The NSW government is taking a big step in restoring Sydney's nightlife scene, today announcing, as part of the $110 billion NSW night-time economy review, the decision to 'abolish' the final remains of the city's controversial lockout laws: the 3.30 am last drinks law. NSW Premier Chris Minns took to Instagram to announce the decision, saying the laws, which came with good intentions, did more harm than good for Sydney's nightlife. "The lockouts had good intentions but a diabolical impact on the night-time economy and the reputation of our city. These were the laws that saw Madonna and Justin Bieber not allowed into their own afterparties." [caption id="attachment_877266" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] "Once we had a closer look at all the regulations restricting the NSW night-time economy, we realised the lockouts were just the tip of the iceberg. So since coming to office we've been slashing the red tape that was pushing venues out of business and stopping grown adults having fun." "We're rebuilding the night-time economy neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood so that people right across NSW have exciting and diverse nightlife options closer to home," Minns concludes. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Chris Minns (@chrisminnsmp) When the lockout laws were first enacted in 2014, over half of Sydney's music venues closed as a result of the lost business from late-night crowds. The laws initially came into effect after an increase of assaults in Kings Cross, Oxford Street and the Sydney CBD — including the 'one punch' deaths of Thomas Kelly and Daniel Christie. Now, following a review by Liquor & Gaming NSW and the determination of a downward trend in alcohol related night-time assaults since earlier changes to the laws five years ago. The harsh conditions were found to be "no longer fit for purpose," instead, safety will be maintained through a more targeted, case-by-case approach and existing RSA requirements. [caption id="attachment_1065783" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Getty Images[/caption] The review does affirm that three of the existing measures will continue: the violent incident registers, preserving crime scenes and a ban on Outlaw Motorcycle Gang colours or insignia. Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy John Graham said, "Twelve years to the day since they were announced, we are now declaring the lockout laws have been completely abolished. I'm delighted to say goodbye to this chapter of Sydney's nightlife story." Lead image: Getty Images
The beaches at Broken Head Nature Reserve are uncharacteristically bordered by rainforest, and this unusual Australian terrain allows for views of both sea and forest-dwelling birdlife on the reserve. The Three Sisters walking track is the best for whale watching, where the rainforest slopes into secluded beaches. The headland tends to burst with wildflowers at this time of year as well, so natural beauty will be all around you. The history of the trail is worth a read along the way, starting with the Aboriginal story behind the three sisters' namesake. Image: NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
The team behind Surry Hills Mediterranean eatery Nomad is opening its second Sydney venue, with Beau on its way to Surry Hills next year. The new wine bar and deli will open just down the road from the original Nomad, hidden away on Reservoir Street, at the bottom of Foster Street. Beau will operate as both a takeaway deli, open for breakfast and lunch, and a wine bar with a reserved but flavoursome menu and an expansive drinks list. At the deli, Nomad's Mediterranean menu has been reimagined as a classic array of charcuterie and takeaway eats. Here you'll find dips, pickles and marinated vegetables primarily produced in-house, but the hero is the manoush, a traditional Levantine flatbread topped with Nomad's homemade za'atar, spiced Margra lamb shoulder or green chilli zhoug. The 50-seat wine bar and restaurant, open for both lunch and dinner, will offer a constantly changing selection of wines accompanied by a bar snack version of the Nomad menu. Expect meats and cheeses, plus a cold seafood bar showcasing fresh Australian produce pulled from the sea. While the focus of the drinks menu at Beau will be on local wines, interesting drops from across the globe will also be on hand and a rotating selection of experimental and independent wines will be available on-tap. [caption id="attachment_829999" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The team[/caption] The bar will sit alongside a private laneway and will be set around a long central bar with banquet seating around its perimeter. Those looking for a unique spot for a private event will also be able to book out Beau's rooftop event space. "The Nomad Group mission is to consistently create experiences that bring together great food, local produce, great wine and service," says co-owner Rebecca Yazbek. "Beau and Beau Deli is about serving the local community with everything they've asked for and loved over the last few years." Beau is the second new venue the hospitality group has announced this year, with Nomad set to expand into Melbourne. Nomad Melbourne is preparing to open next week. The restaurant is opening from Monday, November 15 in the former CBD digs of longstanding institution Ezard. [caption id="attachment_829997" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nomad Melbourne[/caption] Beau will be located at 52 Reservoir Street, Surry Hills and will open early 2022. Top image: Nomad Sydney, Nikki To
He was one of the youngest cast members in Saturday Night Live's history. During his eight-season run on the iconic US sketch-comedy series, he riffed on his own life aplenty, then did the same in The King of Staten Island on the big screen, plus in streaming series Bupkis. If you've caught Pete Davidson's comedy specials, you'll know that the same applies when he's onstage, too — which Australian audiences can witness live in September and October 2025. Davidson has just locked in an Aussie leg on his latest stand-up tour, playing three cities: Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. The whirlwind trip will see him perform three gigs three nights in a row, kicking off at Riverside Theatre in the Western Australian capital on Monday, September 29. Next stop: Palais Theatre in Victoria's counterpart on Tuesday, September 30, then Enmore Theatre in the Harbour City on Wednesday, October 1. [caption id="attachment_776175" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The King of Staten Island © 2020 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. All Rights Reserved.[/caption] Beyond SNL and otherwise fictionalising his own experiences in cinemas and on TV — and beyond his Pete Davidson: SMD, Pete Davidson: Alive From New York and Pete Davidson: Turbo Fonzarelli specials as well — Davidson has rarely been far from screens over the past decade. Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Trainwreck, Big Time Adolescence, The Suicide Squad, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Fast X, Dumb Money: they're all on his resume. Davidson's Aussie dates come just after his latest film, heist comedy The Pickup co-starring Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F), drops on Prime Video in early August. [caption id="attachment_897860" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Bupkis, Heidi Gutman/Peacock[/caption] He also has the Australian-shot Wizards!, which is directed by Animal Kingdom's David Michôd and co-stars Orlando Bloom (Deep Cover) on its way to the screen. Similarly in the works for Davidson: How to Rob a Bank, the latest film from Atomic Blonde, Bullet Train and The Fall Guy director David Leitch, which will release in 2026. Pete Davidson 2025 Australian Tour Dates Monday, September 29 — Riverside Theatre, Perth Tuesday, September 30 — Palais Theatre, Melbourne Wednesday, October 1 — Enmore Theatre, Sydney Pete Davidson is touring Australia in September and October 2025, with presale tickets available from 10am local time on Thursday, July 31 and general tickets from 10am on Friday, August 1. Head to the tour website for more details.
UPDATE: APRIL 30, 2018 — In news that is really not that surprising, Kendrick's Melbourne and Sydney shows sold out in less than an hour this morning. To meet demand, two more shows have been added — one in Melbourne on July 14 and one in Sydney on July 25. Tickets go on sale at 2pm today, and will no doubt sell out as quickly as the first batch. We had a feeling this might happen. Off the back of an appearance at an already sold-out Splendour in the Grass, Kendrick Lamar will also headline four Australian shows in support of his fourth album DAMN.. Lamar is one of the most critically acclaimed and successful hip hop artists of our generation. The Compton rapper most recently became the first ever artist to take out the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for contemporary music. He's also the beholder of 12 Grammys, has clocked up more than six million album sales worldwide, and was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME Magazine. Lamar will return to our shores for Splendour on the weekend of July 20–22 and four headline shows: one in Perth on July 10, one in Melbourne on July 13, one in Adelaide on July 15 and one in Sydney on July 24. Having recently taken the DAMN. tour across the UK and Europe, set lists included his extensive catalogue, including good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012), To Pimp A Butterfly (2015) and his most recent effort DAMN.. DAMN. AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES 2018 Tuesday, July 10 — Perth Arena, Perth Friday, July 13 and Saturday, July 14 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Sunday, July 15 — Entertainment Centre, Adelaide Tuesday, July 24 and Wednesday, July 25 — Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Kendrick Lamar will visit Australia in July. Tickets will go on sale at local times on Monday, April 30 here.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas across the country. After months spent empty, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Australian picture palaces are back in business — spanning 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, comedies, music documentaries, 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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbE96sCJEjo MINARI Although they can frequently seem straightforward, films about the American dream aren't simply about chasing success. The circumstances and details change, but they're often movies about finding a place to call home as well. Such a quest isn't always as literal as it sounds, of course. While houses can signify achievement, feeling like you truly belong somewhere — and that you're comfortable enough to set your sights on lofty goals and ambitions that require considerable risks and sacrifices — transcends even the flashiest or cosiest combination of bricks and mortar. Partly drawn from writer/director Lee Isaac Chung's (Abigail Harm) own childhood, Minari understands this. It knows that seeking a space to make one's own is crucial, and that it motivates many big moves to and within the US. So, following a Korean American couple who relocate to rural Arkansas in the 80s with hopes of securing a brighter future for their children, this delicately observed and deeply felt feature doesn't separate the Yi family's attempts to set up a farm from their efforts to feel like they're exactly where they should be. The result is a precise, vivid, moving, and beautifully performed and observed film told with honest and tender emotion — so much so that it was always bound to be equally universal and unique. When Jacob Yi (Steven Yeun, Burning) introduces his wife Monica (Yeri Han, My Unfamiliar Family), pre-teen daughter Anne (first-timer Noel Cho) and seven-year-old son David (fellow newcomer Alan S Kim) to their new 50-acre plot, he's beaming with pride. He's bought them "the best dirt in America," he says. It might only span a trailer, a field and a creek, but he's certain that it will revolutionise their lives. Although both Jacob and Monica still spend their days in a chicken sexing factory to pay the bills, Jacob is confident his agrarian dream will reap rewards. The path he's chosen isn't a glossy fantasy, though. From trying to work out where best to build a well to provide water for his crops, to endeavouring to convince stores to buy his wares, Jacob weathers more than his fare share of struggles. Monica's worries about their isolation, and about money, also weigh heavily, as she'd rather live in a larger city as part of the Korean diaspora. Also joining their daily woes in a movie that eschews overt conflicts for everyday dramas: Anne and David's attempts to fit in, the latter's heart murmur and the change that sweeps through the family when Monica's mother Soonja (Youn Yuh-jung, Sense8) comes to live with them. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg7QTqm_i4o THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS Northern Italy's woods are abundant with truffles, especially the tuber magnatum — otherwise known as the white variety. But before these highly sought-after morsels can make their way into kitchens, onto plates, and into many a willing and eager mouth, someone has to spend their time and expend their energy finding the edible fungus. Accordingly, The Truffle Hunters introduces viewers to multiple elderly men and their adorable dogs who all do just that, with their lives revolving around roving the forest and searching out the prized food. It might sound like a relaxed pursuit — as walking through trees with your pet pooch to fill your pockets with a delicacy is bound to — but it's a highly competitive endeavour, and one that the documentary's central figures are intensely passionate about. For Aurelio, the only thing he loves more than foraging for truffles is Birba, his canine partner in the hunt. The cantankerous Angelo has become disillusioned with the way that the industry has evolved over time, so he now attacks his typewriter with gusto instead, using it to chronicle his myriad woes and complaints. Then there's Sergio, who enjoys his task with his dogs Pepe and Fiona by his side. As for Carlo, his beloved pastime is forbidden by his wife. Unperturbed, he routinely sneaks out at night to search with a torch in hand. Cycling between these men's stories, directors Michael Dweck (The Last Race) and Gregory Kershaw (cinematographer on The Last Race, and also on this) chart their individual efforts. The titular subjects try care for their canines, argue with others encroaching on their turf, type missives about how the world has changed and, in Carlo's case, keep absconding by moonlight. Their hounds remain a focus, including their efforts to avoid poison baits. Devoted to capturing the pooch perspective however they can, Dweck and Kershaw aren't above using puppy cam as well. Seeing truffle hunting from a dog's viewpoint may be an easy gimmick, but it's also both a joy and a thrill — and emblematic of the film's fondness for flavour and character above all else. Narration is absent, talking heads don't clog up the screen, and no one is on hand to describe the ins and outs of the business in the spotlight, with Dweck and Kershaw favouring immersion rather than explanation. It's a fitting approach, and a purposeful one, even if the documentary takes on a relaxed air from start to finish. The Truffle Hunters is a leisurely movie that's content to chronicle its subjects' easy-going lives, lean into their eccentricities and survey their lush surroundings — and, even clocking in at just 84 minutes, it's an unhurried gem of a film — however, it's also carefully compiled. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3REMs9I9Tg FIRESTARTER — THE STORY OF BANGARRA More than three decades since it was first formed, Bangarra Dance Theatre is still going strong. In just the last ten years alone, the Sydney-based organisation has unleashed the beauty and potency of works such as Blak, Patyegarang, Lore, OUR land people stories, Bennelong and Dark Emu across Australia's stages, and repeatedly confronted the nation's colonial history head-on in the process. As an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts outfit, it can't avoid it. It similarly can't ignore the impact that the country's past has had upon Indigenous culture, and the trauma that's rippled across generations as a result. And so, as excellent new documentary Firestarter — The Story of Bangarra tells the company's tale, these struggles are firmly part of the narrative. Co-directors Wayne Blair (The Sapphires, Top End Wedding) and Nel Minchin (Matilda & Me, Making Muriel) know their power. Indeed, the two filmmakers are well aware that they can't step through Bangarra's history without placing the acclaimed dance theatre in its rightful social, political and cultural context. What audiences have seen on stage over the years is stunning, astonishing and important, of course, but all of those exceptional performances haven't ever existed in a vacuum. For those unacquainted with the details of Bangarra's origins, evolution, aims and achievements, Firestarter recounts them, starting with its leap out of the National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association and the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre. Actually, it jumps back further, not only stepping through Bangarra's predecessors, but also charting how Stephen, David and Russell Page became its most famous names. Just as it's impossible to examine the dance company's accomplishments and influence without also interrogating and chronicling Australia's history, it's simply unthinkable to do so without focusing as heavily on the Page brothers as Blair and Minchin choose to. Stephen would become Bangarra's artistic director, a role he still holds. David was its music director, while Russell was one of its best dancers — and their path from growing up in Brisbane in the 60s, 70s and 80s to helping shape and guide an Aussie arts powerhouse is a pivotal component of Bangarra's overall journey thus far. If it sounds as if Firestarter has been set a hefty task — doing triple duty as a celebration, a record of Australia's past and a portrait of three siblings with dreams as big as their talents — that's because it has. But this dense and yet also deft documentary is up to the immense feat, and dances through its massive array of material, topics and themes as skilfully as any of Bangarra's performers ever have. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HZAnkxdYuA THE LITTLE THINGS Before you've even seen a single frame of a film, much can sometimes be gleaned by merely knowing who's in it — if they've been cast to type. The Little Things features Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto, which means it can brag that it stars three Oscar winners, as its trailer does. This 90s-style serial killer thriller has also happily deployed its trio of main players exactly as you'd expect. So, adding yet another cop to his resume, Washington plays unflinchingly dedicated and determined, as well as a character who's far from perfect. Malek has a much shorter acting history, but once again combines the blend of awkwardness and meticulousness that seeped from his pores over four seasons of Mr Robot. As for Leto, he's asked to mine not just his recent cinematic past, but also his overall status in popular culture. From his overcooked take on the Joker in Suicide Squad to the misplaced swagger that's defined his off-screen persona and his rock stardom with Thirty Seconds to Mars, he's hardly widely beloved. The Little Things wants everyone watching to remember that, and perhaps to even stoke the flames of their existing Leto hatred. It works; he's been nominated for a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his greasy-haired turn, and he's so one-note and over-the-top that it's near-impossible to fathom why. Washington's Joe 'Deke' Deacon was once a well-admired Los Angeles detective; however, when writer/director John Lee Hancock (The Blindside) begins The Little Things, his central character is now a deputy sheriff in Kern County. Deke's current and former colleagues all see that shift as a step down, but he's just as dogged in his new job — and, when he's reluctantly sent back to LA to collect evidence for an important trial, then gets brought in on a new case by Malek's hotshot newcomer Jim Baxter while he's hanging about, he's downright unrelenting. A number of women have been found murdered, and in gruesome circumstances. Baxter doesn't realise it, but the details prove familiar to Deke from years earlier. As the pair's new investigation leads them to repair store employee Albert Sparma (Leto), neither Deke nor Baxter is willing to rest until they solve the case. Off-putting and unpleasant from the moment he's first seen, the creepy, possibly psychotic Sparma likes being seen as a suspect, though, and enjoys toying with the men following him. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e9w0IL2U0c&feature=emb_logo DAYS OF THE BAGNOLD SUMMER For everyone of schooling age, the onset of warm weather means a lengthy break from classes, teachers, and the child and teenage version of the daily grind. It's a time of freedom, of never needing to worry about what day of the week it is, and of roaming around like there's no tomorrow. For Daniel Bagnold (Earl Cave, True History of the Kelly Gang), he's looking forward to leaving his suburban British existence far behind for a few weeks by visiting his father in Florida. As an added bonus, his librarian mother Sue (Monica Dolan, The Dig) — who he's constantly embarrassed by — isn't coming with him. Then his dad's new life, wife and soon-to-arrive baby daughter get in the way of Daniel's plans, leaving the 15-year-old stranded at home and unhappy about it. He'd be content holing up in his room, listening to metal and fantasising about starting his own band, but Sue is adamant that he tries to find a job. She also complicates Daniel's days by going out on a date with one of schoolteachers (Rob Brydon, The Trip to Greece). That's the leisurely story at the heart of Days of the Bagnold Summer, a coming-of-age comedy driven more by mood than by narrative developments. It has an overall arc, watching on as Daniel and his mother reconnect; however, this adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name is at its best when it sinks into the annual season of teen dreams and disappointments. First-time feature filmmaker Simon Bird is no stranger to the subject, having spent three seasons and two movies starring in The Inbetweeners. Fans of that franchise's irreverent humour will find themselves in far more laidback territory here, though — and watching a film that, visually and tonally, strives to offer a Wes Anderson-esque view of adolescence. Days of the Bagnold Summer's meticulously framed widescreen images don't ever feel like a cheap imitation, thankfully. Rather, they're artful and probing, especially when they manage to peer on at Daniel and Sue doing different things in the same household space. Indeed, this is a movie with a keen sense of how living in the same place and weathering the same struggles doesn't always make two people a family if one of them is determined to resist the concept. It's that insight, always tinged with bittersweet emotion, that helps Bird's feature strike a chord. Working with a script adapted by fellow first-timer Lisa Owens, he also finds the right balance between deadpan quirkiness and lived-in naturalism. Also assisting is Cave, son of Nick, who wears Daniel's malaise like a second skin — and the soundtrack by Belle and Sebastian, which is perfectly pitched. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1aOK-4UmoM ZAPPA Not everyone can brandish the swagger and charisma of a rock star, but that might actually be the easiest part of the job. To truly earn the term is to genuinely stand out from the ever-growing crowd and, often, to become the kind of music icon that can be referred to with just a single word. Frank Zappa was that kind of figure. Almost three decades after his death in 1993 to cancer, he still is. His music isn't for everyone, but his talent is undisputed, and he has more than 100 albums (62 released while he was alive, and 50 that've hit stores since his passing) that showcase his efforts as a singer, songwriter, composer, bandleader and multi-instrumentalist. While he was alive, he also amassed an enormous archive of materials from across his career, spanning his work with his band Mothers of Invention, his collaborations with other artists and, of course, the 1982 hit single 'Valley Girl' that he recorded with his then 14-year-old daughter Moon Zappa. Combine all of the above, and you get Zappa. Lively, detailed and riveting, this documentary attempts the difficult feat of condensing Frank's life and impact into 129 minutes — and, regardless of whether you're already a fan or not, it does an impressive and engaging job. You could say that Alex Winter — yes, the star of the Bill and Ted franchise that's not Keanu Reeves — took on an easy task when he decided to direct Zappa. Thanks to all the footage, songs, clips and photos at his disposal, as well as the participation of Frank's family, friends and colleagues, he definitely wasn't short on material to weave into this wide-ranging chronicle. Candid chats, eye-popping claymation and home videos all feature, and the film zips happily from one to the other with enthusiasm. But great documentaries don't just splice together the obvious bits and pieces, then throw in a few left-field choices. They explore and examine their subjects, even when they're celebratory. And, in Zappa's case, they wholeheartedly interrogate a man seen as a genius by some and considered too out-there and inaccessible by others. There are moments in the film that prove both viewpoints. There are others that appear to veer off on tangents, but firmly showcase the breadth of Frank's musical experimentation along the way. In his sixth stint as a documentarian (with Downloaded, Deep Web and The Panama Papers among the other titles on his resume), Winter circles and leaps through his central figure's existence and enigma, and it's never anything less than fascinating viewing. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on November 5, November 12, November 19 and November 26; and December 3, December 10, December 17, December 26; and January 1, January 7, January 14, January 21 and January 28; February 4 and February 11. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as The Craft: Legacy, Radioactive, Brazen Hussies, Freaky, Mank, Monsoon, Ellie and Abbie (and Ellie's Dead Aunt), American Utopia, Possessor, Misbehaviour, Happiest Season, The Prom, Sound of Metal, The Witches, The Midnight Sky, The Furnace, Wonder Woman 1984, Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles, Nomadland, Pieces of a Woman, The Dry, Promising Young Woman, Summerland, Ammonite, The Dig, The White Tiger, Only the Animals, Malcolm & Marie, News of the World, High Ground, Earwig and the Witch, The Nest, Assassins, Synchronic and Another Round.
