Archive

Battle of the Dead

Posted 1:24pm Sunday 19th May 2013 by Baz Macdonald

The video game has a long history of franchise adaptations. In fact, some of the most reputable developers in the industry started out this very way. Bethesda Game Studios, makers of the illustrious Elder Scrolls series, got their big break making video game adaptations of the Terminator films. Read more...

Bel Canto

Posted 1:24pm Sunday 19th May 2013 by Tess Ritchie

I missed my bus stop twice reading this book – which really is a fair indication of how hooked you get. Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto draws you in just as its heroine, soprano Roxanne Coss, captures her audience and the entire cast. Reading this novel, I was immediately reminded of E. L. Doctorow’s Read more...

Patrick Hartigan - The People Will Be Healed

Posted 1:24pm Sunday 19th May 2013 by Charlotte Doyle

Standing at one end of the art gallery, we were completely entranced by a large guy in a grey fur coat, with basketball sneakers along the bottom. His mannerisms and laugh, even from a distance, were like those of a stereotypical Jewish banker. Coming close enough to listen to him, he also had some Read more...

Phoenix - Bankrupt!

Posted 1:24pm Sunday 19th May 2013 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 3.5/5 Similar to the Ouroboric case of Gary Numan influencing Nine Inch Nails, who in turn went on to influence Gary Numan (see 2011’s Dead Son Rising), you simply can’t ignore how much The Strokes sound like their old imitators Phoenix these days. This year’s Comedown Machine saw The Read more...

Mali Mali

Posted 1:24pm Sunday 19th May 2013 by Basti Menkes

Mali Mali is a North Shore alternative trio fronted by singer-songwriter Ben Tolich. They have just released their debut album Gather ’round the Gooseclock (reviewed in the last issue of Critic), and are about to embark on a tour of the country. Critic caught up with Ben over the phone recently to Read more...

Nadia Reid and Ivy Rossiter (a.k.a. Luckless) Interview

Posted 1:24pm Sunday 19th May 2013 by Brittany Mann

Nadia Reid and Ivy Rossiter (a.k.a Luckless) recently performed at the iconic and allegedly haunted Chicks Hotel in Port Chalmers as part of their Ballads and Badlands national tour. Brittany Mann went along for the whiskey and good times. The girlsBallads and Badlands is Nadia Reid and Ivy Read more...

Mali Mali

Posted 2:26pm Sunday 12th May 2013 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 3.5/5 Despite a lack of diversity or adventure, Mali Mali has produced an impressive debut. Mali Mali is a North Shore trio fronted by singer-songwriter Ben Tolich. Drawing influence from artists such as The National, Sigur Rós and Bon Iver, Tolich writes acoustic, vaguely folky Read more...

Tahuna Breaks

Posted 2:26pm Sunday 12th May 2013 by Lisa Craw

Rating: 1.5/5 Tahuna Breaks have taken their time with this one. Their newest album, Shadow Light, has been five years in the making, and Tahuna Breaks seem to be mighty proud of it. They themselves describe it as being “bigger, darker and heavier” than their earlier releases – if you define Read more...

Maori Boy Genius

Posted 2:26pm Sunday 12th May 2013 by Jonny Mahon-Heap

Rating: 3/5 Documentaries often struggle to find the delicate balance between good storytelling and mere exploitation – a challenge made all the more difficult when the subject-matter revolves around children. Such is the difficulty faced by Maori Boy Genius, a competent, intelligent Read more...

Pietra Brettkelly

Posted 2:26pm Sunday 12th May 2013 by Jonny Mahon-Heap

Maori Boy Genius examines a year in the life of 16-year-old Maori boy wonder, Ngā Raūira Pumanawawhiti, an adolescent, Yale student and future Prime Minister. The film’s director, Pietra Brettkelly, discusses Ngā Raūira’s life pathway, the gamble of documentary filmmaking, and Read more...

The Company You Keep

Posted 2:26pm Sunday 12th May 2013 by Lyle Skipsey

Rating: 3/5 The Company You Keep, directed by Robert Redford, was based on a novel of the same name, and a novel it should have stayed. The story revolves around Jim Grant (Redford) a former Weather Underground militant, who becomes a wanted fugitive after his identity is exposed by a Read more...

American Psycho (2000)

Posted 2:26pm Sunday 12th May 2013 by Jonny Mahon-Heap

The story behind American Psycho’s adaptation from page to screen is almost as troubled and manic as the titular character. Based on Bret Easton Ellis’ seminal work on the moral and materialist woes of 1980s Wall Street America, the work was initially labelled “misogynistic garbage” and “snuff” by Read more...

