Surry Hills favourite Harry's is teaming up with Indigenous-owned social enterprise House of Darwin for a series of NAIDOC Week events from Sunday, July 3 until Sunday, July 10. Through its clothing lines and collaborations, House of Darwin raises money to support social programs in remote First Nations communities including workshops and the restoration of basketball courts in the Northern Territory. Across eight days, patrons will be able to sample selections from Harry's special food and drink menu, which puts an emphasis on native Australian ingredients. The menu includes drinks such as the Wiradjuri Sour made with Archie Rose vodka, quandong, rosella, rhubi and rose water; and the Murri G&T which adds native bergamot to your classic gin and tonic. For snacks there are wattleseed corn ribs and a kangaroo burger topped with plum and chilli relish. These menu items will be raising money for House of Darwin throughout the week, alongside a limited-edition T-shirt designed by Northern Territory artist Luna Tunes. The design is a nod to the Rock Against Racism concert that toured Australia more than 30 years ago. "We've decided to pay homage to those who have laid the foundation of reconciliation in the 80s. A run of concerts occurred around Australia under the banner of 'Rock Against Racism' which were aligned with Australia's bicentenary celebration in 1988," House of Darwin's Shaun Edwards said. "This inspired a bus load of Territorians to hit the road bound for Sydney in search of a brighter future for First Nations people across the nation." Finally, on Thursday, July 7, Harry's and Heaps Decent are hosting a First Nations music showcase. Entry to the mid-week party is free with a gold coin donation. The lineup of artists will feature Willy J, The Chaza, OLZ and Princess Atlantis, Dylan Voller and For Life. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Harry's (@harpoon_harry) Top image: Nikki To
When Avengers: Endgame reached cinemas back in April 2019, it was the culmination of more than a decade of superhero movies — and the box office behemoth was designed to help end the third phase in the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe. It definitely wasn't intended to be one of the last MCU movies to hit the big screen for a few years, of course, but that's how things have played out during the pandemic. After a two-year hiatus from cinemas — following July 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home — Black Widow brought the huge blockbuster franchise back to picture palaces just last month. Before the year is out, there'll be more where that came from. In early September, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will introduce a new figure, before Eternals arrives in November with more than a few fresh faces — and a big glimpse at life in the aftermath of the Avengers' battle with Thanos. The MCU has plenty of fans for all of its films, and for the ongoing saga that seems likely to never leave the silver screen, but Eternals has something no other movie in the franchise has ever boasted: history-making Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao. And, in not one, not two, but now three sneak peeks at her contribution to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it looks like the Nomadland will be giving Marvel's next crew of superheroes — ancient and immortal alien beings who've been working in the shadows for thousands of years after arriving on earth via an eye-catching spaceship — a far more vivid yet naturalistic appearance. Led by Ajak (Salma Hayek, Like a Boss), these heroes are now forced to band together again to save the world from an evil threat, and also grapple with the effects of their inaction during the events of Avengers: Endgame. Narrative-wise, it seems like standard MCU stuff, at least on paper; however, with Zhao the helm, the film doesn't look or feel like your average Marvel movie, including in the movie's just-dropped latest trailer. The Eternals have always been charged with battling an enemy called The Deviants, and that's what Ajak, Ikaris (Richard Madden, Game of Thrones), Sersi (Gemma Chan, Captain Marvel), Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani, Stuber), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff, Sound of Metal), Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry, Godzilla vs Kong), Sprite (Lia McHugh, Songbird), Gilgamesh (Don Lee, Ashfall), Druig (Barry Keoghan, Calm with Horses) and Thena (Angelina Jolie, Those Who Wish Me Dead) will be doing here. One GoT star is never enough for any movie, so Kit Harington also features. In the new trailer, he doesn't appear to know nothing. Check out the latest Eternals trailer below: Eternals opens in cinemas Down Under on November 4.
Already home to everything from raindrop cakes to Nutella gyoza and salted caramel gyoza — and known to experiment with lemon meringue dumplings and marshmallow dumplings as well — Harajuku Gyoza clearly likes getting creative with its sweet treats. The chain is also fond of trying out new things with its savouring dumpling range, too, as its mac 'n' cheese and pepperoni pizza versions showed; however, it obviously has a soft spot for the kind of desserts that you won't find on any old menu. From Thursday, September 1, that includes Japanese air cheesecakes, the latest addition to the Australian gyoza brand's dessert lineup. You might've seen them online. Afterwards, you might've tried to whip them up yourself as well. The viral recipe hails from the back of a cream cheese packet in Japan, and has won fans thanks to its simplicity — but getting someone else to make it is even easier, naturally. Harajuku Gyoza now has its own two takes on the dessert available, both for $6. One comes dusted with kinako powder and paired with a pot of brown sugar syrup for you to pour over the top. Or, you can opt for the matcha variety of the fluffy air cheesecake, which features a white chocolate and matcha sauce. Whichever you choose, you'll find them at the chain's four stores — two in Brisbane, one on the Gold Coast and one in Sydney. And if you fancy tucking into the new gyoza after devouring two old favourites — cheeseburger gyoza, which is stuffed with burger pieces, aged cheddar, onion, pickles, mustard and tomato sauce; and mozzarella gyoza, which is filled with the obvious, then deep-fried and sprinkled with Twisties salt — that's up to you. Harajuku Gyoza's Japanese air cheesecakes are available at all Australian stores — at Darling Harbour in Sydney; at South Bank and the CBD in Brisbane; and in Broadbeach on the Gold Coast — from Thursday, September 1.
Vivid Sydney's 2018 program isn't only about the CBD light shows and the big name acts performing at the Opera House. This year, the City of Sydney is partnering with Vivid Sydney to fund an extensive list of independent live music shows called X|Celerate. The program will see some of Sydney's favourite local haunts showcase emerging artists with live gigs running from May 26 through June 16 — and the tickets are either dirt cheap or completely free. The events span from the CBD through to Newtown, Surry Hills, Redfern, Chippendale, Kings Cross, Camperdown and Darlinghurst. With a focus on grassroots acts — from rock, indie and jazz to funk, electronica and experimental, and even reggae and ska — each venue has specifically designed its lineup to bring you the best-of-the-best. Highlights include the Purple Sneakers 12th birthday party at The Lansdowne, a live tribute to Madonna at Freda's, queer icon Stereogamous' DJ set and aperitivo hour at The Dolphin and a George Harrison tribute band at Leadbelly, plus heaps of shows at Oxford Art Factory, Venue 505, World Bar and Golden Age Cinema. The gigs are all $25 and under and include heaps of free shows, too. X|Celerate is a partnership between the City of Sydney and Vivid Sydney that aims to enliven independent music venues across town. The program is one outcome of the City of Sydney's Live Music and Performance Action Plan, which has generated $3.2 million in small grants to live music and performing arts in Sydney since 2014. For more information, including full list of venues and program events, head to the Vivid Sydney X|Celerate website.
Sydney nightlife precinct YCK Laneways is making the most of the month of August with a four-week music, art, food and drink festival celebrating women in creative industries and hospitality. As part of YCK Front & Centre, more than 50 individual events will take place across 15 CBD venues. The culmination of the festival will be across the August 26 weekend with a three-day marquee event titled Front & Centre presents: Live at YCK. Throughout the days, attendees will be treated to masterclasses from hospitality veterans including a spirits distilling workshop from Women of Australian Distilling, a Cornersmith-led pickle your own vegetable masterclass and a truffle grading and tasting experience with Ganymede Truffles. Come nighttime, live music and entertainment will take over with a stacked lineup including sets from the likes of Jaguar Jonze, JOY, Bella Hatch, Kilimi and Pirra. Across the 15 venues, there is a tonne of other highlights. Over at PS40, the bar will be running its regular chef collaboration series with a female-led lineup; Esteban will be hosting live art from Nanami Cowdroy; plus female and non-binary DJ collective Pho the Girls will be taking over Since I Left You among the dozens of events popping up across the laneways. Rounding out the program is a series of limited-edition cocktails inspired by Moulin Rouge! The Musical which has been rolled out across the venues for the entire 31-day program.
With its stunning waterfront views, harbour beaches, a world-class zoo and bougie cafes galore, Mosman has become one of the most desirable places to live in the city. Its prime location allows for comfortable, semi-suburban living with easy access to everything the city has to offer without compromising on the beautiful, leafy and waterside vibes. The suburb itself is not left wanting for anything, with a dazzling array of specialty shops, restaurants and public spaces, so this charming neighbourhood has something for everyone and every occasion. Together with American Express, we've put together a little list to help you out.
In the lead up to the Mardi Gras parade weekend, the Australian Design Centre is holding a makers' market centred on the theme of adornment. On Saturday, February 25, Palmer Street will become a mecca for lovers of all things original and handmade, as 20 local designers and creators set up shop for the day at Adorned Makers Market. Among the wares available for sale will be bespoke bags by Karmme, handcrafted jewellery by VAN EWYK Studio and nature-inspired clothing by alexis, eclectic. While you browse the goodies on offer, be sure to sample some handmade gyoza and fresh yakitori from Japanese-inspired food truck Shisho Fine. And, if after a series of successful purchases you're keen to check out more creativity, check out ADC's current exhibitions Chili Philly: Crochet Social and Annie Gobel: Edge In. Both further explore the concept of adornment in intriguing ways.
If you truly want to experience the magic of Jervis Bay, then grab your hat and start with a 90-minute Dolphin Watch Cruise. The tour company has been operating for more than 25 years, with a mission to educate visitors and help them discover the beauty of Jervis Bay, while simultaneously enhancing the protection of the Bays' marine inhabitants. You'll hop aboard at Huskisson Wharf, then voyage into the middle of the bay searching for its 100 resident bottlenose dolphins. If you're lucky, you may even spot some whales, too. When you return, you'll have a good idea of just how epic the bay's proportions are. And, if no dolphins show up, you'll score a free return cruise. [caption id="attachment_770531" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hyams Beach by Tourism Australia[/caption]
King Street Wharf's Cargo is notorious for its rowdy vibes — almost everyone has a story to tell after a night out there. Proving it's still a winning destination for shaking off a hard day's work, the venue has recently introduced plenty of offers to get the party started. A fresh happy hour is now pouring, which means from Monday to Friday from 4pm–7pm, there are $6 house beer, wine and spirits. Once the clock strikes 7pm, you can head upstairs for classic cocktails — including espresso martinis — for $12 each until 9pm (from Wednesday to Sunday). Fuel up for the dance floor with a few share plates from the refreshed food menu, such as a Chicago-style pepperoni pizza and the hefty Kick In Crab Bowl. The latter is a bowl piled high with crab, prawns, mussels, corn and fries (it's definitely big enough to share) and arrives with two schooners. Cargo's nighttime entertainment has also been revamped, with the introduction of its new Friday Feels session. Kicking off on Friday, May 11, the early-evening music lineup will see a host of musicians and producers re-interpret familiar songs. Think of it as an electro-disco take on Triple J's 'Like a Version'. These funky tunes will run from 5–8pm, after which DJs — playing everything from dance to hip hop — will take over, spinning tunes till the wee hours. Friday Feels' inaugural musician is Sydney electro artist For Life (aka Adam Bozzetto), who'll be live from 5pm on launch night and will followed by DJs Swimteam and Bobby Gray from 8pm. Entry is free all evening, too — so you can save that tenner for a cocktail. Images: Kai Leishman and Jacquie Manning
UPDATE: Thursday, May 6 2021 – Due to new restrictions on dancing and singing, Picnic Presents CC:Disco has be postponed until Friday, June 4. The below article has been updated to reflect this. For the latest information, visit NSW Health. Fish your dancing shoes from the back of your wardrobe — there's a six-hour feel-good dance party coming to Sydney. Local nightlife crew Picnic are set to present yet another joyful session of dance music, this time headed up by internationally regarded DJ, CC:Disco. CC:Disco has played at festivals around Australia and the world including Glastonbury and Splendour in the Grass, and is now set to take on the UNSW Roundhouse following the release of her new compilation First Light Volume 2 on Friday, May 7. Joining her will be two of Sydney's most highly-regarded dance music curators, Adi Toohey and Mike Who. Hosting duties for the night will be in the hands of an array of the city's brightest dancers, performers and personalities. Gaff-E, Kelly Lovemonster, Beau Kirq, Millie Sykes, Radha and StellyG will all take the stage beneath Australia's largest disco ball to enhance the party experience. Tickets are $50 and capacity at the Roundhouse is limited to 900 people under current COVID-safe protocols, so snatch them up quick. [caption id="attachment_810766" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Milli Sykes[/caption]
When you're a stellar sleuth renowned for solving complex cases, what's your holy grail? That question will soon be answered in the Knives Out world. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is the third film in the detective franchise and will arrive before 2025 is out — and in its just-dropped initial sneak peek, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, Queer) is excited about "the impossible crime". Netflix has unveiled its first look at Wake Up Dead Man in a date-announcement teaser, which reveals Friday, December 12, 2025 as the day that you'll be watching. Accordingly, this trailer is short on plot details — but there are snippets of what's in store, including a church and its graveyard featuring prominently. Also included: a glimpse at much of the characteristically stacked cast. Just like in 2019's OG Knives Out and 2022's Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Blanc keeps pointing the finger at well-known faces. Onboard this time around: Josh O'Connor (Challengers), Glenn Close (Back in Action), Josh Brolin (Brothers), Mila Kunis (Goodrich), Jeremy Renner (Mayor of Kingstown), Kerry Washington (Shadow Force), Andrew Scott (Ripley), Cailee Spaeny (Civil War), Daryl McCormack (Bad Sisters) and Thomas Haden Church (Twisted Metal). The new teaser also includes character names, including advising that O'Connor plays a reverend and Renner a doctor. The whodunnit saga's writer and director Rian Johnson (Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi) is back behind the lens on what is being teased as Blanc's "most dangerous case yet" — and he's giving audiences two big sleuthing returns in the same year, given that Poker Face, which he also created, has already made a comeback in 2025. So far, the Knives Out franchise has stuck to a three-yearly pattern. Also, although Johnson has plunged his detective into a familiar setup, he's always ensured that the end result was anything but routine. His trusty scenario to date: bringing a group of people together in a specific setting, then watching on when one thing that always occurs in a whodunnit happens. That'd be a murder, in a formula that Agatha Christie also loved, as book-to-film adaptations Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile and A Haunting in Venice have shown. The author's play The Mousetrap and 2022 flick See How They Run, which riffs on it, make the same point. And, so does this clearly Christie-inspired franchise. The cast across Knives Out and Glass Onion has always been impressive. Chris Evans (Red One), Ana de Armas (Ghosted), Jamie Lee Curtis (The Last Showgirl), Michael Shannon (A Different Man), Toni Collette (Mickey 17), Don Johnson (Doctor Odyssey), Lakeith Stanfield (The Changeling), Christopher Plummer (Departure), Katherine Langford (Savage River) and Jaeden Martell (Arcadian) all featured the first time around. In the second flick, Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown), Janelle Monáe (Antebellum), Kathryn Hahn (The Studio), Leslie Odom Jr (The Exorcist: Believer), Jessica Henwick (The Royal Hotel), Madelyn Cline (Outer Banks), Kate Hudson (Running Point) and Dave Bautista (Dune: Part Two) co-starred. Check out the date announcement video for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery below: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will release on Friday, December 12, 2025. Read our reviews of Knives Out and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
