Got a spare spot in your calendar? Fill it up by heading to one (or more) of the world-class sporting events coming to New South Wales in the second half of 2022. As a number of the world's top athletes touch down in search of glory, don't miss your chance to feel the roar of the crowd from up close as diverse exceptional talent do what they do best. WALLABIES v ENGLAND When: July 16, 2022 Where: Sydney Cricket Ground Get down to the SCG on Saturday, July 16 as the Wallabies take on England in what could potentially be the deciding match of a three-test series. It'll be the first time the old foe has been on our shores since 2016, so you can expect to be part of a heaving local crowd that will undoubtedly give the visitors a warm welcome. With the Bledisloe Cup and the 2023 Rugby World Cup just around the corner, both squads are looking to get off to an ideal start at the first test to be held at the SCG since 1986. To purchase tickets for Wallabies v England, head to the website. [caption id="attachment_855864" align="alignnone" width="1920"] UCI, SWpix[/caption] 2022 UCI ROAD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS When: September 18–25, 2022 Where: Wollongong Hot off the heels of Jai Hindley becoming the first Aussie cyclist to claim victory at the Giro d'Italia, one of the races that make up the Triple Crown of Cycling, the cycling world will descend upon Wollongong this September. The coastal city is hosting one of the other meets in that prestigious trifecta: the 2022 UCI Road World Championships. Catch over 1000 of the world's best cyclists from 70-plus countries ripping through the streets of Wollongong and along its lung-busting coastline in the battle for the coveted rainbow jersey. Across the jam-packed eight-day event, 11 world-championship races will be cheered on by an estimated 300,000 spectators keen to see pedal power reach remarkable heights. In this picturesque location, you'll find men's and women's road races, time trials, community activities and more. If you're planning to make a weekend out of it (and why wouldn't you be?), check out our massive guide to the Gong here. For more information about the 2022 UCI Road World Road Championships, head to the website. FIBA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL WORLD CUP 2022 When: September 22–October 1 Where: Sydney Olympic Park Returning to Australia for the first time in 27 years, the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup sees 12 of the best national teams go head to head across ten action-packed days. For the 2022 edition, games will take place at Sydney Olympic Park and its two incredible stadiums – the Sydney SuperDome and the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre. Across 38 matches, some of the most exciting players in the world right now will put it all on the line to take the coveted trophy home. The United States team is travelling to Australia as three-time defending champions. But our hometown heroes, as well as Canada, Belgium, France and China, are all well-placed to spoil the Americans' party. Get down and support the Opals in their hunt for a second FIBA championship title. To purchase tickets to the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022, head to the website. [caption id="attachment_855867" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Gareth Copley - ICC via Getty Images[/caption] ICC MEN'S T20 WORLD CUP 2022 When: October 16–November 13 Where: Sydney Cricket Ground As Australia gets ready for another summer of cricket, the world's best players will be in Sydney from October for one of the biggest events on the global cricket calendar. From October 22, the ICC Men's T20 World Cup will take place at venues all around the country. The SCG is set to host seven matches, including Australia's opening match of the tournament against New Zealand on October 16 and a semi-final on November 9. Australia is the defending champion but faces tough competition from 15 international teams, with the likes of India, England, Bangladesh, South Africa and Pakistan also featuring in Sydney. The thrilling pace and dynamic nature of T20 cricket makes it a perfect night out for all ages, so make sure you don't miss your chance to experience this global celebration of cricket in person. To purchase tickets for the ICC Men's T20 Men's World Cup 2022, head to the website. To discover more world-class events taking place in NSW, head to Visit NSW.
National Reconciliation Week is an opportunity for all people of Australia to learn and acknowledge the nation's shared history, to celebrate the achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and to reflect on how we can each contribute to reconciliation. Reconciliation requires more than listening, learning and reflecting, which is powerfully summarised in this year's theme: More than a word. Reconciliation takes action. So, from Thursday, May 27 to Thursday, June 3, heaps of events will take place across the country to promote discussion and a commitment to reconciliation. We've handpicked 11 events to attend IRL and online during NRW 2021 — but keep in mind that there's a huge lineup of unique events, panel discussions and workshops to explore, no matter where you are in Australia. For the full calendar of events, check out the National Reconciliation Week website. WARRANE (SYDNEY) POLITICS AND ACTIVISM: THE FIGHT FOR ONGOING CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM Professor Larissa Behrendt AO (Eualeyai and Gamillaroi) and Australia's first Aboriginal Senior Counsel, Tony McAvoy (Wirdi) will discuss the history and legacy of activism in Australia, as well as the need for ongoing constitutional reform at the Australian Museum Theatre. The discussion will cover the 1967 Referendum, and key achievements of activist and educator, Dr Evelyn Scott AO (Warrgamay), who was pivotal to Australia's reconciliation journey through the 1960s and 70s. WEAVING WORKSHOPS For the arty people in the room, come and sit with Lee Carr (Wiradjuri) to learn about Aboriginal weaving practices. Under the guidance of Carr, participants will create their own raffia fibre basket or bracelet using traditional weaving styles, while learning about the significance of weaving techniques and practices. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved, with Carr hosting workshops every second day from Thursday, May 27 through Saturday, June 5 at The Bankstown Arts Centre. NAARM (MELBOURNE) RECONCILIATION GATHERING Hear, watch and participate in the living culture of Wurundjeri peoples on a site of ongoing significance for the community. The event begins with a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony from Wurundjeri Elders, and is followed by a Djirri Djirri Dancers sharing ceremony, and talks by Elders and leaders of the Wurundjeri community in Coburg. Update: New restrictions for Victoria were announced on Thursday, May 27, but you can check out the online events below. MEANJIN (BRISBANE) MURRI TRIVIA Test your knowledge about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander facts at Murri Trivia at Saint Lucy Caffe e Cucina, hosted by author Professor Anita Heiss (Wiradjuri). Open to all, this is a fun way to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander topics, plus you can try to win some prizes along the way. BOORLOO (PERTH) NYIN, NI, KOORLINY: SIT, LISTEN AND WALK For those on Noongar Boodja (Noongar Country) — this event is a great opportunity for reflection and a chance to revisit your personal commitment to reconciliation. The event starts with a Welcome to Country by Noongar Elder Aunty Marie Taylor, followed by a discussion with Shaun Nannup (Whadjuk Noongar) about reconciliation. Visitors will also be invited to take a reflective walk on Noongar Boodja, starting from Dyoondalup (Point Walter Reserve). TARNDANYA (ADELAIDE) RECONCILIATION WEEK PLANTING Roll up your sleeves, grab your trowel and get ready to get your hands dirty. Suitable for all ages, you're invited to help Kaunra Elder, Uncle Tamaru, plant some bush tucker back while learning about Aboriginal culture. Plus, everyone gets their own bush tucker plant to take home. KAMBERRA (CANBERRA) AUSTRALIAN NATION UNIVERSITY'S NRW PANEL Hosting a panel discussion on this year's theme, More than a word. Reconciliation takes action, Australian National University is bringing together both First Nations people and non-Indigenous Australians for a vibrant chat that welcomes all, as reconciliation is the responsibility of all peoples. Guests include Hon Linda Burney MP (Gunni and Gunditjmara), Geraldine Chin Moody and Professor Rae Frances, led by ABC Radio National Breakfast host Fran Kelly at ANU. NIPALUNA (HOBART) LUNCHTIME TOWN HALL FORUM WITH PROFESSOR MARCIA LANGTON AO Professor Marcia Langton (Yiman and Bidjara) is speaking at a number of locations in lutruwita/Trouwunna (Tasmania) about the National Reconciliation Week theme More than a word. Reconciliation takes action. Come along early to this free event to enjoy a complimentary light lunch with tea or coffee at Hobart Town Hall. GARRMALANG (DARWIN) NRW AT CITY OF DARWIN LIBRARIES City of Darwin Libraries are hosting a number of events across their branches to celebrate the week. Along with film screenings including Storm Boy and Charlie's Country, there will be special storytime and toddler time sessions with guests. ONLINE YOU CAN'T ASK THAT: MORE THAN A WORD. RECONCILIATION TAKES ACTION Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit Academic Director, Professor Tracey Bunda (Ngugi Wakka Wakka); Anthropology Museum Director, Michael Aird; and artist Gordon Hookey (Waanyi) come together for a special Q&A to confront stereotypes, prejudices, bias and discrimination during this online panel. THE JOURNEY HOME: RECONCILIATION THROUGH REPATRIATION Hosted by the University of Sydney online, join host Professor Larissa Behrendt AO (Eualeyai and Kamillaroi) and panellists Laura McBride (Wailwan and Kooma), Matt Poll, and Dr Lyndon Ormond-Parker (Alyawarra) for a deep-dive discussion on the significance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage material. As part of the online chat, the panel will also explore the importance of returning Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander ancestral remains back to Australia—outlining how this forms a meaningful step towards reconciliation. National Reconciliation Week runs from Thursday, May 27–Thursday, June 3 nationwide. You can find an event near you — or register your own — via the National Reconciliation Week website. Top image: Celine Cheung.
COVID-19 has made us put many things on hold: holiday plans, visiting the office, meeting with friends. And for those of us who are not isolating with our significant others, some aspects of our relationship have definitely changed, too. Has our generation moved on from online dating to remote relationships? Perhaps, but only for a little while. Being far apart will take some getting used to, and video calls can hardly compare to actually spending time together, but there's nothing stopping you from having a fun date night with your partner. With everyone locked up at home, conversation can run a little dry, or veer straight into the coronavirus anxiety realm. That's not very romantic. So get creative and try things with an open mind, so you and your significant other can enjoy some much needed quality time together. Here are just a few ideas to get you started. COOK THE SAME MEAL — AND DECIDE WHOSE IS BETTER With so much time on our hands, we can all take advantage of isolation to work on our cooking. And what's more fun than adventuring into the kitchen with your favourite person? First you need to agree on a meal you both enjoy and can manage to round up ingredients for. Here are some recipes that call for five ingredients or fewer. You can also order boxes of groceries from a heap of restaurants. Once you've got everything you need, FaceTime your partner, open a bottle of wine, and get cooking. While you cook, you'll be able to see your significant other in action, doing their own thing, which is quite rare these days of virtual convos. Once your gourmet creation is ready, sit down and enjoy it together while you determine who's the better cook. Who said MasterChef? START A TV SERIES TOGETHER While streaming through a screen share might be a little ambitious, the two of you can coordinate playing and pausing whatever you're watching while you video chat. Right now we recommend checking out Hunters on Amazon Prime if you're looking for an intense action drama, or taking a look at Tiger King on Netflix if you're in search of a bizarre docuseries. You can also turn to cult classics you never had time to watch, like Peaky Blinders and Breaking Bad on Netflix. Looking for something lighter? Check out these titles. If you end up deciding on a Netflix series, the streaming platform has a handy plug-in called Netflix Party that lets you stream with friends (or, in this case, your significant other). In times like these, it's good to get lost in the world of fiction occasionally, and watching together will also give you two a lot to discuss. GET FIT TOGETHER AND DO A WORKOUT (OR A FEW) Few things are funnier than seeing your significant other struggling in candle pose when you decide to take a break from the yoga flow you're doing together. There are many local studios offering online classes to pick from, with work outs varying from yoga to 80s-style aerobics and so much more. Try ClassPass, which has put together livestream classes in a variety of disciplines and levels, so you can stay in shape while supporting local businesses. You can also ramp up the comedy a little by dressing up for the workouts: cue leopard-print leotards and OTT leg warmers for aerobics. MASTER THE ART OF CROSSWORDS Waking up on Sunday morning, whipping up a nice breakfast and sitting on the couch with your partner to solve the Sunday crossword, just like in the movies. Isn't that a nerdy dream we all can get behind? But Sunday crosswords can be hard, so we recommend you start off with some easier versions, like those printed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Then, you can slowly level up until you two can master the Sunday crossword, hopefully by the end of this time of isolation, so you can do it right: over brekkie with sunshine beaming through the window, and of course, with both of you in the same room. You might want to try the classic New York Times Crossword, or these free puzzles from The Guardian. Whichever you choose, you can download Discord or Zoom to share your screen to work on the same crossword while video calling. LEARN A NEW SKILL OR TWO TOGETHER Have you two daydreamed about visiting Mexico together? Now is the time to sit down and learn Spanish. Always wanted to know more about wine, to go on that romantic wine tasting trip together? Enrol in an oenology course together, and get the wines you need to taste delivered to your home. With everything going on, universities and websites are offering a bunch of online courses. What better use of your time apart than getting smarter together, and perhaps preparing for something you can do in the future. This can also help you expand your shared interests, something that will help your relationship beyond quarantine.
