Visiting Europe sadly isn't on Australians' agendas in the near future. Heading to New York to wander through The Metropolitan Museum of Art isn't at the moment either. But, for four months in 2021, a heap of European art masterpieces from The Met will be making the journey to our shores — so you'll be able to feast your eyes on some of the greatest paintings ever committed to canvas at Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art. From June 12–October 17, 2021, 65 works that almost never leave The Met's galleries will grace GOMA's walls, in what'll be the Brissie venue's biggest ever survey of the history of European art. And if you're wondering why these paintings are so treasured, well, that's because they're by everyone from Monet, van Gogh and Vermeer to Renoir, Rembrandt and Degas. The list of artists featuring in the exhibition, which covers a whopping 500 years of European art and is fittingly called European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, just keeps going — with Rubens, Poussin, Gauguin, Raphael, Boucher and Velazquez all included as well. Also impressive: the different types of artworks that'll be on display, spanning everything from portraits and still-life pieces to landscape paintings and figure studies. From the full lineup, the earliest work will date back to 1445, courtesy of an altarpiece panel depicting the Crucifixion of Christ by the Florentine artist Fra Angelico. Also among the centuries-old highlights are Titian's Venus and Adonis from the 1550s, Caravaggio's The Musicians from 1597, Rembrandt's Flora from around 1654, and Vermeer's Allegory of the Catholic Faith. And, for works from the 19th-century impressionist and post-impressionist period, the likes of Monet, Renoir and van Gogh have things wrapped up — complete with Monet's 1919 piece Water Lilies. [caption id="attachment_781830" align="alignnone" width="1920"] 'The Flowering Orchard' (1888) by Vincent van Gogh. The Mr and Mrs Henry Ittleson jr Purchase Fund 1956/56.13. Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.[/caption] GOMA's program will also feature hands-on digital and analogue activities to accompany the masterworks, plus — as is always the case with its major exhibitions — a lineup of yet-to-be-announced Up Late events that'll let you check out these art wonders after dark and over a few drinks. European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York is a Brisbane exclusive, too. So, if you're an art lover in New South Wales or Victoria, cross your fingers that Queensland's borders have well and truly reopened to your states by June 2021. European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York will display at Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art from June 12–October 17, 2021. For more information — or to buy tickets — visit the GOMA website. Top images: Water Lilies (1916-19) by Claude Monet. Gift of Louise Reinhardt Smith 1983/1983.532.; Still Life with Apples and Pears (1891-92) Bequest of Stephen C Clark 1960/61.101.3. Both collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Thought you’d be eating vacuum packed meals in space? Think again. Fruit and veges could now be part of everyday space cuisine as part of EDEN’s (Evolution and Design of Environmentally-Closed Nutrition Sources) latest research initiative to grow fruit and veges in outer space with LED lights. The German Aerospace Centre (DRL) has picked up new Heliospectra LED lighting technology which the company has developed to help researchers explore conditions that can be used to grow fruit and veges in outer space. These space greenhouses could potentially function and feed a crew millions of miles above the clouds and prove particularly useful in harsh environments like a greenhouse module on Mars, or on slightly closer turf at the Neumayer Station III in Antarctica. One of the current projects at the German institute investigates testing the greenhouse module in the hostile Antarctica environment where a team lives in total isolation for nine months straight. Researchers hope to discover the ways whereby food could be produced for the crew and investigate how plants influence humans in isolation. [via inhabitat]
Like any great metropolis, Sydney is growing exponentially, and the hustle and bustle of urban life never seems to slow down. While there's something soothing about the commotion of everyday life, sometimes even the most seasoned city slickers among us need time for quiet — a break from the noise and a little respite from the chaos. So next time you find a free day during the week, or manage a few hours at the very least, here's a compass guide to some of Sydney's quiet places. Places where you're well advised to switch off your phone, pull out your headphones and whittle away the hours doing sweet nothing at all. Whether it's a secluded park to enjoy the sound of birds chirping or an off-the-beaten-path trail to ponder life's big questions, Sydney has it all. [caption id="attachment_899314" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] NORTH While its beaches make Sydney glitter, it's the harbour which makes it sing, and there is no more satisfying way to explore it than by ferry. Catching a ferry just about anywhere across Port Jackson is highly advisable, but the trip over to Taronga Zoo wharf, while short, is especially enchanting. Once there, skip the tigers and the capybaras and cut along the track into Sydney Harbour National Park along Bradley's Head. On a quiet day, you'll find no other company than the sound of the sea and a few flighty lizards and brush turkeys. The views of the city are unrivalled and the plaques along the trail paint a storied history of a country at war. Follow along until Chowder Bay where you can strip down and bathe in the sea, and then reward yourself at Ripples. For perfect solitude, opt out of the fine dining and enjoy a glass of prosecco and oysters on the balcony. Return the same way and arrive back at the Quay feeling a decade lighter. Alternative itineraries: Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park; Whale Beach; The Manly Ferry. [caption id="attachment_899312" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] WEST Leaving the harbour for the glory of the railways, the rattling, purple train to the Blue Mountains is about as romantic as a commuter train gets. Rising out of Emu Plains, the Blue Mountains rail line is one of the great engineering feats of 19th-century Australia. The current fleet of trains dates back decades and it'll be a sad day when they're eventually replaced by the more modern, and less charming, fleet in waiting. But for now, they're here, and when boarding one at Central be sure to stock up on snacks and take a seat in one of the two quiet carriages. As you leave Sydney be prepared for spectacular views as you approach the towns of Lapstone and Glenbrook. If there's been recent rain you may even spy a momentary waterfall. Once in the mountains, there are literally hundreds of different tracks you can take, although some of the more isolated places are reachable only by car. For rolling hills and imposing valleys, where there is often no one else, do the thirty-minute drive or the three-hour walk to Mount Hay from Leura. With low-lying scrub and a cavernous sky, there is a kind of land-before-time feel here, which can be quite overwhelming. Alternatively, for ethereal sunset vibes, make your way to Boars Head Lookout and lose yourself gazing over the Megalong Valley. Stay at The Carrington in Katoomba for a solid dose of nostalgia and a few quiet cocktails by the fireplace. Alternative itineraries: Bicentennial Park; Lake Parramatta; Wianamatta Regional Park. [caption id="attachment_702792" align="alignnone" width="1920"] David Molloy Photography via Flickr[/caption] SOUTH Conveniently located just minutes from Cronulla Station, the Curranulla, Port Hacking's beloved and historic ferry, is another brilliant way to explore Sydney's waterways. Dating back to 1939, a trip on Sydney's oldest running ferry is akin to experiencing the Sydney your grandparents might have known. Arriving in Bundeena, take a stroll along Horderns Beach before swinging by Vinegar and Brown Paper for some of the best fish and chips in the south. Then, time and weather permitting, begin the 11km walk to Marley Beach. The track itself can be quite muddy at certain times of the year but if you walk in the off-season you'll find plenty of solitude to soak up. The Royal National Park is a naturalist's dream so keep an eye out for white-breasted sea eagles, swamp wallabies and if you're especially charmed, short-beaked echidnas. Arriving at Marley Beach you'll do as you please — read a book, take a nap or lose yourself in the sea. Or nothing at all. Not far north of the beach, you'll find Wedding Cake Rock, a spectacular lookout where a glimpse of a breaching whale is almost a given between May and November. Follow the track back towards Bundeena, and enjoy the setting sun as you drift on back aboard the Curranulla. Alternative itineraries: Darook Park; The Grand Pacific Drive; Kamay Botany National Park. [caption id="attachment_825765" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Shark Island, John Yurasek/DPIE[/caption] EAST Returning to our beloved harbour, the perfect way to explore it in solitude is by hiring a kayak at one of two locations at Rose Bay. If you're in need of some turquoise tranquillity, then make your way to either Point Piper Kayak or Rose Bay Aquatic Hire. Once on the water, paddle at your leisure as you explore the numerous inlets and coves around the bay itself. Discover one of the most isolated spots on the harbour by landing at Shark Island, which, despite its ominous name, is the perfect place for a swim. Dry off exploring the rocks and cliff faces while keeping an eye out for pelicans, pied cormorants and the impossibly elusive little penguin. After a well-earned siesta, continue your paddle over to Queens Beach which, on a weekday, is nearly always deserted. Enjoy the sunset with some smuggled wine as the city lights up and the sky fades away. Return your kayak and wander along the foreshore before dropping by the Rose Bay Hotel for a quiet schooner. Alternative itineraries: Hornby Lighthouse; Cape Banks Walking Track; Centennial Parklands. [caption id="attachment_789422" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Installation view of the 'Streeton' exhibition at Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Photo: Jenni Carter, AGNSW[/caption] CENTRE While nature is synonymous with solitude it doesn't have to define it, and in the pulsating, furious heart of Sydney's CBD there are plenty of opportunities to drown out the noise. Start with a walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens, once Australia's first European settled farm, today it's a world-class botanical garden with spectacular species such as the Wollemi Pine. After exploring the lush greenery and succulent garden, take the Mrs Macqaurie Rd exit and enter the Art Gallery of NSW. During the week the gallery is less crowded and it's not unusual to find yourself in a hall all alone, with the works of Australian artists like Brett Whitley and Margaret Olley and international names like Picasso, Francis Bacon and William Blake your only company. After an hour or two, continue your afternoon with a stroll through historic Darlinghurst and drop into somewhere for a drink. There's a healthy amount of bars in Darlo, and while none of them are particularly quiet you're bound to find a corner to yourself. We'd suggest Shady Pines Saloon, a low-lit cowboy joint with premium whiskeys and a soundtrack designed to let the feet tap and the mind wander. As the city swells around you, sometimes the best place to disappear is amongst the crowd as you watch the world go by. Alternative itineraries: Cockatoo Island; Sydney Park; Camperdown Cemetery. Images: Destination NSW
One of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters of the 21st century, Chan Marshall — aka Cat Power — is no stranger to a cover. She's been transforming other people's work into something entirely Power-esque across her entire career, including honing the art on her 2000 album The Covers Record and 2008's Jukebox. In 2022, she again dropped a project devoted to reshaping songs originally sung by others with the aptly titled album Covers, unveiling versions of tracks by Frank Ocean, Nick Cave, Lana Del Rey and Iggy Pop. Now, Power has embarked on her most ambitious cover-based project yet, covering Bob Dylan's legendary 1996 Royal Albert Hall set in full in 2022 at the titular venue in London. Receiving rapturous praise, the show is a track-by-track recreation of a legendary set that Dylan performed on his first tour after polarising attendees at the Newport Folk Festival with his new electric sound. Sydney is lucky enough to be the second-ever city to see Power perform this set, with Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert coming to the Sydney Opera House as part of the Vivid Live program. Concrete Playground chatted with Marshall before she headed to Australia to discuss why this set is so important to her, the reaction to its debut in London and the new music she has on the way. ON WHY SHE CHOSE THIS PARTICULAR BOB DYLAN SET "I got an offer to play the Royal Albert Hall in London on Bonfire Night, Guy Fawkes Night... and I was like 'well if I play there, I only want to do Dylan's songs'. And that was just a no-brainer of which songs I would do. I felt pretty alone when I was young — when he was running around being a rockstar and stuff. I wasn't a rockstar, but just knowing that someone was kind of scuzzy, and writing his own shit and saying what he wanted to say and doing his own thing, that was that peer thing he gave people. He narrated and was able to articulate people's points of view during a time of mass confusion and that confusion is the thread of our social constructs." ON HEARING THE SET FOR THE FIRST TIME "It was the film, so it might have been [in] 91 — it was the film Don't Look Back... I just felt transported to this place that reminded me of just floating and thoughts and poetry and the absurd." ON THE TEAM SHE PULLED TOGETHER FOR THE SHOW "We had a rehearsal and I tried to figure out who would be best. Because it's really specific, the style of playing — the heartbeat of that is Bob's style — and on top of that, The Band and that movement of playing. Because I could say that it's a style but there was a certain feeling, I think, that was happening at the time. I asked my friend Henry Munson, he's playing with me. He's in Arsun's band, he has his own bands, too. But he was, no-brainer, going to be the Bob guitar. I had never heard the drummer play before or seen him play or met him, but I said 'well, tell me what kind of band he's in before I go jam with him' and [my friend] said 'oh, he's in a Grateful Dead cover band'. And I said 'okay perfect, he sounds great'. " ONE DEBUTING THE SET AT ROYAL ALBERT HALL "Oh my god. So, for me, I'm secondary to the nature of what's happening when I'm doing it — I feel secondary. My major concern is for the song itself. It's not psychological, it's like I have to do it justice. I don't know. I'm secondary, my physical being is secondary but the song is always the point of me doing what I'm doing. And, I can be very hard on myself but it's the only way that I can be. In the back of my mind, you know, my consciousness, my awake mind was like 'oh yeah, I'm fucking terrified'. I've never been inside that place. I used to walk around it. I used to stay at the Hotel Columbia across the park from there, you know, the rock 'n' roll hotel or whatever. And I'd always walk around that place. I'd never been inside, and to be able to play there, it was some kind of a magic gift or something. That's how it felt. It means something individually to me to do those songs in that venue 'cause of how much I loved Bob growing up." ON THURSTON MOORE'S REACTION TO THE LONDON SET "One thing was that, at the end, there were a bunch of friends there and Thurston Moore was in town and he said — he's gonna kill me — but he said 'Mr Tambourine Man' made him cry. Isn't that sweet?" ON THE MAGIC OF COVERING OTHER ARTISTS' WORK "I knew those songs already, as a little kid, so it was like — I don't want to say second nature because, as someone who's loved all kinds of music my whole life and different things besides music, it wasn't second nature to me — it was just familiar and just easy, because it was like being a kid and singing along. If I play Michael Jackson's song or something, play me the Thriller record, I'm going to sing backup on the whole fucking record with my own harmonies, because I've been singing that shit forever. And different singers bring different shade or colour, or smell or taste, to the same old song. And that's what speaks to a new generation or a new group of people, just different emulations of one song." ON HER CONNECTION TO THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE "I did a record of mine called Moon Pix. I think it was the 25th anniversary. [Editor's note: it was the 20th.] I did another Vivid fest, actually... I have the poster for all two of them. And I hope to get the poster for the third. The Moon Pix thing was really moving because I was alive, you know. I wasn't dead. I never thought I'd live this much and I was there and it was great and it was beautiful. I was with Mick [Turner, from Dirty Three] and Jim [White, also from Dirty Three] and we were, all three, alive. And it was beautiful, and it was real, and it was really nice." ON WHAT'S NEXT FOR CAT POWER "I'm going right back into the studio and doing my new record. There's a song called 'Brave Liar', I think it's the good one. Another home recording." Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert is coming to the Sydney Opera House for Vivid Live on Wednesday, May 31. Head to Sydney Opera House website for tickets and further details.
