Yesterday, Stuff reported that the 2017 Chinese-made propaganda blockbuster Wolf Warrior 2 was partially made in New Zealand. Sam Brooks watched it and – spoiler alert – found it weird as hell. About halfway through Wolf Warrior 2 on Netflix, the unnamed leader of a revolution in an unnamed African country marches up to the American leader … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week on the Great Kiwi Bake Off, it’s all about weird biscuits. Savoury biscuits. Mushroomy biscuits. Biscuits about cross fit. Who had the best biscuit art of them all? Why is Trev so good? And how … Read more
Premiering tonight on TVNZ DUKE, Tara Ward explores the salty depths of Spiky Gold Hunters. Spiky Gold Hunter is Country Calendar for hard arses. DUKE’s new documentary series follows six Kiwis as they search the Foveaux Strait for kina, a job with great financial reward but huge risk. These divers work in some of the … Read more
Ahead of TVNZ1’s new wildlife documentary Serengeti, Tara Ward presents the best animals that make up the juiciest drama on the plains. If you love nature docos filled with argy-bargy and love triangles, jealous siblings and power struggles, then TVNZ’s new wildlife documentary series Serengeti is a dream come true. The brainchild of ex-Spice Girls … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. Another week, another new reality show to pour into our gullets like a jug of mirror glaze over a too-warm cake. The Great Kiwi Bake Off is back for another season, returning to the original 90-minute format … Read more
Tonight, TVNZ announced their slate of 2020 content, and they’re absolutely slammed with it. This is what we’re excited to watch next year. NEW The Bachelorette NZ Call the police, call a priest, call your boss and tell them you need some time off because Art Green is returning to television as the host of … Read more
Emily Writes gushes about the show she never thought she’d enjoy so much: the endurance-testing, gravity-defying Australian Ninja Warrior. I never intended to watch Ninja Warrior. I had originally thought it was similar to that show where people get nailed on a course above water. I didn’t really see the appeal of people getting smacked … Read more
Tara Ward reviews one of AppleTV’s flagship shows, Dickinson, a dishy romp through the teenage years of Emily Dickinson. “This is such bullshit,” a young Emily Dickinson says in the opening scenes of Dickinson. It’s four in the morning sometime in the mid 1800s, and Emily’s precious writing time has been rudely interrupted by an order to … Read more
As TVNZ celebrate 50 years of network news this week, Alex Casey celebrates 50 of the most iconic looks that otherwise might be left forgotten. This week, as TVNZ celebrates 50 years of network news, there will be much time devoted to the stories that stopped the nation. Plumes of smoke billowing out of Mt … Read more
As the HBO TV adaptation arrives on NEON, Sam Brooks looks back on His Dark Materials, the only children’s book series he was allowed to read as a kid. A little girl and her shapeshifting daemon. A sweet-voiced, evil-faced woman with a glamourous monkey for a companion. A giant polar bear wearing armour. When I … Read more
Survivor Australia: Champions V Contenders is back and better than ever. We take a closer look at the famous and not-so-famous Aussies vying to become Sole Survivor. There’s nothing more heartwarming than watching a bunch of Australians sit around a campfire while they metaphorically stab each other in the back, so it’s happy news that Survivor … Read more
The Great Kiwi Bake Off is back for a second season, and all is right with the world again. Tara Ward serves up the power rankings for week one. Welcome back, my flaky pastry cherubs, to another glorious season of The Great Kiwi Bake Off. Please take my sweaty hand as we enter the moist marquee … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. It is the end of My Restaurant Rules NZ and gods everywhere are weeping. Tyson and Denise from Rustic Kitchen left tiny tractor tyre marks over their opponents at Moxie, Julia got a Bachelorette makeover and Raf … Read more
What are you going to be watching in November? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Lightbox, Neon, Amazon Prime and TVNZ on Demand. Click here to read our listings for October The Biggies His Dark Materials (NEON, Season 1 weekly from November 5) Feel like your life … Read more
With Apple TV and Disney+ launching in November, we have more viewing options than ever before. Tara Ward takes a closer look at the myriad of TV streaming services available. We’re spoiled for TV choice these days, and with Apple TV and Disney+ launching in New Zealand next month, our viewing horizons just got a … Read more
