Archive

Ruby Sparks

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Georgia Rose

My expectations for this film were pretty non-existent, although I’d heard it was directed by the same duo that made Little Miss Sunshine, which gave me hope. I was also vaguely aware that it was about an author whose female character comes to life as his girlfriend, and anything he writes about her Read more...

Two Little Boys

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Ashlea Muston

Two Little Boys is the story of Nige and Deano, two best mates from Invercargill. Nige (Bret McKenzie) finds himself in way over his head when he runs over a Norwegian backpacker. He confides in his friend Deano (Hamish Blake), despite their recent disagreement over a toasted sandwich. However, in Read more...

Smoky Repose

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Beaurey Chan

A young woman poses in profile against an indistinct backdrop, a cigarette propped just so in her mouth as she gazes coolly into the unknown distance. Another girl’s hair is drawn tightly back as she clenches her face into an expression of what could be pain or pleasure. The cigarette makes Read more...

Mark of the Ninja - REVIEW

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Toby Hills

"Other” ninja games, and developer Klei Entertainment refuses to name names, are very un-ninja-like. Why spend all that time shrouding yourself in stifling, shadowy rags if you are going to blunder into the middle of a swathe of foes and paint the walls in their bright red blood just to show, Read more...

Chicken Caesar Salad

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Maeve Jones

Caesar salad often emphasises the heavy, creamy dressing, which is more often than not over-processed and ruins a perfectly good salad. For me it is all about the croutons. Croutons are a delicious and convenient way to use bread that is past its prime. Most cultures in the world have some creative Read more...

Why Dubstep Isn’t Shit

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Isaac McFarlane

Dubstep gets a bad rap, and to be fair, it does deserve a lot of it. But dubstep is not total shit. There is some wonderfully interesting, energetic, face-meltingly beautiful dubstep created out there in a truly global scene, facilitated by the same thing that made it so hated – the Internet. Yes, I Read more...

American Angels

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

What a week! Art exhibitions in the Link and free coffee out on the lawn – aah, what a cultured University we all attend. In sticking with the 24-hour time frame, it’s hardly a panic to find something to write about for this issue, as dear old Allen hall will always have something for us there. Read more...

Monsieur Linh and his Child

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Lucy Hunter

Monsieur Linh is the only person who knows his name, because everybody who used to know it is dead. He arrives by ship from an unnamed country in Indo-China to France, clutching a small suitcase of meagre possessions, and his new-born granddaughter, Sang diû, who weighs less than the suitcase. His Read more...

Your Sister’s Sister

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

I’m not sure if Your Sister’s Sister is a romantic comedy or not, but whatever its classification, it’s a great watch. The film opens with Jack (Mark Duplass) struggling to recover from the loss of his brother, and making an ass of himself at a subsequent memorial party. His best friend Iris Read more...

Hysteria

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Ashlea Muston

Hysteria, set in London in the 1880s, follows the story of the ever-spirited young Doctor Mortimer Granville prior to his discovery of the vibrator and its medical benefits. Mortimer (Hugh Dancy) continually seeks betterment in the medical profession, and is enamoured with the breakthrough science Read more...

On The Road

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Dan Benson-Guiu

This adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s novel immerses us in a time period that is short but alive with change. It is the postwar era, and we are introduced to a small group of budding writers who are part of a culture which, as a whole, seems lively and creative. Sal Paradise (Sam Riley) is not feeling Read more...

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Beaurey Chan

I don’t know about you, but there’s something about tentacles that freak me out. Sea creatures in general are scary: sharks, jellyfish (Finding Nemo has a lot to answer for), flesh-eating piranhas, and so on – the whole lot are evil harbingers of doom as far as I’m concerned. But while Deep Sea Read more...

FTL - Review

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Toby Hills

In a quantum instant, a single broadside torpedo slips through the rickety space-cruiser’s momentarily downed shields, and ignites the oxygen recirculator. Immediately, the grizzled captain shuts down the blast doors and opens the ship’s port and stern airlocks, evacuating the gaseous contents from Read more...

