Joss Whedon and Alexander Skarsgård to hit New Zealand in July

Joss Whedon and Alexander Skarsgård to hit New Zealand in July

Well, let's just say, I'm not surprised.

And re: the above, let's say, sort of.

The latest round of NZFF titles for the 2013 programme have just been released. And one of those heading our way is Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing.

Here's the full details - and some trailers to watch.

WORLD PREMIERE FOR NZ ROMEO AND JULIET IN JULY

The New Zealand International Film Festival today announced five film titles for the 2013 programme. The world premiere for New Zealand feature Romeo and Juliet: A Love Song and Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing are confirmed for the full NZIFF tour after premiering in Auckland and Wellington in July

“The Bard is in great form this year. Much Ado About Nothing is amazing fun. Watching this fresh take on a classic courtship with a delighted 2000-strong crowd of all ages, shapes and sizes was the highlight of last year’s Toronto Festival for me. And we’re thrilled to be presenting the first screenings in the world for Tim van Dammen’s Romeo and Juliet: A Love Song. Set in a caravan park called Verona this modern setting provides surprising opportunities for a riotous retelling of the world’s most famous romantic tragedy.” says NZIFF Director Bill Gosden.

Romeo and Juliet: A Love Song

World Premiere

New Zealand 2013

Director: Tim van Dammen

Shakespeare’s tale of teen love reimagined as a rock opera set in a beachside caravan park. A triumphant blast of style and 21st-century Kiwi trailer trash pop. Classic tragedy probably shouldn’t be quite this much fun.

http://www.romeoandjulietalovesong.com/

Much Ado About Nothing

USA, 2012

Director Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon and a cast of his TV regulars breathe fresh life into Shakespeare’s comedy of romantic gamesmanship. “The first great contemporary Shakespeare since Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet.” — The Guardian

Two films with theatre connections are confirmed for the national programme:

Becoming Traviata

Traviata et nous, France 2012

Director Philippe Béziat

Soprano Natalie Dessay, acclaimed for her dramatic brilliance, rehearses La Traviata in intense creative collaboration with director Jean-François Sivadier. “Ravishing… Time with Dessay is worth treasuring.” — Village Voice

Gebo and the Shadow

O Gebo e a sombra, Portugal/France 2012

Director/Screenplay: Manoel de Oliveira. Based on a play by Raul Brandão

Claudia Cardinale, Jeanne Moreau and Michael Lonsdale await the return of a prodigal son in an adapted play from the world’s oldest director. “A grand piece of cinematic chamber music for a cast of mighty soloists.” — New Yorker

A feature film based on the book by Henry James will screen in Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin and Christchurch:

What Maisie Knew

USA 2012

Directors: Scott McGehee, David Siegel

Steve Coogan and Julianne Moore are the divorcing parents seen from the viewpoint of six-year-old Maisie (amazing Onata Aprile) in this 21st-century Manhattan update of Henry James’ novel. With Alexander Skarsgård.

The programme for NZIFF Auckland will be announced on Monday 24 June and for NZIFF Wellington on Thursday 27 June. Tickets will be on sale in Auckland from Friday 28 June, and in Wellington from Tuesday 2 July from Ticketek. For Festival updates visit www.nziff.co.nz and register to receive e-newsletters.

Brand new The World's End Trailer is here

Brand new The World's End Trailer is here

Some good news this morning for fans of the Cornetto trilogy.

A brand new The World's End trailer has just dropped (warning - some spoilers ahead)

The World's End releases in NZ on July 18th.




There's a brand new poster for The World's End, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost - directed by Edgar Wright

The Cornetto trilogy is coming to an end.

The World's End releases in New Zealand on July 18th

And here's the first trailer for The World's End, starring the brilliant comic duo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

The World’s End is the third installment of Edgar Wright’s trilogy of comedies, following the successes Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Hot Fuzz (2007). Mr. Wright co-wrote the script with Simon Pegg, who will once again star alongside Nick Frost. Joining the team are actors Martin Freeman (Shaun of the Dead, The Hobbit), Paddy Considine (Hot Fuzz, The Bourne Ultimatum), Eddie Marsan (Sherlock Holmes), and Rosamund Pike (Jack Reacher).

20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hellbent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by mate Gary King (Simon Pegg), a 40-year-old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their hometown and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub – The World’s End. As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realize the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind’s. 

Reaching The World’s End is the least of their worries.

The Master: Blu Ray Review

The Master: Blu Ray Review

Rating: R13
Released by Roadshow Home Entertainment

Joaquin Phoenix plays Naval veteran Freddie Quell, who's back home in America after the end of the war and who's unsettled and unsure about what's ahead. An alcoholic, he lurches from one job to the next in a booze fuelled   state and one day ends up as a stowaway on a ship.

However, it turns out that ship is being operated by a group called The Cause, led by their charismatic leader, Lancaster Dodd aka The Master. Soon, Freddie is taken in by The Cause and they try to convert him to their ways.

But, is Freddie beyond saving? And what is it that The Master sees in Freddie that's so mesmerising? None of these questions are really answered in Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master.

Granted, it's masterful performances from Seymour Hoffman and Phoenix which really anchor this film as it rolls from one moment to the next. Some have said that The Master is about Scientology and a thinly veiled attack on the religion which has swept Hollywood. I'm not 100% sure I see that in it, but I can understand where it's coming from given that it's about the hold one man has on a group of people who are completely in his thrall, despite some feeling that he's simply making it up as he goes along.

What is evident though is that the film from Anderson shows why he's such a searing talent in the film-making department. Scenes take a while to build up and when he keeps the camera on his two leads, it's mesmerising and utterly compelling to behold.

