and they were all packed so this year we've curated extra events and flown out even more international bars and bartenders," says Catino. He also emphasises the importance of making the festival events affordable: "Nineteen of the 21 events are free to attend which is very important to us. The cost of living is high and it's very expensive for Australians to travel overseas so this festival will give people the opportunity to drink cocktails from an amazing bar in Rome or try a Tommy's Margarita from the gentleman who created it, without the cost of a plane ticket." Yes, tequila fans will delight in the opportunity to have an audience with San Francisco native Julio Bermejo, creator of the Tommy's Margarita — the signature marg at legendary tequila bar and restaurant Tommy's Mexican. Other noteworthy bars involved in the program include Mexico City's Handshake Speakeasy (which ranked #3 on The World's 50 Best Bars list for 2023) and the history-rich New York staple Dante. The events will be held at a haul of venues including Maybe Sammy, Dean & Nancy on 22, Sammy Junior, El Primo Sanchez, Kasbah at The Strand, Ricos Tacos, Busby's, The Lady Hampshire, and both Alpha and Beta at 28 Castlereagh Street. Maybe Cocktail Festival 2024 bars (so far) Handshake Speakeasy (Mexico City) Caretaker's Cottage (Melbourne) Freni & Frizioni (Rome) Argo (Hong Kong) Panda & Sons (Edinburgh) Julio Bermejo (of Tommy's Mexican, San Francisco) Dante (New York City & Los Angeles) The Donovan Bar (London) Kwãnt Mayfair (London) Millie Tang (Brisbane) La Punta Expendio de Agave (Rome) Re– (Sydney) Byrdi (Melbourne) - #61 The World's 50 Best Bars 2023 Tayēr + Elementary (London) Bar Leone (Hong Kong) Gucci Giardino 25 (Florence) Bar Nouveau (Paris) Origin Bar (Singapore) The Maybe Cocktail Festival will take place across Sydney between Wednesday, April 9–Sunday, April 14. The full program of events will drop in March, so watch this space. Main image: Steven Woodburn.
Just for Laughs is back for its third Sydney incarnation, ready to trend Twitter hashtags #lol, #rofl and #mousetraps. That's right, mousetraps. Whilst that may seem like an odd item to associate with a comedy festival, this year will see Whose Line Is It Anyway? favourites Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood arriving harbourside and performing hilarious improvisation formed from your suggestions every night of the festival. One of their favourite acts is improvising blindfolded on a stage littered with mousetraps. Painful? Yes. Hilarious? Also yes. They will be joined at the five-day laughfest by British comedian Mark Watson (October 16 and 19), who will also be helping out Colin and Brad; the excellent Kathy Griffin of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List fame (October 18); Rob 'you can do it' Schneider (19 October); Irish joke wizard Tommy Tiernan (October 20); and local favourites Peter Helliar and Rove McManus, who will be hosting the International Comedy Gala on October 19. If you miss all the other shows, then the Gala is the one to attend, as it will feature a host of the comedy talent on show throughout the festival. So put on your laughing pants and head on down to the Opera House this October for the funniest week of 2013.
Get ready to dry your eyes and reminisce over beers and homegrown beats. FBi Social, the physical manifestation of FBi Radio, is calling it quits — but not before hosting a celebratory, last-hoorah bash on November 1. Tucked into a somewhat unlikely Kings Cross setting, this little venue that could has done pretty well for itself. After what was originally meant to be a three-month stint as a pop-up, FBi Social has been playing host to local artists for three-and-a-half years. Notable names include the Jezabels, RUFUS, Dappled Cities and Courtney Barnett, among a whole happy long cast of others. The bound-to-be-killer closing party will be a celebration of all that good stuff. Bassy, synthy venue veterans World's End Press and up-and-comers Mansionair are joining forces for the event — and then FBi DJs will be around to carry you well into the night, post-midnight goodbye feels and all. The break comes at a good time for FBi — with the launch of FBi Click and their quickly approaching jaunt to Iceland with the winners of their Northern Lights competition, it certainly seems like they'll continue to be that awesome-as-always platform for local music, arts and culture you know so well. And if you're already mourning the loss of a much-loved live music hub, don't despair; the venue will continue to function as a space for emerging local and international talent, reopening as the Bandroom under seasoned Sydney management company Solotel, on Saturday, November 8. Did someone say opening party? The Social Farewell Party is on Saturday, November 1. Tickets $15 from here.
Before Taco Bell used Brisbane as a testing ground, another overseas fast food giant got there first. That'd be Japan's MOS Burger, who've been slinging its wagyu, teriyaki chicken and crispy fish burgers in Queensland since 2011. And, just like its US counterpart, it is now planning to expand across the rest of the country. The brand is set to make its Australian presence known in a big way, with 100 stores slated around Australia in the next five years, according to The Courier-Mail. Presently, it has just six outlets in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast, after initially launching in Sunnybank eight years ago. For those new to MOS Burger — which stands for "mountain, ocean and sun" — the chain started in 1972, and is littered not only across Japan, but in much of Asia. It currently boasts 1335 stores in its homeland, 258 in Taiwan, 33 in Singapore, 20 in Hong Kong, 16 on South Korea, 14 in China, eight in Thailand and two in Indonesia, with its Australian eateries the company's first venture out of the region. Menu-wise, MOS Burger serves up a style of burg that's familiar, but with Japanese flavours. Think gourmet cheeseburgers with wasabi and patties of wagyu doused in horseradish — plus more standard fare with regular American-style ketchup and mustard. They also do sushi burgers, which involve seafood tempura, smoked salmon or barbecue beef stuffed between a steamed quinoa rice bun with seaweed. Or there's the low-carb 'tomami', featuring the usual burger ingredients inside (you guessed it) a tomato. Via The Courier-Mail. Image: Hunter Nield via Flickr.
Usually, February is the month that gets hearts all aflutter. But if you're in the mood for romance this March and April, Sydney is about to welcome a new pop-up museum on that very topic. Called The Museum of Love, it's the latest venture from the folks behind the sweet-themed Sugar Republic. Expect the same kind of photogenic setup, but this time swapping out lollies galore for pink hues and oh-so-many hearts. Remember the cartoon way of representing romance, where animated figures see hearts in front of their eyes as they go weak at the knees? That's what you'll be seeing, too, if you head along to the three-level installation. Open from Thursday–Sunday each week during its seven-week season, The Museum of Love will fill a warehouse with words about love, tokens of love, neon signs to fit the theme, rosy-coloured streamers, teddy bears and more. Yes, there'll be a heart-shaped ball pit that you can hop into, because of course there will be. Among the pieces of art and lovestruck backdrops, plenty of different facets of types of love will be covered — including first crushes, weddings, platonic relationships with your mates, family bonds, self-love and heartbreak. From the 'rose-tinted glasses room' to the life-sized wedding cake, it has all been developed by Creative Nation, the aforementioned team behind Sugar Republic, in conjunction with emerging Sydney artists Jade Goodwin and Madeleine Golden. Other highlights span a wall filled with scents of romance, a mirrored room so you can adore your own reflection, a confetti shower, and a swing surrounded by flowers that's designed for attendees and their best mates. There's also a Las Vegas-style Chapel O' Love, and you can play the 'Perfect Pair' TV game show as well. Or, walk through the Teddy Bear Tunnel, take an awkward family portrait, then settle in at the Heartbreak Cafe. If you're keen to fall head over heels for the pop-up, each ticket gets you an hour inside the museum, and costs $35. Also, The Museum of Love is the first attraction as part a year-long Sydney program — so it seems that you can look forward to other yet-to-be-revealed Instagram-worthy pop-ups to follow. Find The Museum of Love at at 47 George Street, Sydney from Friday, March 5–Sunday, April 18, open Thursday–Sunday each week. For further details, head to the pop-up's website.
