Hear ye! Hear ye! Let it henceforth be known that Sky Ferreira has a voice to be reckoned with. Shuffling awkwardly on stage last Friday at the Metro Theatre for one of only two Splendour in the Grass sideshows, and without even acknowledging the crowd or their rapturous applause, the pint-sized pop powerhouse exploded into an anthemic rendition of '24 Hours'. The impressive intensity of this explosive opener was slightly undermined by Ferreira having to stop almost immediately so the sound engineer could fix the feedback thundering forth from the guitarist's amp. However, nothing if not a consummate professional, Ferreira immediately reset and — without missing a beat — all was forgotten as we were carried away by the Californian's angelic voice. Having flawlessly punched out her opening number, all the lights were then cut and Ferreira left the stage without explanation (presumably to berate the sound engineer) and returned a minute or so later, muttering something inaudible that sounded vaguely apologetic. Now, normally these kinds of antics and a seeming disregard for the people who paid to see you perform would relegate an artist to the ill-fated realm of 'get the fuck over yourself', but it’s not often you see a performer whose flawless delivery is as pitch-perfect as their recordings. Ferreira is one such performer. After completely switching lanes and launching into the toned-down industrial sound of 'Ain't Your Right', to a more than underwhelming response from the crowd, Ferreira admitted to being "very nervous". The earnestness with which she said it helped win back the crowd and gave the impression that of everyone there, Ferreira was being the hardest on herself. From here on in, and with the aid of a truly mental backing band, Ferreira’s performance picked up considerably with crowd favourite 'I Blame Myself', eliciting an enthusiastic, but decidedly out-of-tune, singalong from the crowd. Incidentally, the audience — who appeared to consist exclusively of rabid underage fans intent on moshing despite the distinctly un-mosh-inducing music, and soon-to-be-settling-down thirty-somethings standing in the drinking section resolutely refusing to dance — somehow managed to overcome their antithetical approaches to being an audience and provide Ferreira with more positive feedback than the Metro's malfunctioning sound system. While her near absolute silence throughout the set may have added to her indie-chanteuse allure, Ferreira’s lack of stage presence meant that every technical error was amplified (ba-doom-tish), and despite being out of her control, made her performance seem shambolic. As she seemed to lose interest in the show so did the audience, and not even crowd-surfing while smashing out 'Nobody Asked Me (If I Was Okay)' was enough to eventually win them back. And that's a real shame, because to do that without missing a single note takes genuine talent, if only it had been better showcased. Image: Justin Ma (SITG)
Skip the gym tonight and get your endorphin rush with one of the incredible dance classes at Sydney Dance Company. Whether your skills end at a little two-step or you can channel your inner Beyoncé with ease, you'll be sure to find a class that suits. Choose from over 70 options — including contemporary, tap, and hip-hop — and get ready to shake that bod for a good hour. Even better? The SDC studios overlook the Sydney Harbour so you can soak in the sunset while you shimmy across the floor. While classes ($22) are run on a drop-in basis, they're understandably pretty popular, so make sure to book your space online beforehand.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. C'MON C'MON The last time that Joaquin Phoenix appeared in cinemas, he played an overlooked and unheard man. "You don't listen, do you?" Arthur Fleck asked his social worker, and the entirety of Joker — and of Phoenix's magnetic Oscar-winning performance as the Batman foe in the 2019 film, too — provided the obvious answer. Returning to the big screen in a feature that couldn't be more different to his last, Phoenix now plays a professional listener. A radio journalist and podcaster who'd slide in seamlessly alongside Ira Glass on America's NPR, Johnny's niche is chatting with children. Travelling around the country from his New York base, C'mon C'mon's protagonist seeks thoughts about life, hopes, dreams, the future and the world in general, but never in a Kids Say the Darndest Things-type fashion. As Phoenix's sensitive, pensive gaze conveys under the tender guidance of Beginners and 20th Century Women filmmaker Mike Mills, Johnny truly and gratefully hears what his young interviewees utter. Phoenix is all gentle care, quiet understanding and rippling melancholy as Johnny. All naturalism and attentiveness as well, he's also firmly at his best, no matter what's inscribed on his Academy Award. Here, Phoenix is as phenomenal as he was in his career highlight to-date, aka the exceptional You Were Never Really Here, in a part that again has his character pushed out of his comfort zone by a child. C'mon C'mon's Johnny spends his days talking with kids, but that doesn't mean he's equipped to look after his nine-year-old nephew Jesse (Woody Norman, The War of the Worlds) in Los Angeles when his sister Viv (Gaby Hoffmann, Transparent) needs to assist her husband Paul (Scoot McNairy, A Quiet Place Part II) with his mental health. Johnny and Viv haven't spoken since their mother died a year earlier, and Johnny has previously overstepped when it comes to Paul — with the siblings' relationship so precarious that he barely knows Jesse — but volunteering to help is his immediate reflex. As captured in soft, luxe, nostalgic shades of greyscale by always-remarkable cinematographer Robbie Ryan (see also: I, Daniel Blake, American Honey, The Favourite and Marriage Story), Johnny takes to his time with Jesse as any uncle suddenly thrust into a 24/7 caregiving role that doesn't exactly come naturally would. Jesse also reacts as expected, handling the situation as any bright and curious kid whose world swiftly changes, and who finds himself with a new and different role model, is going to. But C'mon C'mon is extraordinary not because its instantly familiar narrative sees Johnny and Jesse learn life lessons from each other, and their bond grow stronger the longer they spend in each other's company — but because this tremendously moving movie repeatedly surprises with its depth, insights, and lively sparks of both adult and childhood life. It's styled to look like a memory, and appreciates how desperately parents and guardians want to create such happy recollections for kids, but C'mon C'mon feels unshakeably lived-in rather than wistful. It doesn't pine for times gone by; instead, the film recognises the moments that linger in the now. It spies how the collection of ordinary, everyday experiences that Johnny and Jesse cycle through all add up to something that's equally commonplace, universally relatable and special, too. Conveying that sentiment, but never by being sentimental, has long been one of Mills' great powers as a filmmaker. He makes pictures so alive with real emotion that they clearly belong to someone, and yet also resonate with everyone all at once. With C'mon C'mon, the writer/director draws upon his own time as a parent, after taking inspiration from his relationship with his father in Beginners, and from his connection to his mother and his own upbringing in 20th Century Women. Read our full review. FLEE When Flee won the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, it collected its first accolade. The wrenchingly affecting animated documentary hasn't stopped notching up deserving acclaim since. A spate of other gongs have come its way, in fact, including a history-making trifecta of nominations for Best International Feature, Best Documentary and Best Animated Feature at this year's Oscars, becoming the first picture to ever earn nods in all three categories at once. Mere minutes into watching, it's easy to glean why this moving and compassionate movie keeps garnering awards and attention. Pairing animation with factual storytelling is still rare enough that it stands out, but that blend alone isn't what makes Flee special. Writer/director Jonas Poher Rasmussen (What He Did) has created one of the best instances of the combination yet — a feature that could only have the impact it does by spilling its contents in such a way, like Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir before it — however, it's the tale he shares and the care with which he tells it that makes this something unshakeably exceptional. Rasmussen's subject is Amin Nawabi, an Afghan refugee using a pseudonym. As his story fills Flee's frames, it's also plain to see why it can only be told through animation. Indeed, the film doesn't cover an easy plight — or a unique one, sadly — but Rasmussen renders every detail not just with eye-catching imagery, but with visuals that flow with empathy at every moment. The filmmaker's protagonist is a friend of his and has been for decades, and yet no one, not even the director himself, had ever previously heard him step through the events that the movie chronicles. Amin is now in his 40s, but he was once a kid in war-torn Kabul, then a teenager seeking asylum in Copenhagen. His life to-date has cast him in other roles in other countries, too, on his journey to house-hunting with his boyfriend as he chats through the ups and downs for his pal. That path — via Russia and Sweden — is one of struggle and acceptance. It's a chronicle of displacement, losing one's foundations and searching for a space to be free. It's also an account of identities fractured and formed anew, and of grasping hold of one's culture and sexuality as well. Flee explores how global events and battling ideologies have a very real and tangible impact on those caught in their midst, a truth that the feature's hand-drawn look underscores at every turn. And, it's about trying to work out who you are when the building blocks of your life are so tenuous, and when being cast adrift from your family and traditions is your status quo. It's also an intimate portrait of how a past that's so intertwined with international politics, and with the Afghan civil war between US-backed rebels and the nation's Soviet-armed government, keeps leaving ripples. Plus, Flee examines how someone in its complicated situation endures without having a firm sense of home, including when acknowledging he's gay after growing up in a place where that wasn't even an option. Clearly, Flee is many vivid, touching, devastating things, and it finds an immense wealth of power in its expressive and humanistic approach. There's a hyperreality to the film's animation, honing in on precisely the specifics it needs to within each image and discarding anything superfluous. When a poster for Jean-Claude Van Damme's Bloodsport can be spied on Amin's 80s-era Kabul bedroom, for instance, Rasmussen draws viewers' eyes there with exacting purpose. There's impressionistic flair to Flee's adaptive style as well, with the movie firmly concerned with selecting the best way to visually represent how each remembered instance felt to Amin. A scene set to A-ha's 'Take on Me' presents a fantastic example, especially given that the Norwegian group's pop hit is famed for its animated music video — something that Rasmussen happily toys with. Read our full review. QUO VADIS, AIDA? Films about war are films about wide-ranging terror and horror: battles that changed lives, deaths that reshaped nations, political fights that altered the course of history and the like. But they're also movies about people first, foremost and forever: folks whose everyday existence was perpetually shattered, including those lost and others left to endure when hostilities cease. Quo Vadis, Aida? is firmly a feature about both aspects of war. It homes in on one town, Srebrenica, in July 1995 during the 1992–95 Bosnian War, but it sees devastation and a human toll so intimate and vast in tandem that heartbreak is the only natural response. A survivor of the war herself, writer/director Jasmila Žbanić (Love Island, For Those Who Can Tell No Tales) knows that combat and conflict happens to ordinary men and women, that each casualty is a life cut short and that every grief-stricken relative who remains will never forget their magic ordeal — and she ensures that no one who watches Quo Vadis, Aida? can forget the Srebrenica massacre, or the fact that 8372 civilians were killed, either. A teacher-turned-interpreter, the eponymous Aida Selmanagic (Jasna Đuričić, My Morning Laughter) is Žbanić's eyes and ears within the demilitarised safe zone established by Dutch UN peacekeepers. The film doesn't adopt her exact point of view aesthetically — we see Aida, and plenty; Quo Vadis, Aida? wouldn't be the same without the tenacity and insistence that radiates from her posture and gaze — but it lives, breathes, feels, roves and yearns as she does. What she translates and for who around the UN base varies but, as she roves, she's primarily a channel between innocents scared for their lives and the bureaucracy endeavouring to keep the Bosnian Serb Army away. She visibly feels the weight of that task, whether speaking for the injured, scared and hungry all crammed into the facility or passing on instructions from her superiors. Aida has a mother's and wife's motivations, however: above all else, she wants her husband Nihad (Izudin Barjović, Father), a school principal, to be with her and to be safe — and the same for their sons Hamdija (Boris Ler, Full Moon) and Sejo (Dino Barjović, Sin), obviously. It's a mission to even get them in the base, with Colonel Karremans (Johan Heldenbergh, The Hummingbird Project) and his offsider Major Franken (Raymond Thiry, The Conductor) determined to not show any appearances of favouritism, especially with so many other refugees pleading to be allowed in outside. But Aida hustles, including getting Nihad sent to negotiations with Serbian General Ratko Mladić (Boris Isaković, Last Christmas) as a town representative. And as the General's brash, cocky, swaggering troops start escorting out the base's inhabitants and putting them onto buses depending upon their gender following those talks, Aida makes every desperate move she can to save her family. Quo Vadis, Aida? equally chronicles and shares Aida's reaction to the chaos and trauma around her. With Nihad, Hamdija and Sejo's lives at stake, the peacekeepers that Aida is helping refusing to assist by expanding the protections she enjoys to her loved ones, and the UN making moves that bow to Mladić — refusing to act otherwise, more accurately — Žbanić's film was always going to bustle forward in lockstep with its protagonist's emotional rollercoaster ride. That said Quo Vadis, Aida? is also an exacting movie in laying bare the complexities bubbling within the base, and the broader scenario. Unflinchingly, it sees how ineffective the UN's actions are, as ordered from far away with no sense of the reality on the ground. It recognises how outnumbered the peace effort is in Srebrenica, too. It spies the ruthlessness of the General and his forces, as was destined to happen when given even the slightest leeway. And it also spots how determined Aida is to safeguard her family, all while hurrying around thousands of others in the same precarious circumstances but without the possibility of anyone even trying to pull strings in their favour. Read our full review. UNCHARTED Some movies sport monikers so out of sync with their contents that someone really should've had a rethink before they reached screens. Uncharted is one of them, but it was never going to switch its name. The action-adventure flick comes to cinemas following a decade and a half of trying, after the first Uncharted video game reached consoles in 2007 and the journey to turning it into a movie began the year after. Accordingly, this Tom Holland (Spider-Man: No Way Home)- and Mark Wahlberg (Joe Bell)-starring film was fated to keep its franchise's title, which references its globe-trotting, treasure hunting, dark passageway-crawling, dusty map-coveting storyline. But unexplored, unfamiliar and undiscovered, this terrain definitely isn't — as four Indiana Jones films to-date, two National Treasure flicks, three Tomb Raider movies, 80s duo Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile, and theme park ride-to-screen adaptation Jungle Cruise have already demonstrated. Uncharted mightn't live up to its label, but it is something perhaps unanticipated given its lengthy production history — a past that's seen six other filmmakers set to direct it before the Zombieland movies' Ruben Fleischer actually did the honours, plenty of screenwriters come and go, and Wahlberg once floated to play the saga's hero Nathan Drake rather than the mentor role of Victor Sullivan he has now. That surprise? Uncharted is fine enough, which might be the best likely possible outcome that anyone involved could've hoped for. It's almost ridiculously generic, and it sails in the Pirates of the Caribbean flicks' slipstream as well, while also cribbing from The Mummy, Jumanji and even the Ocean's films. Indeed, it borrows from other movies as liberally as most of its characters pilfer in their daily lives, even nodding towards all things Fast and Furious. It's no worse than the most generic of its predecessors, though — which isn't the same as striking big-screen gold, but is still passable. The reasons that Uncharted just hits the barest of marks it needs to are simple and straightforward: it benefits from Holland's charms, its climax is a glorious action-film spectacle, and it doesn't ever attempt to be anything it's not (although reading a statement of intent into the latter would be being too generous). It also zips through its 116-minute running time, knowing that lingering too long in any one spot wouldn't serve it well — and it's as good as it was going to be given the evident lack of effort to be something more. While you can't make a great movie out of these very minor wins, they're all still noticeable pointers in an okay-enough direction. Getting audiences puzzling along with it, delivering narrative surprises even to viewers wholly unfamiliar with the games, asking Wahlberg to do anything more than his familiar tough-guy schtick, making the most of the bulk of its setpieces, providing the product of more than just-competent direction: alas, none of these turn out. In a film that acts as a prequel to its button-mashing counterparts, Holland plays Drake as a 20-something with brother issues, a vast knowledge of cocktail histories that's handy for his bartending gig, an obsession with 16th-century Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and