New Zealand International Film Festival 2020 Q&A with Incredibly Strange director Ant Timpson

Ant Timpson's Incredibly Strange returns to the New Zealand International Film Festival.

Ant's views expressed here are strictly his own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Festival.

You can find out more on Ant's selections here - https://www.nziff.co.nz/2020/at-home-online/films/collections/incredibly-strange-1/

Hi Ant, how have you been? 

Surprisingly we've been doing very well, that was until we moved back to Auckland and remembered what traffic and malls were.  Earlier we hit the jackpot by moving the fam in January to a small isolated coastal community. And so when the world went to poop we were in a bubble within a bubble. If we didn't check news or social media, we might not have known there was a pandemic happening. 

 

Dinner In America

How has Covid-19 affected you as a programmer, film-maker and film-lover?

Programmer : Like anyone else programming festivals, this year has been a bit of a wash for obvious reasons. Many films were held back and of course the overall capacity of titles for the festival was reduced. 

Film-maker: All productions ceased and because there are so many variations in film - every project was affected differently. We still don't have a clear path forward just yet but it's encouraging being in New Zealand and not elsewhere. We have the ability to get a jump on everyone else but we also may not have the resources to fill all the eventual demand. Personally I'm involved with a few projects and things are inching forward.

Film-lover: To be honest, I was more about the beach, making cocktails and eating food during lockdown than sitting inside watching stuff on a laptop.

 

How did it affect the selections for this year's Incredibly Strange?

Lots of major genre titles didn't want to risk any online premieres before their VOD release so we missed out on many titles just through that aspect. There was also uncertainty between producers and sales agents about what strategy they were going to take - the timing wasn't great for us - if we'd had a bit more time then we could've had some other choice cuts and had them playing in cinemas. Still super happy with the small number I have and very lucky to have a couple of 'em tbh. 

Is it a double edged sword for you this year with some films in cinemas, some in homes? A chance for more people to see your selections, but less gatherings and atmospheres?

Double edged? It's a guillotine!

I've only got one title playing in cinemas so that's gutting to me. It's not what I signed up for decades ago. HA!  Online festivals are the antithesis of what I've spent every year doing since the mid 80s.  

I'm the wrong guy to be asking all this stuff  - I'm not a fan of people tweeting what they think of a film as it's playing - all this supposed "interaction" with a large online audience - it's one giant distraction to me. Film is escapism - so how do you escape into a film when someone is sending you moronic memes or their new Tik Tok jam? 

Festivals have always been kind of snobby and elitist - and that was ok to me - cos it meant there was etiquette applied that you don't get during some Marvel poop on a Friday night at the plex. 

Look there's zero atmosphere around the festival unless it's in a cinema - we're so lucky we have that component happening for us - otherwise it would have been one sad affair.

 

You are doing some in cinema screenings - what's going to be the best one in terms of audience reception?

Is this for me or for fest director Marten?  Have you done a cut and paste again Darren?   Anything playing in a cinema is worth seeing at the moment. There's only a 1/4 of the line-up playing so read up on 'em and go see em how they're supposed to be seen. 

Relic

Turning to the selection, Relic is fantastic - what drew you to this?

Advance word before it hit gold at Sundance, a slow burn debut chiller from an exciting new voice coming out of Australia - Natalie James, like Jennifer Kent before her with Babadook, will be going on to do big things. 

Losing your mind has to be one of ultimate fears of any sane adult - and so a film that manages to weave that and some dark generational angst alongside some genuinely creepy moments was always going to fit the bill.

Yummy brings virus and zombies to the IS -the best moment in this film is what?

Yummy

You're asking me? The King of Non-Spoilers to reveal the best moment? Sorry comrade - no can do. Not on my watch. If you like slickly produced demented zombie fun then you're going to find enough puerile gags and gore laden amusement throughout YUMMY.  It does what it says on the box. 

 

Jumbo's inspired by a true story - what more can you tell us about that?

