Cinephilia: Opening This Week
Just the one new film opening this week: Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium about a magic toyshop facing unexpected change. It stars Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman and is reviewed here, at Funerals & Snakes. Magorium is playing at Readings, Regent-on-Manners, Empire and Sky City Queensgate.
It’s a quiet week before the big Boxing Day and New Year’s Day releases which, by my calculation, will see 13 more films open in cinemas around Wellington.
best cities… wtf?
Usually website related pissing contests (Hot Or Not; Rate My, [er…] Kitteh etc etc ad infinitum) are inherently dull.
But maybe not so dull if you are former Wellingtonian, now Münchener mad-genius developer Ben Nolan.
His Best Cities Facebook application did, for a tiny golden moment, have Wellington in the top spot. Which means of course that this pissing contest is now of interest to us, too!
Unfortunately, Facebook being the kind of random, viral place that it is, the app has been seized upon by at least two distinct regional groups each competing within each other parochially for the title of best city.
The upshot of all this is that towns like Slavonski Brod, a no doubt quite lovely town with a rather pulchritudinous population but not much larger than Invercargill, is the world’s fifth best city, with Wellington relegated to 15th.
This is clearly not good enough. Get to it. peeps!
Embracing your inner show-mom
Late notice but tonight at the Film Archive, cnr of Taranaki and Ghuznee Streets, at 6:30pm the Friends of the Film Archive present a special insight into baby contests, beauty competitions and screen tests from yesteryear. It’s free. It’s hilarious. Here’s the blurb:
“Contest Films from the silent era and the 1930s are presented afresh. Struggling early New Zealand film makers made a living with their cameras putting the faces of the young, beautiful and talented on the screen to be judged by popular vote.â€
Wellingtonian of the Year, 2006, how’s he doing now?
Time to take a quick look at how last year’s Wellingtonista Wellingtonian of the Year is getting on in the wake of a full year of promotional engagements & speaking gigs.
Get your shopping on
Sunday, this sunday from 11am till 2pm Craft2.0 is on at TheNewDowse.
It’s a free event and promises to be the biggest fair yet, with over 70 different crafty types selling amazing stuff.
If you want to get all your Christmas presents in one place, Craft2.0 is the place to attempt such a feat. Plus buying locally handmade presents allows you to feel a little smug.
And did i mention the 123 FREE gift bags being handed out at 11am?
Auckland vs. Wellington
A different long weekend away provides another opportunity to reexamine the age-old battle. After our first chapter, Secret Agent Robyn came down from Auckland to check out our city. This is her report…
Getting there: The airport bus runs past my place every 20 minutes. I waited for 30 minutes, but there was no sign of the bus. I started to panic and called a taxi. $50 later I was at the airport, but too late for check-in. Oh no! But fate smiled upon me — due to ‘weather’ in Wellington, the plane was late, so they could check me in after all. In Wellington, the taxi to my hotel was cheap, but slow in a way that proves the bypass was a dumb idea. Wellington wins this one for delaying my flight.
2007 AWAs Photos
Yeah, that’s our boy Hadyn hangin’ with Giovanni Ribisi at last week’s AWAs held at the mighty Mighty Mighty. Flight of the Conchord‘s Bret was there as well, to accept the Wellingtonian of the Year award, and Blam Blam Blam played and were awesome.
Oh yes, the Trendy Urban Class* were out in force to celebrate all that is good (and a little bad) about our fair city at last week’s Annual Wellingtonista Awards.
For more photos, head over here, where official photographer Mike has uploaded his pix from the evening.
* © Dominion Post.
Wellington vs. Auckland
A long weekend away provides the perfect opportunity to re-examine the age-old battle. In our first chapter, our agent goes to Auckland. In our next chapter, an enemy agent will come here…
Airport access: Getting to Wellington Airport, from Thorndon via a quick stop in Hataitai to pick up my suitcase took less than half an hour, and the only cost was some grovelling to my mother. Getting to the CBD of Auckland via a shuttle took an hour and cost $26 – that’s 15 minutes longer than the actual flight, and only $13 less than the ticket. Wellington 1, Auckland 0.
Airports: Wellington airport has only one terminal, which is blissfully fast food chain-free and it’s a sexy big space. You can get Fuel coffee, and Wishbone food (which caters to a wide range of dietary requirements) but it’s loud and bustly, and the stools they have at counters are shiny metal and you slip off them. Meanwhile, Auckland Airport may have Burger King and MacDonalds, but they also have a juice bar with those posh award-winning recoverable design style chairs. A tie.
Awards results…
- Best Drink in Town: Negroni at Hawthorn Lounge with mandarin-infused gin
- Best Late-Night Venue: Mighty Mighty
- Best Cheap Eats: Satay Kingdom
- Best un-Cheap Eats: Matterhorn
- Best Suburban Venue: Karori Wildlife Sanctuary – Karori
- Best Breakfast: Epic
- Best Local Coffee Beans: Mojo
- Best Non-Drinking Venue: Wellington waterfront on a sunny week day
- Best Apparel Store: Madame Fancy Pants
- Best Shop: Unity Books
- Best Building: Wellington Central Library
- Best Cultural Venue: Film Archive
- Best Public Space: The Botanic Gardens
- Best Public Art: The installations along the way to the Airport
- Most Needed: Light rail to the airport
- Hottest Hospo of the Year: The staff at Mighty Mighty
- Wellington Supervillain of the Year: Kerry Prenderghastly
- Best 2007 Wellington-based Event: Cuba St Carnival
- Best Dub Dub Dubber: “Cracker” – Damian Christie
- Wellingtonian of the Year: Jemaine and Bret aka. Flight of the Conchords
Hearty congratulations to all our winners
See The Darjeeling Limited for FREE
MySpace Black Curtain is holding a special screening of The Darjeeling Limited in Wellington at the Paramount Theatre on Tuesday 18th December at 8pm.
Come along to the screening and be in to win a pack of 5 DVDs including Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, plus a Darjeeling Limited soundtrack and official movie poster!
The screening is FREE! Your MySpace profile is your ticket. It’s a first-come first- served basis so turn up early to avoid disappointment.
www.myspace.com/blackcurtainnz
An emotional comedy about three brothers who have not spoken to each other in a year who set off on a train voyage across India with a plan to find themselves and bond with each other. Their “spiritual quest”, however, veers rapidly off-course (due to events involving over-the-counter pain killers, Indian cough syrup, and pepper spray), and they eventually find themselves stranded alone in the middle of the desert with eleven suitcases, a printer, and a laminating machine. At this moment, a new, unplanned journey suddenly begins.
Directed by Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums) and starring Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman and Adrien Brody.