the gold he might've hidden, and very light fingers. Nate's elder sibling dipped out of his life after the pair were caught trying to steal a Magellan map as orphanage-dwelling kids, in fact, which Sully uses to his advantage when he first crosses his path in a New York bar — and, after some convincing, Nate has soon signed up to finish the quest he's been dreaming about since childhood. Naturally, this newly formed duo aren't the only ones on the Magellan treasure's trail. The wealthy Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas, The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard) is descended from the explorer's original financiers and boasts a hefty sense of entitlement, while knife-wielding mercenary Jo Braddock (Tati Gabrielle, You) and enterprising fortune-hunter Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali, India Sweets and Spices) are each chasing a windfall. Read our full review. ALINE In a 1997 ballad that'll forever linked with the on-screen sinking of the world's most famous ship, Celine Dion told us that her heart would go on. Whether the Canadian singer's ticker will physically defy mortality is yet to be seen, but Aline, the fictionalised biography based on her rollercoaster ride of a life, certainly takes the idea to heart by overextending its running time. It's easy to see why the 'Because You Loved Me', 'The Power of Love' and 'Think Twice' crooner demands a lengthy feature. Also, compared to the big-budget superhero blockbuster standard, Aline's 128 minutes is positively concise. At every moment, however, this Valérie Lemercier (50 Is the New 30)-directed, -co-written and -starring film feels like it's going on and on and on. Near, far, wherever you are, it limps along despite packing plenty of ups and downs into its frames. A key reason: it primarily plays like the result of Lemercier simply opening up that door to Dion's Wikipedia page. Dion's story has everything from childhood fame and enormous career achievements to relationship scandals and personal tragedies, and Lemercier and her co-scribe Brigitte Buc (who also co-penned the filmmaker's 2005 featured Palais royal!) don't overlook any of it. But Dion's immense success doesn't necessarily make her overly fascinating, and nor do the many twists and turns her path has taken since she was born into a large Quebec family — arriving as the youngest of 14 children — and then found fame as a teen. Or, in her defence, they don't make her particularly interesting in a movie that's content to tick through everything that life has thrown her way like it's marking off a checklist rather than fleshing her out as a person. Viewers glean all of the necessary biographical details from Aline, but little sense of its subject, especially buried under Lemercier's unconvincing blend of soapy comedy and loving affection. The name Celine is mentioned in the film, as one of the script's gags — and Aline Dieu (Lemercier) is quick to correct the record. But before anyone is calling her anything much, she's a gifted singer crooning at her family's bar and proving in big demand locally, which sparks one of her brothers to record a demo. The tape's recipient, manager Guy-Claude Kamar (Sylvain Marcel, Les Honorables), can't quite believe that the slender girl in front of him comes with such a voice, and soon helps guide her career from strength to strength. Pitstops along the way include a pause so Aline can enjoy being a teenager, her mother Sylvette's (Danielle Fichaud, District 31) dismay when she falls for the much-older Guy-Claude, vocal troubles that require a three-month break from even speaking and the struggle to get pregnant. Among the highlights: winning a singing contest in Dublin, a big Hollywood awards ceremony, a lengthy US residency and all that chart-topping. Eurovision isn't mentioned by name in Aline, and nor is Titanic or the Oscars, mirroring the change to Dion's moniker (and those of her loved ones and key figures in her life). But the film does weave in the star's own songs, which makes its altered details elsewhere feel uncanny, and like the movie is caught between a parody and a love letter. The montage-esque handling of big and small moments alike doesn't help, cramming in minutiae from Dion's real-life tale but never giving anything room to resonate. Neither does the perfunctory direction and by-the-numbers dialogue, which can't elevate the film beyond Behind the Music-style recreations. Lemercier's choices, including playing Aline at all ages — from childhood through to now — could've resulted in goofy inspiration. Perhaps that's what, every night in her dreams, she saw and felt. But while happily absurd, the movie that results is an over-packed jumble and drag, like getting 'My Heart Will Go On' stuck in your head for head for a quarter-century. A STITCH IN TIME When A Stitch in Time begins, it's with weary veteran musician Duncan (real-life veteran musician Glen Shorrock) playing his weekly gig at a Sydney RSL. But the crowd is sparse, inspiring the venue's newly installed manager to proclaim that it's time for a change to draw in a bigger and younger audience. The silver-haired Liebe (Maggie Blinco, The Nightingale), Duncan's long-standing partner, is singled out as the type of patron that the bar wants to move past — an observation that's rightfully and instantly met with anger. But when they're alone, Duncan's demeanour towards the woman that's been by his side for decades through jousts at fame and a lifetime of dealing with unrealised dreams is hardly affectionate. He wants acclaim and praise, and still to make the record he's always fantasised about, all while Liebe simply keeps quiet and cooks bacon for breakfast. A Stitch in Time tells Liebe's story as she finally finds the courage to step away from the toxic relationship that's defined her life, all thanks to a trip to a local market and the resulting encouragement from up-and-coming Chinese Australian designer Hamish (Hoa Xuande, Cowboy Bebop). A skilled dressmaker, she once had her own dreams of success, but let them slip aside to support Duncan. Now, his utter contempt for her renewed interest in rekindling her fashion prowess is the push she needs to seek a change after all these years. In first-time feature writer/director/producer/editor Sasha Hadden's hands, Liebe's path from there charts both an expected and a bleakly complex path — stitching together setbacks, roadblocks and miseries as part of a pattern for a brighter future and a predictably feel-good ending. One part schmaltz, one part domestic grit: that's the combination at the heart of the nonetheless sunnily hot A Stitch in Time, with the film teetering between the two accordingly. It's an awkward mix, despite the movie's efforts to lay bare the reality facing Liebe in trying to start again after living the bulk of her life — attitudes faced, financial difficulties and internal struggles among them — and its mission to spin a heartwarming story about a character and demographic often relegated to the big-screen sidelines. Again and again, the feature's script layers heartstring-pulling complications on top of each other, such as Liebe's childhood escape from Nazi Germany and her health woes after moving into a sharehouse with Chinese university students. It similarly adores saccharine moments, and uses the gimmick of going viral not once but twice. Thankfully, A Stitch in Time pays far more respect to its ageing protagonist than its recent equivalents (see: Queen Bees, Never Too Late, Poms, Dirty Grandpa and The War with Grandpa). That said, it still doesn't trust that viewers would feel for Liebe and her plight without either the laundry list of traumas thrust her way or the cheesy twists of fate that arrive to save her. The roster of talent that Hadden has amassed both on- and off-screen do their best to lift the material, however. That includes via spirited performances from not just Blinco but also Belinda Giblin (Home and Away) as Liebe's long-estranged pal Christine, plus the warm rapport between Blinco and Xuande — and also crisp lensing from legendary Australian cinematographer Don McAlpine (an Oscar nominee for Moulin Rouge!). THE LAST MOUNTAIN In films about humanity's undying yearning to conquer the planet's towering heights, what goes up doesn't always come down — to tragic results. But the quickly growing genre of documentaries that's sprung up around scaling mountains, or trying to, does traverse both the highs and the lows. It spans tales of life-altering success against the odds, chronicling all the hard work and near-fatal slips along the way, as seen in Oscar-winner Free Solo and the similarly uplifting The Dawn Wall. It also includes clear-eyed accounts of disaster, with the phenomenal Sherpa easily at the peak. And, it covers accounts of mountaineers who strived to climb lofty peaks and their own dreams, but ultimately saw their lives cut short doing what they love, such as The Alpinist. The Last Mountain falls into the latter camp and twice over, stepping into the stories of British mother-and-son duo Alison Hargreaves and Tom Ballard. In 1995, 33-year-old Hargreaves aimed to scale the three highest mountains on the globe: Everest, K2 and Kangchenjunga, all without the help of bottled oxygen or Sherpas to transport her gear. She achieved the first in May, becoming the first woman to do so. Next, she attempted the second in August, but died on the descent. In the aftermath, to help process their grief, Hargreaves' husband Jim Ballard, seven-year-old son Tom and four-year-old daughter Kate made a pilgrimage to K2, a trip that unsurprisingly left an enormous imprint upon her children. Tom was in his mother's womb when she climbed the north face of the Eiger in Switzerland, so he was perhaps fated to love the pastime with the same passion. He became an acclaimed alpinist himself, until a February 2019 trip to Pakistan's Nanga Parbat, at the age of 30, to attempt the never-before-completed Mummery Spur. Twenty-four years elapsed between Hargreaves and Ballard's final climbs, at mountains that sit less than 200 kilometres apart — and the symmetry in their lives, loves, passion for alpinism, untimely demises and final resting places is nothing short of haunting. That's how it feels to watch The Last Mountain, all the more so because the documentary devotes much of its running time to unpacking how haunted his sister Kate, also an avid rock-climber, feels after the deaths of both her mother and brother to doing what they adored. With filmmaker Christopher Terrill (Britain's Biggest Warship) along for the trip, she once again heads to Pakistan and Kashmir, this time to get as close as is safely possible to where Tom met his end. Symmetry abounds here as well, including in a tearful reunion with Big Ibrahim, the local guide who carried her on his back for the trek the first time around. The Last Mountain doesn't simply rely upon its heartbreaking echoes, or the Hargreaves–Ballard family's personal plight, as bolstered with archival material and interviews both of Alison and Tom. (Given the passage of years and the change in technology since, there's more and better footage of Tom in action, and it's a spectacular sight to behold.) A lesser film would've been happy with all of the above and still proven gripping; however, Terrill also unpacks the intricacies around celebrating extreme alpine and rock-climbing feats, then looking for someone to blame when treks finish badly — even without examining how the media backlash that swelled around Alison for dying and leaving her kids behind more than a quarter-century ago. Indeed, the back and forth that steps through the events leading to Tom's death, after uncharacteristically taking on a climbing partner in Italian Mummery Spur fanatic Daniele Nardi, is as complicated as the emotions that visibly course through Kate every time that she's in front of the camera. The Last Mountain is a clear tribute, and another ode to humanity's pull to the mountains, but it's also willing to be as thematically complicated as the terrain that looms so large within its frames. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on October 7, October 14, October 21 and October 28; November 4, November 11, November 18 and November 25; December 2, December 9, December 16 and December 26; January 1, January 6, January 13, January 20 and January 27; and February 3 and February 10. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as The Alpinist, A Fire Inside, Lamb, The Last Duel, Malignant, The Harder They Fall, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, Halloween Kills, Passing, Eternals, The Many Saints of Newark, Julia, No Time to Die, The Power of the Dog, Tick, Tick... Boom!, Zola, Last Night in Soho, Blue Bayou, The Rescue, Titane, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, Dune, Encanto, The Card Counter, The Lost Leonardo, The French Dispatch, Don't Look Up, Dear Evan Hansen, Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Lost Daughter, The Scary of Sixty-First, West Side Story, Licorice Pizza, The Matrix Resurrections, The Tragedy of Macbeth, The Worst Person in the World, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, House of Gucci, The King's Man, Red Rocket, Scream, The 355, Gold, King Richard, Limbo, Spencer, Nightmare Alley, Belle, Parallel Mothers, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Belfast, Here Out West, Jackass Forever, Benedetta, Drive My Car and Death on the Nile.
Remember when the Sydney CBD was the last place you'd want to hang out after work? Perhaps not, if you're the young or short-term-memoried among us. Much has changed in the last few years, and now the CBD is bursting with places that offer good tipples and damn fine atmosphere. It's almost hard to narrow it down to just the ten best, though we managed it in the end. Whether you're looking to settle in for the night on a first date, talk shop at a post-work debrief, indulge a solo unwind, or finally get around to that long overdue catch-up with friends, you're sure to find one among these to tickle your fancy. 1. Bulletin Place Bulletin Place is a prodigious example of in-the-know barman strutting their stuff. And let's be honest, it's really Philips' cocktail expertise that makes this place stand out. Scribbled across a sheet of butcher's paper that hangs behind the bar will be any given evening's cocktail selection, inspired by whatever produce is freshest at the time. First floor, 10 - 14 Bulletin Place, Circular Quay; www.bulletinplace.com/ 2. Grasshopper Cocktails are the real drawcard at Grasshopper. All the drinks are numbered instead of having names, and they're just about all served in jars. The No.19, which features orange liqueur, cranberry juice, passionfruit and vanilla vodka, tastes like the sort of gelato you would find at Messina or Pompeii's. The No.14 — comprising blackberry juice and Fanta — is also a Butter Menthol-tasting highlight. 389-391 George St, Sydney; www.thegrasshopper.com.au 3. Grandma's There's no place like home. Except Grandma's. Grandma gives you a big hug, sits you down in her best, chintz-covered chair and gives you a treat. The "grandchildren" are a helpful and friendly lot, and shake their cocktails with wide-eyed glee. Start off with one of Grandma's favourite tipples — the Pink Pepper Martini, a mix of strawberries and a wink of gin that's truly delightful. But the drinks list is seemingly endless, with ingredients including Greek yoghurt, chocolate bitters, and elderflower cordial. Basement 275 Clarence Street, Sydney; www.grandmasbarsydney.com.au 4. Stitch Bar Stitch might be hard to find and you might have to wait awhile to get in, but once in you won't regret it. Stitch is a tiny, pumping, crowded spot with comfy booths on one side and small, hotly contested tables on the other, where hot dogs and strong cocktails are the bar fare of choice. 61 York Street, Sydney; www.stitchbar.com 5. Assembly The drinks from mixologist/general manager Ben Taouss make this out-of-the-way cocktail haven one of Sydney's best. Admittedly, Assembly is tucked away in a bit of a strange spot, namely Regent Place, a shopping hub with the feel of a shopping centre. You're really here for the cocktails and after-work good times. One word of advice? Try the Lavender Hill Cappuccino cocktail ($17), a martini with Pop Rocks and an apple foam. 488 Kent Street, Sydney; www.assemblybar.com.au 6. Shirt Bar When you step inside Shirt Bar, tucked away on Sussex Lane, the phrase "all shirts and no suits" springs to mind. Unpretentious and a charmingly refreshing spot for a post-work beverage, Shirt Bar is a trifecta of Australian shirts, coffee, and international whisky. Definitely worth a visit. 7 Sussex Lane, Sydney; www.shirtbar.com.au 7. Uncle Ming's At Uncle Ming's they have really committed to the Eastern aesthetic and it's the lavish decor that makes this bar. Of a weekday evening, both after-work suits and jean-clad partygoers can be seen dotted around the small floor space. Darkly lit nooks filled with mismatched Oriental chairs and rough-hewn tables are often already filled by 7pm. Lower Ground, 55 York Street, Sydney; www.unclemings.com.au 8. York Lane After dark York Lane transforms into a trendsetter's bar all set to whet your whistle after a tough day at the office. The wine list is small but varied and the list of craft beers will entice both hipsters and beer snobs alike. If you need something with edge, there's a short cocktail list including the classic Negroni ($16) and the refreshing Dark and Stormy ($12). York Lane, Sydney; www.yorklane.com/ 9. The Fox Hole Perched on the corner of Kent and Erskine Streets in the CBD, here's what we believe epitomises an unpretentious drinking hole. The front room is cosy with patrons bunked down at hazily candlelit tables sipping their wine as they watch the world go by through large windows. Expect table service delivered by friendly staff, because that’s what’s on offer. And let it be known that these guys are experts in their field, too, so don't shy away from asking for a recommendation. 68A Erskine Street, Sydney; www.foxhole.com.au 10. Mojo Record Bar Tucked away behind Mojo Records on York Street lies this inner-city drinking cave. Descend the stairs past the record store and you'll find yourself transported to '90s New York. Mojo Record Bar has a sumptuous retro feel to it: the walls are lined with vintage records and boast framed concert posters of legends such as Sonic Youth, Tom Waits, and The Black Keys. The drinks menu offers up an extensive selection of Australian craft beers, a few boutique ciders, and a small cocktail list. The cocktails are original and heavy on the gin blends. Basement level, 73 York Street, Sydney; www.mojorecordbar.com By the Concrete Playground team.
