Despite prominently featuring his name in the title, Renaissance to Goya is mostly etchings and sketches from predecessors and contemporaries of Francisco de Goya, with Goya's own art confined to the final of the show's four rooms. Three quarters of the show is a pretty technical collection of nice art pieces occupied mainly with saints, angels and genitals. Hendrick Goltzius' the Circumcision of Christ (the minute blade and divine member dead centre) and Francisco Rizi's The Virgin appearing to Saint Simon de Rojas stand out particularly in the latter category. José de Ribera's Christ beaten by a tormentor shows a hazy, red chalk drawing image that feels like reportage from an Occupy police beating. Much of the best stuff is saved for the final room. Most is by Goya himself, but Luis Parent y Alcazar's A Masked Ball is chock full of tiny faces at the titular ball, each alive with excitement as your eye climbs the private boxes amongst the candelabras. Fernando Brambila and Juan Gálvez's Ruins of the church of the General Hospital is a beautiful, shocking image, with arches broken halfway through their curve and beams askew, like poorly made barricades. It's like looking at a photo of ruined Europe from after the Second World War. It hangs next to Goya's images of war and a tired Duke of Wellington. Goya's own figures are messy, delicate and expressive. For so many of his lighter subjects, these keen faces create comedy, pathos or pride. In his darker images, though, these feelings coalesce into sombre moments, like Edward Gorey sketches or an Art Spiegelman comic. The timing on the page, between Goya's images and titles, wouldn't feel out of place among the cartoons curated at the New Yorker by Spiegelman's wife Françoise Mouly. (Both of the latter are due here in October for GRAPHIC.) The sleep of reason produces monsters, in the series Los caprichos, is almost reason enough by itself to visit the exhibition. A man asleep at his desk is stalked by looming owls, bats and big cats. Scared, off balance and shivering, he huddles across the left of the etching while the monsters gather around. Equally strong is his Disasters of War series, a posthumously published reaction to war, famine and an opressive regime. It's harsh, sarcastic and horrifying. What bravery! shows sacklike, dead men surrounding a cannon as a woman lights its fuse, alone. A heroic feat! With dead men shows two men hanging from a tree. They are in five parts. One of them is whole. These Goya are stunning. But, while there are good things on show here, you want to be aware going in exactly how much on offer is Goya and how much renaissance. Images: Francisco Goya Y Lucientes, For being of Jewish ancestry and Francisco de Zurbarán, Head of a monk © The Trustees of the British Museum
It’s always a huge year at Head On Photo Festival, and this year is no exception. Too big to fit in a single month, Head On sprawls over May and June, watching both the Sydney Writers Festival and the Sydney Film Festival open and close in its wake. This year’s selection of photography spends a lot of time overseas, with Calle Habana’s black and white Cuba, Ambition, Resignation, Alienation’s stolen light from '80s China, White Shadows’ window on life as an albino in Tanzania (also explored in the Human Rights Arts and Film Fest this year) and Yakuza’s journey into the Japanese underworld. There’s also Paul Blackmore’s stills from Beruit, and Stills Gallery’s photography from the late war correspondent Tim Hetherington. Closer to home, George Voulgaropoulos makes takes some stunning refugee portraits in Auburn, Fiona Wolf checks out the Parkes Elvis Festival, Jagath Dheerasekara checks out the Campbelltown fringe and indigenous retrospective from Barbara McGrady. There’s also a few words from Magnum photographers at the State Library and the Powerhouse. And these are just a toe in the water out of a flood of inbound photo shows coming our way all around town, including Andrew Quilty, the hidden Emma Hack, a look at the Ghanian way of death and many, many more. Image: Tim Hetherington, Kim, Korengal Valley, Kunar Province, Afghanistan © Tim Hetherington, courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York. Part of Stills Gallery's Head On Show.
If you have seen the new single, 'Ballad of the War Machine', from Midnight Juggernauts, you might not know what to think. The throw-back, surrealist video clip had tongues wagging and mouths salivating a few weeks back for the return of the Melbourne trio, yet no one expected their return to be this covert. Like Cold War-era secrets, information on the new Midnight Juggernauts material was kept secret, as different versions of the video were distributed through blogs and discussion boards. The responses to this method of viral promotion were varied, yet the end result is a memorable experience that has only made anticipation grow in the bellies of fans. Since releasing their previous albums, Dystopia and The Crystal Axis, Midnight Juggernauts have been touring the globe before taking time off to gather inspiration for their next effort. If this lead single is anything to go by, Midnight Juggernauts will still be pushing boundaries and matching expectations. Their national tour takes in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne before the trio play at Groovin' the Moo. https://youtube.com/watch?v=VMeuC_aGuoo
Hannah is a mousy-haired, slightly pudgy young woman trying to negotiate life in the big city, with her three not-always-supportive friends at her side. Sound like a story you like? Well, it will be, but it's not the one you think, and the similarities with honest comedy (hon-com?) Girls end there. The Hannah in Girl in Tan Boots, a new play by Sydney writer Tahli Corin, has disappeared. She is represented on stage by one of those hauntingly blank missing-person mannequins. We learn about Hannah vicariously, through the eyes of Detective Carapetis (Linden Wilkinson), a Jane Lynch-esque figure soon consumed with empathy for the girl who vanished after getting on a train at Wynyard Station but has always been a bit invisible. After chatting to Hannah's work colleagues (Zindzi Okenyo, Madeleine Jones and Francesca Savige in fine form), a chorus of adult women with high-school popular-girl mentalities, Carapetis gets a lead: Hannah was obsessed with the personal ads in the commuter rag and looking for her own mystery man, Grey Suit. That's right, Girl in Tan Boots is so far the only play inspired by mX's Here's Looking at You column — and inspired richly. As a mystery, the play really keeps you guessing, and it also draws real meaning and depth from its set-up. If it has the aura of chick lit around it, it's only in so far as chick lit is written by women, about women and regularly has its literary value overlooked. Girl in Tan Boots is truly a funny and thoughtful dramedy that will entertain any kind of human being for its full hour and a half. As a statement on anonymous-yet-surveilled city living, it's poignant. There's a creative, flowing sense to Susanna Dowling's direction here that really works. The team has also incorporated sleights of hand (thanks to magic consultant Bruce Glen) that some might call novelty but that are actually awesome. Not only are the magic tricks fun, they're unnerving, and they hit the right note as the feeling that things are not as they seem builds and builds. Read more about Girl in Tan Boots in Zindzi Okenyo's Hidden Sydney interview here.
Art plus bar. This almost universal gallery opening deal is a pretty tasty mix already. But the MCA adds extras to this time-honoured tradition with its now SMAC-winning series ARTBAR. They're evenings of strange and interesting things at play among the art, recurring monthly and curated by a rotating cast of local artists. This month the MCA is defying the dangers of the gymnasium and taking a poll of nine performance artists on the subject of the Workout. All nine artists will bring their creative exercise to the gallery floor. So get ready for an evening of activity for the brain, the body and the drinking arm. Image courtesy and © the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Catherine McElhone.
