Sinners – Dir: Ryan Coogler (13th Floor Film Review)
The Cotton Club crossed with from Dusk to Dawn…the bodacious, bold, and brilliant Sinners will pull you in and whirl you around the juke joint, leaving you breathless, blood spattered and extremely satisfied.
Warfare – Dir: Alex Garland (13th Floor Film Review)
Warfare is director Alex Garland’s latest boots on the ground account of a Navy seal operation gone awry, based upon the memories of Iraqi veteran and co-director Ray Mendoza, its an endurance test that lacks emotional payoff.
Drop – Dir: Christopher Landon (13th Floor Film review)
Drop picks you up and carries you along for the ride dragging your reservations about all those yawning plot holes behind you.
The Penguin Lessons – Dir: Peter Cattaneo (13th Floor Film Review)
In The Penguin Lessons, The Full Monty’s Peter Cattaneo helms a sweet natured tale of redemption via Penguin set against a backdrop of political unrest.
Death Of A Unicorn Dir: Alex Scharfman (13th Floor Film Review)
Is it comedy, fantasy, horror, satire or drama? Death Of A Unicorn is a mysterious thing, much like an actual unicorn, but, unfortunately, not as interesting.
Novocaine – Dir: Dan Bert & Robert Olsen (13th Floor Film Review)
To say that a film moves at breakneck pace is an overworked trope, but this movie really earns the accolade.
A Working Man – Dir: David Ayer (13th Floor Film Review)
When we last saw Jason Statham, he was a Beekeeper, now he is just A Working Man…a blue collar everyman who just happens to have something close to superhuman powers.
Becoming Led Zeppelin Dir: Bernard MacMahon (13th Floor Film Review)
While it doesn’t tell the whole story, this “first officially sanctioned” Led Zeppelin documentary does a very good job of telling how the band got started and what made them so sonically exciting.
A Complete Unknown – Dir: James Mangold (13th Floor Film Review)
It’s finally here! James Mangold’s highly-anticipated Bob Dylan biopic opens in New Zealand cinemas today. So, was it worth the wait? In a word…yes.
Monster Summer – Dir: David Henrie (13th Floor Film Review)
Monster Summer brings a little witchcraft to Martha’s Vineyard and Mel Gibson along with it.
Nosferatu Dir: Robert Eggers (13th Floor Film Review)
American director Robert Eggers has stated that the “more you try to turn away from darkness, the more darkness is right against your back.” In Nosferatu, Eggers extraordinary resurrection of FW Murnau’s 1922 silent classic, darkness shines like the day. You cannot run or hide from it. You must succumb to the darkness.
Anora – Dir: Sean Baker (13th Floor Film Review)
Sean Baker’s Anora, which won the Palme D’or at Cannes, the first American film to do so since Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life, may remind audiences of Pretty Woman. But it’s more subversive and explicit take on the subject of sex work.
Conclave – Directed by: Edward Berger (13th Floor Film Review)
Conclave is a Devilishly Fun Papal Thriller. Elections in 2024 have been decisive and disappointing. Globally far-right parties have surged in popularity. The last-thing you might want to do is sit through a two hour pulse pounding procedural thriller.
Heretic – Dir: Scott Beck & Bryan Woods (13th Floor Film Review)
Heretic is a beautifully unsettling psychological horror film by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, one that relies on flawless performances, excruciating pacing, and razor-sharp writing to create an atmosphere of dread that crawls beneath your skin and permeates relentlessly throughout the 111-minute runtime.
Gladiator II – Dir: Ridley Scott (13th Floor Film Review)
Gladiator II: A Rehashed Sequel that’s Equally Empty and Epic.
Here and The Red: Two Horror (or Horrific) Films Open on Halloween
Two new films open on Halloween in New Zealand. The Red is a horror film about a giant zombie kangaroo while Here, made by many of the same folks who brought you Forrest Gump, is just horrible.
A Mistake Dir: Christine Jeffs (13th Floor Film Review)
Christine Jeffs returns after a 16-year hiatus with a thoughtful film that addresses accountability, responsibility, transparency, bureaucracy and humanity. And it was shot in Auckland!
Joker: Folie á Deux Dir: Todd Phillips (13th Floor Film Review)
The Joker is back! Despite intentions to the contrary, the 2019 film has a sequel. That’s what happens when a film makes over $1 billion. Everyone wants more.
Loading Docs Showcase: Season 10
This year marked the 10th anniversary of Loading Docs, an initiative dedicated to platforming emerging and established filmmakers from Aotearoa to produce resonant documentary shorts that challenge and inspire.
Megalopolis: A Fable – Dir: Francis Ford Coppola (13th Floor Film Review)
The question on everyone’s lips as we left Auckland’s IMAX cinema last night was…”what did we just see?”