How many times have you booked a relaxing holiday away, only to find yourself unable to disconnect from your phone and not actually relaxed at all? Well, pause that infinite scroll and make your next escape an off-the-grid adventure. by hitting up one of the best tiny cabins in Australia. A stay at one of these remote cabins in Australia will leave you no choice but to chuck your phone in your bag and forget about it till you're back in mobile range, utterly relaxed and refreshed. We're doing this for your own good. From pristine beaches and bountiful wine regions to alpine hideaways and bustling country towns, there are a wealth of tiny cabins in Australia to explore at any time of year. Recommended reads: The Best Glamping Sites in Australia The Best Dog Friendly Accommodations in Australia [caption id="attachment_720725" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Riparide[/caption] VICTORIA Tea Tree Hill Beach Shack was created with all the important creature comforts in mind — it's a stone's throw from the beach, plus it has an indoor (and outdoor) fireplace and an outdoor bath. Set in stunning Venus Bay, this Victorian tiny cabin is surrounded by stellar secluded beaches and coastal landscapes but also features luxurious amenities and top-quality furnishings to lounge on. It's perfect for those who want to ensconce themselves in the worlds of fishing, stand-up paddleboarding and staring at a fire contemplating life. Plus, Wilsons Prom is just an hour or so away, so you can easily head out for a day trip. And upon your return, you can snuggle in beside the fire with a complimentary whisky or port in hand. [caption id="attachment_720717" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Airbnb[/caption] NORTHERN TERRITORY Thirty kilometres from Alice Springs, Ooraminna Station Homestead is about as far off the beaten track as they come. Set on 600 acres of red Aussie outback, the small homestead lies between the MacDonnell Ranges and the Simpson Desert and has four cabins available to rent — the Stone Cottage, the Timber Cabin, the Tin Cabin and the Log Cabin. Bushwalks, bird watching and camping under the stars are optional extras, but very much encouraged. Wander around the station and you'll come across an old movie set, where you can pretend you're in your own spaghetti western, a billabong, cattle and plenty of native wildlife. And if you're worried about getting lost during your stay, in lieu of Google Maps, there's resident dog Scruffy to guide you through your off-the-grid exploring. NEW SOUTH WALES Essentially a very, very fancy caravan, the stunning JR's Ecohut holds two people and everything you and your travel buddy will need for a weekend in luxurious seclusion — including jaw-dropping 360-degree views of the Kimo valley. Although teeny tiny, the space is well-designed and highly functional, set with a bed, dedicated workspace, kitchen, heating as well as an indoor fireplace. You can sleep snug under the stars, overlooking the 7000 acre Kimo farm and Murrambidgee river flats. Plus, brekkie is included. Just look at it, there's no doubt it is one of the best tiny homes in Australia. [caption id="attachment_720720" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Airbnb[/caption] QUEENSLAND Known for its glorious sun and lush rainforests, Queensland and its northern parts are well worth the trip, and this tiny Rainforest Creek Cabin makes it even more so. Smack bang in the middle of a rainforest, with birds singing at you and a stream bubbling nearby, it's the type of place where you'll close your eyes and think you're on a yoga retreat in Bali. There's no internet, no reception and no screens in sight at this tiny cabin in Queensland — just a bed, kitchenette, a deck with glorious views and an outdoor shower and toilet. So, you're getting back to basics in the Australian tiny home set among some lush tropical surrounds. Located just a six-minute drive from the artistic little town of Maleny, with a few restaurants, coffee shops and galleries to poke your head into, it's a great spot for those wanting the best of both worlds. TASMANIA If it's rustic, seaside vibes you're after, Tasmania should be at the top of your list. Worth crossing rough seas for, Swansea is a town with under 900 residents and a seriously chill coastal vibe. And it's in this little town where you'll find the quaint Scarecrow Cottage. Built in the 19th century, this tiny cabin in Tasmania features a cosy indoor fireplace and it's completely wifi-less. Plus, you get complimentary wine and chocolates upon arrival. What's more, if you can pull yourself away from the fireplace, it's just a casual five-minute stroll to Swansea's shops and historic colonial buildings. If you're up for a hike, Freycinet National Park is just a short drive away, too. Top image: JR's Ecohut.
Whatever Frightened Rabbit are afraid of, we should all be glad that it clearly isn't being excellent at making music or coming to Australia. Having graced our shores last year for Groovin' the Moo and a run of sold-out sideshows, the Scottish indie rockers are back again to continue their festival-sideshow combination. After performing their heartfelt anthems at St. Jerome's Laneway Festival in Sydney, the band will be gracing the Metro Theatre on Thursday, February 6, for an intimate set that is not to be missed. Make sure that you pack your singing voices as well as your dancing shoes as the band's choruses demand to be chanted until the Metro transforms into a cavern of uplifting sound. With such a short gap between their last two visits, it could be a while until we see them again. Even if that wasn't the case, don't be a frightened rabbit and miss this. https://youtube.com/watch?v=KY4j8Ow-CTs
A year is an excruciatingly long time in politics, especially following the mountain of crises, scandals and impasses that have produced 2009's headlines. Now in its tenth year, the Wharf Revue jams all 365 of these days into a musical vice and squeezes them down into a rich, highly-concentrated sauce of comedic tang.There is an irony to this year's show, given that the stock market crash of 1929 killed the golden age of revues. But, valiantly, the regular team of Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott joins with Helen Dallimore to remix our hard times with good music. Will they prove that the GFC can be finger-lickin' funny? Only time and a ticket will tell...NOTE: Extended season runs from December 9th-12th at Sydney Theatre.Phillip Scott & Helen Dallimore in Sydney Theatre Company’s The Wharf Revue: Pennies from Kevin Photo by Tracey Schramm
Opening in January 2020, Mrs Palmer didn't have much time to establish itself in Darlinghurst before the lockdown hit and cafes were forced to close to dine-in customers. As the sandwich shop and margarita bar was still allowed to offer takeaway, though, it did just that — with a helping hand from some of the city's best chefs. Mrs Palmer teams up with top chefs to create limited-edition sandwiches, with each one available for takeaway for just two weeks. Past contributors have included Josh Raine, executive chef at Japanese fine diner Tetsuya's, who whipped up a burnt burger cheese bechamel, smoked bacon and kombo fried chicken number, and Aria's executive chef Joel Bickford, with a fermented chilli, wombok, pickled mushroom and fried shallot sando. Each limited-edition sandwich costs between $13–25 depending on what is inside it and is usually unveiled on Mrs Palmer's Instagram in advance. If the fortnightly sandwich special doesn't quite tickle your fancy, the shop also has a falafel sanga with garlic sauce ($11), one with crispy pork belly ($14), The Cure ($13) with three different cured meats (wagyu pastrami, spicy salami and mortadella) and a riff on a parmigiana ($14). There are also two salads and four types of fries (including tater tots and haloumi fries). When you visit, be sure to take note of the door to the left of the counter. It doesn't lead to a stock room, as you may assume, but to a tiny, dimly lit margarita bar. La Farmacia's cocktail menu is split into four types of margarita: classic, spicy, fruity and botanical. All up, there are 16 to try — ranging from a mind-numbing Carolina reaper-infused tequila tipple to a mezcal and hibiscus tea option. To pair with your marg is a selection of Mexican-style snacks, including ceviche, cactus salad, flame-grilled corn and, on Tuesdays, $2.50 tacos. Images: Terence-Kent Ow
Sitting in front of a big screen isn't a passive experience. Whether you're watching a gorgeous Japanese animated delight such as Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo or viewing one of Martin Scorsese's standouts like 1985 gem After Hours, you're engaging with the film before you. It's flickering through your brain, getting you thinking and also evoking your emotions. Movies can make us feel everything from joyous to angry — and it's this process that drives the Art Gallery of New South Wales' new free film season Zany, Cute, Interesting. The three words that make up the lineup's title might pop into your head while you're watching your way through the program. Or, you could have other feelings about the aforementioned flicks, plus Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums and Frederick Wiseman's documentary Ex Libris: The New York Public Library. Other standouts on the bill include 1938 classic Bringing Up Baby, 2014's distinctive The Wonders and 2019's engaging Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project. Zany, Cute, Interesting's lineup screens on Wednesdays at 2pm and 7.15pm, and on Sundays at either 1.30pm or 2pm, running through until Sunday, May 16. Tickets are free, but bookings are recommended. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQRawYZl-ls
I imagine The Shipment to be a little like watching Eddie Murphy's Raw: hilarious and uncomfortable in the extreme. The difference is that the writer in this case, Young Jean Lee, is no black stand-up comedian but a Korean-born, Brooklyn-based, experimental theatre-maker. A self-described avant-garde artist, Lee's method of working is to force herself to write plays about the things she least wants to write about, demanding a constant extension of herself and her practice. With an awareness of her own discomfort with black identity politics, Lee has created a work that bends, twists and subverts our tendency to see things in racial terms — in 'black and white'. But don't mistake serious intentions for a serious show: The Shipment won't disappoint Murphy fans either. Inappropriate laughs and language abound, not to mention a shuck and jive dance scene. Lee works as both playwright and director with her ensemble cast, resulting in a piece of theatre which is as energetic and determined as she is. The testament to this is that since opening in Brooklyn in April 2008 the cast have barely stopped touring.
