6 Days: NZIFF Review

6 Days: NZIFF Review

"Aggression's good, but control's the key"

It's a line uttered to an SAS trooper getting ready to storm the Iranian Embassy, but it could equally be applied to New Zealand director Toa Fraser's new thriller, 6 Days, the second offering of his at the New Zealand International Film Festival.

Billed by producer Matthew Metcalfe as our take on a world event, Dead Lands director Toa Fraser delivers an assured and steady re-telling of the events of the Iranian Embassy siege in London in 1980.

For those unfamiliar with the events, (most likely many outside of England itself, where it was a defining televisual and news moment), six Iranians stormed the Embassy, barricading themselves in and took 26 people hostage.

In the ensuing six days of the siege, police, negotiators and camera crews followed the tension and tried to resolve the situation, set as it was against a backdrop of increasing terrorist threats and governments caving to various demands.

Toa Fraser's calm and steady portrayal of the build up to the inevitable break down of negotiations and subsequent storming of the building proves to be relatively fuss-free.

It begins with the six casually walking in and taking over - there's no discussion of who they are, what their backgrounds are etc, it's simply a case of the execution of a job being done.

Equally, Fraser and script writer Glenn Standring's fuss-free approach to re-telling it all means this really does stick to the facts and quite simply gets on with the job. By powering through the days, taking in differing perspectives from the SAS training and running through scenarios, to the pomposity of Cabinet ministers coolly debating what needs to happen, 6 Days isn't really interested in providing either a glorified take on things or a gung-ho guns blazing approach to it all.

Using a stalwart Mark Strong as the hostage negotiator proves to be Fraser's winning moment, as Max Vernon's fragility and desperation to solve it all are clearly etched on his face. Abbie Cornish delivers a clipped English approach to the veteran BBC correspondent Kate Adie, and Jamie Bell brings a workmanlike pace to Rusty the SAS squad head honcho.

By stripping the film back and cutting off the soundtrack to showcase the sounds of the situation, Fraser brings a tension to bear throughout that's palpable, if not riveting. Characters are given the briefest of once overs, and end up feeling like cut-outs in context (though anything more than the slightest edges would have given this almost documentary-like pace an unnecessary edge).

With a smattering of humour and some nice touches (such as the SAS all geared up and bathed in green light as they ready themselves repeatedly), 6 Days is a solid film which delivers a solid recounting of events.

It may rightfully lack some of the edges of the usual of its fare, but that's a good thing here and if anything, the devil's in the detail, from the period trimmings to the atmosphere of the Sword of Damocles hanging over them all. By choosing not to morally apply judgements to all those involved, Fraser's multi-faceted approach to Standring's sensible script makes 6 Days a solid film that's worthy of showcasing his versatility as a director.

Waru: NZIFF Review

Waru: NZIFF Review

Eight independently told stories over one 10 minute period, linked by one single tragedy, but not so highly strung together it feels stretched.

That's the premise of the Maori female director-led Waru in an attempt to both stimulate discussion on child abuse and other Maori issues.

At the centre of it all is Waru, a boy killed in circumstances fully unknown, yet depressingly familiar, and whose opening words over a black screen "When I died, I saw the whole world" hint at the heartbreak of tragedy rippling through a community stricken by various forms of grief and guilt.

From there, the 8 female directors take on varying stories; from an aunty setting up the kitchen at the tangi, to a school teacher at a local kindy where Waru was and ending with 2 sisters on the road, the film's poignancy is evident in its subtlety and its execution.

Each vignette, grounded in a reality that's all too depressingly common, has a different director and story thread, but they're all intertwined with the common theme - and all bar one, they're more than successful at delivering what needs to be said having gone their own path and eschewed the usual trope of seeing the same story from different sides. Using singular shots and swirling around the locations, Waru's team of helmers make great fist of both time constraints and revealing a complete story.

While the great majority of the film works on its subtleties and imbues its subject with the gravitas that's needed and adds in some typically Maori humour, it's sad to note that the ever-so-slightly over-the-top section on the media handling of the case feels like the only section which is slightly fudged. It's the only story that slightly betrays the tone and feels like its extremist approach, while with valid points to raise, could have done it more with a shade less vitriol.

Elsewhere, the story involving two grandmothers, a marae and a challenge for Waru's body is utterly emotionally devastating, a powerful calling card over what a short story can deliver when helmed and written with utter precision. It's an electrifying commitment to culture, clashes of guilt and apportion of blame and self-examination in the light of tragedy, and in many ways, it feels uniquely New Zealand.

Having led us through the darker edges, the final short, with Miriama McDowell, proffers up a degree of frustrated hope and Waru concludes with much discussion to be had. Granted, there are a few moments when there's a bit of lecturing that's aimed at the characters (and by extension, us) throughout, but Waru's greatest strength lies in its subtlety of execution - its portmanteau approach makes this collection of thematically similar shorts both a damnation of societal ills and a template for discussion for change.

Happy End: NZIFF Review

Happy End: NZIFF Review

Michael Haneke returns to the festival circuit with something purporting to be lighter fare than his usual, but still with some of his usual concerns.

Centring on a construction dynasty and their gradual unravelling, a truly stellar cast taking on various roles as the Laurent family.

When the company's rocked by the ground giving way at a venue (an allegory much to be applied to the family itself), the various pressures on the Laurent clan become apparent. Combined with a suicide attempt from a family member and a patriarch determined to go on his terms, there's a lot to deal with for them all...

