Child's Play: Film Review

Child's Play: Film Review

Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman, Mark Hamill
Director: Lars Klevberg

There's much to like in the 2019 retooling of the Child's Play series - but there's also much to grizzle about with the feeling that potential has been wasted.

Plaza plays single mom Karen, a shop employee who gives her son Andy (Bateman) a Buddi doll to help the transition to a new home and new life. Buddi is the latest design toy, that imprints on its owner and in this Buddi's case, fixates on him.

Renamed Chucky by Andy, the doll starts to take on a life of its own, mimicking those around, while dealing with defective programming. But things begin to take a murderous intent.

It's clear that Klevberg and co wanted to take some of the electronic paranoia we've been feeling with Black Mirror's technical obsessions and turn it into something that's on point, and through a horror prism.

But what emerges from the 2019 reboot of Child's Play, despite an inherent fear of AI, is just how much that potential is squandered.

Despite a great turn from Plaza, a strong performance from Bateman and some excellent vocal work from Hamill, Child's Play becomes a grubby rote horror that's content to deliver some average jump scares and some lo-fi moments, rather than to build on the idea of a murderous Alexa inspired doll.

The opening's great, inspiring some funny moments, and capturing a kind of 80s vibe that's at odds with the 21st century technology. However, the film's not content to do more with its talent, with a script that doesn't really thrill like it should, or scare like it ought.

There's still the malevolence that Chucky has, and the animatronic doll has some creepy edges, but the script mines every single cliche going before delivering a finale that lacks panache and originality.

That's perhaps the killer blow for Child's Play - it never reaches its potential, and feels a lot like every other 80s serial killer film you've seen before. They've chosen to swap Chucky's USP for a USB - and while parts of it feel like an upgrade, most of it feels, sadly, like a downgrade.

But it is worth it for Mark Hamill's unsettling singing over the final credits...

NZIFF Announces Thirteen New Zealand Film Premieres

NZIFF Announces Thirteen New Zealand Film Premieres

Thirteen feature-length New Zealand films will screen at the New Zealand International Film Festival

(NZIFF) in 2019. Nine films will have their world premieres in the programme, including the

 previously announced documentary A Seat at the Table.

This year’s homegrown selection celebrates the life and legacy of New Zealanders with portraits 

on social activist Helen Kelly; master carver and devoted Māori artist Rangi Hetet; 

renowned photographer Peter Peryer; champion Kiwi boxer Billy Graham; artist and composer 

Michael Smither; and legendary reggae band Herbs.

New Zealand stories are represented in the programme with features reflecting on rugby’s divisive

 history, New Zealand’s budding wine industry, faith and family in Aotearoa, life on a Northland 

dairy farm, a comedic Kiwi family farce and a poignant testament to economic inequality.

Ant Timpson’s genre-bending directorial debut, starring Elijah Wood and Madeleine Sami, is 

also announced with the programme’s NZ films, although it will screen in the Big Nights and 

Special Presentation strands of the festival.

“We’re very proud to be able to announce the New Zealand features and documentaries 

which will premiere at NZIFF this year in Auckland and Wellington. NZIFF remains committed 

to providing a platform for striking local films such as these and we can’t wait to be able to 

share them with an audience” says NZIFF programmer, Michael McDonell.

The confirmed New Zealand films for 2019 are:

Capital in the 21st Century (NZ Premiere in Auckland)

Director: Justin Pemberton

A sweeping – and sobering – account of the way that concentrated wealth has both 

shaped our past and is creating a deeply unequal future. Based on economist

Thomas Piketty’s bestselling book.

https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/capital-in-the-21st-century/

For My Father's Kingdom (NZ Premiere in Auckland)

Directors: Vea Mafile’o, Jeremiah Tauamiti

Pasifika filmmakers Vea Mafile’o and Jeremiah Tauamiti direct this intimate, clear-eyed 

documentary centred on the faith, love and fatherhood of Saia Mafile’o, and his four children.

https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/auckland/for-my-fathers-kingdom/

Herbs: Songs of Freedom (World Premiere in Auckland)

Director: Tearepa Kahi

Director Tearepa Kahi’s follow-up to the infectious Poi E is a rousing celebration of 

Pacific reggae legends Herbs, the band’s members and its action as an inspiring

 musical front for social rights and harmony.

https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/auckland/herbs-songs-of-freedom/

Bellbird (NZ Premiere in Auckland)

Director: Hamish Bennett

Marshall Napier, Cohen Holloway and Rachel House shine in Hamish Bennett’s

 beautifully judged, poignantly funny drama of life and community on a struggling 

Northland family dairy farm.

https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/auckland/bellbird/

Peter Peryer: The Art of Seeing (World Premiere in Auckland)

Director: Shirley Horrocks

Shirley Horrocks’ richly illustrated portrait of the life and career of one of New Zealand’s 

most important photographers, who dedicated his life to seeing and making works of art out 

of the everyday.