How much of your work week do you spend counting down to the weekend? Too much, if our experience is anything to go by. With an overabundance of exceptional dining options dotting the Sydney CBD, the depressing desk-bound salad should be a thing of the past. Pay a visit to one of these CBD lunch hot spots instead and bring a little weekend to your weekday. LOTUS DUMPLING BAR Dumplings are a sure-fire lunch option when you need to inhale something delicious but be back at your desk within 16 minutes. And there are plenty dumpling houses that do this — but then there's Lotus Dumpling Bar, a glamorous 270-seater dining room with pretty blue day lounges and brasserie chairs, attentive wait staff and bathrooms so lovely you'll make the effort to go twice. It's easy to be a little sceptical when you notice that eight dumplings are going to set you back $25. I mean that's a banquet for two in Ashfield right there. But, thankfully they're good — and by good, we mean some of the best we've ever had, in a long and illustrious career of dumpling eating. You can't have a bad afternoon after a lunch spent here. CHOPHOUSE Hiding on Bligh Street among office buildings and convenience stores, Chophouse is one of the finest steakhouses Sydney has to offer. Designed as a throw-back to the grand steakhouses of old New York, the place exudes a refined elegance without any of the attendant pretension you might expect. Make an excuse to your boss before you depart for lunch, so that you can get comfortable in one of the stately leather and dark wood booths for a long and satisfying feast. Although there are plenty of salads and light options like a scallop ceviche with lime, chilli and blackened corn ($21), Chophouse is at its heart a cavern for carnivores. The 300g Grasslands New York striploin is cooked like a dream and served with the creamiest of mashed potatoes and a deliciously rich red wine jus, while the lamb mixed grill ($64 for two) will stimulate an unwinnable argument about whether the tender meat is best enjoyed in rack, rump or snag form, and with which of the three interesting house sauces. PABLO & RUSTY'S For a CBD with a cafe on every corner, it can be surprisingly difficult to find quality coffee in Sydney unless you know where to look. Enter Pablo & Rusty's. Their keen palate extends beyond the cup to the table, with a fresh and colourful lunch spread that's a perfect prelude to the ideal drop. The lunch menu ranges from the light and seasonal — like a spring salad of broad beans, asparagus, witlof, Corella pear and Sirbone pecorino drizzled with citrus dressing ($16) — to heartier options like a Hay Valley free range lamb shoulder braised in lemon, sage and garlic, and served atop a bed of quinoa tossed with pomegranate seeds, almond shards and marinated feta ($22). With its exposed bricks, scattered plant life, market produce and trendy coffee options, like a fresh cold brew served over ice with a sparkling water chaser, Pablo & Rusty's brings a slice of the Sunday morning cafe scene directly to your weekday. THE BRIDGE ROOM It's hard to find the right words to describe the Bridge Room. Stylish. Enchanting. Unique. From the moment the gleaming glass door to the Heritage Listed office building opens to a warm smile from Sunny Lusted, partner of chef Ross Lusted, you know this is going to be a special culinary encounter. The room has an intimate, exclusive feel, with inspired decor. John Dory is cured unexpectedly in sake, the gentle flavours of the fish complemented by the soft smokiness of a soft milk pudding and the crunch of a rock kelp crisp ($30). A fleshy Hapuka fillet is drizzled with rich sweet corn butter, dotted with nameko mushrooms and topped with a crispy potato shard, accompanied by sweet young lettuce roasted on the kitchen's signature robata grill ($44). Whether you're celebrating an important birthday or a big win for the team, the Bridge Room is the most special of special occasion dining in the Sydney CBD. MADAME NHU For a cheap, fast lunch that doesn't compromise on flavour or style, you can't go past Madame Nhu. Styled in kooky homage to a Vietnamese-French terrace house, complete with vintage outdoor furniture and hanging tropical plants, Madame Nhu beckons you from its little corner of the Galeries Victoria food court to step away from your work day and into the bustling back streets of old Saigon. The emphasis here is on pho, the rich, herbed noodle soup that is the Vietnamese national dish, with six variations on offer. The signature dac biet pho ($11.90) features three styles of beef and mountains of deliciously slipperly rice noodles in a flavoursome beef broth, served with sprigs of fresh basil, bean sprouts, lemon wedges and freshly sliced chilli. No diasporal Vietnamese restaurant would be complete without rice paper rolls, and here too Madame Nhu delivers: honey-infused silken tofu is rolled up with fresh vegetables and rice noodles for a satisfying snack ($8.90). GOWINGS BAR & GRILL Your passage into Gowings Bar & Grill can't help but make you feel like you're about to do something your mother wouldn't approve of. It begins when you're shown into the lobby of the QT Sydney hotel by a self-described Director of Chaos clad in black leather and sporting a bright red bob. The feeling grows as you make your way through the hotel reception, complete with dark walls mounted by plasma screens that feature pouting lips and posing legs. From there, a bright neon sign directs you up a short flight of stairs to the restaurant, and it's difficult to know what to expect. In fact, Gowings Bar & Grill is a classically elegant establishment, offering an impressive range of tasty, French-inspired options. Preserved lemon lifts rather than overpowering the delicate tartare of yellowfin tuna ($18), while salads in entree and main sizes showcase interesting ingredients like ashen chevre, white cooked organic chicken and hand-picked spanner crab. The rotisserie offers a choice of three birds, our pick of which is the half crisp spiced duck, cooked to perfection and served with Paris mash and steamed black cabbage ($44). BRIDGE ST GARAGE A themed American-style diner, Bridge Street Garage has absolutely nailed its genre. With a lime green car body hanging suspended from the ceiling, American major league baseball playing on the screen above the bar and a bright, retro mural decorating the length of one of the restaurant's walls, the part old-school mechanic, part sports-bar theming works a treat and reads as charming rather than overdone. The food plays its role perfectly: stereotypically American and bursting with all the right flavours. A set of four mini burger sliders ($23) lets you try two of the four main burgers on offer: the Garage Burger features a dry-aged Angus patty with lettuce, tomato, sweet beetroot, pineapple, bacon, pickles and sauces in a toasted brioche bun. The mains list travels from New York to New Orleans to Mexico and down to Argentina, with an impressive range of steaks, ribs and sandwiches that make decisions tricky. Whatever your choice, the crunchy onion rings ($8) and house-baked corn bread ($12) will make the perfect sidekicks. GLASS BRASSERIE Luke Mangan's Glass Brasserie is the full package. For one thing, the space it inhabits in the Sydney Hilton is stunning. Floor-to-ceiling glass windows bathe diners in natural light and provide a pretty view over the Queen Victoria Building. The menu opens with an appealing range of tapas dishes, our pick of which are the duck croquettes ($14). Next come pan-fried gnocchi with corn, asparagus, zucchini, parmesan and lemon thyme ($27). These fluffy pockets are perfectly textured and suffer none of the dryness that can let down this kind of dish elsewhere. The mains are varied and intriguing, ranging from a zesty Thai snapper fillet to confit duck with grilled mango, fennel and marsala sauce. But the clear winner for us is the dessert. Mangan's signature liquorice parfait ($20), which combines a dense liquorice semifreddo with lime prepared in three ways, is just impossibly perfect for the liquorice lover. Whether you come for a business lunch or a personal celebration, Glass Brasserie will have you planning your next visit before you've walked out the door. SUSHI HOTARU "YES FOOD 'eat' happiness," says the Sushi Hotaru website, and we couldn't agree more. With two outlets, one in the Galeries Victoria and a recently opened sister restaurant on Bathurst Street, Sushi Hotaru is what every sushi train experience should be: fast, varied and consistently excellent. All the original favourites are there: gorgeous sliced sashimi, crispy chicken sushi and lots of great vegetarian options. But Sushi Hotaru offers more than your usual sushi train, with interesting variations on classics and intriguing new options coming round with every rotation of the convoy. Watch the sushi chefs take a blowtorch to your salmon nigiri for a perfectly smoky, seared finish. At $3 a plate, you'll feel at ease trying every interesting concoction that tickles your fancy. It won't be long before you find yourself waiting impatiently for your next "Irasshaimase!" BARRAFINA In a dining scene where the word 'tapas' is rapidly becoming genericised, it is increasingly exciting when a tapas restaurant genuinely brings the taste of Spain. Barrafina is a great example of the latter, with an authenticity that transports you to Madrid's trendy, student-filled laneway bars. With a cute yellow and white theme to the decor and a quirky music-focused mural decorating the feature wall, the venue is pleasing to the eye; its long list of pintxos and tapas make it equally enticing for the tastebuds. Crusty slices of baguette rubbed with tomato and laden with shaved zucchini and manchego ($8) are an excellent place to start, and quaint cups of lime-cured yellow fin tuna ceviche with eschallots, basil, avocado, chilli and micro herbs ($9) make for a pleasing chaser. The menu progresses through to more substantial options, like veal and ricotta meatballs with pinenuts and potatoes ($12) and a set of delectable seared Queensland scallops served on morcilla and apple puree ($19). View all Sydney Restaurants.
Hot Young Female Artist meets mysterious but alluring stranger. Said stranger-cum-muse sparks creative rush but causes upset between Nina (artist) and Sam (her boyfriend). “An electrifying new Australian play about passion, fidelity and the creative mind”. Flightfall is the first full-length play by new Australian playwright Emily Calder. It features a swathe of young acting talent - Augusta Miller, James Elliot, Ryan Corr and Alexandra Fisher - and is supported by a host of super production people. Hot Aussie talent at the Old Fitz with a beer and a laksa. Um, yes please. *Preview & Cheap Tuesday: General $17, Beer Laksa & Show (BLS) $25
Sydney Festival 2020 launches this week, and with it comes one massive program of arts and culture. Redfern's multi-arts precinct Carriageworks is once again part of the city-wide festival, and, this year, it's bringing Sydneysiders four immersive and illuminating artworks — all of which are free to the public. Installations by artists Rebecca Baumann, Daniel Boyd and Kate Mitchell all launch on Wednesday January 8, with an additional installation by Reko Rennie opening in late January. While each artist presents a distinctly different work, they all speak to a common theme — the exploration of human interconnectivity using light — and highlight the history and architecture of Carriageworks. [caption id="attachment_756739" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rebecca Baumann, Radiant Flux, 2020, Carriageworks. Image: Zan Wimberley.[/caption] Rebecca Baumann's Radiant Flux, running until June 14, sees every glass surface and skylight of the building's exterior covered in dichroic film. The luminous film acts as a sundial and changes colours — from blue to yellow and magenta — when viewed from different angles and at different times of day. Baumann is known for her spellbinding kinetic sculptures and Radiant Flux promises to be one of her most hypnotising. Running alongside Baumann's installation are Daniel Boyd's Video Works and All Auras Touch by Kate Mitchell, both of which will remain on displace until March 1, 2020. Boyd, a Kudjala/Gangalu artist, has brought together three large-scale video installations: A Darker Shade of Dark #1-4 (2012), History is Made at Night (2013) and Yamani (2018). These videos will be projected across the walls of the gallery with the artist's signature circular lens, which Boyd uses to "fragment and disrupt Eurocentric perspectives of history", creating a cosmos of colour and composition — and all set to a score by DJ duo Canyons (Ryan Grieve and Leo Thomson). [caption id="attachment_756741" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kate Mitchell, All Auras Touch, 2020, Carriageworks. Image: Zan Wimberley.[/caption] Mitchell's work uses colour in a slightly different way: to "present a snapshot of contemporary Australia". The artist is photographing one representative for each of the 1023 officially recognised jobs within the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations — all in an attempt to capture the occupations' overlapping 'auras'. Colourful photos taken using the Aura Camera 6000, an electromagnetic field imaging camera invented in the 1970s, are blown up on the gallery's walls and will continually be added to throughout the exhibition — so you'll want to plan a return visit. The installation aims to understand the relationship between 'what we do' and 'who are are'. Finally, Reko Rennie's Remember Me will launch at the end of January (with the exact date still TBC) and act as a year-long reminder of the ongoing impact of Australia's invasion. Coinciding with the 250th year since Captain James Cook's arrival at Kamay Botany Bay, the 25-metre-long and five-metre-high installation recognises frontier wars, massacres and the survival of Australia's First Nations peoples. Similarly to Rennie's other works, Remember Me references his identity as a Kamilaroi man, but it's also one of the artist's most minimal works to date. [caption id="attachment_756738" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Reko Rennie, Remember Me, 2020, Carriageworks. Image: Zan Wimberley.[/caption] Rebecca Baumann: Radiant Flux runs from January 8–June 14, Daniel Boyd: Video Works runs from January 8–March 1, Kate Mitchell: All Auras Touch runs from January 8–March 1 and Reko Rennie: Remember Me runs from late January 2020–January 2021 at Carriageworks, 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh. Top: Daniel Boyd, Video Works, 2020, Carriageworks. Images by Zan Wimberley.
This post is presented by the All New Toyota Corolla Sedan. There's plenty of fun to be had in this city each week, but there's only a small handful of truly fresh urban adventures to be had. We've partnered with Toyota to bring you a series showcasing the very best of these shiny-new experiences in Sydney. Presented by the All New Toyota Corolla Sedan, these are our picks to put you on the road to a lifetime of goodtimes. Now your only challenge is getting to them all. This week, we recommend the New Zealand trip you don't have to fly to, the yacht club to call your own, the most stylish crab races this decade and the strange fairground on Sydney's Heritage island. Eat: Seawall Walsh Bay may be a swish city playground waiting to happen, but it's not there yet. The just-opened Seawall Bar and Restaurant — with its deck stretching to the water's edge, yacht club style — is one vote of confidence for the spot. Executive chef James Watson has designed a suitably seafood-focused menu, with Bondi Hardware's Dion Green rattling the pans day to day. Drinks there come from UK Bartender of the Year, Kieran Bailey (Sugar Lounge, Manly), who puts a twist on classics from Britain, the Amalfi Coast and the Caribbean (perhaps because that would be a good route for your fantasy yacht to take). For now, this looks like one harbourside spot where you can escape the crowds and practise being a real person of leisure. Shop 6/17 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay Drink: Urban Vineyard For the first week of April, The Winery in Surry Hills will be tranformed into a mini-Queenstown. There’ll be an alpine-esque makeover, passionate producers and a handpicked selection of wines and gastronomic specialties. As well as a series of dinners and Wine 101 wine school, the Break Out Menu will be available all week, showcasing Amisfield Bistro head chef Jay Sherwood's signature creations, matched with wine from several Central Otago wineries, including Amisfield, Mount Edward, Gibbston Valley, Two Paddocks, Peregrine and Valli. The Winery , 285A Crown Street, Surry Hills See: 19th Biennale of Sydney Right now on Cockatoo Island, there is a ghost train running through the Dog Leg Tunnel. A ghost train (!) running through the Dog Leg Tunnel (!!). That's because the 19th Biennale of Sydney is on, and artists are wonderful people who like to realise those amorphous desires that we all have deep down but can't give expression to alone. This is a Biennale that really gets Sydney's obsession with Cockatoo Island, which now looks like something of a Heritage-listed fun park. And that's just one of five venues that have been put to inspiring use during the festival. March 21 to June 9, various locations. Do: Crab Carnival at the Morrison Enjoy the festivities of the Morrison's inaugural Crab Carnival (a successor to last year's Oyster Festival). What would a carnival be without the games? Each Thursday for the duration of the Crab Carnival, the Morrison will hold hermit crab races at 7pm. If you're more in the market for eating crab, face off against the chefs in their crab eating contest. The entry fee is $20 and all profits from the contest will go to the SeaLife Conservation Fund. Look out for all the crab menu specials — including $5 crab tacos — and crab-inspired cocktails. April 1-13, The Morrison Bar & Oyster Room, 225 George Street, Sydney
Orange has more delicious produce and wines than almost any region in NSW. The area’s high altitude, cool climate and rich volcanic soils work like magic for local producers, making it the perfect growing environment. Usually you would have to drive for several hours to experience the goodness of Orange, but this month the goodness comes to you, as Taste Orange bringing the region’s best wine and food to Sydney. On August 21-22, Martin Place will offer tastings, cooking demonstrations, discussions and live music from the town’s culinary elite. Arrive between 11.30am and 2.30pm to sample the region’s plumpest fruits, olives and meats at the farmers market and watch Orange local and Master Chef winner, Kate Bracks, host a live cooking demonstration using local ingredients. There will be a Millamolong Polo lounge in the evenings where you can chill and enter a draw to win tickets for you and nine friends to visit the state’s premier polo tournament on a bus named ‘Driving Force’. Return at 5pm for an outdoor pop-up bar serving the region’s award winning wine at $7 a glass. The bar will feature 24 of the region’s best wines, including Citibank NSW Wine Award winners Logan, and Angullong, whose Cabernet Merlot and Shiraz were featured on the 40 best wines of the state. If you want to learn more about the region’s premium wine and food production, Bracks, the farmers and the winemakers will be happy to chat. You may not be surrounded by the colours of the state’s Central West but Taste Orange will provide a rare opportunity to taste and buy produce straight from the makers themselves.
