AU review

While Netflix subscribers got an exclusive look earlier this morning, everyone got to see a whopping 26 minutes of Grand Theft Auto 6 just hours later. The Extended Look showed us plenty of cinematic sequences, action, activities and a decent dive into this much larger version of Vice City. Without further ado, let’s jump in and unpack everything. We first meet Jason and Lucia, our two playable protagonists, picking up a bag of drugs to take back to their contact.

Apple TV’s Dark Matter has always used its high-concept science fiction to ask deeply human questions. Its multiverse may offer infinite realities and innumerable versions of the lives we could have lived, but beneath the physics, the Box and the alternate worlds is something far more intimate: if you could see every path you didn’t take, would you still choose the life you have?

For what it’s worth, I really loved 2019’s The Sinking City. It might have been a little janky in parts, but it served up a foreboding and tense atmosphere that felt like the best bits of Resident Evil and BioShock combined. While the gameplay felt a little stiff, I had plenty of fun simply existing in that world, backed and bolstered by Lovecraftian lore. The Sinking City 2 is, in many respects, an improvement over the original, but a more direct homage or tribute to the games that inspired it.

For one more time this August we’re updating our Discovery playlist on Spotify and Apple Music with some of the best new music from across Australia and internationally. Naarm-based singer-songwriter and producer Eyes of Bel is in the spotlight, taking home Track of the Week for her new single “Bygones Will Be Bygones”. The single, which dropped on Wednesday, is the latest tease of the Naarm-based artists forthcoming EP, End of an Era – releasing November 13th.

Bruno Mars is officially heading back Down Under, and he’s bringing some very good company with him. The 16-time Grammy Award winner has expanded his mammoth The Romantic Tour, confirming a run of Australian and New Zealand stadium dates for February and March 2027. And, as if Mars returning to our shores wasn’t enough of a drawcard, Tyla will join every Australian and New Zealand show as special guest, while Anderson .Paak will be along for the ride in his DJ Pee .Wee guise.

Queens Of The Stone Age are back with their ninth studio album, Perfecth, arriving October 30 via Matador Records and the desert-rock heavyweights will bring their live show to Australia this December. Perfecth sees Josh Homme and company continuing to push the boundaries of their own distinctive brand of dark, swaggering rock’n’roll. The album takes its title from Homme’s deliberately imperfect twist on the word “perfect”.

Canberra singer-songwriter Jack Biilmann has been a firm favourite around these parts for some time, and we’re delighted to be premiering his latest single, “(Not) Easy to Love”, ahead of its release this Friday, 28 August. We most recently featured Biilmann in June with “Never Have It All”, another strong addition to a particularly productive 2026 that has also included the singles “Outlaw”, “Forbidden Fruit” and, most recently, “Dark Days”.

There are some stories of World War II which were never told. Not because they were uninteresting, or unimportant, but because they couldn’t be told. Because those they belonged to were silent about their work, even after the war ended. And now, so many years on, they are finally ready to be told. It is these tales, these lives so well-hidden, that Code of Silence unveils.

It is arguably one of the best games of all time; Elden Ring became a smash hit when it debuted back in 2022. The extremely difficult and beautiful Souls-like game was and still is undeniably a breathtaking masterpiece. It is safe to say it surprised everyone when FromSoftware advised they were making an edition for the Nintendo Switch 2 that would work in both portable and handheld mode.

Thanks to Maslow Entertainment, we have 5 double in-season digital passes (Admit 2) to see an intimate and cinematic portrait of one of Australia’s most enduring and enigmatic artists in Tina Arena: Unravel Me, in nationwide cinemas from August 27th, 2026. Marking 50 years in the spotlight, TINA ARENA: UNRAVEL ME  is an intimate and cinematic portrait of one of Australia’s most enduring and enigmatic artists.