Sydney-based writer, psychotherapist and multidisciplinary artist Noula Diamantopoulos has a new show and it's all about L-O-V-E. In a series of poetic neon artworks, Agape asks what it means to fall in love, whether we can accurately define love, and why love can hurt so much sometimes — ultimately arguing that it shouldn't. An artist known for exploring universal emotion and human feeling, Diamantopoulos recently completed a public art commission as part of the 'Love Shouldn't Hurt' domestic violence campaign. You might have seen the massive mural depicting domestic violence survivor Felicity Cook at 182 George Street, crafted from 20,000 jar lids? That was her. In this latest exhibition, each work features a Greek word or poetic phrase — in Diamantopoulos's own handwriting — that refer to various facets of love, plus a single abstract drawing piece full of symbolic imagery. Look closely and you might see the double helix of the DNA sequence, or maybe even the muscles and arteries of the human heart. Image: Noula Diamantopoulos, Agapo mou, 2017, neon, acrylic sheet, unique edition, 45cm x 80cm.
If the stunning view from Tweed Regional Gallery is anything to go by, Murwillumbah is an amazing place to get your art fix. And there's no better time to go there than this autumn. Murwillumbah Art Trail is back for its fourth year, turning the town into a gallery itself to celebrate the best of the region's art and artists. This year the event responds to the 2017 flood, which devastated the town and left hundreds homeless, with the theme Moving On. Visual art, performance, sculpture, film and dance will be shown and staged in interesting places, turning the town into an enormous gallery for the ten-day event. It will be a celebration of the community's resilience and generosity in the wake of the disaster, too. The ability of art to heal will be reflected in pop-up galleries, street events, a sculpture park, interactive workshops and, of course, brilliant local food and wine.
Among the English language's best phrases, 'all you can eat' ranks up there with the best of them. It'd sound great in any language, of course, and you might hear it in German over the weekend of Saturday, June 29 and Sunday, June 30 — aka 'so viel du essen kannst'. Specifically, you might hear either version at Munich Brauhaus, The Bavarian and the Bavarian Beerhaus, which are all offering an appropriate stuff-your-face deal. For a two-hour sitting, you can tuck into as many schnitzels as you can stomach. Served on a platter, there are three varieties on offer: the uber schnitzel, which is decked out with rocket, semi-dried tomato and parmesan; the jager schnitzel, topped with wild mushroom ragu; and the good ol' parmigiana, which obviously comes with melted mozzarella, tomato sauce and ham. Talk about good schnit. The special costs $39 per person, also includes unlimited mashed potato and potato salad — yep, both hot and cold spuds — and is available for bookings of at least two people. You do need to book, however, so gather the gang, get planning, and make a date with the Munich Brauhaus in The Rocks, Beerhaus on York Street or one of the Bavarians scattered around, including in Bondi, Manly, Chatswood. The only one not included is the Bavarian in the Entertainment Quarter.
UPDATE, April 24, 2021: Parasite is available to stream via Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. When writer-director Bong Joon-ho lets two families roam around and unleash their best and worst in an opulent South Korean mansion, he couldn't have placed them in a better spot. The kind of house that anyone would dream of living in, Parasite's main setting is a multi-storey playground filled with wide-open spaces, gleaming surfaces and modernist decor, all opening out onto a grassy, leafy backyard. A real estate agent's fantasy as well, this not-so-humble abode is the bricks-and-mortar pinnacle of success and wealth. As created by production designer Lee Ha-jun to meet Bong's specific vision (a real house that matched the filmmaker's needs simply didn't exist), the labyrinthine structure is a puzzle box, too. Within its walls, mysteries linger. Here, anything and everything could happen. Parasite proves exceptional in every single frame and detail that it flicks onto the screen — but the way that this sprawling central home encapsulates the movie's very essence is a towering feat. Already lauded and applauded, not to mention awarded the top prizes at both the Cannes and Sydney film festivals, Parasite isn't short on achievements. Internationally renowned and beloved as the auteur behind The Host, Snowpiercer and Okja, Bong has crafted a bleak, twisty blend of black tragi-comedy, pulsating thrills and socially relevant horror — a movie that's such a phenomenal example of all that cinema can and should be that you'll want to high-five the filmmaker after watching it. Parasite possesses a pitch-perfect cast of both veteran and up-and-coming actors, all playing their parts with devastating precision. It's scripted, with Okja assistant director turned first-time co-writer Han Jin-won, to tease, mesmerise, infuriate, satirise and amuse in equal measures. And its look and pace, courtesy of the finessed work of cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo (Bong's Mother) and editor Yang Jin-mo (Bong's Okja), is as polished and probing as its all-important setting. When viewers first meet Ki-taek (Song Kang-ho), his wife Chung-sook (Chang Hyae-jin), and their young but grown-up children Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik) and Ki-jung (Park So-dam), they're dwelling in a damp, cockroach-infested basement apartment. They're also all out of work. Piggybacking whichever unlocked wi-fi network they can find keeps them going — and, when the streets outside are being fumigated, the family isn't opposed to keeping the windows open to take advantage of the free pest control (health consequences be damned). Combined, their only regular source of income comes from folding pizza boxes, with zero other prospects on the horizon. Then Ki-woo's former classmate Min (Park Seo-joon) asks if he'll fill in at a lucrative private tutoring gig. While Ki-woo doesn't have the requisite university degree such a position usually needs, it's easy to manufacture thanks to Ki-jung's impressive photoshop skills. Taking plenty of cues from this early bit of subterfuge, Parasite could be dubbed the ultimate 'fake it till you make it' movie. Stepping foot inside the film's main setting, Ki-Woo wows not only his new, quickly love-struck teenage pupil Da-hye (Jung Ziso), but her flighty mother Yeon-kyo (Cho Yeo-jeong) too. He's soon part of the household, which also includes tech entrepreneur patriarch Park (Lee Sun-kyun), pre-adolescent son Da-song (Jung Hyeon-jun) and their housekeeper (Lee Jeong-eun). With Ki-woo eager to bring his own family into this rich, luxurious orbit, an underhanded plan emerges. Without spoiling any specifics from this narrative juncture onwards, Bong was inspired to write Parasite after spotting a smudge on his pants. This intriguing tidbit gives very little away, although corrupting an otherwise pristine environment — and pondering whether a splatter of disarray makes supposed perfection and privilege better or worse — is the film's thematic stomping ground. The movie's lush locale draws viewers in, all so that it can shatter the allure. Slippery performances, with seemingly clear-cut characters becoming anything but, do the same. So too does Bong and his crew's exacting craftsmanship, which keeps audiences both immersed and guessing. Add shifting tones and changing genres to the fold as well, because evolution and elusiveness are among the movie's most crucial tools. Indeed, from sets and actors to framing and mood, every element of Parasite is weaponised. More than that, it's all calibrated and wielded for maximum impact. This isn't just a killer picture on all of the standard levels, however. Contemplating society's growing class collisions and inequities, Parasite also makes a killer statement. It shouldn't escape attention that three of the past year's absolute best and most astute works, all from South Korean or Japanese filmmakers, have taken aim at the increasing gap between the haves and the have nots. Or, looking to America as well, that one of 2019's great horror releases plays in the same terrain while also bringing race into the equation. Parasite shares its grifting, struggling family with Hirokazu Kore-eda's Shoplifters, its tonal flips and wiliness with Lee Chang-dong's Burning, and its malevolent tone with Jordan Peele's Us, adding to a blossoming field of urgent, intense and diverse cinema that interrogates the societal status quo with a rightfully scathing eye. That said, there's no mistaking Bong's dark, devious and delightful thriller for any other film — or for anything but a hands-down masterpiece. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_0KJAzyUJc
The second offering from the Rhys Nicholson, Kyran Wheatley team at Giant Dwarf, this is classic New York-style stand-up comedy: an opener, feature set, and world-class headliner, emceed each month by one of the nation's finest talents. You'll be hard pressed to find a higher quality selection of comedy anywhere in Australia — let alone Sydney. So get along on the first Tuesday of the month now, because this is going to be the next big thing.
You don’t call a movie 10 Cloverfield Lane without trying to get your audience guessing. With JJ Abrams in the producer's chair, there's an immediate game afoot. Just how will it connect to Cloverfield, the 2008 found footage creature feature he was also involved in? That's just one of the questions the movie inspires, though in truth it might be the least interesting. Given that the film spends the bulk of its time in a bunker with a suspicious Mary Elizabeth Winstead and a possibly hostile John Goodman hiding from what may or may not be an apocalyptic attack, there are plenty of other things to contemplate. Here's two: is Howard (Goodman) telling the truth when he tells Michelle (Winstead) that he's keeping her underground for her own safety? Or is the paranoid doomsday fanatic using his survivalist obsession for more nefarious means? When an accident brings the two together, Michelle can't help doubting Howard's true motives after she wakes up injured, semi-clad and chained to the wall. He spins a story about global devastation, which fellow cellar dweller Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.) backs up. However, even when the trio settles into a tentative routine of dinners and board games, she can't shake the feeling that something isn't right. Indeed, Michelle might pretend otherwise — and prove determined and resourceful when needed — but there's no mistaking her anxiety and uncertainty. Those emotions aren't hers alone, with 10 Cloverfield Lane forcing viewers to share in her uneasiness. Hiding as much as they make plain, first-time director Dan Trachtenberg and writers Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken and Damien Chazelle (Whiplash) sustain a pressure-cooker atmosphere and an air of mystery. Through canny camera placement, fine-tuned framing, savvy editing, a foreboding score and a willingness to take its time, the claustrophobic thriller has great fun teasing its audience. Maintaining a balance of playfulness and suspense also helps counter any similarities to Room or even The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt — and while shades of everything from Psycho to War of the Worlds are also evident, the film's path is its own. Forget the shaky visuals and sprawling nature of its predecessor, too. In an effort Abrams has labelled a "spiritual successor" to Cloverfield rather than a sequel, the images are stable, the focus tight and confined, and the menace more psychological than monstrous. Of course, Goodman ensures the threat of physical terror never quite dissipates, in his most substantial role in years. His richly textured performance is only one part of the on-screen equation though, with Winstead's reactions equally as precise and persuasive. Watching the two face off over what's going on and why they're there — with a mostly affable Gallagher in the middle — makes it easy to forget that there's the bigger puzzle of the feature's name to ponder. They're so effective, as is the film in keeping the mood tense and the surprises coming, that 10 Cloverfield Lane proves gripping irrespective of any monster movie ties.
What do films about bickering neighbours, wannabe heavy metal bands and a boy wandering through the forest all have in common? They're on this year's Scandinavian Film Festival bill. While the annual event always surveys the cinema output of a variety of countries — Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, namely — it also dives into movies on a range of topics. Case in point: one title explores the college exploits of a teenager with supernatural abilities, but it's definitely not the kind of movie that you're thinking of, and another tracks youths trying to survive a mass shooting. They're some of the highlights of the 2018 fest, which tours Australia between July 10 and August — and if you'd like to hear more, keep reading. The full lineup includes everything from border patrol officers and Saint Bernards to icy westerns and an extremely different take on capitalism-drive class clashes. From all of the above and more, here are our six must-sees. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJghTR5y9U0 UNDER THE TREE It sounds like a storyline on any routine soap opera: two neighbouring families get into a turf war over the most ordinary of issues. And yes, as the title suggests, it's a tree. Overhanging branches aren't the only things casting a shadow over these particular lives, however, as marital woes, Ikea, family pets and more become involved in this bleak but hilarious study of bad behaviour. One side acts, the other retaliates, and the film's various spats escalate, although the emotions at the movie's core always remain believable and relatable. As well as featuring a number of impressive performances by Icelandic talents, especially from veteran Edda Björgvinsdóttir, Under the Tree represents another winning effort from writer/director Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson. Like his earlier feature Either Way, which was remade as Prince Avalanche, don't be surprised if this gets the English-language treatment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi2N-DFfe7Q THELMA The best super-powered film of the past year doesn't involve Wonder Woman, Black Panther or any other Marvel or DC characters. We're not saying that the big end of town hasn't turned out some great caped crusader flicks (and some terrible ones, too) over the last 12 months or so, but Thelma plays with extraordinary abilities in a completely different manner. The latest work from Oslo, August 31st and Louder Than Bombs' filmmaker Joachim Trier, it's a thriller about a college freshman (Eili Harboe) who copes with her new Oslo surroundings — and adjusts to her new bond with fellow student Anja (Kaya Wilkins) — in ways that surprise, astonish and truly cut to the heart of being a confused, anxious soul in a troubling world. Part sci-fi, part horror, part coming-of-age effort, the end result is a piercing exploration of identity that looks as impressive as it feels. HEAVY TRIP They're the world's first symphonic, post-apocalyptic, reindeer-grinding, Christ-abusing, extreme war pagan, Fennoscandian metal group, as they describe themselves, but these four Finnish villagers don't quite know how to chase their dreams. After 12 years of rehearsing in a slaughterhouse basement, the twenty-somethings finally record their own song — and after accidentally drenching a Norwegian festival promoter with a barrel of blood, Turo (Johannes Holopainen) starts telling everyone that they've scored a huge first gig. What happens next both follows the expected path and throws in plenty of unexpected incidents, altercations and antics, with the comedy caper including everything from a love triangle to grave-robbing to sailing on a viking ship. Still, even when it veers into silly territory, Heavy Trip remains inventive, heartfelt and very amusing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2WRsAyC-K4 VALLEY OF SHADOWS The gothic horror tradition is alive and well in moody, brooding Norwegian effort Valley of Shadows, which proves as haunting and gorgeously gloomy as its title suggests. The film might send a youngster trampling through creepy surroundings, but it carves its own path away from the current Stranger Things-inspired trend and its various offshoots. In fact, anything that seems familiar in the narrative is soon eclipsed by this confident and unnerving movie's commanding tone, as well as its eye-catching 35mm-shot images. Story-wise, the debut by writer/director Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen follows a six-year-old's (Adam Ekeli) foray into a nearby forest in search of his runaway dog, and the folklore-like events that eventuate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0RaGwzqLBE WINTER BROTHERS Danish drama Winter Brothers has won multiple awards for its cinematography, and it's immediately easy to see why — shot on 16mm film and casting its lens over snowy landscapes, remote homes, dark mines and the general inner workings of industrial settings, it's never less than striking to look at. As a study of masculinity left to fester in an isolated environment, it's also an emotionally powerful piece, winning Best Picture at the Danish Academy Awards for its troubles. Examining the lives of two miner siblings (Elliott Crosset Hove and Simon Sears) as they engage in a spat with their neighbours (yes, that seems to be a theme this festival) and make moonshine, this tense, textured movie knows exactly how it wants its viewers to feel. Helping perfect the ideal unsettling mood is a score that knows when to drone with ominous purpose, and knows when silence says everything it needs to. U — JULY 22 There's nothing new about recreating a harrowing real-life event from the perspective of those who were there, and giving audiences an on-the-ground view of their horrifying experiences. There's nothing new about adopting that approach when it comes to mass shootings either, or just generally unravelling a tense and terrifying situation in a single shot. Still, Norwegian effort U — July 22 finds the best way to plunge viewers into the thick of one of the most traumatic incidents in the country's history. On the eponymous date in 2011, a right-wing extremist gunned down 69 of the 500 attendees at a youth summer camp on the island of Utøya, with filmmaker Erik Poppe following one 19-year-old's efforts to survive. Lead actress Andrea Berntzen is fantastic as the desperate young woman searching for her sister, and for a way to make it out alive, in a feature that's never easy to watch but remains heartbreakingly engrossing — and important — from start to finish. The Scandinavian Film Festival tours the country between July 10 and August 5, screening at Sydney's Palace Norton Street, Palace Verona and Palace Central from July 10–29; Melbourne's Palace Cinema Como, Palace Brighton Bay and Palace Westgarth from July 12–29; and Brisbane's Palace Barracks from July 19 to August 5. For the full program, visit the festival website.
