Grab your bowling ball and swap your bathrobe for your best purple outfit — The Jesus Rolls, the two-decades-later spinoff to the Coen Brothers' 1998 cult comedy The Big Lebowski, is due to hit the big screen this year. Instead of abiding by The Dude (Jeff Bridges), this follow-up spends time with John Turturro's Jesus Quintana, whose love of flinging gleaming balls down lanes means that he obviously isn't a golfer. Of course, if you still want to pour a white russian to celebrate this return excursion to the Lebowski universe, that's both understandable and warranted. Turturro not only stars, but writes and directs The Jesus Rolls, which was actually filmed back in 2016. Cast-wise, he's joined by a heap of familiar faces, including Bobby Cannavale, Audrey Tautou, Jon Hamm, Susan Sarandon, Christopher Walken and Pete Davidson. In addition to following Quintana's exploits post-Big Lebowski, The Jesus Rolls also acts as a remake of 1974 French film Going Places. As per the official synopsis, the picture is set joins its eponymous figure "hours after being released from prison", when he"pairs up with fellow misfits Petey (Cannavale) and Marie (Tautou), and embarks on a freewheeling joyride of petty crime and romance". And that's exactly what happens in The Jesus Rolls' just-dropped first trailer. As revealed last year, the movie will release in the US in March, just in time for The Big Lebowski's 22nd anniversary — and while plans Down Under haven't yet been revealed, start crossing your fingers. Check out The Jesus Rolls' trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLAmpku4fyg&feature=emb_logo The Jesus Rolls hits US cinemas on March 6, 2020. We'll update you with local release details if and when they come to hand.
Sappho's is a cafe and wine bar as well as a secondhand bookshop, and it has the loyal custom of many of the local Sydney University students. The little shop has a huge range of books packed into every shelf, ranging in subject matter, and it has been hosting regular poetry nights for the last couple of years. You're always certain to find what you're looking for, and often in really nice editions: some of the copies from the 50s and 60s are so well kept you'll want to frame them. You're welcome to sit with a book and a glass of wine, or a jug of sangria, until the wee hours under the shade of the jasmine and banana trees. Image: Daniel Boud/Destination NSW.
Perched atop the Harbord Hotel, Bombie's is the hottest beachside hangout this year. In collaboration with Doom Juice, the 70s-inspired rooftop bar is kicking off a weekly dinner club on Thursday nights. Have a cheeky boogie and soak in the stunning view of Freshwater Beach before a night of surprise dishes, paired with lo-fi drops from Doom Juice Wine. Expect (or don't expect, it could be something else entirely) zesty tuna tostadas, smoky lamb riblets and spiced sweet potato wedges. Dinner is served to the soundtrack of jazz grooves and soulful jams from Beat Mystique, who improvise their sets and build the vibe in real time. Be quick — there's a bottle of Doom Juice on the house for the first six bookings every week. Images: supplied.
Now that outdoor gatherings are back on the cards, Sydneysiders who have rolled up their sleeves to get the jab have also been rolling out their picnic blankets for outdoor hangs with four fully vaxxed mates. By now, you've probably attended a handful of slapdash picnics where seeing your friends was top of the agenda. Now, it's time to take things up a notch. Enter Karina Findley: the brains behind The Picnic Club — a boutique service that curates chic picnics for all al fresco occasions, from social catch-ups to bridal parties, anniversaries and even proposals. Now that picnics are back, it's no surprise that Findley has been in high demand of late. "As soon as Gladys mentioned the word 'picnic', that was it," says Findley. "It's absolutely blown up." So what are the foundations of a good picnic? According to Findley, it's about the company first and foremost. Then: location, location. "A nice view is very important. My favourite [spots] are Lawn 33 at the Royal Botanical Garden and Willow Pond in Centennial Park." Amenities should factor into planning — "especially important if you're having a few drinks" — and, of course, an abundance of snacks. Together with our friends at Rosie Spritz, we asked Findley to share her top six picnic essentials that'll help level up your next one — because nobody wants to sit on a beaten-up tarp topped with a plate of Jatz and cut-up cabanossi. Check out Findley's absolute picnic musts, head to your local bottle-o and pick up a four-pack of Rosie Spritz, and make a beeline to your favourite (BYO-friendly) park, stat. [caption id="attachment_827561" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Tartan Blanket Co[/caption] THE PERFECT BLANKET In life, a solid foundation is the key to success — and same goes for picnics. That's why, according to Findley, a good blanket on which to lay your spread is crucial. "You want something that's really nice for the setting. But you don't want to be going to a picnic and carrying kilos of items. We do that when we set up for The Picnic Club, but it's not great for DIY," she says. There are a few things to look for when selecting the perfect rug. According to the expert: "It needs to be large because you're going to have friends, food, drink and lots of other things on there. Also something that's got a waterproof lining underneath in case the ground is damp is ideal." The picnic queen loves this blanket from The Tartan Blanket Co. "It's light and has a chic leather carry strap, so it's easy to carry once you've finished or if you're planning to take a walk after," she says. [caption id="attachment_827404" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Beach People[/caption] AN INSULATED PICNIC BASKET A day in the sun with mates is glorious, but you know what can sour things? A tepid spritz because you didn't pop it in a cooler bag. And, as it turns out, not all insulated items are created equal. "Eskies are great, but they're a bit too bulky. Whereas a picnic basket — especially one that's insulated — is great because you can put everything in there neatly, including both edible items and utensils and napkins; things that wouldn't fare very well inside a cooler," says Findley. "They can also be really light, so you can easily carry it with one hand and not have to be dragging it to your picnic spot." Her pick: this insulated wicker number from The Beach People. [caption id="attachment_827407" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Goodness Gracious Sydney[/caption] SOMETHING TO GRAZE ON Snacks are without a doubt the most important player in the picnic game. "You want to have enough that you can lightly graze on throughout the day without completely filling yourselves up, and ensuring there's enough for everyone to go around," says Findley. "If you're going the DIY route, you'll want a few different cheeses — a hard cheese, a soft cheese and a blue cheese. Olives are essential, along with a selection of deli meats, chips, crackers and dips. Then some kind of fruit — strawberries are always a good option." Don't want the hassle of creating your own lavish spread? If you're planning a luxe picnic for a large group, Findley recommends local business Goodness Gracious Sydney for all your pre-made platter needs. [caption id="attachment_796979" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ultra Violette[/caption] PROTECTION FROM THE ELEMENTS While embracing the great outdoors, it's always important to slip, slop and slap. For Findley, sunscreen is a non-negotiable. "The Sydney sun can be brutal, so sun protection is a must. Pack sunscreen for your face and body as well as a hat (and perhaps a few extras in case picnic guests forget theirs)." Her protection picks are Ultra Violette sunscreen and a chic sun hat from Jac Cedeaux. Because we're still in the midst of a pandemic, other protections are a must, too. "These days, I usually pop a few spare disposable face masks in my kit, and sanitiser is a must for good hygiene and sticky hands," Findley tells us. ENTERTAINMENT "First things first, some background music is always nice. Bring along a portable speaker and let everyone add their songs to a Spotify playlist — one of my friends likes Phil Collins, the other likes soft house," says Findley. "It means you get some variety on the day." With the mood appropriately set, you'll want to keep the party going. One way of doing this is with picnic games, for which Findley recommends Planet Finska. "At The Picnic Club, we love boules, giant Jenga, Finska, quoits and croquet on rotation." For smaller gatherings, she reckons you can't go past a classic: "Uno is a nice bit of nostalgic fun." [caption id="attachment_826867" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Eco Bee Studio, Rebecca Blackman[/caption] BEESWAX WRAPS So, the sun is setting and it's time to pack up, but there's a heap of leftovers. Over-catering is not uncommon — as Findley says: "you don't want to run out [of food]." Her solution is both eco-friendly and efficient when it comes to packing up your basket after a day in the sun. Bring a few beeswax wraps — Findley suggests ones from Eco Bee Studio — in lieu of takeaway containers. After all, as Findley sagely says: "good cheese should never go to waste." And that's it folks. Add Karina Findley's picnic essentials to your swag for your next park hang with mates — we're sure it'll be an upgrade from sitting on wet, itchy grass and having to make do with a single packet of chips. Rosie Spritz is an ideal springtime sip and is available at BWS, Dan Murphy's and First Choice Liquor stores across Sydney. For more picnic inspiration, check out our guides to idyllic picnic spots where you can BYO booze in Sydney's inner west, inner city, lower north shore, eastern suburbs and northern beaches. Top image (in order): Brooke Zotti and The Picnic Club Remember to Drinkwise.
The Grounds of Alexandria's celebrity pig Kevin Bacon has had quite a time at the property, including a viral pig-napping and surviving a snake bite in 2013. Now, Kev is moving on to a much-deserved retirement and The Grounds wants you to join in on the farewell festivities. In honour of the big guy, The Grounds presents 7 Weeks of Kevin: seven weeks of celebrations that everyone can participate in. While the merriment has already kicked off with a laneway installation dedicated to the pig of the moment, you can also look forward to eating Kevin's Pig-Out Cake from The Grounds' Cafe from Monday, July 9, plus five other weeks of Kev-worthy entertainment. At the end of the shenanigans, it'll be time to say goodbye to our favourite pig after his five-year residency — but don't be too tearful. Kev will unite with family at The Riverside Eco Farm Retreat, and The Grounds will welcome the latest addition to the property: a "young prince in the waiting".
Sydney Theatre Company’s Rough Drafts are regular components of the organisation’s program that provide a pressure-free opportunity for theatre practitioners to experiment with new ideas, collaborations and ways of creating theatre together. Rough Drafts are not solely focused on just developing scripts; their vision is to create theatre. Over a week-long creative development program, participants focus on the creation process rather than being preoccupied with the end product and as a result, failure is not only accepted but also encouraged. After all, in the immortal words of Johnny Cash “you build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone”. These stepping stones ultimately lead to an invitation for the public to enjoy a free, exclusive showing of the week’s development that gives audiences a rare chance to understand the intricacies of the creative process. The newest product to come forth from this theatrical experimentation is Rough Draft’s 20th piece, An Alphabet of Arousal. This brand new work by award-winning playwright Angus Cerini and STC Co-Resident Director Sarah Giles introduces us to returned soldier Charlie and explores how the post-traumatic impact of modern warfare affects relationships and how attempts at reconnection can lead to a downward spiral. Wharf 2 Theatre will provide the theatrical arena. Tickets are free, bookings are essential and can be done through the STC Box Office (02 9250 1777) or at sydneytheatre.com.au
It’s a sad news day for all the swashbuckling pirates among you. Australian film company Village Roadshow has started a court action to shut down movie streaming website SolarMovie. After the Federal Government passed a bill to amended Australia’s copyright right laws in June of 2015, we were all expecting the worst. We’re sorry to say that while it’s taken eight months to affect any change, the laws are finally being utilised to our disadvantage. We’re assuming that half of you reading this zoned out, opened IMDB in a new tab and are now slowly finding torrents to download every film in the top 1000 while you still can. Graham Burke, co-chief executive of Village Roadshow told the ABC they’ll be targeting SolarMovie, because they’re a “vicious bunch of thieves.” Burke went on to say the site's advertising was harmful to children “If your kids go to that website, they're encouraged to gamble with no age limit; there's sexual ads there." For the record, it’s called ad-blocker dude, look it up. SolarMovie will most likely be black-listed for Aussies using DNS blocking, whereby the the DNS (domain name system), which connects readable site addresses with their internet address (IP address), is diverted and unable to connect the site name and the IP address. It's the simplest way to block sites but doesn't take the site offline at the source, so thankfully there are some easy ways around it. A VPN will do the trick, or there are more comprehensive (and free) services like TOR, which allows you browse anonymously but can seriously slow down your internet speeds as protects you by rerouting your web browsing over an encrypted network It’s only the first in a series of court actions aimed at decimating our human right to watch Broad City for free. Foxtel is expected to announce in the coming days that they will seek to block four of the biggest piracy websites, including dear friend to all poor students, The Pirate Bay. People around the world are up in arms about harsh anti-piracy legislation, often because it errs on the side of media conglomerates, can strip people of their autonomy and doesn’t address the problem at the core of it all ($14.95 for an overnight release from Blockbuster was too much, damn it). Australians have shown that they’re willing to spend money on legit streaming services (hello Netflix, Stan, maybe Presto) if easy and available and studies keep turning up the same data: people who pirate often spend more on media than people who don’t. Sigh. Guess it’s a good time to start shopping around for a VPN that works, guys. Via ABC.
As the mercury rises, Australian cities come to life. Rooftop bars transform under the summer sun, the streets feel alive, and you start feeling that itch to explore. Call it a sign, but Vibe Hotels have decided to bring their Black Friday sale forward to match that exact feeling. From now until Tuesday, December 2 you can score 20 percent off at each of their hotels. Plus, sign up to the e-Club to receive an additional discount and instant reward every time you stay. From waterside gems to sun-drenched rooftop bars, these cities make for the perfect summer breaks. Adelaide [caption id="attachment_1043290" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Vibe Hotel Adelaide[/caption] Adelaide is often overlooked as a summer getaway thanks to its reputation as a city of churches. But, in reality, it's a foodie mecca, fringed with endless beaches. Base yourself at Vibe Hotel Adelaide, naturally. Start your day with a leafy walk to breakfast at sacred local spot Exchange Coffee as you plan which of Adelaide's beaches you'll spend the day lazing at: Glenelg, Henley, or slightly further out Port Noarlunga. Take a day trip to Kangaroo Island for more ridiculous beaches and wild life spotting. Or, you'll be spoiled for choice when it comes to wineries: Barossa, McLaren Vale, the Adelaide Hills, and the Clare Valley are all easy day trips. After a long day exploring, head back to your hotel for dinner at Storehouse Flinders East. Hobart Thanks to Dark Mofo, Hobart has earned a reputation as a winter city. But ask any local and they'll tell you it's a city made for summer. Vibe Hotel Hobart has a location perfect for exploring everything the city has to offer with onsite restaurant Belvedere showcasing the Apple Isle's bountiful produce. For more local-approved bites, head to hole in the wall wine bar Sonny or, for a sun-dappled beer garden, try Preachers in historic Battery Point. Hobart is the best place to make the most of Tasmania's wilderness with countless day trips at your fingertips. Spot wombats and dip in crystal clear waters at Maria Island, stand at the edge of the world in the Tasman National Park, or take a foodie tour of Bruny Island. If the Tasmanian summer isn't quite summering, thaw out in the heated swimming pool at your hotel. Subiaco [caption id="attachment_1041855" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rottnest Island, Fabian Kühne[/caption] Subiaco—known affectionately as Subi to locals—is an ultra-sleek pocket of inner city Perth. You'll find excellent coffee, fine dining, and of course, Vibe Hotel Subiaco right in the thick of it. And, one of the city's favourite restaurants, Storehouse Subiaco is perched right on the roof with unparalleled views of the city skyline. Rokeby Road cuts through the heart of Subi and is lined with chic boutiques, galleries and some of Perth's best dining. Yiamas, Shui, Lulu La Delizia are some of the suburb's best eats. If you're taking a weekend break, stop by the Subiaco Station Markets to sample the local produce. You'll also find the Regal Theatre, one of the last live theatres in Perth within walking distance from your hotel. If you're craving beaches, you're conveniently staying on the train line to Fremantle. Fremantle is not only home to some of Perth's best beaches, but is also the departure point to access Rottnest Island. Melbourne [caption id="attachment_1043679" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Vibe Hotel Melbourne[/caption] Finding a reason to spend a weekend in Melbourne is one of life's easier tasks. When you add Vibe Hotel's 20 percent off Black Friday discount, its almost like you have to go. Fleet Rooftop sits 68 metres high above the Vibe Hotel Melbourne. Start your trip here with cocktails, artfully served small plates and a stellar view of the Melbourne skyline. You'll be staying right in the centre of the city so you can spend your trip weaving through laneways and arcades as you discover the cafes, bars and vintage boutiques. Catch a show at the nearby historic East End Theatre District. Or, back at your hotel, unwind in the pool before heading back to the rooftop for sunset. Vibe Melbourne Docklands also offers amazing views of the city and Yarra River with leisure facilities including a 28-metre heated rooftop pool (one of Melbourne's largest), a steam room and well-equipped gym. On the edge of the free city circle tram, you'll be in the heart of the city within 15 minutes while enjoying the more laidback atmosphere of the Docklands waterfront precinct. Darling Harbour [caption id="attachment_1043678" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Vibe Hotel Darling Harbour[/caption] Sometimes you just need a getaway to take a moment to enjoy Sydney's summer from a rooftop pool. Vibe Hotel Sydney Darling Harbour is the perfect place to do just that. Spend a weekend soaking up the sun from a poolside cabana with views out across the city. Then, as the sun begins to set, head over to Above 319, the hotel's rooftop bar for cocktails before enjoying a night out in Sydney. Try Pakistani food at Lal Qila, treat yourself to Japanese fine dining at nearby Nobu's or nab a reservation at Sydney institution, Bennelong. Make the most of summer and while away a weekend taking advantage of Sydney's beaches before you head back home to reality. Catch a ferry from Darling Harbour to locally loved beaches like Milk Beach or Camp Cove. Darwin Ask what people love about Darwin and two things come to mind. First, it's the city's technicolour sunsets (best viewed from the Darwin Sailing Club). Second, it's the quality of the laksa available thanks to Darwin's proximity to South East Asia. You'll find some of the best at Mary's Laksa at the weekly Parap Village Markets alongside satay and fresh tropical fruits. Head inland and visit Litchfield National Park for wild swimming in shaded outback lagoons. Then, to escape the tropical heat, duck into the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory for one of the country's best displays of Indigenous art. Vibe Hotel Darwin drops you in the heart of it all with its prime position by the waterfront precinct and Darwin Lagoon. Canberra Canberra is criminally underrated as a weekend getaway, and Vibe Hotel Canberra makes for the perfect base to see it all. The sprawling grounds of Parliament House sit at its heart. Just outside the grassy knolls of our political centre, you'll find the National Portrait Gallery of Australia and the National Gallery of Australia. Don't miss the Sculpture Garden's 26 outdoor pieces, including Within Without (2010) by James Turrell. After exploring, dive into Canberra's food scene. For cocktails, a kitschy styled space and small plates stop by Such and Such. For lunch, Sanducci does a daily rotation of—not to be dramatic—life changing sandwiches. It's worth slipping beyond the city limits to visit Canberra's vineyards, like Mount Majura, and Australia's tallest peak, Mt Kosciusko. The trails are unburdened by snow in the summer making it a perfect time to visit. Book your summer getaway now with 20 percent off stays at the Vibe Hotels website. Plus sign up to their eClub and receive an additional discount and instant reward every time you stay.
Fans of Asian eats will be no strangers to Chippendale's Kensington Street, aka Spice Alley, the hawker-style dining precinct where Singaporean, Malaysian, Thai, Cantonese and Shanghainese dishes have been on the menu for years. Now, the Land of the Rising Sun's fare has joined this roll call of eastern cuisines, with the addition of Spice Alley's new Japanese Quarter. The two new Japanese venues are modelled after the compact hole-in-the-wall diners and izakayas dotted throughout Tokyo's busy laneways, and bring Spice Alley's complement of restaurants and bars to ten. Devised by Kevin Vu Ha, who trained under sushi master Ryuichi Yoshii at Yoshii Omakase in Barangaroo, Japanese Quarter also offers a taste of Tokyo's vibrant cocktail scene, drawing on Vu Ha's time working with legendary Japanese bartender Hidetsugu Ueno San of award-winning bar High Five. Japan's fast and satisfying street eats dominate the menu at Tabe-ru, where ramen, sushi, donburi and yakitori dishes are available for under $15 throughout winter. Think: crab rolls, wagyu beef donburi, black garlic ramen, chicken katsu curry and salmon sashimi. Just like its Tokyo counterparts, Tabe-ru is built for speed, with diners collecting their orders directly from the kitchen and eating al fresco at the tables out front. Next door, Nomu is an intimate cocktail nook serving up Japanese classics — expect plenty of highballs — as well as a selection of Japanese beers, shochus and sakés, both chilled and warm. With nods to both Japan's traditional decor and its pop culture, the fitout is a riot of manga murals, paper lanterns and bamboo trunks for an immersive experience that might help tide you over until you can next visit Tokyo in person. Find Nomu at 40 Kensington Street, Chippendale, open 4–11pm Tuesday–Thursday and 4pm–midnight Friday–Saturday — and find Tabe-ru at 38 Kensington Street, Chippendale, open daily 11am–9.30pm.
