A Summertime Postcard from Aotearoa
Kicking off the Kiwi cinematic calendar...
I’m stoked to devote a chunk of this latest Substack chinwag to New Zealand filmmaking and how perfect to channel that homegrown energy while sitting in wet togs with a hot coffee in the warm morning sun of the winterless north writing with a view - how good! My extended Waitangi Weekend escape up to blissful beaches, 5 swims a day and soaking up that sensational feeling of summer spent with fabulous friends giving me those #Blessed #Grateful vibes if I was one of those #Hashtag people which I’m not #PleaseMakeItStop ;)
This blissed-out time-out has also been a reminder of the stories which come from this land and the storytellers who deliver them, the ones before and the ones to come.
Hey before I talk local releases, a huge congrats to all the winners at the Critics Choice Awards over the weekend - full disclosure I am a member of the CCA and bloody love voting in these! Seeing the brilliant Anora win Best Film kinda made my heart sing as did Rebel Ridge for Best Movie Made for TV. Another big awards night for Shōgun and blessed day - the universe was restored to it’s natural balance with a win for the Trent Rezor/Atticus Ross Challengers score. Oscar nominated The Substance had a bolter too, strengthening Demi Moore’s Oscar chances in the Best Actress race plus a well deserved Best Original Screenplay win for Writer/Director Coralie Fargeat (HMU for the CCA win too).
The blowback from the Emilia Pérez dramas may well have put some serious wind in the Anora sails, Sean Baker quickly followed up the CCA accolade with both the PGA (Producers Guild) AND a DGA (Directors Guild) for Best Film. I would actually be bloody delighted to see this cracking film take out the Oscar! And while we’re on the subject of the PGA’s, Taika Waititi has been honoured by his Hollywood producing peers with the prestigious Norman Lear Achievement Award which of course he accepted in typical Taika fashion:
“Thank you so much for believing in Indigenous stories and believing they could be more than just brown people standing on a mountain playing a flute talking to ancestors”
Brilliant.
Speaking of top notch NZ storytellers, plenty to come from all quarters on the hometown front as we prepare to welcome a new horror from Coming Home in the Dark helmer James Ashcroft (and if you haven’t seen this malevolent, menacing movie it’s streaming on Prime Video!). His latest is called The Rule of Jenny Pen and Ashcroft attracted non other than actual Hollywood legend John Lithgow to town to play opposite Aussie Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush in what can only be described as a… “Rest Home Horror” ?? Whaaaaaat? Won’t say much more than that for now, full reviews are embargoed until closer to release on March 20, but I promise you this one is worth the wait - even the venerable Stephen King thinks so:
"I watched one of the best movies I’ve seen this year. It’s called THE RULE OF JENNY PEN, and I urge you to watch it..” (Stephen King tweet on X )
Closer to release, I am super-pumped to join the horde gathering at the World Premiere of Tinā at Auckland’s mighty Civic this week, the feature directorial debut of Miki Magasiva. The trailer alone got me teary so who knows what state I’ll be in after watching the film itself!
And from the stage to the big screen, Katie Wolfe’s critically acclaimed 2019 play The Haka Party Incident played across the motu to sell-out audiences, her follow-up documentary of the same name premiered at the Whānau Marama New Zealand International Film Festival last year and now hits cinemas on general release. She spoke to RNZ about the project..
Alien Weaponry: Kua Tupu Te Ara has also landed in local cinemas as these magnificent Māori metal-heads take their music, their metal, their mana, their reo and their story to the big screen.
Along with local content, after it’s appearance at the British and Irish Film Festival last year, we have Widow Clicquot.
Set in the late 18th century and based on the true story behind the Veuve Clicquot champagne family and business this film is a showcase for rising star Haley Bennett who truely shines here. Gorgeously shot and a fascinating story, this is best seen on the big screen, and while no means an absolute must-see for all, it may well feel a little slow for some, this story will most certainly serve its champagne-loving audience well.
THE FEELS: Luxuriated and immersed, buoyed by the quiet strength and power of an underestimated women.
THE HOOK: If you love yourself a glass of bubbles and you love yourself a good period drama riffing on a true story then pour yourself into your nearest cinema
MY LUDICROUSLY CAPACIOUS BAG OF BINGE-A-BILITY
Shrinking S1&2 - AppleTV
Harrison Ford can do no wrong continuing to prove at 82 that he can still come to us from left field and play a smart-arse shrink with a heart of gold (ok, when I put it like that he does kinda sound like Han Solo with a couch). A co-pro between Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein (ROY F**KING KENT!!!) Jason Segel and Bill Lawrence, this series is a delicious cocktail of comedy, grief, coupling and uncoupling and plenty of navel-gazing stitched together with pacy scripts rammed with zingers. Book your appointment, your therapist will see you now.
The Diplomat S1&2 - Netflix
Keri Russell is such a boss in this series I adore her. As the US ambassador to the UK with the lure/curse of VP as her next career move, this complex, sensationally scripted series plays out just as nourishingly in S2. Get amongst it quick smart if you haven’t already.
GUEST STARRING…
She’s here, she’s there, she’s every f**king where KATE RODGER!
Longtime fangirl of multi-hyphenate broadcaster and creative Perlina Lau I was stoked when she invited me to join her on her Sunday morning Culture 101 on RNZ to wax lyrical on Hollywood’s most tumultuous awards season in years fuelled by the LA wildfires, Trump and Emilia Pérez. click below to listen should you dare!
THE COMMENTS SECTION
Dive into the comments below or click to Chat with any of your own takes/feedback/thrills/disappointments/holiday pics - fill ya boots!
Farewell for now FilmFam and remember, I Love You.. (I Know)
KRxx
You are a joy KRO! x
Classic Taika!