If seeing movies and TV shows you love pick up shiny trophies is your preferred form of sport, congrats — awards season is here for another year. We're never too far away from Hollywood's latest opportunity to celebrate itself, given that the Emmys were only a couple of months back. But the period between December and March tends to be the entertainment industry's version of Christmas (or until April in 2021, given that the Oscars happened later than usual). Accordingly, it's that time of year for the Golden Globes, which has just announced its latest batch of nominees. That said, if you're keen to actually watch a heap of people collect their accolades come Monday, January 10, Australian and New Zealand time, think again — the ceremony won't be televised due to multiple controversies surrounding the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organisation behind the awards, and whether it'll stream somewhere (and if any celebrities will actually show up) hasn't yet been revealed. The list of films and series competing still spans plenty of 2021 favourites — covering both the big and small screens, because the Globes likes to have it both ways. Among the cinema fields, Jane Campion's phenomenal western The Power of the Dog leads the charge with seven nods, a feat only matched by nostalgic Kenneth Branagh-directed drama Belfast, which was inspired by the filmmaker's own childhood. And in the TV categories, Succession picked up five nominations, Ted Lasso and The Morning Show nabbed four, and a heap of shows — including Squid Game — picked up three. The Power of the Dog received Australian funding — and from New Zealand, too — so there's a local tie to this year's nominees. Campion also scored a nod for Best Director for the film, and Aussie actor Kodi Smit-McPhee earned a spot among the Best Supporting Actor nominees. Still staying local, Nicole Kidman is a Best Actress in a Drama contender in the cinema fields for playing Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos, while Succession's Sarah Snook scored a Best Supporting Actress nomination in the TV categories. A heap of other excellent flicks and shows earned some love as well — including a Best Drama nod for Dune, a Best Comedy nomination for Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza, acting recognition's for the latter's first-timers Alana Haim (yes, of Haim) and Cooper Hoffman (son of the Philip Seymour Hoffman), plus a trio of nominations for The Great, Hacks and Only Murders in the Building. Other highlights span the Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical nod for Annette's Marion Cotillard, Lupin's two showings, and Jennifer Coolidge's recognition for The White Lotus. Plus, after making history in 2021 for nominating three women for Best Director for the first time ever — after only ever nominating seven other female filmmakers in the Golden Globes prior 77-year run — the awards have given not only Campion but also The Lost Daughter's Maggie Gyllenhaal some love this time around. If you're wondering what else is in the running, here's the full list: GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEES: BEST MOTION PICTURE — DRAMA Belfast CODA Dune King Richard The Power of the Dog BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE — DRAMA Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos Lady Gaga, House of Gucci Kristen Stewart, Spencer BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE — DRAMA Mahershala Ali, Swan Song Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog Will Smith, King Richard Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth BEST MOTION PICTURE — MUSICAL OR COMEDY Cyrano Don't Look Up Licorice Pizza Tick, Tick … Boom! West Side Story BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE — MUSICAL OR COMEDY Marion Cotillard, Annette Alana Haim, Licorice Pizza Jennifer Lawrence, Don't Look Up Emma Stone, Cruella Rachel Zegler, West Side Story BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE — MUSICAL OR COMEDY Leonardo DiCaprio, Don't Look Up Peter Dinklage, Cyrano Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick … Boom! Cooper Hoffman, Licorice Pizza Anthony Ramos, In the Heights BEST MOTION PICTURE — ANIMATED Encanto Flee Luca My Sunny Maad Raya and the Last Dragon BEST MOTION PICTURE — FOREIGN LANGUAGE Compartment No. 6 Drive My Car The Hand of God A Hero Parallel Mothers BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE Caitríona Balfe, Belfast Ariana DeBose, West Side Story Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard Ruth Negga, Passing BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE Ben Affleck, The Tender Bar Jamie Dornan, Belfast Ciarán Hinds, Belfast Troy Kotsur, CODA Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog BEST DIRECTOR — MOTION PICTURE Kenneth Branagh, Belfast Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter Steven Spielberg, West Side Story Denis Villeneuve, Dune BEST SCREENPLAY — MOTION PICTURE Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza Kenneth Branagh, Belfast Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog Adam McKay, Don't Look Up Aaron Sorkin, Being the Ricardos BEST ORIGINAL SCORE — MOTION PICTURE Dune Encanto The French Dispatch Parallel Mothers The Power of the Dog BEST ORIGINAL SONG — MOTION PICTURE 'Be Alive', King Richard 'Dos Orugitas', Encanto 'Down to Joy', Belfast 'Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)', Respect 'No Time to Die', No Time to Die BEST TELEVISION SERIES — DRAMA Lupin The Morning Show Pose Squid Game Succession BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES — DRAMA Uzo Aduba, In Treatment Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show Christine Baranski, The Good Fight Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid's Tale MJ Rodriguez, Pose BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES — DRAMA Brian Cox, Succession Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game Billy Porter, Pose Jeremy Strong, Succession Omar Sy, Lupin BEST TELEVISION SERIES — MUSICAL OR COMEDY The Great Hacks Ted Lasso Reservation Dogs Only Murders in the Building BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES — MUSICAL OR COMEDY Hannah Einbinder, Hacks Elle Fanning, The Great Issa Rae, Insecure Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish Jean Smart, Hacks BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES — MUSICAL OR COMEDY Anthony Anderson, Black-ish Nicholas Hoult, The Great Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso BEST TELEVISION LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION Dopesick Impeachment: American Crime Story Maid Mare of Easttown The Underground Railroad BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION Jessica Chastain, Scenes From a Marriage Cynthia Erivo, Genius: Aretha Elizabeth Olsen, WandaVision Margaret Qualley, Maid Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION Paul Bettany, WandaVision Oscar Isaac, Scenes From a Marriage Michael Keaton, Dopesick Ewan McGregor, Halston Tahar Rahim, The Serpent BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus Kaitlyn Dever, Dopesick Andie MacDowell, Maid Sarah Snook, Succession Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TV Billy Crudup, The Morning Show Kieran Culkin, Succession Mark Duplass, The Morning Show Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso Oh Yeong-su, Squid Game The 2022 Golden Globes will be announced on Monday, January 10 Australian and New Zealand time. For further details, head to the awards' website. Top image: The Crown, Des Willie/Netflix.
Patience is somewhat of a virtue with The Forgiven. It would be in it, too, if any of its wealthy white characters hedonistically holidaying in Morocco were willing to display the trait for even a second. Another addition to the getaways-gone-wrong genre, this thorny satirical drama gleefully savages the well-to-do, proving as eager to eat the rich as can be, and also lays bare the despicable coveting of exoticism that the moneyed think is an acceptable way to splash plentiful wads of cash. There's patently plenty going on in this latest release from writer/director John Michael McDonagh, as there typically is in features by the filmmaker behind The Guard, Calvary and War on Everyone. Here, he adapts Lawrence Osborne's 2012 novel, but the movie that results takes time to build and cohere, and even then seems only partially interested in both. Still, that patience is rewarded by The Forgiven's stellar lead performance by Ralph Fiennes, playing one of his most entitled and repugnant characters yet. Sympathies aren't meant to flow David Henninger's (Fiennes, The King's Man) way, or towards his wife Jo (Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye). Together, the spiky Londoners abroad bicker like it's a sport — and the only thing fuelling their marriage. Cruelty taints their words: "why am I thinking harpy?", "why am I thinking shrill?" are among his, while she counters "why am I thinking high-functioning alcoholic?". He's a drunken surgeon, she's a bored children's author, and they're venturing past the Atlas Mountains to frolic in debauchery at the village their decadent pal Richard (Matt Smith, Morbius) and his own barbed American spouse Dally (Caleb Landry Jones, Nitram) have turned into a holiday home. Sympathy isn't designed to head that pair's way, either; "we couldn't have done it without our little Moroccan friends," Richard announces to kick off their weekend-long housewarming party. But when the Hennigers arrive late after tragically hitting a local boy, Driss (Omar Ghazaoui, American Odyssey), en route, the mood shifts — but also doesn't. The wicked turns of phrase that David slings at Jo have nothing on his disdain for the place and people around him, and he doesn't care who hears it. His assessment of the desert vista: "it's very picturesque, I suppose, in a banal sort of way". He drips with the prejudice of privilege, whether offensively spouting Islamophobic remarks or making homophobic comments about his hosts — and he doesn't, nay won't, rein himself in when Richard calls the police, reports the boy's death, pays the appropriate bribes and proclaims that their bacchanal won't otherwise be disturbed. The arrival of Driss' father Abdellah (Ismael Kanater, Queen of the Desert), and his request that David accompanies him home to bury his son, complicates matters, however. While David begrudgingly agrees, insultingly contending that it's a shakedown, Jo helps keep the party going, enjoying time alone to flirt with hedge fund manager Tom (Christopher Abbott, Possessor). John Michael McDonagh hasn't ever co-helmed a feature with his filmmaker brother Martin, but actors have jumped between the duo's respective works, with Fiennes — who starred in Martin's memorable In Bruges — among the latest. The siblings share something else, too, and not just a knack for assembling impressive casts; they're equally ace at fleshing out the characters inhabited by their dazzling on-screen cohorts via witty and telling dialogue. The Forgiven plays like it's in autopilot, though, but having Fiennes, Chastain, Smith and Jones (who appeared in Martin's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) utter its lines is a gift. Indeed, here it's the attitudes captured while they're speaking, and the behaviours and mannerisms made plain in how they're speaking, that add layer upon layer to this murky affair. That'd ring true even if Driss, Abdellah and the tense journey with the latter to inter the former weren't even in the narrative. That's one of the issues with The Forgiven: although David and Jo's lives inescapably change due to the accident, it and everything that it sparks almost plays as an aside. The aftermath is given ample attention, more so than the party, but the film frequently feels as David unshakeably does, like it too would rather be immersed in the revelry. Of course, that's much of the point, especially in Jo's parts of the story from there — and Richard, Dally and Tom's, plus everyone else still living it up (including Jack Ryan's Marie-Josée Croze as a French photographer, Operation Mincemeat's Alex Jennings as a British Lord and Old's Abbey Lee as an Australian party girl, complete with a Coles shopping bag holding her belongings). The Forgiven keeps skewering this fact, with McDonagh attempting to do just that every which way he can, but some of his efforts to mirror what's occurring on-screen through the feature's tone just don't land. When The Forgiven does hit its marks, it's weighty and knotty, and given depth and heft by Fiennes — and, during David's trip with Abdellah, by the powerful Kanater, plus the charismatic Saïd Taghmaoui (John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum) as the grieving patriarch's offsider and intermediary. It's savvy as a satire, too, albeit obvious, but when the balance tips the better, more compelling, more meaningful way, it's a far more potent picture. Empathising with David still isn't the tale's point, thankfully, and neither is a simplistic life lesson-filled pilgrimage that sees an affluent man learn the error of his oppressive tendencies against the less fortunate. Unsurprisingly, The Forgiven is at its best when it's as complex as its desert-swept cinematography (by The Guard and Calvary's Larry Smith) is gleaming. It's not quite right to say that McDonagh brings all of the movie's pieces together in the end — again, it's not exactly accurate to say that he always seems to want to — but Fiennes brings the film home. This is one of his finest performances, which is no small feat given the array of excellent portrayals that dot his resume, including his Oscar-nominated work in Schindler's List and The English Patient, as well as his awards-worthy turn in The Grand Budapest Hotel. It's no minor achievement given the loathsome, boozy, reckless and curmudgeonly figure he's playing, either. The rest of the feature's big names leave an imprint, from the well-cast Chastain playing it sharp but loose, to the appropriately shadowy Smith and catty scene-stealer Jones, but never with the same film-defining impact.
Do you have the time to listen to Green Day live? Do you now have 'Basket Case' from the California-born band's iconic 1994 album Dookie stuck in your head? To celebrate three decades since releasing one of the records that defined the 90s, Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool are returning to Australia to play it in its entirety — and to also bust out their American Idiot album from 2004 in full as well. If you're a Green Day fan, welcome to paradise come Monday, March 3, 2025, when the band will hit up Engie Stadium in Sydney. We hope you have the time of your life getting a blast of 90s and 00s nostalgia, complete with 'When I Come Around', 'Longview', 'She', 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams', 'Wake Me Up When September Ends', 'Holiday' and, yes, 'American Idiot' echoing. [caption id="attachment_972774" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alice Baxley, Apple Music[/caption] While the visit is part of the group's global The Saviors Tour, which is named for their 14th studio album Saviors, they're clearly happy to keep working through their best-known tunes — and, while they aren't on either Dookie or American Idiot, 'Minority', 'Brain Stew' and 'Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)' have been on Green Day's recent setlist overseas. In support, also bringing the 90s and 00s to mind, fellow California-born group AFI will share the stage on Green Day's 2025 Aussie tour. [caption id="attachment_972777" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Raph_PH via Flickr.[/caption] Top images: Raph_PH via Flickr, Alice Baxley.
Melbourne multi-instrumentalist Mark Zito, better known as Fractures, fell and fractured his neck last year — a pretty unfortunate (dare we say ironic?) incident given he was due to set off on his debut live tour at the time. (It probably hurt a bit, too.) Fortunately, Zito has made a full recovery and kicked off a short string of EP launch shows with an appearance at Splendour last week. Fractures' sounds are delicate, emotive, swoonworthy. Take a listen to his first single 'Twisted', or his most recent, the hypnotic, caramel-vocaled 'Won't Win'. Zito's is a pretty classic, oldie-but-a-goodie formula: the five-piece band, the quiet haunting melodies, plenty of emotion and an aesthetic comparable to Justin Vernon's (comparisons to Bon Iver really shouldn't be purely musical) — but one which earned him a couple of sold-out Sydney and Melbourne shows earlier this year. Zito will launch his Fractures EP at The Vanguard on August 8. (Fingers just crossed he doesn't fracture anything else first.) https://youtube.com/watch?v=q809aWGOsrY
If getting caught in the rain, not doing yoga and making love at midnight are the sort of things you like, then surely you must like piña coladas. All cheesy late-70s songs aside, there's nothing quite like this icy coconut, pineapple and rum drink to get you straight into holiday mode. Meaning 'strained pineapple' and originating from Puerto Rico where it's the national drink, the piña colada has been a steadfast favourite for all those on island time since at least the mid-1950s. The classic version of this tropical cocktail can vary, but for the most part, the drink consists of pineapple juice, coconut cream or coconut milk and rum and can be shaken or blended with plenty of ice. While messing with a classic can sometimes be a lost cause, when you enlist someone like Charlie Ainsbury, ex-This Must Be The Place bartender and Dan Murphy's Spirit Ambassador, to create a twist on the traditional, you end up with some delicious results. And while it's always nice having someone behind the bar pouring, shaking and blending your drinks, it's even better when you can be that person at home and really impress your guests. In the video above, Charlie Ainsbury teaches you the tips and tricks to making a classic piña colada and one with a twist. Study these recipes, stock up on some quality rum and tropical juices, and start wowing your friends with your newly learned piña colada knowledge. And if having your cocktails made for you is more your thing, head to Dan Murphy's House of Discovery, direction Tiki Bar, to immerse yourself further in the world of piña coladas. THE CLASSIC — 50 ml white rum — 50 ml pineapple juice — 50 ml coconut cream — A squeeze of lime juice — A slice of fresh pineapple Combine the rum, pineapple juice, coconut cream and lime juice in a shaker with ice, and give the mix a few good shakes. Pour over ice, and top it off with a fresh slice of pineapple. Charlie's tip: Feel free to add some sugar syrup to this recipe as coconut creams and pineapples vary in sweetness. THE SWIM-UP POOL BAR — 50 ml white rum — 30 ml pineapple juice — 15 ml lime juice — 10 ml orgeat syrup like Crawley's — Nutmeg Shake the rum, pineapple juice, lime juice and orgeat syrup together with glass, then strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg. Charlie's tip: While white rum is classically used for the piña colada, have fun experimenting with gold and dark rums, too. Sip, savour and boost your cocktail savoir-faire at Dan Murphy's House of Discovery from March 8–10. Get your tickets here.