Maybe you loved her when she was riding BMX bikes with her curls trailing in the wind. Perhaps you know every word to every song she sings in Moulin Rouge!. Or, you could've enjoyed her villainous turn in Paddington. Whichever category fits, if you're a fan of Nicole Kidman then you'll want to make your way to the Ritz Cinema's latest retrospective. The Australian actor is in the spotlight weekly from Wednesday, April 7–Saturday, June 26, with 13 of her movies hitting the big screen. Other highlights include Dead Calm and its sailing trip gone wrong, To Die For's icy tale of an aspiring TV presenter, the bumps and jumps of haunted house movie The Others, the page-to-screen dramas of The Portrait of a Lady and Kidman's phenomenal performance in Eyes Wide Shut. You'll be sampling some standout works from a number of great directors, too, given that the aforementioned films include movies by Baz Luhrmann, Gus Van Sant, Jane Campion and Stanley Kubrick. The Hours, Dogville, The Stepford Wives, Birth and Margot at the Wedding round out the program — and yes, looks back at iconic pictures in themed lineups has been helping to fill Sydney's big screens while the new release slate has been forced to adapt to the pandemic. Each movie screens at 7pm on a Wednesday night, except Paddington — which is on at the family-friendly time of 11am on a Saturday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSS47StLOhk
Visitors along Victoria's legendary Great Ocean Road who are planning to swing by the famous Great Apostles will soon have to have a card or cash ready — the legendary coastal landmark is enacting an entry tax for visitors in a controversial new decision from the Victorian government announced on Monday. Attached to the upcoming Twelve Apostles Visitor Experience Centre, a construction project costing $128 million that's set to open up at the end of the year, the new entry fee is intended to go towards the centre's upkeep, as well as funding ongoing upkeep and restorations to beaches and other landmarks in the Great Ocean Road region. Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos explained that "We're investing in the future of the Great Ocean Road region and making sure every single cent spent in the region stays there," adding that "It's only fair that visitors to the region pay a small fee to visit this world-class destination so that we can maintain it for future generations." [caption id="attachment_1081243" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] iStock[/caption] The exact cost of the new fee is yet to be determined, but will be decided in consultation with local councils, traditional owners and businesses throughout southwest Victoria. Locals and members of the Eastern Maar community will not be charged. To help mitigate the flow of visitors (according to the ABC, on average, two million of the Great Ocean Road's typical six million tourists visit the Twelve Apostles), a new booking system will also be enacted to guarantee parking at peak times. Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism Chair, Andrew Jeffers, said "Managing visitation at the Twelve Apostles will help protect the landscape, support local communities, reduce congestion and ensure visitors have a much better experience when they come to see one of Australia's most iconic natural attractions," adding that many natural landmarks around Australia and the world now charge entry fees. Expectedly, many are unhappy about the change. When The Guardian shared the news, one commenter wrote "I don't mind a fee for visitors, like most National Parks in the USA and Canada charge, but I think Victorian residents should be exempt," while one user in 9 News Melbourne's comments section added pointedly "I'm only paying if I can see all 12 of them." [caption id="attachment_1081244" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] iStock[/caption]
It's not often that you're holding out hope that the temperature drops even further in winter. But a bunch of Sydney pubs are encouraging you to do just that this chilly season. As the temperature drops, beer lovers turn to their go-to winter stout, Guinness, and the iconic brewery has enlisted the help of a group of beloved Sydney stalwarts to give away free pints as the mercury falls. The concept is simple. If the temperature drops below nine degrees during the month of June, there are free pints of Guinness on offer. To claim your complimentary beer, head to one of the participating venues and show the bartender Guinness' Brewery of Meteorology site which will display the temperature. Some of the pubs taking part in the promotion include The Carrington and Keg & Brew in Surry Hills; The Dog Hotel, Jimmy's Bar and Horses Hotel in Randwick; The Village Inn in Paddington; Woollahra Hotel and Lord Dudley Hotel in Woollhara; Grand Hotel, Tea Gardens Hoel and Beach Road Hotel in Bondi; Charing Cross Hotel in Waverley; Clovelly Hotel; Coogee Beach Club; and Woolloomoolloo's East Sydney Hotel. [caption id="attachment_681981" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Beach Road Hotel[/caption] Adding to this celebration of the colder months, Guinness has also created a set of merino-wool thermals covered in the iconic Guinness harp. If your passion for the historic beer extends far enough that you want to represent it on your body, you can win a pair of the limited-edition thermals via the Brewery of Meteorology website. "As the weather gets cooler, there's nothing better than rugging up and enjoying a Guinness," said Guinness' appointed meteorologist, beloved celebrity chef Colin Fassnidge. "I'll be keeping an eye on the temperature this winter, and when it drops I hope to see plenty of Guinness fans donning their Guinness thermals and heading to a cosy pub to enjoy a pint." For more information on the Guinness giveaway and to enter to win the Guinness-branded thermals, head to the Brewery of Meteorology website. Top image: Cassandra Hannagan
The changes of the past couple of weeks have hit Australia's hospitality industry hard. First, there were the tighter restrictions on venue numbers and spacing; then the government's closure of all non-essential businesses means hospitality venues were forced to shut their doors and rely solely on whatever takeaway service they had operating — or adapt and launch new ones. As a result, a huge number of hospitality workers have been left without jobs. According to website I Lost My Hospo Shift, as of Thursday, April 23, 2594 Aussie hospo workers had lost their jobs and 13,237 shifts had been cut, equating to around $2.1 million in lost wages this week alone. Thankfully, some industry legends are coming to the rescue, lending a helping hand in the form of a few much-needed free feeds. And they're not just helping out unemployed hospo workers either, they're providing free meals to frontline health workers, international students and those just generally doing it tough right now. In Sydney, James Thorpe — co-owner of Petersham's Oxford Tavern and The Taphouse in Darlinghurst — announced both his venues will continue serving up free takeaway meals for any struggling hospo workers. "If you are a casual hospo worker who is currently underemployed, I will pay for your meal," he said in a post on The Taphouse Instagram page last week. "Simply make yourself known at the bar with your RSA in tow (or just let us know where you work if a cafe worker) and our team will hook you up with a menu." https://www.instagram.com/p/B95Th-Np__4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Meanwhile, Newtown restaurant Hearth & Soul made a comeback especially to throw some support behind struggling Sydneysiders. Owner Rachel Jelley closed the venue in November, but has thrown open the doors for a series of free Friday meal services, catering to both staff and employers in any industry who've lost jobs or income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside a crew of volunteers, she's serving up a rotating menu of produce-focused dishes from 12–2pm each week, inviting diners to register via the website. "These are the people who have been working tirelessly to provide you with the dining-out experiences you love," Jelley explained. "They've also been cutting your hair, doing your physio, making your coffee and baking your croissants, and now their livelihoods have simply evaporated overnight, in silence. So, I want to feed them." https://www.instagram.com/p/B9-5LUHjva2/ Over in Enmore, Colombo Social is a Sri Lankan restaurant that provides employment opportunities and support to asylum seekers and refugees. But in response to these turbulent times, it's now expanded its focus, teaming up with Mission Australia and a bunch of other local charities to feed as many vulnerable community members as possible. The kitchen's being put to good use, whipping up over 4600 hot, nutritious meals for free to those who are hungry or struggling to feed their families. Italian chain Fratelli Fresh is also donating 650 meals every week to healthcare workers via its Feed the Front Line program, which is running until the end of June. You can donate a meal for $10 over here, too. Then, there's the group of Manly venues that have banded together in an effort to feed vulnerable hospitality workers. Via a new Go Fund Me campaign, spots like The Cumberland, The Hold, Hugos Manly and 4 Pines are raising money to fund free meals for those in the industry who've lost income and work. Impacted workers are invited to get themselves verified, then to register for any of the nightly-changing, home-delivered dishes. The meals are created using leftover food stocks donated by local restaurants. And Chippendale local Sneaky Possum has transformed into soup kitchens, dishing up free feeds to hard-hit hospitality staff with complimentary hospo meals from 8pm nightly. Down in Melbourne, Attica has set up its own soup kitchen. It's selling $25 Thai-inspired chicken broths, with $5 from each one sold going towards preparing food for unemployed hospitality workers on temporary visas. The crew from Brighton barbecue restaurant Coal Blooded Griller are drumming up donations to enable them to whip up free meals for those in need. Having already raised over $3500, they're able to serve hundreds of ready-to-heat, two-person food packs. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_N8a2rg0wD/ Meanwhile, Essendon burger joint Dribbles is handing out four free meals each week to people who've lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. It's currently taking nominations for the freebies via its Facebook and Instagram. Newly-hatched non-profit event organisation The Issue X has made a mission to shed honest light on the issues and obstacles faced by the hospitality industry. And in these troubled times, it's turned its attentions to our city's hard-hit hospo staff, especially those on temporary visas who can't bank on any government support. The Issue X team knocked up a heap of nightly meals for those in need. And Brunswick's Viet-inspired restaurant Shop Bao Ngoc is giving back to its hard-hit hospo community by offering up a nightly changing meat-free dish, available for contactless delivery within three kilometres of the venue. The crew's encouraging a $10 donation for the meals — think, tofu pad thai and vegetable shepherd's pie — but say no one will be turned away for lack of funds. You can even pay it forward by donating money towards someone's future feed. https://www.facebook.com/baongocbrunswick/photos/a.439164586552477/841547599647505/?type=3&theater In the Brisbane suburb of Annerley, South Indian restaurant Sankalp is lending a hand by cooking up a swag of free vegetarian meals each Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The dishes are on offer to international students and any locals in need, to collect from the restaurant between 6.30pm and 8.30pm. Having pivoted its business in response to new public health regulations, Gold Coast eatery The Henchman is now operating as both a takeaway restaurant and food store. For as long as is possible, the owners are inviting anyone feeling the pinch to pop by and fill a bag with pantry supplies, on the house. And on the Sunshine Coast, a group of Noosa Junction venues have joined forces on a mission to support both their local hospo community and international students staying in the region. Together, eateries including Pasta Pronto, Bombetta and Moto are serving a stack of free breakfasts, lunches and dinners, across a range of daily offers. If and when you do decide to head out to get food, remember to follow the Australian Government Department of Health's social distancing guidelines. Know of any other restaurants, cafes or bars doing their bit to help the community? Let us know at hello@concreteplayground.com.
Sydneysiders thought the festival game was over. With plummeting ticket sales, cancellations and postponements, a growing number of festival favourites bit the dust over the last few years. Peats Ridge, Harvest, Homebake and Pyramid Rock have all collapsed under economic strain. Not to mention the mother of Australian festivals, Big Day Out, won't be returning for 2014. But Sydney festivals have found a new beginning. Boutique festivals are still on the rise. Event organisers are innovating and reshaping the festival experience, rather than falling back on the well-worn formula of hooking ever-bigger fish. A trend towards restricting crowd numbers and progressive culture-making has illuminated a handful of remaining festivals, the unassuming gems with a loyal following. From long-loved film events to emerging boutique music festivals and epic citywide celebrations, Sydney festivals have found a new footing of late; moving from overarching personalityless moneymakers to more niche, tailore experiences. Summer in Sydney is hardcore festival season, so we've rounded up the best tried and tested events in the game this year. LANEWAY FESTIVAL Celebrating ten years since Danny Rogers and Jerome Borazio decided to fill a Melbourne alleyway with tunes in 2005, Laneway Festival returns to Sydney College of the Arts with one of its biggest lineups yet. Returning to the Australian touring circuit is UK on-repeat outfit Jungle, festival jaw-droppers Future Islands and Melbourne's lives-up-to-the-hype queen Courtney Barnett. Two of the biggest hypecards of the bunch, FKA Twigs and BANKS, will fight for the midnight hushed vocal crown. Then there's the ever-epic St. Vincent, punk-as-fuck UK band Eagulls, smooooooth king Flying Lotus, Harlem's top-of-the-game hip hop outfit Ratking and the triumphant returns of Lykke Li, Rustie, Jon Hopkins, POND and crisp-as-blazes Caribou. Kicking off in Singapore on Saturday, January 24 in The Meadow, Gardens by the Bay, Laneway will run through seven dates, hitting Sydney on the first day of February. Oh, and Mac DeMarco will be there with his mum, Agnes. February 1, Sydney College of the Arts, Rozelle SECRET GARDEN FESTIVAL The most mysterious tickets your money can buy, Secret Garden Festival might be the most enigmatic festival to grace the summer scene. Taking over a sustainable dairy farm owned and run by the Downes family for many generations, Secret Garden sees stages, pop-up bars, art installations, confetti cannons, costume-making zones and a swathe of happy campers bring good vibes each February. Founded as a means to support the Sarah Hilt Foundation — a local charity raising money for suffers of meningococcal — this bighearted festival has been long celebrated for its grassroots approach, with loyal ticket-buyers signing up for a three-day bender of booze, bands and blissing out without even knowing the lineup or location. Tickets to Secret Garden 2014 sold out within the space of a day, so expect to be quick off the mark when tickets go on sale. February 2015; secret location. SYDNEY FESTIVAL It's never quite 'our city in summer' until Sydney Festival starts up. Kicking off in January, Sydney Festival always brings with it a tidal wave of performance, music, art and other festivities — including the beloved festival garden and Spiegeltent. Whether you like the city-wide atmosphere or perhaps just enjoy novelty-sized, inflatable animals from time to time, Sydney Festival is by far the biggest and most popular event in Sydney's summer calendar. January 2015, various Sydney venues SYDNEY GAY AND LESBIAN MARDI GRAS Attracting over 25,000 visitors a year, Mardi Gras is the loudest, proudest celebration of LGBTQI diversity in the world. Before the mighty annual parade saunters along Oxford Street, nearly a month of cultural and celebratory events of all stripes makes up the festival of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the most fun and flamboyant of Sydney events. Plans for the 2015 season are well under way, with dates already in place running Friday 20 February to Sunday 8 March. Festival favourites like Fair Day will return of course, with the iconic parade to be held smack bang in the middle. Fly your flag and get amongst it. February 20 to March 8, Sydney OUTSIDEIN Locked in to be held over three levels at Manning Bar in the University of Sydney, OutsideIn, the boutique music festival cooked up by Sydney touring and management agency Astral People and record label Yes Please returns for its third instalment on Saturday, November 29. Forecast to sell out like its 2012 and 2013 events, OutsideIn will spread its super solid lineup of both local and international artists over three stages. Joining an already solid lineup featuring '90s US hip-hop legends The Pharcyde, Sydney's beloved electronic trio Seekae, Germany's Pantha Du Prince, America's Giraffage and Melbourne duo Client Liaison is legendary Chicago house DJ/producer Roy Davis Jr and US R&B/housemaster Brenmar, alongside Melbourne’s Noise In My Head, Adelaide’s Late Nite Tuff Guy, and Sydney's own Collarbones, Chris Barker, Basenji and many more. November 29, Manning Bar, University of Sydney TROPFEST Not only is Tropfest an establishment in the Sydney arts and culture scene, it’s just a bloody good way to spend a warm summer evening. Returning to Centennial Park's Brazilian Fields after last year's move from the Domain, Tropfest is your go-to festival to check out budding Aussie filmmakers gun for the top prize with their outstanding short films — all having to included a central Tropfest signature item. The day kicks off at 11am, with the Tropfest Junior program and red carpet arrivals filling up the day, before the famous night of screening commences. Tropfest is totally free and remains an event that begs for a picnic basket, wine and friends. December 7, Centennial Park FIELD DAY The annual reason to not entirely obliterate yourself on New Year's Eve, Field Day, takes over the Domain with one of its best lineups yet. After significant hints at SBTRKT appearances post-Falls, the Young Turks favourite has been confirmed alongside Dillon Francis, alt-J, Jamie xx, Danny Brown, Cashmere Cat, Bastille, Joey Bada$$, Todd Terje, Milky Chance, Action Bronson and more thumbs up-inducing names. Local legends aren't lacking with RüFüs, The Kite String Tangle, Kilter, Peking Duk, Thundamentals, Touch Sensitive and Golden Features will join the international crew for the ultimate NYE hangover cure. January 1, The Domain, Sydney RETURN TO RIO Taking over the Del Rio Riverside Resort in Wiseman's Ferry, Return To Rio is the Spring Break of Sydney festivals. Founded by Ricky Cooper (Tricky) and Nick Law (Lawless), festival promotion company Disktrict launched as a local dance party arbiter of Sydney's east in mid-2012. It didn't take the DJ duo long to dabble into festival territory, launching Return To Rio a year later. The three-day dance music festival sees Ibiza favourite Ten Walls headlining a solid beats-heavy crew — including Berlin-based DJ and producer Lake People, Sydney 'We Speak No Americano' duo Yolanda Be Cool, Leftroom/Crosstown Rebels label mates Laura Jones and Gavin Herlihy, '80s house pioneer Mr C Superfreq and '90s underground acid house king MC Scallywag. November 14 to 16, Del Rio Riverside Resort, Wiseman's Ferry SUBSONIC Not familiar with the ever-growing craze of the 'bush doof'? Let us explain. A bush doof is a festival/dance party/rave held in a remote location — so yes, essentially 'doofing' in the bush. And Subsonic is one particular festival gaining momentum, fast. Dedicated to all things beat and bass, Subsonic is set against the picturesque surrounds of Riverwood Downs Mountain Valley Resort, only three hours north of Sydney. Three days of music and camping, Subsonic brings together a stellar lineup of local and international artists in a uniquely unconventional environment. This year sees the UK's James Holden and Addison Groove headlining with French Wu-Dubs founder Alexkid, broody Swiss club master Eli Verveine and more. Oh, and although the festival grounds are licensed, BYO is permitted at campsites — a perk lacking at other major festivals. December 5 to 7; Riverwood Downs Mountain Valley Resort, Barrington Tops NEWTOWN FESTIVAL One of the permanent markered events in the Sydneysider spring calendar, Newtown Festival remains one of Sydney's go-to events for grass lawn sprawlers, like-nobody's-watching dancers and festival food stall enthusiasts — and it's still only a gold coin donation. The always-anticipated festival in Camperdown Memorial Park has a top notch local lineup for 2014: shiny handclap-triggering foursome Deep Sea Arcade, beloved punk rockers Straight Arrows, reggae-driven hip hip crew Astronomy Class and epic prog-rock favourites sleepmakeswaves. Magical Mystery Tour-like psychedelics Richard in Your Mind, rascally garage punk trio Bloods and Sydney's suavest disco-funk-cranking-epic-shoulder-pads-wearing smooth talker Donny Benet will be hangin' out too. This is just the start of the huge local lineup — we haven't even talked about the dog show. Or the live art hub with Phibs, Peque and Unique painting all day. Or the writer's tent with talks from Dr Karl and the Moriarty Sisters. With over 80,000 people making their way through the gates every year, Newtown Festival remains one of Sydney's best local 'how sweet is Sydney' ops — also still raising funds for the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre. November 9, Camperdown Memorial Park, Newtown. By the Concrete Playground team.
Earlier this year, Cake Wines' Redfern cellar door underwent a bit of a makeover. The space had a rejig, it received a fresh lick of paint and it reopened with a sparkly new full-functioning kitchen. Now, that it has settled into its new groove, it's making the most of its expanded kitchen and hosting a series of degustation lunches every Saturday throughout November. Wine is still front and centre at this inner-city cellar door, and it's front and centre at the lunches, too. Here, the price of you lunch — a very reasonable $55 — includes bottomless Cake Wines pinot noir. Yep, you have two hours to drink your way through as much Adelaide Hills plonk as you wish. To pair with all that vino, you'll also be served up five tasty courses — starting with a slab of Brickfields sourdough and ending with your choice of pizza: margarita, tartufo, diavola or carciofi. In between, you'll come across roasted carrots with whipped goat's curd, beef tartare on tahini and snapper ceviche with kiwi fruit. Stick around after lunch to listen to live jazz as part of the cellar door's weekly End Notes gig. Images: Jiwon Kim. Updated: November 10, 2018.
Spanning mountains, leafy hinterland and over 100 beaches, NSW's Shoalhaven region is a stellar spot for an outdoor adventure. Yet over the years, this picturesque part of the world has become increasingly known as a culinary haven, stacked with local growers, artisanal producers and world-class chefs. Making the most of this scene, Coastal Forage returns to the pristine shores of Jervis Bay once again this spring. Held from Saturday, September 13–Sunday, September 14, this distinctive food and wine event is more than your average long lunch. Instead, guests will take part in a 10-course degustation presented along six kilometres of Jervis Bay's idyllic coastline. Think of it like a gourmet dining experience meets beachside bushwalk. Departing at staggered intervals from Moona Moona Creek Reserve, groups of up to 25 guests will wander along an undulating track to Orion Beach, arriving to discover ten curated food and drink stations that each reflect the South Coast's immense flavours. Think sea-foraged delicacies, fire-grilled native ingredients and cool-climate wines crafted by the likes of Paperbark Camp, Old Salt Distillery and Blackhen Kitchen. Once the feast is complete, guests catch a private boat transfer back to the starting point, marking the end of this cuisine-meets-nature experience. "There's nowhere else in Australia where you can enjoy a ten-course meal with your feet in the sand, whales offshore, and a local chef plating up what was caught or harvested fresh locally," says Amanda Fry, founder of Experience Nature.
