Aaron Yap speaks to trans-Tasman duo Jonathan Brough and Benjamin Law of The Family Law, Australia’s first comedy based around the Chinese-Australian experience. Last month, spurred on by the recent groundswell of support for the fair, accurate representation of Asians on TV, and my personal interest in the subject as an Asian film/TV critic, I … Read more
Turns out TVNZ were just kidding about when they said Terry Teo would only play online! Those trickers! Update: now includes a statement from the creators at the bottom. Yesterday we published a piece scorning TVNZ’s decision to release the brilliant kidult action dramedy Terry Teo solely on TVNZ OnDemand, noting that $1.3m of public money … Read more
Fresh from a whirlwind trip to Japan, Dan Taipua pens this primer on what to take and where to go for old school console booty and ephemera. This is part one of a two part series about retro video game tourism in Japan. Each year more and more kiwis are making Japanese cities their metropolitan destination of … Read more
How do you feel about the way your body is changing? Are you afraid of dying? Are you lonely? Noelle McCarthy asks all this and more in a new podcast series for Radio New Zealand. Here are five ways of making an interviewer cry. Tell her about: – how your mother feels about your terminal … Read more
Inspired by the excellent mockumentary series Hoff the Record, Pete Douglas explains why it’s time to welcome The Hoff back into your life. Like so many 80’s kids I was big into Knight Rider. What wasn’t to like? There was the car – a talking, driverless, artificially intelligent, black Pontiac Trans-Am named KITT– some marvelously … Read more
While Parris Goebel is designing moves for Bieber and Minaj in the US, another Kiwi choreographer is making waves in the UK. Corey Baker talks to Anna Frances Pearson about his meteoric rise. Corey Baker’s career hardly rates a mention in New Zealand media; it has happened entirely overseas. But the 25-year-old choreographer is now … Read more
The world is a fucked-up place with terrorists controlling the narrative (and the images), and distracted, anxious, over-fed America slouching towards a Trump apocalypse. Don DeLillo anticipated the way things have turned out; to mark the publication of his latest book, the Spinoff Review of Books devotes the entire week to the work of maybe the world’s … Read more
Summer Bay bait shop owner Alf Stewart (aka actor and legend Ray Meagher) talks Calum Henderson through some of his famous Aussie vernacular. One of my favourite things to do as a teenager was come straight home from school and binge eat little bags of chips while watching Home and Away. It was an idle … Read more
Strident remarks by Stephen Jennings, one of New Zealand’s wealthiest citizens, on housing, education and the economy suggest that the even the business community is tiring of the government’s endless softly-softly, writes Duncan Greive. Over the past few days we’ve seen a startling insertion into the public discourse of Stephen Jennings, a relatively low profile … Read more
Terry Teo was taxpayer-funded to the tune of $1.3m, helmed by a director fresh off a hit film and has been raved about by critics. TVNZ’s appalling treatment of the show will come back to haunt them, writes Duncan Greive. Update: TVNZ have announced that Terry Teo will air in primetime after all A New Zealand show … Read more
In May this year, The Spinoff was granted unprecedented access into the inner ranks of Team Parker. Fight sports fanatic Don Rowe followed Joseph Parker during his time in New Zealand as part of a content partnership with Barkers, and recounts some of that experience here. Kevin Barry stands close and maintains eye contact. His breath smells … Read more
HGTV launched several weeks ago, bringing with it a delapidated villa’s worth of home renovation viewing options. Joanna McLeod explains why she can’t break free from HGTV and the mysterious allure of The Property Brothers. It started innocently enough, stumbling across Better Homes & Gardens on Choice TV. Before long, I had the know-how and … Read more
The world is a fucked-up place with terrorists controlling the narrative (and the images), and distracted, anxious, over-fed America slouching towards a Trump apocalypse. Don DeLillo anticipated the way things have turned out; to mark the publication of his latest book, the Spinoff Review of Books devotes the entire week to the work of maybe the world’s … Read more
A team who lost to the Jaguares last weekend remains the team to beat in the Super Rugby playoffs – at least according to Scotty Stevenson’s final playoffs edition power rankings. 1. Lions Last week: 1 (N/C) You can’t judge the Lions playoff team on the result of last week’s game against the Jaguares because … Read more