Stills Gallery can do no wrong, in my eyes. Their roster of artists is impeccable, and their exhibitions are always wonderfully thoughtful and beautifully curated. This new show is no exception. Featuring the work of Tim Hetherington and Doug Rickard, the exhibition is a collaborative effort between Stills Gallery and Yossi Milo Gallery, New York, and is part of the Head On Photo Festival. A New American Picture presents a series of American street scenes lifted from Google Street View. Over the course of four years, Rickard trawled the website, searching for downtrodden, economically devastated areas of the US. Once a suitable vista was found, Rickard would photograph the computer screen. The result are faded, grainy pictures that look like quite cinematic. Given that they're screenshots, the images lack any great definition and many feature people and children with their faces blurred out, giving them a cool, surrealist vibe. They're terrifically interesting photographs, particularly when you consider the idea of a Rickard as a documentary photographer working remotely. My favourite works were those by Tim Hetherington. A photojournalist, he is perhaps best known for his work as co-director on the documentary film Restrepo (2010), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Hetherington's works capture American soldiers slumbering peacefully, taken while he was stationed in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley during 2007-08. The photographs themselves are sweet and beautiful, but it feels strange to look at images of these men. They look so serene as they sleep in quite childlike positions, and then you remember that they are in a profession of supreme violence. It's an incredibly jarring contradiction. Hetherington is able to shift perspectives on war and human suffering, which is no mean feat. Sadly, he was killed on April 20, 2011, by shrapnel while covering the frontlines of the conflict in Libya. Both Rickard and Hetherington are virtuosos of the genre and both have contributed greatly to contemporary film and photographic practices. Their images, though dramatically different, work well together. If you're a photography buff (and these days, really, who isn't?) then this is the show for you. Image: Tim Hetherington, Kim, Korengal Valley, Kunar Province, Afghanistan © Tim Hetherington, courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.
English producer/singer/songwriter James Blake will be bringing his fantastical electronics and boldly introspective melodies down under for two special Australian shows. The announcement follows the release of Blake's new single 'Retrograde', a piano-backed slice of rhythmic electronica further emphasising the BRIT-nominated 24-year-old's love of soaring vocals and R&B samples. It's the first track off his upcoming album Overgrown, due out on April 5, a wildly anticipated 11-track effort featuring collaborations with the legendary RZA and Brian Eno. These shows will let fans lift the veil on the magic in an intimate live setting. Tickets go on sale March 11 at 9am via Ticketek. https://youtube.com/watch?v=6p6PcFFUm5I
Director Sam Raimi is no stranger to reboots. His 1981 horror flick The Evil Dead just received the reboot treatment this year, and last year's reboot of the Spiderman franchise (The Amazing Spiderman) marked a mere decade since Raimi's own version of story came out. It's no surprise, then, that Raimi was the one tapped to direct Oz the Great and Powerful — a prequel to 1939's beloved Wizard of Oz. Nor is it a shock that he's now supposedly attached to direct a remake of 1982's Poltergeist. Basically if you want something done right, again, then Sam's your man. And he'd need to be, since tackling The Wizard of Oz — a film often ranked in the 10 best of all time — has traditionally been a fool's errand fraught with difficulties. Just consider 1978's The Wiz, an African American version starring Diana Ross as Dorothy and Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow (...if he only had a nose...). Then came Disney's terrifying attempt at a sequel, Return to Oz, in 1985. The opening scenes alone, depicting a frenzied Dorothy, strapped to a gurney and receiving electroshock therapy in a crumbling mental asylum, somehow failed to charm the hearts and minds of families in quite the same way as its predecessor — a task not helped by later scenes featuring masked murderous gangs with wheels for hands or a queen who froze people and wore their heads. You know, a children's movie. Finally in 2003, the Tony- and Grammy-winning musical Wicked opened on Broadway and has since become the 12th longest-running show in its history. Of all the reinterpretations, it's Wicked that fits most comfortably with the original, and so its story (the explanation of why the wicked witch became wicked) was the logical choice for Raimi's prequel, along with the 'how and why' of the Wizard becoming their great but mysterious leader. That man, Oscar Diggs (or 'Oz'), is played by James Franco, and his story begins as a lying, cheating carnival con man in Kansas. In a delightful homage to the 1939 version, Raimi also begins his film in black and white, and just like the original, that device makes Oscar's subsequent arrival into the fantastically colourful world of Oz all the more spectacular. Once there, he meets three beguiling but feuding witches named Theodora (Mila Kunis), Glinda (Michelle Williams), and Evanora (Rachel Weisz). Each claims the other is the 'wicked one' and begs him to save the land and its people by killing their rival. Oz the Great and Powerful isn't a film whose enjoyment is predicated upon knowledge of the original; however, its frequent tips of the hat definitely add an extra layer of enjoyment to the experience. And just like the original, Oz's journey along the yellow brick road leads to several chance encounters with some wonderfully creative, tender and amusing companions, including a small china doll and a wisecracking flying monkey (voiced by Zach Braff). Being Disney, it's obviously very much a children's movie, but one whose respectful treatment of the original still offers adults a chance to enhance, rather than replace, one cherished Wizard of Oz story with another. https://youtube.com/watch?v=yyywumlnhdw
The Art Gallery of NSW brings a bit of historic disorder to in its Wednesday night Summer in Soho series, accompanying the Gallery’s foray into the world of Soho resident Francis Bacon. This Wednesday, the speakers get personal for Valentine's, as curatorial assistant Macushla Robinson talks about Bacon and love, Katie Noonan sings about love (balanced by Brian Campeau's anti-love songs) and Barbara Dawson talks about the near-archaeological feat of moving Bacon's famously-messy workshop piece-by-piece from the UK to Ireland. Photo of Francis Bacon in his Reece Mews studio. May 1970 by Michael Pergolani. Dublin City Galley, the Hugh Lane.
Earth Hour is a symbolic action. Although there is carbon saved by turning things off, the point is the unmissable demonstration that a huge chunk of the world's population caring about the same thing at the same time. If we can manage this for Earth Hour, why not for grander environmental things? The Hour started in Sydney in 2007, and has become an international event in the years since. There are Earth Hour events in Kenya, India and Ireland these days, but you don't need to travel so far afield to find a way to join in this time around. At its simplest, all you need to do is stay home and turn off the lights. But if you'd like to have a more social darkened moment, you can head to a candlelit restaurant or one of a raft of other lights-off events. If you're in Newtown for Sydney's hour this year, the Fringe Festival is also putting on some entertainment up and down King Street while the lights are gone. Details and a map are here. Image of Earth Hour Switch Off 2010 by Sewell / WWF.
What's in a name? The work of theatre company subtlenuance is full of subtle nuances, but it's their bold strokes that have earned them high standing in the Sydney indie scene. Not only do they produce solely new works, they've stretched the medium through the wine-tasting/theatre hit Blind Tasting, the innovatively developed Political Hearts of Children and now Rocket Man, a smorgasbord of self-referentiality Joss Whedon would be in awe of. This title, too, is one not to accept on surface value. Neil (Daniel Hunter) is an astronaut — or so he's told the woman he hooked up with last night, Veronica (Sylvia Keays). Rockets soar. They also explode. When the new lovers wake up in the morning, he's keen to prolong their playful encounter, and she is too — though even more than that, she wants to get to her morning appointment, an important audition with the Sydney Theatre Company. With increasing persistence, he starts ragging on her for her choice of career. It's an odd move to make on a woman you like, but as becomes clear, Neil has bigger issues than just the minimalistic vs literal staging debate. Dispersing the tension between Neil and Veronica is her housemate, Claudia (Alyssan Russell), not shy of barging into a room, and Claudia's boyfriend, Justin (Stephen Wilkinson), an easygoing guy sheltering one piece of vital information. The way playwright and director Paul Gilchrist manages the tension and spark between the four characters is masterful and fun to watch. No one will love Rocket Man more than the theatre crowd. Some of the best jokes rely on industry knowledge, as do some of the heaviest questions. (At one point, character Veronica actually references another subtlenuance production that actor Sylvia is in. Record!) If Gilchrist's goal, however, is to hold the moral fundamentals of theatre up to the light, he doesn't quite succeed, because it's impossible to side with the volatile Neil. There's a solid wall of ad hominem only the fittest logician can cross. Rocket Man is actually at its most successful as a delicate character dramedy, which is what separates it from last year's serving of sizzling theatre talk, I Want to Sleep with Tom Stoppard. Its characters are whole, affectionately shaded and genuine in a way that outshines the irony. Performances are sensational. The whole thing is, contrary to Neil's binary critique of indie theatre, neither "underdeveloped nor overwritten". (Though I'm only begrudgingly accepting that the central mystery to my eyes — how does Neil know so much about an art form he detests — wasn't answered. I accept it because I believe, from the context, that Gilchrist does know.) One final kudos must go to designer Rachel Scane; subtlenuance have gone for a very literal staging in creating Veronica's messy bedroom. Styling something to look so unstyled is a triumph.