One of the newcomers on the Central Coast scene, Bay Rd Brewery came about after three mates — Grant Buckham, Darren Barber and Sam Kennis — got together, drank some craft brews in a boatshed and decided to turn their passion into a reality, taking on Australia's ever-expanding craft brewery scene. The microbrewery, located in the centre of Gosford, serves up beer "straight down the line" — no preservatives and no mucking around with anything other than great beer. The brewery is located in a no-fuss, warehouse-like space with communal tables, a bar and brewing vats along the side wall — where the magic happens. You'll find all Bay Rd's brews on tap, including a couple of limited editions like the Summertime Saison infused with dragon fruit, the bright ale Sun Chaser and the Tropical Rum porter. Bay Rd tried-and-true favourites are of course also pouring — Banana Bay wheat ale, Motor Boat pale ale, Bay Road lager, Super Cat IPA and Wave Runner XPA. Plus, there's a food truck in the parking lot, which rotates often, offering everything from satay chicken to oysters and burgers. Bay Rd has also launched its Brew Academy Class, where beer enthusiasts can learn about how its brews are made. It runs on the first Saturday of each month and tickets can be purchased here.
Summer might be over for another year, but chasing endless sunny days, sandy spots and crashing waves is a rather easy pastime in Australia. The country is girt by sea, after all, and boasts thousands of beaches — including Western Australia's Cable Beach, which has just been named one of the best coastal spots in the world for 2023, plus the absolute top beach in the South Pacific for this year as well. The scenic Broome locale nabbed those honours thanks to Tripadvisor, which unveils a lineup of top beaches each year. Among the international plaudits, Cable Beach came in third behind Baia do Sancho in Fernando de Noronha in Brazil and Eagle Beach in Aruba in The Caribbean. It also ranked higher than spots in Iceland, Turks and Caicos, Portugal, India, Sicily, Cuba and Hawaii. Yes, that's mighty fine company to keep. [caption id="attachment_891596" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cable Beach[/caption] In the South Pacific rundown, Cable Beach beat six other Aussie locations and one from New Zealand. Also getting some love locally: Sydney's Manly Beach in second place, Emily Bay on Norfolk Island in third and Mooloolaba Beach in fourth spot. Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas and Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island adding two more Queensland locations to the list at sixth and seventh place, while Turquoise Bay in Exmouth in WA came in ninth after topping the South Pacific spots in 2022. Across the ditch, Tahunanui Beach in Nelson sits at eighth place, too. The two beaches deemed the best in the South Pacific that aren't from Down Under? Matira Beach on Society Island in Bora Bora, French Polynesia, which sits fifth and Natadola Beach in Sigatoka, Fiji, at tenth. If it's an overseas beach holiday you're after this year, you now know where to head. [caption id="attachment_891589" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Manly Beach[/caption] Back to the worldwide list, it spans 25 places, with Manly coming in 13th there ahead of locations in Grand Cayman, San Sebastian, Bali, Costa Rica, Rio de Janeiro and more. Across both the worldwide and South Pacific rankings, winners were chosen as part of Tripadvisor's Traveller's Choice awards, which is based on millions of reviews and ratings left on the online platform across 2022. [caption id="attachment_891592" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Whitehaven Beach[/caption] TOP TEN BEACHES IN THE WORLD FOR 2023: Baia do Sancho, Fernando de Noronha, Brazil Eagle Beach, Aruba, The Caribbean Cable Beach, Broome, Australia Reynisfjara Beach, Vik, Iceland Grace Bay Beach, Turks and Caicos, The Caribbean Praia da Falésia, Algarve, Portugal Radhanagar Beach, Havelock Island, India Spiaggia dei Conigli, Sicily, Italy Varadero Beach, Cuba, The Caribbean Ka'anapali Beach, Maui, Hawaii TOP TEN BEACHES IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC FOR 2023: Cable Beach, Broome, Western Australia, Australia Manly Beach, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Emily Bay, Norfolk Island, Australia Mooloolaba Beach, Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia Matira Beach, Society Island, Bora Bora, French Polynesia Four Mile Beach, Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island, Queensland, Australia Tahunanui Beach, Nelson, New Zealand Turquoise Bay, Exmouth, Western Australia, Australia Natadola Beach, Sigatoka, Fiji [caption id="attachment_891590" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Matira Beach[/caption] To check out the full list of top beaches for 2023, head to Tripadvisor. Images: Getty Images / Tripadvisor. 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.
Get Ugged up, rugged up and ready to embrace all things chilly at the Bathurst Winter Festival. The two-week event runs from Saturday, July 6 to Sunday, July 21 and celebrates the magic of the colder months. Sure, summer's great, but there's something about cosying up with a hot chocolate or medium-bodied glass of red that just hits differently come July. Located three hours northwest of Sydney, the city of Bathurst will light up in a blaze of colour and light as interactive installations are projected onto the town's historic architecture. Head along to the Winter Playground where you can enjoy live music, comfort food, warm drinks, wine events, show rides and an outdoor ice skating rink. The events and activations are spread across Bathurst and much of the festival is free — including a huge food and drinks festival, a pet parade and more. Either way, it's a great excuse for a weekend away this winter. The Bathurst Winter Festival runs from Saturday, July 6 to Friday, July 21. For further details, head to the website.
A massive Gandhi exhibition is on its way to Melbourne's Immigration Museum. Curated from more than 1000 photos, over two hours of footage, an hour's worth of film clips and 20 audio recordings, the show focuses on Gandhi's role in leading India to independence, as well as his travels in England and South Africa. At the same time, it's a celebration of Indian diaspora all over the world. One of the reasons the exhibition is heading for Victoria is that the state is home to more people of Indian descent than any other place in Australia. "Mahatma Gandhi was an inspirational leader and I'm thrilled that Victorians will be able to enjoy this incredible exhibition," said Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, who's in India this week checking out the show. It's been at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in Delhi since October 2016. "Victoria is home to Australia's largest Indian population and this exhibition is an important way to acknowledge their cultural heritage and build the cultural understanding of India among the wider Victorian community." You'll have until July to head along. The show is just one of many upcoming events celebrating Victoria's Indian connections, following the release of Victoria's India Strategy: Our Shared Future. The Mahatma Gandhi Exhibition will be at Melbourne's Immigration Museum from April to July, 2018.
Struggling to pay the electricity bill this month? What would you say to jumping rope instead? Innovative technology-with-a-conscience company Uncharted Play has come up with PULSE, a skipping rope that harvests energy with every single jump. That’s energy that can later be used to power electronic devices — including smartphones — and lights. Made of strong, resilient plastic, the device features 3D-printed handles which store the kinetic energy created by each spin. It’s converted to electricity via an adaptor. One hundred PULSEs, priced at US$129 each, comprise the first run. But Uncharted Play’s higher goal is to make the invention accessible to individuals and communities in the developing world, where electricity can be insanely expensive and resorting to high-risk alternatives such as kerosene is often the only option. If the initial distribution takes off, the company will start looking at ways to bring the price down. Previous Uncharted Play successes include the SOCCKET — an energy-harvesting soccer ball connected to an LED lamp — and a foldable, sustainable, recyclable, eco-friendly water bottle. All sales proceeds go towards providing SOCCKETs to disadvantaged children and lifting educational standards in remote areas. Via Springwise.
The last time that Black Mirror released new episodes, no one had ever heard the terms COVID-19 and ChatGPT, the world hadn't been through a huge lockdown due to a pandemic, Succession was only one season in and Twitter had a far less chaotic owner. They're just a few ways to answer the show's new question, with Charlie Brooker's dystopian sci-fi hit getting tweeting for the first time since 2019 to start teasing its upcoming sixth season. That social-media query: the very apt "what have we missed?". Obviously there are plenty of ways to respond, which Black Mirror creator quickly Charlie Brooker did. 🤔 — Charlie Brooker (@charltonbrooker) April 25, 2023 Those four words from the official Black Mirror Twitter and that one emoji from Brooker is all that's been pumped out into the ether about the show's return, but it's enough to get excited about given that it breaks the series' four-year silence. Wondering when you might be staring at your own black mirror again to watch Black Mirror? That still hasn't been announced. News about Black Mirror's next go-around isn't new, of course, and has been doing the rounds since 2022. Last year, Variety also named a heap of cast members, including Zazie Beetz (Atlanta), Paapa Essiedu (Men), Josh Hartnett (Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre), Aaron Paul (Westworld), Kate Mara (Call Jane), Danny Ramirez (Stars at Noon), Clara Rugaard (I Am Mother), Auden Thornton (This Is Us) and Anjana Vasan (Killing Eve). Back when the sixth season was confirmed, how many more grim dystopian tales were on their way hadn't been revealed, however, and that's still the case now. That said, it's expected that the new season will run for more than season five's mere three episodes — and apparently each new instalment is being treated as an individual film. Black Mirror fans will know that the series has also released a direct-to-streaming movie, aka the choose-your-own-adventure-style Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, back in 2018 between seasons four and five. How exactly will the series manage to be even more dispiriting than reality over the past few years? That's increasingly been one of its dilemmas — and noting that something IRL feels just like Black Mirror has become one of the cliches of our times — but this'll be the mind-bending effort's first round of episodes following the pandemic. No one has ever watched the Brooker-created series for a pick-me-up, though. Since first hitting the small screen in 2011, Black Mirror has spun warped visions of where technology may lead us — and, no matter what tale the show has told so far across its 22 instalments (including that interactive movie), the picture has usually been unnerving. So, imagine what the program will cook up after what we've all been living through since it last aired. Brooker has already riffed on COVID-19 in two Netflix specials, actually: Death to 2020 and Death to 2021, which offer satirical and star-studded wraps of both years with mixed success. For something completely different, he also jumped back into choose-your-own-adventure content with animated short Cat Burglar, which hit Netflix back in 2022, has viewers play through it as a thieving feline called Rowdy and gets you to answer trivia questions to advance the story. While you're waiting for Black Mirror's sixth season to arrive — and a release date for it — check out a trailer for season three episode San Junipero below: Exactly when Black Mirror season six might hit Netflix is yet to be revealed. We'll update you when further details are announced.
In great news for cat-loving cinephiles, 2019 is shaping up to be a huge year for felines on film. Photorealistic big cats are currently prowling around the new remake of The Lion King, and they'll soon be joined by a bunch of singing, scurrying street mousers in the silver-screen adaptation of stage musical Cats. For nearly four decades, Andrew Lloyd Webber's acclaimed production has pranced across stages everywhere, turning a tale inspired by poems from T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats into an award-winning theatre hit. But, while plenty of other popular musicals have made the leap to cinemas, this one hasn't until now. The first trailer for the new flick might just explain why. Ever wanted to see Taylor Swift as a preening, purring cat? Keen to soothe your disappointment over the fact that Idris Elba isn't James Bond by spotting him with whiskers, fur and a tail? Perhaps you've always dreamed of watching accomplished actors such as Judi Dench and Ian McKellen channel their inner feline? Have you ever hoped for all of the above, and for the actors to all play cat-sized cats? That's what's on offer in the just-dropped first clip, as well as a heap of dancing and singing set to the musical's famous melancholic tune 'Memory'. In terms of story, Cats zaps Swift, Elba and company down to feline height to spin a narrative about the Jellicle cat tribe, who spend a night deciding just which four-legged moggy will get to leave their group, ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life. The movie comes with a significant pedigree, with Les Miserables' Tom Hooper in the director's chair, Webber on music duties, Hamilton's Andy Blankenbuehler doing the choreography, and the cast also spanning James Cordon, Jennifer Hudson, Jason Derulo, Ray Winstone and Rebel Wilson. And yet, it all looks a little odd. Perhaps it doesn't help that Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt featured a fantastic Cats parody, or perhaps it's just the film's cats-with-human-faces concept. Check out the first Cats trailer below: https://youtu.be/FtSd844cI7U Cats opens in Australian cinemas on December 26.