Happy End may be a comedy, but it seems to have forgone the laughs for something a little bleaker.

It's really only in its last 10 minutes that the humour seems to come to the fore and the film adds a few lighter touches. Described as a satire on bourgeois values, Happy End is a little lacking and frankly, in places, a touch dull as things happen off screen which are supposed to be of emotional consequence and leave you frustrated at what to cling on to.

With swathes of time devoted to a chatroom conversation in its full pixel glory, there are times when Happy End can sorely try your patience.

Where it not for Isabelle Huppert's calm composure, Toby Jones' presence and a searing turn from a young newcomer Fantine Harduin as a child entered into the dynasty, this would be sorely close to walk-out territory.

Haneke may be playing with some familiar themes of suicide and euthanasia, and there are some moments blessed by a scion of precision dialogue, but Happy End's wide varying eye means that it rarely feels like it settles on one subject for long enough for you to emotionally engage with.

Good Time: NZIFF Review

Good Time: NZIFF Review

Wearing its Euro-scuzziness like a badge of honour, Josh and Benny Safdie's Good Time is a nervy thriller that has a pounding first half, before slightly going off the boil.

In many ways, its ethos is the Dardenne Brothers via Luc Besson.

Robert Pattinson stars as Connie, who, at the start of the film, breaks his mentally handicapped brother Nick (Benny Safdie) out of facility to help him rob a bank. However, unsurprisingly, this goes south, and Nick ends up being arrested.

With Connie on the run and desperate to assuage some guilt over the incarceration, the clock ticks as he tries to do what he can to restore his brother's freedom.

There's absolutely no doubt the first half of this film, complete with its scummy outlook and its pounding Euro techno beat OST from Oneohtrix Point Never, is utterly thrilling, edge-of-your-seat stuff. Dragging out the pre-titles over a 20 minute period works well for the guerilla film-making ethos of the Safdie brothers, and it gives a pace to the film that's compulsive and nerve-shredding.

Setting on the streets gives it a vibe of the grubby and guarantees that those watching will be hooked, but the film comes slightly unstuck in its second half when Connie's forced into partnership with someone else, due to narrative constraints. It ultimately leads to a series of escapades, and despite the great settings (the streets at night, a fairground complete with Barkhad Abdi as a security guard), the frenetic pace disappointingly slows as it becomes a little more of a psychological insight into Connie and his family.

Pattinson is watchable throughout, imbuing his Connie with a sense of the desperate, yet a sense of being in control. With continual close ups, the Safdies bring a sense of the claustrophobic and the tense, draping everything in Euro neons and reds helps matters a lot too, and helps build atmosphere.

There are moments when the visceral edges help to really reach its potential as this gutter thriller plays out, but the film's desire to build up characters then dispose of them for narrative reasons make it hard to latch on to anything. And while Connie's still the centre of it all, and it's his odyssey, the time spent with others feels wasted.

All in all, Good Time is simply that. Nothing more, nothing less - it's a solid experience which feels like two films stylistically meshed into one pulsing lump that, like any sugar rush, lasts while you're in it, but feels like a comedown at the end.

God's Own Country: NZIFF Review

God's Own Country: NZIFF Review

Director Francis Lee's intimate and engrossing God's Own Country may have moments of Brokeback Mountain to draw comparison to, but it's actually a great deal more emotional than that.

Set on a remote farm in the Yorkshire Dales, it's the tale of John (Josh O'Connor), a man who's angry at his lot in life, angry at his father (played with wonderful subtlety by a low key Ian Hart), angry at being stuck in a small village and angry that he can't be who he wants.

Out drunk every night, yet still having to come back to his chores on the farm, the self-destructive John is further enraged at the arrival of a farm-hand Gheorghe (Alec Secareanu), whose arrival is necessitated by the failing health of his father.

Forced onto the mountain to cope with lambing season, the antagonism grows until it boils over into something burgeoning...

Unlike the aforementioned Ang Lee film, God's Own Country is a sensitively-portrayed reward in patience, delivering a film that's rich in resonance and is a masterclass in subtlety.

From the stunning misty vistas to the genuinely oppressive feel of the farm and the veritable cold nipping at your bones from off the screen, Lee's languid camera and pacing brings to bear a story that's intensely moving and ultimately uplifting.

But that's not say the road to pastoral burgeoning romance is paved with gold.

And it's equally not to say that Lee takes an easy route to tell the tale, but he wisely chooses to avoid tension and cliche for drama's sake and . Using a precision of shots, and perhaps a sparsity of language, as well as not resorting to dramatic tropes greatly lifts God's Own Country into a film which aches as it unspools.

Both O'Connor and Secareanu bring great depth to the relationships, their own pasts and make the whole thing feel real. Equally, John's parents, played wonderfully by Hart and Gemma Jones shine with the less-is-more approach. Jones in particular has a wonderful moment involving tears and ironing that says more than any dialogue could; and for such a combatant relationship, Hart imbues the father with both a sense of family and responsibility that makes it hard to vilify any of his behaviour.

Bathed in bucolic frustrations, as well as acknowledgement of the hardship of farming and its mental toll, God's Own Country's tenderness and honesty is evident throughout.

From Lee's shots of the land and the verite of the harshness of rearing life in the country, to the dialogue that says so much with so little, this is a film of such innate emotional fragility and beauty that it will leave you aching and also alive from beginning to end.

