Nestled on a corner terrace in Chippendale is an unassuming Abercrombie Street wonder. Offering Korean fried chook in a range of flavours — some of which are special one-offs, alongside loaded burgers and at an affordable price point — Joy is a must-try addition to your fried chicken hit list (or try our lineup of the best fried chicken in Sydney). Owner Kay Hwang is a Sydney hospitality stalwart. Hwang moved to Australia from South Korea 19 years ago before professionally training and opening Sergeant Lok in The Rocks in 2020. The pandemic became the catalyst for Hwang to step away from Sergeant Lok and shifted focus to a life-long love: fried chicken. According to Hwang, the concept behind Joy Korean Fried Chicken is about a great fried chicken spot where customers can order smaller amounts — like one or two pieces instead of having to go the whole bird. That's exactly what you can get: crispy fried chicken pieces on the bone for $4.50–5.90 a pop, plus 180-gram serve boneless pieces, accompanied by coleslaw and pickles. From here you face the tough decision about what flavour you choose. Your options include sweet and spicy, honey soy, lemon and parsley, and bulgogi, with special edition limited-time flavours popping up on the menu regularly. If you're looking for a heftier meal, hungrier patrons can get all flavours available in burger form or go for the Joy Box combo of fried chicken, a burger, coleslaw, pickles, chips and a drink for under $20. A real bargain.
One of the most significant fashion designers of the past century is the subject of one of Australia's most significant fashion exhibitions, with the National Gallery of Victoria dedicating its big summer blockbuster show to the late, great Alexander McQueen. For fans of pioneering, boundary-pushing threads, Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse's four-month season promises to be bigger and better than Christmas — complete with more than 120 garments designed by the icon, plus artworks, sketches, videos and photographic works that inspired him. First revealed back in May, and now on display from Sunday, December 11, 2022—Sunday, April 16, 2023, Mind, Mythos, Muse has taken over the NGV International. Inside the Melbourne cultural institution, fashion devotees will find walls and halls filled with a stunning display, as created in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). All things McQueen first graced LACMA, and now it's Australia's turn. While the LA venue organised the exhibition, drawing upon more than 60 garments and accessories from its own holdings, it contacted NGV about both contributing and running its own season. That's where 50 designs by McQueen from the NGV Collection come in, plus other artworks from each institution. Don't go thinking that this is a standard retrospective, however. As Katie Somerville, the NGV's Senior Curator of Fashion and Textiles, explained back when Mind, Mythos, Muse was announced, "it's not a go-to-whoa examination of him from a more biographical point of view". Instead, the aim is to go both deep and broad, and highlight his many sources of inspiration, "exploring him as a creative soul". The NGV has been hoping to put an exhibition like this together ever since the designer first made a splash in the early 90s, and Mind, Mythos, Muse does indeed venture back that far. The showcase features McQueen-designed items dating back to 1994, and 25 different seasonal collections — with 20 seasons covered from its the NGV's own holdings alone. Accordingly, attendees can check out examples from the autumn-winter 1995–1996 Highland Rape collection, the autumn-winter 2006–2007 The Widows of Culloden range, and spring-summer 2010's Plato's Atlantis, McQueen's final complete collection before his death in February 2010. Various sections of the exhibition dive into McQueen's oeuvre in different ways. With Mythos, for example, three collections inspired by mythological and religious belief systems sit together. Then, in Fashioned Narratives, four collections that showcase his knack for world-building are in the spotlight. Next comes Evolution and Existence, which hones in on his interest in life cycles and the human condition — and Technique and Innovation, which is rather self-explanatory. Finally, Dangerous Bodies is all about early collections with a focus on eroticism and empowerment. Helping pull together all of the above are behind-the-scenes snaps by photographer Robert Fairer, taking audiences backstage at McQueen's shows — because his parades were an event and an art — and 80-plus historical artworks spanning painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts and works on paper, all hailing LACMA and NGV's collections. "Juxtaposing Alexander McQueen's designs with artworks in a wide range of media opens up a new perspective on his process and artistic legacy. We are thrilled to share this groundbreaking exhibition with Australian audiences," said LACMA CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director Michael Govan. "Alexander McQueen is beloved for his boundary-pushing and highly conceptual designs that set him apart from his contemporaries. With meticulous craftmanship and an intellectual rigour seldom seen on the runways before or since, he created a new vocabulary for fashion design that still resonates today. Comprising more than 120 works, this showstopping exhibition unites the collections of LACMA and the NGV for the very first time, and celebrates the timeless work of one of the true icons of late twentieth century fashion," added NGV Director Tony Ellwood AM. The NGV is no stranger to big fashion exhibitions while the weather is warm, of course, with Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse following its massive celebration of Coco Chanel's work over last summer. Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse displays from Sunday, December 11, 2022—Sunday, April 16, 2023 at the NGV International, 180 St Kilda Road, Melbourne. For more information, or to buy tickets, head to the gallery's website. Images: Installation view of Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse on display at NGV International from 11 December 2022 - 16 April 2023. Photos: Tom Ross and Sean Fennessy.
Canberra music, food and art festival Spilt Milk is set to return to the capital this November, celebrating its third outing with a suitably huge lineup. Heading up the bill is none other than US hip hop star Childish Gambino, fresh off the back of a #1 Billboard Charts debut for his single This Is America. He hasn't yet announced any other Australian shows, but Spilt Milk isn't billing his appearance as an exclusive, so chances are he'll announce at least a few more shows. (We've still got out fingers crossed that he bring his Pharos festival here after New Zealand.) He'll be joined at the capital's Commonwealth Park on November 17 by fellow international stars, UK pop legends The Wombats and LA producer RL Grime. There's also plenty of homegrown goodness on the menu, with the likes of Sydney singer-songwriter Vera Blue, indie-pop sensation Jack River, dance floor darling Hayden James and Canberra's own high-energy duo Peking Duk all set to take the Spilt Milk stage. But the musical lineup's not to be outdone by the rest of the program, with a ripper serve of visual art, tasty eats and pop-up bars on the cards. Get ready for a multisensory feast, as Hamburg-based artist Stefanie Thiele leads a team of local talent in creating a wondrous playground of installations and art experiences. And keep those taste buds satisfied throughout the day, with eats from the likes of Dirty Bird Food Truck, Bao Brothers, Happy As Larry and Chur Burger. If you fancy being a part of Spilt Milk round three, you'd best not dilly dally — the festival's debut event in 2016 sold out in a mere 18 minutes, while the following year's tickets were all snapped up within nine minutes. This year, Canberra locals will get first dibs, with Homegrown tickets on sale July 1. After that, pre-sale tickets will be available Australia-wide from noon on July 3, with a general admission release on sale at 12pm, Thursday, July 5. In the meantime, here's what you came for — the full lineup for Spilt Milk 2018. SPILT MILK 2018 LINEUP Blanke Camouflage Rose Channel Tres Childish Gambino Cub Sport Ebony Boadu Hatchie Hayden James Jack River Kinder Kira Puru Kwame Manu Crook$ Methyl Ethel Miss Blanks Moaning Lisa Peking Duk RL Grime Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever Shockone Skeggs Thandi Phoenix The Jungle Giants The Wombats Thundamentals Vera Blue Willaris. K YG ARTISTS Faith Kerehona JBR Roskoe Stefanie Thiele VOIR (With more to be announced) FOOD Bao Brothers Eatery Chur Burger Dirty Bird Food Truck Happy As Larry Sofrito Paella Image: Cole Bennetts.
Unleash some creative talent or start a new hobby by signing up to a short course in something a little bit different. You could draft that TV sitcom you’ve always wanted to write, dust of the ukulele you’ve got hiding in the cupboard (we know you have one), or shake your tail feather at a beginner’s burlesque course. To help get the creative juices flowing, here are Concrete Playground’s picks of the best short courses to enrol in this winter in Sydney. Hooping for Beginners Learn how to hula hoop with hip-swaying extraordinaire Bunny Star, founding member of Australia’s one and only hula hooping troupe, The Hoopaholics. Sydney Community College is running eight Saturday lunchtime sessions to help you master the skills of hula whilst simultaneously toning your abs and gaining one fine talent to share at your next work social. When: 11.30am-1pm Saturdays, starting 4 AugustWhere: RozelleCost: $159 Learn the Ukulele Who wouldn’t want to learn to play a jolly ukulele? It’s apparently the easiest stringed instrument to learn and you don’t even need to be able to read music to enjoy the four sessions run by City East Community College. When: 7pm-9pm Wednesdays, starting 22 AugustWhere: RandwickCost: $125, plus $35 to purchase a pre-tuned ukulele (optional) Writing Crime Fancy yourself as the next Agatha Christie? Expose your crime-writing superpowers at this one-day intensive writing course with crime novelist Phillipa (PD) Martin, creator of Aussie FBI profiler Sophie Anderson. Run by the NSW Writers’ Centre, the course covers practical and theoretical tips to get you inspired. When: 10am to 4pm on Saturday 1 SeptemberWhere: RozelleCost: $165 Drop-in acting class Express yourself without breaking the bank at a free, open acting workshop run by the Actors College of Theatre & Television. ‘Drop in’ by nature, but more ‘book in advance, then drop in later’, the sessions are suited to anyone who wants to try acting, beginner or advanced. When: 6.30-8.30pm various weeknights, 10.30am-12.30pm specific Saturdays Where: Pitt St, SydneyCost: Free Alterations Made Easy Spend a Saturday learning how to transform your wardrobe with a few simple adjustments: crop those jeans, take up a hemline, transform a jacket into a waistcoat and go from winter to summer-ready, without hitting the shops. You’ll need to bring clothes to alter and a sewing machine if you have one. When: 9.30am-3.30pm on Saturday 4 AugustWhere: AlexandriaCost: $95 Beginners Burlesque Learn the art of traditional burlesque glamour, including twirls, shimmys and seductive strides, taught by Miss Anna Felactic. The four-week beginner level course from Love Rouge requires no previous experience, just a pair of killer heels. When: Tuesday evenings and Saturday afternoons, starting late JulyWhere: Surry HillsCost: $100 Sushi & Sashimi Workshop Under the guidance of master sushi chef Hideo Dekura, prepare and create your own sushi and sashimi dishes at Sydney Fish Market. When: 11am-3pm on Saturday 4 AugustWhere: PyrmontCost: $155 Stand-up School You have to be pretty serious about comedy to sign up for this five-week course, it’s certainly not for the stage-shy. Starting in September, Australia’s School of Stand-up Comedy will help you sharpen your wit and perfect your act to take you from funny to hilarious. When: 12-2.30pm or 3-5.30pm Saturdays, starting 8 SeptemberWhere: Star Bar, Sydney CBDCost: $374.99
Good news, Sydney commuters: the new Sydney Metro line connecting Sydenham in the southwest with Chatswood north of the harbour is ready to welcome its first passengers. No, really this time. The original August 4 opening date was cancelled with only two days' notice due to a (quite literally) shocking accident during the line's final tests, which resulted in a firefighter participating in safety drills being electrocuted, although they were thankfully not seriously injured. The national independent safety regular is now satisfied that the new train system is finally passenger-worthy, clearing the way for all nine stations on the new extension of the Metro to open on Monday, August 19. The announcement is not only good news for passengers but also for the hospitality businesses at the Metro's new stations. Major dining hubs at Martin Place, Victoria Cross and Waterloo have been developed to take advantage of the new influx of Metro passengers. The first of the new Metro services is set to ride the rails from 4.54am on Monday, August 19, when the first ever northbound service from Sydenham departs on its way to Chatswood. The new driverless train system will whisk Sydneysiders across the city at incredible speeds, making the 15.5-kilometre journey from Sydenham to Chatswood in just 22 minutes and the journey from Central Station to Martin Place in just four minutes. The next phase of the Sydney Metro extension works is already underway. The line between Sydenham and Bankstown will be closed for 12 months as new tracks, stations and other vital infrastructure are installed. When it opens in 2025, the Metro will offer the city's fastest ever travel between the far west and the CBD. For more details about services on new City and Southwest Metro Line, visit the Sydney Metro website. Images: Transport for NSW