Next time you sip a G&T, or whichever other gin cocktail takes your fancy, you could be drinking a new Australian label that puts homegrown ingredients to great use. That'd be Taka Gin, a brand that's just hit the market thanks to Melbourne's Niyoka Bundle — who has branched out into the world of spirits from her Indigenous-fusion catering company Pawa Catering. Like plenty of recent new businesses, the idea behind Taka Gin came about in lockdown, with Indigenous woman Bundle and her husband Vincent Manning inspired to take on a new project — and to continue to highlight First Nations people's native foods in the process. That's why their tipple heroes lemon-scented gum leaf and native lemongrass, two plants that the duo consider underutilised. They're paired with a base of seven other botanicals: juniper, coriander, angelica root, cassia chips, finger lime, orris root and desert lime. Taka Gin's key ingredients have been foraged from around Melbourne, and sourced from Indigenous wild harvesters, including via Natif Super Foods and Warndu. The gin is then distilled by Gypsy Hub at Collingwood's Craft & Co, and sold online via the brand's website, with a 700-millilitre bottle costing $90. In terms of taste, this is a smooth gin. Expect soft citrus flavours, as well as a fragrance that helps bring out the tipple's flavour. The brand takes its name from the Gunditjmara language, which hails from southwest Victoria, with 'taka' meaning taste. And, its eye-catching labels are designed by Bundle's mother and Gunditjmara Keerray Woorroong artist Vicki Couzens. Against a white background, the minimalistic images represent the phytochemical molecular components that comprise Taka Gin's flavours. Handily, Taka Gin is doing free shipping Australia-wide, too, if you need another reason to expand your gin shelf. For more information about Taka Gin, or to buy a bottle, head to the brand's website. Images: Marcie Raw Studio.
Dessert king Reynold Poernomo is expanding his sugary empire, with the former MasterChef contestant and co-owner of Chippendale's KOI Dessert Bar opening a second location on the other side of town. KOI Ryde will sling the same decadent creations Poernomo's fans have come to expect, while also offering cooking classes with some of Sydney's best dessert chefs. The Ryde dessert bar will be run by Reynold along with his mother Ike and his brothers Ronald and Arnold, but it won't be a carbon copy of the Chippendale venue. Although it will function as a cafe where you can eat your cake straight out of the cabinet, the team hopes to also introduce a brand new menu offering (brunch is on the cards) and even monthly chef's table dinners. The space will also function as the production facility for all the cakes and pastries sold at both KOI locations and a masterclass kitchen, which will host classes by Sydney's best bakers, along with Poernomo himself. As for what you'll be scoffing on, expect KOI staples including the bright green mango yuzu made with mango mousse, yuzu curd and almond sable, and the coconut kalamansi featuring coconut mousse, white cheese, kalamansi (like a Filipino lime) curd and chocolate sable.
Milo Rau's adaptation of Sophocles' Antigone reimagines this classical tragedy in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. Here, the future of humanity and the planet is weighed in the balance. Rau is known for daring productions that bulldoze boundaries and howl for justice, such his 2021 staging of Orestes in Mosul, the former capital of the Islamic State, which explored the story of a woman defying the status quo to speak truth to power. Bringing together Indigenous groups, Brazil's Landless Workers Movement and European actors, Antigone in the Amazon is an arrestingly powerful production that highlights the urgent global climate crisis. Rau is one of theatre's most influential and provocative visionaries, whose work continues to challenge norms with this dark, relevant and unflinching storytelling.
Whether they riff on fairy bread or turn lamingtons into something cold and creamy, plenty of Gelato Messina's popular desserts transform other foods into a frosty sweet treat. Who doesn't love a culinary mashup? Not this chain and its devotees, clearly. And, since 2021, the brand has been taking that process a step further by whipping up a chocolates based on its already-inventive gelato flavours. With 2022 now here, Messina is kicking off the new year the way it always goes on — with a fresh batch of one-off specials, starting with a return to its gelato-inspired choccies. This time, there's four varieties available, all in one box. So yes, you'll get to try them all without having to choose which one you'd prefer. Love Messina's take on Iced Vovos, Coco Pops, lamingtons and fairy bread? They're all accounted for here. And they all look the part, because of course they do. They all look delicious, too. The Vovovroom bar comes filled with layers of raspberry cream, raspberry jam, desiccated coconut and sablé biscuit, then coated in raspberry chocolate. With the Just Like a Chocolate Milkshake bar, you're getting chocolate malt cream, milk chocolate-panned rice bubbles and chocolate sablé biscuit, all coated in milk chocolate. Obviously, the fairy bread bar is coated with 100s and 1000s — and includes layers of toasted breadcrumb cream and sablé biscuit coated in white chocolate as well. Or, for the lamington, you'll get chocolate cream, raspberry jam, chocolate-dusted desiccated coconut and chocolate sablé biscuit, as wrapped in dark chocolate. Boxes cost $40 each and you'll need to place your order on Monday, January 17, with times varying depending on your state. You can then pick up the choccies between Saturday, January 22–Sunday, January 23. Gelato Messina's chocolate box will be available to order from on Monday, January 17, from 9am local time in Queensland and the ACT, 9.30am in Victoria and between 10am–11am in New South Wales.
Think about the satisfaction of an epic growing out of the tiniest, most humble of origins. Whether it's the highbrow whiff of Proust's madeleine or the spunk'n'egg cocktail of human history, the romantic notion of 'from little things great things grow' is an appealing motif. In the case of Life and Times, the current mega work by New York-based theatre company Nature Theater of Oklahoma, the starting point was a phone conversation between co-artistic director Pavol Liska and company member Kristin Worrall. Worrall's brief was simple — tell her life story — and yet in the years since that first request in 2007, the verbatim results of her conversations with Liska have expanded into 15 hours worth of theatrical performance out of an anticipated 24. The art of conversation The casual language of phone conversations has formed the basis of two previous NTOK productions, No Dice (2008) and Romeo and Juliet (2009), and Liska and his partner, co-artistic director Kelly Copper, regularly chat with an impressive cohort of international artists in their podcast, OK Radio. The art of conversation it seems is, for now at least, a recurring principle of the company's process. "My education comes from my encounters with all different types of people," says Liska. "As a child you grow up and you meet this person and this person and this person, and I don't want to shut that process down. I know that I can't talk to everybody, so the people I do choose to talk to, I try to talk with them as deeply as possible. I use conversation as a springboard to unbalance myself, to derail myself. Ultimately, I could just lock myself in the closet and talk to myself, but there would be no resistance. So I use the other person to question my own ideas, to unbalance me and derail my own train of thought, and I do that to them as well." It is this deep process of conversation that provides the wealth of material for NTOK's Life and Times, of which Episodes 1–4 (out of an eventual ten) will be performed at this year's Melbourne Festival. Worrall's life story is not a chronologically linear autobiography, but rather a stream of recollection that fabricates a self-aware state of cause-and-effect as she links events through talking with Liska. The result is, for Liska, a kind of language that "does not belong in the theatre", and one that requires transformation before it is fit for an audience. Bringing theatre to the everyday "The more loose the text is, if it's a meandering conversation about something, the harder we have to work in the opposite direction [to formalise it], otherwise it's invisible," says Liska. A clear example of NTOK's approach to adapting conversational brain-dumping for the stage can be found in the earlier work Romeo and Juliet, which emerged from Liska and Copper calling friends and recording their attempts to recount the plot of Shakespeare's famous tragedy. "In order to make [these recordings] pop and to open them up, we felt like we needed to use a really formal mode of presentation, that over-the-top, cliched Shakespearean performance style," recounts Liska. As a contrast, after the show's curtain call the company then performed Shakespeare's original version of the balcony scene — in the dark, and understated, as the language was already so theatrical. “It just wouldn't be enough to present a phone conversation,” says Liska, “maybe some people who work with documentary theatre are okay with that, but ultimately I sit in rehearsal and I go to every performance and I have to find that it's opening something up for myself. It's not a purely humanistic effort — we're not just presenting the conversation and saying, hey, look at how wonderful people are — it's an aesthetic manifesto and an exploration.” Audiences and the clap Liska is genuine when he talks about the company exploring language through experimentation with aesthetics, and Life and Times already features a manic diversity in its presentation styles from episode to episode, including a couple that depart from traditional audience-actor theatre experiences altogether. "Obviously the audience doesn't talk back," says Liska, "but I want the exchange in the room to be a conversation, and my goal is never to allow the audience to forget that they are playing a role in the event. That's why it's so long — so that all these preconceived notions fall away. Something else happens." While Melbourne audiences will be able to see individual episodes separately, the ideal experience is to front up for the ten-hour marathon and in some way merge meaningfully with Liska, Copper and the gang. “If I have a conversation with you, I don't want you to clap for me at the end,” says Liska. Although there will be a curtain call at the end of the Melbourne marathon session, it's more because the actors end the fourth episode onstage and to not have applause would just feel weird. However, in between each episode, the cast can be found serving food in the foyer. “People can actually talk to them,” says Liska, “rather than do this — CLAP.” The Great Nature Theater of Oklahoma is calling you! There is poetic resonance in this idea of Liska's, given that the Nature Theater of Oklahoma first appeared in Franz Kafka's unfinished novel Amerika as a theatre company that had a place for absolutely anyone who came along. It also rings true with Liska's experience of Eastern European theatre-makers taking action for their community — not simply making art to be consumed. For Liska the important thing is to "stay open and playful and flexible. I wouldn't say that I'd never do a Chekhov play again, or a Greek tragedy — there just has to be a really strong reason to do something, I think that's what the audience finds inspiring.” For now such inspiration may dwell in a humble, late-night phone conversation, but it's anyone's guess under which pebble NTOK's next epic may be found. Life and Times is on at the Arts Centre Melbourne from October 22-26. Tickets are available from the Melbourne Festival website.
What better way is there to end your week than a cleansing boogie on the dance floor. Reset yourself for the coming week with a Sunday session presented by Sydney party people Picnic. After a successful stint at Opera Bar, Picnic Social has moved to a new home at the Kings Cross Hotel rooftop. Gather the gang, farewell your weekend and psych yourself up for the week ahead with a few drinks, an openair rooftop, something to eat and a soundtrack of live tunes. That's all on offer as part of this weekly event's lineup, which takes over the venue each Sunday from 3pm–midnight. The bill changes weekly, but you can look forward to a heap of local talent. The first iteration of Picnic Social saw the likes of Setwun & Soulstranauts, Marco Vella and Lazywax grace the stage, plus DJ sets from Simon Caldwell, Kali and Lauren Hansom. The inaugural lineup for Picnic Social 2.0 in Kings Cross will feature a live set from Kiri, plus local DJs Bocconcini, Simon Caldwell and Clutch 4 Love. Images: Carlos Walters Updated Friday, December 10
Hot on the heels of last year’s Emerald City from Griffin, the Sydney Theatre Company have exhumed another child of the '80s with a production of Andrew Bovell’s awkward comedy After Dinner, directed by Imara Savage. The setting is a dreary pub bistro (is there any other kind?) in which a lacklustre mural of ferns and a trough of dishevelled foliage compete to look the least like living objects. At two separate tables, the patrons — Gordon (Glenn Hazeldine), a bespectacled, timid-looking fellow on his own, and a waspish woman, Dympie (Rebecca Massey), and her fidgeting, energetic companion, Paula (Anita Hegh) — complete the ghastly aesthetic of pink tablecloth, fake flowers and leather-bound menus in their own ways; the former folds a small flock of paper cranes from the napkin supply, and the latter contemptuously pitches the plastic flora in with the flagging plants behind them. But it is only when the girls are joined by Monica (Helen Thomson), and Gordon by Stephen (Josh McConville), that the play truly gets under way. It is revealed that this is Monica’s first night out since the death of her husband and that Gordon has been coaxed into the open with promises of deep discussion about his recent divorce. Neither are in for much sympathy; it’s difficult to tell whether Dympie is ordering dinner or trying to run a small dictatorship, and the only talking Brendan wants to do is with someone he can have sex with anywhere between shortly and immediately afterwards. But as friends trade ugly truths and despair sets in, the two groups find themselves drawn together by more than terse pleasantries and the odd, disastrous pick-up line. It never really seems like love is on the table, but comfort, whether physical or emotional, is definitely up for grabs. After Dinner has aged pretty well. With its soundtrack of '80s hits and deafening costumes, there is a strong sense that the nostalgia card is being played to its full value, but Bovell’s text is still a wonderful farce and is faithfully (read: uproariously) portrayed by a cast of great comic actors. There’s a bit of a sag in the middle and some of its bawdiness wears pretty thin, but the night I saw it, the audience laughed right through to an ending which set them cheering. There’s comedic embellishment aplenty here, but there is also an inelegant honesty to the characters which keeps the play grounded. Don’t get me wrong, pineapple fritters are still the bomb. But After Dinner is the best thing I’ve found at a pub bistro in years.
Every now and then the opportunity comes your way that you just simply can't say no to. You find yourself coming up with all the excuses in the world into why you shouldn't take it, only to get slapped across the face and kicked in the shins by your mates asking how stupid you actually are. All the facts and figures point towards the only option. Pick up your nuts and go for it. The opportunity? I've been nominated as one of five international bloggers undertaking one of the latest regional tourism engagement campaigns, this time from Destination NSW. The campaign is called The Unmapped Roadtrip. The locals are asked to recommend where we should be going in NSW, who we should see and what we should do throughout the entire month of March. Someone has recommended already that we dive with sharks. Sceptic Kiwi right there. Anyway, I'll be on a bus, with 4 other strangers who will no doubt become good friends, travelling around the great state. This is all I know at this point. I leave on Thursday 1 March at 6am for Sydney and I believe we're heading along to the infamous Mardi Gras for our first weekend, with none other than Kylie Minogue headling. Stop it! I should be so lucky alright. https://youtube.com/watch?v=haoCgGzS0wY To be clear, I'm not really a sceptic Kiwi, but in light of the recent Air New Zealand campaign, I thought I would take this approach in order to lay down the challenge to all New South Welsh Men and Women, and say "come on, show us what you got". I arrive back on Sunday 1 April, where I will ultimately arrive at my conclusion of the Ten Best Things to do in New South Wales. In the meantime, you can follow me on our Twitter page (@PLAYGROUNDNZ) and for those that are that way inclined, I'll also be regularly posting via the Concrete Playground Instagram account. I promise to be entertaining and represent New Zealand responsibly. Is that possible? I guess you will have to find out.
French, Spanish, German, American, Japanese: Australia has no shortage of film festivals categorised by country. But what about the stories of those with no nation at all? Lighting up screens for the second year as part of Refugee Week, the films in the Refugee Film Festival will explore the trials and tribulations of people fleeing persecution and war. The festival will be held at Dendy Opera Quays from June 21 to 24.Standout titles include Hope Road, which chronicles the efforts of a Sydney-based Sudanese refugee to raise funds to build a school in his village; Stop the Boats, about the slogan used to condemn those seeking asylum in Australia; and Human Flow, Ai Weiwei's immensely moving portrait of the global refugee crisis. Cinephiles outside of Sydney and Melbourne can also put their hand up to host a screening themselves. For more information on how to make that happen, as well as the full festival program, go here.