Hounds of Love: NZIFF Review

Hounds of Love: NZIFF Review

An edge-of-your-seat white knuckle ride chock-full of dread, Hounds of Love is a kidnap abduction tale that stretches the tension out as far as it can go, and still manages to leave you feeling like you're still on a rack.

A tale of stubbies and psychos, but with a great deal more complexity than perhaps you'd be expecting from a genre thriller like this, Hounds of Love is set in the suburbs of Perth in December 1987.

Against a backdrop of a spate of missing girls, Ashleigh Cummings' Vicki, a sulky teen whose parents have just split up and who's resentful of the 2 days she has to spend with her mother, who lives in a rough neighbourhood. Sneaking out one night to go to a party, and with no cries of Stranger Danger echoing in her ears, Vicki accepts a lift from a seemingly normal couple, John and Evelyn (Stephen Curry and a terrific Emma Booth).

However, when she's drugged, she wakes up chained to a bed, with no idea of what's ahead, other than at Christmas, it can't be good....

Hounds of Love is an excellently uneasy film that marks a soaring debut from Ben Young.

Billed as the Wolf Creek equivalent of suburbia, what Young's managed to do here is to create an utter atmosphere redolent in unease and beige-filled discomfort.

But more than you average horror, what's been brought to the table with Hounds of Love is a case of a subtle amount of complexities in the characters of both Evelyn and Vicki. While Curry's work as John can't be underplayed thanks to the menace he positively exudes throughout, the greater lion's share of the writing's been thrown into little moments of Evelyn and Vicki's characters, imbuing both with a sense of tragedy, pathos and a degree of empathy.

Essentially, Hounds of Love may be a story of a kidnap, but in Evelyn, it's actually the story of two victims and two kidnaps. It's this subtlety that makes the film such a damn strong roller-coaster ride of beige and brutality, and Young is clearly blazing a trail here with a deliberately slow eye and smart use of tension. Like Don't Breathe did, Young makes great fist of the house setting, and promotes claustrophobia and horror with implied violence rather than implicit, a key factor on what sets Hounds of Love apart.

Suspenseful, thrilling, worthy of hiding behind a sofa, yet blessed with edges that make it a little smarter than the usual genre fare, Hounds of Love is a stylish suburban nightmare you won't want to wake from.

Dealt: NZIFF Review

Dealt: NZIFF Review

Richard Turner may not be a name known to many outside of those entranced by the magic circle.

But director Luke Korem's genial documentary may change a little of that perception as it attempts to chronicle what makes the close-up card genius tick in this slickly polished piece.

Known for his incredible feats of card tricks and sleight of hand, Turner's been dealt a different hand in life, and it's one that this doco documents his struggle to acknowledge. Turner began to go blind when he was young, when a series of circles took over his eyesight. But, you wouldn't know this was the case given how he manages to convince fans of his card-based prowess.

Korem convinces us of Turner's obsession in the opening shots alone. Doing sit ups and exercising, the camera pulls back to reveal that Turner has in his hands a deck of cards that he's constantly splitting, shuffling and fiddling with. It's his crutch in many ways, and the backstory reveal of how he became so interested in cards and why is intriguing and interesting stuff.

But even with talking heads extolling the virtues of the magic man's ways, there are more interesting elements to engage with as Turner reveals a disquieting stubbornness and almost petulant refusal to accept his blindness and be defined by it. Korem's smart enough to let this engaging man explain why (and you can understand why no-one wants to be defined by what they're not) but things get more engaging when you find out his sister is also blind, and has diametrically opposed views to Turner about the best ways to cope.

What Korem couldn't know when he started the documentary is the journey that Turner would take and it's here that the film shapes itself as a more rounded piece that's aimed squarely at pleasing the crowd. That in itself is no bad thing, and Korem imbues it all with moments of humour that cut through.

It helps that Turner himself is an engaging enough subject to behold, a man whose obsession is understandable and a man whose desire to pass that on is frustratingly blinkered to the desires potentially of others.

Make no mistake, Dealt is no tale of hubris, more of gradual acceptance and a rekindling of life within. It's because of this that the genial Dealt proves to be a pleasant and smartly constructed ride, that doesn't rely on cheap tricks to provide a deeper narrative and that may emerge inspiring others.

The Big Sick: Film Review

The Big Sick: Film Review

Cast: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Ray Romano, Holly Hunter
Director: Michael Showalter

With a strong footing in truth, The Big Sick's rom-com cum cultural clash love story has rightly sent the genre back into fresher territory.

Silicon Valley's Dinesh aka Kumail Nanjiani stars as a version of himself in a story ripped from his own life.

Wannabe stand-up Kumail is working in a club one night, when he's heckled by Zoe Kazan's Emily. Intrigued, Kumail ends up striking a relationship with her after the show. Despite trying out an awful chat-up  line with Emily, the pair connect and end up in an easy relationship.

However, what Emily doesn't know is that Kumail's Pakistani family is trying to set him up with other women in an arranged marriage, via a series of dates which happen at family meals. (In one of the more excruciating touches, the women his parents have selected for him just happen to drop by during meal-times for an appointment.)

When this revelation hits the pair, Emily splits from Kumail, leaving him devastated. But things get worse when he gets a call to say Emily's seriously sick in hospital...

In many ways, The Big Sick is your typical romantic comedy.

Boy meets girl, boy falls for girl and problems and obstacles persist in the course of true love. So far, so tried and tested formula.

