As work continues on Manly Wharf's $9 million dollar makeover, its two second-storey restaurants — initially announced in 2016 — finally have an opening date. Yet another instalment of Rockpool Dining Group's Fratelli Fresh and Sake Restaurant and Bar are set to open in the brand new space in August this year. This opening marks the fifth Sake location — with a sixth expected to open in Paramatta's Phillip Street precinct in 2020 — and the eight location for Fratelli Fresh, with another set to open in Darling Harbour this June. They'll join Hugos and Queen Chow when it opens this year to replace Papi Chulo in the always-busy Manly Wharf dining precinct. The revamped spaces will boast floor-to-ceiling harbour views and al fresco dining, along with new lifts, a private staircase and a joint lobby. The group — which was formed when Urban Purveyor Group acquired Neil Perry's Rockpool Group — has certainly made good on its promise of rapid expansion. It currently has 57 venues to its name, and over the past 90 days alone, has signed more than 15 new leases. Eleven venues are expected to open across Australia before August this year, including Munich Brauhaus in Brisbane, six new Bavarian outposts across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland and a new "premium" burger concept called Burger Project Black Label, which is slated to open in the Sydney CBD this May. Another (currently unannounced) eight openings are expected before the end of the year. So if you think these restaurants are everywhere already, you'll only be seeing more of them. Fratelli Fresh and Sake are expected to open at Manly Wharf in August 2018. We'll keep you updated on any new details. Image: Hpeterswald via Wikimedia Commons.
'Whip' Whittaker (Denzel Washington) wakes up in a hotel room, disentangles himself from last night's paramour, Katerina (Nadine Velazquez), surveys the wreckage of liquor bottles, does a line of cocaine, argues with his ex-wife, then heads to his day job. As a commercial pilot. While his co-pilot, the straitlaced Ken Evans (Brian Geraghty) thinks something is amiss with Whip, it is smooth sailing as Whip pulls off an audacious move to get the plane through some bad weather then rewards himself with a mid-flight vodka and orange juice. Then things start to go very, very wrong. In one of the most gripping set pieces seen on the big screen in years, the plane finds itself in trouble and not responding to any of the usual fixes. It is soon plummeting towards earth and the passengers and crew resort to panic and prayer. Whip, however, remains cool and in a brilliant piece of quick thinking, inverts the plane to take much of the force out of the landing. The manoeuvre mitigates what could have been complete calamity and when the wreckage is surveyed, only six people have lost their lives. After such a bold start, the film moves into the more familiar territory of addiction drama, but there is far too much complexity and moral nuance here for the film to be anything less than intriguing. It is revealed the plane wasn't properly maintained and was an accident waiting to happen. Whip's audacious actions were not performed in spite of his state of inebriation but actually because of it. Another pilot, one free of drugs and alcohol, could not have done what he did and saved as many lives as he did. He meets heroin addict Nicole (Kelly Reilly) in hospital, and the pair are soon shacked up at a secluded cottage, hiding from the world. But when the legal ramifications of the crash ramp up after Whip has a testy meeting with Hugh (an excellent Don Cheadle), a driven criminal lawyer who is confident he can have Whip's toxicology report thrown out as evidence, he falls back off the wagon, skulling vodka with a vengeance and hatching plans to escape to Jamaica in a small plane. Whip's actions become increasingly pathetic as his supporters try to curb his powerful self-destructive streak and keep him from having a public meltdown before the hearing that will hopefully clear his name for good. Still, he insists he drinks because he wants to. He's had years of practice at getting away with it and finds himself on the brink of freedom. If Flight loses its nerve somewhat in the closing minutes, it only serves to cast the truthful and arresting drama that has come before in an even brighter light. Featuring one of the best performances in Washington's career, it's a tough and taut film which asks questions that linger long after its closing credits.
Having recently spent a crazy couple of months living in Berlin, the news of East Berlin club Salon Zur Wilden Renate installing a real life maze in the two-storey abandoned building comes as no surprise. With the intention of creating an other-worldly, ethereal experience, the Peristal Singum labyrinth uses confined spaces to confuse your sensory perceptions, where one visitor at a time is forced to crawl, duck, and slide to their salvation. Prepare for a lucid mind where your whole metaphysical being is questioned while disproportionately-sized objects create the illusion of fantasy characters that roam rooms that seem smaller than they actually are. There is no marked pathway, so drinking too much prior to entering may not be the wisest of ideas. Peristal Singum
We think, as humans, that our past is behind us, our future is in front of us and our present is with us, when in fact it is all in flux and with us at the same time. This realisation is one of the first to occur to Melita Rowston's characters in Crushed, currently on at New Theatre's Spare Room in association with Chester Productions. Kelly (Lucy Miller) — known as Jelly Kelly in her youth due to her, uh, weight issues — has returned to her home town to reignite the campaign to find her best friend, Susie, who went missing 22 years ago. She meets with two former high school lovers and friends, Jason (Jeremy Waters) and Dazza (Sean Barker), to form the worst kind of high school reunion. The interesting part of this play is how it explores the functioning of memory. Malleable white matter changes the past in our minds — and for these three, it changes their plea. Kelly remembers her best friend Susie differently from how the boys do. Arguing over Susie's favourite flowers and her favourite band and discovering that she set up her first sexual encounter, Kelly sees things come to light that she had never imagined. There is a lot to be said in this play and it doesn't fully deliver, from the inquest to the unrequited love and, of course, the running-away-from-the-past motif. I found it hard to empathise with the characters and their hardships. Whether it was to do with perhaps forced or rushed development or the fact that the characters were themselves confused, I didn't truly feel for them. That said, the actors were focused the whole time and entertained the audience (especially the front row). There's also a beguiling set that morphs between a memory landscape, a bus stop and a police interrogation room, and makes interesting use of screens. I did find myself wanting to know what happened to young Susie, merely a sweet 16-year-old offering her cherry on a late night. Running for 90 minutes without an interval, Crushed is short, sweet and does the independent theatre scene proud.
Newtown lamington revolutionary Tokyo Lamington is collaborating with Sydney coffee roaster Stitch Coffee to celebrate International Coffee day on Friday, October 1. The two beloved locals are coming together to offer International Coffee Day goodie bags that feature two new flavours of lamingtons and a sneak peek at Stitch's new drip coffee bags. The limited-time lamington flavours are a cinnamon coffee cake with cafe latte cream, cinnamon coffee jelly, vanilla sponge, white chocolate and cinnamon dip and gingerbread cookie crumbs; and a mandarin coffee lamington made with natsu-milkan curd, whipped caramel coffee, a mandarin coffee-soaked sponge, meringue and mandarin zest. Both flavours use Stitch's brand new Colombian cinnamon and mandarin coffee. Inside the $20 packs, you'll find one of each of these special-edition lamingtons and two drip coffee bags, one of each of the new flavours. Head to either Tokyo Lamington on Australia Street or Stitch Coffee's Broadway store from Friday until Sunday to try the new lamingtons and coffee.
For 31 years, the Woodford Folk Festival has been a staple of south-east Queensland's event calendar, gifting the region with an annual array of music, arts, culture, creativity, camping and mud. As other festivals have come and gone around the country, it has remained an end-of-year mainstay, as well as a must-attend event for fest lovers; however that might not always be the case. Just days after the 2016/17 event wrapped up, Festival Director Bill Hauritz has announced that Woodford faces an uncertain future as a result of the strain being placed on the fest's infrastructure. This year saw audiences grow by more than five percent to reach 132,000 patrons over six days, with patrons flocking to see more than 2000 acts, performers and speakers across 438 events, including Paul Kelly, Gang Of Youths, Adalita, Amanda Palmer and Methyl Ethel. "It has been a most beautiful festival in almost every way but our future is unclear," said Hauritz in a statement. "This festival is becoming a hub for creativity attracting some great minds. It's been an inspiration for many of us," he continued. However, with growing crowds comes growing problems, as he also explained. "Raw water storage, and dusty and broken roads took the edge off what was a truly wonderful event. Dust was a big problem we have to fix, and the roads – they're just not up to required standards. That's just the beginning of our infrastructure issues." What happens next is yet to be determined, though given the massive amount of love and support Woodford Folk Festival receives — including from interstate attendees, with a third of festival visitors hailing from outside of Queensland — it's certain that everyone involved will be working to ensure the fest continues. The festival certainly has the backing of Moreton Bay Regional Council Mayor Allan Sutherland, who has called for more government funding. "With such a successful year of festival attendance and camping numbers – it has never been more important for all levels of Government to provide funding support and certainty to Woodfordia Inc. to turn Woodfordia into a destination worthy of ongoing national and international acclaim," he said. "Funding will be vital to ensure this site receives much needed infrastructure upgrades including permanent staging, toilets and amenities, dust control, roads, and camping space for this iconic Australian festival and Woodfordia itself to grow and flourish." Image: Woodford Folk Festival.
Like karaoke? Fond of singing in public in general, whether you're solo or in a group? Then it's time to up your crooning game. Pub Choir is exactly what it sounds like — aka a gathering of folks belting out a tune, together, in a bar. It's basically what happens whenever someone puts 'Wonderwall' or 'Weather With You' on the jukebox, but in a more organised fashion. Specifically, each session features a particular song, which attendees learn in three-part harmonies. Talented professionals are there to show you the ropes and lead the way, and if you're wondering what you'll be singing, it's usually announced 24-hours beforehand. Doing the rounds of Brisbane venues since early 2017, Pub Choir has become mighty popular — and now it's headed to Sydney. Come Wednesday, September 11, the Enmore Theatre will come alive with the sound of plenty of folks singing and sipping, because both go hand-in-hand here. It'll also feature Ben Lee leading away, plus a selection of other special guests. And, if you're not usually the type of person to unleash their inner Beyonce in front of the masses, don't worry. The great thing about choirs is that everyone is singing, so you are literally a voice in the crowd. In fact, you might just find joining in the fun cathartic. If you can't feel free when you're crooning along with hundreds of others, when can you?
More than 40 firefighters have flocked to put out a fire at Surry Hills barbecue joint Porteno. Reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, the blaze started on the roof of the Cleveland Street restaurant. Cleveland Street is shut down from Crown to Elizabeth Street, with the public warned to stay away from the area. For now, it appears the blaze has been contained. Update, 9pm: The SMH is reporting that 21 staff were in the building at the time the fire broke out, and all evacuated it unharmed. Duty Commander for City of Sydney Kernin Lambert said that about 80% of the restaurant was saved, but the fire was in the kitchen and is believed to be related to the kitchen exhaust. "It's going to be out of service for a long time," he said. You can show your and your stomach's ongoing support for Porteno at their Double Down Diner pop-up with Gelato Messina in Hyde Park. Image: Rima Sabina Aouf.
The Bright Autumn Festival is a ten-day celebration of the changing of the seasons and the explosion of colours and flavours that accompany it. The festival, on from April 27 to May 6, brings together a programme of events dedicated to the autumnal produce of the High Country's valleys and the alpine scenery as the trees change from green to vivid gold and amber. Are you nuts about nuts? Then the Wandiligong Nut Festival is your opportunity to join in with the growers celebrating the harvest. On April 28 you can wander their market stalls picking up new-season nuts, fruit, wines, oils and other treats. It's the only nut festival in Australia, and the smell of the ultimate autumn nut — the chestnut — fills the air as it roasts on open cookers. Not sure what to do with your Wandi nut haul? The festival also hosts talks on how to peel and cook chestnuts, how to make chestnut hummus and pancakes, and lots of other nut-related topics. Any good road tripper knows you need souvenirs for family, friends and your fine self. For that, the Wandiligong Autumn Craft and Produce Market has got you covered. Open every day of the festival between 10am and 4pm, it showcases locally grown produce and handcrafted goods — think hand-dyed scarves, cushions, blankets, handmade cards and jewellery, along with edible souvenirs (which somehow never seem to make it home?) like homemade jams, preserves and fudges. For a real country experience, get along to the Gala Day on Saturday, May 5, when the streets of Bright are closed for one of the region's biggest community festivals, or wander 17 of the area's usually private gardens, which are opened up from April 27 to May 6 so you can appreciate their autumnal aesthetic. To plan your trip to the Bright Autumn Festival and the High Country region beyond, head to the Wander Victoria website and explore what's on this season.
It just got a whole lot harder to pick your weekend yum cha spot, with the newly opened Duck & Rice announcing its own regular breakfast dumpling session. This one, however, is bottomless. The 500-seat Cantonese restaurant sits high on the top of Westfield Sydney in Pitt Street Mall. Opening its doors in June this year, it boasts an expansive outdoor terrace, Asian-inspired cocktails and, now, a very tempting weekend yum cha deal. Running every Saturday and Sunday from September 7, the bottomless yum cha menu will constantly change, but you can expect to catch loads of delicious treats to the tune of roast duck, Szechuan-style cuttlefish, Yangzhou fried rice, garlicky kai lan (chinese broccoli) and a selection of dim sum and desserts. The all-you-can-eat sitting is restricted to one hour, between 11am–3pm each day, and will set you back $50 a pop. To make a booking, head to the Duck & Rice website. Images: Steven Woodburn
Along with delivering quintessential Southern hospitality, Memphis is the destination that allows you to walk the brick-lined streets that witnessed the astronomical talent — and unprecedented ascent to fame — of Elvis Presley. The birthplace of rock 'n' roll, and home of blues and soul, is all electrifying energy and originality. This June, Baz Luhrmann is bringing the bright lights, creative flair and distinct directorial prowess he's known for to the euphonious history of Memphis with Elvis. The energetic and emotionally charged film charts the rise (and rise) of Elvis Presley (Austin Butler), celebrating the inimitable musician's music and life against the backdrop of an evolving cultural climate in 1950s and 60s America. Using the lens of Presley's relationship with his enigmatic manager Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks), the bold picture tells a story of musical self-expression and monumental stardom — and the coinciding loss of innocence that was broadcast on a global stage. As hips shook, money was made and a rock 'n' roll icon immortalised. https://youtu.be/xSbQ_ERfmFQ To celebrate the release of Elvis in cinemas Thursday, June 23, Memphis Tourism is giving you the chance to win two tickets to the Australian premiere on the Gold Coast — which is where the feature was shot — on Saturday, June 4. To be in the running to rock and roll your way to the red-carpet experience, enter below. [competition]851551[/competition] Top images: Hugh Stewart (first two); Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures (third) © 2022 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved.
In the underworld of street art, few events can match the adrenalin-charged battle that is Secret Wars. Drawing battle lines between rival artists, this once secret tournament has made a dash for the surface to host the upcoming final between two of Sydney's most skilled street artists. After a furious rise to the top, both artists Houl and Creon have let paint fly, leaving nothing but a broken brush in their wake and for the last time are ready to step up and make their mark. But if you haven't been paying attention, here is how it works: two artists are placed side by side, whether in a hotel foyer or an abandoned meat factory. They battle with black acrylics on a fresh white canvas. Their time is 90 minutes — no pencils, no preparation. The winner is crowned by two guest judges and the all-important crowd vote. You can imagine it's like watching Michaelangelo at work, that is if he painted in the local tavern against his enemy Bramante surrounded by hooligans dissing his brush-stroke. We saw the paint fly with Houl in the semi's, but can he pull it off against Creon for the title of Secret Wars champion?
