Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki are offering a rare half-price sale on all suites

Anyone heading over to Hawaii this summer and desperately looking for ways to treat oneself while also saving some money will be happy to know that Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki are having a rare suite sale, with room rates falling to half the usual price. That’s a pretty sizable chunk of savings right there,…

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Celeste Barber’s Guide to Hollywood and Los Angeles

Celeste Barber has made a name for herself on Instagram by impersonating (or, more to the point: parodying, often unflatteringly) Instagram “celebrities”, so much so that the Australian comedian has become something of an Instagram Celebrity herself, amassing no less than 4.3 million followers on the platform. This popularity has led to a live show, #CelesteChallengeAccepted,…

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The world’s only Iron Man ride and five other reasons why Hong Kong Disneyland stands apart from other Disney Parks

Hong Kong Disneyland may be the company’s smallest theme park (the recently opened Shanghai park – whose development was memorably slowed to give the Hong Kong Park more time to grow an audience – is no less than 14 times larger than its Southern counterpart), and the only park not to have a true water ride…

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Busby Marou & Tom West heading for BreakOut West in Canada this October

As part of their international partnerships with Focus Wales, Australian Music Week and the East Coast Music Association, BreakOut West are able to welcome a contingent of artists from overseas to their festival and conference in Kelowna, Western Canada this year! The news comes as BreakOut West has thrived on this partnership, now in its second…

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Exclusive Music Video Premiere: Neon Tetra “So Far From Me” (2018)

Adelaide’s Neon Tetra unleash their new EP Pollen this week – if you were a fan of their catchy single “The End Begins Again”, you’re in luck. The band has continued to explore their love for gospel notes, soul richness and the Motown golden era, bringing these influences together with excellent synth work and current pop. Their latest…

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Win a double pass to see The Bamboos on their upcoming Night Time People tour!

Melbourne’s funk and soul powerhouse The Bamboos recently released their new album Night Time People. In celebration, the nine-piece are set to embark on a headline tour throughout August, their first since 2015. Already regarded as one of the world’s premier funk-soul outfits, The Bamboos eighth studio album is shaping to be the record that…

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Behind the Scenes: Young Monks dive into their new album, Swamp Creek

Young Monks have brought some bright new music out of Canberra with the release of Swamp Creek. Self-produced, the album is a hefty dose of indie mixed in with lashings of psych-pop and funk tones that in all, produces some excellent hits. Over 22 tracks, the listener is taken on one heck of a sonic journey –…

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Interview: Hartway on their return to Adelaide’s Rocket Bar for this month’s Scouted event!

Adelaide duo Hartway are Jack Degenhart and Conor Barkway; the described ‘acid jazz, nu disco’ group have been impressing with the release of their Motions EP last year, taking inspirations from the likes of Flight Facilities and FKJ and creating some funky music of their own. They’re one of the talented artists set to perform at Rocket Bar on July 27th…

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Tech Review: HyperX Cloud Stinger Core: Great sound on a budget

The HyperX Cloud Stinger Core shouldn’t sound as good as it does. This is a $70 AUD pair of headphones. You expect certain things from $70 headphones. You expect them to be cheap. You expect them to be made from hard, unyeilding plastic that keeps them from being worn comfortably for long periods. You certainly…

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Win a double pass to a preview screening of The Breaker Upperers in Sydney

Fifteen years ago, Mel (Madeleine Sami) and Jen (Jackie van Beek) discovered they were being two-timed by the same man. Bitter and cynical they became fast friends and formed The Breaker Upperers, a small-time business breaking up couples for cash. Now they’re in their late-thirties and business is booming. They’re a platonic, codependent couple who…

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Film Review: Skyscraper (USA, 2018) delivers lunacy and ridiculous physic-defying stunts in spades

Is there anything Dwayne Johnson can’t overcome? Earthquakes, tsunamis, oversized gorillas, Vin Diesel’s ego…the hulking man mountain has tackled them all and emerged victorious.  For his latest spat with big screen-worthy roadblocks, the man no longer credited with his “Rock” moniker faces his biggest challenge yet – a skyscraper some three-times taller than the Statue…

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KinoKonzert. Live! to present live music with a cinematic twist in Sydney

KinoKozert. Live! looks to shake up the movie -going experience with a unique series, blending film and music, while featuring some of the most talented musicians from Australia and Germany. Presented by the Goethe-Institut Australia, KinoKonzert. Live! will start 14 July with Crossroads, a modern silent film written and directed by Berlin underground legends “Alexander Hacke and…

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Blu-Ray Review: Ready Player One (USA, 2018) crams a massive, fascinating documentary into its home release

“Somehow I managed to maintain my calm facade, when inside I was just a little boy losing his mind” – Ernest Cline, while on the sound stage with composer Alan Silvestri, whose music, he said, was being played endlessly while he wrote the novel. Later, he trades a signed copy of his own book for a signed…

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Games Review: Mario + Rabbids: Donkey Kong Adventure (Switch, 2018): More of the same

Ubisoft returns to Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, the surprise strategy hit of 2017, with a lengthy new slab of DLC with Donkey Kong in the spotlight. To call Donkey Kong Adventure an “expansion” in the strictest sense might be to oversell it. It doesn’t really add much to the game that wasn’t there already….