Celine Song understands the power of a moment. Past Lives, her debut feature, is filled with scenes and meetings — minutes and mere seconds, too — that are so potent they're almost overwhelming. Making the leap to cinema from the stage, the playwright-turned-filmmaker has crafted a quiet, patient, contemplative and deeply felt romantic drama that knows intimately how emotions can swell to bursting point in something as simple and commonplace as a glance, walk, Skype call or drink at a bar. One of the movies that had 2023's Sundance Film Festival talking, plus everywhere from Berlin to Sydney to New Zealand since — and is destined to be showered in awards love, too — Past Lives is well-aware of what it's like to spend oh-so-many moments wondering what could've been or still might, and about what's meant to. Arriving after focusing on the stage, getting experimental with Chekhov live and online with The Seagull on The Sims 4 and writing for the initial season of streaming series The Wheel of Time, Song's first effort as a filmmaker springs from a specific moment, in fact — and one that she also recreates on-screen with her characters Nora (Greta Lee, Russian Doll), Hae Sung (Teo Yoo, Decision to Leave) and Arthur (John Magaro, The Many Saints of Newark). Past Lives takes inspiration from the writer/director's own experiences in a number of ways. "I would say it's an adaptation of my life, or inspired by," she tells Concrete Playground. It was the power of a moment sat in a New York bar with her American husband and Korean childhood sweetheart, however, that helped put the picture in motion. "I wasn't sure if there was a movie in it, but I think that what I really did feel is that it did feel like a significant and special moment, and a very revelatory moment in my own life," Song shares, chatting in August when she was in Australia for the Melbourne International Film Festival. "I feel like living your life as an ordinary person, I think that there are moments in your life where your life suddenly feels completely extraordinary — and it's totally epic, too. Then you just suddenly feel the total sheer scale of your life expand." "That kind of was this weird moment where I was like 'huh, nobody in this bar probably knows this or feels this, but I think that I just am feeling so massive sitting here in this little bar with these two people'," Song continues. "I think that it made me feel like 'maybe this is something that might connect with other people?'. And then, more and more, I learned that it does connect with a lot of people, and that honestly has made me feel less lonely more than anything." Past Lives begins with Nora, Hae Sung and Arthur sipping and chatting as fellow bar patrons observe, guessing about who the trio are to each other. From the outset, the film connects with that powerful moment in Song's own existence, with the three figures that'll wander through her feature's frames coping with love and life, and with viewers doing their own watching and pondering as well. From there, the movie heads backwards, first to Nora (Moon Seung-ah, Voice of Silence) and Hae Sung's (Leem Seung-min, Good Deal) time together as pre-teens, before the former and her family move to Canada. Then, it jumps forward twice in 12-year increments, checking in wth the pair — and Arthur once he enters Nora's life — as time passes on and distance stretches their youthful bond. As this tender and heartbreakingly honest picture unfurls, Past Lives' audience doesn't just experience an affinity with folks realising that they're having a moment, but with the "what if?" questions in life, being torn between the past and the present, and trying to work out who you truly are. With its title drawn from the Korean concept of in-yeon, aka the fate that connects anyone who crosses paths, Past Lives' viewers feel a date with destiny as well. Getting swept away by Past Lives is easy; making it play that way wasn't, of course. Song chatted us through the details, including subjectivity, authenticity, getting the personal to feel personal to everyone else, and the ins and outs of casting when you're taking cues from your own life. ON MAKING SONG'S FIRST FEATURE "I wish that I could give you some a lofty thing that I was trying to do. But honestly, I think because it was my first movie, it was just getting through the day and getting a movie made more than anything. I think that every day, the number-one goal that you're facing is just 'okay, how do I make this movie — how do I get through today, and get the footage and get the performances I need?'. That really was the primary drive. I wish I had big, lofty dreams for things, but it was so much more like I was like learning how to do it as I go because it was my first movie. That really was so fully occupying me that it was hard actually for me to feel like I could have any goals beyond making the movie." ON TAKING INSPIRATION FROM REALITY, AND FROM SONG'S OWN STORY "It really does start from that amazing subjective place — that is the part that is the autobiographical moment, which is that moment in the bar. But then, of course, in turning it into a script there is an objectification of the subjective moment, where it becomes a script that you're writing. And then from there, there's another layer of objectification, where you, with hundreds of people who are working on the movie, turn it into a film — which is then a whole other set of objectification. And, part of it is the subjectivity of the actors, for example: they come into the picture and you're working with the actors to create these characters. So, by the time that I was making the movie properly and then finishing the movie and all that, I really was looking at the thing as making this movie. I think that at that point I felt pretty distant from the aspects of the movie that were that started from an autobiographical place. But now that what I really love is it's kind of full circle now — the audience is coming to meet this movie, and they're actually then able to experience it subjectively. They feel like it connects with them autobiographically on their own, too. I think that's the process of making personal work, and I think that's really what the process was for this. I really do think of it as a very personal film because of that. And the words I would usually use, I would say it's an adaptation of my life, or inspired by, or something like that." ON MAKING A PERSONAL FILM THAT FEELS PERSONAL TO AUDIENCES, TOO "That's always the dream and goal for it, because I feel like I have to believe that if I'm being as honest and authentic with the experience of what it's like to be a person, I just know that there is an audience that's going to also connect to it like that. I've really treated it very much as a test of how real can I be with the audience, and how real can the filmmaking be. Of course, I'm talking about the truth of the thing, rather than the facts, because some of it is about the truth of what it's like to be a person. As long as it is communicated in the best way, as clearly as possible — I think I used the word 'clearly' often, as you want to be able to tell the story as clearly as possible — at the end of it you really do want the audience to come along for this journey. And even though it's really specific, I think that the dream is that you're able to see yourself in it and you're able to connect it to your own life. This movie doesn't have conventional ideas of spectacle. We don't have wild costumes. We don't have VFX. We don't do anything that is outside of what is likened to human experience. So I think some of it just had to be relying on the authenticity of performance, and that's where the story is going to be. That's how the story was going to connect with the audience — they're going to feel how real the movie is going to be, the way that the movie is going to reach everyone. I've been finding that no matter what walk of life you come from, you're going find something in the movie that you feel connected to." ON MAKING AN AUTHENTIC "WHAT IF?" STORY WHEN EVERYONE SHARES THAT TRAIN OF THOUGHT "That really is the the part that is difficult about making a movie where you can really feel connected to it. It's going to live and die on if the audience will come along for the journey and believe it, and believe the characters and believe the story. I think without question, that's where you're going to be able to see very, very high emotional standards. We do, of course, all experience 'what could have been?'. Sometimes it's the person, but sometimes it's a city — and sometimes it's a lifestyle or a job. If you ever have had an experience like that, I think you're going to connect to the movie." ON THE INTRICACIES OF CASTING WHEN YOU'RE TAKING CUES FROM YOUR OWN LIFE "I don't think that I was looking for actors who were going to play basically those people [IRL]. I was looking for people who were going to play the characters that I've written. So something that I wanted is to make sure that none the actors thought that what they were trying to do is to replicate people who exist. I wanted then to come with me in finding the characters that we're trying to to pick for the screen, because it's a completely different thing altogether — characters in movies are very different than people in real life. People in real life, it's not so clear what their arc is. In our lives, I don't think that we know what our arc is in our real life, because we don't live in narrative. We live in a life, compared to characters in a film who have to live in a narrative, because that's what we're going to be watching. Without question, the actors were not being asked to replicate real people. What they were being asked to do is the scenes, and part of the thing that I was looking for in the actors is, first of all, are they great actors? The way that I wanted to make the movie, sometimes I would ask the actors to just do the whole scene — which is, of course, something that comes from my background as a playwright — and I really wanted them to be able to do the whole scene if I asked them to. That's something that only actors that are really excellent actors are able to do. So, that was the first thing that I was looking for. The other thing I'm looking for is what I would call a soul match to the characters, where I really wanted the actors to have some deep kind of soul connection to the characters — it has to do with the way they're talking about the characters, but it's also, more importantly, the engine or the fire that a character has to have. It is something that the actors themselves could have — that the heart of Nora is going to be found in Greta's heart as well. I think you could really feel that in the film, where Nora is showing up but it's not just that Greta is playing Nora. I know that for the film, the only way that this movie can work is that Greta had become Nora. That's what's both amazing about casting and also what's very difficult." ON THE RESPONSE TO PAST LIVES SO FAR — AND THE SUNDANCE EXPERIENCE "You just hope for the best for the movie that you're making kind of in secret. I really did think about it as something that was a bit of a secret between me and everybody who was working on the movie. Then, as for how the world was going to receive it, that's been an amazing part — it's just nothing but joy and like excitement. I remember at Sundance, I'd been working on the movie again in secret with the people who worked on the movie with me for many years. Then I remember waiting at the backstage of Sundance, knowing that it's going to be in the in the public's hands from this moment on. I remember really feeling in that moment like everything's going to change, and this is going to be a moment where I'm going to have to let go of control or let go of everything. It really was like wandering into the unknown. I think that every time that there has been such a warm response, which is how it been, it's just such an exciting thing — because great word of mouth means that more people are going to come see the movie, and I think that's always the dream for it. You want to be able to share this thing that you made." Past Lives opened in cinemas Down Under on August 31. Read our review. Images: courtesy of A24.
When you step inside an IKEA superstore, it feels as though you have been transported to a different world entirely. Endless floors filled with endless shelves, filled with endless minimalistic, cost-effective products. It's planet IKEA. And now we might not be too far from the real-life version. Not long after launching fully furnished IKEA homes, IKEA has published plans to build a private neighbourhood. Set to start construction next year, the neighbourhood will cover 11 hectares of land in London to be named 'Strand East'. It will incorporate 1,200 homes and apartments, all owned by the Swedish furniture company. “We are in keeping with the IKEA philosophy: we don’t want to produce for the rich or the super-rich; we want to produce for the families, for the people,” says Harald Müller, the head of LandProp, the property-development branch of Inter IKEA, told The Globe and Mail. IKEA promises that the all-rental homes will appeal to a variety of income levels, and 40% will be large enough to house a family. The neighbourhood will be peppered by condominiums and offices, and will include a hotel as well. Underneath it all will lie an underground parking lot to avoid cars cluttering the interior streets. It all sounds rather Utopian, but does a furniture company really have what it takes to manage 6,000 residents? “We’d have a very good understanding of rubbish collection, of cleanliness, of landscape management,” Andrew Cobden, the project manager, says. “We would have a fairly firm line on undesirable activity, whatever that may be. But we also feel we can say, okay, because we’ve kept control of the management of the commercial facilities, we have a fairly strong hand in what is said in terms of the activities that are held on site.” Mr. Müller says that IKEA will act much like a municipal government to its neighbourhood, organising community events and creating a "sense of place". Looks like IKEA execs have had a lot more on the brain than "Ektorp" sofas and Swedish meatballs. Welcome to Ikea-land. [via PSFK]
This part of the multiverse mightn't boast chefs controlled by raccoons, talking rocks and hot dog fingers, but it has turned a mind-bending movie spanning all of the above into one of the year's big awards contenders. Everything Everywhere All At Once is one 2022's very best movies, too, and it might soon have some shining trophies for its troubles from the 2023 Golden Globes. Awards season is upon us again, because the end of the year doesn't just mean all things jolly and merry — and the beginning of the new year isn't just about fresh starts and resolutions you likely won't keep, either. The Golden Globes will unveil its latest batch of winners on Wednesday, January 11 Australian and New Zealand time, but its just-announced list of nominees features plenty to get excited about, including a heap of 2022's must-see movies and TV shows. While the Oscars cover films and the Emmys focus on television, the Golden Globes spread its gongs across both formats, meaning that big-screen hits like Elvis and Top Gun: Maverick have scored some love, and so have small-screen favourites such as Severance and Wednesday. Topping the nominations on the movie side is standout Irish comedy The Banshees of Inisherin, including nods for stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. School-set sitcom Abbott Elementary — think Parks and Recreation, but in a Philadelphia public school — leads the TV contenders. Reuniting Farrell, Gleeson and their In Bruges director Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin nabbed eight noms, with Everything Everywhere All at Once picking up five, including for actors Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis. Next on the list, Damien Chazelle's Babylon and Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans each turned their love letters to cinema into five nominations. On the small screen, Abbott Elementary picked up five nods, followed by The White Lotus, DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, The Crown, Pam & Tommy and Only Murders in the Building with four each. Other highlights include Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery scoring a nomination for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Daniel Craig for Best Actor in the same category; Emma Thompson's Best Actress nod in the same genre for Good Luck to You, Leo Grande; both Decision to Leave and RRR among the non-English language picks; and Angela Bassett receiving some Best Supporting Actress love for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. And, there's The Bear picking up two noms (including for lead Jeremy Allen White) in the TV fields, Diego Luna's Andor nomination, Zendaya's Euphoria nod and Better Call Saul's final season being recognised, too. Although there's plenty to celebrate among this year's contenders — including a hefty showing for Australians, including Baz Luhrmann's Best Director nom for Elvis, and Cate Blanchett, Margot Robbie, Hugh Jackman and Elizabeth Debicki all picking up acting nominations (for Tár, Bablyon, The Son and The Crown, respectively) — the Globes are sadly back to ignoring women directors. If you're wondering what else is in the running, here's the full list of nominations: GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEES: BEST MOTION PICTURE — DRAMA Avatar: The Way of Water Elvis The Fabelmans Tár Top Gun: Maverick BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE — DRAMA Cate Blanchett, Tár Olivia Colman, Empire of Light Viola Davis, The Woman King Ana de Armas, Blonde Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE — DRAMA Austin Butler, Elvis Brendan Fraser, The Whale Hugh Jackman, The Son Bill Nighy, Living Jeremy Pope, The Inspection BEST MOTION PICTURE — MUSICAL OR COMEDY Babylon The Banshees of Inisherin Everything Everywhere All at Once Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Triangle of Sadness BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE — MUSICAL OR COMEDY Lesley Manville, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris Margot Robbie, Babylon Anya Taylor-Joy, The Menu Emma Thompson, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE — MUSICAL OR COMEDY Diego Calva, Babylon Daniel Craig, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Adam Driver, White Noise Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin Ralph Fiennes, The Menu BEST MOTION PICTURE — ANIMATED Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio Inu-Oh Marcel the Shell With Shoes On Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Turning Red BEST MOTION PICTURE — NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE All Quiet on the Western Front Argentina, 1985 Close Decision to Leave RRR BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once Dolly De Leon, Triangle of Sadness Carey Mulligan, She Said BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin Brad Pitt, Babylon Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once Eddie Redmayne, The Good Nurse BEST DIRECTOR — MOTION PICTURE James Cameron, Avatar: The Way of Water Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once Baz Luhrmann, Elvis Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans BEST SCREENPLAY — MOTION PICTURE Todd Field, Tár Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin Sarah Polley, Women Talking Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner, The Fabelmans BEST ORIGINAL SCORE — MOTION PICTURE Carter Burwell, The Banshees of Inisherin Alexandre Desplat, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio Hildur Guðnadóttir, Women Talking Justin Hurwitz, Babylon John Williams, The Fabelmans BEST ORIGINAL SONG — MOTION PICTURE 'Carolina' by Taylor Swift, Where the Crawdads Sing 'Ciao Papa' by Alexandre Desplat, Guillermo del Toro, Roeban Katz, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio 'Hold My Hand' by Lady Gaga, BloodPop, Benjamin Rice, Top Gun: Maverick 'Lift Me Up' by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 'Naatu Naatu' by Kala Bhairava, M.M. Keeravani, Kala Bhairava, Rahul Sipligunj, RRR BEST TELEVISION SERIES — DRAMA Better Call Saul The Crown House of the Dragon Ozark Severance BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES — DRAMA Emma D'Arcy, House of the Dragon Laura Linney, Ozark Imelda Staunton, The Crown Hilary Swank, Alaska Daily Zendaya, Euphoria BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES — DRAMA Jeff Bridges, The Old Man Kevin Costner, Yellowstone Diego Luna, Andor Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul Adam Scott, Severance BEST TELEVISION SERIES — MUSICAL OR COMEDY Abbott Elementary The Bear Hacks Only Murders in the Building Wednesday BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES — MUSICAL OR COMEDY Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building Jenna Ortega, Wednesday Jean Smart, Hacks BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES — MUSICAL OR COMEDY Donald Glover, Atlanta Bill Hader, Barry Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building Jeremy Allen White, The Bear BEST TELEVISION LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION Black Bird DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story The Dropout Pam & Tommy The White Lotus BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION Jessica Chastain, George and Tammy Julia Garner, Inventing Anna Lily James, Pam & Tommy Julia Roberts, Gaslit Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION Taron Egerton, Black Bird Colin Firth, The Staircase Andrew Garfield, Under the Banner of Heaven Evan Peters, Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Sebastian Stan, Pam & Tommy BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A LIMITED SERIES, ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus Claire Danes, Fleishman Is in Trouble Daisy Edgar-Jones, Under the Banner of Heaven Niecy Nash, Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Aubrey Plaza, The White Lotus BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A LIMITED SERIES, ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION F. Murray Abraham, The White Lotus Domhnall Gleeson, The Patient Paul Walter Hauser, Black Bird Richard Jenkins, Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Seth Rogen, Pam & Tommy BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL-COMEDY OR DRAMA TELEVISION SERIES Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown Hannah Einbinder, Hacks Julia Garner, Ozark Janelle James, Abbott Elementary Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL-COMEDY OR DRAMA TELEVISION SERIES John Lithgow, The Old Man Jonathan Pryce, The Crown John Turturro, Severance Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary Henry Winkler, Barry The 2023 Golden Globes will be announced on Wednesday, January 11 Australian and New Zealand time. For further details, head to the awards' website.
