Not many people read Australian fiction. The industry is small and in a spot of trouble, and a lot of Australians seem to have cultural cringe when it comes to the artistic output of their own country. Part of thois may be attributed to the fact that the local books we're taught in school are so serious and forbidding. But once you take a look at the books they don't teach you, you realise how rich and beautiful Australian literature really is, and you wonder why nobody let you in on it before. It's been an exciting time for local books of late. With the recent announcement of this year's Miles Franklin Award as well as the release of the Text Classics range — a collection of locally-written books at cheapskate prices — the time is right for the best of Australia's oft-forgotten cult classics to be embraced en masse. So, to help you out, Concrete Playground has picked out some of our finest local wordsmiths' efforts. Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas Tsiolkas, of The Slap infamy, published his first novel in 1995 and arguably hasn't written anything as powerful since. Set over one hedonic night in Melbourne, Loaded follows Ari, who's unemployed, misanthropic and refuses to be defined by either his Greek heritage or his emerging homosexuality. The novel's prose hums with the intensity of alcohol-soaked late nights and pill-fueled early mornings; it's the kind of novel you'll read in one sitting and be left breathless by once you're done. Loaded was also made into a brilliant film, Head On, in 1998. Available here Wake In Fright by Kenneth Cook If you ever want a reason not to go out into the outback, this is it. Wake In Fright is a horror story set in a fictionalised Broken Hill, where a pale and naive city kid, John Grant, is trapped in a hell of alcohol-fuelled violence, sexual humiliation and spiritual nightmare. Made into a film, which was restored and re-released in 2009, in 1972, Wake In Fright is a terrifying and sadly neglected classic in both its forms. Available here Praise by Andrew McGahan The ultimate novel about being young, unemployed and not caring in early '90s Brisbane, Praise pretty much defined the 'grunge lit' genre when drugs were cheap and Kurt Cobain was still loping around stages in a grotty cardigan. The novel follows Gordon Buchanan, chain-smoking asthma sufferer, his girlfriend Cynthia, a former heroin-addict with chronic eczema, and their awkward attempt to stay together. Written in a simple style and often described as 'raw' in a frustratingly ambiguous way, Praise isn't for the faint-hearted. Available here Monkey Grip by Helen Garner Published in 1977 and made into a film in 1982, Helen Garner's first novel of share houses, junkies, and irrational, anarchic desire in 1970s Melbourne has, over the years, become a counter-cultural Australian classic. Like reading somebody's journal, Monkey Grip bears a remarkable resemblance to the lives of most Australians in their twenties, with the main character Nora trying and failing to extricate herself from a messy relationship with Javo, an actor and a junkie. Monkey Grip is available as a Popular Penguin, so you only need a spare tenner to get your hands on it. Available here Candy by Luke Davies If you've heard about Candy it's likely to be the film version featuring Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish. But we're here to tell you that the book is better. While it's not like there's a dearth of novels about heroin addiction, Candy is one of the best, and just so happens to be Australian. Davies had a habit for over a decade, so he brings the reality of his experiences to a story where the horror of addiction is coupled with love, tenderness and utter confusion. Easy to read, Candy isn't always easy to deal with, because unlike other counter-cultural mavericks, Davies doesn't glamourise a story which, although beautiful, is still one of heartbreak and loss. Available here Blue Skies by Helen Hodgman Only recently re-published, Blue Skies is a bleak insight into the life of a new houswife and mother trapped in the bland hell of 1970s Tasmanian suburbia. Bored with a husband who rarely comes home, she lives for the two days a week she can escape the suburbs and lose herself in weird affairs with, amongst others, her best friend's kaftan-wearing husband. Hodgman's books were praised to the skies when they were published in the '70s, but then circumstances intervened and her writing went out of print until Text brought them back to life this year as 'lost classics.' Available here And The Ass Saw The Angel by Nick Cave Is there anything Nick Cave can't do? Alongside fronting The Bad Seeds, Grinderman and The Birthday Party, penning the screenplays for The Proposition and Lawless, and generally being one of our all-round favourite people, Cave has written two novels; one good, one less so. And The Ass Saw The Angel, published in 1989, is the good one, told from the perspective of a mute living as an outcast in a small town in the Southern US. It's a world of incest, religious fanatacism, madness, and drinking, and like anything Nick Cave, a terrible Biblical revenge will be wrought. Available here
After playing their first show Down Under since 2013 in Sydney, Tenacious D have scrapped the remainder of their Australian and New Zealand dates on the two-man comedy rock group's The Spicy Meatball tour. The duo, aka Jack Black and Kyle Gass, kicked off their visit in Sydney, where a joke about the attempted assassination of former US president Donald Trump by Gass sparked controversy. In the aftermath, their next gig in Newcastle was initially postponed, then the entire tour cancelled. Black has also put the band on hold, advising in a statement on social media that he was "blindsided by what was said at the show on Sunday". "I would never condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form. After much reflection, I no longer feel it is appropriate to continue the Tenacious D tour, and all future creative plans are on hold. I am grateful to the fans for their support and understanding," the Instagram post continued. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jack Black (@jackblack) Tenacious D last performed Down Under in 2013, and were set to play July dates in seven cities. The Grammy-winning pair, which first came together in the 90s as theatre students in Los Angeles, were due to hit up arenas in Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Wellington and Auckland fresh from sellout gigs in the US, UK and Europe in 2023. Their Sydney show at the ICC Sydney Theatre on Sunday, July 14 fell on Gass' birthday, with the musician presented with a cake onstage by The Super Mario Bros Movie star Black, then asked to make a wish. He replied with "don't miss Trump next time". [caption id="attachment_939742" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sven Mandel via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Gass has also made a statement on social media. "The line I improvised onstage Sunday night in Sydney was highly inappropriate, dangerous and a terrible mistake. I don't condone violence of any kind, in any form, against anyone," he said on Instagram. "What happened was a tragedy, and I'm incredibly sorry for my severe lack of judgement. I profoundly apologise to those I've let down and truly regret any pain I've caused." Ticketholders for Tenacious D's cancelled Australian and New Zealand shows will automatically receive refunds. [caption id="attachment_939746" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Raph_PH via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Tenacious D The Spicy Meatball Australia and New Zealand Tour 2024 Dates: Sunday, July 14 — ICC Sydney Theatre, Sydney Tuesday, July 16 — Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Newcastle — CANCELLED Thursday, July 18 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane — CANCELLED Saturday, July 20 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne — CANCELLED Monday, July 22 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide — CANCELLED Wednesday, July 24 — TSB Arena, Wellington — CANCELLED Friday, July 26 — Spark Arena, Auckland — CANCELLED [caption id="attachment_939740" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Travis Shinn[/caption] Tenacious D are no longer touring Australia and New Zealand across July 2024, with all tickets set to be automatically refunded. Head to the tour website for further details. Top image: Raph_PH via Wikimedia Commons.
A modern Lebanese restaurant has opened in Surry Hills where a taste of the fresh, authentic mezze will transport you to the banks of the Bardouni River in the shadow of Mount Sannine. Zahli is named after a city in Lebanon famous for food and wine, and draws inspiration from the rich tradition of mezze (small dishes designed to share) popular in the region. Owner Mohammad Issmail welcomes patrons like old friends, yet Zahli skips the overly casual banquet vibe. It retains the lively shared dining experience that comes naturally with mezze, but it's a bit more of a white tablecloth affair. The contemporary open-plan space is fitted with rendered concrete walls, stylish tiled floors, architectural lighting, hints of Scandinavian design and a grand marble bar. The acoustically designed ceiling muffles out the loud chatter at a nearby table and allows the Arabian chill-out music to quietly serenade our meal. The marble bar may be chic, but the dated cocktail list is a little out of touch in a suburb where trendy watering holes pride themselves on bespoke cocktails and crafted beer. With a namesake derived from 'the city of wine', it would also have been nice to see a bottle from the region represented on the menu. Nevertheless, we weren't disappointed too long as a glass of the sharp Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc ($60 bottle) hit the spot. The food, however, is arguably some of the best Lebanese in town. Issmail handpicked head chef Abdul Shams, whose international experience at some of Dubai's 5 star hotels aligned with the vision of a sleek inner east venue. Each dish has the authenticity of a Lebanese grandma's cooking, but with a sophisticated twist. The menu has an abundance of appealing options; so plentiful, in fact, we had trouble deciding. To buy some time, we opted for the mixed dips ($20) and shortly afterwards were presented with a basket of crispy spiced pita and a serving of soft pitas along with an enticing trio of freshly made smokey baba ghanoush, nicely tart labne and hummus. From the cold mezze offerings, the vine leaves ($14) come recommended. Served in an impressive Jenga-style stack, the soft pillows of rice-stuffed vines had a delicate flavour. We naturally progressed to the hot mezze. The entree-sized platter of the mixed finger food ($17) is the ultimate choice for the indecisive diner. It's an appetising selection of fried kibbeh (croquettes of minced meat and burghul), falafel and traditional pastries served with olives, imported Lebanese pickles and tahini sauce. The signature mansaf lamb ($28) is a traditional rice dish often produced at family gatherings, with strips of meat that are succulent and fall apart on your fork and lightly toasted almonds, cashews and pine nuts giving a satisfying crunch. On the side, order the refreshing fattoush ($15), a salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, peppers, onions and toped with crunchy baked pita, dressed with pomegranate molasses. The dessert menu is filled with alluring Middle Eastern sweets. The elegant mhalabiye ($10) is one of the prettiest desserts imaginable — a cold milk pudding scattered with fresh blueberries, edible flowers, juicy golden sultanas and speckles of pistachio and then drizzled with fragrant rose water. Linger over the thick and earthy traditional coffee, simply brewed in a metal pot. Its bitter taste is not to everyone's liking but is nicely balanced with the sticky, gorgeously sweet Turkish delight ($8), and if you shut your eyes tight enough, you might forget you're in Surry Hills.
Alright, people of Sydney, we get it. Y'all love a tight rooftop. You love to drink bevs under the open sky and in line with your demands, venues countrywide are opening up rooftop bars. It's a glorious new era with a skyline of rooftop bars extending into the horizon and, happily, Paddington's Light Brigade Hotel is the latest place to jump on the bandwagon. It's one of many recent changes for Woollahra's beloved Oxford Street hotel. In November, they reopened after an extensive renovation and came out the other side a whole lot fancier. And since October 7, Brigade Rooftop joined Brigade Bar and Brigade Dining as part of the four-storey hangout, offering pub-goers a lush space with views of the Paddington rooftops and Sydney harbour skyline. The rooftop functions as a combination space for drinking and dining, and is designed to feel "as casual as a neighbour's terrace," according to Jonathan Richards, director of interior design company SJB (the design wizards who executed the renovation). "We have designed a circular bar that fans around the terrace to enable the visitor full access to the horizon." Executive chef Marco Adler has also developed an accompanying wood-fired pizza menu available on the rooftop and in the Brigade Bar. Pizza and drinks on the rooftop? It's like they read our mind. At the same time, the Brigade Lounge also opened downstairs. It's a 1920s-themed cocktail bar that blends right into the art-deco vibe of the building, aka the perfect spot for a post-rooftop-pizza tipple. Brigade Rooftop is now open on the corner of Oxford Street and Jersey Road. Check out their Facebook page for further information.
Huge news: Darlinghurst is set to become home to Soho House Sydney, Australia's first outpost for the ultra-exclusive membership club. The much-hyped global brand already has locations across the world from Berlin to Miami, and is now in the process of transforming a building on the corner of Crown and Foley Street above Shady Pines Saloon, with ambitious plans in the works to completely reshape the space. The five-storey development is currently subject to City of Sydney approval, but is set to feature a variety of spaces both indoor and outdoor that are designed to facilitate social gatherings, including multiple restaurants and bars across the various levels. Plans submitted to the city council also show a proposed gym, cabaret facilities, and a rooftop terrace and pool. The plans also reveal anticipated changes to the facade, replacing the building's fairly rundown exterior with a simple, sleek and modern cream and brown design in line with other Soho Houses around the world. Soho House is working with Tonkin Zulaikha Greer (The Old Clare Hotel, Bondi Pavilion) in creating the proposed design. "It's possibly one of the worst-kept secrets, but we're so excited to confirm that we will be opening a Soho House in Sydney in the future," says Soho House Membership Director Dominique Bellas. [caption id="attachment_900975" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tonkin Zulaikha Greer architects[/caption] "While we don't have more details to share at this time, we continue to grow our Cities Without Houses community in Australia and are looking forward to bringing our members a week-long Soho House experience for Sydney's first South by Southwest." As Bellas stated, the Soho House Sydney announcement comes as the internationally renowned brand hits Australia for SXSW Sydney — taking over The Old Clare Hotel in Chippendale. The dreamy accommodation, pub and rooftop bar is being treated to a Soho House transformation for the eight-day festival. Soho House and Cities Without Houses members — whether they be travelling Down Under for the festival, or local jetsetters and creatives — will be treated to daily programming and events designed to be reminiscent of what you'd experience at Soho Houses around the world. Included in the events will be a performance curated by Secret Sounds, a one-night-only dinner from British chef Darren Robertson (Three Blue Ducks, Rocker), an art installation from Paul Davies and an industry event with the not-for-profit Women In Music Australia. If you want to join the Soho House community in preparation for the inaugural Australian outpost to open, you can apply for a Cities Without Houses membership, which will grant you access to the brand's SXSW Sydney takeover of The Old Clare. [caption id="attachment_706208" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Old Clare Rooftop[/caption] Australia's first-ever Soho House was originally set to open on Domain Road in Melbourne's South Yarra, but developers were forced to ditch plans at the direction of VCAT after strong opposition from local councils and a residents' group. The Darlinghurst building earmarked for Soho House Sydney has a storied history, taking many forms over the years including Bolot's Embassy Dancing Academy between 1924–30, the Playbox Theatre and Stanley Twig's auction house in the 1930s and, most recently, housing several retail tenants throughout the 2000s including an espresso bar, convenience store and a nail salon. Now boasting over 40 houses across the globe, Soho House first opened in London in 1995 as a private members club for clientele in the creative sphere. It has since spread throughout Europe and North America, opening restaurants, cinemas, workspaces, spas and bedrooms alongside the traditional clubs. From New York to Istanbul, exclusivity is a common global denominator. [caption id="attachment_613704" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Darren Robertson and Cameron Northway[/caption] Soho House Sydney is set to open at 256 Crown Street, Darlinghurst — we'll update you with an opening date when one is announced. Top image: Soho House Sydney render by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer
Rocker's laidback Bondi locale is the perfect match for a Spanish-style activation featuring Estrella Damm – a much-loved brew hailing from the sunny shores of Barcelona. Taking place from 4pm on February 24, this easygoing neighbourhood restaurant and bar will be serving up a tapas menu rich in coastal flavours. Featuring a host of familiar Spanish bites, expect jamón ibérico, mussels escabeche served on charred sourdough, patatas bravas, Basque cheesecake and Rocker gilda, featuring Cantabrian anchovies with olives, onions and guindilla peppers. Of course, these Med-influenced morsels are designed to be washed down with a refreshing pint of Estrella Damm for $10. With so many tapas to choose from, indecisive guests can opt for a $65 set menu to make life easy. You'll get a taste of the entire menu along with a freshly poured pint. Perfect for sharing with friends, this one-night-only culinary treat is bound to have you reminiscing about days spent sunbathing on Playa de La Barceloneta. Images: Ethan Smart.
