Archive

The Dunedin Fringe Festival

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 8th March 2015 by Mandy Te

Among the shattered glass that litters our streets and the misrepresentation of Dunedin as a place that’s full of wasted students, this city has a lot to give — especially when it comes to the arts. From James K. Baxter, Janet Frame and Alan Dale (the guy who plays the evil, rich grandpa with the Read more...

House of Cards, Season 3 (Episode 1)

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 8th March 2015 by Harlan Jones

A s a passionate subscriber to Netflix’s reboot of House of Cards, I found myself eagerly anticipating the first episode of the new season. When the latest chapter was finally released on 27 February, a titanic struggle ensued between my desire to return to the exploits of Machiavellian Read more...

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 8th March 2015 by Shaun Swain

Rating: 4/5 After neglecting the romantic dramedy genre for some time, I am glad to have been reintroduced with the lively, beautiful and surprisingly captivating sequel to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. While I wasn’t all too familiar with the original instalment, The Second Best Exotic Read more...

Force Majeure

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 8th March 2015 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: 5/5 Force Majeure follows a Swedish family on their five-day skiing holiday. The opening scene shows the family being persuaded by a photographer to have their picture taken. The result is a funny moment where you can see how they have constructed an ideal family: mother, father, Read more...

Pulled Chicken & Peach BBQ Tacos

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 8th March 2015 by Sophie Edmonds

For those who know me or have followed my recipes here since last year, my unwavering love for soft-shell tacos is evident. My favourite being those that include melt-in-your-mouth, slow-cooked meats. For those of you who really value that extra twenty minutes of sleep in the morning and CBF putting Read more...

Stranded Deep

Posted 6:26pm Sunday 1st March 2015 by Angus Wilson

H ave you ever wanted to live out a Tom Hanks, Castaway fantasy on a deserted island with nothing but a netball for company, but couldn’t afford the tickets to nowhere? Then, boy, do I have some good news for you, and you don’t even have to leave your couch to get it. Stranded Deep is Read more...

Demons

Posted 6:26pm Sunday 1st March 2015 by Bridget Vosburgh

Demons, by Wayne Macauley, tells the story of seven Australians who retreat from the world for a weekend to get drunk and tell each other stories but find, as the weekend goes on, that the experience is becoming a disturbing one. The title and this premise make it sound like Demons might be a horror Read more...

From Dusk Till Dawn

Posted 6:26pm Sunday 1st March 2015 by Alex Blackwood

Cult Film F rom Dusk Till Dawn is a two-course action-crime buffet with references as juicy as a Kahuna Burger; the first course comes in the form of a hostage film and the second, a Vampire film that is far gorier than what we were accustomed to in 1996, let alone 2015. The Read more...

Jupiter Ascending

Posted 6:26pm Sunday 1st March 2015 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: 1/5 Jupiter Ascending follows Jupiter Jones, a young girl who hates her life, which is spent cleaning houses and bathrooms with her scary Russian family just to get by. She is convinced by her ridiculous cousin to sell her eggs to a clinic in order to get money so that she can buy a Read more...

Selma

Posted 6:26pm Sunday 1st March 2015 by Letisha Nicholas

Rating: 4/5 Fuck you, America, I have a dream! In 1964, the American Civil Rights bill was passed and African-American citizens had the right to vote. Except that black citizens were systematically and violently denied access to register and vote. Selma shows that 1965 America was filled with Read more...

Foxcatcher

Posted 6:26pm Sunday 1st March 2015 by Nick Ainge-Roy

Rating: 4/5 Foxcatcher tells the true story of Olympic wrestlers, Mark Schulz (Channing Tatum) and David Schulz (Mark Ruffalo), and their unsettling benefactor John DuPont (Steve Carrell) as they attempt to repeat their gold medal win from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics at the 1988 Seoul Read more...

Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory?

Posted 6:26pm Sunday 1st March 2015 by Basti Menkes

Cult Album It’s been twenty years since Oasis’s blockbuster second album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, was released. A lot has happened in that time. The band themselves lost their critical and commercial success and their place in the zeitgeist, and fell into an oh-are-they-still-going Read more...

Top Tracks | Issue 2

Posted 6:26pm Sunday 1st March 2015 by Daniel Munro

Azizi Gibson - Claustrophobic (Prod. Kamandi) Off Azizi’s latest EP The Last, ‘Claustrophobic’ is another huge one for Gibson. Produced by NZ’s own Kamandi, this bass-heavy track is another great addition to the duo’s catalogue. Be sure to catch them both in Dunedin in early March. Read more...

