The Iris’ Weekly Australian TV Picks: 20 – 26 September

From Poldark (Pictured) to Scream Queens and everything in between, here’s what you should be watching on Australian free-to-air TV and Foxtel this week: Tuesday The Case of: JonBenet Ramsey, Ch 9, 8:40pm AEST Approaching  20 years, the unsolved murder case of the child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey is re-open. Wednesday Scream Queens, Ch 10,…

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Video Games Review: Just Sing (PS4, 2016)

Just Sing is the latest entry in the storied genre of video games that involves singing at your television and have it grade your abilities with cold, unfeeling science. Singstar dominated the genre (and sales charts) back in the PS2 era, but no karaoke game since has managed to crack the code the way Singstar did. Just Sing gives it…

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Stream full performances from The Australian Ballet with Ballet TV

A new streaming service from The Australian Ballet will allow audiences to watch performances as many times as they like over a 30 day period. Ballet TV offers a collection of free to watch clips and videos, including rehearsal footage, interviews, behind the scenes insights, trailers, and artistic showcases. Now, for an $8 fee, viewers…

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Parody Graeme of Thrones scores the ultimate cast member – an actor from Game of Thrones!

Michael Condron, who played Bowen Marsh in HBO’s Game of Thrones, will join the cast of parody show Graeme of Thrones for its Brisbane Powerhouse run later this year. Graeme of Thrones producer Alex Jarrett says: “Condron might have been one of Jon Snow’s killers in Season 5, and was then killed by Jon Snow…

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Bartender Magazine Australian Bar Awards announces 2016 winners

To cap off yet another busy Bar Week, the industry came together last night at the 16th annual Bartender Magazine Australian Bar Awards to celebrate the past 12 months of outstanding bars across Australia. Always an authoritative lens through which to examine the massive scale of quality bars across the country, the awards ceremony celebrated…

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Cake Bake and Sweets show announces 2016 line up (Melbourne)

Slide into a world of sugary, over-the-top cakes and chocolate sculptures this October at Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre because the Cake Bake and Sweets show has announced it’s yearly return. For three sweet days – 21st to 23rd October – the massive space will host home bakers, food-lovers, dessert enthusiasts, and some of Australia’s…

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Food Truck Park plans three-day fried chicken festival for November (Melbourne)

From Roadrunner Fried Chicken to Korean Fried Chicken Truck, there are plenty of mobile food vendors in Melbourne who dabble heavily in the art of fried chook. It’s about time some grease-loving geniuses rounded all those trucks together for one very big, super crispy festival. The folks behind Preston’s The Food Truck Park are those…

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A look inside Tramsheds Harold Park: what to eat and drink at the new Sydney destination

The intersection of Glebe and Annandale, at the Northern End of the Harold Park development is where Sydneysiders will find that the historic 1904 Rozelle Tram Depot has been gutted, restored, and turned into an impressively slick European-style dining hall. It’s part of a huge redevelopment of the area by Mirvac, and one of the…

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The Grounds of Alexandria are opening a new site on the lower north shore (Sydney)

It’s the dining oasis hidden in Alexandria that has pretty much become a suburb of its own. The Grounds of Alexandria remains one of the brightest beating hearts of Sydney’s cultural scene, consistently attracting sizable crowds of all-ages to play around in the garden, relax in the atrium, and make pig noises at heavy-set superstar…

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Time Out Melbourne Food Awards 2016 winners announced

As award season for the Australian food scene continues, the Time Out Melbourne Food Awards have announced who they have celebrated above all others this year. Melbourne’s best restaurants, cafes, and food trucks have been named across 14 different categories, exploring all levels of dining in the world’s most liveable city to arrive at the…

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The Streets of Barangaroo: here’s what to expect from the waterfront precinct (Sydney)

With the successful Wulugul Pop Up at Barangaroo winding down in August everything seems to be moving into place for The Streets of Barangaroo to truly spring to life. Over the next few months Sydney is going to start to see the permanent bars, restaurants, and retailers who will making up the character of this…

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Here’s everything we know so far about Fargo Season 3

The acclaimed anthology series Fargo has recently announced a new season three character, played by actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who you might remember from 10 Cloverfield Lane and Scott Pilgrim vs The World. In wake of the news, we wanted to bring you up to date on everything we know, so far, about Fargo season…

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Single of the Day: The Outdoor Type “Rumination” (2016)

The Outdoor Type has recently released a new single in “Rumination” ahead of an exciting east coast tour next month and well, we’re vibing with it today. Produced by John Castle and mixed by Steven Schram, the single was definitely in some good hands and serves as a solid follow up to The Outdoor Type’s eponymous EP, released last…

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Trials and Briggs talk the impact of A.B. Original and their debut LP, Reclaim Australia, at BIGSOUND

BIGSOUND 2016 opened its conference stage for one of Australian hip hop’s most polarising acts to come through and, as Trials simply puts, explain themselves. For the Funkoars legend and Briggs, their 2016 collaborative project as A.B. ORIGINAL has woken the hip hop music community (and the wider music industry) up with some hard-hitting and unapologetic music that highlights crucial issues facing our…

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The Avalanches, Catfish & The Bottlemen, Modern Baseball… clap your eyes on these Falls Festival sideshows!