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/peter-peryer-the-art-of-seeing/

Helen Kelly - Together (World Premiere in Wellington)

Director: Tony Sutorius

An intimate, inspirational portrait of Helen Kelly in the last year of her life, Together 

tells the story of a woman whose advocacy and generosity changed the lives of countless 

New Zealanders.

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/helen-kelly-together/

By the Balls (World Premiere in Auckland)

Directors: Charlotte Purdy, Simon Coldrick

Sport and politics most definitely do mix in this gripping look back at a brutal and 

turbulent time for New Zealand rugby, told from the point of view of the players

 themselves including David Kirk and Buck Shelford.

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/by-the-balls/

Births, Deaths & Marriages (World Premiere in Wellington)

Director: Bea Joblin

Director Bea Joblin’s spirited debut feature boasts snappy dialogue and spot-on performances 

from a cast including Geraldine Brophy, Sophie Hambleton and Jamie McCaskill. 

A pungent kiwi slant on classic domestic farce.

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/births-deaths-marriages/

MO TE IWI: Carving for the People (World Premiere in Wellington)

Director: Robin Greenberg

An intimate journey through the life and work of master carver Rangi Hetet and a 

celebration of his lifelong devotion to the traditions of Māori carving and Māori art.

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/mo-te-iwi-carving-for-the-people/

Billy and The Kids (World Premiere in Wellington)

Director: Mark Albiston

An insightful look inside the boxing academies run by champion Kiwi boxer 

Billy Graham, through the eyes of the kids whose lives they have changed.

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/billy-and-the-kids/

Michael Smither 10 (Wellington Only – World Premiere)

Director: Paul Wedel

The final episode in Tony Hiles’ ongoing project chronicling his friend Michael Smither, 

finds the artist and composer in his studio wrestling with current paintings and

reflecting on art and life. 

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/michael-smither-10/

NZ film in Big Nights and Special Presentations strand:

Come to Daddy (NZ Premiere in Auckland)

Director: Ant Timpson

Elijah Wood, Stephen McHattie and Madeleine Sami lead Kiwi director

(and NZIFF/Incredibly Strange programmer) Ant Timpson’s deranged comic thriller 

about a father-son reunion that goes very, very south.

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/come-to-daddy/

NZ film previously announced:

A Seat at the Table (World Premiere in Auckland)

Directors: David Nash, Simon Mark-Brown

Savour 100 minutes of eye-popping camera work, picturesque vineyards and 

gratuitous grape-fondling shots in this glorious toast to the talent and the stories 

behind New Zealand’s world-famous wine industry.

https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/auckland/a-seat-at-the-table-1/

Little Woods: Film Review

Little Woods: Film Review

Cast: Tessa Thompson, Lily James
Director: Nia DaCosta

The "one last job before I retire" trope is as old as the hills themselves, but what director Nia DaCosta and actress Tessa Thompson bring to the hoary cliche is a degree of humanity and empathy in Little Woods.

Thompson is Ollie, a one time opioid dealer to the North Dakota fracking workers. Caught after a border run went wrong and under probation with just 10 days to go, Ollie finds herself facing desperate measures and multiple financial hardships.

But when her struggling adopted sister and solo mother Deb (Lily James) finds she's about to give birth again and needs a place to live, the clock's ticking to get together $3,000 cash to ensure their house isn't foreclosed on.

So, despite wanting a clean break, Ollie is forced back into the one thing she knows well, but doesn't want to do.

As mentioned, the plot isn't exactly original, but what DaCosta and Thompson - and to a large degree, James - bring to the table is a female perspective on middle America, the struggles of those under pressure, and the face of the Opioid crisis.

This is no Breaking Bad though, with Thompson providing subtle contrasts in her Ollie as she debates the morals of the right thing to do. It's very much a story of the times, and told in an unfussy manner, with tension being ratcheted up in a smaller, more intimate setting on the screen.

There's a great deal of empathy radiating from these characters, and while some of the dialogue doesn't feel natural, there's no denying Thompson's natural charm and appeal that she imbues Ollie with. 

Refusing to give in, Ollie finds every path possible to explore, and the desperate scrabble to stay afloat has you in her camp from the get go.

The film's ambiguous end is a smart touch too - unsure of who gets a happy end, it's very much a crime tale told under a different lens - and all the better for it. Little Woods may hit a few of the cliche branches as it unspools, but with two extremely solid and plausible leads, it remains watchable from beginning to end. 