Remember when your mum told you that being popular wasn't everything? There are many situations where that advice holds true. Take watching movies, for example. Sure, superhero flicks look great on the big screen — but for every blockbuster you head along to, there's probably a heap of smaller films you're missing out on. They're the small players in a world that focuses on big hits, and the ones that pop up at fewer cinemas, run for shorter spans, and don't break attendance records. But just because they don't get as much love, doesn't mean they're not worth viewing. Indeed, among the ranks of the under-seen lurk some of the year's best efforts. Take these ten, which — by way of a limited screening season or lacklustre local box office performance — you may have missed, but we think you really should take the time to see. A MOST VIOLENT YEAR It has been a good year for Oscar Isaac. He's about to feature in one of the year's biggest films (that is, Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens), he made an unnerving impact in the best artificial intelligence movie of 2015 (Ex Machina), and he starred in a heartbreaking HBO TV series made by The Wire's David Simon (Show Me A Hero). But before all three, he teamed up with always exceptional Jessica Chastain in A Most Violent Year, a moody, '80s mob thriller from All Is Lost writer-director J. C. Chandor. The tale of an honest man corrupted as he follows his ambitions might seem familiar, but there's nothing that's routine — and plenty that's riveting — about this devastating dissection of the American dream. Read our full review. THE TRIBE Writer-director Miroslav Slaboshpitsky's first feature was always going to be a hard sell. The film runs for more than two hours without a word of dialogue, a hint of music or even any subtitles, with its characters — a group of classmates at a Ukrainian boarding school for the hearing impaired — communicating only through sign language. And it's not just a difficult concept; in an effort that becomes both violent and haunting — all the more so because it demands audiences pay the utmost attention to what they can see — it's also difficult to watch. Reports of fainting are widespread, but those who can stomach its brutal sights will find a movie completely unlike anything else they've ever seen before. Read our full review. LONDON ROAD When the National Theatre turned the real life 'Suffolk Strangler' case into a stage production, it probably wasn't expected. Adapting the play into a film shouldn't have been quite as surprising, but the results certainly are astonishing. Filmmaker Rufus Norris (Broken) teamed up once again with writer Alecky Blythe to bring the theatre work to the screen — not only telling the tale of the murders of five prostitutes that rocked England's Ipswich in 2006, but charting the media frenzy that followed and the reactions throughout the community. What makes London Road stand out isn't its narrative, though, but its approach. The words uttered by actual residents of the area, reporters covering the case and sex workers become a musical sung in stuttered bursts and choreographed in a highly stylised fashion. It also features a memorable performance by Olivia Colman, as well as appearance by Tom Hardy as a taxi driver. TANNA Two youths fall in love, but external forces — i.e. the wishes of their families — complicate matters. With that description, you're likely thinking about Romeo and Juliet — however, there's more to the first feature shot entirely in Vanuatu than simply following in William Shakespeare's footsteps. In fact, the film actually stems from a local tribal tragedy, uncovered by writer-director-producer duo Martin Butler and Bentley Dean after spending seven months living with the indigenous Yakel community, and then working with them to make the movie. Calling Tanna authentic is underselling its heartfelt account of the story, its impassioned performances and its arresting images — the latter of which makes the most of the South Pacific archipelago nation's lush greenery and ash-spewing volcanoes. GIRLHOOD With Girlhood, the third time is the charm for filmmaker Céline Sciamma — although, with the likes of Water Lilies and Tomboy also on her cinematic resume, the first and second times were pretty up there too. Her film might sound like a female version of Richard Linklater's 2014 hit, but even though it also serves up a coming-of-age narrative, that couldn't be further from the truth. Charting the tough times faced by 16-year-old Marieme (Karidja Touré) on the outskirts of Paris, the movie tackles maturity on the margins with a raw, realistic and intimate approach — and with stunning performances from the largely untrained cast, too. Plus, it ensures viewers will always feel fondly about Rihanna's 'Diamonds', which provides the soundtrack for the film's most striking scene. Read our full review. PARTISAN Trust a film about a charismatic figure that lures single mothers and their children into his cult-like enclave to have the same mesmerising impact upon its viewers. In relating the experience of the oldest boy in the commune, Alexander (Jeremy Chabriel), when he's deemed mature enough to complete special tasks, Ariel Kleiman's debut feature is the kind of movie you can't look away from — even if you want to. Partisan might be inspired by actual accounts of child assassins, but this is an atmospheric take on allegiance and rebellion, rather than an action flick. It's also the latest effort to feature a hypnotic performance by Vincent Cassel, who's no stranger to playing menacing men, but is rarely given a role so simultaneously threatening and understated. Read our full review. '71 The complexities and contradictions of war are thrust onto the screen in '71, and so is rising star Jack O'Connell. If both seem frenetic and anxious, that's understandable — the film recounts the terrors of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, as seen through the perspective of a rookie British solider left in unsympathetic territory by his squadron, after all. Director Yann Demange splices the two together with skill, his first-time helming efforts as intense as the movie's lead portrayal. If you thought O'Connell was good in TV's Skins, or in previous big-screen offerings Starred Up and Unbroken, prepare to see him blow those performances out of the water. Read our full review. LIFE If ever there was a match made in cinema heaven, it's the combination of Anton Corbijn and James Dean. Add actor Dane DeHaan to the equation, and you've got a movie that smoulders as much as its subject, all while peering behind the tragic star's mystique. Everyone knows that Dean was killed in a car accident at the age of 24 with just three films to his name — and while other features have attempted to give him the biopic treatment, capturing his allure is a much more difficult feat. With the same precision he demonstrated in his last account of a fallen idol, the Joy Division-centric Control, Corbijn achieves just that as he focuses on Dean's connection with Life magazine photographer Dennis Stock (Robert Pattinson). Read our full review. THE SALT OF THE EARTH If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Sebastião Salgado's efforts are worth several multi-volume encyclopaedias. Yes, his images are that intricate and informative — as they should be. The Brazilian social documentary photographer and photojournalist has travelled the world for more than 40 years, snapping the people and places few ever see. Thankfully, the film that charts his life, work and impact is just as engaging and illuminating, as directed by veteran filmmaker Wim Wenders alongside Sebastião’s son Juliano Ribeiro Salgado. Don't take the younger Salgado's involvement as a sign of the documentary's sentimentality, however. Instead, he helps craft a textured portrait of a man who has dedicated more than just his career to taking textured portraits. Read our full review. ZERO MOTIVATION One of the year's funniest and most thoughtful movies sprang from an unlikely place: within the human resources unit of an Israeli army administration office. There, two pencil-pushing women (Nelly Tagar and Dana Ivgy) dream of something more — however, they're never unaware of their status, nor of the military side of their employment. You're probably thinking that Talya Lavie’s feature sounds like it wouldn't be out of place alongside other amusing yet perceptive looks at bureaucracy and war, and you'd be right. Blackly comic as well constantly subversive, Zero Motivation is a slacker comedy and a contemplative consideration of combat, all in one package.
Time may be a flat circle, as Matthew McConaughey told us in the first season of True Detective; however the entertainment industry seems to be one too. Every popular property lives on, comes back, is remade or jumps to a different format these days, or so it appears — including another high-profile effort featuring McConaughey and his fondness for saying "all right" over and over again. Continuing the movie-to-stage musical trend that has swept up all of your favourite films in recent years, Magic Mike is making the leap to the theatre, bolstering the feature's hefty lineup of dancing and stripping with plenty of singing. It'll add to the two-film franchise in another way as well, with the production framed as a prequel to the flicks, showing how the titular character first found his disrobing mojo. Sorry, Channing Tatum fans — although he's billed as a producer on the stage version, along with Magic Mike director Steven Soderbergh and Magic Mike XXL filmmaker Gregory Jacobs according to Playbill, you can bet that he won't be treading the boards. While cast details haven't been announced, the show has just undergone a creative reshuffle. Writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Riverdale), composer Tom Kitt and lyricist Brian Yorkey (who worked together on musical Next to Normal) have all recently left, but the musical does boast director Trip Cullman and choreographer Camille A. Brown, who've been collaborating on star-studded, Tony-nominated Broadway play Choir Boy. Magic Mike The Musical is due to world premiere on November 30 at Boston's Emerson Colonial Theatre, running until early January. Next stop, or the show hopes: Broadway. It shouldn't be confused with the Magic Mike Live strip and dance show, aka the stage version that was always going to happen, which is currently playing in London until October. Magic Mike joins a lengthy list of films becoming theatre productions of late, including Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Bring It On, The Lion King, Mean Girls, Clueless, The Bodyguard, Amelie, Waitress, Muriel's Wedding and Moulin Rouge!. Versions of The Devil Wears Prada, Empire Records, Mrs Doubtfire, The Notebook, The Princess Bride and Aussie classic Starstruck are also in the works. Get a refresher on what might be in store in the all-stripping, all-singing Magic Mike musical with the trailer for the original movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd0XPRo4LZQ Via Playbill.
Sydneysiders, get ready. You'll finally have a chance to eat at Adelaide's Restaurant Orana this winter — without jumping on a plane heading south. The award-winning restaurant, which not only has three hats, but was also awarded the 2018 Restaurant of the Year by Gourmet Traveller, will be popping up in Surry Hills for one month, taking over the space most recently home to Longrain. The degustation-only restaurant run by star chef and owner Jock Zonfrillo will set up shop in the space from August 16–September 15, with a new design by SJB inspired by Australian flora and a new menu created just for Sydney. If you haven't been lucky enough to visit Orana before, the food is known for its inventive use of Indigenous Australian ingredients. Previous dishes have included the likes of marron with Geraldton wax and green tree ants, potato damper with roasted lamb butter (pictured below) and kangaroo with smoked potato and wattleseed. https://www.instagram.com/p/BsXC3qJAzqr/ At the Sydney pop-up, dubbed Orana in Residence, there will also be a strong focus on native produce — Zonfrillo promises over 50 Australian "seeds, fruits, nuts, trees, shoots, shellfish, honey, ants, seafood" to make an appearance — with the team sourcing ingredients from Indigenous communities across Australia. Zonfrillo not only uses and promotes Indigenous Australian ingredients at his restaurants, either, he also runs the non-profit Orana Foundation, which helps foster and preserve Australia's Indigenous food culture. And ten percent of all profits from Orana in Residence will go to this non-profit, too. A meal at the Sydney pop-up will set you back $350 — just for the food — which must be paid at time of booking, with reservations opening on Tuesday, July 9. For drinks, standard and premium wine pairings, as well as a non-alcoholic option will be available for purchase on the night. You'll also be able to order wines by the glass and bottle. We think this is going to book out very quickly, so if you're keen to go, get ready to hover over the booking system next Tuesday. Orana in Residence will pop up at 85 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills, from August 16–September 15. Reservations will open at 9am on Tuesday, July 9 via the Restaurant Orana website. The $350 food menu must be paid for at time of booking. Images: Restaurant Orana; Jock Zonfrillo by Jacqui Way; and potato damper by Lewis Potter.
If a day spent hanging out with furry friends sounds like your ultimate Saturday session, you're going to love Chippendale's newest weekend festival, Dog Day Out. Taking over Chippendale Green on April 6, this pup-filled fiesta promises a big day of fun for furbabies and humans alike. On the day, you'll catch over a dozen market stalls, slinging products and information to help your pet live their best life. Sign them up for a massage or free vet check, stock up on healthy dog treats, or maybe even make a new forever friend at one of the animal adoption stalls. There'll also be stacks of great human fare, from the likes of Gami Chicken and Beer, Ribs n Burgers and Coco Cubano. But the day's main event is the Fancy Dress Dog Show. With entry by $5 donation, this parade is set to deliver some extra adorable moments and a swag of great costumes, as contestants vie for prestigious titles and prizes. Held in conjunction with Sydney Dogs and Cats Home, the event will help raise much-needed funds for the charity's new, bigger facility, to be built in Kurnell.
Ever since Messina has been scooping out gelato, the dessert chain has also been turning beloved sweet treats into ice cream. Sometimes, it creates wonderful new flavours inspired by lamingtons and the like. Sometimes, it gives iconic biscuits the gelato treatment. And sometimes, it whips up its own version of classic dishes — such as the vanilla- and chocolate-layered ice cream cake that everyone considered the height of extravagance as a child, aka the Viennetta. The Messinetta, as Messina calls its Viennetta, debuted in 2020, then returned in 2021. That same year, it also got a Golden Gaytime twist, which is exactly what it sounds like. That Frankenstein's monster of a dessert — but in the best possible way — also made a comeback, reappearing in 2022. Now, it's time to unleash the Neapolitan Messinetta. Again, this limited-edition dish is extremely self-explanatory. And yes, that name alone points to it being supremely tasty. Once more, Messina is combining two things that everyone tucked into a whole heap when they were kids — Viennetta and the vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream that is Neapolitan — into one delicious package. What's in a Neapolitan Messinetta? That iconic trio of flavours is all accounted for, as are the slices of chocolate. Think: vanilla sponge layered with chocolate gelato, vanilla gelato and strawberry gel, plus those with chocolate shards, then piped with vanilla chantilly cream. It serves up to 14 people, but that obviously depends on portion sizes — and how willing you are to share. The Neapolitan Messinetta earned Messina a return spot on MasterChef on Tuesday, May 30, with Messina co-owner and head chef Donato Toce challenging contestants to make their own. If you felt your stomach grumbling and tastebuds tingling while you were watching, you can now get ordering — from 8.40pm on Tuesday, May 30. A Neapolitan Messinetta will set you back $120, and you'll collect it in-store between Friday, June 16–Sunday, June 18. Gelato Messina's Neapolitan Messinetta is be available to order from 8.40pm on Tuesday, May 30, for pick up between Friday, June 16–Sunday, June 18 — head to the Messina website for further details.