The 2016/2017 Falls Festival and Southbound run has already got festival lovers applying for holiday leave, locking away the New Year’s celebrations for the run of events out on the east and west coasts this year. Today, a run of sideshows have been announced from a large swag of artists set to play; from The Avalanches on stage with Grandmaster…

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Music Video of the Day: B Wise “No Questions” (2016)

B Wise released the music video for his single “No Questions” at the end of last week, another gem from the rapper who has been consistently building himself up as one an exciting artist to watch though this year. We fell even harder for him and his music at BIGSOUND last week and with three impressive showcases…

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Patti Smith, The Lumineers, Bonnie Raitt, Snarky Puppy & Andrew Bird lead first Bluesfest sideshow announcement!

New week, new tours. The 2017 Byron Bay Bluesfest has come out with their first round of sideshows and as far as initial touring announcements go, they’ve done pretty well, with the likes of Patti Smith, Bonnie Raitt and The Lumineers locking down some impressive Australian headline shows. South Australians and Queenslanders miss out on this round of announcements unfortunately, with the artists…

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Live Review: The Lulu Raes + Wild Honey + Wesley Fuller – Northcote Social Club (15.09.16)

Since showcasing at BIGSOUND 2015, The Lulu Raes have had a hectic tour schedule, sharing stages with the likes of Jamie XX, The Jungle Giants and Sticky Fingers. In support of their recently released EP, All Our Parents Are Divorced, they’ve been touring the country, winning hearts and dance floors along the way. When they took on Northcote…

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Album Review: Twin Atlantic – GLA (2016 LP)

Despite being short for their hometown of Glasgow, GLA, the latest release from four-piece Twin Atlantic, may as well stand for ‘guitars, loud, aggressive’. Now onto their fourth full length release, the group have an unarguably high benchmark to meet on the back of 2014’s successful Great Divide, and they certainly give it a red…

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Sampa the Great talks new music & a rise in self-confidence off the back of 2016 in the spotlight

Sampa the Great has been an artist we have loved seeing go from strength to strength through 2016. As her music has spread to more audiences around the country and her live shows have continued to build, Sampa emerged as a frontrunner in this current crop of young artists stepping up to the plate with some brilliant lyricism…

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Miranda Tapsell on Love Child and the need to reflect diversity on screen

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to Miranda Tapsell about her work on the acclaimed series Love Child, whose three seasons are now available on DVD, her now famous Logies speech and diversity in TV and film – and she’ll also let you know what she wants for Christmas. Read on: Congratulations Miranda on…

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More Details Revealed About XBOX FANFEST: Sydney 2016

Xbox has announced some exciting new information about Xbox FanFest: Sydney 2016. If you are one of the lucky 250 free ticket holders, you will get to experience a host of interactive experiences, meet and greet with industry developers and score some cool Xbox swag.

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Two Aussie films named finalists in Manhattan Shorts Film Festival; Sydney screening announced

Australia is rocking it at the 19th annual Manhattan Shorts Film Festival this year, with two of the top ten films hailing from Australia. The worldwide event takes place in over 250 cinemas across six continents between September 23rd-2nd of October 2016, showcasing some of the best shorts from over the globe. The festival will…

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Monster Fest 2016 to open with infamous French cannibal horror film RAW

Monster Fest 2016 has announced a killer opening film, introducing this year’s three day long festival with a film that has movie goers fainting. That’s right, when the cannibal horror film RAW screened at Toronto Film Festival, people were so terrified they were taken out of the event on stretchers. The film was awarded the…

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Trailer drops for the second episode of Batman‘s Telltale series game Children of Arkham

Telltale has released a trailer for the second episode in the Batman – The Telltale Series ‘Episode 2: Children of Arkham’ which will take players on a journey exploring the Wayne family’s deep dark past. The new trailer gives a hopeful look at the second episode, which explores links between the Wayne family and organised crime….

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Game of Thrones,Veep and O.J. win big at the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards

The 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards was held today at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles California. The biggest winners of the night were Game of Thrones, Veep and The People v. O.J. Simpson, with the first two winning their Best Drama and Best Comedy awards for the second consecutive year. Both took out a…

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Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege: Starter Edition is now available exclusively on Uplay

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege Starter Edition is available to download! Ubisoft has announced that the game is available as a Uplay exclusive, setting PC players back a mere AU$19.95. The Starter Edition provides full access to the game, instantly unlocks up to four operators, and provides players with 600 R6 credits, but you will need to create…

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Aussie developers become SGSCA finalists with game to raise awareness of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Aussie Game Development students are headed to the US to represent Australasia after becoming finalists in he annual Serious Games Showcase and Challenge Australasia (SGSCA). Their one-of a-kind game, Robin, is designed to raise awareness of an invisible condition effecting 150,000 Australians, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Robin is a choice and consequence style slice of…

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Video Games Review: ReCore (Xbox One, 2016)

There was a period between 2002 and 2007, lets call it the post-Ocarina of Time era, where action adventure games found a formula that worked and then stuck to it like glue. A plucky protagonist visits many, varied locations, delves into dungeons, collect treasure and items, upgrades their skills and eventually finds themselves in a showdown with…

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Video Games Review: The Tomorrow Children (PS4, 2016)

It gets me giddy with excitement when developers like Q-Games steps outside the norm to try something original. The Tomorrow Children is so far from their usual fan-fare of PixelJunk titles you would think they have a pretty damn good reason to try and bring something original to their line-up. On the concept itself, they…

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