Vancouver takes care of their own, even those without four walls to call home. A particularly high-five-worthy charity in Vancouver built pop-up shelters on benches, inviting homeless citizens to find shelter for the night. London is shuffling awkwardly across the Atlantic. Teaming up with Spring Advertising for a heartfelt and genuinely useful campaign, nonprofit RainCity Housing installed modified public benches to open eyes and raise awareness of local homelessness while actually providing homeless people a slightly improved temporary sleeping shelter. After London and Montreal's atrocious 'anti-homeless spikes' sparked furious debate and removals, Vancouver was successfully reminding the globe that it doesn't take much to offer a helping hand. RainCity, a nonprofit providing assistance to Vancouver's homeless population, designed two types of modified benches targeting citizens without shelter. The first boasted a convertible backrest which functions as an overhanging cover (with the address of RainCity Housing listed to encourage homeless people to "find a home here"). The second was more of an advertising campaign, but heartfelt nonetheless — during the day, the bench sports text reading "THIS IS A BENCH" and after sunset the text glows in the dark and changes to read "THIS IS A BEDROOM." Although this isn't a new ad campaign (in fact, the benches were installed last year), it didn't get much press amidst the London/Montreal spikes uproar. But seriously, somewhat useful covered benches win over 'anti-homeless' design any day. Via Gawker and Bustle. Images by Spring Advertising/RainCity.
Cockatoo Island's perennial Sunset Sessions are making a welcome comeback in 2023. For those who aren't familiar with the scenic gig series, the Sunset Sessions are held every Saturday on the lawns of Cockatoo Island's Biloela House to synchronise with the sun setting over the Sydney Harbour. So yes, it's a bona fide date night bonanza. In addition to one of the best views in town, you'll be treated to intimate open-air sets from a batch of talented up-and-coming Australian artists. The 2023 series will feature a diverse genre-spanning lineup that includes captivating Inner West troubadour Dominic Breen, angel-voiced singer-songwriter Huck Hastings, and R&B-pop purveyor Ashli. Scroll for the full artist lineup. [caption id="attachment_884826" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Singer-songwriter Sam Windley will kick off the Sessions on January 21.[/caption] Sunset Sessions take place 5pm-8pm every Saturday evening, kicking off from Saturday January 21 and running up until April 1. They're not just for the romantically inclined, either. It's also a family-friendly affair with free tickets for kids under 12. And if you really want to make a weekend of it, you can stay a night on Cockatoo Island in one of the many accommodation options on offer (which range from the budget BYO tent approach to deluxe waterfront glamping to the Harbour View Apartments located right near Biloela Lawn). Full artist lineup for the 2023 Sunset Sessions: 21 January - Sam Windley & Dominic Breen 28 January - Hayley Mary & Jordan Kenny 4 February - Carla Geneve & Lee Sullivan 11 February - Huck Hastings 18 February - Ashli & Ainsley Farrell 25 February - Kyoshi 4 March - Saint Barae 11 March - Lucy Parle & AODHAN 18 March - June Jones & Punko 25 March - Big Wheels 1 April - Teddie Sunset Sessions tickets are $35 each or free for children under 12.
Last year, Single O brought the Australian Aeropress Championship to Sydney. This time around, the roasters will host the mecca of all coffee competitions — the 2018 World AeroPress Championships. The event will take place on November 17, when 60 coffee brewers from around the globe will compete to win the title of best AeroPresser out there. Top-notch coffee isn't the only draw card, either — Single O has again collaborated with leading Sydney chefs on the event's food offering. and this year's theme is something of a world-wide sausage sizzle. First off, Moon Dog will be slinging free tinnies and Cow & the Moon will be scooping pavlova gelato for free, too. For main eats, there's shoyu-glazed hot dogs with wasabi slaw and vegan smoked chilli dogs from Rising Sun Workshop; nahm jim jaew-inspired grilled eggplants and pork sausages from Boon Cafe; and maple and spent coffee from Rocker and LP's Quality Meats. ForeignDub's DJ Blackhawk will provide the tunes while the brewers go head-to-head. After the competition — and your epic feast — head to the Competitor Brew Bar where you can nab a taste of some seriously good cuppas, prepared by the best in the business. General admission tickets will cost you $25, or the $65 VIP ticket gets you access to the pre-party on November 16 — which includes a meet and greet with the competitors at Single O's Surry Hills digs, followed by barefoot bowls at Clovelly Lawn Bowls Club. Images: Carlos Zavala / Alana Dimou.
Since opening its original store in Granville in 1998, El Jannah has earned cult status for its Lebanese-style charcoal chicken and finger lickin'-good garlic sauce. Now, the legendary chicken joint has an impressive seven outlets under its belt — and counting. El Jannah has won plenty of fans for its charcoal chicken — you can order a whole bird, a half or a quarter, all of which come with pickles and bread. Oh, and that garlic sauce — so irresistible that it's almost single-handedly responsible for El Jannah's rise to Sydney stardom. Elsewhere on the menu, you'll find Middle Eastern skewers and shawarma plates, plus chicken burgers and rolls. Sides include bowls of hummus, baba ghanoush, tabouli and fattoush. You'll find EL Jannah Granville in our list of the best fried chicken in Sydney. Check out the full list here. Appears in: The Best Fried Chicken in Sydney for 2023
Everything looks better on as big a screen as possible — and if you've always thought that about your streaming-queue favourites and you live in Sydney, you're now in luck. No, you don't need to upsize your television. Instead, you can head to a streaming cinema, sink into recliners and watch whatever takes your fancy from whichever streaming platform you like. Australia's first venue of its type, and only popping up for a month at 6/6–14 Oxford Street in Darlinghurst, the Nebula Streaming Cinema is indeed exactly what it sounds like. It features a 150-inch screen, upon which you can watch your pick of shows and movies from Netflix, Stan, Prime Video, Shudder, Disney+, Apple TV+, Binge, Paramount+ and the hefty list of other streamers — all while tucking into unlimited popcorn, drinks and snacks. None of the above will cost you a cent, either, other than one key thing: your subscription to those streaming services. But, if you're keen to watch Stranger Things, The Boys, Severance or Ms Marvel on a bigger screen than you've got at home, we're betting you're already signed up to the requisite platform. This is a boutique picture-palace experience, though, with room for just you and three pals. Wondering what's behind it? Nebula, which slings portable entertainment products, is promoting its Cosmos Laser 4K projector. Wondering how it works, too? The projector has a built-in Chromecast, which is how you'll access the relevant apps to log in to your choice of streaming services. To give the streaming cinema a whirl, you'll need to nab a booking for a two-hour slot — which also includes on-demand waiter service, bringing those snacks to you so you don't have to get up. At the moment, only times across the cinema's first two weeks have been made available, with extra sessions popping up on a weekly basis.
When your nine-to-five plays out like a well-oiled machine, it can sometimes feel like each week is a little same-same. But Sydney is brimming with a fine bounty of things to experience and explore each and every day. So aside from casual laziness and a little lack of inspiration, there's really nothing stopping you from squeezing some adventure and spontaneity into your schedule. We've teamed up with Mazda3 to help you celebrate the little things that bring a sense of adventure to life. Shake things up, as we give you seven different detours to take each week in Sydney. From Monday to Sunday, enrich your everyday with one completely achievable activity that inspires you to take the scenic route as you go about your daily routine. This week, get some solid roller excercise, sing karaoke until your lungs are sore and go for a relaxing stroll down to Blackwattle Bay. Plus, we've got your future detours sorted for the next few weeks here. All require no more effort than a tiny break from the norm — what's your excuse for not trying them all?
They can't all be treats. That's true each time October 31 hits, sending children scurrying around the streets in search of sweets, and it's true of the film franchise that owns the spookiest time of year. Since debuting 43 years ago, the Halloween series has delivered both gems and garbage — and off-kilter delights such as Halloween III: Season of the Witch — but its latest and 12th entry carves a space firmly in the middle. Halloween Kills ticks plenty of boxes that a memorable Halloween movie should, and is also a horror sequel on autopilot. Somehow, it's also a Halloween movie lacking purpose and shape. It has The Shape, of course, as Michael Myers is also known. But it's more an exercise in spending extra time in Haddonfield, in its boogeyman's presence and in world inhabited by franchise heroine Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis, Knives Out) than a compelling slasher flick on its own. After giving the Halloween realm its second-best chapter in 2018, it's easy to see why returning writer/director David Gordon Green (Stronger) and his frequent collaborator Danny McBride (The Righteous Gemstones) have taken this approach. When you've just made a classic follow-up to a stone-cold classic — again, only John Carpenter's iconic franchise-starter is better — you keep on keeping on. That's not quite how Halloween Kills turns out, though. It picks up immediately where its predecessor left off, lets Michael stab his way through small-town Illinois again, and brings back Laurie's daughter Karen (Judy Greer, Where'd You Go, Bernadette) and teenage granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak, Son) from the last spin. It also pads things out with a vengeance storyline that endeavours to get political, yet proves about as piercing as a butter knife. In the last film — called Halloween, like the flick that started it all — Laurie faced the man who turned her into a victim back when she was a 17-year-old babysitter. She unleashed four decades of rage, fear and anxiety during a moment she'd been preparing for across all of that time, and it proved cathartic for her and for viewers alike. This saga was always going to add another sequel, however. As the second part of a trilogy under Green and McBride's guidance, Halloween Kills will also gain its own follow-up in a year's time. When it arrives in 2022, Halloween Ends won't actually live up to its name. No horror movie lover would want it to. Still, it already haunts Halloween Kills — because, like the townsfolk that the latex mask-sporting, overall-wearing Michael just keeps stalking, it feels uncertain about where it should head. First, Halloween Kills sends its three generations of Strode women to hospital, riffing on 1981's Halloween II. Sadly, it also replicates one of the latter's missteps, leaving Laurie there as her nemesis keeps slicing — and splitting its attention around Haddonfield. Here, both Karen and Allyson have also had enough of Michael's nonsense. So has Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall, The Goldbergs), one of the kids that Laurie babysat on that fateful night all those years ago. So, he rallies a mob and transforms the grieving and scared locale into a haven for vigilante justice; "evil dies tonight!" is their cheer. Evil won't die tonight, which isn't a spoiler. Again, Halloween Ends is coming — and evil won't end there, either. As this franchise has kept looping, twisting and constantly resetting its prior timelines every few films or so, the fact that its source of evil keeps slashing in movie after movie has been one of its strongest thematic weapons. Indeed, Halloween circa 2018 keenly understood that trauma such as Laurie's doesn't fade. It festers; its survivors might learn to cope beneath their PTSD, but their lacerations still pulsate with pain. Halloween Kills tries to expand the idea by focusing on communal rather than individual wounds, and on its setting's shared past; however, thanks to heavy-handed insurrection-style imagery, it plays less as a musing on its underlying suburban nightmare and the distress rippling from it, and more as a weak comment on America today. They can't all slay, obviously — Halloween movies, that is. Michael clearly can and does keep slaying, his body count rising swiftly. When it comes to his murders, Halloween Kills is gory, bloody and gruesome, with Green at his best when he's honing in on the mechanics of its masked maniac's reign of terror. It'd be repetitive if it wasn't so effective, even if it's packaged with smaller doses of tension and suspense. The OG Halloween spawned a spate of imitators for a reason, and still does, but this latest successor lacks its slasher elegance and economy — because Green also enjoys getting flamboyant with Halloween Kills' kills for the sake of it. Perhaps he's trying to make up for sidelining his star, the white-haired Curtis, for so long. Steely as ever, she remains the film's undisputed highlight in the screen time she has, but Halloween Kills doesn't feel like Laurie's story. Or, perhaps Green is trying to distract from the bold move he didn't make. Even in a franchise that plays so fast and loose with its continuity, not managing to bring back Paul Rudd, aka Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers' version of Tommy, is a huge missed opportunity. Halloween Kills re-enlists other familiar faces, spanning both 1978's and 2018's Halloween flicks. It adds backstory all over the place, much of it filler. It gets Carpenter, his son Cody and godson Daniel Davies to rework the synth and piano-heavy tunes that've served the series so well, after they did the same last time around. Like its predecessor, it slinks and stalks with unease. It pushes women to the fore again, too — women who refuse to simply be mere final girls. But it's also the jack-o'-lantern of Green's trilogy within the broader Halloween franchise: there's enough light flickering in its carved-out pumpkin eyes, but there's also an inescapable by-the-numbers emptiness as well.
Some pieces of film news feel like they can't be believed until the end results are actually seen. For a decade, the prospect of Hayao Miyazaki making another movie has been one of them. This enchanting development has come to fruition in the form of The Boy and the Heron, which not only exists but has been playing at international film festivals, already released in cinemas in Japan and now boasts two English-language trailers to give audiences a sneak peek at it magic. After a mesmerising first look back in September, The Boy and the Heron has just dropped a full glimpse at the new gift from the Studio Ghibli great. In store is the story of Mahito, a boy pining for his mother and experiencing the realm where the living and the dead converge. Also present: stunningly gorgeous animation. Miyazaki is back to spirit audiences away again, ten years after releasing The Wind Rises, which was expected to be his last film at the time. The movie maestro even announced his retirement. Thankfully, he changed his mind quickly — and now, more than half a decade after that welcome revelation, his next film is here. The My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle icon's latest was confirmed back in late 2022 for a 2023 release, at least overseas. Back then, it was known as How Do You Live, but has changed its title since. The official synopsis describes it as "a semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death and creation" — and yes, plenty of Miyazaki's trademarks already exist in that short blurb. While The Boy and the Heron hit the big screen in July in Miyazaki's homeland, it did so without the usual promotional campaign — which is why trailers have only arrived in the lead-up to the American release, which begins in November. At the time of writing, the feature doesn't have a date with cinemas Down Under as yet, but it'll obviously get one. Echoing through the latest sneak peek is the film's English-language voice cast, which boasts the starry likes of Christian Bale (Amsterdam), Robert Pattinson (The Batman), Florence Pugh (Oppenheimer) and Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3). You'll also hear Gemma Chan (The Creator), Willem Dafoe (Asteroid City), Mark Hamill (The Fall of the House of Usher) and Karen Fukuhara (The Boys). There's nothing quite like a Miyazaki movie. While Studio Ghibli isn't short on gorgeous on-screen wonders hailing from a range of filmmakers, the Japanese animation house's best-known co-founder truly does make films like no one else. The Boy and the Heron already looks spectacular — unsurprisingly — in its initial glimpses, complete with lush greenery, mysterious spaces and floating critters. And, of course, with Mahito and the picture's titular bird making appearances. The Boy and the Heron marks Ghibli's fifth film since Miyazaki's last movie, following Isao Takahata's The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, page-to-screen treat When Marnie Was There, gorgeous French co-production The Red Turtle and the CGI-animated Earwig and the Witch. Check out the full English-language trailer for The Boy and the Heron below: The Boy and the Heron is already open in Japan, and will release in the US on Friday, December 8, 2023. The film doesn't yet have a release date Down Under — we'll update you when one is announced. Images: © 2023 Studio Ghibli.
