Archive

Download of the Week: Lontalius - The World Will Never Know About Us (NZ)

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Adrian Ng

Eddie Johnston is a prolific music prodigy based in Wellington, also known also for his project Race Banyon. The World Will Never Know About Us contains some of his most beautifully crafted, electronic pop songs. Lush and mesmerising. Available for free download at lontalius.bandcamp.com. Read more...

The War On Drugs - Lost in the Dream

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Peter McCall

“It always gets so hard to see right before the moon,” sings Adam Granduciel, songwriter for The War on Drugs, halfway through their latest LP. It’s a new take on the old cliché, “it’s always darkest before the dawn,” but one that reflects more accurately the 35-year-old’s true longing. Granduciel Read more...

New this Week

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Adrian Ng

The last few days I’ve been recovering from a devastating cold. That’s right, devastating. One rainy afternoon I sat in my room with my lights dimmed and a cup of diluted honey, listening to a playlist I had constructed titled “Sad Bastard Music.” It actually made being sick kind of a pleasant Read more...

Profile: Tiny Ruins

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Adrian Ng

Holly Fullbrook, the talented songwriter behind Tiny Ruins, talks to Adrian Ng about her upbringing and David Lynch. Your music gives me a strange sense of nostalgia. There’s quite a mystical, ancient quality to it. How do you interact with your music? Is there a certain mood you are trying Read more...

South Park: Stick of Truth

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: A Whatever you think of South Park, there is no denying that Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators, minds and voices behind the show, are geniuses. They created South Park 18 years ago in each other’s basements with craft paper. The show has gone on to become an undisputable Read more...

Lemonade Date Scones

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

Every accomplished woman should know how to make a good batch of scones. Once mastered, you will be able to impress any future mother-in-law that comes your way. After all, isn’t that why us ladies attend university? To find a husband? Throw that old Edmonds recipe out the window. Who has Read more...

Stories We Tell

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Nick Ainge-Roy

Rating: C+ Stories We Tell is a documentary directed by Sarah Polley that chronicles the relationship of her parents, Michael and Diane Polley, with special attention paid to an extramarital affair of her mother’s that resulted in Sarah’s illegitimate birth. While technically a Read more...

Citizen Kane

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Rosie Howells

Classic Film Sure, Orson Welles died an alcoholic, morbidly obese fruitcake suffering from a Hollywood induced depression, but that takes nothing away from the fact he wrote, produced, directed and starred in what is largely regarded to be the greatest film of all time. Citizen Kane is the Read more...

Lone Survivor

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: B- A war movie has to have something to say to warrant its creation. It shouldn’t be all right for moviemakers to exploit war, and especially true stories of it, as a way of filling an hour and a half blockbuster with explosions and loud noises. Lone Survivor sits right on the line Read more...

Le Weekend

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Andrew Kwiatkowski

Rating: A+ Le Weekend is about an aging couple, Nick and Meg, played by Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan, taking a long-overdue second honeymoon to Paris, trying to recreate a time in their lives when they were happy, in love, and blissfully unconcerned with the future. The cast are Read more...

Cloud Atlas

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Julia Gilchrist

Cloud Atlas is David Mitchell’s third novel. His first won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, and his second – along with Cloud Atlas itself – was short listed for the Man Booker Prize. So I was expecting great things when I first picked this book up. I was not disappointed. The novel is Read more...

Zine of the Week

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Staff Reporter

By Valerie Morse 15 A5 Pages - Cartoons and Text AVAILABLE AT BLACKSTAR BOOKS Viewing Copy at Critic Office Can’t Hear Me Scream holds a special place in New Zealand for anarchist-inspired librarians and would-be activists, so it seems a fitting place to start this column. While Read more...

Random Reproductions

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Zane Pocock

Brett McDowell Gallery Exhibited until 27 March 2014 Since the start of the month, the Brett McDowell Gallery on Dowling Street has exhibited the latest in an on going series of digital archival reproductions from Richard Killeen. Killeen is perhaps one of the country’s foremost modernist Read more...