Sour beers can be divisive for some beers drinkers but they've undeniably been having a real moment over the past five years. A love-hate beverage if there ever was one, these refreshing fruity ales have built a legion of hardcore fans. And if you consider yourself a disciple of the tart brew, there's only one place you should be on Saturday, February 18 and that's Public House Petersham for the grand return of Sourfest. Batch Brewing Co and the Stanmore Road bar have pulled together an all-star lineup of sour beers for the occasion, with Batch contributing eight unique sours alongside some less-funky palate cleaners. The outdoor guest bar that will feature a carefully curated tap list featuring wild and woolly beers from a host of Australian and international breweries. And the team at Wayward Brewing Co — the masterminds behind the raspberry Berliner Weisse and limited-time sours like last year's Red Rush Berry beer — have whipped up a special beer that will be available exclusively at Sourfest. The Public House's usual range of burgers, pizzas and pub mains will all be on hand for when you get peckish between beers. Entry is free but if you're really eager you can guarantee your spot by reserving a table.
When an actor has enjoyed the kind of career that the one and only Al Pacino has to his name, there are many ways to celebrate. Or, to be more accurate, there's a plethora of films to watch — because the best way to pay tribute to the Oscar-, Emmy- and Tony-winner, formidable thespian force and one of the greatest talents ever is to bask in him doing what he does best in his movies. Enter You Can Call Me Al, a ten-film retrospective at Golden Age Cinema & Bar that does have a reason behind it, but doesn't need one. Marking the 50th anniversary of exceptional crime drama Serpico, which is home to one of Pacino's all-time best performances, is a worthy cause, of course — but so is revelling in many of his flicks. The season kicks off on Friday, November 10 with a session of The Godfather, another stunning classic, before popping up on various dates until Friday, December 15 with The Godfather Part II, Scarface, Scarecrow, Glengarry Glen Ross, Heat, Carlito's Way, Dog Day Afternoon and, yes, Serpico in a new 4K restoration. With such an impressive roster of films and performances, picking just one screening to attend is virtually impossible. Also on the lineup, and fittingly given that Golden Age recently ran a William Friedkin retrospective as well: the filmmaker's Pacino-starring thriller Cruising.
John Kaldor: what a dude. He's been comissioning art since the 1950s and is a patron, collector and general all-round play-maker for the contemporary arts in Australia as well as serving on boards and councils for major international art organisations. He's discovered things and endowed them and is so beloved by the arts community that when he spoke at a graduation ceremony at the National Art School last year the Cell Block Theatre overflowed with people who crowded around doorways trying to hear him. Being such a dude, he's now not only gifted the Art Gallery of New South Wales his personal collection, but has donated enough to fund (with additional money from the Belgiorno-Nettis family, who are also no slouches in the arts department) a new gallery floor. When the John Kaldor Family Galleries, as they're to be known, open on April 21st, AGNSW will double the space it has for exhibiting contemporary art. Selections from The Kaldor Family Collection will occupy the space exclusively until March 2012, and will always be represented in the gallery. To celebrate this major historical OMG, the 21st and 22nd have been designated an Open Weekend with performances, talks, film screenings and the chance to paint on the walls of the new space. I don't know if I'm allowed to say 'Holy shit wow!' on here, but if so: "Holy shit wow!"
Way too often, Sydney intersections regress into a kind of chaotic, pedestrian-versus-automobile battlefield. Tired of being road-raged at by drivers, when all you're doing is crossing the road? Tired of out-of-nowhere pedestrians taking a running chance on a flashing red man? The rules of engagement are about to become a whole lot clearer. You can now plan your movements with the precision you would the cooking of a perfectly boiled egg. Yellow digital timers have arrived at six of Sydney’s busy crossroads. It's a move that puts power into the pedestrian's hands. Countdown timers are already part of the landscape in major cities around the world, including New York, Tokyo, Singapore and Los Angeles. Western Australian cities are also trialling the timers, which have already been a success in Brisbane. Knowing how many seconds you have means that you can decide just how and when you want to execute your crossing, which is stress-reducing for everyone, particularly for those managing limited mobility. "The timers appear after the green signal phase and display the number of seconds pedestrians have to cross a road before the red 'don’t walk' signal appears," Minister for Roads and Freight Duncan Gay explained in a media statement. "By providing time information to pedestrians, it will reduce the number of people trying to cross the road too late and risking their lives." The Sydney timers are on trial for two months, during which walkers' behaviour will be monitored. "Pedestrians are also reminded they need to play their part by obeying the signals and getting their hand off their mobile phone when crossing the road,” Gay said. To prove what a responsible crosser you are, now that you're empowered, head to Pitt and Goulburn Streets (Sydney CBD), Park and Pitt Streets (Sydney CBD), Elizabeth and Market Streets (Sydney CBD), Victoria Avenue and Archer Street (Chatswood), Campbell and Marsden Streets (Parramatta) and Parkes and Station Streets (Parramatta).
Bondi's reliable party pub Beach Road has long been the place to hear some dirty tunes and be one with the d-floor on a Saturday night, but come Tuesday, February 28 it'll play host to something a little more #cleanliving: hip hop yoga. Led CrossFit Sydney's Naya Marie with accompanying beats from Melbourne DJ MIMI (of CRXZY SXXY CXXL), who will mine the back catalogues of just your average kings and queens of music — Kanye, Drake, Chance The Rapper, Beyoncè, Rihanna, et al. The soundtrack might be hectic but don't be afraid, the class will cater for yoga beginners as well as the more experienced. Even better than finding inner zen to Drake's 'Started At The Bottom' is the fact that 10 percent of profits will go to Australian-based charity Forever Projects, raising money for underprivileged families in Tanzania. Tickets are limited, however, so snap 'em up quick smart.
Years of labour are plastered across the face of Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan). She hasn't just toiled away in a sweatshop-like laundry since she was a child — she was born there, and had no choice but to follow her mother into the gruelling line of work. At the age of 24, and as a wife to Sonny (Ben Whishaw) and mother to George (Adam Michael Dodd), she thinks she knows what her future holds. Her story isn't unique. That's why it's important. That's why Suffragette is important too. There's no mistaking the spirit that seethes through both the character and the feature. Both endeavour to subvert the status quo, give a voice to the masses and plead for gender equality. It’s a vital cause, embodied in an everywoman-type protagonist and an impassioned — albeit blunt and traditional — period drama. Accordingly, Suffragette charts the horrors of Maud's reality while agitating for an alternative. And it does so via a simple but effective story. After seeing a brick thrown through a shop window as part of the crusading campaign, Maud is convinced by a colleague (Anne-Marie Duff) to find out more. She soon realises that she has to fight not only for the right to vote, but for a world in which she doesn't receive less pay for more work, watch her lecherous boss take advantage of the ladies under his supervision, or be expected to do what her husband tells her without question. The members of her group, the Women's Social and Political Union, are ignored, attacked, arrested and treated like criminals, forcing them to increasingly adopt more drastic measures. Helena Bonham-Carter appears in a supporting role as an ailing chemist and activist, while Meryl Streep pops up in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance, giving a speech as real-life movement leader Emmeline Pankhurst. Providing an example of the male power refusing to concede ground, Brendan Gleeson plays a police inspector determined to put the feisty femmes in their place. More than anything, however, Suffragette belongs to the woman behind its heroine. Once again, Mulligan is subtle but stirring, expressing more in her face and physicality than the dialogue can say, while also offering a convincing transformation from onlooker to instigator. Plus, she adds a second powerful feminist role to her 2015 resume after a similarly outstanding turn in literary adaptation Far From the Madding Crowd. Mulligan is the standout player, but she's not the only highlight. Though the script by writer Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady) is earnest, obvious and rather conventional, director Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane) doesn't waste a frame — or a handsomely lensed image — in conveying its point. And while the end result may be heavy-handed, that doesn't lessen the film's message or its impact. Tellingly, its strongest statement remains long after the credits roll. Suffragette may take viewers back more than a century, and much may have changed since then. But the battle for parity among the sexes is far from over.
Minimalist Aussie clothing designer Assembly Label has expanded again, this time by opening up a permanent surplus store where you can nab discounted threads on the reg. Instead of waiting for one of its warehouse sales, you can drop into Beaconsfield store all year-round. It sells its signature linen basics that make up the wardrobe of many a Sydneysider and seasonal pieces at a discounted price — that includes denim, tops, shorts, pants, swimwear and accessories in both men's and women's designs. Stock will be replenished weekly, too. The warehouse store is open every day of the week, and stock is replenished weekly.