When things go your way at work, there's nothing better than rallying the troops and heading out for a night of well-deserved good food and wine. Whether you've just scored that promotion, landed a huge client or survived the biggest week of work ever, when it's finally time to let loose and celebrate, you may as well do it in style. So, we've rounded up some of the absolute best spots in Sydney for a fancy celebratory meal. These epicurean innovators might be on the pricier side — but you've earned it, you professional big shot. And what's a celebration without a little vino? In yet another win, Citi customers who visit any one of these places (and many more) and pay using their Citi card will score a free bottle of wine. To save you from poring over these eateries' very extensive wine lists, just have a gander at the Citibank Dining Program website to see what vinos are on offer and get ready for the party in your professional honour.
Whether you're a sports fanatic or not, it's hard to escape chat about the cricket at this time year. But among the in-depth analyses of certain plays and team strategy, comparison of players past and present and reliving of legendary moments in the sport's history, there is one tale that has long been ignored. In 1868, a group of Aboriginal Australian cricket players became the first Australian sports team to travel and play overseas. Beyond all expectations, the team did extremely well — they won as many games as they lost — and one particular player, Johnny Mullagh (born Unaarrimin), was lauded for his performance, which included scoring 1698 runs across the tour. The tour was a pretty remarkable feat, particularly given the climate of Indigenous affairs in Australia at the time, but the history books have, for the most part, failed to recognise it as such. That's exactly what this new play by screenwriter Geoffery Atherden (Mother and Son, BabaKiueria) and director Wesley Enoch (Black Diggers, Sydney Festival 2014 and Sydney Festival artistic director) aims to rectify. Black Cockatoo begins with a group of activists sneaking into a museum to hunt down (and expose) the story of Mullagh and his team. The play then shifts its focus onto that very story — it tracks the team's journey from regional Victoria to Lord's Cricket Ground and reveals the travesties that were unfolding at home while the team were away. This poignant play is premiering at Kirribilli's Ensemble Theatre as part of Sydney Festival 2020, before a five-night run at Parramatta's Riverside Theatres in February. It's part of Riverside Theatre's jam-packed 2020 schedule, which also includes Aboriginal musical comedy Bran Nue Dae (January 16–February 1), Les Misérables (February 14–29), Monty Python's Spamalot (March 19–22), Sydney Theatre Company's No Pay? No Way! (April 1–4) and the Sydney Comedy Festival Gala (April 22). To see the full 2020 lineup, visit the Riverside Theatres website. To see the full 2020 lineup, visit the Riverside Theatres website. Image: Christian Trinder.
Experimental art curator Jack Jeweller (director of the formerly glorious Black and Blue gallery) and Daniel Stricker of Siberia Records (nee Midnight Juggernauts beat-keeper) have joined forces, with support from City of Sydney, to present MUSECOLOGY: a series of four unique musical and visual performances, each of which makes use of an unlikely and historically significant site within Sydney. Not simply a chance to see a conventional performance in a new (old?) space, however, and not to be thought of as conceptually underdeveloped, each MUSECOLOGY event will draw upon the very history and character of its respective venue, such that the aura of each site might be re-enlivened and reproduced by the performances each hosts. In the first instalment of MUSECOLOGY, at the end of last year (thematically tagged 'Machismo'), performers including Kirin J. Callinan and Justice Yeldham repurposed the Woolloomooloo PCYC—and made special use of its boxing ring—to compose visceral odes to the club's unambiguously machismo milieu. Now, for this second instalment, themed 'Mnemonic Museum', four acts, including void-noise merchants Naked On The Vague, newly-formed duo DCM (Daniel Stricker and ex-Wolfmother synth-player Chris Ross), Not Applicable (Jaimie Leonarder/Jay Katz of Mu-Mesons and Mu-Meson archive), and one more yet-to-be-announced 'very special guest', will each compose a soundtrack to accompany a specific sequence from the 1961 cult film The Eyes of Hell, a.k.a The Mask, released in analglyphic 3d. And if a museum were not already itself an appropriate enough venue for a curated event that so mines film history, this instalment of MUSECOLOGY will take place at the University of Sydney's Macleay Museum, itself home to a collection of rare historical photographs.
People have orgasms every day, but for decades spent closing her eyes and thinking of England in a sexually perfunctory marriage, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande's lead character wasn't among them. Forget la petite mort, the French term for climaxing; Nancy Stokes' (Emma Thompson, Cruella) big wrestling match with mortality, the one we all undertake, has long been devoid of erotic pleasure. Moments that feel like a little death? Unheard of. That's where this wonderfully candid, intimate, generous and joyous sex comedy starts, although not literally. Flashbacks to Nancy enduring getting it over with beneath her now-deceased spouse, missionary style, aren't Australian filmmaker Sophie Hyde (Animals) or British comedian-turned-screenwriter Katy Brand's (Glued) concern. Instead, their film begins with the religious education teacher waiting in a hotel room, about to take the biggest gamble of her life: meeting the eponymous sex worker (Daryl McCormack, Peaky Blinders). For anyone well-versed in Thompson's prolific on-screen history, and of Brand's work before the camera as well, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande inspires an easy wish: if only Nancy had a different job. Back in 2010, the pair co-starred in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, a title that'd also fit their latest collaboration if its protagonist cared for kids rather than taught them. Jokes aside, the instantly charming Leo is used to hearing that sentiment about his own professional choices. Indeed, Nancy expresses it during their pre- and post-coital discussions, enquiring about the events that might've led him to his career. "Maybe you're an orphan!" she says. "Perhaps you grew up in care, and you've got very low self-esteem," she offers. "You could have been trafficked against your will — you can't tell just by looking at somebody!" she continues. There are plenty of "if only" thoughts and feelings pulsating through Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, a film where its namesake's tongue couldn't be more important — yes, in that way, and also because talk is as crucial as sex here. If only Nancy hadn't spent half of her existence in a pleasure-free marriage. If only a lifetime of being middle class and socially conservative, and of internalising Britain's stereotypical 'keep calm and carry on' mentality, hadn't left her adrift from her desires. If only being a woman in her mid-50s wasn't seen as a libidinous void by society at large, a mindset that's as much a part of Nancy as the wrinkles and ageing body parts she can barely look at in the mirror. If only prioritising her sensual needs wasn't virtually taboo, too, especially in her mind — even after, two years since being widowed, she's booked an expensive rendezvous with Leo. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande unpacks those if onlys — not the Nanny McPhee one, obviously, but the idea that Nancy's life is immovably stuck in the same rut it has always been. As played by Thompson at the height of her acting powers, at her absolute splintery, finicky yet vulnerable best even with Last Christmas, Years and Years, Late Night and The Children Act on her recent resume, she's nervous, anxious, uncertain and always on the cusp of cancelling, including once Leo strolls into the room, beams his easy magnetism her way and starts talking about what she wants like it's the most natural thing in the world. Slipping into the sheets and knowing what excites you is the most natural thing in the world, of course, but not to Nancy. As her four appointments with Leo progress, she comes up with a lineup of carnal acts she'd like to experience — and she may as well be reading from her grocery list. But getting her to shed her inhibitions is as much his focus as shedding her clothes, and the twentysomething won't let Nancy keep getting in the way of herself. How simple Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is, and also how complex. That's fitting; sex is the same. Brand has penned a slinky two-hander about an unfulfilled woman tentatively taking charge of her own wants, and the helping hand she needs to do so, and also a movie that layers every stigma about female lust, older women, sex work, boundaries and respect into one frank, empathetic, penetrating and delightful package. That's there in the minute details, such as Nancy's job teaching religion to schoolgirls, to whom she's shown the same stern judgement she directs her own way. It's in the way that Leo asks before making every move, dismantles Nancy's concerns about his vocation and their age gap, and dedicates their time together to putting her at ease in every way he can as well. And, it also lingers in his response to her lack of care about his own work-life divide. The straightforwardness, the complications, the texture, the intense emotional landscape — they all evolve and deepen as Good Luck to You, Leo Grande goes on, as do the weighty subjects that the movie ponders, and the two characters swirling through the frame. Twirl, twist, sway, spin, thrust, tumble: Nancy and Leo do all of the above, physically and verbally, and what a double act they make. You could call Good Luck to You, Leo Grande a chamber piece courtesy of its small cast, chatter-heavy setup and the fact it's largely set in one room; however, the always-phenomenal Thompson and the immediately mesmerising McCormack make every second of the film feel expansive. Movies about women of a certain age attempting to get their groove back aren't uncommon, but movies about accepting that there's even a groove to reclaim, why that's essential, and how not only sex but sex work have a pivotal place in our daily lives are almost as scarce as Nancy's orgasms — until now. Helming her third feature after progressing from the also revelatory 52 Tuesdays through to Animals and now this, Hyde could've just ensured that her regular cinematographer Bryan Mason was peering Thompson and McCormack's way, then let their acting magic happen — and, at times, that's how it appears. But Good Luck to You, Leo Grande does what Nancy never has with herself, and what Leo endeavours to control with his clients: it truly sees its central pair, who they are and who they want to be, and what makes them moan, groan and tick. Hyde is clearly drawn to intricate two-person dynamics and the dances they inspire, whether following a teenager and her transgender parent, two thick-as-thieves best pals or a couple of strangers getting explicit. She blatantly loves telling coming-of-age tales, too, with the emphasis on both the coming and the age in this case. And, she ensures that soaking in the quiet moments, including when her characters are together but alone, says as much as any words bantered back and forth. Sex comedies have rarely felt so lived in, so comfortable, so earnest or so nuanced, or like such a release.
Which cravings will Wonka inspire? Chocolate, of course, and also an appetite for more of filmmaker Paul King's blend of the inventive, warm-hearted and surreal. The British writer/director's chocolatier origin story is a sweet treat from its first taste, and firmly popped from the same box as his last two movie delights: Paddington and Paddington 2. Has the helmer used a similar recipe to his talking-bear pictures? Yes. Was it divine with that double dip in marmalade, and now equally so with creative confectionery and the man behind it? Yes again. While it'd be nice to see King and his regular writing partner Simon Farnaby (also an actor, complete with an appearance here) make an original tale again, as they last did with 2009's superb and sublime Bunny and the Bull, watching them cast their spell on childhood favourites dishes up as effervescent an experience as sipping fizzy lifting drinks. It's as uplifting as munching on hover chocs, too, aka the debut creation that Wonka's namesake unveils in his attempt to unleash his chocolates upon the world. Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet, Bones and All) has everlasting gobstobbers, golden tickets and a whole factory pumping out a sugary rush in his future, as Roald Dahl first shared in 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, then cinemagoers initially saw in 1971's Gene Wilder-starring all-timer Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Wonka churns up the story before that story, and technically before 2005's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory from Tim Burton (Wednesday) as led by Johnny Depp (Minamata) — but the less remembered about that most-recent adaptation, the better. There's no on-the-page precedent for this flick, then. Rather, King and Farnaby use pure imagination, plus what they know works for them, to delectable results. What they welcomely avoid is endeavouring to melt down Dahl's bag of tricks and remould it, and also eschew packing in references to past Chocolate Factory flicks like a cookie that's more chocolate chips than biscuit. Wonka is a prequel devoted to telling its own tale — and deliciously — instead of stretching itself like over-chewed bubblegum to stick again and again to all that precedes it. The nods are there, including in the type of villains that Dahl could've penned, and the turns of phrase. Visual minutiae harks backwards, top hat and all, while 'Pure Imagination' and the Ooompa-Loompa flute whistle get more than a single spin. In the worst of the throwbacks, obesity is used as a gag once more like over half a century hasn't passed since Willy Wonka was conjured up. But they're all the feature's sprinkles, not its main ingredients. Come to Wonka and you'll be viewing a film that values its own narrative, magic, whimsy and wonders by the bucketful. Swimming in its river of hopes, aspirations, enchantment and earnestness brings Barbie to mind, in fact, in how to bake something new and flavoursome from pre-existing intellectual property. The trailers largely hide it; however, Wonka is as much of a musical as pop culture's greatest sweet tooth's prior dances across the screen, opening with him singing as he sails to the unnamed European locale that's home to the Galeries Gourmet. Once back on land, he's soon spent his 12 silver sovereigns before a day has passed and his introductory number is over, but the eccentric's hat full of dreams — a Mary Poppins-esque item that contains all manner of physical marvels, too — hasn't come close to running out. Mere minutes in, Chalamet shows how magnificently he's been cast as the wide-eyed, eternally optimistic, crooning-with-cheer young Wonka, wearing sincerity as closely and comfortably as his character's go-to purple suits. He's a daydream made tangible, whether beaming with enthusiasm about every chance that comes Willy's way, speaking in sing-song rhymes or frolicking with a waved-around cane. Never trying to be previous versions of Wonka (no one can replicate Wilder, and no one should want to ape Depp), he's a pleasure at getting goofy as well, sans even a dash of the exquisitely played moodiness, vulnerability and cool that's served him so well in Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, Little Women and Dune. At Willy's new home, three shops run by Slugworth (Paterson Joseph, Boat Story), Prodnose (Matt Lucas, DC's Legends of Tomorrow) and Fickelgruber (Mathew Baynton, Ghosts) monopolise the sweets trade, but he wants to be the mall's next candyman. The chocolate cartel doesn't take kindly to newcomers, though, or making treats affordable to the masses. With assistance from a corrupt cleric (Rowan Atkinson, Man vs Bee) and chocoholic chief of police (Keegan-Michael Key, The Super Mario Bros Movie), the core trio has the power and influence to send their unwanted competitor's life's wish down the drain before it even gets a chance to set. Finding a place to stay at a washhouse run by Mrs Scrubbit (Olivia Colman, Heartstopper) and her offsider Bleacher (Tom Davis, Romantic Getaway), then getting landed with a debt that'll take 27 years of labour to pay off for just a night's slumber, also threatens to give his quest a sour taste. Then there's the orange-skinned, green-haired Oompa-Loompa (Hugh Grant, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves) stealing Wonka's cocoa morsels out of revenge. All innocence, charm, buoyancy and tenderness just like a certain Peruvian mammal, Chalamet's star turn is the acting equivalent of having dessert for dinner and relishing every second. That said, there's nothing insubstantial about the fellow talents that surround him, with King's knack for filling parts big and small getting another scrumptious whirl. If the filmmaker wants to continue providing Grant with the scene-stealing comedic supporting roles of his life, audiences will devour his presence. Bringing Sally Hawkins over from the Paddington films to play Wonka's mother in flashbacks is a joyously touching move. Joseph, Lucas and Bayton make entertainingly haughty villains, while Key, Colman and Davis (also a Paddington 2 alum) are all having a ball. Farnaby turns a silhouetted moment as a security guard feasting on Willy's big night out truffle into a gem. And among Scrubbit and Bleacher's other indentured workers, Calah Lane (This Is Us) invests feeling and pluck in the orphaned Noodle, with Jim Carter (Downton Abbey: A New Era), Rakhee Thakrar (Sex Education), Natasha Rothwell (Sonic the Hedgehog 2) and Rich Fulcher (Black Mirror) engagingly rounding out the rag-tag laundry crew. Fulcher's involvement, like Farnaby's, nods to another jewel that King helped gift the world: The Mighty Boosh. The director helmed all 20 episodes, plus the comedy troupe's live Future Sailors Tour special — and its phantasmagorical and heightened vibe, as well as its winning wit, offbeat humour, fondness for silliness and textured details, live on in the filmmaker's big-screen efforts so far. Much is made in Wonka of Willy's compendium of components for his ingenious chocolate, such as giraffe's milk, salty tears from a Russian clown and liquid sunshine. King crafts his own irresistible confection in the same way, with heapings of gorgeous spectacle via its lavish cinematography (by the OG Oldboy's Chung-hoon Chung), production design (Nathan Crowley, Tenet) and costuming (Paddington franchise returnee Lindy Hemming); everything that his actors splash in; and also the memorable score (Joby Talbot, Sing 2) and tunes (Talbot and Neil Hannon, who were both in Northern Ireland-born band The Divine Comedy). And the banding together to bring down capitalist bigwigs dotted in the plot? What a cherry on top it proves.
