Archive

The Great Wall

Posted 12:30pm Sunday 26th February 2017 by Brandon Johnstone

Rating: 4/5 The Great Wall is a Chinese-US co-production, marketed heavily to Western audiences as an intense, gritty action film. About ten minutes into the film it becomes pretty clear that this is a bold-faced lie. Set during the gunpowder-fueled Song Dynasty, Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal star Read more...

Teriyaki Quorn & Tofu Donburi

Posted 1:00pm Saturday 8th October 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

For all the vegans, if Quorn isn't already your friend, it will be. The Quorn pieces are the closest plant based product I have found that resembles the texture of chicken. There is also a "mince" product too, you can find them both in the frozen products aisle at your Read more...

Observations

Posted 12:55pm Saturday 8th October 2016 by Carolijn Guytonbeck

This Dunedin exhibition showcases some of the local artistic talent incorporating varied styles but all figurative in form. If you didn’t manage to get to the show you can still easily access these artists if not directly via the gallery. People will always love paintings for their Read more...

Freedom

Posted 12:42pm Saturday 8th October 2016 by Lucy Hunter

The most unsettling things are the most familiar —the more you know somebody the stranger they seem. And nothing is more familiar than family. Patty Berglund is an ex college basketball star and fanatically perfect mother. She bakes cookies on all her neighbours’ birthdays and never Read more...

Dear Amy

Posted 12:39pm Saturday 8th October 2016 by Hayleigh Clarkson

Helen Callaghan’s debut novel Dear Amy is one hell of a ride. Callaghan writes from the perspective of Margot, a teacher at the local college and also the writer of the Dear Amy help column in the local paper. Typically she deals with mundane relationship issues until one day she receives a Read more...

Harry Styles — Going solo & Another Man

Posted 12:35pm Saturday 8th October 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

Four days ago Harry Styles posted three blank white photographs to his Instagram, a day later he revealed three covers for Another Man magazine. Two of the covers feature Styles in a dog collar (not the priest kind), staring broodily into the camera, in the third he is dressed in a turtleneck Read more...

Dunedin Symphony Orchestra

Posted 12:32pm Saturday 8th October 2016 by Ihlara McIndoe

When an audience with a mean age of seventy energetically jump out of their seats in enthusiastic applause at the end of a work, you know it’s been a good performance. Associate Professor of Music, Anthony Ritchie’s composition Gallipoli to the Somme traces the journey of Dunedinite Read more...

Riven: The Sequel to Myst

Posted 12:29pm Saturday 8th October 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: CLASSIC To round off the year, I would like to be indulgent and review something slightly different. Riven: The Sequel to Myst is my single favourite game of all time. In the game, you have been transported by your friend Atrus through a Linking Book – books that spirit people away Read more...

SOMA

Posted 12:26pm Saturday 8th October 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: B+ SOMA is a first-person science fiction horror game that was released online in late 2015. Its story begins with its protagonist Simon Jarrett waking up in his apartment to a phone call from a doctor about an appointment for a brain scan later that day. After searching his apartment and Read more...

Why do we need...more women in STEMM?

Posted 12:21pm Saturday 8th October 2016 by Anthony Marris

By rights, this piece should be titled “How do we recruit, retain, and recognise women in STEMM”, but I was not clever enough to devise a snappy title that sums it up in eight words. STEMM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine – all vital Read more...

Chasing Great

Posted 12:13pm Saturday 8th October 2016 by Hugh Baird

Rating: A+++++++ After watching Richie McCaw's latest film Chasing Great, I’ve come to the careful conclusion that the man pisses excellence. He was dux of his high school, he flies planes and helicopters, and he is now widely regarded as our greatest All Black of all time. Despite all Read more...

Bridget Jones’s Baby

Posted 12:10pm Saturday 8th October 2016 by Not Hugh Baird

Rating: B+ So there I found myself, on my lonesome sitting in the movie theatre with about nine younger women and twenty seniors all staring at me, wondering what the hell I was doing with my life. I must say, in the midst of my hangover I was thinking the same thing. I slumped low into my seat Read more...