Winter weekends haven't looked this wonderfully packed for many a cold, cold week. There's plenty of cheese to be eaten, films to be snuggled into and live music to warm your hands on. With Bastille Day giving you all the reasons to load up on tasty, expensive wine, freshly baked bread and All The Camembert, doonas have never looked so unappealing. Get out there, put a dumb-looking animal beanie on and lap up that wintry goodness — there's plenty of time to worry about prepping for bikini season later. Bleu Blanc Rouge Festival In the spirit of the festivities that fill every town in France from Brittany to Bordeaux, the Bleu Blanc Rouge Festival held at Customs House square from July 11-13 is completely free. Expect all manner of live entertainment, including ten young artists performing over the three days, as well as DJs, a cabaret show and open-air cinema. Cooking demonstrations will give you the opportunity to channel your inner Manu Feildel, but if eating rather than cooking is your thing, you can take advantage of someone else's culinary skills by picking up a range of authentic French goodies at the market stalls. For more cheese, wine and Frenchness, check out our roundup of the seven best ways to celebrate Bastille Day in Sydney. When: Friday, 11 July - Sunday, 13 July Where: Customs House , 31 Alfred Street, Circular Quay How much: FREE Caitlin Park Electronic whiz kids don't come more stylin' than Sydney's multitalented Caitlin Park. With her 2011 debut album Milk Annual applauded Australia-wide and the 2012 Qantas Spirit Of The Youth Award under her belt, Park inked a deal with Create/Control in February this year (home to fellow Aussies Oliver Tank, Feelings, Go Violets and internationals Parquet Courts and Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros). Marking the team-up with the release of her second album The Sleeper, the smoky-voiced Sydneysider will bring her brand new tunes to The Vanguard on Friday, July 11. Disarmingly catchy singles like 'Lemonade' are sure to get table-sitters out of their cabaret seats. When: Friday, 11 July - 7:00pm Where: The Vanguard , 42 King St Newtown How much: 12 +BF Friday Night Fish & Chips Fish and chips used to be a frequent Friday night special in our house. Now, Surry Hills has introduced us to a new world of experiencing brain food with the Crown Street Fish Shop, which has taken the place of the dear departed Rainford Street Social. They've taken your basic fish and chips and turned them into a rather sophisticated night out, with the added bonus of keeping things fairly simple. Don't fear that all you'll be able to order in the jewel of Sydney's trendy crown that is Surry Hills will be some sort of deconstructed version of your Friday night favourite. You can still get a simple fish and chips; however, this time knowing what sort of sea creature went into the light and crisp batter when you order from the daily specials. Read our full review here. When: Seven days, noon - late Where: Crown Street Fish Shop, 500 Crown Street, Surry Hills How much: Up to $50, depending how hungry you are Scandinavian Film Festival Step into your local arthouse theatre these days and you'd be hard pressed not to find a regional film festival going on. In 2014, the line-up is getting that little bit more crowded, with the inaugural edition of a brand new festival highlighting the films from Europe's frozen north. Covering Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, the first annual Scandinavian Film Festival is set to put the kvikmynd in kvikmyndahátíð. For more information about the Scandinavian Film Festival, visit their website. When: Wednesday, 9 July - Sunday, 27 JulyWhere: Palace Cinemas , 17 Oxford Street Paddington How much: TBC Reko Rennie: No Sleep Till Dreamtime If Taylor Square is involved in your daily commute, you’re probably familiar with the work of Reko Rennie. Now part of the urban texture of Darlinghurst, Always has been, always will be is the unmissable Flinders Street mural. In association with blackartsprojects, No Sleep Till Dreamtime is Rennie’s latest solo exhibition. Spread across Chalk Horse and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, it continues to interrogate how Aboriginality is framed in an urban context. Unlike the flat colours and neon lettering of his public projects, this exhibition shares a bigger vocabulary of symbols and explores more complex processes of art-making. When: Thursday, 26 June - Saturday, 12 July Where: Chalk Horse , 94 Cooper St Surry Hills How much: FREE The Jeans for Genes Denim Exhibition Suckers for good selvage will dig this one. Denim fans and jeans enthusiasts should squeeze into their skinnes and get to The Grounds of Alexandria on Saturday, July 12 for a one-off exhibition of jeans owned by famous peeps. Check out Anthony Kiedis' painted pants, the baggy straight-legs of Adam Sandler and the unfathomably tight pants of the now presumably pantsless James Franco. Strutting into The Grounds as part of Jeans for Genes Day (Friday, August 1), the exhibition will also include the denim favourites of Eric Bana, Gene Simmons, Maroon 5 and the previously paraded pants of those wonderfully abominable Kardashians.Keeping on the yearly tradition of donating a dollar and donning your denim, the Jeans for Genes Denim Exhibition is raising some sweet moolah for Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI). When: Saturday, 12 July - 9:00am Where: The Grounds of Alexandria , Building 7A 2 Huntley Street Alexandria 2015 How much: FREE Hedda Gabler at Belvoir Enticed into the part by Green Room Award-winning director Adena Jacobs, superlative drag performer and Sisters Grimm co-founder Ash Flanders is Hedda Gabler, one of the (let's face it, few) great female characters in 'the classics'. A creation of Norwegian drawing-room dramatist Henrik Ibsen, Hedda is a mass of contradictions: bored and bursting with energy, vindictive and victim, capricious and calculating, desirable and defective, feminine and masculine. The daughter of an esteemed military general, she's admired for her beauty and status, but she bristles against the social expectations of her sex. Reuniting with her Persona designer Dayna Morrissey, director Adena Jacobs has again gone for a set full of interesting spaces that frame the characters as playfully and meaningfully as a camera lens. In fact, the whole aesthetic here calls to mind one of the most stylistically influential films of the last few years, Drive. Read our full review here. When: Monday, 28 July - Sunday, 3 August Where: Belvoir St Theatre Upstairs , 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills How much: $35 - $68 The Winery Fashion Markets The Winery Fashion Markets are a bit like having several incredibly stylish friends who allow you to raid their wardrobes (which are enviably full of international and Australian designer labels) behind a Surry Hills wine bar. The Winery has taken to transforming the laneway behind their bar into that market place once a month. Some of Sydney's leading fashion identities — bloggers, stylists and fashion publicists — will be selling their own pre-loved clothes. Confirmed for the July 12 iteration of the markets are fashion blogger Carmen Hamilton from Chronicles of Her along with fashion publicists and stylists from top fashion publications. If you happen to get cold or hungry in between shopping, they've got you covered. You can pop inside and keep warm with coffee and veal and chorizo sausage rolls. A flower market put on by Wildes Lane completes the damn near picture perfect day. When: Saturday, 14 June - 10:00am; Saturday, 12 July - 10:00am Where: The Winery , 285A Crown Street, Surry Hills 2010 How much: FREE Olympic Ayres It may be freezing outside, but Olympic Ayres are pretty firmly committed to the sounds of warmer days. The Sydney producer/DJ duo make the kind of super synthy beats that will transport you to palm-tree'd beach parties of summers past. Rejecting the seasonal chill, they're playing a toasty live showcase of their upcoming EP Leisureplex at Goodgod next week. Leisureplex isn't actually due for release until September 18, so this gig is the first chance to hear what the band have been working on — perfect escapism for those in denial about the less-than-balmy weather conditions. When: Saturday, 12 July - 8:00pm Where: Good God Small Club , 53 - 55 Liverpool St Sydney How much: 10 +bf All This Mayhem A thrilling sports film, heartbreaking drama and eye-opening cautionary tale all rolled in to one, All This Mayhem will transcend your expectations of its subject matter. Ostensibly a documentary about the rise and fall of two former skateboarding champions, in execution the Australian-made production bears closer resemblance to (in the words of its director) a modern-day Greek tragedy, full of hubris, temptation and a reckless disregard for long-term consequences. In what is shaping up to be a banner year for Australian cinema, this wild and powerful doco has officially stolen the lead. When: Thursday, 10 July - Wednesday, 6 August Where: Dendy Newtown , 261-263 King Street, Newtown How much: $14 - $19
A few years ago the gin and tonic seemed like a basic drink order saved only for times of limited choice or hot days when there was no cold beer within reach. But the rise of Australia's own boutique gin production has changed that quite rapidly, with small-scale distillers — like Sydney's Archie Rose and Melbourne's Four Pillars, to name a few — creating some distinctive and downright delicious gins in our own backyard (Pinot Noir gin, anyone?). The latest weird and wonderful gin creation comes from South Australia's Applewood Distillery. They've just released a limited run of one-off Green Ant Gin, which is infused with — you guessed it — green ants. How does it work? Like all gin, it's made up of a selection of botanicals. But along with the usual juniper berries and orange peel, the essence of ants has also been thrown in. That's because ants release a pheromone during the distillation process, which produces a flavour that complements the other botanicals. According to Applewood, the green tree ants give the gin a "lime-licked burst of intense green flavour". While this is the first gin made with green ants we've heard of, Applewood's not the first people to use the tiny insects in gin — Copenhagen's Nordic Food Lab produces an Anty Gin that costs a bomb per bottle, and last year Victoria's Bass and Flinders Distillery released their Angry Ant Gin made with ants sourced from Western Australia. As a general rule we don't allow green ants anywhere near our mouths, but we'll probably make an exception for this one. Bottles are currently going for $120 on Applewood's online store. There's only 300 of them though, so you may have to snatch one up stat.
If you've long thought of Port Macquarie as one big waiting room for God, it's obviously been ages since you visited. It's true that Australia's sun-loving retirees have been digging in here for decades. The climate is the most liveable in the nation, with temperatures hovering at late 20s and early 30s in summer, but rarely slipping into single digits in winter. Plus, there are eighteen beaches (eighteen!), from friendly Flynns Beach to nine-kilometre-long Lighthouse Beach, where you can go on camel safari. But, more recently, Generations X and Y have been catching onto the salubriousness of this 44,000-person strong town, a four hour drive north of Sydney and six hours south of Brisbane. And they're moving in. In fact, Port (that's what the locals call it) is the fastest growing area in New South Wales. Luckily for you, the influx is bringing some serious hospitality experience with it. Here's how to spend a weekend in the area. STAY Port's many beaches make up its eastern coast, but along its northern edge runs the mighty Hastings River, which was the original home of the Birpai people. It starts 180 kilometres northwest in the Great Dividing Range and runs all the way into Port Macquarie. Today, the riverfront is home to Port's swankiest hotels. One of these is Sails Resort by Rydges, which scored a $15 million revamp last year. To sleep right on the water, reserve a water view king room or, if you're with friends, a suite. Either way, you'll be dozing in a signature king-sized bed, lolling about on spacious couches and crooning 'Ol' Man River' from your private balcony. The hotel pool, encircled with palm trees and dotted with private cabanas, is Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet-esque by night. The town centre is just a ten minutes walk away, but, to travel in style, grab a vintage bike or, even better, a paddle board from the lobby. (Yep, you can travel via river all the way). [caption id="attachment_562409" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Lindsay Moller Photography via The Stunned Mullet[/caption] EAT The restaurant that put Port on the gustatory map is The Stunned Mullet. In 2005, co-owners Lou Perri and David Henry moved into this 90-seater space, overlooking sweeping coastal views north to Point Plomer. In 2014, the duo earned their first Good Food hat, and kept it in 2015. Italian-born, Canadian-raised Perri has two obsessions: Australia's finest produce and the world's best wines, while Henry is busy turning Perri's selections into decadent dishes as executive chef. Freshly shucked local oysters arrive as an Asian-inspired flight — the first topped with white miso and shiitake pearls, the second with finger lime ponzu and the third with nam jim. Mains feature meat cuts fit for royalty, like Glacier 51Toothfish, whose name comes from its icy habitat: 2000 metres beneath sea level, off the southern tip of Heard Island, an Australian territory in Antarctica. Farmed closer to home in Orange is Mandagery Creek venison, here laced with Australian natives, like wattleseed, macadamia nut and lemon myrtle. Perri will jovially guide you through the international odyssey that is the wine list — trust his recommendations if you can't make up your own mind. Back riverside, still-water sunsets, tapas, art and live music are on tap at the Latin Loafer. Flop onto a camelback sofa with a mango chilli lime daiquiri in hand and be transported to South America. Nicholas Diaz, who co-owns the restaurant-bar with musician and music promoter Simon Leigh, specialises in generous tapas plates, ranging from moreish takes on classics — like salted cod croquettes and chorizo in red wine — to fresh inventions such as heirloom carrots with beetroot, smoked goat's cheese and almonds. Don't be shy to ask the waitstaff for a match from the exotic Spanish, Argentinian and Chilean wine selection. West of Port Macquarie, the Hastings River nurtures thousands of hectares of fertile land, where warm weather crops, like avocado and macadamia, thrive, and cattle and chooks have space to free range. Many local cafes are making the most of these Edenic surroundings. Among the most outstanding is Drury Lane Eatery, co-owned by Canadian-born head chef Drury Woolnough and partner, Kate McCarron, who've been getting to know local producers. Salmon smoked an hour's drive away is transformed into a bright salad with apple and lemon fennel dukkah, while leaves grown 40 kilometres upstream at Near River Produce make for a mean green breakfast, with beans, chilli and fried eggs. Book one of the outdoor tables in the leafy courtyard opposite Glasshouse Theatre. For invigorating ocean views, grab a seat at Milkbar — if you can get one. Locals roll up from Town Beach and cram into this friendly cafe to tuck into hearty dishes, from house-made baked beans with herbed goats' cheese to baked eggs with feta and spinach. In the unlikely location of Gordon Street, Port's best coffee is brewing at Social Grounds, which, with its graphic murals and dark wooden tables, feels like an inner-city cafe. Choose between single origin or The Story, a blend combining beans from Ethiopia, Sumatra, Colombia and Rwanda. The hand-scrawled blackboard menu is short but fierce — try the spiced poached eggs with field mushroom, haloumi, avocado, rocket and dukkah on sourdough. If you're road tripping to or from Sydney, take a break in Newcastle's West End with lunch at The Edwards. Co-owners Chris Joannou (yep, Silverchair's bassist) and barista Chris Johnston have turned this warehouse that was Joannou's parents' dry-cleaning business into a fun, unpretentious cafe-bar. Beer taps are made from steam presses, lights are made from tumble dryers and there's loads of space for ping pong matches, art exhibitions, live music and night markets. The cheese plate is a spectacular mountain of softs, blues, truffle-infused oil, berries, dates and breads. DRINK Port Macquarie's wine history is as nearly as old as the Hunter Valley's. The first vineyards were planted in the 1860s, but, while the Hunter expanded, the North Coast's winemaking scene fell into decline. That was until Cassegrain kickstarted a revival in the '80s. Drop by the stone-paved cellar door overlooking rolling vineyards to try the famous Chambourcin; Cassegrain was the first winery in Australia to grow this French-American variety commercially. Fifteen kilometres south, at Lake Cathie, Long Point Vineyard and Art Gallery serves up Agent Orange liqueur and refreshing ginger beer, which is brewed on-site among other interesting drops. The indoor gallery features temporary exhibitions by local artists, while in the landscaped grounds, you'll rediscover two escapees from Sculpture by the Sea. In restaurants and bars all over the North Coast flows a beer by the name of Black Duck. It's brewed right here in Port and, should you pop in, brewer Al Owen will happily take you on a tour, talk you through a tasting paddle and, if you're hungry, hand you a locally-sourced food platter. Don't be shy to give Murphy, the resident Great Dane, a good dose of love too. DO Starting at Town Beach and finishing at Tacking Point Lighthouse, the nine-kilometre Port Macquarie Coastal Walk takes in three beaches, several stunning lookouts and Sea Acres National Park, where the rainforest meets the sea. Conquer the whole length or drive to a particular point and walk a section. The 1.3-kilometre Sea Acres Boardwalk lifts you seven metres above the ground, into the canopy. To get to places you can't go on foot, join Port Kayak for an adventure. For seventeen years, local guide Mark has been taking visitors through mangrove ecosystems, along rivers and down freshwater rapids. On his daily two-hour discovery tour, starting at 10am, you'll meet water dragons, who'll even climb onto your boat, and an enormous flying fox colony. On the way into or out of town, swing by Ricardoes Tomatoes & Strawberries, where brothers Anthony and Richard Sarks have created a pick-your-own fruit kingdom. What began as a roadside stall serviced by an honesty box has turned into a mecca for growers and eaters interested in getting their hands dirty and knowing more about where their food comes from. The brothers will talk you through the ins and outs of hydroponics, before letting you loose among their immense greenhouses, filled with more than 30,000 plants across eight tomato varieties and five types of strawberries. Hungry? Stick around for a tomato-fuelled bite at Cafe Red. And if you're keen to unleash your inner Picasso while on holiday, keep your eyes peeled for an Eat Sip Paint pop-up, hosted by Paint the Town Port. You're provided with a paint, easel, nibbles and courage-giving glass of wine, while local artist Aimee Pelley, talks you through creating an artwork, step-by-step. LET'S DO THIS; GIVE ME THE DETAILS By car: Port Macquarie is about four hours north of Sydney, about six-and-a-half hours south of Brisbane and about twelve hours north of Melbourne. By plane: QANTAS and Virgin Australia fly between Port Macquarie and Sydney (65 minutes), Brisbane (85 minutes) and Melbourne (three hours). Jasmine Crittenden travelled as a guest of Destination NSW. Images: Peter Saw (unless otherwise specified).
