Latest news with #Binge
Perth Now
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
TikTok meets Real Housewives in nepo baby drama
With Clare Rigden sick this week — no doubt bingeing a stack of excellent shows to report back on (between well-deserved naps) — it feels like the right time to reflect on my own go-to sick-day viewing. Watching TV while sick is a very different beast to your usual screen time. The shows don't need to grip you completely because you'll be drifting in and out of sleep, missing scenes between coughing fits and nose-blowing. There will be no Emmy nominations in this line-up, and chances are the shows will fall into either a guilty pleasure or hate-watch category. During a recent bout of the flu, I dove into The Real Housewives universe. And wow, what a world it was. We're talking handbags worth more than the average Aussie's annual salary, drama that veers from petty bickering to near fist fights, and housewives actually going to jail for real-life crimes. It's unhinged — and sick me couldn't get enough. While I'm saving the rest of RHOSLC for my next sick day, I have continued dipping into Next Gen NYC as it drops weekly on Hayu. Please don't judge me — I also watch Severance, The Studio, Hacks and all the other highbrow stuff. I have some taste. But if, like me, you need a bit of sugar with all that substance, this series delivers. It follows 'a tangled web of friends raised in the spotlight — or at least close enough for good lighting — as they stumble into adulthood one brunch, break-up and spontaneous decision at a time'. It's like if TikTok and the Housewives had a baby. Literally. The show features the children of some of the franchise's most iconic reality mums, and they're putting their parents to shame, shouting their way through their own chaotic episodes. There are characters being called 'dirt poor' because they don't get a $10k allowance from their parents, arguments over who should foot the $14k bill for a nightclub booth, and a full-blown spat over . . . something I've already forgotten (but felt very important at the time). And yet, it's all set against an iconic New York backdrop, has flashes of genuine friendship and surprising glimmers of growth. Sick or not, it's the kind of show that lets you switch your brain off — and sometimes, that's exactly what you need. Get well soon Clare! This creepy horror is currently streaming on Binge. Credit: Universal Pictures Australia / TheWest While we're talking nepo babies, this vampire horror featuring Lily-Rose Depp (daughter of Johnny Depp and singer-model Vanessa Paradis) and Bill Skarsgard (son of actor Stellan Skarsgard) is dropping on Binge. This is one you'll want to watch at full health, phone face down with all the lights on. Everyone's favourite angry chef is back with Gordon Ramsay's Secret Service. Credit: Supplied Back bef or e there was streaming and we had to hope something decent was on TV or that our pocket money could cover a new release at the video shop, it was always a great day when you stumbled across a Gordon Ramsay show. Whether he was calling someone an idiot sandwich, saving a restaurant that didn't particularly appreciate his style of tough love or making rising chefs reconsider their career path, it was nothing if not entertaining. It's fair to say he's softened a little over the years, so it will be interesting to see how spicy his new series is. This time Ramsay sends an insider undercover at a struggling restaurant who squirrels out information back to him. What could go wrong except for, well, everything. Ingrid (Sally Phillips), Austin (Michael Theo) and Julian (Ben Miller) are all back for season two of Austin. Credit: Supplied For viewing that feels like a warm hug, it's hard to go past this lovely show starring Michael Theo, Sally Phillips, Ben Miller and Perth's Claire Lovering. Season two picks back up on Austin's Game Of Scones: Doing Britain On The Spectrum (my book club would read that!) snapped up by a publisher before the newfound fame goes to his head. Can't wait to jump in the back seat with Claudia Karvan and Steph Tisdell for Great Australian Road Trips. Credit: Supplied There is nothing like a road trip to really get to know someone — the good, the bad and the 'let me out here please' — though we can't imagine there will be any of the latter between the hosts of this new series. Claudia Karvan joins Steph Tisdell while Melissa Leong is in the driver's seat with Nazeem Hussain as they take on some of Australia's best drives, including the Great Barrier Reef Drive in Queensland to Kangaroo Island in South Australia.
ABC News
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Comedian Mark Humphries tackles housing crisis in documentary Sold! Who Broke the Australian Dream?
