If you've ever wanted to become best buddies with a seal while floating around the Pittwater waterways you're in luck. Experienced kayaker Ian is currently running guided tours around Palm Beach and Pittwater, including a stop off at to visit the local seal colony. Suitable for all levels of experience on the water, this 3.5–4 hour journey gets you up close to these impressive marine mammals. The seal colony seasonally sunbake in groups of around 15-to-20 on the rocks in Pittwater. On your adventure, you'll have time to marvel and take photos of the seals before heading over to a nearby beach for a picnic lunch. All equipment and lunch are provided as part of the ticket price, with sessions starting at $225 a person. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
Free rides, demented circus performers, spooky light shows and a killer program of Australia's best beatmakers will take over Luna Park this Halloween, as the Big Top hosts its first ever Ouija Beats party. It's the product of FBi Radio, The Music and LPS putting their heads together for a contemplation of the paranormal. The Halloween action will kick off at 6pm, with every rollercoaster, dodgem car and white-knuckle experience in the joint providing partygoers with free thrills for two hours. Then you can trick or treat your way to nine of Australia's hands-down best electronic artists playing sets all night long across two stages in the Big Top. Leading the charge is Cosmo's Midnight, who inspired a rush of hero worship following the official release of their remix of Flume's 'Sleepless' and have lately played support for XXYYXX, Cashmere Cat and Tokimonsta. Then there’s Basenji (his neighbours call him Sebastian Carlos) who likes 'eating almonds and riding his bike' and has been hitting playlists all over the place with his quirky, dynamic percussive adventures. At the more ethereal end of the electro spectrum are Panama, who've been partaking in some substantial jetsetting of late, selling out rooms in London, New York and LA along the way; Twin Caverns, who, in just one year of music-making, have graced the pages of NME and appeared on stages in the company of The Kite String Tangle, Husky and Thief; and the infectious, airy yet gritty duo Willow Beats. Rounding out the bill are Melbourne's Northeast Party House, Olympic Ayres (whose 'Magic' made the FIFA 2014 soundtrack), Moonbase Commander and the Astral People DJs. By the way, you should start on your costume sooner rather than later, for two reasons. One, there’ll be prizes (like epic home entertainment systems) going to the most inventive, bizarre and creepy couture of the night. Two, the door charge includes $40 Uber credit, so you can ride in style without doing any damage to your get-up.
It's the orchestra, Jim, but not as we know it. ACO Underground is the temporary stage name of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, which is reforming as an electro-acoustic collective for one night only. Next Sunday Australia's most talented classical musicians will be swapping the concert hall for the beer-stained stage of New York loft-style venue The Standard. With the assistance of former Midnight Oil guitarist Jim Moginie, they'll be playing a setlist more pleasantly bizarre than when Nelly and Tim McGraw teamed up in 2004. And, ranging from Radiohead's dreamy rock and Nick Drake's melancholy folk to the spellbinding Italian baroque of Vivaldi, the evening will traverse across as many decades as it will genres. Clearly this is not your average gig, so don't be thinking you can take the 7pm doors time as an invitation to rock up three hours later. Preceding the show will be a video montage installation by surf cinematographer Jon Frank, projected onto the walls and set to specially chosen audio, and that's an opening act you don't want to miss. To win a double pass to ACO Underground, just make sure you're subscribed to Concrete Playground then email us at hello@concreteplayground.com.au
Paula Scher has been painting maps since the 1990s. Using vibrant colours and stunning detail, some of these paintings have grown to stand at over 12 feet tall. 39 of her works of art have now been collected in her new book, aptly titled MAPS. The paintings actually house a remarkable amount of substantial information. In one painting, named 'International Air Routes', she has included flight paths and names of different airlines, while 'World Trade' has international currencies and trade routes. All of this information is crammed into an array of colours and geographical lines, which really have to be seen to be believed. Importantly, her book features close-up shots so the reader can truly appreciate every intricacy. Scher says "I began painting maps to invent my own complicated narrative about the way I see and feel about the world. I wanted to list what I know about the world from memory, from impressions, from media, and from general information overload. These are paintings of distortions.” In her book you will find maps of everywhere from China to New York City. Not only visually stimulating, Scher's pieces offer an individual distortion of the world and strong commentary about our society and often chaotic lifestyles. [via Cool Hunting]
When you're feasting your way around 2024's Vivid Fire Kitchen, don't forget to save room for dessert. It wouldn't be a stall-filled Sydney food event without Gelato Messina making an appearance with an array of special sweet treats, and the chain's latest pop-up doesn't disappoint. At Messina Milk Bar, old-school dishes get the brand's creative twist, sprinkling nostalgia on heartily. If a warm Milo fudge sundae made with Messina's gelato doesn't take your tastebuds back to simpler times, sipping on a spider should. On offer from 6–11pm daily until Saturday, June 15 at The Goods Line, the first features Milo mud cake, cereal milk gelato, Milo fudge, choc-malt mousse and Italian meringue put under the torch, and costs $12. The second pairs creaming soda with vanilla gelato for $10. Also a must-try: $10 gelato choc bars in four flavours, all riffing on beloved fellow sweets as Messina adores doing. Choose between the chain's take on freckles, Bounty, Fantales (RIP) and Biscoff, or head back four times to give them all a whirl. Vanilla or strawberry milkshakes ($12 each), plus cups of Wagon Wheel, Ritz and finger bun gelato ($8 each), round out the Messina Milk Bar selection. And if you're suddenly thinking "should I just have dessert for dinner?", you already know the answer.
People of the gluten-free world, do we have some news for you. Nutie, Sydney's much-loved maker of GF donuts, is moving into the CBD for winter. Having opened its first shop in Balmain last year, the team is now gearing up to bring sweet hits to the city's ravenous 9–5ers. The announcement is a big win for vegans, too. Nutie peddles a stack of plant-free creations, including black bean brownies, wagon wheels, rocky road and lemon meringue pies. Meanwhile, among the gluten-free doughnuts, you'll find all kinds of marvellous flavour combos, such as pink Champagne, black sesame and green tea. If you must insist on eating something other than dessert, then dig into Nutie's savoury menu, which is packed with sangas, salads, buddha bowls and cauliflower pizzas. And, yes, they're all utterly devoid of gluten. Nutie is giving away 300 donuts to celebrate the beginning of their CBD adventure. Get there at 10am (or earlier) on Wednesday, May 23 to land your paws on one. Nutie will open at shop 9 in the Hunter Arcade, 109 Pitt Street, Sydney on Wednesday, May 23 at 10am. It'll then be open from 7am–5pm Monday to Friday until at least September. For more info, visit the Instagram page.
A lot has changed this year, and most of these changes haven't been easy. Many of us are still adjusting to this wild new world of working from home, too. Without shared kitchens to gather around and coworkers to distract you, the day can be hard to fill — and feel pretty lonely at that. The hardest part of the day is hands down the arvo, when you're halfway between lunch and clocking off. So, to help give you some ideas for your working week ahead, we've teamed up with Oporto to bring you five ways to avoid the inevitable afternoon slump. Whether it's getting in a quick workout, going for a short walk or organising tea with your coworkers, this list has your afternoon perk-ups covered. MONDAY: TEND TO YOUR PLANTS The Monday blues come in many forms — and being cooped up at home all day can make it worse. But one benefit of working from home is having the chance to build an indoor oasis filled with plants, plants and more plants. If you're already living in an indoor oasis, this is your chance to tend to them properly — no more dead fiddle leaf figs on your watch. Spend some time in the arvo giving them your love, and receiving that love right back. There are therapeutic and health benefits to keeping plants in your home, too, including improving air quality — some, like the devil's ivy or the peace lily, help to remove extra nasties like benzene, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and xylene from the atmosphere. If you're keen to add to your plant collection, we've rounded up the best places to buy plants in Sydney, or you can order delivery to your door from Marrickville's Plant Girl. TUESDAY: SCHEDULE A CATCH-UP WITH A COWORKER Just because you're no longer working in the office every day doesn't mean you have to forego a tea or coffee catch-up with your coworkers. Instead of scheduling yet another Zoom session, find an office mate who lives nearby and take your hang to the park. Getting a bit of fresh air and socialising IRL (at a distance, of course) will do you both some good. Of course, you'll need plenty of snacks to get your metabolism going for the arvo, and to prevent pre-dinner hanger from setting in. On the way to the park, grab a quick bite from Oporto to bring along. Its new Rappa Range includes the Pulled Chicken Rappa, which has hand-pulled chicken cooked in a lemon and herb sauce, crunchy slaw, spicy rice and your choice of sauce, all wrapped up in warm pita bread. WEDNESDAY: SQUEEZE IN A QUICK WORKOUT OR MEDITATION SESSION Possibly the best way to energise yourself through the afternoon slump is by getting in a quick workout. There are plenty of 15-, 20- and 30-minute workouts available for free online, so you don't even need to leave your house to exercise. One of our favourites is Yoga with Adriene, whose YouTube channel includes 15- or 20-minute classes focused on themes like unwinding, uplifting, resetting and focusing — all great ways to get you back in action for the rest of the working day. For more high energy stuff, The Fitness Marshall has quick (and very fun) dance workouts to pop songs like 'Work' by Rihanna, 'Truth Hurts' by Lizzo and 'Womanizer' by Britney Spears. Or, if you just need a break from all that thinking and doing, check out the Smiling Mind meditation app. Find more quick (and free) ways to workout at home, here. [caption id="attachment_754228" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] THURSDAY: GO FOR A SHORT WALK WHILE LISTENING TO YOUR FAVOURITE MUSIC It's been pretty difficult being stuck at home all winter. Now that the weather is back to its regularly scheduled sunshine, you can take advantage of it like never before. Step away from your desk, get some fresh air and move your body — it will wake you up for the afternoon and give you the energy to keep going. It may even improve your attention span when you get back to work. While you walk, we suggest popping on your headphones and listening to your favourite music. Whether that's Beyoncé, Tame Impala or Ella Fitzgerald — or whatever your musical preference is — it's sure to put you in a great mood and mean that when you get back to work you'll do so with a positive attitude. FRIDAY: COMPLETE ONE LIFE-ADMIN TASK (THAT YOU KNOW YOU WON'T GET TO AFTER 5PM) It's finally Friday, and the weekend is within arm's reach — which means this time can often be the hardest to stay focused. But, since you're working from home, it also presents an opportunity to get some life admin out of the way before the weekend starts. Whether that's dropping by the post office, paying a bill or picking up toothpaste, you know you won't get to it after pens down, and you'd rather not do it on a Saturday, obviously. With life admin out of the way, you can clock off with the blissful feeling of two days of complete freedom ahead of you — there's no better feeling. Check out Oporto's full Rappa Range here, then make tracks to your closest store — or order online. Top image: Marine Parade, Manly courtesy Destination NSW
It's been two years since Melbourne outfit the Stabs have ventured north to Sydney, to blow minds with their brutal, high-energy and borderline mayhem live show. To celebrate the vinyl re-release of their debut album Dirt and Dead Wood – they previously sold out two pressing of their debut – the three-piece will return in September to fill out GoodGod's Danceteria with a concoction of blistering noise and earsplitting feedback. There is only a limited number of copies of each title available, but you can purchase either of the two releases via Homeless Records. Kickin' around since 2003, the three-piece have performed along the likes of Mudhoney, Rowland S. Howard, The Scientists and more. They were also hand-picked to perform at the inaugural, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds-curated All Tomorrow's Parties Festival in 2009. Get in early to have your ears buzzed out with the sounds of the Holy Soul and Treatment. https://youtube.com/watch?v=JT1tolu5aQE
Jimmy Hurlston, the burger fiend you know and love from Jimmy's Burgers and Melbourne's famous tramcar nosh spot Easey's, is poised to take down Sydney and win hearts with his burgers. Hurlston has just opened his newest burger joint Guilty on Palmer Street in Darlinghurst, not far from two other recently opened burger joints, B L Burgers and Burgers Anonymous. As well as bringing his Insta-famous burgs with him, Hurlston's new eatery, located in the Republic 2 complex, will also be serving up poutine-like tater tots, Pop Tart ice cream sandwiches and banana splits. Guilty will be repping its hometown and showing off a range of Melbourne brewed beers on tap, including Melbourne Bitter. Unfortunately there's no genuine Melbourne tramcar set up though. A photo posted by Guilty (@guiltysydney) on Apr 24, 2016 at 12:18am PDT Sydney, you better ready yourself because Hurlston has some ambitious ideas about burgers. An Easey's speciality, for the uninitiated, is the addition of creamy mac and cheese to an already towering burger. And the vegetarian option? Forget eggplant and grilled giant mushrooms, your burger pattie will be replaced with a crunchy potato cake. Jimmy Hurlston's burger creations are not for the weak of heart. Guilty is located at 248 Palmer Street, Darlinghurst and is open 11am to midnight Monday to Saturday and 11am to 10pm on Sundays. For more info, check their Instagram. Image: Easey's.
The World's End is the final film in Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy — named for the Cornettos that make an appearance in each film. The film stars Pegg and Nick Frost as childhood best friends Gary and Andrew, both unhappy with their adult lives, trying to recapture their youth in one epic pub crawl, ending at The World's End. But if you've seen Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, you'll know that this isn't going to be just any pub crawl — along the way, they uncover a group of aliens plotting to invade Earth and have to stop them from turning the entire human race into robots. It's been getting some pretty good reviews overseas, with the Guardian calling it "a double-whammy of funny and clever" and a "good-natured sci-fi comedy of male mid-life discontent". The World's End is in cinemas on August 1, and thanks to Universal Pictures, we have ten double in-season passes to give away. To be in the running all you need to do is subscribe to our newsletter (if you haven't already) and then email hello@concreteplayground.com.au with your name and address.
Whoever said bouncy castles were just for kids clearly never encountered The Monster. Clocking in at 270-metres and boasting 30 different obstacles, this thing takes the title of the world's largest inflatable obstacle course. Oh, and it's just casually coming to Melbourne next month, as part of its own three-day 18+ festival of fun. Taking over the Grand Pavilion at Melbourne Showgrounds across the Australia Day long weekend, The Monster is the bouncy castle experience of your wildest kidult dreams. Punters are invited to run, jump, dance and scramble their way through the course, with sessions running from noon–10pm each day. It'll likely take you somewhere between five and 20 minutes to complete, depending on speed, coordination and how indulgent your festive season was. What's more, the fun extends beyond the final bounce, with the festival also pulling together a program of DJs, street food vendors and pop-up bars to see you sticking around long into the night. Melbourne's just the first stop on The Monster's soon-to-launch Aussie tour, with organisers TEG Life Like Touring expected to announce more cities next year. The Monster arrives in Melbourne from January 26–28, with access to the obstacle course from 12–10pm daily. Tickets are $39.90 and available from Monday, December 18. You can buy tickets at themonster.com.au.
