Hampstead, Director: Joel Hopkins
Diane Keaton is radiant in this charming little “late life” rom-com, opposite an eccentric Brendan Gleeson. She plays a recently widowed American, living in a slightly rundown but elegant apartment on the outskirts of Hampstead in North London. At loose ends after a lifetime of being a wife and mother, she is wondering how she […]
Columbus Dir: Kogonada
Love, loss, hope and architecture are explored in this measured and moving debut film from a remarkable new talent.
Wind River Dir: Taylor Sheridan
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Gil Birmingham, Graham Greene Oscar-nominated (Hell Or High Water) screenplay writer Taylor Sheridan moves into the director’s chair for the first time. The result is a bleak, who-done-it set in the blizzard-ridden Rocky Mountains of Wyoming.
Dina Dir: Antonio Santini, Dan Sickles
Sexual frustration in your late forties isn’t fun, especially when you’re both on the autism spectrum, but this Sundance crowd-pleaser is sure to push all the right buttons for a Kiwi crowd.
Spookers Dir: Florian Habicht
Horror theme park Spookers might be the stuff of nightmares, but Florian Habicht’s surreal look at the scare factory makes for a dream doco – life affirming and funny as hell.
The Party Dir: Sally Potter
Starring: Kristin Scott Thomas, Timothy Spall, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, Cillian Murphy, Cherry Jones, Bruno Ganz Oh what fun! The Party is a delicious British black comedy that owes a serious debt to Mike Nichols’ classic Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
Hostages Dir: Rezo Gigineishvili
Starring: Irakli Kvirikadze, Tina Dalakishvili This true-life story of a group of idealistic young people determined to escape the suffocating oppression of Georgia under the Soviet Union is an action-thriller of the first order.
My Life As A Courgette Dir: Claude Barras
Who would have thought an Oscar-nominated hit would be the perfect place for sex education? My Life As A Courgette is the one-stop-motion shop for dealing with tricky emotional issues and exploding penises.
Patti Cake$ Dir: Geremy Jasper
Starring: Danielle MacDonald, McCaul Lombardi Forget about your mum’s spaghetti, Patti Cake$ is a funnier and more heartfelt rap-to-riches tale thanks to it’s big, bad-ass breakout star.
The Square Dir: Ruben Ostlund
Starring: Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West, Terry Notary The New Zealand International Film Festival kicked off its 2017 season with exactly the type of film one wants to be exposed to. The Square is a sprawling, sometimes incoherent, often-times thought-provoking piece of filmmaking that almost demands to be seen.
I Am Not Your Negro Dir: Raoul Peck
The New Zealand International Film Festival opens in Auckland today. Films serve a myriad of purposes…to entertain, to thrill, to inform and to stimulate thoughtful discussion. Raoul Peck’s documentary, I Am Not Your Negro, based on the writings of James Baldwin, is a film that will quite possibly change your life.
Paris Can Wait, Director Eleanor Coppola
When the 80-year-old wife of Francis Ford Coppola, who’s been his helpmate, assistant and cohort since 1963, decides to write and direct her first feature film – what happens? Eleanor Coppola picks up the reins as if she’s commanded them her whole life and delivers a sure-footed tale of romance and self-discovery on a road […]
Swagger Of Thieves Dir: Julian Boshier
Starring: Head Like A Hole The New Zealand International Film Festival is nearly upon us and for many, the real drawing card is the music documentaries that are regularly on offer. This year is no exception with two of them being local productions. One is about Bill Direen, and the other is the story […]
The War for the Planet of the Apes, Director: Matt Reeves
I left the cinema after seeing The War for the Planet of the Apes, wondering if I had seen the same flick as the woman sitting next to me. She was reduced to tears, literally blubbering for a good part of the flick, while I sat there stunned at a grim pile of tired clichés […]
Spider-Man: Homecoming Dir: Jon Watts
Starring: Tom Holland, Michael Keato, Jon Favreau, Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey, Jr. Toby Maguire? Andrew Garfield? Now Tom Holland? Yep that’s right, the sixth Spider-Man film in 15 years has arrived, and this one is directed by Jon Watts.
My Cousin Rachel, Director: Roger Michell
Rachel Weisz delivers a wonderfully enigmatic performance in this adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s 1951 classic novel, My Cousin Rachel. Impeccably shot and set in the lush Cornish countryside, it’s a mystery-romance-thriller that leaves the viewer pondering the possibilities long after you’ve left the theatre.
Transformers: The Last Knight Dir: Michael Bay
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel, Stanley Tucci, Anthony Hopkins That’s right Transformers is back, and so is Michael Bay with the 5th in the franchise. Can you believe it? There’s 5 of these things. The Transformers franchise has been critically panned for the most part, but has grossed 3.7 billion worldwide. It’s a smart business […]
All Eyez on Me – Director: Benny Boom
All Eyez on Me purports to tell the true, untold story of rapper, poet and activist Tupac Shakur (Demetrius Shipp Jr.) What it doesn’t tell is why anyone should care why, twenty years after his death, his work still matters. But we do get to see a hell of a lot of booty and bullets.
The Mummy Dir: Alex Kurtzman
Starring: Tom Cruise, Annabelle Wallis, Sophia Boutella, Russell Crowe The Mummy, is directed by writer/director Alex Kurtzman, and is the first instalment in the Universal ‘Dark Universe’ shared cinematic universe of classic movie monsters.
Wonder Woman, Director: Patty Jenkins
There’s an infinite number of considerations when attempting to write a review of the new Wonder Woman movie. How could Gal Gadot ever fill the iconic Lynda Carter’s bustier? Why is this the first time she has been brought to the big screen in her own feature film? Is Wonder Woman too sexy for girl […]