Barnaby Weir has built such a strong brand for himself fronting his big bands Black Seeds and Fly My Pretties, that he had the confidence to drop the dub, the back-up and the moniker for his latest solo venture.
It's a dark and punishing trio of tracks at the centre of Tiki Taane's second solo album where he is at his fearsome best, writes Scott Kara
Enigmatic, engrossing and finally enchanting, the first film shot outside his native Iran by the acclaimed Kiarostami is a Rubik's cube of a movie, constantly changing appearance according to the angle of view.
First things first: this small, intense drama, a sort of anti-Valentine to love turned sour, is driven by two of the most authentic and passionate screen performances you'll see this year.
There is nothing trendy or conventional about this latest venture from Pirates of the Caribbean collaborators Johnny Depp and director Gore Verbinksi.
The genesis of this startling first novel is already en route to becoming a New Zealand literary legend.
They may have swept us away with Handel and Purcell last week, but Lautten Compagney's Tuesday cocktail of Merula and Glass was altogether less enticing.
Teatro de Los Andes, based in Bolivia, offered to stage their "earthquake play" here instead of La Odisea, but were turned down for logistical reasons.
At first, this late-night one-man show from Australia looks like just a vehicle for a Mr Bean impersonator in younger, more alternative clothing.
The stage is dark with just the faint gleam of drum kit, sita, cello, violin and four seated musicians.
When the Basement theatre is packed out at 10pm on a Monday night for a local production based on a 19th century novella by Henry James, I think it is safe to say the Auckland Fringe Festival and the Auckland Arts Festival are going off.
Paula Green reviews three new volumes of poetry from New Zealand writers.
Boldly and cleverly, this Flaxworks solo show is built upon one solitary, striking symbol of celebrity.
Paul Simei-Barton reviews Silk, on at the Basement Theatre as past of the Auckland Fringe Festival
After creating a sensation at the previous Auckland Arts Festival, the creators of The Arrival have returned with an exquisitely crafted rhapsody of image and movement-based theatre.
After several flops, the Farrelly brothers (There's Something About Mary) try to reclaim their status as kings of the gross-out sex comedy with this scatological outing starring Owen Wilson.
Patrick Fabian is a confident leading man in The Last Exorcism.
On the run from ruthless enemies, teenager John Smith (Alex Pettyfer) must come to terms with his alien heritage to get the girl (Dianna Agron) and save the planet.
The last time Roxy Music played in New Zealand it was in a Waikato field as the headliners of Sweetwaters 1981.
Programme of tasty morsels served with wonderful flair
Though Sue Orr's new collection of short stories, From Under The Overcoat, references short stories by literary greats such as Nikolay Gogol (The Over Coat) and James Joyce (The Dead), don't hold that against it.
A sickbed obsession culminates in moving musings about the beauty of our world.
Heroes don't come much kookier than Xerxes. He may be the King of Persia but he opens Handel's opera by extolling the beauties of a plane tree; a man who, as one character comments, "is aroused by a rough trunk."
The latest piece of youth-oriented theatre from Massive Company adopts the admirably egalitarian but dramatically unsatisfying strategy of giving what amounts to a lead role to each member of the 14 person cast.
Rating: 4/5. Verdict: Another futuristic beauty