However, what The Big Sick brings to the table is a large degree of freshness, some genuinely funny moments and some sweet insights into the cultural clashes which are, of course, inevitable.

And really, at its heart, this is not a film that defies convention.

In fact, the only defiance is Kumail's insistence on going against his family wishes and avoiding spending time praying in the basement, choosing instead to play games on his phone, until his allotted time has passed.

Yet, being grounded in so much truth and veritas, (unsurprising as it's ripped from Kumail Nanjiani and Emily's real life romance), what The Big Sick manages to do is breathe some life into a genre that's been stale for a while and subverts expectations of those going into it.

Nanjiani brings his usual deadpan flair to the delivery, but thanks to a cleverly written script that fizzes with life and reality, there are some truly amusing moments. Mainly due to the ease of banter between the two and a slight subversion of the usual gags you'd expect about cultural stereotypes.

From a great gag over Kumail's Uber-career to the genuine warmth these two share, there are very much the signs that The Big Sick is keen to inject some humour where it's never been before.

It's not entirely perfect though.

At just a shade over 2 hours, there could have been some excising on the script front (a slew of comedy bar scenes seem a little unnecessary) to ensure the perfect mix, but it's a minor complaint.

The other interesting angle The Big Sick brings is that at its heart, it's a two-pronged relationship comedy.

Not only does Emily and Kumail's relationship take up the time on screen, but there's also a large amount of the film which is devoted to Kumail's relationship with his potential in-laws, played by a terrier-like Holly Hunter and an easy-going career best Ray Romano. There is also the battle between Kumail's family and their desire to do right by tradition and his desire to break away from that. (Interestingly, the final resolution doesn't quite provide all the answers and really does feel like there are more questions than answers.)

As Emily's parents battle their wariness and try to protect their daughter from the indirect charm offensive launched by an awkwardly bashful Kumail, what also emerges is profoundly sweet and utterly charismatic despite its inevitable outcome.

There's a great deal of earnest charm about The Big Sick and it's difficult to be profoundly cynical against its intentions. But in crafting a rom-com that's genuine and earnest, The Big Sick succeeds in being a genre best and ensures the entirely over-stuffed category is given a new lease of life.

Wind River: NZIFF Review

Wind River: NZIFF Review

After astounding with scripts for Sicario and the much appreciated Hell or High Water, Taylor Sheridan slips into the directing chair for the helming of his own script for Wind River.

Centring on an Indian Reservation where the bloodied body of a raped woman is found 6 miles from anywhere and in the middle of the frozen wastes of Wyoming, Wind River follows the investigation into the crime.

With a rookie FBI agent Jane Banner (Elisabeth Olsen) called in from Vegas, and a US fish and wildlife marksman Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner) deputised into help, the case finds the intricacies of Native American problems and guilt from the past all intertwined...

Inspired by actual events, Wind River has some truly astonishing visuals in among the white-outs of the snow.
From Lambert's snowmobile making its way through the wastelands like an insignificant speck to blood on the ice, Sheridan's eye for scale and shocking is clearly evident.

It's essentially a tale of the evil men do and at times, Olsen's vulnerable agent is clearly out of her depth. Thrown into a case in an area she's ill-equipped for (from experience and even down to clothes), she barely gathers speed as the agent in charge, deferring to Lambert's prior skills. It's perhaps here that Sheridan's script revels more in the intricacies of the gender politics and the gender divide that's clearly at play elsewhere in the film, but it does occasionally make Olsen's character seem woefully clueless and ultimately, a bit wasted.

A little richer perhaps is Renner's Lambert, a mournful man whose mopiness masks a past tragedy. Renner makes great fist of the melancholia and feels restrained in parts as Lambert tries to fit into a community that is occasionally willing to accept him and is other times willing to cast him out. It's no surprise that he's camouflaged in the wilderness; Sheridan wastes no allusions in his script.

Underpinning all of this is a thinly veiled diatribe against treatment of Native Americans (one line asks "Why is it when you people try to help, it starts with insults") and a searing but not excoriating commentary on the social ills of such a reservation. And it's perhaps here why Sheridan's script feels lacking in power compared to the likes of Hell Or High Water that felt more precise in their barbs and more subtle in their treatment.

Wind River is unfortunately a minor disappointment from Sheridan.

Stretched out over 2 hours, the film's final reveal and treatment of its perpetrator is nothing more than the unveiling of a raving lunatic steeped in ugliness, and given the steps and themes taken through the snow-laden film to set out an icy veneer and a sliver of gender issues and native concerns, its desire to plump for the shocking yet stereotype feels like a cheap squandering of promise.

More a lilting ode than the searing story Sheridan's set out before, this icy Western does hit the spot, but Wind River never quite reaches the highs you'd expect, and despite solid work from its leads and Longmire's Graham Greene as the tribal sheriff, it's not as spectacular as you'd hope.

Win a double pass to see The Dark Tower

Win a double pass to see The Dark Tower

To celebrate the release of The Dark Tower, you could win a double pass!

About The Dark Tower

There are other worlds than these. Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, the ambitious and expansive story from one of the world’s most celebrated authors, makes its launch to the big screen.

The last Gunslinger, Roland Deschain (Idris Elba), has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O’Dim, also known as the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together.

With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in the ultimate battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black.

The Dark Tower hits cinemas August 17th

The Killing of a Sacred Deer: NZIFF Review

The Killing of a Sacred Deer: NZIFF Review

As darkly black as they come and as uncomfortable as you may expect from the director of The Lobster, Yorgos Lanthimos, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is an unmissable Film Fest experience.