2001: A Space Odyssey

Posted 12:08pm Saturday 8th October 2016 by Jac Aske

Rating: F--- I want to preface this by saying that I only saw this movie because my Dad got a Kubrick box set from The Warehouse and said we had to watch it. It’s about some astronaut guys who are on a spaceship going somewhere and it sucks. I don’t care how fancy a director Stanley Read more...

The Good Place

Posted 11:28am Saturday 8th October 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: A- In the pilot episode of The Good Place, Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) is sitting in a perfectly pleasant waiting room. Michael (Ten Danson) calls her into his office and explains that she has died, and she is now in the afterlife. He assures her that she is in “The Good Read more...

Gnocchi

Posted 1:50pm Saturday 1st October 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

Viva la Pasta. If you want to expand your pasta dishes beyond the 95 cent budget spirals, give this a go. Gnocchi, pronounced knock-e, are little potato pillows. They're a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes. The most time consuming part of this was rolling and cutting the dough. You Read more...

Blaine Western’s ’Grammars’

Posted 1:45pm Saturday 1st October 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

What do a greyscale hand poised mid-click, a brick wall, and large concrete arches laid on a gallery floor all have in common? When I entered this exhibition I had absolutely no clue. But apparently Visiting Artist Blaine Western did, the guy who curated Masques, one of the latest shows at the Read more...

The Sandman

Posted 1:41pm Saturday 1st October 2016 by Anonymous Bird

If you’ve ever been curious about graphic novels but aren’t interested in the superheroes or serialised never-ending issues of comics, I would highly recommend Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. It tells the story of Dream of the seven Endless, essentially the god of dream world. The other Read more...

Girl at War

Posted 1:37pm Saturday 1st October 2016 by Hayleigh Clarkson

When you grow up surrounded by war, how do you continue through life once the war is over? This question hangs over Ana in her adult years. She grew up in Zagreb and spent her youth, the development years, calling the war-torn country of Croatia her home. Now in America, Ana struggles with her past Read more...

Why do we need…social media/networks?

Posted 1:33pm Saturday 1st October 2016 by Anthony Marris

This question has constantly plagued me. I have always maintained that I have no need for a social media/network (sm/n) account of any form. I firmly believe, in the spirit of 15th century Dutch scholar Eramus, that in this new land of complete observation, the person without any links to sm/n Read more...

Inside

Posted 1:28pm Saturday 1st October 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: A I was 17 when I played Limbo for the first time. I remember sitting on the floor in front of the TV at my friend’s house, eagerly playing this beautiful and creepy puzzle game. Since then, I have replayed the game multiple times. I was told that I would like INSIDE, but had not Read more...

Don’t Breathe

Posted 1:22pm Saturday 1st October 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: B There was a lot of buzz about this being the best American horror movie in decades, or some such. Personally I wouldn’t go that far; however, a lot of the film was very effective.  The quick summary of Don’t Breathe is that it’s like a darker version of Home Read more...

Pete’s Dragon

Posted 1:19pm Saturday 1st October 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: B+ Pete’s Dragon is a wonderfully wholesome story that made me cry in the first five minutes. The film is a remake of the 1977 musical that I haven’t seen, but I’m sure this 2016 reimagining of Pete’s Dragon is much better. It follows a young boy Pete and his Read more...

Free State of Jones

Posted 1:14pm Saturday 1st October 2016 by Max Olson

Rating: B- Being a history student and massive Matthew McConaughey fan, I thought I would take myself to see the new Gary Ross film, Free State of Jones. Set in Mississippi during the latter half of the American Civil War (1863-1865), the film is based on the true story of Newton Knight, a poor, Read more...

Nerve

Posted 1:12pm Saturday 1st October 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: B If you were invited to play a game where strangers were invited to watch and film you complete dares decided by them, in order for you to win money, would you choose to be a watcher, or a player?  Vee Delmonico (Emma Roberts) is the awkward high school photographer, with a crush Read more...

I think you think too much of me — Eden

Posted 1:06pm Saturday 1st October 2016 by William Sharp

Those of you who are searching for a deep and emotional musical venture will become enthralled by this new star in the indie-pop scene. Jonathon Ng, known since early 2015 as EDEN (previously the Eden Project) has shone his deep blue hues across the indie pop scene through his new EP album: I Think Read more...