South Coast-raised, buzzed-up designer Emma Mulholland has been raiding the stationery cupboard. Taking inspiration from Melanie Griffith's secretarial stylin' in 1988's Working Girl and John Hughes' timelessly cool brat pack, Mulholland's Risque Business line hits the shelves this week. One of our favourite collections from this year's Mercedez-Benz Fashion Week Australia at Carriageworks, Mulholland's Spring/Summer '14 line moves away from her signature in-face neon preferences to a more eighties-style pastel vibe — but keeping that acclaimed surf/streetwear schtick intact. Hinged around and unlikely design trigger, office supplies, the collection is made for jaded nine-to-fivers who relish in that glorious post-5pm period. Super bright bomber jackets, sheer zig-zagged shifts, clock face bikinis; the collection fuses workplace references (paper clips, post-its) with made-for-summer resortwear. Sequins rule the roost in Mulholland's new line, especially on one of the most adorably summery one-piece swimsuits you can actually get away with as a grown up. Accessories aren't left in the drawer for this collection either; Mulholland has teamed up with designer Celeste Tesoriero to craft ten new jewellery pieces for Risque Business, all taking inspiration from boring ol' office stationery. "The jewellery was inspired by what I used to make for myself in class at school, playing around with paper clips, bull clips but I wanted it to have a much more sophisticated look to it, hence getting together with Celeste," says Mulholland. The line also heralds a collab between Sam Stevenson from Pared Eyewear — six new bangin' pairs of 'wave temple' shades you'll want permanently on your face this summer. The perfect line for bringing summer music festival vibes to the staff common room, the arrival of Risque Business will infuse a little holiday in your daily grind. Now for a scrollfest: Emma Mulholland's Risque Business hits shelves this week. Check here for your nearest stockist or shop online here.
When Stanbuli closed, many Sydneysiders waited with bated breath to learn what would take its place in its iconic Enmore Road digs behind the Marie-Louise salon facade. While a sense of cynicism would have been warranted with Sydney's track record of preserving beloved venues, you can officially breathe a sigh of relief with the Porteno crew maintaining its ownership of the building, opening a much-hyped Spanish tapas bar in the space. Named after the salon that occupied the building from the 50s through until the 90s, Bar Louise maintains the eye-catching pink and purple facade while giving the interior a makeover of warm yellow walls, rich wooden tones and fake leafy vines, all reminiscent of a southern Spain wine bar. "We just want to make it a fun place everyone can come and drink wine and eat great food — open seven days a week," Porteno Founder Elvis Abrahanowicz told Concrete Playground. The star of the drinks menu is sherry, with more than 15 varieties available by the glass ($12–32). The signature drop is an ideal start or end to your meal, accompanied by a cocktail, Estrella or minimal-intervention wine. The cocktails at Bar Louise include a coffee negroni ($22), manhattan on the rocks ($20) and Sangria de Maria Lousie ($15), while the wine list showcases tipples from Spain, Australia, Italy, Portugal, Argentina and France. Once you've ordered your opening glass of sherry, your attention will move to the food. The Pulpo a la Gallega octopus ($28) is an absolute highlight, served with potato, aioli and pimento chilli, but there's plenty here for vegetarians, pescatarians and meat-lovers to all discover. Kick things off with your choice of starters which range from gildas ($6) and paleta ibérico served with chips ($32) to mussel escabeche ($16). From there you can get a little heftier with your choices, with some of the exciting options available including charcoal-grilled eggplant and capsicum ($20), garlic and parsley mushrooms ($26), potato and prawn salad ($24), fried pork belly ($26) and thick-cut chorizo in a cider sauce ($26). The chorizo is made in-house, and a lot of the bar snacks are house-cured with the help of Continental Deli Co-Owner and Manager Michael 'Mikey' Nicolian. And, fans of Stanbuli, never fear — the former Head Chef Ibrahim Kasif is opening a manoush restaurant and wine bar with the renowned hospitality team behind NOMAD.
Whether you've travelled to South Korea or simply caught the news, salt bread is quickly becoming a must-try pastry. Fortunately, South Korean bakery Buttered is swinging open its doors in Chippendale on Thursday, May 8, meaning experiencing what makes these sweet and buttery rolls special is easier than ever. Best of all, Buttered is celebrating its grand opening with an awesome giveaway. Running from 12pm on launch day until Sunday, May 11, the first 100 customers to make a salt bread purchase will score themselves a free coffee (limited to one per customer). Now you've got another excuse to head along. Behind Buttered is pastry chef Philip Choi, a graduate of Paris' renowned Le Cordon Bleu culinary school. After plying his trade at Seoul's top patisseries, he's bringing a range of treats to our shores, with salt bread as the headline attraction. For those yet to be acquainted, expect a bronzed exterior, layered folds and a chewy centre finished with a perfect pinch of sea salt. However, there's more to Buttered than just the signature 'Salty Boi', with inventive flavours like roasted garlic and vanilla cream. Other tantalising treats include Tissue Bread – a soft, buttery pull-apart loaf – and the Waterfall Cake, featuring airy sponge layered with whipped cream and topped with seasonal fruits.
It's easy to peruse the lengthy list of movies that'll be screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2024 and find parallels with the cinema celebration itself. Just like the claymation that brings Academy Award-winning animator Adam Elliot's work to life — including short Harvie Krumpet, 2009 feature Mary and Max and now MIFF's opening-night pick Memoir of a Snail — the fest expertly moulds its chosen materials into a reflection of the world around us. On par with every feature from David Cronenberg, it isn't afraid to push boundaries. As Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhang-ke ponders, it's deeply aware of both the past and the future. And exactly as all things Godzilla has, it's been a mainstay of the film world for seven decades. Running across Thursday, August 8–Sunday, August 25, Melbourne's annual celebration of moving pictures does indeed boast all of the above on its just-announced full program for this year. The Shrouds from Cronenberg (Crimes of the Future) sees the iconic body-horror filmmaker respond to the death of his wife IRL through the tale of a tech entrepreneur played by Vincent Cassel (Damaged) doing the same. The narrative of Caught by the Tides by Zhang-ke's (Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue) spans over 20 years, using footage from across just as long. And the ultimate kaiju is getting a one-night, seven-movie 70th-anniversary marathon, starting with franchise's iconic OG Japanese flick and making its way through to Shin Godzilla. "This year's MIFF program features over 250 films, with more than 400 sessions across 18 days, bringing together incredible Australian filmmaking, world cinema, drama, comedy, horror, animation, bold experimentation — things you've been waiting months to see, and others you never thought you'd get a chance to," explains the festival's Artistic Director Al Cossar about the complete lineup. "The MIFF program this year, like every year, is a multi-faceted festival of cinematic excess, designed to delight and sure to bring out the best in your imaginations. We're thrilled to welcome audiences back — come along and settle in for all too many movies at Melbourne's favourite binge this winter." Some of the fest's new highlights fill its Bright Horizons strand, aka its competition — including Flow, an animation about animals on a boat; Janet Planet, the debut movie from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker; Inside, a prison drama with Guy Pearce (The Clearing), Cosmo Jarvis (Shōgun) and Toby Wallace (The Bikeriders) that's directed by Charles Williams, who won the 2018 short film Palme d'Or for All These Creatures; and The Village Next to Paradise, which is the first-ever Somali film play Cannes. Other standout additions to the program elsewhere span flicks that've had the international film festival circuit talking in 2024 — and Australia's by first showing in Sydney. The Substance is also the long-awaited second effort from writer/director Coralie Fargeat, who made a spectacular debut with 2017's Revenge and picked up the Best Screenplay award at Cannes for this Demi Moore (Feud)-starring body-horror effort. Megalopolis features Adam Driver (Ferrari), with The Godfather and Apocalypse Now filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola first conceiving of the picture back in 1977. Rumours gives the fest a dose of Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson behind the lens (reteaming after Accidence, The Rabbit Hunters and Stump the Guesser), plus Cate Blanchett (The New Boy) on-screen. The Seed of the Sacred Fig is the latest film from Mohammad Rasoulf (There Is No Evil), with the movie's place on this year's Cannes lineup seeing him forced to flee Iran after being sentenced to flogging and imprisonment. And All We Imagine as Light was the first Indian film to play in Cannes' competition in three decades. MIFF's winter stretch in Melbourne cinemas — plus sessions from Friday, August 9–Sunday, August 25 online; and across both Friday, August 16–Sunday, August 18 and Friday, August 23–Sunday, August 25 in regional Victoria — will also feature Berlinale Golden Bear-winner Dahomey, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt from poet and photographer Raven Jackson, the maximum-security prison-set Sing Sing with Colman Domingo (Drive-Away Dolls), and Hong Sang-soo and Isabelle Huppert reuniting on A Traveler's Needs after Another Country and Claire's Camera. Amid its usual celebration of variety, Timestalker from Prevenge director and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace star Alice Lowe sits beside coming-of-age tale Bookworm's reteaming Elijah Wood with director Ant Timpson after Come to Daddy — this time playing a dad — and the Ilana Glazer (The Afterparty)-led Babes helmed by Pamela Adlon from Better Things. Or, there's the cinephile-catnip Martin Scorsese-presented doco Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, Craig Silvey's Runt reaching the screen with a heap of local faces (Kaleidoscope's Jai Courtney, Colin From Accounts' Celeste Barber, High Ground's Jack Thompson and Total Control's Deborah Mailman), Indigenous Aussie horror via The Moogai, and The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre music documentary follow-up Dig! XX. If that — plus Wake in Fright getting the Hear My Eyes treatment — isn't enough, In Vitro is an Ashley Zukerman (Succession)-led Australian sci-fi thriller about a couple doing biotech experiments, the also-homegrown boxing drama Kid Snow features Phoebe Tonkin (Boy Swallows Universe), Ghost Cat Anzu brings a touch of Japanese animation, and the Kate Winslet (The Regime)- and Alexander Skarsgård (Mr & Mrs Smith)-led Lee is about WWII reporter Lee Miller. Three IRL Belfast rappers star as themselves alongside Michael Fassbender (Next Goal Wins) in comedy Kneecap; Problemista is directed by and stars Los Espookys and Fantasmas' Julio Torres opposite Tilda Swinton (The Killer); and Sasquatch Sunset, directed by the Zellner brothers (Damsel), gets Riley Keough (Daisy Jones & the Six) and Jesse Eisenberg (Fleishman Is in Trouble) playing a sasquatch family. Plus, Australia's own Romulus, My Father and Lake Mungo have scored restorations, the fest is spending an evening at Peninsula Hot Springs, an Iranian New Wave retrospective sees MIFF team up with New York's Museum of Modern Art, there's a whole strand dedicated to non-fiction films about the natural world, and Devo and The Black Keys also pop up in the Music on Film section. Not having anything to watch clearly isn't a problem at this fest. Whittling down your must-watch list? Now that's a different — and delightful — issue. [caption id="attachment_965567" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Barry Schultz, BarrySchultzPhotography.com[/caption] The 2024 Melbourne International Film Festival runs from Thursday, August 8–Sunday, August 25 at a variety of venues around Melbourne; from Friday, August 16–Sunday, August 18 and Friday, August 23–Sunday, August 25 in regional Victoria; and online nationwide from Friday, August 9–Sunday, August 25. For further details, including member tickets from 8pm on Thursday, July 11 and general tickets from 9am on Tuesday, July 16, visit the MIFF website.
Bar legend Lee Potter Cavanagh, who has worked at establishments across London, Sydney and Canberra — most recently as general manager of Darlinghurst's East Village — has opened his first venture as solo owner and operator. Called Rosenbaum and Fuller — after Potter Cavanagh's grandmothers — it's a casual, all-day eatery, just a few minutes' walk from Bondi Beach. Drop by at 8am for an Edition coffee, at noon for a leek terrine with cashew butter and toasted sourdough, and at nightfall for a feast of share plates and Australian wines. "I've been living in Bondi on and off, ever since I moved out of home at 18," says Potter Cavanagh, a former Australian Bartender of the Year. "It's where I've spent most of my time in Sydney, so it feels like home. Being near the beach, it's nice and relaxed, but, at the same time, it's international. You feel like you're in a global city." Rosenbaum and Fuller is on O'Brien Street, in the space previously occupied by The Crossing Bar. Just a stumble away lies The Hub: home to Gelato Messina, Blanca and China Diner. Potter took care of the design, in league with family and friends. A pastel purple shop front gives way to a light, airy space, splashed with light timbers, teardrop pendant lights and leather. Stained glass and hanging bunches of dried flowers add quirky touches — as do bottles of spirits, suspended from the ceiling by twine. When it came to putting together his team, Potter Cavanagh found people who shared his vision: a restaurant, bar and cafe that's as sustainable as possible. In the kitchen, you'll find Head Chef Rob Rietveld, whose CV includes Sydney's Clareville Kiosk, Hong Kong's Aberdeen Street Social and London's Pollen Street Social. "I knew Rob had the right ideas," says Cavanagh. "His approach to food mirrors my own. He's a hippie at heart and has been reducing waste in his cooking for years." The result is a menu that's mainly plant-based and driven by local, seasonal produce. Among Rietveld's summer dishes are tofu fingers with Tassie miso, broccoli and poppy; fried baby artichoke with olive and capsicum sauce; and king oyster mushroom with shiitake "bacon". One of Potter Cavanagh's favourites is the lentil sandwich, which he describes as "unlike any other sandwich: sweet, spicy, salty and crunchy". Behind the bar, Potter Cavanagh is collaborating with bartender Toby Marshall, who ran Palmer & Co before setting up Charlie Parker's – the speakeasy in the basement of Fred's, Paddington. "He's also really passionate about Australian produce," says Potter Cavanagh. "As soon as I talked to him about what I wanted to do, our dreams met up." The wine list is 90 percent Australian, with an emphasis on small producers, boutique drops and minimal intervention. Plus, there's a tempting selection of signature cocktails, peppered with Australian spirits and native ingredients. For a fittingly beachy beverage, try the Ocean Gin with dry vermouth, wakame salt and parsley. To be whisked away to a forest, go for the Mountain Pepper Whiskey with peat, citrus and honey. Or, for a sweet adventure, order the Banana fizz with green ant gin, citrus, ricotta, honey and wattleseed. Find Rosenbaum and Fuller at 13 O'Brien Street, Bondi Beach. Opening hours are 8am–midnight Monday–Saturday and 8am-10pm Sunday. Images: Paul Christian.
A whole month of gastronomic delights awaits Sydneysiders this October with the return of the Crave Sydney International Food Festival. The jam-packed festival programme will be showcasing the best of local and international cuisine, with a dizzying array of culinary events and experiences. With a South American theme this year, some of the continent’s most renowned chef’s will be visiting the city to share their food knowledge and skills with us. You can see them at work at the World Chef Showcases October 1st and 2nd, at the Hilton Sydney, where renowned international chefs will be pairing with some of Sydney’s finest to swap ideas and knowledge. Not only will see these masters working first hand, you'll get to learn and sample the dishes. There’s something for everyone, from showcases, discussions and masterclasses with some of the world’s best chefs, to food tours, markets, kids events, and community festivals. For the braver amongst you, dine alongside the lions at Taronga Zoo! And of course the much-loved Night Noodle Markets will be returning to Hyde Park, with traditional Asian hawker style fare. There’s a green edge this year too, with the inaugural 100 mile challenge where five regional teams will be competing to win, with food and wine sourced from within 100 miles of Sydney, which will culminate in banquet lunch for 500 at Eveleigh markets.
Fellow mama-lovers, if you've let the annual celebration of maternity known as Mother's Day (Sunday, May 8 btw) slip your mind this year, we're here to help out. There are scores of ways to acknowledge just how incredible your mother (or grandmother or aunt) is with some good old-fashioned spoiling, but if you've yet to find a gift, it's really time to get looking. Whether your mum is the type to want dinner, flowers, or to spend a week in a camper van — we've got you covered. These personal Mother's Day gifts will have your beloved mum thinking you've been planning for weeks, so now you only have to worry about what your siblings are doing. [caption id="attachment_852109" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Photo courtesy of Camplify.[/caption] IF SHE'S PARTIAL TO A GOOD OLD FASHIONED ADVENTURE Think your outdoorsy-type mum may be looking for an escape? Gift your mum a voucher to spend some time traveling in one of Camplify's stylish camper vans. Perfect for a sustainable adventure, help your mum go on the much-deserved road trip she's been missing over the last two years. Whether your mum is looking to spend more time with you — or to drive as far away from you as possible — Camplify's gift vouchers are a unique and thoughtful gift for the adventurous mum. If road tripping is not quite your mum's speed, you can still gift her an unforgettable experience with Red Balloon's 20% off sale on gift vouchers this Mother's Day. Whether you think she wants a massage, a cooking class, or to jump out of a plane at 15,000 feet — take advantage of this sale to give your mum a memorable experience. And, if all else fails, take your outdoorsy mum on a hike. Whether you live in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne or anywhere else, check out some of our guides for the best hikes in your city to spend some quality time with nature and your mum. [caption id="attachment_852107" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Photo: Cocktail Porter's Bubblegum Fizz cocktail kit.[/caption] IF SHE LOVES HER FOOD (AND DRINKS) You can get definitely get more creative than a reservation at your mum's favourite restaurant (which, don't get us wrong, is still a great gift idea). Being a mum is hard work. If you think she may just want to relax at home and have a drink, check out Cocktail Porter's at-home drink-making kits. Delivered to her door, these boxes contain everything that she needs to make a variety of cocktails. Sydneysiders can even pick up their kits from Cocktail Porter's warehouse as soon as two days after ordering for the true eleventh-hour gift. If the weather is nice, take your mum on a picnic. Pick a park or beach, stop by her favourite local cafe for some sandwiches, and sit down at a picnic table for some quality time with your mum. Sydneysiders looking for a true luxurious outdoor eating experience can spoil their mum with the Catering Project's Mother's Day Picnic hamper — which includes everything you need from a picnic blanket to locally-sourced gourmet produce, mains, and sweets. [caption id="attachment_763458" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Photo: Clay Sydney[/caption] IF SHE'S THE CREATIVE ONE IN THE FAMILY Check out Champainting for a paint-and-sip painting class this Mother's Day weekend. With locations in Melbourne and Sydney, Champainting offers classes where you can paint with your mum on Mother's Day, or any day after. The two of you can learn to paint just about anything: from Disney characters to Monet-style water lilies to each other in a Picasso-inspired style — which is almost guaranteed to make the artistic (or hilariously not-so-artistic) mum laugh. If you and your mum live in different cities, or you're just looking to stretch a different creative muscle, check out Class Bento. With classes offered online as well as in person, you and your mum can learn her dream skill. Whether she wants to learn glass blowing, resin art or dumpling making, she will likely enjoy it even more if you do it together. You can also look around at studios in your city like Clay Sydney, which offers both in-person and at home pottery-making classes. AND IF ALL ELSE FAILS... You can't go wrong with classic. Whether you're far away from your mum this Mother's Day or just down the street, sending her flowers is a foolproof way to make your mum feel your love. Check out Fig and Bloom or Lvly for bouquets available for delivery on Mother's Day in cities across Australia, or look to a local florist in your mum's hometown. Regardless of where you get it, a bouquet on your mother's doorstep on Sunday is likely to make her day. That is, as long as you also remember to call.
There aren't many better, or cheaper, ways to feed an entire family than a hot roast chook. And with the cool winter weather meaning the rich, tender, warming flavours hit even harder, now is the perfect time to load one into the oven. However, Portuguese chicken maestros Oporto are inviting you to put your feet up this winter with a special holiday giveaway. From 12pm on Tuesday, June 10, over 200 participating stores across the nation are handing out 10,000 Portuguese flame-grilled chickens for free. Coinciding with Dia De Portugal, aka Portugal Day, this festive event is the ideal excuse to get the whole family together — or your closest pals — with a free meal bound to fill your belly and lift your mood this cold season. "This is about more than just chicken," says Ben Simmons, head of marketing at Oporto. "Dia De Portugal, or Portugal Day, is a global event in Portuguese culture, and what better way to mark it than with our craveable, Portuguese flame-grilled chicken? It's our way of bringing people together with food, flavour and generosity." Made the Portuguese way — that means butterflied and basted in flavourful options like lemon and herb, original chilli or extremo picante — these flame-grilled treats are incredible on their own or served with plenty of hearty sides. Each participating restaurant has a minimum of 50 free chickens to give away, with a limit of one per customer. If you miss out, the good news is that Oporto's much-loved Bondi Burger is also available for $5 to mark the occasion, too. Oporto's 10,000 free chicken giveaway is available at participating stores from 12pm on Tuesday, June 10. Head to the website for more information.
