De La Soul. Tricky. Caribou. Kool & the Gang. Lamb. Kate Nash. Toro Y Moi. Tunng. Four Tet. You Am I. How do you describe a festival when the lineup speaks for itself? I'll give it a go anyway. Playground Weekender is a four day extravaganza in arguably the most gorgeous festival location near Sydney, Del Rio's Riverside Resort on the Hawkesbury. We're talking lush green bush land, a sparkly river and all the trimmings of a 'Riverside Resort' - nine hole golf courses, tennis courts, riverside chalets and kangaroos that serve you cocktails. Add yoga, the Club Tropicana (!) swimming pool, cabaret, cinema, beauty salon and a 24 hour general store... A moment please, while I pick my jaw up off the floor.
UPDATE, January 7, 2022: Godzilla vs Kong is available to stream via Netflix, Binge, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. The kaiju to end all kaiju (or to fight them, at least), Godzilla isn't a villain. When the giant critter first rampaged across the screen 67 years ago in the original and still best Godzilla film, it was born of the need to confront the consequences of nuclear weapons. When fire blazed from the monster's mouth, there was no doubt that it was sparked by the apathy and arrogance that humankind showed the planet by creating the atomic bomb. Predating the leviathan by debuting in 1933, King Kong isn't a villain either. If the enormous ape hadn't been captured and exploited, the so-called 'eighth wonder of the world' wouldn't have had a date with the Empire State Building. If humanity hadn't interfered with nature, he wouldn't have clutched several blondes — Fay Wray to start, Jessica Lange in 1976, Naomi Watts in 2005 and Brie Larson in 2017 — in his oversized hands across the decades. Given that neither of Godzilla vs Kong's towering titans are truly terrors, and therefore neither should really emerge victorious over the other, getting them to face off seems pointless. "They're both big, so they can't get along" is the simplistic concept. This isn't a new train of thought, or new to the American-made Monsterverse that's been nudging the beasts closer together for seven years. Thankfully, in the hands of You're Next and The Guest director Adam Wingard, Godzilla vs Kong has as much in common with its superior Japanese predecessors as it does with 2019's terrible Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The follow-up to 2017's Kong: Skull Island, too, this new battle of the behemoths doesn't remake the duo's first screen showdown in 1962's King Kong vs Godzilla. And, sadly, it hasn't ditched the current Hollywood flicks' love of unexciting human characters. But it crucially recognises that watching its titular creatures go claw-to-paw should be entertaining. It should be a spectacle, in fact. The film also realises that if you're not going to make a movie about this pair with much in the way of substance, then you should go all out on the action and fantasy fronts. In other words, Godzilla vs Kong feels like the product of a filmmaker who loves the Japanese Godzilla flicks and Kong's maiden appearance, knows he can't do them justice thematically, but is determined to get what he can right. Wingard is still saddled with a flimsy script with a tin ear for dialogue by screenwriters Eric Pearson (Thor: Ragnarok) and Max Borenstein (Kong: Skull Island), but his massive monster melees are a delight. That's fantastic news to everyone who strained to get a proper glimpse of Godzilla in 2014, found that Skull Island borrowed a little too much from the Jurassic Park series, and suffered through the dark and ugly-looking King of the Monsters. Also welcome: Godzilla vs Kong's eagerness to lean into its genre. When it surrenders to its pixels, and to a tale that involves a journey to the centre of the earth, subterranean asteroids, altercations with giant flying lizards and an underground tunnel from Florida to Hong Kong, it's equal parts loopy and fun. That trip to the planet's interior is guided by Kong, whose life has changed since last swinging across the screen. Kept in a dome that simulates the jungle, the jumbo primate is under the watch of Jane Goodall-esque researcher Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall, Tales from the Loop), and bonds with Jia (newcomer Kaylee Hottle), the orphan also in the doctor's care. But, after Godzilla surfaces for the first time in three years to attack tech corporation Apex's Miami base, CEO Walter Simmons (Demián Bichir, Chaos Walking) enlists geologist Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgård, The Stand) on a mission. Testing the latter's hollow earth theory, they plan to track down an energy source that could be linked to both Zilly and Kong's existence — but only if Kong will lead them there. In a plot inclusion that'd do Scooby Doo proud, teenager Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown, returning from King of the Monsters) and her classmate Josh Valentine (Julian Dennison, Hunt for the Wilderpeople) are certain that Apex is up to no good and — with conspiracy theory-obsessed podcaster Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry, Superintelligence) — start meddling. If you're tired of seeing podcasting overused as an easy narrative crutch — as also present in everything from the most recent Halloween to the new Mighty Ducks TV series — you're not alone. Story-wise, Godzilla vs Kong makes a slew of such lazy choices. When its handling of technology brings up memories of the atrocious first US take on Godzilla back in 1998, that definitely isn't a good thing. And, despite the high-profile array of talent involved, the film doesn't give its cast anything to brag about. You could be generous and assume that's intentional, because Godzilla and Kong should be the stars of the show and dwarf their flesh-and-blood costars in multiple ways; however, the feature spends far too much time with its thinly written humans to support that notion. When the movie's monsters are pushed to the fore and thrust together, though, Godzilla vs Kong is a much better film. One exceptional sequence doesn't make any picture a masterpiece, but the luminous wrestling match that takes place against Hong Kong's neon-lit skyline is instantly gorgeous, impressively staged and reminiscent of Tron: Legacy's dazzling imagery. While the fact that the film's fights aren't messy, dim and frenetic to the point of being visually nonsensical shouldn't be as much of a win as it is, that's the state of big blockbuster action these days. Indeed, the knack for action choreography that Wingard initially showed in the underrated and underseen The Guest is firmly a highlight here. The idea of pitting its titans against each other remains ludicrous, but Godzilla vs Kong knows it, leans in, delivers on the concept and adds a pulsating synth score. Wingard has the average recent Blair Witch on his resume, too, so he has struggled with jumping into an existing franchise before — but from the eponymous animals to a not-at-all surprising but still well-handled late appearance, he has helmed one of the Monsterverse's most engaging entries yet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odM92ap8_c0
As a child, I equated riding a bike with my younger brother’s cup-cake fuelled birthday parties at the Centennial Park Bike Track. Not so cool. Now as an adult (and after attending the Deus Bike Swap Meet for the Bicycle Film Festival last weekend), bike riding has become something entirely different Now, riding a bike is very cool. Sydney collective GreenUps have decided to pay tribute to all things bike in their September drinks this Tuesday (September 1). The crew are taking over the Alexandria Hotel, Sydney, with bike valet, bike films and photography, tune-ups, giveaways, prizes for ‘best bike’ and (as always) green drinks for green minded Sydneysiders. Couriers, fixed-gear wheelers, BMX Bandits, bush bashers and leisure riders all welcome!
Surry-loving songsmiths, sharpen your pencils. The Surry Hills Festival first program announcement is here and the standout of the scattering of events announced so far is the inaugural Surry Hills Song Competition. The SHF organisers are inviting you to pen an original song about whatever it is you love about Surry Hills; that tree-lined sanctum of good coffee, the so-stylish-it-hurts set and sometimes insurmountable slopes, or the colourful history that predates all of that. You have until August 22 to work on your composition, which you can submit here. If you're selected as a finalist you'll perform your love letter to Surry on festival day, for the chance of Queen-of-Surry-Hills, Conchita Wurst-levels of stardom, relative to the size of the suburb, o'course. If you're hoping to play a longer set on the day, get hoppin'. Applications for artistic performers and musicians close Friday at 5pm. For those not so handy with chords and lyrics, there's plenty to look forward to, with hints of more participatory events for pretty much anyone who can do anything from disco dancing to storytelling. On the agenda thus far are a dance-a-thon, a collaborative art project and something called Surry Hills Lives — a series of projections, prettying up walls of the neighbourhood leading up to festival day. The project will feature images from the 1960s doco Living on the Fringe, which filmed the people of the area back in the days when it wasn't quite as affluent, alongside your own neighbourhood snaps and local stories — see the website for more details on how to contribute your own piece of Surry history. Festival day isn't till September 27 and the rest of the program is due to drop bit by bit as that date approaches, but now's the time to make sure you can get the day off from your Saturday job. Surry Hills Festival is an event that transforms the whole suburb into a one-day playground, doubling as a fundraiser for the community projects run by the Surry Hills Neighbourhood Centre. Advice: banish the beanie and treat the festival as a kind of unofficial welcoming of the warmer spring days to come.
ARTBAR is the MCA's after-hours offering for those who like their art with a soundtrack and a bar. It had its second birthday in May, celebrating two years of Friday night art, music and performance with a fancy display of bright lights and projections curated by Ross Manning. For the July edition, ultra colourful sugar-coated dreamscape creators Pip & Pop (Tanya Schultz) are at the helm, and the theme is Japan. There'll be opportunity to fantasise away in front of Schultz's kawaii fairyland-style work and get lost in the dark digital ocean of Tabaimo's MEKURUMEKU, which is currently on display within normal daylight art gallery hours too. The MCA has definitely got a good thing going with ARTBAR. There's a general consensus that art is cool, but doing it all with a glass of red in hand and a DJ in the background is that little bit cooler. Fortunately, everyone's favourite cultured night out since Jurassic Lounge ended isn't going anywhere, with monthly happenings planned for the rest of the year. Read our review of Tabaimo's MEKURUMEKU here.
This play one that you are never quite sure you want to watch until you do – and then you wonder how you could have considered missing it. A sole actor occupies the stage for one taut hour, conveying the story of a German woman’s attempt to survive the occupation of Berlin post-WWII. What makes it so frightening is that it’s a true story, written by an anonymous woman who was only identified after her death. The stage, however, is startling in itself: a pure white page, with a single line of the protagonist’s diary scrawled across it. Against this bleak landscape, Meredith Penman is uncomfortably honest in her role. It is not a happy story, filled with loss, fear, confusion, rape and despair, but the strength that Penman expresses encourages warmth and empathy on the audience’s part. Image: Nick Bowers.
Hitchcock had Cary Grant. Kurosawa had Toshiro Mifune. Now, in the modern era, Jaume Collet-Serra has Liam Neeson. The duo have worked together on four films to date: Unknown, Non-Stop, Run All Night and now The Commuter. This most recent collaboration features all the familar trademarks: Neeson plays Michael MacCauley, a regular, everyday insurance salesman with a complicated past and a fractious family situation, who suddenly finds himself thrust into a high octane, race-against-the-clock scenario complete with double crosses, mysterious messages and plenty of dead bodies. This time around Neeson finds himself on a train. Beyond that, The Commuter runs disappointingly close to the far superior Non-Stop. Just as it was on that terror-threatened plane, Neeson is again tasked with identifying an important passenger about whom he knows nothing. Non-compliance will result in the sudden and violent deaths of those around him. There's an early appearance by a femme fatale (here, the wildly underused Vera Farmiga), a claustrophobic fight scene and, of course, a comically over-the-top climax. But while Non-Stop managed to keep things relatively fresh, The Commuter just feels tired and increasingly incoherent. Collet-Serra's films are often described as modern day B-movies. Whether that's meant as an insult depends on the critic – but either way, it's hard to argue that they don't fit the label. His films are wild rides that focus more on adrenalin than story; Hitchcockian pastiches that thoroughly entertain but don't always hold up under scrutiny. His best film by far is also his most reserved: The Shallows, starring Blake Lively, was a deliciously tense woman-vs-shark thriller that proved to be one of the most enjoyable (and surprising) hits of last year. By comparison, while the filmmaker's collaborations with Neeson have unquestionably borne excellent fruit, their limitations must also be acknowledged. Neeson is a terrific actor with an extraordinary body of work behind him, yet that same gravitas works against him when playing the everyday Joe roles Collet-Serra continues to give him. He's too intense to pull off folksy charm, whilst workmanlike barroom banter ("another day, another dollar") sounds ridiculous coming out of his mouth. The truth is, while Taken remains something of a gold standard in the annals of contemporary action flicks, attempts to replicate it with the same leading man have largely fallen short. The Commuter offers fine entertainment for a switched off brain, but little more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWexI9YiLSc
When it comes to street art exhibitions, it really doesn't get any bigger than this. A retrospective of Banksy's is making its way back to Australia, featuring 80 of the artist's off-street masterpieces. Opening on Friday, September 13 at Moore Park's Entertainment Quarter, The Art of Banksy is a massive collection of pieces by the art world's chief enigma — including the darkly satirical, overtly political work that has turned the stencil-loving artist into such an infamous icon. Endeavouring to take audiences on a journey through Banksy's output and mindset, the exhibition includes the well-known Flower Thrower, Rude Copper and Girl with Balloon (a version of which was shredded after sale in a highly publicised prank late last year). [caption id="attachment_592447" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Image: Olga Rozenbajgier[/caption] If it sounds epic, that's because it is. The art featured has been sourced from over 40 different private collectors around the world, and comprises the world's largest showcase of Banksy pieces. As curated by the artist's former manager Steve Lazarides, the exhibition is also a little controversial. While every piece is original, unique and authentic, The Art of Banksy proudly boasts that the entire show is 100 percent unauthorised. No, Banksy hasn't signed off on the event. This isn't the first time the huge exhibition has head Down Under, either. It was on show in Melbourne back in 2016, too — and you can check out our full gallery from that exhibition here. The Art of Banksy will run from Friday, September 13 at the Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park, Sydney. Tickets go on sale from 4pm on Friday, August 2. Images: The Art of Banksy, Melbourne, 2016 by Olga Rozenbajgier
From the creators of the nationally successful Polo in the City series comes the more summery Polo by the Sea, set to ride into Palm Beach on Saturday, January 10 at Hitchcock Park. Celebrating nine years of PITC, the team now count more than 15,000 in attendance over their mostly sold-out events — and we'd like to hope less dramatic horse thieving than a Gossip Girl Vanderbilt charity polo match. Having raised significant thousands for various charities, creator Janek Gazecki's polo matches took out a few Best State Event trophies at the Australian Event Awards last year. Seems the offhand comment 'polo is the new racing' might have some weight to it. The oceanic version of the city polo 'do, Polo by the Sea was first staged on the Gold Coast in 2013 with the aim to replicate the success of PITC in coastal towns and holiday destinations. The last two events attracted some big name guests — apparently even some royal faces. This time around, Palm Beach PBTS has wrangled some of Australia's best polo players to team up on the day — while you avoid dropping the Grange on your beige chinos. With a front row beer garden dubbed the 'Polo Lounge', live music and everyone's favourite 'fashion on the field', knowing the actual rules to polo isn't really that necessary (just make new buds with those in the know). Importantly, polo days mean superbly executed opulence; we're talking seaplane transfers from Rose Bay to Careel Bay, front row VIP tables, designer-briefed social photographers. Yep, your paycheck might be entirely going on this excursion, but guys, there'll be horsies. If you're wondering what to wear, it's this and only this:
According to Google, 'bei amici' means 'beautiful friends' in Italian. A fitting choice then, as Bei Amici, the Swiss-Italian restaurant on Mona Road established six years ago by owner and chef Felix Rutz is somewhat of a local favourite. It's by no means the newest or trendiest, but from the looks of our visit, this place has smiling friends both serving the food and coming back time and again to eat it. With three-month-old, in-house barrel-matured Negroni packing one hell of a sippable, oaky punch, we're not surprised. Nor were we surprised to find the rainbow trout, lightly showered in shaved mild Tasmanian wasabi and cucumber jelly, to be fresh and pleasant. We matched the fish with a sharp Friulano white named Gigante. The fig salad with oxheart tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella (as seen proudly displayed on Bei Amici's website) was a little too sweet, although the buttery and smooth glass of Bramito del Cerve Chardonnay made up for it nicely. It turns out Bei Amici has more than just friends; it has followers. Not only was the local calamari sauteed with pistachios on a bed of fregola offered as a special before becoming a fulltime menu item by popular demand, the Sydney Tripe Society (we're not even kidding) has previously made its rounds via the traditional hotpot of honeycomb tripe, served as a ragu. Having never personally experienced tripe before, I'm glad I did. But pardon the cliche; it's an acquired taste. The calamari was justifiably deserving of its promotion. For those not brave (or perhaps foolish) enough to go down to tripe town, the housemade gnocchi has the gorgeous odour of truffles and is a mushroom-lovers delight. The duck is also a great choice — the skin in particular has all those wonderful juices locked away — but the sausage element might be a little too gamey if you're not keen on those strong, rustic flavours. Desserts were good; in particular the hazelnut meringue with poached pear sorbet and a devilishly alcoholic nipper of housemade blood orange cello. Nice coffee, too. With a staff that's followed the chef's food from state to state, passion for original and authentic recipes and a fine location, Bei Amici might not be your absolute BFF but it's definitely worth knowing.
