Another Simple Favor: Movie Review

Cast: Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding, Alison Janney, Michele Morrone
Director: Paul Feig

The 2018 film A Simple Favor was a deliciously tart affair that revelled in its toxic friendship between Stephanie Smoulders (Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Lively).

Seven years later, the sequel aims for more twists and turns and sidelines the relationship between the pair that so fuelled the first.

This time around, Stephanie is harangued into being Emily's maid of honour after her book about the original caper, The Faceless Blonde, fails to capture an audience. When Emily strolls in nonchalantly to a book signing, the wheels are set in motion for a reunion - and a showdown after murder visits the wedding in Italy.

Packed with twists and red herrings, Another Simple Favor isn't quite the escapade it wants to be, preferring instead to be a murder mystery with some deliciously dark family secrets.

As a result, the swings become wilder and more out there, and while Kendrick works with the comic timing and does excellently with what's thrown at her, much of the film sees her separated from Lively early on and the caper struggles to recover.

Despite some outrageously good fashion and some extremely cruel exchanges early on, the film settles into a more traditional film that embraces its completely OTT edges. Escapist and absurd it may be, but Another Simple Favor is worth it for yet another superlative Kendrick performance.

Another Simple Favor is streaming on Prime Video now.

Thunderbolts*: Movie Review

Cast: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Olga Kurylenko, Julia Louis Dreyfus
Director: Jake Schreier

After the somewhat underwhelming Captain America: Brave New World, the pressure's back on Marvel to deliver a cinematic tentpole worthy of their oeuvre.

Step forward Thunderbolts*, a movie about a ragtag bag of reformed villains looking to do the right thing. Less Avengers, more Suicide Squad.

The Penguin: Season 1 Blu Ray Review

Colin Farrell's Oswald Cobb comes to the small screen in this spinoff series from the 2022 Matt Reeves movie The Batman.

Picking up directly after the end of the movie after Paul Dano's Riddler had unleashed a series of bombs which destroyed the seawalls and flooded Gotham, the eight-part run sees Oz try to scrabble to the top of the criminal underworld during a power vacuum.

But standing in his way is the Falcone family, who've been running the drugs operation in Gotham for years without contender. However, a new challenger to the throne arrives in the form of Cristin Milioti's Sofia, who's fresh out of Arkham hospital and on the push for revenge.

It's very easy to categorize The Penguin as a Sopranos-wannabe. (Even down to the opening titles graphics card of the show name).

From Cobblepot's Tony Soprano-esque gait through to his browbeaten relationship with his own mother, who's grappling dementia, there are plenty of parallels to the David Chase James Gandolfini-led show.

It's not a bad comparison to rub up against in many ways, and those expecting a more superhero-led show full of the quirks of the Burton Batman world may deservedly be disappointed. But what it does mean for The Penguin is solid drama or not, it never really ascends the similarities to any other mob drama you've seen and emerge as something solidly different.

Which is a shame, because it's watchable enough fare.

Farrell is all New York-swagger and threatening vibes, with flashes of insecurity bubbling over into violence. It makes for an intriguing protagonist, because even with the machinations and political manoeuvrings that Cobblepot's dabbling in, you're never quite sure what's going through his mind.

Thankfully, his relationship with young stammering street kid Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz) is stunning to watch. Whether it's mentoring him or remonstrating his failures, the frisson of uncertainty and would-be father vibes makes for solid viewing.

Equally impressive is Milioti's Sofia Falcone. Clearly traumatised by her time in Arkham and resentful at being held at arm's length by her own family, Milioti channels a kind of dead-eyed stare that is borderline psychotic and cold when the menace is needed.

Ultimately, The Penguin is a mix of politics and violence. Its more dialogue-led episodes very occasionally feel lumpen and leaden, but as a portrait of a character often ridiculed for his gait and props, thanks to Farrell's depth of work, this Penguin emerges as more of a duality character than a one-dimensional freak to Gotham.

The Penguin plays every Friday from 4pm on Neon

What’s new on Netflix in May

Here’s everything that’s streaming on Netflix in May.

SIRENS  Premieres on May 22, 2025 

Devon thinks her sister Simone has a really creepy relationship with her new boss, the enigmatic socialite Michaela Kell. Michaela’s cult-ish life of luxury is like a drug to Simone, and Devon has decided it’s time for an intervention, but she has no idea what a formidable opponent Michaela will be. Told over the course of one explosive weekend at The Kells’ lavish beach estate, Sirens is an incisive, sexy, and darkly funny exploration of women, power, and class.

Starring: Julianne Moore, Meghann Fahy, Milly Alcock, Kevin Bacon

THE FOUR SEASONS - Premieres on May 1, 2025 

The decades-long friendship between three married couples is tested when one divorces, complicating their tradition of quarterly weekend getaways.

