Waru: Film Review

Waru: Film 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. 

No Ordinary Sheila: Film Review

No Ordinary Sheila: Film Review

The name Sheila Natusch will be familiar to anyone who loves nature and anyone who's from the lower reaches of the South Island.

Director Hugh MacDonald's gentle film biography takes in the life of Sheila Natusch, with better access than most given he's part of her family.

Starting off in Stewart Island where Natusch was born (nee Trail), MacDonald uses a Kim Hill Radio New Zealand interview with Natusch herself to help paint a lot of the scene, as well as Sheila's own writings. From growing up with a fascination for the wildlife and a strict father to Natusch's friendship with Janet Frame after they bonded at teacher's college, the depth on display here is fairly exhaustive, even if MacDonald knows which bits are best excised.

Using some stunning wildlife footage and shots from around Stewart Island itself, (a nice quick cut montage manages to show the range of what the island has to offer), the scene's set for Sheila's interests to be awakened.

Essentially a social document of growing up and life in the south from when she was born in 1926 on Rakiura, this telling of a life story is amiable stuff. It helps that it's centred so laconically by Sheila herself , a fairly upbeat sort of a character, whose enthusiasm is never in question throughout.

Very occasionally, there are some sadnesses on display, giving Natusch a more rounded edge. Be it the lack of children or the rejection of her Animals in New Zealand book by a publisher written off when one error was clocked, the more human frailties are brought to the fore by MacDonald's use of footage and other's questions.

But with an ethos of "If I'm going to look back, that's what I want to see", the toothy Sheila is a tough old bird, with an attitude which many could learn from - but sadly, most of the audience for this piece won't unfortunately be the youngsters they're looking to try and inspire, with a feeling that perhaps an older generation or a clutch of people from the South will benefit better from this gentle portrait.

It could occasionally do with an edit, and it's not always entirely convincing chopping and changing from different interviewers to tell the story of her life with soundbites or interview moments, but when the spotlight shines on Sheila, there's evidence of the spirit and the inspiration which shine through.

Quite a handy social document as well as salutation to one of New Zealand's pioneering naturalists, No Ordinary Sheila is genial fare, which is fortunate to be blessed with the cunning dry wit and warmth of its quintessentially Kiwi subject. 

Life is Strange: Before the storm Episode 2 is coming

Life is Strange: Before the storm Episode 2 is coming

EPISODE 2 ‘BRAVE NEW WORLD’ COMING 19th OCTOBER

New Gameplay Trailer Available

Hi everyone,

Thank you for the amazing support you have given Life is Strange: Before the Storm since the release of the first Episode. We can now officially reveal that Brave New World, the second episode of the three part series, will be available on 19^th October for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC (Steam).

Our new ‘Life is Strange: Before the Storm Episode 2 Trailer’ sets the scene for the events of Episode 2: Brave New World, showcasing some new characters and environments alongside others that are making a return from the first game. As Chloe and Rachel’s family life continues to crumble, their friendship blossoms and the two girls discuss running away together. But before they can go, Chloe gets involved with an errand for Frank Bowers which puts her in a dangerous situation and exposes an uglier side to Arcadia Bay…

LIFE IS STRANGE: BEFORE THE STORM is set in Arcadia Bay, three years before the events of the first game in the series. Players will take on the role of a rebellious 16 year-old Chloe Price who forms an unlikely friendship with Rachel Amber; a beautiful and popular girl destined for success. When Rachel’s world is turned upside down by a family secret, it takes this new-found alliance to give each other the strength to overcome their demons.

Spider-Man Homecoming: Blu Ray Review

Spider-Man Homecoming: Blu Ray Review

Released by Sony Home Ent

Here we go again, with the return of the Amazing Spider-Man.

There's no denying that the latest adventure, Spider-Man Homecoming, has the Avengers DNA coursing all through its veins.

While that's no bad thing to the legions of Marvel Universe fans out there, the reliance on Stark and his technology almost threatens to over-burden parts of this go-round-again for Spidey, but never quite overwhelms but it does provide a deus ex Stark machina from time-to-time.

However, it's a great deal of charm from English actor Tom Holland that helps make this Spidey such a joyous high to behold.

After Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's attempts at the web-slinger saw more of a mope-fest, this latest seizes on the sense of fun as Parker tries to wait for his call up to the Avengers, following his part in the Civil War.

Stripped of yet another take on the origins of the character, Homecoming builds on the work done with the brief Civil War appearance when everyone was at each other's necks.

Desperate to get the call back from Stark and the gang (Spidey's enthusiasm and Civil war moments are captured on phone cam) Peter finds himself stonewalled and sidelined.

Stuck doing the "friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man" thing and juggling school life as well, Parker's caught in a web of his own when he discovers that Michael Keaton's Adrian Toomes (aka Vulture) is taking Chitauri tech and re-purposing it for his own nefarious ends.

