Archive

Go Get Your Bits Wet

Posted 5:33pm Saturday 5th May 2018 by Alex Halifax

I’ve masturbated for as long as I can remember. I honestly cannot think of a start date. I used to lie in bed at night and think I had an addiction. I would swear to myself, every time I slept with my soft toys, I wouldn’t do it. Because there was no way I could possibly subject them to Read more...

Poem

Posted 4:17pm Saturday 5th May 2018 by A.M.

Wednesday’s child grew from the earth fully formed and raw, tiny fingers curled into palms until perfect nails tore away ribbons of skin. she was a beer-drinker’s daughter and another father’s burden and then, layered in sunscreen, he named the mountains and rivers for Read more...

A Close Look at Annemieke Ytsma and Underground Sundae

Posted 2:18am Monday 30th April 2018 by Paul Whiley

DIY jewellery brand, Underground Sundae, which originated right here in Dunedin, produces alternative and stylish pendants, rings, necklaces and earrings. The brand has been developing a cult following over the past few years, and making waves around the world. Transcending beyond mere trinkets, the Read more...

Charlotte Goodyear, Dunedin's ID Fashion Week's first openly trans model

Posted 2:14am Monday 30th April 2018 by Victoria Ransom

Upon first glance, Charlotte Goodyear appears to be your typical model. She’s a tall blonde with big brown eyes who walks with self-confidence. It’s hard to believe that there was once a time when she was very unsure of herself. Charlotte has had to face many obstacles to become the Read more...

Where Does Stew End and Curry Begin?

Posted 8:11pm Thursday 19th April 2018 by Gordon Oliver

When you reach a certain age you begin to ponder the deeper, more meaningful questions in life. If you have some semblance of intelligence you will be able to work out what question I will be discussing from the title.   Encyclopedia Britannica defines stew as a “dish of meat, poultry, Read more...

Sexy Garfield: The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Posted 11:36pm Thursday 12th April 2018 by Critic

Hi Critic, in light of the recent light shined on the Sexy Garfield piece, I think it's time to come clean. Last year my friends and I nabbed 140 Critics from around Uni and covered my friend’s (now flatmate’s) room with them. He was out at football, and came back to a sexy pink Read more...

Introducing Paul Williams: Guy Williams’ Young, Better Brother

Posted 10:52pm Thursday 12th April 2018 by Joel MacManus

“I wrote this song on some software that I stole when I was 17 I thought that it might get me somewhere I'm still nowhere and I'm 23”   Paul Williams isn’t a household name yet. Maybe he will be soon, but for now all you need to know is that he’s Guy Read more...

Indi: Life After Doprah

Posted 10:42pm Thursday 12th April 2018 by Jessica Thompson

Stumbling into the bathroom of the Cook a few weeks ago, I encountered a small woman dressed artistically in shreds of white material, holding a crown. It was like a scene from a dream, and I was prepared for her to say something incredibly prophetic to me, when I realised it was Indi, the performer Read more...

Fuck Little Dicky

Posted 10:15pm Thursday 12th April 2018 by Callum Doyle

That is all. But seriously, Lil Dicky is one of the worst things to happen to hip hop since Vanilla Ice, and at least Vanilla Ice got hung out of a balcony by his ankles, which, let’s be honest, he absolutely deserved. If you’re lucky, right now you’ll be thinking, who is Lil Read more...

Dick and Jane Get Busy

Posted 10:13pm Thursday 12th April 2018 by Lyndon

Editor’s Note: This poem was originally published in Critic in the year of the Lord AD 2002. The notable thing about 2002 (apart from the release of The Wild Thornberrys Movie) is that the Critic Editor that year was Patrick Crewdson, who is now the Editor-in-Chief of Stuff. He is a real Read more...

Report: Most Snapchat Groups Are Just Hungover Dudes Talking About How Hungover They Are

Posted 5:39pm Saturday 7th April 2018 by A Scarfie

According to figures released by Snap Inc, upwards of 80% of male Snapchat group conversations are just dudes lying in bed dying of alcohol poisoning the night after they all got drunk together. Among the most common captions were “one massive pile of dust,” “fuck that was a big Read more...

The Man Behind the Mural

Posted 10:26pm Thursday 5th April 2018 by Waveney Russ

Artist Tyler Kennedy Stent had the privilege of becoming the ODT flavour of the week, as criticism regarding the appropriate distribution of taxpayer funds to pay for an Ed Sheeran memorial absorbed front page headlines. The mural, immortalising the pop star’s visit to the city during the Read more...