If you've ever held a snow globe in both hands, shaken hard, and wished yourself into the midst of the tiny snowflakes that float back down, you're in for a treat this season at Thredbo. Smirnoff is celebrating two new creations, Smirnoff Honey and Smirnoff Coconut, with one final massive dance party beneath the shelter of an enormous snow dome. Featuring the likes of WHAT SO NOT (DJ set), Sampology (AV show), Sufur (Rufus DJs), SOSUEME DJs and Purple Sneaker DJs, Smirnoff will be turning up the heat on one more sub-zero night on Saturday, 31 August with live snow graffiti, light projections, ice sculptures, glow-in-the-dark bubbles and a host of other late-night surprises. And the best part of all? Entry is as free as you'll be feeling on the slopes the next day skiing the 70cm of fresh snow that has fallen in the past 7 days. So kick off your snow boots, grab a honey and coconut cocktail, and transport yourself into the dome. Drink responsibly. This event is for individuals 18 years and over in age only. https://youtube.com/watch?v=kNdnGlF6YEY
Hola, amigos! It's that time again: The Hola Mexico Film Festival hits Sydney next month at the Chauvel Cinema. But this year's festival comes with a twist. Included in its program will be the Hola Sol Festival Cantina, a pop-up bar that will transport you to the heart and soul of Central America. Who doesn't love an excuse to don a novelty moustache and/or sombrero, or have a reason to drink tequila? Sydney's newest drink spot is sure to have people from all over releasing their inner Mexican. And with this year's festival program bigger and better than ever, Sydneysiders are sure to work up a thirst. In one explosive week, the bar will feature live music from the likes of Gang of Brothers, Baerfrens and Spanish duo Kallidad, art displays, free workshops and festival talks. Have your face intricately painted (think Day of the Dead style) on opening and closing night, check out the retro poster exhibition on the 'Golden Age of Mexican Cinema' or join in a Mexican-themed craft workshop — a chance to make your own floral headpiece or hand-painted cactus. Whether you're there to see a film or just feel like a sneaky Sol and lime before you hit the town, Sol Cantina will be a fusion of filmic passion, Mexican culture and all-round good times. Sol Festival Cantina kicks off on Wednesday, 27 November, and will be open everyday for the film festival week, from 6pm to 11pm weekdays and from 2pm to 11pm over the weekend. And with anticipation for the pop-up quickly rising, there is already talk of taking the Festival Cantina to other cities, nationwide.
Art plus bar. This almost universal gallery opening deal is a pretty tasty mix already. But the MCA adds extras to this time-honoured tradition with its now SMAC-winning series ARTBAR. They’re evenings of strange and interesting things at play among the art, recurring monthly and curated by a rotating cast of local artists. This month, Maria Fernanda Cardoso asks everyone to embrace her theme of 'Sex Everywhere', art style. You'll have a chance to undress a flower, respond to mating calls, 3D print reproductive systems and view every permutation of recorded animal sex.
Deep in the woods of an Argentinian forest, Pedro (Viggo Mortensen) leads a simple life. He lives on his own in a cabin, tends to his bees with local girl Rosa (Sofia Gala) and is involved in less legitimate activities with childhood friend Adrian (Daniel Fanego) and the latter's slow-witted godson Ruben (Javier Godino). But when he begins coughing up blood, he knows he is quickly succumbing to cancer and he decides to make a rare trek into the city to see his brother. Meanwhile, in the city, his identical twin brother Agustin, a paediatrician, leads a comfortable but unhappy life and feels only numbness when his wife tells him they can adopt a baby. When the scruffy, chain-smoking Pedro visits unexpectedly and offers him a cash reward for treatment, Agustin seizes a chance to take his sibling's life and kills him, leaving his body to fake his death, enabling him to return to the cabin in Pedro's place. Agustin soon realises his brother's life was no idyllic backwater breeze, however, as he has to feign his sibling's ailments while piecing together his estranged brother's life and figuring out how to extract himself from the kidnapping scheme Pedro got himself involved with. The bees which make their way into his unfamiliar beekeeping suit turn out to be the least of his problems as he inherits a vendetta with the owners of a local general store, further isolating himself from the remote community. He also has to navigate an uneasy relationship the gun-toting, bible-quoting Adrian and convince Rosa that he hasn't been acting strange since he returned from the city. Everybody Has a Plan is a ponderously paced though richly atmospheric affair, its picturesque setting all broody swamps, hazy sunsets and fields speckled with ghostly trees. But a strong sense of place isn't matched by the story, which is thin and difficult to ever really care about. Similarly, the romance with Rosa feels underdone. The main reason to see this, a debut picture from Argentinian Ana Piterbarg, is Mortensen, who turns in not one but two intense and convincing performances, in Spanish no less. Mortensen remains a great screen presence, but he needs a better avenue for his considerable talents. https://youtube.com/watch?v=cJ8W01suq-c
Philadelphia indie-rockers The War on Drugs have revealed they will play a Sydney sideshow alongside their Australian debut performances at Falls Festival and Southbound. Devoted fans will no doubt be crossing their fingers that some material from their much-awaited third album will be unveiled during the tour. The War on Drugs emerged onto the scene back in 2005 as a musical collaboration between frontman and creative honcho Adam Granduciel and Kurt Vile, who has since left to pursue a solo career with his backing band The Violators. If you've never heard of them but you like your rock and roll a little bit classic (think a bit of Petty, a splash of Springsteen and, vocally, a whole lot of Dylan), then you may want to grab tickets to a show.
This article is sponsored by our partner The City of Sydney. With Sydney summer approaching, it's time to ponder the best ways to reveal a bit more skin. Enter Sydney is Fashion. Uniting Sydney's sartorial villages and fashion events throughout August and September, the festival presents the perfect way to ogle new garb, rediscover the experience of bricks-and-mortar retail and have bundles of aesthetically pleasing fun. Starting things off is the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival. This four-day fashion celebration, running from August 21-24, offers you front-row seats to the trends of spring/summer 2013/14 with fashion shows and sales throughout the city and online. General Pants Co. will kick off proceedings with an exclusive preview of their latest buys (think RVCA and new label B.BAM) as well as model Stef 'Bambi' Northwood-Blyth's debut collection has us on tenterhooks with promises of eclectic street fashions. Seems her fiancee Dan Single, of former Ksubi fame, has rubbed off on her — his latest DAAN collection will also feature in the show. Once the models have cleared out, ticket holders will be the first in Australia to shop the new looks, and will also receive a 10 percent discount in-store and online. Pick up tickets at select stores, and check out the website for details. Grab some shopping inspiration from the two world-class fashion shows that will run nightly throughout the festival. A highlights show from this year's fashion week, The Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia Trends event features local talents like Emma Mulholland, Romance Was Born and the effortlessly athletic HAN. For your glamour hit, head to the InStyle Red Carpet Runway, where gowns from Alex Perry, Collette Dinnigan and other high-end favourites will dominate the runway. Other events to look out for include shows from Sportscraft and Market HQ, and a styling session with Kash O'Hara, one half of the sibling-run OHARA label. Styling at the Tea Salon will dish up dressing for your shape tips with a side of champagne and scones, before your half-hour professional stylist consultation and then round the day out with a stylist-assisted 30-minute 'power shop'. That last bit sounds like a Moet et Chandon fuelled mini-Boxing Day brawl, but it is sure to be one of this festival's more hotly contested tickets. Image: Bec & Bridge, photography by Lucas Dawson.