Beef Empanadas

Posted 1:08pm Saturday 24th September 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

I loved these growing up, my mum makes the best ones. It was a good day when I got to bring these for school lunches. Empanadas are little Spanish savoury pies with nice flaky pastry. You can use premade pastry if you are short for time.  Makes: 10-12 empanadas Serves: Read more...

The Port Collective

Posted 1:03pm Saturday 24th September 2016 by Carolijn Guytonbeck

Here we see a mix of painting, printmaking, and ceramics influenced by the artists’ environment and daily life in Port Chalmers. There is a coherency to this collection of work - along with a lyrical and wistful feeling. End of Days Man with Flax Low Fly Zone  Dave Read more...

Sex Criminals (VOL. I)

Posted 12:54pm Saturday 24th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Sex Criminals is about Suzie and her extraordinary ability to freeze time upon orgasm. Growing up, she spends a lot of her time alone in her orgasm induced solitude until in adulthood, she meet Jon, has sex with him, and they discover they both have the same ability. They form an instant bond (how Read more...

Faith (VOL. 1)

Posted 12:50pm Saturday 24th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Valiant Comics’ recent volume follows the adventures of Faith, a telekinetic super heroine. She’s a big comic book nerd now living her dream as super lady flying through the air, kicking ass and saving lives. Previously Faith was a part of the supergroup Harbinger Renegades, but has Read more...

My Chemical Romance — A Retrospective

Posted 12:48pm Saturday 24th September 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

October 23rd will mark the tenth anniversary of My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade, the mid-2000’s most seminal, explosive and morbid rock opera. Fans ride or die for My Chemical Romance, even now they have broken up, and after four courageous albums and years of blood, sweat and Read more...

No Man’s Sky

Posted 12:43pm Saturday 24th September 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: C- THIS REVIEW CONTAINS ANGRY SPOILERS. Cut me into pieces and rocket me into deep space, this game was a mistake. Hype has been surrounding No Man’s Sky since it was first announced in 2013, and has only increased as more gameplay trailers have been released. Players could Read more...

Why do we need...MMORPG's?

Posted 12:41pm Saturday 24th September 2016 by Anthony Marris

Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Games (MMORPG’s) are online based games that allow players to engage with each other cooperatively or aggressively. The most recent MMORPG to hit the markets was No Man’s Sky, a game boasting over eighteen quintillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000) Read more...

Preacher (TV Series)

Posted 12:36pm Saturday 24th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: A- Preacher is an adaptation of the popular graphic novels of the same name that came out earlier this year. Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper) is an ineffectual preacher in a small southern American town. His goal is to find God, despite no longer actually feeling as though he’s in a Read more...

Sully

Posted 12:33pm Saturday 24th September 2016 by Nita Sullivan

Rating: A- In the filmic reincarnation of that famous “2009 Miracle on the Hudson”  where Captain “Sully” Sullenberger made a successful emergency water landing after hitting a flock of geese soon after takeoff—director Clint Eastwood makes some effort to keep Read more...

The Shallows

Posted 12:24pm Saturday 24th September 2016 by Nita Sullivan

Rating: B- Upon deep reflection, I have decided that watching The Shallows is much like eating McDonalds for dinner, both of which I did in the last week. What I mean is that both events (the film and the fast food eating) possessed equal amounts of enjoyment, critical thought, and Read more...

Blood Father

Posted 12:22pm Saturday 24th September 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: B+ It’s harder to enjoy Mel Gibson’s movies now that his various forms of insanity are out in the open. Every time he loses his shit on screen, you can’t help but wonder how much of it is really “acting”—and it’d be nice to travel back in time Read more...

10 of the 11 not so secret herbs & spices

Posted 2:20pm Saturday 17th September 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

This week, I did an experiment to recreate Colonel Sander’s infamous fried chicken. At 65 years old, and on a benefit income, Colonel Sanders built what would become the second largest fast food chain in the world. The recipe was one of the biggest trade secrets of our time, until it was Read more...