Changes are afoot at one of Sydney's historic beachside boozers. A long-standing locals haunt, the 1956-built Beach Road Hotel has a new resident — and it's travelled far from the eastern suburbs. Wander upstairs to the bar's sprawling lounge, and you'll find a space replete with couches, pool tables, a large central bar and a new pop-up pizzeria called Antico's. While this beachside pop-up is new, opening in early March 2021, the pizzeria itself isn't. The OG Antico is located an hour southwest of Sydney, in a heritage-listed Narellan building. Opened 15 years ago by Mike Nikolovski, the suburban eatery is now a true family affair. Mike's wife Margarita — "the best pizza cutter in the world" — works in the restaurant alongside their son Aleks (head pizza honcho), Aleks' partner Lauren (customer service and marketing), his sister Sofija (front of house and events), and, most recently, his brother Alen. If you're a Sydney bar fly, you'll recognise Alen. He's worked at watering holes across the city for more than ten years, including at Tio's, The Baxter Inn and Shady Pines Saloon. It's thanks to his connections in the industry that the pop-up was possible. "I was in here [Beach Road Hotel] for lunch not long ago and the GM Ben Pearce, who is a really old friend of mine, was asking about our family business and how it's going," Alen told Concrete Playground. "He mentioned that they had a pizza oven upstairs that they were only using a few days a week and if we would be interested in doing a pop-up. I instantly said yes and then called my brother and dad." [caption id="attachment_803067" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Pat Stevenson[/caption] The pizza at both venues is closest to traditional Roman-style pizza. "Big fluffy crust, a few more toppings than the Napoli style and holds up well, not too floppy," explains Alen. The dough recipe, which Mike has had for over 35 years, is a closely guarded family secret. "It's like the Colonel's KFC seven secret spices recipe, no one will ever really tell you," says Alen. While the family won't share the recipe, they will share how it's prepared and cooked. "It's 48-hour proof. When getting made it's under constant supervision, making sure there is enough water and flour while in the dough machine, and by feel and look deciding when it's finished. It's a true art form," says Alen. "It comes out super soft, is stretched by hand and cooked in the traditional oven at high heat, giving it a super cloudy crust while maintaining a strong middle to hold the toppings up." And what are those toppings? At the pop-up, you'll find classics like the margherita with cherry tomatoes and a pepperoni with sopresso salami and chilli flakes; more left-of-field numbers like the truffle oil-topped mushroom and peri peri chicken pizzas; the always-controversial hawaiian; and Alen's favourite: a burrata and anchovy number. [caption id="attachment_803063" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Pat Stevenson[/caption] The pop-up, which is set to run for three months, isn't the only recent expansion for the pizzeria, either. Early last year, the team launched a food truck. Because of COVID-19, however, events have been few and far between — but, in upcoming months, expect to see it rolling out markets and festivals, including at the upcoming Yours and Owls Festival, which has just been given the green light to go ahead this April Find Antico's at the Beach Road Hotel, 71 Beach Road, Bondi Beach from 4pm–late Wednesday–Saturday. It's set to close at the end of May. Images: Pat Stevenson
There's a reason they call it movie magic: when the lights dim, the projector starts flickering and cinematic dreams dance across the silver screen, a darkened theatre is one of the most enchanting places you could possibly be. Anything can happen in a film. Any fantasy can play out, any world can come to life and any chapter in history can return to the present — and in 2022 so far, in cinemas Down Under, all of this has occurred and more. For anyone who's made a movie date with the biggest screen near them so far this year, 2022 has been exceptional — and, yes, it's only halfway through. It's been a top year for films about modes of transport, whether driving leisurely or feeling a need for speed. Actually, it's been notable for shoulder rides in movies, too. It's been ace for jumps back into the past as well, including surveying famous figures and and peering at Vikings. It's also been phenomenal for flicks with a sci-fi spin, especially when time travel, multiverses and robotic futures have been involved. The list goes on, spanning movies that debuted elsewhere last year but only made their way here this year, films that've already won gleaming accolades in the last awards cycle, blockbuster Bollywood behemoths and what's certain to be the biggest box-office hit of the year. Indeed, 2022 has been so packed with ace flicks at the cinema so far, even whittling the best of the best down to 15 was a tough task. Here are the results — aka the silver-screen releases from this year you need to see ASAP, or rewatch just as quickly if you've basked in their glory already. DRIVE MY CAR Inspired by Haruki Murakami's short story of the same name, Drive My Car's setup couldn't be simpler. Still recovering from a personal tragedy, actor and director Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima, Silent Tokyo) agrees to helm a stage version of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima — but the company behind it insists on giving him a chauffeur for the duration of his stay. He declines, yet they contend it is mandatory for insurance and liability reasons, so Misaki (Toko Miura, Spaghetti Code Love) becomes a regular part of his working stint in the city. Friendship springs, slowly and gradually, but Murakami's name is one of the first signs that this won't follow a standard road. The other: Japanese filmmaker Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, who makes layered, thoughtful and probing reflections upon connection, as seen in his other efforts Happy Hour, Asako I & II and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy. Drive My Car doesn't hurry to its narrative destination, clocking in at a minute shy of three hours, but it's a patient, engrossing and rewarding trip. It's a gorgeously shot and affectingly performed one, too, whether taking to the road, spending time with its central pair, or chronicling Yusuke's involving auditions and rehearsals. Another thing that Hamaguchi does disarmingly well: ponder possibilities and acceptance, two notions that echo through both Yusuke and Misaki's tales, and resonate with that always-winning combination of specificity and universality. Drive My Car is intimate and detailed about every element of its on-screen voyage and its character studies, and also a road map to soulful, relatable truths. Read our full review. PETITE MAMAN Forget the "find someone who looks at you like…" meme. That's great advice in general, but it's mandatory if you've ever seen a film by Céline Sciamma. No one peers at on-screen characters with as much affection, attention, emotion and empathy as the French director, with her talent for truly seeing into hearts and minds shining again in Petite Maman. In Sciamma's latest delicate and exquisite masterpiece after Tomboy, Girlhood and Portrait of a Lady on Fire, she follows eight-year-old Nelly (debutant Joséphine Sanz) on a trip to her mother's (Nina Meurisse, Camille) childhood home. Nelly's grandmother (Margot Abascal, The Sower) has just died, and the house needs packing up. While her parents work, the curious child roves around the surrounding woods — and discovers Marion (fellow newcomer Gabrielle Sanz), who could be her twin. Sciamma is exceptionally talented at many things, creating richly detailed and intimately textured cinematic worlds high among them. She doesn't build franchises or big fantasy realms, but surveys faces, spaces, thoughts and feelings — exploring them like the entire universes they are. That approach pulsates through every frame of Petite Maman like a heartbeat. The film itself resembles a gentle but soul-replenishing breeze in its rustic look and serene pacing, but it thrums with emotion and insight at every moment. It's a modern-day fairy tale, too, complete with a glorious twist, with this radiant, moving, smart and perceptive movie musing deeply on mothers, daughters and the ties that bind. Read our full review. RED ROCKET It might sound crazy, but it ain't no lie: Red Rocket's *NSYNC needle drops, the cost of which likely almost eclipsed the rest of the film's budget, provide a sensational mix of movie music moments in an all-round sensational picture. A portrait of an ex-porn star's knotty homecoming to the oil-and-gas hub that is Texas City, the feature only actually includes one song by the Justin Timberlake-fronted late-90s/early-00s boyband, but it makes the most of it. That tune is 'Bye Bye Bye', and it's a doozy. With its instantly recognisable blend of synth and violins, it first kicks in as the film itself does, and as the bruised face of Mikey Saber (Simon Rex, Scary Movie 3, 4 and 5) peers out of a bus window en route from Los Angeles. Its lyrics — "I'm doing this tonight, you're probably gonna start a fight, I know this can't be right" — couldn't fit the situation better. The infectiously catchy vibe couldn't be more perfect as well, and nor could the contrast that all those upbeat sounds have always had with the track's words. As he demonstrates with every film, Red Rocket writer/director/editor Sean Baker is one of the best and shrewdest filmmakers working today — one of the most perceptive helmers taking slice-of-life looks at American existence on the margins, too. His latest movie joins Starlet, Tangerine and The Florida Project on a resume that just keeps impressing, but there's an edge here born of open recognition that Mikey is no one's hero. He's a narcissist, sociopath and self-aggrandiser who knows how to talk his way into anything, claim success from anyone else's wins and blame the world for all his own woes. He's someone that everyone in his orbit can't take no more and wants to see out that door, as if *NSYNC's now-22-year-old lyrics were specifically penned about him. He's also a charismatic charmer who draws people in like a whirlwind. He's the beat and the words of 'Bye Bye Bye' come to life, in fact, even if the song wasn't originally in Red Rocket's script. Read our full review. EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Imagine living in a universe where Michelle Yeoh isn't the wuxia superstar she is. No, no one should want to dwell in that reality. Now, envisage a world where everyone has hot dogs for fingers, including the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon icon. Next, picture another where Ratatouille is real, but with raccoons. Then, conjure up a sparse realm where life only exists in sentient rocks. An alternative to this onslaught of pondering: watching Everything Everywhere All At Once, which throws all of the above at the screen and a helluva lot more. Yes, its title is marvellously appropriate. Written and directed by the Daniels, aka Swiss Army Man's Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, this multiverse-hopping wonder is a funhouse of a film that just keeps spinning through wild and wacky ideas. Instead of asking "what if Daniel Radcliffe was a farting corpse that could be used as a jet ski?" as their also-surreal debut flick did, the pair now muses on Yeoh, her place in the universe, and everyone else's along with her. Although Yeoh doesn't play herself in Everything Everywhere All At Once, she is seen as herself; keep an eye out for red-carpet footage from her Crazy Rich Asians days. Such glitz and glamour isn't the norm for middle-aged Chinese American woman Evelyn Wang, her laundromat-owning character in the movie's main timeline, but it might've been if life had turned out differently. That's such a familiar train of thought — a resigned sigh we've all emitted, even if only when alone — and the Daniels use it as their foundation. Their film starts with Evelyn, her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's Short Round and The Goonies' Data) and a hectic time. Evelyn's dad (James Hong, Turning Red) is visiting from China, the Wangs' daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) brings her girlfriend Becky (Tallie Medel, The Carnivores) home, and IRS inspector Deirdre Beaubeirdra (Jamie Lee Curtis, Halloween Kills) is conducting a punishing audit. Then Evelyn learns she's the only one who can save, well, everything, everywhere and everyone. Read our full review. AFTER YANG What flickers in a robot's circuitry in its idle moments has fascinated the world for decades, famously so in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049. In writer/director/editor Kogonada's (TV series Pachinko) After Yang, one machine appears to long for everything humans do. The titular Yang (Justin H Min, The Umbrella Academy) was bought to give Kyra (Jodie Turner-Smith, Queen & Slim) and Jake's (Colin Farrell, The Batman) adopted Chinese daughter Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, iCarly) a technosapien brother, babysitter, companion and purveyor of "fun facts" about her heritage. He dotes amid his duties, perennially calm and loving, and clearly an essential part of the family. What concerns his wiring beyond his assigned tasks doesn't interest anyone, though, until he stops operating. Mika is distressed, and Kyra and Jake are merely inconvenienced initially, but the latter pledges to figure out how to fix Yang — which is where his desires factor in. When a feature so easily recalls other films and television shows, and so emphatically — Ex Machina and Black Mirror also come to mind here — it isn't typically a positive sign. That isn't the case with After Yang. Adapting Alexander Weinstein's short story Saying Goodbye to Yang, Kogonada crafts a movie that resembles a dream for the overwhelming bulk of its running time — it's softly shot like one, and tightly to focus on interiors rather than backgrounds — and that makes it feel like a happily slumbering brain filtering through and reinterpreting its wide array of influences. Another picture that leaves an imprint: Kogonada's own Columbus, his 2017 wonder that also featured Haley Lu Richardson (The Edge of Seventeen), who pops up here as a friend of Yang's that Jake, Kyra and Mika know nothing about. It isn't the shared casting that lingers, but the look and mood and texture, plus the idea that what we see, what we choose to revel in aesthetically and what makes us tick mentally are intertwined; yes, even for androids. Read our full review. SPENCER With two-plus decades as an actor to her name, Kristen Stewart hasn't spent her career as a candle in the wind. Her flame has both blazed and flickered since her first uncredited big-screen role in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas but, by Elton John's definition, she's always known where to cling to. After jumping from child star to Twilight heroine and then one of the savviest talents of her generation, she's gleaned where to let her haunting gaze stare so piercingly that it lights up celluloid again and again, too. Spencer joins Stewart's resume after weighty parts in Clouds of Sils Maria, Personal Shopper, Certain Women and Seberg, and has her do something she's long done magnificently: let a world of pain and uncertainty seep quietly from her entire being. The new regal drama should do just that, of course, given its subject — but saying that director Pablo Larraín (Jackie, Ema) has cast his Diana well, pitch-perfect head tilt and all, is a royal understatement. The year is 1991, the time is Christmas and the place is the Queen's (Stella Gonet, Breeders) Sandringham Estate, where the Windsors converge for the holidays (yes, Spencer is now prime seasonal viewing). As scripted by Peaky Blinders and Locked Down's Steven Knight, the choice of period puts Diana in one of the most precarious situations of her then decade-long married life, with her nuptials to Prince Charles (Jack Farthing, The Lost Daughter) turning into an "amicable separation" within 12 months. Spencer's focus is on three days, not all that defined the People's Princess' existence before or after, but she can't stop contemplating her past and future. The Sandringham grounds include the house where Diana was born, and those happier recollections — and time spent now with her children (debutants Jack Nielen and Freddie Spry) — give her a glow. Alas, all the monarchical scrutiny simmers her joy to ashes, unsurprisingly. Read our full review. THE NORTHMAN Satanic goats don't talk in The Northman. Heartthrobs don't masturbate while fondling mermaid figurines, either. Still, within ten minutes, pre-teen Viking prince Amleth (Oscar Novak, The Batman), his glory-seeking warrior father King Aurvandil War-Raven (Ethan Hawke, Moon Knight) and jester-meets-shaman Heimir (Willem Dafoe, Nightmare Alley) descend into a fire-lit cave to take hallucinogens, growl, grunt, bark like wolves and fart like it's a god-given superpower. If viewers didn't know who's behind this bold, brutal, brilliant, and blood- and guts-strewn Scandinavian opus before then, there's no doubt from this trippy scene onwards: after The Witch and The Lighthouse, writer/director Robert Eggers' touch, approach and style have become that distinctive just three remarkable features into his helming career. "I will avenge you, father. I will save you, mother. I will kill you, Fjölnir." That's Amleth's vow as a boy on a north Atlantic island in 895 when he witnesses the latter's (Claes Bang, Locked Down) treachery. He flees after hearing his uncle bay for his head, too, and seeing him carry off Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos) as a spoil of his victory. Two decades later, Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård, Succession) is a hulking, wolfskin-clad Viking berserker, living life flinging whatever weaponry he can find while viciously pillaging through the lands of the Rus. But amid the bloodlust, gore and piling-up body count, the intense marauder is thrust back onto his vengeance-seeking path. A Slavic seeress (Björk, in her first film role since 2005) whispers stark truths about his current savagery and lapsed mission against Fjölnir, reigniting his yearning for that promised slaughter — and the single-minded behemoth learns that his uncle is now sheep-farming in Iceland, having lost the kingdom in another coup. Read our full review. NIGHTMARE ALLEY Don't mistake the blaze that starts the exceptional Nightmare Alley for warmth; in his 11th film, Guillermo del Toro gets chillier than he ever has. A lover of gothic tales told with empathy and curiosity, the Mexican The Shape of Water filmmaker has always understood that escapism and agony go hand in hand — and here, in a carnival noir that springs from William Lindsay Gresham's 1946 novel and previously reached cinemas in 1947, he runs headfirst into cold, unrelenting darkness. That burning house, once home to the skulking Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper, Licorice Pizza), is surrounded by America's stark midwestern landscape circa 1939. Still, the terrain of its now-former occupant's insides is even grimmer, as Nightmare Alley's opening image of Stan dropping a body into a hole in the abode's floor, then striking a match, shows. From there, he descends into the carny world after being given a job by barker Clem Hoatley (Willem Dafoe, Spider-Man: No Way Home) and doing whatever's asked, including helping clean up after the geek act — although, even with his ambiguities evident from the outset, stomaching a cage-dwelling man biting the heads off live chickens to entertain braying crowds isn't initially easy. While set in an already-despondent US where the Depression is only just waning, the shadows of the First World War linger and more are soon to fall via World War II, Nightmare Alley still gives Stan flickers of hope. Adapted from the novel by del Toro with feature debutant Kim Morgan, and filled to the brim with outstanding performances, the movie doesn't ever promise light or virtue, but kindness repeatedly comes its protagonist's way in its first half. In fortune-teller Zeena the Seer (Toni Collette, Dream Horse) and her oft-sauced husband and assistant Pete (David Strathairn, Nomadland), Stan gains friends and mentors. He takes to mentalism like he was born to it, and his gift for manipulating audiences — and his eagerness to keep pushing the spiritualism further — is firmly a sign. Soon, it's 1941 and he's rebadged himself as 'The Great Stanton' in city clubs, claiming to speak to the dead in the pursuit of bigger paydays, with fellow ex-carny Molly Cahill (Rooney Mara, Mary Magdalene) as his romantic and professional partner beyond the dustbowl. But then that scam attracts the attention of Dr Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett, Don't Look Up), and this drifter-turned-grifter gets caught in someone else's plan. Read our full review. PARALLEL MOTHERS Whatever Pedro Almodóvar and Penélope Cruz happen to be selling — and whenever, and in whichever films — audiences should always be buying. It isn't quite right to liken the acclaimed filmmaker's long-running collaboration with one of his favourite leading ladies to commerce, though, so another comparison fits better: whatever this duo birth into the world, viewers should embrace as a parent does a child. Across four decades now, the Spanish pair has gorgeously and soul-stirringly made cinematic art with the utmost understanding of how to make people feel. They know how people feel, too, and have the combined resumes best exemplified by Live Flesh, All About My Mother, Volver, Broken Embraces, Pain and Glory and now Parallel Mothers to prove it. Their shared filmography also constantly demonstrates another essential insight into human existence: that life is emotion, whether facing its beginning, end or both. As the movie's moniker indicates, Janis, the almost-40 photographer that Cruz (The 355) inhabits with the quiet force and fragility that's second nature whenever she's directed by Almodóvar, is just one of Parallel Mothers' mums. Teenager Ana (Milena Smit, Cross the Line) is the other and, despite the feature's title, their stories keep converging. The two first meet in a Madrid hospital, where they share a room, give birth simultaneously, chat about how they're each going it alone with no father in the picture and quickly form a bond — as different as they otherwise appear, down to contrasting sources of support (Janis' brightly attired magazine-editor best friend Elena, which is where de Palma pops up, versus Ana's self-obsessed and distant actress mother Teresa, played by Estoy vivo's Aitana Sánchez-Gijón). Janis and Ana descend separately into motherhood afterwards, but twists of fate keep bringing them back together. Read our full review. HAPPENING It's hard to pick which is more horrifying in Happening: the graphic scenes where 23-year-old literature student Anne Duchesne (Anamaria Vartolomei, How to Be a Good Wife) takes the only steps she can to try to regain control of her life, or the times she's repeatedly told by others, typically men, to accept a fate that only ever awaits her gender. Both hit like a punch, by design. Both are wrenching, heart and gut alike, and neither are surprising for a second. Also leaving a mark: that few care that Anne's future is now threatened in this 2021 Venice Film Festival Golden Lion-winner, because that's simply a consequence of having sex for women in France in 1963, the movie's setting. There's another truth that lingers over this adaptation of author Annie Ernaux's 2001 memoir of the same name, which uses her own experiences at the same age, time and in the same situation: that in parts of the world where pro-life perspectives are entrenched in law or regaining prominence, Happening's scenario isn't a relic of the past. Late in the movie, Anne describes her circumstances as "that illness that turns French women into housewives". It's a blunt turn of phrase, but it's accurate. It also speaks to how writer/director Audrey Diwan (Losing It) and co-scribe Marcia Romano (Bye Bye Morons) approach the film with the clearest of eyes, declining to indulge the idea that forcing unwanted motherhood upon young women is a gift or simply a duty, and likewise refusing to flinch from showing the reality when the personal freedom to choose is stripped away. This is a feature made with the fullest of hearts, too, compassion evident in every boxed-in Academy ratio frame that rarely leaves Anne's face. It spies the appalling options before her, and sees the society that's okay with stealing her choices. And, it stares deeply at both the pain and determination that've understandably taken up residence in Anne's gaze. Read our full review. C'MON C'MON The last time that Joaquin Phoenix appeared in cinemas, he played an overlooked and unheard man. "You don't listen, do you?" Arthur Fleck asked