Björk - Vulnicura

Posted 6:26pm Sunday 1st March 2015 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 4/5 E xperimental pop star Björk has proven more than once that she’s capable of making gorgeous, genre-defying albums. Sadly, the last time she made one of those was in 2001 with Vespertine. Sure, the three albums she has released since then had their merits, but they were Read more...

Gabriella & Silvana Mangano - Visible Structures

Posted 6:26pm Sunday 1st March 2015 by Loulou Callister-Baker

C onfronted by a wall of text that partially blocks Gabriella and Silvana Mangano’s “Visible Structures”, the viewer can experience only a slice of the show from the outside. These glints of colour and light from one of the show’s projected films, mixed with ethereal, overlapping sounds, lure Read more...

Vegan Steamed Buns

Posted 6:26pm Sunday 1st March 2015 by Sophie Edmonds

Needing a post-O-Week detox yet? While I believe in butter, smash back trays of eggs every fortnight and am pretty much the poster child for milk consumption, I am also a massive fan of these vegan steamed buns. I base them on a Jamie Oliver recipe, which I tweaked due to my lack of mushrooms, Read more...

Asleep: The Forgotten Epidemic That Remains One of Medicine's Greatest Mysteries

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 22nd February 2015 by Bridget Vosburgh

D o you like horror stories? Do you ever wish for factual proof that the world is completely terrifying? Asleep: The Forgotten Epidemic That Remains One of Medicine’s Greatest Mysteries is about a disease known as encephalitis lethargica. It’s not surprising if you haven’t heard of it. It was Read more...

Panda Bear - Panda Bear vs. the Grim Reaper

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 22nd February 2015 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 5/5 Experimental pop group Animal Collective requires no introduction. Between their critical acclaim, alluring sense of mystery and smattering of successful singles, they are certainly a band whose reputation precedes them. In the absence of a conventional frontman, it was Read more...

A Constant Companion

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 22nd February 2015 by Loulou Callister-Baker

I n a taxi one night in Beijing the taxi driver told me he dreamt of travelling — out of Beijing, around the world — but never could because of a lack of money. The driver explained, speaking slowly in simple Mandarin, that he travelled instead through his passengers and the stories of their Read more...

Citizenfour

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 22nd February 2015 by Mandy Te

Rating: 4/5 I have a love–hate relationship with documentaries. If they’re centred on animals, murder mysteries or food, then I love them, but if they’re on glaciers or erosion and use scientific vocabulary that isn’t easily defined for BA students like myself, then I’m not interested. Read more...

Outside Mullingar

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 22nd February 2015 by Bridie Boyd

Rating: 3/5 Outside Mullingar has too many faults to be more than average. The plot is classically Irish, with rain, farms, endless tea and family feuds in abundance. The First Act deals with death, family inheritance and lost love in an emotionally battering rollercoaster. Anthony Reilly is Read more...

50 Shades of Grey

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 22nd February 2015 by Simon Kingsley-Holmes

Rating: 0/5 W hen student, Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson), improbably interviews icy billionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan), she finds herself trapped in a downward spiral of kinky sex and utter tediousness. We’re unfortunately in for a ride too, one that would send insomniacs to Read more...

Roast vegetable frittata

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 22nd February 2015 by Sophie Edmonds

I read somewhere that root vegetables are the kale of 2015. This news excites me greatly as I am the kumara’s biggest fan. I have been trying to nourish my body with more than just scrambled eggs three times a day. I love eggs — they are so cheap and such a great source of protein. The only problem Read more...

7 Days Live

Posted 3:48pm Saturday 13th December 2014 by Anonymous Bird

Without the restrictions of the TV cameras and the censors, the 7 Days team are presenting the live show at the Regent Theatre tonight. Be there to see what happens when the cameras aren't rolling! Critic asked Josh Thomson and Jeremy Elwood some of life’s big questions to get a feel for Read more...

Wasteland 2

Posted 11:58pm Sunday 12th October 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: A The successful Kickstarter campaign of Wasteland 2 was a momentous occasion for the gaming industry. Though the first Wasteland game may not be familiar to many of you, no doubt its spiritual predecessor, the Fallout franchise, is. With Wasteland 2, developers Inxile got the Read more...

