After a sell-out season in 2014, Lachlan Philpott's shimmering odyssey M.Rock returns for a strictly limited 2022 season at the Australian Theatre for Young People. The harbourside venue welcomes Valerie Bader as the titular Mabel Mudge — AKA M.Rock (a character inspired by the true story of Mamy Rock, DJ Ruth Flowers). After her impulsive granddaughter Tracey (Milena Barraclough Nesic) embarks on a soul-searching Euro-trip and fails to return home as planned, the settled suburban granny adventures out to find her. Through Philpott's uplifting script and Fraser Corfield's fast-paced direction, the warm and heartfelt production examines intergenerational bias, the beauty and importance of new experiences (no matter your age) and the danger of a grass-is-always-greener mentality. Don't consider yourself thespian? Don't write M.Rock off (read: deny yourself a joy-inducing, thought-provoking, inspiring night out). The hard-hitting production delivers charismatic Berlin-based DJs, a set that'll transport you across the seas and live music courtesy of Sydney-based DJ Venus Guy Trap. Which, along with brilliant performances from the ensemble of three (who play over 20 characters), makes for an exceptional culture trip — and the start of a lifelong love of the theatre if you're new to the scene. 'M.Rock' is showing at The Rebel Theatre until Wednesday, July 20. Head to the website to secure your tickets. Images: Tracey Schramm
If you want to expand your knowledge of local wines in the most efficient way, Surry Hills bistro Porteño is here to help with a huge winter wine fair taking over the venue on Sunday, July 10. For just $52, guests will have the opportunity to taste their way through 50 different wines from around Australia. The Porteño team has pulled together a range of Australian winemakers who will be supplying top-quality drops for you to taste on Sunday — with makers, suppliers and industry professionals in attendance to walk you through what you're tasting each step of the way. The fair will kick off at midday and run until 4.30pm. Each attendee will be gifted a Riedel glass to use as you explore the vinos on offer and to take home at the end of the day. Also included in your ticket is the opportunity to taste all 50 wines. You can try as many or as little as you want, depending on how big a finish to your weekend you're plotting. [caption id="attachment_700879" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Porteño's Christmas Market[/caption]
Call this 'The One with Familiar But Still Exciting News': Friends! The Musical Parody is bringing its comedic, song-filled take on a certain 90s sitcom to Sydney in 2022. Yes, this announcement has been made before, and more than once. The show has even opened its umbrellas in some parts of the country already. But we all know how the past two years have turned out — so the fact that the production is doing the rounds again should still make your day, week, month and even this year. This time around, Friends! The Musical Parody will be there for audiences at Riverside Theatres in Parramatta from Friday, June 10–Saturday, June 18. So, get ready to spend time with the show's versions of Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Joey and Phoebe — hanging out at their beloved Central Perk, of course, and sitting on an orange couch, no doubt. The musical starts with caffeinated catch-ups, but then a runaway bride shakes up the gang's day. From there, you'll get to giggle through a loving, laugh-filled lampoon that both makes good-natured fun of and celebrates the iconic sitcom. Yes, no one told you that being obsessed with the Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer-starring show about six New Yorkers would turn out this way — with on-stage skits and gags, recreations of some of the series' best-known moments, and songs with titles such as 'How you Doin?' and 'We'll Always Be There For You'. And no, no one told us that being a Friends aficionado would continue to serve up so many chances to indulge our fandom 17 years after it finished airing, either.
Five Sydneysiders are in for a treat each Wednesday this month, with Hendrick's Gin's new Cucumber Concierge hotline helping juniper enthusiasts craft a cucumber-garnished gin and tonic at home. On each Wednesday in March between 4–5pm, gin lovers in one Sydney area can call the hotline — 1800 HG CUKE — for their shot at Hendrick's latest giveaway. The first five callers will speak with Hendrick's Chief Cucumber Officer (yes, that's a thing) and receive a free crate of cucumbers and Henrick's Gin delivered to their location. Hendrick's Gin hopes that their first ever end-of-summer Gin O'Clock promotion will help Sydney residents craft their own gin and tonics at home complete with a garnish of fresh cucumber, which they say is imperative to sipping Hendrick's Gin. The program began on Wednesday, March 9, and will continue on March 16 for Sydneysiders from Milsons Point to Oxford Falls, Dee Why and Manly. Gin O'Clock will then move to the northwest suburbs (from Ryde to Davidson and Hunters Hill) on March 23, and finally end with areas within Pyrmont, over to Earlwood, North Strathfield and Balmain, on March 30.
Summer is here and despite the wetter than usual weather, there are still plenty of sunny afternoons primed for soaking up some rays with a refreshing beverage in hand. All of the above combines at the latest iteration of Opera Bar's Rose All Day Festival, returning after a few years off and running until March 6. Throughout the now-extended festival, the harbourside bar with an incredible view of the Bridge will be thinking and drinking pink. Expect frosé, spritzes, pét-nat, cocktails and rosé still and sparkling, with varieties from Provence's AIX, Mojo, Days & Daze, Bandini and Nick Spencer all on offer. Opera Bar's seafood and pizza-focused menu will be on offer to pair with your pink fizzy beverages, and live music will be popping up across the ten days. Tickets cost $30, and include three pink drinks for you to claim at any point. After that, you'll have to purchase your drinks as you go.
What's more believable — and plot twists follow: a pre-teen playing a 33-year-old woman pretending to be a nine-year-old orphan, with a hormone disorder explaining the character's eerily youthful appearance; or an adult playing a 31-year-old woman pretending to be a lost child returned at age nine, again with that medical condition making everyone else oblivious? For viewers of 2009's Orphan and its 13-years-later follow-up Orphan: First Kill, which is a prequel, neither are particularly credible to witness. But the first film delivered its age trickery as an off-kilter final-act reveal, as paired with a phenomenal performance by then 12-year-old Isabelle Fuhrman in the pivotal role. Audiences bought the big shift — or remembered it, at least — because Fuhrman was so creepy and so committed to the bit, and because it suited the OTT horror-thriller. This time, that wild revelation is old news, but that doesn't stop Orphan: First Kill from leaning on the same two key pillars: an out-there turn of events and fervent portrayals. Fuhrman (The Novice) returns as Esther, the Estonian adult who posed as a parentless Russian girl in the initial feature. In Orphan: First Kill, she's introduced as Leena Klammer, the most dangerous resident at the Saarne Institute mental hospital. The prequel's first sighted kill comes early, as a means of escape. The second follows swiftly, because the film needs to get its central figure to the US. Fans of the previous picture will recall that Esther already had a troubled history when she was adopted and started wreaking the movie's main havoc, involving the family that brought her to America — and her time with that brood, aka wealthy Connecticut-based artist Allen Albright (Rossif Sutherland, Possessor), his gala-hosting wife Tricia (Julia Stiles, Hustlers) and their teen son Gunnar (Matthew Finlan, My Fake Boyfriend), is this flick's focus. Like their counterparts in Orphan, the Albrights have suffered a loss and are struggling to move on. When Leena poses as their missing daughter Esther, Allen especially seems like his old self again. As also happened in Orphan, however, the pigtail- and ribbon-wearing new addition to their home doesn't settle in smoothly. Orphan: First Kill repeats the original movie's greatest hits, including the arty doting dad, the wary brother, taunts labelling Esther a freak and a thorny relationship with her mum. Also covered: suspicious external parties, bathroom tantrums, swearing to get attention and spying on her parents having sex. And yes, anyone who has seen Orphan knows how this all turns out, and that it leads to the above again in Orphan, too. Thankfully, that's only part of Orphan: First Kill's narrative. Twists can be curious narrative tools; sometimes they're inspired, sometimes they're a crutch propping up a flimsy screenplay, and sometimes they seesaw between both. Orphan: First Kill tumbles gleefully into the latter category, thanks to a revelation midway that's patently ridiculous — although no more ridiculous than Orphan earning a follow-up in the first place — and also among the best things about the movie. It's a big risk, making a film that's initially so laughably formulaic that it just seems lazy, then letting a sudden switch completely change the game, the tone and the audience's perception of what's transpired so far. That proved a charm for the thoroughly unrelated Malignant in 2021, and it's a gamble that filmmaker William Brent Bell (The Boy and Brahms: The Boy II) and screenwriter David Coggeshall (Scream: The TV Series) take. Working with a story by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It) and Alex Mace (who earned the same credit on the original), it's one of their savviest choices. Another crucial decision that would've shattered the film had it gone the other way: getting Fuhrman back. Given she's now definitely an adult, it's downright preposterous to buy her as passing for nine, Lizzie Borden dresses and all — but with the jig already up for viewers before this flick even begins, that visible discrepancy adds another sinister layer to everything Esther gets up to. Yes, Bell and cinematographer Karim Hussain (Firestarter) are toying with everyone watching just like their evil protagonist does, not only with the Albrights but with unconvinced Detective Donnan (Hiro Kanagawa, Pachinko) and doubtful Dr Segar (Samantha Walkes, Murdoch Mysteries) as well. Fuhrman makes you want to go along with the gambit; she's again a force to be reckoned with as the malevolent, manipulative miniature psychopath, playing her part with equal parts steely determination and calm-faced derangement, and with the help of camera angles and practical effects to keep up the act. Bell knows that Orphan's twist is now as familiar as those in The Sixth Sense, The Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green. He also knows that Orphan is more famous for how it ends than being a genre standout otherwise, which it isn't. And, he knows that viewers are aware that Fuhrman is now an adult portraying an adult impersonating a child, rather than a child portraying a woman professing to be a kid. That also works emotionally for Orphan: First Kill, laying the groundwork for its own change of direction. In Orphan, Esther always resembles a brattish girl, even when she drops her disguise, and sympathising with her adoptive mother's anguish comes easily. Here, she's clearly an adult, and wondering why her ruse seems to work so smoothly also comes with the territory. Orphan didn't just boast one big performance, of course, and neither does Orphan: First Kill. More Julia Stiles in all things is always welcome, including when she's dealing with demonic tykes as she also did in The Omen remake. The twist she's saddled with here is inescapably silly, but Stiles has a glorious amount of fun with it — and helps answer the question that hangs over the film's first half (that'd be "why is Julia Stiles in this?"). She isn't quite enough to justify Orphan: First Kill's existence, and nor is Fuhrman repeating her first big success, the new surprise development that the whole picture hinges on, all the callbacks or the whole origin-story vibe. The world didn't really need to know why Esther likes blacklight paintings or where she first got her ribbons, which adds zero depth to the franchise. Attempting to evoke empathy for the murder-happy figure doesn't strike the chord it's meant to, either. But that revelation is still worth discovering, and Fuhrman and Stiles' performances are still worth watching, in a movie that knows it's a lurid and needless second effort — and happily leans in.