his social worker, and the entirety of Joker — and of Phoenix's magnetic Oscar-winning performance as the Batman foe in the 2019 film, too — provided the obvious answer. Returning to the big screen in a feature that couldn't be more different to his last, Phoenix now plays a professional listener. A radio journalist and podcaster who'd slide in seamlessly alongside Ira Glass on America's NPR, Johnny's niche is chatting with children. Travelling around the country from his New York base, C'mon C'mon's protagonist seeks thoughts about life, hopes, dreams, the future and the world in general, but never in a Kids Say the Darndest Things-type fashion. As Phoenix's sensitive, pensive gaze conveys under the tender guidance of Beginners and 20th Century Women filmmaker Mike Mills, Johnny truly and gratefully hears what his young interviewees utter. Phoenix is all gentle care, quiet understanding and rippling melancholy as Johnny. All naturalism and attentiveness as well, he's also firmly at his best, no matter what's inscribed on his Academy Award. Here, Phoenix is as phenomenal as he was in his career highlight to-date, aka the exceptional You Were Never Really Here, in a part that again has his character pushed out of his comfort zone by a child. C'mon C'mon's Johnny spends his days talking with kids, but that doesn't mean he's equipped to look after his nine-year-old nephew Jesse (Woody Norman, The War of the Worlds) in Los Angeles when his sister Viv (Gaby Hoffmann, Transparent) needs to assist her husband Paul (Scoot McNairy, A Quiet Place Part II) with his mental health. Johnny and Viv haven't spoken since their mother died a year earlier, and Johnny has previously overstepped when it comes to Paul — with the siblings' relationship so precarious that he barely knows Jesse — but volunteering to help is his immediate reflex. Read our full review. FLEE When Flee won the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, it collected its first accolade. The wrenchingly affecting animated documentary hasn't stopped notching up deserving acclaim since. A spate of other gongs have come its way, in fact, including a history-making trifecta of nominations for Best International Feature, Best Documentary and Best Animated Feature at this year's Oscars, becoming the first picture to ever earn nods in all three categories at once. Mere minutes into watching, it's easy to glean why this moving and compassionate movie keeps garnering awards and attention. Pairing animation with factual storytelling is still rare enough that it stands out, but that blend alone isn't what makes Flee special. Writer/director Jonas Poher Rasmussen (What He Did) has created one of the best instances of the combination yet — a feature that could only have the impact it does by spilling its contents in such a way, like Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir before it — however, it's the tale he shares and the care with which he tells it that makes this something unshakeably exceptional. Rasmussen's subject is Amin Nawabi, an Afghan refugee using a pseudonym. As his story fills Flee's frames, it's also plain to see why it can only be told through animation. Indeed, the film doesn't cover an easy plight — or a unique one, sadly — but Rasmussen renders every detail not just with eye-catching imagery, but with visuals that flow with empathy at every moment. The filmmaker's protagonist is a friend of his and has been for decades, and yet no one, not even the director himself, had ever previously heard him step through the events that the movie chronicles. Amin is now in his 40s, but he was once a kid in war-torn Kabul, then a teenager seeking asylum in Copenhagen. His life to-date has cast him in other roles in other countries, too, on his journey to house-hunting with his boyfriend as he chats through the ups and downs for his pal. Read our full review. MEMORIA When Memoria begins, it echoes with a thud that's not only booming and instantly arresting — a clamour that'd make anyone stop and listen — but is also deeply haunting. It arrives with a noise that, if the movie's opening scene was a viral clip rather than part of Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul's spectacular Cannes Jury Prize-winning feature, it'd be tweeted around with a familiar message: sound on. The racket wakes up Jessica Holland (Tilda Swinton, The Souvenir: Part II) in the night, and it's soon all that she can think about; like character, like film. It's a din that she later describes as "a big ball of concrete that falls into a metal well which is surrounded by seawater"; however, that doesn't help her work out what it is, where it's coming from or why it's reverberating. The other question that starts to brood: is she the only one who can hear it? So springs a feature that's all about listening, and truly understands that while movies are innately visual — they're moving pictures, hence the term — no one should forget the audio that's gone with it for nearly a century now. Watching Weerasethakul's work has always engaged the ears intently, with the writer/director behind the Palme d'Or-winning Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives and just-as-lyrical Cemetery of Splendour crafting cinema that genuinely values all that the filmic format can offer. Enjoying Memoria intuitively serves up a reminder of how crucial sound can be to that experience, emphasising the cavernous chasm between pictures that live and breathe such a truth and those that could simply be pictures. Of course, feasting on Weerasethakul's films has also always been about appreciating not only cinema in all its wonders, but as an inimitable art form. Like the noise that lingers in his protagonist's brain here, his movies aren't easily forgotten. Read our full review. TOP GUN: MAVERICK Gliding into cinemas 36 years after its predecessor, Top Gun: Maverick is at its best when its jets are soaring. The initial Top Gun had the perfect song to describe exactly what these phenomenally well-executed and -choreographed action scenes feel like to view; yes, they'll take your breath away. Peppered throughout the movie, actually shot in real US Navy aircraft without a trace of digital effects, and as tense and spectacular as filmmaking can be in the feature's climactic sequences, they truly do make it seem as if you're watchin' in slow motion. Thankfully, this time that adrenaline kick is accompanied by a smarter and far more self-aware film, as directed by TRON: Legacy and Oblivion's Joseph Kosinski. Top Gun in the 80s was exactly what Top Gun in the 80s was always going to be — but Top Gun in the 2020s doesn't dare believe that nothing has changed, that Tom Cruise's still-smug Maverick can't evolve, and that the world the movie releases into hasn't either. Still hardly the navy's favourite despite his swagger, megawatt smile, gleaming aviators and unfailing self-confidence — well, really despite his need for speed and exceptional dogfighting skills in the air — Captain Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell (Cruise, Mission: Impossible — Fallout) is given one last assignment. His destination: Fightertown USA, the California-based Top Gun program he strutted his way through all those years ago. There's an enemy nation with a secret weapons base that needs destroying, and his talents are crucial. But, to his dismay, Maverick is only asked to teach. Given a squad lorded over by the brash Hangman (Glen Powell, Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood), and also including Coyote (Greg Tarzan Davis, Grey's Anatomy), Payback (Jay Ellis, Insecure), Fanboy (Danny Ramirez, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Phoenix (Monica Barbaro, Stumptown), Bob (Lewis Pullman, Outer Range) and the frosty Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw (Miles Teller, The Offer), he's tasked with training them to fly like he does, navigate a Star Wars-style impossible path that zips speedily at perilously low altitudes and, ideally, still survive the supremely dangerous mission. Read our full review. RRR The letters in RRR's title are short for Rise Roar Revolt. They could also stand for riveting, rollicking and relentless. They link in with the Indian action movie's three main forces, too — writer/director SS Rajamouli (Baahubali: The Beginning), plus stars NT Rama Rao Jr (Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava) and Ram Charan (Vinaya Vidheya Rama) — and could describe the sound of some of its standout moments. What noise echoes when a motorcycle is used in a bridge-jumping rescue plot, as aided by a horse and the Indian flag, amid a crashing train? Or when a truck full of wild animals is driven into a decadent British colonialist shindig and its caged menagerie unleashed? What racket resounds when a motorbike figures again, this time tossed around by hand (yes, really) to knock out those imperialists, and then an arrow is kicked through a tree into someone's head? Or, when the movie's two leads fight, shoot, leap over walls and get acrobatic, all while one is sat on the other's shoulders? RRR isn't subtle. Instead, it's big, bright, boisterous, boldly energetic, and brazenly unapologetic about how OTT and hyperactive it is. The 187-minute Tollywood action epic — complete with huge musical numbers, of course — is also a vastly captivating pleasure to watch. Narrative-wise, it follows the impact of the British Raj (aka England's rule over the subcontinent between 1858–1947), especially upon two men. In the 1920s, Bheem (Jr NTR, as Rao is known) is determined to rescue young fellow villager Malli (first-timer Twinkle Sharma), after she's forcibly taken by Governor Scott Buxton (Ray Stevenson, Vikings) and his wife Catherine (Alison Doody, Beaver Falls) for no reason but they're powerful and they can. Officer Raju (Charan) is tasked by the crown with making sure Bheem doesn't succeed in rescuing the girl, and also keeping India's population in their place because their oppressors couldn't be more prejudiced. Read our full review.
World Movies Secret Cinema is back. In fact, it's quadruple back. Given that previous sessions have sold out in 15 minutes, 2014 will see six screenings over four days (April 10-13) — in a venue that's never been used before for anything. Needless to say, the event's classified nature means that there's not much else we can tell you. Just this. Nothing else. But we do remember last October. In response to a last-minute clue sent by text, guests gathered at King Street Wharf. After boarding a boat — destination unknown — they were handed backpacks containing maps, water and weapons, which, they were told, might be necessary to survival. No wild beasts were encountered on Goat Island, but filmgoers did get to watch performances from TaikOz and burlesque artists, show off their Bruce Lee-esque moves in a martial arts lesson, eat and drink harbourside and, finally, watch the director's cut of Battle Royale at their very own private island cinema. Oh, and witness a real-life, blood-soaked, dramatic death scene. Thanks to World Movies Secret Cinema, we have one double pass to give away to the sold-out session on Sunday, April 13, at 7pm. The ticket includes a snack and drink on arrival from Salts Meats Cheese. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au with your name and mobile number. (A few tickets are still on sale for the added session on April 10 — get them here.)
You read that headline correctly: Newtown has officially scored its first self-service bar. Taking over the site formerly occupied by Lentil As Anything, Buddy's brings a brand new bar concept to life that'll put your beer-pulling skills on display. Located in the guts of King Street, the two-storey boozery is the brainchild of co-owners Jimmy Roe and Duncan McGeoch, who've kept the fit-out relatively simple with ample seating, polished brick, and a heap of natural light, as well as playful custom artwork by Newtown artist Paul Tooth. But the main event here is the beverage wall on each level which boasts a selection of 33 taps to pour from (soon to be upped to 45). This considerable drinks lineup comes from a carefully curated selection of local craft beer, natural wine, house-made cocktails and non-alcoholic options, all of which are stored in kegs. And the storage choice is purposeful. Roe and McGeoch are committed to reducing their environmental impact, ensuring that lowering waste and minimising the business's carbon footprint is top of mind and steers their business practices. Roe told Concrete Playground, "We want to offer an experience without the wastage that can be traditionally generated at hospitality venues," Roe says. The pair also acknowledge the significance of being the first venue to open in the former home of a beloved, long-time Newtown institution. "We saw it as an opportunity to take over an incredible site and build a space that continues to create long lasting memories and a connection with the community," says Roe. If you're wondering how exactly the self-serve system works (and how it isn't an RSA minefield), here's the general gist. You start by procuring a Buddy's venue card upon entrance and pre-load it with your desired amount to spend. From there, you head to the beverage wall where you grab a glass and select your booze of choice, the tap your card to activate the tap and pour to your heart's content. The system tracks volume limits and is responsible for card reactivation, so you'll be kept in check. It's not all booze, though. If you're feeling peckish, Buddy's has partnered with the local crew from Rub-A-Dub seasoning and has a snack-heavy sharing menu on offer. You'll find a bunch of beer-friendly options like nachos, flatbread Italian pizzas and Rub-A-Dub's famous chicken ribs, alongside Aussie classics like fairy bread. And if you're catering to a larger group — or just up for an insane personal challenge — opt for the one-metre long bruschetta. The top level of the venue is also exhibition-friendly and can be booked out for private functions, and DJs play tunes and bring vibe every Friday and Saturday. Buddy's Newtown is open at 391 King Street, Wednesday to Friday from 4pm to 12am and on Saturday and Sunday from 2pm to 12am.
Looking to escape the city for an afternoon? This might be one of the best ways to do it. The Central Coast's newest restaurant boasts fresh flaky pastries, dishes made with local produce and a deck that lets you enjoy the two in a seriously serene bush setting. Set on the site of a former nursery on a 28-acre Mount White estate, Saddles is a project of John Singleton — known for reinventing Icebergs in the 90s — and Andrew Dickson Architects. From the outset it replicates an Australian homestead setting, particularly with the sprawling deck that sits over the property's glassy dam. These sensibilities are carried on inside by Michelle Leslie of MLD and some stunning features from local craftsman Heath Harris. He designed the brass-scalloped bar provided his master saddler artistry for the bespoke saddle bar stools — which is where the restaurant gets its name. Other components of the Saddles property include a dining area overlooking a waterfall feature, a sandstone fireplace, a piano bar and indoor Moreton Bay fig plants to green the interior. The venue is run by chef Cameron Cansdell alongside his business partner and wine Hayley, who together own Avoca's Bombini. Cameron pulls from Saddles' on-site kitchen garden, committing to a "simple and ethical" menu, featuring a reasonably priced menu of things like barbecue sand whiting and Little Hill Farm chicken with pickled cumquats. And when it comes to drinks, the list consists of exclusively Australian wine and spirits. Saddles is also a bakehouse — so even if you don't want to do a full sit-down lunch, you can stop in for breakfast or a coffee and some fresh sourdough, beef and mushroom pies, pork and fennel sausage rolls, honey cream rolls, custard tarts and lamingtons served with raspberry cream. In the future, the restaurant hopes to increase its activities for visitors to enjoy, and it plans to open a garden centre by 2018. When everything is in full swing, it'll make for the perfect Sunday activity — especially as it's only about an hour from the city. Saddles is now open daily from 8am–5pm (and until 8pm on Fridays) at 20 Ashbrookes Road, Mount White. You can book at saddlesmtwhite.com.au.
When Sydney Film Festival unveils its complete lineup in May each year, it lets Australian movie lovers know which features are on the way to the Harbour City just before the cinema-adoring world turns its eyes to Cannes. Consider the Aussie fest a cure for film FOMO, then. Plenty of the movies that are set to wow audiences in France this month will head Down Under next month. SFF always adds more such titles just before it kicks off, as late additions to the program, but 2025's roster of flicks already boasts 15 entries in the direct-from-Cannes camp. Here's a few, all playing between Wednesday, June 4–Sunday, June 15: Josh O'Connor (Challengers) and Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza) in heist-thriller mode in filmmaker Kelly Reichardt's (Showing Up) 70s-set The Mastermind; It Was Just an Accident, the latest feature from acclaimed Iranian director Jafar Panahi (No Bears), who is also the subject of one of SFF's 2025 retrospectives; and Dangerous Animals, hailing from Australian helmer Sean Byrne (The Loved Ones, The Devil's Candy) and telling a tale of a shark-obsessed serial killer on the Gold Coast. Musing on its eponymous author as only filmmaker Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) can, Orwell: 2+2=5 is also taking the Cannes-to-Sydney route. So is coming-of-age story Enzo from BPM (Beats Per Minute)'s Robin Campillo; Mirrors No 3, which sees German director Christian Petzold reteam with his Transit, Undine and Afire star Paula Beer; Nigeria's My Father's Shadow, the first-ever movie from the country to be selected to play on the Croisette; The Secret Agent, led by Wagner Moura (Dope Thief) for filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho (a Sydney Film Festival Prize-winner for Aquarius); and Vie Privée with Jodie Foster (True Detective: Night Country). Some of the aforementioned titles are vying for this year's SFF prize, in the competition's 17th year — where opening night's already-announced Together, a new body-horror by Australian filmmaker Michael Shanks (The Wizards of Aus) starring Alison Brie (Apples Never Fall) and Dave Franco (Love Lies Bleeding) is also in contention. A few movies that the festival announced back in April, when it started giving sneak peeks at its 2025 lineup, are equally on that category. Will DJ Ahmet, a Sundance-winner after collecting its World Cinema — Dramatic Audience Award, emerge victorious? Or will that honour go to 2025 Berlinale Grand Jury Prize-winner The Blue Trail? They're in the running, with The Narrow Road to the Deep North filmmaker Justin Kurzel, one of his recent stars in Thomas Weatherall, the latter's Heartbreak High co-star Rachel House, plus Hong Kong-based producer Winnie Tsang and Marrakech International Film Festival director Melita Toscan du Plantier all doing the judging. What features Tom Hiddleston's (Loki) newest performance as well, with The Life of Chuck directed by The Fall of the House of Usher's Mike Flanagan and based on a Stephen King novella? What also boasts Jacob Elordi (Oh, Canada), Daisy Edgar-Jones (Twisters) and Will Poulter (Warfare) in queer romance On Swift Horses, plus Richard Linklater's (Hit Man) Blue Moon with Ethan Hawke (Leave the World Behind), Margaret Qualley (The Substance) and Andrew Scott (Ripley) — alongside Carey Mulligan (Spaceman) in music-fuelled comedy The Ballad of Wallis Island, the Dylan O'Brien (Saturday Night)-led Twinless and Pike River with Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets) getting its world premiere? This year's Sydney Film Festival. Which event is adding to its screening venues in 2025 in a spectacular way by showing films at Sydney Opera House, too? And which fest has 201 movies from 70 countries on its lineup, with 17 world premieres, six international premieres and 137 Australian premieres among them? The answer is still the same. How does long-term Sydney Film Festival Director Nashen Moodley characterise this year's program, the event's 72nd? "The 2025 Festival offers a bold and expansive view of cinema today, with films that confront the urgent realities of our world, while also revelling in the power of imagination and storytelling," he advises. "From astonishing Australian debuts to daring new works by global auteurs, this year's program is a celebration of creative risk, personal vision and artistic resilience. We invite audiences to explore this thrilling lineup, connect with filmmakers from around the world, and share in the transformative joy of cinema." Other 2025 highlights include Berlin's Golden Bear-winner Dreams (Sex Love); Aussie effort Death of an Undertaker, the directorial debut of actor Christian Byers (Bump), who uses an IRL Leichhardt funeral parlour as his setting; Dreams, with Jessica Chastain (Mothers' Instinct) reuniting with her Memory helmer Michel Franco; satire Kontinental '25, from Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World and Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn's Radu Jude; and What Does That Nature Say to You, the latest from South Korea's prolific Hong Sang-soo (In Our Day). Or, there's the near-future Tokyo-set Happyend, the Luca Guadagnino (Queer)-produced Nineteen, Tibetan-language anthology State of Statelessness (the first ever, in fact), Naomi Watts (Feud) and Bill Murray (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) in page-to-screen dramedy The Friend, Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar collaborator Kahlil Joseph's BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions, and Vicky Krieps (The Dead Don't Hurt) and Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things) tackling grief and possession in Went Up the Hill. Among the standouts on the festival's documentary slate, Jennifer Peedom (River) turns her focus to the quest to make the world's deepest cave dive by Thai cave rescue hero Dr Richard Harris in Deeper, 20 Days in Mariupol's Mstyslav Chernov works bodycam footage from the Ukrainian frontline into 2000 Metres to Andriivka and All I Had Was Nothingness features unused material from iconic Holocaust documentary Shoah 40 years on. Plus, Floodland is focused on Lismore, Journey Home, David Gulpilil charts the iconic actor's journey to be laid to rest, Prime Minister shines a spotlight on Jacinda Ardern and trying to open a Tokyo restaurant is at the heart of Tokito: The 540-Day Journey of a Culinary Maverick. Fans of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, take note: it's up for discussion in Chain Reactions from Alexandre O Philippe (Lynch/Oz). If you miss the video-store era, Alex Ross Perry (Her Smell) understands, and has made Videoheaven about it — a film essay solely comprised from movie and TV clips. A New Leaf, The Heartbreak Kid, Mikey and Nicky and Ishtar director Elaine May earns SFF's second 2025 retrospective, while the fest's lineup of restored classics includes the Aussie likes of Muriel's Wedding, Somersault and Mullet, plus Angel's Egg from Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii. For viewers of all ages, the live-action How to Train Your Dragon is also on the program. SFF's 2025 announcements until now were already impressive, so there's not only more joining the above flicks courtesy of the full program — they already have great company. Barry Keoghan's (Bird) new Irish thriller Bring Them Down; the Australian premiere of homegrown animation Lesbian Space Princess; music documentaries One to One: John & Yoko and Marlon Williams: Ngā Ao e Rua — Two Worlds; Tilda Swinton (The Room Next Door)- and Michael Shannon (The Bikeriders)-starring post-apocalyptic musical The End; intimacy coordinators getting the doco treatment; Ellis Park, about Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds collaborator, Dirty Three founder and frequent film-score composer Warren Ellis: they're on the lineup, too. So is the one-film movie marathon that is 14-hour picture Exergue — on documenta 14, which is set inside the 2017 edition of the documenta art exhibition in Germany and Greece. Audiences will watch it in four- to five-hour segments — because, if it wasn't already apparent, there's no such thing as too much time spent in a cinema at Sydney Film Festival. [caption id="attachment_1002690" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Photo by Christian Schulz/ Schrammfilm[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1002697" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Screenshot[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1002698" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Greg Cotten[/caption] Sydney Film Festival 2025 runs from Wednesday, June 4–Sunday, June 15 at cinemas across Sydney. Head to the festival website for further information and tickets.
