Author: Erica Enriquez

Australian Box Office Report: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 leaves Fate of the Furious behind

It’s no surprise that the highly anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 performed so well.  The first film, which opened in 2014, became the 6th best grossing film of its year.  The sequel took in $8.61m in this week, but advance screenings went way back to the Anzac Day opening last week, so its actual total…

Read More

Australian Box Office Report: The Fate of the Furious retains no. 1 spot

It seems there’s no roadblocks for The Fate of the Furious, which remains in the top spot at the box office for the second week in a row.  This week, it earned $4.96m, down considerably from its opening week last week when it earned $10.07m.  This is also due to the overlap of the school holiday period, and…

Read More

Australian Box Office Report: The Fate of the Furious races to the top of the box office

Praise Jeebus, the muscles won over the Easter long weekend, as The Fate Of The Furious, the latest film in the Fast and the Furious franchise (and the first since Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift that doesn’t feature Paul Walker) took in $10.07m in its opening week at the box office. The film has…

Read More

Australian Box Office Report: Beauty and the Beast remains a monster of a hit for the school holidays

Not surprising that the great reviews, great publicity and release around the school holiday period for Beauty And The Beast has earned this another no. 1 spot for this week.  Generating $4.96m, it has also made a total of $34m since its premiere.  It’s already the biggest release of the year so far, and has even beaten Disney’s biggest earner…

Read More

SXSW Review: Madre (Chile, 2016) isn’t the thriller you expect

Set in Chile, Madre follows wife and mother Diana (Daniela Ramirez). Pregnant with her second child and caring for her disabled son, Martin (Matias Bassi), Diana struggles daily with running the household; her husband Tomas (Cristobal Tapia Montt) is often away on business in Asia. Just as we’re about to see how much more she can…

Read More

Australian Box Office Report: Beauty and the Beast keeps its rose alive at the top of the ladder

Disney’s new live action version of Beauty And The Beast is at the top of the box office ladder again this week. Although it only made $7.74m this time around (last week it made $13m), its total earnings since its premiere is $26.15m, and, at the rate it’s travelling, is now likely to be one…

Read More

Australian Box Office Report: Beauty and the Beast achieves the biggest box office opening of the year to date

There has been a lot of movement on the charts this week, thanks to a crowded pile of new entries into cinemas over the weekend. The highly anticipated Disney remake Beauty and the Beast went straight to the top of the ladder.  It sits comfortably at no. 1, having earned $13.14m, giving it the biggest…

Read More

Australian Box Office Report: Kong: Skull Island proves king of the box office over Marvel for another week

It appears there’s no stopping the mighty King Kong, as Kong: Skull Island topped the box office for the second week in a row, earning $3.13m. The number of screens this film is available (nationally) has dropped from 523 last week to 395 this week, so we might see this one slip a little after…

Read More

WA’s Jazz by the Bay goes global with international performers in its fifth year

Jazz by the Bay, WA’s annual Jazz festival, has just announced the first of its scheduled acts, which will include several international acts for the first time in its 5-year history. The festival is a celebration for Jazz lovers from Perth and beyond, and also includes local food and wine experiences. This year, the event…

Read More

Australian Box Office Report: Kong: Skull Island muscles his way to the top

Hollywood blockbuster Kong: Skull Island, has just beaten Aussie Hugh to the top spot, in its first weekend at the box office. Kong: Skull Island took in $4.71m, and stars Tom Hiddleston and last year’s Best Actress Oscar winner, Brie Larson. Logan still did considerably well, sitting at no. 2 on the box office ladder and…

Read More

SXSW Film Review: The Light of the Moon (USA, 2017) is more than a victim’s story, but a tale of human complexity

Bonnie is young and worldly, holds a job as an architect and lives in NYC. She has good friends, a pretty good social life and is in a stable relationship with a man who is equally as upwardly mobile, enjoying the same perks as anyone with a career in a city able to hold the…

Read More

Film Review: A Few Less Men (UK, 2017) is conventional comedy with its heart in the right place

Three British lads on holidays in Australia for a wedding face a dilemma that would put a damper on any getaway. One of the groomsmen has died (after a drunken romp through the Australian outback, it seems), and now the two remaining groomsmen and the groom, the dead bloke’s three best mates, make it their…

Read More

Ensemble cast for upcoming Lord of the Flies Melbourne production has been announced

A new stage production of William Golding‘s Lord of the Flies will be performed at the Arts Centre Melbourne (State Theatre), from 5th to 9th April 2017, after a comprehensive audition process that finally cast 23 boys from across Victoria to form the ensemble cast. This new adaptation of the popular novel has been developed…

Read More

Australian Box Office Report: Logan slashes right through to the top of the ladder

It should come as little surprise that the highly-anticipated “final” Wolverine film, Logan, should do so well in its premiere week. The film shot straight up to no. 1 at the box office and earneda massive  $7.85m in the process.  This is Hugh Jackman’s last foray as Logan/Wolverine, and it’s been well reported that he and director James…

Read More

Australian Box Office Report: Hidden Figures sits sky high on ladder for 2nd week in a row

Despite not winning anything of its three Oscar Nominations, Hidden Figures still topped the week’s box office ladder, earning $2.75m. Sitting in the top spot for the 2nd week in a row is a good place for this film to be in, as people find out more and more about the three women involved in…

Read More

Top chefs join forces for UNICEF Australia’s Syria Crisis Appeal for Children (Melbourne)

