Paring Robert Downey jnr as the hotshot lawyer son of judge Robert Duvall? An emotional fraud of a film, writes Russell Baillie ...

Miley Cyrus devotees have had an exciting 24 hours, after the star touched down at Auckland Airport yesterday morning for her first New Zealand concert at Vector Arena last night.

Right now The Sound of Music seems even more in tune with the times than when it premiered in 1959 and anticipated all the major themes of the 60s.

With his less-than-super powers but his magnificent toys, Batman always suited the ground level world of television.

There are many reasons why The Equalizer isn't a good movie. But it's still kind of a good time.

Sit down, lie back, put your headphones on and get ready to make a serious commitment to an album. Because, if you want to understand Julian Casablancas' latest offering it's going to take some patience.

Who knew Lady Gaga was a lover of the Great American Songbook?

Imagine cruising down California's Highway 101 in an old Cadillac. Tunes up, top down, and the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean highlights a haze over the horizon.

Are you ready for a fight? Because you're probably going to get one.

It's a quick turnaround for an industry that normally takes years to complete a follow-up - it will be 2017 before we see the next Lego movie. This alone gives a good indication of the quality of animation and story to expect.

If you loved Young@Heart, Ping Pong or Autumn Gold, about a group of geriatric athletes preparing for the World Masters Competition; Hip Hop-eration is for you.

Sci-fi survival tale will leave teens hungry for more, this cross between the Lord of the Flies and The Hunger Games leaves you wanting more.

The miracle of order amid chaos that is the system of tiffin meals is the basis of a lightweight but very charming romantic comedy.

From the start, New Zealand Opera's Don Giovanni presented the mix of tragedy and comedy stipulated in the opera's description as "dramma giocoso" (playful drama).

The Powerstation came alive last night as Australian indie folk-rock band Boy and Bear took to the Auckland stage.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began life in the 80s as a goofball parody of other superhero comics, but this 21st century makeover comes from producer Michael Bay.

Melodic bass lines were covered by scratchy, squealing guitars last night as Australian singer Courtney Barnett kicked off her international tour, performing to a sold out crowd at the Kings Arms in Auckland.

With so much music codified into genres and artists reluctant to alienate an audience, Pere Ubu remain refreshingly abrasive, marginal and theatrically challenging.

Uninteresting pop-rock matched with cheesy, tired lyrics.

How's this for an impressive array of friends: the girls from Warpaint, Vampire Weekend's chief crooner Ezra Koenig, pop singer Jessie Ware, and trap king AA$P Ferg.

If any band was threatening to disappear completely up their own bums, it was Alt-J.

Anyone who reads a newspaper should see this play. And anyone who writes one. And anyone who doesn't. This one-man show is a delight, full of perfectly pitched comedy, clever crossword solutions, and poignant considerations of information and isolation.

In search of clues, as you do in times of national crisis, this one brought to near breaking point by the looming election and elimination round of My Kitchen Rules NZ.

NZTrio's Loft concerts have become something of a signature for the group; Aucklanders now know this is where you can experience chamber music up close and personal.

You wait for an album by a prolific Americana/alt-country figurehead with colourful back stories and past wayward lifestyles, and what do you know? Two come along at once.

Remember those heady days when Garden State came out?

Bonamassa - Grammy-nominated, with a back catalogue of at least a dozen albums but hardly a household name - found blues loyalists turned out for him in their legions last Friday.