Archive

Max Payne 3

Posted 8:39pm Sunday 3rd June 2012 by Vimal Patel

I stumble into my room, which is more of a mess than a coke addict’s savings plan. Falling into the chair in front of my desk, I stare into the screen. It stares back at me with a look of pure contempt, taunting me with the question: why didn’t you like Max Payne 3? Just like the game itself, Read more...

Gnocchi Al Nonno

Posted 7:40pm Sunday 27th May 2012 by Maeve Jones

Although relatively labour intensive, homemade potato gnocchi is incredibly cheap, very rewarding and shows that with a little time you can easily make restaurant quality meals on a student budget. “Al nonno” means served in a classic Italian tomato sauce “just like grandpa used to make.” It is Read more...

Dark Shadows

Posted 7:40pm Sunday 27th May 2012 by Loulou Callister-Baker

I remember when Tim Burton brought out the new Alice in Wonderland film a few years ago – the pre-watch excitement, then the gradual slide into mediocrity which climaxed with the final, excruciatingly lame dance sequence. My expectations for Burton’s latest adventure, Dark Shadows, were low. Read more...

The Grey

Posted 7:40pm Sunday 27th May 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

In The Grey, Liam Neeson stars as yet another unlikely hero – the leader of a group of “blocky” working men who are trying to survive after their plane crashes in the middle of the icy Alaskan wilderness. If you have a fear of flying I suggest you sit this one out. The opening scenes leave little to Read more...

The Dictator

Posted 7:40pm Sunday 27th May 2012 by Critic

This is Cohen’s third appearance as the lead in a film after the hit Borat and the less successful Bruno. The movie is closer in style to Borat than Bruno, although unlike Borat the movie is fully scripted. The movie follows North African dictator Admiral General Aladeen, ruler of the state Read more...

Chinese Takeaway

Posted 7:40pm Sunday 27th May 2012 by Sam Allen

Chinese Takeaway opens with a Chinese man preparing to propose to his lover on a boat. This proposal is cut short when a cow falls from the sky and kills her. After seeing Jun (Huang Sheng Huang) thrown out of a taxi while watching aeroplanes, hardware shop owner Roberto (Ricardo Darin) Read more...

Midgets, Rap Music & Meth

Posted 7:40pm Sunday 27th May 2012 by Lukas Clark-Memler

Some cities are synonymous with a musical movement. Seattle and grunge are as inseparable as Cobain and angst. Country music would hardly exist without Nashville, or at least it would be a hell of a lot less profitable. And some would argue that rap music came ‘straight outta Compton’ (see what I Read more...

A Clockwork Orange

Posted 7:40pm Sunday 27th May 2012 by Alice McRae

The first thing you need to know about Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange is something that no-one ever told me: it’s amazing how much slang there is in the novel. Before I read it, all I knew was that it was a well-known book that had been adapted into a cult classic film with an epically named Read more...

Honey, how you thrill me

Posted 7:40pm Sunday 27th May 2012 by Beaurey Chan

Gallery De Novo, 101 Stuart Street 18 May onwards Odd curlicues, elongated vines, mysterious coiling shapes emerging out of the darkness, splatters and drips and all sorts of misted forms presented through a matte and muted colour palette… Ben Webb's exhibition is a peculiar combination of Read more...

Sir Ian McKellen on Stage

Posted 7:40pm Sunday 27th May 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

We know all too well about the damage and devastation that has hit Christchurch over the last few years. Buildings remain dilapidated, and large sections of the city are still uninhabitable. Sir Ian McKellen, who’s been in and around New Zealand for the past decade filming the Lord of the Rings Read more...

Borderlands 2

Posted 7:40pm Sunday 27th May 2012 by Toby Hills

Platform: PC, PS3, Xbox 360 Genre: Shooter, RPG Borderlands 2 ostensibly contains all the ingredients necessary for a game to be tremendous, addictive fun. It begs to be assessed on its prettiness. The first Borderlands had a tendency to litter its desert fields with identical, Read more...

(CAUC)ASIAN

Posted 7:58pm Sunday 20th May 2012 by Beaurey Chan

Lui Petti Mint Gallery, 32 Moray Place Ongoing until May 24 Did you hear about Frankenstein? No? Well, I heard he likes to stalk through cities full of high-rise buildings at night, sporting an Adidas jumper and a rope necklace, blasting tunes from the boom box. At least he does in the Read more...

