Archive

Savoury Crepes

Posted 1:58pm Sunday 27th April 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

Back when I was at high school (to make certain people feel old, that was a mere six years ago) we had a French exchange student called Alan. It sounds terrible, but we used to exploit him for his crepe making abilities. After all, he was French – this sort of thing is automatically programmed into Read more...

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Posted 1:58pm Sunday 27th April 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: A There have been moments in the past decade when the abundance of superhero movies became tedious. With everybody rushing to join this trend, there were years where all we got was origin story after origin story. Now, however, I feel we have entered the golden age of the genre, as we Read more...

The selfish giant

Posted 1:58pm Sunday 27th April 2014 by Andrew Kwiatkowski

Rating: A- The Selfish Giant is bleak. Not only is it about two brats, Arbor and Swifty, being expelled from school and scratching a living pilfering scrap metal for a crooked bookie in an impoverished town in Northern England, it also features a beautiful horse being electrocuted and melted Read more...

Tracks

Posted 1:58pm Sunday 27th April 2014 by Sydney Lehman

Rating: A Tracks is one of the most powerful films I have seen. The cinematography is breathtakingly beautiful, as is the expansive and dangerous Australian desert. Normally, I don’t love journey films; or films about endless and repetitive landscapes such as deserts, oceans and space. Read more...

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Posted 1:58pm Sunday 27th April 2014 by Rosie Howells

Rating: A There is no way to adequately summarise The Grand Budapest Hotel’s plot in a couple of sentences, but it must be done for the purposes of this review, so please keep in mind the following paragraph does not remotely do the film justice. The Grand Budapest Hotel follows the eponymous Read more...

The Observer

Posted 1:58pm Sunday 27th April 2014 by Emma & Liam

Bryn (Commerce and Law) is wearing a Commoners t-shirt, J.Crew shirt, AS Colour pants, River shoes and an ASOS bag. Brianna (Communications and Design) is wearing a Mad Love cardigan, Sass and Bide top, Bec & Bridge shorts, Nike shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and Marc by Marc Read more...

How to: Not look like a fresher

Posted 1:58pm Sunday 27th April 2014 by Emma & Liam

College residence t-shirts are not to be worn in public. Nobody cares that you did enough extracurricular activities to get into Arana. Leave those awkwardly fitted t-shirts, along with your school leaver’s hoodie, for all of the lazy, hungover Sundays. Dunedin is not the Coromandel. The Read more...

Style Watch

Posted 1:58pm Sunday 27th April 2014 by Emma & Liam

Good Bassikes - The philosophy behind Australian brand Bassike is covetable everyday wardrobe staples with longevity. These organic cotton treasures are more adaptable than bacteria and can be dressed up or down for any occasion. In Dunedin they can be found at Slick Willy’s. Read more...

Do androids dream of electric sheep?

Posted 1:58pm Sunday 27th April 2014 by Chelsea Boyle

Philip K. Dick depicts a desolate and battered San Francisco in his post-apocalyptic science fiction novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Earth, post-World War Terminus, has been swathed in radioactive dust causing the eventual death of many species we have today. Most people have been Read more...

Zine of the week: What She Said

Posted 1:58pm Sunday 27th April 2014 by Anonymous Bird

24 A5 Pages Available at Blackstar Books If only there were some kind of space dedicated to celebrating the creative and diverse voices of young feminist women in New Zealand ... that’s What She Said. What She Said is essentially the literary embodiment of a new intersectional Read more...

Stretching Time

Posted 1:58pm Sunday 27th April 2014 by Hannah Collier

Dunedin Public Art Gallery Exhibited until 15 June 2014 Auckland based artist Steve Carr is currently exhibiting a new series of work at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery as a result of his ten-week residency under the Gallery’s Visiting Programme. Carr was awarded the 2013 Dunedin Public Art Read more...

Interview: Ron Hanson - Founder of White Fungus

Posted 4:31pm Sunday 13th April 2014 by Zane Pocock

White Fungus magazine began in Wellington as a photocopied publication delivering political messages. Nine years on, brothers Ron and Mark Hanson are still creating their magazine and last year released its 13th issue. Zane Pocock and Loulou Callister-Baker chatted with Ron Hanson over Skype to Read more...

Tycho - Awake

Posted 4:31pm Sunday 13th April 2014 by Adrian Ng

Rating: A- Tycho is Scott Hansen, a San Francisco based visual artist and producer. Having released music since the early 2000s, it wasn’t until 2011’s Dive that Hansen’s music started gaining considerable attention. Awake, like Dive, is a sleek, electro-ambient record with an undercurrent of Read more...