Animal Advocates-Art in Law XVI

Posted 2:16pm Saturday 17th September 2016 by Carolijn Guytonbeck

The Faculty of Law and the Dunedin School of Art collaborate biannually on the Art in Law Collections displaying exhibitions by Dunedin School of Art senior students and graduates. Animal Advocates curated by Marion Wassenaar comprises of works by four artists Rachel H. Allan, Daniel Bloxham, Read more...

A Visit from the Goon Squad

Posted 2:13pm Saturday 17th September 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad is about people who chase their dreams, people who lose track of them, folk who fall off the bandwagon and who sometimes never quite make it back on again. Simultaneously a short story collection and a novel, Egan’s book is an interweaving of Read more...

Harry Potter & the Cursed Child

Posted 2:11pm Saturday 17th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Picking up where the epilogue of the seventh Harry Potter novel left off, we see adult Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley sending their children off to Hogwarts. Their middle child, Albus Severus (what a burden of a name), is anxious about his journey to Hogwarts, despite reassurances from his parents. Read more...

Dvorak's New World | Dunedin Symphony Orchestra

Posted 2:09pm Saturday 17th September 2016 by Ihlara McIndoe

With a full house last Saturday, the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Nicholas Braithwaite and featuring the virtuosity of pianist Michael Houstoun, performed a spectacular concert of Jack Speirs’ Fanfare; Beethoven’s Leonora Overture No. 3; Bartok’s Piano Concerto Read more...

“Shut Up Kiss Me” —Angel Olsen

Posted 2:05pm Saturday 17th September 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

On September 2, Angel Olsen released her album My Woman, a swinging, soaring, 1960s-esque pop masterpiece. “Shut Up Kiss Me” is the album’s killer single. The song is infectious, Olsen delivering her vocals slow and deliberate at first, singing “I ain’t hanging up Read more...

Hyper Light Drifter

Posted 2:01pm Saturday 17th September 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: A+ Hyper Light Drifter completely passed me by when it was released near the beginning of this year. I was already familiar with images of its protagonist: a caped, androgynous adventurer, in a world defined by 16-bit pixel art and heavily contrasting colours. I had heard that it was Read more...

Why do we need…E-Commerce?

Posted 1:59pm Saturday 17th September 2016 by Anthony Marris

Ebay, Trademe, Amazon, Alibaba… all names we are familiar with, sites designed to allow consumers and merchants to come together and exchange goods for a fair and reasonable price. E-Commerce comes in four main forms: consumer to consumer (Trademe), business to consumer (Rebel Sport, Read more...

David Brent: Life on the Road

Posted 1:56pm Saturday 17th September 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: C+ David Brent: Life on the Road follows David Brent (Ricky Gervais) from The Office and his newfound existence as the lead singer of his band “Foregone Conclusion”. The whole movie is basically like “remember how David makes really questionable jokes? Here’s Read more...

The Fall

Posted 1:54pm Saturday 17th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: A+ Alexandria (Catinca Untaru) is a young Romanian-born girl in a 1920s Los Angeles hospital with a broken arm. She fell picking oranges at an orchard her parents work on. She barely speaks english, has a strong and healthy imagination, and spends her time wandering around the hospital Read more...

Bad Moms

Posted 1:51pm Saturday 17th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: B Amy (Mila Kunis) is a young mother who works part time, takes care of her children, and does the housework. She’s stressed, busy, and always late. After a considerably terrible day, she defies the PTA president Gwendolyn (Christina Applegate), and decides to quit being a good mom. Read more...

Poi E: The Story of Our Song

Posted 1:49pm Saturday 17th September 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: A One of the great things about this documentary is how well it places you in this period of New Zealand’s history. This is approximately the period that my earliest memories of New Zealand come from (or a few years earlier): the era of Crowded House, the Son of a Gunn show, the Read more...

Bobotie & Yellow Rice

Posted 1:19pm Saturday 10th September 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

My first taste of Bobotie and Yellow Rice was at a charity dinner with all African cuisine. This is a South African dish. My flatmate from Zambia also made it for dinner once. Both times I've had it, it was nothing but delicious and memorable, so I had a crack at making it myself.  If Read more...

3 x 4 — Lisa Reihana

Posted 1:14pm Saturday 10th September 2016 by Carolijn Guytonbeck

Take the opportunity to view some work from one of New Zealand’s current 'it' artists, Lisa Reihana. Milford Gallery are showing a range of her magnificent staged photographic portraiture work.  Distinct themes of mythology and colonisation run through the Māori descended Read more...

