Arnett phones home
“So Broadcast News meets Armageddon. It’s a rilly big show!” Telefilm Live From Baghdad – based on Robert Wiener’s memoir of CNN’s involvement in the Gulf War – aired on US HBO December 7….
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Clean sweep
The release of The Clean’s 46-song Anthology has set Canadian “rock uber-geeks running to record stores.” Chart Attack reviewer sums up the Flying Nun stalwarts’ attraction: “They have created a near-flawless body of work over a long period…
Tall Poppy Keeps His Head
“A genius masquerading as an ordinary person, a creative whirlwind, financial powerhouse and folk hero rolled into one.” LA Times applauds Peter Jackson’s phenomenal success, not only in film circles, but in the eyes…
Sunny praise for Chidgey
The Strength of the Sun by Lower Hutt writer Catherine Chidgey makes LA Times Best Books list for 2002. “An exquisitely written, curiously tantalizing book that looks something like a mystery story but is…
Middle Earth to the Masses
Te Papa’s Lord of the Rings exhibition (opening 19 December) is set to go global. The interactive collection of costumes, props, sets, and gadgetry mounts a two year international tour from February 2002, which includes stop-offs…
Readable eatables
Business Day gives Ray McVinnie’s latest cook book a review good enough to eat. The Modern Cook is more than “a series of mouth-watering recipes,” it also builds one recipe upon the next in…
Bottoms Up
Deutz Marlborough Cuvee beat Bollinger, Moet & Chandon, and Veuve Cliquot in a blind-tasting by seven British bubbly experts. Which? magazine organised the test, asking local supermarkets and high-end liquor stores to submit the best of their respective…
“Billionaires Behaving Badly”
Uncooperative wind and weather has made for a rather patchy America’s Cup series so far. Luckily, viewer-distraction has been provided in the form of feuding billionaires. Sports Illustrated: “Yachting has never been a sport for the masses, but…
What is this?
“They can be seen as postmodern hymns to invention and appropriation, or they can be read as theoretical texts that map the visual culture of at least two phases of the 20th century.” Dick Frizzell’s latest…
Fur-envy
Inspired by the success of NZ possum-fur products, Australian designers have incorporated the “soft, mink-like” pelts into their own winter collections. Most notably, Lisa Ho imported NZ skins for her range of winter stoles…
Paquin: Make mine a double
Anna Paquin joins an ensemble cast including Edward Norton and Philip Seymour Hoffman in Spike Lee’s latest film, The 25th Hour. Advance screenings of the (typically) dark drama have sparked talk of likely Oscar nominations.
Rebirth of Loop
2002 saw the highly successful reinvention of Wellington’s Loop magazine as an independent recording label. With acts like The Black Seeds, Rhian Sheehan and 50HZ on the books, and albums which look as good…
Sundance Spot For Whale Rider
Fresh from an award-winning stint in Toronto, Niki Caro’s Whale Rider is to feature at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. Other entrants in the World Cinema category include Bend It Like Beckham and the latest Dogme instalment,…
A Strange Breed
“Because of the congenial climate and lack of pollution, Godzone politicians are generally taller and stronger than those cloned overseas. Nestled at the bottom of the world, gravity is stronger and extra strength is required to stand…
Kiwi Gets Top Job
NZ-born businessman John Buchanan has been appointed senior independent director of BHP Billiton, effective 1 February 2003. Buchanan was formerly chief financial officer at Britain’s BP.
Almost Sevens Heaven
A “ferocious all-around display” saw NZ win the first leg of the International Rugby Board World Sevens Series in Dubai. NZ defeated Samoa 36-0 to take their fourth straight victory in the event. The same form didn’t…
Frontier Neuseeland
44-page cover spread on NZ in December’s GEO Saison – Germany’s premiere travel magazine. The article, “New Zealand – Setting out into the Big Freedom,” focuses on ex-pat Germans in Aotearoa, from Northland to Stewart Island. The…
“Not Just the Land of Lamb and Honey”
“It’s more than just a big farm in the South Pacific, it’s a modern, sophisticated economy with some real niche products.” Gulf Business cover feature highlights the increasingly diverse interaction between NZ and the UAE. In the…
“Great Things Come Out of Splendid Isolation.”
“It’s not just about the Datsun’s, you know …” Style bible i-D devotes a section of its Cruise Issue to Kiwi creativity. As well as the obvious candidates – Karen Walker, The D4, Natalija…
Behind the scenes
Wellington-born Kristian Fredrikson, Australia’s leading set and costume designer, interviewed in Weekend Australian. A designer “whose name is synonymous with opulence,” Fredrikson is currently taking his third crack at creating “the perfect Swan Lake.”…
Fox Gives the Hard Word
SMH enlists an outside view on recent Wallabies’ performances from All Black legend Grant Fox. The verdict? Not good: “There doesn’t appear to be a lot of blooding of new talent going on at the moment,…
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…
Virtually he tanagata
Wellington interactive media company, Clicksuite, has been nominated for the creative technology industry’s Oscar equivalent: an International EMMA (Electronic Multimedia Technology) award. Clicksuite has been entered in the Public Institutions / Services Information…
Dead-eyed beauties
Photographer Yvonne Todd reviewed in Art Forum’s Best of 2002 issue. “Todd applies Revlon-style control to construct the opposite of the bouffant and bouncy … she assembles a group of unreachable females, encased in…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
