UPDATE: Due to current COVID-19 restrictions in Melbourne, All Our Exes Live in Texas, Emma Donovan & the Putbacks, Wagons and Leroy Macqueen have withdrawn from the festival and the Sydney Park concert has been consolidated into one day. Head to the festival's website for more information including full set times. Country music is cool again. With cowboy hats and boots back in style, and a swath of young exciting country musicians emerging from Sydney and afar, Sydney's inner west is hosting a music festival celebrating our best and brightest country talents. The Country and Inner Western will take over the bustling inner-city area between Friday, June 11 and Sunday, June 13 as part of Sydney's latest winter arts festival Sydney Solstice. Free and ticketed sets will pop up around Newtown, Enmore and Erskineville across the Queen's Birthday Long Weekend at venues like Waywards and Kelly's on King, but for the full Country and Inner Western experience, you can head to the Sydney Park Amphitheatre on the Sunday to catch the who's-who of Australian country music. Heading up the lineup is country icon Kasey Chambers and local favourite Tex Perkins performing songs from the career of Johnny Cash. Elsewhere on the lineup, you'll find Australian music mainstays like The Morrisons and Andy Golledge alongside plenty of newer additions to the local country scene like Caitlin Harnett & The Pony Boys, Babitha and Lady Lyon of the band Baby Beef. The Sydney Park Amphitheatre gig is a family-friendly affair, with adult tickets starting at $65.80. [caption id="attachment_793807" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Waywards; April Josie[/caption]
Luxe hotel chain QT and beloved (and award-winning) Australian gin producer Four Pillars are coming together for a multi-sensory five-course meal in honour of their new collaborative gin, Ordered Chaos. Appropriately labelled Chaos dinner, diners can head to QT's Gowings Bar and Grill for four exciting dishes paired with cocktails, musical pairings and entertainment, hosted by Four Pillars co-founder, Stu Gregor. To begin the night, canapés including raw scallop, blood orange vinaigrette raw beef and sterling caviar will be served, before the first dish of the night is unveiled: yellowtail kingfish crudo with yuzu creme fraiche, seaweed cracker and saltbush. Across the rest of the of the menu you'll find black Berkshire porchetta, Tinder Creek duck breast with heirloom beets and a white chocolate ball designed to be cracked open, featuring coconut mousse and chocolate crumble. Kicking off at 7pm on Thursday, May 27, a spot at the five-course meal will cost you $175 per person and includes your cocktail pairings for the night. [caption id="attachment_813131" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kate Shanasy[/caption]
Already known for its bottomless vegan pizza and pasta feasts, Italian restaurant chain Salt Meats Cheese has been upping its cruelty-free food game at a monthly special event. Called Soul Meets Cheers, it serves up an entirely plant-based menu, featuring vegan versions of Italian classics. For the feast's May outing — taking place at all Sydney venues from 5pm on Tuesday, May 11 — it'll be focusing on bites to eat inspired by Venice. Think vegan antipasto platters, bruschetta with fennel dip, risotto nero (which is made with charcoal stock), and beetroot pizza with roasted cauliflower. And yes, that's just a few of the dishes on offer across the five-course meal, which finishes with a raw vegan tiramisu that features cashew cream, coconut cream, vegan chocolate and almonds. Your $49 ticket also includes a glass of vegan wine or beer upon arrival.
Pier One is looking to get your mind ticking over a bit more this month with a new program of creativity-focused events. The Creative Hub is a three-week event series running from Friday, May 7 through until Monday, May 31 which includes insightful chats with industry experts and a series of workshops for those looking for a dose of self-improvement this May. The Creative Hub will be held in Pier One's Bridge Marquee, which will be transformed into the Art Bar as part of the festivities. The marquee has been reimagined for the festival by Goldberg Aberline Studio with inflatable art, fun furniture and a pop-up cocktail and champagne bar. Each week at the Art Bar you can catch a series of panel discussions with a range of successful Sydney creatives. Between Thursday, May 13 and Sunday May 30, you can join the audience for Creative Sydney Icons in Conversation with an array of panelists including Sydney Fringe Festival CEO, Kerri Glassock, National Art School Executive Producer and former Mardi Gras CEO, Terese Casu, Bangarra Dance Theatre Executive Director Lissa Twoomey and fashion designer Frida Las Vegas. Tickets to the panels are $25 and include a drink at the bar. Budding interior designers can join former Vogue Living Creative Director Jack Milenkovic and Atelier business owner Luke Bonano for a styling and interior design masterclass. Attendees can listen to the principles of bedroom and lounge room design, plus tips on how to include your personal style into your home. Tickets are $150 and include a $50 bar and dining voucher. [caption id="attachment_812595" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kerri Glasscock by Sally Flegg[/caption] Top Image: Frida Las Vegas by Eamon Donnelly
You can stay up to date with the developing COVID-19 situation in Sydney, as well as current restrictions, at NSW Health. Truffle lovers are in for a treat this winter with Bondi restaurant Rocker serving a monthly set menu that celebrates the fancy fungus. Chef Darren Robertson's (Three Blue Ducks, Tetsuya) North Bondi spot is serving a truffle-heavy five-course meal with the option of paired wine across three Thursdays this winter. Kicking off on Thursday, June 17 and popping back up on July 15 and August 12, diners can enjoy five expertly crafted dishes ranging from spanner crab to cheesecake. Expect the likes of spanner crab tartlets with parmesan custard, wagyu tartare vol-au-vent, truffled garlic and thyme focaccia, truffle risotto, kipfler potatoes with truffle butter and basque cheesecake paired with truffle honey and rhubarb. The whole affair will set you back $110 per person, with a vegetarian option available for $90. For an extra $65 you can combine your truffle feast with a selection of wines including a glass of 2006 Pommery champagne. The full menu is available online and reservations are essential. [caption id="attachment_635514" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Katje Ford[/caption]
Earlier this autumn, Sydney's CBD got a new precinct. Dubbed YCK Laneways, it encompasses 15 bars located across York, Clarence and Kent streets — and it's turning up the heat this winter. Across the 13-night program, the bars and their surrounding outdoor areas will come alive with live music, tarot readings, crime stories, DJs, drag queen bingo and 90s-themed music nights. You'll be able to boogie to Caribbean tunes at The Lobo, Latin American melodies at Esteban, live jazz at Stitch Bar and deep house in Since I Left You's courtyard. Or, wander over to Barrack Street's outdoor stage, where different musicians are performing each night. The centerpiece of the two-week program is Live from YCK, a night of live music that will see three of Australia's brightest young talents take over Martin Place. Singer-songwriter Odette will be bringing songs from her albums To a Stranger and Herald to the pop-up CBD stage alongside breakout Tweed Heads rapper JK-47 and local R'n'B rising star Liyah Knight. DJ Levins (Heaps Decent, Halfway Crooks, The Dip) will be on DJ duty from 5pm to provide the tunes between sets, while a pop-up bar will be serving Patrón margaritas and Bombay Bramble Fever Tree G&Ts. [caption id="attachment_799349" align="alignnone" width="1920"] JK-47[/caption]
At one point or another, you've probably found yourself in the Sydney CBD at 3am — but, we're certain you haven't been at Mr Wong at witching hour. Well, at least not in the building's current iteration. The Merivale dumpling master is throwing it back to the venue's former life as Tank Nightclub, hosting an adults-only, after-dark party this winter. Running from midnight till 3am on Friday, June 11, Midnight Feast will see the Bridge Lane restaurant come alive with DJs, entertainment, cocktails and, of course, dim sum until the early hours. This is sure to book out fast, so get tickets while you can.
Fabbrica, the high-end pasta and wine shop from the crew behind CBD standout Raggazi, is coming together with lifestyle brand Alex and Trahanas to bring Sydneysiders two fun limited-edition pastas to enjoy during lockdown. The pair of pastas are shaped like ropes and yacht sails to coincide with the launch of Alex and Trahanas' new Festa della Pasta range of tableware. The range is inspired by Italian coastal islands and Mediterranean holidays and includes hand-painted ceramics from Puglia, Italy, as well as beeswax taper candles, carved wooden serving trays decorated with gold leaf and woollen knit jumpers. The nautical-shaped pastas are paired with two rich Fabbrica pasta sauces. The first is a cime di rapa ragu with pork and fennel sausage, while the second is a sardine, fermented chilli and olive combination. You can order the pasta and sauce in a two-person pack from Alex and Trahanas' website, pick them up from Fabbrica or get them delivered through UberEats.
It's the time of the year when the days begin to shorten, the evenings get cooler and your stomach starts grumbling for comfort food. But, while that'll remain true for the next few months, only one particular working week will bring free tacos. Tex-Mex giant Taco Bell has been steadily opening stores around the country since 2017, including in Sydney — and, to treat your taco-loving tastebuds, it's giving away freebies between Monday, May 9–Friday, May 13. If you haven't tried the chain's Taco Supreme, this is your chance. If you have and you just like freebies, count yourself in as well. There is a catch, though. This is a lunchtime taco swap — to replace whatever you'd usually eat in the middle of the day. So, to get a taco without paying a cent, you need to show a photo of your regular lunch at the counter. Also, there's a limit of one free taco per person, so you won't be able to stuff your stomach full of them. And, the deal is only available from 12–2pm daily — and in-person. What's a Taco Supreme? A crunchy taco, as filled with seasoned beef, sour cream, fresh lettuce, tomato and cheese — or black beans for vegetarians. Wondering where you're heading? Taco Bell has New South Wales stores in Albion Park, Blacktown, Rooty Hill, Dee Why, Zetland, Haymarket, Jesmond, Orange, Tamworth and Ballina.
