Movie Stars are not Merchandise
Love for Grown-Ups
How lucky am I to live a life where I get to have not one but TWO delectable chinwags with the ridiculously gifted writer/director Celine Song. And while this one was on Zoom and not sitting across from each other at Auckland’s mighty Civic Theatre, it was still such a treat! And who knew she was besties with her Materialists star Pedro Pascal way before she cast him? Nah me neither!
So of course we talk about Pedro, and of course that gifted me the excuse to flaunt before your very eyes these well-worn images above from my TikTok topping ‘Pedro Fawns Over TV Reporter’s Nails” moment (you’re welcome).
Anyway - back to the real reason I’m here, to flaunt my DELIGHTFUL chat with Celine Song. Here she talks Materialists of course in an interview bursting at the seams with insight into not just her unique creative process but into the human condition itself and all the myriad ways we look for love. Celine is the real deal and articulates ideas and truths in such a fresh and utterly compelling way - I could listen to her all day ;) Big thanks to the fab folk at Sony Pictures NZ for the access!
THE WHĀNAU MĀRAMA NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Not long now until the full programme release and tickets going on sale for this year’s fest - July 7th! The festival opens on July 21 and rolls across the motu over the following weeks - we already know the special opening night film is direct from winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes: It Was Just an Accident by Iranian director Jafar Panahi.
Also anchoring the line-up is the much-talked about Jacinda Ardern doco Prime Minister which looks like am absolute cracker, and keeping it kiwi - I am also pretty pumped for two other local films, the first is Workmates from the super-talented Sophie Henderson and Curtis Vowell…
.. and the second one looks like my kinda bonkers, and it’s called The Weed Eaters..
The film is described thus:
“Cannibalism, murder and betrayal are on the table in this riotous NZ horror comedy. Four holidaying friends come across a strain of weed that gives them the most extreme case of the munchies ever recorded”.
Sign me up ha ha!
And in rather exciting news (for me anyway!) I was STOKED to be asked to be a member of the three-person NZIFF Jury for the revamped Ngā Whanaunga: Aotearoa New Zealand’s Best section of the fest, which is an amalgamation of the Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts and New Zealand’s Best… now merged into a single, inclusive competition. Cannot wait to dive into a tonne of emerging cinematic Aotearoa storytellers and voices and more on that around programme release time!
Rightio… as much as I’d love to bang on some more this week unfortunately this gal gotta earn a buck and I must away to back-to-back Mistress of Ceremony duties dominating the diary - Praise Be $$ ! ;). With some luck I will manage to squeeze in the kiwi premiere of Brad on wheels in F1 tonight and will definitely fire up my thoughts if/when I can!
Meantime - binge Dept Q on Netflix if you haven’t already OMFG it’s so Goode (HA - see what I did there? ;))
Have a fabulous week Projector Film Fam, and remember, It Was Either Him or Me.
KRxx
PS and if you’re yet to subscribe to my weekly movie missives… or wanna share this with some mates who might like to… click below and thank you !
Dept Q was excellent, except I found the last 5-10 minutes a bit "cop-show cliché" if you know what I mean. Still, a Danish-written story fitted perfectly with the Scottish scene. Really hoping to see another series of DCI Morck and his sidekicks
Past Lives was such a great movie so def need to see The Materialist! Caught Koca over the Matariki weekend. Another stellar Kiwi film...go see it folks!