Northern Beaches hotel Manly Pacific is set to unveil the result of a $30-million transformation this November. The extensive revamp is just a few weeks away from completion and will feature a new set of wellness-focused suites for tourists looking for a luxurious beach stay or Sydneysiders looking to get out of the city for a staycation. Two major elements of the renovations include the introduction of nine new rooms overlooking Manly Beach that will be fitted out with premium amenities and have access to wellness services, plus the new rooftop hotel pool for guests to enjoy between ocean swims and Northern Beaches adventures. "Whether you're here after work, or on a weekend getaway, from the moment you step into our hotel, you'll feel calm, rejuvenated and connected to the ocean," says Manly Pacific General Manager Dylan Cole. "Manly has always had a magical feel to it that can wash away the bustle of the city. At Manly Pacific, we've added a touch of beachside vibrance that amplifies the feeling of being above and away from it all." The Manly Pacific team has enlisted the help of Australian design firm Coco Republic to create a space that reflects the picturesque setting of Manly and its beaches. The refurbished hotel features natural materials and blue-grey tones throughout, evoking the coastal energy of its surrounds. The new features will join Manly Pacific's existing offerings, which include two in-house restaurants, Bistro Manly and Tokyo Joe. The hotel also offers specific work-from-hotel packages that help facilitate working staycations, including a study table, unlimited coffee, complimentary room service lunches and a knock-off cocktail at 5pm. Manly Pacific is located at 55 N Steyne, Manly. The hotel's $30 million renovation will be unveiled in November.
"I kneel before no one," says Teth-Adam, aka Black Adam, aka the DC Comics character that dates back to 1945, and that Dwayne Johnson (Red Notice) has long wanted to play. That proclamation is made early in the film that bears the burly, flying, impervious-to-everything figure's name, echoing as a statement of might as well as mood: he doesn't need to bow down to anyone or anything, and if he did he wouldn't anyway. Yet the DC Extended Universe flick that Black Adam is in — the 11th in a saga that's rarely great — kneels frequently to almost everything. It bends the knee to the dispiritingly by-the-numbers template that keeps lurking behind this comic book-inspired series' most forgettable entries, and the whole franchise's efforts to emulate the rival (and more successful) Marvel Cinematic Universe, for starters. It also shows deference to the lack of spark and personality that makes the lesser DC-based features so routine at best, too. Even worse, Black Adam kneels to the idea that slipping Johnson into a sprawling superhero franchise means robbing the wrestler-turned-actor himself of any on-screen personality. Glowering and gloomy is a personality, for sure, but it's not what's made The Rock such a box office drawcard — and, rather than branching out, breaking the mould or suiting the character, he just appears to be pouting and coasting. He looks the physical part, of course, as he needs to playing a slave-turned-champion who now can't be killed or hurt. It's hard not to wish that the Fast and Furious franchise's humour seeped into his performance, however, or even the goofy corniness of Jungle Cruise, Johnson's last collaboration with filmmaker Jaume Collet-Serra. The latter has template-esque action flicks Unknown, Non-Stop, Run All Night and The Commuter on his resume before that, and helms his current star here like he'd rather still directing Liam Neeson. That said, Black Adam, the character, has much to scowl about — and scowl he does. Black Adam, the film, has much backstory to lay out, with exposition slathered on thick during the opening ten minutes. As a mere human in 2600 BCE in the fictional Middle Eastern country of Kahndaq, its namesake was among an entire populace caught under a cruel ruler hungry for power, and for a powerful supernatural crown fashioned out a mineral called 'eternium' that said subjects were forced to mine. Now, 5000 years later, Black Adam is a just-awakened mortal-turned-god who isn't too thrilled about the modern world, or being in it. Bridging the gap: the fact that back in the day, one boy was anointed with magic by ancient wizards to defend Kahndaq's people (the word "shazam!" gets uttered, because Black Adam dwells in the same part of the DCEU as 2019's Shazam! and its upcoming sequel), but misusing those skills ended in entombment until modern-day resistance fighters interfere. The above really is just the preamble. Black Adam is freed by widowed professor Adrianna (Sarah Shahi, Sex/Life), who is trying to fight the Intergang, the mercenaries who've been Kahndaq's new oppressors for decades — and, yes, Black Adam gets caught up in that battle. But being out and about, instead of interred in a cave, gets the attention of the Justice Society. The DCEU already has the Justice League and the Suicide Squad, but it apparently still needs another super-powered crew. Indeed, Suicide Squad and The Suicide Squad's Amanda Waller (Viola Davis, The First Lady) even shows up to help put this new gang together. That's how Hawkman (Aldis Hodge, One Night in Miami), Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan, The Misfits), Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell, Voyagers) and Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo, the To All the Boys movies) don their caped-crusader getup and try to stop Black Adam, or convince him to stop himself. Another blatant act of kneeling on this film's part: its new team. The Justice Society isn't new on the page, and some of its number pre-date their patent Marvel counterparts — but reaching the screen now, after the MCU and the X-Men movies, makes this bunch seem like a rehash. Wings like the Falcon, seeing the future like Dr Strange, controlling the weather like Cyclone, changing size like Ant-Man: that's all covered here, and it's impossible not to make comparisons. That Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Cyclone and Atom Smasher are also given little personality doesn't help. The cast behind them visibly commit, and there's a better flick to be made with far more Brosnan waving around a golden helmet in it (a welcomely sillier one, too), but character development clearly wasn't high among screenwriters Adam Sztykiel (Scoob!), Rory Haines (The Mauritanian) and Sohrab Noshirvani's (also The Mauritanian) priorities. As often proves the case in this genre, because superhero movies have been their own genre for years, the main aim of Black Adam is laying the groundwork for more to come. The titular figure gets an origin story, then an entryway into the broader DCEU, then sets up future franchise appearances, then teases the next step via the obligatory post-credits sting — stop us when this doesn't sound familiar. It's little wonder, then, that everyone around Black Adam feels like filler, including Adrianna's son Amon (Bodhi Sabongui, The Baby-Sitters Club), as well as the villain of the piece. And it's hardly surprising that any attempts at thematic relevance or resonance are thinner than Black Adam's smile. This tries to be a picture about the great responsibility that comes with great power (yep, again), choosing to do the right thing, and the thorniness of being an anti-hero, and also about the merits (or not) of throwing American force around (or not) in other countries; 'tries' is the key word. Collet-Serra does give Sabongui the best action sequences, though, all involving sneaking out of, skateboarding around and skirting attacks in his apartment/building. There's a tactile sense to these moments — as lively and as lived-in as the film gets, too — that's thoroughly absent in the bland, generic look and feel elsewhere. That Black Adam kneels before and could simply be mashing up parts of 300, Clash of the Titans and Tomb Raider for much of its running time, especially visually, just makes a dull movie duller (the DCEU really can't move on from Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League director Zack Snyder, so it seems). When the feature busts out The Rolling Stones' 'Paint It Black', because of course it does, it's both as obvious a choice as there is and a rare dose of energy. And when it shows iconic spaghetti western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly on a TV screen, wishing you were watching that instead comes swiftly — or watching Aquaman's gleeful ridiculousness, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)'s rampant flair, or the non-DCEU weightiness of Joker or The Batman, actually.
An international supper club series is bringing LP's Quality Meats' beloved restaurant back for one night only. Pizza-oven brand Gozney has just launched a global lineup of secret supper clubs taking over yet-to-be-announced venues in LA, New York, London, Utah and Sydney between May–November, with the Harbour City edition bringing together two powerhouses of the LP's kitchen for a reunion on Thursday, November 16. LP's and Bella Brutta owner Luke Powell will be joined by Swillhouse Head Chef and former LP's superstar Isobel Little in the kitchen for the one-off feast. The menu will throw back to favourites from the Chippendale restaurant that closed last year, all cooked in Gozney's outdoor ovens. "When the restaurant at LP's closed its doors in late 2022, we thought this would be the last time that Isobel and I would cook together professionally," says Powell. "Thankfully, the exciting partnership with the Gozney Secret Supper Club series has enabled us to collaborate again for one night only!" "Guests can expect some familiar flavours from LP's but also something different from what we have been working on, and get immersed in cooking with fire." Powell also describes the setting for the dinner as "an unbelievable secret location", with the night closing out the seven-month world tour that the supper club is embarking on. Elsewhere, stars of the kitchen like Brad Leone and Frank Pinello will be taking part in the series, bringing their signature style to unexpected locations. Tickets for the Sydney night are $95 and include a multi-course dining experience, a welcome beverage and wine pairings. You can register your interest now as tickets don't go on sale until Thursday, October 5. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Gozney | Outdoor Pizza Ovens (@gozney) Top image: Luke Powell by Kitti Gould
Unearthed by triple j in 2011 and claiming number 57 on the Hottest 100, familial four-piece indie rock outfit The Rubens are on the up and up. Their modern soul and blues-drenched sound, typified in radio hit 'Lay It Down', has been enjoyed by the nation's ears for just over a year now. And now our eardrums can be blasted live in Sydney at the Metro Theatre. Debuting their new single 'My Gun', these boys are touring Australia, taking to the road with many more of their popular and much-loved tunes. Traversing the nation over September and October, this is your chance to experience their new and addictive songs if you haven't already — or if you can't wait to get another hit from last time's high. And make sure to check out the boys' self-titled debut album coming out September 14th. Preferably before the gig so, you know, you can sing along to all the words and stuff. https://youtube.com/watch?v=wJk-E0A6nxw
Cast your mind back to the Winter Olympics earlier this year. Aside from all of the mind-boggling feats that you'd never dare to try, you may also remember watching in envy as the pros celebrated victory with loads of Champagne. And soon you too can get a taste of this feeling after a day on the slopes — no placing necessary. The master of après festivities is back for its fifth poolside party to make you feel as golden as the experts do. On August 10 and 11, Mumm Champagne will transform the Thredbo Poolside Terrace into a confetti-clad party place for Red Sash Sets. You'll be grooving the afternoon away with the finest entertainment, as multi-faceted Sweet Mix Kids kicks off festivities at 4.30pm on Friday and 2pm on Saturday. After the DJ duo's Saturday set, Adelaidean producer Motez will take the stage at 5pm, followed by electro-dance act Hayden James at 6pm. If you do want to watch the masters of the trails do their thing, start your day at Thredbo's Top 2 Bottom downhill ski competition (with Champagne, of course) before heading to the Saturday session. Bus rides to and from Jindabyne will be provided for party-goers for $5 — we recommend pre-booking.
2022's best new TV shows spanned everything from mind-benders like Severance to culinary must-sees such as The Bear, plus the best Star Wars series yet in Andor and Irish black-comedy murder-mystery Bad Sisters. Also among them: feminism, penises and 70s porn for women in Minx. The Los Angeles-set HBO comedy jumped back five decades to follow an aspiring magazine editor as she finally scored her dream job — but for a pornography publisher. What's a Vassar graduate and country club regular to do? If she's Minx's Joyce Prigger, she eventually embraces the opportunity, sees a chance to give women something they've been missing and start a conversation about female desire, and turns the whole enterprise into something special. That's the tale that the series' first season charted, as starring Ophelia Lovibond (Trying) and Jake Johnson (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), created by Ellen Rapoport (Clifford the Big Red Dog) and executive produced by Paul Feig (Last Christmas). What's a pioneering, uproar-causing fictional magazine to do after it's already caused a stir? That's where season two comes in. From Friday, July 21, Minx will return to Stan for a second run, with the earnest Joyce and enterprising Bottom Dollar Publications proprietor Doug Renetti (Johnson) dealing with the mag's success, and how that affects their lives. Also impacted, because this is a workplace comedy as well: Bottom Dollar's former model Bambi (Jessica Lowe, Miracle Workers), Doug's ex-secretary Tina (Idara Victor, Shameless), photographer Richie (Oscar Montoya, Final Space) and Joyce's sister Shelly (Lennon Parham, Veep). As the trailer for season two shows, Joyce, Doug and the crew are back in business; the rest of the media is interested in Minx's rise; and Joyce gets the chance to ask a crowded room if any man knows where the clitoris is. Expansion plans, male strippers, padding junk in the name of stagecraft, Minx billboards: they all pop up as well. Getting Minx back on-screen has been quite the tale itself, after the show was renewed for season two back in May 2022 following season one, then cancelled by HBO Max in December during production. Thankfully, US network Starz then stepped in to save the day, picking up the second season. Check out the trailer Minx season two below: Minx season two will start streaming via Stan from Friday, July 21.
To text, post, like, swipe, chat and livestream, or not to? In today's always-online times, that truly is the question. For wannabe influencer Lucy (Charlotte Nicdao), the answer is simple, much to her friend and housemate Daisy's (Gemma Bird Matheson) growing dismay. The perky, impulsive and attention-seeking Brisbanite isn't going to become famous for living the best version of her life if no one's watching, after all. No, for her dream of internet stardom to come true, she'll need to have her fingers constantly glued to her smartphone's buttons. Welcome to the world of Content, the ABC's new short-form web series, which is dropping episodes on ABC iView and YouTube weekly. With the show playing out on Lucy and Daisy's smartphone screens, that title does double duty. Firstly, it recognises that pumping out an endless stream of texts, DMs, Facebook posts, Instagram pics, Tinder swipes, video chats and other online content is just part and parcel of modern-day living. We're all smartphone addicts, and we might as well admit it, really. But the show unpacks the flipside as well, realising that continually negotiating our existence via an always-connected rectangle might not be the best path to lasting happiness. Lucy and Daisy are each accustomed to a ceaseless sea of notifications lighting up their screens. Working, dating, driving, bushwalking, graduating from uni — regardless of what they happen to be doing at any given moment, their smartphones are in their hands. Lucy takes that notion to another level, however, with her determined quest for glory knowing no bounds. When she hops behind the wheel, she livestreams it. When she crashes, she keeps filming. When the cops arrive at the scene, she's more interested in chatting to her followers than being taken to hospital. And when the video of her accident goes viral and becomes a meme, giving Lucy the moniker '#Flipgirl', it's the best moment of her life. If the above story sounds familiar, that's because it has been splashed across news headlines over the past week. After Content's first episode dropped, footage of Lucy's fictional fender bender hit Reddit, was mistaken for the real thing, and the reaction spread quickly. Art imitated life, then life imitated art, with a show about a millennial going viral almost instantly going viral itself. Created by Ludo Studios, directed by Daley Pearson and Walter Woodman, and written by Anna Barnes, the seven-part series proves equally hilarious, insightful and — as the Reddit incident demonstrates — authentic. It's both a sign of the times and a window into our 21st-century souls. Looking over someone's shoulder to steal a peek at their smartphone screen has become today's ultimate casual act of voyeurism, because the pocket-sized computers are just that integral to our lives. So, with that in mind, Content lets us watch. The end result isn't just equally perceptive and entertaining, although both terms apply. Framed vertically — aka designed to be watched on your own smartphone, naturally — Content is part of a growing trend called 'screenlife'. Relaying narratives purely through computer and phone displays, the technique has driven films such as Unfriended, Profile and Searching. And, as long as we all keep living our lives through our screens like Lucy, that list will only keep growing. Check out the first episode of Content below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALEdgJj1iQI&feature=youtu.be New episodes of Content drop weekly on ABC iView and YouTube.
As fear grows that our professions are soon to be wrestled from us by robots, it's interesting to consider other staples of the human experience that our technological leaps are changing. Love, for instance. Griffin Theatre's final play of the year is a turbulent and madcap exploration of romantic connection — what it asks of us and what, in the current day and age, we're prepared to give. Kimberly prides herself on her self-control — she's not usually one to be sideswiped by love. So, when she meets Miles and falls completely into his thrall, several parts of her life start to catch fire at an alarming pace. This isn't a story about sweet head-over-heels love; it's an eye-opening lesson on the danger of infatuation and the importance of finding your voice. The premise is a familiar one, but writer Nick Coyle has given it more than a couple of twists and turns. Barging through genre and style boundaries, there are very few places The Feather in the Web will not go to critique society's continued obsession with coupling. See it with your partner, by all means, but be warned that you may leave alone. Feather in the Web will run from October 5–November 17 at SBW Stables Theatre. Tickets can be purchased via the Griffin Theatre website.