In Groundhog Day, weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) finds himself reliving the celebratory occasion over and over again. Since 1993, viewers have been able to enjoy their own looping experience, simply by watching and rewatching the movie. But later this year, there'll be another way to step into the beloved comedy's world — by jumping into the feature's virtual reality sequel. After being adapted into an award-winning stage musical back in 2016, Groundhog Day is now getting a follow-up. Coming to a VR headset rather than to the big screen, Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son takes fans back to Punxsutawney, reunites with the Connors family, and lets players experience the joys — and stresses — of repeating the same events again and again. As the title suggests, however, it doesn't focus on Murray's misanthropic character. We all know that Phil Connors really spent the original flick not only waiting to see if a woodchuck sees a shadow, getting frustrated and dying repeatedly, but learning how to value life and his loved ones. This time around, his son Phil Connors Jr will follow in his footsteps, all while experiencing his own bad, endless day. If you've chosen your way through Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, you can now do the same thing with this VR game, playing as the younger Phil and trying to break the cycle. Here's hoping that Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe" features on the soundtrack — you know that you're going to have it stuck in your head anyway. The news comes with the best possible timing, given that Saturday, February 2 marked this year's actual Groundhog Day. At Gobbler's Knob, 'Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators' Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow, meaning that spring is on the way in the US. As for the game that this marmot-inspired superstition has given rise to, audiences will be able to see it on PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive at a yet-to-be-announced date later in 2019. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rHHzQlqXdU Via Variety.
This time of year can get pretty hectic. Your head is abuzz as you try to sort holiday plans, organise your New Year's bash and tie up loose ends at work before everybody's on break. And despite all your post-it note reminders of "Choose a good gift for Mum", it's easy for those gift shopping plans to fall by the wayside, to end up running out of time and giving your nearest and dearest the uninspired box of chocolates, candle or pair of socks. To help you avoid the Christmas Eve shopping scramble, we've partnered with Australia Post and pulled together gift ideas for every important person in your life. It's the A to Z of gifts, covering every present you'll need to give — from your partner to your parents, we've got you sorted. Moreover, they can all be ordered online and conveniently delivered to your nearby Parcel Locker, so you don't even have to go to the shops. Let your fingers do the walking, forgo the crazy Christmas crowds and rest easy knowing your parcel is stored securely till you're ready to collect. YOUR PARTNER With any luck, you'll score some time off with your main squeeze over Christmas. Set them up for a nice and relaxing break by giving them the gift of a quality cup of joe and a good pageturner — and not just for the festive season, but for the rest of the year. Every month, the Coffee and a Classic subscription service will ship your partner a classic novel, something to sip — choose between coffee, tea or hot chocolate — book-themed bric-a-brac, snacks and a bookmark every month. So, they can unwind over the holidays (and beyond) with a good book and tasty beverage. If you're lucky, maybe they'll give you the cliff notes over a cuppa. How much? From $28.99 YOUR PARENTS If your parents are stuck in past, drinking instant coffee out of convenience, show them the power of good brew with one of these handcrafted pour overs and coffee cup and some beans from Sydney-based Coffee Alchemy. Pour over is the ultimate 'slow coffee style', and it's as simple as making a cup of Moccona freeze-dried, but tastes miles better. You can forget about teaching your folks how to use a complex Nespresso machine, this much cheaper alternative is an easy and pleasant way for them to make their morning coffee. Also, the chic ceramic contraption, handmade in Thailand by Cone Number 9, looks a helluva lot better than that "World's Best Dad" cup. How much? Coffee pour over and cup $79, coffee beans from $14 YOUR SIBLING There's a good chance you've shared a few Domino's pizzas with your bro or sis before — back when you were both on student budgets, your metabolism knew no limits and food really wasn't your priority. But now you're older, it's time to up the ante and treat your sibling to a top-notch pie. Where to Eat Pizza features more than 1700 pizzerias from all over the world, so your sib can peruse the pages and pick out a pizzeria for you both to try. Bonus points if you plan your next overseas trip around these top-notch slices. Gift them this ultimate pizza directory and you'll be well and truly in the good books. How much? $30.95 YOUR BESTIE One of the greatest things about Christmas holidays is the promise of beachside hangs with your bestie. Well, ensure your ride-or-die is the trendiest person on the beach and gift them a beach towel by Sydney-based artist Miranda Lorikeet. The designs, all crafted by Lorikeet on MS Paint, are at once strikingly simple and undeniably dramatic. Seascapes, cliffs and rocky mountains are depicted in sunset-inspired pastels, providing the perfect backdrop for a day at the beach. And if your friend is a fan of the illustration, you can pick up a range of other wares featuring the same design, which means their next birthday present is sorted. How much? From $38.99 YOUR FUR BABY Reward your very good dog or cat with a plush new bed from Nice Digs. Depending on the personality of your pupper or pussycat, you can pick a design to suit — there's a bright Palm Springs-inspired print for the playful and a soft velvet number for the precious. The beds come in two sizes — to accommodate both great and small — and will look fab in any abode (which makes it kind of like a design gift for yourself, too). Oh, and don't let anyone make you feel bad about your purchase, your pooch or mew is as much a part of the family as anyone else. How much? From $139 THE CREW Do you and your crew communicate exclusively through memes? When you get together, is it mainly a chance to rattle off quotes from your favourite shows? If yes, these pretty, pretty, pretty, good pop culture mugs are sure to be a hit. Pick whichever reference best speaks to your squad, and give your friends the gift of a giggle every time they drink from the mug. From Parks and Rec to Curb Your Enthusiasm, all manner of screen fiend is catered for. Get ready to enjoy the jollies to come. How much? $28.53* ANY KIDS IN YOUR LIFE We all secretly want to be that cool adult who can make even a bratty kid smile. But children can be really hard to please, phases come and go — from Fortnite to fidget spinners — and it's difficult to know what they like (or don't). It's best to go for something classic that's both fun and timeless. Enter Finksa, a seriously addictive log-tossing game from Finland. Crafted from eco-friendly birch, it's shock resistant, aesthetically pleasing and most importantly it doesn't emit any annoying beeping or buzzing. Treat your whippersnapper to a Finksa and have some fun with them over the holidays. How much? From $69.90 THE HOST Agreeing to host the Chrissy bash is a pretty generous act, who knows how long it will take to get rid of that red wine stain or how bad those prawn heads are going to smell in the wheelie bin over the coming days. So, it's important to splash out on your host and pick them up a pressie they'll treasure. Since they like entertaining, treat them to a Uashmama paper bag where they can store their bread. Made from washable paper, which looks like leather but machine washes with ease, Uashmama bags are handsewn in Tuscany using a cultivated fibre that does not contribute to deforestation. So, the bags are sustainable, stylish and sure to make up for any spilt vino. How much? Medium-sized bag (perfect for bread) $32 WORK SECRET SANTA Arguably one of the hardest gifts to buy, you don't want to spend a bunch but still want your gift to be impressive, thoughtful and practical. Opt for a hydration tracking water bottle and help your office pal stay hydrated and healthy. Crafted from tough Tritan plastic, the drink bottle boasts an intuitive system that tallies the number of bottles you've consumed without any hydration tracking apps or complicated calculations. Let's face it, we all need to drink more water and this makes it super easy for your work wife or hubby. How much? $13.77* Christmas shopping has never been so simple — order online, ship to a Parcel Locker and avoid the hectic shops with Australia Post. *Price correct at time of writing.
