Posted in Festival Review

NZIFF Review: The Lost City of Z

The Christchurch leg of the New Zealand International Film Festival is creeping ever closer to the final few days; but there are still magnificent films…

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Posted in Festival Review

NZIFF Review: 6 Days

In April 1980, armed gunmen infiltrate the Iranian Embassy in London. What followed would not only set the template for the British response to terrorist…

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Posted in Festival Review

NZIFF Review: The Killing of a Sacred Deer

  One of the benefits of film festivals like NZIFF is that cinephiles have the opportunity to sample some very different fare from what is…

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Posted in Genre

Genre Blast: The Play’s the Thing – From Stage to Screen

When a powerful play is adapted to incorporate some of the technical features possible with film, the end result can be transporting. A savvy director and crew will mine the dramatic work for opportunities to maneuver the camera in such a way as to take the audience out of their seats and place them in the middle of the action (just as one would with any other film genre). The playwright’s words should not be treated as a wall that defines the boundaries of the film, but as a door that opens into another medium of expression.

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Posted in Festival Review

NZIFF Review: Spookers

Confession: I didn’t expect to come out of Florian Habicht’s Spookers feeling as buoyant as I did. While the trailer for the film had utterly…

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Posted in Review

Indie Feature 'She Rises' Echoes Lynchian Nightmares

She Rises, which had its world premier at the Ireland Horrorthon Film Festival, is a mystery-comedy-horror hybrid of sorts, pulling some impressive, if ridiculously oddball,…

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Posted in Film Honors

Film Honors: 1962

My own personal choices for the year. They reflect not just necessarily what I think is the best or essential cinema, but perhaps resonate with…

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Posted in Director

Vote: The 10 Best From Pedro Almodóvar

#DirectorsWeekend – #PedroAlmodovar – Friday August 11th – Sunday August 13h I’m not sure where to start with Pedro Almodóvar – in thought, in admiration, what…

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Posted in Director Movies

Directors' Weekend: The 10 Best Tim Burton Films

So here are the 10 Best Tim Burton films according to the collective bunch of you that voted. And a huge thank you very much indeed…

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Posted in Director Film Honors

Film Honors: The Films Of Tim Burton

I like to make all your lives easier so thought I would break down my own Film Honors featuring the films of Tim Burton in…

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Posted in Listmania

Listmania: 5 Favorite Tim Burton Movies

#DirectorsWeekend – #TimBurton – Friday August 4th – Sunday August 6th Tim Burton is one of those directors to me where when I think of his…

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Posted in Director Events

Watch Tim Burton Films Live

#DirectorsWeekend – #TimBurton – Friday August 4th – Sunday August 6th As part of the Directors’ Weekend we’re promoting the opportunity to watch some of Tim…

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Posted in Festival Review

NZIFF Review: Stalker

The New Zealand International Film Festival has a history of providing cinephiles not only with brilliant new films but also bringing classics back to the…

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Posted in Director

Directors' Weekend – Tim Burton: A New Batman And A Young Robin

#DirectorsWeekend – #TimBurton – Friday August 4th – Sunday August 6th The release of Tim Burton‘s Batman back in 1989 was a game-changer for many…

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