Not all that long ago, the idea of getting cosy on your couch, clicking a few buttons, and having thousands of films and television shows at your fingertips seemed like something out of science fiction. Now, it's just an ordinary night — whether you're virtually gathering the gang to text along, cuddling up to your significant other or shutting the world out for some much needed me-time. Of course, given the wealth of options to choose from, there's nothing ordinary about making a date with your chosen streaming platform. The question isn't "should I watch something?" — it's "what on earth should I choose?". Hundreds of titles are added to Australia's online viewing services each and every month, all vying for a spot on your must-see list. And, so you don't spend 45 minutes scrolling and then being too tired to actually commit to watching anything, we're here to help. From the latest and greatest to old favourites, here are our picks for your streaming queue for September. NEW STUFF TO WATCH NOW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTjlurdbNnw I MAY DESTROY YOU Newly returned from a working trip to Italy, struggling to write her second novel after her first struck a sizeable chord and pushing up against a draft deadline just hours away, Arabella (Michaela Coel) takes some time out from an all-nighter to procrastinate with friends over a few drinks in a couple of London bars. The next morning, the Twitter-famous scribe is shaky, hazy and feels far from her normal self — and across the next 11 episodes of this instantly blistering 12-part series, I May Destroy You delves into the aftermath, as Arabella realises that she was raped that evening. Not only created and written by the unflinching and captivating Coel, but inspired by her own real-life experience with sexual assault, the result is as bold, raw and frank as it is sensitive and affecting. It also feels personal at every single moment. An immensely powerful series that intimately interrogates power on multiple levels and features an unsurprisingly potent performance by Coel, I May Destroy You is easily this year's number-one must-see show — and its absolute best. I May Destroy You's first season is available to stream via Binge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDTg62vsV4U I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS For much of I'm Thinking of Ending Things two-hour-plus running time, the film's characters sit and talk as discomfort fills the space around them. The movie's protagonist (Wild Rose's Jessie Buckley) and her boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons) awkwardly chat as they drive through the snow to the Oklahoma farm where the latter grew up. They both endure several seesawing conversations with Jake's erratic and eccentric mother (Toni Collette) and father (David Thewlis) once they arrive. And, steam-of-consciousness narration also provides a soundtrack. But given this feature is written and directed by Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, it was never going to be a straightforward flick about meeting the parents. Instead, it's a purposely ambiguous and complex exploration of identity, choice and the very nature of human existence — complete with sudden ballet dances, strange overnight stops at deserted dessert stands and flashes to an unhappy janitor (Guy Boyd) — and it's a fascinating, challenging, visually stunning trip the entire way. I'm Thinking of Ending Things is available to stream via Netflix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN8fFM1ZdWo THE BOYS Suffers of superhero fatigue understandably rejoiced when The Boys first hit screens in 2019. Yes, it focuses on a group of caped crusaders just like seemingly every second blockbuster movie — but, in a world where viewers have been conditioned to lap up narratives about powerful folks who are supposedly better than most, this series both satirises and questions that very idea. Here, superheroes work for a corporation called Vought International. The top talent is known as The Seven; however when the public isn't looking, most — especially leader Homelander (Antony Starr) — are hardly role models. The show's second season picks up where its first left off, with determined, no-nonsense Brit Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) intent on bringing Vought and The Seven down with his own ragtag team, aka The Boys of the title. As well as once again following the complicated bond between The Boys' newcomer Hugh (Jack Quaid) and The Seven's Starlight (Erin Moriarty), the new season also throws Better Call Saul's Giancarlo Esposito into the mix as Vought's CEO, plus Aya Cash as social media star and new The Seven member Liberty. The first five episodes of The Boys' second season are available to stream via Amazon Prime Video, with new episodes added every Friday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFAHiU0g0xQ PEN15 When Maya Erskine (Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later) and Anna Konkle (Rosewood) decided that they were going to make a series about their 13-year-old selves — and, although they're now definitely and obviously adults, also play their younger selves — it was a decidedly risky move. It pays off, though. In fact, it's one of the savviest parts of PEN15, which is one of the most distinctive comedies on TV. There's nothing quite like reflecting upon that awkward adolescent phase by physically and literally revisiting it, as the two writers and actors do, all while their on-screen characters navigate the ups and downs of middle school at the turn of the 21st century. Returning for the first half of its second season, this comedy series steps back into the lives of Maya Ishii-Peters (Erskine) and Anna Kone (Konkle), deepens its exploration of being a teenage girl (and a teenager in general), and will have you cringing in recognition, laughing and recognising its insights simultaneously. The first seven episodes of PEN15's second season are available to stream via Stan, with another seven episodes set to drop at a yet-to-be revealed date. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJvKDp54YjM SPIRAL Not to be confused with the upcoming new Saw franchise film of the same name, Spiral gives a familiar premise a smart, topical and resonant twist. In the mid-90s, Malik (Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, UnREAL) and Aaron (Ari Cohen, IT: Chapter Two) move to a small town with the latter's teenage daughter Kayla (Jennifer Laporte, iZombie), seeking a quieter, happier life away from the city. They're initially greeted warmly by neighbours Marshall (Lochlyn Munro, Riverdale) and Tiffany (Chandra West, Played); however, in general territory traversed by many a horror film before this, things aren't quite what they seem. Indeed, when Malik comes home one day to find a homophobic slur graffitied on their living room wall, he starts to get suspicious about the cliquey community they're now calling home — fears that Aaron doesn't share. There is clearly much about Spiral that fits a template, but director Kurtis David Harder and writers Colin Minihan and John Poliquin do an astute job of moulding this unsettling movie into a timely statement. The result: an unnerving feature that's as much about spooky terrors as societal ones, and that possesses a considerable bite. Spiral is available to stream via Shudder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ8CCg1tOqc #ALIVE Train to Busan and Peninsula aren't the only films to wonder how South Korea might cope with a sudden zombie outbreak. The unrelated #Alive also explores the concept, focusing on a video game streamer as an unexplained disease turns most of Seoul's residents into the guts-munching undead. Even holed up in the seeming safety of his family's apartment, Oh Jun-u (Burning's Yoo Ah-in) doesn't initially take the situation well. As shuffling hordes lurk outside, his dismal food supply rapidly declines and he worries about the safety of his parents and sister, he attempts to survive — and to fight off the gnawing feeling that perhaps his struggle is futile. A box office hit when it released in South Korean cinemas, #Alive never feels as formulaic as its premise might suggest. In fact, this horror-thriller proves constantly tense, and not just because pandemic films have that effect at the moment. Making his first feature, writer/director Il Cho handles the zombie scenes with urgency and makes ample room for quiet moments; however his best decision is casting the ever-watchable Yoo. #Alive is available to stream via Netflix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31rSR0w0z30 THE VOW Another month, another compelling true-crime documentary series. When it comes to delving into the minutiae of tales so wild that they can only be true, HBO has long been known for leading the charge — and, after McMillions and I'll Be Gone in the Dark already this year, The Vow is its latest addition to the fold. Its focus: self-improvement group NXIVM. If that name sounds familiar, that's probably because you remember the 2018 news headlines, when its founder Keith Raniere and member and actor Allison Mack (Smallville) were arrested and charged with a range of crimes that included sex trafficking. Featuring former NXIVM members sharing stories about their time in the cult-like group, The Vow details a rollercoaster ride of a story, not only unpacking the sinister and sordid aspects of the tale, but attempting to understand what appealed to people about the organisation in the first place. Filmmakers Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer picked up an Oscar nomination for 2013's The Square, as well as Emmy awards and nods, and don't be surprised if they feature in the TV awards conversation in 2020. The first episode of The Vow is available to stream via Binge, with new episodes available every Sunday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSzZxsX0_yE AP BIO In It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Glenn Howerton excels at playing arrogant, narcissistic, abrasive, selfish and misanthropic. He's been doing just that since 2005, and long may that continue. But, while before 2018, no one would've ever wondered what might happen if Howerton demonstrated the same traits in a high-school set sitcom, AP Bio answers that question in a consistently amusing way. Here, Howerton plays an ex-Harvard philosophy professor forced to return to his home town of Toledo after losing his dream job and reacting badly. He takes a gig as a biology teacher even though he has absolutely no interest in it, and he enlists his motley crew of students to help him enact his elaborate revenge plan. Three seasons in, this comedy happily veers in its own direction and keeps serving up offbeat laughs — including from Patton Oswalt as the school principal and the great Paula Pell (a Saturday Night Live writer for almost two decades) as his secretary. Also, the latest season dedicates an episode to an occasion known as 'Katie Holmes Day', which is as silly and yet still inspired as it sounds. All of AP Bio's third season is available to stream via Stan (and its first and second seasons as well). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaaC57tcci0 THE SOCIAL DILEMMA The idea that social media isn't all that great for humanity isn't new news. More than a decade after services such as Facebook and Twitter started taking over our daily lives, inundating us with notifications, fighting for our time, collecting our data and trying to monetise our attention to sell to advertisers, that fact shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. But just because The Social Dilemma stresses something that everyone should already know, that doesn't mean that it doesn't still pack a punch. This Sundance-premiering documentary proves more than a little clunky when it features dramatised segments showing both how social media can affect us all and visualising how algorithms work (the latter featuring multiple versions of Mad Men's Vincent Kartheiser). And, in its interview segments, it is hardly astonishing that an array of ex-tech company employees have unpleasant things to say about the industry. Still, this doco is both comprehensive and important — and, if you haven't spent much time thinking about the topic, accessible as well. The Social Dilemma is available to stream via Netflix. CULT CLASSICS TO REVISIT AND REDISCOVER https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azjw0hTkOIs FARGO More than two decades since it first hit the big screen, Joel and Ethan Coen's Fargo still ranks among their best work. Given the other movies to the sibling filmmakers' names — Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou?, No Country for Old Men and Inside Llewyn Davis, to name just a few — that's quite the feat. So, when the Fargo TV series arrived in 2014, it followed in some considerable footsteps. Telling a different crime tale each season, with a different high-profile cast, it instantly became one of television's must-watch dramas. Featuring everyone from Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman (in season one), to Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons (season two) and Ewan McGregor playing brothers (in season three), every episode to-date has served up an entertaining treat — and those first three seasons have just hit SBS On Demand in the lead up to the Chris Rock and Jason Schwartzman-starring fourth season, which starts dropping in October. The first three seasons of Fargo are available to stream via SBS On Demand. Top images: I May Destroy You, Natalie Seery/HBO; The Vow, HBO; I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Mary Cybulski/Neflix.
From an elevated 11-course spin on KFC and Disney degustations to nostalgia-driven menus themed around great British memories, Surry Hills fine-diner NEL continues to push the boundaries of creativity and invention with its contemporary takes on any theme it sets its attention toward. The restaurant's Executive Chef and Owner Nelly Robinson is leading the charge on these inventive degustations, assisted by a team of chefs with expert craftsmanship and a knack for inventing. Each time you venture to the Wentworth Avenue venue, you can expect something different — and something exceptional. When you opt to dine in this time, however, you'll have the chance to experience a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the creative process with the return of the NEL test kitchen. The limited lunch series will pop back up on Saturday, September 30th, offering an exclusive sneak peek into the inner workings of the venue's creation process. NEL's test kitchen will return for a single instalment, offering a nine-course set menu of seasonally-inspired dishes dedicated to "all things spring". The acclaimed restaurant's chefs will build new, exciting dishes, some of which may feature on NEL's future menu — and you'll be among the first to trial them. On this particular journey, you'll be met with a stunning kaleidoscope of colour paired with flavours that'll lead you on a sensory exploration of the season. Keep up to date with the event's details at NEL's official website.
It's in Newtown that you'll find some of Sydney's best locally brewed beer, most epic sweet treats and greatest bowls of ramen. And to celebrate the suburb's delectable contributions to the city's foodie scene, the Newtown Good Food Fair is returning for a fifth year on Sunday, October 14. Organised by the Newtown Precinct Business Association, the event brings together more than 30 of Newtown's brewers, bakers, growers and chefs. These include Young Henrys, Black Star Pastry, Queen Chow and Gelato Messina, just to name a few. For your gustatory convenience, they'll all be gathering in two easy-to-reach spots: Newtown Square and nearby Eliza Street. It all kicks off from 11am at both locations with the above food and drinks, as well as live music, and continues until 4pm at Newtown Square and 6pm at Eliza Street.
