Archive

Tomb Raider (2013)

Posted 4:23pm Sunday 10th March 2013 by Baz Macdonald

It has been a long time since the heyday of the Tomb Raider franchise. The teenagers of the 90s enjoyed nothing more than playing with their heavily-breasted gal pal Lara Croft, but as the generation moved out of their mums’ basements and into the real world Lara was unfortunately left on the shelf Read more...

The Plague

Posted 4:23pm Sunday 10th March 2013 by Lucy Hunter

Rats are dying. Arriving home one night, Dr Bernard Rieux witnesses a sick rat rupturing and spurting blood from its mouth. Soon thousands are dead, burning in piles in the streets. Dr Rieux acknowledges the dead rats with intrigue. Then his door-porter dies of a peculiar fever, with a terrible Read more...

The Sweeney

Posted 5:18pm Sunday 3rd March 2013 by Kathleen Hanna

I had a real problem with this film, more so than any other crime film I’ve seen. The tagline for The Sweeney is “act like a criminal to catch a criminal.” It’s not the moral ambiguity of that I have a problem with. Hell, all movies should be morally ambiguous up to a point, especially those in Read more...

Beautiful Creatures

Posted 5:18pm Sunday 3rd March 2013 by S M Morgan

Beautiful Creatures is a supernatural fantasy, adapted from a book, which jumps right into things six months before the lead’s, Lena’s, birthday. On her birthday her powers will be claimed for either the “light” (good) or “dark” (evil) depending on the judgement of her “true nature,” which will Read more...

Safe Haven

Posted 5:18pm Sunday 3rd March 2013 by Rosie Howells

Straight off the bat, you should know I’m not built for “Soul-Searching-Romance.” I didn’t even enjoy The Holiday, which I understand essentially makes me The Tin Man, or Kim Jong Il, or something. So I was a little worried to hear that Safe Haven’s writer Nicholas Sparks is also responsible for Read more...

Alizarin Lizard

Posted 5:18pm Sunday 3rd March 2013 by Lisa Craw

If you live in Dunedin and you’ve never heard Alizarin Lizard, shame on you. Alizarin are one of the best current New Zealand bands, though are perhaps more occupied with crazed 42-date tours than they are with self-promotion. This, their second full-length album, is classic Lizard, filled with Read more...

Atoms For Peace - AMOK

Posted 5:18pm Sunday 3rd March 2013 by Basti Menkes

For those of you who are not already aware, I am an enormous Radiohead junkie. At any given moment you can probably catch me listening to them, forcing them onto the unfortunate folk around me, or possibly fantasising about one of the members. But as unhealthy as my addiction to Thom Yorke and his Read more...

Crysis 3

Posted 5:18pm Sunday 3rd March 2013 by Baz Macdonald

Last week’s announcement of the PlayStation 4 has the gaming community asking what the future for our medium holds. What stories are to be told? How they will look? How they will play? I ask, why wait for the future when it is happening now? The release of Crysis 3, the third installment in the Read more...

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo

Posted 5:18pm Sunday 3rd March 2013 by Dominic Tay

Every year, more than 30 million passengers fly into Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. If you landed here at any time between 1991 and 2011, you’ll probably remember your journey out of the international terminal, past rows of luxury hotels, and into the heart of Mumbai. You Read more...

Anna Karenina

Posted 10:25pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Sam McChesney

Patriarchy sucks mad d. From the creators of Pride and Prejudice (2005) comes one of the best-looking films since, well, Pride and Prejudice. Adapted from Tolstoy’s novel, which was recently named the greatest ever by Time magazine, Anna Karenina stars Keira Knightley and ... that guy from Read more...

A Good Day To Die Hard

Posted 10:23pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Christine Edwards

So John McClane is back, and this time he’s wreaking havoc in a completely new place: Russia. As always, this Die Hard is about a badass cop who seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and, to make things right, goes in guns blazing and kicks the bad guy’s arse. This newest instalment, Read more...

