Archive

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...

Sing Street

Posted 1:09pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: B+ Summing it up in one sentence, Sing Street follows the story of Cosmo, a teenager living in Dublin in the ‘80s, who is motivated to start a band in the hopes of impressing a girl named Raphina. Yes, there are songs in this movie and they’re pretty good, so it’s Read more...

Batman: The Killing Joke

Posted 1:06pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: B- (bad for Laura) This animated film adaptation of Alan Moore’s Batman: The Killing Joke accurately depicts the story from the original one shot comic. The first half begins with a prequel (not from the comic) about Barbara Gordon, Batgirl and the daughter of commissioner Gordon. Read more...

Split Pea Fritter Stack

Posted 1:13pm Sunday 24th July 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

Split Peas are commonly used in soups and curries. They have a surprisingly high amount of protein which means they are filling, and they’re budget as can be, making them a very economical option for flat cooking. This recipe is basically corn fritters, replacing half of the corn with split Read more...

Doris Lusk

Posted 1:09pm Sunday 24th July 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

Nude sculpture, a freaky fish plate, gorgeous florals and sweeping watercolours compile one of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery’s latest exhibitions. This marks the one-hundrenth birthday of Doris Lusk, one of the most prominent New Zealand artists of the twentieth century. In memory of her, the Read more...

Central Intelligence

Posted 1:04pm Sunday 24th July 2016 by Shaun Swain

Rating: B- The central aspect of a buddy cop/spy film is the “buddy” part of it. With the tagline “saving the world takes a little Hart and a big Johnson” it becomes apparent that in Central Intelligence, the “buddy” comes from not just the characters, but also Read more...

The BFG

Posted 1:01pm Sunday 24th July 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: C+ The BFG was my favourite childhood book by Roald Dahl, and as far as my distant memories of the book go, the movie does it justice story-wise. So why is the movie so dull? I’m really not sure, but here are some observations.  I didn’t find myself caring about either Read more...

Labyrinth of Lies

Posted 12:58pm Sunday 24th July 2016 by Shaun Swain

Rating: A- “I want these lies, and this silence to end.” A succinct summary of the driving motivation behind an issue almost too big for this two hour film. I say “almost” with admiration and respect for director Giulio Ricciarelli, who manages to imbue this German Read more...

Money Monster

Posted 12:56pm Sunday 24th July 2016 by Andrew Kwiatkowski

Rating: A A 90-minute thrill-ride through a real-time hostage crisis, Money Monster delivers a vigorous story and dazzling performances. George Clooney is a washed-up financial news TV host, who is taken hostage live on air when an out-of-pocket investor (Jack O’Connell) breaks into his Read more...

Cyber warfare

Posted 12:52pm Sunday 24th July 2016 by Anthony Marris

Global cyber security (aka cyber warfare) is a new battlefield where battles are waged and lives lost. Only in this instance, it is gigabytes of data, not litres of blood, and the greatest casualty of all is privacy. According to the many documentaries about cyberwarfare, all it takes is a lone Read more...

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

Posted 12:49pm Sunday 24th July 2016 by Jack Blair

I discovered this book in UBS and was instantly intrigued by the Steampunk look and the promise of Japanese characters in Victorian London. This is a story that houses mysteries within mysteries therefore it can’t be labelled any narrower than “Speculative Fiction”. However, the Read more...

Bitch Planet

Posted 12:46pm Sunday 24th July 2016 by Anonymous Bird

This deeply feminist graphic novel is set in an alternate reality and somewhat dystopian future where non-compliant women are sent to an off-planet prison (AKA Bitch Planet). The comic follows a diverse group of women from different backgrounds. All of these women are watched and controlled by Read more...

Abe’s Oddysee

Posted 12:42pm Sunday 24th July 2016 by Ryan Collins

Rating: CLASSIC I first played Abe’s Oddysee on a demo disc that came with the original PlayStation. The demo showcased almost the entire first section of the game, which I played through several times before buying the full game—and its sequel, Abe’s Exoddus—sometime Read more...