Forget the most important meal of the day, the most important meal of any young adult's life is the hangover-busting feed — the one that salves the soul and brings you back to human form. The elixir? It has to be the perfect plate of eggs. They're a staple of any good brunch feast, with benefits including a healthy serving of amino acids, detoxifying minerals and protein. Most importantly, a good helping of eggs can help reduce your post-party blues. We've picked some of our favourite egg-based brunch dishes to keep your first (or second, or third) meal of the day as healthy and restorative as possible, without sacrificing flavour. In fact, there are heaps of nutritional benefits to eating eggs (on any day of the week). And the Heart Foundation recommends healthy Australians can eat eggs without limitation as part of a healthy diet. So go ahead and enjoy refuelling with one (or more) of these favoured brekkie savours.
Wooden Shjips are a trance-rock quartet featuring a guy called Dusty, a guy called Ripley and a guy called Nash. The band as we know them today formed in 2006 yet draws on the sound of '60s and '70s bands like The Doors and electric Neil Young, and they all grew up on the East Coast of the United States yet devoted their latest album to the romanticism of the American West. But do you think Wooden Shjips care about things like time and space barriers? As if. Their maximum-volume psych transcends both those things to bring audiences a listening experience that is timelessly captivating, sort of like watching an ageing stoner rock his head back and forth in a smoky garage. Often equated to the Japanese phenomenon called maboroshi, which means something along the lines of “phantom” or “illusion”, these guys exist in a dream state of their own fabrication in which anything is possible. And after six years they have, consciously or unconsciously, developed a signature sound that powerfully fuses spaced-out desert rock with the groove-friendly timbre of 1970s boogie. Helping transform their Sydney audience in to a hypnotic state will be psychedelic shoegazers The Laurels, and the trippy synths of Daniel Stricker (Midnight Juggernauts) and Chris Ross’ (ex Wolfmother) new project DCM.
The latest release from perpetually weird yet quintessentially American rock outfit Dirty Projectors is easily their most listenable yet. But that doesn't mean the band is tending towards the mainstream as they celebrate their 10th birthday. Multi-instrumentalist and driving force David Longstreth has seen each album as a chance to take risks, and when you've built your reputation on being rather odd it's a risk to make an album heavy on catchy hooks and cohesive lyrics. It's one that pays off on Swing Lo Magellan. The album is still an intricate layer cake of highly charged hooks, tender melodies and the orchestral vocals of singer Amber Coffman. And if we're running with a cake theme you could even call it the musical Heston Blumenthal Exploding Chocolate Gateau — it's rich and probably required expensive power tools to assemble, yet still retains a surprising amount of pop and is damn easy to devour. Last time Dirty Projectors were here they played the Metro Theatre, but the Sydney Opera House's Concert Hall is far more befitting of their exquisite orchestration. See them play it as part of the Sydney Festival on 21 January. Read our list of the 12 best things to see at the Sydney Festival in 2013. https://youtube.com/watch?v=o_qFaFl7JVc
When Lerida Estate first planted its vineyard back in 1997 — taking over almost 20 acres beneath the ACT's Lake George range — it did so with a firm aim in mind: making an outstanding pinot noir. More than two decades later, the Canberra District winery has more than a few drops to its name, and a sizeable range of varieties. It's also home to an onsite cafe, should you be in the area. But, back to the vino, which you can enjoy without making the trip down south. Alongside an array of well-known tipples, Lerida Estate makes a mean tempranillo, using the full-bodied black grape variety that's native to Spain. Expect the scent of cherry, a fruity taste and a weighty feel on the palate, all as part of a red wine that goes well with just about anything. If you're eager to stop by Lerida Estate in-person, you can enjoy lunch among the grapevines from 11.30am–3pm daily — with drinks (aka wine, wine and more wine) on offer from 10am—5pm.
It has been an immensely tough few weeks for southeast Queensland's Binna Burra Lodge, with the beloved Gold Coast hinterland site devastated by bushfires at the beginning of September. While the heritage-listed venue is currently planning its reconstruction process, including when it'll welcome patrons back through the doors, the iconic spot has announced a piece of good news — a new climbing attraction that'll open in 2020. While a specific launch date is yet to be revealed — unsurprisingly, given that the 86-year-old site is in rebuild and fundraising mode — Binna Burra Lodge will become home to Australia's first commercial via ferrata. The Italian term translates to "iron path", and is used to describe cliff-face climbing routes that use steel cables, fixed metal rungs, bridges and ladders to let folks of all skill levels to make the journey. Receiving $1.48 million in funding from the Queensland Government, the via ferrata will open up a section of cliff that's usually only accessible to highly experienced rock climbers (and even then, only by using special equipment). When it launches, anyone will be able to scale the track safely, enjoying its adventurous thrills and impressive views, with 30 people at a time able to use the system. Binna Burra Lodge expects that its new addition will be popular, anticipating that more than 50,000 Australian and international visitors will flock to the region as a result. The via ferrata will join the site's range of existing outdoor activities, which — when the venue becomes operational again — include bushwalking, abseiling, flying fox, archery, camping and trekking through the hinterland. [caption id="attachment_742692" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Binna Burra Lodge's sky lodges, before September's bushfires. Via Binna Burra Lodge.[/caption] Via ferratas are common in Europe, especially through the Alps — and particularly in the Dolomites in Italy, as well as throughout Austria, Germany and Switzerland. If you're wondering how they work, they typically rely upon a length of steel rope, which is affixed to the rock at certain intervals. Climbers then attach themselves to the cable, while also stepping on metal pegs and rungs, and using ladders and bridges, to make their way through the course. Binna Burra Lodge's via ferrata is expected to open in 2020. For more information, visit the site's website. To donate to the venue's reconstruction fundraising campaign, visit the GoFundMe page. Top image: Binna Burra Lodge.
Blackcat Productions is creative Sydney duo Phoebe Meredith and Maeve Marsden, and Blackcat Lounge is their ballsy month of cabaret tunes, tales and talent. Presenting them as part of Sydney's Mardi Gras performances, Meredith and Marsden have lined up a veritable who's who of queer local talent. Blackcat Lounge is not drag, and it's not burlesque. But when you've got acoustic, beer-fuelled versions of classic Disney songs or some of the greatest male musicians of the 20th century reinvented as sassy femme cabaret, you don't really need crossdressing or any shock tactics. The production will kick off on Valentine's Day with cabaret, art, food, booze and love before launching into four weeks of performance nights. Lady Sings It Better will take the belief that you shouldn't mess with a good thing and turn it upside-down via saucy reinterpretations of tunes by everyone from Michael Jackson to Queen, while genre-defying songsmith Brett Every will be singing his own heartfelt lyrics. Find out what happens when you mix burlesque and ukelele courtesy of the sultry Lauren LaRouge, or catch all the lads performing at once as The Blackcat Boys. Better yet, save some cash and get a five-show pass. When it's Mardi Gras, more is more.
Neon Indian’s debut album Psychic Chasms could have easily fallen victim to the short attention span of our fickle friend The Internet. It was almost dangerously hyped — indie bloggers went mental for it, it then got mentions on a million “Best of 2009” lists and it had a nice back story of an initially anonymous composer sitting in his bedroom writing songs, probably surrounded by Class B drug paraphernalia and half-finished mugs of Kool-Aid. That composer actually turned out to be Alan Palomo, a 20-year-old Mexico native who moved to Austin, Texas in 2007. And Neon Indian's music didn’t get sucked into a digital abyss because it’s the sound that matters and the sound is magic. Sure it subscribes to all those words like “retro”, “lo-fi”, “synth-pop” and “chillwave” that are now banded about by people who probably don’t even know what “fi” is short for, but it’s also unquestionably progressive. Neon Indian’s latest album Era Extraña is testament to this, a darker collection of songs that would provide a fitting atmosphere if you were completely isolated in a dark Helsinki winter battling an inner Werner Herzog monologue. Or, you know, if you were hanging out at The Standard with a couple of friends and a cold beer.
Indie rock success story Death Cab for Cutie have released what’s arguably their most ambitious record yet since they last visited Australia in 2009. Codes and Keys is the seventh album from the small-time solo project-turned-Grammy award nominated four-piece, and is proof that they haven’t let the hype get to their heads. While some bands tend to play it safe after moving from bedroom-recorded cassettes to big shiny studios, Ben Gibbard, Chris Walla, Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr have used each studio session as an opportunity to explore a new sound. Which is a good thing for Codes and Keys, since it was recorded in eight different studios over its sporadic fabrication. Still containing plenty of warm indie fuzzies, their most recent sound is less reliant on guitars and meditations on failed relationships and more focused on layering different sounds. It’s uncertain whether that’s a direct result of Gibbard’s split from Manic Pixie Dream Girl Zooey Deschanel or whether the band is just growing up, but it does mean loyal fans will find something satisfyingly fresh (and also that Gibbard is officially single). On Friday they're playing at The Enmore Theatre with our own Dappled Cities, which means this will sell out. Oh wait, it already has — get tickets for the second Saturday show here.
UPDATE, APRIL 4: Disney has announced a new release date for Mulan, with the film now hitting cinemas on July 23, 2020. UPDATE, MARCH 13: Due to concerns around the coronavirus, Disney has announced that Mulan will no longer release on its initially scheduled date of Thursday, March 26, 2020. At present, a new release date has not been announced — we'll update you when one has been revealed. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia and how to protect yourself, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website. In Chinese history, the legend of Hua Mulan dates back to the sixth century. At the movies, the formidable female warrior first fought her way across the big screen in a 1927 silent film. The character is no stranger to the page, stage or cinema, but many folks know the tale thanks to Disney's 1998 animated musical. Now, as it has done with everything from Alice in Wonderland to The Jungle Book to Aladdin, the Mouse House is turning the story into its latest live-action remake. Once again, Mulan (played by Chinese American actor Liu Yifei) will evolve from dutiful daughter to kick-ass combatant, all to protect her family in a time of war. She's originally due to be married off to a husband chosen by a matchmaker, until the Emperor of China issues a decree stating that one man per household must serve the Imperial Army as it endeavours to fend off northern invaders. To save her ailing ex-soldier father from having to fight, Mulan disguises herself as a man, takes on the name Hua Jun and becomes an icon. Forget rousing tunes and talking dragons voiced by Eddie Murphy — this time, the tale hits the screen without the singing and smart-talking sidekicks, but with plenty of sword-swinging, arrow-flinging antics. In New Zealand director Niki Caro's (Whale Rider, The Zookeeper's Wife) hands, this version of the story goes heavy on the action and empowerment, as seen in the spectacularly choreographed scenes in the just-released first trailer. As well as Liu (whose resume includes The Forbidden Kingdom and The Assassins), the new Mulan features Jet Li as the Chinese Emperor, Gong Li as a witch, Donnie Yen as the protagonist's mentor, Jason Scott Lee as a villainous army leader, and Yoson An (The Meg, Mortal Engines) as her fellow fighter and love interest. The film hits cinemas next year — check out the teaser below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01ON04GCwKs After being delayed from its original release date of March 28, 2020, Mulan will now open in Australian cinemas on July 23, 2020.
You've feasted upon endless bags of crustacean at The Norfolk's House of Crabs. Now Cleveland Street's seafood palace is delving into another, more traditional means of all-you-can-eat tomfoolery: yum cha. For one whole day of serious feasting on Sunday, June 7, House of Crabs is throwing its own oceanic version of yum cha. Expect lobster doughnuts with XO mayo, salt and pepper bug meat with lime, prawn toast with okra and popcorn, steamed Alaskan crab legs with creole butter, clams with black bean sauce and celery, alongside 'The Boil' (South Australian mussels, Little Neck clams, Queensland prawns, Blue Swimmer Crab, Snow Crab and King Crab). If seafood isn't your only yum cha preference, there'll be buttermilk chilli chicken ribs, charcoal chicken skewers, grilled corn with cotija cheese, pulled pork buns and steamed pork and truffle dumplings. Being a long weekend Sunday, you'll want to grab one of the Norfolk's Bloody Marys or a sweet, sweet Fire Engine and get cracking. Just remember, be assertive, be polite and pace yourself. — just look at this lobster doughnut: House of Crabs' Yum Cha is happening on Sunday, June 7 from 11am. To book, email the team.
UPDATE, March 4, 2021: Moonlight is available to stream via Netflix, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. "At some point, you gotta decide for yourself who you're going to be. Can't let nobody make that decision for you," Miami drug dealer Juan (Mahershala Ali) tells nine-year-old Little (Alex Hibbert). They're warm words of wisdom offered by someone who wouldn't be seen as a substitute father figure in most movies — and given to a shy, bullied boy desperately in need of a guiding hand. Their connection, defying expectations and complicated by Little's crack-addicted mother Paula (Naomie Harris), forms much of Moonlight's first chapter, but their interactions will influence the entire film. As the story progresses, Little grows into awkward teenager Chiron (played by Ashton Sanders), a young man who still struggles with who he is and how he feels. Then, finally, he transforms into the hardened, Atlanta-based Black (Trevante Rhodes), styling himself in Juan's image. He'll keep trying to forge his identity, while grappling with the different visions of masculinity around him, as well as his own sexuality. As he comes of age, he'll also be shaped by his mother's troubles, the nurturing presence of Juan's girlfriend Teresa (Janelle Monáe), and his friendship with his classmate Kevin (played by Jaden Piner, Jharrel Jerome and André Holland over the years). Written and directed by Barry Jenkins from an unstaged play by Tarell Alvin McCraney, Moonlight is a film of moments and mindsets, one that values sensations and textures more than any other storytelling tool. Jenkins constructs the emotions and experiences of his protagonist from the people, places, dreams and encounters that define him at any given point, plus his ongoing quest to find a persona, a companion, and a space that provides comfort and solace. Narrative-wise, it might sound slight. Thematically, visually and in its performances, Moonlight is a powerhouse. Stressing how things left unseen and unsaid are as crucial as sights glimpsed and words uttered, every frame, look and line of dialogue proves a piece of the puzzle that is Chiron in his various guises. Often, Jenkins and his college roommate turned cinematographer James Laxton make the audience stare into the eyes of their leads, conveying a pain and a yearning that borders on contagious. More frequently, the filmmaking team adopts their character's perspective, gazing into a world teeming with uncertainty. Subjectivity reigns, such as when the dialogue and imagery fall out of synch during moments of distress, or when a painful memory is cast in heightened, almost neon hues. Even when the film peers in from the outside, the little things still matter, be it green blades of grass spied up close, a hand grasping at sand during an intimate exchange, or a man removing the armour-like grill from his teeth. Jenkins seamlessly brings all of the above together, creating a cinematic symphony of the patterns and rhythms that come with deciding who you're going to be. However, he also crafts a sensitive stage for his three lead actors to infuse their protagonist with heart and soul, as a poor, black, queer boy becomes a man. Though matched in every scene by exceptional co-stars — including the charismatic, stereotype-defying work of Ali, as well as the quiet tenderness of Holland — the main trio are never anything less than devastating.
