You're unlikely to get authentic home-cooked Italian food unless your mama or papa is from the homeland. The rest of us have to do with an Aussified version. So it's a great thing that Sydney is overwhelmed with Italian restaurants. Is there a need for another? Serial restaurateur Mauro Marcucci certainly thinks so, adding the newly opened Baccomatto Osteria in Surry Hills to his oeuvre. The man behind Mille Vini and Enopizzeria has fashioned a minimalistic place to find rustic food adjoining the traveler lodge-like Cambridge Hotel. Baccomatto, meaning "mad mouth" in Italian, isn't trying to be fancy pants fine dining, but a relaxed place to socialise. In doing so, with authentic regional dishes and sauces, it succeeds where other stuffier places fail, in good-natured service and a lack of omnipresent Buddha Bar ambient beats in the background. The entrees are pretty small, with fried zucchini flowers ($4.50 each), fried mozzarella balls with an anchovy centre ($4.50) and rice balls with a ragu surprise in the middle ($4). Tasty but light. The bad boys come out with the mains – a ragu-like bombolotti in slow cooked tomato sauce with a scattershot of locally sourced bacon ($28) is again a tad small but delicious. The chargrilled spatchcock ($26) is spread-eagled on the plate and tender, although it needs an accompanying side dish. Try the roast potato with rosemary ($7). The desserts by contrast are generous – a hazelnut freddo ($13) with cocoa and raspberry puree swirls, and the light sponge cake with a ricotta and dark chocolate belly are a bravado finish. Relaxed but stylish, simple and subtle yet intricate, this "mad mouth" talks sense.
Back for January 2019, Opera Australia's popular Opera in the Domain returns to for a wonderful night of opera under the stars — and it's absolutely free. Some of Australia's top vocal talent will have you whistling along to famous tunes you didn't even know you knew. Gather the crew (and your trusty picnic basket) and settle in for a night of some of opera's most famous and most beautiful moments. But don't worry if you don't actually own a picnic basket — a whole heap of the city's best food trucks will be there cooking up a storm and the garden bar will be slinging all sorts of summer drinks. As for the soundtrack, a parade of famous arias, duets and overtures is sure to delight all music fans, whether you are an opera aficionado or you don't know Bellini from a bellini. If nothing else, it's a perfect cheap date idea.
Snowtown. Everyone seems to have an opinion on whether or not this film should have been made and it usually ends with, 'Oh, I just don't think I could sit through it.' And rightly so. It is the horrific true story of the murders of twelve people over a seven year period in the outer housing commission suburbs of Adelaide. It is not easy viewing, certainly not The Hangover 2. Australian cinema has historically done bleak quite well though. Our stories are often dark, sparsely dialogued tales of the interior and for whatever reason (PhD anyone?) we know how to frame these fables. And Snowtown is no exception. For a whole bunch of feature film first timers (director, producers, screenplay writer, local actors plucked from malls), Snowtown is a beautifully lit and cold, blue hued film about the horrors elicit in circumstance. Told from the viewpoint of young, Jamie Vlassakis, a sixteen year old boy who becomes involved in the murders through the charismatic charm and the three meat and veg stability of ringleader, John Bunting, Snowtown is not a gore fest reveling in the details of the bodies in the barrels. Rather, the film explores the way in which silence was an occupying force in Jamie's life and that of the community surrounding the hideous events. At times, it is extremely hard to believe just how forcefully silence set up camp but the power of the film ultimately stems from the fact that this happened, this is how people reacted, this is what they did, it is our history. Be prepared for a couple of scenes that will probably go down on par with the roo shooting scene in Wake in Fright. They are not gratuitous but serve to illustrate the power that John Bunting yielded in the absence of a masculine force in Jamie's life. No empathy is ever sought from the audience but perhaps an understanding of the way in which circumstance permeates every decision we make. https://youtube.com/watch?v=sJY6X8utM8A
Are you ready to get back on the school bus? The We and the I is a 2012 American dramedy directed by Michel Gondry, the idiosyncratic French filmmaker responsible for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In this fictional film, Gondry recruits a handful of talented kids from the Bronx, the infamous Fort Apache neighbourhood and fashions a script around them. These Bronx high-schoolers play out real stories on a fictitious bus line, the BX66, and as the bus shudders through real South Bronx neighborhoods old friendships shatter, flirtations begin, secrets spill over and bullies jeer. There's anger, there's profanity, and there's tenderness — all presented without teen-movie romanticism or moral judgment. The We and the I perfectly captures the freewheeling, hormonal chaos of being in high school, not to mention the joy of profanity, and the conflict between the desire to be oneself and the need to fit in. Go see it; there might be somebody in this jumbly group that you recognise. The We and the I is a Sydney exclusive for the Golden Age Cinema & Bar.
Editors fictional and real may disagree — The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun's Arthur Howitzer Jr (Bill Murray, On the Rocks) among them — but it's easy to use Wes Anderson's name as both an adjective and a verb. In a sentence that'd never get printed in his latest film's titular tome (and mightn't in The New Yorker, its inspiration, either), The French Dispatch is the most Wes Anderson movie Wes Anderson has ever Wes Andersoned. The immaculate symmetry that makes each frame a piece of art is present, naturally, as are gloriously offbeat performances. The equally dreamy and precise pastel- and jewel-hued colour palette, the who's who of a familiar cast list, the miniatures and animated interludes and split screens, the knack for physical comedy, and the mix of high artifice, heartfelt nostalgia and dripping whimsy, too. The writer/director knows what he loves, and also what he loves to splash across his films, and it's all accounted for in his tenth release. In The French Dispatch, he also adores stories that say as much about their authors as the world, the places that gift them to the masses, and the space needed to let creativity and insight breathe. He loves celebrating all of this, and heartily, using his usual bag of tricks. It's disingenuous to say that Anderson just wheels out the same flourishes in any movie he helms, though, despite each one — from The Royal Tenenbaums onwards, especially — looking like part of a set. As he's spent his career showing but conveys with extra gusto here, Anderson adores the craftsmanship of filmmaking. He likes pictures that look as if someone has doted on them and fashioned them with their hands, and is just as infatuated with the emotional possibilities that spring from such loving and meticulous work. Indeed, each of his features expresses that pivotal personality detail so clearly that it may as well be cross-stitched into the centre of the frame using Anderson's hair. It's still accurate to call The French Dispatch an ode to magazines, their heyday and their rockstar writers; the film draws four of its five chapters from its eponymous publication, even badging them with page numbers. But this is also a tribute to everything Anderson holds The New Yorker to stand for, and holds dear — to everything he's obsessed over, internalised and absorbed into the signature filmmaking style that's given such an exuberant workout once again. One scene, in the first of its three longer segments, crystallises this so magnificently that it's among the best things Anderson has ever put on-screen. It involves two versions of murderer-turned-artist Moses Rosenthaler, both sharing the boxed-in frame. The young (Tony Revolori, The Grand Budapest Hotel) greets the old (Benicio Del Toro, No Sudden Move), the pair swapping places and handing over lanyards, and it feels as if Anderson is doing the same with his long-held passions. Before Moses' instalment, entitled The Concrete Masterpiece, the picture's bookending story steps into Howitzer's offices in the fictional French town of Ennui-sur-Blasé. Since 1925, he's called it home, as well as the base for a sophisticated literary periodical that started as a travel insert in his father's paper back in Kansas. Because Anderson loves melancholy, too, news of Howitzer's death begins the film courtesy of an obituary. What follows via travelogue The Cycling Reporter, the aforementioned incarcerated art lark, student revolution report Revisions to a Manifesto and police cuisine-turned-kidnapping story The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner is The French Dispatch's final issue turned into a movie — and an outlet for both Howitzer's and the director's abundant Francophilia. Watching travel correspondent Herbsaint Sazerac (Owen Wilson, Loki) wheel around Ennui — a place that isn't quite Paris, just as The French Dispatch isn't quite The New Yorker — comes complete with choirboy gangs rumbling seniors, rat-filled tunnels and bodies fished out of rivers. Anderson's love of quaint and quirky details initially shimmers before that, in Howitzer's workspace beneath his comical "no crying" sign, but doesn't stop gleaming for a second. It's there in Moses' success, as aided by his muse/prison guard Simone (Léa Seydoux, No Time to Die), fellow inmate/art dealer Cadazio (Adrien Brody, Succession), and journalist JKL Berensen (Tilda Swinton, Memoria), who relays the specifics. And, it's clear in the chronicle by political writer Lucinda Krementz (Frances McDormand, Nomadland) about a student uprising led by the suitably moody Zeffirelli (Timothée Chalamet, Dune) over accessing girls' dormitory rooms. Regardless of their amusingly monikered setting, there's nary a trace of boredom or indifference in any of these chapters, all of which ape real New Yorker stories and scribes. So too does Howitzer, as well as Roebuck Wright (Jeffrey Wright, No Time to Die), author of the film's third major segment. The French Dispatch layers in themes and ideas as potently and deeply as its visual gems, tortured genius myths and "the touching narcissism of the young" (as the movie itself describes it) all included; however, its Roebuck-focused thread is exquisitely intelligent and affecting. On a TV set, the journalist relays his attempt to write about Nescaffier (Steve Park, Warrior), chef to the local police commissaire (Mathieu Amalric, Sound of Metal), which was derailed by a hostage situation involving the latter's son — and his piece also becomes an outsider's lament. Whether going monochrome in homage to the French New Wave, pulling off a bravura late-film long shot, or finding roles for Elisabeth Moss (The Invisible Man), Saoirse Ronan (Ammonite), Edward Norton (Motherless Brooklyn) and Willem Dafoe (The Card Counter) — plus Jason Schwartzman (Fargo), who also nabs a story credit with the director, Roman Coppola (Isle of Dogs) and Hugo Guinness (The Grand Budapest Hotel) — Anderson does his utmost at every turn. While aided by sublime work by his eight-time cinematographer Robert D Yeoman, regular production designer Adam Stockhausen and frequent composer Alexandre Desplat, the result feels like slipping not only into Anderson's head but his heart, and more so than any other feature he's made. The French Dispatch is a treasure chest for Anderson, his devotees, and lovers of words, France and inventive cinema alike, although it holds zero chance of converting his naysayers. "Just try to make it sound like you wrote it that way on purpose," is Howitzer's wise advice to his writers, but there's no doubting that every minuscule choice made in this remarkable delight is utterly and marvellously intentional.
When Cleveland's opened way back in 2012, the hybrid shop was still a bit of novelty. And, in the case of this teeny space next to the Norfolk Hotel, the hybrid was coffee and a haircut. The joint venture by barista Harry Levy and professional hairdresser Patrick Casey meant you could visit for a Little Marionette coffee and brekkie or a haircut and beard trim — or both. But as more and more 'slash' venues opened across the city (hairdresser/bar, bar/record store, cafe/bike shop), something has become very clear: you have to be committed to doing both things well or it doesn't work. So it's of little surprise that when the original stepped away and hairstylist Kim took control of the scissors, the cafe side of things was wound down. Cleveland's Salon and Cafe is now Cleveland's Hair Atelier, and the focus is 100-percent on hair. Men, women and non-binary folk are all encouraged to pop in for a premium salon experience, be it for a tint, treatment or trim. Refreshments aren't completely off the cards — you'll score a complimentary coffee, tea, beer, wine or whisky on your visit. It's a variety befitting the late operating hours — it's open till 10pm some evenings.