Apart from public holidays, Melbourne Cup Day is the one weekday of the year where it's understood that, for some industries, no work will get done (or, at least, not much). You may not be that into watching the main event — but if you do want to sneak out of the office a little early on Tuesday, November 5, you'll find plenty of bars and restaurants across Sydney with stuff happening. In fact, there are almost too many places and styles of parties to choose from. To give you a place to start, we've teamed up with Merivale to take a look at what some of its popular venues are offering — from buzzing Mexican fiestas and suave rooftop parties overlooking the beach to epic eleven-course feasts. Whether you want to have a big blowout, a more affordable affair or decide to just pop in for a drink somewhere spontaneously, this list has you covered.
It's blast from the past time, again — and time to spend a couple of nights journeying back a few decades just by hitting the dance floor. Whether you lived through the 90s rave scene, spent every weekend enjoying club life in the 00s or just wish you were old enough to have ticked both boxes, Ministry of Sound will take you there when its huge Testament parties return for 2024. Ministry of Sound itself was around through both eras, so you couldn't be in better hands to get retro via old-school 90s and 00s bangers. The Testament events last toured Australia in 2023, and will return for this year from the end of August through to early September — for two nights each in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, plus one-day-only stops on the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast. Each evening is devoted to either the 90s or the 00s, so you'll need to attend both if you want to make shapes to tunes from both decades. But it's a choose-your-own-adventure type of affair, so fans of late 20th-century beats can hit up the session dedicated to 90s house, rave, trance and garage tracks if that's all that you're keen on, while lovers of 00s electro and breaks get their own shindig. More than 80 DJs will be on the decks between Saturday, August 31–Sunday, September 8, with Danny Rampling, Judge Jules and Seb Fontaine joined by Mousse T, Laidback Luke and X-Press 2 on headlining duties. The first three, all from the UK, are all about the 90s — and the second three are no strangers to getting dance floors pumping with 00s tunes. Australia's own John Course, Mark Dynamix and Dirty South are also on the lineup, alongside over 70 other names across the tour. And if you went to 2023's events, you'll be making a date with different venues in some cities. In Sydney, the newly reopened White Bay Power Station will host a music party of this type for the first time. In Brisbane, Felons Barrel Hall awaits for letting loose by the river. Ministry of Sound: Testament 2024 Dates: Sydney: Saturday, August 31 — 00s session at White Bay Power Station Saturday, September 7 — 90s session at White Bay Power Station Melbourne: Saturday, August 31 — 90s session at The Timber Yard Saturday, September 7 — 00s session at The Timber Yard Brisbane: Sunday, September 1 — 00s session at Felons Barrel Hall Friday, September 6 — 90s session at Felons Barrel Hall Gold Coast: Sunday, September 1 — 90s session at Miami Marketta Sunshine Coast: Sunday, September 8 — 00s session at The Station Perth: Friday, August 30 — 00s session at Metro City Sunday, September 8 — 90s session at The Court Ministry of Sound: Testament 2024 Lineup: Danny Rampling Judge Jules Laidback Luke Mousse T Seb Fontaine X-Press 2 Dirty South John Course Mark Dynamix Minx Alex Taylor Andy Murphy Ange Annabelle Gasper Barking Boy Ben Korbel B2B Declan Lee Boogs Casey Leaver Cassette Chantal Chiari Chris Wilson Craig Obey Darren Briais Diamond D Ember Franky D Gavin Campbell General Lee Goodwill Greg Sara Hutcho Ian Spicer Illya Jackness Jade James A Jen E JJ John Ferris Jumping Jack Kate Monroe Kevin Matt Kitshon Matt Nugent Menis Micah Miggy Mike Dotch Mind Electric Ming D Miss Doodes Mr Sparkles Pete McNamara pH Pussymittens Rachel Harvey Rob Sharp Robbie Lowe Robin Knight RobKAY Rudy Sam Hill Sardi Sgt Slick Shamus & Gabby Sheen Spacey Space Stephen Ferris Sunshine Sweet Chilli DJ's T-Rek Tim McGee Tonez Trent Anthony Ministry of Sound: Testament 2024 will tour Australia in August and September. For further details, and to buy tickets — with pre-sale registrations until 11.59pm on Tuesday, May 21, then pre-sales from 12pm on Wednesday, May 22 and general sales from 12pm on Thursday, May 23 — head to the event's website. Images: Rachel Rachel / Ashlea Caygill.
If you're a fan of iconic late-90s/early-00s high school-set dramedies, big-name Hollywood comedies, entertainingly twisty mysteries and TV shows about teenage witches, then SXSW Sydney 2025 is doing you a simple favour: Paul Feig, the director, writer, producer and actor who created Freaks and Geeks, helmed Bridesmaids and A Simple Favour, and co-starred in the OG Sabrina the Teenage Witch, is heading Down Under for this year's event. Not only is Feig the 2025 SXSW Sydney Screen Festival keynote speaker and also the filmmaker in the spotlight at the fest's big-screen retrospective, but he's also being celebrated with a brand-new accolade. When the event runs between Monday, October 13–Sunday, October 19, 2025, it'll debut the SXSW Sydney Screen Pioneer Award, and Feig is its inaugural recipient. If you're a fan of The Heat, Spy, Last Christmas and this year's Another Simple Favour, too — and also Feig's excellent 2018 Ghostbusters with an all-female spirit-hunting team — then this keeps proving great news. Exactly which titles among those flicks will be among SXSW Sydney's screenings is yet to be revealed, however. The same is the case with whether the Feig-helmed Unaccompanied Minors, The School for Good and Evil and Jackpot! might pop up. Here's something to cross your fingers for, though: The Housemaid, Feig's latest movie, is due to make its way to cinemas at the end of 2025. So, while there's absolutely no word yet that it'll be playing SXSW Sydney before its general release, you can start hoping that the Sydney Sweeney (Echo Valley)-, Amanda Seyfried (Long Bright River) and Brandon Sklenar (Drop)-starring film might score a spin when Feig makes the trip Down Under to get chatting. "I'm so honoured to receive the first-ever Screen Pioneer Award from SXSW Sydney. SXSW is my favourite festival in the world because they are committed to entertaining audiences. They've been supporters of mine for so many years and to have my work celebrated in this way, and to be able to share it with Australian audiences through this retrospective, is incredibly special. I look forward to the conversations, the Q&As, and the Tim Tams come October!" said Feig. Added Fenella Kernebone, Head of Conference Program, "Paul Feig's films have reached huge audiences — from Bridesmaids, The Heat and Spy to Ghostbusters and A Simple Favour, his career has been defined by genre-shaping stories that put powerful, complex and hilarious women front and centre. Paul has spent his career breaking moulds, challenging industry norms, and proving that female-led films can be both critically acclaimed and wildly successful. We're thrilled to welcome him to SXSW Sydney and can't wait to hear his insights from a career built on visionary storytelling, sharp comedy and a deep commitment to elevating others." Also big: SXSW Sydney's Screen Festival has announced its first six features beyond the Feig retrospective, so get excited about seeing By Design, $POSITIONS, Dead Lover, Zodiac Killer Project, The Last Sacrifice and Bokshi. Among that group, body-swap effort By Design features Juliette Lewis (The Thicket), Mamoudou Athie (Kinds of Kindness) and Robin Tunney (Dear Edward); horror-comedy Dead Lover is a SXSW Austin award-winner; Charlie Shackleton (The Afterlight) digs into a famed serial killer; and everything from comedy to folk horror features. Shorts Stomach Bug and Chasing the Party have a date with the fest as well, among other titles, with the former a BAFTA-nominee and the latter boasting Sam Rockwell (The White Lotus) as a producer. The new round of SXSW Sydney announcements for 2025 — following its dates, that its free programming is expanding, plus a few batches of speakers and music artists — also span Slo Mo podcast host and former Google X Chief Business Officer Mo Gawdat, Google Maps co-founder Lars Rasmussen, Passes founder Lucy Guo and MIT Technology Review Executive Editor Niall Firth as fellow speakers across the rest of the technology, music, film and gaming event. Signal President Meredith Whittaker is already on the keynote list from past program drops. The initial 50 Conference Program sessions and the first 40 titles at the Games Festival Showcase have been revealed, too, which is ace if you're keen to learn more about exploring space, sustainable design, the creator economy, people living in the ocean, writing true stories for TV, indie game marketing, cutscenes, cyber intelligence, digital sovereignty and AI ethics — or to mash a whole heap of buttons. SXSW Sydney 2025 runs from Monday, October 13–Sunday, October 19 at various Sydney venues. Head to the SXSW Sydney website for further details. Top image: Frank Micelotta.
The Bayou Mansions are like a council flat in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's 'hood — rambling, sepia-toned, variously European and darkly whimsical. The inhabitants of the Bayou are the depraved and forgotten of a prosperous city, and their children run amok. Beyond average juvenile delinquency, Zelda and her gang, the Pirates, plot Marxist revolution. Meanwhile, sweet, bourgeois Agnes Eaves and her daughter, Evie Eaves, move in to extend the youths the civilising influence of craft class; the gloomy custodian is one pay cheque away from escape, although the residents around him insist those "born in the Bayou die in the Bayou, too"; and outside the tenement, the city enters a moral panic about the "child problem", which eventually presents a bitingly contemporary solution. This is the premiere run of The Animals and Children Took to the Streets from British company 1927 (Between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea). What draws them sell-out crowds and widespread acclaim is their mix of animation, performance, spoken word and cabaret that is genuinely multimedia in approach and fun and accessible in execution. The City of Lost Children seems the obvious reference point, but Tim Burton, Dave McKean, Shaun Tan, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, naive art, vaudeville and Soviet typography have all left their mark on these rich visual stylings. Performers Suzanne Andrade (also writer/director) and Esme Appleton (also costume designer) interact with a world created by Paul Barritt's animations, which allow them to yell out of high windows, fall through space, get rained on, ride cats and, in perhaps the most poetically realised image, lie asleep in their beds while walking in dreams. The wry soliloquies are snipped short of monologue by music hall ditties (written and performed by Lillian Henley) so catchy you'll want them recorded. There's something we just know to be magical about interacting with animation right there on stage, which is why it doesn't matter what I say in this last sentence; you've already stopped reading to go book your tickets, and that's as it should be. https://youtube.com/watch?v=0B-XsKGQ4yE
First, he made standout music videos, including for Madonna, George Michael and Aerosmith. Lately, he was one of the driving forces behind Netflix's Mindhunter and its creepy true-crime thrills. We're talking, of course, about filmmaker David Fincher. And while the above achievements are considerable, he also has ten top-notch movies to his name to-date. He's about to release an eleventh called Mank, but if you'd like to revisit his past tension-dripping hits, you'll be able to at Fincher Fest. On select days from Sunday, November 1–Wednesday, November 18, Randwick's Ritz Cinema will be working its way through Fincher's filmography — and it's quite the collection of movies. Find out what's in the box in Seven, get claustrophobic with Panic Room and spend some time with Tyler Durden thanks to Fight Club. Then, you can also jump into a distinctive sci-fi franchise effort via Alien3, play along with The Game, chase a killer with Zodiac and witness ageing in reverse in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Fincher's most recent three films — The Social Network, with its insights into Facebook's origins; the US remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, starring an unforgettable Rooney Mara; and Gone Girl, with its pulpy twists — are all on the bill as well. Screenings kick off between 6.45–7.10pm on various nights, with single tickets and full-season passes available. And, after Fincher Fest is all done and dusted, the Ritz will also be screening Mank as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3UZ-axauU
When was the last time you saw an exhibition inspired by cockfighting? Never? Then see Joseph McGlennon's latest show at Michael Reid, which draws upon the tradition within Balinese Hinduism. Animal-lovers may well find the concept confronting, but in Bali, cockfights, or talen, are part of established religious practice, taking place in an ancient ritual to expel evil spirits — the blood of the losing bird is shed to provide an offering at events like temple festivals and religious ceremonies. McGlennon's prints explore the idea that these birds are bred for aggression, trained to be killers, yet they simultaneously possess a holy significance. Hence the show title, Heavenly Fighters. Expect mythical, ablaze-with-colour digital prints of the fighting creatures, capturing their virility and power. McGlennon has a background in branding and advertising, which partly explains his work's visual oomph… plus a lot of time in post-production. Those familiar with his Kangaroo Studies (2010) or Florilegium #1 (2014) — which won him the Bowness Prize — can already attest to the majesty and mysterious power his pieces transmit. Image: Joseph McGlennon, Heavenly Fighters #4, 2017
Erskineville's freshly renovated Imperial Hotel is now home to Priscillas, a "drag and dine" restaurant where you'll find everything from plant-based food to late-night drag shows. Now, Priscillas is hosting the cheeky and raunchy Rood Food festival until October 10. A month-long festival of dirty dishes, cocktails and kinky drag, its magnum opus is the hilarious show Bone Appetite & Oral Outhouse. A three-act drag extravaganza performed by Sydney queens Krystal Kleer and Coco Jumbo, the show comes with a side of phallic fare, crude cocktails and an interactive game, titled the 'glory hole game'. Including a three-course set menu (featuring a total of ten dishes) and a glass of bubbly on arrival, tickets are a very appropriate $69. Some of the dishes you should expect include Bachelor Balls (herbed zucchini balls with spiced yoghurt), The Gay Time Gag Ball (salted caramel ice cream with almond nuts) and Panna Knockers ('perky' vanilla panna cottas). If you'd like to sip on more than just one glass of bubbles, you can choose from cocktails such as The Nut Buster ($17) and the The Blushing Blowy ($17). Brace yourselves. You can also taste the tantalising drinks and food, without going all out on the set menu and show. The Rood Food a la carte menu and cocktails are available every night throughout the festival. The Rood Food festival will run until October 10, with Bone Appetite & Oral Outhouse happening every Monday and Wednesday night from 6.30pm.