Loosely inspired by Amy, who was the star of the documentary Married to the Eiffel Tower.  The real life Amy has many lovers, one of them a theme park ride and the documentary explores how she and two other Objectum Sexuals (people who are horny for objects) deal with intimacy. Their "partners" range from the Berlin Wall to the Eiffel Tower. You can check out Amy and others here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5OiplprDFU 

Jumbo

 

2020 finds us in a reflective mood generally, so Friedkin on The Exorcist seems perfect fodder. What is it about The Exorcist that keeps drawing people in do you think?

Well it's perpetually cited as the scariest film ever made so there's that huge cultural hook that keeps pulling in new generations of viewers. It's very hard to describe to people who weren't around in the 70s just how impactful the film was to audiences. It was shocking and convincing. 

So hearing Friedkin take us back to that time and to hear about the creation of the film is something anyone interested in cinema is going to find captivating. 

 

Tell us about Dinner in America

Another buzzy Sundance title - this was one of those films that starts off so abrasively with an obnoxious character that you're not sure whether you wanna spend 90mins with em - but then things take a few turns and a relationship begins to grow and it suddenly morphs into something a lot sweeter. A simple story of two miscreants who end up being good for each other once they let their walls down.

 

Congrats on having the best film title in the programme with Jesus Shows You The Way to the Highway.....

Not only the best title but possibly the best film for the right viewer. I truly felt invigorated after seeing it for the first time - it wasn't just because it was gonzo filmmaking, it seemed to celebrate all of cinema and I had a smile throughout and for a long time afterwards. 

 

What are your picks from the rest of the programme?

If there's a chance to support a local film in person at a cinema screening - then please go check it out. Ya just never know when we might all be back in lockdown!

 

Do you hope the NZIFF can run a hybrid festival like this again?

Nope. Zero interest in ever doing this again. 

 

What's the one moment in all your films you want audiences to experience, either in a cinema or at home?

That they got their money's worth for their time and emotional investment. 

And at home I just want them to experience the feeling of wanting to be in a cinema watching the film.

Relic - director Q&A for the 2020 New Zealand International film Festival

Your Name – Natalie Erika James 

Title of your film – Relic 

Tell us about your 2020

I’ve tried to make the most of being in lockdown by getting stuck into writing a few projects. Joining a writing group online has done wonders for my productivity and morale. But along the way I’ve definitely had some unproductive weeks where I was glued to the news and suddenly baking a lot.

How has Covid-19 impacted you and your film?

I’m so grateful we managed to squeeze in our Sundance premiere, because soon after all of the festivals where Relic was supposed to play began cancelling. Our US Distributor was really proactive in making the decision to release the film in July, taking advantage of the gap created by a lot of the bigger studio films postponing their release. We had originally planned to release the film theatrically in Australia, but I was over the moon when Stan jumped on board and we were able to release the film online alongside the US.

What's the moment you wish audiences were seeing in a theatre, and why?

Probably the whole third act, ha! It gets particularly dark (both in image and content), and there’s something amazing about experiencing horror in the darkness of a cinema with others.

What have you learned about film-making, the film-making community and the film-going audience during the pandemic?

I’ve been fascinated by the different approaches filmmakers have been coming up with to ensure they can continue shooting in a socially distanced, safe environment. Things like, writing scenes with only three people or less who don’t have physical interaction, rehearsals over Zoom, splitting up crews over two units so that if one becomes infected, the other unit can continue shooting, etc.  

What's the single best moment of your film?

I think most people would say the final scene of the film, I suppose because it is horrific and emotionally affecting at once. 

What do you plan to do next in terms of film-making?

I’m working on a Japanese folk horror with the same co-writer and Australian producers from Relic. 

Relic plays at Whanau Marama New Zealand International Film Festival. Get all the details here - https://www.nziff.co.nz/2020/at-home-online/relic/

New Zealand International Film Festival - Q&A with director Marten Rabarts

Welcome to 2020's festival, Marten - guessing it was not the start you had in mind?