Download of the week: Mermaidens - Bones (NZ)

Posted 4:31pm Sunday 13th April 2014 by Adrian Ng

Mermaidens are Lily Paris West, Gussie Larkin and Abe Hollingsworth, a three-piece, psych-pop outfit from Wellington. Combining dirty, looming riffs and impassioned vocals, their three track EP Bones is available for name-your-price download from mermaidens.bandcamp.com. Read more...

New this week

Posted 4:31pm Sunday 13th April 2014 by Adrian Ng

How To Dress Well - Repeat Pleasure Another single from How To Dress Well, AKA Tom Krell. Another romantic themed tale, told with a great soulful melody, and a flurry of illuminating synth work. Features lightly strummed acoustic guitar, sounds a bit like a remixed version of a John Read more...

Tweens - Tweens

Posted 4:31pm Sunday 13th April 2014 by Peter McCall

Rating: B- Although the Cincinnati noise-pop trio are not actually about to enrol in their first year of high school, the name isn’t entirely inappropriate. They’re bratty, they’re full of energy, they’re bored. These guys don’t deliver a lot of thoughtful wordplay or wise life lessons; Read more...

Pixies - Indie Cindy

Posted 4:31pm Sunday 13th April 2014 by Loulou Callister-Baker

Rating: B I could talk about buttoned-down shirt Dads shyly squeezing into old pairs of their black pipe jeans. I could talk about how the waistlines of their jeans pinch at their beer bellies, causing them to initially suck in for the “big gig night” with their old university buds (and how, Read more...

Mercenary Kings

Posted 4:31pm Sunday 13th April 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Over the past couple of years it has made me overwhelmingly happy to see video games being inducted into museums all over the world, including the illustrious Smithsonian museum. I’m sure every gamer has their own reasons for why they consider video games art, however, it may surprise many of you to Read more...

Mini Bacon and Egg Pies

Posted 4:31pm Sunday 13th April 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

There may or may not be an embarrassing video on the Internet about me making pies. You could say I am somewhat of a bacon and egg pie expert. Last year, I frequently made and delivered these beauties to my favourite Critic employees, Sam, Alex and Dan, for their lunches. I did tend to get Read more...

Romeo and Juliet

Posted 4:31pm Sunday 13th April 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: C It’s clearly not easy to adapt a classic from the stage to the screen. Many have tried and very few have succeeded. When Shakespeare is involved, these adaptations invoke the question: do you try and stay loyal to the context and language of the original text? Or do you modernise it Read more...

Stand By Me (1986)

Posted 4:31pm Sunday 13th April 2014 by Rosie Howells

Classic Film Alongside To Kill A Mockingbird, Stand By Me is by far the best film about children, for adults. Based on the Stephen King Novella The Body, Stand By Me tells the story of a ragtag group of young friends in the All American town of Castle Rock in 1959. After hearing about the Read more...

Noah

Posted 4:31pm Sunday 13th April 2014 by Simon Broadbent

Rating: B+ Rather than a faithful and preachy account of the Bible jazzed up into a feature-length, Aronofsky attempts a blend of biopic, CGI fantasy, gritty reboot, and ecological fairy-tale which moulds the well-known story of Noah into something entirely new. Any moral preaching is Read more...

Mr. Peabody and Sherman

Posted 4:31pm Sunday 13th April 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: A- If you were anything like me, your childhood was full of cartoons. A personal favourite of mine was the 1960’s Rocky and Bullwinkle, a charming Cold War reactionary cartoon about a moose and a flying squirrel on the run from Russian spies. The show was made great by its excellent Read more...

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Posted 4:31pm Sunday 13th April 2014 by James Tregonning

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is the latest novel from best-selling author Neil Gaiman. If you’ve never read any Gaiman, he’s sort of like the modern day Grimm Brothers, except there’s only one of him and he’s not German. Generally his works are modern day fairy tales with a great deal of dark, Read more...

Zine of the week - Midnight Cowgirl

Posted 4:31pm Sunday 13th April 2014 by Jacobin

22 A5 Pages - Diary format Available at Blackstar Books Now, let me tell you about a friend of mine who knew the value of meeting people without judgment. His name is Jesus. Yes, there is such a thing as Christian Anarchism and some people practice this. Midnight Cowgirl is one account Read more...