Whether it's a television series or a movie, when a beloved pop culture entity comes to an end these days, fans rarely have to say goodbye forever. We live in a time of remakes, reboots, revivals, sequels and prequels, after all — and stage adaptations and film-to-TV leaps, too — so usually we're just pressing pause on our favourites, rather than farewelling them permanently. Given how successful Game of Thrones proved for HBO — even after its eighth and final season caused plenty of uproar — the on-screen world inspired by George RR Martin's books was never going to simply disappear. Indeed, before GoT even finished, there was chatter about what would come next, with the network first announcing that it was considering five different prequel ideas. It then green-lit one to pilot stage, scrapped it and later decided to adapt Martin's House Targaryen-focused Fire & Blood for the small screen as a show called House of the Dragon. Next, it opted to give novella series Tales of Dunk and Egg the TV treatment, too, and to work on an animated GoT show. And, it's been reported that another three prequels are also under consideration. Of course, all of the above announcements have been happening for so long that it's easy to forget that new GoT-related shows will eventually grace the small screen — and that we won't just merely be talking about them. In House of the Dragon's case, it's actually due to release its ten-episode first season in 2022, so you now know what to look forward to watching next year. Expect to spend more time with flame-breathing scaly creatures and the family that adores them. If you thought the Targaryens were chaotic already, delving into their history — and their love of using dragons to wage wars and claim power — is certain to cement that idea. We all know what happened to the last surviving members of the family in GoT, including Daenerys and her boyfriend/nephew Jon Snow; however, House of the Dragon, like Fire & Blood, jumps back 300 years earlier. Cast- and character-wise, House of the Dragon stars Emma D'Arcy (Misbehaviour) as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, the first-born child of King Viserys; Matt Smith (His House) as Prince Daemon Targaryen, the King's brother; Rhys Ifans (Official Secrets) as Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King; Olivia Cooke (Pixie) as Alicent Hightower, Otto's daughter; and Steve Toussaint (It's a Sin) as Lord Corlys Velaryon, aka 'The Sea Snake', a nautical adventurer from a Valyrian bloodline as old as House Targaryen. And if you're wondering how they all look, HBO has also just released its first official images from the series. These Westerosi folk will all grace a tale that harks back to Aegon I Targaryen's conquest of the Seven Kingdoms — which is what started the hefty 738-page first volume in Fire & Blood's planned two-book series — and then works through the family's history from there. Aegon I created the Iron Throne, so you'll probably get to see one returning favourite. And you don't have to be the Three-Eyed Raven to know that this tale involves plenty of GoT's staples: fighting, battles for supremacy and bloodshed. Also set to pop up on-camera: Paddy Considine (The Third Day) as King Viserys, Eve Best (Nurse Jackie) as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon and Sonoya Mizuno (Devs) as Mysaria, Prince Daemon's paramour. Behind the scenes, Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal are acting as the series' showrunners. Sapochnik has a hefty GoT history, winning an Emmy and a Directors Guild Award for directing 'Battle of The Bastards', helming season eight's 'The Long Night', and doing the same on four other episodes. As for Condal, he co-created and oversaw recent sci-fi series Colony, and co-wrote the screenplay for the 2018 film Rampage. House of the Dragon is due to start airing on HBO sometime in 2022. When and where it'll be available to watch Down Under hasn't yet been revealed — we'll update you with further details when they're announced. Images: Ollie Upton/HBO.
Throwing a lavish dinner party? Trying to up your bartending game? Or just tired of dropping $20 per cocktail at the bar? Enter Cocktail Porter — it has you covered on all three counts. Australia's new online subscription service for at-home cocktail making is now delivering to door's across the country. While it's not the first of its kind in the country — with The Mixery delivery all the non-booze cocktail ingredients you'll need — it's the first delivering the spirits, too. It's founded by Sydney-based Cameron Northway, who also co-owns Rocker in Bondi with Three Blue Duck's Darren Robertson. He's joined by a team of renowned Australian hospo vets, including former Bartender of the Year Tim Phillips (owner of Bulletin Place and Dead Ringer). The subscription works similarly to most DIY food delivery services, except with booze. Fixings for a different drink will be delivered each month, along with a recipe card and pre-measured ingredients and premium spirits. This element of convenience will cost you $135 per month, which can be a lot to fork up at once — though it'll make 14–18 cocktails (about a tenner each), so it's a big saving for regular spenders at the bar. Each month will feature a different cocktail, curated by world-class bartenders and based on global drinking trends. At the moment, there's the Treacle Old Fashioned with sweet Italian vermouth, burnt orange-vanilla syrup and cacao-macadamia bitters; a classic gin martini with your choice of flavoured vermouth; and a bloody mary with turmeric vinegar. Coming up, November's two-in-one Spring Cup Spritz offers the options to make both Tanqueray and Ciroc spritzes in one box, along with sparkling wine, elderflower cordial and lemongrass and ginger sparkling water accompaniments. December will see a classic espresso martini box complete with Ketel One, coffee liqueur, cold drip coffee and grated dark chocolate. The fresh ingredients, garnishes and glassware are not included in the box, though the recipe card will tell you exactly what else you'll need, along with some at-home hacks if you want to avoid buying expensive tumblers, jiggers and shakers. If a month subscription is just too much, there are one-off orders and gift options, too, which are delivered within three-to-five working days — so not too much planning is needed if you want to amp up your next soiree. Cocktail Porter is now delivering across Australia.
Ever feel like navigating your finances is a mess? Commonwealth Bank has created a literal maze in Tumbalong Park to showcase how, as the biggest corporate user of AI, it's embracing new tech to improve the customer experience. Created with AI technology from ideation to build, AMAiZING at CommBank House will feature three sections for attendees to explore. Grab a free coffee in the lounge area before checking out the Tech for Good Gallery, which highlights some of the various technological innovations used by CommBank for everything from cybersecurity and protection from financial abuse to support after natural disasters and future forecasting based on historical data. Learn about data mining from a tech-based artwork, compete with a computer in a machine-learning game and uncover more about digital forensics and scam protection with an interactive activity. Depending on the time, you might be able to catch a talk or demonstration on the stage or learn more about AI or start-ups from the financial pros at CommBank. Nearby, there'll be a bar run by Newtown hotspot Buddy's Bar. One of CommBank's small business clients, Buddy's Bar is known for its innovative self-serve drinks (the first venue in Sydney to do so) and buzzy vibes. Expect more of the same when you stop by to enjoy a drink while looking out onto the SXSW festival hub in Tumbalong Park. CommBank House will be open at Tumbalong Park between 9am–10pm from Sunday, October 15, to Sunday, October 22.
In 2023, Kylie Minogue was one of the headline acts at the first-ever Sydney WorldPride. In 2024, Australia's favourite homegrown pop star is leading the bill at another huge event: Splendour in the Grass. 'Padam Padam' will echo across North Byron Bay Parklands to warm up winter — and festivalgoers will be spinning around to the music megastar's three-plus decades of hits. Kylie tops a lineup that also boasts Future and Arcade Fire, with Minogue headlining the Friday night with an exclusive set, then Future doing the Saturday and Arcade Fire taking to the stage on the Sunday. The dates, in case you don't already have them in your diary: Friday, July 19–Sunday, July 21. And yes, 2024's biggest Splendour names have plenty of company. [caption id="attachment_870885" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Darenoted Ltd[/caption] You'll also be catching G Flip, Turnstile, The Presets doing a DJ set, Yeat, Hayden James, Girl in Red, Baby Gravy, Tash Sultana, DJ Seinfeld, Fontaines DC, Royel Otis, Tones and I and more. Of course the list goes on from there — it's Splendour. Omar Apollo, The Last Dinner Party, Lizzy McAlpine, The Kills, Thelma Plum, Partiboi69, Angie McMahon, Viagra Boys: add them all to your schedule for the three days, then a whole heap more. [caption id="attachment_945649" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Leonardo Samrani via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Splendour 2024, which is the festival's 22nd birthday, will feature beats and projections at The Forest, LGBTQIA+ dance club Rainbow Bar, everything from immersive installations to giant sculptures as part of its arts program, and Little Splendour turning a trip to the fest into a family-friendly experience, too. Don't forget that there's also a lineup for the Thursday night as well, with Jimi the Kween, Krissy Jaman, Victoria Anthony and Summer Lover kicking off the proceedings. Splendour in the Grass 2024 Lineup: Friday: Kylie G Flip Turnstile Tash Sultana Omar Apollo Partiboi69 Angie McMahon Viagra Boys ISOxo Confidence Man Otoboke Beaver Allday A.B. Original Yard Act Teen Jesus & The Jean Teasers JK-47 Leisure Kita Alexander Skeleten Radio Free Alice Becca Hatch Nick Ward Triple J Unearthed Mix Up DJs: Dameeeela Baschoe Reenie The Forest: Anthony Pappa Wongo Morgazmk Miles Jackson Arya Data Roaming K Dizzy Saturday: Future Yeat Hayden James Fontaines D.C. Lizzy McAlpine Tones and I The Last Dinner Party The Presets (DJ set) Pond Boywithuke Middle Kids Beddy Rays Swim Coco & Clair Clair Michael Marcagi Floodlights Rona. The Dreggs Teenage Joans Good Neighbours Rum Jungle Willo Miss Kaninna Logan. Mix Up DJs: Naynay Naycab The Forest: Grouch Marnie Megapixel Ish K Sophdexx Lucidream Justtim Camila Rosa. Sunday: Arcade Fire Girl in Red Baby Gravy (Yung Gravy X Bbno$) Royel Otis DJ Seinfeld The Kills TV Girl Thelma Plum Fletcher Polaris Eyedress Sofia Kourtesis Sam Alfred Pacific Avenue Erika De Casier Grentperez Danny Ocean Old Mervs Paris Paloma 6 Sense The Slingers Vv Pete Belair Lip Bombs Triple J Unearthed Mix Up DJs: Jhassic & Rakish Bria The Forest: Opiuo Godlands Käse Kochen Grouch in Dub (solo) April Kerry Surge Crooks Farfetchd Smish Wren Thursday night: Jimi the Kween Krissy Jaman Victoria Anthony Summer Lover Splendour in the Grass will take over North Byron Bay Parklands from Friday, July 19–Sunday, July 21, 2024, with ticket presales from 9am–9pm AEDT on Thursday, March 14 for Splendour members, 10am–4pm AEDT on Sunday, March 17 for locals, 9am–9pm AEDT on Monday, March 18 for PYP, 9am–12am AEDT on Tuesday, March 19 for Optus and 9am–9pm AEDT on Wednesday, March 20 via TikTok — and general sales from 9am AEDT on Thursday, March 21. For more information, head to the festival website. Images: Charlie Hardy, Bianca Holderness and Claudia Ciapocha.
Australian art-inspired surf brand Mambo is venturing into the food scene, in a way that we probably should've expected. It's opening a pop-up canteen reminiscent of your primary school tuckshop. Making the most of the long summer days (and just before school goes back, too) the Mambo Tuckshop will pop up for just four days, rolling open the shutters from January 25–28 in North Bondi. Mike Eggert and Jemma Whiteman of Pinbone (known for their recent Mr Liquor's Dirty Italian Disco and Good Luck Pinbone pop-ups) have directed the menu, and they've collaborated with some of Sydney's best restaurants to create the food. Korean fried chicken experts Paper Bird, cured meat maestros LP's Quality Meats, pastry chef Yu-ching Lee (known on Instagram as Lemonpiy) and Aussie ice-block brand Pure Pops are some of the names taking part. With your hard-earned pocket money you'll be able to purchase devon sandwiches, warrigal greens and ricotta rolls, beef and 'Mambomite' pies, wattleseed vanilla slices, and, importantly, $1 apple and lemon sour straps. Just like your school days, it'll be a grab-and-go situation — no word yet about whether you'll be able to put in a lunch order for later. And, in case you're wondering, the Mambo brand is still alive. While standalone Mambo stores no longer exist (RIP) you can buy Mambo clothing and accessories from Big W.
Every October for the past 23 years, artworks have lined the Bondi–Tamarama coastal walk as part of the annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition. This year's event has been postponed until 2021 — but a new slightly similar event is going ahead on the other side of Sydney Harbour. Modelled on the Salon des Refusés, which exhibits artworks that were not selected for the Archibald, Les Sculptures Refusées is an outdoor exhibition of Sculpture by the Sea rejects. The inaugural exhibition is running from Friday, October 16 to Thursday, November 19 at Manly's Q Station — originally a quarantine station for diseased immigrants back in the 1800s — which, despite its morbid history, has stunning views across Sydney and the harbour. The openair exhibition is free to visit and no timed tickets are required. If you time your visit right, it can coincide with a Saturday afternoon Sunset Session or a High Tea at the G&Tea house, which is open from Friday to Sunday. You can check out the full list of sculptures appearing as part of Les Sculptures Refusées over here. [caption id="attachment_786432" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Orest Keywan[/caption] Top image: Tania McMurty.
If you work the traditional Monday to Friday block, Saturday mornings can be risky business. On one hand, you have two full days stretching out before you. On the other, you've just run a five-day marathon (which may have culminated in a few Friday arvo drinks) so you're probably pretty damn tired. The temptation to sloth about is all too real — then suddenly it's Sunday night and you've not left the couch all weekend. There's one sure-fire way to get rid of those cobwebs and restart your engine: a next-level brekkie roll. Excitingly, Sydney has plenty of them scattered all across the city. Together with American Express, we've rounded up seven of Sydney's top-tier breakfast sambos that'll help put a pep in your Saturday morning step — from mac 'n' cheese-filled croissants in Surry Hills to eggs benedict sambos by the beach. Down one of these and a coffee and you'll be ready to dive into a weekend of coastal walks, art gallery visits and pub hangs.
You might be exhausted from Art Month. You might be saving your energy for Vivid. But there's no reason you can't see just a very few of these instantly fascinating shows opening in April.
Fancy prancing through fields laced with the charm of provincial France? It's just casual summer weekendery when So Frenchy So Chic is in town. The ever-popular one-day French festival is waltzing back to Melbourne in 2021, although this time there'll be a few changes. If you haven't been before, expect an entire afternoon of French-inspired niceties, including (but not limited to) gourmet picnic hampers, top-notch tipples and a chill French soundtrack. But, this particular event has been badged 'Le Long Lunch', rather than being called a festival. From 11am on Sunday, February 21 at Rippon Lea House and Gardens, you'll listen to tunes from Tame Impala's Julien Barbagallo, ex-Paris street musician Nadéah, Melbourne-based five-piece Bananagun, Melbourne DJ Mike Gurrieri and So Frenchy So Chic founder Jean-François Ponthieux. And, you'll do so in a group with your mates — because, to stick to social distancing requirements, tickets are only being sold in lots of six or ten. This picnic is fully catered and licensed, too, with So Frenchy putting on the works. You can pre-order a picnic box, or grab something from Frederic, Romu, Tarts Anon, Milk The Cow and L'Hôtel Gitan on the day. As for drinks, expect French champagne and beer from Laurent Perrier and Kronenbourg 1664. Images: Max Kruse.
