From left to right: Love Island UK season 10 (on TVNZ+), Arnold (on Netflix), Avatar: The Way of Water (on Disney+), The Idol (on Neon).

Pop CultureJune 5, 2023

New to streaming: What to watch on Netflix NZ, Neon and more this week

Sam Brooks

Contributing writer

From left to right: Love Island UK season 10 (on TVNZ+), Arnold (on Netflix), Avatar: The Way of Water (on Disney+), The Idol (on Neon).

What are you going to be watching this week? We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ+.

The biggies

The Idol (weekly on Neon from June 5)

If you’ve heard about The Idol, the new series from Abel Tesfaye (aka The Weeknd), Sam Levinson (Euphoria) and Reza Fahim (non-film-and-TV things), it’s probably due to the controversy. The series follows an aspiring pop idol (Lily-Rose Depp) in the midst of a nervous breakdown while trying to reclaim her title as the “sexiest popstar in America”, who somehow ends up in a relationship with Tedros (Tesfaye), a self-help guru. The reviews out of the Cannes Film Festival have been… unkind… highlighting the graphic sexual content, empty provocations and general misanthropy. If that sounds like your kind of thing, get stuck in!

Love Island UK (new season on TVNZ+ from June 7)

You know the drill by now: a group of young men and women inhabit a giant villa on a sunbaked island*, completing inane challenges and swapping partners until they meet the love of their life or get voted off, while Scottish comedian Iain Stirling wryly commentates. If you’re a fan, you’ll probably already have June 7 marked down in your calendar; if you’re curious what all the fuss is about, it’s now free to watch on TVNZ+. (*Not an actual island.)

The Crowded Room (limited series weekly on Apple TV+ from June 9)

There are two types of Apple TV+ drama: event shows with massive stars that everybody tunes into (The Morning Show), and event shows with massive stars that pretty much no one is aware of (basically everything else, sorry). The Crowded Room, a psychological thriller about a man arrested for a shocking crime that he may or may not have actually committed, and the investigator tasked with solving the mystery, is aiming to be the former. With a cast consisting of Tom Holland, Amanda Seyfried and Emmy Rossum, there’s enough wattage here to give it at least an episode.

The notables

Arnold (docuseries on Netflix from June 7)

Netflix is really going all in on Schwarzenegger, aren’t they? This three-part docu series follows the comedy series FUBAR released in May, and follows the man’s multifaceted life and career from bodybuilding champ to Hollywood icon to governor of California, and beyond. I hope the series clears up how tall he actually is (his height has been reported anywhere between 5’10” and 6’5″, somehow).

American Auto (season two on Neon from June 11)

You probably haven’t heard of American Auto, the workplace sitcom that follows a motor company after they appoint a new CEO who knows nothing about cars. I’m here to heartily recommend it as perhaps the best sitcom on the air right now – if you’re missing the heart of Superstore, the biting satirical wit of 30 Rock or the killer ensemble of Parks and Recreation, then you need to get into this show ASAP, and you’ve got just enough time to catch up on the first season!

Never Have I Ever (season four on Netflix from June 8)

Congratulations to Never Have I Ever for breaking the Netflix curse and getting a fourth and final season to wrap everything up! If you’re unfamiliar with the show, it’s a coming-of-age show loosely based on the childhood of creator Mindy Kaling, following the travails of Devi Vishwakuma as she navigates high school, identity, romance and a whole lot of other messy things! It’s a super charming, super chill, time.

The films

Avatar: The Way of Water (on Disney+ from June 7)

If for some reason you’ve been waiting to watch Avatar: The Way of Water on the smallest screen possible, it’s your lucky week – James Cameron’s mega-budget, mega-CGI mega-blockbuster is on Disney+ from June 7!

Creed III (on Prime Video from June 9)

Against all odds, the Creed series has been a complete and resounding success! The third film in this series sees the titular Adonis Creed (Michael B Jordan in his directorial debut) coming face-to-face with his childhood friend and former boxing prodigy Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors). This one got rave reviews, so definitely one to keep on the list.

Mack and Rita (on Neon and Prime Video from June 11)

The premise of this one sells itself: 30-year-old Mack (Elizabeth Lail) reluctantly joins her best friend’s bachelorette trip but backs out at the last minute to do a past life regression, and winds up waking up as her 70-year-old self, inexplicably named “Rita”(Diane Keaton, natch). She becomes a social media sensation and sparks a romance with her old dog-sitter. Bonkers! I’m into it.

The rest

Netflix

June 5

Barracuda Queens

June 6

My Little Pony: Make Your Mark: Chapter 4

June 7

Love is Blind: Brazil: Season 3

Arnold

June 8

Never Have I Ever: Season 4

Tour de France: Unchained

June 9

Bloodhounds

Human Resources: Season 2

Tex Mex Motors

The World Can’t Tear Me Down

The Wonder Weeks

You Do You

A Playing Card Killer

Neon

June 5

The Idol

Framed

June 6

The Ghost of Richard Harris

Voices of Ireland

Awkwafina is Nora from Queens: Season 6

June 7

The Man and the Beauty

DC League of Super-Pets

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile

June 8

The Pope’s Photographer

Britain’s Novel Landscapes

Blade of the 47 Ronin

Violent Night

June 11

American Auto: Season 2

Mack & Rita

TVNZ+

June 5

Getting Warmer with Kal Penn

The Future with Hannah Fry

June 7

Love Island UK: Season 10

June 8

Based on a True Story

Once Were Warriors

The World’s Fastest Indian

La La Land

Boyz in the Hood

Bad Moms

Disney+

June 7

Avatar: The Way of Water

Saint X: Season 1

Critter Fixers: Country Vets: Season 4

Blood Curse: Season 1

June 9

Flamin’ Hot

Pride from Above

Prime Video

June 7

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile

June 8

Culpa Mia

Violent Night

June 9

The Lake: Season 2

Creed III

June 11

Mack & Rita

Acorn

June 5

The Light in the Hall

June 9

Brooklyn 45

Shudder

June 5

The Beast Must Die

Orca, The Killer Whale

Keep going!

