All the entertainment you'll need for the spring season on the small and big screens, plus books to lose yourself in, new albums to rock out to, and podcasts to enlighten.

Viewing on the big screen

Hocus Pocus 2 - It's been an absolute Halloween classic for nearly 30 years, and now the delightfully wicked Sanderson sisters are back to put a spell on us all over again. This time around, it’s three high school students who make the mistake of bringing the child-hungry witches to modern-day Salem, and must then try to stop them from wreaking havoc in their quest for revenge.

Thirteen Lives - Our hearts were in our mouths back in 2018 as we watched the events unfold on the news, and now Thirteen Lives puts us right at the heart of the miraculous Tham Luang cave rescue. A team of Thai Navy SEALs, cavers, divers and locals all banded together to rescue the twelve boys of the Wild Boars football team and their assistant coach, who became trapped in a system of flooded underground caves.

The Menu - An exclusive restaurant on a remote island. A young couple on a special trip to sample celebrity Chef Slowick’s lavish molecular gastronomy menu. But all is not as it seems at this particular restaurant, and Chef Slowick has prepared more than just an unusual eating experience for his wealthy guests. Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicolas Hoult star in this black comedy in which fine dining takes on a killer edge.

Bingewatching on the small screen

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - The highly-anticipated return to Middle Earth is finally here. Set thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, it depicts the major events of Middle Earth’s Second Age, including the last alliance between Elves and Men, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron and the forging of the Rings of Power. Watch on Amazon Prime

Gutsy - What does it mean to be gutsy? An eight-part docuseries based on The New York Times bestseller The Book of Gutsy Women seeks to answer that very question, featuring Hillary and Chelsea Clinton sharing intimate conversations with trailblazing women including Wanda Sykes, Dr. Jane Goodall, Gloria Steinem and more. On this thought-provoking journey, Hillary and Chelsea explore the courage and resilience of women who’ve made an impact on the world, as well as their own special mother-daughter relationship. Watch on Apple TV+

Wednesday - Everyone’s favourite kooky, ooky and spooky family is returning to the small screen with Tim Burton’s Wednesday, a comedy horror series following sadistic and deadpan Wednesday Addams through her teen years as a student at Nevermore Academy. With psychic powers to master, a monstrous series of killings to stop, and a 25-year-old murder mystery involving her parents to solve, Wednesday is going to have plenty to keep her busy, and we’re thrilled to be along for the ride. Snap snap. Watch on Netflix

Reading only the good stuff

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr - From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of All the Light We Cannot See comes this imaginative journey through centuries, tying together the stories of five characters across three different time periods: 15^th Century Constantinople, present-day Idaho and on a spaceship in an undetermined future time. It’s both an unflinching commentary on our broken world and a beacon of hope for the future, epic, intimate and uplifting.

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng - Celeste Ng once again spins her heartfelt and heartbreaking magic in this story about the unbreakable love between a mother and child. Set in a dystopian future that escalates all-too familiar issues, the story follows twelve-year-old Bird, living with his father and in the dark about what happened to his Chinese-American mother, whose books of poetry have been removed from public libraries, along with any other ‘unpatriotic’ works. But when Bird receives a cryptic drawing in the mail, he is drawn into a quest to find the mother he has grown up disavowing.

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead - A literary crime novel meets family saga, Colson Whitehead’s latest is set in 1960s Harlem, New York City, following Ray Carney as he gets tangled up in the seedy gangster underworld. He begins leading a double life – the family man selling reasonably priced furniture to support his child and pregnant wife, and the crook selling stolen goods for all kinds of Harlem lowlifes. Whitehead has won two Pulitzer Prizes already for his novels – could this be number three?

Listening to the latest albums

Maya Hawke, Moss - Maya Hawke has a lot of identifiers to her name: the daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, Robin from Stranger Things, and singer-songwriter with a second album on the shelves. Moss is about feeling hemmed in, sitting still, gathering moss, if you will, and Hawke’s warm, poetic vocals and melancholy pop style reminiscent of Taylor Swift’s folklore make for a haunting and beautiful record you can listen to again and again.

Pixies, Doggerel -The latest from the punk-rocking Pixies is set to be a bigger, bolder version of punk, according to frontman Black Francis. He says it’s going to bring an extra-special energy, while guitarist Joey Santiago says there are going to be “more conventional arrangements but still our twists in there.” It may be a little different from their previous outings, but we’re confident it’s going to be setting another ferocious alt-rock gold standard.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Return of the Dream Canteen - Coming swiftly on the heels of their last album, Unlimited Love, and a few months before they hit New Zealand shores on their international tour, the new album is the latest on what appears to be a major hot streak (no pun intended). It’s the second album recorded since guitarist John Frusciante returned to the band in 2019, and the Chilis have said of the album, “We went in search of ourselves as the band that we have somehow always been.” Old-skool Chilis are good Chilis, so colour us very excited for this latest drop, due to hit shelves mid-October.

Discovering addictive podcasts

Normal Gossip - Indulge in all the pleasure of gossip with none of the guilt. These totally juicy stories are from the real lives of total strangers, anonymised for your petty listening enjoyment. Frivolous and harmless fun, with insights into the historical importance of gossip thrown in. If you live for a little bit of drama, this one’s for you.

Hot Buttons - This fresh new podcast features fashion entrepreneurs talking about hot fashion topics, including changes in the industry, the demand for more sustainable business models, and what the future of fashion might look like, along with a healthy dose of humour and pop culture banter.