If you’re one of those creative types (or want to be) and love the handmade aesthetic, Object's Make.Play workshops in March and April that might make your ears prick up. Object is already focused on all things design-y, so it makes sense to make some new goods within their walls. Stefanie Ingram (who has appeared in Frankie magazine) will teach you how to create your own terranium (like those ones on etsy), artist/graphic designer/food styler Bianca Spiegel will show you the art of folding, cutting, stenciling, oragami and all things paper in her Paper Love workshop, or you could transform an ordinary plastic shopping bag into a 3D object with Reverse Garbage. There are also courses on bike care, macrame garden accessories, lampshade making, and more. So when someone compliments your new macreme plant holder you can respond with “oh that old thing, yeah, I made it. No big deal.” And wait for the compliments to pour in.
One photograph of Bondi's iconic Icebergs Pool is all it takes to spark manic pangs of homesickness in the heart of the most seasoned Sydney expat living abroad. Its ethereal beauty in the dawn sun is forever the subject of the hugely popular Aquabumps email newsletter, inspiring 40,000 daily readers with its architectural grace and spritely regulars. In fact, there's little not to love about a spot where you can have a sauna by the sea immediately prior to a long lunch at the quintessential Icebergs Dining Room. In the first week of 2013, however, the pool's swimming lanes will be closed for the evening to allow the Australian men's water polo team to host an international all-star team in an exhibition match set to showcase this rugged sport to a new generation of fans. Visitors to Water Polo by the Sea will be treated to an Olympic-standard match backed by DJs on the pool deck from 5pm.
Aerial acrobatics, light projections, synchronised crowd 'fireworks', and the big ones — those world-famous Sydney Harbour fireworks. Be clever about it; pick a vantage point, (according to the Sydney NYE website there are 71), plan your food, drink and toilet options (usually no BYO alcohol), and be prepared for the crowds. The action starts at 6pm, and this year creative ambassador Kylie Minogue has chosen the pretty colours and things. Download a free smartphone app to be part of the mobile phone ‘fireworks’ on the night.
Neil Gaiman jumps genre easily, and casually knocks off any number of impossible things before breakfast. As a young journalist his rediscovery of comics lead to an award winning-run on Sandman that effectively redefined the medium to something with mainstream appeal. He’s a blogging pioneer, who helped bring Miyazaki to western screens well before Spirited Away and has staked out a career as a novelist with books like the soon-to-be-adapted-by-HBO American Gods. Not to mention that he’s also Mr Amanda Palmer and writes some of the best Doctor Who scripts (spoilers) around. With a chocolate, mid-Atlantic fusion of midwestern and English vowels, his live readings tend to seduce the ear, even as they also tend to scare you senseless. This so-called Master of Modern horror is returning on one of his now semi-regular visits to Australia to promote his upcoming novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane at An Evening With Neil Gaiman, presented by the Sydney Writers' Festival. Although you can console yourself with a trove of his free work online, get in quick if you want a closer look at the flesh. His readings sell out in a blink. Tickets should go on sale at the City Recital Hall website from 9am, Wednesday December 19. Doors open at 7pm for an 8pm start.
Some striking new art tech and an emerging informal nightlife: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s art captured two twin changes of his times and pinned them together in glorious motion. His knack for kinetic postering is the subject of a retrospective exhibition, Toulouse-Lautrec, Paris and the Moulin Rouge, at the National Gallery of Australia down in Canberra that opened this week. As part of the pre-show, pre-Christmas shopping season the gallery is setting up shop in a pop up on Oxford Street with Parisian gifting in mind and a few exhibition tickets also on sale. As well as the opportunity for early-season gifting, the shop will be host to a little live performance in the vein of the Moulin Rouge Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The only thing better than seeing one of your favourite new bands in a tropic-themed dance hall for only $12 is seeing two of your most deservedly hyped bands in a topic-themed dance hall for only $12, and it’s the latter combination Goodgod are throwing together this Thursday. World’s End Press are the ones you’ll know from the bassy, synthy, funk-pop single they’ve had circulating on triple j since mid-year, and they’ll be playing a slew of new stuff from their upcoming debut album. Collarbones are the ones that are impossible to define in pretty much any respect, making things sound as complex geographically (Sydney’s Marcus Whale and Adelaide’s Travis Cook met on the internet and compose the majority of their music by sending digital files back and forth) as they are sonically (their music blends electronica with RnB and ghost noises). Somehow it all works though. You’ll also get a taste of super-chill disco duo Polographia, who are giving away download of their Sunsets EP here.
'Success' in the music world isn't the easiest word to define (being only slightly less tricky than 'indie rock'), but it's hard to think of a description that Bloc Party would fall outside the parameters of. They've released four commercially successful albums (the most recent being last year's assertive Four), they defy decades with a unique blend of razor-edged sonics and catchy pop hooks, and they're still really cool. This March the East London art rock quartet are hitting Future Music Festival (where they sit directly opposite Steve Aoki near the top of the impressive line-up), and have just announced a string of satellite shows too. It'll be the band's first appearance following a hiatus in 2009 when singer/guitarist Kele Okereke moved to Berlin to focus on his solo work. Four marks a return to the sound that first shot Bloc Party to fame nearly ten years ago, which means angular guitars on top of anthems on top of anthems. https://youtube.com/watch?v=p1CSMdDIRGg
Tired of queuing up for outdoor cinemas over in the eastern suburbs and only managing to secure, like, a 4x4cm patch of grass? Well, fret no longer, outdoorsy-types. Over on the other side of the bridge, North Sydney's Starlight Cinema is returning for a full season of killer films, and the best bit is there's grass aplenty for your picnicking pleasure as it's staged on A SPORTING OVAL. Chillax over a stack of films we've fallen in love with this past year, including feelgood hit The Sapphires, the surprising Oscar-contender Beasts of the Southern Wild, and the Ang Lee stunner Life of Pi. But what we really love is the ample parking available on site, not to mention the fancy Star Class seating, which offers prime film viewing, reserved deckchair seating, drinks wait-service, and a food hamper filled with dinner and dessert. FYI, it’ll set you back $55 per person, but if you're out to impress, it’s worth every penny. Gates open at 7pm and screenings start at sundown. That's around 8.30pm in January and 8pm in February and early March.
One of the surprise hits of 2009 was Ruben Fleischer's offbeat black comedy Zombieland, a violent yet somehow delightful (and even romantic) parody of zombie horror movies that perhaps even bettered Shaun of the Dead. Zombieland brought together a diverse cast, a sparkling script, and gorgeous cinematography to create something quite unlike anything else seen that year. Four years later, those same ingredients seemed in place for Fleischer's next film Gangster Squad, particularly in the casting, where a covetable blend of old (Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, and Josh Brolin) and new (Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Robert Patrick, Michael Pena, and Giovanni Ribisi) created a credits reel almost as long as The Hobbit. And yet, to paraphrase Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park, the principle of tiny variations can vastly affect an outcome. Goldblum's character called it 'chaos theory', and while Gangster Squad might not quite be chaotic, its imperfections are far more noticeable than those on Laura Dern's wrist. Moreover, and not unlike the mindless flesh-eating hordes in Zombieland, this film tends to feed off a collection of other, better, films in a desperate attempt to survive. It tells the 'based-on-a-true-story' story of '40s LA gangster Mickey Cohen (Penn), a boxer-turned-kingpin whose ambitions saw him aspiring to control all gambling operations across the entire US west coast. Cohen's power and influence rendered him altogether UNTOUCHABLE, with police and politicians either too corrupt or too afraid to stand against him. One good cop, however — war hero Sgt John O'Mara (Brolin) — refuses to lie down and watch his city fall into darkness. Deciding that Cohen represents a CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, he LA CONFIDENTIALLY forms a secret team of vigilante law enforcers and together those MAGNIFICENT SEVEN take on Cohen at his own game. In short, Gangster Squad apes several other great stories to tell its story of how the only honest cop in LA turns into a vicious vigilante murderer and is then lauded for it. With shootings, bashings, and blowings-up on both sides of the war, the moral compass swings around so fiercely in this film it's surprising it doesn’t wholly take off. Visually, it's a delight to behold, with elaborate set pieces, sumptuous period costumes, and grand architecture giving it a glamorous sheen; however, it can't gloss over the hammy script and one-dimensional characters whose journey only goes from A to A.
