Sam Brooks 
Sam Brooks reviews Netflix’s The Witcher, a wildly fun adaptation of the Polish fantasy novels of the same name. Mild spoilers follow. It’s become a stock phrase in the age of streaming that you have to wait until it gets good. Think of the beloved BoJack Horseman which takes a full half-season to not just … Read more
The latest Star Wars film is out, and a lot of people have a lot of opinions about it, including culture editor Sam Brooks who saw a midnight screening last night. These are his fast reckons. Spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, obviously. Did you read the headline? Look. Nobody wants a review of … Read more
It’s the holidays! We’re all stressed, and we can all be kind of on edge. So here’s a few easy tips to not being a dick to those around you, and also not being a dick to yourself. Was there ever a point in time where the end of the year didn’t bring stress? And … Read more
How to watch the Rugby World Cup? How to make spaghetti bolognese? Who is James Charles? Google just released what New Zealanders looked for the most in 2019, and it says a lot about us. Another year on the internet, another year of Google searches you hope nobody excavates. Until now! Our Google overlords have, as … Read more
Sam Brooks interviews Cecily, the local singer behind surprise sleeper hit ‘Thinking ‘Bout Me’. “Getting thinner, feeling fatter, laughing more, feeling sadder.” That’s one of a few killer lines that adorn Cecily’s gem of a sadbanger ‘Thinking ‘Bout Me’, which wound up on the top of every pop music nerd’s favourite New Music Friday playlist, … Read more
Sam Brooks reviews Marriage Story, the latest Netflix movie that tackles that universally horrible experience: divorce. There’s a moment, about halfway into Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, Netflix’s new film about the dissolution of a marriage, that hit me harder than anything else in the movie up until that point. During their first mediation with lawyers, theatre director … Read more
What the hell are you meant to give the person who has everything? Don’t worry, Sam Brooks has you covered with the gift guide for that person in your life. It’s that time of year again – that time of the year when you have to think about your sociopathic friend. We’ve all got one. … Read more
Frozen 2 is out, but more importantly the soundtrack is available for your kids to play on repeat. Sam Brooks ranks the songs by how likely it is that they’ll sing them into your face for the foreseeable future. Parents and caregivers, get your loins girded because Frozen 2 is here. The film came out last Thursday … Read more
It’s that time of year again when, for the third year running, a new A Christmas Prince movie is released. Sam Brooks was in front of a TV screen for the latest instalment’s debut on Netflix last night, and here catalogues the many stupid, wild, and wildly stupid things he witnessed. Another Christmas, another slew … Read more
Sam Brooks reviews Gris, the stunning game from Devolver Digital that gamifies and makes beautiful that one universal process: grief. A girl lies on a massive stone hand. Her world is full of colour – radiant reds, bruised blues, yearning yellows. She opens her mouth and sings in a high fluttery soprano, and seem to float … Read more
Sam Brooks reviews the latest season of Nailed It!, the cooking show that celebrates enthusiasm over talent or edibility. “Urggggh, I’m so mad! I’m so mad that this is in my mouth! I’ve never been angrier about something in my mouth! I am floored.” There’s only one show that can elicit that torrent of bewildered frustration from … Read more
Sam Brooks reviews the latest generation of the Pokémon games which finally hits the big-ish screen. “I love Pokémon but I wish I could play it on my TV.” I’ve been playing Pokémon for 20 years and that’s been the main thing I’ve heard from my fellow Pokémon friends/fans. The games have been engrossing, addictive and entertaining … Read more
Sam Brooks gives you the lowdown on Disney+, the exhaustive streaming service launching today. What on this good green world is Disney+? Disney+ is a streaming service run by, as you might expect, Disney. If you need someone to explain what Disney is to you, then this service probably isn’t for you. Stick to whatever … Read more
Can the flagship Disney+ show The Mandalorian serve the Star Wars diehards at the same time as the casual viewer, asks Sam Brooks. A quick multiple-choice test to find out if The Mandalorian is for you or not. Q. Does the title The Mandalorian mean anything to you? A) No. B) Kind of? It’s definitely part of Star … Read more
Sam Brooks interviews the three guest curators of the New Zealand Festival of Arts: Bret McKenzie, Laurie Anderson and Lemi Ponifasio. An Oscar-winning Conchord, the world’s most beloved multimedia artist, and a world-renowned director and choreographer with an attitude. Three weeks, three unique visions of what a festival can and should be. In 2020, in … Read more