It’s no secret which part of the world Bethany Consentino is talking about when she sings “We were born with the sun in our teeth and in our hair” and questions how you could possibly live anywhere else. But it is testament to her charm that even those whose Instagram feeds consist almost solely of Bondi Beach are willing to listen to her latest 45-minute love letter to California without harbouring any feelings of resentment. Or maybe it’s just that it’s easy to graft pretty much any of Consentino’s sentiments on to our own. Her lyrics about boys and heartbreak and nostalgia seem appropriate whether you’re feeling a little emo or just a little bored. And even though most of the fuzzy reverberation and endearing sloppiness bleeding through Best Coast’s debut has been removed, The Only Place is still homey rather than slick. Supported by our own Pear Shape and Queensland’s Dune Rats, their Metro Theatre show will be a melting pot of blissed-out benevolent vibes.
The discrepancy between Perfume Genius' Twitter feed and his music is incredible. As Mike Hadreas he channels his often unnerving honesty into a series of vulgar 140-character trivialities about everything from fondling the f*** out of zits to applying cheapo L'Oreal BB cream. As Perfume Genius he channels it into beautifully harrowing lamentations on serious personal traumas ranging from prostitution to drug addiction. Lyrics about traumatic past experiences aren't unique, but Hadreas' ability to convey them with warmth and lucidity is something special. His second album Put Your Back N 2 It tackles some big issues, but carrying them are tender vocals, delicate piano playing and a solid understanding of basic human fears that shape us all. And at his live show you also get a sense of the other side of Hadreas — the joker who pops his zits and rags on cheap cosmetics — making it an even more genuine look into the singular musician's mind. Read our list of the 12 best things to see at the Sydney Festival in 2013. https://youtube.com/watch?v=OOpkr8uNWpk
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. THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER What do you call a movie filled with giant screaming goats, magic weapons vying for attention like romantic rivals, a naked Chris Hemsworth and a phenomenally creepy Christian Bale? Oh, and with no fewer than four Guns N' Roses needle drops, 80s nostalgia in droves, and a case of tonal whiplash as big as the God of Thunder's biceps? You call it Thor: Love and Thunder, and also a mixed bag. The fourth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to focus on the now 29-title saga's favourite space Viking, and the second Thor flick directed by Taika Waititi after Thor: Ragnarok, it welcomely boasts the New Zealand filmmaker's playful and irreverent sense of humour — and the dead-serious days of the series-within-a-series' first two outings, 2011's Thor and 2013's Thor: The Dark World, have definitely been banished. But Love and Thunder is equally mischievous and jumbled. It's chaotic in both fun and messy ways. Out in the cosmos, no one can swim, but movies about galaxy-saving superheroes can tread water. Thor Odinson (Hemsworth, Spiderhead) has been doing a bit of that himself — not literally, but emotionally and professionally. Narrated in a storybook fashion by rock alien Korg (also Waititi, Lightyear), Love and Thunder first fills in the gaps since the last time the Asgardian deity graced screens in Avengers: Endgame. Ditching his dad bod for his ultra-buff god bod earns a mention. So does biding his time with the Guardians of the Galaxy crew (with Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper and company popping up briefly). Then, a distress call from an old friend gives Thor a new purpose. Fellow warrior Sif (Jaimie Alexander, Last Seen Alive) has been fighting galactic killer Gorr the God Butcher (Bale, Ford v Ferrari), who's on a mission to do exactly what his name promises due to a crisis of faith — which puts not only Thor himself but also New Asgard, the Norwegian village populated by survivors from his home planet, at grave risk. In MCU movies before Ragnarok, many of which Thor has smouldered and smiled his way through, he would've attacked the problem — this time literally — with enchanted hammer mjolnir. It's been in pieces since the last standalone Thor film. Courtesy of the god's ex, it doesn't stay that way for long. Love and Thunder nabs itself two Thors for the price of one, after Dr Jane Foster (Natalie Portman, Vox Lux) hears mjolnir a-calling following a stage-IV cancer diagnosis. Soon, the astrophysicist is also the Mighty Thor, brandishing the mallet, wearing armour and sporting flowing blonde locks. When the OG Thor finds out, he's overcome with post-breakup awkwardness, but there's still a god killer to stop and also kidnapped kids to rescue. Cue a couple of Thors, plus Korg and New Asgard king Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson, Passing), trying to prevent the worst from happening. Love and Thunder is a film where those yelling oversized goats pull a boat into the heavens; where Hemsworth is gloriously in the goofiest mode he has, aka the best mode; and where Russell Crowe (Unhinged) plays a tutu-wearing, lightning bolt-flinging Zeus with the worst on-screen accent this side of House of Gucci (Greek instead of Italian, though). The movie is rarely more than a few seconds from a one-liner or a silly throwaway gag, and it loves colour more than a rainbow does — except when it doesn't, including in the desert-set opening that introduces Gorr and his god-slaying necrosword, and when it follows him into an eerie shadow realm. Love and Thunder also adds Bale, an actor forever linked with helping bring superheroes back to the blockbuster realm via Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, to the ranks of terrific caped crusader foes. This Thor flick contains plenty, clearly; however, for everything that works, something else doesn't. Read our full review. COMPARTMENT NO 6 Handheld camerawork can be a gimmick. It can be distracting, too. When imagery seems restless for no particular reason other than making the audience restless, it drags down entire films. But at its best, roving, jittery and jumpy frames provide one of the clearest windows there is into the souls that inhabit the silver screen in 90-minute blocks or so, and also prove a wonderful way of conveying how they feel in the world. That's how Compartment No. 6's cinematography plays, and it couldn't be a more crucial move; this is a deeply thoughtful movie about two people who are genuinely restless themselves, after all. Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen (The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki) wants what all of the most perceptive filmmakers do — to ensure his viewers feel like they know his characters as well as they know themselves — and in his latest cinematic delight, he knows how to get it. How Kuosmanen evokes that sense of intimacy and understanding visually is just one of Compartment No. 6's highlights, but it's worthy of a train full of praise. With the helmer's returning director of photography Jani-Petteri Passi behind the lens, the film gets close to Finnish student Laura (Seidi Haarla, Force of Habit) and Russian miner Ljoha (Yuriy Borisov, The Red Ghost). It peers intently but unobtrusively their way, like an attentive lifelong friend. It jostles gently with the locomotive that the movie's central pair meets on, and where they spend the bulk of their time together. It ebbs and flows like it's breathing with them. It rarely ventures far from their faces in such cramped, stark, 90s-era Russian surroundings, lingering with them, carefully observing them, and genuinely spying how they react and cope in big and small moments alike. Pivotally — and at every moment as well — it truly sees its key duo. With their almost-matching names, Laura and Ljoha meet on a train ride charting the lengthy expanse from Moscow to Murmansk. She's taking the journey to see the Kanozero petroglyphs, ancient rock drawings that date back the 2nd and 3rd millennium BC, and were only discovered in 1997; he's heading up for work. Laura is also meant to be travelling with Irina (Dinara Drukarova, The Bureau), her Russian girlfriend, but the latter opted out suddenly after an intellectual-filled house party where mocking the former for her accent — and claiming she's just a lodger — threw a pall of awkwardness over their relationship. Making the jaunt solo is still sitting uneasily with Laura, though. Calls along the way, answered with busy indifference, don't help. And neither does finding herself sharing compartment number six, obviously, with the tough- and rough-around-the edges Ljoha. It's been 71 years now since Alfred Hitchcock gave cinema the noir thriller Strangers on a Train. It's been 27 years since Richard Linklater also had two unacquainted folks meeting while riding the rails in Before Sunrise, which started a terrific romance trilogy starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. Accordingly, the idea behind Compartment No. 6 is instantly familiar. Here, two strangers meet on a train, a connection sparks and drama ensues. Kuosmanen, who nabbed an award at Cannes for The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki and then earned the 2021 competition Grand Prix, which comes second only to the prestigious Palme d'Or, for this, is clearly working with a well-used setup. But even though this isn't a movie that's big on surprises, it's still a stellar film. It's also a reminder that a feature that's personal and raw, also attuned to all the tiny details of life in its performances, mood and style, and firmly character-driven, can make even the most recognisable narrative feel new. Read our full review. SUNDOWN In Sundown's holiday porn-style opening scenes, a clearly wealthy British family enjoys the most indulgent kind of Acapulco getaway that anyone possibly can. Beneath the blazing blue Mexican sky, at a resort that visibly costs a pretty penny, Alice Bennett (Charlotte Gainsbourg, The Snowman), her brother Neil (Tim Roth, Bergman Island), and her teenage children Alexa (Albertine Kotting McMillan, A Very British Scandal) and Colin (Samuel Bottomley, Everybody's Talking About Jamie) swim and lounge and sip, with margaritas, massages and moneyed bliss flowing freely. For many, it'd be a dream vacation. For Alice and her kids, it's routine, but they're still enjoying themselves. The look on Neil's passive face says everything, however. It's the picture of apathy — even though, as the film soon shows, he flat-out refuses to be anywhere else. The last time that a Michel Franco-written and -directed movie reached screens, it came courtesy of the Mexican filmmaker's savage class warfare drama New Order, which didn't hold back in ripping into the vast chasm between the ridiculously rich and everyone else. Sundown is equally as brutal, but it isn't quite Franco's take on The White Lotus or Nine Perfect Strangers, either. Rather, it's primarily a slippery and sinewy character study about a man with everything as well as nothing. Much happens within the feature's brief 82-minute running time. Slowly, enough is unveiled about the Bennett family's background, and why their extravagant jaunt abroad couldn't be a more ordinary event in their lavish lives. Still, that indifferent expression adorning Neil's dial rarely falters, whether grief, violence, trauma, lust, love, wins or losses cast a shadow over or brighten up his poolside and seaside stints knocking back drinks in the sunshine. For anyone else, the first interruption that comes the Bennetts' way would change this trip forever; indeed, for Alice, Alexa and Colin, it does instantly. Thanks to one sudden phone call, Alice learns that her mother is gravely ill. Via another while the quartet is hightailing it to the airport, she discovers that the worst has occurred. Viewers can be forgiven for initially thinking that Neil is her cruelly uncaring husband in these moments — Franco doesn't spell out their relationship until later, and Neil doesn't act for a second like someone who might and then does lose his mum. Before boarding the plane home, he shows the faintest glimmer of emotion when he announces that he's forgotten his passport, though. That said, he isn't agitated about delaying his journey back, but about the possibility that his relatives mightn't jet off and leave him alone. Sundown is often a restrained film, intentionally so. It doles out the reasons behind Neil's behaviour, and even basic explanatory information, as miserly as its protagonist cracks a smile. The movie itself is eventually a tad more forthcoming than Neil, but it remains firmly steeped in Franco's usual mindset: life happens, contentedly and grimly alike, and we're all just weathering it. Neither the highs nor lows appear to bother Neil, who holes up at the first hotel his cab driver takes him to, then starts making excuses and simply ignoring Alice's worried calls and texts. He navigates an affair with the younger Berenice (Iazua Larios, Ricochet) as well, and carries on like he doesn't have a care in the world. His sister returns, frantic and angry, but even then he's nonplussed. The same proves true, too, when a gangland execution bloodies his leisurely days by the beach, and also when violence cuts far closer to home. 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 April 7, April 14, April 21 and April 28; and May 5, May 12, May 19 and May 26; and June 2, June 9, June 16, June 23 and June 30. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Fantastic Beasts and the Secrets of Dumbledore, Ambulance, Memoria, The Lost City, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Happening, The Good Boss, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The Northman, Ithaka, After Yang, Downton Abbey: A New Era, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, 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 and Ali & Ava.
If you're willing to leave a gig awash with the stench of beer and humanity as evidence that you've just witness one of the most tumultuous live acts touring right now, the only place you'll want to be on 22 January is Oxford Art Factory. After selling out their first show in the small space of 10 minutes grunty UK swamp rockers Foals have snuck a second Sydney show into their busy schedule. If you're skipping Big Day Out it's the last chance you'll have to see, hear and smell the marshy tracks from their 2008 debut and 2010's follow-up Total Life Forever in the glistening flesh. And with their Flood and Alan Moulder-produced new album Holy Fire on its way, future tickets will only be hotter property still. Conversely, if you have somewhere to go afterwards other than your own shower, then save your cash for more conventional mementos and take up position near the back of the room. Things are gonna get wild. Update: In support of Foals on both nights will be Brisbane disco outfit Mitzi. Their single "Who Will Love You Now" is as awesome as all their haircuts combined. https://youtube.com/watch?v=zHcOFmiswcQ
If there’s anything that can really make you dance like no one’s watching without actually altering your mind it’s a fancy tie and a mask covered in glitter and feathers. So if you have access to those two things and you like great music, you should put them on and head to Goodgod this Friday for a masked ball of monumental proportions. Monthly dance party Slow Blow is hosting a masquerade to celebrate the release of Softwar’s This Time Around EP. Black tie and masks are essential, so tireless late night party crusaders and spirited early rises should feel extra fancy as they embark upon a sonic journey through filtery deep funk, galactic dance and glittery house music. Coming along for the ride are Slow Blow DJs and Dreamcatcher and Jungle Snake, plus the all-round nice guys who spin under Future Classic. If you start to bust out some great moves and feel an overwhelming desire to reveal your true identity, stash your mask in your pocket rather than throwing it dramatically into the crowd. It may come in handy as you stumble out onto Liverpool Street in the wee hours of the morning.
Ever walked into the house of a real-life hoarder? As trends in fashion and interior design lean more towards the minimal, those of us who refuse to declutter our lives seem only more fascinating. Hence the appeal of A&E’s Hoarders, and also the immediate visual impact of Song Dong’s latest art installation. A transformative representation of his mother’s mourning process following the death of his father, Song Dong’s Waste Not features gathers over 10,000 everyday objects she gathered over a period of five decades. In fact it consists of the entire contents of her house. There are balls of twine, empty toothpaste tubes, stuffed animals and literally hundreds of kitchen utensils, all carefully stacked and laid out. First it’s a visual smack in the face, then it’s a ruminative journey of hardship, grief and personal resilience. Just as fashionably minimalist interiors are often telling of how much we actually have, hoarding can also be about profound loss.
2015 is the UNESCO International Year of Light, and Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art is taking the opportunity to shine a little light on local artists harnessing the power of electromagnetic radiation in new and exciting ways with upcoming exhibition Luminous. MCA chief curator Natasha Bullock is promising “shooting star spirits, geometric patterns of light and dark dancing on walls, ambient environments and infinity windows carved into architectural space”. Featuring a major new commission by Sydney-based Aboriginal artist Jonathan Jones (recipient of last year’s Kaldor Public Art Projects’ Your Very Good Idea) and an impressive lineup including Sandra Selig, Peter Kennedy, William Seeto and John Mawurndjul, Luminous is sure to bring a little light into your life as those famous Sydney days start to get a little darker. Image: Sandra Selig, Be Some Other Material (2011), single-channel split screen digital video.