Hi Darren - Not exactly! I started my position as Festival Director in October 2019 and as we put together the building blocks for the festival in February this year, COVID-19 came thundering down upon us … so I got to invent our first online festival from the ground up.

At what point did you realise the festival would have to change, and how difficult was that decision?

I began to understand we’d need to be making adjustments in early February when my flight back from Europe, after attending the Rotterdam Film Festival, was cancelled as Italy already started to close its borders to Asian Airlines. Experiencing this – I had to re-book, re -route, and cut my trip short as I was meant to go to Rome to screen Italian films after Rotterdam – and Italy being among those first directly affected outside China and Iran, it was a loud clanging warning bell.

As COVID-19 restrictions tightened in New Zealand, and lockdown approached, it became clear that we had a choice; either we cancel the festival entirely and forfeit a year of excellent filmmaking and community engagement, or we adapt and ensure our audiences have the same rich and broad curated programme we always do, but this time through a new medium – online streaming through our VOD (video on demand) platform.

Now that we’ve moved back to Level 1, and some cinemas are reopening, are you a little disappointed the festival can't make it fully back out to the movies?

Cinema screenings  will always be the beating heart of the festival but it takes six months to mount a festival and there was no way anyone could predict whether New Zealand would be in a position to allow social gatherings and cinema re-openings, but starting six weeks ago we managed  to introduce a hybrid situation where 26 titles will be screened in certain cinemas across the country. These are supplementary screenings … the full festival will be NZIFF At Home – Online as planned.

Logistically, what have been the issues for an online festival this year?

They were huge but largely arcane issues around technical demands of online delivery, digital security measures to prevent piracy, complex rights acquisitions for a festival screening on VOD platform, cinemas unhappy with us for taking the festival online; the same  cinemas unhappy with us offering them films to screen when COVID-19 restrictions were lifted … (shoulder shrug emoji) … it was endless and I just hope the difficulty and pain COVID-19 has put our team through is invisible to our viewers, as it should be.

But what do you see as the benefits for the festival's first at home fest?

Not every New Zealander lives in Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch. Even with all of the regions we commonly screen in across the country, New Zealanders living rurally can still be hours away from a cinema.

Moving online means that we have the ability, for the first time ever, to reach more Kiwis than ever before from Kaitaia to Bluff and everywhere (with broadband) in between.

What can punters expect?

Same Great Films , Same Great Festival … just online! Punters should get their screening set up ready and prepare for a selection of fantastic titles. 

We've had the We Are One Festival, how did you see that?

I wouldn’t call the We Are One YOUTUBE marketing venture a festival … in my evaluation it was a damp squib; a motley collection of mostly older films, some shorts  and a few regurgitated celebrity interviews from various festival archives.

There’s no comparison to what we’ll be offering which is the usual world-class curation of the past years’ finest cinema offerings which NZIFF audiences always expect from us.

Once a ticket is purchased, viewers will also be able to watch filmmaker introductions and Q&A sessions with cast  and crew which we are recording and streaming live for certain premiere titles. We’ll have many times more international guests than has ever been possible before!

This is another aspect showing NZIFF At Home – Online will be a FILM FESTIVAL not a global branding exercise for GOOGLE (parent company of YOUTUBE).

How has the lack of festivals like Cannes impacted the choice of films, have some distributors been reticent to premiere material on these shores?

Obviously Cannes is our usual source of big name ,big cast films so like the rest of the world we’re missing some of these titles as they wait to premiere at Venice and Toronto festivals  later in the year … but not to worry, as our catalogue shows, we have a fine selection of films from across the world including films from Venice and Toronto 2019, Sundance, Berlin, Rotterdam, Locarno and even a couple from Cannes 2019 which slipped through the net of the NZIFF 2019 selection, which I’ve included this year.

What can you tell us about the platform it'll be on, how events will happen, films will happen and ticketing etc?