Faeries

Posted 11:58pm Sunday 12th October 2014 by Anonymous Bird

Faeries is my all-time favourite book. it’s not your normal novel in any sense of the word – it’s definitely fiction, but it’s also kind of an art book. Froud is probably most known throughout the world for this book in particular. But many of you may recognise his work from The Labyrinth (yeah, Read more...

Aladdin

Posted 11:58pm Sunday 12th October 2014 by CJ O'Connor

Classic Film Aladdin, as far as i am concerned, is a timeless classic that represents the pinnacle of Disney. It came out the year I was born and I think I watched it for the first time when I was around a year old. I recently bought the DVD to replace the utterly destroyed VHS of my Read more...

Dazed and Confused

Posted 11:58pm Sunday 12th October 2014 by Mandy Te

Classic Film Despite those hours in Central, i still haven’t finished my assignments. I haven’t prepared for my exams and, now that I’m home, my Internet isn’t working. Naturally, I’m devastated. To distract myself from my first world problems, I’m currently reflecting on a more peaceful time Read more...

The Lunchbox

Posted 11:58pm Sunday 12th October 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: A- The Lunchbox is set in india and tells the story of Ila, an Indian woman who is struggling to connect with her distant husband. When the lunch she sends to her husband gets delivered to Saajan, a cynical widow, the two begin delivering messages to one another through the lunch Read more...

The Maze Runner

Posted 11:58pm Sunday 12th October 2014 by CJ O'Connor

Rating: A I can honestly say The Maze Runner surprised me. Having seen the shorts of the movie only last week, I was pretty much expecting an incarnation of The Hunger Games. And I did not like The Hunger Games. At all. So while the two franchises have commonalities, I found the plot of Maze Read more...

Review: Frances Hodgkins in 1913

Posted 11:58pm Sunday 12th October 2014 by Hannah Collier

The Dunedin Public Art Gallery Dunedin-born artist Frances Hodgkins (28 April 1869 – 13 May 1947) was a painter primarily of landscapes and still-lives. She is considered one of New Zealand's most prestigious and influential painters, although it is the work from her life in Europe that is Read more...

Custard and raspberry cream doughnuts

Posted 11:58pm Sunday 12th October 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

I thought I would go out with a bang for the last food column of the year, or at least a sizzle ... the sizzle of fried doughnuts! Doughnuts filled with custard and raspberries, no less. Boom. I regret to say I simultaneously wooed one boy and broke the heart of another with these very doughnuts. I Read more...

The Wolf Among Us

Posted 1:49pm Sunday 5th October 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Since the phenomenal runaway success of Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead from 2012, the gaming world has waited with bated breath to see what Telltale would produce next, and if they could repeat their past successes. The Wolf Among Us was that follow up game, and though it is not quite the Read more...

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Posted 1:49pm Sunday 5th October 2014 by James Beck

Warning: The following critically acclaimed piece contains spoilers of the material in the book. Solace is Caterpillar. Societal image issues. Eating disorder bullshit. Three phrases that come to mind when I think of this book – a book that lures the eyes more than a hair-flicking Robert Read more...

Artist Profile: Luckless

Posted 1:49pm Sunday 5th October 2014 by Adrian Ng

Luckless is a self described “two-piece melodic, neurotic, melancholic indie rock band from Auckland.” Having just released their sophomore album, Critic's Adrian Ng catches up with songwriter Ivy Rossiter to talk about her group's new record. Was there a moment that made you want to do Read more...

Download of the week: Strange Harvest - Astronaut [NZ]

Posted 1:49pm Sunday 5th October 2014 by Adrian Ng

Strange Harvest are a local duo who make haunting, beautifully textured, electronic music. “Astronaut” is a chilling, down-tempo, pop song that features majestic sounding keyboards and wonderfully noisy guitar playing. The soundscape is wondrous and full of static and strange machine-like chugging. Read more...

New this week / Singles in review

Posted 1:49pm Sunday 5th October 2014 by Adrian Ng

Iceage - How Many “How Many” is the third single from Copenhagen-based band Iceage, who are right on the cusp of releasing their third album, Plowing Into The Field of Love. Where first single “The Lord's Favorite” had a twisted, country influence and second offering “Forever” seemed Read more...

Hook

Posted 1:49pm Sunday 5th October 2014 by CJ O'Connor

Classic Film Hook is basically a representation of my childhood; I watched it so many times I destroyed the VHS. Given my attachment to all things Peter Pan and disinclination to actually grow up, it’s probably a fair representation of my current psychological state as well. This was one of Read more...

