Archive

Kubo

Posted 12:37pm Sunday 4th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: A From Laika, the studio behind the likes of Paranorman, Coraline and The Boxtrolls, comes Kubo, a magical coming of age tale. The line “If you must blink, do it now” opens the film, setting the scene for a fantastic adventure film about love, family and Read more...

2016 Otago wildlife photography exhibition

Posted 12:38pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Olivia Lynch

This exhibition showcases the talented work of the winners of the Otago Wildlife Photography competition and a selection of other incredible amateur Otago photographers. Divided into two age categories, 14-and-under and 15-and-over, this showcase gives insight into the phenomenal skills of Otago Read more...

Total Recall (1990)

Posted 12:31pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Lucy Hunter

Rating: A The film opens with a Martian landscape, with two moons, and a stifling red sky. A man and woman hold each other’s leather-gloved hands, and give each other romantic stares through the viewing windows of their spacesuits. Then the man trips, falls, smashes his helmet, and starts Read more...

A Perfect Day

Posted 12:29pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: B- In A Perfect Day, Benicio Del Toro, Tim Robbins, Olga Kurylenko and Mélanie Thierry play four aid workers stationed in the Balkan Mountains, during a period of armed conflict. They are trying to retrieve a rotting corpse from a well, to prevent contamination of the local water Read more...

Suicide Squad

Posted 12:26pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Samuel Rillstone

Rating: A- Suicide Squad, directed by David Ayer, follows a group of supervillains from the DC Comics universe as they are captured and forced to save the world in return for shortened sentences. It boasts an all-star cast lead by Will Smith as Deadshot, Jared Leto as the Joker, Margot Robbie as Read more...

Rams

Posted 12:25pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: A+ Rams tells the story about how sheep are pure and good, and incurable disease is evil and sucks. Set in Iceland on a remote rural farming valley, we’re introduced to Gummi, who lives and breathes the sustainable lifestyle, breeding sheep for the entirety of his life. His Read more...

Pandemic Legacy: Season 1

Posted 12:18pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: A+ Learning to play board games is usually a single-evening affair. You may spend an evening learning the rules, and every evening thereafter you will be developing your own strategy around those rules. What enables you to develop a strategy is the fact that the game’s rules will Read more...

The Wisdom of Psychopaths

Posted 12:14pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Lucy Hunter

Psychopaths look, smell, and sound like regular people, but they don’t care about you any more than they care about the steak they ate for lunch. The good news is, not all psychopaths are serial killers. The bad news is, you’ve probably bumped into a psychopath today. Approximately one Read more...

Pale Fire

Posted 12:10pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

The epic poem “Pale Fire” has been put into a book following the murder of its author, American poet John Shade. Accompanying the poem is a preface, extensive notes and commentaries by Shade’s editor, Charles Kinbote. At least, when you first approach Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov, Read more...

The Beginner’s Guide to making your music collection less hetero:

Posted 12:00pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

Tracy Chapman - "Give Me One Reason” on New Beginning Everybody knows Tracy Chapman. Or, at least everybody should know Tracy Chapman. “Give Me One Reason” is a favourite of mine, my dad used to make mix tapes to listen to in the car and this song was on one of Read more...

La Crepe

Posted 11:55am Sunday 21st August 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

If you love good vibes and yummy crepes you can find them both at the La Crepe stall at the Saturday Morning Farmers Market. Disclaimer: I have worked for Christophe and Marie flipping crepes at the market for more than a year and a half now, only a fraction of their almost 12 years at the market. I Read more...

Tormentum: Dark Sorrow

Posted 6:00pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: B- As we jump from one adventure game to another, Tormentum: Dark Sorrow is an indie horror adventure game that runs mainly on its fantastic art style. The makers of Tormentum were inspired by the art of Dark Souls, Zdzislaw Beksinski (who, by the way, is FANTASTIC) and HR Giger Read more...