When it comes to succulent pieces of poultry, Australia boasts plenty, but you know what they say: you can't get too much of a good thing. Trying to help make that case is newcomer 4Fingers, the Singaporean fried chicken favourite that's just brought their crispy chook to our shores. Setting up their first two stores in Melbourne's Bourke Street and at Brisbane's new food precinct at Westfield Chermside (and another set to open on Albert Street in Brisbane soon), 4Fingers is all about farm-to-fork free-range chicken served up in their signature crispy style. It's hand-brushed and prepared to order in wingettes, drumettes and legs. Sure, that's what other greasy chook place offers, but why mess with a winning formula? If you're eager for something different, it's 4Fingers' extra bits and pieces that might motivate you to hop on in. Fancy a katsu sandwich with daily-fermented kimchi coleslaw, crispy chicken chops or chicken, garlic and button mushrooms on an artisanal charcoal bun? You do now. Wings and legs with rice, a selection of seafood and three types of salad are also on the menu. 4Fingers is now open at 189-191 Bourke Street, Melbourne and at Westside Chermside, corner Gympie and Hamilton Streets, Chermside in Brisbane. Another store is set to open at 108 Albert Street, Brisbane soon. For more information, keep an eye on their website and Facebook page. Updates: July 3, 2017.
UPDATE, September 24, 2021: Minari is available to stream via Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. 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 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. 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 do 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) joins them. "Grandma smells like Korea," the curious and precocious David complains about his newly arrived grandparent — and it's a telling line of dialogue. When Jacob and Monica talk about their promises when they first got married, remembering how they said they'd "move to America and save each other", their words are just as revealing. Minari doesn't spin a broad culture-clash narrative, but it does intricately and intimately explore what it means to be pulled in two directions. It's well aware that leaving one's homeland isn't the same as surrendering one's heritage, and that anyone who hasn't been through the same experience can't always spot the difference. Born in US, David and his sister don't have the same connection to Korea as their parents; however, they're reminded of how they stand out in American's heartland on a daily basis. Jacob and Monica have different visions of what their life should entail, and how to maintain ties to the past — he wants to grow Asian vegetables to sell to markets who cater to other immigrants, while she wants to live in a larger city as part of the Korean diaspora — but they're constantly navigating the same push and pull. Fellow recent American-made releases Crazy Rich Asians and The Farewell also traversed comparable thematic territory, but through US-based Chinese American women who made eye-opening trips abroad — to meet their partner's relatives or visit their ailing grandmother. By contrast, Minari devotes every second to the Yi family's American lives. Rather than being driven by a homecoming, the film focuses on turning that soil that Jacob gushes over into the Yis' home. The power that radiates from Chung's choice here can't be underestimated. Nor can his decision to frame much of the movie from David's perspective, and to eschew overt conflicts for everyday dramas. Through a pitch-perfect blend of all three, Minari sees Arkansas as both a challenge and a playground. Starting anew here isn't easy, even with everything from overgrown grass to dutiful church visits taking on a larger-than-life feel from David's wide-eyed viewpoint, but Minari, Jacob and his loved ones are all committed to taking the bad with the good. In the Yis' case, setbacks come their way, adjustments are necessary and tense moments abound, but their dedication to calling their farm home manages to survive tough reality checks. The film's overall story can be summarised neatly — a Korean American family moves to middle America — but Minari's charms and triumphs aren't ever simplistic. As movies influenced by personal real-life tales can be at their best, this is a gorgeously and thoughtfully detailed picture, with Chung realising that trading in specific minutiae is far more resonant, compelling and relatable than opting for sweeping generalisations. Lensed by cinematographer Lachlan Milne (Hunt for the Wilderpeople), the feature's visuals operate in the same fashion, offering exacting slices of life that also shimmer with a shared, nostalgic mood. Indeed, this precise and vivid film is told with such honest and tender emotion that it was always bound to feel equally unique and universal. Minari isn't Chung's first feature, thanks to 2007's Munyurangabo, 2010's Lucky Life and 2012's Abigail Harm, but it's the kind of heartfelt yet meticulous movie that instantly cements him as a filmmaker to watch. Young Kim does take his debut leap into cinemas, and makes just as strong an impact, stealing every scene he's in. Considering that the child actor stars opposite the always-magnetic Yeun, who turns in his latest excellent performance and may well receive an Oscar nomination for his efforts, that's no minor feat. Han, Youn and Cho are just as stellar, though, as is Will Patton (Halloween) as a devout but kindly Korean War veteran who virtually becomes another member of the family. The way that Minari's cast comes together so exceptionally couldn't be more apt, actually. They each find the space to explore hard-earned dreams, and feel like they're taking viewers home with the Yis in the process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbE96sCJEjo
Every meal is a happy meal at Queenies. But returning next month is the happiest meal of all: Queenies' Annual Stoner Dinner. The second such dinner in as many years, it's themed 'MacQueenies' and pays homage to that ever-reliable late-night institution that we will always have a soft spot in our hearts for: McDonald's. For $50 a pop, you'll forget what munchies even are with a finger-lickin' good seven-course MacMenu, including an obligatory double dessert (!!). The kitchen is putting a highly creative spin on your Golden Arches faves, serving up courses like Ditched Pickles with mustard salt and cheese fondue, a Little Big Feast, a Rib Mac Patty made from jerk pork parts and 'Smoked Chicken Nuggets' with "all the sauces". But how can Queenies beat Macca's desserts? With French Fries Ice Cream shot through with cookie swirl, that's how. And, leaving the Granny Smiths at home, the MacQueenies Deep Fried Pie combines drool-inducing guava, custard apple and jerk custard. Promising more satisfied bellies than ever, Queenies' Stoner Dinner is a tradition you'll want to make a habit. Give in to your wildest cravings and book it. To reserve a spot email bookings@queenies.com.au or call (02) 9212 3035.
It's been one of the top spots for New Year's Eve for an age, and this year it's turning itself into a big ol' beach party. Opera Bar, with its front row harbourside seat and recently tszujed fitout, has announced plans for one heck of a NYE party. Sitting front and centre for the multimillion-dollar fireworks, Opera Bar's NYE party involves palm trees, beach chairs and more canapes than you can poke a glow stick at. The whole party is beach-themed; think beach balls, beach huts, cabanas, umbrellas, kombi vans and an astroturf dancefloor. Yep, you read that correctly, an openair, astroturf dancefloor. While you're making halfhearted new year's resolutions over flutes of bubbly, you can enjoy a five-hour canape package — yep, five hours of canapes. Think you can tear yourself away from the nosh to throw a few shapes beside Sydney Harbour? There'll be live music from Sydney's unpindownable cover-lovin' crew Furnace & the Fundamentals, producer and R&B artist Alphamama and DJ Natural Selector. Plus, the party's beachy theme will see roaming entertainment in the form of random surf lifesavers, sharks (sharks?!), retro bathers, the whole shebang. Tickets are $390+BF per person and includes express VIP entry to Sydney Opera House (so you don't have to join that huge line with the public) and that hectic five-hour canape package. Importantly, drinks aren't included in the ticket price, so bring bubbly money. Doors open at 6pm and the event runs to 3am — now that's a solid party. New Year's Eve at Opera Bar is happening on December 31 from 6pm. Tickets ($390+BF) go on sale from 9am on Tuesday, October 6 from Opera Bar's website. Over 18s only, sorry kids.
So you've enjoyed movies in drive-ins and mystery locations? Well, what about movies on an island? And if you so desire, you can even camp there. Woah, that's in-tents! Ferry yourself over to the first ever Cockatoo Island Film Festival between October 24-28. This tasty festivity comprises compelling films, chatworthy panels, a bunch of speakers (all the big wigs of the screen industry), and free Adobe wizardry workshops — all packed into the largest international film program in Australia. With a whopping 200 local and international features, documentaries, and short films, there are too many highlights to detail here. The opening night film, The Master, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood, looks a good bet, having attracted a lot of attention already for drawing inspiration from the life of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) plays a World War II veteran struggling with alcoholism and post-traumatic stress disorder who meets charismatic religious leader Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Next stop: Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, a throwback to his short film in the 1980s that has been turned into a 3D black-and-white stop-motion comedy horror feature. It's all about a morbid little boy, Victor, who decides to play Frankenstein and bring his canine pal, Sparky, back to life via a kooky science experiment. Don't try this at home, kids. For the sexmantics, The Sessions, directed by Australian Ben Lewin and winner of the Audience Award at this year's Sundance, tells the story of Mark (John Hawkes), a poet who is paralysed from the neck down and has spent most of his life in an iron lung. At the age of 36, he decides he would like to finally lose his virginity. Through seeking advice from his therapist and his priest, he discovers Cheryl (Helen Hunt), a super-sweet soccer mum who happens to be a professional sex surrogate. A must-see for kids and kiddults alike: Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope, the latest from Morgan Spurlock. Originally a niche comic book convention, Comic-Con is now the sci-fi, pop culture event of the year with over 140,000 attendees. The doco even features special appearances by Stan Lee, Joss Whedon, Frank Miller, Kevin Smith, Matt Groening, Seth Rogen, and Eli Roth. To the nifty-minded individuals who can simultaneously eat popcorn and think about their career, check out the insider knowledge sessions with international B-movie extraordinaire Larry Cohen and the creative duo behind the Bondi Hipsters, Christiaan Van Vuuren and Nicholas Boshier. Yes, those guys are actually Internet famous now. Remember that camping mention? You can go BYO, stay in a pre-fab tent, or go nuts with the glamping package (including a sunbaking chair). If it's a portmanteau, it's got to be good. The main ferry service departure point is King St Wharf down at Darling Harbour. There are a few suburban harbourside wharves as well, so check out the old faithful 131500.com.au. Swimming there out of sheer enthusiasm is understandable but not condoned. https://youtube.com/watch?v=mnFbUxX9S6g
UPDATE, November 6, 2020: Sonic the Hedgehog is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. First up, some good news: the Sonic the Hedgehog film could've been a whole lot worse. Mostly because, as you might've seen in the movie's nightmarish first trailer, it initially was. But while Sonic thankfully no longer looks like a toothy blue Matt Dillon from There's Something About Mary, the rushed cosmetic changes carried out by Paramount only run skin-deep. Sonic the Hedgehog might now look pretty great, but the film is a hot mess just about everywhere else. To begin with, it's a mystery why this movie even exists. Not only is the Sega game it's based on almost 30 years old, but films based on video games are like white whales for studios — strangely irresistible yet doomed to cause ruin. It's appropriate that one of the first (and undoubtedly one of the worst) examples was Super Mario Bros back in 1993, since it was that game franchise that led to Sonic's creation. Did Hollywood learn nothing? The appeal of gaming lies squarely in the user's participation — "play, don't watch" should be scrawled on every movie executive's cheque book — and these films do not work. Following Sonic's adventures on earth as he accidentally attracts the US government's attention, then tries to escape them, the other big problem with Sonic the Hedgehog is the pacing. Specifically, Sonic's. His whole reason for existing is to go fast — super fast. He's like the Flash, Road Runner and X-Men's Quicksilver combined. And while there are some genuinely fun sequences where viewers get to see that play out, he spends a full third of the film cruising around in a sensibly-priced sedan. Worse — he's not even driving. Live-action is very much in vogue at the moment (see: Beauty and the Beast, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu), but this feels like an instance where a completely animated film would've been the superior option. The movie's opening five minutes take place on Sonic's home planet, and it's a tantalising glimpse of what might have been had first-time feature director Jeff Fowler gone down that road. Ah well. Cast-wise, there's a clear standout. Jim Carrey is back in full force, dropping the most endearingly over-the-top performance audiences have seen from him in ages. As villain Dr Robotnik, he's somehow even more cartoonish than the CGI Sonic — and it's spectacular. Like Sonic's running, however, there's far too little of it throughout. Instead, the lion's share of screen time is reserved for Sonic (voiced by Parks and Recreation's Ben Schwartz) and his new pal Tom Wachowski (James Marsden), the local sheriff who's helping him avoid capture. Giving credit where credit's due, Marsden delivers the goods, charming his way through scenes that ought to have tanked hard. Schwartz, too, makes the inspired choice of keeping Sonic low-key instead of manic, resulting in a far more likeable hero. As a kid-friendly family film, Sonic the Hedgehog ticks all the boxes, including the apparent must-have of a central character doing the floss (twice, in this instance). Query, though, how many kids even know who Sonic is. The same question applies to writers Patrick Casey and Josh Miller (YouTube series 12 Deadly Days), who not only relegate the eponymous character to scant speediness, but have also crowbarred in a ton of woeful pop culture references that will date this film far too quickly. Since his creation in 1991, Sonic the side-scrolling bundle of blue fluff has earned over $5 billion. That's some legacy, and one this middling film will neither damage nor improve. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szby7ZHLnkA
Today, the NSW Government announced which festivals would be impacted by its strict new music festival licensing regime — and four of the 14 named are where young people died from suspected drug overdoses. As well as Defqon.1, Lost Paradise, FOMO and Knockout Games of Destiny — where five festivalgoers died during the past six months — the list includes Laneway, Electric Gardens, Subsonic and Rolling Loud. You can check out the full list below. While the regime will not be officially introduced until March 1, the 'interim guidelines' have already led to the cancellation of two NSW festivals: Mountain Sounds and Psyfari. The festivals highlighted the "newly imposed safety, licensing and security costs" and the inability to pull together an estimated $200,000 to cover 45 police working across a 24-hour period as reasons for the cancellations. Byron Bay's Bluesfest — whose festival director sent a scathing letter to Premier Gladys Berejiklian saying, "Will the last festival to leave NSW please turn out the light of culture in this soon to be barren state?" — was not included on the list. In the statement released today by the NSW Government, Minister for Racing Paul Toole said that only the 14 festivals listed would be impacted by the new licensing regime, but that the list would also be "regularly reviewed". "The NSW Government wants music festivals to thrive – but serious drug related illnesses and deaths have demonstrated that we need to help make a small number of them safer," Mr Toole said in the statement. The licensing regime has already been widely criticised for its lack of transparency and failure to consult with industry bodies, and this latest announcement has only heightened this. The Australian Festival Association said in a statement that the organisers of the 14 festivals were notified "by SMS last night" of their 'high risk' status, saying "the process has lacked integrity and transparency — and there are just as many questions left unanswered by the government's latest announcement". This latest move from the NSW Government follows, the Don't Kill Live Music rally on Thursday, Friday 21, when thousands of Sydneysiders — as well as bands and big-name members of the live music industry — descended on Hyde Park to defend the city's live music scene. Despite increasing calls for pill-testing the NSW Government has refused to consider it as a harm-minimisation technique at festivals. Canberra's Groovin' the Moo, however, has just been given the go-ahead to host Australia's second-ever pill-testing trial. LIST OF HIGHER RISK FESTIVALS Days Like This — Victoria Park, March 2019 Transmission — Sydney Olympic Park, March 2019 Up Down — Newcastle, March 2019 Defqon.1 — Castlereagh, September 2019 Subsonic — Monkerai, November 2019 This That — Newcastle, November 2019 Knockout Games of Destiny — Sydney Olympic Park, December 2019 Lost Paradise — Glenworth Valley, December 2019 FOMO — Parramatta Park, January 2020 Electric Gardens — Centennial Park, January 2020 HTID — Sydney Olympic Park, January 2020 Rolling Loud — Sydney Olympic Park, January 2020 Laneway — Callan Park, February 2020 Ultra — Parramatta Park, February 2020 Image: Laneway, Maclay Heriot
