Archive

Lawrence Arabia — Absolute Truth Tour

Posted 12:03pm Sunday 10th July 2016 by Lucy Hunter

One of New Zealand’s finest songwriters is coming to Dunedin to play for us at the Maori Hill Coronation Hall on Friday. Lawrence Arabia has won two of New Zealand’s most prestigious music awards: the Taite Music Prize and an APRA Silver Scroll. His fourth album “Absolute Read more...

Gumbo

Posted 12:56pm Sunday 29th May 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

This lil ol’ recipe originates from Louisiana, USA. You may have noticed it in Disney’s Princess and the Frog. It revolves around Tiana’s Dad’s gumbo and I was always curious keen to try it. My first taste of it was actually from Nova. It was hearty and delicious. This cold Read more...

Nine Photographs - Laurence Aberhart

Posted 12:50pm Sunday 29th May 2016 by Robyn Maree Pickens

New Zealand soils are notoriously low in selenium, a mineral that photographer Laurence Aberhart uses (with gold) as a toner when developing his photographs, to create warmth in the shadows. Viewing his photographs in the flesh, one has a sense that these flickers of captured light have been made by Read more...

Uniform

Posted 12:47pm Sunday 29th May 2016 by Jess Taylor

Rocking up fashionably late, as always, to the Blue Oyster Art Project Space on Dowling Street, I am pleased to see the front door flung open invitingly, with small groups of people milling around in the front room. I enter the space where this month’s exhibition opening is unfolding, eager to Read more...

Calling to the Universe - Hex

Posted 12:42pm Sunday 29th May 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

Wellington based Hex are essentially my dream band. The trio recently released their album Calling to the Universe and from my first listen I found myself completely submerged by quicksand vocals and slippery guitars. Hex are Liz Mathews on drums, Kiki Van Newtown on bass, and GG Van Newtown on Read more...

Cradle

Posted 12:39pm Sunday 29th May 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: A- I have been waiting for Cradle to be released for a long time. It is an interesting narrative game that lived up to some of my expectations and fell short of others. It is proof that good writing, a dedicated art style, and a focus on atmosphere can be enough to make a game great. Less Read more...

Go Set A Watchman

Posted 12:37pm Sunday 29th May 2016 by Jessica Thompson

There are some stories that hurt to read. They really can cut you up for a while. Go Set A Watchman is in my top ten on the heartbreak book list for a number of reasons. Written before the famous To Kill a Mockingbird but published as a sequel, it is accepted as being Mockingbird’s first Read more...

Notes to Eternity

Posted 12:33pm Sunday 29th May 2016 by Andrew Kwiatkowski

Rating: A An intensely moving doco about the Palestinian struggle, but also much more than that. When the film begins by interviewing the most vocal members of a pro-Israel protest, you know it isn’t going to pull any punches. It tackles all the difficult issues head-first, with the Read more...

Dante’s Peak

Posted 12:30pm Sunday 29th May 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: B+ Was this anyone else’s favourite movie as a kid? For me it even overtook Jurassic Park at one point. (Though it just occurred to me that many of this year’s freshers weren’t born yet when it was released... holy christ). In my flat we bought a projector in lieu of a Read more...

Angry Birds Movie

Posted 12:28pm Sunday 29th May 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: C+ It’s pretty common knowledge that most movies adapted from video games are shit, (Tomb Raider, Mortal Kombat, any Sonic the Hedgehog film). Despite this, they are still being made; a fact that I am biased towards being happy about because I bloody love video games. Something that Read more...

The Great Maiden’s Blush

Posted 12:25pm Sunday 29th May 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: B+ This recent New Zealand film follows two women, Aila (Renee Lyons) and Bunny (Miriama McDowell), as they both embark upon single motherhood. Aila is an isolated older woman, lover of gardens and failed classical pianist. Her desperately wanted newborn daughter needs to have a risky Read more...

Why Do We Need...Transhumanism?

Posted 12:20pm Sunday 29th May 2016 by Anthony Marris

Transhumanism is both a philosophy and a movement which explores how technology can be used to enhance people, essentially to better mankind. These enhancements include surgically inputting processors on the brain to increase cognitive function, or replacing lost limbs with vastly improved bionic Read more...