Costume is often key to our understanding of a character on stage or screen — what era they live in, their age, their social status, whether they're a dag. But perhaps nowhere is costume so integral, so essentially hooked into the story, as in the work of Sydney performance artist Justin Shoulder. Each of his works revolves around a 'fantastic creature', such as Hubub, the black balloon trail formed by fossil fuels wanting to become life, or Woultham, a shaggy, tissuey innocent desperate to re-create the love he knew before being discarded by a child. There's a whole mythology behind each creature. It's a perfect fusion of art and craft. Now Shoulder and his collaborators are presenting The River Eats, his most developed single work to date. It was a hit at last year's Next Wave festival in Melbourne, where theatre critic Alison Croggon called it "a beautiful exploration of the estrangements of desire". The River Eats' star is Pinky, an ADD-affected monster Skyping, performing and searching for his true, calm self, and the work is influenced by Taoist philosophy. Here, the costume is an evolving one, as Shoulder removes and adds elements that evoke the character's inner conflict. The River Eats is part of Performance Space's Show Off season of experimental works that have made a strong impression at their recent premieres. BINGO Unit is an interactive, multimedia police procedural that was a fellow Next Wave success, while I'm Your Man, set entirely in a boxing gym, was one of the unforgettable highlights of 2012 at Sydney's Belvoir. Photo by Jordan Graham. https://youtube.com/watch?v=yUWklMd05f4
Since its arrival in 2021, Re has blazed a trail as one of Sydney's best bars and a standout spot within the South Eveleigh precinct. It's landed on the lists of the world's best bars multiple times, it's hosted pop-ups from other game-changing watering holes, and it's completely altered the benchmark for sustainability in Sydney, with cocktails made from discarded bread or chicken feet. Now, it's on the move. The brainchild of Scout founder Matt Whiley, Re closed its original Locomotive Street outpost in February, posting an "out of office" message to its Instagram account. Three weeks on, it's now been revealed that the boundary-pushing bar will be reopening alongside Ricos Tacos at Cleveland Street's The Norfolk Hotel. The inventive haunt will fill a La Salut-sized hole at the pub, arriving in Redfern four months after the Spanish wine bar shut its doors during PUBLIC and Love Tilly Group's falling out. Staying true to its zero-waste and sustainable ways, Re 2.0 will redirect waste from the kitchens of PUBLIC's venues, giving new life to otherwise-discarded produce from Maybe Sammy, Sammy Junior, El Primo Sanchez, Busby's, Derrel's, The Lady Hampshire and Dean & Nancy on 22. "Bringing Re to Redfern at The Norfolk feels like the right move for the bar," says Whiley. "We never want to stop being creative in our practice, so finding this location energises us and gives us more opportunity for us to stretch into new material and work with new people." Whiley will work with former Automata owner and PUBLIC's Creative Culinary Director Clayton Wells on both the food and drink menu, creating dishes and drinks that can work harmoniously. While we don't have a concrete open date for the bar just yet, it's expected to begin welcoming people to the former La Salut site at some point in April. As with the original South Eveleigh space, sustainability has been built into the core of the new Re, with recycled and repurposed materials playing a major role in reimagining The Norfolk's corner bar. "It's also great to help PUBLIC reduce their impact across their award-winning pubs, hotels and bars, as I believe this process of minimising waste is something we should be embracing across the industry." [caption id="attachment_832341" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The space when it was La Salut, Nikki To[/caption] Re will be located at The Norfolk, 305 Cleveland Street, Redfern in April 2024. Follow along at the bar's Instagram account.
Sweetness and illustrations of girls with rosy cheeks and emerging Australian artists and craftspeople and who doesn't love the Beatles? The online community and store Leeloo are putting on what's probably the cutest show of the year. There are paintings and pictures and a pop-up store and a play on the opening night, all themed around — hang on, the gallery isn't the only ambush here — it's themed around break-ups! Totally sad and not cute, guys! Starting from the 40th anniversary of John, Paul, George and Ringo going their separate ways, the basis for the show expanded into all kinds of separations from all kinds of partnerships, however the contributors wanted to approach that. There are 16 artists involved, displaying three pictures each in a space that's been curated to look like the living room of a couple in the midst of becoming not-a-couple. The opening night features a performance of Short & Sweet finalist Anika Herbert's A Toothbrush Tale (We'll Always Have Peach Tiles) and the subsequent days will see samples of Leeloo's online stock for sale alongside the art. Frankie magazine and the Finders Keepers helped put this on, and, who am I kidding, it's totally going to be delightful.
So, you want to save some money. Perhaps you're looking to finally put a deposit down on your first home. Or maybe your ol' clunker of a car is on its last kilometres. Or do you simply want to treat yourself to that pair of Gucci sunnies you know you don't actually need but you can't stop thinking about? Often, while we're in savings mode, we switch to totally denying ourselves the things we love, making ourselves miserable in the process. But the good news is you don't have to give up everything. Save smarter, not harder. And have fun doing it. To help get you started, we've partnered with Great Southern Bank to come up with some easy ways to save without having to live a totally joyless existence. From chopping your weekly food bill to a banking hack that'll have you adding to your savings without even noticing, these tips will keep you on track. BECOME YOUR OWN BARISTA We know, we know. You need your caffeine fix. We're not saying to cut that double-shot oat milk latte altogether, but buying one or two a day adds up really quickly. Keen to crunch some numbers? Let's say your average coffee costs $4 and you buy two every day — that's $2920 spent on java every year. Add that up over five years and it's a whopping $14,600. Instead, invest in a bit of kit to get your coffee hit at home. Proper espresso machines are great, but also pricey. Keep an eye out for a secondhand one and you might be able to score a bargain. Alternatively, get a good percolator and some quality beans. You can score a percolator for as little as $12 (that's three coffees) that'll last for years to come. For beans, you can get your fix from top Aussie coffee roasters. While price varies due to blends, beans and all sorts of things, beans from local roasters will usually cost somewhere between $15–23 for 250 grams (about 35 cups worth). You might even want to throw a milk frother into the mix, then you'll be whipping up deluxe coffee at home in no time. Best of all, you can do it all in your dressing gown. Then, once a week or so, treat yourself to the real deal at that local cafe with the cute barista. You're only human, after all. DITCH THE CROWDED COMMUTE This one is kind of a no-brainer for inner-city dwellers. Why go through the hassle of being packed onto hot and crowded public transport, especially in the age of social distancing? The same goes for driving — nobody wants to waste time (and petrol) sitting in traffic. Even if it means starting half an hour sooner than you would normally, walking to your destination means you're getting exercise and saving money. For longer trips look into getting a bike, scooter or skateboard (again, secondhand bargains are everywhere). If you have to travel quite the distance, electronic bikes are a godsend. Whether you're already in the office or are going back when restrictions further ease, ditching the public transport life even once or twice a week is better for the bank, the environment and your physical and emotional wellbeing. MEAL PREP LIKE A PRO Meal prepping: it sounds tedious at first, but once you get into the swing of it, it's really not that much of a hassle. And, spoiler alert, it can actually be fun — or, at least, it'll give you a sense of achievement on an otherwise unproductive Sunday. If you're a novice, start simple: try roasting a whole chook with veggies. You'll easily get a couple of dinners out of it, and the leftover meat can be used for sandwiches, salads and burrito bowls. Oh, and don't bin the carcass — it'll make a great homemade stock that you can portion out and freeze for later. Don't eat meat? Dust of that slow cooker and make a huge dhal for an easy-yet-nourishing feed. The more prep you do, the better and more inventive you'll get with it. Soon your homemade lunches will easily surpass that underwhelming $18 toastie you ordered on Uber Eats. FOLLOW THE SEASONS Now that you're on the way to becoming a whiz in the kitchen, you'll want to know how to cut down that grocery bill. It's just simple supply and demand, really. Shopping seasonally means that if you're buying something that's readily available the price is lower as there are fewer costs going into acquiring it. We're incredibly fortunate in Australia to have amazing fruit and veg available all year round, but certain things grow in abundance in summer rather than winter and vice versa. So, embrace shopping and cooking seasonally. You'll eat well and expand your repertoire while saving so that it feels almost natural. [caption id="attachment_737580" align="alignnone" width="1920"] SWOP Clothing Exchange, Trent van der Jagt[/caption] GET THRIFTY Thrift shops, Salvos, Vinnies, Depop, Facebook Marketplace — there's no end to the bargains and unique pieces you can find without the hectic price tags. More often than not, op shops are located near other op shops so you can make a day of traversing a few and seeing what you can find. Pro tip: go to affluent suburbs, where you're more likely to uncover some rare gems in top condition. And while you're mindlessly doomscrolling on your phone at night, try browsing on Depop. You'll be surprised and delighted by the great designer pieces you can find from the likes of 3.1 Phillip Lim, Acne Studios, Zimmermann and more. EMBRACE THE GREAT OUTDOORS Spring is here, so it's time to get outside and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine. And it'll be lighter on the wallet than a night on the town. Pack a picnic and head to the park for a long-awaited catch-up with your mates. If you're lucky, you'll be able to snag a public barbecue to have a cook-up and embrace the simple pleasures of a DIY outdoor feast. Toss a frisbee or a football, challenge your buds to a game of Finska, and stuff sausages into your pockets so all the dogs come to play with you. Okay, maybe not that last one, but you get the idea. BANK BETTER Knowing where your money is and why you're choosing to put it there is important in terms of goals and improving your overall financial literacy. If you're clamouring to get your first home, choose a bank that maximises your saving potential, such as Great Southern Bank. Great Southern Bank is empowering young Aussies with their banking to get them to their savings goals faster. Whether you're saving for a house deposit or just want to develop better banking habits, Great Southern Bank has a number of smart tools and features to get you there. One is The Boost, where you can set a predetermined amount (between $0.01 and $5) from your everyday transaction account to be automatically transferred to your savings account every time you make a purchase. That means every sambo, short black and schooner is subtly boosting your savings. Once you've got that all set up, you'll want to keep your savings fund from shrinking. For instance, if you get a bit tap happy when you're out having a good time (who doesn't), your bank balance can take quite the hit. This is where having a spending cap on your account can come in handy. Be realistic about how much you'll need depending on the activity. And, here's the tricky part: don't transfer more. You'll thank yourself later. Great Southern Bank is empowering Aussies to get clever with their banking. Whether you want to stick to your savings goals with The Boost or hide your house deposit fund from yourself with The Vault, Great Southern Bank helps you get there. For more information on savings tools and home loan options, head to the Great Southern Bank website. Top image: SWOP Clothing Exchange, Trent van der Jagt
We're all familiar with — and fans of — the pre-dinner tipple. But sometimes you don't have enough time to spend on an entire negroni (or you haven't eaten enough food yet to stomach it). For those times, you need a mini cocktail in your life. These cocktails — usually about half the size of a regular drink — still have all the trimmings and taste, but with what we think is the perfect amount of sips for a pre drink. Plus, they're affordable and tend to come in adorable mini glasses that are nice to drink out of. Since Merivale's Bar Topa opened with a focus on half-size cocktails, we've seen more bars add them to their menu — use this list for mini martinis, negronis, house cocktails and even irish coffees.