Exorcise (E)

Posted 4:31pm Sunday 13th April 2014 by Hannah Collier

Mint Gallery Exhibited until 18 April Mint Gallery is currently exhibiting EXORCISE (E) by award-winning artist James Robinson. Robinson was born in Christchurch in 1972 and currently lives in Dunedin. He completed a Bachelor Of Fine Arts at the Otago School of Fine Arts in 2000, and a Read more...

Mac Demarco - Salad Days

Posted 4:50pm Sunday 6th April 2014 by Peter McCall

Near the end of 2012, i purchased Mac DeMarco’s second LP, 2, on the back of hearing “Ode to Viceroy” – a sweet love song for his favourite brand of low-cost cigarettes. It was refreshing, genuinely funny and somehow beautifully sincere – I hadn’t heard anything quite like it. However, neither me, Read more...

Download of the Week: Race Banyon - Whatever Dreams are Made of (NZ)

Posted 4:50pm Sunday 6th April 2014 by Adrian Ng

Electronic project from Wellington based musician Eddie Johnston, also of Lontalius. Some deeply immersive tracks, soulful, dark, and beautiful. Whatever Dreams Are Made Of is available as a name-your-price download at racebanyon.bandcamp.com. Read more...

Interview: Richard Parker - Organiser of the Fetish Ball

Posted 4:50pm Sunday 6th April 2014 by Nina Harrap

“We trans-morph modern and ritual craft forms, interweaving them into an artistic experience with you as part of the pattern.” – www.skinpuppets.co.nz Although practically no one will admit it, most of us have a fetish of some kind. Maybe you’ve got a normal-ish one, like enjoying having your Read more...

New this Week / Singles in Review

Posted 4:50pm Sunday 6th April 2014 by Adrian Ng

Die! Die! Die! - Crystal New single from Auckland based noise poppers Die! Die! Die!. A more evenly paced, introspective tune compared to their previous output. “Crystal” is melodic, more reserved yet still familiar. An interesting shift in direction from the group. SZA (Ft. Read more...

Yumi Zouma - Yumi Zouma

Posted 4:50pm Sunday 6th April 2014 by Adrian Ng

Rating: A Yumi Zouma is a New Zealand trio now based in New York and Paris. At first a collaborative project between Charlie Ryder and Josh Burgess (both from Bang Bang Eche), the two eventually joint forces with vocalist Kim Pflaum. After having completed a number of tracks the group were Read more...

Perfect Pussy - Say Yes To Love

Posted 4:50pm Sunday 6th April 2014 by Adrian Ng

Rating: A Clocking in at just under 23 minutes, Say Yes To Love is furious and relentless, so much so you almost try to inhale twice as slow to compensate. Buried in a constant layer of noise and feedback, its violence is tremendous. It’s visceral and it’s unmerciful, it’s loud and it’s Read more...

Infamous: Second Son

Posted 4:50pm Sunday 6th April 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: A- Lately there has been great debate about the function of hyper realistic graphics in games. Some gamers think that this move towards hyperrealism isn’t creating better games and that many games that steer away from realism and use a stylised art style are better products. There is Read more...

Lazy People's Focaccia

Posted 4:50pm Sunday 6th April 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

I first made this loaf as a hangover cure for a good friend of mine. After he participated in a terrible game of “take one for the team and finish the bottle of awful Teacher’s Whiskey,” carbohydrate was required to soak up the night before. It was accompanied with a day spent on the couch watching Read more...

Need For Speed

Posted 4:50pm Sunday 6th April 2014 by Rosie Howells

Rating: D- I had low expectations for Need for Speed, but apparently, not low enough. The plot consists of everything you’ve seen before in a car racing movie: redemption, bravery, misogyny and cliché phrases such as “he’s like a brother to me!” But the film’s tired tropes were the least of Read more...

The Wicker Man (1973)

Posted 4:50pm Sunday 6th April 2014 by Tim Lindsay

Cult Film We all know that remakes can be diabolical, and the second The Wicker Man, from 2003, was exactly that. It features the best of the worst Nicolas Cage, including some downright terrible acting and strutting his swag in a bear suit. However, the original film is of a much higher Read more...

Pompeii

Posted 4:50pm Sunday 6th April 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: B- To me, a movie about a devastating volcanic eruption that engulfed an ancient Roman society sounds like a big enough event to encapsulate a 90-minute epic. Unfortunately, director Paul W.S. Anderson disagreed with me, opting instead to jam in the plots of three or four other movies Read more...

