It’s December. You know what that means? Christmas is here. You know what else that means? Christmas movies are here. Sam Brooks has watched all the Christmas movies on Neon, here’s what he learned from them. ‘Tis the jolly season! There’s no better time of year than to turn up the aircon, chuck a beer … Read more
That Star Wars show just had an episode that was a stone cold killer. According to José Barbosa, you can thank director Dave Filoni’s animation background for that. [Spoilers for episode five of The Mandalorian follow, if you care about that sort of thing] The year 2019 brought many TV streaming joys including that second … Read more
What are you going to be watching in December? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ OnDemand. The biggies Industry (season 1 on Neon from December 2) Think of the finance industry on film and you probably think of masters … Read more
Last night, The Undoing didn’t just drop its finale, it dropped the ball on pretty much everything it had set up in its six episode run. Here are all the questions that will never be answered by this confounding show. [Huge spoilers for The Undoing follow, obviously] The Undoing has finished, and the biggest twist … Read more
Many of Waitara’s residents want to escape their small New Zealand town, but exceptional new documentary Taranaki Hard proves they might not have to. When Fati finishes a set of squats, bench presses or an early morning swim, his mum is right there to cheer him on. “Shake it out,” she’ll direct, while ticking his … Read more
It was inevitable that TV would have to deal with Covid-19 in some way. Grey’s Anatomy isn’t the first, but it’s the most significant. So how has the long-running medical drama done it? Grey’s Anatomy is meant to be the television equivalent of a weighted blanket. Something you pull on top of you to gently … Read more
Three’s new docu-series Taranaki Hard follows a diverse group of young people in Waitara, ranging from factory workers to pole dancers, students to sheep shearers. Series co-director Ian Hart hopes it changes the way city folk view small-town New Zealand. As a young boy my parents, looking for a new start, moved my family from … Read more
Linda Burgess on the soundtrack to her life. We drove up to Auckland last month. Our darling Edward, who, if suddenly out of sight, could well be found waving from the roof, was turning four. Unlike the time before, we weren’t turned back at Havelock North, when our phones, and the phones of the friends … Read more
Can we ever get enough of Dolly Parton? The answer is no. Dolly Parton is everywhere right now. Put the TV on and you’ll see the award-winning actor, writer and singer shimmering back at you, radiant with yuletide joy as the star of a new Netflix movie. Turn on the wireless and you’ll hear her … Read more
Six60: Till the Lights Go Out tracks the wildly successful Dunedin band’s evolution from three guitars at UniCol to selling out Western Springs. I was at 660 Castle St some time around the turn of the last decade when I first saw Matiu Walters. Someone pointed him out to me: solemn-looking, standing on a box … Read more
What happens if you take a personal memoir and strip it of everything that made it unique? You get Hillbilly Elegy. The opening line of J.D Vance’s 2016 sleeper hit memoir Hillbilly Elegy is “I find the existence of the book you hold in your hands somewhat absurd.” While that’s a little hyperbolic – its … Read more
It wasn’t so long ago that New Zealand would have to wait months, maybe years, to see a television show. We were fine with it. Then TVNZ took it too far. I remember the anger, the frustration, the resentment. It was 2006. I had dial-up internet that we shared with our landlord. I was yet … Read more
And the one change that would make it even better. It’s been on telly for 50-odd years, it frequently tops the weekly ratings and it just won best factual series at the 2020 NZ TV Awards. What is it about Country Calendar that we just can’t get enough of? José Barbosa investigates.