We have a lot to thank Mexico for: tequila, tacos, and festive music, for starters. And Mexico's annual holiday Cinco de Mayo is as good an excuse as any to celebrate the country's colourful culture. SoCal, Neutral Bay's southern-Californian eatery, agrees and has scheduled a series of events showcasing Mexican booze and bites. Created in partnership with Olmeca ALTOS tequila, the inaugural Taco and Tequila Fiesta will see SoCal host seven days of Mexican-themed festivity. As well as the events, a special Mexican sundae, created by renowned pastry chef Andy Bowdy (and owner of Enmore's Saga), will be available all month. It's no surprise that the all-you-can-eat taco night on Tuesday, May 8, booked out pretty quickly. SoCal will accept walk-ins on the night, but if you're all about those guarantees, here are some of the other highlights to fill your calendar with. CINCO DE MAYO PARTY The week-long party kicks off on the Mexican holiday. The day traditionally commemorates the historic victory of the Mexican army over the French army in Pueblo, Mexico on May 5, 1862. In modern times, all around the world, the day marks an opportunity to celebrate Mexican culture. So, from midday, SoCal will be decked out in cacti and sombreros, slinging margaritas and playing Mexican-themed live music well into the night. Score a free flower crown with your margarita between 12pm–2.30pm or don a sombrero and celebrate all things Mexico. Cinco de Mayo will kick off at midday on Saturday, May 5. MY TACO RULES! CHAMPIONSHIP Eating taco after taco on any other day could be considered gluttony (not that it stops us). But on Monday, May 7, it's all in the name of research. The SoCal terrace will be transformed into a MasterChef-style kitchen where head chefs and bartenders from Applejack Hospitality venues — The Botanist, Endeavour Tap Rooms, The Butler and, of course, SoCal — will battle it out for taco and tequila cocktail superiority. A team of judges, including pastry whiz Andy Bowdy and Olmeca ALTOS brand ambassador Rachel Macdonald, will crown the winner, but there will also be complimentary tacos and tequila cocktails distributed for the crowd to select the 'Audience Choice' Award. My Taco Rules! Championship will kick off at 5pm on Monday, May 7. CHARITY LIVE ART BATTLE On Wednesday, SoCal will be filled with blank canvases that four local street artists will transform into colourful artworks. At the end of the night, the artworks be uploaded to the SoCal website and silent auction will take place — with the winners announced on Tuesday, May 15. The artist with the highest-selling artwork will then be commissioned by Olmeca ALTOS to create a mural on SoCal's back wall. Not only will you get your dinner with a side of colourful entertainment, but all proceeds from the artwork will be donated to the artist's charity of choice: win, win. Charity Live Art Battle will run from 6pm–9pm on Wednesday, May 9. TACO & TEQUILA DEGUSTATION The week of festivities wraps up with a taco degustation menu. Grab an amigo and feast on five courses of tequila-paired culinary delights. Dinner will start with a refreshing tuna and kingfish ceviche-topped taco paired with a jalapeño-spiked tequila cocktail, move on to tacos topped with Moreton Bay bug and grilled tofu and will end with buñuelos — a dessert of crisp tortillas, dulce de leche, agave praline and ice cream — and a caffeinated cocktail with Kahlua and vanilla-infused tequila. Taco and Tequila Degustation will be held on Friday, May 11. $65 per person with a minimum of two people per booking. For the full list of events happening during SoCal's Taco and Tequila Fiesta, head to the website.
One of Sydney's favourite underground music spaces, 505, have programmed a very special series of performances on Cockatoo Island they've dubbed Campfire Sessions. In an intimate setting — yep, you guess it, focused around a campfire — Campfire Sessions offers up sets from local artists as the sun goes down over the harbour. On Saturday, January 17, catch Martha Marlow; recognised for her beautiful musical rendition of Linda Ronstadt's 'Feels Like Home' from most recent QANTAS advertising campaign. Marlow will be performing on Saturday evening followed by ARIA-nominated guitar virtuoso Damian Wright on Sunday, January 18. Campfire Sessions is a particularly ideal date option for the summer — Cockatoo Island is always a novelty place to visit even without the bonus of live music. If you're feeling especially romantic, make the call. Image: Sam Howzit via photopin cc.
Sydneysiders, if you've ever headed north to Brisbane and cruised the river on a CityCat, you might've noticed that the majority of the city's catamarans share their monikers with Indigenous place names. Back on home turf, Sydney's ferry fleet are named after significant people, including explorer and leader Bungaree, as well as elder and political leader Pemulwuy — but a new vessel floating around the harbour has gone one better with its eye-catching artwork. Launched for the recent Sydney Solstice festival, but keeping its makeover permanently, the NRMA-owned Ocean Dreaming 2 now sports a livery designed by Gomeroi artist Warwick Keen. He's created his own interpretation of the Aboriginal art practice of dendroglyphs — which he says brings together the water and craft — and combined a wave design with the names of Sydney's First Nations' language groups. Gadigal, Bayingawuna, Baramada, Warrane and Wuganmagulya are some of the names now emblazoned on the ferry, atop waves of red ochre, yellow ochre, black and white. The artwork aims to "highlight the theme of reconciliation and [an] awareness of First Nation Peoples' perspectives based in and around the foreshores of Sydney harbour," Keen explained on his website. "I am extremely proud that my work will live to tell its story every day as Ocean Dreaming 2 rides across the waves of our famous harbour," Keen added in a statement — with Ocean Dreaming 2 set to be used for whale watching, stargazing and other tourism experiences now that Sydney Solstice is over. During the festival, the vessel hosted two cruises with Tribal Warrior: an Aboriginal Whale Watching Experience and an Aboriginal Sky Dreaming Cruise. Sydneysiders won't just need to hop onboard to admire Keen's work, of course — just keep an eye out for the ferry cruising the harbour from now on. For more information about Ocean Dreaming 2, head to the My Fast Ferry website.
Created and performed by the exquisite and 'eco-sexually charged' showgirl Betty Grumble (Emma Maye Gibson), Love and Anger is part-cabaret, part-disco party and part-radical protest — and was last seen at the Griffin Theatre for a sold-out show during the 2018 Batch Festival. This time around, the encore performance will take over the theatre company's Stables Theatre from January 21–26 at 7pm each night, with an additional accessible show taking place at Redfern's 107 Projects on Sunday, January 27. In the show, Grumble pushes back against societal norms and is set to alter the way theatre-goers consider themes of femininity, pleasure and the body. It also features music from popular queer band Stereogamous (Paul Mac and Jonny Seymour). The Sydney-based performance artist has taken her highly lauded show all across Australia and over to Europe — with Love and Anger already performed at Fringe Festivals in Berlin, Glastonbury, Edinburgh, Perth and Adelaide, as well as at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, The Festival of Dangerous Ideas and The Bearded Tit. The show has also taken home a slew of awards including Innovation in Form at the 2017 Green Room Awards and Best Cabaret at Fringe World 2017 and 2018. Plus, Gibson has presented other works at Dark Mofo and The Sydney Opera House, just to name a few. General admission tickets are set at an extremely reasonable price: $35 a pop, with $20 'Monday rush' tickets also available from noon on Monday, January 21. Love and Anger is a regularly sold-out show, so best to nab your tickets here.
Sydney's seen a few ball pits roll through in the past few of years. There have been pink ones in dessert 'museums', beach-themed pop-ups and pits filled with one million balls. Now, one of the CBD's underground bars is getting its own ball-filled playground. For three nights this October, Side Bar is hosting the ultimate adults-only Ball Pit Party. The party will run from 8pm all the way through till 3am every night between October 4–6. During this seven-hour event, the basement of the eight-story Pitt Street heritage building will be filled with over 250,000 glowing balls, confetti canons, neon cocktail buckets and a lineup of Sydney DJ favourites. If you want to plan your night of balls and booze ahead of time, tickets for the event are available for $15. Plus, if you do buy ahead, you won't have to waste any time waiting outside.
The elusive bunyip. A mythological figure in Australian outback tales and one that has gone on to scare many an unsuspecting, and completely gullible, tourist. For artists Simon Greiner and Carlo Ritchie, the bunyip is more than just a figure to frighten your friendly visiting backpacker, it's a character all of its own that has been brought to life in an interactive and narrative based exhibition. With a combination of props, set design and anatomical and behavioural studies of the bunyip, you will be able to follow the bunyip's comic-like storyline as it makes its way through the gallery space. But everyone likes a two-for-one don't they? Yes they do. And they will get one when visiting the Paper Mill this month as you also get to see Printed Matter — an exploration of some of Sydney's diverse printing collectives. Each offering is an original and tactile experience of printed greatness. Colours have been picked by eye, and stock has sometimes been hand fed, olde worlde style, through printing machines to create fascinating and beautiful pieces of ink coloured paper. If you have a passion for paper, and what can be done on it, this is your holy ground.
Grab your diary. Call your mates. Reserve your horse. Secret Garden has just announced its dates for 2019. And we're happy to tell you that Australia's beloved, grassroots, made-for-mates-by-mates festival will be taking place over 48 hours, across Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23. You have less time, however, to scrape your cash together. Ticket sales kick off at 9am on Wednesday, September 12. If you're a regular gardener, you'll know that they sell out pretty damn quickly, so don't dilly dally. Good news is, though, that you can sign up for pre-sale tickets here — if you're not already. As usual, we won't know anything about the lineup or festival program until tickets are sold out. But, we can tell you that, as always, Secret Garden will bring you an immersive experience, a long way out of the city, within a magical natural setting transformed into a wonderland. You'll find yourself wandering through a forest maze, getting lost in massive installations, discovering unexpected pop-up performances and coming across tucked-away parties in custom-made rave caves. Maybe even getting married. All we know for sure? As always, you're invited to wear your craziest, most dressed up fancy dress. Start planning. Secret Garden will run from February 22–23, 2019. Tickets on sale 9am Wednesday, September 12. More details on the festival's website. Image: Tim Da Rin & Jack Toohey
Marrickville's newly opened Bucket Boys is not your average craft brew bottle shop, more closely resembling a sort of art gallery for beer — think minimalist, modern artwork, a four-tap tasting/refill bar and single bottles only on display, giving each beer its place to shine. Add BB's own brews into the mix, and you've got yourself one hell of a commitment to craft. This valiant endeavour is no surprise from co-owner Johnathan Hepner, who, apart from being the biggest beer geek we know, is also quite possibly the only Cicerone bottle shop owner in Australia. Hepner is joined by co-owner Clint Elvin (Gasoline Pony) and local legends Jay Cook and Ben Miller, who head up the in-house brewing team. The Bucket Boys concept is based on the history of growler-style takeaway, which originated in the early 1800s. Their own brews pay homage to ye olden days of beer as well — their Straw Dog, a 14th century-style Polish beer, is made from oak-smoked wheat. With only single bottles on offer, the name of the game here is the mixed six-pack. The stocklist currently sits at 400 brews, with over 60 sours, including many international brewers that have hardly made it to the Aussie market — like Italian craft Lover Beer and Belgium's Brouwerij Alvinne. Of course, Aussie and Kiwi craft is extensively represented as well. "I've ensured that at least one of every beer style is currently in stock," says Hepner. With his extensive beer knowledge, we're going to take this as gospel. But it's not all beer on the shelves. Apart from the impressive, ever changing beer stock, specialty wines and spirits are also well-represented — this includes Bucket Boys own house wines, made in collaboration with Alex Retief of Urban Winery Sydney, as well as a sheep whey vodka from Tasmania's Hartshorn Distillery. Bucket Boys is a spot for true beer lovers and a place for even the biggest beer geeks to discover something new in craft. Locals around here are lucky, with BB the perfect cherry atop the craft beer mecca that is Marrickville. Bucket Boys is located at 300 Illawarra Road, Marrickville. Opening hours are Sunday through Thursday, 10am to 8pm and Friday through Saturday, 10am to 9pm. Images: Marissa Ciampi.
From the 1870s to the mid 1990s, the Colonial Sugar Refinery (CSR) in Pyrmont was a vital part of Sydney's economy. The expanding enterprise refined sugarcane, made building materials and at its height, distilled about a third of Australia's rum. Sold in 1995 to make way for residential development, all that remains of the refinery are three huge steel spheres mounted on pedestals in Pyrmont's Waterfront Park. But playwright Alana Valentine knew that wasn't entirely true. Dotted around Sydney are other remnants of the sugar factory – generations of workers who built their lives around CSR's industry. It's on this foundation that Valentine has crafted her latest work, The Sugar House, open Upstairs at Belvoir. The play focuses on three women who have either worked in the refinery or have seen their hometown change as a result of its boom and bust. Delving into their complex histories, Valentine also examines the changing face of Sydney and asks a few pointy questions about what it's become. As Belvoir's Artistic Director Eamon Flack notes, the play is a gift to the city, but it also details the true cost of prosperity. With Kris McQuade, Sacha Horler and Sheridan Harbridge heading up a cast of Belvoir stalwarts, The Sugar House promises a tough and winding account of family and the city. It might also provide a few answers about what exactly those giant balls in Waterfront Park were used for.
Like the clothing we wear, the jewellery we adorn our bodies with can be another way we choose to portray ourselves to the world. Often overlooked in today's contemporary art scene, the practice of jewellery making is making a comeback in .M Contemporary's newest exhibition, Intimately Connected. Ten of the world's best jewellers take centre stage in this exhibition, which dips deep into their innovative and often experimental craftsmanship, conceptual development and contemporary design skills. In their hands, jewellery is no longer just something we throw on at the beginning of the day but transforms into a type of wearable art. What makes jewellery such an interesting medium for these artists is that it creates an intimate conversation with the body. Founder and director of .M Contemporary Michelle Paterson says, "Jewellery art can draw attention to sexuality, enhance beauty, signify wealth and status, and project power … It can also have an emotional meaning." The range of colours, scale, texture and sculptural form in these works is quite unlike any adornment you're likely to have seen before; a reinvention of 'jewellery' for the 21st century.
SBW Stables Theatre will be unrecognisable to seasoned theatregoers when Griffin Theatre Company returns next month with Dogged. Taking over the intimate performance space, the show and its spectacular set design will transport you into the haunting Aussie bush for an electric night of theatre. Written by award-winning playwrights Catherine Ryan and Andrea James, Dogged tells the story of familial bonds unfolding over the course of one long night in the alpine region of Victoria on Gunaikurnai Country. Teaming up with dance theatre company Force Majeure, this poetic Australian gothic-style story wholeheartedly embraces the isolation and harshness of its setting. 'Dogged' is a Griffin Theatre Company production in association with Force Majeure and is showing at SBW Stables Theatre from Friday, April 30 to Saturday, June 5. To grab tickets, head here.