Moonrise Kingdom

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

Set in the 1960s, Moonrise Kingdom is about a couple of New England kids who cross paths at a summer camp and fall head-over-heels in love. Suzy comes from an upper-class family of lawyers, while Sam is an orphan who is constantly in and out of foster homes. Before leaving the camp, they make a pact Read more...

The Expendables 2

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Critic

The Expendables 2 revolves around a group of mercenaries, the Expendables, who are enlisted by a Mr Church to retrieve a lost package from a downed plane. What seems like an easy job takes a wrong turn when one of their crew is murdered during the operation. Determined to seek revenge, the Read more...

Wunderkinder

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Lulu Sandston

Wunderkinder, set in the Ukraine in 1941, follows three young musical Wunderkinder, or child prodigies, who are bound by their love of music. Violinist Hanna Reich (Bridgette Grothum) is German, while pianist Larissa Brodsky (Imogen Burrell) and violinist Abrascha Kaplan (Elin Kolev) are Jewish. Read more...

Prawn, Spinach and Lemon Spaghetti

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Ines Shennan

This simple pasta dish marries prawns with smoked paprika and tart lemon, wrapping the lot up in a rich cream sauce. If you’re a seafood fan but can’t get down to your nearest waterway armed with fishing artillery or face the price that blue cod and salmon fetch at the supermarket, then stock up Read more...

Yvonne Todd: Wall of Seahorsel

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

Curated by Melbourne arts writer Serena Bentley, “Wall of Seahorsel” is a showcase of the most recent works of one of New Zealand’s most respected contemporary photographers. Yvonne Todd is an award-winning artist based in Auckland. She has become well known for her photographs, which utilise the Read more...

Here is some Music

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Isaac McFarlane

‘Over and Out’ – MalesMales have just released their debut EP for free, because, you know, YOLO right? Not sure if this is the single, but it should be. Not that the other songs aren’t just as good, but “Over and Out” is one of those rare songs that sounds completely full, finished, and realised. Read more...

Hero

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

The latest Stage South reading to grace the Fortune Theatre Studio stage is Hero, directed by Erica Newlands. A haunting and beautiful play by Arun Subrmaniam, a New Zealand playwright, Hero takes us on a journey to Malaysia, where the first political assassination took place. Patrick Davies Read more...

Defender’s Quest - REVIEW

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Toby Hills

"Grinding” doesn’t sound like a great way to spend one’s time, does it? A mule in a medieval mill did a lot of grinding – of grain – to turn it into the coarse, unrefined flour that was the serfs’ staple food supply. That gameplay mechanic, as popular as it has historically been in classic Japanese Read more...

The Driver’s Seat

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Lucy Hunter

The Driver’s Seat follows Lise, a nondescript woman of little importance, and her own way of reasoning inside a mind which seems to have got the whole world the wrong way round. The book opens with Lise freaking out at a shop assistant for suggesting she buy a stain-resistant dress – “Do you think I Read more...

Pancetta Macaroni Cups

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Ines Shennan

This week we pay homage to my lifelong friend, cheese. When I was a young, spritely thing, Saturday lunchtime saw a steady stream of cheese melts flow from oven to table (not literally, mind you). I stuck with the classic cheese and oregano combination, while my mother would get all inventive with Read more...

Dunedin’s Gig Heydey

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Caleb Wicks

Whenever I go to a gig these days I leave feeling a little disappointed. It’s not that the bands can’t play, or that the venue is shit, or even that I can’t stand the people who are at the gig, even though those are often problems too. What I am continually disappointed by is the lack of atmosphere Read more...

Total Recall

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Sam McChesney

Going into this, I was very sceptical. The original Total Recall (1990) was a classic Paul Verhoeven glossy violence-fest, not to mention one of Arnie’s best films (though admittedly this is a bit like saying that Harry is one of the hottest royals); remaking it was a dangerous game. Plus I’d heard Read more...