Daddy Jong’s Jaeyuk bokkum

Posted 1:15pm Sunday 22nd May 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

I was a sous chef in a kitchen where I learned this recipe. This is courtesy of my Korean friend, known as Daddy Jong. I was a bit stuck on what to write for the Critic this week, and he offered to make this dish from his homeland. According to people who have lived with him in the past, Read more...

The Obliteration Room — Yayoi Kusama

Posted 1:10pm Sunday 22nd May 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

Fresh and sparkling at the DPAG this week is Yayoi Kusama’s The Obliteration Room, or polka dot madness, as I prefer to think of it. This exhibition takes the form of a domestic interior - a house complete with living room, study, kitchen, and Kmart-worthy chic décor. The only Read more...

Mavis!

Posted 1:05pm Sunday 22nd May 2016 by Nita Sullivan

Rating: A A heart-warming documentary that spans the life of Soul, RnB, and Gospel singer Mavis Staples, Mavis! entertains and informs on many levels. You don’t have to be a history or music buff to appreciate and enjoy all that Mavis Staples has accomplished during her lengthy career Read more...

Lemonade — Beyonce

Posted 1:01pm Sunday 22nd May 2016 by Jessica Thompson

Beyoncé dropped Lemonade on the 23rd of April, 2016. It is her sixth album, first released on Tidal with an incredible hour long film. I think it’s safe to say I’m not the only person who signed up for the thirty day free trial just to hear Queen B’s sweet, sweet beats, Read more...

Stephen’s Sausage Roll

Posted 12:59pm Sunday 22nd May 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: B+ Think of the most difficult puzzle game that you have ever played and multiply it by a thousand. Then take away all instructions, add a lot of frustration and headache-induced pain, and you will get a game that is still only half as infuriatingly difficult as Stephen’s Sausage Read more...

Paper Girls

Posted 12:53pm Sunday 22nd May 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Opening this graphic novel is an eerie, creepy dream sequence, depicting some kind of angel of death. The protagonist wakes up and we are introduced to Erin, a 12-year-old girl who has just started a job doing the paper round in her neighbourhood. In the early hours of the morning post-Halloween, Read more...

Why Do We Need...Automated vehicles?

Posted 12:48pm Sunday 22nd May 2016 by Anthony Marris

Automated vehicles, colloquially known as self-driving cars, are arguably the greatest technological innovation to date that will have the largest impact on the broadest range of people. Pop culture icons like KITT (Knightrider) have laid the groundwork for an easy transition, and those with Read more...

Florence Foster Jenkins

Posted 12:39pm Sunday 22nd May 2016 by Nita Sullivan

Rating: A In the middle of a very stressful week, and nearing the end of a pretty hectic semester, seeing a heart-warming film about a rich woman who couldn’t sing turned out to be exactly what I needed.  Florence Foster Jenkins creatively depicts the life of Madam Florence (played Read more...

The Man Who Knew Infinity

Posted 12:35pm Sunday 22nd May 2016 by Tom Lord

Rating: B I can’t remember if I’d ever been the youngest person in the movie theatre until I went along to The Man Who Knew Infinity – and I don’t just mean by a few years, I mean that the next youngest person was probably in their mid-50s. When the lights came on at the Read more...

Repo! The Genetic Opera

Posted 12:32pm Sunday 22nd May 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: A It’s the year 2056, and the future is super goth. An epidemic of organ failure has caused the deaths of many. A new company, GeneCo, offers organ transplants on a payment plan. Those who make their payments live on and live rich. However, those who miss their payments fall victim Read more...

Braided Bread

Posted 1:10pm Sunday 15th May 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

My flat “Star Whores” had a potluck for May the Fourth, Star Wars day. As well as supplying Sangria and Pimms, I thought I would contribute some fresh made bread for starters. I totally froth over bread baskets.  This dough recipe is so easy to make because it has very minimal Read more...

This Cloud Is Queering! Val Smith

Posted 1:06pm Sunday 15th May 2016 by Robyn Maree Pickens

“What if you had the agency to take your attention anywhere?” val smith  asks. We are in the small back-gallery space of Blue Oyster Gallery on Dowling Street. It is Saturday afternoon on the last day of April. By asking about agency, val is subtly directing our attention away from Read more...

