Like a Rolling Stone..
The Oscars favourites barrel into kiwi cinemas...
All Hail the Movies! This week is STACKED with big ticket new releases, all of them awards darlings and each entirely different from the other which I love. Timmy as Bobby, Brody brooding brutally, Garfield and Pugh ripping your heart out - good times all round!
Meantime, a “new” US President has moved his “baggage” into the White House and with Trump comes the weird AF appointment of three old dudes mounting up and riding into town on a mission to save Hollywood.
Sly and the Family Voight with Mad Max Mel bringing up the rear are “Special Ambassadors”…
It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California,”
“They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!
These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest. It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!”
Donald J Trump, US President.
It does seem somewhat prophetic that this Hollywood-saving political stunt landed as Hollywood was burning. But hey, from the ashes? Post-inauguration there have been murmurings of support from several corners of tinsel town..
This from a Variety piece this week
One prolific indie film producer says he doesn’t care for Trump’s politics, but admits it is “refreshing to hear the office of the president focus on how we can get the movie business back on track — and back in Los Angeles.”
“The Sopranos” star Drea de Matteo says she voted for Biden in 2020 only to go full MAGA in 2024 after becoming disillusioned by the Democrats’ push for COVID vaccine mandates.
“There is a bit of a shift,” de Matteo says of the town’s growing receptiveness toward Trump. “Hollywood is going to fall in line with whatever because at the end of the day, it’s still a huge fucking industry and they still have to make money.”
The reality of the business of making movies in an economic clusterF**K fueled by wildfires, I’d argue even the most hardened liberal may struggle to hold the line when a wad of cash is waved in their face.
Anyway - onwards and into the joy of being in a cinema full of people soaking up sensational stories! And to assist in this endeavour - in a first ever for The Projector (and first of many more to come I hope!) I have FREE MOVIE TICKETS to give away to YOU my Projector fam!
With huge thanks to Courtney and Tyler from team Babygirl and ahead of next week’s release in NZ cinemas I’ve been gifted five double passes to see Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson in Babygirl!! I’ve seen this film - you wanna see it too - still reeling at Kidman’s Oscars snub for her fearless performance.
The winning tickets are redeemable at any cinema across the motu and they’re digital, so I’ll just fire them off to the Lucky Five winners! So poor yourself a big ole glass of milk and drink it up.. but not before immediately clicking the “commenting” icon above or the button below and being among the FIRST FIVE people to do so by answering correctly this one small easy Kidman question:
Name the character she played in the Baz Luhrmann film Moulin Rouge!
Good luck.. and now let us crack on with a tremendous trifecta of New Releases this week!
NEW RELEASE
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️
Set in the swirling chaos of the 1960s, Timothée Chalamet entirely embodies Bob Dylan in a way that’s almost spooky. A Complete Unknown dives into the life of this enigmatic folk singer, his rise to fame as mysterious as the man himself. Through a kaleidoscope of perspectives — friends, lovers, and Johnny Cash — the film explores the blurred lines between truth and myth, art and identity and the cost of living a life in the spotlight.
Class act Ed Norton infuses proceedings with such a steady hand and genuine warmth as the folksy Pete Seeger and we also get to see the now-Oscar nominated talents of Top Gun: Maverick rising star Monica Barbaro who plays AND sings as Joan Baez.
Filmmaker James Mangold knows his way around this genre, he of course helped Reese Witherspoon win an Oscar as June Carter opposite Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line. And like that film, this Dylan outing has such a genuine authenticity that’s hard to find fault in. Which in a way, for me anyway, is the rub. While I can’t fault it, I still find myself not 100% spirited away by it. They are each a compelling rendition of the life and times of a musical icon, but my lack of emotional connection means neither was a home run.
But see it and hear it for that very story, for the music, the musings and the poetry of the man, it’s so worth the ticket price.
THE FEELS: Sound and music as a portal to the past this was immersive and and hard not to sing-a-long to! I felt a little like I was living in 60’s New York City and loved that feeling.
THE HOOK: It’s gotta be Chalamet and his performances on stage and in the studio. He’s so perfectly cast and brings an entirely enigmatic icon to life in a way that’s quite delicious.
NEW RELEASE
THE BRUTALIST
⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ 1/2
What do you mean it’s THREE AND A HALF HOURS LONG.
I can hear you squirming already - how many times will I need to pee?! Will my legs stop working entirely?? Will I die of thirst? What about my parking bill??
Those were all my thoughts and many more unsafe to share as I took my super comfy seat (first word of advice, book a cinema with super comfy seats). You’re gonna wanna strap in, The Brutalist is quite simply a cinematic work of art best appreciated on a BIG screen.
