Archive

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...

Bait

Posted 9:03pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Sue Hui Ong

Author: Nick Brownlee Publisher: Piatkus (5/5) From the opening chapter of Bait, I knew that it was definitely a guy’s kind of book. There’s nothing like a gruesome killing and a colossal explosion to raise testosterone levels, and Nick Brownlee sure sets the pace in this, Read more...

Get Knotted

Posted 8:52pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Kathy Young

Author: Michelle Holman Publisher: HarperCollins (2/5) Get Knotted is the story of how Danny falls in love with her twin sister’s American partner’s brother. The twin is dead (she had breast cancer), and so is her partner, Patrick (he drowned). This leaves Danny trying to Read more...

James Bellaney - Natural Landscapes

Posted 8:42pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Hana Aoake

None Gallery James Bellaney’s performance-based art exhibition at None Gallery uncovered the unconscious element of Bellaney’s creative process. Bellaney is a fourth-year Painting student at the Dunedin School of Art and this was his first solo exhibition. This exhibition is Read more...

Ltt Review: Voyager VI

Posted 8:30pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Jen Aitken

Directed by Jimmy Currin Devised and starring THEA152 Semester One students (2/5)     This Voyager installation was ambitious and inventive. This stream of THEA 152 students – approximately 25 people, I am going to guess – staged the murder trial of the Read more...

Review: The 39 Steps

Posted 8:29pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Jen Aitken

Adapted by Patrick Barlow Directed by Hilary Norris Starring Patrick Davies, Anna Henare, Mark Neilson, and Danny Still Fortune Theatre Mainstage (4/5)     “They don’t give up, they damn well keep going.” – Richard Hannay  The 39 Read more...

The Outsiders - The Words Will Write Themselves

Posted 8:10pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by James Barlien

Wellington-based band The Outsiders have been touring relentlessly for their debut album, These Words Will Write Themselves. Live, these songs are fast paced, catchy, and more than anything, fantastic to listen to. Unfortunately, they do not have the same effect on the album. The album is Read more...

Fornax Chemica - Chemical Furnace

Posted 8:09pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Walker MacMurdo

Universal (1/5)   The phrase “strictly better” is used in some strategy games to describe when one move, choice, or play is better than another in any given circumstance. It isn’t often used in reviews. The notion of a book, movie, or song always being better Read more...

Fat Freddy's – fucking shit up.

Posted 8:08pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Simon Wallace

With a vibrancy befitting his cartoon alter ego, Hopepa warmed up the small alcove we were forced under by the rain in a way only someone living their dream can. Having been drawn into the fold of Fat Freddy's Drop only months after their inception, his bad ho jelly-roll dance moves and loose Read more...

Red Dead Redemption

Posted 8:02pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Ethan Khalsa

Platforms: PS3 and XBox 360     Red Dead Redemption is a game set in the Old West of the United States. It is a truly epic game produced by Rockstar, the same company that made the Grand Theft Auto games. The story takes place in an open world sandbox environment, and Read more...

Letters To Juliet

Posted 8:00pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Nicole Muriel

Directed by Gary Winnick (2.5/5) In Letters to Juliet, an interesting premise leads to a uninteresting rom-com. Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is an aspiring journalist. She and her fiancé, Viktor, travel to Verona together. But the trip isn’t as romantic as she’d hoped: Viktor Read more...

Paper Heart

Posted 7:59pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Sarah Baillie

Directed by Nick Jasenovic (4/5) Charlyne Li (comedienne/actress/musician) doesn’t believe in love. She has never been in love, and thinks she probably never will be. To see what she is missing out on, she sets out on a trip across the U.S. with director Nick Jasenovic to make a Read more...

The Rehearsal

Posted 7:47pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Henry Feltham

Author: Elanor Catton (4.5)     Victoria University Press does a strong line in novels written by photogenic dark-haired young women with fringes. The majority are graduates of Victoria University's creative writing program. I struggle to tell a lot of these woman apart, and Read more...

