{"id":567055,"date":"2026-03-27T04:23:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T04:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/567055\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T04:23:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T04:23:14","slug":"what-to-watch-read-and-listen-to-this-weekend-scarpetta-belle-burden-and-hot-cross-buns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/567055\/","title":{"rendered":"What to watch, read and listen to this weekend: Scarpetta, Belle Burden and hot cross buns"},"content":{"rendered":"

On streaming: Scarpetta<\/p>\n

Streaming on Prime Video<\/p>\n

If you’ve been enjoying Nicole Kidman’s TV era, which kicked off with Big Little Lies in 2017, you’re probably already across Scarpetta<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It’s a worthy addition to a canon of star-studded, super watchable small-screen Kidman projects often based on wildly popular novels, including The Undoing, with Hugh Grant, The Perfect Couple, with Meghann Fahy (The White Lotus<\/a>), and the best of them all, Expats<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Scarpetta, the first adaptation of bestselling author Patricia Cornwall’s Kay Scarpetta novels, Kidman plays the titular medical examiner as she tries to solve a series of grisly murders of young women.<\/p>\n

Kay is a sympathetic lead. She’s fastidious, hyper-competent, dedicated to a fault \u2014 which places stress on her relationships with her quiet FBI agent husband Benton (Simon Baker); spirited sister Dorothy (Jamie Lee Curtis); and her grieving adult niece Lucy (Ariana DeBose; West Side Story<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Listen to Simon Baker on The Screen Show<\/a><\/p>\n

The Australian actor talks about his role in Scarpetta on ABC Radio National.<\/p>\n

But so does the case, with its eerie similarities to one that defined her career. We see her solve both the case in the 90s and today, offering insight not just into how her early career shaped her but her relationships with Benton, Dorothy, Lucy and Pete (Bobby Cannavale), her sister’s husband and a former cop.<\/p>\n

If it seems a bit complicated \u2014 and that’s just the beginning, with the series also touching on ideas around AI and artificial organs \u2014 don’t think too much about it. You’re here to watch Kidman, Baker and Curtis from the comfort of your own home.<\/p>\n

– Hannah Story<\/p>\n

\"Film<\/p>\n

Love and other catastrophes is set and filmed at University of Melbourne.\u00a0 (Supplied: ABC iview)<\/p>\n

Classic movie: Love and Other Catastrophes<\/p>\n

Streaming on ABC iview\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s 1996 at University of Melbourne: the lipstick is dark, the leather jackets are oversized, and the students are flailing around trying to be grown-ups.<\/p>\n

Love and Other Catastrophes circles around Alice (Alice Garner) and Mia (Frances O’Connor): housemates who are going through the torturous process of finding someone to fill a room, while also searching for answers about what on earth they are doing with their lives.<\/p>\n

Alice just wants to find a boyfriend who ticks every one of her required characteristics. Mia wants to avoid any talks of commitment with her girlfriend and is also desperate to change her major, again.<\/p>\n

Throw in a soft boi heart-throb, a curmudgeonly professor and a sweet, misunderstood nerd and you’ve got yourself a movie!<\/p>\n

This is nostalgic and familiar in a way that will make you smile, laugh and cheer for these silly young people who so many of us once were (or still are).<\/p>\n

– Katherine Smyrk<\/p>\n

\"shirtless<\/p>\n

The fifth album from Adelaide rockers Bad\/\/Dreems cements their status as one of Australia’s most criminally underrated bands. (Supplied: Gutto Records)<\/p>\n

Album: Bad\/\/Dreems \u2014 Ultra Dundee<\/p>\n

Out now on Gutto Records<\/p>\n

After 14 years, Adelaide rockers Bad\/\/Dreems are going on \u201cindefinite hiatus<\/a>\u201d. But they exit on a very high note. Their fifth album and follow-up to Hoo Ha! (one of 2023\u2019s best releases<\/a>) excels at what they\u2019ve always done so well: gutsy, brainy pub rock that confronts the ugliest parts of our national identity.<\/p>\n