Move aside The Kid Laroi, you can now get the ChillinIT or A.Girl meal at Sydney's favourite fried chicken and sneaker shop Butter. The local favourite is joining forces with Spotify's immensely popular hip-hop playlist A1 for a limited-time menu curated by some of Australia's hottest young artists. ChillinIT, A.GIRL and Day1 have all been enlisted to create one-off menu items for the A1 collab, with the three crispy fried creations available for $25 across the next two weeks. ChillinIT's burger takes queues from Canadian favourites, combining maple bacon, maple barbecue sauce, cheese, mayo and fries atop a fried chicken sandwich. A.GIRL's contribution to the menu is also a take on the humble fried chicken burger, however, her creation places Nashville spiced chicken, buttermilk ranch, a fried egg and lettuce between two buns. Finally, Day1 has created a Butter-fied version of a classic kebab shop snack pack. Diners at Butter can order a mountain of chips with two fried chicken tenders, mozzarella, spicy barbecue sauce and spicy mayo piled on top. "A1 is such a solid piece in the hip hop space," A.GIRL said. "It's a movement, they've got their finger on the pulse and always know what's up! I'm high-key pumped to be a part of the collab." Each item can also be placed on a menu with a hot cinnamon doughnut and Chivas apple cocktail, or ordered in the A1 Playlist Family Box which includes all three menu items, fries, soft drinks and doughnuts. The menu is available for two weeks from Friday, June 17 across Butter's Surry Hills, Parramatta, The Rocks and Chatswood locations.
Before 2020, being airborne was nothing to write home about. Now, it seems there's little else we long for. With air travel back on the cards, let's not forget about another surefire way to break gravity's shackles this winter — having an acrobat toss you off a trapeze. Get yourself to Sydney's home of aerial and circus performance training, Aerialize, to have an acrobatic expert teach you the ropes. You don't have to sign your life away to get involved. If you want to keep things casual, book into a drop-in class during its winter training series starting July 4. With classes ranging across multiple apparatus, disciplines (tissu, corde lisse, cloud swings, handstands, dance trapeze) and heights, this is your chance to remember how it feels to take flight. And, if you've still got your Discover NSW Voucher, you can even use that to cover some of the cost. Aerialize winter series will be running from Monday, July 4 till Thursday, July 14. For more information and to book, visit the website.
A Star Is Born has already graced the titles of four different films, and Licorice Pizza isn't one of them. Paul Thomas Anderson's ninth feature, and his loosest since Boogie Nights — his lightest since ever, too — does boast a memorable Bradley Cooper performance, though. That said, this 70s- and San Fernando Valley-set delight isn't quite about seeking fame, then navigating its joys and pitfalls, although child actors and Hollywood's ebbs and flows all figure into the narrative. Licorice Pizza definitely births two new on-screen talents, however, both putting in two of 2021's best performances and two of the finest-ever movie debuts. That's evident from the film's very first sublimely grainy 35-millimetre-shot moments, as Alana Haim of Haim (who PTA has directed several music videos for) and Cooper Hoffman (son of the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman, a PTA regular) do little more than chat, stroll and charm. The radiant Haim plays Alana Kane, a Valley dweller of 25 or 28 (her story changes) working as a photographer's assistant, which brings her to a Tarzana high school on yearbook picture day. Enter the smoothly assured Hoffman as 15-year-old Gary Valentine, who is instantly smitten and tries to wrangle a date. Alana is dismissive with a spikiness that speaks volumes about how she handles herself (a later scene, where she yells "fuck off, teenagers!" to kids in her way, is similarly revealing). But Gary keeps persisting, inviting her to the real-life Tail o' the Cock, a fine diner he claims to visit regularly. In a gliding ride of a walk-and-talk sequence that's shot like a dream, Alana says no, yet she's also still intrigued. As a smile at the end of their first encounter betrays, Alana was always going to show up, even against her better judgement (and even as she firmly establishes that they aren't a couple). Her demeanour doesn't soften as Gary interrogates her like he's a dad greeting a daughter's beau — a gag Anderson mirrors later when Alana takes another ex-child actor, Lance (Skyler Gisondo, Santa Clarita Diet), home to meet her mother, father and two sisters (all played by the rest of the Haims, parents included) and he's questioned in the same manner. That family dinner arises after Gary enlists the new object of his affection to chaperone him on a trip to New York, where he's featuring with Lance in a live reunion for one of their flicks. Upon returning to Los Angeles, Gary is heartbroken to see Alana with Lance, but all roads keep leading her back to him anyway. Charting Alana and Gary's friendship as it circles and swirls, and they often sprint towards each other — and chronicling everything else going on in the San Fernando Valley, where PTA himself grew up — Licorice Pizza is a shaggy slice-of-life film in multiple ways. Spinning a narrative that Anderson penned partly based on stories shared by Gary Goetzman, an ex-child talent turned frequent producer of Tom Hanks movies, it saunters along leisurely like it's just stepped out of the 70s itself, and also sports that anything-can-happen vibe that comes with youth. It's a portrait of a time, before mobile phones and the internet, when you had to either talk on a landline or meet up in person to make plans, and when just following where the day took you was the status quo. It captures a canny mix of adolescence and arrested development, too; teen exuberance springs from the always-hustling Gary, while treading water is both an apt description of Alana's connection with her would-be paramour and a state she's acutely aware of. Set to a soundtrack that bounces between Paul McCartney and Wings, Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman, and David Bowie ('Life on Mars' is put to transcendent use), it all breezes about like a relaxed 1973 summer, but plenty fills Alana and Gary's time and PTA's glorious feature. Gary auditions for TV ads, runs a PR firm with his mum (Mary Elizabeth Ellis, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and opens a waterbed business. Alana becomes his partner in the latter, meets with his agent (Harriet Sansom Harris, Atlantic Crossing), catches the attention of a Hollywood veteran modelled on William Holden (Sean Penn, The First) and volunteers for Joel Wachs' (Benny Safdie, Pieces of a Woman) mayoral campaign. As a backdrop to the pair's exploits, Richard Nixon implores Americans to use less petrol, and as the gas crisis kicks in. And when Cooper pops up, it's as Barbra Streisand's fiery then-boyfriend Jon Peters, who isn't impressed with his waterbed delivery. Cue one of Haim's most stunning moments, driving a truck after the drop-off, where she conveys more with her face and posture than words could ever express. As the film's two starriest vignettes make plain — plus another incident involving a not-quite-Lucille Ball (aka Lucy Doolittle, played by Search Party's Christine Ebersole) — Anderson is happy to both nod to and toy with reality. Licorice Pizza is firmly fiction, despite riffing on Goetzman's experiences, but it's also gleefully cognisant of how nostalgia for one's teenage and twenty-something adventures can feel slippery, starry-eyed and surreal. It'd make a great double with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood for exactly that atmosphere, although it'd also pair well with PTA's Boogie Nights, his woozily romantic Punch-Drunk Love and his daylight noir Inherent Vice. Alas, it does also include pointless scenes with a restaurant owner (John Michael Higgins, Saved by the Bell) who speaks to his Japanese wives (New Bear Tours' Yumi Mizui and Good Girls' Megumi Anjo), plural, in a caricature of an accent — calling out what passed for acceptable in the 70s, but also landing flatly and clunkily. Nothing else in Licorice Pizza could be described as gawky — not even Gary's posse of pals, who are rarely far from his side — or as anything less than effervescent. This marvellous coming-of-age comedy is as masterfully made as all of Anderson's work, and yet also far roomier than the likes of There Will Be Blood, The Master and Phantom Thread; as he showed with Inherent Vice, he can be meticulous and freewheeling at once. Licorice Pizza wouldn't be the film it is without either Haim or Hoffman, though, who PTA peers at devotedly, including in closeups, as frequently as he can (he's also one of the movie's two cinematographers). With Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood providing the score once again, he adores nothing more than seeing them run towards each other — figuratively and literally, blue daylight skies blazing and purple twilight hues twinkling behind them — and he makes everyone watching savour every slice.
