Archive

Sarah’s Key

Posted 11:34pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Zane Pocock

Directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner, (4/5). I haven’t read the best-selling novel by journalist Tatiana de Rosnay on which this film is based, but going by what director Gilles Paquet-Brenner has produced, my guess is that it would be well worth it. Like most Holocaust films, this will bring Read more...

Mozart’s Sister

Posted 11:26pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Nick Hornstein

Directed by René Féret, (2.5/5).   Mozart’s Sister portrays the life of Anna Maria Mozart (nicknamed “Nannerl”), who was denied a similar path to that of her younger brother, Wolfgang. In the beginning, she is still performing, though overshadowed and sidelined as Read more...

Fast Five

Posted 11:17pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Matt Chapman

Directed by Justin Lin, (3.5/5). We’ve come a long way since 2 Fast 2 Furious, and Fast Five wants to make that known. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster return for the fifth installment in the Fast and the Furious series, and Justin Lin returns as director. Yet, Lin takes a Read more...

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (3D)

Posted 11:14pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Sarah Baillie

Directed by Jon Chu, (4/5). I am not afraid to admit it; I am in love with Justin Bieber. Knowing little about the phenomenon of Bieber fever but thinking it would be hilariously awesome to go and see “the Justin Bieber movie”, I headed down to Hoyts, 3D glasses in hand. Little did I Read more...

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Posted 11:11pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Ben Blakely

Directed and written by John Cameron Mitchell. Starring: John Cameron Mitchell, Miriam Shor, Andrea Martin, Michael Pitt. Hedwig is in a bit of a slump. She’s on tour with the band the Angry Inch, but the gigs they play aren’t in flashy arenas; they are in fast food and Read more...

Style shepherds

Posted 10:13pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Eloise Callister-Baker

In New Zealand we seem to be living in the time of choice, so why do we limit our outfits to clothing that will blend into a crowd? Why do girls enjoy oversized off-the-shoulder knits with black tights; why do boys save up for their Lower jeans and black t-shirts? It seems that there is such a Read more...

Queen gives McQueen the royal seal of approval

Posted 10:10pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Mahoney Turnbull

Sarah Burton, quiet achiever of the House of McQueen; what a stunner of a dress. Make that plural sorry, dresses, even if they were curiously similar - you’d swear the latter was a refinement of the first. But when Westminster’s at stake, hell, why not? As the newest addition to the Royal Read more...

From Under the Overcoat

Posted 9:44pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Charlotte Doyle

Author: Sue Orr. Publisher : Vintage, (3/5). You are told all your life to never judge a book by its cover, but secretly everyone does. The cover of From Under the Overcoat by Sue Orr isn’t exactly the most appealing. It first gave me the impression that it would be a light-hearted, Read more...

Sacha Lauchlan: Dunedin sculptress

Posted 9:40pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Elaine Stevens

While Dunedin's art scene may attract less attention than our famous music scene, promising young graduates from the Dunedin School of Art have the potential to reverse the “underground” nature of Dunedin art. One such artist is sculptress Sacha Lauchlan, the inaugural winner of the Feldspar Award, Read more...

Critic reviews the Easter Weekender

Posted 5:02am Monday 9th May 2011 by Sam Reynolds

Warning, warning, warning; the monotonous sounds of MC Beau bounce across a wave of moving bodies, all swaying in time to the rhythmic wop wop of Nero’s beat. The crowd only stops moving for a split second to catch the Foreign Beggars MC as he jumps off a speaker; once he’s back on stage the Read more...

Mortal Kombat

Posted 4:59am Monday 9th May 2011 by Toby Hills

Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, (4/5). Some fool somewhere said that videogames couldn't possibly get any more violent. That's exactly what they said at the beginning of the twentieth century and look where we ended up. Despite the series being as old as I am, Mortal Kombat hasn't yet Read more...

Portal 2

Posted 4:57am Monday 9th May 2011 by Toby Hills

Platforms: PC, MAC, XBOX 360, Playstation 3, (5/5). I can feel it, like ten-thousand drummers marching in a cool valley miles from my ajar bedroom window. An amazonian torrent of internet memes. So many memes. But to focus on the individual moments Valve has created in Portal 2 would be to ignore Read more...