Her Story

Posted 5:58pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: A It’s almost traditional that Full Motion Video (FMV) adventure games are utter shit. Their cutscenes were very poorly implemented, they contained no writing or acting of any merit, and they were unpleasant to play in every aspect. Fortunately, modern game developers only use an Read more...

Bela Lugosi’s Dead —Bauhaus

Posted 5:55pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Lucy Hunter

I don’t know anything about this band but this was the only song I listened to for about six months. The song is nine minutes and 37 seconds long, with a two minute introduction of tapping drums and bass, with a weird scratchy noise in the background. The bass is out of tune and there is the Read more...

Unlimited — Bassnectar

Posted 5:52pm Monday 15th August 2016 by William Sharp

Review: A+ All students who are searching for a new artist or genre to explore will discover quite the colourful gem in Bassnectar’s recently released album. Lorin Ashton, known famously by his stage name ‘Bassnectar,’ released fifteen tracks ranging from the deep melodic to the Read more...

Shakshuka

Posted 5:47pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

Shakshuka is a traditional Israeli breakfast, good for any time of the day with cooked eggs on top of a savoury tomato sauce. This is the best way to eat runny eggs in my opinion.  It's meant to be a bit spicy so if you're after a kick, add some chilli, cayenne pepper, or use smoked Read more...

Saga Volume 6

Posted 5:43pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Jack Blair

Finally! It’s book six, and our narrator is old enough to make decisions that impact the plot more than just needing a nappy change in the middle of a fight. I’m happy to report that despite the fact that our central character is four years old, the series does not backtrack in the Read more...

My Family and Other Animals

Posted 5:39pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

When the miserable English climate proves too much for young Gerald Durrell and his haphazard family, all five of the Durrells decide to relocate to the Greek island of Corfu. For Gerald, an aspiring naturalist, this is a dream come true. The wildlife of Corfu turns out to be a treasure trove of Read more...

Before Sunrise

Posted 5:35pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Joe Higham

Rating A- If you were to have spontaneously asked that attractive man/woman you saw in your day-to-day life to spend the day with you, it could’ve ended in a similar way to Before Sunrise­except it never would. Celine (Julie Delphy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke) find themselves on the same Read more...

Stranger Things

Posted 5:32pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: A+ Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) has gone missing, his mother Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) is certain he is still alive and is determined to find him. Will’s brother Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) is devastated—watching his mother seemingly lose her mind in her desperation to Read more...

Why do we need…Anonymous?

Posted 5:28pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Anthony Marris

Anonymous is a collective of computer enthusiasts who have a far-reaching presence in both the real world and the online one. Seen on Youtube clips wearing the mask from V for Vendetta, as well as having electronically distorted voices, they are often called a “hacktivist” group (from Read more...

Felix Harris & Mate Pavic

Posted 5:24pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Lucy Hunter

Works by Felix Harris and Mate Pavic is an experience in the darker parts of humanity. The two artists were paired by gallery owner Inge Doesburg, who saw Harris’ work and contacted Pavic in The Netherlands. Pavic’s works look as though they have been done in a frenzy, with black ink Read more...

Highlights at Hocken: Documenting the History of New Zealand Art

Posted 5:21pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

In a world where everyone knows the names Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso, it’s easy to assume that all art of value comes from overseas. In actual fact, the art history of New Zealand is arguably just as rich, inspiring, and fascinating as that of Europe. And better Read more...

Edinburgh Realty Premier Art Awards

Posted 5:15pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Carolijn Guytonbeck

Art awards can be such a fascinating mélange of art, giving a wide insight into the range of currently produced artwork. They can also be fun as there are times when you have those 'go figure' moments in seeing the winners. There usually is the option to have your democratic say and Read more...

Black Memories

Posted 5:10pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

Dunedin artists Jessie Lee Robertson and Josh Hunter gave one simple explanation for their show, Black Memories, 'The Devil is in the detail' This statement is equally applicable to both artists and their work, but differs in application. Robertson offers perhaps more intricate work, with Read more...