Flour Market Waking up to the smell of something delicious and fresh out of the oven is one of life's greatest little pleasures. Flour Market is the expert at giving Melbournians that fuzzy stomach feeling by curating selections of the finest bakers and pastry-makers for seasonal bake sales early on weekend mornings. Flour Market was born and raised in Melbourne, but now it's Sydney's chance to wake up to the wafts of all of the freshly baked goods lined up under the one convenient roof at Paramount House. Lines have been wrapped around street corners for previous Flour Markets, so if you want to stock up on some of Blackstar's watermelon and strawberry cake or Brewtown Newtown's delectable cronuts, or just have a nibble of Katherine Sabbath's mini cake donuts, you'll have to rise nice and early. Saturday at Paramount House. More info here. 50/50 Festival 107 Projects is a proud supporter of arts and culture in Sydney, through their multidisciplinary arts space in the heart of Redfern. From July 31, the artist-run initiative will be presenting a fundraiser of the best kind: the 50/50 Festival, which is raising money for a new sound system for performers and the local community to enjoy. The 50/50 title implies just that — 50 percent of profits will go to participating artists, the other 50 percent will contribute to a new sound system. The lineup includes an eclectic mix of Sydney's music outfits, with music styles tending towards the experimental and electronic. Participating collectives include the NOW now, CDR, Tin Shed Spots and Pretty Gritty, who will each curate an evening of sounds. Saturday and Sunday at 107 Projects, Redfern. More info here. Mr Kolpert - pantsguys and ATYP Selects Following their award-winning Punk Rock in 2012 and the sell-out On the Shore of the Wide World earlier this year, comes another pantsguys production that promises to deliver more of the exciting and challenging theatre we've come to expect from one of Sydney's most successful independent theatre companies. This month, they'll be staging the black comedy Mr Kolpert at the Australian Theatre for Young People. Written by German playwright David Gieselmann and directed by James Dalton, Mr Kolpert follows the radically dark turn a dinner party takes when hosts Ralf and Sarah tell their guests they've murdered a colleague, Mr Kolpert, just for kicks. Saturday and Sunday (until August 16). More info here. Bar Pho Pop-Up at The Foundry Masters of Vietnamese cuisine and market regulars Bar Pho are extending the love (in the form of pho) to Surry Hills location The Foundry with a pop-up canteen. The brainchild of Tina Do, Bar Pho emphasises authentic street-style Vietnamese food with an Australian twist. The canteen is offering authentic Vietnamese dishes, alongside locally crafted beer by the kegful, courtesy of Young Henry's. The menu is varied, including barbecue sesame pork skewers, lemongrass pork chops, Vietnamese omelettes and the dish that started it all — the humble pho. There's also a Vietnamese-inspired cocktail stall, courtesy of Trolley'd. Saturday and Sunday (until August 29). More info here. LOST in Space ft. Art vs. Science, Jensen Interceptor + Motorik If you're a fan of beats in this drop-loving city, you'll probably be across the names Spice, Motorik and LOST. If you're new to the build-ups and breakdowns, these crews are your go-to partymakers, constantly churning out some of Sydney's biggest (and most wonderfully chaotic) shindigs around town — from the well-known Spice Cellar to mystery warehouse spots citywide. This weekend, the three are teaming up for a space odyssey of an interstellar get-together — headlining the event is ARIA award-winners Art vs. Science, with Sydney d-floor favourite Jensen Interceptor in tow. Motorik Vibe Council will front up their particular brand of beat slinging goodness, while Robbie Lowe, Cassette, Bondi House DJs, Wordlife, Sosueme DJs, Pink Lloyd, Sam Fransisco, Simo, Jericho and Obi-Wan-Keithnobi make up one hell of a pounding lineup. Saturday at a mystery Sydney location. More info here. The Morrison Oyster Festival 2014 As any Sydney seafood aficionado should know by now, The Morrison has a constant focus on the not-so-humble oyster. But in August, when the month-long Oyster Festival takes over, that focus turns into an overwhelming obsession. One of the major drawcards is 'Oyster Hour'. Between 6pm and 7pm every single day, you'll be able to eat as many oysters as you can handle at just $1 a pop. If you fancy something a little, well, fancier, you can opt for a 'Wine and Oyster Flight' (three wines and three matching oysters) or a 'Champagne + Oysters' indulgence. For those who'd like to sharpen up their shucking skills, there'll be an 'Oyster Masterclass'. Finally, if you reckon you might be Sydney's fastest oyster eater, you ought to book a spot in the 'Oyster Eating Competition'. Saturday and Sunday (and August-long) at The Morrison, CBD. More info here. These Final Hours At last year's Melbourne International Film Festival, Perth-set apocalypse film These Final Hours beat out high-profile competition, including The Turning and Mystery Road, to snag The Age Critics Award for Best Australian Feature. Now, almost 12 months later, the film has finally arrived in theatres. Trust us when we tell you that this movie, blending heart-pounding thrills with character-driven drama, is well worth the wait. In his first feature outing, writer-director Zak Hilditch seems remarkably assured. His native Perth provides a unique and unsettling backdrop for the film, the haunting images of forsaken Australian suburbia striking eerily close to home. Visuals like that contribute to a suffocating sense of bleakness that hangs over the film like a scorching summer heat. Saturday and Sunday (until August 20) at various cinemas in Sydney. More info and our review here. John Stezaker: Collages Forget what your eight-year-old self knows about collages and abandon your trusty Clag glue pot. The newest exhibition at the Anna Schwartz Gallery gives sleek insight into the art form using images from Hollywood's golden era. British artist John Stezaker has been making collages and photomontages for decades but has only very recently turned heads in the art sphere. In some collages, Stezaker creates interesting and often creepy contrasts by cutting and reassembling mid-20th century cinema memorabilia and agency head-shots of unknown actors. In others, the artist cleverly and purposefully places picturesque postcards over the expressions of failed movie stars, to unsettling effect. Saturday (until September 6) at Anna Schwartz Gallery, Darlington. More info here. Chippendale Markets As if to herald Chippendale's resurgence as a gentrified neighbourhood, Kaleidoscope Gallery and Soma Studios have joined forces to create a local curated mini-market in Chippendale every Sunday. The keyword here being curated; you're inside the iconic red doors of the Kaleidoscope Gallery, but this time you can actually touch the displays (except for the food — that would be awkward). Stall offerings range from natural skincare to garden accessories, sustainable fashion, flowers and jewellery. Being in an art gallery and all, you can even pick up some locally created art and watch live music performances. Sunday at Kaleidoscope Gallery, Chippendale. More info here. Pizza. All of the Pizza. Forget cheeseburger stuffed crusts and meal deals with 5 litres of Pepsi Max; visiting a soulless pizza chain in Sydney is a mortal sin. There are so many places that have mastered the art of the fine Italian dish, it's only a question of picking one. Here are our ten favourites that keep us coming back for stretchy Buffalo mozzarella, pillowy bases and perfect toppings. Saturday and Sunday in our top ten best pizza spots. Check out the whole list and get crusty.
Located in the Broke Fordwich subregion of the Hunter Valley, Krinklewood makes certified biodynamic and organic drops on its sustainably run vineyard. This boutique winery boasts incredible views of the Brokenback Range as well as an old-world cellar door set within Provence-inspired gardens. You'll likely catch a glimpse (and hear the songs) of the region's abundant birdlife, too, thanks to its remote setting. Sample wine varieties typical of the region, including verdelho, semillon and chardonnay, along with a sparkling shiraz, rosé and Krinklewood's Wild range of blends. To complement the wine, snack on the cheese platter ($27.50) of all organic cheese, served with locally-sourced olives, chutney, apricots, almonds and cornichons. The cellar door is open Friday to Sunday, from 10am–4.30pm, so make sure to plan accordingly. Images: MJK Creative
Whenever 90s rom-com Pretty Woman comes to mind, Roy Orbison's song likely does as well. When the musical based on the hit flick arrives in Australia for the first time, you'll be getting Bryan Adams tunes lodged in your head, too. The Canadian singer-songwriter helped bring the Julia Roberts (Leave the World Behind)- and Richard Gere (The Agency)-starring film to the stage, penning the music and lyrics for the show — and during his latest Aussie tour, it's been announced that Pretty Woman: The Musical is finally heading Down Under, debuting in Brisbane. From October 2025, the late 80s-set tale of Vivian met Edward will roll into the QPAC Lyric Theatre in the Queensland capital, following a romance that's already fuelled a box-office smash as a movie, then premiered on Broadway in 2018 as a theatre production. If you've seen the film, you'll know the story, as an escort and a corporate raider fall in love — and you'll also know that it made Roberts a star, complete with a Golden Globe win, plus her first Best Actress Oscar nomination. Alongside America's most-famous theatre district, where it broke records at the Nederlander Theatre, Pretty Woman: The Musical has graced the stage in London's West End, plus Spain, Italy, Poland and Germany. "I'm thrilled Pretty Woman is finally in Australia, I went to see it last year and it blew me away!" said Adams, announcing the news. "I first saw this on the West End in London and just loved it, and knew immediately that I needed to bring it to Australia. I'm so excited to premiere this production in Brisbane," added producer Suzanne Jones. There's no word yet regarding the local cast, so who'll be following in Roberts and Gere's footsteps — and Laura San Giacomo (NCIS) and Hector Elizondo's (Mr Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie) as well — hasn't been announced. Whether Pretty Woman: The Musical will head to other Australian stops also hasn't yet been revealed. Behind the curtain, Adams worked with his songwriting partner Jim Vallance, who he wrote 'Summer of '69', 'Run to You', 'Cuts Like a Knife' and 'Heaven' with, on the music and lyrics. Late filmmaker Garry Marshall (Mother's Day), who directed the Pretty Woman movie — plus Roberts and Gere's on-screen reunion in 1999 in Runaway Bride — penned the book with the OG flick's screenwriter JF Lawnton (Yellow River Christmas). Pretty Woman: The Musical will play the QPAC Lyric Theatre, corner of Grey and Melbourne streets, South Brisbane, from October 2025 — head to the production's website for more details and to sign up for the ticket waitlist. Images: UK tour, Marc Brenner.
Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols should never be far from anyone's ears — but there's listening to the iconic 1977 punk album, the only studio record from Sex Pistols, and then there's hearing it played live in full. Down Under in 2025, Australian and New Zealand music lovers will be treated to that very experience, with the group locking in a tour. Band members Paul Cook, Steve Jones and Glen Matlock are heading this way in April, as part of a project dubbed Sex Pistols Featuring Frank Carter. As the band's moniker makes plain, this is a case of punk figures joining punk figures, as first happened back in August 2024 for fundraiser gigs in London. Clearly the setup worked. This will be Sex Pistols' first trip this way in almost 30 years, since 1996 — this time pairing drummer Cook, guitarist Jones and bassist Matlock with Gallows, Pure Love and Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes alum Carter on vocals. The group have announced seven stops, starting in Auckland in Christchurch in Aotearoa, before playing Aussie gigs in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle. John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, the band's well-known former lead vocalist, was last part of their lineup in 2008 — which is when Sex Pistols last toured before 2024. Hearing Never Mind the Bollocks live and in full almost five decades since its original release means hearing 'Anarchy in the UK', 'God Save the Queen', 'Pretty Vacant', 'Bodies', 'Holidays in the Sun' and more. If this feels like an incredibly rare chance to experience a slice of music greatness, that's because it is — and if you need any more motivation, Sex Pistols Featuring Frank Carter's UK gigs earned rave reviews. [caption id="attachment_986909" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Henry Ruggeri[/caption] Sex Pistols Featuring Frank Carter 2025 Australia and New Zealand Tour Wednesday, April 2 — Town Hall, Auckland Thursday, April 3 — Town Hall, Christchurch Saturday, April 5 — Festival Hall, Melbourne Sunday, April 6 — Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide Tuesday, April 8 — Hordern Pavilion, Sydney Wednesday, April 9 — Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane Friday, April 11 — Fremantle Prison, Fremantle Sex Pistols Featuring Frank Carter are touring Australia and New Zealand in April 2025, with ticket presales from 11am on Tuesday, January 21 and general sales from 12pm on Thursday, January 23. Head to the Australia and New Zealand tour websites for more details.
Initially, even getting just one COVID-19 vaccination was a struggle, after Australia's inoculation rollout took its time in its early months. Then, we all started focusing on those crucial second jabs, especially with roadmaps out of lockdowns and towards international travel highlighting double-dose thresholds. Now, with vax rates climbing quickly — as of Friday, October 8, 60.2 percent of Australians are fully vaccinated — third COVID-19 jabs have started gaining attention. Also called booster shots, they're designed to prolong the effectiveness of the coronavirus vax. And, they've just been given the go-ahead for Australians with severely compromised immune systems. For most Aussies, that means that third jabs aren't on the cards at the moment; however, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has now recommended booster shots for severely immunocompromised folks. Also, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has advised that they'll start being rolled out from Monday, October 11. "This is for the severely immunocompromised — a group of up to 500,000," said Hunt. "It's about providing additional protection." We're expecting to receive advice on booster doses for the general population in the coming weeks. With over 151 million Pfizer, Novavax & Moderna vaccines secured for supply into the future, Australia is prepared to provide booster doses if recommended by the medical experts. — Greg Hunt (@GregHuntMP) October 8, 2021 ATAGI has outlined exactly who falls into the severely immunocompromised category, and why it's making this recommendation. The group spans people with cancer, or who've had stem cell transplants or organ transplants; folks undertaking immunosuppressive therapies for cancer such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy or hormone therapy; others taking immunosuppressive therapies and some certain steroids; and those born with immunodeficiencies. If you're an Aussie who fits any of these descriptions, you might not be as protected by the regular two jabs. It's also recommended that an mRNA vaccine (so either Pfizer or Moderna) is used instead of AstraZeneca's jab (which is now called Vaxzevria) for the third dose. That said, the latter can be used if you had the AZ vax for your first two shots and you didn't have a reaction, or you've had a reaction to either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccinations. Timing-wise, ATAGI recommends waiting between two and six months after you've had your second dose, although a four-week minimum interval will be considered if it's likely your immunosuppression is about to get worse or there's a big COVID-19 outbreak. Severely immunocompromised Aussies can talk to their doctors about getting the third jab, with ATAGI's recommendations and guidelines now being sent to GP surgeries, pharmacies and aged care disability care settings. For all other Aussies who aren't eligible for booster shots yet, Hunt said that news is on the way. "The next stage, the general population stage, of the booster program, we're expecting advice from ATAGI before the end of October," he advised. For more information about booster COVID-19 vaccinations for severely immunocompromised Australians, visit the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation website.
Voila! The Four Horsemen are hitting Australia, in magical news if you like illusionists and the Now You See Me film franchise. Back in 2018, it was announced that the Jesse Eisenberg (A Real Pain)-, Woody Harrelson (Last Breath)-, Dave Franco (Together)- and Isla Fisher (Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy)-starring cinema saga was making its way to the stage — and while that's proven the case elsewhere since, the IRL production is making its first trip to Australia before 2025 is out. Now You See Me Live doesn't feature the cast of the films, but gets real-life illusionists demonstrating their skills instead. Their Aussie stop: the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall across Friday, December 19, 2025–Saturday, January 3, 2026. Audiences will see Adam Trent from the US, Enzo Weyne from France, Andrew Basso from Italy and Gabriella Lester from South Africa step into the Four Horsemen's shoes. From Trent, expect plenty of sleight of hand, while Weyne specialises in large-scale magic. Basso prefers death-defying acts and Lester is a master of Houdini's upside down straight-jacket escape. The ensemble have taken to the stage for residencies on Broadway and in Las Vegas, and also in hundreds of other cities. Now, it's Australia's turn. 2025 is a big Now You See Me year: a new movie in the franchise hits cinemas, too, with Now You See Me: Now You Don't releasing in Aussie picture palaces on Thursday, November 13, 2025.
A hidden gem of the Sydney Opera House's year-round program and an acclaimed chamber music series is returning in 2023 for its 16th year. Utzon Music curates collections of Australian and international artists to perform a range of global takes on classical pieces in a purpose-designed, intimate concert space. The mid-century Utzon Room is a space where artists have unrivalled proximity to their audience against the backdrop of the spectacular Sydney Harbour – sit back with a complimentary glass of bubbles and enjoy a sophisticated program of eleven performances throughout the year. The diverse roster begins with powerhouse Malian singer, songwriter and guitarist Vieux Farka Touré, dubbed 'the Hendrix of the Sahara'. With a full band, he'll perform selections from his back catalogue and latest album, Les Racines, on Thursday, March 2. Then, on Sunday, April 2, take a trip to Tudor times with one of the UK's finest vocal groups The Gesualdo Six and its Renaissance-era catalogue. From April 21-23, UK string maestros the Brodsky Quartet – now celebrating its 50th anniversary – will bring the passion and skill that's seen them perform with the likes of Elvis Costello and Paul McCartney to three concerts featuring the works of beloved classical composers like Bach, Britten and Schubert. And on Sunday, May 7, the French string quartet Quatuor Van Kuijk will have its Sydney debut and perform pieces by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Debussy. On Sunday, July 23, German-British baritone Benjamin Appl will make his Sydney debut for an enchanting solo recital of songs for voice and piano in the German Liedel style. Then on Sunday, August 23, the new-generation Australian cellist James Morley returns home from Switzerland to perform a mix of old and new classical pieces in solo and duet. Next up, Australian string collective the Alma Moodie Quartet will take audiences through a Romantic Journey on Sunday, September 24, covering everything from moody miniatures to Beethoven masterpieces. Then the series concludes on Sunday, October 8, with pianist Andrea Lam performing a program inspired by 19th-century love triangles and "the journey of life". Utzon Music 2023 begins on Thursday, March 2 and concludes on Sunday, October 8. For more information and to book tickets, visit the website. Header images: Jaimi Joy
If you tuned into MasterChef last night, Monday, April, 13, you would have noticed a few things. Firstly, the show has three news judges: food writer Melissa Leong, Orana founder Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allen of Three Blue Ducks. Secondly, Gordon Ramsay is weirdly nice (?). And lastly, Reynold Poernomo makes a damn fine dessert. Those familiar with the long-running show — which is now in its 12th season — will already know this, of course, with the Dessert King whisking and foaming for the cameras in the seventh season. Last night, though, Poernomo gave us a nice little reminder with his White Noise dessert — made with whipped coconut ganache, strawberry gun jelly, yoghurt gel and strawberry pebbles — which Ramsay called "breathtaking" (see, nice). Instead of Googling 'how to make Reynold Poernomo's all-white 'MasterChef' dessert', then realising you actually need liquid nitrogen and titanium dioxide to make it, you can order one of the Dessert King's cakes to your house. Yes, Poernomo has two Sydney dessert shops, in Chippendale and Ryde, called Koi, which he runs with his brothers Arnold and Ronald. In these COVID-19 times, both shops are offering Koirantine Cake Delivery, which means they're dropping off delicious desserts to a whole heap of suburbs across inner-city Sydney and the northern suburbs. Convenient. You know what's even more convenient? That White Noise dessert is on the menu, available for pick up or delivery from this Friday, April 17. We're sure it's not a coincidence in the slightest, but we're still excited. Also on the menu is a spiced chocolate brownie, a mascarpone tiramisu and a Red Fortune Jar layered with lychee pear, strawberry compote, rose and yuzu. You can order Koi Desserts for pick up or delivery over here.
