Archive

Mahana

Posted 1:45pm Sunday 20th March 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: C+ Mahana is the New Zealand film adapted from Witi Ihimaera’s novel Bulibasha: King of the Gypsies. Successful New Zealand actor Temuera Morrison plays Tamihana aka. the World’s Grumpiest Grandpa, who is the patriarch controlling literally every aspect of the Mahana Read more...

Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict

Posted 1:43pm Sunday 20th March 2016 by Andrew Kwiatkowski

Rating: A I’ll be up front - I loathed the character that is the subject of this documentary. However, it must be said that the film itself is very, very well made. If, like me you had never heard of Peggy Guggenheim, the short version is that she was the real-deal rock’n’roll Read more...

The Lady In The Van

Posted 1:39pm Sunday 20th March 2016 by Lucy Hunter

Rating: A When Lady in the Van opened with Maggie Smith driving a van in the ‘70s in England, I was clawing at my seat with the claggy white smugness of it. It seems like every year Maggie Smith does a twee, baby-boomer-bait comedy piece to drag a group of people to the cinema who will only Read more...

The Chimes


Posted 1:34pm Sunday 20th March 2016 by Hayleigh Clarkson

I had high hopes for this novel. Anna Smaill’s The Chimes was long listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2015 and the New Zealand media went crazy for it, touting Anna as the next Eleanor Catton. Despite everyone else loving this novel, I found it to be dull and tedious with a shallow Read more...

Eggplant Pizza

Posted 3:28pm Sunday 13th March 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

Tis the season for all of my favourite veggies - I was thoroughly impressed by the size of the eggplants I got for this recipe I got two for $6 and I remember in winter last year that one small eggplant would cost the same price. Get in on this, guys.  I’m sure we can all agree that Read more...

Why Do We Need...tinder?

Posted 3:23pm Sunday 13th March 2016 by Anthony Marris

Tinder is a matching (dating) service which utilises geolocating software and your Facebook profile to help make lasting connections. And by lasting connections, I mean as long as they “last”.  Public opinion on Tinder is varied. A straw poll I conducted had mixed results. Some Read more...

Spotlight

Posted 3:15pm Sunday 13th March 2016 by Critic

Rating: A When reviewing a film with an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture there is a certain level of pressure to give it a positive review. After all, you can’t really give an Oscar winning filming a bad review, right? And yet the highest praise that can be given to the Read more...

Brooklyn

Posted 3:10pm Sunday 13th March 2016 by John Crowley

Rating: B+ Walking into this particular cinema screening, I carried with me a genuine lack of preconceptions and expectations around Brooklyn, a period drama centred around the experiences of a twenty-something Irish girl Eilis Lacey. And while the movie was largely enjoyable and engaging Read more...

Happy Gilmore


Posted 3:06pm Sunday 13th March 2016 by Jessica Thompson

Rating: C After reviewing a fantastic film last week, my standards had been set fairly high. So when my boyfriend told me with glee this movie was “crack up” I nestled down with an early Easter egg and considered this “sports comedy” as I consider French snails, cave Read more...

Room

Posted 3:03pm Sunday 13th March 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: A- Adapted from the novel written by Emma Donoghue, Room was in the running for four Oscar categories this year. Brie Larson gives an incredible performance as Joy, a young woman who is kidnapped when she is 17 years old, and taken prisoner by a disturbed predator only known to the Read more...

Jeffrey Harris: Renaissance Days

Posted 2:51pm Sunday 13th March 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

If you’re into the eerie, the creepy and the vaguely disturbing, the Dunedin Public Art Gallery’s latest exhibition may be right up your artistic alley. Jeffrey Harris: Renaissance Days ticks all of those boxes, while providing a vibrant snapshot into the work of one of New Read more...

Dead of Winter

Posted 2:48pm Sunday 13th March 2016 by Campbell Calverley

The theme is the most overlooked aspect of any board game. When all of the game’s events, actions and individual components come together as parts of a cohesive whole, your response to the game as a player is similar to that of the characters you are playing as. Theming is hard to attain and Read more...

Sleater-Kinney: Live At The Powerstation

Posted 2:43pm Sunday 13th March 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

When Sleater-Kinney made their way onto the stage and launched into the opening riff of “Price Tag” (the opening track off the 2015 album No Cities to Love) my breath was caught, part way between a scream and a strangled sob. I found myself crumpling, my bottom lip trembling and my face Read more...

Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl

Posted 2:41pm Sunday 13th March 2016 by Lucy Hunter

I only wanted one thing on tour: to slam my hand in a door and break my fingers. Then I would go home.” The opening line of Sleater-Kinney guitarist and singer Carrie Brownstein’s autobiography smashes you into the tedium and discomfort involved in touring in a cramped car with a band, Read more...

Exposed Worlds

Posted 2:31pm Sunday 6th March 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

To kick start your artistic side for 2016, head to Exploded Worlds at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. This exhibition is a kaleidoscope of vivid colour, contrasting canvases, and mixed-up mediums. Offering an ‘exploded view’ of art, the gallery combines works of drastically differing Read more...

G.L.O.S.S. Girls Living Outside Society’s Shit

Posted 2:22pm Sunday 6th March 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

I was initially tempted to describe G.L.O.S.S.’s debut EP Girls Living Outside Society’s Shit as feeling like a punch to the gut, but I was wrong, it’s a whole lot more like throwing a punch with all your weight behind it. This EP makes my heart race and my palms itch. It is walls Read more...

Bloodborne: The Old Hunters

Posted 2:17pm Sunday 6th March 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: A+ Bloodbourne was released in March of 2015, and I realised that it was the best game that I would play for a long time. Its bloody Gothic aesthetic and notorious difficulty made it both an excellent action-adventure game and a scary survival horror game. The Kafkaesque plot involves a Read more...

Dad's Army

Posted 2:09pm Sunday 6th March 2016 by Halaevalu Maka

Rating: C+ Dad's Army is the cinematic outcome of Britain’s famous 1970’s sitcom. Directed by Oliver Parker, and set in 1944, in the midst of the Second World War, it follows the Walmington-on-sea platoon in their daily lives as home guards within their town.  The film Read more...

Concussion

Posted 2:03pm Sunday 6th March 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: B This movie seemed very promising. Just like its contemporary Spotlight, it tells an important, recent true story about a powerful organization covering up wrongdoings, following the individuals who attempt to expose the truth. Concussion isn’t a catastrophic failure, but somehow Read more...

Steve Jobs

Posted 1:59pm Sunday 6th March 2016 by Lucy Hunter

Rating: C+ We didn’t need another film about Steve Jobs. This latest work shows us behind the scenes of the digital revolution, where we see the man at its epicentre, the late Steve Jobs, portrayed by Michael Fassbender. The film’s plot unfolds backstage at three iconic product Read more...

Deadpool

Posted 1:54pm Sunday 6th March 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: A- Wade Wilson (aka Deadpool), is the newest addition to the slew of superheroes in the Marvel cinematic universe. Played exceptionally well by Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool is all about sex, hefty violence, and Wham!  This is not a Disney Marvel film (Avengers, Iron Man, Thor etc), it is Read more...

Why Do We Need…Streaming Sites?

Posted 1:32pm Sunday 6th March 2016 by Anthony Marris

Streaming sites like couchtuner, watchseries, putlocker and xhamster are what the world wide web was built for – the freedom of information and sharing of ideas.  This sharing of information and knowledge helps to inspire the next generations. Star Trek forecast the invention of the Read more...

Bulgur Wheat & Avocado Salad

Posted 1:25pm Sunday 6th March 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

If you’re looking to step up your salad game, but are lazy as f like myself - this week’s star ingredient is for you. Bulgur Wheat is like couscous’ sophisticated older cousin. It’s more wholesome so I find using it in meals makes you feel more healthy and like your life Read more...

The Passage

Posted 1:05pm Sunday 6th March 2016 by Anne Oosthuizen

Hunger Games, Maze Runner, The Martian, Interstellar, World War Z. . . Dystopian and post-apocalyptic chronicles are hot! The Passage by Justin Cronin – book one in a trilogy soon to be transported to the big screen to join its blockbuster predecessors – fits right in with the rest. In Read more...

Mango Sticky Rice (Khao Niao Ma-muang)

Posted 1:38pm Sunday 28th February 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

This week we have a Thailand delicacy. I took a cooking class while I was there this summer so I’ll probably share a few of the curries and noodle dishes I learned (Pad Thai anyone?). Since I am the kind of person that doesn’t mind having dessert first, let’s start off with this Read more...