On- and off-screen, Bluey is inseparable from Brisbane. For its setting, the hit animated series takes inspiration from the Queensland capital. It also hails from a studio based in the River City. The Heeler home resembles Brissie's Queenslanders. And back in 2022 when a replica of the Bluey house popped up temporarily, of course it happened in Brisbane. It makes sense, then, that you can now step inside the famous Brisbane series at the new Bluey's World experience in Brissie. Announced in 2023 and open since early November 2024, the attraction will get you walking around life-sized sets that recreate the beloved family-friendly show. Yes, the Heeler house and yard are part of the setup — for real life. Yes, you can expect to hear "wackadoo!" more than once while you're there. Movie World might've badged itself as Hollywood on the Gold Coast, but it's no longer the only big tourist hotspot giving visitors to southeast Queensland — and locals as well — a chance to explore their on-screen favourites IRL. An immersive installation sprawling across 4000 square metres, Bluey's World features the Heelers' living room, playroom, kitchen, backyard (poinciana tree included) and more. Alongside bringing the global TV sensation's sets into reality, it also boasts familiar interactive games such as Keepy Uppy and Magic Xylophone, plus other activities for both kids and adults. Maybe you'll be accompanying your own little ones, or your nieces and nephews. Perhaps you know that appreciating the adorable Aussie show about a family of blue heelers isn't just for children. Either way, this new addition to Northshore Pavilion in Northshore Brisbane is big — literally thanks to its sizeable floor plan. And yes, as seen in the series, you can arrive via CityCat. Visitors should plan to spend 70 minutes bounding through the experience — and will also find an indoor playground that nods to Bluey's Brisbane neighbourhood, plus spring rolls and pizza on offer at the cafe. There's a soundscape to match, plus a gift shop. For big Bluey birthday celebrations, the site is hosting parties as well. Bluey's World is exclusive to Brisbane, making it a tourist attraction to fans not only locally and nationally but worldwide. Unsurprisingly, that's a big part of the push from both the Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council, who are supporting the BBC Studios- and HVK Productions-produced experience.
From towering mountains and serene fiords shrouded in mist, to black sand beaches and forests housing some of the world's oldest trees, Aotearoa New Zealand's natural landscapes truly are something else. No matter when you visit, you'll feel the wairua (spirit) of New Zealand's landscapes drawing you in as you're immersed in them and they envelop you. This is scenery you'll feel, rather than merely 'view'. Winter transforms vistas as the skies darken, mountains rising from the horizon are dusted in snow and the seasonal passing by of wildlife occurs. During autumn and spring, you'll be bathed in warmer temperatures and lingering sunlight that casts a different light over the landscapes. We teamed up with 100% Pure New Zealand to unveil some of the most awe-inspiring scenery New Zealand has to offer each season, so you can plan a trip that's made all the more memorable by these breathtaking encounters. Flick the switch for our top picks of experiences to have in autumn, winter and spring and see how New Zealand changes with the seasons. Jump to switcher
It's said we make 35,000 decisions a day. The weight of these choices varies greatly, but often it's the small decisions we make that can have the greatest impact, particularly on a global level. From bringing a reusable cup to the coffee shop to buying high-quality threads, there are plenty of small changes you can make to reduce your carbon footprint and still make an impact. Sustainability is not a buzzword; it's something that should be at the forefront of our day-to-day decision making. For Australian menswear brand M.J. Bale, moving towards a more sustainable future drove the decision to launch a new range of single-source garments from a low-impact farm in Tasmania. To celebrate the Kingston Collection, we've partnered up with M.J. Bale to give you five simple tips to help you make more sustainable choices in your daily routine. BUY LESS AND BUY QUALITY Although nabbing a fast-fashion bargain seems like a good idea at the time, after a couple of washes it will probably look a little worse for wear. Why? Because these trend-driven pieces aren't designed to last. Investing in higher-quality items means you'll have a closet that'll stand the test of time as well as reduce your impact on the environment; clothes manufacturing has a pretty dire impact on the environment, so the less often you buy, the better. M.J. Bale is just one Australian fashion house that favours timeless, well-made threads over seasonal trends — although it is always sartorially suave. "We don't believe in trends at M.J. Bale," says founder and CEO Matt Jensen. Furthermore, the new Kingston Collection range heroes sustainable wool. For Jensen, traceability was key to his decision to partner with Simon Cameron — a sixth-generation farmer of the environmentally low-impact Kingston Farm. "The wool in these Kingston suits comes from this exact farm," explains Jensen, "and this is the grower who produced it, and this is how well he treats his merino sheep, and this is how he takes care of the land." Head into your nearest M.J. Bale store and make the conscious effort to ditch the fleeting trend-based fashion cycle and create a timeless wardrobe with premium pieces that'll serve you for years to come. [caption id="attachment_710930" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW.[/caption] WALK OR CYCLE TO WORK Getting to the office doesn't have to include a crowded commute or circling the block for hours trying to find a park. Boost your step count and hit the pavement or hop on your bike and cycle to the office. Not only will you get the blood pumping but walking and cycling also help to reduce your carbon footprint. Plus, you'll skip the congested city traffic making for a much calmer start to your day. If walking, set yourself up for success by starting small. Aim to get off a couple of bus stops earlier than usual or try walking home a couple of afternoons each week. Get creative and find ways to maximise this time by tuning into a good podcast, crafting a killer playlist or scheduling a phone call with one of your out-of-town mates. If you're cycling, you're likely to get home faster rather than sitting in the evening car crawl after work. BRING YOUR OWN CUP TO YOUR COFFEE RUN For the caffeine addicts among us, our day doesn't start until we have a coffee in hand. But our love for a cup of joe shouldn't cost the earth. As most notably brought to light by the War on Waste, it is estimated that Australians throw away 50,000 disposable cups every half hour. That's roughly 2.7 million a day, or one billion each year. In Sydney alone, we discard approximately 100 million annually. And that's mostly all into landfill. Nabbing yourself a re-usable coffee cup is a no-brainer in 2019. It's one simple change to your morning routine that can make huge strides towards reducing unnecessary waste. Plus, these sturdier cups make for a damn good drinking experience, with sealable lids and thermal insulation designed to keep beverages hot all the way to your desk. Taking things up a notch, Sydney has just launched Green Caffeine — the city's first free re-usable coffee cup sharing network. If a city can take this simple sustainable step on board, so can you. [caption id="attachment_698391" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Carriageworks by Jacqui Manning.[/caption] PREP YOUR LUNCHES WITH LOCAL FARMER'S PRODUCE No one really wants to spend their Sunday night slaving over the stove, but hear us out. Meal prepping is one of the best ways to save yourself some extra dosh each week and means you'll avoid splurging on pricey UberEats orders when you're too busy to grab lunch. Plus, by going to some local markets, you can turn your grocery shop into a delightful weekend jaunt. Who doesn't want to spend a morning patting pooches, grabbing a coffee (using your keep cup, of course) and soaking in some sunshine all while smashing out the weekly grocery shop? Farmers' markets have fresh, sustainable and often organic produce from nearby farms. Not only does eating local help support grass-roots farmers, but it also lowers the distance produce has to travel to arrive from paddock to plate, meaning fewer carbon emissions polluting the environment. Sydneysiders, head to Marrickville Organic Food Market every Sunday morning from 9am, Carriageworks Farmers Markets each Saturday from 8am or Erskineville Farmers Market every Saturday from 9am. GO DIGITAL AND SAY NO TO UNNECESSARY OFFICE PRINTING Let's face it, office printers are the pits. They're constantly jammed, out of ink or running low on paper. And don't get us started on scanning. Next time you mindlessly hit Command + P, think again. What are you about to print? How long will you use this hard-copy? Could you work from the digital version instead? Take a moment to question your decisionmaking and consider ways to reduce the number of runs you make to the printer. Sure, there are some cases where you can't escape printed documents, but making a start by not printing unnecessary emails or files will help limit that churn through huge quantities of ink and paper. Top image: M.J. Bale Kingston suits by Jamie Azzopardi.
All the best things in the world are associated with the underground: Velvet, Dostoyevsky's Notes, truffles, London commuters and David Bowie's man fanny (as glorified in Labyrinth).Sadly, Sydney seemed without its own troglodyte cultural scene, what with our pretty harbour and Opera House sucking all the attention to the World Above the Dirt, and it's a safe assumption that a steady flow of metaphoric moles never came to our shores for fear of scorching their subterranean vision.Well, fear us no longer Underlings, because the Sydney Underground Film Festival returns for its third year, with reel upon reel of gnome-made shorts and features representing all the great genres of international film festivals: political thriller, odorama, animal porn, foreign language drama and retrospective documentary.For those unable to find accommodation during the festival, grab a cheap 4-day festival pass, and live in the Factory Theatre*, or make do with affordable day passes and session tickets. Whatever your budget, any festival that has had its official site removed by The Man is worthy of support!* You will probably be thrown out and left to die if you actually attempt this.Thanks to the Sydney Underground Film Festival we have 10 double passes to give away for WHITE LIGHTNIN’ (a “white-trash hillybilly nightmareâ€) on Sunday 13 September at 8:30pm. Just email your name, address and phone number to kath@suff.com.au with the word “WHITE†in the subject line.https://youtube.com/watch?v=7QvpBO-W5OM
The West Wing first premiered in 1999, while Bill Clinton was president and over a year before George W Bush was elected. But when the latter happened, the acclaimed series inspired a strong and pervasive feeling — because every fan wished that Martin Sheen's President Jed Bartlet was really the commander in chief. That response wasn't just a case of escapism. It reflected The West Wing's top-notch writing and its passion. Unsurprisingly, even though the show wrapped up in 2006, that sentiment has echoed again throughout the past four years. In 2020, in fact, original cast members including Sheen, Rob Lowe, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, Bradley Whitford and Janel Moloney reunited in the lead up to the election for a special stage version of a season-three episode. Called A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote, it was filmed, of course. That means you can now stream the entire seven-season series and its trademark Aaron Sorkin-penned walk-and-talks, and also enjoy the political drama's most recent gift to the world. Yes, it's still as topical and timely as ever.
If you're fond of staring at the heavens with your own two eyes to see a stunning sight, you'll want to spend Wednesday, September 18, 2024 looking up. A supermoon is upon us, with the best time to see it arriving just after sunset Down Under — so if you train your peepers upwards this evening, you'll be in for a glowing show. While super full moons aren't particularly rare — several usually happen each year, and one occurred just last month — there is a good reason to peer upwards this time around. If you're wondering why, we've run through the details below. [caption id="attachment_769713" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NASA/Joel Kowsky[/caption] What Is It? If you're more familiar with The Mighty Boosh's take on the moon than actual lunar terms, here's what you need to know. As we all learned back in November 2016, a supermoon is a new moon or full moon that occurs when the moon reaches the closest point to Earth in its elliptical orbit, making it particularly bright. They're not all that uncommon — and because September 2024's supermoon is a full moon (and not a new moon), it's called a super full moon. It's also a harvest moon, too, which refers to the time of year in the northern hemisphere, because this is when the autumn harvest tends to begin in the other half of the world. Of course, that doesn't apply in the southern hemisphere, but the name still sticks. When Can I See It? As mentioned above, your best time to look at the harvest supermoon is from sunset on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. The moon always appears full for a few days, however, so if you already thought that the night sky looked a little brighter this week, that's why. To catch a glimpse, you'll want to peek outside when it gets dark to feast your eyes on a luminous lunar sight. Head over to timeanddate.com for the relevant moonrise and moonset times for your area. In Sydney, the moon rises at 6pm on Wednesday and sets at 6.19am on Thursday. Those times for Melbourne are 6.26pm Wednesday and 6.43am Thursday, while Brisbane's are 5.53pm Wednesday and at 6.13am Thursday. In Perth, it's 6.26pm Wednesday and 6.44am Thursday, while Adelaide's are 6.23pm Wednesday and 6.40am Thursday. Where Can I See It? You can take a gander from your backyard or balcony, but the standard advice regarding looking into the night sky always applies — so city-dwellers will want to get as far away from light pollution as possible to get the absolute best view. Also, if you've heard about the supermoon partial lunar eclipse, sadly that's not visible from Australia — but you can watch it online from 11am AEST Down Under. Via NASA / timeanddate.com. Top image: Andrew C.