Hope Springs

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Michaela Hunter

Hope Springs is best described as a quirky comedy for the 30-plus demographic. Meryl Streep is a dazzling yet obvious choice as housewife Kay, and Tommy Lee is well cast as her somewhat dim-witted husband Arnold. The plot is simple: Kay feels trapped in their stale marriage, but Arnold is Read more...

Bernie

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Sam McChesney

Lots of films get laughs by poking fun at hicks. However, few do so in as affectionate and poignant a way as Bernie, a quirky sleeper hit in the vein of Juno or Little Miss Sunshine. Set in Carthage, Texas – which, as its townsfolk reliably inform us, is in the non-liberal, non-Mexican part of the Read more...

Little Sister

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Feby Idrus

There are two sentences – or beginnings of sentences, anyway – in Julian Novitz’s psychological thriller Little Sister that encapsulate everything this novel is about. The first, “To live is to battle with trollfolk”, from Henrik Ibsen, is quoted by the alarmingly volatile teenager Shane. The second Read more...

White Noise

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Beaurey Chan

Do you guys know about the iTunes visualiser? If you do, nod vigorously – we are on the same page. For those who don’t, I am about to change your life. Press Ctrl+T the next time you’re playing a song in iTunes, and VOILA! Colours, sunbursts, fireworks, rainbows galore! The first time I was Read more...

Heroes

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

Directed by Lara Macgregor | Written by Gerald Sibleyras | Translated by Tom Stoppard | Featuring Peter Hayden, Geoffrey Heath and Simon O’Connor The Fortune Theatre does a fantastic job of balancing out the programming for its seasons, making sure there’s something for everyone, and Read more...

Resident Evil 6 - PREVIEW

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Toby Hills

Resident Evil 5 was like a rousing game of impromptu beach volleyball: sand underfoot, a baking sun above, and a loyal partner by your side at all times. No matter how many prolapsed eyeballs and massive crocodiles it contained, the game had a hard time invoking fear in the bones of its players. It Read more...

Coconut Chicken

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Ines Shennan

My mother would often quip that “necessity is the mother of invention”. I vehemently hated this phrase when I was younger, mostly because it meant things weren’t going my way and a novel solution was needed. That old idiom came to mind one evening when my pantry was bereft of spices and I was Read more...

Darksiders II

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Toby Hills

Darksiders II is the The Amazing Spider-Man of the video game world: endlessly derivative, and pretty unnecessary, but undeniably effective nonetheless. It is an action-adventure, beat-em-up puzzle game with RPG and platform elements – a pick’n’mix of fundamental mechanics that everyone finds Read more...

Tik Tok

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Beaurey Chan

The first thing I heard upon entering this exhibition was “This is freaky!” (uttered by a young girl of about five or so, who was there with her mother). The second thing, which immediately followed the first, was “What the fuck is this?” (which earned the teenage speaker a dirty glare from the Read more...

Fifty Shades of Grey

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Harriet Hughes

At first, reviewing Fifty Shades of Grey was a bit exciting. I’ve never read an erotic novel before, so immediately thought OMG where are the dirty bits. However it wasn’t long before an unpleasant relationship started to develop between this book and I. Meet Anastasia Steele. She is 21 and Read more...

What is Music?

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Isaac McFarlane

Music means so many different things to so many different people. But it can also be produced in so many different forms for so many different reasons. More specifically, it can basically be split up into live music and recorded music. It should be simple, right? Make great sounds with your Read more...

Darling, Let’s go to the ballet!

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

Last week the Royal New Zealand Ballet graced our town with their TOWER Season of Cinderella, a classic story brought to life by a talented and delightful company. The creative spin on the timeless rags-to-riches love story brought a breath of fresh air to the Regent stage. Every aspect of the Read more...