If you missed out on the last Sydney Contemporary — or last year's The Other Art Fair — fret not. While the latter most recently happened in October, it's back again in March. Art lovers, you know what this means: you'll have another opportunity to snatch up an artwork from emerging and unrepresented artists from March 22 to 25. Presented by Saatchi Art, the fair showcases more than 100 artists (selected by a formidable committee of contemporary art experts), typically drawing in about 10,000 people over four days. Celebrating the vibrancy and innovation of Sydney's emerging art scene, it's a rare chance to buy work directly from artists rather than through a gallery. Thinking of buying? Fair organisers advise you to obey your taste, buy what you like, take a risk and most of all, make the most of having the artist on hand to chat to. Alongside the art will be workshops, large-scale installations, talks and events, plus drinks to refresh your palette between perusals. Make a party out of it by attending on opening night ($25), or stop by for a general browse between Friday to Sunday, with general entry tickets costing between $12 and $15. Head along to catch a rising star at the beginning of their career — or just to soak up all that creativity and get inspired.
Are you feeling a bit left out at work when people are discussing their weekend whisky sour at Shady Pines because you are at a loss as to what is in that drink or where that bar is? Or do you miss the camaraderie that comes with a university pub crawl but feel your palette has matured beyond fire engines and snake bites? Do not fret if so, Sydney Bar Tours has arrived. Headed up by two of Sydney's most illustrious foodies, Alex Adams from EatDrinkPlay.com and Simon McGoram, drinks editor of Australian Bartender magazine, the tours are aiming to illuminate the ever changing Sydney nightlife landscape. The experience is simple but unique, a small group of ten (friends or strangers) introduced to Sydney's best new bars. You'll meet the owners, managers and bartenders, sample the bars menu and even have cocktails and drinks designed just for you. McGoram points out: "In short, you'll get the rock star treatment." Currently offering two tours focusing on the small bars in Darlinghurst and the CBD, the operation looks to expand to the locales of Surry Hills, Bondi Beach and Kings Cross. The tours run for a little over three hours, include food and drinks, and tickets are limited. Check out Eat Drink Play for more details.
If your last holiday seems like a distant memory and you're yearning to get away from the bustle of city living, a new arrival to Aotearoa's tourism scene is set to provide some much-needed peace and quiet. Australian startup Unyoked was founded by twins Cam and Chris Grant back in 2016, as an off-the-grid experience bringing you the convenience and comforts of four solid walls, alongside the adventure, spontaneity and closeness-to-nature of camping. Since then, it's been a raging success, with a number of compact cabins located around NSW, Victoria and Queensland catering to burnt out city slickers looking for some R&R in remote — and sometimes pretty rugged — areas. It's all in the name of wellness: Cam and Chris believe spending time in the wild is beneficial to the body, mind and soul. The company's ethos is about total immersion in nature — something New Zealand has a lot of, making it a fairly natural fit as their next country to conquer. Launching next month, the company's first New Zealand cabins will be dotted around some of the country's most stunning and remote spots, including the tropical bush of the Bay of Islands, the rugged west coast of the North Island and around stunning Port Waikato coastline. The exact locations are still under wraps — and you'll be waiting to find out as Unyoked often only reveals the address of where you're headed until it's basically time to depart. It's all part of the adventure. You might choose to take yourself on a working retreat and let the fresh air and beautiful scenery spark inspiration — or leave the laptop at home and instead get around to finally reading that book. How you spend your time off the grid is up to you. And don't worry, it's not total Man Vs Wild vibes. There will be plenty of creature comforts to help elevate your time away. Unyoked promises they're working with some truly excellent local brands to prepare for the launch, including Raglan Roast coffee, McLeod's Brewery, J.M.R & Co, Webster's tea and Sleepyhead beds. That hints that there will at least be a good cuppa, a few brews and a damn comfy spot to lay your head during your getaway. Unyoked joins a host of other small hideaway-type booking accompanies including international juggernaut Airbnb, and local glamping specialists Canopy Camping. But the founders see it less as a site to nab accommodation, and more as a fully immersive experience beneficial to wellbeing. They say they hope users will treat a stay in nature as they do a fitness routine or meditation app. And to be honest, if our search for wellness sees us choosing between waking in New Zealand's breathtaking surroundings or sweating it out in a hot gym — we know which one we're choosing every time. Unyoked will launch its first New Zealand accommodation options in July 2022. For more information, head to the company's social media pages or the official website.
Surfers of Melbourne — all 300,000 of you — don't go anywhere. Come Easter, the first waves will be rolling through Australia's very first surf park. And, no, you won't have to drive all the way out to Torquay or the Peninsula. Instead, Urbnsurf Melbourne will be located on a huge site in Tullamarine, just near the airport. Plans for the park first surfaced way back in 2016, and Urbnsurf has today announced that the park has installed its wave generator. That means it will be pumping out surf by April, with a view to be open to the public by spring this year. At the moment, the site is still a hole in the ground — but when it opens, the two-hectare lagoon will power up to 1000 waves per hour, day and night. And you'll get a choice of waves. Want to ride nothing but perfectly-formed right-handers for an hour? Or would you prefer a random selection, like what you'd experience in the ocean? You'll be able to take your pick. According to Urbnsurf founder Andrew Ross, "every wave has six different take-off spots", which equates to 3600 surfable positions every hour. The waves are created by Wavegarden technology, which was developed by a Spanish engineering firm of the same name. So how does it work? Basically, the waves come from an 85-metre pier that runs down the centre of the lagoon (which you can see in the image below). A series of pistons located on the pier then push the water to the left, then to the right, to create the waves. Ross likens the movement to "moving your hand back and forward like a shark's tail". [caption id="attachment_707250" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Urbnsurf lagoon under construction.[/caption] If you're worried about the amount of energy needed to drive such an operation, take comfort in the fact that Urbnsurf aims to run on 100 percent renewables within the first 12 months of opening. From the get-go, the rest of the facility's built environment — which includes a beach club, loads of eateries and a retail space — will be partially solar powered (with the rest sourced from renewable sources), and water will be sourced from storm water stores near the airport before being treated and filtered. Once the lagoon is filled, the team will then enter a testing period — if you're a keen surfer, you can sign up to give it a test drive before the park opens to the public in spring this year. The ability to create waves means that the park will be built for both pros who are looking for steep, barrelling waves and novices looking for a safe place to get their start in the surf. "Becoming a great surfer is all about getting waves under your feet," says Ross. "But, in Melbourne, the nearest waves are over an hour away. Unless you set up your life so you can get down there regularly, it's difficult to progress as a surfer, without dedicating decades of your life to it." At Urbnsurf, Ross predicts, most novices will stand on their board within an hour and ride across the green face within two. And not only will you get guaranteed waves — you won't be fighting for them. The park holds 84 riders per hour. And, should you get seriously hooked, you'll be able to enter amateur competitions, maybe with (or against) your mates. When completed, it will be the fourth commercial wave park in the world, and the first in Australia. But not for long. Urbnsurf has already has plans for a Sydney park approved, and it's also lodging a development application for a site in Perth. Another park has also been proposed for regional Queensland. https://vimeo.com/256710737 Urbnsurf is due to open in spring 2019 near Melbourne Airport. You can sign up to test out the surf park before it opens on the website. Top image: Wavegarden San Sebastian, by Ed Sloane. All images courtesy Urbnsurf.
It's something you're hoping you only have to do once (more) in your life, you're probably not looking forward to it and your entire future is riding on the outcome. And yet this outing — the one where you first meet your partner's parents — might also be one you look back on fondly around shared dinner tables for years to come. To set your day or night on the right trajectory, the perfect backdrop is key. Nothing too fancy or cool; you want a place that will put everyone at ease, you included. We've partnered with American Express to scour Sydney for ten such spots, all of which will make a solid impression on any potential future in-laws. These restaurants are easy to enjoy, take bookings, accept Amex and give you the best chance of winning over the rentals. They have personality, charm and are serving up some great food and booze to help the sell. Got yourself in another dining situation and need some guidance? Whatever it is, we know a place. Visit The Shortlist and we'll sort you out.
Gelato Messina — the geniuses that brought us the beautiful combination of salted caramel, fudge and meringue, have concocted a new flavour — and this time, it's made from the ingredients we usually reject: food scraps. Dubbed 'Bread and Butter Pud for Good', the flavour will be available for one week only, starting July 18, to help launch and publicise Virgin Mobile and OzHarvest's #mealforameal campaign. "[The flavour] will be a citrus spiced custard smashed with bread and butter pudding," says head chef and Messina partner Donato Toce, the guy that gets to eat half a litre of gelato every single freaking day. "These ingredients are what OzHarvest has in excess, so we thought this would be a good opportunity to make a unique flavour with that." Messina has been donating to OzHarvest for the past three years, so this project is right up their alley. "It works in so well with what we do, we would never want something out there that's half-hearted," he says. "For us it's all or nothing, and that's why this Virgin campaign is such a beautiful thing; it's them giving 100 percent to the needy". The #mealforameal campaign trades on our existing preoccupation with photographing our food. It encourages you to snap, crop, filter and share images of food to your heart's content. For every one image that you upload to social media with the hashtag #mealformeal, Virgin Mobile will donate one meal to OzHarvest. The target: 400,000 meals donated to charity. OzHarvest is an organisation aimed at addressing the disparity between enormous waste on the food production end, and the multitudes of people who go without food on the other. In Australia alone, $8 billion worth of food goes to waste annually. OzHarvest actively tries to minimise this gap by distributing surplus food from participating restaurants to charities all over Australia. It's a good partnership for Messina, who pride themselves on community engagement. "Messina is not just ours, it's everybody's," says Donato. "It's a neighbourhood thing and it’s the interaction with our customers [that] makes us what we are." There's a lot of people power in the long queues spiralling around the corner of their establishment. You were going to wait for an indefinite amount of time for some of that creamy joy in a cone anyway. Now you have the extra pleasure of helping someone in need get a good meal at the same time.
Half-priced airfares have been quite the topic of conversation over the past 24 hours, with the Australian Government announcing a scheme that'll see the country's airlines sell 800,000 flights at the discount rate. That starts in April — but if you're keen on getting away before then, Virgin is doing a flash sale that'll also slash fares by half. Hang on, Virgin? Yes. The same airline that, less than 12 months ago, entered voluntary administration. It has since been sold to US private investment firm Bain Capital, launched a comeback sale in early July and its voluntary administration officially ended on Tuesday, November 17. With so many folks talking about the government's half-price fares, Virgin is capitalising upon the chatter; however, it's only putting this current set of cheap tickets on sale for two hours — from 5–7pm AEDT today, Friday, March 12. These fares don't form part of 800,000, and you'll need to be keen to travel in the next fortnight, with the flights covering trips between Monday, March 15–Sunday, March 28. The discounted economy flights include seat selection and checked baggage. All Virgin-operated routes nationally form part of the sale, with some of the specials on offer including Sydney to Byron Bay for $55, Sydney to the Gold Coast for the same price, Melbourne to Launceston from $64, Brisbane to the Whitsunday Coast from $78 and Melbourne to the Gold Coast from $88 (and vice versa in all cases, naturally). As we are still in the middle of a pandemic, flying is little different to normal. Virgin has introduced a range of safety measures, including hand sanitisation stations, contactless check-in and face masks provided to all passengers. Wearing masks on flights also became mandatory in Australia in January. Virgin's half-price flash sale runs from 5–7pm AEDT today, Friday, March 12 — or until sold out. Find out more about current interstate border restrictions over here.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is one of last year's very best movies. It's one of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino's best features, too, and it won Brad Pitt an Oscar earlier this year. If you loved it, have rewatched it multiple times and have even checked out the making-of documentary that hit YouTube earlier in 2020, then you'll be pleased to hear about Tarantino's next Once Upon a Time in Hollywood-related project — because he's turning the movie into a new novelisation. Publisher Harper Collins has announced a two-book deal with the Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill and Inglourious Basterds director, including a movie based on his ten-time Academy Award-nominated latest movie. But while said novel will chart the events already seen on-screen, it'll also add to the story. Readers can apparently expect "a fresh, playful and shocking departure from the film" according to the publisher's statement announcing the news, with the book following TV actor Rick Dalton (as played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double Cliff Booth (Pitt) "both forward and backward in time". Yes, Tarantino will be penning the text, which marks his first foray into printed fiction. Set to release in 2021, there'll be multiple versions available. A paperback is due to release by mid next year, along with ebook and digital audio editions. Then, come the second half of 2021, you'll be able to pick up a hardcover edition. In the aforementioned statement, Tarantino waxed lyrical about his love of novelisations — aka books that relay the narrative of big-screen releases. "In the 70s, movie novelisations were the first adult books I grew up reading," he said. "And to this day I have a tremendous amount of affection for the genre. So as a movie-novelisation aficionado, I'm proud to announce Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as my contribution to this often marginalised, yet beloved subgenre in literature. I'm also thrilled to further explore my characters and their world in a literary endeavour that can (hopefully) sit alongside its cinematic counterpart." For his second book in the Harper Collins deal, Tarantino will be going the non-fiction route — and veering away from his most recent flick. Called Cinema Speculation, it'll focus on movies from the 70s, combining "essays, reviews, personal writing and tantalising 'what if'-style pieces. In the interim, you can check out Once Upon a Time in Hollywood's trailer below. And, you can read our full review of the movie, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELeMaP8EPAA Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood novelisation is due to hit shelves in mid-2021 — we'll update you with an exact release date when it is announced.