The Story of Your Life

Posted 1:11pm Saturday 10th September 2016 by Jack Blair

Ted Chaing examines, through the eyes of Louise Banks (a linguist tasked with decoding the language of an alien species known as the Heptapods), how understanding language means more than simply understanding a conveyed message. As The Story of Your Life progresses, and Louise applies a theory of Read more...

The Nature of Jade

Posted 1:08pm Saturday 10th September 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

Although technically classified as a YA novel, The Nature of Jade is one of those rare books which holds something inspiring and beautiful for readers of all ages. This book has been one of my firm favourites for years now, because of its captivating and accessible writing style, unexpected and Read more...

Puberty 2 — Mitski

Posted 1:04pm Saturday 10th September 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

I have been sitting on US artist Mitski’s latest offering for a while now, not because I didn’t think it would be good, but because I knew it would be too good for any mood that wasn’t the right mood.  Mitski’s songs have a particular tendency to tunnel through you Read more...

Abzû

Posted 1:01pm Saturday 10th September 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: B+ Giant Squid is an indie game studio founded by Matt Nava, the art director who also worked on the critically-acclaimed Journey and Flower, both of which rank among my favourite games. Giant Squid’s first game Abzû was announced back in 2014 at Sony’s E3 press Read more...

Why do we need...WeChat?

Posted 12:55pm Saturday 10th September 2016 by Anthony Marris

WeChat is the Chinese multi-platform social networking app produced by Tencent which is dominating inside the Great Firewall. Available on both Android and iPhone, it makes common social media sharing apps like Messenger, Snapchat, WhatsApp and Instagram look like glorified telegraph Read more...

Our Kind of Traitor

Posted 12:50pm Saturday 10th September 2016 by Nita Sullivan

Rating: B Our Kind of Traitor is the latest in spy-thriller-novel conversions by British author John Le Carre, and delivers generously in suspense, espionage, and drama. While the film is no doubt a good watch, it falters in equalling the critically acclaimed British miniseries The Night Manager Read more...

War Dogs

Posted 12:47pm Saturday 10th September 2016 by Lindsay D’Alessandro

Rating: A- Based on the 2011 Rolling Stone article, “The Stoner Arms Dealers: How Two American Kids Became Big-Time Weapons Traders,” War Dogs tells the true story of two twenty-something childhood friends from Miami Beach who made millions during the Iraq War bidding on US military Read more...

Crazy ex-Girlfriend (TV series)

Posted 12:41pm Saturday 10th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rebecca Bunch (Rachel Bloom) is a successful, career focused, big bucks lawyer —who is unsatisfied and unhappy with her New York life. During a panic attack over a promotion, she bumps into total heartthrob Josh Chan (Vincent Rodriguez III) her summer camp boyfriend from when she was 16. He Read more...

Ben Hur (2016)

Posted 12:38pm Saturday 10th September 2016 by Max Olson

Rating: C+ Set in ancient Roman-occupied Jerusalem, Ben Hur is a remake of the 1959 film directed by William Wyler, which famously grabbed a record 11 Academy Awards at the time. Unfortunately, I cannot see many awards lurking in the near future for the 2016 version, although I will admit that Read more...

Monsters — Strange Harvest

Posted 1:23pm Sunday 4th September 2016 by Lucy Hunter

You know that thing when you know someone, and you know they know you, and you’ve met them a few times but they pretend they don’t know you when you see each other out in public? Strange Harvest wrote a total banger about that thing. “Monsters” is on Dunedin duo Strange Read more...

Get A Yes — SAD 13

Posted 1:20pm Sunday 4th September 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

Sad13 is Speedy Ortiz singer/guitarist Sadie Dupuis’ solo project. Her first single “Get A Yes” is quite a divergence from her trademark deadpan vocal delivery and contortionist guitar lines, but this poppy little number is not altogether surprising.  Dupuis makes no bones Read more...