The Shambles: Our Energy Is Not Manufactured

Posted 10:24pm Thursday 5th April 2018 by Esme Hall

Ask The Shambles “how was your summer?” and whatever you did will be put to shame. From December to February the Dunedin-grown band road-tripped the length of the country, rocking the socks off audiences and accepting gifts of corn as they went. Critic caught up with front man Max Gunn a Read more...

Video Game Review: Tinder

Posted 10:23pm Thursday 5th April 2018 by Lisa Blakie

I don’t like Tinder very much because I’m a sensitive baby. I’ve dabbled, but mostly found it an uncomfortable experience. Something about the instant chatting making you reveal more about yourself to hold the other person’s attention, mixed with putting the best version of Read more...

Critic interviews Dizzee Rascal

Posted 9:32pm Thursday 22nd March 2018 by Jamie Green

UK Hip Hop superstar Dizzee Rascal arrived on New Zealand’s shores in February for Splore festial in Tapapakane Park, Orere Point. Jamie Green caught up with him before the show.   What are your greatest memories of NZ? Just really positive people that really know the music Read more...

Video Game Review: Getting Over It, With Bennett Foddy

Posted 9:28pm Thursday 22nd March 2018 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: 🤔 / 5 “Why are you bothering to play this game?” Geoffrey the gaming gorilla said to me. “Isn’t it obvious that – especially for a game that has exclusively stolen assets – you’re not supposed to want to play this? Is irony completely Read more...

Sitting with Christian Tucker - Dunedin’s answer to Chance the Rapper

Posted 9:12pm Thursday 22nd March 2018 by Zoe Taptiklis

Christian Tucker is Dunedin’s answer to Chance the Rapper. That may seem like a radical claim, but the production quality, the lyrics and the performance on Tucker’s new album “Intro to Orange” leaves little to be asked for. The local poet performs weekly at the Dog With Two Read more...

Women You Should Know | Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Posted 10:46pm Thursday 15th March 2018 by Jessica Thompson

So a few months ago my flatmate started watching this mini-series on Netflix called “Juana Inés,” about a badass babe from San Miguel Nepantia, New Spain, with a serious flair for poetry and a habit for calling misogynistic men OUT. Imagine my glee when I turned to Google and Read more...

Top Ten Tinder Tips for Tenacious Titillation

Posted 10:37pm Thursday 15th March 2018 by

As a certified Tinder veteran, you better believe I have some stories. What’s better than some unwarranted advice? Take it from me, because I certainly wish someone had given me this list when I was a Tinder novice. Follow these tried and tested tips and soon you may hit the jackpot and get Read more...

Pole Dancing: Like Dancing, but on a Pole

Posted 9:49pm Thursday 15th March 2018 by Joel MacManus

“You guys are sissies. I guess that’s why guys don’t give birth.” Valerie from “Pole With Val” pole dancing studio has no pity for our complaints of skin burn. “Sometimes it burns, but that’s life.” Val is a postgraduate student who has been Read more...

L.A.B – The New Kings of Kiwi Reggae

Posted 9:46pm Thursday 15th March 2018 by Joel MacManus

L.A.B. is a supergroup with about as much pedigree as it’s possible to have in the New Zealand music scene. Combining the legendary Kora brothers Brad (drums) and Stu (guitar, keyboard), with Ara Adams-Tamatea of Katchafire on bass, and young talent Joel Shadbolt on lead vocals and guitar, Read more...

Library Lust

Posted 9:39pm Thursday 15th March 2018 by Emma Lindblom

I could feel his eyes on me. Glancing over, again and again, thinking that I wouldn’t notice. Or, thinking that I would. “Look, neither of us are getting any study done if you keep staring at me like that.” He huffed, and lay his head down on the table, staring up at me. His Read more...

Arcade Theatre hits all the right buttons

Posted 9:37pm Thursday 15th March 2018 by Kate Skinner

Arcade Theatre, a new theatre company focused on student and youth productions, is already striking a chord in the Dunedin theatre scene. Artistic Director Alex Wilson, who is completing his Masters in political theatre (yes, that’s a real thing), said, “We want to enable these Read more...

Millie Lovelock on Her New Single, 'Beneath the Visible Surface'

Posted 8:58pm Thursday 8th March 2018 by Jessica Thompson

She’s been gigging since she was 16. She’s an academic and a writer. She did her dissertation on One Direction and her thesis on Djuna Barnes. And some might say she’s one of the ultimate queens of the Dunedin music scene. Millie Lovelock won’t stop making music. With 11 Read more...

The Studylink Hold Music Playlist Is Fire

Posted 5:59pm Thursday 8th March 2018 by Joel MacManus

As is tradition for students every February, I recently spent a good 10 minutes on hold with Studylink. Normally, that would infuriate me, but this time something was different. The hold music. It started out with Brooke Fraser – Arithmetic, a soothingly powerful tune I haven’t heard in Read more...