One of Sydney's great city parks is Parramatta Park, which takes in 85 hectares of greenery. See the best of it from two wheels on a cycle around the Parramatta Park Loop. This easy, 3.2-kilometre route passes through pretty grasslands and mature treescapes, as well as spending some time by the river. Be sure to check out Grey-Headed Flying Fox Camp, which is home to around 5000 endangered creatures. To extend your adventure, follow the connecting cycle path, which leads to Sydney Olympic Park along the Parramatta River. Image: Destination NSW
A jaunt around Victorian-era Europe, a destination wedding in Sydney or hopping between Greek islands? Animated ducks or a kingdom based around wishes? An affecting true tale of heroism or superhero fare? Cinemagoers of Australia, they're among your choices on the annual movie calendar's release day to end all release days. That'd be Boxing Day, which always packs picture palaces with new flicks, plus eager audiences keen to see them. Indeed, along with hitting the sales, enjoying the beach and recovering from your Christmas food coma, seeing a movie on December 26 is a yearly tradition. Feel like you're spoiled for choice? Not sure which film should tempt you out of the summer sun and into an air-conditioned darkened room? Keen to see a few movies, but don't know where to start? Thanks to Boxing Day's hefty array of newcomers, plus Wonka still a fresh arrival on big screen, there's plenty of picks. We've watched them all — and here's our rundown. POOR THINGS Richly striking feats of cinema by Yorgos Lanthimos aren't scarce. Sublime performances by Emma Stone are hardly infrequent. Screen takes on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein couldn't be more constant. For Lanthimos, see: Dogtooth and Alps in the Greek Weird Wave filmmaker's native language, plus The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Favourite since he started helming movies in English. With Stone, examples abound in her Best Actress Oscar for La La Land, supporting nominations before and after for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and Lanthimos' aforementioned regal satire, and twin 2024 Golden Globe nods nods for their latest collaboration as well as TV's The Curse. And as for the best gothic-horror story there is, not to mention one of the most influential sci-fi stories ever, the evidence is everywhere from traditional adaptations to debts owed as widely as The Rocky Horror Show and M3GAN. Combining the three results in a rarity, however: a jewel of a pastel-, jewel- and bodily fluid-toned feminist Frankenstein-esque fairy tale that's a stunning creation, as zapped to life with Lanthimos' inimitable flair, a mischievous air, Stone at her most extraordinary and empowerment blazing like a lightning bolt. With cascading black hair, an inquisitive stare, incessant frankness and jolting physical mannerisms, Poor Things' star is Bella Baxter in this suitably wondrous adaptation of Alasdair Grey's award-winning 1992 novel, as penned by Australian screenwriter Tony McNamara (The Great, and another Academy Award-nominee for The Favourite). Among the reasons that the movie and its lead portrayal are so singular: as a character with a woman's body revived with a baby's brain, Stone plays someone from infancy to adulthood, all with the astonishingly exact mindset and mannerisms to match, and while making every move, choice and feeling as organic as birth, living and death. In this fantastical steampunk vision of Victorian-era Europe, London-based Scottish doctor Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe, Asteroid City) is Bella's maker. Even if she didn't call him God, he's been playing it. But curiosity, the quest for agency and independence, horniness and a lust for adventure all beckon his creation on a radical, rebellious, gorgeously rendered, gloriously funny and generously insightful odyssey. So, Godwin tries to marry Bella off to medical student Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef, Ramy), only for her to discover "working on myself to get happiness" and "furious jumping" — masturbation and sex — and run off to the continent with caddish lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law) instead. Read our full review. ANYONE BUT YOU Greenlighting Anyone But You with Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell as its leads must've been among Hollywood's easiest decisions. One of the rom-com's stars has been everywhere from Euphoria and The White Lotus to Reality of late, while the other is fresh off feeling the need for speed in Top Gun: Maverick. They both drip charisma. If this was the 80s, 90s or 00s, they each would have an entire segment of their filmographies dedicated to breezy romantic comedies like this Sydney-shot film, and probably more than a few together. Indeed, regardless of his gleaming casting, Anyone But You director and co-writer Will Gluck makes his first adult-oriented flick in 12 years — since Friends with Benefits, with Annie and the two Peter Rabbit movies since — as if it's still two, three or four decades back. The gimmick-fuelled plot, the scenic setting, swinging between stock-standard and OTT supporting characters: even amid overt riffs on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, they're all formulaically present and accounted for. So is the fact that Anyone But You's story always comes second to Sweeney and Powell's smouldering chemistry, and that most of its obvious jokes that only land because the pair sell them, as well as the whole movie. Bea (Sweeney) and Ben (Powell) meet-cute over a bathroom key in a busy cafe. That first dreamy day ends badly the next morning, however, with more pain in store when Bea's sister Halle (Hadley Robinson, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty) gets engaged to Ben's best friend Pete's (GaTa, Dave) sister Claudia (Alexandra Shipp, Barbie). Cue their feud going international at the destination wedding in Australia, then getting a twist when Bea and Ben pretend that they're together. They're trying stop their fighting ruining the nuptials, get her parents to back off from pushing for a reunion with her ex (Darren Barnet, Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story) and make his own past love (model-turned-acting debutant Charlee Fraser) jealous. Every expected narrative beat is struck, then, while nodding to other rom-com wedding flicks — My Best Friend's Wedding co-stars Dermot Mulroney and Rachel Griffiths play Bea's mum and dad, with the latter also a Muriel's Wedding alum — and getting cheesily Aussie via koalas, endless shots of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House, and Bryan Brown (Faraway Downs) and Joe Davidson (Neighbours) playing the stereotypical parts. And yet, Sweeney and Powell ace their performances and rapport, and also couldn't be more watchable. Read our full review. ONE LIFE Nicholas Winton's "British Schindler" label wasn't invented for One Life, the rousing biopic that tells his story; however, it's a handy two-word description that couldn't better fit both him and the film. In the late 1930s, when the then-Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland was occupied by Nazi Germany, the London-born banker spearheaded a rescue mission to get children — mostly Jewish — out of the country. After being encouraged to visit Prague in 1938 by friends assisting refugees, he was so moved to stop as many kids as possible from falling victim to the Holocaust that he and a group of fellow humanitarians arranged trains to take them to England. The immense effort was dubbed kindertransport, with Winton assisting in saving 669 children. Then, in the decades that followed, his heroic feat was almost lost to history. In fact, it only returned to public knowledge in 1988 when his wife Grete Gjelstrup encouraged him to show his scrapbook from the time to Holocaust researcher Elizabeth Maxwell, who was married to media mogul Robert Maxwell. Smartly, One Life captures both remarkable aspects to Winton's story, flitting between them as it tells its powerful and stirring true tale. The film's jumps backwards and forward also allow room for two excellent performances, enlisting Anthony Hopkins as the older Winton and Johnny Flynn (Operation Mincemeat) to do the honours in his younger years. With The Two Popes, his Oscar win for The Father, Armageddon Time and now this, Hopkins has been enjoying a stellar run in his 80s. If matching one of Hopkins' great portrayals in a period filled with them — a career, too, of course — was daunting for Flynn, he doesn't show it. As with Kurt and Wyatt Russell on the small screen's Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, they're playing the same man but also someone who changes, as everyone does, through his experiences. Accordingly, a lively Flynn captures Winton's zeal and determination, while a patient Hopkins wears the haunted disappointment of someone who has spent half of their life thinking that he hasn't done enough. When he finally realises the full impact of his efforts, it's a devastatingly touching moment in a potent feature that looks the standard sombre part, but also knows that flashiness isn't what leaves an imprint in a story as important as this. AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM The DC Extended Universe is dead. With Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the comic book-to-screen franchise hardly swims out with a memorable farewell, hasn't washed up on a high and shouldn't have many tearful over its demise. More movies based on the company's superheroes are still on the way. They'll be badged the DC Universe instead, and start largely afresh; 2025's Superman: Legacy will be the first, with Pearl's David Corenswet as the eponymous figure, as directed by new DC Studios co-chairman and co-CEO James Gunn (The Suicide Squad). Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom ends up the old regime about as expected, however: soggily, unable to make the most of its star, and stuck treading water between what it really wants to be and box-ticking saga formula. Led by Jason Momoa (Fast X), the first Aquaman knew that it was goofy, playful fun. Its main man, plus filmmaker James Wan (Malignant), didn't splash around self-importance or sink into seriousness. Rather, they made a giddily irreverent underwater space opera — and, while it ebbed and flowed between colouring by numbers and getting entertainingly silly, the latter usually won out. Alas, exuberance loses the same battle in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Having spent its existence playing catch-up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DCEU does exactly that for a final time here. As with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, there's such a large debt owed to Star Wars that elements seem to be lifted wholesale; just try not to laugh at Jabba the Hutt as a sea creature. 2018's initial Aquaman used past intergalactic flicks as a diving-off point, too, but with its own personality — no trace of which bobs up this time around. Wan helms again, switching to workman-like mode. He's co-credited on the story with returning screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (Orphan: First Kill), Momoa and Thomas Pa'a Sibbett (The Last Manhunt), but there's little but being dragged out with the prevailing tide, tonal chaos and a CGI mess on show. Now king of Atlantis and a father, Arthur Curry has another tussle with Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Ambulance) to face, with his enemy aided by dark magic and exacerbating climate change. Only Aquaman teaming up with his imprisoned half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson, Insidious: The Red Door) will give the world a chance to survive. Even with an octopus spy and Nicole Kidman (Faraway Downs) riding a robot shark, a shipwreck results. Read our full review. MIGRATION It mightn't seem like Migration and Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget should be twin films. The first is Illumination's latest non-Minions effort. The second is the long-awaited sequel to 2000 claymation favourite Chicken Run. But this pair of animated movies is definitely the newest example of the long-running cinematic déjà vu trend. Past birds of a feather have included Antz and A Bug's Life, Deep Impact and Armageddon, Churchill and Darkest Hour, and Ben Is Back and Beautiful Boy — and oh-so-many more — aka pictures with similar plots releasing at around the same time. The current additions to the list both arrive in December 2023, focus on anthropomorphised poultry, and initially find their clucking and quacking critters happy in their own safe, insular idylls, only to be forced out into the scary wider world largely due to their kids. Chaos with humans in the food industry ensues, including a life-or-death quest to avoid being eaten, plus lessons about being willing to break out of your comfort zone/nest/pond. Famous voices help bring the avian protagonists to the screen, too — Elizabeth Banks (The Beanie Bubble) and Kumail Nanjiani (Welcome to Chippendales) are the parents in Migration, for instance, and Thandiwe Newton (Westworld) and Zachary Levi (Shazam! Fury of the Gods) in Dawn of the Nugget — although that's long been the industry standard in animation in general. If you've seen Chicken Run's return, then, Migration will instantly feel familiar. This is an instance of two studios hatching near-identical films that both have their own charms, however. With Migration, a voice cast that also spans Awkwafina (Quiz Lady), Keegan-Michael Key (Wonka), Danny DeVito (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and Carol Kane (Hunters) brings plenty of energy. As the key behind-the-camera talents, director Benjamin Renner (Ernest & Celestine) and screenwriter Mike White (yes, The White Lotus' Mike White) know how to enliven the narrative. That tale tells of mallards Mack (Nanjiani) and Pam (Banks), one nervous and the other adventurous, who follow another family from New England to Jamaica via New York City with their eager ducklings Dax (Caspar Jennings, Operation Mincemeat) and Gwen (first-timer Tresi Gazal), and cantankerous uncle (DeVito). But the Big Apple brings a run-in which a chef, after initially falling afoul of a flock of pigeons, befriending their leader (Awkwafina) and endeavouring to rescue the homesick parrot (Key) who knows the way to their sunny winter getaway. WISH Arriving in the year that Walt Disney Animation Studios celebrates its 100th birthday shouldn't mean that Wish needs to live up to a century's worth of beloved classics. And it wouldn't for viewers, even with the Mouse House's anniversary celebrations everywhere, if the company's latest film didn't bluntly draw attention to Disney hits gone by. Parts are cobbled together from Cinderella, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio. Not just fellow animated efforts get referenced; alongside shoutouts to Bambi and Peter Pan, Mary Poppins earns the nod well. Overtly elbowing rather than winking, directors Chris Buck (Frozen and Frozen II) and Fawn Veerasunthorn (head of story on Raya and the Last Dragon) plus screenwriters Jennifer Lee (another Frozen alum) and Allison Moore (Beacon 23) ensure that their audience has the mega media corporation's other fare in their heads. It's a dangerous strategy, calling out other movies if the feature doing the calling out is by-the-numbers at best, and it does Wish no favours. No one might've been actively thinking "I wish I was watching a different Disney movie instead" if they weren't pushed in that direction by the flick itself, but once that idea sweeps in it never floats away. While the importance and power of dreams is Wish's main theme, the film forgot to have many itself. If it hoped to be a generic inspiration-touting fairy-tale musical, however, that fantasy was granted. Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) and Chris Pine (Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves) star as teenager Asha and all-powerful sorcerer Magnifico, respectively. The latter created the kingdom of Rosas as a sanctuary to protect people's wishes, which hover in his castle — but he's stingy with granting them. When Asha discovers that the land's sovereign isn't as benevolent as he seems, then wishes on a star that becomes her beaming friend (and makes her goat Valentino talk, sporting the voice of Peter Pan & Wendy's Alan Tudyk), she decides to topple his rule and free the deepest desires of her fellow townsfolk. Oscar-winner DeBose brings her best to the movie's songs, which would've fallen flat and proven forgettable in anyone else's hands, but they're the most vivid part of a film that starts with the storybook cliche, leans too heavily on chattering critters and can't match its classic look with an instant-classic picture. TWO TICKETS TO GREECE Laure Calamy is heading away again. In Full Time, France's current go-to actor could only dream of a getaway. Around that career-best performance, however, she's trekked with a donkey in Antoinette in the Cévennes, enjoyed family reunions on Côte d'Azur island Porquerolles in The Origin of Evil and now holidays on the Balkan Peninsula in the likeable-enough Two Tickets to Greece. Her latest packs more than a few other familiar elements into its suitcase: chalk-and-cheese protagonists, midlife crises, confronting the past, seizing the future, reviving old friendships, making new pals and finding oneself. Writer/director Marc Fitoussi, who reteams with Calamy after Call My Agent!, knows that every trip swims or sinks based on the company, though. He explores that very idea in his narrative, and has the film live it via Calamy as the chaotic Magalie, Olivia Côte (The Rose Maker, and also in Antoinette in the Cévennes) as her strait-laced childhood bestie Blandine — who she hasn't seen for decades after a teenage falling out — and an against-type-and-loving-it Kristin Scott Thomas (Slow Horses) as the go-with-the-flow Bijou. Scott Thomas puts in such an earthy-yet-layered performance as Magalie's friend, who lives the island life in Mykonos with artist Dimitris (Panos Koronis, The Lost Daughter), that Two Tickets to Greece is a better movie once she's on-screen. It's a more-rounded film, relying less on an odd-couple dynamic — even though both Calamy and Côte perfect their parts. Fitoussi first introduces his main duo as high-schoolers (Les invisibles' Marie Mallia and Vise le coeur's Leelou Laridan) who obsessively adore 1988 diving drama The Big Blue. They only meet again as adults after Blandine's son Benjamin (Alexandre Desrousseaux, Standing Up) pushes them back into each other's lives out of worry for his divorced-and-unhappy-about-it mum. He's meant to be going to Greece with his mother, in fact, but soon the erratic and impulsive Magalie has his ticket. Their destination is Armogos, The Big Blue's setting, although every detour that can redirect the pair's sun-dappled path away from a stock-standard luxe hotel stay — ferry mishaps, cute surfers, dancing on restaurant tables, island-hopping, big fights, hard truths, health scares and the like — does. COUP DE CHANCE A stroke of luck starts Coup de Chance, befitting the name of this French-language romantic thriller-slash-farce from Woody Allen. On the streets of Paris, gallerist Fanny (Lou de Laâge, The Mad Women's Ball) is recognised by writer Alain (Niels Schneider, Spirit of Ecstasy), with the pair classmates during their school days abroad in New York. He had a hefty crush all those years back, he reminds her. Even in their first reacquainted encounter, it's plain to see that he still does now. Reminiscing leads to future plans to catch up, then to leisurely walks and sandwich-fuelled picnics in parks on her lunch breaks. And, with Fanny clearly unhappily married to flashy, self-made millionaire wealth manager Jean (Melvil Poupaud, One Fine Morning), who possessively and controllingly considers her a trophy more than a person, an affair springs, too. Cue the suspicions of Jean, complete with a private detective doing his snooping and a raging case of entitlement seeping from his pores. Cue Fanny's mother Camille (Valérie Lemercier, Aline) figuring out the situation, and getting involved as well. Also, cue Allen in familiar territory from 2005's Match Point, which was set in London rather than Paris. Only a non-French filmmaker would have his Parisian characters order foie gras and frogs' legs in a restaurant. Working in Europe almost by necessity, and a writer/director whose output will always lurk under a cloud, only Allen would make the movie's yearning romantic alternative a bookish sort called Alain that's his latest on-screen surrogate. But those cliches and box-ticking elements don't stop Coup de Chance from being his best film in some time — since 2013's Blue Jasmine, which won Cate Blanchett an Oscar — with considerable help from his cast. The helmer's 50th movie sports warm autumnal hues via cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (who also shot Cafe Society, Wonder Wheel and A Rainy Day in New York), a jazzy soundtrack, plus actors who can effortlessly ride the plot's conveniences, twists and constant musings on fate alike. That said, almost any filmmaker could point their lens de Laâge, Schneider, Poupaud and Lemercier's way with engaging results; however, Allen's first film in a language other than English is repeatedly buoyed by their presence.
As temperatures (finally) begin to drop and sidewalks become blanketed with layers of leaf-litter, its time to take things indoors. But rather than skipping straight to the wintery ritual of cozying up in front of the fireplace of your neighbourhood pub, we've found you the perfect autumn watering hole. A Surry Hills institution, The Winery welcomes the team from champagne house Perrier-Jouet for a residency you'll want to get along to. Le Jardin by Perrier-Jouet brings drinkers a Garden of Eden-inspired pop-up bar, complete with lush indoor greenery and plenty of champagne flowing. Grab a flute of Perrier-Jouet for $15, or wrangle together a crew and split a bottle for $89. Opening their doors from 5pm Thursday and Fridays, as well as Saturdays and Sundays from 3pm, Le Jardin is the grown-up garden party you've always wanted to be a part of. With The Winery's resident DJs hitting the decks every Friday too, you've got plenty of reason to head along to this charming hidden gem. Le Jardin at The Winery is open Thursday to Sunday nights until May 31.
