Archive

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...

Clueless (1995)

Posted 7:01pm Sunday 30th March 2014 by Rosie Howells

Cult Film This month, 1995 smash hit Clueless has well and truly been shoved back into the pop culture consciousness, through Iggy Azalea’s sassy-as-hell homage in her new music video for “Fancy.” Azalea has ensured that no one will be forgetting the brick cell-phones, yellow tartan and Read more...

300: Rise of an Empire

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

Rating: B The biggest benefit of this generation’s trend towards adapting graphic novels is how it lends a vast array of interesting visual styles for directors to experiment with on the big screen. This was used to great effect in Zack Snyder’s 2007 adaptation of Frank Miller’s 300, with its Read more...

Hannah Arendt

Posted 7:01pm Sunday 30th March 2014 by Ashley Anderson

Rating: A It was the year 1961. In jerusalem, nazi Adolf Eichmann (as himself) was on trial for being involved in the war that brought the world to its knees. As an SS Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel), he sent Jews to concentration camps and was thus an integral part of the Read more...

Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Book Store

Posted 7:01pm Sunday 30th March 2014 by Imogen Davis

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore is the debut novel of American author Robin Sloan. Originally written as a short story on his blog, he soon expanded and developed the story into a novel. Sloan is a writer for today; a self-styled media inventor, his book is a gripping mystery set between discourse Read more...

Zine of the Week

Posted 7:01pm Sunday 30th March 2014 by Staff Reporter

By Paul Lukas Available at Blackstar Books ABeer Frame is when all bowlers in a frame of ten-pin bowling get a strike except for one person. By tradition, the person who didn’t get a strike then has to buy everyone else a round of beer. Beer Frame is also a zine. Originating in Read more...

Work and Play

Posted 7:01pm Sunday 30th March 2014 by Zane Pocock

Orira to be performed at Blue Oyster Gallery, 6pm Thursday 3 April. I met Samin Son at the gallery on the Friday morning following the opening show from his performance series. Having heard much about him from a mutual friend, I had wanted to make his acquaintance, or at least see him Read more...

Interview: Marie Strauss

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Hannah Collier

I’ve realised, in the midst of my daily routines, that there seems to be this generalised idea that art and fashion coexist, and it has left me wondering – with fashion becoming the focus of an increasing number of exhibitions and shows (i.e. iD Fashion Week), is the distinct line that once Read more...

Download of the Week: Lontalius - The World Will Never Know About Us (NZ)

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Adrian Ng

Eddie Johnston is a prolific music prodigy based in Wellington, also known also for his project Race Banyon. The World Will Never Know About Us contains some of his most beautifully crafted, electronic pop songs. Lush and mesmerising. Available for free download at lontalius.bandcamp.com. Read more...

The War On Drugs - Lost in the Dream

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Peter McCall

“It always gets so hard to see right before the moon,” sings Adam Granduciel, songwriter for The War on Drugs, halfway through their latest LP. It’s a new take on the old cliché, “it’s always darkest before the dawn,” but one that reflects more accurately the 35-year-old’s true longing. Granduciel Read more...

New this Week

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Adrian Ng

The last few days I’ve been recovering from a devastating cold. That’s right, devastating. One rainy afternoon I sat in my room with my lights dimmed and a cup of diluted honey, listening to a playlist I had constructed titled “Sad Bastard Music.” It actually made being sick kind of a pleasant Read more...

Profile: Tiny Ruins

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Adrian Ng

Holly Fullbrook, the talented songwriter behind Tiny Ruins, talks to Adrian Ng about her upbringing and David Lynch. Your music gives me a strange sense of nostalgia. There’s quite a mystical, ancient quality to it. How do you interact with your music? Is there a certain mood you are trying Read more...

South Park: Stick of Truth

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: A Whatever you think of South Park, there is no denying that Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators, minds and voices behind the show, are geniuses. They created South Park 18 years ago in each other’s basements with craft paper. The show has gone on to become an undisputable Read more...

Lemonade Date Scones

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

Every accomplished woman should know how to make a good batch of scones. Once mastered, you will be able to impress any future mother-in-law that comes your way. After all, isn’t that why us ladies attend university? To find a husband? Throw that old Edmonds recipe out the window. Who has Read more...

Stories We Tell

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Nick Ainge-Roy

Rating: C+ Stories We Tell is a documentary directed by Sarah Polley that chronicles the relationship of her parents, Michael and Diane Polley, with special attention paid to an extramarital affair of her mother’s that resulted in Sarah’s illegitimate birth. While technically a Read more...

Citizen Kane

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Rosie Howells

Classic Film Sure, Orson Welles died an alcoholic, morbidly obese fruitcake suffering from a Hollywood induced depression, but that takes nothing away from the fact he wrote, produced, directed and starred in what is largely regarded to be the greatest film of all time. Citizen Kane is the Read more...

Lone Survivor

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: B- A war movie has to have something to say to warrant its creation. It shouldn’t be all right for moviemakers to exploit war, and especially true stories of it, as a way of filling an hour and a half blockbuster with explosions and loud noises. Lone Survivor sits right on the line Read more...