Black Sabbath

Posted 12:59pm Sunday 15th May 2016 by Anonymous Bird

I’m staring at myself in the mirror as I layer on black eyeshadow, heavy black eyeliner and black mascara. I choose the darkest red lipstick I own, and apply to my lips generously. Happy with my suitably dark aesthetic, I pull on my ripped jeans, black tee, torn up flannel and my docs. Do I Read more...

By the Book

Posted 12:57pm Sunday 15th May 2016 by Hayleigh Clarkson

Edited & introduction by Pamela Paul, Foreword by Scott Turow Have you ever wondered what authors, actresses, scientists or professors read? If you have, then this book is for you. Pamela Paul, the editor of The New York Times Book Review, has put together a collection of interviews of 65 Read more...

Why Do We Need...Cryptocurrencies?

Posted 12:51pm Sunday 15th May 2016 by Anthony Marris

Cryptocurrencies are a digital money system which promotes transactions between parties bypassing a central fixed point like a bank. Arguably cryptocurrencies are an updated version of the hawala system of money transferring, where money was passed along until it reached the intended recipient. The Read more...

Captain America: Civil War

Posted 12:49pm Sunday 15th May 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: A+ The UN is calling for the registration and employment of super powered people, making them accountable to something more than their own moral compass. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) believes this is the right course of action, considering the lives lost due to the battles caused, Read more...

Eddie the Eagle

Posted 12:45pm Sunday 15th May 2016 by Taoran Li

Rating: B ‘Eddie the Eagle’ was advertised as the “feel good movie of the year”, and you really have to give it to mainstream filmmakers, that’s exactly what their movies do; make you ‘feel good’. This good feeling then dissipates into thin air, much like Read more...

Mother’s Day

Posted 12:43pm Sunday 15th May 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: D (can I give this an F? is that a thing?) What is it with holiday specific movies always being so terrible? I’m not meaning Christmas movies (although there a lot of disappointments there) I’m meaning films like Valentine’s Day, The Holiday, New Year’s Eve and now Read more...

Niu Sila

Posted 12:40pm Sunday 15th May 2016 by Gini Jory

Rating: A+ Niu Sila tells the story of two boys, Ioane Tafioka and Peter Baker, growing up in the same street in 1970s suburban Auckland. One fresh from the Islands, the other as white as they come, this story spans 40 years of friendship, cultural differences, and takes a closer look at the Read more...

The Witness

Posted 12:38pm Sunday 15th May 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: A It is hard to make a player feel completely alone in a game and still keep them engaged. It is even harder to make a puzzle game that treats the player intelligently while forcing them to learn new problem-solving skills. The Witness is the latest puzzle game from game designer Jonathan Read more...

Chicken Adobo

Posted 1:36pm Sunday 8th May 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

My whole family is actually visiting our homeland Philippines as this issue is being printed. They’re going to island resorts where they’ll be swimming in the reefs and I couldn’t go because of uni (sobs). So when Critic emailed saying they were doing a travel issue, I thought Read more...

Light Switch and Conduit: The Jim Barr & Mary Barr Collection

Posted 1:32pm Sunday 8th May 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

Some art exhibitions simply make sense. The flow from one artwork to another is smooth, logical, creating a gradual sense of understanding and enlightenment in the viewer. They make you go “Oh cool, yeah, nice, wow, I get that.”  Light Switch and Conduit is not one of those Read more...

Going on tour

Posted 1:25pm Sunday 8th May 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

I had never felt so tired, so totally physically and emotionally spent, and yet I know that I will do it over and over again When I was thirteen and watching the My Chemical Romance documentary for the sixtieth time I thought that touring with your band looked like the nicest possible time. What Read more...

Chess

Posted 1:22pm Sunday 8th May 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: F War is hell. This is a truism that has rung throughout the ages, with generation upon generation learning nothing from their predecessors. It is a morally and pragmatically complex business, with endless arguments about the necessity of some wars versus the abhorrence of others. Even in Read more...

Civil War

Posted 1:17pm Sunday 8th May 2016 by Anonymous Bird

There are hundreds, if not thousands of vigilantes, superheroes, and supervillains in the Marvel universe. They battle regularly. Cities burn, buildings fall, and there are always going to be human, civilian casualties. This is what Mark Millar’s Civil War is focused on. This Marvel event Read more...