Spend less time in the air and more on the snow: that's the thinking behind the new route that Qantas is launching at the end of 2025. When winter arrives in Japan, travellers flock in to hit their skis and snowboards, with the island of Hokkaido a popular destination. To get visitors there faster, the airline will start flying direct from Australia to Sapporo. From Monday, December 15, 2025, Qantas flights will run non-stop from Sydney to Sapporo, providing the only direct service between the two cities. Of course, this means that Aussies elsewhere at home will need to get to the Harbour City first, but the leg from Sydney will shorten travel time. Qantas advises that the route, which will fly seasonally — its first season will last until Saturday, March 28, 2026 — will cut several hours off the usual duration to get to Japan's northernmost island. Travelling there, you'll leave Sydney in the morning and arrive at Sapporo's New Chitose Airport by early evening. Coming home, you can enjoy the snow in the morning, then depart at night. When it kicks off just in time for the peak of the 2025–26 snow season, the new journey will fly three times a week on an Airbus A330-200 aircraft. In total, over 20,000 seats will be on offer across the three-and-a-half months. This is all great news if you're keen for a getaway at the Niseko, Furano, Rusutsu and Kiroro ski resorts; to hit the hot springs in Noboribetsu and Jozankei; and to attend the Sapporo Snow Festival. When the Sydney–Sapporo leg takes to the skies, Qantas will boast four direct-to-Japan routes, alongside its Tokyo services from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane — from Sydney–Haneda and Melbourne and Brisbane to Narita. And no, it's not too early to start planning your end-of-year — or beginning of 2026 — getaway. Qantas' Sydney–Sapporo route will launch on Monday, December 15, 2025 and run seasonally, with the first season flying until Saturday, March 28, 2026. Head to the Qantas website for more details.
Fine dining meets Asian fusion at contemporary diner Luna Lu, located along Campbells Cove in Circular Quay. This restaurant fuses contemporary Asian fare with quality Australian produce. Diners can choose between tempting small plates such as Hokkaido scallop sashimi with cashew nut puree and pickled daikon; yellowfin tuna tataki with a som tum yum mango dressing; and Black Angus Ranger Valley short beef ribs with sticky sauce and fresh chillies. A range of dim sims are made fresh daily, with no artificial colours or flavours. Diners can choose between classic money bags, charcoal har gow dumplings with king prawn and spanner crab, green half-moon dumplings with Hokkaido scallops, and more. Larger dishes include a wok-fried MB9 rump cap steak, honey yuzu crispy fried chicken, and seafood candied fried rice. Vegetarians and vegans in attendance will not go home hungry with Kung Pao-style eggplant and a mock-chicken version of the honey yuzu chicken dish. The Luna Lu signature menu features a selection of the venue's showstopping dishes, such as Tasmanian southern rock lobster picked straight from the tank; Berkshire pork belly with crispy leeks and cinnamon dark soy sauce; and Glacier Heard Island toothfish coated in a green curry and English spinach emulsion. If there's room for dessert, choose between sticky date pudding, pandan deep-fried ice cream, or Luna's Opera House — inspired by the iconic building — among others. There's a variety of menus on offer at Luna Lu. Besides the main menu outlined above, there's the express lunch menu, a children's menu, a gluten-free version of the menu and a high tea menu available on the weekends from 12–4pm. Not to be outdone by the food on offer, Luna Lu pours a variety of signature cocktails, sake, gins and whiskies, as well as an extensive wine list — with 18 Penfolds wines making the cut. More beverage options can be found upstairs at Luna Lu's sister venue, Bar Lulu, where decadent bar snacks, cocktails and wines are on offer. Luna Lu can be found at Bays 4 and 5, 7-27 Circular Quay West, Campbells Cove, The Rocks. The restaurant is open from 12pm–late daily. Find out more at the Luna Lu website.
Sydney's ever-luxurious and all-inclusive floating villa, Lilypad, has finally reopened almost two years after a fire destroyed the original build. Situated in the tranquil waters of Palm Beach in the Northern Beaches, the second iteration of Lilypad boasts plenty of additional lavish features including an onboard sauna, cosy fireplace and dreamy Mediterranean-inspired terracotta accents. After facing flooding, wild weather and COVID-induced delays, it's safe to say that Lilypad II was worth the wait. "You couldn't have picked a harder time to undertake something like this, both the weather we had in Sydney for the build period and COVID — because workforces were getting wiped out left, right and centre. Everything was hard," Founder and Owner Chuck Anderson says. Not just a pretty face, the resort-style villa runs completely off solar power energy and has been engineered to remain stable, while still embracing the natural movements and rhythms of the ocean below. An outdoor, roman-tiled shower, linen bedding by Cultiver and furniture by McMullin & Co completes the tonal, overwater escape. "What's incredible now as technology has advanced in solar and battery technology, you're not compromising on luxuries. Once upon a time, maybe ten years ago, if you were to try to attack what we've created you would have had to make some concessions in terms of what's onboard," Anderson says. Bookings include a private concierge, private tender transfers, a self-drive luxury personal vessel for exploring the surrounds, paddleboards, floating daybeds, chef-prepared meals and full access to the onboard wine cellar. But the luxuries don't come cheap, with prices starting at $1,950 per night in low season. The designer floating villa can also host events for up to 18, if you're looking for a unique space for your next special function. On the creation of both Lilypads, Anderson explains, "The intention for both Lilypad and Lilypad II was to combine innovative design with traditional craftsmanship and modern luxuries to build a unique and exceptional space. I wanted to pay homage to the unspoiled environment in which Lilypad resides and allow guests to feel totally immersed in this awe-inspiring space." Anderson also hinted at other Lilypads popping up around Australia in the future, so if you're looking for an elevated holiday in your backyard, keep an eye on this space. One-night stays are available until September, excluding weekends. Two-night stays are available from September to April and across weekends. You can book via the Lilypad website.
The Crows Nest outpost of this family owned business is the place to stock up on healthy and organic ingredients. Whether you are after nuts, seeds, or even basics like flour and oats, this place has it all. You can also find pleasant surprises like bush tucker myrtle, wattleseed and spice mixes for your next curry. Pioneers of the zero-waste lifestyle, The Source passes on its ethos to shoppers. Take a few jars down and fill up on what you need. You'll be buying from a local business you trust, and helping the environment at the same time. Images: Trent Van der jagt.
With Outpost running in parallel with this year's Bondi to Tamarama coastal art fest, the idea of art by the waves has become a Sydney institution. This is Sculpture by the Sea's fifteenth year, after its inaugural one day show in 1997. This year's exhibition is bringing back some past glories, overseas artists and local entrants for its anniversary, and it's even shifted the whole thing a week later to allow a viewing by our local Danish royals. Which just means you can check it all the better, as later sunsets drag further and further in the realm of a doable after work adventure. This year's artists include Chinese stars Chen Wenling and Wang Shugang, locals like Tomas Misura and Ken Unsworth, along with most of the artists from the inaugural 1997 show. Programs on sale benefit the ongoings of the festival, or you can choose to wander among the art in ignorance. Seeing it all splayed against the skyline, amongst mysterious names and the tide of fellow art lovers, it'll be hard not to find yourself lost in the art with all the extra feeling that comes with an infinity of sea. Photo of Tomas Musura's 2010 sculpture 'Splash' by RD Souza.
This old dame has loomed large on the corner of Keira Street since the 1930s. After starting to show her age a little, she was given a major facelift by new owners Nikki and Ryan Aitchison when they took over, in the hopes of restoring her to her former glory. With a new face came a new name (the pub used to be Hotel Illawarra) and a new lease on life. The huge public bar leads off to a generous courtyard where an impressive lineup of live music keeps punters dancing through the week. Unlike the somewhat rough and tumble and sticky dance floor of the pub of old, The Illawarra is designed to be a place for all, from workers to families, uni students and even dogs on Sunday afternoons. The new owners have been working with suppliers from the area and have built a rooftop veggie garden to keep things hyper-local. And, there's more to come — keep your eye out for upcoming restorations to the building's upper levels in the near future. Images: Jasmine Low
Danny and Michael Philippou know how to haunt. When the Adelaide-born twins unveiled their debut feature Talk to Me in 2023, a new Aussie horror sensation took the genre, and the world, by the hand to share its entertainingly eerie energy. The filmmakers behind it also became one of the hottest new things in scary movies. Two years later, the Philippous are returning with their sophomore effort — and, based on its just-dropped first teaser trailer, more must-see chills are on the way. After Talk to Me's huge success, including for cult-favourite distributor A24, sequel Talk 2 Me was quickly greenlit. But the filmmakers who started out their careers behind the camera as YouTubers RackaRacka will have Bring Her Back in cinemas first. Horror? Tick. A24 onboard? Tick again. Dancing with the dead once more? That seems to be the case as well. The non-Talk to Me flick that's combining all of the above, and also the Philippous (of course), stars The Shape of Water Oscar-nominee — and Wonka, Spencer, Paddington and Godzilla: King of the Monsters actor — Sally Hawkins. As the initial trailer shows, she plays a foster mother. The brother and sister newly in her care find more than just a new parent in her home, however. In the first sneak peek, this is a picture of grief, death and blood, plus strange circles and petrifying rituals. Alongside Hawkins, the Australian-made Bring Her Back also stars Billy Barratt (Kraven the Hunter), Jonah Wren Phillips (How to Make Gravy) and film first-timer Sora Wong. A24 went all-in on the Philippous after picking up Talk to Me in a Sundance Film Festival bidding war, when global attention started being showered upon the Aussie flick about shaking hands with an embalmed palm, feeling the rush while being haunted, having your mates watch and film it, and dealing with the spooky consequences. Danny and Michael made their feature directorial debut after racking up a huge following with RackaRacka's viral videos, and via behind-the-scenes work on Australian films such as The Babadook. Their first flick feature proved a big box-office success, taking in US$10 million on its opening weekend in America alone, which placed it second among A24's films after Hereditary. Across its big-screen run, it clawed its way up to second on the company's all-time worldwide list, after Everything Everywhere All At Once and Civil War. And, at the 2024 AACTA Awards, Talk to Me took home eight accolades, including Best Film of 2023, plus Best Director. Check out the trailer for Bring Her Back below: Bring Her Back releases in the US on Friday, May 30, 2025, but doesn't yet have a release date Down Under — we'll update you when more details are announced. Read our review of Talk to Me, and our interview with Danny Philippou.