In other hands this could easily have been a horror, but under Lanthimos' unswerving eye, it's his usual combination of both the weird and also the devilish, which cause you to squirm uncomfortably in your seat. As demonstrated with The Lobster and Dogtooth, Lanthimos has a way of creating a world that's self-contained and populated with a veneer that doesn't quite feel right, but feels drily plausible.

A heavily-bearded Colin Farrell plays heart surgeon Steven, whose journey begins post-surgery discussing the banality of a new watch that he needs with his colleague. As they stalk the halls of the immeasurably clinical hospital where they work, Steven talks in a staccato robotic turn of phrase, with the inane sounding incredibly offbeat, almost as if a robot synthesiser programme has followed a series of sub-routines and thrown out something that could pass for conversation.

Steven's life appears fine - he has a wife Anna (Nicole Kidman) and a daughter and son. He also has a friendship with a young boy Martin (Dunkirk star Barry Keoghan) that seems a little unusual at best.

But as the black humour and the film plays out, that relationship with Martin becomes key to proceedings as retribution, guilt and Greek tragedy begins to bite. To say more is to spoil the reveals of the film, which come gradually and powerfully as it unspools.

Lanthimos isn't interested in moralising in his latest - and it's clear that pretty much everyone has something to hide in the film, giving it a dangerous edge and a warped sense of desperation. As Martin's obsession grows, the long slow shots that Lanthimos injects into the film and the darker edges become almost unbearable, blessing proceedings with a quite horrific dread that spreads malignantly and quickly.

Many spend time remarking on Steven's hands in this film and how clean they are. It's a delicious irony that they're anything but, and with Farrell's cool veneer losing its grip the more it carries on, the film's more absurdist edges actually become more plausible and all the more horrific because of it.

If Farrell and Kidman are unswervingly staunch, it's Keoghan's malicious Martin that impresses most. With a cold, clear sense of warped logic, his path to the punishing plays out with an underplayed edge; his calmness makes everything seem that more sinister and disquieting.

Ultimately, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a bold film - it pushes some buttons excellently, but Lanthimos knows when to hold off, when to hold his nerve and when to put the audience through the wringer. Much like The Lobster set things with a bittersweet off-kilter feel, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is truly knuckle-clenching. Like a master, Lanthimos leads us to the final destination and we arrive at it, breathless and wrought with the horror of the ride. It's compellingly grim cinema at its dark unpunishable best.

A Ghost Story: NZIFF Review

A Ghost Story: NZIFF Review

Director David Lowery's A Ghost Story is a very simple story, and yet, in parts, can be equated to Terrence Malick's Voyage Of Time.

Centring on Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara's unnamed duo, the film is the story of Casey Affleck's man who is killed in a car crash near his house. Bid farewell by Mara's character at the morgue, the white sheet drawn stiffly and quickly back onto the body, Affleck's character sits starkly up and heads back home.

Still covered in the white sheet, but with two eye holes now adorning it (akin at times to looking like an elephant as the drapes hang), the ghost stays around the house, watching Mara's character, and then when she moves on, ultimately observing those who head to their former home.

Stretched on a micro-budget and with the eeriness factor high, A Ghost Story is laced with atmosphere and a mournful tone that drags into the existential. As the Ghost wanders around, the stripped back visuals are blatantly hypnotic. Essentially just a sheet, it's somewhat intriguing to note that you end up projecting your own internal expressions onto the Ghost and there are times where you almost imagine there are tears flowing under the sheet.

Granted, there's a slow lyrical touch to the rhythms of A Ghost Story, which won't be for everyone, and a long shot of Rooney Mara's character simply eating a pie that's been delivered to her bereft home may push the limits somewhat of those who feel its artful folly.

But it's in the execution of the existential, the way it plays with structure and in its pursuit of the poignancy of loss that A Ghost Story manages to thrive, and ultimately soar. As the Ghost watches the world around him, the elegaic score and the incredible use of sound help the film to transgress its.physical limitations and budgetary constraints.

There will be some who dismiss the mood piece for its ambitions, its 1:33:1 aspect ratio and on whom the subtleties will be lost, but the brooding and ponderous piece is a singular experience. Its use of time and its execution thereof make for interesting bedfellows and provide much debate after the film's gone and finished.

If anything, A Ghost Story captures the futility and inevitability of loss, the sadness of those left behind and posits that a house is not a home without those who live within. It's an incalculably beautiful film that aches as well as it plays out, and it's utterly mesmerising.

Win a double pass to The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses

Win a double pass to The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses

We’re excited that for the first time the renowned The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses will be coming to Auckland for one night only, August 14 ASB Theatre.

Jason Michael Paul Entertainment presents

The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses

August 14, ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre

The upcoming show featuring the AucklandPhilharmonia Orchestra (APO) boasts music and visuals from newly released The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, an all-new movement from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, an updated overture, and the return of a classic that might just make some wishes come true!

Led by respected Australian conductor Jessica Gethin, the two-hour concert comes to life with a full orchestra and choir, and a reimagined score that draws from requested Zelda games, includingThe Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D, while still paying homage to such classics as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The concert’s five-movement symphony regales ears with original music from Nintendo composers, including Koji Kondo, and recalling moments of Link conquering dungeons and running through forests. Throughout the evening, a video collage syncs up with the adventurous tunes to spotlight exciting moments from the venerable franchise.

