Archive

Clive Neeson: Film Maker, Physicist, Surf Pioneer.

Posted 3:09am Monday 2nd August 2010 by Hugh Barnard

Last Paradise Director: Clive Neeson NZ IFF, Rialto Friday August 6 , 6.15 pm Saturday August 7, 5.30 pm Last Paradise is a film with perhaps the longest gestation period in New Zealand cinema: filmmaker Clive Neeson spent forty years recording images of New Zealand’s Read more...

Inception

Posted 3:06am Monday 2nd August 2010 by Nell O'Dwyer-Strang

Directed by Christopher Nolan Hoyts, Rialto (5/5) Christopher Nolan is well on his way to becoming one of the biggest and most successful directors of our time, and Inception is a shining example of his talent as a director and a story-teller. Leonardo DiCaprio heads an impressive cast Read more...

Knight and Day

Posted 3:03am Monday 2nd August 2010 by Sarah Eckhoff

Directed by James Mangold Hoyts, Rialto 3.5/5 James Mangold, director of Walk the Line and 3:10 to Yuma, pairs Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise in their second film together since Vanilla Sky. This action comedy sees Diaz playing June Havens, an incredibly girly mechanic who gets thrown in with Read more...

Religion

Posted 3:00am Monday 2nd August 2010 by Jonathan Jong

Title: Dialogues Concerning Religion Author: David Hume Publisher: Oxford University Press Title: The Miracle of Theism: Arguments For and Against the Existence of God Author: John L. Mackie Publisher: Oxford University Press   Title: The Existence of God Read more...

Still Life: The Art of Anatomy

Posted 2:56am Monday 2nd August 2010 by April Dell

DPAG Until September 12   The current exhibition at the DPAG is a novel mixture of art and science. Works from public and private local collections and the Otago Medical School are combined to present a diverse exploration of the representation of the human form from Read more...

Halo Series

Posted 12:57am Monday 26th July 2010 by Ethan Khalsa

Platforms: XBox, XBox 360 2/5 Halo, the first game available exclusively for the XBox, was seen as revolutionary. Game reviewers said it implemented features that had never been seen in first person shooters (FPS) before. These reviewers must have had their heads up their arses for Read more...

Jizo

Posted 12:51am Monday 26th July 2010 by Tien-Yi Toh

56 Princes Street Jizo has, hands down, the best teriyaki chicken sushi that I've ever tasted. When I first tasted Jizo’s ‘original teriyaki chicken’ sushi, they were delectably warm and absolutely melted in my mouth. What immediately struck me was that the teriyaki chicken Read more...

Glass Vaults - Glass EP

Posted 12:47am Monday 26th July 2010 by Daniel Alexander

Sonorous Circle 4/5 I had listened to the first track from Wellington duo Glass Vaults’ (Richard Larsen and Rowan Pierce) debut EP a number of times in the past few weeks, for no apparent reason, but I had yet to progress onto the rest of the album. My loss. The opening track 'They Read more...

Ash and the Matadors - The Mansion Tapes

Posted 12:45am Monday 26th July 2010 by Bevan Mead

Self Released (2.5/5) With the Matadors' opening moments of unconstrained leads and tasteful guitar fuzz you can’t help but reminisce on the ear-bleeding country of grunge-era Dinosaur Jr. Opening track ‘The Ballad of Cobh’ not only shines above the rest with valid hooks Read more...

FATANGRYMAN - S/T

Posted 12:42am Monday 26th July 2010 by Joe Can’t

Muzai Records 4.5/5 As much as I went off at Nick Fulton for his blog post (einsteinmusicjournal.co.nz), I do actually agree that Fatangryman are, at times, a bit unimpressive as a live act. Their apparent lack of technical ability occasionally mars what could be excellent songs and it's as Read more...

Interview with Jason Stutter

Posted 12:39am Monday 26th July 2010 by Max Segal

Director Jason Stutter’s newest film Predicament screened at the opening night of the New Zealand International Film Festival. He has also directed Diagnosis Death (2009) as well as short films such as Careful With That Axe. Predicament will be released in theatres on August 26.   Read more...

Interview with Briar March

Posted 12:38am Monday 26th July 2010 by Max Segal

Briar March is the director of There Once Was An Island, SICK Wid It (Homegrown: Dance Films), and Michael and His Dragon (Homegrown: Quirky Stories). Tell me about There Once Was An Island. It's about an island called Takuu, and about their situation following three islanders as they Read more...