Unable to get a message through to Stark via Jon Favreau's dismissive Happy Hogan, Parker decides to take matters into his own hands...

Spider-Man Homecoming has a definite bluster to proceedings as it pastiches John Hughes' Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and as already mentioned, it's great to see a lot of the angst jettisoned from previous films in favour of a take on the teen growing up and dealing with average stuff, while desperately wanting to be older. 

From the pratfalling to being ungainly, Holland brings a humanity to Parker that is both refreshing and endearing; this really is a definitive stamp on the role and a signal of intentions that Spidey won't become burdened with the usual considerations of the MCU.

The Stark touches are there throughout, whether it's the female Jarvis style suit (voiced by Jennifer Connelly) or the brief moments appearing as a mentor; and peppered with a couple of other appearances throughout from one other Avengers alum and mentions of the Sokovia Accord, there's no denying the DNA of this movie runs deep from the Avengers' world. But it's the lighter touch employed by the script that helps keep it refreshed and entertaining.

And a great deal of stock has to be set in Keaton's performance as the blue-collar Toomes whose evil aspirations seem drawn from economic concerns many will feel are familiar and timely. There's a great twist involving Toomes that helps Spider-Man Homecoming subvert expectations but there's also a very strong performance from Keaton as the Vulture that meshes both elements of Green Goblin and Birdman throughout.

Perhaps less successful is the muddied final CGI showdown sequence which takes place in a night-time setting and is hard to make out as it whirls around.

And unfortunately, women get very short shrift in Spider-Man Homecoming, a film that's definitively and disappointingly, predominantly for dudes.

Whether it's the unattainable hot girl of the school who needs to be rescued or the slightly ditzy Aunt May, the female sector of the MCU feels like a real step-back. Equally disappointing is the deployment of some Korean/ Asian stereotypes - one's a chess club nerd, the other's a schlubby goofball friend; there's an argument to say it's great to see roles represented, but given the piecemeal once over of the writing, it feels like a veritable slap-in-the-face for inclusivity of all genders and races.

Ultimately, despite a bit of a mid-way slump, Spider-Man Homecoming represents a strong signal of intent from the MCU in their handling of the web-slinger.

Relying more on the fun side rather than the relentless quippery of before, this Spider-Man is a dazzling blast of entertainment, a deftly-delivered film that brings the entertainment in much the same way that Ant-Man did. And because of that blast of freshness in the ongoing stale atmosphere of the Infinity War cosmos, it scores highly on many levels.

It's a geeky heady treat, albeit one that has a few foibles but not enough to unpick the web that's been spun on screen.

Churchill: DVD Review

Churchill: DVD Review

The director of The Railway Man heads to Winston Churchill's quest for redemption in a character portrait about the man himself.

Set a few days before the D Day landings of June 1944, Cox's Churchill is undergoing a crisis - troubled by visions of the seas running red while he saunters at the beach, he fears the command to send troops in to remove the Nazis in Europe will lead to wholesale slaughter.

Summoned before King George (a wonderfully subtle turn from James Purefoy), Montgomery and Eisenhower (former Mad Men star John Slattery), Churchill finds his protestations to pull back and wait for everything to be right with Operation Overlord are largely ignored.

With the clock ticking closer to the window of launch, Churchill himself struggles to reconcile both his own past and the burdens of being a leader during the most difficult of times.

Against a backdrop of the 1736th day of World War II and with the horrors and guilt of Gallipoli central to Churchill's mental state, a hunched, portly and wilfully defiant Cox delivers a performance which teeters between poignant and bluster. Squat, angry and channeling the "Nar-zees" intonations of Churchill with ease, Cox disappears into the role with no trouble whatsoever.

And with his director wanting to shoot plenty of profile shots and moody slow-mo moments of a man puffing on a cigar and exhaling slowly, the portrait is evocatively realised to say the least.

Granted, there are some artistic licences taken with Churchill's last-minute protestations to the proposed landings, but Cox does nothing less than sell the moral dilemma of being a leader in war-time. While there's easily an argument to say very occasionally that Teplitzky over-eggs the dramatic pudding (something he was woefully guilty of during Colin Firth's turn The Railway Man) by relying heavily on the imagery to create the mood, the human edges are what really set this higher than the usual fare.

A wonderfully understated exchange between Purefoy's King George and Churchill is emotionally powerful, and simultaneously draped in tenderness, as the two discuss how Winston's desire to lead from the front is nothing short of foolhardy recklessness. In just 5 minutes on screen, these two actors lift this extraordinary sequence into the echelons of the compelling.

