The Gentlemen: Movie Review
The Gentlemen is a crime action-comedy directed by Guy Ritchie, which revisits the fast-paced, twist-heavy nature of his early work and manages to provide solid moments of fresh comedy despite feeling at times stylistically overworked.
Movie Review: Doctor Sleep
Doctor Sleep is a delightful Siamese-twin of cinema, serving both as an adaptation of the 2013 Stephen King novel of the same name, and as a direct sequel to the 1980 Stanley Kubrick film, The Shining, balancing scares and satisfaction without pandering to either fanbase.
Movie Review: Terminator: Dark Fate
Terminator: Dark Fate is the sixth installment in the Terminator franchise, and acts as a direct sequel to the 1991 film, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Overflowing with relentless action and balanced wonderfully with laugh-out-loud comedy, Dark Fate is a cinematic robotic onslaught with a gorgeous, human heart at its core.
Film Review: Joker
Joker is directed by Todd Phillips, and stars Joaquin Phoenix as the man who would be the Clown Prince of Crime, Arthur Fleck, in a grimy, terrifying character study that shows how fear and rage fester in an increasingly disinterested society.
Film Review: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is mixed bag of scares, stories, and spooky monsters, a film with incredible potential that wallows in dullness by stretching its audience potential too wide across its 108-minute runtime.
Film Review: Rambo: Last Blood
Rambo: Last Blood (also known as Rambo V), is the fifth film in the Rambo franchise, and serves as the conclusion to John Rambo’s story of post-Vietnam War self-reflection and life as a renegade drifter in society.
Girls of the Sun: Film Review
In a world full of films about war, where men dominate the silver screen in heroic battles that far too often glamorise the futility of it all, how refreshing it is to see a story told from the female side.
Movie Review: IT Chapter Two
It Chapter Two is the sequel to the 2017 film It, both based on the 1986 novel It by Stephen King. Featuring a stellar cast and impeccable style and tone throughout its 170-minute runtime, it’s inarguably one of the finest horror stories – and King adaptations – we’ve had on screen to date.
Movie Review: Angel Has Fallen, Directed by Ric Roman Waugh
Angel Has Fallen is the third installment in the Fallen film series, following Olympus Has Fallen (2013) and London Has Fallen (2016), which saw Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) fighting for his life while protecting the President of the United States from various terrorist threats.
Film Review: Weathering With You
Weathering With You (Tenki no Ko, which translates literally to “Child of Weather”) is a charming Japanese fantasy-romance animation about a struggling high-school runaway who meets a young girl with the ability to make the sun shine by praying.
Film Review: Palm Beach (Director: Rachel Ward)
Palm Beach is an unchallenging and pleasantly distracting Australian take on dining-table dramedies, providing just under 100 minutes of low-stakes entertainment through its playfully comedic cast of veteran actors.
DVD Review: The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus (Deluxe Edition)
More than 50 years after it was recorded and almost 25 years after it was first released, The Rolling Stones infamous Rock And Roll Circus gets the deluxe treatment.
NZIFF 51 Film Review: Herbs: Songs Of Freedom
The New Zealand International Film Festival featured World Premiere screening of Herbs: Songs Of Freedom as its closing night film at Auckland’s Civic Theatre. But the event was more than a film screening; it was a joyous celebration of a band that changed the New Zealand scene forever.
NZIFF 51 – Film Review: La Flor
At over 800 minutes – not including its five, 15-minute intermissions – La Flor is a cinematic experience unlike any other, one that transcends any rational critique of film or cinema into something entirely of its own. It is a journey of trust, doubt, beauty, and sacrifice – but ultimately, it is a film that […]
NZIFF 51: Watch Thom Zimny Talk About Johnny Cash & Bruce Springsteen at 13th Floor
Acclaimed music documentary director Thom Zimny stopped by The 13th Floor to discuss his new film, The Gift: The Journey Of Johnny Cash, with Marty Duda.
NZIFF 51: Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love Director: Nick Broomfield
Get out your hankies! If you’re not wiping away at least a few tears at the end of this meditation on the relationship between Leonard Cohen and his “muse” Marianne Ihlen, then I would serious question your humanity.
NZIFF 51: Under The Silver Lake Director: David Robert Mitchell
David Robert Mitchell’s “comedic neo-noir mystery” is either a completely bonkers mess of a film, or a work of pure genius. Having sat through all 139 minutes of it, I’d say it is a bit of both.
NZIFF 51: Film Review – Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
Listen up, do your ears a favour and catch this fascinating and educational look at the underappreciated art of cinematic sound design.
NZIFF 51 – Film Review: The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil
For fans of South Korean television, The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil will serve nicely as a feature-length spiritual companion to the 2014 and 2017 series Bad Guys and Bad Guys 2 (Nappeun Nyeoseokdeul and Nappeun Nyeoseokdeul: Akui Doshi) which shares a similar premise and features many of the film’s lead actors in similar roles. […]
NZIFF 51: Film Review In Fabric Director: Peter Strickland
In Fabric is a cut above, a deliciously laugh-out-loud black throwback to 70’s horror that’s as blood red as the demented dress of the movie.