Nimona

Posted 1:17pm Sunday 4th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Lord Ballister Blackheart, our protagonist, scientist and villain, finds Nimona at his lair. Nimona is a young, powerful and impulsive shape-shifter with a desire to cause havoc and bring about destruction. She convinces him to take her on as a sidekick. The pair work together to mess things up in Read more...

I Hate Fairyland

Posted 1:14pm Sunday 4th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

It’s almost every child’s dream to be transported to a mystical fairyland to complete some complicated and epic quest, making bizarre and cute friends along the way, right?  The eight-year-old Gertrude might have fantasised about Fairyland, but she certainly wasn’t equipped Read more...

Why do we need...3D Printing?

Posted 1:11pm Sunday 4th September 2016 by Anthony Marris

3D printing (or additive manufacturing) is the process where multiple layers of a pliable material are applied sequentially to create a new object. Youtube channel “Print That Thing” showcases some of the products being made with 3D printing. One example was motivated by the lack of Read more...

OUSA Student Art Exhibition & Sale

Posted 1:08pm Sunday 4th September 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

Now that the OUSA Art Week festivities have wound down for another year, I think it's safe to say that the events were a fantastic success once again. Awesome work all you painters, sculptors, sketchers, jewellers, activists, volunteers, and other art-lovers! It was a fabulous five days which Read more...

Chicken Satay

Posted 1:03pm Sunday 4th September 2016 by Nick Blankendaal

I am Dutch so I thought “oh I’ll make something Dutch!” Alas, I couldn’t find anything really Dutch. Just Pancakes or how to make pea soup. I settled on making a meal based around a satay sauce recipe which, according to Wikipedia, the Dutch stole from Indonesia and is now Read more...

Shadow of the Colossus

Posted 12:55pm Sunday 4th September 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: Classic While it doesn’t deal with heavy psychological themes, Shadow of the Colossus is another beautifully empty game that instead imbues a feeling of the mythical. It is the 2005 spiritual successor to Team ICO’s first game, Ico. While that game was a dreamlike, Read more...

Silent Hill 2

Posted 12:53pm Sunday 4th September 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: Classic Modern gaming can be alienating to some. This is not because of excessive difficulty or because of technology advancing too quickly, but because of sensory overload. There is a trend for modern games to be open-world, action packed, maximalist blockbusters. One can quickly get Read more...

Steven Universe (series)

Posted 12:45pm Sunday 4th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: A+ Steven Universe is quite possibly the most progressive children’s TV show ever. Steven Universe (Zach Callison), who the show is named after, is a young (mostly) human boy with magical powers due to being the son of the Crystal Gem, Rose Quartz (Susan Egan). Gems are essentially Read more...

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids

Posted 12:43pm Sunday 4th September 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: B+ Honey I Shrunk the Kids is a guaranteed nostalgia-tastic viewing experience for any kids of the '80s or '90s. Whether you grew up with the movie or not (though I did), the pre-CGI effects, elaborate sets, gentle pace, and general look and feel of the film place you right in Read more...

Green Room

Posted 12:40pm Sunday 4th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: B+ A broke punk rock band by the name of the Ain’t Rights takes a detour to a remote Oregon roadhouse, to play a gig in hopes of making some money after a dismal turnout at their last gig. They’re promised a decent pay and so make the trip using syphoned gas. When they show Read more...

Kubo

Posted 12:37pm Sunday 4th September 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: A From Laika, the studio behind the likes of Paranorman, Coraline and The Boxtrolls, comes Kubo, a magical coming of age tale. The line “If you must blink, do it now” opens the film, setting the scene for a fantastic adventure film about love, family and Read more...

2016 Otago wildlife photography exhibition

Posted 12:38pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Olivia Lynch

This exhibition showcases the talented work of the winners of the Otago Wildlife Photography competition and a selection of other incredible amateur Otago photographers. Divided into two age categories, 14-and-under and 15-and-over, this showcase gives insight into the phenomenal skills of Otago Read more...

Total Recall (1990)

Posted 12:31pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Lucy Hunter

Rating: A The film opens with a Martian landscape, with two moons, and a stifling red sky. A man and woman hold each other’s leather-gloved hands, and give each other romantic stares through the viewing windows of their spacesuits. Then the man trips, falls, smashes his helmet, and starts Read more...

