Simon Morris

Jodie Foster directs, George Clooney and Julia Roberts star in a film that blends a hostage drama with a media satire. Audio

Simon Morris looks at the sequel to the heist movie that proved the hand was quicker than the eye, starring Mark Ruffalo and Morgan Freeman. Audio

Simon Morris wonders what happened to traditional, mainstream movies, squeezed out of the cinemas between, on the one hand, gigantic blockbuster franchises, and on the other, by small… Audio

In the arts community there's nothing more important than a place of one's own. Case in point - the new centre for Maori and Pacific Theatre in Wellington: Te Hau Kainga. Taki Rua, Tawata, and The… Audio

Alto sax-player Jake Baxendale has recorded with the Rodger Fox Big Band, the Richter City Rebels, as well as his own group, The Jac. Now he's taking it to the next level, in Sydney and New York… Audio

If you want proof that the super-rich have moved on from the conspicuous consumption of the Medicis and the Borgias of Renaissance Italy, take a look at what they do with their art. Or rather, don't… Audio

Standing Room Only was hoping to chat with Sir Richard Taylor about the spectacular work of Weta Workshop's Concept Design Department. Due to unforeseen events, that story has had to be postponed. But… Video, Audio

The classic New Zealand TV series Outrageous Fortune has become the gift that keeps on giving. Not only did it run for a record-breaking six series, it's turned into a franchise. We've already seen… Video, Audio

On At The Movies, Simon Morris returns and reports on the very mixed messages handed out at the famous Cannes Film Festival. Part the Art of the Cinema, part the Art of the Deal, Cannes nevertheless… Audio

Simon Morris reports on the sights and sound of massive French film focal point: Festival de Cannes. Audio

Simon reviews a comedy set in Afghanistan, starring Tina Fey and Margot Robbie as two freelance journalists in a war-zone. Audio

Simon reviews the remake of the animated hit of the 1960s, The Jungle Book, featuring the voices of Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley and Scarlett Johanssen. Audio

Simon reviews an independent New Zealand drama, directed by Paolo Rotondo, about three street-kids who invade a home on wealthy Waiheke Island. Audio

Simon reviews a film about modern drone-warfare, starring Helen Mirren and - in his final screen role - the late Alan Rickman. Audio

Simon reviews the new drama from the star/director team Nina Hoss and Christian Petzold (Barbara), about a woman returning to Berlin after years in a concentration camp. Audio

Simon reviews the Melissa McCarthy comedy, The Boss, about the richest woman in America. Audio

Simon Morris looks three films with women stars. The Boss is a Melissa McCarthy comedy, Phoenix is a drama with a Hitchcockian twist, starring German favourite Nina Hoss and Helen Mirren leads a… Audio

Director and producer Joel Baxendale and Karin McCracken have devised a semi-improvised court room drama to be staged at Wellington's Bats Theatre next week investigating the debate over TVNZ's… Audio, Gallery

Today, if you have a smartphone, you have a camera with you wherever you go. But how were the first ever photos taken? Professor of Art History at Victoria University and world-renowned historian… Audio, Gallery

By the 1930's lyricist, dramatist, writer, painter and wit Sir Noel Coward was supposedly the highest earning author in the western world. Opera New Zealand General Manager Stuart Maunder will be… Audio