TIME OUT: La dolce vita
This weekend's list of things to check out includes an Italian film festival in Brisbane, an Aboriginal art exhibition in Perth or a up-market hotel in Sydney that caters for pets.
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Stop searching. We've found this weekend's Top 5:
1. All things Italian at the movies in Brisbane
This is the final weekend of the 2008 Italian Film Festival in Brisbane, and the program offers a wide range of new releases and classics. You can go contemporary or retro, up-market or down, with choices including Fellini's nostalgic Amarcord, the spaghetti Western They Call Me Trinity, new Mafia drama The Sweet and the Bitter (IL Dolce e L'Amaro) and Venice Film Festival thriller Rush Hour (L'Ora di Punta).
If you want the full immersion experience, you could catch 12 films between 6.45pm Friday and final curtain on Sunday night. That wouldn't leave you much time to eat, but fortunately the films are showing at the Palace Centro, which is right next door to Harveys.
"Meet me at Harveys” has long been the cry of arthouse movie-goers keen to fuel up before or after a session. (It's also the default breakfast choice for breakfast for people who want to streamline their shopping, located as it is on the edge of the James Street homewares and pantry precinct.)
The ModOz lunch and dinner choices are a cut above your average caf, with chef PJ McMillan at the helm. And even when it's very busy, as no doubt will be this weekend, it somehow retains a relaxed feel. Click here for more.
2. Quality Aboriginal Art in Perth
In WA, if you want to see, and possibly buy, quality, genuine Aboriginal art, Japingka Gallery is the next best thing to going out in person to the remote communities.
Japingka, in Fremantle, has represented a whole mob of artists over the decades, and remains just as committed to exhibiting new and emerging names as to established stars. There are rich stories in the artists' journeys as well as in the works themselves — all you need to is ask and the knowledgeable staff will fill in these extra layers of context and back-story.
There are two exhibitions on this weekend. "Women's Law” features works from seven senior custodians of traditional culture, drawn from communities across a huge area of Central Australia, ranging from far north coastal Queensland to north-eastern W.A. The second is a show of current works by Anna Petyarre, who paints in "a classic Anmatyerre style” that chronicles her ancestral country. Click here for more.
3. Day or night, Melbourne's Cumulus Inc is just right
Chef Andrew McConnell (of Three, One, Two fame) gave himself quite a challenge with his new restaurant, Cumulus Inc, opening as it does from 7am until 11pm. The long hours demand unusual flexibility from both the space (styled with deceptive simplicity by Pascale Gomes-McNabb) and the food. They deliver effortlessly.
Cumulus is just right for breakfast, morning coffee, lunch or dinner. Sit at the bar, at the long counter adjacent to the kitchen, at a high, shared, table — they each have their own pleasures.
For lunch and dinner McConnell has created a menu designed for sharing. The dishes are brilliantly crafted and complex. Just make sure you leave room for dessert, where choices include a luscious bespoke madeleine filled with warm lemon curd.
The flexibility extends to the service, too: eat here pre or post a performance, or just negotiate your leisurely way through the menu. The smart floor staff, marshalled by Jayden Ong, will match your rhythms. But note, there are no bookings (unless you're a largish group). Click here for more.
4. Discover Watchmen before the world catches up
Even if you've never picked up a graphic novel (you know, the ones that look like comics but are aimed at grown-ups), you've probably heard about how Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns series re-cast Batman, shedding the camp TV image for a new noir feel. Maybe you even know of Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize-winning holocaust family memoir Maus. But unless you follow the genre, you're likely to have missed Watchmen, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons.
Somehow, Watchmen, published in book form in 1987, has stayed under the radar of many keen, serious readers, despite attempts to give it its literary due. Time magazine, for instance, described it as "a superlative feat of imagination, combining sci-fi [and] political satire” and declared it one of the 100 Greatest English Language Novels. It was the only graphic novel on the list.
If you are going to join the Watchmen coterie, now is the time, because finally, after years of failed attempts by Terry Gilliam and others to get it to the big screen, it has been shot and is set for cinema release early next year. Previous films of other works by Moore have been major disappointments, despite sometimes stellar talent (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, From Hell, V for Vendetta). The new film could be the exception, but the odds are against it. So discover the work in its original form now, rather than having the experience tainted by a failed adaptation. Click here for more.
5. A luxe haven for dog-lovers in Sydney
If you were to find yourself in Sydney this weekend, with dogs in tow, needing hotel accommodation, Darlinghurst would not be the first place you'd think to look. But the quirky Medusa, smack-bang in the most urban part of the city, is the only canine-friendly upscale hotel in Australia.
The converted Victorian townhouse is a comfortable, stylish home base; a place to leave your luggage while you browse the shops and cafs by day, and cherry-pick the vibrant local restaurant and nightclub scene. It has no restaurant, no bar, not even a lounge where you can see and be seen — but that's what the rest of Darlinghurst is for.
The rooms are vividly, individually decorated, and those open to the courtyard are the ones that can cater for up to two pooches per room. The pocket handkerchief-scale of the local parks suggests smaller breeds will have a happier time. In fact, if your furry friend really is tiny, and your bag roomy, the pair of you could probably get in to the new movie Beverly Hills Chihuahua together on a single ticket. Click here for more on the Medusa.
