WEB EXCLUSIVE Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickthelai on IG & Letterboxd | Columnist Leviticus is named after the book from the Old Testament, which in part lays out the archaic laws of sexual morality. Most controversial is one commandment which, even in its slight variations of phrasing from one translation to another, has rippled appalling consequences throughout the rest of history: ‘18:22 – You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination’. Historia

FILM COLUMN | ISSUE SIX | MAHI Ā-RINGA / CRAFT Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickthelai on IG & Letterboxd | Columnist A Bucket of Blood (Roger Corman, 1959) Whether you’re burdened by imposter syndrome or choked by a creative block, if you’re an artist in a rut, seek the protagonist of A Bucket of Blood for reassurance that you’re not fucking up this badly. In this dark comedy, Dick Miller plays the nebbish Walter, a busboy at a beatnik café who doesn’t fit in with the so

COLUMN | ISSUE FIVE | PUORO O AOTEAROA / LOCAL MUSIC Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickthelai on IG & Letterboxd | Columnist Music and movies pair together like Marlborough wine and Eltham cheese. For this issue’s film column, I’ve plucked out three song lyrics from present-day Aotearoa and partnered them with films that, to me, evoke those words. Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa, 1961) Song: Avantdale Bowling Club, Friday Night @ The Liquor Store (2022) The lyric: “The best of We

RICK'S REEL RECOMMENDATIONS | ISSUE THREE | WHENUA Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickthelai & Letterboxd | Film Columnist I Don’t Hate Las Vegas Anymore (Caveh Zahedi, 1994) A warning: mileage may vary for this road trip documentary. Caveh Zahedi is perhaps the documentarian most committed to self-sabotage since the time Morgan Spurlock ate 270 Big Macs to conceal his alcoholism in Supersize Me . Zahedi, an impolite, offhanded nebbish who is openly manipulative, is as h

RICK'S REEL RECOMMENDATIONS | ISSUE THREE | WHENUA Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickthelai & Letterboxd | Film Columnist Chocolat (Claire Denis, 1988) Don’t get mixed up here: I don’t mean ‘ Chocolat ’ (2000). Not the shlocky rom-com starring Juliette Binoche as a travelling chocolatier who brings love back to rural France with the power of sweeties, the DVD which you find on op-shop shelves next to Hayley Westenra CDs. I mean the lesser-known ‘Chocolat’ , about a nati

RICK'S REEL RECOMMENDATIONS | COLUMN | TUAKIRI / IDENTITY Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickthelai on IG & Letterboxd | Film Columnist We're All Going To The Worlds Fair (Jane Schoenbrun, 2021) Spirit of the Beehive (Víctor Erice, 1973) The infallible tale of Mary Shelley’s ‘ Frankenstein ’ has seen a well-deserved refresh in the people’s consciousness since it was resurrected last Halloween season by Guillermo Del Toro, the monster-lovin’ sweetheart. As much as I wa

DEBATE X NZIFF | REVIEW | WEB EXCLUSIVE Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickylaitheokperson | Contributing Columnist Follow Ricky Lai...

DEBATE X NZIFF | REVIEW | WEB EXCLUSIVE Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickylaitheokperson | Contributing Columnist Follow Ricky Lai...

DEBATE X NZIFF | REVIEW | WEB EXCLUSIVE Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickylaitheokperson | Contributing Columnist Follow Ricky Lai...

RICK'S REEL RECOMMENDATIONS | COLUMN | DRUGS Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickylaitheokperson | Contributing Columnist Social Media...

RICK'S REEL RECOMMENDATIONS | COLUMN | MATARIKI Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickylaitheokperson | Contributing Columnist Social...

RICK'S REEL RECOMMENDATIONS | COLUMN | AROHA / LOVE Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickylaitheokperson | Contributing Columnist Social...

RICK'S REEL RECOMMENDATIONS | COLUMN | PUORO O AOTEAROA / MUSIC Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickylaitheokperson | Contributing...

RICK'S REEL RECOMMENDATION | COLUMN | MAHIMAHI / SEX Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickylaitheokperson | Contributing Columnist...

RICK'S REEL RECOMMENDATION | COLUMN | WHENUA | TOUCHING GRASS Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickylaitheokayperson | Contributing...