The great team at  Shift72 have created our NZIFF At Home – Online platform. These guys are working from a small Hamilton-based office and have made a name for themselves, internationally being the platform of choice for other film festivals like SXSW CPH:DOX Festival Copenhagen, Sydney and Melbourne film festivals and the Cannes Film Market.

Events will largely be online. Obviously with international travel being a pipedream, we couldn’t fly filmmakers in as we usually would so pre-recorded filmmaker intros will be available for selected titles, as well as Q&A live streams on our social media pages.

Part of cinema-goer culture is having lobby chats and discussions generated around the films, so we wanted to keep this flame burning as much as possible through our online presence. In saying that, now that we also have selected theatrical screenings, many of our New Zealand titles will have their world premiere screenings in cinemas and venues including in-person Q&A sessions with the local film teams. All “how to“ instructions are detailed on our website.

What film or event has you most excited this year and why?

Without having to worry about scoring a big comfortable Cannes title for a corporate-sponsored GALA opening event I’m excited to open the festival this year with a film that has as much speed-punk anarchy coursing through its veins as the outlaw rebel it portrays – Justin Kurzel’s dazzling and disturbing adaptation of Peter Carey’s masterpiece True History Of The Kelly Gang.

Its star-studded cast includes our own Thomasin McKenzie, Russell Crowe and Marlon Williams, alongside George MacKay (1917) Charlie Hunnam (Sons Of Anarchy), Essie Davis  (The Babadook) and Nicholas Hoult (The Favourite, X-Men) The film may divide audiences but it won’t be easily forgotten… 

Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival kicks off 24 July. Details on nziff.co.nz

Phil Spencer Shares Xbox Commitments To Players Ahead Of Xbox Series X

Phil Spencer Shares Xbox Commitments To Players Ahead Of Xbox Series X

Today, Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, published a blog announcing a set of commitments Xbox is making to players as gaming transitions into its next generation. Xbox is committing to policies such as:

 

• Players will always be welcome – a commitment backed up with community support, empowering creators of different backgrounds to bring diverse content to our platform, and the acceleration of new technology to reduce hate speech and toxicity.
• Players will not be forced into the next generation – Xbox Game Studios titles shipped in the next few years will play great on Xbox Series X and Xbox One, and Xbox will continue to support cross-play so that gamers and their friends can play together across platforms, as well as across console generations.
• With Xbox’s “Smart Delivery” technology – players can buy supporting titles once and play across console generations at no cost. Highly anticipated titles like “Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla” and “Cyberpunk 2077” will support Smart Delivery.
• Players can play new Xbox Game Studios titles on the day they launch with Xbox Game Pass.

 

 

You Are the Future of Gaming

by Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox

 

Games are a source of joy, inspiration, and social connection. They have the power to bring us together, create empathy, and strengthen our social fabric. As we prepare for the next generation, our efforts to make gaming more inclusive, more immersive, more connected, and more social are as relevant and important as ever.

 

At Xbox, we listen to what you – players, game developers, and content creators – tell us you want from the future of gaming. Based on your feedback, we’re building a future where you and your friends can play the deepest, most immersive and interactive games ever created across your Xbox console, PC, and mobile devices.

 

At the dawn of the next generation, it’s important to be clear about what you can expect from the future of Xbox.

 

Our vision has one hero at the heart of it all: You.

 

And today, I want to share our commitments to you:

 

• You will always be welcome. We are building Xbox for you—players from all walks of life, everywhere in the world. We want to make your Xbox community safe, accessible, and welcoming – a place where you can have fun. As we say in our community standards, harassment and hate take many forms, but none have a home on Xbox. Should you feel others are behaving in ways that violate the standards, our safety team will investigate your report and support you 24/7/365 around the globe. And we continue to accelerate new technology to reduce hate speech and toxicity, giving you the tools to create the safe gaming community you want to play in.