We've all wondered what goes on behind closed doors. It's the whole reason that gossip magazines and reality TV exist, after all. But, there's a difference between reading about it or watching it on television, and actually walking into someone's hotel room and seeing it with your own eyes — and QT Gold Coast is currently letting people do the latter. At the first Hotelling program in what is hoped will become a regular event, audiences explore the building from the penthouse down to the tennis court; however they're privy to more than fancy '80s-style baths in the former and somewhere to play sports at the latter. They also meet the inhabitants, from a hostess living right at the top, to a visiting IT exec fighting with his wife, to an otherworldly presence channelling a rock star. Okay, okay, so they're actually actors that are playing a part in a site-specific performance piece put together by Bleached Arts, QT Gold Coast and City of Gold Coast, but they're replicating the weird, wonderful, over-the-top and ordinary things that go on the mini society that is a hotel (and a hotel on the Gold Coast in particular). First cab off the rank is Slavka, partying on the highest level of the place that just last week hosted the Thor: Ragnarok wrap party. She greets attendees warmly, gets them dancing, and then sends them on their merry way. With the event called Down The Rabbit Hole, that's mostly the direction everyone is then headed, with multiple stops. At one of them, the aforementioned Larry from Perth lets you into his room, where you'll overhear his phone conversation, help sing happy birthday to his son Morgan, and watch his reaction as his marriage almost falls apart. Also on the itinerary: a homage to rock-gods like Mick Jagger, Iggy Pop and Patti Smith, which will make you feel like you're in their rooms. Plus, there's some more adventurous fun on the agenda when you enter the domain of a Gold Coast-based sex counselling service, Rhythm Stick, that has chosen QT Gold Coast as a venue to solicit new clients. Or, do what absolutely everyone does when they're somewhere with plenty of high-rises: try to look into a neighbouring tower. Here, international surveillance artist Joao Montessori customises his signature artwork, In-Focus, to Gold Coast's hotel landscape, inviting you to stare in at a neighbouring block. Yep, it's a little bit like Rear Window. Over the course of the three-hour event, attendees go up and down between different rooms and peering into different lives in four groups — and no group has the same experience, or sees the exact same performances. Don't think the hallways are safe, though. There, you just might spy a Russian wrestling his bear-hat; a tall, twitchy and somewhat creepy Donnie Darko-esque rabbit, a pyjama-clad woman looking for her best bunny buddy (yep, rabbits are a thing), a go-go dancer who doesn't dance and a lost Kiwi. There's more, including several interactive components — but, at something like Hotelling, much of the fun is about experiencing it for yourself. And, about getting into the swing of things; everyone's a voyeur and a performer down deep, after all. Just a word of warning, though: you'll be in close quarters with many, many people in a whole lot of elevators. And, even if you've never had vertigo before, the experience of continually getting into a lift just might cause your first bout (we're speaking from experience). Hotelling takes place at QT Gold Coast from November 4 to 5. For more information, visit the event website and Facebook page. Images: Matt Marny. Slavka, Penthouse, performed by Nadia Sunde; Like A Rolling Stone, Room 706, performed by Kate Harman; The Crying Man, Room 306 performed by Todd MacDonald; In-Focus, Room 1915 performed by Hayden Jones with Steph Pokoj, Reuben Witsenhuysen, Marco Sinigaglia and Tammy Zarb; The Otherworld, Hallways.
Calling all Amy Poehler fans — the beautiful tropical fish, powerful musk ox and noble land mermaid of Netflix flicks is here. The Saturday Night Live and Parks and Recreation star has directed her first film, a comedy that'll hit the streaming platform in May. Here's hoping it'll earn all of the unusual compliments that Leslie Knope has showered upon Ann Perkins. Turning a vino lover's dream weekend getaway with the gang into a movie, Wine Country follows a group of friends who head to Napa to celebrate Rebecca (Rachel Dratch)'s 50th birthday. Poehler plays Abby, the organiser of the gang; Maya Rudolph co-stars as a worn out mother desperate for a break; and fellow Saturday Night Live on-screen alum Ana Gasteyer, plus ex-SNL writers Paula Pell and Emily Spivey, all round out the besties. Also featuring: Tina Fey (of course) and Jason Schwartzman. If you've had a Parks and Recreation-shaped hole in your life since the acclaimed sitcom ended, adored Sisters or just can't get enough of these funny ladies in general, prepare to chuckle and celebrate as the film shows just what happens when a boozy break, lifelong friends and facing a huge milestone all mix. The first trailer has just dropped, and it comes with plenty of laughs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW_0MO-XKog Wine Country releases on Netflix on Friday, May 10. Image: Colleen Hayes.
The Melbourne International Film Festival is back for 2022, and has been screening flicks across the Victorian capital's cinemas since Thursday, August 4 — but that's not the only way to get your MIFF fix this year. Here's another: MIFF Play, the festival's digital offshoot, which is also returning for another spin. That's fabulous news both for Melburnians and for movie buffs interstate — and an unsurprising move given that in 2020, when it first made the leap to streaming the fest in a big way, it enjoyed its biggest audience ever. In 2022, MIFF Play will be available from Thursday, August 11–Sunday, August 28, and will show 105 features and shorts. Among the 77 features, there's plenty of highlights — and, like at all good film fests, something for all tastes. Starting with the local picks, you can explore the history of Melbourne on film thanks to classics Noise and Love and Other Catastrophes, or check out new Aussie gems including First Nations anthology We Are Still Here, Back to Back Theatre's Shadow and Petrol from Strange Colours filmmaker Alena Lodkina. Or, Spanish horror-thriller Piggy spins a savage coming-of-age tale, Neptune Frost serves up an Afrofuturist musical and Give Me Pity! parodies 70s and 80s musical variety television. Hit the Road marks debut feature from Jafar Panahi's (x) son Panah Panahi, while meta Filipino action film tribute Leonor Will Never Die won Sundance's Special Jury Award for Innovative Spirit, and Indonesia's Yuni picked up the Platform Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival There's also Mass, starring Jason Isaacs (Streamline) and Ann Dowd (The Handmaid's Tale) and set in the aftermath of a school shooting; New Zealand gem Millie Lies Low, about a uni student who fakes going to New York for a big internship; and existential drama The Humans with Beanie Feldstein (Booksmart), Steven Yeun (Nope) and Amy Schumer (Only Murders in the Building). The list obviously goes on — kicking off with a one-night-only session of Funny Pages, as produced by Uncut Gems and Good Time's Benny and Josh Safdie. And, on the doco lineup, Citizen Ashe steps into tennis great Arthur Ashe's life, Jane by Charlotte sees Charlotte Gainsbourg focus on her mother Jane Birkin, Navalny follows Vladimir Putin's political rival as he investigates his own state-sponsored poisoning, and We Were Once Kids looks back at 1995 indie hit Kids. Price-wise, you'll pay as you watch — all from your couch.
At this point, Maybe Sammy not appearing on The World's 50 Best Bars' prestigious annual rankings would be a shock. The personality-packed retro cocktail lounge in Sydney's CBD has earned a spot on the coveted list six years in a row. However, while its previous rankings have earned it the laurel of the nation's best bar, that honour has this year been given to a different watering hole — Caretaker's Cottage in Melbourne. The Little Lonsdale Street bar ranked 21st on this year's list, moving up two spots from its 2023 position of 23rd place. It was also awarded the Michter's Art of Hospitality Award — a gong also previously won by Maybe Sammy — which recognises the bar with the most outstanding service in the world. [caption id="attachment_922565" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Caretaker's Cottage[/caption] Maybe Sammy dropped in the rankings this year from 15th to 26th position, breaking its five-year streak as not only Australia's best bar but also Australasia's. One other Australian bar, Byrdi, also earned a spot on the list, in 35th position, breaking into the top 50 for the first time after only making the 100-strong longlist last year, ranking 61st. The judging panel praised Caretaker's Cottage's owners, veteran bartenders Rob Libecans, Ryan Noreiks and Matt Stirling, for not only opening the bar but also working there too. "They don't shout the pedigree of Caretaker's Cottage to the world, preferring to call it a simple, local pub, and in vibe and design it's very much a neighbourhood joint," the judging notes said. [caption id="attachment_743915" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Maybe Sammy, Trent van der Jagt[/caption] The judging panel said Maybe Sammy "has remained [Sydney's] most talked-about bar since it opened in early 2019, lighting up a dreary stretch of street in Sydney's sandstone district, The Rocks," also spotlighting the bar's signature combination of "theatrics and attentive, fun service". Byrdi was praised for its hyper-local focus, with the judging panel noting that the La Trobe Street venue "might very well be the most Australian bar in existence". The judges also highlighted the bar's technical prowess: "There is foraging and fermenting and vacuum distilling – and the drinks are high-concept creations. As for the service, there is a loquaciousness here, a laid back, casual sensibility that, despite all the hard work, experience and knowledge, is determined to show their guests a good time." [caption id="attachment_921792" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Byrdi, Haydn Cattach[/caption] The bar crowned the world's best, announced at a ceremony in Madrid on Tuesday, October 22, was Mexico City's Handshake Speakeasy, with the judges hailing the subtle complexity of the menu: "At first glance, the drinks list is minimalist, but given that head bartender Eric Van Beek uses advanced culinary techniques in prep, each drink is more complex than meets the eye." To see the full list of this year's rankings, head to The World's 50 Best Bars website.
By turns brassy and classy, exotic and demotic, exquisite and coarse, malevolent and melancholy, the extraordinary phenomenon that is Smoke & Mirrors will return to the Seymour Centre for one final season. Presented by Lunar Hare Productions, described as "rock 'n' roll cabaret with a scorching live band," Smoke & Mirrors sold out at Sydney Festival, Adelaide Cabaret Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It's a breathtaking vaudeville fantasy; a glorious melange of physical spectacle, pantomime characters and strobe lights. Supported by a four-piece band, the curious cast of characters includes a red-ruffed ringmaster, a twisted chanteuse, a sublime aerialist, a mesmerising magician and some giant, gambolling bunnies. It's a sexy jounce through Edwardian music halls; a theatrical knees-up to centuries past. It teases out the myriad yearnings and dangers of modern sexual relations through saucy songs and balancing acts, transforming them into an artful cabaret turn. Smoke & Mirrors is a lushly disturbing piece of theatre that was one of The Famous Spiegel Garden’s headline shows. Go see it at the Seymour Centre before it disappears in an exquisite puff of smoke.
Put down that after-work wine, and get your hands dirty at The Pottery Shed. Across three two-hour lessons, the experts at this Surry Hills workshop will teach you the foundations of pottery; throwing, trimming, glazing. It might not be the sexy Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore Ghost situation you're imagining, but it is surprisingly cathartic and a good way to switch off. The work is messy and tricky to master, but the hard slog will be worth it when you have a beautiful bowl or two to show off to your mates. Once you've nailed the basic techniques, you can return to The Pottery Shed and create more masterpieces at your own pace.
Jason Roberts, the renowned chef and author, is on a mission to put Bondi back together; what better way to do it than over a plate of (very) good food? In news that has us salivating and scrambling to clear our calendars, Roberts has taken over Mexican eatery, Calita, for a limited-time culinary event with views of the beach. Roberts isn't on this mission alone, with cake creator Elisa Pietranonio who has also contributed to carefully crafting a menu with the intention of connecting the community in an intimate communal dinner. On October 12 and 19, the pop-up dinners at Calita will feature communal tables, share platters and free-flowing wine and mezcal. The food is a showcase of fresh Mexican flavours made with the highest quality local and sustainable ingredients. One of the hero dishes features wild caught Australian lobster and avocado tostadas (scooped straight out of the shell with crisp tortilla chips). Then there's shared platters of barramundi espache and braised beef cheeks served with tortillas so you can make your own soft tacos. But make sure you save room for dessert. The chilli chocolate tarts and Pietranonio's deliciously balanced cinnamon rice horachata with pineapple are both pretty special. You'll be able to wash it down with wines from Geyer Wine Co and Gentle Folk, two sustainable wineries from South Australia, as well as Calita's signature cocktails and mezcal offering (because what's a true Mexican feast without margaritas and mezcal?). This collaboration intends to heal the still-open wounds of the pandemic and months of isolation. Milpa Collective co-founder Liber Osorio says, "After the pandemic, we noticed some negative impacts in the social interactions of people in general and in Bondi particularly. We think it's important to come together as neighbours and try to bring back some of this sense of community to our public spaces." It's not too late to get a seat at the table, with two sessions remaining, on October 12 and 19. Tickets are $149 pp, and bookings are essential, with limited space available.
Spandex leotards and feathered hair at the ready: it's time to get active, 80s-style. Longtime Sydney favourite Retrosweat is giving its throwback aerobics classes a summer twist, jumping out of the gym and into the pool with a special series of aqua aerobics sessions. Transporting its fluoro fun and energy to the Ashfield Aquatic Centre as part of Sydney Festival, Retrosplash! will deliver three days of workouts, throwback fashion and killer 80s tunes. Find your favourite set of retro swimmers and get your body moving to the likes of 'Let's Get Physical' and 'Club Tropicana'. If you're new to the concept, Retrosweat was founded by Shannon Dooley, who studied at the Fitness Institute Australia and also at NIDA (training under Baz Luhrmann's official choreographer John 'Cha Cha' O'Connell, among other teachers). The vibe really is all there in the name, combining bending, stretching and all the usual aerobics moves, and soundtracked by 80s tunes — aka a fitness-fuelled step back in time. The 40-minute aerobics workout is designed for people of all ages and fitness levels. There will be extra instructors in attendance ensuring that everyone in the pool is being attended to. You can also expect colourful themed inflatables on-site, as well as a grassy section by the water in case you fancy a photo shoot in your outfit.
Bondi has the kind of natural wonder most places in the world can only dream of, so it's no wonder store owners are so environmentally aware. Located on the immaculate boutique-lined Gould Street, Bondi Wash is proudly peddling Australia's best botanical scents. Founded by local Belinda Everingham, Bondi Wash has shampoos, body washes and cleaning products all made with native fragrances. Since opening, the store has expanded beyond scents to cater to all corners of the beach house with natural dog wash, organic, ocean-friendly surface cleaners and a host of skincare products perfect for sensitive skin. Images: Josh White.