On the lookout for a dope new denim jacket? Or do you want to be rid of that weird-looking lamp taking up space in the living room? Then, by golly, you're in luck. The Garage Sale Trail works with local council partners Australia-wide to get as many trash-and-treasure troves happening on the same day as possible. In past years, more than 400,000 Aussies have taken part, and held more than 18,000 sales. While life is a little different in 2021, a huge array of events are still expected to open their doors to bargain hunters, selling more millions items. And, when the event returns across three weekends between Saturday, November 6–Sunday, November 21, online garage sales will also be part of the trail. According, whether you're buying or selling, you have two options: do so in person, or take the virtual route. It's only the second time ever that the Garage Sale Trail is going digital, too. And, digital tutorials are also on the bill, so you can learn everything from DIY wardrobe tips to hosting the best sale. Aside from the retro goodies up for grabs, the Trail is all about sustainability. Instead of ending up in landfill, unwanted clutter becomes a fantastic find. So get that tight pair of sunnies for peanuts and help the environment at the same time. The Garage Sale Trail began humbly in Bondi in 2010 and is growing bigger every year. There'll be a right slew of sales happening all around Sydney, so keep your eyes on the event website — or register online to make a quick buck from your old junk and hang out with the friendly folks in your hood. [caption id="attachment_783811" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Jo Lowrey[/caption] Images: Garage Sale Trail.
Since COVID-19 hit and forced the closure of live music venues and cancellation of festivals, Australians working in the music industry have lost $340 million worth of gigs, according to I Lost My Gig. To help re-employ some of these musicians, managers, venue operators and production workers, the NSW Government is hosting 1000 gigs across the state in November in an initiative dubbed Great Southern Nights. Shockingly, despite the name, the lineup does not (yet) feature Icehouse, but it does already include 20 Aussie music legends. Former Cold Chisel frontman Jimmy Barnes, alt-rock band Birds of Tokyo, singer Thelma Plum, electro duo The Presets, Tones and I of 'Dance Monkey' fame and rock hero Paul Kelly will all take to the stage at venues across the state as part of the program, as will Missy Higgins, The Jungle Giants, Amy Shark, Tash Sultana, The Teskey Brothers and The Veronicas. [caption id="attachment_738932" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] The program has been overseen by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and will culminate with its annual music awards night. While NSW's music scene — and its workers — need more than 1000 gigs to see through the year, Great Southern Nights' organisers are hoping the initiative will help kick start the industry. "Live music events bring visitors, culture and excitement to communities," ARIA Chief Executive Officer Dan Rosen said in a statement. "This initiative will provide an invaluable boost for the artists, crew, venues and music community that make gigs happen." The events will be hosted at venues across Sydney and in regional NSW areas, with bars, pubs and theatres keen to take part invited to submit an expression of interest via the Great Southern Nights website. All gigs will have to abide by the state's COVID-19 restrictions at the time, of course, but, looking at current trends, that could mean some of the shows are quite big. From July 1, the 50-person cap on venues will lifted and replaced by a one person per four-square-metres rule and outdoor stadiums with a capacity of up to 40,000 will be allowed to fill up to a quarter of seating — so, 10,000 fans. Great Southern Nights will see 1000 gigs happen across NSW this November. For more information and to submit an expression of interest visit the website. Top image: Bec Taylor
Defiant, powerful and passionate at every turn, Muru depicts a relentless police raid on New Zealand's Rūātoki community. Equally alive with anger, the Aotearoan action-thriller and drama shows law enforcement storming into the district to apprehend what's incorrectly deemed a terrorist cell, but is actually activist and artist Tāme Iti — playing himself — and his fellow Tūhoe people. If October 2007 springs to mind while watching, it's meant to. Written and directed by Poi E: The Story of Our Song and Mt Zion filmmaker Tearepa Kahi, this isn't a mere dramatisation of well-known events, however. There's a reason that Muru begins by stamping its purpose on the screen, and its whole rationale for existing: "this film is not a recreation… it is a response". That the feature's name is also taken from a Māori process of redressing transgressions is both telling and fitting as well. Kahi's film is indeed a reaction, a reply, a counter — and a way of processing past wrongs. In a fashion, it's Sir Isaac Newton's third law of motion turned into cinema, because a spate of instances across New Zealand over a century-plus has sparked this on-screen answer. Muru's script draws from 15 years back; also from the police shooting of Steven Wallace in Waitara in 2000 before that; and from the arrest of Rua Kēnana in Maungapōhatu even further ago, in 1916. While the movie finds inspiration in the screenplay Toa by Jason Nathan beyond those real-life events, it's always in dialogue with things that truly happened, and not just once, and not only recently. If every action causes an opposite reaction, Muru is Kahi's way of sifting through, rallying against and fighting back after too many occasions where the long arm of the NZ law, and of colonialism, has overreached. Played by Cliff Curtis (Reminiscence) with the brand of command that he's long been known for — and with the unshakeable presence that's served him through everything from The Piano, Once Were Warriors and Whale Rider through to The Dark Horse, Fear the Walking Dead and Doctor Sleep — Police Sergeant 'Taffy' Tawhara sits at the heart of Rūātoki's us-and-them divide. A local cop, he has the nation's laws to uphold, but he's also beholden to the community he hails from. His homecoming is recent, with his father (Tipene Ohlson) ailing and undergoing dialysis. So far, it has also been quiet. On the day that Muru begins, Taffy drives the school bus, takes the Aunties for medical checkups at the local mobile clinic and does what everyone in the valley does in their own manners: watches out for and tries to support 16-year-old Rusty (Poroaki Merritt-McDonald, Savage), the nephew of fellow officer Blake (Ria Te Uira Paki, The Dead Lands), who has the role of Rūātoki's resident wayward teen down pat. When Rusty smashes up shop windows that night, Taffy takes the call, then makes Iti's Camp Rama his second stop. A gathering of locals that champions survival skills and Tūhoe culture, it's designed to foster and reinforce the area's identity, which Taffy thinks Rusty can benefit from — even if that evening marks the sergeant's first attendance himself. But Camp Rama has also been under surveillance by the NZ police's special tactics group, with haughty leader Gallagher (Jay Ryan, The Furnace) and his quick-tempered second-in-command Kimiora (Manu Bennett, The Hobbit) deciding that Iti and his friends are a threat to national security. The highly armed tactical unit descends upon the community the next day, aided behind the scenes by colleagues Maria (Simone Kessell, Obi-Wan Kenobi) and Jarrod (Byron Coll, Nude Tuesday), overseen by an MP (Colin Moy, Guns Akimbo) determined to make a statement, and ignoring Taffy's pleas that their mission is mistaken. From the outset, Kahi flits between the two halves of Muru's narrative, letting their clash echo from the feature's frames. Daily life in the valley isn't idyllic, but everyone's wellbeing is a communal responsibility, as seen in the way that Blake pitches in to help with pāpā while Taffy is out driving, as well as the fondness shown for Rusty by school kids and elders alike. Among law enforcement, displaying force and strength rather than flexibility or care is the only focus — to explosive ends once the raid starts. His film isn't subtle, but Kahi proves both unflinching and perceptive in contrasting empathy with its utter absence. A case in point: the evocatively shot (by cinematographers Chris Mauger, Herb — Songs of Freedom, and Fred Renata, Dawn Raid) and tensely edited (by Hacksaw Ridge Oscar-winner John Gilbert) moments when the cops surround the school bus, tracking Rusty on his horse. The children see ninjas, the adults see life changing forever and the police simply see targets. If Muru didn't come layered with real-life context and a wealth of history, it'd still make for taut, intense and gripping viewing; as an action-thriller, it's sharp, tightly wound and skilfully executed, and teems with lively chases — by foot, car, horse and air alike — as well as loaded confrontations. Undercutting IRL trauma by boiling it down to a Hollywood formula isn't Kahi's intention, though, or the end result that pulsates across the screen. Muru is all the more riveting because it's so deeply felt, so steeped in generations of shattering violence, and so willing to ponder what compassion and justice truly mean. It also bubbles with the sensation that the movie wouldn't even need to exist in a better world, because the events that it's interrogating wouldn't have happened. This is a reckoning on several levels, including with that truth. As set against Rūātoki's scenic greenery, Muru is always a complicated picture, clearly — and that includes its choice to work in fiction instead of remaining glued to facts. Sometimes, though, spinning a story rather than sticking to actuality can be more potent, more emotionally authentic, and also brim with more feeling, as it instantly does here. Of course, there's no avoiding Iti, the feature's constant reminder that reality underscores even Muru's most imaginative narrative leaps. As himself, he's one part of a fine-tuned cast — weighty performances by Curtis, Merritt-McDonald, Ryan and Kessell stand out — but he's also Muru's beacon. Fury, understanding, hope, honouring the past, striving for a different future: in this dynamic film and in Iti's eyes, they all both ripple and linger.
With summer upon us and Christmas on the horizon, it's the perfect time to treat yourself and sort out your sleep. If you're tossing and turning at night it might not just be because of the state of the world, it could be your mattress and pillow as well. Luckily, premium homewares brand Ecosa wants to help you get a good night's sleep. All items on the Ecosa website are 25 percent off from Monday, November 23 to Monday, November 30. That's right, a whole week of deals in which you can save up to $350 on everything you need for a sleek, comfortable nights sleep. If you've been complaining about a crook neck, maybe head off to the physio and get yourself fancy new memory foam pillow. The ergonomic pillow boasts an adjustable height, a curved shape that suits side and back sleepers and a compressible foam that supports the natural shape of your head. Plus, two compression bags so you can pack it up and take it with you everywhere. Yep, it's one helluva pillow. If that's not enough, Ecosa also offers free shipping and returns Australia-wide, plus a 100-day free trial period. And, with everything on sale, get in early for some Christmas shopping. Ecosa is your one-stop sleep shop, with luxe bamboo sheets, silk pillowcases, wooden bed base, memory foam mattress and weighted blanket all available at the discounted price. So, you can treat yourself, your friends and your whole family to a better night's sleep. 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.
We all like gelato, but sometimes the occasion calls for something other than everyone's favourite creamy dessert. Maybe it's too cold? Maybe you already have an ice cream headache? Maybe Gelato Messina is closed, or just not in the immediate vicinity? Enter the food mashup that had to happen, really — and a concoction straight out of every gelato and biscuit lover's dreams. In 2017, Gelato Messina Tim Tams became the Aussie sweet treat hybrid everyone wanted to taste. Now, in inevitable news, a second batch is on its way from February. Due in stores around the country from February 5, the new Gelato Messina Tim Tam range will come in three styles: choc cherry coconut, iced coffee and Turkish delight. "We've delved deep into our gelato flavour bank," said Gelato Messina co-founder Declan Lee, with the company coming up with the new selection after the popularity of last year's lineup. Making this tastebud-tempting news even better is the fact that, like all Tim Tams, they'll be sold in supermarkets everywhere. Yes, that means more Messina goodness more often. The biscuits are expected to set hungry shoppers back $3.65 per packet. Come on, you know you're going to buy more than one.
Love pasta, but never quite mastered the art of making your own gnocchi? Always wanted to whip up your own soap and shampoo bars — or maybe some soy candles? Perhaps you've dreamed of fashioning bangles, macrame key rings and clay planters yourself. Or, you could harbour a lifelong dream to get into calligraphy. Whether you're keen to get stitching and sewing, build a terrarium, or paint a portrait of your pet pooch, ClassBento's new Craft Box workshop series has a session for you. Moving its classes online, it's now live-streaming all manner of 30–60 minute creative seminars. They're taught by a range of artists and teachers across Australia — and you can either enrol in one of ClassBento's public classes, or round up some pals (virtually, of course) and book in for your own private session. Given the broad selection of classes on offer — including punch needle embroidery, making edible wafer paper roses for cakes and shibori dyeing, just to name a few — dates and prices vary. For the latest details on your session of interest, head to Class Bento's website. [caption id="attachment_766964" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] The Paint Bar[/caption] Plus, if you're wondering about all the different tools you'll need to learn to weave, make a kokedama hanging moss ball or create paper mache collage bowls, each class comes with a craft box. Once you've chosen your session, it'll be delivered to you in advance — so, when class time comes, you'll be ready to go.