If movies were an assessable component in the American SATs, one might easily expect to find a question like: Ralph Fiennes is to comedy as Tyler Perry is to...? (a) Costumes (b) Makeup (c) Playing multiple characters (d) Films accessible to white people. After all, this was the chap with the burned face from The English Patient, the Voldemort with the no face from Harry Potter and the Naziest bloody Nazi in Schindler's List. Excluding, for argument's sake, that 'incident on the plane', to think upon Fiennes was to consider class, panache and gravitas. Certainly, the next Bill Murray he was not. There's no doubt Fiennes is now experiencing something of a cinematic resurgence, particularly given his run as the newly minted 'M' in the Bond franchise, yet few could ever have expected that this Lazarus-esque revival would've seen him not just turn his mind to comedy but excel in it. Yes, that was a long-winded prelude to reviewing Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, but in this — now his eighth feature film — it's the first time the director has centred everything on just one character, and, thankfully, his leading man delivers something extraordinary. Fiennes is, quite simply, perfect. Playing the inimitable Monsieur Gustave H (the eponymous hotel's storied concierge), he's every bit the quirky protagonist an Anderson film requires but brings to the role an added layer of, well, Fiennes. Monsieur Gustave is, as one of the film's narrators observes, a man of a forgotten age. He's the manifestation of the Grand Budapest itself: elegant, refined, admired yet on the cusp of being left behind in a world scrambling over itself to modernise just as soon as anybody can arrange it. Filmed in three separate aspect ratios to reflect the three distinct decades in which this story takes place, The Grand Budapest Hotel is, typically, steeped in playful innocence yet forever flirting with a darkness just beneath the surface. It's been a growing trend for Anderson, whose last film, Moonrise Kingdom, was a decidedly black comedy grounded in his otherwise traditional quirkiness. Grand Budapest takes it even further: fingers are severed, cats are lobbed out of windows and prison guards are dispatched with bloody abandon. That all such moments elicit more laughter than horror is a testament to Anderson's unique style and direction. Naturally, The Grand Budapest Hotel is also brimming with cameos from Anderson faithfuls and newcomers alike. Murray, Wilson, Swinton, Schwartzman, Norton, Goldblum, Dafoe and Brody all have their go again, whilst Saoirse Ronan, Harvey Keitel and Jude Law gain entry into the team. There is a caper-based plot focused upon the contested inheritance of a priceless painting, but The Grand Budapest Hotel begins and ends as a character study, and it's in that study that the unbridled joy of watching this film is to be found. https://youtube.com/watch?v=1Fg5iWmQjwk
If you're a dinosaur fan in Sydney, life keeps finding a way to indulge your interest in prehistoric creatures. Sydney's latest: Jurassic World: The Exhibition, which roars into town with life-sized, lifelike critters, as well as a celebration of 30 years since the first Jurassic Park movie initially rampaged across the big screen. A showcase with the same name displayed in Melbourne back in 2016, but this Harbour City visit comes after stops everywhere from London, San Diego, Paris and Madrid to Seoul, Shanghai and Toronto — running from Friday, September 22, 2023–Sunday, February 18, 2024. Expect to feel like you've been transported to Isla Nublar, complete with a walk through the big-screen saga's famed gates. From there, you'll walk through themed environments featuring dinos, including a brachiosaurus, velociraptors — yes, get ready to say "clever girl" — and a Tyrannosaurus rex. Also linking in with the animated Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous series, there'll be baby dinos, including the show's Bumpy. Sydneysiders and visitors to the New South Wales capital can get roaming, and staring at animatronic dinos, at the 3000-square-metre SuperLuna Pavilion at Sydney Showground in Sydney Olympic Park. Now, all that's left is to decide which Jurassic franchise character you want to emulate (the best choices: Laura Dern's palaeobotanist Ellie Sattler, Sam Neill's palaeontologist Alan Grant and Jeff Goldblum's mathematician Ian Malcolm, of course). And no, when Michael Crichton penned Jurassic Park in 1990, then Steven Spielberg turned it into a 1993 film, they wouldn't have expected that this'd be the result three decades — and five more movies — later.
UPDATE, August 3, 2020: Pet Sematary is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video, Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube and iTunes. It's true of beloved family pets who've returned from the grave, and it's true of horror novels turned into movies yet again: sometimes dead is better. Stephen King might've penned that sentiment himself, but Hollywood was never going to take the popular author's advice. As the second film adaptation of Pet Sematary shows, perhaps they should've listened. With King's work frequently flickering across screens big and small, exhuming this creepfest must've seemed like an easy win. This is the ninth movie or TV series based on his writing in the past three years alone, with four more due in 2019 as well. There's plenty to claw into in Pet Sematary, including the many shadows that death and grief cast over the living. There's ample room for unsettling tension, spanning both bumps and jumps and existential unease. But Pet Sematary largely feels like the most standard possible take on its supernatural narrative. Given how standard its predecessor felt 30 years ago (and the original film's 1992 sequel, too), the new version basically re-digs the same grave and fills it with slightly updated corpses. Initially, those bodies belong to dearly departed pets in the town of Ludlow. When doctor Louis Creed (Jason Clarke) moves to the quiet Maine spot with his wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz), eight-year-old daughter Ellie (Jeté Laurence) and toddler Gage (Hugo Lavoie and Lucas Lavoie), they quickly discover that their sprawling new house is adjacent to the local animal graveyard. The burial ground's misspelled sign marks it as a place for kids to farewell their furry and feathered friends, but neighbour Jud Crandall (John Lithgow) knows that something else is afoot. After the Creed family cat meets an unfortunate end, Jud initiates Louis into the cemetery's secrets. On the page and in its previous big-screen version, this story always required a leap in logic — not regarding its overall concept, but some of the minutiae. Only realising that your new home borders a graveyard once you've moved in? Letting your kids play by a highway favoured by speeding trucks, especially after your beloved feline is mowed down? If you can buy that, then you can definitely buy the idea of zombified pets scratching away at their owners' nerves. An engaging tale told well could easily breeze past the aforementioned contrivances, and so could a scary tale told with disquieting precision. Alas, as directed by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer (Starry Eyes) and scripted by Jeff Buhler (The Midnight Meat Train), that's rarely the case here. Content to plough along the surface of its familiar narrative, Pet Sematary remains as straightforward as its many horror cliches: the spooky woods, the sacred Native American site, the several layers of sad backstories and the reality that raising the dead never, ever turns out well. King might've invented or at least solidified many of these tropes, however here every single one feels routine. So does the film's by-the-numbers execution. It's the latter that grates more than the former — not the obvious, sometimes egregious plot elements, but the squandered potential. If there's anything worse than a flat-out bad movie, it's an average flick that unearths glimmers of something more yet ultimately leaves them buried. Kölsch and Widmyer know how to make individual moments land, even when the overall beats and simple jump-scares are easy to spot. While the film is shot with the usual dread-inducing look, the directing duo also know how to make individual images stand out. And when they give Clarke, Seimetz and Lithgow room to breathe — and push a young talent like Laurence into the spotlight, too — they know how to ensure that their themes and performances run deep. They just can't sustain any of the above. Certainly not for the movie's 101-minute running time, and not long enough to justify Pet Sematary's resurrection. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7Eq9rYsqnM
We're well and truly in the swing of spring now — daylight savings is back and we're as excited as ever to make the most of every sunny day, warm breeze, new flower and spring event. Plus, kicking this week off with a public holiday is adding an extra spring in our steps. Luckily, Sydney is brimming with ways to soak up every last drop of springtime fun. As its Spring Carnival continues, we've teamed up with Australian Turf Club to bring you four top-notch ways to celebrate the season this week. FIND YOUR NEW FAVOURITE DROP AT THIS BEER AND CIDER FESTIVAL When? Saturday, October 12–Sunday, October 13 There's nothing like enjoying a nice cold beer in the sunshine, with the waves crashing in the background. At Coogee Bay Hotel's fourth annual Craft Beer and Cider Festival you'll get a chance to try beers and ciders from a heap of brewers from Sydney and across Australia, including Akasha, Batch, Stone & Wood, Pirate Life, Young Henrys and Endeavour, plus Kona Brewing Co, all the way from Hawaii. Alongside more than 60 different beers, the two-day festival will feature pop-up food stalls offering smoked meats and other treats, and live jazz music to tap your feet to. The best part? Entry is free. CATCH CLIENT LIAISON AND DJ JESABEL AT SPRING CHAMPION STAKES DAY When? Saturday, October 12 Head to Royal Randwick for a day of fashion, live gigs and outdoor fun at the Moët & Chandon Spring Champion Stakes Day. Headlining the entertainment is fun-loving band Client Liaison who always put on a big show — so expect to be bopping away to their cheesy, 80s-inspired pop in no time. And at the venue's Palm Springs-themed poolside bar, DJ Jesabel will be providing tunes throughout the day, too. There'll be food trucks to keep you well-fed, plus pop-up bars from the likes of Pimm's and Chandon to keep you well soused as well as a Moët vending machine stocked with mini Moët bottles. And, if you're into fashion, you can enter the Harrolds Fashion Chute competition. CELEBRATE THE HUMBLE AVOCADO AND GET FIT AT AVOTHERAPY When? Saturday, October 12–Sunday, October 13 It's no obscure fact that Aussies love avocados — we've seen cafes, festivals and pop-up tiny homes dedicated to the fruit, and, on average, we each consume 3.5 kilos of avocado a year. To further celebrate the green goo, a whole weekend of free "avocado wellness" is coming to Paramount Recreation Club. What does avocado wellness entail, you ask? Good question. The event — which will be hosted on the Surry Hills rooftop gym and run by Australian Avocados — will see a series of exercise classes, workshops and facials run across the weekend. And they're all free, you'll just need to register as spaces are limited. Try a mix of cardio and yoga, plus a post-workout smoothie and an avo facial, and purchase an avo-laden brunch from the Paramount kiosk. Activities will run from 9am–4pm each day. STOCK UP FOR THE WEEK AT THE INNER WEST'S NEWEST FARMERS MARKET When? Sunday, October 13 Taking over the forecourt of the historic Mungo Scott building, Summer Hill's new Flour Mill Markets are now running every second Saturday. Food, flowers and other high-quality produce are, of course, front-and-centre at the market, making it the perfect place to pick up some fresh, seasonal fruit and veg. Expect stalls from Brickfields Bakery, Hugo's Coffee Cartel, Pastries de Paris, The Grate Cheese Co and Hartley Harvest. There'll be lots of small goods and non-edible items — such as ceramics and decorative flowers — from a host of local vendors, too. With a focus on sustainability and environmentalism, the market is a plastic-free zone, with biodegradable packaging provided and discounts for those who bring their own keep cup. Everest Carnival runs until November 2 at Rosehill Gardens and Royal Randwick. For more information, head this way. Top image: Felipe Neves.
UPDATE, October 19, 2022: The Stranger released in Australian cinemas on October 6, then streams via Netflix from October 19. No emotion or sensation ripples through two or more people in the exact same way, and never will. The Stranger has much to convey, but it expresses that truth with piercing precision. The crime-thriller is the sophomore feature from actor-turned-filmmaker Thomas M Wright — following 2018's stunning Adam Cullen biopic Acute Misfortune, another movie that shook everyone who watched it and proved hard to shake — and it's as deep, disquieting and resonant a dance with intensity as its genre can deliver. To look into Joel Edgerton's (Thirteen Lives) eyes as Mark, an undercover cop with a traumatic but pivotal assignment, is to spy torment and duty colliding. To peer at Sean Harris (Spencer) as the slippery Henry Teague is to see a cold, chilling and complex brand of shiftiness. Sitting behind these two performances in screentime but not impact is Jada Alberts' (Mystery Road) efforts as dedicated, determined and drained detective Kate Rylett — and it may be the portrayal that sums up The Stranger best. Writing as well as directing, Wright has made a film that is indeed dedicated, determined and draining. At every moment, including in sweeping yet shadowy imagery and an on-edge score, those feelings radiate from the screen as they do from Alberts. Sharing the latter's emotional exhaustion comes with the territory; sharing their sense of purpose does as well. In the quest to capture a man who abducted and murdered a child, Rylett can't escape the case's horrors — and, although the specific details aren't used, there's been no evading the reality driving this feature. The Stranger doesn't depict the crime that sparked Kate Kyriacou's non-fiction book The Sting: The Undercover Operation That Caught Daniel Morcombe's Killer, or any violence. It doesn't use the Queensland schoolboy's name, or have actors portray him or his family. This was always going to be an inherently discomforting and distressing movie, though, but it's also an unwaveringly intelligent and impressive examination of trauma. There's no other word to describe what Mark and Rylett experience — and, especially as it delves into Mark's psychological state as he juggles his job with being a single father, The Stranger is a film about tolls. What echoes do investigating and seeking justice for an atrocious act leave? Here, the portrait is understandably bleak and anguished. What imprint do such incidences have upon society more broadly? That also falls into the movie's examination. Mark, along with a sizeable group of fellow officers, is trying to get a confession and make an arrest. Back east, Rylett is one of the police who won't and can't let the situation go. Doling out its narrative in a structurally ambitious way, The Stranger doesn't directly address the human need for resolution, or to restore a semblance of order and security after something so heinously shocking, but that's always baked into its frames anyway. Travelling across the country, Henry first meets a stranger on a bus, getting chatting to Paul (Steve Mouzakis, Clickbait) en route. It's the possibility of work that hooks the ex-con and drifter — perhaps more so knowing that his potential new gig will be highly illicit, and that evading the authorities is implicit. Soon he meets Mark, then seizes the opportunity to reinvent himself in a criminal organisation, not knowing that he's actually palling around with the cops. It's an immense sting, fictionalised but drawn from actuality, with The Stranger also playing as a procedural. The connecting the dots-style moves remain with Rylett, but Wright's decision to hone in on the police operation still means detailing how to catch a killer, astutely laying out the minutiae via action rather than chatting through the bulk of the ins and outs. When Wright made his initial leap behind the camera after almost two decades on-screen — an acting resume that spans a range of weighty fare, such as Van Diemen's Land, Balibo, Top of the Lake, The Bridge and Sweet Country — he spun a tale of two men connecting, entangling and grappling with hard truths. Acute Misfortune and The Stranger are immensely different movies in a plethora of ways, even if both do find their basis in IRL situations, but there's no missing their common central dynamic. While The Stranger wouldn't be the film it is without its time with Rylett, and with the phenomenal Alberts in that key role, the interplay between Mark and Henry retains its core focus. To be accurate, Mark sits squarest in its spotlight — including surveying the anxiety he feels as a single father tasked with such a case, which plays out in striking domestic and dream sequences — but it isn't a coincidence that Edgerton and Harris are styled to visibly resemble each other. Also never an accident: that The Stranger's male leads turn in transfixing performances, whether guiding the film's viewers through Mark's waking ordeal and literal nightmares, or showing their cause. This is Edgerton and Harris' third project together in mere years, after The King and The Green Knight — but if it wasn't, it'd be clear why both Wright and Edgerton (who produces and optioned the rights to The Sting to begin with) opted for the pairing. The Stranger sears not just with intensity but tension, so much of which jitters whenever the two men share the frame. A blazing car fire aside, the largely muted colours lensed by cinematographer Sam Chiplin (Penguin Bloom) add to the brooding, primal, dread-filled mood. The nervy soundscape by composer and cellist Oliver Coates (Aftersun, and also a Radiohead collaborator) does the same. But The Stranger's faces and bodies, as haunted and unbalanced as they always are, say — and silently scream — everything. Wright wants his audience to observe carefully, and to listen. The feature's sound design toys with this very idea; when a drive with Mark and Henry switches its dialogue to surveillance audio, it's such a straightforward choice, and yet its execution is layered, smart and immensely powerful. There's no such thing as passively and easily viewing The Stranger, it tells us, as does describing calming breathing techniques in its opening moments. Engaging with this movie has to be an active and complicated feat because engaging with the darkness it explores always is. Who retells grim chapters of history, and why and how, aren't questions isolated to Australian cinema, especially with true crime a perennially popular genre on screens large and small — and pages and podcasts, and wherever and however else such tales are told — and with The Stranger, they've surfaced again just a year after bubbling up around Justin Kurzel's Nitram. Like that, this equally exceptional and unsettling film makes plain that interrogating events like these is crucial. Here, it's also transformative for those doing the probing, the world they inhabit and those watching.