For Rugby fans, the most wonderful time of the year is just around the corner. The HSBC Sydney 7s is returning for another jam-packed weekend of high-energy rugby matches across Saturday, February 1 and Sunday, February 2. And these two full days of action aren't only dedicated to the sport — the yearly event also features a mini music festival, heaps of group party packages and plenty of chances to score free prizes. This year, 28 of the world's best international men's and women's Rugby Sevens teams will go head-to-head to be crowned the tournament champions. For those who are new to Rugby Sevens and are heading to the tournament for the first time, we've put together a full guide of everything you need to know before you go — from the rules of the game to transport and outfit tips. Yep, we've got you covered. [caption id="attachment_756762" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET THERE AND BACK This year, the HSBC Sydney 7s tournament is taking place at Parramatta's Bankwest Stadium. And heading west from the city is made easier than ever for the event thanks to free trains. All you have to do is show your tournament ticket and your travel to and from the stadium on the Sydney Metro trains won't cost you a dime. If you're unsure of the best route, check out the NSW Trip Planner. Gates open at 9am on Saturday and 8.15am on Sunday, so we recommend getting in early to make the most of it. Of course, you'll have to start by purchasing your tickets. Single-day passes start at $42 and weekend passes at $70 — both include entry into the stadium and festival tent. To purchase tickets, head over here. [caption id="attachment_756732" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rugby AU Media[/caption] DON YOUR BEST FANCY DRESS COSTUME Accompanying the high-voltage rugby each year is one helluva costume party. Excessive fancy dress by the tournament's punters is a crucial part of the weekend. This year comes without a theme, so you can run in any direction you fancy. Unicorns, neon, pirates or disco balls? All acceptable. Or do you want to simply show the maximum amount of spirit by dressing head-to-toe in your favourite team's colours? That works, too. The more creative and sillier the outfit the better. Just remember, it's 2020 and cultural appropriation isn't cool. And be sure to wear something comfortable that you'll want to hang out, drink in and dance in all day and night — especially the dancing bit, as there are live music performances happening all weekend long. [caption id="attachment_756734" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rugby AU Media[/caption] MAKE A DAY OF IT WITH YOUR WHOLE CREW Getting the whole crew together is part of the fun of Sevens. For those on a budget, keep in mind that all food and non-alcoholic bevvies are allowed into the stadium with you — so you don't have to break the bank to head along. Groups looking for a bit more of a celebration have plenty of ways to indulge, too. The weekend's hospitality packages include Field Club tickets, which include platinum seats just metres from the field on level one. With these passes, you'll also score all-day access to the indoor hospitality facilities, where you can purchase food and booze that you cannot get outside of this zone. Or you can take it to the next level with Social Club passes. Tickets include allocated covered seating on level two and direct access to the air-conditioned lounge. An all-day buffet, open bar (including wine and beer), exclusive merchandise and prize draws are all on the docket, too. [caption id="attachment_756731" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rugby AU Media[/caption] BECOME AN EXPERT ON THE GAME If you're new to the sport, it's best to come along with a bit of knowledge of the game. For starters, the tournament is a battle between 28 of the world's best international men's and women's Sevens teams. As you may have guessed, each team is seven-a-side. In each round, two teams go head-to-head in a 14-minute match (made up of two seven-minute halves). In this sport, it's all about entertainment, and the game is designed to ensure scoring happens quickly, with a try scored roughly every 70 seconds. To get a bit more technical, here are a few more rules to get you started: Try — Players can only pass the ball backwards or kick the ball to move downfield with the aim being to get over the opposition's tryline at the other end of the field. A try is worth five points. Converted Try — After every try, the scoring team attempts a conversion drop-kick through the upright posts, which earns two more points. Drop Goal and Penalty Kick — Teams can also score three points with a drop goal or a penalty kicked between the goal posts (although these are both quite rare in Rugby Sevens). Return Serve — After each score, the scoring team kicks off to the opposition to make sure the other team has an equal opportunity to return serve. [caption id="attachment_756733" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rugby AU Media[/caption] PICK THE RIGHT TEAMS TO CHEER FOR Rugby Sevens is played by teams all over the world, and they come together each year for this epic tournament in Sydney. While, as Sydneysiders, it may seem like the obvious choice to root for the Australian teams, there are other top contenders to keep an eye out — and even save a few cheers — for. The Aussie teams have a lot to prove this time around — at last year's Sydney tournament both the men's and women's teams lost their 2018 titles to New Zealand. And, so far in the 2019-20 season, New Zealand is ranked first in both men's and women's standings. While the Australian men's team is currently sitting at eighth on the list, the women's team is holding a close second. The Aussie women's team has also already qualified for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, so is especially one to watch for that reason alone. The winning team of the men's 2018-19 Sevens series was Fiji, so be sure to keep your eye on that team, too. South Africa and United States are also up there, and Kenya is always a popular one to watch. Full team standings can be viewed here. After leaving Sydney, the tournament will move through LA, Vancouver, Hong Kong and Singapore before ending in Europe in May. [caption id="attachment_756753" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Maurice Longbottom / Rugby AU Media[/caption] KEEP AN EYE ON THESE UP-AND-COMING STAR PLAYERS We mean it when we say that Rugby Sevens is a fast game — with an average of just 70 seconds between each try, it's easy to miss big moments if you aren't paying attention. To make it a little easier, we suggest focusing on a few key players that'll be sure to impress. Australian players to watch include Ellia Green and Emma Tonegato on the women's team and Maurice Longbottom and Lewis Holland on the men's. Other top contenders include New Zealand's Michaela Blyde and Ngarohi Mcgarvey-Black, South Africa's Rosko Specman and USA's Alev Kelter, Perry Baker, Carlin Isles and Danny Barrett. For more stats and player details, head here. [caption id="attachment_756735" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rugby AU Media[/caption] THERE'S MORE TO THE DAY THAN JUST RUGBY While all of that action-packed rugby will have you busy, the day is about way more than just sport. For starters, the weekend features its very own music festival, which will host live acts for two days straight. Headliners include homegrown DJ talent like LDRU, Tigerlily and Yolanda Be Cool, with heaps of supporting acts on the docket, too. And, on Sunday, you can expect the festival area to feature multicultural performances. Head here for more details. Also on offer across the stadium are karaoke, dance and kiss cams and on-field challenges, plus face painting for those looking to take their fancy dress to the next level. Plenty of food trucks will be onsite serving up barbecue, fried chicken, pizzas, burgers and specialty coffees. Basically, it's an all-out party no matter which way you look. To purchase tickets to HSBC Sydney 7s, visit Ticketek, and for event updates follow @Aussie7s on Instagram. Then, find more ways to make the most of your weekend below. Top image: Rugby AU Media.
The newest Australian TV show to hit streamers is Stan Original Sunny Nights, and the series is equal parts bizarre and relatable. It follows siblings Vicki and Martin Marvin, played by Hollywood comedians D'Arcy Carden and Will Forte, as they attempt to start a spray-tan business in Australia. After getting into some precarious situations, the duo find themselves in hot water with members of the Sydney criminal underground, fighting to stay alive. It's an outrageous setup, and the show also includes an exploding crocodile, an ex-NRL thug for hire and evil blackmail schemes. It seems far-fetched at first glance, yet audiences continue to be drawn to the crime-comedy genre in droves. Australian shows He Had It Coming, Good Cop/Bad Cop and Population 11 were all released recently, showing the genre is holding firm. [caption id="attachment_1051421" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Lisa Tomasetti[/caption] Principal Psychologist Carly Dober from Enriching Lives Psychology says that the crime setting is so far removed from our everyday lives that it piques interest. "For many of us, this is a world we will only be spectators of and there is a fascination with how the criminal underworld operates. Without ever having to step into the dangerous world of crime, we can see some fictional depictions that keep us hooked," Dober tells Concrete Playground. "Escapism isn't a bad thing, it can be helpful to be distracted sometimes from day-to-day stressors. Plus, it's culturally relevant and keeps us with things to talk about with people." In the same way, watching comedy can tickle parts of your brain that make you feel good, which is why audiences seek out lighthearted content to unwind. "Comedy and things we find to be humorous lights up the pleasure centres of the brain. Like sex, or delicious food, laughing at something we find funny makes us feel good and creates a rush of endorphins," Dober adds. "It can also be a mood lifter and provide an adaptive coping strategy to dealing with stress." [caption id="attachment_1051422" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Lisa Tomasetti[/caption] Family is at the heart of Sunny Nights, with the Marvin siblings bickering throughout. Vicki has confidence in droves and tends not to consider other people's feelings, while Martin is slightly pathetic and has a tendency to let people walk all over him. Their main criminal nemesis, Mony (Rachel House), is also driven by her love for her brother Kash (Miritana Hughes). In the same way that audiences are drawn to the crime and comedy genre, there's also something satisfying about watching a dysfunctional familial relationship play out on screen. Dober says family dynamics can be a "winning recipe", because it creates a sense of relatability — even when placed into a strange setting like the criminal underground. "Everyone has a family — irrespective of whether they are in contact with them or not. There are so many stories that resonate, and given that many are off kilter, this provides relatability to viewers," Dober explains. [caption id="attachment_1047812" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Lisa Tomasetti[/caption] "Viewers do compare their own families to what they see on screen, [whether that's in] positive, negative [or] neutral ways. We might see an example of a family that we would like to one day have, or notice how often our family bickers with one another while watching an absurdist [or] dramatic on-screen family." Considering many Australians have had a busy festive season — whether that's with a dysfunctional family or not — it's nice to have the option to watch the drama on-screen instead of in our own lives. The full season of Sunny Nights is now available to stream on Stan, if you're looking for your next escape from reality. Stream the Stan Original 'Sunny Nights' now, only on Stan By Rachel Choy
People of Enmore, The Duke has reopened. This weekend, you can head along to the neighbourhood pub for crisp-yet-succulent porchetta or, if you're a vegan, perhaps a cauliflower steak — and stay until 2am. Now owned by James Wirth and Michael Delany, The Duke of Enmore — formally known as The Duke of Edinburgh — has had quite a revamp. You might be familiar with the duo's work — previously, they bought and made over The Norfolk, The Flinders, The Carrington and The Oxford Tavern, before selling them all in 2016. "Everything was gyprocked and painted white — it felt a bit like a shopping centre," says Wirth, explaining The Duke's pre-reno state. "So, we decided to rip it all out and see what we could find. I wouldn't say we gutted it, but we reskinned it, pretty seriously." Their efforts revealed layers of history. Built way back in 1870, The Duke has seen many a drinker and many a late night. "We found a 1940s ceiling, original timber, original brick and original tiling," says Wirth. After exposing and smartening up some of these elements, the duo added more timber, expansive windows, stained glass, a new bar and tartan carpet. They also covered the entire facade in 1960s-style tiles. "We just wanted to give it some love and make it feel like a good, solid, local pub," says Wirth. "It's not meant to be anything too wild or too fancy." The food, presided over by Head Chef Toby Wilson (Bad Hombres, Ghostboy Cantina), follows suit. The emphasis is on high-quality pub grub. Start off with fried salt-and-pepper enoki mushrooms with chilli soy dipping sauce, then tuck into a chicken parmigiana (or the equally great eggplant version) with fresh mozzarella, fries and salad, before finishing up with malt ice cream with toasted buckwheat and stout caramel. One of the stand-outs is the porchetta, first cooked at high temperatures to encourage extreme crispiness, then slow-cooked for five hours, to promote juiciness. It comes in a roll or on a plate, with white bean puree, salsa and greens. There are 12 taps at The Duke, offering old-school classics, like VB, Carlton Draught and Resch's, plus new classics, like Young Henrys. Wirth says the plan is "to play around" with the other eight, with a focus on local craft breweries. Meanwhile, Joel Amos (founder of natural wine retailer Drnks) is on the wines, bringing you — as you'd expect — a bunch of drops made with minimal interference. There are signature cocktails, too, including the Robert Mitchum: a concoction of Jack Daniel's, whole egg, orange juice and maple syrup, which, according to Wirth, tastes like a "boozy banana shake" and makes for a great "meal in a drink" at brekkie time. Find The Duke of Enmore at 148 Enmore Road, Enmore. Opening hours are Wednesday–Saturday, 11am–2am; Sunday, 11am–10pm; and Monday–Tuesday, 11am–midnight. Images: Kitti Gould.
Got a ticket to the game? What you need now is a trusty pub for a pre- or post-game bevvie, or two. No ticket? What you need is a pub with a big screen — chances are, you'll have a better view than half the people in the stadium. The trick is finding the right spot. For a venue to be game friendly, several elements need to be on point: well-positioned screens, a decent sound system, a friendly — albeit feverishly competitive — atmosphere, and quality food and beer. After all, watching a match can feel as taxing as playing one, so fuelling up and cooling down correctly is essential. We've joined forces with Heineken to round up four pubs that won't let you down. They're scattered across the eastern suburbs, the inner west and the lower north shore. So, wherever you are, both the game and a refreshing Heineken will be within reach.