Can you think of a better way to spend a muggy, summer night than with an outdoor movie and quality food by the harbour? From November 21 to December 16, American Express is bringing its outdoor cinema to Sydney's inner-city coastline. The new Pyrmont spot is the newest location for the pop-up cinema, which is hosting outdoor events in 12 locations across Australia and New Zealand this year. Movies on this big screen will include just-released hits like Bad Times at the El Royale, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born and Boy Erased, as well as classic — including Dirty Dancing, Elf and Love Actually. The event will kick off with an advanced screening of Robin Hood, too. Salt Meats Cheese will be supplying the movie bites, with a daily menu of antipasti and woodfired pizza, and drinks will be on offer from Urban Alley Brewery, Pimm's, Giesen Wines and Black Devil Cider. In addition, there will be more than 20 events across the installation, including live music performances, DJs and trivia Oh, and it's a dog-friendly space, so you don't need to leave part of your family at home. Plus if you're an Amex user you'll get 15 percent off selected tickets, plus a blanket. American Express Openair Cinemas will also pop-up in Sydney's inner west (Jan 11–Feb 17) and Bondi (dates to-be announced)
When Super Mario Kart first rolled onto Super Nintendo consoles back in 1992, it came with 20 inventive courses and endless hours of fun. Nearly three decades later, the game has become a beloved phenomenon — not just speeding through desert tracks and rainbow roads, but onto Google Maps and mobile phones, and also into reality. The hugely popular game's next stop? Theme parks. Come Thursday, February 4, 2021, you'll be able to enjoy a real-life Mario Kart experience as part of the first-ever Super Nintendo World. Initially announced back in 2017, the new site is joining Universal Studios in Osaka. Its launch was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic but, after revealing back in October that it'd open early in the new year, the fresh addition to the theme park has an official date. Actually, Universal Studios Japan has done more than lock in an exact date. It has dropped a heap of new details — and a couple of sneak peeks, too. The fact that there'd be Mario Kart and Yoshi-themed rides isn't new news; however, until now, only a few clues about what they'd entail had been released. For those keen to hop on Mario Kart: Koopa's Challenge, prepare to race through familiar Mario Kart courses that've been recreated in real life. And yes, as you're steering your way along the track, you'll be surrounded by characters such as Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach. You'll also be able to throw shells to take out your opponents — because it wouldn't be Mario Kart without them. If you're wondering how it all works, expect physical sets, plus augmented reality, projection mapping and screen projection, all designed to make you feel like you're really in the game. As for Yoshi's Adventure, it'll see you climb on Yoshi's back — and it's designed to be family-friendly. So, you'll hop on, then set off on an adventure. You'll follow Captain Toad to find three coloured eggs, plus a golden egg as well. Taking over multiple levels — fitting for a gaming-themed space — Osaka's Super Nintendo World will also feature Bowser's Castle, complete with spiked fences and heavy iron doors. Peach's Castle is part of the park, too, as are other rides, restaurants and shops. A certain highlight: the world's first Mario cafe, which has already launched ahead of the rest of the site. Here, patrons are surrounded by oversized Mario and Luigi hat sculptures, the whole space is kitted out with a red and green colour scheme, and Mario Kart-style checkered floors are a feature. As for snacks, there are Mario pancake sandwiches and cream sodas, plus other drinks available in 'super mushroom' souvenir bottles. The theme park is also introducing wearable wrist bands, called Power Up Bands — which connect to a special app and allow patrons to interact with the site using their arms, hands and bodies. That mightn't sound all that exciting, but the bands will enable you to collect coins just like Mario does in the Super Mario games. Like the red-capped plumber, you'll also be able to hit question blocks to do reveal more coins. And there'll be collectible items to gather, such as keys and character stamps, which you'll find after achieving various goals. The stamps will also earn you even more coins — so you really will be basically playing Super Mario in real life. You will have to buy a Power Up Band separate to your entry ticket to enjoy that element of the park, though. If you're keen to take a look, Nintendo has released two videos that take you through Super Nintendo World — one brief, and the other running for 15 minutes. The latter is hosted by 'Mario's dad', aka Shigeru Miyamoto, the video game designer who created Super Mario Bros all those years ago. It provides a detailed walkthrough, so you'll spy everything from huge piranha plants to giant bob-ombs, all with Miyamoto's commentary . You can check out both videos below — and yes, the music will sound very familiar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4Nc9au7FjY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQaRBOI-9kg Nods to other Nintendo games are expected to pop up around the park but, for now, all other specifics remain sparse. Given that Nintendo's game stable includes everything from Donkey Kong to Tetris and The Legend of Zelda, there's plenty more to play with. Our suggestions: real-life Tetris, where you move bricks around in person, or a Donkey Kong water ride that uses the game's iconic aquatic music. While no one is travelling far at present, Universal Studios is also planning Super Nintendo Worlds for its other parks in Hollywood, Orlando and in Singapore — if you need to add more places to your must-visit list when international tourism starts returning to normal. The latter was just announced last year, and is set to open by 2025. Super Nintendo World is slated to open at Universal Studios Osaka on Thursday, February 4.
Over the past few years, Keep Sydney Open has been the loudest voice for Sydney nightlife, and, as of this month, it's officially registered as a political party with plans to run at next year's NSW state election. And it's celebrating with a big ol' bash. From 9pm on Saturday, June 30, KSO is taking over Kings Cross Hotel in support of all things that have kept Sydney alive. The appropriately dubbed Party Party, which will be held across all six levels of the venue until 3.30am, will feature DJ sets from big names Roland Tings and Basenji, as well as Triple J presenter Luen Jacobs and music collective Body Type DJs. Now, the nightlife lobby group is solidifying its legitimacy and taking its battle to state parliament — it's now officially registered as a political party, and will be running at next year's NSW state election, which will be held on Saturday, March 23, 2019. KSO announced its new status via a Facebook video earlier this month, and released a statement on its website saying, "what started as a movement to protect Sydney's nightlife has morphed into something bigger — the lockouts were just one symptom of a broader sickness in NSW politics". While we can assume its stance on nightlife, the party's opinions on other state matters are yet to be revealed. These will be just as important to take into consideration in the lead-up to the election. Tickets to the party cost $32.70, with all proceeds going to support Keep Sydney Open's political campaign, and can be purchased here.
The time-honoured Italian tradition of aperitivo has been embraced by Australians. Across the country, heaps of bars and restaurants offer aperitivo specials — but have you ever tried throwing your own aperitivo hour at home with family and friends? Classic Italian apéritif brand Aperol is here to help you do just that. It has launched a series of Aperol Spritz @ 6pm experiences, which are hosted by some of the country's top chefs, musicians and artists. With these, you can try out new recipes, partake in virtual art classes and learn how to create the perfect playlist for your (socially distant and responsibly sized) get together. Keen to pair your spritz with some snacks? Saké Restaurant & Bar has shared three of its signature recipes that'll seriously impress your mates during your aperitivo hang. Learn how to whip up kingfish sashimi, karaage chicken with yuzu mayo and salmon hand rolls via an easy to follow video. Or, you can log on for a cooking class with Fratelli Fresh's culinary director Gabor Denes, who'll demonstrate how to make the restaurant's famous lasagna, as well as pappardelle, linguini and farfalle from scratch. There's also a music mixing session with DJ Niki Dé Saint — a musician who's played at Fashion Week Sydney and Paris, Melbourne's F1 Grand Prix and Vivid — who'll also share her top playlists to set the mood for your aperitivo, and a sunset-inspired painting class with artist and photographer Danielle Cross. There are a heap of prizes up for grabs, too, including $150 vouchers for Saké Restaurant & Bar in NSW, Queensland and Victoria, and an Aperol Spritz cocktail pack — with Aperol, prosecco, Fever Tree soda water, Aperol Spritz glasses and a jigger — delivered straight to your door. The cocktail pack competition is running weekly until July 12, and to enter you need to post a pic of you and your mates having a spritz on Instagram or Facebook and tag @aperolspritzau and #SpritzAt6. You can check out all the details over here. To check out all of the Aperol Spritz @ 6pm experiences and enter the competition, head on over to the Aperol website. Remember to Drinkwise. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
Word around film circles is that a sequel to Tim Burton's 80s hit Beetlejuice is on its way, and that Wednesday favourite Jenna Ortega is in line for a key role. That's great news for future filmgoers; however, if you're looking for an eerie (and amusing) night at the movies now, horror event fiends Haus of Horror have a solution: a screening of the OG Beetlejuice in a cemetery. Already in March, Haus of Horror has unleashed The Exorcist in a haunted prison with a session at Parramatta Gaol. But that's just one event on the crew's list for 2023. The next jumps forward a decade with its picture choice, gets silly and goes all in on Burton doing what Burton became a famous filmmaker for doing — loving all things spooky and strange — this time at Camperdown Cemetery in Newtown. You don't need a Handbook for the Recently Deceased in your ghostly hands to head along, but you will spend time with a couple with one: Barbara and Adam Maitland (GLOW's Geena Davis and Dr Death's Alec Baldwin). And, you'll see what happens when they start to suspect that they're no longer alive, a new family moves into their house (including Schitt's Creek's Catherine O'Hara and Stranger Things' Winona Ryder) and they decide they need a 'bio-exorcist' (Michael Keaton, Morbius). There's obviously no better place to show this flick, and Haus of Horror are leaning in for the first instalment in their new Graveyard Nights series. There are no prizes for guessing where it'll be screening movies each time this event pops up, starting at 6pm on Saturday, March 25. Also on the agenda: a cemetery tour to kick things off, plus a DJ spinning tunes over sunset, and spots for a bite and a drink. Also, there'll be a photobooth for snaps with Beetlejuice, the usual movie snack range including popcorn, and The Betelspritz Bar pouring non-boozy beverages such as The Miss Argentina (made with green apple sweet syrup, lemonade, grenadine and fresh cherries), The Lydia (grenadine, lemonade, black tea sweet syrup and fresh strawberries) and The Ghost with the Most (black tea sweet syrup again, lemonade, grenadine, green apple sweet syrup and strawberries). Come 8pm, the film will play — and if you'd prefer to pack a picnic, that's also encouraged. You'll also want to bring blankets, pillows and lawn chairs (low ones so you don't block out the view for whoever sits behind you) for getting comfy. Tickets cost $39, or $59 if you'd like to book a large bean bag to sit on. One caveat: attendees are asked to be respectful of the site, including its headstones, trees and buildings.