Leichhardt's quiet Norton Street is now home to a small bar and restaurant heroing Aussie ingredients thanks to The Little Guy owner Dynn Smulewicz and its longtime bartender Daniel McBride. They've joined forces to bring a much needed new player to the suburb. And, after opening its doors just last month, Golden Gully is already looking to be a hit with locals. "The demographics have changed pretty rapidly over the last few years [in Leichhardt]," says McBride. "There are a lot of young people — including our friends — in the area, so we feel a neighbourhood small bar has its place now." At first glance, the bar has bit of a Little Guy vibe — the two-storey terrace is squeezed into a commercial strip, the narrow ground level has a long bar to one side and the large bi-fold window overlooking the street is lined with stools. But, as McBride assured us, the Gully is no Little Guy 2.0. "The Gully is really 'Australiana' with a focus on all-Aussie products and a full service vegetarian kitchen upstairs," says McBride. The two-storey, 100-seat venue is decked out with tropical green walls and brass accents throughout. Downstairs, you'll find a sleek timber bar and aged leather-backed booths, while the upstairs restaurant is clean and simple, with a pitched roof and exposed beams. The bar runs on a 'something for everyone' mentality, and the team takes this mantra seriously with a rather extensive drinks list to choose from. "We don't want to alienate anyone and we're trying to communicate that through all of the menus," says McBride. "We had to have a big Aussie shiraz for mum, for example." Apart from shiraz, the bar also pours more than a few drops for natural wine lovers, including a few pét-nat and biodynamic numbers. Regions span Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, Hunter Valley, Orange, Yarra Valley, Margaret River and Tumbarumba, to name just a few. There's also a long list of Australian-made gins, vodkas and whiskies, and a seven-strong cocktail list using those same Aussie spirits. On it, you'll find the Norton St Sour ($19) — made with Sydney's Mobius Distilling Company vodka, Adelaide Hills' Italian bitters, lemon and aquafaba — and the Aussie Negroni ($19), a concoction of Poor Toms Gin, sweet vermouth and Applewood Okar (a South Australian take on Italian amaro). [caption id="attachment_707936" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Trent van der Jagt.[/caption] The Gully is also just as much a restaurant as it is a bar. In the kitchen is Emma Evans, who hails from Woolloomooloo's plant-based eatery Alibi. She's creating an elevated vegetarian menu and is "a real boss lady", according to McBride. "Dynn and I are both vegetarian and we hate when people forsake flavour in vegetarian or vegan food," says McBride. "Emma is really good at playing with flavours and creating food that you wouldn't even notice is vego." Evans is turning out European share plates using all-Australian ingredients. Favourite menu items include the almond-based ricotta gnocchi with crispy oyster mushrooms and wattleseed in a wild mushroom broth ($24); tea and pepperberry-smoked potatoes with chives and parsley aioli ($11); and roasted pumpkin wedges, dusted with a native dukkah spice mixture and doused in herb cucumber yoghurt ($19). [caption id="attachment_707934" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Trent van der Jagt[/caption] "Australia is very internationally inspired, and now you can get European-style wines and American-style gin and whisky, but all produced in Australia," says McBride. "The same goes for produce. If you want a burrata on the menu, it doesn't make sense to import it from Italy when there's a Marrickville factory that makes it." And they do have that burrata ($17) on the menu, too, topped with balsamic, a side of sliced figs and served with sourdough. "We tried to make the venue be as comfortable as possible, so people can get stuck in — we're not trying to just turn over tables," says McBride. "You can eat at the bar or go upstairs and smash a bottle of wine without getting any food. There are no set rules." Find Golden Gully at 153 Norton Street, Leichhardt from 4pm–midnight, Wednesday–Friday; midday–midnight, Saturday; and 4–11pm, Sunday. Images: Trent van der Jagt.
Sydney's museum scene is undergoing a significant shake-up. First, the New South Wales Government announced that it's moving the Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta. Now, it has revealed that Australian Museum will take a 12-month hiatus. The popular William Street site will close from Monday, August 19, with a $57.5 million makeover on the cards. The revamp is part of the facility's huge renovation, called Project Discover, which'll add a new touring hall as well as new education spaces. When it's complete, the museum will boast 1500 square metres in exhibition space across two levels — meaning that it can play host to a massive major showcase across the entire multi-floor space, or house two exhibitions at the same time. With Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh due to open in February 2021, Australian Museum will certainly make good use of the extra facilities. Heading to Australia for the first time, it'll feature more than 150 objects from the ancient boy king's tomb as part of the world's largest Tutankhamun exhibition outside of Egypt. Included in that tally are 60 objects that have never before left their homeland. As well as an increase in exhibition space, Australian Museum will also gain new education facilities, a new museum shop and a second cafe — plus an expanded Members' Lounge, cloaking and new amenities. Its current community and school outreach programs will continue during the temporary shutdown. With the museum's public spaces closing until around August 2020, its usual August exhibition will find another home for this year. Fans of the annual Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year will find it at the Powerhouse Museum from Friday, August 16, and it'll be free to attend with a general admission ticket to the museum. The Australian Museum will close on Monday, August 19, re-opening approximately 12 months later. For further details, visit the Project Discover website.
Over the past few months, Sydney has scored quite a few new sky-facing spaces, including the foliage-heavy Manly Greenhouse, Erskineville's pink frilly umbrella-dotted Slims Rooftop and Erskineville's art deco Imperial Up. Now, Westfield Sydney is getting in on the game, with the announcement that it will open not one, but two new venues on its level seven rooftop. From April, inner-city workers and shoppers will be able to slip upstairs to feast on Middle Eastern and Cantonese fare, while soaking up panoramic views. The first of the two is Babylon, a Middle Eastern-inspired venue with a whopping 800 capacity. Among its spaces are a 216-seat restaurant, two expansive bars, an outdoor terrace and private dining areas. The kitchen will be fuelled by fire, with many dishes cooked over wood and charcoal, on the rotisserie and in a huge Turkish grill will pump out charry Adana-style kebabs, cabbage kebabs, and a 72-hour slow-cooked wagyu trip-tip with smoked eggplant puree and mushroom. The bar will also stock over 200 whiskies and 300 bottles of wine. [caption id="attachment_711258" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The dim sum at Duck & Rice. Shot by Steven Woodburn.[/caption] Then, at the end of April, a 400-seat contemporary Cantonese restaurant will open on the rooftop. Duck & Rice will specialise in dishes from regional China — think lots of dim sum, spicy noodles and Cantonese roast duck pancakes. You'll be able to dine — and drink G&Ts on tap — in the 1930s-inspired space or outside in the outdoor lantern room. The Mantle Group Hospitality (MGH), has leased the rooftop and owns both Babylon and Duck & Rice. Having been busy in Brisbane for nearly 40 years, it moved into Sydney in May 2018 with the opening of The Squire's Landing at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in The Rocks. Babylon will open mid-April and Duck & Rice will open late April at level seven of Westfield Sydney, corner Pitt Street Mall and Market Street, Sydney.
There's the parade, yes. But before that, nearly a month of cultural and celebratory events of all stripes makes up the festival of Sydney Mardi Gras, and there's something for everybody, even Straighty McStraight-Straight. Who relates absolutely and 100 percent to the social expectations of their gender and sexuality? Nobody, probably. And that's something to love, savour and take away from this most iconic of Sydney events. This year, there's a fair day, art you can dance to, an intergalactic gay wizard and some steamy literary readings, among all the parties between February 20 and March 8. With gay marriage rights firmly on the agenda again this year, 2015's Mardi Gras will definitely be one that's remembered. Check out our picks of the ten best events of the festival here.
The Rocks is a historic Sydney precinct, home to some of the best bars, oldest heritage buildings, cutest boutique shopfronts and now, a recently-refreshed weekend activity. You might be familiar with it: The Rocks Markets, a local cornerstone that brings together artisanal goods and their makers onto a bustling street for wanderers to delight in en masse. If you've ever been part of that crowd or aspire to be soon, you'll be excited to hear that the market has recently had a facelift and is coming back strong to invite your patronage and delight your senses. Head on down to the harbourside spot for the opening weekend on Saturday, April 15 and Sunday, April 16 — or any Saturday and Sunday after that. What to expect? You can look forward to fruit-topped baked pastries; fresh, cheesy woodfired pizza; European bites aplenty — like paella, pastel de nata (from Tuga Pastries, pictured above) and lokma — and desserts galore. There's something for everyone on the drinks front; think coffee, juice, kombucha, lemonade and everything in between. Beyond the flavour, you can peruse the works of local artists and photographers, inject style to your life with eclectic homewares and shop around for a standout new 'fit for the coming season. Should you need a break from browsing, find a spot on the supplied picnic rugs in the shade of the Harbour Bridge and soak up the rotating roster of live music (all up-and-coming local artists, of course). And for something enriching, head to one of the ever-changing 'how to' workshops, which will have you learning from market stallholders in interactive sessions. The launch weekend includes sessions with Leather Trading Co, Emilio Frank Design, Jonima Flowers and Store Tresor. And as if you weren't spoiled for choice already, Sunday visitors will also see free yoga classes available in Dawes Point Park at 9.30am. The Rocks Markets relaunch on the weekend of Saturday, April 15 and Sunday, April 16. Then, will run every Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 5pm. For more information on the vendors, visit the website.
UPDATE, April 21, 2023: Elvis is available to stream via Netflix, Binge, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Making a biopic about the king of rock 'n' roll, trust Baz Luhrmann to take his subject's words to heart: a little less conversation, a little more action. The Australian filmmaker's Elvis, his first feature since 2013's The Great Gatsby, isn't short on chatter. It's even narrated by Tom Hanks (Finch) as Colonel Tom Parker, the carnival barker who thrust Presley to fame (and, as Luhrmann likes to say, the man who was never a Colonel, never a Tom and never a Parker). But this chronology of an icon's life is at its best when it's showing rather than telling. That's when it sparkles brighter than a rhinestone on all-white attire, and gleams with more shine than all the lights in Las Vegas. That's when Elvis is electrifying, due to its treasure trove of recreated concert scenes — where Austin Butler (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) slides into Presley's blue suede shoes and lifetime's supply of jumpsuits like he's the man himself. Butler is that hypnotic as Presley. Elvis is his biggest role to-date after starting out on Hannah Montana, sliding through other TV shows including Sex and the City prequel The Carrie Diaries, and also featuring in Yoga Hosers and The Dead Don't Die — and he's exceptional. Thanks to his blistering on-stage performance, shaken hips and all, the movie's gig sequences feel like Elvis hasn't ever left the building. Close your eyes and you'll think you were listening to the real thing. (In some cases, you are: the film's songs span Butler's vocals, Presley's and sometimes a mix of both). And yet it's how the concert footage looks, feels, lives, breathes, and places viewers in those excited and seduced crowds that's Elvis' true gem. It's meant to make movie-goers understand what it was like to be there, and why Presley became such a sensation. Aided by dazzling cinematography, editing and just all-round visual choreography, these parts of the picture — of which there's many, understandably — leave audiences as all shook up as a 1950s teenager or 1970s Vegas visitor. Around such glorious centrepieces, Luhrmann constructs exactly the kind of Elvis extravaganza he was bound to. His film is big. It's bold. It's OTT. It's sprawling at two-and-a-half hours in length. It shimmers and swirls. It boasts flawless costume and production design by Catherine Martin, as his work does. It shows again that Luhrmann typically matches his now-instantly recognisable extroverted flair with his chosen subject (Australia aside). Balancing the writer/director's own style with the legend he's surveying can't have been easy, though, and it doesn't completely play out as slickly as Presley's greased-back pompadour. Elvis is never anything but engrossing, and it's a sight to behold. The one key element that doesn't gel as convincingly: using the scheming Parker as a narrator (unreliable, obviously) and framing device. It helps the movie unpack the smiling-but-cunning manager's outré role in Presley's life, but it's often just forceful, although so was Parker's presence in the star's career. In a script by Luhrmann, Sam Bromell (The Get Down), Craig Pearce (Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge! and The Great Gatsby) and Jeremy Doner (TV's The Killing), the requisite details are covered. That includes the singer's birth in Tupelo, Mississippi, and extends through to his late-career Vegas residency — with plenty in the middle. His discovery by Parker, the impact upon his parents (Rake co-stars Helen Thomson and Richard Roxburgh), his relationship with Priscilla (Olivia DeJonge, The Staircase), Graceland, America's puritanical reaction to his gyrating pelvis, the issues of race baked into the response to him as an artist: they're all featured. Thematically, those last two points thrum throughout the entire movie. Elvis questions why any hint of sex was such a shock, and why it was so easy for a white man who drew his songs, style and dance moves from Black culture, via his upbringing, to be dubbed a scandal. Elvis also does what Luhrmann often does; he's never adapted a fairy tale (no, Moulin Rouge!'s green fairy doesn't count), but he adores larger-than-life stories that seem more than real. Like style, like narrative, clearly, and Presley's leap to the most famous man in the world and, sadly, to exploited, caught in a punishing trap, addicted, and then dead at just 42, has that touch to it here. Yes, that remains true even though this will always be a tragic story. That said, amid the visual flourishes that help cement the vibe — the filmmaker's usual circling images, split-screens, match cuts, frenzy of colour and visible lavishness, aided by cinematographer Mandy Walker (Mulan), plus editors Jonathan Redmond (The Great Gatsby) and Matt Villa (Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway) — there's an earthiness to Elvis. In fact, the ability to make everything both hyperreal and natural is one of the reasons the feature's live performance scenes have such a spark. There isn't a second of Elvis that doesn't play like a Luhrmann film, of course; crucially, it's always an Elvis movie, too. There's that balance at work, even if viewers won't walk away knowing much more about the man behind the myth-sized superstardom — feeling more, however, happens fast, frenetically and often. Most choices that could've been jarring, such as the musical anachronisms, have depth to them. Luhrmann connects Presley's songs and influence with music since and now in several ways. This is a film about influences in two directions, smartly — because noting that Big Mama Thornton (first-timer Shonka Dukureh) was the first to record 'Hound Dog', that artists like BB King (Kelvin Harrison Jr, Cyrano) shaped Presley, and that his musical roots trace back to gospel churches and revival tents, needed to be inescapable in an Elvis biopic circa 2022. Also inescapable thanks to its Gold Coast shoot: spotting almost every Australian actor around Butler and Hanks, including David Wenham (The Furnace) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog) as carnival-circuit performers Hank Snow and Jimmie Rodgers Snow. Stranger Things' Dacre Montgomery plays director Steve Binder, who helmed Presley's 68 Comeback Special — the recreation of which is spellbinding. But Butler is always Elvis' force of nature. His physicality in the part, including as Presley ages, is stunning. The soulfulness baked into his portrayal is as well, and moving. That he acts circles around the prosthetics-laden Hanks, who ensures that the self-serving, one-note Parker is easily the film's villain, might sound fanciful in any other movie. But this is Elvis, and seeing Butler play Elvis is one for the money. Doing just that helped make Kurt Russell a star back in 1979, a mere two years after Presley's death, and that taking-care-of-business lightning bolt should strike again thanks to this exhilarating spectacle.