When Succession roves over New York's skyline — in its opening credits, as set to that bewitching theme tune, or just during its episodes — it gleams with wealth and privilege. Depiction doesn't equal endorsement, however, with the stellar HBO satire sharply cutting into its chosen world at every chance it gets. As one of the show's supporting cast members, Dasha Nekrasova slides into that realm, too, but that's not her only dalliance with the city's architecture, power brokers and all that both represent. The Scary of Sixty-First, the Red Scare podcast host's feature directorial debut, also savages the rich and seemingly consequence-free. It clasps onto a real-life story that's made that case inherently, abhorrently and monstrously. There's no gentle way to put it, but the fact that Nekrasova plays a woman investigating if a bargain Upper East Side duplex was one of Jeffrey Epstein's "orgy flophouses" says much about this purposefully provocative conspiracy thriller horror-comedy. College pals Addie (Betsey Brown, Assholes) and Noelle (the film's co-screenwriter Madeline Quinn) can't believe their luck when they find the cheap property, even if it does visibly need a clean — and have mirrored ceilings, as well as some questionable lock choices — and even if they don't appear completely comfortable with committing to live together. But from night one, the literal nightmares begin. Soon they're spying blood stains, scratched walls and eerie tarot cards, and feeling unsettled in a variety of ways. Enter Nekrasova's stranger, who comes sporting a dark-web rabbit hole's worth of paranoia and bearing the Epstein news. Addie and Noelle take the revelation in vastly different fashions, with the former seeming possessed by one of Epstein's child victims, and the latter diving deep into potential theories with her unnamed new friend. Letting a headline-monopolising sex offender loom large over the plot is an instant attention-grabber — and, while The Scary of Sixty-First doesn't lunge straight down that path, it feels like Nekrasova and Quinn's starting point. Their movie smacks of conjuring up a controversial premise, then fitting parts around it; thankfully, they have more than one target in their sights, plenty to ponder, and Nekrasova's bold vision bringing it all together. From the outset, there's much to mine about the hellishness of finding somewhere to live in your twenties, and in NY especially. The things you'll settle for in that situation clearly also earns the feature's focus. The same rings true of post-college life and its intrinsic awkwardness in general — and being expected to act like a fully functioning adult, and make pivotal decisions, without yet amassing the experiences to match. By contemplating the hostile real-estate market and the ordeal that is trying to find your place in the world (emotionally, intellectually and physically), The Scary of Sixty-First immediately unpacks power, money and privilege. If Addie and Noelle could afford somewhere else or had other support at their disposal, there wouldn't even be a story. When Nekrasova appears and drops Epstein's name, that excavation digs down several levels. Again, there's no shortage of ideas, directions or tangents to explore, and the script explodes as many as possible. This is a movie about a dead billionaire paedophile, the wealth of theories that've sprung up around him and the 24-hour news cycle that's made his tale inescapable. It's also about how doomscrolling has become routine, the grim routes incessant web searches can take you down, the normalisation of true-crime obsession, the proliferation of conspiracy-driven rhetoric and relentless chaos as the natural state of the world. Addie has an interminably unpleasant boyfriend, Greg (Mark Rapaport, Pledge), who also sparks an array of questions — because even when he's turned off by her descent into inappropriate baby talk during sex, he still sees his own needs as more important than anything else. Indeed, while The Scary of Sixty-First is messy by choice, and also lets its 16-millimetre frames frequently look the part, nothing here is accidental. That's true of outdoor masturbation scenes and out-there theories alike, all of which make a statement. Usually, the movie isn't coy; as the possessed Addie gets more forceful with every action, her sloppy kissing of Prince Andrew's photo couldn't be more overt. Repeatedly, though, the film sends multiple messages at once; when her glistening fingers, fresh from a stint of self-pleasure, caress Epstein's initials outside his apartment building, The Scary of Sixty-First also comments on how taboo such feverish displays of female sexuality still prove on-screen. It's still easy to see the influences coursing through Nekrasova and Quinn's screenplay, and in Nekrasova's directorial choices. If the movie itself was haunted, it'd be by 70s and 80s horror flicks and thrillers, Italian giallo cinema, every picture that's probed New York's underbelly and, quite pointedly, by Eyes Wide Shut and Rosemary's Baby as well. Making his feature debut, too, cinematographer Hunter Zimny synthesises that hefty list of touchstones into a visual style that takes little bits from everywhere, but also fittingly makes it all feel like a dreamy swirl, jittery onslaught and tormented experience. Aesthetically, The Scary of Sixty-First just keeps spiralling from the uncertain and the otherworldly to the uncontrollable, mimicking another of the script's strong observations about 21st-century life. Careening wildly is one of The Scary of Sixty-First's key traits, intentionally so, as also seen in its central performances — Brown, Quinn, Nekrasova and Rapaport all turn in committed portrayals — and its sense of humour. There's no shaking the pitch-black comedy of it all, again by design, but even the film's most absurd moments and farcical touches are steeped in reality in one way or another. Its most nightmarish inclusions are as well, and that's part of the feature's knowing, winking seesaw ride. Yes, a global paedophile ring among the elite sounds like the sickest kind of fiction and an unhinged conspiracy. Yes, there's elements of truth to such horrendous sex-trafficking. The Scary of Sixty-First doesn't always completely come together, but Nekrasova has crafted an uncompromising and compelling movie that acknowledges both, plays like a slap in the face and isn't easily forgotten.
Dining experiences, long lunches and one-off feasts are popping up across Sydney on Friday, December 3. Aiming to give the city's hospitality sector a boost, Open for Lunch is an event series all about spending a day out of the house as Sydney recovers from this year's lengthy lockdown. Sydney dining precinct in South Eveleigh is hosting one such event, complete with a menu curated by Kylie Kwong. Re's Matt Whiley will be on cocktail duty, and you can expect to pair hokkien noodles and five-spiced tofu salad with tipples made with surplus whole fruit, gin, whole mango, ancho chilli and more. The event runs from 10am–10pm, and there'll also be a dance floor — with a mirror ball, and The Original Roman vs Boogie Fingers, Levins vs Joyride, Ayabatonye, Deepa and Tyson Koh on the decks. Elsewhere in the city, YCK Laneways is putting on a luncheon at Barrack Street, Parramatta Square is hosting a 400-person meal featuring dishes from CicciaBella and Lilymu as well as live music, and 600 diners will take to the middle of George Street for a three-course long lunch. Tickets to the South Eveleigh Alfresco Disco are $30 and can be purchased through Ticketek.
Rallies and marches take place every January 26, not only addressing concerns about the date of Australia's national celebration, but also protesting the ongoing discrimination that Indigenous Australians have faced since white settlement. This year, the Indigenous Social Justice Association has organised an Invasion Day, Day of Mourning and Survival Day march that will meet at Town Hall at 10am on Wednesday. The rally will be pushing for Indigenous land rights, reparatory justice, climate justice and the ending of deaths in custody and child removal. It will also mark the 50th anniversary since the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was set up in Canberra. Following speeches at Town Hall, a silent and commemorative march will take place to the historic Day of Mourning site at Australia Hall on Elizabeth Street. After the march, the rally will move onto Victoria Park where attendees can take part in Yabun Festival, the largest one-day celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture in Australia. Yabun Festival 2022 will mark 20-years of the festival and will feature talks, discussions, markets and performances from musicians including Kobie Dee and Vic Simms. The rally has been organised with COVID-safety in mind. Mask and social distancing will be required. If you cannot attend, you can tune into Yabun Festival online at the festival website or via Koori Radio 93.7FM.
