Author: James Partridge

Cinema Release Round-Up: 10 April

Posted by | Apr 10, 2014 |

USA! USA! USA! I think you can guess where all the films this week come from. The question is which to choose? The latest Wes Anderson, the new Muppet caper, another fine operatic performance or the next young adult adaptation? . Opening today: . THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL……FILM OF THE WEEK USA | 100 minutes | Comedy, Drama Director: Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Royal Tenenbaums) Cast: Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Jude Law, Bill Murray, Saoirse Ronan, Jason Schwartzman, Léa Seydoux In 1930’s Europe, a lobby boy learns about love, life and the tricks of trade before getting caught up in a madcap adventure, after his mentor is gifted a priceless painting from a former companion. This could well be Anderson’s finest outing. And if you haven’t liked his work before, this may well convert you. Distributor: 20th Century Fox . DIVERGENT USA | 139 minutes | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Romance Director: Neil Burger (Limitless, The Illusionist) Cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Miles Teller, Ashley Judd, , Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson, Maggie Q In a world divided by factions, a girl marked as “Divergent” must figure out her why she is seen as dangerous and which side he should fight for when the...

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Cinema Release Round-Up: 3 April

Posted by | Apr 3, 2014 |

Wow! Every film released today could have been our FOTW – Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Nymphomaniac, The Deadly Ponies Gang, The Selfish Giant, and Tracks. But we had to choose one… . Opening today: . THE SELFISH GIANT……FILM OF THE WEEK UK | 93 minutes | Drama Director: Clio Barnard (The Arbor) Cast: Conner Chapman, Shaun Thomas, Sean Gilder, Lorraine Ashbourne, Ian Burfield, Steve Evets, Siobhan Finneran, Ralph Ineson, Rebecca Manley, Rhys McCoy, Elliott Tittensor, Mohammed Ali Inspired by Oscar Wilde’s beloved children’s story, two young boys growing up in an impoverished town are taken under the wing of a scrap merchant-turned-copper thief. Saw this at NZIFF and it’s a powerful, emotional piece. Distributor: Rialto . CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER USA | 136 minutes | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Directors: Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (You, Me and Dupree, TV’s Community and Arrested Development) Cast: Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Hayley Atwell, Cobie Smulders, Robert Redford, Emily VanCamp, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Toby Jones, Frank Grillo Set two years after The Avengers, Cap and Black Widow team up to expose a global conspiracy and take down the assassin sent to silence them. I’m loving its political thriller aspirations and it’s received very good reviews. Distributor: Walt Disney . NYMPHOMANIAC Denmark, Germany, France, Belgium, UK | 241 minutes | Drama Director: Lars von Trier (Melancholia, Antichrist, Dogville,...

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The ever expanding gang is back! Sixteen ‘The Expendables 3’ character posters released.

Posted by | Apr 3, 2014 |

The Expendables series keeps gets bigger and better…and that’s just the cast list. The sixteen (yes, sixteen!) character’ posters have been released, showing us the ever-expanding gang in this, their third outing. The film’s run time might need to be four hours just to give them all screen time! Series regulars Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Terry Crews, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Arnold Schwarzenegger are all present – with one exception: Bruce Willis. Stallone in particular looks badass. But it’s the newbies I’m really looking forward to. I wonder what Antonio Banderas, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Ronda Rousey, Kellan Lutz, Wesley Snipes, Victor Ortiz, Glen Powell, and Kelsey Grammer will bring to the most explosive party in town. Great to see Rousey onboard – I’m a big fan! She won’t be there to make up the numbers either – that girl is bonafide badass. And I can’t wait to see Gibson as a demented bad guy once again. The Expendables 2 was a big step up from the original, so here’s hoping the trend continues. We find out on 14 August. Which new Expendable are you most excited about? Is it me or does Grammer look like he just stepped off the set of Jurassic Park? . href=”http://www.admitone.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Expendables-3-Jason-Statham.jpg”> Barney, Christmas and the rest of the team comes face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), who years ago co-founded The...

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Cinema Release Round-Up: 27 March

Posted by | Mar 27, 2014 |

It’s a blockbuster week. The Raid 2: Berandal, Noah and, for the kids, Mr Peabody & Sherman all open today. We can’t go past the Gareth Hew’s high-octane chop-fest sequel for our FOTW but if big screen thrills and spills aren’t your thing, there’s some good looking indies on offer too. . Opening today: . THE RAID 2: BERANDAL……FILM OF THE WEEK Indonesia | 151 minutes | Action, Thriller, Martial Arts Director: Gareth Evans (The Raid) Cast: Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, Raiden Integra, Donny Alamsyah, Kazuki Kitamura, Julie Estelle, Tio Pakusodewo, Ryûhei Matsuda, Ken’ichi Endô Following on from the events of the first film, Rama has himself declared a casualty so that he can go undercover and continue his work to take down the city’s worst gangsters with his epic martial arts skills. If you’ve seen the first one, I don’t need to tell you why you should be going to this. Distributor: Madman . MR. PEABODY AND SHERMAN USA | 97 minutes | Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi Director: Rob Minkoff (The Haunted Mansion, Stuart Little, The Lion King) Cast: Ty Burrell, Max Charles, Ariel Winter, Leslie Mann, Stephen Colbert, Patrick Warburton, Stanley Tucci, Mel Brooks, Allison Janney, Lake Bell Mr. Peabody takes his adopted son back in time after Sherman and school mate change history by messing with Peabody’s time machine. Naughty boys. Looks fun for kids...

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Cinema Release Round-Up: 20 March

Posted by | Mar 20, 2014 |

Comedy, drama, action, indie, doco, live performance…it’s all here! Our FOTW vote goes to a returning festival favourite. . Opening today: . WADJDA……FILM OF THE WEEK Saudi Arabia | 98 minutes | Drama Director: Haifaa Al-Mansour (debut feature) Cast: Reem Abdullah, Waad Mohammed, Abdullrahman Al Gohani, Rafa Al Sanea, Sultan Al Assaf, Dana Abdullilah, Rehab Ahmed A fun-loving Saudi girl challenges conservative society by taking on her neighbour in a bike race – when bicycles are seen as dangerous to a girl’s virtue. I’m loving the fact that distributors are providing more general releases for festival favourites than ever before. Nice work. Distributor: eOne . CUBAN FURY UK | 98 minutes | Comedy Director: James Griffiths (debut feature) Cast: Nick Frost, Rashida Jones, Chris O’Dowd, Olivia Colman, Ian McShane, Kayvan Novak, Rory Kinnear, Tim Plester, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Liz Cackowski, Rachel Dratch An overweight, out of luck guy rediscovers a talent from his youth in order to impress his beautiful new boss. But he has stiff competition in the form of the office’s alpha male. Time for a dance off! This won’t change the world but should be a lot of fun. Worth seeing for Frost, Jones and O’Dowd alone. Distributor: StudioCanal . GENERATION IRON USA | 106 minutes | Documentary, Sport Director: Vlad Yudin (Last Day of Summer) Featuring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Phil Heath, Hidetada Yamagishi, Kai Greene,...

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