Stop searching. We've found this weekend's Top 5:
1. All things Italian at the movies in Brisbane
This is the final weekend of the 2008 Italian Film Festival in Brisbane, and the program offers a wide range of new releases and classics. You can go contemporary or retro, up-market or down, with choices including Fellini's nostalgic Amarcord, the spaghetti Western They Call Me Trinity, new Mafia drama The Sweet and the Bitter (IL Dolce e L'Amaro) and Venice Film Festival thriller Rush Hour (L'Ora di Punta).
If you want the full immersion experience, you could catch 12 films between 6.45pm Friday and final curtain on Sunday night. That wouldn't leave you much time to eat, but fortunately the films are showing at the Palace Centro, which is right next door to Harveys.
"Meet me at Harveys” has long been the cry of arthouse movie-goers keen to fuel up before or after a session. (It's also the default breakfast choice for breakfast for people who want to streamline their shopping, located as it is on the edge of the James Street homewares and pantry precinct.)
The ModOz lunch and dinner choices are a cut above your average caf, with chef PJ McMillan at the helm. And even when it's very busy, as no doubt will be this weekend, it somehow retains a relaxed feel. Click here for more.
2. Quality Aboriginal Art in Perth
In WA, if you want to see, and possibly buy, quality, genuine Aboriginal art, Japingka Gallery is the next best thing to going out in person to the remote communities.
Japingka, in Fremantle, has represented a whole mob of artists over the decades, and remains just as committed to exhibiting new and emerging names as to established stars. There are rich stories in the artists' journeys as well as in the works themselves — all you need to is ask and the knowledgeable staff will fill in these extra layers of context and back-story.
There are two exhibitions on this weekend. "Women's Law” features works from seven senior custodians of traditional culture, drawn from communities across a huge area of Central Australia, ranging from far north coastal Queensland to north-eastern W.A. The second is a show of current works by Anna Petyarre, who paints in "a classic Anmatyerre style” that chronicles her ancestral country. Click here for more.
3. Day or night, Melbourne's Cumulus Inc is just right
Chef Andrew McConnell (of Three, One, Two fame) gave himself quite a challenge with his new restaurant, Cumulus Inc, opening as it does from 7am until 11pm. The long hours demand unusual flexibility from both the space (styled with deceptive simplicity by Pascale Gomes-McNabb) and the food. They deliver effortlessly.
Cumulus is just right for breakfast, morning coffee, lunch or dinner. Sit at the bar, at the long counter adjacent to the kitchen, at a high, shared, table — they each have their own pleasures.
For lunch and dinner McConnell has created a menu designed for sharing. The dishes are brilliantly crafted and complex. Just make sure you leave room for dessert, where choices include a luscious bespoke madeleine filled with warm lemon curd.
The flexibility extends to the service, too: eat here pre or post a performance, or just negotiate your leisurely way through the menu. The smart floor staff, marshalled by Jayden Ong, will match your rhythms. But note, there are no bookings (unless you're a largish group). Click here for more.
4. Discover Watchmen before the world catches up
Even if you've never picked up a graphic novel (you know, the ones that look like comics but are aimed at grown-ups), you've probably heard about how Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns series re-cast Batman, shedding the camp TV image for a new noir feel. Maybe you even know of Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize-winning holocaust family memoir Maus. But unless you follow the genre, you're likely to have missed Watchmen, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons.
Somehow, Watchmen, published in book form in 1987, has stayed under the radar of many keen, serious readers, despite attempts to give it its literary due. Time magazine, for instance, described it as "a superlative feat of imagination, combining sci-fi [and] political satire” and declared it one of the 100 Greatest English Language Novels. It was the only graphic novel on the list.
If you are going to join the Watchmen coterie, now is the time, because finally, after years of failed attempts by Terry Gilliam and others to get it to the big screen, it has been shot and is set for cinema release early next year. Previous films of other works by Moore have been major disappointments, despite sometimes stellar talent (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, From Hell, V for Vendetta). The new film could be the exception, but the odds are against it. So discover the work in its original form now, rather than having the experience tainted by a failed adaptation. Click here for more.
5. A luxe haven for dog-lovers in Sydney
If you were to find yourself in Sydney this weekend, with dogs in tow, needing hotel accommodation, Darlinghurst would not be the first place you'd think to look. But the quirky Medusa, smack-bang in the most urban part of the city, is the only canine-friendly upscale hotel in Australia.
The converted Victorian townhouse is a comfortable, stylish home base; a place to leave your luggage while you browse the shops and cafs by day, and cherry-pick the vibrant local restaurant and nightclub scene. It has no restaurant, no bar, not even a lounge where you can see and be seen — but that's what the rest of Darlinghurst is for.
The rooms are vividly, individually decorated, and those open to the courtyard are the ones that can cater for up to two pooches per room. The pocket handkerchief-scale of the local parks suggests smaller breeds will have a happier time. In fact, if your furry friend really is tiny, and your bag roomy, the pair of you could probably get in to the new movie Beverly Hills Chihuahua together on a single ticket. Click here for more on the Medusa.
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