Kaiju: Japanese word meaning, literally, 'strange creature'. Jaeger: German word for "hunter". Del Toro: Spanish for "of the bull"; a creative visionary and comic-book-loving movie director. Pacific Rim is a big movie. Really big. Big across the board. As a blockbuster it had a budget of just under $200 million, and as an experience it's practically off the scale. It's one of those films where IMAX almost seems too small a screen. That's because Pacific Rim is, in simplest terms, a giant battle royale between robots (Jaegers) and monsters (Kaiju) that in size both easily dwarf earth's largest structures. To give an example, during one especially destructive rock 'em sock 'em session, a Jaeger uses something akin to the Exxon Valdez as a baseball bat. Written and directed by by Guillermo del Toro, this is a film far closer to his Blade II and Hellboy days rather than his dark, art-house fantasy pieces like Pan's Labyrinth and The Devil's Backbone. Set in the 2020s, earth finds itself united against a common enemy: an alien race known as the Kaiju. Instead of coming from the skies, the Kaiju have opened a portal deep within an ocean trench and periodically emerge from within to lay waste to our cities. In response, humans built the Jaegers: enormous weaponised robots standing 100m tall — an unwieldy juggernaut not unlike Iron Man, except, well, 100m tall. They're Robert Downey Jrs with some serious platform lifts and, just like the Iron Man, are piloted from Rangers within. The difference is that two (and sometimes three) pilots are required to handle the enormous strain placed on the brain, with each pilot responsible for one of the Jaeger's cerebral hemispheres. They're literally 'left brain/right brain' people and, to complicate things further, must 'meld' their minds so that they act as one. That's why the best teams are comprised of relatives: brother to brother, father to son. Del Toro openly acknowledged that he wanted Pacific Rim to be more of a fun spectacle than the recent spate of dark and gritty blockbusters, but in this case that's an explanation not an excuse. Yes, it's more pop than penetrating, but unlike Transformers there's some substance behind the pop. Chiefly responsible for this is The Wire's Idris Elba, whose performance as the Jaegers' commander Stacker Pentecost imbues the film with a touch of class and a touching backstory. The film's hero is played by Charlie Hunnam of Sons of Anarchy fame, and while he seems a little out of his depth as the lead, he's surrounded by a strong supporting cast that includes Ron Perlman, Charlie Day and Rinko Kikuchi — the latter bringing some much needed gender equality to end-of-the-world heroism roles. There are also two Australian pilots, played by British actor Robert Kazinsky and American Max Martini. Apparently in Hollywood, Aussie actors represent the Kaiju and everyone else has to band together to defeat them with accents so laughable even the Simpsons cast would wince. Visually, Pacific Rim packs a massive punch and the design of both the Kaijus and Jaegers is spectacular. It does at times suffer from the Transformers 1 problem of frenetic action to the point of confusion, with the entangled scrappers merging into a singular incoherent mess of metal and skin. On the other hand, though, the direction of the action is far more consistent than Michael Bay's epileptic-fit-inducing approach, allowing you to at least track where the action's going even if you can't immediately see who's got the upper hand. And when the clarity does find its way into the battles, the experience is surprisingly exhilarating. Seeing a giant lizard get an upper-cut from a skyscraper-sized happy meal toy is far more satisfying than you'd think. This is a big, fun (and pretty dumb) movie, but it's hard not to feel that the most compelling part of Pacific Rim is dispensed with during the film's prologue, detailing how, when the first Kaiju arrived, earth's conventional military might was exposed as blunt and ineffectual. Because of this, the entire film feels like the climactic final battle of a story that's yet to be told. It's perfect fodder for a prequel, but begs the question why Del Toro skipped the 'pre' and jumped straight to the quelling. https://youtube.com/watch?v=5guMumPFBag
The beacon bakehouse of the inner-city suburbs has made its way over the bridge, at long last. Neutral Bay, originally named such when it was deemed a safe zone for foreign ships to anchor and take sustenance and supplies, has long had a quiet, cosy cafe scene of its own. And with Bourke Street Bakery's arrival, I suspect, it will bring the Bay back to its roots as a source of nourishment for happy visitors and locals alike. Nestled just behind Military Road — yes, the lower north shore has little service laneways, too (who knew?) — the bakery has an impossible-to-resist aroma that beckons through Young Lane and leads to the carbs-and-coffee Happy Place. With its simple deck-out, window stuffed with fresh bread and not a whitewashed faux-French finish in sight, the sincere space is adjunct to Bourke Street's philosophy of honest, artisan produce and simply good food. You'll find all the fabulous bits and bobs Bourke Street is known for — the flaky, impossibly succulent sausage rolls (pork and fennel, $4.50), the light-yet-lavish quiche (bacon, gruyere and leek quiche $4.50) and the substantial sandwiches with creative, yummy fillings ($9) — and the upbeat service is as warm as the freshly baked goods. As always, the coffee is great (from $2.50) and the patisserie is greater — I can't say no to the chocolate mousse and raspberry tart ($5) and will happily succumb to the ginger brulee tart ($5), too. And if you needed another reason to get into the delicious breads and bites of Bourke Street, the founders have started up the Bread and Butter Project: an initiative to help train up less fortunate folk in the bakery and return the profits back into training and employment opportunities for communities in need. Find the bread at the EQ Markets (Fox Studios), Sydney Growers Markets or
Underground CBD steakhouse Bistecca will be transformed into an art gallery for negroni week. Last week, it commissioned five artists — pop artist Saint Ali, painter Marissa Mu, landscape artist John Sheehy, designer Jesse Chick and portrait painter Sangeeta Saras Lachmaiya — to create a piece of art live in the space. And, from June 17–28, that art will be auctioned off to a charity of each artist's choice. Punters can peruse the artwork with negroni in hand, and choose to bid on one, too. You can check on the current bids at the Bistecca website, with the winners will be announced on Friday, June 28. For the strictly negroni side of things, the Bistecca team has created a Four Pillars version, with $1 from each drink donated to Orange Sky, a charity that aids homeless people across Australia. Image:Dominic Loneragan
If you're as into breakfast foods as Ron Swanson, you're probably already intimately acquainted with Bronte's Three Blue Ducks, the picturesque food spot that serves up some of Sydney's most Insta-worthy brekkies. As well as their branch near the beach, the popular cafe also has a Byron Bay farm and restaurant where they grow their own produce, and soon they'll be opening another eatery — this time in Rosebery. Three Blue Ducks #3 will move into the space adjoining design store Koskela, formerly occupied by Kitchen by Mike (RIP). It's been a tumultuous year for the Rosebery space. They've lost Mike McInearney and his wildly popular Kitchen by Mike to the CBD, they've welcomed and closed Koskela Kitchen within a couple of months (the eatery closed before Christmas) and the poor things have basically been sitting in starving poached egg-less limbo. But while the space is still finding its feet as a foodie centre, Three Blue Ducks have made it clear they plan to stick around for the long haul. Co-owner Darren Robertson told Good Food they don't intend to just move in, change their name and reopen, but to do justice to the site and their predecessor, Kitchen by Mike. You can expect an garden area and an outdoor barbecue too as part of the renovations. The team have just signed the lease and have slated the opening for June. Three Blue Ducks Rosebery will join other foodie haunts in the suburb, including Messina, Black Star Pastry and Archie Rose Distillery. Via Good Food.
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. FAST AND FURIOUS 9 Fast cars, furious action stars, a love of family and oh-so-many Coronas: across ten movies over 20 years, that's the Fast and Furious franchise. It might've started out as a high-octane spin on Point Break, but this long-running series has kept motoring across nine flicks in its main storyline, and also via a 2019 spinoff. The latter, Hobbs & Shaw, actually casts a shadow over the saga's latest instalment. Because Dwayne Johnson was part of that sidestep, he doesn't show up in Fast and Furious 9. He's missed, regardless of whether you're usually a diehard fan of the wrestler-turned-actor, because he's managed to perfect the F&F tone. Over his decade-long involvement to-date, Johnson always seems amused in his Fast and Furious performances. He's always sweaty, too, but that's another matter. Entering the F&F realm in Fast Five, he instantly oozed the kind of attitude the franchise needs. He knows that by taking the outlandish stunts, eye-catching setpieces and penchant for family with the utmost seriousness, these films border on comedic — and by navigating five flicks with that mood, he's been the saga's playful and entertaining barometer. Without Johnson, Fast and Furious 9 isn't as willing to admit that it's often downright silly. It's nowhere near as fun, either. Hobbs & Shaw wasn't a franchise standout, but Fast and Furious 9 mainly revs in one gear, even in a movie that features a high-speed car chase through Central American jungles, a plane with a magnet that can scoop up fast-driving vehicles and a trip to space in a rocket car. The latest F&F is as ridiculous as ever, and it's the least-eager F&F film to acknowledge that fact. It's also mostly a soap opera. It leans heavily on its favourite theme — yes, family — by not only swapping in a different wrestler-turned-actor as Dominic Toretto's (Vin Diesel, Bloodshot) long-lost sibling, but also by fleshing out the warring brothers' backstory through flashbacks to their tragic past. Fast and Furious 9 starts with an 80s-era Universal logo, because that's the time period it heads to first — to introduce a teen Dom (Vinnie Bennett, Ghost in the Shell), his never-before-mentioned younger brother Jakob (Finn Cole, Dreamland) and their dad Jack (JD Pardo, Mayans MC). It's 1989, the elder Toretto is behind the wheel on the racetrack, and his sons are part of his pit crew. Then tragedy strikes, tearing the Toretto family apart. In the present day, Dom and Jakob (John Cena, Playing with Fire) definitely don't get along. Indeed, when Roman (Tyrese Gibson, The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two), Tej (Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Show Dogs) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel, Four Weddings and a Funeral) drive up to the rural hideout that Dom has been calling home with wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez, Crisis) and toddler son Brian (first-timers Isaac and Immanuel Holtane) since the events of 2017's The Fate of the Furious, he doesn't even want to hear about the latest mission that demands their help. The only thing that changes his mind: realising that Jakob is involved and up to no good. Read our full review. VALERIE TAYLOR: PLAYING WITH SHARKS Steven Spielberg directed Jaws, the 1975 horror film that had everyone wondering if it was safe to go back into the water — and the movie that became Hollywood's first blockbuster, too — but he didn't shoot its underwater shark sequences. That task fell to Australian spearfisher and diver-turned-oceanographer and filmmaker Valerie Taylor and her husband Ron, who did so off the coast of Port Lincoln in South Australia. If it weren't for their efforts, the film mightn't have become the popular culture behemoth it is. When one of the animals the Taylors were filming lashed out at a metal cage that had held a stuntman mere moments before, the pair captured one of the picture's most nerve-rattling scenes by accident, in fact. And, before Peter Benchley's novel of the same name was even published, the duo was sent a copy of the book and asked if it would make a good feature (the answer: yes). Helping to make Jaws the phenomenon it is ranks among Valerie's many achievements, alongside surviving polio as a child, her scuba and spearfishing prowess, breaking boundaries by excelling in male-dominated fields in 60s, and the conservation activism that has drawn much of her focus in her later years. Linked to the latter, and also a feat that many can't manage: her willingness to confront her missteps and then do better. The apprehension that many folks feel when they're about to splash in the ocean? The deep-seated fear and even hatred of sharks, too? That's what Valerie regrets. Thanks to Jaws, being afraid of sharks is as natural to most people as breathing, and Valerie has spent decades wishing otherwise. That's the tale that Valerie Taylor: Playing with Sharks tells as it steps through her life and career. Taking a standard birth-to-now approach, the documentary has ample time for many of the aforementioned highlights, with Valerie herself either offering her memories via narration or popping up to talk viewers through her exploits. But two things linger above all else in this entertaining, engaging and insightful doco. Firstly, filmmaker Sally Aitken (David Stratton: A Cinematic Life) fills her feature with stunning archival footage that makes for astonishing and affecting viewing (Ron Taylor is credited first among the feature's five cinematographers). Secondly, this powerful film dives into the work that Valerie has spearheaded to try to redress the world's fright-driven perception of sharks. Like last year's David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet, 2017's Jane Goodall documentary Jane and underwhelming 2021 Oscar-winner My Octopus Teacher, this is a movie about being profoundly changed by the natural world and all of its splendour. Read our full review. MARTIN EDEN The last time that one of Jack London's books made the leap to cinema screens — just last year, in fact — it wasn't a pleasant viewing experience. Starring Harrison Ford and a CGI dog, The Call of the Wild forced viewers to watch its flesh-and-blood lead pal around with a needlessly anthropomorphised canine, to groan-inducingly cheesy results. Martin Eden is a much different book, so it could never get the same treatment. With his radiant imagery, masterful casting and bold alterations to the source material, writer/director Pietro Marcello (Lost and Beautiful) makes certain that no one will confuse this new London adaption for the last, however. The Italian filmmaker helms a compelling, complicated, ambitious and unforgettable film, and one that makes smart and even sensuous choices with a novel that first hit shelves 112 years ago. The titular character is still a struggling sailor who falls in love with a woman from a far more comfortable background than his. He still strives to overcome his working-class upbringing by teaching himself to become a writer. And, he still finds both success and scuffles springing from his new profession, with the joy of discovering his calling, reading everything he can and putting his fingers to the typewriter himself soon overshadowed by the trappings of fame, a festering disillusionment with the well-to-do and their snobbery, and a belief that ascribing worth by wealth is at the core of society's many problems. As a book, Martin Eden might've initially reached readers back in 1909, but Marcello sees it as a timeless piece of literature. He bakes that perception into his stylistic choices, weaving in details from various different time periods — so viewers can't help but glean that this tale just keeps proving relevant, no matter the year or the state of the world. Working with cinematographers Alessandro Abate (Born in Casal Di Principe) and Francesco Di Giacomo (Stay Still), he helms an overwhelmingly and inescapably gorgeous-looking film, too. When Martin Eden is at its most heated thematically and ideologically, it almost feels disquieting that such blistering ideas are surrounded by such aesthetic splendour, although that juxtaposition is wholly by design. And, in his best flourish, he enlists the magnetic Luca Marinelli (The Old Guard) as his central character. In a performance that won him the Best Actor award at the 2019 Venice Film Festival, Marinelli shoulders the eponymous figure's hopes, dreams and burdens like he's lived them himself. He lends them his soulful stare as well. That expression bores its way off the screen, and eventually sees right through all of the temptations, treats and treasures that come Eden's way. Any movie would blossom in its presence; Martin Eden positively dazzles, all while sinking daggers into the lifetime of tumult weathered by its titular everyman. THE MOLE AGENT At this year's Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences anointed the past year's best documentary, as it usually does — deciding that the standout factual film of the year told a tale about a man and his bond with a sea creature. My Octopus Teacher falls into a busy genre of films about being forever shaped and altered by the earth's natural splendour (see also: Valerie Taylor: Playing with Sharks), but it isn't the only one of 2021's nominees that demonstrates how unexpected connections can reap rewards, insights and new perspectives. Chilean doco The Mole Agent does the same, albeit in a vastly dissimilar manner. Its focus: an elderly man hired by a private investigator to go undercover in a retirement home. Rómulo Aitken's client suspects that the facility may be blighted by elder abuse, so he needs someone who'll blend in to do his sleuthing. Answering an advertisement for someone aged between 80 and 90, octogenarian and recent widower Sergio Chamy couldn't be more keen for the gig. He doesn't quite have a handle on the technology he'll need to use, despite trying to claim otherwise. Indeed, when he tries to show Rómulo that he can use a smartphone, he takes countless photos while claiming he's snapping none. Still, he's boundlessly eager to distract himself from his grief by taking on a new adventure, making new friends, and even learning a thing or two. For the mostly female residents at El Monte's San Francisco Nursing Home, for Rómulo and for filmmaker Maite Alberdi (The Grown-Ups) alike, Sergio is a dream — even though he's definitely not your usual spy or detective. He doesn't always fulfil his assigned tasks as asked, but he's a delight to spend time with as he endeavours to record what's going on at the home via his hidden camera-equipped glasses and pen. As they explain again and again in candid and lively chats to camera (presumably because they think they're being filmed for a more traditional type of doco), the women he's now sharing a facility with definitely agree that he's a charmer. In fact, Sergio is so charismatic that he fails to simply blend in, observe and report back. He's also a much-needed and -welcomed source of kindness and comfort to the home's residents, many of whom have no other company to turn to, and it's these interactions he largely documents in his dispatches to Rómulo via WhatsApp. Alberdi still charts his overall mission, but his general presence elicits just as much interest. With a crown for king of the home coming his way, and many of his peers fawning of him, there's much to chronicle. In her third film to focus on the elderly (after La Once and short I'm Not from Here) Alberdi sees the change he brings to people who haven't been paid this much attention in years, and also the change the spy gig brings in Sergio — and sharing her affectionate gaze is easy in this thoughtful film. MY ZOE Rare is the film that nods overtly to more than a few of its influences, yet still manages to inhabit its own niche and no one else's. My Zoe is one of those movies. Its first half bears much in common with 2017's exceptional French drama Custody, while its second half takes its cues from the greatest horror novel ever written. That combination works