When it comes to true New Zealand icons, few loom as large as Fred Dagg — the loveable, gumboot-wearing, do-it-yourself farmer who became the embodiment of Kiwi ingenuity, humour, and understated masculinity. Yet as inseparable as Fred Dagg is from our cultural identity, the character was only ever one part of the remarkable man who […]
Movie Reviews
‘Anaconda’ – Review
Jack Black and Paul Rudd are more than ready to go native, plunging headfirst into the jungle for Anaconda: a wild, unhinged, and gloriously self-aware remake-of-a-remake that fully embraces its own stupidity. Loud, ridiculous, and relentlessly entertaining, this is exactly the kind of sunburnt, beer-in-hand summer blockbuster chaos audiences could use right about now. Doug […]
‘Rental Family’ – Review
2025 has already proven itself to be a year rich with cinematic treasures, delivering film experiences that transcend genre, expectation, and emotional register. As the year begins to crest toward its final act, audiences are gifted something truly special with Rental Family, a heartfelt, deeply resonant comedy-drama from filmmaker Hikari, and one that arrives precisely […]
‘The Housemaid’ – Review
Christmas is almost here, and while most filmmakers are content to serve up cosy sentimentality and sugar-dusted escapism, Paul Feig has other, far more dangerous ideas on his mind. With The Housemaid, the filmmaker behind Bridesmaids and A Simple Favor delivers a seductive, scandal-soaked psychological thriller that slithers under your skin and refuses to let […]
‘The History of Sound’ – Review
Filmmaker Oliver Hermanus firmly cemented his talent with 2022’s Living, an intimate, emotionally resonant masterpiece led by Bill Nighy that quietly emerged as one of the decade’s defining pieces of cinema. It was sincere, deeply human, and profoundly warm: an exploration of life’s small miracles that lingered long after the credits. Now, Hermanus returns with […]
‘Eternity’ – Review
There’s nothing quite like an end-of-year romantic comedy to wrap you up in all the feels, and when A24 is steering the ship, you know you’re in for something truly heartfelt. Eternity is exactly that: a film that’s warm, tender, emotionally rich and overflowing with love in all its forms. It’s funny, it’s moving, it’s […]
‘Oh. What. Fun.’ – Review
Christmas time is here again, and we all know who the true heroes of the season are: MUMS. From wrapping gifts to knitting sweaters, from endless cooking to last-minute pottering about, and delivering all the cuddles, attention and love that make the holidays magic, mums shoulder the emotional (and literal) labour of Christmas. It’s exhausting […]
‘Die My Love’ – Review
There’s a special electricity that crackles through the cinema when an auteur decides to go all-in, and Lynne Ramsay is absolutely that kind of filmmaker. The acclaimed Scottish director has always gravitated toward the dangerous edges of human experience: toward the taboo, the uncomfortable, the brutally intimate, and she brings that fierce artistic integrity roaring […]
‘Nuremberg’ – Review
World War II began with the law. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party manipulated, rewrote, and weaponised Germany’s legal system in 1933, twisting democracy into dictatorship and stripping an entire population of their human rights. Six years later, the world plunged into unprecedented chaos and violence, costing tens of millions of lives. And when the […]
‘The Night Manager’ – Season One – Review
With the announcement that Tom Hiddleston is set to return to the world of high stakes espionage withe second season of The Night Manager, I thought it prudent to return to Season One of this high-stakes, deftly plotted and intrigued spy thriller, and as re-watch it doesn’t disappoint with its delivery of high-stakes espionage, suave […]