Starring: Tina Fey, Will Forte, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Marco Calvani, Erika Henningsen, Colman Domingo, Steve Carell

CONAN O'BRIEN: THE KENNEDY CENTER MARK TWAIN PRIZE FOR AMERICAN HUMOR

Premieres on May 4, 2025 

Comedy's biggest stars gather to toast and celebrate late-night legend Conan O'Brien as he accepts the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Starring: Conan O'Brien, John Mulaney, Will Ferrell, Kumail Nanjiani, Paul Rudd, Sarah Silverman, Stephen Colbert, Tracy Morgan, Reggie Watts, Sean Evans, Adam Sandler, David Letterman

FULL SPEED: SEASON 2

Premieres on May 7, 2025 

In the race for the 2024 NASCAR championship, this high-octane documentary series gets closer than ever to the drama on and off the track.

Starring: Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Daniel Suárez

BLOOD OF ZEUS: SEASON 3

Premieres on May 8, 2025 

Set loose from captivity and burning for revenge, the king of the Titans swears to crush the Olympian gods and reclaim the power they stole from him.

Starring: Derek Phillips, Jessica Henwick, Jason O'Mara, Elias Toufexis, Adetokumboh M'Cormack, Claudia Christian, Chris Diamantopoulos, Fred Tatasciore, Cissy Jones, Lara Pulver

BET

Premieres on May 15, 2025 

At a private school where gambling determines social status, a skillful new student with a mysterious past is shaking things up — and betting on revenge.

Starring: Miku Martineau, Rami Khan, Ryan Sutherland, Eve Edwards, Ayo Solanke, Dorial Giordano, Clara Alexandrova, Hunter Cardinal

LOVE, DEATH & ROBOTS: VOLUME 4

Premieres on May 15, 2025 

Dinosaur gladiators, messianic cats, string-puppet rock stars — it can only be Love, Death + Robots. The fourth volume, presented by Tim Miller (Deadpool, Terminator: Dark Fate) and David Fincher (Mindhunter, The Killer), sees Jennifer Yuh Nelson (Kung Fu Panda 2, Season 3’s “Kill Team Kill”) return as supervising director for ten startling shorts showcasing the series’ signature, award-winning style of bleeding-edge animation, horror, sci-fi, and humor. Buckle up.

FEAR STREET: PROM QUEEN

Premieres on May 23, 2025 

Who will be voted queen at Shadyside High's 1988 prom? For underdog Lori, competition is cutthroat even before someone starts killing off the candidates.

Starring: India Fowler, Suzanna Son, Fina Strazza, David Iacono, Ella Rubin, Chris Klein, Ariana Greenblatt, Lili Taylor, Katherine Waterston

COLD CASE: THE TYLENOL MURDERS

Premieres on May 26, 2025 

Who really laced Tylenol with cyanide? This true-crime series examines alarming theories behind the unsolved killings — and tracks down a key suspect.

F1: THE ACADEMY

Premieres on May 28, 2025 

Follow fifteen of the world's best female drivers as they take to the tough tracks of F1 Academy in this high-octane documentary from Hello Sunshine.

Win tickets to see Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning in cinemas

To celebrate the release of Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning in cinemas from Saturday May 17, thanks to Paramount Pictures NZ, you can win a double pass!

About Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning stars Tom Cruise once again as Ethan Hunt.

IMF Agent Ethan Hunt is on his most dangerous mission yet, as he and his team try and stop Gabriel before he can obtain an AI program that can weaken the world's stability,

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is in cinemas from Saturday, May 17 - accept your mission and choose to go see it!

What's on Shudder in May

Here's everything that's streaming on Shudder in May.

The Ugly Stepsister – Shudder Original Film 

New Film Premieres Exclusively on Shudder and AMC+ in May (Date TBA) 

A sinister twist on the classic Cinderella story, The Ugly Stepsister follows Elvira as she prepares to earn the prince’s affection at any cost. In a kingdom where beauty is a brutal business, Elvira will compete with the beautiful and enchanting Agnes to become the belle of the ball. 

The Surrender – Shudder Original Film 

New Film Premieres Exclusively on Shudder and AMC+ Friday 23 May 

A fraught mother-daughter relationship is put to a terrifying test when the family patriarch dies, and the grieving mother hires a mysterious stranger to bring her husband back from the dead. As the bizarre and brutal resurrection spirals out of control, both women must confront their differences as they fight for their lives – and for each other. 

The Surrender – Shudder Original Film 

Vampire Hunter D 40th Anniversary Film Premiere

Exclusively on Shudder, AMC+ and HIDIVE Friday 30 May 

In the year 12,090 A.D. technology and the supernatural have overtaken the world, leaving the land desolate and despotic. The remnants of humanity are scattered into small communities and live in fear of vampires who compose the ruling Nobility. When Count Magnus Lee tastes the blood of Doris Lang, she is forcibly chosen to be his next wife. In an effort to escape her ill-gotten fate she hires a mysterious vampire hunter known only as D, who comes from a peculiar lineage. 

NEW ADDITIONS TO SHUDDER’S FILM LIBRARY 1 May  

The Devil’s Business 

At the horse of their target, two hit men bide their time waiting for the kill, only to find the death already  arrived in the shape of black magic, devilish spirits and the occult.  