astonishing (and almost disarmingly) well, and nothing here every feels like a mere clone of better material. In the movie's opening section, Berlin-based geneticist Isabelle (Julie Delpy, Wiener-Dog) juggles the struggles of co-parenting with her ex James (Richard Armitage, The Lodge). They both dote on seven-year-old Zoe (Sophia Ally, The Current War), but they also argue incessantly — largely due to James' dour behaviour, cruel demeanour and ludicrous demands. By the time that Isabelle calls him "just an awful human being" in one of their arguments, the audience is already on her side. They settle their custody dispute, but the bickering doesn't subside when Zoe is found unconscious and requires hospitalisation. Eventually, though, Isabelle has another dilemma to navigate, involving a desperate ploy to get back what she's lost, a risk-taking doctor (Daniel Brühl, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) in Moscow and an option his own wife (Gemma Arteton, Summerland) warns against. Directing, writing and starring here — as she's done with Looking for Jimmy, 2 Days in Paris, The Countess, Skylab, 2 Days in New York and Lolo before — Delpy could've made the relationship and tragedy side of My Zoe into a feature of its own, and then done the same with the science fiction-tinged exploration of loss that follows. Blending the two together befits one of her overt sources of inspiration, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, though. For more than 200 years now, the gothic classic has examined how grief leads to drastic reactions, how science can let humans play god in increasingly bold and consequential manners, and how we're hardwired to use the latter to work through the former, as well as our fears of mortality — and My Zoe picks up those threads, interrogates them with today's medical advances in mind, and turns them into quite the haunting piece of cinema. Both sensitivity and realistic emotions linger in both of the movie's halves, and in Isabelle's actions and choices along the way. Delpy directs herself to a fantastic performance, and pairs her efforts with a poised and empathetic perspective throughout. Another savvy move, and one that epitomises how exactingly Delpy has thought through every detail: that, if you aren't paying the utmost attention during the first half, you mightn't even realise that the film takes place in the near-future. A FAMILY Just five letters are needed to turn A Family's title into the name of one of popular culture's most famous clans. The Addams crew aren't the subject of this Australian-produced, Ukraine-shot blend of comedy and drama, but it does delve into the creepy, kooky and mysterious anyway. The feature debut of director Jayden Stevens — who co-wrote the script with his cinematographer Tom Swinburn (Free of Thought) — the absurdist gem spends time with the stern-faced Emerson (first-timer Pavlo Lehenkyi). With none of his family around for unexplained reasons, he pays other Kiev locals to play their parts, staging dinners, Christmas parties and everyday occasions. They eat, chat and do normal family things, all for Emerson's camera. His actors (including Maksym Derbenyov as his brother and Larysa Hraminska as his mother) all need to stick to his script, though, or he'll offer them a surly reprimand. Olga (Liudmyla Zamidra), who has been cast as his sister, struggles the most with her role. She's also the member of this little faux family that Emerson is particularly drawn to. Her own home life with her mother Christina (Tetiana Kosianchuk) is far from rosy, with the pair suffering from her dad's absence, so eventually Olga decides that Emerson's role-play game might work there as well. A Family is a film of patient and precise frames, awkwardly amusing moments, and bitingly accurate insights into the ties that bind — whether of blood or otherwise. It's a movie that recognises the transactional and performative nature of many of life's exchanges, too, and ponders how much is real and fake in both big and seemingly inconsequential instances. To perfect all of the above, Stevens walks in Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Favourite), Aki Kaurismäki (Le Havre, The Other Side of Hope) and even the usually inimitable David Lynch's shoes. His feature is austere, deadpan and surreal all at once, and smart, amusing and savage at the same time as well. Indeed, if a bigger-name filmmaker had made this purposefully and probingly off-kilter picture, it would've likely proven a film festival darling around the globe. A Family did start its big-screen run at a fest, at the Melbourne International Film Festival back in 2019. Now reaching Australian cinemas after a year that's seen everyone either spend more time with or feel more physical distance from their nearest and dearest, it feels doubly potent. Every lingering image shot by Swinburn — and all of the pitch-perfect performances that he captures — speak loudly to the cycle of yearning and disconnection that comes with being alive, and that never stops being put under a microscope. FROM THE VINE Uprooting to Italy on a whim is bound to change your life, and no one needs a movie to tell them that. Plenty of films keep stressing the message, though; if Under the Tuscan Sun and Eat Pray Love didn't get the idea across, 2020's Made in Italy tried to, and now From the Vine does the same. The only new things that this latest sun-dapped European-set jaunt has to add to its concept: talking vines, and reminders that the corporate world cares for no one and small towns can struggle. So, this movie trades in fantasies and the obvious, and does so several times over. It also relies heavily upon rural Italy's obvious scenic sights, thanks to frequently used drone shots of Acerenza, the quaint Potenza spot where the bulk of the movie is set. Lawyer-turned-car manufacturing company CEO Marco Gentile (Joe Pantoliano, Bad Boys for Life) was born and raised locally, but left as a child; however, it's the first place he thinks of heading when he quits his job after a tussle with the board over sustainability. His wife Marina (Wendy Crewson, The Nest) refuses to go with him, and their daughter Laura (Paula Brancati, Workin' Moms) is certain he's having a midlife crisis — but, after making the trip, reacquainting himself with the locals and setting back into his late grandfather's own vineyard, he realises he's found la dolce vita. From the Vine has Marco and Marina chat about La Dolce Vita, the 1960 classic, and about the Audrey Hepburn-starring Roman Holiday, too — in case the themes and messages the film is going for really weren't clear enough. They are, of course; working with a script adapted from Kenneth Canio Cancellara's novel Finding Marco by screenwriter Willem Wennekers (Buckley's Chance), filmmaker Sean Cisterna (Full Out) loves spelling out as much as possible. Not a single character seems to have a thought they don't overtly state, every plot development is telegraphed as far ahead as the movie can manage, and stressing the apparent idyll by shoehorning in yet another scenery shot happens again and again. Then there's those talking vines, as well as scenes where the adult Marco chats with his grandfather's ghost. Apparently viewers wouldn't understand exactly what's tempting Marco to give up his old existence if greenery and the dead didn't chatter. Although in far less challenging and rewarding territory than his past roles in the likes of Memento and The Sopranos, Pantoliano is the best thing about this dully formulaic flick — a result that also fits a template. Christopher Walken was in the same situation just last week with Percy vs Goliath, in fact. 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 January 1, January 7, January 14, January 21 and January 28; February 4, February 11, February 18 and February 25; March 4, March 11, March 18 and March 25; and April 1, April 8, April 15, April 22 and April 29; May 6, May 13, May 20 and May 27; and June 3 and June 10. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as 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, Another Round, Minari, Firestarter — The Story of Bangarra, The Truffle Hunters, The Little Things, Chaos Walking, Raya and the Last Dragon, Max Richter's Sleep, Judas and the Black Messiah, Girls Can't Surf, French Exit, Saint Maud, Godzilla vs Kong, The Painter and the Thief, Nobody, The Father, Willy's Wonderland, Collective, Voyagers, Gunda, Supernova, The Dissident, The United States vs Billie Holiday, First Cow, Wrath of Man, Locked Down, The Perfect Candidate, Those Who Wish Me Dead, Spiral: From the Book of Saw, Ema, A Quiet Place Part II, Cruella, My Name Is Gulpilil, Lapsis and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
In some parts of the world it's getting harder and harder to get children into the more interesting places. British parents had so much trouble getting their kids to culture they set up a Kids in Museums campaign, with a wonderfully practical manifesto. They'd have no such problems this October, as kids take over the vaulted lobbies and the sombre spaces of CarriageWorks for the Sydney Children's Festival. A decidedly messy festival, children will get stuck into compost bins, play with clay, meet roaming dinosaurs and manufacture heads. A living library, full of Scarry-like people you can borrow and ask about their lives and what they do, will be available for children to interrogate. There's plenty there for grown-ups too, but it's really the same stuff that appeals to the kids: zoo animals, dinosaurs, goth-ish marionettes and asking firefighters if their job is well good. If you don't have kids, then do friends or family a favour and borrow some and get along. The festival runs from September 27 to October 9, and most of the events are free. Image by novemberkilo.
'Independent of Time', 'Sadder Than Cemeteries', 'In the World of Things Without Weight' — Jodee Knowles' way with words means you won't be subjected to any pieces tediously named 'Untitled' at her show. Rather, you will feel your repressed fears and renegade obsessions begin to unravel with pieces that bring the baddening loneliness of human experience home to roost and defeather the disconsolate night owl. Born in Perth, bred in wild reverie, Knowles uses pen, acrylics and inks on paper to create large-eyed, pensive characters who wearily contemplate the horrors of an unseen dreamscape. The imagery is not new, but Knowles’ execution is precise and thoughtful. It is, indeed, the sense of nothingness within her pieces that gives them everything and recalls Mark Ryden or Lori Earley. After a bold cameo in the L.A art world, Jodee created murals in the courtyard of Friends of Leon Gallery in 2010. Her new show, Independent of Time, will offer up her latest creepy eye candy within this space once again. Image: Independent of Time, Jodee Knowles 2011
What do you get if you combine some of the world's most influential and controversial speakers, philosophers, journalists, authors and more, sparking debate and raising critical issues from Australia and around the world? Well, more than just polite chatter that's for sure. And the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, held at the Sydney Opera House in late September, delivers on that promise. This year marks the fourth anniversary of the festival, and with a host of over 40 modern-day thinkers and intellectual icons, 2012 is set to be more thought-provoking and inspiring than ever. One of the highlights of the festival is the fiery feminist icon Germaine Greer. She will be tackling the topic of genital cutting with medical researcher Brian Morris and in collaboration with author and model Tara Moss and feminist activist Eva Cox discussing whether 'All Women Hate Each Other'. Other highlights include neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris opening the festival with his postulation on 'The Delusion of Free Will', a suite of authors and experts panelling a debate on China-US relations, and American journalist Tim Harford enlightening us on why we need to 'Make More Mistakes'. A huge array of other contentious issues will be raised and delved into, ranging from Africa to playing God to sexual behaviour. So if you want to have your say or see what the experts have to say, book soon to avoid missing out. Tickets go on sale on Monday, July 30.
Partway through The High Note, lifelong music buff and aspiring producer Maggie Sherwoode (Dakota Johnson) sits in a recording studio with the up-and-coming musician, David Cliff (Kelvin Harrison Jr), she's certain will be the next best thing. He's singing while she's listening, but the latter doesn't like what she hears — so she slides into the booth with him, spins an inspiring story designed to get him both excited and comfortable, and coaxes out his smooth, melodic, possible hit single-worthy best. It's one of those exchanges that only exists in the movies, and in cinema's fantasy vision of the creative process. It also sparks an obvious train of thought among the film's audience. There's much that's likeable about this overtly formulaic feature, but The High Note always feels like it could've used a bit of coaxing and massaging itself — and a confidence boost to help it serve up some unexpected beats. After first crossing David's path in a grocery store, via a meet-cute that involves arguing over the merits of Phantom Planet's The OC theme 'California' while buying ice blocks, Maggie convinces him to let her produce his first record. But that's actually her after-hours job. By day, every day (and often at night, too), she's a committed and overworked personal assistant to 11-time Grammy-winning R&B superstar Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross). That's a demanding gig, albeit for a legend; however Maggie dreams of more than merely ferrying her idol around town, picking up her dry cleaning and administering enemas on tour. With Grace's latest string of shows wrapping up, a live greatest hits album in the works and no new music released for some time, the singer herself also wants more, but her long-time manager Jack (Ice Cube) is trying to push her towards the easy money of a ten-year Las Vegas residency. With 2019's Late Night, filmmaker Nisha Ganatra stepped inside the world of television, contrasting the journeys of a hardworking woman just starting out and a celebrated but stern female veteran of the field who is unsure of what she wants for the future. Switch the setup to music, then swap Mindy Kaling's smart Late Night screenplay for a thoroughly by-the-numbers affair by first-timer Flora Greeson, and The High Note is the end result — but without any of the resonant commentary that made its predecessor as clever and savvy as it was amusing and affecting. The fact that it isn't easy being a woman in music isn't ignored here, but it's pointed out via generic lines of dialogue that simply sound like throwaway soundbites. The reality that both ageism and racism blight the industry too, and that a hugely successful Black woman over 40 still gets ignored by those calling the shots, receives the same cursory treatment. Instead, The High Note is more content to keep any statements as superficial and easy as a disposable pop song, and to deliver as standard a feel-good fairy tale-style film about chasing one's dream as an algorithm would probably spit out. Also ranking among The High Note's struggles: a blatant, not-at-all surprising soap opera-esque twist that takes the plot into cringe-worthy territory, and a self-parodying cameo by Diplo as an autotune-loving remix specialist that overstays its short duration. Then there's the manoeuvring needed to get all the movie's main players — plus Bill Pullman as Maggie's widowed radio DJ dad, who has a thing for covers — to Catalina Island for a big climactic moment. This all smacks of a feature that could've used another few passes before making it to the screen, but tries to bop along by being be glossy and breezy. And The High Note most definitely is visibly slick and shiny, as well as light and upbeat in tone. While that isn't enough to significantly boost its fortunes, the film does benefit from a rousing soundtrack that spans both new tracks and vintage hits (including an appealing singalong to TLC's 'No Scrubs', and Harrison Jr crooning 1957 classic 'You Send Me' by the king of soul Sam Cooke). The High Note's best asset is its cast, of course, who constantly make you wish that they were working with better material. The movie's two female leads both follow in their famous mothers' footsteps — with Johnson's mum, Melanie Griffith, playing a put-upon lackey in 80s comedy Working Girl, and Ellis Ross easily sliding into the shoes of a fierce diva like her mum, Diana Ross — and yet neither ever feels as if they're merely going through the motions. After turning in such a forceful and powerful performance in Waves, Harrison Jr is all laidback charm here, and he's just as watchable. Ice Cube also adds texture to his thinly written part, but it's the fate of two supporting actors that completely sums up the movie. The comically gifted June Diane Raphael (Long Shot) steals every scene she's in as Grace's vain, self-obsessed housekeeper, while Eddie Izzard possesses both bite and spark as another veteran singer — and, although they're barely in the film, it would've hit far higher notes if it had spent more time with either instead of with its bland main storylines. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAxtH_xwlnM Top image: ©2020 Focus Features, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
When Westworld finally returns for its third season next month, it's time for a big farewell and a few huge hellos. Firstly, say goodbye to the futuristic show's status quo, with the series finally stepping outside of everyone's favourite android amusement park. Then, prepare to watch a heap of series newcomers — including Aaron Paul. Yes, the Breaking Bad actor is joining Westworld for its next batch of episodes. As seen in the initial trailer for the third season, his new character was promised a better world, but this dream hasn't come true so he's now searching for something real. In the just-dropped full trailer, we see him join forces with Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), who is free from the theme park's confines, well aware of what she is and undertaking a similar justice-fuelled search herself. When it comes to newcomers, Paul is joined by Vincent Cassel (Black Swan), Lena Waithe (Master of None), Scott Mescudi (How to Make it in America), John Gallagher, Jr (The Newsroom) and Tommy Flanagan (Sons of Anarchy) — with Cassel playing a mysterious figure who isn't too fond of Dolores' plans. Obviously, plenty of familiar faces are returning for the third season as well, including Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Thandie Newton, Ed Harris and Luke Hemsworth. If you feel like you've been hanging out for new Westworld for years, that's because the show's second season aired back in 2018. If that seems like a long time between android dramas, remember that the first season of the show arrived 43 years after the Michael Crichton-directed movie that it's based on, and 40 years after the film's sequel Futureworld. If you haven't done so already, both are worth viewing while you're waiting for the TV series to return. Check out the full trailer for Westworld's third season below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDJbFA32_QY Westworld's third season will air from Monday, March 16 — screening in Australia on Foxtel.