Movie 43

Posted 10:23pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Josie Cochrane

I had zero hopes for this movie before viewing, based largely on the film editor’s opening email to me: “Review Movie 43 – apparently one of the worst films of all time. Go on, I dare you.” A dare is a dare of course! Even with my low hopes, my first text when I left the movie was “Well mum, Read more...

Hitchcock

Posted 10:23pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Finn Bulman

A movie about the making of a movie. Sure, it may have been done before, but Hitchcock pulls it off wonderfully. The story follows the life of famous film director Alfred Hitchcock, or “Hitch,” as he goes about creating one of the greatest horror films of all time, Psycho. He is met with Read more...

Aliens: Colonial Marines

Posted 10:23pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Baz Macdonald

For those of you waiting for an exciting new game to play after the dry months since pre-Christmas releases, Aliens: Colonial Marines is not for you. The gaming industry has once again started the year in controversy. Last year we endured the disaster that was the ending of BioWare’s Read more...

The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson

Posted 10:23pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Thomas Thomson

Jeanette Winterson’s The Daylight Gate is a fictionalised re-telling of the events leading up to the Pendle Witch Trials of 1612. Set in Lancashire, a county then fabled for its wildness and strangeness, a stronghold of both Catholicism and witchcraft, the book describes an England feverish with Read more...

Trick Mammoth

Posted 10:02pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Basti Menkes

Trick Mammoth is a Dunedin pop trio consisting of Adrian Ng (songwriting and vocals), Millie Lovelock (guitar and vocals), and Sam Valentine (drums). Enigmatic frontman Adrian describes their sound as “lo-fi music with a 90s guitar-pop edge.” He has been writing solo material under the Trick Read more...

Tomahawk - Oddfellows

Posted 10:02pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Basti Menkes

Alternative metal supergroup Tomahawk are back with their first album in six years. Instead of picking up where the Native American-inspired Anonymous left off, the Mike Patton-led band of misfits have taken the Tomahawk sound back to its very roots, producing something truly unique. As the Read more...

My Bloody Valentine - m b v

Posted 10:02pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Basti Menkes

How do you follow up a genre-defining masterpiece? My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields has spent the last two decades pondering that very question. Since its release in 1991, the band’s magnum opus Loveless has established itself as not only the definitive shoegaze album, but as one of the most Read more...

Men Like Us

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

There is no way I can do this great film justice in a 300-word review. The opening sequence of Men Like Us illustrates the abundance of heterosexual images found in Western culture and sets the scene for nine men’s stories to be told, most of which begin with the way in which they were raised to Read more...

Hotel Transylvania

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Lulu Sandston

Hotel Transylvania is based on the concept that humans are the perpetrators of scariness and monsters are the victims. The Hotel, built by Dracula (Adam Sandler), is a sanctuary for monsters, a place where they don’t have to hide in the shadows and can indulge all their eccentricities. For Read more...

Looper (2012)

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Callum Fredric

In the year 2044, there are no flying cars. Admittedly, there are motorbikes that hover, but they’re totes unreliable. Most people drive the same cars as in 2012. And realistically, that’s what the future is going to be like. How much have cars actually changed since the 1950s? Likewise, antihero Read more...

Where Do We Go Now

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

With the starring role played by the director herself, this movie was bound to be a little odd. Where Do We Go Now is set in a fictional village in Lebanon, where Christians and Muslims are living in harmony, oblivious to the war-torn nature of their relationship outside of their own community. This Read more...

THEA152 presents Voyager X: Baby Forest Animal Emporium

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

Get a bunch of 30 overly dramatic, scheming theatre students together and tell them to create a show that uses a stage in new and innovative way. Ready, set, go – you’ve got Voyager. Tell them they can take any idea, any theme, any over-the-top, ridiculously outlandish, and extravagantly impossible Read more...

Sir Frank Brangwyn: Captain Winterbottom and the Billiard Room of Horton House

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

When you enter the new exhibition at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, the enormous pool table that monopolises a large floor area in the centre of the room grabs your attention. The exhibition is “Sir Frank Brangwyn: Captain Winterbottom and the Billiard Room of Horton House”, and it is this billiard Read more...

