Pike River Dir: Robert Sarkies (13th Floor Film Review)
Erebus, Cave Creek, White Island, and Pike River. In a country the size of New Zealand, where six degrees of separation is a very real construct, our national disasters are writ large upon the collective psyche.
Roofman Dir: Derek Cianfrance (13th Floor Film Review)
Roofman gives Channing Tatum the opportunity to show off his acting chops as the real-life spree robber Jeffrey Manchester who relieved a succession of McDonalds franchises of their takings and hid out in a Toys are Us store.
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere Dir: Scott Cooper (13th Floor Film Review)
Bruce Springsteen…the Boss? Or dross? Unfortunately this new biopic has me leaning toward the latter.
Tron: Ares Dir: Joachim Rønning (13th Floor Film Review)
I was just nine years old when the first Tron film burst onto our screens in 1982, introducing us to Kevin Flynn, played by the great Jeff Bridges, and to The Grid a dazzling, computerised world unlike anything we’d seen before. It was visionary, strange, and way ahead of its time.
One Battle After Another Dir: Paul Thomas Anderson (13th Floor Film Review)
Somewhere between revolutionary satire, absurdist road movie, and a reminder that family can be whatever you choose to make it, lies Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another—a film so strange it shouldn’t work. And yet, it might just be a masterpiece.
Sorry, Baby – Dir: Eva Victor (13th Floor Film Review)
Eva Victor’s (Billions) directorial debut, Sorry, Baby, is an original, wrenching, and practically perfect film. It’s a quietly devastating look at female friendship and the lasting impact of trauma, all told with a wonderful balance of tenderness and humour.
13th Floor/New Zealand International Film Festival Roundup
On the eve of the World premiere of Life In One Chord, The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda shares his thoughts on that and other highlights from the NZIFF.
The Great Lillian Hall Dir: Michael Cristofer (13th Floor Film Review)
In The Great Lillian Hall, a legend of cinema plays a legend of theatre playing a Russian aristocrat in Michael Cristofer’s sensitively handled study of art imitating life.
Weapons – Dir: Zach Cregger (13th Floor Film Review)
Zach Cregger’s follow-up to Barbarian is a twisty little frog-in-hot-water number that starts out eerie and slow, then subtly turns up the heat to nerve-jangling proportions.
The Weed Eaters Dir: Callum Devlin (13th Floor/NZIFF Film Review)
This little indie film feels like the defibrillator the NZ film industry didn’t know it needed – a necessary jolt to the system that reminds us what cinema made with heart, guts, and purpose can look like.
One To One: John & Yoko Dir: Kevin MacDonald & Sam Rice-Edward (13th Floor NZIFF Review)
Think you know everything about Beatle John? Even if you do, One To One: John & Yoko is a film that will stand as a stark reminder of just how passionate and important his and Yoko’s activism was in the early 1970s.
Bride Hard – Dir: Simon West (13th Floor Film Review)
Bride Hard – tried hard. Do I take this lazy, thrown-together snoozefest as my next big matrimonial-based blockbuster? Absolutely not, and neither should you!
Jurassic World: Rebirth Dir: Gareth Edwards (13th Floor Film Review)
Jurassic World: Rebirth is the seventh incarnation of the franchise and it delivers blockbuster action and strong performances from its core cast—but ultimately, it is more sad than exhilarating.
Click The Link Below Dir: Audun Amundsen (13th Floor/Doc Edge Film Review)
The award-winning Norwegian director of Newtopia and Help, I’ve gone Viral!, Audun Amundsen’s latest documentary Click the Link Below, takes us on a ride down the online rabbit hole inhabited by those hyped up, self-proclaimed business rock stars, who have recently come to be known by the term ‘contrepreneurs’.
Strange Journey: The Story Of Rocky Horror – Dir: Linus O’Brien (13th Floor/Doc Edge Film Review)
Strange Journey: The Story Of Rocky Horror is the debut film made by Linus O’Brien whose dad is Richard O’Brien, who is, among many other things, New Zealand’s most underrated filmmaker.
Devils On Horses Dir: Edward Sampson (13th Floor/Doc Edge Film Review)
Why are there horses in front of the Bridgeway Cinema? The Doc Edge Festival opened last night with a neigh and a whinny at the world premiere of a New Zealand film called Devils On Horses.
F1: The Movie Dir: Joseph Kosinski (13th Floor Film Review)
Fast. Loud. Furious. And that’s just the leading man. F1: The Movie isn’t reinventing the wheel—but with stunning visuals, big-screen-worthy action, and Brad and his Pitt crew firing on all cylinders, it keeps you firmly planted in your seat. Strap in.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Dir: Christopher McQuarrie (13th Floor Film Review)
In Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Tom Cruise outruns logic, gravity, and the concept of editing whist simultaneously evading the wardrobe department. Between topless Tom in mortal peril and twists that go nowhere, this one is more ego-flex than sustained thrill ride.
Final Destination: Bloodlines Dir: Zach Lipovsky & Adam Stein (13th Floor Film Review)
Final Destination: Bloodlines is a worthy addition to the franchise that gave us all an irrational fear of household objects and a fitting swansong for the great Tony Todd.
Clown In A Cornfield Dir: Eli Craig (13th Floor Film Review)
What’s more fun than Snakes on A Plane? Why, a Clown In A Cornfield, of course!