We're going back ... back to see Back to the Future, this time as a musical on the Sydney Lyric Theatre's stage. First floated 20 years ago by the big-screen trilogy's screenwriter Bob Gale, then finally premiering in 2020, the song-filled take on Marty McFly and Doc Brown's exploits has proven an award-winning success in London's West End and on Broadway. In 2025, the DeLorean is finally heading to Australia. The power of Back to the Future isn't really a curious thing. As viewers have known since 1985, the Michael J Fox (The Good Fight)-starring sci-fi/comedy is timeless delight. But as well as making film lovers weep with joy for almost four decades, the iconic movie has been making other folks sing — the casts of the Olivier Award-winning Back to the Future: The Musical, that is. Aussie audiences will get to see the results from September 2025 in the show's Down Under premiere season. Exclaiming "great Scott!" is obviously the only fitting response to this development, and to the production in general — and there's clearly plenty to get excited about. Since initially racing towards clocktowers onstage in the UK since early 2020 (around a pandemic hiatus or two, of course), Back to the Future: The Musical has picked up the Olivier Award for Best New Musical, and then was nominated for two Tony Awards in 2024. And yes, the show does indeed follow the Marty McFly and Doc Brown-led story we all know and adore, but with songs, including renditions of Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B Goode' and Huey Lewis and the News' 'The Power of Love' and 'Back in Time', naturally. Australian fans will now want to speed at 88 miles per hour towards the Harbour City, given that it is the only Aussie city where a season of Back to the Future: The Musical has been announced so far. If you won't be making a visit to the New South Wales capital by plane or DeLorean, start crossing your fingers that the production heads to other Aussie cities — or pop on your own white lab coat, start tinkering around with electronics and whip up your own time machine to try to make it happen. There's no exact date for the show's Down Under opening yet, other than sometime in September 2025, but you can now join the ticket waitlist to find out as soon as more details are announced. Also featuring music and lyrics by OG Back to the Future composer Alan Silvestri and acclaimed songwriter Glen Ballard (Jagged Little Pill the Musical), plus a book by Gale — who co-penned all three Back to the Future film scripts with filmmaker Robert Zemeckis (Here) — Back to the Future: The Musical was nominated for seven Olivier Awards. It only won the big one, but emerged victorious over heavy-hitters and fellow screen-to-stage shows Moulin Rouge! The Musical and Frozen. "I am thrilled to be bringing Back to the Future: The Musical to Australia, premiering at the Sydney Lyric in September 2025. Australian audiences are going to be blown away to see how this iconic story has been recreated for the stage," said Australian producer John Frost for Crossroads Live Australia. "To paraphrase Marty McFly, you guys are ready for this, and your kids are gonna love it (too)! If Bob Zemeckis and I time-travelled back to 1980 and told our younger selves that the script they were struggling to write would become a West End and Broadway musical now making its way to Sydney, Australia 45 years later, they'd kick us out of their office and call us crazy," added Gale. "Well, sometimes, crazy ideas give birth to great entertainment, and now Bob and I are eager to share our musical vision with Sydney audiences. This musical production has exceeded our original expectations on every level. Regardless of whether you've seen the original film, Back to the Future: The Musical, with its incredible stagecraft, will delight and enthrall you, your kids, your parents, and everyone you know!" Check out the trailer for Back to the Future: The Musical below: Back to the Future: The Musical is playing Sydney Lyric Theatre, 55 Pirrama Road, Pyrmont, Sydney from September 2025. Head to the show's Australian website to join the ticket waitlist and keep an eye out for more details. Images: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman, and Sean Ebsworth Barnes.
Greenlighting Anyone But You with Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell as its leads must've been among Hollywood's easiest decisions. One of the rom-com's stars has been everywhere from Euphoria and The White Lotus to Reality of late, plus Sharp Objects and The Handmaid's Tale before that, and has a stint in the superhero realm on Madame Web to come. The other is fresh off feeling the need for speed in Top Gun: Maverick, including getting sweaty and shirtless in the beach scene. They both drip charisma. If this was the 80s, 90s or 00s, they each would have an entire segment of their filmographies dedicated to breezy romantic comedies like this Sydney-shot film, and probably more than a few together. From here, they might achieve that feat yet — because if there's much ado about anything in Anyone But You, it's about how well its two main talents shine as a pair. Regardless of that gleaming casting, director and co-writer Will Gluck crafts his first adult-oriented flick in 12 years — since Friends with Benefits, with Annie and the two Peter Rabbit movies since — as if it's still two, three or four decades back. The gimmick-fuelled plot, the scenic setting, the swinging between stock-standard and OTT supporting characters: they're all formulaically present and accounted for in Anyone But You. Also eagerly splashed in is the picture's biggest twist, courtesy of its filmmaker and co-scribe Ilana Wolpert (a feature first-timer sporting writing and story-editing credits on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series on her resume). With Easy A, Gluck took inspiration from The Scarlet Letter, giving it a modern-day remake. Now, complete with some character names to match (there's no Dogberry, though, but there is a dog), ample matchmaking gossip and lines from the play clumsily dotted around the sets for viewers to see, Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing scores the overt riffs. Always apparent as well: the fact that, even as it follows in the Bard of Avon's footsteps, Anyone But You's story constantly comes second to Sweeney and Powell's smouldering chemistry. Plus, most of its obvious jokes only land because the twosome sell them, and the whole movie. Takes on Shakespeare's 16th-century-penned, 17th-century-published rom-com have graced the big screen before. In the past 30 years, see: 1993's with Emma Thompson (What's Love Got to Do with It?) and Kenneth Branagh (A Haunting in Venice) as Beatrice and Benedick, and Branagh directing, and also 2012's with Buffyverse alums Amy Acker (The Watchful Eye) and Alexis Denisof (How I Met Your Father) for Joss Whedon (their guiding hand on Buffy and Angel). But this one is as merry as the day is long about being a playground for Sweeney and Powell first and foremost. Law student Bea (Sweeney) and finance bro Ben (Powell) meet-cute over a restroom key in a busy cafe. She's desperate to use the facilities, the staff won't let her unless she buys something, the line is morning-rush long and he claims that she's his wife to help. So begins a dreamy day of flirting, walking, talking, cooking grilled-cheese sandwiches and connecting over deep secrets like Gluck is fashioning a sped-up version of the Before trilogy, too. That heavenly first date ends badly the next morning, however. More pain is in store when Bea's sister Halle (Hadley Robinson, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty) starts dating Ben's best friend Pete's (GaTa, Dave) sister Claudia (Alexandra Shipp, Barbie) months later. When an engagement is next, cue Bea and Ben's feud going international at the destination wedding in Australia, then getting a shakeup when the quarrelling duo pretend that they're together. There's kindness in this faux truce, alongside trickery and self-interest. Bea and Ben are trying stop their squabbling ruining the nuptials, yes, but they're attempting to get her parents to back off from campaigning for a reunion with her ex-fiancé Jonathan (Darren Barnet, Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story) at the same time — and to make his own past love Margaret (model-turned-acting debutant Charlee Fraser), Claudia and Pete's Australian cousin, jealous. Anyone But You's protagonists are also well-aware that the rest of the wedding party is conspiring to push them into love, subscribing to the whole "fighting means you like them" theory, and quickly tired of overhearing conversations that they're meant to about each other. Romantic-comedy logic dictates what happens next, of course, as packaged with slapstick gags, literal bathroom humour, sing-alongs, farce everywhere, as much flaunted bare flesh as an Aussie beach, and far more horniness than has been typically seen in 2010s and 2020s cinema. Every expected narrative beat is struck, then. Almost every genre cliche is hit as well. Nodding to other rom-com wedding flicks — My Best Friend's Wedding co-stars Dermot Mulroney and Rachel Griffiths play Bea's mum and dad, and the latter is also a Muriel's Wedding alum — is also heartily on the menu. So are fish-out-of-water Americans-in-Australia jokes, and being cheesily Aussie via koalas, endless shots of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House to make both Tourism Australia and Destination NSW proud, and Bryan Brown (Faraway Downs) and Joe Davidson (Neighbours) playing the stereotypical parts. The vision of Sydney that the film inhabits is not only overseas tourist bait, but a one-percenter paradise, as evidenced by the sprawling seaside home of Pete and Claudia's parents (Brown and Star Trek: Picard's Michelle Hurd) that becomes the movie's on-screen base. And yet, as Anyone But You needs and knows with gleeful self-awareness that it's going to get, Sweeney and Powell ace their performances and rapport, and couldn't be more watchable in the process. While no one has a particularly difficult job — least of all cinematographer Danny Ruhlmann (True Spirit), with the film's two stars and a sunny, picturesque locale to lens — it's their lively back and forth and game-for-anything commitment that keeps the picture afloat. For months, this was the feature that sparked headline-grabbing off-screen rumours about life imitating art. Now, it's an audition piece for a second silver-screen team up. Back in the 80s, Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn did it (in Swing Shift and Overboard). The 90s had Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks (Joe vs the Volcano, Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail), plus Julia Roberts and Richard Gere (Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride), while it was Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey's (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Fool's Gold) turn in the 00s. After Anyone But You, audiences won't want anyone but Sweeney and Powell to be next.
Not many people read Australian fiction. The industry is small and in a spot of trouble, and a lot of Australians seem to have cultural cringe when it comes to the artistic output of their own country. Part of thois may be attributed to the fact that the local books we're taught in school are so serious and forbidding. But once you take a look at the books they don't teach you, you realise how rich and beautiful Australian literature really is, and you wonder why nobody let you in on it before. It's been an exciting time for local books of late. With the recent announcement of this year's Miles Franklin Award as well as the release of the Text Classics range — a collection of locally-written books at cheapskate prices — the time is right for the best of Australia's oft-forgotten cult classics to be embraced en masse. So, to help you out, Concrete Playground has picked out some of our finest local wordsmiths' efforts. Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas Tsiolkas, of The Slap infamy, published his first novel in 1995 and arguably hasn't written anything as powerful since. Set over one hedonic night in Melbourne, Loaded follows Ari, who's unemployed, misanthropic and refuses to be defined by either his Greek heritage or his emerging homosexuality. The novel's prose hums with the intensity of alcohol-soaked late nights and pill-fueled early mornings; it's the kind of novel you'll read in one sitting and be left breathless by once you're done. Loaded was also made into a brilliant film, Head On, in 1998. Available here Wake In Fright by Kenneth Cook If you ever want a reason not to go out into the outback, this is it. Wake In Fright is a horror story set in a fictionalised Broken Hill, where a pale and naive city kid, John Grant, is trapped in a hell of alcohol-fuelled violence, sexual humiliation and spiritual nightmare. Made into a film, which was restored and re-released in 2009, in 1972, Wake In Fright is a terrifying and sadly neglected classic in both its forms. Available here Praise by Andrew McGahan The ultimate novel about being young, unemployed and not caring in early '90s Brisbane, Praise pretty much defined the 'grunge lit' genre when drugs were cheap and Kurt Cobain was still loping around stages in a grotty cardigan. The novel follows Gordon Buchanan, chain-smoking asthma sufferer, his girlfriend Cynthia, a former heroin-addict with chronic eczema, and their awkward attempt to stay together. Written in a simple style and often described as 'raw' in a frustratingly ambiguous way, Praise isn't for the faint-hearted. Available here Monkey Grip by Helen Garner Published in 1977 and made into a film in 1982, Helen Garner's first novel of share houses, junkies, and irrational, anarchic desire in 1970s Melbourne has, over the years, become a counter-cultural Australian classic. Like reading somebody's journal, Monkey Grip bears a remarkable resemblance to the lives of most Australians in their twenties, with the main character Nora trying and failing to extricate herself from a messy relationship with Javo, an actor and a junkie. Monkey Grip is available as a Popular Penguin, so you only need a spare tenner to get your hands on it. Available here Candy by Luke Davies If you've heard about Candy it's likely to be the film version featuring Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish. But we're here to tell you that the book is better. While it's not like there's a dearth of novels about heroin addiction, Candy is one of the best, and just so happens to be Australian. Davies had a habit for over a decade, so he brings the reality of his experiences to a story where the horror of addiction is coupled with love, tenderness and utter confusion. Easy to read, Candy isn't always easy to deal with, because unlike other counter-cultural mavericks, Davies doesn't glamourise a story which, although beautiful, is still one of heartbreak and loss. Available here Blue Skies by Helen Hodgman Only recently re-published, Blue Skies is a bleak insight into the life of a new houswife and mother trapped in the bland hell of 1970s Tasmanian suburbia. Bored with a husband who rarely comes home, she lives for the two days a week she can escape the suburbs and lose herself in weird affairs with, amongst others, her best friend's kaftan-wearing husband. Hodgman's books were praised to the skies when they were published in the '70s, but then circumstances intervened and her writing went out of print until Text brought them back to life this year as 'lost classics.' Available here And The Ass Saw The Angel by Nick Cave Is there anything Nick Cave can't do? Alongside fronting The Bad Seeds, Grinderman and The Birthday Party, penning the screenplays for The Proposition and Lawless, and generally being one of our all-round favourite people, Cave has written two novels; one good, one less so. And The Ass Saw The Angel, published in 1989, is the good one, told from the perspective of a mute living as an outcast in a small town in the Southern US. It's a world of incest, religious fanatacism, madness, and drinking, and like anything Nick Cave, a terrible Biblical revenge will be wrought. Available here
The surge of interest in online shopping has crested over the past few years, in part due to our inability to enter physical stores but also because of the general convenience and, frankly, addictive qualities of the click-to-purchase ritual. Despite this undeniable pendulum swing toward keyboard-driven purchasing, there are still advantages to the bricks-and-mortar in-person shopping experience that make it irreplaceable. For starters and on a practical note, there's the instant gratification of taking home a new item without delay. You've seen it, touched it or tried it on for guaranteed success. Then, on a more emotional level, there's the atmosphere and ambience of in-person shopping and the experience of a physical storefront that is still, for my money, a true leisure activity until itself. And more and more, retailers are creating moments to elevate that experience further and give that personal connection more weight. Throughout the month of August, the Strand Arcade is luring shoppers to its hallowed halls with a series of activations to shine a spotlight on local design talent (The Strand is home to stores for designers Dion Lee, Sarah & Sebastian and Aje — among others) and bring that extra spark of intention to punters' window shopping. The Strand Arcade have collaborated with Susan Armstrong and Michelle Grey, the co-founders and curators of Arts-Matter (read our interview here) on a series of installations that bring together local artists with a handful of The Strand's Australian designers for "Sculpture: The Fashion Of Form" to showcase the ways in which the creative disciplines come together. [caption id="attachment_914372" align="alignnone" width="1920"] An installation by artist Christelle Scifo. Photography credit: Brendan Thorne[/caption] When it came to the approach to curating the program Michelle Grey said, "We were inspired by the longstanding history of collaborations between artists and designers, and the intersection of their respective creative fields. It was important to us that there was synergy between both the visual aesthetics of the artists and retailers, as well as a shared vision and philosophy behind their brand and creative practice." Adds Susan Armstrong: "When we paired the right artist we knew straight away — it felt like a natural fit." The works to seek out includes art displays from talented emerging artist Orson Heinrich in collaboration with Camilla & Marc, Dion Lee and acclaimed photographer Justin Ridler, sculpture artist Dion Horstmans teaming up with Jac+Jack, and more. [caption id="attachment_914374" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Dion Horstmans sculptural work at Jac + Jack.[/caption] "I think customers and visitors like to engage with a space through a number of different ways, whether that's by seeing a beautiful store window, a sculpture in situ, the architecture of the space, or the product displayed in a creative way," Michelle Grey told Concrete Playground. "In our curation we wanted the art to compliment all of the above, and give people another way to engage with Sydney's exciting creative scene." Beyond the artworks and the shops themselves, throughout August The Strand will also host a Malfy Gin Cart and a Glenlivet Pop-Up Whisky Bar for teaming a tipple with your browsing. There will also be a series of Book Club and Espresso Martini evenings hosted by Jordan Turner (more info here), as well as styling showcases of the season's new collections available with renowned fashion stylists Nicole Bonython-Hines and Jessica Pecararo that can be reserved online. [caption id="attachment_914373" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Acid Flwrs installation for chocolatier Koko Black.[/caption] Photography credit: Brendan Thorne.
As Sydney continues its obsession with Omakase and fine dining — despite the cost-of-living crisis — venues like The Star's Sydney hatted Japanese Omakase restaurant Sokyo Sydney are leading the charge in offering luxe culinary experiences without busting your budget. Developed by executive chef Daniel Kwak, Sokyo is serving up a limited-edition tasting menu inspired by Haku Vodka, a craft spirit from the House of Suntory. The $100 menu offers a taste of omakase dining for a third of the price and is available Mondays to Thursdays fin July and August. Where's This Special Offer Available? The special menu is being served at Sokyo, The Star Sydney's high-class Omakase restaurant. The usual Omakase experience is $300, but this special Haku Vodka-inspired menu will get you in the door for just a third of that, and it includes a bespoke Haku martini. Sokyo's culinary offerings are spearheaded by executive chef Daniel Kwak. Daniel joined Sokyo in 2013 and has been pivotal in establishing it as one of Sydney's top Japanese restaurants. Born in Korea, he grew up immersed in the restaurant industry. After studying culinary arts and working in Fiji, he moved to Australia in 2008, plying his trade at Waqu Japanese restaurant. Daniel joined Sokyo as a Junior Sous Chef in 2013, focusing on creating perfectly balanced, umami-rich dishes and has worked up the ranks. What's on the Special Menu? The experience begins with a delicate salmon tartare featuring fresh Tasmania's Storm Bay salmon, crispy senbei (rice cracker) and a subtle heat from karashi su miso. Next on the menu is the toro crispy rice, combining rich, fatty toro and spicy tuna with the crispiness of Hokkaido rice. It's dressed with a special Haku Vodka-infused soy sauce, made especially for this menu collaboration. Following this is the panko-fried oyster, where two crispy panko-coated Pacific oysters are matched with sweet and tangy piquillo peppers. Premium caviar can be added for an additional touch of luxury. The fourth dish features wagyu kushiyaki — a luxurious combination of wagyu beef and foie gras enhanced with salted maple syrup made with Haku Vodka. The meal concludes with the Sokyo Cornetto, a mini cone filled with spiced sultana ice cream and chestnut. It's a fun novelty dessert to end the decadent culinary journey. But if you're still snacky, you can add the house-made Sokyo mochi ice cream for an additional $7. What's the Special Martini? It wouldn't be a Haku Vodka-inspired menu without an elevated vodka cocktail. The signature serve for Haku Vodka is a martini. As part of this brand collaboration, Sokyo's bartenders have created a bespoke martini that complements the special tasting menu while celebrating Haku Vodka. The result, the Hana Momo martini, is a bright and zesty number with Haku Vodka, peach liqueur, yuzu, orange bitters and garnished with aromatic dehydrated orange. The bright citrus notes of yuzushu in the accompanying Hana Momo Haku Vodka martini cuts through the richness of the wagyu and fish dishes with a clean, smooth finish that refreshes the palate. What's Haku Vodka? Haku Vodka is a Japanese craft spirit made entirely from Japanese white rice. It boasts a soft, rounded and subtly sweet flavour profile. Named 'Haku', which translates to white' and brilliant' in Japanese, this vodka exemplifies the artistry involved in creating a clear, clean-tasting spirit. Filtered through bamboo charcoal, Haku Vodka serves as the ideal foundation for Sokyo's team to explore a symphony of flavours, textures, and aromas. Haku Vodka is produced at the Osumi Distillery in Kagoshima, Kyushu, a seaside city renowned for its pristine waters and traditional craftsmanship. This region imparts a sense of natural tranquillity and purity to the vodka. The serene coastal environment of Kagoshima has also inspired our culinary story at Sokyo. How to Nab a Spot? In order to sample this delectable menu at Sokyo, you must make a reservation on the website. The menu is only available until the end of August. Each reservation includes the five dishes plus a complimentary Momo Haku Martini and will set you back $100. You can always add another round of the tasty tipples if you like for $27. The Sokyo x Haku Vodka set menu is available Mondays to Thursdays in July and August. Make your reservation on the website. Haku Vodka's signature serve is the Haku martini — a drink that showcases the craftsmanship, nuanced flavour and exceptional quality of the premium Japanese liquid. To learn more, head to the House of Suntory website. Image Credit: Jude Cohen
Marrickville's 20 Chapel – which we love for its potato wedges and many cuts of Blackmore wagyu cooked over woodfire – has now gone bottomless. Every Saturday from midday, you can book in for endless prosecco, wine and beer, while working your way through an irresistible set menu. Leading the way are the wedges. They're so good because they're brined overnight, before being parboiled, blast-chilled and deep-fried in wagyu tallow – then served with Coppertree Farm creme fraiche infused with house-made caramelised chilli. Were that the only dish on the set menu, we wouldn't be complaining. But there's way more to try, starting with a trio of seafood delights. Abrolhos Island scallops come with spicy harissa butter, while garlic prawns arrive in a pot sprinkled with white pepper and garlic chives. Then there's the delightful raw fish 'Kokoda' with sweet potato, coconut and sago. Come mains, choose between the 20 Chapel Wagyu Burger or the CopperTree Farms beef fillet with shimeji mushrooms and marsala, before rounding off with the chocolate custard and marmalade flan. All this will set you back just $95 (including an hour and 45 minutes of bottomless beverages). For an extra $30, you can be sipping seasonal cocktails as well.