Kensington Street is home to countless fantastic restaurants including the endless collection of south-east Asian cuisine found in Spice Alley. The Chippendale food and drink precinct is ringing in the Year of the Tiger with a series of activations and banquets for Chinese New Year. At Spice Alley, diners can expect to see iconic dragon dancers make appearances on Saturday, February 5, and can win prizes on the Wheel of Luck when they spend $20 or more on February 5, 12 and 15. Spice Alley restaurants Shanghai Dumpling Bar and Hong Kong Diner are both offering exclusive Chinese New Year dishes including an assortment of steamy delights featuring dumplings, shumai and xiao long bao for $22.80. Elsewhere on the street, Holy Duck and Mekong are all ringing in the new year with special dishes and feasts. Holy Duck is hosting a $69 Tiger's feast banquet for group of four or more people which will include assorted rainbow dumplings, duck spring rolls, crispy duck with pancakes, salt and pepper king prawns, seafood noodles and a red envelope for each guest. Over at Mekong, you'll be treated to another $69 set menu, featuring six courses with highlights including crispy braised pork belly with chilli caramel and ginger canna cotta. [caption id="attachment_652632" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Spice Alley via Destination NSW.[/caption]
When Beauty and the Beast typically graces the screen, it doesn't involve a rose-haired singer decked out in a matching flowing dress while singing heart-melting tunes atop a floating skywhale mounted with speakers. It doesn't dance into the metaverse, either. Anime-meets-Patricia Piccinini-meets-cyberspace in Belle, and previous filmed versions of the famed French fairytale must now wish that they could've been so inventive. Disney's animated and live-action duo, aka the 1991 musical hit that's been a guest of childhood viewing ever since and its 2017 Emma Watson-starring remake, didn't even fantasise about dreaming about being so imaginative — but Japanese writer/director Mamoru Hosoda also eagerly takes their lead. His movie about a long-locked social-media princess with a heart of gold and a hulking creature decried by the masses based on appearances is firmly a film for now, but it's also a tale as old as time and one unafraid to build upon the Mouse House's iterations. At first, there is no Belle. Instead, Hosoda's feature has rural high-schooler Suzu (debutant Kaho Nakamura) call her avatar Bell because that's what her name means in Japanese. That online character lives in a virtual-reality world that uses body-sharing technology to base its figures on the real-life people behind them, but Suzu is shy and accustomed to being ignored by her classmates — other than her only pal Hiroka (Lilas Ikuta of music duo Yoasobi) — so she also uploads a photo of the far-more-popular Ruka (Tina Tamashiro, Hell Girl). The social-media platform's biometrics still seize upon Suzu's own melodic singing voice, however. And so, in a space that opines in its slogan that "you can't start over in reality, but you can start over in U", she croons. Quickly, she amasses an audience among the service's five-billion users, but then one of her performances is interrupted by the brooding Dragon (Takeru Satoh, the Rurouni Kenshin films), and her fans then point digital pitchforks in his direction. Those legions of interested online parties don't simplistically offer unwavering support, though. Among Belle's many observations on digital life, the fact that living lives on the internet is a double-edged sword — wielding both opportunities to connect and excuses to unleash vitriol, the latter in particular when compared to the physical experience — more than earns its attention. That said, all those devotees of Suzu's singing do rechristen her avatar as Belle, and she starts living up to that fairytale moniker by becoming fascinated with the movie's Beast equivalent. He's mysterious to the point that no one in U or IRL has been able to discern who he really is, but the platform's self-appointed pseudo-police force is desperately trying. Suzu is also mortified about the possibility of anyone discovering that she's Belle, although she's drawn to Dragon because she can sense his pain. Hosoda has repeatedly proven an inspired filmmaker visually — one just as creative with his stories and storytelling alike, too — and Belle is no exception on his resume. After the likes of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, Wolf Children and Mirai, he's in especially dazzling form in a movie that wields its images in two distinctive modes. In U, Belle is an epic onslaught for the eyes, its animation lively, busy and hyper-real in a way that cannily mirrors the feeling of wading through always-on online realms. This is where that whale swims through the air, concerts are held in what appears to be a hollow planet and Disney-style castles turn gothic. When it's in Suzu's reality, the film opts for naturalistic tones in a look that notices the everyday beauty in the flesh-and-blood world, even amid daily routines in fading small towns filled with average teens and their families. Hosoda revels in the contrast between the two, in fact, because that clash constantly sits at the film's core. A wealth of juxtapositions echo through Belle, so much so that Hosoda may as well paint with them as he does with his mix of hand-drawn animation and pixels. Collisions between the virtual and actual, genuine connection and online ease, perceptions and truth, anonymous freedom and reality's trappings, being anyone and accepting yourself, and happiness and trauma all bounce through the movie — and never, befitting its vibrant visuals, in a black-and-white fashion. Indeed, while the film's top-level insights into the solace we seek online, the faux coat of armour it affords and the horrors it can also unleash don't reveal anything new, Belle is both deeply felt and disarmingly attuned to tiny details. Those two traits apply in its piercing emotions and background minutiae, and also in bigger strokes such as in Suzu's and Dragon's backstories. She suffered a great loss when she was younger, and the grief it still causes shapes everything about her every move in devastatingly astute ways, for instance. Some other pitch-perfect bits and pieces: the chorus of text clouds, incessantly bubbling up on computer and phone screens, that the feature uses for both worshipping and cruel online chatter; the scars Dragon sports, as imitated in IRL tattoos by his aficionados, but also emblematic of the motives driving him; and repeated vistas as Suzu wanders through Kōchi Prefecture, where she lives, and her surroundings don't physically change but her feeling within them shifts depending on what else is colouring her life. That's the level of intricacy that Hosoda is working with as he also spins a coming-of-age tale complete with teen angst and schoolyard gossip — the offline parallel to digital witch-hunts — over Suzu's long-running friendship with now-class hunk Shinobu (Ryô Narita, Remain in Twilight), and doesn't stop using Belle's bangers to convey a world of emotion. Studio Chizu, which Hosoda co-founded with producer Yuichiro Saito in 2011, isn't yet a household name as fellow Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli is — but as it keeps growing with each of the director's releases, it really should be. Belle deserves to be the new go-to Beauty and the Beast adaptation, too, although three decades of Disney domination means that it'll likely never supplant the Mouse House's versions. Hosoda might find that apt, however, because Belle sings loudest about being brave enough to know and embrace who you truly are in an existence where it's now ridiculously easy to pretend you're someone or something else. And while it mightn't seem like it'd need courage to create this lush, grand, generous and captivating film — and gorgeous as well — but bold, insightful and transfixing takes on stories as old as rhyme just don't come around that often. Top image: Studio Chizu.
This summer is set to be a wet one thanks to our friend La Niña coming to visit, so summer in Sydney will probably be spent in art galleries and coffee shops. Though, we're not complaining because, this summer, celebrated American artist Doug Aitken will be exhibiting one of his largest video installations, Song 1, at the Museum of Contemporary Art as part of the Doug Aitken: New Era exhibition. In tandem with his other work, Aitken is internationally recognised for his experimental practice using light, reflection, photography, sound and multi-screen environments where time and space are fluid — and Song 1 (2012/2015), is no different. In this 35-minute installation, you can expect a 360-degree experience of sound and projections focused around varied performances of The Flamingos' classic track, I Only Have Eyes For You. The installation features a range of talent from everyday people to professional performers like Beck, Tilda Swinton, Devandra Banhart and James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem. [caption id="attachment_835137" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Doug Aitken, SONG 1 (still), 2021/2015, commissioned with generous production support by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, courtesy the artist; 303 Gallery, New York; Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich; Victoria Miro Gallery, London; and Regen Projects, Los Angeles, copyright the artist.[/caption] Song 1 opens at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Friday, December 3. For more information and to book, visit the website. Top Image: Doug Aitken, SONG 1 (still), 2021/2015, commissioned with generous production support by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, courtesy the artist; 303 Gallery, New York; Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich; Victoria Miro Gallery, London; and Regen Projects, Los Angeles, copyright the artist.
Pedro Almodóvar has made many a fantastic film over the past four decades. In 2019, however, the Spanish director added one of his greatest movies yet to his resume. We're talking about Pain and Glory. If you saw it, you likely loved it. And, if you hadn't already watched your way through the inimitable auteur's back catalogue before then, the Academy Award-nominee should've inspired you to do just that. You've had a couple of years to start your viewing, of course — and plenty of time over the past two years, in fact. But whether you still have some gaps or you're fond of the big-screen experience, the Randwick Ritz is giving you a chance to check out Almodóvar's entire filmography in a cinema. Every Friday night between January 14–June 10, you can swoon over the filmmaker's emotionally charged dramas and rove your eyes over his colourful frames. No one makes movies quite like him, as this retrospective shows. Get ready to spend plenty of time staring at two of his favourite actors, too, with Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz each popping up regularly in the director's work. On the lineup: Banderas being exceptional in Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, The Skin I Live In and the aforementioned Pain and Glory, plus Cruz at her stellar best in Volver, Broken Embraces and Oscar-winner All About My Mother — and Almodóvar's also-phenomenal brand new movie Parallel Mothers, too. Yes, the list goes on.
Sydney's club scene was once awash with world-renown DJs popping up for secret sets across the city. While these appearances are a little scarcer these days, one of Australia's biggest names behind the decks is coming to Club 77 tonight for a last-minute set. Local producer, songwriter, DJ and bestie to Silverchair's Daniel Johns — What So Not — will be heading to the freshly revamped Darlinghurst club for a drum and bass-oriented set. What So Not announced the show on Instagram this afternoon telling local fans: "I just landed in Aus & fiending for a club sesh. Please spread the good word." If you want to catch the set you'll have to head down early with tickets only available on the door for $20 a pop. A longstanding titan of Sydney's clubbing scene, Club 77 recently underwent a major facelift which included a fresh drinks menu from the Odd Culture team, two new happy hours and an overhaul of the opening hours seeing it open until 4am seven days a week. View this post on Instagram A post shared by What So Not (@whatsonot) Top image: What So Not, Yours and Owls, Ruby Boland
Walking into Shady Pines Saloon is like being transported into a bustling dive bar in the south of the US. The warm lighting country music soundtrack and array of knick-knacks lining the walls all combine to American-themed charm of the hidden Darlinghurst venue. On Sunday, July 17 the beloved bar is leaning into the sound of Tennesee and hosting nine straight hours of country music tunes. Six local acts will take to the stage from 2.30pm, with sets from Buffalo Grass Boys, Matt Ross, James Van Cooper, Adam Pringle, and Jamey Foxton. If you're not familiar with the acts, there's no need to worry. All you need to do is don your best cowboy hat and strap in for a night of twangy guitars and heartfelt ballads. To sweeten the deal, there will also be $2 tins of beer on offer, alongside all of Shady Pines' signature cocktails and small-batch whiskey. Entry is free, as long as you can find the unassuming Foley Street entrance. [caption id="attachment_653449" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Shady Pines by Leticia Almeida[/caption]
Turning 30 is a big occasion — for people, and for entertainment groups. And while reaching 31 doesn't normally get as much love, celebrations or parties, Ministry of Sound has never been one for sticking to expectations. Behold, its huge 31st birthday party, aka the return of Ministry of Sound: Testament — A Warehouse Experience at this year's Vivid. If cutting loose in a warehouse in The Rocks for three nights sounds is your ideal way to mark absolutely anything, this returning event is just the solution. As it did in 2021, Ministry of Sound has also found just the right way to celebrate the June long weekend, thanks to this huge multi-room event that'll have you making shapes to 90s, 00s and recent bangers. More than 70 DJs will be hitting the decks between Friday, June 10–Sunday, June 12 — and enticing you to hit the Campbell's Stores dance floor, obviously. It's a choose-your-own-adventure type of party, so fans of old-school tunes can dance to 90s house, rave, trance and garage tracks on Friday, and lovers of 00s electro and breaks can head along on Saturday. Finishing things up on the Sunday night: all the recent techno and house songs — and EDM anthems — that've been getting a spin lately. As a result, each evening will see different DJs working their magic, with big names on the bill across the entire lineup. Nik Fish vs Jumping Jack, Sugar Ray, Jade, Ming D, Abel, Lorna are among the 90s highlights, while Plump DJs, Krafty Kuts, Kid Kenobi, Bang Gang Deejays, Hoops, Midnight Juggernauts, Riot in Belgium, Kate Monroe are on the decks on Saturday night — before Anna Lunoe, Northeast Party House, Oliver Huntemann and Hydraulix head things up on Sunday. Each evening runs from 7pm–2am — and, ticket-wise, you'll need to book per night.