There’s a plethora of first person narrative around the traps lately. If it’s not the Campfire Collective, then it’s Yarn or Tell Me a Story. Sydney’s story right now is being told, one person at a time, at small bars, former warehouses and late night libraries. Not to mention international storytelling blow-ins like Ira Glass and Mike Birbiglia. One venue that has been toying with the same idea is the near-virginal Opera House, which has dabbled occasionally in first person narrative, but over the summer it’s planning on going all the way. The gentle, funny and awkward off-Broadway production My First Time is coming to Bennelong Point with a local cast bringing its gentle, funny and awkward stories of virginity lost. Stories are drawn from submissions to the venerable, confessional website MyFirstTime.com. Never heard of it? There’s a first time for everything.
What would a grandmother have to say who, in her time, has been a revolutionary, an Aboriginal activist, beaten nearly to death in her home country and an architect of its current power-sharing deal? The Sydney Peace Prize is giving you the chance to find out this year by inviting 2012 winner Senator Sekai Holland to give its annual Sydney Peace Prize Lecture: A Story of Courage and Peace at the Sydney Town Hall. Zimbabwe’s political history is a tough and difficult topic to catch up on. But you don’t need to be an expert to want to hear Holland speak. And let the complexities this important, but struggling, country come to you.
The term 'media circus' might have been coined to describe the hoopla that accompanies the US presidential election every four years. Manning Bar at the University of Sydney is hosting an Election Day Spectacular where for $12 ($8 concession) you can have a front-row seat for all the shenanigans. In partnership with CNN International, live coverage of election results will be shown on the big screen. If you're bi-partisan curious, experts from the US Studies Centre will be on hand to explain the complex process and offer blow-by-blow analysis. Surround yourself with fellow news junkies and root for your team. There will be prize giveaways and the opportunity to have your photo taken with the candidates. Counting millions of ballots sure can raise an appetite, so your ticket also gets you US delicacies including popcorn, a hot dog lunch, and fairy floss — which you should order by its American English name, 'cotton candy'. Uncle Sam says he wants YOU to attend.
As any Sydney seafood aficionado should know by now, The Morrison has a constant focus on the not-so-humble oyster. But in August, when the month-long Oyster Festival takes over, that focus turns into an overwhelming obsession. One of the major drawcards is 'Oyster Hour'. Between 6pm and 7pm every single day, you'll be able to eat as many oysters as you can handle at just $1 a pop. If you fancy something a little, well, fancier, you can opt for a 'Wine and Oyster Flight' (three wines and three matching oysters). Plus, throughout the month, seafood expert and chef Sean Connolly will be conjuring up his favourite oyster dishes, from carpetbag steak to chowder. What's the ideal number of times to chew an oyster? Brush up on your knowledge of the mollusc with our Bluffer's Guide to Oysters.
Ever watched a film, then wanted to spend more time with the characters? Maybe there’s more to their story you’d like to glean, or events you’d like to see fleshed out. Perhaps you’d prefer one person’s point of view over another. In deconstructing a relationship tinged with tragedy, that’s a choose-your-own-adventure experience The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby can offer. That, and getting a certain Beatles’ song stuck in your head, even though it doesn’t feature on the soundtrack. Writer/director Ned Benson’s first feature is actually three features, with fitting subtitles: Them, Him and Her. The individual parts came first, showing love consumed by grief in a he-said, she-said fashion. Combining and condensing them into one movie was an attempt to make the project more mainstream-friendly. Benson has advised that they can be watched in any order, but only Them is screening in Australian cinemas, with Him and Her available on video on demand. The tale the films tell is that of Eleanor (Jessica Chastain) and Conor (James McAvoy), a couple whose happy days seem long gone. To escape their troubles, she disappears from their apartment, moves in with her parents (Isabelle Huppert and William Hurt) and goes back to college. He searches for her then tries to win her back, while struggling to keep his bar open. Though shot and edited like memories of the past rather than living in the present, it’s a simple, emotional story of fading romance and misfortune seen many times before — “all the lonely people, where do they call come from?” and all that. Them works fine as a standard, standalone relationship drama, its mood of melancholy leaving a firm imprint, and its excellent lead performances by Chastain and McAvoy — both close to their career-best — lifting the well-worn material. What’s missing is anything more than broad strokes, in the narrative and about the characters. Them tells us very little, other than the obvious: she’s unhappy, he’s lost without her, they love each other but can’t find a way to move forward together. Supporting players such as Eleanor’s sister (Jess Weixler) and college professor (Viola Davis) and Conor’s best mate (Bill Hader) and father (Ciarán Hinds) also seem flimsy, each just someone to lean on. The merged film sketches an outline of everyone and everything, leaving Him and Her to fill in the gaps. Also absent in the abridged package are differences in perception and perspective. Here, more is more; it is difficult to see Eleanor and Conor’s varying takes on their marriage and its downfall when it’s all smashed together. Not the broad strokes, of course, but the detail. Showing how they each view the same events, exchanges and conversations in distinctive ways isn’t just a gimmick — it’s crucial in understanding the characters and the scenario. In that respect, perhaps Them does exactly what it is designed to do: whet the appetite, spark fascination and inspire viewers to seek out the rest of the story. That’s certainly our recommendation. There’s a familiar tale told well, shot stylishly and acted with aching insight in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, as long as you get the whole picture.
Partway into Unfinished Business, three Americans go to Berlin. It’s a busy week in the German capital, with hotel rooms hard to come by. The youngest of the trio, Mike Pancake (Dave Franco), books into the only place he and his 67-year-old colleague, Timothy Winters (Tom Wilkinson), can afford: a youth hostel. Their boss, Dan Trunkman (Vince Vaughn), unknowingly opts for a “habitable work of art”, where he’s on display in a museum. The level of comedy shown here, of the “old folks doing young things”, “look how mismatched everyone is” and “isn’t this a ridiculous idea” variety, are actually some of the film’s best work. That’s not a compliment. But when much of the movie makes fun of unusual names, of a man wearing women’s clothing, and of the difficulties someone identified as challenged has in understanding certain words, well, the bar hasn’t been set very high. Also on the hit-list of Unfinished Business’ allegedly humorous subjects: gawking at naked women, the stereotype of women acting like men to make it in business, women compared to vending machines, gay nightclub culture and steam rooms. Contrast that with the film’s supposedly softer side, attempting to address bullying, fitting in, standing up for yourself and chasing what you believe in. That the combination of crassness and schmaltz is as muddled and messy as it is ill fitting is hardly surprising. The plot stems from a Jerry Maguire moment, as family man Dan quits his job selling metal shavings to go out on his own, and Mike and Timothy follow. A year later, they’re up for a lucrative contract – but despite being told the gig is theirs by their contact (Nick Frost), they’re pitted against Chuck (Sienna Miller), their previous employer. Though both teams travel to Berlin, it seems that smarmy exec Jim (James Marsden) has already made up his mind. Dan is forced to take drastic action to succeed, and to take care of everyone counting on him. Why Hollywood is convinced that audiences want to see Vaughn making the same kind of movies – especially these kind of movies – remains a mystery. He’s a likeable enough presence, but continually playing a big-hearted underachiever trying to get his life back on track via fratboy-like antics doesn’t do anyone any favours. Vaughn and his director Ken Scott obviously disagree, re-teaming after the thematically similar Delivery Man. If you’ve seen that, or The Internship, then you know what you’re in for here. The scattershot approach shown in the script doesn’t help matters, rushing from one scene to the next as fast as it can, even though the film always feels like it is dragging. Nor does the insistence that more is more: more crude gags, more cliches, more over-the-top exploits and more drama. And then there’s poor Franco and Wilkinson, saddled with one-note characters, but trying hard. At least someone is. Otherwise, Unfinished Business is an overstuffed, underdone mess that lives up to its name – and a film easily bested by its stock image marketing campaign.