Australia is currently cruising through a pretty steamy winter (well, comparatively). Which means we don't need to stick to the standard soul-warming stouts and mulled wines that are our normal winter fodder. Instead, we can keep drinking spritzes and other equally refreshing concoctions — like this brand new sweet yuzu vermouth. The tasty child of Adelaide Hills winery Unico Zelo and sister distillery Applewood, it's made from a combination of Adelaide Hills nebbiolo grapes, some native Australian botanicals (usually used to make Applewood's Okar bitter amaro) and yuzu from Mountain Yuzu — a 20-acre farm located in northeast Victoria, on the foothills of the Australian Alps. As you can see, its an all-Australian affair, unlike a lot of traditional vermouths, which are made in Italy and France. Eco-minded founders and winemakers Laura and Brendan Carter are committed to using native botanicals and sustainably produced grapes in their entire range of wines and spirits, aiming to create products that truly taste Aussie as. As it's not a traditional sweet vermouth — it's really quite far from it — we forgive you for not knowing exactly how to drink it. But, thankfully, we've done some testing for you. On the rocks? Yep. Instead of Aperol in a spritz? Do it. With a splash of soda? Definitely. If you want something a little fancier, the Unico team has a couple of cocktail suggestions for you (handily printed on the back of the bottle, no less). Try your hand at the Ultimate Spritz — made with with Unico Yuzu, blackcurrant-flavoured liqueur from Australian distiller Marrionette and soda — or the Opal Miner: Unico Yuzu, gin, green chartreuse and orange bitters. Unico (the parent company of Unico Zelo and Applewood) has also been steadily dropping a line of limited-edition gins throughout the year, all of which use Australian botanicals, of course. Those include flavours like pepperberry, wattleseed and desert lime. Even more of these unusual drops are headed our way in 2019, too, so keep an eye on this space. All of Unico's limited releases only available in very small batches, so if you want it, don't wait on it. Unico's Yuzu Vermouth is now available to purchase via the website. Priced at $34.99 per bottle.
Cities are living beasts. Swelling and humming and brimming with life, these places we live are subject to change at any moment. These changes can be slow, like that giant apartment complex they've been building forever by your house. Or they can be fast, like the way the skyline comes to life with lights after 8pm. New York photographer Richard Silver has taken it upon himself to explore the latter changes, and the results are pretty beautiful. With his camera pointed towards iconic skylines and landmarks from around the world, Silver has catalogued an entire day in each image. Different from regular timelapse photography that creates a fluid sense of movement, Silver's images are staccato and ornate. Like a collage, each photograph is composed of shots from 36 different times throughout the day. Looking from left to right, you get a glimpse into a full day, from dawn to dusk. Enamoured with the nature of time, Silver appropriately named the series Time Slice. "[It] started in New York when I would go out at sunset to photograph iconic NY buildings," the artist told The Huffington Post. "I can take a photograph a mere few seconds apart and the change in of blue in the sky at sunset just fascinates me." It seems that people around the world are fascinated by this idea as well. In the last week alone, hits to his website have increased from roughly 1,000 per day to upwards of 190,000. Digital sightseers have descended upon the series to view his take on Easter Island, Shanghai, Venice, Milan, London and the Colosseum among others. No longer do tourists have to bicker about whether it's better to see a landmark during the day or at night! Just stay at home and drink in the whole thing. See more of Richard Silver's work at his website. Via Huffington Post. Photos via Richard Silver.
This hard-hitting exhibition by Australian artist Helen Johnson shines a satirical light on Australia's history, examining the violence, corruption, and bribery at the heart of the country's past. Massive, heavily-textured paintings done on unstretched canvas, Johnson's works use a ribald caricature-like style to make a searing critique of the British colonialists who landed in Australia and claimed it as their own. Image: Mark Blower.
'Water – Filter' must be near to the most boring link you'll ever click on, but that resounding prosaicness doesn't apply to the subject within, the innovative production Water by UK theatre radicals Filter. Anyone looking to increase the purity of what comes out of their tap, we're afraid Google has misdirected you. Filter is a company of three co-artistic directors — Oliver Dimsdale, Ferdy Roberts, and prodigious sound man Tim Phillips — who are joined on stage this time around by performer Poppy Miller and who created this piece with the Lyric Hammersmith's David Farr (an accomplished director best known to Australian audiences for cowriting child-assassin flick Hanna). The group do a couple of things differently: They combine performance with text, image, sound, and technology to make their message, and they aim to lay bare the processes of the production, so the audience can see the performers, sound designer, and stage manager at work, making a big scene out of a small toolbox. Their methodology puts them at the forefront of contemporary international theatre practice. For this show, they've addressed themselves to 'water' and everything that entails: the molecular composition of it, the destructive rise of it under the influence of global warming, the power of it to shield its greatest depths from our complete study, the echoey ping it makes hitting a saucepan placed under a leaky roof. With a cool blue-black set and a stage coated to appear slick, they conjure the feel of it in drips, depths, and concepts. Although LCD screens reconfigure to frame new scenes, most of Filter's effects are more down-home, using the kind of tactile, crafty approach that will appeal to fans of filmmaker Michel Gondry. The result is highly involving to watch. So its unfortunate that Water doesn't quite gel when it comes to the biggest challenge for a devised piece, the narrative that drives it. Filter has its performers meet as a woman unable to commit to her relationship while fighting to achieve a binding climate change treaty, a deep-sea diver pushed beyond his limits, a groundbreaking climate scientist, and a man who crosses the Atlantic to bury a father changed from the man he knew. They all face the choice of whether to be right or to be happy, whether to change the world or to be comfortable within it. Some of these are dry subjects that Filter should get points for managing to bring to life at all. It's how you want to see theatre integrating the personal and political, bypassing the didacticism, extended allegory, and sentimentality. But in this instance, the stories are not wholly engaging sketches that feel like they were the secondary consideration in putting this show together, which they probably were. Go to Water for its remarkable vision and design. The whole thing ends on a spectacular tableau that will widen your eyes like a child's upon seeing their first magic trick.
Dwayne Johnson (aka 'The Rock') is an absolute Hollywood powerhouse. Just physically the guy's so strong he looks like he could bench press someone while they were bench-pressing. Yet there's so much more than brute force to this wrestler-turned-box office behemoth. In recent times he's had years (such as 2013) where his films have grossed more than US $1 billion combined. With more instalments of the unstoppable Fast and Furious franchise on the horizon, he's fast becoming the most bankable man in the business. No wonder, then, he's recently been hailed as the official heir-apparent to the king of action – Arnold Schwarzenegger. Then there's Kevin Hart, fast-becoming a movie-making powerhouse in his own right. Since just 2014 he's already churned out thirteen films, prompting Chris Rock to joke at the Oscars that not even porn stars make them as quickly as he does. Hart is increasingly being likened to Eddie Murphy for his style of comedy, his likability and his growing credentials as an action-comedy star. With all that said, the only thing surprising about Central Intelligence is how long it took to actually put Hart and Johnson together. And if you're wondering, yes, the film immediately went to no.1 on the US Box Office. Plot wise, there's very little to speak of. Johnson plays Bob Stone, an unflappable CIA operative who may or may not have gone rogue from the Agency, and who twenty years prior was the enormously fat kid subjected to relentless bullying by just about everyone other than Hart in his high school. On the eve of their school reunion, Stone reaches out to Hart's character, Calvin Joyner – the former class president and guy voted 'most likely to succeed'. Joyner is now a mid-level accountant in the throws of a mid-life crisis. Together, the pair quickly find themselves pursued by the CIA as they chase down some secret classified information. It's a classic odd-couple, buddy action comedy in the vein of the Schwarzenegger/DeVito movie Twins, only with far less class and only the most threadbare of storylines. Both Hart and Johnson throw themselves completely into their roles, without which the film would be a proper stinker. They're both terrifically funny actors, and Johnson's deadpan delivery of ridiculous lines is when the movie is at its strongest. It's just frustrating to see the current kings of action and comedy let down by a movie in which the action is entirely dull and derivative, and the comedy is so absent that the only real laughs come from the outtakes playing over the final credits. It all has a feeling of 'she'll be right, mate', relying far too heavily on the celebrity and charisma of its leading men instead of giving them a clever, considered script through which to showcase all that they're capable of. The film does also boast a handful of 'surprise cameos' that briefly recapture your attention, but they're not enough to cover up the gaping holes in plot or direction. Full of potential yet thin on substance, Central Intelligence is best seen as a challenge to the next writer-director to put this pair together. Imagine how brightly these two stars could shine if only they had a decent script. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxEw3elSJ8M
Talk about dreams coming true, or ideas that you've probably fantasised about over a few glasses of vino actually becoming a reality. A town in Italy has installed what's certain to become a tourist attraction, at least with those fond of a grape-centric boozy beverage: a free, 24-hour wine fountain. Because you're probably already booking a trip to the European country, then Abruzzo is the place you want to head to. There, designed to provide refreshments to folks following the Cammino di San Tommaso pilgrimage from Rome to Ortona, inspired by a similar setup on the Camino de Santiago route in Spain, located at the Dora Sarchese vineyard and open to anyone who walks by, you'll find the fontana del vino dripping with the good stuff. Red wine that is, not white. Yes, this is a real thing. No, we'd never joke about something like this. It's better than anything Art vs Science could ever sing about, and up there with the cascade of youth-giving liquid spoken about in legends and nodded to in Darren Aronofsky's Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz-starring 2006 film. Forget bubblers spurting H20 — this is the true holy grail of public drink dispensers. You might recall similar concepts popping up around Italy in the past; however they were once-off affairs. This is permanent: no gimmicks, no time limit, just an all-day-round spring of vino that you can enjoy for zilch. The vineyard does warn that it's not for drunkards, though, so behave yourselves. Via Travel and Leisure.
With the successes — and near successes — of the Arab Spring, it's easy to forget the earlier revolutions that didn't succeed. Most recent was Iran's 2009 Green Revolution. And in Burma,in 2007, the Saffron revolution's protesting buddhist monks seemed about to topple the government. Sydney author Katie Pollock was watching on the news as the Generals finally cracked down. She started writing A Quiet Night in Rangoon. Her play has three strands which slowly collide. An Aussie journalist (Kathryn Schuback) is writing a puff piece on Burmese tourism. A monk (John Buencamino), his friend (Barton Williams) and an underground Burmese blogger (Aileen Huynh) are hiding from the authorities after the protests. A major in the Burmese army (Felino Dolloso) attends to his buddhist devotions, preparing to follow whatever orders may come next. In the background is the Lake (Shauntelle Benjamin) in Rangoon, which swallows secrets and people, and the Internet itself, played with scene-stealing effervescence by Sonya Kerr as capricious, fact-laden and needy. Where do the ripples go when they disappear? is the question that constantly resurfaces. Where did the protesters of 1988 go? Where will the monks of the present day go after the Saffron revolution? A Quiet Night in Rangoon isn't so much a search for answers to Burma's many problems, as a quest to hand out the right questions. Despite its 2007 setting, the play is strongly rooted in the protests of 1988 which brought Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's to prominence, and consigned her to long periods of house arrest. The fates of people from this earlier period drive the present for the leads. All of them are Burmese loyalists, but some are much more powerful than others. And despite the hope presented in the play, you know throughout that these differences won't be heading towards a comforting resolution. Image by Zorica Purlija.
Your weekly grocery shopping adventures (or misadventures) could soon be given a shake up, with Amazon set to launch a series of bricks-and-mortar stores and an online supermarket within the next two years right here in Australia, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald. The retail giant has been flirting plenty with the grocery sector of late; its most recent global initiatives include the Prime Now program — an impressive US service where you can get everything from groceries to restaurant food to clothes and household items delivered in less than two hours — and Amazon Fresh, an online grocery delivery service that recently entered the UK market. Both of these programs now look set to land in Singapore, Southeast Asia, and on our own shores — a move that could see Amazon snap up between $3.5 and 4 billion in Aussie sales within five years, according to Citi's Australian retail analysts. Each of these new multi-function stores would be about the same size as an Aldi supermarket, but stock only items like meat, dairy, alcohol, fruit and veggies — all the bits and pieces you like to have a proper squiz at before buying. Tens of thousands of other items would be stored offsite in fulfilment centres and available to order via a mobile app or in-store kiosk for delivery to your doorstep. Word is, the stores will even have drive-through lanes, where you can pick up groceries you've ordered online, without leaving your car. Not quite as exciting as those Macca's runs, but pretty darn convenient nonetheless. The shift from online to bricks-and-mortar stores is a stupefying one, but not new for Amazon — last year they opened their first physical bookstore. Via The Sydney Morning Herald.
Construction on Sydney's new light rail system might be rolling out a little slower than hoped, but that hasn't stopped the NSW Government from kick-starting its testing phase, sending its first tram along a stretch of Alison Road in Randwick. But you won't be able to ride it just yet. First up, there'll be a series of nighttime testing, with trams cruising the tracks at low speed to give engineers the chance to monitor performance and iron out any kinks. After a couple of months, the trial will be ramped up to include daytime runs. "At the moment we are testing at night, but that will progress into the daylight hours, construction fencing and barriers will gradually be removed, so it is important for people to be mindful of tracks and stops and to remember trams may be moving around you," said Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance. Once completed, the light rail system will feature a 12.7-kilometre route from Circular Quay to Randwick and Kingsford, with 19 stops along the way. It's slated to be up and running at some stage next year.
