Archive

The Fighter

Posted 4:13am Monday 28th February 2011 by Mike Jensen

Directed by David O. Russell. Hoyts, Rialto 5/5 I went to see The Fighter knowing only that it was a boxing film, that Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale were its stars, and that it was a nominee for an Oscar for Best Picture. Other than that, I had no idea what to expect. So as I watched the Read more...

Black Swan

Posted 4:09am Monday 28th February 2011 by Alec Dawson

Directed by Arren Aronofsky. Hoyts, Rialto 4/5 Darren Aronofsky, who set back the drug consumption of a generation by several years with Requiem for a Dream, has now turned his camera on ballet in Black Swan. Aronofsky certainly did enough to convince me, with my limited knowledge of the art form, Read more...

127 Hours

Posted 4:08am Monday 28th February 2011 by Matt Chapman

Directed by Danny Boyle. Hoyts, Rialto 4/5 How far would you go to survive when you have no hope left? Such is the question that director Danny Boyle raises with his latest film, 127 Hours. Boyle, best known for directing Slumdog Millionaire, chronicles the true-life ordeal of climber Aron Read more...

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)

Posted 4:04am Monday 28th February 2011 by Benjamin Blakely

Directed by Russ Meyer. Starring: Tura Satana, Haji, Lori Williams & Susan Bernard. Speed, sex and violence are the cornerstones of any blockbuster today as they’re sweet tools to sell shit. Russ Meyer was well practiced at this combo long before the likes of Tarantino made their careers Read more...

Fashion comes to Dunedin

Posted 3:44am Monday 28th February 2011 by Mahoney Turnbull

Dunedin could be coming dangerously close to breeding an uber-dark design aesthetic, a blueprint for conformist culture and generations of sinister scarfies. Nom*D. Need I say more? This year’s autumn-winter collection? Danse Macabre. How very Antwerpian of you, Margi Robertson. Taking us Read more...

The God Instinct

Posted 3:39am Monday 28th February 2011 by Jonathan Jong

Author: Jesse Bering. Publisher: Nicholas Brealey. (4/5) ‘God (and others like Him) evolved in human minds as an “adaptive illusion”, one that directly helped our ancestors solve the unique problem of human gossip.’   Thus runs the central thesis of Jesse Read more...

The Death of Lanyop

Posted 3:26am Monday 28th February 2011 by Hana Aoake

Hello and welcome back to all to Dunedin students. I implore you to discover and engage with the unique cultural environment that Dunedin has to offer. Earlier this year, the Tenancy Tribunal ruled that artist Larry Matthews could not open his small art gallery {Lagniappe} Lanyop to the Read more...

ONEFEST - part 02

Posted 10:55pm Sunday 26th September 2010 by Simon Wallace

The final night in Radio One’s Onefest series for 2010 draws together soul-inspired low-end theorists from across Aotearoa. Their renown is booming by the day. You will doubtless hear their talents expounded in articles and interviews in the future – but, for now, here are their words on records and Read more...

Mr. Biscuits

Posted 10:54pm Sunday 26th September 2010 by Sam Brookland

If you have a more than passing familiarity with the Dunedin music scene, you're no doubt aware of the way in which bursts of new bands, moments of creativity and excitement, and a thrilling feeling of Dunedin being the centre of the musical world come and go in waves every three or four years; and Read more...

Truth - Puppets

Posted 10:51pm Sunday 26th September 2010 by Simon Wallace

Aquatic Lab (4/5) Truth’s halfstep swagger is no lightweight matter. Disembodied vocals lie in industrial bass-weight as the trio pursues sound as physical presence, with walls of low-end set against pneumatic percussion. Their debut album, Puppets has to be felt to be believed. Read more...

Truth

Posted 10:47pm Sunday 26th September 2010 by Simon Wallace

Essentially New Zealand's most internationally recognisable dubstep export, this Christchurch based producer/DJ trio have, in member Tristan Roake's words, "been on around forty-five plane flights … and played close to forty shows" over the last eight months. Dividing this air-mileage and Read more...

Live review: Mountaineater and Operation Rolling Thunder

Posted 10:34pm Sunday 26th September 2010 by Sam Valentine

Promoted (justifiably) as “the absolute pinnacle of Dunedin’s sonic rock spectrum,” Mountaineater and Operation Rolling Thunder at 12 Below certainly delivered on its promise, proving Dunedin is endowed with two of the greatest sonic rock bands in the world.  Having never witnessed Read more...

Tono & the Finance Company’s ‘Barry Smith of Hamilton’ (Pikachunes remix)

Posted 10:29pm Sunday 26th September 2010 by Staff Reporter

This week Critic had the pleasure of listening to a new Pikachunes track. Pikachunes is Miles McDougall, a Christchurch-born Auckland based electro/Detroit house act. The new Pikachunes track is a remix of Tono & the Finance Company’s ‘Barry Smith of Hamilton’. It’s no surprise Read more...

Glee

Posted 4:56am Monday 23rd August 2010 by

Fridays, 9.30pm TV3 2/5    It's a presumptuous title, really – Glee – but for many of the show’s weekly viewers it amounts to exactly that. Why? The answer is at once both obvious and unfathomable, depending on where you stand. The show is immediately Read more...

LTT Review: A Gaggle of Saints

Posted 4:53am Monday 23rd August 2010 by Jen Aitken

Written by Neil Labute Directed by Katie King Starring William Tait-Jamieson and Emere Leitch-Munro (2.5/5)       A Gaggle of Saints, taken from Neil Labute’s Bash trilogy, is a confronting piece about homophobia. What is so wonderful about this Read more...

Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare

Posted 4:50am Monday 23rd August 2010 by Caleb Wicks

Warner Brothers 3/5      In 2005, Avenged Sevenfold took the world by storm with their album City of Evil. Critics raved, girls screamed, and emo kids found another band to add to their death list. The band’s self-titled album, released in 2007, did not have the Read more...

Pixies Live

Posted 4:43am Monday 23rd August 2010 by Dave Local

CBS Canterbury Arena, Christchurch 3 August 2010    The Pixies are, unashamedly, my favourite band of all time. My formative musical experiences are intricately tied to their mixture of alternating screams and breathy grunts. But this is some twenty years later, and a band that Read more...

Turok

Posted 4:41am Monday 23rd August 2010 by Ethan Khalsa

Platform: PS3, XBox 360, PC (3/5)    Turok was one of the earlier games released for the PS3 and XBox 360. It was greatly anticipated due to its earlier fame on the Nintendo 64 but after its release was generally viewed as a great disappointment. The graphics weren't great, Read more...

A tribute to the in-between

Posted 4:39am Monday 23rd August 2010 by Tien-Yi Toh

The reality is that fantastic food places are rare and far in between, particularly in a small(ish) city like Dunedin. We are lucky enough to have a few restaurants that serve exceptionally good – sometimes even outstanding – food, but the rest mostly just fall in the ‘not bad’, ‘okay’, or Read more...

Soul Kitchen

Posted 4:36am Monday 23rd August 2010 by Edwin Ouellette

Directed by Fatih Akin Rialto 3.5/5 Okay, I know. The title alone might make Soul Kitchen sound like a cross between a lame Snoop Dogg flick and Hell’s Kitchen, but don’t let that ruin your appetite for Fatih Akin’s latest lighthearted comedy. Besides, where Read more...