"If a D-grade celebrity like me can't afford to buy a home, who can?" It's a cracking first line from satirical wit and sometime ABC star Mark Humphries in his surprisingly jolly rage against the housing crisis, SOLD! Who Broke the Australian Dream? Fast Facts about Sold! Who Broke the Australian Dream What: A tragicomic documentary about the housing crisis Directed by: Mark Humphries Starring: Humphries, Alan Kohler, Purple Pingers and more When: Streaming on Binge now Likely to make you feel: Mad as hell, unless you already own ten houses Not that the Binge documentary, directed by Bill Code, is all about him. A huge swath of Australians, young and old, believe they'll be forever renters. Many who have managed to claw their way onto the lowest rungs of the property ladder are struggling to pay their mortgage. But it wasn't always this way. As bubble-bath-bound financial journalist Alan Kohler (they couldn't afford Margot Robbie) explains in the doco, everything changed in 1999. That's when former prime minister John Howard heavily discounted capital gains tax and ramped up negative gearing, with house prices spiralling ever upwards since. "Howard once said, 'No-one ever complained to me about the value of their house going up,' and that's the issue," Humphries says. "Owners outnumber renters two-to-one. And if you're a politician, you're obviously going to appeal to the majority." Especially when that majority includes roughly 65 per cent of our elected politicians who own at least two properties, with both Labor's Michelle Ananda-Rajah and the LNP's Karen Andrews having seven each. "You want to believe that those people are still capable of recognising the problem and seeing what they have to do," Humphries says. "But it's very hard to imagine change occurring when it's in so many people's best interests to keep things as they are. "But what sort of a system is that? It's grotesque." From The Feed on SBS to The Chaser's War on the ABC and The Project on Network 10, Humphries and regular co-writer Evan Williams have carved sterling careers out of channelling their indignance at injustice into snort-inducing comedy. "The reality is, people don't want to hear you ranting for over 52 minutes," Humphries says. "It's not appealing, so you try to help the medicine go down. But it's coming from a true place of anger." So, what does he believe is the cure for the housing crisis? It's complicated, but Humphries says course-correcting on capital gains and negative gearing is key. Former Labor leader Bill Shorten pops up in Sold! to defend his election-losing policies on that front (plus his democracy sausage-eating skills). "He was a good sport," Humphries says. As is Humphries' dad, former weatherman Allan. "My love of TV was probably a result of going and seeing him at the ABC studios when I was seven," Humphries says. "He did a great job considering he's used to adlibbing, rather than sticking to a script. Sold! also features Jordan van den Lamb — AKA Purple Pingers — the prominent (especially on social media) housing rights activist who also ran on a senate ticket for the Socialist Party in Victoria. "One of the things I really admire about him is that, although there is clearly seething rage underneath what he does, he has this ironic delivery that's so dry." Van den Lamb gleefully takes pot shots at greedy landlords and homes left purposefully vacant. "That really opened my eyes," Humphries says. "It's easy to be critical of someone because they're living in someone else's space. But isn't it more grotesque to have a house that's designed to house people and choose not to and just let it increase in value?" In Melbourne alone, 97,000 properties are vacant, with around 37,000 people homeless. Vast stocks of public housing were sold off in a fire sale lit by former PM Robert Menzies in 1956. And then there's the bogeyman finger-wagging at foreign buyers, who only account for 1 per cent of property purchases, according to the AFR. "The political answer is always, 'Supply, supply, supply,' but we might actually have a good chunk of that supply already there. We're just not using it," says Humphries. "The other thing is, if you're going to increase supply but still have these tax incentives in place, a big chunk will just be eaten up by investors. So how much do you really achieve?" There seems to be little political will to do what must be done to restore faith in the Australian dream. "It's been 25 years since those tax changes came in and this attitude of housing as something that increases in value, of investments and property portfolios," Humphries says. "People have forgotten that it's weird. That this wasn't how it used to be." Maybe things will change again. "I'm choosing to be hopeful because it's unsustainable," Humphries says. "Maybe it has to get worse before it gets better, but when we start seeing issues with social cohesion, and have situations where companies are under-staffed because no-one can live close enough to work, then the shit really hits the fan." Essential workers like nurses deserve to be able to afford a home of their own that's close to their work, Humphries says. Then, just as we're wrapping up, he confesses, full disclosure, that he has, in fact, managed to buy a home since filming Sold! "Don't hate me," he whelps. "I've just crossed the threshold, anxiously observing interest rate levels, but at what cost? I've completely wiped myself out, signing up for a 30-year mortgage at 39." He insists he's keeping it real (estate). "I want people like me not to forget that it's still f***ing shit and it shouldn't be this f***ing hard," he insists. "You should easily be able to afford a home and have money spare to buy an almond latte a day and dumb stuff like a Labubu."