The Beginners Guide

Posted 1:27pm Sunday 28th February 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: 4/5 Far from being a digital introductory handbook for any new students, The Beginner’s Guide is hard to describe. That is not surprising, given that it is from the creators of the excellent Stanley Parable, a sadomasochistic journey into unreliable narration. The Beginner’s Read more...

Suffragette

Posted 1:22pm Sunday 28th February 2016 by Jessica Thompson

Rating: B I had high hopes for this film after watching the trailer. With a respectable cast, a female director, female writer and killer trailer music, who could blame me? Despite this, I was determined to enter the cinema with a completely blank mind then exit with an unbiased and logical Read more...

The Hateful Eight

Posted 1:19pm Sunday 28th February 2016 by Basti Menkes

Rating: B Over the course of his career, Quentin Tarantino has dabbled in an eclectic mix of styles. He’s done a crime thriller that functions as a stage play (Reservoir Dogs), martial art revenge flicks (Kill Bill 1 & 2), an alternate-history war movie (Inglourious Basterds), and Read more...

Kings Of The Gym

Posted 1:17pm Sunday 28th February 2016 by Nita Sullivan

Rating: B- For a long overdue and largely enjoyable foray back into local theatre, I went along to the opening night of Kings of the Gym, written by Dave Armstrong. A comedy product of the Fortune Theatre, the play is centred on the Phys-Ed department of a low decile South Auckland School. The Read more...

Caro

Posted 1:14pm Sunday 28th February 2016 by Andrew Kwiatkowski

Rating: B- After viewing this film, one is left with bruises from being bashed over the head with the themes. Carol is an adaptation of the novel The Price of Salt, which follows two women falling in love in 1950s USA. The social norms of that time and place, of course, do not permit Read more...

Blue Oyster Gallery

Posted 12:58pm Sunday 28th February 2016 by Chloe Geoghegan

Most of the time, the Blue Oyster Gallery is quiet, almost too quiet. My shoes, my squeaky office chair, the phone, the stapler, and my keyboard form the percussion section of an administrative orchestra that intermittently plays through the quiet gallery spaces, a new verse every minute from 11am Read more...

Objectivity & Positivity

Posted 12:52pm Sunday 28th February 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

Music writing is fraught. For the past four years of my life I have studied English Literature, and I understand all too well that often, to write with clarity and objectivity, there needs to be, in the mind of the critic, a clear distinction between author and text. I also understand that sometimes Read more...

Why Do We Need…Revolution 4.0?

Posted 12:48pm Sunday 28th February 2016 by Anthony Marris

Revolution 4.0 (which I will call Rev4.0) is the ménage a trois that connects robotics, the internet we use for shopping, streaming etc, and cloud computing. The aim of Rev4.0 is to create “smart factories”, a more intelligent (read efficient) means to manufacture Read more...

Down the Rabbit Hole

Posted 12:37pm Sunday 28th February 2016 by Hayleigh Clarkson

For those of you like me who spent their teenage years in the early 2000s, you will already be familiar with the pop-culture take over that was Playboy. Ranging from bedspreads, jewellery and temporary tattoos through to the popular hit TV show The Girls Next Door, Playboy took over every teenaged Read more...

Disclosure - Caracal

Posted 3:20pm Sunday 4th October 2015 by Veronika Bell

Rating: 2/5 After the announcement of Disclosure’s new album, I was beyond excited. I felt like Christmas was just around the corner. I was ready to be blown away. Instead, the experience was much like Santa forgetting about me. Miserable. With the amount of hype that surrounded the album, Read more...

Theatre: Time Stands Still

Posted 3:12pm Sunday 4th October 2015 by Shaun Swain

Rating: 4/5 "When you’re looking down that lens, time comes to a stop.” We all try, in one way or another, to capture some aspect of life and keep it forever; sometimes to preserve it, sometimes to just let it go. Lara Macgregor’s rendition of Time Stands Still, written Read more...

Everest

Posted 3:07pm Sunday 4th October 2015 by Nita Sullivan

Rating: 4/5 This film depicts the real events of a Kiwi company, Adventure Consultants, and its disastrous expedition to Mount Everest. Based on Rob Hall’s 1996 trip, Everest follows Rob (Jason Clarke) as he leads eight climbers through Nepal towards the highest peak on earth. Read more...

Sicario

Posted 3:05pm Sunday 4th October 2015 by Maya Dodd

Rating: 4/5 Sicario follows FBI agent, Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), as she enters into the CIA’s secretive world. The agency has been trying to shut down the Mexican drug cartel that governs the border between the USA and Mexico. As a drug taskforce agent, Kate has dealt with many domestic Read more...