Big Ass Burgers for Big Ass Bois (and Gurls)

Posted 5:55pm Thursday 8th March 2018 by Lachie Robertson

Saturday of O-Week was a big one, and the flatties and me were back at the flat after a beer or 20 craving a feed. Obviously, a kebab would’ve been ideal but the old wallet had taken a pounding over the past couple of weeks, so I had to improvise. I opened up the fridge to a pack of mince Read more...

Baynk: Just a Kid Trying to Escape Chemical Engineering

Posted 5:49pm Thursday 8th March 2018 by Emma Lindblom

Fresh out of playing Down the Rabbit Hole in O-Week, Baynk is an act that you don’t want to miss. With hits like “What You Need” reaching over 15 million streams on Spotify, Baynk (civilian name Jock Nowell-Usticke) is sure to please. From humble beginnings as a chemical Read more...

Night in the Woods Is the Best Game of 2017 (Non-Negotiable)

Posted 5:43pm Saturday 3rd March 2018 by Lisa Blakie

It’s 2018, but I am still living in the past so get ready for the iconic Game of the Year 2017 article. 2017 was a damn good time for games. Major releases like Horizon Zero Dawn, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey saw critical acclaim, and we saw stunning indie Read more...

Eno x Dirty

Posted 5:41pm Saturday 3rd March 2018 by Anastasia Manza

New Zealand music talent Eno x Dirty have come together again recently to drop their new album Evil Adventures & Happy Endings, the work of Eden Jouavel (Eno) and Manu Walters (Dirty). Eno and Dirty have been collaborating musically for over eight years. These guys were previously a part of Read more...

Chase & Status

Posted 4:50pm Saturday 3rd March 2018 by Chelle Fitzgerald

Saul Milton (Chase) and Will Kennard (Status) met at uni in London in the early 2000s. Fifteen years, four full albums, their own record label and multiple headlines later, they find themselves sitting happily as one of the biggest DnB acts in the world. OUSA managed to snag Chase & Status Read more...

Jonathan Waters: Graffiti on the Fringe of Society

Posted 4:48pm Saturday 3rd March 2018 by Jessica Thompson

Jonathan Waters began drawing in early childhood. With a love for basketball cards and Pokémon (he used to create his own original Pokémon), he kept at his passion and polished his craft in the cultural wasteland of Ashburton, where he lived until he was 18. After an extensive Read more...

FOLD: Nauseatingly dark but shockingly good theatre

Posted 5:33pm Thursday 1st March 2018 by Kate Skinner

If you’re a fan of Netflix’s Black Mirror, look no further. Jo Randerson's FOLD mixes nauseating unease, with unexpected bursts of satirical humour.   This dark kiwi comedy is exceptional. FOLD is the type of theatre which leaves you still entrances two hours after the Read more...

How to make a Spag Bol that isn’t shit.

Posted 4:14pm Saturday 24th February 2018 by Lachie Robertson

A spag bol is a lot like a hand job – it can be a good old-fashioned time, or it can be uncomfortable, boring and leave you wanting something more exciting. In other words, a lot of flat spag bols taste like Bill English’s personality. Using this recipe you can ditch the Bill-flavoured Read more...

Jeeves and Wooster

Posted 4:09pm Saturday 24th February 2018 by Jessica Thompson

If you're after a show to drag an uncultured mate to, look no further. Jeeves and Wooster is the perfectly polished show for you! I’m relieved and delighted to say this show was actually funny (my expectations were low due to high school productions and Read more...

The Meteoric Rise of Drax Project

Posted 4:05pm Saturday 24th February 2018 by Jessica Thompson

With over two million streams of their single “Woke Up Late,” two EPs, and a gig opening for Ed Sheeran this year, Drax Project are certainly doing well for themselves. It’s a long way from where they began, busking on the streets of Wellington. Drax (an amalgamation of the Read more...

Albion Place

Posted 3:59pm Saturday 24th February 2018 by Joel MacManus

Over the last seven years Dunedin student band Albion Place has gone from a group of high school kids busking on the street they named themselves after, to tearing up Spotify, playing major festivals and performing a successful international tour. Their chill, Read more...

The New OUSA Sunglasses Have Bottle Openers Built Into Them and it’s the Coolest Shit Ever

Posted 2:09pm Monday 19th February 2018 by Joel MacManus

OK, everyone stop because this is super important. OUSA is giving away free sunglasses at Tent City and they’ve got bottle openers built into the arms! That’s fucking sick. They're not actually that good at opening bottles because it's made of plastic rather than metal, but Read more...