Library. Late night. Huh? Yes, these words have decided to start hanging out together and meet regularly at the Surry Hills Library. And they don't want to just hang out chatting to the books, they want to see some film screenings, storytelling, performances, workshops and some interesting peeps giving talks. Not that they have anything against just the books; they just like all that other stuff, too. These adults-only (yes, they can be a little bit naughty at times) events are held on the first Thursday of every month (at 8.30pm), and there are rumours of wine and cheese. This season of Late Night Library will again be curated by Mr Eddie Sharp, and that means they'll be controversial, just a little bit unpredictable, and very, very colourful. Last year's effort got the FBI Radio SMAC Award nomination for Best Arts Event and a NSW Public Library Award for programming, which is certified good times. What exactly is on offer, you ask? Well, Dr Kenzie Larsen will fill you in on the ancient art of making friends (on Thursday, November 1), and then Teen Diary Readings (Thursday, December 6) will make you squirm. Zoe Norton Lodge (NYWF, Project 52), Niki Aken (Underbelly), and others will read about their first sexy times, their teen crushes, and how their parents were ruining their lives. So head to the land of books to see some of Sydney's writers, performers, and artists. Just remember to RSVP to nab your free spot.
Explore a different side of Sydney at the Paramatta Opening Party. Music highlights here include Australian music legend Paul Kelly in his collaborative project The Merri Soul Sounds (featuring Dan Sultan, Clairy Browne, Kira Puru and Vika & Linda Bull), The Stiff Gins, All Our Exes Live in Texas, Fez Hamadcha and Rattlin’ Bones Blackwood. Stages are scattered around Town Hall and Civic Place, as are eats and arts. The Soul of Sydney crew are throwing their famous block party or the flickering Fire Garden installation behind the library. Think old-school Festival First Night, just a little way out of the city centre.
Indigenous photojournalist Barbara McGrady has a new exhibition opening November 3 at ACP. Curated by Sandy Edwards as part of the Carte Blanche Program, Always Will Be showcases McGrady's unique ability to document the community she knows and loves with uncompromising truthfulness. A Kamilaroi woman from Mungindi in northwest NSW, McGrady embraces photography as a tool with the ability to increase shared knowledge and foster social change. Particularly concerned with the contemporary urban issues affecting Indigenous Australians, her work typically explores human rights, community events, arts and culture, politics and sports (for the last three years McGrady has photographed the NSW Koori Rugby League Knockout). Capturing diverse subjects ranging from Anthony Mundine training at his local Redfern gym, to Indigenous ceremonial performances at Sydney Opera House, to a portrait of legendary activist and historian Gary Foley, this latest exhibition offers an opportunity to "learn about what it means to be kooris in Sydney and First Nations in the new millennium" through the lens of a passionate photographer at the top of her game. Image: Barbara McGrady, Sista Girls Mardi Gras 2017, courtesy and © the artist.
Music has a long and dynamic history when it comes to inspiring support for social causes, from the Civil Rights Movement to anti-war protests and the African AIDS crisis. On February 1, Sydney based music management and touring company Astral People is intending to raise some serious cash for beyondblue, The National Depression Initiative that has been pulling out all stops to raise community awareness of mental health issues since October 2000. Astral People has lined up a bunch of local and international acts, impressive not only for their established talent but also for their willingness to donate their time. Mark Pritchard (Harmonic 313), Tuff Sherm, Preacha, Templar Soundsystem, Cliques, Ben Fester and the Compound DJs will all be working gratis. beyondblue will receive every single cent raised on the night. It’s time to dust off those dancing shoes!
If you're in Sydney's CBD and can hear helicopters overhead, that's because Barack Obama is in town. According to 7 News, the former president of the United States touched down at Sydney Airport around 1pm and has since made his way — as part of a motorcade — up Oxford Street and into the CBD. .@barackobama at @SydneyAirport. The former U.S. President will be speaking at the @ArtGalleryofNSW tonight. https://t.co/0rfycPrrqA #7News pic.twitter.com/FJgJVxgpi3 — 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) March 23, 2018 Obama is in Sydney for an exclusive private event hosted by the New Zealand United States Council at the Art Gallery of NSW tonight, Friday, March 23. He comes via Auckland, where he spoke last night. At the moment, it doesn't look like there will be any road closures or changes to traffic. Unfortunately the talk is not open to the public, but if you head to the AGNSW, you might be able to get an IRL sighting of the former president. Although you may not be able to get very close — security will be understandably tight.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including 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, 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. NOPE Kudos to Jordan Peele for giving his third feature as a writer/director a haters-gonna-hate-hate-hate name: for anyone unimpressed with Nope, the response is right there. Kudos, too, to the Get Out and Us filmmaker for making his third bold, intelligent and supremely entertaining horror movie in a row — a reach-for-the-skies masterpiece that's ambitious and eerie, imaginative and expertly crafted, as savvy about cinema as it is about spectacle, and inspires the exact opposite term to its moniker. Reteaming with Peele after nabbing an Oscar nomination for Get Out, Daniel Kaluuya utters the titular word more than once in Nope. Exclaiming "yep" in your head each time he does is an instant reaction. Everything about the film evokes that same thrilled endorsement, but it comes particularly easily whenever Kaluuya's character surveys the wild and weird events around him. We say yay to his nays because we know we'd respond the same way if confronted by even half the chaos that Peele whooshes through the movie. As played with near-silent weariness by the always-excellent Judas and the Black Messiah Oscar-winner, Haywood's Hollywood Horses trainer OJ doesn't just dismiss the strange thing in the heavens, though. He can't, even if he doesn't realise the full extent of what's happening when his father (Keith David, Love Life) suddenly slumps on his steed on an otherwise ordinary day. Six months later, OJ and his sister Emerald (Keke Palmer, Lightyear) are trying to keep the family business running; he does the wrangling, she does the on-set safety spiels, which double as a primer on the Haywoods' lengthy links to the movie industry. The first moving images ever presented, by Eadweard Muybridge of a galloping horse in the 1800s, featured their great-great-great grandfather as the jockey, Emerald explains. His image was immortalised, but not his name — and, although she doesn't say it directly, that's a fate she isn't eager to share. In fact, Emerald ends her patter by proclaiming that she's available for almost any Hollywood job that might come up. Unsurprisingly, OJ is horrified about the hustle. Her big chance is indeed tied to their ranch, but not in the way that Emerald initially realises either — because who'd predict that something would be lurking above the Haywoods' Agua Dulce property? Just as Get Out saw Peele reinterrogate the possession movie and Us did the same with doppelgängers, Nope goes all in on flying saucers. So, Emerald wants the kind of proof that only video footage can offer. She wants her "Oprah shot", as well as a hefty payday. Soon, the brother-sister duo are buying new surveillance equipment — which piques the interest of UFO-obsessed electronics salesman Angel Torres (Brandon Perea, The OA) — and also enlisting renowned cinematographer Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott, Veni Vidi Vici) to capture the lucrative image. Cue plenty of faces staring up in shock and wonder, as Steven Spielberg has made a mainstay of his films — and cue a movie that nods to Jaws as much as Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Peele makes smartly and playfully cineliterate flicks, which aren't content to merely wink and nudge, but instead say "yep" themselves: yep to all the tropes and symbols that the comedian-turned-filmmaker can filter through his own lens, and his determination to unearth the reality of living in America today, just as he did when he was making some of this century's best skits on Key & Peele. Indeed, Nope is keenly aware of the lure and power of spectacle, especially the on-screen kind, which also echoes through in the picture's other pivotal character. Ricky 'Jupe' Park (Steven Yeun, Minari) isn't involved in the Haywoods' attempts to snap upwards, but the former child star runs a neighbouring theme park called Jupiter's Claim, which cashes in on his big hit role in a movie called Kid Sheriff. He's known for short-lived 90s sitcom Gordy's Home, too, starring opposite a chimpanzee, and moments of the show also pop up in Peele's film. Read our full review. THE PRINCESS Finding a moment or statement from The Princess to sum up The Princess is easy. Unlike the powerful documentary's subject in almost all aspects of her life from meeting the future King of England onwards, viewers have the luxury of choice. Working solely with archival materials, writer/director Ed Perkins (Tell Me Who I Am) doesn't lack in chances to demonstrate how distressing it was to be Diana, Princess of Wales — and the fact that his film can even exist also underscores that point. While both The Crown and Spencer have dramatised Diana's struggles with applauded results, The Princess tells the same tale as it was incessantly chronicled in the media between 1981–1997. The portrait that emanates from this collage of news footage, tabloid snaps and TV clips borders on dystopian. It's certainly disturbing. What kind tormented world gives rise to this type of treatment just because someone is famous? The one we all live in, sadly. Perkins begins The Princess with shaky visuals from late in August 1997, in Paris, when Diana and Dodi Fayed were fleeing the paparazzi on what would be the pair's last evening. The random voice behind the camera is excited at the crowds and commotion, not knowing how fatefully the night would end. That's telling, haunting and unsettling, and so is the clip that immediately follows. The filmmaker jumps back to 1981, to a then 19-year-old Diana being accosted as she steps into the street. Reporters demand answers on whether an engagement will be announced, as though extracting private details from a teenager because she's dating Prince Charles is a right. The Princess continues in the same fashion, with editors Jinx Godfrey (Chernobyl) and Daniel Lapira (The Boat) stitching together example after example of a woman forced to be a commodity and expected to be a spectacle, all to be devoured and consumed. Listing comparable moments within The Princess' riveting frames is easy; they snowball relentlessly into an avalanche. Indeed, after the film shows Charles and Diana's betrothal news and how it's received by the press and public, the media scrutiny directed Diana's way becomes the subject of a TV conversation. "I think it's going to be much easier. I think we're going to see a change in the attitude of the press. I think that now she's publicly one of the royal family, all this telephoto lens business will stop," a talking head from four decades back asserts — and it isn't merely the benefit of hindsight that makes that claim sound deeply preposterous. Later, Perkins features a soundbite from a paparazzo, which proves equally foolish, not to mention a cop-out. "All we do is take pictures. The decision to buy the pictures is taken by the picture editors of the world, and they buy the pictures so their readers can see them. So at the end of the day, the buck stops with the readers," the photographer contends. The Princess isn't here to simplistically and squarely blame the public, but it does let the material it assembles — and the fact that there's so much of it, and that nothing here is new or astonishing even for a second because it's already been seen before — speak for itself. What a story that all unfurls, and how, including pondering the line between mass fascination and being complicit. Perkins eschews contemporary interviews and any other method of providing recent context, and also makes plain what everyone watching already knows: that escaping Diana has been impossible for more than 40 years now, during her life and after her death a quarter-century ago as well, but it was always worse by several orders of magnitude for Diana herself. The expressions that flicker across her face over the years, evolving from shy and awkward to determined and anguished, don't just speak volumes but downright scream. In the audio samples overlaid on paparazzi shots and ceaseless news coverage, that's dissected, too, and rarely with kindness for the woman herself. Read our full review. 6 FESTIVALS Three friends, a huge music festival worth making a mega mission to get to and an essential bag of goon: if you didn't experience that exact combination growing up in Australia, did you really grow up in Australia? That's the mix that starts 6 Festivals, too, with the Aussie feature throwing in a few other instantly familiar inclusions to set the scene. Powderfinger sing-alongs, scenic surroundings and sun-dappled moments have all filled plenty of teenage fest trips, and so has an anything-it-takes mentality — and for the film's central trio of Maxie (Rasmus King, Barons), Summer (Yasmin Honeychurch, Back of the Net) and James (Rory Potter, Ruby's Choice), they're part of their trip to Utopia Valley. But amid dancing to Lime Cordiale and Running Touch, then missing out on Peking Duk's stroke-of-midnight New Year's Eve set after a run-in with security, a shattering piece of news drops. Suddenly these festival-loving friends have a new quest: catching as much live music as they can to help James cope with cancer. The first narrative feature by Bra Boys and Fighting Fear director Macario De Souza, 6 Festivals follows Maxie, Summer and James' efforts to tour their way along the east coast festival circuit. No, there are no prizes for guessing how many gigs are on their list, with the Big Pineapple Music Festival, Yours and Owls and Lunar Electric among the events on their itinerary. Largely road-tripping between real fests, and also showcasing real sets by artists spanning Dune Rats, Bliss n Eso, G Flip, B Wise, Ruby Fields, Dope Lemon, Stace Cadet and more, 6 Festivals dances into the mud, sweat and buzz — the crowds, cheeky beers and dalliances with other substances that help form this coming-of-age rite-of-passage, aka cramming in as many festivals as you possibly can from the moment your parents will let you, as well. This is also a cancer drama, however, which makes for an unsurprisingly tricky balancing act, especially after fellow Aussie movie Babyteeth tackled the latter so devastatingly well so recently. Take that deservedly award-winning film, throw in whichever music festival documentary takes your fancy, then add The Bucket List but with teens — that's 6 Festivals. There's a touch of the concert-set 9 Songs as well, obviously sans sex scenes. Spotting the dots connected by De Souza and Sean Nash's (a Home and Away and Neighbours alum) script isn't difficult. That said, neither is spying the movie's well-intentioned aim. Riding the ecstatically bustling festival vibe, and surveying everything from the anticipation-laden pre-fest excitement through to the back-to-reality crash afterwards, 6 Festivals is an attempt to capture and celebrate the fest experience, as well as a concerted effort to face a crucial fact: that, as much as a day in the mosh pit feels like an escape and is always worth cherishing, it only sweeps away life's stark truths momentarily. The film's core threesome have their fair share of stresses; pivotally, 6 Festivals sticks with believable dramas. James faces his diagnosis, treatment and his mother's (Briony Williams, Total Control) worries, all while trying to recruit the feature's array of musical acts for his own dream event. Scoring backstage access comes courtesy of up-and-coming Indigenous muso Marley (debutant Guyala Bayles), who graces most of the lineups and shared a childhood with Summer, united by their respective mothers' struggles with addiction — and, now they've crossed paths again, offers to mentor her pal's own singing career. As for Maxie, his drug-dealing older brother Kane (Kyuss King, also from Barons) is usually at the same fests pressuring him into carrying his stash. They're the only family each other has, so saying no doesn't seem an option. Read our full review. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on May 5, May 12, May 19 and May 26; June 2, June 9, June 16, June 23 and June 30; and July 7, July 14, July 21 and July 28, and August 4. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Petite Maman, The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Firestarter, Operation Mincemeat, To Chiara, This Much I Know to Be True, The Innocents, Top Gun: Maverick, The Bob's Burgers Movie, Ablaze, Hatching, Mothering Sunday, Jurassic World Dominion, A Hero, Benediction, Lightyear, Men, Elvis, Lost Illusions, Nude Tuesday, Ali & Ava, Thor: Love and Thunder, Compartment No. 6, Sundown, The Gray Man, The Phantom of the Open, The Black Phone, Where the Crawdads Sing, Official Competition, The Forgiven, Full Time, Murder Party and Bullet Train.
Cancel your trick-or-treating plans. Spend Halloween at an epic, immersive party overnight in a secret rainforest location instead, with a swimming pool, live performers, DJs and a bunch of otherworldly surprises. Dubbed The Afterlife and curated by Have You Heard (Camp Unknown, The Yacht Social Club), this event will transport you deep into a mysterious rainforest, just over an hour's drive from Sydney. For 24 hours, you'll be immersed in an alternative universe, where bad and good, dark and light, and nightmares and dreams collide. While your soul is wrestling with its opposing inclinations, you'll be kept well entertained with a cracking lineup of Sydney-based DJs, including Bondi House, Simo, Nicc Johnson, vonAudio and Start Cue, as well as an array of circus, burlesque and fire-eating performers. Plus, as you'd know well, if you've previously kept company with Have You Heard, you can expect all manner of weird and wonderful happenings. The first three ticket releases have sold out, but there is a fourth on the boil, which you can avail yourself of right here. Image: Dollar Photo Club.