The Life of David Gale

Posted 1:49pm Sunday 5th October 2014 by Tim Lindsay

Cult Film Given Sir Alan Parker’s high directorial pedigree (Mississippi Burning, Bugsy Malone, Pink Floyd – The Wall, among many others), a collaboration with Kevin Spacey (Gale) and Kate Winslet (Bitsey Bloom) is a mouth-watering proposition. However, this was a film universally panned Read more...

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Posted 1:49pm Sunday 5th October 2014 by CJ O'Connor

Rating: B+ I like movies that don’t require a whole lot of cerebral activity, because all of my available neurons go toward passing my classes. However, TMNT was hilarious, in an “I can’t believe these are 21st century graphics” sort of way. Let’s start with the obvious, shall we? The Read more...

The Giver

Posted 1:49pm Sunday 5th October 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: B+ We are currently in the midst of the latest film fad, with a litany of studios trying to cash in on the success of The Hunger Games by also creating post-apocalyptic young adult movies. Though The Giver fits comfortably into this fad, it has a few advantages over the other members Read more...

Review: This World is your Oyster

Posted 1:49pm Sunday 5th October 2014 by Hannah Collier

Mint Gallery New Zealand-based collage artist Peter Lewis has been forming, re-forming, configuring and reconfiguring popular culture and its images since 1990. Peter‘s work has been featured on CD covers in New Zealand and in the United States, in the San Francisco-based art magazine Churn Read more...

Custard filled chocolate éclairs

Posted 1:49pm Sunday 5th October 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

I made mini chocolate éclairs the other day. Not wanting to brag or anything but they were amazing. Rather than filling them with whipped cream (which you, of course, can do) I filled them with delicious homemade custard. The lesson here is that if you cover your food with enough flowers and Read more...

Destiny

Posted 2:58pm Sunday 28th September 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: B The hype machine was put into high gear before the launch of Destiny. Although Bungie, the celebrated studio behind Halo, met these expectations in many ways, they also fell well short of them in many more. My biggest disappointment with Destiny has to be in its Read more...

High Fidelity

Posted 2:58pm Sunday 28th September 2014 by Eithne Whitteker

Though perhaps better known for being the novelist behind the film About A Boy (starring Hugh Grant and a small, creepy-looking Nicholas Hoult), Nick Hornby had already written a modern classic before that film came out. Written in 1995, High Fidelity is a timeless exploration of the modern, Read more...

Ha the Unclear - Bacterium, look at your motor go

Posted 2:58pm Sunday 28th September 2014 by Adrian Ng

Rating: A- After releasing a handful of lo-fi pop albums, EPs and singles under the moniker Brown, no one suspected that the Dunedin/Auckland quartet was gearing up for a drastic makeover. In December last year the group released “Apostate,” the first single from Bacterium, Look At Your Motor Read more...

Download of the week: Bandicoot - Happy Talking (NZ)

Posted 2:58pm Sunday 28th September 2014 by Adrian Ng

Perhaps one of the most important releases in the history of alternative New Zealand music, this little EP from short-lived Auckland three-piece Bandicoot really put the spotlight on local DIY music and influenced a handful of musicians in the process. A four-track explosion of noisy, lo-fi, Read more...

New this week / Singles in review

Posted 2:58pm Sunday 28th September 2014 by Adrian Ng

Lydia Ainsworth - Hologram Whilst a student of film scoring, Canadian artist Lydia Ainsworth was secretly working on songs for her upcoming debut, Right From Real. “Hologram” is the first single to drop from the intriguing new artist. “Hologram” is an ethereal, piano-based, pop Read more...

Mrs. Doubtfire

Posted 2:58pm Sunday 28th September 2014 by Mandy Te

Classic Film Through the eyes of young me, Mrs Doubtfire was a hilarious film that made me cry with laughter. However, through the eyes of “adult” me, Mrs Doubtfire is actually a pretty heart-breaking film that just made me cry. Blame it on the cold, harsh realities that my sheltered, Read more...

Coco Avant Chanel

Posted 2:58pm Sunday 28th September 2014 by CJ O'Connor

Foreign Film I don't often watch foreign language films. It's not because they're hard to understand, because the ones I watch are usually in French or Spanish, and I speak both. It's because I find foreign films just ... odd. Especially French ones, and especially French ones that aren't Read more...