Like the rest of 2020, New Year's Eve is going to be a little different this year. Well, significantly different. In a bid to contain the northern beaches outbreak, and a new Croydon park cluster, new restrictions have been implemented in Greater Sydney for the final night of the year. For New Year's Eve, Greater Sydney has been broken into five areas: the northern part of the northern beaches; the southern part of the northern beaches; a green zone, which encompasses the main fireworks vantage points in the CBD and North Sydney; a yellow zone, which encompasses more of North Sydney and the CBD; and the rest of Greater Sydney, which includes Wollongong, the Blue Mountains and the Central Coast. Depending on what zone you're in, you're allowed to do different things. Here, we've broken down exactly how you can watch the fireworks and catch up with friends. HOW CAN I WATCH THE FIREWORKS? All residents of Greater Sydney are encouraged to watch the seven-minute midnight fireworks display on TV, where it will be live streamed on ABC. "My strong message to everyone in Greater Sydney this year is to watch the fireworks on TV," Premier Gladys Berejiklian said in a statement. If you're in either of the northern beaches zones, which are both under stay-at-home orders, you'll have no choice but to watch them from home. For the rest of Greater Sydney, those who'd like to go out can watch the fireworks from the designated green zones along the harbour foreshore in Circular Quay and North Sydney (shown in the map below) — but only if you have a permit. You can only get one of these permits if you are a resident of the green zone, are visiting a resident in the green zone or have a reservation at a bar, hotel or restaurant in the green zone. You can apply for a permit over at Service NSW. North Sydney Council has announced that no businesses within the green zone will be open on NYE. You don't need a permit to visit the yellow zone, but the NSW Government has warned that "people gathering in these areas in large numbers may be moved on by police". That said, many councils, including North Sydney, City of Sydney and the Inner West, have closed parks along the foreshore — both inside and outside the yellow and green zones. CAN I HAVE PEOPLE OVER TO MY HOUSE? Yes, but only five. For all of Greater Sydney — including the northern and southern northern beaches zones — you are allowed five visitors in your home (including children and adults) per day. This new limit is down from the previously announced ten for Greater Sydney and the southern part of the northern beaches and will remain in place "until further notice". If you are in the northern beaches, however, you must stay in your zone. So, you can't have visitors from the other northern beaches zone or from other parts of Greater Sydney. You can check out a map of the two zones below. Those located in the remainder of NSW can have up to 50 people in their homes. CAN I CATCH UP WITH PEOPLE OUTDOORS? Yes, but there are different numbers depending whereabouts in the city you are. Those in the northern half of the northern beaches, can have gatherings of up to five people outside, while those in the south can have gatherings of up to ten. Once again, you cannot leave your zone, so outdoor gatherings can only be with people from your area. A reminder here that under the stay-at-home orders, northern beaches residents can leave there homes for four reasons: shop for food or other goods and services; travel for work or education, where you cannot work or learn from home; to get medical care or supplies, or to fulfil carer's responsibilities; and for exercise and outdoor recreation. Outdoor recreation includes picnics, golf, tennis, swimming, boating, jet-skiing, fishing and paddle boarding. You can find a full list here. For the rest of Greater Sydney, outdoor gatherings of 30 people are allowed, at places like public parks, reserves, beaches, public gardens and spaces. But, keep in mind, to reduce the risk of large gatherings, some councils have closed certain parks and beaches — including North Sydney, City of Sydney and the Inner West. If you're located in regional NSW — outside of Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, Blue Mountains and Wollongong — outdoor public gatherings of up to 100 people are allowed. ARE THERE ANY TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE TO HARBOURSIDE EVENTS? Surprisingly, there are. You can enjoy the fireworks side-by-side with giraffes at the Taronga Zoo's New Year's Eve celebrations, with panoramic views of Sydney Harbour, live entertainment and a visit to see the animals. Some harbourside restaurants still have reservations available, too, including Bar Ombre, which is pairing the fireworks with a five-course Italian feast and free-flowing booze; and Sydney Tower's Bar 83, where you can watch the lights from 83 levels up. O Bar also hosting a sky-high NYE event — and reservations are still available. For more information about the status of COVID-19 in NSW and current restrictions, head to NSW Health.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas across the country. After months spent empty, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Australian picture palaces are back in business — spanning both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odM92ap8_c0 GODZILLA VS KONG Given that neither of Godzilla vs Kong's towering titans are truly terrors, and therefore neither should really emerge victorious over the other, getting them to face off seems pointless. "They're both big, so they can't get along" is the simplistic concept. This isn't a new train of thought, or new to the American-made Monsterverse that's been nudging the beasts closer together for seven years. Thankfully, in the hands of You're Next and The Guest director Adam Wingard, Godzilla vs Kong has as much in common with its superior Japanese predecessors as it does with 2019's terrible Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The follow-up to 2017's Kong: Skull Island, too, this new battle of the behemoths doesn't remake the duo's first screen showdown in 1962's King Kong vs Godzilla. And, sadly, it hasn't ditched the current Hollywood flicks' love of unexciting human characters. But it crucially recognises that watching its titular creatures go claw-to-paw should be entertaining. It should be a spectacle, in fact. The film also realises that if you're not going to make a movie about this pair with much in the way of substance, then you should go all out on the action and fantasy fronts. In other words, Godzilla vs Kong feels like the product of a filmmaker who loves the Japanese Godzilla flicks and Kong's maiden appearance, knows he can't do them justice thematically, but is determined to get what he can right. Wingard is still saddled with a flimsy script with a tin ear for dialogue by screenwriters Eric Pearson (Thor: Ragnarok) and Max Borenstein (Kong: Skull Island), but his massive monster melees are a delight. Also welcome: Godzilla vs Kong's eagerness to lean into its genre. When it surrenders to its pixels, and to a tale that involves a journey to the centre of the earth, subterranean asteroids, altercations with giant flying lizards and an underground tunnel from Florida to Hong Kong, it's equal parts loopy and fun. That trip to the planet's interior is guided by Kong. Now kept in a dome that simulates the jungle, the jumbo primate is under the watch of researcher Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall, Tales from the Loop), and bonds with Jia (newcomer Kaylee Hottle), the orphan also in the doctor's care. But, after Godzilla surfaces for the first time in three years to attack tech corporation Apex's Miami base, CEO Walter Simmons (Demián Bichir, Chaos Walking) enlists geologist Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgård, The Stand) on a mission. Testing the latter's hollow earth theory, they plan to track down an energy source that could be linked to both Zilly and Kong's existence — if Kong will lead them there. In a plot inclusion that'd do Scooby Doo proud, teenager Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown, returning from King of the Monsters) and her classmate Josh Valentine (Julian Dennison, Hunt for the Wilderpeople) are certain that Apex is up to no good and — with podcaster Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry, Superintelligence) — start meddling. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yJ4r7ON974 THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF Asked why he broke into Oslo's Gallery Nobel in 2015 and stole two large oil paintings in broad daylight, Karl-Bertil Nordland gives perhaps the most honest answer anyone could: "because they were beautiful". He isn't responding to the police or providing an excuse during his court appearance, but speaking to Czech artist Barbora Kysilkova, who wanted answers about the theft of her work. Captured on camera, the pilfering of Kysilkova's Swan Song and Chloe & Emma initially appeared to be a professional job. As the two pieces were removed from their frames in such an exacting manner, it was presumed that experts were behind the crime. But Nordland and his accomplice didn't plan their brazen heist, or have a background in purloining art. Thanks to the effect of illicit substances, Nordland can't even remember much about it, let alone recall what happened to the stolen works that Kysilkova desperately wants back. That said, as the thief tells the painter when she first talks with him, he does know that he walked past Gallery Nobel often. He's aware that he saw her photorealistic pieces — the first of a dead swan lying in reeds, the second of two girls sat side by side on a couch — many times, too. And, he's candid about the fact that he marvelled at and was moved by the two canvases long before he absconded with them. As a result, he doesn't seem surprised that his life led him to that juncture, and to snatching Kysilkova's creations. A victim confronts a perpetrator: that's The Painter and the Thief's five-word summary, and it's 100-percent accurate. But such a brief description can't convey how fascinating, thoughtful, moving and astonishing this documentary is as it unfurls a tale so layered and wild that it can only be true — a story that stretches far beyond what anyone could feasibly anticipate of such an altercation and its aftermath, in fact. Nordland was arrested and charged for his crime, with Kysilkova initially making contact with him at his trial. From there, the skilled carpenter and heavily tattooed addict unexpectedly gained a friend in the woman whose works he took. Kysilkova first asked to paint Nordland as part of her attempts to understand him, and he then became her muse. As all relationships do, especially ones forged under such unusual circumstances, their connection evolved, adapted and changed from there. As Norwegian filmmaker Benjamin Ree (Magnus) pointed a camera in their direction for three years, the duo weathered their own ups, downs, twists and turns, as did their friendship. If Nordland's reply to Kysilkova feels disarmingly frank and unguarded, that's because it is. The same tone remains throughout The Painter and the Thief's entire duration. Absent the usual tropes and stylistic markers that true-crime documentaries are known for, the film eschews the standard mix of talking heads, re-enactments and explanatory narration in favour of truly observing and stepping inside its subjects' unique bond. Read our full review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCw90xLvYPw THE LAST VERMEER Dutch artists Johannes Vermeer and Han van Meegeren picked up their brushes more than two centuries apart. Mention the latter, though, and you need to mention the former. Just why that's the case makes for a fascinating tale, as The Last Vermeer tells — one filled with twists, subterfuge, investigations, a trial and post-World War II efforts to punish anyone who conspired with the Nazis. Directed by producer turned first-time helmer Dan Friedkin (All the Money in the World, The Mule), and adapted from Jonathan Lopez's 2008 book The Man Who Made Vermeers, The Last Vermeer relays the Hollywood version of the story, of course. Big speeches and massaged details consequently abound. Attention-grabbing performances jump across this cinematic canvas, too, with Guy Pearce (Bloodshot) resembling Geoffrey Rush as van Meegeren and Claes Bang (Dracula) adding his third recent art-centric feature to his resume after The Square and The Burnt Orange Heresy. There's enough here to keep viewers interested, as there should be given the real-life basis, cast and handsome staging, but this is the type of film that's nicer to look at than to dive into. Its subject: art forgery, a topic that leaves an imprint beyond the movie's narrative. The Last Vermeer doesn't steal from elsewhere, but it also sinks into a well-populated list of other dramas about art and the war (see also: The Monuments Men and Woman in Gold ) far too easily and generically than a feature about this specific tale should. Bang plays Dutch Jewish officer Captain Joseph Piller, who is tasked with hunting down artworks illegally sold to the Nazis during the war and bringing everyone responsible to justice. That leads him to Christ and the Adulteress, a piece credited to Vermeer but found after his death — and to van Meegeren, the man who is suspected of selling it to key Nazi figure Hermann Göring in the world's biggest art sale at the time. Turning on the rakish charisma even when he's being interrogated by Piller and his offsider (Roland Møller, The Commuter), van Meegeren denies the accusation. Piller isn't convinced, but then police detective Alex De Klerks (August Diehl, A Hidden Life) tries to take over the case. Soon, van Meegeren has been secreted away, is painting while in hiding and, when eventually charged and brought to court, offers an astonishing theory. Also arising in The Last Vermeer: an exploration of the costs of and sacrifices involved in surviving wartime, although Friedkin and screenwriters John Orloff (Anonymous), Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (The Expanse) happily stick to the surface as they do elsewhere. As a mystery, the film suitably zigs and zags. As a courtroom drama, it boasts stirring moments. But, as well as wasting Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread) in a thankless part, The Last Vermeer is never more than passable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GjskJIRyRA GOLDEN VOICES The year is 1990, the USSR has collapsed, and Victor (Vladimir Friedman, The Operative) and Raya Frenkel (Mariya Belkina, Into the Night) are among the hordes of Russia's Jewish citizens that decide to move to Israel in search of a fresh start. But relocating costs them their prolific and busy careers as dubbing artists, with the married pair spending the decades prior recording Russian dialogue tracks for every type of film imaginable — to the point of becoming minor celebrities, including among Israel's ex-pat community once they emigrate. For Victor, the lack of work in the same field is crushing. He delivers pamphlets instead, determined to finance their new life, but yearns to get behind a microphone. Willing to try a gig that puts her voice to use in a different way, Raya takes a job at an erotic phone line, although she tells Victor that she's selling perfume from a call centre. Films about relationships disrupted by sizeable changes and duos forced out of their comfort zones aren't rare. Nor are movies about late-in-life shifts and new developments, and the impact on seemingly solid nuptials. And yet, as directed, written and edited by Evgeny Ruman (The Damned), and co-scripted and shot by Ziv Berkovich (A Simple Wedding), the warm and engaging Golden Voices finds its own niche again and again. There's a thoughtfulness to Golden Voices that underscores almost every choice, including in the film's narrative. Features that wear their overwhelming affection for cinema on their sleeves aren't uncommon either (filmmakers love the medium they work with, obviously, and like to show it). Still, Victor's passion for the big screen and its wonders is steeped in his inability to explore the world physically under Soviet rule, with movies opening a door that he couldn't otherwise pass through. Similarly, the unexpected freedom that Raya finds in her new job is anchored by the same truth. Being able to genuinely be herself behind a veil of anonymity is a new experience, which she relishes, as she does the attention sent her way by a doting customer. These characters are truly approaching their lives afresh — sometimes by choice, sometimes not so — and Ruman and Berkovich find multiple ways to convey this in their screenplay. Also helping: the film's lived-in sense of Israel's expat Soviet Jewish community, Berkovich's eye for composition, the visual period detail and the nuanced yet potent performances by Friedman and Belkina. A sense of neatness can creep into Golden Voices at times, but never encroaches upon the work of its likeable and expressive leads. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVBKyLqsS5k PETER RABBIT 2: THE RUNAWAY Before a single Peter Rabbit movie had hopped into cinemas, the Paddington films got there first — and twice. The English franchise about everyone's favourite marmalade-eating bear has left big paw prints for its bunny-focused counterpart to follow in, too, but neither 2018's Peter Rabbit nor its new sequel Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway comes remotely close to filling them. While impressive photorealistic CGI brings the jacket-wearing Peter and his also partially clothed fellow animals to life, and such special effects wizardry blends seamlessly with the live-action settings and cast members as well, this series is cartoonish and anarchic from its first moments. Anyone who grew up reading Beatrix Potter's books, which date back nearly 120 years, will notice the distinct, stark and unwelcome change of tone. The farmland setting and all those cute rabbits look just as they should, but this is a family-friendly franchise that turned sticking a carrot down a man's pants into one of its big gags the first time around. Accordingly, expecting anything gentle and measured in The Runaway — and anything other than more of the same, just laced with some snarky commentary that acknowledges the criticisms directed the initial movie's way — is as foolish as most of Peter's chaotic adventures. Once again voiced by James Corden — as the all-knowing computer in Superintelligence was last year as well — Peter thinks of himself as a plucky rebel. After his long-time human surrogate mother Bea (Rose Byrne, Irresistible) marries his former nemesis Thomas (Domhnall Gleeson, Run), he tries not to cause trouble around the farm, but it seems that he's always seen in that light no matter what he does. As Bea's books about Peter, his sisters Flopsy (Margot Robbie, Dreamland), Mopsy (Elizabeth Debicki, Tenet) and Cottontail (Aimee Horne, Psychotown), and cousin Benjamin (Colin Moody, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries) attract the attention of a big-city publisher (David Oyelowo, Chaos Walking), Peter gets fed up with his bad reputation. And when he crosses paths with town-dwelling bunny Barnabus (Lennie James, Fear of the Walking Dead), he thinks he's found someone who likes him as he is. From here, returning director and co-writer Will Gluck (Annie) unleashes a heist film that's also a musing on identity, and both elements feel not just broad, messy and distractingly energetic, but also routine. Byrne, Gleeson and Oyelowo bring what they can to their flesh-and-blood roles; however, the overall movie is as about as charming as rabbit droppings. 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; and March 4, March 11 and March 18. 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 and Saint Maud.