Interview: Deborah Lambie

Posted 3:19pm Monday 17th March 2014 by Josie Adams

Deborah Lambie is a stereotype-smasher. She’s a medical student here at Otago, a beauty queen, and an award-winning speaker. Josie Adams sat down to talk to her about the jet-setting life of a pageant pro: talents, inner beauty, and demilitarised zones. Why did you enter Miss New Zealand? Read more...

Download of the week: Eskimo Eyes - I Can't Think (NZ)

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Adrian Ng

My friend Daniel told me some sad news the other day. Ike Zwanikken’s house recently caught fire and a large portion of his possesions were destroyed. Ike Zwanikken creates beautiful, lo-fi electonic music under the moniker Eskimo Eyes. His amazing EP I Can’t Think is available as a name-your-price Read more...

New this week

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Adrian Ng

Hey! Do you like free stuff? This week we are giving away Clap Clap Riot’s new album, titled Nobody/Everybody. We’ve got it on compact disc and apart from a very small coffee stain, it’s in pretty fine condition. So how do you win? Just email music@critic.co.nz with your name and you will be entered Read more...

Speedy Ortiz - Real Hair

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Peter McCall

Grade: A- On Real Hair, the follow-up EP to their excellent 2013 LP Major Arcana, Speedy Ortiz once again prove that they’re not just rehashing ‘90s indie rock, but taking all the irony, angular guitar lines and fuzz that characterised that decade, and making it their own. Yes, they sound Read more...

Profile: Ian Henderson

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Adrian Ng

The Dunedin music scene is currently undergoing quite a resurgence; at the forefront of that is Ian Henderson. Owner of Fishrider Records, he has over the past few years released a slew of local talent, helping Dunedin music find a more international audience. Ian talks to Adrian Ng about the Read more...

Thief

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Grade: B Over the last couple of weeks the video game industry has been overwhelmed by mass layoffs. Eidos Montreal laid off a large number of their staff, Irrational Games laid off over 100 people and Disney Interactive laid off 700 people. Understandably, these lay offs have concerned Read more...

Mexican Meatball Soup

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

Who needs a man to warm you on these increasingly chilly Dunners nights when you have Mexican meatballs? It seems to be every Thursday that the girls of 5C have a romantic dinner together, with smooth jazz for lovers, wine, and balls of meat. The consumption of dinner was punctuated with comments Read more...

Non-Stop

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Simon Broadbent

Grade: B- Almost the first shot of Non-Stop is Neeson’s grizzled Air Marshal pouring whisky into his morning coffee, so you know you’re dealing with gritty Neeson, not Love Actually Neeson. But then he sentimentally touches the picture of his daughter taped to the roof of his car, so you know Read more...

Classic Film | Misery (1990)

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Rosie Howells

Despite having over 30 of his novels adapted for the big screen, only one Stephen King movie has ever won an Oscar, and that is Misery. Misery invites the audience into the home and mind of perhaps King’s most perplexing creation: Annie Wilkes. Annie is a clean-living, conservative nurse, whose Read more...

Winter's Tale

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Andrew Kwiatkowski

Grade: E I have limited space for this review, so I’ll just go ahead and start my list of “A Thousand Things Wrong with Winter’s Tale,” and we’ll see how far we get. Big number one: cast. Colin Farrell couldn’t sell the main character, a thief named Peter Lake, for a moment. With only his two Read more...

Blue Is the Warmest Colour

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Nick Ainge-Roy

Grade: A+ Blue Is the Warmest Colour, directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, has been praised by some as the best movie of 2013, as well as unanimously winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes and being nominated for a BAFTA and Golden Globe. After watching the film myself, it was easy to see why. Read more...

Captain America: Winter Soldier

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Brandon Johnstone

Ed Brubaker’s first two comic book-arcs of Captain America tell the story of the Winter Soldier, a Soviet assassin and super-spy tied to Steve Rogers’ past. Published in 2006, this book was the subject of much controversy, as it became clear within a few issues that there was a very real possibility Read more...

Pearler

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Hannah Collier

“I am an Expressionist painter. I rarely plan a painting or do preparatory drawing. I commence the work with a quick wash of strong, primary colour and then begin to hurriedly paint figures of people, animals and hybrid creatures. I add crude marks for volcanoes, hills, sea, buildings, boats, Read more...

