The Legacy of Martin Phillipps

Posted 3:50pm Sunday 11th May 2025

.column { float: left; width: 33.33%; } /* Clear floats after the columns */ .row:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } “The Dunedin Sound is the sound of honesty” - Martin Phillipps It’s hard not to write about the Dunedin Sound without Read more...

In The Cage: Can I enjoy movies anymore?

Posted 3:41pm Sunday 11th May 2025

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is probably only notable for the fact that it is another period piece so the Cage has an Italian accent that is more Mario than Chris Pratt was. It is devastatingly long and watching it after Sinners – one of the best films to come out this year, by the way Read more...

Ranking what native New Zealand birds I could beat in a fight if I were also a bird?

Posted 10:05pm Sunday 4th May 2025

Evolution has not been kind to the native birds of Aotearoa. Some are small, some flightless, and all pretty vulnerable to introduced pests. To put it lightly, they don’t stand a chance against predators. You know that, I know that. My question is, do they stand a chance against me, Read more...

In The Cage: “Let’s Ride”

Posted 9:55pm Sunday 4th May 2025

In the late ‘90s, the vibrant colour of the ‘80s faded away, as films – particularly actions and dramas – favoured colour tones of greys, greens, and blues. This is shown in 1999’s 8MM, As the name of the website I watched it on suggested (effedupmovies.com) the Read more...

Critic Wuz Here: There’s a phone number inscribed on your desk and I called it.

Posted 9:44pm Sunday 4th May 2025

One of God’s greatest gifts is the cell phone because doing this gimmick in a time of payphones would have set me back a lot in coins (where the fuck do you even get coins from now?). As a child I did not focus in class and paid more attention to the writings forever engraved onto the desks at Read more...

In The Cage: All Caught Up

Posted 10:26pm Sunday 27th April 2025

It is now 1997 and the latter half of the decade has a clear emphasis on action films. Most of the films Cage has starred in have been action-packed blockbusters. Perhaps the improvement of CGI and other visual effects had something to do with it. Toy Story, the first film made entirely on Read more...

In The Cage: The Passion Lingers

Posted 11:46pm Sunday 13th April 2025

At the stage this column was written, the Cage had truly become a part of my life again after a short break. Evie changed her picture of me on her phone to Nic. So here we go.  In Kiss of Death, the Cage is reunited with both Stanley Tucci and Samuel L. Jackson. In one scene Nic bench Read more...

In The Cage: You can’t escape the Cage

Posted 10:22pm Sunday 6th April 2025

After three months out of the Cage, I was back in. I have not mentioned it so far but there are a lot of boobs in his films. One of the first things you see in Zandalee is a naked woman and it makes me think it had to be in his contract or something. To be honest, most of the film is about naked Read more...

Opinion: Chlöe Swarbrick is still a politician

Posted 10:40pm Sunday 23rd March 2025

As a child, my parents were Labour voters and to me that seemed like the moral choice. John Key’s National government at the time did not have their best interests at heart as they prioritised wealth over wellbeing. New Zealand First, headed at the time by an old Winston Peters, appealed more Read more...

In the Cage: “Reasonably Concerned”

Posted 10:20pm Sunday 23rd March 2025

Even though Nicolas Cage’s voice was odd in Peggy Sue, it is nothing compared to Vampire’s Kiss. A film that uses the vampire as a metaphor for lust and greed, the Cage is unhinged. Not only is the voice weird but so is his hair, his mannerisms, his cadence – his everything. He Read more...