What Darwin Got Wrong

Posted 7:46pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Jonathan Jong

uthors: Jerry Fodor and Massimo Piattelli-Parmarini Publisher: Profile (3/5)     Let’s get this straight: Fodor and Piattelli-Parmarini (F&PP) are not creationists; they are atheists through and through. They don’t deny that species are descended from Read more...

COLIN MCCAHON

Posted 7:44pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Hana Aoake

Brett McDowell Gallery     The Colin McCahon exhibition at the Brett McDowell Gallery is a visually startling and emotionally evocative experience. Colin McCahon is regarded as one of New Zealand's greatest painters of the 20th century and he continues to have influence over a Read more...

LTT Review: Mind Under

Posted 4:22pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Jen Aitken

Written by Kiri Beeching Directed by Richard Huber Staring Kiri Beeching and Richard Huber (3/5) This debut performance (a debut for both the play and the playwright) of Mind Under was bold and exciting, the exact kind of experimentation Lunchtime Theatre should be used Read more...

Preview: The 39 Steps

Posted 4:21pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Jen Aitken

Adapted by Patrick Barlow Original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon Directed by Hilary Norris Starring Patrick Davies, Anna Henare, Mark Neilson and Danny Still Fortune Theatre Mainstage May 21 – June 12 A supremely funny spoof of Alfred Hitchcock's classic movie, Read more...

DUDSTOWN RUN THIS

Posted 4:07pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Simon Wallace

Booof speaks with Beau about, like, MCing and shit. Your role in the nightlife and musical culture of Dunedin is long and involved – how did you get started? Damn, you're making me feel like an oldie! I first got into free-styling by mucking around and having fun. I listened to Read more...

The Outsiders - The Words Will Write Themselves

Posted 4:07pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Simon Wallace

Universal Wellington-based band The Outsiders have been touring relentlessly for their debut album, These Words Will Write Themselves. Live, these songs are fast paced, catchy, and more than anything, fantastic to listen to. Unfortunately, they do not have the same effect on the album. Read more...

MMORPGs

Posted 4:01pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Ethan Khalsa

Platform: PC     There are a great many MMORGS around these days. For those of you who don’t psoeak nerd, that’s ‘Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games’. These are games like Ever Quest, Dark Age of Camelot, and World of Warcraft. It’s that Read more...

Every Jack Has a Jill

Posted 3:57pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Sarah Baillie

Directed by Jennifer Devoldere (3/5)   Starring the beautiful Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) and Justin Bartha (The Hangover), Every Jack Has a Jill (Jusqu’à Toi) is a sweet, better-than- -average romantic comedy. Chloé (Laurent) is a slightly Read more...

The Choir

Posted 3:56pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Sarah Baillie

Directed Michael Davie (5/5) Filmed at one of South Africa’s most dangerous prisons, The Choir is a documentary that gives incredible insight into the lives of prisoners. The main subject of the film is 19-year-old Jabulani, who has been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment Read more...

Up in the Air.

Posted 3:47pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Sue Hui Ong

Author: Walter Kirn Publisher: John Murray Rating: 3/5 Up in the Air. Now a major motion picture. What a great way to get someone to read your book. From the trailers, I envisaged the book would be about some hot-shot sweet talker whose entire job consisted of travelling the vastness of Read more...

The Wives of Henry Oades.

Posted 3:46pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Sue Hui Ong

Author: Johanna Moran Publisher: Harper Press (5/5) The Wives of Henry Oades is Johanna Moran’s debut novel, and not a bad one to kick off a writing career either. Set in the 1890s, it follows the tale of Henry Oades as he uproots his family from England to Wellington, New Read more...

King Lear.