Le Weekend

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Andrew Kwiatkowski

Rating: A+ Le Weekend is about an aging couple, Nick and Meg, played by Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan, taking a long-overdue second honeymoon to Paris, trying to recreate a time in their lives when they were happy, in love, and blissfully unconcerned with the future. The cast are Read more...

Cloud Atlas

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Julia Gilchrist

Cloud Atlas is David Mitchell’s third novel. His first won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, and his second – along with Cloud Atlas itself – was short listed for the Man Booker Prize. So I was expecting great things when I first picked this book up. I was not disappointed. The novel is Read more...

Zine of the Week

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Staff Reporter

By Valerie Morse 15 A5 Pages - Cartoons and Text AVAILABLE AT BLACKSTAR BOOKS Viewing Copy at Critic Office Can’t Hear Me Scream holds a special place in New Zealand for anarchist-inspired librarians and would-be activists, so it seems a fitting place to start this column. While Read more...

Random Reproductions

Posted 5:30pm Sunday 23rd March 2014 by Zane Pocock

Brett McDowell Gallery Exhibited until 27 March 2014 Since the start of the month, the Brett McDowell Gallery on Dowling Street has exhibited the latest in an on going series of digital archival reproductions from Richard Killeen. Killeen is perhaps one of the country’s foremost modernist Read more...

Interview: Deborah Lambie

Posted 3:19pm Monday 17th March 2014 by Josie Adams

Deborah Lambie is a stereotype-smasher. She’s a medical student here at Otago, a beauty queen, and an award-winning speaker. Josie Adams sat down to talk to her about the jet-setting life of a pageant pro: talents, inner beauty, and demilitarised zones. Why did you enter Miss New Zealand? Read more...

Download of the week: Eskimo Eyes - I Can't Think (NZ)

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Adrian Ng

My friend Daniel told me some sad news the other day. Ike Zwanikken’s house recently caught fire and a large portion of his possesions were destroyed. Ike Zwanikken creates beautiful, lo-fi electonic music under the moniker Eskimo Eyes. His amazing EP I Can’t Think is available as a name-your-price Read more...

New this week

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Adrian Ng

Hey! Do you like free stuff? This week we are giving away Clap Clap Riot’s new album, titled Nobody/Everybody. We’ve got it on compact disc and apart from a very small coffee stain, it’s in pretty fine condition. So how do you win? Just email music@critic.co.nz with your name and you will be entered Read more...

Speedy Ortiz - Real Hair

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Peter McCall

Grade: A- On Real Hair, the follow-up EP to their excellent 2013 LP Major Arcana, Speedy Ortiz once again prove that they’re not just rehashing ‘90s indie rock, but taking all the irony, angular guitar lines and fuzz that characterised that decade, and making it their own. Yes, they sound Read more...

Profile: Ian Henderson

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Adrian Ng

The Dunedin music scene is currently undergoing quite a resurgence; at the forefront of that is Ian Henderson. Owner of Fishrider Records, he has over the past few years released a slew of local talent, helping Dunedin music find a more international audience. Ian talks to Adrian Ng about the Read more...

Thief

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Grade: B Over the last couple of weeks the video game industry has been overwhelmed by mass layoffs. Eidos Montreal laid off a large number of their staff, Irrational Games laid off over 100 people and Disney Interactive laid off 700 people. Understandably, these lay offs have concerned Read more...

Mexican Meatball Soup

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

Who needs a man to warm you on these increasingly chilly Dunners nights when you have Mexican meatballs? It seems to be every Thursday that the girls of 5C have a romantic dinner together, with smooth jazz for lovers, wine, and balls of meat. The consumption of dinner was punctuated with comments Read more...

Non-Stop

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Simon Broadbent

Grade: B- Almost the first shot of Non-Stop is Neeson’s grizzled Air Marshal pouring whisky into his morning coffee, so you know you’re dealing with gritty Neeson, not Love Actually Neeson. But then he sentimentally touches the picture of his daughter taped to the roof of his car, so you know Read more...

Classic Film | Misery (1990)

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Rosie Howells

Despite having over 30 of his novels adapted for the big screen, only one Stephen King movie has ever won an Oscar, and that is Misery. Misery invites the audience into the home and mind of perhaps King’s most perplexing creation: Annie Wilkes. Annie is a clean-living, conservative nurse, whose Read more...

Winter's Tale

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Andrew Kwiatkowski

Grade: E I have limited space for this review, so I’ll just go ahead and start my list of “A Thousand Things Wrong with Winter’s Tale,” and we’ll see how far we get. Big number one: cast. Colin Farrell couldn’t sell the main character, a thief named Peter Lake, for a moment. With only his two Read more...

Blue Is the Warmest Colour

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Nick Ainge-Roy

Grade: A+ Blue Is the Warmest Colour, directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, has been praised by some as the best movie of 2013, as well as unanimously winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes and being nominated for a BAFTA and Golden Globe. After watching the film myself, it was easy to see why. Read more...

Captain America: Winter Soldier

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Brandon Johnstone

Ed Brubaker’s first two comic book-arcs of Captain America tell the story of the Winter Soldier, a Soviet assassin and super-spy tied to Steve Rogers’ past. Published in 2006, this book was the subject of much controversy, as it became clear within a few issues that there was a very real possibility Read more...

