Paul Williams, The Spinoff’s resident James Bond expert, places his bets for the new Bond based on the likely contenders lurking on our TV screens. On the 14th of October, 2005, a trio of Royal Marine speedboats came racing up the Thames in a ‘V’ formation. A man was seated at the front, his golden hair … Read more
For this, the final Throwback Thursday in our partnership with NZ on Screen, Joseph Harper looks back at the first ever televised Lotto draw, and unaccountably fantasises about eating a Lotto ball at length. My mum used to buy a lotto ticket every week. Discussions on the repercussions of winning the jackpot were commonplace at … Read more
The rancorous fallout from Brexit reinforces one of the key failings of what passes for debate in the social media era: that neither side ever hears the other’s argument. Richard MacManus on the ‘filter bubble’, and some ways Facebook and Twitter can address it. The big news this week was the decision by 52% of British … Read more
In which Paul Litterick reads our Monday extract, the one by Roger Horrocks about how New Zealanders are anti-intellectual, and says: “Bollocks.” Like many readers of The Spinoff, I was moved by Roger Horrocks’s essay on the plight of the intellectual in New Zealand. Of course, as I am sure you will recognise, it is … Read more
Holly Hunter takes a seat in The Spinoff confessional booth, and shares some harrowing tales of when her humble TV obsession went a little too far. ‘If TV be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die.’ —Shakespeare Many religions preach that confession cleanses the … Read more
The Brexit vote is entirely understandable. In Britain and across western democracies, some sense of democratic renewal is needed to avoid alienation, writes former NZ prime minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer Brexit resulted in my view from a break down in accountabilities. It is entirely understandable. Having spent most of February in the UK when the … Read more
Why does golf still exist, but Cricket Max doesn’t? How does Strip Date make the primetime schedule at TV2 when we can’t even get a half-hour slot for Clash of the Codes? Sam Parsons goes on a quest to restore justice to the world. Cricket Max The short-lived game was basically one day cricket on steroids and a … Read more
In the final installment of our E3 coverage Kermath spends some time on the showroom floor. He surveys the maze of booths offering punters face time with the video game industry’s games and hardware and asks: is this expo in danger of dying? The Electronic Entertainment Expo, held again this year at the LA Convention … Read more
Graeme Lay meets John Dunmore, the 92-year-old world authority on Pacific exploration – who has also written thrillers on the side, like the one about an assassin sent to New Zealand to kill Prime Minister Rob Muldoon. Question: Who is New Zealand’s oldest living writer still publishing? CK Stead? James McNeish? Gordon McLauchlan? Answer: John Dunmore, 92, … Read more
By Jove, it’s only the hotly anticipated return of Gone By Lunchtime, the Spinoff’s epoch-defining politics pod with Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire The Gone By Lunchtime podcast team has been roused from its slumber to fearlessly tackle the big political topics of the day/week/month/etc. Equipped with nothing but Lemsip, ginger beer, some … Read more
The Warriors (probably) hold the NRL record for getting their hearts broken by their former players, with James Maloney’s golden point field goal the most recent incident. Jamie Wall recounts the most traumatic ex-Warrior revenge missions. As far as losses go, the Warriors’ latest to the Sharks would have been relatively easy to take, had it not been … Read more
God almighty! It’s the return of the Spinoff live email interview, and the special guest is CK Stead, on the occasion of his new book of reviews and literary criticism. Christian Karlson Stead turns 84 years old this year, and he’s probably fitter than you – the dude routinely swims out to a distant yellow … Read more
Yes, it is a crisis: a profound and persistent crisis, bedevilled by distractions. Economist Eric Crampton takes a deep breath and works his way through the factors. The word crisis gets thrown around a lot. New Zealand has managed to have several crises in alcohol use over the past decade, despite official statistics showing generally … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her rankings for Shortland Street last week, including Boyd’s beautiful MRI scan and Victoria’s endless supply of bags. 1) The ‘D.I.’ in D.I. Foster’s name really means ‘Dickhead Idiot’ D.I. Foster is like a piece of overcooked macaroni: limp, pathetic and completely ineffective at solving crime. This screengrab makes it look … Read more