Interview: Charlotte Blake

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Jessica Thompson Carr

23-year-old Charlotte (Char) Blake is a young family woman and student who will be shaving her hair off at the University of Otago’s Pacific Island Research Student Support Unit on March 18. Jessica Thompson Carr caught up with her for a chat. What was your inspiration for taking part in Read more...

Interview: Rupert Smiles

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Hannah Collier

I have kind of been in this polygamous relationship with art and fashion for a few years now, so naturally I try to merge the two whenever I can. This week, I’ve had a really new and major obsession with handbags … as art. I simply can’t get past that moment when Kanye gave Kim a Hermes Birkin with Read more...

Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Adrian Ng

Grade: A- Being a folk singer-songwriter in 2014 is not an easy path to tread. When you’re working within a genre where nothing really extravagant is left to bring to the table, it’s difficult to set yourself apart from the rest. Burn Your Fire For No Witness, however, manages to do just Read more...

Real Estate - Atlas

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Peter McCall

Grade: A- Atlas is Real Estate’s first record in three years, the follow up to 2011’s Days. Having enjoyed the last album’s dreamy, guitar-noodley, nostalgia-inducing vibes, I was looking forward to hearing the new one. But whereas Days was lazing-on-a-sunny-afternoon, Atlas is Read more...

Artist Profile: Kane Strang

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Adrian Ng

With his third album currently in the making, local songwriting genius Kane Strang talks to Adrian Ng, sharing insights into his songwriting process, his experience recording overseas, and of course giving us an update on his highly anticipated record. You’re always carrying a notebook Read more...

Download of the week: Arthur Ahbez - Gold (NZ)

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Adrian Ng

Psychedelic folk from Auckland based, acoustic guitar virtuoso Arthur Ahbez. From haunting ballads to vast, acid tempered instrumentals; Gold is available for free download, for a limited time at arthurahbez.bandcamp.com Read more...

New this week

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Adrian Ng

It’s issue three now, and though we’ve been extremely lucky in terms of sourcing content, submissions are always welcome. So if you’re a musician wanting your music to be heard or a band wanting a little bit of press, please don’t be shy. Even if you just want to talk about music, hanging out Read more...

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Grade: A - Often it is not until we are presented with something radically new in tone that we realise how similar everything else feels. Over the last generation we had access to a vast library of games, but I wonder if one was to sit down and categorically analyse many of these games in Read more...

Spaghetti and meatballs

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

No student food column would be complete without a mince meal. And, of course, no post about spaghetti and meatballs would be complete without as many meat-and-balls innuendos as possible either. So I am going to go ahead and say that I frequently crave meaty balls and I love to gobble them up at Read more...

The Railway Man

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Andrew Kwiatkowski

Grade: C+ The Railway Man is a film adaptation of Eric Lomax’s memoir about the time he was in the British Army in Singapore when it was invaded in 1942. His company surrendered as prisoners of war, only to be tortured and dehumanised on the Burma railway construction effort. I was prepared Read more...

Gremlins (1984)

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Rosie Howells

Cult Film For many, Gremlins is but a distant memory; an 80s entertainment fog at the back of our minds, occasionally spurting out images of microwaves, Christmas trees and blood to our consciousness. You know you’ve seen it, but the details are hazy and the imagery vague. Let me refresh you. Read more...

Robocop

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Grade: B When I heard that the 1987 B-grade action film Robocop was going to be rebooted, the last thing I expected was to be challenged intellectually – especially considering the premise of the film. Robocop is set in the near future where a debate is raging about what the role of Read more...

Labor Day

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Ashley Anderson

Grade: B+ What would you do if a convicted murderer asked you to take him to your home? This is the situation Adele (Kate Winslet) and her son Henry (Gattlin Griffith) find themselves in when they meet prison escapee Frank (Josh Brolin) in the supermarket. As Frank stays with them over the Read more...

Life of Pi

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Mat Daniel

Yann Martel’s Life of Pi is the 2002 winner of the Man Booker Prize, among other awards. Martel’s output has been relatively scarce, with Life of Pi standing as his most popular work. His novel was allegedly inspired when he read a review of Moacyr Scliar’s novella Max and the Cats, which tells the Read more...