"Most people say don't meet your heroes, but she exceeded all my expectations," Cailee Spaeny tells Concrete Playground. The Priscilla star's idol? Sofia Coppola. In the Devs, Mare of Easttown and The Craft: Legacy actor's biggest role yet, and the Lost in Translation, Somewhere and On the Rocks' filmmaker's latest moving, mesmerising and meticulously made picture, Spaeny plays the movie's namesake for the director that she's loved since she was a teenager. Winning her Venice International Film Festival's Volpi Cup for Best Actress, she's teamed up with her dream helmer to explore the teen experience and beyond of one of the most-famous women in the world, who was also in one of the best-known romances, marrying and divorcing a music superstar whose celebrity is virtually peerless: Priscilla Presley. Coppola knows how to bring tales about teenage girls to the screen, and to do so with the emotion, care and lived-in specificity that makes audiences feel like they're being seen — as Spaeny once did. Priscilla joins a directing resume that initially moved into features with 1998's The Virgin Suicides, and has spanned The Bling Ring and The Beguiled as well. In Marie Antoinette, the filmmaker's only other biopic to-date, she also took a name that everyone knows, jumped into her story when she was just 14 years old, then charted her complicated time by the side of a man with influence and power. Spaeny co-stars with Marie Antoinette's lead Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog) in the upcoming Civil War, in fact, and suspects that she put in a good word to help her get her Presley part. A performer who made her film debut in 2018's Australian-shot Pacific Rim Uprising, which was one of four movies that she had in cinemas that year (the others: Bad Times at the El Royale, On the Basis of Sex and Vice), Spaeny also believes that the right work finds you at the right period. That's especially the case with leading Priscilla, where Jacob Elordi (Saltburn) co-stars as Elvis, and which sees the two portray the blue suede shoes-wearing singer and the woman who fell for him when they were in West Germany — she was a schoolgirl residing there because her dad was in the army, while Elvis had been drafted — so swiftly after Baz Luhrmann's Elvis had Austin Butler (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Olivia DeJonge (The Staircase) do the same. "I always think roles come to you in your life at certain times to sort of help you in your own personal life, in your own journey," Spaeny shares. "I was just getting out of a really intense relationship that went on for about five years. I was in it very young. And I was trying to process those emotions and where I gave a piece of myself up, and how I grew from that. I processed all that and put it into the movie and her story, and the decisions that she made, and the mistakes she made, and where she got it right, where she got it wrong. It's always cathartic playing roles, but this one especially hit me in a real way that I'll always take with me." What was it like to physically transform into Priscilla? "It was something. I didn't look like myself. I think I just looked at myself in the mirror and I went 'okay girl, get it together, you've got to pull this off," Spaeny advises. "Everyone had put so much hard work into it. You see the hours and the sleepless nights. All the blood, sweat and tears that goes into every department: costumes, hair, makeup, production design. All the work Sofia put in, that Jacob put in. So when I saw myself in those costumes, I think it's just like 'okay, it's game time'." "It was fun. It was stressful. It was life-changing. There were lots of tears. There were lots of laughs. It was an experience that I will take with me for the rest of my life, and it's given me so much — much more than I ever thought it would. And I feel really lucky and I hope that everyone enjoys it when they go and see it, and they see all the heart that we put into our film," continues Spaeny. The movie opened in Australia on Thursday, January 18, then does the same in New Zealand on Thursday, February 1. Also covered in our round-table chat with Spaeny: preparing to play Priscilla, including meeting the woman herself; getting the part, and her past experiences auditioning for the filmmaker; why Coppola is her dream director; being born to love Elvis by being born in Tennessee; and seeing Priscilla for the first time while sitting next to Presley. ON HOW SPAENY PREPARED TO PLAY PRISCILLA PRESLEY "I tried to do as much as I could do preparing for this role. Taking on playing a real person, especially one who's still around, there is enormous responsibility. And also working with my dream director Sofia Coppola — she's been my dream director since I was 14 years old — I felt a lot of pressure. I mean, I always I hope that I always work hard on every project that I do, but this was another level. So you just do everything you can. You have as many conversations as you can with the director. The script is based off of her [Priscilla Presley's] book that she wrote in 1985, and I had that on me the entire time. Then I got the honour to sit down with Priscilla Presley herself, so I got to take in the woman herself and look into her eyes, and hear her tell these stories about this chapter in her life. That gave me more than I could have ever imagined. Taking that with me, and also having her support and having several conversations down the line during prep, and asking her all different kinds of questions and just getting to be around her in general, gave me so much. And then, taking time to have conversations with Jacob Elordi, who plays Elvis, and making sure we were on the same page and just making sure we felt comfortable around each other — that was a big part of the process, too. You just try to get everything you could possibly get into your brain in the amount of time you have, and you've got to cross your fingers and jump out of the plane and hope for the best, hope that you'll land on your feet. But also to have the level of collaborators and artists that we had on this set in terms of cast and crew was extraordinary. I think anyone who works with Sofia, because of the environment she creates, everyone brings their A-game and wants to work really hard for her and do their best. I think you really see that in this film." ON WHAT MAKES COPPOLA SPAENY'S DREAM DIRECTOR — AND THE PROCESS OF WORKING WITH HER ON PRISCILLA "I think the thing that really struck me, especially living in the Bible Belt in America being a young girl, a church girl, trying to navigate myself and my emotions — you've got so much going on inside you when you're a 14-year-old girl, and I think I'd never seen teen girls depicted in the way that Sofia represents them. The way that she doesn't underestimate young women, and how she gives them a voice to have wants and needs, and dark sides and be sexual — I just felt like everything that was in my brain just got unlocked, and that I had permission to be complicated. I think that was something that really stuck with me and cracked me open. I think that working with her was just a lot of pressure to get it right. I'm thinking in my head 'am I going to be the reason this is going to be the first bad Sofia Coppola film?'. I mean, it's just very overwhelming, but she's kind and had my back every step of the way." ON GETTING THE PRISCILLA ROLE AFTER AUDITIONING FOR PAST SOFIA COPPOLA FILMS "I know that Sofia wanted to find one actress who was going to be able to play from 14 to 27 — and I was 24 when I filmed the movie, but I look really young. I think that it was really important. You see it sometimes where you see films push the age, like they don't really look that young, but it's fine. Or they really don't look that old, but it's fine. But I think it was really important, especially in the beginning, for her to feel 14. I think she had to genuinely feel that age. So I think from a casting standpoint for Sofia, that was something that she was looking for. It's not really something I think about too much, but I'm glad it worked in my favour. I've been auditioning for her — she gave me my one of my first callbacks ever when I was 16 years old. So I think her casting director knew of me for a long time, and Sofia knew of me for a bit. I don't know if she even remembers that. I don't know. But I knew her casting directors remembered me and one of her producing partners remembered me. And then I auditioned for two other things for Sofia. Then this project came up and I got a call [saying] 'hey, can you meet Sofia in New York for coffee?'. Didn't know what it was, met her there, was really nervous. We started talking and I had no idea — I was just like 'what is this about?'. Then she pulled out her iPad and started showing me photos of Priscilla Presley, and asked me if I knew the story. I didn't, which was surprising because I was such a huge Elvis fan growing up. But then I went away and I was filming a movie with Kirsten Dunst, and Kirsten is such a longtime friend and collaborator and muse for Sofia. And I think Kirsten put in a good word for me. So there were talks about maybe doing a chemistry read with whoever was going to be playing Elvis, but that didn't end up happening. She just locked this in. She locked me and Jacob in, and said 'we're going for it'. We didn't have any read. We didn't do any sort of chemistry test. We just hit the ground running. I think that's the one thing about Sofia: she's really soft-spoken and kind, but when she knows what she wants, she knows what she wants. And when she sees it, she has it in her head. Everything is in her head. That's what makes her so brilliant and also exciting to work with." ON THE CHALLENGES OF STEPPING INTO PRISCILLA'S SHOES — AND WHAT MAKES HER STORY SO RELATABLE "The biggest challenge for me, obviously, is having to play a real person who at the end of this is going to watch the film. I had that time with Priscilla, and something funny happens — it's like at first, the movie's first, [and] how you're going to play this, [and] making this movie for Sofia. Then you sit down in front of the woman herself, you're right across from Priscilla, and almost all of that goes to the back burner. You just are like 'I want to protect this person. I want them to feel safe. I want them to feel like they identify with this story. I just want to protect them'. She's been through so much in her life, and you just want this to be done right by her. So that was the biggest challenge. In terms of the things that I related to, I think that what's so interesting about this story, and what I found so surprising, is that you think 'well, I'm not going to relate to Priscilla Presley, she's lived this one-of-a-kind life that no one could ever really compare with' — but she goes through such an emotional journey. Falling in love and doing everything she can, giving everything up to try to make that work, and [being] desperate to find a path and a way out to be with the love of her life, and then realising that that's not going to happen, and all the pain that he's going through and the confusion he's dealing with, and how that then transfers to her, and then she realises she wants something more for her life — I think those moments are universal. And there's some milestones that she goes through that I think a lot of young women can relate to. I think that's why it's gotten the response that it has, is because of that — because I think young women or women in general, or anybody, can see this story and find themselves somewhere." ON FIRST DISCOVERING ELVIS "I think the second I was born, Elvis was just playing. My mum had a shrine of Elvis in her home. She named one of her kids' middle names after Elvis. We went to Graceland growing up. We had his number-one hits on the CD in the car. It was just always around. In America, Elvis really is such a symbol — especially, especially in the South. And I was born in Tennessee. You just know Elvis. You're born, you know Elvis. I think especially where I came from, you just didn't have a choice: it was Jesus and Elvis." ON SITTING NEXT TO PRISCILLA AT THE FILM'S WORLD PREMIERE AT THE VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL "I had a couple opportunities to watch the movie before Venice, but I was just too nervous to watch myself in this movie. There's too much pressure and I just knew that if I would see the film, I knew I was going to spiral, so I didn't want to. I kept putting it off. Then I got to Venice and I asked them 'hey, can you pull me out when the movie starts? I don't want to see it'. And then I just had a voice in my head and I'm going 'Cailee, what are you doing? You're at the Venice Film Festival. You're with your dream director. Priscilla's here. You're celebrating this movie with these people that you care about. This is such a dream come true'. I brought my sister with me. I'd never been to Venice before. I'd just rode a gondola earlier in the day. It was such a dream moment. And I was like 'what am I doing? I'm going to not watch the film cause I'm scared? That's so lame'. So I told them 'okay, yes, I'll watch it'. But then they sat me right next to Priscilla Presley. Then I'm watching the movie going 'oh my god, what have I done? How am I going to watch this film while I'm sitting right next to the person who I'm playing?'. It was so bizarre and so surreal, and I was white-knuckling it the entire time I was watching the film. Sometimes I'd close my eyes during some scenes. But then the movie ended. We got the reception that we did. Then it was the first time that Priscilla turned to me and said 'you did it, that was my life and that was a great performance'. So to get that feedback from her was everything." Priscilla opened in Australian cinemas on Thursday, January 18, then does the same in New Zealand on Thursday, February 1. Read our review.
As first announced back in 2018, Melbourne's Australian Centre for the Moving Image will soon look rather different, with the screen culture-focused Federation Square site currently undergoing extensive $40 million renovations. When it reopens in 2021, visitors can expect revamped exhibition spaces, new immersive experiences and added interactive activations, including a permanent ode to Mad Max. Also part of the huge makeover: increasing the ways that everyone can engage with ACMI digitally, both when heading by in-person and from home. Yes, that sounds like a very 2020 move; however, the decision to implement a new experience operating system, or XOS, pre-dates the pandemic. The idea is to give visitors an integrated, multiplatform visitor experience, including before they arrive, as they're wandering around onsite and after they've left. And while some of ACMI's new additions will be familiar — an online exhibition space and its own video-on-demand service, for example — it has one particularly creative initiative up its sleeves. That'd be The Lens, a handheld device made out of compressed cardboard and featuring an NFC tag. Visitors will use it while they're physically moseying through ACMI's galleries, and can take it home with them as a keepsake. As you walk around and view the museum's exhibitions, you'll tap the device at around 200 different touchpoints to collect objects of interest — which'll then be available for you to explore on any device afterwards, no matter where you are. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=ez82jLMVpmM&feature=emb_logo Explaining ACMI's new push to combine the physical and the digital, Director and CEO Katrina Sedgwick notes that "we often consume the same stories via different platforms; we might read the comic book then watch the film adaptation and later play the videogame. Each platform brings out something new in the story. We have taken this concept of multiplatform storytelling and applied it to our museum. Thanks to our XOS, what we can now offer is a deeply integrated journey that extends, expands and enriches your visit, be that in person, or online". While no one will be able to get their hands on The Lens until next year, with ACMI's exact relaunch date yet to be revealed, the museum is unveiling some of its new digital additions before it opens. Online right now is The Story of the Moving Image, a multimedia exhibition currently focused on three main topics — Australian television, video games, Australian film — with additional sections on digital art, social video and Black women on-screen to come. It expands one of the site's forthcoming permanent physical exhibitions. Also, in November this year, ACMI will unveil its aforementioned online exhibition space and online viewing platform. Arriving first is Gallery 5, which will stream artwork and performances from November 11, launching with the premiere of Delusional World by Shanghai-based video, installation and performance artist Lu Yang. Then, on November 19, Cinema 3 will start rolling, with the VOD service streaming a curated range of classics and new movies. It'll kick off with a digital restoration of Claire Denis' 1999 standout Beau Travail, plus Toshio Matsumoto's 1969 Japanese drama Funeral Parade of Roses and 2019's acclaimed Romanian flick The Whistlers. The Australian Centre for the Moving Image will reopen its doors sometime in 2021, with an exact date yet to be revealed. Its The Story of the Moving Image exhibition is currently available to view online, while its Gallery 5 digital exhibition space will launch on November 11, 2020 — with its Cinema 3 video-on-demand service following on November 19, 2020. Top image: Field Carr.
Nike has launched something exciting and new that could make your night jogs a whole lot safer and more fancy: the Air Max Glow Collection. Like something straight out of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze, the Air Max Glow kicks run on green radioactive glamour. By day you are an ordinary Jerry Seinfeld in smart white sneakers. By night? You're high tech, high octane and highly visible. Building on the design of the Nike Air Max 1, Air Max 90, Air Max 95 and Air Max Thea, the Glow Collection's luminous accents are created by under-mesh glow-in-the-dark prints, changing the shoe's vibe completely as soon as the sun goes down. Men get electric lime while ladies get an attractive mint set of accents. The obvious roadkill avoidance measures offered by this shoe are bolstered by the mate attraction benefits, as you seductively dangle a glimmering foot in the direction of your love interest. Like a school of that rarest jewel of the sea, the phosphorescent jellyfish, or a herd of shimmering unicorns, we can now maraud along the highways and byways of the night in our state-of-the-art Nikes. The Nike Air Max Glow Collection featuring the Air Max 90 ($200) and the Air Max 1 ($180) is now available at selected Nike stores across Australia.
Sydney CBD's George Street is currently undergoing developments to extend its car-free zone, which will see the vehicle-free area spread across its entire run between Town Hall and Railway Square. The first new pedestrian zone since the $43.5 million project begun has now been unveiled, with a new area between Bathurst and Goulburn streets now open to the public. Under the multimillion-dollar City of Sydney plan, George Street will become a pedestrian-friendly boulevard, with wider granite footpaths replacing car lanes, new street furniture installed, more trees planted, improvements to intersections and added spaces for outdoor dining. The project will ultimately see more than 9000-square-metres of new public space added to the bustling inner-city street. The remainder of the project is currently under way, with work at the Goulburn Street intersection and a transformation of George Street between Goulborn Street and Rawson Place slated to be finished early next year. [caption id="attachment_808419" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Artist render of George Street between Hay Street and Rawson Place[/caption] It's the latest change for the bustling street in the heart of the city, which has undergone quite an evolution already over the past decade — including the installation of the infamous new light rail. The City of Sydney and local business owners are hoping that the proposed changes will help revitalise the area. Sydney's lockout laws saw the closure of venues like Hudson Ballroom around George Street, and the hardships that venue owners were already facing were only compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. "This part of town has always been a bustling entertainment hub that attracted a diverse demographic looking to eat, drink and come together at a range of venues, but due to COVID, we saw business slump overnight," director of operations for the owners of the Albion Hotel, David Highet said when the project was first announced in April. "When we cautiously return to the city while seeking to maintain physical distancing, wider footpaths and more space for pedestrians are critical," said Lord Mayor Clover Moore, announcing the opening of the new stretch between Bathurst and Goulburn streets. "Creating this space opens new opportunities for businesses, and, crucially, provides places for people to gather and get around safely." For more information about the car-free boulevard along George Street head to the City of Sydney website.