From moving road trip dramas and joyous concert documentaries to passionate anthologies and wondrous animation, plenty of excellent films reached screens large and small throughout 2020. Indeed, the past 12 months were filled with cinematic delights — even when we've been watching them at home while movie theatres were closed — but, sadly, they can't all be great. Each year delivers its fair share of exceptional and awful movies, of course. And, both the best and the worst of the bunch can all score awards. The Oscars and the Golden Globes rank among the accolades that recognise the former, while the Golden Raspberries devotes its attention to the other end of the spectrum. After announcing its nominees from the past year's films last month, the Razzies has just revealed its latest batch of winners. Leading the pack from the 41st Razzie Award recipients is the terrible Sia-directed Music, which picked up three of the four categories it was nominated for: Worst Director (for Sia), Worst Actress (for Kate Hudson) and Worst Supporting Actress (for Maddie Ziegler). It didn't take out the Worst Picture field, though, with that gong going to Absolute Proof. Peddling conspiracy theories about the 2020 US election, it also picked up the Worst Actor award for Mike Lindell as himself. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm similarly picked up two awards. Also linked to the election, it deserves its nods in a different way. The film is smart, funny and savage, and definitely not awful, but scored dual wins for Rudy Giuliani (for Worst Supporting Actor, and for Worst Screen Combo with his pants zipper). Although Polish erotic drama 365 Days nabbed six nods and became the awards' first-ever contender in a language other than English, it only won one, for Worst Screenplay. Dolittle, the Robert Downey Jr-starring remake that hit cinemas before the pandemic, also only received one award from its six nominations, emerging victorious in the Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel category. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEf412bSPLs Reflecting the past year's general chaos, the Razzies also handed out a special trophy to the 2020 overall, naming it 'the worst calendar year ever'. Check out the full list of winners and nominees below: GOLDEN RASPBERRY NOMINEES AND WINNERS 2020: WORST PICTURE 365 Days Absolute Proof Dolittle Fantasy Island Music WORST ACTOR Robert Downey Jr, Dolittle Mike Lindell, Absolute Proof Michele Morrone, 365 Days Adam Sandler, Hubie Halloween David Spade, The Wrong Missy WORST ACTRESS Anne Hathaway, The Last Thing He Wanted and The Witches Katie Holmes, Brahms: The Boy II and The Secret: Dare to Dream Kate Hudson, Music Lauren Lapkus, The Wrong Missy Anna-Maria Sieklucka, 365 Days WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR Chevy Chase, The Very Excellent Mr Dundee Rudy Giuliani, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Shia LeBeouf, The Tax Collector Arnold Schwarzenegger, Iron Mask Bruce Willis, Breach, Hard Kill and Survive the Night WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy Lucy Hale, Fantasy Island Maggie Q, Fantasy Island Kristen Wiig, Wonder Woman 1984 Maddie Ziegler, Music WORST SCREEN COMBO Robert Downey Jr and his utterly unconvincing Welsh accent, Dolittle Harrison Ford and that totally fake-looking CGI dog, Call of the Wild Rudy Giuliani and his pants zipper, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Lauren Lapkus and David Spade, The Wrong Missy Adam Sandler and his grating simpleton voice, Hubie Halloween WORST DIRECTOR Charles Band, All three Barbie and Kendra movies Barbara Bialowas and Tomasz Mandes, 365 Days Stephen Gaghan, Dolittle Ron Howard, Hillbilly Elegy Sia, Music WORST PREQUEL, REMAKE, RIP-OFF or SEQUEL 365 Days Dolittle Fantasy Island Hubie Halloween Wonder Woman 1984 WORST SCREENPLAY 365 Days All three Barbie and Kendra movies Dolittle Fantasy Island Hillbilly Elegy
Grab your bowling ball and swap your bathrobe for your best purple outfit — The Jesus Rolls, the two-decades-later sequel to the Coen Brothers' 1998 cult comedy The Big Lebowski, is due to hit the big screen in 2020. Instead of abiding by The Dude (Jeff Bridges), this follow-up spends time with John Turturro's Jesus Quintana, whose love of flinging gleaming balls down lanes means that he obviously isn't a golfer. Of course, if you still want to pour a white russian to celebrate this return excursion to the Lebowski universe, that's both understandable and warranted. Turturro not only stars, but writes and directs The Jesus Rolls, which was actually filmed back in 2016. Cast-wise, he's joined by a heap of familiar faces, including Bobby Cannavale, Audrey Tautou, Jon Hamm, Susan Sarandon and Pete Davidson. The movie will be released in the US early next year just in time for The Big Lebowski's 22nd anniversary — and while plans Down Under haven't yet been revealed, start crossing your fingers. As well as following Quintana's exploits post-Big Lebowski, The Jesus Rolls will also act as a remake of 1974 French film Going Places. As per the official synopsis reported by IndieWire, the picture will chart: "a trio of misfits [Turturro, Cannavale and Tautou] whose irreverent, sexually charged dynamic evolves into a surprising love story as their spontaneous and flippant attitude towards the past or future backfires time and again, even as they inadvertently perform good deeds. When they make enemies with a gun-toting hairdresser, their journey becomes one of constant escape from the law, from society and from the hairdresser, all while the bonds of their outsider family strengthen." The Jesus Rolls doesn't have a teaser just yet, but there's never a bad time to revisit its predecessor's trailer, should you need a reminder of Quintana's initial big-screen antics. If you're keen to watch the The Big Lebowski in its entirety, it's currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd-go0oBF4Y The Jesus Rolls hits US cinemas at a yet-to-be-revealed date in early 2020. We'll update you with local release details when they come to hand. Via Deadline / IndieWire.
If you’re a fan of all things Mexican, you might want to visit the Cantina del Sol pop-up. For just one weekend, Villa Bar & Kitchen in Potts Point will be transformed into a Mexican cantina by interior designer Ally Bercich, inspired by the vibrant artwork of artist Frida Kahlo and the Mexican spiritual holiday Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). There will be Sol beers, colourful cocktails decorated with fresh fruit and authentic Mexican cuisine. Fans of roaming taqueria-on-wheels Al Carbon will be happy to learn they will be catering the event, treating guests to their sharp, spicy street food. And, really, who can resist a charcoal barbecue? DJs, musicians and other creative types will keep the crowd entertained, including Balmain independent artist Skullavera whose hand-crafted ceramic skulls — also inspired by dia de los muertos — are spookily awesome. The Cantina del Sol is open on the October long weekend, from October 4-6, at the Villa Kitchen and Bar, 1 Kellett Street, Potts Point. You'll be able to grab lunch between 12.30-3.30pm and dinner between 5.30-9.30 pm.
If you're planning to spend 12 days in the Harbour City's cinemas this winter, Sydney Film Festival's full 2025 slate of movies is jam-packed across Wednesday, June 4–Sunday, June 15. A few highlights on the program are also part of Vivid Sydney 2025, falling within the citywide arts, light, music, food and ideas celebration as well. A celebration of Warren Ellis was always going to be huge news — and worthy of a spot on both festival's bills. There's two parts to it, both on Sunday, June 8: a screening of Justin Kurzel (The Narrow Road to the Deep North)-directed documentary Ellis Park, about the iconic musician establishing an animal sanctuary to protect endangered species in Sumatra, then An Evening with Warren Ellis at City Recital Hall. At the first, at the State Theatre, audiences will obviously see the film. Afterwards, its subject — a Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds collaborator and Dirty Three founder, as well as a pivotal force in movie scores, including on The Proposition, The Road, Far From Men, Mustang, Hell or High Water, The Velvet Queen, The New Boy, Back to Black, Kid Snow and newly minted Oscar-winner I'm Still Here — will chat about the doco, and also put on a short musical performance. You'll need separate tickets if you want to attend both the movie and the in-conversation session.
Award-winning wine bar Monopole's eight-year stint in Potts Point will come to an end this September. But it's not the last we'll be seeing of this Sydney favourite — instead, The Bentley Group's Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt are simply moving Monopole to the CBD. They've already secured a Hunter Street location, adjacent to Australia Square, and will reopen the restaurant in these new digs come October. Though it may seem sudden to patrons, the duo has been planning this CBD relocation for a while now. The new space will seat 80 all up and serve a bistro menu by day and, as expected, its signature wine bar offering by night. "We've been wanting to move Monopole to the CBD for a while and were offered a great site that is ideally suited to the evolution of Monopole," Hildebrandt said in a statement. "When we first opened, we loved that locals would drop in regularly for a glass of wine and snacks. This is a big part of Monopole's identity, which we look forward to introducing to the CBD." As far as the new menu goes, Savage plans to put the"Monopole twist" on classic bistro dishes — think steak frites and salad niçoise — and dish up snacks like Moreton Bay bug rolls. [caption id="attachment_637770" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Leticia Almeída[/caption] Monopole's existing wine list has over 500 labels, and you can expect the new venue's offering to be equally expansive. It'll again feature emerging local winemakers, little-known international grape varieties and classic, big-name drops from around the world. The Potts Point original also boasts a whopping 30 wines by the glass, which punters will see transferred over to the CBD, too. The fit-out by Pascale Gomes-McNabb — who has overseen the design of the duo's other venues: Cirrus Dining, Bentley and Yellow — will aim to bring the outdoors in, with floor-to-ceiling bi-fold glass doors. Expect, also, a 20-seat marble bar, a 25-seat private dining room and blonde timber tables and chairs. For those who want to say their farewells to the original Monopole, the venue will remain open until September. Once the restaurant moves to the CBD, a new concept will open in the old Potts Point space — so keep an eye out for announcements on what's to come. Monopole will remain at its current location at 71A Macleay Street, Potts Point until September and is slated to reopen on Hunter Street in October. Images: Leticia Almeída
Dishing up desserts across Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland the Australian Capital Territory, Gelato Messina obviously specialises in frosty sweet treats. But, because the chain has amassed quite the following, it also has a range of merchandise. Over the past couple of years, it has released gelato-scented candles and decked out a line of clothing with pictures of its towering ice cream cones — and now it's collaborating with Lanolips on a gelato-flavoured balm. You can't spend all day every day eating Messina's desserts (sorry); however, you can slather your lips in its new salted caramel and mango coconut lip balm. Presumably, like those aforementioned candles, this'll give you a constant craving for a few scoops — so if you start eating more gelato as a result, you'll know why. The Messina x Lanolips collab takes its cues from Messina's most popular coconut milk sorbet — a flavour that features Murray River salt and Australian Kensington Pride mango salsa. In balm form, it's made with lanolin from local sheep's wool, vitamin E, natural coconut oil and mango fruit extract. You'll find the lip-smacking new product in all Messina stores, Messina's online store, at Lanolips' website and at Mecca. Head to Messina to pick some up before Tuesday, November 2 — or buy one from Messina's website — and you'll also nab a free scoop while stocks last. For more information about Gelato Messina's new Lanolips balm — and to buy some — head to the chain's website.
If there's one thing that's true in this life, it's that you've got to look forward to something. Maybe it's a nice sandwich you packed for lunch. Maybe it's a tropical getaway you've booked a couple of months down the track. Or maybe it's a slate of potential indie game releases over the course of the year, a constant drip feed of dopamine to last through to December. For this writer, as you may have guessed, the latter is the way to go. Before we dive in, it's worth reflecting on the nature of game development for a moment. While most of the following titles have set their sights on a 2024 launch (source: their Steam pages), and two have confirmed launches over the next few months, game release dates are notoriously slippery beasts. Sometimes teams just need a little extra time to squash bugs and polish – it happens, and it's for the best, but it makes writing lists like this a little fraught. So let's just say we're sending our best to all the developers and hope that they hit their launch windows without too much crunch. And now, without any further ado, here's 10 indie games you should wishlist and eagerly wait for. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCPIPieo-3c[/embed] PEPPER GRINDER Movement can make or break a platformer, so stepping out of the classic run-and-jump formula comes with risks and rewards. In Pepper Grinder, the upcoming title from Oregon-based team Ahr Ech, the payoff for breaking from tradition is, thankfully, huge. You play as Pepper, a swashbuckler washed up on the shores of a mysterious island. Your treasure has been stolen so you grab Grinder, your trusty conical drilling device, and set out to get it back. It won't be easy but it will be fun. The use of a drill for traversal is inspired, allowing you to essentially swim through terrain and perform dolphin-esque leaps and dashes as you fight enemies and collect your wayward riches. It's the type of movement that puts you in a flow state, supported by level design that rewards setting up perfect lines without punishing you too much when you stumble. Thankfully you won't have to wait too long to explore and excavate this bright tropical world, with a confirmed release date of March 28th for PC and Switch. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjGoS9rOSYw[/embed] ANOTHER CRAB'S TREASURE Ocean pollution is bad. That's not really something you can argue against. But… who's to say it can't lead to good things, such as Another Crab's Treasure? The sophomore game from U.S. dev team Aggro Crab has you scuttling around as Kril, a small hermit crab whose home has been repossessed from his back. You must don a variety of different pieces of rubbish as temporary shells, each with their own special strengths, and fight against the other denizens of the deep to find a treasure that will let you pay off your debt and reclaim your property. It's a Souls-like so prepare for unrelentingly difficult combat, unless you are a newcomer to the genre in which case there are a number of thoughtful assists available to help you on your journey. It has a confirmed release date of April 25th, so only a couple of months to go until you can battle across the bottom of the ocean on Xbox, PlayStation, Steam and Nintendo Switch. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6j0zKSXAFE[/embed] SKATE STORY Skateboarding has a long history in the realm of video games but, for such a radical sport, developers have generally played it fairly straight. That makes Skate Story, developed by NY-based solo dev Sam Eng, a big breath of fresh air in a genre seemingly locked in permanent X-Games adolescence. What really sets it apart is the narrative. You play as a demon made of glass and pain, to whom the Devil has given a skateboard and an impossible task: devour the Moon to earn your freedom. Already way more enticing than the standard 'get a high score to prove you're the raddest around'. So you set off through the Emptylands, grinding, flipping and ollieing to destroy demons and rescue lost souls on the way to your goal of cosmic consumption. With minimalist graphics depicting the Underworld as a moody, woozy space, and a soundtrack composed by mysterious indie outfit Blood Cultures, Skate Story is set to be a guaranteed GOTY list entrant for 2024 when it launches. Wishlist now on Steam [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T728E15XsMk[/embed] BROKEN ROADS The first Australian entry on this list, Broken Roads puts a uniquely Australian spin on the CRPG genre. Developed by Drop Bear Bytes out of Victoria, it's a post-apocalyptic trek across a desolate (well, more desolate) outback, searching out settlements, helping fellow travellers and tackling enemies both human and otherwise. CRPGs are currently having a moment (thank you Baldur's Gate 3), and while Broken Roads will definitely scratch your itch for turn-based combat, it's adding a new wrinkle to the genre with its Moral Compass system which shapes both your character and the wider story based on the decisions you make. No wussing out of an evil run with this mechanic in place. Fans of the early Fallout games, as well as the modern reincarnations of Wasteland, will definitely want to keep an eye out for the (hopefully imminent) release of this one. Wishlist now and play the demo on Steam [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTfZzwydEWQ[/embed] DEAD STATIC DRIVE The open road. The purr of the engine. The shrieks of eldritch horrors that are getting closer and closer in your rear-view mirror. This is the world of Dead Static Drive, a road trip simulator described as Grand Theft Auto meets the Cthulhu mythos. A journey to visit estranged relatives takes a sinister turn when it becomes apparent that the world is coming to an end, bringing forth all sorts of monsters. Sneak, steal and slaughter your way across a stylishly rendered version of 80s America. You can team up with people along the way but when the chips are down can they be trusted? Can you? It's been a long labour of love for the developers Reuben Games, based in Melbourne. Work started back in 2014, but with a projected release window of Q3 this year, the headlights at the end of the tunnel may be nearing. Wishlist now on Steam [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRLgwCslWsQ[/embed] BABY STEPS Walking is perhaps the most taken-for-granted mechanic in video games. You push your joystick/WASD keys and your character moves – simple, right? In Baby Steps, the script gets flipped and each wobbly footfall is taken at your peril. The game puts you in the bare feet of a onesie-clad schlubby failson called Nate, whose couch-bound existence is turned upside down when he is suddenly transported to a mysterious location in nature. The only way out is through, so you take charge of his feet and do your best to help him navigate the terrain as he hikes his way up a mountain. It's the product of a trio of developers – Gabe Cuzillo, Maxi Boch and Australia's own Bennett Foddy – who previously released the sublime Ape Out (seriously, stop reading this and go play it). There's shades of Foddy's viral hit QWOP in Baby Steps, along with the meditativeness of Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, and a healthy dose of absurdism to boot. Wishlist now on Steam [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHF3WZOLN3g[/embed] JANET DEMORNAY IS A SLUMLORD (AND A WITCH) If you've had any dealings with the Australian rental market over the last few years, then firstly we see you and we're sobbing alongside you. Secondly, there's a game coming out this year that will definitely strike a chord. Janet DeMornay is a Slumlord (and a witch), developed by Australian duo Fuzzy Ghost, sees you setting up a queer-friendly share house in a Sydney terrace. There's mould, creaking pipes, decaying fixtures – the classic rental experience. There's also your landlord, Janet DeMornay, who just wants to pop by, why won't you let her pop by, it's her house, she has a right to know what you are doing in there, answer the door, why won't you let her in? From pedestrian beginnings blossoms an unsettling escape-room horror experience shot through with dark humour about the realities of tenant life in a society geared towards landlords. Special marks go to Janet's South African accent, a detail that will send chills down the spines of anyone who has tangoed with signing a lease in Sydney. Wishlist now on Steam [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXIX1GCZWGI[/embed] THE PLUCKY SQUIRE For many of us, children's storybooks were our first taste of the hero's journey. The Plucky Squire, by Brisbane studio All Possible Futures, puts a meta spin on these early forays into the battle between good and evil. You're Jot, the titular plucky squire who has been kicked out of his book by the villain Humgrump. And when I say 'kicked out', I mean literally - the protagonist is flung from the 2D pages into the surrounding 3D world. This obviously won't do, so you set out to reclaim your place as the hero. Jot's ability to leave the page gives the game scope to craft satisfying puzzles that involve manipulating the book itself, as well as setting off on genre-bending adventures with the objects on the surrounding desk. Mix in a truly delightful design aesthetic, and you've got a perfect experience for gamers both young and young-at-heart. Wishlist now on Steam [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-39kuBXyKWo[/embed] LITTLE KITTY, BIG CITY If you're a diehard dog person, you might want to skip to the next entry in this list. If, on the other hand, you're a feline fan, then the perfect game for you is set to release this year. The title Little Kitty, Big City has a does-what-it-says-on-the-tin straightforwardness – you are a small kitten who has tumbled from your owner's apartment into the streets of a big city. You have to make your way back home, an adventure that involves dealing with a plethora of other urban wildlife, completing tasks and generally being a cat. You'll hop in and out of boxes, pounce on birds, chase your tail, knock items off shelves and ledges, and wiggle into nooks and crannies to discover the many secrets of the neighbourhood. At this point, it would be remiss of us not to mention the hats. You can collect a number of different hats for your kitten to wear, from froggy bonnets to tiny top hats to sunflower manes. Honestly, that alone should have you smashing the wishlist button. Wishlist now on Steam [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EthfB4JjQ2k[/embed] THE RISE OF THE GOLDEN IDOL It was only two years ago that The Case of the Golden Idol was released, a sleeper indie hit that saw you solving strange mysteries about a gold statue and the chaos and corruption it caused during the 18th century. Now the Latvian team Colour Gray Games are back with a sequel, something that should put a smile on the dial of every pseudo-sleuth. Set during the swinging 1970s, The Rise of the Golden Idol has you hunting once more for the elusive relic, which has seemingly disappeared since the first game. Against a backdrop of disco, fax machines and TV chat shows, you'll need to solve 15 mysteries to crack the case, using the tried-and-tested 'madlibs'-style mechanic from the first game. The developers are playing things close to their chest in terms of details about the game, but it's worth noting the graphics, which have seen a big upgrade while maintaining the essence of pixelated grotesqueness of the first one. Wishlist now on Steam
Your flights are booked, your bags are packed and your holiday excitement/anxiety has begun. And the last thing you want to be doing is dropping a stack of spending money on getting to the airport, either in a cab or — for those lucky enough to have an airport rail link this century — on the train. So, you'll be happy to know that, this month, ride share service Ola is offering its customers a pretty sweet deal, dropping the price of trips to and from major Australian airports to a flat $25. Customers in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and the Gold Coast can score the budget-friendly flat fare on rides right throughout April. The flat fare will only be applied on trips 20 kilometres or less. If a trip clocks in at over 20 kilometres, the extra distance will be charged at the usual price and added onto the $25 deal. Tolls will also be at an extra cost. No idea what 20 kilometres from the airport looks like? In Sydney, you could get Ola's $25 deal from as far as Bondi or North Sydney, while down in Melbourne, it reaches north and west suburbs including Thornbury and West Footscray (it's about 23 kilometres to and from the CBD). In Brisbane, the offer stretches to places like West End or Greenslopes, and over in Perth, customers can travel from as far as Canning Vale or Stirling. To take advantage of the offer, you'll need to sign up to Ola and download the app, and use the codes OLAPICK (for pick-up) or OLADROP (for drop-off). Depending on where you live, it promises some pretty tidy savings. Ola's $25 flat fare offer is valid up until April 30. You can use it up to ten times before then.
