I hate the word “best”. It always feels so… tacky and insincere, ruined by SEO agencies and influencers alike with an incessant need for engagement. And yet, “best” is all I can say when I take my first sip of each high-concept cocktail in The Bar at The Baccarat Hotel. The beautiful, lavish, grand, unforgettable…
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So often across cinematic history has it been proven that fact is stranger than fiction, and in the case of Ron Howard‘s Eden, the crazier humanity proves themselves to be, the more seeped in reality their stories are. And it’s what makes Eden – arguably Howard’s most exciting project in over a decade – all…
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It’s always the same thing when a new iPhone comes out. Has Apple done enough to significantly move the dial forward or is this another largely iterative update? Now criticisms lodged at the iPhone are perfectly reasonable. There are just some things Android still does better, from the customisation to photo processing. But to say…
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I’ve never seen a grown man cry at the thought of leaving a resort, but such is the specialness of Sheraton Resort & Spa, Tokoriki Island, Fiji. The five-star is one of three Sheraton properties in Fiji, but it’s the only one that’s on an outer-island. You catch a lengthy boat ride from Port Denarau…
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While plenty of premium hotel brands crowd the loud and live streets of Waikiki on the island of Oahu, Renaissance is bravely carving its own identity in the growing Ala Moana neighbourhood with Renaissance Honolulu Hotel & Spa. The new 39-floor luxury hotel opened earlier this year and has already become a popular place to…
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Brisbane prog metal quintet Citadel are a hidden gem among the local heavy scene. Since emerging with “Sundered Souls” in 2022 and releasing their debut album DECOMPOSE later that year, the lads have played a number of shows and shared follow-up single “Nightmare Frontier” in 2023. Today, Citadel have returned with the new single “Old…
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For the penultimate time this month, we have added ten more tracks to our Discovery playlist on Spotify and Apple Music. Newcomer Josh Hannan, a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Melbourne, takes home our Track of the Week with his debut single “aftermath”. A recent signing to Sony, Hannan was “discovered” when an Instagram video of…
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Melbourne pop punk act All Regards are excited to announce their debut EP ALL OUR DREAMS TURN TO NIGHTMARES – out 1 November – and we are stoked to premiere the video for new single “FALLBACK” ahead of its official release tomorrow. Produced, mixed and mastered by Jack Newlyn (Between You & Me, Stuck Out),…
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Towards the end of the new Australian musical The Deb there’s an uplifting song-and-dance sequence to a ditty titled “Pretty Strong”, and that’s an acceptable enough term to describe Rebel Wilson‘s directorial debut. The comedienne makes for a serviceable presence behind the camera as she injects an infectiousness and often-home-grown-specific humour into the proceedings of…
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Can you believe that PAX Australia is next month? If like me, you have only just come to that realisation, you will be happy to know that the full announcement for the exhibitors has finally been released, revealing the biggest show floor PAX AUS has ever had. There are a whole bunch of new faces…
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In 1647, rector’s wife Frances Wolfreston is uneasy about a new task she has been given. England is under Puritan rule, and it is Frances’s job to record the names of those who are not attending church – those who may still be practising the Catholic faith in secret. But, Frances knows that those whose…
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Part dog, part man, all hero. From DreamWorks Animation, creators of the beloved blockbuster franchises Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon and The Boss Baby, comes the canine-crime-fighting film adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s New York Times bestselling literary phenomenon: Dog Man. When a faithful police dog and his human police officer owner are…
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What you need to know about choosing a low-cost airline and why it’s worth considering AirAsia X. The best part of travelling is never the plane trip, let’s be honest. Tasty food, endless entertainment and spacious seats are always nice, but when a friend asks you what you thought of the Maldives, or Bali, or…
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When it comes to reboots, remakes, and remasters, the Sega Dreamcast’s catalogue isn’t usually at the forefront of people’s minds. However, Slave Zero X surprisingly revives a long-dormant series with a prequel to the obscure 1999 release Slave Zero. Like many, I never played the original nor owned a Dreamcast, but fans of the classic…
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You may have noticed we reviewed a Dell XPS 14 laptop only a few months ago, which looks incredibly similar to this. And in many ways, it is. That Dell XPS 14 was a little larger and came packing an Intel Ultra 7 155H processor, 32 GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD storage, a 3.2K…
