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Duo shine in bard's comedy
The second instalment of a two-parter, this play proposes a solution to the mystery of what happened to the play that matched Love's Labour's Lost by assuming it was (and then delivering) Much Ado About Nothing.
Comedy review: Wash Your Mouth Out
I have never been a big fan of comedians who resort to crude, shock humour, riddled with curse words that would make a sailor proud. So it was refreshing to get along to Wash Your Mouth Out, at Vault at the Q Theatre, in Auckland.
Chang a feast for the eyes but not ears
From the start, Sarah Chang seemed to project impatience rather than impetuosity, writes William Dart.
The Gunman is not a hit, man
One of the later sequences in this heavily armed action flick takes place in a bullfighting ring. Yes, we're now in Spain. No kidding.
Full House reunion? No!
There's no use crying about TV remakes ruining the past, writes Karl Puschmann. You're much better off crying about them ruining the future.
Paint by numbers film a fail
The wonderful choristers of the American Boychoir School (is "boychoir" even a word?) in Princeton, New Jersey, are the heart and soul of this production. But all the star power at the top of the bill cannot save a sentimental paint-by-numbers film.
Review: Diaz Grimm, Osiris
Diaz Grimm doesn't muck around. With just a handful of singles to his name, the Cambridge MC kicks off his debut album with his best song yet, a walloping combination of futuristic thuds and cascading choirs that would make Kanye West cry out in envy.
Evil Within's DLC a hell of a scare
It was a scream that startled the neighbours. I'd been fumbling around a blackened basement looking for the power switch when something grabbed my ankle. It didn't have any legs. And it was trying to eat me.
Thrones: A body and a brothel
Six Game of Thrones fanatics share their thoughts on season five's third episode, The High Sparrow.
Concert review: Demi Lovato
Former Disney star, Demi Lovato proved that she's not just a pop princess but a rock queen at her concert last night at Auckland's Vector Arena.
Live review: Marathon gala becomes 'comedy as punishment'
21 comics over three-and-a-half hours became 'comedy as punishment' at last night's Comedy Gala.
Movie review: Lucky Them
Toni Collette is fabulous and utterly convincing in this low-key drama about a magazine music writer whose latest assignment is to go in search of her ex-boyfriend, cult rock hero Matthew Smith, who mysteriously disappeared 10 years ago.
Reflections on the spirit of Gallipoli
Thursday's concert came with transtasman connections, being played by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra a day before the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra delivered it to us.
Game review: Ride doesn't reinvent the wheel
Motorbike title Ride hasn't exactly reinvented the wheel. All it's really done is removed two.
Game review: Mortal Kombat X
Almost a quarter-century of Mortal Kombat has brought us to this, the Xth edition of a series heavy on the blood and liberal with the letter K.
Movie review: Leviathan
For Russian writer-director Zvyagintsev, whose 2003 debut The Return deeply impressed, this is feature number four, though only his second to be seen here outside festivals.
Avengers II not as much fun
Age of Ultron feels less of an event than the first film, just a reasonably exciting instalment in Marvel's ongoing mega-franchise.
Latta better than Mythbusters
Psychologist Nigel Latta is on a quest to find out ‘how stuff happens,’ writes Alex Casey.
Movie review: The Age of Adaline
After a difficult start with the comings and goings of numerous directors and stars, including Katherine Heigl and Natalie Portman, this epic romantic drama about a woman who remains aged 29 for almost eight decades finally sees the light of day.
Ricky Martin's Zumba night
Ricky Martin kicked off his global One World Tour at Auckland's Vector Arena last night. But it wasn't what fans were hoping for.
Legal battle to control what you watch
Back-door internet TV services this week defied a ‘cease and desist’ order from the country’s biggest broadcasters. Geoff Cumming considers what happens now.
Concert Review: Cellist takes concerto out of this world
The title of Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's concert, Out of This World, hinted at Dutilleux's Tout un monde lointain that was on the bill; but it also nailed, in just four words, the APO's trademark programming savvy.
Music in bed: a dream of a show
Blackbird Ensemble's latest sortie into chamber music cabaret involves a wide-ranging playlist, from Nick Cave to The Smiths, Gillian Welch to Nina Simone.
CSI Cyber surprisingly silly fun
TV reviewer Duncan Greive checks in with the latest from the CSI franchise and enjoys the entertaining silliness of it's cyber sleuths.