Wave your hand, see a massive roster of musicians behind the microphone across the Harbour City: that's the SXSW Sydney Music Festival setup. The live tunes part of the event lets you wander between more than 200 performances on 25 stages over seven days if you have a wristband, and the 2024 lineup just keeps expanding. After a successful Australian debut in 2023, SXSW Sydney is back for a second year from Monday, October 14–Sunday, October 20 — and the program announcements continue to drop. This time, the festival's music strand has added over 25 acts, plus a heap of speakers. When you're not dancing to China's Berlin Psycho Nurses, Indonesia's KATHMANDU and mindfreakk, YONLAPA from Thailand and Sydney's own 2touch making their live debut — and also the likes of Touch Sensitive, Heno., dogworld, GIMMY and Kurilpa Reach — you'll be hearing from Academy Award-winning composer AR Rahman as the man behind the Slumdog Millionaire score gets chatting. SXSW Sydney 2024 started revealing its lineup details back in May, and has kept growing it since. A further announcement arrived in June, then not one, not two, but three more in July — and also another, focusing on the free hub at Tumbalong Park, at the beginning of August. Accordingly, no one can say that they don't have anything to see when the fest makes its comeback this year, especially if the music bill gets your toes tapping. Other fresh additions span Arky Waters, Bakers Eddy, Big Sand, Charm of Finches, Dave Kent, Elizabeth M Drummond, Holiday Sidewinder, Hydra Fashion Week, Ivoris, Kinder Bloomen, Majak Door, Nao Yoshioka, overpass, Rub Of Rub, Tim Hicks, YAHYAH and Yawdoesitall among the folks taking to the stage. Joining the speakers: Priyanka Khimani, who was named one of the top music lawyers by Billboard; veteran bookers Marty Diamond and Larry Webman; A&R Island Records head Marihuzka Cornelius; and plenty more. In one of those aforementioned July drops, 2024's SXSW Sydney Music Festival also added 40-plus talents, such as the UK's Jorja Smith on the 'Be Honest' musician's Australian tour — and also Canada's Aysanabee, Thailand's PYRA, New Zealand's Brandn Shiraz and XUZZ, and the UK's Submerse. Aussies Brazen Barbie, Jamahl Yami, Kitschen Boy and Special Feelings scored a spot as well. And prior to that, the 2024 program already confirmed human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson, author Johann Hari, Australian race car driver Molly Taylor, pianist Chad Lawson, Westworld's Luke Hemsworth hosting a session about the Tasmanian tiger, Aussie astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg, TikTok marketing head Sofia Hernandez, Heartbreak High star Ayesha Madon, cricketer David Warner, Mortal Kombat director Simon McQuoid and documentary Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts, about the new uses of former Pizza Hut buildings across America — and that's barely scratching the surface of the lineup specifics announced so far. SXSW Sydney 2024 will run from Monday, October 14–Sunday, October 20 at various Sydney venues. Head to the SXSW Sydney website for further details. Images: Peter McMillan, Jordan Kirk, Jess Gleeson and Ian Laidlaw.
A new player is stepping up to bat in the Australian hospitality scene, and in Melbourne. Introducing The StandardX, scheduled to open in Fitzroy in February 2024. The StandardX is the latest brainchild of Standard International, known for its lifestyle hotels in cosmopolitan hotspots like New York, Miami and London. But The StandardX is set to be a new direction for the brand, with the Fitzroy concept acting as "a rebellious younger sibling" of The Standard Hotels across the globe, distilling The Standard experience to its "x factor", and going for a more minimalist and cool approach. It seems that Fitzroy is the perfect location for the new concept. Melbourne's own Hecker Guthrie has infused the hotel's 125 rooms and public spaces with a contemporary yet unpretentious aesthetic. As for the food, don't expect the standard hotel restaurant. Led by Executive Chef Justin Dingle-Garciyya, the rooftop dining area will be exclusive to hotel guests, offering an array of Medellin-inspired dishes, including tacos and ceviche. The rooftop bar will be the perfect spot to enjoy a cocktail after dinner, or before a night out, or at 10am — it's a hotel after all. With panoramic city views and the privacy that comes with exclusivity, it's set to be a pretty nice spot to have a sip and take in the majesty of the Melbourne skyline for locals and tourists alike. For those after a more casual bite, the all-day Thai diner and The Box, a retail concept offering on-the-go snacks and drinks, will ensure you're never far from curing a rumbling belly. With room rates expected to hover between $250–350, The StandardX is positioning itself as a premium choice for travellers and Melburnians looking for a unique hotel experience that blends luxury with Fitzroy's artistic and cultural heritage. Nick Cave, Ollie Olsen, Stuart Grant and Rowland S. Howard are even among the hotel's inspirations. The StandardX is set to open in February 2024 at 62 Rose Street, Fitzroy — head to the hotel's website for further details.
Thanks to an unfortunately timed COVID-19 outbreak, this year's edition of the Emerging Writers' Festival will take place entirely online. But if you're a devourer of books, you can rest assured it's still set to deliver a hefty lineup of talks, workshops, panels and more. Running from June 16–June 26, the all-digital program has events for all varieties of lit-lover — from After Dark, a night of live-streamed performance headlined by emerging stars like Wai-Mun Mah, Christy Tan, Jesse Oliver and Penny Smits, to a short story masterclass led by the award-winning Alice Bishop. Streamed via YouTube, Next Big Thing will feature readings from some of the country's hottest up-and-coming talent, while Littlefoot & Co heads up a night of spoken word on June 24. Plus, EWF favourite Amazing Babes will see a cast of familiar faces sharing stories about the women, real and imagined, who've helped shape their lives. The National Writers' Conference will also run as planned, with a full-day online program of panels, talks, workshops and pitching sessions. It's also your chance to hear from EWF's 2021 ambassadors, including poet and editor Elena Gomez (Body of Work), activist and novelist Tony Birch (Ghost River), and non-fiction star Sisonke Msimang (Always Another Country: A Memoir of Exile and Home). [caption id="attachment_811529" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sisonke Msimang[/caption]
What is it about vampires? Sure, immorality might mean flawless skin for eternity, and hanging around the planet for a few thousand years would make anyone a pretty interesting dinner guest, but they can’t do half the things that superheroes can, and daylight allergy makes for a pretty dim outlook on life. Yet for some reason, right now the only thing sexier than a vampire is a hairless werewolf with vampire envy. Riding on the cape-tails of this strange craze and bringing new meaning to the term 'blood sports', Company B presents Vampire Theatresports — a season of improvised comedy inspired by our fanged friends. For four consecutive Sundays, upstairs Belvoir will provide the battleground for a hilarious, blood-curdling showdown between good and evil. Drawing on all the faves from Twilight to True Blood to the original Dracula, the two teams of seasoned improvisers and best new talents will ad lib their way to victory. Directed by Ewan Campbell, who has been involved in theatresports for over 20 years, Vampire Theatresports is here to lighten up these pallid creatures of the night and put the comedy back into the business of bloodlust. BYO crucifix for safety.
Open for breakfast and lunch daily, with an evening menu available later in the week, Kew Dining is bringing elegant paddock-to-plate dishes to Erina in a bright and contemporary setting. The early rising crowd has its pick of classic brekky options, like fluffy buckwheat pancakes, poached eggs with smoked salmon and avocado, or the more unusual baked tomato and chickpea ragout, and a dairy free meaty platter of chorizo, serrano ham, manchego, fried eggs and roast olives. Owner and chef Lawrie Gordan opened Kew Dining in late 2019, and its appeal is as much about the meticulously presented dishes as it is the venue space. What was once The Sanctuary Café (next door to Ken Duncan Gallery) is a harmonious spot for long lunches or afternoon teas with a group. From midday onwards, you can graze on panko crumbed, lemongrass and ginger marinated chicken bao; pastry tarts of shaved manchego, pumpkin and Tunisian chickpeas; or crowd-pleasing options like fish and chips, organic beef cheeseburgers and pan fried barramundi. All the veggies and herbs come from the restaurant's on-site kitchen garden, so you'll want to add on a bowl of the chats in fragrant Kew Garden herb butter, too. [caption id="attachment_776784" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kitti Gould[/caption] High tea is served from 11am, Tuesday to Saturday, overlooking the green valley of Erina Heights. For $45 per person, you'll get sparkling wine on arrival then your choice between T2 loose leaf teas or Toby's Estate espresso coffee to pair with savouries like sweetcorn and crab samosa and mini tomato and feta quiche. Followed by sweets like vanilla bean cheesecake, sherry trifle lemon curd tartlets, and fluffy scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam. Images: Kitti Gould
Coming of age in the suburbs of Perth is proving to be an angst-ridden journey for Zadie. There's uninvited house guests causing trouble, cute boys to avoid and siblings to keep out of strife — not to mention the white neighbours' racially charged compliments. Add in a nightly pelting of oranges on the family home and you've got the makings of a juicy comedy with a squeeze of mystery. Orange Thrower is the award-winning debut play from interdisciplinary artist Kirsty Marillier (who also stars as Zadie), with direction from Zindzi Okenyo (Masquerade, Girl in Tan Boots). Performed through the lens of Zadie's post-apartheid South African identity, this stunning piece of theatre has seen audiences from Perth to Sydney connect to its themes of love, celebration and yearning for acceptance. Keen for a joyous hit of comedy and culture? Orange Thrower will play at Parramatta's Riverside Theatres from Wednesday, March 30, till Saturday, April 2. For more information and to nab tickets, visit the website. Images: Brett Boardman
Sydney boy Oliver Tank has been absolutely killing it in the past couple of years since winning FBi Radio's Northern Lights competition in 2011, which saw him fly to Iceland to perform his first overseas show. Comparisons to Bon Iver and James Blake were perhaps inevitable, and to a certain extent Tank exists in that same broad 'electronica with emotions' sub-genre that those two artists dabble in. But Tank's electronica goes far deeper than a passing association to create intricate, densely layered music that has more in common with Boards of Canada or Jon Hopkins. Tank is a rapidly rising star — in 2013 he supported James Blake at the Opera House as well as playing a bunch of shows all over the country. Headlining a room the size of The Metro is a challenge, but having seen Tank perform to hundreds of people at FBi's 10th birthday festival, I have no doubt he can handle it.