One sequence, an interrogation between Quell and Dodd, is just an absolute masterclass in how to frame a scene and how to get the best of your leads. It helps that Phoenix and Seymour Hoffman are at their absolute peak as Dodd tries to burrow into Quell's mental state of mind. That powerful scene alone stays with you long after the film's finished. Which is just as well, because there are a fair few unanswered questions throughout - such as why Dodd is so determined to stick by Quell when his wife (who at times appears to be the power behind the Cause) and family tell him to cut him loose. Granted, they're two sides of one coin with Dodd the charismatic, chiselled and sophisticated leader and Quell the base, loose scoundrel - but there's never any real reason given for the lifelong devotion.

Amy Adams delivers a masterfully understated performance and you have plenty of questions as to whether she's the actual power behind The Cause. (Behind every great man, and all that....) Once again, she shows that she's an incredibly versatile talent who's immensely watchable in anything she does.

All in all, The Master is an indispensable piece of film - it's likely to be loved by critics and award ceremonies but potentially will puzzle audiences who may be a little lost to its appeal. 

Extras: Teasers and trailers

Rating:

Gangster Squad: Blu Ray Review

Gangster Squad: Blu Ray Review

Rating: R16
Released by Roadshow Home Entertainment

1949 Hollywoodland - Former boxer and Mob boss Mickey Cohen (Penn in an occasionally cartoonish performance) is making a move on the Los Angeles scene, gradually manouvering himself to take off most of the rackets of the town and increase the tentacles of the bad old guys.

Sick and tired of the corruption within the system hindering the police's attempts to foil Mickey's plans, Chief Bill Parker (a grizzled and gruff Nolte) calls on former Army soldier and current Sergeant John O'Mara (Brolin) to go beyond the means of the law and do whatever he can to prevent the criminal underbelly from winning the day.

So, O'Mara pulls together a motley crew of five, known as the Gangster Squad to try and help save the day, putting the gang of those operating outside of the law on a collision course with the corruption and the Mob. Gangster Squad is a pulpy, trashier version of The Untouchables.

It's a film which guns for stylish, but chooses to go for cliche and full on violence while eschewing a subtle and smarter approach to the Mob vs police story which has been told time and time again.

So, in many ways, unfortunately it brings nothing new to the mobster genre and certainly does little to break the mould despite a fine ensemble cast and stylish overall feel.

That's not to say it's not enjoyable - merely, that if you're going to Gangster Squad expecting to see the 21st Century version of The Untouchables, you'll be disappointed with script and dialogue which is straight out of the 1950s RKO TV and Radio serial world. With cliched dialogue, the rat-a-tat-tat of tommy guns and fairly predictable story choices, mixed in with a gratuitous cacophony of bullets and plenty of slow-mo moments during the action sequences, it's eschewed subtlety for a predominance of violence. 

All in all, the Gangster Squad movie is no slick and sophisticated crime noir, and is more of a popcorn blockbuster, aimed at satiating the masses. It is so superficial, you'll fuhgeddaboutit the minute it's over.

Extras: Commentary, behind the scenes pieces, style pieces, deleted scenes

Rating:

I, Anna : DVD Review

I, Anna : DVD Review

Rating: R16
Released by Transmission

It's back to the noir world for this thriller with an older cast (something of a rarity these days).

Charlotte Rampling stars as Anna Welles, an older woman whom we first meet making a phone call (how quaint - someone actually using a phonebox). It then shifts back to a grimy London and a speed dating singles night out for the older crowd.

Anna meets Ralph Brown's George before heading back to his tower block to take the relationship further. But we next glimpse Anna stumbling from the tower block and a murder investigation begins to unfold. Headed by Gabriel Byrne's DCI Bernie Reid, he's looking into the death of George....is Anna in someway implicated in this? Intrigued by their first brief meeting, Reid begins a romantic pursuit of Anna - but is his investigation crossing over some boundaries?

Grimy, murky, overcooked and overwrought, I Anna is a thriller which really only benefits from its lead actors. Rampling and Byrne make an affable pair and give credence to a story which takes its time to get going. As the layers of the narrative onion peel back, you may well be left crying - for good and bad reasons. While there are several claustrophobic shots and flashbacks which help tell the story, there's really little meat to these bones as the mystery unfolds. A weary looking Gabriel Byrne brings a dogged cynicism to his leading detective, while Rampling's nuanced and subtle performance hints at tragedy lurking in her past and potentially, her future.

All in all though, I, Anna is a bit of a muddled mystery; one which could have been more if the script had been a little deeper and engaging. Instead, what remains is a piece which looks murky and grainy with a cast whose excellence is barely tested.

Rating:

Brand new Man of Steel trailer is here

Brand new Man of Steel trailer is here

He's baaaack.

Well, soonish.

A brand new Man of Steel trailer has just been released..

New poster for The World's End

New poster for The World's End

There's a brand new poster for The World's End, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost - directed by Edgar Wright,

The Cornetto trilogy is coming to an end.

The World's End releases in New Zealand on July 18th

And here's the first trailer for The World's End, starring the brilliant comic duo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

The World’s End is the third installment of Edgar Wright’s trilogy of comedies, following the successes Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Hot Fuzz (2007). Mr. Wright co-wrote the script with Simon Pegg, who will once again star alongside Nick Frost. Joining the team are actors Martin Freeman (Shaun of the Dead, The Hobbit), Paddy Considine (Hot Fuzz, The Bourne Ultimatum), Eddie Marsan (Sherlock Holmes), and Rosamund Pike (Jack Reacher).

20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hellbent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by mate Gary King (Simon Pegg), a 40-year-old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their hometown and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub – The World’s End. As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realize the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind’s. 

Reaching The World’s End is the least of their worries.