You work in the city and it's lunchtime. You're over the daily routine of weaving through a barrage of glacially-paced tourists brandishing selfie sticks in search of a quality meal that isn't sausage roll based. Well, Sydney Opera House, not just a pretty face, has something up its sleeve just for you — they're launching a $30 Winter Eats lunch and drink deal at Opera Bar, Opera Kitchen and Portside, with each venue offering different lunch options to keep you warm during the chilly months. Available from 12–3pm, dishes include a 250g Jack's Creek sirloin with fat chips and buttery café de Paris sauce at Opera Bar, steaming tempura udon from Opera Kitchen, and tender lamb shoulder with mixed grains and almond skordalia at Portside, all with your choice of wine, beer or a soft drink. Perfect for meetings, mid-week team lunches or 'God-is-it-only-Tuesday?' office escapes, recharge in front of Sydney's most iconic view with hearty food, almost forgetting it's still a workday. Sydney Opera House Winter Eats will be cooking up a storm on weekdays throughout June, July and August. Head to Opera Bar, Opera Kitchen and Portside for a $30 warming Winter Eats lunch. Bookings not required. Image: Anna Kucera
A lot of noise has been made about Alaska Project's innovative use of urban space. (It's literally underground, in a former mechanic's garage in a Kings Cross car park). The gallery is no slouch in the curatorial department either — one year into its existence, Alaska continues to program consistently engaging and intelligent contemporary art. This final show for the year, Passing Parade, has been pulled together by curator Joel Mu and presents video, performance, installation, mural, and sculpture to explore ideas from the fringe. You may have seen the work of Indigenous mural artist Reko Rennie’s work recently blazed in neon, geometric diamonds across Taylor Square as part of Art & About. Artists Zehra Ahmed, Sarah Contos, the Motel Sisters, and George Tilliankas also feature in a show that promises to be a regular hurricane of unblinking, raw, political art on the edge. Our recommendation? Make a night of it and check out the Kings Cross Festival. There'll be works by artists Bridie Connell and Samuel Hodge, roving musos, and retailers and cafes will be open late. It’s all part of a big week of art, community, music, markets and food, and just one of the community-oriented initiatives aimed at changing the conversation and the culture of the Cross. Image: The Motel Sisters A Yarn With Brendan Carn 2011 (still) video photography: Shari Pierce. Image courtesy and © the artists
Deciding how to spend what is potentially your first big international trip in years is a big call. If you're seeking the buzz of a big city but don't want to forgo outdoor adventures, we have an unexpected suggestion for you: New York State. Yep, The City That Never Sleeps delivers all the metropolitan hype you're craving while also being within reach of countless intrepid adventures. Extend your stay in the state and dedicate some time to experiencing all the incredible scenery and activities the blissful upstate region has to offer — it'll add another memorable dimension to your trip. Here, we've teamed up with New York State to present a selection of epic outdoor adventures that'll level up your next holiday itinerary. [caption id="attachment_851067" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mike Groll[/caption] PADDLE DOWN THE HUDSON WHILE HEARING LOCAL LEGENDS Along the Hudson River's eastern shoreline, the charming village of Sleepy Hollow is well worth a visit to check out the eclectic mix of historical buildings, multicultural food spots and recreational activities. It also happens to be one of New York's best spots for kayaking. Kayak Hudson ensures visitors of all experience levels can enjoy the scenery with an expert guide on its two-hour tour. You'll launch from a tiny beach at Horan's Landing, then paddle down the river past the 19th-century Tarrytown Lighthouse. Plus, if you're a fan of ghost stories, you'll love hearing all about The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a spooky tale that gives the community its haunted reputation. [caption id="attachment_844987" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NYSDED, Darren McGee[/caption] TREK THROUGH DIVERSE FOREST TERRAIN The city streets offer plenty of excitement, but you don't have to travel far to find mind-blowing hiking destinations in New York. A two-hour drive from NYC, the Catskill Mountains is another hugely popular mountain range. Across a diverse network of hiking trails, populated with waterfalls, river crossings and woodland terrain, this outdoor wonderland is an undeniably rewarding area to discover. The average wayfarer won't have a problem completing the Kaaterskill Falls hike. Likewise, the Overlook Mountain summit, which you'll reach via a steady incline will reward you with sweeping views of Hudson Valley, plus old hotel ruins and a fire tower. Or, a little further afield, discover the state's highest peaks in the colossal Adirondacks — Ampersand Mountain reaches 1022 metres and you can reach the summit via a sprawling trailhead lined with wildflowers and panoramic views. [caption id="attachment_844999" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NYSDED, Darren McGee[/caption] TAKE A TOPSY-TURVY RIDE DOWN A RIVER There are many experiences that spring to mind when thinking of New York. Theatre shows. Basketball games. Eating your weight in pizza and hot dogs. But whitewater rafting? Probably not. Well, throw it on your bucket list because the state actually has a selection of places to ride the rapids. The Black River Gorge plunges visitors into a narrow ravine loaded with bumpy ledges and boulders — you'll paddle through 14 major rapids on a 3.5-hour Adirondacks River Outfitters Adventures tour. Elsewhere in the Adirondacks, Ausable Chasm is also recognised as a top-notch rafting location, with this floating tour providing a relatively calm water-going experience. Departing from Table Rock, you'll navigate through the Grand Flume canyon to soak up the striking rock formations before arriving at the Whirlpool Basin's choppy rapids. [caption id="attachment_847389" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Courtesy of Maid of the Mist[/caption] GET UP CLOSE TO NORTH AMERICA'S MOST LEGENDARY WATERFALLS Maid of the Mist has operated in the shadow of Niagara Falls since 1846, attracting nature-lovers looking to get an up-close glimpse of the three waterfalls that encompass this famous landmark. Its tours of the Falls started out in rickety rowboats 150 years ago, but you'll be glad to hear that Maid of the Mist's fleet has undergone a significant upgrade — it began tours on 90-foot zero-emission electric vessels in 2020. Prepare to be awe-struck as you make for the base of the American side of the Falls standing atop the double-decker boat in your souvenir poncho, which will (somewhat) protect you from the near 600,000 gallons of water rushing over the falls per second. You'll also be taken to check out the largest of the bunch – Horseshoe Falls – to encounter dramatic whitewater pools and towering rock formations. [caption id="attachment_845287" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NYSDED, Darren McGee[/caption] ZOOM THROUGH THE AIR AT DIZZYING HEIGHTS Step out of your comfort zone with the New York Zipline Adventure Tour. Set against the backdrop of the Catskills at Hunter Mountain, this canopy experience is the highest, fastest and longest in North America, ensuring you get a once-in-a-lifetime perspective on the surrounding mountain peaks. There are two adventures to choose from: the Skyrider Tour and the Mid-Mountain Tour. The former is the top choice, as you'll hook into five separate zip lines that stretch for over seven kilometres. As you whip along at breakneck speeds, the peak distance from the ground of 180 metres is bound to make your head spin. [caption id="attachment_844982" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Larry Tetamore[/caption] GET A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OVER AN EXPANSIVE STATE PARK You won't find many places better for hot air ballooning than Letchworth State Park, a sprawling green expanse nicknamed 'The Grand Canyon of the East'. The landscape definitely lives up to this moniker, with dense woodlands, waterfalls and gorges, ensuring your gentle float through the air comes with a spectacular view. On a tour with Balloons Over Letchworth, you'll lift off from Middle Falls to rise high above the countryside before gliding so low you can almost touch the rivers. Tours run daily from May to October, depending on the weather, but an autumn visit guarantees you'll catch colourful changes sweeping across the hinterland. [caption id="attachment_846386" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NYSDED, Darren McGee[/caption] FLEX YOUR SKIING SKILLS AT THIS MASSIVE WINTER RESORT You don't need to trek across the country to find a celebrated ski destination — this one is just 2.5 hours from NYC. The Catamount Mountain Resort provides an excellent experience for alpine enthusiasts, particularly after a major 2018 upgrade brought new lifts and snowmaking machines to support the diverse runs (the longest of which is 2.8 kilometres) and a snow tubing park. Yet winter isn't the only time to visit, with the mountain resort remaining incredibly active throughout the warmer months. Home to the longest continuous zipline in the United States at almost 1700 metres, as well as a thrilling aerial adventure park, Catamount is the perfect spot to immerse yourself in New York's midsummer beauty. [caption id="attachment_851070" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NYSDED[/caption] DIVE SEVERAL SHIPWRECKS BENEATH ST LAWRENCE RIVER Forming part of the international border between the United States and Canada, the St Lawrence River has been a major shipping corridor for hundreds of years. Unfortunately for the vessels and some of their crew, this treacherous stretch of the Thousand Islands-Seaway region has claimed many a freighter and schooner. Today, the river is one of North America's top shipwreck diving locations for beginners and experts alike, with dozens of vessels to explore. Several local dive companies organise gear and guided underwater adventures to the most popular, including the Islander and the SS Keystorm. [caption id="attachment_846387" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NYSDED, Darren McGee[/caption] BE A BIG KID FOR THE DAY AT THIS NATURE-FOCUSED INTERACTIVE PARK Over the last 25 years, The Wild Center has become one of New York's premier attractions for outdoor encounters. Situated in Tupper Lake, on the edge of the Adirondacks, this sprawling 115-acre property's nature walks, museums and kid-friendly play areas help bring people closer to the natural world. The Wild Walk is the park's most popular activity, featuring a series of elevated bridges and tree houses leading visitors through the forest canopy. Meanwhile, a viewpoint replicating a massive bald eagle's nest provides a stellar spot to take in the landscape. Alongside a vast network of hiking trails and ponds, there's also fascinating public art and wildlife encounters. To start planning your trip to New York State, head to iloveny.com. Also, be sure to check out our recommendations for the best food and drink stops, cultural experiences, places to stay and day trips from NYC. Top image: NYSDED, Darren McGee
Typewriters are probably the most-sought after and treasured piece of redundant technology in the sweeping landscape of once lame and now cool thingamajigs, including the cassette tape, the Holga camera and the record player. Typewriters are both beautifully designed and encourage a completely different, more permanent, mode of writing - one which has no 'delete' key. Ardent hipster poets, typography fetishists and Cormac McCarthy are all proponents of the humble typewriter, and with the hysterical wave of appreciation has come a range of design innovations. We've seen artists using the typewriter's punctuation keys to create art and the creation of typewriter apps for your iPhone. We've also seen some terrible, terrible poetry. The latest innovation takes the typewriter to a whole new level. American painter Tyree Callahan has created The Chromatic Typewriter, the world's first fully-functional painting typewriter. The typewriter has been built and submitted for the 2012 West Prize Competition, an annual art prize determined by popular vote. Callahan took a lonely and unused 1937 Underwood Typewriter and replaced the letter keys with colour pads and hue labels. This means that each time a key is pressed, you don't get a letter appearing on the page but a small rectangular pixel of colour. So far the typewriter has been used to create abstract landscape works on paper. The West Prize is still open, so if you feel like giving props to the Chromatic Typewriter you'll need to download the app to the iPhone we're assuming you have and vote there. [Via PSFK]
You've watched your way through every episode of Stranger Things to date, including the show's fourth season. You can't wait for season five to arrive, even though you'll then be saying goodbye. You've had Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill' stuck in your brain for years, too. You've eaten a demogorgon burger, seen an Upside Down rift open up in Bondi, played Netflix's Stranger Things mobile game and hit up Luna Park's Stranger Things experience as well. Yes, there's been no shortage of ways to indulge your love for the 80's-set streaming hit — but only one involves both singing and laughing. That'd be Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical, which follows in the footsteps of other satirical takes on pop culture favourites (such as Friends, Shrek and The Simpsons). Yes, everyone's favourite tale about kids fighting monsters in Hawkins, Indiana has is getting parodied — with songs. Even better: it's part of the Sydney Fringe Festival program for 2025, bringing its tune-filled account of Hawkins' weirdness to Darlinghurst's Eternity Playhouse from Tuesday, September 23–Saturday, September 27, 2025. An award-winner in the US, where it picked up seven 2021 BroadwayWorld Off-Broadway Awards — including Best New Musical (Off-Broadway) — Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical retells the tale we all already know, but on-stage, with amusing songs and while making fun of the whole thing. So, you'll be watching Mike, Eleven, Dustin, Lucas and the rest of the Hawkins gang navigate the wild antics that've made their town the worst place to grow up in since Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Sunnydale, and both tapping your toes to tunes and giggling along. Obviously, creepy creatures are a feature — singing and dancing ones, in fact. And, so are pop-culture references aplenty, big hair, throwback fashions, a synth-heavy soundtrack and possibly justice for Barb. Images: Bruce Glikas / Danny Hildago.
This much-loved, Aussie-owned boutique has spread around Australia, and Chatswood locals are lucky enough to have their very own Monsterthreads in Westfield Chatswood. The brand's t-shirts are more akin to works of art, which is no surprise considering the calibre of artists and illustrators that Monsterthreads works with. Both local and international artists design for the brand, including some based in Colombia and Kuala Lumpur. So, while the shop is Aussie as, the designs represent influences from around the globe. Apart from fashion, there's artisanal jewellery, candles, stationery, bags and a line of cute reusable kitchenware on offer, too.
If you're the type of traveller who chooses their hotels for the perks and extra inclusions, then you'll be particularly excited about an upcoming new addition to Melbourne's accommodation offerings. Mövenpick Hotel Melbourne on Spencer is set to launch sometime this May, marking the Swiss brand's second site in Australia, after Mövenpick Hotel Hobart opened earlier in the year — and if either the chain's name or its country of origin have you thinking of sweet treats, yes, they're part of the hotel's menu. For starters, Mövenpick Hotel Melbourne will be celebrating chocolate hour every afternoon. Going on the Hobart setup, that's when you'll receive a free dessert — such as an eclair, brownie or truffle — when you purchase a chocolate-flavoured cocktail, mocktail or affogato. Mövenpick's hotels all serve the brand's line of food and beverages as well, which means that Mövenpick ice cream is also available. The menu doesn't just cater to your sweet tooth, though. At breakfast, guests can choose to enjoy juice-blended energy shots, along with a range of health-focused and nutritious options available to eat in or grab-and-go. One of more than 80 of the brand's accommodation sites worldwide and run in collaboration with Accor, Mövenpick Hotel Melbourne will boast 172 guest rooms housed within the new 78-storey Premier Tower development on Spencer Street. It's decked out with boutique interiors, and comes complete with a 25-metre swimming pool, sauna and gym. The new hotel will also be home to a southeast Asian restaurant and bar, which'll rock a contemporary fitout courtesy of design agency Greymatters. It's slated to plate up traditional Asian grill and barbecue dishes, and will open daily for lunch and dinner. Find Mövenpick Hotel Melbourne on Spencer at 160 Spencer Street, Melbourne, from May 2021. Head to the Accor website for bookings and other information. Images: artists impressions of Mövenpick Hotel Melbourne on Spencer.
Discover a world of Indonesian flavour that totally eclipses your basic Bali beach feed, when the Shangri-La kicks off its inaugural Taste of Indonesia food festival today. Cafe Mix will become the ultimate Indo dining destination, hosting sumptuous buffet spreads at lunch and dinner daily until the event wraps up next Saturday, August 12. They've brought in the big guns, too, with guest chefs Nur Budiono and Marjono from Jakarta's own Shangri-La flying in to work their culinary magic in the kitchen. Expect a parade of rich and vibrant plates as the pair shares a snapshot of authentic, regional fare and sends tastebuds island-hopping across their homeland. Fiery bursts of chilli and spice throughout national dishes like beef rendang, soto ayam, and gado gado are guaranteed to make you forget all about the chilly winter temperatures outside. Just be sure to leave room for the feast's final chapter, so you can get acquainted with traditional desserts like surabi (coconut milk pancakes) and onde onde (coconut-coated rice cakes). Get your 'Taste of Indonesia' at Cafe Mix, from Friday, August 4 to Saturday, August 12. The buffet lunch is on offer from 12–2.30pm for $55 per person, and the buffet dinner is available from 6–10.30pm for $85 per person.
