Dante in West Village New York

In New York City, aperitivo often saves the day

Like all people of good taste, I am obsessed with New York City. The sense of community, the hospitality, the dynamism, the energy and the breathlessness of it all. All of it. It may smell of humanity’s worst indulgences – I’m not blind to the decay of a hyper-capitalist, hyper-pressurised rat race – but once…

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Here’s our picks for the 2026 Good Things lineup

2026 is flying by, which means Good Things is right around the corner. With the lineup looking likely to drop this coming Tuesday, after a few pushbacks, delays, and plenty of teasing from the Good Things crew, we’re predicting/manifesting that these artists might make the lineup. Nickelback If you’ve seen the new Good Things logo…

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Fiddler on the Roof receives a richly deserved standing ovation at the Theatre Royal Sydney

A tale that travels all the way back to 1905, Fiddler on the Roof is by no means a new musical, yet its timeless themes carry through to today. Premiering on Broadway in 1964, with a film version released in 1971, this musical now marks its 62nd anniversary with its premiere season at the Theatre…

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Interview: Director Kat Good on bringing CoComelon: The Movie to the big screen; “Remember the joy in the journey.”

For countless families around the world, CoComelon is already an instantly recognisable part of childhood. Now, director Kat Good is taking JJ and his friends somewhere they’ve never been before: the big screen. Marking Good’s feature directorial debut, CoComelon: The Movie expands the preschool phenomenon into a colourful musical adventure that follows JJ (Connor Esterson)…

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New Music Discoveries 7th August: Fanny Lumsden, Ra Ra Viper, ZIPPORAH, and more

Each week at the AU we work hard to dig up the best new music from across Australia and beyond. This week is no different with ten brand new tracks added to our Discovery playlist on Spotify and Apple Music. Whether you’re chasing something to soundtrack the commute, or just looking for something new, we’ve…

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Interview: Chloe Van Landschoot on embracing the grotesque for Son of Sara; “Let’s make people feel something.”

Pregnancy has long been fertile ground for horror cinema, but Son of Sara transforms familiar fears into something far more intimate. As Sara, a woman whose increasingly disturbing cravings coincide with the return of her estranged boyfriend and the terrifying possibility that something sinister is growing inside her, Chloe Van Landschoot delivers a performance that…

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Film Review: Son of Sara; familiar horror premise still proves effective thanks to committed performances and wild climax

Son of Sara opens with a compelling premise. Sara (Chloe Van Landschoot) is heavily pregnant after a one-night stand and living with her supportive partner, Carol (Tymika Tafari), but increasingly disturbing symptoms – an insatiable appetite for raw meat, violent bouts of sickness and terrifying visions – suggest something far more sinister than a difficult…

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Grand Theft Auto 6: An Extended Look will premiere on Netflix later this month

The hype train for Grand Theft Auto 6 keeps on rolling. It’s hard to believe we haven’t laid eyes on any official gameplay yet, but it’s a safe bet we’ll get a much better look later this month. Grand Theft Auto 6: An Extended Look will hit Netflix on Friday, the 28th of August for…

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Film Review: Ice Cream Man is an ugly, joyless exercise in escalation that mistakes relentless gore for entertainment

Eli Roth has never been a filmmaker I’ve felt compelled to defend. He’s a provocateur whose work often lives or dies by how much you’re willing to embrace outrageous violence, juvenile humour and unapologetic excess. At his best, films like Cabin Fever, Hostel and Thanksgiving understood the particular corner of horror they occupied, balancing their…

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Live Review: Foo Fighters thrill in Toronto as they kick off their North American tour with Queens of the Stone Age

It felt like the 2003 Summer Festival season all over again in Toronto last night, as the Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age hit the massive Rogers Stadium to kick off their 2026 North American tour. After two cancelled tours – one (the 25th anniversary “Van Tour”) due to COVID-19, and their 2022…

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Jonathan LaPaglia to narrate ambitious new BINGE survival series Apocalypse

