This year has been the most turbulent in MediaWorks’ history. They’ve farewelled one nationally beloved broadcaster so clumsily that it threatened to sink the ship for a moment there. But they’ve also launched three new news products in less than six months in Story, Newsworthy and Paul Henry. There are mutterings about the role of … Read more
Rachel Glucina’s new “Entertainment + Celebrity News” website Scout goes live on Monday. To get us foaming at the mouth and subscribed up to MediaWorks’ salacious new gossip arm, they’ve posted a teaser video to the site … So what can we expect? A weirdly specific list of possibilities is flashed before our eyes – … Read more
An occasional series commending excellent New Zealand reporting. It took three bylines to bring us the story about fainting children in the Southland Times on Tuesday… …and the only wonder is that it didn’t take the whole newsroom. It has the feel of a swarm of reporters chasing down breaking news. It’s thoroughly reported, and … Read more
José Barbosa spent three long days trapped in a New York apartment to bring you this stunningly detailed, lovingly rendered tribute to the iconic interiors of New York City situation comedy. When you’re done reading – watch 30 Rock, Seinfeld and Louie on our great mates’ Lightbox.
Today we turn one, and debut a new iteration of The Spinoff, a little TV website which has lately been nursing big dreams. We relaunch today with five new categories and eight new staff to help run them. It’s been a wild few months: first figuring out what exactly to do, then how we’d fund … Read more
It may not have the pizzazz of the Super Rugby season or the hype of the Rugby World Cup, but make no mistake: the ITM Cup is the best ten weeks of rugby this year, and every year. Where else do grown men run around in the kind of deer outfit that would make a … Read more
For Bryan Fuller, death has always been a source of morbid aesthetic delight. In Hannibal, serial killings served as a canvas for culinary extravagance and beautifully grotesque tableaux. Prior to Hannibal, there was Pushing Daisies, a “forensic fairy tale” which couched its sweetly macabre story of a corpse-reanimating pie-maker in blindingly bright, candy-coloured art direction. … Read more
There are approximately three million golfers active on the PGA tour. We know the big names – the Spieths, the McIlroys, the Days – and they’re all well and good. But who are the cool, funny, and weird golfing legends hiding down the card, the ones we can really get behind? Is there a golf … Read more
Arbitrarily split into five political players whose power is growing and five going the other way, these rankings will become a monthly event. For the purposes of this glittering premiere, however, the month of August will be considered to run from August 1 through to September 10. All complaints should be directed to your local … Read more
English novelist Sarah Waters was in New Zealand this week as a guest of the Christchurch WORD literary festival, and promoting her latest novel The Paying Guests. You’ve said of your latest book: “I’ve never really written a love story before.” Can you expand on that? Are your previous novels more sort of romps than romances, … Read more
With Shaun Johnson in recovery from a severe leg injury, Don Rowe thought he might be able to take him down – on PlayStation, at least. Wrong. Seated in a bright yellow bucket-seat, wearing one shoe and a moon boot, Shaun Johnson was still the best league player in the room. Hayley Holt from The … Read more
An essay by New Zealand’s best social realist novelist in response to the incredible My Struggle series. This really happened. One evening, when I was standing with my siblings at a party, a woman approached who was familiar and yet unknown. We all had the same split-second reaction: who is this stranger we know so well? … Read more
The second 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 discuss Nick Jonas’ shredding situation; … Read more
Alex Casey recaps week three of Rachel Hunter’s Tour of Beauty, where we travel to Greece and things get a little muddy. We are going to Greece this week for some much-needed chill out time. I’m tired, Rachel’s tired, so why not take a trip to the people live longer than anywhere else in the … Read more
Conrad Smith sat down with Alexander Bisley ahead of the Rugby World Cup to discuss rugby’s global growth, reverse colonialism, anthems and collective contracts. AB: In Cory Jane’s biography, he say the All Blacks’ Rugby World Cup nemesis the French, likely opponents in the Cardiff quarter-final, are hard to analyse because, well, they’re hard to … Read more
