melbourne cbd

HOT: Evans, Shop 50 Royal Arcade, Melbourne

August 10, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

I’m not very good at taking care of my clothes and shoes, but even I didn’t expect salt water damage from walking in the rain in my pastel blue Coccinelle slingbacks. Or that time I spilt truffle oil over my Tamara Fogle embossed leather handbag. Or the beaded decoration simply falling off my Antik Batik [...]

HOT: Characters & Spaces Walking Tour, Melbourne

August 9, 2009 ⋅ One comment

State of Design has been over for a couple of weeks now, but because of scheduling difficulties I haven’t had a chance until now to do the Characters & Spaces free self-guided walk by Letterbox with my trusty photographer, RM. Character is a program run by the Communication Design Program at RMIT which ‘seeks to [...]

NOT: Antichrist, Greater Union, 131 Russell St, Melbourne

August 8, 2009 ⋅ One comment

MIFF #14: Lars von Trier’s latest film Antichrist has been dividing viewers ever since its debut at Cannes this year. Some seasoned critics at Cannes walked out, outraged by the genital mutilation presented in squeamish detail, yet Charlotte Gainsbourg won the best actress award at the same festival. With its reputation of graphic violence, initially [...]

HOT: The Loved Ones, Greater Union, 131 Russell St, Melbourne

August 7, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #13: The Loved Ones was one of a handful of Australian films receiving their world premieres at MIFF and the raucous crowd screamed, clapped, laughed and cheered their way through this gruesome and macabre film in appreciation. Brent (Xavier Samuel), a good looking teenage boy, has a beautiful sexy girlfriend Holly (Victoria Thaine), and [...]

HOT: The Kelvin Club, Melbourne Place, Melbourne

August 7, 2009 ⋅ 3 comments

I’ve never understood the need for men to have spaces like private clubs or sheds. Women don’t seem to require those same physical boundaries and RM has not been able to explain why men need it to my satisfaction. The Kelvin Club opened is a private members club for men and women, but the decor [...]

HOT: Silent Wedding, Greater Union, 131 Russell St, Melbourne

August 7, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #12: My second Romanian movie of MIFF was very different to the first, but both were equally amusing in a quirky way. Silent Wedding (Nunta muta) is set in a Romanian village in 1953, near the beginning of Communist rule. The peasants live an idealistic rural life in soft summer light and have gathered [...]

NOT: Members of the Funeral, ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne

August 6, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #10: My first NOT of MIFF. Members of the Funeral was a macabre Korean film telling the backstory of three guests who attend a funeral for a young teenage boy. The disjointed film never really captured my attention properly – I drifted off to sleep at various points and so I didn’t really grasp [...]

HOT: Sushi Ten, Shop 14-15 Port Phillip Arcade, 228 Flinders St, Melbourne

August 6, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

I confess that even though I’m a food snob, when it comes to Japanese food I can’t really tell the difference between good and excellent. If it’s Japanese then I’ll tend to like it (gluggy rice aside). Not so my friend Ev, who has lived in Japan, visited the country many times and is very [...]

HOT: Prodigal Sons, Greater Union, 131 Russell St, Melbourne

August 5, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #9: Kimberly Reed’s documentary about her unusual family Prodigal Sons had so many twists I don’t even know where or how to begin. Perhaps the easiest way is to just set it all out in a list [spoiler alert!]: Kimberly used to be Paul. She’s now a very attractive blond-haired woman – I would [...]

NOT: Seamstress, 113 Lonsdale St, Melbourne

August 5, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Seamstress describes itself as ‘a contemporary, mid-price Cantonese eatery boasting two premier cocktail bars.’ I can’t vouch for the two cocktail bars (but the top bar was beautifully decorated with a rack of chinoiserie clothing running along the ceiling over the bar), but I can assure you that the restaurant was a NOT. Firstly, it [...]