It’s less than 2 weeks till The Wellington round of the New Zealand International Film Festival Typical Wellington behaviour at this time often includes – Courtenay Place place being full during daylight hours – people taking no lunch breaks to allow for an extra long lunch break to catch a film – taking a day off work […]
Yes, this is a write up on the premiere of Taika Waititi & Jermaine Clement’s new film What We Do In The Shadows. Yes, this post is well after the actual Wellington premiere BUT it’s not like there hasn’t been A LOT of coverage of the film. Wellington, and the rest of the country, has been […]
It’s that time of year again. Some mega outdoor film viewing action lies ahead for the Wellington region. Let’s all raise our faces skyward in the hope the weather comes to the party this year as the line-up is the right mix of classic, contemporary and fun! Kicking off THIS Thursday 6 February AT *6:30PM […]
When did “late-period: Woody Allen start? Was it with Match Point (when he finally left New York for some new scenery)? Or should we consider these last ten, globe-trotting, years as late-r Woody? The last ten years have certainly been up and down in terms of quality. Scoop was all-but diabolical. Vicky Cristina Barcelona was […]
The best way I can think of to sum up Jobs, the hastily-prepared not-quite adaptation of Walter Isaacson’s hastily-published biography of the Apple co-founder, is that its subject would have hated it. After all, Steve had taste and – famously – exercised it. He also didn’t release products until they were ready whereas Joshua Michael […]
There has been much discussion in the circles in which I move about the quantity of films released to local cinemas. Not only are there too many films coming out every week – too many for each one to generate much heat at any rate – but the ones that are coming out aren’t always […]
If you were part of the audience at the Embassy theatre for the world premiere of Gardening with Soul during the International Film Festival you will have witnessed something quite extraordinary. A standing ovation for a 92 year-old Island Bay resident and a speech by the diminutive woman, who started by telling the clapping crowd, […]
Still hovering around some local cinemas – and the longest-delayed of all my outstanding reviews – Still Mine is a surprisingly effective Canadian drama about an elderly man (James Cromwell, 73 but playing a fit 89) determined to build a new house for his wife (Geneviéve Bujold) before her memory deserts her completely. Cromwell gives […]
With this year’s festival now a rapidly diminishing memory – and my recovery from that event (plus another magazine published, some “live” podcast recordings, a few Q&A’s, some director interviews and a Big Screen Symposium) almost complete – I return to the commercial cinema and what do I find? Twenty-three new films have been released […]
Now, I’m risking the ire of the extremely helpful and generous New Zealand International Film Festival team here, but I’m going to recommend an approach to festival-going that will probably reward you more than it will them. Here goes: don’t book for anything. Don’t plan your life around any particular screening of any particular film. […]