Ringing its Praises
“A rare perfect mating of filmmaker and material” (NY Times). The Two Towers has been released with a series of glitzy premieres and press reviews which more than match the hype. Variety: “It’s hard to imagine…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Tyler no diva
Liv Tyler talks to The Scotsman about making movies Middle Earth-style. “It was a labour of love for everyone. There weren’t a lot of perks. We didn’t have these huge trailers and all these excessive…
Liquor, Lear and Liz
NZ’s 2002 Actor of the Year, Ray Henwood, has taken his award-winning portrayal of Richard Burton Sydney-side. In Playing Burton the Welsh-born actor brings to life his hell-raising compatriot with uncanny ability. Opening night…
Tribute to Edge-geneticist
NZ’s “third man of the double helix” Maurice Wilkins has been honoured in the lead-up to next year’s 50th anniversary of DNA. In 1962, Wilkins shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with fellow discoverers…
Frosty the Crowe-man
Indie film website Film Threat has voted Russell Crowe 2002’s Coldest Person in Hollywood. Crowe topped the annual poll, his “bad-boy big mouth” beating out Winona Ryder and Robert De Niro for the dubious honour.
Not All Doom and Gloom
Wellington author Damien Wilkins counters small-town unease and drug-addled characters with a good dose of black comedy in Chemistry. New Statesman: ” a world of jealousies, scandals, and suffocating boredom … Although unrepentantly…
The (Edge) Spirit of a Sailor
USA Today ponders Kiwi dominance of the America’s Cup. “No matter that the boats will fly the flags of Switzerland and the United States. The men at the helm are Kiwis, New Zealanders, “mates.” Kiwis are…
“Amo, ergo compro”
NZ’s leading ad-man, Kevin Roberts, interviewed in Italy’s L’espresso. “He dresses completely in black and looks like a bar room bouncer just back from Armani. But Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, is…
Team NZ’s High-tech Edge
NZ bioengineering group, Christian Cook, have developed a radical method of keeping Team NZ one step ahead of their rivals. Health levels of the 36 sailors are monitored via a daily “blood reading.” The low-frequency ultrasound delivers…
Music of the land
“The Kiwi singer-songwriter lyrics and cheekbones as fine as Delft china.” Bic Runga talks to Time Pacific about books, politics and her new album, Beautiful Collision. “Eclectic but emotionally resonant,” Beautiful Collision has…
IE (International Exploration) Browser
“David Lewis was the most wonderfully fantastic scallywag I have ever met. His love for the ocean can only be balanced by the love of beautiful women for him” (Dick Smith). David Lewis -…
Wilkins’ Latest Bonds with Reviewer
Guardian reviewer Phil Whitaker assesses Damien Wilkins’ novel, Chemistry, a chronicle of drug addiction and family trauma set in small-town NZ. “Wilkins is brilliant at character, and his resistance to movement for the family…
Best Actor
New Zealand born actor Gary Day, renown for roles in soap operas Gloss and Shark in the Park, wins Best Guest Actor for his cameo performance in Aussie drama Blue Heelers at the AFI…
Gender Studies 101
Guardian writer Julie Burchill questions Russell Crowe’s status as “sole standard bearer” for old-school Hollywood hell-raising in the wake of his latest public brawl. Back in the bad old days, she notes, stars did without the “semi-official…
Last action hero
“In the age of digitized battle, is there still such thing as a war correspondent?” According to New York Metro, NZ-born Peter Arnett is the last, and greatest, of a dying breed: “He is…
Praise in spades for Runga
Daily Texan writer goes ga-ga for Bic Runga’s “innovative melodies, careful harmonies and baby-doll voice” in a review of her latest album, Beautiful Collision. “A wonderfully evocative and brilliant effort with the combination of Runga’s skilful…
Kiwi’s Cup
“America’s Cup? Why, we call it the Kiwi’s Cup now!” An encounter with “a proper cocky Kiwi” sees Post writer Angus Phillips ruminate over this auld mug called the America’s Cup. This year’s competition sees New Zealanders…
Russell Crowe: “From dud to stud”
Russell Crowe makes the grade in a run-down of Hollywood’s sexiest men by People Magazine. From unlikely beginnings “sporting high heels and lipstick” in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Crowe has come to epitomize…
Pinetree Chews the Fat
“If you want a snapshot of the way rugby used to be, there is no more impressive monument to the past than Colin Meads, a man as straight as he was hard.” The Observer talks rugby,…