BINGE has unveiled a first look at its upcoming original series Apocalypse, while also confirming longtime Australian television presenter Jonathan LaPaglia as the show’s narrator. Best known for hosting Australian Survivor and Top Gear Australia, LaPaglia will guide viewers through the eight-part reality series, which poses a simple but daunting question: Could you survive the…

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Interview: Adam C. Briggs and Geoffrey Vagg on Phillip Philadelphia, creating mythology and finding beauty in decay

There’s something gloriously difficult to pin down about Phillip Philadelphia. At once a queer melodrama, an absurdist comedy, a portrait of creative decay and a love letter to the strange beauty lurking beneath the Gold Coast’s sun-soaked façade, Adam C. Briggs‘ latest feature refuses to settle into any one identity. Shot on luminous 16mm, it…

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Interview: Allan Clarke on the responsibility of bearing witness and why untold stories matter

For Allan Clarke, documentary filmmaking isn’t simply about preserving history – it’s about challenging audiences to confront the stories they’ve long ignored. The award-winning Muruwari and Gomeroi filmmaker, journalist and writer has built a career giving voice to communities too often left out of Australia’s national conversation, from The Bowraville Murders and The Dark Emu…

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Film Review: Super Troopers 3 commits to delivering wonderful stupidity

There are few comedy franchises as defiantly committed to their own wavelength as Super Troopers. Twenty-five years after the original became an unlikely cult sensation on DVD shelves and dorm-room repeat viewings, the Broken Lizard gang are still making movies that feel as though they were conceived during an extended road trip between lifelong friends;…

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Interview: Emei on finding herself on EP Night at the Opera; “I don’t think I owe everything to the world.”

TikTok may have introduced the world to Emei through the irresistible hooks of “Late to the Party” and “Scatterbrain,” but Night at the Opera reveals an artist far more interested in emotional honesty than algorithmic moments. The EP marks a conscious return to her musical theatre roots, embracing melodrama, humour and heartbreak in equal measure…

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Interview: Producer Kelly McCormick on embracing bigger, bolder ideas for Violent Night 2

When Violent Night arrived in 2022, it felt like the cinematic equivalent of finding a lump of coal that somehow turned out to be the perfect Christmas gift. Tommy Wirkola’s gleefully blood-soaked action-comedy paired David Harbour’s weary Santa Claus with outrageous festive carnage, but beneath the shattered ornaments and sharpened candy canes was an unexpectedly…

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Interview: Tommy Wirkola on making Christmas naughty again with Violent Night 2

After proving that Santa Claus could dispatch mercenaries with the same ease he delivered presents, director Tommy Wirkola‘s Violent Night earned an unlikely place alongside the festive classics many audiences return to every December. Beneath the gloriously excessive violence and gleefully inventive action was a surprisingly sincere Christmas story, one that found David Harbour’s weary…

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Erupcja; Charli XCX proves a natural presence in experimental drama that’s easier to appreciate in theory than to connect with in practice: New Farm Queer Film Festival Review

For an artist as culturally omnipresent as Charli XCX, Erupcja is a fascinating first major acting vehicle; yes, depending on when you’re seeing this, she has been seen across such features as The Moment (which shouldn’t really count as she was essentially playing herself), Faces of Death and I Want Your Sex, but Erupcja was…

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The Uniden iGO Cam 63R combines 4K clarity with fantastic dual-camera Value

Dash cams have quietly shifted from nice-to-have gadgets to essential vehicle insurance policies on Australian roads. Uniden’s latest offering, the iGO Cam 63R, sets out to solve the biggest dilemma in the market: how to get legitimate 4K front coverage and crisp rear recording without shelling out top-dollar cash. With an RRP of $300, the…

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Interview: Jason Sudeikis, Abbie Hern, Faye Marsay and Jude Mack on the new era of Ted Lasso

When Ted Lasso concluded its third season, it felt less like a television finale than a heartfelt farewell. It was the kind of ending that seemed content to leave AFC Richmond exactly where audiences hoped it would: bruised, wiser and full of possibility. So the announcement of a fourth season inevitably raised the question every…

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Skylift in New York City

Why I always find myself coming back to New York City’s Top of the Rock

New York City’s famous Top of the Rock represents its limitless ambitions in many ways that Manhattan’s other observation decks cannot. And I can qualify that by looking at how warm and energising the feeling of nostalgia is. Whether it’s your first time up to the iconic deck, or your fifth, you’ll know that feeling….

