Peter Griffin: Why Netflix needs to invest in NZ stories - and the Trumpian barrier to it
Many a university thesis has been devoted to picking apart exactly why French films, particularly the work of the New Wave greats such as François Truffaut, Agnès Varda and Jean-Luc Godard, are so good.
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NZ Herald
16 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Phil Gifford: When Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath lit up a farm in Ngaruawahia
Black Sabbath (L-R) Bill Ward, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne pose for a portrait on May 31, 1970 in London, England. Photo / Getty Images 'I hope we didn't freak you out,' yelled Ozzy. 'This one should help you. It's called PARANOID!' The Ngāruawāhia festival came three years after the film documentary on Woodstock was screened here. Woodstock was a turning point in first world youth culture, radically departing from older generations' attitudes to everything from drugs to nudity. I'd been despatched to Ngāruawāhia as a reporter by the newspaper in Auckland where I was writing about everything from music to sport to shipwrecks. It was quickly clear the massive influence Woodstock had on many of the music fans who headed to our first home-grown festival. After a restless night trying to sleep in a small tent, I was puzzled by what the material was in the bikini the topless woman from the tent next door was wearing. Then I realised she wasn't wearing anything. Tribute to Black Sabbath front man and legend of heavy metal music, Ozzy Osbourne, by NZ Herald cartoonist Rod Emmerson. Nudity, a la Woodstock was commonplace over the next three days. The opening act, Kiwi singer Corben Simpson, sang a couple of songs and then announced it was 'too hot'. He stripped naked to finish his set. Five months later he was in court where he was fined for 'wilfully and obscenely exposing his person'. Musically, Ngāruawāhia offered a stage to an amazing range of future giants in New Zealand music. The festival's co-promoter Barry Coburn was the manager of a gifted Auckland group calling themselves Split Ends. Sadly it was the wrong place and the wrong time for a band, which was then featuring flute and violin solos. At best the audience reception could be described as cool. Ozzy Osbourne (left) and American musician Randy Rhoads (1956-1982), on electric guitar, as they perform during the Blizzard of Oz tour, at Nassau Coliseum in 1981. Photo / Getty Images The future Split Enz weren't the only ones battling, at the very start of their careers, to win the crowd over. Dragon, with just one Hunter brother, Todd, played to a muted reception. On the other hand, there was an ecstatic reaction to the co-headline act, the British folk band Fairport Convention. Very much the yin to Black Sabbath's prototype heavy metal yang, the Fairports had the moshpit dancing to old Scottish and Irish reels and jigs. But there was no question that the big-name act was Sabbath. To get them to New Zealand required a trip to Britain for tyro promoter Coburn. In 2011, he wrote in the Herald how he had flown to Europe and saw Sabbath's manager Don Arden, at Arden's home in London. Coburn was greeted at the door of the luxury house in Wimbledon by Arden's daughter, the then-teenaged Sharon. (Who would have guessed that Sharon would later marry Ozzy and become known throughout the world with the stunning success of the reality TV show The Osbournes?) Coburn was just 22, so dealing with Arden, described by the Guardian when he died in 2007, as the 'Al Capone of British music' took some backbone. In the mid 1970s in Auckland I found myself sitting next to Arden and his Irish wife Hope at a dinner hosted for the visitors by a local record company executive. Hope, a former dancer, was a delight, rolling out anecdotes about film star Cary Grant, their next door neighbour when they were in Los Angeles. Don was exactly what I had expected, revelling in stories that basically painted him as a semi-gangster. When he heard that rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry had recently been in Auckland, he took special delight in recounting details of a show he had co-promoted in the 1960s in Germany with a former SS officer. Berry was refusing to go on stage until he had been paid. 'The German pulled out this big Luger pistol and pointed it at Berry's head. There were no more arguments.' The night made it very clear that any charm Sharon Osbourne has comes from her mother.