Two Sydney institutions have come together for a collaboration that just makes sense. Black Star Pastry, creators of the world's most Instagrammed cake, and sleek CBD cocktail bar PS40 have combined forces to make a new range of bottled cocktails, each paired with one of Black Star's famous cakes. The three boozy creations all come in 250-millilitre bottles and are available for delivery throughout Sydney right now, with or without their cake counterparts. The obvious star of the show is the cocktail version of the bakery's strawberry watermelon cake. In order to create an alcoholic beverage reminiscent of this sought-after dessert, PS40's Michael Chiem combined gin with fresh strawberry, rose petal tea and clarified rose-scented cream. Chiem describes the drink as "what we imagine it would taste like if we threw Black Star Pastry's iconic strawberry watermelon cake into a gin still". The other two cocktails are inspired by Black Star's more underrated favourites — the Japanese forest cake and the pistachio lemon zen cake. The Japanese forest cocktail is a take on an old fashion adding red miso caramel, Mr Black coffee liqueur and Hojicha tea, while the zen creation is a red grapefruit and lemon version of a paloma. The cocktails are available in a sample pack with 250-millilitres of each cocktail for $80, or accompanied by Black Star Pastry's three cakes for $125. PS40 and Black Star's collab is part of the launch of the new Sydney-wide Black Star Pastry delivery service. To ensure you can indulge in cakes even if you don't live within five kilometres of a brick-and-mortar outpost, you can now order next-day delivery from Black Star Pastry's website to anywhere in Sydney. Alongside the classic cakes and PS40 cocktails, the delivery service also offers Rare Hare wine and St Ali coffee. Delivery is free on orders over $100. The Black Star Pastry x PS40 cake and cocktail pairings are available now via Black Star Pastry's new Sydney-wide delivery service.
If American bourbon is your drink of choice, one of the finest distillers in the business, Maker's Mark, is giving you a feel-good reason to raise a glass until Sunday, August 31, 2025. The Kentuckian bourbon distiller has collaborated with Australian honey producers Beechworth Honey for a delicious rendition of The Gold Rush: a cocktail that celebrates the brilliant flavour pairing of honey and bourbon served with freshly squeezed lemon juice — a sweet and sour combo served on ice that can brighten up any cool evening. In addition to a focus on craft, sustainability is one of the pillars of the Maker's Mark brand. In fact, it is the largest distillery in the world to achieve B Corp certification. And in a bid to further its efforts to make bourbon that's better for the world, Maker's Mark is teaming up with some of Sydney's best bars to donate $2 from every Gold Rush cocktail sold to the Wheen Bee Foundation. Next time you're heading out for cocktails, make your way to one of these venues and order a Gold Rush, and you'll be making a contribution to a foundation dedicated to protecting and conserving the Australian honey bee simply by enjoying a very good drink. Participating venues: Fortunate Son in Newtown Palomino Lounge in Enmore Old Mates Place in the CBD The Roosevelt in Potts Point The Duke of Clarence in the CBD Earl's Juke Joint in Newtown Double Deuce Lounge in the CBD Charlie Parker's in Paddington Bar Demo in Newtown J&M in the CBD Chuck & Sons in St Peters The Cumberland in Manly If you're down in Canberra, you can hit up Hippo Co, or if you're in Wollongong, Howlin' Wolf, La La La's and Black Cockatoo Bar are also participating
Twelve fine-diners and casual eateries run by former MasterChef Australia judge George Calombaris have closed their doors as his restaurant group Made Establishment goes into voluntary administration. While Yo-Chi — the group's frozen yoghurt company — will continue trading as usual, seven Jimmy Grants, as well as Hotel Argentina, Gazi, Hellenic Republic Brighton and the newly opened Crofter Dining Room and Elektra have all "stopped trading immediately". The move comes months after Calombaris' restaurants were rocked by wage scandals, with the company admitting employees were underpaid by $7.8 million. While hundreds of workers will be impacted by the closures, Made Establishment's newly appointed administrators, KordaMentha, said in a statement that "employees have been paid all outstanding wages and superannuation up to the date of the appointment". According to KordaMentha, "declining trade across venues" and "difficult trading conditions in the hospitality industry...due to the expansion of the on-demand economy via services such as UberEats and Deliveroo" were also reasons for Made Establishment's voluntary administration. Calombaris himself responded to the appointment and closures via a post on Instagram, in which he said "I truly regret it has come to this". "The last few months have been the most challenging I have ever faced," Calombaris said in the post. "At this time, while personally devastated, I remain thankful to my family, friends, the MADE team, our loyal and regular customers". https://www.instagram.com/p/B8YEzVgFVgR/ All 12 of Made Establishment's restaurants and eateries will remain closed while the administrators seek alternative operators for the venues.
After three months behind closed doors, the Woollahra Hotel is officially back online following some well-earned renovations. Built in the 1930s, the Woollahra Hotel is one of the east's landmark pubs — so it's nice to see the owners have opted for some gentle tweaking – rather than a complete overhaul. From the outside, Woollahra's still got that classic art deco aesthetic, with toffee-colored bricks and rounded cornices, but the front bar and restaurant have both been given a serious spruce. So what's changed? Well, the locals' front bar looks as good as ever, polished to within an inch of its life. It's still a great spot to bend an elbow after a game at the SCG or Moore Park. The biggest shift has been in the kitchen, where new head chef Jordan Muhamad (ex-Rockpool, Spice Temple, Chin Chin) has given the menu an Asian-inspired twist: think steamed snapper, a selection of house-made curries and Hiramasa Kingfish sashimi. And that's just the bar menu. There's also Bistro Moncur, newly refurbished, led by head chef Mark Williamson, dishing up some of Sydney's best French grub. Moncur has always been fancy date night territory: Barossa chicken pâté, grilled sirloin and saffron crab omelettes, with a mix of local and international wines to wash it all down. Moncur Cellars' Mark Blake is handling the vino, and he's clearly got a thing for organic, vegan and preservative-free drops. There's a top-shelf cocktail menu, too, re-designed from the ground up. Woollahra's open-air terrace is still there, with its fern-covered vertical garden, pink neon and dangling pendant lights, which are sure to please the Instagram crowd. A bit of razzle-dazzle with a rump steak never hurt anyone, after all.
The first half of Before Midnight made me excited for my early forties. Mediterranean holiday tans, wild-haired children running barefoot in another room, expansive dinner table conversation with a circle of worldly friends — it's a dream for a more carefree age. But then comes the second half of the movie, an epic, exhausting fight that will either be the end of the couple's relationship or just one of several milestone feuds that mark a long commitment. That's when the rare quality of Before Midnight emerges; this is not a film about idyllic love, this is a film about real love. This is the tarnished ever after. The couple is one we know oddly well, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy), who, in a typically Gen X act of slacker romanticism, spent one night walking and talking around Vienna in 1995's Before Sunrise and were finally reunited for a further afternoon in Paris in 2004's Before Sunset. In the nine years since, it turns out they've stuck with each other, but the insouciance of those early encounters has gone. "When was the last time we just walked around bullshitting?" Jesse says in one beautifully self-aware moment, as they rediscover the pastime on holiday in Greece. Instead, they've both been learning to deal with each other's crazy while simultaneously pushing a few years' worth of upset under the carpet. Jesse hates having to be separated from his pre-teen son, who's in the custody of Jesse's estranged ex in the US. Celine feels Jesse neglected her and their daughters while on his book tour and resents his general man-childness. Celine picks fights; Jesse papers over them. They might not ever resolve these deadlocks, but they have to move past them. With this series of films, dialogue is everything. In Before Midnight, it sparkles, dances and defies the bounds we expect of film. All three instalments are the product of a unique collaborative partnership between director Richard Linklater, Hawke and Delpy; from the start the actors have written parts of their own selves into the characters, and the possibility for honest exploration seems to have deepened with the passing of time. With nine years so far separating each film, the release of a sequel is becoming an event, so it's particularly great to see Before Midnight not only meeting expectations but raising the bar. People love Jesse and Celine with the intensity normally reserved for several-season TV characters (or real people, even). If we see fifty-something Celine and Jesse next decade — 'Before Noon', I imagine they'll call it — we'll be a very lucky audience.
The inimitable terrain of Julio Torres' mind. Japan from centuries ago. Italy in black and white. Brisbane in the 80s. Another multiverse. Another wasteland, too. These are some of the places that 2024's best new television shows across its first six months have taken viewers — be it with laughs, heart, thrills, scheming, bloodshed, ghouls or multiple Joel Edgertons. No one can say that there's been nothing that's new and good to watch between January–June, then. In today's streaming age, no one can make that claim anyway at any time, because there's always something joining a platform somewhere. So if you don't already have your own list of 2024 highlights, you must've been avoiding the small screen. Don't worry — we're here with 15 recommendations. Do you feel like slinking into a spectacular spy series that's also about a relationship, and puts a Brangelina movie to shame? That's also among our cream-of-the-crop TV picks for 2024's first half. So is the based-on-a-true-story Netflix surprise that got everyone talking — and that no one will forget after they've seen it. Here's the full list, ready for you to binge your way through now or help fill the rest of the year's couch time, whichever suits you. Fantasmas With Fantasmas, creator, writer, director and star Julio Torres welcomes viewers into a world that couldn't have been conjured up by anyone else but the former Saturday Night Live scribe, who then became the co-guiding force behind Los Espookys and filmmaker responsible for Problemista. Torres also leaves his audience grateful that they exist in this particular world, where HBO has given him the means and support to make a comedy series so singular, so clearly the work of a visionary and so gloriously surreal. Fantasmas has no peers beyond Torres' work, other than the patron saint of spilling the contents of your mind and heart onto the screen with zero willingness to compromise or hold back: David Lynch. That said, even that comparison — and the utmost of praise that comes with it — can't prepare viewers for a show where clear crayons are one idea whipped up by the on-screen Julio, another sees Steve Buscemi (Curb Your Enthusiasm) playing the letter Q as an avant-garde outsider, Santa Claus is taken to court by elves (including SNL's Bowen Yang), and series-within-a-series MELF riffs on 80s and 90s hit sitcom ALF but starring Paul Dano (Spaceman) and featuring quite the twist on its alien-adopting premise. As the sets appear like exactly sets but with a DIY spin, star-studded cameos stack up, and absurdist vignettes pop in and out to flesh out Julio's mindscape as much as the futuristic realm imagined by the IRL Torres, there is an overarching narrative at the core of Fantasmas. The series' take on Julio trades in concepts, plus in being unflinchingly himself, but doing anything is impossible without a Proof of Existence ID card in this dystopia. He's on a quest to secure one, which isn't straightforward. In the process, he's also searching for a tiny gold oyster earring, and pondering whether to upload his consciousness and jettison his body. By his side: robot companion Bibo (Joe Rumrill, The Calling) and agent Vanesja (Martine Gutierrez, returning from Los Espookys and Problemista), who is really just a performance artist playing an agent. As phantasmagorical as everything that the show flings at the screen can get, which is very, it also tears into relatable issues such as societal status, class clashes, housing, capitalism's many woes and inequities, and the treatment of immigrants. As purposefully eager as it is to show its crafting and creativity, too, it does so to stress the fact that it's being made by people chasing a dream rather than corporations bowing to an algorithm. Fantasmas streams via Binge. Read our full review. Shōgun Casting Hiroyuki Sanada (John Wick: Chapter 4), Cosmo Jarvis (Persuasion) and Anna Sawai (Monarch: Legacy of Monsters) as its three leads is one of Shōgun's masterstrokes. The new ten-part adaptation of James Clavell's 1975 novel — following a first version in 1980 that featured Japanese icon and frequent Akira Kurosawa collaborator Toshiro Mifune — makes plenty of other excellent moves, but this is still pivotal. Disney+'s richly detailed samurai series knows how to thrust its viewers into a deeply textured world from the outset, making having three complex performances at its centre an essential anchoring tactic. Sanada plays Lord Yoshii Toranaga, who is among the political candidates vying to take control of the country. Jarvis is John Blackthorne, a British sailor on a Dutch ship that has run aground in a place that its crew isn't sure is real until they get there. And Sawai is Toda Mariko, a Japanese noblewoman who is also tasked with translating. Each character's tale encompasses much more than those descriptions, of course, and the portrayals that bring them to the screen make that plain from the moment they're each first seen. As Game of Thrones and Succession both were, famously so, Shōgun is another drama that's all about fighting for supremacy. Like just the former, too, it's another sweeping epic series as well. Although it's impossible not to see those links, knowing that both battling over who'll seize power and stepping into sprawling worlds are among pop culture's favourite things right now (and for some time) doesn't make Shōgun any less impressive. The scale is grand, and yet it doesn't skimp on intimacy, either. The minutiae is meticulous, demanding that attention is paid to everything at all times. Gore is no stranger from the get-go. Opening in the 17th century, the series finds Japan in crisis mode, Toranaga facing enemies and Blackthorne among the first Englishmen that've made it to the nation — much to the alarm of Japan's sole European inhabitants from Portugal. Getting drawn in, including by the performances, is instantaneous. Shōgun proves powerful and engrossing immediately, and lavish and precisely made as well, with creators Justin Marks (Top Gun: Maverick) and Rachel Kondo (on her first TV credit) doing a spectacular job of bringing it to streaming queues. Shōgun streams via Disney+. Read our full review. Ripley Boasting The Night Of's Steven Zaillian as its sole writer and director — joining a list of credits that includes penning Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York and The Irishman, and also winning an Oscar for Schindler's List — the latest exquisite jump into the Ripley realm doesn't splash around black-and-white hues as a mere stylistic preference. In this new adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1955 book, the setting is still coastal Italy at its most picturesque, and therefore a place that most would want to revel in visually; Anthony Minghella, The Talented Mr Ripley's director a quarter-century back, did so with an intoxicating glow. For Zaillian, however, stripping away the warm rays and beaches and hair, blue seas and skies, and tanned skin as well, ensures that all that glitters is never gold or even just golden in tone as he spends time with Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers). There's never even a glint of a hint of a travelogue aesthetic, with viewers confronted with the starkness of Tom's choices and actions — he is a conman and worse, after all — plus the shadows that he persists in lurking in and the impossibility of ever grasping everything that he desires in full colour. On the page and on the screen both before and now, the overarching story remains the same, though, in this new definitive take on the character. It's the early 60s rather than the late 50s in Ripley, but Tom is in New York, running fake debt-collection schemes and clinging to the edges of high-society circles, when he's made a proposal that he was never going to refuse. Herbert Greenleaf (filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan, who has also acted in his own three features You Can Count on Me, Margaret and Manchester by the Sea) enlists him to sail to Europe to reunite with a