A review, an outro; a comedy: Melville’s Bartleby

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Josef Alton

It was on a fine day in New York City that the tall and lanky young man entered the chambers of an elderly Wall Street lawyer and undertook the job as a legal scrivener (legal copyist). The lawyer’s chambers were on the second story of a building that sat in the shade of its neighboring buildings. Read more...

Tex Mex Beef

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Ines Shennan

Let me tell you about a dessert-related revelation I had some years ago. You take an overflowing handful of fresh strawberries, hull them, halve them, and place them into a bowl. Next, grab your nearby spice grinder, conveniently filled with black peppercorns. Crack the pepper over the strawberries. Read more...

Civilization V: Gods and Kings

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Vimal Patel

2005’s Civilization IV was a wholesome game to give to your offspring. Combat, though it was very possible, was rarely an optimal method to achieve a successful, wide reaching collection of cities. IV was a game that promoted agriculture, enlightenment and diplomacy, a game that, after its patch Read more...

NY Excuse For A Good Time

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Isaac McFarlane

New Year’s Eve is an important time for a lot of us – the final goodbye to a year of triumphs or failures, and the ushering in of new beginnings. Well, either that or a black hole in your memory from Dec 27 till Jan 2. Often the soundtrack to this haze of hedonism is provided by one of many Read more...

Mini Raspberry Citrus Cheesecakes

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Ines Shennan

I’ve got something to share with you. I haven’t been entirely honest this year. From the recipes featured, my tastebuds would appear to lean towards the savoury; clearly I am a carb-consuming, meat-eating, spice-loving, caramelised-onion-obsessed lunatic. What have failed to grace these pages are Read more...

Soulwax

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Isaac McFarlane

My good friend Tom Tremewan may have changed my life. Searching for a sense of sanity on a recent excursion to Captain Crunch’s World of Weird and Wacky, situated just 5 hours north of Dunedin, he turned to me and fumbled for the only topic that could save us from the Netherworld – music. “Have you Read more...

Otago Festival of the Arts

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

I think we often forget, or rather overlook, the privilege of living in a culturally assimilated city like Dunedin. We always have a production on somewhere, be it professional or student-led, so if we feel like it we can take the evening off to enjoy a show. We are also lucky enough to have a Read more...

The Marriage Plot

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Bradley Watson

After he focussed on mass suicide in The Virgin Suicides and then hermaphrodism in Middlesex, I was curious to see what Jeffrey Eugenides had in store for us with his latest novel, The Marriage Plot. Unlike his other novels, The Marriage Plot does not trade in shock value. Instead, the plot centres Read more...

Savages

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Michaela Hunter

It pretty obvious from the get-go what kind of movie this is, because we’re told in direct narration by the sultry voice of main character O (short for Ophelia), played by Blake Lively. She explains that she’s a hot rich girl whose parents don’t love her, but who happened to win the affections of Read more...

Madagascar 3

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Dan Benson-Guiu

I arrive at the theatre with great anticipation, unopened popcorn on my lap, just waiting for the ready-set-go. I haven’t seen a kids’ movie since way back, and nothing is better than trailers to get you in the mood. But we all remember the sheer awesomeness of Madagascar, right? Let’s move it! Read more...

Ruby Sparks

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Georgia Rose

My expectations for this film were pretty non-existent, although I’d heard it was directed by the same duo that made Little Miss Sunshine, which gave me hope. I was also vaguely aware that it was about an author whose female character comes to life as his girlfriend, and anything he writes about her Read more...

Two Little Boys

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Ashlea Muston

Two Little Boys is the story of Nige and Deano, two best mates from Invercargill. Nige (Bret McKenzie) finds himself in way over his head when he runs over a Norwegian backpacker. He confides in his friend Deano (Hamish Blake), despite their recent disagreement over a toasted sandwich. However, in Read more...

Smoky Repose

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Beaurey Chan

A young woman poses in profile against an indistinct backdrop, a cigarette propped just so in her mouth as she gazes coolly into the unknown distance. Another girl’s hair is drawn tightly back as she clenches her face into an expression of what could be pain or pleasure. The cigarette makes Read more...