Foccacia

Posted 4:55am Monday 9th May 2011 by Niki Lomax

There’s something very satisfying about making bread from scratch. Getting dough under your fingernails is totally worth the hassle. The last time I did this was in February during the post-earthquake bread shortages. I was kneading for Christchurch, sort of. This week I decided to make some Read more...

Cafe Review - Allpress Espresso

Posted 4:53am Monday 9th May 2011 by Pippa Schaffler

12 Emily Siedeberg Place – just beside the BNZ car park, (4/5). Prices: Flat White: $4.00, Long Black: not offered on menu, Mocha: $4.50   Why I came here: A friend and I were on our way to Ombrellos but changed our minds when we saw all the people outside Allpress.   Read more...

Paul

Posted 4:47am Monday 9th May 2011 by Nell O'Dwyer-Strang

Directed by Greg Mottola, (4/5). Paul is the newest brainchild of genius comic duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, the all-round awesome guys behind the classics Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. This time, Frost and Pegg play British sci-fi nerds Clive and Graeme who are on a road trip around the United Read more...

Oceans

Posted 4:39am Monday 9th May 2011 by Tom Ainge-Roy

Directed by Jacque Perin and Jacque Cluzard, (1/5). Attenborough must be rolling in his…oh wait, he’s still alive. In that case, may he never ever, ever see Disney Nature’s most recent release Oceans; it will surely send him to an early grave.   Attempting to be a Read more...

Rio

Posted 4:37am Monday 9th May 2011 by Loulou Callister-Baker

Directed by Carlos Saldanha, (3.5/5). I opened the heavy door to the room where the sound of the commercial world was coming from. I then edged my way past rows of velvet red seats. Once I sat down, I realised there were three people in front of me. It looked like a mother with curly blonde Read more...

Scream 4

Posted 4:34am Monday 9th May 2011 by Hamish Gavin

Directed by Wes Craven, (4/5). The Scream franchise gets another outing courtesy of director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson. The requirement of staying true to the self-aware nature of the first three entries, while still providing semi-serious horror scares, while at the same time forging Read more...

World Cinema Showcase

Posted 4:32am Monday 9th May 2011 by Sarah Baillie

The World Cinema Showcase begins on the 5th May 2011, and runs until 18th May. As always, there’s a stunning range of films with over 30 screening during the fortnight at Rialto. Unfortunately, each film screens only a few times, so be sure to check out the full timetable online so as not to miss Read more...

The Room

Posted 4:29am Monday 9th May 2011 by Alec Dawson

Directed by Tommy Wiseau, (5/5). Move over Troll 2 and Plan 9 from Outer Space: The Room is the pinnacle of the so-bad-it’s-funny film. Tommy Wiseau is credited with starring in, directing, writing, producing and executive producing the film, although he’s barely done any of them well Read more...

The Last House on the Left (1972)

Posted 4:22am Monday 9th May 2011 by Hamish Gavin

Directed by Wes Craven Just like most video nasties, The Last House on the Left didn’t deserve to be banned for thirty odd years in the UK or wherever. It’s a fantastic piece of low budget horror filmmaking in which raw production values add gritty realism to a tale of rape and Read more...

Literary lust and the Blue Oyster buzz

Posted 3:51am Monday 9th May 2011 by Eloise Callister-Baker and Libby Fraser

We fashionistas are still ever so slightly affected by overtures of the iD high, which means glorious insights of “the week that was” are still steamrolling along. This week Eloise Callister-Baker shares the down low on the über cool fashion-meets-photography Blue Oyster gig while Libby Fraser Read more...

Cartoon Movement

Posted 6:19am Thursday 5th May 2011 by Sarah Maessen

Various authors. www.cartoonmovement.com (3/5). Another website you should take a look at if your bag is already too heavy to be dragging a book around is Cartoon Movement. It describes itself as “the internet's #1 publishing platform for high quality political cartoons and comic Read more...

The Essayist

Posted 6:07am Thursday 5th May 2011 by Steve French

Author: Various. http://essayist.tumblr.com/ http://thedocumentarian.tumblr.com/ (4.5/5) A lot of the writing on the internet is trash. There are only so many lists (cracked.com) or poorly written blogs (shit you come across in Stumble) you can read before you start craving a well-written Read more...

The Detainment of Al Weiwei

Posted 6:02am Thursday 5th May 2011 by Hana Aoake

Since April 3, Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has been detained by the Chinese authorities for “economic crimes”. Given his international fame and robust charisma he seemed inviolable, but perhaps that was the point of detaining him: to stamp out the idea that any individual is greater than Read more...