John Sugar adores cinema. It makes sense, then, that the Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin)-led Apple TV+ series about the Los Angeles-based detective loves movies just as devotedly. Sugar is styled like a classic film noir. It splices in clips from the genre's pictures, other Hollywood-set fare and fellow retro titles, swinging from The Big Heat, Kiss Me Deadly, Sunset Boulevard and Double Indemnity to Sherlock Jr and The Thing. It watches Sugar watch flicks. It listens to him drop references to and wax lyrical about them in his evocative narration. It pays tribute to its influences eagerly — and it gives its audience a helluva post-viewing watchlist. Sugar is also set in Tinseltown, going all in on LA noir like many of the movies that it references — and also The Big Sleep, Chinatown, LA Confidential and Under the Silver Lake as well — with its tale of a PI looking for a missing woman. The show's namesake might be introduced in Tokyo, where he has the case of a yakuza gangster's kidnapped grandson to solve, but he spends the bulk of the series in the City of Angels on a gig that his handler Ruby (Kirby, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off) advises against. He can't say no for the ultimate cinephile reason: one of his film idols is doing the hiring. But from the moment that iconic movie producer Jonathan Siegel (James Cromwell, Succession) puts him on the books and in search of his granddaughter Olivia (Sydney Chandler, Don't Worry Darling), Sugar may as well be in a twisty flick himself. A cinema-heavy pedigree behind the lens brings Sugar to streaming queues, too. Creator Mark Protosevich made his debut with the script for sci-fi thriller The Cell back in 2000. Director Fernando Meirelles came to prominence, complete with an Oscar nomination, for co-helming City of God. Executive producer Simon Kinberg wrote Mr & Mrs Smith back when it was a Brad Pitt (Babylon)- and Angelina Jolie (Eternals)-starring movie, not a 2024 TV show, and has a wealth of X-Men titles on his resume. A mystery fan himself, he also produced recent Agatha Christie adaptations Murder on the Orient Express and A Haunting in Venice, executive producing Death on the Nile in-between. Speaking with Concrete Playground, Kinberg notes that this detective series that's also a genre-bender and a love letter to LA noir equally has character study in its list, crucially. "I'm hoping that the audiences fall in love with John Sugar. Definitely feel intrigued, and tense in all the right ways about the suspense and the mystery and the danger of the show — the things that we love about detective stories — but I think ultimately, I hope that they fall in love with how complicated and nuanced and ultimately surprising John Sugar is as a character," he says. "When I think about my favourite television shows — and often my favourite movies, but definitely my favourite shows — it always comes back to character. And I believe that the construction of John Sugar with the portrayal by Colin is something that will grip audiences and make them love the show." Sugar might be at the heart of the series, naturally, but there'd be no Sugar without Ruby. In the show's second-billed part, Kirby adds to a killer resume that's also no stranger to detective tales thanks to 2019's fourth season of Veronica Mars. The Good Place, Why Women Kill, Love, Killing Eve, Hacks and Barry all sit among her past credits — but none had her basically playing a take on a legendary page and screen character. "I was really excited by Ruby. I was excited for Ruby before I even read about Ruby. Ruby was pitched to me as 'Ruby is to Sugar what M is to James Bond', and I felt like I loved that description of that relationship, because I knew that it would be a relationship that was layered and that had shifting power dynamics, but also was strong," she tells us. We chatted with Kirby and Kinberg about the eight-part first season of Sugar, which is available to stream in full now. On the agenda: their initial responses to its premise, which isn't afraid of twists, surprises and veering into science fiction — and also Farrell leading the show, what keeps drawing people to mysteries, the research that goes into playing the righthand woman to a PI, what gets them each excited about a new project and more. On Kinberg and Kirby's First Response to Sugar's Genre-Bending Angle on Detective Stories Simon: "Mark Protosevich, the creator of the show, had written the first script. And so I read that first script and was just so drawn to a lot of things, but primarily Sugar himself as a character. I loved the combination of this chivalrous, strong, capable leading man side with this vulnerable, human, innocent, kind side, too. I just thought that mashup between different elements was really interesting. Then I liked a similar mashup within the tone between classic Hollywood storytelling, like very film noir, obviously detective storytelling, with something fresh and new and different and bold. So I fell in love with the pilot script, and we got involved at that point, and then brought in Colin and then brought in Fernando, and then built the whole show. But yeah, it was just reading a script where I felt like 'this is a voice and tone and character I haven't seen before'." Kirby: "I actually read the script after I had been cast in the role, so I came into this project with blind faith, which is daunting. But I think that knowing the creatives involved, it felt like a calculated risk. I knew that Colin was attached to it. He was attached to it as an EP and as an actor before I before I became part of the process. And knowing his body of work — I've watched Colin for a very long time, and I think that he is an actor that does incredible work. There's incredible quality and passion there. But at the same time, there is such diversity in the roles he's taken. So I knew that this would be a project that, if he put his name on it, it would be something that would be really exciting and really new. And then knowing that this would be a neo-noir, that piques your interest, because it's not every day that you tackle that, that there are people that can tackle such a huge concept. It's very high-concept to be able to do a noir, but then to make it feel contemporary, to make it contemporary, to have it tackle contemporary issues and have a contemporary cast. And then on top of that you layer in a brilliant director like Fernando Meirelles, and I think that you have a winning formula. So whether or not you've read the script, I think that it's a project that you can get behind very early on." On Casting Colin Farrell as Sugar — and Finding a Rhythm with Him On-Screen Simon: "He was one of the first people we thought of for it because he does have that duality in in himself as a man and in his work as an actor — which is, he is very leading man and gorgeous and charismatic and witty and strong, and yet he's also vulnerable and human and flawed and fragile and sweet and innocent. That is who Colin is as a person, and it is what he brings to the character of Sugar. And he read the script and and flipped out for it as well. We met with him and immediately could see that he not only could do it as an actor, but had a natural affinity for it as a person." Kirby: "Colin is very personable, he's amiable, he's incredibly generous as a human and that really translates when you start working with someone — because the easier your chemistry is off screen, the better it will be on screen, I have found. And so for me, I think just having a really good rapport with him —we spent a lot of time there, and the majority of my scenes are either alone or with Colin — just spending long days together, in your down time you're chatting and things like that, and I think that lends itself to what you see on screen." On Working Through the Layers to Ruby's Relationship with Sugar Kirby: "I think that they have a really beautiful relationship. They have a deep connection. They've known each other for a very long time. There is a lot of trust and care and love there. But at the same time, it's a relationship that is complicated, which it is always is complicated when you are in a relationship that is both professional and personal. You find that that adds an additional layer to a friendship that not everyone has experienced, and doesn't always understand how complex that can make certain decisions." On Kinberg Being a Detective and Mystery Fan, and What Appeals to Him About the Genre Simon: "I grew up reading detective fiction. Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christies were huge for me when I was a kid. And then ultimately more hard-boiled writing like Jim Thompson, James Ellroy, that whole generation of crime writers. I think there's a few things. One is I am someone who genuinely struggles with OCD, and there is an OCD element to detectives where they are really good at, and sometimes overwhelmed by, seeing clues in everything. So they're very attuned to the details of our world, which is something I live through. So there's that element. But the other part of it is, even when I was a kid, I looked at the world — and the world was even more this now — but I looked at a world that was chaotic, that had a lot of disorder in it. And I loved the idea that there was this sort of angel of restoring order. That detectives were there — and where, out of the chaos and muddle and mystery of life, they found order and they found truth. So that for me was always part of what was compelling about detective stories: that at the very end, there was going to be an answer, and it was going to be objective. And if you were clever and you paid attention, you could arrive there with the detective." On Thinking About Why People Are So Drawn to Mysteries While You're Making a Mystery Kirby: "I am guilty of it myself. I am very drawn to a mystery and to a documentary and a thriller, and things like that. But I think part of that is because there is so much that is unknown in our world, both on a huge, cosmic level, but also on a personal level. And I think that uncovering a mystery and figuring things out gives you a sense of control in a world that I think can feel often quite chaotic and quite out of your control. So I think that why people gravitate towards these stories is it feels very satisfying to ask a question and get a definitive answer. And these shows present something, there's a question, there is a mystery afoot, and when you figure that out you find the answer — and there is absolutely something that is completely gratifying for audiences in that." On the Affection for LA Noir and Classic Cinema That Sugar Splashes Through Its Frames Simon: "It's a huge part of the DNA of the show, this love letter to classic American cinema, specifically film noir stories. It was in the script — not the clips, the clips in the show were something that Fernando Meirelles and his editor Fernando Stutz [The Sympathizer, which Meirelles also directed episodes of] discovered in post. In the edit, they actually just started inserting these clips into it and it brought even more life into the show and made what was implicit in its homage very explicit. So yeah, it's a huge part of the show. It's a show that's for cinema lovers, but it's also for people that maybe don't know this genre of film and can discover it and learn about it by watching the show, and maybe it'll have them delve back into those classic movies. It was something that excited all of us because you were cutting to these old clips from old movies while juxtaposing them with something really modern and really new. And that juxtaposition, that dance between the old and the new, is very much at the core of the show." On the Research That Goes Into Playing the Righthand Person to a Private Detective Kirby: "For me, a lot of the research was researching the genre, because I am familiar with film noir but I don't have this film school encyclopaedic knowledge of the genre. So it was really helpful for me to take suggestions from Mark, and go in and watch Chinatown — and I had a book that was given to me at the beginning about the history of noirs and some of the biggest touchstones within that genre. That was really helpful, because I think once you start to know the tropes and the archetypes in that world, you can also start to subvert those characters and make them contemporary." On What Gets Kinberg and Kirby Excited About a New Project Simon: "A great character. It's always a great character. Sometimes people ask me this and I'll be like 'what would get you excited if you were at a party and you met somebody, a new friend, a new partner, whatever it is? You met somebody that you wanted to see again, they got you excited, and you went told your friends the next day — I just met this great woman/man/person last night'. It's the same thing for me when I read something or I hear about something, I'm like 'oh, that's an exciting person I just met and I want to spend more time with that person'. Because it's a lot of time that you're investing. Whether it's a feature or or a show, it's years of your life. So it always starts from character for me." Kirby: "Good storytelling gets me excited about a role. Creative people, creative collaborators get me really excited. So coming into a project where I know the way people work and I've seen their work, like this — I don't have to have seen this type of thing from the creators, I just have to have seen something that gets me excited. In this, knowing Fernando was attached, and being such a huge fan of City of God and his previous work, got me so excited. I think that sometimes we are in dire need of just good simple stories that that show genuine human connection — and then you can add all the other layers on top of it and that just serves to heighten the experience." Sugar streams via Apple TV+. Read our review.
It's bands like Bloods that make you proud of the Australian music scene. Their crazy addictive fusion of pop and garage punk are just the kind of tunes for letting loose on the dance floor, with their catchy guitar riffs and gritty vocals calling back to an era of Joan Jett bad-assery. After previously supporting bands like the Dum Dum Girls and DZ Deathrays, it's great seeing Bloods embarking on a nationwide headline tour of their own to promote their debut album. While they've released a steady stream of singles and EPs since first coming onto the scene in 2011 – Golden Fang, We Are Bloods, among others — it was only this year that the trio have finally put together their first full-length, Work It Out. It has everything you'd expect from a Bloods record: hook-filled headbangers spliced with a couple of mellow slow burners (just to catch your breath a little). Bloods are one of the most loved local live acts around right now, and for good reason. Catch 'em in these cosy venues before they get snapped up by the big ones. https://youtube.com/watch?v=9QNxOsDeot8
Contemplating a renovation? Before you head to IKEA or the nearest op shop, stop right here. Why settle for standard seating, expected entranceways and simple staircases when you could be installing sandpits under work desks and doors that double as ping pong tables, slides and skate ramps? Interior design is one thing, but home hacking is quite another. Here are ten ways to turn an ordinary house into a carnival ground. Forms in Nature Light Sculpture Turn your room into a scene from Nightmare Before Christmas at the flick of a switch. Ernst Haeckel’s drawings are the inspiration behind this sculpture, created by Danish designers Thyra Hilden and Pio Diaz. A complex, unruly root system surrounds a bright light. "The shadows engulf the room and transforms the walls into unruly shadows of branches, bushes and gnarled trees," the designers explain. "Mirrorings are thrown out upon the walls and ceilings and provide weak Rorschach-like hints of faces, life and flow of consciousness. Dimming the lights transforms the installation and one senses a weak fire burning deep in the center of the forest." Image: Hilden and Diaz Surfing with the sand between my toes Why settle for working from home when you could, simultaneously, be working from the beach? This installation takes the freelancer's freedom to a whole new level. Created by artist Justin Kemp, who's based in Massachusetts (about thirty or so miles from the coast), 'Surfing with the sand between my toes' aims to blur the lines between work and play. "The sand is relaxing, but for me it's more a symbol of my permanent vacation," he explains. "It's the design of a lifestyle where 'work' becomes so satisfying that vacation and retirement become undesirable. It's a permanent state of chill." Image: Justin Kemp The Ping Pong Door Here's a way to create more space, get your daily exercise and maintain a healthy competitiveness with your roommates, especially if you're living in a teeny-tiny apartment: a door that turns into a ping pong table. It's the brainchild of Berlin-based designer Tobias Fraenzel. "Design can and should be fun," he says. "A product that generates positive emotions in people, that brings them together and gets used again and again, that is a good product!" Image: Marcel Koehler Bedroom-to-Pool Waterslide Where Professor Digory Kirke's wardrobe led to Narnia, the cupboard in this proposed country mansion reveals a water slide connected to a pool. Yet to be realised, the plans are the creation of Neil Collins Architects, who specialise in one-off homes. The slide would be part of a £2 million, three-bedroom, underground dwelling entered via a TARDIS-style elevator. Image: Neil Collins Bookshelf-Staircase-Slide Why waste time walking up and down the stairs when you could be sliding? This multifunctional staircase has something for everyone. Architecture firm Moon Hoon came up with it when commissioned to design the Panorama House, a spacious home for a six-piece Korean family. It's one amongst many staircase-slides that are injecting fun into the daily routine. Image: Namgoong Sun The Cloud Sofa If you've never recovered from Neverending Story, here, at long last, is the antidote. Spend a little part of every day floating on your own private cloud. A shiny silver oval on the floor is what makes the Cloud Sofa as magical as Falkor. Its mysterious magnetic force can keep both you and your softest-ever sofa hovering all night long. We have D.K. & Wei Design to thank. Image: D.K. Wei The Skateboard House Welcome to Bart Simpson's dream home. There's not a single surface — inside or outside — that can't be skated on. It's the vision of ex-world champion, pro-skater and CEO of Sole Technology Inc. Pierre Andre Senizergues. He approached architect Francois Perrin and designer-skateboarder Gil Lebon Delapoint to make it happen. La Gaite Lyrique Museum in Paris exhibited a wooden prototype in 2011. Real-life construction is underway in Malibu, California. Image: Pierre Andre Senizergues Pirate Ship Bedroom Do you have a belief, deep-down, that Walt Disney should've cast you, instead of Johnny Depp, in Pirates of the Caribbean? You could see a psychiatrist. But it might well be cheaper to install a pirate ship in your bedroom. Designed by Steve Kuhl, this suspended schooner is entered via rope bridge and exited via secret slide. For miscreants, there's a one-person jail cell. Image: Steve Kuhl Moss Bathroom Mat The ingenious thing about this is that, as long as you shower frequently-ish, you don't need to water it. A latex frame holds together 70 x 6cm pieces of foam, planted with three types of moss: ball, island and forest. Not only do they form a complex microcosmic forest, they also feel super-soft underfoot. It's the creation of Swiss designer Nguyen La Chanh. "The idea was to find a new way of having your plants inside," she explains. "Not only plants in pots quietly standing in the corner of a living room, but alive plants, evolving in the house." Image: Nguyen La Chanh DIY Grass Couch All you have to do is find a piece of furniture, pack the frame with soil, plant some seeds and let them grow. Of course, a regular mowing and trimming routine is part of the deal. Back in 2006, these popped up all over San Francisco as part of the Let's Green this City initiative.
Some bands are born from skill, passion and a garage strewn with beer cans, but others are born from the shrewd minds of television producers (or at least a combination of the two). Flight of the Conchords might be the one of the biggest players in guitar-based digi-bongo a cappella-rap-funk-comedy folk spheres, but they're not the first great band to have emerged from behind a television screen (via stage and radio, to be fair). To celebrate the Conchords' upcoming tour, here are ten made-for-TV bands that have rocked the tube in decades gone by. https://youtube.com/watch?v=ehJNw-T3gpo 1. THE MONKEES Three No. 1 singles, six Top 10s, 12 Top 40s and a total of 20 Hot 100 singles. The Monkees weren't just made for television — they were made for world domination. Commanding the charts during one rock 'n' roll's most significant periods and staging a showdown against the producers who banned them from actually playing any instruments on early records, The Monkees helped define authenticity in rock. R.I.P. Davy Jones. https://youtube.com/watch?v=kFohA6mKFjc 2. MISSION CONTROL (FREAKS & GEEKS) Before James Franco was a multi-talented actor/director/writer/grad student he was a small-time guitarist (and a bit of an asshole) on NBC's Freaks and Geeks. The short-lived cult TV show was excellent for many reasons, one of the best being the quote "Rock 'n' Roll don't come from your brain! It come from your crotch!" https://youtube.com/watch?v=27EVNiKDR4k 3. ZACK ATTACK (SAVED BY THE BELL) Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris was involved in a range of extra-curricular activities, but none were so memorable as his role as lead singer and lead guitarist in Zack Attack. The band never achieved the success that it did in Zack's dreams, but it definitely made the show that much more awesome. https://youtube.com/watch?v=B7-IoFyp_68 4. DINGOES ATE MY BABY (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) Can't think of a name for your band? Why not turn to notorious stories involving the death of small children for inspiration? Pushing past the awkward name, Dingoes Ate My Baby weren't actually that bad for a post-grunge, pre-emo rock band. Probably because the more tastefully named Four Star Mary provided all their music. https://youtube.com/watch?v=8ti8-vEM3U8 5. JESSE AND THE RIPPERS (FULL HOUSE) It's not every made-for-television band that still has a frequently updated Facebook page 17 years after the demise of the television show, but it's not every made-for-television band member who had hair like Jesse Katsopolis. Hit songs included "Forever", and several hundred Beach Boys cover songs. https://youtube.com/watch?v=qCIKg3YREHY 6. FROZEN EMBRYOS (MY SO-CALLED LIFE) Also living on through Facebook are Frozen Embryos from ABC's My So-Called Life. The lead singer is the elusive Tino, who isn't actually seen in any episode. He is, however, mentioned in Juno when Ellen Page's character says her band should be ready to rock "once Tino gets a new drumhead". Rock lives! https://youtube.com/watch?v=IXMFKmiNyvk 7. DR TEETH AND THE ELECTRIC MAYHEM (THE MUPPETS) You know you've struck the right chord when your band inspires the name of a hipster dive in San Francisco's Mission district. Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem mostly stick to rock music, but it's arguable that they do a better rendition of Chopin than Chopin. https://youtube.com/watch?v=0B9wJ7EwcN4 8. SCRANTONICITY (THE OFFICE) A Police cover band with Kevin as the drummer and lead singer. This has "magnificently awkward" written all over it. https://youtube.com/watch?v=8sITlZo5r84 9. MYSTIK SPIRAL (DARIA) The fictional grunge rock band from Daria helped confirm one of lyricisms irrefutable truths: coherence is no way near as important as a good rhyme. Okay so that might not always be true, but Mystik Sprial were way cool and totally would have scored the big break they deserved had they only managed to agree upon the perfect band name. https://youtube.com/watch?v=rXWaVz4yogI 10. DETHKLOK (METALOCALYPSE) Say what you will about virtual melodic death metal as a whole, but you have to hand it to Dethklok for achieving such widespread commercial success that they were ranked as the world's seventh largest economy by the end of Metalocalypse's second season. And while the real-life version of the band hasn't achieved quite this level of success, they do still play regular shows.
