Album: Tami Neilson - Neon Cowgirl

★ TAMI NEILSON - NEON COWGIRL Chiming with America's heartland bars and highways

New Zealand country queen's latest chimes with America's heartland bars and highways

Tami Neilson’s career is long and storied. The short version is that she began with a 1990s Canadian family band (opening for Kitty Wells, aged 10!), moved to New Zealand and became a country star there, then, over the last decade, has been “discovered by" and worked with all manner of US artists, ranging from Ashley McBryde to Willie Nelson. Her latest album is named in honour of the signage on Nashville Broadway, “the patron saint of heartbreak in downtown”, as she puts it.

First Person: country singer Tami Neilson on the superpower of sisterhood

FIRST PERSON: COUNTRY SINGER TAMI NEILSON On the superpower of sisterhood

The Canadian-born, New Zealand-based artist on how women have empowered her career

I was born Tamara Lee Neilson. I had an Uncle Kenny and an Aunt Dolly (who played guitar and banjo, respectively). I mean, did I really have a choice to become anything but a Country singer?

Edinburgh Fringe 2024 reviews: Bellringers / Suitcase Show

EDIINBURGH FRINGE 2024 ★★★★ Bellringers / ★★★ Suitcase Show

A troubling take on the climate emergency and a pile of suitcases containing tall tales in two intimate shows at Summerhall

Bellringers, Roundabout @ Summerhall  

Next Goal Wins review - football's lamentables

Taika Waititi's underdog soccer comedy fails to find the net

For those who ever wonder if soccer scoreboards, or score-line captions on TV, can ever be made to reach three figures, consider the match between AS Adema and SO l’Emyrne, two teams in Madagascar, in 2002. It ended 149-0, but that was only because of an on-field protest. (They were all own goals.)

Juniper review - a classic role for Charlotte Rampling

★★★★ JUNIPER A grandmother in New Zealand faces up to death, a grandson to life

A grandmother in New Zealand faces up to death, a grandson to life

Juniper provides, above all, an absolutely unforgettable role for Charlotte Rampling. New Zealander Matthew J Saville, who devised the script and directed the film, based her character, Ruth, on his own feisty and well-travelled grandmother, who had led a full life, and then returned home – where she drank substantial quantities of gin every day.

Blu-ray/4K Ultra HD: The Piano

Jane Campion's colonial New Zealand masterpiece re-mastered

Jane Campion’s enigmatic, triple-Oscar-winning film looks as beautiful as it did when it was released almost 30 years ago. Holly Hunter (you can’t help thinking she’s been underused ever since, give or take her performance in Campion’s Top of the Lake) is magnificent as the black-haired Ada, a mysteriously mute Scot who is sold by her father to frontiersman Alisdair Stewart (Sam Neill) and joins him as his wife in the wilderness of 19th-century New Zealand.

Album: Tami Neilson - Kingmaker

★★★★★ TAMI NEILSON - KINGMAKER Musically contagious and breathtakingly lyrical new album from Canadian country star

Musically contagious and breathtakingly lyrical new album from Canadian country star

We music journos miss stuff too. This writer had not come across New Zealand-based Canadian singer Tami Neilson before, despite the fact she’s been around for over a decade and this is her sixth studio album. How did I miss her?

Baby Done review - romcom done right

★★★★ BABY DONE Funny, sincere, charming Kiwi comedy about unexpected pregnancy

Funny, sincere and completely charming Kiwi comedy about unexpected pregnancy

Romcoms. We all know the tried and tested formula: immature guy, uptight girl, they meet, they like each other, hate each other, and end up in love. It’s as reliable as it is unrealistic, and sometimes it takes a film like Baby Done to remind you there is a better way.

Savage review - an immersive look at gang culture in Wellington, New Zealand

★★★ SAVAGE Sam Kelly's debut feature examines the links between borstal and gangland

Sam Kelly's debut feature sets out to examine the links between borstal and gangland

Not to be confused with Savages, the Oliver Stone film of 2012 about marijuana smuggling, Savage is a story of New Zealand street gangs: how to join and how to escape, which, when you’ve got the words Savages and Poneke (the Maori name for Wellington, where the film is set) tattooed on your face, like Danny, aka Damage (Jake Ryan), is not going to be easy.