Cheerful Weather for a Wedding

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Emma Scammell

Cheerful Weather for a Wedding is, ironically, not that cheerful at all. The film follows the painstakingly dull Dolly (Felicity Jones), who on her wedding day realises that she is entering a loveless marriage orchestrated by her overly possessive mother. In the lead-up to the wedding Read more...

I Wish

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Andrew Oliver

I Wish is a joyful and inspiring journey into the wonders, concerns, and childhood imaginations of two young Japanese brothers on a mission to reunite their broken family. Real-life brothers Koki and Ohshiro Maeda effortlessly play onscreen brothers Koichi and Ryunosuke, under the guidance of Read more...

Take this Waltz

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

In a world full of tacky rom-coms and second-rate vampire movies, Take This Waltz is a breath of fresh air. The film centres around Margot (Michelle Williams) and her relationships. A travel writer, Margot is growing restless in life and in her marriage of five years to Lou (Seth Rogen), a Read more...

The Bourne Legacy

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Sam McChesney

Should I even be comparing this to the first three Bourne films? It has no Matt Damon, a completely different supporting cast, and a new director (although Tony Gilroy was screenwriter for the original trilogy). The plot has nothing to do with the search for identity which animated the first three. Read more...

Step Up 4: Miami Heat

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

In the fourth installment of the Step Up franchise, we find ourselves in Miami (which means lots of bikinis and bleached hair). We meet Emily, the daughter of a wealthy property shark (Hollywood veteran Peter Gallagher), who falls for Ryan, a guy from the wrong side of the tracks. Shockingly, Ryan Read more...

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Critic

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter unsurprisingly revolves around Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. During his childhood Lincoln witnesses the death of his mother at the hands of a vampire. Nine years later, he makes the acquaintance of a man named Henry Sturgess. Henry makes a Read more...

Le Chef

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Caleb Wicks

French comedy Le Chef follows the struggles of veteran chef Alexandre (Jean Reno) and his second in command Jacky (Michael Youn) as they try to juggle home life with their love of cooking. This tricky situation is further exacerbated by the interfering son of Alexandre’s retired business partner Read more...

The Campaign

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Andrew Oliver

The Campaign pits Will Farrell against Zach Galifianakis in a vulgar, violent, and ferocious political satire that will leave Will Farrell fans laughing out loud for an one-and-a-half hours straight, and everyone else disgusted and disturbed. Will Farrell is Cam Brady, the slimy, Read more...

Braised Leeks with Sweet Lentils and Gravy

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Ines Shennan

Leeks are phenomenally cheap at the moment, and are a great flavour base for meals. Typically I would slice the whites into rounds and add them to risotto or pasta. This recipe, from spectacular food blog Sprouted Kitchen, honours the otherwise humble vegetable and makes them the protagonist of the Read more...

Tone Deaf

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Tom Tremewan

I don’t play any musical instruments. I’m uncoordinated, have short arms, and despise sucking at something I don’t have an inherent knack for. Basically, I can’t get over my fear of failing at something I love so much. This is one aspect of me, and one aspect of my relationship with music. Another Read more...

Baldur’s Gate I and II: Enhanced Editions

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Toby Hills

Developer: Overhaul Games (Bioware) Genre: Role-playing Platforms: PC, iPad, OSX, Android (tablets) Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is a satisfactorily vague title for a massive overhaul. It’s an obvious attempt to smooth out all the lumpy bumps between the two games and two expansions Read more...

Passages

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

In the past few years, Allen Hall Theatre has made a name for itself in the verbatim theatre world. Hilary Halba and Stuart Young have championed this contemporary theatre form in Otago, recently showcasing a trilogy of incredibly touching works: Gathered in Confidence, Hush, and Be | Longing. This Read more...

The Art of Fielding

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Josef Alton

The Art of Fielding reads like a wicked change-up. The pages flip fast as the narrative creeps closer to the plate, but as the crux of the novel draws near it’s difficult to judge the arch the themes arrive on. Is Chad Harbach’s debut novel about baseball or a University campus? Has he revamped Read more...