We firmly believe that no one should ever have to settle for weak tea bags, cheap toiletries or anything less than a well-stocked bar downstairs when booking a hotel stay. Thankfully, New Zealand is teeming with boutique hotels that are high on class and have everything you want for a special overnight stay. We've rounded up the boutique hotels and plenty of newcomers that are worth your time. The thick of a global pandemic seems like an unlikely time to open a brand new hotel, but the past few months have seen a surprising number of boutique properties pop up across New Zealand. That's great news for locals, and also for Australians looking for an excuse to take advantage of the trans-Tasman bubble on their next holiday. If you're looking for some inspiration for your next getaway, how about booking a room at Auckland's striking new brick-clad hotel? Dunedin also has its own new five-star boutique worthy of a visit, and there's an attractive design-led property in Wellington, too — and they're just a few of the new places to consider. NAUMI STUDIO HOTEL, WELLINGTON This eclectic new boutique hotel in Wellington's Cuba Street precinct showcases the work of local artists and designers. The 116-room Naumi Studio Hotel Wellington is the fourth property to arrive from Singapore-based private hospitality label Naumi Hotels in New Zealand and, like its sister properties, the Wellington outpost is an absolute feast for the eyes, with bold spaces "inspired from seafaring, the literary world and an enduring love." Guests will see the work of several New Zealand artists and designers. A large-scale floral backdrop in the reception area was created by Art Dep't NZ and is completely covered in gold leaf. Underfoot the botanical theme is brought to life by rugs from painter Karl Maughan, while the lobby features a larger than life floral sculpture from light artist Angus Muir. There are six room types to choose from, and the onsite bar serves up the likes of lychee mojitos and bourbon sours. THE HOTEL BRITOMART, AUCKLAND The striking brick-clad Hotel Britomart was officially the country's first 5 Green Star hotel when it opened last year. That certification marks a commitment to sustainability during the build and the use of eco-friendly materials. It offers 99 guest rooms and five suites — three of which have lush sky gardens and front-row seats overlooking the Waitemata Harbour. Cheshire Architects, who also master-planned the Britomart neighbourhood, looked after the new hotel both inside and out. Inside are "cocoon-like" rooms with timber-lined walls, tiled bathrooms and built-in sofas. Smaller touches include hand-made ceramics, bronze-and-paper table lamps and minibars full of locally sourced treats. You don't have to walk far for a first-class meal, either. The ground floor is home to several new food and beverage offerings, including a seafood-focused restaurant from the Orphans Kitchen team, the new 70-seater from top chef Michael Meredith, and the refreshed outpost of Cafe Hanoi. HOTEL FITZROY, AUCKLAND Privately owned hotel group CPG Hotels is currently in the process of opening a collection of boutique five-star hotels across New Zealand. One of the first under the Fable banner is Hotel Fitzroy. Located just a short walk from the main strip of Auckland's shopping and dining precinct, Ponsonby, the property takes over a historic two-storey villa. A contemporary black-panelled building stands behind the property, bringing the room count to ten. Inside, each guest room has been outfitted with premium soft furnishings, linens and amenities. There's also an intimate library for guests to unwind or enjoy complementary snacks and fine wine. Hotel Fitzroy offers custom experiences including a dedicated host service and tailored activities. While the property doesn't offer an on-site restaurant, guests can order continental or cooked tray service breakfast direct to their room. The complimentary mini-bar is also replenished daily, while the room service menu is available 24 hours. THE DAIRY AND THE CENTRAL PRIVATE HOTEL, QUEENSTOWN The folks from Naumi Hotels haven't only brought their bold, design-led approach to the capital. Queenstown also welcomes two new eye-catching properties from the Singapore-based private hospitality label. Rustic glamour and old-world charm meet in Queenstown's The Dairy Private Hotel, while sister property The Central Private Hotel brings a fresh take on retro postmodernism. At both boutique properties, guests can take their pick from 14 spacious rooms — every space comes with its own bright cacophony of colour. Each property comes equipped with an inviting lounge area and its own complementary drinks hour serving award-winning New Zealand wines. With a nod to its past as Queenstown's original 'dairy' (corner store), The Dairy also offers an old-fashioned sweet selection. Here, you'll also find an outdoor jacuzzi with views across the picturesque Remarkables. FABLE DUNEDIN, DUNEDIN Dunedin's historic Wains Hotel has been given a new lease on life under the new masthead Fable Dunedin. The boutique five-star opening, found just a short walk from the Octagon, brings the Victorian-era hotel into the modern age without losing the glory of its past. Guests are welcomed by a concierge in a top hat and tails, before being guided to one of 50 luxurious rooms or suites that come lined with vibrant, custom-designed carpets and specially commissioned tartan blankets paying homage to the city's Scottish ties. The Press Club restaurant and bar is led by Fable Group executive chef, Jinu Abraham. Abraham has prepared a menu sourced heavily from local suppliers alongside an extensive whisky menu. There's slow-cooked lamb shoulder served with miso-glazed pickles, Otago wild fallow with venison boudin noir, and pork belly matched with scallops. OHTEL, WELLINGTON Just a skip, hop and a jump from Wellington's iconic Oriental Bay, Ohtel is New Zealand owned and operated and was architecturally designed and built by Alan Blundell. After being inspired to create a baby 'design hotel' following a trip to New York in 2000, Alan set about bringing the 10 room, four-storey structure to life. Ohtel is known for its locally-sourced menu offerings, such as freshly baked goods from Pandoro some 300-odd metres down the road, and organic dairy products from Zany Zeus in Lower Hutt. Keep your eyes peeled for their sister site which has recently opened in Auckland's Viaduct. THE INTREPID HOTEL, WELLINGTON New kid on the block and dubbed the 'traveller's hotel', The Intrepid Hotel brings the wide world to Wellington, without the MIQ requirements. Having just undergone earthquake strengthening, the former Cadbury chocolate warehouse, built in 1909, is situated on Ghuznee Street, which means it has some of the city's best bars and restaurants at your fingertips. On that note, be sure to venture around the corner to Pomodoro Pizza, then satisfy your sweet tooth at Lashings. As an added draw, you can forego the kennels and bring your beloved pooch with you because The Intrepid Hotel has set aside a special room — complete with a designer dog bed — to accommodate you and your furry friend. THE MARTINBOROUGH HOTEL, WAIRARAPA A self-proclaimed "beautiful old girl", the Martinborough Hotel is the perfect place to stay once you've braved the sketchy Rimutaka Hill road from central Wellington. This hotel began as a way station for prosperous travellers to and from the South Wairarapa's huge isolated sheep stations back in the 1880s. The hotel was restored back in 1996 to become a hotspot, known for its bar and restaurant, among locals and tourists alike. In the heart of the town centre, this is an easy place to crash after a few glasses of Pinot Noir on your tour of the local vineyards (via crocodile bike, of course). PLUME VILLAS MATAKANA, AUCKLAND CITY If the fast-paced city life is driving you to a near on meltdown, then a peaceful country escape may be just the ticket. An hour drive north from Auckland (depending on the state of the traffic) brings you to the up-and-coming town of Matakana. Here you'll find the quaint-yet-modern Plume Villas. Joining the already established vineyard, restaurant and conference centre, Plume Villas is the latest addition to the family and it is evident that the owners have poured their love into the properties. Plume has all the basic amenities, as well as a petanque court, swimming pool and even a wine library. A great place to stay for a weekend of wine tastings, and of course eating your way around the local Saturday markets. HOTEL DEBRETT, AUCKLAND Hotel DeBrett is an art deco-style, luxury hotel located smack bang in the middle of Auckland City. The hotel offers a range of room styles, each uniquely decorated with eclectic interiors, and the in-house restaurant, DeBretts Kitchen, is also worth a visit, even if just to scope out the grand glass atrium roof overhead. Although, this boutique inner-city hotel is arguably best-known for its decadent 1920s-themed high teas, where the dress code is 'Flappers and Dappers'. Don't fret if your suitcase doesn't include any Great Gatsby-esque attire, because for just $15 you can deck yourself out in a house-provided costume kit containing faux pearls, a feather boa and more. So, in short, there's no excuse for party poopers. THE BOATSHED, WAIHEKE ISLAND If you're wanting a piece of laidback island time luxury then The Boatshed on Waiheke Island is the place for you. This 5-star boutique accommodation is tastefully nautical and there is a range of modern sea-themed rooms to choose from. Each room boasts magnificent panoramic views of the ocean but if you're looking to celebrate a special occasion, we suggest you opt for the Owner's Cottage, which sleeps four. Here, stretching across a generous 210 square metres, you will find three fireplaces, a full chef's kitchen, BBQ, heated pool and to top it all off; a grand piano. QT, WELLINGTON Part art gallery, part eclectic collector's showroom, checking into the QT Wellington is a surreal experience. Situated on Cable Street, opposite Te Papa Museum, this swanky hotel is a treasure trove of oddities. Despite Wellington's fantastic hospitality scene, you're forgiven if you don't want to venture out of the hotel into the wind gusts that whip around Tory Street. There are three stellar options to eat and drink on site. And it's worth noting that the hotel's French-inspired Hippopotamus Restaurant and Cocktail Bar does an exquisite high tea. This is a great activity to schedule for your next weekend away.
There was once a time when fashion photography was about trying to get a clear, objective, crinkle-free shot of a garment. Now we know it as creating an atmosphere, telling a story and selling an identity. The latter style originated, as these things do, in Europe, but it was pioneered in Australia by Bruno and Hazel Benini. Italian-born Bruno was a photographer with a wonderful sense of narrative, painterly composition, drama and light. Hazel — a Kiwi, artist and shop window stylist — could put together a Sportsgirl display that would draw crowds of office girls when it was unveiled on a Thursday afternoon. Uniting in the 1950s, they had chemistry to last over 40 years of creative and marital partnership, and their photography, which she styled and he snapped, remains extraordinarily expressive. The museum recently acquired the personal archive of Bruno Benini, and its curators have assembled this remarkable exhibition on their first sifting. With Sydney Design on around it and Frock Stars alongside, Creating the Look goes even further toward proving that the Powerhouse approach isn't just for kids; it will enrapture and challenge at any age, and the weekend crowd testifies to this mix. Here, crisp photographic prints are not just hung on the wall but given meaning through artefacts, sound bites, rooms that re-create the studio and (most impressively) the dark room and an interpretive, immersive installation by contemporary artist Jean-Francois Lanzarone. The tail end of the exhibition reflects on the Benini legacy through the prism of contemporary fashion photographer Juli Balla, extreme stylist Edward Coutts Davidson, street style maven Fernando Frisoni and the current trend for viral video. Some Benini photographs have iconic staying power (a gun-toting, shoe-stroking model in niqab, for one), while others pluck at pedestrian '50s nostalgia. They invariably drip with glamour even when advertising mere Sportscraft dresses and Wittner shoes and work a charm even now. Fashion photography is all about creating mystery; the Powerhouse Museum is about stripping it away. The resulting collaboration means letting slip some of the mystique to gain a sense of the impulse of style, the ingenuity of craft and the beauty in the everyday — a fair trade, I'd say. Catch talks by Fernando Frisoni on Wednesday, August 4, at 12.30pm and Juli Balla on Sunday, August 8, at 2pm.
At long last, Band of Horses, the gentle, bearded rockers from South Carolina, have dropped their fifth album, Why Are You OK?. Staying true to form, even the meaner songs sound a bit like Neil Young if he hadn't discovered anger. Now, as part of this year's Splendour sideshows, the denim-clad daydreamers are descending on the Opera House. Billed as a "transformative display of pure guitar-driven anthems", the Concert Hall seems an ideal location for the band to let loose their hazy, swirling, laidback ballads. For those overdue for a 'Casual Party', book. Book now. There's more Splendour sideshow action where this came from. Check out our list of sideshows with tickets still available.
Australia's stunning flower festival Floriade is back for another colourful year. Hosted in Canberra's Commonwealth Park from September 15 to October 14, the festival will this year be themed around 'pop culture'. Festival-goers will get up-close to an intricate array of retro-inspired flowerbeds showcasing many of our icons from music, film and literature, including Michael Jackson and Marilyn Monroe. And entry is free. The headline event is NightFest, Floriade's after-dark experience which, for five special nights from September 26–30, sees the park come to life with dazzling illuminated flowerbeds. To match, there's an exciting cultural program with food and drink stalls, an open-air cinema and stand-up comedy from the likes of Arj Barker and Akmal Saleh, not to mention a host of live music performances including Caiti Baker and Bowie Unzipped, featuring Jeff Duff and Kate Miller-Heidke. Tickets to the after-dark event will set you back $31.70 a pop. For dog-lovers, October 14 sees the return of the popular Dog's Day Out, which this year wants you to deck yourself, and your pup, out like the superhero your furry friend thinks you are. Meanwhile, green thumbs can refresh their skills at The Greenhouse, which hosts a range of creative gardening workshops, including kokedama and terrarium making classes. And for those looking to just have a tranquil layabout in the park, Sundays are your chance with the 'Jazz in the Park' sessions providing a peaceful soundtrack to the serene surrounds.
Back in March, which feels like eons ago, the Australian Government announced a ban on non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people — leading to the cancellation of thousands of events across Australia. Everything from Vivid to Bluesfest was scrapped as the country's COVID-19 restrictions got progressively stricter. Thankfully, we're now on the other side, and restrictions everywhere are easing. In New South Wales, this means the state's events calendar is slowly filling up once more. One thousand gigs are happening as part of the State Government-run Great Southern Nights; stadiums can have up to 10,000 fans in the stands; and theatres, concert halls and cinemas have been given the go-ahead to host events of up to 1000 people. In the latest win for the state, the Government has this week announced that regional events of up to 5000 people will be allowed to happen this summer. In a statement released on Wednesday, November 4, Minister for Regional NSW and Deputy Premier John Barilaro said that regional towns can start planning shows for summer 2021, with the newly allowed large-scale events kicking off with the Bowral Show on Saturday, January 9. "This is really exciting news for regional communities because country shows play a vital role in promoting agriculture and injecting money into local economies," Barilaro said in the statement. "I encourage everyone from the city to get out there and immerse yourself in a country show and get a valuable insight into life in the bush." With regional shows given the go-ahead from early next year, you might be wondering about Sydney's version: the Sydney Royal Easter Show, which was one of the many events forced to cancel in 2020. There's no call just yet, but the NSW Government has advised that it is also working with the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW to explore options for next year. [caption id="attachment_710789" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Sydney Royal Easter Show[/caption] Shows will be required to have social-distancing rules, controlled entry point and capacity limit of one person per four square metres. At the moment, the new rules only apply to regional shows and not other types of events, but it's an encouraging sign. Hopefully it's not too long until punters will be able to head along to a (COVID-safe) music festival. With last year's devastating bushfire season leading to the cancellation of many out-of-town festivals, it's been a long time between bush doofs. For more information about the status of COVID-19 in NSW and current restrictions, head to the NSW Health website. Top image: Sydney Royal Easter Show, Riley Durkin.
These days, we're all aware of the impact plastic shopping bags have on the environment, but what about another popular disposable item that everyone uses and no one thinks about? If you've enjoyed a cold beverage somewhere other than your home recently, odds are that you've probably sipped it through a straw (or you were given one). From now on, that won't be the case at Brisbane's Crowbar. Because little things can make a big difference, the Brunswick Street haunt has adopted a "say no to straws" policy and will no longer be serving them with their drinks unless specifically requested. "We are conscious of the environmental impact of plastic and are taking steps to reduce our footprint," the venue advised in a Facebook post announcing the new move. Further expanding upon Crowbar's plans in an interview with The Music, manager Tyla Dombroski explained that they're currently assessing biodegradable options for punters that can't kick their straw fix, and that their efforts won't stop there. If they can work with an organisation that focuses on marine or wildlife conservation, Crowbar would like to implement a donation-for-a-straw scheme. "Even though we're already cutting back our usage, we can also be giving back," said Dombroski. "And hopefully it makes more people think about their use of plastic in everyday life." Here's hoping that Crowbar's efforts also inspire other bars to follow suit — and other industries. Just two months ago, France passed legislation to ban all plastic plates, cups and cutlery from 2020; however Australian laws still haven't caught up with the single-use plastic bag backlash, with only Tasmania, South Australia, ACT and the NT banning them at present. Via The Music.