Captain Marvel: Blu Ray Review

Captain Marvel: Blu Ray Review

It's hard to pinpoint exactly why Marvel's latest solid outing Captain Marvel doesn't quite fly in the way that perhaps you'd be expecting.

Is the fact that in a decade and twenty films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this is the first with a female lead, giving the film a kind of timely resonance that's culturally mirrored in the Time's Up movement?

Or is the fact that a deeply feminist film of a woman hero who's been told to suppress her emotions as they don't make her strong suffers from an abundance of mansplaining and on-the-nose music cues?

Whatever it is, Captain Marvel's Brie Larson deserves the accolades, even if the material isn't quite up to her stellar standards.

Larson plays amnesiac Carol Danvers, who we join in space as she's briefed on a mission to infiltrate Skrull (who look like 80s comic Eagle's Doomlord) territory and retrieve a Kree spy. But when Vers, as she's initially known, is captured by Mendelsohn's Talos, she glimpses a prior life, setting her on a collision course with both 1990s Earth and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Nick Fury (a digitally de-aged Jackson).

Captain Marvel is an intriguing non-linear film and uses a softer methodology to impart yet another origin story.

Ahead of Avengers: Endgame, it's more of a necessity than a creative gamble, and because of that there are parts of Captain Marvel which feel uneven and even, whisper it, uncertain.

Larson's ferocity works best when she has something to work with. And while the trope of the amnesiac superhero trying to remember who they are is an all-too familiar one, there are moments when Danvers feels more hollow than she should be, and beholden only to what others make her.

Certainly, it's a problem for any film introducing a character with literal deus-ex-machina powers and how to make them realistic and relatable.

Larson gives her all, and the film's spunk comes from uniting her with Fury in 90s US (even if the film's heavy-handed inclusion of 90s throwbacks groans from excessive over-use), setting up the usual fish-out-of-water shenanigans and then immediately smartly side-lining them. Jackson clearly has fun here, and Larson helps him come to life in some scenes that crackle along.

Rising above the script's duller edges, Larson gives the film an emotional core that's a hollow cypher at the start. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in scenes with her former fellow pilot, played by Lashana Lynch. Their understated interplay feels warm, human and rife with a history that's hinted at rather than explicitly explored.

Equally successful is Mendelsohn's Talos, a Skree baddie who has depth and nuance (and an Aussie accent through the prosthetics).

While the final act has Doctor Strange level of trippiness and spectacle, sillier edges start to filter through as the "Without us, you're only human" message threatens to overwhelm what is, at times, underwhelming.

What cripples portions of Captain Marvel is that the makers are so determined to proudly fly the banner for "the message" that they occasionally take a sledgehammer to crush open a nut.

A fight scene to Just A Girl negates some of Danvers' power and feels like a back-handed compliment, whereas a sequence of Danvers' repeated rising up against various knockbacks could be dismissed as manipulative and over-stated when taken out of context.

But placed within an audience of young boys and girls, this moment, coupled with the fact that Captain Marvel is retrofitted into continuity and is shown to be more powerful than any of the Avengers brings an important and timely message home with some subtlety - for girls robbed of cinematic figureheads and for boys who need to see the woman can be more powerful. 

Fresh Selections For NZIFF’s Incredibly Strange Programme

Fresh Selections For NZIFF’s Incredibly Strange Programme

Nine films feature in the 2019 NZIFF Incredibly Strange programme hailing from France, Sweden/Denmark, USA, Ireland, Japan and Belgium. Two films – Deerskin and Vivarium – come to New Zealand from the Cannes Film Festival.

This year marks 25 years since the inception of the Incredibly Strange film festival; 15 years as part of NZIFF. Incredibly Strange programmer Ant Timpson says he’s proud of a quarter of a century of hi-jinks.  

He reflects that they have been able to push buttons and boundaries without ever losing their sense of humour while having a profound effect on film culture in New Zealand. 

“Since being absorbed into NZIFF the selection has been focused on the best in global genre fare so hit films that made waves at Sundance, Fantastic Fest, Fantasia and Cannes now pepper the line-up alongside lesser known picks,” says Ant. 

Timpson said this year’s programme seems to have an overall theme of obsession, with a focus on sex and horror. 

There are a few classy outliers in the mix: two documentaries from filmmakers beset on finding out the truth – You Don’t Nomi and The Amazing Jonathan Documentary are alongside provocative French film Knife + Heart and American film Mope, which tackle sex and murder in the adult film world with wildly different obsessive takes. In Deerskin, Jean Dujardin (The Artist) becomes murderously obsessed with his deerskin jacket, while in Vivarium, Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots are captivated with finding the perfect home, only to end up in a suburban nightmare. 