Before Game of Thrones ended its eighth-season run, HBO spent years telling the world that the end of the hit show wouldn't actually be the end. Firstly, the American cable network announced that it was considering five different prequel ideas. It then green-lit one to pilot stage, scrapped it and later picked a contender to run with: the upcoming House of the Dragon. It also opted to give novella series Tales of Dunk and Egg the TV treatment, too, and to work on an animated GoT show. And, it's been reported that another three prequels are also under consideration. Throughout all of this, GoT fans have been told one thing over and over, even without it being explicitly said. Our days of watching fiery fights between famous Westerosi names — and games over who gets tot sit on the Iron Throne — are far from over, clearly, and won't be for quite some time. And, now that House of the Dragon is getting nearer, dropping teasers and setting release dates (releasing in winter Down Under, when else?), that's glaringly apparent. HBO has just unveiled a new sneak peek at its first GoT spinoff and, yes, all of the basics are covered, including men being unhappy about the idea of a woman on the throne. Focused on House Targaryen — and including flame-breathing scaly creatures, naturally — House of the Dragon promises to dive into the chaotic family's past. That's intertwined with the entire history of the Seven Kingdoms, though. And, as the new footage makes plain, the prequel knows that everyone watching are all well aware of how things turned out when Daenerys Targaryen claimed power (even if this series — which is based on a George RR Martin book, Fire & Blood, of course — is set a couple of hundred years earlier). Cast- and character-wise, House of the Dragon stars Emma D'Arcy (Misbehaviour) as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, the first-born child of King Viserys; Matt Smith (His House) as Prince Daemon Targaryen, the King's brother; Rhys Ifans (The King's Man) as Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King; Olivia Cooke (Slow Horses) as Alicent Hightower, Otto's daughter; and Steve Toussaint (It's a Sin) as Lord Corlys Velaryon, aka 'The Sea Snake', a nautical adventurer from a Valyrian bloodline as old as House Targaryen. These Westerosi folk all grace a tale that harks back to Aegon I Targaryen's conquest of the Seven Kingdoms — which is what started the hefty 738-page first volume in Fire & Blood's planned two-book series — and then works through the family's backstory from there. Aegon I created the Iron Throne, hence the returning favourite's prominence. Also, you don't have to be the Three-Eyed Raven to know that fighting, battles for supremacy and bloodshed are always a part of every GoT narrative. Popping up on camera as well: Paddy Considine (The Third Day) as King Viserys, Eve Best (Nurse Jackie) as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon and Sonoya Mizuno (Devs) as Mysaria, Prince Daemon's paramour. Behind the scenes, Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal are acting as the series' showrunners. Sapochnik has a hefty GoT history, winning an Emmy and a Directors Guild Award for directing 'Battle of The Bastards', helming season eight's 'The Long Night', and doing the same on four other episodes. As for Condal, he co-created and oversaw recent sci-fi series Colony, and co-wrote the screenplay for the 2018 film Rampage. The latest trailer follows an initial sneak peek back in October last year. Given there's still a few months until House of the Dragon's ten-episode first season starts airing, expect more to follow. That dance with dragons will arrive on Monday, August 22 Down Under, if you don't already have it in your calendar. Foxtel and Binge in Australia and SoHo, Sky Go and Neon in New Zealand will be doing the honours, if you're wondering where to direct your eyeballs. Check out the latest teaser trailer for House of the Dragon below: House of the Dragon will start airing on Monday, August 22 Down Under via Foxtel and Binge, in Australia and SoHo, Sky Go and Neon in New Zealand. Images: Ollie Upton/HBO.
It’s not just when buying real estate that you have to consider location, location, location. ‘Cause what’s better than seeing a great show in a stuffy theatre is seeing a great show on a former convict prison with complete with an island bar and nada over your head but the night sky, which is why Cockatoo Island Film Festival and The Keystone Group have seen it fit to transform one of our coolest World Heritage sites into an outdoor music venue boating two stages of eclectic musical acts. Over the last weekend in October two areas of the island will be transformed into two alfresco music venues labeled Island Life and The Precinct. The former will he headlined by purveyors of socially savvy music Arrested Development, downtempo island-appropriate locals Bluejuice and Jinja Safari and luxuriously bearded singer-songwriter Matt Corby. And if you’re not ready to go home at 10pm pop-up nightclub The Precinct will keep on kicking on with the aid of some of the country’s best DJs, including Halfway Crooks, Future Classic and DJ Huwston, with Gossling and Saskwatch easing you in to the Friday and Saturday night revelry with their own groovy beats. Organisers have also taken note of the fact that Cockatoo Island is indeed inaccessible by land and arranged some handy after-midnight ferrys to get you back to dry land safely. Cockatoo Island Film Festival 2012 musical lineup: Thursday 25 October Island Life: Arrested Development with Alison Wonderland The Precinct: Halfway Crooks Friday 26 October Island Life: Bluejuice and Jinja Safari The Precinct: Gossling with Future Classic DJs Saturday 27 October Island Life: Matt Corby The Precinct: Saskwatch with DJ Huwston Tickets on sale now through Moshtix.
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 have been a constant since the birth of moving pictures. 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 in English. With Stone, examples come 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 (which made him a Best Director contender, too), and twin 2024 Golden Globe nods for their latest collaboration Poor Things as well as TV's The Curse. And as for the greatest gothic story there is, not to mention one of the most-influential horror and sci-fi works ever, the evidence spans traditional adaptations, plus debts owed as widely as The Rocky Horror Show and M3GAN (Blade Runner, The Fly, Re-Animator, Weird Science, Edward Scissorhands, Ex Machina, Upgrade, Little Joe and The Creator are also on the lengthy list). Combining Lanthimos, Stone and Shelley results in a rarity, however: a jewel of a pastel-, jewel- and bodily fluid-toned feminist Frankenstein-esque fairy tale that's a stunning and dazzling creation. As zapped to life with Lanthimos' inimitable flair, a mischievous air and Stone at her most extraordinary, Poor Things isn't just unique despite building on three shining successes — it's a treasure that's as audacious as it is subversive, and as breathtakingly willing to get wild as it is downright brilliant. Emotions, ideas, empowerment, twisting Shelley and Promethean myth into a pointed skewering of the societal expectations placed upon women, a committed ensemble, entrancing touches in every frame, a score that's equally jarring and jaunty, a dreamily macabre vibe, furious fearlessness: this film is alive with them all. That a tale about reviving the dead to grapple with mortality and the yearning to thwart it keeps inspiring new riffs has always been fitting, with each new storyteller undergoing that same process in their way, but this version is a lightning bolt. With cascading black hair, an inquisitive stare, incessant frankness and jolting physical mannerisms, Poor Things' star becomes Bella Baxter in this suitably weird and 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 that's been resurrected with a baby's brain, Stone plays someone from infancy to adulthood, all with the astonishingly exact mindset and mannerisms to match. Putting her comedic skills to excellent use but ensuring that Bella is never a joke, she does so while making each move, choice and feeling as organic as birth, living and death. The entire scope of Poor Things' protagonist is the kind of wish that actors mightn't realise they have because it's so remarkable. With Bella all impulses and curiosity at first, then buzzing with sexual desire and devotedly pursuing autonomy — and with a frenetic-but-stiff doll-like gait that's a marvel to watch, plus say-anything speech patterns — Stone turns the opportunity into an exquisite masterclass. The time and place when Poor Things kicks off: a fantastical steampunk vision of Victorian-era Europe. Although the film begins in colour as a woman ends her own life, Lanthimos and cinematographer Robbie Ryan (also back from The Favourite, and also with an Oscar nod to his name thanks to that flick) swiftly switch to black and white to meet what becomes of the suicidal person's body. It's due to the London-based, scar-faced Scottish doctor Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe, Asteroid City) that Bella exists; even if she didn't call him God, he's been playing it, including with household pets and other animals. His new human creature toddles around, aiding with his unorthodox surgeries and indulging whatever takes her fancy — smashing plates, smacking visitors, and enjoying new discoveries and sensations with literal childlike glee. But regardless of her father figure's intentions or wants, freedom, horniness, the quest for independence and agency, wanting to know more than the protective world he's left her in and a lust for adventure all beckon. Accordingly, while Godwin tries to marry Bella off to kind and sincere medical student Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef, Ramy), she hatches other plans. With Poor Things joining Call Me By Your Name in its carnal use of fruit, Bella discovers "working on myself to get happiness" and "furious jumping" — that'd be masturbation and fornication, with her debut experience with the latter returning the movie's hues as well — and runs off to the continent with caddish lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law) instead. Lisbon, a cruise that stops in Alexandria and Paris await. So does a survey of all that living can hold for women, both for the feature's reawakened force and viewers. Lanthimos' fascination for tearing into humanity's social constructions and pretences to expose its realities gets electrified again, as does his concurrent obsession with battling such structures and systems by forming insular worlds, and the need to escape that then springs. Portugal brings hot air balloons, a bewitching all-timer of a dance scene, just some of the flick's acrobatic thrusting, an attempt to enforce civic niceties and Bella steadfastly refusing to be anything but herself. The boat ride introduces books, friendship and the first real female advice that she's received via Martha (Hanna Schygulla, who came to fame half a century back for her work with Rainer Werner Fassbinder). It also sees cynicism and the world's suffering enter her understanding courtesy of Martha's companion Harry (Jerrod Carmichael, On the Count of Three). In France, a lack of cash finds her in the employ of madam Swiney (Kathryn Hunter, Andor) and leaning into socialism with fellow sex worker Toinette (Suzy Bemba, Everything Is Well). And when the past makes a comeback, it's with bullying and misogynistic power dynamics (and with Sanctuary's Christopher Abbott in a key role). As in The Favourite, the hefty use of fish-eye lenses has it: this lavish, libidinous and happily lewd deadpan delight isn't interested in the same old view of liberation, sex, life's transience and conflicts, defying the accepted order and patriarchal control that everyone has seen before, let alone a regular coming-of-age jaunt or a by-the-book Frankenstein iteration. While it splices together nods to gothic horror nakedly, it isn't routine or a patchwork there, either. As Bella goes on a radical, rebellious, gorgeously rendered, gloriously funny and generously insightful odyssey, Poor Things doesn't sport a standard perspective on anything, in fact. As seen in the efforts of a tour-de-force Stone, her co-stars, Ryan, composer Jerskin Fendrix (a film first-timer), editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis (Lanthimos' go-to since 2005's Kinetta), production designers Shona Heath (another feature debutant) and James Price (The Nest), and costumer Holly Waddington (also The Great), it eschews sticking with the typical everywhere. Richness abounds, then. The only thing that's paltry: even clocking in at 141 madcap and magnificent minutes, that Poor Things doesn't run forever.
As 2014 comes to a close, its time to tackle the inevitable question, 'What on earth am I doing for New Year's Eve?'. Less than a month out, Cargo's annual NYE on the Harbour festivities are selling faster than ever. Sure, Cargo might not be your weekly go-to, but this year's NYE lineup — topped with some of Australia's best beatmakers — is a legitimately solid option for a killer night. With the likes of Hermitude, Crooked Colours, Hayden James, Yolanda Be Cool and a mystery DJ set to hit the stage, this dance party is a safe bet for the final hours of 2014. Festival favourites Hermitude, fresh off their US tour, will be headlining the night of nights with their famous hip hop electronica blend. Chuck in the hard synths from Crooked Colours' recent single 'Come Down' (scoring over 250,000 Soundcloud hits), and the up-and-coming spins of Hayden James (returning his tour across the States alongside RUFUS), NYE on the Harbour will deliver its annual dose of good vibes to bring 2015 in with a bang. Image: James Ambrose.
All you holiday-planners, Queensland is calling with a long list of weird and wonderful things to do in 2023 — and it's time you knew about them. Wanting to experience something a little bit different? Longing for events that can't be found anywhere else? Listen up. In 2023, the Sunshine State is celebrating everything from rock music in the desert to Mary Poppins, Elvis and medieval times — there's even a festival that celebrates both jazz and jumpers (yep, that's a thing). So, together with Queensland, we've rounded up 11 fantastically different events that need to be added to your 2023 travel diary, stat. Plus, while you're there having a memorable time, make a real trip out of it and explore some of Queensland's regional areas — or scoot back to Brisbane and dive deeper into the thriving arts scene. AGNES BLUES, ROOTS & ROCK FESTIVAL, 1770 The town of 1770, at the Great Barrier Reef's southernmost tip, will host the eighth Agnes Blues, Roots & Rocks Festival from Friday, February 17 till Sunday, February 19. The three days will be packed full of music (courtesy of over 30 bands, including headliner Busby Marou), stand-out food from local vendors and free-flowing bevs. Discovering new music or soaking up your faves, dancing away your Queensland days — in a numerically named township — is a terrific way to live. You could be leaving with new skills as well, with a range of workshops run by performers. All this takes place on a stunning stretch of Queensland's coast — so be sure to spend a few extra days swimming and surfing in the area. Agnes Blues, Roots & Rocks Festival, Friday, February 17 till Sunday, February 19, 2023 [caption id="attachment_881866" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visual Poet Society[/caption] FESTIVAL OF OUTBACK OPERA, OUTBACK QUEENSLAND Opera in the outback? Delightfully different. Outdoor concerts under star-filled skies, pop-up performances taking over main streets and panel discussions in local parks — these are the experiences that made the 2022 Festival of Outback Opera a huge success. And Opera Queensland is bringing it back for its third year from Friday, May 19 until Monday, May 22. Forming part of this year's Queensland Music Trails, the festival will be running in the towns of Winton and Longreach, offering visitors the opportunity to interact with a diverse group of local and national artists all while experiencing some proper outback culture. Festival of Outback Opera, Friday, May 19 till Monday, May 22, 2023 [caption id="attachment_881863" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Bianca Holderness[/caption] COOLY ROCKS ON FESTIVAL, GOLD COAST From Wednesday, June 7 until Sunday, June 11, Coolangatta will go back in time with this old school rock 'n' roll, swing and rockabilly festival. Expect this coastal Queensland town to welcome all who are ready to rock out to classic tunes, appreciators of retro motors and countless hip-shaking groovers making moves towards the preliminary round of the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest — with the winner heading straight to Memphis to compete in Elvis Week. It's a must-see part of the Cooly Rocks On Festival. But that ain't all. The festival also includes a pin-up pageant celebrating the days of rockabilly fashion and beauty, a 1940s-themed Harvest Moon Swing Ball and a huge selection of vintage cars for the motoring enthusiasts to gawk at. Either come to dress up and join the festival-goers who attend religiously each and every year, or come as you are and watch on as fun-loving fanatics do their very own version of larping. Cooly Rocks On Festival, Wednesday, June 7 till Sunday, June 11, 2023 [caption id="attachment_881862" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Matt Williams[/caption] BIRDSVILLE BIG RED BASH, OUTBACK QUEENSLAND This music festival is kind of like an Australian version of Burning Man — but significantly more family friendly. People head to the Simpson Desert, dressed up in their brightest and wackiest costumes, to party along to the sweet sounds of Aussie music legends. This year, Icehouse is headlining, with Pete Murray, Human Nature and the Hoodoo Gurus taking to the big stage as well. Hire an RV with your mates or bring your own camping gear along to the Birdsville Big Red Bash from Tuesday, July 4 till Thursday, July 6. Along with the stellar sounds, you can take part in a bunch of super quirky activities too. From a colourful drag race (a literal running race) along steep sand dunes to a fashion show for pooches, air guitar championship and camel rides, this is one fun-filled desert party. Birdsville Big Red Bash, Tuesday, July 4 till Thursday, July 6, 2023 MARY POPPINS FESTIVAL, FRASER COAST Each year, lovers of all things Mary Poppins descend upon Maryborough's Portside Precinct. Dressing up in their best Mary Poppins garb, they gather to celebrate Pamela Lyndon Travers — the author of the classic tale — who was born in the town. (We bet you didn't know that nugget of Australian trivia!) The most hardcore attendees dress up in their very best outfits to take part in The Great Nanny Race (where competitors attempt to reach the finish line first with their baby doll still safely in its pram), the Chimney Sweep Challenge (a race to guide a balloon up a chimney before demonstration of the best chimney-sweep jump) and the Costume Competition. But, you don't need to go all in at the Mary Poppins Festival — many come to watch the beautifully bizarre activities and wander around this part of the Fraser Coast, enjoying sidewalk performers, pop-up art installations and great local grub. It's a whole lot of wholesome fun. Mary Poppins Festival, Sunday, July 3, 2023 JUMPERS & JAZZ IN JULY, SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND COUNTRY 'Jumpers' on trees and jazz — who knew such an unlikely pairing could be so popular? Back in 2004, the Jumpers & Jazz in July festival was created in response to a streetscaping project by Warwick Art Gallery. The idea was simple: get the community together to enliven the wintery locale by knitting some jumpers to put on leafless trees and then play some jazz. And now? The festival is massive. From Thursday, July 20 to Sunday, July 30, the population of Warwick will almost quadruple in size as visitors descend to get in on the arty merriment. And as it's grown, so has the lineup of events. There's the usual — trees in the town centre covered in brightly hued yarn and live jazz music performances all over town — but there are also art exhibitions, markets, workshops, a vintage car show and heaps of pop-up food and drink stalls. It's a really unique way to brighten up your winter. Jumpers & Jazz in July, Thursday, July 20 till Sunday, July 30, 2023 [caption id="attachment_881860" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ken Huntley[/caption] ABBEY MEDIEVAL FESTIVAL, BRISBANE Live your best A Knight's Tale fantasy at the 2023 Abbey Medieval Festival on Saturday, July 8 and Sunday, July 9. Yes, it is super geeky, but that's the fun of it all. Geeks are cool. Get on board. Join the club. Dress up in your finest ye-olde 'fits and go watch some jousting or shoot your shot in an archery competition. As you explore the Abbeystowe grounds you may also happen across actors playing Vikings and Turkish oil wrestlers while a string of food stalls sling medieval-themed food — think venison pies and other delights. You can even rest up at The Stag Inn to refuel while you sip mead or cider. Abbey Medieval Festival, Saturday, July 8 and Sunday, July 9, 2023 CRAFTED BEER & CIDER FESTIVAL, GOLD COAST Beer and cider fans best get around the beachside Crafted Festival in September. While the exact dates are yet to be announced — keep your eyes peeled in the coming months — in 2022, more than 50 of Australia's top craft brewers landed on the Gold Coast's Broadbeach, with a whopping 250-plus sips on pour. (This lineup included wine, spirits and cocktails for those who needed a break from the hopsy bevs.) If it's anything like last year, you'll be tasting all your favourite brews in the ocean air, with live music in your ears and stacks of local food stalls dishing out delicious bites to eat. Crafted Beer & Cider Festival, August 2023 CAPRICON POP CULTURE CONVENTION, ROCKHAMPTON Cosplayers, this one is for you. CapriCon Pop Culture Convention is a yearly event that celebrates comics, collectibles, anime, medieval larping, gaming and steampunk culture in Queensland's Rockhampton — and it's back for one day only on Saturday, September 2, 2023. In years gone by, there have been Star Wars lightsaber classes, cartoon and manga drawing workshops and monumental LEGO competitions (for all ages). There are also awards for those with the most spectacular costumes — so come dressed to impress. CapriCon Pop Culture Convention, Saturday, September 2, 2023 [caption id="attachment_881868" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Leximagery, Clayton Blake's Bathing Box[/caption] SWELL SCULPTURE FESTIVAL, GOLD COAST You'll be hard pressed to find an Australian outdoor art exhibition in more breathtaking surrounds. From Friday, September 8 till Sunday, September 17, over 70 large-scale contemporary sculptures will pop up along the picturesque Currumbin Beach while several other parts of the Gold Coast host a series of art exhibits — a huge (and fantastically arty) undertaking. But Queensland's biggest outdoor art festival isn't just about the artworks themselves. Throughout SWELL Sculpture Festival, there will be guided twilight walks around the installations, live music performances, comedy shows, masterclasses and talks. Be sure to stick around to get the full experience. SWELL Sculpture Festival, Friday, September 8 till Sunday, 17 September, 2023 MITCHELL CREEK ROCK 'N' BLUES FEST, SUNSHINE COAST This annual music festival in the Noosa Hinterland brings a wide range of Aussies together — that all have a common love for classic rock 'n' roll and blues. For three days and nights, over 140 local bands hit the stages to perform to excited crowds. But, it's super laidback, with visitors drinking and eating the day away at their campsites or hitting up pop-up markets and vintage car shows. A diverse selection of food vendors are also at the Mitchell Creek Rock 'n' Blues Fest throughout the festival — from Friday, September 15 right up until the last tent packs up on Sunday, September 17. The event organisers are also known for making this festival — its amenities, stages and camping grounds — accessible for those with disabilities. They even have an area for those who come camping with their dogs — everyone's welcome at this party. Mitchell Creek Rock 'n' Blues Fest, Friday, September 15 till Sunday, September 17, 2023 To explore more arts and culture events taking over Queensland in 2023, head to the website. Top image: Ravel, Alejandro Propato's Permanent Sunrise at SWELL Sculpture Festival