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. GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE People have orgasms every day, but for decades spent closing her eyes and thinking of England in a sexually perfunctory marriage, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande's lead character wasn't among them. Forget la petite mort, the French term for climaxing; Nancy Stokes' (Emma Thompson, Cruella) big wrestling match with mortality, the one we all undertake, has long been devoid of erotic pleasure. Moments that feel like a little death? Unheard of. That's where this wonderfully candid, intimate, generous and joyous sex comedy starts, although not literally. Flashbacks to Nancy enduring getting it over with beneath her now-deceased spouse, missionary style, aren't Australian filmmaker Sophie Hyde (Animals) or British comedian-turned-screenwriter Katy Brand's (Glued) concern. Instead, their film begins with the religious education teacher waiting in a hotel room, about to take the biggest gamble of her life: meeting the eponymous sex worker (Daryl McCormack, Peaky Blinders). For anyone well-versed in Thompson's prolific on-screen history, and of Brand's work before the camera as well, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande inspires an easy wish: if only Nancy had a different job. Back in 2010, the pair co-starred in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, a title that'd also fit their latest collaboration if its protagonist cared for kids rather than taught them. Jokes aside, the instantly charming Leo is used to hearing that sentiment about his own professional choices. Indeed, Nancy expresses it during their pre- and post-coital discussions, enquiring about the events that might've led him to his career. "Maybe you're an orphan!" she says. "Perhaps you grew up in care, and you've got very low self-esteem," she offers. "You could have been trafficked against your will — you can't tell just by looking at somebody!" she continues. There are plenty of "if only" thoughts and feelings pulsating through Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, a film where its namesake's tongue couldn't be more important — yes, in that way, and also because talk is as crucial as sex here. If only Nancy hadn't spent half of her existence in a pleasure-free marriage. If only a lifetime of being middle class and socially conservative, and of internalising Britain's stereotypical 'keep calm and carry on' mentality, hadn't left her adrift from her desires. If only being a woman in her mid-50s wasn't seen as a libidinous void by society at large, a mindset that's as much a part of Nancy as the wrinkles and ageing body parts she can barely look at in the mirror. If only prioritising her sensual needs wasn't virtually taboo, too, especially in her mind — even after, two years since being widowed, she's booked an expensive rendezvous with Leo. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande unpacks those if onlys — not the Nanny McPhee one, obviously, but the idea that Nancy's life is immovably stuck in the same rut it has always been. As played by Thompson at the height of her acting powers, at her absolute splintery, finicky yet vulnerable best even with Last Christmas, Years and Years, Late Night and The Children Act on her recent resume, she's nervous, anxious, uncertain and always on the cusp of cancelling, including once Leo strolls into the room, beams his easy magnetism her way and starts talking about what she wants like it's the most natural thing in the world. Slipping into the sheets and knowing what excites you is the most natural thing in the world, of course, but not to Nancy. As her four appointments with Leo progress, she comes up with a lineup of carnal acts she'd like to experience — and she may as well be reading from her grocery list. But getting her to shed her inhibitions is as much his focus as shedding her clothes, and the twentysomething won't let Nancy keep getting in the way of herself. Read our full review. CRIMES OF THE FUTURE It takes a brave filmmaker to see cancer and climate change, and think of art, evolution and eroticism in a possible future. It takes a bold director to have a character proclaim that "surgery is the new sex", too. David Cronenberg has always been that kind of visionary, even before doing all of the above in his sublime latest release — and having the Scanners, Videodrome and The Fly helmer back on his body-horror bent for the first time in more than two decades is exactly the wild and weird dream that cinephiles want it to be. The Canadian auteur makes his first movie at all since 2014's Maps to the Stars, in fact, and this tale of pleasure and pain is as Cronenbergian as anything can be. He borrows Crimes of the Future's title from his second-ever feature dating back 50-plus years, brings all of his corporeal fascinations to the fore, and moulds a viscerally and cerebrally mesmerising film that it feels like he's always been working towards. Long live the new flesh, again. Long live the old Cronenberg as well. In this portrait of a potential time to come, the human body has undergone two significant changes. Three, perhaps, as glimpsed in a disquieting opening where an eight-year-old called Brecken (debutant Sotiris Siozos) snacks on a plastic bin, and is then murdered by his mother Djuna (Lihi Kornowski, Ballistic). That incident isn't unimportant, but Crimes of the Future has other departures from today's status quo to carve into — and they're equally absorbing. Physical agony has disappeared, creating a trade in "desktop surgery" as performance art. Also, a condition dubbed Accelerated Evolution Syndrome causes some folks, such as artist Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen, Thirteen Lives), to grow abnormal organs. These tumours are removed and tattooed in avant-garde shows by his doctor/lover Caprice (Léa Seydoux, No Time to Die), then catalogued by the National Organ Register's Wippit (Don McKellar, reteaming with Cronenberg after eXistenZ) and Timlin (Kristen Stewart, Spencer). When Crimes of the Future stages one of Saul and Caprice's gigs, it drips not with blood but spectacle and seduction. Indeed, it's no wonder that a curious Timlin utters that catchy observation about medical slicing and intimate arousal shortly afterwards. Alluring, eerie, grotesque and enthralling — and the epitome of the feature's sparse yet entrancing look and mood in the process — it's a powerhouse of a scene, with a self-autopsy pod at its centre. Saul lies still, Caprice uses an eXistenZ-esque fleshy video-game controller to get the contraption cutting, and an enraptured audience hang on every incision. Saul and Caprice do, too, although their visibly aroused reactions have nothing on their time later in the suite alone. (Cronenberg does love eschewing traditional ideas about what titillates; see also: his 1996 film Crash, about characters excited by car crashes. It's a clear precursor to this, and the movie that purred so that 2021 Palme d'Or winner Titane, by filmmaker Julia Ducournau, could rev.) Crimes of the Future's scalpel-equipped coffin is just one of Saul and Caprice's Lifeform Ware gadgets; if eXistenZ, Naked Lunch and Dead Ringers procreated, these are the devices the three flicks would spawn. HR Giger could've conjured them up as well, and thinking of the biomechanical artist's contribution to Alien, which saw him share an Oscar for visual effects, is as natural as feeling spellbound and perturbed by Cronenberg's movie in unison. This is a grimy world where a bed covered with skin and tentacles floats in Saul's home, calibrated to cater to his "designer cancer"-riddled body's needs as it slumbers — and where a chair that looks like a skeleton reassembled as furniture contorts Saul as he's eating, something he is having increasing trouble with otherwise. In other words, it's a world where the old flesh isn't doing what it always has, new flesh is sprouting in a changing and devastated reality, and technology fills in the gaps as it is always designed to. Read our full review. BOSCH & ROCKIT Remember the name Rasmus King. Based on 2022's slate of Australian films and television shows, that shouldn't be hard. The Byron Bay-born newcomer hadn't graced a screen, large or small, before this year — and now he has no fewer than four projects pushing him into the spotlight before 2023 arrives. Most, including surfing TV drama Barons, capitalise upon the fact that he's a pro on the waves IRL. Two, 6 Festivals and the upcoming sci-fi featurette What If The Future Never Happened?, get his long blonde locks whipping through the Australian music scene. The latter is based on Daniel Johns' teenage years, actually, and has King playing that pivotal part. If he's half as impressive in the role as he is in father-son drama Bosch & Rockit, Silverchair fans will have plenty to look to forward to. When writer/director Tyler Atkins opens his debut feature, it's in the late 90s, along Australia's east coast, and with King as eager surfer Rockit — son to weed farmer Bosch (Luke Hemsworth, Westworld). Sometimes, the titular pair hit the surf together, which sees Rockit's eyes light up; however, Bosch is usually happy tending to his illicit business, making questionable decisions, and coping with splitting from his son's mother Elizabeth (Leeanna Walsman, Eden) with the help of other women. Then a couple of unfortunate twists of fate upend Rockit's existence, all stemming from his father. Begrudgingly, Bosch is pushed into stepping outside his drug-growing comfort zone by an old friend-turned-cop (Michael Sheasby, The Nightingale) and his corrupt partner (Martin Sacks, Buckley's Chance). When a bushfire sweeps through the region shortly afterwards, he's forced to go on the run to stay alive. Bosch & Rockit approaches Bosch's absconding from Rockit's perspective, adopting the line that the former gives his boy: that they're going to Byron for an extended holiday. Atkins doesn't feed the same idea to its audience, but ensures that viewers understand why a bright-eyed teenager would take his dad at his word — not just because he doesn't know what Bosch does for a living, which he doesn't; or he's naïve, which he is; but also because he's eager to hang onto his biggest dream. There's sorrow in King's spirited performance, with Rockit more affected by his parents' split, bullying at school and the isolation that comes with finding solace in the sea, usually alone, than Bosch has the shrewdness to spot. There's earnestness as well, because what struggling kid who's desperate for the kind of love that genuine attention signifies, as Rockit visibly is, won't blindly believe whatever fantasy their dad or mum sells them for as long as possible? King does a magnetic job of conveying Rockit's inner turmoil, and expressing his uncertainty, too. There's an effortlessness to his portrayal, whether Rockit is lapping up Bosch's presence like a plant swaying towards the sunlight, listlessly left to his own devices when his dad decides he'd rather chase Byron local Deb (Isabel Lucas, That's Not Me), or finding a kindred spirit in Ash (Savannah La Rain, Surviving Summer), another restless and yearning teen vacationing under less-than-ideal circumstances and feeling like she's alone in the world. Avoiding formulaic plotting isn't Bosch & Rockit's strong suit, however, as the film makes plain at every turn. That's evident in both of its namesakes' trajectories, for starters — with Bosch a small-time crim falling afoul of the wrong people, with help from bad luck, then trying to start anew; and Rockit an innocent kid stuck with subpar parents, forced to grow up faster than he should, but hanging onto whatever he can. 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 and August 11. 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, Bullet Train, Nope, The Princess and 6 Festivals.
UPDATE: APRIL 27, 2018 — After four months of trading, Ginkgo will be closing the doors to its Victoria Street pop-up. But if you've already become attached to its Harbin dumplings, don't fret — the team plans to reopen at a different location soon. It was never going to be around forever, and you still have a few days to get there — last service will be on Sunday, April 29. We'll let you know when a new location is confirmed. Bar Brosé might have sadly left the building, but at least its replacement looks set to deliver plenty of culinary cleverness of its own. Calling the Darlinghurst space home for the next 12 months is Chinese-inspired pop-up Ginkgo Bar & Dining, from the minds behind Ultimo restaurant Chulin. As with their original venture, owners Carly and Tim Jin are celebrating the authentic flavours of Harbin in northeast China. They're offering handmade dumplings, artisan cocktails and late-night eats that'll put your usual 1am kebab to shame. From the kitchen, a collection of over 16 different dumpling varieties nods to Harbin's broad multicultural influences. Expect creations like prawn and cheese triangles, dim sum stuffed with sea urchin and baby spinach, and Gingko's own interpretation of the sausage puff. Other authentic treats might include the slow-cooked smoked pork knuckle and the house signature: Chinese wine sausage. Also impressive is the considered drinks lineup, featuring a suggested wine match for each dish and a range of clever cocktails drawing inspiration from Chinese history and culture. The Tiki Tiki Wei Wei — with its blend of banana skin-infused Bulleit, osmanthus and bitters — is a fittingly innovative nod to one of China's most celebrated contemporary artists. Best of all, it's open late, slinging tasty treats until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays, and 1am each Sunday. Ginkgo Bar & Dining is now open daily for dinner and Saturday and Sunday for lunch at 231A Victoria Street, Darlinghurst. For more info, check the Facebook page.
UPDATE, July 31, 2022: Wash My Soul in the River's Flow is available to stream via Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. A silent hero and a rowdy troublemaker. That's what Ruby Hunter calls Archie Roach, her partner in life and sometimes music, then characterises herself. She offers those words casually, as if she's merely breathing, with an accompanying smile and a glint in her eyes as she talks. They aren't the only thoughts uttered in Wash My Soul in the River's Flow, which intersperses concert and rehearsal clips with chats with Hunter and Roach, plus snippets of biographical details from and recollections about their lives as intertitles, and then majestic footage of the winding Murray River in Ngarrindjeri Country, where Hunter was born, too. Still, even before those two-word descriptions are mentioned, the film shows how they resonate within couple's relationship. Watching their dynamic, which had ebbed and flowed over three-plus decades when the movie's footage was shot in 2004, it's plain to see how these two icons of Australian music are dissimilar in personality and yet intertwine harmoniously. Every relationship is perched upon interlocking personalities: how well they complement each other, where their differences blend seamlessly and how their opposing traits spark challenges in the best possible ways. Every song, too, is a balance of disparate but coordinated pieces. And, every ecosystem on the planet also fits the bill. With Hunter and Roach as its focus, Wash My Soul in the River's Flow contemplates all three — love, music and Country — all through 2004 concert Kura Tungar — Songs from the River. Recorded for the documentary at Melbourne's Hamer Hall, that gig series interlaced additional parts, thanks to a collaboration with Paul Grabowsky's 22-piece Australian Art Orchestra — and the movie that producer-turned-writer/director Philippa Bateman makes of it, and about two Indigenous stars, their experience as members of Australia's Stolen Generations, their ties to Country and their love, is equally, gloriously and mesmerisingly multifaceted. When is a concert film more than a concert film? When it's Wash My Soul in the River's Flow, clearly, which is named for one of Kura Tungar's tracks. Bateman could've just used her recordings of the legendary show, which won the 2005 Helpmann Award for Best Australian Contemporary Concert, and given everyone who wasn't there the chance to enjoy an historic event — and to bask in the now-late Hunter's on-stage glories more than a decade after her 2010 passing — but that was clearly just the starting point for her movie. With Roach as a producer, the documentary presents each of its songs as a combination of five key elements, all weaved together like the feather flower-dotted, brightly coloured headpiece that Hunter wears during the performance. With each tune, the film repeats the pattern but the emotion that comes with it inherently evolves, with the result akin to cycling through the earth's four seasons. First, a title appears on-screen, overlaid across breathtakingly beautiful images of the Murray and its surroundings, and instantly steeping every song in a spectacular place. From there, the Kura Tungar rendition of each tune segues into practice sessions with Grabowsky and the AAO of the same track, plus both text and on-the-couch chatter between Hunter and Roach that speaks to the context of, meaning behind and memories tied to each piece. Hunter's 'Daisy Chains, String Games and Knuckle Bones', which springs from her childhood, gets that treatment. Roach's unforgettable 'Took the Children Away' does, too. 'Down City Streets', as written by Hunter and recorded by Roach, also joins the lineup. The list goes on, and the power that each song possesses alone — which, given the talent and topics involved, is immense — only grows when packaged in such a layered manner. What a story this symphony of tunes and its entwined materials tells, spanning Hunter's recollections about being taken from her family under the guise of a trip to the circus; the coin flip that saw Roach head to South Australia from Mildura after a season spent grape-picking, where he'd meet Hunter when both were teenagers; and Hunter's certainty before that, when she spied Roach on television as a kid, that she'd marry him. The Ngarrindjeri, Kokatha and Pitjantjatjara woman's way with words continues throughout the film, including when she explains how that stroke of fate that brought Roach to Adelaide's People's Palace when they were both homeless adolescents saw her stop "her gambler from his rambling". For the Gunditjmara and Bundjalung man, he shares snippets of his own past alongside his overflowing love for Hunter. Indeed, when he marvels about how she can remember everything in her life, the Murray River's pelicans and the Dreamtime among them, it's a statement of pure and joyous affection. Along the way, Bateman ensures that her documentary tackles a dark chapter of the country's history head on, because it's impossible to relay Hunter and Roach's tales without exploring the nation's Stolen Generations. Her film is a tribute to her subjects and their work first and foremost — a tribute from Roach to Hunter overwhelmingly, too — but the resilience and fortitude that it's taken to weather everything that the government policy sent their way shines just as vividly. Both of Wash My Soul in the River's Flow's main figures are candid although, true to her own self-description, Hunter repeatedly takes the lead. Still, Roach's striking admission that, until the pair met, he thought it was just him and his siblings that'd been forcibly removed from their home, is nothing short of heartbreaking. Also intensely affecting: getting the chance to spend an intimate 90 minutes in Hunter and Roach's company, especially the former, the first Aboriginal woman to be signed to a major record label, following her death; and those awe-inspiring shots of Ngarrindjeri Country, as shot by cinematographer Bonnie Elliott (The Furnace), that keep returning with each soulful song. Combined with the movie's music, plus its dedication to unflinchingly diving into the problematic past, Wash My Soul in the River's Flow becomes a quintessential portrait of Australia. Championing two First Nations icons, their culture and their connection to Country; exploring the injustice they've endured at the hands of the government, and how they've ultimately thrived and healed together and through their talents; and showcasing the art they've made and the land they love — this moving movie couldn't ask for anything more. Letting it wash over you, and its silent hero and rowdy troublemaker with it, is simply inescapable.