The past couple of weeks haven't just been wet in New South Wales and Queensland. They've been catastrophically drenching, with the two states weathering not only torrential rain but also widespread flooding. And if you've been lucky enough to avoid the worst of it, you're probably eager to help out however you can — including with your next schooner, pint or several. At Australian Venue Co locations around Australia — all 180-plus pubs and bars around the country, including a heap in Sydney — your next beer will help flood-affected folks in need. In NSW specifically, the hospitality company is donating $1 per schooner and $2 per pint from every Furphy beer to the Red Cross Qld and NSW Floods Appeal. Yep, in a time that hasn't had much in the way of good news, that's something to say cheers to. The whole thing has been dubbed Beers for Mates, and it's running till the end of the month. So, to lend a hand by sinking a few brews, all you need to do is hit up your local AVC venue and order a Furphys between Wednesday, March 9–Thursday, March 31. Top image: Untied, by Daniele Massacci.
If you're looking to expand your palate, enhance your culinary skills and be inspired by idyllic natural wonders, look no further. Taste Port Douglas is back this year with a four-day festival of the senses. From Thursday, August 11 to Sunday August 14, a dynamic program, curated by founder and culinary director Spencer Patrick, will showcase local produce and industry-leading chefs at the Sheraton Grand Mirage. If feasting on unforgettable culinary delights isn't enough to get you excited, you can't look past the location. Between meals, you can explore all this tropical paradise has to offer, including incredible access to two of Australia's best natural gems: the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. The full lineup is expected to drop this month, so stay tuned for more info. You can register your interest here to receive more information on early bird releases.
To celebrate its 10th birthday, the Hunter Valley Wine and Beer Festival will be bringing together dozens of wineries and brewers for their biggest-ever event. Kicking off at 11am on Saturday, June 18, more than 50 wineries, 10 craft brewers and other local restaurants and musicians will gather to offer a selections of drinks, music and food for the festival. Operating both indoors and outdoors at the Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley, the event will feature some of the valley's most famous wineries and brewers. These include wine selections from iconic wineries like Scarborough and Macquariedale Organic Wines, as well as beer and cider courtesy of Sydney Brewery Hunter Valley, Iron Bark Hill Brewhouse, and more. Tickets are $15 if purchased ahead of time and $25 on the day, and children can enter for free with a parent. Tastings are $2 each for 30ml of wine or 100ml of beer or cider. There are also accommodation options at the Crown Plaza itself for an ideal Hunter Valley weekend, as well as shuttles running from two locations in Newtown to bring you to and from the festival if you are enjoying the area for the day.
Maybe G&Ts are your favourite tipple and, if you're sipping drinks at your favourite bar, you always have one within reach. Perhaps you've never found a vodka cocktail that you haven't loved, or you've made it your life's mission to try all the whiskies (yes, spanning both whisky and whiskey) that you can find. Or, you could simply like broadening your horizons when it comes to knocking back the good stuff, and supporting independent producers while you're at it. Since 2015, the boozing sipping party that is Indie Spirits Tasting has covered all of the above — and it's back in 2022 after a couple of pandemic-affected years. Move over, craft beer — at this east coast event, which'll return to Sydney in September, it's craft spirits' time to shine. Everyone has been to plenty of days dedicated to brews, brews and more brews, but this touring shindig is solely about all the whisky, gin, vodka, rum, tequila, vermouth and mezcal you could ever want. More than 30 exhibitors and master distillers are on the bill, showcasing over 200 craft spirits. Clearly, your booze-loving tastebuds will be in heaven. As well as tasting away, attendees will also be able to chat to the folks behind the craft and independent tipples on offer, listen to talks on booze-related topics and buy bottles to take home with you. Taking place at Potts Point Hotel from 1–4pm on Sunday, September 4, this year's Sydney event will feature brands such as Never Never Distilling Co, Poor Toms, Boat Rocker, Wolf Lane and Archie Rose, some of which will be pouring limited-edition tipples. And while the big focus is on homegrown spirits, a few international names will be on the bill as well — taking your tastebuds on a trip, including through French cognacs and American gins.
If you're a sucker for craft beers and hinterland views, we have some excellent news for you. Wandana Brewing Co in Mullumbimby is hosting a beer- and food-fuelled event as part of the North Coast Festival of Flavour. Make tracks to Mullumbimby on Saturday, June 4 for an introduction to matching craft beer with artisanal food at Bites and Brews. Throughout the 1.5-hour session you'll learn how each beer is uniquely fermented to the vibrations of music and discover which foods complement the flavours of each brew. Plus, produce from regional, small-scale producers will be curated by Table Under A Tree, providing everything from fine cheeses to aged charcuterie to snack on as you sample the tasty tipples from Wandana Brewing Co. The location itself is spectacular and features sweeping views of the hinterland and beyond. And, being a short drive from Byron Bay and its neighbouring beachside towns, this is the perfect excuse to plan an escape to this picturesque region. Bites and Brews will take place on Saturday, June 4, as part of the North Coast Festival of Flavour. For more information and to book your ticket, visit the website.
UPDATE, August 12, 2022: Drive My Car is available to stream via Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. More than four decades have passed since Haruki Murakami's debut novel reached shelves, and since the first film adaptation of his work followed, too; however, the two best page-to-screen versions of the author's prose have arrived in the past four years. It's easy to think about South Korean drama Burning while watching Drive My Car, because the two features — one Oscar-shortlisted, the other now the first Japanese movie to be nominated for Best Picture — spin the writer's words into astonishing, intricately observed portraits of human relationships. Both films are also exceptional. In the pair, Murakami's text is only a starting point, with his tales hitting the screen filtered through each picture's respective director. For Drive My Car, Japanese filmmaker Ryûsuke Hamaguchi does the honours, taking audiences riding through another of the Happy Hour, Asako I & II and with Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy helmer's layered, thoughtful and probing reflections on connection. Using Murakami's short story from 2014 collection Men Without Women as its basis, Drive My Car's setup is simple. Yes, the film's title is descriptive. Two years after a personal tragedy, actor/director Yūsuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima, Silent Tokyo) agrees to bring Chekhov's Uncle Vanya to the stage in Hiroshima, and the company behind it insists on giving him a chauffeur for his stay. He declines— he'd asked to stay an hour away from the theatre so he could listen to recorded tapes of the play on his drive — yet his new employers contend that it's mandatory for insurance and liability reasons. Enter 23-year-old Misaki Watari (Tôko Miura, Spaghetti Code Love), who becomes a regular part of Yūsuke's working stint in the city. Drive My Car doesn't hurry to its narrative destination, clocking in at a minute shy of three hours. It doesn't rush to get to its basic premise, either. Before the film's opening credits arrive 40 minutes in, it steps through Yūsuke's existence back when he was appearing in a version of Uncle Vanya himself, married to television scriptwriter Oto (Reika Kirishima, Japanese TV's Sherlock) and grappling with an earlier heartbreak. His wife is also sleeping with younger actor Takatsuki (Masaki Okada, Arc), which Yūsuke discovers, says nothing about but works towards discussing until fate intervenes. Then, when he sits in his red 1987 Saab 900 Turbo just as the movie's titles finally display, he's a man still wracked by grief. It's also swiftly clear that he's using his two-month Hiroshima residency as a distraction, even while knowing that this exact play — and Oto's voice on the tapes he keeps listening to — will always be deeply tied to his life-shattering loss. This prologue does more than set the scene; there's a reason that Hamaguchi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Takamasa Oe (The Naked Director), directs so much time its way. Where tales of tragedy and mourning often plunge into happy lives suddenly unsettled by something catastrophic or the process of picking up the pieces in the aftermath — typically making a concerted choice between one or the other — Drive My Car sees the two as the forever-linked halves of a complicated journey, as they are. The film isn't interested in the events that've forever altered the plot of Yūsuke's life, but in who he is, how he copes, and what ripples that inescapable hurt causes. It's just as fascinated with another fact: that so many of us have these stories. Just as losing someone and soldiering on afterwards are unshakeably connected, so are we all by sharing these cruel constants of life. The reality that anyone can have a history as complex and as coloured by pain is a lesson for Yūsuke to learn. Although he makes a living plumbing the depths of human emotion through art, and cathartically so, reading those same feelings into the people around him — recognising the same highs and lows in their experiences, as in his own — is a thornier path to chart. But in his daily treks to and from his theatre rehearsals, he starts making the trip towards that realisation as Misaki sits behind the wheel of his trusty Saab. Initially, neither speaks, with Oto's line readings via cassette breaking the silence. Yūsuke saves his words for the International cast he auditions and then directs, each relaying Uncle Vanya in their native tongues (or, in one instance, by an actor who is deaf and signs her dialogue). Slowly, though, the drives find their own language, as Misaki opens up about her past and vice versa. Forget Green Book and Driving Miss Daisy, American Oscar-applauded films similarly about drivers, passengers and unexpected camaraderie — Drive My Car is in a lane of its own, and not just because it isn't a simplistic and saccharine attempt to weave a heartwarming story out of racial reconciliation. Hamaguchi takes his central pair and his audience on a patient, engrossing and rewarding trip that cuts to the heart of dealing with life, love, loss, pain, shame and despair, and also sees how fickle twists of chance — a recurrent topic in the director's films — unavoidably dictate our routes. Another thing that the filmmaker does disarmingly well: ponder possibilities and acceptance, two notions that echo through both Yūsuke and Misaki's tales, and resonate with that always-winning combination of specificity and universality. Drive My Car is intimate and detailed about every element of its on-screen voyage and its character studies, and also a road map to soulful, relatable truths. Sitting — while driving and during rehearsals — is a recurrent sight in Drive My Car. It's fitting; this is a film to sit with. The movie's lengthy duration lets viewers take in its gorgeously shot visuals as they might revel in landscape spied from a car window, whether cinematographer Hidetoshi Shinomiya (Ju-on: Origins) is lensing the road as it winds by the Seto Inland Sea, spending time with the feature's core duo or chronicling Yūsuke's efforts at the theatre. Crisp, poetic and revealing even in a visit to a waste treatment facility, Drive My Car's naturalistic imagery provides a striking canvas for its affecting performances, too, with Nishijima and Miura as quietly expressive as any film — and any Murakami adaptation — could hope of its actors. In one of the picture's most stunning sequences, they chat by steps near the ocean, and the camera sees everything about their characters, and simply existing, and also tussling with life's pain, in each emotionally loaded closeup and sweeping, waterside wide shot. These are moments that drive a movie to greatness, and this moving and perceptive masterpiece is filled with them.
