Year: 2017

Netflix’s The Crown delivers a trailer for its second season

The award-winning Netflix series (and famed as the most expensive television series of all time), The Crown, will return for its second season later this year – and now we have the first trailer ahead of its December debut. The Crown focuses on Queen Elizabeth II and her time spent as Queen of the United Kingdom. The show focuses…

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First Impressions: Marvel’s The Defenders is exactly the scrappy street level hero team up we hoped for

After two seasons of Daredevil, and introductory seasons for Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, we now reach the first season of Marvel’s The Defenders. The series where our street level heroes of New York finally meet and team up to take on what appears to be the biggest baddie of all to date….

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Melbourne International Film Festival Review: Jungle (Australia, 2017) tells of Yossi Ghinsberg’s Intense and Dramatic Journey

Ever since his resounding success with the Harry Potter franchise Daniel Radcliffe has continued to push the boundaries of his acting career with fantastic and varied performances in both Swiss Army Man and Imperium. Now Radcliffe has completed one of his most physically demanding roles yet portraying Yossi Ghinsberg, an Israeli adventurer who became stranded…

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Melbourne International Film Festival Review: Orlando (UK, 1992) is a meandering look at gender studies in history

Blur may have sung about “girls who are boys who like boys to be girls,” but it was writer, Virginia Woolf who got there first. Her short novel, Orlando is about a young, aristocratic man who wakes up one day and discovers he’s become a woman. It was a novel that was written by Woolf…

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Theatre Review: After the Dance lacks a strong message for modern audiences (at Sydney’s New Theatre until 9 September)

The characters in Terence Rattigan’s After the Dance spend a lot of the play complaining about people they consider boring. But sadly for the New Theatre, the biggest bore in this production is the play itself. Despite some commendable performances by key members of the cast, this play just doesn’t seem to have anything to…

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Two Fat Monks set to switch up Farfield’s dining scene (Melbourne)

After quietly opening in December last year, Fairfield’s Two Fat Monks has launch a new menu. Co-owner Ulysses Vass has taken the past six months to assess operations and customer feed back to change the menu, open and in-house bakery with plans to open an on-site coffee roastry later in the year. ”After running the…

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Shaw Vineyard Estate opens a new restaurant (Canberra)

Shaw Vineyard Estate is reopening its restaurant with a new name and under new management, Olleyville at Shaw Vineyard Estate opens this August. Murrumbateman’s family owned winery is situated in-between Canberra and Yass on the Barton Highway, the restaurant takes its name from the historic mid-19th century wool producing property that was reinvented by the Shaw…

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Brisbane is getting its first ever Japanese festival this month

Brisbane’s west end is gets its first Japanese festival Saturday 19th of August. Foodies should come with a sumo-sized appetite to indulge on Japanese food and culture at Sekisui House’s newest development, West Village, set within the trendy Boundary Street. Favourite Japanese eateries will showcase the country’s best through market stalls, sake tasting and chopstick…

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Flume, Death Grips and the xx help Flow Festival bounce back after severe storm

Saturday was a big one for Helsinki’s Flow Festival, not only featuring an exceptionally strong line-up of both locals and internationals, but also putting the infrastructure to the test as a brief but powerful storm swept across the city in the evening and caused a bit of chaos. Finnish locals MC Taakibörsta held it down…

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Book Review: Whipbird by Robert Drewe is a familiar tale told in a novel way

A new novel from Australian author Robert Drewe is something to celebrate.  After all, this is the man who brought us The Shark Net, The Drowner, and The Bodysurfers.  This July saw the release of Whipbird, Drewe’s first novel since 2005’s Grace, though he certainly hasn’t been silent since then. A regular columnist in the…

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Book Review: Nina Riggs’ The Bright Hour teaches us how to live & die with grace & dignity

Death is the great unknown. Yet it is something that we will all have to experience one day. Nina Riggs’ The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living & Dying contemplates some of these very things, as well as some other big existential questions. The book is an excellent meditation on life and death, and serves…

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Book Review: Claire Halliday’s Things My Father Taught Me is a love letter to Australian Dads

In the lead-up to Father’s Day journalist, copywriter and author, Claire Halliday follows up her previous book, Things My Mother Taught Me with one about the dads. Both books are collections of short interviews undertaken by Halliday with well-known Australian identities, where they describe the relationship they have with a parent. These range from warm…

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Biggie Smalls food truck is heading to Four Pillars this weekend for kebabs, burgers and Gin & Juice

After dominating the casual eats scene in Collingwood for years now Biggie Smalls is finally ready to expand, with a new store in Windsor due to open its doors this September. Shane Delia’s gourmet kebab and hip hop empire has grown considerably since first being introduced in Melbourne, even inspiring a food truck which will…

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Wu Tang Clan have now released their own premium liqueur range in Australia

Strangely enough the legendary Wu Tang Clan have decided to use Australia as its official launch country for the crew’s very own premium liqueur line in collaboration with Melbourne-based Divas Beverages, which features four different flavours each very, very affordable. They’re produced locally in Australia, handcrafted with the intention to be used as either a…

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Winners of the Qantas Epiqure Halliday Wine Companion Awards 2018 revealed

The winners of the QANTAS Epiqure Halliday Wine Companion awards for 2018 have been announced. Distinguished wine critic James Halliday has named Paul Hotker of the historic Bleasdale Vineyards as Winemaker of the Year for 2018, as well as the top performers in a host of other prestigious categories highlighting the best in Australia’s rich…