What do Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart and Justin Bieber have in common? Apart from a propensity for unappealing hairdos, that is? They've all made a rest stop at Jonah's a mandatory part of their Australian touring schedule. Some might say it's the jaw-dropping, panoramic Pacific views. Others would point to the luxurious Relais & Chateaux Ocean Retreat rooms. Others still are likely to suggest the favoured mode of arrival: a spectacular 20-minute seaplane ride from Sydney Harbour. But the locals know the truth. After all, they've been flocking to Jonah's since 1928, when it was no more than a roadhouse. Back then, luxury accommodation and an array of Good Food hat-worthy culinary creations weren't on offer. One chef however, had a very special secret: an unbeatable recipe for panna cotta. It wasn't long before locals were arriving in droves to try it out — for a second, third or twentieth time. Eighty-four years later, it is back on the menu for Priceless Sydney, and it's still a favourite — in these five-star days it's served with chargrilled quince, mandarin sorbet and pink pepper tuile. Local business Palm Beach Collection has even collaborated with Jonah's on a hand-poured, eco-friendly candle featuring the lush aromas of the Northern Beaches' most famous dessert. The big news is that both products are currently being given away via MasterCard's Priceless Sydney program. Any MasterCard cardholder who orders two or more courses at Jonah's will receive not only a complimentary signature dessert but also a free Palm Beach Collection candle. All you have to do is pay with your MasterCard card and mention the Priceless Sydney offer.
Giant food art installations and a pair of cooking demonstrations from beloved celebrity chefs are coming to Chatswood as part of a new two-week food event. Between Friday, September 16 and Friday, September 30, the Chatswood Food Trail will take over Westfield Chatswood with a range of activations. Headlining the event will be two free celebrity food demonstrations from Dan Hong and Adam Liaw. Beloved MasterChef alumni and SBS presenter Adam Liaw will be appearing from 6pm on Wednesday, September 28, while Dan Hong of Mr. Wong, Ms G's and MuMu will be running his demonstration from 6pm on Thursday, September 29. Other cooking demonstrations for both adults and kids will be on the program between Monday, September 26–Friday, September 30. Throughout the two weeks, fantastical, larger-than-life art installations resembling bubble tea, noodles, eggs and other food and drink items will also be popping up at the centre. Visitors can collect a Chatswood Food Trail Passport and visit all six of the installations to go into the draw to win a $1000 Westfield gift card. Plus, retailers around the centre will be offering special offers throughout the festivities. Check out the full schedule at the Westfield website.
Founded as a way to promote happiness and health, this five-kilometre-long run involves splashes of colour to distract you from the fact that you're, you know, exercising. All participants are asked to wear white t-shirts and embrace the colour pigment that's blasted at them at various points during the race. This is sweaty exercise disguised as straight-up fun. With a party at the beginning, a party at the end, and four colour zones to dance your way through — the fun never stops, and neither do your legs. The Color Run now takes place in more than 35 countries worldwide, attracting six million runners across the globe. This year it'll run its Sydney race on Sunday, October 7 at Cathy Freeman Park in Sydney Olympic Park, kicking off at 8.30am.
Everyone loves Caroll Spinney, but no one realises it. For more than four decades, he has brightened up the television screens of children around the globe, and mirrored their crankier side as well. Sometimes he's inside a giant yellow suit. Sometimes he's crouched behind a trash can. Either way, he's surrounded by sunny days sweeping the crowds away, whether bird, grouch or man. I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story helps redress his lack of fame in his own right, telling the tale of the person behind the puppets. A boyhood fascination with the puppetry (and a lucky break at an early show gone wrong) guided him towards none other than The Muppets' Jim Henson — and the rest, as they say, is history. Climbing inside a feathered costume, he made one of the world's most iconic creations. Channelling his inner grump, he fashioned another. Of course, both Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch are as famous as fictional characters can get, their traits and tendencies easily recognisable. Less apparent is the importance of Spinney in not just giving them form, but giving them personality. An array of talking heads, including many Sesame Street veterans, explain how the roles reflect both sides of his temperament. Indeed, as the documentary's title suggest, Spinney really is Big Bird, and his green furry friend as well. So unfurls 90 minutes of adoration for the otherwise unsung performer, as pieced together by directors Dave LaMattina and Chad N. Walker as a tribute from the outset. Given the nostalgia and affection likely to be felt by everyone who watches the film, there's never any doubt that positivity reigns supreme in this admiring and infectious effort. In case you weren't already feeling the loving mood, the sentimental score helps nudge you in that direction. There's nothing particularly subtle about the way this ode to a creative talent is put together, but it's all done with the best of intentions. The film is full of engaging memories and interesting insights too; whether peeking behind the scenes of the show, revisiting Sesame Street's trip to China, or revealing the mechanics behind the Big Bird suit — and the physical toll it takes on Spinney, who's still performing even though he's in his eighties. The man himself shares his recollections, his professional highs interwoven with the rollercoaster that was his personal life in his younger years. And yet, there's another person looming large over the piece, glimpsed in archival clips, who almost steals the show. It's impossible to explain the importance of Spinney without touching upon Henson, and expecting waterworks to follow. The intimacy of Spinney's chats about his time with his mentor gets to the heart of what makes I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story an endearing documentary, even if it is put together in a standard fashion. Who wouldn't want to spend time with the men behind the figures that defined so many childhoods?
Rockpool Bar & Grill in Sydney isn't known for changing things up. In fact, many diners come here because they know exactly what they are getting every time they visit — and that's usually one of Sydney's best steaks. But right now, the chefs have been given permission to really experiment with Rockpool's food offering through its new series of degustation dinners. Every Friday and Saturday night until Saturday, July 20, you can book in for Rockpool's nine-course spread that's exclusively served in its semi-private dining rooms. These aren't available to walk-ins, and there's a highly limited number of seats up for grabs each week. If you manage to get a spot, you'll be treated to a selection of mostly meat and seafood dishes that have been dreamt up by Executive Chef Santiago Aristizabal. You can expect bites like its prawn and carrot crepe with saffron and curry leaves, paspaley pearl with green gazpacho and smoked bullhorn pepper oil, rare Cape Grim fillet and bone marrow on toast and Davidson plum doughnuts topped with smoked vanilla ice cream. The nine-course degustation comes in at $195 per person, with several wine-pairing options available starting from $85 — something we highly recommend for those wanting to really treat themselves. Those dining a la carte can also try something new by ordering one of its luxe new tableside dishes. The NSW rock lobster thermidor is carted over on a trolley and drizzled in flames right before your eyes. And the 1-kilo, pancetta-wrapped $350 chateaubriand steak (for four to five people) is also finished and carved up tableside. It's decadent and expensive, but Rockpool is a legendary restaurant in Sydney that's known for sourcing only the best quality produce. It costs to try food this good. But if you can afford it, it is a real treat.
UPDATE, May 19, 2021: A Quiet Place is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. Silence isn't simply deafening in A Quiet Place. As a family attempts to evade aliens that attack every sound, the absence of noise couldn't scream louder. The film's stillness is forceful and unrelenting, creating a stunning soundscape. One type of silence fills a room, farm house, abandoned supermarket and sprawling country property with dread and anxiety. Another thrums with the comfort of routines designed to impart normality in a clearly abnormal situation. Moreover, this symphony of quiet doesn't just play at different volumes, but with different instruments. As voices drop below a whisper and words are signed rather than spoken, the surrounding din of a desolate, post-apocalyptic world buzzes faintly: the whistling wind, the rushing water, the creaking of branches. In a movie that's acoustically muted for most of its running time — a movie that infuses its hushed status into its very premise — all of the above couldn't be more crucial. As an achievement in sound design, A Quiet Place is positively thunderous, even if Buffy the Vampire Slayer did something similar years ago. Director, co-writer and actor John Krasinski makes every minute of silence and every sudden burst of noise count, executing a straightforward B-movie concept with exceptional technical precision. More than that, The Office star ensures that his third stint behind the camera echoes both literally and emotionally. Here, a protruding nail is a heartbreaking sight. A bloodied hand streaking along a pane of glass proves horrifying as well as surprisingly hopeful. A suppressed grimace of pain gets the audience's adrenaline pumping, as well as their empathy. Viewers first meet A Quiet Place's central family on day 89 of their ordeal. When the central unnamed couple (Krasinksi and Emily Blunt) and their young children (Millicent Simmons, Noah Jupe and Cade Woodward) take a cautious trip to stock up on supplies, it ends in tragedy, establishing just how deadly absolutely any sound can be. Skip to day 472, with Blunt's character now heavily pregnant, Krasinski's patriarch trying to keep everyone safe, and the remaining kids quite rightly nervous. Still, they're as happy as they can be in their terse, jumpy, grief-stricken state. They're together, and thanks to the eldest daughter's hearing impairment, they're able to communicate via sign language. But the impending baby is certain to cry, the children waver between wanting to help and wanting to run, and the extra-terrestrial critters are rarely out of earshot. Krasinski's stripped-back use of sound reflects his entire approach, crafting a masterfully sparse movie from start to finish — and a downright masterful one too. Forget questions about why the monsters are there and where everyone else is: they couldn't matter less in this taut, fast-paced thriller, and they shouldn't even cross your mind. Disposing with the need to provide clunky explanations or exposition (something which can and has thwarted many horror flicks), A Quiet Place hones its focus on the protagonists, their immediate plight and their quest for survival. Indeed, the script's economical nature allows the film to flex its other muscles — or sharpen its other senses, fittingly. Visually, A Quiet Place flits between claustrophobic close-ups and the wide-open expanse of the family's farm, a contrast that ratchets up the tension as well as the movie's impact. When it's used, the score proves stirring without over-stressing the scenario's urgency, or making the bumps and jumps feel cheesy. Above all, however, it's the cast that not only benefit from the film's preference for showing rather than telling, but make their mark as a result. Like her work in Looper and Sicario, Blunt is both formidable and feminine, demonstrating that one doesn't negate the other in one of the best performances of her career. Watch out for the scene-stealing Simmons, though. The deaf young actress, who was similarly great in last year's Wonderstruck, is the strong, silent, expressive heart of this stellar picture — and its secret weapon in more ways than one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqy27Bk0Vw0
Running events in the arts and hospitality industries is hard enough at the best of times, let alone when your city is drifting in and out of restrictions and lockdowns. Despite this, 2021 had plenty of shining lights. The lockout laws were finally rolled back in Kings Cross, there was an avalanche of exciting new restaurant and bar openings, and some adventurous, thought-provoking and all-round joyous events took place over the year. From stunning plays to citywide festivals, 2021 still managed to deliver — and we've compiled a list of eight of the year's most memorable events. While many fantastic gigs, festivals and shows were cancelled due to the pandemic, these are the ones that, thanks to hard work and a whole lot of luck, managed to go ahead and fill our year with good food, music, art and culture.
