Archive for the ‘Features’ Category
The American Protocol
Obsidian’s RPG thriller, Alpha Protocol that sees players assume the role of Michael Thorton, a highly skilled government operative trained to eliminate threats to national security, seems to have non-to subtly influenced the latest poster design for The American, featuring a retired hit man taking one final job…
New Zealand’s Worst Cinema?
We were down in Whakatane over the weekend and had the rare opportunity of babysitters so that my wife and I could go to the cinema and a catch a film on the big screen. It had been a while since we’d been to Whakatane’s cinema 5, the last film adventure we had there was over the 2003 Christmas holidays when we managed to wrap up the Matrix trilogy. It seemed like a pretty decent cinema, especially for small town New Zealand.
I went down early to pick up tickets – I didn’t want to miss out and the film I had picked was only just in it’s second week of release, and still the number one film around the world. The foyer was pretty much as I remembered it, with a nice little cafe attached and some old school arcade machines. The actual cinema experience would have to wait till 8.30 however. Read the rest of this entry »
#NZFF – Space Tourists
The once great Russian Space Programme is now a shell of it’s former self. Thousands of people lost their jobs, entire towns ceased to exist. Some make a living chasing the space junk as it falls to earth after every lunch. Others just survive by living off the land. This is touched on in Space Tourists, but it’s only a side note when it could have been a poignant measuring stick for poverty vs obnoxious riches.
Rather Space Tourists focuses on it’s title; Space Tourists – and rightly so some of you might think – and in doing so misses the mark on being an informative documentary and instead falls into the camp of pure voyeurism. Read the rest of this entry »
19 Things You Didn’t Know About Star Wars
#NZFF – Once Upon a Time in the West
There may not be many Spaghetti Westerns on offer these days, but their iconic style will forever be etched into advertising and movie plot lines everywhere. When you think of western movies you often think tumbleweed, sideways glancing cowboys and that all too familiar eeeooooeeeoooowweeeee wah wah waaaaahhhh..
Its widely regarded that one of the most iconic Spaghetti Westerns is in fact an Italian job by Sergio Leone. Once Upon a Time in the West packs a cast of equally iconic actors in a time where the railroad is heading west. Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards and Claudia Cardinale lead the charge in a tale of revenge and greed. Read the rest of this entry »
#NZFF – Waste Land
There are really quite a number of movies called Wasteland.. yet there are very very few that will move you as much as this documentary will.
Waste Land is a documentary about Jardim Gramacho, the worlds largest landfill. Found just outside of Rio de Janeiro, this landfill manages a staggering amount of endless rubbish from a number of very vibrant and extremely diverse local suburbs. From the air Jardim Gramacho is a very stunning and disturbing scene. Thousands of workers clamour over gigantic hills of refuse in search of recyclable material. Regardless of weather or time of the day, the rubbish continues to flow and the workers continue to scavenge.
Its dirty, disgusting and unthinkable. Read the rest of this entry »
#NZFF – Splice
Splice is the cautionary Frankenstein tale for a new generation. Genetic engineers and media darlings, Clive Nicoli (Adrien Brody) and Elsa Kast (Sarah Polley) have created a slug like animal that they hope will contain the right genetic material to enable the creation of agricultural pharmaceuticals that will ring the company they work for enough money that they will be allowed to further their splicing techniques into the territory that really rocks their boat: slicing animal and human DNA to create a human based creature that could unlock cures for many of todays biggest health issues.
Of course, despite having proved their genetic worth, the company wants Clive and Elsa to focus on getting the profits before allowing them to chase their dream, especially a dream that is potentially crossing the line into the unethical and illegal.
Of course, being a horror, Elsa decides that they should at least see if human DNA splicing is possible. Clive, the stereotypical weak husband goes along for the ride, believing when his wife keeps telling him that they won’t let to go full term. Read the rest of this entry »
#NZFF – I Am Love
The 2008 gala opening of the New Zealand International Film Festival, featuring kiwi film, “Apron Strings”, was kicked off by then Prime Minister Helen Clarke. She was also Minister of Arts and Culture, so when she opened the festival it was her crowd. The majority loved that she was there and they loved the movie – it was a celebration.
If the festival was aiming for a similar feel this year it seems they misjudged it from the beginning. A noticeable groan trickled throughout the 2000+ audience when Auckland City Mayor John Banks was invited to speak (he saved the embarrassing situation nicely by opening with a self-deprecating joke). The movie, I Am Love, also failed to capture the audience in any mood of celebration and excitement. Read the rest of this entry »