Long Way North

Posted 4:09pm Monday 8th August 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: A Playing at The Regent: Sunday, August 21 - 1:15pm Long Way North is a beautifully animated fictional historical film set in 19th century Russia. The story follows Sasha, a resilient and determined 15-year-old young woman. Sasha’s beloved explorer grandfather has gone Read more...

Tanna

Posted 4:05pm Monday 8th August 2016 by Shaun Swain

Rating: A Playing at Rialto: Wednesday, August 10 - 11:30am When dealing with a cast of men and women of vastly varying ages, none of whom have ever acted, you run insurmountable risk. So in directing one of the only remaining traditional tribes, Bentley Dean and Martin Butler face Read more...

Under the Shadow

Posted 3:59pm Monday 8th August 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: A- Playing at Rialto Friday, August 12 - 8:30pm Wednesday, August - 17 4:15pm Under The Shadow is set in Tehran during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, and follows a family trying to survive two terrifying things: the constant threat of bombing, and the sudden presence of Read more...

Another Country

Posted 3:54pm Monday 8th August 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: A Playing at Rialto: Sunday, August 14 - 11:15am Thursday, August 18 - 2:15pm A story told by Australian actor David Gulpilil, Another Country examines the township of Ramingining in the Northern Territory of Australia and the postcolonial ramifications of enforcing Read more...

Just the Tips

Posted 1:07pm Sunday 7th August 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Review: Anonymous Bird Just the Tips is the ideal coffee table book for any visitors to have a flick through. Written by the authors of Sex Criminals, (a graphic novel series about people who have sex and upon orgasm, freeze time, and do crime,) this little pink book contains their best sex tips. Read more...

Elizabeth is Missing

Posted 1:05pm Sunday 7th August 2016 by Hayleigh Clarkson

Review: Hayleigh Clarkson Elizabeth is Missing is a haunting novel of love and mystery. Maud is a forgetful old woman who can’t remember where she is or why she went to the shops. She forgets her own daughter, doesn’t remember moving house and makes endless cups of tea that she Read more...

Why do we need…Computer enthusiasts?

Posted 12:56pm Sunday 7th August 2016 by Anthony Marris

I use the term computer enthusiasts to describe a group of people most refer to as hackers, crackers, black hats, white hats, systems analysts, security testers, etc. This group of people test the limits of technology looking for weakness. Some try to make a living by looking for zero day exploits Read more...

Dark Souls III

Posted 12:54pm Sunday 7th August 2016 by Campbell Calverley

What a pleasant surprise for me that Dark Souls III came out on my birthday! I have been a massive fan of From Software’s esoteric and brutally difficult Souls games for a long time now. I finished the first Dark Souls game for the second time earlier this year. I’ve never gotten tired Read more...

Songs of note

Posted 12:39pm Sunday 7th August 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

'Heretic'—Peach Milk Auckland electronic music producer Peach Milk has just released her EP ‘Finally’. ‘Heretic’, the second track, combines swelling soundscapes with frantic, crisp percussion, and disembodied vocals. The track opens with a slow, rising Read more...

The 5th Eye

Posted 12:33pm Sunday 7th August 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Critic spoke to Errol Wright and Abi King-Jones, directors of The 5th Eye, a film making it’s debut at the New Zealand International Film Festival. Eight years in the making, and finished only three weeks prior to the beginning of the festival, this surprising and informative film tackles the Read more...

Star Trek: Beyond

Posted 12:28pm Sunday 7th August 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: B In this third instalment of the rebooted Star Trek film series, director Justin Lin of the Fast & Furious franchise takes over the helm from J. J. Abrams. This mercifully means fewer lens flares, but sadly also steers the movie towards being a mindless action flick.  In Star Read more...

Ghostbusters

Posted 12:25pm Sunday 7th August 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: B I only watched Ghostbusters (1984) for the first time last year. I thought the characters were kinda boring and the story was a bit silly and didn’t really understand the hype. Going into Ghostbusters (2016), I had pretty low expectations and zero nostalgia for the original Read more...

