10 new New Zealand International Film Festival flicks unveiled

10 new New Zealand International Film Festival flicks unveiled

The New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) today announced 10 international films that will screen in the World Strand of the programme with the support of returning sponsor 2degrees.

World Strand films are selected throughout the year by NZIFF’s programmers. The 10 films announced today range from Irish comedy A Date for Mad Mary, Inuit drama Maliglutit (Searchers), French drama The Midwife, to Sofia Coppola’s US drama The Beguiled, direct from Cannes and starring Nicole Kidman.

“21 countries are represented in the largest section in the catalogue. France, the UK and the US are strong as always, but Catalan cinema has delivered one of the year’s unexpected gems in Summer 1993. Our selections always pays close attention to films lavished with praise or box office success from their countries of origin, as well as films that premiered at Cannes only four weeks ago,” says NZIFF Director Bill Gosden.

The 10 films announced from the World Strand of the programme:

The Beguiled

Colin Farrell plays a wounded Civil War mercenary under the care of a commune of young women, led by Nicole Kidman, in Sofia Coppola’s beautiful feminist take on Don Siegel’s 1971 Southern Gothic psychodrama.

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2017/film/the-beguiled/

A Date for Mad Mary

Sent only a single invitation, dry, sarcastic, maddening Mary (marvellous Seána Kerslake) sets out to find a date for her best friend’s wedding in this barbed and funny Irish romcom.

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2017/film/a-date-for-mad-mary/

Ethel & Ernest

This animated adaptation of Raymond Briggs’ graphic memoir of his parents’ lives is both humble and profound, with gorgeous renderings of Briggs’ justly famous lines. Featuring the voices of Jim Broadbent and Brenda Blethyn.

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2017/film/ethel-ernest/

A Fantastic Woman

Rising Chilean director Sebastián Lelio (Gloria) celebrates the endurance of a woman under suspicion of murder in a film that heralds a stellar debut for transgender actress Daniela Vega.

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2017/film/a-fantastic-woman/

Frantz

This elegantly mounted drama explores regeneration in the aftermath of World War I through the complex relationship of a young German woman (Anna Beer) and a French soldier (Pierre Niney) brought together by shared loss.

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2017/film/frantz/

Maliglutit (Searchers)

Inuk filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk (Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner) returns with this Arctic epic about a vengeful husband who sets off in pursuit of the violent men who kidnapped his wife and destroyed his home.

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2017/film/maliglutit-searchers/

Maudie

Sally Hawkins delivers an unforgettable performance as Nova Scotian folk artist Maud Lewis, irrepressible despite arthritis and a churlish husband (Ethan Hawke), in this gently flowing biopic set in the 1930s.

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2017/film/maudie/

The Midwife

Catherine Frot stars as a conscientious midwife reluctantly reconnecting with Catherine Deneuve as the flamboyant step-mother who absconded 30 years earlier, in this lively drama from writer/director Martin Provost (Séraphine).

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2017/film/the-midwife/

The Party

“This sketch of an ambitious Westminster politician and dinner-party hostess (Kristin Scott Thomas), whose life comes spectacularly apart before the canapés are even served, is a consummate drawing-room divertissement, played with relish by a dream ensemble.” — Guy Lodge, Variety

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2017/film/the-party/

Summer 1993

Catalan director Carla Simón’s award-winning dramatisation of her own experience as a six-year-old orphan adjusting to a new life in the country features the most remarkable and mesmerising child performances in years.

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2017/film/summer-1993/

The full NZIFF programme will be available online from Monday 26 June 7pm, and on the streets from Tuesday 27 June for Auckland and Friday 30 June for Wellington. NZIFF starts in Auckland on 20 July and in Wellington from 28 July in 2017.

Special events in Auckland, including Top of the Lake: China Girl and the Live Cinema performance of It with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, are on sale now from Ticketmaster.