You don't need to be an audiophile to appreciate the difference a half-decent speaker makes to your listening experience. Whether it's films, TV, music or gaming, a good soundbar brings new depth and clarity to whatever you're watching or listening to. Soundbars are designed to work in tandem with televisions — and in this case, size really does matter. If your TV is on the smaller side (50 inches or less), you'll want a compact soundbar to match. Larger screens, on the other hand, demand a soundbar with enough power and width to balance the scale and sync sound placement across the display. If you're chasing that true 3D sound experience, start your search with something like the JBL BAR Gen 4. The slimline model packs Dolby Atmos, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and both HDMI input and HDMI ARC, delivering a full surround-sound experience ideal for film buffs, gamers and music lovers alike. It's sleek, reliable and built to last — a perfect pick for anyone who wants immersive audio without the bulk of a full home theatre setup. For those working with a smaller budget, the LG Sound Bar S40T makes an excellent entry point. At around $400, it offers 300W of output power — impressive volume for its size — and Dolby Audio processing for solid sound quality, though it doesn't include Dolby Atmos. It's a compact, dependable choice for apartment living or anyone upgrading from basic TV speakers. If you're looking for a middle ground, the Bose Smart Soundbar offers the best of both worlds. It combines Dolby Atmos with Bose Truespace technology, which intelligently scales up lower-quality audio for a cinematic feel. If you already own Bose earbuds or headphones, you can even pair them for a true surround experience — perfect for late-night viewing. At the high end, the Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini is a powerhouse, packing Dolby Atmos, Bluetooth, smart home compatibility and automated self-calibration that tailors its sound to your room. It's compact, elegant and precise — designed for those who want to hear every sonic detail. Then, of course, there's the full-blown home theatre route. Samsung's Q-series Soundbar HW-Q990F brings 11.1.4 channel sound with subwoofers and rear speakers for a completely immersive experience — all yours for just under $2000. Sony's home theatre packages offer similar setups, letting you mix and match components without sacrificing sound quality. And if you want to build your own setup, Sony offers modular home theatre packs that let you mix and match soundbars, subwoofers and satellite speakers without losing sound quality. The result is rich, cinematic audio that scales to your space — whether you're in a small apartment or a full home cinema. Whichever way you go, upgrading to a proper soundbar setup will instantly elevate your home listening experience — and might just make you wonder how you ever lived without it. Image: JBL
Most of us have our favourite neighbourhood drinking den, it's easy to get lost when searching for the best bars in Sydney's CBD. It can be unfamiliar territory for those of us who don't head into the city centre regularly. And even if you do work in the area, you're unlikely to have explored all the bars hidden down laneways, in basements or on rooftops. To help you find the best bar in Sydney's CBD, we've compiled this list that includes all kinds of boozers. Whether you're after experimental cocktails in hotel bars or laidback bevs in unpretentious surroundings, we've got you sorted right here. Recommended Reads: The Best Bars in Sydney The Best Wine Bars in Sydney The Best Pubs in Sydney The Best Restaurants in Sydney's CBD
Looks like Sydney’s going to get a taste of the old days; the lockout laws will be lifted again for one night only on New Year’s Eve. Confirmed by the state government and reported by Same Same, the laws are apparently being lifted to avoid crazy rushes to venues before 1:30am after the fireworks finish. In other words, you’ll be treated like some kind of responsible adult for one glorious evening. Now, don’t fuck it up. If you’re venturing into the CBD on New Year’s Eve (you dedicated shindig-seeker you), you’ll be able to enter CBD/Kings Cross bars, pubs and clubs until 3am — so popping out for a cheeky 2am ciggie won’t separate you from your bag and buddies this NYE. Last drinks at 3am, as per usual, and bars won’t be changing their closing time. Seems there’s been a bucketload of meetings on this one; last year, the state government was apparently advised to lift the lockouts by the City of Sydney, the police and the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing — all three said it would improve safety for the night. The lockout lift is a means to avoid accidents at Sydney’s wharves in particular, with fireworks watchers heading into the city and trying to beat the clock to the kick-on party. So Sydney, keep your punches in your damn pockets and celebrate the New Year with a window into the old way of things. Or just watch the fireworks from your local outside-lockout pub and leave your eyelids unbatted on this one. Via Same Same.
You know that kind of unassuming pub on Regent Street? Up from Freda's, across from the servo with the attached Chinese restaurant? Yeah, the Gladstone. Once the realms of Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights on jukebox repeat, drum and bass nights and a certain beery carpet funk (but always good pub grub), The Lord Gladstone is back as Chippendale's newest revamped live music venue and art-friendly pub. Revamped by the legends behind The Vic in Enmore and the Toxteth in Glebe, the Lord Gladstone has a fresh coat of paint, reopened kitchen and that widely high-fived sound system (previously well-thrashed by drum and bass night Afterlife); perfect for hosting after parties over the last six weeks for the likes of Sticky Fingers, Horrorshow and One Day. Little Bastard even played in the beer garden, and FBi shows Dusty Fingers and Loose Joints teamed up for a little shindig. Chippendale dwellers can officially look forward to ad-hoc music events up ahead at the Gladstone, continuing on its history of sporadic Sydney music nights. It's another win for the suburb after the expanded music roster of the Lansdowne, the folk/country residencies at The Chip Off the Old Block and the perpetually kickass electronica at Knox Street Bar, not to forget Freda's always eclectic lineup of gigs. But more live music isn't all you can look forward to at the reborn Gladstone. The pub is now home to Goodspace; a gallery curated by Chris Loutfy of Press Books. Lord Gladstone now hosts monthly art exhibitions, including its debut show Process which opened last week on level one — featuring work by Chris Yee, James Jirat Patradoon, Georgia Hill, Beastman and Numskull among others. Plus, you can take in a Swans game downstairs after you're done. Up the Bloods. Food-wise, the kitchen's cranking out burgers, parmy toasties and deep fried Golden Gaytimes. There’s pickled eggs ($2 each) and endgame beans ($7) to nibble at as well. Don’t expect your cheap, basic pub specials though, with fancy fare like 300g New York cut steak with potato gratin, green beans and cabernet jus ($26); beef cheek and red wine pie with mashed potato and smashed peas ($20), pancetta, garden pea and gorgonzola dulce risotto ($22) and whole roasted rainbow trout with fenugreek butter, kipfler potatoes, fennel and dill ($28). But that's what you're paying at the Courty anyway these days, it's the pricey pub age we live in. Find the Lord Gladstone at 115 Regent Street, Chippendale. It's open for lunch and dinner every day, and open until 3am Thursday to Saturday, lockout free. Check the Facebook page for upcoming events. Images: The Lord Gladstone.
Shell House is the latest venue from The Point Group, the hospitality collective behind the likes of The Dolphin, Bondi Beach Public Bar and Harry's, as well as the upcoming restaurant, bar and wine room on former defence facility Fort Denison. The much-hyped multi-level venue plays home to four different bars and restaurants: Menzies Bar, Sky Bar, Dining Room and Terrace, and Clocktower. Each venue inside Shell Bar comes equipped with a luxurious interior design and its own unique energy. Step into Menzies and you'll find warm lighting, thick leather seats and a lavish bistro menu. The gold-heavy Sky Bar offers up a fun mix of cocktails with panoramic city views. Dining Room and Terrace is filled with rich brown and beige tones as well as a seafood-heavy dinner menu. And Clocktower is fittingly situated inside Shell House's historic 400-tonne clocktower. Each space is classy and refined, complementing their respective menus. Whether you're looking for a quiet drink, a hearty meal or a night out with unbeatable city views, Shell House has a spot for you. Appears in: The Best Rooftop Bars in Sydney
The stunning beaches of New South Wales get more distinct as you get to know them better. While Bondi is buzzy and Manly is family-friendly, Coogee Beach is known for its laidback and local feel. From morning snorkels or swims in serene water to coastal walks dotted with effortlessly stylish spots, there's an easygoing charm to the seaside suburb. In December, InterContinental Coogee Beach will land right on the oceanfront. Decked out in soft whites and gentle textures, the hotel invites the surf and sand of Coogee into the interior with floor-to-ceiling windows, open-plan spaces and wavy joinery that trace the shoreline. There are 198 minimalist guestrooms with boucle furnishings for guests to settle into, or take a cheeky upgrade to one of the 22 premium suites with extensions like outdoor baths and spacious lounges. One of the best feelings on vacation is when you're fresh out of the shower, sun-kissed and ravenous for dinner. At InterContinental Coogee Beach, swanky coastal dining is a given. British chef Rick Stein is opening his third and flagship venue at Coogee Beach (his other two Aussie outposts are Bannisters Port Stephens and Bannisters Mollymook, alongside various locations around England), where local produce pairs with the freshest catches. InterContinental is also bringing Shutters back to the shoreline. Formerly in Crowne Plaza, Coogee Beach regulars might be familiar with the restaurant's playful Mediterranean-inspired Australian menu. For the uninitiated, expect dishes like spiced Black Angus beef kofta, tomatoey trottole loaded with Moreton Bay bugs and a boozy tiramisu that swaps espresso for espresso martinis. In March 2026, InterContinental will unveil the second phase of its opening: an amenities-packed leisure deck. They include an infinity pool with a poolside bar, a breezy day spa and the members-only Club InterContinental lounge where breakfast, afternoon tea, snacky suppers and premium wine service are all on the house. For now, you can start your days with sunrise yoga, a pickleball sesh. or a slow breakfast in bed overlooking at the ocean. Images supplied
Daylesford is a haven of spa retreats, friendly pubs, roaring fireplaces and mountainous beauty. Nestled into the foothills of the Great Dividing Range and just a stone's throw from the healing powers of Hepburn Springs, it's lovely at anytime of year, but winter brings a special kind of magic. Rather than feeling like you should be out, relentlessly doing, you can shamelessly surrender to warm, cosy, heartening indulgences — from soaking in hot tubs filled with nutrient-rich mineral water to sipping craft ales by a roaring fire. Here's your guide to winter decadence in Daylesford and its neighbouring towns. Winter slips by quicker than you think, so make plans soon. WHERE BREAKFAST MEETS DESSERT The French sure know how to do a winter's breakfast: with hot chocolate. Follow their lead at the Chocolate Mill, a strawbale marvel 7km north of Daylesford that produces handmade chocolates. Peer into the open kitchen to witness the creators in action before claiming a table at the Hot Chocolate Cafe. Next stop, real breakfast. You'll get it with a stone fireplace at Moto Bean Coffee Roasters in Malmsbury, about 30 kilometres' north-east of Daylesford. Formerly a farmer's barn, this epic, industrial-inspired cafe is dotted with classic motorbikes and dedicated to roasting coffee beans. Tuck into an apple hotcake with whipped honey mascarpone, walnut crumbs and baby herbs. FUEL UP BY THE FIRE Come lunchtime, head to the Farmers Arms, where you can hide away in a booth or soak up some rays in the beer garden, accompanied by your dog. The menu is all about fancied-up pub classics, such as roasted pork belly with mash, broccolini, Harcourt apple cider jelly and red wine jus. Another spot where it's easy to while away a winter's afternoon is the Cosmopolitan in Trentham. This gorgeous 1866 pub, encircled by weatherboard verandahs, was rebuilt in 2009 following a 2005 fire. The extensive craft beer and local wine lists will keep you sampling for hours, plus, on Sundays, there's live music. Eats are gastropub-style — think smoked duck breast with grilled witlof, beans, kipflers, hazelnuts, sherry vinegar and maple dressing. If you want to treat yourself, then swing over to Kyneton – about 30km north-west – for dinner. At Source Dining, owner-chef Tim Foster serves up hatted creations, accompanied by a wine list that holds two Australian Wine List of the Year Glasses. Try the local beef tartare, with pickled farm beetroot, beetroot mayonnaise, cured yolk, fresh horseradish, salt and vinegar kale, and potato chips. Most produce comes straight from the kitchen garden. Alternatively, there are excellent woodfired pizzas at Olive Jones in Macedon. SOAK AND SINK INTO SPAS Every visit to Daylesford should involve a long, long soak in Hepburn Springs' warm, nutrient-rich mineral waters. Victorians have been onto this since 1895, when Hepburn Bathhouse and Spa was built. The complex, which scored a $13-million revamp in 2008, hosts two social pools, as well as private tubs for those keen to rejuvenate in peace. Once you've bathed, try drinking the waters: various springs are dotted around Hepburn Mineral Springs Reserve. Alternatively, at Salus Day Spa at Lake House Hotel, sink into a deep tub in a treehouse, surrounded by blonde timber and lush greenery. Also in Hepburn Springs is Shizuka Ryokan, a Japanese wellness retreat, inspired by ryokans: ancient inns where samurai warriors would go to rest and reflect. Don a kimono and wander around the minimalist grounds before settling in for a spa treatment – be it a Geisha facial based on 1200-year-old techniques or a shiatsu massage. FINE INDOOR PURSUITS Now that you're thoroughly relaxed, it's time to get arty at the Convent Gallery, a mansion turned convent turned gallery. Or get your hands dirty with a sourdough-making workshop at RedBeard Historic Bakery, Trentham, where the results will be baked in a massive 19th-century oven. If that sounds like too much thinking, get even more relaxed with a wine tasting session at Passing Clouds' stunning cellar door in Musk, just five minutes' drive from town, before continuing to Daylesford Cider Company for mulled ciders, made with organic apples, by the fire. THE COSIEST SLEEP SPOTS One of the hands-down best things about winter is snuggling in bed, ensconced in doonas, woollen blankets and piles of pillows. Add a roaring fire, and there's no going anywhere. Luckily, Daylesford and its surrounds are packed with dreamy retreats. At the luxe end of the scale is Clifftop At Hepburn, where private villas come with spectacular views, spas, stone hot tubs, massage chairs and fireplaces. Another collection of beautiful villas surrounded by bushland is Kudos. These architect-designed wonders offer fireplaces and spa areas that open onto private decks. To step back in time, sleep over at Peppers Mineral Springs Hotel, built in 1935. There's a day spa onsite, with mineral water baths, heated to 37 degrees Celsius, stunning Italian gardens and Stuart Rattle-designed lounges, splashed with marble, leather and polished wood. Rooms vary from cosy classics to a four-bedroom villa built in 1864. For a stay in downtown Daylesford, book at Frangos. Think high ceilings, spa baths and quirky touches, such as hand-embroidered pillows, mirror walls and velvet bed heads. There's also an in-house Endota Spa. To explore more winter indulgences in the Daylesford region and get booking, visit the Wander Victoria website. Top image: Peppers Mineral Springs Hotel.