Please note this prize is for a double pass to the concert only, and does not include travel.
Tickets will be collected from the box office on the night.
By entering this competition, you are aware of those conditions. Editor's decision is final

To win a double pass  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 ZELDA!

Competition closes August 8th

Good luck!

Super Dark Times: NZIFF Review

Super Dark Times: NZIFF Review

The bonds of friendship are explored in this weird hybrid of every feckless teen movie you've ever seen.

In Super Dark Times, there's a mix of 80s style bonding as a group of outsider youth hang out. Josh and Zach (Charlie Tahan and Owen Campbell) are besties and have been for years. Talking rubbish as they thumb through their high school book, watching scrambled cable porn and just riding around on their bikes, the duo has a bond that makes them inseparable.

But when the group expands by two (Charlie and Daryl), things get a little trickier and tragedy hits. Unsure of the best course of action, the group splits, but Josh and Zach find their friendship irrevocably changed in the aftermath.

As paranoia grows and guilt begins to consume them, it's clear things will never be the same again...

Increasingly paranoid, this indie version of an extreme Stand By Me brings great truck to the cinema by essentially taking the elements of youthful friendship (a shared desire for a girl, wanting the best for each other, shared experiences) and pushing them as far as they can go.

With a high powered soundtrack and a precision eye for how best to ramp up the tension, director Kevin Phillips makes the coming of age tale something a little bit different. There's a real sense of foreboding once the film becomes something a bit different early on and once the more frivolous edges are jettisoned.

Campbell gives a great performance as the increasing horror of what has happened sets in, and his withdrawal from the advances of Allison (Emily Cappuccino, the young Jessica Jones) feel very real and devastatingly heartbreaking as well. Equally Tahan's withdrawn nervy state convinces as Josh goes through what he's going through.

Stylistically with its music choices and its aurally disorienting soundtrack, Super Dark Times may make you think of a cross between Stand By Me and Donnie Darko, as it's a continuation of that high school unease that's become such a trope for films of its nature.

In many ways, Super Dark Times is a journey; one that's through both adolescence in many ways, and one which is through darker times as well. And while the end sequence seems like it comes from a little leftfield, the overall feeling of Super Dark Times is one of an unnerving experience, and a deeply unsettling ride that's made a little more palatable by the spiky unpredictable work done by the actors and the first time director.

Mountain: NZIFF Review

Mountain: NZIFF Review

A sense of the political pervades Mountain, director Jennifer Peedom's love letter to the peaks that shape so many lives

A swipe against deforestation to feed our need for exhilaration, a rallying cry for the Sherpa placed under pressure, a comment against Everest's queuing congestion that goes against the spirit of exploration and the narcissism of the thrill seekers on the mountains, half in love with themselves and half in love with oblivion.

However, it's the very slightest of touches in this film which feels more at home on a Nat Geo outing despite its truly beautiful cinematography, culled from some 2,000 hours of footage.

Peedom demonstrated her chops with the wondrous Sherpa a few festivals back, giving time to the plight of the Sherpa who put their lives at risk for little reward from the thrill seekers determined to conquer Everest no matter what.

And while this collaboration with the Australian Chamber Orchestra deserves to be seen on the big screen, it's very close to Nature Porn set to a classical music background. Faceless peaks and nameless mountains populate the screen as narrator Willem Dafoe intones what it is that draws people to the mountains, and the challenges they present in a life where we've become closeted from nature.

In the same way that Toa Fraser's The Free Man attempted to dive deeper into the psychology of the mountains at this year's festival, Mountain is similarly at pains to paint a vista of placeless peaks that draw us in, with their allure. Using words from Robert MacFarlane to help create the picture, Peedom's film really does lack a narrative edge to make it an essential experience.

That said, if the thread is underdeveloped throughout, aside from the aforementioned swipes, the cinematography is astounding, and the sense of the spectacular is palpable.

Whether it's a series of slow mo shots of skiers cascading though ice like swarming ants on the way to their nest or stunning day/ night dissolves, the big screen simply laps up the very best of Mountain's visuals, with its vertiginous shots creating a sense of scale and of terrifying emotions to those not seeking the thrill. Equally, the ACO's work is perhaps the great companion to this piece and deserves to be appreciated as loudly as possible as it juxtaposes itself nicely to some of the images on screen.

Ultimately, Mountain is a nice visual essay, but despite the snow-capped vistas and stunning peaks, as well as some archive footage, it's deeply disposable fare - it's the visual equivalent at times of elevator music. Pretty to look at, but easily forgotten.

Ethel & Ernest: NZIFF Review

Ethel & Ernest: NZIFF Review

The ordinary story of two ordinary people told in an ordinary fashion renders Roger Mainwood's animation Ethel & Ernest extraordinary.

Based on Raymond "The Snowman" Briggs' graphic novel and paean to his parents, Ethel & Ernest is the evocative and charmingly animated tale of a couple and to them, is set the backdrop of life.

Tracking through social times (the rise of Hitler, the advent of TV), but using them more as background, this is the story of two people whose lives simply carry on the business of being.

Ernest, a milkman, and Ethel, a former maid (both voiced with warmth by Jim Broadbent and Brenda Blethyn) meet, fall in love and get on with the business of life without any distractions.

Thus it is with Mainwood's film that it ends up being a salutation to the common man and woman, an ode to every grandparent who has ever lived and a thoroughly charmingly old school animated treat.