The northern beaches' dreamy beachside pub Harbord Hotel is hosting a month-long margarita and tostada pop-up throughout February. The tostadas are a classic mix of Mexican flavours created by Head Chef Adam Rust and made using locally sourced seafood. Think lobster, achiote chicken, crispy prawn or raw tuna tostadas, all on offer to enjoy in the pub's bright and sunny courtyard throughout the rest of the month. As for the margaritas, the beloved beverage has received an exciting twist with the help of one of Sydney's favourite dessert specialists. Alongside classic, spicy and Harbord Hotel specialty margs, there will also be Gelato Messina margaritas on offer using the gelato chain's fruitier scoops to create the perfect summer drink. The Classico marg combines lime sorbet, Blanco tequila, agave and sea salt, while the Blood Orange Anejo is pretty self-explanatory with blood orange sorbet, Anejo Tequilas, mezcal mist and an orange slice. All up there are nine flavours of margaritas ranging from $18-22 for you to try alongside the tostadas. The bar will be serving up this food and beverage combo every weekend this month from midday until late.
When Australia's last Blockbuster store closed its doors back in 2019, it marked the end of an era — especially if you spent your childhood and teenage years trawling through racks of VHS tapes, renting as big a stack as you could carry, then gluing your eyes to the TV every weekend. Every Aussie city also has its own stories about losing beloved independent video shops and, if you're still a fan of physical media in the streaming era, you might even have a few ex-rental bargains from closed-down stores sitting on your shelves at home. It's these fond feelings for a part of life that's now gone that new live cinema performance Coil aims to tap into, all while paying tribute to all the long-lost spots that once celebrated and nurtured cinephilia. Video stores were more than just places to rent tapes — they were havens of filmic discovery, sources of inspiration and thriving local communities — and that's all baked into this production. Coil made its world premiere at this year's Mona Foma, and now brings its tribute and farewell to Australia's video shops to Sydney — playing PACT in Erskineville from Thursday, February 10–Saturday, February 12. The latest work from re:group, a collective of artists based between Hobart, Wollongong and Sydney, Coil stages its show in a set that recreates a 90s-era video shop. The focus: telling a tale of nostalgia, loneliness, friendship and viability that pays homage to those gone-but-not-forgotten spaces and celebrates the communities forged within them. It's a performance designed to ponder questions — including what we've lost now that we browse online sites for flicks instead of physically walking the aisles. And if you're wondering how a live cinema performance with a one-person cast works, Coil takes place live on stage before its audience, but deploys video design that lets its lone performer play every character in cinematic scenes. You'll be watching all of that happen, with the show combining verbatim interview material with real-time filmmaking — all to make the kind of performance that you definitely won't see on streaming. Images: Rosie Hastie.
Many of Australia's annual cinema showcases focus on one particular country; however, that definitely isn't the Jewish International Film Festival's remit. Surveying the past year in movies with ties to Jewish culture, it fills its program with flicks from around the globe — in 2022, when it returns to Sydney cinemas, with 31 feature films, 25 documentaries, six short films and even episodes from episodes a TV series, in fact. That lineup will hit the Ritz in Randwick from Thursday, March 3–Monday, April 4 and the Roseville Cinemas from the same starting date through until Wednesday, March 23, and it clearly isn't short on highlights. That obviously includes its bookending titles, with the event opening with Simone Veil: A Woman of the Century and paying tribute to the French feminist icon, then closing with period melodrama Beauty Queen of Jerusalem from Israel. Other standouts and must-sees include The Painted Bird, as based on Jerzy Kosinski's novel and featuring Harvey Keitel and Stellan Skarsgård among the cast; Tahara, a coming-of-age story starring Shiva Baby's Rachel Sennott; the Cannes-premiering A Radiant Girl, which steps back to the Occupation in Paris in World War II; and satire Let It Be Morning, which picked up Best Film at the 2021 Ophir Awards (aka the Israeli Oscars). Or, there's also Haute Couture, which dives into French fashion; Tiger Within, about an unlikely friendship between a Holocaust survivor and a teenage runaway; the Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish-starring Here Today; documentary Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, focusing on the singer-songwriter and that immensely popular song; and fellow doco Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful, which turns the lens on the prolific German Austrian photographer.
The super-adorable Finders Keepers Markets have been home to Sydney's most creative and quirky designers for almost five years. Now the independent hip-fest has grown up and burst forth from the confines of Carriageworks to return to their new home at Eveleigh's Australian Technology Park for the second time. The biannual, designer-centric, come-one-come-all mini-festival has managed to bridge the gap between local market and exclusive exhibition, creating a space for independent designers to engage with the wider community. You'll be able to nab some marvellous treats difficult to find anywhere else. From bespoke leather goods to bespoke stationary, upcycled journals to upcycled bicycle reflectors, every stall will be a unique shopping experience that combines innovative design with grassroots feel-goodery. As usual, there will be live music, a cafe, a bar and thousands of other Sydneysiders celebrating independent art and design. Finder Keepers is open 6-10pm on Friday, 10am-5pm on Saturday.
As I settled down in Event Cinemas to see Once Chance, I didn't realise I'd also be seeing my mother's cinematic debut. But more on that later. A British film directed by David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada) and written by Justin Zackham (The Bucket List), One Chance is based on the true story of Paul Potts, a shop assistant and amateur opera singer who won Britain's Got Talent in 2007. It's a kind of hero's journey meets love story, with Potts' marriage to wife Julie-Ann (Alexandra Roach) at the core. Her patience and loyalty sustains him through a seemingly unending amount of bad luck. As does his love of opera. The film opens with Potts' troubled childhood and ends with his first audition for Britain's Got Talent, now a YouTube favourite, where he sang Nessun Dorma so beautifully he received a standing ovation, judges cried and even Simon Cowell beamed. Before we get to the happy ending, things get pretty dark. There's his bully-ridden childhood. Then there's his dysfunctional relationship with his father, his financial struggles, his chronic self-doubt (enforced by no less than Pavarotti in one of the film's most painful scenes) and his ill health, from bicycle accidents to appendicitis to cancer. Even the setting of Port Talbot is depressing. But without depicting the struggle, the film's final scenes wouldn't be quite as moving. We wouldn't appreciate how glorious a victory this was for Potts, the eternal underdog. I just wish we could have had a bit longer to bask in it before the credits started rolling. James Corden was an unusual casting choice. He's known for his cheeky, brash confidence, and at times you can almost feel him holding back. But for the most part he succeeded in giving a believable performance as the shy, self-effacing Potts. (And before you ask, no that's not him singing; he is lip-synching to Potts' voice.) Sometimes the plot and dialogue feel a tad schmaltzy, a bit 'Hollywood', potentially because it's a British story with British actors but in the hands of American filmmakers. The film could use a splash more irreverence, but there are real moments of humour, often thanks to the comedic timing of Corden, Julie Walters (as Potts' mum) and Mackenzie Crook (as his friend and inefficient manager at the Carphone Warehouse). One Chance is entertaining and tells a genuinely inspiring story. It's not the most well-written script, but if you like stories about self-belief and pursuing your dreams no matter how many obstacles life throws at you, then you should see it. Or if you want to see my mum's unwitting extra-work. She's the tourist in the white trousers in the final scene, standing in the middle of Piazza San Marco and staring straight at the camera. Hi mum. https://youtube.com/watch?v=1wtq5hN2eOE
Beginning to feel anxious out about Christmas? If the holiday season is a stress-fest for you, then maybe a little deep breathing and downward dog will do you some good throughout the month. In December, World Square will host three charity yoga sessions on the rooftop of the Ernst and Young Tower. Taught by yogi masters from Life and Balance Yoga School, each hour-long session starts at 7am. The cost is $15, with all proceeds going towards MS Australia. After the stretch-sesh, participants get a free voucher from Crave Frozen Yogurt for some tasty brekkie. Rooftop views, good deeds and froyo? We can't think of a better way to start the day. Classes are held on December 4, 11, and 18, with registration commencing in the lobby at 6.45am. All you need is your mat, warm layers (as it can get a bit windy), and a cheery attitude. RSVP to worldsquare.admin@au.brookfield.com to guarantee your spot.