Quality of free OUSA snags up slightly, still underperforming market standards.

Posted 1:04pm Wednesday 24th January 2018 by Joel MacManus

OUSA’s free sausage sizzle, which runs every Wednesday during summer school, saw a slight uptick in snag quality after a disappointing opening week. The first week saw undercooked snags with a microwavey consistency, well below expectation for many critics. “I'm not angry, Read more...

The Road By Cormac McCarthy

Posted 1:09pm Sunday 8th October 2017 by Jessica Thompson Carr

This book will take you a day or two days tops to plough through. At times it’s thrilling, but the format is simple and McCarthy has dropped all quotation marks and “he said” / “she said” to make the writing have a smooth feel. A father and his son (unnamed) push Read more...

The Great Gaming Experiences of 2017

Posted 1:02pm Sunday 8th October 2017 by Lisa Blakie

For the last issue of 2017, I really wanted to highlight the magical parts of gaming. Those experiences that stick with you forever, that make for awesome stories at parties, that you remember with fond nostalgia, and that can bring you to tears. These parts of gaming are what make me keep playing. Read more...

Chocolate Tart

Posted 12:58pm Sunday 8th October 2017 by Liani Baylis

Do you remember a few weeks ago when I (hopefully) changed your life and told you about aquafaba? That amazing shit inside the chickpea can? Well I’ve finally got my ass into gear to bring you something to make using it. Guess what, team? It’s your lucky day because this delectable tart Read more...

Loveless

Posted 12:52pm Sunday 8th October 2017 by Diana Tran

Rating: 4.5/5 A Russian couple, Zhenya and Boris, are getting a divorce, and unfortunately there are no court battles for custody in Russia. The son hears his parents arguing over who should have to take care of him, and runs away from home. The film follows the parents’ search for their Read more...

Wind River

Posted 12:49pm Sunday 8th October 2017 by Callum Post

Rating: 4/5 Wind River is directed by Taylor Sheridan, who wrote the screenplay for Oscar nominated movies Sicario and Hell or High Water. This is only his second outing as a director, and the first with a budget bigger than my student loan. Wind River is a grim crime-thriller that centres on Read more...

Letter from the Music Editor | Issue 26

Posted 12:39pm Sunday 8th October 2017 by Bianca Prujean

A few weeks ago I tuned into Radio One 91FM on a Tuesday night and listened to a mysterious new show called ‘Negative Space’. The ‘Negative Space’ bio on Facebook informs the listener that the show’s DJ, Brackets, “cares about representing female producers,” Read more...

Shoot Me

Posted 12:33pm Sunday 8th October 2017 by Waveney Russ

Give Lync Aronson a medium to advertise his cause and he will. A library bookcase, an unfortunately timed fire drill, an instant camera sitting on the bank of the Leith; he’ll sniff out advertising opportunities before you’ve even noticed that free food Friday poster taped to a tree. The Read more...

Video Game Books

Posted 11:48am Saturday 30th September 2017 by Lisa Blakie

“Lisa, why don’t you review a REAL game for once”. Uh, no! Hey, you know what you should be doing instead of spending so much time playing your silly video games like Zoombinis and Call of Duty and the Mario? Maybe try reading a book? A book about… Video games! Haha! Gotcha! Read more...

Half a Yellow Sun

Posted 11:42am Saturday 30th September 2017 by Jessica Thompson Carr

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is truly a master of words. She combines history with fiction beautifully, and brings us close to the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970), which I knew nothing about beforehand. The book follows the lives of five characters: Ugwu, a boy from a poor village; Olanna, an Read more...

Quesadillas

Posted 11:38am Saturday 30th September 2017 by Liani Baylis

Quesadillas hold a special place in my heart - a drunk cult-classic as far as I’m concerned. I will forever owe my drunk nights on exchange to my friend Lucy, who somehow composed herself enough to loosely monitor a bit of molten cheese on the stovetop. Get someone like that; absolute Read more...

Logan Lucky

Posted 11:28am Saturday 30th September 2017 by Callum Post

Rating: 3/5 Few things are more entertaining than trying to predict how a well thought out heist flick will play out. Logan Lucky is a revisit of this formula, starring a slew of A-list names such as Daniel Craig, Channing Tatum, Katie Holmes, and the up-in-coming Adam Driver. The movie Read more...

IT

Posted 11:27am Saturday 30th September 2017 by Todd Johnstone

Rating: 4/5 While not as scary as many people were suggesting, I wouldn’t recommend IT to anyone already suffering from Coulrophobia. This is the second adaptation of Stephen King’s 1986 novel to be put to screen, following the 1990 mini-series. Director Andy Muschietti has revamped Read more...