This review was written about the Belvoir Downstairs Theatre performance of The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe in September 2013. The play is returning to Sydney for a run at the Sydney Opera House Studio. There was a row of empty chairs at the matinee performance of The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe I attended. Right in the front row, they seemed to stand in for the thousands, millions of people who have turned away, intentionally or unintentionally, from the stories told in the play. In a powerful two-hour exploration of violence, war, survival and hope in Africa and Australia, the silence, the emptiness of those chairs seemed to cut viscerally. The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe is not like any other play you'll see on a main stage (though it should be.) It's not even very like the other verbatim/community collaboration projects you might have seen recently. It's a bit rougher around the edges, a bit less slick. It doesn't fit so easily into Belvoir's tiny Downstairs space — though it would easily fill a village square. It's a little more naive, and that is absolutely intended to be a compliment. Director Ros Horin is less concerned with exploring theatrical strategies than she is in getting stories heard in the clearest, most fulfilling way, for both the teller and the told. To this end, she uses four African women, all migrants to Australia and attendees of a cultural group organised by one of the performers (Rosemary Kariuki-Fyfe), three actors, a singer and two dancers to explore what brought these women to Australia, what they left behind and how important it is for them to be heard. It is not possible to render in words the absolute horror and degradation these women have experienced, nor can I do justice to the transformative experience of sharing a tiny room, actual air-space and ability to touch flesh with a woman who has not only survived, for example, being a child soldier and sexual assault victim in Sierra Leone, migrated half way across the world, started a family, returned to Sierra Leone retrieve her daughter and bring her to Australia, but is capable of standing in front of a group of one hundred new strangers every night to relieve the experience. There are no flashing lights, no amazing transformations, no clever tricks. Just the truth. Which is absolutely galling. Horin and team navigate this obviously sensitive territory with beautiful sensitivity, laying clear for the audience when an actor is standing in for one of the women, replaying for us rehearsal discussions about boundaries, and perhaps most importantly injecting a healthy dose of humour and joie de vivre into the proceedings, which provides a surely necessary note of hope. You see, the important thing is that these women got out. They got here. And they thrived. And they obviously believe passionately in their right to be heard. Up until relatively recently, sexual abuse of women was not recognised as a war crime. Of the thousands of men who perpetuated sexual, physical and psychological violence against women as members of armies or rebel groups, only the most minute handful have ever been prosecuted. Rape is such a common occurrence that African women are told there is no point complaining about it, to get over it, move on. The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe enact the deeply radical decision to ignore that advice. The Belvoir season is, according to the website, completely sold out — but that's what they said about my matinee. As we hurtle towards an election which has been pockmarked with shallow, personality-based sniping, factual evasions and a race to the subterranean on refugee policy on behalf of both major parties, it'd be well worth your while to spend a few hours camping out at Belvoir in the hope of scoring a ticket to something that might remind you what a real problem looks like. And that Australia — as a nation, and as individuals of conscience — has a role to play in fixing it. Don't let there be an empty seat in the house: these ladies, and the thousands they represent, deserve your witness.
Can building a garden win the affection of a royal landscape architect, as well as the respect of the king? That may be the plot of A Little Chaos, but it isn't the point. There are more fascinating things afoot in this period romance. Kate Winslet stars as Sabine De Barra, gifted with a green thumb and fingers to match, as well as the gall to want to use them. She flouts the conventions of 17-century France in other ways, too: in voicing her opinions and in shunning the tradition of manicured lawns that has seen Andre Le Notre (Matthias Schoenaerts) design the outdoor areas of King Louis XIV (Alan Rickman). Yet, something about Sabine intrigues Andre, inspiring him to hire her to assist with a new project. Her vision of an alfresco addition to the Versailles palace, complete with a complex water feature, doesn't conform to expectation — just like Sabine herself. Together, the trio treads a tentative path to a more modern way of thinking, and not just in terms of gardening. This is Sabine and Andre's tale — including the threat to their blooming bond from his promiscuous yet possessive wife (Helen McCrory) — but the king's acceptance of a landscaper outside the norm is key to the story's gentle breaking down of gender stereotypes. Of course, in keeping with the time it depicts, the steps made are small in size, though they remain considerable in their fictionalised impact. Seeing Sabine strive and hopefully succeed always feels like the film's main goal, as paired nicely with a peek into what life was really like for women in the royal court. Indeed, as handsomely acted as the entire affair is, and as swept up in the period details, the slow-burning love story is actually the least interesting aspect of A Little Chaos. It's not that Winslet and Schoenaerts don't sell the romance. Their performances — her sorrowful but spirited efforts especially — are among the highlights of the film. It's just that the script rightfully cares more for the characters' professional rather than personal endeavours, and so does the audience. That would be the doing of Rickman, who co-wrote the screenplay and directed the feature in addition to acting as the monarch in the middle. In his second stint as a filmmaker after 1997's The Winter Guest, the man best known to many as Harry Potter's Severus Snape is delicate and determined, two traits the movie champions. Rickman also takes the obvious route more than once, whether lingering on the sumptuous scenery or letting Stanley Tucci turn up as yet another comic cad, once again stealing all his scenes. The formula behind the finesse is hardly surprising; the feature is called A Little Chaos, after all. The movie's title is clearly designed to reflect its heroine's wild ways within a system of order, and it does so. That it also captures the film's willingness to test boundaries within the tale itself, but not in its treatment, couldn't be more fitting.
Once a month the MCA offers an extra late night party through its galleries. During ARTBAR, general public gets to explore its collection in the new light of late-nite, guided through the after-hours experience by a rotating roster of some of Sydney's best up and coming artists. Each month this curating guest artist peppers the gallery with a selection of live art extras, tours or performance. This month's curator? Lauren Brincat. While a lot of people often get a little worried (and, often, pretty excited) about visiting Mexico, and many are also, more sensibly, worried about the prospect of traversing Mexico City's often chaotic traffic, very few people overcome this anxiety enough to deliberately navigate that city's colonial-era streets by horseback. Lauren Brincat did just that for performance video Mexican Standoff, just part of Brincat's long history of making dangerous art amongst Mexican traffic. She recently brought the same sensibility, Mexican standoff and horses to the Art Gallery of New South Wales during Pythagoras, Praxiteles, Anthemius…. For ARTBAR, the program looks sadly horse free, but there will be processions galore as the Australian Navy Band leads marching tours of the gallery, Bree van Reyk composes Mexico City soundscapes, dancehall lessons abound on the sculpture terrace and Tyson Koh lays out a brief history of how video killed the radio star.
For the third time, the annual Sydney Rides Festival is set to get back into the saddle on October 13. In conjunction with The Spokes People, the festival celebrates all things bicycle as Sydney falls more and more in love with our bikes. The festival is a slew of events that promote the benefits of riding a bike, from family-friendly rides around the city to bike speed dating and the National Ride2Work day. And for those who simply want to watch, the Sydney Rides Film Festival will play shorts and features at Dendy Opera Quays on October 17-18. The coveted green jersey will be awarded to the winner of the Gold Sprints on October 25, and the stationary race will take place at the Alexandria Hotel. On October 27, the inaugural polka dot jersey will be given to the first Mountain Goat Lord in Lycra — the winner of the Hill Climb Race up Observatory Hill. Image: Ian Sane via photopin cc.
2013 marks the first year of the Sydney Intercultural Film Festival, a celebration that aims to connect Sydneysiders with the stories, sounds and tastes of the many cultures of the world. The festival runs from November 13–17 with events and screenings at multiple venues across the city. The hub of the festival will be in Haymarket’s Belmore Park, which will be transformed into Cinema Park for five days of entertainment. The park will host screenings of films from 33 countries including China, India, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Poland and Australia. The festivities also include music, arts and comedy performances; film workshops, demonstrations and seminars; signing and interactive sessions with celebrities and filmmakers; kid’s rides; costume competitions; raffles and prize giveaways; and more than 100 international food, merchandise and entertainment stalls. Whether you’re a film fanatic or culture crazed, there is something for everyone at Cinema Park. And you certainly know the food will be good. Cinema Park is open from 10.30am-9.30pm. Image: K.P. Jayasankar behind the camera.