Jane Bodie understands mental illness. She doesn’t exploit it for the sake of dramatic impact; she doesn’t romanticise the links between suffering and art. But her characters do. Music, which is making its world premiere at the Stables, could only have been written by someone with intimate knowledge of what it means to live with an unstable mind. “My brother was my hero for most of my childhood,” Brodie writes in the program liner notes. “As an unfeasibly good looking, cool teenager, he began to suffer from a mental illness, tragically pulling the family apart and bringing us back together.” Even though she firmly states, “The play is not about my brother, or a commentary on a specific illness,” there’s no doubt that her personal experience illuminates this sensitive, intricate and truthful work. Adam (Anthony Gee) lives alone in a small, dishevelled studio (skilfully designed for the Stables’ tiny stage by Pip Runciman). Surrounded by piles of letters and unwashed dishes, he spends his time wearing trackies, overcooking one-minute meals and listening to cassettes. Enter Gavin (Tom Stokes) and Sarah (Kate Skinner), two actors working on a play about mental illness and hoping to “study” Adam. Just how much “study” they have to do becomes painfully evident. Ignorant of the achingly narrow line between health and sickness, focused on their own 'art' and "fascinated”, they don’t hesitate to throw themselves into Adam’s life. The results are torturously unpredictable. Under the perceptive direction of Corey McMahon, Gee brings a powerful authenticity to an incredibly demanding role, traversing warmth, humour and explosive anger without losing us for a second. Stokes is a suitably self-obsessed yet well-meaning and potentially not-so-stable Gavin, while Skinner nails Sarah, oscillating from gregarious frivolity to fear. Sam O’Sullivan delivers a subtle and convincing interpretation of Adam’s long-standing and more knowing friend, Tom. Then, of course, there’s the soundtrack. The Clash and Siouxsie and The Banshees tell the story every bit as much as the words do. Image by Kurt Sneddon.
Just as the flickering light of a projector illuminates a darkened cinema, so too have filmmakers from around the globe sought out tales of courage, resilience and survival amidst one of the darkest points in human history. Organised by the Jewish International Film Festival (not to be confused with the Israeli Film Festival) the Holocaust Film Series will present the Australian premieres of 22 recent feature films, documentaries and shorts, from countries including France, Germany, Poland, America and Israel. In doing so, the series aims to examine the relationship between the past and the present, as well as the ongoing role of cinema in historical representations of the Holocaust. Noteworthy titles on the program include The Lady in Number 6, about the world’s oldest concert pianist and Holocaust survivor, and Bureau 06, about the investigators who prepared the case for the Jewish people in the trial of Adolf Eichmann. The former is nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Film, while the latter recently competed for Best Documentary at Israel’s prestigious Ophir Awards. The Holocaust Film Series screens in Sydney and Melbourne starting in late March. For more information, see the JIFF website.
If Shakespeare had lived in the 21st century, there's a good chance he would have been a rapper. Not only was he a master of rhymes, but he had dissing down to a fine art, with gems like "I'll beat thee, but I should infect my hands" (Timon of Athens) and "Thou art a boil, a plague sore, an embossed carbuncle in my corrupted blood" (King Lear). Chicago-based theatre company The Q Brothers' are all about creating 'ad-RAP-tations' of Shakespeare plays. In their latest offering, Othello: The Remix, MC Othello is a rapper turned music mogul engaged to singer Desdemona — sort of a Shakespearean Jay-Z and Beyonce. After Othello releases up-and-coming MC Casio's latest album on his label, the jealous, Eminem-esque rapper Iago decides he has a beef with Othello because and manipulation, betrayal and murder ensues. The show premiered in Chicago last July, and has since been taken to the UK and South Korea, even winning a Jeff Award for Best Ensemble. Image by Michael Brosilow.
If you're a fan of old-school comedic styling, you might want to check out La Cucina dell’Arte. Presented as part of this year’s Sydney Festival, Circus Ronaldo will be treating Sydney audiences to their special brand of what the Age describes as “disarming and hilarious comedy”. Danny and David Ronaldo represent the sixth generation of a renowned Belgian circus family (you can’t make this stuff up). In this show, they turn a big top tent into a pizzeria, with a kitchen in total chaos. Think lots of flipping pizzas, flying chefs' hats, plate-juggling and fancy tricks involving table settings. (You may even get to actually eat some pizza at the end of it.) Blending together genres of commedia, vaudeville and slapstick, La Cucina dell'Arte sounds like an entertaining night out for anyone who's tickled by a bit of old-fashioned buffoonery. Image by by Benny Degrove.
If the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Waiting for Godot has left you hankering for more Beckett, Sydney Festival's All That Fall may quench your theatrical thirst, stepping in to continue the homage to a man as elusive as his plays. Irish company Pan Pan Theatre (Oedipus Loves You, Fight the Landlord) will return to Sydney to present their acclaimed rendition of Samuel Beckett’s rarely performed 1957 radio play, All That Fall. Featuring 60 rocking chairs bathed in light, this unconventional listening party offers an immersive theatrical experience that's all audience, no stage. Surrounded by the voices of an aging Irish woman and her townspeople, expect a black comedy, a murder mystery, a cryptic literary riddle and a quasimusical score. In spite of the absence of visual performers, the impressive soundscape and award-winning lighting design are said to keep you fixated. This imaginative method of storytelling offers up a theatrical atmosphere that is totally unique. In the dim chamber, it is the audience members that take on the spirit of performance, hanging on every word of Beckett's bleak humour. This radical, communal production is almost like having a cast of characters inside your head, or being inside theirs.
There’s no better place to be during summer’s late-night sunsets than outside enjoying them. With that in mind, North Sydney Oval will be transformed from January 17 into the IMB Sunset Cinema. The opening night gets underway with a screening of the new film by Richard Curtis (Notting Hill, Love Actually), About Time, preceded by the soulful, funk stylings of Uncle Jed. Later in the season, look out for popular new releases Gravity, Anchorman 2, August: Osage County, Dallas Buyers Club and The Wolf of Wall Street. It’s a great opportunity to take a picnic, kick back and enjoy the show, but the Sunset crew have got you covered for food as well, if you feel like taking a night off the domestic chores. There’ll be Maggie Beer Ice Cream, 4Pines beer, Crabbies Cider and MadFish Wines, as well as mouth watering Crust Pizza available on site. Tickets are available online for the whole season, which extends until March 9, so get in quick to watch the screen go up as the sun goes down.
This summer the Art Gallery of NSW will play host to an exhibition of 81 Yirrkala drawings on loan from the Berndt Museum of Anthropology at the University of Western Australia, marking the first time that such a significant selection has ever been displayed. Dating back to 1947, the drawings emerged when senior ceremonial leaders at northeast Arnhem Land’s Yirrkala produced hundreds of brilliantly coloured crayon drawings for anthropologists Ronald and Catherine Berndt. Created by men from a variety of clan groups, the drawings feature a palette of strikingly vibrant reds, blues, greens, yellows and black. Along with offering a valuable insight into Yolngu life, knowledge and law, the exhibition also displays the mastery of these artists, who seamlessly shifted from painting in natural pigments on bark to the new medium of drawing with crayons on paper. Many of the featured artists are now considered among the most important bark painters of the 20th century, including Mawalan and Wandjuk Marika, Munggurrawuy Yunupingu, Narritjin Maymuru and Wonggu Mununggurr. The exhibition will also include work by descendants of those who worked with the Berndts in 1947, now themselves nationally and internationally renowned artists. The exhibition will also be on display in Brisbane at Queensland Art Gallery from 2 April to 19 July, 2014.