Everyone is picky about their coffee, and once you've find the perfect spot, nothing else tastes quite right. This St Peters coffee spot, however, is doing things a bit differently. Describing itself as 'The Most Inconsistent Cafe in Australia', the pop-up prides itself on its constantly changing coffee offering. Run by Collective Roasting Solutions (CRS), a shared roasting facility in Alexandria used by a slew of industry experts, the pop-up features an all-star lineup of Sydney roasters, including Edition, Skittle Lane, Harry's Bondi and Grace & Taylor. Each week there'll be a new rotation of blends and roasters available, meaning every time you head in, you'll be welcomed with a different coffee experience. While most cafes try to get their coffee as consistent as possible, the idea behind the CRS pop-up is to show off the variety of flavours and depth in coffee beans. CRS, which ran a similar pop-up in Enmore back in 2016, has also partnered Marrickville's Labld Cafe for the occasion, so you can pair your coffee with a breakfast or lunch bento box. Locally sourced pastries will also be available to snack on and, until September 16, Smoking Gun Bagels will be peddling its wares, too. You'll find the likes of Chick Don't Kale My Vibe, with kale cream cheese, candied walnut and poached chicken, and the Netflix and Dill, with house-cured salmon and pickled zucchini. In a move that should improve your morning commute (if only ever so slightly) the pop-up is right next door to St Peters train station. So you can grab a bagel and a much-needed coffee — and maybe even watch some dogs frolicking in the park — before you head off to your 9-to-5. The pop-up is open from 7am–2pm Tuesday to Sunday.
Private galleries: They can seem small, detached, too far away to trek to and too quiet to enter without drawing the attention of hawkish assistants who measure the depths of your pockets as you squirm in their talons. Thankfully, Art Month Sydney is back to systematically bust each one of these preconceptions as it unites over 80 galleries and artist-run initiatives in four weeks of celebration, collaboration and bigger-than-oneself thinking. Now in its second year, Art Month works by devoting each week in March to a separate Sydney arts precinct: Danks Street, Waterloo and Redfern (March 1-6); Chippendale, Newtown, Marrickville and the CBD (March 7-13); Darlinghurst, Surry Hills and Potts Point (March 14-20); and Paddington and Woollahra (March 21-27). You're encouraged to gallery hop the area-of-the-week, particularly on Thursday nights for Art After Work, during which galleries stay open till 8pm and the designated bar takes in weary art appreciators afterwards, and on Saturdays, when a packed schedule of gallery talks will lure you from one venue to the next in line. This year introduces ARTcycle as a guided, leisurely and extra romantic group transit option. The thing to book well in advance (like, now) is the Creative Conversations series, last year's big hit, which pits visual artists in conversation with artists of other stripes to see what light they can shine on each other's world. The 'Thread for Thought' session will look at the convergence of art and fashion with Akira Isogawa, Lindy Lee and Adam Laerksen, while 'Igniting Passions' will pour in Adam and Max Cullen, Pat Corrigan, Giles Alexander and Guy Maestri and stir. Before the month of March is out, make sure you've wandered the stretch of Macleay Street, Potts Point to take in its spruced-up store windows, been welcomed into Marrickville's thriving ARIs, squeezed into the White Rabbit's theatrette for Animation Overload and a good deal more.
Promising some of NSW's best wines paired with views across the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, the Aria After Dark event series pretty much sells itself. As part of Sydney Solstice, the award-winning bar is showcasing four of the state's greatest winemakers across four evenings. You'll get to know Will Gilbert and his Mudgee wines on Wednesday, June 9; swirl Brokenwood's stellar vino, courtesy of winemaker Kate Sturgess, on Thursday, June 10; try Angus Vinden's vinous Hunter Valley drops on Wednesday, June 16; and, finally, get familiar with Nick Spencer Wines on Thursday, June 17. To help line the stomach, you'll tuck in to some top local produce, too. Tickets for the events will set you back $85 a pop, which'll get you two glasses of wine, three snacks and plenty of tastings. [caption id="attachment_814238" align="alignnone" width="1591"] Steven Woodburn[/caption] Top image: Cole Bennetts
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. ZOLA It wasn't just a Twitter thread — it was the Twitter thread. Whether you read Aziah 'Zola' King's viral 148-post stripper saga live as it happened back in October 2015, stumbled across the details afterwards as the internet lost its mind or only heard about it via Zola's buzzy trailer, calling this stranger-than-fiction tale a wild ride will always be an understatement. Its instantly gripping opening words, as also used in Janicza Bravo's (Lemon) savvy, sharp, candy-hued tweet-to-screen adaptation, happen to capture the whole OMG, WTF and OTT vibe perfectly: "you wanna hear a story about how me and this bitch fell out? It's kind of long, but it's full of suspense." In the film, that phrase is uttered aloud by Zola's eponymous Detroit waitress (Taylour Paige, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom). Still, the movie firmly embraces its origins. For those wondering how a filmmaker turns a series of tweets into a feature, Bravo handles the task with flair, energy, enthusiasm and a clear understanding of social media's role in our lives. Much of the phrasing that the real-life Zola used has made its way into the conversational script, which was co-written by playwright Jeremy O Harris. Each time that occurs, the film echoes with tell-tale swooshes, whistles and dings. But those words and alerts are just the starting point; as Zola's chaotic narrative unfurls, it comes to life with a mix of the hyperreal, the loose and the dreamy. It doesn't merely tell a tale taken from the tweetstorm to end all tweetstorms, but also uses every aesthetic choice it can to mirror the always-on, always-posing, always-sharing online realm. The other person that Zola refers to in her initial statement is the cornrow-wearing, blaccent-sporting Stefani (Riley Keough, The Lodge), who she serves at work, then joins on a jaunt to Florida. They immediately hit it off, which is what inspires the invite to head south — a "hoe trip" is how Zola describes it — however, what's meant to be a girls' getaway for a stint of lucrative exotic dancing in Tampa soon gets messy. The drive is long, and Stefani's boyfriend Derreck (Nicholas Braun, Succession) quickly dampens the mood with his awkward, try-hard schtick. Then there's X (Colman Domingo, Candyman), who, while introduced as Stefani's roommate, is actually her pimp. Trafficking Zola into sex work is the real plan of this working holiday, she discovers, but she's ferociously adamant that she won't be "poppin' pussy for pennies". As the woman both relaying and riding Zola's rollercoaster of a story, Paige is fierce and finessed. It's a tricky part; making the dialogue sound authentic, and also like it could've just been rattled off on social media with a mix of emojis and all caps, requires a precise tonal balance, for starters. So does ensuring that Zola always feels like a real person, especially given the tale's ups and downs. That said, Paige is guided by Bravo at every turn, with recognising how things play online and how they pan out in reality — and the frequent disconnection between the two — one of the filmmaker's biggest masterstrokes. That's exactly what a flick that's based on a Twitter thread should offer, rather than just mining posts for punchy content that's already proven popular. Using the platform as source material definitely doesn't equal an endorsement here. Instead, it sparks a brash and bouncy feature that interrogates its inspiration and the mechanism that turned it into a whirlwind, rather than serves up a cinematic retweet. Read our full review. LAST NIGHT IN SOHO Edgar Wright must own a killer record collection. Weaving the perfect playlists into his films has ranked high among the British writer/director's trademarks ever since he made such a horror-comedy splash with Shaun of the Dead, and his own love of music is frequently mirrored by his protagonists, too. This is the filmmaker who set a zombie-killing scene to Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now', and had characters wield vinyl as weapons. He made zoning out the world via iPod — and teeing up exactly the right track for the right moment — a key trait of Baby Driver's eponymous getaway driver. Earlier in 2021, Wright also turned his avid fandom for Sparks into his delightful first documentary The Sparks Brothers, because wearing his love for his favourite songs on his sleeves infiltrates everything he makes. So, the fact that his second film of this year is about a giddy devotee of 60s tunes really doesn't come as the slightest surprise. Last Night in Soho takes its name from an era-appropriate song that gets a spin in the film, naturally. It boasts a cleverly compiled soundtrack teeming with hits from the period, and has one of its central figures — called Sandie, like singer Sandie Shaw, who croons '(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me' on that very soundtrack — seek chanteuse stardom. As Wright is known to do, his latest movie also sports sequences that could double as music videos, and possesses a supple sense of rhythm that makes his picture virtually dance across the screen. It's a feature shaped by music, made better by music, and that recognises that music can make anyone feel like they can do anything. A partly swinging 60s-set thriller that adores the giallo films of the time with equal passion, it also flits between a cinematic banger on par with the glorious tracks it peppers throughout and the movie equivalent of a routine needle drop. Cilla Black, Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield: these are the kind of talents that Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie, The Power of the Dog) can't get enough of, even though she's a Gen Z aspiring fashion designer; they're also the type of stars that aforementioned blonde bombshell Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen's Gambit) wants to follow onto London's stages. Last Night in Soho starts with its wannabe fashionista, who's first seen donning her own 60s-inspired designs in her Cornwall bedroom that's plastered with posters and pictures from the period, and also dancing to 'Peter & Gordon's 1964 track 'A World Without Love'. Soon, Eloise is off to college in the big and, hopefully, working towards the fashion world. Then she meets Sandie, but only in her dreams. Actually, as she slumbers, she becomes Sandie — and navigates her chiffon-adorned quest for stardom, her breathy 'Downtown' covers and her thorny relationship with slippery bar manager Jack (Matt Smith, Official Secrets). Some of Last Night in Soho's most dazzling scenes play with these doppelgänger characters, and with the time-travelling dreamscape where they both exist, as if Wright is helming a musical. The choreography — both by McKenzie and Taylor-Joy, playing chalk-and-cheese roles, and by the film's lithe and glossy cinematography — is stunning. The effect is mesmerising, as well as whip-smart in tapping into the feature's ongoing musing on identity. This is also a horror movie and a mystery, however, so exploring what's behind these nocturnal visions is the primary focus. As a mousy girl bullied by her roommate (Synnøve Karlsen, Medici) to the point of leaping into the too-good-to-be-true Soho attic studio leased by the cranky but obliging Ms Collins (Diana Rigg, Game of Thrones), it's easy to see why Eloise flees into her dreams. But the who, what, why and how of it all — when and were clearly being answered already — isn't as simple as pure retro escapism. Read our full review. BLUE BAYOU Blue Bayou isn't Justin Chon's first film as an actor, writer, director or producer, but it's a fantastic showcase for his many talents nonetheless. It's also a deeply moving feature about a topical subject: America's immigration laws, which are complicated at best and draconian at worst. Worlds away from his time in all five Twilight flicks — because Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Anna Kendrick aren't the franchise's only breakout stars — Chon plays Antonio LeBlanc. While the Korean American tattoo artist has lived in Louisiana since being adopted as child, the name he was given upon his arrival in the US still sparks cognitive dissonance, as the job interview that opens the movie illustrates. It also doesn't stop both the casual and overt racism frequently directed his way, or the deportation proceedings that spring after he's accosted in a supermarket by New Orleans police officers. Helming and scripting as well as starring, Chon layers Antonio's situation with complexity from the outset. He's getting by, just, but his criminal record makes it difficult to secure more work — which he needs given his wife Kathy (Alicia Vikander, The Green Knight) is pregnant. He's a doting stepdad to her daughter Jessie (Sydney Kowalske, Doom Patrol), but her birth father Ace (Mark O'Brien, Marriage Story) is one of those aforementioned cops. Also, Ace has a bigoted partner, Denny (Emory Cohen, Flashback), who makes antagonising Antonio his daily mission. And, after that grocery store run-in, the latter discovers that his adoptive parents didn't ever complete the paperwork required to naturalise him as a US citizen. His life, his wife, his kids, that he has no ties to Korea: sadly, it all means nothing to the immigration system. Based on the plot description, it'd be simple to accuse Blue Bayou of throwing too much at its protagonist, dialling up his hardships and wallowing in his misery, all to tug at heartstrings. The film inspires a strong emotional reaction; however, this isn't just a case of calculating narrative machinations manipulating viewers to feel everything — or even something. There's a sense of inevitability to Chon's feature, his fourth after Man Up, Gook and Ms Purple, and it's all by design. The path that Antonio's life is forced down isn't surprising, complete with tough truths and heartbreaking realities, but it's filled with authenticity. Piling on misfortune after misfortune isn't merely a ploy when all of Blue Bayou's dramas can easily accumulate as they do here, and when no one's struggles are ever limited to just one or two troubles. There's no contrivance in sight, but rather a firm understanding of snowballing sorrows and their overwhelming impact. Still, Chon walks a delicate tightrope. He could've veered into tear-wringing movie of the week-style melodrama, clogged it up with cliches and failed to evoke even a single genuine feeling — or, alternatively, he could've deployed too much restraint and crafted a clinical, procedural film that saw Antonio as a mere cog in a system. The space he's carved out in-between is both masterful and organically messy; finding the right balance is a mammoth task, and embracing the whirlwind that sweeps along Antonio, Kathy and Jessie is inherently chaotic. The result is a stirring and empathetic film that's also precise and intricate, especially when it comes to the emotional deluge weathered by its central trio. At every moment, Blue Bayou plunges viewers into their turbulent existence, sees their plight with clear eyes and acknowledges all that that encompasses. Read our full review. THE RESCUE It isn't the first movie about the Tham Luang Nang Non cave incident to reach screens, thanks to the underwhelming The Cave. It won't be the last project to focus on the 12 Thai schoolboys and their soccer coach who were trapped in the Chiang Rai Province spot for 18 days back in 2018, either. Ron Howard (Hillbilly Elegy)-directed dramatisation Thirteen Lives hits cinemas next year, a Netflix limited series executive produced by In the Heights filmmaker John M Chu is also set to debut in 2022 and, to the surprise of no one, more are bound to follow. Still, The Rescue earns another worthy honour. The documentary isn't just an inspirational recounting of a miraculous effort that thwarted a potential tragedy, as told by the brave people who pulled off the feat, although it's certainly that. In addition, this gripping film falls into a genre that always needs more entries: celebrations of skilled people doing difficult things with precision, passion, persistence and prowess. If documentarians Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin have a niche, it's this. As co-directors, the married couple has now made three films, all valuing hard work, expertise and when the former leads not only to the latter, but to extraordinary achievements. With 2015 Sundance award-winner Meru, they documented Chin's efforts with two other climbers to scale Meru Peak in the Indian Himalayas. Then came Oscar-winner Free Solo, the exceptional doco about Alex Honnold's quest to free-climb Yosemite National Park's El Capitan. The Rescue swaps clambering up for diving deep, and hones in on an event that captured international headlines as it happened, but still belongs in the same company as the duo's past two releases. Here, viewers start the film with an understanding of what happened thanks to all that non-stop news coverage, but finish it in profound awe of the talent, smarts, dedication and unflinching competence involved. Vasarhelyi and Chin spotlight the divers who extricated Tham Luang's 13 unwilling inhabitants, aka the Wild Boars soccer team — and did so as the world watched, as hours became days and then weeks, and as monsoonal waters flooded the cave despite a desperate pumping initiative. Thai Navy SEALs initially attempted the task, yet struggled in the ten kilometres of sprawling and narrow tunnels. In fact, due to the murky water and the constant deluge from the fast-falling rain, they weren't able to get far. To assist, civilian hobbyists including Brits Rick Stanton and John Volanthen were brought in — experts in their field, and volunteers for the biggest diving quest of their lives. When their crew found the boys and their coach almost four kilometres from the mouth of the cave, they then faced another dilemma: how to get them back out alive. With its ending already well-known, The Rescue starts at the beginning, letting those who were there talk through each step, and also weaving in footage from the rescue mission itself. No re-enactments — not the small amount The Rescue uses, as noted in its credits; not The Cave's awful docodrama approach; and not all the future dramatisations set to flow from Hollywood — can ever be as nerve-wracking as seeing this remarkable feat actually happen. That said, the film's interviews are also significant. While the on-the-ground and in-the-water clips show the immense level of skill at work and the enormous dangers faced, the accompanying discussions offer keen insights into the thought processes involved. And, they draw out Stanton, Volanthen and their team's distinctive personalities, ensuring that these heroes are always flesh and blood. Read our full review. PHIL LYNOTT: SONGS FOR WHILE I'M AWAY One of the most astute things that a music documentary can do is lead with its subject, whether they're a household name the world over, deserving