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.

The new film for French cinema's leading lady has nothing to do with the fabled Paris cabaret of the title.

If you've been following Sons of Anarchy from the start, you might want to stay off the internet until Tuesday.

For his final column of the year, Greg Dixon picks the best, worst, the bravest and stupidest television of 2014.

Jay-Z has given the tale of Annie the orphan a hip-hop makeover. Why did it take so long, wonders lifelong fan Nicola Christie.

Soulful Danish electro-pop artist MO, who has risen as an international star this year, has surprisingly spent New Year's Eve in New Zealand before, as a child travelling with her parents.

2014 has been a big year for you, what have been your highlights? Splendour in the Grass was a massive one for us. It's really hard to highlight just a few moments. Everything has been incredible.

David Attenborough's Natural History Museum Alive takes a science documentary stab at the idea (this would make a great movie, perhaps starring Ben Stiller) of spending a night in a museum.

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.

Drum 'n' bass innovator Goldie says New Zealand has always been a stronghold of the genre. He talks to Lydia Jenkin.

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

Jamaican singer Etana, in town for Raggamuffin, uses her artistic name to make a statement, she tells Lydia Jenkin.

2014 has been ... a massive year for House of Shem! We have been nominated for two Tuis and three Maori music awards, and completed a tour throughout mainland US and Hawaii.

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.

Here are TimeOut's picks of the big gigs bringing in 2015.

The promoters of Taylor Swift's forthcoming Australian tour have confirmed to TimeOut that the superstar isn't headed to New Zealand this time.

"To get a beer," writes Chris Schulz, "you had to queue to buy beer tokens, queue to enter the beer-drinking enclosure, and queue to redeem your tokens."

2014 has been ... a huge year. I got married to my best friend in Khartoum, Sudan, and Shihad teamed up with Jaz Coleman to make one of the biggest and best albums of our career: FVEY.

As PlayStation celebrates 20 years, Siobhan Keogh looks at what made them ground-breaking and what the future might hold.

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

Splore is upping the ante for next year's festival, adding even more big names and events to an already bulging and eclectic line-up that boasts 300 acts.

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

When ABC TV and Screentime began searching for ideas for shows to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Anzac involvement in World War I, a book called The Other Anzacs by Peter Rees struck a chord.

"The storm clouds that have been gathering over Anna and Bates finally burst," the press blurb for Thursday's season finale of Downton Abbey promised. Hooray!

The cool good looks and technical confidence of this self-funded feature belie its limited budget. But they can't compensate for a seriously underdeveloped script.

"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."

The end of the year has brought a flood of rock biographies. Russell Baillie thumbs through a small pile of them.

Ed Castelow says putting out a new album is like opening yourself up for the judgment of others; in other words, a bit like turning up on mufti day at intermediate school.