Alex Casey reviews The Casketeers, an ingenious documentary set within the four walls of an Onehunga funeral home. It’s only two weeks into 2018 and we might already have stumbled upon a frontrunner for local comedy show of the year. An outrageous and over-eager claim, perhaps, but who cares? If TVNZ1’s hilarious documentary gem The Casketeers … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, featuring Troye Sivan, Justin Timberlake, David Byrne, MGMT and more… Troye Sivan – ‘My My My!’ No-one’s 16 forever Troye Sivan’s new single probably won’t meet your unfairly high expectations, but it’ll come close. Sivan’s debut album Blue Neighbourhood was a stab-you-in-the-heart autobiographical account of a time in a young … Read more
Alex Casey breaks down some of the key changes, newbies and returning old faves to local television in 2018. Take one more look at your crappy holiday viewing habits, because the last of the delicious summer TV wine has nearly run dry. Soon we are back to regimented programming, which means no more corny Lord … Read more
Sam Brooks uncovers Watching Ellie, a Julia Louis-Dreyfus sitcom that got buried somewhere in her illustrious career between Seinfeld and Veep. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is an international treasure. She has three billion Emmys (fact-checked, and yes that is the correct number), she’s starred on several long-running shows and she’s managed to establish three iconic comic characters … Read more
With public outcry over sexual violence at music festivals increasing, Bianca Fileborn and Phillip Wadds have launched a research project to show how prevalent sexual violence at festivals is beyond the high-profile, anecdotal cases that have been picked up by the media. This year’s summer music festival season has again been marred by several incidents … Read more
Does the return of Limp Bizkit to our shores in 2018 mean the nu-metal revival is happening? All signs point to… maybe. For a brief moment in music history, Limp Bizkit’s star shone bright. They were the angry princes of a new genre that fused rap and rock. Some called it rap-rock, while others preferred … Read more
Sam Brooks rewatched Friends in its entirety. Ten seasons, 236 episodes, and as many cutesy episode titles. But what if those titles were just a bit more honest? For a certain generation, Friends is an inescapable mainstay. I don’t think the show has ever left our screens since it started airing in 1994. Almost every night when … Read more
Kate Robertson talks to musical polymath Troy Kingi about his second album’s journey through space. Troy Kingi is two albums deep into a very ambitious mission. The musician and actor plans to release ten albums across ten genres in ten years. He kicked things off in 2016 with the 23-track Guitar Party at Uncles Bach, … Read more
Alex Casey watches Loudermilk, a bitterly funny dramedy about staying off the sauce. What’s the story? “Life is about fucking things up and then unfucking the things that you fucked up. That’s what makes you less of a fuck-up” Created by Peter Farrelly (There’s Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber) and Bobby Mort (The Colbert … Read more
We’ll be here from 12 pm to cover the highs and lows of the 2018 Golden Globe awards, for all of those who are stuck in the office pretending to work. This television content is brought to you by Lightbox, home of Golden Globe-nominated shows such as The Handmaid’s Tale, Outlander, Mr Robot and Better … Read more
The Moana soundtrack can be heard anywhere; in Countdown, at the movies, blasting from the car next to you at the Royal Oak roundabout. Madeleine Chapman sat down with one of the men responsible for the movie’s music, Opetaia Foa’i, to talk Disney, collaboration, and knowing when to draw the line. I spotted Opetaia Foa’i in Ponsonby … Read more
The Good Wife is one of those shows that has always seemed to be around but you’ve probably never seen. Sam Brooks tells you why you haven’t watched it yet, and why you should fix that immediately. This story was first published on August 1, 2017. At some point in 2016 I decided I was … Read more
A couple of years ago Aldous Harding was just another New Zealand folk musician. Then she found a fierce voice, and started playing a string of mesmerising live performances which now have her on the verge of international fame. Henry Oliver sat down with her to try and find out what sparked her transformation. First … Read more
The contrivances of the first generation of reality shows are being overtaken by higher stakes games, writes Duncan Greive. This story was originally published on November 15, 2017. The first season of Married at First Sight NZ is over, and I for one am an absolute wreck. For the past three years I’ve been part of ‘The … Read more