UPDATE, December 4, 2020: Mank is available to stream via Netflix. In 2010's The Social Network, David Fincher surveyed the story of an outsider and upstart who would become a business magnate, wield significant influence and have an immense impact upon the world. The applauded and astute film tells the tale of Mark Zuckerberg and of Facebook's development — but it's also the perfect precursor to Fincher's latest movie, Mank. This time around, the filmmaker focuses on a man who once spun a similar narrative. A drama critic turned screenwriter, Herman J Mankiewicz scored the gig of his lifetime when he was hired to pen Orson Welles' first feature, and he drew upon someone from his own life to do so. Citizen Kane is famous for many things, but its central character of Charles Foster Kane is also famously partially based on US media mogul William Randolph Hearst, who Mankiewicz knew personally. Accordingly, Mank sees Fincher step behind the scenes of an iconic movie that his own work has already paralleled — to ponder how fact influences fiction, how stories that blaze across screens silver and small respond to the world around them, and how one man's best-known achievement speaks volumes about both in a plethora of ways. Mank is a slice-of-life biopic about Mankiewicz's (Gary Oldman) time writing Citizen Kane's screenplay, as well as his career around it. It's catnip for the iconic feature's multitudes of fans, in fact. But it also peers at a bigger picture, because that's classic Fincher. The director chased killers in Seven, Zodiac, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Mindhunter, painting meticulous portraits of obsession each time. He unpacked the myths we make of our own existence in Fight Club and Gone Girl, and interrogated the societal perceptions such self-told tales play with and prey upon along the way. Naturally, with him at the helm, Mank was never going to simply serve up a straightforward snapshot of a Hollywood figure. That isn't Fincher's style, and it wouldn't suit Mankiewicz's story, either. When Mank introduces its eponymous scribe, it's 1940, and he's recovering from a car accident. In a cast and confined to bed due to a broken leg, he has been dispatched to a Mojave Desert ranch by Welles (Tom Burke, The Souvenir) and his colleague John Houseman (Sam Troughton, Chernobyl) — all so he can work his word-slinging mastery. As Mankiewicz toils, the movie wanders back to times, places and people that inspire his prose, especially from the decade prior. Dictating his text to British secretary Rita Alexander (Lily Collins), he draws upon his friendships with Hearst (Charles Dance, Game of Thrones) and the news baron's starlet mistress Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried) in particular. And yes, as anyone who has seen Citizen Kane will spot, Mank's nonlinear structure apes the script that Mankiewicz pens. Many of the latter film's glimmering black-and-white shots do as well, although you won't spot a sled called Rosebud here. The authorship of Citizen Kane has long been a point of controversy, with Mankiewicz agreeing not to take any credit, as Mank shows. (When the screenplay won the film's only Oscar, however, it was awarded to both Mankiewicz and Welles.) Fincher's movie doesn't actually scrutinise the matter too deeply. It recognises that Mankiewicz was frequently asked to work uncredited — he's known to have polished the script for The Wizard of Oz, for example — and sides with the idea that Citizen Kane's screenplay was largely his creation. Of far more interest to the film is the role that Mankiewicz held not just for Welles, but also throughout his time in such an ambitious, ruthless, ethically dubious and uncaring industry. As such, it's impossible not to notice how, with Houseman trying to keep Mankiewicz's notorious love for a drink under control, the scribe feels trapped by his task for Welles. In flashbacks, the way that Mankiewicz is expected to ply his alcohol-addled wit to entertain Hearst and MGM studio chief Lous B Mayer (Arliss Howard, True Blood) is similarly inescapable. And so, Mank posits, it's little wonder that Citizen Kane became an epic takedown of the type of man whose success depends upon enlisting others to do their bidding. In a script by Jack Fincher — father of David, who wrote the screenplay in the 90s before passing away in 2003 — Mank suggests other factors that made Mankiewicz the person he was, and that shaped Citizen Kane's script as well. Scenes of Mankiewicz and his co-workers spitting out whatever ideas came to mind while lapping up the Golden Age of Hollywood and its studio system show the writer at his most content. His response to the use of movie-making trickery to create a fake news campaign to sway a 1934 Californian election by Mayer and film producer Irving Thalberg (Ferdinand Kingsley, Doctor Who) show Mankiewicz at his most passionate about something other than booze and bon mots. Also evident: the abundant cynicism that helps him wade through Tinseltown's trappings, the melancholy shared with Davies, and his reliance upon his wife Sara (Tuppence Middleton, Downton Abbey). Combine all of the above, and a dense and detailed movie results. That's Fincher's wheelhouse, after all. Mank is also visually ravishing and textured, and tonally cutting and icy — which, along with weighty performances, are all Fincher hallmarks. But there's both depth and distance to Mank. Its shadowy monochrome images, as shot by Mindhunter alum Erik Messerschmidt, dance across the screen. The Jazz Age score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is just as delightful. Oldman's certain-to-be-Oscar-nominated portrayal demands attention, and Seyfried's luminous efforts prove the best kind of surprise. And yet this movie about a man observing and interrogating a particular world, made by someone doing exactly that, always feels like it should be more intimate and resonant. It peers in and pokes about, but it never wholly lures the audience in — and watching Oldman and Seyfried's rich scenes together, viewers will wish it did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSfX-nrg-lI&list=PLsRQmb9N_1G9EZgWWwmSyr_fS0nrjZOBA
Following Australia's wettest summer in four years, the Bureau of Meteorology predicted an equally rainy autumn was on the cards for the east coast, with above-average amounts of rainfall touted to fall across the region. If you live in the area, you're probably quite aware that the climate is well and truly living up to that prediction, with a dark and wet start to March that's only expected to worsen — especially in Sydney over the next three days. According to BOM's forecast, the New South Wales capital is expected to be hit with anywhere up to 220 millimetres of rain between Thursday, March 18–Saturday, March 20. A high-pressure system in the Tasman Sea will create a coastal trough, bringing heavy rain to Sydney, as well as to the Hunter Valley and northern NSW from Friday and into Saturday. Heavy rainfall, strong and gusty winds, large waves and a chance of thunderstorms are all forecast for the NSW coast across the weekend. https://twitter.com/BOM_au/status/1372066510399709185 Further north, a heavy rainfall warning with possible flash flooding has been issued for the mid north NSW coast, including areas like Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie. In Queensland, the central highlands has already experienced heavy rainfall, with 200-plus millimetres of rainfall being recorded in some parts of central Queensland, leading to evacuations and rescues. These wet conditions have been pushing into the Brisbane metropolitan area, where it has already been rainy for a couple of days. Showers are expected to continue right into next week — at least — with up to 25 millimetres of rain on Saturday, March 20 and possible thunderstorms impacting the area over the weekend. Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino has predicted wet weather across the country over the next eight days, with rainfall predicted to impact every state, and warnings of possible flooding. https://twitter.com/Ben_Domensino/status/1372030326596276224 If you need to head out, don't forget to pack your umbrellas and raincoats — and keep an eye on the warnings. As the weather conditions continue to develop, stay up to date with the latest forecast and weather warnings via the Bureau of Meteorology.
When Sofia Coppola won this year's best director prize at Cannes, it was only the second time a woman had claimed the category in the festival's 71 outings. Nominated for the same award at the 2003 Oscars, she became only the third female to even get a nod (Kathryn Bigelow's history-making win for The Hurt Locker was still six years away). As a female filmmaker – even one who is part of a Hollywood dynasty – Coppola exists a world where women are trapped by circumstances beyond their control, but remain determined to break free of their confines. It's little wonder that her movies concern characters doing the same, depicting their struggles in astute, impassioned, eye-catching fashion. Inquisitive minds and longing hearts striving to shatter gilded cages: this is Coppola's cinematic specialty. It proved true with The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, Somewhere and The Bling Ring – indeed, if someone once told Coppola to show what she knows, it would appear that she took their advice and ran with it. With The Beguiled, she adds the inhabitants of a civil war-era girls school to her growing squad of ladies seeking something other than the life they've been saddled with. To her resume, she adds a handsome period piece that doubles as a scathing satire. In the second big screen version of Thomas P. Cullinan's novel A Painted Devil (following a 1971 Clint Eastwood vehicle), the violence of the civil war finds the women of Miss Farnsworth's Seminary for Young Ladies left to their own devices. Headmistress Martha (Nicole Kidman) runs a tight ship, with teacher Edwina Morrow (Kirsten Dunst) assisting, giving pupils such as Amy (Oona Laurence), Jane (Angourie Rice) and Alicia (Elle Fanning) life and needlework lessons. Then wounded Union soldier Corporal John McBurney (Colin Farrell) wanders into the school grounds, forcing the group to reluctantly do the Christian thing by letting him rest and recuperate before they turn him in. The expression "a fox in the henhouse" might seem to apply here, as stereotype-reinforcing as it can be. But Coppola doesn't let a predator loose; rather, she uses an outsider as a catalyst to show just what lurks inside her dollhouse. That said, the eyebrow-arching Kidman, yearning Dunst and flirtatious Fanning are much, much more than mere playthings for the film and their gentleman guest, although that doesn't stop him from trying to worm his way into their hearts and nightgowns. Beneath the school's meticulous veneer, the women react to the sudden male presence in their midst, with desire cutting both ways (sometimes literally). The result is a smart, savvy exploration of lust and power in the long-running battle of the sexes. It's also a film that refuses to conform to expectations, just like its protagonists. While every inch the Coppola movie (complete with music by Phoenix), The Beguiled is as much a genre flick about the interplay of sex and violence as it is a nuanced drama about restraint, a textured character study of its fenced-in figures, and a razor-sharp comedy of manners. Within her candle-lit, painterly frames springs a feature that couldn't be more alluring yet tenacious and rebellious, nor more appropriately so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxUXvbqgdN0
Queer Screen presents the Mardi Gras Film Festival, giving Sydneysiders their only chance to see these films on a big screen. Hosted at Event Cinemas George Street, this 15-day festival celebrates queer identity on screen in the lead up to the famous Mardi Gras parade on March 7. With nearly 50 feature films plus short programs, MGFF is bulging with content. Intergenerational lesbian drama Tru Love and multi-storied Mexican tale of gay acceptance Four Moons are sold out, but Boys and The Way He Looks are charming and sweet tales of teen romance from the Netherlands and Brazil respectively. Equally sweet but far more sexually explicit and hilarious is the documentary Peter De Rome: Godfather of Gay Porn. On the more erotic side is the latin sex odyssey I Am Happiness on Earth, while Lyle is a Rosemary’s Baby tribute. Meanwhile, Mala Mala, American Vagabond and Out in the Night are hard-hitting documentaries about the conflicts that still face LGBT people across the world. There are even screenings of Brokeback Mountain, Frozen and Aussie cult classic The Set. Image: The Way He Looks.
Polo is a game with a long and noble history — a sport that was once a favourite with royalty and the aristocracy. However, this ancient horseback pastime has recently undergone a modern makeover. Urban Polo — a variant of the traditional sport designed to be more spectator-friendly — returns to Sydney this November, with the popular Polo in the City event promising to bring the thrills and action of this revered game to the heart of the city. Originating in Australia in 2005, Urban Polo was created to bring the sport into the 21st century. Notable tweaks to regulations include a smaller field, a larger, minimum-risk ball and fast-paced gameplay, making the game as exciting to watch as it is to play. Polo in the City is the largest tournament of Urban Polo not just in Australia but anywhere in the world and it arrives in Sydney on November 9, 2024. Beyond the white-knuckle action on the field, the day has become an opportunity for spectators to show off their best pavilion finery, so it's little wonder that the annual event is a favourite with celebrities and influencers."Polo in the City is the only national polo asset in Australia with a strong focus on audience enjoyment, hospitality and corporate entertainment," says Polo in the City founder Janek Gazecki. "Our team continues to look at ways to maintain its tradition of innovation by creating the best experience for all stakeholders." While VIP experience are available, the aim of the event is to bring polo to the people and there's no better place to do this than from the Polo Lounge. A relaxed atmosphere with a great vantage point to view all the thrills on the field, the Lounge has a bar, live DJ sets and high-end dining options created by Shared Affair Catering. With the new Pony Menu and Polo Menu developed just for this event, you won't want to miss out on their delectable treats with drink packages to match. "We are excited to be returning in 2024 with a program that makes polo accessible for more Australians than ever before," says Gazecki.
"Player or watcher?" Nerve asks, and it's not an easy question to answer. The query may stem from the fictional dare-based game that gives the film its name, but there's no missing the real-world parallels. In these Snapchat-sending, Vine-streaming, Pokemon GO-playing times, this tech-savvy thriller feels relevant to the minute. With our lives increasingly lived through screens, our connections and conversations more often virtual than physical, and our days whiled away either posting selfies, or watching others do the same, the question needs to be asked: where do we draw the line? These are the big issues touched upon in Nerve, a film that's hardly subtle about the negative influence the internet has had on human behaviour. Thankfully, the film never tries to lecture millennials about their preferred pastimes. Instead, Catfish directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman keep toying with their favourite topics via a slickly and swiftly-told tale that never fails to entertain, even if the underlying narrative doesn't always stand up to scrutiny. But hey, when you're making a film about people doing reckless things for online fame and fortune, a certain number of illogical choices are to be expected. When Venus Delmonico (Emma Roberts) musters up the courage to participate in the live-streamed game, her spur-of-the-moment decision ends up being the first of many. The studious 17-year-old is motivated in part by the prize money she could put towards attending a Californian college, but also by a desire to venture beyond her comfort zone after being rejected by her football hero crush (Brian Marc). Kissing a stranger is Vee's first task, and when she locks lips with Ian (Dave Franco) in a diner, she discovers that he's playing the game as well. At first the viewing public seems eager for them to pair up, venture into New York, try on fancy clothes and get tattoos. But as the young duo begins to lure in more eyeballs, the dares become not just more lucrative, but more dangerous as well. Much of this movie's charms come from simply watching Vee and Ian roam around Manhattan, reacting to the challenges thrown their way and letting their mutual attraction flourish. Indeed, the film's first half doubles as a different take on the usual walk-and-talk movie date scenario. That Roberts and Franco make an engaging and enthusiastic pair helps; that Joost and Schulman are just as vibrant and energetic in their pacing and style does as well. Of course as enjoyable as it is watching the two lead actors race around attempting ridiculous feats, this effort about online entertainment isn't all fun and games. When Nerve wanders deeper into darker territory more akin to David Fincher's The Game, it's not always as successful – in fact, the feature's third act is positively silly. But by then, you're a watcher, and you can't tear your eyes away.
Often friendly foodie rivals, Sydney and Melbourne have been sharing a few fine eats of late. Following a highly successful pop-up at Bondi Iceberg's, Melbourne’s chilli powder-encrusted fried chicken specialist Belle’s Hot Chicken is set to bring another pop-up to Sydney — this time picking Surry Hills' Harpoon Harry for one weekend only. BHC’s second Sydney pop-up will open for two tiny windows between 5pm to 10pm on June 6 and 7 for the Queen's Birthday long weekend (yep, we're overindulging in chicken for you, Big Q). That’s only ten short hours to stuff your face with Nashville-style, crunchy wings deep-fried in whisked cottonseed oil, butter, cayenne pepper and paprika (*drools*). Or perhaps you'd rather use the time for a religious experience with chilli-coated hot wings that will melt your face off (*coats mouth in wax a la Homer eating Guatemalan insanity peppers*). After you’ve gorged to satiation, you can kick back and digest with some of the BHC's best natural wines and tunes provided by Sydney DJs playing a mix of hip hop, soul, blues and funk on vinyl. These little visits affirm what seems to be a burgeoning love affair with Melbourne's fried chicken experts. BHC visited Bondi Icebergs at the end of last year, and Sydney's burger monarchs Mary's popped up at Belle's just a few weeks ago. With an intense catch-up every few months, this could be the start of a beautiful long distance relationship. Belle's Hot Chicken and Natural Wines pops up at Harpoon Harry on Saturday, June 6 and Sunday, June 7 from 5-10pm. Find Harpoon Harry at 40-44 Wentworth Avenue, Surry Hills. BYO bibs.
What begins in Milan, then heads to Puglia and the Italian Alps, plus Naples, Sicily, Tuscany and Rome, too? An impressive getaway, and also the 2023 Italian Film Festival. What dives into history, includes love and treasures, and also soul-searching journeys, stunning threads, labyrinths and great art? Again, a dream holiday, and also Australia's annual celebration of Italy's best and brightest on the big screen. This year, the latest of the nation's Europe-set film fests — see also: this event's French, Spanish, German and Scandinavian counterparts — will arrive from Tuesday, September 19, running until Wednesday, October 25 on its seven-stop tour of the country. Yes, the festival goes on a trip itself, hitting up Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Byron Bay. 2023's IFF will open with The Last Night of Amore, which is where the fest's jaunt to Milan comes in, and one of its thrillers as well. Making its Australian premiere after a successful stint at the Italian box office, writer/director Andrea Di Stefano's (The Informer) police flick stars Pierfrancesco Favino (The Hummingbird) as it tells of an about-to-retire honest cop facing a chaotic, crime-riddled, corruption-fuelled situation. Also among the event's spotlight flicks, Kidnapped sits in the centrepiece slot, recreating the tale of the Vatican's abduction of a young Jewish boy in the 19th century, plus as the scandal that unsurprisingly followed. As part of a focus on actor, filmmaker and screenwriter Massimo Troisi, 1994's The Postman, the talent's two-time Oscar-nominated final film, will close out the fest with a 50s-set whirlwind of love and friendship. There's more where they both came from — more special-presentation and special-event movies, and more of Troisi's work. First, the features getting some extra IFF love. Starring Josh O'Connor (Mothering Sunday) and directed by Alice Rohrwacher (Futura), La Chimera heads to 80s-era Tuscany as a British archaeologist gets caught up in ring selling stolen Italian wares — while Beautiful Boy's Felix van Groeningen shares directing duties with his The Broken Circle Breakdown co-screenwriter Charlotte Vandermeersch on The Eight Mountains, which stars Luca Marinelli (Martin Eden) and Alessandro Borghi (Devils), and won 2022's Cannes Jury Prize. Also, Burning Hearts dives into crime and revenge in black and white, Carravagio's Shadow features Riccardo Scamarcio (John Wick: Chapter 2) as the eponymous painter, and documentary The Genius of Gianni Versace Alive unravels its namesake fashion designer's career. With IFF's Troisi retrospective, viewers can see three more of his films: 1981 comedy I'm Starting From Three, his debut as both a big-screen actor and director; Nothing Left to Do But Cry, where he acts opposite and travels back in time with Roberto Benigni (Pinocchio); and the cinema-adoring Splendour, also featuring the late, great Marcello Mastroianni. And, there's also Mario Martone's (Nostalgia) doco Somebody Down There Likes Me, about his exploration of Troisi's movies. Elsewhere on the bill, Nanni Moretti (Three Floors) directs himself playing a director grappling with today's streaming reality in A Brighter Tomorrow; Strangeness enlists Toni Servillo (The Hand of God) as Literature Nobel Prize-winning playwright Luigi Pirandello; The First Day of My Life also features the prolific actor, this time in the latest effort from Perfect Strangers' helmer Paolo Genovese; and both Like Sheep Among Wolves and Prophets sit among the fest's thrillers. The list goes on, including the family-friendly Supernova and The Properties of Metals, plus comedies Orlando and My Shadow Is Your Shadow. And, there's the music-focused My Soul Summer featuring Italian X Factor-winner Casadilego. ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2023 DATES: Tuesday, September 19–Wednesday, October 18 — Palace Central, Palace Norton St, Palace Verona and Chauvel Cinema, Sydney Wednesday, September 20–Wednesday, October 18 — Palace Electric Cinema, Canberra Wednesday, September 20–Sunday, October 15 — Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas and Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas, Adelaide Thursday, September 21–Wednesday, October 18 — Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Pentridge Cinema, The Astor Theatre and Cinema Nova, Melbourne Wednesday, September 27–Wednesday, October 25 — Palace Barracks and Palace James Street, Brisbane Thursday, September 28–Wednesday, October 25 — Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX and Windsor Cinema, Perth Thursday, September 28–Wednesday, October 18 — Palace Byron Bay, Byron Bay The 2023 Italian Film Festival tours Australia in September and October. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website.