The Ingenia Holiday Parks Sydney Family Easter Show is returning to the Showring at Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park, bringing 18 jam-packed days of Easter fun to the Eastern Suburbs. Running daily from 10am on Thursday, 2 April through to 4pm on Sunday, 19 April, the Ingenia Holiday Parks Sydney Family Easter Show delivers the Easter Show traditions families love in one value day out. With entry priced between $15–$30, three-hour unlimited ride passes available for $50, Easter Egg Hunt tickets for $15, and two hours of free parking on site, it's an affordable way to make some new Easter memories. Headlining the 2026 program is Sydney's Biggest Easter Egg Hunt. This interactive, Easter-themed adventure invites kids to hunt for hidden treasures before going into the draw for a Giant $2,000 Easter Basket Giveaway. One lucky family will score a prize pack filled with family-friendly goodies, including an Ingenia Holiday Parks travel voucher. You could turn your Easter outing into a future family holiday. Also new for 2026 is the Outback Jack Stockman Show, a thrilling live performance showcasing horsemanship, working sheep dogs, and traditional whip cracking. It joins a packed entertainment lineup featuring a high-energy motorcycle and bike stunt show complete with gravity-defying tricks, live stage performances, and music throughout the day, plus a daily reptile show where kids can learn about fascinating (and slimy) creatures up close. Beyond the big-ticket entertainment, the Ingenia Holiday Parks Sydney Family Easter Show is brimming with family fun. Expect carnival rides ranging from gentle spins for little ones to adrenaline-fuelled thrills, classic carnival games, showbags, and market stalls. There'll also be an adorable baby farm animal nursery (complete with bunny cuddles), and plenty of food stalls serving up Easter treats. Special event days add even more to the program. The Dogs in the Park Dachshund Festival on Sunday, April 12, features the popular Dachshund Derby, best dressed competitions, and themed market stalls. On Sunday, April 19, the National Greyhound Adoption Day offers visitors a chance to meet beautiful greyhounds looking for their forever homes. The Ingenia Holiday Parks Sydney Family Easter Show offers an outdoor day out for families looking to make the most of the school holidays. Pre-book tickets online now to avoid missing out on fun, excitement, and unforgettable Easter memories. Images: Supplied
Your dreams of ditching the slow peak-hour crawl for a quick flight through the skies could very soon become a reality, with Uber today announcing Melbourne as its third — and first international — trial city for Uber aircrafts. Having already flagged the US's Dallas and Los Angeles as launch cities for its new flying service, dubbed the Uber Elevate project, and after some speculation last year, the ride share company has now confirmed it'll also start testing in Melbourne in 2020. If these trials are a success, we should see regular services start from 2023. The all-electric Uber Airs will operate a little like helicopters (but 32 times less noisy, supposedly) with the 'electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles' (eVTOLs) using helipad-style 'Skyports' located on high rooftops at key points around the city. As the company has just announced it'll be teaming up with the Scentre Group (owners of Westfield), expect a lot of these to be located atop shopping centres. And at Melbourne Airport, thankfully. Uber has announced it'll be continuing its partnership with the airport for the new venture — which will most likely launch before construction even begins on the long-awaited airport rail. At least there'll be one fast way to get to the airport. While a car ride from the CBD to the Melbourne can currently take anywhere from 25 minutes to an hour, Uber is promising that its Uber Air will only take about ten minutes. [caption id="attachment_725578" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Skyport[/caption] By taking travel to the air, the company is hoping to "open up urban air mobility and help alleviate transport congestion on the ground". Passengers will be able to tee up a flight in the same way they order a car, with a push of the button, and hopefully it'll be just as cheap. While the company has not announced how much it'll cost initially, it has said that an Uber Air will eventually be as cheap as taking an Uber X ride of the same distance. While this all sounds a bit too good to be true, we do hope we'll be Jetsons-ing around the city for pittance soon. Uber Elevate will start tests in Melbourne by 2020 with regular services kicking off in 2023. To read more about the program, head to the Uber website.
Now, you can cycle all the way from Green Square to Central Station without having to shake off a dirty look from a single road raging driver. The City of Sydney has created a 2.4 kilometre long bike path, keeping two-wheelers entirely separated from four-wheelers; linking Zetland, Waterloo, Alexandria and Redfern. "It’s a really important route," says City of Sydney Cycling Strategy Manager Fiona Campbell. "Green Square’s going to see 40,000 new residents in coming years and those people are only fifteen minutes’ ride from the city... It’s going to be such an attractive option that I think lots of people are going to use it." In addition to functioning as a commuter route, the path will also serve as an arts-leisure adventure. "There’s the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence [at 166-180 George St]," Campbell explains. "There’s also Prince Alfred Pool at one end, a skate park in Waterloo and the City’s Library and facilities at Joynton Park, which it connects to." On Saturday, June 14, between 11am and 2pm, Prince Alfred Park will host a massive launch party, dubbed Roll Through Redfern. Australian Balkan Gypsy trio Lolo Lovina will provide the live soundtrack, the Veggie Patch Van will be selling gourmet delights and there’ll be pedal-powered smoothies, as well as free coffee (yes, you read that right, FREE COFFEE). You’ll also be able to score bike help without spending a cent — whether you need safety tips, route advice or assistance of the mechanical variety. Meanwhile, Green Square’s regular markets will be happening at Joynton Park between 9am and 2pm. Everyone who gets themselves a stamp either there or at Prince Alfred Park will enter a draw to win a $1,000 bike package, a Magellan bike computer or a bunch of Prince Alfred Park Pool multi-visit passes. The Green Square-Central cycle way brings the Council one step closer to the realisation of its masterplan — to ensure that Sydney cyclists can enjoy at least 200 kilometres of bike paths by 2030. "We’ve already got about 110, 120 kilometres of network, though much of it’s not separated," Campbell says. "We’ve got twelve kilometres so far of separated cycleways. The 200 is going to be made up of mixed traffic streets and shared cycle paths as well. A lot of it just needs upgrading." The statistics indicate that pro-cycling campaigns and infrastructural changes, particularly segregated paths, are making a big impact at road level. "Each facility that we open sees a massive increase in cycling," Campbell confirms. "Accounts of the Bourke Street cycleway, for example, show that there are five times as many riders on Bourke Street, near the Phelps intersection, as there were four years ago. Whenever we put it in a new cycle way, it just booms. People really, really want to ride. Give them the option to do that in a comfortable, beautiful, pleasant way, and they’ll be in there." If you’re curious about cycling in the city but still feeling reluctant to take the plunge, check out the free bike maintenance classes and cycling in the city courses happening every single week at both Sydney Park and Joynton Park.
Porch & Parlour has risen from the ashes, opening its doors for the first time since a fire forced its closure in August. The beloved Bondi bar and eatery is sporting a fresh look throughout, incorporating a new retail space and a revamped menu offering. On the walls, you'll now spy artworks by the likes of Vicki Lee and Ted O'Donnell, while a striking blue San Remo coffee machine is turning out those New Year caffeine hits. Alongside tried-and-true menu staples like the green pea pancake and breaky bowl, the Porch & Parlour kitchen is dishing up a swag of new season creations, zinging with vibrant local produce. Think, cinnamon scroll french toast, topped with banana, blueberry compote, maple syrup and a whipped lemon feta cream, and a loaded veggie bowl with cashew and turmeric dressing, all primed for those post-beach brunch sessions. And for lazy afternoon visits, see the 'sundowner' offering, running from 4–8pm, Friday through Sunday. You'll find top-notch specials on sips like Regal Rogue spritzes, lemon myrtle-infused gin and tonics, and mezcal margaritas.
Abel 'The Weeknd' Tesfaye is swapping screens for stages, and ditching playing a sleazy nightclub owner on HBO for his usual music superstar beat. Fresh from starring in The Idol, the Canadian singer-songwriter has locked in Down Under dates for his After Hours Til Dawn stadium tour, heading to Australia and New Zealand in November and December this year. The 'Starboy', 'I Feel It Coming', 'Can't Feel My Face', 'The Hills' and 'Blinding Lights' artist will hit up arenas in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland, as part of a tour that's been notching up soldout shows far and wide. In the UK, The Weekend saw 160,000 folks head to London Stadium across two nights, smashing the venue's attendance record. And in Milan, he became the first artist to sell out the Ippodromo La Maura for two nights. Those feats are just the beginning. In Paris, he scored Stade de France's biggest sales this year — and in Nice, the 70,000 tickets sold across his two shows are the most in the city's history. Will his Down Under dates add to his record-breaking run? Australia in particular has been loving the return of huge international tours. See: the Taylor Swift frenzy. The reason for the Aussie and Aotearoa gigs, other than just because, is to celebrate The Weeknd's 2020 record After Hours and its 2022 followup Dawn FM. Obviously, he'll be playing tracks from 2013's Kiss Land, 2015's Beauty Behind the Madness and 2016's Starboy as well. In support across The Weeknd's four Down Under shows: Mike Dean and Chxrry22. The tour will help a good cause, too, other than your need to see The Weeknd live. The artist has been contributing funds for his shows to the United Nations World Food Programme's XO Humanitarian Fund, as one of the organisation's Goodwill Ambassador, raising over $1 million from his Europe run alone. THE WEEKND'S 'AFTER HOURS TIL DAWN TOUR' 2023: Monday, November 20 — Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Friday, November 24 — Accor Stadium, Sydney Friday, December 1 — Marvel Stadium, Melbourne Thursday, December 7 — Eden Park, Auckland The Weeknd is touring Australia and New Zealand in November and December 2023. For more information, and for pre-sale tickets from Friday, August 25, then general tickets from Friday, September 1, head to the tour website.
Since hitting Broadway five years ago, notching up 11 Tony Awards, nabbing the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and just becoming an all-round pop culture phenomenon, Hamilton was always going to make the leap to cinemas. So, it's no wonder Disney has leapt at the opportunity, bringing Lin-Manuel Miranda's historical hip hop musical to the big screen in late 2021 — albeit via a filmed version of the stage production, rather than a traditional stage-to-screen adaptation. Miranda has talked about turning his acclaimed show into a movie, and apparently the first draft of a script has been written, but while a film version of his earlier musical In the Heights will reach cinemas in mid-2020, a feature adaptation of Hamilton isn't happening just yet. Everyone still wants to see the tale of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton on the big screen, though — if you haven't been lucky enough to catch the popular musical in New York, as it toured the US or on London's West End, then you probably just want to see it, period — so this "live capture" version is here to fill the gap. Shot at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway back in 2016, this cinematic screening of Hamilton is still a big deal. Actually, given the fact that it features the original Broadway cast — including Miranda in the eponymous role — it's a huge deal. Everyone who missed out on the opportunity to see the musical's initial run live will be able to do the next best thing, with Hamilton jumping on the popular trend of screening filmed versions of plays and musicals in cinemas. https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel/status/1224377343126462466 As noted in Disney's US press release, only American and Canadian seasons have been announced so far, kicking off from October 15 in 2021— but with something as huge as Hamilton, it's safe to assume that these "live capture" screenings will make their way Down Under as well. The stage production finally arrives in Australia in March 2021, so if you miss out on tickets (or can't afford to buy them) this could be a nice consolation prize. In addition to Miranda — who stars, and wrote the musical's music, lyrics and book — this filmed version of the production features Daveed Diggs (Velvet Buzzsaw) as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson, Leslie Odom Jr. (Murder on the Orient Express) as Aaron Burr, Christopher Jackson (When They See Us) as George Washington, Jonathan Groff (Mindhunter) as King George, Renee Elise Goldsberry (The House with a Clock in Its Walls) as Angelica Schuyler and Phillipa Soo (the Broadway version of Amelie) as Eliza Hamilton. Hamilton will screen in US cinemas from October 15, 2021 — we'll update you with a local release date if and when a Down Under run is announced. Via Variety. Top image: Hamilton, Broadway. Photo by Joan Marcus.
Festival FOMO is real, and festival sideshows are one solution: the gigs you go to when you're not going to the main gig. Can't make it to Adelaide for two music-filled October days at Harvest Rock II? Loving the South Australia-only fest's lineup? Four of the event's highlights have just announced dates along Australia's east coast. Chief among them are Sparks, which will draw upon a whopping 57 years of making ridiculously catchy and smartly funny tunes on their first tour of Australia since 2001. Thanks to 2021's double of Edgar Wright-directed documentary The Sparks Brothers and Cannes Film Festival opener Annette, brothers Ron and Russell Mael have been everywhere of late — and that's now about to include Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, busting out tracks like 'The Number One Song in Heaven', 'This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us' and latest single 'The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte'. In a glorious move, they've been beginning their recent sets with 'So May We Start' from Annette, too, which won them the Best Composer award at Cannes. Fresh from releasing her fourth studio album Spirituals in 2022, Santigold will extend her trip to Australia with sideshows in Sydney and Melbourne. 2023 marks 15 years since the genre-defying artist first demanded attention with her debut record Santogold, and sparked a career that's seen her influence and team up with plenty of others. Drake, Lil Wayne and Future have sampled the Philadelphia-born talent's tracks, while Beastie Boys, David Byrne, Karen O and Nick Zinner of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Basement Jaxx, Jay Z, Mark Ronson, Pharrell and Lykke Li have enlisted her as a collaborator. Following their fifth stint at Coachella earlier in 2022, Chromeo will also hit Sydney and Melbourne, bringing Dave 1 and P-Thugg our way almost two decades since their 80s-influenced electro-funk sound started echoing from intial album She's in Control. The Lemon Twigs are also veering beyond Adelaide, with visits to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Brothers Brian and Michael D'Addario will draw upon their four-album span since 2016, as bookended by debut Do Hollywood and this year's Everything Harmony. All Harvest Rock sideshows will take place around the festival's dates, both before and afterwards, across Thursday, October 26–Thursday, November 2. And no, there won't be Jamiroquai and Beck gigs, with both playing their only Aussie sets at in Adelaide. To see either this October in Australia, only a Harvest Rock ticket will do. HARVEST ROCK II SIDESHOWS: SPARKS Thursday, October 26 — Palais Theatre, Melbourne Tuesday, October 31 — Sydney Opera House, Sydney Thursday, November 2 — Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane SANTIGOLD Friday, October 27 — Metro Theatre, Sydney Saturday, October 28 — Prince Bandroom, Melbourne CHROMEO Thursday, October 26 — Metro Theatre, Sydney Sunday, October 29 — 170 Russell, Melbourne THE LEMON TWIGS Thursday, October 26 — Corner Hotel, Melbourne Saturday, October 28 — Manning Bar, Sydney Tuesday, October 31 — The Outpost, Brisbane Harvest Rock 2023 will take at Rymill Park / Murlawirrapurka and King Rodney Park / Ityamai-itpina, Adelaide, on Saturday, October 28–Sunday, October 29, 2023. The festival's sideshows will tour Australia's east coast from Thursday, October 26–Thursday, November 2, with pre-sale tickets from 9am local time on Thursday, August 24 and general sales from 9am local time on Friday, August 25. Head to Concrete Playground Trips for a VIP Harvest Rock package for two, including tickets and accommodation.