Night Moves

Posted 2:58pm Sunday 28th September 2014 by CJ O'Connor

Rating: B Night Moves is one of the most psychologically interesting movies I have seen this year. Shunning the paradigmatic fast pace and drama of the usual terrorism plot, Reichardt instead focuses her latest flick on the development of the characters in the undertaking. The three Read more...

Predestination

Posted 2:58pm Sunday 28th September 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: B+ You may not know it, but there is a huge difference between cinematic and literary science fiction. Cinematic Science Fiction is interested in, almost exclusively, the spectacular side of science fiction, as speculative science allows you to explore aesthetically unexplored worlds Read more...

Unpainted

Posted 2:58pm Sunday 28th September 2014 by Hannah Collier

Blue Oyster Art Project Space Exhibited until 18 October 2014 I rarely get down to the Blue Oyster on Dowling Street, but every time I go there, I am always pleasantly surprised. Briar Holt’s Unpainted curation is a series of work by artists Kim Pieters, James Bellaney, Helen Calder Read more...

Croque-Monsieur (A glorified toasted sandwich)

Posted 2:58pm Sunday 28th September 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

Somehow Aucklanders have managed to charge $8.50 for a glorified toasted sandwich by calling them croque-monsieurs. Essentially a ham and cheese toastie covered in a white cheese sauce, these things have suddenly become all the rage, and for good reason too. Think along the lines of the cheese Read more...

Interview: Rima Te Wiata

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 21st September 2014 by Sydney Lehman

Rima: I’m just sitting in a park in Wellington; it’s very nice, it’s very sunny. Critic: Oh wonderful! So, yeah, one of our reviewer’s here at Critic for our film section finished their review saying that Housebound was “International funny,” not just “Kiwi funny.” I guess in terms of the Read more...

Sims 4

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 21st September 2014 by Baz Macdonald

The concept of simulation games, on paper, is truly absurd. Especially when you consider what many of these games simulate are often the most mundane aspects of our lives. Managing and planning city infrastructure, businesses, sport’s teams, the most boring aspects of flying a plane. All of these Read more...

Unaccustomed Earth

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 21st September 2014 by Chelsea Boyle

Jhumpa Lahiri’s second collection of short stories, Unaccustomed Earth, is another stunning contribution from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. The fictional collection includes eight short stories, divided into two parts. The narrative works as a unified whole yet simultaneously each story Read more...

Zola Jesus - Taiga

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 21st September 2014 by Adrian Ng

Rating: A- For me, it's always an interesting little storyline when a mainstream pop artist decides to make a more adventurous, more authentic, record. When they feel that urge to break out of their contrived pop shell and validate themselves as true artists and not just a product of the Read more...

Download of the week: Fazed on a Pony - Alone / Mary like me (NZ)

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 21st September 2014 by Adrian Ng

Fazed on a Pony is Peter McCall, a talented songwriter who is also part of two great Dunedin bands, Yawny and the Apocalypse, and Dasepo Girls. Over the last month or so he's released two singles, “Alone” and “Mary Like Me.” This is hopefully a precursor for things to come. His laid back, Read more...

New this week / Singles in review

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 21st September 2014 by Adrian Ng

Ariel Pink - Put Your Number In My Phone Ariel Pink is an experimental pop musician based in Los Angeles, known for his prolific nature and his pioneering of lo-fi home recording during the earlier stages of his career. “Put Your Number In My Phone” is the first single to drop from Read more...

Good Morning, Vietnam

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 21st September 2014 by Mandy Te

Classic Film First on my road of escapism (the post-mid-semester-blues haven’t left) was Good Morning, Vietnam. Settling in the lounge, a place incredibly similar to a bus stop, I was instantly met with approval for watching such “a good, classic film.” Good Morning, Vietnam is set Read more...

The Keeper of Lost Causes (Kvinden I Buret)

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 21st September 2014 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: B Scandinavian cinema has a tendency to be kind of grim and morbid, and the recent wave of crime-dramas is no exception. After watching this movie, or The Bridge or the Millennium trilogy, one might be left with two strong impressions of Scandinavia: that it’s completely grey and Read more...

Into the Storm

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 21st September 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: B- Disaster movies can be approached in one of two ways. It can either be a character film, in which you follow interesting and dynamic characters as they deal with the disaster, or it can be disaster porn in which everything constructed is solely for the purpose of producing Read more...