Going into the Oscars with ten nods despite the spectre of the “Editor goes rogue & utters the letters A.I during an interview I didn’t really know what to expect from this story. So of course - like the editor - I went straight to A.I. I asked ChatGPT what The Brutalist is about and she told me this:
"Spanning decades and continents, The Brutalist tells the story of a visionary architect whose uncompromising designs reflect his inner turmoil. As he rises to fame, his personal life crumbles under the weight of ambition, obsession, and the brutal forces of history that shaped his world. A stark exploration of art, legacy, and the human cost of genius."
Sweet, that’s pretty much bang on. I have had very little first-hand personal experience with the human cost of genius but what I will say, Adrien Brody’s performance as the fictional Jewish architect László is nothing short of genius and may he win the Oscar for doing so. I feel the same way about Kiwi/Aussie Guy Pearce, who as László’s benefactor brings such a complex, grotesque and smoothly obscured barbarity to the screen, that when I think of him I feel a weirdly acidic taste at the back of my mouth. He’s phenomenal.
I gotta say that while the always excellent Felicity Jones delivers a potent (Oscar-nom’d) performance as László’s indomitable wheelchair-bound wife, she does feel oddly miscast? But just one small eye-brow raise from me in an otherwise incredible film.
THE FEELS: Thunderous outrage, pity and sorrow, horror and intoxication, this film was at times an almost rapturous experience.
THE HOOK: 3.5 hours long but I promise you it’s worth it AND there’s a built-in intermission like the olden days! Watch it then watch it win Oscars.
NEW RELEASE
WE LIVE IN TIME
⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️
This film was a sell-out inclusion in the recent British and Irish Film Festival last year and now it’s back on general release which is EXCELLENT. Honestly the socials marketing for this was a love story in itself as Andrew Garfield became the new boyfriend of the internet and darling of the red carpet - LOVED that for him (and us ;)).
And he really is just so good in this film - as is of course Fabulous Florence, as they bring the tragic romance of Almut and Tobias from their first car crash meet-cute to the stark and heart-breaking challenges of a cancer diagnosis.
So yes, we’re in triggering and crying territory and in the safe hands of two talented actors who never press that button too firmly or lose their grip on the authenticity of the story itself.
THE FEELS: You don’t need me to tell you to take a hanky, LOOK at that premise. You will cry, but you’ll also hopefully be reminded of the marvel of human connection.
THE HOOK: See above, and also: Garfield and Pugh are just too perfect together
MY LUDICROUSLY CAPACIOUS BAG OF BINGE-A-BILITY
Slow Horses: AppleTV
I’ve run out of your time and no doubt your concentration span so I’ll say nothing other but WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN watch this brilliant Brit spy show immediately #GaryOldman
Shōgun: Disney+
See above. Globes kingpin, Emmys behemoth and Critics Choice shoe-in. watch it please.
THE WEEKLY TIPS AND DIPS INTO THE KR ARCHIVE
With Oscar-nominated Mr Chalamet leading the charge this week let us remember him singing in that other musical biopic about Willy Wonka (he was a real dude right?)
SO heeeeerrre’s Timmy alongside the lovely Keegan-Michael Key in a wee zoom chat we had a while back complete with a whole lot of wonkery.
GUEST STARRING…
She’s here, she’s there, she’s every f**king where KATE RODGER!
Well where I’ve mainly been is bouncing off the solo parenting walls getting kids uniforms/stationery/mindset sorted ahead of the start of term next week while still trying to maintain the summer holiday vibe ha ha! Mostly an epic fail but we still managed to get in some swims lol.
So casting back to 2024 which feels like last century I had THE most fun chatting with up and coming young media star Sienna Boyce - daughter of the Great Ben Boyce who I adore. She kindly invited me into The Hits studio as part of her “When I Grow Up” podcast series to talk about my weird ole life as a stalker of celebrities and it was such a cool time. A reminder to stop now and again, look back, and let some of the successes and fails sink. It can be a little confronting but also a little inspiring! Anyway - click below for a listen should you fancy..
THE COMMENTS SECTION - which is today also THE GIVEAWAYS SECTION!
Comment to answer and win my babygirl giveaway and also feel free to Join The Projector chat - what you been watching either big screen or small and what’s on your watch-list? Thoughts on the Oscar noms? Thoughts on any of the above reviews? Thoughts on being back at work and WTAF? Simply click below to rant and rave, I’m here for you…
Farewell for now FilmFreaks and remember what Bob said, There is Nothing so Stable as Change..
KRxx
Nicole played Satine 😍
And ugh 😩 about the four stooges. All male. All old. All has-beens. No talent. Except for making money and grifting.
Kia ora Kate - sorry to hear you didn't emotionally connect with A Complete Unknown. I totally did! Tears and all. Knew all the songs and it took me (Boomer) right back there - the life, the times, the politics, the memories of bad boyfriends - Joan: "You're such an asshole, Bob." Classic.