of more fame and acclaim, or fall somewhere in the middle. With Phil Lynott: Songs for While I'm Away, that's a tricky task, as it is of any film that looks back at a figure who is no longer around — and who didn't leave a treasure trove of candid and personal materials behind, as docos such as Amy, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck and Zappa all benefited from. Accordingly, editor-turned-director Emer Reynolds (The Farthest) undertakes a careful juggling act, pushing Thin Lizzy singer Lynott to the fore whenever and however she can. Songs for While I'm Away is still filled with talking heads that aren't Ireland's Black, working-class rockstar — his family members, friends, colleagues and peers alike — but it's at its best when it lets its namesake's songs echo and his on-stage presence take centre stage. "You'll never see a bad photo of Phil Lynott," Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham offers in a to-camera chat, a sentiment that the film bakes into its frames. Bearing witness to a great talent always casts a spell that merely listening to other people talk about them can never match, no matter how insightful and affectionate those discussions prove. Early in Songs for While I'm Away, Reynolds lingers on footage of Lynott singing and strumming, his piercing eyes instantly demanding attention — and that clip is the doco's hook, even for first-timers to his story. The soulfulness of his lyrics, many of which are placed into context by the film's interviewees, is just as entrancing. Sometimes the documentary resembles a listening party, pairing snippets of songs with stock visuals, then dissecting the tunes; however, in diving well beyond 'The Boys Are Back in Town' and 'Jailbreak' — the two songs that Thin Lizzy, and therefore Lynott, will always be best known for — it's a canny move. Still, Songs for While I'm Away has much to unpack: Lynott's upbringing, after being born in England to a mother from Ireland and a father from Guyana, then spending his childhood with his grandparents in Dublin; his path to music stardom, with Thin Lizzy's rock cover of 'Whiskey in the Jar' giving the group their first top-ten hit; and everything that sprang from that success personally and professionally. Early in the doco, Lynott's daughters Sarah and Cathleen stress how they wish people didn't focus so much on their father's death — in 1986, at the age of 36, from pneumonia and heart failure due to septicaemia after a struggle with heroin — and Reynolds takes their words to heart, too. This is a movie that's eager to soak up as much of Lynott, and what made him the star he was, as it possibly can. Indeed, with his addiction, it's positively shy; don't expect to even hear the word 'heroin'. That's another balancing act, and one that Reynolds doesn't quite perfect, opting for skirting around the obvious instead. A film can enjoy triumphs and recognise flaws at the same time — including when it comes to someone as pivotal in the history of Irish rock 'n' roll as Lynott — but Songs for While I'm Away eventually feels a tad safe and sanitised. It's celebratory from its first moment till its last, including when its smattering of equally famous faces, such as U2's Adam Clayton, Metallica's James Hetfield, Huey Lewis of Huey Lewis and the News, and singer Suzi Quatro — who supported Thin Lizzy when they supported Slade on a 1972 UK tour — deliver anecdotes and admiration. This is a heartfelt ode, undoubtedly, and both an entertaining and engaging one, but it also dons rose-coloured glasses that feel at odds with Lynott himself. 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 July 1, July 8, July 15, July 22 and July 29; August 5, August 12, August 19 and August 26; September 2, September 9, September 16, September 23 and September 30; October 7, October 14, October 21 and October 28; and November 4 and November 11. For Sydney specifically, you can take a look at out our rundown of new films that released in Sydney cinemas when they reopened on October 11, and what opened on October 14, October 21 and October 28 as well. And for Melbourne, you can check out our top picks from when outdoor cinemas reopened on October 22 — and from when indoor cinemas did the same on October 29. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Herself, Little Joe, Black Widow, The Sparks Brothers, Nine Days, Gunpowder Milkshake, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Old, Jungle Cruise, The Suicide Squad, Free Guy, Respect, The Night House, Candyman, Annette, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Streamline, Coming Home in the Dark, Pig, Big Deal, The Killing of Two Lovers, Nitram, Riders of Justice, 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 and Tick, Tick... Boom!.
Vampires can be slain by staking them in the heart. Werewolves aren't fond of silver bullets. But Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement's addition to the undead world can't and won't be killed — not that anyone would want that outcome. First, What We Do in the Shadows jumped from a short film to a hilarious feature-length comedy. Next, it not only inspired an Emmy-nominated US television remake, but also New Zealand television spinoff Wellington Paranormal. And in the latter's case, following its first two exceptionally amusing seasons, it's returning to Australian screens for its six-episode third season this month. We've said it before, and we'll say it again: trust a mockumentary about the undead to keep coming back in new guises. The Cops-style spinoff follows police officers Karen O'Leary and Mike Minogue, who WWDITS fans might remember came knocking at the vampire share house's door. With the help of Sergeant Maaka (Maaka Pohatu), the cop duo keep trying to keep the city safe from supernatural happenings — including not only bloodsuckers and lycanthropes, but ghosts, aliens and more. Wellington Paranormal's third season once again explores the spate of paranormal phenomena popping up in the city, with a whole heap of new spooky occurrences attracting O'Leary, Minogue and Maaka's attention. And, as it keeps wandering through strange but funny and silly territory, it'll welcome another familiar face, with Rhys Darby set to reprise his What We Do In The Shadows role. Although he won't be appearing on-screen, Clement directed half of the new season's episodes, too. In Australia, Wellington Paranormal airs on SBS Viceland and streams via SBS On Demand, which'll remain the case again this year. Episodes will drop weekly on both the free-to-air channel and the online platform from Wednesday, February 24. For those following What We Do in the Shadows' continued evolution, Wellington Paranormal's success shouldn't come as a surprise. When the show was first revealed, Waititi described it as "Mulder and Scully but in a country where nothing happens" on Twitter, after all. Wellington Paranormal's third season starts screening on SBS Viceland and SBS On Demand from Wednesday, February 24.
It was the scary sensation of 1999; a documentary-style freak-out that audiences were led to believe was real. A low-budget hit that reignited faux found-footage as an inexpensive but successful method of frightening filmgoers, without The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity and a spate of other imitators might never have existed. And while the original movie already spawned one follow-up back in 2000, it was really only a matter of time before a new sequel wandered out of the woods and back into cinemas. You could be forgiven for not knowing much about Blair Witch, however. Filmed in secret under a fake name, its true nature was only revealed in July. Other than the involvement of director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett (aka the folks behind playful horror effort You're Next and stylish action thriller The Guest) this initial misdirection is arguably the most intriguing part of a film that knows it has big shoes to fill, and tries to do so as faithfully as possible. Blair Witch treads a familiar path quite literally, sending a new group of camera-wielding college students back into the Black Hills Forest, albeit with some updated tech. For James Donahue (James Allen McCune), the creepy camping trip is personal, since it was his older sister Heather who disappeared in the original film. When his life-long quest to find out what happened leads him to an online video posted by fellow interested parties Lane (Wes Robinson) and Talia (Valorie Curry), he rounds up his pals Lisa (Callie Hernandez), Ashley (Corbin Reid) and Peter (Brandon Scott) to head off in search of answers. Decking everyone out with earpiece cameras and a short-range drone, Lisa films their trip for a class project. The on-screen characters mightn't expect the series of events that follows, but audiences certainly will. Immersed in their haunted surroundings, the crew soon starts hearing strange noises and begin to spy spooky stick figures suspended from the trees. When they inevitably try to flee, they end up getting lost and start walking around in circles. And yet, while Blair Witch mightn't chart new narrative ground as it constantly nods to its predecessor, it does conjure the requisite bumps and jumps. The range of visual sources at the film's disposal certainly helps, with Wingard employing urgent, erratic point-of-view shots, as well as lingering glimpses of the sea of trees captured by drone camera from above. Re-teaming with The Guest cinematographer Robby Baumgartner, enlisting seasoned television editor Louis Cioffi, and composing the score himself, where Wingard fares best is in evoking an unnerving mood. It doesn't always matter that you can see where the story is headed if you remain uneasy and anxious in the moment, with the sound design particularly unsettling. However that still only takes Blair Witch so far. When the third act drops its atmospheric ambiguity for more overt shocks, the movie suffers. Obvious dialogue and by-the-numbers performances likewise dull an otherwise effective rehash.
From French, Greek, Italian and Japanese to Jewish, British, Turkish and Russian, Australian cinemas have welcomed a vast array of cultural film festivals throughout 2017 — but they're not done just yet. Now in its second year, the Cine Latino Film Festival might be the last touring film fest of this year; however, it's here to help end the movie-going calendar with plenty of Central and South American cinema gems. This year's lineup includes Mexican rom-coms, Argentinian escape thrillers, Peruvian musicals and Chilean road movies, plus more from the festival's 26 film journey through everywhere from Uruguay to Cuba to Colombia to Ecuador. With the fest currently doing the rounds of Aussie capitals until November 29, we've picked five must-see movies from the jam-packed program. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECe0jfpNLKc YOU'RE KILLING ME SUSANA Is it possible to put on a Latin American film festival without Gael García Bernal showing up somewhere? Based on Cine Latino's two outings so far, clearly not. After turning in one of the finest performances of his career in last year's Neruda, the Mexican star returns for You're Killing Me Susana. Swapping poetry, police and politics for marital dramas, he plays the suddenly solo Eligio, who wakes up to find his wife has left him and then follows her to the US — as based on the novel Ciudades Desiertas by Mexican writer José Agustín. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnIE6y5KBwY WINTER Winter may roam across an icy landscape but it's every inch the western, its frosty sights playing home to a classic tale of survival in an unforgiving location. Winning a special jury prize for its cinematography at last year's San Sebastian International Film Festival, the debut feature from writer/director Emiliano Torres follows an older worker forced to face his future when a younger counterpart starts taking over much of his foreman role. Like many a traditional oater, it values sparse dialogue and stunning sights to help thrust the story forward https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGBVKLIbDqk WOODPECKERS Set in a Dominican Republic prison, stemming from reality and shot on location, Woodpeckers genuinely tells a tale you don't hear every day. In fact, you likely haven't heard this tale before. While the idea of love trying to conquer the odds is far from new, the story of petty thief Julián (Jean Jean) and female inmate Yanelly (Judith Rodriguez) is immersed in a location-specific sliver of jailhouse culture. Here, in a moving and immersive effort, detainees communicate via their own form of forbidden sign language — also known as woodpecking — from their respective men's and women's facilities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hi2FH_afxs EL INCA Add El Inca to the pile of big-screen boxing efforts, and add it to the list of controversial films as well. In its homeland, the Venezuelan feature was taken out of cinemas as a result of a court order; however, that hasn't stopped it from becoming the country's submission for this year's foreign-language film category at the Academy Awards. Based on the plight of real-life two-weight world champion Edwin 'El Inca' Valero, the movie not only steps through his professional bouts, but also his personal troubles — including his relationship with his wife, and the tragedies that result. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdA1c1ujTs8 GABRIEL AND THE MOUNTAIN Gabriel and the Mountain might initially seem like a Brazilian version of Into the Wild, but this Cannes Critics Week standout delves deeper as it tells its own true tale. With spectacular visuals providing quite the backdrop, this blend of recreation and reality charts traveller Gabriel Buchmann's quest to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. He's played by an actor, João Pedro Zappa; however the film pairs him with the people the actual Buchmann crossed paths with, in an involving, insightful and all-round stirring feature that's part travelogue, part character study, part untraditonal documentary. The 2017 Cine Latino Film Festival will screen at Sydney's Palace Norton Street and Palace Verona from November 14 to 29, Melbourne's Palace Cinema Como and Palace Westgarth from November 16 to 29, and Brisbane's Palace Centro from November 16 to 29. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website.
The shock of unkempt hair, the Irish brogue, the misanthropic attitude: there's no mistaking Dylan Moran for anyone else. It was true in beloved British sitcom Black Books, when his on-screen alter ego abhorred mornings, ate coasters and claimed that his oven could cook anything (even belts). And it's definitely true of the comedian's acerbically hilarious live shows. Moran is no stranger to Australia, but if you haven't guffawed at his bleak wit live, he's coming back late in 2019 to give you another chance. This time around, expect the kind of deadpan gags, wine-soaked insights and blisteringly sharp one-liners that've kept him in the spotlight since 1996, when he became the youngest-ever winner of the Edinburgh Fringe's Perrier Award. From late October to early December, Moran will tour the country with his latest show, Dr Cosmos, bringing his grumpily lyrical musings on love, politics, misery and the everyday absurdities of life to 14 Aussie cities. Kicking off in Wollongong and ending up in Brisbane, his upcoming visit marks his first Australian trip since 2015, when he was eliciting giggles with his Off the Hook tour. That mammoth effort took in a whopping 149 cities worldwide. As well as his stint as the world's worst bookshop owner in Black Books, Moran has popped up in films such as Notting Hill and Shaun of the Dead, should you been keen to get watching (or rewatching) before his new gigs. Nabbing tickets to his Dr Cosmos early is recommended — his shows usually sell out quickly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gy3C7cMNeg DYLAN MORAN 'DR COSMOS' 2019 DATES Wollongong — Wednesday, October 23, Town Hall Canberra — Friday, October 25, Royal Theatre Sydney — Tuesday, October 29, Sydney Opera House Melbourne — Saturday, November 2, Hamer Hall Launceston — Saturday, November 9, Princess Theatre Hobart — Sunday, November 10, Wrest Point Entertainment Centre Adelaide — Tuesday, November 12, Thebarton Theatre Perth — Thursday, November 14, Riverside Theatre Darwin — Monday, November 18, Entertainment Centre Cairns — Wednesday, November 20, Convention Centre Townsville — Friday, November 22, Entertainment Centre Gold Coast — Saturday, November 23, Star Theatre Newcastle — Monday, November 25, Civic Theatre Brisbane — Monday, December 2, QPAC Concert Hall Dylan Moran's 'Dr Cosmos' tickets go on sale at 9am on Tuesday, May 14, with pre-sales available now. For more information, head to the AB Presents website.
What starts with a progress pride flag-raising ceremony, officially opens with Kylie Minogue and Charli XCX, features Kelly Rowland leading a Domain Dance Party, and ends with MUNA and G Flip? What features the long-awaited return of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade to Oxford Street (with new viewing areas), more than 45 rainbow artworks all around town and a monumental pride march with 50,000-plus people walking across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, too? In other words, what'll make Sydney the centre of the queer universe from Friday, February 17–Sunday, March 5, and make history in the process? Sydney WorldPride, the first WorldPride ever held in the southern hemisphere, and basically a mega Mardi Gras — and your unmissable reason to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community in the New South Wales capital. The above events are just a taste of this massive event's vivid lineup. In total, more than 300 shows, gigs, exhibitions, parties and more are taking over Sydney over 17 days, making Sydney WorldPride the largest-ever LGBTQIA+ festival ever held in the region. Still on numbers, that hefty total includes 19 official major events, 68 WorldPride Arts experiences, 17 WorldPride Sports events and 192 Pride Amplified community events. That's quite the lineup to sift through, so here's the short version: wherever you are in Sydney during WorldPride, expect the festival to be in the vicinity. Other standouts include the Bondi Beach Party, which will turn the famed stretch of sand into an openair club for a casual 12,000 people, complete with dancing to Nicole Scherzinger by the water from dusk; the return of Queer Art After Hours at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and its new building; the Mardi Gras Film Festival hosting its 30th fest, including an online program; and the Queer Formal. There's also the gigs at Sydney WorldPride's at Marri Madung Butbut (Many Brave Hearts): the First Nations Gathering Space — such as the Klub Village party and performance, the Miss First Nation drag contest, and exhibition Bloodlines, which honours artists lost to HIV/AIDS. And, addd lesbian divorce comedy Blessed Union, the Australian premiere of Choir Boy by Moonlight co-writer Tarell Alvin McCraney, and installation Eulogy for the Dyke Bar — which will indeed operate as a bar — to your list as well. Throw in a 24-hour dance piece, a comedy night hosted by Ru Paul's Drag Race Down Under's Coco Jumbo, and Powerhouse Museum's showcase of Sydney's leading LGBTQIA+ artists, designers, makers and performers as well, and there's just one word for it: stunning.