Top five art blogs

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Zane Pocock

Over The Netoverthenet.blogspot.co.nz This is a daily art blog written by New Zealand’s most well known contemporary art collectors. This is always my go-to – Jim and Mary Barr certainly have their fingers on the pulse. Leg of Lamblamblegs.wordpress.com Another New Zealand art Read more...

Sedition and the commercialisation of digital art

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Zane Pocock

There’s a new kid on the block for serious art collectors and desktop background enthusiasts alike, and it’s frighteningly addictive. Sedition, which aims to “turn screens into art,” is fast becoming a leader in both the digital art movement and the concept of art editions in general. The idea is Read more...

Interview: Chloe Geoghegan, Director of the Blue Oyster Art Project Space

Posted 4:44pm Sunday 2nd March 2014 by Loulou Callister-Baker

With her first exhibition opening as Director of the Blue Oyster Art Project Space just last Tuesday; Chloe Geoghegan is set to bring an exciting, fresh breath of life to Dunedin’s art scene. Loulou Callister-Baker caught up with Chloe to discuss Oxford, irrigation and Read more...

Modern Baseball - You're Gonna Miss It All

Posted 4:44pm Sunday 2nd March 2014 by Peter McCall

Grade: B + If this record had come out seven years ago, it would’ve been a solid fixture in my CD collection; wedged right between A Lesson in Crime and From Under the Cork Tree. With the angst of emo’s old generation like Sunny Day Real Estate and Built to Spill, and the pop-punk energy of Read more...

St. Vincent - St. Vincent

Posted 4:44pm Sunday 2nd March 2014 by Adrian Ng

Grade: A When an album is self-titled it usually signals an attempt at a self-defining statement. The cover of St. Vincent’s fourth album depicts Annie Clark perched atop a pink throne; deadpan, confident and menacing. With her hair now dyed a blonde-grey and styled in eccentric fashion, she Read more...

Download of the week: Perfect Hair Forever - VOID (NZ)

Posted 4:44pm Sunday 2nd March 2014 by Adrian Ng

Infectious, bedroom pop punk from Auckland. Perfect Hair Forever produce adrenaline pumping, angst-ridden songs, coupled with a lo-fi sheen. Released late last year, VOID is available for free download at crystalmagic.bandcamp.com/album/void Read more...

Artist Profile: Clap Clap Riot

Posted 4:44pm Sunday 2nd March 2014 by Adrian Ng

As part of their four-date New Zealand tour, Auckland based indie-rock band Clap Clap Riot play Chick’s Hotel on 15 March. Stephen Heard and Dave Rowland talk briefly to Adrian Ng about the band’s new album Nobody/Everybody, touring life, and Rock N’ Roll. Did you all come from quite a Read more...

New this week

Posted 4:44pm Sunday 2nd March 2014 by Adrian Ng

For how long exactly is an album, or track, considered new? Keeping up can become quite a time consuming task, though nonetheless a rewarding one. Media is so readily available now; we have the ability to consume at a very high rate. For me, it’s hard to not get carried away on an endless wave of Read more...

Banished

Posted 4:44pm Sunday 2nd March 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Grade: A - It’s not often that you can call a game literary. In my opinion, it has only been in the past generation of games that developers have truly cracked into gaming’s potential to reveal and analyse truths about the human condition. The human condition, of course, is a very broad Read more...

Chipotle Chicken Tacos with Homemade Flour Tortillas

Posted 4:44pm Sunday 2nd March 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

Sometimes I feel like Mexican food is really just an excuse to bring out Corona and tequila. Which isn’t a bad thing, mind you, but while we’re at it, replace the fatty, cheesy Tex-Mex with this vibrant and flavourful, fresh alternative. My favourite dish at the moment is chipotle chicken tacos with Read more...

I, Frankenstein

Posted 4:44pm Sunday 2nd March 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Grade: C A huge number of people work to produce a film. When I watch a film as horrendously written as I, Frankenstein, this is all I can consider. How is it that a huge number of industry professionals worked on this project and, yet, not one person put up their hand and said “Excuse me, I Read more...

Saving Mr. Banks

Posted 4:44pm Sunday 2nd March 2014 by Andrew Kwiatkowski

Grade: A - Exquisite performances and a powerful story make this film a success. You may be familiar with the classic 1964 Disney film Mary Poppins. The 2013 film Saving Mr. Banks invites you to become familiar with the tormented artists responsible for producing such an uplifting and Read more...