The coincidences have mounted to the point where it must be asked – has Pitbull come back to the future to warn us about our impending ecological demise? On the release day of his new album Climate Change, Carys Goodwin dares to investigate. This post first published March 17, 2017. It’s 3:05am and I’m staring … Read more
Alex Casey delves into the endless relevance of The Handmaid’s Tale, available exclusively on Lightbox. This story was originally published on June 8, 2017 I first encountered The Handmaid’s Tale during high school English. They were simpler times, when you could buy three full size (!) Moro bars for $2 at the tuck shop, and the world didn’t … Read more
Simon Day uncovers the fascinating history of New Zealand’s longest running music festival. Twenty years ago on the rugged cliffs above Karioitahi Beach, an hour south of Auckland, somewhere between 500 and 700 people gathered to spend two days celebrating the end of 1998 and the beginning of 1999. It was a wild bush trance … Read more
Liam Maguren talks to the Mukpuddy team about season two of The Barefoot Bandits, Māori MacGyver in space and getting adults excited about cartoons again. Ryan Cooper, Tim Evans and Alex Leighton are a triforce that take the form of New Zealand animation studio Mukpuddy. I burned my shoes for them when I celebrated their history and the … Read more
Like the rest of the internet-having world, Sam Brooks has been listening to Lorde’s new album today. Unlike most of the world, he writes plays for a living. Here’s his interpretation of his favourite song from the album. First published on 16 June 2017. * The following is what happens when you sit in The … Read more
From the genius that gave us Blade Runner, anthology series Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams has arrived exclusively to Lightbox. Alex Casey and José Barbosa try to piece together the meaning behind the unique, mind-bending tales. Contains spoilers and trippiness. This story was first published on October 19, 2017 Alex Casey: Hey José, how are you doing today? … Read more
Rhythm and Vines’ co-founder Hamish Pinkham talks about the highs and lows of the first 15 years of his hugely popular New Year’s Eve festival. In the past 15 years, Rhythm and Vines has gone from a small New Year’s Eve party intended for 400 people, but attended by 1800, in 2003 to a sprawling … Read more
When future historians look back at life in New Zealand in the early part of this century, there’s one pop cultural artifact that in three-and-a-half minutes summed up the aspirations of a changing nation: Gold Medal Famous’ masterpiece ‘We Bought A House’. This post was first published on September 7, 2017. We’ve been waiting for … Read more
Sam Brooks picks out what you should watch this Christmas when things get too stressful and you just need to curl up on the couch. Christmas is a stressful day for everyone. Whether you’re giving the gifts, receiving them, making the food or eating it, there’s a lot to do. And sometimes you need a … Read more
Fazerdaze, the current incarnation of 24-year-old Amelia Murray, released her debut album Morningside back in May. Since we wrote about the build-up to that record, Murray has had a whirlwind year, finally catching her breath back in New Zealand for Christmas. “I do it for selfish reasons,” laughs Amelia. I’ve asked her why she insists on … Read more
With help from our TV sponsors at Lightbox, Tara Ward rounds up some of the most delicious Christmas TV specials for you to feast upon. There’s 100 reasons why Christmas is so bloody awesome, and 99 of them relate to watching TV specials about Christmas. Indeed, there is no better time than Christmas to watch … Read more
Alex Casey talks to Halli Cauthery, the composer who created the synth soundtrack to Seth Rogen’s Future Man. If you look at pop culture (and the real world) at the moment, there are a lot of people trying to flee their grim reality for something a little more adventurous. Take the new trailer for Steven Spielberg’s … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to singer-songwriter Nadia Reid, who plays Wondergarden festival in Auckland this New Year’s, about the highs and lows of her year, the rigours of touring, and being accepted by the music industry. It’s strange now to think back to 2014 when Nadia Reid struggled to find a label for her debut album, Listen … Read more
Alex Casey and Calum Henderson relive the top 10 most electric, shambolic and memorable New Zealand television moments of 2017. 10) When Wolf met Cheryl He was just a boy in a leather jacket, standing in front of a girl, asking her to let him steal a fistful of cigarettes. Episode four of Westside season … Read more
Alex Casey and Calum Henderson count down the top 10 local TV shows of the year, as voted by esteemed readers of The Spinoff. 10) Find Me a Māori Bride There is no better antidote to our extremely contrived, extremely white romance reality TV offerings than Find Me a Māori Bride. A faux-documentary which rips … Read more