Ai Weiwei: Rarely Apologetic

Posted 11:23am Saturday 30th September 2017 by Waveney Russ

Ai Weiwei has been arrested, surveyed, interrogated, abused and exiled by the Communist Party of China (CPC). His contributions to the political-artistic discussion dominated the 2017 global art scene. The son of a denounced Chinese poet, political retribution has been part of Weiwei’s life Read more...

I Touched Darude

Posted 11:12am Saturday 30th September 2017 by Josephine Devereux

Legends aren’t born, they’re made. The legend is made of memes and called Darude, the man behind the cultural classic that is ‘Sandstorm’. This is the journey I undertook to see Sandstorm live. Darude was playing one New Zealand concert, in Christchurch. Why Christchurch? Read more...

Dumplings

Posted 1:55pm Sunday 24th September 2017 by Liani Baylis

Dumplings are one of those things that test every ounce of my willpower every single time. How the fuck are they so good? Anyone who says they don’t like dumplings should be charged with treason as far as I am concerned. I make mine in a bamboo steamer (which you can pick up from Kmart Read more...

Rough Night

Posted 1:50pm Sunday 24th September 2017 by Gem MacDuff

Rating: 2/5 Amped for a kick-ass, unabashedly feminist film about a bunch of fierce yet comic women fighting the good fight, I have to say I was disappointed. Wonder Woman was sold out. Instead I was ushered into a nearly empty cinema to see Lucia Aniello’s “Rough Night”. In a Read more...

Paris Can Wait

Posted 1:45pm Sunday 24th September 2017 by Gem MacDuff

Rating: 1/5 I really, really wanted this to be the Eat, Pray, Love we all deserve, but all this film made me feel was hungry. Eleanor Coppola’s Paris Can Wait follows Anne (Diane Lane), the wife of a loving but distant movie producer and his business partner Jacques (Arnaud Viard) as Read more...

itch.io and Indie Games

Posted 1:26pm Sunday 24th September 2017 by Lisa Blakie

Itch.io is a website that has 100s of games, both free and premium, to download. You can also donate to creators of games and choose what to pay for purchase! How incredible is that? Game accessibility has been hugely increased through mobile free to play games, however it is extremely rare that iOS Read more...

INK at Railway St Studios, Auckland

Posted 1:19pm Sunday 24th September 2017 by Peter Dornauf

The art world, though it would deny it, has its own set of well-established hierarchies. It needs to look down on something and that something is print works, which is ironic given that Pop Art, one of the major revolutions in the history of art, employed printing techniques. Both Warhol and Read more...

Review: From Chamber Music to Echo Chamber...

Posted 1:13pm Sunday 24th September 2017 by Bianca Prujean

Person L – Stacian from Night School Records On 9 September 2017, Night School Records dropped ‘Person L’, the latest full-length offering from Stacian. The call and response vocals on opening track ‘Volx’ may have you mistaking Stacian for your new favourite Read more...

Review: Michael Houstoun & Bella Hristova

Posted 1:01pm Sunday 24th September 2017 by Isaac Shatford

There’s nothing quite like live chamber music. I’m not just saying that because I don’t have tickets to Ed Sheeran. There’s something magical about seeing two or more instrumentalists in musical conversation. I can’t think of a better example of this than Read more...

A Keeper of Sheep by William Carpenter

Posted 12:54pm Sunday 24th September 2017 by Zoe Taptiklis

The cover of this novel almost tries to warn you off with its bleeding grey pinks. Any millennial trying to express themselves through the last available port, fashion, should chain a copy of A Keeper of Sheep around their neck. Carpenter’s novel is a must read for anyone who wholeheartedly Read more...

Frog Fractions

Posted 1:31pm Sunday 17th September 2017 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: 5/5 Miniclip and Neopets were the only experiences I ever really had with browser based games made in Flash and as it turns out, I’m missing out on a lot.   My mate Jack: “Lisa, have you played Frog Fractions?” Me: “No way, maths is Read more...

The Virgin Suicides

Posted 1:26pm Sunday 17th September 2017 by Jessica Thompson

The Virgin Suicides, written in 1993, is, I suppose, a haunting depiction of the ‘enigma’ that is girl-hood. Set in small town Michigan in the 1970s, the novel is narrated by an anonymous group of boys who obsess over the Lisbon sisters. There are five sisters: 13-year-old Cecilia, Read more...