The Guardian
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Get angry about it': Mark Humphries' doco Sold! unpacks Australia's housing crisis
Sometimes, it feels as if you can't turn on a TV without seeing news bulletins devoted to interest rate updates, fake-tanned celebrity realtors hawking white McMansions, or middle-aged men in chore jackets stroking their chins at a tasteful mid-century reno. Our free-to-air and streaming services are full of content to fuel our national obsession with home ownership. But when it comes to the real-life housing market, you might be left thinking there's a bigger picture just out of shot from those million-dollar views. Into the breach rides Mark Humphries, Australia's leading – albeit frequently axed – TV news satirist-for-hire. In his new hour-long Foxtel and Binge special Sold! Who Broke the Australian Dream? Humphries fronts up to the challenge of Australia's housing crisis with the frustration and fatigue of a long-term renter – because he is one. 'If a D-Grade celebrity like me can't afford a home, who can?' he asks, before joining the queue at another rental inspection. Sold! sees Humphries attempt to unpick the history, economic settings and popular myths that underpin the current housing affordability crisis – and an orthodoxy that few in the mainstream media or politics dare or care to challenge. Foreign investment, immigration and international students are favourite scapegoats, but Prof Nicole Gurran from the University of Sydney tells Humphries these factors have had only a minor impact. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning 'I have heard people tell me that there's a lot of foreign investors and they go to auctions for instance and that's how they know,' Gurran says. 'I'm always amazed at their X-ray vision, to be able to recognise someone's citizenship just by looking.' Humphries also speaks to Jordan van den Lamb, AKA Victorian Socialists candidate and social media star Purple Pingers, to expose the woeful conditions Australian renters endure to keep a roof over their heads – even if it has black mould. Humphries even borrows a trick from Adam McKay's Oscar-winning satire The Big Short by putting economics journalist Alan Kohler into a bubble bath, Margot Robbie-style. Kohler sips champagne while explaining how a turn-of-the-millennium decision by the Howard government to introduce a 50% tax discount on capital gains, along with negative gearing, 'supercharged the perceived benefits of owning property'. 'Housing was no longer seen as just a shelter, a place to live,' Kohler says. 'It was also an investment and the best way to build wealth.' In his pursuit of answers, Humphries also learns about build-to-rent schemes, meets public housing tenants for whom basic shelter is life-changing, and speaks to a trio of squatters who have opted out of the system entirely by moving into one of an estimated 97,000 vacant homes in greater Melbourne. He also introduces us to a 'heartless boomer investor' who turns out to be a nice lady and former colleague of Humphries who happens to own two properties. That she is an empathetic member of society – not an 'evil investor' – is subtly signalled by the books casually piled on her coffee table. After all, would a 'property hoarder' own a copy of Rick Morton's robodebt exposé Mean Streak, Stan Grant's Talking To My Country, or an essay collection from the Australia Institute? Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion It's a gentle contradiction that nonetheless captures the kind of defensive self-interest that seems to paralyse any real reform or debate, even when the reality is right there on the coffee table. When it comes to property, it seems we think we're Daryl Kerrigan from The Castle, but perhaps we're closer to Mr Gribble from Round the Twist. By the time Humphries finds himself chatting to a 3D-printing entrepreneur pioneering cheap, fast and very weird-looking homes, you get the sense that maybe it's not that big a riddle after all. If it was that complicated, Sold! would probably have ended up as a stunt-driven ABC miniseries fronted by Craig Reucassel instead of a one-hour special. Instead, the Chaser and War on Waste host produced, co-wrote and makes a cameo appearance. But that might be for the best. Rarely do we see anyone on Aunty turn quite as righteously enraged as Humphries does by the end of his fact-finding mission – you can see the whites of his exasperated eyes. 'I gotta be honest, this is not good enough,' he groans to the camera. 'It's a mindset issue we have in this country, where we are viewing property as a pathway to wealth as opposed to something which is designed for people to live in … this is wrong – it's actually morally wrong what we're doing,' he pleads. 'So get angry about it, because I bloody well am.' Humphries might have prolonged his own rental woes by putting himself on the shit list of every real estate agent with a Binge subscription – but it's hard to disagree with him. Sold! Who Broke the Australian Dream? premieres on 21 July at 8.30pm on FOX8 on Foxtel and on Binge from noon.