Cuban Fury

Posted 4:50pm Sunday 6th April 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: B If I were to make a list of films I thought would never be made, I’m pretty sure a Nick Frost dance flick would make an appearance. But, what do you know, Nick Frost – who you might know as the big guy from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz – is indeed the star of Cuban Fury. Read more...

The Attack

Posted 4:50pm Sunday 6th April 2014 by Nicole Newton

Like war itself, this novel is a harrowing read. It opens with the description of a sheikh’s car being bombed. We hear of torn bodies lying shattered on the ground from the force of the explosion, which is detailed vividly. The narrator talks of watching the explosion occur; his own body being blown Read more...

David Merritt

Posted 4:50pm Sunday 6th April 2014 by Michaela Hunter

Landroverfarm Press It’s somewhat difficult to review just one of David Merritt’s works, considering they tend to come in a one-poem format (speaking of which, this is the way I personally think most poetry ought to be absorbed). However, it is possible to purchase his e-books or works Read more...

MOAMOA

Posted 4:50pm Sunday 6th April 2014 by Zane Pocock

Dunedin Public Art Gallery Exhibited until 27 April The first survey exhibition of Korean-New Zealand artist Seung Yul Oh, MOAMOA is presented as a decade-spanning retrospective. Aptly, the title translates to “gather gather” or “gather together” in Korean, and engages an eclectic array of Read more...

Richie Boyens - Clothes I've Made

Posted 7:01pm Sunday 30th March 2014 by Hannah Collier

Last week i met with Richie Boyens, a Dunedin-based designer who started the brand Clothes I’ve Made, which is being shown in the capsule collection at iD. With Richie’s ambiguous design choices, combined with the use of various floral, striped, paint-speckled and tie-dyed fabrics, and his latest Read more...

Liars - Mess

Posted 7:01pm Sunday 30th March 2014 by Adrian Ng

Rating: A- Over their 14-year career, Liars have embodied various musical guises. Originally a cerebral art punk unit which formed around the time of the alternative-dance-rock revival, the band have managed to rearrange themselves into a different musical configuration with each proceeding Read more...

Download of the Week: Astro Children - Proteus (NZ)

Posted 7:01pm Sunday 30th March 2014 by Adrian Ng

Dunedin’s Millie Lovelock and Isaac Hickey craft atmospheric noise pop. Sometimes tranquil but spliced with vicious spurts of dilemma and rage. Proteus is available for name-your-price download at astrochildrenmusic.bandcamp.com. Read more...

New This Week

Posted 7:01pm Sunday 30th March 2014 by Adrian Ng

Ben Frost - Venter A beautiful, atmospheric, heavily percussive track, which builds up and collapses into itself with an awe-inspiring climax. Tune Yards - Water Fountain Merrill Garbus returns with the first single of her upcoming album. “Water Fountain” is Read more...

Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else

Posted 7:01pm Sunday 30th March 2014 by Peter McCall

Rating: B+ On Cloud nothing’s latest Lp, frontman Dylan Baldi is learning to “focus on what [he] can do [himself].” One thing he can clearly do is write a bunch of powerful, catchy, guitar-driven songs. Once claiming that he approaches guitar more like piano, Baldi’s playing is complex Read more...

Frankie Cosmos - Zentropy

Posted 7:01pm Sunday 30th March 2014 by Loulou Callister-Baker

Rating: B+ Sunlight passing through a prism, creating a stretched rainbow across the floorboards. Waking up to an old pet cat purring on your face. Early morning family road trips past infinite power-poles and vast fields. Faded glow-in-the-dark stickers covering the ceiling in your old Read more...

TitanFall

Posted 7:01pm Sunday 30th March 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: A- We are living in the Multiplayer era. Five years ago it was the MMORPG that was dominating the gaming landscape and the conversations of gamers. Now, however, it is time for the First Person Shooter (FPS) Multiplayer to shine. The last couple of years have been exciting with the Read more...

Asian Lettuce Cups

Posted 7:01pm Sunday 30th March 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

This is the Asian and skinny equivalent of mince on toast. Mince on toast is actually something I have never had. Or maybe I have, but I was drunk and it was late at night and I probably stole it off someone else; so it doesn’t really count. Make the most of the cheap iceberg lettuce at the Read more...

The Monuments Men

Posted 7:01pm Sunday 30th March 2014 by Andrew Kwiatkowski

Rating: D- The story about the preservation of precious art during the Second World War is fascinating as a page in history, but as an all-star Hollywood war epic, it’s simply appalling. Ironically, it is very preachy about the innate value of cultural products (such as films. Yes, George Read more...