It's hard to pick which is more horrifying in Happening: the graphic scenes where 23-year-old literature student Anne Duchesne (Anamaria Vartolomei, How to Be a Good Wife) takes the only steps she can to try to regain control of her life, or the times she's repeatedly told by others, typically men, to accept a fate that only ever awaits her gender. Both hit like a punch, by design. Both are wrenching, heart and gut alike, and neither are surprising for a second. Also leaving a mark: that few care that Anne's future is now threatened in this 2021 Venice Film Festival Golden Lion-winner, because that's simply a consequence of having sex for women in France in 1963, the movie's setting. There's another truth that lingers over this adaptation of author Annie Ernaux's 2001 memoir of the same name, which uses her own experiences at the same age, time and in the same situation: that in parts of the world where pro-life perspectives are entrenched in law or regaining prominence, Happening's scenario isn't a relic of the past. Late in the movie, Anne describes her circumstances as "that illness that turns French women into housewives". It's a blunt turn of phrase, but it's accurate. It also speaks to how writer/director Audrey Diwan (Losing It) and co-scribe Marcia Romano (Bye Bye Morons) approach the film with the clearest of eyes, declining to indulge the idea that forcing unwanted motherhood upon young women is a gift or simply a duty, and likewise refusing to flinch from showing the reality when the personal freedom to choose is stripped away. This is a feature made with the fullest of hearts, too, compassion evident in every boxed-in Academy ratio frame that rarely leaves Anne's face. It spies the appalling options before her, and sees the society that's okay with stealing her choices. And, it stares deeply at both the pain and determination that've understandably taken up residence in Anne's gaze. The second of Ernaux's works to hit screens of late after the also candid and moving Simple Passion, Happening begins with hope, with Anne and her Angoulême college dormmates Hélène (Luàna Bajrami, The Hill Where Lionesses Roar) and Brigitte (Louise Orry-Diquéro, Occidental) getting ready for a dance. They're filled with the excitement that comes with believing anything could happen — there's fun to be had, men to meet and lives to be changed — but, once there, it's obvious that these kinds of nights always follow the same pattern. Their university's resident mean girls glare on in judgement when Anne even talks to a guy, but she doesn't let that stop her. She isn't one to weather their bullying, gossip and slut-shaming, including once she discovers she's expecting three weeks after a casual fling. The only thing that terrifies the ambitious and bright working-class student: losing the ability to live the life that she's been working towards. The alternative is highly illegal, so much so that securing help from medical professionals, friends and family is overwhelmingly difficult. Delivering the surprising pregnancy news, Anne's family doctor (Fabrizio Rongione, Azor) is sympathetic to the stark scenario facing his patient, knowing the stigma that'll come her way for being an unwed single mother, and that her dreams of teaching will be derailed. Still, given that prison is the punishment for illicit terminations, he shuts down any notion of lending a hand. Even chatting about abortion hypothetically with Hélène and Brigitte before they know she's with child earns the same dismissive response. The baby's father (Julien Frison, Lover for a Day), a visiting student, just wants the situation handled, and asking a flirtatious classmate (Kacey Mottet Klein, Farewell to the Night) for assistance just ends with him hitting on Anne; she's already pregnant so he figures she'll be up for it and there'll be no consequences. Diwan's film is patient and precise as it marks the passing time with text on-screen, each successive week making Anne's situation more precarious and her hopes of avoiding parenthood less likely. It's a straightforward touch, but such overt tracking helps achieve Happening's key aim: immersing viewers in Anne's distressing emotional, physical and psychological rollercoaster ride. She knows what she wants, and what she definitely doesn't. As weeks flit by, though, and every potential avenue for support either crumbles or deepens her struggle, the ordeal takes its toll. Anne persists, searching for acquaintances of friends of friends who can guide her in the right direction in whispers, and Happening is committed to depicting the loneliness, hurt and despair that follows. Whether involving injections, knitting needles, secret procedures and stifled anguished cries, or just the grim tenor of her words and posture, the result is harrowing and unsettling. Vartolomei's on-screen credits date back more than a decade, but this is a career-catapulting performance — and film-defining. She's saddled with a mammoth task, with cinematographer Laurent Tangy (OSS 117: From Africa with Love) rarely peering elsewhere, and she ensures that every feeling coursing through Anne's veins reverberates through the lens. Vartolomei is furious, agitated and panicked all at once. She's resolute and resourceful as well, and also frightened and exhausted. Her inner state gets its own echo in the mood-setting score by Evgueni and Sacha Galperine, who also made 2021 TV miniseries Scenes From a Marriage sting with tension, but she'd leave the same heartbreaking impression if Happening didn't feature a note of music. And while her portrayal is all her own, it's as instinctual as the last exceptional performance in the last phenomenal award-winning drama about abortion, aka Sidney Flanigan's in 2020's Never Rarely Sometimes Always. It doesn't escape attention that Diwan almost plays it coy with period details; if you didn't know going in that Happening is set in the 60s, it isn't quick to point it out. The fashion nods that way — in having Anne frequently seen in the same dusty red top, the film also uses costuming to convey her modest background and urgent focus on much more important things than clothing — and there's a clear lack of phones, of course. Expressing that this type of tale still rings true today is another of the movie's objectives, however, and it's as compelling a move as Diwan makes. Happening is haunting and shattering, immaculately crafted, unwavering in its honesty, and as confronting as it needs to be, and it wields all of the above with passion and purpose. And yes, picking what's more horrendous — Anne's many physical traumas, or the contempt that women are held in for having uteruses, liking sex and seeking agency over their futures — is impossible.
When Australia's last Blockbuster store closed its doors back in 2019, it marked the end of an era — especially if you spent your childhood and teenage years trawling through racks of VHS tapes, renting as big a stack as you could carry, then gluing your eyes to the TV every weekend. Every Aussie city also has its own stories about losing beloved independent video shops and, if you're still a fan of physical media in the streaming era, you might even have a few ex-rental bargains from closed-down stores sitting on your shelves at home. It's these fond feelings for a part of life that's now gone that live cinema performance Coil aims to tap into, all while paying tribute to all the long-lost spots that once celebrated and nurtured cinephilia. Video stores were more than just places to rent tapes — they were havens of filmic discovery, sources of inspiration and thriving local communities — and that's all baked into this production. Coil made its world premiere at this year's Mona Foma, then hit up PACT in Erskineville in February — and now it's playing the Sydney Opera House. Head along from Wednesday, June 8–Saturday, June 11 to see the latest work from re:group, a collective of artists based between Hobart, Wollongong and Sydney, with Coil staging its show in a set that recreates a 90s-era video shop. The focus: telling a tale of nostalgia, loneliness, friendship and viability that pays homage to those gone-but-not-forgotten spaces and celebrates the communities forged within them. It's a performance designed to ponder questions — including what we've lost now that we browse online sites for flicks instead of physically walking the aisles. And if you're wondering how a live cinema performance with a one-person cast works, Coil takes place live on stage before its audience, but deploys video design that lets its lone performer play every character in cinematic scenes. You'll be watching all of that happen, with the show combining verbatim interview material with real-time filmmaking — all to make the kind of performance that you definitely won't see on streaming. Images: Rosie Hastie.
From a feminism-inspired ceramic car to a parcel made of pottery, The Powerhouse Museum's Clay Dynasty will show you all you need to know about Australia's recent ceramic history. Featuring over 400 objects by 160 different artists, the Powerhouse Museum's Clay Dynasty exhibition is a comprehensive look at the museum's extensive ceramics collection. The first major exhibition to celebrate the evolution of Australian studio ceramics, the exhibit features contemporary pieces, as well as works from more than 50 years of pottery history. This exhibition includes 70 new works of Australian pottery, including for the first time ever a collection of pottery made by Indigenous makers in the late 1960s at the Bagot pottery in Darwin. There are no bookings required and the exhibit is free to explore. Clay Dynasty sits alongside other Powerhouse offerings like Eucalyptusdom, which creatively examines Australia's relationship and history with Eucalyptus, and the museum's Electric Keys exhibit showcasing their 22-instrument strong keyboard collection. Clay Dynasty is running at the Powerhouse for the entirety of 2022, with the pottery being packed away on January 29, 2023.
