NZIFF Review - Two Days, One Night

NZIFF Review - Two Days, One Night

The little mouse begins to roar in this take on redundancy in the Dardenne brothers' latest socially aware outing.

Marion Cotillard is Sandra, a worker due back after a prolonged illness, but who finds herself facing the life on the dole after the mainly faceless bosses force her co-workers to vote on her future.

The choice? A 1000 Euro bonus or Sandra to keep her job. The first ballot has gone against our downtrodden heroine, but thanks to a friend, a second ballot has been forced on a Monday morning. So, Sandra has two days to convince her co-workers to vote for her future by visiting them one by one and trying to persuade them.

So, the clock is ticking...

Two Days, One Night has a quiet power, largely thanks to the restrained and moving performance of Cotillard. With an ethos that "I don't exist", Sandra is the human face of a corporate by-product, a soldier of a social situation. But, as she gets knocked down, she gets up again with a frailty that makes you wonder how much more she can take in this take on the old quest movie.

While some of the encounters could feel a little forced as she pleads her case, everyone has their reasons for voting for the bonus - from just scraping by and staving off the demons to indulging in luxuries like a patio installation. There's no judgement placed on any of these reasons and that gives some of the power to the performance and the aching to the desperation that Sandra feels as she claws at the possibility of self-respect and self worth.

With a supportive yet insistent hubbie, Sandra's journey is more than about saving her job. It's also about regaining her own self and sense of worth in a world that's cruel and sees those struggling forced to make decisions that seem cruel and unusual punishment.

So it's sad to report that a final dramatic twist when all hope appears lost and the self-medicating Sandra is at rock bottom is a jump too far thanks to how quickly it's resolved. It's the one dramatic bum note that's sounded in this tale of a broken and beaten woman.

Final questions about how nefarious the boss has been are left unresolved and the largely faceless enemy appears too late in the piece and could provoke further debate, but Sandra's arc is the main raison d'être here.

Quietly moving, Two Days, One Night is a testament to Cotillard's screen presence and The Dardennes' prowess in tackling social reality in an unassuming and disarming way.

NZIFF Review - The Rover

NZIFF Review - The Rover

How do you follow a critical smash like Animal Kingdom?

By staying in Australia and going into an apocalyptic world if you're director David Michod.

Starring Robert Pattinson and Guy Pearce, this is set 10 years after a mysterious "collapse" turned everyone in Aussie a little feral and made the law of the gun the law of the land.

Pearce is Eric, whose life is somewhat of a mystery but who's determined to get back his beloved car when a band of outlaws fleeing from an event unknown make off with it, having crashed their own means of transport. Setting off after the group, the grim faced Eric comes across the injured Rey (Pattinson) and finding out he has a link to those crims, he makes him his passenger to ensure his aims are met...

An unusual road movie The Rover may be but it's also an unconventional buddy film as well as Rey and Eric head deeper into the post apocalyptic outback. While Michod never explains exactly what's happened, the inferences are easy to read - and particularly given Eric's state of mind, there's some debate over whether the "collapse" refers to his outlook and life as well as the global one.

Stark imagery is posted throughout the film, and glimpses rather than dwelling on them do much to show the true horror of what's gone on - particularly powerful are the hideous brief views of people crucified on power poles is one of the most terrifying that's on show.

Michod's crafted together something here which hits some highs but also hits a few narrative lows - a showdown at a ranch is dismissed when the tension's being ramped up, leading to issues over escape and what happened next. Equally though, the bleak cold bloodedness of Pearce's Eric is frightening, with only a couple of clues seeded as to why he's so keen to get his car back. The final shot seems like a cruel joke in many ways, a joke played on the audience who's invested time in this road movie - but it's symptomatic of the slightly skewed take on the world that Michod's created.

While Pearce is impressive and grimly stoic as the determined and wearied Eric - witness his face when he's asked by one character what there is to get worked up about these days, Pattinson is the opposite, all tics and vocal jumps as he channels what's lovingly labelled a halfwit by some in the movie.

There are a couple of moments when The Rover doesn't fire as best it could - including a tense build up to a shoot out at a farm which simply cuts away as the dramatic beats reach a crescendo. It's moments like that which provoke frustration with The Rover, but perhaps demonstrate how much Michod is willing to stray from expectations.

Red Band trailer for Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

Red Band trailer for Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

A brand new Red Band trailer for Sin City: A Dame To Kill For has dropped.

Featuring Jessica Alba, Eva Green, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to name but a few, this adaptation of the Frank Miller graphic novel series is highly anticipated.

A Dame To Kill For spins several tales, including The Long Bad Night, in which Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) loses more than he gambles for against the wrong opponent. Just Another Saturday Night and the titular A Dame To Kill For, both set before the original film’s tale find Marv (Mickey Rourke) pitted against femme fatale Ava Lord (Eva Green) and teamed up with private eye Dwight McCarthy (Clive Owen and Josh Brolin.) 

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies trailer

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies trailer

Following its debut at ComicCon over the weekend, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies trailer has dropped.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies releases in New Zealand on December 11th.

In addition to the reveal of the teaser trailer at Comic Con during The Hobbit panel, Sir Peter also announced the upcoming Fan Fellowship competition. Details are as follows –

On August 25, to celebrate the end of the journey, the quest to find the ultimate fans from around the world will begin. Those who meet the challenge will be entered to win a once-in-a-lifetime journey to experience the cinematic Middle-earth in New Zealand, and watch the Trilogy's epic finale, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, with director Peter Jackson.