Pearler

Posted 2:59pm Sunday 16th March 2014 by Hannah Collier

“I am an Expressionist painter. I rarely plan a painting or do preparatory drawing. I commence the work with a quick wash of strong, primary colour and then begin to hurriedly paint figures of people, animals and hybrid creatures. I add crude marks for volcanoes, hills, sea, buildings, boats, Read more...

Interview: Charlotte Blake

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Jessica Thompson Carr

23-year-old Charlotte (Char) Blake is a young family woman and student who will be shaving her hair off at the University of Otago’s Pacific Island Research Student Support Unit on March 18. Jessica Thompson Carr caught up with her for a chat. What was your inspiration for taking part in Read more...

Interview: Rupert Smiles

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Hannah Collier

I have kind of been in this polygamous relationship with art and fashion for a few years now, so naturally I try to merge the two whenever I can. This week, I’ve had a really new and major obsession with handbags … as art. I simply can’t get past that moment when Kanye gave Kim a Hermes Birkin with Read more...

Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Adrian Ng

Grade: A- Being a folk singer-songwriter in 2014 is not an easy path to tread. When you’re working within a genre where nothing really extravagant is left to bring to the table, it’s difficult to set yourself apart from the rest. Burn Your Fire For No Witness, however, manages to do just Read more...

Real Estate - Atlas

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Peter McCall

Grade: A- Atlas is Real Estate’s first record in three years, the follow up to 2011’s Days. Having enjoyed the last album’s dreamy, guitar-noodley, nostalgia-inducing vibes, I was looking forward to hearing the new one. But whereas Days was lazing-on-a-sunny-afternoon, Atlas is Read more...

Artist Profile: Kane Strang

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Adrian Ng

With his third album currently in the making, local songwriting genius Kane Strang talks to Adrian Ng, sharing insights into his songwriting process, his experience recording overseas, and of course giving us an update on his highly anticipated record. You’re always carrying a notebook Read more...

Download of the week: Arthur Ahbez - Gold (NZ)

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Adrian Ng

Psychedelic folk from Auckland based, acoustic guitar virtuoso Arthur Ahbez. From haunting ballads to vast, acid tempered instrumentals; Gold is available for free download, for a limited time at arthurahbez.bandcamp.com Read more...

New this week

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Adrian Ng

It’s issue three now, and though we’ve been extremely lucky in terms of sourcing content, submissions are always welcome. So if you’re a musician wanting your music to be heard or a band wanting a little bit of press, please don’t be shy. Even if you just want to talk about music, hanging out Read more...

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Grade: A - Often it is not until we are presented with something radically new in tone that we realise how similar everything else feels. Over the last generation we had access to a vast library of games, but I wonder if one was to sit down and categorically analyse many of these games in Read more...

Spaghetti and meatballs

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Sophie Edmonds

No student food column would be complete without a mince meal. And, of course, no post about spaghetti and meatballs would be complete without as many meat-and-balls innuendos as possible either. So I am going to go ahead and say that I frequently crave meaty balls and I love to gobble them up at Read more...

The Railway Man

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Andrew Kwiatkowski

Grade: C+ The Railway Man is a film adaptation of Eric Lomax’s memoir about the time he was in the British Army in Singapore when it was invaded in 1942. His company surrendered as prisoners of war, only to be tortured and dehumanised on the Burma railway construction effort. I was prepared Read more...

Gremlins (1984)

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Rosie Howells

Cult Film For many, Gremlins is but a distant memory; an 80s entertainment fog at the back of our minds, occasionally spurting out images of microwaves, Christmas trees and blood to our consciousness. You know you’ve seen it, but the details are hazy and the imagery vague. Let me refresh you. Read more...

Robocop

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Baz Macdonald

Grade: B When I heard that the 1987 B-grade action film Robocop was going to be rebooted, the last thing I expected was to be challenged intellectually – especially considering the premise of the film. Robocop is set in the near future where a debate is raging about what the role of Read more...

Labor Day

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Ashley Anderson

Grade: B+ What would you do if a convicted murderer asked you to take him to your home? This is the situation Adele (Kate Winslet) and her son Henry (Gattlin Griffith) find themselves in when they meet prison escapee Frank (Josh Brolin) in the supermarket. As Frank stays with them over the Read more...

Life of Pi

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Mat Daniel

Yann Martel’s Life of Pi is the 2002 winner of the Man Booker Prize, among other awards. Martel’s output has been relatively scarce, with Life of Pi standing as his most popular work. His novel was allegedly inspired when he read a review of Moacyr Scliar’s novella Max and the Cats, which tells the Read more...

Top five art blogs

Posted 4:35pm Sunday 9th March 2014 by Zane Pocock

Over The Netoverthenet.blogspot.co.nz This is a daily art blog written by New Zealand’s most well known contemporary art collectors. This is always my go-to – Jim and Mary Barr certainly have their fingers on the pulse. Leg of Lamblamblegs.wordpress.com Another New Zealand art Read more...