The saying "all good things come to an end" doesn't apply that often on TV anymore. Whenever a show wraps up, there's usually a chance that it could return in some shape or form, whether as a prequel such as House of the Dragon, a sequel series like That '90s Show or a revival as Party Down is currently doing. But when Barry finishes its run after its upcoming fourth and final season, this really might be it for Bill Hader's (Lightyear) military sniper-turned-hitman-turned actor. If you've watched season three, which was characteristically phenomenal, you'll know why — but, also, a show about an assassin trying to be an on-screen star in Hollywood can't keep its main figure away from the law forever. So, in the just-dropped first trailer for Barry season four, HBO teases an "arresting final act". Barry is incarcerated, his mentor and veteran thespian Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler, Black Adam) is being hailed as a hero, but this turn of events is clearly going to have consequences. In the initial sneak peek, Barry is seeing his friends and acquaintances as he wanders around the yard in prison — including Cousineau, his former handler Monroe (Stephen Root, Succession) and his ex-girlfriend Sally (Sarah Goldberg, The Night House) — which doesn't bode well for his already-fragile mental health. Is this where the killer-for-hire will be when the eight-episode season concludes? Will Chechen gangster Noho Hank (Anthony Carrigan, Bill & Ted Face the Music) somehow intervene? What's happening with Sarah's career after season three? These are all natural questions to have about the Emmy-winner's return. Answers will start coming soon, with Barry season four set to start streaming via Binge in Australia and Neon in New Zealand from Monday, April 17. If you're new to all things Barry, Hader not only stars but created the show, has directed a heap of episodes, and also co-wrote others. The initial setup: when Hader's Barry Berkman heads from Cleveland to Los Angeles for his job, he discovers a previously unknown passion for acting after he stumbles into a class held by veteran thespian Cousineau. The catch? Barry kills people for money, and that isn't a line of work that you can leave easily, especially when you become caught in the Chechen mafia's violent and deadly dramas. Check out the first trailer for Barry season four below: Barry's fourth season will start streaming via Binge in Australia and Neon in New Zealand from Monday, April 17. Top image: Merrick Morton/HBO.
Revel, the crew behind such epicurean hits as Pinot Palooza, Game of Rhones and Mould, is back with another standout food and wine event, this time devoted to all things Greek. After a successful debut in Melbourne last year, Oinofilia: A Celebration of the Wines of Greece will return to North Melbourne's Meat Market this June, and will also head north for its first Sydney appearance the same weekend. As with previous Revel events, wine lovers are in for a serious treat here. Greece takes the cake as Europe's oldest wine-producing region and Oinofilia is out to do it justice, showcasing 80 different wines from every corner of the country. Visitors will have the chance to sample unique varietals like Assyrtiko, Xinomavro, Moschofilero and Agiorgitiko, and chat to producers flown in especially for the event. Being a Greek celebration, no one's about to go hungry either. The Melbourne edition will feature authentic fare from Camberwell's Elyros and sister restaurant Epocha, along with treats from Prahran Market's famed Sweet Greek. Sydney's culinary lineup will be announced in the coming weeks. According to Revel founder and director Dan Sims, it's the chance for locals to get acquainted with a Greek offering that's often underrated here in Australia. "Oinofilia, from the Greek oîn, is by definition a love of wine," he says. "We all love Greek food, culture, and those islands, now it's time to celebrate Greek wine." Oinofilia Sydney takes over Commune on Saturday, June 23, while the Melbourne event returns to The Meat Market, North Melbourne, on Sunday, June 24. Tickets are $55, and include all wine tastings and a Plumm wine glass to keep. Grab them here.
Calling all Sydney bookworms, scholars and lovers of literature. What would you give to have a drink with your favourite author? Your life savings or maybe a limb? Well, you can hold onto your life savings and all remaining appendages because Dymocks is offering up the chance to grab a drink with one or all of them. That is the thinking behind Books in Bars, an initiative from Dymocks designed to connect authors with their readers over drinks and nibbles at Soultrap Bar and East Village Sydney. First up is Benjamin Stevenson, author of Everyone on This Train Is A Suspect. This book blends comedy and crime with a meta lens on the massively popular genre of murder mysteries. He'll be in conversation with Amy Lovat, writer, editor and founder of Secret Book Stuff on Tuesday, October 17 from 6.30pm. Next on Wednesday, October 18 is TikTok creator Esmé Louise James, author of Kinky History — an irreverent and provocative history of intimacy. She'll be joined by Elfy Scott, the award-winning journalist, presenter, podcaster and author of The One Thing We've Never Spoken About. On Monday, October 23, Holly Ringland, author of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart will be joined by returning co-host Amy Lovat to discuss her new book, The House That Joy Built. It explores the transformative joy and power of creativity and how those who struggle with creativity can find the spark. The next starring author is on Monday, November 13 — famed food journalist and TV presenter, the iconic Matt Preston. He'll be discussing Big Mouth, his newly published memoir that outlines his journey from adoption to being a household name. Drinks and nibbles are included, and there will be a book signing at the end of the night. This particular evening will take place at East Village Sydney instead of Soultrap Bar. Finally, on Tuesday, December 5, will be Karina May, author of Never Ever Forever. This delightful rom-com asks if 'never ever' has to be forever on a journey of a lifetime. Books and Bars will be running from Tuesday, October 17 to Tuesday, December 5. Use these links to book tickets for Benjamin Stevenson, Esmé Louise James, Holly Ringland, Matt Preston or Karina May.
Nestled into a leafy pocket of Brisbane's western suburbs, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary already boasts the honour of being the world's first and largest koala sanctuary. It's a tourist destination and a favourite with locals, as well as a great place to cuddle a koala — including on Christmas Day if you're looking to for something other than the usual festive celebrations. From November, it'll become a new spot to see animals by night, too, with the Fig Tree Pocket venue announcing the addition of an nocturnal precinct. Opening on Wednesday, November 1, Lone Pine's latest reason to drop by will hero Australia's nocturnal wildlife and offer night-time experiences. The animal haven is gaining seven exhibit spaces, which will become home to ten species. On the list: tree kangaroos, potoroos and pademelons, plus bandicoots, bettongs and more. Half of the residents of the nocturnal precinct will be new species to Lone Pine, with patrons able to peer their way using portable thermal imaging cameras. The experience is designed around not disrupting the critters — so, no torches beamed their way. If you're keen, you'll be able to sign up for a tour that'll run for 90 minutes three times a week, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Each group will welcome 20 visitors. As well as the nocturnal precinct, Lone Pine is also gaining a new kilometre-long accessible boardwalk. Part of a $3.2-million project, the new additions further expand a venue where getting up close and personal with wildlife — not just by cuddling a koala, but also by holding an owl, touching snakes, and watching everything from kangaroos, wombats and echidnas to birds of prey, turtles and even Tasmanian devils — is on offer. "Australia has some of the world's most unique wildlife and being able to discover their natural behaviours after dark will be an experience like no other — it's a secret world some of our staff haven't even seen!" said Lone Pine General Manager Lyndon Discombe. "In addition to the night experience, we're very excited to offer our animals beautiful new exhibit spaces, perfectly reflecting their natural habitat. The new precinct is situated among our working eucalyptus plantation, so although you are only 12 kilometres from the CBD, it feels like you're in the middle of the Australian bush," Discombe continued. "Opened almost 100 years ago as a koala refuge, Lone Pine Sanctuary has an enduring reputation among overseas and Australian visitors as a Brisbane bucket list destination," added Queensland Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe, with the state government contributing $1.2 million to the new additions. "Lone Pine's night-time precinct opens up an entirely new dimension in marsupial experiences for visitors to discover in one of Queensland's great tourism destinations." Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary's nocturnal precinct opens on Wednesday, November 1 at 708 Jesmond Road, Fig Tree Pocket, Brisbane. Head to the venue's website for more information and bookings.
Melbourne's NGV International is celebrating the unique designs and lasting legacy of fashion icon Christian Dior, in a world premiere exhibition launching this Sunday, August 27. Running until November 7, The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture will be one of three major surveys of Dior's groundbreaking work, alongside exhibitions in Paris and New York. The Melbourne show will include more than 140 show-stopping garments, stretching the length and breadth of the label's extraordinary history. "Highlights of the NGV's House of Dior exhibition will include one of the few surviving examples of Christian Dior's New Look collection, which revitalised women's fashion in the post-war era," said gallery director Tony Ellwood last year. "And of course it wouldn't be a Dior exhibition without their sculptural tailoring, their signature ball gowns and their glamorous evening dresses which have become synonymous with the fashion house." "Audiences will discover the nuances of Dior's fashion design, and observe the ways in which these have evolved through the decades. The exhibition will also celebrate the milestones of Dior's six successive designers," he added. A key element of the exhibition will be an exploration of Dior's historic 1948 spring fashion parade at David Jones in Sydney, considered to be the first complete Dior collection to be shown outside of Paris. The exhibition will also tie in with the gallery's first ever Gala Ball on Sunday. If you're heading to Melbourne in the next few months, add this to your must-do list. Images: Installation view of House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture at the National Gallery of Victoria. Shot by Sean Fennessy.
When it comes to choosing a type of wine, we've got our decision-making process down. If it's a lunch wine, we'll make it a white. Steak for dinner? Red it is. Hot days may call for a rosé. But now a group of Spanish entrepreneurs are set to throw a spanner in the works and disrupt the clear wine colour scheme we've grown accustomed to as the natural way of things. They've created a wine that's bright blue. We were so over rosé anyway. This futuristic new wine is called Gik, and it's been created by six young Spanish go-getters in collaboration with the University of the Basque Country and Azti Tecnalia (the food research department of the Basque Government). The wine's electric blue colour looks a lot like regret (aka Blue Curacao cocktails of the 00s), but, according to Eater, is actually made from an undisclosed blend of red and white grapes sourced from vineyards in Spain's Basque region. It gets its bright blue colour from the addition of anthocyanin (a pigment found in grape skin) and indigo (a dye extracted from the Isatis tinctoria plant). The wine is a sweet, easy to drink drop, and is evidently trying to shake up the traditional wine game. "Try to forget everything you know about wine," says a statement on the Gik website. "Try to unlearn the hundreds of protected wine designations of origin, the complex and demanding service standards and everything that sommelier said at a tasting course to which you were invited." The wine was launched in Spain last year and will be stocked in retailers in France, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany over the next few months. It may be a while until we see blue wine on our dinner tables yet though. Via Eater.
Pencil in this one for a future getaway: a sprawling 100-acre spot in the Yarra Valley that's home to a 300-bed hotel, an outdoor concert venue, three restaurants, lakes and gardens to roam around, and an arts and craft village. Come 2024, that's set to become a new place to add to your holiday itineraries, all on the Maroondah Highway just over an hour's drive from Melbourne. Here, you'll be able to see a gig, then not only bunker down for the night but truly make a weekend of it. It's envisaged that the new site will play host to big names, spanning both local and international acts — and also showcase local growers, artisans, winemakers, distillers and brewers. Specifics such as who'll run the hotel and what the restaurants will offer haven't yet been revealed, however, and development plans are still to be lodged. That said, helping boost the state's tourism and live entertainment industries after the past couple of tough years is one of the project's big aims. The just-announced $200-million precinct springs from Cedar Mill Group, which is owned by Newcastle-based property development firm Winarch Capital, and has just snapped up the land to bring this plan to fruition. It's the company's third such development in the works, and the first in Victoria — following Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie, which is revamping a golf course and adding a 30,000-person concert venue, cafes, restaurants, accommodation and a huge aquatic park; and Cedar Mill Hunter Valley, a 40-hectare spot in in Pokolbin that's set to open in late 2023 with a 22,000-person amphitheatre, a 100-room hotel and a wine museum. Cedar Mill Group is also still looking for other sites around Australia — so that list might grow in the near future. And, yes, adding new spots for Aussies holidays to your getaway bucket list is becoming easy of late. There's also the in-the-works new hotel in the Barossa, smack bang in the middle of a vineyard; the about-to-open QT Newcastle, which includes a rooftop bar and a suite in a clock tower; and Sydney's Porter House Hotel, which'll launch in July with a five-story restaurant and bar hub next door. And, there's the just-opened first Down Under outpost for Ace Hotels, the soon-to-open The Langham on the Gold Coast, design-driven Marriott chain AC Hotels' first Aussie site and the 2025 local debut of The Waldorf Astoria, too. The Cedar Mill Group's Yarra Valley site is expected to open in 2024. For more information about its plans, head to the company's website.