The year of the rabbit is almost upon us (goodbye year of the tiger, go sleep it off), and the festivities are starting to pick up. And what's the best way to partake in the celebration? We've got it right here — and it'll make you happier than a cute hungry bunny. From Wednesday, January 18–Sunday, February 5, dumpling master Din Tai Fung is offering new limited edition chocolate and Biscoff rabbit buns and, like the chain's usual annual Lunar New Year special, they're ridiculously cute. They're buns with little rabbit faces, and they're even eating carrots — how could they be anything other than adorable? Din Tai Fung is famous for its dumplings, and is known to release eye-catching novelty varieties for special occasions (check out these adorable little monkey buns from 2016, pig bao from 2019, masked ox buns from 2021 and tiger buns from 2022). The new rabbit buns are stuffed with a sweet filling of chocolate and Biscoff crumbs, which oozes out when you squeeze them. The tiger buns are available for $9.80 for two at Din Tai Fung restaurants and food court outlets in Sydney, so you'll want to hit up its World Square, Westfield Chatswood, Westfield Miranda, Westfield Sydney, Broadway Shopping Centre, Gateway Sydney, The Star, Greenwood Plaza, Martin Place and Marrickville venues. In Melbourne, you have one spot to head to, with the buns on offer at Emporium Melbourne. They're also available frozen for delivery both separately (for $13.50 for three) — also from Wednesday, January 18. The only problem we can foresee with the cute Din Tai Fung dish? Eating those sweet little rabbit faces may be hard… but we're sure you'll manage it. Chocolate and Biscoff rabbit buns are available from Din Tai Fung's stores in Sydney and Melbourne, and also via delivery, from Wednesday, January 18–Sunday, February 5. Head to the chain's website for further details or to order.
If you're setting off on a day-long walk through the Atlas Mountains, who better than Viggo Mortensen to act as your guide? That certainly proves true in Far From Men, first in a story that sees an accused murderer trek towards an execution, and then in a film that goes on an existential wander towards the true meaning of courage and honour. With plenty of empathy lurking beneath his penetrating gaze and no-nonsense attitude, Mortensen is the ideal candidate for both journeys. His rural schoolteacher, Daru, displays the kind of patience that clearly stems from a complex past — and the type of fortitude that will serve him well for any future troubles. At the beginning of the Algerian struggle for independence from the French in 1954, he finds the latter when a lawman deposits Mohammed (Reda Kateb) into his care, asking Daru to escort him to court to face the consequences of his actions. First, Daru refuses, not wanting to be complicit in the fate everyone knows awaits. When Mohammed won't leave on his own, he reluctantly agrees to the deed, leading his charge over rocky terrain and through opposing troupes of fighters. Based on Albert Camus' The Guest, Far From Men might turn a short story into a stately adventure of sorts, assembling an episodic series of encounters as it does; however this always thoughtful, often tense film never shies away from the complicated emotions at the heart of what becomes a North Africa-set western. Indeed, it's in expressing the stoic sympathy of the feature that Mortensen demonstrates his worth, proving perfectly suited to playing a tough guy with a softer centre. Of all the roles the actor has taken since The Lord of the Rings trilogy in an attempt to steer clear of mainstream movies, this might just be his most subtle and stirring — and his finest. Making only his second feature, writer/director David Oelhoffen doesn't just rely upon his star to sell his feature, as great a feat of casting as the filmmaker has pulled off. The slow-building interplay between Mortensen and the equally excellent Kateb is never less than captivating, as is the camaraderie these two strangers eventually cultivate. But the visuals that surround them are even more so. Lingering looks at furrowed faces and steely stares abound, as do long shots of the stark, dusty, scrubby plains. Each provides their own style of landscape — as marked by their own worries — that the eyes of the audience feel compelled to explore. Oelhoffen matches such striking images with a similarly sparse yet rousing score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, ensuring Far From Men haunts in its soundscape as much as it does in its performances and cinematography. As a result, when it comes to intelligent updates of the western that contemplate the stark realities of conflict in intimate detail, this delivers the full package — along with the best actor to lead you through it.
Still coming to terms with the fact that the Newtown Social Club's gig-hosting days have come to an end? Us too. But — for better or for worse — when one door closes, another one opens. And come July, the same doors will swing into action — but this time they'll reveal a mini-golf bar. Yes, the old NSC bandroom is becoming an indoor 18-hole mini-golf course. The new venue is called Holey Moley Golf Club, and it comes to Sydney after opening in Brisbane last September and Melbourne earlier this year. Set to open in on Thursday, July 6, the bar will pair putt putt and pints across the two-storey King Street space. Just what each stop on each of the two nine-hole courses will entail is yet to be revealed; however Game of Thrones, Super Mario, Alice in Wonderland and clowns all feature up north. Yes, clowns. It's as batshit crazy as it sounds. We hope Holey Moley isn't simply filling one of Sydney's many struggling live venues with a gimmick, and their parent company Funlab have advised that music will remain a feature with regular DJ sets. Drinks-wise, expect cocktails from The Caddyshack Bar and a bao station for bites between holes. Newtown isn't the only spot on Holey Moley's expansion trail either, with an Adelaide venture due to open in May. Holey Moley Golf Club will open at 387 King Street, Newtown on Thursday, July 6. Keep an eye on their website for more information. Image: Holey Moley Melbourne, by Lucas Dawson.
Do you remember the first time you complained, "I hate Christmas?" If you've never said it, can you pinpoint precisely when the build-up and family politics began to give you mild panic attacks? At the very least, carol fatigue syndrome? Chances are you weren't 10 years old. When you're 10, you're still in love with the Day itself (as well as counting down the days leading up to it). You've started to suspect that Santa Claus isn't really the red-suited sky ranger that you once thought, and realised that there are undeniable logistical problems with flying reindeer, pixies and elves. You may vaguely comprehend that the magic isn't in the man who drinks milk and eats cookies, it's in the spirit of togetherness. But you're still stubbornly clinging to the childish certainty that on the 25th of December, nobody fights, nothing goes wrong, and everyone is happy. For 10-year old Freya (an effervescent Holly Austin), her dad's casual announcement that he may spend Christmas working on an offshore oil rig is devastating. It steels her determination that the limited number of days they do have together be extra perfect. Freya's family is pretty fractured — her Mum is dead, her widowed Nan is sweet but totally out of tune with the needs of a young girl, and her best friend Poppy is just a tad unadventurous. Life gets pretty boring in the Tasmanian seaside town of Rainwood for Freya — it's no wonder Christmas is a big deal. She even feigns joy when her dad gives her a vintage air rifle. But then her Dad and Nan start fighting, and a body washes up on the shore. The set design of Boxing Day is simple and the stage is beautifully used. Co-presented by the Tamarama Rock Surfers, it is the first major work by Sydney-based Tin Shed Theatre Company, which writer Phil Spencer formed with the director, Scarlet McGlynn. It's hard to say too much about this coming-of-age story without giving away the ending. Suffice to say, there's a reason that it's called Boxing Day. Freya has a Christmas to remember — just not in the picture-perfect way she planned. This is a review of the September 2011 production at the Old Fitzroy Theatre. Boxing Day comes to the Bondi Pavilion for two nights only before going on a regional tour. https://youtube.com/watch?v=s2u0XDzL5ks
Bendigo? More like why haven't you Bendigone yet? We're sorry for the bad joke, but not sorry to point you in the direction of this not-so-little gem. Located 150 kilometres northwest of Melbourne, Bendigo has long been a destination for art, fashion and design (the huge Bendigo Art Gallery), pottery (the town is famous for its ceramics) and fine dining (including one with a chef hat). But even if you don't like to see art, potter or eat (who are you kidding with that last one?), there is more to see than just all that. Bendigo is also ready to roll this autumn with a lineup of events that'll have you begging your friends to make the two-hour drive with you. We've partnered with Bendigo Tourism to bring you the best of 'em — get your calendar open in another tab and start planning.
Over the past 47 years, in this very galaxy, how much Star Wars merchandise has been collected? Not even a Jedi could probably give a definitive number. Making its Australian premiere, The Fans Strike Back: Exhibition doesn't answer that question either, but it is giving fans of the space-opera franchise a glimpse at a hefty range of Star Wars memorabilia — one of the planet's largest private collections of replicas, in fact. The force is strong here, and so is love for everything in the George Lucas-created big- and small-screen saga. Soaring into Melbourne from Saturday, November 23, 2024, and then set to tour the country afterwards, The Fans Strike Back: Exhibition features Star Wars starships, lightsabers, droids, creatures and even battles. An entire section is about the dark side, with Sith obviously starring heavily, while another is called The Jedi Temple. Some pieces are life-sized. Others are detailed models. Either way, Star Wars will surround attendees everywhere they look. This isn't an official showcase, however, with only private works featured. The Fans Strike Back: Exhibition finally heads Down Under after past stops in New York and Los Angeles in the US, and also London, Madrid and Paris in Europe. After Melbourne, it's displaying at The District Docklands.
Chinese New Year is coming up on February 8 and in 2016 we’ll be ringing in the year of the monkey (goodbye year of the sheep, go sleep it off). And what’s the best way to partake of the celebration? We’ve got it right here and it’s more fun than a barrelful of monkeys. Well, actually it is a barrelful of monkeys. Dumpling masters Din Tai Fung are offering new limited edition ‘Monkey Buns’ for the month of February and they are literally the cutest food we’ve ever seen. Just look at them. Din Tai Fung are famous for their dumplings and are known to release beautiful and novelty dumplings for special occasions (check out these adorable little lamb buns from last year). The monkey bao buns are steamed-to-order and stuffed with a sweet filling of chocolate and banana. They’re part of a series of new dishes being added to the menu from February 1 including crispy golden seafood roll, braised Szechuan sliced beef noodle and vegetarian egg fried rice with mushroom and truffle oil. Unfortunately the monkey buns are only available in the Din Tai Fung restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne (not the food court outlets) so you’ll have to make an proper sit-down event of it. The only problem we can foresee is that eating those sweet little monkey faces may be hard… but we’ll probably manage it. Monkey Buns are available for $4.80 per piece from Din Tai Fung restaurants from February 1 – February 29.
Last time Spike Lee stepped behind the camera, he took on American race relations in the 1970s, with the equally scathing, impassioned and amusing BlacKkKlansman winning him the Cannes Grand Prix and an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for his troubles. Two years later, the acclaimed filmmaker is back with his latest feature, which once again tackles inequality and its consequences — this time in Vietnam War heist flick Da 5 Bloods. Dropping on Netflix on June 12 — and just dropping its first trailer, too — Da 5 Bloods follows four African American veterans who head back to Saigon decades after the conflict. They're looking for the remains of their squad leader, who was killed in action, but they also have another mission: searching for the buried gold they stashed away all those years ago. As the trailer makes clear, Lee was never going to explore the controversial war without also examining the role played by African American soldiers at the time. That just wouldn't be a Spike Lee joint. So, as well as charting the exploits of his characters both now and during the conflict, Da 5 Bloods interrogates the political and social reality behind their military service — including the fact that they were fighting for a country that didn't treat them equally, let alone care whether they lost their lives in combat. Lee's latest flick also assembles a mighty impressive cast, including Black Panther's Chadwick Boseman as the unit's fallen commander — plus, as the older versions of the surviving squad members, The Good Fight's Delroy Lindo, Broadway veteran Norm Lewis, and The Wire duo Clarke Peters and Isiah Whitlock Jr. Whether the latter will exclaim "sheeeeeeeee-it" is yet to be seen, although Lee is clearly a fan. https://twitter.com/SpikeLeeJoint/status/1262194706416455680 Da 5 Bloods also features French actors Jean Reno and Mélanie Thierry, When We Rise's Jonathan Majors and Richard Jewell's Paul Walter Hauser, as well as Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul's Giancarlo Esposito — who reteams with Lee after starring in the director's School Daze, Do the Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, and Malcolm X in the late 80s and early 90s. Check out the Da 5 Bloods trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5RDTPfsLAI Da 5 Bloods hits Netflix on June 12.
To make earth's natural world look beautiful takes no effort at all, but doing the same with Pandora requires immense computing power. Given the latter is an imagined realm in James Cameron's Avatar movies, it can only exist via those ones and zeroes, and the imagery they generate — and yet in 13-years-later sequel Avatar: The Way of Water, the extrasolar moon can be as breathtakingly immersive as anything IRL. Indeed, when this second dip in what's now officially a franchise is at its best, and has audiences eagerly awaiting its third, fourth and fifth instalments in 2024, 2026 and 2028, it's an absolute visual marvel. When that's the case, it's also underwater, or in it. Yes, The Way of Water takes its subtitle seriously, splashing that part of its name about heartily in as much magnificently detailed 3D-shot and -projected glory as its director, cinematographer Russell Carpenter (a True Lies and Titanic alum) and hard-working special-effects team can excitedly muster. For Cameron, darling it really is better down where it's wetter. It's also surprising that he hasn't made a version of The Little Mermaid, a Free Willy entry or a SpongeBob SquarePants movie, such is his flowing love for H20. Plenty on his resume makes this fondness plain, including 2014 documentary Deepsea Challenge that he didn't helm, but chronicles his own journey to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench — aka the deepest part of earth's seabed. To the detriment of The Way of Water, however, there's more to Cameron's latest than soaking in underwater joys. When this flick gets wet, it's a wonder to peer at. It stresses the franchise's love of nature implicitly, and its eco-friendly message about valuing and not exploiting it. It makes viewers wish that what they're seeing truly was genuine. When it surfaces to spin its by-the-numbers story, though, it's often lucky to be an average paddle. A movie that cost US$350 million-plus can't just swim and stare beneath the stunning CGI sea, sadly, as much treading water as The Way of Water does. This long-in-the-works followup to the highest-grossing film ever doesn't tell enough of a tale, certainly isn't concerned with sailing through new narrative oceans, and stretches out its slight plot to a lengthy-and-feeling-it 192 minutes. Over a decade has passed on Pandora, too, since Avatar's protagonist Jake Sully (Sam Worthington, Under the Banner of Heaven) made it his home as new member of the Na'vi, its inhabitants. In The Way of Water, the ex-solider, his Indigenous warrior wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña, Amsterdam) and their family are forced to swap their lush, leafy backdrop for the waves, turning Jake from a Marine into a marine-dweller. Why? Earth's armed forces are back, vengeful and still keen to colonise after ruining their own planet. Avatar viewers, so everyone given its box-office tally, will recall that Jake was originally human; "the sky people", the Na'vi call them. Audiences should also remember that he navigated Pandora plugged into a body resembling his blue-skinned, three-metre-tall hosts, which is why Avatar is called Avatar to begin with. That concept largely sinks away this time around, after Jake permanently embraced his adopted guise at the end of the last film — other than to bring back Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang, Don't Breathe 2) and his crew. With his memories paired with Na'vi anatomy, the saga's chief antagonist is now cerulean as well, and hellbent on tracking down Jake, Neytiri, their teenage sons Neteyam (Jamie Flatters, The School for Good and Evil) and Lo'ak (Britain Dalton, Ready Player One), younger daughter Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Best Food Forward) and the adopted Kiri (Sigourney Weaver, Call Jane). Swiftly, seeking refuge with turquoise-hued water clans is the Sullys' only hope for survival. If anyone had forgotten that Cameron directed Aliens, The Abyss, The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Titanic — or Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep, docos about deep-sea exploration — The Way of Water provides a hefty reminder. The filmmaker cribs liberally from his past work, as seen in all of the military might and technology. He does so to such an extent that a sinking ship plays a massive part, all in a movie that co-stars Kate Winslet (Mare of Easttown) as the queen of the aquamarine-coloured Metkayina reef people. No one hogs floating debris, but making Cameron's script with Mulan's Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver a Cameron greatest-hits package is comical. That said, that approach speaks to what's important to the director, and where he'd rather spend his time and energy. It was true of the initial film as well, with its FernGully: The Last Rainforest, Pocahontas and Dune nods. The Avatar flicks would prefer to be experiences than stories, plunging spectators in instead of doling out plot points. One day, Pandora will undoubtedly stun as a virtual-reality space. One day, the world that Cameron has created will welcome headset-wearing devotees slipping into their own avatars and roving around. With its use of 3D and a higher frame rate, The Way of Water snorkels as far in that direction as it can while tied to cinemas — and that hyper-clear submersion is what it leaves audiences wanting oh-so-much more of. Kudos to the director for going against the tide in a world saturated by 'content' (complete with that bland label lumping everything on-screen together), of course. More kudos to him for valuing cinema as an audiovisual form above all else. Still, that passion, focus and aim can't lift The Way of Water's soggy narrative or deepen its shallow dialogue. And, away from the sea, the feature's doubling of images per second can't overcome the same struggles The Hobbit movies and Gemini Man had. Sans water, that annoying motion-smoothing soap-opera look bubbles up, gimmickry sets in, and Pandora and the Na'vi appear far, far less visually spectacular. Conveying emotion isn't The Way of Water's struggle, however, with assistance from its state-of-the-art performance-capture technology. Gleeful earnestness and idealism is as ever-present as azure and ultramarine tones, especially in the movie's ocean-adoring middle third. That's when this sequel is a family drama above all else, as well as a coming-of-age drama. Forget Quaritch's revenge, even if that's what kicks the flick into its action-packed — and overlong — finale; when The Way of Water charts Lo'ak's journey as the Sullys' black sheep, particularly after he bonds with an also-outcast whale-like sea creature known as a tulkun, or when it hones on in Kiri's spiritual connection with underwater plant life, it's tender, heartfelt and personal. That's when the Titanic riffs, Weaver playing a teen and Quaritch's Na'vi form cheesily crushing his old human skull all get swept away, and when this uneven film floats.