Brothers in Farms
“So if the grass is always greener in NZ, let’s colonise it.” SMH reader’s opinion column ‘heckler’ proposes the immediate annexation of NZ as a quick and cheap solution to drought-proofing Australia (currently experiencing…
Great southern (is)Land
The South Island was ranked fourth on the BBC‘s “50 places to see before you die,” clocking in behind the Grand Canyon, Great Barrier Reef, and Disney World. The list was compiled via a phone…
Murray Backed in Melbourne Cup Fashion Stakes
NZ designer Zelda Murray came up trumps in a run-down of fashion hits and misses at this year’s Melbourne Cup. Murray, who debuted at last month’s New Zealand Fashion Week, took out the Best…
The quality of Maori Merchant of Venice is not strained
Don C. Selwyn’s The Maori Merchant of Venice won the Audience Award for Best Feature at the 22nd Annual Hawai’i International Film Festival’s Golden Maile Awards. The Maori film adaptation of Shakespeare’s…
Never Take a Spinner Seriously
The tiny Pacific state of Kiribati was thrown into panic by an article published by New Zealand spoof site www.spinner.co.nz. The article announced the imminent invasion of Kiribati by US forces, quoting President Bush as accusing its…
Nation of Giant-killers
American wine guru, Michael Franz, has made a wager that the NZ wine industry (“well organized, unusually cooperative, and marked by a spirit of openness and innovation”) will be producing the best wines outside Europe 20 years from…
Runaways and Jean-genies
“Maverick NZ designer” Karen Walker is to return to Australian catwalks, showing a variation on her Runaway collection (recently acclaimed at London Fashion Week). Walker plans to modify the Runaway range for her southern…
Finding beauty in quotodian Wellington architecture
Ex-pat Peter Campbell, LRB art critic, returns home to report on all things architectural: “Painters have not made much of Wellington houses, but in Rita Angus’s picture of Thorndon, the part of the city…
Scene-stealing scenery
“New Zealanders watching the latest batch of car advertisements on Australian television could be excused for thinking they were back at home.” Rugged and diverse, NZ terrain is the showcase of choice for the…
Frodo’s choice
American pop oddballs Elf Power have released a covers album featuring NZ’s Tall Dwarf’s – the now disbanded Chris Knox outfit. Nothing’s Going to Happen also includes renditions of songs by Husker Du,…
Transit vs. Taniwha
“Maori swamp creature delays road”. The proposed upgrade to a stretch of Waikato road is of concern to local Maori, who believe that the underlying swamp-land is home to a taniwha. This, they explain, is the reason…
Independent Film in the Wars
An independent British film telling the story of a New Zealand WW2 hero has ignited a “trans-Atlantic row over Hollywood movie muscle.” Two Men Went to War is to be screened in a paltry…
A Walk in Good Company
“On the South Island, it’s fun and games with Kiwis on a privately operated trail that delivers fine coastal scenery, rustic lodgings and, happily, no crowds.” LA Times writer discovers the joys of NZ tramping the…
These Boots Are Made for Walking … On
Dame Judith Mayhew will not seek re-election to her position as head of the City of London Corporation, claiming she is “doing too much.” She’s not joking either – see above for BBC profile. Described as “one of…
The Datsuns, The D4 … The Datson Four?
Kiwi rockers The Datsuns and The D4 are to play at the 2002 K-Fest in London. The event has previously featured line-ups including Black Sabbath, Slipknot and The Hives. Says D4 front-man, Jimmy Christmas:…
Surf’s Up in Cornwall
Waikato University’s resident surf expert – Dr Kerry Black – is helping create waves in Cornwall, where a £6 million proposal for constructing an artificial reef is currently under negotiation. Black and his team of marine…
“Read This and Weep Some More”
Anonymous Kiwi makes an impassioned plea to US citizens in the Baltimore Chronicle. “America dips its toes in the water and my nation gets flooded by a tidal wave … such is the power and…
All Black Mana Enhanced
“Playing New Zealand means battling against the myths, legends and history of the All Blacks. In this professional era the aggression, determination and sheer ferociousness of the New Zealand game make them so hard to beat.” English…
“They Know They Have an Edge”
November’s French Vogue goes south seas gothic in fashionable NZ, with the edge providing both spectacular and downtown Aotearoa-style backdrops for a Mario Sorrenti photo shoot, from the volcanic plateau to the local 4-Square….