Belvoir has taken up its mantle as Sydney's 'other' major theatre company with gusto, announcing a 2015 season featuring elderly luminaries playing 17-year-olds, a clickbaity double bill of rom-coms themed around The Dog / The Cat and more cheeky, bold theatrical adventures. In particular, there's plenty of the collaboratively developed adaptations and exciting new Indigenous works the company has become known for. It's artistic director Ralph Myers' fifth and final season with the company, and one that shows Belvoir has really come into its own. "I have been enormously proud of the burst of creative energy that has accompanied my time here as artistic director," says Myers. "I feel a new generation of artists has really blossomed and that we’ll be seeing the fruits of that labour for many years to come on stages here and around the world." Here are 12 reasons to get into Belvoir in 2015 (i.e. it's the 12 shows they've programmed for us.) There's a mini Sapphires reunion in Radiance (3 January – 8 February, Upstairs Theatre) This classic of Australian cinema actually had its premiere at Belvoir in 1993. Now its kickstarting 2015, with Leah Purcell directing and starring and The Sapphires' Shari Sebbens and Miranda Tapsell joining her on stage as three sisters reuniting for their mother's funeral in the heat of far north Queensland. Inimitable playwright Nakkiah Lui will play herself in Kill the Messenger (14 February – 8 March, Upstairs Theatre) Director Anthea Williams just couldn't imagine anyone else in the role. We loved Lui's debut full-length play and are waiting for the sharp stab of heartache and anger sure to come with this one, a very personal story of institutionalised racism. Nick Coyle's gay alien Blue Wizard goes (nearly) main-stage (19 February – 15 March, Downstairs Theatre) Everyone who saw Blue Wizard at last year's Tiny Stadiums festival has this sweet, lonely, earth-visiting, jizz-and-diamonds-eating character burned into their brains. Perfectly, the show is on at Mardi Gras time. Elektra / Orestes could be Belvoir's ultimate epic adaptation (14 March – 26 April, Upstairs Theatre) Mundane life becomes Greek tragedy in the hands of Anne-Louise Sarks, who did child-murder tale Medea from the point of view of the kids in 2013. In 2015 she teams up with Jada Alberts (Brothers Wreck) to take on the whole House of Atreus schemozzle. Not the wonderful Wizard of Oz (2 May – 31 May, Upstairs Theatre) When you think about it, L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz is the story of a young girl dealing with having just killed a person. Director Adena Jacobs (Hedda Gabler) explores this darker, visual-driven version of the familiar tale with a dream team including THE RABBLE's Kate Davis and Emma Valente on costume and lights. Puberty Blues' Ashleigh Cummings in coming-of-age story Samson (7 – 31 May, Downstairs Theatre) To be honest, Samson and its writer, first-timer Julia-Rose Lewis, are something of an unknown quantity. But the Belvoir team love it, so we're all ears. Robyn Nevin is Mother Courage (6 June – 26 July, Upstairs Theatre) Holy moly. It's like the Sydney Theatre Company and Belvoir are having a competition over who can most spectacularly cast Robyn Nevin. Here she's got a notoriously difficult role as a wily woman surviving and profiting from war. Angels in America's Eamon Flack directs and Michael Gow translates this new adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s masterpiece. There's a play about a dog and a play about a cat, what else do you need? (18 June – 12 July, Downstairs Theatre) Animals are better than people, so this double header is as good as sold out. Brendan Cowell has written The Dog, about the love triangle created when two men share a dog, and Lally Katz has created The Cat, about sharing a talking, smart-arse cat with your ex. Two plays, one night, funny, furry. Book it. Five Australian leading lights are 17 again in Seventeen (1 August – 13 September, Upstairs Theatre) Writer Matthew Whittet has drawn on the memories of actors Barry Otto, John Gaden, Peter Carroll, Maggie Dence and Judi Farr to capture all the joys and pains of coming of age as a group of friends prepares to move on from high school. The bit where they fumble through their 'first kiss' will be something to see. The trash-tastic Sisters Grimm celebrate and skewer La Traviata (27 August – 20 September, Downstairs Theatre) Yes, you can do both at once, as Sisters Grimm's Ash Flanders and Declan Greene have shown in so-wrong-it's-right Summertime in the Garden of Eden. Who knows if there'll be singing here, but so far this is described as "part opera, part protest, part drag show — a freewheeling satire that shadows Verdi's plot via the sweatshops of Mumbai". Another possible best adaptation in the form of Chekhov's Ivanov (19 September – 1 November, Upstairs Theatre) Ewen Leslie will play Nikolai Ivanov, a man stranded moneyless but rich in distractions on his old family farm. Eamon Flack directs (and will hopefully take great liberties with) this classic, as they aim "to put Australia on stage". Angela Betzien and Leticia Cáceres reunite for Mortido and we're scared already (7 November – 23 December, Upstairs Theatre) The last time this writer and director worked together at Belvoir, it was enough to make us quietly cry in fear and anxiety. This time they're presenting a world-travelling thriller connected by cocaine, with Colin Friels in the grizzled detective role. To explore the program and book subscription packages, visit the Belvoir website.
Swimming, snorkelling and diving on the Great Barrier Reef all rank right up there on everyone's bucket list, but splashing around away from the shore isn't without its perils. If you've been scared off by stories of tourists being left behind in the water — or watched too many ocean-based horror films, given it's a growing genre — then an Australian-developed new tracking system might appease your fears. In a world first, it allows tour operators to know where everyone is when they're in the water. And, of course, it helps them ensure that everyone has hopped back onboard. Called the Tourist Onboard Management System, or TOMS, the system works in two ways. Firstly, everyone on the tour has their palm prints scanned upon boarding and disembarking the vessel. Secondly, while in the water, swimmers wear a waterproof wristband with an in-built GPS tracker. Back on deck, their movements can be charted in real time — so, as you're paddling around — with the system boasting one-metre accuracy. Currently at the prototype stage, TOMS underwent its first test in Cairns this week, the ABC reports. And while it might sound like a fancier, more expensive way to do something that people have been doing unaided for years — that is, count folks — the system helps tackle the issue of human error. If the trials prove successful, it's hoped that it'll be rolled out among commercial operators in around 12 months time. Via ABC / Cairns Post.