Air out that mouldy tent, start rounding up the GoPros, Falls Festival have announced their 2014 lineup. With Byron now extended to a four-day program, Falls Festival is returning to its three sites (Lorne, Marion Bay and North Byron Parklands) for its annual New Year's Eve hootenanny. So who's on the bill? Returning with a Mercury Prize and a million debut album copies sold under their belt, Leeds foursome Alt-J are sure to be one of the packed sets this year. Scandinavian super besties Röyksopp and Robyn are locked in for an epic two hour set of combined releases. There'll be ass everywhere with the presence of the unmissable Big Freedia. The sublimely talented SBTRKT is set to play a huge live set (one of Laneway Festival's best sets to memory), while the formidable Jamie XX will keep the basslines well up in grill. Fresh from Glastonbury, George Ezra is set to be one of the festival highlights, with the debut set from the legendary Todd Terje, house monarchs Tensnake, Sydney trio Movement and San Francisco's Tycho sure to send everyone on a synthy, beats-fuelled odyssey. Altanta's favourite 'flower punk' band The Black Lips are in. Confirmed after a leak in Cleo, UK's Glass Animals are confirmed to get sultry. Festival favourites Cold War Kids return with their latest album's material (and a few oldies), while Australia's own ARIA-winners The Temper Trap return to the live circuit with material from their upcoming third record. Rap fans have some gleeful squealing to get to, with Brooklyn's Pro Era whiz Joey Bada$$, Killer Mike and El-P's Fool's Gold super-collab Run the Jewels, Melbourne's own Remi locked in. 'Stolen Dance' fans will have plenty to jig about with the first Australian tour of Milky Chance, Sydney's Bluejuice are playing their last round, London's Wolf Alice are sure to generate some buzz, and Canberran trio SAFIA are also buzzworthy inclusions. There's a few Splendour returns: Britpop-loving Sydney dudes DMAs, newbie hip hop firecracker Tkay Maidza, Sydney dance legends The Presets, electronic whiz kid The Kite String Tangle, returning rock heavyweights Spiderbait, singalong starters Sticky Fingers and Riptider Vance Joy. Falls will also see a kickass 'Boogie Nights' program featuring none other than the ever-kickass hip hop legends Salt n Pepa, Melbourne's best-dressed duo Client Liaison, Sydney partystarter Alison Wonderland and Canada's Badbadnotgood. THE FALLS MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL 2014 LINEUP (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER): ALT-J BIG FREEDIA THE BLACK LIPS BLUEJUICE COLD WAR KIDS DMAs GLASS ANIMALS GEORGE EZRA JAGWAR MA JAMIE XX JOEY BADA$$ JOHN BUTLER TRIO KIM CHURCHILL THE KITE STRING TANGLE MILKY CHANCE MOVEMENT THE PRESETS REMI RÖYKSOPP & ROBYN RUN THE JEWELS SAFIA SBTRKT (LIVE) >SPIDERBAIT STICKY FINGERS THE TEMPER TRAP TENSNAKE TKAY MAIDZA TODD TERJE (LIVE) TYCHO VANCE JOY WOLF ALICE + MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED. BOOGIE NIGHTS LINEUP (DEC 28 LORNE, DEC 29 MARION BAY, DEC 31 BYRON): ALISON WONDERLAND BADBADNOTGOOD CLIENT LIAISON SALT N PEPA + MORE. EVENTS: Dec 28, 2014 to Jan 1, 2015 in Lorne, VIC (est. 1993) 18+ event Dec 29, 2014 to Jan 1, 2015 in Marion Bay, TAS (est. 2003) All ages Dec 30, 2014 to Jan 3, 2015 in Byron Bay, NSW (est. 2013) 18+ event The ticket ballot is now open via the festival’s website and will be closing on Monday August 25. Enter the ballot here. Most of the event tickets are allocated to sales through the ballot process, starting at 9am on Thursday August 28; however, for those who miss out, there will also be a small allocation of tickets set aside for general public sales starting at 9am on Wednesday September 03. Image: Paul Smith
If you, like us, have binged every episode of the renowned crime podcast Serial, are still following the news roller-coaster on Adnan Syed's case from season one and are counting down the days until the HBO series airs — take a deep breath, because there's finally more where that came from. Serial will return for its third season on September 20, having been dormant since season two aired back in 2015. Season three will focus on the entire criminal justice system in the US — more specifically on the inconsistencies and failures of the courts in Cleveland, Ohio. "What does season one tell us about the criminal justice system?" asks host Sarah Koenig in the season's trailer. She concludes that instead of using Syed's extraordinary case to examine the system from the inside, she must use many ordinary cases. Koenig and her crew spent one year in the Cleveland courts, where they recorded not only in courtrooms but also in judge's chambers, prosecutors office and back hallways, plus outside the courthouse in family member's houses, streets and prisons. In the season three trailer, Koenig mentions one case in particular — that of Greg Rucker, whose prison recordings include an admission of guilt. Yet, in just this one trial, Koenig is witness to an onslaught of court offences, including extra charges, pressure to plead guilty, shabby police work, "eleventh hour" evidence, dozing jurors and judge — all ending with an outsized prison sentence. But, since Rucker is guilty, should we even care? This is a question that Serial will explore throughout the season. Again, the story will unfold week-by-week. To listen to the season three trailer or catch up on past seasons, check out the Serial website. The first two episodes of Serial season 3 will be released on the morning of Thursday, September 20 — Eastern Daylight Time (New York). No exact time has been announced, but past Serial episodes have dropped around 9.30am EDT, which corresponds to about 11.30pm in Australia and 1.30am in New Zealand. So, you can either stay up late on Thursday and listen, or wait until your Friday morning commute to work. One new episode will be released each Thursday thereafter. Image: Moth Studio, mural by Adam Maida
Our transportation options are becoming more and more personalised. Sydney now has three rideshare car companies — and might soon score on-demand flying taxis — and even the government has jumped on board, launching on-demand buses across the west and inner east. Travel across Sydney Harbour, however, is still limited to two options: Sydney Ferries and pricey, privately-operated water taxis (unless your mate happens to own a tinnie or super yacht, that is). This is about to change, thanks to a new service called Ahoy, which just launched on Tuesday, December 18. Run by Captain Cook Cruises, the on-demand ferries service allows you to call one to your nearest inner east wharf at a time that suits you. Similar to Uber, you can hail the ferry via an app on your mobile device, which also tracks the vessel's journey and lets you know its arrival time. At the moment, Ahoy is available for travel between Elizabeth Bay Marina, Garden Island Wharf and the Harbour Master Steps, Circular Quay. It's currently running between 6.45–9.15am and 4.15pm–7:30pm, Monday to Friday. A one-way journey takes just 12 minutes and costs $7.50 for adults — about the same price as a regular Sydney ferry — or, if you buy a 15-trip eTravelPass, $5.90. The 'tubby class' ferries, which can carry up to 60 passengers at a time, are not Captain Cook's first foray into ferries, either — its rocket ferries run 13 different services across Sydney Harbour, which includes trips to Barangaroo, Lane Cove, Goat Island and Watsons Bay. Download Ahoy at the App Store or on Google Play. Image: Captain Cook rocket ferry courtesy Captain Cook and SeaLink Travel Group.
Streaming platforms have become one of modern life's certainties, with new instances continuing to pop up all over the place. In fact, this year along will see two huge players giving Netflix, Amazon and the like a run for their money — not only Apple, which will release Apple TV+ in the second half of 2019, but Disney as well. First revealed last year, Disney+ will boast a swathe of high-profile content, including new Star Wars and Marvel TV shows, plus all of your favourite Disney animated movies in one place. Now the service has announced a US launch date of November 12, as well as "plans to be in nearly all major regions of the world within the next two years." Just how long viewers Down Under will have to wait is yet to be seen; however given the array of titles heading to the platform, here's hoping it's sooner rather than later. With Disney recently merging with competitor Fox, Disney+'s US range is hefty — not only spanning Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar, but National Geographic and the entirety of The Simpsons, too. During its first year of operation, it's due to release more than 25 original series and 10 original films, documentaries and specials. And, to make its catalogue available from US$6.99 per month, in both HD and 4K, and "on a wide range of mobile and connected devices, including gaming consoles, streaming media players and smart TVs". [caption id="attachment_689920" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Marvel Studios[/caption] In the Marvel sphere post-Avengers: Endgame, new series Loki, WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier will all focus on their eponymous characters — Tom Hiddleston's trickster Loki, Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany's Vision, and Anthony Mackie's Falcon and Sebastian Stan's Winter Soldier, with all of the actors retaining their roles. A Hawkeye series with Jeremy Renner is also in the works, as is animated program Marvel's What If…, which'll take inspiration from the comics of the same name, asking the titular question about important Marvel Cinematic Universe moments. Fans of Star Wars can not only look forward to the $100 million live-action series The Mandalorian from The Lion King, The Jungle Book, Iron Man and Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau (and with Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi helming an episode), but look forward to it soon — it'll launch when the platform does in the US. Also zooming to screens from a galaxy far, far away is a spinoff from Rogue One about Diego Luna's Rebel spy Cassian Andor. Set before the events of the film, it — like all of Disney+'s big-name series — will also feature the star reprising the character. Elsewhere, two new Toy Story-based projects — animated short series Forky Asks a Question and one-off short film Lamp Life — are on their way, well-timed to hit after the release of Toy Story 4. If you just can't let it go, a Frozen 2 making-of special will also feature, about the sequel headed to cinemas later this year. And, because everyone loves Jeff Goldblum, National Geographic's The World According to Jeff Goldblum will involve the actor delving into the fascinating stories, science and facts behind seemingly familiar objects. Going big when it comes to bringing the company's well-known properties to the new streaming platform, a High School Musical TV series, another show based on Monsters, Inc. and a live-action Lady and the Tramp movie will also be on the bill. On the classic front, Fox titles like The Sound of Music, The Princess Bride and Malcolm in the Middle have been named as part of a lineup of more than 7500 television episodes and 500 films — alongside "the entire Disney motion picture library" according to CEO Bob Iger, which should be available "at some point fairly soon after launch". Viewers can also likely expect Disney and Fox's recent flicks to be made available on Disney+, and for subsequent cinema releases due to hit the service within a year of their big-screen release. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrXNtj84owc Disney is also reportedly contemplating buying a bigger stake in existing streamer Hulu according to Variety, which would give it full control over that platform. Like the timing of Disney+'s international rollout, just how the purchase might affect the company's new service hasn't been revealed. In Australia, a big batch of the aforementioned existing Disney content is currently available on Stan, spanning both movies and TV series — but you can reasonably expect that that arrangement will be impacted by Disney+, whenever it does finally hit locally. Top image: Marvel Studios.
Everyone has petty feuds. That's one of the truths behind Beef, which brought squabbling strangers into everyone's streaming queues in 2023 and became one of the best new shows of the year in the process. So, although the series was initially meant to be a once-off, plenty more people could disagree, argue and hold grudges on-screen — and, soon, more might. Netflix hasn't renewed Beef for season two yet, but word keeps circling that more could be on the way. And if the Golden Globe-, Emmy-, Gotham, Screen Actors Guild Award-, Independent Spirit Award and Producers Guild Award-winner does make a comeback, Jake Gyllenhaal (Guy Ritchie's The Covenant), Anne Hathaway (Armageddon Time), Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla) and Charles Melton (May December) could be taking over from Steven Yeun (Nope) and Ali Wong (Paper Girls). [caption id="attachment_849830" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ambulance[/caption] Deadline is reporting that all four actors are being circled for the Beef's second season, making the show an anthology series by switching to a completely different storyline. The plot favoured is about two feuding couples — and that's it in terms of details so far, other than that Netflix and A24, which are behind the program, are keen for the season two to start shooting before 2024 is out. Gyllenhaal and Hathaway would reunite not only after Love & Other Drugs, but also Brokeback Mountain. Spaeny and Melton are fresh off spectacular performances in the aforementioned Priscilla and May December, with both shock omissions from 2024's Oscar nominees. [caption id="attachment_936946" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Priscilla[/caption] If you missed season one of the Lee Sung Jin (Dave)-created Beef, it followed Danny Cho (Yeun) and Amy Lau (Wong) after they got in a fender bender, then neither handled it well. Cue a feud that they can't shake, infiltrating their lives and relationships. If their quest for revenge each other just fizzled out, there obviously wouldn't be a series. Part of Beef's ongoing beef in season one stemmed from a comedy staple: putting opposites together and seeing what springs. Danny is struggling as a contractor and isn't happy about it, while Amy lives a seemingly idyllic life thanks to her success as an entrepreneur. They both share a need to get back at each other, though — and to see through their clash to the end. Check out the trailer for Beef season one below: Beef season two hasn't been officially announced, and doesn't yet have a release date — we'll update you when more details are locked in. Beef season streams via Netflix — read our review. Images: Netflix. Via Deadline.