It's gentle when it needs to be and sad when it's required. Certainly the end sequence is both utterly devastating and yet entirely realistic in its portrayal of the march of life.

It's because of this that Ethel & Ernest is so compellingly charming and wrapped in warmth. It's essentially like watching the life story of your grandparents writ large. And while parts of the film feel episodic in nature and it fades to black a little too often, this novella of life can't be denied.

From its gently familiar banter and the needling of a generation that weren't troubled by millennial concerns, there's a wistfulness around this which makes it feel familiar and comforting.

At its heart, Ethel & Ernest may be a gentle social document of the times Raymond Briggs' parents lived in, but it's painted with such universality and heart that it's hard to leave the cinema at the end with a dry eye.

All Auckland Armageddon VIP Passes Sold in an Hour

All Auckland Armageddon VIP Passes Sold in an Hour 

All VIP Passes Sold in an Hour Ahead of General Ticket Sales for New Zealand’s Largest Entertainment Event

Pop culture merchandise, a star-studded guest lineup and the latest in gaming, cosplay comics and animation and film are proving to be a recipe for success for this year’s Auckland Armageddon Expo ticket sales. All VIP Passes sold out in under an hour following the MightyApe Presale Access this morning.    
                        

Anticipation for the largest event in the history of the expo is building ahead of the general ticket release tomorrow. Returning to Auckland’s ASB Showgrounds this October the 2017 event features the biggest line-up of celebrity guests the expo has ever hosted including stars from HARRY POTTER, CASTLE, DOCTOR WHO, ARROW, TEEN WOLF, THE 100, SUPERNATURAL, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and more, as well as a myriad of other activities including; Drive-
In Movie Screenings, the Brother Cosplay Contest, Zombie Alley, E-Sports competitions and wrestling among other things. The show will continue to host a massive range of exhibitors from home crafted artist alley stalls, collectibles, anime merchandise to a number of MASSIVE Gaming and entertainment areas with Disney/Marvel, PlayStation, Nintendo, MightyApe Hewlett Packard, Samsung and more!

Event organizer, William Geradts says of the anticipation, “The public response to our announcements so far have been insane, amazing but insane. I’m confident we are on track for the biggest event we have ever had bar none and to see it coming all together after 22 years of building this event from the ground up is immensely satisfying”.  General entry tickets and photograph and autograph tokens for NATHAN FILLION, JOHN BARROWMAN and TOM FELTON are on sale tomorrow from 9am at iTicket.co.nz. Photograph and autograph tokens for other event guests will be released 3 weeks prior to the event. If the success of the presale is anything to go by fans will not want to wait long to secure tickets to meet their favorite stars and experience the incredible that is #AUCKGEDDON 2017! 

Auckland Armageddon, October 20^th-23^rd, ASB Showgrounds #AUCKGEDDON

Ticketing: https://www.iticket.co.nz/go-to/armageddon-expo-2017?atc=hero_Armageddon_Expo_2017

Armageddon Expo:

From its inception in 1995, Armageddon Expo has grown to become one of the largest fantasy events in Australasia. With shows that have run in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, and introducing Tauranga in 2017, Armageddon Expo embodies the ever-growing pulp culture phenomenon.

To keep up with the guest announcements and events at Armageddon Expos go to www.armageddonexpo.com Tickets for Wellington are on sale now at www.ticketek.co.nz

Faces Places NZIFF Review

Faces Places NZIFF Review

From its animated title openings and closings, it's clear that Faces Places is something a little bit different.

Following 88 year old French film-maker Agnes Varda and young photo-muralist JR, the documentary has a light touch to begin with that's as infectious as it is entertaining.

With the idea of heading around villages and meeting people (and in the latter half of the film, heading more into Agnes' past) in a truck that prints out murals of the photos of people they meet, Faces Places becomes a document of the ordinary people and the extraordinary stories they hold within.

It starts with a series of poetic beats almost in line with Dr Seuss as the duo discuss how they did not meet, before settling on its genial road trip MO. With Varda's dual colour hair (a Beatles mop top which is all white, tinted around the edges in brown) and the beanpole JR's refusal to take off his sunglasses and hat, it's clear this is a pair for the ages - and as their working relationship and burgeoning friendship blossoms, it falls into a very watchable rhythm.

Set against a backdrop of capturing moments for the ageing and blurred-vision Varda so that "they don't fall down the holes in my memory", there's a poignancy leant to the film which is stirring to the emotions. A sort of daytime Banksy and OAP vibe seeps through and it's contagious.

But it's given a great deal more heart when it allows the celebration of ordinary people to sing out. From the sole occupant where miners used to swarm in an abandoned village to a waitress whose fame increases after she's plastered on the side of a building, it's the smaller moments which excel in this. It's a reminder of everyone being special in some kind of way and committing that to the ages.

However, in the latter parts of the film, the focus switches onto Varda.

Perhaps with JR being deferential to his subject and realising that she needs to be celebrated, he takes pictures of her eyes close up and toes, and uses those as a subject. And as Varda's visits to her past propel the greater edges of the doco, it becomes a more intimate piece that perhaps jettisons some of the joy for a more personal melancholia and acknowledgement of mortality.

Ultimately, though, its final sequence, featuring Jean-Luc Godard feels contrived and while there's no doubting Varda's emotions at this point, the set up and its resolution feels a little contrived, a kind of punchline to a story that could be seen a mile off.