Sydney's street art game has become more publicly known over in the last few years. Melbourne had been stealing significant thunder with its clandestine laneways plastered with all forms of art, but Sydney has always been a quiet achiever in this wall-based cultural realm. But those days are done, as Austrian artist Nychos makes his mark around town, another artist will work on his own wall canvas live for all to watch. Russian-born, Sydney-based artist MCRT, aka Maxim Chikanchi, is known for his portraiture and wild animals found in some prime Sydney spots. You may recognise his work from the walls of Garçon at Tramsheds, Paddington's Captain Cook Hotel and café-book-nook Ampersand Café. And this week, the artist returns to Ampersand to take on eight metres of fresh wall canvas. My new #artwork for #garconsydney at #tramshedsharoldpark #sydneyart #coffeeart #gabrielgarciamarquez #mural A post shared by MCRT (@mcrt.studio) on Oct 13, 2016 at 7:22pm PDT Bringing "The cool chill of Russian winters to the tropical heat of Sydney's busy streets," Maxim will paint a massive polar bear inside the cafe to submerge the space in Artic waters, and perhaps add a bit of world contemplation to your morning latte. "The piece is about contrast," he explains, "with the world temperatures rising, and the hottest summer ever recorded here in Sydney, I thought a polar bear swimming through the cold waters of the Arctic Ocean to be an apt thought for contemplation on both the direction our environment is going in, and a fresh reminder of what we are hoping for on a hot summer day." Head to Ampersand this Thursday, March 2 and Friday, March 3 from 10am to 3pm, and if you're lucky, you may even snag a one-off replica of MCRT's polar bear for your home. A collection of his original works and prints will also be sold. Images courtesy of the artist.
Baba's Place is known for doing things a little differently; whether that's housing its restaurant in a Marrickville warehouse or curating cutting-edge DJs to perform as you have dinner. Its off-the-beaten-track mentality and top-notch eats have cemented its place in the hearts of many Sydneysiders (and on our best restaurants in Sydney list). Now, the latest addition to the Baba's Place artillery is a new ready-to-drink rakija and tonic concoction the team has created in partnership with fellow rakija enthusiast DNA Distillery. It's thought to be the first of its kind in Australia, and possibly also in the world. The summer-ready sip combines DNA's classic double-distilled rakija with a fizzy refreshing tonic in one unique portable drink. DNA is a family-run distillery that uses a recipe passed down through generations, along with Australian shiraz grapes and pears, to create three rakija varieties — classic, gold and pear. Forming a rakija dream team with Baba's Place — who have had a shot of the spirit on their menu since day one — they've now brought something brand new to Australia's RTD market. Playing on the duo's shared suburban heritage, the branding pays homage to Western Sydney's red-brick houses with the slogan "It gets hot in the suburbs" sitting prominently on each can. Completing the look is one of those ubiquitous red plastic chairs, which appears to be melting in the sun. The cans are already available in a few places. You can of course order one from the Baba's Place menu if you're at the warehouse for a meal, or you can snap some up from the DNA Distillery website. A haven for local and independent booze, Drnks also stocks the cans on its website and at its Sydney store. Plus, if you're around Marrickville on Saturday, January 28, Baba's Place will be onsite at The Great Club for its Hottest 100 block party cracking plenty of R&T cans for those in attendance. To find out more about the Baba's Place x DNA Distillery Rakija and Tonic cans, or to order, see the distillery's website.
For the past few months, Netflix has been drip-feeding The Crown fans sneak peeks of the show's fourth season. By now, you've probably watched the first teaser, which gave a brief 46-second snippet of the royal drama's latest ups and downs. And you've likely also viewed the longer trailer, which sported quite the heavy mood. If you can't wait for more, however, a new glimpse at the series' next batch of episodes has just hit — just over a fortnight before you'll be able to watch the entire thing, too. Of course, it has been a huge year for The Crown all round, even before the show started dropping teasers and trailers. At the beginning of 2020, Netflix announced that it would end the royal drama after its fifth season. Then it had a change of heart, revealing it would continue the series for a sixth season. That's quite the drama — and, obviously, there's more to come on-screen. This season focuses on two showdowns. Firstly, as shown in some detail in the new trailer, Queen Elizabeth II (Oscar-winner Olivia Colman) and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (The X-Files icon Gillian Anderson) don't quite see eye to eye. Also, with Prince Charles' (God's Own Country's Josh O'Connor) marriage to Lady Diana Spencer (Pennyworth's Emma Corrin) a big plot point, the latter clashes with the entire royal establishment. When season four hits Netflix on Sunday, November 15, it'll be the last chance for fans to see the current lineup on talent. The series' fifth and sixth seasons — which are expected to follow the Queen in the 1990s and 2000s — will switch out its cast again, as it did after seasons one and two. This time, after season four, Downton Abbey, Maleficent and Paddington star Imelda Staunton will don the titular headwear, and Princess Margaret will be played by Staunton's Maleficent co-star and Phantom Thread Oscar-nominee Lesley Manville. Also, Game of Thrones and Tales from the Loop's Jonathan Pryce will step into Prince Philip's shoes and Australian Tenet, The Burnt Orange Heresy and Widows star Elizabeth Debicki will play Princess Diana. Check out The Crown's latest season four trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiXEpminPms The Crown's fourth season will hit Netflix on Sunday, November 15. Image: Ollie Upton / Netflix
If you've got a hard-earned thirst for some spiffy beer merch, the folks at Victoria Bitter have you covered, and that's been the case for a couple of years. Hankering not just for branded VB gear for your wardrobe, but also for a VB fragrance? That's also been a possibility since 2020 — because if you love the famed Carlton & United Breweries beer, you probably don't mind smelling like it as well. That fragrance now has a sequel, with Thirst now available in longneck bottles. Once again, it also been dubbed "eau de hard work" — by VB itself, of course. And, to answer the first question that will have instantly popped into your head, yes, it comes in a bottle that looks the part. As for second query that we're sure you're pondering, the fragrance is made from perfume oil combined with "the essence of Australian Super Pride hops" — aka an extract from the same hops that are used to brew VB. So, while you hopefully won't reek like the stale aroma that sticks to your clothes after you've accidentally spilled your beer, you will definitely smell like hops, it seems. Apparently the scent has whiffs of "bitter citrus" and "icy aromas", too. If you're eager to not only drink VB, but bathe yourself in a cloud of its distinctive bouquet, you can purchase Thirst from Chemist Warehouse, either online or in-store — and via VB's own website. [caption id="attachment_780167" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Victoria Bitter Thirst stubbie edition[/caption] If you're keen on other VB-themed items as well, you can still head to the brand's site to check out its latest range, which always has a retro flair that nods to the brew's lengthy history quenching the thirst of hardworking Aussies. There are crewneck jumpers, singlets, socks, beanies, bucket hats, caps, thongs and shoes, all emblazoned with that instantly recognisable logo. Alongside all the clothes, you'll also find VB wall art and jigsaw puzzles — plus glasses, water bottles, coolers, bar mats and even fridges. Victoria Bitter's Thirst scent is available to purchase from Chemist Warehouse — and from VB's own website.
There's a real change in social codes when you go out for a fancy meal. You have to dress appropriately, your table talk gets kicked up a notch, and above all, you're expected to be respectful and open to new experiences. But this doesn't come naturally to all of us; least of all to children. To celebrate the launch of their latest food issue, The New York Times invited six primary schoolers to one of New York's best restaurants. The resulting video is intended as a playful little piece of comedy — and it really is cute — but boy, we definitely relate to what these kids are feeling. Embarking on a seven-course tasting menu from critically-acclaimed French restaurant Daniel, the six vest-clad, headband-wearing children were treated to US$225 worth of Smoked Paprika Cured Hamachi, Crispy Japanese Snapper, Wagyu Beef Rib-Eye and more. Straight from the kitchen of respected chef Daniel Boulud, this food is seriously fancy. But that didn't stop these kids from speaking their mind. "I didn't like any of that stuff," said one child while digesting approximately $150 of Michelin-starred cuisine. "I can't wait 'til we have dessert," said another. Another ornately plated course is placed in front of them and one boy declares, "It looks like a little forest". For the record, it totally does. Though they might outwardly seem crass or impolite, each of their statements is remarkably similar to thoughts we've also had while at fancy restaurants. While most people would just accept convention and shut their mouths, our favourite mini-critic dressed in hot pink lets all it all out. "Why do I have two knives?" she asks. "This looks like soap. It tastes like soap. Why am I eating soap right now?" Maybe this is what fine dining needs; a little honesty now and then could really deflate some of that trademark foodie pretension. Either that or we should just not bother giving kids nice things at all. I guarantee they'd be just as excited about a Happy Meal. Via The New York Times.
Hollywood director James Cameron has successfully completed a solo mini-submarine dive in a vertical ‘torpedo’ of his own design. For the past seven years, Cameron, who is better known for creating the epic blockbusters Avatar and Titanic, has been working in secret with a team in Australia to design and build a 12-tonne, 12 metre-long sub called ‘Deepsea Challenger’. The National Geographic Society, who sponsored the expedition, reported Cameron’s record-breaking descent to the deepest point in the ocean - over 10 kilometres down into the Mariana Trench, southwest of the Pacific island Guam. He returned to the surface after less than three hours under water. The director has been fascinated by oceanography since he was young, and he undertook 33 deep-sea dives to the wreck of the Titanic during the making of his 1997 film. Cameron planned to film what he could see during his solo dive to later share with the world in 3D. In preparation for the expedition, Cameron had researched submersible technology to find the best possible way to explore the seabed, and had practiced yoga in order to endure the mission in the one-person vessel. Swiss engineer Jacques Piccard and US navy captain Don Welsh are the only two other men to have reached the same depth, in the same place, in 1960. Their visibility was poor due to the amount of sand kicked from the ocean floor.
Being a fan of the world game means adjusting to world time zones, especially if you're keen to watch Australia's national women's soccer team take on the globe. When the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup took place Down Under, it was a rare tournament friendly to Aussie schedules. The 2024 Paris Olympics definitely don't fall into that category. Set your alarms, Matildas obsessives: the Tillies have qualified to chase a gold medal, but their first three games are all at 3am Australian time. The squad plays Germany, Zambia and the United States in the group stage. Their schedule from there depends on the results, aka if they make it through to the next rounds. First up is the Germany match on Friday, July 26 Aussie time. Then, come Monday, July 29, Zambia awaits. After that, on Thursday, August 1, the Matildas will take on the US. While they're competing at the Paris Olympics, none of these three games are actually in the City of Light. Instead, the first and third matches are in Marseille, while the second takes the Tillies to Nice. If you're watching along at home, Channel 9, 9Now and Stan Sport are your viewing destinations. Given the hour, that's definitely your cosiest option. But if you're keen to head out to watch the matches with a crowd, you do have some options thanks to Olympics live sites around the nation — although most won't be screening the action quite that early, so you'll be catching replays. In Sydney, the Tumbalong Park Sound Shell is your Olympics viewing spot, albeit only running from 12–11pm daily. In Melbourne, Federation Square is devoting its big screen to the games, normally running from 12–10pm daily but also showing the Tillies live — but you'll need to register for the latter. In Brisbane, head to South Bank; however, the screens will only be on from 6.30am–midnight. Yagan Square Amphitheatre in Perth will be celebrating green and gold from 7am–midnight. Some Westfield shopping centres are also getting into the action in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. As the entire country has known for months, Sam Kerr is injured — and, unlike at the Women's World Cup, isn't in the team as a result. But the squad is filled with high-profile names, including Steph Catley donning the captain's armband, plus Ellie Carpenter and Emily van Egmond as vice captains. Also in France representing the nation: Kyra Cooney-Cross, Caitlin Foord, Mary Fowler, Katrina Gorry, Michelle Heyman, Hayley Raso, Cortnee Vine, Claire Wheeler and Tameka Yallop among the forwards and midfielders; Clare Hunt, Alanna Kennedy, Clare Polkinghorne and Kaitlyn Torpey among the defenders; and Mackenzie Arnold and Teagan Micah as goalkeepers. Sharn Freier, Lydia Williams, Charlotte Grant and Courtney Nevin are the travelling alternates — and Williams is retiring from international football following the Olympics. The Matildas Group-Stage Matches at the Paris 2024 Olympics: Friday, July 26 — v Germany at 3.00am AEST Monday, July 29 — v Zambia at 3.00am AEST Thursday, August 1 — v United States at 3.00am AEST The Matildas' Paris 2024 Olympics matches place from Friday, July 26 Australian time — and you can watch via Channel 9, 9Now and Stan Sport. Images: Tiffany Williams, Football Australia.