Cinephiles of Sydney, choose your soundtrack: at the 11th Antenna Documentary Film Festival, are you going to get Australian punk tunes stuck in your head or Italo disco? Docos about both are on the bill, as part of a wide-ranging lineup that spans 52 titles, all showcasing the possibilities of factual filmmaking. Antenna has already held a festival in 2022, its tenth back in February; however, usually it's an October affair. Because the past couple of years have thrown that schedule out of balance with lockdowns, restrictions and the like, the event is doubling up to get back on schedule. Yes, homegrown doco Age of Rage: The Australian Punk Revolution, plus the Aussie premiere of Italo Disco: the Sparkling Sound of the 80s, are among the highlights. There's no shortage of viewing options between Friday, October 14–Sunday, October 23 — or places to get the fest experience, with Antenna popping up at Dendy Newtown, Palace Chauvel, Palace Verona, MCA Australia, Powerhouse Museum, the Ritz in Randwick and Event Cinemas Parramatta. The fest is also bringing back its day-long industry chat about the medium, which'll cover topics such as streaming's impact upon feature-length documentaries and the use of deep-fake technology. The overall theme, as it is in every iteration of the fest: that there's really nothing quite like a true story, whether it's a wild, chaotic, so-strange-it-can-only-be-true kind of tale or an informative, eye-opening yarn. For this festival run, Antenna is making that plain with titles such as opening night's Retrograde, which hails from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land, City of Ghosts) and captures the situation on the ground in Afghanistan as American troops pull out. Or, there's Fairytale by Russian Ark filmmaker Alexander Sokurov, which uses deepfake archival footage to imagines a reunion in purgatory between Hitler, Stalin, Churchill and Mussolini. Other standouts include Chilean effort My Imaginary Country, which looks at the Santiago uprising of 2019; Outside, about Roma, who became the poster boy of the Ukrainian revolution as a 13 year old; McEnroe, with the tennis player himself stepping through his career; and 107 Mothers, which tells the tales of 107 incarcerated women. Or, there's Senses of Cinema, about film movements challenging the mainstream in Australia's history; Riotsville USA, focusing on the fictional town built by the US military back in the 60s to use a training ground; Last Stop Before Chocolate Mountain, which surveys California's Bombay Beach; and How to Save a Dead Friend, about teens in Russia. Plus, The Hole heads into the Bifurto Abyss in Southern Italy, which was once considered the deepest cave on Earth, and Blue Island explores Hong Kong after its 2020 national security law. And, likely not for the squeamish, De Humani Corporis Fabrica sees filmmakers Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel (Caniba, Leviathan) use microscopic cameras, X-rays, ultrasounds and endoscopic images to take a deep look inside the human body.
If you're a fan of basketball, talented Aussies shooting hoops and one of the biggest local names in the game in the 21st century, then this one's a slam dunk: Patty Mills is coming home to chat about his career. The Brooklyn Nets point guard returns to Australia for the first time since helping score the Boomers their first-ever Olympic medal — and shooting 42 points himself in the crucial bronze-winning match — to tour the nation throughout September. Keen to hear the man himself discuss his success, life, learnings and everything in-between in the flesh? The four-time Olympian will be taking to the stage in Sydney, at ARA Darling Quarter Theatre on Sunday, September 11, for an in-conversation session. If you know some budding basketballers who are eager to follow in the Indigenous Aussie's footsteps, he's also hosting basketball camps while he's back Down Under — but for players aged between 12–17. At the onstage component of Mills' tour, the star player will speak from the heart about his journey — which has taken the Kokatha, Naghiralgal, Duaureb-Meriam man from growing up in Canberra to rising through the basketball ranks, and also becoming Australia's first Indigenous Olympics flag bearer. "It's been a huge couple of years and I feel privileged to have the opportunity to go back to my roots to deliver an immersive experience to be felt and enjoyed both on and off the court," said Mills. "It was also important that this tour allowed me to share parts of me that I've never been able to share before. Getting up close and personal with my own hopes, challenges and achievements has allowed me to embrace opportunity to the fullest and by sharing my own journey, I hope to inspire others out there, especially our youth, who are on their own path of self-discovery." Tickets go on sale on Thursday, September 8. Top image: Erik Drost via Flickr.
Fancy a trip to Japan without heading to Japan? Well, Sydneysiders, Maho Magic Bar has you covered. Part of the upcoming Sydney Festival — and courtesy of the creative folks at Broad Encounters — the Japanese-inspired bar and performance space is bringing its dazzling show to Tumbalong Park in Darling Harbour from Friday, January 6, 2023 till Sunday, January 29, 2023. The best bit? The magic happens tableside, with mind-bending magicians — straight from Japan's magic bars — roving the room as you sip. What else can you expect? Well, it's a bar, performance space and show all in one. Bright lights set the mood, cherry blossoms hover above, and sake and shōchū lead the drinks menu (though there's beer, wine and booze-free options, too). Designed to replicate a night out in Shinjuku, your experience will be one of hedonistic wonder. [caption id="attachment_854729" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Nathanial Mason[/caption] The ace thing about the setup: whether you adore magic or don't think it's your thing, you'll still in for a ripper night. The atmosphere (and the drinks and those lights) are a massive part of the allure, though prepare to have your mind swayed by the roll call of stand-out magicians. Busting out illusions: the "princess of illusion" Kaori Kitazawa, daring close-up magician Sarito, the bearded Jonio, smooth operator Shirayuri and your host for the evening, Sho. If you're ready to immerse yourself in the magic of Japan (literally), you'd better be quick to grab your tickets. 'Maho Magic Bar' is on from Friday, January 6 till Sunday, January 29, 2023. For more information and to grab your tickets, head to the website. Top images: Kate Prendergast (first), Trentino Priori (second) and Nathanial Mason (last three).
With its sweeping Sydney views and good times vibes, Opera Bar remains a firm favourite among tourists and locals alike. And, now that the warm weather has (mostly) returned, the harbourside venue is giving you even more to love with the launch of In Bloom. Available till November 3, it's a new drinks menu dedicated to alcoholic soft serve and gin spritzes. Start off perusing the menu of five different Bombay Sapphire spritzes (all $18), served all day and late into the night. Varieties include the Summer Blush (cherry blossom and grapefruit), the Violet Fizz (white vermouth, violet and orange blossom) and the Tea Dreams (chai tea, hibiscus, ginger and lime). If you're feeling peckish, you can order something off the all-day bar menu, with snacks including Sydney rock oysters, tiger prawns, pizzas and fried chicken with jalapeño mayo. Dessert-wise, the new Bombay Sapphire-based frozen treats are the real drawcard. The gin soft serves are available in two flavours: tonic with lemon and cherry violet. They'll set you back $12 a pop and are the equivalent to about one standard drink. And, at sunset each day, live acts will take the stage to serenade you into the night. Opera Bay is open from Monday–Thursday, 10am–midnight; Friday, 10am–1am; Saturday, 9am–1am; and Sunday, 9am–midnight.
Everyone loves digging into a bowl of hearty, cheesy, carby pasta. And who doesn't like pizza? Not to mention gelato, particularly when Sydney starts warming up. That's why Fratelli Fresh is ringing in spring with a fresh — and extremely tasty — offering: Festa Italiana. So, you and your mates can kick back — with a spritz in hand — and tuck into an Italian feast. Available every Friday through Sunday, Festa Italiana is the perfect excuse to get the group together. For $79 per person, you'll be enjoying a three-course share-style menu. Better yet, the deal gets you two hours of espresso martinis, wine, beer and Aperol spritzes, too. Once you've worked your way through Fratelli's signature antipasti board loaded with tomato bruschetta, olives, buffalo mozzarella, focaccia and cured meats, you can tuck into a selection of classic pizzas and pasta dishes. Think the likes of margherita pizza, lamb ragu with penne, tagliatelle with Sicilian mussels and gnocchi served with pancetta, peas, spinach and creamy goats cheese. To top it off, you'll also get two scoops of house-made gelato, with flavours such as chocolate, raspberry, creamy vanilla and more on offer. If you're looking to get a bunch of mates together, then Fratelli Fresh is just the spot for your next big do. You'll be sipping and eating to your heart's content — without breaking into the piggy bank. Plus, with six locations across Sydney, you won't have to go out of your way to make your next reservation. Find your local here.
Sydneysiders, it's time to crack open your piggy bank, fumble for coins in your wallet and look for loose change under your couch. That's all you'll need to nab yourself a chicken schnitzel on Wednesday, October 30, with Rashays serving them up for $1. Available all day for one day only, the special includes a hand-crumbed schnitty, a serving of chips and plenty of mushroom sauce — a dish that's been on the Australian chain's menu since it opened 21 years ago. A few caveats apply, as tends to be the case with these kinds of deals. You can only order one schnitzel meal per person, they're only available for folks dining in, and you'll have to walk in and try your luck because the eatery won't be taking bookings. You can't order through a third-party app, such as UberEats, and the schnittys are only available while stocks last. To get your fix, you'll need to head to one of Rashays' 23 NSW stores, including ones in the western suburbs — such as Liverpool and Penrith — further north in Dee Why and Top Ryde, and one near the CBD in the Harbourside Shopping Centre. All proceeds from your schnitz fix will go to a good cause, too, with Rashays donating funds from the day to Miracle Babies — a foundation that helps premature and sick newborns, their families and the hospitals that look after them.