Maybe you remember Miami Horror from your playlist for blissed-out summer parties circa 2010, when their hit single 'Sometimes' did the club circuit and went on solid rotation in backyards nationwide. We haven't heard much from them since those days, but the Melbourne electronic-pop four-piece haven't been laying low. Instead, they've taken up residence in Los Angeles, where they've been busy working on album number two (or as busy as you can get in a land of perpetual sunshine, palm trees and too many dreams). The result is the sometimes-funky, sometimes-dreamy, almost 'too happy' All Possible Futures, released earlier this year. They’re bringing their fresh new LA-inspired sound back home, with a five-date east coast tour this August. Reacquaint yourself with these guys by giving 'Love Like Mine' and 'Real Slow' a listen, then grab yourself a ticket. How sweet is rediscovery? [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRhVsVT3mPM[/embed]
It all started with a purchase and a push. In the early 1970s, playwright Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings) bought a house in London's Camden Town, and helped the elderly Miss Shepherd (Maggie Smith) move her broken-down vehicle. She was far from the area’s favourite inhabitant, with few others willing to offer such assistance, but little could he know what his one act of kindness would bring. Shepherd wouldn’t just stay in the suburb for nearly two decades: she'd park the van she lived in in Bennett’s driveway. The story of The Lady in the Van might sound like the type of tale that could only be cooked up by a couple of screenwriters, but Nicholas Hytner's film is based on the real-life Bennett’s actual experiences. Well, mostly. The movie version of the award-winning theatre production of the same name has fun with the concept of art capturing life, throwing an extra Bennett — a duplicate to do his writing, while he lives his life — into the mix. Other winking meta-textual nods to Bennett himself, and to Bennett and Hytner's previous stage-to-screen effort, The History Boys, also feature. Accordingly, both Bennetts peer out their window as the eccentric, cantankerous Shepherd yells at recorder-playing children, repeatedly paints her various cars a very distinctive shade of yellow, and generally shakes up the otherwise quiet and friendly neighbourhood over the years. Always complaining about her many illnesses but refusing any help, she’s a force to be reckoned with, as well as a woman with a backstory spanning ambulance driving, time in a nunnery, a musical past and a brush with the law. As her unlikely friendship with Bennett blossoms, she's also the film’s most convincing element. While Bennett has clearly worked with the material before, and Hytner directed the initial stage version, Smith’s interpretation of Shepherd is the main attraction. In fact, the English actress is another Lady in the Van veteran, receiving an Olivier Award nomination for playing the role in the original 1999 theatrical production, and also resuming the part in the 2009 radio adaptation. Like the charming acting treasure she is, she ensures Shepherd is more than just a victim of sympathy or mockery — or a means for changing Bennett's perspective of the world. For an actress with so many iconic performances to her name, including Harry Potter and Downton Abbey in recent years, it's a testament to her efforts that this ranks among her most memorable on-screen work. Smith's prominence does highlight the feature's struggles in other areas, though. TV-style images give the movie a standard, almost bland look, while too-timid pacing makes it seem much longer than its 104-minute running time. That the film began its life as a play is obvious. Never the less, the film's quirky story and Smith's compelling performance more than make up for any minor issues.
UPDATE, October 9, 2021: Free Guy is available to stream in Sydney via Disney+, and is also screening in Sydney cinemas when they reopen on Monday, October 11. If Free Guy was a piece of home decor, it'd be a throw pillow with a cliched self-empowerment slogan printed on the front. You know the type. It might catch your eye the first time you spotted it, but it'd look almost identical to plenty of other cushions you can buy at absolutely any department store. It'd make you think of other, nicer pillows, too, but its phrasing and design wouldn't be as resonant or appealing. And, while its attractive font would tell you to believe in yourself, stand out and make each moment count, it'd still simply spout the usual well-worn sentiments that keep being served up as store-bought tonics for weary souls. Yes, Free Guy is a big-budget, star-led movie that primarily exists to answer two not-at-all pressing questions: what would The Truman Show look like if it starred Ryan Reynolds, and how would that 1998 classic would fare if it was about massive online video games instead of TV? But it's firmly Hollywood's equivalent of mass-produced soft furnishings emblazoned with self-help platitudes and designed to sit on as many couches as possible. Clearly cast for his generically affable on-screen persona — you almost always know what you're going to get when he's leading a film, as the Deadpool and Hitman's Bodyguard franchises keep attempting to capitalise upon — Reynolds plays Free City bank teller Guy. His daily routine involves greeting the same goldfish upon waking, putting on the same blue shirt, picking up the same coffee en route to work, and having the same chat with his best friend Buddy (Lil Rel Howery, Judas and the Black Messiah) when their place of employment is held up multiple times each and every day. Guy is completely comfortable with his ordinary lot in life. He knows that things aren't like this for 'sunglasses people', the folks who tend to wreak havoc on his hometown, but he doesn't challenge the status quo until he decides that the shades-wearing Molotov Girl (Jodie Comer, Killing Eve) is the woman of his dreams. To have a chance with her, he's certain he needs sunglasses himself — and when he snatches a pair off the latest robber sticking up his bank, it's Guy's first step to realising that he's actually a non-playable character in a video game. Sporting an upbeat mood best captured by its frequent use of Mariah Carey's 'Fantasy', Free Guy enjoys its time in Free City — which is also the game's title. There's a story behind its NPC protagonist's story, however, with the movie splitting its focus between its Grand Theft Auto-esque virtual world and reality. In the latter, coder Millie uses the Molotov Girl avatar, which she needs to search for evidence for a lawsuit. Years earlier, alongside her pal Keys (Joe Keery, Stranger Things), she created an indie open-world game that was purchased by tech-bro hotshot Antwan (Taika Waititi, The Suicide Squad), then sidelined — and, while Keys now works for Antwan, Millie is certain that Free City rips off their game. Proving that will require Guy's help, especially as he starts breaking his programming, making his own decisions and becoming sentient. Something that Guy doesn't glean once he begins thinking for himself: that he's the protagonist in a derivative big-screen action-comedy. Free Guy also borrows from The Matrix, The Lego Movie, Groundhog Day, They Live!, Wreck-It Ralph and Black Mirror. Pilfering from terrible fare as well, it even cribs from the abysmal Ready Player One. And, in reminding viewers that Disney is behind this flick via its purchase of 20th Century Fox, and that the Mouse House also serves up all things Marvel and Star Wars — as if anyone had forgotten — it sits in the same space as the horrendous Space Jam: A New Legacy. There isn't a second of Free Guy that feels original or authentic, in fact, even as it keeps stressing the importance of taking your own route through life. Director Shawn Levy (the Night at the Museum franchise) and screenwriters Matt Lieberman (The Addams Family) and Zak Penn (a Ready Player One alum) are happy with their throw cushion-level message. They're just as content not to practice what they preach. Their villain even blatantly embodies the cash-hungry corporate mindset that thinks leveraging the same ideas is better than developing new ones — there's a whole monologue about it — and it'd be much too generous to think that's a tongue-in-cheek inclusion. There's a bit of winking and nodding in Reynolds' casting, though, and welcomely so. Again, viewers typically know what to expect when he's the star of the show — and as well as aggressively synthesising a heap of better movies into one script, Free Guy endeavours to forcefully coast by on its leading man's likeable presence. If it wasn't entertaining-enough to see him play this kind of part, Hollywood would've stopped doing it. That said, now three decades into his acting career, audiences can also spot the formula behind most of his roles. Free Guy wants you to do exactly that, and to know that Reynolds is putting his usual charm to work as a guy that's meant to be the epitome of usual, which is by far the smartest thing about the film. The man in the spotlight doesn't let anyone down in the process, but that's different to carrying a feature that's anything more than average. Indeed, other than Comer's naturalistic performance, nothing that's around Reynolds busts free of its usual bounds either, and that can't be by design. You can't print by-the-numbers romantic subplots and slick-but-standard action scenes on home furnishings, of course — and you definitely shouldn't do the same with buzzword-heavy dialogue — but that's always Free Guy's chosen level.
In the tiny township of Silverton, right on the border between New South Wales and South Australia, there is a fabulous way to get to know the locals: on the back of a camel. Visitors have clambered upon these gangly plodders since the 60s to explore the historic silver mining town, including past the local pub that you might recognise from beloved Aussie films like Mad Max 2 and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Silverton Outback Camels can show you the sites on one-hour ($55), sunset ($75) or overnight ($250) outback treks that run daily. While there's no high-stakes racing involved, animal lovers will get a kick out of this desert trot. [caption id="attachment_853335" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] Top image: Destination NSW
If you're a fan of mystery and delicious food, we have the juicy deets of an exclusive dinner that'll be right up your alley. This year, classy chip purveyor Red Rock Deli is hosting a series of exclusive secret suppers in mystery locations across Sydney — and you're invited. Across the next few months, some of Australia's most talented chefs will whip up mouth-watering feasts inspired by Red Rock Deli's new flavour range. And when we say exclusive, we mean it — only twenty lucky guests will be tucking into each lavish dinner. Despite everything being very hush-hush, we can reveal that the first Secret Supper will be hosted by Australian-Malaysian chef and 2010 MasterChef Australia winner Adam Liaw on Wednesday, May 15. Most of the details are still under wraps, but here's what we can tell you: after arriving at the collection point at Central Station's Grand Concourse entrance at 8pm, you'll be whisked away to a mystery location for the dining experience. During the evening, Liaw will recreate the flavours from the Thai red chilli and creamy coconut flavour from Red Rock Deli's new limited-edition Fusion range over a three-course meal. The menu will remain a secret until you arrive, but if grilled seafood, hearty curries and tropical flavours tickle your tastebuds, you're sure to be satisfied. Tickets to Fusion Adventure are priced at $110 per person and can be purchased here. Please note the Secret Supper menu will not cater to ANY dietary requirements or allergies. There are strictly no changes to the menu. Image: Kitti Gould.
UPDATE: February 1, 2022 — Theatre Royal Sydney is currently running a two-for-one offer on platinum or gold tickets for selected performances of Girl From the North Country. Check terms and conditions below for details. Following multiple sell-out seasons since debuting in London in 2017, Girl From the North Country has become one of the most critically acclaimed productions of our generation. Making its Australian premiere at the 2022 Sydney Festival, and kicking off from Wednesday, January 5 at the recently unveiled new Theatre Royal, Girl From the North Country takes place in a guesthouse in the US state of Minnesota in 1934. The story revolves around owner Nick, who is deeply in debt; his wife Elizabeth, whose mind is fraying; and their pregnant daughter Marianne — as well as a bible-slinging preacher and a boxer endeavouring to make a comeback. For Bob Dylan fans, the name of this musical will be familiar. It's the title of one of the legendary folk singer's 1963 songs — a tune that features in this musical, naturally. Indeed, the entire show uses Dylan's tracks, including everything from 'Like a Rolling Stone' and 'Hurricane' to 'Slow Train' and 'I Want You', all weaved throughout a story of American life during the Great Depression. The debut Aussie season will star Lisa McCune (The King and I, South Pacific), Zahra Newman (The Book of Mormon, Wentworth), Terence Crawford (Escape From Pretoria, 1984) and Helen Dallimore (Wicked, Legally Blonde). Terms and Conditions: Offer subject to availability. Available for selected performances up to and including Sunday, February 13, 2022. Limit of two tickets per transaction. Transaction fees apply.
Many museums say they're taking you 'travelling in time', but New York's adventurous New Museum has found an unusual way to displace you by 20 years. Their new project titled Recalling 1993 is transforming 5000 of the city's pay phones into time machines where people can escape reality and make calls 20 years into NYC's past. Until May 26, city dwellers and visitors can easily pick up any pay phone, dial 1-855-FOR-1993 and hear a recording about what was happening 20 years ago in that specific location. The installation was proposed by ad agency Droga5 and was inspired by the museum's exhibition NYC 1993 Experimental Jet, Set, Trash and No Star, which encapsulates the year in art. They describe it as "a pivotal year that began to shape the New York we know today". The stories on these geolocated time machines are told by New Yorkers to New Yorkers, including WNYC's Brian Lehrer, the Village Voice's Michael Musto, renowned chef Mario Batali, iconic trash TV presenter Robin Byrd and many others. You can hear a few select samples at the Recalling 1993 website. It's always great to see initiatives that take museum-goers beyond the building and into the streets. But this project's single masterstroke must be the way it revives the near-obsolete pay phone for one last hurrah. We'd be so bemused to pick up the receiver of one these days, it seems right there'd be a voice from the past waiting inside to connect. Via Inhabitat.