We're all in this together!!!

Posted 12:34pm Sunday 24th July 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

I am sitting at my desk at work, and I am thinking about a clip of British “girl band” Little Mix shoving marshmallows in each others' mouths for a fluffy bunny challenge. I am so tired and all I want to do is go home to watch that video and maybe cry a little bit watching women Read more...

Chicken Fajitas

Posted 1:35pm Sunday 17th July 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

Fajitas are a grilled meat usually accompanied with onions and bell peppers and served on a tortilla. At most restaurants they’ll serve the meat and veggies to you on a sizzling plate. You then assemble the ingredients on to the tortilla yourself with as much extra cheese and guac your heart Read more...

Doom

Posted 1:31pm Sunday 17th July 2016 by Carl Dingwall

Rating: A Twenty-three years ago, the landscape of gaming was changed forever. Sure, there had been other first-person shooters before—id Software’s own Wolfenstein 3D among them—but none were as influential or widespread as the original Doom in 1993. It’s fast-paced gory Read more...

Cyber security (part one)

Posted 1:27pm Sunday 17th July 2016 by Anthony Marris

There are three topics that I will be discussing over the coming weeks that are all related to cyber security. They are personal cyber security, cyber warfare, and cyber crime. Cybersecurity is all about protecting yourself from your device being used against you. It is not just updating antivirus Read more...

Michael Parekowhai

Posted 1:23pm Sunday 17th July 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

Several years ago, whilst working at Te Papa Tongarewa I was lucky enough to view Michael Parekowhai’s On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer, a magnificent sculpture installation coinciding with the 54th Venice Biennale exhibition. The installation included an enormous and intimidating Read more...

Tracks & Winter Reading

Posted 1:21pm Sunday 17th July 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

The semester break is when I like to catch up on my reading and my listening, and usually I combine these activities. So, for this week I’ve put together a summary of my winter reading list and some of the music that has accompanied it. TiO (Zayn) & A selection of poems in The Male Read more...

Me Before You

Posted 1:10pm Sunday 17th July 2016 by Halaevalu Maka

Rating: A Me Before You is a film based on the book written by JoJo Moyes and directed by Thea Sharrock. It follows Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke) a local English woman who is unemployed and looking for a job to financially secure her family. In order to stabilise her family’s situation she Read more...

Finding Dory

Posted 1:07pm Sunday 17th July 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: A Before I even begin to talk about Finding Dory, I NEED to yell about about adorable and flawlessly animated “Piper”. This was the short before the feature film and sends the very simple message of facing your fears and learning from others. The animation was so gorgeously Read more...

The Legend of Tarzan

Posted 1:05pm Sunday 17th July 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: B- It’s been 10 years since Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgård), also known as John Clayton III, was discovered by Jane (Margot Robbie) and brought to live in England. George Washington Williams (Samuel Jackson) convinces Tarzan to accept an invitation to the Congo from King Leopold Read more...

Independence Day: Resurgence

Posted 1:01pm Sunday 17th July 2016 by Andrew Kwiatkowski

Rating: C With deep sadness I report that the promise of a worthy sequel made to us by the trailer was exploded into a million fragments like a landmark in a Roland Emmerich film. Granted, it was an ambitious and difficult task to ever try and match the supreme awesomeness of Independence Day, Read more...

The Rithmatist

Posted 12:53pm Sunday 17th July 2016 by Jack Blair

Remember the magic pencil and evil doodle from Spongebob Squarepants? If that episode had been set in Hogwarts, and there had been a murderer on the loose, then you’d have The Rithmatist. Even though you may not care about the magical benefits of being able to draw a stick figure, you will Read more...

Bossypants

Posted 12:48pm Sunday 17th July 2016 by Hayleigh Clarkson

Tina Fey’s Bossypants delivers everything you hoped it would. Humour, honesty, punchy one-liners and a whole lot of cleverly disguised feminism in the form of flatulent jokes. There is not one single dull page in this book and the jokes just keep rolling.  It is not so much a memoir as Read more...