WipeOut: Omega Collection: PS4 Review

WipeOut: Omega Collection: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4

Released in 1995 and one of the defining titles of PlayStation's early era, WipeOut's futuristic racing and dance hall beats were utterly iconic.

Cruising around tracks, floating above the ground, and racing breakneck against other contenders (or thanks to the early use of split-screen against friends), the anti-grav racing game was nothing short of a major win for the console.

So, the Omega collection, complete with its polished look, pulls together the three different iterations of WipeOut (HD, 2048 and Fury) into one classy package that reminds you why it was so defining.

Smooth graphics and a polished look for the ships as well as the tracks means that the game looks like a new release rather than a simple remaster - and with 26 circuits, 49 ships and 9 modes, there's certainly no shortage of possibilities for entertainment here.

Gameplay wise, WipeOut is as punishing as it always was.

This is a game that relies on skill and wits as well as knowledge of where to pick the power ups and hit the speed-ramps during tracks to win. It's not a game that you can win on a whim and luck certainly doesn't play into WipeOut's MO. In fact, in its early stages before you unlock the better ships with XP and with progression, it's nothing short of utterly frustrating as you lose in the last second or fail to qualify as you don't have enough ship power to get you where you need to go.

IF the controls are slightly opposed to stopping you from getting crab hands (the X button is used for speed, rather than the easily more intuitive R2 pad on the controller), you soon get back to old habits when racing. In fact, even the controls have an element of nostalgia to them (though RSI may strike).

But along with the pulsing soundtrack from the likes of the Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy, WipeOut Omega Collection plays like it always has. AI increases the more into the game you get, and you really do need to have your wits about you to win.

The game looks good too, with the polish and deeper rendering of the tracks all coming together in a smooth mix that make for both a nostalgia blast and a recognition of what the PS4 is currently capable of. It would be great to see a new WipeOut game on the PS4, but this collection does a lot to scratch that itch, and demonstrates that when done properly and with care, a relaunch of an old title, complete with spit and polish, can be as sizzling as the latest AAA property.

My Cousin Rachel: Film Review

My Cousin Rachel: Film Review

Cast: Rachel Weisz, Sam Claflin, Iain Glen, Holliday Grainger
Director: Roger Michell

Revelling in its Gothic trappings and ambiguities till the end, the latest adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier's 1951 novel benefits greatly from the presence of Weisz as its lead.

Sam 'Hunger Games' Claflin plays the puppy dog orphan Phillip who suspects his cousin Rachel (a beguiling Weisz) poisoned his adopted father abroad. Further fuelled by notes discovered from him, Phillip is determined to bring her down when she moves to England and his estate.

But when Rachel arrives, she appears to have everyone in her thrall, and Phillip ultimately falls for her too, leading him to rash decisions about his estate...

While Phillip's actions seem indecipherable at best given how quickly he turns heel on his strength of belief, most of My Cousin Rachel works well as an evocative mystery.

That's a despite a condensed history at the start that's bundled up in expository voiceover and the rather workmanlike way the film's opening sections are unspooled.

Thankfully Weisz's powerful yet restrained take on the Black Widow / femme fatale / power play is one that keeps you intrigued and intoxicated throughout. Using her wiles but also underplaying means there's a strong degree of ambiguity throughout and coupled with Michell's close up solo shots of the character's faces, the back-and-forth of the narrative and the puzzle grows ever more compelling as the film goes on.

Claflin plays the innocent boy-coming-of-age to a tee, though his naivete and character's flip-flop attitude are perhaps the film's down points given how rapidly he folds. He gives good wounded puppy too in certain points and it's hard not to side with him for large portions of the film; though perhaps this is My Cousin Rachel's strength.

Underneath the period detail, the sweeping countryside shots, a stoic Iain Glen as executor of the estate and beneath the maudlin melancholia of how the jealousy and suspicion tale plays out, there's a lot that actually sucks you in to its rich trappings. The mystery is well sustained and even the ending plays fast and loose with expectations of this take on female sexuality and coming-of-age.