Burger battles, immersive cocktail parties and European-style laneway feasts are just a few of the delicious events March Into Merivale has brought us over the past decade. And the restaurant group-wide shindig is back for 2017. But, this time, it'll be squeezing what was a month's worth of eating, drinking and experimenting into one glorious night. Taking over the whole ivy complex and its surrounding laneways on Wednesday, March 22, the festival will transform Ash Street into an Asian street food market. Expect to see legendary chef Dan Hong hovering over sizzling platters and smoking barbecues. Wandering around, you'll discover stalls selling tasty morsels with origins all over Asia, from pillowy bao and dim sum to sushi and oysters with jalapeño and ginger nuoc cham. Palings will be spending the night dishing out all things weird and wonderful. Chefs Patrick Friesen and Christopher Hogarth — who are on the pans at the newly opened Queen Chow — have joined forces to create the menu. A whole lamb on the spit will be centrepiece, ambushed by quesadillas, fish tacos, nachos supreme tostadas and the pair's famous Papi Chulo burgers (which won last year's aforementioned burger battle). When you're full up on savouriness, move onto The Den for high tea, loaded with pastries, sweets, desserts, Champagne and cocktails. Meanwhile, the ivy ballroom will be turned into a European garden. Sitting among greenery, you'll be treated to dishes from John Wilson, Merivale's dedicated events chef. And get poolside for whole pork bellies cooked over the fire by chef Jordan Toft along with patatas bravas cones and warm creme Catalan. "Since its inception nearly a decade ago, March into Merivale has offered Sydney a spectacular feast of culinary events and food experiences, evolving each year with our expanding portfolio," said Justin Hemmes, CEO of Merivale. "This year, fresh from the biggest period of growth in Merivale's history, we want to deliver one exceptional experience that celebrates the group's diversity and quality of offering, as well as the talent and creativity leading Merivale into our exciting future." Tickets for March into Merivale 2017 are just $60, and include all food as well as three drink tokens. They're on sale now — we reckon you'd best be speedy to snap one up.
So you might remember that the Keystone Group — the sprawling empire behind Australia's Jamie's Italian restaurants, Sydney's The Winery, Gazebo, Manly Wine, Cargo Bar, Bungalow 8, alongside multi-city venues Kingsley's and Chophouse — got into a real jam recently after being unable to settle on their financial structure with lenders of their multi (multiiii) million dollar hospitality empire and went into receivership. Then, earlier this week, Melbourne-based Dixon Hospitality swooped in and bought up a bunch of their properties. Well, even if you don't (it can be hard to keep up with the wheelings and dealings of hospo hotshots), that's about where we were all up to. But in the latest twist in the story, Jamie's Italian (which was one of the venues not saved by Dixon), has been bought by the man himself: Jamie Oliver. Yep, he has bought back his own restaurant chain, which includes six restaurants across Australia, including Sydney, Perth, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide and Parramatta. He'll manage the Australian venues under his Jamie Oliver Group, which are, despite the receivership, reportedly going quite well. So, it's okay everyone: Jamie's back to set it all right and cook us a nice, creamy pasta. Via The Sydney Morning Herald.
If Vincent van Gogh can do it, and Claude Monet and his contemporaries like Renoir, Cézanne and Manet as well, then Frida Kahlo can also. We're talking about being the subject of huge, multi-sensory art exhibitions — the kind that takes an artist's work and projects it all around you so you feel like you're walking into their paintings. First came Van Gogh Alive, which has been touring the country for the last few years. On its way next is Monet & Friends Alive, launching at Melbourne's digital-only gallery The Lume at the end of October. And, after that, Frida Kahlo: Life of an Icon is heading to Sydney as part of the hefty Sydney Festival program for 2023. Frida Kahlo: Life of an Icon will make its Australian premiere in the Harbour City — and display only in the Harbour — from Wednesday, January 4, 2023. For two months, it will celebrate the Mexican painter's life and work, taking over the Cutaway at Barangaroo Reserve with holography and 360-degree projections. The aim: turning a biographical exhibition about Kahlo into an immersive showcase, and getting attendees to truly understand her art, persistence, rebellion and skills — and why she's an icon. Visitors will wander through seven spaces, and get transported into the artist's work — including via virtual reality. That VR setup will indeed let you step inside Kahlo's pieces as much as VR can, although the entire exhibition is designed to cultivate that sensation anyway, with digital versions of Kahlo's paintings expanding across every surface. The showcase hails from Spanish digital arts company Layers of Reality, alongside the Frida Kahlo Corporation, and will feature historical photographs and original films as well — and live performances of traditional Mexican music. As part of the interactive component, attendees will also be able to make their own flower crowns, and turn their own drawings into Kahlo-style artworks. And, you'll be able to immortalise the experience in souvenir photos, too.
When former New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the state's full roadmap out of lockdown, she gave cinephiles a particularly exciting piece of news. Movie theatres have been closed in Sydney since the end of June, when stay-at-home conditions came into effect — but, on the Monday following NSW reaching the 70-percent fully vaccinated mark, they're permitted to welcome cinephiles back in the doors. The state is expected to hit that 70-percent double-jabbed threshold sometime this week (aka the week commencing Monday, October 4), which makes Monday, October 11 the day that lockdown officially ends. So, that's when projectors will be allowed to start whirring again in Sydney. While that doesn't mean that it's popcorn-munching business as usual quite yet, local cinemas will begin to reopen rather quickly. Randwick Ritz will be one of the initial places to start ushering movie buffs back into darkened rooms, opening its doors on the very first day it can. It'll relaunch with a heap of flicks that've been playing in other states where cinemas have been open over the past few months — some of which have made the leap to streaming already, too — such as Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Black Widow, The Suicide Squad and Free Guy. There's also Nitram, Candyman, Respect, Jungle Cruise, Shiva Baby and Pig as well. Yes, that means that you can choose between everything from superheroes, supervillains and video game characters to harrowing true tales, stellar horror sequels, music biopics, movies based on theme park rides, indie comedies and Nicolas Cage doing his thing. On the same date, the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace will kick back into gear, continuing to balance fresh flicks and retro hits. That includes many of the new movies mentioned above, the likes of fellow new releases Annette, Rosa's Wedding and The Rose Maker, plus old-school titles such as Dune, Aliens and Stop Making Sense. And, that Monday will also see Palace's Sydney sites will let punters back in, playing a lineup of brand new movies. Again, there's some crossover in titles; however, here you can also see Nine Days, Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), The Killing of Two Lovers, Perfumes, Joe Bell, Ride the Eagle, Reminiscence, The Night House and Don't Breathe 2. Over at Golden Age Cinema and Bar, movies will start playing again from Wednesday, October 13 — and plenty of sessions have already sold out. On the bill: Annette, Pig, Summer of Soul and Shiva Baby, plus retrospective screenings of classics such as Heat, Don't Look Now and Double Indemnity. Dendy Newtown will reopen on Monday, October 11 as well, as will United Opera Quays, while Roseville Cinemas will relaunch on Thursday, October 14. And, if you're wondering about the big end of town — yes, that'd be the multiplexes such as Event, Hoyts and Reading — much of them will open on Monday, October 11, too. As happened in 2020 when picture palaces opened back up after lockdown, you can expect significant changes to the movie-going experience. Well, compared to pre-pandemic life, obviously. So, get ready for online bookings, allocated seating, gaps between patrons, contactless payment, social-distancing requirements and extra cleaning — again. For more information about what's screening in Sydney from October 11, or to book tickets, visit the websites for the Randwick Ritz, Hayden Orpheum, Palace, Golden Age Cinema and Bar, Dendy Newtown, Roseville Cinemas, United Opera Quays, Event, Hoyts and Reading. Top image: Golden Age Cinema and Bar by Cassandra Hannagan.
Vivid Sydney did it. Bluesfest and Splendour in the Grass, too. So, given the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak across New South Wales, it should come as no surprise that Bondi's super-popular Sculpture by the Sea is the latest big event to ditch its 2021 plans and start working towards a 2022 return instead. Just like the other events that've taken this path, this'll mean that Sculpture by the Sea hasn't been staged since 2019 due to the pandemic. When October rolled around each year before COVID-19 hit, the two-kilometre Bondi–Tamarama coastal walk would become home to a huge free outdoor sculpture exhibition, with the always busy event placing its latest works along the shoreline. But in 2020, that didn't happen — and it won't in 2021 either. Sculpture by the Sea organisers have advised that the popular exhibition can't currently return under the present public health orders, so it won't unveil its artworks sometime next year. Exactly when that might occur — in its usual October slot, or earlier — hasn't yet been ascertained. "Plans are being considered for when it might be possible to stage the exhibition in 2022," the event's team said in a statement. Back in January, organisers actually advised that this year's event would forge ahead in October as usual — but, as both 2020 and 2021 have taught us again and again, things can and do change during a pandemic. It's the latest shift for the fest over the past two years, after it initially planned to go ahead as normal in October 2021, and then aimed for an early 2021 berth. It did successfully stage a CBD spinoff, Sculpture Rocks, this autumn, however. When it does return, the event will be able to use just-awarded funding from the Federal Government's $200 million Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) scheme to help cover the cost of implementing COVID-safe protocols, including cleaners and marshalls. In 2019, the Sculpture by the Sea attracted approximately 450,000 visitors over three weeks, with crowds that size obviously posing a sizeable social distancing problem during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even before the current global health situation interrupted its annual plans, it had been an eventful few years for Sculpture by the Sea. To rewind a little, in mid-2019, organisers were at loggerheads with the Council over the construction of a new path, and were scoping out alternative locations for the long-running art exhibition. Indeed, it was only early in 2021 that the parties came to an agreement to remain in Bondi until 2030, with the organisers and Council agreeing to a ten-year deal. Sculpture by the Sea is aiming to next take place sometime in 2022, with rescheduled dates not yet announced, on the Bondi–Tamarama coastal walk. For more information, head to sculpturebythesea.com. Images: Sculpture by the Sea 2019 by Trent Van der Jagt
For a movie this bad, a standard review is more than it deserves, so instead we’re giving it the treatment of something less dignified. Here are ten reasons why The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies fails in every possible respect. Despite fierce deliberation, our pros list stands at zero. The prequel tension vaccuum Gandalf, Bilbo Baggins, Legolas, Galadriel, Elrond and Saruman: they're all familiar characters from Lord of the Rings that feature heavily in this film. Why is this relevant? Because as a prequel to LOTR, it means we know every single one of them survives. Not even a war involving five armies can inject tension into scenes involving any of these characters because they’re cinematically invulnerable. Fifteen Minutes of Freeman It doesn't seem entirely unreasonable to think that a film (a) about the hobbit, and (b) called 'The Hobbit', would at some point feature the hobbit. Well get ready for unreasonable, because Martin Freeman’s Bilbo Baggins (just about the only thing that held these films together), is given so little screen time, this should simply be called: 'The Battle of the Five Armies And Nothing Else, Okay? So Just Shut Up'. Smaug Remember the climactic cliffhanger ending of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, in which Smaug took to the skies headed for Lake Town to finally do some desolating? Well… he dies. Like, right away. He’s Steven Segal in Executive Decision, that’s how quick it is. Lisa Needs Braces ‘The Last Exit To Springfield’ is regarded by many as the greatest Simpsons episode of all time, featuring the iconic, echoey memory montage of voices in Homer's head screaming: “Lisa needs braces / Dental Plan!” The same thing happens in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, and it’s hilarious, but it’s certainly not meant to be. Alfrid the Pointless In Tolkien’s novel, the character of Alfrid Lickspittle is unnamed and rates little more than a cursory mention. In The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Jackson has made him a significant secondary character despite him having no point whatsoever. To call him 'this film’s Jar Jar Binks' would almost be unfair to Jar Jar. We’ll give you a moment to let that sink in. Five Armies Is Three Too Many Speaking of The Phantom Menace (something few people ever do), remember that clusterfuck of a final battle involving cloned robots, Jedi, Sith, human space pilots and Gungans? It was confusing, distracting and largely irrelevant to the overall… I wanna say ‘plot’? So too the battle in this film. Tolkien gave it only slightly more attention than those unnamed characters, yet Jackson's done an entire film about it. Its scale is impressive, but inherently it requires most of its thousands of combatants to be computer generated and, as such, is about as emotionally engaging as a screensaver. Fuck You, Sir Isaac Newton Legolas runs up a series of falling bricks as they tumble down a gaping ravine. It’s strange to talk about ridiculous implausibility in a movie featuring orcs, necromancers and invisibility rings, but this was just one crumbling-step too far. Like Sands through the Hourglass What do you get if you combine the hackneyed writing of a daytime soap with the protracted, intense stares and closeups of a daytime soap? Clue: it's The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. In fact, one exchange through a hole in a wall between Thorin and Bard the Bowman ends with a head turn of such unbelievably contrived drama, the entire cinema laughed. On The 8th Day, Jackson Created Tauriel In order to stretch a 19-chapter book into almost nine hours of cinema, you need to embellish, and in this trilogy Peter Jackson invented the character of Tauriel (played by Evangeline Lilly). Setting aside her redundancy, the fearsome warrior with complicated romance issues was actually fun to watch, so it’s mystifying why she’s given about as much screen time as Bilbo. On the upside, Jackson will probably give Tauriel her own trilogy in a year or two. Ultra High Def As we’ve noted previously, the astounding clarity of 4K HD film makes the world of Middle Earth an absolute joy to behold, and is pretty much the only format of 3D that doesn’t exhaust your eyes. But it also makes films shot in this format feel entirely un-cinematic and more like live community theatre. Coupled with the terrible writing and hammy acting, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is a perfect Christmas movie in that it’s basically a pantomime.