The world is a fucked-up place with terrorists controlling the narrative (and the images), and distracted, anxious, over-fed America slouching towards a Trump apocalypse. Don DeLillo anticipated the way things have turned out; to mark the publication of his latest book, the Spinoff Review of Books devotes the entire week to the work of maybe the world’s … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her rankings for Shortland Street last week, including TK’s stovetop obsession, Bella’s aubergine’s and Drew’s long-lost brother. 1) Leanne has more delicious layers than a homemade Christmas trifle Leanne was shocked and disappointed by the state of today’s youth, needing a stiff gin after she heard about Lucy and Ali’s wild night of clothed jigsaw-ing. “When I … Read more
Working for free has long been accepted as a near-unavoidable first step in a career in media, politics or the arts. But when you’re working for months on end for little or no reward, when does paying your dues become exploitation? Sasha Borissenko reports. NB: the Spinoff has chosen not to name the participants speaking … Read more
Sky TV is attempting to massively restrict online coverage of the Rio Olympics – and both the Herald and Stuff are considering staying home in protest, reports Tim Murphy. Don’t criticise the Sky commentators. Don’t make Gifs. And hold off for, say, three hours. These are some of the controversial conditions Sky TV is believed to have … Read more
Emily Writes is a blogger whose incredibly frank and deeply funny writing on parenting has made her a hero to many mothers. Unfortunately, it’s also made her the target of thousands of unaccountably angry men – especially after a recent review of Tarzan went viral. Alex Casey called her up to talk about it. New … Read more
Opinion: Making inroads against ISIS requires the West to rediscover its ideological confidence, argues Nicholas Ross Smith. In what is sadly becoming all too common an occurrence, the world is grappling with news of another horrific terrorist attack, this time taking at least 84 lives in Nice, France. While there has been no claim of … Read more
Candy Elsmore is a seasoned veteran of Ingress, the Niantic-developed predecessor to Pokémon Go. Here she compares the two, and puts Pokémon Go in its rightful place. Ten days or so ago, Pokémon GO hit the world like a giant Magikarp in the face. Before that, the concept of real world gaming was somewhat of a … Read more
A translation of good old Catallus (c84-54BC) by Claudia Jardine. Introductory remarks by Claudia Jardine: A lot of New Zealand writers have had a go at Catullus [in Anna Jackson’s I, Clodia and Other Portraits, quite literally]. He holds a special place in the heart for most Latin students, being the usual introduction to Latin love … Read more
Our resident Blockaholic Jane Yee recaps the highs and lows from week seven of The Block NZ, including the return of everyone’s favourite council inspector Glyn, more tradie tantrums than you can shake a broken old bit of gib at, and a steamy bedroom tryst. It was pressure-cooker stuff on The Block NZ this week … Read more
Hayden Donnell spoke to the captain of New Zealand’s only gay rugby team – the NZ Falcons – about the worst 10 minutes of sports radio in history, and what the NZRU and the All Blacks can do to make things better. On Monday, Mark Watson announced Controversy Corner is no more. By all accounts, … Read more
With the second season of Mr Robot premiering on Lightbox this week, Aaron Yap is drawn back into the show’s elusive, murky world. Mr. Robot was one of the buzziest, most intoxicating television events of 2015. Thematically and formally, it was an inspired blend. The show wedded a heady study of mental illness to a … Read more
Nintendo continue their aggressive expansion into the ‘stuff we used to play’ market, announcing a tiny version of the iconic NES. Nintendo, not satisfied with taking over the world via their insanely popular Poke-app, have seen fit to release the ultimate piece of plastic nostalgia. The Nintendo Classic Mini: NES will be a replica of … Read more
A weekly feature at the Spinoff Review of Books: The best-selling books at the Wellington and Auckland stores of Unity Books. THE BEST–SELLER CHART FOR THE WEEK JUST ENDED: July 15 UNITY WELLINGTON 1. Hera Lindsay Bird (Victoria University Press, $25) by Hera Lindsay Bird Her, here. 2. Salt River Songs (Potton & Burton, $25) by … Read more
TV3’s Westside weaves together New Zealand nostalgia with the pits and peaks of life for the notorious West family. Amelia Petrovich looks back on the history lessons of episodes past. At the end of year 12, my entire class voted to study Medieval England over New Zealand history and my poor teacher dissolved. With a furrowed brow … Read more
This week, Ms. X advises a young woman whose social media stalking is spiralling out of control. Hi Ms X, I have a problem for the digital age: I stalk my boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend relentlessly on social media. My very supportive, loving, and trusting boyfriend and I have been together for just over a year, and … Read more