new zealand films – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

NEXT GOAL WINS – Review by Nadine Whitney

November 13, 2023November 13, 2023 Nadine Whitney American Samoan soccer team, elisabeth moss, Kaimana, michael fassbender, new zealand films, Taika Waititi

The best one can say about Next Goal Wins is it’s cute. The worst would require a complete breakdown of where Taika Waititi is stumbling as an artist. Too many jokes far too often that many of them just fail to land. There is some great writing, some wonderful performances, but Next Goal Wins is a cluttered mess which could have benefitted from slowing its madcap pace. It certainly isn’t the worst thing either Waititi or Michael Fassbender have done, but it is also far from the best. Waititi has scored his own goal by being remarkably repetitive. Next Goal Wins is not a winner.

Reviews

MR ORGAN – Review by Nadine Whitney

November 2, 2023November 5, 2023 Nadine Whitney David Farrier, documentary, Micheal Organe, Mister Organ, new zealand films

“If he went down to Hell, Satan would be up knocking on God’s door saying get me away from Michael,” says one of the interviewees in David Farrier’s wildly disturbing documentary Mister Organ. New Zealand journalist and documentarian, Farrier isn’t afraid to deal with odd people – for example in Tickled or his Netflix series Dark Tourist, but little did he know that when he started investigating some predatory wheel-clamping in a posh suburb in Auckland, he’d attract the attention of one of New Zealand’s most psychologically dangerous men – Michael Organ (AKA Micheal Organe, AKA Michael Organ-fake-made-up-royal-lineage). In 2016 he accidentally invited the devil to his doorstep and even now Farrier is trying to escape him.

Guest Posts Reviews

MILLIE LIES LOW – Review by Justina Walford (Guest Post)

June 19, 2023June 25, 2023 Guest Post Ana Scotney, guest posts, justina walford, Michelle Savill, Millie Lies Low, new zealand films

Millie Lies Low goes headlong into the mistakes people make. Millie is on her way to New York for a prestigious internship, but she has a panic attack and gets stuck in her hometown. Instead of telling her friends and family that she missed her flight and can’t afford another one, she decides to fake her trip to New York on social media. Her life devolves from there, with each secretive misstep leading to worse and worse consequences. Big mistakes leading to bigger mistakes.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK February 24, 2023: JUNIPER

February 18, 2023March 5, 2023 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, charlotte rampling, George Ferrier, Jamie Broadnax, jennifer merin, juniper, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, Marilyn Ferdinand., Marton Csokas, Matthew J. Saville, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, new zealand films, Pam Grady, sherin nicole

Sam is hurting, still grieving the fairly recent death of his mother and angry at his father, Robert , for not finding a way to bridge the ensuing distance between them. In fact, Robert has packed Sam off to boarding school — and now expects Sam to spend his holidays helping care for his grandmother, Ruth, a former globe-trotting photo journalist who now needs somewhere to stay after suffering a particularly nasty broken leg. Not only is Ruth distant and irascible, but she’s also an alcoholic who literally hurls a glass at Sam when he dares to water down her drink. Charlotte Rampling is brilliant in the role.

Reviews

JUNIPER – Review by Cate Marquis

February 12, 2023February 18, 2023 Cate Marquis charlotte rampling, George Ferrier, juniper, Marton Csokas, Matthew J. Saville, motw, Movie of the Week, new zealand films

Charlotte Rampling steals the show as a feisty alcoholic grandmother in the New Zealand cross-generations family drama Juniper. She is a joy to watch in this little drama, and although the ending is a bit too neat in director Matthew Saville’s semi-biographical film, Rampling shines like the sun from start to finish.

Festivals Reviews

MURU (TIFF 2022) – Review by Ulkar Alakbarova

October 3, 2022October 9, 2022 Ulkar Alakbarova Cliff Curtis, muru, new zealand films, Tāme Iti, Tearepa Kahi, TIFF 2022, toronto international film festival, truth-based

Muru is a solid thriller inspired by true events of police raids that took place in 1961 and 2007 in New Zealand. It follows a local police Sergeant “Taffy” Tawharau (Cliff Curtis) who must make a tough decision to assist the Government with a police raid or stand by his community and prevent possible bloodshed. When the government launches an armed raid on Taffy’s community called Ruatoki on a school day, things go terribly wrong. What starts as a mission to find and arrest a possible local terrorist who threatened to attack the Prime Minister turns into a violent altercation with casualties that could have been prevented.

Festivals Interviews

Tearepa Kahi and Cliff Curtis on MURU (TIFF 2022) – Ulkar Alakbarova interviews

October 3, 2022October 4, 2022 Ulkar Alakbarova Cliff Curtis, muru, new zealand films, Tāme Iti, Tearepa Kahi, TIFF 2022, toronto international film festival, truth-based

Racism, corruption, discrimination, greed and power. They all go hand-in-hand. We hope that at some point the world we live in will change for the better. But it does not happen. Are we just naïve to hope and still believe in miracles? The story told in Muru, directed by Tearepa Kahi happened not too long ago. But when you look at it, you begin to ask yourself – how is it even possible for something like this to occur in our modern times? Not revealing much, I had the great pleasure of sitting down with director Tearepa Kahi and actor Cliff Curtis, who provided insights into the film much better than I could.

Reviews

THE JUSTICE OF BUNNY KING – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

September 13, 2022September 17, 2022 Valerie Kalfrin Essie Davis, Gaysorn Thavat, Lively Nili, new zealand films, Sophie Henderson, The Justice of Bunny King, thomasin mckenzie

Set in New Zealand, The Justice of Bunny King is a compassionate drama about one woman trying to get her life back together and the hurdles that are in her way. Some of these are biases against someone poor who’s lost her children. Others are the fallout of her choices. Making her feature directing debut, Gaysorn Thavat crafts a sympathetic portrait of Bunny in kind, understated moments that never feel manipulative.

Festivals Reviews

POPPY (Slamdance 2022) – Review by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

January 27, 2022January 27, 2022 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Linda Niccol, new zealand films, poppy, Slamdance 2022

Poppy has Down Syndrome. Which, in Linda Niccol’s New Zealand set romcom Poppy, seems to be an issue for everyone else in the film except for its eponymous character herself. The Poppy that she knows – and who we delight in getting to know – is just a young woman who likes to dance in front of her bedroom mirror, watch dating reality TV and dreams of getting behind the wheel of the car by herself.

Reviews

COUSINS – Review by Liz Braun

July 14, 2021July 18, 2021 Liz Braun ainsley gardiner, briar grace smith, cousins, maori, new zealand films, rachel house, sally aitken, Tanea Heke

The criminal mistreatment of indigenous populations is not limited to North America. Cousins is a superb New Zealand drama about three Maori women and their paths in life, from childhood to late middle age. Mata, Missy and Makareta are girl cousins, close in age. One of them gets completely cut off from Maori culture, one is immersed in it and one moves between Maori and white settler cultures. No coincidence that this deeply affecting film is of, for and by women, of course.

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