Jurassic Park 3D

Posted 2:26pm Sunday 12th May 2013 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 5/5 As you may or may not have heard, Steven Spielberg’s seminal Jurassic Park was recently rereleased in theatres in 3D to celebrate the film’s 20th anniversary. Though many films that were shot in 2D and later converted into 3D look like shit (Clash Of The Titans being the classic Read more...

Star Trek Into Darkness

Posted 2:26pm Sunday 12th May 2013 by Sam McChesney

Rating: 2.5/5 I arrived at the midnight premier for Star Trek Into Darkness, two equally bewildered friends in tow, to encounter a menagerie of costumed oddities standing in the Rialto foyer. Trekkies have always been something of a mystery to me; I watched my first Star Trek film only last Read more...

Flutter: Butterfly Sanctuary (free)

Posted 2:26pm Sunday 12th May 2013 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: 8/10 The gaming industry as a whole has grown incredibly quickly. But no other branch of gaming has seen more exponential growth than mobile gaming. It seems like a blink of an eye ago I was being enthralled by Snake on my dad’s Nokia (which was the size and weight of a brick), and Read more...

Interview with Tim Nixon

Posted 2:26pm Sunday 12th May 2013 by Baz Macdonald

I recently got the opportunity to interview the game director at Runaway Play, Tim Nixon, about Flutter. What is the game Flutter to you? When we initially set out to form a studio which was about making games inspired by nature, we looked at all the species and environments around the Read more...

The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann

Posted 2:26pm Sunday 12th May 2013 by David McKenzie

Thomas Mann’s production of such an intricate, thought-provoking work as The Magic Mountain is a monumental achievement matched only by that of the casual reader actually managing to finish it. You not only need time to get through its 700 pages, but also a large amount of mental energy. Read more...

Saskia Leek’s Desk Collection

Posted 2:26pm Sunday 12th May 2013 by Charlotte Doyle

Saskia Leek’s solo exhibition Desk Collection at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery is a true testament to her evolution as an artist. Seeming to almost celebrate Leek’s personal journey as an artist, the exhibition didn’t just present this to the viewer, but swept them along for the ride through an Read more...

Chorizo Quesadillas

Posted 2:26pm Sunday 12th May 2013 by Ines Shennan

Whether or not you have already picked up on this, I’ll take a moment to remind you of my complete and utter obsession with chorizo. Up until recently, I was a devout ready-to-eat, smoked chorizo kinda gal. Those deep burgundy sticks of chorizo were firm and incredibly salty with glorious marbles of Read more...

Juicy Steak and Lime Salsa Bundles

Posted 2:26pm Sunday 12th May 2013 by Ines Shennan

I was always under the impression that to enjoy a truly succulent, medium-rare, flash-in-the-pan steak, the only route to success was via the pricey eye or scotch fillet. I was wrong. Both supermarket chains carry “tenderised BBQ steak” in their chillers and I was initially sceptical as to whether Read more...

James Blake - Overgrown

Posted 4:00pm Sunday 5th May 2013 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 3/5James Blake is an electronic producer and singer-songwriter from London. In 2011, he released his debut album. It was called James Blake. A number of critics and music listeners collectively lost their shit over it. I did not. Not that I didn’t find James’ mix of post-dubstep and Read more...

Akron/Family - Sub Verses

Posted 4:00pm Sunday 5th May 2013 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 4/5Any fan of contemporary psychedelic rock will surely know the name “Akron/Family.” Michael Gira of Swans once described them in the following manner: “There are no inverted commas in the world of Akron. They’re inside the music, grinding it, fighting it, chewing it, digesting it, then Read more...

West of Memphis

Posted 4:00pm Sunday 5th May 2013 by Rosie Howells

Rating: 5/5West of Memphis is a documentary film following the case of the West Memphis Three, the teenagers accused and jailed for the murder of three eight-year-old boys from their Arkansas neighbourhood in 1993. With personal interviews with the family of the deceased children, the loved ones of Read more...

Five foreign-language films that should have won Best Picture (this century alone)

Posted 4:00pm Sunday 5th May 2013 by Sam McChesney

Everybody knows that the “World Series” of baseball is anything but; in reality, it’s a competition held between the winners of two different American baseball leagues. The competition’s name is often (and rightly) ridiculed, the perfect embodiment of America’s mentality vis-à-vis the world. Read more...