12 Years A Slave

Posted 4:44pm Sunday 2nd March 2014 by Tim Lindsay

Grade: A+ “I don’t want to survive. I want to live.” While 12 Years a Slave is expertly (and beautifully) set in 1840s America, it is not a very comfortable film to watch. Steve McQueen’s (Shame and Hunger) film has garnered a raft of Oscar nominations and accolades, a testament to Read more...

Dallas Buyers Club

Posted 4:44pm Sunday 2nd March 2014 by Rosie Howells

Grade: A - Dallas Buyers Club tells the true story of Ron Woodrof, an HIV-positive hillbilly given 30 days to live and with no availability of effective medicines to change his fate. In a desperate attempt to extend his expiry date, and make a little money on the side, Woodrof begins Read more...

Empress Dowager Cixi

Posted 4:44pm Sunday 2nd March 2014 by Bridget Vosburgh

Jung Chang’s Wild Swans, a retelling of her own family’s history through the female line, was (and presumably still is) an eminently readable and fascinating book. With her latest work, Empress Dowager Cixi, she again showcases her gift for retelling great big chunks of history in an accessible and Read more...

When Your Neighbour’s Problems Become Your Own

Posted 4:44pm Sunday 2nd March 2014 by Hannah Collier

The Blue Oyster Art Project Space on Dowling Street - recently re-located, re-furbished and re-directed - is the coolest little gallery I’ve been to in Dunedin. Comfortably minimalistic with its smaller sized rooms, unpolished wooden floors, white walls and warm light, Blue Oyster is the perfect Read more...

Download of the week: Kane Strang (NZ)

Posted 6:57pm Sunday 23rd February 2014 by Adrian Ng

Based in Dunedin, Kane Stang is the city’s resident songwriting genius. When he is not drunkenly stammering in manic rock band Dinosaur Sanctuary, he is writing clever, interestingly crafted, psych-pop songs. Released last year, A Pebble and a Paper Crane is available for free download at Read more...

New this week

Posted 6:57pm Sunday 23rd February 2014 by Adrian Ng

Welcome to the 2014 Critic music section. I’m Adrian Ng, a songwriter and producer based in Dunedin. What qualifies me to write about music, let alone curate a section around it? Not much, really. I’ve realised that when it comes to music, the person you should pay the most attention to is yourself; Read more...

Artist Profile: Brown

Posted 6:57pm Sunday 23rd February 2014 by Adrian Ng

Brown are a four-piece alternative pop band based in Auckland and Dunedin. From confrontations with boy racers to recording an acapella covers cassette, Michael Cathro, AKA Skinny, talks to Critic’s Adrian Ng about his approach as a songwriter, his memories of Dunedin life, and also gives us an Read more...

Broken Bells - After The Disco

Posted 6:57pm Sunday 23rd February 2014 by Adrian Ng

Grade: B Broken Bells is comprised of James Mercer (The Shins) and Brian Burton (Danger Mouse), who team up again following their 2010 debut. After The Disco is an album of very well crafted songs, merging elements of new-wave and disco with Mercer’s trademark pop sensibilities. The Read more...

Warpaint - Warpaint

Posted 6:57pm Sunday 23rd February 2014 by Adrian Ng

Grade: A- From start to finish, the sophomore effort from this Los Angeles-based four piece emanates a dense atmosphere, each track transitioning beautifully to the next. Soaked in a somewhat ethereal splendor, the record is held together by a subtle, carnal groove which comes across as Read more...

Broken Age

Posted 6:57pm Sunday 23rd February 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Grade: A As consumers, we are at the mercy of what sells. When what you like is “what sells,” that’s a wonderful fact. However, when something you like is niche, then it can be the worst. However, the last couple of years have given gamers the opportunity to directly influence what they like Read more...

Fridge Pizza

Posted 6:57pm Sunday 23rd February 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

That O-Week time of the year is a week full of good flat intentions, like doing the first flat shop full of nutritious food, drafting up the cleaning roster and vowing to never screw the crew. But, as we all know, the week’s charming side effect – also known as the week-long bender – renders all of Read more...