Posted 3:45pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Sarah Maessen

Author: Gareth Hinds Publisher: Candlewick Press (4/5) Gareth Hinds’ graphic novel adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear bridges the gap between prose and performance with seductive, original artwork. The famous tragedy follows King Lear’s descent into madness after his Read more...

Dead White Men & Other Important People: Sociology’s Big Ideas.

Posted 3:45pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Jonathan Jong

uthors: Ralph Fevre and Angus Bancroft Publisher: Palgrave (3.5/5) Dead White Men is sociology’s answer to Jostein Gaardner’s Sophie’s World, but it’s not quite as good. As in Sophie’s World, Fevre and Bancroft attempt to introduce the big ideas of their Read more...

Beloved: Works from the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.

Posted 3:43pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by April Dell

DPAG Until October 30 2011 So Critic finally got around to seeing Beloved at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, a large and diverse exhibition commemorating the gallery’s 125th anniversary. The show flaunts the gallery’s permanent collection and celebrates six centuries of art from Read more...

Review: The Capping Show 2010, Alice in Cappingland.

Posted 3:29pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Erica Newlands

Directed by: Thom Adams, Alex Wilson, and Dianne Pulham (3/5) I am always in awe of the people who commit to a performance event of this scale in conjunction with full-time study. As a ‘Capping Show’ Alice in Cappingland ticked all the right boxes; however, I personally Read more...

LTT Review: Cicadas.

Posted 3:28pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Jen Aitken

Written by Rick Han Performed by Simon O’Connor Co-directed by Clare Adams and Hilary Halba (5/5) As a reviewer, I feel responsible to respond to this show with the same poetic quality that Theatre Studies student Rick Han presents in his script. This, however, is an unattainable Read more...

Caribou - Swim

Posted 3:11pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Simon Wallace

Merge 2010 (4/5)     Diving headfirst into a wash of haze and colour, Caribou's new album Swim envelops the listener instantly. Dan Snaith seems more focused musically than he has since his debut as Manitoba at the turn of the century, as he steers the opening track Read more...

Supermodel

Posted 3:10pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Ellis Bell May

“I'm definitely at one with myself when I'm singing,” says Mark Hanify, the lead singer of orthodox Wellington rock band Supermodel. “I'm in the moment, it's like when you're in deep meditation; it's the same kind of feeling. You're in that higher level of awareness, and because I'm Read more...

Motion Controller Movement

Posted 3:05pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Ethan Khalsa

Platforms: Wii (coming out for PS3 and Xbox 360) The Wii Remote catalysed the development of motion controllers for all major console manufacturers. While swinging the remote around is fun, the question remains: is this a good move for the gaming community? Currently, the Wii and PS3 Read more...

Robin Hood

Posted 3:04pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Alecks Vuckovic

Directed by Ridley Scott Rating: 3/5 Forget everything you might know about the original Robin Hood. There are no men prancing merrily around in a forest sporting tights to match the trees or stealing gold from the rich and giving it to the poor. Robin Hood no longer looks like a grown-up Read more...

The Blind Side

Posted 3:03pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Max Segal

Directed by John Lee Hancock (1/5) The Blind Side is the latest instalment in the long-running narrative that is the myth of white supremacy. Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) is a wealthy, conservative mother of two who takes black teenager Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) into her Read more...

The Secret In Their Eyes

Posted 3:03pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Sarah Baillie

Directed by Juan Jose Campanella (3.5/5) The Secret In Their Eyes (El Secreto de sus Ojos) is a riveting murder mystery of the highest order. The film follows Benjamin Esposito, a recently retired federal justice agent. Benjamin is still kept awake at night by an investigation he was Read more...

New York, I Love You

Posted 3:02pm Sunday 11th July 2010 by Nicole Muriel

Directors: Multiple (2/5)     Emmanuel Benbihy, who produced Paris, Je T’aime, has again arranged an anthology of love stories with ten different directors. Each short was made in just over a week. This film has a stellar cast, including Natalie Portman and Shia Read more...