Saying that a particular actor could read the phone book and make it sound great has long been deemed high praise. It's now a cliche, but like many over-used expressions, it still remains accurate. Ask Emma Thompson to utter any words on screen, for example, and it'd likely prove enthralling. Playing a family court judge in The Children Act, she reads legal judgements in a complicated case, keeping her emotions in check when few others can. Her character gives firm, sober answers both in her professional and her personal lives — and when the justice lets her guard down on one rare occasion, Thompson literally sings. Indeed, regardless of what the two-time Academy Award winner is doing or saying, she's utterly riveting. Thompson's Fiona Maye spends her days adjudicating difficult cases involving the welfare of minors, with the 1989 U.K. law known as the Children Act her guiding light. It's a job that she approaches with the utmost care, and often under significant scrutiny. Fresh from decreeing the fate of conjoined infants in an affair that's been splashed across the newspapers, another thorny matter comes before her court. 17-year-old Jehovah's Witness Adam Henry (Fionn Whitehead) is dying from leukaemia, and refuses to have a blood transfusion because it's forbidden by his faith. His devout parents (Ben Chaplin and Eileen Walsh) support his choice, but his doctors are seeking legal intervention to administer the life-saving treatment. The decision facing Fiona might rank among the most complex of her career, weighing someone's right to life against their right to their beliefs. Crucially, she's charged with deciding whether a boy who's almost a man can make a choice between the two for himself. Thompson is a powerhouse when Fiona is quietly considering all of the details, often with a pensive yet penetrating look adorning her face. She's just as mesmerising when she's exercising the character's wit, too. But when The Children Act truly cracks Fiona's facade — in fights with her unhappy husband (Stanley Tucci) about their childless marriage, in tender moments when she flouts protocol to visit Adam on his sickbed, and when she just can't hide the stress of the situation — she's nothing short of astonishing. When Adam feels as if he's being drawn to Fiona, his reaction to her presence is easy to understand. Thompson turns in a soulful performance in a film that also earns the same description, which is hardly surprising given the movie's pedigree. The Children Act isn't just the second novel by Ian McEwan to reach the big screen this year, after On Chesil Beach. It's also the second that he has written the screenplay for himself — something that he hadn't done for nearly 25 years beforehand. On the page and in the cinema, the result is another of the writer's mature and thoughtful works, with the picture sensitively handled by director Richard Eyre. The filmmaker is no stranger to complicated matters himself, as previously seen in book-to-film adaptation Notes on a Scandal, but there's a blend of deep emotion and calm subtlety to The Children Act that borders on devastating. Credit is also due to Whitehead, best known until now for his work in Dunkirk, who ensures that Adam is as multifaceted and fascinating as Fiona. It's a portrayal that makes viewers wish for another life for his character, and certainly keeps the audience invested in Adam's fate. As an acting showcase for both the young talent and for Thompson, The Children Act couldn't be better, however the patiently shot drama also succeeds as a probing and empathetic look at a difficult topic. Like this year's festival favourite Apostasy, it ponders faith and medicine among Jehovah's Witnesses to stunning effect — and with heart-wrenching delicacy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWOfsnxcD3s
We have grown too accustomed to seeing empty quiet streets post lockdown. So, we think it's time to rediscover our vibrant local communities and to show our support in person and not just through a screen. The good news is, Strathfield Council is working to breathe some life back into the streets of Homebush with an epic festival that'll get you off the couch and onto the street. Street Festival 2140 is kicking off on Friday, March 11 and will run every Friday and Saturday for five weeks. This means for ten days and nights the streets of Homebush will be jam-packed with fun events and great vibes. Street Festival 2140 will be happening on Henley Road in Homebush West for the first two weeks (March 11-19) before moving to Rochester Street in Homebush Village for the next three. Expect fun-filled street parties featuring live music from the local artists such as Brothers of Oz, The Beatnix, Cassidy Rae and more. There'll also be workshops in henna tattooing, face painting and origami, plus roving performers, amusement rides, market stalls and drone light shows. It is guaranteed fun for all ages with events to impress a date, enjoy with friends, or with the little ones. Street Festival 2140 is proudly funded by the NSW Government's The Festival of Place. For more information, visit the website.
Cabaret superstar Lady Rizo brings her huge voice and incisive wit to bear on her relationship with America, her "very bad boyfriend". If we are indeed witnessing the slow death of the USA, Red, White & Indigo is a musical eulogy to that big, bizarre, beautiful country. A hippie child turned teenage punk turned trained actor with a big soul voice, this hugely versatile performer has previously collaborated with Moby, Reggie Watts and legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Needless to say, Lady Rizo racks up awards and praise everywhere she tours.
Get ready this WorldPride for The Pleasure Arc, a 24-hour party packed with some incredible talent set to immerse you in an extravagant queer utopia. Enjoy the likes of some of Australasia's best queer artists including House of Sle, House of Silky, Marcus Whale, Basjia Almaan and imbi during the opening weekend of Sydney WorldPride across February 18 and 19, at Carriageworks. In charge of keeping the tunes rolling during the overnight extravaganza will be the Your Pleasure DJs, featuring the likes of Boris, Stev Zar, Stereogamous, Rebel Yell and Kilimi popping up behind the decks throughout. [caption id="attachment_887918" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alex Davies[/caption] Performance artist Betty Grumble will also be hosting her unique dance journey event, 24 Hour Grumble Boogie, in Bay 20. So you can bundle your tickets for a full weekend across the whole venue, or dip in and out of the partnered events as you please. The weekend will host a myriad of queer ceremonies and bring together artists, performers and musicians to take you on a journey from day to night (and day again). Celebrate queerness and pleasure while dancing the night away. Tickets are on sale now and will set you back $65 for a single event ticket or $76 to bundle Day for Night x 24 hour Grumble Boogie. Top Image: Alex Davies
If you prefer your meals handheld and mobile rather than indoors and table-bound, the good folks at the Entertainment Quarter (home of markets, movies and a Sydney mainstay for touring shows like Cirque Du Soleil and Van Gogh Alive) have decided to give you a Christmas present you didn't know you wanted: a two-month festival dedicated to all things street food. From the December 1 to the January 26 — minus a brief break for Christmas and New Year — Thursdays at EQ are all about street food. That's right, every Thursday from 5–11pm will host street food vendors, beverage vendors to pair, live music and all-ages play experiences. The roster of hot n' hearty food vendors includes Agape Organic, Bar Positano, FIREPOP, Sisterscatering Gozleme, The Hotdog Bite Food Truck, The Kofte Lab, Loaded Gourmet Hotdogs, Emmy's Gourmet Gozleme and Natas & Co. The drink options (strategically chosen every week to pair with the food) include just about every kind of beverage you can think of. We're talking craft beers, local wines, premium cocktails and plenty of non-alcoholic choices, too. Soak all this up with music from the likes of Ella Haber, Don Glori, Simon TK, Zjoso and more. We also mentioned playing. In this case, that means table tennis, life-size board games and a pop-up cupboard of tabletop classics. The EQ Dining Festival will run on December 1, 8, 15, 22 and then on January 12, 19 and 26. Tickets are free, but registration is recommended due to limited capacity. Visit the website for more information and use #EQDiningFestival in any social content.
With all of the natural beauty of Barrington Tops National Park surrounding you, it can be hard to get a sense of the region as a whole. So, if you're in the area, it's definitely worth your while to check out one, if not several, of the many scenic lookouts that offer an all-encompassing view of this stunning landscape. Devils Hole lookout sits at an altitude of 1400 metres and offers breathtaking views of the dense forestry and undulating mountains beyond. There is a picnic area and a walk, both that are accessible via an easily-traversed wheelchair track. Nearby, there's also the epically titled Thunderbolts lookout, and a bit further, Careys Peak. Image: Peter Beard
UPDATE, May 12, 2021: Doctor Sleep is available to stream via Netflix, Binge, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. A river of blood cascading from an elevator. Creepy twins eager to play forever. The eerie woman in room 237. Since Stanley Kubrick brought Stephen King's horror novel to cinemas in 1980, these images have become synonymous with The Shining, as has the word 'redrum' and frosty hedge mazes. But, really, this story owes a debt to ice cream. That's not how King's 1977 book starts, or Kubrick's masterpiece; however Dick Hallorann's (Scatman Crothers) telepathic offer of dessert to five-year-old Danny Torrance (Danny Lloyd) is one of the movie's pivotal moments. It's when audiences learn what the film's title means, and discover they'll be spending time in the duo's heads while they communicate without moving their lips. Doctor Sleep — which hit bookshelves in 2013 as a King-penned sequel to The Shining and now reaches theatres under the direction of Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House) — latches onto that idea. In its predecessor, the Overlook Hotel that Danny and his parents (Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall) temporarily called home also had a "shine", turning it into a ghostly battlefield — but in Doctor Sleep, the characters' minds become a combat zone as well. Danny is now Dan (Ewan McGregor), a drifter who finds the straight and narrow in a small New Hampshire town, yet remains haunted by his boyhood experiences. He connects with fellow telepath Abra (Kyliegh Curran), a teenager whose powers eclipse his own. They initially chat without chatting, until Abra glimpses a sinister group of nomadic quasi-immortals who possess the same extrasensory gifts and consume the essence of psychic folks. Led by the malevolent Rose The Hat — who's played with menacing relish by Mission: Impossible – Fallout's Rebecca Ferguson, complete with Babadook-style headwear — this death cult earns Doctor Sleep's considerable attention. Sometimes, they recruit their potential victims. Mostly, they kill them, inhaling their shine or "steam". In Abra's case, the group is ravenous for — and frightened by — her potent power. As a face-off looms, Dan, who is still mentored by the spirit of Hallorann (now played by Carl Lumbly), adopts the same role for Abra. While the film takes its time teasing out Dan and Abra's individual stories, bringing them together and depicting Rose's twisted reign, it's always headed in one direction: to the Colorado hotel that has lingered over cinema history for nearly four decades. In a movie where getting into someone's head is crucial — and thriving on what you extract out of it, too — Doctor Sleep does the filmic equivalent with The Shining. King famously hated Kubrick's adaptation, even scripting his own TV version in the 90s. By writing Doctor Sleep, he attempted to reclaim his own story and put it back on his preferred path. Flanagan, however, has no such qualms about one of the best horror movies ever made. On the screen, Doctor Sleep begins with notes from The Shining's main theme, and the nods and winks only continue. He recreates scenes, mirrors visual motifs, uses snippets of the original, and finds aesthetic, narrative and thematic ways to allude to Kubrick's film. The picture's nostalgia is never as gratuitous and empty as Ready Player One's reference to the movie, thankfully, but it still traces its predecessor's footsteps more closely than it needs to. It can't be easy, making a sequel to an iconic book-to-film adaptation that also adapts the follow-up novel addressing the author's issues with the first movie. It's to Flanagan's credit that Doctor Sleep wholeheartedly tries to juggle these competing aims. An accomplished horror writer/director/editor with fellow King adaptation Gerald's Game to his name, he infuses Doctor Sleep with growing dread and gnawing unease. Never just trying to ape Kubrick, he crafts his own standout images — involving Rose and her cronies at their most frenzied, and literally stepping inside Dan, Abra and Rose's minds. Also boasting top-notch lead performances, a thoughtful exploration of childhood trauma and its impact, and an unnerving score, Doctor Sleep builds its own momentum and intrigue. Inevitably, though, it starts chasing The Shining's tail too blatantly and feverishly. Doctor Sleep was never designed to stand alone, but by remaining so beholden to The Shining, it can feel like a missed opportunity. It doesn't need to prop itself up so forcefully, or to imitate Kubrick so stringently, and proves a much better film when it's doing neither. In rare scenes where the sequel interrogates rather than apes the original movie, Doctor Sleep is far more convincing in linking the two. When Dan admits to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that he drank because that's how he connected to the memory of his dad, it's the picture's most powerful moment — and shows why McGregor is perfectly cast to wade through Dan's niggling pain. It's also a way to take viewers both into the character's head, and into The Shining, without being so overt. The film still shines more often that not, but if only the bulk of Doctor Sleep had that same gift. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oCTK2U5lpc