Already in 2023, streaming viewers have watched Sam Richardson get spiteful in one of the most kindhearted sitcoms in recent years, and get nominated for his second Emmy for it. They've witnessed him host oh-so-silly game shows, too. It isn't just Ted Lasso and I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson that've been keeping him on-screen, but also rom-com Somebody I Used to Know and voicing Shaggy in new Scooby Doo take Velma. Only The Afterparty, which returned to Apple TV+ for season two on Wednesday, July 12, has him playing buddy cop with Tiffany Haddish, however. Actually, The Afterparty has the ever-busy Richardson playing a wealth of roles, but only stepping into one character's shoes. Aniq Adjaye is a wedding guest, doting boyfriend and eager-to-please potential future son-in-law. He's the guy who finally made good on his high-school crush at his reunion in season one, after getting accused of murder when a classmate would up dead at, yes, the afterparty. And, he's whatever his fellow revellers see — because this murder-mystery comedy from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street, and The Lego Movie's Christopher Miller is a whodunnit about perspective. The clever, inventive and entertaining twist? Every episode not only takes a different character's viewpoint, but filters their recollections through a parody of a different genre. Sometimes, then, Richardson dives into a romantic comedy within the ensemble murder-mystery comedy. That's what the show's two Aniq-centric episodes — the opening chapters of both 2022's season one and now 2023's season two — have delivered, and delightfully. Richardson is the series' lead no matter which on-screen figure's memories guide each instalment, though, teaming up with Haddish's (The Card Counter) Danner to interrogate his fellow partygoers. So, sometimes Richardson is also plunged into the world of action. Or, he's whisked into a musical, a teen drama or police procedural. In season two, the list includes a Jane Austen-style period romance, both Hitchcockian and erotic thrillers, Wes Anderson's aesthetic and film noir. The Afterparty's second go-around takes Aniq and his other half Zoe (Zoe Chao, Party Down) to her younger sister Grace's (Poppy Liu, Dead Ringers) nuptials to the wealthy-but-awkward Edgar (Zach Woods, Avenue 5). After the ceremony, then the reception, then the post-proceedings, there's a body, a winery full of suspects and questions to ask. There's also Richardson proving as versatile as ever, a skill that's served him exceptionally on everything from underseen Tim Robinson-costarring comedy Detroiters to stealing scenes upon scenes as Veep's Richard Splett — plus a six-episode run on The Office, cinema stints as varied as Spy and Promising Young Woman; and Werewolves Within and Hocus Pocus 2 as well. With The Afterparty season two now streaming, Richardson chatted us through the joy of the show's comedic layers, his odd-couple dynamic with Haddish, living the murder-mystery dream as a big fan of the genre, how he'd respond if one of the series' situations crossed over to his real life, I Think You Should Leave's unhinged reactions and more. ON MAKING A MURDER-MYSTERY COMEDY THAT'S ALSO A ROM-COM, AN ENSEMBLE COMEDY AND A SPOOF OF EVERY GENRE IT CAN FIT IN "There's so much that I love about all these things. I'm a big fan of a murder-mystery — Sam Richardson is. I'm a big fan of a rom-com. And I'm a big fan of an ensemble comedy. So the show is all three of those things. So I got to do that the first season, and then the second season we get to heighten all of that. Now Aniq is investigating not just to protect himself, but to try to figure out actually who the murderer is with him outside the gaze of suspicion. He's now trying to solve this mystery, and also his retelling of the story is a rom-com sequel. So now everything's all heightened when he's telling the story — big setpieces and big physical-comedy bits. That's a really fun thing for me to do, and to get to work with the new cast — everybody's so funny —and all these new genres." ON MAKING A BUDDY-COP COMEDY WITH TIFFANY HADDISH, TOO "They're an unlikely pair [Aniq and Danner], but it turns out they're good partners. One balances the other. And getting to perform with Tiffany — she's so funny. So it's good to play off of that dynamic and that energy. It was such a great thing to do and to get to play with. The two of them — her methods are unorthodox at first, and then his methods are maybe a little sloppy. So together they're able to get through this thing, but [make] an unlikely pair." ON TICKING MURDER-MYSTERY OFF THE ACTING BUCKET LIST "There's nothing more fun than being the one to get to put the pieces together at the end of the mystery — that sort of monologue that Sherlock Holmes has where he explains all the pieces that he's seen, that you've seen as the audience, but now I'm giving you the grand thing, the Colombo sort of speech, the "one more thing, you thought I didn't know this, but ha!". Getting to be in that role is a dream come true for me." ON THE CHALLENGES AND FUN OF JUMPING BETWEEN GENRES FROM EPISODE TO EPISODE "It's definitely both, because you are getting pulled in a bunch of different ways. But that is the fun of it, because you get to explore your character and these genres from all these different perspectives. As an acting exercise, and as a challenge to an actor, you get to say not only 'what is the perspective of this character whose story I'm in, the person who's telling the story, what's their perspective on me?' but also 'what is the trope of this genre?'. 'What is this character in a film noir? And who who is the person within that trope? Who is this person in this Jane Austen story? What is that person in this trope?' But then also at the same time, 'what does the character telling the story think of me? Does this person think I'm untrustworthy? Do they think that I'm a weak person? Do they think that I'm more maybe more bold than I am? Do they think that I'm behaving surreptitiously?'. So that's a fun thing to explore in a show like this." ON THE BEST GENRE TO DIVE INTO SO FAR — AND A DREAM PICK FOR THE FUTURE "I really do love the the big rom-com sequel that I got to do this season — big set pieces and physical comedy. I also really enjoyed the Wes Anderson-style episode, the costumes of the Jane Austen [episode]. Each one has it's [merits] — it's so hard to pick one. But if there was another genre that I would want to do, it'd would be a kung-fu movie. That would be so much fun." ON PLAYING OLD HIGH-SCHOOL BUDDIES WITH SEASON ONE'S CAST — THEN STRANGERS AT A WEDDING WITH SEASON TWO'S "The first season, the cast, and getting to play with that cast, was terrific. And then also the idea that you have this shared history and so you're looking back on these relationships that you've had — but what's the dynamic now? — was such a great thing to get to do. So in this season, there are some dynamics that have existed before. But for Aniq especially, he's meeting so many people for the first time. And so getting to be introduced to these characters, and then to get to work with some of these actors for the first time as well, it was such a great fertile playground for reactions. You're absorbing these people for the first time — whereas on the other side of the coin, you get to fall back on 'oh, this guy behaves like this and I know they do'; this time, you get to be like 'this guy behaves like this, what are they doing?'. So it's two sides of the coin, but the coin is still 25 cents." ON HOW RICHARDSON WOULD REACT IF HE WAS LIVING A MURDER-MYSTERY IRL "I fear that day happening greatly. But I do wonder how I would react, because you want to hope that you'd be bold and be like 'no, it has to have been this'. And you'd answer all the things. I myself, I do like to solve things. So I really would be trying to look at things objectively and be like 'well, no it couldn't have been this because these three people were here at this time, that person was there, and I know they were, and they said that before'. That's kind of how I approach things anyway, so I think if somebody got murdered in my high school, I'd figure out who it was." [caption id="attachment_903580" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Netflix © 2023[/caption] ON WHAT RICHARDSON LOOKS FOR IN A ROLE "Good money. I look for, you know, does it pay my insurance? I am entirely joking — but also not. I really just like characters who have very fun wants, and characters who are able to react to things. So for I Think You Should Leave — I Think You Should Leave is its own sort of thing. That's my best friend's show, and it's sketch, and I very much love sketch and I love playing these characters who have wants that are a little bit unrealistic, and then the reaction to not getting those wants is also unhinged. That's a fun thing to get to do. But then with with shows like Detroiters, the wants there are to spend time with your best friend and represent your city in the best way. I think it ultimately comes down to wants — the interestingness of what characters want, and getting to see how these characters go about trying to achieve them, is what I look for most." Season two of The Afterparty streams via Apple TV+ from Wednesday, July 12. Read our full review of season two.
Just like that, Salty's is ready to celebrate its fifth birthday. And the Bondi-based gang isn't going about things quietly. Instead, they're hosting a three-day bash loaded with free drinks, live saxophone fun and a massive headlining set from disco-funk hitmaker, Touch Sensitive. Best of all, it won't cost you a cent to enter this weekend-long party running from Friday, September 19–Sunday, September 21. Opening with a bang, Salty's is hosting a locals bar shout where you can score a free beer, wine or spirit from 5–6pm. Then, DJs mixed with live sax carry the crowd from sunset onwards. On Saturday, the freebies step up a notch. With your first margaritas on the house when you book a table, make sure the crew clears their calendars for a bottomless package paired with DJ-led tunes from 1pm until late. Of course, the weekend peaks on Sunday, with Touch Sensitive getting behind the decks to guide a crowd-pleasing Bondi Beach party. Having sold out national tours and massive festivals, expect the same sun-soaked energy that has made Salty's a go-to destination.
If you're a fan of the biggest thing in musical theatre in the 21st century — that'd be Lin-Manuel Miranda's game-changing, award-winning, rightly raved-about Hamilton — then you'll know that the show's dialogue and lyrics can be adapted to plenty of situations. So, when it comes to making sure that you get to see the stage sensation during its Australian run, you'd best take the play's very own advice. No, you don't want to throw away your shot. When April 2023 comes to an end, so will Hamilton's Aussie seasons, after what's been a huge few years for the hit show. After opening its Down Under run in Sydney in 2021 and currently playing Melbourne, the musical has booked a 2023 date with Brisbane from January. When that's over, however, Aussies will no longer be able to sit in the room where it happens. Australia's big loss is New Zealand's hefty gain, with Hamilton hopping across the ditch from May 2023. Haven't become a Hamilton obsessive yet? Can't make the remaining Melbourne shows, or enjoy a date with the Sunshine State's season? Maybe you've got an Auckland holiday in your future. The Broadway blockbuster's Aussie production boasts a cast that includes Jason Arrow as Alexander Hamilton, Chloé Zuel as Eliza Hamilton, Lyndon Watts as Aaron Burr, Akina Edmonds as Angelica Schuyler, Matu Ngaropo as George Washington, and Victory Ndukwe as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson. If you want to see all of the above on home soil — plus Shaka Cook as Hercules Mulligan and James Madison, Marty Alix as John Laurens and Philip Hamilton, Elandrah Eramiha as Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds, and Brent Hill as King George III — you'll need to make plans ASAP. Still new to this song-and-dance take on 18th-century American politics? Not quite sure why it has been the most-talked about theatre show of the past six years? The critically acclaimed hip hop musical, for which Miranda wrote the music, lyrics and the book, is about the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, as well as inclusion and politics in current-day America. In addition to its swag of Tony Awards — 11 in fact, which includes Best Musical — it has nabbed a Grammy Award and even a Pulitzer Prize. Until 2021, Australians eager to see the show had to be content watching the filmed version of its Broadway production, which started streaming via Disney+ in 2020 (and yes, it's as phenomenal as you've heard). If you're not feeling financial enough to nab a seat, you can try the $10 ticket lottery, which offers Hamilton tickets for less than the cost of lunch. TodayTix, the platform behind it, has just launched in Brisbane, so fingers crossed those discounted tickets will make their way to Queensland as well. And yes, there's another Hamilton quote that might get you all hopeful about a return: you'll be back. That might be the case eventually, somewhere down the line, but who wants to risk a massive wait? Hamilton's Australian season will finish in Brisbane in April 2023. Head to the musical's website for further details, or to buy tickets. Images: Daniel Boud.
Squid Game is a "remember when" show. We all remember when we first saw the South Korean Netflix series, became obsessed, couldn't binge it fast enough, and talked about it and nothing else for days, weeks and more. If you watched it when it initially debuted, that was back in 2021 — and we've been waiting for more ever since. 2024 is finally set to deliver, with Netflix advising shareholders as part of its fourth-quarter earnings review that Squid Game will be back this year. There's no other new details so far, but the series is set to return before 2025 rolls around, alongside season three of Bridgerton and season two of The Diplomat. One of the best new TV programs of 2021, Squid Game was such a huge smash that Netflix confirmed at the beginning of 2022 that a second season was on the way, and also dropped a teaser trailer for it the same year. And, it turned the show's whole premise into an IRL competition series as well, which debuted in 2023 — without any murders, of course. Squid Game: The Challenge has already been picked up for a second season. After getting the world seeing marbles, hopscotch and tug of war as far more than ordinary, innocent activities that everyone enjoyed when they were kids, the streaming platform also revealed in 2023 exactly who'll be playing Squid Game season two. Lee Jung-jae (Deliver Us From Evil) returns as the show's protagonist Seong Gi-hun, while Lee Byung-hun (The Magnificent Seven) will be back as the masked Front Man as well. They'll be joined by Wi Ha-joon (Little Women) as detective Hwang Jun-ho, plus Gong Yoo (Train to Busan) as the man in the suit who got Gi-hun into the game in the first place. A show about a deadly competition that has folks battling for ridiculous riches comes with a hefty bodycount, which means that new faces were always going to be essential in Squid Game season two. Yim Si-wan (Emergency Declaration), Kang Ha-neul (Insider), Park Sung-hoon (The Glory) and Yang Dong-geun (Yaksha: Ruthless Operations) will all join the series. If you somehow missed all things Squid Game when it premiered, even after it became bigger than everything from Stranger Things to Bridgerton, the Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning series serves up a puzzle-like storyline and unflinching savagery, which unsurprisingly makes quite the combination. It also steps into societal divides within South Korea, a topic that wasn't invented by Parasite, Bong Joon-ho's excellent Oscar-winning 2019 thriller, but has been given a boost after that stellar flick's success. Accordingly, it's easy to see thematic and narrative parallels between Parasite and Squid Game, although Netflix's highly addictive series goes with a Battle Royale and Hunger Games-style setup. Here, 456 competitors are selected to work their way through six seemingly easy children's games. They're all given numbers and green tracksuits, they're competing for 45.6 billion won, and it turns out that they've also all made their way to the contest after being singled out for having enormous debts. Check out Netflix's Squid Game season two cast announcement video below: Squid Game's first season is available to stream via Netflix — we'll update you with an exact 2024 release date for season two when one is announced. Images: Netflix.
Found on the Hawkesbury River, New South Wales' only pearl farm is considered one of the Central Coast's best kept secrets. Not only can you drop in for a visit to the Shellar Door in Mooney Mooney, but you can also join a tour with a pearl farmer to learn all about the precious glistening beauties. Running from Thursdays to Tuesdays, each tour includes a cruise on the river and a better understanding of the akoya pearl's unique properties — including its rare natural colourings. Tours start from $85 per adult and last two hours. Images: Jacs Powell.
Dance music is having a real moment with the rise of global sensations like Fred again.. and we're lucky enough to have a thriving dance music scene right here in our own backyard, as well as a host of artists seamlessly blending bassy beats with other genres. Western Sydney's own Ashli is building a cult following through her mix of pop, dance and R&B — and you can catch her at the Sydney Opera House for Vivid 2023. The intimate performance will take place in The Utzon Room of the famed venue. This mid-century space allows artists to have unrivalled proximity to their audience, setting the performances against the backdrop of the spectacular Sydney Harbour. Fresh from taking the stage at SXSW Austin and her inclusion on the SXSW Sydney lineup, Ashli will be performing tracks from her breakout 2022 EP Only One, spanning the club-influenced production of tracks like 'Dance Again' through to raw and intimate songwriting on 'Fields'. The performance is part of the Sydney Opera House's larger Vivid program that also features Cat Power's live reimagining of Bob Dylan's iconic 1966 performance The Royal Albert Hall Concert, Devonté Hynes (aka Blood Orange) performing selected classical works with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and a pop-up bar from The Midnight Special.
In 2017, one filmmaker had viewers around the world swooning. From the moment that Luca Guadagnino's big-screen adaptation of Andre Aciman's Call Me By Your Name premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and then the Berlinale, it wowed audiences, made a star out of Timothée Chalamet and had everyone talking about Armie Hammer's dancing skills. So the news that the acclaimed director is serving up another Italy-set coming-of-age drama is firmly — and understandably — cause for excitement. This time, Guadagnino is doing so on the small screen, courtesy of new HBO mini-series We Are Who We Are. It's set in 2016, and follows two American teenagers living on a US military base with their parents. Jack Dylan Grazer (IT: Chapter Two) stars as 14-year-old Fraser Wilson, a new arrival from New York with his mothers Sarah (Chloë Sevigny, Queen & Slim) and Maggie (Alice Braga, The New Mutants) — while first-timer Jordan Kristine Seamón plays Caitlin Poythress, a veteran of living on the base with her older brother Danny (Spence Moore II, AP Bio), father Richard (Scott Mescudi, aka Bill & Ted Face the Music's Kid Cudi) and mother Jenny (Faith Alabi, Cold Feet). Also featured in this eight-episode tale of friendship, teen angst, first love and finding one's identity are Francesca Scorsese (daughter of iconic filmmaker Martin Scorsese), Ben Taylor, Corey Knight, Tom Mercier (Synonyms) and Sebastiano Pigazzi — with the cast blending well-known names and faces with plenty of newcomers. We Are Who We Are started airing in the US on September 14, but it'll head to Aussie screens via SBS Viceland and SBS On Demand at a yet-to-be-revealed date. If you're in the need of a virtual trip to Northern Italy, as directed by the filmmaker also behind I Am Love, A Bigger Splash and the 2018 Suspiria remake — and co-written by Guadagnino with Paolo Giordano (The Solitude of Prime Numbers) and Francesca Manieri (Daughter of Mine) — then add this to your future must-watch list. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6VAQ6LdnKs&feature=emb_logo We Are Who We Are will screen on SBS Viceland and SBS On Demand at a yet-to-be-revealed date — we'll update you with further details when they come to hand. Top image: Yannis Drakoulidis/HBO.
Sydney does so love a pop-up. There's the HelloFresh Pop-Up on Oxford Street, the decadent Champagne Bar pop-up at Cockle Bay Wharf and Cake Wines' Rocks effort, just to name a few. Adding to the mix are the folks at the Real Food Projects who are popping up on Enmore Street in Newtown. The Real Food Project is a motley crew of growers, chefs, producers, and foodies who believe that the best food is always home-grown, home-picked, and served in the homeliest of environments. After the success of their first pop-up in Darlinghurst, founder Kate Walsh has teamed up with recycled furniture wiz James Nixon from Re-Creation and vintage kitchenware experts Chris on King to give Newtown their very own seasonal and sustainable pop-up store. Think organic noodles and sauces from Pasta Emilia, locally collected honey from The Urban Beehive or exotically flavoured marshmallows from Sweetness the Patisserie and you'll get a sense of the place. With the shop also playing host to cooking classes and demonstrations from some of Sydney's hottest young chefs — from restaurants such as Cornersmith and Black Star Pastry — Newtown's newest pop-up looks set to become one of our favourite new stop-offs for filling up our trolleys.
