Good Time Dir: Ben & Josh Safdie
Electric New York filmmakers the Safdie brothers rob us blind with this heist movie gone wrong, thanks to an illicitly good performance from Robert Pattinson.
13th floor
Mountain Dir: Jennifer Peedom (NZIFF)
Mountain junkies, classical music lovers and Willem Dafoe fans are all in for a treat, with this enthralling look at what makes mountains move us.
Justin Hayward: The 13th Floor Interview
Justin Hayward has been fronting The Moody Blues since 1967 when they abandoned their early r&b sound and created something completely new with Days Of Future Passed. Since then, the band has amassed an incredible legacy of work including iconic albums such as A Question Of Balance, Seventh Sojourn and In Search Of The Lost […]
Bill Frisell: A Portrait Dir: Emma Franz
A few days ago I nominated BANG! The Bern Berns Story as the best music documentary at this year’s film festival (read review here). After watching Bill Frisell: A Portrait, I must say that it comes in as a close second.
Bridge Burner – Audio Foundation July 29, 2017
This one is a freebie in more ways than one. As with all other performers at 95bFM’s bStreet Festival, Bridge Burner’s set was free entry. This review is also “free.” I didn’t arrange it with 13th Floor beforehand, I was at the gig in no role except a metal fan who liked Bridge Burner’s debut […]
Happy End Dir: Michael Haneke
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Jean-louis Trintignant, Toby Jones Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke serves up a French-language black comedy featuring a dysfunctional family, observations on social media, euthanasia, European class structure and immigration and video surveillance in the age of the smart phone. Unfortunately, the end result of all this is less than the sum of […]
To Stay Alive: A Method – Dir: Erik Lieshout, Arno Hagars & Renier van Brummelen (NZIFF)
“A dead poet does not write”. Iggy Pop reads the words of Michel Houellecq in this film that addresses the issue of struggling artists and their mental health.
Steve Hackett – Auckland Town Hall July 28, 2017
Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett brought his “Genesis Revisited” show to Auckland last night. Incredibly, after over 40 years and countless albums, this was Hackett’s first foray into New Zealand.
Beatriz At Dinner Dir: Miguel Arteta
Starring: Salma Hayek, John Lithgow, Connie Britton At first, Beatriz At Dinner comes across as an American counterpoint to Sally Potter’s very English and very black comedy The Party (reviewed here) and also playing at this year’s film festival.
Tony Conrad: Completely In The Present Dir: Tyler Hubby (NZIFF)
You may be aware of Tony Conrad’s contribution to music and his association with The Velvet Underground, but this lively, entertaining look at the late experimental artist reveals that there was much more to Conrad besides the drone.