A lo-key prestige picture it may be, but thanks in large to Weisz's controlled turn as Rachel, My Cousin Rachel is beguiling cinema at its absolute best. While you may find the main reason for Phillip's headlong change of attitude utterly bewildering, thanks to both Claflin and Weisz, this subtle psychological tale is as timeless as they come.

Gary of the Pacific: DVD Review

Gary of the Pacific: DVD Review

Cast: Josh Thomson, Megan Stevenson, Matt Whelan, Dave Fane, Taofi Mose-Tuiloma
Director: Jarrod Holt, Ryan Hutchings

Gary Of the Pacific is rarely better than its opening audacious moments, where a stranded dolphin, a Pacific island beach and a subversive gag make for a shocking - albeit blackly comedic and bravura - opening.

However, the new comedy from the authors of the phenomenally popular 7 Days and the cult audience-led TV comedy Hounds, the downlow project, somehow manages to squander a large portion of the promise it proffered up for the rest of its duration.

Timaru's greatest export, Josh Thompson, plays the titular Gary, a veritable schlubby loser of a guy, who, in his younger years, was dispatched from his Pacific island by his family to go to university overseas in New Zealand and bring accolades and honour to those who'd patronized him.

With the weight of belief on his shoulders from his family and the island as a whole, Gary somehow manages to dodge expectations and ends up taking a series of dead-end jobs that propel him to no glory whatsoever.Ending up as the chief seller at an estate agent's where the employees number both himself and his clearly-not-right-for-him girlfriend Chloe (Megan Stevenson whose American shrill simply wants a Princess Di or Monica from Friends style wedding), Gary's delusions of grandeur stretch as far as believing he will take the top award at a real estate do, held at a local curry house.

With a marriage proposal gone awry, and with debt threatening to drown him, Gary is called back to his homeland in the Pacific after the news his father and the island's chief (Laughing Samoan star Dave Fane) is dying. Reluctantly, Gary returns home, the prodigal son with promise unfulfilled, but finds that his father's bestowed the honour of chief upon him on his death.

Can Gary do what's necessary to save his sinking homeland, his failing relationship and himself?

With a weak script and not enough gags to fill the relatively short run time, Gary Of The Pacific struggles by, garnering only enough good-will, in parts, because of its lead, Josh Thomson.

Whether it's baring his saggy backside within moments or gamely sorting his junk into the most uncomfortable pair of Spanx you've ever seen, Thomson's low-key wit and deadpan and desperate delivery helps keep large swathes of Gary of the Pacific afloat, but it's slim pickings, thanks to a weakly written script, populated largely by characters who are relatively unlikeable and who remain so from start to finish.

Much like Sione's Wedding and its wretched sequel, a lot's centred on both the family angle within the Pacific community, but simply put, Gary of the Pacific does little to build on this premise.
Chief offender is Dave Fane's father figure who appears ghost-like to Gary after his demise. But rather than offering sage advice, or helping Gary along the way on his journey, Fane's father exists to simply guffaw, laugh and cackle at his charge, a move that soon becomes irritating.

Go Girls star Matt Whelan is a weak fiancee, and foil to the relatively human Lani (first timer Taofi Mose-Tuiloma). Gary's wearied sister who's ended up at home, tending to an ill father and who's become a surrogate to the sinking isle's community.

Hers is perhaps the role that feels that most under-written though, with tensions between Gary and herself manifesting purely as sibling squabbles. There was a strong vein of comedy and emotional resonance to be mined here, but what's actually happened is the writers have gone for the lowest level and stayed there, not realising that the sibling rivalry would have yielded its best results.

Much like Stallone Vaiaoga-Ioasa's Three Wise Cousins achieved massively last year, the film's got the potential to resonate with its audience but it does nothing to boost its chances in the ways the prestige of those involved would hint at.

Despite Thomson's amiability and inherent desire to debase himself as the butt of the jokes wherever possible, all in all, Gary Of The Pacific is woefully inadequate; just relying on lazyish characters, poor writing and lacklustre attempts at laughs aren't nearly enough to get it through to the finish line.