BYOB. Nope, it's not Bring Your Own Booze. It's Bring Your Own Beamer. That's beam of light, not the flashy car that bankers like. German artist Raphael Rozendaal started these one-night-only exhibitions across the globe, and it's all about beaming images from screens. Portable projection. Computers. Moving images. And all just for one night. This is the first time the beamers have come across to Sydney, and this one, curated by Susan Bui, promises to be an explosion of colour, sound, chaos and energy. The artists will transform Archive Space's walls, ceiling and floors with art installations that project light and sounds from all angles. And the artists? David Manley, Lisa Sammut, David Greenhalgh, Liam Ambrose, William Bennett, Katrina Stamatopoulos, James Nguyen, Ari Zainal, Optic Soup, Bryden Williams, Daniel Connell Eric Davidson and Haidee Ireland as well as Bui are all flashing a little of what they've got.
Cosmic bass visionary Flying Lotus (aka Steven Ellison) specialises in crafting a whirlwind of sounds you've never heard in combination before. Praised as the most revered producer of his generation, he is the supreme genre-traverser and genre-creator. Before sneaking down south to showcase his mind-melting magic at Golden Plains Festival, he will be treating Sydneysiders to the years-in-the-making audiovisual spectacular Layer 3 at the Opera House on March 9, 2014. Over the years, Ellison has carved out a unique brand of ambient hiptronica that folds together the pulse of contemporary urban life with sci-fi futurism. With his hypnotically off-kilter beats, Flylo's musical palette is meticulously designed. He creates immersive soundscapes that voyage through downtempo jazz, pulsing electronica, and 1990s trip-hop. In an interview with the UK magazine The Wire, he described his recent album Until the Quiet Comes as a more pared back attempt at "a children's record, a record for kids to dream to." And true, there is a sense of musical wanderlust embedded in this record, with its thick dreamy textures and mystical harmonies. Ellison has had a busy year collaborating with Odd Future's Earl Sweatshirt and Kendrick Lamar, as well as curating the soundtrack for Grand Theft Auto V. Thus, we are truly fortunate to have scheduled in a session of head-spinning avant-garde electronica. This one-off performance will be a swirling array of video-game funk and room-rupturing beats, translating basslines into cinematic beauty. It is fair to say that no-one can do what Flying Lotus does. Simply unmissable. Tickets will go on sale at 9am on November 15, 2013, from the Sydney Opera House website. https://youtube.com/watch?v=rbuQuvoc0YE
The upcoming Sydney Festival has got some pretty weird and wonderful acts on the bill. But few will be have as little accompaniment and yet be quite as astonishing as Tom Thum. Hailing from Brisbane, Thum has been described as a “beatboxing virtuoso”. A one-man sound system, Thum performs with only a microphone and his voice, producing music that ranges from hip hop to Soft Cell to the sound of trumpets in New Orleans circa 1938. Gaining recent popularity with a string of world tours and accumulated accolades with his 'Tom Tom Crew', this is Thum’s first solo appearance to date. And it looks to be him at his best — a kaleidoscope of impossible beats, phenomenal notes and sounds that just generally evoke an entire orchestra worth of instruments. Want more Sydney Festival events? Check out our top ten picks of the festival. Image by Conan White.
One of Melbourne’s foremost artists, Jon Campbell is heavily influenced by a "lefty, westie, working-class view", fusing together art, music, national identity and popular culture. Campbell’s current solo exhibition, Bewdyful, is a continuation of his exploration of suburban Australia and its unique vernacular. Blazing with punchy phrases and cheeky one-liners, the glossy finish of enamel paint on plywood evokes a strong pop aesthetic. The luminous and colourful phrases are painted in Campbell’s hand-crafted font. Some works channel the slick veneer of advertising, whilst others are more along the lines of hasty signage or graffiti. They range from listing the band members of Crazy Horse, framed by a border of sunny yellow spray paint, to the poignantly simple Sad Times, a lonely little phrase almost engulfed by its grey background. A personal favourite is the humorous catch phrase typically uttered by the bigoted 60-something, I’m not racist, but... a sly poke at Australia's xenophobia and condition of self-denial. There are also loud suburban moments as represented by Friday Night Dilemma, featuring the words ‘Fish and Chips or Pizza?’, as if directly plucked from the living room banter of blue-collar Australia. It is as though an animated verbal exchange is taking place in the gallery space. The overall atmosphere of the exhibition is joyous and upbeat; though some of his works may be boisterous, they are never mean-spirited. There is also a musical sensibility imbued in Campbell’s practice. Paying homage to Bob Dylan, he has been known to replicate the iconic ‘cue-card’ routine both in painting and performance. These music-based acknowledgements are endowed with cultural codes and attitudes. His works, laden with nostalgia, are manifestations of a generation, a sub-culture, a time and place. What comes out of Campbell’s paintings is the visceral feeling of a sun-scorched afternoon filled with backyard boozing. Unlike the blatancy of an Australia Day parade, Campbell’s brand of patriotism resides in the unassuming Australian backyard, equipped with a stubby holder and cricket bat. You might have also heard about the Jon Campbell art tram that was recently unveiled as part of the Melbourne Art Fair. Dressing up the old burgundy and gold with a lurid pop overcoat, it is one of a handful of mobile murals that will be rolling around the city for the next six months.
Even lifelong vegans are likely to learn something when Silvereye’s Sam Miller and Urbane’s Alejandro Cancino get together for an animal-free dinner on 23 February. The two chefs will create no fewer than fifteen courses, without using so much as a drop of honey or a splash of milk. Those familiar with Cancino should know that he’s a committed vegan. Meanwhile, Silvereye has a number of winning vegan dishes on its menu already, including crowd-pleasers like 'Tommy's Turnip' and 'Beetroot and Blackcurrant'. You can expect them to make an appearance. The fifteen courses will consist of six snacks, six savoury dishes and three desserts. You’ll score this epic feast for $150 a head. Add matching wines for $90 or go ultra-healthy and make it matching juices for $65.
