So there he goes, a titan of New Zealand comedy has left us. Has any other satirist caught the ridiculousness of New Zealand life better than John Clarke? He’s famous for Fred Dagg and We Don’t Know How Lucky We Are of course, but here are some lesser know classics. See also: Tributes to John Clarke from … Read more
With the third season of Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul arriving on Lightbox tomorrow, José Barbosa makes his case for why the prequel may well be even better than the original. Remember around 2010, 2011 when everyone was talking about the continuing misadventures of Walter and Jesse? The show was so good people lost their shit, so much so … Read more
Ahead of the arrival of Better Call Saul season three to Lightbox next month, José Barbosa sits down with star Bob Odenkirk to discuss the hidden details in the show, Saturday Night Live vs Trump and why Cinnabon gets the party poppin’. For a long time, Breaking Bad was the pinnacle of high quality, must-watch TV. The story of … Read more
In association with our mates Bigpipe Broadband we’re livestreaming a different video game every Wednesday at 7pm on Facebook Live. Join José Barbosa and a cast of roped in innocents for these highlights from a journey into utter mayhem. Laden with costly virtual reality gear host José Barbosa and his mate Ashley Noel Hinton tackle … Read more
In the final season of Parks & Recreation the timeline jumps ahead to 2017. The series was ultimately optimistic about the apparatus and people that constituted the American government. Real life 2017? Not so much. Jose Barbosa compares the two wistfully. Some time ago American illustrator and Law & Order aficionado Brandon Bird tweeted an insightful comment … Read more
In association with our mates Bigpipe Broadband we’re livestreaming a different video game every Wednesday at 7pm on Facebook Live. Join José Barbosa and a cast of roped in innocents for a journey into utter mayhem. This week José is joined by Hayden Donnell and together they navigate the early access online multiplayer game: Conan … Read more
We’ve made the world a cornucopia of distractions and fidgety little things to keep us from achieving our potential as sentient beings. It turns out that the makers of all these doodads are, as expected, pure evil because they love hiding away secret games in software. It’s a double down on mindless game and here … Read more
In association with our mates Bigpipe Broadband we’re livestreaming a different video game every Wednesday at 7pm on Facebook Live. Join José Barbosa and a cast of roped in innocents for a journey into utter mayhem. Rise to the spirit of the fight with Spinoff Gaming editor José Barbosa and his guest Skye Pathare and … Read more
For only the 7th time in New Zealand history, the Office of Film & Literature Classification has banned a video game: the highly sexualised Japanese game Gal*Gun. This week two of our writers examine and respond to the decision to ban the game in question and we ask the Chief Censor to expand and explain his … Read more
Peter Capaldi, the 13th person to play The Doctor in the BBC’s Doctor Who, has announced 2017 is his last year as a Time Lord. José Barbosa assesses Capaldi’s tenure in the role and offers some pleas for the next incarnation. “Everything ends and it’s always sad. But everything begins again and that’s always happy. Be … Read more
In association with our mates Bigpipe Broadband we’re livestreaming a different video game every Wednesday at 7pm on Facebook Live. Join José Barbosa and a cast of roped in innocents for a journey into utter mayhem. José is joined by old mucker Ashley Hinton and together they enter a barely glimpsed world involving a school … Read more
The original MacGyver is a stone-cold classic, with a likeably earnest hero and a lot of heart. The reboot, which began last night on Prime? Not so much. José Barbosa explains. MacGyver airs 7.30pm Thursdays on Prime This content, like all television coverage we do at The Spinoff, is brought to you thanks to the … Read more
If you’re planning a trip to San Francisco, you’re in luck. Using Ubisoft’s open world hacker-fest Watch Dogs 2, which is conveniently based in the city, The Spinoff has compiled a grand tour of the city with plenty of tips for the new visitor. May contain scissor lifts and banjos.
Ever wondered how to sound like you’ve been hit by a log? Way back in April, actor Shawn Ashmore (Xmen, The Following, Animorphs) was doing the press rounds promoting the XBox time travel game Quantum Break. Shawn gave José Barbosa an exclusive acting masterclass. Originally published April 15, 2016 Phew. What a rollercoaster. But there’s more! … Read more
In association with our mates Bigpipe Broadband we’re livestreaming a different video game every Wednesday at 7pm on Facebook Live. Join José Barbosa and a cast of roped in innocents for a journey into utter mayhem. With Bethesda’s latest sequel in the stealthy-shooty-steampunky series now out, Don Rowe and José Barbosa get stuck into the … Read more
As we near the end of Movember, José Barbosa wades through the history of television to present the most fertile grounds for upper lip accessories.