Musician, actor, cook book author, wrestling MC, wine brand owner, 2024 Paris Olympics correspondent and performer: these labels all describe Snoop Dogg. Here's another that's set to join the Californian rapper's list: AFL Grand Final headliner. The hip-hop icon will take to the stage at the MCG on Saturday, September 27, 2025, leading this year's pre-game entertainment. Whichever teams make it to the season's final match, they won't want to be dropping anything like it's hot — but the man who hits the turf before them is bound to be singing about just that. AFL Grand Final headliners typically work through a range of their best-known and most-loved hits, so even if you aren't sipping on gin and juice at the game, you'll likely be hearing Snoop rap about it. Cross your fingers for not only 'Drop It Like It's Hot' and 'Gin and Juice', but also 'What's My Name?', 'Snoop's Upside Ya Head' and plenty more to make it into his set before the game's 2.30pm AEST kickoff. "It's an absolute honour to be hitting the stage at the AFL Grand Final — it's one of the biggest events on the Aussie calendar. Can't wait to bring the energy and celebrate with the fans. Let's make it unforgettable," Snoop Dogg said about the gig, as per the AFL. "The AFL Grand Final is the biggest event on the Australian sporting calendar — and this year, it just got a whole lot bigger," AFL CEO Andrew Dillon advised. "Snoop Dogg is a pioneer, a performer and a true entertainer. He's played to packed stadiums around the world — but we think 100,000 fans at the MCG might just be his most-iconic crowd yet." "We want Grand Final Day to be an unforgettable celebration of footy — and beyond the four quarters of the match, a celebration of culture, energy and entertainment. Snoop fits that brief better than anyone." "From Long Beach to the biggest stage in Australian sport — Snoop Dogg is coming to the MCG for the Telstra Pre-Game Entertainment, and we're ready to make history." Snoop Dogg last played in Australia on his 2023 'I Wanna Thank Me' tour, which was postponed from 2022. In headlining the AFL Grand Final, he follows in the footsteps of Katy Perry in 2024, KISS in 2023 and Robbie Williams in 2022, all recent overseas talents who've helped kick off the biggest day in Aussie Rules. The Killers, Black Eyed Peas, Sting, Chris Isaak, Ed Sheeran and Tom Jones, and Meatloaf have all done the honours since 2010, too. If you're a Western Bulldogs fan, you might be thinking that Snoop's prime spot on the 2025 lineup is a sign. Given that he's also gone by Snoop Lion, you can claim that as well if you're a supporter of the Brisbane Lions, 2024's premiers. Snoop Dogg is headlining the 2025 AFL Grand Final Pre-Game Entertainment at the MCG, Melbourne, on Saturday, September 27, 2025. For more information, including tickets to the game when they're available, head to the AFL website. Top image: Andrew Chin/Getty Images.
In Netflix's Ugly Delicious, acclaimed chef David Chang explored the history of different dishes and occasionally caught up with a celebrity friend — such as Aziz Ansari, Steven Yeun and Ali Wong. With Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, he's doing pretty much the same, just focusing on specific global cities rather than specific foods. And, yes, once again he has some high-profile company. The four-episode food and travel show sees the Momofuku founder head to various corners of the world and eat three meals — breakfast, lunch and dinner, of course — with the famous person who happens to be by his side. In Vancouver, he spends a day with Seth Rogen. Over in Marrakesh, he eats and chats with Chrissy Teigen. Laughing through Phnom Penh with Saturday Night Live's Kate McKinnon and kicking back in Los Angeles with Master of None's Lena Waithe are also on the agenda. The aim is not to only focus on cuisine, but to explore the variety of cultures and experiences that the planet has to offer — although, naturally, plenty of food is going to be consumed. Chang and his guests devour tasty doughnuts, dumplings, burgers and (accidental) bowls of oil, share stories, learn new things and (as is always the case with these kinds of shows) make viewers hungry and envious that they're not there with them. Netflix seems increasingly fond of these types of culinary-focused series, as the star-studded The Chef Show also demonstrated earlier this year. While that program is presented by filmmaker Jon Favreau and chef Roy Choi, Chang popped up on two episodes — and so did recurrent foodie fan Rogen, too. If you want to catch Chang in the flesh, he'll be hanging out and cooking at Western Australia's Gourmet Escape this November. Otherwise, check out the trailer for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner below and start watching here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Foc0I0CACY You can stream Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner on Netflix now.
The Australian film world has a striking new talent. Scooping up a best director gong at the Sundance Film Festival in January and winning the prestigious Crystal Bear in Berlin the following month, Adelaide's Sophie Hyde has with her debut feature, 52 Tuesdays, produced a powerful and progressive piece of cinema that defies formal, social and narrative expectations. With memorable characters and exceptional performances helping to shore up an intriguing structural gimmick, it's a bold and original coming-of-age drama that discerning local audiences should hurry to the cinema to see. Newcomer Tilda Cobham-Hervey plays Billie, a 16-year-old high-school girl struggling to find her footing after her lesbian mother Jane (Del Herbert-Jane) announces her intention to become a man. The transition, which involves a regimen of testosterone along with surgery, will take a year, during which time Jane — now going by James — requests that Billie go and live with her father (Beau Travis Williams). Billie agrees, on the condition that she can still visit every Tuesday after school. Honest, insightful and bravely against the grain, 52 Tuesdays is a magnificent debut for cast and filmmaker alike. Expect big things going forward. Read our full review of 52 Tuesdays here. 52 Tuesdays is in cinemas on Thursday, May 1, and thanks to Vendetta Films, we have ten double in-season passes to give away. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email us with your name and address. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au Brisbane: win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y5WcMzEYRGU
In cinemas, 2024 will feature fewer superheroes than normal. Marvel is only releasing Deadpool & Wolverine, while DC is taking the year off as it prepares to start its franchise anew. On the small screen, there mightn't be as many Marvel Cinematic Universe TV shows, either. But if you like your caped-crusader fix to be as chaotic as possible — and if you have a big dose of superhero fatigue with the usual sprawling sagas — you'll be pleased to know that The Boys will be back in your streaming queue midyear. After college-set spinoff Gen V arrived in 2023, earning a season-two renewal in the process, The Boys itself will return for season four from Thursday, June 13, 2024. The exact release date comes after a first trailer for the new season was dropped in December, teasing plenty of mayhem — to the utter lack of surprise of viewers of 2019's first season, 2020's second effort and 2022's third go-around. When The Boys makes its comeback, it'll see the world dealing with Homelander (Antony Starr, Guy Ritchie's The Covenant)-versus-Starlight (Erin Moriarty, Captain Fantastic) factionalism, and just being ready to tear itself apart in general. Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit, Where'd You Go, Bernadette) is getting closer to the Oval Office, too, with Homelander pulling the strings. Also on the way: no-nonsense Brit Billy Butcher (Karl Urban, Thor: Ragnarok) dealing with the fact that he's only got months left, and that he's no longer leading The Boys — aka the eponymous ragtag team intent on bringing down Vought International, Homelander, and the company's caped-crusader industry and dominance. And, there's a new face, with Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Walking Dead) joining the cast, adding another Supernatural link after Jensen Ackles did the same in season three. The Boys focuses on a group of caped crusaders, like most things seem to these days; however, in a world where viewers have been conditioned to lap up narratives about powerful folks who are supposedly better than most, this series both satirises and questions that very idea. Here, superheroes work for Vought. They're still the main form of entertainment, but they're real, the most famous celebrities there are and inescapable in daily life, too. The absolute top talent is known as The Seven, but most are hardly role models when the public isn't looking. That has made quite the change from the usual cinematic universes as the Prime Video show has kept notching up the seasons, all coming to the small screen after being adapted from Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's comic book series of the same name. As well as Starr, Moriarty, Doumit and Urban, Jack Quaid (Oppenheimer), Jessie T Usher (Smile), Laz Alonso (Wrath of Man), Chace Crawford (Gossip Girl), Tomer Capone (One on One), Karen Fukuhara (Bullet Train), Colby Minifie (I'm Thinking of Ending Things) and Cameron Crovetti (Goodnight Mommy) will all return — with Susan Heyward (Hello Tomorrow!) and Valorie Curry (The Lost Symbol) also set to be season four newcomers. Check out the first trailer for The Boys season four below: The fourth season of The Boys will start streaming via Prime Video from Thursday, June 13, 2024. Read our reviews of The Boys season three and Gen V.