Getting out of bed on a chilly morning is no mean feat (and getting to work is a whole other challenge), so Mary's VX wants to give you a helping hand. For one week only — from Monday, June 16–Sunday, June 22 — they're hosting an all-day breakfast pop-up. You'll be feasting on a bunch of OTT, winter-friendly eats, made in collaboration with Coffee Supreme and Grumpy's Donuts. Start with a loaded brekkie sanga or burger. Or, if you need a sweet hit to get you going, go for a hotcake stack packed with bacon, fried chicken and honeycomb butter. Then, grab a coffee and doughnut (both for just $5) to take with you. If you're one of the first 50 visitors each day, yours will be free. The coffee is Supreme's signature blend, and they're also doing a Coffee Supreme Crunch with coffee icing and mocha crumbs. On Saturday and Sunday, when commuters can take their time, there'll be weekend-only specials. These include cinnamon doughnut french toast with soft serve ice cream, alongside cereal-inspired milkshakes (think Coco Pops, Fruit Loops and Milo) or bottomless mimosas and bloody marys. Images: Tom Wilkinson
UPDATE, August 12, 2022: Drive My Car is available to stream via Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. More than four decades have passed since Haruki Murakami's debut novel reached shelves, and since the first film adaptation of his work followed, too; however, the two best page-to-screen versions of the author's prose have arrived in the past four years. It's easy to think about South Korean drama Burning while watching Drive My Car, because the two features — one Oscar-shortlisted, the other now the first Japanese movie to be nominated for Best Picture — spin the writer's words into astonishing, intricately observed portraits of human relationships. Both films are also exceptional. In the pair, Murakami's text is only a starting point, with his tales hitting the screen filtered through each picture's respective director. For Drive My Car, Japanese filmmaker Ryûsuke Hamaguchi does the honours, taking audiences riding through another of the Happy Hour, Asako I & II and with Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy helmer's layered, thoughtful and probing reflections on connection. Using Murakami's short story from 2014 collection Men Without Women as its basis, Drive My Car's setup is simple. Yes, the film's title is descriptive. Two years after a personal tragedy, actor/director Yūsuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima, Silent Tokyo) agrees to bring Chekhov's Uncle Vanya to the stage in Hiroshima, and the company behind it insists on giving him a chauffeur for his stay. He declines— he'd asked to stay an hour away from the theatre so he could listen to recorded tapes of the play on his drive — yet his new employers contend that it's mandatory for insurance and liability reasons. Enter 23-year-old Misaki Watari (Tôko Miura, Spaghetti Code Love), who becomes a regular part of Yūsuke's working stint in the city. Drive My Car doesn't hurry to its narrative destination, clocking in at a minute shy of three hours. It doesn't rush to get to its basic premise, either. Before the film's opening credits arrive 40 minutes in, it steps through Yūsuke's existence back when he was appearing in a version of Uncle Vanya himself, married to television scriptwriter Oto (Reika Kirishima, Japanese TV's Sherlock) and grappling with an earlier heartbreak. His wife is also sleeping with younger actor Takatsuki (Masaki Okada, Arc), which Yūsuke discovers, says nothing about but works towards discussing until fate intervenes. Then, when he sits in his red 1987 Saab 900 Turbo just as the movie's titles finally display, he's a man still wracked by grief. It's also swiftly clear that he's using his two-month Hiroshima residency as a distraction, even while knowing that this exact play — and Oto's voice on the tapes he keeps listening to — will always be deeply tied to his life-shattering loss. This prologue does more than set the scene; there's a reason that Hamaguchi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Takamasa Oe (The Naked Director), directs so much time its way. Where tales of tragedy and mourning often plunge into happy lives suddenly unsettled by something catastrophic or the process of picking up the pieces in the aftermath — typically making a concerted choice between one or the other — Drive My Car sees the two as the forever-linked halves of a complicated journey, as they are. The film isn't interested in the events that've forever altered the plot of Yūsuke's life, but in who he is, how he copes, and what ripples that inescapable hurt causes. It's just as fascinated with another fact: that so many of us have these stories. Just as losing someone and soldiering on afterwards are unshakeably connected, so are we all by sharing these cruel constants of life. The reality that anyone can have a history as complex and as coloured by pain is a lesson for Yūsuke to learn. Although he makes a living plumbing the depths of human emotion through art, and cathartically so, reading those same feelings into the people around him — recognising the same highs and lows in their experiences, as in his own — is a thornier path to chart. But in his daily treks to and from his theatre rehearsals, he starts making the trip towards that realisation as Misaki sits behind the wheel of his trusty Saab. Initially, neither speaks, with Oto's line readings via cassette breaking the silence. Yūsuke saves his words for the International cast he auditions and then directs, each relaying Uncle Vanya in their native tongues (or, in one instance, by an actor who is deaf and signs her dialogue). Slowly, though, the drives find their own language, as Misaki opens up about her past and vice versa. Forget Green Book and Driving Miss Daisy, American Oscar-applauded films similarly about drivers, passengers and unexpected camaraderie — Drive My Car is in a lane of its own, and not just because it isn't a simplistic and saccharine attempt to weave a heartwarming story out of racial reconciliation. Hamaguchi takes his central pair and his audience on a patient, engrossing and rewarding trip that cuts to the heart of dealing with life, love, loss, pain, shame and despair, and also sees how fickle twists of chance — a recurrent topic in the director's films — unavoidably dictate our routes. Another thing that the filmmaker does disarmingly well: ponder possibilities and acceptance, two notions that echo through both Yūsuke and Misaki's tales, and resonate with that always-winning combination of specificity and universality. Drive My Car is intimate and detailed about every element of its on-screen voyage and its character studies, and also a road map to soulful, relatable truths. Sitting — while driving and during rehearsals — is a recurrent sight in Drive My Car. It's fitting; this is a film to sit with. The movie's lengthy duration lets viewers take in its gorgeously shot visuals as they might revel in landscape spied from a car window, whether cinematographer Hidetoshi Shinomiya (Ju-on: Origins) is lensing the road as it winds by the Seto Inland Sea, spending time with the feature's core duo or chronicling Yūsuke's efforts at the theatre. Crisp, poetic and revealing even in a visit to a waste treatment facility, Drive My Car's naturalistic imagery provides a striking canvas for its affecting performances, too, with Nishijima and Miura as quietly expressive as any film — and any Murakami adaptation — could hope of its actors. In one of the picture's most stunning sequences, they chat by steps near the ocean, and the camera sees everything about their characters, and simply existing, and also tussling with life's pain, in each emotionally loaded closeup and sweeping, waterside wide shot. These are moments that drive a movie to greatness, and this moving and perceptive masterpiece is filled with them.
If you're a fan of author, comedian and NPR humorist David Sedaris, then you'll know that he's a frequent visitor Down Under. Missed him on his last trip in 2023? 2025 is your latest chance to experience his snappy wit, as well as his discerning and astute ability to observe life's moments — both trivial and extraordinary — in both an observational and unique way. This is Sedaris' seventh trip Down Under, spanning stops in both Australia and New Zealand — including at Sydney Opera House on Monday, February 10–Tuesday, February 11. If you haven't seen Sedaris live before, his shows are part of the reason that he's built up such a following. Onstage, he regularly weaves in new and unpublished material, too — and the satirist will throw it over to the crowd for a Q&A as well, and also sign copies of his books. [caption id="attachment_862849" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anne Fishbein[/caption] Sedaris has more than a few tomes to his name, so you have options for him to scribble on, including Happy-Go-Lucky, Calypso, Theft by Finding, Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Holidays on Ice, Naked and Barrel Fever. Sedaris is equally celebrated for his constant This American Life appearances and must-read pieces in The New Yorker, and boasts everything from the Terry Southern Prize for Humor and Jonathan Swift International Literature Prize for Satire and Humor to the Time Humorist of the Year Award among his accolades. If you've been searching for a supportive environment to use the phrase "how very droll", this is it. [caption id="attachment_862850" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anne Fishbein[/caption] Top images: Jenny Lewis, Prudence Upton.
The eye and the brain are incredibly powerful organs through which humans receive and process a large proportion of their sensory information. What we see every second of everyday helps shapes our understanding of almost every aspect of our lives. And our brains develop certain expectations about objects based on a long history of experience. However, sometimes optical illusions can challenge our pre-conceived ideas of structures and confound both our eyes and brains. Through clever deceptive techniques, artists and architects can create buildings that elude our basic understanding of how constructions are made and what they include. Here are nine bewildering optical illusions sure to confuse and amaze and challenge your conceptions of architecture. Warped Building This apartment building is your average apartment block...with a twist. A fairly large, warped twist. The unique structure is situated in the Czech Republic's capital city, Prague, and has picturesque views overlooking the River Vitara. El Grifo Magico Appearing to defy gravity and perform some magical feat, this 'floating tap' seems to be pouring an endless supply of water from its vantage point of mid-air suspension. Even though a magician should never reveal their secrets (and stop reading now if you would like the magic to remain), it has been revealed that a pipe hidden by the water actually holds the structure up. Upside Down House Spider-man? Gravity-defying shoes? Talented acrobats? No, it's another awe-inspiring architectural design that tricks and boggles the mind. This unorthodox house has everything upside down and back to front - literally. Trompe-l'eoil Ever after looking at this image several times, it is still impossible to fathom the appearance of this melting building, closer resembling a time warp than an apartment block. In actual fact, this image actually depicts a painting, but even then it succeeds in confounding the brain.The image uses the french art technique of tromp-l'eoil, which attempts to make 2D images appear like 3D optical illusions that really exist. One-walled House History has taught us to understand a house as a building comprising of at least four walls, a roof and a door. However, in Odessa, Ukraine, they have challenges this perception by creating a disconcerting house, which from the front appears orthodox, but when viewed from the side reveals only a single walled-building. Cafe Wall Illusion In 1979 a cafe was erected in Bristol, England, with a perplexing exterior that confused and bemused, and which continues to do so into the present day. A variant of the Münsterberg shifted chessboard illusion, this tessellating pattern uses light and alternating bricks of black and white to make the parallel and even lines appear to be sloped. All the line are actually horizontal and all the levels of the building perfectly equal in size. Bâtiment Another building which seems to flout all logical laws of gravity is the artist Leandro Ehrlich's mirrored art installation for the 'In Perceptions' exhibition in Paris. Whilst people appear to be casually hanging from 3-storey balconies or chilling whilst suspended horizontally to the wall, this trickery is actually a result of a mirrored painting of a building on the ground. 3D Lichtenstein House The top image gives the impression of a quaint and colourful little house that would be fitting within the setting of a fairytale story. The second picture, however, reveals its highly deceptive nature. Cleverly using only two walls placed at specific angles, when viewed at from a particular viewpoint, this house appears to be a complete 4-walled building. Sinking House Another sneaky illusion using angles, the top picture of this house depicts a building seemingly falling into the depths of the Earth. Yet when righted, the correct angle of the house demonstrates a perfectly average home located on the slope of a hill.
Humans have been sailing for millenia but we've come a long way since the days of canvas sails and wooden oars. No matter your experience on the high seas, you've never seen something quite like SailGP. This global racing series first hit the water in 2019 but has quickly become one of the most popular events on the water worldwide. The series was in Sydney last year and returns for another event on Saturday, February 24 and Sunday, February 25, 2024. Now in its fourth season, the competition is at an all-time high and you'll want to be there to see it go down. First, there's a few things we need to catch you up on. [caption id="attachment_882907" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] David Callow for SailGP.[/caption] WHAT IS SAILGP? SailGP is an international racing series featuring top sailors from around the world. Originally the competition was between a fleet of five teams but currently ten teams will represent their home nations on a field of nautical combat that puts skill and coordination over technological advantages (which so often define the results of other sailing leagues). That's achieved by setting a level playing field: each team sails the exact model of vessel (more on that soon) and shares technical data from each race. The KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix in Sydney will be the eighth event out of 13 that make up the 2023-2024 season. Specifics on scoring, course design and penalties are best explained by SailGP themselves but, to help visualise the race, it's all about speed and precision, like Formula 1 — except powered by wind and water. [caption id="attachment_928733" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Felix Diemer for SailGP[/caption] THE F50 CATAMARAN — A CRASH COURSE The F50 Catamaran is SailGP's pride and joy, a purpose-built vessel for the series used by all teams and collectively owned and maintained by SailGP. Based on the AC50's used in the 2017 America's Cup, the F50 is the culmination of almost a decade of research — a vessel designed to not only move at incredible speeds but to operate at its best while under stress. The basic objective was to create a vessel that moves with foils and rudders but is faster and more stable than others of its kind. In perfect conditions, the F50 is projected to be capable of moving at 100 kilometres per hour. Sparing the specific details only an engineer would understand, the materials and minuscule design points lead to one key result: the boat flies. The fatal flaw of racing on water is cavitation: when the water is disturbed so powerfully it starts to boil, effectively killing the momentum of the vessel as pockets of water instantly expand and implode around it. The engineering of the F50 foils (the leg bits in the water) means that this only happens when the speedometer is in the red — the boat essentially bends the laws of physics to squeeze out extra speed. [caption id="attachment_882904" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Phil Hillyard for SailGP[/caption] AUSTRALIA'S OWN — THE FLYING ROOS It's not bragging if it's a fact: Australia's team are the three-time undefeated champions of the global SailGP series. Our Flying Roos have come out on top in every season to date. Despite having not technically 'won' any of the finals this season, they've racked up enough points to be at the top of the S4 leaderboard by making it through to the final of every event. The F50 requires a crew of six perfectly coordinated sailors, each with a designated role. For Australia: Tom Slingsby is the driver, leading the crew and steering the boat; flight controller Jason Waterhouse maintains a steady elevation of the boat; Kyle Langford is the wing trimmer, managing the wing; grinders Sam Newtown and Kinley Fowler help power the trimming of the wing; and strategists Natasha Bryant and Nina Curtis provide strategic advice to the crew by analysing wind conditions, rival teams in the race and more. [caption id="attachment_928735" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Patrick Hamilton for SailGP[/caption] THE COMPETITION The current roster of competing SailGP teams is made up of Australia, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, New Zealand, Denmark, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States. Past teams have included China and Japan, and an Italian team is set to join in a future season. And while Australia may have dominated the competition, other teams have come close to taking the championship. The inaugural season saw Australia locked in a battle for supremacy with Japan, and China jostled to end up with a podium place. Season two saw the Aussies once again clash with the Japanese team while the American team came in third. Finally, in season three Australia duelled with neighbouring newcomers New Zealand while Great Britain swept into third place. At the time of writing, now well into season four Australia holds an eleven-point lead over Denmark, with New Zealand twelve points behind in third place. [caption id="attachment_928732" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Adam Warner for SailGP[/caption] THE SEASON SO FAR Headed into the latter half of season four, Australia maintains a firm lead — but victory isn't guaranteed. Driver Tom Slingsby is named by some as the key to the Aussie success but, as previously mentioned, Australia hasn't won a final in this season so far. The team has performed consistently up to the point of victory. The last actual victory for the team was the season three grand final in May. Slingsby voiced his irritation at the team not winning an event in S4 in an interview for SailGP — "I know it's good for the overall points but I'm getting a bit sick of hearing 'oh it's good for the overall points' at the end of an event." Now heading to the January event in Abu Dhabi, Slingsby will return after missing the previous Dubai event for the birth of his first child. Will the Aussies be able to secure the win? It's anyone's guess in this race. [caption id="attachment_928734" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Patrick Hamilton for SailGP[/caption] THE SYDNEY EVENT At the time of writing, one event has yet to take place before the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix | Sydney. Following Abu Dhabi in January 2024, all teams will hit the water on Sydney Harbour on the last weekend in February. Spectators can catch the action from a range of designated areas. The top pick for experiencing the race is Genesis Island, which has all-inclusive food and beverages, live race commentary, and boat transfers from Barangaroo to the experience on Shark Island. The Genesis Island vantage point is available for Silver and Bronze ticket-buyers and provides a variety of boarding times. Otherwise, you can properly get in the splash zone on an open-top Official Spectator Boat, book a spot with a privately-owned vessel inside the public exclusion zone with a Bring Your Own Boat flag, or go full luxe with a chartered Adrenaline Yacht. If you can't make it to the race, it'll be broadcast live on Foxtel Sports and Kayo. You can also go behind the scenes with a Team Base Tour or mingle with fellow fans at the SailGP Village, offering activities pre-and-post racing. The KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix will take place on Saturday, February 24 and Sunday, February 25, 2024. For more information or to book tickets, visit the website. Images supplied by SailGP.