Generation Housing NZ

Posted 1:22pm Sunday 17th September 2017 by Cora-Allan Wickliffe

In 2016 Daniel and I moved back to New Zealand to have our son. We moved into my childhood home with my parents, who live in a state house in an area which has increasingly become less comfortable. I remember the big move when I was 3 years old. My parents knew the neighbours who bought the house Read more...

6 Days

Posted 1:12pm Sunday 17th September 2017 by Diana Tran

Rating: 3.5/5 6 Days tells the true story of the 1980 siege of the Iranian Embassy in London. The embassy was stormed by six individuals, who held 26 people hostage for six days. The film follows police negotiator Max Vernon (Mark Strong), who aims to resolve the situation diplomatically and Read more...

Ethel & Ernest

Posted 1:09pm Sunday 17th September 2017 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: 4.5/5 What a nice film. Ethel & Ernest is an animated film based on a book by Raymond Briggs, the author of a number of beloved ‘80s and '90s children’s picture books, about the lives of his parents, milkman dad Ernest and lady’s-maid mum Ethel, voiced superbly Read more...

Marvel’s The Defenders | Netflix TV Series

Posted 1:05pm Sunday 17th September 2017 by Samuel Rillstone

Rating: 4/5 Marvel Entertainment’s latest Netflix release offers a miniaturised street level version of the Avengers in the form of the Defenders. Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and Iron Fist (Finn Jones) make up the roster, following their Read more...

Dunedin Youth Orchestra |Romantic Underground Concert

Posted 1:07pm Sunday 10th September 2017 by Ihlara McIndoe

Do you find the concept of classical music enticing, but don’t yet feel like you have enough grey hairs, or cough lollies in your pockets, to fit in with the usual classical concert crowd? Are you vaguely interested, but don’t want to give up two hours getting a numb bum sitting in the Read more...

Review: Dunedin Symphony Orchestra - Dvorak and Brahms

Posted 1:02pm Sunday 10th September 2017 by Ihlara McIndoe

Following the last DSO concert, which proved to be a very pleasant evening with my dad (even if he was stingy on the ice cream front), I managed to find a friend to accompany me to the most recent event. I am 85 percent sure she forgot she was supposed to be coming, as when I arrived at her flat to Read more...

Critic Interviews: Rudeism

Posted 12:50pm Sunday 10th September 2017 by Lisa Blakie

Dylan Beck is a good friend of mine and I got to know him before he became Rudeism, a Twitch stream extraordinaire who has over 35,000 followers and can turn anything into a videogame controller. I sat down with him to ask about his newfound popularity and creative genius.   When did you Read more...

Miranda Parkes: The Merrier

Posted 12:43pm Sunday 10th September 2017 by Waveney Russ

Photo credit: Miranda Parkes: the merrier’ installation view featuring antibody banner; push me; (all 2017) courtesy Hocken Collections, Uare Taoka o Hākena. Photo: Iain Frengley. The Frances Hodgkins Fellowship comes around once a year, and when it does, Christmas comes Read more...

Kalinka

Posted 12:37pm Sunday 10th September 2017 by Diana Tran

Rating: 4/5 Kalinka is an honest and thoughtful portrayal of the true experiences of André Bamberski in his quest to find justice for his daughter Kalinka, who was raped and murdered. While spending the summer with her mother and stepfather, Dr Dieter Krombach, Kalinka suddenly dies of an Read more...

Apple Tree Yard

Posted 12:34pm Sunday 10th September 2017 by Shaun Brinsdon

Rating: 3.5/5 Following the likes of successful BBC mini-series like Happy Valley comes Jessica Hobbs’s Apple Tree Yard. Based on the novel of the same name, Apple Tree Yard centres on Dr Yvonne Carmichael (Emily Watson), a scientist who is unhappy in her marriage. She begins an affair with Read more...

The Secret History

Posted 12:29pm Sunday 10th September 2017 by Zoe Taptiklis

The Secret History is difficult to place into a temporal setting. Initially, based on the characters’ diction and the elaborate descriptive passages, I thought it was set in the ‘50s. The excessive use of home phones, the ones wired to the wall, made me think it was the ‘70s. Read more...

Cinnamon Rolls to Warm Your Poor Student Souls

Posted 12:26pm Sunday 10th September 2017 by Liani Baylis

I love bringing you guys my own recipes and shit, but I’ve discovered yet another amazing blog. I’m absolutely frothing over veganricha.com at the moment and these cinnamon rolls make me want to marry the clever little lass. During my non-vegan years, I had a go-to cinnamon roll Read more...

The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 3rd September 2017 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: 5/5 The Symphony of the Goddesses tour started in 2012 after the 25th anniversary celebration of the Legend of Zelda at E3 2011. Playing for just one night in Auckland (on a SCHOOL night too!), I was determined to go; it had been a dream to see this show live since I heard the orchestral Read more...