Mark of the Ninja - REVIEW

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Toby Hills

"Other” ninja games, and developer Klei Entertainment refuses to name names, are very un-ninja-like. Why spend all that time shrouding yourself in stifling, shadowy rags if you are going to blunder into the middle of a swathe of foes and paint the walls in their bright red blood just to show, Read more...

Chicken Caesar Salad

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Maeve Jones

Caesar salad often emphasises the heavy, creamy dressing, which is more often than not over-processed and ruins a perfectly good salad. For me it is all about the croutons. Croutons are a delicious and convenient way to use bread that is past its prime. Most cultures in the world have some creative Read more...

Why Dubstep Isn’t Shit

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Isaac McFarlane

Dubstep gets a bad rap, and to be fair, it does deserve a lot of it. But dubstep is not total shit. There is some wonderfully interesting, energetic, face-meltingly beautiful dubstep created out there in a truly global scene, facilitated by the same thing that made it so hated – the Internet. Yes, I Read more...

American Angels

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

What a week! Art exhibitions in the Link and free coffee out on the lawn – aah, what a cultured University we all attend. In sticking with the 24-hour time frame, it’s hardly a panic to find something to write about for this issue, as dear old Allen hall will always have something for us there. Read more...

Monsieur Linh and his Child

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Lucy Hunter

Monsieur Linh is the only person who knows his name, because everybody who used to know it is dead. He arrives by ship from an unnamed country in Indo-China to France, clutching a small suitcase of meagre possessions, and his new-born granddaughter, Sang diû, who weighs less than the suitcase. His Read more...

Your Sister’s Sister

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

I’m not sure if Your Sister’s Sister is a romantic comedy or not, but whatever its classification, it’s a great watch. The film opens with Jack (Mark Duplass) struggling to recover from the loss of his brother, and making an ass of himself at a subsequent memorial party. His best friend Iris Read more...

Hysteria

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Ashlea Muston

Hysteria, set in London in the 1880s, follows the story of the ever-spirited young Doctor Mortimer Granville prior to his discovery of the vibrator and its medical benefits. Mortimer (Hugh Dancy) continually seeks betterment in the medical profession, and is enamoured with the breakthrough science Read more...

On The Road

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Dan Benson-Guiu

This adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s novel immerses us in a time period that is short but alive with change. It is the postwar era, and we are introduced to a small group of budding writers who are part of a culture which, as a whole, seems lively and creative. Sal Paradise (Sam Riley) is not feeling Read more...

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Beaurey Chan

I don’t know about you, but there’s something about tentacles that freak me out. Sea creatures in general are scary: sharks, jellyfish (Finding Nemo has a lot to answer for), flesh-eating piranhas, and so on – the whole lot are evil harbingers of doom as far as I’m concerned. But while Deep Sea Read more...

FTL - Review

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Toby Hills

In a quantum instant, a single broadside torpedo slips through the rickety space-cruiser’s momentarily downed shields, and ignites the oxygen recirculator. Immediately, the grizzled captain shuts down the blast doors and opens the ship’s port and stern airlocks, evacuating the gaseous contents from Read more...

Moonrise Kingdom

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

Set in the 1960s, Moonrise Kingdom is about a couple of New England kids who cross paths at a summer camp and fall head-over-heels in love. Suzy comes from an upper-class family of lawyers, while Sam is an orphan who is constantly in and out of foster homes. Before leaving the camp, they make a pact Read more...

The Expendables 2

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Critic

The Expendables 2 revolves around a group of mercenaries, the Expendables, who are enlisted by a Mr Church to retrieve a lost package from a downed plane. What seems like an easy job takes a wrong turn when one of their crew is murdered during the operation. Determined to seek revenge, the Read more...