friend, the shipping magnate's son Dickie (Johnny Flynn, One Life). As a paid gig, Tom is to convince the business heir to finally return home. But Dickie has no intention of giving up his Mediterranean leisure as he lackadaisically pursues painting — and more passionately spends his time with girlfriend Marge Sherwood (Dakota Fanning, The Equalizer 3) — to join the family business. Ripley streams via Netflix. Read our full review. Mr & Mrs Smith 2005 movie Mr & Mrs Smith isn't the first time that title adorned a spy caper about a literally killer couple. That honour goes not to the Brad Pitt (Babylon)- and Angelina Jolie (Eternals)-starring, Brangelina-sparking film, but to a 90s TV series. No one remembers 1996's Mr & Mrs Smith, where Scott Bakula (who was not long off Quantum Leap at the time) and Maria Bello (Beef) took on the eponymous parts. It didn't last, with just nine episodes airing and a further four made but left unseen. But its existence gives 2024's Mr & Mrs Smith a full-circle vibe, with Donald Glover (Atlanta) and Maya Erskine's (PEN15) now both adopting the monikers and ushering the premise back to episodic storytelling. Bakula and Bello's Mr & Mrs Smith didn't inspire Pitt and Jolie's; however, the latter did give rise to Glover and Erskine's — and any history isn't mere trivia. Instead, it speaks to a concept that's so appealing that it keeps being reused, whether coincidentally or knowingly, and to an idea that's now being given its full Mr & Mrs Smith due, in line with True Lies and The Americans: that relationships are mysteries, missions and investigations. The backstory behind Glover and Erskine bringing glorious chemistry to John and Jane Smith doesn't stop there, because Mr & Mrs Smith circa 2024 has been in the works for three years. When announced in February 2021, it was with Atlanta-meets-Fleabag hopes, with Glover co-starring and co-creating with Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny). Then creative differences with Glover saw Waller-Bridge — who also co-wrote the No Time to Die screenplay and created Killing Eve — leave the project within six months. While it's impossible to know how that iteration of Mr & Mrs Smith would've turned out, whether with more overt comedy, talkier or boasting a darker tone, Glover's interpretation with fellow Atlanta alum Francesca Sloane lives up to the promise of two creatives from one of the 21st century's best dramedies turning their attention to espionage and romance. There's an intimacy, a lived-in feel and hangout charm to this Mr & Mrs Smith, even as it swaps Brangelina's already-wed pair discovering that they're assassin rivals for a duo only tying the knot for the gig. Mr and Mrs Smith streams via Prime Video. Read our full review. Baby Reindeer A person walking into a bar. The words "sent from my iPhone". A comedian pouring their experiences into a one-performer play. A twisty true-crime tale making the leap to the screen. All four either feature in, inspired or describe Baby Reindeer. All four are inescapably familiar, too, but the same can't be said about this seven-part Netflix series. Written by and starring Scottish comedian Richard Gadd, and also based on his real-life experiences, this is a bleak, brave, revelatory, devastating and unforgettable psychological thriller. It does indeed begin with someone stepping inside a pub — and while Gadd plays a comedian on-screen as well, don't go waiting for a punchline. When Martha (Jessica Gunning, The Outlaws) enters The Heart in Camden, London in 2015, Donny Dunn (Gadd, Wedding Season) is behind the counter. "I felt sorry for her. That's the first feeling I felt," the latter explains via voiceover. Perched awkwardly on a stool at the bar, Martha is whimpering to herself. She says that she can't afford to buy a drink, even a cup of tea. Donny takes pity, offering her one for free — and her face instantly lights up. That's the fateful moment, one of sorrow met with kindness, that ignites Baby Reindeer's narrative and changes Donny's life. After that warm beverage, The Heart instantly has a new regular. Sipping Diet Cokes from then on (still on the house), Martha is full of stories about all of the high-profile people that she knows and her high-flying lawyer job. But despite insisting that she's constantly busy, she's also always at the bar when Donny is at work, sticking around for his whole shifts. She chats incessantly about herself, folks that he doesn't know and while directing compliments Donny's way. He's in his twenties, she's in her early forties — and he can see that she's smitten, letting her flirt. He notices her laugh. He likes the attention, not to mention getting his ego stroked. While he doesn't reciprocate her feelings, he's friendly. She isn't just an infatuated fantasist, however; she's chillingly obsessed to an unstable degree. She finds his email address, then starts messaging him non-stop when she's not nattering at his workplace. (IRL, Gadd received more than 40,000 emails.) Baby Reindeer streams via Netflix. Read our full review. Such Brave Girls If Such Brave Girls seems close to reality, that's because it is. In the A24 co-produced series — which joins the cult-favourite entertainment company's TV slate alongside other standouts such as Beef, Irma Vep, Mo and The Curse over the past two years — sisters Kat Sadler and Lizzie Davidson both star and take inspiration from their lives and personalities. Making their TV acting debuts together, the pair also play siblings. Josie (Sadler) and Billie (Davidson), their on-screen surrogates, are navigating life's lows not only when the show's six-part first season begins, but as it goes on. The entire setup was sparked by a phone conversation between the duo IRL, when one had attempted to take her life twice and the other was £20,000 in debt. For most, a sitcom wouldn't come next; however, laughing at and lampooning themselves, and seeing the absurdity as well, is part of Such Brave Girls' cathartic purpose for its driving forces. If you've ever thought "what else can you do?" when finding yourself inexplicably chuckling at your own misfortune, that's this series — this sharp, unsparing, candid, complex and darkly comedic series — from start to finish. Creating the three-time BAFTA-nominated show, writing it and leading, Sadler plays Josie as a bundle of nerves and uncertainty. The character is in her twenties, struggling with her mental health and aspiring to be an artist, but is largely working her way through a never-ending gap year. Davidson's Billie is the eternally optimistic opposite — albeit really only about the fact that Nicky (Sam Buchanan, Back to Black), the guy that she's hooking up with, will eventually stop cheating on her, fall in love and whisk her away to Manchester to open a vodka bar bearing her name. Both girls live at home with their mother Deb (Louise Brealey, Lockwood & Co), who also sees a relationship as the solution to her problems, setting her sights on the iPad-addicted Dev (Paul Bazely, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves) a decade after Josie and Billie's father went out for teabags and never came home. With actor-slash-director Simon Bird behind the lens — alongside first-timer Marco Alessi on one episode — if Such Brave Girls seems like it belongs in the same acerbically comedic realm as The Inbetweeners and Everyone Else Burns, there's a reason for that, too. Such Brave Girls streams via Stan. Read our full review. Boy Swallows Universe A magical-realist coming-of-age tale, a clear-eyed family drama, a twisty crime and detective thriller, a time capsule of Brisbane in the 80s: since first hitting the page in 2018, Trent Dalton's Boy Swallows Universe has worn its happy flitting between different genres and tones, and constant seesawing from hope to heartbreak and back again, as confidently as readers have long envisaged Eli Bell's wide grin. That hopping and jumping, that refusal to be just one type of story and stick to a single mood, has always made sense on the page — and in the excellent seven-part adaptation that now brings Australia's fastest-selling debut novel ever to the screen, it also couldn't feel more perfect. As played by the charmingly talented Felix Cameron (Penguin Bloom), Eli's smile is indeed big. As scripted by screenwriter John Collee (Hotel Mumbai), and with Dalton among the executive producers, the miniseries embraces its multitudes wholeheartedly. Like style, like substance: a semi-autobiographical novel penned by a writer and journalist who lived variations of plenty that he depicts, learned and accepted early that everyone has flaws, and patently has the imagination of someone who coped with life's hardships as a child by escaping into dreams of an existence more fanciful, Dalton's tome and every iteration that it inspires has to be many things in one bustling package. Its characters are, after all. Seeing people in general, parts of a city usually overlooked, and folks with complicated histories or who've made questionable choices — those forced in particular directions out of financial necessity, too — in more than just one fashion flutters at the centre of Boy Swallows Universe. In the Australian Book Industry Awards' 2019 Book of the Year, Literary Book of the Year and Audio Book of the Year, and now on streaming, Eli's nearest and dearest demand it. So does the enterprising Darra-dwelling 12-year-old boy who knows how to spy the best in those he loves, but remains well-aware of their struggles. His older brother Gus (Lee Tiger Halley, The Heights) hasn't spoken since they were younger, instead drawing messages in the sky with his finger, but is as fiercely protective as elder siblings get. Doting and dedicated mum Frankie (Phoebe Tonkin, Babylon) is a recovering heroin addict with a drug dealer for a partner. And Lyle Orlik (Travis Fimmel, Black Snow), that mullet-wearing stepfather, cares deeply about Eli and Gus — including when Eli convinces him to let him join his deliveries. Boy Swallows Universe streams via Netflix. Read our full review, and our interview with Bryan Brown. Exposure When the words "DO NOT MESSAGE" greet someone that's looking through their friend's phone, curiosity kicks in. When that mysterious contact is spied, plus a list of deleted texts and apologies for unintended hurt, immediately after your best mate has taken her own life and left you to find their body, uncovering the person on the other end of the thread becomes an obsession. Twenty-seven-year-old photographer Jacs (Alice Englert, Bad Behaviour) is all impulse and immediate gratification when Exposure begins, when she's at a rave hooking up with a stranger and dancing with her lifelong BFF Kel (Mia Artemis, Anyone But You). The next morning, everything changes forever, except a haunting truth that no one likes realising when tragedy strikes: our worst moments alter us forever, but they can't fix our worst traits or paper over our other traumas. So Jacs keeps being Jacs as she heads home from Sydney to Port Kembla, where she'll barely let her mother Kathy (Essie Davis, One Day) and Kel's ex Angus (Thomas Weatherall, Heartbreak High) lend their support, and where her self-sabotaging spiral only gains momentum as she attempts to turn amateur, fixated, dogged detective. Pain ran in the family in the aforementioned Bad Behaviour, the 2023 New Zealand film — not to be confused with the 2023 Australian miniseries that streamed via Stan, as Exposure also does — that Englert made her feature directorial debut with, plus penned and co-starred in. The movie told of a former child actor (Jennifer Connolly, Dark Matter) and her stunt-performer daughter working through their baggage around the former's attendance at a new-age retreat. Filmmaking talent also ran in the family, given that Englert is the offspring of Oscar-winner Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog). While she's solely on-screen this time, with Lucy Coleman (Hot Mess) scripting and Bonnie Moir (Love Me) helming, Englert is superb again, including at excavating life's agonies once more. Exposure's moniker applies in multiple ways, spanning the controversial contents of an award-winning snap, facing past distresses, playing sleuth and confronting your own chaos — and it equally fits the raw and rich performance at the centre of this six-parter, which also showcases Davis and Weatherall's typically excellent work. Exposure streams via Stan. The Vince Staples Show It was true when Seinfeld made a series about a real-life standup comedian playing a fictionalised version of himself one of the world's biggest sitcoms in the 90s. It remained accurate when Larry David started riffing on his own existence in Curb Your Enthusiasm — and also when Pete Davidson leapt from making his life movie fodder in The King of Staten Island to turning it into TV in Bupkis. Donald Glover wasn't directly referencing his own career in Atlanta, and neither The Other Two nor Girls5eva bring exact replicas of real-life figures to the screen, but the same idea pumps through them as well: fame or proximity to it doesn't stop anyone from grappling with life's frustrating minutiae. Add The Vince Staples Show to the list, with the five-part series featuring its namesake as a take on himself. Whether or not you know who he is is part of the show's joke. On- and off- screen, he's a rapper and actor. Staples' very real single 'Norf Norf' gets quoted to him in the TV comedy. The fact that he's been in Abbott Elementary is referenced in the debut episode. But just attempting to have an ordinary day doing everyday things in an average way — driving home, heading to the bank, attending a family reunion, visiting an amusement park and returning to his old school — is as impossible for him as it is for us all. Sometimes, Staples' celebrity complicates matters in The Vince Staples Show. It also never helps. Usually, he's stuck navigating Murphy's law, so asking for a loan ends up with him caught up in a robbery, while endeavouring to source something decent to eat at a theme park takes him on an absurdist odyssey that winks at David Lynch and the Coen brothers. Having an entertainment career doesn't stop him from being confused for someone else by the police (Killing It's Scott MacArthur, You People's Bryan Greenberg and The Menu's Arturo Castro) — the same cops who ask for free tickets to his shows while they're locking him up — or ensure that cashiers treat him politely. If it assists with anything, it's with giving Staples a deadpan acceptance that anything and everything might come his way. Twice asked if something interesting happened during his day by his girlfriend Deja (Andrea Ellsworth, Truth Be Told), his reply is "not really", even though viewers have just witnessed the exact opposite in both instances. The Vince Staples Show streams via Netflix. Read our full review Dark Matter When an Australian actor makes it big, it can feel as if there's more than one of them. Joel Edgerton, who has been on local screens for almost three decades and made the leap to Hollywood with the Australian-shot Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones, is such a talent. He's usually everywhere and in almost everything (such as The Stranger, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Thirteen Lives, Master Gardener, I'm a Virgo, The Boys in the Boat and Bluey in just the past two years), and viewers would follow him anywhere. Dark Matter wasn't written to capitalise upon that idea. Rather, it hails from the page of Blake Crouch's 2016 novel, with the author also creating the new nine-part sci-fi series that it's based on. But the show's lead casting leans into the notion that you can never have too much Edgerton by multiplying him in the multiverse. For the characters in Dark Matter, however, the fact that there's more than a single Jason Dessen causes considerable issues. The series' protagonist is a former experimental physics genius-turned-professor in Chicago. He's married to artist-turned-gallerist Daniela (Jennifer Connelly, Bad Behaviour), a father to teenager Charlie (Oakes Fegley, The Fabelmans) and the best friend of award-winning college pal Ryan Holder (Jimmi Simpson, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia). And, he's been happy living the quiet family life, although pangs of envy quietly arise when he's celebrating Ryan's prestigious new accolade. Then, when another Jason pops up to pull off a kidnapping and doppelgänger plot, he's soon navigating a cross between Sliding Doors and Everything Everywhere All At Once. Everything is a multiverse tale of late, but Dark Matter is also a soul-searching "what if?" drama, exploring the human need to wonder what might've been if just one choice — sometimes big, sometimes small — had veered in a different direction. While a box is pivotal mode of transport like this is Doctor Who, as are all manner of worlds to visit, this is high-concept sci-fi at its most grounded. Neither version of Jason wants to hop through parallel worlds in the name of adventure or exploration — they're simply chasing their idea of everyday perfection. Dark Matter streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. Fallout A young woman sheltered in the most literal sense there is, living her entire life in one of the subterranean facilities where humanity endeavours to start anew. A TV and movie star famed for his roles in westerns, then entertaining kids, then still alive but irradiated 219 years after the nuclear destruction of Los Angeles. An aspiring soldier who has never known anything but a devastated world, clinging to hopes of progression through the