My impression of Sir Laurence Olivier is a sort of vague one of him playing Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, or declaiming Shakespeare effortlessly. Either that or I associate him with Vivien Leigh, to whom he was married for several years. Beyond that, I have a vague notion of theatrical greatness and, of course, legendary film […]
■ REVIEW: Olivier
The good stuff on a great man Read Post »
Steve Williams has something of an unusual claim to fame, being famous both here in New Zealand and abroad for being the man behind the champ. Sort of the power behind the throne. He’s one of New Zealand’s most well-known, and most well-paid, sportsmen. Which is quite an achievement when his sporting prowess doesn’t involve
■ REVIEW: Out of the Rough
Painful breakups all round after infidelities Read Post »
I’m no science geek, in fact I happily admit to still being quite impressed by the magical ability of my fridge to spit out ice at the touch of a button, so you know a science dude is impressively famous when he’s one of just three living science dudes I would be able to pick
■ REVIEW: An Appetite for Wonder
Dawkins opens up on fascinating life Read Post »
It’s human nature that we have a fascination with the lives of the rich and famous, but sometimes the lives of the incredibly wealthy are also incredibly sad. Reclusive heiress Huguette Clark died in 2011 at the age of 104. On the surface, you could assume she had lived a fabulous life, having been born
■ REVIEW: Empty Mansions
Fairy-tale life that turned sad Read Post »
Who would dare question tennis icon Roger Federer’s assessment of the greatest players of the sport in his time? Federer’s plumping for Laver as “the greatest champion our sport has known” will be widely accepted wherever the game is played. Federer, after all, has been dubbed the greatest player and game’s traditionalist of the modern
■ REVIEW: Rod Laver A Memoir
Aussie tennis ace Laver deemed the best of the best Read Post »
The word “inspirational” is often bandied about when it comes to biographies of the famous and wealthy, but this story of a teacher who simply wanted to carry on doing what he loved best is one of the few times “inspirational” is the appropriate description. David Menasche was a high school English teacher in
■ REVIEW: The Priority List
Inspiration top of ill teacher’s list Read Post »
Billy Crystal is one of those actors that everyone knows of. His career is wide-ranging and various, and it feels like he’s done a little bit of everything. Still Foolin ‘Em is part autobiography, part reflecting on ageing, and it’s all pulled together by Crystal’s self-deprecating humour and observations about life, ageing and the world
■ REVIEW: Still Foolin 'Em
There’s so much to like about Billy Read Post »
It’s an interesting title because while journalist Mike White doesn’t offer any facts or opinions about who did kill Scott Guy, he presents an abundance of evidence about who didn’t. White investigated the 2010 murder of Feilding farmer, husband and father Scott Guy for a year and sat through the entire five-week trial of the
■ REVIEW: Who Killed Scott Guy?
Compelling case for the defence Read Post »
The premise for The Secret Life of James Cook sounds a bit naff. A fictionalised account of the famous navigator’s early life up to his first circumnavigation, based on letters to his patient wife . . . who actually destroyed the letters so no one ever knew the contents. Graeme Lay has recreated Cook’s life,
■ REVIEW: The Secret Life of James Cook
Imagination fills gaps in story of James Cook Read Post »
Chris Hadfield is without doubt the world’s most well- known astronaut since the hey-day of the Moon landings and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. He is the dude who made us all smile last year with his music video of David Bowie’s Space Oddity because, aside from anything else, he is probably one of few
