Rating: 3/5. Verdict: The Louisiana spirit evoked by those who know the territory

Rating: 2.5/5. Verdict: Life is a cabaret, but this sure isn't

Rating: 3/5. Verdict: Smoking, drinking, singing, sex - sometimes all at once.

Rating: 4/5. Verdict: Big names, big emotions, big sound and a big deal.

Rating: 2.5/5. Verdict: Fun, frivolous and forgettable.

The Gaia hypothesis - a theory of planet-as-a-whole-organism propounded by James Lovelock in the 1970s - was the underlying theme of the Gaia Galactic New Year's Eve party, Prana.

Books editor Linda Herrick checks out what's cooking in the international market.

Scott Kara on Public Enemy's Auckland show.

Get blown away with mafia hit Period crime drama Boardwalk Empire lives up to all the hype, writes Deborah Hill Cone.

A year ago, fans had all but given up on Kiwi rockers Steriogram - not surprising given the band's members had embarked on solo projects, like Bradley Carter's Pistol Youth.

A sunlit Gallic Brief Encounter, this French film of love confounded remains mostly on the right side of the line between exquisite and excruciating, thanks largely to the pitch-perfect performances of its two leading actors.

Joanna Lumley adds another string to her bow with this two-part series that examines people's relationships with cats.

As an idea, an unmanned speeding freight train carrying highly explosive toxins and destined to derail in a densely populated city might sound like one contrived for the big screen.

While this doesn't disguise that the story still follows a generic romantic drama/comedy route, it does mean you don't feel bad about falling for it.

Deposited as you are in a kind of Deadwood saloon it's surprising how much sense the futuristic and modern music of Ladi 6 and Shapeshifter make in this setting.

The virtual band are beamed on to the giant screen and act out Hewlett's intriguing and twisted stories.

Aidan is a thirty-something professional blogger, living a low-rent version of the high-life in post-9/11 New York. His relationship with his journalist girlfriend, Cressida, is strained; he's stuck in a bit of a rut.

Alas, this this is the second-to-last novel from the Portuguese Nobel Prize winner from whom I have gained so much enjoyment and stimulus over the past few years.

A book that poses the really big questions: about war and friendship, about love and loss, about living and dying.

Compulsory cringe binge Parks and Recreation's Amy Poehler shows no mercy in her painfully revealing portrayal of a babbling small-time bureaucrat. By Deborah Hill Cone.

It’s not often that you get a book endorsed by both Philip Pullman and Winston Churchill. But then, Conan Doyle’s French cavalry officer has been around for nearly 120 years, and has been read by five or six generations.

The Smoke Fairies are best mates Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies who met in the school choir in rural Sussex.

This second annual Griffith fiction collection focuses on contributors and topics from the Pacific in a generously interpreted sense.

Rating: 3.5. Verdict: Dazzling reboot with story blips

The arguments are over and the votes are in - here's the albums TimeOut reviewers consider the year's best.