When Suicide Squad reached cinemas screens back in 2016, it garnered plenty of attention. Critics largely hated it, fans loved it and some folks tried to shut down Rotten Tomatoes because of it. Come awards season, it picked up an Oscar (for best achievement in makeup and hairstyling) as well as two Razzie 'worst' nominations. The divisive reactions just kept coming, although there were two things that almost everyone agreed on. Firstly, most people rightfully loathed Jared Leto's interpretation of the Joker. Secondly, the majority of viewers adored Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. While the DC Extended Universe hasn't gotten a whole lot right in its attempts to emulate the Marvel Cinematic Universe (see Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, for example), its powerbrokers did seem to pay attention to the super-sized Suicide Squad debate. In response, they're giving the world what it wants: more Robbie as everyone's favourite ex-psychiatrist turned antihero. In Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), Harley Quinn has moved on from the clown prince of crime (much like DC has moved on from Leto, at least for now, with Joaquin Phoenix playing the character in the new standalone Joker film). In the aftermath of their breakup, she rounds up a crew filled with other fearsome Gotham ladies — including Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), the Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) — to thwart supervillain Black Mask (Ewan McGregor). Directed by Cathy Yan (Dead Pigs), also co-starring Chris Messina and Ali Wong, Birds of Prey marks Quinn's first solo cinematic outing — and as the just-dropped first trailer shows, it's going big. When it hits theatres in February 2020, expect plenty of colour, chaos and formidable gals wreaking havoc, in what's been rumoured to be the first in a Quinn-focused trilogy. With Suicide Squad getting a sequel in 2021, confusingly titled The Suicide Squad and helmed by Guardians of the Galaxy's James Gunn, the pigtailed prankster definitely isn't leaving screens anytime soon. Check out the trailer for Birds of Prey below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SuGhiVLUrM Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) will hit cinemas in Australia and New Zealand in February 2020.
When Chloé Zhao adds her contribution to the Marvel Cinematic Universe later this year, the history-making Oscar-winner won't merely be leaping into a blockbuster franchise. With Eternals, the Nomadland filmmaker will unveil Marvel's next crew of superheroes — ancient and immortal alien beings who've been working in the shadows for thousands of years after arriving on earth via an eye-catching spaceship. Led by Ajak (Salma Hayek, Like a Boss), these heroes are now forced to band together again to save the world from an evil threat. The catalyst: the events of a little film called Avengers: Endgame. So, it's standard MCU stuff, at least on paper. But with Zhao the helm, the film doesn't look or feel like your average Marvel movie — at least based on the very brief sneak peek at the flick a few weeks back, as well as the movie's just-dropped first trailer. Also battling it against an enemy called The Deviants: Ikaris (Richard Madden, Game of Thrones), Sersi (Gemma Chan, Captain Marvel), Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani, Stuber), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff, Sound of Metal), Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry, Godzilla vs Kong), Sprite (Lia McHugh, Songbird), Gilgamesh (Don Lee, Ashfall), Druig (Barry Keoghan, Calm with Horses) and Thena (Angelina Jolie, Those Who Wish Me Dead). One GoT star is never enough for any movie, so Kit Harington also features, presumably knowing little. Ajak and her pals might've spent much of their past trying to blend in — "throughout the years, we have never interfered," she notes in the trailer's voiceover — but when they're not disguising themselves as humans, they certainly don superhero outfits and unleash quite the array of superpowers. Eternals is one of four MCU movies set to drop in 2021, alongside Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the latest Spider-Man flick. It's also Zhao's first feature after the vastly different film that's been winning her so much praise this year, as well as her first leap into the blockbuster realm. And, the filmmaker's visual sensibilities definitely shine through so far — even though she's working on a far bigger scale than seen in her first three movies. Check out the trailer below: Eternals opens in cinemas Down Under on November 4.
There’s death, leaping and sword-brandishing aplenty, but it takes more than that to coax a reluctant king back onstage. Edward II is not a monarch particularly revered by history. Sandwiched between Edwards I and III, both admired in their own right, Edward II was a man undeniably born to greatness. Upon his ascension to the throne, however, he ruled as one who had had it thrust upon him and, moreover, did not particularly warm to the task. Unfortunately, something similar might be said of Sport for Jove’s latest offering, directed by Terry Karabelas. This ensemble definitely mean business but are unable at crucial moments to wring the gravitas or complexity from their characters that the play demands. When Edward ascends the throne, England is at a precarious point in its history. Wales is recently conquered, the Scots continue to resist conquest and the French, though dormant of late, are always a decent chance of popping in for a skirmish. Nevertheless, Edward makes clear, much to the dismay of his advisors, that his royal priorities lie much closer to home, more specifically in the region of his pants. Edward’s first order of business is returning his exiled lover, Piers Gaveston, to court. From there, Edward eschews his office in order to engage in a thoroughly adolescent affair while England goes to pot and his scandalised coterie gossip and scheme. Virtually everyone meets a sticky end. Christopher Marlowe — with a script as full of historical omissions, conflations and embellishments as any of Hollywood’s dalliances with history — gives Edward a proper flogging over the two-hour duration. This Edward is a lacklustre shirker, unable to govern his own desire, let alone a fledgling empire at war. Julian Garner captures this quality but has difficulty managing Edward’s descent into abject despair. James Lugton’s Mortimer and Georgia Adamson’s Isabella are a solid duo throughout — the former gravely hopping over a few corpses on his way to the top, the latter a spurned queen who turns to Mortimer for love but ends up clinging to him for power. A moody lighting design by Ross Graham and sound by David Stalley frequently get the wobblier scenes over the line. Cold and warm lighting are used very effectively in establishing significant location changes, from a chilly morning at the docks to a candlelit convent. Strains of choral music that drift from the medieval murk imbue the work with a sense of sadness and portent, while the soundscapes of battle and cannon attacks evoke an urgency and fear that seem to be largely lacking in the performances. Karabelas’s direction produces some great moments; Isabella’s refusal to accept the candle that Edward offers her at his coronation nicely foreshadows their marital problems, while Gaveston chancing a kiss with Isabella in the corridors feels quite spontaneous and real. Ultimately, though, Edward II feels like it needs more room to breathe. There is epic tragedy to be had here, but death and mourning, love and treachery all whizz past in what I suspect is an effort to keep the duration to two hours.
Two new platforms are about to join Australia and New Zealand's ever-growing streaming landscape: dedicated horror service Shudder and prestige film and TV outlet Sundance Now. Both are run by AMC Networks, the American company that's also responsible for producing and airing shows such as Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Mad Men and The Walking Dead. While Shudder focuses on all things suspenseful and spooky, Sundance Now — which, as you would've spotted, shares its name with a certain high-profile US film festival — focuses on award-winning movies, including documentaries and foreign-language flicks, plus drama, comedy and true crime television series. Exactly when they'll launch is yet to be announced, although both will be up and running in Australia and New Zealand by the end of this year. If you like paying for things upfront rather than monthly, you'll be happy to know that they're available in other countries, such as the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Germany and Austria, for an annual fee. Local pricing is yet to be revealed, but Shudder costs US$4.99 per month and $49.99 per year elsewhere, and Sundance Now costs US$6.99 per month and $59.99 per year. If you already have a Netflix or Stan subscription and you're wondering whether you really need to add another, perhaps the platforms' specific programming will tempt you — including new additions such as 80s-set horror Summer of 84, gory French effort Revenge and Indonesian supernatural thriller Satan's Slaves on Shudder, plus true crime docuseries Cold Blooded and Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle on Sundance Now. Shudder's classic horror game is also strong, should you like watching old scary movies, while Sundance Now boasts plenty of top international TV series. Given that some of the respective platforms' content already makes its way to our shores anyway — a selection of shows on Sundance Now air in Australia on SBS, for example — how existing rights deals might affect their Aussie and New Zealand lineup hasn't been revealed. For more information about the two platforms, and to keep an eye out for local launch dates, head to the Facebook pages for Shudder and Sundance Now. We'll keep you updated with news as it comes to hand.
"It's a city vibe, full of grounded and hard-working people, full of diversity and incredibly artsy. The buzz you get in this part of Sydney is the closest buzz we get in the streets of Mexico. Opening up a street-food concept could only make sense in this environment." That's what Maiz Owner Juan Carlos Negrete told Concrete Playground when the restaurant opened in 2021. After two years in its historic Newtown digs, the beloved venue has moved one street over, looking to broaden the ambitions that the team laid the foundation for on King Street. Under a neon-pink sign, you'll find the sparkling new outpost for beloved Inner West Mexican diner. Taking over the former home of Hartsyard terrace on Enmore Road, the Sydney favourite has brought a sprinkling of fine-dining and a heap more fun to the sophomore edition of the restaurant. With pristine white walls and a sizeable bar, the atmosphere is a little different at the new outpost — designed with the help of GURU Projects, who have worked on other local stunner after Longshore, Londres 126, Maydanoz, Shaffa and Ezra. But, the same city-best Mexican food is still here in spades, with an affordable set menu, playful drinks list, and enticing brunch (including the return of a former Maiz favourite) all adding a little something to the offerings. The dinner menu features some returning faves and some new additions. There's a greater focus on share plates this time around, meaning you can drop in for a drink from the expanded beverage menu and a snack before heading to a show at Enmore Theatre. Maiz has even teamed up with Yulli's to celebrate the opening with a special corn cerveza, available on tap. Kick off your night with slow-cooked beef tongue, a cheesy quesadilla frita, hibiscus flower al pastor, and totopos paired with guacamole and topped with grilled onions, charred jalapeños, chilli oil and optional crispy tripe crackling. Confit duck with your choice of mole and beef cheek barbacoa lead the mains, alongside a adobo-, Oaxaca cheese- and pineapple salsa-topped octopus tostada. Or, you can opt for the very reasonable $65 set menu, which will run you through a welcome shot of mezcal, flavour-packed sweet corn soup, totopos, market fish ceviche tostadas, your choice of main and a seasonal Mexican ice block for dessert. On Tuesdays, the regular menu is done away with, with a Tostada Tuesday menu taking its place. Each tostada will set you back $7–9, with five flavours on offer: pollo tinga, barbacoa, carnitas, ceviche and Jamaica al pastor. And, Mexican brunch is back and better than ever. Beloved during the first lockdown, Maiz's tortas have returned to the Saturday menu. The hefty Mexican sandwiches are packed onto a fresh bolillo roll, with fermented cabbage, chilli mayo and charred salsa, plus your choice of beef brisket barbacoa, veggie chorizo or marinated grilled skirt. [caption id="attachment_817101" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Maiz by Debbie Gallulo[/caption] Also on the brunch menu: a few faves from dinner and central Mexican brekkie treats like the tlacoyo divorciado — corn flatbread with black beans, eggs, salsa, cream, onion, queso fresco and chilli oil. And, if you want to make it boozy, there's a bottomless set menu available for $89 per person, which includes 90 minutes of free-flowing wine, beer and margaritas, plus a spritz on arrival and a brunch spread. It's the Maiz that you know and love — the one that landed on our best restaurants in Sydney list — in a space that has room for more creativity from Negrete and the team. "As a chef and as a creative, I'm definitely one to shake up things a little bit and play with new things," says Negrete. "We're really looking forward to staying here for five-plus years." Maiz is now located at 33 Enmore Road, Newtown. Head to the restaurant's website for more information and to make a booking. Images: Debbie Gallulo
Sydney Fringe Festival has today begun to unveil the details of its 2019 program, which will be both its 10th anniversary and its most ambitious to date. From 1–30 September, the state's largest independent arts festival will head to the CBD for the first time, taking over the three-storey City Tattersalls Club. It'll be transformed into a multi-faceted events and arts space with three theatres, a pop-up basement bar and a multi-level dance party. Held on the closing weekend, Dance All Night will culminate in a Footloose-inspired flash mob (time to schedule a re-watch and start practising your dance moves). At the other end of the program, on September 7, there'll be a Dance All Day event in Leichhardt, where you can literally do just that — spend the day dancing with some of the country's (and the world's) best dance instructors and performers. Sydney's CBD is one of the areas impacted by the city's strangling lockout laws, which have contributed to the closure of bars and live music venues. While there have been other efforts to revitalise the area, Sydney Fringe CEO and Festival Director Kerri Glasscock said in a statement that the festival is thrilled to help "bring life back to the streets" and "continu[e] Sydney Fringe's passion for enlivening Sydney's unused spaces and providing audiences unique experiences". Glasscock has previously criticised and proposed solutions to the government's "onerous red tape" that is "strangling Sydney's creative sectors" in a report released last year entitled An Anthology of Space. [caption id="attachment_724701" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sydney Fringe Festival's 2018 Fringe Club.[/caption] As well as heading to CBD, the festival will also descend on a slew of other postcodes. There'll be more than eight hubs spread across the city, including one in Western Sydney, a new one in Paddington (with events held underneath Oxford Street's Verona Cinemas), an Emerging Artist Hub at Erskineville Town Hall, a Comedy Hub at the Kings Cross Hotel and an excitingly named Circus Hub in Lillyfield run in collaboration with with physical theatre company Legs on The Wall. In Lillyfield, we're promised a "world premiere development season of a new immersive experience" — we'll let you know when more details drop on that. The full lineup will not be announced until August, but Glasscock is calling it "our most ambitious festival program to date". If it is indeed bigger than last year's festival — which had over 400 shows in more than 60 venues in 21 postcodes — it's going to be huge. Start clearing your calendar for September. Sydney Fringe Festival will run from September 1–30. The full program will drop in August — we'll let you know when it does. Top image: Seiya Taguchi.