Halloween is just around the corner, and with it comes the perfect excuse to don a costume and have a spooky time. And, if you're looking for a night of downright scares, Luna Park has got you sorted. Once again, Halloscream has taken over Luna Park with five nights of frightening scares — and it's definitely not for the faint of heart. This year's theme, Hell on the Harbour, has new and returning attractions to get your heart racing. Make your way through the four mazes — escape from Aussie bandits in Outlaw or look for a missing girl in the mirror-filled Séance maze — explore the horror-filled Mystery Manor, and keep an eye out for the devil and his demons performing a Satanic Possession Ritual. Facing fears is sure to build up an appetite, so pick up some Halloween-themed eats and drinks for a well-deserved break. While the haunting kicked off last weekend, there's still time to get to Luna Park from Thursday, October 31–Saturday, November 2. Tickets for Halloscream come with unlimited rides, so prepare your vocal chords for a cracking night.
Wake in Fright and Mad Max 2 have a lot to answer for. While one remains a flat-out Australian masterpiece after almost half a century and the other belongs to our best dystopian action franchise, they've spawned more than their fair share of imitators. Many Aussie films have aped their visions of broken, isolated, male-dominated worlds. Quite a few have also used their shooting location, Broken Hill. It's easy to understand why: examining toxic masculinity's extremes is a juicy subject, and the outback town on the far-western edge of New South Wales' dusty expanse cuts a striking sight on the big screen. When layered one over the other, the seemingly endless array of scrubby nothingness that encircles the remote spot appears to pulsate with oppressive desolation. The third film in four years from director Heath Davis (after 2016's Broke and 2018's Book Week), grimy crime thriller Locusts is happy to trot out the above template once again. There's another thoroughly recognisable element at play as well, one that also pops up in Wake in Fright and other Aussie flicks like The Cars That Ate Paris and Welcome to Woop Woop: the outsider wandering across this desert landscape and discovering its hostility for himself. Here, that task falls to slick technology bigwig. Ryan Black (Ben Geurens), who returns to the drought-stricken ex-mining town of Serenity Crossing after the death of his estranged dad. Complete with a far-from-cosy reunion with his brother (Nathaniel Dean) and the old girlfriend-turned-single mum and stripper (Jessica McNamee) he long left behind, everything about this scenario ticks a heap of familiar boxes. Thugs, drugs, broken dreams, family secrets — throw in Cold Chisel on the pub radio (they sang about Broken Hill, aka the Silver City, in 'Khe Sanh'), and Locusts always plays out as expected. When a group of inhospitable locals make it clear that Ryan isn't welcome, but still demands he settle his father's debts, it seems as if first-time screenwriter Angus Watts is stamping squares on a generic movie bingo card. The more twists and turns that pop up, the more that this feels true, with Locusts' various plot developments wavering between convenient and flimsy. Flashes of a man yelling at a kid with a gun earn the same description, although they're clearly designed to ramp up the tension. And as for a hefty late revelation that tries to keep things topical, it feels tacked-on rather than meaningful. Why do films continually wade through such well-worn terrain? It makes for easy, B-movie-style genre fare and, in Australia, we sure do have the backdrop for it. In Locusts and Heath Davis' case, the movie also taps into a theme that the director keeps pondering across his career. While they're set in vastly different circumstances and brandish incredibly different tones, Broke and Book Week also follow men thrown out of their depth by the vagaries of life, then scrambling to recover. Locusts is his least convincing example to-date, however. That said, Geurens' somewhat dull lead performance aside, the film does overflow with suitably scruffy, stern, grizzled men (including Peter Phelps, Broke's Steve Le Marquand, Book Week's Alan Dukes and late actor Damian Hill in one of his final screen performances) who look and feel as rough and tough as all the dirt and bush that's constantly in sight. Filling the movie with sun-dappled shades of earthy reds, murky browns and parched yellows, cinematographer Chris Bland (another Broke and Book Week alum) not only has Locusts' best job, but does Locusts' best job. While Broken Hill doesn't look anywhere near as captivating in real life as it frequently does on the screen, it's hard to point a camera at its rusty vistas without finding a fittingly moody shot. So, Bland does this often. Once again, this fits the picture's contemplation of struggling men laid bare in forbidding surroundings, but the heavy emphasis on the landscape does stand out. For the film's characters, the town's post-apocalyptic scenery is a barrier that stops them from moving on. For the film itself, it's yet another crutch used by an inescapably familiar feature that repeatedly leans on obvious elements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD_gvewa9JU&feature=youtu.be
You know that feeling of unbridled joy and energy you get in the opening scene of The Lion King when you scream "naaaants een-vwen-yaaaaaaa ma-ba-gee-chi-ba-va" (or some variation thereof) as baby Simba is hoisted up by Rafiki? That's why you should pay to see the Spice World: The Movie at the cinema. Even though you've seen it a million times, you have it on DVD and blu-ray (for some reason), and on a USB drive that's permanently in the TV, you should still buy a ticket. The sheer thrill that you'll feel when a cinema full of adult women all scream "you gotta, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM" will be an experience like no other. The joy of sharing, nostalgia, sing-screaming, and choc tops are all rolled into one event for this sing-along screening of Spice World. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmSBtOHzGPM It all takes place at the Hayden Orpheum at 8.45pm on Friday, April 24, so snap up a ticket while you can.
All of the pizza, none of the animal products — that's what's on the menu at Salt Meats Cheese. If you're a vegan and you usually find yourself holding back at all-you-can-eat pizza evenings, the Italian chain of eateries has you covered. Next occurring on Tuesday, February 11, SMC's regular bottomless vegan pizza feast is in full swing again for 2020 — and as in previous years, it includes unlimited vegan pasta as well. All you need to do is book a table in advance for the Broadway, Circular Quay, Dee Why and Cronulla stores, with sittings available from 5pm. The pizza and pasta free-for-all will set you back a highly affordable $25, and while you'll also have to buy a drink, you can choose from both boozy and non-alcoholic options. For an extra $5, you can also opt for all-you-can-eat gluten-free vegan pizza too. Finding decent slices that cater to dietary requirements is hard enough, let alone devouring as many as you feel like in one sitting, so expect this to be popular.
With the Year of the Rat almost upon us, The Rocks is turning its regular weekend markets into a Lunar New Year celebration. From 10am on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday between January 30–February 9, lanterns and themed stalls will be lining the cobblestones of Playfair Street, George Street and Jack Mundey Place. As is usually the case at The Rocks' regular Friday Foodie Market, there will be plenty of tasty treats to choose from, with Mr Bao and Let's Do Yum Cha slinging steamed buns and dumplings, Sri Lankan hoppers from The Hopper Pan, Firepop's selection of skewers and Zizime's Korean pancakes and toasties. [caption id="attachment_758152" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anna Kucera[/caption] On the sweeter side, Spontané, Yum Thai Juice Bar and Som Som Candy are providing everything from bubble tea to animal-shaped fairy floss for the New Year. You can find the perfect new year gift for anyone with a selection of boutique stalls offering everything from silk scarves to spicy Thai condiments. The Rocks Lunar Markets run from 10am–9pm Thursday–Saturday and 10am–5pm Sunday.
If you dote over your vinyl collection with obsessive passion — or even if you just casually collect whichever albums you happen to come across whenever you're in your local record store — then you probably have one Saturday in April permanently marked on your calendar. That'd be Record Store Day, the annual celebration of ace music, a beloved format and the shops that trade in both. As happened last year, RSD has been postponed in 2021. Instead of its usual timeslot, the huge vinyl event will now take place in June. But that doesn't mean that your record pile has to remain static for the next couple of months, with record companies banding together for a huge vinyl sell-off: The Great Australian Warehouse Sale. Across the weekend of Saturday, April 17–Sunday, April 18, music aficionados will be able to snap up vinyl galore via indie record stores. Record companies such as Universal, Sony, MGM, Warner and more will be diving into their vaults, clearing out their warehouses and making as much stock available as possible, while individual shops will also be adding their own spin to the fun. Different stores will have different items on offer, so going crate-digging at your favourite shops is highly recommended. For further details — including which places are taking part — head to The Great Australian Warehouse Sale website.
