The opening of Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland opens with a sobering statistic. In Nevada, a small town – Empire – has essentially become a ghost town due to the local Gypsum plant closing down amid the recession. The Empire residents, most of whom lived in company-owned homes, had to vacate in masses, deactivating the town’s zip…
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As we announced last week, Sony’s #PlayAtHome initiative returns this month, and kicking things off is the 2016 release Ratchet & Clank. If you remember #PlayAtHome from last year, this means the game is completely free for everyone! And it’s available right now. You don’t need a subscription to Playstation Plus to enjoy this free…
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Melbourne-based trio Brixton Alley may be exploring new territory, but they’re shredding up a storm. Relocating to Australia from the UK in 2020, the indie-punk band got the chance to play at some of Australia’s hottest venues, before being plunged into lockdown. Like most artists, lockdown gave the trio a chance to focus on their sound…
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After taking this year off, The 45th Port Fairy Folk Festival is set for 2022, and the first round of artists has just been announced. Celebrating in the music-loving coastal village in Victoria from 11th-14th March, a mix of home-grown talent and folk stars from around the world will be on show. Audiences can expect…
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Kira Navárez is a xenobiologist working as part of a team of scientists who survey planets before they are colonised. All her life she’s dreamed of first contact with an alien race but when, on a routine survey mission, Kira makes the discovery of a lifetime, things don’t turn out at all the way she…
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Raya and the Last Dragon is set in a fantasy world called Kumandra; which was once inhabited by both humans and dragons in a harmonious existence. But, that peace comes under imminent danger when malevolent monsters known as the Druun make their presence known. To stave off the threat and save humanity, the dragons perform…
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Chicago native Alexander 23 has released his second EP Oh No, Not Again! tracking the “cycle” of a relationship from yearning to falling in love, breaking up to recovery. His universally honest and easily accessible lyricism has him blowing up online, with his track “IDK You Yet” capturing the hearts of TikTokers and sending him…
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Genesis Owusu is an artist in control. Taking a few years to get here, his debut album Smiling With No Teeth showcases an artist well and truly ready to breakdown barriers and take the world on, fifteen tracks at a time. A lengthy debut, Smiling With No Teeth is the sign of an artist not…
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Bluesfest is on for 2021, the first multi-day, multi-stage camping festival to be held in the world since the beginning of Covid-19. Running from April 1st-5th at the idyllic Byron Events Farm (formerly the Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm), the festival will be a smaller affair than we’re used to – only 3 stages – but…
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Magic duo Sam & Justin (known as The Showmen) present the Adult Only Magic Show at Gluttony. The show is marketed as an incredible array of hilariously raucous comedy, mind-bending illusions and stunningly dangerous stunts. The fast-paced show has plenty of audience participation with free drink cards for those helping on stage. Not that many…
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Gaming is one of the most popular modern hobbies, with an enormous and diverse collection of titles available to players all around the world. However, next time you’re settling down for a session on World of Warcraft or COD, you might have to put up with a barrage of complaints from your family who don’t…
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With a single due every month, it was only a matter of time before Chicago’s Devon Kay & The Solutions popped up as one of our Tracks of the Week. After teaming with Less Than Jake‘s Chris DeMakes for a cover of “Big“, the six-piece needed a cracking follow up. “Frustrated People of the World,…
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Fortnite adds cool new skins every other day, but the Lazarbeam skin is especially cool. The newest in the Icon Series line features Australian YouTuber Lannan “Lazarbeam” Eacott in quintessential tradie garb. When real-world Fortnite players like fellow Aussies Loserfruit and Lachlan have their likenesses recreated in-game, they opt for a fashionable look. Cool clothes,…
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The cornerstones of Kid Le Chat, David Wilson and Leo Moretti met in a microbrewery in Rio De Janeiro. They bonded over a mutual love of 80’s music such as Talking Heads, Tears for Fears and New Order, and set about creating their own modern twist on synth-pop. Since then, they’ve recorded an album, released…
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Epic Games has formally acquired Tonic Games Group, the company behind Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout. News of the acquisition came via Epic’s official blog, with a promise to players that “your gameplay isn’t changing and Epic will continue to invest in making the game a great experience for players across platforms.” To wit, the current…