The twin film phenomenon means that movies often come in pairs, with two flicks with the same premise arriving at the same time. Now, meet Australia's two current twin flight sales. After Virgin launched a Valentine's Day sale for flights to and from Queensland, Qantas has unveiled a 72-hour sale on fares across the country. Whether you're a Sydneysider thinking about a Byron Bay getaway, a Melburnian keen on jaunt to Tasmania or a Brisbanite eager to hit The Whitsundays, you have options. There's more than 500,000 fares covered, featuring everywhere from Queensland's tropics to the Apple Isle's cities, and from Perth to Sydney, too, as well as all the other state capitals, the Gold Coast, Coffs Harbour, Broken Hill and more. And, on 25-plus routes, flights will cost you under $150. The cheapest, as tends to be the case on all flight sales, is the Sydney–Ballina route, which'll get you from the Harbour City to Byron Bay from $109. Then, the Melbourne–Launceston fare comes in at $119, Gold Coast–Sydney at $125, Gold Coast–Melbourne at $129 and Brisbane–Hervey Bay at $139. The sale runs until 11.59pm on Saturday, February 17, so you'll want to get in quickly to get a bargain. And, as always, if fares sell out earlier, you'll miss out. Inclusions-wise, the sale covers fares with checked baggage, complimentary food and beverages, wifi and seat selection. If you're keen on heading further afield, but just across the ditch, Qantas also has a sale on flights to New Zealand on right now. This one runs until 11.59pm AEDT on Monday, February 19, or until sold out again. The sale covers Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown and Wellington, for dates between March–December 2024, with starting prices from $499 return. Go on, pack your bags. Qantas' 72-hour surprise sale runs for 72 hours until 11.59pm on Saturday, February 17, or until sold out. It's also doing a New Zealand sale until 11.59pm AEDT on Monday, February 19, or until sold out again. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
There are many delightful tidbits and details about Sparks, aka "your favourite band's favourite band" as they're often described, including in Shaun of the Dead and Baby Driver filmmaker Edgar Wright's exceptional documentary The Sparks Brothers. One of the latest: that siblings Russell and Ron Mael currently begin their live sets with 'So May We Start'. The song kicked off Annette first, the second of the two films that had everyone talking about the duo in 2021. In the Adam Driver (65)- and Marion Cotillard (Extrapolations)-starring movie, it ushers in as distinctive a big-screen musical as you'll ever see, marionette children and all, as helmed by Holy Motors' Leos Carax and penned by Sparks with the director. At the band's gigs since, it commences an onstage dance through more than 50 years of bouncily, giddily, deeply influential tunes, each one of them gloriously infectious classics. "All pop music is rearranged Sparks," offers Jack Antonoff in Wright's doco. He isn't wrong. Australian concertgoers can experience the truth behind that statement live this spring, when 'So May We Start' no doubt begins Sparks' first visit to Australia in more than two decades. As part of their biggest world tour ever — a feat aided by The Sparks Brothers and Annette introducing them to new fans — they're playing four Aussie dates: solo shows at the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne's Palais Theatre and Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane; and as part of the packed roster at Adelaide's Harvest Rock II festival alongside Beck, Jamiroquai, Nile Rodgers and Chic, and more. Beck was another of Wright's gushing interviewees, because the list of people singing Sparks' praises is as huge as their back catalogue. The Maels didn't write 'So May We Start' with that prestigious spot on their setlist in mind. "It just seemed like a really cool touch for the story to have something that was outside of the actual story that was about to happen, but with all the cast and characters, but not yet in their roles that they're going to assume," Russell tells Concrete Playground ahead of Sparks' arrival in Australia. "They were just mere actors assembling before the production starts. So we really like that as a conceit." "We like starting a set — I mean, it just seems perfect, obviously, lyrically — but also starting with a song that isn't even from a Sparks album, in a certain way, that it is from an outside source," adds Ron. "Even though it's a film that we wrote — and so it's really fun for us to do it." [caption id="attachment_818979" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Focus Features[/caption] Fun has always been an apt term for Sparks' genre-hopping songs and vibe from their late-60s beginnings through to their latest release, with 2023's The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte their 26th studio album. This is the art-pop duo with an album named Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins, an earworm of a song called 'Dick Around' and another track that largely repeats the words "my baby's taking me home", after all — and a band that once staged a 21-night spectacular to play their then 21-album discography in full as well. It's also the group that has worked with everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Faith No More and Franz Ferdinand. And, Sparks now have Cate Blanchett starring in the video for their newest record's eponymous single, fresh from earning her eighth Oscar nomination for Tár. How did that latest collaboration come about? After half a century of ace tunes, what has the renewed attention of the last few years, including their tunes soundtracking everything from Yellowjackets to Justified: City Primeval, been like? Where do they keep finding inspiration for such smart, witty tracks that are both ace as songs and cleverly amusing? Are more movies in their future? Who would they most like to collaborate with? Russell and Ron chatted with us about all of the above and more. [caption id="attachment_923022" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Shot for Dive In Magazine.[/caption] ON GAINING NEW FANS THANKS TO THE SPARKS BROTHERS AND ANNETTE — AND PLAYING BIGGER SHOWS AS A RESULT Russell: "In a certain way, it's just really pretty unique that a band with 26-album-long history is now finding this kind of new and diverse kind of audience after this long of a career. It's not the typical career path for someone to take, where a band that's had a long history now finds itself in the position where things are more on the upswing, and we're playing the bigger audiences. Australia will be the last stop on world tour that we've done through Europe and North America and Japan, and now Australia. And the shows have been bigger and bigger. We've played the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. We did a couple of nights at the Royal Albert Hall in in London, and Glastonbury. And now to be able to come to Australia and play places like the Sydney Opera House, for us it's really special, but it's also really kind of mind-boggling that, at this late stage in a career, to have this kind of acceptance and re-examination of what Sparks is." Ron: "Even the movie thing is strange because we've tried for decades to get a film musical made. Then to have two films, and they both, just by happenstance, came out around the same time — the Edgar Wright documentary, but also Annette, the musical. So it became a concentrated thing even with the films that we were involved in." ON AGREEING TO A SPARKS DOCUMENTARY Ron: "We were really thrilled because he isn't the first director that's approached us, it's happened from time to time earlier, but we were always really hesitant to do a documentary. We always felt that what we were doing as a band really spoke for how we wanted ourselves to be represented in a biographical way, and we felt that it was needless to have a documentary. But then Edgar came along, and part of it was just his enthusiasm, but also our respect for him as a director — and then the fact that within the documentary, he said that he felt personally that all of our different eras were equal in a creative sense, if not necessarily, obviously, in a commercial way. But it wasn't like there was a golden age. So we immediately said yes. We were hoping that the documentary wouldn't just be a dry 'and then this happened' kind of documentary. We wanted it to be like an Edgar Wright film, even though he had never really done a documentary before — and we were thrilled at how it turned out." [caption id="attachment_923021" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Gavin Ross[/caption] ON SPARKS SONGS POPPING UP EVERYWHERE ON-SCREEN SINCE THE SPARKS BROTHERS AND ANNETTE Russell: "I think it has opened up the perception of the band, especially for people in television and in the film world — maybe they've been there all along, but now they've been given more permission to speak out and actually take a stance by putting a Sparks song in their TV series or films. It is really something that's opened up a lot more avenues for us, and even to the point that we're working on another movie musical now because we had such a great experience with Annette. For us, that's something that's really special, showing that Sparks songs aren't just for a certain niche audience — that they can be utilised in ways that are accessible if you want them to be accessible. Just by exposing them to more people, they become accessible. I think that's what Edgar helped to do with the documentary. He just said, 'well, what Sparks is doing needs to be heard by a bigger audience'. And he said, 'if no one else is going to do it, I'm going to be the one that's going to do that for the band'." ON MAKING ANNETTE WITH HOLY MOTORS DIRECTOR LEOS CARAX Ron: "We originally had thought of it as being our next album, and we were going to present it live on stage with just Russell and myself, and then a soprano — just the three of us on stage, and that would be the next Sparks project, and it would be an album. Then just by circumstance, we were at the Cannes Film Festival a little over ten years ago for other reasons, and we were introduced to Leos Carax. We were just chatting with him, and we got along with him really, really well, just in a general sort of way. So we got back to LA and Russell thought, 'why don't we just send Leos the Annette project?' — never having thought that this was a film. And so he read it and listened to all the music and all that was done. He said, 'let me think about this, I really think I might want to direct this'. We were stunned, because we have really great respect for him as a director, but we had never considered this to be a film project. Then couple weeks later, he said 'I would like to direct this'. So it did take eight years from that point to have the film made, but we were more than willing to go through that process because we felt so strongly about it. And to Leos' credit, he was totally committed to making that film. Hollywood directors always have ten, 20 other projects going along at the same time, but he doesn't work that way. It's only one thing, and so for him to focus on, and put just everything that he had, just taking a chance on that one project, it meant so much to us." ON MAKING ANOTHER MOVIE MUSICAL Russell: "Well, we can't really talk too much about the content of it. But the distribution company Focus Features, that released the documentary, approached us and asked if we had anything new that we were working on because they liked Annette a lot. So we told them we did have a new project, and they told to go away and do the screenplay, do all the music for it, and they'd be excited. It's not giving you too much of a clue, but they said that it's an epic musical. Whatever that elicits in in your mind, that's what they're saying it is. We're just really excited to have another project, because we think that the perception of the band, like we just talked about, is seen differently when Sparks music, for whatever reasons, we've had periods that have been commercially successful and less commercially successful. But then we found out that having these other ways of exposing what Sparks does, that it's really helped then to reflect back on Sparks music itself. Doing a movie musical, people that saw it that didn't know the band, then they were curious to examine what Sparks is. And the same with the documentary, the people that weren't aware of the band to that degree, then they went back and rediscovered our back catalogue of music. So it's a way for us to channel what we're doing musically, but in other ways — and then in turn, it helps to also put Sparks in a bigger picture." ON FINDING SONGWRITING INSPIRATION ACROSS HALF A CENTURY OF MAKING MUSIC Ron: "At the beginning, you get some inspiration from outside sources — not so much in a general way, but from musical outside sources. We were influenced by British bands that were the more flashy ones, like The Who and The Kinks, and The Move and all. That was really the source of the inspiration for us, even when we were in Los Angeles before moving to London in the middle 70s. But since that time, the inspiration is just hard to pinpoint where that comes from. I think we're just inspired knowing that we're doing things that we want to hear, and so we haven't kind of reached the point where we run out of those ideas. Things don't just come to us. You have to pursue them. So there has to be just that motivation to do things where there might not be a payoff that particular day, but that you have the faith that at some point it will." ON MAKING MUSIC THAT YOU CAN DANCE TO, AND ALSO LAUGH WITH Russell: "Obviously it's always a challenge, and the more the more albums you have, it becomes more of a challenge to come up with stuff that both excites you and that you think isn't kind of rehashing what you've done in the past. To have humour in a song, but where it's not the sole element of the lyrical slant, that it's just funny — we like to think that things can have humour, but also have a balance to them where there's another side to it that might be deeper or more emotional, too. Things don't have to be black or white, or 'ohh it's funny' or 'it's serious'. There could be some other shade to it. That for us is really exciting — to be able to come up with stuff that that is in that grey area." ON GETTING CATE BLANCHETT TO STAR IN VIDEO FOR 'THE GIRL IS CRYING IN HER LATTE' Russell: "We met her at the César Awards in Paris two years ago. We were there performing and nominated for a bunch of awards for Annette, and we performed 'So May We Start' at the César Awards as well. We were the only act doing a live song performance at the Césars, which was really exciting on its own. And then it turned out we also won for best music, and the film won a whole bunch of awards as well. Cate had come to our dressing room and introduced herself, and were floored that Cate Blanchett would even know who Sparks was, let alone say that she was a fan of the band since she was growing up in Australia. And we remained in touch, and we've become friends. So it came time to do the first video for this album, and so we thought 'let's call Cate' and 'surely Cate will have an idea' where we didn't know exactly where we wanted the video to be heading. Then she heard the song. She really responded to the song — really, really loved it, and said 'yes, I would like to be in the video'. We didn't even discuss what she would be doing. We just said just 'do what you want to do and we're sure it'll be great.' That's open-ended, but she came up with that dance that she does, and the thing of it, her just being immobile for a lot of it, and then all of a sudden kicking into her dance during the chorus parts of the song — that was all 100-percent Cate." [caption id="attachment_923020" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Gavin Ross[/caption] ON THE DREAM COLLABORATION THAT SPARKS WOULD LOVE TO DO NEXT Ron: "We played a festival in Spain probably about eight years ago, and Public Enemy were playing there. We were bold enough to go up to Chuck D and then shyly drop the idea, 'you know, if you ever wanted to collaborate on anything, we're definitely open to it'. I'm not sure whether he was just being polite, but he seemed to show some interest and gave me the telephone sign. So we're hoping at some point that could happen. It might not be obvious from our music, but we're both huge fans of Public Enemy, and just their live show is in incredible, just the sound of their music and the intensity of it. So we're hoping at some point — I mean, that would be a dream collaboration for us." Sparks tour Australia in October and November 2023, playing solo shows at Melbourne's Palais Theatre (on Thursday, October 26), the Sydney Opera House (Tuesday, October 31), and Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane (Thursday, November 2) — and as part of the packed lineup at Adelaide's Harvest Rock II festival (on Sunday, October 29). For more information and tickets, visit the Harvest Rock website and the Secret Sounds website. Top image: Munachi Osegbu.
OMFG! The line up of the original The Underground Lovers has reunited for Homebake but are playing a special show at the Annandale! Dust off Underground Lovers, Leaves Me Blind, Rushall Station, or whichever of their records you call your favourite and remind yourself of how wonderful this seminal and horribly underrated band is, then go to the show and celebrate with the rest of the Australian underground!
Something delightful is happening in cinemas across the country. After months spent empty, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, Australian picture palaces are starting to reopen — spanning both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney and Brisbane (and, until the newly reinstated stay-at-home orders, Melbourne as well). During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made over the past three months, including new releases, comedies, music documentaries, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoCkWJGCG5c&feature=youtu.be UNHINGED When Russell Crowe was cast in Unhinged, more than a few folks must've had a giggle — including the actor himself. The New Zealand-born Oscar-winner was famously arrested back in 2005 for throwing a mobile phone, after all, so enlisting him to veer off the deep end while clutching onto a phone was surely done with some winking and nodding in mind. Unhinged isn't a comedy, however. Given its premise, narrative and tone, it really couldn't be. A predictable and pulpy road-rage thriller, this grimly generic, thematically questionable film by director Derrick Borte (The Joneses) and writer Carl Ellsworth (Red Eye, Disturbia) tasks a puffed-up, scowling, growling Rusty with chasing terrified single mother Rachel (Caren Pistorius) around an unnamed US city purely because his entitled, just-divorced psychopath character is unhappy about her lack of driving courtesy. Her supposed crime: beeping her horn after he doesn't move his giant 4WD when the traffic light turns green on a busy weekday morning. In terms of story, that's largely all there is to this flimsy B-movie-style film. Both main characters have relationship struggles in their recent past, and Rachel has a pre-teen son (Gabriel Bateman) and other loved ones to worry about, but Unhinged is more interested in a mood of menace than any real detail — although the fact that its relentless car chase and carnage scenes are all shot and edited in the same way, and therefore mostly look the same, hardly imparts any tension. Also firmly on the movie's agenda: trying to explain away its villain's homicidal behaviour with broad generalisations about the world being an angry place right now. Oh, and even suggesting that Rachel has a hand in causing the traumatic ordeal. Yes, really. Crowe flings everything he has into his one-note part, although his forceful portrayal was never going to patch over the feature's silly plotting, its murky and infuriating message, or the reality that this is a movie about a toxic middle-aged man terrorising a woman because he's certain the world owes him respect. He's memorable, undoubtedly, but Crowe is also nowhere near as impressive as he has been in the recent True History of the Kelly Gang and The Loudest Voice, either. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2iwDbvN6qE LITIGANTE In the course of Litigante's 93-minute running time, its protagonist faces more than one person should in a single lifetime. The Colombian drama only charts a very small portion of public works lawyer and single mother Silvia's (Carolina Sanin) life — her young child doesn't age in the film's frames — but sources of stress are hardly absent. Her strong-willed mum Leticia (Leticia Goméz) has just found out that her previously treated cancer has returned and metastasised, but she doesn't want to undergo any further treatment. Her five-year-old son is being bullied at school because his father isn't in the picture, and he's acting out in response. At work, Silvia is embroiled in a wide-ranging scandal, with her role in awarding a lucrative recent tender under investigation. And, after a grating radio interview with a journalist who tries to milk her professional situation for ratings, she actually finds herself immersed in a tumultuous romance with the man on the other side of the microphone. Any of the above plot points could fuel a film by themselves, and easily. But it's to writer/director Franco Lolli's credit that he doesn't hold back, simplify Silvia's situation or smooth down the many rough edges rubbing up against her day in and day out. Aided by exceptional portrayals by its first-time lead actress Sanin, as well as by the filmmaker's own mother Goméz, this quiet, patiently paced, finely observed drama instead bears witness as its main character navigates an ongoing onslaught of pain and struggle — and tries to find a way to cope or, at the very least, to balance all the competing elements of her Bogotá-based life. Naturalistically shot and performed, this is a movie made of small moments that mean as much as big revelations, and one that doesn't try to pretend that all bouts of life-changing trouble end with a return to happy normality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJhOysXvW5g 23 WALKS In 2016, when Dave Johns starred in I, Daniel Blake, the then-59-year-old comedian took on his first feature film role. The Ken Loach-directed movie won the Palme d'Or at that year's Cannes Film Festival, and earned Johns considerable and deserved acclaim — with his efforts as the titular character, who is forced to navigate Britain's uncaring bureaucracy to obtain government benefits when he's unable to work, proving one of the standout performances of the year. Alas, Johns' big-screen career hasn't maintained those heights in the years since, as The Keeper, Fisherman's Friends and now 23 Walks all demonstrate. In the latter's case, Johns is stuck in soap opera-esque territory, even as he flirts with a predicament not that far removed from the film that brought him to cinematic fame. Indeed, when 23 Walks reveals that Johns' on-screen surrogate, Dave, is battling the powers that be in an attempt to stay in his own home, it feels like the movie is purposefully trying to copy the actor's time with Loach. As this romance-driven feature continues, however, viewers can be forgiven for wishing that a simple rip-off of a better director's work was actually on the cards. The bulk of 23 Walks instead focuses on Dave's courtship with Fern (Alison Steadman). The pair literally cross paths while they walk their respective dogs, strike up a tentative conversation and slowly become closer over successive strolls, although plenty of road blocks linger in their way. As straightforward as its title suggests — yes, Dave and Fern just keep moseying and meandering — this two-hander by writer/director Paul Morrison (Little Ashes) tries to spice up its saccharine love story with overly melodramatic developments and musings on life's complications, but it all plays as bland and routine. And then there's the stiff dialogue, which even talent such as Johns and Steadman can't improve. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in cinemas, check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on July 2, July 9, July 16 and July 23 — and our full reviews of The Personal History of David Copperfield, Waves, The King of Staten Island and Babyteeth.