Before I Go to Sleep

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 21st September 2014 by Andrew Kwiatkowski

Rating: A Okay, so if you are anything like me, and you hear that this movie is about a woman with amnesia waking up every day with no memory of who she (or her husband) is, you immediately think it’s going to be a crappy re-hash of Memento or 50 First Dates, right? Wrong. While Read more...

Barry Brickell - His Own Steam

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 21st September 2014 by Hannah Collier

Dunedin Public Art Gallery (DPAG) Exhibited until 1 March 2015 The DPAG is clearly into ceramics at the moment and I have been enjoying the refreshing change from paintings to pottery. Barry Brickell is one of the pre-eminent contemporary potters working in New Zealand and is a Read more...

Butter chicken, raita and pilaf

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 21st September 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

This butter chicken reminds me of a time I cooked for three excellent gentlemen (you know who you are). Prior to this curry’s consumption, the four of us went on an excursion for garlic naan to serve with it. During the half-hour round trip, two of us attempted to drink a Pump bottle of 50/50 gin Read more...

Ryan Adams - Ryan Adams

Posted 5:04pm Sunday 14th September 2014 by Adrian Ng

Rating: B+ There was a period in the early to mid-2000s when the word that best summed up Ryan Adams was “prolific.” The man released a staggering 12 studio albums during a ten-year span. I'm not even counting the numerous bootleg albums and EPs circulating the web. Of course, the quality of Read more...

Velocity 2X

Posted 4:38pm Sunday 14th September 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating:A- It is exciting to consider the developments that are yet to come to existing genres. Looking at the past two decades of game development you can track the innovations and developments that have evolved genres, making them better and better. However this gradual progress makes it Read more...

Wildwood

Posted 4:38pm Sunday 14th September 2014 by Ella Borrie

Wildwood is a children’s novel that follows Prue McKeel’s adventures in the Impassable Wilderness behind her suburb. She and her classmate Curtis discover the hidden province of Wildwood as they track a murder of crows that abducted her baby brother Mac. Wildwood is in political upheaval: there’s a Read more...

Download of the week: The Violet-Ohs - Demos (NZ)

Posted 4:38pm Sunday 14th September 2014 by Adrian Ng

Formed about a month or two ago, from the scattered remains of two Dunedin bands, A Distant City and Ruby Phantoms, The Violet-Ohs are a post-punk, alternative group that have started off quickly. Featuring the talents of vocalist Nick Tipa, guitarist Zac Nicholls, drummer Josh Nicholls and bass Read more...

New this week / Singles in review

Posted 4:38pm Sunday 14th September 2014 by Adrian Ng

Iceage - Forever From their upcoming album Plowing Into The Field of Love, “Forever” is the second single from Copenhagen based band Iceage. With their previous release, You're Nothing, the group boasted a dense, post-punk, sonic splendour. Judging from what we've heard of their new Read more...

Good Will Hunting

Posted 4:38pm Sunday 14th September 2014 by Andrew Kwiatkowski

Classic Film “It’s not your fault.” Four little words that blow Will Hunting’s mind and frees him from past traumas inflicted upon him by cruel external forces. Four little words that delineate the boundary between what you are and are not responsible for; four little words that define the Read more...

The Inbetweeners 2

Posted 4:38pm Sunday 14th September 2014 by Tim Lindsay

Rating: B+ “You better bring your wellies, because you’ll be knee-deep in clunge.” This seminal quote from Jay Cartwright (James Buckley) in the previous film typifies the Inbetweeners: horny, foul-mouthed, and desperately unaware of their social status. Reunited in Australia with the Read more...

Magic in the Moonlight

Posted 4:38pm Sunday 14th September 2014 by Sydney Lehman

Rating: B- The joy of Woody Allen films is that you always know more or less what you’re in for. Magic in the Moonlight is quintessential Allen at its most predictable. Luckily, Colin Firth is much easier to watch than old Woody, so this film has commendable eye candy, as well as Read more...

The Last Saint

Posted 4:38pm Sunday 14th September 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: A- New Zealand cinema is alive and well. This year has been full of premieres of NZ films that have made me truly proud of our industry, but none more so than The Last Saint. Set in the filthy drug- and violence-filled underbelly of Auckland, The Last Saint is a film that Read more...

Murray Eskdale and Tara Douglas

Posted 4:38pm Sunday 14th September 2014 by Hannah Collier

Mint Gallery Exhibited until 23 September 2014 Mint Gallery’s most recent exhibition, Au, features an exclusive display of photographs taken by owner/curator of Mint Murray Eskale and five digital prints from Dunedin artist Tara Douglas, who has previously exhibited “Karucha Shoku” and Read more...