Don’t Starve

Posted 4:00pm Sunday 5th May 2013 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: 8/10So far this year I have only reviewed games developed and distributed by the giants of the gaming industry. However, there is a whole other side to the industry. Thus far I have traversed the mainstream; this week we shall delve into the independent (or indie). The large capital Read more...

Mrs Dalloway

Posted 4:00pm Sunday 5th May 2013 by Feby Idrus

Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs Dalloway begins like this: “Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.” This opening sentence is about as simple as this book gets. From here, we are plunged headfirst into this swirling, teeming-with-life ocean of a book. At its most basic, Mrs Dalloway is a Read more...

Facebook cover photos

Posted 4:00pm Sunday 5th May 2013 by Charlotte Doyle

Coverslike.com provides internet users with endless freedom to “customise your Facebook timeline cover” (just in case no photos of you and your friends seem pretty enough). For serious pug lovers you can have one which states “the day God made Pugs He just sat down and Smiled” next to a pug puppy Read more...

Aerosmith

Posted 3:14pm Sunday 28th April 2013 by Basti Menkes

To call my experience at Aerosmith’s gig last Wednesday night a surreal one would be an understatement. Due to the incompetence of and poor communication between the staff scattered around the Forsyth Barr Stadium, it was not until final support act Wolfmother had wrapped up their set that I Read more...

The Veils - Time Stays, We Go

Posted 3:14pm Sunday 28th April 2013 by Basti Menkes

The Veils are one of those cult bands I always wanted to get into, but never bothered to properly investigate. Though the number of people aware of the London-based indie rock outfit is seemingly small, what I have heard of them has been almost unanimous praise. Not counting a couple of promising Read more...

The Room (2003)

Posted 3:14pm Sunday 28th April 2013 by Rosie Howells

The Room – the “Citizen Kane of bad movies” – brings me unprecedented joy. An American romantic drama concerning the love triangle of Lisa, Jonny and Mark (all wonderfully underdeveloped and wooden characters), it is one of the greatest gifts in my life. The bearer of this gift is Tommy Wiseau. The Read more...

Eternity

Posted 3:14pm Sunday 28th April 2013 by Basti Menkes

Eternity is a Kiwi sci-fi thriller written and directed by Alex Galvin. Set in the near future, it stars Elliot Travers as Richard Manning, a Hong Kong-based police detective who makes a right mess of things in the film’s tense opening sequence. His only shot at redemption is to travel to New Read more...

Iron Man 3 (3D)

Posted 3:14pm Sunday 28th April 2013 by Sam McChesney

Much like the prodigious production of Marvel superheroes themselves, a veritable avalanche of Marvel films has been unleashed in recent times. This century alone, 27 Marvel superhero films have assaulted New Zealand cinemas. Some of them – The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man – were damn good. Read more...

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Posted 3:14pm Sunday 28th April 2013 by Harriet Hughes

Francie Nolan is growing in Brooklyn, like a tree, constantly in search of light… The tree in her backyard struggles to plant its roots, yet it continues to grow… Shit, that is a cheesy metaphor. But this book is far from cheesy. It is the turn of the twentieth century, and Francie Nolan Read more...

Injustice: Gods Among Us

Posted 3:14pm Sunday 28th April 2013 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: 9/10 Long before this game was announced, its questions were hotly debated. Who would win in a fight between Batman and Superman? Green Arrow and Green Lantern? Wonder Woman and Catwoman? Pimply nerds have argued these questions in comic book shops since the Fifties. Now they have a way Read more...

Candlesticks strike a heated debate

Posted 3:14pm Sunday 28th April 2013 by Zane Pocock

I’ll tell you where to put your candlesticks, young artistsZane PocockIn the most stunning lack of individual style the art world has ever seen, we are currently witnessing a huge proliferation of contemporary New Zealand artists turning their craft towards $1,000 candlesticks. The thought Read more...

Michael Harrison - Invasion Biology

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 21st April 2013 by Zane Pocock

I always enjoy a visit to Michael Harrison shows. His symbolic imagery and soft watercolours are consistent, understated, intimate, and playful. Overall they're comfortable, yet it is this comfort that can very easily transform into boredom if care isn't taken. It is pleasing to see Harrison Read more...

Oblivion

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 21st April 2013 by Rosie Howells

Oblivion tells the story of the last man and woman on Earth, who are both attractive and like each other (that’s a stroke of luck, huh?). After aliens blow up the moon, our planet is ravaged by natural disasters, and war ensues between humanity and our galactic enemies. Although we won the war Read more...