A Perfect Day

Posted 12:29pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: B- In A Perfect Day, Benicio Del Toro, Tim Robbins, Olga Kurylenko and Mélanie Thierry play four aid workers stationed in the Balkan Mountains, during a period of armed conflict. They are trying to retrieve a rotting corpse from a well, to prevent contamination of the local water Read more...

Suicide Squad

Posted 12:26pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Samuel Rillstone

Rating: A- Suicide Squad, directed by David Ayer, follows a group of supervillains from the DC Comics universe as they are captured and forced to save the world in return for shortened sentences. It boasts an all-star cast lead by Will Smith as Deadshot, Jared Leto as the Joker, Margot Robbie as Read more...

Rams

Posted 12:25pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: A+ Rams tells the story about how sheep are pure and good, and incurable disease is evil and sucks. Set in Iceland on a remote rural farming valley, we’re introduced to Gummi, who lives and breathes the sustainable lifestyle, breeding sheep for the entirety of his life. His Read more...

Pandemic Legacy: Season 1

Posted 12:18pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: A+ Learning to play board games is usually a single-evening affair. You may spend an evening learning the rules, and every evening thereafter you will be developing your own strategy around those rules. What enables you to develop a strategy is the fact that the game’s rules will Read more...

The Wisdom of Psychopaths

Posted 12:14pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Lucy Hunter

Psychopaths look, smell, and sound like regular people, but they don’t care about you any more than they care about the steak they ate for lunch. The good news is, not all psychopaths are serial killers. The bad news is, you’ve probably bumped into a psychopath today. Approximately one Read more...

Pale Fire

Posted 12:10pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

The epic poem “Pale Fire” has been put into a book following the murder of its author, American poet John Shade. Accompanying the poem is a preface, extensive notes and commentaries by Shade’s editor, Charles Kinbote. At least, when you first approach Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov, Read more...

The Beginner’s Guide to making your music collection less hetero:

Posted 12:00pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

Tracy Chapman - "Give Me One Reason” on New Beginning Everybody knows Tracy Chapman. Or, at least everybody should know Tracy Chapman. “Give Me One Reason” is a favourite of mine, my dad used to make mix tapes to listen to in the car and this song was on one of Read more...

La Crepe

Posted 11:55am Sunday 21st August 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

If you love good vibes and yummy crepes you can find them both at the La Crepe stall at the Saturday Morning Farmers Market. Disclaimer: I have worked for Christophe and Marie flipping crepes at the market for more than a year and a half now, only a fraction of their almost 12 years at the market. I Read more...

Tormentum: Dark Sorrow

Posted 6:00pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: B- As we jump from one adventure game to another, Tormentum: Dark Sorrow is an indie horror adventure game that runs mainly on its fantastic art style. The makers of Tormentum were inspired by the art of Dark Souls, Zdzislaw Beksinski (who, by the way, is FANTASTIC) and HR Giger Read more...

Her Story

Posted 5:58pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Campbell Calverley

Rating: A It’s almost traditional that Full Motion Video (FMV) adventure games are utter shit. Their cutscenes were very poorly implemented, they contained no writing or acting of any merit, and they were unpleasant to play in every aspect. Fortunately, modern game developers only use an Read more...

Bela Lugosi’s Dead —Bauhaus

Posted 5:55pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Lucy Hunter

I don’t know anything about this band but this was the only song I listened to for about six months. The song is nine minutes and 37 seconds long, with a two minute introduction of tapping drums and bass, with a weird scratchy noise in the background. The bass is out of tune and there is the Read more...

Unlimited — Bassnectar

Posted 5:52pm Monday 15th August 2016 by William Sharp

Review: A+ All students who are searching for a new artist or genre to explore will discover quite the colourful gem in Bassnectar’s recently released album. Lorin Ashton, known famously by his stage name ‘Bassnectar,’ released fifteen tracks ranging from the deep melodic to the Read more...

Shakshuka

Posted 5:47pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Kirsten Garcia

Shakshuka is a traditional Israeli breakfast, good for any time of the day with cooked eggs on top of a savoury tomato sauce. This is the best way to eat runny eggs in my opinion.  It's meant to be a bit spicy so if you're after a kick, add some chilli, cayenne pepper, or use smoked Read more...