Sung in its original Italian, Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro is full of romance. In English it may be less pretty, but you have the definite advantage of not having to crane toward the surtitles to know what's going on. Knowing what's going on is pretty important in this instance, because The Marriage of Figaro, as part of a grand tradition spanning from As You Like It to The Hot Chick, is a comedy of complicated capering, crossdressing and mistaken identity. It takes place on the heady wedding day of young Figaro (Joshua Bloom), personal valet to the count, and housemaid Susanna (Taryn Fiebig). Not unlike many weddings, this is a day of obstacles and escalating madness: the count (Michael Lewis) expresses his own, determined and dishonourable intentions toward Susanna; the meddling Marcellina (Jacqueline Dark) tries to recoup debts from Figaro through forced marriage; Bieber-esque pubescent Cherubino (Dominica Matthews) crushes on everyone; and plots are hatched all around. This is a classic opera, but one that's always contained a note of subversion. Along with the smartly translated libretto, it's been made relevant and accessible with a modern setting in a privileged gated community, where a servant subclass and the antics of a grabby, entitled elite still resonate. Opera Australia have given it to director Benedict Andrews (Gross und Klein, The Seagull) and a Belvoir-based crew (set designer Ralph Myers, costume designer Alice Babidge, choreographer Lucy Guerin) to head probably their most experimental, hippest opera of the year, and it successfully speaks to a broader — and younger — audience. The creative team have updated both story and spectacle. The ambitious, mechanised set is a distinctly sleek realisation of the pomp we expect from a night at the opera, and as the white, minimally adorned rooms slide past and give way to the next, we get a witty image of how the insides of cloistered mansions must appear to those hired to clean them. The movement stops before it outstays its welcome, but powerful visual elements — including a deer carcass, several ribbon twirlers, and a tonne of confetti — keep the aesthetic lively, comic and slightly crazed. The Marriage of Figaro is a chance to see some of opera's finest flex both their comic timing and captivating voices. Fiebig's Susanna is charming and matter-of-factly independent, and backed up an ever-entertaining Matthews and surprisingly deep and sorrowful countess (Elvira Fatykhova). If you like theatre but struggle to relate to opera, see this show. If you like opera but want to see it live in the modern world, see this show. And if you like to watch a rainbow of confetti stream from the roof for an hour, see this show.
If you’ve ever fantasised about swapping your suit and computer for a smock and paintbrush, now’s the time to do it. Inside Llewyn Davis might not have done much for rosy-ing up the ‘independent artist’ dream, but a new website by the name of Behomm does. It’s an online home-exchange service that’s available exclusively to "architects, filmmakers, stylists, photographers, interior designers, art directors and ceramic artists". Rather than having to write clever things on artists’ residencies applications or scrape together spare pennies to pay for accommodation, visually creative types can now swap their homes with those of others living all around the world. From what can be seen on the site, that means access to some exquisite and quirky dwellings. Think New York loft apartments, mountain-top open plan studios, impossibly cute log cabins and lakeside villas. The range varies from modest cottages to expansive, architect-designed houses. What they all have in common, though, is the beautifying influence of an artistic sensibility — space to work, tasteful objects, inspiring views. Membership, open to full-time professionals only (sigh), is organised by invitation — from either another Behomm member or the site’s founders. Exchanges can be of any length — as brief as a weekend or as long as a year. A 50-day trial is free, after which membership costs 40 euros for three months or 95 euros for a year.
Espionage intrigue, explosions, chases, fights, Tom Cruise wearing masks: that's all heading back to cinemas, and soon, with Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning — Part One on its way in July. The seventh instalment in the spy franchise will also task viewers with the usual mission, should they choose to accept it. Since the saga's first big-screen outing back in 1996, watching Cruise work his way through all manner of stunts is a given in each and every movie — and the just-dropped full trailer for the series' latest entry enthusiastically keeps the trend going. That said, at this point in his career, all new Cruise movies seem to belong to a broader saga: "one of the world's biggest stars does death-defying stunts to lure audiences into cinemas" (see also: Top Gun: Maverick). The Mission: Impossible flicks have been keeping those daredevil flames burning for almost three decades now, and its leading man just keeps upping the ante. And yes, he's still committed to doing as many dangerous feats as he can himself, including riding a motorcycle off a cliff this time around. Hitting cinemas Down Under on July 13, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning — Part One has Cruise's Ethan Hunt and his Impossible Missions Force team on the trail of a new humanity-threatening weapon. As usual, the fate of the world is at stake. And, saving the day means hopping around the globe and putting everything on the line, all while facing off against Esai Morales (How to Get Away with Murder) as the film's villain. This latest sneak peek comes after a first glimpse back in 2022, more than a year before the movie's release. Both trailers cover plenty of other familiar faces, of course, including the characters of Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg, The Boys), Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson, Silo), Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames, Father Figures), and Alanna Mitsopolis (Vanessa Kirby, The Son). Also in Dead Reckoning — Part One's cast: Hayley Atwell (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), Pom Klementieff (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), Cary Elwes (Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre), Rob Delaney (The Power), Indira Varma (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Shea Whigham (Perry Mason), Mark Gatiss (Operation Mincemeat) and Charles Parnell (Barry). Five years after helming the series' sixth film, aka 2018's Mission: Impossible – Fallout, writer/director Christopher McQuarrie returns for Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning — Part One — his third M:I flick in a row after also doing the honours on 2015's Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. And yes, as the name makes plain, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning — Part One will have a sequel, which is set to release on June 27, 2024. Check out the full trailer for Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning — Part One below: Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning — Part One releases in cinemas Down Under on July 13, 2023. Images: Paramount Pictures and Skydance.
Despite the relentless bustle and swank of the Rocks as they are today, there remains, down certain laneways and alleys an eeriness, a weight indicative of history sitting heavily inside the present. Handmade nicks on the sandstone blocks of buildings and gold plaques dotted about the pavement mark out the harbour’s original shoreline, posing like potential portals to the colonial period of Australian history. This quality has been creatively embraced by 7-ON, a formidable Australian writer’s collective looking to mark the 80th anniversary of the disappearance of pioneer aviator Charles Kingsford-Smith. We Are the Ghosts of the Future, directed by Harriet Gillies and produced by Blancmange Productions, takes place inside the Rocks Discovery Museum. The space has been divided into several sections, with a fifteen-strong cast taking on the roles of boarding house occupants from the mid-1930s, all of whom have their doubts and fears about whether 'Smithy' the daredevil aviator will return. The set design by Hugh O’Connor is simple, but evocative of a period just beyond reach. Muslin and patch-worked hessian are draped in such a way that the mod cons of the museum are largely obscured, although the green glow of an occasional exit sign and a laminated evacuation plan sitting on a windowsill give one the impression that they are standing on a threshold or peeking through a temporal tear from our time into somebody else’s. Although the audience is largely free to wander through the installations, there are gentle directions which enhance the experience. A strategically placed mousetrap on the steps behind a seamstress’ workstation quietly deters wanderers; later, a washerwoman takes me by the hand, hurrying me to Brian’s brush sale downstairs. The actors perform their short scenes on a loop, apparitions tied to single events which anchor them to the corporeal world. It is the missing Kingsford-Smith, though, who looms large in the boarders’ imaginations, the ghost destined never to appear again. A radio broadcast late in the piece reports that the search has been called off and a shower of paper planes from an upper window unites cast and audience, the nosediving gliders an unsentimental rendering of our unspoken suspicions. Immersive theatre is ridiculously hard to pull off. We Are the Ghosts of the Future, however, is executed by a skilled and extremely adaptable cast. Through the thin partitions, voices and sounds tend to mix and compete for attention, but the performers hold fast. And, after emerging from the museum, the Rocks are, if anything, just slightly spookier. Running as part of The Rocks Village Bizarre.
Commuters heading into work by train this morning should prepare for their trip to take a bit longer than usual, with a train derailment at Circular Quay causing major delays across the network. The maintenance train derailed around 5.30am on Tuesday, March 3, between Circular Quay and Wynyard stations, and repair crews are currently on site. The three main lines impacted are the T2 Inner West and Leppington, T3 Bankstown, and T8 Airport and South Lines, which are all battling major delays. Services are only running one way on the City Circle, first stop Town Hall, and a limited number of buses are supplementing trains between Circular Quay and Central. The T8 Line also starts and terminates at Central and will not run around the City Circle. Commuters are being advised to allow plenty of extra travel time, especially if they're travelling to the airport, and to consider using local buses and the light rail as alternatives. https://twitter.com/T3SydneyTrains/status/1234570448228081664 The T1 North Shore is also experiencing delays because of a trespasser at Central Station earlier. https://twitter.com/T1SydneyTrains/status/1234566332659560448 Due to the flow-on effects of the derailment, the rest of the train network is also experiencing delays, with all passengers told to allow for extra travel time and to check their real-time apps as some services have altered their stopping patterns. To stay up-to-date with delays, check the Transport for NSW website and real-time apps.
Of the official seven natural wonders in the world, Australia has one: the Great Barrier Reef. But there are loads of others that haven't made the formal ranking. Next time you're planning a holiday, consider turning it into an adventure and tick off one of these gems — from stepping on the pristine white shores of the biggest sand island in the world to scaling the highest peak in the country. We've scoped out five spots around Australia that boast spectacular natural sights. From pristine beaches and bountiful wine regions to alpine hideaways and bustling country towns, Australia has a wealth of places to explore at any time of year. We've partnered with Tourism Australia to help you plan your road trips, weekend detours and summer getaways so that when you're ready to hit the road you can Holiday Here This Year. Some of the places mentioned below may be operating differently due to COVID-19 restrictions. Please check the relevant websites before making any plans. [caption id="attachment_728425" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Queensland Tourism and Events[/caption] K'GARI (FRASER ISLAND), QUEENSLAND Welcome to the biggest sand island in the world — its 184,000 hectares are made of sands of 72 colours. If your weekend dreams are made of beaches, beaches and more beaches, then World Heritage-listed K'gari (Fraser Island) is the place to go. Spend your weekend lazing about in a four-star eco resort, complete with a day spa and pool, or pack your tent and go wild. If you're feeling especially adventurous, there's also the K'gari (Fraser Island) Great Walk — a 90-kilometre adventure that'll take you via crystal clear inland lakes, across sand dunes and through lush rainforests. It'll take around six to eight days to complete. [caption id="attachment_770906" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Australia[/caption] NITMILUK GORGE, NORTHERN TERRITORY Nitmiluk means 'cicada place' in the language of the Jawoyn and Dagomen peoples, who have maintained cultural connections to the area also known as Katherine Gorge for thousands of years. There are 13 separate gorges that make up Nitmiluk Gorge, and its sandstone rock reaches heights of up to 70 metres in some parts. One of the most spectacular sights in the national park is when the rock appears to change colour as sunlight hits the cliff face, and you can take tours at dawn and sunset to capture the moment. Nitmiluk Tours (which is a 100-percent Indigenous owned and operated tour company) run comfortable, 12-person trips on intimate cruise boats. If you prefer to explore the area via helicopter, canoe or on foot, you can do that, too. You'll find the entrance to Nitmiluk National Park 30 kilometres northeast of Katherine. [caption id="attachment_658500" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Snowy Mountains[/caption] KOSCIUSZKO NATIONAL PARK, NEW SOUTH WALES Kosciuszko National Park's claim to fame is Mount Kosciuszko, the highest peak in mainland Australia. While a climb to its summit is mandatory, there are plenty more adventures on offer, too. During winter, you can conquer the Crackenback Supertrail — the longest downhill run in Australia — on your skis or snowboard and take a dip in a piping-hot thermal pool at Yarrangobilly Caves. Come summer, explore stunning glacial lakes, spectacular wildflower meadows and magical snow gum forests on foot or by mountain bike. NINETY MILE BEACH, VICTORIA Along the southeast coast of Victoria runs Ninety Mile Beach. The 151-kilometre (or 94-mile) stretch of golden sand is the second longest beach in Australia, behind Coorong in South Australia (which is a whopping 222 kilometres). Ninety Mile separates the Bass Strait from Gippsland Lakes, so you can spend your getaway hopping from wild surf to dreamy still water. In between sunbaking, swimming, surfing and fishing, take a wander through the coastal villages of Woodside Beach, Seaspray, Loch Sport and Lakes Entrance. WINEGLASS BAY AND THE HAZARDS, TASMANIA This world-famous bay gets its name from its perfect curves and crystal-clear waters. You'll find it on Tasmania's east coast within Freycinet National Park and not far from the Hazards — pink granite mountains that rise dramatically from the water. To see both in one fell swoop, catch a scenic flight. Alternatively, follow the steep, three-kilometre hike to Wineglass Bay Lookout and then, if you have the stamina, continue along the Hazards Beach Circuit. There's also a bunch of luxe stays that offer panoramic views, so you can see everything without leaving your bed. Whether you're planning to travel for a couple of nights or a couple of weeks, Holiday Here This Year and you'll be supporting Australian businesses while you explore the best of our country's diverse landscapes and attractions. Top image: Nitmiluk Gorge via Tourism Australia.