military. All three walk into the wasteland in Fallout, the live-action adaptation of the gaming series that first arrived in 1997. All three cross paths in an attempt to do all that anyone can in a post-apocalyptic hellscape: survive. So goes this leap into a world that's had millions mashing buttons through not only the OG game, but also three released sequels — a fourth is on the way — plus seven spinoffs. Even with Westworld' Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy as executive producers, giving Fallout the flesh-and-blood treatment is a massive and ambitious task. But where 2023 had The Last of Us, 2024 now has this; both are big-name dystopian titles that earned legions of devotees through gaming, and both are excellent in gripping and immersive fashion at making the move to television. Fallout's vision of one of the bleakest potential futures splits its focus between Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell, Yellowjackets), who has no concept of how humanity can exist on the surface when the show kicks off; Cooper Howard aka bounty hunter The Ghoul (Walton Goggins, I'm a Virgo), the screen gunslinger who saw the bombs fall and now wields weapons IRL; and Maximus (Aaron Moten, Emancipation), a trainee for the Brotherhood of Steel, which is committed to restoring order by throwing around its might (and using robotic armour). The show's lead casting is gleaming, to the point that imagining anyone but this trio of actors as Lucy, Howard-slash-The Ghoul and Maximus is impossible. Where else has Walton's resume, with its jumps between law-and-order efforts, westerns traditional and neo, and comedy — see: The Shield, Justified, Sons of Anarchy, The Hateful Eight, Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones, as a mere few examples — been leading than here? (And, next, also season three of The White Lotus.) Fallout streams via Prime Video. Read our full review, and our interview with Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell and Aaron Moten. The Sympathizer Fresh from winning an Oscar for getting antagonistic in times gone by as United States Atomic Energy Commission chair Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer, Robert Downey Jr gets antagonistic in times gone by again in The Sympathizer — as a CIA handler, a university professor, a politician and a Francis Ford Coppola-esque filmmaker on an Apocalypse Now-style movie, for starters. In another addition to his post-Marvel resume that emphasises how great it is to see him stepping into the shoes of someone other than Tony Stark, he takes on multiple roles in this espionage-meets-Vietnam War drama, which adapts Viet Thanh Nguyen's 2016 Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name. But Downey Jr is never the show's lead, which instead goes to Australian Hoa Xuande (Last King of the Cross). The latter plays the Captain, who works for South Vietnamese secret police in Saigon before the city's fall, and is also a spy for the North Vietnamese communist forces. It's his memories, as typed out at a reeducation camp, that guide the seven-part miniseries' narrative — jumping back and forth in time, as recollections do, including to his escape to America. As the Captain relays the details of his mission and attempts to work both sides, The Sympathizer isn't just flitting between flashbacks as a structural tactic. The act of remembering is as much a focus as the varied contents of the Captain's memories — to the point that rewinding to add more context to a scene that's just been shown, or noting that he didn't specifically witness something but feels as if he can fill in the gap, also forms the storytelling approach. Perspective and influence are high among the show's concerns, too, as the Captain navigates the sway of many colonial faces (making Downey Jr's multiple roles a powerful and revealing touch) both in Vietnam and in the US. Behind it all off-screen is a filmmaker with a history of probing the tales that we tell ourselves and get others believing, as seen in stone-cold revenge-thriller classic Oldboy, 2022's best film Decision to Leave and 2018 miniseries The Little Drummer Girl: the inimitable Park Chan-wook. He co-created The Sympathizer for the screen with Don McKellar (Blindness) and it always bears is imprint, whether or not he's directing episodes — he helms three — with his piercing style, or getting help from Fernando Meirelles (who has been busy with this and Sugar) and Marc Munden (The Third Day). The Sympathizer streams via Binge. Read our full review. Constellation If a great getaway to a beach, island or faraway city can be life-changing, what does a journey to space do? So ponders Constellation, among other questions. Inquiries are sparked instantly, from the moment that a mother in a cabin in northern Sweden, where there's snow as far as the eye can see but a frost infecting more than just the temperature, leaves her pre-teen daughter to follow a voice. The screams that she seeks out are yelling "mama!" — and what they mean, and why she's abandoning one girl to find another, is just one of the matters that Constellation interrogates. The woman is Jo Ericsson, as played by Noomi Rapace with the maternal devotion that also marked her turn in Lamb, plus the protective instincts that were key in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant as well — and the fierceness that helped bring her to fame as Lisbeth Salander in the original Swedish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo films. Jo, an astronaut, is Europe's representative on the International Space Station when Constellation jumps backwards from its opening icy horror to a different kind of terror. Not long out from returning back to earth, she FaceTimes with her nine-year-old daughter Alice (Rosie and Davina Coleman, The Larkins) and husband Magnus (James D'Arcy, Oppenheimer). Then, something goes bump in the sky. Trauma leaves people changed, too; what if this incident, during which setting foot on our pale blue dot again is anything but assured, isn't the only distressing facet of travelling to the heavens? On the at-risk ISS, on a spacewalk to locate the source of the collision, Jo finds the mummified body of what looks like a 60s-era Russian cosmonaut. There'll soon be another astronaut dead inside the station, destroyed infrastructure, the first escape pod shuttling her three remaining colleagues back to terra firma and Jo left alone trying to repair the second so that she herself can alight home. Where both Gravity and Moon spring to mind in Constellation's initial space-set scenes, plus Proxima in the show's focus on mother-daughter connections (Interstellar, Ad Astra and First Man have dads covered), it's the earthbound Dark that feels like a touchstone once Jo is back among her loved ones. There's a similar moodiness to this series, which also features Nobel Prize-winning former Apollo astronaut Henry Caldera (Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul), who has had his own incidents in space — and there's a feeling that characters can't always trust what they think is plainly apparent to the show, too, plus a certainty that nothing is simply linear about what's occurring. Constellation streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review, and our interview with Jonathan Banks. Sugar Colin Farrell's recent hot streak continues. After a busy few years that've seen him earn Oscar and BAFTA nominations for The Banshees of Inisherin, collect a Gotham Awards nod for After Yang, steal scenes so heartily in The Batman that TV spinoff The Penguin is on the way and pick up the Satellite Awards' attention for The North Water, Sugar now joins his resume. The Irish actor's television credits are still few — and, until his True Detective stint in 2015, far between — but it's easy to see what appealed to him about leading this mystery series. From the moment that the Los Angeles-set noir effort begins — in Tokyo, in fact — it drips with intrigue. Farrell's John Sugar, the show's namesake, is a suave private detective who takes a big Hollywood case against his handler Ruby's (Kirby, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off) recommendation. He's soon plunged into shadowy City of Angels chaos, bringing The Big Sleep, Chinatown, LA Confidential and Under the Silver Lake to mind, and loving movie history beyond sharing the same genre as said flicks. Softly spoken, always crispy dressed, understandably cynical and frequently behind the wheel of a blue vintage convertible, Sugar, the PI, is a film fan. The series bakes that love and its own links to cinema history into its very being through spliced-in clips and references elsewhere — and also foregrounds the idea that illusions, aka what Tinseltown so eagerly sells via its celluloid dreams, are inescapable in its narrative in the process. Twists come, not just including a brilliant move that reframes everything that comes before, but as Sugar endeavours to track down Olivia Siegel (Sydney Chandler, Don't Worry Darling). She's the granddaughter of worried legendary film producer Jonathan (James Cromwell, Succession); daughter of less-concerned (and less-renowned) fellow producer Bernie (Dennis Boutsikaris, Better Call Saul); half-sister of former child star David (Nate Corddry, Barry), who is on the comeback trail; and ex-step daughter of pioneering rocker Melanie (Amy Ryan, Beau Is Afraid). Trying to find her inspires heated opposition. Also sparked: an excellently cast series that splashes its affection of film noir and LA movies gone by across its frames, but is never afraid to be its own thing. Sugar streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review, and our interview with Kirby and Simon Kinberg. Criminal Record It was accurate with side-splitting hilarity in The Thick of It, as dripping with heartbreak in Benediction and in the world of Doctor Who in-between: Peter Capaldi is one of Scotland's most fascinating actors today. Criminal Record uses his can't-look-away presence to excellent effect, casting him as DCI Daniel Hegarty, one of the eight-part series' two key detectives. By day, the no-nonsense Hegarty is a force to be reckoned with on the force. By night, he moonlights as a driver, seeing much that lingers in London as he's behind the wheel. In his not-so-distant past is a case that brings DS June Lenker (Cush Jumbo, The Good Fight) into his orbit — a case that she's certain is linked to a distressed emergency call by a woman trying to flee domestic abuse, and who says that her partner has already committed murder, gotten away with it and sent another man to prison for the crime in the process. Hegarty contends otherwise, and gruffly, but Lenker is determined to discover the truth, find her potential victim, ascertain whether someone innocent is in jail and learn why every move she makes to dig deeper comes with professional retaliation. This is no odd-couple cop show. It's largely a two-hander, however — and saying that it couldn't be better cast is an understatement. Capaldi is already someone who makes every moment that he's on-screen better. So is Jumbo, which makes watching them face off as riveting as television gets. Passive aggression oozes from the frame when Hegarty and Lenker first confront each other. Tension drips throughout the series relentlessly, but do so with particular vigour whenever its key cops are in close proximity. Criminal Record doesn't waste time keeping audiences guessing about who's dutifully taking their role as part of the thin blue line and who's part of policing at its most corrupt; instead, it lets those two sides that are both meant to be on the upstanding end of the law-and-order divide clash, surveying the damage that ripples not just through the fuzz but also the community. While twists and mysteries are also layered in, they regularly come second to Criminal Record's extraordinary performances, plus its thematic willingness to tear into what policing should be, can be and often is. Criminal Record streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. Looking for more viewing highlights? Check out our list of film and TV streaming recommendations, which is updated monthly. We also keep a running list of must-stream TV from across the year so far, complete with full reviews.
Master sommelier Madeline Triffon describes pinot noir as 'sex in a glass'. Winemaker Randy Ullom calls it 'the ultimate nirvana'. Broadway wannabe Titus Andromedon loved it so much he compares it to 'caviar, Myanmar, mid-size car' (see below). No wonder the good folk at Revel — who bring Malbec Day and Mould our way each year — are coming back to town with Pinot Palooza, an epic travelling wine festival celebrating all things peeeno noir. For just one day, Sydney wine connoisseurs will have the chance to sample more than 200 drops, direct from Australia and New Zealand's best producers. Whether you're a newbie who wants to start with something light and inviting, or a pinot pro ready for the biggest, most complex mouthful on the menu, there'll be an abundance of selections at either end — and plenty along the spectrum, too. If, at any point, you need to take a pause in your tasting adventures, you'll be catered for. Food will be supplied by a whole heap of local favourites — we'll let you know when they're announced. Pinot Palooza will hit Carriageworks on Saturday, October 12. Tickets are $65, and include all tastings and a take-home wine glass. What's more, those keen to fuel their brains (as well as their tastebuds) can spot $90 for a VIP pass. For that you'll get access to the VIP area, a glass of bubbles on arrival, entry into wine talks and masterclasses with one of the event's sommeliers. https://youtu.be/A6yttOfIvOw
UPDATE: NOVEMBER 26, 2018 — The Costume Shop will (sadly) close its doors forever on Wednesday, December 5. All stock is currently going at 50 percent off. Get to it. The Costume Shop in Waterloo has been dressing Sydneysiders in extravagant Halloween, Mardi Gras and St Patrick's Day outfits for 30 years. But in early September, the store announced via Facebook that it would be closing its doors for good at the end of the year. While this is sad for future generations — and for future dress up parties — its great news if you're looking to build-up your own costume collection, as the store will be selling all 10,000 of its outfits to the public. Yep, it'll be slinging everything from steam punk masks to prosthetic Pinocchio noses, Queen Elizabeth II costumes, ABBA outfits and even 'Australian Male Gymnast' workout gear. According to the ABC, the shop's owners Kitty Hoh and Wing Chung have built up their huge selection by collecting costumes from Opera Australia and other Australian theatre groups — and it contains many original pieces, including headdresses from the iconic Australian film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. While there are plenty of outfits and accessories available to purchase, we think the best will get snapped up quickly — so we suggest heading in sooner rather than later. The Costume Shop is located at 19/198–222 Young Street, Waterloo. Its opening hours are 10am–6pm Mon–Tue and Fri, 11am–4pm Wed, 10am–7pm Thur and 11am–4pm Sat.
If you prefer your overnight getaways with a healthy dose of wildlife thrown into the mix, Taronga Zoo's Wildlife Retreat is for you. For the uninitiated, the luxurious accommodation is located right in the heart of the zoo, meaning you'll be treated to the sights and sounds of the animal enclosures during your stay. To celebrate our partnership with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), we're giving away an overnight stay at the retreat's Animal Room. The MSC and ASC work to raise awareness for sustainable seafood practices and have named Taronga Zoo's The View cafe the first Chain of Custody MSC-certified cafe in Australia. Included in this unforgettable staycation is a guided afternoon tour of the Sanctuary habitat, where you can say hello to the koalas, echidnas, pademelons and wallabies; a two-day pass for the zoo; a three-course dinner at Taronga's fine diner Me-Gal; and all the accompanying luxuries to ensure that you have a relaxing trip, including complimentary parking and a buffet breakfast. To enter, simply tell us in 25 words or less why you deserve this dreamy stay at Sydney's picturesque harbourside zoo. Want to nab the ultimate animal-lovers staycation? To enter, fill out your details below. [competition]850066[/competition]
A slice of the inner city is gearing up to spend the summer by the sea. On Thursday, November 15, Maybe Frank – Surry Hills' and Randwick's much-loved pizza joint – will pop up at Bondi's Beach Road Hotel. Until late February, you'll be able to wander off the sand and up to level one to feast on slices and sip on Italian cocktails. The menu will offer seven of Maybe Frank's most popular pizzas — in slightly smaller, one-person-appropriate size — including the Alba ($15), topped with mozzarella, tomato sauce, Italian sausage, truffle pecorino and rosemary; the Frutti di Porko ($15), an Italian version of the meat lover's; and a Nutella-topped dessert pizza. Meanwhile, the cocktail list will cover two Italian classics: the negroni ($15) and the Aperol spritz ($12). If you're a bargain hunter, head along on Thursday nights, when pizzas and cocktails will be just 10 bucks a pop. The Maybe Frank pop-up is walk-in only, though groups of ten or more can make a booking at functions@beachroadhotel.com.au or on (02) 9130 7247. Opening hours are Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 6pm-12am; and Thursday and Sunday, 6pm-10pm.
