Archive

Existenz

Posted 1:51pm Sunday 8th September 2013 by Baz Macdonald

It’s always fun to watch films made in the 80s or 90s and see how they thought the world would be by now. Disappointingly, we still don’t have hover cars or pill-based nutrition. What we are getting closer to achieving, however, is virtual reality. Sure, virtual reality the way these films portray Read more...

Kick Ass 2

Posted 1:51pm Sunday 8th September 2013 by Tamarah Scott

Rating: 3/5 Being a big fan of the original Kick-Ass film, I was prepared to be let down by the sequel. In particular, I was dubious as to whether the new director, Jeff Wadlow, would manage to reproduce certain aspects of the original film, such as the stylistic violence sequences and the Read more...

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Posted 1:51pm Sunday 8th September 2013 by Rosie Howells

Rating: 1/5 There is almost nothing in this film that we haven’t seen before. Many times before. The Mortal Instruments is an unskilful amalgamation of the tropes and character types made familiar by Harry Potter, Twilight, Lord of the Rings, True Blood, Pirates of the Caribbean … and the Read more...

The Way Way Back

Posted 1:51pm Sunday 8th September 2013 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: 4/5 Watch the first five minutes of any coming-of-age film and you’ll be able to guess exactly what happens in the next 85. The Way Way Back is no exception, and yet the film is so charmingly pleasant that not only do you not mind its predictability, you actually relish it. The Read more...

Less Than Zero

Posted 1:51pm Sunday 8th September 2013 by Millie Lovelock

Less Than Zero is the first novel by literary brat-pack misanthrope Bret Easton Ellis. The novel details narrator Clay’s return to Los Angeles for Christmas after his first semester away at college. Clay is from a wealthy family, and all of his friends are rich, bored, and saturated with pop and Read more...

Hate Modern Art If You Want To

Posted 1:51pm Sunday 8th September 2013 by Charlotte Doyle

In recent years, the concept of “art” has been expanded to the point where many feel as though they can no longer question a work’s artistic quality. Doing so implies that they are unable to discern the meaningful message hidden behind what appears to be a pile of rubbish in the middle of the Read more...

App of the Week | Issue 21

Posted 3:48pm Sunday 1st September 2013 by Raquel Moss

The QWERTY keyboard as we know it has been around since 1873. A lot of shit has happened since then. Women got the vote, man went to the moon, computers were invented and became smaller and smaller, and twerking became an amusing pastime. But despite many changes in device shape, size, and manner of Read more...

Facebook’s Particular Shade of Blue

Posted 3:48pm Sunday 1st September 2013 by Raquel Moss

Wake up in the morning lookin’ like P Diddy, grab my phone and check my Facebook … and learn that Girl Who Was In My Class Last Year “loves Ikea.” Ugh. Who cares? I’ve got the Facebook Blues. That particular shade of blue makes me feel dissatisfied, bored, and a little uneasy. Like many Read more...

The J. Arthur Keenes Band - Mighty Social Lion

Posted 3:48pm Sunday 1st September 2013 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 3.5/5 There are few things that irk me more in a musical discussion than a person dismissing an entire genre. To assert that a style of music is wholly without merit, regardless of the incarnation, borders on psychosis. How can you deem hip-hop or metal or folk to be inherently shit, Read more...

Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action

Posted 3:48pm Sunday 1st September 2013 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 4/5 “It’s always better on holiday.” So sang Alex Kapranos on “Jacqueline,” the opening track of Franz Ferdinand’s eponymous debut album. Considering the glacial pace at which the Glaswegian dance-rockers are releasing music these days, the line now rings a touch ironic. Read more...

Saints Row IV

Posted 3:48pm Sunday 1st September 2013 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: 5.5/10 Only a year ago, the Saints Row series had a different publisher: THQ. That particular sinking ship succumbed in early 2012, however, and now rests silently on the ocean floor of failed video game companies. In this case, the metaphorical women and children that got the first Read more...

Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Posted 3:48pm Sunday 1st September 2013 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: 9/10 There was time, not too long ago, when I thought that stealth games were a genre that could only appeal to a very small subset of gamers. Recently, however, I have been enthralled not only by stealth games, but also by attempting stealth tactics in games that are not purely Read more...

Moroccan Stew & Minted Couscous

Posted 3:48pm Sunday 1st September 2013 by Kirsty Dunn

Couscous is the wonder-kid of the meal-accompaniment world. I mean, sure, rice is nice (until you have to clean the pot or dish you cooked it in), and pasta is fab (yet can be a little stodgy on the odd occasion), but couscous, on the other hand, is light and fluffy, easy to make, and super-duper Read more...

Otherness

Posted 3:48pm Sunday 1st September 2013 by Kajsa Louw

Otherness is an anthology of science fiction short stories that is likely to leave its readers impressed by its boldness and originality. The book comprises a collection of 13 stories and is the winner of the LOCUS award for Best Collection of 1995. Notable contributions include “Warm Bodies” and Read more...

Gaga and the Art of Empty Pretention

Posted 3:48pm Sunday 1st September 2013 by Charlotte Doyle

Lady Gaga’s recent nudist escapades are currently the cause of a social media frenzy many of you will have witnessed in some form or another. In the video The Abramovic Method practiced by Lady Gaga, she exposes her body for a supposedly artistic cause: rising to Marina Abromovic’s extended Read more...

Elysium

Posted 3:48pm Sunday 1st September 2013 by Baz Macdonald

Rating: 4.5/5 Neill Blomkamp is still making science fiction film as it should be. His 2009 film District 9 proved that he could provide highly intelligent yet action-packed and highly accessible science fiction to mainstream cinema, and with his latest film Elysium he is once again pushing Read more...

Before Midnight

Posted 3:48pm Sunday 1st September 2013 by Rosie Howells

Rating: 4/5 Before Midnight is the third (and presumably final) instalment of Richard Linklater’s romantic series following the love of fiery French humanitarian Celine (Julia Delpy) and American writer Jesse (Ethan Hawke). The first in the series is the 18-year-old Before Sunrise, in which Read more...

Critic’s Film Festival Awards 2013

Posted 3:48pm Sunday 1st September 2013 by Rosie Howells

This year’s International Film Festival was the biggest Dunedin has ever seen, presenting the greatest selection of movies our branch of the Festival has ever been privy to. Based on critical response, whispers on the street and my own personal opinion, here are Critic’s official Festival awards: Read more...

Only Lovers Left Alive

Posted 3:48pm Sunday 1st September 2013 by Jonny Mahon-Heap

Rating: 3/5 Only Lovers Left Alive is a slim and idiosyncratic film that has received more of a mixed bag of reviews than the Film Festival itself. A darkly funny take on the tired vampire genre, it documents the centuries-old romance between vampires Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Read more...

Child’s Pose

Posted 3:48pm Sunday 1st September 2013 by Tamarah Scott

Rating: 4.5/5 The most memorable films are those that emotionally sap you dry; those that force you to become immersed in their worlds because the subject matter, images and storylines are so powerful you cannot escape till you actually leave the cinema. Child’s Pose puts you through so much Read more...