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Posted 12:34am Monday 26th July 2010 by Nell O'Dwyer-Strang

Directed by David Slade Screening at Hoyt's, Rialto 2.5/5   The Twilight Saga divides people. Some love it, some hate it. I find myself between the two extremes, and both enjoyed and despised Eclipse. Once again we join human Bella (Kristen Stewart) her werewolf bff Jacob (Taylor Read more...

Relax and Grow Rich: How to Live a Successful, Satisfying and Sustaining Life

Posted 12:24am Monday 26th July 2010 by Kathy Young

Authors: Mike Hutcheson & Claire Wadey Publisher: Harper Collins 1/5 This book is not about getting rich in a practical sense, and the ‘relax’ aspect is certainly not in relation to what you would do as you bank the bucks from passive income. Relax and Grow Rich spends 280 Read more...

QI: The Book of General Ignorance (The Noticeably Stouter Edition)

Posted 12:22am Monday 26th July 2010 by Marie Hodgkinson

Authors: John Lloyd and John Mitchinson Publisher: Faber and Faber 4/5 QI (Quite Interesting), now in its seventh series, is a panel quiz show with a twist. The “bantermeister” guests, most of whom you’ll be familiar with if you’re a fan of British comedy, attempt Read more...

Economics for Everyone: A Short Guide to the Economics of Capitalism

Posted 12:18am Monday 26th July 2010 by Sue Hui Ong

Author: Jim Stanford Publisher: Pluto Press 4/5 Let’s be honest: reading about economics is not really my idea of a leisurely Sunday afternoon activity. However, in an attempt to expand my horizons, I picked up Economics for Everyone: a Short Guide to the Economics of Read more...

Do Llamas Fall in Love?

Posted 12:14am Monday 26th July 2010 by Jonathan Jong

Author: Peter Cave Publisher: One World 4/5   There’s been a spate of these popular philosophy books recently. I guess it was just a matter of time before philosophers capitalised on this phenomenon. It makes me wonder, though, if the market for popular philosophy and popular Read more...

Nigel Bunn and P. F. Pieters - Media Povera

Posted 12:11am Monday 26th July 2010 by April Dell

Blue Oyster Gallery Until August 7 The works of seven artists currently on show at the Blue Oyster explore alternative yet ever-increasingly familiar artistic media, such as audio, film, transmission, and appropriation of ‘expired’ technology and art methods. The show Read more...

Romeo and Juliet

Posted 1:05am Monday 19th July 2010 by Jen Aitken

Written by William Shakespeare Directed by Samuel Irwin Starring Angus McBryde, Abby Howells, Finn Sigglekow, Miriam Noonan, Alex Wilson, and Jacob McDowell Allen Hall Lunchtime Theatre 4/5 Six actors, all alike in distinction,  In fair Allen Hall, where they lay their Read more...

Generation Kill

Posted 12:54am Monday 19th July 2010 by Paul McMillan

TV ONE 8.30pm Monday 4/5 Like most of you, I try not to turn over to Channel One lest a cloud of depression in the form of Coronation Street or some other retirement-home-friendly drivel descend on me and make me feeble and old before my time. But recently, I have to say these guys have Read more...

ARTISAN GUNS

Posted 12:43am Monday 19th July 2010 by Sam Valentine

Formed in its members’ final years of high school, Auckland quartet Artisan Guns has achieved much in its short existence. Now with two EP’s behind them (their debut effort Bird & Bone and the excellent new Hearts), the band has also been recently nominated for an APRA Silver Scroll award. Critic Read more...

Tono And The Finance Company - Fragile Thing EP

Posted 12:35am Monday 19th July 2010 by Adrian Ng

Self-Released 4/5 Ditching the economic themes prominent in the songwriting of his previous release (Love and Economics), Tono presses on, not forgetting to bring his wit and dry sense of humour to this new set of tunes. Lyrically this latest effort excels, with Tono proving to be Read more...

Mass Effect Series

Posted 12:29am Monday 19th July 2010 by Damien Khalsa

Platforms: PC and Xbox360 4.5/5 I am not a huge fan of role -playing games. I've played around with them; however, I've rarely gotten really excited by one. I got the first Mass Effect because my brother was interested in it, and only started playing it because I was bored and out of Read more...