In 2013, 300 people danced to Kate Bush's' 'Wuthering Heights' in a field — and in 2020, the idea is back and bigger than ever. Yes, The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever is happening in Sydney on Saturday, July 11. Yes, everyone should be dressed as Kate Bush, complete with a red dress, red stockings and black belt (men, that means you as well). On the day, a clowder (that's the collective noun for Kate Bushes, just FYI) will descend upon the park and copy Bush's swaying, kicky dance in unison just for the pure joy of it. Support for this weird and wonderful outing has been widespread, and Kate Bush fans from around the world have been inspired to create events in their home cities. So get your gear together (dressmakers are usually flooded with orders for the day) and ready yourself to roll and fall in green, out on the wily, windy moors of Sydney Park. If you need an incentive — other than the event itself, of course — it's now 42 years since the song was first released. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW3gKKiTvjs
Keen to make your next night in a big one? Now that you can invite five mates round (with sensible social distancing in place, of course), you can make it a real party. So, if you're keen to cut some serious shapes this weekend, ring up five of your nearest and dearest and dust off that disco ball because a new one-off party with pumping tunes and bad fashion is taking over your living room on Saturday, May 23. Yep, Canadian Club's annual Bad Sweater Party is going virtual. Hang on, a Bad Sweater Party? The major point of difference for this party is that you've got a dress code. Don an ugly jumper — it's OK, you're partying at home. And, yes, you'll get pretty sweaty with all those killer moves you'll be busting. Hot Dub Time Machine will be bringing the dance-worthy tunes, which will have you pushing your furniture aside and starting a makeshift dance floor in no time. Expect everything from 50s rock 'n' roll tunes to disco hits like ABBA's 'Gimme Gimme Gimme' and Earth, Wind & Fire's 'September'. Once you hit the more recent decades, there's often glam rock, a bit of 90s grunge, Darude's epic 'Sandstorm' and 'Toxic' by Britney. As you dance your way through the decades, you'll be working up quite the sweat (you'll be in a sweater, remember), so you'll also want some cold ones nearby. Get into the spirit of things by mixing up some CC 'n' drys. Or save yourself the trouble and grab a case of the stuff. It'll all kick off at 7pm and you can tune in to the live set via Hot Dub's Twitch account.
When Winghaüs set up shop in Sydney, no one needed to guess what kind of food it focused on. You'd best like chicken pieces, because they're on the menu here in a big way — all day, everyday. How does a chook-loving joint up the poultry ante? Across the entire 2020–21 summer, it hosts an event called Wing Fest. Again, it really doesn't require too much explanation. From Tuesday, December 1–Sunday, February 28, Winghaüs isn't just doing its usual wing lineup, though. As well as its nine always-available types of rubs and sauces, the chicken-centric joint is adding a huge 13 more varieties. So, you can pick from 21 different styles — including salt and vinegar, garlic and parmesan, sweet and sour, mango habanero and vindaloo. Ever wondered what chicken wings with chicken salt taste like? That's on offer as well. Chicken may be the focus — either classic or boneless — but you can also opt for cauliflower wings. You'll get one complimentary sauce or rub for every ten-piece serve of wings ($12), with extra sauces and rubs costing $3 each. There are also 20-piece ($22), $50-piece ($49) and 100-piece ($94) options — and beers and cocktails on tap, plus margaritas served frozen, on the rocks and in shareable one-litre steins.
Sadly, after nine years of packed dance floors and support for Sydney's music and art scene, beloved nightclub Freda's will be closing permanently this month. The Chippendale venue will close its doors to the public on Saturday, November 21. But, Freda's is going out with a bang throwing a six-part final celebration over the next three weekends. The Festival of Freda's will begin on Saturday, November 6 with Disco Bongo: the Last Night of Disco, featuring DJ sets from Andy Webb of Disco Delicious and Honey Point. Sunday, November 7 will see Freda's celebrate tits ninth and final birthday, featuring two rooms of live music and DJ sets. The following weekend will feature a live set from local electro-pop group Gauci with support from Freedom Sounds on Saturday, November 13, and a DJ set from Ben Fester and friends the following night. Kicking off on Friday, November 20, Freda's final weekend will include a farewell party thrown by Sydney party collective Vibe Positive, and one last event titled Freda's: The End featuring the Freda's House Band. Head along to celebrate and commemorate a Sydney institution shutting up shop and enjoy Guaci's latest track to get you in the mood. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2-eM5I7s94 All events are seated and limited to 50 people per session due to social distancing regulations. All info and tickets are available at Freda's website. Top Image: Imogen Grist
Australia's first 100-percent plant-based hotel bar Alibi will be serving up special plant-based menu items throughout November in honour of World Vegan Month. From Sunday, November 1, you'll find unique vegan treats on the Alibi menu each week of November, as well as $10 spritzes and $6 beers throughout the month. Expect $10 plant-based cheeseburgers, $1 mac 'n' cheese balls, $10 cheesy dogs and $5 cauliflower bites. You'll also be able to enjoy Alibi's regular vegan offerings including high tea, an eight-course tasting menu and kitchen classics like tacos and bao. Alibi Bar is open from 4pm each day and you can reserve your spot over at the website. Alibi is located in the Woolloomooloo Ovolo Hotel who recently announced it would be going 100-percent vegetarian in all their hotels across Australia and Hong Kong for a full year. The initiative titled 'year of the veg' began on World Vegetarian Day on October 1. WORLD VEGAN MONTH LINEUP Week 1 (November 1–8) — $10 cheeseburgers Week 2 (November 9–15) — $1 mac 'n' cheese balls Week 3 (November 16–22) — $10 cheesy dogs Week 4 (November 23–30) — $5 cauliflower bites
Sydney's intimate, boutique Golden Age Cinema is teaming up with Four Pillars Gin for a mini booze and film festival. Each Wednesday night from February 3–March 3, the 56-seat Surry Hills spot is hosting double bills paired with gin cocktails. It's quite the lineup, too, with a little something for everyone on the bill. The festival is called Summer is Cinema, so that's the kind of tone it's going for — whether road movies, hazy escapades or out-there journeys are hitting the screen. First up on February 3 is Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited — because the venue has also been running a season dedicated to the director — followed by seminal 90s classic Thelma and Louise. Or, if you're in the mood for a different kind of cinematic trip, perhaps February 10's pair of The Beach Bum and Inherent Vice will appeal. The next week, on February 17, Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window will heat up the screen, accompanied by Spike Lee's iconic Do the Right Thing. Then, on February 24 comes Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away and Alexandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain, both classics in their own distinctive ways. Finally, Badlands and Wild at Heart will wrap things up on March 3 with a lovers-on-the-run duo. These flicks will all get a beverage to match, made with Four Pillar's juniper spirits. The first screenings each evening kick off between 6–6.10pm, then the second start between 8.15–8.40pm — but we suggest you get there a little earlier for the drinks. Tickets cost $22.50 for each film.
Where would we be without movies over the past 18 months? Even when cinemas have been closed for hefty portions of 2020 and 2021 in different parts of the country, we've all still sought out the joy and escapism of watching a flick — because when you're in lockdown, quarantining or isolating at home, or just spending more time indoors in general, it's particularly cathartic. Still keen to queue up a big heap of movies, and a hefty dose of couch time? Enter Movie Frenzy, the returning week-long online film rental sale. From Friday, October 1–Thursday, October 7, it's serving up a sizeable lineup of popular flicks from the past year, all for under $3 per movie. On the lineup: page-to-screen Aussie drama The Dry, long-awaited horror sequel A Quiet Place Part II, Bob Odenkirk aping John Wick in Nobody, and Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie teaming up again with Wrath of Man. The monster melee that is Godzilla vs Kong, the Chris Rock-starring Spiral: From the Book of Saw and Denzel Washington-led thriller The Little Things are also on the list, as is everything from Monster Hunter, Penguin Bloom, June Again and War with Grandpa to Tom and Jerry, The Croods: A New Age and Peter Rabbit 2. And while some are more worth your attention than others, we'll let you do the choosing. You can nab the cheap flicks via your digital rental platform of choice, including Apple TV, Fetch, Google Play, the Microsoft Store, Amazon Prime Video, Telstra TV Box Office and YouTube Movies — although just what's available, and the price, will vary depending on the service. Also, you won't need a subscription, unless you decide to join in the fun via the Foxtel Store.
Sydney's cinema scene started off the year with a deep dive into the wondrous cinematic worlds of Wes Anderson. But, when this filmmaker is involved, you can never have too much of a good thing. So, from Thursday, February 4–Wednesday, February 24, Dendy Newtown is falling head over heels for the acclaimed director's work, too — via a film series called Fantastic Mr Wes: A Wes Anderson Retrospective. Film buffs can enjoy Anderson's distinctive visual stylings, compelling soundtracks and all-star casts, with the inner west venue playing different flicks multiple times across the three-week period. First up, catch 1996 crime-comedy Bottle Rocket, followed by the Jason Schwartzman-led hit Rushmore, the family dramas of The Royal Tenenbaums and the stop-motion animation delight that is Fantastic Mr Fox. Also on the bill: The Darjeeling Limited (which'll help you vicariously indulge your wanderlust), The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (if you feeling like wearing matching tracksuits with your movie date) and Isle of Dogs (because no one does animated canines like Anderson) — plus Moonrise Kingdom's tale of young love and the exceptionally cast The Grand Budapest Hotel as well. Fingers crossed that 2021 is the year we all finally get to see Anderson's latest, the pandemic-delayed The French Dispatch, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs7mIoG8ffI
This planet we all call home is constantly in flux. After the year everyone has just been through, that shouldn't be news. And, it isn't a new topic to Australia's annual Transitions Film Festival either. Based in Melbourne — and touring its program around the country on occasion over the past decade — it routinely programs films on the topic. In 2021, it's continuing that mission, too. There is something different about this year's Transitions Film Festival lineup, however. For the first time, the festival is jumping online. In collaboration with MPavilion, it is still hosting a physical screening of documentary Beyond the Burning in Melbourne on February 23 — but from February 26–March 15, it's streaming its selection of films digitally. Available on an on-demand basis (so you can view whatever you like whenever you like), the program includes plenty of factual flicks on topics as broad as walking barefoot across America (as seen in Barefoot), youth activism (the subject of NOW), a lawsuit against an animal rights advocate (The Walrus and The Whistleblower) and the benefits of adopting a universal basic income (Inherent Good). Or, you can dive into the sea with An Ocean Story, watch the fight against plastic pollution via Microplastic Madness, see the threats to Canada's Boreal forests in Borealis and tackle blazes in Megafires. Elsewhere, The Hidden Life of Trees takes its name from Peter Wohlleben's best-selling book, and continues its focus on forest. And, Invisible Hand dives into the battle between capitalism and nature — and it's produced by Mark Ruffalo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzDFF0y-O9w Top image: The Hidden Life of Trees, 2019, Constantin Film Verleih GmbH, nautilusfilm.
