Andrew Hedley

Iron Man is good but not great. Some inspired casting and snappy dialogue help enliven what is otherwise a run-of-the-mill superhero movie. Weapons manufacturer/genius inventor/playboy billionaire Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) gets captured by a terrorist group whilst on a business trip in Afghanistan (modernised from the comic’s Vietnam). They want him to build them […]

What would the Muppets be without their marvellous musical interludes? The all-singing, all-dancing troupe of felt-covered entertainers have been leaving their legacy for over 50 years (if you count the early TV incarnations), and here are some of our favourite musical moments. The Muppets is now playing in cinemas nationwide. We’re also giving away three […]

After the Waterfall is a New Zealand film continuing the tradition of exploring fears common to the Kiwi psyche – fear of losing a child, fear of the wilderness, and fear of one’s own emotional capacity. The opening sequence is a barbeque with friends and family, the camera snatching almost impressionistic glimpses of the action, […]

After being entertained by the first Spy Kids but missing out on subsequent adventures, I join up again with the team for a fourth outing. Turns out, unfortunately, that the series has run dry, leaving this entry fun but uninspired. The big gimmick here is the scratch-and-sniff cards that are handed out at every screening. […]

The first Samoan feature film, The Orator (O Le Tulafale) is a drama shot and set on Upolu in Samoa. It premiered, in competition, at the 68th Venice International Film Festival and is New Zealand’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film for the 84th Academy Awards in 2012. It opens Thursday 6 October and we put […]

Flicks spoke to veteran Kiwi actor-director Ian Mune (Came A Hot Friday, The End of the Golden Weather) about the nuts and bolts of filmmaking. His latest film, Billy T: Te Movie, is now playing in cinemas nationwide, so he was well-primed to speak freely about what he loves. From scriptwriting, to editing, to working […]

As part of the Incredibly Strange section, UK horror-thriller Kill List is described as shifting in from a kitchen sink melodrama to a funny buddy movie to an edge-of-your-seat horror film in its final reel. We asked director Ben Wheatley a few pertinent questions… ——————– FLICKS: Hello from Flicks.co.nz, how are you and what are […]

Park Kiong’s documentary Moving follows a Korean couple living in Christchurch as they adjust to the aftermath of the February earthquake. Park Kiyong will be in attendance at the screening. He really loves the film A Kid with a Bike, as you will find… ——————– FLICKS: Hello from Flicks.co.nz! How are you and what have […]

The Homegrown short film selections play at the Auckland Film Festival on several dates. Flights of Fantasy is on Saturday 13 July at 1.45pm and Thursday 28 July at 1.45pm, while the Drama section is on Friday 29 July at 6.15pm and Saturday 30 July at 11.15am. With subsequent screenings as the festival travels throughout […]

A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt, screening at the 2011 New Zealand International Film Festival, was directed by expat Kiwi Sally Rowe. It follows a young chef Paul Liebrandt who, in his mid-twenties, became the youngest chef to ever receive a 3-star review from The New York Times. But that was in 2000, […]

Justin Kurzel is the director of Australian film Snowtown, a crime-drama about serial killer John Bunting who murdered 11 people in South Australia during the ’90s. Justin is a guest of the 2011 New Zealand International Film Festival and will be present at the screenings, along with actor Daniel Henshall. We asked Justin a few […]

Jason Eisener is the director of Canadian movie Hobo with a Shotgun, about a hobo (Rutger Hauer) who decides that society gets in his way, so purchases a shotgun and goes on a city-wide rampage. It’s playing at the 2011 New Zealand International Film Festival and, of the film, Incredibly Strange curator Ant Timpson says: […]

Stephen Kang is the director of short film Blue, winner of the Best Short Film at Critics’ Week, Cannes Film Festival 2011. It features an out-of-work children’s TV mascot struggling to find a new place in the world. It will be screening before sessions of Submarine. We asked Stephen a few hard-hitting questions… ——————– FLICKS: […]

Bill Gosden is the director of the 2011 New Zealand International Film Festival, which began last night in Auckland with Florian Habicht’s New York-set film, Love Story (Check the official NZFF site for dates that the festival will be in your neck of the woods). We asked Bill a couple of quick questions… ——————– FLICKS: […]

We asked our writers to come up with their picks for the 2011 New Zealand International Film Festival. As expected, their tastes range from the tasteful to the graphic to the heart-warming to the downright weird… Aaron Yap LE QUATTRO VOLTE I don’t often read programme synopses in detail before deciding on a film; this […]

Ant Timpson is the curator of the Incredibly Strange section of the festival, the place where you go to be aroused, terrified and outraged. He is also the founder and organiser of the V48HOURS Furious Filmmaking competition. You can find out more about Incredibly Strange on Facebook. ——————– FLICKS: Hello from Flicks.co.nz! How are you […]

Ti West is the director behind 2009’s The House of the Devil. His latest film, The Inkeepers, is a homage to the great horror films of the ’80s, inspired by and shot in a creepy inn that West and his crew once stayed in. During the Auckland leg of the festival, it will be playing […]

Roseanne Liang is the Kiwi director behind documentary Banana in a Nutshell and its fictionalised companion, My Wedding and Other Secrets (which is available on DVD from July 20). We asked her a few questions about movie stuff, including her picks for the 2011 festival… ——————– FLICKS: How are you and what have you been […]

The Forgiveness of Blood is a drama centered around the Albanian concept of ‘blood feud’ and the lengths a family must go to to avoid repaying a blood debt that has been placed on their son. It was the winner of Best Screenplay at the Berlin Film Festival 2011 and it will be screening at […]

The Future is an indie drama from writer-director Miranda July (Me and You and Everyone We Know). When a couple decides to adopt a stray cat their perspective on life changes radically, literally altering the course of time and space and testing their faith in each other and themselves. It will be screening at the […]

Meek’s Cutoff is an alt-Western following three families heading west in 1845, their tiny wagon train lost somewhere in Oregon. It will be screening at the 2011 New Zealand International Film Festival. We asked actress Shirley Henderson (Trainspotting, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Harry Potter’s Moaning Myrtle) a few questions… ——————– FLICKS: Hello from Flicks.co.nz, how are […]