Manly, subtle Crowe
“We already knew from The Insider that Crowe was a fine, subtle, vanity-free actor, happy to ruin his looks to play pudgy and useless. But Gladiator and Proof of Life prove that he’s also a great movie…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Immaculate Duffy
New Zealander Stella Duffy, creator of lesbian crime-fighter Saz Martin, tackles God and redemption in her latest Immaculate Conception: “I think it’s ground-breaking to write about miracles as if they’re real. It’s not very…
Romper Stomper
Crowe’s “breakthrough film” released on DVD: “Crowe is electrifying as the brutal head of a group of neo-Nazi skinheads who harass the Vietnamese community in contemporary Melbourne”.
Colour in Ireland
Belfast’s Queen Street Studios Gallery is hosting Colour, a group exhibition of New Zealand artists.
Finding Forrester
“I knew that if Gus Van Sant was wanting to make the movie, then it definitely meant there was something special about it,” says Anna Paquin. She plays opposite co-Oscarites Sean Connery and F….
Perspective
New Zealand-based singer Lucky Ali’s latest album cover reads: “The artist acknowledges that his success and acceptance is as temporary in nature as his own existence and that there are far more important issues…
Go Native?
A beer ad showing beach babes “going native”, (doing a haka), has been withdrawn from British TV after being branded insensitive and racist.
Scottish
“The evening’s most accomplished performance comes from the New Zealand tenor Ian Storey, whose Pinkerton is sung with rich and fluent tone and acted with a rare warmth and understanding.”
Neill at home
“It’s good to get back to New Zealand and Australia to make a film because I feel more at home in that part of the world,” says Sam Neill, now on screen in Aussie…
Vertical Exhilaration
NZ-filmed and directed Vertical Limit goes public. The scenery scores universal acclaim: Ottawa Citizen, Chicago Sun-Times, USA Today, ctnow, entertainmentnewsdaily, National Post, Chicago Tribune, the Star, Washington Post. Scott Glen battled Mt Cook, the…
Skin Tight
Based on iconic Dennis Glover poem ‘The Magpies’, Gary Henderson’s Skin Tight is a play with “spare beauty and competitive power”.
Still singing
Dame Kiri scotches retirement rumours. Her agents are “actively seeking engagements and opportunities well into 21 and beyond”.
Moko on Film
Jillian White’s Moko, a short documentary featuring the first contemporary man to wear moko, included in Sundance 2001. Felicity Morgan-Rhind’s short Donuts for Breakfast, is also on the programme.
Proof of Life
The plot goes wobbly, but Russell Crowe is the man. Crowe is “a powerful screen presence, the sort of fellow every man wants to befriend and every woman wants to love”: “the movie comes…
Proof of quality
Oscar noms tipped for Crowe’s Proof of Life turn as kidnap and ransom rescue specialist Terry Thorne.
Museum reborn
A “New Zealand ancestor figure” is among the art on display in the inaugural exhibition at the revamped British Museum.
Shifty Crowe
New DVD’s reveal Crowe’s dark, pre-Gladiator side: “With his shifty eyes, stocky frame and ready fist, he was born to be the heavy. His roles have included portrayals of a neo-Nazi skinhead (Romper Stomper),…
Fantastically weird
“The Price of Milk is a fantastically weird and funny little film. Boasting the sort of edgy, quirky slant usually only maintained in short film, it never compromises its oddness which is a joy.”
Price of Milk
“So this film is my dream about New Zealand, this make-believe country that seems almost empty of people” – director Harry Sinclair on his dairy-tale romance, The Price of Milk.
Christina Conrad: edge poet and outlaw of the tribe
Noted poet Billy Marshall Stoneking writes about New Zealander Christina Conrad for art journal alicubi, locating the genesis of her expression in the New Zealand edge: “Conrad studiously disdains mediocrity, fashion and safety ……
“It’s Ok I’m Wearing Really Big Knickers”
NZ-Edged Louise Rennison, author of hilariously funny and best-selling novels for teens documents such existential provocations as angst ridden days, erupting spots and bickering with parents. Rennison spent her teenage years in New Zealand…
Suterble supporter
Las Vegas casino king Glenn Schaeffer puts dollars into art, supporting Nelson’s Suter Gallery.
Kiss and tell
British politician John Prescott retains the edge bestowed by his starring role in New Zealander Fleur Adcock’s 1996 poem: “Our eyes had locked/we were leaning avidly forwards/lips out thrust…”
Chiat/Day Edge
New Zealand “tough guy” David Fong gets Toronto ad agency into shape: “We have to be world class.”
Punitive Damage
New Zealander Helen Todd’s documentary inditing the Indonesian military for the Dili massacre screens at the Las Vegas CineVegas festival.
Edge Music
“Folk and traditional tunes” from New Zealand feature on the Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus’ new CD, Flights of Song.
Murder on the Street
Shirker, penned by New Zealander Chad Taylor features a murder on Shortland Street – the place, not the programme.