UPDATE: July 6, 2020: Seberg is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube and iTunes. Sorry, fans of Twilight — the most fascinating thing about the terrible vampire franchise is the haunted look in Kristen Stewart's eyes. If you were being particularly unkind to the blockbuster saga that catapulted her to superstardom, you might incorrectly call that expression boredom, but the same gaze has lingered in much of the actor's work since she stopped cuddling up to a fanged Robert Pattinson. It's the look of someone grappling with deep-seated uncertainty and conflict — that is, the type of character that has marked Stewart's superb post-Twilight roles in Clouds of Sils Maria, Personal Shopper and Certain Women. And, after a big-budget detour through Charlie's Angels' average action antics, plus dismal Alien ripoff Underwater, it's an expression she once again sports with purpose and potency in biopic Seberg. Jean Seberg, the American actor plucked from a talent search by director Otto Preminger when she was still a teenager, then cast in the starring role of Joan of Arc in her very first film, also had that same look. It's evident in her famed debut performance in 1957's Saint Joan, in her melancholy turn in Preminger's Bonjour Tristesse, and in French new wave masterpiece Breathless, the movie that cemented her place in cinema history. As Seberg shows through Stewart's dynamic yet quietly anguishedportrayal, however, that gaze became a constant off-camera as well. Focusing on a mere sliver of her career, rather than charting its eponymous figure's birth-to-death story, this engaging, intriguing thriller illustrates why a star who was acclaimed and adored across two continents came to brandish such inner sorrow — and why that, and not her career highlights, has earned this involving film's attention. Charting scandals of both the political and personal kind, infuriating government espionage and America's heated racial divisions, this twisty true tale was always going to make it the big screen. Set against the backdrop of Hollywood's fading heyday — the same period that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood chronicled so well so recently — it's the story of a woman punished, like the causes she fought to support, for refusing to remain in her place. Seberg is already an international star when the movie that bears her surname begins. It's 1968 and, following her first big roles, she has spent almost a decade setting up a life in Paris. At the urging of her agent (Stephen Root), she flies back to the US to make a few undemanding genre movies, only to fall afoul of the FBI as soon as she steps onto the tarmac. Seberg's crime? Being sympathetic to Black Power activist Hakim Jamal (Anthony Mackie) while they're in the air, joining him in a raised-fist salute when they hit the ground and — despite the fact that she has a husband (Yvan Attal) and Jamal has a wife (Zazie Beetz) — falling into bed with her new friend as well. Already surveilling Jamal, the FBI starts bugging Seberg too, tasking tech-savvy newcomer Jack Solomon (O'Connell) and heavy-handed veteran Carl Kowalski (Vince Vaughn) with listening in on her every move. As she donates to Jamal's civil rights efforts, using her status to draw attention to his cause, the government decides that she's an enemy. Through the tabloids, she's also easy to torment, discredit and destroy publicly. As the FBI's tactics ramp up, Seberg understandably reacts, while Solomon questions the morality of this state-sanctioned persecution. It's by no means a criticism of O'Connell that his storyline proves Seberg's weakest link. Whether his character is eavesdropping on his target or arguing with his medical student wife (Margaret Qualley) about his long hours, the Skins breakout turned '71 and Money Monster star is reliably excellent — but his part of the narrative always feels superfluous. In a tale about law enforcement secretly and maliciously harassing a real-life famous actor because the powers-that-be dislike her political affiliations, it's the victim that's of far greater interest, not the agony felt by one of the fictionalised perpetrators. That's doubly the case with an iconic figure such as Seberg and with such a tragic true story, something that screenwriters Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse (The Aftermath) occasionally seem to forget. That said, O'Connell's character does serve an important purpose, anchoring the film's visual approach. By giving Solomon's work-mandated spying such prominence, Australian filmmaker Benedict Andrews (Una) and Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rachel Morrison (Mudbound) give their movie an observational air, like it's surreptitiously peering at Seberg's most intimate moments as well. And that look and feel is essential. Helped by top-notch production and costume design — Seberg's hilltop Los Angeles house is all windows, boxing her into a glass cage above the world, for example — Seberg steals a meaningful glimpse at the woman behind the celebrity, smears and scrutiny. It stares deeply and carefully, seeing that haunted look that Stewart wears so commandingly, and demonstrating why that tortured gaze says everything about Jean Seberg. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANJZWxsQ8Ag
Whether they riff on fairy bread or come packed with pretzels, plenty of Gelato Messina's popular desserts turn other foods into a frosty sweet treat. For the chain's next endeavour, it's taking that process a step further. This time, it's transforming a heap of its gelato flavours into a variety of different chocolates. Nine different types of blocks, bars and other bites are on the menu thanks to Messina's latest special — which means that they'll only be available to order on a set day, as always happens with the brand's limited-edition wares. And, they're being sold pick 'n' mix-style. So, you can choose as many as you like, with discount codes on offer if you're nabbing three, six or nine. Some of these chocolates will sound familiar, as Messina first broke out a few of them for Father's Day. Back then, it was the first time that Messina had ever made chocolate bars and blocks itself, with the team at its Rosebery headquarters doing the honours. Clearly, it went well. Loved Messina's recent cone-ception cookie pies? That's where one of these choccies takes its cues, combining sable biscuit, waffle cone spread and cone crunch, then covering it all in caramelised white chocolate. There's neapolitan chocolate blocks, too — and yes, they're made with milk chocolate, white chocolate that features Heilala vanilla, and strawberry chocolate infused with freeze dried strawberries. Or, you can opt for fairy bread white chocolate blocks that come mixed with dehydrated toast crumbs and sprinkled with 100s and 1000s, clusters of potato chips and salted peanuts coated in white chocolate, candied pistachios covered in strawberry chocolate, and Messina's own version of chocolate honeycomb. Plus, the range also includes roasted hazelnuts coated in milk chocolate and wafer flakes, pretzel crunch covered in milk chocolate and choc-covered house-made nougat as well. However many of these choccies you now need to add to your snack rotation, you'll want to place your order at 9am AEDT on Wednesday, October 13. They'll then be shipped within five working days. Gelato Messina's pick 'n' mix chocolate range will be available to order from 9am AEDT on Wednesday, October 13.
Spring, plus light- to medium-bodied red wine: what a pairing. It's the duo that not only sits at the heart of Australian wine-tasting festival Pinot Palooza, but has helped the vino-swilling event become such a hit. The weather is sunny, the tipples are heady, and sipping your way through a heap of the latter is on the menu — including in 2023. The Melbourne-born wine tasting festival will celebrate its 11th year by touring the country, including hitting up Sydney's Carriageworks from Friday, October 6–Saturday, October 7. This two-day affair filled with vino-sipping fun will cover organic, biodynamic, vegan and low-intervention wines, and more, as well as bites to line the stomach. In its decade of life until now, the fest has welcomed in thousands of vino lovers. Indeed, an estimated 65,000 tickets were sold globally before its 2022 events. When COVID-19 hit in 2020, the popular celebration was shelved for two-and-a-half years, before making a comeback last year. The response? More than 12,000 folks heading along around the nation. Set to share their tipples among producers from Australia, New Zealand and further afield: New Zealand's Burn Cottage and CHARTERIS; Small Island, Ghost Rock and Meadowbank from Tasmania; M&J Becker from NSW and Moondarra from Victoria. The food lineup will feature cheese, salumi, terrines, patê, olives and other perfect vino accompaniments, with Tasmania's Grandvewe Cheese and Victoria's Mount Zero among the suppliers.
Anybody who has travelled to Japan has almost certainly sorted their caffeine needs with a can of Suntory BOSS Coffee — straight from the world's best vending machines. Luckily for anyone hankering for this particular pick-me-up, the brand is bringing flash brewing, its unique Japanese brewing method, Down Under this month — so we can enjoy an exceptional coffee straight from the Land of the Rising Sun. But, the team is ditching the vending machine in favour of a two-and-a-half week pop-up that's bringing Japanese coffee culture to Surry Hills. From Friday, February 17 until Saturday, March 4, Tokyo House will sit on a leafy spot on Crown Street, serving up a dreamy work-from-home space from 1–5pm, Tuesday to Sunday. Then, a stacked lineup of events after dark. Why? It's all in the spirit of omotenashi, the Japanese art of providing guests with the ultimate experience of hospitality and kindness. [caption id="attachment_888339" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Bennelong's Taka Shino[/caption] By day, you can embrace the calming and curated venue as a co-work space, complete with charge stations, wifi and communal tables for some coffee-fuelled collaboration. By night, the lights will be turned down, the music turned up and space made for a moody bar heroing curated cocktails and live performances. What can you expect? Fashion and art installations, craft, iced coffee degustations, standout food and music. Excitingly, Bennelong's Taka Shino (pictured above) has curated the cocktail list available throughout the pop-up, and will be diving into the inspiration behind each drink on Tuesday, February 21; and best-selling manga artist Queenie Chan will be hosting Comic+Coffee sessions on Wednesday, February 22 and Thursday, March 2. There's also the exclusive chance to catch a fashion installation from designer Akira Isogawa (pictured below) between Tuesday, February 28 and Saturday, March 4 — and hear all about it from Isogawa himself on Tuesday, February 28. Plus, the intricate paper artistry of multidisciplinary artist Midori Furze will be on show from Thursday, February 16 until the end of Tokyo House's Sydney stint. Music-wise, Suntory BOSS Coffee is bringing serious talent, with the likes of DJ Moto (February 17; March 4; pictured at top) DJ Naiki (March 3), 14strk (February 18), Maya Hirasedo (February 23) and more. [caption id="attachment_888337" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Akira Isogawa[/caption] If you're looking to get inspired, drink an expertly brewed coffee and experience the delight that is Japanese culture and hospitality, be sure to get yourself to Tokyo House. Although the 15 days of service are sold out, check out the full program and be inspired to bring a bit of omotenashi to your life. Tokyo House is popping up at 355 Crown Street, Surry Hills from Friday, February 17 till Saturday, March 4. Tickets are sold out, but for more info, head to the website. Top image: Tokyo House at night; DJ Moto
Ever wished your pup could jump on the train with you? Well, you're not alone. In news that is not really that shocking, a recent study shows that a whopping 95 percent of Sydney dog owners support a law change to allow pooches on public transport. Over 1250 dog parents were surveyed for the University of Sydney study — named Riding with dogs in cars: what can it teach us about transport practices and policy? — which clocked the number of dog-related car trips in Sydney alone at about 2.4 million each week. Researchers Jennifer Kent and Corinne Mulley found that number would drop drastically if dogs were allowed onto trains, buses, trams and ferries, resulting in fewer cars on the road and improved social connectivity. Currently, animals are only allowed on light rail, ferry and bus services if they're in a box or carrier, and assistance animals are the only ones permitted on Sydney Trains. But a Transport for NSW spokesman told The Sydney Morning Herald the authority was currently looking into policies of other cities where pets are allowed on public transport, which could mean we'll see changes to our own laws. Fingers crossed a train carriage full of dogs is soon a reality. In the meantime, check out our list of dog-friendly pubs and Sydney's best dog parks. Via The Sydney Morning Herald.
Total Recall is loosely based on the 1990 Schwarzenegger film Total Recall, which in turn was loosely based on the 1966 short story We Can Remember It for You Wholesale by Philip K Dick. Generally when things become that loose, they tend to fall apart, and Total Recall could definitely have benefitted from some rigorous tightening. Set in the not-too-distant future, Earth has become largely uninhabitable save for two key landmasses: 'The United Federation of Britain' and — in an amusing gibe — 'The Colony' (better known to Australians as 'Australia'). The two are linked by an ultra-fast transit system allowing the impoverished colonists to travel to the UFB for work and still be home by dinner. Plagued by the monotony of this routine, factory worker Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) decides to remedy his tedium via 'Rekall' — a shady service that allows a person to implant desirable memories directly into his or her own subconscious. Circumstances spiral out of control, however, and Quaid soon finds himself grappling with everyone and everything, be it his own wife (Kate Beckinsale), the dogged animatronic authorities called 'Synthetics' or simply his overall grasp on reality. The film makes a major departure from its 1990 predecessor by dropping the Mars subplot entirely in favour of a local setting; however, fans of the original can rest easy knowing the other narrative tent poles and iconic components remain, including Quaid's elaborate false identity kit, his mysterious dream girl (Jessica Biel) and, yes, the three-breasted prostitute. There’s also the same ruthless villain, Vilos Cohaagen, given a disappointingly saccharine rendering this time round by Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston. Despite its impressive special effects, high production values, and an extensive supporting cast that also boasts Bill Nighy and John Cho, the whole film feels like one long, drawn-out chase sequence devoid of almost any substance. The relationships are cold, the performances largely hammy, and with five writers credited, it's hardly surprising the script plays like an amalgam of other (and better) films' elements, like the amnesia-ridden hero of Bourne coupled with the ambiguous reality of Inception within the two futuristic cityscapes of I, Robot and Blade Runner — depending on which side of the planet you are. For an idea grounded in genuinely fascinating ethical, philosophical, and technological questions, this Total Recall remake has opted for form over substance and feels regrettably thin as a result.