Well-oiled
Tauranga-based company, Avocado Oil New Zealand, has won a lucrative contract to supply Tesco –Britain’s leading supermarket chain. Avocado Oil New Zealand is a world-innovator in cold-pressing and refining extra virgin avocado oil – which is…
Intrepid Botanist Remembered
NZer Betty Molesworth Allen, OBE-awarded botanist and explorer, has died aged 89. Allen made her career in some of the harshest regions in the world; from the rainforests of Borneo, to the cliff-faces of southern Spain….
Giving new meaning to wildlife
NZ production The Most Extreme has proved a hit with international Animal Planet viewers. The series, made by Dunedin-based Natural History New Zealand, involves a countdown of the world’s weirdest animal trivia. Due to…
Something old something new
Multimedia artist Lisa Reihana commended at the 2002 Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art for her current “work in progress,” Digital Marae. The large-scale photographs dramatise female mythological figures in an exploration of matriarchy in Maori culture….
Dr Grant, I presume?
Sam Neill has hinted he will reprise his role as Dr Grant in Steven Spielberg’s fourth Jurassic Park installment. The Queenstown-based actor is sufficiently impressed by the script that he would consider ” his…
UN Children’s Television Workshop
A New Zealand production features in the International Children’s Television Festival in Manhattan this month. The Kiwi entry in the UN sponsored exhibition, The Dress-Up Box Wonder, was written on the morning of the…
Magic + Maths = Inspired Teaching
Ken Ring has taken his own special brand of mathematics to the UK. The former teacher is now president of the New Zealand Society of Magicians – a career change reflected in his “eccentric approach to…
Bolger on Water
In a letter to the Times, ex-PM Jim Bolger cites the role of water in global tensions. Warning against letting War on Terror overshadow basic human needs, Bolger advocates a government-led promotion of water conservation and efficiency:…
Walker Talks Trends
In a bid to understand the fashion industry’s “pandemic schizophrenia,” SMH picks the brain of Kiwi style guru, Karen Walker. “It’s all about zig-zagging. If it was white last season, it’ll be black this…
Concord Dawn high-flying in Asia
” bass-heads into a mind-boggling frenzy” were Kiwi act Concord Dawn on their recent tour of Asia. The DJ/producer duo of Matt Harvey and Evan Short have already established themselves back home – they…
Kiwi Scientists Search for Merrick’s Ma
Joseph Merrick (the Elephant Man) is still drawing crowds. This time round, Merrick’s deformities are attracting genealogists and scientists, rather than circus-goers. A team of NZ researchers wants to find living descendents of Merrick and take samples…
America’s Cup: Billionaires and Espionage
“Yacht racing has been compared to tearing up $10 bills while standing in the shower. In the case of America’s Cup racing, make that $1,000 bills.” Time Magazine delves into the high rolling depths of…
Elevator Not Included
NZ runners Jonathan Wyatt and Melissa Moon won the men’s and women’s categories at the World Towerthon in Malaysia. The event involves an 800m run from the Kuala Lumpur Tower entrance, followed by a grueling climb…
South Pacific sounds
NZ group Te Vaka has made the list of nominees for next year’s BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music. The Polynesian ensemble, led by Opetaia Foa’i, describe their sound as “tribal, powerful and…
Booker Prize: end of an era?
Observer critics liken this year’s Man Booker Prize win to that of NZ’s Keri Hulme on “that unforgettable night in the mid-80s.” Yann Martel’s The Life of Pi won thanks to “a virtuoso display…
Sun Sets on “The People’s Horse”
NZ mare Sunline, Australasia’s grand lady of racing and a champion that uniquely inspired anthromomorphic devotion, ended her five-year domination of Australian tracks with a brave final run at October’s Cox Cup. The winner of 32…
King of Greece Honours King of Sailing
Sir Peter Blake has been posthumously awarded the prestigious Olympic Order for his services to sport. Honorary IOC member, the former King Constantine of Greece, presented the award to Blake’s wife, Pippa, at the Emsworth Sailing Club….
“Musician Who Revitalized Maori Culture”
Dalvanius Prime, pioneer of Polynesian soul and hip-hop, has died aged 54. Prime developed his own take on American soul by merging its ballad form with traditional Maori vocal harmonies. In the early 70s…