Then there's Swedish/Danish dark thriller Koko-di-Koko-da about a husband preoccupied with fixing his failing marriage only to enter a fable-like rabbit hole of horror. 

Films in the Incredibly Strange programme for 2019 are:

Deerskin

Cannes 2019 Director’s Fortnight

France

Censors rating tbc

Director/Screenplay/Photography/Editor: Quentin Dupieux

Georges, 44 years old, and his jacket, 100% deerskin, have grand plans in director Quentin Dupieux’s latest cinematic oddity, destined for cult status.

“Dupieux’s pitch-black sartorial satire [is]… wickedly funny… both hyperreal and resolutely deadpan… [and] nothing short of delicious.” — Ella Kemp, Little White Lies

https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/deerskin/

Knife + Heart

2018 | France/Switzerland/Mexico 

R18 violence, sexual violence, sex scenes & content that may disturb

Director: Yann Gonzalez

A third-rate porn producer’s most ambitious film yet may also be her most costly in this murderously kitschy homage to giallo, Grand Guignol and old school slasher movies.

“A giallo take on Phantom of the Paradise… This magical, erotic, disco-tinged horror-thriller is like cinematic candy. Vanessa Paradis has never been better.” — Katie Walsh, LA Times

https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/knifeheart/

Koko-di Koko-da 

2019 | Sweden/Denmark 

R13 violence & content that may disturb

Director/Producer/Screenplay/Editor: Johannes Nyholm

Visually arresting and very adult, Swedish director Johannes Nyholm’s devilishly devised folktale focuses on a grieving couple’s infinite camping trip from hell.

“[Koko-di Koko-da] plays like the bastard offspring of Groundhog Day and The Babadook.” — Keith Uhlich, Hollywood Reporter

https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/koko-di-koko-da/

Mope 

2019 | USA

R18 violence, sexual violence, sex scenes, suicide & content that may disturb

Director: Lucas Heyne

Boogie Nights meets Pain & Gain in this tragic, oddly compelling story of two low-end porn actors who sought fame but gained infamy, all based on real events.

“A melancholy portrait of two misguided souls seeking love and acceptance. This a true f***ing story – you can’t make this shit up.” — Sundance Film Festival

https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/mope/ 

The Amazing Johnathan Documentary

2019 | USA

Censors rating tbc

Director/Screenplay: Ben Berman

In the world of magic, nothing is what it seems as a terminally ill magician prepares for his swansong – and the ultimate trick on the maker of this bizarre documentary.

 “Laugh-out-loud funny in a way that’s unexpected for a documentary about a deceitful, dying meth-addict magician on his final fumbling tour.” — Fionnuala Halligan, Screendaily

https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/the-amazing-johnathan-documentary/ 

The Hole in the Ground

2019 | Ireland

M violence, offensive language & horror

Director: Lee Cronin

Paranoia takes hold of a single mother after her son, feared missing in the woods near an ominous sinkhole, returns unharmed yet with a disturbingly changed demeanour.  

“A chilling domestic horror film… with strong performances, [a] quietly disturbing atmosphere… and good, old-fashioned scares.” — Kim Newman, Empire

https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/the-hole-in-the-ground/

Violence Voyager

2018 | Japan

Censors rating tbc

Director/Screenplay/Photography: Ujicha

Twisted visions of childhood don’t come more unhinged than Ujicha’s delightfully macabre animated misadventure. Inventive genre thrills and spills abound: who knew cardboard viscera could be so disturbing?

“Blindsiding doesn’t even begin to cover the tonal jump that Violence Voyager… pulls over on the audience, and if you can stomach its gore and its aesthetically grating animation, there is some bloody good fun to be had.” — Chris Luciantonio, Film Pulse 

https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/violence-voyager/

Vivarium

Cannes 2019 Critics’ Week

Ireland/Belgium

Censors rating tbc

Director: Lorcan Finnegan

Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots’ goal of becoming homeowners veers into strange and sinister territory in this smart and unexpected sci-fi horror. 

“A malevolent horror satire that suggests those struggling with millennial anxieties should be careful what they wish for.” — Tom Bond, One Room With A View

https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/vivarium/ 

You Don’t Nomi

2019 | USA

R16 violence, nudity, sex scenes & offensive language

Director/Screenplay/Editor: Jeffrey McHale

This shameless reappraisal of Paul Verhoeven’s much-maligned Showgirls explores the film’s complicated afterlife, from disastrous release to cult adoration and extraordinary redemption.