In association with our mates Bigpipe we’re livestreaming a different video game every Wednesday at 7pm on Facebook Live. Join José Barbosa and a cast of roped in innocents for a journey into utter mayhem. Let’s travel back in time to the late 60s and to the southern United States for some open world FPS … Read more
No Man’s Sky is a bust and we don’t have enough money to buy the new Deus Ex game. Where now will The Spinoff’s gaming editor deal out his sweet gifts of pixelated murder? As a last resort José Barbosa examines a new gamey-ish project from MIT. There’s almost no doubt the near future will … Read more
Hold onto your hoodies as José Barbosa hacks into the astounding hidden gems of Mr Robot. Get out your magnifying glass and search for more hidden clues by watching Mr Robot, exclusively available on Lightbox This content, like all television coverage we do at The Spinoff, is brought to you thanks to the excellent folk at … Read more
On the launch day of Hello Game’s massively anticipated No Man’s Sky Don Rowe and José Barbosa played the thing for 8 hours straight. They invited special guests and streamed it all live to the internet. This is their story heavily edited and cut into 7 minutes. Check out our other coverage of No Man’s Sky: … Read more
After a mammoth gaming session streamed live on Facebook, José Barbosa tries to reel in his galactic reckons about No Man’s Sky. 24 hours ago we were chin deep in a 8-hour live stream of No Man’s Sky. We blew up asteroids in space, mined plutonium, destroyed weird creatures, gave aliens carbon so they’d like us, … Read more
Jose Barbosa talks to Adam Boileau of Insomnia Security about hacking thriller Mr Robot, and New Zealand’s place in the info-war web. The much anticipated Mr Robot season two is on Lightbox. To get everyone’s head in the right place José Barbosa talks to Adam Boileau, a computer security specialist for Insomnia Security. He’s also the owner/operator … Read more
Podcasts are an important pillar of the stuff that gets made for this website. So, as our audience is growing, we decided it’s a good time for staff producer José Barbosa to lay out our roster of podcasts for newcomers, the curious and the plain nosey. Take it away, José! Thank you, mysterious standfirst writer. I’ve … Read more
The Spinoff’s José Barbosa was watching TVNZ’s flagship current affairs show and he saw something he couldn’t un-see. To work through his trauma he made this video. As with all our TV coverage this post comes to you with the support of Lightbox, who always make appropriate music choices. Visit them today for a free … Read more
For the past 45 years the Dunedin longitudinal study has been charting every aspect of the lives of 1037 people, making it one of the most important studies in human history. José Barbosa talks to producer Mark McNeill about how you make interesting TV about hard science. Mark McNeill makes TV the way Steven Segal fights Tommy … Read more
Fanboy supreme José Barbosa hitches his hoss and spends a little time in Preacher country, the latest comic book adaptation to hit our screens. Lately it seems 20th century pop culture has been sucked into the 21st century filter and spat out with a nose ring and a smartphone. The reconstituted mass includes Zack Snyder’s … Read more
There’s a new Bachelor, a new mansion, and the same old dorks talking about it. The Fantasy Suite is The Spinoff’s weekly podcast about The Bachelor NZ, hosted by Jane Yee with Alex Casey and Duncan Greive. Have a listen below, or download here on iTunes, or here on Stitcher. This week Jane, Alex and … Read more
The latest installment of the Mars based Doom series is nearly upon us. But a Mars expert claims the depiction of the red planet as a portal to the underworld is a grossly exaggerated one. José Barbosa presents this explosive and challenging interview. Admittedly the original Doom took place on the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, but … Read more
Jack Joyce is given time powers while at ground zero at a time travel experiment accident caused by his bestie Paul Serene. It’s only the bloody end of time, innit? The Spinoff wraps up its Quantum Break coverage with a musing on the AAA game’s most interesting element: the story. The ubiquitous visual motif of … Read more