 

In addition to tools, we commit to bringing more diverse stories to Xbox for you to enjoy. We are empowering creators of diverse backgrounds to develop new stories, advocating for an authentic and respectful representation in games, and championing accessibility so that all can play. Additionally, more than 300,000 Xbox Ambassadors give their time and passion to making Xbox the best place to play and we invite all players to join us on that mission. We still have so much more work to do and will not stop until everyone who plays feels welcome, heard, and valued.

 

• Your games will look and play best on Xbox Series X. Xbox Series X is designed to deliver a new level of fidelity, feel, performance and precision never seen before in console gaming. All games will look and play best on Xbox Series X – whether they come from our 15 Xbox Game Studios, like Halo Infinite, or from our world-class publisher and developer partners. Packing over 12 teraflops of GPU power including new technologies like hardware-accelerated Direct X raytracing and variable rate shading, and with four times the processing power of an Xbox One X, Xbox Series X enables developers to provide you with transformative gaming experiences through richer, more dynamic living worlds, more realistic AI and animations, and support for higher frame rates including support for up to 120 FPS.

 

Xbox Series X also enables you to spend less time waiting and more time playing, as it virtually eliminates load times with the 40x boost in I/O throughput from last generation. With our custom next-generation SSD and Xbox Velocity Architecture, nearly every aspect of playing games is improved. Game worlds are larger, more dynamic and load in a flash, and fast travel is just that – fast. The Xbox Velocity Architecture also powers new platform capabilities like Quick Resume, which enables you to seamlessly switch between multiple titles and resume instantly from where you last left off without waiting through long loading screens. Right now, Xbox Series X is in the hands of our 15 Xbox Game Studios teams and thousands of third-party developers, empowering them to create a new generation of blockbuster games for you to enjoy.

 

 

• You play new games day one with Xbox Game Pass. All Xbox Game Studios titles launch into Xbox Game Pass the same day as their global release, so you decide whether to purchase each game separately or play them all with your Xbox Game Pass membership. Xbox Game Studios franchises that will launch into Game Pass day one of release include Halo, Forza, Age of Empires, Gears of War, Minecraft, Hellblade, The Outer Worlds, Psychonauts, Microsoft Flight Simulator, State of Decay, Wasteland, Minecraft Dungeons and Sea of Thieves—and more new franchises in early development. So, when Halo Infinite launches, you and your friends can decide whether to purchase the game or play it with Xbox Game Pass.

 

• You won’t be forced into the next generation. We want every Xbox player to play all the new games from Xbox Game Studios. That’s why Xbox Game Studios titles we release in the next couple of years—like Halo Infinite—will be available and play great on Xbox Series X and Xbox One. We won’t force you to upgrade to Xbox Series X at launch to play Xbox exclusives.

 

• Your games will not be left behind, thanks to backward compatibility. You will be able to play four generations of games on Xbox Series X on day one. That makes it the largest launch lineup for any new console ever, with thousands of games to play. Our backward compatibility engineers have spent years devising innovative ways for modern, next-gen technology to make the games library you’re building today even better, at no additional cost and with no work from developers. It’s our intent for all Xbox One games that do not require Kinect to play on Xbox Series X at the launch of the console. And because of the unprecedented power of Xbox Series X, most of your favourite games will load faster and look and perform many times better on the new console.

 

• Your Xbox One gaming accessories come into the future with you, too. The Xbox Elite Controller and Xbox Adaptive Controller all work on Xbox Series X, so you don’t have to purchase new controllers. We believe that your investments in gaming should move with you into the next generation.

 

• You can buy games once at no added cost. With our new Smart Delivery technology, you don’t need to buy the same game twice – once for the current console generation and once for the next generation. You always have the best available version of supported games on whatever Xbox console you are playing on, at no additional cost. If you own a title that supports Smart Delivery like Destiny 2, Gears 5 and Halo Infinite, you automatically have access to the version that plays best on your Xbox console. Highly anticipated games from the world’s biggest developers, like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Cyberpunk 2077, Marvel’s Avengers and more have already committed to supporting Smart Delivery and more will be announced soon.