Long before we were all forced to indulge our international wanderlust through a screen — and only though a screen — the Alliance Francaise French Film Festival was projecting France's wonders into Australian cinemas. For the past 31 years, the annual event has let Aussie movie buffs see the European nation's newest, best and brightest flicks. And when you're watching French features, you're often watching films set against Paris' busy streets, the country's greenery-filled countryside or along its scenic coastline. As it always does, the 2021 festival traverses plenty of France through its big-screen lineup. City-set dramas, suburban comedies, beachside romances: they're all on this year's bill. In total, 37 films are hitting cinemas Down Under throughout March and April, in a touring program that's making its way around the nation. Wondering what to check out? We've planned your movie-watching itinerary for you, all thanks to our ten must-see picks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYCyYJofeEE SUMMER OF 85 Nothing is ever simple in a film by François Ozon, as the likes of 8 Women, Swimming Pool, In the House and By the Grace of God has already made plain across his 19-feature resume. So, when Summer of 85 makes viewers swoon over its blossoming seaside love story — and makes teenager Alexis (Félix Lefebvre, School's Out) fall for the slightly older David (Benjamin Voisin, Moving On) when the latter rescues the former after capsizing in a sailboat — no one should get comfortable or cosy, or think that a complication-free romance will float easily and effortlessly across the screen. Alexis falls hard for his new friend, who is one of the only people he has connected with since moving to Normandy. But, unfolding across two timelines as the 16-year-old looks back on his time with David, this becomes a knotty tale of love, heartbreak and forging one's identity out of defining moments. Writing as well as directing, Ozon adapts Aidan Chambers' 1982 novel Dance on My Grave with his usual swelling mood and command of detail — and from the pitch-perfect period fashions to the coastal setting, Summer of 85 catches the eye as much as it demands the audience's emotional investment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7GvHwRzjz0 SKIES OF LEBANON Heartfelt and hauntingly evocative, Skies of Lebanon starts its story in the 50s, when Alice (Alba Rohrwacher, Happy as Lazzaro) departs Switzerland for Beirut. Never feeling as if she belongs in her homeland, she jumps at the chance to work abroad, where she quickly meets, falls for and starts a family with astrophysicist Joseph (Wajdi Mouawad, Still Burning). That part of the tale happens quickly, because this isn't the kind of romance where a couple simply lives happily ever after. Indeed, once the Lebanese Civil War begins, the ebbs and flows of Alice and Joseph's existence are wholly dictated by the combat, which instantly changes the mood of the entire city. Making a stunningly affecting feature debut, writer/director Chloé Mazlo plunges into the reality of having everything you hold dear touched by conflict, with her narrative drawn from her grandmother's recollections from the time. The always-exceptional Rohrwacher conveys Alice's internal struggle in a quietly expressive performance, while Mazlo's jumps into playful animation and striking use of stylised sets gives the film the air of a memory, helping an already moving feature to keep landing stirring blows. THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN Back in 2017, when The Square clawed through the commercialisation and commodification of the art world, it won the Cannes Film Festival's coveted Palme d'Or for its efforts. Fellow satire The Man Who Sold His Skin doesn't have the same accolade to its name, but it's just as savagely entertaining as it rips into the same topic. The man of the movie's title is Sam Ali (Yahya Mahayni, Opium). A Syrian refugee in Lebanon, he accepts a strange offer from an acclaimed, controversy-provoking artist (Koen De Bouw, Torpedo) to have Europe's Schengen visa tattooed on his back. He'll also receive assistance to obtain the real thing, as long as he agrees to sit in art galleries as a living exhibition whenever he's asked. If that last part sounds familiar, Wim Delvoye's Tim, which is live-streaming at Hobart's Museum of Old and New Art, provided writer/director Kaouther Ben Hania (Beauty And The Dogs) with inspiration for The Man Who Sold His Skin. That said, this whip-smart and wild movie takes its own ride. The great Monica Bellucci (Twin Peaks) also pops up, but a film this vivid, clever and ferocious about art, money, freedom, borders and the way the world treats asylum seekers doesn't need a star to stand out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM3J6INVpcw THE GODMOTHER With the inimitable Isabelle Huppert at its centre, and a premise that owes a debt to Weeds and Breaking Bad, The Godmother strikes a crafty balance between comedy, drama and thrills. The Greta and Happy End star (and Elle Oscar-nominee) plays Patience Portefeux, a translator who works with the Paris police on narcotics cases. During a routine job listening to wiretapped phones, she decides to prevent the big bust that'd make her boyfriend Philippe's (Hippolyte Girardot, Marseille) career, steal the enormous stash of hash after redirecting the cops' attention and take up a side hustle as a wholesaler to street-level dealers. Her motivation: money, with the long-widowed mother of two attempting to secure her financial future in a world that's hardly accommodating to single, middle-aged women. Adapted from Hannelore Cayre's book of the same name by the author with director Jean-Paul Salomé (Playing Dead, Female Agents), The Godmother is unsurprisingly lifted by Huppert, as everything she stars in is. Still, this lively and engaging crime caper is helmed with a light touch, as well as a keen awareness of the material's deeper moments. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Puzzh3wowd8 DELETE HISTORY Following three French suburbanites who are each intensely unimpressed with today's always-online times, Delete History is a satire for anyone that's ever felt tired of social media's hold on their lives; of the likes, favourites and ratings that now dictate much of human interaction; and of the fact that every word, text, video and action can last forever in the digital world. All residents of the same masterplanned community, the recently separated Marie (Blanche Gardin, #Iamhere) is being blackmailed over a sex tape she can't remember starring in, widower Bertrand (Denis Podalydes, La Belle Époque) keeps writing letters to Facebook over his teenage daughter's cyberbullying, and ride share driver Christine (Corinne Masiero, Invisibles) can't seem to amass more than a single star from her customers. Banding together in a film that's always purposefully odd and absurd, and yet also clearly grounded in relatable situations and emotions as well, this trio decide to take matters into their own hands in increasingly offbeat ways. Writer/director duo Benoit Delepine and Gustave Kervern (I Feel Good) don't deliver an earth-shattering insights about modern-day life, but in a quickly memorable movie, they do serve up a wealth of wry laughs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqEjJW059TA IBRAHIM An on-screen presence in everything from TV's Spiral and The Returned to films such as In the Name of the Land and The Transporter Refuelled, actor Samir Guesmi makes his feature directing and screenwriting debut with the sensitive and moving Ibrahim. He also co-stars, playing waiter and single father Ahmed Bougaoui; however, the movie's real point of focus is the titular teenager (Abdel Bendaher, How to Make Out), his character's son. After sliding into shoplifting with his friend Achille (Rabah Nait Oufella, Nocturama), getting caught and leaving his dad with a sizeable debt, Ibrahim is torn in two directions. He's determined to make things right for his already-struggling father, even if that means further flirting with crime. With Ahmed sternly condemning of Ibrahim's new direction, the latter is also a ball of pain, uncertainty and unhappiness. Both Guesmi and Bendaher turn in exquisitely layered performances as a father and son weighed down by life's disappointments but, despite their hurt and heated feelings, always tied together. And, as a filmmaker, Guesmi tackles the coming-of-age genre with naturalistic flair — visually, and in exploring his intricate characters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuSlIPZZFRc CALAMITY, A CHILDHOOD OF MARTHA JANE CANNARY If you've ever watched Deadwood, as everyone should've, then you've already seen one version of Martha Jane Cannary on-screen. The American frontierswoman better known as Calamity Jane has been immortalised on television and in film many times, including in the 1950s Doris Day-starring musical that shares her nickname — but Calamity, A Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary steps back to the real-life figure's formative years. While telling her tale through gorgeous minimalistic animation filled with deep and vibrant blues, greens and purples (and with breathtaking renderings of America's sprawling landscape, too), this all-ages gem does't pretend to stick to the facts. Instead, it spins Cannary's youth into an 1860s-era adventure set on and around the Oregon Trail. Director and co-writer Rémi Chayé already has 2015's Long Way North to his name, and also worked on 2009's The Secret Life Of Kells, so he's no stranger to eye-catching animation. Here, he teams spectacular imagery with a spirited narrative, and the delightful end result won him the Best Feature Film award at the 2020 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z56cG1ULGi0 NIGHT SHIFT In Lupin, playing the titular master thief, Omar Sy continually skirts the law. In Night Shift, he stands on the other side, as one of three cops assigned to escort asylum-seeker Tohirov (Payman Maadi, The Night Of) to the airport — to be deported back to Tajikistan, where further torture and worse likely await. A tense drama that delves into topical subject matter, Night Shift splits its attention between Sy's Aristide and his fellow officers Virginie (Virginie Efira, Bye Bye Morons) and Erik (Grégory Gadebois, An Officer and a Spy). Each has their own story, took their own path to their present situation and deals with the demands of the job in their own fashion. With their current task, and the fate their prisoner is expected to face, each copes in their own way as well. Adapting Hugo Boris' novel Police, it's a testament to director and co-writer Anne Fontaine (The Innocents) that little here feels as straightforward as it sounds, even if it primarily remains in familiar territory. The top-notch cast assist considerably, with Efira pushed to the fore in a rare cop movie that noticeably values a female perspective. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij-SxVU5P3g MISS When Misbehaviour thrust beauty pageants into the cinematic spotlight in 2020, it recreated real-life events from 1970 to call attention to the fight for equality — a battle that became worldwide news half a century ago, as covered in the film, but still hasn't been won in the 21st century. Because movies on similar themes often arrive in pairs, Miss also explores the industry, this time pondering gender identity and the norms that society has long ascribed to femininity. Since childhood, Alex (Alexandre Wetter, Emily in Paris) has dreamed of becoming Miss France. Uttering that goal as a boy earned laughs, and pursuing it as a twentysomething requires navigating a wealth of expectations, preconceptions and judgement. Playing a character that's confident in their heart but still learning to show the same assurance externally, Wetter brings grace, poise, texture and complexity to the central part, while filmmaker Ruben Alves (The Gilded Cage) ensures that Miss is rousing, charming and never as by-the-numbers as its feel-good premise signals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRGs--e32Sc MANDIBLES In Mandibles, friends Manu (Grégoire Ludig, Bye Bye Morons) and Jean-Gab (David Marsais, The Nobodies) stumble across a giant fly. Freeing it from a car boot, they decide that they can train it, then profit. Yes, that's what this OTT film is about. Yes, it comes straight from the mind of Quentin Dupieux, because it really couldn't spring from anywhere else. The French filmmaker has already made movies about psychotic tyres and alluring jackets — in 2010's Rubber and 2019's Deerskin, respectively — so adding a big insect flick to his resume hardly comes as a surprise. His sense of humour is that absurd and distinctive and, if the film-viewing world is lucky, he'll keep reminding us of that fact with every new movie he makes. Dupieux's work isn't to everyone's taste, as you've either gathered by watching or just by reading the above right now; however, if you're on his out-there, surreal and often incredibly silly yet also disarmingly astute wavelength, it's a delight. And sure, multiple versions of The Fly already exist, but they're bound to look positively sensible compared to this. The Alliance Française French Film Festival tours Australia from March 2–April 22, screening at Sydney's Palace Central, Palace Verona, Palace Norton Street, Chauvel Cinema and Hayden Orpheum Cremorne from March 2–April 5; Melbourne's Palace Cinema Como, Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Westgarth, Astor Theatre, The Kino and Pentridge Cinema from March 3–April 5; Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville, Windsor Cinema, Luna on SX and Camelot Outdoor Cinema from March 10–April 11; Brisbane's Palace Barracks and Palace James Street from March 17–April 15; and Adelaide's Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas and Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas from March 23–April 22. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the AFFFF website.
The centrepiece of the 2018 Biennale of Sydney was Ai Weiwei's 60-metre inflatable boat, a critique and exploration of the global refugee crisis. This year, when the Biennale returns to art galleries across Sydney, the lineup of 100-plus artists will be examining another poignant issue close to the heart of Australia: First Nations sovereignty and intergenerational trauma. Running from Saturday, March 14 until Monday, June 8, the 2020 Biennale is entitled Nirin, which means 'edge' in the language of western NSW's Wiradjuri people. This year's theme is timely, for two reasons: the 2020 blockbuster falls on the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook's voyage to Australia — and it will be helmed by a new First Nations artistic director, famed Sydney-born, Melbourne-based interdisciplinary artist Brook Andrew. [caption id="attachment_759715" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Arthur Jafa, Still from The White Album (2018). Photo courtesy the artist and Gavin Brown's enterprise, New York/Rome; commissioned by the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA). © Arthur Jafa, 2018[/caption] Andrew has selected an impressive lineup of artists and creatives — many of them First Nations — from around the world to exhibit at the Art Gallery of NSW, Woolloomooloo's Artspace, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Cockatoo Island, MCA and the National Art School for the exhibition's 12 weeks. On the just-announced program, you'll find the Southern Hemisphere premiere of Arthur Jafa's Golden Lion-awarded work The White Album, Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens's immersive work symbolising the disproportionate number of incarcerated Indigenous Australian women and a large-scale political protest piece by Pitjantjatjara artist Kunmanara Mumu Mike Williams (who passed away last year). Cockatoo Island will be home to a wide range of works, including Ghanaian-born artist Ibrahim Mahama's sprawling installation of coal sacks; Tony Albert's interactive greenhouse, where you'll be invited to write and plant messages; and Tlingit/Unangax̂ artist Nicholas Galanin's excavation work that'll 'dig up' the land beneath the shadow of Hyde Park's Captain Cook statue. Elsewhere, Ahmed Umar's ceramic sarcophagus will be shown at the MCA; DJ Hannah Catherine Jones will perform an audiovisual work inspired by pop-culture, poetry and provocative imagery; Andrew Rewald's evolving community garden will take over NAS; and Leisa Reihana's multi-channel video installation and film will explore the history of Māori and South Pacific Islander peoples. [caption id="attachment_759716" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ahmed Umar, 'What Lasts! (Sarcophagus)' Courtesy the artist.[/caption] Running alongside the free Nirin exhibitions this year will be Nirin Wir: a program of free and ticketed events taking place all over the city, from the Blue Mountains to La Perouse. You can listen to in-depth conversations between First Nations artists and other artists at the multi-location Aabaakwad, head to Cockatoo Island for 4ESydney Hip Hop Festival, watch an all-Indigenous Australian cast discuss Australia's 60,000-year history and debate the question "To cook Cook or not?' at Sydney Town Hall and join a performative walking tour of Parramatta Female Factory Precinct or a guided bushwalk through Dharawal National Park with Aunty Deirde Martin. Favourite events such as the Bankstown Poetry Slam and Sunday family day will also return for the festival. The 22nd Biennale of Sydney runs from March 14–June 8 2020. The Nirin exhibitions are free and tickets are on sale now for Nirin Wir. Top images: Lisa Reihana 'Tai Whetuki - House of Death Redux' (2016) at The Walters Prize, Auckland Art Gallery; Andrew Rewald 'Alchemy Garden'.
What happens when New Zealand's own Rose Matafeo (Baby Done) takes on British romantic comedies? In 2021, the answer was Starstruck. It's the rom-com sitcom that doesn't just fit the genre, but also loves it, unpacks it, and knows how to adapt its tropes in a smart and hilarious way. In fact, it was a delight in its first season, and then again in its second run in 2022. Here's hoping that when September rolls around, it'll prove the same once more in season three. One of the best of new shows of its debut year and best returning series of its second year, Starstruck was renewed for a third shot of love in London last year — and now the latest season arrives when romance is usually in the air, aka spring Down Under. This time, Matafeo's Jessie is single after breaking up with famous actor Tom (Nikesh Patel, Four Weddings and a Funeral), and now navigating what that all means. No matter who's starring in them, when and where they're set, and whether they're showing on the big or small screen, romantic comedies do adore telling tales about trying to hold onto a good thing. Two people meet, fall for each other — whether immediately or eventually — and work through whatever it takes to enjoy their romantic bliss: that's it, that's the genre's familiar formula. It's a setup that TV series Starstruck has been both adhering to and interrogating over its run so far, too, but the show is branching out narrative-wise when it returns in Australia via ABC iView from 9.30pm on Wednesday, September 6 and in New Zealand via TVNZ+ from 8.30pm on Saturday, September 2. If you're new to the series, New Zealander Jessie didn't realise that Tom was so well-known when they met. Once she was aware, that fact was inescapable as they tried to make their fairy tale relationship work. And yes, before the show entered its post-Tom era (although he still pops up) as its just-dropped season-three trailer notes, Matafeo — who stars, writes and created the series — well and truly knew that Notting Hill got there first. To-date, the series has proven a wonderful showcase for Matafeo, and also a savvily smart exploration of rom-com tropes as well, embracing and subverting them as needed. Nodding to romantic comedies such as The Graduate, Love Actually and Bridget Jones' Diary has also come with the territory, amusingly, affectionately and astutely so. Matafeo co-writes Starstruck with fellow comedians Alice Snedden and Nic Sampson, with Matafeo and Snedden also directing the third season. Check out the trailer for Starstruck season three below: Starstruck season three will stream in Australia via ABC iView from 9.30pm on Wednesday, September 6 and in New Zealand via TVNZ+ from 8.30pm on Saturday, September 2. Starstruck's first and second seasons are available to stream in Australia via ABC iView and in New Zealand via TVNZ+. Read our full review of Starstruck's first season — and our full review of its second season, too. Images: Mark Johnson/HBO Max.