UPDATE, Monday, March 18, 2024: Asteroid City is available to stream via Netflix, Binge, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. In 1954, one of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest thrillers peeked through a rear window. In Wes Anderson's highly stylised, symmetrical and colour-saturated vision of 1955 in Asteroid City, a romance springs almost solely through two fellow holes in the wall. Sitting behind one is actor Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson, Black Widow), who visibly recalls Marilyn Monroe. Peering through the opposing space is newly widowed war photographer Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), who takes more than a few cues from James Dean. The time isn't just 1955 in the filmmaker's latest stellar masterpiece, but September that year, a month that would end with Dean's death in a car crash. Racing through the movie's eponymous setting — an 87-person slice of post-war midwest Americana with a landscape straight out of a western, the genre that was enjoying its golden age at the time — are cops and robbers speeding and careening in their vehicles. Meticulousness layered upon meticulousness has gleamed like the sun across Anderson's repertoire since 1996's Bottle Rocket launched the writer/director's distinctive aesthetic flair; "Anderson-esque" has long become a term. Helming his 11th feature with Asteroid City, he's as fastidious and methodical in his details upon details as ever — more so, given that each successive movie keeps feeling like Anderson at his most Anderson — but all of those 50s pop-culture shoutouts aren't merely film-loving, winking-and-nodding quirks. Within this picture's world, as based on a story conjured up with Roman Coppola (The French Dispatch), Asteroid City isn't actually a picture. "It is an imaginary drama created expressly for the purposes of this broadcast. The characters are fictional, the text hypothetical, the events an apocryphal fabrication," a Playhouse 90-style host (Bryan Cranston, Better Call Saul) informs. So, it's a fake play turned into a play for a TV presentation, behind-the-scenes glimpses and all. There Anderson is, being his usual ornate and intricate self, and finding multiple manners to explore art, authenticity, and the emotions found in and processed through works of creativity. Those windows that Midge and Augie keep chatting through belong to neighbouring bungalows in the only motel in Asteroid City, the town. (Not only is the setting not actually a city, but the asteroid that caused its famous crater back in 3007 BC is really a meteorite.) Although the pair arrive at the isolated desert spot as strangers, their respective kids in tow, they don't remain that way for long. Midge's daughter Dinah (Grace Edwards, Call Jane) and Augie's son Woodrow (Jake Ryan, Uncut Gems) are among the star attendees at a Junior Stargazer convention, each being feted by the US Military for their scientific inventions. As the kids talk and cultivate crushes, so do the adults. Those windows aren't just one of Asteroid City's several framing devices, either. Visually, Anderson reminds that we're all our own separate boxes, interacting with other separate boxes. He also ponders art's many boxes — screens included, naturally — in a film that dispenses everything from martinis to real estate from boxy vending machines. Each tiny speck of Asteroid City is that elaborate, intelligent and attentively chosen. Amid such diligent minutiae, however, Anderson goes out-of-this-world on emotion. Warm, insightful and funny, his new film features all of his hallmarks — think: the jam-packed starry cast spanning almost every famous face that's ever been in his frames, but adding more just-as-well-known talents; the exquisitely balanced compositions; the playfulness and whimsy of its on-screen world; the deadpan humour; the melancholy — and also contemplates life, death, grief, alienation, loneliness, love, dreams, connection, hope, wonder and what matters when we're all tiny specks existing ever-so-fleetingly in an expansive universe. As the filmmaker's first release made in pandemic times (The French Dispatch was shot in 2018 and 2019, initially due to premiere at Cannes 2020, then delayed to late 2021 when the globe shut down), it's also a clever, canny and brilliantly comic musing on the unexpected shaking up daily life, the ins and outs of quarantine and lockdown, and humanity's coping mechanisms when everything radically shifts and turns. Doing the writing in Asteroid City's boxed-in black-and-white segments: playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery), who immediately takes a shine to actor Jones Hall (also Schwartzman), casting him as Augie. Doing the directing: Schubert Green (Adrien Brody, Poker Face), who moves in backstage when his wife Polly (Hong Chau, The Whale) leaves him. Life in monochrome is messy; this is when method acting reigned supreme, too, and Earp and Green's cast have much to draw upon. Of course, while existence within the colourful widescreen sections that represent the play itself might look neat, it's also anything but. As General Gibson (Jeffrey Wright, The Batman) oversees the stargazers — and astronomer Dr Hickenlooper (Tilda Swinton, Three Thousand Years of Longing) has them looking up — there's loss, romance, a teacher (Maya Hawke, Stranger Things) with inquisitive pupils, cowboys a-singing (such as High Desert's Rupert Friend and Pulp's Jarvis Cocker), ashes in Tupperware, a starstruck father-in-law (Tom Hanks, A Man Called Otto) and otherworldly interlopers. Anderson also finds time for Steve Carell (The Patient), Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic World Dominion), Tony Revolori (Servant), Liev Schreiber (A Small Light), Matt Dillon (Proxima), Willem Dafoe (The Northman) and more to pop up. (Much of life's chaos is bodies, faces and lots of them, his films constantly note.) And, with both Margot Robbie (Barbie) and mushroom clouds making an appearance, he even goes all Barbenheimer. (As Christopher Nolan obviously recently demonstrated, the billowing results of atom-bomb tests instantly put human fragility into context.) Asteroid City sports an Anderson retrospective as well, with precocious kids à la Rushmore and Moonrise Kingdom, trains traversing plains like The Darjeeling Limited, family woes as The Royal Tenenbaums perfected, an insular setting akin to The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and The Grand Budapest Hotel and The French Dispatch's nesting structure. Never one to hold back, the present most-aped and -memed director levels up everything, including the crater-sized impact. That Anderson's movies are impeccably styled and scored can now almost go without saying. Back from The French Dispatch, his regular cinematographer Robert D Yeoman and composer Alexandre Desplat make every moment sparkle and twinkle with beauty. That his casts understand the Anderson method is also that self-evident now. Here, wading through yearning, mourning, disappointments and the unknown, Schwartzman and Johansson in particular are astronomically spectacular. Asteroid City assembles all the Anderson pieces that audiences expect exactly so — and repeatedly probes what we see, feel and discover when we surrender to art or anything beyond ourselves, his with its giddy, gleeful, oh-so-gorgeous artifice over naturalism as well. He keeps his audience staring at boxes because, whether windows or Broadway or screens, they reflect living. "You can't wake up if you don't fall asleep," Asteroid City's play actors chant offstage; that you can't appreciate existence's wonders and mysteries if you don't look for them, be it IRL or through the stories and works and pictures that reflect our lives, the film doesn't utter aloud but conveys equally as spiritedly, lovingly and rousingly.
UPDATE, October 12, 2020: The Shape of Water is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, Amazon Video and iTunes. A secret lies inside every fairytale and monster fable, whispering to those who dare to enter. It's an obvious one, though it's not always fully appreciated. As we wade through narratives about dark forces and strange, enchanting creatures, it's not just their fantastical or fright-inducing aspects that enthrall us; it's also the fact that they beat with a warm human heart. Like Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and countless other storytellers before him, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro knows this — and he's eager to prove it every chance he gets. Since taking on the undead in his quietly unnerving debut Cronos more than two decades ago, the Mexican writer-director has approached his gothic tales with empathy and curiosity. His films might be filled with bugs, ghosts, vampires, beasts and kaiju, but at their core they ponder what it means to be alive. Accordingly, when Pan's Labyrinth follows a young girl as she plunges into a mysterious garden underworld, del Toro charts the relatable need to explore, connect and fight back in trying circumstances. Likewise, when The Shape of Water brings together a mute woman and a man-like amphibian against the backdrop of Cold War-era USA, he spins a story about the power of love and the resilience of outsiders searching for a place to belong. As often seen in the director's work, the enemy here isn't the monster, but rather the idea of judging something just because it's different. A moving horror-romance that splashes its devotion across every gorgeous teal and butterscotch-hued frame, The Shape of Water swims into the realm of Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins). When she's not working nights cleaning at a government facility with her chattering colleague Zelda (Octavia Spencer), she finds company with her lonely artist neighbour Giles (Richard Jenkins) and comfort in her daily routine. But things change when security operative Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon) marches into her life, along with the water-dwelling being (Doug Jones) he's brought back from the Amazon. While everyone else is fearful, cruel or primarily interested for scientific reasons (such as Dr. Robert Hoffstetler, played by Michael Stuhlbarg), Elisa finds a kindred soul in the captured creature. The idea of outcasts finding solace in each other's arms is hardly new, but while del Toro's movie seems to dive into busy waters, he's really wading through a stream all of his own. In the crowded field of monster flicks, The Shape of Water cherishes and celebrates its big-hearted heroine and her aquatic companion with love and care, ensuring every emotion they express also washes over the audience. Equally vivid and violent as it jumps between matters of the heart and moments of espionage, the film entrances with its sweet, soulful, delicate approach while never shying away from weighty themes of persecution or oppression (and at the same time, it remains remarkably light on its feet). In short, it's a whirlpool of intensely felt, vibrantly realised wonder — one that's both frothy on the surface, and dark and deep underneath. A sea of perfectly assembled elements, The Shape of Water truly feels like a film that no one else could have made. Working from a script co-written with Vanessa Taylor (Divergent), del Toro is operating at the top of his game, and his fingerprints can be seen in every exquisitely detailed image. With its stylistic odes to both creature features and the Golden Age of Hollywood, succumbing to the movie's seductive visual charms is easy. Falling for the sensitive way in which it handles its underwater lovers is as well. Assisting in that department, Hawkins and Jones couldn't be better, fashioning their performances out of glances, movements and the things that words just can't say. Often they're floating, either literally or emotionally. Thanks to the story's depths of affection and acceptance, so is the audience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQH3jqetJoY
With Vivid 2021 under three months away, this year's lineup has begun to trickle through. The annual festival of lights, set to take place a little later than usual this year, has already announced its first three art installations, and now, Sampa the Great has been named the first act of the festival's 2021 live music program. As part of the program, the Zambian-born musician will take to the Joan Sutherland Theatre at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday, August 8 for the world premier of her new stageshow, An Afro Future. Sampa was set to premier the new show with special guests including Genesis Owusu and Barkaa as part of Live at the Bowl in Melbourne, Summer in the Domain in Sydney and Womadelaide, however was forced to cancel the shows due to border restrictions. While no special guests have been announced for the Vivid edition of An Afro Future, attendees can expect to be treated to songs from Sampa's critically-acclaimed debut album The Return. Released in 2019, the album received universal praise on release, winning Best Hip Hop Release and Best Independent Release at the 2020 ARIA Awards, and being named the eighth best Australian debut album of all time by Double J. [caption id="attachment_811633" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lucian Coman[/caption] Sampa's 2021 appearance will mark her return to the festival after supporting Hiatus Kaiyote in 2016 and performing as part of The Avalanches' Since I Left You Block Party back in 2017. In previous years, Vivid's live music lineup has included the likes of The Cure, Solange, Ice Cube, Bon Iver and The Pixies, however with Australia's international borders still tightly shut, music fans can expect a more Australian-focused lineup in 2021. According to the Sydney Opera House, the remainder of the Vivid live lineup will be released "soon", with Sydney Opera House Head of Contemporary Music and Vivid LIVE Curator, Ben Marshall, stating, "Sampa The Great is coming back – it's time to breathe and dance again and I cannot wait to share the rest of this year's Vivid LIVE program with you." Vivid Live will take place at the Sydney Opera House between Friday, August 6 and Saturday, August 28. Tickets for Sampa the Great's An Afro Future are on sale from 9am, Friday, May 14.