Preview: God of Carnage

Posted 5:55am Thursday 5th May 2011 by Jen Aitken

Written by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton, directed by Lara MacGregor. Starring: Claire Dougan, John Glass, Barbara Power and Phil Vaughan. April 29 – May 21 at the Fortune Theatre. Staged around the world to rave reviews and with a spate of awards under its belt, comedy God Read more...

Wounds to the Face

Posted 4:16am Wednesday 27th April 2011 by Clare Thomson

Directed by Jennifer Aitken, Starring Joel Rees and Hana Aoake, (3.5/5). My thoughts, as I watched scenes from Wounds to the Face, kept returning to Antonin Artaud’s precept that words should have the same significance in theatre as they do in dreams. According to the five-minute crash Read more...

FASTER THAN LIGHT

Posted 2:05am Wednesday 27th April 2011 by Isaac McFarlane

The mysterious new kid on the block The New Zealand electronic music scene is a strange beast. From the sustained success of Shapeshifter to the boom and bust of Mt Eden Dubstep, many acts flirt with excellence only to fall on the wrong side of the success-mediocrity divide. But we have a new Read more...

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Posted 11:47pm Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Toby Hills

Platforms: Windows, MAC, Linux, (4.5/5). What's the quickest route to disrupt the tension in any horror videogame, or for that matter any scary media? Top marks if you said combat, because any direct encounter with the relentlessly stalking depraved shadows immediately undermines any fear Read more...

Gobtron

Posted 11:45pm Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Toby Hills

Platforms: iPod touch, iPhone, (2.5/5). Gobtron opens by flashing up a faux-ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) rating of “I for Immature”. I ask you, what could possibly be more mature than a majestic, mountain sized, hot-pink, fluffy, rectangular pig monster, enduring Read more...

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Posted 5:42am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Sharin Shaik

I love Sunday brunch. It’s the highlight of my week. My whole week is spent searching for cool recipes that I can try out on Sunday morning. Okay, so maybe I have no life. But hey, don’t judge! Today I would like to share with you a recipe for lemon ricotta pancakes. These pancakes are so Read more...

Cafe Review - The Good Earth

Posted 5:38am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Pip Schaffler

765 Cumberland Street, across the road from St David’s Lecture Theatre, (4/5). Prices: Flat White: $4.00, Long Black: $3.50, Mocha: $4.80   Why I came here: The sun pouring through the large windows looked appealing   Atmosphere: Relaxed, contemporary, smart Read more...

Just Go With It

Posted 5:33am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Critic

Directed by Dennis Dugan, (1/5). Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison crew has been a bit hit and miss when it comes to making comedy films, their repertoire consisting of Little Nicky, Joe Dirt, Mr Deeds and of course, Grandma’s Boy. There are plenty of others, but these ones hit the mark with Read more...

Sucker Punch

Posted 5:30am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Frances Stannard

Directed by Zack Snyder, (0.5/5). A 13-year old boy’s wet dream, this movie is reminiscent of being put through the pain of watching someone play Xbox. Sure, the player is having fun but you, the spectator are not! Here’s the film’s premise: evil stepfather sends girl to a Read more...

Rio

Posted 5:28am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Loulou Callister-Baker

Directed by Carlos Saldanha (3.5/5). I opened the heavy door to the room where the sound of the commercial world was coming from. I then edged my way past rows of velvet red seats. Once I sat down, I realised there were three people in front of me. It looked like a mother with curly blonde hair Read more...

Hop

Posted 5:26am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Phoebe Harrop

Directed by Tim Hill. (3/5). In hindsight, Hop was perhaps the most ridiculous movie I’ve ever been to. Don’t get me wrong; it made for an enthralling and delightful 90 minutes. But it’s hard to take something seriously that has, as its premise, the idea that unbeknownst to Read more...

Barbarella (1968)

Posted 5:23am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Ben Blakely

Directed by Roger Vadim. Starring: Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law, Anita Pallenberg, Milo O’Shea When a film is set in 40,000 AD you know it’s going to be a treat, especially when it was made in the Sixties. With more outlandish costumes than Lady Gaga, the movie has all the fashion you Read more...