Saucy Meatball Subs

Posted 4:38pm Sunday 14th September 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

Mr. Critic Editor Zane messaged me this morning. He said, “I think you know why I’m messaging you.” I respond with a frantic reply as I run around the supermarket on my lunch break. The problem with the arrangement in my flat is that I only cook once a week. I often forget that I have to Read more...

Counterspy

Posted 11:52pm Sunday 7th September 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: B + It’s hard for our generation to appreciate how tense the Cold War must have been. Sure, we live in a world with many conflicts, but despite the often horrific and appalling nature of these events, they are all relatively isolated from us. Imagine instead living in constant fear of Read more...

Endless Night by Agatha Christie

Posted 11:52pm Sunday 7th September 2014 by Bridget Vosburgh

You have of course heard of Agatha Christie, possibly because I just mentioned her, but far more likely because she is incredibly famous. Her patented brand of murder fiction was the cuddly sort. The official genre term is “cosy,” and the notions inherent in the term cosy, are pretty Read more...

The New Pornographers – Brill Bruisers

Posted 11:52pm Sunday 7th September 2014 by Adrian Ng

Rating: B + Talented songwriters Dan Bejar (A.K.A Destroyer), Neko Case, A.C. Newman and Katheryn Calder join forces and together The New Pornographers make mature, saccharine, power pop. There isn't much more you need to say about this star-studded Vancouver band. Before even listening to Read more...

Ty Segall – Manipulator

Posted 11:52pm Sunday 7th September 2014 by Adrian Ng

Rating: A - I've been a follower of Ty Segall's work since 2011, which was around the time he released his solo record, Goodbye Bread. It was of course a pleasant surprise to find out he had already released several records before then, and he has released several records since. Known Read more...

Download of the week: Males - Run Run Run / MalesMalesMales

Posted 11:52pm Sunday 7th September 2014 by Adrian Ng

Males are the local beach pop, fun loving boyband, featuring the songwriting talents of Richard Ley-Hamilton. The group's focus with their first two EPs was shameless pop-punk, layered with interesting guitars and built on a foundation of upbeat, pounding rhythm. Soon to be touring Australia and Read more...

New this week / Singles in review

Posted 11:52pm Sunday 7th September 2014 by Adrian Ng

QT – Hey QT QT is a project by a pair of artists known as Sophie and A.G. Cook. I'm not quite sure how to aptly describe this track, except does anyone remember that song “Barbie Girl” by Aqua? Well, if you don't, listen to this track and it might jog your memory. It's not quite as Read more...

Dead Poets Society

Posted 11:52pm Sunday 7th September 2014 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

The film that earned Robin Williams his second Oscar nomination and showed the world that he was actually a pretty damn good dramatic actor as well as a talented comedian. Williams plays John Keating, an eccentric and inspirational English teacher at an elite boys prep school in the 50s, whose Read more...

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

Posted 11:52pm Sunday 7th September 2014 by Ashley Anderson

Rating: A This film has an obnoxiously long title, but a story that climbs out the window and into your heart. Getting straight to the point, the title of this Swedish film really says it all. 100-year-old Allan (Robert Gustafsson) decides that it is time for him to up and leave his Read more...

Boyhood

Posted 11:52pm Sunday 7th September 2014 by Rosie Howells

Rating: A Boyhood is Richard Linklater’s ambitious project to film the same cast over a 12-year period to document the journey of fictional child Mason between ages 6 to 18. In true Linklater style, he makes it look easy. The first time the film jumps ahead and I saw a noticeably older Read more...

Lucy

Posted 11:52pm Sunday 7th September 2014 by Sydney Lehman

Rating: A - Luc Besson had been directing and writing powerhouse female protagonists since 1990’s La Femme Nikita. Lucy is evidence of 24 years of experience. His French sensibilities with cinema make for an engaging experience. Lucy is a fairly typical student put into the wrong place Read more...

Keisai Eisen - Shunga

Posted 11:52pm Sunday 7th September 2014 by Hannah Collier

Brett McDowell Gallery Exhibited until 18 September Throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries, Japanese Ukiyo-e artists, alongside their normal print production, were involved in the creation of erotic prints, which are generally known as “shunga.” Translated literally, the Japanese Read more...