With over 45 million visitors globally, Body Worlds is one of the world's most visited health and wellness exhibitions. It's also frequently described as a "life changing experience" — visitors can expect to leave with an understanding of the marvel that is the human body. Now, the original exhibition of real human bodies is coming to Australia for the first time this August. The Body Worlds Vital exhibition, on display at the Melbourne Showgrounds from August 13–November 18, takes attendees on an intricate journey of the workings of the human body, through an authentic, visual display of over 150 donated specimens. The human bodies and body parts, donated for the benefit of public education, have gone through a meticulous process of plastination, and demonstrate the complexity, resilience and vulnerability of the human body in distress, disease and optimal health. The exhibitions were founded by anatomist and scientist Dr Gunther von Hagens and physician and conceptual designer Dr Angelina Whalley. And all the specimens displayed at the exhibitions are from an established body donation program with consenting donors — so far 17,000 bodies from around the world have been donated to Dr von Hagens' Institute for Plastination. The Australian tour specifically focuses on contemporary diseases and ailments and how everyday lifestyle choices can improve health and wellness, to live with vitality. The 150 specimens on display stem are preserved through a scientific process that replaces body fluids with polymers. Interactive elements include the Anatomical Mirror, where visitors will see how organs are positioned in their own body, a photo display that showcases longevity and healthy ageing, and healthy organs shown in direct comparison with diseased organs. Body Worlds Vital will be on display from August 13–November 18 at the Melbourne Showgrounds, Agricultural Hall 10, Epsom Road, Ascot Vale. Tickets are on sale now, via bodyworldsvital.com.
Sydney Harbour is set to experience a taste of Broadway magic, circa 1957, when Handa Opera's famed floating stage plays host to legendary musical, West Side Story. Lighting up the unique waterfront opera venue from March 22 until April 21 next year, the Opera Australia production features homegrown talents Alexander Lewis and Julie Lea Goodwin reimagining the classic tale of star-crossed lovers in 1950s New York City. It tells the story of two rival West Side gangs and the drama that ensues when youngsters from each side fall in love. Acclaimed director Francesca Zambello, along with Brian Thomson and Jennifer Irwin, have created a new take on the original Broadway favourite, based on Arthur Laurent's famed novel. You'll get to watch this captivating show brought to life under the stars, from harbourside seats at Mrs Macquaries Point, bopping along to all the musical's iconic hit songs — I Feel Pretty, Maria, Somewhere, America, Cool and of course, Tonight. Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour boasts a reputation as one of the world's best open-air opera venues, with Carmen, Aida and La Bohème just some of the hits to grace its stage in recent years. West Side Story on Sydney Harbour will run from March 22–April 21, 2019. Tickers are available as part of an Opera Australia subscription package from August 16, and single tickets from September 3. Image: Hamilton Lund, 'Carmen'
UPDATE: OCTOBER 3, 2020 — Fast and Furious 9 has moved its release date again, and will no longer hit cinemas on April 1, 2021. Instead, it'll release on May 27, 2021. UPDATE, MARCH 13, 2020: Due to concerns around the coronavirus, Universal Pictures has announced that Fast and Furious 9 will no longer release on its initially scheduled date of Thursday, May 21, 2020. It will now release worldwide in April 2021 — including Down Under on April 1, 2021. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia and how to protect yourself, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website. Given the Fast and Furious franchise's title, you'd think driving speedily and passionately is what this big-budget film series is all about. Over-the-top car antics play a hefty part, as the 2001 original, its seven sequels to-date and its 2019 spin-off have all shown via a constant onslaught of hectic stunts — but if there's one thing that this Vin Diesel-starring and -produced saga loves just as much as vehicular mayhem, it's family. Over the years, Diesel's Dominic Toretto has extended the term 'family' to include not only his girlfriend-turned wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster), her husband Brian (the late Paul Walker) and their various offspring, but their extended motley crew of fast-driving pals as well. Dom talks about family rather often, usually over a few Coronas with said friends and family. The gang has even faced off against a family of adversaries, courtesy of brothers Owen and Deckard Shaw (Luke Evans and Jason Statham), and their mother Magdalene (Helen Mirren). So, when it comes to Fast and Furious 9 — or F9 as it's being called — it's unsurprising that the franchise is leaning heavily on one of its favourite concepts. Somehow, the saga hasn't expended all family-related options just yet, as the just-dropped first trailer for the flick reveals. Not only does the sneak peek begin with Diesel growling "I used to live my life a quarter-mile at a time, but things change" as his character dotes on his young son (who is called Brian, naturally), but it introduces John Cena to the series as Dom's younger brother Jakob. Don't expect a happy sibling reunion, however, with Cena playing the film's villain. Via text on-screen, the trailer also tells viewers that "not all blood is family" — which means that all this flick's outlandish action stunts will pit Dom and the crew against Jakob, who has teamed up with returning criminal mastermind Cypher (Charlize Theron). Basically, they could've called this film Fast and Furious: More Stunts and More Family, which is exactly what the trailer serves up. Of course, that's what's made this franchise a huge box-office success for almost two decades now — and those action scenes, while typically defying logic, physics and gravity, are always expertly, astonishingly and entertainingly choreographed. As well as Diesel, Rodriguez, Brewster, Cena, Theron and Mirren, F9 also stars franchise mainstays Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris, as well as another returning fan favourite that's revealed in the trailer — plus Game of Thrones' Nathalie Emmanuel, who joined the series back in 2015's Furious 7 and is now considered part of Dom's family. And, after a two-film absence, the movie marks the return of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6 director Justin Lin. The filmmaker is also signed up to helm the upcoming tenth F&F flick, which was always inevitable, and will release just a year after this one hits. Check out the trailer for F9 below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSiDu3Ywi8E&feature=emb_logo F9 was originally due to open in Australian cinemas on May 21, 2020, and then on April 1, 2021; however it'll now release on May 27, 2021. Image: COPYRIGHT © 2020 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. All Rights Reserved
A crotchety old man gets a new lease of life when he becomes the reluctant babysitter to the 12-year-old kid next door. Sounds pretty unbearable, until you factor in that the old man is played by Bill Murray. Pushing 65, the star of Ghostbusters, Stripes and Groundhog Day is looking a little on the tired side but soon proves he's lost none of his caustic charm. In St Vincent he's vinegar, adding just enough acidity to a screenplay that without him would have been sickeningly sweet. Vincent MacKenna (Murray) is a classic movie curmudgeon. He drinks like a fish, smokes like a chimney, and gambles like a man who has nothing left to lose. The closest thing he has to a friend, aside from his Persian cat Felix, is a foul-mouthed Russian prostitute (Naomi Watts), who may or may not be pregnant with his child. He's an unfeeling bastard, and the last person in the world you'd want taking care of your impressionable primary school-aged son. Unfortunately for his new next door neighbour Maggie (Melissa McCarthy), he's literally the only choice she has. St Vincent isn't what you'd call a groundbreaking holiday comedy. First-time writer-director Theodore Melfi has no shortage of funny dialogue but shows little interesting in straying away from his conventional narrative formula. Friendships are made. Lessons are learnt. Obvious set-ups lead to unsurprising payoffs, and everyone gets home in time for dinner. What sets the movie apart, primarily, is the quality of its cast. After years of retreading her Bridesmaids shtick, McCarthy finally gets the chance to play an actual human being; her turn as Maggie helps keep the film grounded, sympathetic but still genuinely funny. Chris O'Dowd, meanwhile, gets some great lines as a glib Catholic priest — and although Watts' Russian accent is pretty unconvincing, it's always fun to see her trying her hand at a comedy. Unsurprisingly, however, the highlight of the film is Murray. While this is a character the actor could comfortably play in his sleep, there's never the slightest indication that Murray is phoning it in. His dynamic with newcomer Jaeden Lieberher makes for one of the most enjoyable on-screen pairings of 2014; frankly, what kid wouldn't want Bill Murray for a babysitter? Yet despite first appearances, this is not a purely comedic performance. There's a loneliness to Vincent that Murray absolutely nails; a pair of scenes in which he visits his dementia-afflicted wife may very well bring audiences to tears. So too the ending, which although incredibly predictable, is so damn well executed that it's difficult not to forgive. And really, that's this movie in a nutshell. Like Vincent himself, you love it in spite of its obvious flaws.
