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Right now, it’s not 6 o’clock
'Right now ... it's 6 o'clock". Only five words, but they meant so much coming from Jim Hickey, the long-time TV One weatherman who delivered his last "rain generator".

Concert review: The War On Drugs, Powerstation
Adam Granduciel is standing in the middle of the stage, hunched over his guitar and stabbing repeatedly at the strings as one final note reverberates around the Powerstation's walls.

Paddington: Return of a rare bear
Paddington was a creation of the 1950s, but the story of this polite, accident-prone bear from the depths of Peru has translated nicely into the present day.

Love is Strange
Pitch-perfect acting and a fine control of high emotion that never slips into treacly sentiment distinguish this small and lovely ensemble piece by writer-director Ira Sachs, who gave us 2008's memorable dark farce, Married Life.

Folies Bergere a treat for grown-ups
The new film for French cinema's leading lady has nothing to do with the fabled Paris cabaret of the title.

Movie review: Now: In The Wings On A World Stage
Shakespeare for short attention spans, this self-congratulatory “making-of” documentary doesn’t oblige the viewer to do anything so tedious as encounter the text. Indeed, as the title implies, it doesn’t even take us on stage very much.

A Streetcar Named Desire
The set deserves star billing in this Young Vic production released in cinemas under the NT Live* banner.

The Hobbit: Definitive review
And so it ends, with a hiss and a roar. Actually, many hisses and many roars - those from that dragon from the previous instalment going down in flames at the beginning.

Legend's smooth Auckland show
Reviewer Rachel Bache takes in crooner John Legend's Auckland show.

Smashing Pumpkins - Monuments to an Elegy
If you still call yourself a Smashing Pumpkins fan, there's one thing you accepted long ago - Billy Corgan is a bit of a prick. T

Dictaphone Blues - Mufti Day
Mufti Day is the third album from Auckland-based Dictaphone Blues, and it's the best one yet.

Theatre review: Romeo and Juliet, Tapac
Shakespeare's tale of teenage love is brought to life with an authentic, very contemporary infusion of teenage vitality from the Young Auckland Shakespeare Company.

Review: Hauraki Horror, The Basement
The Basement's Christmas fundraising tradition is as scruffy and silly as a present wrapped by toddlers using tinsel and a gluestick.

Movie: Advanced Style
"It's inexcusable," one of the women in this small but diverting documentary remarks, "for a woman not to have her nails polished and have nice shoes."

Dance review: A Christmas Carol, Royal NZ Ballet
Northern Ballet's noted production of Charles Dickens' famous tale of curmudgeonly greed, grim reflection and a joyous redemption in Act III has all the charm of a very traditional Christmas card.

Kids outshine Billy Connolly in dark comedy
Following her roles in Gone Girl and Hector's Search for Happiness, Rosamund Pike again finds herself in a troubled relationship, this time as Abi, a mum of three in the process of divorcing husband Doug (Tennant).

Hard to hold back the tears in Hilary Swank's new film
Pack the tissues. Although this story of a young woman dealing with a progressive neurodegenerative disease is predictable and emotionally manipulative it's still hard to hold back the tears.

AC/DC - Rock or Bust
Guns? Knitting? It's still as hard as it always to find a sticking-to phrase that describes the adhesive power of AC/DC when it comes to being glued to their old ways.

Jools Holland - Sirens of Song
It's that time of year, when labels start pouring out Christmas offerings from their stars, best of compilations, and re-releases.

Game review: Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
Here's the problem with Batman right now - he's bloody everywhere. The Dark Knight has just appeared in The Lego Movie, he'll be showing up in the new Batman v Superman film, and there's even a real-life Batman doing good deeds in Japan right now.

Eminem and Wu-Tang Clan
You want them to remind you why they're great. You want them to teach those hip-hop pretenders a lesson. You want them to spit hard and fast over brilliant beats.

Nathan Haines - 5 A Day
After two old-school jazz albums - the acoustic The Poet's Embrace and Vermillion Skies, recorded live in the studio and direct to tape - multi-instrumentalist Haines here reverts to the amalgam of sax 'n' flute jazz.

The first New Zealand Hobbit review
We review the final instalment of Sir Peter Jackson's Middle-earth epic, The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies.

Review: APO, Auckland Town Hall
Friday's Settling the Score Live drew an enthusiastic APO audience to hear what radio listeners had taken to the top of this year's poll, writes William Dart.