With summer just around the corner, Redfern Surf Club is kicking off the fun a little early with a massive summer block party at its Australiana–themed bar this Saturday, November 30. Its car park will transform into a block party with pop-up bars, summery tunes and even an old-school handball comp. You'll be able to grab $5 sour raspberry tinnies by Wayward Brewing Co and glasses of natural wine for just ten bucks. There'll also be loads of cocktails and slushies, including Passiona of the Ice — a frozen passionfruit margarita — and the Sour Dog, made from a mix of Campari, grapefruit and the aforementioned Wayward raspberry beer. [caption id="attachment_738251" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Redfern Surf Club by Pat Stevenson[/caption] PigOut food truck will also be dishing out a bunch of cheesy, stoner food snacks for the day, including jalapeño mac 'n' cheese spring rolls, Tex-Mex burgers (with crushed corn chips) and veggie options, too The party all kicks off at 12pm (and runs all the way through to midnight) so grab your mates and celebrate the start of summer this weekend.
UPDATE, March 8, 2023: The Banshees of Inisherin is now available to stream via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies and Prime Video. In The Banshees of Inisherin, the rolling hills and clifftop fields look like they could stretch on forever, even on a fictional small island perched off the Irish mainland. For years, conversation between Padraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell, After Yang) and Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson, The Tragedy of Macbeth) has been similarly sprawling — and leisurely, too — especially during the pair's daily sojourn to the village pub for chats over pints. But when the latter calls time on their camaraderie suddenly, his demeanour turns brusque and his explanation, only given after much pestering, is curt. Uttered beneath a stern, no-nonsense stare by Gleeson to his In Bruges co-star Farrell, both reuniting with that darkly comic gem's writer/director Martin McDonagh for another black, contemplative and cracking comedy, Colm is as blunt as can be: "I just don't like you no more." In the elder character's defence, he wanted to ghost his pal without hurtful words. Making an Irish exit from a lifelong friendship is a wee bit difficult on a tiny isle, though, as Colm quickly realises. It's even trickier when the mate he's trying to put behind him is understandably upset and confused, there's been no signs of feud or fray beforehand, and anything beyond the norm echoes through the town faster than a folk ballad. So springs McDonagh's smallest-scale and tightest feature since initially leaping from the stage to the screen, and a wonderful companion piece to that first effort. Following the hitman-focused In Bruges, he's gone broader with Seven Psychopaths, then guided Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell to Oscars with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, but he's at his best when his lens is trained at Farrell and Gleeson as they bicker in close confines. There's no doubting who's behind the camera of The Banshees of Inisherin from the get-go, with McDonagh speedy and concise in setting his scene, and showing his knack for witty dialogue and clever character-building in the process. The year is 1923, and the time — at first — is 2pm on an ordinary day. Except, after Pádraic calls on Colm's fisherman's cottage for their usual bar jaunt and gets no answer, nothing about it plays out as it typically would for the film's two main figures. Pádraic can see Colm sitting inside, in fact, smoking but not opening his door. He tries to talk it through with publican Jonjo (Pat Shortt, Pixie) after heading for a drink anyway, and with his sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon, Better Call Saul) later at home. It's the next day when Pádraic gets the response no one wants to hear from the man he thought was his best friend, but that's hardly the end of their rift. A tragicomedy that lives up to both halves of that term without a whiff of formula, The Banshees of Inisherin twists Pádraic and Colm's hostilities in circles — not to be repetitive or due to any lack of plot, but because life's cycles keep spinning both within the duo's fractured bond and around them. Endings are never easy but neither is life, McDonagh has his film contend, doing so with intelligence, humour and an unshakeable unwillingness to shy away from bleakness. Take the inclusion of village oddball Dominic (Barry Keoghan, The Batman), for example. He buzzes around the movie's central quarrel, endeavouring to use it to become Pádraic's BFF and make his romantic intentions for the single Siobhán known, and he's frequently a source of overt laughs. And yet, as his backstory with his drunk cop dad Peadar (Gary Lydon, Brooklyn) is fleshed out, he proves as sorrowful a resident as Inisherin has, in a feature that sees life's small joys and heartbreaking woes alike with clear eyes. McDonagh is a master at packaging the grim with the chucklesome, however, as Pádraic's attempts to cope with his rejection convey. The writer/director has his dejected protagonist go through several stages of grief — but once he's done being shocked, denying his friend's rebuffs, getting angry, trying to bargain his way to a new outcome, feeling depressed and hoping Colm will change his mind, seeking revenge becomes his baseline. The alternative: feeling uncomfortable at the pub and in general; and badgering the protective Siobhán to spend more time with him, ignorant to her yearning to leave an island that embodies everything to most of its inhabitants but offers far too little for her. Or, Pádraic can accept his beloved miniature donkey Jenny and the ever-present Dominic as his new chief sources of company. Simply watching Farrell's eyebrows as Pádraic faces his changing circumstances is entertaining, emotional and evocative; the depths and shades he can relay with a twitch, many actors can't muster with their entire bodies. Watching Gleeson's exhaustion and despair is equally revelatory — indeed, while Farrell plays Pádraic as constantly searching for a silver lining and eagerly proud of being the village nice guy, his co-star conjures up a man who doesn't expect to find anything much to smile about even after making drastic choices. In Bruges sparked it and now The Banshees of Inisherin cements it: Farrell and Gleeson are one of cinema's very-best pairs, and they're mesmerising to an awards-worthy degree here. Also exceptional is Condon as the kind but frustrated woman who can see both sides. "He's always been dull; what's changed?" she replies to Colm when he admits his boredom with Pádraic. Amid the grand performances, scenery, cinematography (by The King's Man's Ben Davis) and score (from Catherine Called Birdy's Carter Burwell), McDonagh hasn't anchored this griping, one-upping, apologising, pleading and vengeance-seeking a century ago for fun. He hasn't made the move to avoid technology, either, although this'd be a lesser movie with phones and apps fuelling fires and gossip. As poignant and resonant as it is amusing — and sometimes horrifying — The Banshees of Inisherin works sparklingly as an odd-couple decoupling comedy, a slice of insular small-town life, a bittersweet musing on mortality and an interrogation of masculinity, but it's also firmly a product of its homeland. Despite being Irish, this is McDonagh's first film set in the country, and harks back to the 1920s Civil War. The conflict rages across the bay from Inisherin without disrupting the isle's daily life, but Pádraic shouts tellingly at its gunshots: "good luck to you, whatever it is you're fighting about".
Sweat, skin, sex, schisms, secrets and survival: a great film by French auteur Claire Denis typically has them all. Stars at Noon is one of them, even if her adaptation of the 1986 novel of nearly the same name — her picture drops the 'the', as a certain social network did — doesn't quite soar to the same astonishing heights as High Life, her last English-language release. Evocative, enveloping, atmospheric, dripping with unease: they're also traits that the two flicks share, like much of the Beau Travail, 35 Shots of Rum and White Material filmmaker's work. Here, all the sultriness and stress swells around two gleamingly attractive strangers, Trish (Margaret Qualley, Maid) and Daniel (Joe Alwyn, Conversations with Friends), who meet in a Central American hotel bar, slip between the sheets and find themselves tangled up in plenty beyond lips and limbs. Shining at each other when so much else obscures their glow, Stars at Noon's central duo are jumbled up in enough individually anyway. For the first half hour-ish, the erotic thriller slinks along with Trish's routine, which sees perspiration plastered across her face from the Nicaraguan heat, the lack of air-conditioning in her motel and the struggle to enjoy a cold drink. The rum she's often swilling, recalling that aforementioned Denis-directed feature's moniker, hardly helps. Neither does the transactional use of her body with a local law enforcement officer (Nick Romano, Shadows) and a government official (Stephan Proaño, Crónica de un amor). Imbibing is clearly a coping and confidence-giving mechanism, while those amorous tumbles afford her protection in a precarious political situation, with her passport confiscated, her actions being scrutinised and funds for a plane ticket home wholly absent. Trish is a freelance journalist, albeit without much in the way of gigs, as the snarky response she gets from an editor (John C Reilly, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty) on a video chat shows. Cue trading coitus for cash; when she's first flirting with the white-suited Daniel at Managua's Intercontinental Hotel, however, she's as interested in the free drinks, comfort and cool surroundings as the $50 price she puts on a night together. They click, then go their separate ways in the morning. But after she spies him talking with a Costa-Rican cop (Danny Ramirez, Top Gun: Maverick), she offers words of warning. Daniel says he works in oil, and his situation in the region is as tenuous and thorny as hers — details of which are largely talked around in both cases, in a picture concerned with characters, emotions and sensations over plot mechanics. In a script penned by Denis with Andrew Litvack (High Life) and Léa Mysius (Farewell to the Night) from Denis Johnson's text — which drew upon his time in Nicaragua and Costa Rica in the early 80s, trying to become an international political reporter — there still remains ample story to go around. Car chases, police threats, assassinations, border runs, collateral damage and CIA offers flesh out the narrative, as does the late arrival of a sharp-talking American (Benny Safdie, Licorice Pizza). Creating a tinderbox environment to ignite around Trish, Daniel, and their dance of lust, loyalty and love is all that politics-fuelled intrigue's main aim, though. Stars at Noon updates the book's time period to now, with masks, vaccinations and testing anchoring it firmly in the COVID-19 age, but there's a timelessness in the way that specifics about controversial articles, election troubles, spying and foreign meddling come second to feelings and flesh. Some things stay the same no matter the period or players, Denis contends, and means it in multiple manners. Fans of the filmmaker's past work — even just viewers of it — will know that she loves dwelling in this fraught, fragile and fiery space, where things can change in an instant in a personal and existential fashion alike. Denis sees life that way in general; we aren't all writers who've fallen afoul of foreign regimes and are now getting by via sex work, or businessmen patently not doing what we say we are, but being plunged into messes of both our own and others' making is a universal fact of being alive. By focusing on white characters in a location where they instantly stand out, the West Africa-raised Denis also continues the contemplation of colonialism and privilege she's placed on-screen since her 1988 debut Chocolat ("having sex with you is like having sex with a cloud," Trish notes to Daniel here, on account of the Brit's pale complexion). Chaos swelters as thick as the humidity wherever the westerners go, but these outsiders create far more for everyone they meet, especially everyday locals. Just like in a 90s-era erotic thriller, which this often resembles, the calmest place to be in Stars at Noon is loitering in Trish and Daniel's shared embrace in bed or swirling around an empty dance floor; whichever Denis is focusing on, and cinematographer Eric Gautier (The Truth) as well, the experience is lingering as well as rhythmic and woozy. Sometimes rain clatters down around the film's core duo, sometimes the lighting beaming above couldn't be more seductive — and frequently Tindersticks, who've scored Denis' work for two-plus decades now, add a dazed but urgent mood. The tension, the uncertainty, the desperate solace that having even a tenuous and tricky physical connection with someone else can bring: they all become almost tangible and definitely palpable. Playing their parts with the requisite spark, Qualley and Alwyn melt stickily into each other, and viewers watching take their lead with the movie. That deeply intimate focus pushes the Cannes Grand Prix-winning Stars at Noon out of Graham Greene-esque, The Quiet American-style territory. Also, with her screaming in the streets as she struts and saunters barefoot in sundresses and singlets, Trish is anything but hushed. In one of the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and My Salinger Year actor's best performances yet, Qualley exudes tenacity and flightiness — two traits that keep somersaulting the more Trish is with Alwyn's suave and enigmatic Daniel. Cannily, Qualley and Alwyn feel thrust together rather than destined, a truth on-screen and off- (High Life's Robert Pattinson was initially cast, then Black Bird's Taron Egerton). Indeed, there's a volatility to Stars at Noon, and to the romance at its centre, that's equally apt. When you're surveying life's instability — one of its basic and unavoidable truths — getting the film itself in the same kind of lather is no small feat.
In news as certain as Han Solo's swagger, C-3P0's disapproval and Leia Organa proving the fiercest princess in the entire galaxy, another round of orchestra-scored Star Wars screenings is making its way across Australia — and this time, Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi will be unleashing the force. What was originally the final flick in George Lucas' space saga is headed to Sydney's ICC Sydney Theatre on Saturday, September 7, 2019, and Melbourne's Hamer Hall on Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9, 2019. While Brisbane details have yet to be announced, we'd expect them to arrive soon. If you've been hiding out on Tattooine and aren't quite sure what's in store, this climactic instalment features a second Death Star, a tribe of Ewoks on Endor, Han Solo imprisoned by Jabba the Hutt, plenty of family baggage and one heck of a father-and-son battle — so, classic Star Wars thrills. And, it's all set to John Williams' iconic score, which each city's symphony orchestra will recreate right in front of attendees' eager eyes and ears. As always, we've got a good feeling about this mix of movies and music, which should help fill the gap between this year's Solo: A Star Wars Story and next year's Star Wars: Episode IX. Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi will screen at Sydney's ICC Sydney Theatre on Saturday, September 7, 2019, with tickets now available — and Melbourne's Hamer Hall on Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9, 2019, with tickets on sale from Wednesday, September 26. Details of a Brisbane session have yet to be announced.