It has been less than two years since Ridley Scott told the tale of Moses leading the Hebrews from Egypt using a cast of white actors. Controversy surrounded Exodus: Gods and Kings, yet that hasn't stopped the latest Hollywood effort to spin a mythical story set in the region from following in its footsteps. Gods of Egypt asks audiences to accept Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Olympus Has Fallen star Gerard Butler as a pair of Egyptian deities. Australians also feature, with ex-Home and Away star Brenton Thwaites as the human caught in the middle of their feud, and national treasure Geoffrey Rush also popping up, all under the guidance of local writer-director Alex Proyas. That a modicum of controversy has resulted from the casting could be a blessing in disguise, since the film offers little else to inspire much in the way of conversation. Aussie audiences might get a thrill out of spotting the likes of Bryan Brown and Tiriel Mora amidst the action, albeit only briefly. Video game fans might enjoy the movie's glossy, CGI-heavy visuals, which look as if they should be interacted with, rather than watched. Few will find much of interest in the overarching story, which sets Coster-Waldau's Horus against Butler's Set in a battle for the Egyptian throne. When the latter interrupts the former's coronation, he takes control of the nation, threatens his fellow gods into submission and enslaves his subjects. Enter Thwaites' Bek, a thief more interested in his girlfriend, Zaya (Courtney Eaton), than his divine overlords — but willing to help Horus regain his rightful place, initially simply to please the object of his affections. Gods of Egypt might sound like a sombre affair, but it soon proves anything but. Hammy performances and cheap looking special effects aren't the norm, though someone obviously forgot to tell that to the scenery-chewing Butler and whoever was responsible for the painfully unconvincing CGI flames. Elements like these are indicative of the film's cheesy, light-hearted tone. Trying to have fun with the material can't save or even significantly improve the film, but it does make it slightly easier to endure. If the feature isn't taking itself too seriously, audiences can follow suit. In fact, in making a pseudo swords-and-sandals adventure that's also an odd couple buddy comedy and a clichéd romance, perhaps Proyas isn't just fashioning a fantasy version of the past. Perhaps he's also dreaming of the future. After all, both The Crow and Dark City, the two features the filmmaker remains best known for, largely became cult hits through repeated home video viewing. Gods of Egypt is unlikely to join them, but years from now, viewers might be laughing, Flash Gordon-style, at the ungodly mess Proyas has made.
This 007-inspired spy flick is sending critics into a frenzy, for all the right reasons. Director Matthew Vaughn (the mastermind behind Kick-Ass and X-Men First Class) is at it again, this time reworking the beloved 2012 comic-book series The Secret Service into a fast-paced and tongue-firmly-in-cheek tale of crime, action and adventure. Kingsman: The Secret Service stars Colin Firth (as you've never seen him before), Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Caine. It follows street kid Gary Unwin (Taron Egerton) as he attempts to join the highly contested ranks of an underground spy ring. And the initial verdict? It's one to watch. With 100% approval so far on Rotten Tomatoes, Kingsman has been labelled "a thoughtful, exciting, whip-smart spy adventure that doesn't let its smart-ass post-modernism overwhelm its playfulness or its heart" (by Andrew Taylor for The Playlist). Kingsman is in cinemas on February 5. Thanks to Twentieth Century Fox, we have 20 double passes up to a January 28 VIP preview screening to give away in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter and then email us with your name and address. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au Brisbane: win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au
Sydney just loves a rooftop bar. When the weather's fine, and you want to celebrate making it through another nine-to-five, can you really blame us? Some good news: there's a new lush oasis in town that'll help the workday woes wash away and you'll find it right in the CBD. Tanqueray has taken over Taylor's Rooftop on Pitt Street for one month, filling it with tons of hanging greenery and a gin and tonic bar that's slinging cocktails for only a tenner. More good news: the gin connoisseurs are throwing a launch party for the new terrace bar and giving away 100 G&Ts — first in, best dressed. It's going down this Thursday, February 7, and you can RSVP here. Be sure to get in close to the 4pm start time to nab your freebie. Apart from the giveaway, the menu will feature three versions of the Tanqueray gin and tonic — using either London Dry, Flor de Sevilla or Rangpur — at $10 a pop. There's also a premium option with Tanqueray No. TEN ($12) and a spritz ($13) featuring Flor de Sevilla, prosecco and an orange garnish (which you can then recreate at home with this step-by-step guide). Each is served in a Copa de Balon, a glass specifically designed for G&T sipping. The pop-up will be open every day in February from 11.30am–11pm, with a daily $6 happy hour on offer from 4–6pm, too.
Come October 2023, Disney fans Down Under can enter a whole new world, hitting the sea on the Mouse House's cruise line on its first voyages from Australia and New Zealand. Fancy sailing further afield, from Sydney to Honolulu or vice versa? In 2023 and 2024, the company is also launching its first-ever South Pacific cruises — one coming to Australia, the other heading to Hawaii. These legs are known as repositioning cruises, aka the journeys that ships take when they've finished their stints in one area and need to make their way to another for a new season. Of course, vessels don't make those trips without passengers, so if you're keen on spending a couple of weeks floating around the South Pacific surrounded by all things Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars, now you can. Tickets go on sale at 8am AEDT on Thursday, October 13, with two voyages scheduled around the Mouse House's maiden 'Magic at Sea' Australian and NZ cruises: a 13-night voyage from Honolulu to Sydney departing on October 13, 2023, then a 15-night trip the other way leaving on February 16, 2024. Unsurprisingly, the 'Magic at Sea' legs between Australia and Aotearoa have proven as popular as Disney movies with, well, everyone, so expect these legs to attract plenty of interest. And yes, these lengthy South Pacific trips are only sailing to and from Sydney — so if you live elsewhere, you will need to factor that into your travels. Disney has been running cruises for nearly a quarter-century, taking fans of its ever-growing array of pop culture wares on themed vacations, all thanks to its Disney Cruise Line. Alas, setting sail to and from Down Under hasn't been a possibility until now. Onboard, you'll watch live musical shows, see Disney characters everywhere you look and eat in spaces decked out like Disney movies. Those musicals include a Frozen show; another production dedicated to the company's old-school favourites like Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Cinderella and Aladdin; and a Golden Mickeys performance, which is obviously all about Mickey Mouse. Or, there's a Mickey party set to DJ beats, nightly fireworks and a pirate shindig on the vessel's deck. The entertainment also includes Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Moana, Tiana, Cinderella, Woody, Jessie and more wandering around the ship. Plus Chewbacca, Rey, Spider-Man, Captain Marvel and Thor as well, if you like hanging out around folks in costumes. The dining setup rotates, so each day of the cruise takes you to a different location with a different theme. One day, you'll hit up the Animator's Palate, which focuses on bringing Disney characters to life — including getting patrons to draw their own characters — and on the next, you'll get munching in a restaurant inspired by The Princess and the Frog, and serving up New Orleans-inspired dishes. Or, there's also Triton's, which offers an under the sea theme given it's named after Ariel's father, and serves four-course French and American suppers. For folks travelling with young Disney devotees, there's also a whole range of activities just for kids — but adults without littlies in tow are definitely catered for, complete with a dedicated pool for travellers aged 18 and over, an adults-only cafe, the Crown & Fin pub, cocktail bar Signals, Italian eatery Palo, and a day spa and salon. Room-wise, there's ten different types to choose from — some with private verandahs, and some with ocean views through portholes. Disney Cruise Line's 'Magic at Sea' cruises will sail from Honolulu to Sydney in October 2023, then from Sydney to Honolulu in February 2024, with bookings open from 8am AEDT on Thursday, October 13, 2022. For more information, head to the cruise line's website. Images: Matt Stroshane / Kent Phillips / Todd Anderson. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
Sydney's booming burger obsession has spawned some pretty wild creations of late, though we doubt you've ever encountered a creature quite like Burger Head's latest menu addition. The Penrith burger store's earned itself quite the rep, since young chefs Josh DeLuca (Quay) and Richard Borg (Momofuku Seiobo) first opened the doors in January this year. But now, they're really upping the ante, having teamed up with the good folks at Twisties to create a limited edition burger inspired by everyone's favourite corn-based snack. Not for the faint of heart, or the carb-averse, The Twisties Burger is an OTT combo of Twisties-infused milk bun (yep), house-made Angus beef pattie, Twisties mayo, bacon jam, extra melty American-style cheese, pickles, onion, and mustard mayo, with a few whole cheese Twisties sandwiched in there for good measure. But of course, a feed this glorious can't stick around forever. The Twisties Burger is on offer for one short, sweet month, starting this Monday, August 21. Find the Twisties Burger at Burger Head, 98 Henry Street, Penrith, before it's relegated to the memory banks of messy, messy history.
Fancy infusing your usual Aussie Christmas with a touch of enchantment? Well, you'll find magic aplenty at The Grounds of Alexandria over the coming weeks, as it's transformed into an winter wonderland inspired by the just-released Disney flick, Frozen II. The already gorgeous setting now plays host to an other-worldly oasis, made up of a series of realms referencing those in the film. There's the wintery Crystal Lane, where you'll find dazzling white trees, and the autumnal Enchanted Forest with falling orange leaves. You'll also find plenty of snow, with flurries every day at 9am, 11am, 1pm and 3pm until December 24. Once you've finished exploring, you can head for plenty of sugary edible treats, including limited-edition Ice Queen cakes, snowflake cookies, rhubarb and plum tarts and gelato smoothies. Less sweet, but no less entertaining is the iced tea served in a pot with smoke. These treats will be available until January 29, 2020, when the Frozen II pop-up will disappear. The Grounds of Alexandria will also be functioning as normal during the pop-up, and the Garden Bar, Potting Shed and cafe will all be open.
The Bayview Baths on the Parramatta River were closed way back in 1969, then completely demolished in 1995. But, the City of Canada Bay Council has plans to open a new swimming spot in their place next year. One of several pools set to open along the Sydney river in the next few years, the Bayview Park swim site in the inner west suburb of Concord is on track to welcome the budgie smuggler-wearing public by April 2021. The Council's plan involves fully redeveloping the swimming area, making it a safe environment with clean waters (with ongoing water quality reporting), a netted area that's set apart from the existing jetty and an outdoor shower to boot. The park is located right along the Parramatta River, in between Harmony Point and the dog-friendly Hen and Chicken Bay foreshore walk. Its existing facilities include a sandy beach, plus covered picnic tables, barbecues and toilets. [caption id="attachment_783387" align="alignnone" width="1920"] An artist's impression of the Bayview Park swim site[/caption] At the moment, Council is working with Sydney Water to assess the site and test the water quality, and its plans for the swimming site are open for community feedback, with a virtual drop-in session happening from 6–7pm on Wednesday, September 16. If you're interested, you can register over here. The development is happening in partnership with the Parramatta River Catchment Group (PRCG), which is working to make the Parramatta River swimmable again by 2025. In addition to Bayview Park, swimming sites at McIlwaine Park (Rhodes East) and Putney Park (Putney) are also on the docket for the near future. And more are up for discussion, including, as reported by the SMH, Gladesville's Bedlam Bay. The Bayview Park swim site is set to open in April 2021. For more details on the existing, planned and proposed Parramatta River swimming sites, check out this interactive map.
If any Australian musician was going to play Johnny Cash, it would have to be Tex Perkins. It just makes sense. It's the vibe or something. And so he is (playing Johnny Cash I mean).The Man in Black - The Johnny Cash Story is the product of writer Jim McPherson's and musician Tex Perkins' love and veneration of Cash: musical revolutionary and eternal champion of the downtrodden. This is, according to Perkins, no musical but a "live documentary", Cash's greatest hits interwoven with the story of his life - his rise to fame, his struggle with addiction and his relationship with June Carter (played by Rachael Tidd). Backed by the Tennessee Four, the show has already played to sold-out audiences in Melbourne and Brisbane and instigated a bit of a press love-in. Perkins and Cash. It's a winning combination.https://youtube.com/watch?v=1zgja26eNeY
In an attempt to bring back to our vocabulary some long-forgotten words, a blog called The Dead Words is using thematically appropriate typography to breathe new life into them. Curator of the project, Karen To, is attempting animate lost words which have slipped from our tongues, bringing them back into everyday language. Senticous, for example, means ‘prickly or thorny’ and is thus captured in green vine-like letters interlinked with one another. Sagittifero (suh-jit-uh-fer-oh) adj.1656 -1858; bearing arrows Celeberrimous (sel-uh-ber-ee-imuhs) adj.1768 -1768; very or most highly celebrated Bonifate(boh-nee-feyt) adj.1656 -1656; lucky; fortunate [Via Flavorwire]
Sorry, everyone who has written and sung a catchy and funny tune over the past 15 years or so. When it comes to getting hilarious songs instantly stuck in everyone's heads, Flight of the Conchords has all other candidates beat. And, when it comes to charting the exploits of two New Zealand shepherds-turned-folk musicians trying to make it in New York, too, the cult HBO series of the same name wins hands down as well. By now, everyone in Australia is well acquainted with FOTC — and with Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie's musical and comedic genius, of course. But, in addition to letting the talented duo play fictionalised versions of themselves and belt out their very amusing ditties, this sitcom introduced us all to the wonders of Rhys Darby as the pair's over-eager manager Murray, and to Kristen Schaal as their ultra-devoted (and only) fan Mel. And the Bowie episode, where the singer appears to Bret in a dream sequence (as played by Jemaine), is simply sublime.
We could probably all do with some more phone-free time, what with today's always-connected society, not to mention the cancer scares. But sometimes it's handy to have a functional phone even when you're trying to get away from it all. Music festivals are a prime example: you're out in a paddock enjoying music all day and when the speakers fall silent you need to call your friends to find your tent. So, UK phone company Orange teamed up with renewable energy experts gotwind to develop some new ideas for Glastonbury this year: wellies with thermocouples that harness the funky heat of your feet after throwing shapes all day, and a shirt that charges your phone by converting soundwaves into electricity. And if you're getting back to nature by going camping, you might just need that phone to make a call if something goes wrong... or to post a photo of what a great time you're having away from all your facebook friends. Japan's TES New Energy have come up with what is basically a cooking pot with a power cord, so that you can harness the extra heat from boiling the billy to charge your smart phone. [via PSFK]
As a summer treat, Tia Maria and Monster Sushi have unveiled a limited-time set menu featuring bottomless gyoza to celebrate the launch of the drinks brand's new matcha-infused release. Available until Tuesday, January 31, this specially crafted menu features 90 minutes of unlimited dishes paired with two signature tea-based sips. Named the Matcha-tini and Matcha-colada, these natural caffeine-fuelled green cocktails will be accompanied by a lineup of Japanese favourites. Diners will be treated to 1.5 hours of all-you-can-eat karaage chicken, edamame, renkon chips and takoyaki. Plus, possibly most exciting of all, bottomless serves of pork, vegetable and prawn gyoza. Matcha mayo and matcha salt will also enhance the tea levels featured in some of the dishes, making the whole feast a matcha-centred adventure. Both cocktails are made using Tia Maria's new Matcha Cream Liqueur, which is a floral riff on the brand's classic creamy liqueurs incorporating elements of the popular green tea. In order to make the Matcha-tini, the liqueur is combined with vodka, while the Match-colada teams Mount Gay Black Barrel Rum with pineapple juice. The experience is available exclusively at Monster Sushi & Bar's new Sussex Street restaurant. If you have a craving for matcha or want to add a dose of bottomless dumplings into your life, bookings are available for $69.90 per person.