“You Don’t Nomi reminds us that it’s okay to like things with rough edges, that streamlined perfection is overrated and, more than anything, it’s okay to deeply love something that most other people loathe.” — Chuck Foster, Film Threat

https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/film/you-dont-nomi/ 

Stan & Ollie: DVD Review

Stan & Ollie: DVD Review

Less a film about an actual break-up, more a piece about the aftermath, Stan & Ollie's tale of a degenerating work partnership and the effects of long-term friendship.

Beginning in 1937 with Coogan's Stan Laurel refusing to sign a new contract with studio head Hal Roach at the peak of their fame, the cracks show when Oliver Hardy (Reilly in a spot-on turn as the infamous gambler and womaniser Babe) doesn't demonstrate solidarity with his on-screen chum.

Fast forward 16 years and the motion pictures have dried up, the crowds have largely deserted and the audiences have moved on, Baird's film follows the duo in the twilight of their career as they pursue live shows in the UK.

Whilst Stan & Ollie doesn't exactly push the envelope in terms of on-screen presentation, but it's pleasantly evocative of an era long since forgotten in a world that revolves around CGI.

Simply and affectionately presented, Stan & Ollie benefits greatly from everything being laid bare on the table - the performances pickle in their own bittersweet moments, and the finale is designed - and succeeds in - to deliver a lump to the throat.

Coogan and Reilly encapsulate the duo perfectly; from Coogan's slight stumbles as he delivers Laurel's trademark speech patterns, to Reilly's capturing of Hardy's performance tics, this is a deeply affectionate tribute to the duo.

But more than that the bittersweet touches and hints of a friend not wanting to let down another friend are subtly painted in and liberally applied throughout. More goes unsaid during the film, but when the moments need to be delivered in the final 10 minutes, it's perfectly dispatched for superb effect.

At its core, Stan & Ollie is a film about friendship, of the peaks and troughs, of the resentments both spoken and kept internalised - and Coogan and Reilly make wondrous fists of both the sub-text and the physical demands of Laurel and Hardy's routines, which are recreated throughout.

There's wonderful support from Henderson and Adrianda as their wives, with their spiky relationship echoing that of Laurel and Hardy themselves, and showcasing a different paradigm of much the same relationship mechanic - it's fair to say their arrival enlivens things a little, but the groundwork's already been done by Reilly and Coogan with ease.

Bathed in melancholy, with a wonderful opening tracking shot that mixes both the truth of the Laurel and Hardy dynamic as well as the need to constantly perform for the public no matter how fleetingly, Stan & Ollie is a fitting celebration and a biopic that's haunting and anything but another fine mess. 

Vox Lux: DVD Review

Vox Lux: DVD Review

Brady Corbet's Vox Lux aims to shock, albeit unintentionally.

Its opening is as powerful as it is mundane, beginning as we do with Raffey Cassidy's Celeste going back to school after the holidays. To say more is to deprive you of the jolt, but needless to say Corbet's opening salvo puts our heroine on a path she'd not expected as tragedy comes calling.

As Celeste begins to find her singing voice, she's aided by her agent (Jude Law) as Vox Lux's pre-2001 episode begins to chart her career ascent as a singer. Book-ended by both a personally major event and a US event of the time, Celeste's life is tarnished with tragedy.

The messy scrappy second half of the film picks up 16 years later with Portman portraying Celeste as she mounts the comeback trail, before something else threatens to overwhelm her and her plans.

Vox Lux is a pompous, self-obsessed, pretentious mite of a movie - and some will run lovingly into its arms because of that very fact, while others will head in the opposite direction screaming.

But its two halves division causes an issue, and the first's stronger loss-of-innocence tale towers over the second, with a subtlety of direction and script helping propel it along (as well as Dafoe's booming voiceover pomposity).

However, its second half is blessed by a ferocious Portman, who revels in the Gaga-esque edges of the character, but who makes the self-loathing feel all too real, after years of insecurities eat away at her from the first years of her life and career as she teeters on the cusp of her journey.

There's a bravura edge on Corbet's filmmaking, even if the script and its ultimately disappointing end make parts of the film feel uneven. As an artistic endeavour, it's second to none, revelling in its luxuries in the second half, but dawdling in its emotional waters early on.

Vox Lux is polarising to be sure - is it a commentary on the music industry, on society and its violence, is it a piece about how we've always been anchored in violence and its effects?

No one is telling for sure as it ends, but what is certain about Vox Lux is that it's a piece of film-making which will shock you out of the dullness that pervades cinemas these days. And while that power is never quite as stringent as in its first half, its effects linger long after it's ended.