Before Splore, there was a South Island music festival that celebrated ‘unity through diversity’ in the final years of the 20th century. In this piece originally published on AudioCulture, Gary Steel tells the tale of The Gathering. To paraphrase a famous hippie festival homily, if you can remember it you probably weren’t there. Despite its … Read more
Four Auckland POC women have kicked aside the old bros’ club to create three Auckland club nights that represent the power of music, culture and dance. Makanaka Tuwe talks to JessB, Yordi and Half Queen for Ensemble. It was 2008, just before the bell for morning tea rang, when I dropped down, squatted and flashed … Read more
Australian sketch comedy group Aunty Donna finally got a Netflix series. Have they sold out to Big American Comedy? No, says Josie Adams. I shook Mark Bonanno’s hand while he was flyering in Edinburgh. I stood next to Zachary Ruane in line for the movies in Melbourne. I ricoheted off Broden “Manbeast” Kelly when I … Read more
Former Street Chant frontperson Emily Edrosa releases her long-awaited debut solo album today. In honour of its arrival, we asked her to explain what inspired Another Wave Is Coming. 1. Mould I spent the four years that I lived in LA drying out, literally. When I lived in the Grey Lynn flat where Street Chant … Read more
The Masked Singer NZ is the bizarre, top-secret singing contest that’s hitting our TV screens next year. What can we expect? What is The Masked Singer? It’s a reality TV show that began in South Korea and was picked up in 33 countries around the world, from Australia to Israel to Ukraine. Basically, it’s an … Read more
It seems everybody is watching The Queen’s Gambit. What is it about the Netflix series that is so damned compelling? Let’s be real for a moment: for most of us, unless you’re the one playing it, chess is incredibly boring. It is about as aurally and visually stimulating as watching beige paint dry on a … Read more
Three decades since it first emerged on our screens, Captain Planet and the Planeteers will always be remembered as the show that introduced an entire generation to corporate greed and environmental protection. Children of the late 1980s and early 1990s had a number of iconic cartoons to choose from: Transformers, He-Man, Gummi Bears, My Little … Read more
The original series about a Yorkshire vet was a late-70s television phenomenon. Could the rebooted version scratch a similar itch for recovering Anglophile Linda Burgess? There’s something about TV programmes that start with someone running. It not only depends on where the camera is – at foot level? uhoh… the camera’s a voyeur and we’re … Read more
The erstwhile Vodafone Music Awards returned to Spark Arena last night with a new format – and a new Covid-inspired appreciation for the joys of live music. Here’s what Spinoff’s staffers thought. There was a moment during the awards last night where I had a rare feeling (for 2020 anyway) of hope. Maimoa had just … Read more
If you’ve listened to New Zealand music from the last decade-and-a-half, chances are you’ve heard the influences of Josh Fountain. He has collaborated with Benee on a string of hits. He’s just collected the Aotearoa Music Award for producer of the year for the second year running. And he’s achieved it all with debilitating arthritis. … Read more
As The Crown creeps closer to the present day, its apolitical approach is becoming more of a problem, writes Sam Brooks. Minor spoilers for world history 1977-1990 follow. Another year, another season of The Crown. Ten more hours that mythologise, lionise and tear down the British royal family in expensive fashion, with expensive fashions. The … Read more
Stuff Circuit has delivered another moving documentary series with Emma, the story of one young woman’s search for meaning, connection and closure. There is a scene in Stuff’s new web series Emma where award-winning journalist Paula Penfold embraces Emma and gently kisses the top of her head. It’s so tender and I was so grateful … Read more
Twenty years ago, TV made TrueBliss into New Zealand’s biggest girl band. In this piece, first published in 2019 by AudioCulture, Gabe McDonnell tracks the rise and fall of the country’s first made-for-TV popstars. Before “Our image is kind of like naughty but nice.” Once upon a time in 1999 Peter Urlich sat sipping wine … Read more
The singer turned TV personality is back with a new show and she’s doing what she does best: talking to people. If you asked many of the questions that Anika Moa has asked in interviews over the past few years, the most common response would probably be a left hook directly to your chin. Here … Read more
In the last year, Benee has taken the world – or at least TikTok – by storm with her viral hit singles ‘Glitter’ and ‘Supalonely’. Ahead of her debut album release, the young star spoke to Elle Hunt about going international from her Auckland home. This time last year, Benee won not one, not two, … Read more
On the edge of the Mataura River, a disused paper mill is filled with thousands of bags of toxic waste. Locals want to find out who’s responsible for it – and they want it gone before disaster strikes. The Paper Mill is part of Frame, a series of short documentaries produced by Wrestler for The … Read more