House of Dreams was an ambitious time trip courtesy of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, transporting us through the homes of 17th and 18th-century music and art-lovers.

If you know anyone who thinks the arts festival isn't for blokes take them to see BLAM! - a 75-minute blast of testosterone-driven mayhem with amped-up, gaming style SFX and a heavy-metal soundtrack.

Nobody likes a smart-arse. Nobody likes the smartest guy in the room if he's a smug bugger. Nobody likes a goddamn moaner. And nobody likes seeing a boss abuse his staff.

Good humour softens collision of settler cultures, writes Paul Simei-Barton

It’s still spectacular stuff but doesn’t quite measure up to the group’s previous show, Janet McAllister writes.

Even best actress Oscar winners can have a bad day at the office, and this is one of those for Julianne Moore.

Ah Madonna. Despite that rare moment of vulnerability when she fell down the stairs at the Brit Awards last week, these days she mostly seems like an indestructible creation.

The only surprising thing about Earle making a blues album - given he's done rock, country, folk and bluegrass - is that it took him so long.

Passion Pit making out with The xx while Ellie Goulding films things quietly in the corner.

The 2013 debut album Inform-Educate-Entertain by this British duo married sometimes driving rock or evocative soundscapes with spoken word samples from old British and American docos and films.

Warning: contains spoilers if you haven't seen last night's Broadchurch season two finale.

Auckland Zoo a crowded house for family's set of shining songs, writes Lydia Jenkin.

It's good - and it's also bad. For The Order: 1886, a game that promises so much, that's a painful thing to say. But the evidence is irrefutable.

Irish band Kodaline move away from indie folk-fuelled first album In A Perfect World with the release of their sophomore album, Coming Up For Air.

Attending one or both of these two new plays by the prolific Renee Liang would be a great way to start a Lantern Festival visit this weekend.

One of the most interesting, if not visually engaging, artists at Laneway was electronica boffin Jon Hopkins, who added edge and scratchy beats to elevate his sound above the quasi-ambience of his albums.

Mike (Austin Powers) Myers' debut as director is a documentary about a talent agent. The choice of subject matter is perhaps the last word in self-referentiality, though it's not clear whether the titular Gordon ever represented Myers.

More theatrical than knuckle-whiteningly dramatic, this NT Live* production of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic 1883 adventure book is nevertheless an eye-poppingly brilliant display of stagecraft with a show-stealing turn from a remote-controlled animatr

Dan, the fluttery new weatherman on TV One's six o'clock news, says Kapiti just like cuppa tea, so he is trying.

Nestled in beautiful Tapapakanga Park Splore festival became annual for the first time this year, and it seems the move was a very successful one, write Lydia Jenkins and Rachel Bache.

Grohl remains one of the best front men in the business - someone that can crack up the crowd just by raising an eyebrow.

Deutsche Grammophon must be very happy to have Grigory Sokolov in its stable. The Russian came to the notice of the world in 1966, winning the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition at only 16.

How do you like to kill your zombies? These days, there's an answer for everyone. Arcade splatter fest?

Early on in Eddie Izzard's performance, one of two in Auckland before his 26-country Force Majeur tour returns him to the UK, there was the matter of the pesky fly.