Wunderkinder

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Lulu Sandston

Wunderkinder, set in the Ukraine in 1941, follows three young musical Wunderkinder, or child prodigies, who are bound by their love of music. Violinist Hanna Reich (Bridgette Grothum) is German, while pianist Larissa Brodsky (Imogen Burrell) and violinist Abrascha Kaplan (Elin Kolev) are Jewish. Read more...

Prawn, Spinach and Lemon Spaghetti

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Ines Shennan

This simple pasta dish marries prawns with smoked paprika and tart lemon, wrapping the lot up in a rich cream sauce. If you’re a seafood fan but can’t get down to your nearest waterway armed with fishing artillery or face the price that blue cod and salmon fetch at the supermarket, then stock up Read more...

Yvonne Todd: Wall of Seahorsel

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

Curated by Melbourne arts writer Serena Bentley, “Wall of Seahorsel” is a showcase of the most recent works of one of New Zealand’s most respected contemporary photographers. Yvonne Todd is an award-winning artist based in Auckland. She has become well known for her photographs, which utilise the Read more...

Here is some Music

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Isaac McFarlane

‘Over and Out’ – MalesMales have just released their debut EP for free, because, you know, YOLO right? Not sure if this is the single, but it should be. Not that the other songs aren’t just as good, but “Over and Out” is one of those rare songs that sounds completely full, finished, and realised. Read more...

Hero

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

The latest Stage South reading to grace the Fortune Theatre Studio stage is Hero, directed by Erica Newlands. A haunting and beautiful play by Arun Subrmaniam, a New Zealand playwright, Hero takes us on a journey to Malaysia, where the first political assassination took place. Patrick Davies Read more...

Defender’s Quest - REVIEW

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Toby Hills

"Grinding” doesn’t sound like a great way to spend one’s time, does it? A mule in a medieval mill did a lot of grinding – of grain – to turn it into the coarse, unrefined flour that was the serfs’ staple food supply. That gameplay mechanic, as popular as it has historically been in classic Japanese Read more...

The Driver’s Seat

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Lucy Hunter

The Driver’s Seat follows Lise, a nondescript woman of little importance, and her own way of reasoning inside a mind which seems to have got the whole world the wrong way round. The book opens with Lise freaking out at a shop assistant for suggesting she buy a stain-resistant dress – “Do you think I Read more...

Pancetta Macaroni Cups

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Ines Shennan

This week we pay homage to my lifelong friend, cheese. When I was a young, spritely thing, Saturday lunchtime saw a steady stream of cheese melts flow from oven to table (not literally, mind you). I stuck with the classic cheese and oregano combination, while my mother would get all inventive with Read more...

Dunedin’s Gig Heydey

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Caleb Wicks

Whenever I go to a gig these days I leave feeling a little disappointed. It’s not that the bands can’t play, or that the venue is shit, or even that I can’t stand the people who are at the gig, even though those are often problems too. What I am continually disappointed by is the lack of atmosphere Read more...

Total Recall

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Sam McChesney

Going into this, I was very sceptical. The original Total Recall (1990) was a classic Paul Verhoeven glossy violence-fest, not to mention one of Arnie’s best films (though admittedly this is a bit like saying that Harry is one of the hottest royals); remaking it was a dangerous game. Plus I’d heard Read more...

Hope Springs

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Michaela Hunter

Hope Springs is best described as a quirky comedy for the 30-plus demographic. Meryl Streep is a dazzling yet obvious choice as housewife Kay, and Tommy Lee is well cast as her somewhat dim-witted husband Arnold. The plot is simple: Kay feels trapped in their stale marriage, but Arnold is Read more...

Bernie

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Sam McChesney

Lots of films get laughs by poking fun at hicks. However, few do so in as affectionate and poignant a way as Bernie, a quirky sleeper hit in the vein of Juno or Little Miss Sunshine. Set in Carthage, Texas – which, as its townsfolk reliably inform us, is in the non-liberal, non-Mexican part of the Read more...

Little Sister

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Feby Idrus

There are two sentences – or beginnings of sentences, anyway – in Julian Novitz’s psychological thriller Little Sister that encapsulate everything this novel is about. The first, “To live is to battle with trollfolk”, from Henrik Ibsen, is quoted by the alarmingly volatile teenager Shane. The second Read more...