A weekend routine can often become something worn and mundane that you kick on with week after week, never really changing up. And this lack of fresh, new and lovely things to do can sometimes make you angry, so angry in fact that you could just throw something. Luckily throwing things — axes to be precise — is exactly what Maniax has on offer, so you can channel that heated urge into something new and exciting to do this weekend. Great for groups, Maniax gives you the chance to very safely hurl a hunk of sharpened steel attached to a flimsy handle, and compete with your friends to see who has the most Viking blood coursing through them. Hurl those hatchets, sink a bullseye and when it's time to calm down after all the axe-lobbing excitement, explore the rest of Precinct 75, housing a number of awesome designers and creators, as well as the Willie the Boatman tasting bar.
If you're vegan, or just generally into vegan-friendly things, then the Vegan Grocery Store is your one-stop-shop for food, beauty, fashion and home goods. Starting off as an online-only business, this brick-and-mortar store on Glebe Point Road has been serving animal-loving and sustainability-minded Sydneysiders since it opened back in 2012. To give everyone the chance to sample a whole heap of dairy-free cheeses, the inner-city grocer is hosting a one-day cheese festival. Popping up on Saturday, July 23, the Vegan Grocery Store invite patrons to head down between 11am and 4pm in order to try over 50 different types of vegan cheese from a variety of cheesemakers. Tickets are just $5 which allows you to sample all of the non-dairy cheese you could ever want. Plus, the entry fees are being donated directly to Moo To Ewe Farmed Animal Sanctuary, an organisation that finds homes for orphaned farm animals. There are sessions every 30 minutes on the day which you can book via the Vegan Grocery Store websites. Top image: Trent Van der Jagt
Powerhouse Museum Ultimo is just a few months away from undergoing its massive $250-million makeover (originally planned as a $500-million project). The beloved cultural hub will officially shut its doors on Monday, February 5, 2024, and may not reopen until 2027, with the full-venue transformation set to take up to three years to complete. The final design for the ambitious renovation has been unveiled, with a new outdoor public square sitting at the centre of the museum. Expanded exhibition spaces, a new urban space connected to the neighbouring Goods Line, fresh creative studios, and a sleek modern design that maintains and highlights the original 1899 facade are all also part of the revitalisation plan. According to the Powerhouse team, a full-venue shutdown has been opted for over a staggered shutdown in order to save money, protect the museum's collection and ensure minimal impact on surrounding communities. The new Powerhouse Museum Ultimo entrance will face the Goods Line, and will reveal the historic details of the building's original power station and turbine hall. The century-old post office building will play a larger role in the updated version of the museum as well. The revamped museum will also feature a purpose-built learning camp called Powerhouse Academy. This space will offer secondary and tertiary students from regional New South Wales and around the country the opportunity to come to Sydney to participate in immersive learning experiences. The Powerhouse Museum Ultimo project has undergone a rocky history to get to this point. Back in 2015, Powerhouse Museum Ultimo was earmarked for closure as part of a move to shift the entire facility to Parramatta. Then, when that idea didn't prove popular, the New South Wales Government committed to revamping and revitalising the existing site, allocating $480–500 million to the makeover. That figure has since been reduced to $250 million, with the Powerhouse Museum Ultimo also adopting a $50-million philanthropy target. The other Powerhouse Museum location will still be established in Parramatta and is under construction at the moment. Powerhouse Museum Ultimo will close on Monday, February 5, 2024 for the site's transformation — head to the Powerhouse Museum Ultimo's website for further information.
What if a vampire didn't want to feed on humans? When it happens in Interview with the Vampire, rats are the solution. In Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, Sasha (Sara Montpetit, White Dog) gets her sustenance from pouches of blood instead, but her family — father (Steve Laplante, The Nature of Love), mother (Sophie Cadieux, Chouchou), aunt (Marie Brassard, Viking) and cousin Denise (Noémie O'Farrell, District 31') — are increasingly concerned once more than half a century passes and she keeps avoiding biting necks. Sasha still looks like a goth teenager, yet she's 68, so her relatives believe that it's well past time for her to embrace an inescapable aspect of being a bloodsucker. What if she didn't have to, though? The potential solution in the delightful first feature by director Ariane Louis-Seize, who co-writes with Christine Doyon (Germain s'éteint), is right there in this 2023 Venice International Film Festival award-winner's title. With What We Do in the Shadows, both on the big and small screens, the idea that vamps are just like the living when it comes to sharing houses has gushed with laughs. Swap out flatmates for adolescence — including pesky parents trying to cramp a teen's style — and that's Louis-Seize's approach in this French-language Canadian effort. As much as Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person brings fellow undead fare to mind, however, and more beyond, the Québécois picture is an entrancing slurp of vampire and other genres on its own merits. There's an Only Lovers Left Alive-style yearning and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night-esque elegance to the film. Beetlejuice and The Hunger bubble up, too, as do Under the Skin, Ginger Snaps and The Craft as well. But comparable to how drinking from someone doesn't transform you into them — at least according to a century-plus of bloodsucking tales on the page, in cinemas and on TV — nodding at influences doesn't turn this coming-of-age horror-comedy into its predecessors. Why does a vampire shy away from their basic method of feeding? Compassion and empathy, as a vamp doctor diagnoses. At a childhood birthday party in the 80s, Sasha (played by Avant le crash's Lilas-Rose Cantin in her younger guise) is gifted what her family thinks will be the ultimate present, to help her fangs come in: the clown hired as the shindig's entertainment isn't just there for a merry time, but as the cake. She won't kill him. She won't murder anyone afterwards. As she ages, it isn't just appeasing her parents that's putting pressure on Sasha to indulge her ingrained urges; when she sees blood, her desire kicks in. That Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person falls into the nest of flicks that understand how harrowing becoming a woman can be is as apparent as a puncture wound around the jugular; again, it still finds its own way to muse on a well-contemplated topic, even while broadly sticking with the familiar "being a teen girl is a horror movie" concept. As a last resort, Sasha is sent to stay with Denise, who nab her meals simply by picking up men and taking them home (her industrial-chic abode has meathooks to assist). But forcing anyone to follow in an authority figure's footsteps never turns out well whether they're breathing or undead, which is another of Louis-Seize's universal notions. A search for identity sits at the unstaked heart of Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, as Sasha endeavours to grow up and be a creature of the night on her own terms, and without losing who she knows she is. Enter suicide support groups, which depressed and bullied high-schooler Paul (Félix-Antoine Bénard, The Wall) attends to grapple with his own feelings about mortality — an opinion that's far less concerned with retaining his own life than Sasha is about letting humans keep existing. Warm Bodies, Let the Right One In, a human-vamp reversal of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's main romances: that's all dripped into Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person's blood bag as well. With her raven locks and dark-clad outfits, plus the movie's deadpan comedy, there's a touch of Wednesday Addams-but-a-bloodsucker, too. That said, tenderness rather than sarcasm is Sasha's vibe — and finding the balance between bleak and sweet is the feature's. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is a film about not just forging your own sense of self, and staying true to it, but discovering someone to connect with who accepts you for who you are, takes the good with the bad, and makes life (or the afterlife) worth living. It might be red with blood, then black with melancholy and angst, thematically, but it's also pink inside. Aesthetically, the Montreal-based Louis-Seize, cinematographer Shawn Pavlin (who also shot her shorts) and editor Stéphane Lafleur (Goddess of the Fireflies) adore contrasts — and letting the feature's visuals say as much as dialogue, especially about Sasha's inner state. Atmospheric yet also neon-lit, taking cues for lighting choices from German expressionist cinema but imparting the flick with a 90s teen-movie sheen: just as it balances humour with bittersweetness, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person juggles all of the above. Texture and richness pulsate emotionally and stylistically, and also in the soundtrack's bounces from jazz to pop. Indeed, one of the reasons that viewers being able to glean Louis-Seize's sources of inspiration doesn't overwhelm her picture is because it so deeply feels like you could step right into the film. Montpetit and Bénard turn in performances to match, portrayals where angst and longing pump in the same veins at the same time, and where frolicking through the night — sunlight still isn't a vampire's friend here — has the liminal taste of being caught between juvenile fun and adult reality. Alongside possessing great chemistry, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person's central pair know how to convey the movie's whimsy, darkness and romance while never succumbing fully to any over the other. They play a twist on Romeo and Juliet as well in the process, in a way, as two beings from opposite worlds drawn together. One would prefer to die than hurt someone who doesn't want it. The other would donate his life willingly because it'd give him purpose. As with the rest of her nudges, Louis-Seize doesn't feast on Shakespeare's most-famous tragedy, either; her take has its own charms and flavour.
Sydney winemaking duo Sebastian Keys and Zachary Godbolt have brought their beloved natural, organic and vegan wine brand DOOM JUICE to a brand-new cellar door. Boasting a sun-lit courtyard and a mural from local favourite Struthless, the new wine venue is housed in the garage of The Music & Booze Co's new live music venue The House of Music & Booze in St Peters (formerly the White Horse Hotel). Each Sunday, the cellar door turns into the Saint Lawrence Bistro and hosts a different chef from some of Sydney's best and most cutting-edge restaurants and bars. Already locked in to take over the kitchen: Toby Stansfield (The Old Fitz), Marcelo Munoz (Continental Deli CBD), Wesley-Cooper Jones (P&V), Sammy Rozsnyoi (Cafe Paci), Luka Coyne (Fish Shop), Ed Saxton (Sagra) and Anna Ugarte-Carral (10 Hats). "Every week will be different. [The chefs] are all working on their own speciality things," confirmed Keys. "The whole point of DOOM JUICE really, we wanted to be a really great way to get into natural wine, to be one of the first points of call into the wine world." Joining the DOOM JUICE crew each Sunday will be Sydney party collective Fruit Bowl who's hosting its weekly Fruit Bowl Sundays event upstairs in The House of Music & Booze, meaning you can hit the dance floor after you enjoy some natural wine and top-notch eats. Saint Lawrence Bistro Initial Schedule September September 11 - Ed Saxton (Sagra) September 18 - Jack Fitzhenry (Bastardo) September 25 - Wesley Cooper Jones (P&V Paddington) October October 2 - Toby Stansfield (The Old Fitz) October 9 - Sammy Rozsnyoi (Cafe Paci) October 16 - Cicerone October 23 - BTB Kirribilli October 30 - Dan Rocha (Wholebeast Butchery) November November 6 - Marcelo Munoz (Bar Louise) November 13 - Anna Ugarte-Carral (10 Hats) Images: Angus Bell Young
He first caught the film world's attention with zom-rom-com Shaun of the Dead, and also toyed with both horror and comedy in Hot Fuzz. But Scott Pilgrim vs the World, The World's End and Baby Driver filmmaker Edgar Wright hasn't ever dived headfirst into mind-bending psychological thriller territory — until his next flick hits cinemas later this year, that is. In Last Night in Soho, no one is set to kill the undead to Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now'. That said, Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen's Gambit) does play a singer in 60s-era London who appears to be a ghost. In the movie's just-dropped first trailer, her character Sandy pops up when aspiring fashion designer Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie, Jojo Rabbit) manages to venture back in time. Mysteriously travelling six decades into the past, Eloise looks in the mirror and sees Sandy's reflection, rather than her own. In a sneak peek filled with neon hues, things only get trippier from there — and, in a feature that takes plenty of cues from horror and thriller flicks from the time, more lurid as well. Impeccable period-appropriate set and costume design, vibrant pink lighting aplenty and an all-round dreamy feel are also part of the trailer, as Eloise finds herself coming face to face with her idol while plunged into a ghost story. Similarly playing a pivotal part: The Crown and Doctor Who's Matt Smith, who pops up alongside Taylor-Joy in the film's eerie 60s-set scenes. Whether following small-town cops in Hot Fuzz or jumping into the heist genre with Baby Driver — or directing late 90s/early 00s sitcom Spaced, too — Wright's work always stands out visually, and Last Night in Soho clearly promises to continue the trend. It's also the second of two Wright-helmed flicks headed to our screens this year, following documentary The Sparks Brothers, about the pop duo that also happens to be providing the tunes for this year's Adam Driver-starring musical Annette. Check out the trailer for Last Night in Soho below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ppe1YYATQY Last Night in Soho is set to release in Australian cinemas on October 21. Images: Parisa Taghizadeh / Focus Features.