If Audrey Horne, Lula Pace Fortune or Lady Jessica decided to head downtown for some yoga, David Lynch has them covered for threads. In one of the most unexpected endeavours from the director yet, Lynch has designed a brand new sportswear collection for women. Seems the man who recorded tunes with Karen O, opened his own whimsical Parisian nightclub and exhibits photographs of dissected chickens as art (among many other wonderful, weird and WTF Lynchian things), can still surprise us. A paired-down, monochrome collection of threads we'd absolutely prance to the gym in, Lynch's fitness line whips up floral geometric design (a collaboration with New York artist Jason Woodside), grey marle and flattering seams in a truly great assortment of basic gymwear. Lynch's activewear line includes corset and scoop bras, geometric leggings and bike shorts all sporting the special edition Lynch Floral print, going for around $100 — $200 a piece. There's more afoot than mere fashion here; Lynch is working in collaboration with Live the Process, an online hub self-described as "a guide to wellness and holistic health from a curated group of experts in beauty, fitness, meditation, nutrition, energy therapies and quantum physics, as seen through a modernist lens." It's a thing, quantum physics included. But fashion isn't where the collab ends for Lynch, really teaming up with Live the Process for a good cause — with some of the proceeds going to victims of abuse. Teaming up with Live the Process shouldn't come as a surprise for those in the Lynch-know. The Twin Peaks creator is a big meditator, having practiced for over 40 years. His method of choice, transcendental meditation, is his pet awareness project with his namesake charity, The David Lynch Foundation. He even penned a book about it. "I have experienced many benefits: more happiness within, more energy, more love of life, more understanding and more of a flow of ideas and intuition," he says. "I see people as friends not enemies. I feel and understand a bigger and bigger picture forming, and experience life as more of a great game than a great torment. For me, TM serves my work and life. It cleans the machine of garbage and brings in pure gold." Shop the David Lynch collection at Live the Process. Go for a scroll here: Via Dazed.
Close out the summer with a wild and wacky bang at Mona's annual festival of boundary-defying culture, music and art. The iconoclastic Hobart gallery, performance space, and purveyor of beer and wine, is known for subverting expectations so you can expect an eccentric and unforgettable few days down south at Mona Foma. Now in its 16th year, the 2024 incarnation of the festival runs from Thursday, February 15 to Sunday, February 25 in nipaluna/Hobart and from Thursday, February 29 to Saturday, March 2 in Launceston. There are morning meditations with cross-cultural musical collaborations and captivating art exhibits for those after a more reflective experience. On the flip side of fun, there are gigs galore and late-night bashes for those keen for a boogie. The program features everything from Taiwanese artist Yahon Chang painting with a human-sized brush and Emeka Ogboh's gin-centred exhibit to musical headliners Queens of the Stone Age, Courtney Barnett, Paul Kelly and cult favourites TISM in a rare live show. Check out our picks of the program below to kick-start your festival planning or get you inspired to book your Tassie getaway. Mona Sessions If you can only make it to one event, the quintessential Mona Foma experience can be found at the Mona Sessions. On the evenings of Friday, February 23 to Sunday, February 25, you can enjoy live music from international artists on the sprawling museum lawns. Suitable for all ages, Mona Sessions features performances by Scottish space-rock stalwarts Mogwai; Kutcha Edwards and The Australian Art Orchestra; Japanese punk-pop band Shonen Knife; Canadian quartet Holy Fuck; French-Korean siblings (both under the age of 15) Isaac et Nora; and Lonnie Holley with Moor Mother and Irreversible Entanglements. [caption id="attachment_939340" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Amniote Editions[/caption] Faux Mo Keep the grooves flowing after the Mona Sessions at Faux Mo. The Granada Tavern opposite Mona will become abuzz with late-night beats and boogies from 10.30pm until 2am on Friday, February 23 and Saturday, February 24, with a more chill afternoon sesh on Sunday, February 25. Catch sets from POOKIE, Soju Gang and m8riarchy, along with melodic beats by Mama Snake from Denmark, Afrobeats by Nigerian-born Emeka Ogboh, and mellow house by Kiwi brothers Chaos in the CBD. [caption id="attachment_939338" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Amber Haines[/caption] Wayfinder Queensland dance collective Dancenorth is known for compelling performances which weave together contemporary dance and powerful storytelling. Wayfinder is no exception. Viewers will be immersed in Dancenorth's spellbinding choreography, set to a score by Grammy award-nominated Hiatus Kaiyote with a stage and costumes designed by visual artist Hiromi Tango. The performance will only run for three nights from Thursday, February 22 to Saturday, February 24, so be sure to book in quick. [caption id="attachment_829589" align="alignnone" width="1920"] MONA and Jesse Hunniford[/caption] Boats (a gin and art experiment) Multifaceted artist Emeka Ogboh will not only be spinning a DJ set at Faux Mo, but has also developed an immersive exhibit. Boats explores themes of migration and belonging through a bespoke gin blended by the Nigerian-born creative. Festival-goers can sample the gin and snacks accompanied by a sound installation at Detached. If that's not enough, Ogboh is collaborating with Mona's executive chef to incorporate the gin and West African flavours at various Mona restaurants during the festival. [caption id="attachment_939336" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Courtesy of Filastine & Nova[/caption] Arka Kinari It wouldn't be Mona Foma without show-stopping, thought-provoking works — and what's a bigger statement than a 70-tonne sailing ship moored at the waterfront to spread awareness about climate change? The boat, named Arka Kinari, is musical duo and married couple Filastine and Nova's home, creative work, transport and travelling stage. The pair are inviting visitors aboard to learn about the ship's sustainable resources — which include water desalination, solar power, wind travel and waste management — and will also be performing their music against a backdrop of cinematic visuals on the deck of the ship. Don't miss it. [caption id="attachment_939339" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Gabriel Comerford[/caption] Dekoor In Launceston, gym and rave bros collide at the adults-only Dekoor. Local Tasmanian artists ROOKE will put on an exciting dance, theatre and circus performance in a working gym, where audience members can wander through the space throughout the show. For some added fun, consent tokens will be available if you're open to being touched, carried or led away by performers. These tokens can of course be removed or passed on if you change your mind during the event. After the show, stick around for a party with DJs and performances across three levels of the gym until 1am. The Shruti Sessions Journey across musical borders at The Shruti Sessions, where musicians from Hindustani and Rajasthani backgrounds collaborate and experiment with Australian instrumentalists. Experience something new at each performance, whether you drop in for a Morning Meditation or catch the action at the Mona Sessions. Performers include notable tabla player Bobby Singh, percussionist Benjamin Walsh, OAM recipient and saxophonist Sandy Evans, sarangi player Asin Khan Langa and renowned slide guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya. [caption id="attachment_831323" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jason Charles Hill via Tourism Tasmania[/caption] The Gorge How about a lazy day of lounging and swims followed by an evening concert at the spectacular Cataract Gorge? And what's more, this live show — featuring the elusive TISM, Mulga Bore Hard Rock, FFLORA x Grace Chia and Cash Savage and The Last Drinks — is completely free. If you'd like to level up your experience, you can opt for the Peacock Pass which grants you access to the Peacock Bar, a private entrance and a viewing area with seating. Find out more and book your tickets at the Mona Foma website.
Fond of Netflix? Regal intrigue? Combining the two? Then you're obviously a fan of The Crown. And, if so, you've had a busy few years — not just because the series has dropped four seasons since 2016, but because news around the show's fifth and sixth seasons has changed back and forth a few times. At the beginning of 2020, Netflix announced that it would end the royal drama after its fifth season. The, the streaming platform had a change of heart, revealing it would continue the series for a sixth season after all. Now, the service has announced when the next batch of episodes will air, so mark November 2022 in your diary. When season five premieres next year — with the exact date still yet to be revealed — it'll do so two years after season four. But, that's the gap that The Crown tends to take when it changes casts. After starting out with Claire Foy (The Girl in the Spider's Web) as Queen Elizabeth II, Matt Smith (Official Secrets) as Prince Philip and Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret (Pieces of a Woman) in its first two seasons, which aired in 2016 and 2017, the series returned in 2019 with Olivia Colman (The Father), Tobias Menzies (This Way Up) and Helena Bonham Carter (Enola Holmes) in those roles. Plus, it added Josh O'Connor (God's Own Country) as Prince Charles — and, in season four in 2020, Emma Corrin (Misbehaviour) and The X-Files icon Gillian Anderson joined the cast as Lady Diana Spencer and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, respectively. This time around, Downton Abbey, Maleficent and Paddington star Imelda Staunton will don the titular headwear, Game of Thrones and Tales from the Loop's Jonathan Pryce will step into Prince Philip's shoes, and Princess Margaret will be played by Staunton's Maleficent co-star and Phantom Thread Oscar-nominee Lesley Manville. Also, Australian Tenet, The Burnt Orange Heresy and Widows star Elizabeth Debicki will be the new Princess Diana, while The Wire and The Pursuit of Love's Dominic West will play Prince Charles. Season five and six are expected to follow the Queen in the 1990s and 2000s — so yes, that means that Diana will play a big part, and that the series will traverse some of the same territory that Kristen Stewart-starring film Spencer covers as well. Can't wait till next year? It's too early for trailers for season five, but Netflix has dropped an introductory message from Staunton, which you can check out below: The Crown's fifth season will hit Netflix sometime in November 2022 — we'll update you with an exact launch date when one is announced. Images: Keith Bernstein / Alex Bailey / Netflix
With a history that trips back almost a century, the heritage-listed Balmoral Bathers' Pavilion is pretty hallowed turf. So, it's only fitting the historic waterside venue has an impressive cast of Sydney hospitality and design gurus overseeing its next phase of life. The art deco beauty has reopened after an extensive ten-week makeover, with some new and old hospitality elite at the helm. The new-look beachside venue now sports a fancy fit-out by award-winning design studio Luchetti Krelle, whose works you'll have spied at the likes of Manly Greenhouse, Verandah Bar, Banksii and the Sydney Opera House lobby. Expect lots of white tablecloths, sea-toned stripes, plants and lots of light from the venue's epic floor-to-ceiling windows. [caption id="attachment_744387" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The view from the dining room.[/caption] The new-look Bathers' gives you a few options: the bistro, the bar, the kiosk and the fine dining restaurant. The Bathers' Bistro is your more casual option, and it's open for brekkie, lunch and dinner. But, prices still aren't exactly cheap — smashed avo is $22, and mains like grilled Yamba prawns and fish pie will set you back around $35–45. For something a bit more special, you'll want to make a reservation in the venue's fine dining offering, The Good Room. The menu will change daily, but expect lots of seafood and cuts of duck breast and lamp rump. It's a set menu deal here, with two courses for $90 and three for $110. You'll also have 350 wines to choose from and an ocean view from wherever you sit. For snacks, you can grab a seat in the adjoining bar, and, on Sunday afternoons, the terrace will become a champagne bar, so you can indulge in Louis Roederer, prawns and steak frites alongside panoramic views of the ocean. If you're just after a post-swim feed, there's also the option to grab a hamper or fish and chips from the downstairs kiosk. A visit to the upstairs gallery is also an option Front-of-house star Cam Fairbairn has jumped on board to head up the service side of things, filling a void we've all been feeling since the closure of Rushcutters Bay favourite Acme earlier this year. In the kitchen, four years on from a previous stint at Bathers' Pavilion, Cameron Johnston (St Claude's, Jonah's) makes his return, stepping into the role of co-head chef of the venue's fine dining restaurant. alongside Peter Gong (Catalina). Kumiko Endo, with stints at Attica, Tetsuya, Fujisaki under his belt, joins the gang as head pastry chef, while Jess Mead (Acme, Kingdom of Rice) takes on the task of restaurant manager. Owner-Chef Serge Dansereau has overseen the Bathers' Pavilion site for the past 20 years and confirmed earlier this year that he's been granted a new lease for the next two decades. So you can expect to have more than a few Sunday sessions here. Bathers' Pavilion is now open at 4 The Esplanade, Balmoral. The bistro is open daily from 7am until late, and the restaurant is open for lunch and dinner every day except Monday. Top image: WikiCommons.
Food. Wine. Art. If any of these words pique your interest, then Sydney's five-day French celebration is for you. Uniting people in the spirit of Bastille Day, the popular event is back again in 2021 — after sitting out 2020 for obvious reasons. This year's street fest will take over Circular Quay with everything from live tunes to wine tastings. Expect a big emphasis on the latter, of course — and food, too. All that wandering and watching is hungry (and thirsty) work, after all, so there'll be around 70 pop-ups keeping guests fed and watered. From Wednesday, July 14–Sunday, July 18, you'll be able to tuck into fresh raclette, feast your way through plenty of other cheeses, fill out your wine-tasting passport and enjoy a few crepes. Or, pick up a couple of macarons, grab a glass of sparkling from the champagne bar, sip the best craft brews France has to offer and warm up over a mulled wine — or several. If previous years are anything to go by, Bastille Festival is set to be an epic showcase of food, wine and art. That said, this year's event will be a little smaller in scale than previous years in order to provide attendees with a COVID-safe experience.
Some pop star dreams just aren't meant to be, and The Idol's are now among them. Whether you watched some of it, the whole thing or simply read about it (because no one could avoid the latter), the HBO series has been one of the most talked-about shows of 2023 — when it started dropping sneak peeks from July 2022, too, but especially once it hit streaming in June this year. All that chatter hasn't inspired the US network to bring it back for a second season, however, and unsurprisingly. As per Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, the show has been cancelled after its first season — which ran for five episodes, and focused on singer Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp, Voyagers) and nightclub impresario Tedros (Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd). "The Idol was one of HBO's most provocative original programs, and we're pleased by the strong audience response," said a HBO representative in a statement. "After much thought and consideration, HBO, as well as the creators and producers, have decided not to move forward with a second season. We're grateful to the creators, cast and crew for their incredible work." Set within the music industry, The Idol followed Jocelyn as she attempted to make a comeback, got caught up in controversy and met Tedros. It bears more than a passing resemblance to UK series I Hate Suzie, but with its own stacked cast — and with Sam Levinson, the mastermind behind Euphoria, creating it alongside The Weeknd. The Idol's packed list of on-screen talent also spanned Red Rocket's Suzanna Son, Boy Erased's Troye Sivan, Schitt's Creek's Dan Levy, singer-songwriter Moses Sumney, BLACKPINK's Jennie Kim, Only Murders in the Building's Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Hacks' Jane Adams, Bodies Bodies Bodies' Rachel Sennott and Inglourious Basterds' Eli Roth. Also appearing: Hank Azaria (Hello Tomorrow!), Hari Nef (Barbie), Steve Zissis (Happy Death Day 2U), Melanie Liburd (This Is Us), Tunde Adebimpe (Marriage Story), Elizabeth Berkley Lauren (Saved By the Bell) and Nico Hiraga (Booksmart), plus Anne Heche (All Rise) in what was one of her last performances. Controversy surrounded the show not just once it was releasing episodes, but beforehand. Prior to arriving on streaming — before it premiered at 2023's Cannes Film Festival, too — the Los Angeles-set series started with She Dies Tomorrow's Amy Seimetz directing every single episode. But back in April 2022, it was revealed that Seimetz had left the project and reshoots were underway as a result. Reports also surfaced about the working environment — and, neither the viewer nor the critical response was anywhere near glowing, making The Idol's cancellation far always likely. Check out the trailer for The Idol below: The Idol season one streams via Binge in Australia and Neon in New Zealand. Via Variety / The Hollywood Reporter. Images: Eddy Chen/HBO.