 

Xbox Play Anywhere digital titles also enable you to buy once and play on both Xbox consoles and Windows 10 PCs.

 

• You choose how to jump into the next generation of gaming. We hear from you that you prefer choice and value. With Xbox All Access, you can get Xbox Series X, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for a low monthly price with no up-front costs, no finance charges and no hidden fees. You get to enjoy an instant library of over 100 high-quality games, join friends with online multiplayer, and experience new Xbox Game Studios titles the day they release, including Halo Infinite, on the fastest, most powerful Xbox ever.

 

• You are in control of a healthy and balanced gaming lifestyle. If you are a parent, guardian or caregiver, the new Xbox Family Settings app (Preview) for iOS and Android provides a simple and convenient way to create child accounts, customize family settings, and ensure that your kids have access to gaming that you feel is appropriate.
• You will get more from your Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership. Finally, today we’re announcing that this September, in supported countries, we’re bringing Xbox Game Pass and Project xCloud together at no additional cost for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members. With cloud gaming in Game Pass Ultimate, you will be able to play over 100 Xbox Game Pass titles on your phone or tablet. And because Xbox Live connects across devices, you can play along with the nearly 100 million Xbox Live players around the world. So when Halo Infinite launches, you and your friends can play together and immerse yourselves in the Halo universe as Master Chief—anywhere you go and across devices.

 

Cloud gaming in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate means your games are no longer locked to the living room. You can connect more than ever with friends and family through gaming. And just like you do with your movie and music streaming services, when cloud gaming launches into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you can continue your game wherever you left off on any of your devices.

 

When you add it all up, Xbox Series X is the only next generation console that lets you play new blockbuster games at the highest console fidelity, enjoy the latest blockbuster games the day they launch for one monthly price, play four generations of your games at higher fidelity than ever before, and play with friends wherever you want across your TV, PC, and mobile device. And with Xbox All Access, you can jump into the next generation for one low monthly payment and no up-front costs.

 

The future of gaming has never been more exciting and limitless. It’s a future you’ll explore on your terms, not constrained by restrictive policies. Where your gaming legacy will not be left behind and where you will not be locked out of new exclusive Xbox Game Studios games even if you choose to stay with your current console for a while.

 

It’s a future where you and your friends play the most immersive, responsive, and vivid games together on every screen in your life, and where games reach across the world and bring you stories you’ve never experienced before. It’s a future in which you get more value from your games. And where everyone is welcome.

 

We hope you’ll join us next Thursday, July 23rd for the Xbox Games Showcase for the first look at the Halo Infinite Campaign and more.

 

Thanks so much for shaping the future of gaming.

 

-Phil

The Very Excellent Mr Dundee: Film Review

The Very Excellent Mr Dundee: Film Review

Cast: Paul Hogan, Rachael Carpani, Olivia Newton-John
Director: Dean Murphy

The Very Excellent Mr Dundee is perhaps a contender for the worst film of the year.

Paul Hogan's Crocodile Dundee first made waves back in 1986 as Mick Dundee played his fish out of water routine while in the US. A few sequels followed, but none captured the moment of the first.

In this latest, which has been pushed to Amazon Prime and spared a cinema release due to coronavirus, Hogan is back - and clearly wants to be Larry David.

Playing a version of himself, the Los-Angeles living Hogan discovers the Queen wants to knight him - but at the same time, finds himself the centre of a media furore after he accidentally flicks a snake at a teacher.

Told to keep a low profile by his long-suffering agent (played with game by Carpani), Hogan agrees - but every single move he makes turns out to be a raging misfire...

It'd be great to reveal that The Very Excellent Mr Dundee is a post-modern satire that pokes fun at Hollywood and the reputation of the crocodile hero.

But unfortunately, it's more pertinent to reveal this film is in fact nothing more than a croc(k).

A weak script that uses race and some flat punchlines to push its storyline, The Very Excellent Mr Dundee flounders on all levels; it's akin to the equivalent of a very bad dad joke, that's excruciating to endure.