Ever wondered why all of Merivale's venues look so spiffing, yet still manage to retain their uniqueness? Want to know how a sommelier makes decisions when putting together a wine list? Not sure why your Instagram posts aren't attracting as many hits as Kim Kardashian's? Can't figure out why you're so addicted to chocolate? If you're a questioner, seeker, sampler or Instagrammer, March Into Merivale's Show and Tell Mondays are for you. Every week, an expert — or a bunch of experts — will get together to talk about what they do and why they're so good at it. And you won't just be using your ears at these sessions — they'll be offering you samples of their wares too, be it chocolate, wine or some hands-on Insta tips. There will be five sessions, held each week during March into Merivale 2016. SHOW & TELL MONDAYS FEBRUARY 15: Chocsessive — Lorraine's Patisserie FEBRUARY 22: Wine Not? — J&M FEBRUARY 29: #Instaskillz — Subtype Store MARCH 7: Style Me Merivale — Ivy Ballroom MARCH 14: Chocsessive — Lorraine's Patisserie
If you're a fan of Imogen Heap's keyboard sound or the arrangements on Coldplay's Viva la Vida and/or the Monsters soundtrack, then you might not know it, but you're a fan of the work of Jon Hopkins. The musician-composer-arranger-producer extraordinaire has definitely made a sizeable mark on the music production business. In fact, the success of Hopkins's international collaborations has had a habit of overshadowing his solo work. Up until now, that is. His fourth album, Immunity, released in June this year, provoked some serious critical attention – Pitchfork, bestowing upon it a coveted 8.5, went so far as to predict Immunity's likelihood to 'catapult [Hopkins] to stardom in his own story'. This month Hopkins will bring his trio to Australia to play the Meredith Music Festival and sideshows in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. He was last here in 2009, performing at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Luminous Festival curated by Brian Eno. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y8eQR5DMous
Director Emmanuelle Bercot takes Catherine Deneuve on a wild ride across the French countryside in this eccentric and funny — if somewhat higgledy-piggledy — road trip meets family comedy. Deneuve is Bettie. Crowned Miss Brittany in her glory days, she’s now the middle-aged manager of a failing restaurant and caregiver to her interfering mother (Claude Gensac). When her non-committal lover takes up with an attractive 25-year-old, she jumps into her golden Mercedes and cuts loose. As the melancholic strain of Rufus Wainwright’s ‘This Love Affair’ rolls out, we know that we’re not about to see Deneuve in her signature ice-maiden guise. Even though Bercot invented Bettie specifically for the French icon, she certainly wasn’t limited by a temptation to typecast. One of On My Way’s many charms is its exploration of Deneuve’s warmer, more vulnerable side. Bettie’s spontaneous departure carries her on a string of outrageous adventures. The bumming of a cigarette from a solitary, timeworn farmer leads to an unexpectedly intimate conversation. In a sleazy nightclub, an infatuated young local named Marco (Paul Hamy) employs an excess of caipirinhas in a rather uproarious attempt at seduction involving an enormous pink afro. Finally, a phone call from an enraged, bitter daughter (Camille) means that Bettie winds up with company — in the form of her grandson, Charly (Nemo Schiffman). On one hand, the scattershot narrative construction, the haphazard unravelling of characterisation and occasional improbabilities run the risk of losing momentum. The depiction of Bettie’s troubled relationship with her daughter, for example, never penetrates beyond a fairly simplistic sketch. On the other, the script is pleasingly fresh and witty — light on it might be, but it’s thankfully devoid of contrived, overworked passages. A raw, real-life feel permeates throughout, intensified by Guillaume Schiffman’s (The Artist) adoption of a handheld shooting style and the casting of Deneuve alongside relative unknowns and even non-professional actors. Indeed, much of On My Way’s appeal lies in Deneuve’s embracing of such an atypical role — even when confused, waterlogged and run ragged by the vagaries of the road, she still oozes charisma.
That staple of summer, Maltesers Moonlight Cinema, is back for its 18th season of open-air cinema. And they've put together another cracking program to tickle the cinematic tastebuds of old and young alike — from advance screenings of the hottest blockbusters to cult classics, blood-rushing action flicks to heart warming rom-coms. Centennial Park will be the Sydney venue for the series. After the daytime bustle of joggers, personal trainers and cyclists, hire a beanbag or simply sprawl out on the grass under the stars with a loved one. Don't forget to indulge in some delicious snacks and perhaps a few beverages to complete your cinematic experience. It's the perfect way to unwind after a hard day and usher in those balmy summer nights. There's also the option of 'Gold Grass' tickets, which gets you a bean-bed in the front rows and designated waitstaff. New releases include the much anticipated return of Ron Burgundy in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues as well as sneak previews of big Boxing Day releases The Railway Man and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Sometimes its the classics that can be most fun, however. Embrace your inner dag and negotiate how much a set of jousting sticks should cost with the much-loved and highly quote-able Aussie comedy The Castle. Or roll out the picnic rug and share a meal fit for Jehovah over Monty Python's 1979 gut-buster, The Life of Brian. If there's one thing Moonlight Cinema has proven itself more than capable of, it's cherry-picking the most enjoyable moments in cinema and creating a relaxed and sociable atmosphere to boot. Tickets will go on sale from November 7.
In response to recent events surrounding the culpability of surveillance networks, UTS's newest exhibit offers a curious perspective on 21st century surveillance methods. Trace Recordings is a collection of works by 11 artists who use a variety of media to examine modern surveillance mechanisms and explore how they affect our behaviour and perceptions of public and private spaces. Using both analytical and playful methods, Trace Recordings examines the scale and intricacy of surveillance technologies from an artistic perspective. Works range from top-secret NSA listening stations to Stranger Visions, Heather Dewey-Hagborg's series of sculptures that went viral after she modelled their features off DNA from discarded chewing gum. Following the exhibition opening are a number of public events, including a panel discussion, UTSpeaks lecture, and interactive workshops such as CV Dazzle, an experimentation with makeup styles to distort facial recognition software. If you’re a fan of crime scene investigation dramas, this is your chance to step into one. The exhibition opening is from 6-8pm on October 22. Other events are at various times. For more info, see the UTS website
Richard Curtis is the master of the rom-com. The man behind Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill, he's the king of date nights out and girlie evenings in. He's also the man behind About Time, his latest offering starring the relative unknown Domhnall Gleeson as Tim and the new queen of cute romantic leads (since Julia Roberts hung up her heels), Rachel McAdams. The film begins on the completely ridiculous premise, explained by Tim father (the ever superb Bill Nighy ) that the men in their family can travel in time. Tim takes this skill and uses it, not for monetary gain, nor to try and right the wrongs of the past, but rather to help him get a girlfriend. It then goes on to become a love story which is rather quickly resolved into being the perfect romance, with the aid of the occasional trip into the past. Questions about the butterfly effect and other pesky time travel issues are swept under the carpet in favour of smooching in front of buskers and dancing in the rain (which has never been timed more perfectly than in a Curtis film). And most of the time, you let them. Despite the film lacking a keen eye for detail in the plot, every attempt at stepping back and casting a critical eye over the film is thwarted by the soundtrack, Nighy's charm and Gleeson's unbelievably adorable wave. These elements all conspire in drawing you more comfortably into your seat so you can smile at the antics, laugh at the jokes and cry when the heartstrings are so professionally plucked by the virtuoso Curtis. So while the set-up is flimsy, the minor characters caricatures and the love story all too quickly resolved, there are enough moments of mirthful giggling and nostalgic smiling to keep you plodding along over every jolting plot hole. And with the added bonus that the main man is a ginger? About time that happened really. https://youtube.com/watch?v=7OIFdWk83no
If you like your beats smooth and your drops sweaty, Paradisco is where it's at. Selling out Melbourne’s Liberty Social late last year, this Herculean electronic effort comes straight from the creators of No Dice Paradise. The good vibes-lovin' team has joined forces with Knock Knock Magazine and Paradise for an epic interstate meeting of beats-cranking minds. From Melbourne, there's electronic AV duo friendships, who've just released new single 'My Luv is Bad 4 U'. Representing fused hemispheric influences (via Sydney, Brooklyn and London) is Phondupe, the duo creating dark, jittery trip-hop via Skype correspondence and online long distance production. After recording in NYC with New York native Justin Dean Thomas, the pair have released a killer new EP by the name of Greenhouse. Keeping things local are the hip hop chilltronics of Embassy, the downtempo grooves of Twin Caverns and brand new three-piece World Champion, who dub Can, The Rapture and Primal Scream major influences. Green as it gets, the threesome will release their new single via Home In The Sky later this year. At just ten clams (that's $2 a set or about 1.2 glasses of vino), it's an absolute steal to get low and check out some of some best new beats-dropping talent out.
If it's ethereal indie folk you're after, Dustin Tebbutt is your man. His music is described by his record label as "the music for your autumns and winters" which, in our opinion, couldn't be more accurate. The haunting isolation that comes through his high echoey vocals and crisp acoustic guitar certainly create feelings of isolation and introspection. Well, it's a good thing he's coming to town as the temperature is starting to drop. Tebbutt's latest national tour is for his latest EP, Bones, and it's gorgeous. First single 'Bones' is much like what we saw on debut EP The Breach; incredibly entrancing music that has the ability to transport its listeners far away from anyone or anything. If you enjoy the thoughtful sounds of Bon Iver or Sigur Rós, then Dustin Tebbutt is a local boy you definitely shouldn't miss. https://youtube.com/watch?v=OysNiYXWga0