Australian food television connoisseur and disappointment addict Eleanor Robertson journeys through cyber space and time to watch and recap TV3’s competitive cooking show, Masterchef New Zealand each week. Episode 11 Marco Pierre White is a complex and regrettable phenomenon produced entirely by food television. White has been crafting his telly persona for years, making cooks shake and cry … Read more
Alex Casey watches the rollicking teaser video for The Block NZ: Villa Wars, and gives sound analysis on what some aspects we can expect from the competitive DIY show. You better swatch out, You better not ply(wood), You better not grout, I’m telling you why: The Block NZ is coming to town. Yesterday I introduced you … Read more
Before the final episode airs tomorrow, Alex Casey looks at the riveting Australian documentary series Struggle Street. What’s it about? Struggle Street is a three part Australian documentary series, examining life in poverty-stricken suburb of Mt Druitt, just west of Sydney’s twinkling lights and sharp business suits. Following various characters within the community, the camera observes … Read more
Tara Ward ranks her favourite moments from the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week: Nicole and Vinnie tie the knot, Leanne seeks refuge in a toilet and TK’s thumb gives Daniel Day-Lewis a run for his money. 1) Vinnie and Nicole drop anchor in a surprise sea of love Big things were happening in Nicole … Read more
Alex Casey catches the Men’s Panel on Good Morning, where four men dish their tips on how to deal with grumpy women. “And coming up next on the Men’s Panel: taming the tetchy – our motley crew are going to share their advice for dealing with grumpy women” Jeanette Thomas says, as I sit bolt … Read more
Bringing together the TV moments of the week, including the launch of an essential reality channel, Masterchef’s big mistake and Ferndale’s mid-week marriage. The Launch of a Sky’s Big Fat Reality Channel TLC launched this Tuesday on Sky channel 16, bringing with it a slew of truly unbelievable “lifestyle” programming. We’re talking big leagues now. … Read more
From France we fly to South Korea on this jowl-hating journey to combat the global pandemic of ageing and ugliness. Rachel is in Seoul, a city with the highest plastic surgery rate in the world. “You probably think I’m in Los Angeles – where I live – but I’m not”. The big takeaway here is … Read more
Back Benches frequently and entirely correctly refers to itself as “the world’s only pub politics show”. It’s both true and somewhat redundant: what other country on our splendid planet would be fool crazy enough to allow it to exist? The show features sitting MPs, who set up in a pub adjacent to Parliament for an … Read more
The eighth season of Doctor Who has just arrived to Lightbox, and hitting us all square in the guts like a radiophonic workshop generated sine wave. ‘Tis a time for cheer, but is the verdict still out on Peter Capaldi’s portrayal of our favourite rogue Gallifreyian? José Barbosa examines Capaldi’s first season. Does the actor bring anything … Read more
Season eight of Doctor Who has arrived on Lightbox today, with Peter Capaldi making his debut as The Doctor. José Barbosa power ranks the Doctors as they have regenerated through the ages. There was a time the way the BBC felt about Doctor Who was analogous to how most people feel about flatulence in enclosed spaces: … Read more
For Monitor this week, Aaron Yap looks at the increasing flow of filmmakers across to television, and asks why New Zealand has resolutely avoided the trend. Remember that one seemingly event-worthy time when Quentin Tarantino, after establishing himself as a fully formed auteur with Pulp Fiction, took time out to direct an episode of E.R.? It … Read more
Alex Casey binge-watches The Ladies of NZ, the online webseries and offering to the radio survey gods by ZM. Sometimes I get really worried that, through some freak natural disaster, all of humanity is destroyed and all that remains of our existence are radio broadcasts from survey time, picked up by much more intelligent life … Read more
Tara Ward ranks her favourite moments from the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week: Pixie gets a watery send-off, Drew gets passionate and everyone else gets sweaty. 1) Harry steps up to speak out Poor ol’ Harry is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Just like that time he fell in … Read more
I need to know a lot of things in this life. What is for dinner? What is the deal with tides really? What is the point of anything? To complicate matters further, Rachel Hunter is here to pose another equally stress-inducing question – “how do we be healthy and stay looking young?” Ah shit, I … Read more