The Powerhouse Museum's new blockbuster exhibition Game Masters celebrates some of the world’s most influential game designers, groundbreaking consoles and beloved characters. Whittle away the day with over 100 playable games, including Pacman, World of Warcraft and Asteroids. The exhibition will be divided into three sections. Charged with '80s nostalgia, 'Arcade Heroes' invites you to relive the joy of traditional arcade games, spotlighting pioneering designers such as Shigeru Miyamoto (Donkey Kong) and Tomohiro Nishikado (Space Invaders). It's a rare and exciting opportunity to be reunited with these seminal machines. 'Game Changers', meanwhile, focuses on the influential designers that have shaped the medium as we know it. And finally, 'Indie' highlights the trend towards independently developed games, and their innovative approaches to aesthetics and gameplay. Fruit Ninja, Minecraft and Angry Birds are some of the success stories of this category. Over 170,000 people visited this incredibly popular exhibition at ACMI in Melbourne and Te Papa Museum in Wellington, New Zealand. So you'd better book if you want a slice of priceless nostalgic gameplay.
According to Resident Advisor, Andrew Weatherall was the world's first "proper punk DJ". It might be the first (and last) time that "proper" and "punk" are used in the same sentence, but there's no arguments that Weatherall has earned such a distinction. After starting his working life as a music journo, often writing under the pseudonym 'Audrey Witherspoon', he soon tried his hand at mixing. His first studio work was a club mix of 'Hallelujah' for the Happy Mondays, in collaboration with DJ Paul Oakenfold. Since then, he's produced the likes of One Dove, Beth Orton and, most famously, Primal Scream, playing a crucial role in the creation of Screamadelica. Along the way, he's developed some interesting ideas, among them that both the downfall and salvation of human beings lies in their being "glorified chimpanzees" and that "anyone over the age of fourteen who Twitters can never really truly be [his] friend". For a DJ, Weatherall is remarkably technologically averse. Despite — or perhaps because of — that, he's incredibly up-to-date when it comes to modern electronica, having remixed a list of names as long as the Nile, from Bjork to the Manic Street Preachers to My Bloody Valentine to James. His live shows are famously hypnotic, seductive affairs, combining post-punk, dark electro and house. The bad, sad news? Weatherall's one and only Sydney Festival appearance — the late Australia Day set in the Spiegeltent — is now sold out, so you'll have to sign up to the waiting list or try the Tix for Next to Nix booth on the day. Image by Steve Gullick.
Before David Bowie wrote 'Life on Mars?', before Vangelis released Albedo 0.39 and even before the original Star Trek, Sun Ra was preoccupied with outer space. "I never wanted to be a part of planet Earth," he said. "But I am compelled to be here, so anything I do for this planet is because the Master-Creator of the Universe is making me do to it. I am of another dimension. I am on this planet because people need me." The fact that his legal birth certificate doesn't exist has added fuel to the fire of the theory that Sun Ra may well have descended from Saturn. For someone who believed he didn't belong here, he contributed more than his fair share. The Solar Arkestra, formed in the 1950s, was the first big band to explore total collective improvisation. Underpinned by Sun Ra's philosophy, which combined ancient Egyptian spirituality with space age possibilities, the group also became known for its striking theatrical elements — sci-fi headdresses, multicoloured robes, metallic capes and dancers were all part of the show. With Sun Ra having passed away in 1993, the Arkestra now performs under the directorship of legendary saxophonist Marshall Allen. They'll be bringing their blistering energy, powerful free-form improvisations and unearthly visuals to the State Theatre for just one night as part of the Sydney Festival. https://youtube.com/watch?v=1qjiQwD7VCI
This article is sponsored by our partners, Flickerfest. It's a nice story that Flickerfest had its humble beginnings 23 years ago at Balmain High School, but its new home on Sydney's most Instagrammable beachfront is a way more awesome place to sip some brews before your screening time. Sunset Bar is this 2014's on-site watering hole, setting up inside the iconic Bondi Pavilion. Besides panoramic sunset views you can enjoy tasty organic food from partners including misschu and a daily 5-6pm happy hour. Crystal Head Vodka, Little Creatures Beer, Pipsqueak Cider, Rosnay Organic Wine and Phoenix are doing the drinks again this year. It's the perfect way to enjoy a sunset dinner and drinks overlooking the beach without getting sand stuck to your rice paper rolls.
Eleven days of soccer action kick off in Darling Harbour this month. Held on a floating football pitch in Cockle Bay, the Big Issue Street Football Festival will bring together players and fans from across the country. The event has grown since its inception in 2011, and in 2014 will welcome hundreds of players. Incorporating government, corporate and junior events, the festival spans a range of competitions, including the national championships of the Big Issue's Community Street Soccer Program. The program supports disadvantaged people who are experiencing homelessness, disability and long-term unemployment. Check out the full event program for dates and details on other matches.
Live music. Outdoors. It’s what Sydney’s made for. So it’s no surprise that the Festivalists' Courtyard Sessions are back. As debate continues to rage over what we can do to boost the scene, the Seymour Centre’s leafy courtyard will demonstrate at least one way of doing it. And doing it well. Starting January 17 and finishing up as the autumn starts to have its way at the end of March, an upcoming acoustic act will play between 6pm and 9pm. Entry is free — for you, your children and your dogs, all of whom are most welcome. There’ll even be vintage games and roaming performers to keep them entertained while you’re making the most of the bar and the barbecue. Masters of atmosphere Twin Lakes will come down from Newcastle to open proceedings with their shimmering, melodic offerings. Other highlights of the season include symphonic-minded multi-instrumentalist Christo Jones, lyrical storyteller Forster Anderson, vintage pop makers Goldsmith and folk-blues-bluegrass-roots outfit the Green Mohair Suits.
The Laugh Stand's FBi Social shows have proved so successful that the team is ready to take over the inner west. Starting December 10, they'll be occupying Glebe's Harold Park Hotel on a monthly basis. Back in the '80s and '90s, the pub was a comedic hub, playing host to the likes of Adam Hills, Ben Elton, Tom Gleeson, Jimeoin and Merrick and Rosso. A star-studded launch party is promised. Queenslander Lindsay Webb will be taking on the role of emcee. Not only has he appeared on Good News Week, The Footy Show and the Sea FM Morning Crew, he also holds the Guinness World Record for the Longest Show by an Individual — 38 hours and 6 minutes. Arizona-raised Sydney resident Tommy Dean is the headline act, with Darren Sanders hot on his heels. Plus, there'll be performances by a handpicked selection of emerging artists, including Andrew Wolfe, Dane Hiser, Scott Dettrick, Michele Betts, Jared Jekyll and Nick Capper, as well as two-for-one meals.
In the latest instalment of The Voices Project, ATYP presents BITE ME, a collection of ten monologues written by some of the country's finest young playwriting talents and published by Currency Press. Covering every theme from vegetarianism to disastrous blind dates to slow eaters, young actors from around the country will be bringing these original pieces to life. Promising to take a warm, irreverent and cheeky approach in its exploration of how what we eat affects who we are, the show is directed by Anthony Skuse (Punk Rock, 4000 Miles), who has worked with the company for over 15 years. Skuse says, "I think some people will find some of the stories challenging. People may recognise themselves in characters and situations. They will be moved, made to laugh and perhaps reflect on the complex ways food figures in our lives." At just 100 minutes, BITE ME should be a short but action-packed night out for any one keen to grab a glimpse of the future of Aussie theatre.
This review is of the Melbourne run of this production in August 2013. When we think Shakespeare, we think tragedies of misfortune, histories of sovereigns and comedies of error. The latter of which is obviously the most fun — especially when it's put on by Australia's leading classical theatre company, Bell Shakespeare. The Comedy of Errors is a high-octane, crude-innuendo, neon-lit, slapstick-laden romp through mistaken identity, class structure, gender politics and table tennis etiquette. It takes Shakespeare's couplets and transports them to a sleazy, red-light port-town called Ephesus, which kind of looks like Sydney's Kings Cross if it got mongrelised with Melbourne's Chapel Street. Now, the plot: a father is so proud of his two identical twin boys that he decides it will be a lark to adopt a second pair of identical twins for them to keep as man-servants. Bascially, Egeon has considerable wealth but not much common sense. On the squally waters home, a shipwreck separates him and two of the boys from his wife and their matching twins. But that's not enough to ensure confusion and chaos for the rest of their lives. This is Shakespeare we're talking about — so he obligingly doubles up on the doubling up and gives each set of twins the same damn name. Cue chaotic hilarity over the course of a single night many years later when both sets of twins mooch around Ephesus without once meeting each other. They confuse, enrage and arouse each other's lady-friends, and make multiple entrances and exits through many doors, eventually culminating in an outrageous chase scene. The busty, rumbustious Adriana (Elena Carapetis) is a stand-out in this scene with her gift for slow-motion hilarity and comical facial expressions. Shakespeare's script hasn't been tampered with. It's remarkably clear and surprisingly relatable. Puns and one-liners fly fast and furious, and the flashing strobe lights in a club scene turn every cast member's face just the right shade of sickly green before they vomit splashily over the stage. The effortless appeal of this new take on the Bard is due both to the timeless device of mistaken identity and director Imara Savage's terse nods to notions of immigration and 'errors' of judgement. Designer Pip Runciman has created a visual fiesta of colour with floral jackets, leopard-print bustiers, pink vinyl and bunny ears, and the debauched climax that will make you laugh until you are incontinent. Go — before your doppelgänger gets there first. Image by Matt Nettheim. https://youtube.com/watch?v=0VMgBqPUH-Y