Could beloved reality star Lily McManus be joining The Bachelorette NZ? Alex Casey assesses the evidence. UPDATE 30/1/2020: After last night’s tease that a mysterious second woman will be joining The Bachelorette NZ, an eagle-eyed viewer sent in this compelling side-by-side knee tattoo comparison. It’s a hard time to be a lover of reality romance … Read more
Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Ken Loach all have one thing in common: they don’t like superhero movies. But are they right? Are they heck. Josie Adams defends the existence of the world’s most money-hungry film genre. There’s only one thing worse than a comic book nerd; a film nerd. Nerds of any kind … Read more
How on earth do you fill three days without work? Clearly, by bingeing content you don’t have time for on a normal weekend. The Spinoff is here to help, with 10 favourite marathon-length suggestions. Kath & Kim (Netflix) Does it make me a crim to be a Kim? We can’t all be Kaths. The foxy ladies … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. We’re back and we’re tired and we’re sorry. There’s too much real news to keep up with, what with all the big media announcements, MAFSNZ break-ups and the return of New Zealand’s greatest comedy show. Plus, Jane … Read more
The first half of the final season of depressed equine comedy BoJack Horseman drops today on Netflix, and it’s as bleakly hilarious as ever. Being a fan of BoJack Horseman the television show means having a complicated relationship with BoJack Horseman the character. On the surface, he’s not somebody you want to empathise with – an … Read more
People are calling Watchmen the next Game of Thrones, but what is it? Here’s the essential background before you start streaming it on NEON. Okay, so tell me what Watchmen is. Watchmen is a new HBO show based on a comic book series (or graphic novel if you’re fancy). It takes place in an alternative, … Read more
Alex Casey talks to Leigh Hart about the return of Late Night Big Breakfast, the finest morning TV parody show New Zealand has ever made. Late Night Big Breakfast is set to return to TVNZ in 2020 after a five year hiatus, creator and comedian Leigh Hart has confirmed. Filmed in a fully-operational Target furniture … Read more
Informed via telegram that Netflix has released a full trailer for the new season of The Crown, Tara Ward puts on her best pillbox hat and white gloves to find out what round three will bring. The good Lorde told us we’ll never be royals, so the first full trailer for the new season of … Read more
The Movies, a documentary series that celebrates movies and their impact on culture, is available on TVNZ OnDemand today. Sam Brooks pulls some of the best quotes from its galaxy of stars. Ever wanted to get a snapshot of cinematic history without leaving the comfort of your couch, or even your bed if you want … Read more
Last night, the two titans of the cannabis referendum came together for their first televised debate on the issue – Paula Bennett and Chlöe Swarbrick. This was a matchup a long time coming. Paula Bennett and Chlöe Swarbrick have skirmished on the cannabis referendum for months, with heated exchanges on social media about the issue, … Read more
Hold on to your sponge nubbins, New Zealand’s loveliest reality show Great Kiwi Bake Off is back for a second serving. Before the show’s return on November 3, Tara Ward takes a sneak peek at 2019’s contestants. Lay me down on a soft bed of whipped cream and swab my forehead with a sausage roll, because Great … Read more
With the future of Mediaworks’ TV business hanging in the balance, Al Jazeera news presenter Kamahl Santamaria reflects on what the imperilled channel meant, and continues to mean, to him. I always liked the logo. The fresh bright colours, the nod to a koru in its shape, and just the fact that it was something … Read more
Sam Brooks recaps the third episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, and wonders why some of these queens don’t know how to sew. This episode asks, and sort of answers the main question that millions of people across the world: why would you come on Drag Race and not know how to sew?! There is always a … Read more
Sam Brooks reviews Amazon Prime’s Modern Love, an anthology series based on the New York Times column dedicated to ‘love in all its forms’. A first date that ends up in the emergency room. A flagging marriage that finds new energy through tennis. The founder of a dating app who doesn’t believe in love, supposedly. … Read more