Dry dialogue, boring gameplay and a generally lackluster main character let down beautiful graphics and an audacious storyline across the Uncharted series, writes Don Rowe. I tried to like the Uncharted games. I really did. Night after night I plonked myself down on a beanbag, took up the controller and went in search of ancient … Read more
A game of rugby union was played in London today, during which the greatest first five eighth in the history of the game finally got his World Cup moment. Dan Carter, a man who cried in the stands at Millennium Stadium in 2007, and who watched Stephen Donald win a World Cup in 2011, lined … Read more
The winners of New Zealand’s most prestigious media awards were announced yesterday at a bacchanalian feast in Hamilton. The annual Wintec Press Club awards were staged as part of the Wintec Press Club free lunch extravaganza, held on the banks of the Waikato River, featuring guest speaker and gun nut Heather du Plessis Allan. Journalists from … Read more
Arguing with my Dad is a new occasional column which features Greg Bruce in conversation with his father about sports. This first instalment covers the RWC final… Dad answered his phone and I asked how his morning was going. “Yes, yes,” he said, “I got showered and shaved and now I’m on the last of … Read more
Sue Orr reviews the work of poet Bill Manhire, a sprawling effort covering themes as diverse as animal rights and personal identity. It’s a thing writers often do, when they get a new book by a fellow author. They flick to the dedication page, curious for the identity of the wing-person who endured years (probably) … Read more
Steve Braunias plumbs the depths of Youtube for guidance on fish hygiene. This is what I’ve been watching. I don’t know her name but she’s world famous. Her 5min:54sec instructional video on how to siphon water from an fish aquarium has 617,179 views – not all of them mine. I watch it during the day. I … Read more
Long Range Forecast (for Paula Green at 60) September and still winter but the purple irises are out under the vine and suddenly every branch and twig of the plum is pricked with blossom. This is an oath sworn by the season hand on heart. It’s in the sky too between showers. The … Read more
A relatively quiet week for our Premier League heroes, with only a smattering of Capital One Cup matches standing in the way of some good solid tweeting. Ahead of the weekend’s intriguing round of games – predictions: Newcastle v Stoke a 7-goal thriller; Chelsea v Liverpool a 0-0 draw – let’s try and divine some … Read more
“Kia ora, I’m Temuera Morisson, and welcome to Mataku; chilling tales of the unexplained and the unexpected. Join me on a journey, through the supernatural world…of the Māori.” Mataku is basically the Maori X Files, and it’s a national embarrassment that this show isn’t every part as much cultural canon as The Lord of the … Read more
If you are reading this, it isn’t too late. It isn’t too late to disrobe from your disloyal, multi coloured garb. Fanciful? Yes. Patriotic? Not nearly enough. If you are wearing anything that isn’t a shade of black right now, I suggest avoiding eye contact with everyone on the street. Your laissez faire attitude to … Read more
Bringing together the TV moments of the week, including the final of New Zealand’s greatest karaoke show and Suzanne Paul’s last advertorial. Contributions by Calum Henderson and Alex Casey. The Last Light of Suzanne’s Natural Advertorial Glow New Zealand’s most beloved peddler of health, fashion and beauty products has filmed her final advertorial for Good … Read more
Lydia Ko is making it rain. The 18-year-old’s first two years as professional are have netted one hell of a return. How much did you earn today? In fact, how much did you earn in the last two years? Congratulations! But try this on for size: In less than two, full-time seasons on the LPGA … Read more
The eighth episode of our weekly pop music chat for umusic, shot and edited by The Spinoff’s own José Barbosa. It involves two pop rookies – The Spinoff’s Alex Casey and bFM’s Joseph Harper – listening to state-of-the-art pop music and having a chat about it. Simple. This week they are joined on the couch … Read more
In a week dominated by Sally Ridge-inspired arts & craft challenges, Calum Henderson assesses the hopes and dreams of the increasingly sick, tired and furious Block NZ contestants. 1. (Last Week: 1) Brooke & Mitch – House 4 The Brooke and Mitch juggernaut rolled on through Living Room Week. The pair’s Heartland conservatism and attention to … Read more
This week Men In Blazers Rog and Davo wonder if anyone in New Zealand is paying attention to football and get a bit carried away over the All Blacks themselves. https://youtu.be/ypYTsS_-w78/?utm_source=thespinoff&utm_medium=partnership&utm_campaign=partnership Watch all this weekend’s Premier League action live and on demand at Premier League Pass.
