A story of aspiration and achievement, the documentary Dawn Raid is a ripper. Dawn Raid Entertainment became an institution in New Zealand in the late ‘90s and noughties. Co-founded by a couple of young big guys from South Auckland who met at business school – but only completed about a year – and didn’t have…
In Curtis Vowell’s comedy Baby Done, outdoorsy Zoe (Rose Matafeo) works as an arborist, alongside her boyfriend Tim (Matthew Lewis). Theirs is a happy union. All their coupled-up friends seem to be having babies, but the thought of being tied down makes Zoe shudder. And then she discovers she’s pregnant. Shellshocked Zoe doesn’t tell Tim…
Savage is brutal, devastating, powerful. It features a war of attrition borne of a tyrannical upbringing in New Zealand told in three time-frames over 24 years. Savages is the name given to a patched-up gang started by a couple of cell mates from juvenile detention. But let’s go back a step, Danny – known in…
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…
The debut of NZ band The Beths, Future Me Hates Me, was one of the musical bright spots of 2018, making it onto a lot of music critics’ ‘best of’ lists. We hear a continuation of the band’s bright power pop, and the smart songwriting by lead vocalist Elizabeth Stokes, along with the supportive vocal…
New Zealand four-piece The Beths channel their longtime friendship into high-energy guitar indie pop on their debut record, Future Me Hates Me. The Beths play all the right chords as they come at you with plenty of vocal harmonies and amped up guitars. Future Me Hates Me walks the perfect line with The Beth’s note…
On the warm and lovely Lightsleeper, father and son Neil & Liam Finn collaborate in a dreamy song cycle that celebrates the family connections and the ties that bind our lives to one another. Neil Finn, of course, has had a remarkable career that continues to evolve. The 60-year-old New Zealand native joined his brother…
Political correctness is turned on its head in the lighthearted New Zealand comedy, The Breaker Upperers. But the movie is set to polarise audiences. Fifteen years ago, Mel (Madeleine Sami) and Jen (Jackie Van Beek) discovered they were being two-timed by the same man. Bitter and cynical, they became fast friends. The pair then formed The…
– The Breaker Upperers – Only in cinemas from 26 July 2018 We have 5 double in-season passes thanks to Madman Entertainment. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE Fifteen years ago, Mel (Madeleine Sami) and Jen (Jackie van Beek) discovered they were being two-timed by the same man. Bitter and cynical they…
At the risk of offending true believers, this is a church movie. It pivots around forgiveness. To the best of my knowledge, it was largely, if not entirely, funded from church resources. I dare say its key audience will be those of the faith, and ex-pat New Zealanders (it was made there, and is set…