Hiking through forests and swimming around coral reefs can be great fun, but some of the best adventure holidays include those with close and personal wildlife experiences — and that doesn't mean just looking at birds in trees or visiting a zoo. This kind of epic getaway will have you witnessing exotic animals in their natural habitat, getting as close as you can without causing them any harm. To help you get on one of these trips, we teamed up with a bunch of local and international tour providers who curate experiences for animal lovers especially. Read on to find your fave and book your spot through Concrete Playground Trips. A HUMPBACK WHALE ADVENTURE This is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of travel experience. Adventure lovers will spend seven nights in Tonga, diving around the island almost every day. Each day, you'll follow the lead of Jono Allen — the ocean photographer, environmental scientist, marine megafauna guide and filmmaker — as he takes you to a series of different dive spots. Every year, thousands of magnificent humpback whales migrate from the freezing feeding grounds of Antarctica to Tonga's warm, azure paradise to mate and give birth. You're not totally guaranteed to see these majestic sea creatures, but this place'll be your best bet. BOOK IT NOW. [caption id="attachment_899178" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Red Charlie (Unsplash)[/caption] FIVE-NIGHT LUXURY SERENGETI SAFARI This Tanzanian trek takes animal lovers to some of the country's most famous safari destinations, including Rift Valley and the Ngorongoro Crater. You'll traverse savannah grasslands in a 4WD car with only a couple of other tourists. Here, you've got an ideal vantage point for spotting zebras, leopards, giraffes and all other kinds of native wildlife. You'll also stay in incredibly glam accommodation along the way. Specifically, the Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti, Arusha Coffee Lodge and Grand Melia. It's guaranteed that you'll safari in total style on this Serengeti tour. BOOK IT NOW. [caption id="attachment_893317" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Colin Meg (Unsplash)[/caption] 10-DAY BORNEO WILDLIFE EXPEDITION Borneo is a bucket list travel destination for so many nature lovers. People flock to this part of the world for its wild rainforests, rugged coastline and traditional villages full of friendly locals. Fantastically, this 10-day tour takes you to all of Borneo's best bits, including an orangutan sanctuary where you can get up close with the intelligent creatures. You'll also cruise along the Kinabatangan River, chill out on the stunning Manukan Island and get a taste of city life in Kota Kinabalu — spending your nights in luxe resorts, hotels and lodges. BOOK IT NOW. [caption id="attachment_895302" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Western Australia[/caption] SWIM WITH WHALE SHARKS ON THIS NINGALOO REEF GETAWAY Swimming with the whale sharks on Ningaloo Reef should be at the top of everyone's travel hit-list when visiting Western Australia's Coral Coast. Exmouth is the gateway to the world's largest fringing reef — the iconic Ningaloo Reef — and that's exactly where you're headed on this exclusive three-day adventure. You'll enjoy a full day here, diving headfirst into the pristine aquatic wonderland that's home to dolphins, manta rays, turtles, humpback whales and, of course, the much-loved gentle giants: whale sharks. Spend the rest of your days at your own leisure. Our hot tips? Hitting up the iconic Cape Range National Park, home to native wildlife and epic walking trails. BOOK IT NOW. [caption id="attachment_899180" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Juli Kosolapova (Unsplash)[/caption] CROSS THE SOUTH GOBI DESERT BY CAMEL This isn't the usual two-hour camel tour you'll find Down Under — it is altogether more epic. You'll spend 11 days trekking around the largest desert in Asia, all from atop your humped steed. Wake up, jump aboard and explore Mongolia's Gobi Desert with local guides. This part of the locale is rich in mineral resources, diverse flora and fauna, thousands of unrevealed dinosaur fossils and rare paleo findings, as well as stacks of historical and archaeological sites. And seeing them via camel just makes your trip that much more unique and fun-filled. BOOK IT NOW. [caption id="attachment_899177" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jorge Tung (Unsplash)[/caption] LUXURY SAFARI AROUND KENYA This seven-day tour takes adventure travellers to some of the greatest national parks and conservation reserves in Kenya. You'll see lions, elephants and rhinos in their habitats as they thrive in protected areas — a true must-do experience. Each night will be spent in a different luxury lodge located close to the wildebeest migration routes — meaning guests will likely get the chance to see these astonishing wild animals close-up (say, while having brekkie or swimming in their private plunge pool). If an African safari is on the cards this year, consider this exclusive offering from Concrete Playground Trips. BOOK IT NOW. [caption id="attachment_899195" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nick Dunn (Unsplash)[/caption] SMALL GROUP FULL-DAY TOUR OF KANGAROO ISLAND Kangaroo Island is one of the top places to visit in Australia — and this tour will let travellers see some of its cutest and most rare wildlife. Start the morning with a cuppa and some homemade treats with fellow travellers before walking along koala-filled paths by the beach. After you're fuelled, you'll be taken to a series of natural sites that'll have you right up close to wallabies and sea lions. Watch pups nursing or playing in the surf, see old bulls bearing the scars of territorial disputes and learn about their unique breeding biology. The trip even includes lunch at a private bush camp, where you'll dine on locally caught fish and drink plenty of South Australian wine. BOOK IT NOW. [caption id="attachment_899184" align="alignnone" width="1920"] 2H Media (Unsplash)[/caption] EXCLUSIVE GORILLA TOUR OF UGANDA Live your Gorillas in the Mist fantasy (sans scary poachers) on this seven-day primate tour in Uganda. You'll trek around the rainforests keeping your eyes peeled for all kinds of primates — think chimpanzees, monkeys and the almighty gorilla — and even jump aboard a river boat for a day. Throughout the animal-filled getaway, travellers will stay in Rushaga Gorilla Camp, Simba Safari Camp and the Isunga Lodge — each surrounded by nature and wildlife. It's one of the greatest ways to explore this part of the world. BOOK IT NOW. Feeling inspired to book a truly unique getaway? Head to Concrete Playground Trips to explore a range of holidays curated by our editorial team. We've teamed up with all the best providers of flights, stays and experiences to bring you a series of unforgettable trips in destinations all over the world. Top image: Hu Chen (Unsplash).
It's the most obvious Game of Thrones line to quote. It's also been uttered more times than anyone can count over the past 11 years. When it comes to the arrival of the show's keenly anticipated new prequel series House of the Dragon, it rings oh so true if you live Down Under, too. Yes, winter is coming, as it does every year. In 2022, however, before the frosty season ends in Australia and New Zealand, this House Targaryen-focused new series is coming as well. Fans already knew that House of the Dragon would hit HBO at some point this year, but now the US network has dropped an exact date: Sunday, August 21 in the US, which is Monday, August 22 Down Under. Obviously, the show will hit locally at the same time, on Foxtel and Binge in Australia and SoHo, Sky Go and Neon in New Zealand — it's one of the biggest series of the year, after all. When that date rolls around, expect to spend more time with flame-breathing scaly creatures and the family that adores them. If you thought the Targaryens were chaotic already, delving into their history — and their love of using dragons to wage wars and claim power — is certain to cement that idea. We all know what happened to the last surviving members of the family in GoT, including Daenerys and her boyfriend/nephew Jon Snow; however, House of the Dragon, like Fire & Blood — the George RR Martin book that it's based on — jumps back 300 years earlier. Cast- and character-wise, House of the Dragon stars Emma D'Arcy (Misbehaviour) as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, the first-born child of King Viserys; Matt Smith (His House) as Prince Daemon Targaryen, the King's brother; Rhys Ifans (Official Secrets) as Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King; Olivia Cooke (Pixie) as Alicent Hightower, Otto's daughter; and Steve Toussaint (It's a Sin) as Lord Corlys Velaryon, aka 'The Sea Snake', a nautical adventurer from a Valyrian bloodline as old as House Targaryen. These Westerosi folk will all grace a tale that harks back to Aegon I Targaryen's conquest of the Seven Kingdoms — which is what started the hefty 738-page first volume in Fire & Blood's planned two-book series — and then works through the family's history from there. Aegon I created the Iron Throne, hence the returning favourite's prominence. And you don't have to be the Three-Eyed Raven to know that this tale involves plenty of GoT's staples: fighting, battles for supremacy and bloodshed. Also set to pop up on-camera: Paddy Considine (The Third Day) as King Viserys, Eve Best (Nurse Jackie) as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon and Sonoya Mizuno (Devs) as Mysaria, Prince Daemon's paramour. Behind the scenes, Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal are acting as the series' showrunners. Sapochnik has a hefty GoT history, winning an Emmy and a Directors Guild Award for directing 'Battle of The Bastards', helming season eight's 'The Long Night', and doing the same on four other episodes. As for Condal, he co-created and oversaw recent sci-fi series Colony, and co-wrote the screenplay for the 2018 film Rampage. House of the Dragon's arrival has been a long time coming. Game of Thrones finished three years ago, and given how successful it proved for HBO — even after its eighth and final season caused plenty of uproar — the on-screen world inspired by Martin's books was never going to simply disappear. Indeed, before GoT even finished, there was chatter about what would come next. So, the network first announced that it was considering five different prequel ideas. It then green-lit one to pilot stage, scrapped it and later decided upon House of the Dragon. Next, it opted to give novella series Tales of Dunk and Egg the TV treatment, too, and to work on an animated GoT show. And, it's been reported that another three prequels are also under consideration. Now, after all that, House of the Dragon's ten-episode first season creeps closer and closer. Mark your diaries this instant — you've got a dance with dragons come August. Check out the first teaser trailer for House of the Dragon below: House of the Dragon will start airing on Monday, August 22 Down Under via Foxtel and Binge in Australia and SoHo, Sky Go and Neon in New Zealand. Images: Ollie Upton/HBO.
Power in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is brutal. It's corrosive and fleeting. It makes good people do bad things for their short-term survival, leads them to blur the public interest with their own. A manipulative entourage operates behind each visible figurehead. The citizenry's patience is short and their memory shorter. They martyrise their last despot not long after rejoicing in his removal by another. Their favour sways like a rope bridge over a gusty ravine. Sound familiar? The Bell Shakespeare Company thought so, too, which is why their slick and effective take on Julius Caesar speaks to modern executive government generally and the Kevin-to-Julia Labor leadership switch specifically. By keeping the allusions from getting petty or gimmicky, they pull off the production with grace and resonance and built it up to possibly the best Caesar you'll have the pleasure to see. The set is ringed by steel-framed meeting-room chairs and oversized spotlights; the cold corporate aesthetic interrupted only by the presence of a ruined Roman column bursting through the floor (which has a point, you'll see). There's shoe throwing and Q&A-style discourse, and the abridged script emphasises imagery of "the faction" and conspirators with "faces hidden in their cloaks" that were sketched 400 years before we made a cliche of 'faceless men'. Brutus (Colin Moody), Cassius (Kate Mulvany) and their supporters begin moving against tyrannical old Caesar (Alex Menglet) in a gently paced first half before the infamous execution scene is split by intermission. You're then dropped into a relentless and regularly jaw-dropping second hour where the set comes alive with a mesmerising assemblage of scaffolding, two great orators battle for the audience's hearts, and there's much navel-gazing on the part of the losers as they get their comeuppance at the Battle of Philippi. There are some great performances here, particularly from Mulvany (who's also the excellent dramaturg). Making one of the key political players female proves an instant way to modernise the play, and disregarding gender, she is a brilliant Cassius — bitter, sharp and determined. With regard to gender, it creates an interesting opportunity to play with sexual power and subtly question how we see women in positions of authority. Director Peter Evans and the creative team have had a clearly conceived idea of what this show should be and proceeded to impressively execute it. The drama features some strong choreography, including explosive fights. Where most Caesars have chosen to swim in blood, this one marks its wounds with movement and white chalk dust — it's bloodless, in fact. Like in modern politics and warfare, this violence is clean and distant. It doesn't get its hands dirty, and it's more disturbing for it.
In one of her most memorable performances of the past decade, Nicole Kidman turned villainous, playing a not-so-friendly taxidermist who'd like to add a certain marmalade-loving bear to her collection. That was in the delightful Paddington, and she has stepped into plenty of other parts over the last ten years, too — in Stoker, Grace of Monaco, Lion, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Beguiled, Destroyer, Boy Erased, Aquaman and Bombshell, just to name a few — but it seems that the Australian actor is getting a little creepy again in her next miniseries role. As the just-dropped first teaser trailer shows, Nine Perfect Strangers casts Kidman as a wellness guru. She's unlikely to leave anyone feeling relaxed, though. Her character Masha oversees a resort that promises to transform nine city dwellers — but, although the sneak peek so far is brief, you can bet that things aren't going to turn out as planned for the show's titular figures. If the name sounds familiar, there are two reasons for that. Firstly, Nine Perfect Strangers is based on a 2018 novel of the same title, which was penned by Liane Moriarty. She also wrote Big Little Lies, which was also turned into a Kidman-starring TV series. Secondly, Nine Perfect Strangers was filmed in Byron Bay in the latter half of 2020, and received plenty of attention over that period given its star-studded lineup. Also set to feature in the new eight-part series: Melissa McCarthy (Thunder Force), Michael Shannon (Knives Out), Luke Evans (Crisis), Bobby Cannavale (Superintelligence), Regina Hall (Little), Samara Weaving (Bill & Ted Face the Music), Melvin Gregg (The United States vs Billie Holiday), Asher Keddie (Rams), Grace Van Patten (Under the Silver Lake), Tiffany Boone (The Midnight Sky) and Manny Jacinto (The Good Place). As with Big Little Lies — and with The Undoing, too, another of Kidman's recent projects — David E Kelley (LA Law, Ally McBeal, Mr Mercedes) is leading the charge behind the scenes. He's the show's co-writer and co-showrunner, with Long Shot's Jonathan Levine directing every episode. Exactly when Nine Perfect Strangers will start airing is yet to be revealed, but it'll stream via Hulu in the US — with details of how folks will be able to watch it Down Under also yet to be advised. And yes, Byron Bay seems to be quite the TV hub at the moment, given that Stan's upcoming mystery-drama series Eden also shot in the area, and that Netflix is working on a docu-soap about Byron Bay influencers. Check out the teaser trailer for Nine Perfect Strangers below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4nwFSSTUZc Nine Perfect Strangers doesn't yet have an air date Down Under — we'll update you when one is announced.
This year, even Christmas itself has been given an immersive, multisensory makeover, by way of an experiential new installation at Market City. It's only November, but the Chinatown precinct has already got a head-start on the festive season, with the launch of some mind-bending Christmas Infinity Rooms. Open from 10am–7pm each day until December 24, you'll find three immersive pop-up spaces, decked out with the likes of mirrors, props, high-tech lighting and graphics to create a series of illusion-filled rooms. Fittingly, they're decorated to look like giant gift-wrapped presents from the outside. Venture in and you might find yourself moving through a neon-drenched space packed with never-ending Christmas decorations, or even embarking on a journey through a mystical reindeer forest. The rooms are inspired by the likes of Yayoi Kusama and Tokyo's Digital Art Museum. And while they certainly aren't as large-scale or impressive, it's still a fun thing to do — you can snap a few yuletide selfies on your lunch break or while doing your Christmas shopping. Images: Anna Kucera.
In a bid to help rejuvenate the hospitality and arts industries following two pandemic-affected years, the New South Wales Government introduced Dine & Discover vouchers. These $25 vouchers have been hanging around for a while — and were even extended — so it seemed like we all had forever use them. But the end of June has crept up on us, and you now have just a few more days to score discounted meals and tickets. For anyone who hasn't already burnt through their vouchers, we've pulled together a list of suggestions from the Concrete Playground team. They're our picks for where you should use any remaining Dine & Discover vouchers before they expire on Thursday, June 30. From bustling Inner West restaurants to award-winning stage shows, here's where to nab a sneaky $25 off over the next few days. COURTNEY AMMENHAUSER, BRANDED CONTENT MANAGER Been thinking about taking a punt on a new restaurant but don't want to end up with a dud dinner? Got your eye on an event but aren't sure if it'll be a fav or a flop? This is precisely where, I believe, you should use your Dine & Discover vouchers this week. When the government is paying, take a risk on something new, I say. That way, even if it isn't the greatest meal or event you've ever experienced, you've at least ticked something off your hit list without losing any cash. Been wanting to see more independent theatre shows? Book a ticket to Cleansed at The Old Fitz Theatre. Curious about what Toby Stansfield is serving up at the pub next door? Book in feast at the Old Fitz Hotel and find out. Whatever it may be, now's a good time to scratch that culture itch — for free. GRACE MACKENZIE, STAFF WRITER The winter chill isn't keeping me away from the ocean and — with a cheeky discount courtesy of the NSW Government — I'm diving in on a whale tour. The openair boat sets off from Manly Wharf three times a day. But, if you can't make it before the end of June, use your Discover voucher to nab yourself a whale-watching date in the future. Upon your return to Manly's bustling esplanade, take a wander up out of the thick of it and use your Dine voucher at Busta for a glass of vino and a bowl of pasta — plus something tasty from its exceptional snack menu (hello, gnocco fritto). Get yourself there on Tuesday or Wednesday and BYO something natty and fun from next-door wine shop Winona. Whales and wine in winter? Delightful. NIK ADDAMS, BRANDED CONTENT MANAGER Moving to a city a month before that city goes into lockdown isn't life advice I'd give my future self, but that's exactly what I did in 2021. That said, the Dine & Discover vouchers were a great way for me to start ticking things off my Sydney list. I spent my first Dine NSW voucher at Andiamo, a lively trattoria around the corner from my new pad in Summer Hill. Not only was the hype around this place making some of the best pizzas in Sydney justified (even if I am still doing the research), but the buzzy atmosphere and al fresco vibes were a great welcome to the neighbourhood. I used one of my Discover vouchers on a night of local theatre — my multitalented colleague Courtney Ammenhauser was part of the company that staged the very fun Hot Mess at Kings Cross Theatre in June 2021. A year later, I suggest taking my lead, even if you can't see the same show. Those looking to spend their remaining voucher on the theatre can score a discounted ticket to Lilac, an intimate 90-minute play currently on at the venue. [caption id="attachment_764363" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Keith Saunders[/caption] BEN HANSEN, STAFF WRITER One of my favourite places to watch live music in Sydney is the City Recital Hall. It's a stunning venue, the music always sounds incredible and it's right next door to the best pasta in Sydney. If you're a classical music fan, you can take your pick of the hall's huge program of upcoming shows. If like me, you gravitate more towards contemporary tunes, you can use your Discover voucher to snag discounted tickets to some of Australia and New Zealand's best songwriters including Paul Kelly, Alex the Astronaut, Ngaiire and my personal pick, effervescent folk singer Aldous Harding. As for your Dine voucher, Sydneysiders are staring down the barrel of quite a cold wintery week, so my pick would be a hot bowl of noodles and soup. The soft shell crab laksa at Uncle Joe's Malaysian Kitchen and the tonkotsu chilli ramen at RaRa are both situated under the $25 price point, meaning you can warm yourself up with a hearty feed free of charge. MELANIE COLWELL, NATIONAL BRANDED CONTENT EDITOR I think if we were to summarise the general vibe of 2022 so far, it'd be 'brain fog'. That comes courtesy of various viral illnesses making the rounds, plus general fatigue from a rough few years. So, what better way to prove you've still got some neurons firing in the ol' noggin than locking yourself in a room and doing a bunch of mind-bending puzzles in a race against the clock? I'm going to use my final Discover voucher on a session at The Cipher Room in St Peters. The new themed room La Rébellion, where your group will be part of a resistance group in dystopian France, sounds pretty appealing given the state of the world right now. After breaking free, I will be making tracks to Redfern to use my final Dine voucher at Flyover Fritterie's new digs. I never managed to visit the hole-in-the-wall spot in the CBD, so I'm keen to finally tuck in to all manner of vegan Indian street food. I have my eye on the chilli fritters and dosa potato jaffle, which comes loaded with peanut chutney, coconut and cashews — and a piping hot chai, of course. SARAH WARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR I'm playing along from Brisbane, but if I was in Sydney and had Dine & Discover vouchers to make the most of, I'd predictably put them to use at a cinema. Yes, a film critic would say that — but if you felt like you watched your way through every movie on streaming ever during lockdowns, and just got generally sick of the sight of your TV, laptop and phone, you'll also love staring at the big screen in a darkened theatre right now as much as I do. There's simply no better place to see a film. Three of my favourite Sydney spots are all accepting Dine & Discover vouchers — and one is even taking both, so you can use them on snacks as well. That'd be Surry Hills' Golden Age Cinema and Bar, which is showing Oscar-nominated Norwegian film The Worst Person in the World, exceptional Iranian drama A Hero and one-of-a-kind horror-comedy The Love Witch before the month is out. And those two other picture palaces I mentioned? At the Randwick Ritz, ace new and recent releases like Nude Tuesday, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Top Gun: Maverick and Baz Luhrmann's Elvis are worth your time (and the government's Discover vouchers), while the also wonderful Hayden Orpheum is also showing Brit flicks Mothering Sunday and Operation Mincemeat. Top image: RaRa Ramen, Luisa Brimble.