Following the inspiring success of #CookForSyria in the UK, Australia’s top kitchen talent join forces to do their bit for children displaced by the conflict in Syria. Throughout March, UNICEF Australia’s Syria Crisis Appeal for Children launches a month-long campaign where restaurateurs, chefs, bakers and café owners from around the country cook their favourite signature…

Read More

Australian Box Office Report: Hidden Figures skyrockets to the top to the charts

So it looks as though Australian audiences want more than light S&M in the bedroom, with Hidden Figures, the Taraji P. Henson film about female African-American mathematicians at NASA, taking the top spot this week. In its opening week, it made $3.25m and beat out Fifty Shades Darker for no. 1. Like many of the…

Read More

Intercontinental Sydney Double Bay launches pop up Oyster Bar for the final days of summer

Every Thursday and Friday for the remainder of this month, InterContinental Sydney Double Bay celebrates the last days of summer in the hotel’s stylish bar, Stillery, with some freshly shucked oysters at their pop up Shuckery Oyster Bar. The bar will be open from 5pm to 7pm, making it an ideal after work wind-down in one of finest buildings of…

Read More

You can win three months worth of dinners by blowing up air lounges at these Menulog pop ups

Food delivery service provider Menulog will collaborate with Bondi Lifeguards to host special events, including one at Bondi Beach this Sunday, 19th February, to celebrate the end of summer with free outdoor lounges, free food and the chance to win a season of free Menulog deliveries. That is, there’s anyone from the public is able…

Read More

Art Series Hotels to host health and wellness sessions with Jessica Sepel

Health and wellness specialist, Jessica Sepel, in conjunction with Art Series Hotel Group, have created a series of health and wellness events at The Larwill in Melbourne, The Watson in Adelaide and The Johnson in Brisbane. Set in some of Art Series’ more bespoke venues, the events guide guests to The JS Health Program, Sepel’s…

Read More

The world’s first Astrology Hotel (yes, this is a thing) opens in Sydney

Need an inner city, urban getaway that aligns with your astrological sign? Of course you do, and it seems Australian hotel group 8Hotels has already knew that. Newly opened hotel boutique hotel The Ultimo is touted as the world’s first astrology hotel, and whilst its central location in Haymarket, Chinatown might be its key selling…

Read More

Australian Box Office Report: Fifty Shades Darker hits all the right buttons this week, pushing Lion off its perch

You know that the natural order of the world has been restored when a film featuring sexy time does better than a film about a man searching for his birth mother. Fifty Shades Darker, the sequel to 2015’s Fifty Shades of Grey, premiered in theatres this weekend and promptly took its place at the top…

Read More

Project Botanicals’ Gin Garden to pop up in Royal Botanic Gardens (Sydney)

Gin heavyweight Bombay Sapphire have teamed up with Sydney’s Botanic Gardens Restaurant to create the Project Botanicals Dinner Party Series, a food and cocktail pairing event which, though sold out, has extended to host an open-air gin garden pop-up bar. These public events start from Thursday 2nd March, and will run Thursday to Sunday evenings…

Read More

Over The Moo announces first dairy free ice cream truck (Sydney)

Dairy free ice cream makers, Over The Moo, will launch the nation’s first dairy free ice cream truck, in and around Sydney from 2nd March as it heads across the city in a lovingly restored 1981 Ford Transit. Operating at select pop up events, the Over The Moo team will be delivering their signature sundaes…

Read More

Disneyland’s Star Wars Land to launch in California and Orlando in time for Episode IX

First announced back in 2015, just before the release of The Force Awakens, Disney has finally confirmed the opening date of their highly-anticipated Star Wars themed lands at Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Orlando. The new areas in the park will open in 2019, ahead of the release of Star Wars Episode…

Read More

AirAsia X confirms its first USA route and reveals introductory fares starting at AU$150

Following the announcement last month that Malaysia’s AirAsia X would be commencing flights to the US, the low cost carrier has confirmed it will launch a new Hawaiian route starting 28 June 2017, operating four times weekly service from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to Honolulu, Hawaii. There’s just one catch: travellers will be sent via…

Read More

Australian Box Office Report: No stopping the Lion juggernaut, at top of ladder for third week in a row

There seems to be no stopping the Lion juggernaut.  It made $3.05m at the box office this week, and sits at no. 1 on the ladder for the third week in a row.  To date, it has made  $16.22m, and if it make over $21m, it will sit alongside Red Dog, Mad Max: Fury Road and Strictly…

Read More

Full program announced for the 30th anniversary of the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC)

The Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) launched its program this year, with 2017 also being its 30th anniversary year. Held at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Federation Square, Melbourne, the conference runs from 5th to the 8th March. Passes, both All Access and Day Passes (for days 2-4 only) are now…

Read More

Orange Food Week returns in March with a mixed bag of 80 events (NSW)

Australia’s longest-running regional food festival, The Orange F.O.O.D Week (Food of Orange District), returns again this year and will run from 31 March – 9 April. This hugely popular regional food and wine festival, now in its 26th year, offers foodies from around the country more than 80 events, including 6 signature events, all of…

Read More

Papa Bo Min: Sydney’s newest Chinese restaurant touts flavoursome and healthy menu

Casual eatery and bar Papa Bo Min is Sydney’s newest Chinese restaurant, and located in CBD’s Grosvenor Place. It joins the Lotus group of restaurants which include Lotus Galleries and Lotus Barangaroo. Papa Bo Min is a a casual eatery and bar, serving modern Chinese food. It also offers options for takeaway lunch and dinners…

Read More