Already known for its bottomless vegan pizza and pasta feasts, Italian restaurant chain Salt Meats Cheese has been upping its cruelty-free food game at a monthly special event. Called Soul Meets Cheers, it serves up an entirely plant-based menu, featuring vegan versions of Italian classics. For the feast's February outing — taking place at all Sydney venues from 5pm on Tuesday, February 2 — it'll be focusing on bites to eat inspired the northern region of Lombardy in Italy. Think polenta fries with napoletana sauce, three-pumpkin pizza and Milanese-style risotto. And yes, that's just a few of the dishes on offer. Your $49 ticket also includes a glass of vegan wine or or Young Henrys beer or cider upon arrival.
Throughout autumn, Golden Age Cinema and Bar flirted with darkness. It contemplated fate, twisty rendezvous and chance meetings, in fact, all through its season-long film program. Now, with winter upon us, it's still exploring the shadows — this time via a lineup that it has fitting called Shadow Play. Expect to see a few shady characters grace the Surry Hills venue's big screen each weekend between Saturday, June 5–Sunday, April 15. Expect noir thrillers, twisty crime sagas, all-night adventures and quests for eternal youth, too. Private detectives will make more than a few appearances, as will femme fatales. And more than one acclaimed actor will play famed fictional PI Philip Marlowe. Among the highlights: The Big Lebowski, which kicks off the season with a big dose of The Dude; Blade Runner, because this Ridley Scott-directed dystopian tale never gets old; After Hours, Martin Scorsese's Manhattan-set after-dark caper; and Inherent Vice, which sees Paul Thomas Anderson spin a shaggy dog tale in 70s Los Angeles. Everything from The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep and Le cercle rouge to The Long Goodbye, To Die For and Death Becomes Her also features — screening at various times on Saturdays and Sundays. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQRawYZl-ls
Between Thursday, May 20–Wednesday, May 26, Palace Cinemas is giving movie buffs in Sydney an extra present. It's not just the gift of great flicks — that is, their daily bread and butter — but the gift of cheap great flicks. Head to one of the chain's four Sydney locations — Paddington's Palace Verona or Chauvel Cinema, Chippendale's Palace Central and Leichhardt's Palace Norton St — across the week in question, and any film at any time will only cost you a fiver. Want to see A Quiet Place Part II with your friends a week before it comes out? It'll cost you $5. Keen to check out Minari, Those Who Wish Me Dead, Antoinette in the Cevennes and The Courier? Also $5. We'd keep naming movies, but you get the picture. Booking in advance is highly recommended, given how much everyone loves going to the flicks for little more than the price of a cup of coffee. If you do nab your tickets online, you will have to add a transaction fee to the cost. And if you're wondering what $5 Movie Week is all about, Palace is simply endeavouring to encourage folks to catch a flick on the big screen. That's still the best way to watch a movie, after all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZmgl4TkFBc&feature=emb_logo Top image: Palace Central
A century or so ago, back when cinema was still in its infancy and synchronised sound hadn't yet revolutionised the movie-going experience, seeing a film also meant listening to a live show. Those days are long gone, of course. Next time you head to your local theatre, someone won't be playing the movie's music in front of you while you watch. But a heap of recent screenings have been harking back to those times — and the next one has an action-adventure classic in its sights. Sydneysiders, it's time to grab your fedora and get cracking towards the Aware Super Theatre, because that's where you'll be celebrating Raiders of the Lost Ark's 40th anniversary rom 8pm on Saturday, August 21. The movie will screen, obviously, and The Metropolitan Orchestra will play John Williams' rousing score. Even if you haven't seen the film before — or watched it for years — everyone knows its famous theme tune. For those in need of a refresher, plot-wise, Raiders of the Lost Ark kickstarted the Indiana Jones franchise by following its eponymous figure (as played by Harrison Ford) on his quest to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis. It's the movie that sparked three sequels to-date, and a fourth one supposedly still to come. Bringing a whip probably isn't recommended, but you know Indy will have one.
Normally when the middle of the year hits — when Australia's weather is at its frostiest, aptly — the annual Scandinavian Film Festival rolls into cinemas around the country. In Sydney, that timing coincided with lengthy lockdowns, so the fest is bringing back its Nordic noir-heavy lineup for another spin before the year is out. Kicking off on Tuesday, November 23 and running through until Wednesday, December 16, the returning showcase of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway cinema launches with a must-see new entry in the Scandi-noir genre. Hailing from Denmark, opening night's Wildland stars Sidse Babette Knudsen (Borgen, Westworld) as the head of a family crime syndicate. She's charged with looking after her teenage niece and, in a movie that instantly brings Australia's own Animal Kingdom to mind, the latter soon learns more about the family business. Also on this year's Scandinavian Film Festival lineup: Knudsen again in Copenhagen-set psychological thriller The Exception; masterful and engaging Norwegian film Disco, about an evangelical dance champion who finds her faith tested; and surreal mother-daughter drama Psychosis in Stockholm. Or, for fans of Nordic cinema's big names, relationship drama Hope co-stars Stellan Skarsgård (Chernobyl), musical comedy A Piece of My Heart sees Swedish-born actor Malin Akerman (Rampage) back on home turf, and The County hails from Icelandic filmmaker Grímur Hákonarson — who directed Rams, which was remade in Australia last year. Other highlights include Icelandic box office hits Agnes Joy and The Last Fishing Trip, the latter of which has been compared to The Hangover; Finnish biopics Helene and Tove, about painter Helene Schjerfbeck and visual artist and author Tove Jansson, respectively; and Tigers, which tells the true tale of former Inter Milan player Martin Bengtsson. Or, there's also Diana's Wedding, which isn't actually about that Diana — plus closing night's 50th anniversary-screening of The Emigrants starring Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann.
After almost eight weeks of staring at your own four walls, it's likely you're craving a disruption of your current orbit between bed and couch. Luckily, the Powerhouse Museum have created something that'll transport your mind to places far beyond your living room: Sydney Science Festival. From Saturday, August 14–Sunday, August 22, you can get involved in Sydney Science Festival by joining one of its live-stream events. This year, the festival is completely online — and free — meaning you'll get to hear from science experts working across various disciplines without even leaving the house. Catch the keynote address from the 2021 Sydney Science Festival ambassador and Deadly Science founder Corey Tutt; join Gomeroi astronomer Karlie Noon on a journey across the cosmos in Southern Sky Livestream; tune into panel discussion Pandemics — Past, Present and Future moderated by Dr. Norman Swan; hang out with tech pioneer Jaron Lanier in Gadgets, Dreams and Dilemmas; or book yourself into Great Moments in Science to discover some of today's biggest science ideas with Australia's much-loved, Dr. Karl. [caption id="attachment_822352" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image: Dan Boud[/caption] Sydney Science Festival 2021 is a completely free and online event. To read the full program — and to register for access to these brain-tingling live-streams — visit the website. Top image: Ken Leanfore.
Before the pandemic, food and drink event Taste of Manly encouraged Sydneysiders to eat, sip and be merry by the beach each and every year. None of the above happened in 2020, of course, but the festival is making a comeback in 2021 — as a new, bigger and broader event called Taste of the Beaches. For the whole month of May — so from Saturday, May 1–Monday, May 31 — the entire northern beaches region is getting in on the action, spanning more than 30 restaurants, cafes and food outlets in the area. The lineup includes pop-ups on the sand, food truck parties and craft brews, as well as a whole heap of different dining experiences, which means that Sydneysiders can choose their own path through the multi-suburb event. Kicking things off on Saturday, May 1–Sunday, May 2, Hotel Steyne is taking over Manly beach each afternoon, and serving up a seafood-heavy menu and plenty of drinks. Or, from Wednesday–Sunday throughout the month, Market Lane will play host to live tunes — giving your meals and beverages at the laneway's businesses a soundtrack. Also on the agenda: a food truck party in Mona Vale on Saturday, May 15, a wine garden in Palm Beach on Saturday, May 29–Sunday, May 30, and a big craft beer fest in Freshwater on Saturday, May 29 as well. And, from the list of special dining options, you can head to a Tokyo-style street food market at Daniel San, and taste your way through flights of spirits at Manly Spirits Co Distillery — or pair wings and tins, learn how to make your own pizza, attend a pork knuckle party, celebrate Eurovision over dinner and eat a tapas-style curry spread. Top image: Karen Watson for Northern Beaches Council.