While the Aussies and the Kiwis duked it out for bragging rights over the invention of a humble chocolate-coated coconut-covered cake, the team at Tokyo Lamington quietly entered the chat and threw Japan into the mix. Sure, they weren't claiming to have created the nostalgic Antipodean dessert but they've certainly been responsible for redefining it — adding creative flourishes like Yuzu Meringue and Matcha Strawberry (and later Pumpkin, Banofee and even Fairy Bread Popcorn). Today, almost three years after their non-traditional flavours first popped up Down Under (and following an appearance on Masterchef Australia) Tokyo Lamington are taking their square-shaped specialities a little further west with a temporary Tokyo Lamington at Bankstown Sports Club store. Just like the treats themselves, this pop up promises to be short but seriously sweet — with half a dozen and full dozen boxes available for a limited time from Friday to Sunday, 11am-2pm (for $46 and $90, respectively). And, if anything from previous partnerships is an indication, we suspect that lamington-lovers will snap them up quickly, so we suggest heading over sooner rather than later. For more information on the Tokyo Lamington at Bankstown Sports Club collaboration, visit the website or follow on Instagram or Facebook.
Instagram looked rather fetching last week. Hoards of hovering fashion bloggers, well-dressed punters breaking out their most social media-baiting outfits and a somewhat random Gerard Butler all descended on Sydney's Carriageworks last week for Australia's premier fashion event. Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia is a tossed salad of the fashion industry's heavyweights, Next Big Things and hopeful scenesters eager to catch a glimpse of the coming season's boldest and brightest looks. Fresh from a long, house music-fuelled week of drooling over impossibly high heels and disarmingly playful outfits we could never comfortably wear into the office, Concrete Playground takes a look at next year's biggest trends. Looks like next year we'll be wearing wetsuits, donning enough sparkles to blind passers-by and asking our mums for style advice. Image: Toni Maticevski, Dion Lee, Ginger & Smart Luxe sports We all know Australia is a sporting nation, but who could have predicted that a fair whack of the MBFWA designers would premiere collections referencing sportswear as a key inspiration? Prominent zips, pockets, mesh panels, racer backs, fabrics that looked totally capable of wicking moisture — sporty detailing was everywhere this year. Dion Lee went varsity track-and-field, Ginger & Smart inserted a hint of streetwise mesh into otherwise romantic pieces, and several newcomers came out looking ready to race. The style reached its zenith, however, with Toni Maticevski, who sent athletics-inflected eveningwear down the runway (and it was stunning and formidable and would be perfectly rocked by Claire Underwood on House of Cards). Style inspiration: Sochi Olympics Image: Gabriel Lee (Raffles showcase), Ciara Nolan (The Innovators), Toni Maticevski Neoprene dreams Although a pedant might say neoprene is just one subset of the sports trend, the textile (you might know it as wetsuit material) was so prevalent at MBFWA that it deserves a mention in its own right. As well as anchoring the athletic collections of Maticevski et al, it made appearances contrasting against floatier, finer fabrics in the girlier wares of Cameo, Alice McCall and Gabriel Lee (part of the Raffles International Showcase), while Ciara Nolan achieved ultimate neoprene-age with her dinosaur-inspired (yes, dinosaur inspired) pieces. Best of all, neoprene should prove surprisingly wearable, particularly in skirts, where it not only makes sculptural curlicues from your waist to your knees but has a hold-everything-in effect. Stay away from any neoprene jumpsuits though; that could well just be a wetsuit. Style inspiration: Surfers. Duh. Image: Yousef Akbar, Alice McCall, Bei Na Wei SO SHINY This season designers are infusing a little celebration in each of their pieces. Accompanying the straight-up party that is Romance Was Born's hootenanny of an exhibition, Reflected Glory, designers like Aurelio Costarella, Alex Perry and Zhivago are making a dance floor out of mere clothing. Basically, the more sequins you can pack into a pair of pants the better. Metallic, rigid tunics and playsuits shone down more than one runway, making appearances everywhere from Alice McCall to Bei Na Wei, while glass beadwork, monochrome sequins and shimmering tassels made an absolute shindig of the Yousef Akbar runway. Day to night has never been easier. Style inspiration: Vince Noir's mirrorball suit Image: Dyspnea, Alice McCall, Haryono Setiadi OVERLAYS We could see right through this one — overlays are getting serious exposure. Romantic as ever, intricate lace is all loved up by designers like Aje, Alice McCall and Alex Perry, prettying up full-length onesies, sheer business shirts and playful cocktail dresses. Appropriately breezy for her cruise-inspired birthday collection, Alice McCall paired long hemlines with high-waisted '50s style undergarments, while Ae'lkemi took sheer to the next level with gowns, shirts and skirts almost whispered on. The best thing about the evolution of sheer into overlays? Odds are you can actually wear it in the street. Style inspiration: Freedom Image: Hayley Elsaesser, Alice McCall, Emma Mulholland LOUD PRINTS Oh, you're thinking of wearing that ditsy floral dress? No. Life is short and this year's designers want you to spend yours not as a wallflower but as a rare, crossbred and likely poisonous orchid. Therefore, those who are working with colour (and not strictly monochrome and structural, which is, of course, also a thing right now) are working in vivid technicolour smashed together in brash prints. We're particularly taken with Emma Mulholland's and Hayley Elsaesser's sweet spins on childhood nostalgia and Alice McCall's mystical and alluring digital pyramid print. Fortunately, mixing prints is the pinnacle of this trend, so: let's wear both. Style inspiration: Ken Done Image: Dyspnea, Aelkemi, RACHELALEX THAT '70s SHOW Hemlines are longer, prints are bolder, sleeves are bigger — the '70s are the season's chosen decade for a runway revamp. Bell bottomed pants, asymmetrical tunics and winged sleeves made appearances in the Ellery, Bianca Spender and Ae'lkemi shows, while the impossibly bright, geometric prints of Desert Designs and tie-dyed designs from Rukshani channel an early '70s post-Woodstock vibe. Zhivago brought out yellow long-sleeved gowns with plunging necklines and Jayson Brunsdon featured super feathered, luminescent collars and one-shouldered numbers, also seen in Haryono Setia's candy corn-coloured tunics. Style inspiration: Studio 54 Image: Hayley Dawson, Yousef Akbar, Dion Lee MIXED MATERIALS Sometimes you need to pair something with its opposite to truly bring out its best qualities. Alex Perry fused rough snakeskin with bejewelled silk, Dion Lee is bringing leather to denim like only the Ramones could and newcomer Hayley Dawson introduced feminine, sheer cotton to hardy industrial uniforms. Yousef Akbar's Francis Bacon-inspired collection ended with floor-length gowns of half neoprene half silver sequins, while Bei Na Wei blended industrial strength synthetic mesh textiles with shiny leather to find a futuristic femininity. Style inspiration: Neenish tarts Image: Cameo, Emma Mulholland, Ellery MORE OF WHAT YOU'VE ALREADY GOT Not everything is a flash in the fashion pan; some trends are showing staying power that's a good two seasons long. Crop tops, bustiers and sheer garments are still around in a big way (layer the two together and you have something approaching modesty), while matchy-matchy monochrome remains a strong look, particularly in statement white. Style inspiration: MBFWA 2013 Top image: Emma Mulholland. Words by Shannon Connellan and Rima Sabina Aouf.
We all know that fast fashion is gross. And yet, we're all familiar with the need to something cheap and quick in a time crunch — often overwhelming our need to not pollute the planet beyond repair. We really don't do well by Mother Earth here in Australia. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, every year 500,000 tonnes of fashion ends up in landfill and each Aussie consumes 27 kilograms of textiles. Rhianna Knight believes we can do better, so she started an apparel business that won't leave you feeling shamefaced. The result is Mister Timbuktu and, after a successful crowdfunding campaign earlier this year, it's kicking ass — with its debut collection now available. Mister Timbuktu's outdoor apparel is made from recycled plastics and discarded fishing nets. At the moment, the range is all about quality leggings, raincoats and crop tops, but they'll soon branch into all things outdoorsy, including tents, sleeping bags and puffer jackets. The designs are gorgeous and bright because outdoor activities don't have to be completed in drab natural colours (apologies, Kathmandu, you serve a purpose but there's a new queen on the block). According to Knight, eleven plastic bottles are recycled in each pair of leggings they create. How in the name of activewear is that possible? Well, recycled plastics are collected, shredded into chips, washed, melted into liquid form and then spun into thread that goes on to become your new favourite comfy pants. Science, bitches! The company also puts 20 percent of profits back into helping the planet in other ways: by partnering with both a mental health charity (Waves of Wellness) and the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife. But wait, there's more. Okay, we probably shouldn't get so excited about this part because the rest of the initiative is so phenomenal, but check out the leggings: they have a pocket in the waistband which is the best and most practical thing ever. Thank you for listening to our secret wishes and delivering. For more information, visit Mister Timbuktu's website.
UPDATE, September 14, 2023: The Little Mermaid is available to stream via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. For anyone without a scaly tail, communing with the ocean can be a routine dip, a refreshing splash or a sail into choppy waters. In Disney's latest dance with merpeople and the humans that its main mythical sea creature yearns for (and desperately wants to learn more about), all three prove true. The next in the Mouse House's long line of live-action remakes — albeit with ample CGI helping to bring its sea-dwelling characters to life, but no hand-drawn animation — the new The Little Mermaid is often content to wade where its beloved 1989 predecessor went before. That's the Disney do-over standard. Sometimes, though, this new effort is its own delightful paddle; when 'Under the Sea' echoes against a literal sea of colour, movement, creatures and energy, it's a dazzling Golden Age Hollywood-esque spectacular. There's no escaping the movie's bloat when it's not merrily floating, however, due in no small part to inflating the storyline from the original's 83 minutes to a hefty 135 minutes. This day at the cinematic beach — glowing highs and waterlogged lows included — keeps the same basic narrative that viewers loved 34 years ago, as loosely inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's 19th-century fairy tale of the same name. A quote from that text opens the film as Alan Menken's revisited Oscar-winning score starts to swell, advising "but a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more". The curious and adventurous Princess Ariel (Halle Bailey, Grown-ish) cries through her siren's song instead, lamenting the strict no-humans rule enforced by her father King Triton (Javier Bardem, Lyle, Lyle Crocodile). And, in rebellious teen-style, she acts out by sneaking off to scour the ocean floor's shipwrecks with her fish best friend Flounder (voiced by Jacob Tremblay, Luca), even when Sebastian the crab (Daveed Diggs, Snowpiercer) is tracking her every move, and stashing trinkets from the world on land in a secret cave. When it's underwater, The Little Mermaid isn't served well by arriving so soon after Avatar: The Way of Water and its stunning beneath-the-waves imagery, or releasing just as Prehistoric Planet 2 is streaming its dive into ancient waters. In director Rob Marshall (Mary Poppins Returns) and cinematographer Dion Beebe's (Gemini Man) hands, plunging into the deep largely appears dark and murky. Indeed, if Bailey and Bardem's hair wasn't shimmering and flowing, it'd just look like a dimly lit set (mostly, it still does). The kaleidoscopic extravaganza that is 'Under the Sea' doesn't only stand out because that's precisely what its bright hues are doing, of course. It's a gloriously choreographed and performed piece amid a coral reef, set to Menken and late, great lyricist Howard Ashman's best (and also Oscar-winning) song, and it's an absolute showstopper. But, as made clear both before and after it drops its calypso-inspired beats, the number sets a standard that the film rarely cares to match elsewhere. When it comes to concern, Ariel has plenty. Her cup runneth over about the boats cruising above, with their sailors shooting fire into the sky, dogs and just humans doing human things — such having feet. As the story still goes, her wistful watching is fortuitous for Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King, The Flatshare). If the mermaid wasn't there to save him when he's knocked overboard, there'd be no romance. Cue a two-way obsession, plus tentacled sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy, Nine Perfect Strangers) offering Ariel a bargain to follow her feelings and taste life out of water. She's given 72 hours in human form to experience true love's kiss, after which she'll be able to stay breathing air. If that went smoothly, and if Ariel's banished aunt wasn't cackling maniacally about taking over from her brother and stealing her niece's gifts, this wouldn't even be a 90-minute flick. Like an unruly sea as a storm blows in, there's turbulence at the heart of The Little Mermaid. While it's easy to see why David McGee's (A Man Called Otto) screenplay has been padded out, it makes for an overextended voyage. Bailey is perfectly cast, and not only when Ariel is singing her heart out. Wanting to spend more time with her is as instinctive as kicking your feet in water. She's an enchanting, luminous, plucky and rousing heroine. She makes the need to know something more than just the pool she's born into feel achingly real. An added sequence where Ariel roams around Eric's library, spying his sea treasures — his equivalent of her own trove — is charming, gives both Bailey and Logan Lerman lookalike Hauer-King standout moments, and is the kind of new material that slips in easily. But the same can't be said for all the feature's new songs (this time with Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda penning lyrics) and even some of its closest recreations. Swooping somewhere new doesn't always pay off, and neither does treading water. Adored in animated form, Sebastian, Flounder and seabird Scuttle (Awkwafina, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) couldn't demonstrate The Little Mermaid's crests and drops more heartily. Diggs' voice acting and singing is unsurprisingly scene-stealing, and Awkwafina is entertainingly lively — but their new tune 'The Scuttlebutt' is instantly forgettable (other than immediately being able to tell that Miranda wrote it). Photorealism doesn't suit their characters, either, bringing The Lion King's eerie uncanny animal valley to mind. That's especially the case for poor Flounder, whose name is more apt here than it's meant to be. Loving the talent but not the execution becomes a familiar sensation throughout this version of The Little Mermaid. So does remembering that Marshall wasn't just behind Chicago and Mary Poppins Returns, but also Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Into the Woods. Back as the 80s came to a close, the first The Little Mermaid was a lifeboat, buoying Disney's animation studio when its fortunes were sinking. In its wash, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King all followed, becoming House of Mouse classics. The new The Little Mermaid marks the last of that quartet to be remade — the tale as old as time, whole new world and circle of life otherwise reappearing in that order — and, towing the company line with these cartoon-to-flesh second efforts, it smacks of playing it safe. When Ariel's latest outing surrenders to the moment and the emotion, whether showing why it's better down where it's wetter with a joyous dash of vibrance, letting Bailey's divine voice convey a lifetime of longing to be part of a different world, or having its swooning lovers dance, discover and deepen their bond, it goes swimmingly. Often, though, it's just like Ursula: biding its time calculatingly and protractedly (that said, McCarthy is having a ball, more so than much of the movie).
