Snatched, Director: Jonathan Levine
Life isn’t going well for 30-something Emily Middleton (Amy Schumer.) She can’t keep a job. Her boyfriend dumps her on the eve of an overseas holiday. Her tickets are non-refundable and unsurprisingly, none of her friends is willing to go along. She’s a self-centred wreck, oblivious to others and with no one left to turn […]
Arcade Fire – The Reflektor Tapes Dir: Kahlil Joseph
The Arcade Fire crew are revving up to release a new album sometime this year. To help remind you why you may (or may not) care about them, their 2015 film, The Reflektor Tapes is now out on DVD/Blu Ray.
Alien: Covenant Dir: Ridley Scott
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup Alien: Covenant is the much anticipated sequel to Prometheus. And I’m just going to say it. “I liked Prometheus”. I also really enjoyed the previous Alien films just to make that clear. A few of my friends are also Alien fans, and consider Prometheus to be the equivalent […]
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – Dir: James Gunn
Starring: Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana The first Guardians film was yet another example of how plucking a talented passionate filmmaker from indie obscurity (James Gunn) and giving him a shot can be a big pay off for a major Hollywood studio.
Documentary Festival Reels In Top Films For The 2017 Programme
The Documentary New Zealand Trust presents: Doc Edge International Film Festival (Doc Edge) Wellington, 10 – 21 May / Auckland, 24 May – 5 June Hoka Hey: A Good Day to Die
Kong: Skull Island
Meet the new Kong! It’s 1973 and the Vietnam War is coming to an end. Facing redundancy, army scientist Bill Randa (John Goodman) convinces his superiors to let him lead a geology expedition to an uncharted island in the South Pacific. He gets his crew together: soldiers led by Colonel Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson), […]
Alone in Berlin
With Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleeson heading up the cast, I had high hopes for Alone in Berlin. It’s based on the highly praised 1947 novel by Hans Fallada, which has only recently been translated into English, apparently based on the story of a real life couple.
Hell Or High Water Dir: David Makenzie
Starring: Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges, Gil Birmingham Just in time for Oscar season, Hell Or High Water has been released on DVD/Blu-Ray. If you missed this little gem on its cinematic release, make sure you take this opportunity to see it now.
T2 Trainspotting – Dir: Danny Boyle
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle T2 Trainspotting, the sequel to the ground-breaking 1996 film, got a preview screening last night at Auckland’s Broadway Newmarket Cinema. Along with a bevy of local “celebrities”, director Danny Boyle was on hand to say a few words before the film rolled.
Patriots Day
Director: Peter Berg 15th of April 2013 was a perfect spring day in Boston, Massachusetts – Patriots Day – honouring the first battles of the American Revolution and the day of the annual Boston Marathon. And the day chosen by the Chechen-refugee Tsarnaev brothers, Tamerlan (Themo Melikidze) and Dzhokar (Alex Wolff) as the date of […]
Split
Director M Night Shayamalan M Night Shyamalan has returned, sending shudders down the spines of those who have been subjected to the bulk of his previous outings like The Last Airbender (2010,) The Village (2004) and Signs (2002.) Astonishingly, he has redeemed himself with Split. Split is the story of Kevin (James McAvoy,) a man […]
Live by Night
Director: Ben Affleck 2 Stars Ben Affleck wrote, directed and stars in this unrestrained, out of control mess of a movie set in prohibition era Boston and Florida. An ambitious effort – it takes on both Irish and Italian gangster cultures, racism and the Ku Klux Klan, white supremacy, southern ignorance, immigration, drugs and alcohol, […]
Manchester By the Sea
Most mistakes can be fixed, apologised for or forgotten. Some change our lives completely and forever. Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is a thirty-something janitor living in a tiny basement flat in Boston. He works hard and seems capable, but can’t get along with anyone. He drinks alone and is prone to throwing a fist if […]
Hidden Figures
Based on the true story of a team of African American women working for NASA in the early 1960s, Hidden Figures focuses on three women who individually and collectively broke down the racial divide and were some of the key players in getting the US manned space programme literally off the ground. Back before there […]
xXx: The Return of Xander Cage
xXx: The Return of Xander Cage Director: D. J. Caruso After 15 years, Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) returns from the dead for a mission so deadly and dangerous, it requires the services of all the xXx agents – past, present and deep-cover. Pandora’s Box – a diabolical communication device that controls every military satellite in […]
The Beatles – Eight Days A Week: The Touring Years Dir: Ron Howard (DVD/Blu-Ray)
Just months after it appeared in cinemas, director Ron Howard’s documentary about The Beatles’ touring years has been released on DVD and Blu-Ray with plenty of extra features to make it a worthwhile purchase.
The Danish Girl – Dir: Tom Hooper
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ben Wishaw, Amber Heard Based (loosely) on real-life events, The Danish Girl sets out to tackle the issue of transgender politics from a very personal perspective, with director Tom Hooper aiming to enlighten, rather than shock his audience. The story…based on a fictional novel but inspired by two […]
People Places Things
Starring: Jemaine Clement, Regina Hall, Jessica Williams Flight Of The Conchords’ Jemaine Clement tries his hand as the lead in a romantic comedy set in New York…keeping his Kiwi accent intact. The romantic comedy is a peculiar beast. If done well, it feels easy and natural, but so often it fails thanks to a weak […]
A Walk In The Woods
Starring Robert Redford, Nick Nolte & Emma Thompson 104 minutes/M – Offensive language and sexual references Bill Bryson – yes, THAT Bill Bryson of prolific popular travel writing fame – has retired and is about to settle into all that new found freedom allows. Personal family dramas are forcing him to take stock of himself […]
Terminator Genisys
Terminator Genisys 2hrs 6mins/ M: Violence and Offensive Language Ahunld’s back! In this massively explosive entry in the hugely popular franchise based on the 1984 smash hit classic, The Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger returns to the fray doting in his unique robotic way on Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) as she tries to reconcile her life and […]