Perth Now
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Keeley Hawes is menopausal and murderous in new TV drama
A prickly, no-effs-to-give menopausal woman who's also a trained assassin? Has there ever been a more terrifying proposition? I think we all know the answer to that one, and it's a resounding no. British screen star Keeley Hawes plays the aforementioned, a woman who was once a feared gun-for-hire, now living out her retirement on an idyllic Greek island, suffering hot flushes and random bouts of irritability like the rest of us. Though she'd probably like to unleash her very particular set of skills on some of the village's more annoying inhabitants — there's a very funny scene where she gets unreasonably peeved with having to wait in line at the butchers for a steak (I've never related to something more) — she's so far managed to rein in her worst impulses and is living a pretty mundane life. That is, until her estranged adult son, played by The Good Doctor's Freddie Highmore, comes to visit, and her entire life is upended. To elaborate would be to spoil things for viewers, but let's just say the show begins as one thing and does a radical 180. By the time you get to the end of the second episode, it's very evident this is something else entirely. Keeley Hawes and Freddie Highmore in The Assassin, coming to Stan. Credit: Supplied I probably should have known it would veer in a different direction — the creative duo responsible for Stan's equally twisty-turny drama The Tourist are also behind this, and it shows. The Williams brothers love a plot twist and a savage fight scene or two, so you can guess where this is headed. Joining Hawes and Highmore is a stellar ensemble cast, including Jack Davenport (a personal fave since my days watching This Life in the 90s), Neighbours legend Alan Dale, Perth-raised Baby Reindeer star Shalom Brune-Franklin and screen siren Gina Gershon. Something tells me this series is going to make quite the splash when it lands. Mark your diaries. Outrageous is streaming on BritBox. Credit: Supplied Almost a century on from when they were kicking around, the Mitford sisters continue to fascinate and now they're the subject of this period drama. Not heard of these historical ladies? Ooh boy, are you in for a treat as you take a deep dive down the Google hole to research the six wildly different, wildly glamorous aristocratic sisters 'who shocked 1930s Britain with their scandalous choices and deeply divided loyalties'. Think of them as the Kardashians of old, if you will. Nancy was a novelist and probably the most famous of the clan at first. In later years, her sisters Unity and Diana overtook her in the notoriety stakes, the latter by marrying the British fascist leader Oswald Mosley and the former by being close friends with Hitler. Rightly repulsed, Jessica, known as Decca, left home and became a committed communist, well-known journalist and author. Interest piqued? You won't want to miss this one. Sold! Who Broke The Australian Dream is streaming on Binge. Credit: Supplied Spoiler alert: it wasn't anyone under the age of 45! Mark Humphries goes deep into the Aussie housing market to find out why so many of us are locked out of home ownership. Depressing and illuminating in equal measure. Based on May Cobb's book, this series sees Brittany Snow play Sophie, who moves with her family to a new town and becomes close with society queen bee Margot (Malin Akerman). She lives an affluent life in a small East Texas town — but all is not as it seems. Chrissy Metz and Dermot Mulroney also star. Happy Gilmore 2 is streaming on Netflix. Credit: Scott Yamano / Netflix The legendary character comes back to life via a sequel, only 30 years in the making. Adam Sandler, Julie Bowen and Christopher McDonald all reprise their roles. Can't wait!