With the Australian Centre for the Moving Image's major 2023 winter exhibition Goddess, the Melbourne cultural institution is going big on an essential topic: how women are represented on-screen. For six months from Wednesday, April 5–Sunday, October 1, the venue's new world-premiere showcase will pay tribute to formidable ladies in cinema, femininity across screen history, and what female talents have represented — and been forced to deal with — about the society around them. And, thanks to a new one-day conference with Geena Davis as its headline speaker, all that musing on representation, equality and diversity won't just be gracing ACMI's gallery spaces. Announced to celebrate International Women's Day, Being Seen on Screen: The Importance of Representation will run on Goddess: Power, Glamour, Rebellion's opening day. Davis will take to the stage to speak as part of a range of discussions, on behalf of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media — which the Academy Award-winning actor founded in 2004, and has been working to create gender balance in the industry for almost two decades now — and as the exhibition's lead ambassador. [caption id="attachment_891918" align="alignnone" width="1920"] GabboT via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] In addition to the rare opportunity to hear from Thelma & Louise, Beetlejuice, The Fly and A League of Their Own star Davis herself live in Australia, the Melbourne conference will also feature Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media President and CEO Madeline Di Nonno and a heap of Aussie talent. The latter includes 52 Tuesdays and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande filmmaker Sophie Hyde, journalist and TV presenter Jan Fran, actor Pallavi Sharda and casting director Anousha Zarkesh, as well as 2023 Australian of the Year Taryn Brumfitt. Goddess itself is quite the drawcard, of course, whether or not you head along on opening day. Both a massive and a landmark exhibition, it's set to display more than 150 original objects, artworks, props and sketches, all championing oh-so-many talented women and their impact upon cinema. [caption id="attachment_882193" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, 2020, Margot Robbie, © Warner Bros. Image courtesy of LANDMARK MEDIA / Alamy Stock Photo.[/caption] That lineup covers costumes that've never been displayed before, various cinematic treasures, large-scale projections and other interactive experiences. Silent-era sirens, classic Hollywood heroines, unforgettable femme fatales and villains, Bollywood stars, women in China and Japan's cinematic histories: they're all being given the spotlight. Goddess will also dive into provocative on-screen moments from Hollywood's silent days through to today that've not only left an imprint, but also played a part in defining (and altering) what's considered the feminine ideal. Think: Marlene Dietrich in 1930's Morocco, Pam Grier's spectacular Blaxploitation career, Tilda Swinton in 1992's Orlando and Margot Robbie via 2020's Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). Plus, Mae West's sky-high heels from 1934's Belle of the Nineties, costumes worn by Davis and Susan Sarandon in 1991's aforementioned Thelma & Louise and Michelle Yeoh's fight-ready silks from 2000's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon will also feature. [caption id="attachment_882194" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Blonde Venus, 1932, Marlene Dietrich. Image courtesy of PARAMOUNT PICTURES / Ronald Grant Archive / Alamy Stock Photo.[/caption] The list goes on, clearly, spanning Anna May Wong, Marilyn Monroe, Laverne Cox and Zendaya as well. And, expect everything from Glenn Close's Cruella de Vil in 102 Dalmatians to the Carey Mulligan-starring Promising Young Woman to get time to shine. Goddess will pair its wide-ranging display with soundscapes by Melbourne-based composer Chiara Kickdrum, and also feature a sprawling events program complete with late-night parties, performances and talks — and film screenings, of course. ACMI has also just revealed further details about those other activities, including in-depth monthly curator tours of the exhibition, which'll take place after hours and dive deep into the showcase. [caption id="attachment_882188" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Britt Romstad, 2022, photo by Phoebe Powell. Costume: Kitty (Elaine Crombie) costume, Kiki and Kitty, Australia, 2017, designed by Amelia Gebler, courtesy of Jetty Distribution Pty Limited. Backdrop: Marilyn Monroe on the set of Some Like It Hot, photo by Don Ornitz, © Globe Photos / ZUMAPRESS.com. Image courtesy of ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo.[/caption] There's also a music program called Goddess Nights from late May, which'll focus on three femme-centric live music lineups with performances by DJ JNETT, CD, POOKIE and Ayebatonye — and a curated range of food and booze put together just for each evening. For film buffs, movie series Divine Trailblazers will focus on contemporary actors at the height of their powers, while the Goddess Sundays is all about on-screen personas. So, the first includes Angela Bassett's Oscar-nominated performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, fellow Academy Award contenders Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis in Everything Everywhere All At Once, Cate Blanchett also earning that description for Tár, Viola Davis in warrior mode in The Woman King, Filipino actor Dolly De Leon stealing every scene she's in in Triangle of Sadness, and Leah Purcell writing, directing, producing and starring in The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson. And, the weekly Sunday afternoon lineup includes Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot, Pam Grier in Jackie Brown, Daniela Vega in A Fantastic Woman and more. After showing in Melbourne for its premiere season, Goddess will then tour internationally, taking ACMI's celebration of women on-screen to the world. Goddess will display at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Federation Square, Melbourne, from Wednesday, April 5–Sunday, October 1, 2023. For more information — including about Being Seen on Screen: The Importance of Representation on Wednesday, April 5 — head to the ACMI website. Top image: Thelma and Louise, 1991, L-R Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, © MGM. Image courtesy of Moviestore Collection Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo.
Winter is upon us, the gloves and beanies are out of storage, and it's time to start loading up on sweets and carbs. That's how every June starts — and, every year, Krispy Kreme wants to help with the latter. How? By giving away an extremely excessive number of doughnuts. You're probably now wondering what constitutes an excessive amount of doughnuts. No, polishing off a packet by yourself doesn't count, at least in this instance. Krispy Kreme's giveaway is going big, with the chain slinging 100,000 original glazed doughnuts in conjunction with National Doughnut Day. Whether or not you're a big fan of food 'days', we're guessing you are quite fond of free doughnuts. To snag yourself a signature glazed freebie, head to your closest Krispy Kreme store in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia on Friday, June 2. That gives you more than 40 places to flock to, with Sydneysiders able to hit up 15 stores stretching from Penrith to the CBD, Victorians needing to visit nine locations from Chadstone to Collins Street, and Queenslanders given eight different doughnut shops to pick from (with the most central in Albert Street in the CBD). And, in Adelaide you have eight stores to visit, while residents of Perth can make a date with one of four Krispy Kreme locations. The National Doughnut Day deal isn't available at BP outlets, 7-Eleven stores, Jesters or Woolworths, or via online orders or third-party deliveries. There's also a limit of one freebie per person, and the giveaway only applies to the original glazed variety. The 100,000 doughnuts will be spread across the participating stores, so you'll want to get in relatively early if you want to kick off your Friday with a free sweet and doughy treat. Obviously, whether you nab one or not is subject to availability. Krispy Kreme's free doughnut giveaway is happening in the chain's stores around the country on Friday, June 2. To find your closest shop and check its opening hours, head to the Krispy Kreme website.
It's the film that first made the world fall in love with Hugh Grant, screenwriter Richard Curtis and their brand of British rom-coms — and, just like everything else with a well-known name in the entertainment game, Four Weddings and a Funeral has made a return. This time around, the hit flick has been remade as an American TV miniseries. If you're unsurprisingly a little skeptical, the news that Mindy Kaling is one of the show's creators and writers should change that. Kaling's six-season sitcom The Mindy Project was basically a long-running ode to the romantic comedy genre, complete with plenty of references to plenty of classic flicks. As a result, reworking one of the huge rom-com successes of the past quarter-century really does feel like the logical next step. Across a ten-episode series made for US streaming service Hulu, the latest version of Four Weddings and a Funeral follows four American friends who meet up in London for a wedding. Clearly, given the title, three more ceremonies are in their future, as is a tearful farewell to someone they know. The show tracks a year in their lives, their romantic escapades and even political scandals — all with a cast that includes Game of Thrones' Nathalie Emmanuel as Maya, plus Rebecca Rittenhouse (The Mindy Project), Brandon Mychal Smith (You're the Worst) and John Reynolds (Search Party) as her best buddies. Nikesh Patel (Doctor Who) also features as Maya's potential love interest, who she first encounters in an airport meet cute, naturally. And while Hugh Grant doesn't show up — sorry, 90s obsessives — original Four Weddings star Andie MacDowell does. Because Kaling isn't averse to nodding to other rom-com favourites of the era, My Best Friend's Wedding's Dermot Mulroney also makes an appearance. The series actually dropped in America in 2019, but it's now making its way to Australian viewers via streaming platform Stan. If you're looking for something to watch over your summer break, it'll be available in full from Friday, December 18. Watch the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe8trFdvJPU Four Weddings and a Funeral drops on Stan on Friday, December 18.
No matter how jolly December normally looks to you, one merry getaway has your festive plans beat: staying in Santa's cabin for three nights. Say "ho, ho, holidays" to Airbnb's latest one-off listing, with the accommodation-sharing and -booking platform letting up to four lucky guests — two adults and two children — head to Finland to slumber in a winter wonderland adjacent to Santa's Main Post Office in Rovaniemi. And if that's not enough of a present, the reservation is free. Airbnb's Santa's cabin listing follows in the footsteps of Shrek's swamp, Barbie's Malibu DreamHouse, the Ted Lasso pub, the Moulin Rouge! windmill, Hobbiton, the Bluey house, the Paris theatre that inspired The Phantom of the Opera, the Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine, The Godfather mansion, the South Korean estate where BTS filmed In the Soop, the Sanderson sisters' Hocus Pocus cottage and more — all once-in-a-lifetime experiences. As well as the ultimate jolly vacation, the trip to the Arctic Circle includes channelling your inner elf to help with the letters. 'Tis the season, after all. If you're lucky enough to score the booking for Monday, December 18–Thursday, December 21, Katja, Chief Elf of Santa Claus' Main Post Office, will be your host — and teach you the necessary 'elfing' skills for your visit. You'll sort letters while referring to the naughty and nice list, as well as empty mailboxes, stamp the post with the Arctic Circle postmark and learn about how the post office runs on a day-to-day basis. "The elves have been working around the clock to transform Santa Claus' cabin into a winter wonderland. We want this to be a magical and immersive experience for a family in search of the ultimate yuletide experience. Not only will guests get to sleep in Santa Claus' cabin, they'll also get a sneak peek behind the scenes of the world's official Santa Claus' Post Office during our liveliest time of the year," said Katja. The stay isn't just about Christmas, Christmas and more Christmas. It also spans seeing the northern lights, getting steamy in a traditional Finnish sauna, a snowmobile activity and traditional Finnish meals. Still, grinches likely need to not apply — nor anyone already thinking "bah humbug!" to the idea. As for the cabin itself, it's decked out with Yuletide Lapland decorations, an open fire for roasting chestnuts and appropriate elf attire — because you'll be donning a felt hat, complete with a jingling bell, as well as a tunic for your stay. If you're keen, you'll need to try to nab the booking at 9pm AEDT / 8pm AEST / 11pm NZDT on Monday, December 11. Whoever gets these special kinds of Airbnb reservations is usually responsible for their own travel, including if they have to get to and from their destination, but this one includes complimentary return flights to Rovaniemi from London Heathrow Airport via Finnair. You will still need to cover your travel to and from London, however. This listing is also helping a good cause, with Airbnb making a one-off donation to Special Children's Omaiset ELO as part of the Santa's cabin promotion. For more information about the Santa's cabin stay on Airbnb, or to book at 9pm AEDT / 8pm AEST / 11pm NZDT on Monday, December 11 for a stay across Monday, December 18–Thursday, December 21, head to the Airbnb website. Images: Samir Zarrouck. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
While these long, sunny days are still upon us thanks to daylight savings, we should be making the most of exploring our city in the twilight hours. The good news for Sydneysiders is that a bunch of cultural institutions are staying up late, so you can get your arty fix once you clock off from your nine-to-five. As part of its Nights at the Museum program, the newly revamped Australian Museum is open to visitors each Thursday evening from 5–9pm right up till March 25. Whether you want to get up close and personal with some big ol' bones, chair-dance to live DJ tunes or embrace your inner kid in a prehistoric-themed playground, there's something for everyone. Here are just five of the things you can check out at Australia's oldest museum once the sun goes down. [caption id="attachment_800815" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alistair MacDougall[/caption] COME FACE-TO-FACE WITH A T-REX Australian Museum's blockbuster summer exhibition will have you travelling back 66 million years to the time of the mighty T-Rex. Hosted in the Museum's brand-new exhibition space, Tyrannosaurs: Meet the Family is on display till March 14. So, if you're hoping to catch the show after dark, you'll have to head there on a Thursday before then. Apart from the main 13-metre-long, saw-toothed skeletal attraction, other fossils include the feather-covered Dilong — a distant relative of modern birds — and the king predator Daspletosaurus, which predates the T-Rex by ten million years. And, as it is an interactive exhibition, you can also run for your life in a VR experience and hatch a dino egg. Tickets are required and can be purchased here. [caption id="attachment_800818" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anna Kucera[/caption] KICK BACK TO A LIVE DJ SET AT THE POP-UP BAR Once you've enjoyed some thrills over at the T-Rex exhibition, head over to the luminous pop-up bar where you can listen to a live DJ set. The pop-up bar and tunes are taking over Hintze Hall every Thursday from 5–9pm and you can expect an epic lineup of local DJs, with the likes of Diola, Lo Sai Sai Lo and Ayebatonye spinning tracks. For drinks, you can sip on wine, beer or bubbles while you chair-dance to the tunes. And the pop-up bar is also serving up some light nibbles, should you get peckish. [caption id="attachment_800817" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anna Kucera[/caption] GO ON A QUICK TOUR If you haven't been to the Australian Museum recently, there's a heap for you to check out. We recommend joining one of the free, 15-minute Object Tours, running every half-hour. Open to the public, these speedy tours will examine the Museum's collection with a spotlight on three key specimens within the venue. They're a quick and fun way to learn more than you normally would just by moseying around. The Australian Museum has also undergone some impressive renovations and a guided tour of the new space is available as part of the after-dark program, but to members only. If you aren't a member yet, you can easily join over here. Bookings for these tours are essential. [caption id="attachment_800816" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alistair MacDougall[/caption] CHECK OUT SOME NEXT-LEVEL NATURE PICS If you're a nature enthusiast, make tracks to the 2020 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year exhibition, which is on display at the Australian Museum till May 9. Over 100 large format pics have taken over the Grand Hall for the show. It features incredible photography that champions the biodiversity of Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea and Antartica — from lush rainforests to the underworld of the deep sea. You can put your wallet away, too, because this exhibition is free. [caption id="attachment_801253" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anna Kucera[/caption] CHANNEL YOUR INNER KIDULT AT THE PREHISTORIC PLAYGROUND You'll find a bit of kidult-style fun up on level two, where the Museum's Prehistoric Playground will be open until 8pm each Thursday during the Nights at the Museum dates. Sure, it may be geared towards little ones, but that doesn't have to stop you having some childhood antics. Here, you can investigate real fossils in the Fossil Lab, including the 75-million-year-old Centrosaurus fossil. You can also explore Jurassic plants and animals via microscope, design and animate your own dinosaur using the on-site illustration projector and create a prehistoric flying dinosaur — like a pterodactyl — using paper cups. Nights at the Museum runs every Thursday from 5–9pm till the end of March. For more details, head to the website.
