Interview: Rima Te Wiata

Posted 3:00pm Sunday 21st September 2014

Rima: I’m just sitting in a park in Wellington; it’s very nice, it’s very sunny. Critic: Oh wonderful! So, yeah, one of our reviewer’s here at Critic for our film section finished their review saying that Housebound was “International funny,” not just “Kiwi funny.” I guess in terms of the Read more...

Magic in the Moonlight

Posted 4:38pm Sunday 14th September 2014

Rating: B- The joy of Woody Allen films is that you always know more or less what you’re in for. Magic in the Moonlight is quintessential Allen at its most predictable. Luckily, Colin Firth is much easier to watch than old Woody, so this film has commendable eye candy, as well as Read more...

Lucy

Posted 11:52pm Sunday 7th September 2014

Rating: A - Luc Besson had been directing and writing powerhouse female protagonists since 1990’s La Femme Nikita. Lucy is evidence of 24 years of experience. His French sensibilities with cinema make for an engaging experience. Lucy is a fairly typical student put into the wrong place Read more...

The Dark Horse

Posted 12:53am Monday 18th August 2014

Rating: A+ The Dark Horse echoes the conversation around Maori urbanisation started by Once Were Warriors and, in my opinion, supersedes it. Set in Gisborne, The Dark Horse tells the based-on-life story of Genesis Potini, who is a one-time chess champion. Released from Read more...

Begin Again

Posted 9:16pm Sunday 10th August 2014

Rating: B- Begin Again, a modern music film in which the music felt terribly dated, and scored by The New Radicals, who haven’t released an album since 1999. I don’t understand this bizarre choice in musicians for the score of a film about the current music industry. The whole thing felt Read more...

What We Do in the Shadows

Posted 6:52pm Sunday 13th July 2014

Rating: A It did my heart good to see that Nosferatu hadn’t lost his touch. Vampires have become a staple offering of Hollywood flicks in recent years. I haven’t cared much for the ones that sparkle, the ones that are super-cool and drink blood like they’re shooting heroine, nor for the Read more...

Transcendence

Posted 4:32pm Sunday 18th May 2014

Rating: B Transcendence raises a lot of questions. Why was no one prosecuted for the excessive law breaking? How did the terrorists and the FBI become buddies? Why am I so bothered by the slow-mo shot of water droplets falling off a sunflower? Johnny Depp is the smartest computer geek Read more...

Half a Yellow Sun

Posted 3:11pm Sunday 11th May 2014

Rating: A I do not know what war means. I say this with as much education on the subject as the average person. I understand it in theory, but emotionally – the reality of being prepared to flee for my life at a moment’s notice, an air raid bomb about to go off next to me, losing my friends, Read more...

The Lego Movie

Posted 4:20pm Sunday 4th May 2014

Rating: B+ LEGO: “a construction toy consisting of interlocking plastic building blocks.” Riveting. But seriously, within the parameters of what is and is not possible to do with LEGO, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller created what was actually a very delightful film. These two appear to be a Read more...

Tracks

Posted 1:58pm Sunday 27th April 2014

Rating: A Tracks is one of the most powerful films I have seen. The cinematography is breathtakingly beautiful, as is the expansive and dangerous Australian desert. Normally, I don’t love journey films; or films about endless and repetitive landscapes such as deserts, oceans and space. Read more...