Even when there isn't a cost of living crisis tightening our collective belts, the Christmas and New Year period can be eye-wateringly expensive. So, it's very welcome news that Concrete Playground's official pick for Sydney's best bar right now is launching one of the most generous happy hour deals in the city, just in time for the silly season. Golden Hour at Bobbie's in Double Bay will be available every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night from 4–5.30pm. Guests can enjoy $10 cocktails — yes, just $10, you read that correctly — and better yet, there are also complimentary bar snacks to accompany your beverage including olives, nuts and Neil Perry's famous chicken Waldorf sandwiches. The discounted drinks menu, crafted by internationally revered bar tender Linden Pride, includes several signature mixes including Dante's Negroni, a mingle of Tanqueray 10, a blend of Italian vermouths and a splash of Campari; and Bamboo, a refreshing eastern-inspired sip combing Manzanilla, Dolin Blanc, Noilly Pratt, olive bitters and Fever Tree's Mediterranean tonic. For those who prefer bubbles — and after all, 'tis the season for popping corks — there's also the Sunrise Spritz, featuring Aperol, sunshine cordial and passionfruit, topped off with prosecco; and the Sbagliato Romano starring Campari, Aperol, Davidson's plum, dry vermouth and blood orange syrup, also finished with a fizzy hit of prosecco. Martini lovers are also well served with Bobbie's singular take on a dirty martini, featuring olive-oil-washed Absolut Elyx, Noilly Pratt, cerignola olive, elderflower and the surprising savoury tang of blue cheese-stuffed olives. Hopping on the ascendant trend, the New York mini martini is a small but mighty pour of Ketel Vodka, Noilly Prat, 50/50, orange bitters and a choice of garnishes. While we recommend booking to avoid disappointment, Bobbie's also welcomes walk-ins, so do your wallet a favour and enjoy a scenic stroll to Double Bay. Images: Yusuke Oba
Excellent news, marshmallows. In fact, if you're a Veronica Mars fan, this past year just keeps delivering. First, we found out that the beloved series was coming back for a fourth season. Then, not one, not two, but three teasers and trailers showed us just what kind of sleuthing fun we were in for. Now, Australian streaming platform Stan has announced that it'll become Ms Mars' new home for the fictional private eye's upcoming run of episodes. This news isn't minor — until now, just when and where Aussie were going to be able to watch Veronica Mars' fourth season was unknown. And if you've got a long-enough memory, and can recall how poorly the original first three seasons were treated by local TV back in the mid 2000s, you might've been worried. With the show launching on Friday, July 26 in the US, it'll hit Stan here on Saturday, July 27 — at the same time, thanks to the time difference. In America, it appears that all eight new episodes are dropping at once, so expect that to be the case here as well. Story-wise, the fourth season sees Veronica (Kristen Bell) back in her hometown of Neptune, still in the P.I. game with her dad Keith (Enrico Colantoni) and still solving mysteries. This time, a series of bombings and a shady ex-con turned businessman (JK Simmons) are on her radar. As well as plenty of twists and turns to follow, expect a heap of other familiar faces in the form of Jason Dohring as Veronica's on-again, off-again love interest Logan, Percy Daggs III as her bestie Wallace and Ryan Hansen as her sleazy ex-classmate Dick. Check out the full trailer, from US network Hulu, below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt0QuaQ0huk Veronica Mars will hit Stan on Saturday, July 27, with an exact launch time yet-to-be announced. We'll update you when it is.
What is it about looking at the stuff of artists we admire? Coloured pens take on a new significance. A picture frame hanging askew on a wall suddenly requires close scrutiny. The sight of paint soaked rags tossed onto a beat-up desk make you sigh a little. Maybe it's because it sets the creative fires burning, prompting a chorus of 'I really need to get off my butt!' Or perhaps it's a healthy dose of the green-eyed monster. Mostly though, it's the sense that you can somehow absorb some of the creative magic purely through osmosis (and you can probably slap a dash of plain old voyeurism in there, too). Paul Barbera has stepped in with his lens to capture artists’ spaces such as Alpha60, Monster Children, Lucy Mcrae, Paul Davies, Lucy McRae, Collider and more with his book Where They Create. To celebrate, the Where&What exhibition will be displaying images from the series along with works from the book’s featured artists, at retailers including Incu Mens, Incu Womens, Alpha60 and Books Kinokuniya. Now you can wander around and have a good look, without even having to get the binoculars out. Let the juices flow.
It's happening again. Another year, another round of shiny trophies being handed out throughout Hollywood. Indeed, before Monday, March 13 comes to a close Down Under, Tinseltown will have anointed a new batch of Oscar winners. The nominations dropped in late January, speculation over who'll emerge victorious dates back well into 2022, and now it's time for the Academy Awards to name its latest greats at its 95th ceremony. Here's hoping that the focus will be on the films rather than mid-ceremony mayhem in 2023. The past year boasts no shortage of exceptional flicks deserving plenty of love — whether multiverse chaos, war epics, high-soaring sequels, music biopics or Irish gems end up scooping the pool, sharing the attention or going home empty-handed. Plus, in a bonus for movie lovers in Australia, you can watch 37 of this year's nominated features right now. Some are playing in cinemas, others are streaming, and a few give you options for either big- or small-screen viewings. Here's your pre-Oscars binging rundown on where to see them all. ON THE BIG SCREEN: AFTERSUN Nominations: Best Actor (Paul Mescal) Our thoughts: The simplest things in life can be the most revealing, whether it's a question asked of a father by a child, an exercise routine obeyed almost mindlessly or a man stopping to smoke someone else's old cigarette while wandering through a holiday town alone at night. Following the about-to-turn-31 Calum (Paul Mescal, The Lost Daughter) and his daughter Sophie (debutant Frankie Corio) on vacation in Turkey in the late 90s, this astonishing feature debut by Scottish writer/director Charlotte Wells is about the simple things — but Aftersun is always a movie of deep, devastating and revealing complexity. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED Nominations: Best Documentary Feature Our thoughts: Nabbing the Golden Lion at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, this documentary by Citizenfour Oscar-winner Laura Poitras is a film about many things: photographer Nan Goldin, her complicated history, her work, her chronicles of the LGBTQIA+ community and the 80s HIV/AIDS crisis, and her efforts to counter the opioid epidemic all included. Flitting between her images, recollections, and ongoing battle to bring the company and wealthy family behind OxyContin to justice by targeting their ties with galleries, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed is also a passionate, empathetic and piercing emotional epic. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER Nominations: Best Picture, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Our thoughts: When James Cameron's second dip in what's now officially a franchise manages to be as involving as he wants it to be, and has audiences eagerly awaiting its third, fourth and fifth instalments in 2024, 2026 and 2028, it's an absolute visual marvel. When that's the case, it's also underwater, or in it. Yes, Avatar: The Way of Water takes its subtitle seriously, splashing that part of its name about heartily in as much magnificently detailed 3D-shot and -projected glory as its director, cinematographer Russell Carpenter (a True Lies and Titanic alum) and hard-working special-effects team can excitedly muster. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. CLOSE Nominations: Best International Feature Film Our thoughts: When 13-year-olds Léo (debutant Eden Dambrine) and Rémi (first-timer Gustav De Waele) dash the carefree dash of youth in Close's early moments, rushing from a dark bunker out into the sunshine — from rocks and forest to a bloom-filled field ablaze with colour, too — this immediately evocative Belgian drama runs joyously with them. Girl writer/director Lukas Dhont starts his sophomore feature with a tremendous moment, one that sees his two leads bolting from the bliss that is their visibly contented childhood to the tussles and emotions of being a teenager, and it only gets better from there. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. EMPIRE OF LIGHT Nominations: Best Cinematography Our thoughts: 1917, director Sam Mendes jumps back to 80s for this ode to cinema — to the coastal town of Margate in Kent, where the Dreamland Cinema has stood for 100 years in 2023. In Empire of Light, the art deco structure has been rechristened The Empire, and is where a small staff under the overbearing Donald Ellis (Colin Firth, Operation Mincemeat) all have different relationships with their own hopes and wishes. But duty manager Hilary (Olivia Colman, Heartstopper) and new employee Stephen's (Micheal Ward, Small Axe) stories are thankfully far more complicated than simply paying tribute to a medium. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. LIVING Nominations: Best Actor (Bill Nighy), Best Adapted Screenplay Our thoughts: Somehow, Bill Nighy made it all the way into his 70s before receiving a single Oscar nomination; his nod for Living isn't a career nod, however, but thoroughly earned by his sensitive turn as a dutiful company many facing life-changing news. Set in 50s-era London, it's an adaptation several times over — of Akira Kurosawa's 1952 film Ikiru, which takes inspiration from Leo Tolstoy's 1886 novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich. At all times, Nighy, director Oliver Hermanus (Moffie) and screenwriter Kazuo Ishiguro (also the author of The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go) live up to that lineage. Where to watch: Living officially opens in Australian cinemas on Thursday, March 16, with preview screenings from Friday, March 10–Sunday, March 12. TÁR Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Todd Field), Best Actress (Cate Blanchett), Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing Our thoughts: The least surprising aspect of Tár is also its most essential: Cate Blanchett being as phenomenal as she's ever been, plus more. The Australian Nightmare Alley, Thor: Ragnarok and Carol actor — "our Cate", of course — best be making space next to her Oscars for The Aviator and Blue Jasmine as a result. Playing a celebrated, pioneering maestro who plummets to a personal and professional low just when it seems her fortunes can't soar higher, Blanchett is that stunning in Tár, that much of a powerhouse, that adept at breathing life and complexity into a thorny figure, and that magnetic and mesmerising. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. TO LESLIE Nominations: Best Actress (Andrea Riseborough) Our thoughts: Forget the controversy that's surrounded Andrea Riseborough's inclusion among this year's Oscar nominees. A stunning performance is a stunning performance no matter whether other famous names advocate for accolades on its behalf or not — and the Possessor and Amsterdam star is indeed stunning in To Leslie. There's such weight and soul to her titular portrayal in this tale of redemption, after single mother Leslie wins the lotto, drinks and parties away the proceeds, then tries to reconnect with her now-adult son (Owen Teague, The Stand) six years latter, plus face a town with a long memory. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. TRIANGLE OF SADNESS Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Ruben Östlund), Best Original Screenplay Our thoughts: Beware the luxurious worlds of Ruben Östlund's films. Beware any feelings of ease, opulence or awe that spring at ski resorts, in art museums, or, in Triangle of Sadness, within the fashion industry and on high-end holidays, too. The Swedish filmmaker isn't interested in keeping his characters comfortable regardless of their lavish surroundings, which proves true with his second feature in succession to win Cannes Film Festival's prestigious Palme d'Or. Here, he has modelling, influencers and the super-rich in his sights, plus unpacking societal structures and the divides they rely on (and cause). Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. THE WHALE Nominations: Best Actor (Brendan Fraser), Best Supporting Actress (Hong Chau), Best Makeup and Hairstyling Our thoughts: The actors have it: in The Whale, Brendan Fraser (No Sudden Move), Hong Chau (The Menu) and Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) are each masterful, and each in their own way. For viewers unaware that this drama about a reclusive 600-pound English professor stems from the stage going in, it won't take long to realise — for multiple reasons. As penned by Samuel D Hunter from his award-winning semi-autobiographical play, The Whale's script is talky and blunt. It also favours one setting. But the performances that Darren Aronofsky (mother!) guides out of his cast are complicated, masterful and powerful. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. WOMEN TALKING Nominations: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay Our thoughts: Get Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormand and more exceptional women in a room, point a camera their way, let the talk flow: Sarah Polley's Women Talking does just that, and the end result is phenomenal. The actor-turned-filmmaker's fourth effort behind the lens does plenty more, but its basic setup is as straightforward as its title states. Adapted from Miriam Toews' 2018 novel of the same name, it draws on events in a Bolivian Mennonite colony from 2005–9, where a spate of mass druggings and rapes of women and girls were reported at the hands of some of the group's men. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas. Read our full review. IN CINEMAS OR AT HOME: BABYLON Nominations: Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design Our thoughts: What happens when aspiring 1920s actor Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie, Amsterdam), veteran leading man Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt, Bullet Train) and eager show business everyman Manny Torres (Diego Calva, Narcos: Mexico) navigate Golden Age Hollywood, starting at the same decadent soirée? That's what jazz-loving, La La Land Oscar-winning, Tinseltown-adoring writer/director Damien Chazelle charts in Babylon — and how. This is a relentless and ravenous movie that's always a lot, not just in length, but is dazzling (and also very funny, and sports an earworm of a Justin Hurwitz score) when it clicks. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas, and streaming via Google Play, YouTube Movies and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Martin McDonagh), Best Actor (Colin Farrell), Best Supporting Actress (Kerry Condon), Best Supporting Actor (Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan), Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing Our thoughts: The rolling hills and clifftop fields look like they could stretch on forever in In Bruges writer/director Martin McDonagh's The Banshees of Inisherin, even on a fictional island perched off the Irish mainland. For years, chats between Padraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell, After Yang) and Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson, The Tragedy of Macbeth) have sprawled similarly — and leisurely, too — especially during the pair's daily sojourn to the village pub over pints. But when the latter calls time on their camaraderie suddenly, his demeanour turns brusque, and nothing for these characters will ever be the same. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas, and streaming via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE FABELMANS Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Steven Spielberg), Best Actress (Michelle Williams), Best Supporting Actor (Judd Hirsch), Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Production Design Our thoughts: "Movies are dreams that you never forget," says Mitzi Fabelman (Michelle Williams, Venom: Let There Be Carnage) early in Steven Spielberg's autobiographical The Fabelmans. Have truer words ever been spoken in any of the director's 33 flicks? Uttered to her eight-year-old son Sammy (feature debutant Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord), Mitzi's statement lingers, providing the film's beating heart even when the coming-of-age tale it spins isn't always idyllic — which is often, as Sammy hits his teen years (played by The Predator's Gabriel LaBelle), chases his movie dreams and navigates his family. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas, and streaming via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH Nominations: Best Animated Feature Our thoughts: Who doesn't want to see a kitty swashbuckler voiced by Antonio Banderas (Official Competition), basically making this a moggie Zorro? Based on the 2011 Puss in Boots' $555 million at the box office, that concept is irresistible to plenty of folks — hence, albeit over a decade later, sequel Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Pairing the right talent to the right animated character doesn't instantly make movie magic, of course; however, The Last Wish, which literally has Puss seeking magic, is among the best films that the broader Shrek saga has conjured up so far. Where to watch: In Australian cinemas, and streaming via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. VIA STREAMING: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT Nominations: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Sound Our thoughts: Helming and co-scripting, All My Loving director Edward Berger gives All Quiet on the Western Front its first adaptation in German, its native tongue. The film focuses on 17-year-old Paul Bäumer (debutant Felix Kammerer) and his ordeal after naively enlisting in 1917, thinking with his mates that they'd be marching on Paris within weeks. This is a movie haunted: by the callous disregard for human lives by power-seekers far removed from any fatal consequences, the wide-eyed fervour and blind faith with which boys pledge themselves to war, the desperation in the thick of the fray, and oh-so-much death. Where to watch: Streaming via Netflix. Read our full review. ALL THAT BREATHES Nominations: Best Documentary Feature Our thoughts: Pictures can't tell all of All That Breathes' story, with Delhi-based brothers Nadeem Shehzad and Mohammad Saud's chats saying plenty that's essential. Still, the images that Shaunak Sen (Cities of Sleep) lets flow across the screen — and, befitting this poetic documentary's pace and mood, they do flow — in this Sundance- and Cannes-winner are astonishing. The pair adore the black kites that take to India's skies and suffer from its toxic air quality, tending to the creatures' injuries. As Sen watches, this film trills about urban development, its costs and consequences, and caring for others both animal and human. Where to watch: Streaming via Binge. ARGENTINA, 1985 Nominations: Best International Feature Film Our thoughts: As reliable a screen presence as cinema has ever been blessed with, The Secret in Their Eyes, Truman and Everybody Knows-starring Argentinian actor Ricardo Darín is magnetic in this weighty and important courtroom drama. Filmmaker Santiago Mitre (15 Ways to Kill Your Neighbour) dramatises the Trial of the Juntas, focusing on public prosecutor Julio César Strassera (Darín) and his deputy Luis Moreno Ocampo (Peter Lanzani, Maradona: Blessed Dream) as they attempt to bring military officials who led the country under its 1976–1983 dictatorship to justice for crimes against humanity. Where to watch: Streaming via Prime Video. BARDO, FALSE CHRONICLE OF A HANDFUL OF TRUTHS Nominations: Best Cinematography Our thoughts: Everyone wants to be the person at the party that the dance floor revolves around, and life in general, or so Alejandro González Iñárritu contends in Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths. Everyone wants to be the filmmaker with all the fame and success, records, winning prestigious awards and conquering Hollywood, he also asserts. Alas, when you're this Mexican director, that isn't as joyous or uncomplicated an experience as it sounds. On-screen, his blatant alter ego is a feted documentarian (Daniel Giménez Cacho, Memoria) applauded at home and overseas, and also a man conflicted again and again. Where to watch: Streaming via Netflix. Read our full review. THE BATMAN Nominations: Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Sound Our thoughts: The elder Waynes are still dead, and have been for two decades. Bruce (Robert Pattinson, Tenet) still festers with pain over their loss. And the prince of Gotham still turns vigilante by night, cleaning up the lawless streets one no-good punk at a time with only trusty butler Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis, Long Shot) in on his secret. Still, as directed by Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes' Matt Reeves, and co-scripted with The Unforgivable's Peter Craig, The Batman offers a more absorbing version of the character than seen in many of the past Bat flicks that've fluttered through cinemas. Where to watch: Streaming via Netflix, Binge, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER Nominations: Best Supporting Actress (Angela Bassett), Best Original Song, Best Visual Effects, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling Our thoughts: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever isn't the movie it was initially going to be, the sequel to 2018's electrifying Black Panther that anyone behind it originally wanted it to be, or the chapter in the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe that it first aimed to be — this, the world knew once Chadwick Boseman passed away. That vast void isn't one this film can fill, but returning director Ryan Coogler still has a top-notch cast — Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke, plus new addition Tenoch Huerta, most notably — drawing eyeballs towards his vibrant imagery. Where to watch: Streaming via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. BLONDE Nominations: Best Actress (Ana de Armas) Our thoughts: Usually when a film leaves you wondering how it might've turned out in other hands, that isn't a great sign — but Blonde, the years-in-the-making adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' fictionalised Marilyn Monroe biography of the same name, demands a watch. It's a fascinating movie, including for what works astoundingly well and what definitely doesn't. In the first category: Ana de Armas (The Gray Man) as Norma Jeane Mortenson, the woman who'd become not just a star and a sensation during her life, but an icon across the six decades since. Where to watch: Streaming via Netflix. Read our full review. CAUSEWAY Nominations: Best Supporting Actor (Brian Tyree Henry) Our thoughts: Trauma is a screenwriter's best friend; however, few films are happy to sit with trauma in the way that (and as well as) Causeway does. Starring Jennifer Lawrence (Don't Look Up) as a military veteran sent home from Afghanistan after being blown up, working her way through rehab and determined to re-enlist as soon as she has medical sign-off — plus Atlanta and Bullet Train's Brian Tyree Henry as a New Orleans mechanic with his own history — this subtle, thoughtful and powerful movie grapples with the fact that some woes do genuinely change lives, and not for the better. Where to watch: Streaming via Apple TV+. Read our full review. ELVIS Nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor (Austin Butler), Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Sound Our thoughts: Making a biopic about the king of rock 'n' roll, trust Baz Luhrmann to take his subject's words to heart: a little less conversation, a little more action. The Aussie filmmaker's first feature since The Great Gatsby isn't short on chatter. It's even narrated by Tom Hanks (A Man Called Otto) as Colonel Tom Parker, the carnival barker who thrust Presley to fame. But this chronology of an icon's life is at its best when it's showing rather than telling. That's when Elvis is electrifying, in no small part due to its treasure trove of recreated concert scenes — and Austin Butler (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) as the man himself. Where to watch: Streaming via Google Play, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Best Actress (Michelle Yeoh), Best Supporting Actress (Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu), Best Supporting Actor (Ke Huy Quan), Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design Our thoughts: Imagine living in a universe where Michelle Yeoh isn't the wuxia superstar she is. No, no one should want that reality. Now, envisage a world where everyone has hot dogs for fingers, including the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon icon. Next, picture another where Ratatouille is real, but with raccoons. Then, conjure up a sparse realm where life only exists in sentient rocks. An alternative to this onslaught of pondering: watching Everything Everywhere All At Once, which throws all of the above at the screen and a helluva lot more thanks to the Daniels, aka Swiss Army Man's Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. Where to watch: Streaming via Binge, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. Read our full review. FIRE OF LOVE Nominations: Best Documentary Feature Our thoughts: What a delight it would be to trawl through Katia and Maurice Krafft's archives, sift through every video that features the French volcanologists and their work, and witness them doing their highly risky jobs against spectacular surroundings. That's the task that filmmaker Sara Dosa (The Seer and the Unseen) took up to make superb documentary Fire of Love about the couple's lives — and, as set to the otherworldly sounds of Air, her magnificent effort is an incredibly thoughtful, informative and moving film from start to finish. Where to watch: Streaming via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY Nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay Our thoughts: This murder-mystery opens with a puzzle box inside a puzzle box. The former is a wooden cube delivered out of the blue, the latter the followup to 2019 hit Knives Out, and both are as tightly, meticulously, cleverly and cannily orchestrated as each other. With writer/director Rian Johnson (Poker Face) back at the helm and Daniel Craig (No Time to Die) playing southern detective Benoit Blanc again — alongside a new star-studded cast — long may this franchise keep sleuthing. Long may it have everyone revelling in every twist, trick and revelation, as the breezy blast that is Glass Onion does. Where to watch: Streaming via Netflix. Read our full review. GUIILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO Nominations: Best Animated Feature Our thoughts: Guillermo del Toro hasn't yet directed a version of Frankenstein, except that he now has in a way. Officially, he's chosen another much-adapted story, but there's no missing the similarities between the Nightmare Alley filmmaker's stop-motion Pinocchio and Mary Shelley's ever-influential horror masterpiece. Both carve out tales about creations made by grief-stricken men consumed by loss. Both see those tinkerers help gift existence to the inanimate because they can't cope with mortality's reality. Both notch up the fallout when those central humans struggle with the results of their handiwork, too. Where to watch: Streaming via Netflix. Read our full review. A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS Nominations: Best Documentary Feature Our thoughts: A House Made of Splinters premiered at Sundance in January 2022, with Danish documentarian Simon Lereng Wilmont returning to Eastern Ukraine after The Barking of Distant Dogs to tell of the residents at The Lysychansk Center for The Social and Psychological Rehabilitation of Children. That timing saw his latest film debut before the Russian invasion, but the war's impact since 2014 make itself felt as the kids in the doco's frames step through their experiences — and grapple with a fraught reality — in a facility that's only meant to house them for nine months until their paths from there can be plotted. Where to watch: Streaming via Docplay. MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON Nominations: Best Animated Feature Our thoughts: It started as an in-joke, thanks to a voice put on by Parks and Recreation Jenny Slate for her now ex-husband Dean Fleischer-Camp. Then came their 2010, 2011 and 2014 shorts, plus two best-selling children's picture books. On- and off-screen, the world's cutest talking shell has taken the internet-stardom path from online sensation to more — and the sweet, endearing, happily silly, often hilarious and deeply insightful Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is a touching meditation upon loss, change and valuing what's truly important, as well as an all-round gem. Where to watch: Streaming via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. MRS HARRIS GOES TO PARIS Nominations: Best Costume Design Our thoughts: The title is accurate: in Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, war widow and hardworking cleaner Ada Harris (Lesley Manville, The Crown) takes a surprise windfall to the French capital in the 50s to buy her very own Christian Dior dress. Cue class-clash snootiness (personified by The Godmother's Isabelle Huppert as a disapproving fashion house bigwig) and unexpected kindness (including from a model, accountant and Marquis played by Warrior Nun's Alba Baptista, Ticket to Paradise's Lucas Bravo and Benedetta's Lambert Wilson), in the kind of tale that plays out exactly as expected, albeit nicely. Where to watch: Streaming via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. NAVALNY Nominations: Best Documentary Feature Our thoughts: In August 2020, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned while flying from Tomsk to Moscow. The toxin: a Novichok nerve agent. That's just one aspect of the Vladimir Putin opponent's story in recent years, which filmmaker Daniel Roher (Once Were Brothers) shot as it unfolded for his documentary Navalny. The details are astonishing and infuriating, with Navalny a candid and determined interviewee. No matter whether you know the details from copious news headlines or you're stepping through his tale for the first time, this doco couldn't be more gripping. Where to watch: Streaming via Docplay, SBS On Demand, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE QUIET GIRL Nominations: Best International Feature Film Our thoughts: This tender, affecting and resonant Gaelic-language coming-of-age film sees the world as only a lonely, innocent, often-ignored child can. Devastatingly moving and beautiful, The Quiet Girl also spies the pain and hardship that shapes its titular figure's world — and yes, it does so softly and with restraint, but that doesn't make the feelings it swirls up any less immense. Filmmaker Colm Bairéad, who directs and adapts Claire Keegan's novella Foster, makes a stunning feature debut. Also exceptional is newcomer Catherine Clinch as pivotal nine-year-old Cáit. Where to watch: Streaming via SBS On Demand, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. RRR Nominations: Best Original Song Our thoughts: The letters in RRR's title are short for Rise Roar Revolt. They could also stand for riveting, rollicking and relentless. They link in with the Indian action movie's three main forces, too — writer/director SS Rajamouli (Baahubali: The Beginning), plus stars NT Rama Rao Jr (Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava) and Ram Charan (Vinaya Vidheya Rama) — and could describe the sound of some of its standout moments. What noise echoes when a motorcycle is used in a bridge-jumping rescue plot, as aided by a horse and the Indian flag, amid a crashing train, after all? Where to watch: Streaming via Netflix. Read our full review. THE SEA BEAST Nominations: Best Animated Feature Our thoughts: One of the undying ideas about monsters is also one of the most humane: perhaps what we perceive as monstrous doesn't always deserve that label. Set centuries back in prime seafaring times — but, thanks to the eponymous creature, clearly a work of animated fiction — The Sea Beast ponders this notion after seasoned beast-hunter Jacob Holland (voiced by The Boys' Karl Urban) pledges to slay a critter dubbed the Red Bluster. Here, eye-catching animation and a familiar but still potent story combine in Big Hero 6 and Moana co-director Chris Williams' hands. Where to watch: Streaming via Netflix. TOP GUN: MAVERICK Nominations: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Song, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Our thoughts: Top Gun: Maverick flies high when its jets are soaring. The initial Top Gun had the perfect song to describe exactly what these phenomenally well-executed and -choreographed action scenes feel like to view; yes, they'll take your breath away. Thankfully, this time that Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible — Fallout)-led adrenaline kick is accompanied by a smarter and far more self-aware film, as directed by TRON: Legacy and Oblivion's Joseph Kosinski. Top Gun in the 80s was exactly what Top Gun in the 80s was always going to be — but Top Gun in the 2020s doesn't dare believe that nothing has changed Where to watch: Streaming via Paramount+, Binge, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. TURNING RED Nominations: Best Animated Feature Our thoughts: What'd happen if the Hulk was a teenage girl, and turned into a giant, fuzzy, super-cute red panda instead of going green and getting ultra-muscular? Or, finding a different riff on the ol' werewolf situation, if emotions rather than full moons inspired a case of not-quite-lycanthropy? These aren't queries that most folks have thought of, but writer/director Domee Shi certainly has — and they're at the core of Pixar's Turning Red, her debut feature after winning an Oscar for 2018 short Bao, and a movie with particularly astute and endearing results. Where to watch: Streaming via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review.
One thing that's very helpful (and it could be argued, entirely necessary) to a successful creative career is the support of a creative community. This 28 September, the Australian Centre for Photography is hosting an excellent opportunity for photographers of all stripes to tap into such a community: a free Open Day. What's on offer for both the budding and experienced photographer? If you've scoped out the Centre's many technical courses and are considering enrolling in a class to master new photo skills (lighting, filmmaking, Lightroom and many other topics are on offer), this is your chance to learn more in person, get to know the tutors, see the facilities available to you and also peep at the current Spring Season exhibition featuring work by Emmanuel Angelicas, Rowan Conroy and Robert Besanko. After visiting the Funbooth, there's a lot of other thrilling stuff to sample. Included on the Open Day sched are a Blurb table to help you create your own fancypants photo books, a photo retouch demonstration, fun with pinhole cameras, talks by the currently exhibiting artists and, one of the best things you can do to advance your photography career, a portfolio review. A review requires booking and costs $120, giving you access to the expert eye and opinion of a seasoned professional photographer who can help identify the strengths and weaknesses in your work. Between them, press photographer Dean Lewins, artist Tim Silver, artist/academic David Haines and ACP curator Tony Nolan have plenty of wisdom and experience to go around, so take advantage and book a review. Image by Fiona Wolf.