Tangerine

Posted 3:03pm Sunday 4th October 2015 by Greta Melvin

Rating: 3/5 Having seen my fair share of short iPhone-made videos, I was sceptical about how high the cinematic quality of an entire film would be. Baker’s use of an iPhone aptly reflects the fast-paced movements of the characters and the dialogue, making for a dynamic experience. But while Read more...

Big Pharma

Posted 2:58pm Sunday 4th October 2015 by Carl Dingwall

Rating: 4/5 In an industry where saving people can make you a tidy profit, there have been many accusations of putting money before people’s lives. The Big Pharma conspiracy has always been a scary idea, and it isn’t helped by recent examples of corporations hiking up prices of Read more...

Disclaimer

Posted 2:55pm Sunday 4th October 2015 by Bridget Vosburgh

Disclaimer, by Renee Knight, is a thriller. Catherine Ravenscroft, after recently moving house with her husband, Robert, finds a book called The Perfect Stranger among her possessions. She has no recollection of buying the book. While reading it, she realises that the main character is a Read more...

Stranger in Strange Land, Jae Hoon Lee

Posted 2:52pm Sunday 4th October 2015 by Ruby Heyward

Stranger in Stranger Land currently on display at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, is an atmospheric, moody installation by Korean artist Jae Hoon Lee. Lee (born in 1973) is a self-proclaimed “cultural wanderer”. His work features “observations” of Arab and Thai culture Read more...

Peanut Noodle Salad

Posted 2:47pm Sunday 4th October 2015 by Sophie Edmonds

I thought I had escaped the joy of 21sts but, before I knew it, it was my own brother’s turn. He decided to have it at the local bowls club and invite 100 of his closest friends. Of course it went without saying I was volunteered to the catering post. Mum was a little ambitious on the menu Read more...

Procrastibaking: Vanilla Cupcakes

Posted 2:42pm Sunday 4th October 2015 by Sophie Edmonds

During my day at home being the world’s worst sick person, I not only managed to make a cake and a batch of meringues, clean the kitchen, vacuum the flat and write a blog post, I also whipped up some classic vanilla cupcakes for SPCA cupcake day. While there are oodles of recipes out there Read more...

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

Posted 1:52pm Sunday 27th September 2015 by Maya Dodd

Rating: 3/5 Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is the second instalment of The Maze Runner series, following the survivors from the first film as they discover that the world outside the maze is just as dangerous as the one within it — if not more so. I first stumbled across Dylan O’Brien Read more...

People Places Things

Posted 1:47pm Sunday 27th September 2015 by Nita Sullivan

Rating: 3/5 People Places Things follows Will Henry (Jemaine Clement), a Kiwi man who teaches at a local university in New York. He is also a graphic novelist and spends his evenings writing his own semi-autobiographical novel. During their five-year-old twins’ birthday party, Will walks in Read more...

13 Minutes

Posted 1:45pm Sunday 27th September 2015 by Greta Melvin

Rating: 4/5 Underdogs and people who fight for the greater good are often portrayed as wholesome characters whose only flaw is that they care too much. Based on the true story of Georg Elser, a German man who attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler, 13 Minutes is a carefully composed film that Read more...

6 Years

Posted 1:40pm Sunday 27th September 2015 by Mandy Te

Rating: 3/5 Hannah Fidell’s 6 Years takes a beautiful and authentic approach to the demise of a young couple’s six-year relationship. However, it falls just short of capturing the same empathy from its audience. Melanie “Mel” Clarke (Taissa Farmiga) and Dan Mercer (Ben Read more...

DeadCore

Posted 1:35pm Sunday 27th September 2015 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: 5/5 The first-person platformer is a very unstable genre. First person makes it disorienting — you can’t see your feet and the camera is often shaking. Games like Portal and Mirror’s Edge are examples of such first-person platforming where experimentation has paid off Read more...

Murder That Wasn’t: The Case of George Gwaze

Posted 1:31pm Sunday 27th September 2015 by Bridget Vosburgh

Unusually for true crime, Goodyear-Smith takes the position that no crime actually happened. Charlene contracted HIV at birth from her mother. Both her birth parents died, and Charlene and her older sister Charmaine were adopted by their mother’s sister Sifso and her husband George. For Read more...