Victoria cleaned up at the 2021 Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA), with the state's breweries taking out an impressive 12 trophies at the annual awards ceremony. The beer competition saw a swag of southern labels emerge victorious, competing with a 400-strong line-up of brewers from across the globe. Ballarat-based Dollar Bill Brewing took out the top slot of Champion Australian Beer for its Gold Teeth peach wild ale, with the tipple also named as the AIBA's Best Fruit Beer. Meanwhile, Footscray's Hop Nation snapped up the title of Champion Medium Australian Brewery, as well as claiming awards for Champion Victorian Brewery, Best Pilsner (for its recently released Rattenhund) and Best Amber/Dark Ale. Valhalla Brewing, Two Birds Brewing Co. and Fixation were also among the Victorian breweries to win big on the night. Sydney's 4 Pines was named Champion Large Australian Brewery, with Western Australia's Cheeky Monkey taking out the small brewery division. Other Aussie favourites in the awardee mix included Foghorn, Sunday Road, Six String, the ACT's Bentspoke Brewing Co, Western Australian brewery King Road, and Queensland's Burleigh Brewing Company. Of the more than 2500 beer entries, plenty came from overseas, with South Korea's Goose Island Brewhouse, China's Nbeer Craft Brewing Co and Taiwanese label Zhang Men among the international names that scooped awards. Across the ditch, Auckland's Deep Creek Brewing Company was named Champion International Beer for its Sauvage farmhouse ale, also collecting the title of Champion Large International Brewery. Each year, the AIBA recognises excellence in brewing, beer packaging design and beer media. This year's victors were picked earlier this month by a team of 67 expert judges, including Ben Kraus (Bridge Road Brewers), Jayne Lewis (Two Birds), Justin Fox (Hawke's Brewing Co), Tina Panoutsos (Carlton & United Breweries) and Warren Pawsey (Little Creatures). For the full lineup of this year's AIBA awardees, jump over to the website.
Not content with doing big business in cinemas over the past decade, Marvel is bringing its superhero tales to the small screen, as part of Disney's already-announced plans to broaden out the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That was always going to be the case once the Mouse House moved into the streaming realm. In fact, producing a slew of high-profile titles for Disney+ was on its agenda right from the beginning. But, while Star Wars fans have already been able to enjoy The Mandalorian — which aired one season in 2019, and launched its second season this year — Marvel aficionados have had to hold out a little longer to get their episodic caped crusader fix. With 2021 almost upon us, that wait is almost over. Come Friday, January 15, the six-episode series WandaVision will become Disney+'s first MCU show — focusing on Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany), as the title suggests. But it'll have company within months, with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier due to hit on Friday, March 19 and Loki dropping sometime in May. And, if you've been feeling the lack of Marvel action this year due to worldwide cinema shutdowns, the latter two shows now have their first trailers. Clearly, no one at Marvel and Disney+ has been taxing themselves while naming these series. So, you instantly know who they're about. In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan reprise the eponymous characters and head off on a global adventure. Their exploits will span six episodes, too, and will co-star Daniel Brühl as Baron Zemo, Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter,and Wyatt Russell as John Walker. In Loki, Tom Hiddleston is obviously back as the God of Mischief — and enjoying stepping into the trickster's shoes again, if the trailer is anything to go by. Viewers will watch his antics post-Avengers: Endgame, with Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino, Wunmi Mosaku and Richard E. Grant rounding out the cast. Yes, there are more shows in the works, too, with Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye due to hit sometime later in 2021, and She-Hulk, Moon Knight, Secret Invasion (about Samuel L Jackson's Nick Fury), Iron Heart, Armour Wars, I Am Groot and a Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special all slated as well. But, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki are the only ones to drop their first sneak peek as part of Disney's big 2020 Investor Day on Friday, December 11 Australian/New Zealand time — while a new trailer for WandaVision also hit. Check out the first trailers for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki, and the new WandaVision trailer, all below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkBfGvb7NzM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4JuopziR3Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBhlqe2OTt4 WandaVision will hit Disney+ on Friday, January 15, 2021. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will hit the service on Friday, March 19, while Loki is due on a yet-to-be-announced date in May.
If you have a case of herpetophobia, this mightn't be for you. If you're fascinated by crocodiles, however, an array of Australian museums have snapped up a showcase that'll pique your interest. Making its world premiere in Brisbane, Croc! Lost Giants to Living Legends is the next exhibition that's headed to Queensland Museum Kurilpa, celebrating one toothy creature. It also has three other stops around the country locked in. Exact dates for Croc! Lost Giants to Living Legends' debut run in the Queensland capital haven't yet been announced, but it will pop up before 2025 is out. After that, with timing also still to come, the exhibition will chomp its way into the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney, plus the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin. Townsville will also welcome the showcase in the future, too. And if you're wondering why news of Croc! Lost Giants to Living Legends has arrived right now without dates to go with it, the announcement has dropped to mark World Croc Day on Tuesday, June 17. Queensland Museum Kurilpa, Australian National Maritime Museum, and Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory are behind this ode to a critter that some famously love and many deeply fear — and an apex predator that Queensland Museum CEO Dr Jim Thompson dubs "the ultimate survivors". They're "older than the dinosaurs, feared across cultures and still inspiring awe today," Thompson continues, also describing Croc! Lost Giants to Living Legends as a "tale of evolution, culture, conservation and curiosity." "This groundbreaking exhibition showcases the incredible story of crocodiles — from prehistoric superpredators to cultural icons — through cutting-edge science, rich cultural knowledge and captivating interactive experiences. Crocodiles have long fascinated and challenged us, and this exhibition offers visitors of all ages the chance to see these remarkable creatures in a whole new light." The history of crocodiles, how they've outlived dinosaurs and survived mass extinctions, their evolution, the critters today, Egyptian god Sobek, their standing in First Nations knowledge, conservation efforts: expect this all to be covered. How crocodiles have sunk their teeth into pop culture, including movies and music, will also be in focus — if you don't already Elton John's 'Crocodile Rock' stuck in your head. Visitors will peer at specimens and life-sized models, as well as immersive visuals — and getting hands-on is also part of the family-friendly exhibition. "Croc! Lost Giants to Living Legends plunges visitors into the astonishing world of crocodiles — ancient survivors, apex predators and masters of adaptation," adds Australian National Maritime Museum Director and CEO Daryl Karp. "This exhibition not only celebrates the science and natural history of crocodiles but also shines a light on the deep and enduring connections First Nations communities have with these animals. Prepare to meet the crocodile as you've never seen it — powerful, mysterious and more relevant to our world than ever." 'Croc! Lost Giants to Living Legends' is set to premiere at Queensland Museum Kurilpa, South Brisbane, before 2025 is out — and also has dates with Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin, plus Townsville in its future. We'll update you when more details are announced. Keep an eye on the Queensland Museum website for more details in the interim. Images: Gary Cranitch / Queensland Museum.
By now, the fact that any new season will likely be hotter than average in Australia should hardly come as a surprise. It's a recurrent trend, especially in autumn and winter, when things are supposed to cool down. And, now that summer is behind us for 2021, this year is staying true to form. According to the Bureau of Meteorology's climate outlook for the March to May period, much of the country is in for both warm weather and wet conditions over the coming months. If you live in Australia's north, Tasmania, southern Victoria or along the west coast of Western Australia, expect toastier autumn days this year, with a more than 60-percent chance that'll be the case. Nights are also expected to be warmer over the same period, hitting an 80-percent likelihood in the northern tropics, eastern Queensland, southern Victoria and Tasmania. For folks in New South Wales, you could buck the trend. BOM is currently forecasting cooler than average autumn days for parts of the state, with a 60-percent probability. But, overall, even when Australia gets down to its minimum temperatures between March and May, they're expected to be higher than average across most of the country (other that parts of southern WA and western and central South Australia). To give an idea of exactly what that all means, the average daily maximum temperature for March sits at around 23.9 degrees in Melbourne, 24.8 in Sydney and 28 in Brisbane. In May, it's around 16.7 degrees for Melbourne, with 19.5 for Sydney and 23.2 for Brisbane. BOM is forecasting that in all three cities we'll see warmer temperatures than that across the three months — and in Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra and Darwin as well — although some rises might be minimal. In good news for farmers, much of the nation's east looks set for more rain, too. That's predicted to be the case in most of NSW, southern and eastern Queensland, Arnhem Land in the NT, eastern SA and eastern Tasmania — although, the higher probability of that happening (over 70 percent) is largely concentrated to small parts of southern Queensland and northeast NSW). In WA, the rest of the NT, Victoria, and the western parts of Queensland, SA and Tasmania, there's no indication that it'll be much wetter or drier than normal. Autumn's predicted wetter and warmer conditions across parts of the country follow Australia's rainiest summer for four years, BOM announced, topping figures since 2016–17 everywhere except greater southeastern Queensland (from the NSW border up to the Capricornia region). To finish off 2020, the country actually experienced its third wettest December since national records began in 1900; however, the nation's summer temperatures also look set to be our lowest since 2011–2012, only reaching above average in parts of Queensland and WA's west coast. If you're wondering why rain has been such a feature lately, BOM attributes it to La Niña, but notes that it is starting to subside. Bureau climatologist Dr Naomi Benger says that "the tropical Pacific Ocean is forecast to return to neutral conditions (neither El Niño nor La Niña) during autumn, consistent with the typical lifecycle of La Niña events. However, it is not uncommon for the effects of La Niña to still be felt as the event declines. That means an increased chance of above average rainfall, particularly for eastern regions". For more information about forecast weather conditions between March–May 2021, head to the Bureau of Meteorology's climate outlook.
Any design led by Norman Foster paired with the resources that Apple can muster is guaranteed to impress. And judging by renderings of Apple's new eco-friendly headquarters in Cupertino, CA, the design team heading the project have not disappointed. The development proposal for the so-called 'Apple Campus 2' was released this week on Cupertino.org. According to Slashgear, the 60.7 hectares site surpasses the U.S Pentagon in size. CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, has described the design as a "spaceship". And rightly so. The centre-piece of the entire construction is a circular structure that is to house research and development facilities, an auditorium with a 1000-person capacity and a fitness centre amongst many things. Perhaps the most impressive (and ambitious) feature of the Apple Campus 2 will be the underground parking lot which will allow 80 percent of the 60.7 hectare property to be landscaped under the guidance of an arborist. Interestingly, Mercury News points out that while Apple plans to "generate its own electricity from natural gas" at the new HQ, the plans don't consider the use of renewable energy resources. The design team behind the project includes Foster & Partners, ARUP and Kier & Wright. [via Inhabitat]
If you've ever caught two planes, three boats and four different stomach bugs to get to an impossibly blue water, white sand, out-this-world island off the coast off Southeast Asia, you've probably felt its beauty is so paramount that you, mere mortal, weren't even supposed to be there. And as it turns out, you're not. Koh Tachai is the latest small island to feel the sting of strong tourist numbers — so much so that Thai authorities are closing it completely. You can just close an entire island? You sure can. According to the Bangkok Post, the island, which is part of the Similan National Park off Phang-nga province on the west coast, will be a total no-go zone for all visitors starting October 15. This includes the shoreline, beaches and reefs too. The decision to close the island is an attempt to ease the negative effect of tourism and too much human impact on the fragile piece of paradise. The coral reef is one of the best in the world, and attracts a lot of divers and tourists in high season. At times there would be over 1000 people on the beach when, technically, it was only meant to hold 70. "Thanks to its beauty, Koh Tachai has become a popular tourist site for both Thai and foreign tourists. This has resulted in overcrowding and the degradation of natural resources and the environment," Tunya Netithammakul, director general of Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plants Conservation, told the Bangkok Post. "We have to close it to allow the rehabilitation of the environment both on the island and in the sea without being disturbed by tourism activities before the damage is beyond repair." Shutting down an entire island is a drastic measure, but it's part of a growing trend to limit the numbers of people visiting high traffic tourist sites. Earlier this year, Cinque Terre announced they would be capping visitors at 1.5 million to preserve local culture. Something to think about before you plan your next exotic getaway. Via Bangkok Post. Image: Mu Ko Similan National Park of Thailand.