White Noise

Posted 7:58pm Sunday 20th May 2012 by Josef Alton

White Noise hisses between radio stations, on the TV, between life and death. It permeates the airwaves. It’s the death knell that slips into the caverns, the subterranean passages that “distinguish words from things.” The unimaginable weight of death presses on Jack Gladney’s shoulders. He is a Read more...

French Onion Soup

Posted 7:58pm Sunday 20th May 2012 by Ines Shennan

Here we go with another recipe from the eloquent, food-loving madame that is Sophie Dahl. The soup itself has a mere four ingredients, but lacks nothing when it comes to flavour. Rich and earthy, with a gentle tang creeping through from the balsamic vinegar, it is one for the cooler nights. The Read more...

The Five Year Engagement

Posted 7:58pm Sunday 20th May 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

The Five Year Engagement opens with Tom proposing to his girlfriend Violet. As the pair start to plan their wedding, Violet is accepted into a graduate psychology program in Michigan, an offer she can’t resist. Tom selflessly drops his career and moves to Michigan to be with Violet on the agreement Read more...

Beauty and the Beast (3D)

Posted 7:58pm Sunday 20th May 2012 by Michaela Hunter

Tale as old as time… Beauty and the Beast was actually my favourite movie as kid; and now as an adult I can fully appreciate all of Disney’s racism and sexism, which is cool ... The storyline basically goes like this: Belle is a beautiful lady who likes to read books (shock, horror!) and Read more...

Two Fish ‘N’ A Scoop

Posted 7:58pm Sunday 20th May 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

May 19 - June 9 Directed By Patrick Davies Starring Hweiling Ow & Chris Parker Written By Carl Nixon Two Fish ‘N’ A Scoop began its debut in Dunedin last year as a successful Read Out Loud in the Fortune Studio. After a great audience reaction and a clear vision for the play’s Read more...

Trials Evolution

Posted 7:58pm Sunday 20th May 2012 by Toby Hills

Platform: Xbox 360 Genre: Puzzle, Racing Trials Evolution is frustrating. Not just because it’s really hard, but because the art-direction of its levels loves to poke fun at you. A Nitro Circus-inspired motocross rider can slide effortlessly along a thin girder on a partially constructed Read more...

Fabulous

Posted 7:58pm Sunday 20th May 2012 by Lauren Wootton

We’re all familiar with the rhythmic reggae dub that has sound-tracked many a Kiwi summer, known as The Black Seeds. It’s been four years since their last album and their latest release – Dust and Dirt – is a wee bit different while still being completely the same. With a slight emphasis Read more...

The Avengers

Posted 7:08pm Sunday 13th May 2012 by Nick Hornstein

Several years in the making, The Avengers concludes a long journey that Marvel began with the hit Iron Man in 2008. With such a well-orchestrated tease through the previous movies, the question remained whether the hype of The Avengers could be met. The answer to that is a gamma radiated, super Read more...

A Dangerous Method

Posted 7:08pm Sunday 13th May 2012 by Eve Duckworth

Based on the play The Talking Cure, David Cronenberg directs this drama based on the true story of the turbulent love triangle that developed between two towering intellectuals – Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) – and a troubled patient (Kiera Knightley). Seduced by Read more...

Spud

Posted 7:08pm Sunday 13th May 2012 by Emma Scammell

After some preparatory research before watching this film I discovered that the historical context of Spud was 1990s South Africa, a pivotal time for South African people. The 1990s saw the abolition of apartheid, the release of Nelson Mandela after 27 years’ imprisonment, and the birth of Read more...

The Way

Posted 7:08pm Sunday 13th May 2012 by Lulu Sandston

The Way is a fictional story about the “Way of St James” or “El Camino Santiago”, a pilgrimage from the French Pyrenees to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. The story is about Tom (Martin Sheen), an ophthalmologist who isn’t interested in seeing the world (how ironic) and Read more...

Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Posted 7:08pm Sunday 13th May 2012 by Ines Shennan

These easily prepared stuffed potatoes are the ultimate comfort food. The potatoes take at least an hour to cook, but little other preparation is required. Go Mexican and fill ’em up with chilli beans (I like the hot varieties because I’m a sucker for spice), cheese and fresh chilli. Or play it a Read more...

2012: CAPOCALYPSE

Posted 7:08pm Sunday 13th May 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

Capping Show returns this year with a strong and entertaining performance that is the talk of campus this week. Haven’t already seen it? Where have you been? With a constant flow of punchlines, crazy bright costumes and interesting sets, it’s a must-see. Aaron Mayes and Caitlin McNaughton direct the Read more...