Americans In Paris: Life and Death under Nazi Occupation 1940-1944

Posted 12:21am Monday 19th July 2010 by Anne Ford

Author: Charles Glass Publisher: HarperPress 3.5/5   “What would I have done as an American in Paris under Nazi occupation during World War II?” This was the question that led veteran war correspondent Charles Glass to research the different responses of fellow Read more...

Maps and Legends

Posted 12:16am Monday 19th July 2010 by Charles Nell

Author: Michael Chabon Publisher: Fourth Estate 3/5 Maps and Legends weaves a delicate and very personal group of essays into a book extolling the virtues of reading and writing. Michael Chabon is a bestselling author of novels and short stories; he won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for Read more...

The Naked Chef and Jamie Does...

Posted 12:14am Monday 19th July 2010 by Jonathan Jong

Author: Jamie Oliver Publisher: Penguin The Naked Chef: 5/5 and Jamie Does...: 3/5   Like most graduate students, I used to live on ramen and coffee. Or KFC and Red Bull. Pick your high-sodium, high-caffeine combo of choice. It was quick and convenient, and it freed up cash Read more...

Alicia Frankovich - Effigies

Posted 12:09am Monday 19th July 2010 by April Dell

DPAG Until September 19   Effigies is a sculptural installation by New Zealand-born artist Alicia Frankovich which is currently on show at the DPAG. This new work comprises six subtly interacting sculptural pieces that display the artist’s interest in re-contextualising Read more...

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Posted 12:22am Monday 12th July 2010 by Paul McMillan

Comedy Central SKY Channel 10 7:30pm (5/5) Welcome to a new section in the illustrious Critic: a section entirely dedicated to reviewing the televisual! We’re going to take recent events, programmes – practically anything compelling or disturbing from the television world Read more...

Semester One: what can we learn?

Posted 12:09am Monday 12th July 2010 by Jen Aitken

Looking back at Semester One, I thought I would offer my thoughts regarding what works and what doesn’t really work so well when it comes to directing/producing/devising a Lunctime Theatre performance. 1) Keep it simple and clean! LTT is only a 40-minute show, so keep things tidy and sharp and Read more...

Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (II)

Posted 11:40pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Hope Robertson

Last Gang Records (5/5) I tried to put this album on while playing Settlers of Catan only to be met with protests from a friend about not wanting to be "drowned in a sea of hipsterness." Well whatever. If really enjoying Crystal Castles makes me a hipster 4 lyf, superglue my skinnies to Read more...

The New Pornographers - Together

Posted 11:38pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Hope Robertson

Matador Records (3/5) This album, the fifth for indie supergroup The New Pornographers, picks up where 2007’s Challengers left off, with that clean production that comes with an album rich in strings, horns, and a well shared-out balance in the vocal duties department.  First Read more...

Demon's Souls

Posted 11:26pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Damien Khalsa

Platforms: PS3 Demon's Souls is an intriguing and inspired roleplaying game. It replaces the more traditional D&D roleplaying with something more akin to an MMORPG (non-geeks, this means 'massively multiplayer online role-playing game', durh). It combines this with an excellent combat Read more...

Amreeka

Posted 11:22pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Sarah Baillie

Directed Cherien Dabis Rialto 4/5)     I is a film about a Palestinian mother and son trying to adapt to life in post-9/11 America, where every Arabic person is suspiciously viewed as a potential terrorist. Muna is a middle-aged divorcee living in the West Bank with her Read more...

Micmacs (2009)

Posted 11:21pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Daniel Hunter

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet Rialto (4/5)     I've never been to Paris, and Micmacs does nothing to disprove my theory that the city is laden with visual splendour which could have only been designed by some sort of film-set deity. Alongside the grimily beautiful Read more...

Toy Story 3

Posted 11:19pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Nicole Muriel

Directed by Lee Unkrich Hoyts, Rialto (4.5/5) The great thing about Toy Story 3 is that its makers haven’t succumbed to laziness. Buzz (Tim Allen), Woody (Tom Hanks), and the other toys retain their loveable personalities without being reduced to caricatures; the world hasn’t Read more...

Classic Film Review: Scarfies (1999)

Posted 11:08pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Max Segal

Directed Robert Sarkies (4/5)       Scarfies takes us back in time to the Dunedin of our slightly older siblings or cousins, one decade in the past. How much does Sarkies' stoner-comedy interpretation of the Dunedin uni-culture ring true for today's audiences?  Read more...

