Features & Reviews—Recent and Popular

    .
The Phoenix Foundation’s Fandango + Mara TK
ALEXANDER BISLEY’s entertaining yarn with Luke Buda; plus, talking fathers and hip-hop with Electric Wire Hustle/Data Hui’s talented frontman.
How to Speak New Zenglish
SARADHA KOIRALA interviews comedian Jesse Mulligan about his new book.
Farhadi’s Moral Tales, plus why retrospectives matter
At the Autumn Events, four films by the director of A Separation.
Home Dramas, Chance Encounters, Radical Melodies
At the International Film Festival Rotterdam, TIM WONG explores an art cinema utopia; plus, BRANNAVAN GNANALINGAM on Kira Muratova.
12 Days in Park City + The Movies
JAMES ROBINSON’s beginner’s guide to the Sundance Film Festival.
The Stuttering Conversation + Watermarking
THOMASIN SLEIGH thinks about art criticism in New Zealand; plus, notes on the collaborative project between three Kiwi artists at the Liverpool Biennial.
Sweetman on Simmons on Cohen
Simon Sweetman joins ALEXANDER BISLEY for a conversation about Leonard Cohen biographer Sylvie Simmons and music journalism.
Elastic Wasteland
MARTYN PEPPERELL listens to the stories behind SJD’s latest album.
The Masterton Sound, Home Again, On the Road
Rapper K.One; DJ Sir-Vere; plus, Mu of Fat Freddy’s Drop.
Berlinale 2013
BRANNAVAN GNANALINGAM reports from the European frontlines.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
STEVE GARDEN reconsiders Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life.
The Best of Theatre
SAM BROOKS and SAMUEL PHILLIPS on the stage shows that deserved your attention in 2012.
FILM
Alexander Bisley: Reel Brazil, Kim Nguyen, Joe Pantoliano, Noland Walker, Richard Falkner, Julian Farhat, Beyond 2001.
Brannavan Gnanalingam: Venice International Film Festival, Mental Notes.
Jacob Powell: The Loneliest Planet, Moonrise Kingdom, Bernie, Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Sam Brooks: The Illusionist, Margaret.
Steve Garden: Murder in Mind, Transparency and Illumination.
Tim Wong: Film Society 2013, On the Difficulty of Film Canons, The Mortality of Things, Alyx Duncan on The Red House, Hirokazu Kore-eda.

BOOKS
Brannavan Gnanalingam: Richard Meros, Germaine Greer, Hamish Clayton, Eleanor Catton.
Christine Linnell: Fatima Bhutto, Paul Gilding, Christchurch, Adrian Wooldridge, Michael Otterman.
Kimaya Mcintosh: Junot Diaz’s This is How You Lose Her.
Megan Dunn: The Cultural Legacy of Sweet Valley High.
Saradha Koirala: I’m Your Man.

MUSIC
Alexander Bisley: WOMAD 2013, plus Drew James; Wilco w/ Mavis Staples, Jonathan Crayford, the Datsuns, the Chills’ Martin Phillipps, Lord Echo, Carmen Salvador, On Song.
Alix Campbell: Marley, Morissey.
Brannavan Gnanalingam: Bon Iver, Death Cab for Cutie, First Aid Kit.

THEATRE
Alexander Bisley: Dave Armstrong
Michael Boyes: Graduation Season 2012, The Bartered Bride, Privatising Parts.
Samuel Phillips: The Current Theatre (Jan/Feb/Mar), Doomsday and Christmas at the theatre.
Sam Brooks: A Comedy Festival Dispatch, Midnight in Moscow, Le Tonu, Gorge, Just Above the Clouds, Auckland Fringe, Kings of the Gym.

VISUAL ARTS
Andy Palmer: Old New World, River-Road—Journeys Through Ecology, I Loved You The Moment I Saw You.
Louise Wallace: Leo Bensemann, The Life and Times of Graham Percy.
Tim Wong: Minutes from ‘The Clock’