If you're a fan of Australian-made streetwear and indulging in pop-culture nostalgia — and who isn't? — then we've just found your new summer threads. Melbourne label HoMie has teamed up with Disney on a 90s-style range that's decked out with the Mouse House's beloved animated characters, with the 18-piece collection of t-shirts, shorts, hoodies and socks set to hit the brand's online store from Tuesday, November 16. It's a whole new world of nostalgia for your wardrobe — and while the HoMie and Friends range is clearly excellent news for Disney lovers, it's even better news for young people affected by homelessness or hardship. When the collection goes on sale, HoMie will donate 100-percent of the profits to the worthy cause. The label's first-ever range with Disney, HoMie and Friends is designed to offer a bright and retro way to embrace the warmer weather, too — especially after the chaotic year that's been 2021. "This collection organically grew from wanting to produce a range that focuses heavily on fun, positivity and friendship after what has been a really difficult time for people," said HoMie co-founder and Creative Director Marcus Crook. "We wanted the range to be fun to wear, so you will find lots of bright colours, bold prints, premium embroidery and, my personal favourite — the matching sets." The collection includes vibrant pink t-shirts emblazoned with Minnie Mouse's face, peach-hued hoodies featuring everyone from Donald Duck to Mickey Mouse, and other old school-leaning designs that draw upon Disney's OG stable of animated characters — such as a lime-green Goofy shirt, and both pastel blue and aqua-coloured Mickey combos. The whole collection is gender neutral, and sizing spans from XS to 3XL. The HoMie and Friends range will be available online from Tuesday, November 16 — head to HoMie's website for further details.
It was the follow-up that had to happen. The sequel we crossed everything for. After gaining viral status and worldwide applause for her 2013 book Shake, photographer Carli Davidson is back with a brand new series to follow her comical, high-speed images of dogs mid-shakedown. Yep, you guessed it. This time, it's cats. Shake Cats is the brand new book from Davidson, who actually took the photos of cats shaking themselves dry back in 2011, at the same time as taking the Shake dog photos. "I had originally thought I would do cats and dogs in the same book, but looking back I think it was best to give each animal its own book so their unique features could be highlighted," says Davidson. Shooting with Nikon D4s at a very rapid frame rate, this animal-loving photographer shot close to 100 cats for the series, including her own cat Yushi and hectic cat celeb Lil' Bub. Almost all of the cat models are local Portlandians, or from rescue shelters. In addition to the shake shoot, Davidson would get a pretty headshot of the kitty for the rescue shelter to post on their website — and most of these cats were adopted almost immediately as a result. "Taking a good photo of an animal in a shelter can go a long way to help that cat or dog find a home. So much of rescue is done online; people pick out a pet before they even get to the shelter. They fall in love online with an expression, so capturing that personality in a photo is really important." So how exactly did Davidson get those money shots? How do you make a cat shake itself clean (we're pretty sure you're asking yourself this question daily)? Simple, you pamper them like crazy. "Getting the cats to shake was actually more of a grooming process than a waiting game. We basically treated the shoot like a mini grooming session with lots of treats and cat cuddles... Ear cleanings are what generally caused the shake to happen, I just had to be ready." Apparently the cats weren't too hard to wrangle either — apparently they couldn't get enough of the warm studio lights. Cuuuute. It goes without saying that Davidson's tapped into social media's favourite thing, cats and dogs. But this animal-lover sees more in internet kitties than a grumpy face. "Cats are popular because they are awesome, independent thinkers and humans love to worship them. We have been worshipping them as spiritual icons for 10,000 years," she says. "The rise of the cat back into worship status on the Internet seems natural if you look at their historic significance... Cats combat internet negativity with their sheer visual presence." Shake Cats is out now via Harper Design, available to purchase from Booktopia. All images courtesy Carli Davidson with permission.
Imagine waking up, and the first thing you saw was this wall decal. There is just no way you could ever start the day in a bad mood. Broken up with your girlfriend? Kermit is there to remind you it's much harder being green than single. Missed out on that job you really wanted? Who cares? You can imagine yourself making popcorn with the Swedish chef and all will be well again. Buy one to psyche yourself up for the release of the Muppets movie in Janurary, 2012. It's got to be the best way to make it through what seems to be a not-so-cheery summer. To find out what else you can look forward to seeing over summer, have a squiz at our Summer Film Guide.
Last month, Douwe Egberts surprised weary air travellers with their yawn-activated coffee machine. Before that, Pepsi set up a vending machine that exchanged drinks for Facebook likes, rather than cash. Now, Amstel Bulgaria has taken the concept to a new level, with a vending machine that gives a beer to anyone who can stand still for three minutes. As you can see from the video, it's not necessarily as easy as it looks. Checking your mobile phone, for example, can prove to be something of a thirst-prolonging distraction. Despite our modern propensity for restlessness, however, Amstel did manage to give away 1,344 beers over the course of 16 days, which equates to a daily average of 84 giveaways and a total of 67 hours of rest time. The machine was placed in Sofia, Bulgaria's capital, where drinking in public is still legal. The promo is a collaboration with creative agency NEXT-DC, whose goal is 'to keep the conversation between brands and their customers alive and inspiring'. [via PSFK]
Carnivores, come pair your love of meat and liquor at the Newtown Hotel's The Animal. During World Class World Cocktail Week (forgive them that title), they're offering a Meat Meets Whiskey menu, which basically means you can go and consume Bulleit Bourbon via bone luge. Other meat-inflected concoctions on the menu are a Gumbo Manhattan (of Bulleit Rye Whiskey, Gumbo Bitters, Italian sweet vermouth) and a Benton Old Fashioned with bacon-infused Bulleit Bourbon, maple syrup and orange bitters (both $18). The perfect side to either is clearly the bone marrow toastie, a sweet $10. Vegetarians should probably avoid this like the plague. But some other part of the libation-loving event program of WCWCW will please you. Check out the auspicious Bar Swap between Sydney's The Rook and Melbourne's Black Pearl, or the Pimp Your Shake menu at Hinky Dinks. There's also a nationwide #garnishoff happening on Instagram, and your dinky orange slice ain't going to cut it. World Class World Cocktail Week runs a series of Australia-wide events from May 6-13, curated by celebrated Sydney foodie Ms Darlinghurst. Check out the website for more information.
The Black Lung Theatre and Whaling Firm have endeared themselves to us with bonkers performances of the likes of And They Called Him Mr Glamour. To save their brand of surreal self-analysis from going around in circles, in 2008 they stepped out of their familiar inner-Melbourne world — and into Timor Leste. Working with East Timorese creatives Galaxy and Liurai Fo'er, they've emerged with Doku Rai (You, dead man, I don't believe you), the first international theatre production to be created in East Timor. (Specifically, extraordinarily, in an abandoned colonial hotel on a remote island off Dili. In the distance, Balibo was being filmed.) Going off reviews of its first Darwin Festival and Melbourne performances in 2012, the show breaks the mould of how we think about cross-cultural theatre. It opens with a set from garage rock band Galaxy, stars of Timor Leste, for starters. The story then follows a man who is struck with a killing curse (doku) but continues to rise from the grave. On top of that is a layer of playfulness, meta, multimedia, and more pop musical interludes. Australia hasn't always been kind to the tiny nation that is one of our closest neighbours, so that the kooks at Black Lung can go there and have a mind-meld with locals is an exciting thing. Directed by Thomas M Wright, the production will hit the festival circuit hard in Australia in 2013, then it's on to Europe.
If you were still looking for something to show you summer had officially hit us, look no further. On Sunday, with the help of Steve Aoki and co., Durex treated 400 lucky Facebookers to a seafood dinner, a free cruise around Sydney Harbour, and a series of DJ sets that showed all on board that boats too are more than capable of hitting turbulence. Boarding at 5pm in Darling Harbour, though everyone’s spot had been secured, there was a rush to secure first spot on top deck and whispers were circulating about where Mr. Aoki would be hiding. Once the You+1 boat had hit the water it was Flight Facilities who got everyone’s attention with their single, 'Foreign Language', as well hit tune 'Crave You' and an appropriately timed cover of 'Love Is In The Air'. Electro four piece Rudimental followed and the scene change from chilled out swaying with your new found Durex friend to crazed jumping to thumping bass. This set the scene for Steve Aoki to show why he is the highest grossing dance artist in North America. With a light show to match, it was all hands on bottom deck as he set alight the boat as it came in to dock outside Cargo Bar where crew and all would journey for the after party. With the Durex staff handing out condoms upon exit, it was clear the night had been set up for a rowdy but safe one. View the full gallery here.
The rare and precious ability to inhale more hot dogs than anyone else in five minutes could score you both fame and fortune at The Dip this week. To celebrate its third birthday, Goodgod's canteen is hosting a hot dog eating contest with prizes including $100 in Dip dollars, a jug of Goodgod's finest punch and a copy of Levins's cookbook, Diner. Observe the mingled joy and pain on the faces of their previous spicy wing eating contest entrants. Those seeking more inspiration need look no further than one of the competitive eating world's most legendary face-off, Kobayashi versus a giant bear. The night sounds like lots of fun for non-entrants, too, since you can drink, dance, eat deep fried birthday cake (non-competitively) and watch the sweaty, straining faces of those striving for the noble title. The hot dog eating contest is on Thursday, May 29, at 8pm. Email do@thedip.com.au to register for the comp.
Driverless transport. Everyone's doing it (well, trying to) — but while Washington D.C. got their own self-driving mini bus earlier this year and Uber has started trialling driverless cabs, Australia is yet to ditch humans in favour of computers in the driver's seat. Until now. Yesterday Australia's first fully driverless bus was released onto the roads of Perth. The RAC Intellibus™ has been a joint venture between French electric company NAVYA and Western Australia's motoring body RAC WA. The 11-seat shuttle bus — which is adorable, by the way — is a level four vehicle, which basically means it's fully autonomous. The bus is fitted with ultraviolet light detectors, front and back cameras, a GPS, motion sensors and autonomous emergency braking to drive around town without causing absolute mayhem. This allows it weave its way through traffic, dodge parked cars and interact with pedestrians and cyclists. At the moment it's in the on-road trial stage, which will see the bus travel a pre-programmed route up and down South Perth Esplanade. However, if you're planning on getting anywhere fast, it might be better to get on yer bike — the bus will only travel at an average speed of 25 kilometres per hour. "This trial is an Australian-first, and will be a real trial incorporating members of the public travelling on public roads," RAC Group Chief Executive Officer Terry Agnew said in a statement of the RAC website yesterday. "We anticipate this first step in exploring driverless technology will start a conversation on further trials, research and collaboration, which will increase WA's understanding of how driverless vehicles can integrate into our transport system." Can we have one? Pleeeaaase?
Two hundred years ago, New York City expected a flood about once a century. These days, however, it’s looking more like one every three to five years. That’s largely because a significant sea level rise has reduced lower Manhattan’s seawall to a height of just 1.75 metres. So a design team by the name of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has dreamed up a possible solution. Titled Big U, it’s a 16 kilometre-long frontier of parks that would wrap around Manhattan. Not only would it provide protection from flooding, it would also create more spaces for community interaction and art. “In the history of New York with the legacy of Robert Moses, most of the infrastructure — whether that’s highways or parks — have generally been imposed without a lot of regard for existing community fabric,” Big U head honcho Jeremy Siegel told Fast Co.Exist. “If you’re going to be investing so much money into an infrastructure for resiliency — that’s going to be sitting along one of the most spectacular coastlines in the world — there’s a huge opportunity there to also improve civic infrastructure, so it can protect the city, but also become a platform for civic life.” Beginning at West 57th Street and stretching as far as East 42nd street, Big U would create a series of independent flood protection zones. So the sections could be constructed one-by-one, in response to resource availability. It also means that, were flooding to occur in one area, it could be locally managed. “It’s a little bit like the hull of a ship,” Siegel explains, “where you’ve got different segments, and breaching one area doesn’t necessarily mean that the whole system fails.” The design would involve raising the land, which would then double-up as extra park space, and building ‘flippable walls’. If water were to rush in, they would flip down, creating a barrier; on the other hand, when flipped up, they would showcase murals. There’s also a possible plan to transform a Coast Guard admin building into a combo museum and school, including an educational “reverse aquarium”, which would protrude into New York Harbor, affording views of rising water levels. Big U is a finalist in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's Rebuild by Design Competition, created in response to structural and environmental vulnerabilities exposed by Hurricane Sandy. Via Fast Company.