The Case of the Missing Body

Posted 2:14pm Sunday 3rd September 2017 by Zoe Taptiklis

It has been a treat reading this book. It took me under an hour to read, but it’s taken days to digest. Imagine not knowing what your body is. I’ve always said that I have parsnip legs; they’re long and effing pale, wide at the top, tapering out into teeny little toes Read more...

The Haunting

Posted 2:09pm Sunday 3rd September 2017 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: 3/5 This is an… interesting movie. A late ‘90s entry in the Haunted House genre, it is imprinted in my memory because I vividly recall as a kid being torn between wanting to see it and thinking that it was going to be terrifying. More specifically, I remember making it as far Read more...

Okja

Posted 2:06pm Sunday 3rd September 2017 by Samuel Rillstone

Rating: 2.5/5 I found Okja to be less of a revolutionary film exposing the capitalist meat industry and more of a low ruckus. The cast boasts such powerhouses as Jake Gyllenhaal, Tilda Swinton and Lily Collins, all of whom create vibrant and intriguing performances. Even the young talent, the Read more...

A Comprehensive Guide to Games Where You Can Pet Animals

Posted 1:04pm Sunday 20th August 2017 by Lisa Blakie

Recently, my general feeling towards life has been that animals are the only pure things left in this year of general chaos. I don’t know about you, but I’ve personally changed my settings on Facebook to see posts from “Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary”, “Cool Cat Read more...

The Big Sick

Posted 12:56pm Sunday 20th August 2017 by Shaun Brinsdon

Rating: 4/5 The Big Sick opened with great acclaim from critics and viewers alike. The film is based on the true story of how Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani began their relationship. They wrote the screenplay of the film together and Nanjiani plays himself, while Gordon delegated her role to Read more...

Atomic Blonde

Posted 12:54pm Sunday 20th August 2017 by Todd Johnstone

Rating: 5/5 This movie will leave you feeling like you have just been continually hit in the face for two hours – but in a good way. I didn’t expect much going into it; I knew that it was directed by one of the directors of John Wick, so the action scenes and stunts were likely to be Read more...

The Lost Daughter

Posted 12:50pm Sunday 20th August 2017 by Jessica Thompson

"Books, once they are written, have no need of their authors."   Nobody knows who Elena Ferrante really is. An Italian writer, she (could be a he, but everyone assumes…) is mainly famous for her coming of age Neapolitan novels. Ferrante has been named one of the 100 Read more...

Gratis: A Q + A with Carisma

Posted 12:45pm Sunday 20th August 2017 by Bianca Prujean

This week, Critic takes a journey deep inside the Argentinian discotheque with Buenos Aires-based DJ/producer duo, Carisma. Carisma recently dropped their long-awaited full length album, Gratis. Out on Dengue Dancing Records, Gratis features nine tracks of heavily pulsed crunch beats, arpeggiated Read more...

Vegan Cupcakes that Are to Kill For (Just Not Sentient Beings)

Posted 12:40pm Sunday 20th August 2017 by Liani Baylis

A couple of weeks back, I shared my favourite cupcake recipe with you. I feel very passionate about said recipe, so I never mustered the courage to try “veganise” it. I’ve done it with other recipes, but that one I hold dear to my heart. Then, like a guardian angel, along comes Read more...

Dunedin’s Coffee Cup Art Trail

Posted 12:37pm Sunday 20th August 2017 by Waveney Russ

Latte art is dead. Do you think I ask to be presented with a sweet cat whose face I must suck into inexistence if I want to enjoy the five-dollar stimulant that, at this point, I chug back as if medication? Ephemeral. Transient. In an effort to clog my life with anything mildly resembling artwork Read more...

Shin Hanga (新版画)

Posted 12:12pm Sunday 13th August 2017 by Waveney Russ

Early 20th century Japan is a total cultural divergence from a tiny South Island town like ours, but the McDowell gallery has been authentically transformed into a perfect haven for the impressionistic prints of a pre-war age gone by. Shin-hanga (literally meaning “new woodcut Read more...

Nutshell by Ian McEwan

Posted 12:05pm Sunday 13th August 2017 by Zoe Taptiklis

Ian McEwan claimed fame from the world of non-literary oriented folks when Kiera Knightly had sex in a library, a scene that won the novel, and movie, Atonement, a permanent place in the collective memory of popular culture. I confess, I’ve tried to read Atonement several times, and I never Read more...