Demolition

Posted 12:23pm Sunday 7th August 2016 by Samuel Rillstone

Rating: B Demolition directed by Jean-Marc Vallee tells the story of investment banker Davis Mitchell (Jake Gyllenhaal), who tragically loses his wife in a car accident, and follows the essential grieving process that follows. What starts as a complaint letter to a vending machine company turns Read more...

The China Syndrome

Posted 12:20pm Sunday 7th August 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: A Going through a phase of watching ‘70s movies, as you do, I tracked The China Syndrome down after reading Roger Ebert’s effusive praise of it. The film was released at a time when nuclear power plants were a relatively new thing, and people were a bit apprehensive about Read more...

Banana Nuggets

Posted 12:09pm Sunday 7th August 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

It's good to practice what you preach. Following from my Food Waste article last week, I make for you: Banana Nuggets.  Our staple bananas are the sixth most common item Kiwi's throw out, which equates to 3,242 TONNES annually, costing us a whopping 8.42 million dollars! Bananas are Read more...

A Waste of Food

Posted 1:44pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

So instead of a recipe I thought I’d write another important aspect to consider about food. It's an all too familiar scenario at my flat with leftover dinners. It's a particular problem for one of my flatmates, who forgets about food and ends up buying more while the forgotten food Read more...

Ridiculous Sublime

Posted 1:40pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

"The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related that it is difficult to class them separately. One step above the sublime makes the ridiculous and one step above the ridiculous makes the sublime again." -Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason:  Part II. c1795   I Read more...

In Order to Live

Posted 1:36pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by Hayleigh Clarkson

In Order to Live is an incredible real-life story of Yeonmi Park, a North Korean girl, who escaped into China and then into South Korea. Her epic fight for freedom is nearly unbelievable: Yeonmi survived starvation, abuse, trafficking, and near death just to have the simple freedoms we all take for Read more...

In Order to Live

Posted 1:35pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by Hayleigh Clarkson

In Order to Live is an incredible real-life story of Yeonmi Park, a North Korean girl, who escaped into China and then into South Korea. Her epic fight for freedom is nearly unbelievable: Yeonmi survived starvation, abuse, trafficking, and near death just to have the simple freedoms we all take for Read more...

Batman: The Killing Joke

Posted 1:31pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by Anonymous Bird

The Joker is the antithesis of Batman. While Batman continues to fight and defeat many, many villains throughout the years of DC comics, the one big villain that jumps to mind is the Joker. Comic genius and veteran Alan Moore (also wrote Watchmen, V for Vendetta) wrote The Killing Joke (1988), a one Read more...

Cyber warfare

Posted 1:28pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by Anthony Marris

Cyber crime is the catchall term used for crime which makes use of the internet. Interpol acknowledges that most law enforcement have two distinct categories: advanced cyber crime, in which sophisticated individuals or groups target computer hardware or software (“cracking” or Read more...

Pokémon Go

Posted 1:23pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: B- When I was younger, my family used to go to this beach at Kaka Point near the Catlins. My brother convinced me that if I open my eyes underwater in the ocean I would see Pokémon. I never did – because, you know, salt water and stuff – but for whatever reason I one Read more...

The Cure

Posted 1:20pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

Three months ago I sat at work, squinting at my computer screen and chewing my lip. Ticketmaster reminded me I had two minutes left to buy my ticket before I would lose my place in the queue. I wasn’t sure, did I really need to see The Cure, the band that cushioned my teenage angst and later Read more...

High Fidelity

Posted 1:14pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by Nita Sullivan

Rating: A- The film High Fidelity, based on British author Nick Hornby’s bestselling novel, is perhaps a good example of the way some film adaptations are not always better than their literary beginnings. Despite this, the film does an admirable job of harnessing Hornby’s humour and Read more...

A Month Of Sundays

Posted 1:11pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: B+ Australia seems to be quite good at producing heartwarming comedies, and when I went along to this one I was expecting something in the same vein as The Castle or The Dish. In the end, it felt more like a Wes Anderson production, in that it is artfully shot and could be described as Read more...