Masters of Horror brought together the most morphed minds in horror to direct a series of one-hour TV specials. Aaron Yap lists the essential episodes to scream your way through this Halloween. The story begins like a boilerplate slasher movie scenario – with a meta twist. In 2002, Mick Garris, director of many a Stephen King adaptation, invites … Read more
In an attempt to bring good luck to our rugby team, Calum Henderson spent an entire day in full brand immersion: surviving on and consuming only officially licensed All Blacks’ products. This post was first published in October 2015 There once was a time when I cared deeply about the All Blacks. I was 10, … Read more
An NPC debutant at the ripe old age of 21. A schoolboy and club career spent playing at halfback and first-five. Just one international appearance before turning 25. Shunted to wing or centre to occupy a regular Test berth as a 27-year-old. It’s not exactly the fact-file you’d expect to find for a player regarded … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her power rankings for week three of My Kitchen Rules NZ, including Paul and Laurence’s sad departure and a rare possum solution from Kimberley and Brooke. I can’t believe we’ve already lost New Zealand’s sweethearts Paul and Laurence. Despite Paul whipping out his finest horse impression, it wasn’t enough to keep our … Read more
‘There was a mistake made on the day I was born, when I come to think of it,’ begins the narrator of Sweet Caress, Amory Clay, recalling how her father put her down in the birth notices as a boy. ‘Why did he say “son”? To spite his wife, my mother? Or was it a … Read more
What is the scariest television viewing this Halloween? Once you are done with all of the on-trend prestigious horror shows, take a trip down memory lane to the darkest corners of your childhood telly-watching. Halloween is creeping up this week, which could well get you in the mood to endure some scary television shows. The likes … Read more
Christmas Island made headlines in 2001 when the Norwegian ship MV Tampa attempted to land more than 400 asylum seekers on the Australian territory, an island nestled beneath Indonesia with a resident population of less than 2,000. For years before and after the island had been a target for so-called “boat people” travelling from Asia … Read more
You can’t get rid of the Phoenix. They’re named the Phoenix, for goodness’ sake. Is the Phoenix not the ultimate symbol of regeneration and rebirth and renewal? How can the Wellington club that rose from the ashes of Auckland’s attempts on dodgy property developer cash be handed a death sentence by the FFA? Do they … Read more
Charlotte Grimshaw examines anonymous literary sensation Elena Ferrante, and the place of the ‘self’ in written work. I,I,I… Some time after the Christchurch earthquake, I visited the city. I hadn’t been there since before the disaster, and I was shocked by the devastation in the centre, and in particular by the number of multi-storey buildings that … Read more
For monitor this week, Aaron Yap applauds the sophomore effort of Fargo, and explains how the second season has created an even richer and more nuanced world than the first. It doesn’t seem that long ago that the idea of adapting Fargo for TV sounded kinda lame. What? Not Fargo. Why would anyone want a TV … Read more
There are turbulent times ahead as we enter the five stages of hysteria leading up to the Rugby World Cup final, writes Finlay Macdonald. It began immediately after Australia’s mildly convincing win over Argentina in the second semi-final, with a classic bit of clickbait: “Five reasons to fear the Wallabies”. The article was really just … Read more
TV presenter Sonia Gray hosted Miss Universe New Zealand over the weekend. Here she recounts for us her experience walking back in time to this magical and deeply strange world. Photography by Max Alawwad. It’s almost impossible to imagine now but, like smoking on airplanes and cheering for Chris Cairns, Miss Universe New Zealand used to be a real … Read more
The novel that won this year’s Man Booker Prize runs 688 pages. Peter Simpson gets stuck in. A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James There is a scene in Marlon James’ vast, grim, dark, compelling, and (now) Man Booker prize winning novel, that threw me back more than 40 years to my only first-hand … Read more
In July 1965 Sam and Ann Lawson, who had been undergoing fertility treatment, gave birth to the world’s third surviving set of quintuplets at Aucklands’ National Women’s Hospital. The crowd went wild. Paul Little’s fascinating book Stolen Lives: The Untold Stories of the Lawson Quins picks up the story… Sam and Ann were in more … Read more