First, Australia got a Harry Potter-themed brunch and dinner. Now, we're getting a wizarding beer festival. If the boy who lived's flicks were still gracing cinemas, exploring his adult life, we're certain he'd be keen on this magical festival. Whether you're still not over Harry or you just wish you'd had the chance to attend Hogwarts because you know you're destined to be in Gryffindor (and to be seeker on the quidditch team, obviously), you'll want to make a date with this event. You'll sip brews in a wizarding wonderland, while making your way between wand-making classes, DJs and tarot card readers. There's no word yet on exactly what beers you'll be drinking — local numbers? international favourites? alcoholic butterbeer? — but your ticket does include a 12-ounce (355-millilitre) brew on entry, and five tokens you can use on beers and the aforementioned activities. The Wizard's Beer Festival is set to hit Sydney at a soon-to-be announced location on March 1, 2020, then do the same in Melbourne on March 8, 2020, before heading to Brisbane on March 15, 2020. Folks in costumes pretending to be Hermione, Dumbledore and others isn't really our idea of a magical HP experience, but perhaps a few boozy butterbeers will get you in the right mood. And if not, you can organise a trip to see the Cursed Child stage show in Melbourne, if you haven't already. The Wizard's Beer Festival will hit Sydney on March 1, 2020, then Melbourne on March 8, 2020 and finally Brisbane on March 15, 2020. You can sign-up via the website to be notified when tickets go on sale. Top image: Wizard's Brunch UPDATE, NOVEMBER 16: This article was updated to include details of The Wizard's Beer Festival's planned events in Melbourne and Brisbane.
Not all that long ago, the idea of getting cosy on your couch, clicking a few buttons, and having thousands of films and television shows at your fingertips seemed like something out of science fiction. Now, it's just an ordinary night — whether you're virtually gathering the gang to text along, cuddling up to your significant other or shutting the world out for some much needed me-time. Of course, given the wealth of options to choose from, there's nothing ordinary about making a date with your chosen streaming platform. The question isn't "should I watch something?" — it's "what on earth should I choose?". Hundreds of titles are added to Australia's online viewing services each and every month, all vying for a spot on your must-see list. And, so you don't spend 45 minutes scrolling and then being too tired to actually commit to watching anything, we're here to help. We've spent plenty of couch time watching our way through this month's latest batch — and, from the latest and greatest to old favourites, here are our picks for your streaming queue from February's haul of newbies. BRAND NEW STUFF YOU CAN WATCH IN FULL RIGHT NOW KIMI For the second year in a row, Steven Soderbergh has made one of the year's standout movies — even if 2022 is still a mere two months in — and it has completely bypassed Australian cinemas. Unlike last year's No Sudden Move, however, Kimi was always destined for streaming. The latest in his series of paranoid thrillers that also includes Contagion, and once again female-fronted as Haywire, Side Effects and Unsane were too, this Zoë Kravitz-starring standout takes its cues from smart devices, humanity's increasing dependence upon technology, and the kinds of events that a virtual assistant like Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant might eavesdrop on. As a result, Soderbergh has crafted another movie that riffs on a growing area of real-life interest, then turns it into a tense, potent and devilishly smart feature. A bonus: focusing on a protagonist who doesn't feel safe leaving her house, Kimi couldn't better capture how the pandemic has felt without overtly needing to be a COVID-19 film. Kravitz (Big Little Lies) plays Angela Childs, who works for Seattle-based tech corporation Amygdala from the comfort of her own sprawling loft — and from her own audiophile's dream of a computer setup — listening to snippets of conversation captured by smart speaker Kimi for quality assurance. In one clip, she hears what she believes to be a horrible crime and is compelled to follow up; however, her bosses aren't thrilled about her probing. Complicating matters: after being the victim of an assault a couple of years earlier, Angela suffers from anxiety and agoraphobia, making leaving the house to investigate a fraught task. As he did to particularly stellar effect in Unsane as well, Soderbergh styles his latest psychological thriller after its protagonist's mindset, making unease and suspense drop from every aesthetic choice — camera angles and placement, jittery frames and a voyeuristic perspective all included. Kimi is available to stream via Binge. STARSTRUCK It's official: after a dream of a first season, Rose Matafeo's rom-com sitcom Starstruck is back to make you fall head over heels for its 21st-century take on dating a famous actor all over again. It's also official for Matafeo's (Baby Done) Jessie, who is now dating Tom (Nikesh Patel, Four Weddings and a Funeral), the celebrity she had a one-night stand with on New Year's Eve, then navigated an awkward will-they-won't-they dance around every time they ran into each other in London. But this next batch of six episodes poses a key question: once you've enjoyed the wild meet-cute, ridden the courtship rollercoaster and been bowled over by a grand romantic gesture (see: Starstruck's The Graduate-style season-one finale), what comes next? It's the stuff that rom-com movie sequels might cover, except that for all of Hollywood's eagerness to rinse and repeat its most popular fare, this genre is sparse in the follow-up department. Season two picks up exactly where its predecessor left off, with Jessie and Tom's bus ride segueing into a WTF realisation — as in "WTF do we do now?". That's a query that Jessie isn't ready to answer, even though she's made the big leap and missed her flight home. So, she avoids even tackling the situation at first, and then eschews fully committing even when she's meant to be in the throes of romantic bliss. Basically, it's messy, and the kind of chaos that rom-coms don't show when they end with a happily-ever-after moment. Like everyone, Jessie and Tom endure plenty. In the process, this gem of a show's second season is light but also deep, a screwball delight while also sharp and relatable, and still filled with fellow romantic-comedy references. And, as well as continuing to showcase Matafeo at her best, it remains a rom-com that's as aware of what relationships in 2022 are really alike as it is about how romance is typically portrayed in its genre. Starstruck's second season is available to stream via ABC iView. Read our full review. HELLBENDER Meet the Adams family — no, not the creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky characters that've featured on pages and screens for decades (including in two terrible recent animated flicks), but the filmmaking collective comprised of couple Toby Poser and John Adams, plus their daughters Zelda and Lulu Adams. The quartet might be missing a letter from their well-known counterparts' names, but they're just as fond of all things horror. Case in point: their second feature Hellbender, a self-financed gem that's both a spellbinding tale of witchcraft and a clever coming-of-age story. It starts in a house in the woods, and also spends most of its time there. It includes the arrival of an unexpected stranger, shattering the status quo. But formulaic and by-the-numbers, this must-see isn't. In making exceptional use of its setting, and of a cast that's primarily comprised of Adams family members, it's also a masterclass in lockdown filmmaking. In the most expected aspect of Hellbender, the film's name does indeed refer to a punk-metal band, with 16-year-old Izzy (Zelda Adams, The Deeper You Dig) and her mother (Toby Poser) its sole members. No one else has ever heard them play, either, given that Izzy is both homeschooled and confined to the family's sprawling mountainside property, as she has been since she was five. Her mum tells her that she can't venture into town or around other people due to a contagious autoimmune disease; however, when a lost man (John Adams) wanders their way and mentions that his teenage niece Amber (Lulu Adams) lives nearby, Izzy gets the confidence to go exploring. As both written and directed by three out of four Adams family members — all except Lulu — Hellbender proves an impressive supernatural affair from its opening occult-heavy prologue through to its astute take on teen rebellion. Here's hoping this Adams family spirits up more DIY horror delights soon, too. Hellbender is available to stream via Shudder. EUPHORIA From the very first frames of its debut episode back in June 2019, when just-out-of-rehab 17-year-old Rue Bennett (Zendaya, Spider-Man: No Way Home) gave viewers the lowdown on her life, mindset, baggage, friends, family and everyday chaos, Euphoria has courted attention — or, mirroring the tumultuous teens at the centre of its dramas, the Emmy-winning HBO series just knew that eyeballs would come its way no matter what it did. The brainchild of filmmaker Sam Levinson (Malcolm & Marie), adapted from an Israeli series by the same name, and featuring phenomenal work by its entire cast, it's flashy, gritty, tense, raw, stark and wild, and manages to be both hyper-stylised to visually striking degree and deeply empathetic. In other words, if teen dramas reflect the times they're made — and from Degrassi, Press Gang and Beverly Hills 90210 through to The OC, Friday Night Lights and Skins, they repeatedly have — Euphoria has always been a glittery eyeshadow-strewn sign of today's times. That hasn't changed in the show's second season. Almost two and a half years might've elapsed between Euphoria's first and second batch of episodes — a pair of out-of-season instalments in late 2020 and early 2021 aside — but it's still as potent, intense and addictive as ever. And, as dark, as Rue's life and those of her pals (with the cast including Hunter Schafer, The King of Staten Island's Maude Apatow, The Kissing Booth franchise's Jacob Elordi, The White Lotus' Sydney Sweeney, The Afterparty's Barbie Ferreira, North Hollywood's Angus Cloud and Waves' Alexa Demie) bobs and weaves through everything from suicidal despair, Russian Roulette, bloody genitals, unforgettable school plays, raucous parties and just garden-variety 2022-era teen angst. The list always goes on; in fact, as once again relayed in Levinson's non-stop, hyper-pop style, the relentlessness that is being a teenager today, trying to work out who you are and navigating all that the world throws at you is Euphoria's point. Euphoria is available to stream via Binge. ALL OF US ARE DEAD The zombie apocalypse has arrived in South Korea — again. Fans of the Train to Busan, Seoul Station and Peninsula film franchise, and of 2020 movie #Alive, will be well-accustomed to seeing the ravenous undead wreak havoc on the Asian nation, of course, which puts Netflix series All of Us Are Dead in particularly great company. The premise here: after a school science experiment gone wrong, Hyosan High School swiftly becomes the site of a zombie outbreak, as students and staff alike start munching on flesh and tearing their classmates and colleagues to shreds. Pick whichever high school-set teen movie or TV show you like, add brain-chewing, face-gnawing fiends, and that's the basic idea. Naturally, all that adolescent angst, teen bullying and unrequited love — and all those class clashes and schoolmate secrets, too — take on extra urgency and intensity when the stakes are literally life and death. It might sound like The Walking Dead-meets-Squid Game but with teens, but All of Us Are Dead is never that formulaic — even though picking where the narrative is going, especially in its first few episodes, proves rather easy. Indeed, as the kids in Class 2-5 and their teachers deal with the zombie chaos, the 12-part series is as interested in what it means to fight and survive as it is in the blood-splattered action. That doesn't mean that it skimps on the latter, though. Hyperkinetic displays of thrashed limbs, gnashing teeth and strewn-about gore pop up often, and put plenty of the zombie genre's big-screen equivalents to shame. That said, exploring the complicated relationship between childhood pals Man On-jo and Lee Cheong-san (House of Hummingbird's Park Ji-hu and Nobody Knows' Yoon Chan-young), and also unpacking rich girl Lee Na-yeon's privilege (Squid Game's Lee Yoo-mi) — to pick just a few of the equally gruesome, entertaining and thoughtful show's lengthy list of characters — couldn't be more crucial. All of Us Are Dead is available to stream via Netflix. I WANT YOU BACK If a rom-com isn't well cast, it might as well not even exist. If viewers can't buy the chemistry between whichever couple has just stumbled into each other's orbit, developed feelings for one another and started wading through all the messy matters of the heart that always follow in the on-screen path to true love, then nothing in the movie will ever make sense. Thankfully, that isn't a problem that the supremely likeable I Want You Back has, all thanks to its ace central duo: the always-welcome Jenny Slate (Parks and Recreation) and Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia). The pair play Emma and Peter, who work in the same building and first run into each other hiding out in the stairwell. They've both just been dumped, Emma by gym trainer Noah (Scott Eastwood, Wrath of Man) and Peter by school teacher Anne (Gina Rodriguez, Kajillionaire), and they're each distraught. As they become friends, stalk their exes via social media, and stumble further into sorrow when they see that Noah and Anne have moved on, they hatch a plan — and yes, getting their past loves back is the number-one aim, as the movie's moniker makes plain. A romantic comedy needn't be surprising to be enjoyable, and I Want You Back was always going to nudge Emma and Peter together. When a rom-com does indeed manage to have two great stars at its centre, that's simply what the genre does best (and should do often). Falling in love while trying to woo back your ex? That's screenwriters Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger's (also co-scribes on Love, Simon) setup, and one that's both goofily and sweetly handled by director Jason Orley — who also showed his skill at tinkering with a seemingly standard formula with 2019's Big Time Adolescence, too. Of course, even with The Good Place's Manny Jacinto also among the cast, I Want You Back wouldn't be a fraction of the warmly enjoyable film it is without Slate and Day anchoring its leisurely stroll through heartbreak and new beginnings. I Want You Back is available to stream via Prime Video. THE TINDER SWINDLER It must be scam month over at Netflix. Example one: The Tinder Swindler. The true-crime documentary tells the tale of Simon Leviev, an Israeli con man who posed as the jet-setting heir to a diamond fortune — among other gambits — on the titular dating app, romanced a series of women and fleeced them of sizeable sums of money. If that all sounds familiar, that's because his fraudulent scheme was exposed in a 2019 article by Norwegian publication Verdens Gang, but stepping through the details on-screen still makes for harrowing, yell-at-the-TV viewing. If your path to love has involved swiping right, the doco-thriller just might be nightmare fuel, too. It treats its interviews, all women who fell for Leviev's scam, with respect and without judgement, but the film also relays a compelling cautionary tale about our always-online lives and the internet as a tool for seduction. When Cecilie Fjellhøy first saw Leviev's Tinder profile, she happily moved her finger in the appropriate direction. That very same day, she was meeting him in a hotel bar, then accompanying him overseas on a private jet. Their whirlwind courtship continued, including talk about starting a family and moving in together — largely via WhatsApp as he was frequently overseas — and then, after his bodyguard was supposedly attacked by one of his enemies, the requests for cash started rolling in. Pernilla Sjöholm has a similar story, although she only ever kept things platonic with Simon. Her time in his inner circle overlaps with Cecille's, in fact. Simon's list of victims doesn't end there, but the trio of Scandinavian women who share the details with first-time director Felicity Morris are candid, earnest and understandably angry as they lay out the facts. A dramatised version of this tale will undoubtedly follow, because of course it will. The Tinder Swindler is available