Indeed, it's pretty hard to fault the notoriously popular Bondi Beach Burrito. Suitably loud and colourful, the restaurant knows its market (bare-footed Bondi beach dwellers, backpackers and party-goers) and caters to it well with low-fuss, pay-as-you-go Mexican fare that rarely pushes the $15 mark. The menu is extensive and features plenty of hits, but also some misses. You certainly won't be disappointed with the Green Chilli Roasted Pig Quesadilla ($12.95): super tasty and with just the right amount of spice, it goes down well with a Coopers Green long neck or a dark Mexicali lager. The Nachos – in particular the vego option ($13.95) - also gets a large tick for its smoky flavour, crispy chips and killer guacamole. The salads ($13.95) on the other hand are a let down. While the cabbage is fresh and crunchy, everything, including the meat, is shredded up into thin slithers and tastes downright bland. The up side is that you can snack on the flour tortilla bowl! The burritos are forces to be reckoned with and will leave you stuffed to the brim. There's a huge range to choose from, too. And while I struggle to get my head around why people love them stuffed with rice, if you're a fan then you should go all out and try the Mucho Burrito ($13.95) with pulled seasoned beef, spicy pork, chipotle chicken, black beans, mexican rice and chilli con carne. Arguably the cuisine won't blow your mind, but it's cheap, flavoursome and the dishes make for good stomach-liners before a night out. Lastly there's something to be said for a place that maintains a consistently great vibe the whole week through. We walk in on a Wednesday night and the space is packed, with trays of tequila shots flying about, and 90s hip hop and reggae booming. Bring on Summer! Images: Alex Relic [nggallery id=97]
If a certain 70s-made, 50s-set musical rom-com about an Australian transfer student falling in love with an American high schooler in California is the one that you want — always — then you'll know that Grease isn't just about the hit 1978 movie. Before it became a silver-screen classic, it was a popular stage musical. After its movie success, it spawned a 1982 Michelle Pfeiffer-starring sequel, too. And now, in 2023, it'll span a prequel streaming series as well: Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. Welcome back to Rydell High, but before Danny (John Travolta) and Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) were hopelessly devoted to each other. Rise of the Pink Ladies is set in 1954, four years prior to the events of Grease. Clearly, there's no prizes for guessing which group of students earn the new show's focus. Here, in a ten-episode series set to stream via Paramount+ in Australia on Friday, April 7 — with New Zealand airing details yet to be revealed — the eponymous girl gang gets an origin story. Yes, even Grease is jumping on the bandwagon, with explaining the stories behind already proven hits pop culture's favourite thing of late. In the just-dropped first trailer for the series, the titular young women are given words of warning about appropriate behaviour. "Ladies, you must be careful with whom you associate," Assistant Principal McGee (Jackie Hoffman, Only Murders in the Building) tells them. "A girl's reputation is all that she has." Pink jackets, T-Birds, dance scenes (including while wearing mechanics' overalls), a new take on a familiar track advising that Grease is indeed the word: they're all included in the debut sneak peek, which also promises that "things are about to get wild". Cast-wise, Marisa Davila (Love and Baseball), first-timer Cheyenne Isabel Wells, Ari Notartomaso (Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin) and Tricia Fukuhara (Loot) play the four teens who start the Pink Ladies, and are joined on-screen by Shanel Bailey (The Good Fight), Madison Thompson (Emergency), Johnathan Nieves (Penny Dreadful: City of Angels), Jason Schmidt (FBI: Most Wanted) and Maxwell Whittington-Cooper (The Photograph). This isn't the last time that all things Grease will pop up again, either — not including the stage musical and OG movie's enduring popularity, of course — with a Danny and Sandy-focused prequel flick Summer Lovin' also in the works. Check out the first trailer for Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies below: Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies starts streaming via Paramount+ in Australia on Friday, April 7. New Zealand release details haven't yet been revealed — we'll update you when further information comes to hand.
To celebrate the American peanut butter and chocolate brand REESE'S products wide availability across Australia, a specially crafted (and exclusive) menu from famed chef Alex Wong is set to delight Sydneysiders (and chocolate lovers) for one night only at Grana Privato on Tuesday, October 29. What's REESE'S? Known for its unique mix of salty peanut butter and sweet milk chocolate, REESE'S peanut butter cups have long been a favourite in the States. Just in time for Halloween, REESE'S salty-sweet treats now have a wider range available at Woolworths, Coles, 7-Eleven, independent supermarkets, petrol or convenience stores. What better way to enjoy them than at a nutty REESE'S peanut butter and chocolate inspired event? Like the REESE'S-taurant. The festivities will take place at the stylish spot Grana Privato at the historical Hinchcliff House in the CBD. Upon entering, guests will step into an orange, sweet-and-salty-infused fever dream, with orange hues and tempting displays of sweet treats in every direction. After acclimatising to the bright colours, guests can explore the interactive space, including an aromatic chocolate and peanut butter trail. This space is where visitors adjust their tastebuds before indulging in an unforgettable menu. The menu was crafted by innovative and celebrated chef Alex Wong, SMH Good Food Guide 2023 NSW Chef of the Year finalist, who helms the kitchens at hatted Sydney restaurants Lana and Martinez. Here, he is serving his interpretation of the salty-sweet REESE'S peanut butter and chocolate flavours in six savoury and sweet dishes. What's on the Menu? While we can't give everything away, some menu standouts include chicken skewers with peanut chocolate satay, leek and garlic. If you're a fan of pasta, there's a white chocolate peanut, gorgonzola butter and sage sauce pasta dish that is designed to replicate the REESE'S peanut butter cup's ripple pattern. Given REESE'S-taurant at Grana Privato is all about celebrating REESE'S chocolate's expanding availability in Australia, some classic Aussie-themed menu items are a fitting addition. Guests can indulge in Australian kangaroo and chocolate 'mole' empanadas. The menu will also feature a wagyu rib cap with oxtail, kohlrabi and REESE'S peanut butter 'rendang'. Naturally, dessert is also a highlight. Wong takes a classic and turns it on its head with his take on the 'PBJ'. "Peanut butter and chocolate is such a mouth-watering combination and a winning inspiration point for this menu that highlights salt and sweetness and is sure to be anything but ordinary," says Wong. Our advice? Make sure you arrive hungry. What Else Can Guests Expect? Beyond the food, guests can also expect a few other treats on the night. As it's highly likely most attendees will be bursting at the seams after dinner, all guests will get to take home a goodie bag. Plus, you can share the love around to friends and family with FOMO. The goodie bag includes all the favourites. Think classic peanut butter and milk chocolate cups, white peanut butter cups, miniature cups and sticks bars. The goodies are the perfect Halloween treat. When you thought it couldn't get any better, House Made Hospitality will also throw in a $50 restaurant voucher for each attendee, which can be used at any one of ten Sydney venues, including Apollonia, Lana, Martinez, Grana and Promenade Bondi Beach. Plus, selected House Made Hospitality venues are offering a limited-edition REESE'S Peanut Butter Cookie ($6.50) and REESE'S Chocolate Croissant ($9.50) ahead of Halloween and throughout the month of November. There are only 90 spots available for the REESE'S-taurant at Grana Privato, which means you need to book your spot as soon as you can. If you miss out, keep an eye on social media as REESE'S and Wong will release the recipes from the menu so you can recreate the menu in the comfort of your own home. The REESE'S-taurant at Grana Privato will take place on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, from 6.30-9.30pm. Limited tickets are available and can be purchased via Sevenrooms. Tickets cost $135 per person. Please note unfortunately REESE'S cannot accommodate any attendees with a nut allergy. Images: Supplied
Having already wowed the Sydney fine dining scene with the two-hatted Bentley and the one-hatted Monopole, unstoppable duo Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt are about to realise another dream. Today they're opening their new French-style bistro, Yellow, in Potts Point's iconic Yellow House. Driven by a bistronomy approach, the eatery will combine bistro decor with quality cuisine. Fresh, seasonal produce in atmospheric surroundings is the order of the day. There'll be seating for 60, as well as an intimate bar and an outdoor area. “We have been dreaming of opening a French-style bistro for a number of years and we’re thrilled to be bringing the concept to life in Potts Point,” explains Savage. “We feel as though we’ve now encompassed all fields, with Bentley as our restaurant, Monopole as our wine bar and Yellow as our bistro offering. “With Monopole just up the road, we know the locals and visiting diners are food and wine lovers. Yellow is a neighbourhood bistro, easy to drop into any night of the week but with a strong focus on innovative food. Of course, Nick has had fun with the wine list, too.” Entrees include roasted heirloom carrots with spiced crumb and sweet cicely, and slow-cooked ocean trout with young onions, fennel and almonds. Top-tipped mains are lamb belly with broadbean shoots, celery and purslane, and Cape Grim sirloin with mustard leaves and green sauce, while headlining dessert is chocolate parfait with raspberry sorbet. Savage and Hildebrandt have once again called on the talents of Melbourne designer Pascale Gomes-McNabb, who took care of both the Bentley and Monopole. Diners can expect more of her renowned, ultra-atmospheric lighting techniques and idiosyncratic dashes of bright colour. Back in the '70s, when Potts Point was the vibrant centre of the Sydney arts scene, Yellow House was an artists' collective, where the likes of Martin Sharp, Brett Whiteley, Greg Wait, Peter Weir and George Gittoes lived, worked and covered the walls, floors and ceilings in masterpieces. The rumour goes that it was also the likely home of Australia's first ever 24 hour-long 'Happening'. Yellow is at 57-59 Macleay Street, Potts Point. It is open for dinner seven nights and all day on weekends.
Whether you're keen on an after-work drink, a bite to eat, an excuse to catch up with your mates or some live tunes, everything goes better with a view. That's one of the main ideas behind The Garden Social, the new summer event hosted in The Domain by the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney — and popping up every Wednesday–Sunday between January 13–February 7. Taking over The Domain's Tarpeian Precinct, the event features a vantage that'll see you peering out at the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. Yep, that's a classic Sydney backdrop. You can say cheers to it with drinks from the bar — and from a dedicated Fever-Tree Ultimate Gin and Tonic Bar, too. Obviously, G&Ts are on the menu there. Food-wise, food trucks will be serving up an array of dishes, including from Urban Pasta, Agape, Rolling Schnitzel, Burgers G-Dup, JR Korean Chicken and Birdman. Or, you can opt for gelato and churros if you're after something sweet. Also, to set the mood, you can listen to a jazz, classical and contemporary soundtrack provided by musicians from the Conservatorium of Music. Entry is free, with The Garden Social running from 5–9pm Wednesday–Friday, from 11am–9pm every Saturday and from 11am–3pm each Sunday.
If you're Melbourne's NGV International and you've spent the summer filling your walls and halls with fashion by Coco Chanel, how do you follow up come winter? By dedicating your next blockbuster exhibition to Pablo Picasso and the artists, poets and intellectuals he crossed paths with. The iconic Spanish painter, sculptor and printmaker's pieces will sit alongside works by everyone from Salvador Dalí and Henri Matisse to Marie Laurencin and Gertrude Stein at The Picasso Century, which'll take over the St Kilda Road gallery from Friday, June 10. A world-premiere showcase developed exclusively for the NGV by the Centre Pompidou and the Musée national Picasso-Paris, and displaying until Sunday, October 9, The Picasso Century won't skimp on its namesake. From Picasso alone, more than 70 works will be on display. But it'll also surround his pieces with over 100 others from more than 50 of his contemporaries, with the latter sourced from French national collections and the NGV Collection. That means that art lovers will be able to gaze at 170-plus works of art, and chart Picasso's career via his paintings, sculptures, drawings and ceramics in the process — and also see how it developed through his engagement with his peers. And, when it comes to other talents showcased, the hefty list also covers Guillaume Apollinaire, Georges Braque, Alberto Giacometti, Françoise Gilot, Valentine Hugo, Dora Maar, André Masson and Dorothea Tanning. By placing the artist's pieces in context with the works of others around him, The Picasso Century examines the connections that helped make him who he was, and explores how his creations rippled throughout the world. Accordingly, art by Natalia Goncharova, Julio González, Wifredo Lam, Suzanne Valadon and Maria Helena Vieira da Silva will also feature, all talents who've rarely been exhibited in Australia. And, other artists included span André Breton, Georges Bataille, Aimé Césaire and Alberto Giacometti, as well as Kay Sage, Max Ernst and Giorgio de Chirico — plus Francis Bacon and Willem de Kooning as well. Didier Ottinger, a scholar of 20th century painting and Deputy Director of the Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, has curated the exhibition, which obviously steps through Picasso's distinct artistic periods: his blue period, cubism and surrealism, for instance. In total, The Picasso Century will explore 15 thematic sections that chart the course of Picasso's seven-decade-plus career. If you're fond of his surrealist period, however, it'll be particularly packed with works from then. [caption id="attachment_857196" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Installation view of 'The Picasso Century', on display 10 June 10–October 9, 2022 at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Jeremy Kees.[/caption] Top Images: Installation view of 'The Picasso Century', on display 10 June 10–October 9, 2022 at NGV International, Melbourne. Image 1, photo: Peter Bennetts. Image 2-4, photo: Sean Fennessy.