Tucked away from the hustle of Oxford Street, semi-hidden laneway Foley Street is home to a number of Sydney makers and artists, including Naomi Taplin of Studio Enti. Moving into Foley Street was a thrill for the designer, who relishes the interaction it permits. "Ceramics are something people want to touch, pick up and hold in their hands before they invest in it. I feel really lucky to get to talk to people and have a real conversation about the process." Studio Enti's elegant porcelain tableware, lighting and accessories have garnered a loyal following. The ceramics are beautiful, but they are also sturdy, built from Australian porcelain and made to last. Having grown up with clay (her mother was a potter) before studying at the College of Fine Arts, UNSW, Taplin admires the sustainability of a classic design aesthetic. "Once something's fired, it's permanent," she says. "If it's something faddy, it's a waste of material." In her delicate space, Taplin looks to create "pieces that have the ability to tell a story and to enrich the tasks and the lives of the user". So make sure to ask the creator herself about the pieces when you take a stroll down Foley Street. Images: Steven Woodburn.
In the space of less than a week, the last two Super Bowl half-time show headliners have both announced 2025 tours to Australia. First, Kendrick Lamar locked in a prime slot at Spilt Milk just months after taking to the field. Next, 2024's Super Bowl performer Usher has confirmed Aussie dates for his Past Present Future world tour. He's heading to Melbourne in November and Sydney in December. The appropriate reaction if you're an Usher fan: yeah! This will be the eight-time Grammy-winner's first Australian solo headline tour since 2011. Celebrating his three-decade career is the name of the game — which means going all the way back to his first single 'Call Me a Mack' from 1993, also playing tracks off of his latest 2024 album Coming Home, plus working his way through plenty in-between. "I can't wait to bring this tour to Australia, a place where I hope to retire in the future. See you soon!" said Usher, announcing his trip Down Under. Eight dates have been locked in for when Past Present Future makes its Aussie stop: four each at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne across Wednesday, November 19–Thursday, November 20 and Saturday, November 22–Sunday, November 23, plus another four at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney from Monday, December 1–Tuesday, December 2 and Thursday, December 4–Friday, December 5. And yes, that timing means that Usher and Lamar will be here at around the same time, given that Spilt Milk runs across the first two weekends of December. The first US shows on the Past Present Future tour were announced just days before Usher's Super Bowl set, which worked through hits from across his lengthy career itself. From August–December 2024, the Texas-born singer made his way across North American stages, before heading to Europe (including England, France, the Netherlands and Germany) from March 2025. Also popping up on his setlist across the tour so far: 'Yeah!', of course, plus everything from 'Can U Get Wit It', 'Nice & Slow', 'U Remind Me' and 'U Got It Bad' to 'Burn', 'OMG', 'Euphoria' and more. Usher Past Present Future World Tour Australia 2025 Dates Wednesday, November 19–Thursday, November 20 + Saturday, November 22–Sunday, November 23 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Monday, December 1–Tuesday, December 2 + Thursday, December 4–Friday, December 5 — Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Usher is touring Australia in November and December 2025. Presales start on Monday, May 12 at 11am for Melbourne and 12pm for Sydney, while general tickets go on sale at 12pm for Melbourne and 1pm for Sydney on Friday, May 16 — head to the tour website for more details. Images: Marcus Macdonald / Bellamy Brewster.
There are lots of reasons to spend the day hiking along the Murray River in autumn. The weather is perfect and the air is crisp. It's not so cold you have to wear thermals and not so hot you have to dash from shade-patch to shade-patch. You have the glory of nature, of course — and not regular glory but autumnal glory, which studies show is up to 45 percent more glorious than regular nature. But the ultimate best thing about hiking in autumn? The seasonal food that crops up in country restaurants. After a big day hiking, there's nothing better than cosying up to a big, hearty meal. We've paired some of the best hikes around the Murray River with the tastiest treats to indulge in after you return to civilisation. WANDER THROUGH A BILLABONG THEN A WINERY Mildura is the perfect autumn hiking destination for those of us who also love to eat. It sits alongside a natural billabong that was further irrigated when the region was settled, making it an incredibly fertile food bowl and winery region. Head to the Kings Billabong Walk car park, just north of town, and do the 4-kilometre loop. It's an easy, scenic walk through varied bushland and wetlands. Keep an eye out for wildlife (ducks, spoonbills and kingfishers can be seen on the billabong, doing their thang) and at Psyche Bend, you'll see the original pump house that irrigated the region. Once you've worked up an appetite, head over to Trentham Estate Winery, located on the other side of the wetlands and get a taste of the fresh produce from the region. The winery has an award-winning restaurant, with a balcony overlooking the mighty Murray, open for lunch (12pm–3pm). Alternatively, enjoy their excellent cellar door and charcuterie boards before taking a stroll through the grounds. EXPERIENCE COUNTRY LIFE WITH A PUB MEAL AND HISTORICAL RIVER WALK There are lots of historical towns dotted along the Murray River, and Swan Hill is one of the quaintest examples. The River Walk starts just north of the town centre and winds for 4.5 kilometres down the river. It takes you on a journey through the town and the Indigenous history of the region. It's a flat, easy walk that'll take you about two hours. When you eventually make it back to town, you have some classic country-town food options. For a lighter snack, head to Spoons Riverside and grab a coffee on the river. Or head to one of the many country pubs (try the Commercial Hotel or the Federal Hotel) for a nostalgic pub dinner. It's the perfect way to enjoy a brisk autumn night. Parma and a pot, anyone? TEST YOUR STAMINA AND SPICE TOLERANCE IN SWAN HILL If you're in the Swan Hill region and looking for a more intense hiking experience, head south down the Murray and try the Koondrook Red Gum Forest Walk instead. The full walk is a doozy — 13 kilometres of beautiful red gum forest and wetlands in the Gunbower State Forest. It's best to do it in autumn otherwise you'll work up quite a sweat. Keep your eyes peeled for kangaroos, broad-shelled turtles, and giant banjo frogs, which come out at dusk. There's a shorter 9-kilometre walk too, but both paths are relatively flat and easy-going. Afterwards, we recommend heading back up the road to Swan Hill and checking out Java Spice. It's an incredibly cute, kitschy little Balinese restaurant, with flavoursome food and a relaxing outdoor setting. Stretch out your tired limbs and indulge in a fruity cocktail (you've earned it). TAKE TIME OUT FOR COFFEE, CAKE AND ART DECO IN MILDURA Start with morning tea at the beautiful Mildura Arts Centre. The centre started as a classic country house and now has a contemporary wing. Grab morning tea in their outdoor cafe to fuel you for a day of sightseeing. The sculpture park is the perfect setting for a digestive stroll. Mildura has run a sculpture contest since 1961, so their sculpture game is on point. Wander through the grounds to kick off your walking tour. It's a self-guided tour, so you can go at your own pace while taking in the art deco architecture of Mildura. EAT YOUR WAY THROUGH ECHUCA ON A CULINARY TOUR You have a few options for treating yourself in Echuca Moama. Start with a coffee at 7 Beans Coffee on High Street, but don't linger for long, because there are a few more stops on your culinary tour before you're done. Stop in at The Sweet Meadow down the road. It's a cute cafe with an entirely vegan menu. We recommend the creamy avocado served with pesto and spelt sourdough. When you're done, head over to Beechworth Bakery and stock up on sweet bakery treats for your afternoon adventures. From there, head out to Waaia, where you'll rendezvous with Southern Side Eco Tourism. They organise adventure forays into the Barmah Millewa Forest National Park. With their help, you can go kayaking or hiking deep in the national park with all the trimmings (but be sure to organise ahead of time). For more information on the autumn experiences on offer in the Murray region and across the state, head to the Wander Victoria website.
As we kiss another summer goodbye, we don't blame you if you're looking for an excuse for a weekend getaway. And if you're after an adventure with things to see and do, ring in autumn at the month-long Equinox - an Autumn Celebration in the beautiful Blue Mountains, happening from March 18 to April 10. From incredible culinary experiences to impressive live performances and opportunities to explore beautiful landscapes, there are dozens of reasons to escape to the Blue Mountains this season thanks to this seasonal event. But with so much to see and do, where should you start? We've handpicked six mustn't-miss events to add to your calendar to help you make the most of the Blue Mountains this autumn. [caption id="attachment_845727" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] FEAST Where: Ballroom, Hydro Majestic When: March 25–26 No ordinary dinner experience, Feast marries the culinary with decadence and theatre. The evening of food and frivolity takes place in the ballroom of the iconic Hydro Majestic Hotel, which will transform into a banquet hall full of surprises. Delight your senses with a 90-minute culinary experience in which a multi-course dinner will be served while you're entertained by live music, dancers, acrobats and more. Get your tickets here to secure your spot. [caption id="attachment_844890" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Klim Musalimov[/caption] THE UNFAIR ADVANTAGE Where: Pigeon Lane, 186/188 Katoomba Street, Katoomba When: April 1–2 If you're looking for a bit of magic in your life, then you won't want to miss The Unfair Advantage. This event will take you into the secret world of card cheating, allowing you to learn some impressive new tricks courtesy of sleight-of-hand specialist Harry Milas. This theatrical event will be part-tutorial, part-performance, with a two-course dinner and gift on arrival. This intimate experience will be capped at just 24 people, so get your tickets here before they sell out. THE SUSTAINABILITY TOOLKIT Where: Prince Henry Picnic Area, Katoomba Falls Road, Katoomba When: April 8–9 Enjoy an educational walk through the idyllic Blue Mountains where you will explore the natural resources available for tools, food, medicine and more. This experience offers an insight into traditional and contemporary Aboriginal living and the importance of sustainability and caring for Country. The Sustainable Toolkit is run by Aboriginal rangers who bring their own unique expertise and insights to create a deeply personal and memorable experience that will leave you with a deeper appreciation for the land. Get tickets here. WINE TASTING AND STARGAZING Where: Dryridge Estate, Megalong Valley When: April 1 Is there a better combo than drinking delicious wine under a beautiful sky of stars? On the evening of April 1 at Megalong Valley's Dryridge Estate, you can do just that with expert insight into what you're sipping and what you're looking at. You'll start the night by watching the sun set behind the Megalong Valley as you make your way through seven different current vintage wines and gourmet platters of cheese, antipasti and a selection of locally made bread, grissini and flatbread. While you enjoy your grazing, astrophysicist Dr Dimitri Douchin will lead an insightful guide to the stars. You will learn some naked-eye astronomy tips, take a closer look through binoculars and a professional-grade telescope and take in some constellation storytelling around a campfire. You might even catch a falling star if you're lucky, too. Get tickets here. [caption id="attachment_844888" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] BLUE MOUNTAINS TRACKS For those wanting to really embrace the great outdoors, Blue Mountains Tracks lets you explore the region's tracks and get up close with some of the region's natural wonders. If you and your crew want to go at your own pace, or you're in need of some solo time, opt for a two- or three-night self-guided walking package. Blue Mountain Tracks will make sure you don't miss out on any hidden gems with its detailed and up-to-date maps, while also sorting out accommodation, breakfasts, hiking snacks and even tickets for the world's steepest railway at Scenic World. Given that it's a self-guided tour, you're also free to choose dates that suit you. For something a little different, book a spot in a Yoga and Hiking Retreat. On this tour you'll get your steps in with two guided bushwalks (and an optional night walk) and do some active recovery with five yoga sessions over three days. The package also includes breakfast, two meals and optional activities, so you might even make some new friends along the way. SUNRISE AND SUNSET YOGA Where: The Lookout Echo Point When: April 8–10 If you need a bit of zen in your life, why not join an outdoor yoga session while enjoying a radiant Blue Mountains sunrise? Wake up with a relaxing flow yoga session at Echo Point Lookout, where you will get a breathtaking view of the Jamison Valley beyond. Classes will be run by Jill Day, who has been leading yoga practices for 17 years so you know you'll be in good hands. Don't worry if you aren't a yoga pro — this class is suitable for all levels so any participant will leave feeling energised. Not a morning person? No worries — Day will lead a sunset practice on the evening of Friday, April 8, too. Get tickets here for a sunrise practice and here for a sunset session. Find out more about Equinox – an Autumn Celebration via the website.