The Wolf of Wall Street

Posted 6:57pm Sunday 23rd February 2014 by Alex Wilson

Grade: A+ In recent years, economic disparity has permeated society’s political zeitgeist, questioning whether it is ethical for such a small percentage of the population to control so much wealth and power, while so many struggle on the way side. Wolf of Wall Street gives a face to Read more...

Inside Llewyn Davis

Posted 6:57pm Sunday 23rd February 2014 by Rosie Howells

Grade: A- Inside Llewyn Davis follows our title character as he desperately attempts to make a name for himself in the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961. Plagued with a homeless cat, an empty wallet and bad attitude, Llewyn (Oscar Isaac) fumbles through his increasingly disastrous life to Read more...

American Hustle

Posted 6:57pm Sunday 23rd February 2014 by Rosie Howells

Grade: B Goddamn, did American Hustle have a good trailer! Through a grandiose string of clips, one was treated to dancing, boozing, screaming in toilet cubicles, Jennifer Lawrence in a leotard and the phrase “only in America” punching onto the screen in sassy block letters – all in perfect Read more...

Her

Posted 6:57pm Sunday 23rd February 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Grade: A- Every romantically focused film made has tried desperately to capture the events, thoughts and emotions associated with love. But no film, in my opinion, has ever captured the essence of it quite as poignantly as Spike Jonze’s Her. The film traverses all of the ups and downs of Read more...

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Posted 6:57pm Sunday 23rd February 2014 by Imogen Davis

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a pertinent, well-constructed slice of the creative non-fiction genre. Written by Rebecca Skloot in 2010, the book takes its readers back to 1951 when a 29-year-old African American housewife and mother died from ovarian cancer. Her death led to an instance of Read more...

Hotere Culbert

Posted 6:57pm Sunday 23rd February 2014 by Hannah Collier

Ralph Hotere and Bill Culbert Exhibited until 9 March 2014 This whole exhibition could be the result of Dan Flavin meeting Ad Reinhardt in Port Chalmers for a couple of arty hours by the beach. But, in fact, the Hotere and Culbert exhibition, currently at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Read more...

App of the Week | Issue 26

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 6th October 2013 by Raquel Moss

In the haze of information overload that is study week, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the shit you’re meant to know. Sometimes, putting it into order in a way that makes sense to you can help to soothe the hysteria. Time to make your Year 9 English teacher proud and create some sweet Read more...

Behind the Meme

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 6th October 2013 by Raquel Moss

Remember your horrible high school class photograph? Or the embarrassing childhood picture that your Mum posted to her Facebook? (Thanks, Mum.) What happens when the Internet gets hold of those photos and, based on that one photograph, assigns you a personality? Do you roll with it? Exploit it? Or Read more...

2013’s Best Tracks

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 6th October 2013 by Basti Menkes

1. Sigur Rós - BrennisteinnThe opening number of the Icelanders’ gothic and gorgeous seventh LP Kveikur is a masterpiece of the juxtaposition of light and darkness. Trembling with volcanic basslines and glimmering with Jónsi’s peerless falsetto, “Brennisteinn” is the finest song both of Sigur Rós’ Read more...

2013’s Best Albums

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 6th October 2013 by Basti Menkes

2013 has seen some fantastic releases in the music world, from sonic veterans returning to the game after a long absence to new artists making waves with their impressive debuts. To celebrate another great year for music, Basti Menkes gives you his favourite albums and songs released this year. Read more...

MGMT - MGMT

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 6th October 2013 by Lisa Craw

Rating: 2/5 As someone who’s followed MGMT peripherally for a while, I had high expectations for their latest album. I expected a new slick experience, a return to the clever and commercially viable pop of their first album Oracular Spectacular. After their brief foray into self-indulgence on Read more...

Lorde - Pure Heroine

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 6th October 2013 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 4.5/5 No matter how many times I hear the Lorde story, it never fails to amaze me. In 2008, Ella Yelich-O’Connor was just another North Shore 12-year-old. After a video of her singing at a school talent show made its way to Universal Records scout Scott Maclachlan, she was Read more...

Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 6th October 2013 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: 8.5/10 As a gaming advocate it is my job to point out that games can have a variety of positive effects on gamers, including the development of cognitive skills. I wholeheartedly believe that this is true, particularly for young gamers. However, it has been a long time since I Read more...

Beetroot Chocolate Cake

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 6th October 2013 by Kirsty Dunn

This cake is gorgeous. It comes out a rich cocoa-burgundy colour, has a moist but light texture, and tastes great – it’s not too sweet. If, however, you want to up the ante on the sugar count, I’d ice the top (adding a little berry jam to regular icing makes a nice change and turns it a lovely pink Read more...

The Warriors

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 6th October 2013 by Baz Macdonald

I have never understood the point of gangs. Violently defending an area of land that is not yours to begin with strikes me as rather absurd. While Walter Hill’s 1979 cult classic The Warriors doesn’t convince me of gangs’ validity, I doubt that a cooler vision of the concept has ever been created. Read more...

One Direction: This Is Us

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 6th October 2013 by Tamarah Scott

Rating: 3/5 One Direction: This Is Us explores obsession. Society seems to crave celebrities that seem attainable, or somehow normal, just like us. “The American Dream” has been twisted into an obsession with being famous. We have seen other films produced about the lives of Read more...

Rush

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 6th October 2013 by Lyle Skipsey

Rating: 4/5 Rush, starring Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl, chronicles the intense rivalry between drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda. The film covers the early stages of the rivalry, but is mainly focused on the 1976 Formula One World Championship. Far more than just a story about sport, Read more...

The Best Offer

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 6th October 2013 by Rosie Howells

Rating: 4.5/5 This film could not be more appropriately named – it is literally The Best Offer at Rialto this week, the Rekordelig on a shelf full of Scrumpy. Geoffrey Rush stars as the wealthy, brilliant and just-a-bit-sad auctioneer Virgil Oldman, who becomes entangled in the mystery and Read more...

Beautiful Ruins - By Jess Walter

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 6th October 2013 by Feby Idrus

Beautiful Ruins opens with its hero, Pasquale, first laying eyes on the sumptuously beautiful Dee Moray, an American actress who comes to Pasquale’s tiny Italian village by boat, borne across the Mediterranean like a Botticelli Venus. You then cut to Hollywood 40 years later, to a bored studio Read more...

Let Us End With Some Porn

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 6th October 2013 by Charlotte Doyle

There is a deeply-felt anxiety, shared by many girls, about the need for a “perfect” vagina. For many, this necessitates spending 50 dollars on a braz or bikini wax (that will last less than a fortnight) in the hope of fulfilling the desires – or even expectations – of their male counterparts. Read more...

Interview: Sonja Urban (Animal Rights Activist)

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 29th September 2013 by Baz Macdonald

Sonja Urban is a German-born human and animal rights activist who became a New Zealand resident last year in order to study Environmental Organisation at Otago. Baz Macdonald spoke to her about her latest cause, Shave It or Save It, which aims to raise money for animal welfare by letting donors Read more...

Web Trick of the Week: The Wadsworth Constant

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 29th September 2013 by Raquel Moss

The Wadsworth Constant: Noun. An axiom stating that the first 30 per cent of any video can be skipped because it contains no worthwhile or interesting information. Popularised by Reddit user Wadsworth in 2011. (knowyourmeme.com) It’s true though, isn’t it? Pretty much any how-to video Read more...

Checking in on Yahoo!

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 29th September 2013 by Raquel Moss

It has been a year since overachieving, Silicon Valley poster-girl Marissa Mayer (formerly of Google) took over as CEO of Yahoo! There has been a lot of buzz about Yahoo! recently, what with Mayer’s acquisition of several start-ups, the re-vamp of Flickr, and a logo change. I decided it was time to Read more...

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Fly By Wire

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 29th September 2013 by Tom McCone

Rating: 4/5 With the slow onset of the sunnier half of the year, the musically-inclined are already building up their summer playlists, soundtracking lazy drives to the beach, rooftop sunbathing sessions and afternoon backyard drinking sessions that segue into crisp starlit evenings. Read more...

Kings Of Leon - Mechanical Bull

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 29th September 2013 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 3/5 What a strange tale the Kings Of Leon story has been. Though ever-adored by the British music press, it wasn’t until album number three, their magnum opus Because Of The Times, that they broke into the mainstream consciousness. Even after several monster hits and two more albums – Read more...

