FILM
The documentary 20,000 Days On Earth is a portrait of Nick Cave as creative artist. For fans of the iconoclastic rocker, that will be enough. But if that thought fills you with dread, be reassured that directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard allow Cave to be funny and self-deprecating about his delusions of grandeur and rock star excesses while being thoughtful about songwriting and performing. It's a film structured as the fictional 20,000th day in Cave's life in his home town of Brighton, England, with cameos by Kylie Minogue and Ray Winstone as Cave seemingly daydreams while driving his car. Also worth catching this weekend is Deepsea Challenge 3D, which documents Hollywood filmmaker James Cameron's mission to build a submersible in Sydney and travel solo to the depths of the Pacific Ocean. GARRY MADDOX
MUSIC
We must admit we didn’t see the veteran Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor’s last attempt to resurrect their classic outfit, with Paul Rodgers of ’70s rockers Free and Bad Company on lead vocals. However, we do think their latest choice of frontman, the flamboyant, powerhouse singer Adam Lambert, makes much more sense as a replacement for the late, great Freddie Mercury. If May and Taylor have found a bass player, too, that can ably fill in for the long-retired (and hugely underrated) John Deacon on the likes of Under Pressure and Another One Bites the Dust, this should be a lot of fun. Tuesday and Wednesday, 8pm, Allphones Arena, Olympic Park, 132 849, ticketek.com.au, from $99.90. GEORGE PALATHINGAL
STAGE
From playwright Sam Shepard comes The God of Hell, a manic, Twilight Zone-style black comedy set on a remote Wisconsin farm where a couple’s existence is thrown into chaos by the arrival of a panicked scientist on the run from a secret plutonium factory. So far, so toxic, but there’s worse to come in the form of Welch (Ben McIvor), a government agent masquerading as a door-to-door salesman. From August 26 – September 13, Old Fitzroy Hotel, Woolloomooloo. $26-$32, sitco.net.au.
In one of the key works in the inaugural Score festival of movement and sound at Carriageworks, choreographer Natalie Abbott’s Maximum investigates the similarities and differences between her dancer’s body and that of bodybuilder Donny Henderson-Smith. Each will be tested to the limit. August 27-30, Carriageworks, 245 Wilson Street. Eveleigh. $15-$25, performancespace.com.au. ELISSA BLAKE
ART
Lynne Roberts-Goodwin’s exhibition More Than Ever (until September 12, M Contemporary, 37 Ocean Street, Woollahra, Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday-Monday 11am-4pm) is a selection of the artist’s recent large-scale photographic works that includes images from two recent series, SWARM Think The Mountain and As The Sky Falls. Roberts-Goodwin’s images have an unadorned beauty that reminds the viewer of the simple pleasures of looking, while her subjects – bold images of mountains and vast landscapes, juxtaposed with close-ups of birds in flight – hark back to some of the oldest subjects in visual art evoking the sublime landscape and the mysteries of the natural world. That the artist can do so without the slightest trace of sentimentality make them all the stronger. ANDREW FROST
DON’T MISS
It’s all about doing good this week: the Salvos are behind National Op Shop Week, which runs from Sunday until August 31. On Monday, there’ll be a Pop Up Op Shop at Martin Place, with fashion bargains up for grabs plus a runway show at lunchtime. Bonus: shopping is hungry work so grab a free breakfast roll there from 7.30am-8.30am. See salvosstores.org.au. Elsewhere, it’s easy being green with the beardtastic Costa Georgiadis who is a special guest at Balmain’s Green Day Out. A family-friendly fair is at the Inner Sydney Montessori School, 44 Smith Street on Saturday, 10am-4pm, with heaps of fun stuff for children. plus free workshops and talks on sustainable living. See greendayout.com.au. And here’s hoping the Wallabies can go one better than last week's draw do good in the second test of the Bledisloe Cup. It’s in Auckland but you can catch it on pub TVs everywhere from 5.30pm. SARAH THOMAS