Whether its Pappa Rich's nasi lemak burger or Betty's Burgers' prawn roll, limited-edition sandos are an easy way to have some fun with your menu, and Sydneysiders love when a local favourite pulls together an inventive new creation between two buns. The latest spot to mix things up in the burger world is Nashville-style fried chicken chain Super Nash Brothers who are bringing an outlandish Barbacue Shapes-flavoured burger to their three Sydney stores and to Deliveroo. The Super Shapes Sando takes the basics of the Nash Brothers' popular Super Nash Sando and adds the nostalgic flavour of Arnott's beloved snack. On the burger, you'll find a super-crispy fried chicken thigh, first seasoned in the Super Nash Brothers secret breading before it's deep-fried and then completed with a healthy amount of Barbecue Shapes-inspired seasoning. From there, it's joined by slices of pineapples and a tangy tomato and onion relish. The burger can be ordered solo or in a combo, which comes with chips, a Shapes-flavoured chicken tender, a drink and a sachet of Shapes seasoning which you can add to your chips. "Nostalgia is a big part of our vibe at Super Nash Brothers so we're super pumped to be working with such an iconic brand and flavour," Founder and CEO at Super Nash Brothers Ross Kemp said. The limited-edition burger is available at Super Nash Brothers Waterloo, Waitara and Willoughby, and can be ordered for delivery via Deliveroo. If you want to get your hands on one, you'll have to act fast. It's only available for the next six days, between Tuesday, September 20 and Sunday, September 25. The Super Shapes Sando is available in-store from Super Nash Brothers at 503 Wiloughby Road, Willoughby, 29 Amelia Street, Waterloo and 22 Waitara Avenue, Waitara, or via Deliveroo.
The unthinkable happens. Disaster hits, society collapses and the bulk of the world's population becomes shuffling, brain-munching members of the undead. Yes, a zombie apocalypse is in full swing — but how long does it last? In The Walking Dead's case, the answer is 11 seasons. Ten have already aired since 2010, and the show's final go-around will arrive in 2021. Whether you're well acquainted with its dystopian world, or you've somehow missed this TV horror classic, that means there's already 146 episodes to sink your teeth into. The story, as adapted from the comic book series of the same name, will sound familiar. But you don't squeeze over a decade's worth of life out of the concept without delivering some drastic twists and turns — and plenty of gore, too. The premise: awakening from a coma, sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) learns that the zombie-free life he previously knew has well and truly disappeared. His first aim is to find his wife and son, but that's not the most straightforward feat when you're surrounded by walkers.
Prepare for another actively sedentary June: the Sydney Film Festival has announced its full program for 2014. It's a canny balancing act between hotly anticipated previews screenings and little known international gems by festival director Nashen Moodley, with the Sydney Film Festival Hub tying things together over a vino at the Town Hall. "We feel this program represents the best of international film in the last 12 months," said Moodley at the program launch, and the best of the best are surely found in the SFF Official Competition. Doing dual duties as the opening night film is 20,000 Days on Earth, the Nick Cave documentary that's said to defy categorisation and won two gongs at Sundance. Formal experimentation is a bit of a theme in this year's competition, which also features Richard Linklater's Boyhood, a family drama which he shot with the same actors (Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette and kids Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater) over a 12-year period; Iranian director Shahram Mokri's Fish & Cat, shot in a single 134-minute take and based on a real news report; and The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq, starring the controversial author himself in a fictional scenario based on real-life rumours. David Michod's Animal Kingdom follow-up, The Rover, and Amiel Courtin-Wilson (Hail) and Michael Cody's Ruin are also ones to watch. The SFF Hub is not only returning for a third time but expanding its presence at the Town Hall to encompass the Treasury Room upstairs. As well as its scintillating lineup of talks and performances, this year it's decked out with designer furniture showcasing the legacy of the Eameses, a TITLE pop-up shop, Gelato Messina cart, vintage photo booth and the festival's discount ticket booth. A definitive highlight among the Hub's cinematic tangents is the Vladmaster Viewmaster Experience by artist Vladimir, who hijacks the classic toy for art purposes, crafting a story you experience click by click. Also featured are talks Altman on Altman (with son Robert Altman) and Eames on Eames (with grandson Eames Demetrios), film trivia, a film critics death match and Hugh Hamilton's Rosebud exhibition of film star portraits. All the popular streams in the festival return, including Freak Me Out, Sounds on Screen, The Box Set, International Documentaries and Documentary Australia Foundation Award for Australian Documentary. Special presentations at the State Theatre include the much-anticipated/mocked Zach Braff movie Wish I Was Here, Michel Gondry's scribbly Noam Chomsky doco Is The Man Who Is Tall Happy?, and the directorial debut from the writer of Drive, The Two Faces of January. These films you'll be able to see in cinemas later in the year, but this is your chance to see them in stately picture-palace surrounds (and see them before everyone else). The festival closes with What We Do in the Shadows, which is just what you'd expect of such a highbrow event — an NZ vampire mockumentary from the makers of Flight of the Conchords. The SFF runs from June 4-15. Tickets are now on sale. Hop to booking them, as well as checking out the full program, at the festival website.
It's the huge exhibition that took the world by storm, sending David Bowie's lightning bolt-adorned face everywhere from London and Berlin to Tokyo and Melbourne. His Ziggy Stardust costumes, various handwritten lyrics, an assortment of album artwork, rare photographs and even the magic orb he fondled as Jareth in Labyrinth, too. Organised by London's Victoria and Albert Museum, David Bowie is showcased hundreds objects from the David Bowie Archive, visiting 12 cities over six years and attracting more than two million visitors — and while it finished its final run in Brooklyn earlier in 2018, it's coming back in a new format. From Tuesday, January 8 — aka what would've been the music icon's 72nd birthday — David Bowie is will exist as a digital recreation that you can access on your phone. As first announced back in July, fans can expect to tour the Bowie bonanza as an augmented reality (AR) experience, which will feature a sequence of audio-visual spaces highlighting artifacts from Bowie's life. In total, there'll be more than 500 high-resolution images of Bowie-related items, including 60 new objects that weren't included in the touring exhibition. Available on iOs and Android platforms, David Bowie is' AR version won't just involve looking at 2D representations, either, with 3D scans used to preserve and present the artist's costumes and objects in detail. And, there's more to come, with a virtual reality version still in the works. Here's hoping that Bowie obsessives will be able to virtually step into one of his out-of-sight outfits and see themselves in one — yes, this might be your chance to turn and face the strange or experience some ch-ch-changes. A collaboration between Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc, the David Bowie Archive and the V&A, "the augmented reality adaptation of David Bowie is enables you to explore the entire exhibition in the intimacy of your own environment, without glass barriers, vitrines or throngs of visitors," according to the exhibition website. How much it will cost is yet to be announced, but a portion of the profits will be donated the V&A and Brooklyn Museum. David Bowie is will become available on iOs and Android platforms on Tuesday, January 8, 2019. For further information and to sign up for updates, head to davidbowieisreal.com.
Missed Coldplay's sole Down Under stop in 2023, when they played exclusively in Perth? Didn't nab tickets when the British group announced 2024 shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland? Caught the Chris Martin-fronted band's Glastonbury set via the livestream and started wishing you could catch them live next time that you had the chance? Ahead of their upcoming Australian and New Zealand visit, Coldplay have dropped more tickets for their late-October and November concerts. The limited number of additional tickets are on sale now, releasing at 8am AEST and 10am NZST on Tuesday, September 24. There's no extra shows, just extra seats for their four already-announced dates in the Victorian capital, four in the Harbour City and three in Auckland. [caption id="attachment_926978" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anna Lee[/caption] It'll be all yellow at Marvel Stadium on Wednesday, October 30–Thursday, October 31 and Saturday, November 2–Sunday, November 3, then at Accor Stadium across Wednesday, November 6—Thursday, November 7 and Saturday, November 9–Sunday, November 10, before heading to Eden Park on Wednesday, November 13 and Friday, November 15–Saturday, November 16. Coldplay's current tour kicked off in March 2022, meaning that the band will have been on the road for almost three years when they make their return to Australia and Aotearoa. Packed stadiums have also been awaiting; when the Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland gigs were initially announced, every show between then and October 2024 had already sold out, with the group hitting up Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore, Bangkok, Athens, Bucharest, Budapest, Lyon, Rome, Düsseldorf, Helsinki, Munich, Vienna and Dublin before their return trip Down Under. When they take to the stage in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland, the British band will play their first shows in each city since 2016. Fans can look forward to a setlist that covers Coldplay's 27-year history, including everything from 'Clocks', 'Fix You' and 'Sparks' to 'A Sky Full of Stars', 'Viva la Vida' and 'The Scientist. On all dates, Ayra Starr, Shone and Emmanuel Kelly are on supporting duties. Coldplay Music of the Spheres World Tour Australia and New Zealand Dates 2024 Wednesday, October 30–Thursday, October 31 + Saturday, November 2–Sunday, November 3— Marvel Stadium, Melbourne Wednesday, November 6—Thursday, November 7 + Saturday, November 9–Sunday, November 10 — Accor Stadium, Sydney Wednesday, November 13 + Friday, November 15–Saturday, November 16 — Eden Park, Auckland Coldplay is touring Australia and New Zealand in October and November 2024, with new tickets available online now. Head to the tour website for further details. Images: Anna Lee.
Before the pandemic, compiling a travel bucket list was limited only to your imagination. Now, after years of international border closures, and also the shutting down of overseas travel into and out of many countries, it's also guided by COVID-19 rules, requirements, restrictions and entry procedures. But if you've been keen to add Bali to your itinerary, the Indonesian island has good news: it's now open to double-vaccinated Australian and New Zealand tourist without quarantine. Back in February, Bali started welcoming back select tourists — including folks from Down Under — but with a shortened isolation period, requiring arrivals to quarantine for five days once they hit the island. Now, since Monday, March 7, that rule has been scrapped. There's still mandatory testing, as well as a few other procedures to abide by, but you no longer have to factor in a lengthy stint confined to your hotel before your getaway genuinely kicks into gear. Firstly, the new rules only apply to travellers who have had at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine — and, in the 48 hours before you get to Bali, you also need to get a PCR test (and, obviously, it needs to return a negative result). Then, thanks to Bali's newly implemented Visa on Arrival program, you'll fill out the paperwork and pay the fee (around AU$50) when you hop off the plane, and also take another PCR test. You will need to isolate until you get a negative result from that one, but that's clearly better than spending five days in quarantine. Upon arrival, you'll also need to show proof of a paid hotel booking for four days/three nights, as well as health insurance that covers COVID-19 up to at least US$25,000. And, you'll have to download the Bali COVID app as well. Then, three days after you get there, you're required to take another PCR test as well — but there's no isolation requirement attached. Countries covered under Bali's Visa on Arrival program since Monday, March 7 include Australia, New Zealand, USA, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Qatar, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Italy, Turkey and UEA, with the scheme expanding to 42 nations on Monday, March 21. Indonesia has also just dropped its quarantine requirement nationwide, effective from the same date. That yearning you now feel? It's the need to pull out your dusty suitcase, get packing and book yourself a beachy Bali holiday. For more information about the requirements for travelling to Bali, head to the Indonesian Government's website.
If you didn't know that The Outsider was based on a book by Stephen King, you'd guess rather quickly during the show's first episode. A child is found dead, a town is understandably shocked and scandalised, and all of the evidence points detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn) towards local Little League coach Terry Maitland (Jason Bateman) — except that just as much evidence also shows that Terry was miles away at the time the murder took place. Throw in a strange hooded figure who keeps hanging around the Maitlands' house, plus a private detective (Cynthia Ervio) with preternatural deductive abilities, and The Outsider combines crime and horror in an instantly absorbing fashion. It's a must for King fans, whether you've read his 2018 novel or not. It's also absolutely essential for Mendo lovers, with the Aussie actor breaking away from his recent villainous blockbuster roles and putting in quite the performance.
At the 2024 British Film Festival, when you're not watching movies starring Saoirse Ronan, Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh and Barry Keoghan, you'll be catching the latest performances from Ralph Fiennes, Jude Law, Pierce Brosnan and Helena Bonham Carter. There's never any lack of big-name talents gracing the screen at Australia's annual celebration of the UK's latest and greatest contributions to cinema, but this year's is particularly jam-packed — so much so that there's not just one feature boasting Ronan among its cast, but two. Blitz, which sees the Foe, Little Women and Ammonite actor team up with 12 Years a Slave, Widows and Small Axe filmmaker Steve McQueen, is the British Film Festival's 2024 opening-night film. Playing Down Under fresh from also launching the London Film Festival, the period drama heads back to World War II, and starts the fest's month-long run from Wednesday, November 6–Sunday, December 8 with one of the year's must-see movies. At the other end of the festival, the also highly anticipated We Live in Time will close out the event's seasons in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Byron Bay and Ballarat. Pugh (Dune: Part Two) and Garfield (Under the Banner of Heaven) lead the romance from Brooklyn filmmaker John Crowley, which follows a couple's relationship across a decade. The second Ronan-led flick on the full 2024 British Film Festival comes courtesy of page-to-screen adaptation The Outrun, where the four-time Oscar-nominee plays a recovering addict — and there's plenty more highlights on the program from there. Hard Truths sits in the fest's centrepiece slot, reuniting iconic director Mike Leigh (Peterloo) with his Academy Award-nominated Secrets & Lies star Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Surface). Also boasting the coveted pairing of an impressive helmer and an exceptional on-screen talent: Bird from Andrea Arnold (American Honey), which is where Keoghan (Saltburn) pops up. As for Fiennes (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar), he stars with Juliette Binoche (The New Look) in The Return, a British spin on Homer's Odyssey — and also in papal thriller Conclave with Citadel's Stanley Tucci, Killers of the Flower Moon's John Lithgow and Spaceman's Isabella Rossellini. Law (Peter Pan & Wendy) plays King Henry VIII opposite Alicia Vikander (Irma Vep) as Katherine Parr in Firebrand, while Brosnan (The Last Rifleman) and Bonham Carter (One Life) feature in romance Four Letters of Love. Other standouts include the century-hopping dark comedy Timestalker from Garth Marenghi's Darkplace alum Alice Lowe, the Gillian Anderson (Scoop)- and Jason Isaacs (Archie)-led The Salt Path, Julia Louis-Dreyfus (You Hurt My Feelings) facing death in Tuesday, and Kelly Macdonald (Operation Mincemeat) and Damian Lewis (Billions) in vampire comedy The Radleys. For music fans, there's a dedicated themed sidebar featuring both Blur: To the End and Blur: Live at Wembley Stadium — one about the band's most-recent chapter, the other a two-hour concert film — as well as the Led Zeppelin-focused The Song Remains the Same and The Rolling Stones-centric The Stones and Brian Jones. This year's British Film Festival is also peering backwards via retrospective sessions of Ratcatcher, the debut feature from You Were Never Really Here's Lynne Ramsay; the Bonham Carter- and Dame Maggie Smith (The Miracle Club)-starring A Room with a View; and classic British historical dramas such as A Man for All Seasons, Heat and Dust, The Lion in Winter and Kenneth Branagh's (A Haunting in Venice) Henry V. British Film Festival 2024 Dates and Venues Wednesday, November 6–Sunday, December 8 — The Astor Theatre, Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, Palace Penny Lane, The Kino and Pentridge Cinema, Melbourne Wednesday, November 6–Sunday, December 8 — Palace Regent Ballarat Wednesday, November 6–Sunday, December 8 — Palace Electric Cinemas, Canberra Wednesday, November 6–Sunday, December 8 — Palace Barracks and Palace James Street, Brisbane Wednesday, November 6–Sunday, December 8 — Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas and Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas, Adelaide Wednesday, November 6–Sunday, December 8 — Palace Raine Square, Luna on SX, Leederville and Windsor, Perth Wednesday, November 6–Sunday, December 8 — Palace Byron Bay Thursday, November 7–Sunday, December 8 — Palace Norton Street, Palace Moore Park, Chauvel Cinema and Palace Central, Sydney The 2024 British Film Festival tours Australia in November and December. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website.