It's a downright shame, to be frank, that this script wasn't even tightened up before the cameras began rolling, as banking on a few sight gags, odd one-liners here and there and under-playing the familial elements just isn't enough to do anyone in this the justice they and their talents clearly deserve.

This Beautiful Fantastic: Film Review

This Beautiful Fantastic: Film Review

Cast: Tom Wilkinson, Jessica Brown Findlay, Andrew Scott, Jeremy Irvine
Director: Simon Aboud

Inhabiting a world where quirky abounds, fable This Beautiful Fantastic sets out its stall within its opening moments of voice-over.

Wearied and cynically scathing, Tom Wilkinson's character Alfie Stephenson decries his relationship with Bella Brown by explaining that "she would have perished, where it not for the ducks."

What follows is the kind of romantically saccharine but harmless fare destined to do well with an audience of a certain kind as the story of OCD Bella Brown (Downton Abbey's Lady Sybil Crawley aka Brown Findlay) unfurls.

Reclusive orphan Bella, who works at the local library and is bullied by the boss, finds her world is changed when her neighbour, the curmudgeon Alfie (wonderfully portrayed by Wilkinson) enters her life.

Whereas Alfie keeps a tidy garden, Bella fears the outside and has let hers run riot (the kind of terrifying NIMBYism so prevalent in the suburbs of Britain), much to his chagrin. Things are further exacerbated when Bella's landlord shows up, demanding she clean up or be thrown out. And to make matters worse, Alfie's cook (the ever-reliable Sherlock star Andrew Scott) decides enough is enough and decamps to the neighbour rather than enduring Alfie's bullying.

Negotiating a truce, the pair decide to help each other to their own mutual advantage with the landlord's deadline ticking ever closer.

This Beautiful Fantastic is a fable, wrapped in the trappings of a pantomime.

From the beautiful orphan princess to the ogre whose kind heart lies beneath a snarky veneer, it plays up the eccentricities of the characters to a level that's almost intolerable as it moves from narrative pillar to post.

Brown Findlay's initial OCD is sidelined and relatively forgotten as the story goes on, drowned in those around her's idiosyncracies. But she keeps a grounded approach to the story that revels in whimsy and a kind of English prissiness that is as pervasive as a weed in a suburban London garden.
There's great joy in Wilkinson's delivery of snide bon mots and cast-off comments; the curmudgeon suits him early on, before the inevitable thaw sets in. From complaining about the "horticultural terrorist" to the "unmitigated eco apocalypse" that's likely to befall him, surly suits the earlier oddities that threaten to drown the film's atmosphere.

There's a strong case to be had that Wilkinson's a veritable live action remake of the Victor Meldrew character in this, a Britain so irritated by the unimportant that it consumes him, though wisely writer and director Aboud never really imbues him with an edge of meanness.

And once again Scott makes an argument for why every character piece should have him involved; making the acting look easy and giving the whole thing a warmth and heart that grounds the fantastical elements prove to be a great boon here.

The whole atmosphere of the ever-so slightly charming This Beautiful Fantastic is one of fluff in many ways, as the classic misunderstandings present in the narrative in the expected places and the sitcom vibe ticks off the tropes.

And yet in among the sweetness of this piece as it moves in a ramshackle fashion towards its entirely predictable denouement, it's hard to deny its watchability, given it's bathed in such a warmth that it feels like a cloud, a kind of dreamy wish fulfillment in many ways.

A Street Cat Named Bob: DVD Review

A Street Cat Named Bob: DVD Review

Cast: Luke Treadaway, Ruta Gedmintas, Joanne Froggatt
Director: Roger Spottiswoode

It's perhaps no surprise that A Street Cat Named Bob goes for audience pleasing broad brush strokes in its tale (or should that be tail) of a struggling wannabe reformed drug addict who befriends a lonely ginger pussy.