Sydney's degustation doyen, British-born chef Nelly Robinson, has often championed the flavours of his motherland, the UK, at both his Surry Hills fine diner NEL and his Glebe gastropub Winstons at The Nags Head. However, the annual return of his Native Australia menu embraces the culinary riches of the Land Down Under, which the visionary restaurateur has called home for more than a decade. "This menu is a true celebration of the incredible native ingredients of this fine nation," Robinson says of the latest iteration of his multi-course antipodean-inspired feast. "As always, each menu curation at NEL is a passage of discovery and marrying of flavours. Our wonderful and attentive floor staff will play an integral part in taking our diners on this culinary journey." Not only is the produce sourced for this menu Australian, but some of the cooking techniques employed are also Aussie-coded, such as a wildfire Murray cod, marinated and charred to perfection on the barbie before being served with a mushroom ana. Other highlights of the menu include a rich crab curry dressed with native thyme and oregano, and folded into a soft spinach taco. Rounding out the meal, diners can tuck into a sweet treat shaped like Australia inspired by that most Aussie of biscuits, the Tim Tam. Flavoured with wattleseed and salted caramel, it's a prime example of the whimsy and wonder that have become the hallmark of NEL's degustation experiences. For the first time, NEL is expanding its degustation format from 11 courses to 12 for $185 per person. Matching beverages, perfectly paired by NEL's sommelier, cost an additional $155 per person.
Most of us are conscious of the climate emergency the planet is facing and are trying to be more ethical consumers as a result. But how many of us really know where our home furnishings, fashion or lifestyle products come from? It's too easy to go to a chain store and not question the manufacturing process behind many of its goods, but there's often a more sustainable alternative. And while there's an array of brands around the world championing sustainable practices, The Royal Thai Government has committed to positioning Thailand as a world leader in sustainable design. It's recently announced the creation of its BCG (Bio, Circular and Green) Economy to drive economic growth via the production of goods from renewable resources. Want to see how it comes to life? We've found ten Thai innovators who are doing their bit for the planet while still making quality products that are hard to pass up. BOPE When it comes to recycling, plastic is often the planet's real bête noire. It can take around 450 years for a plastic bottle to break down in landfill and every year, the world produces 380 million tonnes of the stuff. Bope is on a mission to do its bit to rescue some of that plastic. Its products — bags, purses, coasters, pots and more — are as stylish as they are practical, coming in a range of eye-catching designs and bright colours. Operating since 2014, this Chiang Mai design studio really knows how to get the best out of plastic. PIN The concept underpinning (pun intended) this award-winning brand is "new life of waste, new life of welder". As well as finding an innovative use for scrap metal, PiN encourages the craftspeople working on its products to take pride and dignity in the work they are doing. Founded by an artist who grew up in a family-owned steel company, PiN takes unremarkable waste metal and transforms it into beautiful homewares and decorations including hanging planters and stunning artworks. PASAYA Luxury and sustainability aren't always two concepts that go together, but Pasaya is looking to change that. Its range of rugs and carpets are high-end, durable and available in a whole host of patterns. Made from upcycled plastic bottles and manufactured using cutting-edge weaving techniques, Pasaya furnishings are made with the warm Thai climate in mind — something which is also ideal for many Australian homes. The company is also committed to reducing waste in all parts of the process including monitoring water utilisation, bacterial digestion and chemical reduction in the creation of its products. TRC TRC has over half a century's experience in stone polishing. The brand incorporates the ethos of sustainability into all it does, not just finished products, with even the moulds the company uses comprising of cement debris that other contractors would throw into a skip. Its signature collection is now made from entirely recycled materials including polished stone tables with bright, geometric patterns created from smashed and repurposed stone samples. CIRCULAR Fashion company Circular is extremely aptly named. Its garments are made of recycled materials, as you may expect, but if you donate your old clothes to Circular, you can also get a 10% discount off your next purchase, thus continuing the loop. Circular doesn't just use pre-loved items — it also sources waste from textile manufacturers, so it's never wholly reliant on generous donations. The brand also make a point of keeping the original colour of any materials used, therefore helping the environment by avoiding the use of harmful bleach or other chemicals. KH EDITIONS As well as a commitment to being eco-friendly, apparel brand KH Editions also has a strong focus on the local community. The company collaborates with locals, garnering ideas and materials, but also creating income and opportunities. What this means for the customer (as well as supporting an ethical brand) is the opportunity to purchase unique items of clothing which celebrate Thai culture made from materials like galangal and banana stem. And the designs are just as innovative as the manufacturing process — KH Editions clothing stands out in the best way. EARTHTONE Using materials like water hyacinth, rice husk and hemp, eco-fashion brand Earthtone's manifesto is to "spread love, not chemicals". Founded by husband-and-wife team Sayuri Okawa and Atthapon Pongsawat in 2019 after observing the degradation of Southern Thailand's coral reefs, Earthtone strives for efficiency, sustainability and spreading the message of conservation through clothing. The brand isn't stopping there, though — it's also looking to expand into home décor. Given its website proudly states the brand has preserved over 400,000 litres of drinking water and avoided over 500 kilograms of carbon emissions through its production methods, you truly want them to succeed. DD PAPER CUPS Many of us are getting better with our keep cups these days, but there are still times when you forget your reusable vessel and can't resist the lure of a barista-made coffee. The number of single-use cups thrown away is truly frightening — and that's where DD Paper Cups comes in. The business produces disposable cups, food containers, lids, tissues (basically any kind of packaging you'd associate with food and drinks to go) that are all environmentally friendly. The coffee cup line is even biodegradable, with the "plastic" that coats the inside made from plant material, meaning they break down within six months and can be used as fertiliser. HIDE & SEEK Let's talk kitty litter. It's usually made of rocks which you have to throw away when your beloved feline friend has done what they need to do. However, Hide & Seek has a new solution: cat litter that's produced entirely from cassava — a South American shrub that's also a staple food in many regions. Cassava has the same liquid and odour-absorbing qualities as the rock ore that most kitty litter is made from, only it's biodegradable, non-toxic and won't clog the pipes if flushed down the dunny. That would be a waste, however, as Hide & Seek cat litter can have a second life as plant fertiliser. KHRAMER You may normally just think of indigo as one of the colours of the rainbow but its origins are as a dye extracted from roots. For generations, people have used indigo root for its medicinal qualities as well as for giving colour to fabric. Khramer seeks to bring this benefit and wisdom to a wider group of people via its range of cosmetics made from indigo roots which is as safe and sustainable as it is effective. The brand's core products are a facial serum and a sunscreen, meaning you can take care of your skin and the planet at once. Keen to explore more sustainable brands? For more information, visit the DITP website, or explore more of Thailand's incredible creative scene here.
They're the masters of immersive thrills, such as smash-hit shipping container installations Seance, Coma and Flight. But, as we learned last year, not even the folks at Realscape Productions are immune to the realities of pandemic life. When they were locked down with the rest of Melbourne the first time around, they put their nerve-jangling real-life projects on hiatus — and teamed up with UK creators Darkfield on three brand-new audio experiences that fans could enjoy from the comfort of home. With Melbourne currently experiencing a case of stay-at-home deja vu, Realscape and Darkfield are bringing their trio of audio shows back — just for the duration of the current lockdown. Sick of looking at the TV and checking the exposure sites list? Already had your two hours of exercise for the day? Now you've got something else to put on your to-do list: getting creeped out just by listening. You can also nab a ticket if you're located elsewhere around the country. While Double, Visitors and Eternal are all designed to be delivered remotely, they're also geared to be every bit as eerie and unsettling as their IRL predecessors. With Double, for instance, you'll be plunged into an immersive experience that's meant to perplex the senses — this time, with the use of a 360-degree binaural sound that's played through your own headphones. Inspired by the Capgras delusion, a condition which sees a sufferer convinced that a loved one has been replaced by an imposter (sometimes an evil-intentioned one), it requires a two-person set-up, with players seated across a table from each other. The pair of you will then tune into a special 20-minute broadcast, at the exact time as hundreds of other players across the country. And there's just one rule to follow: everyone has to be who they say they are. Visitors uses the same sound setup, and is also designed for two people to listen to at once. It starts with another two folks as well: a dead couple who invite themselves into the your home. They're eager to escape their current state, even if only temporarily. "We didn't know where else to go," they'll tell you — and then you'll each hear two different sides of the story. Only Eternal is designed to be heard on your lonesome. It's inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula, aka one of the best horror novels ever written (and certainly the best vampire novel), and you're meant to play it while you're alone in bed. Originally commissioned by Ireland's Bram Stoker Festival, the 20-minute-long experience explores the allure of living forever — and will get you pondering what you'd willingly do to avoid death. The uneasiness everyone feels when they hear something go bump in the night also plays a part, because that's just the kind of sensation the production aims to conjure up. At the time of writing, all three productions will be available to listen to until Thursday, June 3 — with lockdown currently set to end at 11.59pm that evening. And, if you want to make a night of it, you can get access to the trio with one $40 ticket. Double, Visitors and Eternal are available to listen to until Thursday, June 3. For more information and to buy tickets, head to the Darkfield website. Images: Alex Purcell
When Suicide Squad opened in cinemas back in 2016, it received plenty of attention. The film really wasn't great — it was worse than that, in fact — so some ridiculous fans wanted to shut down Rotten Tomatoes because the movie received negative reviews. No one should ever try to get websites taken down because other people didn't like a flick they loved, obviously, and thankfully the same thing didn't occur with this year's The Suicide Squad. Something that did happen: a smaller Australian release due to Sydney and Melbourne's lockdowns. Yes, missing movies you'd like to see in a cinema is sadly a part of pandemic life. So is watching those same films at home much sooner than you normally would've, with a lengthy list of flicks making the leap from the big to the small screen over the past 18 months or so. Before the pandemic, big-name movies wouldn't ever be available to view at home within a month or so, because films that release in cinemas usually didn't make the jump to home entertainment for 90 days. Fast-tracking to digital happens all the time now, however, so it isn't surprising that The Suicide Squad is doing just that — including while it's still in theatres in some parts of the country. Come Thursday, September 2, fans of the DC Extended Universe — the interconnected franchise that started with Man of Steel, and also includes Wonder Woman and its sequel, Aquaman and Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) — can stream this second stab at bringing the eponymous supervillain crew to the screen. It'll be available to buy and rent via video on demand, including from digital movie services such as Google Play, YouTube Movies, Amazon Video and iTunes. Accordingly, if you've already sat down to watch an extended new version of Justice League this year like it's still 2017, you can now pretend it's still 2016 with this confusingly named franchise effort — because no one has challenged themselves thinking of The Suicide Squad's moniker. Plot-wise, this sequel follows its titular gang as they're sent to the island of Corto Maltese on a deadly quest — to save the world in secret, and after being given zero choice by shady parts of the US Government, of course. Margot Robbie (Dreamland) returns as Harley Quinn and proves one of the best things about the movie, while Idris Elba (Cats) as Bloodsport is also a standout. They're joined by Joel Kinnaman (The Secrets We Keep) making a comeback as Rick Flag, Australian actor Jai Courtney (Honest Thief) doing the same as Captain Boomerang, and 2021 Oscar-nominee Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) returning as the agent overseeing this band of world-saving supervillains. John Cena (Playing with Fire), Peter Capaldi (The Personal History of David Copperfield), Pete Davidson (The King of Staten Island), Sylvester Stallone (Rambo: Last Blood) and Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit) show up, too — and so do Guardians of the Galaxy alums Michael Rooker and Sean Gunn, which makes complete sense given that GotG filmmaker James Gunn is behind the lens and also penned the screenplay. Check out the trailer for The Suicide Squad below: The Suicide Squad is currently screening in cinemas in Australia — where cinemas are open — and will also be available to stream online via video on demand from Thursday, September 2.
A Sydney original, Beau Tea began in Cabramatta and now boasts five locations across Sydney, including in Burwood, Chatswood and Haymarket. The tea here is brewed fresh daily and is made from a 'secret' recipe — and you'll notice the difference in the taste. The brand specialises in traditional fruit and flower teas, but has continued to expand into new territory. Think purple rice yoghurt drinks, hibiscus tea punches and the new coffee frappe range (topped with milk foam, of course). There's also cream lattes, cheese teas and hidden menu items to watch out for.