White Noise

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Beaurey Chan

Do you guys know about the iTunes visualiser? If you do, nod vigorously – we are on the same page. For those who don’t, I am about to change your life. Press Ctrl+T the next time you’re playing a song in iTunes, and VOILA! Colours, sunbursts, fireworks, rainbows galore! The first time I was Read more...

Heroes

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

Directed by Lara Macgregor | Written by Gerald Sibleyras | Translated by Tom Stoppard | Featuring Peter Hayden, Geoffrey Heath and Simon O’Connor The Fortune Theatre does a fantastic job of balancing out the programming for its seasons, making sure there’s something for everyone, and Read more...

Resident Evil 6 - PREVIEW

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Toby Hills

Resident Evil 5 was like a rousing game of impromptu beach volleyball: sand underfoot, a baking sun above, and a loyal partner by your side at all times. No matter how many prolapsed eyeballs and massive crocodiles it contained, the game had a hard time invoking fear in the bones of its players. It Read more...

Coconut Chicken

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Ines Shennan

My mother would often quip that “necessity is the mother of invention”. I vehemently hated this phrase when I was younger, mostly because it meant things weren’t going my way and a novel solution was needed. That old idiom came to mind one evening when my pantry was bereft of spices and I was Read more...

Darksiders II

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Toby Hills

Darksiders II is the The Amazing Spider-Man of the video game world: endlessly derivative, and pretty unnecessary, but undeniably effective nonetheless. It is an action-adventure, beat-em-up puzzle game with RPG and platform elements – a pick’n’mix of fundamental mechanics that everyone finds Read more...

Tik Tok

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Beaurey Chan

The first thing I heard upon entering this exhibition was “This is freaky!” (uttered by a young girl of about five or so, who was there with her mother). The second thing, which immediately followed the first, was “What the fuck is this?” (which earned the teenage speaker a dirty glare from the Read more...

Fifty Shades of Grey

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Harriet Hughes

At first, reviewing Fifty Shades of Grey was a bit exciting. I’ve never read an erotic novel before, so immediately thought OMG where are the dirty bits. However it wasn’t long before an unpleasant relationship started to develop between this book and I. Meet Anastasia Steele. She is 21 and Read more...

What is Music?

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Isaac McFarlane

Music means so many different things to so many different people. But it can also be produced in so many different forms for so many different reasons. More specifically, it can basically be split up into live music and recorded music. It should be simple, right? Make great sounds with your Read more...

Darling, Let’s go to the ballet!

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

Last week the Royal New Zealand Ballet graced our town with their TOWER Season of Cinderella, a classic story brought to life by a talented and delightful company. The creative spin on the timeless rags-to-riches love story brought a breath of fresh air to the Regent stage. Every aspect of the Read more...

Cheerful Weather for a Wedding

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Emma Scammell

Cheerful Weather for a Wedding is, ironically, not that cheerful at all. The film follows the painstakingly dull Dolly (Felicity Jones), who on her wedding day realises that she is entering a loveless marriage orchestrated by her overly possessive mother. In the lead-up to the wedding Read more...

I Wish

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Andrew Oliver

I Wish is a joyful and inspiring journey into the wonders, concerns, and childhood imaginations of two young Japanese brothers on a mission to reunite their broken family. Real-life brothers Koki and Ohshiro Maeda effortlessly play onscreen brothers Koichi and Ryunosuke, under the guidance of Read more...

Take this Waltz

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

In a world full of tacky rom-coms and second-rate vampire movies, Take This Waltz is a breath of fresh air. The film centres around Margot (Michelle Williams) and her relationships. A travel writer, Margot is growing restless in life and in her marriage of five years to Lou (Seth Rogen), a Read more...

The Bourne Legacy

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Sam McChesney

Should I even be comparing this to the first three Bourne films? It has no Matt Damon, a completely different supporting cast, and a new director (although Tony Gilroy was screenwriter for the original trilogy). The plot has nothing to do with the search for identity which animated the first three. Read more...