Lovepuke

Posted 7:08pm Sunday 13th May 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

Written by Duncan Sarkies Directed by Emma Feather Shaw “We’ll make you laugh, cringe, and maybe you’ll even find that you see a little bit of yourself in the characters.” The Globe Theatre is opening its doors, surprisingly, to a new youthful crowd this month, as Duncan Sarkies’s Read more...

Fez

Posted 7:08pm Sunday 13th May 2012 by Toby Hills

Platform: Xbox 360 Genre: Puzzle It’s a fez. Fezzes are cool. In this case Gomez, the over-sized oblong-headed protagonist, is granted magical powers by a felt hat he finds in his two-dimensional pixel home. It grants him the insight to see his world in a whole new way. Gomez is a Read more...

Dragon’s Dogma

Posted 7:08pm Sunday 13th May 2012 by Toby Hills

Platform: PS3, Xbox 360 Genre: Action RPG Dragon’s Dogma has you forming a ragtag band of roguish adventurers, traversing an awesome untamed landscape and killing large fantastical beasts like griffins and chimeras as an afternoon’s work. “But wait!” you might cry, “isn’t that like every Read more...

Angels and Aristocrats

Posted 7:08pm Sunday 13th May 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

When you enter the lower galleries of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, until the end of June, you will not be able to avoid the withering stare of “Charlotte Countess Talbot”, whose eyes follow you around the room. This large piece by Thomas Gainsborough and John Hoppner takes centre stage in the Read more...

On the removal of my toenail and the music that helped me get through it

Posted 7:08pm Sunday 13th May 2012 by Lukas Clark-Memler

Last week I had my toenail removed. What started out as an ordinary ingrown nail became infected and pus-filled until my entire toe turned a disturbing shade of mauve and swelled to a rather inconvenient size. This condition made wearing shoes difficult and, since Dunedin is pretty cold this time of Read more...

Howl (an excerpt)

Posted 7:08pm Sunday 13th May 2012 by Staff Reporter

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night, Read more...

Sophie’s Granola

Posted 12:51am Monday 7th May 2012 by Ines Shennan

Critic Food this year has been centred around hearty dinners, savoury dishes and a whole lot of olive oil. So now it’s time for something a little sweeter, something to rouse the tastebuds of the sugar-lovers among you. Delving into the land of breakfast, my dream of daily poached eggs on toast with Read more...

A Good Wee Cause

Posted 12:51am Monday 7th May 2012 by Beaurey Chan

Walk into the Dunedin Community Gallery this week and you will be confronted by a large and odd assortment of some quite frankly wacky and eccentric items. Miniature glass pieces soldered together to create a curving spiral-like form constitutes one original sculpture by the window; a portrait of a Read more...

Bossypants

Posted 12:51am Monday 7th May 2012 by Feby Idrus

Oh, Miss Tina, will you marry me? Who’s this Tina, you ask? That’d be Tina Fey, former Saturday Night Live writer, 30 Rock creator, all-round comedienne and now, thanks to her debut book Bossypants, pants-splittingly funny author. Part sardonic memoir, part behind-the-scenes tour, and part Read more...

2012: Capocalypse

Posted 12:51am Monday 7th May 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace

A week-and-a-half out from Opening Night, I sat down with the co-directors of this year’s Capping Show to discuss how this year is panning out for them so far. A show this size, and which gathers such huge crowds, is always a highlight of the Uni year. But it’s also a daunting task, albeit one which Read more...

Dub FX

Posted 12:51am Monday 7th May 2012 by Lauren Wootton

“Fat beats, dirty bass lines, rap vocals and melodic vocal lines too. And I put it all together with loops. I’m multi genre.” Ben Stanford’s description of his sound sums it up in a few short adjectives; he has something for everyone. The DJ better known as Dub FX’s unique style started off Read more...

5 People to Watch Out for in 2012

Posted 12:51am Monday 7th May 2012 by Lauren Wootton

New Zealand Music Month is upon us and Isaac and I thought it was about time we made some predictions. We’ve compiled a wee list of some New Zealand artists/bands we think are going to make it big in 2012 (whether nationally or internationally), and if you haven’t heard of them already, you will Read more...

A Separation

Posted 12:51am Monday 7th May 2012 by Loulou Callister-Baker

When I think about the topic of divorce in film, I conjure up scenes of slightly comedic melodrama which only goes so far as the Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn types can take it. I had thought that divorce in film was a topic left to the cardboard world of cliché until the Oscar-winning film A Read more...