The Big Lebowski

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 21st April 2013 by Josie Cochrane

The Coen Brothers (Joel and Ethan) wrote, directed and produced this cult comedy classic 15 years ago. Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) is a lazy, unemployed stoner living in LA, who hangs with his bowling buddies, drinks White Russians, and enjoys long hot baths while listening to tapes Read more...

Performance

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 21st April 2013 by Jonny Mahon-Heap

Like Lex’s pseudo-political banter or a Unicol girl’s acquisition of the fresher five, it’s a certainty that Oscar winners will undo much of their good work with subsequent awful films. While Performance (released elsewhere as A Late Quartet) never reaches the murky depths of a Halle Berry/Catwoman Read more...

The Croods 3D

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 21st April 2013 by Sam McChesney

I’m at least 15 years older than this movie’s target audience. That’s fine though, because as innumerable sanctimonious reviewers love to point out, a good kids’ film should also appeal to adults. Maybe it’s because kids are stupid, so their opinions don’t really signify much. Maybe it’s because a Read more...

Barbara

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 21st April 2013 by Kathleen Hanna

Pre-film trailers are typically selected to appeal to the same audience as the film itself. When I arrived at the cinema to see Barbara, knowing nothing about it, the first trailer I was shown was about an old person being chosen to cook for the President of France. The trailer was very long, and Read more...

The Knife - Shaking The Habitual

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 21st April 2013 by Basti Menkes

For the uninitiated, The Knife are a Swedish electronic duo consisting of Karin “Fever Ray” Andersson and her younger brother Olof. The siblings splice together an eclectic array of genres including synthpop, industrial, world music, and ambient to create a technicolour sound that defies mimicry or Read more...

Astro Children

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 21st April 2013 by Basti Menkes

Astro Children are a Dunedin shoeglaze/spacepop band comprised of childhood friends Millie Lovelock and Isaac Hickey. Recently they have been enjoying huge local success, with latest single “Jamie Knows” topping Radio One’s song chart for seven weeks running. Critic caught up with the duo recently Read more...

The Sun Also Rises

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 21st April 2013 by Madeline Sherwood King

Not much happens in The Sun Also Rises. It’s the 1920s. Four men and one woman visit Spain to see the bulls, and then they go home again. During their stay in Spain, it becomes apparent that all four men love the woman, but she falls in love with a guy who loves bulls. One particularly brutish man Read more...

Defiance (PC, PS3, Xbox360)

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 21st April 2013 by Baz Macdonald

Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Games (or MMORPG, games that are played entirely online with people from all over the world) are a tricky business. They require significantly more money to develop than a standard video game instalment due to the large scope of content as well as the ongoing costs Read more...

Crispy Chicken with Salty Satay and Ginger Bok Choy

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 21st April 2013 by Ines Shennan

This dish satiates the tastebuds on every level: it’s sweet, salty, and ginger-laden, with crispy chicken ready to soak up all the fun. Rice bran oil is a great choice to use for high-temperature cooking, and is also neutral in flavour, allowing your other ingredients to shine. Frying chicken over a Read more...

Filthy Fudge Brownies

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 21st April 2013 by Ines Shennan

This brownie is immoral and fiendish. Unlike the consistently firm, cake-like brownies often found sitting pretty in cafe cabinets, this is far more brutish and unforgiving. On the Chocolate Baked Goods Spectrum, it sits far closer to a decadent slice of fudge than a cake. Luckily, it has a more Read more...

Sweet, Salty, Saturday: Indulgent Food

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 21st April 2013 by Ines Shennan

This week Ines Shennan spins a few stories about her Farmers Market exploits, and delivers recipes for decadent, salty, sweet, soft, crunchy, spicy, and generally delicious mouthfuls of bliss. The kind of rich, heartwarming, beaming-smile-across-your-face kind of food that you can’t wait to share Read more...

Lego City Undercover (WiiU)

Posted 5:49pm Sunday 14th April 2013 by Baz Macdonald

The Wii U was launched a year earlier than it should have been. Nintendo denies it, but the truth is that they sold their consoles with promises of games, promises that have now been revealed as lies. When the Wii U was announced at E3 2012 it had a wide variety of launch titles, including Pikmin 3, Read more...

Mefisto by John Banville

Posted 5:49pm Sunday 14th April 2013 by Lucy Hunter

What would you sacrifice to have everything you ever wanted? What happens if you sell your soul, but there is no afterlife to suffer in? John Banville recreates Goethe’s Mephistopheles in twentieth-century Ireland, bringing the old religious parable into a modern, secular setting, where God and the Read more...