the wellingtonista -

Team Puppy Guts fingers their way to the top of 48Hours film comp

Robyn — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:54:40 +0800

Congratulations to team Puppy Guts who have only just gone and won the grand final of the 2008 48Hours film competition with their dance short F*DANCE, making them the first Wellington team to do so.

F*DANCE is the tale of a bad-ass finger dancer (you know, when you make dance moves with your fingers) who loses his mojo and must learn the hard way how to finger his way back to the top.

The film impressed the judges enough to make it to the Wellington finals, and was a Peter Jackson wildcard pick (oo-ooh!) for selection in the national finals.

So what impressed the international judges? Was it the humour? The finger dancing? The special effects? Or was it the splendid montage training scene that featured a gruelling finger-run up the Civic Square steps?

Well, whatever it us, team Puppy Guts have done us proud.

The Phoenix Foundation - Bleaching Sun

noizyboy — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:00:45 +0800

Some Friday music video viewing for you. Two of the best things in life -- Cricket and Music -- combined into one fine music video from Wellington's increasingly hirsute Phoenix Foundation...

Wahine disaster anniversary

noizyboy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 07:36:33 +0800

Just in case you've managed to avoid the saturation coverage across the news media for the last week or so, today marks the 40th anniversary of the Wahine disaster.

We won't add to the plethora of stories (well, we are with this story I suppose, but, well, err...) we mostly just wanted to make note of one article in the NZ Herald, entitled...

Wahine ticket revives terrifying memories (+photos, audio)

Ahhh, yes. It'll be the ticket reviving those terrifying memories. Not the barrage of photos, audio or video.

Anyway, cynicism aside, it was a tragic event in Wellington's history, and we'll be taking a quiet moment today to remember the victims, and to salute the many brave people who risked their own lives to head to the beaches (and, in some cases, out into the storm-lashed waters), to help rescue the hundreds of passengers and crew of the ship who had been thrown into the sea from the foundering ship.

Opening tonight - all welcome

Anna — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:37:16 +0800

A swag of Wellington artists have produced video art for The Artists Film Festival, opening tonight at 5:30pm at the Film Archive (cnr Taranaki and Ghuznee Sts).

Curated by Wellington-based curator (and Listener art critic) Paula J Booker, the show promises an extreme mix of artworks....28 video works in total, possibly the largest video exhibition ever undertaken in NZ.

Highlights include someone singing to Janis Joplin until almost passing out, CHCH artist James Oram generating electricity by bike to power his own ME sign....it's all pretty entertaining/shocking/thought-provoking stuff.

EXHIBITION DETAILS
The Artists Film Festival
11 April – 17 May 2008

LIVE PERFORMANCE, Thursday 17 April, 7pm
The Twilight Drone by Johannes Contag (of Cloudboy fame) Tickets $8/6.

Contag explores the notion of the ambient film with live accompaniment to this film work shot in a snow-covered Austria...

Evans Bay Timelapse

Mike Riversdale — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 05:12:27 +0800

Great 50 second time lapse video of Evans Bay towards Miramar and the airport as shot from Hataitai by John Lewis* as discovered by Rowan Simpson - enjoy:

* the person, not the department store

Flight of the Conchords: Bret dances when he's angry

noizyboy — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 03:58:13 +0800

Footloose - so much to answer for...

From the Archive: Gavin Soper, Cabin Steward and Ratepayer

Dan — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:55:50 +0800

With my usual excellent sense of timing I have decided to make my contribution to the Intenscity event some days after it has been dismantled but I hope Wellington history aficionados will appreciate it anyway.

This short video features Brian Sergent playing his well-loved character Gavin Soper (Air New Zealand Cabin Steward) for TV3's Nightline in (I think) 1992 or 3. Gavin is celebrating the impending completion of the refurbished Te Aro Park, the cost of which was a source of some local controversy at the time. The other great contemporary issue he alludes to is the number of glue-sniffing street-kids predominating around the Te Aro area. Simultaneous with the beautification of Te Aro Park was the WCC scheme to house these “poor glue-addled kiddies” in a couple of converted shipping containers on waste ground south of the Basin Reserve.

Written by Brian Sergent; directed by Jonathan Brough; produced by Jonathan Brough, Gordon Harcourt and myself.

The Phoenix Foundation - Bright Grey

noizyboy — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 08:09:41 +0800

With a shiny US record deal under their belts, The Phoenix Foundation are getting ready to take over the world with their upcoming third album entitled "Happy Ending" (which dispenses with - disappointingly - the equine-themed nature of their previous two releases: "Horse Power" & "Pegasus").

Here's the first single and video from the album, shot, I'm told, in Island Bay, and directed by fellow Wellingtonian and Oscar-nominated film-maker, Taika Waititi.

Flight of the Conchords: Foux de Fa Fa

noizyboy — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 08:25:35 +0800

Lyrics? Oui! Après l'interruption!

Flight of the Conchords: Inner City Pressure

noizyboy — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 07:26:59 +0800

Bret and Jemaine channel the Pet Shop Boys circa "West End Boys"...