Australia is teeming with ace things to do every single week, which won't be news to Concrete Playground readers. It's also filled with stellar and stunning places to head, which won't be a revelation either. Still, every year, the Australian Interior Design Awards names and celebrates the best of the best when it comes to indoor spaces to hang out, live and work in. And, 2022's dazzling crop of winners have just been announced. Back in April, AIDA unveiled its 2022 shortlist, which was filled with impressive spaces in hospitality, residential, workplace, retail and public settings. Whittling down those contenders to a list of winners must've been a tough gig, but it's one that the judges clearly relished. Their picks are spectacular, naturally. [caption id="attachment_858619" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Troy Sivian's house. Image: Anson Smart.[/caption] Nabbing the Premier Award for Australian Interior Design: Clare Cousins Architects for Stable and Cart House in North Melbourne, which the jury said was "sublime in every way". Located within a 1920s brick warehouse, the home also took out the Residential Design category, and was singled out for the way it "beautifully balances the retention of an existing building with very bold and practical new insertions". If that's not enough home inspo for you, the 2022 Residential Decoration Award went to Flack Studio for Troye Sivan's house, also in Melbourne. Yes, you'll want to live there. Indeed, making sure that the tri-level abode, which has big London vibes and was originally a 19th-century hardball court, reflects its famous occupant was a big reason why it scored a gong. The home boasts a "strong sense of the client's character through a beautiful curation of art, furniture, lighting and objects in a way that doesn't feel forced or contrived," the jury said. [caption id="attachment_858637" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Arkhé. Image: Timothy Kaye[/caption] Announced at a dinner the Hyatt Regency Sydney on Friday, June 17, AIDA's 2022 winners also include Studio Edwards for Finesse Shoe Store — still in Melbourne, this time in Collingwood — which took out the Retail Design field. As well as displaying and selling rare and limited-edition kicks, the sneaker store is clearly quite the covetable space itself. Up in Sydney, YSG Studio nabbed the Interior Design Impact gong for Edition Roasters in Haymarket, while Adelaide's Arkhé claimed the Hospitality Design Award for Studio Gram. [caption id="attachment_828028" align="alignnone" width="1920"] View of Eucalyptusdom showing commissioned work Pyriscence: After Fireby Anna May Kirk. Image: Zan Wimberley.[/caption] Back in Melbourne, the Monash Robotics Lab scored the Public Design prize, with Studio Bright doing the honours. Meanwhile, Sydney's Powerhouse Museum took out the Installation Design category for exhibition Eucalyptusdom, a win for SJB in collaboration with Richard Leplastrier and Vania Contreras. In that same field, one of the most luminous new additions to the Australian art scene also picked up a commendation: digital-only, multi-sensory art gallery The Lume, with Decibel Architecture behind its stunning design. [caption id="attachment_858618" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Lume.[/caption] For the full Australian Interior Design Awards 2022 winners list, head to the AIDA website. Top image: The Lume, Decibel Architecture.
"Sadder than destitution, sadder than a beggar, is the man who eats alone in public," Jean Baudrillard famously wrote in his 1986 book, America. "Nothing more contradicts the laws of man or beast, for animals always do each the honour of sharing or disputing each other's food." Marina van Goor, the founder and designer of Eenmaal, a pop-up that made a lightning-quick, 48 hour appearance in Amsterdam last week, begs to differ. 'Here, you can dine in pleasant solitude,' she explains. 'Eenmaal is an exciting experiment for those who never go out dining alone, as well as an appealing opportunity for those who often eat alone at restaurants.' In fact, the only tables available at the restaurant were those for one. It was the first establishment of its kind in the world. Working in conjunction with Dutch branding agency, Vandejong, van Goor was hoping to lessen the negative stigma associated with spending time alone in public spaces. Even though we know that more and more people are now living on their own, many individuals still feel insecure about making a solo trip to a cinema, theatre or restaurant. The name Eenmaal translates (loosely) to 'One Meal' or 'One Time', with the sign pictured below reading, 'You come with one, You sit with one, You eat with one.' [via PSFK]
Summer might be over, but the New South Wales art world is already looking forward to the next, following the announcement of two major exhibitions to launch this October as part of the 2018–19 Sydney International Art Series. The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia will host an extensive retrospective by renowned South African photographer David Goldblatt, while the Art Gallery of New South Wales will feature artworks from Russia's State Hermitage Museum — considered to have one of the world's most important collections of modernist European paintings. Running until March 2019, David Goldblatt will dive deep into the life and work of one of recent history's most legendary photographers, covering a career of more than sixty years. Goldblatt is best known for his portrayal of South Africa's tumultuous history, especially surrounding apartheid. As the photographer's first major retrospective in the southern hemisphere, the exhibition will feature Goldblatt's most famous photo series, along with early vintage prints, never-before-seen footage from his personal collection and a new feature-length documentary. As MCA Director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE explained, "visitors will discover an extraordinary artist whose documentary eye has not strayed from the complexities of his country of birth, but resonates with other global histories (including Australia's own) through narratives of race and racism, and industry and the land." David Goldblatt will run at the MCA from October 19, 2018, until March 3, 2019. Modern masters from the Hermitage is at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from October 13, 2018, until March 3, 2019. Image: David Goldblatt, A plot-holder, his wife and their eldest son at lunch, Wheatlands, Randfontein. September 1962 (3_4907), 1962. Image courtesy the artist and Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg © the artist.
Last week we discovered a new site called Posse. Posse pitches itself as a social search engine that'll help you find the favourite places of your friends and friends of friends, no matter where you are in the world. Imagine if you're travelling to Berlin, for example; you'd normally have to think through which friends have been there before and email or call them to ask for recommendations for the best bars, restaurants, clubs, shops and places to hangout. Posse is really useful because it guides you via social network on the fly without actually having to ask anyone. I used it on Saturday to find a breakfast spot in Manly, and ended up going to In Situ on Sydney Road. I hadn't heard of it before, but they did great coffee and was a real find. Posse is pretty creative in the way it works. When you join, you get your own 'street' to list your five favourite places in the world. The site creates a hand-drawn depiction of your favourite shops, then if you zoom out, you discover a whole town that's made up of the streets of your Facebook friends. When you comment on your friends' places, you earn bonus spots to add more favourite places to your street. We also like Posse because it's such a positive community. People only add places that they really love so the recommendations are top notch. The retailers that you add are notified; sometimes, they send little gifts through the site to thank people for listing them. So you never know, you might end up with a bottle of wine, or a dinner from one of your favourite restaurants. We think Posse is an awesome idea and here at Concrete Playground we've all made our ultimate streets. Check out our CP editor Rima's street here, our music editor Hannah's street here, and some of my favourite hangouts on my street here. Posse are giving you the chance to win a $300 night out for you and your posse at The Victoria Room. To enter the competition, login at www.posse.com and nominate your 4 favourite restaurants, bars, spas or shops.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas across the country. After months spent empty, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Australian picture palaces are back in business — spanning both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbE96sCJEjo MINARI Although they can frequently seem straightforward, films about the American dream aren't simply about chasing success. The circumstances and details change, but they're often movies about finding a place to call home as well. Such a quest isn't always as literal as it sounds, of course. While houses can signify achievement, feeling like you truly belong somewhere — and that you're comfortable enough to set your sights on lofty goals and ambitions that require considerable risks and sacrifices — transcends even the flashiest or cosiest combination of bricks and mortar. Partly drawn from writer/director Lee Isaac Chung's (Abigail Harm) own childhood, Minari understands this. It knows that seeking a space to make one's own is crucial, and that it motivates many big moves to and within the US. So, following a Korean American couple who relocate to rural Arkansas in the 80s with hopes of securing a brighter future for their children, this delicately observed and deeply felt feature doesn't separate the Yi family's attempts to set up a farm from their efforts to feel like they're exactly where they should be. The result is a precise, vivid, moving, and beautifully performed and observed film told with honest and tender emotion — so much so that it was always bound to be equally universal and unique. When Jacob Yi (Steven Yeun, Burning) introduces his wife Monica (Yeri Han, My Unfamiliar Family), pre-teen daughter Anne (first-timer Noel Cho) and seven-year-old son David (fellow newcomer Alan S Kim) to their new 50-acre plot, he's beaming with pride. He's bought them "the best dirt in America," he says. It might only span a trailer, a field and a creek, but he's certain that it will revolutionise their lives. Although both Jacob and Monica still spend their days in a chicken sexing factory to pay the bills, Jacob is confident his agrarian dream will reap rewards. The path he's chosen isn't a glossy fantasy, though. From trying to work out where best to build a well to provide water for his crops, to endeavouring to convince stores to buy his wares, Jacob weathers more than his fare share of struggles. Monica's worries about their isolation, and about money, also weigh heavily, as she'd rather live in a larger city as part of the Korean diaspora. Also joining their daily woes in a movie that eschews overt conflicts for everyday dramas: Anne and David's attempts to fit in, the latter's heart murmur and the change that sweeps through the family when Monica's mother Soonja (Youn Yuh-jung, Sense8) comes to live with them. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg7QTqm_i4o THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS Northern Italy's woods are abundant with truffles, especially the tuber magnatum — otherwise known as the white variety. But before these highly sought-after morsels can make their way into kitchens, onto plates, and into many a willing and eager mouth, someone has to spend their time and expend their energy finding the edible fungus. Accordingly, The Truffle Hunters introduces viewers to multiple elderly men and their adorable dogs who all do just that, with their lives revolving around roving the forest and searching out the prized food. It might sound like a relaxed pursuit — as walking through trees with your pet pooch to fill your pockets with a delicacy is bound to — but it's a highly competitive endeavour, and one that the documentary's central figures are intensely passionate about. For Aurelio, the only thing he loves more than foraging for truffles is Birba, his canine partner in the hunt. The cantankerous Angelo has become disillusioned with the way that the industry has evolved over time, so he now attacks his typewriter with gusto instead, using it to chronicle his myriad woes and complaints. Then there's Sergio, who enjoys his task with his dogs Pepe and Fiona by his side. As for Carlo, his beloved pastime is forbidden by his wife. Unperturbed, he routinely sneaks out at night to search with a torch in hand. Cycling between these men's stories, directors Michael Dweck (The Last Race) and Gregory Kershaw (cinematographer on The Last Race, and also on this) chart their individual efforts. The titular subjects try care for their canines, argue with others encroaching on their turf, type missives about how the world has changed and, in Carlo's case, keep absconding by moonlight. Their hounds remain a focus, including their efforts to avoid poison baits. Devoted to capturing the pooch perspective however they can, Dweck and Kershaw aren't above using puppy cam as well. Seeing truffle hunting from a dog's viewpoint may be an easy gimmick, but it's also both a joy and a thrill — and emblematic of the film's fondness for flavour and character above all else. Narration is absent, talking heads don't clog up the screen, and no one is on hand to describe the ins and outs of the business in the spotlight, with Dweck and Kershaw favouring immersion rather than explanation. It's a fitting approach, and a purposeful one, even if the documentary takes on a relaxed air from start to finish. The Truffle Hunters is a leisurely movie that's content to chronicle its subjects' easy-going lives, lean into their eccentricities and survey their lush surroundings — and, even clocking in at just 84 minutes, it's an unhurried gem of a film — however, it's also carefully compiled. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3REMs9I9Tg FIRESTARTER — THE STORY OF BANGARRA More than three decades since it was first formed, Bangarra Dance Theatre is still going strong. In just the last ten years alone, the Sydney-based organisation has unleashed the beauty and potency of works such as Blak, Patyegarang, Lore, OUR land people stories, Bennelong and Dark Emu across Australia's stages, and repeatedly confronted the nation's colonial history head-on in the process. As an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts outfit, it can't avoid it. It similarly can't ignore the impact that the country's past has had upon Indigenous culture, and the trauma that's rippled across generations as a result. And so, as excellent new documentary Firestarter — The Story of Bangarra tells the company's tale, these struggles are firmly part of the narrative. Co-directors Wayne Blair (The Sapphires, Top End Wedding) and Nel Minchin (Matilda & Me, Making Muriel) know their power. Indeed, the two filmmakers are well aware that they can't step through Bangarra's history without placing the acclaimed dance theatre in its rightful social, political and cultural context. What audiences have seen on stage over the years is stunning, astonishing and important, of course, but all of those exceptional performances haven't ever existed in a vacuum. For those unacquainted with the details of Bangarra's origins, evolution, aims and achievements, Firestarter recounts them, starting with its leap out of the National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association and the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre. Actually, it jumps back further, not only stepping through Bangarra's predecessors, but also charting how Stephen, David and Russell Page became its most famous names. Just as it's impossible to examine the dance company's accomplishments and influence without also interrogating and chronicling Australia's history, it's simply unthinkable to do so without focusing as heavily on the Page brothers as Blair and Minchin choose to. Stephen would become Bangarra's artistic director, a role he still holds. David was its music director, while Russell was one of its best dancers — and their path from growing up in Brisbane in the 60s, 70s and 80s to helping shape and guide an Aussie arts powerhouse is a pivotal component of Bangarra's overall journey thus far. If it sounds as if Firestarter has been set a hefty task — doing triple duty as a celebration, a record of Australia's past and a portrait of three siblings with dreams as big as their talents — that's because it has. But this dense and yet also deft documentary is up to the immense feat, and dances through its massive array of material, topics and themes as skilfully as any of Bangarra's performers ever have. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HZAnkxdYuA THE LITTLE THINGS Before you've even seen a single frame of a film, much can sometimes be gleaned by merely knowing who's in it — if they've been cast to type. The Little Things features Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto, which means it can brag that it stars three Oscar winners, as its trailer does. This 90s-style serial killer thriller has also happily deployed its trio of main players exactly as you'd expect. So, adding yet another cop to his resume, Washington plays unflinchingly dedicated and determined, as well as a character who's far from perfect. Malek has a much shorter acting history, but once again combines the blend of awkwardness and meticulousness that seeped from his pores over four seasons of Mr Robot. As for Leto, he's asked to mine not just his recent cinematic past, but also his overall status in popular culture. From his overcooked take on the Joker in Suicide Squad to the misplaced swagger that's defined his off-screen persona and his rock stardom with Thirty Seconds to Mars, he's hardly widely beloved. The Little Things wants everyone watching to remember that, and perhaps to even stoke the flames of their existing Leto hatred. It works; he's been nominated for a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his greasy-haired turn, and he's so one-note and over-the-top that it's near-impossible to fathom why. Washington's Joe 'Deke' Deacon was once a well-admired Los Angeles detective; however, when writer/director John Lee Hancock (The Blindside) begins The Little Things, his central character is now a deputy sheriff in Kern County. Deke's current and former colleagues all see that shift as a step down, but he's just as dogged in his new job — and, when he's reluctantly sent back to LA to collect evidence for an important trial, then gets brought in on a new case by Malek's hotshot newcomer Jim Baxter while he's hanging about, he's downright unrelenting. A number of women have been found murdered, and in gruesome circumstances. Baxter doesn't realise it, but the details prove familiar to Deke from years earlier. As the pair's new investigation leads them to repair store employee Albert Sparma (Leto), neither Deke nor Baxter is willing to rest until they solve the case. Off-putting and unpleasant from the moment he's first seen, the creepy, possibly psychotic Sparma likes being seen as a suspect, though, and enjoys toying with the men following him. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e9w0IL2U0c&feature=emb_logo DAYS OF THE BAGNOLD SUMMER For everyone of schooling age, the onset of warm weather means a lengthy break from classes, teachers, and the child and teenage version of the daily grind. It's a time of freedom, of never needing to worry about what day of the week it is, and of roaming around like there's no tomorrow. For Daniel Bagnold (Earl Cave, True History of the Kelly Gang), he's looking forward to leaving his suburban British existence far behind for a few weeks by visiting his father in Florida. As an added bonus, his librarian mother Sue (Monica Dolan, The Dig) — who he's constantly embarrassed by — isn't coming with him. Then his dad's new life, wife and soon-to-arrive baby daughter get in the way of Daniel's plans, leaving the 15-year-old stranded at home and unhappy about it. He'd be content holing up in his room, listening to metal and fantasising about starting his own band, but Sue is adamant that he tries to find a job. She also complicates Daniel's days by going out on a date with one of schoolteachers (Rob Brydon, The Trip to Greece). That's the leisurely story at the heart of Days of the Bagnold Summer, a coming-of-age comedy driven more by mood than by narrative developments. It has an overall arc, watching on as Daniel and his mother reconnect; however, this adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name is at its best when it sinks into the annual season of teen dreams and disappointments. First-time feature filmmaker Simon Bird is no stranger to the subject, having spent three seasons and two movies starring in The Inbetweeners. Fans of that franchise's irreverent humour will find themselves in far more laidback territory here, though — and watching a film that, visually and tonally, strives to offer a Wes Anderson-esque view of adolescence. Days of the Bagnold Summer's meticulously framed widescreen images don't ever feel like a cheap imitation, thankfully. Rather, they're artful and probing, especially when they manage to peer on at Daniel and Sue doing different things in the same household space. Indeed, this is a movie with a keen sense of how living in the same place and weathering the same struggles doesn't always make two people a family if one of them is determined to resist the concept. It's that insight, always tinged with bittersweet emotion, that helps Bird's feature strike a chord. Working with a script adapted by fellow first-timer Lisa Owens, he also finds the right balance between deadpan quirkiness and lived-in naturalism. Also assisting is Cave, son of Nick, who wears Daniel's malaise like a second skin — and the soundtrack by Belle and Sebastian, which is perfectly pitched. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1aOK-4UmoM ZAPPA Not everyone can brandish the swagger and charisma of a rock star, but that might actually be the easiest part of the job. To truly earn the term is to genuinely stand out from the ever-growing crowd and, often, to become the kind of music icon that can be referred to with just a single word. Frank Zappa was that kind of figure. Almost three decades after his death in 1993 to cancer, he still is. His music isn't for everyone, but his talent is undisputed, and he has more than 100 albums (62 released while he was alive, and 50 that've hit stores since his passing) that showcase his efforts as a singer, songwriter, composer, bandleader and multi-instrumentalist. While he was alive, he also amassed an enormous archive of materials from across his career, spanning his work with his band Mothers of Invention, his collaborations with other artists and, of course, the 1982 hit single 'Valley Girl' that he recorded with his then 14-year-old daughter Moon Zappa. Combine all of the above, and you get Zappa. Lively, detailed and riveting, this documentary attempts the difficult feat of condensing Frank's life and impact into 129 minutes — and, regardless of whether you're already a fan or not, it does an impressive and engaging job. You could say that Alex Winter — yes, the star of the Bill and Ted franchise that's not Keanu Reeves — took on an easy task when he decided to direct Zappa. Thanks to all the footage, songs, clips and photos at his disposal, as well as the participation of Frank's family, friends and colleagues, he definitely wasn't short on material to weave into this wide-ranging chronicle. Candid chats, eye-popping claymation and home videos all feature, and the film zips happily from one to the other with enthusiasm. But great documentaries don't just splice together the obvious bits and pieces, then throw in a few left-field choices. They explore and examine their subjects, even when they're celebratory. And, in Zappa's case, they wholeheartedly interrogate a man seen as a genius by some and considered too out-there and inaccessible by others. There are moments in the film that prove both viewpoints. There are others that appear to veer off on tangents, but firmly showcase the breadth of Frank's musical experimentation along the way. In his sixth stint as a documentarian (with Downloaded, Deep Web and The Panama Papers among the other titles on his resume), Winter circles and leaps through his central figure's existence and enigma, and it's never anything less than fascinating viewing. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on November 5, November 12, November 19 and November 26; and December 3, December 10, December 17, December 26; and January 1, January 7, January 14, January 21 and January 28; February 4 and February 11. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as The Craft: Legacy, Radioactive, Brazen Hussies, Freaky, Mank, Monsoon, Ellie and Abbie (and Ellie's Dead Aunt), American Utopia, Possessor, Misbehaviour, Happiest Season, The Prom, Sound of Metal, The Witches, The Midnight Sky, The Furnace, Wonder Woman 1984, Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles, Nomadland, Pieces of a Woman, The Dry, Promising Young Woman, Summerland, Ammonite, The Dig, The White Tiger, Only the Animals, Malcolm & Marie, News of the World, High Ground, Earwig and the Witch, The Nest, Assassins, Synchronic and Another Round.
UTS produces all sorts of interesting things: plausible, yet probably false, rumours about its infamous tower being designed to prevent student protests, projects to bring the expert to the everyday and a chunky design department that produces architects, fashionistas and animation. That final component is being brought to the fore for four short days in September, as UTS hosts its 2011 Sydney International Animation Festival. Though popular sites like YouTube, Vimeo — or even Atom Films — made what was once the domain of late-night TV or occasional film festivals into the sort of thing you can get a hold of with the click of a mouse, the flicker of bright colour on a blank screen still works better in company. The festival has brought together animated films from across the world and closer to home. Its international program of Global Greats shows shorts from across Europe, Asia and North America, including I Love You by Waking Life animator Katy O'Connor and the squirrel-worrying Traumdeutung. France gets a special focus with graduation programs from French animation super-school Supinfocom jostling for attention with all the latest shorts from across Korea's venerable animation industry. Also up are nights of local action from UTS and further afield, an evening of stranger stuff and shorts ostensibly reserved for children. Stills from I Love You by Katy O'Connor. https://youtube.com/watch?v=JKcWG-x1q5w
Vivid Sydney is about to beam into town again. The lights, music and ideas festival takes over Sydney for three transformative weeks from Friday, May 24. Each year there's a veritable buffet of things to see, and while venues like the Sydney Opera House are the flashy golden children of the city, there's also a heckin' lot going on in the quiet achievers around town. Vivid's XǀCelerate program sees to that, presenting the kind of intimate, creative gigs and club nights that small live music venues in Sydney do best. Think David Bowie tributes, birthday parties and local acts just hitting their stride. Best of all, a fair whack of them are budget friendly. Read on for your guide to Vivid's best music events that'll cost you less than a pineapple. PURPLE SNEAKERS' 13TH BIRTHDAY AT THE LANSDOWNE The Lansdowne plays host to Purple Sneakers' 13th birthday festivities, as the cult music blog partners with FBi Radio and UNDR Ctrl to return to their roots of throwing banging parties. The night will feature Purple Sneakers DJs as well as a mix of local acts across two stages. Expect to hear Mickey Kojak, Fishing, Kota Banks, Rebel Yell and Close Counters, among many more. Nab your ticket for $31, and open your ears to some of the best acts Australia has to offer. Purple Sneakers' motto is #TrustedForTaste — count on that as well as having a generally beaut night. Saturday, June 15 — $31 LABYRINTH AT THE SODA FACTORY We all miss David Bowie – may the Starman rest in peace – and this event taking place at Surry Hills' Soda Factory is a way of keeping his star burning. Commencing with a screening of the 1986 film Labyrinth starring Bowie as the goblin king, the night will unfurl into a multifaceted tribute to Bowie, with musicians tackling his classic hits. Since we can't see him perform live, this is a pretty good second best — especially for the reasonable price tag of free. Wear your best Bowie-themed attired and let's dance. Monday, June 3 — free KIM CHURCHILL AT OXFORD ART FACTORY Kim Churchill lives on the road — a road that, happy day, crosses through our town during Vivid, bringing Churchill to the Oxford Art Factory on June 7. He's been letting the processes of travelling and writing seep into each other, and emerged with the Berlin EP — an ode to place that concentrates on the interaction between nature and the man-made. He'll have you yearning to take off to the European summer (once Vivid is over, of course). Tickets are $34. Friday, June 7 — $34 GOLDHEIST AT THE VANGUARD Goldheist is one part Kate Bush, one part Imogen Heap, and all parts delightful. She'll take to the stage at The Vanguard in Newtown on May 30 with her new single, 'Wayfarer'. Inspired by her adventures on the road and sending out dream-pop vibes, Goldheist captures musical portraits of Australia and its people. The granddaughter of late ex-PM Malcolm Fraser, Goldheist (real name Hester Fraser) previously completed a project in tribute to her grandfather, The Camellia Tree, and uses her voice to call for changes to Australia's policies towards asylum seekers. Tickets are only $11, so you'll have enough change from a $20 note to grab a wine, too. Sunday, May 30 — $11 TOO RAD AT POTTS POINT HOTEL The Australian music scene is full of artists with something important to say. Come and see some of the game-changers perform at Too Rad at the Potts Point Hotel. The lineup takes in young and gutsy Fijian-Australian artist Jesswar, huge stage presence Miss Blanks from Queensland, and Gumbaynggirr man Tasman Keith. A snapshot of the new directions in Aus hip hop, the night is rich in female and Indigenous voices. First-release tickets are $18 and second-release $23. Friday, June 14 — $23 To get to these and other gigs, book your tickets here.
