FROM THE VAULT
Insatiable
Netflix
What better publicity for a new TV show than a petition signed by more than 200,000 people demanding it not be released? None of them have actually seen the show, this condemnation is all based on the synopsis of the dark comedy — a fat, unpopular high school student suddenly gets thin and returns to school hellbent on seeking revenge on her former bullies. Is it as bad and fatshaming as everyone seems to think? Surely it can’t be ?
But is it actually any good? That’s another question entirely. Now, at least, you can watch it and judge for yourself.
MOVIE OF THE WEEK Invisible
Netflix
The film festival may be over for another year, but that doesn’t mean you have to go back to watching Hollywood reboots and Marvel movies. Keep the festival rolling with this recent addition to the Netflix library — a stark, realist 2017 film from Argentine director Pablo Giorgelli, about a teenager trying to hold her life together after finding out she’s pregnant. Its power is in how ordinary and kind of mundane it all is, and Mona Arenillas’ portrayal of the girl, Ely, is incredibly convincing. SING IT, CELINE! Celine Dion, that is. The Canadian megastar has already performed two shows but has a third and final performance on Tuesday. It’s her first visit here in more than two decades and the singer has talked of her shows having a “different energy" and being more “rock 'n' roll”.
Celine Dion, Spark Arena, Tuesday, August 14
CLEAN THEATRE: The play’s called
but you’re guaranteed to stay clean — and laugh lots — at Auckland Theatre Company’s newest production. Set in East London in 1968, Yetta Solomon is a refugee who has survived the un-survivable, toiled in sweatshops to make her way in the world and, having built a mini-empire out of nothing, isn’t about to lose it because of unreliable and warring sons and a younger generation who can’t wait to move on. Determined to protect the legacy of her shop, how far will she go to keep the business in the family and the family in the business? Stars Jennifer Ludlam in the lead role.
Filthy Business Filthy Business, ASB Waterfront Theatre, Tuesday, August 14-Wednesday, August 29
CELEBRATING THE GREATS: Internationally-renowned virtuoso trumpeter James Morrison channels “Satchmo” in a concert that celebrates the musical pairing of jazz greats Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Morrison teams up with vocalist Emma Pask and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra to perform enduring hits from the Great American
RuPaul’s Drag Race (Seasons 1 and 2)
TVNZ On Demand, from Wednesday Like the movie franchise, is one of those things that’s been around for quite a while (10 seasons and counting) but only recently seems to have become universally acknowledged as brilliant. So, even if you’re addicted now, there’s a chance you may not have seen the first couple of seasons. This week, thanks to TVNZ OnDemand’s content partnership with OUTtv, you can go back to where it all began.
Mission: Impossible RuPaul’s Drag Race
Songbook including
Basin Street Blues, I’ve Got The World on a String, Lazy River Hello Dolly. James Morrison, ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre, Thursday, August 16
Dionne Christian and DRIVE AWAY: To usher in the weekend, 95bFM is throwing the bFM Drive Island, an end-of-week gathering at Ellen Melville Hall in the city centre. There’ll be games, prizes and free coffee, as well as pizza and organic juice available. The free event also features sets from local bands, with SKILAA at 5:10pm, and Ha the Unclear at 6:10pm, and bFM hosts Johnny & Big Hungry will be hosting live on location.
Drive
bFM Drive Island, Ellen Melville Hall, Friday, August 17 from 4pm
FOLK MOTHER: Wellington-based folk artist Emily Fairlight is about to release her second album and celebrates with a release show at Karangahape Rd’s Anthology Lounge. Recorded in Austin, Texas, and mixed in Lyttelton by
Ben Edwards at the legendary Sitting Room (Marlon Williams, Julia Jacklin), Mother of Gloom has been praised for its imaginative spin on Americana.
Mother of Gloom Emily Fairlight, Anthology Lounge, Saturday Teacher’s Pet,
the answer is very, very good. Produced by the the series is hosted by investigative journalist Hedley Thomas, who comes armed with years of meticulous research and a very compelling case: A woman called Lyn Dawson, who was reported missing from her home in Sydney’s northern beaches in 1982, was in fact murdered by her former rugby league star husband Chris.
A school teacher at the time of her disappearance, Chris has always maintained that she simply up and left and, for all he knows, is still alive. But he is pretty much the only person in the world who thinks this — even the coroners have declared they think Lyn was murdered.
The story gets increasingly dark, shocking and strange the more is revealed — Thomas takes things slowly, methodically, but no detail ever seems superfluous.
It’s an incredibly engrossing listen and a remarkable piece of journalism.
Calum Henderson
Australian,