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Interview: Broken Lizard on expanding the increasingly absurd mythology of Super Troopers 3 and why it’s stranger than we’ll ever see

Twenty-five years after Super Troopers transformed a group of sketch comedians into unlikely cult icons, Broken Lizard still hasn’t grown up. Thankfully. If anything, Super Troopers 3 proves they’ve become even more comfortable embracing the wonderfully bizarre universe they’ve built. What began as a relatively grounded story about Vermont state troopers amusing themselves on lonely…

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Gothic 1 Remake proves that everything old can be new again

Gothic 1 Remake is a full ground-up remake of an action-RPG that originally debuted back in 2001. That era was defined by hardcore, uncompromising RPG design; games rarely offered quest markers or hand-holding to assist with progression, actively demanding players struggle through early hours to earn a sense of growth. Twenty-five years later, times have…

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Book Review: Brigands and Breadknives rises to the occasion, but with a soggy middle

When you think of cosy fantasy, you think of Travis Baldree – or more precisely, his novel Legends and Lattes, which introduced so many readers to the genre. His latest work Brigands and Breadknives continues this sweet trend, but with a little twist. It keeps the comforting vibes going, but with an added dash of…

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Blue Film is emotionally draining, frequently distressing and almost relentlessly uncomfortable: New Farm Queer Film Festival Review

Some films confront difficult subject matter. Blue Film traps you in a room with it and refuses to let you look away. Writer-director Elliot Tuttle‘s feature debut begins with deliberate provocation. Aaron Eagle (Kieron Moore), a successful Los Angeles camboy, performs dominance for an online audience, weaponising confidence, humiliation and carefully cultivated bravado as part…

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Interview: Rebecca De Mornay on heist thriller The Gentleman Thief and finding the mystery insider her character

Few actors have built a career as fascinatingly varied as Rebecca De Mornay. For many, she’ll forever be synonymous with Risky Business or the unforgettable menace of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, but her filmography reveals an artist who’s consistently gravitated toward women of intelligence, mystery and quiet strength, whether in prestige dramas, thrillers…

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Beyond Whiskey Row: 8 things every Bourbon lover should try in Louisville, Kentucky

Bourbon is more than simply a drink in Kentucky. It’s a way of life. More than 95% of the world’s bourbon is produced in the Bluegrass State, with distilleries located everywhere from the rolling hills around Bardstown to the banks of the Ohio River. But for much of the last century, the state’s biggest city…

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Finding the Bones cover

Book Review: Finding The Bones unearths crime, corruption, and a very public cold case

In Natalie Conyer’s latest crime novel, Finding the Bones, a cold case is thrust back into the spotlight when the remains of Belle Fitzgerald, a young heiress and housing activist, are discovered buried above another grave. Told between the past and present, the story follows Belle’s final months in 1980s Kings Cross, which she spends…

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Entertainment dining

Luxury dining events are coming back to Australia, and it’s about time

I feel like it’s been awhile since we’ve really seen a dining series of this size and scale. Given the popularity of annual events like Good Food Month, it’s a surprise we’ve had to wait this long for a new program of food and drink events to dance around Australia’s capital cities and elevate the…

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Silversun Pickups and Coast Arcade bring warmth to a freezing Sydney night at the Enmore Theatre

On one of Sydney’s coldest nights of the year, a crowd wrapped in flannel shirts, heavy boots and teeny, weeny beanies packed into the Enmore Theatre for the final Australian show of Silversun Pickups‘ long-awaited return tour. It may have been freezing outside, but inside the theatre there was plenty to keep fans warm. Opening…

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