Equally, Richardson's long-troubled wife Clem, while under-used throughout other than to chide and scold the blustering pomposity of her angry husband, has a few scenes where the cost to the humanity and relationship of the central pair is smartly and deftly examined. It's here that Churchill manages to soar, as it rises above its time-ticking melodramatic edges and continual scenes of Churchill shouting out his guilty petulance while trying to navigate mentally quieter waters to appease his conscience.

Perhaps this is where Churchill could have been more successful than it already is.

With the theatre of war having been inexorably changed these days (to the simpler minded, it's merely the debate before the pressing of a button), Churchill is more successful when it examines the human cost of conflict. It reminds us of the mental consequences of the guilt of leadership, the burden of decision and the regret of past mistakes made.

Thanks to a lead actor who sinks into an almost chameleonic turn, Churchill thankfully becomes more than just a simple portrait of a man troubled by the sins of the past; it becomes a nuanced turn of historical interest, even if its questions of accuracy may dog it after the lights go up. 

Radio Dunedin: Film Review

Radio Dunedin: Film Review

Director: Grant Findlay

A short but sweet hyper-local slice of Kiwi history, Radio Dunedin is Grant Findlay's paean ode to New Zealand's oldest radio station and the staff within.

Founded in 1922 by volunteer announcers and with a definite place within the community, Radio Dunedin's place in the South Island is undeniable.
As anyone who's ever had any interaction with community radio knows, there's nothing to beat the local ethos and attitude.

Interestingly, Findlay's documentary has a low key charm as it begins with a man simply walking down a corridor, making a packet coffee and firing up the microphone.
As the sun rises over Dunedin's purple sky, the familiar feel of what radio means to so many starts to be explored by Findlay.

Wisely choosing to let the volunteers do the talking and give the insights into being there, Findlay captures the essence of being part of local radio.

There are a few moments when volunteers let loose about the Auckland-centric nature of the industry and it feels a little bitter early on, but Findlay wisely layers that in early so that the impact of the loss of Radio Dunedin's FM frequency and the centralisation of corporate bigwig Mediaworks can come into sharp focus at the end.

Archive audio mixes well with honesty and there is a feeling that Radio Dunedin soon becomes a piece about where the industry's heading as a whole. Already globally centralisation has occurred with big groups swallowing up local stations and there's a pervading sense in Findlay's briskly paced piece that Radio Dunedin is fighting against the tide.

But as the little scrapper station that could, and with former Prime Minister Sir John Key espousing why he chose to stay a regular contributor, the loyalty speaks volumes from this honest and reflective piece.

It may potentially fail to garner as much attention outside of the South Island which is a shame for Findlay's efforts, but there's a distinct feeling that what's been captured here is very really a snapshot of the industry and the shape it's ending up in.

It's hard to deny the love for Radio Dunedin within the community, and Findlay's created a document that perhaps will find its home in media schools as well - with a bittersweet ending, Radio Dunedin is worth a tune in for anyone who's ever remotely been interested in the media or the faces and attitudes that go into making sure community radio survives as corporate conglomerates and media mergers continue to surface and threaten to forever change the landscape.

Flatliners: Film Review

Flatliners: Film Review

Cast: Ellen Page, James Norton, Nina Dobrev, Diego Luna, Kiersey Clemons, Kiefer Sutherland
Director: Niels Arden Oplev

27 years ago, a couple of fresh faced Brat Packers made a sci-fi film that was pure hokum, but tapped into something that troubles many - and in the resulting film formed something of a cult.

Now, mixing a cast and one original together, the resultant toothless Flatliners remake is dramatically and creatively dead on arrival, feeling like a CW drama that doesn't even bother to really pack in the jump scare moments.

Centring on a group of interns, it's the same story.

Page plays Courtney, who decides to embark on an experiment to see what lies beyond this world by stopping her heart and technically dying for a few minutes, before being brought back.

Dragging along Clemons and Norton's fellow students, the experiment initially promises a heady high, but soon delivers them all various nightmares.

Full of pretty people and a terrible American accent from Happy Valley ruffian Norton, Flatliners is frankly a mess.

It lacks any edge and is as flat as the ECGs in the film itself. Relying on wet bus ticket jump scares, the 2017 remake of Flatliners is creatively limp and narratively weak.

Page takes it all too seriously and becomes the science exposition nerd of the group, setting up the premise and presenting the calm in the ensuing laughable panic that sets in.

There's just nothing that fires any of the neural synapses here whatsoever, and while Oplev manages to make some of the afterlife visuals feel hyperreal, it can't quite shake off the fact that it all seems like a music video for the MTV and teen-loving CW generation.

Maybe needlessly glamourising suicide and self-harm, the 2017 Flatliners is a waste of everyone's time from the cast to the audience. Slapped with a cinematic Do Not Resuscitate would be a kindness, because there's little here to engage anything of the cinema-going audience - be it in this life or the next.