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10 of the best breakfasts in and around Melbourne

Melbourne has the gold-standard locked down when it comes to breakfast and brunch. There’s no arguing against that, especially when the city has held onto that reputation for years on end without ever having to fear healthy competition like Sydney and Adelaide. It’s been a tremendously difficult job but we dived into the rich and…

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A.B. Original & Troy Cassar-Daley win big at the 2017 National Indigenous Music Awards

The National Indigenous Music Awards wrapped up in Darwin tonight with a record breaking attendance crowding in at the Darwin Amphitheatre to celebrate the wide range of talents across not only our country’s communities, but musically as well. Perhaps unsurprisingly, A.B. Original continued their winning streak, coming up with Song of the Year and Film Clip of…

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Lana Del Rey and Aphex Twin help kick off Helsinki’s Flow Festival weekend

Crafted in the shadows of a disused power planet about a 30 minute walk from the heart of Helsinki, Finland’s award-winning Flow Festival sprung to life on Friday for its 14th year, threaded throughout the already existing infrastucture of the Suvilahti cultural precinct with a heady mix of music, food & drink, and art. It…

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Music Video of the Day: Kim Churchill “Second Hand Car” (2017)

Kim Churchill‘s national tour is edging closer and today, he slayed his Like a Version performance, tackling Queens of the Stone Age for triple j. Ahead of the weekend, we’re sharing the songwriter’s new music video for the catchy single, “Second Hand Car”, taking from his new album Weight_Falls. Shot out in St. Kilda, “Second Hand Car”…

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Exclusive Single Premiere: BOAT SHOW “The Big Smoke” (2017)

WA group BOAT SHOW will be bringing some of that raucous West Coast heat through to our 9th Birthday party in Sydney come August 30th, but if you aren’t quite schooled up on the band, their new single “The Big Smoke” is the perfect place to start. The tune channels  Ali Flintoff‘s frustration with mates ditching…

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Ariel Pink’s Australian return set to include Melbourne Music Week date at Elisabeth Murdoch Hall

Ariel Pink is set to return to Australia in November for a long awaited run of shows, including one as part of Melbourne Music Week’s 2017 program – one we are super excited for. The lo-fi legend brings his Californian dreaming sounds through to the Melbourne Recital Centre for a special date at the Elisabeth…

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Album Review: Saskwatch – Manual Override (2017 LP)

Change, for the lack of a better word, is good. And while they may have moved even further away from the soul and horns that made me fall in love with them in the first place, Saskwatch continually prove they know how to make devastatingly beautiful indie-pop. This is no different here on their fourth…

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Matt Caughtran talks about The Bronx’s V, and dealing with depression in the rock industry

Los Angeles rock quintet, The Bronx, return after eight years with their fifth album titled V . Talking with lead singer Matt Caughtran, he filled me in on the works of the album. There’s significant changes to lyrics that seems to be more based on current world events and society on V, instead of the bands personal…

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Win a copy of Atari Flashback Classics Vol. 1 and 2 on PS4 or Xbox One

Time for a trip in the way back machine! Atari Flashback Classics have arrived on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, bringing over 100 classic games from the legendary Atari 2600 to modern consoles. Better yet, they’ve all been updated for modern play with leaderboards, online multiplayer and more! And we want you to have a copy…

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Melbourne International Film Festival Review: Namatjira Project (Australia, 2017) continues the story of Australia’s most prolific Aboriginal artist

Albert Namatjira remains one of Australia’s most revered artists. At the time of his death, his collection exceeded two thousand individual paintings, a perceptive catalogue of the landscapes that form the barren heart of Australia’s central regions. Yet his significance far extends his body of work. In 1957 Albert became the first Aboriginal person to…

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PSX17SEA Hands on: Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite (PS4)

I’m a massive, massive fan of the Marvel vs Capcom series. It’s almost definitely my most favourite game in the fighting genre. Mostly because I could use Resident Evil’s Albert Wesker to kick major butt (my gamertag is inspired by him). When I heard that Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite would be available to play at…

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PSX17SEA: Hands on: Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom (PS4)

I’ve never personally played the original Ni No Kuni, but I was told that although this is a sequel to the series, it does not pick up the story from the previous game and you play completely new characters in the completely new world of Ding Dong Dell.

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Interview: Composer Tyler Bates on Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2, The Punisher, Atomic Blonde & touring with Marilyn Manson

Tyler Bates and his musically talented mind has not only collaborated in taking down hordes of Zombies with Zack Snyder’s Dawn of The Dead, dealt with psychopaths in worlds created by Rob Zombie (The Devil’s Rejects and Halloween), blurred the lines with Hank Moody (David Duchovny) for the Californication TV series, but has followed the…

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PSX17SEA: Hands on: Detroit: Become Human (PS4)

Being a massive fan of Quantic Dream’s previous titles like Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain, as soon as I got into the venue, I made a beeline to the booth. The demo on the floor was the same available at E3, where you play as Connor, an android negotiator working with the Detroit PD…

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Hotel Review: The Doubletree by Hilton in Toronto (Canada) delivers everything you expect from the reliable brand

There’s a warmth to the approach by the Doubletree by Hilton brand – though maybe I’m just blinded by the warm chocolate chip cookie they give every guest on check in. But it’s that sort of consistency – cookies, comfortable rooms, soothing colour schemes – that has made them the sort of chain that people become…

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