Before Coriolanus Snow became President of Panem and kept having encounters with Katniss Everdeen, he was an 18-year-old Capitol resident tasked with mentoring District 12's female tribute. So tells author Suzanne Collins' 2020 The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes on the page, as will the franchise's new film of the same name when it enters the cinematic arena in November. This jump backwards in the saga's timeline is set 64 years prior to the dystopian tales told its initial four movies, with Tom Blyth (Billy the Kid) doing his best to become a young Donald Sutherland. And the tribute he's charged with readying? Meet Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler, Shazam! Fury of the Gods). If you're wondering where the book and feature's titles come from, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes references Lucy's bold move during the reaping ceremony: singing. Yes, every movie franchise ever has to keep returning, as Harry Potter and Twilight are as well. If the Wizarding World can have young Dumbledore, The Hunger Games can have young Snow, clearly. In The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes' debut trailer earlier in 2023 and also in its just-dropped new sneak peek, Snow's backstory scores more detail. He gets the mentor gig because he hails from a family that's hit hard times in the postwar Capitol — and he's told that he's now in the business of creating "spectacles, not survivors", in a word of warning about what's expected in his new role. That comment comes from the creator of The Hunger Games himself, Casca Highbottom (Peter Dinklage, Cyrano), Dean of the Academy, and the reason that children from 12 of Panem's districts fight to the death every year for the entertainment of the masses. Of course, this wouldn't be a Hunger Games story if one of its tributes didn't earn hearts as well as attention. When his protege proves a hit, Snow starts to think about turning the odds in their favour. That said, viewers already know that any good he achieves here won't change the fate that's already been seen in the initial 2008–10 novels and 2012–15 movies. As well as Blyth, Zegler and Dinklage, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes features a stacked cast spanning Jason Schwartzman (Asteroid City), Viola Davis (Air), Hunter Schafer (Euphoria) and Josh Andrés Rivera (Zegler's West Side Story co-star). Francis Lawrence jumps behind the lens again, as he did with The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part I and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part II. Check out the latest trailer for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes below: The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes releases in cinemas Down Under on November 16, 2023. Images: Murray Close.
Australian fashion house and boutique store Aje is officially branching out with a new sub-brand of activewear called Aje Athletica. Launching with a line of sportswear featuring everything from sports bras to shoes, Aje Athletica promises high-performance activewear with a focus on sustainability. 70 percent of the material used in the debut sportswear line is consciously sourced, including a 100 percent recycled material puffer jacket. The commitment to sustainable practices is clear, with consciously sourced products across the line made from a mix of recycled, organic and eco-friendly materials. "With a respect of our environment, Aje Athletica embraces sustainable practices and local expertise to deliver quality product[s] with a minimal footprint. Informing the design process with 70 percent conscious fabrications from the ground up, impacting the foundations at elemental phase – has been very fulfilling," Co-founder Edwina Forest said. Edwina Forest started Aje in 2008 with her friend Adrian Norris as a women's clothing line all about effortless style. Norris brings an artistic background from his time at Liceo Artistico Venezia, and Forest brings her knowledge of fashion publishing from her time at RUSSH magazine. Head to Aje Athletica's website to browse the range of leggings, sweatpants, tees, tanks, socks and windbreakers, all designed for both your trips to the gym and your days hanging around the house. The products are designed to fit a wide range of women, with sizes available in Australian four through 18. Aje Athletica is available as of Wednesday, May 26 throughout Australia and New Zealand online and in-store. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
On September 25, 1981, Sydneysiders got their first look at the revolving restaurants inside Sydney Tower. Exactly 39 years later, the restaurants have reopened after a $12-million renovation, with new looks, A-plus cocktails and a star cast of Sydney hospitality elite. The tower's dining precinct is split into three levels: 70s-inspired Bar 83, opulent fine-diner Infinity and casual buffet restaurant Sky Feast. Each space has a unique design by Loopcreative, pulling inspiration from the likes of space odysseys, Aussie backyard pools and bygone Kings Cross bars. Here, we'll walk you through each level. BAR 83 Part-retro, part-futuristic with circular red and white lounges, gold lights and striking mirrors, Bar 83 is officially Sydney's highest bar. Some have suggested the bar looks as if it was pulled straight from an episode of The Jetsons, but Loopcreative director Rod Faucheux says the design is a nod to the building's history and Sydney bars from the 70s and 80s, such as Baron's in the Cross. As the name suggests, it's towering above the city on level 83, with views across to the edges of the suburbs. While there's no denying the bar's main drawcard is the views, the cocktails are equally impressive. Award-winning bartender Jenna Hemsworth (Restaurant Hubert, The Baxter Inn) has stepped in as venue manager, and is stirring up outstanding cocktails including Pain Pleasure Principle (with cognac, cacao and lemon myrtle) and the Ignore All Rules (tequila, sherry, tomato and basil). Snacks don't push the boundaries too much (oysters, bread and olives, roasted nuts) but you're not here for the food — that's all happening on the levels below. That said, it'd be remiss not to order at least one of the lamb and harissa sausage rolls while you're there. INFINITY While Bar 83 is playful, Infinity is dark, moody and sophisticated, with leather banquettes, deep purple carpets and brass details. It's where you come when you're ready to do some serious eating. In the kitchen is Chef Mike Dierlinger (The Bridge Room), who is plating up five- and seven-course degustations. The menu is decidedly international, with raw swordfish paired with miso and enoki mushrooms, Shanghai-style drunken chicken served with yellow beets and brioche, and lamb belly coming with a side of Yemeni sauce called zhoug. It's not the cheapest degustation in the city — five courses come in at $115, seven at $145 — but it's far from the most expensive (eight courses will set you back $290 at Quay). And you're paying for the views, which, on this level, are 360 degrees. Like its predecessor 360 Bar and Dining, Infinity rotates. SKY FEAST The final restaurant in Sydney Tower is Sky Feast, which, according to the team, caters to a broader tourism market. Its design is a throwback to suburban Aussie backyards of the 70s and 80s with pebblecrete, breeze blocks, terracotta tiles and plenty of blonde furniture by Melbourne's Ross Didier. Food here is served buffet-style, but at the moment, because of COVID-19, it's a buffet that the staff bring to you for $80 a head (or $60 for lunch). There are more than 30 dishes on the menu, which we won't run through here, but expect plenty of seafood (oysters, mussels, baked barramundi), curries, noodles and six different desserts. If you've got a hunger that a regular dinner just won't fix, a big feed here might be just what you need. Bar 83, Infinity and Sky Feast are now open at Sydney Tower, between Pitt and Castlereagh streets, Sydney CBD. Images: Robert Walsh, @robertwphoto.
Attenzione! Once a year, Australia's cinema screens swap their usual fare for a trip to Italy. That time is almost upon us for 2024. Didn't spend your winter in Europe? Don't have a getaway to the other side of the world planned any time soon? Keen to see an Italian box-office smash without leaving the country? Haven't caught The Godfather Part II on a big screen before? Eager to check out Ralph Fiennes (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar) and Stanley Tucci (Citadel) as Cardinals electing a new Pope? The Italian Film Festival has you covered. For a month between Wednesday, September 18–Wednesday, October 23, the fest will play a range of picture palaces in Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne, Byron Bay and Ballina, Adelaide and Perth — with dates varying per city. Whichever spot you call home, a diverse lineup of Italian cinema will flicker through the projectors, led by opening night's Gloria!. If the name Gloria always gets the song of the same moniker stuck in your head, that's fitting: this movie is directed and co-written by a singer. Margherita Vicario didn't give the world the famous tune, but she is the driving force behind this feature about a maid at a refuge in Venice. Vicario is also travelling to Australia for the Italian Film Festival, attending the opening-night festivities in Sydney and Melbourne. Gloria! is just one of the fest's high-profile picks in showcase slots. The Great Beauty, Youth and The New Pope filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino's latest is playing as the festival's centrepiece film, with Parthenope following a woman in Naples with the same title as the mythical siren that the city was once named after — and co-starring Gary Oldman (Slow Horses). Then, closing out the fest is Conclave, which is where Fiennes and Tucci come in (plus Killers of the Flower Moon's John Lithgow and Spaceman's Isabella Rossellini, too) for papal thrills. The aforementioned cinema hit on Italian shores? That'd be post World War II-set melodrama There's Still Tomorrow, aka 2024's Sydney Film Festival Prize-winner. It follows a wife and mother who dreams of a different future, with actor Paola Cortellesi (Petra, Don't Stop Me Now) both starring and making her directorial debut. And Francis Ford Coppola's (Megalopolis) masterpiece The Godfather Part II is celebrating its 50th anniversary at the festival, in one of two throwback flicks. The other: Bread and Tulips, which opened the first-ever Italian Film Festival back in 2000. Other standouts include Marcello Mio, with Catherine Deneuve (The President's Wife) and Chiara Mastroianni (Monsieur Spade) playing versions of themselves in a comedy that explores the legacy of Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni, the mother-daughter pair's respective former partner and father — and also the Thom Yorke-scored, love affair-focused Trust; Commandante, which opened the 2023 Venice Film Festival; Alba Rohrwacher (La Chimera) in drama In The Mirror; and the mystery-led A Dark Story. The lineup goes on, whether you're interested in a revenge-thriller meeting a coming-of-age tale in We Were Children, Monica Bellucci (Mafia Mamma) and Vincent Cassel's (The Three Musketeers: Milady) daughter Deva Cassel starring in the page-to-screen The Beautiful Summer, laughing at actor Margherita Buy's (Ripley) directorial debut Volare or catching Beatrice Grannò from The White Lotus season two in rom-com Bad Conscience. In Sydney and Melbourne, the fest will also say ciao to documentary The Rise of Espresso — so coffee fiends, take note. Italian Film Festival 2024 Dates and Venues: Wednesday, September 18–Wednesday, October 16 — Palace Moore Park, Palace Norton St, Palace Central and Chauvel Cinema, Sydney Wednesday, September 18–Wednesday, October 16 — Palace Electric Cinema, Canberra Thursday, September 19–Wednesday, October 16 — Palace Barracks and Palace James Street, Brisbane Friday, September 20–Thursday, October 17 — The Astor Theatre, Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Penny Lane, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Pentridge Cinema and Cinema Nova, Melbourne Thursday, September 26–Wednesday, October 16 — Palace Byron Bay and Ballina Fair Cinemas, Byron Bay and Ballina Wednesday, October 2–Tuesday, October 22 — Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas and Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas, Adelaide Thursday, October 3–Wednesday, October 23 — Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX and Windsor Cinema, Perth The 2024 Italian Film Festival tours Australia in September and October. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website.
Following successful markets in other suburbs, Cambridge Markets is back at it again with new markets in Wentworth Point. This iteration will take place on the third Sunday of every month at Marina Square on Wentworth Place, just across the water from Ryde Wharf Market. Like its sister markets, punters can peruse 60 stalls showcasing a range of Sydney's favourite homegrown creatives and makers, with a mix of fresh fruit and veggies, flowers, gourmet produce, pantry items and locally designed homewares, apparel and gifts. There'll also be plenty of hot food options for yourself and your family. But that's not all — the intrepid marketers are hosting a twilight gourmet market on the first Fridays of warmer months, dubbed Eat Drink Nights, at the same location. This night-time epicurean escape features international cuisine, tasty beverages and fun activities for the whole family. The next Eat Drink Night will take place on Friday, March 1, followed by Friday, April 5, before the events return on Friday, September 6. Not only is it a picturesque spot to while away a Sunday morning or Friday evening, but it's easy to get to, too. Marina Square is accessible by ferry, train or bus, with ample parking within a short stroll. Wentworth Point Market takes place at Marina Square, Wentworth Place, from 9am–2pm on the third Sunday of every month. Eat Drink Nights at Wentworth Point takes place at Marina Square, Wentworth Place, from 5pm–9.30pm on the first Friday of the month. For more info, head to the website. Images: Jessica Nash Photography
For decades, feasting your way through a Sizzler buffet was a regular part of Australian life. Families headed to the all-you-can-eat chain for special occasions, teenagers went along to gorge themselves full of bottomless soft drink and soft serve (and combine the two, obviously), and absolutely everyone couldn't get enough of the brand's beloved cheese toast. But, over the past few years, Sizzler restaurants have been shutting down around the country. Soon, they'll all be gone — with Collins Foods Limited, the company that owns and runs Sizzler in Australia, announcing that it is shutting down the chain's last remaining stores. Those nine restaurants — five in Queensland, three in Western Australia and one in New South Wales — will all close by November 15. So if you're eager for one last excuse to break out your stretchiest pants and indulge in a big dose of nostalgia (and food), you'll need to head to Mermaid Beach, Loganholme, Caboolture, Maroochydore and Toowoomba in the Sunshine State, Innaloo, Kelmscott and Morley in WA, and Campbelltown in NSW to hit the salad bar a last time. Collins Foods has been scaling down Sizzlers' footprint since 2015, when it announced that the brand was "no longer considered to be core to the company's strategic growth". In the half-decade since, 19 Sizzlers have shut down around the country. With COVID-19 now affecting the hospitality industry — and, unsurprisingly, people's eagerness to eat from buffets — Collins Foods has now completely called time on its endless soup, salad, fruit, pasta and dessert (and its regular menu of meals, too; however we all know they were never the drawcard). Announcing the news in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Collins Foods Chief Executive Officer Drew O'Malley said that this was "not a decision we take lightly, especially for a brand as beloved as Sizzler, which has been such an important part of the Collins Foods' history". Collins Foods will continue to licence the Sizzler brand in Asia — so, when Australians are allowed to leave the country for holidays again, perhaps an overseas trip to the buffet can be in your future. In Australia, the Brisbane-based company also operates KFC and Taco Bell. Sizzler's nine remaining stores — in Mermaid Beach, Loganholme, Caboolture, Maroochydore and Toowoomba in Queensland, Innaloo, Kelmscott and Morley in WA, and Campbelltown in NSW — will all close by November 15, 2020. For more information about Sizzler, head to the chain's website. Top image: RegionalQueenslander via Wikimedia Commons.
Some of the most satisfying and thought-provoking conversations happen over a drink or two at a bar. That's before we even factor in all the fascinating tidbits gleaned during a pub trivia night. The University of Sydney's annual event Raising the Bar, proudly supported by the City of Sydney, ups the stakes on your typical after-dark D&M. Academics and alumni will deliver entertaining talks unpacking big topics ranging from AI to longevity and diversity. Gain deeper insight into the solutions being developed in real-time to pressing societal challenges, develop new perspectives on big questions, or simply enjoy having your brain tickled over a great glass of wine. Block out your diary on Thursday, April 3, as Raising the Bar will take place on one night only across 20 free sessions (going down at 6.15pm and 7:30pm) at ten inner-Sydney bars. So where to first? Get to know our picks for the evening, including what to expect from the talks and the bars where they'll be taking place. Hermann's, University of Sydney Starting on home turf, Hermann's is one of the University of Sydney's top on-campus bars where drinks are well-curated and affordable. Arrive early to make the most of the beer garden before settling in for a talk on how astronomers are bad at naming things, including a look at the latest innovations in Australian astronomy tech, and what scientists are using right now to search for life beyond Earth. Stick around for the evening's second session and get an insight into how to make workplaces more welcoming for refugees, who make up some of Australian society's newest members. Fortress Sydney, Central Park Mall Part entertainment venue and part classic bar, Fortress Sydney is a mega-venue with a capacity of 1000 people. It's a good thing, too, because the two talks taking place here promise to be some of the evening's most topical. The night kicks off with a discussion of how to grow brains in a lab and what we can learn from them, before the conversation turns to how society gaslights climate anxiety and the emotional impacts of climate change. The Harold, Forest Lodge Located a stone's throw from the University of Sydney, Forest Lodge's local gastropub The Harold is the place to go if you're interested in learning why obesity persists, why the old adage 'eat less and move more' might not quite work, as well as a better way to potentially lose weight from a professor who is also a clinical trials director. Stick around to hear about fighting Australia's leading cause of death and learn about preventing a heart attack, as well as the surprising risk factors you should know. The Barrie, Chippendale Occupying the spot where Freda's used to be, The Barrie is a pub that's a true local's favourite — and it'll set the stage for talks on two topics that are just as popular. The night starts by pondering the morality of parenthood in a world impacted by climate change, as well as offering practical tools to navigate raising kids in said world. Then, settle in for a thought-provoking talk about making your personal life more experimental, where a data-driven toolkit might help you navigate major life choices such as relationships and career moves. Explore the full Raising the Bar program to discover a talk or two that piques your interest. Or, if you simply need an excuse to visit Brix Distillers, Foundry 616, Bank Hotel, the Rose of Australia, The Toxteth or New Britannia, look no further. Don't miss out and register for your free ticket now.
Is this the Nordic design collaboration to end all Nordic design collaborations? For a new limited-edition collection that'll hit stores worldwide on Thursday, March 9, Swedish furniture retailer IKEA and Finnish design house Marimekko are joining forces. Even better: when this duo teams up, they're taking inspiration from Nordic nature, sauna culture and self-care rituals, and giving off big treat yo'self vibes. Actually, the best news of all might be that nothing in this 26-product range will cost more than $119. That price will get you a birch bench or a birch mirror, but everything from towels and shower curtains to glassware and candles is also on offer — all either featuring or inspired by Marimekko's prints, naturally. The range's name, BASTUA, gives away its focus: the term means sauna in Småland, the region in Southern Sweden where IKEA originates from. And, this gorgeous teamup marks a first for Marimekko — the first time that it has designed a set of prints exclusively for a brand collaboration. "Collaborating with Marimekko was a natural choice for IKEA as we are both committed to enabling a better everyday life at home, and with the BASTUA collection, it begins with focusing on wellness first," said Henrik Most, Creative Leader at IKEA, announcing the new range. "The collaboration encapsulates the sensations of endless summers and the simple and aesthetic beauty of Nordic nature in furniture and accessories for the home." To answer perhaps the most important question that arises every time that IKEA unveils a new collection, yes, the iconic FRAKTA bag has also been given a Marimekko makeover — as it has with rainbows and pink frills in the past. With the BASTUA collection heroing a print inspired by the large rhubarb leaves that are often found growing next to Finnish saunas, IKEA's trusty carrier will spot that image in red, green and pale blue hues. Wondering what else you'll be filling that FRAKTA with? The towels, robes and IKEA's first-ever sauna bucket obviously take the theme as seriously as possible, as do the elderflower-, rhubarb- and sweet vanilla-scented candles. Elsewhere, the range also gleans inspiration from Nordic furniture design, which is where the side table, bench, trays and glasses come in. Unsurprisingly, this is a while-stocks-last collection — so getting in fast on launch day, with items on sale in-store from 10am and online from 9pm AEDT, is highly recommended. IKEA and Marimekko's BASTUA collection will hit IKEA's shelves on Thursday, March 9 — in-store from 10am and online from 9pm AEDT.