NZ Herald
17 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Sir Elton John set to perform at Steve Jobs' daughter's lavish wedding
'He will play a selection of his songs, including some of Eve and Harry's favourites. 'A concert from Elton doesn't come cheap. Apparently they've forked out over £1 million to have him perform. 'It's going to be incredibly special.' The couple – who began dating in 2022 and announced their engagement last September – have reportedly got quite the guest list for their 'upper-class English luxury with a cool, modern American vibe' wedding, which Eve and Harry have reportedly co-worked with celebrity events planner Stanlee Gatti, 69, to organise. Eve Jobs announced her engagement to British showjumping gold medallist Harry Charles in September. Photo / Getty Images It is claimed the former Democrat First Lady Kamala Harris, 60 – who is said to be very good friends with Laurence – will be attending, as well as Bruce Springsteen's daughter, American equestrian Jessica Springsteen, 33, and ex-Apple designer Sir Jony Ive, 58. The insider said: 'Kamala Harris, who ran for the [US] presidency last year, is very close friends with Laurene and is on the guest list. Kamala Harris is expected to attend the wedding. Photo / Getty Images 'This is a very quiet place, not far from the Cotswolds. Everyone is used to tourists and famous faces, but this is something else. 'The wedding is being planned like a military operation,' our insider said. 'The itinerary is scheduled so precisely, with guests starting to arrive all this week before the wedding celebrations begin on Thursday. 'Kamala and Bill Gates' daughters, Phoebe and Jennifer, are all on the VIP guest list. Bill Gates' daughter, Jennifer Gates, will also attend Eve Jobs' wedding. Photo / via Instagram 'Matt Helders from the Arctic Monkeys has been invited, too. It's an eclectic mix of stars and will be like a 'who's who' of the rich and famous. 'There are a lot of important American political figures going to be there. No doubt they'll all be Googling each other.' Eve's siblings – her brother Reed Jobs, 33, sister Erin Jobs, 29, and half-sister Lisa Brennan-Jobs, 47, who Steve had with his first wife Chrisann Brennan, 70 – are also expected to attend their wedding, with Harry's dad, London 2012 team jumping gold medallist Peter Charles, 65, and his close and extended family. A nearby village will go on lockdown from Wednesday – the day guests will reportedly fly into Oxford airport on their private jets, with helicopters on the ground ready to whisk them to the secret estate where Eve and Harry will say 'I do'. The source said: 'Eve and Harry's wedding is like a multimillion-pound fairy tale. 'It's a society wedding like no other, and it's turning rural Oxfordshire upside down. 'The sleepy village in which it's taking place feels like it's turning into a no-go zone, with secret service operatives and blokes who look like they work for the FBI.' One of the extravagant wedding venues in the Cotswolds. Photo / Getty Images And the insider claimed Eve, Harry, and Stanlee's organised event will be a wedding like no other. They added: 'Every final detail of the big day has been signed off by Eve and Harry, but this is Stanlee's baby. 'It's the meeting of two soulmates from across the Atlantic, and that will be reflected in the wedding, too. 'The vibe is upper-class English luxury with a cool, modern American vibe. It's going to be like nothing anyone at the wedding has experienced before.'
NZ Herald
18 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Madame Tussauds unveils 13 Taylor Swift statues for global tour
Taylor Swift will be honoured with 13 waxworks at Madame Tussauds venues worldwide. Photo / Getty Images Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech. Taylor Swift will be honoured with 13 waxworks at Madame Tussauds venues worldwide. Photo / Getty Images US pop megastar Taylor Swift will be honoured with 13 waxworks of her at Madame Tussauds venues around the globe, the museum said on Wednesday. In honour of Swift's lucky number, 13 of the waxwork museum's 22 branches will each receive a statue of the Love Story and Blank Space singer, in what it called the 'most ambitious project' of its 250-year history. The statues were inspired by some of the 35-year-old songwriting sensation's looks from her record-shattering Eras Tour from 2023 to 2024. With 149 shows across the world over nearly two years, the tour raked in $2 billion, making it the most lucrative in music history.
