Sam Brooks 
The queen of 2019 combining with the queen of a generation, a New Zealand band with the new teen-dance classic, a local artist breaking the floor with a new banger. These are the songs of the month – seven international, three local – as picked by The Spinoff’s culture editor Sam Brooks. International ‘Quiet Company’ … Read more
Cocktails and video games – just like peanut butter and jelly, right? Sam Brooks interviews Jack Stone-Slater, the man behind the locally-made webseries Experience Bar which combines the dual pleasures of gaming and cocktails. Gaming and cocktails are two things that probably shouldn’t go together. Other than both needing a semblance of precision and timing, there’s not … Read more
The prolific and acclaimed country singer-songwriter Brandy Clark performs in Auckland tomorrow. Sam Brooks talked to her ahead of her performance. “I hate stripes, and orange ain’t my colour. If I squeeze that trigger tonight, I’ll be wearing one or other. There ain’t no crime of passion worth a crime of fashion The only thing … Read more
After seeing three shows in the Auckland Arts Festival this week, Sam Brooks reflects on the place of art in the wake of national tragedy. After a week of self-inflicted Wellington time, it felt a little strange to come back to the Auckland Arts Festival. After the events of 15/3, even more so. There were … Read more
Twenty years ago – before Instagram – a game about documenting your every move was released. That game was Pokémon Snap. The year was 1999. Hilary Swank was playing Brandon Teena, something that would now absolutely not be allowed. Troye Sivan was basically a fetus, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera were at the top of the world, and people … Read more
The internet is a place where the darkest seeds of the world take root – but there’s light there too. Sam Brooks talks to the person behind one of those lights, the Can You Pet the Dog twitter account which documents dogs you can pet in video games. When I see a dog, there’s one question … Read more
There’s no doubt that the Spice Girls are one of the biggest bands of all time. But how have they fared in the 20 odd years since? Sam Brooks ruthlessly ranks their solo careers. The footsteps and cackle at the start of ‘Wannabe’ are as era-defining as pop music gets. Hell, that entire song is … Read more
How important is accessibility when it comes to enjoying and appreciating our art? Sam Brooks reviews Blanc de Blanc and The Magic Flute, both part of the Auckland Arts Festival. Accessibility means a range of different things when it comes to art. The first thing that might come to mind is the physical accessibility; how accessible is … Read more
Anika Moa Unleashed finished up its second season with its most coveted and triumphant get yet: a 20 year reunion of TrueBliss. Okay, so it’s not all of TrueBliss. But one less Carly Binding and one plus Anika Moa is still a pretty damn good effort at a reunion. I’m getting ahead of myself, though. I’m … Read more
Left Alive has been released this past week to harsh reviews and studio backpedalling, signalling another failure in the rare people-in-robots genre of game. Sam Brooks back at the storied history of these games. It’s not a good sign when a studio forbids a game from being streamed mere days after its release. It’s the gaming equivalent … Read more
Working on my Night Moves is the latest show from award-winning theatremaker Julia Croft and marks a philosophical change for her. Julia Croft is one of Auckland’s most essential theatremakers at the moment. The work she makes is consistently engaging with the zeitgeist in performative, accessible ways. The difference, according to the artist herself, with Working on … Read more
The Enemy Within, which drops weekly on Lightbox from today, combines the funnest parts of a spy thriller with the complexity of a character study, thanks to a compelling lead performance. Sam Brooks reviews. The title ‘The Enemy Within’ is one of those multi-entendre’d ones that you can tell someone was very satisfied to come up with. … Read more
Sam Brooks steps back in time to 2009, the year of Now! That’s What I Call Music 31. What did his younger self think of those songs – and do they still hold up today? The year was 2009 and it was full of, as your worst friend would say, ‘absolute chunes’. No album, no compilation, … Read more
This morning, Nintendo announced the eighth generation of Pokémon: Sword and Shield, and along with it came three starters. Sam Brooks ranks these starters – and all of the rest of them. Another generation of Pokémon, another one hundred new creatures to remember the names of and eventually forget. Like, who remembers the sentient ice-cream? … Read more