Is it that time again already? The Sydney Underground Film Festival is back, bigger and better than ever. If you thought Harmony Korine couldn't out-do Julien Donkey Boy and Gummo, you were wrong; Trash Humpers is here to rock your socks. It seems this American filmmaker is living up to the reputation forged for him by Werner Herzog. Gaspar Noe has also returned to the big screen, with his effort Enter The Void, after a seven year absence since Irreversible, and Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas present the life of the now-deceased comedian Bill Hicks, in American: The Bill Hicks Story. Notably, this film made a great impression at SXSW. Congratulations to whoever in the organisation of this event managed to schedule 89 films over a 54-hour period. Kudos, friend. Kudos. The three evenings of cinema commence with a screening of Un Chien Andalou, a film that many will recognise from the Pixies song 'Debaser'. The product of a partnership between Luis Brunel and Salvador Dali, the film's opening sequence is perhaps what made it famous. What will make this screening particularly interesting however, is the fact that Jay Katz and Miss Death have composed a live score to accompany the film. Get on down to the Factory Theatre, and help bring these films out of the underground. Image: Trash Humpers https://youtube.com/watch?v=BVbTEVfLksU
Bored of your usual Wednesday night entertainment? Head to Friend in Hand for something a little different: crab racing. Every last Wednesday of the month, you can expect crisp, cold schooners, or better yet $10 jugs from 7–8.30pm, while you watch an upturned bucket of hermit crabs race to the finish line. The pub's been bringing these crustacean shenanigans to Glebe for over 20 years from 8pm. So grab a jug, and get set to cheer on your fine shelled friends. Image: Kitti Gould.
A specials menu that changes daily. Live music and a trivia night each week. Monthly tap takeovers with the best in the craft beer scene — include a month with Wayward and Nomad. Rocks Brewing Co has transformed the old Lord Raglan Hotel into a local favourite with a serious fun side. Many of the changes we spoke to Johnathan Hepner about back in October 2014 have come to fruition. Of course, the Bottle Shop is still stocked with all things craft, from common to crazy. For the real enthusiasts, join the Bottle Club — you'll get a list of beers to try each month, with a free, special edition brew for you speedy drinkers out there. Now, the pub is much more than a haven for craft beer lovers. The menu, re-envisioned by a native New Yorker, marries classic American pub food with posh, lighter fare. Not many hotels serve sesame crusted tuna steak ($20) over a chilli lime vinaigrette salad. The tuna is delicate yet meaty with a fine crust and perfectly pink centre. The crunchy cabbage and herb salad packs a serious coriander punch. As far as classic pub food goes, the menu presents a nice mix of Aussie and American favourites: chicken schnitzel sits next to Philly cheese steak ($16 each) and a Latin Lover ($18). An American favourite, this panini pressed Cuban sandwich is layered with slow-roasted pork shoulder, thinly sliced leg ham and heaps of melted Swiss cheese. It's the house-made pickles and roasted garlic-Dijon aioli that makes the dish. All plates are served in pub portions and the nearby sauce station has both Frank's RedHot and sriracha. You really can't ask for much more. But wait, there's more. Lord Raglan may be craft-centric, but they're also doing monthly house infusions that they plan to make crazier by the month. When we visit, there's a Cucumber Martini ($12) or Habanero Margarita ($18), made from a local's home-made stuff. Since they are beer fanatics, the menu naturally includes beer cocktails, most recently the Holey Berry ($15), a collaboration with the Shenanigans duo which uses the last existing keg of Holey Porter ($9.5 schooner). If that isn't enough, there's much more on the horizon for this jack of all trades. Pinball tournaments will accompany their four new machines, jalapenos stuffed with peanut butter will hit the menu, and zanier beers are in the pipeline. This is one of the few pubs that tries to do it all and actually does it all well.
Set above a Chinese noodle spot in Haymarket's Prince Centre, Passage Gallery's round-the-clock space is now exhibiting renowned Australian artist Patricia Piccinini's latest piece, Centrifugal Love Garden. Inspired by a recent visit to a Melbourne stem cell lab, this work offers a kinetic glimpse of a harmonious future, where hybrid forms that aren't quite natural or synthetic symbiotically co-exist. Having long explored science, technology, bio-ethics and an uncertain path forward in her celebrated work, Piccinini has taken a new direction with this piece, adding a propulsive sense of movement. Here, a surreal collection of forms draws from what researchers call 'organoids' — miniaturised, simplified organs suspended in fluid. Artificial yet composed of nature, this duality is what attracted Piccinini to look more closely. To reflect this notion in the installation, Piccinini has created a series of hair works that oscillate from above, referencing not only the colourless organoids, but also the hairy creatures that often appear in Piccinini's work. Meanwhile, a group of stylised birds, based on Antarctic penguins, huddle together to ensure their survival. Another character, Ghost, blurs the boundary between organic and mechanical. On display until Friday, May 8, Centrifugal Love Garden offers a strangely optimistic outlook, where — in the eternal words of Dr Ian Malcolm — life, uh, finds a way. "This work is at home in a world that acknowledges 'naturalised technology'; a world where technology is so seamlessly integrated into everything that it is impossible to see when nature ends, and the artificial begins," says Piccinini. "This is certainly the world of the organoid." Like what you see? Subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter to get stories just like these straight to your inbox.
Our footballers adore them. Plenty of our musicians do, too. Yes, Australia's love affair with the most chaotic of hairstyles — the short-at-the-front, long-at-the-back do that is the mullet — runs deep. But here's something that'll surprise even the most devoted aficionados of this cult-favourite cut: mullet shoes. Shoes with a mullet. Sneakers with long hair attached. Kicks that are all business in front, party in the back. However you choose to describe them, the idea remains the same. And, while it might seem like a gag, these just-launched Volleys are 100-percent real. April 1 has been and gone for another year, and Volley's Heritage High Mullet Edition shoes weren't part of it. That said, Volley's latest limited-edition to its range is meant to inspire a few giggles. Again, they're sneakers with a detachable mullet velcroed onto the back — footwear that people are meant to slip on their feet and walk around in while letting that hairy patch drag along the ground in all its glory. But they've also become a reality for a cause that's no laughing matter, with Volley teaming up with the Black Dog Institute to release the shoes for the latter's Mullets for Mental Health campaign for 2022. "Volley is honoured to have joined forces with Black Dog Institute to create this mullet masterpiece. We feel that partnering with the Institute, particularly for the Mullets for Mental Health campaign, allows us to instil our light-hearted, larrikin spirit into a difficult topic to broach, making it less daunting and easier to spark conversation," says Volley Australia General Manager John Szwede. And don't go thinking that you can only run around in your mullet-adorned Volleys with their long hair swishing away. "We want people to be interactive with their mullet volleys – cut them, dye them, braid them and most importantly, wear them," explains Szwede. "We look forward to continuing this relationship with Black Dog Institute ongoing and we hope to create something truly unique and special for our audience and beyond." All profits from Volley's mullet kicks are being donated to the Black Dog Institute, too, so you'll be doing a good deed by adding them to your wardrobe. Sure, you'll also be committing a crime against fashion — and that synthetic hair will probably get quite grimy when you're stepping all over it — but rocking a mullet, whether on your head or now on your feet, has always meant throwing caution (and long locks) to the wind. For more information about Volley's Heritage High Mullet Edition shoes, or to buy a pair, head to the brand's website.
Sometimes you want to control the action — whether that's sipping a seltzer with your salumi, bubbles with your bavette or passion pop with your slice of pizza. We're not here to judge. When you want to bring your own booze to your date night, party in the park or casual catch-up, there are limited places to do so in Sydney. However, of those places there are some truly excellent options. In partnership with new Sydney-made W Seltzer — a naturally brewed, low sugar sparkling drink — we've picked out eight BYO places, some of which you might find surprising.
After closing its doors in 2016, Sydney's Theatre Royal will finally reopen. The 1200-seat Theatre Royal is one of Australia's oldest theatres, dating back to the 1870s. But most Sydneysiders will know it in its current form, which reopened in the 1970s and was designed by famed Australian architect Harry Seidler. It was built as a replacement for the old theatre, as that was demolished when the MLC Centre was erected — and, before sitting idle for the past five years, it's played host to everything from the Australian-premiere season of Cats to a three-year season of The Phantom of the Opera. In terms of physical changes during the multimillion-dollar refurbishment, leaseholders Trafalgar Entertainment has kept true to Seidler's original designs, while also increasing capacity from 1100 to 1200 via a redesign that's added an extra row of seats. The venue now sports a two-tiered setup, with no seat within the auditorium any more than 23 metres from the stage. Red and gold still feature heavily, colour-wise. There's also a new circular glass entrance space decked out with floor-to-ceiling windows, for views of King Street from the internal theatre foyer — and vice versa, including being able to see Theatre Royal's ribbed ceiling and geometrically precise hanging Mercator sculpture, as designed by Italian structural engineer Pier Luigi Nervi and American sculptor Charles O Perry respectively. And, there's a new Theatre Royal sign, as crafted and produced by Newcastle-based Owen Signs.
If you're not familiar with the work of Australian artist Shaun Gladwell, that's about to change. The MCA is currently showcasing an expansive survey of his 20-year career, which you can see any day of the week. Or, if you're more of a night owl, you can head down on a Wednesday night for the ultimate night at the gallery. The artist is known for his video work, and connectedness to the body and movement through images of surfers, skaters and dancers. This survey offers a great viewing platform to look back at the last two decades of Australia and its expanding reach to the rest of the world. It also reflects a time of technological change as we become more and more reliant on the digital. As such, the exhibition includes newly commissioned augmented and virtual reality works, as well as earlier tech-based works, including renowned video Storm Sequence (2000) set at Bondi Beach. The title of the exhibition, Pacific Undertow, comes from a critical video to the show that embodies Gladwell's movement through location, his obsessions with colonial and art histories, as well as forms of everyday urban performance and mortality. UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 — The MCA has partnered up with LG and is giving away an after-dark night at the gallery followed by your own private movie night on Sydney Harbour. If you're the lucky winner, you and three mates will be put up in a hotel, with breakfast included, plus $1000 spending money. You'll gain access to MCA after hours, including a private tour of Pacific Undertow. After, you'll be led to your own private movie night inside a pop-up dome-like structure, with stunning views across the harbour. You'll also have plenty of movie snacks and drinks on hand while you watch your favourite movies on a massive LG TV. Best of all? They're giving away a brand new LG TV (LG 88" 8K OLED TV worth $59,999), too, so you can continue binge-watching all those movies in the comfort of your own home. To be in the running for this jam-packed prize, head here.
Fine dining be damned, hawker cuisine has increasingly earned its flowers from high-minded culinary perfectionists. That includes Keng Eng Kee, a 55-year-old Singaporean zi char stall-turned-restaurant whose home-style cooking has appeared in Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown and Netflix's Street Food Asia while winning recommendations in the Michelin Guide. Having recently launched their first Singapore outpost, the ice cream experts at Gelato Messina have also taken note of Keng Eng Kee. Serving up an international collaboration for the first time as part of its Messina Eats series, the legendary hawker outfit will host a two-day car park feast from Friday, October 10–Saturday, October 11, at Messina's Marrickville HQ. Featuring a tight, but tantalising menu, guests will discover Keng Eng Kee's coffee pork bites — tender pork wok-tossed in coffee, honey and apple jam sauce, then finished with roasted sesame seeds. There's also a chilli soft-shell crab burger, chilli crab meat served with golden fried mantou, and black pepper beef with garlic rice. As expected, the sweets are also unmatched. Grab a Milo Dinosaur Sundae, layered and sprinkled with Australia's favourite malty treat. And for those who can't make the main event, a limited-run gelato — Goreng Pisang — is available for one week from Thursday, October 9, offering fried banana gelato with peanut praline and gula melaka caramel.
This Labour Day long weekend, Sydney's premier Asian supermarket, Gong Grocer is hosting a three-day Mid-Autumn Festival celebration from Saturday, October 4 to Monday, October 6. The free event will run daily from 12–8pm and pack out World Square's slice of George Street with live entertainment, cooking demos, and plenty of mooncakes. The Mid-Autumn or Moon Festival is a historic celebration in China, commemorating the end of the harvest season and the full moon. Expect traditional lion dance performances, live music, and family-friendly activities, alongside celebrity chef demos from Vincent Lim (DimSimLim), Catherine Desserts and Brendan Pang. If you aren't yet sick of Labubu's, then you can sign up for an exclusive Labubu mooncake-making experience hosted by G-LAB Patisserie. Or if that doesn't tickle your fancy, sip your way through premium sake tastings featuring brews from celebrated Japanese names like Umenoyado, Tatenokawa, and Chiebijin. Stalls from 12Cake and Ommis Foods will showcase handmade cakes, mochi, Taiwanese street eats, and mooncakes. While interactive games, including Spin-the-Wheel and the Big Chopstick Challenge, will award prizes like Labubu collectibles, plushies and limited-edition merch. Entry to this three-day Mid-Autumn festival is free, so make sure to bring your nearest and dearest this October. For more information, head to the event website.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chargrill Charlie's has been helping out impacted restaurants and chefs through its Local Flavours initiative. As well as selling chef Sam Young's dumplings and Kepos Street Kitchen's popular Israeli dishes, the chargrilled chook chain teamed up with pink-haired pastry chef Anna Polyviou to sell her super-chocolatey cookie dough. And sell it did — a whole two tonnes of it, to be exact. So, they're bringing it back to the streets of Sydney, quite literally. Instead of just selling buckets of the dough, Charlie's is rolling out a cookie dough van for one day. It'll travel across Sydney, following the path of Chargrill Charlie's 13 Sydney stores from east to north, kicking off at 9am and finishing around 5.30pm. Keep an ear out for the van — it'll be playing suitable ice cream van tunes — and you can snag brownie or fairy bread cookie dough in 600-gram tubs for $15 or whipped into soft serve for $5 a pop. If you miss the van, you can still try the dough. Chargrill Charlie's will be selling tubs at all of its stores and cookie dough thickshakes for $6.90 at Annandale, Dee Why, Drummoyne, Frenchs Forest, Rose Bay, St Ives and Wahroonga stores.
Dixon Street is the beating heart of Chinatown. Take an obligatory photo at the peifang gates (located at either end of the street), grab a bag of famous Emperor's Puffs, and prise yourself from the attentions of enthusiastic restaurant hawkers. You can head there after dark to spot Heaven a vivid large-scale light installation and the Dixon Street Light Screens that hang above the street and gradually change from orange to red. At the stroke of midnight all the lights glow bright red. Image: North Sullivan, Destination NSW.