Supermarket shelves are filling with panettone and mince pies, department shop windows are being decked out with festive displays and high streets across the city are being strung with lights and baubles. It may only be November, but yuletide is already upon us and with it, 'tis the season for Christmas markets in all their wondrous forms. Any Sydneysiders in search of gifts for the foodies in their lives should circle November 22–24 on their calendars. Over three days, The Sydney Good Food & Wine Show Christmas Markets will take over Carriageworks in South Eveleigh with all manner of delicious stalls, seasonal treats, handcrafted gifts and artisanal goods. A host of celebrity chefs — including pastry chef and chocolatier Kirsten Tibballs, Smelly Cheese Co. founder Valérie Henbest, cookbook author Steph de Souza, Great Australian Bake Off star Elliot Styche and My Kitchen Rules winner Sammy Jakubiak — will also be delivering live cooking demonstrations, so you can learn the professional tips and tricks that'll make cooking your festive feast a piece of (Christmas) cake. With the wares of more than 150 local producers to peruse, there will be plenty of opportunities to sip and sample all kinds of treats from Christmas puddings to holiday-themed cocktails, all while soaking up a buzzy atmosphere and festive tunes. And thanks to The Smith Family Wrapping station, where volunteers from the Voice, Interests and Education of Women Club will be on hand to wrap your goodies, you can leave the markets with all your gifts ready to place under the tree. All funds raised from the station will go towards providing learning support for Australian children living in poverty.
Dining precincts are having a real moment in Sydney right now — think South Eveleigh and Unity Mascot. Named Quay Quarters, Sydney's latest exciting collection of restaurants and bars has just opened along Young Street, just up the hill from Circular Quay. It was announced back in 2019 that this Circular Quay block would be transformed into a bustling dining precinct with a new, much-hyped four-storey venue in a heritage building. Three years and a global pandemic later, Quay Quarter Lanes has arrived with more than a dozen retailers and, as promised, a spectacular multi-storey restaurant in tow. Alongside the mega-venue Hinchcliff House and its accompanying cafe Bar Mammoni, there are some Sydney favourites like Marrickville Pork Roll, Side Room and Humble Bakery. There's also a new Mexican restaurant from the Carbon and Taqiza team, a luxurious French bistro called Bouillon L'Entrecôte, inventive gelateria Zini and two Japanese omakase restaurants (Besuto and Kobo). Circular Quay and its neighbour The Rocks are both undergoing revamps which encompass government-funded initiatives, including waterfront cocktail and art festivals, outdoor activations and a plan to create a shiny new public square in place of the Cahill expressway — not to mention the return of the areas biggest annual drawcard, Vivid. There's also a sense of community among the restaurant owners and managers here. Zini and its owner Matteo Zini have been creating a yuzu sake gelato that acts as the bright and refreshing pallet cleanser at Besuto's mammoth 18-course menu; and mezcal sake for neighbouring Mexican restaurant Londres 126. The gelato haven is all about mixing the old and the new of the Italian dessert. The gelato is mixed on-site in front of your eyes with a traditional mixer, but the flavours aren't afraid to stray from the well-beaten path. This month, Zini and the team are putting on two gelato degustations, including an all-vegan night featuring flavours like coconut and avocado stracciatella, and oat cappuccino. Designed to accommodate visitors around the clock, you can drop in to the precinct for a coffee and pastry early in the morning at Bar Mammoni, a lunch-time treat at Marrickville Pork Roll, dinner at Besuto or Bouillon L'Entrecôte, and finally a late-night drink at Apollonia or Londres 126. Quay Quarter Lanes is now open between Young Street and Loftus Street, Sydney.
At beachside hotspot Coogee Pavilion, the final piece of the puzzle has just clicked into place — and it's a big one. Five years in the making, the middle level of this historic building has finally been unveiled today, Friday, January 17, joining the multi-faceted ground-floor offering and much-loved Coogee Pavilion Rooftop. The hotly-anticipated Coogee Pavilion Middle Floor is actually home to three distinct venues — cocktail bar Will's, restaurant Mimi's, and a wine and tapas bar by the name of Una Más — combining to mark one of Merivale's most ambitious projects yet. While each venue has its own personality and design DNA, the whole level is an homage to the idyllic coastal location and is guided by the same Australian-accented take on modern Mediterranean cuisine. Executive Chef Jordan Toft (Bert's, Bar Topa) has taken the reins for this lot of newcomers, just as he's helmed the rest of the building's food offerings over the years. [caption id="attachment_757979" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Steven Woodburn[/caption] Boasting sweeping ocean views through its large arched windows, Mimi's pairs drops off a 600-strong wine list heroing the French wine growing region of Chablis with fresh seafood, top-quality meats and market-fresh vegetables grilled on the kitchen's josper. Don't expect any foams, gels or smokes here — Mimi's is all about letting the produce shine. Abrolhos scallops are steamed and served with summer fennel, black abalone is barbecued and skewered, and fresh peaches bathed in caramel vinegar and shiso. Larger dishes include spanner crab with preserved lemon mayo; a decadent hand-rolled pasta with pipis, sea urchin bottarga and warrigal greens; and asnapper tartare with finger lime. And, for even fancier occasions, the Mimi's Selects menu offers bumps of caviar, frozen vodka, Queensland mud crab and suckling pig. Luxe. Accompanying cocktail bar Will's exudes European charm with a lineup of Italian coastline-inspired cocktails created by two star bartenders: Luke Ashton (This Must Be the Place) and Ben Wainwright (Bert's, Charlie Parker's). Make your way through the likes of The High Tide (with peach and limoncello), the Bella Bella (nectarine, lemon myrtle and macadamia) and Greenleaf (rosemary and ruby grapefruit) or go classic with a Willy's martini or Mimi's margarita. [caption id="attachment_757975" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Steven Woodburn[/caption] Wine and tapas bar Una Más is the lively, playful sibling, where you'll happily spend a session straight off the beach. Fresh and fun, it's designed to be a modern locals' haunt, offering an approachable menu spiked with both Spanish and Australian influences. Snack on anchovies, charcuterie, octopus with fermented chilli and cauliflower with sheep's milk — then end with Catalan cream with passion fruit. To drink, there's a short list of wine, classic cocktail, sherry and vermouth on offer. It's meant to be a rainy weekend, so swap your beach visit for a day eating and drinking on Coogee Pav's middle level instead. Mimi's, Will's and Una Más are now open on the middle level of Coogee Pavilion, 169 Dolphin Street, Coogee. Mimi's is open from 6.30–10pm daily and 12–3pm Monday–Thursday, and 12–3.30pm Friday–Sunday. Will's and Una Mas are open 12pm–midnight Sunday–Thursday and 12pm–2am Friday–Saturday. Images: Steven Woodburn
Marco Pierre White is a star of kitchens and screens alike. He was the first British chef — and the youngest chef at the time — to be awarded three Michelin stars. He's popped up on everything from Hell's Kitchen to MasterChef, including in Australia. Back in 2019, he was one of Melbourne Good Food Month's huge headliners. He's also the culinary force behind cookbook White Heat, the 1990 tome that played up his "bad boy" image. He's been dubbed "the first celebrity chef" as well. And, he's trained fellow famed food figures such as Mario Batali, Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsay and Curtis Stone. That's a brief run through White's resume, but you're best to hear the full details — and the ups and downs that've come with being White — from the chef himself. So, in May, the culinary whiz is touring Australia's east coast capitals with his first-ever live theatre show. White's Out of the Kitchen gigs will chat through his beginnings, his training and his stardom, plus the kind of success that led to his "enfant terrible" label. That means hearing about his arrival in London with just "£7.36, a box of books and a bag of clothes", and his tutelage under Albert and Michael Roux at renowned French fine-diner Le Gavroche. And, there's nabbing those three Michelin stars at the age of 33, of course. Out of the Kitchen will start its Aussie run at Brisbane's Convention and Entertainment Centre, then see White head to Sydney's State Theatre and Melbourne's Hamer Hall. 2023 has already taken Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi around the country on a speaking tour, and is bringing Mauro Colagreco and his French Riviera eatery Mirazur to the Sydney in March, plus British chef Simon Rogan and his restaurant L'Enclume to the Harbour City for a five-week residency this winter, in what's clearly a great year for getting tips from the world's culinary masters. MARCO PIERRE WHITE – OUT OF THE KITCHEN: Tuesday, May 23 — Great Hall, Brisbane Convention and Entertainment Centre Thursday, May 25 — State Theatre, Sydney Tuesday, May 30 — Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne Marco Pierre White's Out of the Kitchen tour hits Australia in May 2023. For more information, or to buy tickets, head to the tour website.
Name a season — there are only four, so it isn't hard — and, in Australia, it's likely that the weather will be hotter than average. The nation experiences toastier than usual summers, warmer than normal autumns and hotter than average winters every year, or so it seems. And, in news that will come as zero surprise, winter 2021 is expected to continue the trend. That's according to the Bureau of Meteorology, which releases an updated climate outlook every week — something that, with winter so close to arriving, is definitely worth a look. Much of the country is in for both warmer and wetter conditions than normal over the coming months, although exactly how that'll affect you obviously depends on where you live. If you reside in Australia's northern tropics, along New South Wales' coast, in southeastern Australia in general and in southwest of Western Australia, expect toastier winter temperatures this year, with a more than 80-percent chance that that'll be the case between June and August. Folks pretty much everywhere else except central Australia can also expect above average winter days, with a 60-percent likelihood. Nights in particular are also expected to be warmer over the same period, covering most of the country — with only parts of western WA expected to experience average or cooler conditions. To give an idea of exactly what that all means, the average daily maximum temperature for June sits at around 17 in Sydney, 14.1 degrees in Melbourne, 20.9 in Brisbane, 19.5 in Perth and 15.8 in Adelaide. In July, it's around 16.4 in Sydney, 13.5 degrees in Melbourne, 20.4 in Brisbane, 18.5 in Perth and 15 in Adelaide. And, come August, the figures usually come in at 17.9 in Sydney, 15 degrees in Melbourne, 21.8 in Brisbane, 19.1 in Perth and 16.1 in Adelaide. In good news for farmers, plenty of the nation east looks set for more rain, too. That's predicted to be the case in inland areas especially, with a 60-percent possibility. Along much the east coast, it could go either way — and in northern Queensland, which enters its dry season at this time of year, there's less than a 40-percent chance of more rain than usual. If you're wondering how BOM comes up with its models for the next few months, it draws upon the physics of our atmosphere, oceans, ice and land surface, as well a heap of observations — from satellites, as well as on land and sea. And, it also incorporates the effects of the climate change, with Australia's temperatures rising by around 1.44 degrees between 1910–2019. For more information about forecast weather conditions between this winter, keep an eye on the Bureau of Meteorology's climate outlook.
Every film festival has its traditions. At the Sydney Film Festival, adding to its program just days before the curtain lifts is a tried-and-tested part of its annual cycle. First, the Harbour City's major cinema showcase reveals a few titles in April to start getting movie lovers excited. Then, it advises who'll be the focus of its big retrospective. Next, it drops its complete lineup in May, but it isn't actually quite complete. This year, closing night's film was unveiled after that. And, once the Cannes Film Festival takes place, SFF also throws in a few more picks from France's prestigious event. SFF 2023 starts on Wednesday, June 8, running until Sunday, June 19 — and the day before the fest kicks off, it has boosted its bill with nine more features. The huge drawcard: Anatomy of a Fall, a drama about an author (Sandra Hüller, Toni Erdmann) accused of her husband's murder, which just won French director Justine Triet (Sibyl) the Palme d'Or. She became just the third female filmmaker to earn the coveted prize after Jane Campion — the subject of this year's SFF retrospective — for The Piano in 1993 and Julia Ducournau for Titane in 2021. Also hitting Sydney after competing for Cannes' major prize are Club Zero and May December. Helmed by Little Joe's Jessica Hausner, the former stars Mia Wasikowska (Blueback) as a boarding-school teacher spearheading a conscious-eating movement. The latter hails from Carol director Todd Haynes, is led by Natalie Portman (Thor: Love and Thunder) and Julianne Moore (Sharper), and dives into a scandal. SFF has also added body-horror film Tiger Stripes, which is set in the Malaysian jungle and won the 2023 Cannes Critics' Week Grand Prize — and Inshallah a Boy, about a woman in Jordan who fakes a pregnancy because it's the only way she can secure her inheritance. Plus, from Cannes Directors' Fortnight comes Georgian feature Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry, about an autumn romance. Also from the Croisette: Anselm, Wim Wenders' (Submergence) portrait of artist Anselm Kiefer; and Four Daughters, which won Cannes' top documentary prize for its tale about a Tunisian mother and her missing children. And, while it screened at Sundance instead, The Persian Version — an Audience Award-winner at the Utah fest, focusing on Iranian American filmmaker Leila (Layla Mohammadi, The Sex Lives of College Girls), her romantic life and her mother Shireen's (Niousha Noor, Kaleidoscope) story before her — rounds out the new additions. SFF attendees, you'll now need to rejig your schedule. That's one of this film festival's annual traditions, too. Sydney Film Festival 2023 runs from Wednesday, June 7–Sunday, June 18 at various Sydney cinemas — head to the festival website for further information and tickets.