Fancy an art experience that extends beyond looking at works on a wall? Then prepare to be impressed by Melbourne's new 3000-square-metre, 11-metre-high immersive digital art gallery. Originally set to open in late 2020, then in autumn this year, and then in September, The Lume will finally open its doors on Monday, November 1. The big drawcard: projections of some of the world's most celebrated artworks, which will be splashed across various surfaces at the site's permanent home at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC). Those luminous displays will be backed by powerful musical soundtracks, too, and even complemented by aromas. So yes, the idea is to engage multiple senses — and build the kind of art experience that surrounds you in multiple ways. When it opens its doors, The Lume's inaugural exhibition at will celebrate the works and life of Vincent van Gogh — so, you'll be able to walk through artworks like The Starry Night and Sunflowers while listening to a classical music score. For the latter, there'll be a dedicated mirror infinity room filled with sunflowers. Elsewhere, expect a reimagined Café Terrace 1888, and a life-size recreation of Van Gogh's Bedroom. If you were lucky enough to make it up to Sydney last year for Van Gogh Alive, you'll know what you're in for. The project is the brainchild of Melbourne-based Grande Experiences, which, for the past 15 years, has hosted immersive exhibitions and gallery experiences in over 130 cities across the world — and is taking Van Gogh Alive around Australia this year, too. The company also owns and operates Rome's Museo Leonardo da Vinci. Abiding by Victoria's reopening roadmap, The Lume will only be welcoming in double-vaccinated patrons upon opening. The Lume will open at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Monday, November 1 — operating Monday–Thursday from 10am–9pm, Friday from 10am–10pm, Saturday from 9am–10pm and Sunday from 9am–9pm. For more information, or to buy tickets, head to the venue's website.
Nothing is scarier than outer space. Think about it for just a moment: On one hand: your stock horror movie assemblage of psycho killers, poltergeists, zombies and monsters. On the other hand: the void of space, black holes, supernovas, the certainty of tissue-crushing death just beyond your vessel, aloneness with zero human life for infinity, ohmigod infinity. So it's strange that while we've seen a number of dramas that play off this setting (not least 2001: A Space Odyssey), we haven't seen a major film directly about it. Enter Gravity, an extremely visceral, sensorial journey into our shared fear of drifting into outer space. Apparently director and co-writer Alfonso Cuarón (the consistently solid genre-hopper behind Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Y Tu Mama Tambien) wanted to be an astronaut as a child, though there's no trace of idealised fantasy here. Gravity stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as two astronauts making repairs to the Hubble Telescope that orbits Earth. Clooney's Matt Kowalski is an extroverted veteran, casually whizzing around on an untethered space walk by way of a thruster pack. Bullock's Dr Ryan Stone is a reticent newbie just trying not to throw up from extreme motion sickness. They haven't been at the Hubble coalface for long when their suddenly grim colleagues at Mission Control warn them of an incoming wave of debris from a Russian anti-satellite test. Sure enough, it strikes soon and strikes ferociously, leaving Bullock and Clooney floating in space with no incoming communication from Earth. Before seeing Gravity, I would've assumed this was the end of the line. As it turns out, there are a number of measures open to a resourceful, fast-thinking survivalist in the great emptiness of the heavens — and faced with rotten bad luck, they're going to have to try a great number of them. Gravity, however, is more about experience than plot. It is the single most stressful two hours you can have in a movie theatre — in the best possible way — as it puts you in the position of the stranded astronauts. Long shots subtly convince you that the subjects are not surrounded by a crew of cameramen, while the view from inside their helmets is frighteningly limiting and disorientating. While there is music (composed by Steven Price), Cuaron also exploits the soundlessness of space to great effect, with sound carried through vibration coming across tinny and foreign and Bullock's fluctuating breathing your faithful guide throughout. The incomparably stunning visuals alone are enough reason to see this film, a milestone in 'grown-up 3D'. At the same time, Bullock's performance is deeply compelling. Even when Gravity's relentless series of obstacles seem to become ludicrous (and there is a point), you're so invested in her survival that it's forgiven. Gravity is an unforgettable ride that will make you appreciate the feeling of the ground beneath your feet. https://youtube.com/watch?v=OiTiKOy59o4
Longstanding Bondi favourite Da Orazio is reopening in its original home on Wednesday, March 30 with a new accompanying bar, Orazietto, joining it next door. Hallmarks of the original venue including its red door and fan-favourite dishes are all back on the menu, alongside inventive new additions to the venue's array of Italian eats. "In Italian we say, 'il primo amore non si scorda mai' which means the first love you never forget," says the restaurant's renowned owner Orazio D'Elia. "Da Orazio was my firstborn, my first love, so to be able to bring the venue back to life means so much to me and my team. I can't wait for all our Da Orazio friends to return, and welcome new friends." Inside, the 90-seat restaurant has undergone a makeover, sporting a fresh new look, but classic dishes like rotisserie porchetta with focaccia, fregola fruit di mare, and antipasti share plates haven't changed. Alongside these mainstays, mortadella cacio e pepe, and a fancy new pizza menu are among the new additions. Pizza chef Matteo Ernandes is using a new contemporary pizza dough recipe for the bases that he promises makes the bases "lighter and more digestible". Next door, Orazietto seats up to 40 people and doesn't take reservations. The atmosphere is more casual and you can swing by for a quick drink, but all the food from Da Orazio is still on offer. Da Orazio is located at Shop 75, 79 Hall Street, Bondi Beach.
52 Artists 52 Actions is the culmination of a year-long series commissioned by Artspace. Over 52 weeks from January 2018 to January 2019, the gallery engaged 52 artists and collectives to pose political, cultural and social actions and share them through Instagram and digital platforms. Bringing together all these works in one space, through themes of censorship, activism, migration, labour, gender and economies of power, the exhibition forces us to consider our role within the systems that surround us — if we have one at all. Expect to see pieces by Aussie artists like Richard Bell, Vernon Ah Kee, and Mike Parr. The exhibition will be on display at Artspace in Woolloomooloo until August 4, and a symposium will be hosted at the gallery on the weekend of July 20–21 to discuss the far-reaching span of the art and artists who connect with the immediate world around them. Within this, the audience will be invited to consider Australia's position within the broader region of the Asia-Pacific.
Don't mistake the blaze that starts Nightmare Alley for warmth; in his 11th film, Guillermo del Toro gets chillier than he ever has. A lover of gothic tales told with empathy and curiosity, the Mexican filmmaker has always understood that escapism and agony go hand in hand — in life, and in his fantastical movies — and here, in a carnival noir that springs from William Lindsay Gresham's 1946 novel and previously reached cinemas in 1947, he runs headfirst into cold, unrelenting darkness. As The Shape of Water movingly demonstrated to Best Picture and Best Director Oscar wins, no one seeks emotional and mental refuge purely for the sake it. They flee from something, and del Toro's life's work has spotted that distress clearly from his first dalliance with the undead in his 1993 debut Cronos. The Divinyls were right: there is indeed a fine line between pleasure and pain, which del Toro keeps surveying; however, Nightmare Alley tells of trying to snatch glimpses of empty happiness amid rampant desolation. That burning house, once home to the skulking Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper, Licorice Pizza), is surrounded by America's stark midwestern landscape circa 1939. Still, the terrain of its now-former occupant's insides is even grimmer, as Nightmare Alley's opening image of Stan dropping a body into a hole in the abode's floor, then striking a match, shows. From there, he descends into the carny world after hopping on a bus with only a bag and a radio, alighting at the end of the line and finding a travelling fair at this feet. Given a job by barker Clem Hoatley (Willem Dafoe, Spider-Man: No Way Home), he gets by doing whatever's asked, including helping clean up after the geek act — although, even with his ambiguities evident from the outset, stomaching a cage-dwelling man biting the heads off live chickens to entertain braying crowds isn't initially easy. While set in an already-despondent US where the Depression is only just waning, the shadows of the First World War linger and more are soon to fall via World War II, Nightmare Alley still gives Stan flickers of hope. Adapted from the novel by del Toro with feature debutant Kim Morgan, the movie doesn't ever promise light or virtue, but kindness repeatedly comes its protagonist's way in its first half. In fortune-teller Zeena the Seer (Toni Collette, Dream Horse) and her oft-sauced husband and assistant Pete (David Strathairn, Nomadland), Stan gains friends and mentors. He takes to mentalism like he was born to it, and his gift for manipulating audiences — and his eagerness to keep pushing the spiritualism further — is firmly a sign. Soon, it's 1941 and he's rebadged himself as 'The Great Stanton' in city clubs, claiming to speak to the dead in the pursuit of bigger paydays, with fellow ex-carny Molly Cahill (Rooney Mara, Mary Magdalene) as his romantic and professional partner beyond the dustbowl. The tone may be blacker than del Toro's usual mode — positively pitch-black in the feature's unforgettable ending, in fact — but Stan is just doing what the director's main characters tend to: trying to find his own place as he runs from all that haunts him. "My whole life, I been lookin', lookin' for somethin' I'm good at — an' I think I found it," he says, his elation palpable. Although his first altercation with Dr Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett, Don't Look Up) starts with a public scene at one of his swanky gigs, he's equally as thrilled that his crowd-pleasing act attracts her attention, and by the psychologist's suggestion that they team up on wealthy mark Ezra Grindle (Richard Jenkins, Kajillionaire). But here's the thing about being a grifter, even one who was so recently a drifter: if you're fleecing someone, you're likely being fleeced back in turn. Fox Mulder was right, too. In The X-Files, the David Duchovny-played character's main maxims contradicted each other yet also rang true, because people do want to believe even if they know they should trust no one. That iconic sci-fi series had its own ace carnival episode, and TV also went there in HBO's exceptional early-00s series Carnivàle — and while both pop to mind when watching Nightmare Alley, del Toro doesn't follow slavishly in anyone else's footsteps. As he's done with ghosts (The Devil's Backbone), superheroes (his two Hellboy films), fairytale worlds (Pan's Labyrinth), kaiju (Pacific Rim) and haunted houses (Crimson Peak), he's intensely astute at twisting familiar realms to suit his stylistic flourishes and thematic fascinations, and making it all feel brand new. Nightmare Alley doesn't lack influences, the entire history of film noir that the original flick hails from chief among them, but it's always its own towering beast. Like getting lost in its funhouse sideshows, jewel-hued costumes and the velvety art-deco furnishings of life after the road, this endlessly mesmerising movie is always sordid yet immaculate as well, and creepy yet slinky and pulpy yet ravishing. Pondering a road to hell paved with self-serving intentions, it has a heart of darkness that courses with inky, icy blood, and it's also as alluring a film as del Toro has helmed. Yes, it's a feature that lives the idea that something that draws you in vividly and instantly might be prowled by monsters both hidden and not-so, with Nightmare Alley pumping one of its central notions through every technical touch it can. Aided by cinematographer Dan Laustsen's (Crimson Peak, The Shape of Water) gliding imagery and production designer Tamara Deverell's (the del Toro-produced vampire TV series The Strain) vibrant staging, every frame is visual perfection — not just by looking spectacular, but by so heartily embracing its settings, genre and dissection of humanity's bleakest impulses. Cue a commanding performance by Cooper to match every move that Nightmare Alley makes; thanks to Licorice Pizza and now this, he's having a career-best moment. While never convincingly as youthful as dialogue intimates, he captures the same thing that del Toro constantly interrogates, playing a slippery and unsettling man who knows how to lure people in — it takes time for Stan to segue from barely speaking to smooth patter, but the latter more than does its job — and how to twist a knife to devastating effect. He isn't alone in his stellar portrayal, though, with Collette and Strathairn soulful and tender, Mara beaming with heart, Dafoe hardened and nightmarish, and Jenkins cuttingly crafty. An energetic yet sinister presence who couldn't be more at home in her thorny part, Blanchett could've walked right out of the 30s and 40s herself, too, although that's oh-so-much about del Toro's latest masterpiece all over. Top image: Photo by Kerry Hayes. © 2021, 20th Century Studios, all rights reserved.
When The Chaser's production company, Giant Dwarf, secured the event space previously known as Cleveland Street Theatre, it wasn't sure it would last past the two-year lease. Well, that lease came and went, and while the performance space has since moved a little ways down the road, it's now considered one of the most popular in the city. Giant Dwarf focuses on those funny-shaped hybrids of comedy, storytelling and performance that have become popular on the Sydney scene: events like Story Club, Queerstories and erotic fan fiction found permanent homes here after a previously nomadic existence. There are political debates, think-pieces and album launches. Professionals, comedians and emerging talent use the venue to trial fresh material before festival circuits kick off. But the space doesn't begin and end at live performances. The venue is available for hire as a rehearsal space, green screen studio and events. Improv Theatre Sydney runs its improvisation and performance workshops out of Giant Dwarf as well, indicating an ongoing commitment from the venue to foster creative talent.
Vivid Sydney 2019 is nearly upon us. This year, the CBD's three-kilometre Vivid Light Walk will span precincts at Darling Harbour, Barangaroo, Circular Quay and Luna Park with a total of 50 large-scale projections. Yup, it'll be the biggest Vivid yet, and we've teamed up with American Express to make sure you do it right — without bringing along anything unnecessary. Find yourself among 500 fireflies, take a selfie with your favourite Pixar character, hit a rooftop bar and hang out with robots, or view the whole spectacle on a ferry ride. Here's how to make the most of Vivid, carrying nothing but your phone, ID and credit card. Think how easy it'll be to slip through the crowds without any excess baggage. [caption id="attachment_624496" align="alignnone" width="1920"] James Horan.[/caption] SEE THE LIGHTS FROM THE WATER The best bits of Vivid aren't necessarily viewed on foot — this year, take to the water to catch all those lights in action. You don't even have to book an expensive boat ride, either. Instead, head to Darling Harbour wharf and hop on a ferry. We recommend taking it across to Luna Park, one of Vivid's newest precincts. And you don't even need to pack your Opal, with all Sydney ferry (and train) services now accepting contactless payment via your American Express, debit or credit cards. Simply tap on at your usual Opal card reader and you're good to go. When you're ready to return, take the ferry back to Circular Quay instead to really get your Vivid views (and your money's worth). [caption id="attachment_719031" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Firefly Field by Toer, render.[/caption] IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS This year, the Royal Botanic Garden precinct is more immersive than ever and it's a must visit with your phone in hand. Of the 15 light installations throughout the gardens, our top pick is the Firefly Field — it consists of an interactive field of 500 'fireflies' that will dance about as you snap away. Other exhibitions include light cascades at the River of Light and the lawns in the brightly lit Dancing Grass installation. Make sure to stop at Jungle Boogie, where you can play a giant instrument which activates a psychedelic forest scene. [caption id="attachment_719032" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Pixar/Disney render.[/caption] TAKE A SELFIE WITH YOUR FAVOURITE PIXAR CHARACTER Beloved animation studio Pixar is celebrating Vivid Sydney in its own way — with a 30th-anniversary projection at the Argyle Cut in The Rocks. Expect all of your favourite characters to make appearances, including Finding Nemo and Toy Story (plus a sneak peek of Toy Story 4). Apart from the characters, the installation will show visitors how art, design and technology take these animations from early stages all the way through to the finished film. Featured art mediums will include watercolours, acrylic paintings, pencil drawings and digital paintings, among others. HIT A ROOFTOP LOUNGE FOR A DRINK AND ENVIABLE VIVID VIEWS Sometimes all the Vivid hubbub can be a bit too much. If you still want to enjoy the sights without fighting the masses, head to the rooftop at Cruise Bar, where the American Express Vivid Lounge will be set up throughout Vivid (you don't even need an American Express card to get in, just register for access here). The lounge is situated at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, right in the heart of Circular Quay. This means you can enjoy some of the best Vivid views with a drink in hand, including spectator-favourite the Opera House sails and the glittering harbour beyond. CHECK OUT VIVID'S NEWEST PRECINCT Back for a second year, the Luna Park precinct is offering heaps of over-the-bridge Vivid activations, plus harbour views aplenty. Thousands of LED lights will be strung across the ferris wheel and thrill ride Volaré, with ride passes starting at just a tenner. There will also be roving street performers in glowing costumes and Mediterranean-inspired dining at the park's restaurant, Altum. From there, the spectacular lights on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House and Circular Quay are all in view. [caption id="attachment_670777" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cole Bennetts.[/caption] CATCH A SPECIAL VIVID GIG AT THE OPERA HOUSE While the Vivid 2019 headliners The Cure are fully sold out, there are plenty of other top-notch acts in town for the occasion that have tickets available. There's an added matinee show for jazz legend Herbie Hancock, an open-air dance party with godfather of deep house Larry Heard aka Mr. Fingers and a tenth-anniversary collaboration between Jónsi (vocalist for Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós) and his partner Alex Summers. Jónsi & Alex will perform their ambient record Riceboy Sleeps for the first time on stage — backed by a 21-piece orchestra and 12-member choir in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, no less. It's sure to be an unforgettable gig. [caption id="attachment_718921" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Marri Dyin.[/caption] JOIN A PERFORMANCE AT BARANGAROO'S WINTER WONDERLAND Barangaroo will be transformed into a winter wonderland for Vivid 2019. Winter Camp will take over Exchange Place with a glowing, six-metre puppet called Marri Dyin — a spirit who portrays the important influence of First Nations women. Make sure to stop by during the night performances, occurring Thursday through Sunday, when Marri Dyin invites visitors to join her by the fire and practice hunting and gathering. The artistic performance honours the land's traditional custodians, the Gadigal people, and the powerful Cammeraygal woman for whom Barangaroo is named. [caption id="attachment_719357" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Robot Spaceland render.[/caption] HANG OUT WITH ROBOTS IN DARLING HARBOUR Darling Harbour has taken a sustainable approach to Vivid this year with its Robot Spaceland. The central figure is the 16-metre tall 'Ecobot', which is created from a collection of crushed cars. It's fictitiously tasked with saving Earth from extinction and advancing its sustainable initiatives. Ecobot's mates include a group of sentient robots, who actively up-cycle cars and junk into the Tree 1.0 — an organic landscape created from waste. Three additional robots share the massive exhibition space, all focused on planetary preservation and restoration — and all bright and colourful, of course. Plus, this one's free, so you'll just need your phone for some snaps. When you need a break from the crowds but not the lights this Vivid season, American Express has your back. Gain access to the American Express Vivid Lounge — even if you don't yet have an American Express card. All you have to do is sign-up here. Top image: Hamilton Lund.