When it comes to matching drinks with our dinner, sake probably wouldn't be everyone's first choice. Nor would it probably be on the menu. Even in Japan, food and sake matching wasn't really a big thing until recently. However, more and more people have been jumping on the sake bandwagon as of late, lured by its heady aroma and diverse flavours, which span across the floral, the fruity and that of yeast and mushrooms. Slava Beliakova, one of Australia's first sake sommeliers and writer of Sake Guide, has been dedicated in breaking the traditional Japanese drink into Sydney's dining scene through leading workshops and teaching other sommeliers about its values. For Vino Paradiso, Beliakova is presenting a masterclass on 'Demystifying Sake', where participants can learn the real story of the alcohol and get the opportunity to taste three premium Japanese sakes. To tide you over until then, we put Beliakova to the sake pairing challenge. She's picked the perfect sakes to match some of the foods we've thrown at her — all favourites of ours, all oft-consumed. The sakes suggested below are available in Australia from leading restaurants and bottle shops. Sashimi Platter "Such a light, delicate dish is begging to be paired with a similarly light and fresh-tasting sake. Sake from the north-eastern prefectures of Japan has been traditionally brewed to match seafood-heavy local cuisine. Niigata, in particular, produces light, dry and smooth sake perfect for sashimi. Try Hakkaisan Junmai Ginjo or Yoshinogawa Gensen Karakuchi. Have the sake well-chilled, too." Okonomiyaki "A classic okonomiyaki derives much of its taste from the toppings — rich sauce similar to Worcestershire sauce, seaweed and katsuobushi (fermented bonito flakes). Those toppings are heavy in umami, that elusive 'fifth taste' that has become quite a buzzword. Umami taste comes from the amino acid glutamate, and imparts a pleasant savouriness to the dish. "Sake with a strong umami character is a match made in heaven for umami-rich dishes, intensifying the savouriness of both. Try Suishin Junmai Kome no Kiwami. This is a sake from Hiroshima, which, incidentally, is famous for its okonimiyaki dishes. Another way to enjoy okonomiyaki heartiness is with a gently warmed up, full-flavoured sake, such as Houraisen Kasumizuki Junmai." Pulled-pork tacos "Juicy, spicy, rich pork is just begging for a touch of acidity and sweetness. You could go two ways about it. You could match the high-octane natural flavour of pork with a full-flavoured sake that has acidity in spades. I am thinking Tengumai Yamahai Jikomi Junmai. Or you could inject freshness and fruity sweetness into the dish with an aromatic daiginjo, such as Masumi Sanka Junmai Daiginjo. Candied pineapple and green apple notes will marry well with pork that is not drowning in chilli." Southern Fried Chicken "Okay, how spicy are we talking? Heavy, fried dishes generally beg for something dry, with a prominent acidity. Try Oita Oni Koroshi Ginjo. But, as the chilli-meter rises, so should the level of sugar in the accompanying sake. If your palate is on fire, don’t stab it with acidity! One style of sake that is great with very spicy food is nigori, or cloudy sake. In nigori, some of the fermented rice solids are returned back into sake after pressing, creating a mild, sweet and creamy palate. Try Hakutsuru Sayuri Nigori Junmai." Chocolate Fondant "Sake indeed has a category that can be classified as a digestive, or dessert sake. It is koshu, aged sake. 99 percent of sake is not aged, and most of it doesn’t hold its own after 12-18 months post bottling. Sake that does age well, however, turns into something wonderful. The colour deepens, becoming golden and then amber, and sweetness, acidity and complex honey and herb aromas intensify. "One of the Australian sake importers brings a very special brew, Akishika Shuzo 'Yeast # 7' Junmai Yamahai Muroka Genshu, which is aged for five years. It is complex, sweet, acidic, with a long dry finish. A decadent sake like that could be paired with a decadent dessert — for a gourmand eager to double his or her enjoyment. Want more? Check out our Bluffer's Guide to Sake. Thanks to Vino Paradiso, we have ten double passes to give away to Vino Paradiso's masterclasses. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au with your name, address and masterclass preference out of 'Demystifying Sake' on November 1 at 11am or 'I Love the Smell of Nebbiolo in the Morning' on November 2 at 12.30pm.
Stretchier clothing, stomach-warming comfort foods, tastebud-tempting drinks: these are some of the small things that help make lockdowns more bearable. Only two of the above feature in the newest indulgent dessert that'll whet your appetite, though, but we think you might want to break out your cosiest outfit as well. There's boozy cobbler to be eaten, after all. The indulgent dish stems from a collaboration between Fireball Whisky and Potts Point eatery Sunday, with the two teaming up on a limited-edition rhubarb, pear and blood orange cobbler. That might sound fairly standard, but the dessert comes infused with Fireball's cinnamon whisky and also includes a Fireball butterscotch sauce. Basically, with each bite, you can avoid a familiar dilemma — because no one likes choosing between dessert and a drink. Sydneysiders keen to tuck in will need to order their own from Sunday, with the dish available for two weeks only from Friday, July 23. There'll only be 100 on offer each week, and you can either pick it up from the Morgan McGlone-owned restaurant or get it delivered. If you're reading this from Melbourne's lockdown, you can also sink your teeth in. You will have to commit to a new baking project, however. Sunday has also shared the cobbler's recipe, so you can whip up your own and get eating at home. FIREBALL, RHUBARB, PEAR AND BLOOD ORANGE COBBLER WITH FIREBALL BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE Serves two Ingredients Cobbler filling: 60 millilitres Fireball cinnamon whisky 200 grams of rhubarb, peeled and cubed Half a blood orange, peeled and diced Half a pear, peeled, de-cored and diced One eighth of a teaspoon of allspice 75 grams of brown sugar One eighth of a teaspoon of vanilla essence A two-gram pinch of kosher salt Cobbler topping: 50 grams of butter 50 grams of self-raising flour 25 grams of sugar One egg One eighth of a teaspoon of ground cinnamon Fireball butterscotch sauce: 90 millilitres Fireball cinnamon whisky 75 grams of brown sugar 75 grams of heavy cream 75 grams of unsalted butter, diced Two grams of smoked salt Method Cobbler filling: Place all ingredients into a heavy based pot, then bring to the boil with the lid on. Simmer for seven minutes, then set aside — and, once cool, place into a baking dish. Cobbler topping: Blend butter, flour and sugar inside in a food processor. Add egg and cinnamon, and keep blending until completely combined. Then, place mixture onto baking paper, roll into a sausage form and pop into the freezer until ready to cook. Fireball butterscotch sauce: Put brown sugar and cream into a saucepan, then bring to the boil. Reduce by a third, then add the whisky and reduce by another third. Let cool by 25 percent, then blend in butter and salt. Overall: Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Slice cobbler top into one-centimetre discs and place six pieces on top of the rhubarb mix, then and bake for 25–30 minutes. Allow to rest of ten minutes afterwards, then dust with icing sugar. To serve, spoon cobbler onto a plate or bowl, pour the butterscotch sauce over the top, and add either vanilla ice cream or whipped double cream. Fireball Whisky and Sunday's Fireball rhubarb, pear and blood orange cobbler will be available to order from Sunday from Friday, July 23 for two weeks — for pickup and delivery.
After a successful debut last April, Homeground music and dance festival returns this month with a new and exciting lineup celebrating both the traditional and contemporary faces of Indigenous culture. Featuring as part of Corroboree Sydney, the free two-day event will take place once again along the boardwalk of the Opera House, kicking off with a modern day corroboree bringing together the welcome traditions of the Aboriginal, Moari and Fijian peoples. Performance highlights include Dan Sultan, headlining the Saturday evening, as well as Canadian folk-rock duo Digging Roots, 18-year-old self-taught guitarist Chris Tamwoy and the high-energy fusion dance of Brisbane’s Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts. The festival's Sunday session promises more acclaimed indigenous talent, including electro-soul group Bow and Arrow, actress and singer Ursula Yovich and stand-up comedian Sean Choolburra. Plus, a host of pop-up bars and eateries will take you from lunch to late-night drinks, with performances extending well into the evenings. See the Homeground Festival website for performance times and details.
UPDATE, October 9, 2021: The Suicide Squad is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video, and is also screening in Sydney cinemas when they reopen on Monday, October 11. New decade, new director, new word in the title — and a mostly new cast, too. That's The Suicide Squad, the DC Extended Universe's new effort to keep viewers immersed in its sprawling superhero franchise, which keeps coming second in hearts, minds and box-office success to Marvel's counterpart. Revisiting a concept last seen in 2016's Suicide Squad, the new flick also tries to blast its unloved precursor's memory from everyone's brains. That three-letter addition to the title? It doesn't just ignore The Social Network's quote about the English language's most-used term, but also attempts to establish this film as the definitive vision of its ragtag supervillain crew. To help, Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker James Gunn joins the fold, his Troma-honed penchant for horror, comedy and gore is let loose, and a devil-may-care attitude is thrust to the fore. But when your main aim is to one-up the derided last feature with basically the same name, hitting your target is easy — and fulfilling that mission, even with irreverence and flair, isn't the same as making a great or especially memorable movie. A film about cartoonish incarcerated killers doing the US government's dirty work — one throws polka dots, one controls rats and one is a giant shark — The Suicide Squad is silly and goofy. Welcomely, that comes with the territory this time. In another OTT touch, if these fiends disobey orders, no-nonsense black-ops agent Amanda Waller (Viola Davis, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) explodes their heads. And yet, even when a supersized space starfish gets stompy (think: SpongeBob SquarePants' best bud Patrick if he grew up and got power-hungry), this sequel-slash-do-over is never as gleefully absurd as it should be. Again and again, that's how The Suicide Squad plays out. It's funny, but also so enamoured with its juvenile humour that it tickles the same beats and spits out the same profanities with repetition. It sports an anarchic vibe, yet sticks to a tried-and-tested narrative formula. It ruthlessly slaughters recognisable characters, while also leaving no surprises about who'll always remain its stars. Visually, it's flashy and punchy, and never messy or overblown, but it splashes similar flourishes across the screen like a pattern. The Suicide Squad screams "hey, I'm not that other movie!!!!!!!!!". It's right, thankfully. But simply not being that other film earns far too much of its focus. Mischief abounds from the outset — mood-wise, at least — including when Waller teams up Suicide Squad's Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman, The Secrets We Keep), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney, Honest Thief) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie, Dreamland) with a few new felons for a trip to the fictional Corto Maltese. Because this movie has that extra word in its title, it soon switches to another troupe reluctantly led by mercenary Bloodsport (Idris Elba, Concrete Cowboy), with fellow trained killer Peacemaker (John Cena, Fast and Furious 9) and the aforementioned Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian, Bird Box), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior, Valor da Vida) and King Shark (Sylvester Stallone, Rambo: Last Blood) also present. Their task: to sneak into a tower on the South American island. Under the guidance of The Thinker (Peter Capaldi, The Personal History of David Copperfield), alien experiment Project Starfish has been underway there for decades (and yes, Gunn makes time for a butthole joke). Waller has charged her recruits to destroy the secret test, all to ensure it isn't used by the violent faction that's just taken over Corto Maltese via a bloody coup. Jumping to DC in-between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — a move sparked when Disney temporarily fired him from the Marvel realm after tasteless old tweets resurfaced — Gunn pens The Suicide Squad's screenplay, too. Plot isn't the film's big drawcard, with the writer/director sketching out a threadbare setup that lets his main players bust out their key traits and lets him display his playful action-filmmaking skills. Cue scant backstories to give Bloodsport and company some depth, just as cursory nods to western intervention in other countries, plenty of frays littered with viscera and peppered with gross-out sight gags, and a movie that's all about surface pleasures. Whenever a character strikes a chord emotionally, Gunn is happy to tap that note briefly but repeatedly, for instance. Viewers keep being reminded of the same basic attributes and themes over and over, but wrapped in spirited and eye-catching visual slickness. Some touches are pitch-perfect, like the floral aesthetic evident during one of Quinn's killing sprees. Others are stylish padding, as seen in her dalliance with Corto Maltese's new dictator Luna (Juan Diego Botto, The European). The pervasive sensation: that witnessing these characters crack wise and spill guts in a showy, anything-goes fashion is meant to be something inherently special. Sometimes, Gunn's gambit works in the moment. Overall, however, The Suicide Squad's charms are fleeting. It's the better movie of its moniker, it never manages to match Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) for fun, and it isn't ever as enjoyably ridiculous as fellow DCEU flick Aquaman, either. Of course, superhero stories are always about polarised extremes, even now they're Hollywood's favourite big-screen format. They pit the very best against the absolute worst, with names on both sides standing apart from regular ol' humanity due to supernatural forces, genetic enhancement, experiments gone right or wrong, or otherworldly sources. These figures tussle over the fate of the world to save it for normal folks in movie after movie, but little attention is paid to anyone that's just ordinary. Being standard and average is something to fight for and then sweep past, even though that's where so many superhero and supervillain movies ultimately land themselves. Indeed, a film can be funny and lively, use its main faces (that'd be Elba and Robbie) well, have a few nice moments with its supporting cast (Dastmalchian, Melchior and Stallone, particularly) and improve on its predecessor, and yet still fall into a routine, unsuccessfully wade into murky politics, never capitalise upon its premise or promise, keep rehashing the same things, and just be average, too — and right now, that film is The Suicide Squad.
With international travel banned indefinitely and many Australian states and territories closing their borders, travel is in no one's immediate plans — and the airline industry is responding accordingly. In late March, Qantas and Jetstar suspended all international flights and cut domestic flights by 60 percent, temporarily stepping down two-thirds of their 30,000-person staff in the process. Virgin Australia also suspended all international flights from March 30 — and cut domestic flights by 50 percent — but is now reducing its local capacity even further. From yesterday, Friday, April 10, Virgin Australia has suspended all domestic passenger flights except for a return service between Melbourne and Sydney, running once daily except Saturdays. In a statement on the airline's website, the group said "Demand for travel has continued to decline with border restrictions and the need for people to stay home due to social distancing measures." https://www.facebook.com/virginaustralia/photos/a.10151888728861990/10156927916476990/?type=3&theater Tasmania, WA, SA, NT and Queensland have all closed their borders to non-essential travel and require interstate visitors to quarantine for 14 days. And, as of yesterday, Queenslanders are required to obtain a permit to cross back over the border from interstate, too. These measures are similar to those currently in place for Australians returning from overseas, which mandates compulsory 14-day isolation periods for all international travellers Qantas and Jetstar haven't yet announced further cuts to their domestic flights, and all three airlines currently working with the government to help bring stranded Australians home. Qantas is helping bring Aussies back from Peru, Argentina and South Africa, while Virgin Australia is running flights to Los Angeles and Hong Kong. If you have ticket for travel up to June 30, 2020, Virgin Australian will let you change your booking or cancel and request a travel credit with no change and cancellation fees. You can find out more about this on its website. For more information about Virgin Australia's reductions, visit its website. For further details about Qantas and Jetstar's plans, visit the company's website.
Hidden down a Paddington backstreet, Don Pedros is serving up Southern Cali-style Mexican food in some seriously festive surrounds. It's run by Californian Chef Juan Alvarez, who found the space by chance when holidaying in the area. "I loved the neighbourhood," says Alvarez. "But I wanted something bright and vibrant, and a place that would accomodate families and groups, alongside a place that you could have a date... and Victoria Street in the backstreet was the perfect spot." The casual eatery has already garnered a sizeable following since opening a few weeks back. And a few dishes have quickly become crowd favourites, too. Here, tacos take centre stage, and the best versions include the soft shell crab — which comes topped with pineapple salsa and lime mayo — and the slow-cooked lamb shoulder with chimichurri and slaw. You can also opt for the build-your-own taco platter, which comes with all the fixings. [caption id="attachment_762715" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Leigh Griffiths[/caption] Alvarez suggests pairing any taco with sides of the house guacamole and the chargrilled corn — the latter is rolled in queso and served with chipotle aoili. Other house specialties include pork ribs, seasonal ceviche and churros for dessert. For drinks, margaritas are (unsurprisingly) the name of the game at Don Pedros. The chilli-infused version is especially well done, as are the coconut, and blood orange and grapefruit varieties. Apart from all the margs, there's a mix of Mexican imports and local craft brews on offer behind the bar, too. [caption id="attachment_762709" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Leigh Griffiths[/caption] But you don't even need a drink to get into the festive spirit here. The vibrant 60-seater offers brightly coloured decor alongside floral table clothes, a turquoise tiled bar, hanging greenery and other typical 'fiesta'-style furnishings. Speaking of good times, make sure to mark your calendar for the first Thursday of each month when the restaurant offers all-you-can tacos for $25. More regular specials include $5 tacos and tap beers all night on Tuesdays and 4–6pm happy hour on Fridays — with all tacos and beers will cost just $4–6, depending on what time you arrive. Yep, we can't think of a better way to ring in the weekend, either. Don Pedros is now open at 1 Victoria Street, Paddington. It's open from 4–10pm Tuesday–Wednesday, 4–11pm Thursday and 12pm–midnight Friday–Saturday. Images: Leigh Griffiths