More than just a movie about robots battling monsters, Pacific Rim is one of the past decade's big-budget gems. It's a creature feature that isn't afraid to feel, or to match its big action scenes with big ideas and a big heart. Considering that the film was directed by Guillermo del Toro, that's hardly a surprise. As The Shape of Water demonstrated, the Oscar-winning filmmaker excels at telling rich, intricate tales that contemplate fantastic beasts and the relatable reactions they inspire. Viewers were treated to the same thing in Cronos, Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth as well. With del Toro opting to produce rather than direct Pacific Rim Uprising, however, it's hardly surprising that the sequel doesn't reach the same winning heights. Where the first film turned its Transformers-meets-Godzilla concept into a blend of earnest emotion and smart spectacle, the follow-up is content to adhere to mindless blockbuster formula. If the initial flick built a textured and thoughtful world, this one just rampages through it. Sadly, it does so with the same force as its jaegers, the human-powered giant robots at the movie's centre — and the same bluster as its kaiju, the alien creatures that emerge from the earth's core. Set ten years after the events of its predecessor, Pacific Rim Uprising shifts its focus to Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), son of Idris Elba's "cancelling the apocalypse" hero from the last movie. Jake is happy partying in the ruins of Los Angeles and scavenging old jaeger parts to sell on the black market, but when one scrounging mission attracts the attention of the authorities, he's forced to re-enlist as a jaeger pilot. He has company thanks to orphaned teenager Amara Namani (Cailee Spaeny), whose pint-sized homemade machine got them into trouble in the first place. With no kaiju to fight, their service under the stern Nate Lambert (Scott Eastwood) should be routine. Then, just as corporate head Liwen Shao (Jing Tian) is pushing for jaeger drones, a rogue robot pops up in Sydney and starts wreaking havoc. Don't worry, kaiju play their part — but people-piloted jaegers pummelling remote-controlled jaegers comprise a large portion of Pacific Rim Uprising. First-time feature director Steven S. DeKnight ramps up the action scenes, sticking with what he does best given his background on TV's Spartacus: Blood and Sand and Daredevil. And, to his credit, he does it well. Unlike Michael Bay's aforementioned fighting-robot franchise, the film's set pieces impress. They're smoothly choreographed rather than distracting and chaotic, even if Brisbane (where the movie was largely shot) can't convincingly sub in for Tokyo. Still, what Pacific Rim Uprising lacks is anything more than a boilerplate story or run-of-the-mill characters. Just a couple of decades ago, flicks like this were commonplace — sequels that jettisoned most of their main cast and creatives, trotted out a flimsy approximation of their predecessors, and didn't take things too seriously. Pacific Rim Uprising might have a US$150 million budget, but it still feels like an '80s and '90s-era, direct-to-video sequel in the vein of Tremors 2 or From Dusk Till Dawn 2 — right down to the cartoonish performances from its handful of returning players (Rinko Kikuchi, Burn Gorman and Charlie Day). And like those films, it's not without its very modest pleasures. Boyega oozes the same charm that served him so well in Attack the Block, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, while one character's arc is so ridiculous that it can only be entertaining. If only we could say the same thing about the movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rU5wYV6X8s
The year was 2005. The album: Hold Your Colour. That's when Pendulum hit the big time, and also why. The Perth-born drum-and-bass group not only became a homegrown sensation with their debut record and its tracks 'Slam', 'Tarantula' and 'Fasten Your Seatbelts', but made it into the UK Top 40 Singles Chart as well. Now, the year is 2023. Almost two decades after that breakout album, the Perth-born electronic favourites are breaking out their latest Down Under tour. Five stops, two countries, plenty of echoing arenas: that's what's in store when Pendulum play Australia and New Zealand in October, including on Friday, October 13 at Hordern Pavilion in Sydney. This'll be the first time that the band has performed across either country since 2021. Pendulum won't just be giving Hold Your Colour's tunes a whirl, but also songs from 2008's In Silico and 2010's Immersion. Expect to hear new single 'Halo' featuring Bullet for My Valentine singer Matt Tuck get a spin, too. Currently comprised of Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillien, Peredur ap Gwynedd and KJ Sawka, Pendulum heads home with experience playing huge overseas festivals such as Glastonbury, Creamfields, Coachella, Rock Am Ring, Reading and Leeds, and also recently headlining Ultra Miami. The band went on hiatus from early 2012, with Swire and McGrillien focusing on side project Knife Party, before starting to reunite in 2015. Joining Pendulum on their latest Aussie and Aotearoa tour: fellow Perth-bred drum and bass talent ShockOne, aka Karl Thomas. Images: Luke Dyson.
The Murray River is already looking forward to welcoming a luminous new addition, with Field of Light artist Bruce Munro set to descend upon the border region near Lake Cullulleraine with his new two-part installation Light/State. But before that, the river will play host to a different kind of dazzling showcase, lighting up the night around 450 kilometres further east. Award-winning arts festival Moama Lights will make its return from Friday, June 30–Sunday, July 23, blazing brightly across the Murray region that's home to both New South Wales' Moama and its Victorian neighbour Echuca. And when it comes time to plan your visit, you'll find a swag of deals on accomodation and experiences for the Murray and surrounds over on Concrete Playground Trips. Back for its third instalment, the event's showpiece is a luminous trail of light and sound that'll envelop Moama's Horseshoe Lagoon with a brand-new serve of large-scale projections and striking installations, all sharing stories from across the region. After dark from Thursday–Sunday each week, you'll be able to rug up and immerse yourself in the multi-sensory display, which is once again the work of renowned design studio Mandylights. But that's not all — this year's festivities will be even grander than usual, with an ice-skating rink popping up at the nearby Kerrabee Soundshell from Saturday, June 24 and running for the duration of Moama Lights. You can take a spin from $17 per person. What's more, the legendary beer garden at Echuca's American Hotel will be going off with a bang each night with festival programming of its own, and there'll be plenty of entertainment and food trucks to round out the winter fun. Moama Lights will return to Moama and surrounds from Friday, June 30–Sunday, July 23. Hit the website to see the program and buy tickets. Images: Murray River Council.
Deploying comedy as a coping mechanism, Vice turns an entire chapter of US history into a joke — of sorts. You could say that the George W. Bush administration achieved that very feat itself, but that's not the gag. Rather, Anchorman, Step Brothers and The Other Guys' filmmaker Adam McKay adopts the "well you might as well laugh" approach. The period spanning 2001 to 2009 was rife with deeds and decisions that still rightfully evoke ire today, so Vice bundles it with humour to explore what really went on. It worked for The Big Short to the tune of an Oscar win and four other nominations, including a best director nod for McKay. But it's nowhere near as effective in the writer-director's similarly topical follow-up. Honing its gaze not on the famously laidback Bush (Sam Rockwell), but on his Vice President Dick Cheney (Christian Bale), Vice is an entertainingly made picture. Like its predecessor, it's impassioned, irreverent, designed to get audiences angry about both the past and the present, and so stuffed with stylistic tricks that it's almost overwhelming. Sometimes an intermittently seen narrator (Jesse Plemons) delivers insights to viewers. Sometimes text splashes information across the screen in varying fonts. Mid-movie, credits even start rolling over a fake happy ending to satirise standard biopic conventions. The flourishes keep coming, raising a smile each time, including a scene where the government's main players decide how to carve up Iraq by ordering from a menu rattled off by Alfred Molina. Unfortunately, McKay is so busy telling his tale in an amusing, ironic, gimmick-ridden fashion that he forgets to do more than state the obvious. Seen swigging drinks as a college dropout, then snaking his way through the political ranks, then scheming to expand and consolidate his influence, Cheney is a slippery figure in Vice. Long before he's the Vice, his vice is alcohol — but an ultimatum from his sweetheart Lynne (Amy Adams) puts him on the path to several offices in the White House. His mentor Donald Rumsfeld (Steve Carell) helps, though it's Cheney's ability to work any situation to his advantage that keeps his star rising. Two specific moments seen in the film sum up his evolution. On his first day as a congressional intern, he aligns himself with the Republican party solely because he's impressed with Rumsfeld's buffoonery. Decades later, when asked to become Bush's running mate, he only agrees after ascertaining just how much power he'll be able to usurp. Ruthless, opportunistic, manipulative and determined to advance his own interests above all else: that's Vice's portrait of Cheney, and it's far from pretty. As portrayed by Bale, however, the Machiavellian figure is a sight to behold. Sporting a hunch and a paunch, speaking in gravelly grunts and side-eyeing everyone around him, the ever-committed actor turns in another transformative performance. Indeed, it's a performance that makes viewers feel as if they know what makes Cheney tick beyond his unspoken lust for control, glory and pulling everyone's strings. With Adams suitably steely as Cheney's wife, Rockwell as loose as a Florida party as Dubya and Carell channelling a smarter, more obnoxious version of The Office's Michael Scott as Rumsfeld, Bale is also in very good company. Still, Vice doesn't reach the heights that it's clearly aiming for, or those reached by its stars. Spinning a story about a man who fell just short of his country's highest office, that almost seems fitting. There's an air of smugness about the film, which makes many compelling points but does so in much too self-satisfied a manner. And, as engaging as the movie's romp-like style may be, it makes its case in much too cartoonish a manner too. Virtually at the outset, McKay tells the audience that American citizens just don't want to concern themselves with the ins and outs of government, which is partly how the country's political mess came about. And yet, he both points out and perpetuates that exact same idea. A gleeful surface-level examination of Cheney's chicanery, Vice assumes that viewers who didn't already know the details couldn't — and wouldn't — care without the movie's glossy, jaunty packaging. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i_iDqkQqtI
UPDATE, NOVEMBER 13: SBS Viceland has confirmed that it'll screen Brooklyn Nine-Nine's seventh season from Friday, February 7, 2020 in Australia. The below article has been updated to reflect this announcement. The fine fictional detectives of Brooklyn's 99th precinct have long held a soft spot in sitcom viewers' hearts, but that hasn't always proven the case for TV's powers that be. After airing on America's Fox network for five seasons between 2013–2018, the show was cancelled in May last year — only to be picked up for a sixth season by rival US channel NBC just 31 hours later. That 18-episode sixth season finished airing back in May, screening on SBS Viceland in Australia. Thankfully, the show was renewed for a 13-episode seventh season in March — and, if you've been missing everyone's favourite comedic cops, as well as their Die Hard gags and 'title of your sex tape' jokes, it now has a 2020 release date. Yes, Brooklyn Nine-Nine fans can't utter "noice" fast or often enough. Or, as Andy Samberg's Jake Peralta would say: cool cool cool. The sitcom will return on Thursday, February 6 in the US — which is Friday, February 7 in Australia — with an hour-long season premiere. Aussie fans have been very fortunate in recent years, with SBS dropping new episodes in line with their US screenings, and that'll continue in 2020. https://twitter.com/nbcbrooklyn99/status/1192882629671997440 Breaking out a celebratory yoghurt, Terry Jeffords-style, is definitely in order. If you're more like Captain Raymond Holt, perhaps you'd like to treat yourself to a trip to a barrel museum. Or you could channel your inner Gina Linetti and dance about your happy feelings. However you choose to mark the news, it's worth it. Brooklyn Nine-Nine's seventh season will start airing from Friday, February 7, 2020, Australian time on SBS Viceland. Via Deadline / SBS.
The Good Place might've just finished its third season, but Netflix isn't done serving up smart existential laughs just yet. The streaming platform's latest series once again tasks its protagonist with wondering what this whole life business is all about — however, in Russian Doll, New Yorker Nadia (Natasha Lyonne — who you'll most likely recognise from Orange Is the New Black) is forced to relive her 36th birthday shindig over and over again. While getting stuck at a celebration in your own honour will sound like a literal party to most folks, that's not Nadia's path. Co-created and co-written by Lyonne, Amy Poehler and filmmaker Leslye Headland (Bachelorette, Sleeping with Other People), this eight-episode show takes its acerbic, misanthropic lead character through the kinds of twists and turns that are really best discovered by watching. Her closest pals (Greta Lee and Rebecca Henderson), friendly ex (Yul Vazquez), wise aunt (Elizabeth Ashley) and cute roaming cat all feature, and so does a determined but neurotic guy (Charlie Barnett) who lives around the corner. If you're getting strong Groundhog Day vibes, then you're on the right track. Netflix is even launching Russian Doll on Friday, February 1 — aka the day before this year's real-life Groundhog Day, which will be celebrated on February 2. That said, this isn't just a rehash of a movie about rehashing the same events, even if the series does have plenty of fun with its concept. Examining fate, logic, life's loops and wading through limbo in a clever and compelling way, Russian Doll is dark, heartfelt, hilarious and inventive all at once. And, although the do-over premise has become a well-established trope on both the big and small screens, the series never feels like it's relying on a gimmick. Like its name, this is a layered effort that keeps revealing new charms, as does Orange is the New Black's Lyonne. Of course, Netflix has played with branching narratives already this year, all thanks to Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. While Russian Doll lets Nadia choose her own way through her repeated days, it isn't a choose-your-own-adventure affair for viewers — but, in a nice little coincidence, Nadia is a computer game programmer. While you're waiting for the show to drop its entire first season, check out Russian Doll's two trailers below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHcKoAMGGvY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPELCYFK-Wg Russian Doll hits Netflix at 6pm AEDT / 5pm AEST on Friday, February 1. Image: Netflix.
The February instalment of Firstdraft’s dynamite exhibition program features four Sydney-based and rurally engaged emerging artists. Siân McIntyre and Alex Pye explore notions of Australiana and Australian identity through mixed media, sculpture and performance, with their respective bodies of work titled Circular Settlements and Cumnock: The Musical!. In the second and fourth gallery spaces, Laura Moore (Framed) and Christopher Handran (Aqueous Humour) examine photography, the lens and framing through various approaches, shedding light on experiences of immersion, sensation, spectacle and the everyday. Opening night for February at Firstdraft is on Wednesday, February 4, from 6-8pm.
When season five of The Crown arrives in 2022, it'll continue to explore a part of royal history that's been talked about for decades: the difficult marriage between Princess Diana and Prince Charles. As part of the show's latest change of cast, Tenet's Elizabeth Debicki will play the former, The Pursuit of Love's Dominic West will step into the latter's shoes, and the acclaimed Netflix series will tease out the details — but, on the big screen, the Kristen Stewart-starring Spencer will get there first. This isn't quite a twin films situation — where two movies about the same or similar topics appear around the same time, like Armageddon and Deep Impact in the 90s, Finding Nemo and Shark Tale in the animation space, and the two Fyre Festival documentaries in 2019 — but only because The Crown is a TV show and Spencer is a feature. Otherwise, there will indeed be two different takes on the tale hitting screens small and large in short succession. In Spencer's case, it hails from Pablo Larraín, the Chilean filmmaker who has never made a bad film — see: his recent masterpiece Ema — and also directed Natalie Portman to an Oscar nomination in Jackie. In both of these movies, he's honed in on complex women in difficult situations, one fictional and one factual, and shown a stunning eye for emotion and detail. And, based on the just-dropped teaser trailer for Spencer, that isn't going away in his next feature. After last appearing in films as varied as Underwater, Charlie's Angels, Seberg and Happiest Season, Stewart plays Diana in 1991, at a time where her relationship with Prince Charles (Jack Farthing, Official Secrets) is struggling, but the royal family has gathered together for Christmas. Spencer focuses on a few specific days, as rumours swirl about affairs and divorce, and Diana attempts to navigate the obviously complicated situation. Timothy Spall (The Party), Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water) and Sean Harris (Mission: Impossible — Fallout) also co-star, and the film will premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September ahead of its US release in November. When it'll hit Down Under hasn't yet been announced. Check out the trailer below: Spencer releases in US cinemas on November 5, and doesn't currently have a release date Down Under — we'll update you when one is announced.
