In New York, a crotchety, chain-smoking Chinese-American grandmother gets lucky after leaving a casino … and then all hell breaks loose. Sasie Sealy’s black comedy, Lucky Grandma, places granny in the middle of a turf war between rival gangs. It all starts when Lei Lei the Fortune Teller (Wai Ching Ho) tells Grandma (Tsai Chin)…
An ambitious but unusual take on the superhero/high concept sci-fi genre, Project Power has quickly become one of the most watched movies on the streaming giant Netflix platform. This slick action film seems to be setting itself up for a potential franchise. On the streets of New Orleans an experimental new drug known as Power…
Paul Murphy’s NZ feature Lowdown Dirty Criminals is an enjoyable but somewhat derivative crime-comedy. The darkly comic caper cribs from the Guy Ritchie playbook, with a lot of his flashy visual flourishes. The non-linear narrative structure uses plenty of flashbacks and replays scenes from different perspectives. The film opens with a Mexican standoff in a…
An ostensibly by-the-book police procedural, Force of Nature nevertheless has a few surprises that give it a kick along. In New York, Detective Cardillo (Emile Hirsch) is making out with his cop partner (and fiancé). Against the woman’s protestations, Cardillo answers a call of duty and everything changes. Then we cut to Puerto Rico, where…
The Irish drama-thriller Calm with Horses features a brutal but poignant script, skilful feature directorial debut and a bravura lead acting performance. Douglas “Arm” Armstrong (Cosmo Jarvis) is a former boxer who fell in with a ruthless family. The family’s two no-nonsense brothers, Paudi (Ned Dennehy) and Hector Devers (David Wilmot), rule with an iron…
We get to see very few Scandinavian films outside of film festivals in this country. The Icelandic film industry produces around 5 or 6 films a year, and several directors have gained an international reputation. Recently many major Hollywood productions, including Star Wars: Rogue One and Prometheus, have taken advantage of the country’s strikingly remote…
– Bulletproof (season 2) – Available on DVD from 17 June 2020 We have 5 DVDs thanks to Acorn Media. Watch the trailer HERE Bulletproof is a fast-paced, crime drama centring around comedic police duo Bishop (Noel Clarke – The Level, Star Trek: Into Darkness) and Pike (Ashley Walters – Top Boy, Cuffs). Escape to…
The despicable nature of workplace harassment comes into sharp focus in The Assistant, a thinly-veiled take on the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Jane (Julia Garner) is the savvy personal assistant to the chairman of a film studio. In the job only five weeks, she completes largely dreary tasks and works long hours. First in the office…
If ever a movie perfectly represented director Peter Berg’s style, it’s Spenser Confidential. This Netflix film has all Berg’s stylistic fingerprints. It’s brash, nostalgic, violent, utilises a pumping soundtrack and features Mark Wahlberg. And while I admit I haven’t really warmed to some of his recent efforts, I enjoyed it. Those old enough might recall…
– London Kills (season 1) – Available on DVD from 6 May 2020 We have 5 DVDs thanks to Acorn Media. Watch the trailer HERE London’s best detectives take on its worst crimes in this sleek British mystery series from the creator of Suspects. Veteran DI David Bradford (Hugo Speer, Britannia) heads an elite murder…