Freshwater Brewing Co is swapping hops for grapes as it hosts an inviting wine festival focusing on small-batch vineyards and women in the wine industry. Popping up in Sydney's north on Wednesday, March 27, Into the Vines will bring 25 different drops of vino from five boundary-pushing female winemakers to the breezy brewery for a midweek journey through some of the exciting things happening in the booze world. The lineup of producers includes Empire of Dirt, a lo-fi winery based out of Moorabool Valley in Victoria, and ACT native Intrepedus Wines whose tiny one-acre winery is located in Yass and produces a cracking Nero D'aVola. Rounding out the program is biodynamic specialist Krinklewood, and a pair of Hunter Valley vineyards: M&J Becker Wines and Comyns & Co. The festivities will kick off at 6pm, with two one-hour sessions to choose from — 6–7pm and 7–8pm. Either way, you'll get to wander around and chat with the winemakers, tasting their wares, and enjoying a grazing platter while you're at it — all for just $15. If you want to grab dinner, there's also a combo deal, which includes the hour-long tasting session, plus a pint and a burger at the brewery for $40. Thanks to a partnership with Humanitix, a portion of the ticket sales will also be donated to local not-for-profit Girls Boardrider Fraternity. The approachable wine festival is great for any Sydneysiders north of the bridge who would usually have to travel into the inner-city to find such an eclectic mix of new-age winemakers all in the one spot.
What do slicing-and-dicing villains in horror movies and Monster Fest's annual weekend-long mini film festival have in common? Both can strike at any time. Each year, usually at the end of the year, the broader fest showcases genre and cult movies — but it also pops up before then to host Monster Fest Weekender. In 2023, the latter took place in winter. In 2024, it's bringing the scares, plus a focus on slasher films, in autumn. If you like frightening flicks, then you'll want to make a date with Sydney's Event Cinemas George Street from Friday, May 3–Sunday, May 5. Across three days, just one type of horror film will be on offer — and yes, of course the lineup includes Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th titles, as well as a Sleepaway Camp marathon. Wes Craven's Freddy Krueger franchise is represented with both the OG A Nightmare on Elm Street and also 1994's New Nightmare, each of which are marking anniversaries — 40 and 30 years, respectively. Prefer movies about Jason Voorhees instead? Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is also on the bill, and also celebrating its 40th anniversary. Other pictures that'll get the projectors whirring at Monster Fest Weekender: Slasher Edition span Deranged, which commemorates its 50th anniversary with the first-ever showing of its complete and uncut version in Australian cinemas — and I, Madman, which has also never been seen in Aussie picture palaces. And if you can handle the Sleepaway Camp Slash-athon, it features the first, second and third films.
If David Dastmalchian ever tires of acting, which will hopefully never happen, he'd make an entrancing late-night television host. He even has the audition tape for it: Late Night with the Devil. Of course, the star who earned his first movie credit on The Dark Knight, and has stood out in Blade Runner 2049, The Suicide Squad, Dune and the third season of Twin Peaks — plus Boston Strangler, The Boogeyman, Oppenheimer and Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter all in 2023 alone, alongside Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania — might be hoping for a less eerie and unsettling gig IRL. Dastmalchian is a fan of horror anchors, writing an article for Fangoria about them. Here, putting in a helluva can't-look-away performance, he plays one. That said, the namesake of Night Owls with Jack Delroy isn't meant to fit the mould so unnervingly, nor is the series that he's on. Delroy is a Johnny Carson rival — and, because Australian filmmakers Cameron and Colin Cairnes (100 Bloody Acres, Scare Campaign) write and direct Late Night with the Devil, he's also a Don Lane-type talent — who isn't afraid of embracing the supernatural on his live talk show. On Halloween in 1977, airing his usual special episode for the occasion, he decides to attempt to arrest the flagging ratings of what was once a smash by booking four attention-grabbing guests. What occurs when Delroy, who is grieving the loss of his actor wife Madeleine Piper (Georgina Haig, NCIS Sydney) a year earlier, shares the stage with not only a famous skeptic and a psychic, but also with a parapsychologist and a girl who is reportedly possessed? That might sound like the setup for a joke, but it's this new Aussie horror gem's captivating premise. To be precise, it's the contents of the October 31 instalment of Night Owls with Jack Delroy, with Late Night with the Devil posed as a documentary about the broadcast that includes the entire show itself. With Michael Ironside (BlackBerry) on narration duties, Delroy gets some backstory first, stepping through Piper's lung cancer diagnosis despite never having smoked, plus Delroy's own affiliation with exclusive and highly questionable Californian men's club The Grove. The 70s gets some context, too, digging into its climate of fear and mistrust post-Manson family murders, and the anger of the decade's reckoning with race relations and the Vietnam War — all reasons put forward to explain why variety entertainment offering pure escapism is having a moment. The fortunes of the series itself from gleaming to flailing are also charted, justifying going all-in on the occult for the Sweeps Week episode that "shocked a nation", as presented in full as found footage from a master tape interspliced with behind-the-scenes material. If you've seen one evening talk show — from then, now or in-between; whether hailing from the US or Australia (Late Night with the Devil was shot in Melbourne, but packages its content as purely American) — then you know the basic format. Delroy monologues and banters charismatically to begin, albeit with an inescapable sadness that he's endeavouring to plaster over with a smile and 'the show must go on' bravado. So, he starts bringing on his guests. Medium Christou (Fayssal Bazzi, Prosper) foresees that something sinister is about to be afoot. Professional cynic Carmichael "the Conjurer" Haig (Ian Bliss, Safe Home), who was once a magician, is all doubt. There to spruik her book Conversations with the Devil, about a girl who was offered up as a Satanic sacrifice by a cult but survived, Dr June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon, Foe) is wary that her text's subject Lilly (Ingrid Torelli, Force of Nature: The Dry 2) isn't ready for the exposure. But with the kid supposedly afflicted with demonic possession, and so much at stake for Delroy and the show, no one is letting her remain off the air. When The Blair Witch Project made found footage a horror movie go-to 25 years back, sparking too many imitators — most generic and/or terrible — it didn't create the format. Indeed, the gimmick of unearthing tales from previous documents hadn't only been seen on-screen, but is engrained in iconic gothic horror novels Frankenstein and Dracula, both of which deploy correspondence to unfurl their stories. In the post-Blair Witch era, however, inventive and exciting screen uses of the tactic have become increasingly rare. Enter: the Cairnes brothers. The duo also give riffing on Martin Scorsese's 1982 satire The King of Comedy, which Joker did as well, a fresh spin. Late Night with the Devil is the best kind of pastiche: one that knows it, loves it, adores everything that it's drawing upon and is committed to never merely aping its inspirations (which also span Scanners, as Ironside's involvement helps reinforce — plus four-time Oscar-winner Network, which sports a fellow Aussie connection in British Australian actor Peter Finch). Watching the Halloween chaos of Night Owls with Jack Delroy in real time is a masterstroke: viewers have no alternative but to have the same experience that the show's audience, both in the studio and at home, did at the fateful broadcast — and that Delroy, his crew and guests all shared. Late Night with the Devil is constructed from a raft of equally clever decisions, the most pivotal of which is casting the hypnotic Dastmalchian. There's an Alan Partridge-esque air to the film and its protagonist, transported into literal horror rather than the horrors of cringe comedy, and with the same go-for-broke commitment that's always marked Steve Coogan's (The Reckoning) best-known character. Within the picture's sole setting — another savvy move — Dastmalchian owns the screen. He also grounds Late Night with the Devil's examination of the relationship between celebrity and the attention that mass media brings, aka the cult of personality; it might be easy to paint the price of fame as a Faustian bargain, but it works. A performance this perfect and an idea this brilliant receives the execution to match, making sitting down to the movie virtually a time machine. The look, the feel, the detailed production design (by Otello Stolfo, Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe) and costuming (Steph Hooke, The Wheel), the era-specific cinematography (Matthew Temple, Gold Diggers) and editing (by the Cairnes siblings themselves) choices, the commitment to practical effects when the spookfest kicks in after a tense and patient build up: they all ensure that Late Night with the Devil plays like it truly has been newly discovered in a pile of forgotten tapes from decades and decades back. As it conjures up that sensation, this is Cairnes' best film yet, and a delight of a wild ride to watch in one of two ways: in a packed cinema where everyone reacts to its contents like they're in the studio with Delroy; and at home on the couch, glued to the tube like Night Owls with Jack Delroy devotees. Whichever suits, no one is switching off.
Amy Winehouse would have turned 32 on September 14. To celebrate her birthday, the Soda Factory is dedicating the sixth edition of its popular Covers for a Cause series to her. A bunch of the Soda Factory's favourite resident acts will get together to jam on Winehouse's hit tunes, from 'Tears Dry on Their Own' to 'Valerie'. Entry is free and, for every dish or drink you buy on the night, a gold coin will be donated to Headspace, a national foundation committed to helping young people with mental health issues. The usual dinner menu — with its crave-worthy mix of home-cooked burgers, pulled pork, gourmet hot dogs, southern fried chicken and so on — will be available. And there'll be a couple of special, Winehouse-inspired additions to the drinks menu: The Winehouse Sour (raspberry, red wine, vanilla, egg white, lemon, vodka) and Valerie’s Secret Sangria (citrus fruits, cointreau, cinnamon, red wine). Doors open at 5pm.
