Tag Archives: Slate

May the US Find Its Ashley Bloomfield

May the US Find Its Ashley Bloomfield

“It’s a dark time, with the days blurring together and the hours crawling by. New Zealanders may be known for our laid-back, generally cheerful demeanours, but truth be told we’re getting pretty ratty, pretty…

Elizabeth Knox’s Masterpiece Lands US Publisher

Elizabeth Knox’s Masterpiece Lands US Publisher

Following a glowing review on Washington Post-owned online magazine, Slate, Wellington author Elizabeth Knox, 60, closed a deal for American and Canadian publication with Viking Penguin for her novel, The Absolute Book. “Every once in…

Maori Moana Soundtrack Released by Disney

Maori Moana Soundtrack Released by Disney

After the animated musical-adventure Moana was translated into Maori and screened for free in 30 theatres across New Zealand in September, Disney has since released the Maori version of the soundtrack. “The film’s best…

Jemaine Clement’s David Bowie-Ode Best in Moana

Jemaine Clement’s David Bowie-Ode Best in Moana

“He may appear in just one scene, but Tamatoa, the glam rock crustacean voiced by Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement, is quite possibly Moana’s most appealing character,” according to Slate’s Marissa Martinelli. “Now you…

Nelson St Cycleway Shortlisted for World Architecture Awards

Nelson St Cycleway Shortlisted for World Architecture Awards

Auckland’s pink Nelson Street Cycleway, designed by Monk Mackenzie architects and landscape architecture firm LandLab, has just been shortlisted for the World Architecture Awards. “The 0.37-mile offramp turned bike path cuts through the…

Melanie Lysnkey’s Togetherness Performance a Stand-Out

Melanie Lysnkey’s Togetherness Performance a Stand-Out

It’s hard to pinpoint what is brilliant about new comedy series Togetherness, but a good place to start is its casting of Melanie Lynskey, according to Salon television critic Sonia Saraiya. “Lynskey is a New…

Andrew McCarten on How to Make a Film about a Living Person

Andrew McCarten on How to Make a Film about a Living Person

New Zealand producer and screenwriter Anthony McCarten discusses the difficulties in making a film about a person who is still alive. McCarten’s latest feature is a biopic about theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, The Theory…

Precious Life Preserved on Ward 3

Precious Life Preserved on Ward 3

The beginnings of plastic surgery during World War II and pioneer New Zealand-born Archie McIndoe’s work with the Guinea Pig Club at Queen Victoria Hospital are related in an excerpt taken from Extreme Medicine: How…

What It’s Like to Play Every Ethnicity Hollywood Throws Your Way

What It’s Like to Play Every Ethnicity Hollywood Throws Your Way

Over the course of his career, Cliff Curtis, “a Maori from New Zealand”, has played just about every non-white ethnicity: African-American, Arab, Latino, Indian – anything from Pablo Escobar to a lord of the…

New Release Incredibly Impressive Mix of Genres

New Release Incredibly Impressive Mix of Genres

Grammy award-winning Kimbra, 24, is “no flash in the pan”, says Slate blogger Sharan Shetty. The Hamilton-born singer is currently working on the follow-up to her 2011 album, Vows, and the first single “90s…

By the Pricking of my Bubbles …

By the Pricking of my Bubbles …

The Reserve Bank’s new loan value ratios restricting bank mortgage lending has, it’s fair to say, got a mixed press back home. But internationally, the policy initiative is generating excited commentary about the correct…

North Country

North Country

North Country is Niki Caro’s directorial follow-up to the hugely successful Whale Rider. Set in the iron mining region of north Minnesota, North Country tackles sexual harassment in the workplace…

Must do Today: Production, Script, Light

Must do Today: Production, Script, Light

Wellington-born Richard Curtis penned the Bridget screen adaptation: one of Britain’s “cleverest screenwriters” in LA Times and “a virtuoso at devising horrific embarrassments for his protagonists,” in Slate. Rounding out the kiwi trio, Stuart…

Gene Therapist Develops Vaccine Against ‘Brain Insults’

Gene Therapist Develops Vaccine Against ‘Brain Insults’

Kiwi Dr. Matthew During, in articles published in the New Yorker and Science reveals ‘revolutionary’ research that could limit brain damage caused by epilepsy and strokes.