Just Keep Swimming.. SCHOOL'S OUT!
What I'm watching, what I'm thinking, what I'm feeling.
I am officially just one day into the looooooooong summer school holidays with a 12 and 16 year old - send thoughts and prayers and I’ll send ‘em straight back atcha!
Help is always at hand for getting them out from underfoot and for a brief respite from the heat on those stonking hot summer days - Get Thee Into Cinema Air Conditioning!
Here I shall offer up my picks of the family flicks including the just released Flow and Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
Of course still out in cinemas and bringing in new and repeat audiences are:
Wicked ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (see full review on previous post)
Moana 2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 (see full review on previous post)
Paddington In Peru opens New Years Day and I’ll do a full review closer to the time but rest assured ANY time spent with that bear and the Browns is a good time!!
Mufasa has just hit cinemas globally and I’d hoped to get a screening under my belt for this Lion King prequel before hitting publish today but #XmasFrenzy grrrrrr. With Barry Jenkins at the helm this movie is definitely on my must-watch list and I shall report back forthwith.
For cats, capybaras and hedgehogs read on fellow-film freak read on..
GET THEE TO A CINEMA
NEW RELEASE
⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️
Flow, for me, was flawless. We’ve had to wait a while for this divine animated story from Latvian filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis, it won at Annecy and was nominated for Un Certain Regard at Cannes and now we have it!
Does anyone remember “The Bear” (NOT the show) from ages ago? Late 80s, French, about an orphaned bear cub who latches onto a big old grumpy bear? Real bears, shot in Austria and Italy, and a script almost entirely without dialogue? Well I bloody LOVED it and Flow delivers the same dialogue-free magical storytelling experience. The fact the lead actor is a “purrrfectly” cast cat is of course just the icing on this crazy cat lady’s cake.
Cat lives in an empty home in the forest which was clearly inhabited by humans at some point. He’s a lone cat, happily living his lone cat life, when a massive wave of water washes over the land, rising higher and higher until its above the trees. He clambers onto an old boat floating by and through the course of this gorgeous tale he will encounter many other animals struggling to escape the flood and survive in this new watery world. Yes Internet there is a capybara, but throw in a lemur, a dog and a cool-as feathery friend and by crikey we have a film for the ages!
That’s all I’ll say. Other than PLEASE GO SEE IT ON THE BIG SCREEN.
And if you need any more persuading, I took my usual two 12 year old critics Max and Morrie with me and they LOVED it: “so sad” but “so cool”.
THE FEELS: “sad” “cool” according to the 12 Year Old Cohort and 100% agreement from me, I was filled with such a cacophony of emotions from joy and wonder to dread and sadness and I loved feeling them all.
THE HOOK: #Cat. Enough said. Flow was both an emotional story of survival and friendship and unity through the eyes of our furry friends while also a sobering parable about the Earth’a survival as a whole. Just so so good.
NEW RELEASE
⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️
The embargo for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 just lifted this morning and this sequel is a cracking family watch. I loved and rewatched the first Sonic but was strangely underwhelmed by the second, this third outing triumphs courtesy of Jim Carrey of course chewing the scenery at every turn but with Keanu Reeves entering the fray as the voice of Shadow. Great little tale, a fabulous twist, many a high-speed turn (SuperSonic high speed of course) and some serious adult lols and Keanu throwbacks. There’s even a breaking the 4th wall GEM courtesy of Carrey in peak Carrey form.
Maybe slightly too long, 15 minutes shaved off would have tighened things up but that didn’t seem to bother my 12 Year Old Critics Max and Morrie: “LOVED Shadow.. he was cool”.
And as usual with these kind of movies, stay for the mid-credit coda to get a sneak peak into what/who comes next - the kids were pumped!
THE FEELS: A lot of genuine laughs for the kids AND the grownups which I love to see and feel in a crammed cinema. I don’t find these Sonic films emotional like say a Pixar movie, but they have lovely messages of friendship and family and I am very here for those.
THE HOOK: Do you really need one - its the HOLIDAYS ha ha!! But yes - buy tickets for the kinetic immersive animation and to soak up the fun of characters we know and love while welcoming in a new supersonic villain. Hugely entertaining.
MY LUDICROUSLY CAPACIOUS BAG OF BINGE-A-BILITY
OMG how did I wait so long on this show I absolutely LOVED it. Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch are so so good and the whole pace and vibe of this stylish, gripping cat and mouse is on point. Dive in pronto if you haven’t already.
Not gonna lie - despite some great moments here and there, the Yellowstone ranch without John Dutton leaning over a fence felt oddly coloured-in and left me entirely without emotion as the final credits rolled on the series finale. It was certainly wrapped up in a way that felt right, which was something at least. I guess now we have to see if there is still gas in the Yellowstone tank as the spin-off with Beth and Rip gets the green light.
THE WEEKLY TIPS AND DIPS INTO THE KR ARCHIVE
Firstly - some most excellent news with thanks to my main man and ex-Newshub work hubby Daniel Rutledge for helping clear up a few things around access to my 20 years of stories and reviews. While you won’t find much under a “Newshub” google search, a tonne of Newshub content has been migrated over to stuff.co.nz. While a good many of them will be the written article only and won’t have the video attached yet there’s still some available to view with apparently more to come.
I feel like maybe 2017 is the cut off, as in there will be nothing earlier than 2017 at Stuff but still much better than nothing.
And as for the amazing future of our full archive of 35 years at Ngā Toanga? The lovely Lloyd Burr does a full explainer here:
THE BEAR (1988) Rent for $5.99 on AppleTV.
My tip of the week - watch The Bear! No not the kitchen one, the actual bear one. It’s from 1988 and if you do nothing else but click on the trailer, you’ll feel like you’re in a time machine! Classic 80’s voiceover to warm your old school heart ;)
BONUS TIP: Watch the first two Sonics with the kids either before or after heading to the cinema - cheapest rental $2.99 on NeonNZ and AppleTV
And my Archive Dive for the week, with Keanu entering the Sonic universe indulge me and yourself in my full-length Wick chat from the New York junket, he is honest to god such a genuinely lovely dude and easily one of my favourite people to sit down with.
GUEST STARRING…
She’s here, she’s there, she’s every f**king where KATE RODGER! (Roy Kent 4 Life).
My last chinwag for the year with my mate Jesse on RNZ Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan. Thanks for all your BTS organising José Barbosa you rock and to my fellow afternoons filmheads Dom Corry and Sam Hollis I salute you and all your viewing!
Here I list some of my best films of 2024 along with some summer picks:
THE COMMENTS SECTION
Join the CHAT! What are your fav picks from 2024 - chime in! What are you the most pumped to see - yeah baby! That’s about as many exclamation marks as you can likely handle for one Substack - so simply click below to rant and rave, I’m here for you…
The Projector Rulez
+ Argue (kindly but with passion)
+ Agree
+ Articulate
+ And Above All - tell us all what YOU are watching, thinking and feeling.
Farewell for now FilmFreaks, take care in this frantic festive frenzy and do what Nemo and Dory would do, just keep swimming!
KR xx
(Me, Max and Morrie - The Triple Ms)
We saw FLOW when it was on at the NZIFF this year. Wholehearted recommendation. It is fantastic! Now it is coming back on general release we will absolutely go see again. Do yourself a favour and go see it!
@Kate Rodger, do you think Flow would be suitable for a 4 year old (who watches a lot of movies, i.e can sit still(ish) for the duration), or too scary?!