Step Up 4: Miami Heat

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

In the fourth installment of the Step Up franchise, we find ourselves in Miami (which means lots of bikinis and bleached hair). We meet Emily, the daughter of a wealthy property shark (Hollywood veteran Peter Gallagher), who falls for Ryan, a guy from the wrong side of the tracks. Shockingly, Ryan Read more...

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Critic

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter unsurprisingly revolves around Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. During his childhood Lincoln witnesses the death of his mother at the hands of a vampire. Nine years later, he makes the acquaintance of a man named Henry Sturgess. Henry makes a Read more...

Le Chef

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Caleb Wicks

French comedy Le Chef follows the struggles of veteran chef Alexandre (Jean Reno) and his second in command Jacky (Michael Youn) as they try to juggle home life with their love of cooking. This tricky situation is further exacerbated by the interfering son of Alexandre’s retired business partner Read more...

The Campaign

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Andrew Oliver

The Campaign pits Will Farrell against Zach Galifianakis in a vulgar, violent, and ferocious political satire that will leave Will Farrell fans laughing out loud for an one-and-a-half hours straight, and everyone else disgusted and disturbed. Will Farrell is Cam Brady, the slimy, Read more...

Braised Leeks with Sweet Lentils and Gravy

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Ines Shennan

Leeks are phenomenally cheap at the moment, and are a great flavour base for meals. Typically I would slice the whites into rounds and add them to risotto or pasta. This recipe, from spectacular food blog Sprouted Kitchen, honours the otherwise humble vegetable and makes them the protagonist of the Read more...

Tone Deaf

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Tom Tremewan

I don’t play any musical instruments. I’m uncoordinated, have short arms, and despise sucking at something I don’t have an inherent knack for. Basically, I can’t get over my fear of failing at something I love so much. This is one aspect of me, and one aspect of my relationship with music. Another Read more...

Baldur’s Gate I and II: Enhanced Editions

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Toby Hills

Developer: Overhaul Games (Bioware) Genre: Role-playing Platforms: PC, iPad, OSX, Android (tablets) Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is a satisfactorily vague title for a massive overhaul. It’s an obvious attempt to smooth out all the lumpy bumps between the two games and two expansions Read more...

Passages

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

In the past few years, Allen Hall Theatre has made a name for itself in the verbatim theatre world. Hilary Halba and Stuart Young have championed this contemporary theatre form in Otago, recently showcasing a trilogy of incredibly touching works: Gathered in Confidence, Hush, and Be | Longing. This Read more...

The Art of Fielding

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Josef Alton

The Art of Fielding reads like a wicked change-up. The pages flip fast as the narrative creeps closer to the plate, but as the crux of the novel draws near it’s difficult to judge the arch the themes arrive on. Is Chad Harbach’s debut novel about baseball or a University campus? Has he revamped Read more...

EX, WAI & ZEE

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Beaurey Chan

www.bit.ly/IOJCZj It was pretty much inevitable that this exhibition would interest me, considering that it deals with two of my favourite topics: language (hello, English major) and art (hello, editor of what section again?). On a very basic level, it might appear that words and images are Read more...

Sticky Date Pudding with Caramel Sauce

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 12th August 2012 by Maeve Jones

After hearing earlier this week about one Dunedin flat’s dessert of stingray, maple syrup, and ice cream, I thought it might be time to let up on the culinary innovation and return to the classics. Warm, hearty sticky date pudding just cannot be beaten on a cold, wintry Dunedin night. To find a Read more...

Collaborate bitches!

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 12th August 2012 by Isaac McFarlane

I have become obsessed with the idea of musical collaboration. Possibly because of my incredibly fan-boyish nature that renders me incredibly nervous and awkward whenever I encounter one of my idols, e.g. Grayson Gilmour, I have a massive love for a lot of artists and the music they produce. That’s Read more...

SCP-087

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 12th August 2012 by Toby Hills

SCP-087 is a never-ending, descending collection of thirteen flights of stairs on which a number of scary “things” happen. I say “things” because SCP-087 prides itself on being procedurally generated. A scary “thing” could happen on the second flight down, or nothing could happen for a painfully Read more...