You know what we love? Tina from Turners (Image: Archi Banal)

Pop CultureJune 5, 2023

No, Tina from Turners didn’t die

Tara Ward

Staff writer

You know what we love? Tina from Turners (Image: Archi Banal)

Last month a large portion of New Zealanders thought she’d departed for the great car yard in the sky. Thankfully, Tina from Turners is stronger than ever, writes Tara Ward.

When Tina Turner died in Switzerland last month, her passing sent ripples across an unexpected pond. Far away in New Zealand, many people – tragically too young to remember this sweaty, saucy 1989 NRL ad – misheard the sad news. Instead of grieving the death of an American rock star, they mistakenly mourned the shocking loss of an equally beloved but fictional character who sells used cars on our television screens, one Tina from Turners.

“I cried when they said it on the radio,” an upset Tina from Turners TikTok fan commented. “Lol me too our whole class was sad bc we thought it was Tina from tuners,” another responded. “I GOT SO SCARED I HAD TO SEARCH UP TINA TURNER,” one ardent admirer screamed, seemingly overcome with the emotion of it all.

Turns out, they weren’t the only ones:

NZ Google search data after Tina Turner’s death, via Google Trends

It’s no wonder we were so worried. Over the past year, Tina from Turners has successfully cemented her place on our TV ad Mount Rushmore, alongside The Briscoes Lady, Big Save Lily and Goldstein from ASB. It’s the law that New Zealanders must shout “CARS!” every time they see a Tina from Turners ad. We whip up inspiring tributes in her honour, and recently an Irish tourist claimed he felt “personally harrassed” by the abundance of Tina from Turners ads after he arrived in the country.

Tina from Turners is everywhere, but who is this mysterious vision in a blue polo t-shirt? We turn again to Google, the used car yard of knowledge, to find out the truth.

Beep beep! This answer is a lemon. Steel yourselves: Tina from Turners is a fictional character played by comedian Sieni Leo’o Olo (aka Bubbah), who’ll star in the upcoming season of Taskmaster NZ and who also appeared on Sis, First, and Alice Snedden’s Bad News. The “Tina from Turners” ad campaign won three awards at the 2022 New Zealand Marketing Awards, with the judges ruling that the creative strategy delivered a “significant transformation” for the Turners business.

New Zealanders trying to find out who Tina from Turners really is (Image: YouTube)

Finding out that Tina isn’t a real person working at your local Turners is as upsetting as bumping into Tammy Wells in public without her Briscoes wig on. It is another unwanted shock from life’s cracked casing, but don’t let it diminish your affection for this TV legend. How do we love Tina from Turners? Let me count the ways.

In an overcomplicated world, Tina is a wonder of simplicity. She simply loves cars: big ones, tiny ones, uncomfortable ones. When Tina shouts about her love of cars, her arms raised in an embrace of the world around her, I feel like she’s talking directly to me. I am also big and tiny and uncomfortable, Tina, thank you for noticing. “I love them all,” Tina says of her beloved vehicles. Those cars are a metaphor for the human race, and Tina from Turners is the mother of the nation.

The only thing Tina doesn’t love (Image: YouTube)

When your wheels get stolen by two feral octogenarians, Tina from Turners will treat you like she treats a wing mirror: gently, lovingly, but with the same intensity Big Save Lily had when she drove a golf cart through a tower of boxes. She will also stare at you into the long, dark night like a weird car-selling creep, but you won’t mind. I don’t even like cars, but after watching every Tina from Turners ad on repeat, I started eyeing up a 2002 Toyota Corolla with 217,000kms on the clock like it would change my life forever.

Her enthusiasm is inspiring, her optimism refreshing. “You might even find something you like,” Tina tells us, her beaming smile surrounded by rows of lonely motors. We might even find something we like is a truth far deeper than “live, laugh, love”. When the time comes for us to take our final hoon to the great scrapheap in the sky, looking back on a life where we might have found something we liked is all one can ask for.

We found something we liked (Photo: YouTube)

In a world of chaos and darkness, Tina from Turners is a beacon of hope. It doesn’t matter that Tina from Turners isn’t real. I don’t care that we’ve been sucked into a capitalist campaign that helped Turners pull a record profit. Boom! Money in the bank. I hope Tina from Turners gets all that cash, and I hope we get more of Tina from Turners holding an ornamental frog and laughing like she’s never laughed before.

What’s love got to do with it? Tina from Turners dances like nobody’s watching. She is the soft chamois in a streaky world. She might be selling cars, but Tina reaches far beyond the Turners car yard. Tina is an attitude, a way of life. She is an icon. She is a hero. She is Tina from fucking Turners, and long may she reign.