When Baz Luhrmann's Australia hit the big screen in 2008, it debuted right here on home soil. Now that it has been reworked as a TV show, the exact same thing is happening. That series: Faraway Downs, a six-parter that was first announced in 2022 and is destined for Disney+ Down Under from November. For its big premiere, it'll make a splash at the first-ever SXSW Sydney Screen Festival, joining the program as its closing-night screening. Before streaming from Sunday, November 26, Faraway Downs will first be seen by audiences on Saturday, October 21, complete with Luhrmann in attendance. Nicole Kidman also just recently joined the SXSW Sydney bill for a discussion about her production company, which has been behind Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers, The Undoing and more, but hasn't been announced as a guest at Faraway Downs' big unveiling. For 15 years, Australia has inspired a particular line of thought when it comes to Luhrmann's movies: they can't all be good ones, even if almost all of them are. Australia is the one outlier on his resume — the one film that doesn't live up to the spectacular Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!, The Great Gatsby and Elvis — so it's been given some tinkering and reimagining to return as Faraway Downs. "I was inspired to re-approach my film Australia to create Faraway Downs because of the way episodic storytelling has been reinvigorated by the streaming world," said Baz Luhrmann. "With over two-million feet of film from the original piece, my team and I were able to revisit anew the central themes of the work." "I am honoured to world-premiere Faraway Downs in Australia, the place that has inspired me and my work my entire life, and with a partner like SXSW who deeply recognises the intersection of film, television and music with storytelling," Luhrmann continued. [caption id="attachment_921555" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hugh Stewart[/caption] Combining two of the nation's biggest actors with one of its biggest filmmakers, Faraway Downs still stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, of course. If you need a refresher on Australia's plot — and therefore the new episodic version's plot, too — it follows English aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman, The Northman) after she comes into possession of an Aussie cattle ranch. To save it from cattle barons, she enlists the help of a drover (Jackman, The Son). That's just the overall gist, however, given that the sprawling movie also spans World War II and its impact, as well as the country's historical treatment of Indigenous Australians. Fittingly given the OG name — and as usually proves the case with Luhrmann's flicks — the cast includes a who's who of homegrown talent. As well as Kidman and Jackman, plus Brandon Walters (Mystery Road) as Nullah, everyone from Essie Davis (Nitram) and Bryan Brown (Hungry Ghosts) to Ben Mendelsohn (Secret Invasion), Jack Thompson (High Ground) and David Wenham (Elvis) features, as does the now-late David Gulpilil (Storm Boy) and Bill Hunter (The Cup). There's no sneak peek at Faraway Downs as yet, but you can check out original trailer for Australia below: Faraway Downs will close the 2023 SXSW Sydney Screen Festival on Saturday, October 21, then stream Down Under via Disney+ from Sunday, November 26, 2023. If you're keen to make the most of Australia's first SXSW, take advantage of our special reader offer. Purchase your SXSW Sydney 2023 Official Badge via Concrete Playground Trips and you'll score a $150 credit to use on your choice of Sydney accommodation. Book now via the website.
As blissful as it is to escape Sydney for the whole weekend, you don't have to go far to lay your eyes on spectacular views. For a start, there's Sydney Harbour National Park, which gives you countless secluded harbour beaches and windswept cliff tops within the metropolitan area. Travel a bit further for Ku-ring-gai's secret coves; to Kamay Botany Bay for sweeping ocean vistas and Berowra or Lane Cove for tranquil rivers. Here are five hikes within a stone's throw of the city where you can stretch your legs while clearing your head with clear horizons. BEROWRA TO BEROWRA WATERS, BEROWRA VALLEY NATIONAL PARK Catch a train to Berowra Station or drive your car to launch onto this 5.7-kilometre (11.4-kilometre round-trip) walk. The trail follows ridges most of the way, which means you're high enough to catch stunning vistas of Berowra Creek and its surrounding valley. One of the best spots for views is Naa Badu Lookout. You need a decent level of fitness to conquer this one: there's a few steep climbs, as well as several shady gullies, which provide sweet, sweet relief in scorching weather. RIVERSIDE WALK, LANE COVE NATIONAL PARK Desperate for some peace and quiet, but can't find more than a couple of hours to escape everyday demands? Catch a bus or drive your car to Lane Cove National Park. The Riverside Walk might not offer the heady panoramas covered by other hikes on this list, but it's damn pretty. The gentle trail runs alongside the Lane Cove River, scrambling over rocky outcrops and passing through gorgeous picnic areas, while cockatoos flash white overhead. You can enter and leave the trail at various points, so if you're limited for time, you won't have a major issue. [caption id="attachment_592521" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Ian Sanderson via Flickr.[/caption] NORTH HEAD WALK, SYDNEY HARBOUR NATIONAL PARK Escape Manly's meandering crowds with this eleven-kilometre loop around North Head. The track begins on the eastern side of Shelly Beach (stop here on hot days for a dip or snorkel), where stairs disappear into bushland and finish up, handily, at Manly Wharf. Along the way, take in panoramas of the Northern Beaches, the dizzying sandstone cliffs of North Head and Sydney Harbour from all kinds of angles. You also pass through former military barracks and the ex-quarantine station, including its poignant cemetery. Divert to Little Collins Beach on your return journey to meet fairy penguins. [caption id="attachment_553972" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Red Hands Cave, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.[/caption] MACKEREL BEACH AND WEST HEAD LOOP, KU-RING-GAI CHASE NATIONAL PARK As far as views of Pittwater and Brisbane Waters — Sydney's two stunning northern water bodies — go, there's no better vantage point than West Head in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. You can drive there, but walking is way more rewarding. Turn your adventure into a full-day hike with this 8.6-kilometre circuit, which starts and finishes with a ferry ride from Palm Beach. You pass a few sparkling swimming beaches, wander along bush-lined trails (as well as paved roads), visit ancient Aboriginal rock art at Red Hands Cave and get to see legendary Lion Island. HENRY HEAD TRACK, KAMAY BOTANY BAY NATIONAL PARK If you don't feel like moving too much, yet still want all the views, get yourself to Kamay Botany Bay National Park and, more specifically, Henry Head Track. This stroll is really easy, yet, at nearly every twist and turn, there's another refreshing, beautiful perspective of the Tasman Sea and Botany Bay before you wind up at Endeavour Lighthouse. Along the way, expect to be accompanied by kookaburras, lorikeets, yellow-tailed black cockatoos, blue-tongue lizards and water dragons. Make sure you plan ahead for any hike to ensure you have the best and safest experience. Tell somebody you're going and send them your route, take care during your hike as not all tracks are signposted and there may be fragile native plant and animal communities nearby, ensure you bring proper gear and plenty of water, and once you've returned, check in with friends and/or family to make sure they know you've made it back safely. Find more information on bushwalking safety here. For more inspiration to get outside and explore, visit National Parks NSW and check out their Instagram @nswnationalparks.
Russian photographer and world traveller Murad Osmann is asking his Twitter fans to #followmeto all the incredible, exotic places he and his girlfriend have been exploring across the globe. And his followers, plus millions of other people across the internet, are certainly having no trouble doing that: Osmann's photographic journey takes viewers on a trip of their own, which is stunning in more ways than one. Osmann's series depicts backgrounds of beautiful scenery from the most distinct and glorious cities, mountains, buildings, and even shopping centres around the world. The feature that sets his photographs apart from other scenic pictures, however, is the subject within each and every image: Osmann's girlfriend appears with her back to the lens in the centre of each frame, clasping her lover's hand and leading him to these various attractions — however, often due to her limited clothing, she herself may easily become the main attraction of the shot. The idea for the image series first began in Barcelona in 2011 when the photographer's girlfriend got fed up with him snapping every sight they saw and consequently tried to pull him away from the lens. Instead, this gave birth to the vast photo series that the loved-up couple have been working together on practically ever since. From his hometown Moscow to his study-town London, holiday spots such as San Sebastian and Disneyland, and even more mundane scenes such as riding an escalator or being pushed in a shopping trolley, take a look at these original and dazzling images that will be sure to make you want to travel the world with your loved one. Via Daily Mail. Rooftop Pool, Singapore Entering the Gates of Disneyland, California The Meadows of Austria The Rice Fields in Bali The Big Ben and House of Parliament, London The Lovebirds Fly High in a Hot Air Balloon San Sebastian, Spain The Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow The Back Streets of Venice Strolling through the Aisles of Ikea 10,000 Buddhas Monastery, Hong Kong Brandenburg Gate, Berlin
Hayao Miyazaki took five years to complete his latest animation, but you can make yours near instantly, with a new piece of software called Plotagon. The democratically easy-to-use and pretty much mind-boggling technology transforms your screenplay into an animated film. lt turns your layperson's screenwriting into code, creating an animated movie just as you envisioned it, with the set, dialogue, tone, movement, sounds and music to boot. That's right; you type the words, and then they just happen. But with an aesthetic reminiscent of The Sims, animations can be pretty wooden, and unless you buy from the Plotagon in-built store, your character and setting choices are limited. Okay, so maybe the program almost creates the movie you envisioned. But with software fast developing and designers constantly making tweaks, we can soon expect to create our own 3D characters.On the plus side, some of the characters have been created specifically for the app by legendary comic book creator Stan Lee (Spiderman, Hulk), so they may be better than the ones you'd spun yourself anyway. For the moment, it’s the ultimate platform for fan-fiction writers, and a space for 13-year-olds to live vicariously through a better-looking or more popular avatar. But with the possibility to add canned laughter after every line, a satirical sitcom will be this writer’s first project. Plotagon is free to download and currently in beta. Story via PSFK.
Butter just keeps giving Sydneysiders more reasons to go absolutely crazy for it. The cult favourite is already a palace of fried chicken, sneakers and champagne — and every now and then it adds ramen to that list as well. If you're particularly fond of slurping down its brothy bowls, then you'll be immensely excited about its ongoing celebration of all things warm and soupy. The chain won't just be serving up one type of ramen, it'll be lining up six limited-edition versions. The series of limited-time ramen creations begins with Executive Chef Julian Cincotta once again whipping up Butter's super-popular fried chicken ramen. It combines fresh thick-cut ramen noodles, a marinated soft-boiled half egg and enoki mushrooms in a chicken and dashi-based broth, and includes Butter's crispy fried chicken tenders, too. But, it's just the first round in the chain's new Butter Ramen Club Tour. After that, a different ramen created by a different chef will feature each month until October. Among the chefs jumping on board are Ume Burger Head Chef Kerby Craig with a miso-based tare, corn and Butter's chicken broth and Rising Sun Workshop Director Nick Smith, who will be bringing a bowl filled with Butter's fried chicken with a burnt ends glaze. Louis Tikaram from Stanley in Brisbane will give Sydneysiders a taste of his spice fragrant ramen — which'll use a mix of Cantonese and Japanese flavours, and Butter's fried chicken before Cincotta returns with a French dip ramen fried chicken sandwich. Finishing things up is LP's Quality Meats owner and Head Chef Luke Powell, who'll be doing a smokey small-good number. Butter Surry Hills, Parramatta and Chatswood will all be plating them up, but each venue will only be making a limited number each day. Still, if you're fond of both ramen and fried chicken — and who isn't? — it's an easy way to pick what you'll be eating each month.
Until now, you mightn't have heard of Laramie in Wyoming. It's the US state's third-largest city, however, and it's about to receive a whole heap of attention. On Thursday, February 23, what just might become your new true-crime obsession will drop, with The Coldest Case in Laramie focusing on a dark recent chapter in the locale's history: the unsolved murder of a college student in 1985. Sometimes, it feels like every day brings a new true-crime show or podcast, but this one has the pedigree of Serial behind it. The Coldest Case in Laramie hails from Serial Productions, the company behind Sarah Koenig's grimly addictive podcast, which has been owned by The New York Times since 2020 — and this is the first Serial Productions show hosted by a New York Times reporter. A long-unsolved murder. An unexpected arrest. A slam-dunk case that mysteriously fell apart. Our new podcast "The Coldest Case in Laramie" debuts on Feb. 23. https://t.co/VHhJehV6uI — Serial (@serial) February 19, 2023 Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Kim Barker — who also penned the book The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan back in 2011, which was adapted into the Tina Fey-starring movie Whiskey Tango Foxtrot — steps behind the microphone on the new podcast, which will release all eight episodes at once. More than just hosting and investigating, Barker harks back to her own home town, where 22 year-old college student Shelli Wiley was murdered by being stabbed repeatedly, then dragged into her apartment which was subsequently set alight. Barker was a sophomore in high school at the time, and now revisits the case after a career that's taken her to ProPublica, The Seattle Times, The Spokesman-Review, the Chicago Tribune and more. While audiences will want to learn the full details while listening, The Coldest Case in Laramie sifts through a crime that saw two arrests that didn't stick, plus a suspect that many residents of Laramie said they knew was responsible when Barker started digging in January 2021. [caption id="attachment_889890" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Casey Fiesler via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Accordingly, this story not only tells of a shocking loss of life — a homicide that Barker was unable to forget — and the quest to find the culprit, but of the procedural roadblocks that've followed. "What's cool about this show is that it really highlights not only Kim Barker's extraordinary investigative skills, but also her talent as an interviewer," said Serial's executive editor Julie Snyder, announcing The Coldest Case in Laramie. "In an almost fly-on-the-wall type of storytelling, we get to follow Kim while she works, and we come to discover that this is a story with many unreliable narrators." The Coldest Case in Laramie arrives after Serial Productions and The New York Times have previously launched podcasts such as Nice White Parents, The Trojan Horse Affair and We Were Three. And, it drops after a big 2022 for the OG Serial, after Adnan Syed's murder conviction was vacated by the Baltimore City Circuit Court, sparking a new Serial episode. The first season of Serial gave rise to HBO documentary series The Case Against Adnan Syed, too — and, from the basic details alone, The Coldest Case in Laramie sounds like just the kind of tale that could do the same. The Coldest Case in Laramie will be available to listen to via Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more from Thursday, February 23. Top image: Nyttend via Wikimedia Commons.