Kingdom Hearts - 1.5 Remix

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 29th September 2013 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: 6/10 The jump from standard definition (SD) to high definition (HD) has created a chasm between gaming generations. It has created a culture in which SD games belong to a past age while HD games belong solidly to the future. But it is also about more than how we perceive Read more...

Fried Rice

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 29th September 2013 by Kirsty Dunn

Good old fried rice. Whilst it’s a simple takeaway staple, it can be surprisingly hard to adequately replicate at home. Therefore, I now impart to you my own tried and true recipe, inspired by my Mama’s version. It’s another great way to use up bits and pieces in the fridge and freezer – I often use Read more...

Spirited Away

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 29th September 2013 by Tamarah Scott

After receiving the devastating news that the king of animation, Hayao Miyazaki, may possibly be retiring from film making, I thought it would only be right to review Spirited Away (2001). Miyazaki co-founded Studio Ghibli, which has never made a disappointing film. Miyazaki enjoys a huge Read more...

What Maisie Knew

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 29th September 2013 by Rosie Howells

Rating: 3.5/5 I fully understand that divorces are never fun, carefree events that come with smiles and free popsicles, but I could not have predicted the messiness, nastiness and general glumness depicted in What Maisie Knew. The film follows the bitter separation of ageing rockstar Susanah Read more...

Riddick

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 29th September 2013 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: 3/5 It’s hard to believe, but despite his brawny machismo and horrific repertoire of films, Vin Diesel is a gigantic nerd. It is Vin’s inner geek that has driven him to champion the Riddick franchise, in which he plays the central figure, Richard B. Riddick. At the start of the Read more...

Stoker

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 29th September 2013 by Tamarah Scott

Rating: 4/5 Chan-Wook Park’s Korean films are beautifully pieced together masterpieces with brutally twisted elements. Stoker (2013) is his first attempt at an English-directed film. Do not judge Stoker through the strict lens of realism; rather, treat it as a cinematographic journey into Read more...

The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brian

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 29th September 2013 by Lucy Hunter

The opening sentence of this book describes a brutal murder. An old man is first knocked down with a bicycle pump and then beaten to death with a spade. The one-legged, unnamed narrator, however, doesn’t want to explain his crime right away; more important to him is his friendship with John Divney, Read more...

The Deconstruction of a Gallery Opening’s Mystique

Posted 2:29pm Sunday 29th September 2013 by Charlotte Doyle

The Dunedin art “scene” is often considered to be “underground.” Seen as the realm of the city’s “alty” citizens, there is a widespread public perception that few students would go out of their way for an artistic experience. However, for the entirety of last week Dunedin art pervaded the Read more...

Interview: Isaac McFarlane (Two Cartoons)

Posted 1:47pm Sunday 22nd September 2013 by Loulou Callister-Baker

The lead singer and guitarist of Dunedin band Two Cartoons, Isaac McFarlane is preparing to head off to London for a record label-sponsored soujourn. Loulou Callister-Baker caught up with Isaac after his final Dunedin show to ask about the big move and how he got into music. Let’s start from Read more...

App of the Week | Issue 24

Posted 1:47pm Sunday 22nd September 2013 by Raquel Moss

With semester two’s end now in sight, some of you might be thinking about your entrance into the working world. It’s going to be a little tough. Someone is going to expect you to be reasonably dressed and coherent by 9am, and to labour for eight hours toward vague and mystifying goals. You may have Read more...

Turning the Self Into a Statistic

Posted 1:47pm Sunday 22nd September 2013 by Raquel Moss

“I was surprised to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined, but I had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish.” – Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin, noted Renaissance Man of the American Enlightenment, was a well-known advocate of self-improvement. He famously kept Read more...

The Weeknd - Kiss Land

Posted 1:47pm Sunday 22nd September 2013 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 2/5 An arsehole. A genius. Troubled. The second coming of Michael Jackson. Abel Tesfaye, known better by his stage name The Weeknd, has been called many things during his young career. After dropping his first mix-tape House of Balloons in early 2011, claims that the Canadian would Read more...