"You're a human interest story" intones a reporter in the latter stages of this less-than-purrfect yarn.

And it's a spot-on analysis of why some audience members will find this relative kryptonite.

While the redemption story of homeless James Bowen (played with twitchy about to fail edginess by Luke Treadaway) is at times as entirely predictable as you'd expect, it suffers from an episodic choppy feel as the earnest story plays out.

Given a second /last chance by Downton Abbey's Joanne Froggatt social worker, James is never far from slipping back into old ways due to catastrophic coincidences and bad luck (something Spottsiwoode's film actually gets painfully right.)
But when the ginger Tom shows up in assisted home without warning, a bond is formed between the two.
And the bond is further cemented when James starts busking with Bob on his shoulders, bringing him an income he'd never expected and a fame he never sought.

However, as James tries to sort his life out, demons start to emerge and threaten his road to reconciliation and redemption...

A Street Cat Named Bob is exactly what you'd expect from a family film adaptation of Bowen's successful novel of life on the streets.

However, it's because of that, that this film never quite hits a tonal consistency throughout.

Despite the film starting off fairly gritty in its portrayal of the faceless homeless masses being treated badly on London's streets, the film quickly goes for saccharine to counter some of the darkness that threatens to enter the screen.
And even later on, the film's keen to embrace a degree of Trainspotting bleakness as James goes through withdrawal alone in his flat.

But, it's almost as if the film's too scared to take the movie to a darker place - granted, its simplicity and the occasionally overt naivete of the narrative mean it has to stay under a certain level to ensure a wider audience, but Spottiswoode is ham-strung by a story that feels like Homeless 101 sanitised for the middle-class liberal masses who don't want to feel guilty in the dark of the matinee.

Far more successful is when the film concentrates on its bond between feline and master, sending James into the category of quirky that gets so embraced by the English masses. While a lot of the bonding is simply kept to endless cutaways of the reaction of Bob to something that's said, any cat owner who's felt their charge is talking to them will recognise and empathise with every moment.And while Spottiswoode initially employs a cats-eye-point-of-view for Bob's take on the world, this directorial trick soon begins to grate.

A Street Cat Named Bob may be earnest in its intentions and true to its author's tome, but it's hampered by some weaker acting from those involved.

Chiefly, Ruta Gedmintas's Betty, a hippy-dippy neighbour who wafts through life with a flighty approach, even with her well-meaning interactions with both James and Bob.

It's very easy to be cynical about a feel-good film such as this - as mentioned, it wears its heart on its sleeve, and clearly those involved want to ensure there's a sanitised approach and presentation to the homeless and darker elements of the story.

But it's not ultimately beneficial and while what transpires on screen is less than cat-astrophic and more feel-good, it certainly doesn't give paws for thought, thanks to the darker edges that could provided a stronger narrative being held at bay and ultimately leaving you with a more muted catharsis than should be expected.

Win a copy of T2: Trainspotting

Win a copy of T2: Trainspotting

Release Date: June 7 (Digital, UHD, Blu-Ray & DVD)

First there was an opportunity - then there was a betrayal. 

Twenty years have gone by. 

Much has changed but just as much remains the same. 

Mark Renton returns to the only place he can ever call home. 

They are waiting for him: Spud, Sick Boy, and Begbie. Other old friends are waiting too: sorrow, loss, joy, vengeance, hatred, friendship, love, longing, fear, regret, diamorphine, self-destruction and mortal danger, they are all lined up to welcome him, ready to join the dance.

INDIE LONDON (UK): ★★★★ “Choose T2 because it's that rare sequel that works just as well -- and maybe sometimes better -- than the first.”

SKY MOVIES (UK): ★★★★ “Fitting, entertaining, and true to itself, T2 does what all good sequels should: making a pleasure of other people's leisure.”

To win a copy all you have to do is enter simply email your details to this  address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com or CLICK HERE NOW!

Include your name and address and title your email T2!
Competition closes June 29th
Good luck!