Blood on Satan’s Claw 

In early 18th century England, the children of a village slowly convert into a coven of devil worshipers. 

Curse of the Crimson Alter 

Robert Manning visits the remote country house where his brother Peter was last seen. While his host  seems outwardly friendly and his niece more demonstrably so, Robert detects a feeling of menace in  the air.  

Witchfinder General 

During the English Civil War, a young Roundhead seeks vengeance against a vicious witch-hunter  and his henchman, who have terrorised the soldier’s fiancée and wrongfully executed her uncle.  

Itim (The Rites of May) 

During a return to his provincial home, a young man gets involved with a woman who is ultimately  possessed by her sister’s spirit, paving the way to revealing the painful truth about her unsolved  disappearance. 

Shutter 

A newly married couple discovers disturbing, ghostly images in photographs they develop after a  tragic accident. Fearing the manifestations may be connected, they investigate and learn that some  mysteries are better left unresolved.  

Coming Soon 

Two projectionists discover a disturbing film featuring the lynching of a woman, not only are they  troubled by the content of the movie, but strange events befall them following the viewing.  

Phobia 

Four chilling tales intertwine: a teenager’s unsettling text messages, a bullied student’s dark revenge,  a camping trip gone wrong and a flight attendant’s nightmarish ordeal. Each story explores fear and  the supernatural.  

Phobia 2 

Horror anthology consisting of five segments by acclaimed Thai directors. Segments involve a criminal  seeking refuge, a haunted hospital, haunted truck passengers, a car dealer’s dark discovery and an  ill actress portraying a ghost.  

5 May 

Severance 

During a team-building retreat in the mountains, a group of sales representatives are hunted down  one by one.  

A Night of Horror Vol 1 

Ten filmmakers. One night of horror. 

19 May 

Dead End Drive-In 

In a dystopian future Australia, a health nut and his tag-along girlfriend become trapped in a drive-in  cinema that has become a concentration camp for delinquent youths and refugees.  

26 May 

The Whip and the Body 

The ghost of a sadistic nobleman attempts to rekindle his romance with his terrorised, masochistic  former lover, who is unwillingly betrothed to his brother.  

Hagazussa 

After the loss of her tormented mother, the erratic behavior of a 15th century woman living in an  isolated mountain village becomes a threat to the safety of her infant child.  

Wicked: Part One: Blu Ray Review

Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Ethan Slater, Michelle Yeoh
Director: Jon M Chu

There's a scene early on in Jon M Chu's audacious staging of Wicked where his professor character Dr Dillamond, a talking goat, denounces one of the student's assignments as being little more than "form over content."

In some ways, that could be applied to the first part of the adaptation of Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman's musical, a film that's largely about setting up a payoff that won't come until November 2025.

A breathtakingly impressive Erivo stars as the green-skinned outcast Elphaba, who lives in the land of Oz and is destined to become the Wicked Witch of the West. Determined to meet the Wizard of Oz (Goldblum, in an eccentric and whimsical performance), she enrols at Shiz University. 

But appalled at her treatment by the powers that be, blonde-haired mean girl Glinda (Grande, a natural at the comedy airhead routine needed by the Good Witch) tries to ostracise her. However, when the pair actually form a friendship, they find they have more in common as a dark conspiracy swirls around Oz itself.

While the film is largely a great deal of style over substance, set in a derivative version of a Hogwarts-style university complete with talking animals and nods to the Wizard of Oz and what's to come, the incredible costumes and look and feel of the musical is actually astounding to behold.

Covering only the musical's first act, a colourful array of props and scenes litter proceedings, with various songs peppered throughout. It does fall to mention that unfortunately, unless you're a fan of the original musical, many of the numbers are lost to the memory the moment the lights go up.

The central narrative of how wickedness happens is a soft one in many ways, a chance to revamp a story that's previously been doused in evil and all the better for it. But with horrifying imagery such as how the flying monkeys got their wings and emotional betrayal at its heart, most of what transpires in Wicked: Part One is infinitely more enjoyable than you'd come to expect.

Both Erivo and Grande excel, and while the whole gimmick of singing live during filming is fairly tame given both have live music backgrounds, there's no doubting their chutzpah and delivery whatsoever. Taking the traits of a musical that panders to audience knowledge and laughs (from a few knowing cameos to Grande's continual Glinda hair toss routine), the film does much to ingratiate itself in those who aren't familiar with the source material.

Yet at its heart, the film belongs solely to those behind the camera. From visions of bursting colour and exquisitely choreographed and clear scenes of crowds, Chu's eye for what transpires as spectacle is hard to deny - and deserves plenty of praise.

In hindsight, while Wicked: Part One does little in terms of strong narrative and character depth, what it achieves within its genre is completely impressive. It remains to be seen whether the second act is as good as the first's bum-numbing 2hr 40 minutes, but it'd be Wicked to dismiss this film's execution as anything but a triumph within its class.