Slender

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 12th August 2012 by Toby Hills

Slender has you hunting down pages scrawled in the dark, some pinned to trees in a forest made of lots of other trees, while being stalked by an unseen threat. Themes are beginning to emerge in these horror games. In this case the monster is the Slenderman, a sort of modern mythical creature forged Read more...

Hide

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 12th August 2012 by Toby Hills

Hide opens with a spacebar-shaped rectangle next to four typical directional buttons. The spacebar is labelled as allowing the player to “hide”, but really it’s an utterly useless crouch button. Squatting slightly closer to the freezing snow that makes up the game’s environment does not fool the Read more...

We the Living

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 12th August 2012 by Staff Reporter

“ …too strong to compromise, but too weak to withstand the pressure… who cannot bend, but only break.” Many Russian authors have a tortured relationship with their motherland, but for Russo-American author Ayn Rand, Soviet Russia was an object of hatred. This, her first novel, was written Read more...

Bits and Bobs

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 12th August 2012 by Beaurey Chan

Tetris is what my mind immediately conjured up when I first saw Suel Novell’s art installation Zoom. Obviously it was a foolish and uniformed first instinct, but it’s not hard to see why I immediately leaped to that conclusion. Novell’s installation consists of a series of small, interlocked Read more...

The Devil in Me

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 12th August 2012 by Beaurey Chan

The irony of walking into Unipol for the first time ever for the sole purpose of reviewing an art installation was not lost on me. Besides being interestingly unusual, however, the setting of Siobhan Wootten’s The Tao of Avery really did make the artwork that much more impressive. Walk into Unipol Read more...

Interview with Alyx Duncan

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 12th August 2012 by Jane Ross

New Zealand-born director Alyx Duncan took time out from the busy international film festival circuit to speak to Jane Ross about her debut feature film, The Red House, which is screening at the NZIFF this Friday at 6pm at Rialto. You describe The Red House as a fictional essay in which you Read more...

Magic Mike

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 12th August 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

If you like shimmering well-oiled abs and perfectly tanned man-buttocks, then Magic Mike is the film for you. Magic Mike is based loosely on Channing Tatum’s life as a teenage stripper before he made it as an actor in Hollywood. Set in Florida, the movie follows 19-year-old Adam (Alex Read more...

Bel Ami

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 12th August 2012 by Brittany Travers

I am studying French, so was excited to see a modern-day film interpretation of Guy de Maupassant’s Bel Ami. However, from the first close up of Robert Pattinson’s pouty lips I knew sitting through the film would be torture, and it was. This film is firm evidence that casting Pattinson as the lead Read more...

Whole Mushroom and Ham Tart

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 5th August 2012 by Ines Shennan

The inspiration for this savoury tart came from a gorgeous Auckland café called Little and Friday, which sadly is no more than a welcome daydream when I’m in Dunedin. So when I venture to the humid north a trip to Little and Friday is always on the cards. My first true love was the dizzyingly cheesy Read more...

Always Read The Label

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 5th August 2012 by Isaac McFarlane

Yes, New Zealand has some pretty amazing music, but we have some pretty amazing music labels floating around as well — some in plain sight, some a little better hidden. Most geographically relevant to our cold little enclave of Dunedin would be the revered Flying Nun Records, the original home of Read more...

OSCURA

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 5th August 2012 by Toby Hills

In Oscura you play, in established platform-game tradition, as a small mammalian everyman who plies a noble trade. Not a bandicoot plumber, I’m afraid, but a non-specific rodentish creature who attends to the lighthouse on a fantastical island. One day the bulb is shattered, unleashing shadowy Read more...

The Grand Duke

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 5th August 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

After 11 long years of “The Really Authentic Gilbert and Sullivan Performance Trust” presenting the famous works in Dunedin, they are winding things up with the big finale work The Grand Duke. W S Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan began writing their comedic operas in the late nineteenth century, Read more...