Saga Volume 6

Posted 5:43pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Jack Blair

Finally! It’s book six, and our narrator is old enough to make decisions that impact the plot more than just needing a nappy change in the middle of a fight. I’m happy to report that despite the fact that our central character is four years old, the series does not backtrack in the Read more...

My Family and Other Animals

Posted 5:39pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

When the miserable English climate proves too much for young Gerald Durrell and his haphazard family, all five of the Durrells decide to relocate to the Greek island of Corfu. For Gerald, an aspiring naturalist, this is a dream come true. The wildlife of Corfu turns out to be a treasure trove of Read more...

Before Sunrise

Posted 5:35pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Joe Higham

Rating A- If you were to have spontaneously asked that attractive man/woman you saw in your day-to-day life to spend the day with you, it could’ve ended in a similar way to Before Sunrise­except it never would. Celine (Julie Delphy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke) find themselves on the same Read more...

Stranger Things

Posted 5:32pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: A+ Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) has gone missing, his mother Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) is certain he is still alive and is determined to find him. Will’s brother Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) is devastated—watching his mother seemingly lose her mind in her desperation to Read more...

Why do we need…Anonymous?

Posted 5:28pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Anthony Marris

Anonymous is a collective of computer enthusiasts who have a far-reaching presence in both the real world and the online one. Seen on Youtube clips wearing the mask from V for Vendetta, as well as having electronically distorted voices, they are often called a “hacktivist” group (from Read more...

Felix Harris & Mate Pavic

Posted 5:24pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Lucy Hunter

Works by Felix Harris and Mate Pavic is an experience in the darker parts of humanity. The two artists were paired by gallery owner Inge Doesburg, who saw Harris’ work and contacted Pavic in The Netherlands. Pavic’s works look as though they have been done in a frenzy, with black ink Read more...

Highlights at Hocken: Documenting the History of New Zealand Art

Posted 5:21pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Monique Hodgkinson

In a world where everyone knows the names Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso, it’s easy to assume that all art of value comes from overseas. In actual fact, the art history of New Zealand is arguably just as rich, inspiring, and fascinating as that of Europe. And better Read more...

Edinburgh Realty Premier Art Awards

Posted 5:15pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Carolijn Guytonbeck

Art awards can be such a fascinating mélange of art, giving a wide insight into the range of currently produced artwork. They can also be fun as there are times when you have those 'go figure' moments in seeing the winners. There usually is the option to have your democratic say and Read more...

Black Memories

Posted 5:10pm Monday 15th August 2016 by Millicent Lovelock

Dunedin artists Jessie Lee Robertson and Josh Hunter gave one simple explanation for their show, Black Memories, 'The Devil is in the detail' This statement is equally applicable to both artists and their work, but differs in application. Robertson offers perhaps more intricate work, with Read more...

Long Way North

Posted 4:09pm Monday 8th August 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: A Playing at The Regent: Sunday, August 21 - 1:15pm Long Way North is a beautifully animated fictional historical film set in 19th century Russia. The story follows Sasha, a resilient and determined 15-year-old young woman. Sasha’s beloved explorer grandfather has gone Read more...

Tanna

Posted 4:05pm Monday 8th August 2016 by Shaun Swain

Rating: A Playing at Rialto: Wednesday, August 10 - 11:30am When dealing with a cast of men and women of vastly varying ages, none of whom have ever acted, you run insurmountable risk. So in directing one of the only remaining traditional tribes, Bentley Dean and Martin Butler face Read more...

Under the Shadow

Posted 3:59pm Monday 8th August 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: A- Playing at Rialto Friday, August 12 - 8:30pm Wednesday, August - 17 4:15pm Under The Shadow is set in Tehran during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, and follows a family trying to survive two terrifying things: the constant threat of bombing, and the sudden presence of Read more...

Another Country

Posted 3:54pm Monday 8th August 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: A Playing at Rialto: Sunday, August 14 - 11:15am Thursday, August 18 - 2:15pm A story told by Australian actor David Gulpilil, Another Country examines the township of Ramingining in the Northern Territory of Australia and the postcolonial ramifications of enforcing Read more...