Planes are not the first mode of transportation you associate with relaxation. Sure, Qantas plaster their lounges with posters about gourmet dining at 30,000 feet and if you're in first class you can settle into the flight with a warm lavender scented towel on your face (I assume). But for most of us, flying is a literal rollercoaster of anxiety and frustration. On every trip, I have the same devastating thought: Is this how I die? "She went peacefully," the eulogy will read. "The air hostess plied her with a $10 plastic cup of wine and she seemed mildly entertained by the rerun of Modern Family." Anyway. Apparently, it's not all that bad. When planes are stationary, closer to the ground and filled with handcrafted luxury items, they're okay by me. Enter Costa Rica's Costa Verde resort — the world's premier destination for finery and fuselage. Crafted from the airframe of an abandoned 1965 Boeing 727, Costa Verde's Phoenix Suite is understandably the hotel's 'most exclusive' accommodation. The two-bedroom luxury suite is entirely fitted out with Costa Rican teak panelling and hand-crafted Indonesian furniture, and it also a large deck on what was once the plane's right wing. Nestled at the edge of the Manuel Antonio National Park, this suite offers amazing access to the nation's wildlife too. Sloths, iguanas, birds and butterflies roam freely around the area, but most famously the grounds are home to a large variety of monkeys — squirrel, howler, and white-faced. As you might expect, it's somewhat exxy ($250-750 per night without taxes). Perhaps you could write it off as a medical expense — an entirely necessary measure to cure your fear of flying. Regardless, in the land where money is no object and all the animal kingdom are at one with us, we would like to be taken there immediately. Via Lost At E Minor.
China Heights presents National Props, the debut exhibition of photographic works from Alexandra Zorbas-Maiden. The works, inspired by big cities, their paradoxes and hyper reality, present the polarity between the glory and prosperity of constructed environments. Zorbas-Maiden, fascinated by the cyclic building, branding, and abandoning rituals of metropolises, explores the sense of loss, alienation and discarded icons of Western culture. The exhibition is open for three short days, presenting a short, sharp voyage. Viewers are encouraged to embark on an exploration into the conception of reality, through its representation in signage, facades, trademarks and symbol. National Props is open from 6pm June 8, 12 to 5pm on June 9 and 10.
Perched on Brisbane's inner-city outskirts for the past 141 years, the XXXX Brewery has become a bona fide landmark. It's the source of much of the beer drunk across town, a place to sip plenty of pints after seeing where the brewing magic happens, and — noticeably — the reason that the suburb of Milton often smells like yeast. This November, it'll also become Brissie's newest music venue, with the iconic spot hosting a festival with bands and brews for the first time ever. Knocking back cold ones while you're catching live tunes may be an everyday gig experience; however, usually when you're enjoying this combo, you're not hanging out in a huge brewery. XXXX Presents: Live at the Brewery will change that when it takes over the site from 2–9pm on Saturday, November 16. Not only is it the XXXX Brewery's first event of this kind — it's the first time it has opened its gates to the public, other than for tours or to patrons at the onsite Alehouse, for 26 years. While the music lineup won't be revealed until mid-September, Brisbanites can look forward to five local and interstate artists, who'll all perform at the base of the brewery's towering, logo-adorned silos. The folks at Jet Black Cat Music have been charged with picking the bill, building on their past work at the End Of The Line Festival and drawing upon the curatorial skills evident in their West End record store. As well as bands, XXXX Presents: Live at the Brewery will have food stalls, a post-fest shindig at the Alehouse and plenty of limited-edition merchandise — should you need a souvenir from your day spent drinking and partying at the home of the Milton Mango. And, while the festival is a once-off affair, attendees will get two chances to wander around the XXXX site, with each ticket also including a free return visit before June 30, 2020 for a brewery tour. XXXX Presents: Live at the Brewery takes place from 2–9pm on Saturday, November 16 at the XXXX Brewery, 185 Milton Road, Milton. Pre-sale tickets will be available from 9am on Monday, September 16 — sign up here for further details. We'll let you know when the lineup drops in mid-September.
Hanami and Japan go hand in hand, but what if you could indulge in the art of flower viewing (yes, that's what the term translates to in English) a bit closer to home? Well, that's where the Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival comes in. It's a celebration of everyone's favourite pink flora in Western Sydney. Across the weekends of August 20-21 and 27-28, the Auburn Botanic Gardens will transform their Japanese Gardens into a beautiful, blooming wonderland. Who doesn't want to ramp up their appreciation of the fleeting natural phenomena that is cherry blossom season by attending a massive viewing party in the lead up to spring? Tis the season, after all. And taking in the spectacular scenery isn't the only thing you'll be doing. First, get your fill of Japanese entertainment by floating on over to two stages filled with sumo displays, J-pop performers, cosplay competitions, origami workshops and calligraphy classes. Then, eat your way through an array of Japanese food trucks such as Tsuru, Sakura on Wheelz, J Burger and Syoku Samurai. Just make sure you leave room for dessert — there'll also be cherry blossom-inspired ice cream available. Entry into the Gardens will cost five bucks (you can buy tix in advance here), and they'll also have a free shuttle from Auburn Station if you're coming in by public transport. Image: Kristina Paukshtite.
Maybe you think there's too many superhero movies and TV shows monopolising screens these days. Perhaps you just can't get enough. You could adore the sight of spandex everywhere, or you could feel like you're doing pop-culture homework with each new flick, franchise and series. Wherever you land on caped crusaders, there's one glaring issue with their live-action domination: they're bound by whatever flesh, blood and special effects are able to come up with. Special effects can conjure up plenty, of course, but when 2018's stunning — and Oscar-winning — Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse arrived, it showed how inventive, imaginative and creative a superhero film can be when it can do whatever it likes thanks to the wonders of animation. Five years later, it's finally getting a sequel in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — and the movie's just-dropped new trailer, its third after a first sneak peek in 2021 and a second in 2022, does whatever a Spider-Verse trailer can. Initially set to release in 2022, but now arriving in June 2023, Across the Spider-Verse is the first of two follow-ups in the Miles Morales (Shameik Moore, Wu-Tang: An American Saga)-focused franchise. And, it isn't holding back on its spider-people. How many spider-men is the optimal amount of spider-men? All the spider-men, clearly. Sure, 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home messed with multiverse madness, complete with Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland's versions of the titular character — but Spider-Verse not only got there first, but topped that first. Now, Across the Spider-Verse is here to up the ante again. Where the initial film gave us a spider-woman, spider-robot and spider-pig, as well as Nicolas Cage as a 30s-era spider-vigilante, this one has another whole onslaught of Spideys heading Miles' way. The new trailer makes that plain in a heap of ways, including in its latest staging of the pointing Spider-Man meme — and, like everything in the previous film proved, it's glorious. This time around, the movie's Brooklyn-based friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man is slightly older, and also faced with a spider-team who are keen to protect the multiverse's existence. When there's that many Spideys, agreeing on how to handle things — including a new threat — isn't easy. That's how the clash between Miles and his fellow spider-folk comes about, as animated in the series' usual dazzling onslaught of colour and movement. Also included amid all the spider-alternatives: Miles reuniting with Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld, Hawkeye). And, there's Spider-Woman (Issa Rae, Insecure), the Spider-Verse version of The Vulture (Jorma Taccone, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story) and the return of Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac, Moon Knight). (If you're wondering about Isaac's character, he first turned up in the post-credits section of Into the Spider-Verse, and he's an alternate version of Spidey from a specific Marvel Comics imprint.) The voice cast spans Daniel Kaluuya (Nope) as Spider-Punk and Jason Schwartzman (I Love That for You) as The Spot as well, and Jake Johnson (Minx) is also back as Peter B Parker — alongside Brian Tyree Henry (Bullet Train) as Miles' dad and Luna Lauren Velez (Power Book II: Ghost). Expect to see Miles head into other Spidey realms, too, in a franchise that made every single live-action Spidey film pale in comparison to its initial instalment. Once again produced by The Afterparty's Phil Lord and Christopher Miller — and this time co-written — Across the Spider-Verse will be followed by third film Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse in 2024. There's also a female-focused spinoff in the works as well. Check out the latest Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse trailer below: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will release in cinemas Down Under on June 1, 2023.
Turning off your alarm at 6am is one of the easiest things in the world. But turning off a coffee machine half asleep? That's a little bit harder. Perhaps that's what designer Josh Renouf had in mind when creating a genius new coffee-brewing alarm clock. Well, that and the irresistible lure of a fresh cup of coffee waiting at your bedside. In the latest of things to be invented that really should have been invented already, comes The Barisieur. Unlike this ultimate tease of a breakfast-scented alarm clock — which wakes you up with smells of coffee and bacon — this designer device a is the real deal. Not only will it emit smells of coffee (or loose leaf tea, if you prefer) throughout the night as a natural relaxant, but it will wake you up at your desired time with "the sound of bubbling water and the smell of freshly brewed coffee". And just like magic, you'll have a cup of coffee waiting when you pry open your eyes. So how does it work? The water is boiled in the left vessel by an induction hob, forcing it to move up and over into the stainless steel filter on the right. The Water then moves through the coffee to create a super fresh (and convenient) cup of filter. There's also a cooled tray that can store milk and a drawer for sugar and whatever else you might like to pop in your coffee. Like all great devices of our time, The Barisieur is currently being funded on Kickstarter. So far 766 backers have raised almost £200,000 — over half of the £380,000 goal. UPDATE: OCTOBER 10, 2016 The Barisieur has been fully funded, with 1186 backers pledging £383,623 for the most amazing alarm clock of all time. You can pre-order one here.
As a country girt by sea, it's easy to take Australia's sandy waterside for granted. But just like our ever-rising temperatures, ever-lingering drought conditions and increasingly widespread bushfires, our coastline isn't immune to climate change. Nor, with oceans both warming and rising, are our beaches guaranteed to withstand it. In Stockton Beach, in Newcastle's north on the NSW coast, this grim reality has been making its presence known for decades, all due to continuing coastal erosion. Since huge storms back in 2015, which cost the beach millions of tonnes of sand, it has been a particularly prominent issue; however, in the past few weeks, the spot has completely lost its coveted patch of sand. It happened quickly, too — the Newcastle Herald reports that "a section of the beach lost 2.5 metres in sand height" in just five hours. The paper estimates that around 500,000 cubic metres of sand (50,000 truck loads) would be required to replace what's been lost so far. So instead of somewhere to sit and sunbathe, beachgoers are now met with rocks, sand cliffs and a waterline much closer than it has ever been before. At the south end of the beach, the sand in front of the nearly 112-year-old Stockton Surf Life Saving Club, the adjacent car park and Lexie's Cafe have been particularly hard hit and, unsurprisingly, the City of Newcastle has closed all access points to the beach — except for the one at the Mitchell Street breakwall — until further notice. This aerial footage from The Guardian shows pretty clearly how severely the beach has been affected. [caption id="attachment_744112" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Save Stockton Beach[/caption] As Newcastle's Lord Mayor explained at a council meeting last week, the catastrophic current situation has been caused by large swells in the recent weeks. The council is now undertaking emergency works, such as sandbagging, in the hope it can get Stockton Beach to condition that's useable for the public. The "preferred option" is to bring sand back in to the beach — an option that relies on the NSW Government's Coastal Zone Management Program. In good news, according to the ABC, the State Government has just approved $250,000 in funding for the council and has declared the beach a Significant Open Coast Location, meaning that the council can apply for emergency funding at any time. Shelley Hancock, the Minister for Local Government, says that the council's applications for funding are "currently undergoing a rapid assessment so that works can be undertaken as a matter of priority". Fast-tracking a mooted gas terminal at Kooragang Island, which could see sand dredged and relocated to Stockton, has also been floated as a solution — but it would require a statewide ban on offshore dredging to be lifted. Back in June, the council discussed offshore sand extraction, noting that it was "one of the only viable methods for large-scale beach nourishment along the open coast". At the time of writing, a GoFundMe campaign to save the beach has raised over $18,000, and a the Save Stockton Beach Facebook page is trying to raise awareness around the issue. Losing a beach is a bleak prospect, but the effects far span beyond just losing somewhere to lay out a towel. As the landscape changes, the sand shifts, threatening nearby buildings. The local daycare centre has been forced to shut due to the erosion, with the structure set to be demolished. Cabins at the nearby holiday park were also vacated last week, as a precautionary measure, although they've since been re-opened. Coastal erosion is by no means limited to Stockton Beach, of course. Due to rising temperatures and wild weather, sea levels are rising and eating into coastlines around the world, from England to Tunisia. And with similarly bleak scenarios happening across Australia — from Sydney to Melbourne to Perth to Adelaide — stories like these are sadly likely to increase in frequency. If you live near, or are travelling to, Stockton Beach, check the City of Newcastle website for updates on the beach accessibility. To help, you can get in touch with the Save Stockton Beach group — or keep striking for the government to take action on climate change to prevent this happening to more of our country's epic beaches. Images: Save Stockton Beach Facebook.
Crows Nest is a charming community hub on Sydney's lower North Shore, and if you've never visited, you're missing out. One of the greatest offerings of the area is the annual street festival Crows Nest Fest, which returns on Sunday, October 15 from 10am to 5pm. Crows Nest Fest gathers all the best parts of this suburban hub: great food and drink, easy walking and a thriving community spirit. It's expected to draw crowds in excess of 30,000, making the 2023 festival one of the biggest on record. If that's not enough to get your interest, consider the following: The festival will see over 150 stalls spread over the Pacific Highway, Willoughby Road, Albany Street, Burlington Street, Holtermann Street and Clark Street. Burlington Street will be known as Food Alley, home to an eclectic mix of local restaurants, bars, cafes and gourmet eateries to show off the neighbourhood gastronomy scene. Willoughby Road will play home to one of two Licensed Zones, seeing the Crows Nest Hotel spread onto the street via drink marquees, the second zone being an impromptu 'Greektober Fest' on Burlington Street, hosted by local favourite Xenos. Once you've had your fill of food and drink, follow the sound of distant tunes to music stages. Ernest Place will host a range of professional musical talent while local bands and dance groups perform on a Holtermann Street stage. And if you have any junior revellers in tow, swing by the Hume Street park to the kids zone, where you'll find a petting zoo, pony rides, live entertainers, buskers and a circus playground.