From the ruthless world of magazine publishing to the blood and guts of an Aussie hens weekend gone supremely wrong: that's been Aisha Dee's journey of late. There's far more to the Gold Coast-born actor's career so far, of course, including coming to fame as a teenager back in 2008 courtesy of The Saddle Club, subsequent parts on Dead Gorgeous and Sweet/Vicious, and showing up in St Vincent-starring satire The Nowhere Inn. Still, on screens big and small alike, she's been garnering attention for navigating pressure-filled situations — and revelling in them. In Sissy, her latest role and her return to Australia after years working in the US, Dee is in positively savage territory. She plays the titular character, better known as @SincerelyCecilia on Instagram to the tune of 200,000-plus followers. Liking and subscribing is what her devotees do all day, responding to her calming and inspiring missives about being yourself and finding your bliss, and Cecilia's whole sense of self is built on that online adoration. Sissy is a comedy, too, with writer/director duo Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes having ample fun parodying the wellness and influencer industries. That said, when the movie's namesake attends a bachelorette shindig for her long-lost childhood BFF, old torments resurface and this proves firmly a horror flick as well. Dee wasn't initially approached to play Cecilia. When the script came her way, she was earmarked for Fran, fiancée to Emma, Cecilia's primary school bestie. But Dee felt an instant bond with Sissy's eponymous figure. She felt protective of her. "Honestly, I read the script and immediately I felt like I had to defend Cecilia," she tells Concrete Playground. "I cared so deeply for her. I really felt really connected to her and had a lot of empathy for what she was experiencing in the moment, and how easy it would be under those circumstances to kind of just slip and fall." Once you've seen Sissy, Dee's words obviously come with a caveat: clearly, she hasn't found herself in the exact same situation, behaving in the exact same way. But in a film that happily, smartly and entertainingly rips into a whole heap of targets — with humour and as a slasher flick alike — she makes Cecilia a compelling protagonist amid all the chaos. It's a bold performance, because The Bold Type isn't just an entry on Dee's resume. The international film festival circuit heartily agrees, with Sissy premiering at SXSW 2022, enjoying its Australian premiere in June at the Sydney Film Festival, and doing the rounds everywhere from Melbourne and Perth to South Korea and Scotland since. Dee hit the Harbour City midyear with the movie, which is now in cinemas across Australia — and chatted to us about social media, knowing that she had to play Cecilia, preparing for the part in hotel quarantine, making a different kind of Aussie movie and getting an opportunity she didn't think would happen. ON SOCIAL MEDIA'S PREVALENCE — AND SILLINESS "The film doesn't offer solutions, but I do think it poses questions and forces us, in a way that feels quite uncomfortable, to question our own relationship with social media and how we interact with it. I think it's hard to be a human in the world right now and not have some kind of relationship with social media, because it is such a prevalent part of our society now. Personally, I don't use social media in the same way [as Cecilia] — I wish I was better at it, it's not something that comes super naturally to me, to be posting on Instagram all the time. My relationship with social media has always been really about creating boundaries, because I find it a very triggering environment in terms of even just having the confidence to post something. I second-guess myself a lot, and I get very existential. Every time I post something, I'm like, 'well, what's the point? What is Instagram? What is a telephone?'. It's all pretty silly." ON NEEDING TO PLAY CECILIA "It was towards the end of 2020 — and, you know, we were all there for 2020. I had been in LA for most of that year, really only seeing a select few people and kind of feeling quite isolated socially, a bit awkward, and reexamining a lot of my relationships. And my manager sent me this script. Initially they wanted me for the role of Fran, and I could see that, because Fran felt really similar to a couple of characters I had played before. But literally, I couldn't shake the feeling that I felt like Cecilia was my little sister or my best friend, or just someone that I loved so deeply and cared so deeply for. It wasn't something that I planned or knew was going to happen when I read the script, but I felt like I had to honour it. I called my manager and I said 'please tell them that I really love the script, but I just don't feel connected to Fran as a character — but I feel really connected to Sissy, tell them that I love Sissy'. I said that knowing it was kind of presumptuous but not expecting them to ask to meet me at all, but they were really into the idea. I think they had had someone very different in mind — she was described as having blonde hair and being very petite and pale, and I am none of those things — but I just felt like something felt right. ON DRAWING ON 2020'S CHAOS FOR THE PART — HOTEL QUARANTINE AND ALL "There's the year of 2020 as a whole. But then, in order to get back home to Australia, I had to do two weeks of quarantine in hotel quarantine where you literally see no one. It is the most extreme version of isolation. I was on a really low floor in this big tall building, and every day at like 12pm, I would lose the sun. I would be out my window — like I needed the sun and I needed the fresh air, and I felt like I was going absolutely insane. So while I was in quarantine, I was actually sending Hannah and Kane, the writers and directors of the film, I was sending them videos as Cecilia. Just every morning I would wake up and do a different kind of like sermon or meditation or something, just because I did't really have anything to do. Getting out of quarantine, I definitely felt like Bambi on ice a little. I felt very awkward. I'm an awkward person to begin with, but having those two weeks alone in a room — it wasn't intentional but I do think it kind of leant itself to getting into some kind of headspace." ON RETURNING HOME TO MAKE A DIFFERENT KIND OF AUSSIE MOVIE "Something that jumped out to me when I was reading it was the way that there was this really heavy female gaze on the movie — which I think is rare for genre films to have such a strong female gaze. And beyond just Cecilia the character, you had a very small cast that consisted of an interracial lesbian couple, a gay man with disability and an Asian woman. And the only man that you really saw was a queer man." I loved this this. I just loved the world that I could see imagining it and reading it. It didn't feel like any other Aussie movie that I had seen. It really reflected the colourful, diverse, beautiful Australia that I know. I think unfortunately, up until kind of recently, Australian film and television really hasn't reflected that same colourful melting pot that like we all know actually exists here — so that was another big reason why I wanted to be a part of it." ON GETTING AN UNEXPECTED OPPORTUNITY "I definitely had hoped that I would be able to play a character like this. But, being realistic, opportunities like this don't come up every day for someone who looks like me, especially in the Australian film space. So I had always hoped that maybe I would be able to play a role like this, but the fact that the opportunity was actually presented to me is really, really, really cool. I guess it kind of was on my bucket list. But when I think about it, I don't know that I ever could've anticipated that this would be an opportunity that I would've had. And to me, it really meant nothing whether people were going to see it or they weren't, it didn't matter to me — because with independent film, you really are rolling the dice, chances are nobody's going to see it. The fact that like it's doing such big things is really cool. I think that honestly it's a testament to what can happen if the Australian film industry embraces diversity the way they should." Sissy released in Australian cinemas on November 3. Read our full review.
Rome is a must-visit city in your lifetime. You have ancient historic sites at every turn, iconic architecture, countless restaurants packed with some of the world's finest Italian fare, and bars pumping out spritzes and aperitivo experiences every day of the week. It is a magical place, a city bursting with culture and energy. If you travel to Rome on a budget, you can certainly go down the hostel route of accommodation and find no shortage of quality options. You can find charming smaller apartments a little further out as well. But there is a kind of luxury in Rome that should also be experienced. The city's spectacular collection of lavish hotels haven't been stripped of personality or colour or fallen victim of excessive modernisation. Instead, you'll be staying in historical buildings full of character and extravagant charm. Read on to find a handful of our favourites that you can book via Concrete Playground Trips right now. PARCO DEO PRINCIPI GRAND HOTEL Located by the stunning landscaped garden of Villa Borghese, this luxury hotel embraces the more is more design aesthetic. It's fabulously opulent with layer upon layer of jewel-toned interior styling and multi-textural decor. The drawing room is clad in antique wood panels, every room is decorated with traditional patterned drapes and you'll find a mix-match of colourful furniture and sculptures scattered throughout. Every corner is worthy of a photograph. BOOK IT NOW. TREE CHARME PARLIAMENT BOUTIQUE HOTEL This quaint, 14-room hotel is located right by the iconic Piazza Navona and Pantheon but is in a surprisingly quiet little street. You won't be disturbed by loud tourists while you slumber in one of the recently refurbished rooms. Expect a more modern affair when it comes to design and amenities as well as very personalised hospitality that you can only find in such a small hotel. BOOK IT NOW. ROME CAVALIERI Rome is a big and busy city, so sometimes it can be nice to stay a little further out. And Rome Cavalieri has got to be one of the greatest, set within 15-acres of parkland atop the city's highest hilltop. Look down upon St Peter's Dome and the sea of terracotta roofs from the restaurant, pool and luxe suites during your stay. Then jump in a cab or hit the public transport system to reach the centre of Rome within minutes. BOOK IT NOW. HOTEL LORD BYRON Art Deco design never looked so good. This 1930's villa has been finished with luxe mahogany, marble and rosewood features throughout, making for an altogether opulent affair. It's like the Great Gatsby has come to Rome. But it has also been kitted out with modern amenities, bringing it right up to 21st Century luxury hotel standards. BOOK IT NOW. HOTEL RAPHAEL-RELAIS & CHATEAUX We are obsessed with every part of this hotel. From the exterior covered in lush greenery to the ornately decorated rooms and incredible views from the rooftop, it's a stunning stay. Even if you aren't staying at Hotel Raphaël-Relais & Châteaux, be sure to book a table at the fine dining hotel restaurant so you can experience a small part of this hotel's luxury offerings. BOOK IT NOW. HOTEL ROME GARDEN From the outside, this accommodation looks like most hotels in Rome. It's in a charming old building that looks a lot like the rest. But the boutique hotel has a hidden garden set within old Roman ruins. It's an ancient oasis. Enjoy a buffet breakfast out here or a few spritzes during a balmy evening before retreating to one of the 34 rooms. BOOK IT NOW. HOTEL CESARI This boutique 51-room hotel expertly blends the historic with the contemporary. The old building has been totally transformed with a sleek updated fit-out. Design-wise, it's less maximalist than some of the other inclusions on this list, but it still holds onto all its old-world charm. Hotel Cesari is best experienced up on the rooftop terrace adorned with loungers, colourful umbrellas and fresh flowers aplenty. BOOK IT NOW. HOTEL ART In many ways, Hotel Art feels more like a quirky contemporary art gallery than luxury hotel. Set within an former boarding school, you will find traditional design elements paired with bold artworks and installations. Receptionists sit in large white glowing pods, furniture is all bespoke, and each of the 46 rooms have been uniquely decorated with specially commissioned artworks and colourful fixtures. It's a great alternative place to stay in Rome. BOOK IT NOW. THE WESTIN EXCELSIOR Opulence abounds in this grand classic hotel. Everything is luxurious, from the large bedrooms with high ceilings and views across the city, to the elegant ballrooms and restaurants filled with marble and ornate chandeliers. The spa is also a big win. Get indulgent massages, body treatments and facials or simply relax in the large indoor pool and sauna. You'll be paying a lot for the experience but it's worth it for an unforgettably luxurious stay. BOOK IT NOW. HOTEL FORUM The Forum is one of Rome's most popular sites and is close to many must-visit sites — The Coliseum, Trevi Fountain and so forth. That's why staying in this area is fantastic. You don't need to fuss with public transport or lengthier strolls during hot summer days. Step outside the Hotel Forum to immediately find Rome's best bits at your feet — or head up to the rooftop terrace to get unique views of these sites lit up at night. BOOK IT NOW. AMBASCIATORI PALACE You'll be sleeping in a newly renovated palace that was originally constructed in 1900. It doesn't get much more special than that. The team at Ambasciatori Palace also add glam bars and restaurants under the same roof as well as a state-of-the-art spa. It was recently taken over by InterContinental so you know the service will be perfectly polished and seamless. BOOK IT NOW. J.K. PLACE The old and new seamlessly combine within this luxury boutique hotel located in the heart of Rome. Enjoy the playful design features by the architect Michele Bönan — including colourful palettes, stately four-poster beds and common spaces decked out with Berber rugs, marble statues and a futuristic chandelier. The team will even rent you an e-bike during your stay and make up a unique picnic hamper to be enjoyed within one of the nearby parks. BOOK IT NOW. Feeling inspired to book a truly unique getaway? Head to Concrete Playground Trips to explore a range of holidays curated by our editorial team. We've teamed up with all the best providers of flights, stays and experiences to bring you a series of unforgettable trips in destinations all over the world. Top images: Hotel Raphaël-Relais & Châteaux.
First it was breakfast for dinner, and now street food and sour beers are under the spotlight at Leichhardt small bar Golden Gully. The venue's monthly plant-based degustation dinner will return with a new focus on Tuesday, May 7. In the kitchen, Gully head chef Emma Evans will serve up Asian-inspired street eats. Think kimchi doughnuts with fermented chilli and lime sauce, mushroom bao topped with house-made pickled vegetables and creamy hoisin, and cauliflower satay skewers served with a coconut and coriander slaw. Meanwhile, beer reps from Batch and Yulli's Brews will be in the house, pouring two sour brews a piece and chatting with punters about them. Each ticket comes with six beer tokens, redeemable for a middy each. All of that food and booze is included in the $50 ticket price. To book, sittings are available from 7pm, head here — and remember, space is limited. Images: Trent van der Jagt.
The crumpet has made a noticeable splash in the Sydney restaurant scene in recent years. Said to originate in the UK as far back as the 14th century, this (very) old-school griddle cake is loved for its simplicity — and its ability to be paired with almost any topping. Whether you're into savoury bites or have a sweet tooth, our city is offering a wide range of ways for you to enjoy the humble crumpet. Think bacon- and avo-loaded numbers, falafel takes on the cake, dulce de leche-topped holey boys and even crumpets paired with locally sourced sea urchin. Here are our favourite spots to get next-level crumpets across Sydney.
Despite the shared disappointment that our after-work hours are a little less sun-filled, our clocks turning back an hour means there's more time for fun — and cultural explorations — after dark. This is something Sydney Living Museums knows all too well. The historic collective is bringing another instalment of After Dark, the late-night series that welcomes live music and art to the Hyde Park Barracks. This April, the UNESCO World Heritage-listed site will play host to a swathe of creatives. Be wowed by the concentrated skill of Mark Eliott as he blows fantastical glass creations, or watch on tentatively — or excitedly — as WT Norbert and CP Martin (of Tattoo Rosie's) ink their designs live. Joe Glover will bring music to your ears with his handcrafted banjo (and then teach you how to make one) and Tarni Eastwood will showcase the craftsmanship of our Traditional Owners with a weaving tutorial. Take in some history as you wander the Barracks collection with Living Museums' curators, or settle in for some olfactory delight courtesy of perfumer and scentsmith Ainslie Walker. FBi Radio will keep vibes high with a lineup of DJs and live acts, and your tastebuds will stay happy with Nighthawk Diner's feel-good eats and Archie Rose's gin-laced cocktails. It's a night of tradition with a contemporary twist that you won't want to miss. And if you're a member of Sydney Living Museums (or you sign up at the checkout), you can score a sneaky discount on tickets too. After Dark will hit the Hyde Park Barracks from 5–9pm on Thursday, April 28. Head to the website to book your tickets. Top images: James Horan
A great meal should satisfy your tastebuds and your stomach. When Vertigo opens in Brisbane, it'll also get your blood pumping and pulse racing. A brand-new addition to the River City's iconic Brisbane Powerhouse, this soon-to-launch eatery is joining the sky-high ranks, but with a difference: it isn't just located on top of the riverside New Farm venue, but hangs off of the site's industrial facade. Forget just living on the edge — this is dining on the edge, and literally. Obviously, the views will be spectacular. Given that you'll be climbing out to your seat while donning a safety harness, then eating four stories (and 17 metres) up, so will the thrills. An Australian-first vertical dining experience, Vertigo will start serving up — and levelling up — dinner with a view from October, with bookings now being taken for dates from Thursday, October 12 onwards. Once open, it'll operate four nights a week, from Thursday–Sunday, welcoming in tables of two. The one caveat: naturally, this adrenaline-pumping restaurant will be at the mercy of the weather, which will certainly play a factor over Brisbane's stormy summers. If it's only lightly raining, however, the night's sitting will still go ahead. The other key point: if you're not fond of heights, this won't be for you. But if you're fine with towering not just atop but over the side of an old power station-turned-arts precinct that dates back to the 1920s — whether you're a Brisbane local or a tourists — you'll be in for quite the unique experience. A third caveat: you can't head up if you've been drinking, with everyone breathalysed first and required to return a 0.00-percent blood alcohol reading. Brisbane Powerhouse's Bar Alto downstairs will be providing Vertigo's food across its eight tables — and each reservation's two-hour sitting — with the two-course menu featuring local ingredients to go with what's certain to become a local attraction. Unsurprisingly, a visit here won't come cheap, costing $250 per person. While you need to be sober to climb over the edge, a matched glass of wine will be served with dinner. You'll also get a post-descent champagne, beer or soft drink. To make the evening even more dramatic, diners can also choose to come back to earth post-meal via dropline down the facade. Or, if that's too much adventure for you — especially after eating — you can just head back to the ground through the venue. "Vertigo is unlike anything else in the world, it is an unexpected combination of adventure tourism and fine-dining on a heritage site," said Brisbane Powerhouse CEO/Artistic Director Kate Gould, announcing the restaurant. "Stepping off the roof of Brisbane Powerhouse to take a seat suspended at your table, four stories above the ground, will be the ultimate thrill. Experience silver service dining — albeit one with unbreakable crockery and cutlery attached to the table!" [caption id="attachment_850754" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Atmosphere Photography[/caption] "We are creating a uniquely Brisbane dining experience, at height. You will be on the edge of your seat in the open air before descending via an unforgettable exit," added Riverlife creator and co-founder John Sharpe, with the outdoor tour operator partnering with Powerhouse on the venture. "Vertigo will inspire fear but with the knowledge that safety is the priority of our experienced team of adventure tourism guides." If star chef Luke Mangan achieves his dream of setting up a restaurant on the Story Bridge, too, Brisbane might need to rename itself the Sky-High City. [caption id="attachment_776880" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kgbo via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Vertigo is set to open at Brisbane Powerhouse, 119 Lamington Street, New Farm, Brisbane from Thursday, October 12 — head to the venue's website for further details and bookings.
Everyone has different ideas of the perfect holiday - lying on a tropical beach until you're as brown as Giorgio Armani might be your thing, or maybe you dream of walking the El Camino Del Ray. But you would be hard-pressed to find someone that doesn't have a trip to Italy on their bucket list. Who could possibly not love a land of the best pizza and ice cream you will ever eat? Italy is not just about the food though, as the folks at Mr & Mrs Smith know. Their website offers reviews of the most unique and stylish hotels from all over the world, for those who are looking for an alternative to the bland monotony of Holiday Inns. They've now created a beautiful coffee-table-worthy travel guide of Italy, including, of course, 32 of the country's coolest boutique hotels from the grand, baroque kind to the sweet and rustic and hidden coastal retreats. Also included is an insider lowdown of what to do in each destination, including restaurant recommendations, what to pack and tips like which deli sells the best prosciutto or which vineyard to visit for the most romantic day. A perfect Christmas present for someone who's been talking about doing the Italy trip for far too long. To win one of five books by Mr & Mrs Smith, make sure you are subscribed to Concrete Playground then email hello@concreteplayground.com.au (for Australia) or auckland@concreteplayground.co.nz (for New Zealand) by Wednesday 7 December, 2011 at 5pm. Winners will be notified by email soon after.