Keanu Reeves is one of cinema's treasures, and should never be far away from our screens. Since the mid-1980s, across a career that's spanned everything from the Bill & Ted movies and stone-cold masterpiece Point Break through to The Neon Demon and Always Be My Maybe, he thankfully rarely has been. And, seeing him in lean, slick, no-nonsense action-star mode, dispensing with whatever troubles and struggles come his way via impressively choreographed displays, is one of the biggest movie-watching pleasures there is. But only two film franchises have served up just that again and again: The Matrix and John Wick. In the film saga where Keanu knows kung fu, viewers have already been treated to four instalments. In the movies where he plays the hitman that other hitmen fear, the fourth flick is on its way. During San Diego Comic-Con, John Wick: Chapter 4 just dropped its first trailer, in fact. Yes, we're thinking that the assassin is back — again. As all John Wick movies have so far — the first in 2014, John Wick: Chapter 2 in 2017 and John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum all included — this one will follow the formidable killer as he takes on his ever-growing list of adversaries. There's still a huge bounty on his head, and plenty of foes want to collect. That hasn't stopped Wick yet, though, after he got dragged back into the assassin life when a past batch of enemies messed with his dog. If you're thinking that Wick's luck might run out at some point, the new film — which is set to hit cinemas Down Under in March 2023 — understands. "No one, not even you, can kill everyone," Wick is told. But proving that wrong has always been at the heart of this stunt-filled saga. Well, that and increasingly upping the ante on all those action scenes, with Reeves' former stunt double-turned-filmmaker Chad Stahelski at the helm. In the first sneak peek at John Wick: Chapter 4, both Reeves and Stahelski keep doing what they do best, and spectacularly so. That includes hopping around the globe, with Wick seen walking through Paris in winter with the Eiffel Tower looming large, and also getting into sword fights in Japan — and the film also heading to New York and Berlin. On-screen, Reeves is joined by a roster of returning and new John Wick faces. Fellow franchise mainstays Ian McShane (American Gods) and Lance Reddick (Godzilla vs Kong) are back, and so is Reeves' The Matrix co-star Laurence Fishburne after appearing in the past two movies. And, Donnie Yen (Mulan), Bill Skarsgård (Eternals), Hiroyuki Sanada (Mortal Kombat), Shamier Anderson (Son of the South), Rina Sawayama (Turn Up Charlie) and Scott Adkins (Triple Threat) are all set to feature as well. In also excellent news, a fifth John Wick movie is already in the works, because more ass-kicking Keanu is always a great thing. Check out the first trailer for John Wick: Chapter 4 below: John Wick: Chapter 4 will release Down Under on March 23, 2023.
Stay tuned. More info on its way.
On December 9, tread lightly, and carry a really big sword. Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill saga is coming to Mov'In Bed Cinema, and as always the proprietors are serving up an epic feast to match. If you've never before witnessed this roaring rampage of revenge, then boy are you in for a treat. This bloody four-hour odyssey is unlike any film in the modern era, featuring all the hallmarks — the violence, the dialogue, the kick-ass soundtrack — that make Tarantino one of the all-time greats. Uma Thurman is in career best form as the sword-swinging Black Mamba, carving up the killers on her death list one by one. And what better way to experience this unique double feature than at Sydney's most comfortable outdoor cinema. Mov'In Bed features 150 beds in lieu of chairs, while their food options are damn more exciting than popcorn. This year they've teamed up with the likes of Fratelli Fresh, The Burger Project and Bavarian Bier Café, who'll deliver lamb ragu penne, American-style burgs and crackling pork rolls straight to your bedside. If you feel like dessert, banoffee pie should do nicely, or you can chow down on a cinnamon sugar pretzel doughnut. Mov'In Bed also offers a selection of beverages, including beers, ciders and organic wines. Basically, if your date likes samurai movies, then you really couldn't do much better. Gates open at 5pm and the first movie begins at 8.15pm. Tickets are selling fast, so head here to secure yours now.
Campbell Parade mainstay Hotel Ravesis has muscled its way back onto Bondi's new cocktail spot radar, reopening with a bold new look and completely revamped offering. Gone are Ravesis' dated silver trimmings and stark grey walls, the hotel's new summery shake-up capitalises brilliantly on its beachfront address, showcasing panoramic ocean views from its Art Deco windows, and a coastal-chic fitout of flamingo pink and dazzling white. The two-storey stunner's sprawling wraparound terrace has been spruced up, and the space's assortment of breezy dining and bar spaces adorned with a healthy dose of wicker and greenery. Hotel Ravesis is currently restyling its collection of 12 boutique suites and rooms. The hotel will remain open throughout the process with all rooms due for completion by mid-2017. Chef Peter Streckfuss (The Lemon Tree, Catalina) is on the pans, delivering a Mediterranean-accented menu full of fresh, lively flavours. He's letting the top-notch local produce do all the talking, throwing down a variety of great seafood options, and shucking oysters fresh to order. The perfect match to some post-beach cocktails, we'd say. Even the entertainment program has been given a big old overhaul, pulling together a rotation of midweek solo artists and bands, and DJs throughout the weekend. On Wednesday nights an eight-piece superband of Sydney musicians called The Elements, made up of artists from The Whitlams, Skunkhour and the Bernard Fanning band, has the stage. Images: Nikki To and Katje Ford.
ARTBAR is the MCA's after-hours offering for those who like their art with a soundtrack and a bar. It had its second birthday in May, celebrating two years of Friday night art, music and performance with a fancy display of bright lights and projections curated by Ross Manning. August's ARTBAR is a Primavera edition, presaging the exhibition of new Australian voices in art that will open in September. Primavera artists Nick Dorey and Hossein Ghaemi are curating a night of video works, performance, workshops and a dedicated rave space. The MCA has definitely got a good thing going with ARTBAR. There's a general consensus that art is cool, but doing it all with a glass of red in hand and a DJ in the background is that little bit cooler. Fortunately, everyone's favourite cultured night out since Jurassic Lounge ended isn't going anywhere, with monthly happenings planned for the rest of the year.
Warm, cosy, rosy, charming, feel-good: typically when a film spins its story during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, none of these words apply. But with Belfast, Kenneth Branagh has made a movie set in its eponymous city when the Protestant-versus-Catholic violence was a constant sight, and also helmed a feature that's about a childhood spent with that conflict as a backdrop. It's an approach that only works because Branagh draws from his own experiences — the film isn't a play-by-play memoir, but it's also clearly personal. Here, it's 1969, when the actor-turned-filmmaker would've been nine years old. The movie's protagonist, Buddy (first-timer Jude Hill), is that exact age, in fact. And with the beginnings of a three-decade-long sectarian fracas bubbling and boiling around him, he navigates the usual age-appropriate antics, such as school, crushes, doting grandparents with ailing health and a potential big move. The Troubles are a constant sight in the largely monochrome-hued film, too, and the reason Buddy's that parents are contemplating relocating to England, something they wouldn't have dreamed of otherwise. Pa (Jamie Dornan, The Tourist) already spends most of his time working there as a joiner, leaving Ma (Caitríona Balfe, Outlander) at home with Buddy and his elder brother Will (Lewis McAskie, Here Before) — with assistance from the boys' Granny (Judi Dench, Six Minutes to Midnight) and Pop (Ciarán Hinds, The Man in the Hat) — and he's been offered a new job that comes with a house. The violence swirling through Belfast has already made it to the family's street, to their hounded Catholic neighbours and, when Pa refuses to join the fray, put them on their fellow Protestants' hit list. Shifting to London (or perhaps further, to Sydney or Vancouver) would provide a new start and a safer future, but leaving all they've ever known isn't a simple decision. Belfast's adult characters are only known as Buddy would know them, such is Branagh's commitment to seeing this story, time and place through a child's eyes as he once did. And, while there's much debate to be had between Pa and Ma about whether to go or stay, the film is filled with its young lead's joys and worries — with the prospect of never again seeing the Catholic classmate he swoons over high among the boy's concerns. Belfast isn't short on context, however, though there's zero chance that it could be mistaken for a meaty interrogation of The Troubles. Branagh weaves in examples of how the push-and-pull of the conflict that's inescapable in his neighbourhood every day, Molotov cocktails, broken windows, blazes, riots and all, puts Buddy and his family in the middle. Still, a magical view of childhood remains, including when Buddy gets thrust into the thick of the fray — where, after he returns home with looted supermarket wares, his mother marches him back to return the stolen products amid the chaos. Branagh also indulges in an origin story, perhaps inspired by his stint in the Marvel Cinematic Universe directing the first Thor film back in 2011 (Buddy is even seen reading a Thor comic). Escaping The Troubles as much as anyone can in Belfast, the writer/director's on-screen surrogate adores seeing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and A Christmas Carol also features — scenes that come to life in colour, unlike the bulk of the picture around them. In the process, Branagh helps trace the early steps of his own desire to become a thespian and filmmaker, which has led to everything from Shakespeare adaptations such as Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet, to doing double duty in front of and behind the lens with Hercule Poirot duo Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. He's played Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' Gilderoy Lockhart, helmed Disney's live-action Cinderella, gotten villainous in Tenet, and of course, enjoyed an applauded on-stage career as well, all stemming from those first rapturous experiences watching when he was growing up. You could also call Belfast Branagh's Roma moment, after Alfonso Cuarón also gave cinema a black-and-white vision drawn from his own childhood, although that comparison fades quickly — even with Oscar love likely to come this film's way, in nominations at least, as it did for its predecessor. Here, the Dutch angles have it, with one of Branagh's go-to stylistic moves visually reinforcing Belfast's skewed perspective. Everything that viewers see is gorgeously lensed by his regular cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos (a mainstay on everything except All Is True since 2007's Sleuth), and also fondly nostalgic as cherished memories of formative years always are, with the lean firmly towards Buddy and his subjective view. As often set to a Van Morrison soundtrack, there's no doubting that this is a portrait of the big and small moments remembered and given a tender glow far more than it's about matters of politics and religion. As carefully and sentimentally conjured up and constructed as it is, Belfast's message remains timely as it gazes five-plus decades back. Horror and conflict stalk Buddy's working-class turf, his routine and life are shaken and upended, but hope — and the reality that life does go on — shines through. The opposing forces of comfort and change jostle around him, and this boy and his loved ones endeavour to make their way through it. Indeed, it should come as no surprise that this was Branagh's pandemic project, or that he peers back with such affection. In one of the movie's least successful touches, he even finds a way to convey that process on-screen, starting with a glossy shot of Ireland today, then literally peeking beyond a wall to venture into the past. Branagh's best choice: his magnificent cast, although an actor who also directs guiding marvellous performances out of his key players also doesn't surprise. What's especially glorious about Hill, Dornan, Balfe, Dench and Hinds is how much their portrayals tell us about their characters in the beats between dialogue, with wide-eyed enthusiasm radiating from wonderful newcomer Hill, and Dench and Hinds perfecting Granny and Pop's world-wise lived-in dynamic, for instance. Dornan and Balfe are also exceptional; whether bickering heatedly about tax debts and far-off places or taking to the dance floor — or, in Dornan's case, belting out a big-hearted rendition of 'Everlasting Love' to give his Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar crooning a companion — they're a picture of that unceasing emotion that Branagh infuses into every element of the film. Yes, as its showcase number trumpets, that's love, which leads to a sweet, neat and light but still vivid and soulful snapshot of growing up amid swelling uncertainty. Image: Rob Youngson / Focus Features.
