Things that were 3D in this movie: * Fish * Cave * Gore * Vomit * “Naked underwater skank ballet” – Nathan Rabin, AVClub * Eli Roth I had a great time. Directorially? The suspense wasn’t ratcheted up nearly as high as it could have gone. But on the other hand, the violence was perfectly [...]
Tagged film, reviewsWith a couple hours to fill before the Tall Blacks vs Lebanon game began, I decided to watch this film. And blog about it too. It was in a stack of DVDs the Knifeman loaned me a few months back that I am ever-so-slowly working through. The director Satashi Kon died a few days ago, [...]
Tagged film, reviewsInception is a big budget sci-fi film by Christopher Nolan who did The Dark Knight recently. It’s getting quite some acclaim. I saw it on Saturday with the other moose, the knifeman, and the enigmatic B. We spanned the whole range of opinions: one liked it, one didn’t like it, one thought it was okay, [...]
Tagged film, reviewsI was one of the many many people who saw this film at its Monday festival screening. Lots of familiar faces in the audience. Embassy Theatre was heaving. It’s a nice cinema always, but especially when it’s heaving. So: this is a “based on a true story” of prominent 80s KGB informant Vladimir Vetrov, who [...]
Tagged film, nzff, reviewsThose people who advised about going to see films without expectation or even choosing were right – this was not one I’d have chosen, and I think it’s my favourite of the five I’ve seen so far. We inherited tickets from my parents, who found late that they couldn’t go. There’s not much film to [...]
Tagged film, nzff, reviewsDoco about Daniel Ellsberg, an ex-Marine Pentagon/Rand staffer whose eventual conclusion that Vietnam was unwinnable then turned to horror when he discovered that the U.S. had been the instigator from the beginning. Ellsberg then leaked the history of the origins of the Vietnam War, first to senators and congressmen who did nothing with the information, [...]
Tagged film, nzff, reviewsNext flim fevistal offering: Candyman. NZ filmmaker Costa Botes went to California to make this documentary about David Klein, the inventor of the Jelly Belly jellybean. This was a candy product that, not to overstate the case, revolutionised candy production in the U.S. (and, some speculate, helped humanise Ronald Reagan). Klein sold out of Jelly [...]
Tagged film, nzff, reviewsFirst Flim Fevistal experience of the year was this animated piece by the fine minds behind Triplets of Belleville. It’s an adaptation of an unproduced (and apparently deeply personal) script by French comic filmmaker Jacques Tati. In the fading years of Vaudeville, a stage illusionist travels where the work takes him, and in the Scottish [...]
Tagged film, nzff, reviewsYeah, so, remember how I was all down on cinema and not interested in movies? Well we had a sporting break on another cheap night, and when the invitation came down to go see Predators, I couldn’t resist. After all, I have much love for the original film and its under-rated sequel, and it’s been [...]
Tagged film, reviewsMy grumpy post about how I’m not excited by film at the moment has sparked lots of great comments about good movies (and good television). Svend asked, “Are you disenchanted with the act of communal cinema-going, the film format, or the sorts of stories that tend to be told in film?” To which my answer [...]
Tagged film