Kick off the first weekend of summer with a massive street party, taking over the laneway between The Courthouse Hotel and Websters Bar in Newtown. Hitting the bustling thoroughfare on Saturday, December 2, 2023's Newtown Street Party will feature a cracking lineup of local musicians, plus a hefty program of food and drinks. Presented by The Courty and Young Henrys, the laneway mini festival will welcome sets from The Beefs, Sweet Talk, Greatest Hits, Salarymen, RISSA, Manfredo Lament and Lady Lyon. Evening Records DJs will also be on-site on the day to set the tone behind the decks. [caption id="attachment_747996" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mary's burgers[/caption] Mary's will be bringing its beloved burgers down a couple of streets to keep patrons well fed, alongside a selection of tacos being cooked up by The Courty's culinary crew. And there will be pop-up bars from both the beloved pub and Young Henrys, serving up ice-cold tinnies. This is the second year the Newtown Street Party is popping up — an evolution of The Courthouse and Young Henrys' popular tinnie crack event. Entry is free via donation, with the event raising money for the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre. [caption id="attachment_928037" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Salarymen, Tom Wilkinson[/caption] Top image: Young Henrys Tinnie Crack.
Calling all feline fans. Now, you're able to cat-ch your favourite flicks while socialising with cats — at Catmosphere. The space-themed cat cafe has launched Cat Cinema. Cult classics will be played on the just-refurbished cafe's 120-inch screen and purrfecting the night will be complimentary caramel popcorn shakes for each guest. The feline experience will set you back $40 and includes light refreshments during intermission and, of course, many curious cat companions for the night. Bean bags are also supplied for you and your cats' comfort during the movie. The first two films kicking off the cinema's new program are cult horror flick Frankenstein — on the opening night, Saturday, April 28 — and "the worst movie ever made" Plan 9 From Outer Space the following night. An eclectic mix of classic and newer films will screen at 6.30pm every Saturday and Sunday thereafter. To stay up-to-date with what movies will be playing, head to the website. Images: Andy Fraser
Timothée Chalamet has played a teenager falling in love over summer (Call Me By Your Name), King Henry V (The King), Paul Atreides (Dune and Dune: Part Two, Willy Wonka (Wonka), a cannibal (Bones and All), a love interest for Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird and Little Women), a young man struggling with addiction (Beautiful Boy), the Vice President's son (Homeland) and more, but there's a look of fierce enthusiasm that comes over him when he's talking about a project that he spent more than half a decade working on, stars in and also produced: A Complete Unknown. Portraying Bob Dylan on-screen isn't a simple task. In fact, when I'm Not There attempted the feat in 2007, it enlisted six actors, including Australians Heath Ledger and Cate Blanchett (The New Boy), to share job. As evident from his hypnotic performance in A Complete Unknown — and his singing and guitar-playing, learned for the feature — Chalamet not only embraced but aced the challenge. For A Complete Unknown, he steps into Dylan's shoes from back when the movie's title proved true, then stays in them until four years later when that phrase definitely no longer applied. In 1961 at the age of 19, Dylan met his idol Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy, Speak No Evil), visiting him in hospital as a fan from Minnesota. Come 1965, after songs such as 'Blowin' in the Wind', 'The Times They Are a-Changin' and 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' had struck a chord, whether he'd go electric at the Newport Folk Festival was the source of huge controversy. Dylan did, as history will always remember. Chalamet, working with director James Mangold (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), brings that specific slice of the icon's life to the screen in a film that keeps garnering him award nominations. He's the young Dylan, arriving to chase his music dream with little more than the guitar that's rarely out of his hands. He's also the thrust-to-fame-swiftly Dylan, after mentorship from Pete Seeger (Edward Norton, Asteroid City), while cultivating a complicated relationship with the already-renowned Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro, Fubar), and as he's trying to maintain a relationship with artist and activist Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning, The Great), who is based on the real-life Suze Rotolo. And, Chalamet wouldn't mind being Dylan again in the future, if the "incredible opportunity" came up. "The amazing thing about Bob Dylan is every chapter is interesting. This is almost the most fertile because it's the beginning," Chalamet advises. This is the period of his life where the least is almost available, especially in the early 60s, but you can make a movie out of almost any period of Bob's life." How does it feel to lead a Bob Dylan biopic and to have the man himself tweet about it? "I didn't know if he was ever going to say anything because, true to the reclusive artist that Bob is, I don't know if he'll ever see the movie, truthfully," Chalamet says. "But seeing that post was hugely affirming. When you're a young artist, I don't care how successful you are, to get a pat on the back from a legend — especially a legend of few words like Bob Dylan — it was a dream come true, literally. I mean, it was beyond my wildest dreams. It was an enormous pat on the back and affirmation, and a moment for me in my life and career to go 'okay, I'm doing the right thing'." Passion radiates from Chalamet, clearly. It does the same from Mangold, who returns to the music-biopic genre after 2005's Johnny Cash-focused Walk the Line — Cash is also part of this flick, with Boyd Holbrook (The Bikeriders) in the part — plus from Fanning and Barbaro, too. "Think about it: between the ages of 19 and 24, he wrote 15 or 20 of the most-important songs of the century," the filmmaker behind A Complete Unknown, who co-wrote the script with Jay Cocks (Silence), adapting Elijah Wald's 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties, notes of Dylan to Concrete Playground. "That's pretty remarkable when you think about what probably we were all doing between 19 and 24 years of age." Fanning was a massive Dylan devotee going in; "I was huge Bob Dylan nut, and I had a poster of him on my wall and I was a fanatic, so I felt like I kind of manifested this part in in many ways," she shares about playing Russo, a take on Rotolo with the name changed at Dylan's request. For Barbaro with portraying Baez, she speaks about her gig, the IRL great that she's acting as and performing with Chalamet — after learning to sing and play guitar herself — with equally deep feeling. "It's an absolute career highlight for me," she tells us. As it works its way from Guthrie's hospital bedside to Newport, exploring who Dylan was at the time through his music and impact, the commitment from its many key forces echoes from A Complete Unknown as memorably as its wealth of tunes. Chalamet, Mangold, Fanning and Barbaro also spoke with us about how important it is that the movie isn't trying to paint one definitive portrait of its subject, the film's exploration of an artist evolving, speaking with Baez, Cash and Dylan's connection, parallels for the cast with reality and more. On How Mangold Knew That Chalamet Was the Right Actor to Bring This Period of Dylan's Life to the Screen James: "Well, 'know' is the strange word. I had an instinct that he'd be good. We don't know anything. I mean, we just try. And Timmy's phenomenally talented. Can sing. And I think has some of the mercurial, playful aspects of Bob in him, in his own personality. I thought he could find parallels. The act of playing a role like this isn't really the act of doing an impression or mimicry — it's really, to me at least as I feel it, it's about finding the harmonies between your own personality and the person you're playing, and finding a way to meet somewhere in the middle where you're still bringing your authentic acting self. You're not just doing an impression in which the performance is judged by how well you do Bob's mannerisms only, but how well you can fold that into who you are and come out with something authentic, and real, and soulful that exists in the space between. He's one of the best young actors of our time. And he's also a wonderful guy. And it seemed so logical, it seemed actually a no-brainer, to be honest. It seemed like a really exciting proposition. I cannot say I knew he would hit it so far out of the park that he would find such a great chord. We often present ourselves, as directors, we often try to get you guys to write about us like we knew everything in advance and we had a vision, and the vision comes to life — and we love it when you write about us that way. But in reality that isn't the way it is. We have a hunch. We have a hope. We have a prayer. And sometimes we're right and we keep it in the movie. Sometimes we're wrong and, if we can, we get it out of the movie. But the reality is that I had a hunch Timmy would be great. But I also demanded a lot of him. He had to learn over 40 songs and play them live, and be still in character acting, meaning it's not just 'can you learn the song and sing?' — it's 'can you learn the guitar, sing this song and do it like Bob Dylan in a scene while there's romantic tension or some other kind of dramatic energy going on?'. You're talking about a lot of chewing gum and riding bicycles and juggling at the same time. And Timmy's a pretty remarkable talent himself. And you're also talking about a young man in Timmy who has met with fame from an early age like Bob. So there are whole other levels where — and stardom and all that it brings — so that there were so many levels that he could bring insight and talent to this job." On How Crucial It Was to Chalamet That This is a Film About a Moment in Time and an Artist Evolving Timothée: "That's exactly it. This is a movie firmly about an artist evolving, as you so wonderfully put it. This is an interpretation. This is not a definitive act, and I think James Mangold, our director, always had a very solid eye on that. This is a man who's alive and well, who knows the history of how this went down. And a lot of the footage, not particularly from 1961–63, but definitely from 64 onwards, is available online and it's wonderful. It was very helpful to me in my interpretation of the character and of this period, but ultimately this is an interpretation. That's why Elle Fanning's character is a Sylvie Russo, as opposed to Suze Rotolo. This is more of a fable. And nonetheless, it's also, of course, a Bob Dylan biopic." On How the Film's Exploration of Artistic Evolution Resonates with Fanning Given That She's Been Acting Since She Was a Toddler Elle: "Yeah, technically two, because I would play my sister at a younger age in things, in flashback scenes — they would just call me in. But I think that's one of my favourite things, honestly, about this film and watching it as a whole. This slice of Dylan's life was so much about making artistic choices and not being pigeon-holed into one thing. So it's actually been a really nice reminder to me to follow my instincts. I always have followed my instincts pretty much. And when I haven't, it's like 'oh god, it's always best to do that'. And I love surprising people and picking parts that are going to surprise people, and surprise myself and challenge me. That's just what I want. I don't want to ever be put into a box of a certain genre or certain film. I mean, people will try to do that to everyone, because it's more palatable for people when you understand where they're coming from. That's what Dylan has done — he's never allowed anyone to do that to him. So it's been inspiring, and the movie is really about that, to be honest. So I loved watching the film for the first time, and seeing that journey was great. Because obviously I wasn't in every single scene, so it's fun to watch the scenes I wasn't in. But I try to push myself." On How Portraying an IRL Figure, and an Icon, Changed How Barbaro Approached Her Part Monica: "It was very big shoes to fill. She's an exceptional musician and I had no music training, so my main call to action was to learn to play guitar, and learn to sing, and get my proficiency up to a level where you would believe that I'd been doing that for years and years. And then also, the benefit is, as much as her voice is absolutely impossible to replicate, she had these iconic qualities that people referred to a lot. When they talk about her, they mentioned her tight vibrato and the key that she sings these songs in. And so just trying to expand my range and trying to sound like her — the finger-picking, that was a particular style that she played with. And just diving into those specifics to try to get that recognisability there was a huge part of the process." On Mangold Revisiting Johnny Cash On-Screen After Walk the Line — and Finding Someone New to Play Him James: "I really didn't give it much thought in terms of my own oeuvre, although I was aware that it was the second time this real-life character was appearing in my film. It just seemed a necessity, the more research I did. It wasn't really very featured at all in Elijah Wald's book, but the more research I did — and I also had the knowledge from making Walk the Line that Johnny Cash and Bob had been pen pals during this period — but the more research I did, and knowing that Cash was on stage in the wings when Bob went electric, was there and even lent his guitar, his acoustic guitar to Bob when he went back out on stage to sing his last song 'Baby Blue', the last acoustic song, at Newport 65, I thought 'well, what am I going to do with Johnny?'. And I asked Dylan's manager, Jeff Rosen, if they still had the letters that Johnny Cash had written to Bob. And they did. And he sent me scans of all these letters, which were magnificent — a kind of beautiful, romantic example of an artist a few years ahead of Bob, writing him fan letters and bolstering a sense of confidence in the young man about his writing and his ability from someone Dylan admired. And so this correspondence suddenly became central to me, because as I was trying to assemble — as much as I was trying to tell Dylan's story, he is a bit inscrutable, and I felt like you could learn more by also telling the story of those that surrounded Dylan, and the way his genius affected each of them differently. And what was so necessary about bringing Johnny into the story was that he's the devil on that shoulder. If you have Pete and Lomax and Joan Baez all on this shoulder saying 'stick with the team; don't cross over to that dangerous, suspicious popular music', you had Johnny Cash on the other shoulder who was saying 'track mud on someone's carpet'. Which was literally one of Johnny's lines in his letters to Bob. And that he made it his business to encourage Dylan to stay bold and to stay on the leading edge, was so wonderful to me. And then Cash also ironically had a band, and somehow got special dispensation to bring his band on the stage at Newport without anyone having a meltdown — which indicates or, I think, reveals, how Bob was a symbol. The reason they didn't want Bob to go electric was not because they hated all music with an electric guitar or a drum, but because he had become the centre pillar, holding up the tent of classical folk music. And if Bob turned, that meant the tent would fall." On Chalamet's Run of Playing Young Men Discovering the Reality of What Fame and Power Means as Paul Atreides and Bob Dylan — and Parallels with His Own Experience Timothée: "I think what's most fascinating about the world of Dune, and of this period of Bob Dylan that we explore in this film from 1961–65, is both were born of the open-mindedness of culture in America in the 1960s. Dune was written in this middle 60s period, it was written on the West Coast, but in a similar time in American history where people were groundbreaking with their creativity and open mindedness. And as far as relating to these roles, it's really not that fascinating to try to dissect or even to talk about, because the ways or parallels are apparent or not apparent, and I have no interesting perspective for anyone beyond the ways they're apparent to you or to me. And the ways they're not apparent are also apparent, because I'm not a space prophet and I'm not a lyrical prophet." On What Fanning Was Excited About, Coming to A Complete Unknown as a Huge Dylan Fan Since She Was a Teenager Elle: "Well, I was excited about multiple things. Jim and I were supposed to, he was supposed to direct me in a film many years ago, and so to be able to — that didn't work, but then he remembered me from that time and so asked me to come on for this. And I'd done a movie with Timmy before, so we were friends. I was huge Bob Dylan nut, and I had a poster of him on my wall and I was a fanatic, so I felt like I kind of manifested this part in in many ways. And obviously, the film was like five, well, more than five, years in the making. We were supposed to film it five years ago and then COVID and the strikes happened. So we had a lot of time to think about it. There were points where we thought it might fall apart — is everyone's schedules going to work? — so I was very happy that the schedules worked out that I was able to stay on and do it. [caption id="attachment_987697" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kate Green/Getty Images for The Walt Disney Company Limited[/caption] And then, the thing is Sylvie, even though her name is different, she really she is Suze Rotolo. So she's not actually a fictionalised character, it's just that her name is changed because Bob Dylan himself, he talked to Jim a lot about the script and he's read the script — I haven't met him or talked to him — but he wanted her name changed. That was the one thing that he wanted, because he felt like she, and this is touched on in the movie a lot, that she was a private person. She never wanted to be a public figure. And Suze has now passed. So there was something, there was a weight to that, that I subconsciously always felt every day. Because I don't know if Bob will ever see this movie, but still if he does one day, I hope that I captured that essence of their first love, because obviously it was a very sacred and precious thing to him. And Suze wrote a novel, a memoir called A Freewheelin' Time, so I read that and had so much information about their relationship. And honestly, scenes from that book are verbatim in our story. So in a lot of ways, her story is very true to the trajectory of their relationship. Dates are changed, she wasn't in Newport in 65, but the fights that they had and the things that they shared together is very true to what the relationship was. Obviously Suze was, I guess, a muse, but I guess more inspired him many times over. There's so many songs he's written about her. And he really wasn't in the political scene, he wasn't into politics until he met Suze, because she was a real political activist at that time in the 60s, in the West Village and the youth movement and civil rights movement, she introduced that to Bob. I knew how special of a figure she was to him, so I wanted to honour that and make it true to first loves around the world that we have. Inevitably they don't work out, but keep 'em in your heart." On What Barbaro Drew From Speaking with Baez — and What It Meant to Her Monica: "I did have the chance to speak with her. I was nervous about reaching out, but I was so absorbed and obsessed with her and her life, and every corner of what I could find in any interview, memoir, documentary, and even within the songs and the way she sang them, that we were starting to film and I started having dreams about her. And I kept dreaming that we were hanging out and we always had a really good time. And so I think my subconscious was telling me that 'it's okay to reach out' — like 'you do understand her, I think, well enough to know that she'll have a conversation with you'. And I felt like it was a very Joan thing to do, to be bold enough to reach out so. So I did, and we spoke on the phone, and hearing the sound of her voice on the phone with me is one of the most-beautiful experiences I think I've ever had. It was emotional. It was everything to me, and she mentioned at one point that she was hoping I would reach out — and that just felt incredibly validating in my decision. And also I felt it made me feel like I really had understood something about her, and that I was on the right path. And the next day I performed 'Don't Think Twice' live, which was my first song live in front of a live audience on a big stage with guitar, with singing — difficult guitar song, too, that I had taken a year to learn with no prior experience. And so I was all bundled up and nervous for that, and then as we were doing takes of it, I just felt something release, and I felt like she had sort of — whether she knew it or not — sort of sent me on my way, and I was able to fully embrace the research I had done, but try to blossom into this character in the movie, and create as her and try things as her. I felt like somehow, even though she didn't give me permission, I felt somehow like I suddenly had it, had that permission to try things as Joan." A Complete Unknown releases in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, January 23, 2025. Images: courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
When word arrived that a new version of Scott Pilgrim was on its way, it felt as inevitable as the person of your dreams having a complicated romantic past. That nothing ever truly dies in pop culture is old news. So is the fact that nothing fades into memory, especially when respawning can capitalise upon a fanbase. Turning Scott Pilgrim into a TV show is the latest example on an ever-growing list of leaps from the big screen to the small; however, sight unseen, making a Scott Pilgrim anime series felt more fitting than most similar jumps. Thanks to manga-style aesthetic that filled Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novels, the video game-esque plot about battling seven evil exes and the cartoon vibe that Edgar Wright brought so engagingly to his 2010 big-screen live-action adaptation, imagining how O'Malley and co-writer/co-producer BenDavid Grabinski (Are You Afraid of the Dark?) — plus Wright (Last Night in Soho) again as an executive producer — could bring that to an eight-part animation was instantly easy. Called Scott Pilgrim Takes Off rather than Scott Pilgrim vs the World, the Netflix series that streams from Friday, November 17 begins as a straightforward Scott Pilgrim anime, introducing the same tale that's been spread across pages and cinemas — and played through via a video game, too — right down to repeated shots and dialogue. Meet Scott Pilgrim again, then. The Michael Cera (Barbie)-voiced twentysomething bassist is once more fated to fall in love with literal dream girl Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ahsoka), who first appears to him as he slumbers, then fight the seven folks who dated her before him. When sparks fly, he also has his own amorous mess to deal with, including that he's dating high-schooler Knives Chau (Ellen Wong, Best Sellers) and remains heartbroken over being dumped by now-superstar singer Envy Adams (Brie Larson, The Marvels). Scott Pilgrim Takes Off's debut episode still has its namesake living with Wallace Wells (Kieran Culkin, Succession) in a one-room Toronto flat, and regularly having the ins and outs of his life recounted by his roommate to his sister Stacey (Anna Kendrick, Alice, Darling). Scott is reliably one third of Sex Bob-Omb! alongside his friend Stephen Stills (Mark Webber, SMILF) and ex Kim Pine (Alison Pill, Hello Tomorrow!), with Stephen's housemate Young Neil (Johnny Simmons, Girlboss) always watching on. And, when he first talks to Ramona IRL, it's at a party thrown by the acerbic Julie Powers (Aubrey Plaza, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre). Then, the band plays a gig that Scott invites Ramona to, and the first of her evil former paramours interrupts Sex Bob-Omb!'s set to throw down — with Matthew Patel (Satya Bhabha, Sense8) still hung up on the girl he dated for a week and a half in seventh grade. Beating Matthew will mean needing to vanquish the rest of Ramona's past loves next: movie star Lucas Lee (Chris Evans, Pain Hustlers), vegan fellow bassist Todd Ingram (Brandon Routh, The Flash), Ramona's college roommate Roxy Richter (Mae Whitman, Good Girls), twins Kyle and Ken Katayanagi (Julian Cihi, Only Murders in the Building), and record-label head Gideon Graves (Jason Schwartzman, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes). Accordingly, just like Kim shouting "we are Sex Bob-Omb!" at the beginning of a set, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off starts with comfortable familiarity. But at the end of the initial instalment, after every detail looks like the graphic novels and film given the anime treatment to the point of feeling uncanny, in drops the first twist. There's reimaginings, and then there's this playful take that adores the comics and movie, pays homage to them, riffs on and even openly references them, but charmingly shirks the idea of being a remake. So, what if that narrative didn't follow the path that viewers have seen before? What if there's a reason that this series' moniker mentions Scott not being around? What if that's just the kick-off point for a brand-new, gorgeously dreamy, wildly inventive and infectiously heartfelt Scott Pilgrim remix? This is still a story spun from a slacker fantasy while bubbling with sincerity and intensity about navigating love and life when you're working out who you are, but every new turn in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off deepens its tale, emotions and delights. It still dwells in a world where Scott orders a delivery from the rollerskating Ramona on a boxy computer (she slings Netflix DVDs, aptly), yet it feels even more divorced from time. Although still abounds with pop culture nods and throwback vibes as well — albeit without zero sounds from The Legend of Zelda, but with added lines of dialogue straight out of 90s tunes — this isn't the exact same Scott Pilgrim. Prepare to get meta, and also for an angle that Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs the World didn't have, putting the focus on Ramona not as the object of eight people's affections but as Scott Pilgrim Takes Off's protagonist. As she endeavours to work out what's going on, she's the audience's guide in a whodunnit (because alongside slotting into the film-to-TV trend like Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, this series embraces its mystery angle as A Murder at the End of the World has also been doing of late, plus plenty of other shows before it). As Ramona's other exes still need confronting, it's her rather than someone she's casually seeing that's wading and soul-searching through her history. If O'Malley, Grabinski and Wright had chosen to call their Netflix effort Ramona Flowers vs the World, it would've fit; that said, not only Ramona but the full slate of characters beyond Scott all benefit from the big shift. Accordingly, while the ex-by-ex structure stays — plus the fight scenes bursting with on-screen onomatopoeia — each episode builds upon Ramona, Wallace, Knives, Kim, Young Neil, Stephen, Julie, Stacey and Envy, as well as Matthew, Lucas, Todd, Roxy, the Katayanagi and Gideon. If re-enlisting the movie's massive supporting cast seemed like a mammoth achievement, expanding their characters' place in the story must've been a prime way to entice everyone back. What makes Ramona's exes tick, hopes and neuroses alike, cannily and cathartically helps shapes the show's sleuthing. More than that, unresolved emotions and struggles colour every battle. Bouncing ingeniously through an array of film genres in a video store-set fray is a particularly memorable and meaningful move. As brought to the screen with Science Saru's now-expectedly beguiling animation (see also: the big screen's Night Is Short, Walk On Girl, Lu Over the Wall, Ride Your Wave and Inu-Oh, all from filmmaker Masaaki Yuasa), different instalments also take their tone and approach from different sources. A Lucas-centric chapter that turns Liam Lynch's 2002 track 'United States of Whatever' into its anthem is a treat, for instance, and another episode is a self-referential marvel. Where Scott Pilgrim vs the World looked outward to dive into its characters, using its gaming and pop-culture nods as shorthand to explain who they are, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off peers inwards to get its mood, themes, intricacies and slant. Like Scott with Ramona, this series is something to tumble head over heels for, and one of the best examples yet of pressing play again on a beloved treasure. Check out the full trailer for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off below: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off streams via Netflix on Friday, November 17.