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Review: Shangri-La Hotel – Supreme Comfort in the Heart of Tokyo

As forward-thinking Tokyo is, the idea of classicism still very much permeates many of the city’s institutions. Elegance and efficiency is a pathological expectation, and more often than not, those expectations are met tenfold. This is a large reason why, despite an overwhelming language barrier and high degree of cultural shock (for first-timers anyway), Tokyo…

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Single of the Day: Holiday Sidewinder “Leo” (2018)

Holiday Sidewinder has long been one of our favourite songwriters and more recently, if you’ve seen Alex Cameron on the road with The Killers, you’ll have been lucky enough to see this lady performing on home soil for the first time in forever. The spotlight has swung right back onto Holiday though as focus turns…

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Behind the scenes of the making of Sweater Curse’s new clip for “Can’t See You Anymore”

The video clip for “Can’t See You Anymore” was shot at my parents’ house (also her childhood home) in Annerley. Jennifer Embleton directed the film, with Short Stack Productions as the filming crew. We filmed the clip in one day and Jen got a first cut back to us within 24 hours – she is…

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Datarock return with wild new record Face the Brutality and new single “Everything”

Norway’s Datarock have been riding a pretty sweet wave recently with the release of their latest record Face the Brutality; with the recent debut of their wild new music video for “Everything”, the electronic group is continuing their hot streak. Find out a bit more about the band’s new single, straight from the horse’s mouth! Can you…

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30 Minutes with Superorganism: Don’t call them a cult, but compare them to Regurgitator and chat about Adelaide

It’s the end of May and I’m in Brighton, England for the annual The Great Escape conference and festival; possibly the world’s best event to discover new talent, and see the artists that everyone’s been talking about over the last six months or so. One act who fit very much in the latter category are…

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Red Carpet Photos: Skyscraper holds its Australian Premiere in Sydney

The new movie starring Dwayne Johnson hits cinemas this Thursday, but a few lucky ones got to see the anticipated action film before anyone else today at the Australian premiere in Sydney. Nathan Atkins was there and brings us these photos from the Skyscraper red carpet. [print_gllr id=51360] ———- This content has recently been ported…

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Oz Comic Con Brisbane and Sydney Commence Guest Announcements

As the days continue to pass we move slowly away from the wintry delight of Oz Comic Con Melbourne and look ahead to the Brisbane and Sydney events to be held in a hopefully sunshine-y spring time. And a couple of the names are local home grown talent. Most recently starring in the critically acclaimed…

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Win an in-season double pass to see Whitney in cinemas

She sold over 200 million albums. She’s the only solo recording artist to score 7 consecutive number 1 singles. Her song “I Will Always Love You” is the most sold single ever by a woman singer. Behind the records, the rumours, the scandals, the secrets and the glory, here is the real Whitney. Directed by…

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The cast of Twin Peaks to head down under in unique Conversation with the Stars Tour

In an Australian first, five stars from the hit series Twin Peaks will be touring Australia for an exclusive ‘Conversation with the Stars’ evening from 25 August to 2 September, 2018. The event will take place in Melbourne at the Palais Theatre 25 August, Brisbane’s Eatons Hill 26 August, Adelaide’s Thebarton Theatre 29 August, Sydney’s…

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Screen Australia Makes Historic Change to Story Development Guidelines

Screen Australia has announced that new development guidelines have been finalised and are now in effect, following two months of industry consultation. These guidelines will look to make funding more accessible, while supporting talent with a strong idea and concise target audience. Senior Development Executive at Screen Australia Nerida Moore commented on this change, saying “Industry support…

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Baker Boy, Kardajala Kirridarra, Jessica Mauboy amongst National Indigenous Music Award nominees

The finalists for this year’s National Indigenous Music Awards have been revealed today, as well as the artists who are set to perform at the ceremony in Darwin on August 11th. Baker Boy (pictured), Jessica Mauboy, Dan Sultan and Kardajala Kirridarra are among the nominees, each having had absolute belters of 2018 thus far. Both Baker Boy and Kardajala Kirridarra are…

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Music Video of the Day: Mojo Juju “Native Tongue” (2018)

Mojo Juju has long been one of Australia’s most dynamic performers and in her songwriting over the last few years in particular, has demonstrated her talent as an intense and driven artist unafraid to wear her personal stories – challenges and wins – on her sleeve. The new single from Mojo, “Native Tongue”, is a…

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Interview: Motez chats about his latest EP, Late Thoughts

Off the back of achieving ARIA Gold on his charismatic 2017 record “The Future” featuring Antony & Cleopatra, with upwards of a staggering 10 million online streams, Adelaide producer Motez has released his first new music of the year, the Late Thoughts EP. Motez chats to the AU Review about touring and making the EP. How’s…

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MIFF to screen record number of films direct from the Cannes Film Festival

The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) will include a whopping 43 feature films and special shorts hand picked from this year’s Cannes Film Festival. For many of these films, this will be their first screening outside of Cannes. Ahead of the full program announcement on 10 July, the Cannes line-up will feature festival award winners…

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ACMI and Film Victoria Announce Full Program for Series Mania 2018

ACMI and Film Victoria have officially announced the full lineup for Series Mania 2018, packed with a program of 23 series set to launch in Melbourne at ACMI in Melbourne’s Federation Square later this month. The program consists of 20 TV series and 3 web series, including highlights in the form of 5 world premieres,…

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Games Review: Mario Tennis Aces (Switch, 2018) nails the sports-fighter hybrid

Introducing fighting elements to a tennis game was a clever move from Camelot, and its one which carries much of Mario Tennis Aces into uncharted territory, giving the gameplay just enough depth to justify stamping this as the finest Mario Tennis title to date. While there is most certainly a feeling of missed opportunities peppered…

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