Sydney hasn't yet lost its legislative shackles, but it's adapting and evolving around them, discovering new ways to eat, drink and have fun. You'll find fun in fairy light-lit restaurants hidden upstairs in Redfern, in sprawling new bar that distill their own rum, at immersive theatre experiences in abandoned warehouses and, even, in six-storey futuristic libraries decked out with amphitheatres and grand pianos. And the fun we're having as a city is becoming ever more inclusive. Our restaurants are catering to more dietaries and allergies, our pubs and bars continue to celebrate the LGBTQI+ community and our artworks and spaces are becoming more accessible and sustainable. And we have, in part, the following 12 venues to thank. The following restaurants, bars, cafes, pubs, spaces and events have gone above and beyond. They combine originality, innovation, creativity and sustainability to bring something a little different to our city. Something that pushes us to keep being better and braver. Something that we love — and so do you. That's why they're the winners of Concrete Playground's Best of 2018 Awards. This year, we have awarded both a reader voted People's Choice and Overall award in each of the following six categories: Best New Restaurant Best New Bar Best New Cafe Best New Pub Best New Event Best New Space So, with no further ado, the winners for 2018 are... BEST NEW EVENT OVERALL WINNER: A MIDNIGHT VISIT Imagine a fully immersive theatre experience with a choose-your-own-adventure twist and lots of macabre nods to Edgar Allan Poe, and you'll have some idea of what happened when A Midnight Visit took over an abandoned Sydney warehouse this spring. Unlike any theatre offering the city has seen before, this captivating experience was part-performance, part-playground and part-film set. And it was brought to life across 30 rooms of an eerie two-storey, 3500-square-metre Newtown warehouse. Audiences found themselves transported into a dream world that takes its cues from those notoriously macabre works of Edgar Allan Poe, as imagined by a team of local actors and a crew of innovative sound, film set and costume designers. It was a little bit David Lynch and it had some Stanley Kubrick vibes, with a spot of steam-punk thrown in for good measure. We loved it because... "I followed Cat Woman through a dark, fluffy tunnel and ended up exiting a wardrobe in Edgar Allan Poe's bedroom. I sat in a ball pit as an underworld king descended to give a monologue that saw him transform from man to demonic animal. The event was something new and rare for the city, and I hope it inspires more creative groups to fuse high-brow art with our love for immersive experiences." — Quinn Connors, partnerships editor. [caption id="attachment_672409" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jay Wennington[/caption] PEOPLE'S CHOICE: POP-UP GLOBE London's historic Globe Theatre popped up in Sydney this year — well, sort of. Pop-Up Globe is the world's first full-scale replica of the historic theatre, which was built by Shakespeare's playing company and housed his greatest works. Inside the round three-storey venue, no member of the 900-strong audience was ever be more than 15 metres from the stage, and all performances were conducted without the use of mics, just as it was in 1614. The performances weren't dusty old versions of Shakespeare, either — they were interactive, more like a party, and were welcomely weaved with Maori mythology. You loved it because... "Pop-Up Globe was such a refreshing night of theatre. The old mixed with new in a modernised Shakespeare. I laughed and reminisced about high school English." — Kathryn B. BEST NEW SPACE OVERALL WINNER: GREEN SQUARE LIBRARY Welcome to the future of libraries, where it's about more than just books. Green Square Library has upped the ante and moved beyond the standard collection of pageturners. Within the swish new space, you'll find a high-tech lab, underground reading garden, amphitheatre, music room, cafe and meeting rooms. The building is hard to miss, thanks to its six-storey glass tower, which emerges from a tree-dotted plaza. While books — and underground gardens in which to read said books — are still the central focus of the library, it also features many spaces dedicated to music. The sprawling music room has a baby grand piano, which can be hired out by Beethoven hopefuls stuck in tiny Sydney apartments, and the openair amphitheatre will play host to public gigs. We loved it because... "I've personally been waiting for far too long for libraries to get their time in the sun. It's like everyone forgot that the whole service is free. But Green Square's shiny new library might be the one to lead the charge. That's because the building isn't just a shrine to books — it's providing an accessible (and architecturally stunning) space for the public that the still-developing (and apartment-dense) suburb of Green Square is in desperate need of." — Lauren Vadnjal, editor. PEOPLE'S CHOICE: STEAM MILL LANE This burgeoning laneway located in Darling Square boasts top-notch restaurants, as well as a throng of emerging fashion and lifestyle retailers. It's ripe for exploration and offers everything, from cheap eats, to long lunches, to late-night noodle fixes. There's a chance you'll recognise more than a few vendors. Melbourne's famed burger joint 8bit, brought to you by hatted chef Shayne McCallum and Alan Sam, slings mega burgers, loaded hot dogs and over-the-top shakes via its 130-seat diner, while Belles Hot Chicken, its third Sydney outpost, doles out finger-lickin' fried chicken. Other big names include The Sandwich Shop, Edition Coffee Roasters, Marrickville Pork Roll, poke joint Fishbowl, Sichuan eatery Ricefields, modern Italian restaurant Il Bacio and bubble tea cafe Gong Cha. But it's not just food. You'll also find a few boutique retail shops, including travel and leisure store Alifehaus, streetwear brand Pict and barber Men's Culture. If that's not enough excitement, check out the permanent light installation by Adelaide-based artist Peta Kruger — the neon-lit artworks take inspiration from 'nightlife cityscapes' and illuminate the lane at night. You loved it because... "Steam Mill Lane — I love variety and this place has it all! Bringing a diversity of cuisines altogether in one convenient place!" — Catharine W. BEST NEW PUB [caption id="attachment_662282" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Trent van der Jagt[/caption] OVERALL WINNER: THE IMPERIAL ERSKINEVILLE An inclusive, LGBTQI-spirited space with three layers of flamboyant fun for all has taken over Erskineville. With a $6 million renovation after a shady past, the Imperial Hotel is back and brighter than ever. This triple threat is offering nightly drag shows, a veggie-focused menu, signature cocktails in honour of iconic queens and chances to sashay the night away. If you're looking for more of the club vibe, the bottom floor of the Imperial is a space of creativity and acceptance. With DJ sets on the weekend and a bevy of colourful performances, there's never a dull moment down in the Basement. Its restaurant Priscillas offers mainly vegetarian cuisine (inclusive of vegans, and the gluten- and lactose-intolerant, of course) with a lively atmosphere. After closing for nearly three decades, the Imperial's rooftop bar is back with a plethora of art pop deco and a variety of spaces fit for any occasion. Imperial Up functions as an Italian restaurant with Andy Warhol-esque charm to match. Finally, keep your eye out for the addition of a same-sex wedding chapel sometime in 2019. We loved it because... "The revival of this inner west institution has been heartwarming to see. For better or worse, the trend of redeveloping old stalwarts isn't going away. But The Imperial is testament to the fact that it can be done well — in the right hands. Sure, it looks a little different (luxe fit-out, fancy cocktails and an elevated food offering), but it also not only honours its heritage, it wholeheartedly embraces it. All are welcome here — that's a part of Sydney nightlife that I'm on board with." — Melanie Colwell, editorial assistant. [caption id="attachment_698500" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jessie Harris[/caption] PEOPLE'S CHOICE: WOOLWICH PIER HOTEL Since 1885, carousers on the north shore have been gathering at the Woolwich Pier Hotel to sink a bev or two and catch some glistening harbour views. But, after a huge reno in October 2018, the pub looks a fair bit different. The Pier, as it's known around town, has scored slick new design and a modern new menu inspired by French and Japanese cuisine. If you're a longstanding Pier drinker, you're in for a surprise. While the building has lost none of its heritage elements, the place is now a whole lot fancier. Alexander & Co, the firm responsible for venues like Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel, the East Village and Stanton & Co, has looked after the interiors, giving them a Sydney seaside stamp. For those looking to lay their eyes on the water, the wraparound balcony overlooking Cockatoo Island still has plenty of room among its 70 seats. In keeping with these dramatic changes, head chef Glenn Tabudlo has launched a new menu. Lovers of the chicken pot pie — don't panic. The much-adored staple is still available, as is a bunch of The Pier's tried-and-tested classics. Even though it has some fancy new furnishings, it is still a local pub, after all. You loved it because... "Woolwich Pier Hotel is such an iconic location and they've just done a great renovation, yet it still feels like the same friendly local pub." — Hamish S. BEST NEW CAFE [caption id="attachment_668572" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Letícia Almeida[/caption] OVERALL WINNER: MATINEE COFFEE This newcomer takes cues from NYC in a number of ways: it's open all-day, it serves booze — including neighbouring brew Grifter on tap — and it has an unabashedly bold fit-out. A jewel-toned colour palette tracks through orange tabletops, a crimson-tiled communal table, green velvet chairs and a mural on the back wall. There are references to old-school milk bars in the blue marmoleum flooring and a neon-lit menu above the coffee machine (which pumps out a custom house blend by Collective Roasting Solutions). For the most part, the kitchen has avoided fads (á la cronuts) and instead does fresh takes on well-worn cafe favourites, with some solid gluten-free and vegan options. The coffee-rubbed pork hash is flavoursome and the Persian rice kedgeree with currants, almonds and goat's cheese is a winner, particularly when hacked with hot smoked salmon. We loved it because... "We're spoiled for choice when it comes to cafes in Sydney. Trying to tick them all off is my version of sport. So the real test is finding somewhere that I want to return to again and again. Matinee's charm is its individuality: a bold design (not an Edison lightbulb or exposed brick in sight), a food and drink offering that's consistently diverse (and delicious) and great service. It's upping the game without even a hint of arrogance." — Melanie Colwell, editorial assistant. PEOPLE'S CHOICE: ROLLERS BAKEHOUSE Manly's cafe scene gained massive bragging rights this year. Bo Hinzack (of local coffee shop Showbox Coffee Brewers and Mosman's Penny Royal) and James Sideris (Butter Boy Bake) teamed up to open Rollers Bakehouse. While this is the duo's first collaboration, Sideris has been regularly supplying Hinzack's cafes with baked goods for years. Patrons can expect a mix of sweet and savoury items that changes daily. Some potentials include millennial pink croissants, stuffed bagel rolls, bacon-topped savoury danishes and a charcoal croissant called the Sushi Roll. Sausage rolls and meat pies are also on offer, including Greek-style lamb rolls with house-made tzatziki and hamburger rolls served with house burger sauce. Beans come from Sydney-based Okay Coffee, which you can sip among breeze blocks, succulents and a courtyard and appropriate 90s music. You loved it because... "Rollers Bakehouse. Never thought croissants could taste so good. Amazing atmosphere, mysterious location and great coffee." — Thomas B. BEST NEW BAR [caption id="attachment_685676" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nikki To[/caption] OVERALL WINNER: BAR TOPA Opening in late July on Palings Lane, in the Ivy's dining precinct, this pint-sized tapas bar from the Merivale team has just a handful of seats, with standing room for around 40 diners. Perching with a wine in hand and snacks to share is the way to go here, just like in Spain's tapas bars. In the kitchen, Head Chef Lauren Murdoch is heading up a two-part, snack-heavy food offering. Displayed at the counter, you'll find small bites like whipped salted cod, or sliced jamón on crisp bread, while the tapas menu features a heftier selection of dishes hot off la plancha — the Spanish-style grill. There's an innovative approach to drinks, mirroring the food menu of bite-sized snacks, with most cocktails, beer and wine served as half-pours (for only $8). Meaning punters have the chance to sample more of the menu. A range of $8 half-size cocktails includes sips like the Marques — made with Pali Cortado sherry, Campari and sweet vermouth — and the La Perla, blending Altos Reposado tequila and pear liqueur. Otherwise, match those tapas with sangria from the tap, mini $4 beer or a 100-millilitre serve from the short, snappy wine list. We loved it because... "The CBD isn't lacking great bars. You'll find them on rooftops, hidden in basements and, in the case of Bar Topa, tucked down laneways. But not many of them can boast $8 half-sized cocktails, incredibly tasty tapas and an always-buzzing vibe. But Bar Topa can. And it's exactly where you want to be after tough day at work — and after a great one." — Samantha Teague, news and features editor. [caption id="attachment_684231" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Dave Wheeler[/caption] PEOPLE'S CHOICE: BRIX DISTILLERS Brix not only serves rum — it makes it on-site. And it's the first craft distillery dedicated to rum in Sydney's inner city in a long time. The venue features a fully working distillery with an Australian-made 1200-litre still, which is overseen by head distiller Shane Casey (previously at Archie Rose). As well as its own haul, Brix has a 'rum wall' with over 150 varieties from around the world, and a rum-heavy cocktail list. The grand space, which has been designed by interior design firm Amber Road, includes an intimate mezzanine barrelling room, overlooking the still, and an open kitchen with counter dining and banquette seating fitting 70 people on the ground level. It features lots of greys with copper details and wall art by local street artist Nico Nicoson. Brix isn't a restaurant, but food is still a central part of the distillery and bar. A compact menu, designed by Ivan Sanchez — who previously worked at Bodega and Porteño — features South American-inflected dishes, such as crisp tostadas topped with ceviche and pink grapefruit, pickled tongue with capers, jerk pork belly and a lineup of arepas. You loved it because... "Some people think rum is a spirit reserved for weather-beaten sailors, but it's not — it's fit for landlubbers, too. Brix is changing this opinion by bringing tasty-as rum to landlocked Surry Hill residents. And I can't get enough of it (or their arepas)." — Joe H. BEST NEW RESTAURANT [caption id="attachment_683861" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Parker Blain[/caption] OVERALL WINNER: LANKAN FILLING STATION Famous for her show-stopping hoppers at Carriageworks Farmers Market, O Tama Carey finally flung open the doors to her first permanent restaurant, Lankan Filling Station this year. A shrine to Sri Lankan cuisine, the new East Sydney venue is headed up by the renowned chef and curry queen (who previously worked at Berta, Bistro Moncur and Billy Kwong) who has put together a hands-on menu of hoppers, sambols and curries. Start by ordering a few hoppers, which are bowl-shaped crepes, known for their soft, spongey centre and crisp lacy trim. Next up, choose a sambol. This is the dip to your chip. Turn it into a proper banquet with a few of Carey's curries. Now all that's left to do is tear into your hopper, and start dipping, dunking and dribbling your way through the different spiced bowls. While hoppers go exceptionally well with hops, there's more to the drinks menu than just beer. If you're looking to quench the heat, try one of custom-blended Sri Lankan tea. Otherwise, there are natural, minimal intervention wines available (including sangiovese rosé on tap) as well as mead, faluda and Ceylon arrack, a Sri Lankan spirit made from fermented coconut flower sap. We love it because... "Lankan is the answer to many dining dilemmas. Need a quick lunch that's near the city? Lankan. Want to dine with a group and not spend a heap? Lankan. Been obsessed with O Tama Carey's hoppers every since you tried them at the Carriageworks Farmers Market? You'll find them at Lankan. And it's showcasing tasty Sri Lankan fare, a cuisine that's noticeable underrepresented in Sydney's dining scene." — Samantha Teague, news and features editor. [caption id="attachment_698551" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kitti Smallbone[/caption] PEOPLE'S CHOICE: RON'S UPSTAIRS New restaurants rarely get a clean slate. But in the case of Ron's Upstairs, the surface has been left intentionally worn. The interior — mostly unchanged since the vacation of the last tenants, longstanding Thai restaurant Pron Prohm — is like stepping into a 90s takeaway joint in the suburbs. The panelled walls, parquetry floors and plastic bunches of grapes attached to the ceiling aren't things usually found hiding on an inner city high street. But even though things may not look that different on the surface, the shift has most definitely occurred. This little old restaurant now mixes house spritzes and a great savoury ouzo mojito from the fairy light-lit bar, and the food coming out of the kitchen is European. Most dishes come with some meal-making sauce — the stracciatella is topped with mint oil, a zucchini dish has a killer passata and the pipis made memorable from a highly drinkable burnt butter sauce. The real beauty of this lo-fi dining room is that windows line the street-facing side, letting in a welcome spring breeze and some great natural light. Get in before dark and the twilight mixed with the dull festive glow of the restaurant's fairy lights make Redfern look magic. You loved it because... "Ron's Upstairs stayed true to the uniqueness of the original space. It's a perfect addition to Redfern's foodie scene; respecting history while being creative and a little eccentric." — Zana R. Congratulations to all the winners. Our city is a better place with you in them. Top image: Ron's Upstairs by Kitti Smallbone.
Designed by Sydney-based architects Nettleton Tribe, this warmly lit, timber-filled restaurant feels like a treehouse for grown-ups. It's the on-site restaurant for guests staying at Paperbark Camp — a luxury glamping experience — but you don't need to be staying the night to enjoy a feast in this elevated eatery. The Gunyah, which means 'meeting place' in the local Indigenous language, is built on stilts and positioned just under the canopy — perfect for spotting possums and stars. The menu is a set, three-course affair and Sundays are paella night. It's open every day of the week during the summer months (September to May) with reduced hours in the cooler months. We suggest making a reservation before you travel to Jervis Bay as the restaurant tends to book out with accommodation guests well in advance. You'll find Paperbark Camp just east of Huskisson in the pint-sized village of Woollamia, on the banks of Currambene Creek. Image: Hutchings Camps Pty Ltd.
It's lucky that Chris Pine is so likeable in Wonder Woman 1984, or the scene where his character wanders around in the titular year and marvels slack-jawed at the advancements of the period would be unbearably cheesy. It's still cheesy, and inescapably so. He's wearing a bumbag, so it has to be. But, it's also engagingly performed. The look on his face: wonder. The A Wrinkle In Time star once again plays American pilot Steve Trevor, who was last seen in 1918 in Wonder Woman. He's now a man thrust far beyond his own time, and he has much to marvel at. But this sequence also acts as a stark reminder, sending a message to the audience about the film they're watching. No matter how much returning director Patty Jenkins and the powers-that-be behind the DC Extended Universe hope that Wonder Woman 1984's viewers share the same expression — and how much they believe that simply making a sequel to their 2017 blockbuster is enough to cause it — the movie doesn't earn much more than a resigned sigh. When it hit cinemas three years ago, the first movie about Princess Diana of Themyscira — also known as Diana Prince — stood out. Even though the DCEU started five years after the Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC bested its rival by focusing on a female character in its fourth film (for Marvel, it took 21 pictures, only achieving the feat with 2019's Captain Marvel). DC didn't waste its opportunity, either. Wonder Woman isn't a mere cookie-cutter superhero flick, just focusing on a character of a different gender. It champions understanding and emotional intelligence, handles its engaging origin story with sincerity and warmth, and unfurls an adventure where both strength and vulnerability exist in tandem. It also relays a fulfilling tale; a sequel was inevitable, but the initial feature didn't just whet the audience's appetite for the next, plus all the other caped crusader films certain to follow. In other words, Wonder Woman bakes the traits that make its eponymous figure something special into its story and approach, and is all the better for it. In contrast, Wonder Woman 1984 has Diana (Gal Gadot, Justice League) tell everyone again and again that being truthful is far more important than anything else — after an opening scene set among her matriarchal society of Amazons, where she learns the lesson as a girl (Lilly Aspell, Holmes & Watson) during a high-stakes competition against older women. And, with the brightly hued film arriving after a year almost starved of franchise-related comic book tales (other than the pre-pandemic opening of Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) and the long-delayed release of The New Mutants), this sequel has also decided that more is more in the easiest of fashions. Wonder Woman 1984 doesn't spin the most complicated story, but it's so repetitive and meandering across its 151-minute running time that it's needlessly bulky, muddled and weighed down. A few notable scenes aside, its glossily shot action sequences share the same dragged-out, overblown sensation. Jumping forward almost seven decades within the Wonder Woman films' timeline, Diana has taken up an anthropologist job at the Smithsonian, and turned swinging through malls on her Lasso of Truth to fight crime into her side hustle. But then insecure archaeologist Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig, Where'd You Go, Bernadette) starts working beside her, gets tasked with assessing a mysterious gem, and lets Donald Trump-esque infomercial salesman Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal, The Mandalorian) take the strange object home with him. It's no ordinary rock, however. It grants wishes, so Maxwell wants to take advantage of that power — and, unknowingly, both Diana and Barbara have already uttered their dreams aloud while holding the stone. These fantasies come at a cost, of course, even before Maxwell uses his to try to take over the world. Yes, in the script penned by Jenkins, Geoff Johns (Aquaman) and Dave Callaham (Zombieland: Double Tap), a magic rock drives the plot — and the aforementioned, overstressed idea that truth triumphs over all, too. Accordingly, it's no wonder (pun intended) that Wonder Woman 1984 feels padded out. And, with Steve's return, Maxwell's hunger for domination and Barbara's transformation into comic book character Cheetah all demanding attention, it's little surprise that Wonder Woman herself is rarely the main attraction. The film misses her, even though she's supposed to be its protagonist. Perhaps that's why the movie opts for spouting the same maxim over and over, instead of sharing her characteristics. It's harder to make a feature that reflects its chief figure when that ostensible point of focus is so often pushed aside. It's far easier to stick to a broad template, stretch it out and assume everyone will just be pleased that Wonder Woman is back in a movie that bears her name. Wonder Woman 1984 also shares Captain Marvel's struggle, because it's so generic that it doesn't ever do its central character justice — or do much more than deliver a paint-by-numbers tale set in a decades-ago era with a woman as its primary superhero. Perhaps serving up lacklustre, formulaic flicks about male and female caped crusaders alike is Hollywood's idea of equality? Viewers are always left wanting more here, because Gadot demands it. She's immensely charming and graceful as the warrior queen — radiating empathy and decency with an earthiness that should clash with Wonder Woman's shining armour and golden tiara, but doesn't — and navigates tightly choreographed stunts as deftly as big emotional moments. She's nicely paired with both Pine and Wiig, the latter first as a friend and later an adversary, but Gadot sparks her own wonder. Wonder Woman 1984 certainly knows how to trot out well-worn beats packaged as part-upbeat heroism, part-social satire, but it just doesn't realise where its true strengths reside often enough. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW2E2Fnh52w
Berndnaut Smilde has challenged preconceptions of visual art with 'Nimbus II'. In this collection of photographs, a natural entity has become synthetic, and what has always been ephemeral is now captured forever. A thematic continuation of Smilde's original 'Nimbus' (pictured below), 'Nimbus II' features a petite, fairy floss-like cloud hovering below the lofty white ceiling of Hotel MariaKapel in Hoorn, Netherlands. Smilde generates the clouds using a smoke machine, carefully monitoring the humidity of the room and using lighting to enhance the life-like essence of the storm cloud. "On the one hand I wanted to create an ominous situation. You could see the cloud as a sign of misfortune," said Smilde of 'Nimbus' in a 2010 interview with Probe online gallery. "You could also read it as an element out of the Dutch landscape paintings in a physical form in a classical museum hall. At the same time I wanted to make (for once) a very clear image, an almost cliché and cartoon-like visualisation of having bad luck." Despite the bad luck connotations of a cloud, the photos of 'Nimbus II' succeed in establishing a whimsical element as well. Smilde said that this work plays with the concept of the ephemeral and is influenced by "physical presence found within transitional space." [via Trendhunter]