Pulled Pork Tacos

Posted 11:52pm Sunday 7th September 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

Summer is coming! (She says as she writes this with torrential rain beating down on her roof.) Warmer weather for me means more al fresco dining and entertaining friends, as well as a more colourful array of vegetables gracing our plates. I am a big fan of feeding large groups with fresh handmade Read more...

Luftrausers

Posted 5:55pm Sunday 31st August 2014 by Baz Macdonald

This may or may not be something you consider when pondering video games, but join me for a moment in thinking about how a game feels to play. Think of your favourite game … Now instead of its art, sound or gameplay mechanics, I want you to think about how the game feels. Does it feel light or Read more...

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Posted 5:55pm Sunday 31st August 2014 by Mandy Te

Before Maria Semple was a novelist, she was a screenwriter for Arrested Development and Saturday Night Live. With the Arrested Development aspect in mind, there is no doubt that Semple can write great, satirical pieces. Her latest novel, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, is no different. In this novel, Read more...

Merchandise - After The End

Posted 5:55pm Sunday 31st August 2014 by Adrian Ng

Rating: A- Formed in 2008 in Tampa, Florida, Merchandise has undergone reinvention after reinvention. Cementing themselves, at first, as a punk band, they soon evolved into an off-kilter, experimental, alternative, pop outfit in the early 2010s. After experiencing mild success with 2012's Read more...

Download of the week: Iron Tusk - Iron Tusk EP (NZ)

Posted 5:55pm Sunday 31st August 2014 by Adrian Ng

Iron Tusk are a local Dunedin progressive metal band, featuring the talents of Adam Wells on drums, Scott Herriott on guitar, Jake Langley on vocals and Shane Hellyer on bass. Members and ex-members of Dunedin metal luminaries Ignite The Helix, Threads, El Schlong and Twist of Fate. The Iron Read more...

New this week / Singles in review

Posted 5:55pm Sunday 31st August 2014 by Adrian Ng

Lauryn Hill - Black Rage (Sketch) The actress and musician Lauryn Hill only has one album under her belt, but that hasn't stopped her from releasing the odd single now and then. “Black Rage (Sketch)” is a slow burning, RN'B track, dripping with her trademark boldness. While it Read more...

Profile: Zac Fay

Posted 5:55pm Sunday 31st August 2014 by Hannah Collier

Last Friday night I went to Dunedin-based artist Zac Fay’s first official exhibition, Blood Eagle, at Kiki Beware on George Street, and it was so effortlessly great. Unfortunately the exhibition is now over, but because Zac is local, naturally I felt it would be appropriate to meet and greet and Read more...

Slow cooked moroccan chicken

Posted 5:55pm Sunday 31st August 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

I stayed home sick today. It was miserable outside and I sound like a man. A man with a blocked nose. I took advantage of the day of paid sick leave at home to fill the house with the smell of slow cooked Moroccan chicken. I usually make it on the stove but I find it far easier and way more Read more...

Jumanji

Posted 5:55pm Sunday 31st August 2014 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Classic Film A nostalgic 90s’ classic, which I’m sure many of us have been revisiting in the weeks since Robin William’s death. The film is about a magical board game named Jumanji, which conjures deadly jungle-related things with each roll of the dice. There are killer mosquitoes, lions, Read more...

The Hundred-Foot Journey

Posted 5:55pm Sunday 31st August 2014 by Mandy Te

When I procrastinate, I try to do it with class. As in, I’ll be my foodie self and watch seven episodes of Kitchen Nightmares. To me, “foodie” just means you’re addicted to food porn. The Hundred-Foot Journey is not just a feel-good film; it’s a feel-good opportunity to satisfy those foodie needs. Read more...

The Expendables 3

Posted 5:55pm Sunday 31st August 2014 by Andrew Kwiatkowski

Rating: C+ In the long tradition of The Expendables series repackaging the exact same action-hero products you have seen before in 80s’ movies, comes The Expendables 3, a film with no original dialogue. Some might say that the way they rework each action actor’s iconic catchphrases (such as Read more...

Housebound

Posted 5:55pm Sunday 31st August 2014 by Rosie Howells

Rating: A- Does anyone else feel the pressure to love any film made in New Zealand? Like there’s a special place in hell for those that don’t support Kiwi comedy? What I’m saying is, I do. So when reviewers and punters alike starting raving about Kiwi-made horror-comedy Housebound, a voice Read more...