Mahy magic
Margaret Mahy’s 24 Hours, her latest teen novel released in America, is “compelling and emotionally satisfying”.
Dream note
New Zealand-based Indian singer-songwriter Lucky Ali talks about his “upbeat, perky and positive” album and his two wives.
Maori Shakespeare
Te Tangata Whai Rawa O Weneti, (usually known as The Merchant of Venice), currently filming in New Zealand will “introduce the Maori language to the world,” as well as making Shakespeare more accessible to…
PM Groucho re TV
“I find television very educating. Every time someone turns on the set I go and read a book.” Helen Clark is in perfect agreement with Groucho Marx’s thoughts on the box.
£40m free mag
TNT and Southern Cross, Britain’s free mags for antipodean expats, have been sold for £40m. The buyer, Trader Media Group, plans to launch a complementary website.
O’Donnell’s limit
“As star of the (Kiwi-directed) mountain-climbing epic Vertical Limit Chris O’Donnell had been helicoptered to the edge of a jagged rock formation in New Zealand’s rugged Southern Alps and deposited to “hang out” for…
Location location
New Zealand is hot property, drawing location scouts who scour the planet looking for the perfect waterfall or mountain stream.
Counting Crowe
Amazon keeps count of DVD pre-orders. Gladiator gores Perfect Storm 80 000 to 30 0000 . Also due out on DVD is Crowe’s “breakthrough performance” in Romper Stomper.
Xena kills jiggle TV
“Is it the end of the Baywatch phenomenon? In place of the silicon- enhanced charms of David Hasselhof’s babes is the well-toned New Zealander who yells yi-yi-yi-yi when vanquishing an opponent, leaps through the…
Location #2
“As globalisation impacts mainstream Indian cinema, one of the early fall-outs is a flight of locations, with Indian film-makers snapping up every excuse in the book to shoot everywhere – from Alaska to New…
A&LD rave
“Ever find yourself overwhelmed by the mass of information the net makes available?” Make like those in the know and head to New Zealand (and the web’s) hottest site, Arts and Letters Daily.
Stadium award
“The trend has finally swung away from the exaggeration of post-modernism … Buildings are now plain, restrained and professional.” Capturing the mood, Wellington’s WestpacTrust Stadium picked up the international section at the Australian National…
Hrithik era
Indian tourists are awarding New Zealand an Oscar. Visitor numbers have shot up on the back of a high-profile film starring mega-hunk Hrithik Roshan and New Zealand as the backdrop.
INXS Movie
Kiwi singer Jon Stevens will feature in parts of the upcoming band bio-pic. Stevens replaced the late Hutchence, the only line-up change in fifteen years.
Art Mock
Global Conceptualism: Points of Origin 1950s-1980s, currently showing at MIT’s List Center, includes a mocking 1961 work by New Zealander Billy Apple (nee Barrie Bates) – a painted reproduction of the application form for…
Whitewash
Maori cut from crowd scenes in Her Majesty, US-funded feature film set in New Zealand c.1953-54. Producer Walter Coblenz (All the President’s Men), said historical accuracy motivated the cutting.
Popstar export
Put it up there with kiwifruit and spreadable butter – the Popstars formula has become a unique New Zealand export success. Pop-packager extraordinaire David Foster will be involved in the US edition.
Connection made
New Zealand is on one end of the Southern Cross cable, the longest and largest fibre optic cable ever. The cable provides 120X the capacity of the 1992 vintage PacRim, but is expected to…
It’s a Wrap
Lord of the Rings is due to wrap three days before Christmas, right on schedule. Director Peter Jackson notes the authenticity index has climbed during filming: “way back at the beginning we thought there…
PC Lost World
New Zealand will host BBC’s dinosaur/sci-fi classic The Lost World. Offensive passages, referring to “sub-humans noted for their savage behaviour and low intellects” will be removed, cutting down the number of politicians moonlighting as…
Riff-Raff lives
New Zealander Richard O’Brien’s as-yet unnamed Rocky Horror Picture Show #2 will premier on the London stage in 2001.
Hula hello
American Frances Price does Maori, Hawaiian and Tahitian dance. “The Polynesian dancers were a real hit at our wedding,” said Diane Szymanski Dorcey who created a Hawaiian style wedding in Brighton last month. “We…
Fearless storyteller
“At 12 she was carrying a gun as big as she was, fighting for freedom in the Hungarian Revolution.” Later, Anna Porter made it to New Zealand as a refugee. Now she runs a…
Out of flight juice
Kiwi music icons The Mutton Birds are due to tour the UK. They’re expecting a warm reception, but nervous they’ll be grounded if petrol shortages strike again.
Dame Delights
“Well, little Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is a friend of mine. She’s a little New Zealand singer.” Dame Edna Everage of Australia on her illustrious mate, Kiri.
Dr. Johnson of the Web
Arts and Letters Daily and Cybereditions, the Guardian‘s top two brain sites on the web are the work of Canterbury NZ academic Denis Dutton. “Over dinner with him, trying to keep…