Why Do We Need...Mars One

Posted 1:15pm Sunday 8th May 2016 by Anthony Marris

Mars One is a not-for-profit venture led by Bas Lansdorp, with the goal of sending people on a one way mission to Mars to establish a human colony by 2024…or 2027ish. The final dates are yet to be determined.  A competition held in 2013 asked for volunteers to go on the one way Read more...

Noma

Posted 1:09pm Sunday 8th May 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: B Noma: My Perfect Storm follows the rise, fall, and rise again of world class restaurant in Denmark, named Noma. Rene Redzepi, the founder and I guess we can say protagonist of the documentary, is a passionate, driven, creative, innovative, ingenious, charismatic chef who is driven by Read more...

Phoenix

Posted 1:07pm Sunday 8th May 2016 by Shaun Swain

Rating: A Dark, mysterious, and artistically crafted are some of the many ways one could describe Writer-Director Christian Petzold’s intriguing new mystery-historical film. A refreshing and intelligent sense of insight flows from each frame of Phoenix, a story that, in more ways than one, Read more...

The Jungle Book



Posted 1:05pm Sunday 8th May 2016 by Jessica Thompson

Rating: A The Jungle Book, directed by Jon Favreau, is a noble re-invention of the whimsical Disney animated version that stemmed from the classic books by Rudyard Kipling.  Raised by a family of wolves in the Indian jungle, the hero of the story, the human boy Mowgli (played by Neel Read more...

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Posted 1:02pm Sunday 8th May 2016 by Halaevalu Maka

Rating: A If your life was made into a movie which actor or actress would you want to play you?  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, was originally inspired by the true story of Kim Barker and her biography ‘The Taliban shuffle: strange days in Read more...

John Dies at the End

Posted 12:55pm Sunday 1st May 2016 by Lucy Hunter

I quite like insects. I don’t mind them on me unless I can feel the weight of them. If one is stuck somewhere I will administer a gentle transport of cardboard over glass jar and dispatch the creature outside. However, while reading John Dies at the End, I developed a fear of bugs. If you are Read more...

A deep and tumbling kind of laughter - John Ward Knox

Posted 12:52pm Sunday 1st May 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

It would be easy to mistake the current exhibition at the Hocken Gallery for an empty space, so diminutive is the scale of John Ward Knox’s paintings. Yet what a deep and tumbling kind of laughter lacks in size, it makes up for in the intimacy, skill, and sheer beauty of the Read more...

Murtabak

Posted 12:47pm Sunday 1st May 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

This week I’m going Southeast Asian on you all with one of my favourite street foods. The name comes from the Arabic word for folded. It’s essentially roti with minced meat, and a scrambled egg folded inside. It can be eaten by itself, with curry or even just tomato sauce. You have to Read more...

Lightsabers

Posted 12:40pm Sunday 1st May 2016 by Anthony Marris

Described by the revered Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi as an elegant weapon for a more civilised age, the lightsaber is a blade of energy which can deflect blaster bolts, cut through steel and sever the odd limb or two. Fandom website Dorkly ranked the lightsaber as the coolest fictional weapon in a Read more...

That Dragon, Cancer

Posted 12:36pm Sunday 1st May 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: A When you hear that a game has tackled the heavy topic of a child battling with cancer, it’s understandable you’d be skeptical. It’s likely to be emotionally manipulative, or merely uncomfortable rather than honest, or just corny. That Dragon, Cancer is none of these Read more...

Teenage Fans

Posted 12:34pm Sunday 1st May 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

Yesterday I sat thinking about my thesis as I listened to Sandy Hsu’s “Teenage Girls” on repeat. It’s a tender song, but rough around the edges, recorded in a bathroom with some lo-fi piece of recording equipment that manages to capture Hsu’s crystal voice but muffle Read more...

Eye in the Sky

Posted 12:31pm Sunday 1st May 2016 by Nita Sullivan

Rating: A- Before seeing Eye in the Sky, a fairly topical military thriller that centres on the arguments around and ramifications of using drones in modern warfare, I had pretty high expectations and I wasn’t disappointed.  Dame Helen Mirren leads a pretty star-packed cast (Alan Read more...

Orphans & Kingdoms

Posted 12:28pm Sunday 1st May 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: A It’s an interesting coincidence that both of the new Kiwi movies currently showing cover similar subject matter - both involve juvenile delinquents getting into a dangerous predicament alongside a reclusive adult, with everyone eventually bonding and becoming better Read more...