Sam Brooks watches Netflix’s Miss Americana, the new Taylor Swift documentary – and finds it light on revelation, heavy on image rehabilitation. “My entire moral code, as a kid and now, is a need to be thought of as good. It I was all I wrote about, it was all I wanted. It was the … Read more
Sam Brooks makes the case for raising your kids on the exquisite Japanese anime films, which have just landed on Netflix. A girl waits at a bus stop in the rain, barely fitting herself and her little sister under an umbrella. Next to her sits a large creature halfway between a bear and beachball. He … Read more
What are you going to be watching in February? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Lightbox, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ OnDemand. Click here to read our listings from January. The Biggies Outlander (Season 5 on Lightbox weekly from February 17) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t745AinnAno Outlander is back … Read more
The Real Pod reassembles to dissect the first week of The Bachelorette NZ with special thanks to Nando’s. Blow your air horns and distress your jeans, the very first week of The Bachelorette NZ is over and we are absolutely amping. Join us as we recap the Tough Mudder group date, the romantic single dates … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her second batch of power rankings after the first dramatic week of The Bachelorette NZ. Click here for the first instalment. Two Bachelorettes. Two. Bachelorettes. The room is spinning, the floor is lava, my nose is running worse than Brendon’s post red-carpet because I have been crying and laughing hysterically since I … Read more
How can Auckland be a ‘City of Music’ without a proper live music culture? Anthony Metcalf on how our biggest city’s paucity of music venues is hurting both artists and gig-goers. Auckland City was recently named a UNESCO ‘City of Music’ as part of the wider Creative Cities network. This accolade, shared with the likes … Read more
In this very special episode of The Real Pod, Art Green joins us to yarn about The Bachelorette NZ premiere. Brought to you by our friends at Nandos. Related: Alex Casey’s Bachelorette NZ Power Rankings, episode one: Send in the lads It’s been five years in the making, but we finally got Art Green on … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her first-impression power rankings after episode one of The Bachelorette NZ. Isn’t it incredible what a difference five years makes? Since the first season of The Bachelor NZ, Art Green has found the love of his life, written a book, married the love of his life, launched a business, bought a house, … Read more
Jean Sergent writes about her comedy crush John Mulaney, and what makes his brand of wholesome yet sharp comedy so special. Who is John Mulaney and why do people love him so dang much? John Mulaney is a white, middle class, American stand up comedian. He’s a former Saturday Night Live writer, voice actor (Into … Read more
Twenty-two years ago, Lucy Lawless wasn’t just playing Xena, she was part of one of SNL’s greatest ever sketches. Sam Brooks pays tribute to Stevie Nicks Fajita Round-Up. The year is 1998. Jenny Shipley is prime minister, we win zero medals at the Olympics, and an actress named Lucy Lawless is the first New Zealander to … Read more
The Frenchest man to helm a starship is back! The first episode of Star Trek: Picard is out, and José Barbosa and Josie Adams have some thoughts. Warning: contains spoilers (kind of a big one) Josie Adams Captain Jean-Luc Picard was a father figure to me for a couple of years, so seeing him back … Read more
The first two episodes of TVNZ’s new action series The Dead Lands were released to a worldwide audience of millions last night. Alice Webb-Liddall spoke to some of the cast and crew about the epic genre-bending show, and what it means for New Zealand television. When The Dead Lands was released in 2014, some called … Read more
The Real Pod reassembles to dissect the summer in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. We’re ba-ack! After a long cruel summer full of Jay Jay and Minou heartbreak, The Bachelorette NZ reveals and a mild case of ring worm, there is much to discuss. Why has Breakfast returned more sexed-up … Read more
Two years after the release of Mac Miller’s Swimming, his family has released its companion piece, Circles. We explain what it is, how it came together, and why you need to listen to it. What is Circles? Miller’s sixth studio album, and his first album release since his death in 2018. It was recorded soon … Read more
