Philip Matthews

Contributing writer

Philip Matthews is a Christchurch journalist working for Fairfax Media. He reviewed movies for the Listener for 12 years and has a film blog called Second Sight.

Man Booker Prize Fight Week, round 1: Robin Robertson vs Richard Powers

The 2018 Man Booker prize is announced next week. Philip Matthews reviews two of the shortlisted novels, The Long Take by Robin Robertson and The Overstory by Richard Powers.

By Philip Matthews | 9th October, 2018

Contributing writer

David Lynch and Kyle MacLachlan attend the Twin Peaks screening during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 25, 2017 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Amy T. Zielinski/Getty Images)

Book of the Week: Inside the tidy, inscrutable mind of David Lynch

Philip Matthews reviews a new memoir of genius director David Lynch, who emerges from the book as a 'happy neurotic'.

By Philip Matthews | 4th October, 2018

Contributing writer

Bob Dylan performing at Madison Square Garden on September 29, 1978 in New York City. (Photo by Waring Abbott/Getty Images)

Every one of them words rang true and glowed like burning coal: on Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize lecture

An essay by Philip Matthews in response to the publication of Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize lecture.

By Philip Matthews | 11th April, 2018

Contributing writer

Martin Amis circa 1975 (Photo by Express/Archive Photos/Getty Images) and Martin Amis in 2014 (Photo by Colin McPherson/Corbis via Getty Images)

Age waters the writer down: the sad demise of poor old Martin Amis

Philip Matthews on the Alanis Morrissette of literature – yelping, abrasive 90s has-been Martin Amis.

By Philip Matthews | 31st January, 2018

Contributing writer

The Man Booker Prize shortlist, reviewed: ‘Lincoln in the Bardo’ and ‘4 3 2 1’

The year's biggest literary prize - the Man Booker award - is announced on Wednesday morning, October 18 (NZ time). All week this week we review the six shortlisted titles. Today: Philip Matthews on Paul Auster's 4 3 2 1, and the favourite to win, Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders.

By Philip Matthews | 10th October, 2017

Contributing writer

Lots of drugs, lots of rock’n’roll, almost no sex: Philip Matthews reviews a great music biography

Music memoirs are so hot right now. Philip Matthews reads one of the best new books of the bunch - a hilarious account by Will Carruthers of Spacemen 3, a "drug parakeet" who ended up digging trenches.

By Philip Matthews | 20th June, 2017

Contributing writer

1984 in 2017: Philip Matthews on Orwell’s masterpiece in the Age of Trump

A new edition of George Orwell's 1984 appears just as a new ruler of doublespeak and fake news casts his shadow over the world. Philip Matthews re-examines the novel that serves as a prophecy.

By Philip Matthews | 9th February, 2017

Contributing writer

A still from the documentary film ‘Gimme Shelter’, showing audience members looking on as Hells Angels beat a fan with pool cues at the Altamont Free Concert, Altamont Speedway, California, 6th December 1969. The concert was headlined and organized by The Rolling Stones. The film was directed by Albert Maysles, David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin. (Photo by Bill Owens/20th Century Fox/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Once upon a time in Altamont: the music festival to end all music festivals

Philip Matthews examines three new books looking back at the day the music died: December 6, 1969, when the Hells Angels murdered a guy at a Rolling Stones concert.

By Philip Matthews | 12th January, 2017

Contributing writer

‘I was lying naked in the big bed, just awake, and Javine beside me was running her hands over her thighs’: sex and CK Stead

Sex in America, sex in France, sex in Croatia, and a Sylvia Plath character demands, "I want you to fuck me": Philip Matthews reviews a book of stories by CK Stead.

By Philip Matthews | 23rd November, 2016

Contributing writer

“I am a raving maniac of the cinema”: the greatest hits of film critic Jonas Mekas

Philip Matthews reviews Movie Journal: The Rise of the New American Cinema, 1959-1971 by Jonas Mekas

By Philip Matthews | 31st May, 2016

Contributing writer

The Spinoff

Philip Matthews

Man Booker Prize Fight Week, round 1: Robin Robertson vs Richard Powers

Book of the Week: Inside the tidy, inscrutable mind of David Lynch

Every one of them words rang true and glowed like burning coal: on Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize lecture

Age waters the writer down: the sad demise of poor old Martin Amis

The Man Booker Prize shortlist, reviewed: ‘Lincoln in the Bardo’ and ‘4 3 2 1’

Lots of drugs, lots of rock’n’roll, almost no sex: Philip Matthews reviews a great music biography

1984 in 2017: Philip Matthews on Orwell’s masterpiece in the Age of Trump

Once upon a time in Altamont: the music festival to end all music festivals

‘I was lying naked in the big bed, just awake, and Javine beside me was running her hands over her thighs’: sex and CK Stead

“I am a raving maniac of the cinema”: the greatest hits of film critic Jonas Mekas

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