There's perhaps an unintentional double-meaning in the title of Pixar's new film Brave. Thematically, bravery naturally forms the substance of the lead character's development, but the name's also an interesting take on the company's creative direction. Not only is this Pixar's first film to centre around a female protagonist, it's also the first with a female director (Brenda Chapman). At least... it was until Chapman was replaced by Mark Andrews halfway through. So, 'Brave-ish' perhaps? But then you recall Andrews co-wrote and worked as second unit director on John Carter, which takes us back to plain old Brave (or possibly insane). Of course replacing directors is almost a tradition at Pixar, with this now the fifth time it's happened, and usually the contradictory approach somehow works. On this occasion, however, it's not quite as effective since the competing visions fail to marry quite so seamlessly. The story follows Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald of Trainspotting and Boardwalk Empire fame) as a princess in training, though her attention and discipline run as wild as her Rebekah Brooks locks. She favours riding over reading, archery over tapestry and mischief over miss congeniality - all to the amusement of her father King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and the chagrin of her Queen mother Elinor (Emma Thompson). Tensions come to a head when it's announced three eligible clansmen will be competing for her hand in marriage, and in defiance of her mother she shuns tradition and sends the kingdom into turmoil. It's no surprise the 'animatography' in Brave is exquisite. Pixar's ability to imbue its characters with rich emotions, even when they're inanimate, is as impressive as it is now assumed, and the opening shots of the highland vistas are so photorealistic they could easily be mistaken for the opening shots of Prometheus. Ultimately Brave is probably Pixar's worst film to date. However, anything by Pixar will still be better than most of the other films that have (or will) come out this year. That's because the teams at its San Francisco-based headquarters know their story structure, character arcs and emotional triggers better than most, as well as how to make an audience laugh. And laugh you most certainly will. https://youtube.com/watch?v=TEHWDA_6e3M
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. SEE HOW THEY RUN As every murder-mystery does, See How They Run asks a specific question: whodunnit? This 1950s-set flick also solves another query, one that's lingered over Hollywood for seven decades now thanks to Agatha Christie. If this movie's moniker has you thinking about mouse-focused nursery rhymes, that's by design — and characters do scurry around chaotically — however, it could also have you pondering the famed author's play The Mousetrap. The latter first hit theatres in London's West End in 1952 and has stayed there ever since, other than an enforced pandemic-era shutdown in COVID-19's early days. The show operates under a set stipulation regarding the big-screen rights, too, meaning that it can't be turned into a film until the original production has stopped treading the boards for at least six months. As that's never happened, how do you get it into cinemas anyway? Make a movie about trying to make The Mousetrap into a movie, aka See How They Run. There's a clever-clever air to See How They Run's reason for existing. The same proves true of its narrative, the on-screen explanation about how The Mousetrap sits at the centre of this film's story, and the way it details those rules around adapting the play for cinema. Voiced by in-movie director Leo Köpernick (Adrien Brody, Blonde), that winking attitude resembles the Scream franchise's take on the horror genre, but with murder-mysteries — and it also smarts in its knowing rundown about how whodunnits work, who's who among the main players-slash-suspects and what leads to the central homicide. First-time feature filmmaker Tom George (This Country) and screenwriter Mark Chappell (Flaked) still craft a film that's enjoyable-enough, though, albeit somehow both satirical and by the numbers. Keeping audiences guessing isn't the picture's strong suit. Matching its own comparison to Christie isn't either. But the leads and snappy sense of fun make this a mostly entertaining game of on-screen Cluedo. Was it actor Richard Attenborough (Harris Dickinson, Where the Crawdads Sing), his fellow-thespian wife Sheila Sim (Pearl Chanda, War of the Worlds), big-time movie producer John Woolf (Reece Shearsmith, Venom: Let There Be Carnage) or his spouse Edana Romney (Sian Clifford, The Duke) getting murderous in the costume shop at the backstage party celebrating The Mousetrap's 100th show? (And yes, they're all real-life figures.) Or, was it the play's producer Petula Spencer (Ruth Wilson, His Dark Materials), the proposed feature adaptation's screenwriter Mervyn Cocker-Norris (David Oyelowo, Chaos Walking) or his Italian lover Gio (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, The Queen's Gambit)? They're among See How They Run's other enquiries, which Scotland Yard's Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell, Richard Jewell) and Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan, The French Dispatch) try to answer. After the death that kicks off the film, the two cops are on the case, working through their odd-couple vibe as they sleuth. Naturally, everyone that was in the theatre on the night in question is a suspect. Just as expectedly, convolutions and complications abound. Plus, possible motives keep stacking up — and there's plenty of in-fighting among the stage and screen in-crowd who might've done the deed. In other words, even with equally parodying and paying homage to all things murder-mystery chief among See How They Run's aims (alongside showing off that it thinks it knows the basics as well as Christie), it isn't blind to following the standard formula. The guiding narration, which notes that it's always the most unlikeable character that gets bumped off, takes a ribbing approach; "seen one, you've seen 'em all" it advises, because Köpernick was charged with helming The Mousetrap's leap into movies, wasn't so impressed with the source material, then advocated for violence and explosions to spice up the whole thing. Yes, viewers are meant to see parallels between what he's saying and what they're watching. Yes, being that self-aware and meta truly is a feature-long commitment. Read our full review. SMILE If high-concept horror nasties get you grinning even when you're squirming, recoiling or peeking through your fingers, then expect Smile to live up to its name — in its first half, at least. A The Ring-meets-It Follows type of scarefest with nods to the Joker thrown in, it takes its titular term seriously, sporting one helluva creepy smirk again and again. The actual face doing the ghoulish beaming can change, and does, but the evil Cheshire Cat-esque look on each dial doesn't. Where 2011's not-at-all spooky The Muppets had a maniacal laugh, Smile does indeed possess a maniacal, skin-crawling, nightmare-inducing leer. In the film, the first character to chat about it, PhD student Laura Weaver (Caitlin Stasey, Bridge and Tunnel), explains it as "the worst smile I have ever seen in my life". She's in a hospital, telling psychiatrist Rose Cotter (Mare of Easttown's Sosie Bacon, daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick), who clearly thinks she's hallucinating. But when the doctor sees that grin herself, she immediately knows that Laura's description couldn't be more accurate. Toothy, deranged, preternaturally stretched and also frozen in place, the smile at the heart of Smile isn't easily forgotten — not that Rose need worry about that. Soon, it's haunting her days and nights by interrupting her work, and seeing her act erratically with patients to the concern of her boss (Kal Penn, Clarice). Rose upsets a whole party at her nephew's birthday, too, and makes her fiancé Trevor (Jessie T Usher, The Boys) have doubts about their future. There's a backstory: Rose's mother experienced mental illness, which is why she's so passionate about her work and her sister Holly (Gillian Zinser, The Guilty) is so dismissive. There's a backstory to the diabolical frown turned upside down also, which she's quickly trying to unravel with the help of her cop ex Joel (Kyle Gallner, Scream). She has to; Laura came to the hospital for assistance after her professor saw the smile first, then started beaming it, then took his own life in front of her — and now Rose is in the same situation. It springs from debut feature writer/director Parker Finn's own 2020 short film Laura Hasn't Slept, but given how quickly Smile's nods to other horror flicks come — and how blatant they are — it's hardly astonishing how little in its narrative comes as a surprise. A malignant terror spreading virally on sight? A single-minded pursuer that can hop bodies, but always chases its new target with unyielding focus? Yes, as already mentioned, a J-horror franchise and its American remake are owed a huge debt, as is David Robert Mitchell's breakout 2014 hit. And yes, there's no way not to think of a certain Batman adversary each time that eerily exaggerated smirk flashes (given how many times the Joker has featured on-screen, it's downright inescapable). But when Smile is smiling — not just plastering that unnerving grin far and wide, but frequently directing it straight at the camera (and audience) — the fear is real. It's an odd experience, the feeling of knowing how obvious every aspect of a movie's narrative is, yet still having it spark a physical reaction. Finn deploys jump-scares that do genuinely invite jumps. His film goes dark and grim in its look and atmosphere, tensely so, and with cinematographer Charlie Sarroff (Relic) adoring soft, restrained lighting that one imagines the realm between life and death could have. He knows when to let a moment and a shot hang, teasing out the inevitable but still making sure the payoff is felt. And, among all of that, the mood is Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar)-level bleak. The biggest kudos goes to (and the biggest responses come from) that hellish expression that could pop up anywhere on anyone, though. When Smile stops smiling, it's a blander movie — and although the fact that much of it is spliced together from elsewhere, and what isn't is largely generic, doesn't ever slip from view, that's also when the feature gets heftier. Read our full review. ON THE COUNT OF THREE What happens outside an upstate New York strip club at 10am on an ordinary weekday? Nothing — nothing good, or that anyone pays attention to, at least — deduces the unhappy Val (Jerrod Carmichael, Rothaniel) in On the Count of Three. So, he's hatched a plan: with his lifelong best friend Kevin (Christopher Abbott, The Forgiven), they'll carry out a suicide pact, with that empty car park as their final earthly destination. Under the harsh morning light and against a drably grey sky, Carmichael's feature directorial debut initially meets its central duo standing in that exact spot, guns pointed at each other's heads and pulling the trigger mere moments away. Yes, they start counting. Yes, exhaustion and desperation beam from their eyes. No, this thorny yet soulful film isn't over and done with then and there. There are many ways to experience weariness, frustration, malaise and despair, and to convey them — and On the Count of Three surveys plenty, as an unflinchingly black comedy about two lifelong best friends deciding to end it all should. Those dispiriting feelings can weigh you down, making every second of every day an effort. They can fester, agitate, linger and percolate, simmering behind every word and deed before spewing out as fury. They can spark drastic actions, including the type that Val and Kevin have picked as their only option after the latter breaks the former out of a mental health hospital mere days after his last self-harming incident. Or, they can inspire a wholesale rejection of the milestones, such as the promotion that Val is offered hours earlier, that everyone is told they're supposed to covet, embrace and celebrate. On the Count of Three covers all of the above, not just with purpose but with confidence, as well as a much-needed willingness to get messy. It knows it's traversing tricky terrain, and is also well-aware of the obvious: that nothing about considering taking one's own life is simple or easy, let alone a laughing matter. Working with a script by Ramy co-creators Ari Katcher (also a co-creator of The Carmichael Show) and Ryan Welch, Carmichael doesn't make a movie that salutes, excuses or justifies Val and Kevin's exit plan. His film doesn't abhor the emotions and pain behind their choices either, though. Instead, this is a complicated portrait of coping, and not, with the necessities, vagaries and inevitabilities of life — and a raw and thoughtful piece of recognition that the biggest standoff we all have is with ourselves. Rocking a shock of dishevelled bleached-blonde hair, and looking like he hasn't even dreamed of changing his wardrobe since the early 00s, Abbott could've wandered out of Good Time as Kevin — he and Robert Pattinson could/should play brothers some day — including when he's staring down Val with a gun. First, On the Count of Three jumps from there to the events leading up to it, including an earlier attempt by landscaping supply store worker Val in the work bathrooms, his response to hearing about that aforementioned climb up the corporate ladder. In hospital, Kevin is angry; "if any of you knew how to help me by now, you would have fucking done it!" he shouts. But when the time to shoot comes, it's him who suggests a reprieve to take care of a few last items — revenge being his. Read our full review. THE HUMANS Movie buffs who like to theme their viewing around the relevant time of year — holiday-related, primarily — are always spoiled for choice. Christmas films, spooky flicks at Halloween, Easter-relevant fare: you can build a binge session or several out of all of them. The same applies to Thanksgiving, all courtesy of the US, and The Humans is the latest addition to the November-appropriate list. This A24 release ticks a few clearcut boxes, in fact, including bringing a dysfunctional multi-generation family together to celebrate the date, steeping their get-together in the kind of awkwardness that always stalks relatives, and having big revelations spill over the course of the gathering (the calendar-mandated time for such disclosures, pouring out before the tryptophan kicks in). That said, even with such evident servings of underlying formula, The Humans is far creepier and more haunting than your usual movie about America's turkey-eating time of year. A hefty helping of existential horror will do that. Based on Stephen Karam's Tony-winning 2016 Broadway play — a Pulitzer Prize finalist as well — and adapted and directed for the screen by Karam himself, The Humans is downright unsettling, and for a few reasons. There's the tension zipping back and forth between everyone in attendance, of course — as crucial an ingredient at every Thanksgiving party as food, booze and warm bodies to consume them, at least if films are to be believed. There's also the bleak, claustrophobic, run-down setting, with the movie confined to a New York apartment close to Ground Zero, which aspiring composer Brigid (Beanie Feldstein, Booksmart) and her student boyfriend Richard (Steven Yeun, Nope) have just moved into at significant expense. And, there's the strange sounds emanating from other units, and perhaps this creaking, groaning, two-storey abode itself, which couldn't feel less welcoming. As a result, seasonal cheer is few and far between in this corner of Manhattan, where the Blake family congregates dutifully rather than agreeably or even welcomely. Also making an appearance: parents Deirdre (Only Murders in the Building's Jayne Houdyshell, reprising her Tony-winning part) and Erik (Richard Jenkins, DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story), Brigid's lawyer older sister Aimee (Amy Schumer, Life & Beth), and their grandmother Momo (June Squibb, Palmer), who has dementia and uses a wheelchair. No one is happy, and everyone seems to have something that needs airing — slowly and reluctantly when it's a matter of importance, but freely and cuttingly when it's a snap judgement directed at others. Watching The Humans, the audience hopes that no one has truly had a Thanksgiving like this, while knowing how well its fraught dynamic hits the mark. Thanks to Richard, film first-timer Karam has a straightforward way to start doling out backstory — a time-honoured function of fresh attendees to on-screen family dos, and not just in movies about Thanksgiving. Erik chats, filling the newcomer in, although the talk between everyone dishes out plenty of handy details. Religious and political affiliations cause strains, as do booze and money. The clash between the big city, where the Blake family daughters now live, and their hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania also informs the discussions. Health woes, relationship struggles, generation clashes, expecting more both from and of each other but getting less: that's the baseline. Brigid stews about not being given enough cash by her parents, and therefore jeopardising her career dreams; Aimee frets about treading water at work, being alone and a medical condition; Deirdre's conservative leanings bristle against her daughters' decisions; and Erik clearly has a secret. Read our full review. 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 June 2, June 9, June 16, June 23 and June 30; and July 7, July 14, July 21 and July 28; August 4, August 11, August 18 and August 25; and September 1, September 8, September 15 and September 22. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Mothering Sunday, Jurassic World Dominion, A Hero, Benediction, Lightyear, Men, Elvis, Lost Illusions, Nude Tuesday, Ali & Ava, Thor: Love and Thunder, Compartment No. 6, Sundown, The Gray Man, The Phantom of the Open, The Black Phone, Where the Crawdads Sing, Official Competition, The Forgiven, Full Time, Murder Party, Bullet Train, Nope, The Princess, 6 Festivals, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Crimes of the Future, Bosch & Rockit, Fire of Love, Beast, Blaze, Hit the Road, Three Thousand Years of Longing, Orphan: First Kill, The Quiet Girl, Flux Gourmet, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Moonage Daydream, Ticket to Paradise, Clean and You Won't Be Alone.