Sam Brooks reviews the third season of The Crown, a show that can’t decide whether it wants to humanise the monarchy or tear it all down. This review contains very mild spoilers for world history, 1964-1977. Three seasons in, there’s no doubt that The Crown is the, well, crown jewel in Netflix’s royal streaming sceptre. … Read more
Yesterday, Stuff reported that the 2017 Chinese-made propaganda blockbuster Wolf Warrior 2 was partially made in New Zealand. Sam Brooks watched it and – spoiler alert – found it weird as hell. About halfway through Wolf Warrior 2 on Netflix, the unnamed leader of a revolution in an unnamed African country marches up to the American leader … Read more
The 2019 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards are just a few hours away and, believe it, we have reckons. Who will win? Who should win? Sam Brooks is ready for some prognosticating. It’s the biggest night in New Zealand music – the one that’s televised, the one that got (fake) Paula Bennett onstage with Jacinda … Read more
Fifteen years on, Sam Brooks looks at Gwen Stefani’s wet, weird, wild and wonderful debut album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. The first thing we hear on Love. Angel. Music. Baby. – No Doubt frontwoman Gwen Stefani’s first album – is applause and cheering. Then a piano. Then Stefani warbling, sweetly, mournfully, almost like a torch … Read more
Last year it was the devious magpie! But who has nabbed the title of Dirtbag Bird of the Year 2019? Sam Brooks has the result. It’s been a fierce two days of votes, deep-seated resentment and zero campaigning. I’ve done the numbers, by which I mean I’ve looked at the votes, and counted them twice … Read more
Nearly 60 years since he first graced Auckland’s city centre streets, Auckland’s Giant Santa will retire after one last Christmas. Sam Brooks has the good oil on what’s happening to the city’s iconic Christmas overlord. Two things mark the start of the festive season in Auckland for me: The first time I hear the jingle … Read more
Sam Brooks, noted critic of the Queer Eye juggernaut, reviews Over the Top, a memoir by the show’s most flamboyant star Jonathan Van Ness. The phrase “like Maya Angelou taught me” shows up two pages in. It doesn’t quite set the tone so much as prepares you for what’s to come. This is what we’re … Read more
RNZ is set to announce the Bird of the Year for 2019 on Monday morning. In honour of this event, and our finest terrible birds, Sam Brooks brings you the third edition of The Spinoff’s alternative contest: New Zealand’s Dirtbag Bird of the Year. Reacquaint yourself with last year’s Dirtbag Bird of the Year finalists … Read more
As the HBO TV adaptation arrives on NEON, Sam Brooks looks back on His Dark Materials, the only children’s book series he was allowed to read as a kid. A little girl and her shapeshifting daemon. A sweet-voiced, evil-faced woman with a glamourous monkey for a companion. A giant polar bear wearing armour. When I … Read more
Sam Brooks reviews the most anticipated game of 2019: Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding. A man walks, with dogged purpose, across an empty but beautiful landscape. Every few seconds, a blue wave radiates outwards from him, highlighting little things dotted across that landscape – a ladder here, a rope there. A stack of cargo boxes balances precariously on … Read more
Sam Brooks reviews the latest entry of the Trails of Cold Steel saga and finds the rarest thing in a video game: a whole lot of care. When you look at Falcom’s Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III from the outside, it’s not an enticing prospect. Firstly, it’s a game that promises (more like demands) … Read more
The first half of the final season of depressed equine comedy BoJack Horseman drops today on Netflix, and it’s as bleakly hilarious as ever. Being a fan of BoJack Horseman the television show means having a complicated relationship with BoJack Horseman the character. On the surface, he’s not somebody you want to empathise with – an … Read more
People are calling Watchmen the next Game of Thrones, but what is it? Here’s the essential background before you start streaming it on NEON. Okay, so tell me what Watchmen is. Watchmen is a new HBO show based on a comic book series (or graphic novel if you’re fancy). It takes place in an alternative, … Read more
The latest in Sony’s stable of 90s remasters should come with a pair of rose-coloured glasses. Sam Brooks reviews the 2019 MediEvil remaster. In this generation of gaming, we’ve seen the glowed-up return of a few of our childhood avatars. The bandicoot spins back in, looking fresher than ever. The purple dragon flies back in, more … Read more