Out of Captivity

Posted 10:40pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Kate Macey

Authors: Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, Tom Howes, Gary Brozek Publisher: HarperCollins (3.5/5) Out of Captivity is, as the title kindly spells out, a book about captivity. More specifically it details the capture, five-and-a-half years of imprisonment within the Colombian jungle, and Read more...

Making a World of Difference: Inspiring Stories of the World's Unsung Heroes

Posted 10:39pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Anna Star

Author: Miles Roston Publisher: Esisle Publishing Ltd ( 4/5)     This book is a collection of stories that profile characters from diverse backgrounds and geographical contexts who are using their individual abilities to make positive change. The book attempts to Read more...

A Soldier’s Tale

Posted 10:38pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Anne Ford

Author: M. K. Joseph Publisher: HarperCollins (4.5/5) Set during the Allied liberation of Normandy in World War II, the story follows a British sergeant, Saul, who stumbles upon a French girl, Belle, in a small country village. Belle is about to be murdered by the French Resistance for Read more...

Copernicus, Darwin, & Freud: Revolutions in the History and Philosophy of Science.

Posted 10:37pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Jonathan Jong

Author: Friedel Weinert Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell (4/5) In less than 300 pages, Professor Weinert pulls off the impressive feat of re-telling the story of three major chapters in the histories of astronomy, biology, and psychology, while also discussing the implications these Read more...

Seraphine Pick

Posted 10:36pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Hana Aoake

DPAG Until 26 September The Seraphine Pick exhibition at the DPAG requires the viewer to become a detective scouring through the large-scale survey of works to find threads of cohesive meaning or narrative.  Seraphine Pick is one of New Zealand’s most revered painters. Read more...

What is... X Factor?

Posted 10:16pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Simon Wallace

A Review of Battle of the Bands The atmosphere was kinetic for so early in the evening. Maybe it was the collective nerves, band members tense about not only their own performance, but what the competition would bring. Maybe it was the alcohol. Together, it elicited a potent mix of frenetic Read more...

Black Keys - Brothers

Posted 10:15pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Gearoid O'Sullivan

Nonesuch (4.5) I must confess, I wasn't familiar with the Black Keys’ sound prior to picking up this album, only recognising them by name. What a pleasant surprise it was. Apparently this is the sixth album by  talented duo Dan Auerbach (vocals, guitars) and Patrick Carney Read more...

Alan Wake

Posted 10:07pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Ashley Lavin

Xbox360 Exclusive (4/5) Alan Wake is an art game for men. Unlike Flower or Braid this game features amazing cinematics, menacing Darkness monsters (à la the Heartless and Nobodies in Kingdom Hearts) and without a doubt the best storyline for a game I have played this year. You Read more...

2010 Banff Mountain Film Festival

Posted 10:02pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Max Segal

Multiple Directors (4/5)     This year’s Banff Mountain Film Festival featured 12 adrenaline-pumping short films showcasing a variety of mountain and adventure sports. They might as well call this the “Is he gonna die? Film Festival” because that seemed Read more...

Sex and the City 2

Posted 9:56pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Nicole Muriel

Directed by Michael Patrick King (1/5) We return to the sparkling lives of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte two years after the previous film was set. Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) is still married to Mr. Big, as are Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) to their Read more...

Genova

Posted 9:54pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Max Segal

Directed by Michael Winterbottom (3.5/5) Colin Firth stars in Genova as Joe, a man whose wife has recently died in a car accident, leaving him alone to raise his two daughters, Mary (Perla Haney-Jardine) and Kelly (Willa Holland). They temporarily move from Chicago to Genova, Italy, as Joe Read more...

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Posted 9:53pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Aleksandar Vuckovic

Directed by Mike Newell (2.5/5)     It is a cursed Hollywood trend that video-game-to-movie adaptations simply don’t work. Hitman, Farcry, and Max Payne are evidence of this. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is the newest adaptation to hit the big screen and Read more...

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future

Posted 9:12pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Kathy Young

Author: Michael J. Fox Publisher: Hachette (1/5) In a brief 100 pages, Michael J. Fox tells his tale of how to be successful as a high school drop-out. Instead of a college education, Fox got life experience, which is just as well given his confession that he would have been loathe to Read more...

The Secret Speech

Posted 9:05pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by James Yap

Author: Tom Rob Smith Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (4/5) The Secret Speech is a crime fiction novel by the author of the acclaimed Child 44. In this sequel, we follow the tortured soul of Leo Demidov as he tries to atone for his crimes as a secret policeman under Stalin’s Read more...