Perth Now
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
This Perth actress lands yet ANOTHER TV hit
Most of us will never get to experience even an inkling of what it's like to live like a one percenter. But for a glorious few months last year, British-born, Perth-raised actor Shalom Brune-Franklin got about as close as any of us are likely to get to living like the super rich during filming of her new drama, The Assassin. The story, created by Harry and Jack Williams (the brotherly creative duo behind Stan's hit series The Tourist) is all about a retired middle-aged assassin, Julie, played by British actress, Keeley Hawes. She reunites with her estranged son Edward (The Good Doctor's Freddie Highmore), who has no idea who his mother really is, only for them both to be thrust headlong into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse after Julie's past unexpectedly catches up with her. Brune-Franklin plays Eddie's fiance Kayla, the daughter of a billionaire, who is holidaying on a super yacht off the coast of the Greek Islands when something happens that forces her into their orbit and on the run together — it's heaps of fun. 'I had wanted to play one of the (super rich) 'one per cent' in, like, forever, mostly because of the amazing locations and the things you get to do and wear — and it was just incredible,' says Brune-Franklin, who is chatting to PLAY from her home in London. If you'd like to view this content, please adjust your . To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Guide. 'The first two days of filming we were on this beautiful yacht you see in the first episode — I couldn't complain; it was amazing. 'And then we shot in Athens.' It was a far cry from the actor's last experience working with the Williams brothers on The Tourist. That series shot in outback South Australia amidst the flies, the red dirt and the heat, 'and not that the Australian outback doesn't have its charm — I love eating a chicken parmie or a chicken schnitty in a country pub — but Athens had a few more food options, which we were very grateful for!' Brune-Franklin's recent stint working in Greece is just the latest in a long line of roles that have taken her to all manner of places, for all manner of projects. In the past five years, the accomplished actor, who graduated from WAAPA in 2015, leaving Western Australia for Sydney then London, has starred in some of the must buzzed-about shows in the world — and they've shot just about everywhere. Shalom Brune-Franklin in Line Of Duty. Credit: Unknown In Australia, there was The Tourist and Binge's acclaimed drama Love Me, then it was over to the UK for roles in Line Of Duty and Great Expectations alongside Olivia Colman. There was time working in Budapest filming last year's Dune: Prophecy — she'll return there soon to continue shooting the second season — and she's just returned from co-starring with Bella Ramsey and Neil Patrick Harris on a film in Scotland. Prior to that she filmed her role in the TV phenomenon, Baby Reindeer, which also shot in the UK. With The Assassin already getting plenty of buzz ahead of its premiere, it's not a stretch to say she's likely to find herself front and centre in another water-cooler TV moment — and potentially off to other beautiful locations if the show goes to a second season. If you'd like to view this content, please adjust your . To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Guide. 'I always just go off the feeling I have when I read the script,' she says of her knack for picking projects that land with audiences. 'If I have this feeling of wanting to inhale it, you can't go wrong, right? 'And if there's an amazing group of people attached, you just want to be around those people. 'But I think it's also just luck …' Luck doesn't really seem to play into it — her talent, certainly. Shalom Brune-Franklin starred alongside Richard Gadd in his award-winning Netflix series, Baby Reindeer. Credit: Supplied / Netflix So did she have a sense when signing on to star in Richard Gadd's self-penned and part-autobiographical Baby Reindeer that it could be something special? 'A thousand per cent,' she explains. 'I had the exact same feeling that I had when I read the Tourist, and (The Assassin) — but with that, I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that it was true; that it was someone's actual experience. 'I kept making jokes to Richard, saying, 'I think this is going to be the biggest show in the world', and he was like, 'we have got to make it first'. But I was like, 'no, I really have a feeling about this'. 'Or it will completely bomb, but there is no way that that is going to happen, once you get on set and you see the work everyone is doing. 'I mean, how could it not be (incredible) — it was just so interesting.' All her career success — and all that global jet-setting — has meant a trip back to Perth to visit family has had to be popped on the back-burner, 'but hopefully I can get back to Aus at some point,' she says. 'It's been a while — and I miss Mullaloo Beach. That's where we moved when we first came to Australia when I was 15, and I still think it's the best beach in Australia.'