Ov Pain

Posted 12:03pm Sunday 13th August 2017 by Reg Norris

I’m not from here. Most of the people from where I’m from migrate north to the oily plains of Melbourne. It’s a rite of passage and sign of artistic commitment, or the need for restaurants open after 10pm, departure lounges teeming with tortured fortune seekers, or the guarantee of Read more...

To the Moon

Posted 11:59am Sunday 13th August 2017 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: 5/5 I’ve been on a bit of a story-rich indie game high recently. Oxenfree, Cibelle and Ladykiller in a Bind to name a few. This is definitely due to their accessibility. The most that these games cost is only around $20, they are available for both Windows and Mac, and can be Read more...

Dunkirk

Posted 11:56am Sunday 13th August 2017 by Callum Post

Rating: 4/5 Having directed some of the biggest movies of the last decade (such as Inception and The Dark Knight Trilogy), the Christopher Nolan brand has become synonymous with imaginative, mind-bending success. But now that he’s decided to make his mark on the war genre, as have so many Read more...

The Thirty-Nine Steps

Posted 1:24pm Sunday 6th August 2017 by Nick Ainge-Roy

Written at the start of the First World War while John Buchan was bedridden by illness, The Thirty-Nine Steps is a classic of the crime fiction genre. It stars Richard Hannay as the archetypal action hero. Returning from Africa after several years working as a mining engineer, Hannay intends on Read more...

Long Way North

Posted 1:20pm Sunday 6th August 2017 by Diana Tran

Rating: 4/5 Long Way North is about a 15-year-old rebel who runs away from home after getting yelled at by her father. And it is so much more. Sasha’s journey has all the elements that make for a jolly adventure: unresolved family tensions, a potentially dangerous cute boy, a sassy barmaid, Read more...

War for the Planet of the Apes

Posted 1:17pm Sunday 6th August 2017 by Todd Johnstone

Rating 4/5 Seeing an orang-utan and a gorilla riding horseback into battle is a great sight; it’s pure CINEMA. War for the Planet of the Apes embraces these strange sights. After all, the main character in the film is a highly intelligent chimp who talks, surrounded by a troop of slightly Read more...

Critic’s Ultimate Guide to Peanut Butter

Posted 1:14pm Sunday 6th August 2017 by Liani Baylis

My heart genuinely goes out to those unfortunate enough to be cursed with a nut allergy - I’m sorry. That does, however, mean more peanut butter for me. You don’t die and I get more PB all to myself - there can be no loser. I thought this week I’d shake it up a bit as an ode Read more...

Italian Inspirations Review: Taking Dad to the DSO

Posted 1:03pm Sunday 6th August 2017 by Ihlara McIndoe

Sadly, it’s always a struggle to find somebody to claim the second ticket of my double DSO pass. My friend pool of Western Art Music fans (the “WAM-fam”) is on the light side, and is significantly diminished once you remove those who are members of the orchestra, so have no need Read more...

That No I.d. Friend And The Story Of Jay-z

Posted 1:01pm Sunday 6th August 2017 by Grimm Selfie

In July 2017, Jay-Z released his long awaited return with the album 4:44. Like any good story there’s a person behind the elevator miss-haps, sipping lemonade in the shadows, that makes things happen. In this case it’s a person known as No I.D. It’s an odd thing when we listen Read more...

Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator

Posted 12:55pm Sunday 6th August 2017 by Lisa Blakie

The title says it all. Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator (DDADDS) is a Dad dating simulator where you are a Dad looking to date other Dads. Yes, it’s as good as it sounds. I’ve been looking forward to this game for quite some time because I love games that focus on building Read more...

Art Week Cover Competition

Posted 2:23pm Sunday 30th July 2017 by Critic

Art Week is approaching and to celebrate, Critic wants artists to send us your artwork. We will choose a piece to go on the cover of Critic for the week, plus you get prizes! The magazine prints at 300ppi so please send high-resolution images. If your work is digital you need to send it at Read more...

Bleaker House By Nell Stevens

Posted 1:15pm Sunday 30th July 2017 by Jessica Thompson

“I am scared that the life I want to lead, the life of a writer, is inevitably built on loneliness, and I need to know if I can hack it.”   Bleaker House is Nell Steven’s first novel and she hit the nail on the head. The book is messy, unpredictable, and absolutely Read more...

‘Extrait d’Image’ – Lisa Reihana

Posted 1:09pm Sunday 30th July 2017 by Waveney Russ

‘Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique’ by Joseph Dufour is wallpaper. Spectacular, exceptionally rare, two-hundred-year-old wallpaper. Flagged as ‘armchair tourism’, the wallpaper depicts the over twenty different indigenous groups that Captain James Cook or Louis Antoine de Read more...