The title track is a satire of toxic machismo disguised as a raucous headbanger, while the twangy, mournful ballad January 26 is self-explanatory. Ultra Dundee truly shines when the band step outside their comfort zone, dabbling with whirring samples, Berlin-chic synths, and on Night Shooting, sounding like The Go-Betweens gone Spaghetti Western.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Midnight Oil\u2019s power and political passion<\/a>; Paul Kelly\u2019s storytelling<\/a>; <\/a>The Triffids<\/a>, <\/a>Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds<\/a>. It’s all here in Bad\/\/Dreems’s auspicious swan song.<\/p>\n

– Al Newstead<\/p>\n

\"Cover<\/p>\n

New York lawyer Belle Burden writes that life after her husband left her was like “moving through mud”. (Supplied: Penguin)<\/p>\n

Book: Strangers by Belle Burden \u00a0<\/p>\n

Published by Ebury Press (Penguin)<\/p>\n

For 20 years, Belle Burden had the perfect life: a loving husband, three gorgeous children, a Manhattan apartment and a holiday house at Martha’s Vineyard. She describes these decades of blissful domesticity in her memoir, Strangers, which she wrote after her Modern Love essay in the New York Times \u2014 Was I Married to a Stranger?<\/a> \u2014 went viral in 2023. What emerges is a portrait of privilege and naivety, as Burden throws herself into motherhood, giving up her career as a corporate lawyer and handing control of her finances to her husband, an investment banker.<\/p>\n

When he leaves her without warning, in March 2020, early in the first COVID-19 lockdown, it becomes clear how misguided she’s been. He tells her he doesn’t want shared custody of their three children and offers no explanation for his decision.<\/p>\n

As the book’s subtitle \u2014 “a memoir of marriage” \u2014 suggests, this is a one-sided account, written through the subjective lens of heartache. While Burden sees her marriage as a love story, her husband obviously takes a different view. What feels true is Burden’s description of the debilitating grief she feels when he walks out, as does her ultimately uplifting recovery. Read the book before you see the film, set to star Gwyneth Paltrow (of course).<\/p>\n

– Nicola Heath<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

You’ll need to get the glue stick and pencils out for this one. (ABC iview)<\/p>\n

For the kids: The Makery<\/p>\n

Streaming on ABC iview<\/a><\/p>\n

Do you have a crafty kid at home? Well, throw on the aprons for a hands-on art-filled adventure with The Makery.<\/p>\n

The 15-minute episodes follow bubbly host Nim, who lives at a talking funhouse (sign me up!) full of arts and crafts, and goes on creative journeys through the colourful Makery.<\/p>\n

From drawing to baking, each episode covers a variety of fun crafts designed to be followed along from home.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever fancied a pufferfish portrait on your wall, or wanted to tend to your very own chocolate vegetable patch, fire up The Makery for the little people in your life and you\u2019ll soon be delighting in their creations.<\/p>\n

And look, even if the final product is of questionable quality, it\u2019ll land you 15 minutes of peace and quiet*.<\/p>\n

*With a 30-minute clean-up afterwards.<\/p>\n

– Shiloh Payne<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Warning: you may never return to shop bought buns once you have tried these.\u00a0 (ABC Life: Thalia Ho)<\/p>\n

If you are a lover of hot cross buns (or HCB’s for the real fans), baking your own is something you should definitely give a go. There is nothing quite like tucking into half a HCB (with lashings of butter obviously) straight out of the oven.<\/p>\n

This recipe is a fun Easter bake to do solo or with kids – whether yours or someone else\u2019s you\u2019re spending Easter with – and can be made in one day, or the dough can be made the day before to rest in the fridge overnight for freshly-baked breakfast buns.<\/p>\n

The other benefit of making HCB’s yourself is you get to make them just how you want them. Not into dried peel? Swap it for nuts. Want to try a variation on the spice, throw in some rosemary. \u00a0And of course, you can always pop a few chopped up chocolate eggs in there too, if there are any spare.\u00a0<\/p>\n

– Jo Joyce<\/p>\n