It's almost that time of year again. Not yet Christmas, the Indian festival of lights, Diwali, has arrived. Also known as Deepavali, the finale of this big festival of lights is kicking off the annual Parramasala festival, which wraps the culture of South Asia around the streets of Parramatta. Parramasala starts with a huge Deepavali Fair at Parramatta Park, featuring the immolation of a Fawkes-like Demon King, and keeps on going with a week of free music at Parramatta's Town Hall Square, itself culminating in a grand finale concert by Spicks and Specks guests the Bombay Royale. A season of film at the Riverside includes proof that Afghan Girls Can Kick, the four cities of London South Asian Film Festival winner I Am and DJ Tigerstyle's 45 minute remix of classic Indian epic Mother India. Tablatronics will show off a fusion of old and new Indian sounds and instruments, Surry Hills media gurus Curiousworks offer to take you to Sri Lanka and home again by boat and if all this excitement proves too much, there's a program of mind and body events to help you get your focus back. Packed with dance, music and occasional urban art, unless you're off to the subcontinent tomorrow it's a hard offer to pass up.
Florentijn Hofman has transformed France's Loire River into a giant bathtub with his enormous rubber duck sculpture. The duck floats from city to city, nodding its cute yellow head at passersby. Before beginning its trek down the Loire, the duck has brought nostalgic smiles to the faces of witnesses worldwide; it may just be impossible not to smile at this strikingly out-of-place, yet adorable creation. Dutch artist Hofman is renowned for his tongue-in-cheek pieces, including a memorable party-hat-sporting frog perched on the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art in Kobe, Japan in 2011. The duck sculpture, constructed of rubber-coated PVC atop a pontoon with a generator, measures at 25 metres high, and 25 metres across. Here's to hoping on of our favourite childhood bath time companions will make a splash in Australasia soon.
Vivid, Semi-Permanent, Head On. May is not the calendar's shrinking violet. On the contrary, May insists you get out and enjoy its insightful lens work, inspiring design and flashing, play-with-me light shows poste haste. Here are five ways to start.
When you're taking your pet pooch to the park in the cooler months, you want your four-legged friend to look its best and be warm. Yes, all puppers are adorable anyway, because that just comes with the territory. But your furry little woofer is certain to dial up its natural cuteness in a piece from Big W's new winter pet range. Whether your dachshund would look dapper in a cosy knitted vest, your jack russell terrier needs a faux fur-trimmed jacket or your shih tzu could do with an 'Always Snackin' sweater, you'll find it on offer in this new line. It's super-affordable, too, with sweaters starting from $9 and jackets from $15. More than 100 items are currently available (including various sizes and colours), spanning collars, harnesses and leads, as well as cable-knit jackets, tartan jumpers and novelty beds. Yes, if you and your pooch are looking to to go on an 'indoor camping adventure' — we've been WFH for a while now — you can get them a teepee: The fashion and accessory line will add further items throughout the year, too, because even your doggo's wardrobe can change with the seasons. While Big W has dubbed the line its 'petwear', so far it's all for dogs. That said, if you can somehow manage to get your cat into a vest or sweater, then you're well-equipped to slip them into something from this range. Big W's petwear is currently available to purchase online, with contactless home delivery and pick up available.
After sold out shows in Berlin and Edinburgh, Australia's very own boylesque troupe is administering a hot injection of sass to Sydney Festival with Briefs: The Second Coming. Part cabaret, part variety show, Briefs is like an up-late version of Cirque de Soleil but the performers wear far fewer clothes and have much tighter rigs. Sip a glass of bubbly, while beautifully bearded ringmastress Shivannah presents a glitter-fuelled mixed bag of acts including incredible acrobatics, bedazzled barely-there costumes, and a whole lot of sequin-clad genitalia. The show is laugh out loud funny with a sharp political edge as Shivannah quips, "This isn't a show about being gay, it's a show about human beings." Briefs: The Second Coming is the perfect show for a boozy night out with friends — there's a sexy birdbath, there's a glitter cannon and after that second aerial act… there's not a dry seat in the house. This is one of 15 next-level events to see at Sydney Festival. Check out the whole list. Images: Prudence Upton.
Beloved cocktail and whisky bar Eau de Vie has added a new midweek event to their roster. On Wednesday nights, you'll set out on a flight of fancy over a selection of cheeses matched with drams pulled from the bar's 400-strong whisky collection. The evenings kick off from 6pm. For $40, you'll get tot sample five whiskies during the evening, chosen to match closely with the week's selection of cheeses from the Eau de Vie deli. The staff of whisky experts will be on hand to talk whisky fans through the pairings and you'll want to book in advance to ensure you nab a seat.
Sorry Jamie and Nigella, every other cookbook is now irrelevant. Based on the actually genius blog that we've somehow only just discovered, Thug Kitchen gives you the full rundown on clean eating with a satisfyingly foul mouth. These are recipes for newbies to healthy living; people like us who need a proper kick in the arse to finish our plate of kale or quinoa. Though the book itself doesn't hit our shelves until next month, the trailer has just been released. And wow, it is so many types of great. Ringing a little too true for those of us scoffing our faces with two-minute noodles and artery-clogging burgers, this idea is crazy enough to actually work. Who knew profanity would pique our interest in healthy food so quickly? And here's the kicker: the food is actually pretty great. Their recipes online include Pina Colada ice cream, peach pancakes (presented in comic form) and dishes so tasty they threaten to completely "change the noodle game". Putting an end to those "sugar shakes" and "meat sweats" you've become so familiar with, the Thug Kitchen cookbook will only be available in the UK, Canada and Australia next month. Because of course we'd be interested in something that swears this much. Remember What the Fuck Should I Make For Dinner? We basically lived off that. Keep an eye on the Thug Kitchen Facebook page for a specific release date but until then, here are a few bits and pieces to get you in the right mindset. Time to get your shit together, Australia.
Blockbusters like The Hobbit may sell out screenings on Boxing Day, but no film session sells out like a St George OpenAir Cinema session sells out. There's something bewitching about the opportunity to watch a big screen and Sydney Harbour's landmarks in one sightline. Advanced tickets go within hours. Fortunately, their limited door sales provide some hope. Tracks, starring Mia Wasikowska, has been announced as the opener for St George Openair Cinema 2014. It's based on the epic true story of adventurer and memoirist Robyn Davidson, who walked solo from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean in the late '70s, becoming an accidental celebrity in the process. Given that the film's official release is set for March 6, the Friday, January 10, screening at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair is reason for serious excitement. The dynamic program features another 14 premieres and previews. One of the major drawcards is bound to be Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, scheduled to screen on Thursday, January 30, which tells the late, great leader's story, based on his autobiography, with Idris Elba starring as Mandela and Naomie Harris as his wife, Winnie. On the other hand, Thursday, January 16, will see the telling of a true story of quite a different kind, when a preview of Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street screens. The film recounts the tale of Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), who spent his twenties bathing in luxury after founding successful firm Stratton Oakmont, before spiralling into corruption, power lust and drugs. Then there’s Jean-Marc Vallee’s Dallas Buyers Club, another real-to-life work, portraying the promiscuous, homophobic Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), whose attitudes change dramatically when he’s diagnosed with AIDS and told he has only 30 days to live. It’s screening on Friday, January 24. If Tracks leaves you craving another dose of Wasikowska, then catch her on Sunday, January 19, in Only Lovers Left Alive. In a vampire story directed by Jim Jarmusch (Mystery Train, Coffee and Cigarettes), she plays a wild younger sister who brings chaos into the world of her older sibling, Eve (Tilda Swinton), a super-cool vampire who’s been living a debauched yet blissful existence with her devoted rock guitarist boyfriend (Tom Hiddleston) for hundreds of years. While we’re discussing unconventional romances, Spike Jonze’s (Being John Malkovich, Where the Wild Things Are) funny, futuristic Her promises a few surprises. It depicts the story of a sensitive writer (Joaquin Phoenix) who falls in love with a female voice (Scarlett Johansson) via an advanced operating system. And if you've ever wanted to see Woody Allen act as a pimp, then John Turturro's Fading Gigolo has you covered. European cinema gets a look in, with the spectacular Italian film The Great Beauty, one of the most acclaimed works on this year’s Cannes program. Disillusioned journalist, Jep (Toni Servillo), whose dreams of becoming a novelist remain unfulfilled, spends his nights partying aimlessly with Rome’s elites, until an unexpected event alters his perspective. Plus, there’s a couple of French romantic comedies: Regis Roinsard’s ‘50s-style directorial debut, Populaire about a champion typist (Deborah Francois) who inspires her charismatic boss’s (Romain Duris) competitive streak, and Cedric Kaplisch’s Chinese Puzzle, which visits both France and New York while exploring the complications of sperm donation. If action and drama are more your bag, there’s Jason Reitman’s Labor Day, Daniel Schechter’s Life of Crime (based on Elmore Leonard’s novel of the same name) and J.C. Chandor’s All Is Lost, starring Robert Redford.
'Survival Day', 'Australia Day', and 'Invasion Day': these are just a few of the ways Australia's annual national holiday has been characterised. Holding a public holiday and national celebration on January 26 is understandably controversial: it marks the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, when Indigenous Australians were dispossessed of lands they had inhabited for tens of thousands of years previously. However, it is still a public holiday, so we've put together a list of ways you can spend your day off. [caption id="attachment_537982" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Barangaroo Delivery Authority.[/caption] ATTEND A MORNING CEREMONY This year, Barangaroo's January 26 program will begin with the symbolic WugulOra Morning Ceremony – held at Barangaroo rather than the Sydney Opera House for the first time. The ceremony aims to acknowledge Australia's shared history and will include dance performances from the NSW Public Schools Aboriginal Dance Company and the Jannawi Dance Clan, a young, community-based Indigenous dance company. The Kari Choir will perform the national anthem in local language, and there will be another performance of the song Budjari Guyalungalung Baraya-la ('Let's Sing Good Dreaming'), sung by 250 voices. The location also sets attendees up with a fantastic view of the Aboriginal and Australian flag raising ceremony on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. ATTEND A RALLY Rallies addressing concerns from the date of Australia's national celebration to broader issues faced by Indigenous Australians, such as the treatment of juveniles in prison, are set to happen in major cities across the country. In Sydney, Fighting in Resistance Equally (FIRE) is hosting an Invasion Day rally. They have planned to start at 11am at the Block in Redfern before marching to Hyde Park. One of FIRE's objectives in holding the event is to "resist the ongoing war against Aboriginal people." [caption id="attachment_607159" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Australia Day Parramatta.[/caption] FIND THE BIG PARTIES AROUND TOWN Many people also know January 26 as Hottest 100 Day — that fateful day when triple j announces the best 100 songs of the previous year, as voted by its listeners. While many people host private Hottest 100 parties, there are plenty of places to spend the countdown with like-minded music lovers. This year, the City of Parramatta is hosting its own, huge Hottest 100 Party in Parramatta Park, with artists like L-Fresh the Lion, Olympia and Froyo set to play with the countdown streaming between sets. There will also be another 'Australia Day Party' stage featuring Eskimo Joe, Thundamentals and Thandi Phoenix. Share in the Big BBQ (90 metres of meat) at both events, plus amusement rides and backyard cricket games. There are also pubs all around Sydney hosting their own Hottest 100 Parties, like the Annandale Hotel, Newtown Hotel and World Bar. HIT UP A FESTIVAL Yabun Festival is Sydney's major Survival Day event. Held in Victoria Park, Camperdown, each year, the festival "[seeks] to commemorate, bring attention to, and celebrate the survival of Australia's Indigenous cultures in the face of European invasion." The festival will include over 100 market stalls and performances across two stages from artists such as Terra Firma, Marlene Cummins, Loren Ryan, Lucky Luke and Salt Lake Band (Groote Eylandt). The drug and alcohol-free event will be on from 10am-7pm with free entry, though they ask for a gold coin donation. You'll also find a huge electronic music festival happening on Sydney's Goat Island, with music fromNina Las Vegas, Ngaiire, Basenji, Kuren, Adi Toohey and Ariane, and food from sneaker-and-chicken connoisseurs Butter and Glebe's modern Lebanese joint Thievery. WATCH A CLASSIC AUSTRALIAN FILM Want to watch an Aussie classic on Australia Day? Ozflix, the first video-on-demand service dedicated to Australian films, will launch at 6pm on January 26 with a pay-per-view library of around 250 titles. With approximately 2000 Aussie-made films in existence, the streaming platform aims to become a one-stop-shop for local movies. "We are committed to making each and every Australian feature film available," says Ozflix CEO Ron V. Brown, who has been involved in the Australian screen industry since the 1970s. That includes the first works crafted in the 1900s, the newest releases, and everything from Newsfront to Strictly Ballroom, The Castle, Ten Canoes, Wolf Creek, 52 Tuesdays, Samson and Delilah and The Dressmaker. Of course, Stan and Netflix have their fair share of Aussie content too. Want to get out in that balmy Aussie air and see a newer local blockbuster instead? St George Openair Cinema is showing Hacksaw Ridge, while Moonlight Cinema, Sydney Hills Outdoor Cinema and Movies by the Boulevard are showing Red Dog: True Blue (which Ben & Jerry's Openair Cinemas Bondi and Sunset Cinema in North Sydney are showing on January 27). FIND THE BEST PICNIC SPOT IN THE CITY Gather your crew or call up your best bud and have yourself a picnic to end all picnics. Sydney's home to a bountiful array of perfect picnic and balmy barbecue spots, from beaches to coves, national parks to foreshores. Check out these fabulous Sydney BYO barbecue locations and picnic plots. Australian barbecue is a big deal, and though Aussies may be known for their sizzling cooking technique, we by no means limit ourselves to the standard backyard barbecue nosh. Sydneysiders are lucky enough to be surrounded by barbecue styles from around the world, from slow-cooked Texan barbecue to Korean-style to Japanese yakitori to Brazilian churrasco — so hunt down a recipe and celebrate Australia's cultural cornucopia of cuisine on your own hotplate. ATTEND A TRADITIONAL SMOKING CEREMONY Smoking ceremonies are an ancient Indigenous custom in which smoke is produced by burning native plants. It is believed that the smoke has cleansing properties and can ward off bad spirits. This year, local elders and the Koomurri Aboriginal Dance Troupe are hosting a smoke ceremony on January 26 at Campbells Cove in the Rocks. The flame will be lit the night before at Belmore Park and stored on Goat Island, before being taken to the Walumil lawns at Barangaroo for the WugulOra Indigenous Morning Ceremony. Following this, the flame will be brought to Campbells Cove where dances and songs will be performed throughout the day, from 10.30am to 4pm. At 7.30pm, the Smoking Ceremony will also travel to the Sydney Opera House for the concert held there. APPRECIATE THE CITY'S BEAUTIFUL BEACHES Australia is lucky enough to have many of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and (arguably) the best of those are in Sydney. A day off work in the middle of summer is the perfect opportunity to tick a few more of Australia's stunning beaches off your bucket list, and appreciate the natural beauty of land we're lucky enough to live on. Not sure which beaches to hit up? We have you covered with our lists of Sydney's best beaches, Sydney's best harbour beaches and, probably the best option on such a popular beach-going day as January 26, Sydney's best secluded beaches. BRUSH UP ON YOUR AUSTRALIAN HISTORY January 26 is supposed to be about celebrating Australia, so it's good to know how we got to where we are now. Start your education by visiting some of Sydney's historic sites and museums. Entry to some of these — the Hyde Park Barracks, Museum of Sydney, Justice and Police Museum, Susannah Place Museum, Vaucluse House, Elizabeth Farm in Rosehill (about 45 minutes' drive out of the CBD) and Rouse Hill House and Farm (about an hour's rive out of the CBD) – will be 50 percent off thanks to Sydney Living Museums. On January 25, head to the Australian Museum for Culture Up Late, which will be hosting 'Ngalu Warawi Mari – We Stand Strong', a night highlighting "Aboriginal resistance, protest and culture." If you're feeling more present-minded, check out ABC Radio National's podcast 'The Real Thing', "a podcast in search of the real Australia" highlighting individual people and stories. CHEER ON NOBLE DOGS ON PADDLEBOARDS Every year on January 26, the dogs of Sydney take to the beach with their finest owners and make them paddle around the harbour — chuck in a ball and the role reversal would be complete. We are, of course, referring to the Every Man and His Dog paddle boarding event held annually by Watsons Bay Stand Up Paddle Boarding. There's a number of events set to occur over the day, which starts with registration at 7am. First up, there are races for adults and kids alike sans-dog (we're not sure why these are happening). There are two races including dogs — the 150-metre spring and the treasure hunt, where the dogs race to find as many toys as possible — as well as a competition to find the best-dressed human-dog duo.