This competition will also be open to NZers. More information can be found here http://www.thehobbitfancontest.com/, on Peter Jackson’s facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/PeterJacksonNZ  and we will share more about where and how NZers can enter in the coming weeks.

NZIFF Review - Boyhood

NZIFF Review - Boyhood

Time is an illusion in Richard Linklater's masterpiece coming of age film.

Set over 12 years of the life of Mason Jr (Ellar Coltrane in a stellar turn - how did Linklater know he would turn out exactly as needed?), Boyhood charts the boy's growth and ends with graduation from high school.

But the passing of time is not signposted, nor remarked on as lives change, circumstances become more and less complicated and life, basically, happens.

Eschewing conventional narrative tropes that usually blight these kinds of movies (parents separate, parents reconnect, everyone lives happily ever after), Linklater remains true to the often messy and unpredictable ways of life. Mason's parents, Olivia (Patricia Arquette) and Mason Sr (Ethan Hawke) start the movie separated, with his dad zooming into town here and there and parenting where and when he's allowed; meanwhile his mother goes through a series of relationships that splinter under time (and dissolve off-screen) having had the seeds of discomfort sown early on.


With life evolving and dissolving, Linklater never loses his focus and eye for detail and moments as seamless time shifts take place throughout; be it the Harry Potter mania that grips both Mason and his sister Sam or discussion of the Twilight novels, the zeitgeist is certainly present throughout the 165 minutes run time, making this piece feel both timeless and yet also of the era as well. Problems are universal - girls, school choices, alcoholism - they're all there for the rich dramatic pickings

But in among the humour, there's poignancy as well; a final speech from Olivia as Mason Jr prepares to move out works on two levels; there are laughs within it but at the same time a bittersweet recognition that in amongst the various haircut changes and fashion sensibilities, life has marched on and the inevitable lies ahead; a sad admission that life, in all its forms, is to be treasured and embraced. (Even if most of the audience laughed at this, it's an indication of how wide ranging the film is and how differently it can be interpreted)

And its main protagonists fare exceptionally well too; Coltrane inhabits the role with ease from the naivete of youth to the highs and lows of life's disappointments and makes an eminently watchable lead no matter the age; Hawke is an affable easy presence and (along with Arquette) is spared the indignity of watching the relationship fall apart - and Arquette, the mother is an achingly real centre of Mason's world, as she tries to find her own identity and negotiate life.

The main thing about Boyhood though is how incredibly easy Linklater's made this all look - committing to a film for 12 years certainly is one hell of a decision (and reeks of the 7 Up series of docos) but proves to be a masterstroke in the coming of age genre.

Quite simply, thanks to Boyhood, that genre has been forever changed and its limitations blown out of the water.

Do what you can to see Boyhood, it's one of the most rewarding films of the festival and is as life-affirming as it is life-changing.

ZB movie Review

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/Auckland/listen-on-demand/audio/755567891-Darren-Bevan--At-the-Movies

NZIFF Review - Jimi: All is by my Side

NZIFF Review - Jimi: All is by my Side

With a pedigree that includes being written and directed by 12 Years A Slave's John Ridley and Andre Benjamin of Outkast playing Jimi Hendrix, you'd expect the promise of Jimi: All is By My Side to deliver.

And it certainly does that - to a large extent.

Taking in Hendrix's early life and times as a R'n'B backing guitarist where he was spotted by Keith Richards' girlfriend Linda Keith (Imogen Poots), Andre Benjamin inhabits the role completely. With Keith acting as a kind of puppetmaster, Hendrix starts his rise to fame and fortune. However, along the way, he meets Kathy (an impressive Hayley Atwell, who turns in a nuanced performance) causing friction between the three of them.

"Identity is a wonderful thing - I encourage you to have one" is uttered very early on in this piece, which doesn't shy away from showing Hendrix as more of a lover than a fighter, thanks to his relaxed hippyesque vibe proffered by Benjamin. Ridley mixes music with snapshots of 60s swinging London to impressive directorial effect and delivers one shocking moment that exposes Hendrix's true nature and his attitude to Kathy.

It's this touch that really shakes Jimi: All Is By My Side and it's a calculated move by Ridley to ensure it has maximum effect as Hendrix's lack of self-belief and potentially drug infused paranoia boils over. Ridley chooses to use the women to help place focus on Hendrix, while Benjamin's musical prowess ensures that the talent isn't wasted on the screen.

However, his relationship with Keith simply dramatically fizzles out in a purple haze of jealousy and fades off the screen. It's a touch which proves divisive in the narrative as it feels unfinished and unformed. Unlike Hayley Atwell's Kathy, whose arc is horrifically complete and thematically satisfying in the worst possible way.

Really though, these two are the only two relationships which are fully explored; with band matters and management sidelined in favour of the talent shining through. Perhaps the closest Ridley gets to shining some kind of light on Hendrix is in a phone conversation with his father that's split with shots and photographs of their lives and gives a bit more insight into their fractured relationship.

Ridley's done the best he can with a film that was blocked by the Hendrix estate, but thanks to the performance of Benjamin this one year biopic snapshot just borders on successful; the music is electrifying, even if some of the human element is a little more downbeat in terms of tempo.