Cinephiles, fans of on-screen dreams outside the norm and those with all-round offbeat tastes, it's time for your mosey through the movies that exist far beyond the mainstream. You know the ones — they won't be coming soon to a multiplex near you, and you wouldn't want them to. They're strange and sublime, odd and eccentric, and weird and wonderful. They're also the kind of fare that the Sydney Underground Film Festival lives, breathes, champions and screens, and has done for nine years now. And with efforts about a Finnish bunny with a genital fetish and the space where concepts become crimes in their 2015 lineup, there's no doubting that this year's SUFF is overflowing with off-kilter sensibilities. Accordingly, expect brain-exploding big-screen brilliance, raucous parties, a mind-expanding masterclass program and more, jam-packed into four days of film fun from September 17–20 at The Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Here are ten SUFF movies you won't want to miss.
The stars are out for Queer Screen Film Fest 2015, which returns to Event Cinema George Street in September. Kicking off on the evening of Tuesday, September 22, the festival begins with the Australian premiere of Boulevard, featuring the late Robin Williams in his final dramatic role as a depressed man whose life is changed when he befriends a young male sex worker. Other highlights on the six-day program include Cut Snake, a brooding Aussie crime thriller from director Tony Ayres featuring an unforgettable performance from Sullivan Stapleton, A Sinner in Mecca, which follows documentarian Parvez Sharma as he makes his pilgrimage to the holy city while struggling to reconcile his sexuality with his faith, and Guidance, a comedy about a washed-up former child star masquerading as a high school guidance councillor. The festival concludes with another major title straight from its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Based on a true story, Freeheld stars Julianne Moore as a New York Police detective with a terminal illness who is forced to fight for the legal right to pass her pension benefits onto her domestic partner (Ellen Page).
Part of the Giant Dwarf festival-within-a-festival at Sydney Fringe, Free to a Good Home sees comedians Michael Hing (Triple J, Good Game) and Ben Jenkins (The Checkout, Story Club) bring their hilarious podcast series to the stage, inviting a host of guests along as they delve into the weird and wonderful world of Australia’s classifieds. Watch them scour Gumtree, Craigslist, Etsy et al as they discover and discuss, in detail, what people are shamelessly selling or giving away for cheap via the convenient anonymity of the internet. This event is one of our top ten picks of the Sydney Fringe Festival. See the other nine here.
The best of Korean cinema will once again be on full display when the Korean Film Festival in Australia returns for its sixth straight year. Kicking off in Sydney on Wednesday, August 12, the program is headlined by a number of gripping crime thrillers — the genre having become synonymous with Korean cinema thanks to films like Oldboy and I Saw the Devil. This year, the mantle passes to the likes of A Hard Day, The Target and Gangnam Blues (and no, we're not talking about Psy). Other highlights among the KOFFIA 2015 program include the powerful coming-of-age film Han Gong-ju and the brilliantly titled opening night feature How To Steal A Dog. We're also pretty intrigued by period drama My Dictator, about a man hired as a body double for North Korean leader Kim Il-sung, only for him to become convinced that he is actually the genuine article. For the full KOFFIA program, visit their website.
Sydney's inner west is about to get in on the openair cinema action. Ben & Jerry's Openair Cinema has just announced they'll be opening their very first inner west cinema this summer, adding another location to their free ice cream-loving lineup of Bondi, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth this November. Setting up on the lawns of Cadigal Green at the University of Sydney, Ben & Jerry's Openair Cinema will debut with new releases and cult classics including Joseph Gordon Levitt's Oscar tip The Walk, Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway teaming up in The Intern, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's Bridge of Spies, Kate Winslet's The Dressmaker in rural Australia and the Christmas rom-com to rule them all, Love Actually. Plus, there'll be a 25th anniversary screening of Thelma and Louise. The team are keeping their tried and true formula intact — live music and free ice cream nights. Local artists will hit the stage before the film for cruisy sets, including Nic Cassey, Angus Murphy and many more, and local DJs will spin a few for Aperol Sunsets — with free Aperol samples aplenty. There'll also be a fully-licensed bar, gourmet food stands, and lawn games aplenty, with putt putt and something called Giant Cow Jenga. Tickets for the Bondi Openair Cinema tend to sell out, so get in early. Earlybird tickets are just $15 online ($10 concession), until October 21. You can also hire deckchairs, beanbags and blankets, or go all in for a Volkswagen Polo Class ticket with reserved seating, blanket, cushion, beer or wine and a Ben & Jerry's ice cream included. Ben & Jerry's Openair Cinema will take over Cadigal Green, University of Sydney from November 19 to December 12, 2015. For the full program or to buy tickets, head to the website. Check out CP's roundup of Sydney's best openair cinemas over here. Image: Artof2 Designs.
Stories from one of the most volatile regions on earth will be in the spotlight at Australia's Palestinian Film Festival. Hosted at Palace Norton Street in Leichhardt, this year's program includes seven full length features and five shorts that showcase the experiences of Palestinians, from Gaza to the West Bank and beyond. The festival begins with animated documentary The Wanted 18, a tragicomic true tale about how a herd of Palestinian cows became the centrepiece of a protest against Israeli occupation. Degrade, meanwhile, takes place almost entirely within a Gaza beauty salon, where employees attempt to maintain some semblance of normalcy while violence rages just outside their door. But the most intriguing film in the program would have to be The Idol. Directed by two-time Oscar nominee Hany Abu-Assad, the movie tells the true story of a wedding singer from a Gaza refugee camp who became the second ever winner of Arab Idol. For the full festival program, visit palestinianfilmfestival.com.au
Michael Ware, the lawyer turned Courier-Mail, Time and CNN journalist turned filmmaker, calls Only the Dead a film that wasn't meant to be made. His documentary is cobbled together from hundreds of hours of footage he shot while in Iraq as a reporter, with a movie never part of his plans. Perhaps that's why the trembling handicam images feel immediate and urgent, even in a time where alarming visuals of combat have become commonplace. Only the Dead charts Ware's obsession with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi following the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. Al-Zarqawi wasn't a point of focus for many at the time, but his brutal methods — starting with suicide bombings, then escalating to filmed beheadings of foreign hostages and worse — certainly earned him increasing attention. The faction he founded would become the Islamic State. There's more to Ware and al-Zarqawi's story, just as there's more behind the documentary's existence. Many of the remarkable sights contained within only became possible after Ware forged a connection with the insurgents, who began to feed him discs of their own videos, wanting him to disseminate them to the western media. Becoming an unofficial intermediary, he was placed in a tenuous and tricky position. While Only the Dead doesn't delve into the ethical side of Ware's interactions, it does chart the clear influence the situation had upon his viewpoint. A picture really does speak a thousand words in that regard, although the film isn't short on the latter — filling in the history of the Iraq war, as well as conveying Ware's reflections. Context is helpful, but verbal explanation almost seems unnecessary given how striking the shaky footage proves. And yet, there's something about the combination of distressing visuals and voiceover insights that hits the mark. Ware is the key, starting out "young and dumb enough for war to have its false sense of adventure", but slowly changing as a result of his time chronicling the Iraqi conflict. As his narration makes plain, even as the film depicts violent and bloody events gone by and horrors occurring in a nation far from his own, this strory is overwhelmingly personal. Entertainment, this is not. Cast Homeland, American Sniper or any other screen effort that claim to dissect the war on terror far from your thoughts. Ware's offering — as co-directed with veteran filmmaker Bill Guttentag — walks in the shoes and offers the mindset of someone who's there, and is then lucky enough to be able to look back at what he lived through. It's worth remembering that his account, though released within a world now brimming with YouTube videos and social media posts from those on the ground, predates this now unavoidable phenomenon. You might have seen the likes of Ware's offering before; however prior to this, you've never been brought not just beyond the front lines, but into the complications of his harrowing journey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWdi8JJG-7U
Working out the difference between a good song and a hit single can be a mystery, even for experienced songwriters. A talk series at Giant Dwarf, dubbed Anthem! and hosted by triple j's The Doctor (Lindsay McDougall), is attempting to unravel it. Once a month, he's joining an Australian hit-maker for a 90-minute chat about his/her most enduring songs. Together, they delve into what has made the tunes so powerful — from how and why they were written to what they evoke, in terms of memories, emotions and experiences. The next Anthem! will take place on Wednesday, November 4, with The Doctor hosting Jebediah's frontman, Kevin Mitchell. Since 1995, the alternative rock band has released five studio albums, including four ARIA chart top tenners. Mitchell also writes, records and performs solo under the moniker Bob Evans. He won a 2006 ARIA for his second studio release, Suburban Songbook, and Best Male Artist in Rolling Stone Australia's 2007 annual reader poll.
American comedian Joel McHale is coming to Australia. The star of Community, The Soup and that one recurring daydream we have where he asks us to be his best friend (shut up, it could happen) has announced a one night only standup show in Sydney next fortnight. Tickets go on sale this Friday. Please remain calm. McHale is best known for his role as Jeff Winger in Community, a sitcom that people apparently feel quite strongly about (#sixseasonsandamovie). He's also hosted pop culture current affairs program The Soup on E! since 2004 and last year headlined the White House Correspondents Dinner. Admittedly, he also had a role in Spy Kids 4D — but then again, nobody's perfect. At this stage there's no indication that McHale will perform any additional dates or locations. Image: Frank Ockenfels.