These days, whenever an old pop culture commodity comes back in a new guise, it's easy to feel complacent. It happens all the time, whether it's a classic franchise receiving its second reboot, a cult 80s movie making the leap to the small screen or a huge TV hit jumping into prequel territory to continue its story. But if you're a fan of a certain undead-killing late 90s and early 00s television show, you'll know that great things can start this way. It's the path that Buffy the Vampire Slayer took, after all. Based on the 1992 movie of the same name, the Sarah Michelle Gellar-starring series might just be the finest example of a film-turned-TV show — well, it's definitely the best example in the high school-set vampire genre — as the world came to learn across seven seasons that initially aired between 1997–2003. Buffy has remained a cult favourite ever since, and plenty of devotees still have the huge DVD collections to prove it. Now, binging your way through the whole show is as easy as heading to Australian streaming platform Stan. As part of a deal with Disney that's also brought How I Met Your Mother, Sons of Anarchy, Grey's Anatomy and Family Guy to the service, all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are available to stream. Whether you now know what you're doing this summer, have your after-work viewing planned for the foreseeable future or are planning to devote many a weekend to a rewatch, it's all there — from Buffy's arrival in Sunnydale, to her romantic fondness for brooding vamps Angel (David Boreanaz) and Spike (James Marsters), to all the hijinks that the Scooby Gang got up to while living on top of a hellmouth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1v_q6TWAL4 Because this is a series that, fittingly, no one wants to die, a Buffy spinoff was announced back in 2018 — however, to date, it's yet to come to fruition. There's nothing quite like the original Joss Whedon-created show, though, even if it wasn't the very first take on the feisty character. Grab your stakes, line up a range of suitably garlic-flavoured snacks and get ready for a whole world of small-town, high school hell — with vampires, demons, witches, plenty of dark forces, wise watchers like Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) and Wesley (Alexis Denisof), and, of course, Buffy's besties Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and Xander (Nicholas Brendon). All seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are now available to stream on Stan.
Bringing together skilled orchestral musicians from across Australia, Alternative Symphony takes the same approach as Britain's acclaimed orchestral group No Strings Attached. And, for its next big shows, the troupe is set to perform the work of hip hop greats with a classical slant. On Friday, December 11 at Moore Park's Max Watts, the Alternative Symphony will give the hits of Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac the orchestral treatment, all while guest vocalists step in to reimagine verses. The rappers, considered two of the most significant and influential emcees of all time, were famously the focal points of the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry, which spawned an endless supply of antagonistic diss tracks. At this one-off orchestral experience expect to hear hits like 'California Love', 'What's Beef?', 'Changes', 'Mo Money Mo Problems' and 'Thugz Mansion' played on violins and saxophones. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wBTdfAkqGU The Alternative Symphony has previously tackled the songbooks of Dr. Dre and Daft Punk. Tickets are available from Oztix or head to the event's Facebook page for further details.
Attached to the awesomely named Eat Your History exhibition that spreads across the Sydney Living Museum properties, is the My Food History talks series. Yup, chatting and food. Two of the best things in life. The exhibition looks at Sydney’s foodie culture (way before pop-ups and food trucks) of the years spanning 1788 up to the 1950s. Think convict-style cuisine at Elizabeth Farm right up to something a little more posh at Elizabeth Bay House. And the talks reflect this, ranging from curator conversations to chefs talking about the history of their families’ cookbooks, their culinary roots, their Aussie restaurants and more. Anna Wong talks about Chinese food alongside host Barbara Sweeney (Sydney Morning Herald food writer) on January 15, Darren Simpson (UK’s Young Chef of the Year aged 21) explores his culinary roots in Northern Ireland on October 16, and hatted chef David Tsirekas chats about his Greek heritage (relating to food, naturally) on November 13. TV chef Adam Liaw (December 11), Martin Teplitzky (February 5) and Brescian-born chef Alessandro Pavoni (March 5), also feature in the series. It’s time to have a chat with your good mate, food.
What's the best part about making the most expensive film ever produced in a country of over one billion people? One word: 'extras'. All the computer wizardry in the world can't compete with the visual feast that is thousands of actual humans teeming across a screen with balletic precision, especially when they're dressed like Terracotta Warriors after a Taubmans Colour Chart treatment. Red archers, purple foot soldiers and blue 'crane spear wielders' form the basis of China's secret Great Wall defence, and they're an absolute delight to behold throughout famed director Zhang Yimou's first English language epic of the same name. The concept of a giant wall built to keep out illegal aliens receives more of a literal rendering in this supernatural saga that sees China's army pitted against waves of other-worldly beasts. Spawning from a distant, meteorite-affected mountain, these grotesque monsters inexplicably only attack the wall once every sixty years. Just as curious is China's determination to keep the threat a secret from the rest of the world. Thrust into the mix are western mercenaries William Garoi (Matt Damon) and Pero Tovar (Game of Thrones' Pedro Pascal), whose perilous search for the fabled 'black powder' of the Chinese alchemists sees them stumble unwittingly into the middle of this centuries-old conflict. Fears of another Hollywood 'white-washing' are, however, quickly dispensed with, for it's the Chinese who consistently prove to be the smarter, braver and more honourable participants in both life and in battle. It's refreshing, certainly, but hardly a surprise, for in addition to 'extras' there's another critical, one-word answer to the original question posed: 'audience'. Hollywood's increasing flirtation with a US-Chinese cinematic co-op stems in no small part from the desire to access one of the largest movie-going markets in the world. At a cost of $135 million, The Great Wall represents the first out-and-out attempt to make that union a reality. Damon might be a big deal in the West, but in The Great Wall he's surrounded by some of the biggest names in Chinese entertainment, including Zhang Hanyu, Eddie Peng, Kenny Lin Gengxin, Jing Tian and K-Pop star Lu Han. The problem with a film (and cast) of this size, however, is that it comes at the expense of character. None of the principals receive anything more than a cursory backstory and even less of an arc moving forward. The Chinese generals are unflinching archetypes, while the westerners are, for the most part, untrustworthy slaves to greed. The consequence is a lack of emotional investment on the part of audiences, who'll respond to each new death with pronounced apathy. Given The Great Wall's style and setting, comparisons with Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers are both fair and inevitable, and – at least visually – Zhang's film more than meets the challenge. Its costuming, in particular, sets it amongst the finest we've seen in a long time, yet its threadbare characters and generic plot leave much to be desired. Whether such an expensive gamble ultimately pays off for the movie's producers, only time will tell. Still, as the first major step in cinema's US-China alliance, there's at least enough here to offer reserved optimism for the future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avF6GHyyk5c
UPDATE, February 12, 2021: The Big Sick is available to stream via Netflix, Google Play, YouTube Movies and Amazon Video. On paper, The Big Sick sounds like the standard kind of rom-com that's been made countless times before. Guy meets girl, sparks fly, only for roadblocks to get in the path of true romance... yep, we all know how that story goes. Not only that, but given the film depicts star and writer Kumail Nanjiani's real-life courtship with his co-scribe and now-wife Emily V. Gordon, we actually know how this specific story ends as well. Still, there's plenty to like about the sweet, sincere and heart-swelling details and detours that this emotionally insightful gem offers up along the way. When we first meet Kumail, he's a standup comic slogging it out in Chicago. Fame remains a distant dream, as does making a living out of comedy, but at least his set strikes a chord with grad student Emily (Zoe Kazan). While neither of them are really looking for love, their one-night-stand soon becomes something more. There are one or two complicating factors, however. For starters, he can't bring himself to tell her that his Pakistani parents expect him to have an arranged marriage, any more than he can bring himself to tell them he's fallen for an American. But that's just a minor speed bump compared to the mysterious condition that renders Emily comatose for much of the movie's second and third acts. The Big Sick isn't being poetic or ironic with its title, even if a heady dash of romance can feel a bit like an illness. Instead, it's an accurate description of the film, which largely revolves around Emily's sickness, and the uneasy dynamic between Kumail and her parents (the always excellent Holly Hunter, and a surprisingly great Ray Romano). That it manages to make a thoughtful and earnest rom-com out of some of the worst experiences a person can go through is a testament to the movie's success. Life is chaotic, bodies fail, relationships are hard, and this film does't shy away from any of it. Truth be told, the further that Nanjiani and Gordon's script gets into the tumultuous early days of their romance, the messier and more surprising everything becomes. Crucially, director Michael Showalter (one of the creative forces behind Wet Hot American Summer) manages to layer cultural, generational and interpersonal clashes with dating banter, medical drama, family tensions and twenty-something existential dilemmas. In his hands, a film that could have come across like a Judd Apatow-produced version of '90s Sandra Bullock vehicle While You Were Sleeping instead proves a textured, multifaceted example of rom-coms at their very best. It's also worth giving The Big Sick credit for getting the best out of its leading lady, even while she spends much of the film's running time in a coma. Though Emily's illness stems from reality, it still could have easily felt like a cheap ploy – a way to keep the focus on the male protagonist. Yet that's never the case here, in large part because Kazan makes such a lasting impression when her character is conscious. This may be Nanjiani's life story, but his performance wouldn't feel nearly so honest — or the movie so authentic — without Kazan making sure we're all as enamoured with Emily as he is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO5fXEczlGQ
What happens when one of the most-beloved fantasy tales adds singing and dancing? In 2025 in Australia, theatregoers heading to The Lord of the Rings — A Musical Tale will be able to find out. The stage production layers tunes into JRR Tolkien's iconic story, including as its hobbits go on perilous Middle-earth adventures. A Sydney season was announced back in August — and now Melbourne and Perth are also locked in for a musical LoTR journey. On screens big and small for decades so far (and into the future, with more TV episodes and movies on the way), hobbits have trekked, ate second breakfasts and attempted to project precious jewellery. Onstage Down Under from January, they'll also be marking an eleventy-first birthday, receiving a gold ring, taking a quest to Mordor and attempting to fight evil in The Lord of the Rings — A Musical Tale. The Harbour City season at the State Theatre comes first, followed by a stop at Crown Theatre in Western Australia from March, then a Victorian stint at Comedy Theatre that starts in April. Dating back to 2006, just after the original live-action movie trilogy, this stage musical was revived in the UK in 2023, opened in the US in July 2024 and will hit New Zealand this November before crossing the ditch. Your guides for the show are the hobbits, of course, as Frodo and company celebrate Bilbo Baggins, then depart The Shire upon a life-changing journey. Thanks to Tolkien, what occurs from there has enthralled audiences for 70 years now, with The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers initially hitting bookshelves in 1954. There's been no shortage of ways to indulge your Lord of the Rings love since Peter Jackson's features — including his Hobbit trilogy — helped fan the flames of pop culture's affection for Frodo, Samwise, Pippin, Merry and the franchise's many non-underground-dwelling characters. Cinema marathons, visiting the Hobbiton movie set, staying there overnight, hitting up pop-up hobbit houses, sipping hobbit-themed beer: they've all been on the agenda. Only The Lord of the Rings — A Musical Tale is combining all things LoTR with tunes and dancing, however, in a show that sports a book and lyrics by from Shaun McKenna (Maddie, La Cava) and Matthew Warchus (Matilda the Musical, Groundhog Day the Musical), plus original music by Slumdog Millionaire Oscar-winner AR Rahman, folk band Värttinä from Finland and Matilda the Musical alum Christopher Nightingale. The Australian cast has also just been announced, including Rarmian Newton as Frodo Baggins, Wern Mak as Samwise Gamgee, Jeremi Campese as Merry and Hannah Buckley as Pippin. Laurence Boxhall is playing Gollum, Andrew Broadbent steps into Elrond's shoes and Terence Crawford is Gandalf — with Rohan Campbell as Boromir, Stefanie Caccamo as Arwen, Rob Mallett as Strider, Connor Morel as Gimli, Conor Neylon as Legolas, Jemma Rix as Galadriel, Ian Stenlake as Saruman and Ruby Clark as Rosie, too. The Lord of the Rings — A Musical Tale Australian Dates 2025 From Tuesday, January 7 — State Theatre, Sydney From Wednesday, March 19 — Crown Theatre, Perth From Monday, April 21 — Comedy Theatre, Melbourne The Lord of the Rings — A Musical Tale is touring Australia from January 2025. Head to the production's website for further details and to sign up for the ticket waitlist. Images: Liz Lauren.
It's a claim made by another animation powerhouse and their bricks-and-mortar wonderlands; however, for fans of Studio Ghibli, the beloved company's Japanese museum might just be the happiest place of earth. Not only does it celebrate the gorgeous on-screen work created by the studio — with Ghibli never making a bad movie yet — but it brings everything from My Neighbour Totoro and Laputa, Castle in the Sky to Porco Rosso and Kiki's Delivery Service to life. Understandably, that's made the Studio Ghibli Museum a must-visit place for travellers to Tokyo, with the site located on the western side of the metropolis, in Inokashira Park in Mitaka. But, unless you've actually made the trip to go there, the extent of its delights aren't that widely known, with photography forbidden once you're onsite. That means that Ghibli fans have heard about the museum's cute little cinema with bench seating, its eye-catching stained-glass windows based on the company's films, its towering spiral staircase, and the exquisite detail evident in the site's wallpaper, signage, fixtures and more — but those yet to pop by probably haven't seen it for themselves. Until now, that is, with the Studio Ghibli Museum newly opening its doors to fans virtually, all via a series of online video tours. With the venue currently temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic — and with a reopening date not yet announced — Ghibli aficionados can still get their fix via the studio's YouTube channel. The videos are brief, each roaming through a different part of the museum, but they firmly showcase just how adorable the entire place is (something we can confirm from our own visits). A new video drops each week, with seven online at the time of writing — and plenty of the museum's highlights yet to be featured. Remember, this is the place that boasts an entire Catbus room, complete with a giant Catbus that kids (but not adults) can play on. Check out a glimpse at the Studio Ghibli Museum building – including its rooftop garden and its Totoro-inspired windows — in one of the venue's videos below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaX15taUGFY To check out the Studio Ghibli Museum's videos, head to the site's YouTube channel. Top image: George N via Flickr.
If you've lived in Sydney for a while, you've surely spent a late night (or many) at the Oxford Art Factory. Throughout the years, the live music stalwart has seen Australian and international acts such as Lady Gaga, Chet Faker, Tame Impala and Matt Corby grace its stage alongside up-and-coming musicians from across the country. [caption id="attachment_793715" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Andre&Dominqiue via Destination NSW[/caption] Despite the hard hit to the live music industry during the pandemic, the Oxford Art Factory managed to bounce back stronger than ever and has now racked up 16 years of incredible gigs and dance parties. To celebrate, the Darlinghurst establishment is hosting a free birthday bash on Saturday, September 16. You can expect a big night with tunes from Cash Savage and The Last Drinks, The Southern River Band, Caitlin Harnett & The Pony Boys, Velvet Trip, Girl and Girl and many more. You'll also be greeted with a free beer upon entry (while stocks last), so make sure you're there before they run out. RSVP at Oxford Art Factory's website — note that RSVP does not guarantee entry.
A lineup of talented local emerging artists is taking over 107 Projects on Friday, August 14 for new art event Cold Weather Hunting Lodge. With mulled wine flowing, gourmet toasties toasting, and soundtrack courtesy of Junkyard Beats and Post Paint (for just $15 on the door), this promises to be a cosy grown-up affair. Art-makers such as Isabel R, Yeliz Yorulmaz, Mie Nakazawa and Sydney Collage Society will be in attendance, selling their labours of love. There’ll also be roaming and interactive performances, and plenty of opportunity to play adult and buy some art to pretty up your spaces. Works on sale will range in price from zines that set you back mere coinage, to labour-intensive works of fine art going for no more than $300. The folk behind the Lodge reckon they’re onto something big with all of the artists on the lineup, so who knows? This could be your chance to get your hands on an early work from a future art world heavyweight — or just a nice night out spent amongst pretty things made by clever people.