Yet, that's not to detract from the wonder that Faces Places solicits throughout.

In an irony that Varda's eyesight is failing her (a tragedy on many levels), it's the vision of what's begun that shines out here. Granted, there's plenty of joy throughout, and this is a friendship that bubbles with the respect and tensions that the best friendships have.

Faces Places is a tour de France that, for the most part, excels.

Kim Dotcom: Caught In The Web: NZIFF Review

Kim Dotcom: Caught In The Web: NZIFF Review

A project some 4 years in the making, Annie Goldson's fearless telling of the Dotcom saga is a compelling watch whose 2 hour run time flies by.

For Goldson, this re-telling of it all began in 2012 when the Dotcom case began after the infamous Coatesville mansion raid - and after 4 years of interest and pursuit of her subject, she finally got her man with access granted for an interview.

Taking in the locals who were interested in who was buying the house in their region (as all good parochial concerns prevail), Goldson begins to weave her own web as she spins the story of Dotcom and his involvement in New Zealand's media landscape, and his destructive dalliance with NZ politics.

Taking in a brief look at his background from hacker to infamous security consultant after he was caught and sprinkling it with a dash of his earlier years and home violence, Goldson begins to shift the pieces of the jigsaw with relative ease and aplomb. Throwing in the media environment and the effect that music downloading (Napster et al) had on that industry, Goldson starts to give context to how Dotcom's pioneering ways and innate ability to profit and self-promote from any position proved to be his downfall.

With a wide range of talking heads - from Moby to Jonathan Taplin - and deep access to personal archives, what Goldson's achieved with Kim Dotcom: Caught In The Web is utterly fascinating and totally thrilling. While it really doesn't offer much new evidence in the case if you've been following it, what it does do is present the facts and some of the fictions with a simplicity that anyone can understand.

Equally, it seeks not to vilify Dotcom or to praise him either.

And while the presentation of his lavish lifestyle from profits made from Megaupload make it hard to sympathise with him, it's equally difficult to sympathise with NZ police forces whose raid on the mansion was as fundamentally bungled as it could be. Goldson even takes footage from the raid and presents it unadorned, leading to some serious laughs as one man struggles to vault over a gate - this is not a documentary that takes sides as it presents the facts, and given how Dotcom is a master of spin and a prankster of PR, this is to be applauded.

Slickly put together and with some great input from journalist David Fisher, the only time that the film stumbles is in its interview with Dotcom, using little of that freshly granted access to provide new insights into the case (though admittedly, given the police and crown wouldn't comment, that would have ended up one-sided.) Equally, a long bow drawn that John Key's sudden resignation in 2016 came about because of some involvement in the case and the mounting tensions over the GCSB is presented without evidence and feels a conspiracy too far, regardless of your political leanings.

Archive footage from Dotcom's early days and concise cuts from her interviewees not only give Kim Dotcom: Caught In The Web the range it needs but provide a depth of research. Though it takes a skilled story-teller to ensure that they don't fall into the web of their own making - and Goldson never gets tangled in her own threads, keeping the film clean cut and precisely executed.

Ultimately, Kim Dotcom: Caught In The Web is a fascinating examination of the case. Its nuanced presentation and slick editing makes the complex very approachable (and bizarrely entertaining too). As an examination of surveillance tactics, copyright laws and an ongoing PR war, it's a gripping documentary by someone clearly well versed in the intricacies of the case and the innate absurdities of it all.

Crash Bandicoot: N Sane Trilogy: PS4 Review

Crash Bandicoot: N Sane Trilogy: PS4 Review

Released by Activision
Developed by Vicarious Visions
Platform: PS4

Crash is back.

And quite frankly, after the brief appearance in Uncharted 4 where Naughty Dog let you play a level of the original, it's about time.

Vicarious Visions has truly done the old spit and polish remaster with a rebuild up from the ground level, taking in concept art and ensuring the game looked how it should have done.

Taking in the three original games - Crash Bandicoot, Cortex Strikes Back to Warped - these were trendsetters for the PlayStation brand early on and really set the pace for platforming.

A lot's been made of how difficult and punishing the games are - but quite frankly, this high polished remaster merely re-presents what was always there in the first place. Platforming was punishing back then, but the reward for completion of Crash was truly something that felt like an achievement.

The first game is still the hardest, and while Warped feels like the game made things a little too easy, this trilogy is still way too addictive and truly compelling gaming.

Allowing you to play Coco throughout adds the different feel to the game, and it gives a nice new touch in many ways; the moves you remember from before, including the spin and jump still make Crash the basics of all platformers but it's all you really need to ensure the game's playable.

If there are errors or you die, it's truly down to you, nothing more, nothing less.

In terms of how the game looks, there's more 3D depth to Crash and the world around him - whereas the first game looked basic originally, but was still eminently playable, the new version of Crash Bandicoot adds a great deal more in terms of perspective and is gorgeous to look at.

Equally, Cortex Strikes Back and Warped look great - this is a remaster that really sparkles in HD and loses none of its playability as a result. With remastered audio and cutscenes, as well as new dialogue, you'll get the fuzzies from playing Crash again - and while it punishes you for a mis-timed jump and can see your blood boiling, it's still a sign that you start all over again the moment you die.

Crash Bandicoot: N Sane Trilogy is a beautiful ode to the past and a terrific take on the present.
Now if they could just consider making a new Crash Bandicoot game for the PlayStation, we'd all be happy.