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It’s impossible to work in the music industry and not feel the weight of the loss of Michael Gudinski this morning – the iconic founder of the Mushroom Group who passed away overnight at the age of 68. Myself, and the whole The AU Review team sends our love to the Gudinski family, all his…
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DIRT is the story of an Australian tourist, played by Will King, travelling in Moscow who hooks up with the local tour guide (Patrick Livesey). The romantic interplay between the two evolves over the course of the performance, but each has a hidden story that gradually unfolds. The play is set in contemporary Russia and…
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Sydney indie rockers Lime Cordiale have grown hugely in popularity over the past 12 months but it’s come during a period where live shows have been limited, so headlining the first SNACK Festival at Perth’s Metro City drew a sold-out crowd. Since last July’s release of their widely acclaimed sophomore LP 14 Steps To A…
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Grids and Dots, the Sydney indie outfit are about to drop their second single for 2021, “City Skies”. It’s an upbeat and lush tune, with beautiful rich guitars and sweet harmonies. “City Skies’ will be on their upcoming EP, What Happens to Friendships. We are thrilled to be premiering “City Skies” ahead of its release…
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In 1954, the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II undertook a royal tour of the colonies to meet her new subjects. She was accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, and the usual bevy of ladies in waiting and staff. The Tour, the debut novel by Transmission Films producer and film distributor Andrew Mackie fictionalises this journey…
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Organisers have announced that Splendour in the Grass in 2021 has been rescheduled to 19th-21st November 2021. The great news of this rescheduling is that Gorillaz, The Strokes and Tyler, The Creator are all available for the new November dates. With international travel not expected to re-open until later this year, it was wise to…
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Forget the 1.25L bottle of Coke with your Pizza Hut Australia order. From today, the inescapable pizza brand is now chucking beer on the menu. From $20, you can slap a six-pack on top of your pizza (or wings or pasta) order, although the concept has only so far rolled out in Queensland and Victoria….
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Lots of us know Free Willy but what about Free Smooshi? The latter campaign started after a former trainer at Canada’s Marineland water park went rogue. He took to Twitter to make allegations about animal abuse at his former employer. The documentary, The Walrus & the Whistleblower tells this sad story. Nathalie Bibeau directs this…
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Amy Hetherington’s one-person stand-up show Don’t Feed The Ducks is a little of a misnomer. If you are expecting an hour of duck jokes, you’d be disappointed. There are duck jokes. But, there’s also a whole lot more to the show. From the moment that the audience are squeezed into the broom-cupboard sized Hell’s Kitchen at…
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Yarra Valley’s eternally beloved Four Pillars has teamed up with the equally adored QT Hotels and Resorts for a playful new collaboration which will see the distillery’s latest gin available exclusively across QT’s family of boutique-minded hotels. And though you might not be able to get Four Pillars’ new Ordered Chaos Gin at your local…
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Screening as part of the digital Transitions Film Festival, we caught up with Director Julie Sokolow to talk about her new documentary Barefoot: The Mark Baumer Story. What first attracted you to making a film about Mark Baumer? Back in 2016, a friend of mine frequently shared Mark’s videos on Facebook. I finally clicked on…
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“Don’t fix what isn’t broken” is exactly the mantra Jeremy Zucker and Chelsea Cutler seemingly live by as they offer their latest EP brent ii as a follow up to their 2019 global success together. Through the 2020 summer of the pandemic, the pair retreated to an upstate New York cabin to continue the story of brent as they evolved…
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Finally, some news of an airline increasing, not decreasing, flights between the US and Australia. Delta Air Lines, who have been praised for their Delta Care Standard implemented during the pandemic, will start flying their flagship A350-900 aircraft six times a week from 8th March 2021. This will give Australians and Americans looking to return…
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PlayStation has confirmed that its Play At Home initiative will continue in 2021. At the height of lockdown delirium in 2020, PlayStation launched the program by giving Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey away for free for two consecutive months. This time around, the program will run from March to June and will give…
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Most were not expecting Sony to announce a PS5 iteration of its PlayStation VR headset. Announce it they did though, via the official PlayStation blog. Sony confirmed that work is underway on a next-gen PlayStation VR headset for the PS5. The headset promises significant performance improvements on the current model. One of the most significant…
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