Watching
The Gentlemen
Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) is back with a vengeance and a pitchfork in the ground! An English drug lord wants to cash out of his weed business to a bunch of Oklahoma’s dynastic billionaires. The marvellous script (co-written by Ritchie) has the stamp of High Noon and Quentin Tarantino all in one. Hugh Grant is a screamer playing against type. He thinks he has all the chips in this poker game but nobody told Matthew McConaughey, Colin Farrell or Jeremy Strong.
A Hidden Life
It’s been a long time between drinks for oblique helmer Terrence Malick to summon the chutzpah of Days of Heaven and Badlands. His latest, A Hidden Life, based on a true story, is set in a little paradise in Austria where invading Nazis force a conscientious objector, Franz Jägerstätter, to arrive at a stark choice – to break his silence and risk everything or pledge allegiance to save his life. High up in the mountains of Radegund, Malick responds with a heavy gravity of light and dark. To those who witness it, this is within a whisker of genius!
Meeting Gorbachev
Beating the drums for Herzogian darkness, the German auteur strikes gold with a man that replaced the ageing fossils of Russia and became a young, earnest leader espousing transparency and more democracy. Trawling through archival footage, Werner Herzog captures the backstory with stunning efficacy and at times very candid moments with its subject.
Listening
Fat Freddy’s Drop – Special Edition Part 1 Iconic Kiwis Fat Freddy’s Drop have delivered the goods once again as their fifth studio album, Special Edition Part 1, hits the streets. It features six sonic tracks with some real digi drops. The rotation taps into the signature smooth sounds we’ve all come to love from Fat Freddy’s. The album has dropped just in time for their summer jam in Hagley Park. Special Edition Part 1 is out now, and certainly worthy of your undivided attention. Tami Neilson – CHICKABOOM! Summer tunes just got a whole lot better with kitsch queen and country and soul singer/songwriter Tami Neilson tapped to drop a banging new album on Valentine’s Day. CHICKABOOM! will pack a punch, with stripped-back tunes serving up some sweet sounds. Teaser track ‘Hey Bus Driver!’ has already racked up a ton of streams – the upbeat tune plays true to Tami’s signature style. Her unique country twang and boppy beats will be on your high rotation. Grimes – Miss Anthropocene February is looking mighty fine as the empress of synth-pop, Grimes, releases a long-awaited new album on the 21st. Miss Anthropocene follows on from Art Angels and if the released teaser track ‘So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth’ is anything to go by, this is going to be the one. Grimes has described the uber-cool sounds as “ethereal nu metal(ish)” and it will also feature the killer single ‘Violence’. Grimes is known for visual art, too, so expect some amazing artwork with this album.
Reading
American Goddess: Jean Patchety, Robert & Lois Lilly Jean Patchett was both model and muse, a famous face from New York’s vibrant mid-century popular culture and the most successful high-fashion model of her time. This book explores her career and its scope in words and images. Followers, Megan Angelo Megan Angelo’s debut novel traces the stories of three women navigating the tricky and treacherous territory of social media influencers. This darkly funny story reminds us that even if we obsess over famous people we’ll never meet, what we really crave is genuine human connection. Recipe for a Perfect Wife, Karma Brown A modern-day woman is inspired by notes left by her home’s previous owner, a quintessential 1950s housewife. As she discovers parallels between this woman’s life and her own, it causes her to question the foundation of her own relationship, and place in society.
Podcasts
InsideThe Big Day Out This five-part series follows the story of The Big Day Out festival. It covers everything from securing Nirvana in its first year to the festival’s tumultuous downfall in 2014, and all the killer times in between. Your Dream Life with Kristina Karlsson Stationery and organisation queen Kristina Karlsson of Kikki K brings simple, practical and useful insights to the table. She focuses on the power of dreaming to create a future you love.