The Most Fun You Can Have Dying

Posted 12:51am Monday 7th May 2012 by Nicole Muriel

Michael (Matt Whelan) is around about your age. Like you, probably, he’d been reasonably assuming that he was at the start of his life. Now he’s got terminal cancer.  Michael’s only option is an expensive treatment that raises his chance of survival to a dismal 10%, and his town manages to Read more...

Max Payne 3

Posted 12:51am Monday 7th May 2012 by Toby Hills

Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC Developer: Rockstar Vancouver Genre: Action 3rd Person Shooter You expect an unobtainable beauty to be the protagonist in a modern videogame: A Nathan Drake type with sculpted muscles, a full head of hair that’s wavy but not-too-wavy, and a perfect coating Read more...

Homebrew’s New Drop

Posted 5:21pm Sunday 29th April 2012 by Lauren Wootton

After their gig with David Dallas and P-Money at O-Week, Home Brew have been busy recording and preparing their new album, Home Brew, touted as a debut double album conceptualised by the balance of life’s extremities. Released on May 4, it has two sides, one “dark” and the other “light”, and is Read more...

Coq au Vin

Posted 4:56pm Sunday 29th April 2012 by Ines Shennan

Arich, wine-based sauce slowly tenderises chicken drumsticks as it bubbles away with garlic, thyme, bacon and mushrooms. As you may deduct from the name, the dish is of French origin, translated as “rooster with wine”. The name has been subject to numerous “coq” jokes in our flat, a sign of the Read more...

1, 2, 3, 4

Posted 4:56pm Sunday 29th April 2012 by Beaurey Chan

So what I’ve been trying to do by writing this section this year is emphasize the burgeoning Dunedin arts culture, emphasis on burgeoning - not just cause I like that word (I really do, is the English major geek in me showing?) but because it’s so true that there’s a quietly growing arts scene here Read more...

Memories Of My Melancholy Whores

Posted 4:56pm Sunday 29th April 2012 by Louise Pearman

Memories of my Melancholy Whores is the story of an unnamed, lonely, 90-year-old man who decides to treat himself to “the gift of a night of wild love with an adolescent virgin.” He then finds liberation in his decision not to take the drugged 14-year-old’s virginity, and proceeds to fall in love Read more...

Stupid Walls

Posted 4:56pm Sunday 29th April 2012 by Danny Goodwin

Brought to you by: Stage South Next Performance : May 26 The theatre scene is back on again this week in Dunedin, bringing with it some awesome work from Read Out Loud. This series of play readings is a whole new way to experience theatre and gives some choice New Zealand work the chance Read more...

Lord of The Rings: War in the North

Posted 4:56pm Sunday 29th April 2012 by Markus Ho

Developer: Snowblind Studios Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PS3 As video game adaptations of movies go, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Lord of Rings: The Return of the King are among the best. It may have been a while ago, but nothing beats the feeling as you watch the “perfect kills” Read more...

American Pie: Reunion

Posted 4:56pm Sunday 29th April 2012 by Taryn Dryfhout

American Pie: Reunion is yet another installment in this series of films, with this one being much anticipated due to most of the original cast returning in their more adult roles. It opens with American Pie’s golden couple, Jim and Michelle, who have been married for years and have a Read more...

Mysteries of Lisbon

Posted 4:56pm Sunday 29th April 2012 by Feby Idrus

Mysteries of Lisbon is a long movie – as it should be. Based on the nineteenth-century classic Portuguese novel Os Mistérios de Lisboa, this film adaptation’s length enables the novel’s full scope to be explored – in particular its intertwining stories, multiple locations and fabulous, romantic Read more...

Tono and The Finance Company

Posted 4:56pm Sunday 29th April 2012 by Isaac McFarlane

Characters can be people who stand out from the crowd, or symbols of writing systems. They can be found in the pages of comic books and on the screens of Cartoon Network-addicted children with absent parents and televisions for babysitters. They can also be found in almost every one of Anthonie Read more...

Beef Tagine with Couscous

Posted 5:04pm Sunday 22nd April 2012 by Maeve Jones

This week we have a slightly different but incredibly delicious way to cook your cheaper cuts of meat, sure to beat all other beef stews. Tagine is a North African dish where meat is cooked slowly in various spices until it is fragrant and tender, usually in the clay pot that goes by the same name. Read more...