As a filmmaker, he co-created the Saw and Insidious franchises, and has since been tackling iconic horror tales with The Invisible Man and 2025 release Wolf Man. As an actor, he popped up in The Matrix Reloaded. Before all of that, he was a film critic on beloved late-90s Saturday-morning music TV show Recovery. That's a helluva career so far — and next, Leigh Whannell is heading to AACTA Festival to chat about it. In 2024, the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Awards launched a festival to sit alongside its accolades, and to celebrate the latter's move to the Gold Coast. That event is returning in 2025 in a bigger guise, running for five days between Wednesday, February 5–Sunday, February 9, and hosting more than 100 sessions. The initial program details were revealed in November 2024, but a few more high-profile names have just been added. AACTA Festival will also welcome Australian The Greatest Showman filmmaker Michael Gracey, who has been earning some love from the academy of late. Better Man, his unconventional Robbie Williams biopic, topped the 2025 AACTA nominations — and attendees will hear all about the film at his festival session. Equally huge news is enlisting Paul Kelly to perform at the live How to Make Gravy concert, which also features Meg Washington, Brendan Maclean and Beddy Rays — and yes, it's easy to predict what the Australian icon will be singing. Plus, Late Night with the Devil is in the spotlight via filmmakers Colin and Cameron Cairnes getting talking, while Netflix's upcoming Apple Cider Vinegar series will score a behind-the-scenes look. [caption id="attachment_926549" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Moshcam[/caption] Featuring 20-plus new sessions, the expanded lineup builds upon a roster of events that already boasted plenty of highlights. One such drawcard: the Working Dog team, aka Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy, Michael Hirsh and Rob Sitch, coming together for an in-conversation session that's bound to touch upon everything from The Castle, Frontline, Thank God You're Here and Utopia to The Dish, The Hollowmen and Have You Been Paying Attention?. The Dish is also the screening program, and the Working Dog team will receive the prestigious AACTA Longford Lyell Award. Australian cinematographer Greig Fraser, who won an Oscar for Dune and is highly tipped for another one for Dune: Part Two, is another big-name inclusion, chatting about his Hollywood work. Also in the same category: John Seale, who took home an Academy Award for The English Patient, and was nominated for Witness, Rain Man, Cold Mountain and Mad Max: Fury Road. Everyone can also look forward to authors Trent Dalton and Holly Ringland returning from 2024's lineup, chatting about Boy Swallows Universe and The Lost Flowers of Alice on the small screen, respectively; a dive into the Heartbreak High soundtrack; a panel on queer storytelling with RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under season two winner Spankie Jackzon and Deadloch's Nina Oyama; and a session with First Nations filmmakers. And if you're keen to watch movies, Gettin' Square followup Spit will enjoy its Queensland premiere, complete with star David Wenham (Fake) chatting about the feature's journey; Looney Tunes: The Day The Earth Blew Up will make its Australian debut, at Movie World, of course; and upcoming action film Homeward with Nathan Phillips (Kid Snow) and Jake Ryan (Territory) will take viewers behind the scenes. [caption id="attachment_985262" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Courtesy of Netflix © 2024[/caption] [caption id="attachment_927965" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Netflix © 2023[/caption] AACTA Festival will run from Wednesday, February 5–Sunday, February 9, 2025 at HOTA, Home of the Arts, 135 Bundall Road, Surfers Paradise Gold Coast. For further details, head to the fest's website.
Does your breakfast involve a slice of toast slathered with Vegemite, plus a serving of baked beans? Have you ever had a cheeky mouthful of both at the same time and found the combination to your liking? Is a tin of Vegemite-flavoured baked beans now your fantasy idea of brekkie heaven? If you've answered yes to these questions, prepare to have your tastebuds well and truly tempted. Because simply scraping Vegemite across bread is boring, it seems, the yeasty Australian staple has worked its way into plenty of other food items — such chocolate, milk shakes, icy poles, ice creams, burgers, popcorn, booze and pizza, just to name a few examples. So, SPC's decision to add Vegemite to baked beans isn't all that surprising. And, like all culinary mashups that call upon the famed spread, you'll either be ridiculously excited or so put off that you may never eat baked beans or Vegemite ever again. Inspired? Gross? Only you know the answer — because the response is different for all of us. And yes, you and your stomach are definitely allowed to feel confused about the whole concept. View this post on Instagram A post shared by SPC (@spcgloballtd) Wondering how it tastes? SPC's Baked Beans & Vegemite still has a cheesy tomato sauce, but with Vegemite added. So, the whole combo is Vegemite, cheese, tomato and baked beans. For some, that'll make it better. For others, it'll make it worse. If you're nonetheless keen, the new product is being sold in two ways — as single 425-gram tins of SPC Baked Beans & Vegemite in Rich Tomato (RRP$1.70) and in four-packs of 220-gram tins (RRP $5.00). Breakfast, brunch or whatever meal you feel like pairing baked beans and Vegemite for will never look the same. SPC's Baked Beans & Vegemite tins are available in supermarkets now.
Alexandria's all-vegan brewery Yulli's Brews is dishing up an unlikely, but very welcome, combo when it hosts its second boozy greyhound adoption drive on Sunday, September 15. The usual lineup of brews and vegan pub food will have to step out of the spotlight for the afternoon as the the team at Greyhound Rescue will be there with a pop-up adoption station. If you're ready to add a new four-legged addition to your family, you'll be able to meet some orphaned doggos and start the process to meet your perfect fluffy match. Adoption fees will be reduced on the day. Even if you can't take on the responsibility of adopting a dog, you can still head along and donate some cash to the charity while drinking from the bar's karma keg. Or bring your own pup for a good old-fashioned doggy meetup. Pooches are allowed all throughout the venue. Adoption and Ales will run from midday–5pm.
Saltburn. Priscilla. Dune: Part Two. Anyone But You. Madame Web. Immaculate. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. The Color Purple. Drive-Away Dolls. As that list illustrates, a trip to the movies Down Under over the past few months has generally meant seeing a cast member of Euphoria, such as Jacob Elordi, Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Hunter Schafer and Colman Domingo, on the big screen. Enjoy them there, because they won't be back in the HBO TV show that helped make them huge stars for a bit longer. Production on Euphoria's third season has been delayed, Deadline and Variety report. Scripts are still being worked on, but shooting has been pushed back — so much so that Euphoria's cast are free to keep adding to their resumes beyond the award-winning series for the time being. "HBO and Sam Levinson remain committed to making an exceptional third season," a HBO spokesperson told both American publications in a statement. "In the interim, we are allowing our in-demand cast to pursue other opportunities." There's no word yet regarding when the cameras might start rolling on season three, but it's hoped that it will still arrive on HBO sometime in 2025. That's when the US cable network was aiming for anyway, as it noted when it outlined everything that's on its lineup in 2024 and 2025. Obviously, though, there's a big difference between Euphoria's third season hitting in January, mirroring the timing of season two — or arriving in June, which is when its first season premiered. If it takes its cues from the two specials between season one and two, that'd mean dropping in December 2025. Euphoria's on-screen talents have been busy since season two aired. Schafer's new horror movie Cuckoo premiered at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival, Elordi has been back in Australia making miniseries The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Zendaya swings a racquet around in Challengers in April. Also, Domingo was nominated for an Oscar for Rustin, while Storm Reid won an Emmy for The Last of Us. Maude Apatow has been doing voice work on Pantheon, and Dominic Fike was in Earth Mama — and played Laneway. Apparently the idea of doing a movie instead was floated, but giving Euphoria a third season remains the plan. Given the passage of time — come 2025, it will have been three years since season two, and almost four if season three doesn't arrive till the end of the year or later — it's also being reported that the show's main characters will no longer be in high school. There's obviously no trailer for Euphoria season three yet, but you can watch HBO's 2024–25 roundup trailer below: Euphoria season three doesn't have an exact release date yet — we'll update you when further details are announced. Via Deadline / Variety / The Hollywood Reporter. Images: Eddy Chen/HBO.
Over the past decade, Sydney Film Festival's opening-night movies have included Goldstone, The New Boy and We Don't Need a Map, all Australian titles from Indigenous directors. It's too early to say what 2024's fest will launch with to mark the cinema celebration's 71st year; however, First Nations filmmaking will firmly be in the spotlight via a brand-new cash prize that joins the event's slate of awards. SFF will now be home to the world's largest cash accolade for Indigenous cinema: the $35,000 First Nations Award. Set to debut at the 2024 festival, which runs from Wednesday, June 5–Sunday, June 16, the prize will be handed out in Sydney but is open to films from around the world — shorts as well — as long as it is featured in Sydney Film Festival's annual First Nations program strand. "The First Nations Award is more than a celebration of unique storytelling; it's a crucial investment in the future of Indigenous cinema. By offering this level of support, we hope to encourage more First Nations filmmakers to share their stories, enriching the film industry with diverse perspectives and voices," said SFF's long-running Festival Director Nashen Moodley. "This award aligns seamlessly with Sydney Film Festival's long-standing commitment to fostering cultural diversity and amplifying Indigenous narratives." "It is entirely fitting that the Sydney Film Festival, which for so long has been a champion of First Nations stories and storytellers from around the world, now offers the largest single cash prize for First Nations film globally," added SFF Chair Darren Dale. "This prize will inspire, motivate and reward established and emerging First Nations filmmakers with the promise that their art is important, is valued and will be seen." The First Nations Award is supported by Australian production company Truant Pictures, and joins SFF's annual gongs alongside the annual $60,000 Sydney Film Prize, the $40,000 Sustainable Future Award, the $20,000 Documentary Australia Award and the range of Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films. If you're a First Nations filmmaker with a movie that you'd love to be considered to screen at this year's SFF, and to go in the running for the new award, you have until Friday, March 1 to submit. Sydney Film Festival 2024 takes place from Wednesday, June 5–Sunday, June 16 at various cinemas and venues around Sydney. For more information, head to the festival's website. Images: Tim Levy / Luke Latty.
"No touching" isn't a warning you'll be given at Sydney's newest interactive experience. UNSW Galleries staff won't tell you to keep your mitts to yourself and wall signs won't recommend polite behaviour. Here, getting hands-on isn't just encouraged — it's imperative. So is taking off your shoes and letting your feet get in on the action as well. Welcome to Snoösphere, a two-month-long sensory environment that forms part of The Big Anxiety Festival. There's nothing like running your fingers and toes over all manner of surfaces to help de-stress, after all. Here, you'll roam, touch, see, smell, snooze and sit, with everything within the dark, silent space responding in some way. Want to stroll over things? Sit inside them? Stand in a silver curtain that smells like chocolate? As well as different lighting and textile sensations, they're all on offer. Designed by Lull Studios, created with collaborators that include autistic artists, and arising from research and workshops with autistic young people and adults in Sydney and Singapore, Snoösphere endeavours to engage all of the senses in a playful, smart, inventive and meditative ways. Dubbed a sensory wonderland, it's a simultaneously calming and engaging experience — and one that'll make you think differently about life's perceptual interactions.
Pop-up parties, grow-your-own shindigs and art-food combos are just some of the new events foodies will be able to experience at this year's Good Food Month. For those who find change a little frightening, though, there's no need to worry, as plenty of staples are also on the menu, including the Night Noodle Markets, Let's Do Lunch and Hats Off Dinners. Five hundred events make up the program, which runs throughout October and was previously known as Crave, with Australia's finest chefs, best restaurants, most skilful farmers, most knowledgeable wine experts and fanciest artisan food producers making an appearance. "As we relaunch Good Food Month, an event which started 15 years ago in Sydney, we celebrate all that is great about our outstanding and remarkably diverse food scene," explained festival director Joanna Savill. "The program is packed and there is truly something for everyone." One of the headlining events is The Great Australia Dinner with Rene Redzepi. Redzepi produces his culinary masterpieces from the kitchen of Noma, Copenhagen, which was placed First on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list (sponsored by San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna) for three years running, and is currently ranked second. As part of Good Food Month, he'll be joining forces with Neil Perry, Peter Gilmore, David Chang, Kylie Kwong and others. There'll be some other one-offs, including the 15th Annual Young Chefs Dinner, the Pyrmont Growers' Market Birthday Bash and Omnivore Sydney, as well as some "regulars" running throughout the month, including Breakfast Club, Surprise Saturday Lunch and Supper Club. Check out our picks of the ten best things to do during Good Food Month.
Of Sydney's rapidly developing inner city suburbs, Redfern is one that's changed the most in recent years. The area's main drag, Redfern Street, is almost unrecognisable to what it was five years ago. But, while lots of small bars and fancy cafes have moved in, the history of Redfern hasn't been lost, and neither has the community feel. Redfern locals are understandably passionate about their home and are big believers in buying local. So we've teamed up with American Express to show you where they shop small — whether it's for late-night obscure groceries, homewares or a good bottle of plonk. Shop small at these venues with your Amex Card.
The underworld beckons: in 2025, hit musical Hadestown is set to take to the stage for the first time in Australia. Initially premiering as an indie theatre piece in 2006 in Vermont, then reaching off-Broadway in 2016 and Broadway in 2019, the show from musician and playwright Anaïs Mitchell plunges into the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. Audiences at Theatre Royal Sydney can see the production give the ancient Greek myth a new spin from February. The Harbour City is hosting the Aussie debut season of the musical that spent 2019 and 2020 collecting accolades after accolades. From 14 Tony nominations, it won eight awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. At the Grammys, it took home Best Musical Theatre Album. If you're new to the show – which has been seen by more than three-million people and streamed over 350-million times — two love stories get Hadestown's narrative burning. Orpheus and Eurydice share the spotlight with King Hades and Persephone, as Mitchell accompanies their intertwined affairs with a soundtrack of New Orleans-inspired jazz and American folk. The production's Sydney season kicks off on Monday, February 10, 2025. Images: Hadestown Original London Cast.
Imagine a world where totalitarian forces rule the United States, women are subjugated to the point of being deemed property, protestors rally in response and the authorities try to keep everyone in line. Okay, imagine a fictionalised version of the above dystopian society — or let The Handmaid's Tale help you. Margaret Atwood's book has been doing just that since 1985, with a new Elisabeth Moss-starring Hulu series due to help come April. Now, large groups of red-clad ladies are also playing their part, freaking people out at Austin's South by Southwest in the process. They walk in pairs, don't say anything, and generally unnerve everyone around them. Yes, it's clearly a clever SXSW promo for the show, but it's an effectively creepy one. https://twitter.com/erica_grossman/status/840294583170936832 https://twitter.com/HandmaidsOnHulu/status/840288331250319360 https://twitter.com/HandmaidsOnHulu/status/840649469624377345 https://twitter.com/MargaretAtwood/status/840630956801327105 If you're up for even more anxiety-inducing tension, check out the trailer for the series below. The Handmaid's Tale screens on Hulu from April 26.
These days you can’t tell if it’s going to rain or shine. You could be heading to the beach and get caught in the rain, so rather than hedge your bets and end up wet, head to the AGNSW and see a perfect landscape in The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur. Garden & Cosmos shows the artist’s command over the land. Flora and fauna are simultaneously reduced and elaborated, laid out in an ordered yet sumptuous manner, as the artists (commissioned by the Maharajas over the 17–19th centuries) depict the physical and the metaphysical. Some paintings show courtly life full of splendorous robes and stately pleasures, while others ponder the universe and our existence. All share an elaborate style, exquisite detail and humour. This momentous exhibition, which has travelled from London’s British Museum, marks the first display of these rare paintings outside India. It forms part of the Gallery’s Indian Summer at the Gallery, celebrated with events from performances to lectures, garden walks to workshops.Garden & Cosmos may not represent Indian life as others knew it at the time, but it sure makes for sweet daydreaming.Bulaki, The Practice of Yoga, 1824, opaque watercolour and gold on paper