The Spinoff and Barkers are proud to present a new seven-part podcast series: The Get. Each week Canon award winning journalist Naomi Arnold will interview some of New Zealand’s best feature writers and news journalists about how they hunted down the biggest stories of their careers. Anthony Byrt, 37, is an award-winning critic and journalist. … Read more
Our resident Outlander fanatic Tara Ward shares her thoughts from the much-anticipated return of time-travel romance series. Contains spoilers. And smoulders. Shakespeare once wrote “war, huh, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing.” That dude knew what he was talking about, because there is NOTHING good about ‘The Hail Mary’. Calm down, Outsplainers: I’m talking about … Read more
In an excerpt from his new book of essays, Roger Horrocks examines the anti-intellectual climate in New Zealand. Warning: includes fatuous statements by Gordon McLauchlan. Every culture has areas of repression that make it distinctive or notorious, such as various forms of puritanism, racism, or sexism. New Zealand has outgrown much of the puritanism that dominated its way … Read more
The MPs and academics who’ve criticised the depiction of Maui in an upcoming Disney movie are helping perpetuate damaging stereotypes about Polynesian people, argues Leah Damm. When my local Labour MP, Jenny Salesa, used social media to question the depiction of Maui in the Taika Waititi-penned Disney film Moana, I had to take pause. I read the … Read more
Don’t bet on special treatment for Kiwis in post-Brexit UK. The time remains ripe for a New Zealand republic, writes Lewis Holden It’s no coincidence that the idea of a New Zealand republic first entered mainstream political debate in 1973. That year the United Kingdom joined what was then known as the European Economic Community … Read more
Josh Drummond re-enacts Game of Thrones’ Battle of the Bastards in Total War: Warhammer, and it makes much more sense than it did on TV. The television world went barking mad for the ‘Battle of the Bastards’ episode of Game of Thrones last week, with viewers howling at their TV screens at the sheer drama as … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Josh Drummond: New Zealand’s absurd gardening ban once again makes us the laughing stock of the Internet “Our prisons are bursting with middle-aged white people, who make up a disproportionate number of victims of our punitive and ageist anti-gardening legislation. Only recently a Kaikohe … Read more
In defiance of most predictions, the UK has opted to quit the European Union, prompting David Cameron to stand down as PM. Reaction from Neil Cross, Rawdon Christie, Noelle McCarthy, Bryan Gould, Andrea Vance and more Paul Brislen: A victory for old Britain Fog in Channel – Europe cut off. I blame Morecambe and Wise. And … Read more
Our resident Blockaholic Jane Yee recaps the highs and lows from week four of The Block NZ, including Dinner Wars going down the toilet and the Wolf sticking post-its everywhere for no reason. Guest room week always has the potential to be a bit of a snorefest. Who gives a toss about a spare room … Read more
Orcs are troublesome beings; they get in the linen cupboard and rough up the pillow cases something horrid. However, as Joseph Harper found, they’re also part of the enduring legacy of Warcraft. It seemed necessary to play this old game, given the release of the year’s biggest and most critically acclaimed mega-film (Warcraft: The Beginning). … Read more
New verse by Wellington writer Nick Ascroft. [Editorial note: A panel of experts refute the poem is about dumplings.] Dumplings Throw him out like dough on a flour-dusted table, put your wrists into it, your back – hh – sacrum, hips, get a knee up, weight the thick of your femur from … Read more
TV One’s documentary The Secret Life of 5 Year Olds is full of backstabbing and manipulation and tearful emotional breakdowns – it’s also very cute and ultimately quite heartwarming, writes Calum Henderson. Lily walks up to Alfie, who sits alone at a picnic table, and asks in a seductive Geordie accent: “Who d’ya want to … Read more
Undertaking the yearly challenge that is digesting the New Zealand International Film Festival line-up, Alex Casey from The Spinoff and Steve Newall from Flicks team up with notorious film festival fan Matthew Crawley to chew over the 2016 programme. Every. Last. Word of it. With their new mate Terry that they picked up in a … 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: June 24 UNITY BOOKS AUCKLAND 1 In Love with These Times: My Life with Flying Nun Records (HarperCollins, $37) by Roger Shepherd Number one for the third week … Read more
In sport, there are winners and losers. Joy and disappointment. But in the coaching boxes for the Welsh and All Blacks sides, there is only darkness, misery, and despair. Hayden Donnell reports. The All Blacks cruelly trashed Wales’ dreams for the second time running on Saturday, allowing their opponents a sliver of hope before crushing … Read more