She’s an Oscar-winning actress, a widely hated celebrity and founder of one of the most successful wellness brands in the world. And all your jade egg jokes make no difference at all, writes Sam Brooks. A few weeks ago, the trailer for new Netflix show The GOOP Lab was released, along with a provocative image: … Read more
Avenue 5, the new show from The Thick of It and Veep genius Armando Iannucci, veers off-course after an ambitious launch, writes Sam Brooks Armando Iannucci has proven himself as one of the great satirists of our age. First making his name with Alan Partridge and then The Thick Of It (a takedown of British … Read more
Want to watch Friends but not sure how much time you’ll have to commit? Never fear, Sam Brooks has you covered with how long it’ll take to watch some of the most bingeable shows (and what you’ll need to do to prepare for your binge). Want to know a fun fact? If your full-time job … Read more
On the 20th day of 2020, New Zealand’s current affairs shows finally came back to work. Or did they? Tara Ward tuned in to the first episodes of Breakfast, The AM Show, The Project NZ and Seven Sharp to find out just what the New Year would bring. Breakfast The Breakfast team were bloody stoked to be back. The … Read more
To see someone like us – a band geek, a joyful dancer, a plus size beauty – being unapologetically who she is, is powerful. Applying that to your own life for the better is precious. And then she gives you a shout-out on the radio? Beautiful. Last week something really weird and exciting happened to … Read more
Tara Ward breaks down the full line-up for The X-Factor UK: Celebrity and we promise you’ll recognise at least a few of them. What makes everything better in this rancid world of ours? Not trees, not cooler temperatures, not an unexpected Briscoes ‘Monday Madness Sale’. It’s celebrities. Celebrities make the world go round, and nobody … Read more
Is there a more empathetic show on television than the British teen comedy-drama Sex Education? Unlikely, writes Sam Brooks. If you had a Netflix subscription last January, chances are you’re one of the reportedly 40 million people who watched Sex Education, the gentle British show about a teenager who gives sex advice but – whoa-oh … Read more
Sam Brooks went to the FOMO 2020 festival in Auckland, and was relieved to find it was more than just the final time that Lizzo will ever perform at 7:20pm. “Are you going to see Lizzo tonight?” That’s the question a lot of people asked me rather than the more standard, correct question: “Are you … Read more
Tara Ward takes a deep dive into some of the most outrageous, cliched and batshit made-for-TV movies hiding away on ThreeNow. Sometimes things are so bad, they’re good. At Christmas I ate a lot of ham that was probably past its due date, but did I regret it? Once the cramps stopped, not one bit. … Read more
With less than two weeks until the premiere of The Bachelorette NZ, Alex Casey runs through the full list of male suitors. We’ve got less than two weeks until The Bachelorette NZ starts on TVNZ and I am bloody fizzing. Without getting too ahead of myself, I am convinced that this will be the best … Read more
The exhibition T20 Black Clash, between Team Rugby and Team Cricket, will take place this Friday. Here Alex Braae sets out why the game is such a joy to watch. There was a moment near the start of last year’s T20 Black Clash which summed up why it connects so well. Stephen Fleming, one of … Read more
Emily Writes got to meet the contestants in the new Bachelorette NZ show, and boy were their teeth shiny. The Bachelorette NZ airs at the end of this month, so it’s definitely time to find out more about the men who will feature in this show that you will complain about on Twitter but definitely … Read more
Tara Ward pays tribute to the one true constant in New Zealand television: The Shortland Street Christmas cliffhanger. If you’re going to watch one episode of Shortland Street, make it the annual cliffhanger. Each year our beloved New Zealand soap makes sure we step into summer with a big bang, bigger than Waverley’s hair in … Read more
In the year 2000 there was no Netflix or Amazon Prime or On Demand; the ‘too much TV’ era was still years in the future. So what did we watch instead? Beverly Hills 90210 came to an end The end of the 90s also signalled the end of Beverly Hills 90210, one of the defining … Read more
The new Apple TV+ fantasy series is utterly nonsensical and suffers from a severe lack of sexiness. Still, Emily Writes can’t quit it. It will come as no surprise that I was absolutely frothing about Jason Momoa’s new show See. So much so that I signed up to Apple TV+ as soon as it came … Read more