As previously mentioned, Hogan's clearly inspired by Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm, but The Very Excellent Mr Dundee is more like a 60s UK comedy throwback that no one asked for that lacks subtlety and the smarts to exist in 2020.

Hogan seems to end most scenes smirking, as if he's the only one in on the joke. Various Aussie celebs debase themselves by appearing and even John Cleese shows up in the least likely car chase sequence ever planned for 2020. A gag over MeToo and a Harvey Weinstein moment show the film had potential but it's all been squandered for nothing more than 90 minutes of sub-par mediocrity.

The Excellent Mr Dundee is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video

The King of Staten Island: Film Review

The King of Staten Island: Film Review

Cast: Pete Davidson, Marisa Tomei, Bel Powley, Bill Burr, Steve Buscemi
Director: Judd Apatow

With charm and charisma, an authentic turn from comedian Pete Davidson anchors The King of Staten Island.

It's only fair that he does, given the movie is actually semi-autobiographical and is co-written by Davidson himself.

Set in the New York borough of Staten Island, Davidson is 24 year old highschool dropout Scott, who's never really got over the death of his firefighter father.

ADD and with a desire to become a tattoo artist, despite his "inconsistent tattoos", Scott's life goes into a tailspin when his sister goes to college - and it's further exacerbated by his mum (Tomei) dating another man.

The King of Staten Island is in many ways a typical Apatow dramedy.

It follows the path of other films he's done like This Is 40 and Funny People in that it ploughs a comedic furrow before halfway through taking a turn into dramatic overtones.

And yet, despite very familiar edges, The King of Staten Island works because of the authenticity of the script, the relatability of the protagonist  and the genuinely funny edges of the story.

Central to all of this is Davidson, who gifts the dramedy with the breeze it needs when it's necessary. But while that helps proceedings, the film never really delves deeply into the problematic psychology of Scott preferring to allow the proceedings to paint the picture and provide the insights. Apatow's film is more interested in hanging out with the bros and capturing the elements of Brooklyn life to a tee.

That's no bad thing given Apatow's eye for the shaggy stories; this one is no exception with a mammoth 140 minute run time. It may be a coming of age story, and a familiar tale of a manchild lost in life, but Davidson's veracity gifts the film the emotional heft and relatability that it scores so highly on.

Sure, there's a degree of sentimentality creeping in as the film enters its final furlong, but you'll forgive The King of Staten Island a degree of indulgence.

For in it, and obviously on show, is a story of humanity and of worth, anchored by two great performances from Davidson and Tomei.

The King of Staten Island is a winning film that unexpectedly creeps up on you in ways you'd never guess but are delighted it does.

The Vigil: Movie Review

The Vigil: Movie Review

Cast: Dave Davis, Menashe Lustig
Director: Keith Thomas

Debutant director Keith Thomas' horror The Vigil may be low budget, but it's definitely high on the fright factor.

Dave Davis uses every second on screen to convey the horror of being haunted, both figuratively and literally, as Shomer Yakov Ronen, who's asked to watch over a body until morning. An easy task it would appear, but with Ronen suffering a loss of faith and a crisis of conscience, the Brooklyn night is full of more horrors than he'd expect.

Making great use of sound, and ratcheting up an atmosphere that's worthy of the Blumhouse stable it comes from, The Vigil does a great job of its lead.

With his permanently worried face, and a growing feeling that he's gradually losing the plot, Dave Davis channels everything into the role, giving the shomer an uncertainty and the jump scares a bit more of the emotional depth it requires.

Crafting a soundscape of scares is an obvious thing to do in a horror film, but Thomas uses the sound and dissonance to disturbing effect, generating unease as the usual long slow pan shots down corridors come into play.

In truth, many of the horror tropes are on show here and are all deployed with aplomb.

But by setting the film among the Hasidic community, keeping the cast to a minimum and using the internal conflict to maximum effect, director and writer Keith Thomas has offered up something smartly different to an over-stuffed genre.