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Following its premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize and its female ensemble (Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón and Selena Gomez) won the Best Actress award, there was considerable hype surrounding the TIFF presence of Emilia Pérez, a Spanish-language, crime thriller-cum-musical that was recently crowned the runner-up in the…
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When director Baz Halpin and executive producer Bernie Yuman approached two-time Academy Award-winning actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, I doubt they expected him to say yes to their proposal. Yuman, a Vegas veteran, was manager to Siegfried and Roy from a very young age and stuck by the legendary performers’ until their last day. He even…
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Whether you loved him or hated him as part of Take That or on his own accord as a brash soloist, Robbie Williams, particularly in the 1990s, was a figure you couldn’t escape. Similar to the cultural impact of Geri Halliwell exiting the Spice Girls or Zayn Malik bidding adieu to One Direction, Williams’ exit…
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As much as Halina Reijn‘s Babygirl is an erotic thriller about the power play dynamic of a high-strung female CEO and the young, confident intern who infiltrates her deepest sexual desires, the Bodies, Bodies, Bodies filmmaker ultimately has created a film about the power of communication. Communication in its most carnal form is what draws…
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Debuting in October 2019, The Hoxton Downtown Los Angeles sits as one of 16 Hoxton properties around the world. With locations in Edinburgh and Florence coming later this year, and Melbourne and Oslo due in 2027 – making the boutique chain’s Australian and Scandinavian debuts, respectively – it’s a brand you’re bound to encounter soon…
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Described as his most personal work yet, Luca Guadagnino‘s Queer is an adaptation of William S. Burrough‘s 1985 novel of the same name; though published in the 80s, it was written between 1951 and 1953. Guadagnino has made a career out of telling vastly opposing stories with each of his productions – Call Me By…
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Greenwashing is far too common these days. Shallow attempts at being eco-conscious are expected of just about every business now, and not all of them rise above the bare minimum. I’m cynical about it. I’ve heard the sustainability tagline thousands of times over. But there’s something about the 1 Hotel brand that’s hooked me. Its…
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Screening so soon after The Substance doesn’t bode well for something like Shell, Max Minghella‘s campy, body horror ode to trashy escapist 90s cinema that similarly explores the world of ageing in Hollywood and how far someone will go to maintain perfection. With both films screening within a week of each other at this year’s…
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In Australia, the iPhone 16 Pro 128GB will cost $1,799. The base model iPhone 16 128GB will cost $1,399. On average, most of these models will see a price drop of up to $100 compared with last year’s iPhone 15 lineup.. It’s not much, but it’s a meaningful step Apple has been working up to…
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If you could restore youthful beauty and guarantee longevity by committing to a few days of mysterious treatments, would you? Would you trust your life and health to science and technology that might be more hype than healthy? Enter Shell. Samantha (Elisabeth Moss) is thinking it over. She’s a slightly unkempt, earnest, talented actress who…
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Wouldn’t it be amazing if every Trump International was reflagged, refurbished and stripped of any and all political connotations to make way for a much better, less divisive hotel? Much like Hilton, Trump International has the immense privilege of location. Look at any Trump International property across the USA and they are almost always in…
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For almost 50 years, Saturday Night Live has been an institution of (primarily) American culture. Every weekend it invites audiences to surrender to the thrill of live television, where anything could go wrong at any given moment, amongst a staple of regular segments and musical performances. Its structure has shifted over time, but the core…
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Author Stephen King and filmmaker Mike Flanagan have made careers predominantly out of their affinity for horror. With The Life of Chuck, they have decidedly pivoted and leaned into another of their shared strengths; broadcasting emotional stories. The result, however schmaltzy it may threaten to be, is a beautiful, weird celebration of life and all…
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Just call her M3GAN Fox. One of the few movies in the last few years of Megan Fox‘s career that actually earned acclaim was the 2021 home invasion thriller Til Death. It is a lo-fi VOD affair that has probably gone largely unnoticed, but it has a fun elevator pitch premise – that of Fox…
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It’s spooky Friday, and to celebrate we’ve added ten new tracks to our Discovery Playlist on Spotify and Apple Music, including two we exclusively premiered earlier in the week. Our track of the week is “Ultraviolet”, from singer/songwriter and storyteller extraordinaire, Alana Wilkinson. Everyone should have a friend like Alana. In “Ultraviolet”, she tells the…
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