to stream via Netflix. INVENTING ANNA Inventing Anna, aka Netflix scam-month offering number two, doesn't just detail the kind of story that's so chaotic that it can only be true. And, as The Tinder Swindler also achieves (see above), it doesn't simply chronicle another wild case of scheming, conning, pretending, lying and gleefully splashing around fat stacks of cash, either. It's also home to an accent, courtesy of Ozark and The Assistant's Julia Garner as the eponymous Anna Delvey, that's a force of nature all by itself — one that speaks volumes, not just literally, about the woman at its centre as well. When fictionalised writer Vivian Kent (Anna Chlumsky, Veep) starts interviewing the imprisoned socialite's pals for a story, they all provide different descriptions. Little in their thoughts and observations about her gels from person to person, which Kent obviously notices. Evading being easily pinned down — whether in her personality traits, attitudes, clothes, friends, backstory and tastes, or in her voice — is a crucial part to her whole charade. Fiercely spitting out those distinctive tones, which sound more than a touch like The Room's Tommy Wiseau, Garner is nothing less than riveting as Delvey — who, when Inventing Anna begins, has just been arrested for deceiving financial institutions, banks, hotels and acquaintances, charges she vehemently denies. Instead, Delvey claims she's a rich heiress who wouldn't need to do the things she's accused of, but also sports a ferocious lust for fame or even infamy. Kent has to fight to even look into the story thanks to her own complicated history, and the more time that she spends both with Delvey herself and furiously interrogating every aspect of her life, the more fascinated that she becomes. Viewers are swept along the same path in this slick, savvy, super-polished miniseries, which hails from Grey's Anatomy and Scandal's Shonda Rhimes, shares those two shows' loves of glossily packaged twists, and is compulsively watchable. Inventing Anna is available to stream via Netflix. NEW SHOWS TO CHECK OUT WEEK BY WEEK SEVERANCE It's the ultimate in work-life balance, an antidote to non-stop after-hours emails and Slack messages, and a guaranteed way to ensure what happens at work stays at work. In mind-bending thriller series Severance — which plays like Black Mirror meets the Charlie Kaufman-penned Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, with Wes Anderson's aesthetic if he designed soulless office complexes, plus sprinklings of everything from George Orwell to also-excellent 2020 TV effort Devs — switching off when clocking off at Lumon Industries is easy. There's a brain implant for exactly that, and it's a condition of employment on "severed" floors. Accordingly, when quittin' time comes for Macrodata Refinement division employee Mark (Adam Scott, Big Little Lies), he physically steps into a tiny, shiny elevator to descend back into his after-hours life; however, the version of him that works for Lumon won't recall anything beyond the company's walls. The instant that the lift plummets, it goes back up for Mark's "innie", as his office-bound consciousness is dubbed. Voila, it's clocking-on time once more. Severance's attention-grabbing premise springs from creator Dan Erickson, a TV first-timer, and understands how most folks feel about office life. The show is knowing in its lead casting, too, given that Scott is best recognised for two workplace comedies: the joyous hug that is Parks and Recreation, as well as the acerbic, astute and soon-to-return Party Down. But as savvily and evocatively directed by Ben Stiller in its first three season-one episodes (and again in its last three, with Kissing Candice filmmaker Aoife McArdle helming three in the middle), Scott's new series dwells in 'be careful what you wish for' territory. For the part of Mark's brain that blanks out work, Severance initially seems like heaven. For the half that only knows the office, it's hell. For everyone watching, soaking in its twisty mysteries — and enjoying Patricia Arquette (The Act), Christopher Walken (Percy vs Goliath) and John Turturro (The Plot Against America) as fellow Lumon employees, it's a surreal and gripping must-see. The first three episodes of Severance's first season are available to stream via Apple TV+, with new episodes dropping weekly. Read our full review. PAM & TOMMY When the first images of Lily James playing Pamela Anderson in Pam & Tommy dropped, they captured an astonishing transformation. The Pursuit of Love star didn't just look like herself dressed up as the famed Baywatch actor; thanks to the miniseries' hair, makeup and costuming teams, she appeared as if she'd leapt into Anderson's body Being John Malkovich-style. That feeling only grew as several trailers arrived and, in the finished product, her performance borders on uncanny. It needs to, and not merely to ensure that James never just seems like she's simply slipping into a red swimsuit for an easy impersonation. To genuinely lay bare the fact that Anderson's well-known tale with her now ex-husband Tommy Lee (Sebastian Stan, The 355) isn't quite the narrative it's been immortalised as for the past quarter-century, the series keeps returning to the fallout for Anderson — and, in the process, it peers well beyond the way she's historically been seen by the world. Focusing on Anderson's marriage to the Mötley Crüe drummer in the 90s, Pam & Tommy is all about the pair's sex tape, because that intimate recording was the pop-culture scandal of that decade. Also, it's impossible to step into Anderson and Lee's romance without it. Indeed, the show knows that it's spinning an out-there story, even by celebrity terms, and that everyone watching will has their own ideas already formed about the incident. Pam & Tommy leans into that exact certainty to begin with — talking penis and all — but, as James' performance demonstrates, it never sees the tale it's telling as a joke. Co-starring Seth Rogen (An American Pickle) as the carpenter who stole the footage after being treated unfairly by Lee, this rollicking ride of a show is also a thoughtful retelling and interrogation of a tabloid-fodder incident that changed multiple lives and wrongly cemented Anderson's reputation. The first six episodes of Pam & Tommy are available to stream via Star on Disney+, with new episodes dropping weekly. Read our full review. Need a few more streaming recommendations? Check out our picks from January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December 2021, and January 2022 — and our top new TV shows of 2021, best new television series from this year that you might've missed and top straight-to-streaming films and specials as well.
Forget Instagram — when it comes to peering at famous faces, portrait galleries have been serving up the goods since long before social media ever existed. Think of a well-known name not just in recent times, but going back decades, centuries and longer, and it's likely that someone somewhere once painted their likeness. The Beatles, David Bowie, Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters, Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai: they've all been given the portrait treatment, and the results — or one painting bearing their faces, at least — are now on display at Shakespeare to Winehouse: Icons from the National Portrait Gallery, London. Showing at Canberra's National Portrait Gallery, this is the type of exhibition that arises when one portrait gallery teams up with another; think of it as the Inception of portrait showcases. There's a heavy British skew, naturally, covering people who have shaped UK history, identity and culture over the past 500 years. Accordingly, other famous folks gracing the NPG's walls include both Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Elizabeth II, Kate Moss, Mick Jagger and Princess Diana, as well as Lord Nelson, Sir Isaac Newton and Ed Sheeran, Darcey Bussell. As mentioned in the exhibition's name, both the Bard and Amy Winehouse obviously also feature, in an exhibition that's sorted by theme rather than year. And, by grouping portraits around fame, power, love and loss, identity, innovation and self, Shakespeare to Winehouse: Icons from the National Portrait Gallery, London also examines how portraiture has evolved over the years — all across a season that runs from Saturday, March 12–Sunday, July 17.
