Reviews
Baby Done showcases both Rose Matafeo’s dramatic talent and her comedy chops
Further earning her reputation as a comic, Matafeo shines as the lead.
22 Oct
Hitchcock’s psychodrama is missing from Ben Wheatley’s glossy take on Rebecca
Rebecca stands in the shadow, not only of Hitchcock, but also Wheatley’s own films.
21 Oct
Crazier-than-fiction doco about a cartoon frog is one of 2020’s most essential films
Feels Good Man details the fight to save Pepe the Frog from the worst people on the internet.
20 Oct
The protest movement is on trial in Aaron Sorkin’s energetic courtroom drama
The Trial of the Chicago 7 is hugely relevant 50-plus years after the events depicted.
19 Oct
Hubie Halloween shows the Sandler formula remains unchanged since the late 90s
TIm Batt assesses the merits of Sandler’s new Netflix pic.
09 Oct
Miraculous Alzheimer’s doco on Netflix is unconventional, honest and uplifting
If it sounds uncomfortably exploitative, I can assure you it’s not.
06 Oct
Utopia is a watchable conspiracy thriller with a coincidental pandemic plot
Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn reworks the paranoid UK original.
05 Oct
Robert Pattinson sleazes up the screen in Netflix’s bloody dark The Devil All the Time
Pattinson’s joined by Tom Holland, Jason Clarke, Riley Keogh and others.
18 Sep
Tom Sainsbury smokes weed, sees ghosts in entertaining comedy Dead
Paranormal comedy proves more entertaining than some other recent local comedy efforts.
17 Sep
Powerful Aotearoa gang drama Savage might be the best local film of 2020
The central performances from Jake Ryan and John Tui are brilliant.
10 Sep
Visually arresting, Mulan is good enough to wish it was a little better
It’s exactly what you’d imagine a Mouse House wu xia pic might be.
05 Sep
Bill & Ted Face the Music is the good time we need right now, dude
Better than it perhaps any right to be, it recaptures the spirit of its predecessors.
03 Sep
Train to Busan sequel Peninsula relies on CGI-drenched action over zombie scares
The Train to Busan sequel doesn’t sustain a strong first act.
06 Aug
NZIFF 2020 mini-reviews (our latest reviews)
Our freshest mini-reviews from Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival 2020.
03 Aug
Influential fashion design and Alice Cooper (?!) feature in House of Cardin
Doco celebrates Cardin’s groundbreaking designs and influence on modern fashion.
31 Jul
Sweaty, beefy Russell Crowe goes apeshit in 90-minute hissy fit Unhinged
“There’s some value to be found in the foul, exploitative veneer of its chaos.”
30 Jul
Elisabeth Moss is magnificent as a prolific horror writer in Shirley
Complex portrait of a complex luminary is more speculation than biography.
21 Jul
A magnetic Pete Davidson charms in The King of Staten Island
Davidson brings an authenticity not often seen in Judd Apatow’s leading men.
17 Jul
Armando Iannucci’s David Copperfield is a lush literary panto
In cinemas this week, the classic novel comes to life as star-studded light farce.
13 Jul
Tom Hanks is the WWII captain now in Greyhound
It’s Hanks and Hanks alone that earns the film a 3-star rating.
07 Jul
Silly Netflix actioner The Old Guard should be more fun than it is
Charlize Theron’s latest is served with too much angst, melancholy, and self-seriousness.
06 Jul
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