Our sword-queen returns, a reliable popstar deepens her foundations and Aldous Harding mesmerizes us with the power of dance. These are the songs of the month – five international, three local – as picked by The Spinoff’s culture editor Sam Brooks. International Handmade Heaven by Marina Marina, now sans the Diamonds, has been one of … Read more
Less than a week out from release, Sam Brooks dips back into the breast physics controversy that has enveloped Dead or Alive 6. If there’s one thing on the internet that I can strongly endorse you don’t investigate, it is the debate around breast physics in video games. It’s a fast way to stop believing that there is … Read more
Australian band Haiku Hands had a social media smash with their song ‘Not About You’, and they’re performing at Splore this weekend. Sam Brooks talked to them about their writing process, and how they carry their energy from the studio to the stage. The first few moments of ‘Not About You‘ are magnetic, it’s the … Read more
BioWare’s new online multiplayer Anthem has stumbled out of the starting block, with decidedly mixed reviews. So is this it for BioWare? “… you never quite shake that feeling of disappointment – of knowing, throughout the good parts of Anthem, that you’ll inevitably come crashing back down.” – Gamespot “Anthem’s campaign is a collision of competing … Read more
A new British dramedy proves to us that Anna Paquin has the goods – but the rest of it doesn’t meet her at her level. Sam Brooks reviews TVNZ on Demand’s Flack. The best moment in the premiere episode of Flack happens nearly a quarter of the way into the episode. Anna Paquin, playing PR-slash-crisis-manager … Read more
She’s the tsunami taking the world over – and you better get on the wave before you get dragged under. Sam Brooks tells you why you love Lizzo. The love “I toss my hair back, check my nails, baby how you feeling? Feeling good as hell!” It’s the refrain that was heard the world over … Read more
Sam Brooks talks to ASHY about her brilliant new single ‘Temporary Crush’, the hustle of being self-managed, and her hopes for 2019. I ran into ASHY’s music completely by accident. Every week I do a trawl through a few new music playlists to make sure that I, as someone who writes opinions about music far … Read more
The new local black comedy Fresh Eggs premieres on TVNZ2 tonight. Sam Brooks talks to the creators about what makes it so different. Fresh Eggs doesn’t look or feel like anything else on New Zealand televsion right now – or ever. The show, about two city-dwellers who move to the countryside after some life upheavals, has a … Read more
There’s a dearth of queer work in Aotearoa, and very little of it is supported by our mainstages. Homos, or Everyone in America is a gleaming light in the darkness. Sam Brooks responds to the play, and talks to the director about its urgency. (For the purposes of this piece, the label ‘queer’ stands in for LGBTQI+ … Read more
It’s one of the most controversial entries in the long-running series, but on its 20th anniversary Sam Brooks is standing behind Final Fantasy 8 as the best one of them all. I have two lingering memories of Final Fantasy 8. The first is being stuck right at the end of the first disc. I’d just … Read more
Auckland Arts Festival is rolling around again and there’s so much to choose from this year. Sam Brooks picks the six shows everyone will be talking about – the ones you’ll kick yourself for missing. Festival time can be stressful, especially once you pick up that pretty brochure with dozens of shows to choose from … Read more
It’s been a few months since Spider-Man came out, and its follow-up DLC, The City That Never Sleeps, has ended its run. Sam Brooks looks back at the game, and how well the DLC fares compared to the original. Spider-Man was the game I enjoyed most in 2018 and it wasn’t something that I was expecting. Rather than … Read more
Will & Grace ran for eight seasons at the turn of the century and now it’s been revived for a ninth. Sam Brooks explains why the beloved sitcom remains relevant today. When I heard that Will & Grace was coming back a few years ago, I immediately felt myself tense up. It was nothing to do with … Read more
The biggest meme generator of 2018, the return of a beloved sitcom favourite and a new Lightbox Original are just some of the new titles coming to Lightbox this month. Sam Brooks and Alex Casey run down the highlights. A Star is Born (movie drops 6 Feb) I’ll tell you something, girl, A Star is … Read more
The series had a quiet end, but that doesn’t change how impactful Silent Hill was on its debut. Sam Brooks looks back at Silent Hill and its impact on video games today. “The fear of blood tends to creat [sic as all hell] fear for the flesh.” There are two iconic horror franchises in video games. One of these is … Read more