Afternoon tea with the Cooper sisters

Posted 4:28am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Libby Fraser

An iDeal location, just above Dada in Moray Chambers, the Coopers (and that's TAMSIN, not TRELISE) have a perfect partnership of lovely luxe goodies for you to scope out in the impending Easter break. Ahead of their joint showcase at the iD Fashion Week show on Friday night, designer sisters Read more...

iDiDiDiDiDiDiD you???

Posted 4:26am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Mahoney Turnbull

What a week. Fashion in full fantastic force right here in wee old Dunedin. Who would have thought we’d make it to the high-flying “People and Parties” societal pages of vogue.com.au? Thanks Damien Woolnough and your “surprisingly stylish city” concession. Damn right we are. There were fabulous Read more...

Fosterling

Posted 4:03am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Feby Idrus

Author: Emma Neale. Publisher: Vintage (3/5) Dave—there’s no such thing as yetis.” But what if there were? And how would we react? These are the questions behind Emma Neale’s new novel Fosterling. Bu, the main character, is found in a remote forest after falling and Read more...

Wicked – The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

Posted 4:01am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Stephen Fairweather

Author: Gregory Maguire. Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (5/5) When I finished reading Wicked at 2.30am the other morning, I felt like a gold seeker panning a river and finding the mother lode. Not that I suggest good novels are as rare as gold nuggets, but this book will move you in ways Read more...

She Walks in Beauty

Posted 7:09am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Jen Aitken

Created by and staring Maya Turei and Bronwyn Wallace (4.5/5) Two girls enter into a relationship with each other. One is bisexual, the other a religious heterosexual. But love is love and they have it for each other, so what do you do?   The staging for this piece was simple but Read more...

Lonely Hearts

Posted 7:07am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Jen Aitken

Created by Luke Agnew, Staring Martyn Roberts and Audrey Morgan, (4/5). Lonely Hearts took the modern day activity of chatting online and revealed, hilariously, the reality behind a chat between a 17 year old schoolgirl and a “19” year old boy (aka a 43 year old man who lives with Read more...

Forty Hour Theatre

Posted 7:02am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Jen Aitken

This week’s Lunchtime Theatre marked the birth of what will hopefully become an Allen Hall Theatre tradition; the Forty Hour Theatre competition. Submissions and proposals were called for and two winners were chosen; their challenge was to make a 15-20 minute piece of theatre in only forty hours! Read more...

Panda Bear - Tomboy

Posted 6:38am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Sam Valentine

Over the last decade Panda Bear has made quite the name for himself in the independent music scene. Between his work with Animal Collective and his solo albums Young Prayer (2004) and the critically acclaimed Person Person Pitch (2007), he has covered pop, noise, ambient and everything in between. Read more...

Bass Drum of Death – GB City

Posted 6:37am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Sam Valentine

In the running for both the best and worst band name of all time, Mississippi two-piece Bass Drum of Death (BDOD) fuse garage and pop in a haze of stoned energetic brilliance on their debut album GB City. Fitting both the musical and social aesthetics of the current American garage revival Read more...

Burial – Street Halo

Posted 6:35am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Eddie Johnston

Last month Burial, Four Tet and Thom Yorke released their incredible collaboration and, to be honest, I thought nothing would beat it in 2011. But a few weeks ago it was announced that Burial would be releasing new material and, lo and behold, I was proven wrong! The new 12” Street Halo (or Read more...

Dino Run

Posted 6:31am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Toby Hills

Platforms: MAC, PC, LINUX (3/5). Subtitled “Escape Extinction”, here is a short list of the paleontological inaccuracies in Dino Run: #1 Contrary to the lush pasture Pixeljam has created, there was no grass in the late Cretaceous period. #2 tyrannosaurus rex and triceratops were not Read more...

Cult Classic - Planescape: Torment

Posted 6:29am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Toby Hills

Platform: LINUX (5/5). The Nameless One's golden armour is not inexplicably polished to a mirrored-sheen. He does not ride into battle on a small but plucky caramel-coloured mare, trading blows with troll-bandits to heroically save the spice-merchant. He certainly does not go on rodent-killing Read more...

Moroccan Carrot Soup

Posted 6:27am Thursday 14th April 2011 by by Ines Shennan

There is nothing greater than soup. Okay, a bold claim perhaps, but soup on a dismal grey Dunedin evening in our “character-rich” but ultimately freezing flat is pretty satisfying. A favoured technique to increase our core body temperature is to lock ourselves in the kitchen (which is also our Read more...