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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 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 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...

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 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...