The fifth month of 2015 brings another wave of killer films of all shapes and sizes. Two of ’em show New Zealand in very different ways – from the small town rugby community brought to life in a gorgeous documentary, to a backdrop for an award-winning new Western. The blockbusters don’t stop either, and intriguing smaller films flirt around the edges. Read on for the month’s best cinema and direct-to-home-video content.
The Ground We Won – May 7th
Heartland rugby has never looked the way it does in this doco by Christopher Pryor and Miriam Smith (How Far is Heaven). Basing themselves in the rural dairy farming town of Reporoa, the pair integrated themselves into the community, uncovering the sorts of personalities that populate small town New Zealand, and bringing to the screen the passion behind Kiwis’ love of the game, and the drinking (and drinking…. and drinking) that is part and parcel of team culture. Shot in sumptuous black and white, Country Calendar this ain’t.
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck – May 7th
For such a familiar tale it’s remarkable how much uniqueness in content and tone documentarian Brett Morgen (The Kid Stays in the Picture) rings to this archival biography of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain. Atop a foundation of home movie footage from Cobain’s childhood as well as journal entries and audio recordings from his troubled teens onwards, Morgen animates passages from Cobain’s journals alongside contemporary interviews, and archival performance and interview footage to produce a compelling account of a troubled life.
Mad Max: Fury Road – May 14th
Finally it’s almost here – George Miller’s return to the post-apocalyptic Australian Outback setting that kickstarted his career in a cloud of engine fumes, burnt tires, and gunpowder. Tom Hardy takes the reins from Mad Mel as Max in what looks like an exceptionally over-the-top chase across a devastated dustbowl. The action teased in the trailers looks like a stunning mix of practical and CGI carry-on, the acting talent top-notch (with Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult also on board), so can we just watch it right now please?
Slow West – May 21st
Neither a traditional Western in the gritty contemporary mode, nor an arthouse riff on the genre, Slow West sets off on its own path in the same manner as leads Michael Fassbender and Kodi Smit-McPhee do across NZ’s Mackenzie Country (standing in for the American Frontier). There’s gunplay to be had, and drama to be swept up in, but also subtle stillness and black humour to ensure that their journey seldom veers predictable. That’s a sentiment surely shared by the Sundance Film Festival, who awarded the pic their World Cinema Grand Jury Prize. If you’re quick on the draw, you could win tickets to one of our advance previews in Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch.
Spy – May 21st
Melissa McCarthy reteams with Bridesmaids/The Heat director Paul Feig for this action comedy that will hopefully benefit from placing McCarthy front and centre rather than a foil to other characters as “the loud funny fat one”. Although we have seen her topple off a scooter in this. OK, and it was funny. Like some alternate Fast & Furious universe, McCarthy is in star-studded company – Jason Statham, Jude Law, Rose Byrne, to name a few – as a rookie spy who goes undercover to prevent global disaster. The Interview might have sucked, but let’s not allow that to dilute enthusiasm for another comedic espionage caper please. No one’s hacked this yet, but as we now know, that doesn’t speak to a film’s quality…
Tomorrowland – May 28th
The very idea of doing a movie based on a Disney theme park attraction doesn’t strike us with immediate enthusiasm (see: The Haunted Mansion or any of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels). But with Brad Bird’s name attached, that scepticism flips right over to pure excitement. Bird has not done us wrong in the past (The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), and while the current mainstream trailers have been vague on plot details, the George Clooney-less Japanese trailer proves there’s something incredibly inspired under the hood.
The Captive – May 13th
The basics: Abduction thriller starring Ryan Reynolds as a father who, long after his daughter’s disappearance, receives word from her abductor that she may still be alive.
The buzz: 29% on Rotten Tomatoes. Uh oh. Variety goes for the jugular, saying “This ludicrous abduction thriller plays like an ill-advised assembly of tropes and themes from Atom Egoyan’s highlights reel.”
Everly – May 13th
The basics: A mob boss sends in assassins to kill Selma Hayek in this one-room action thriller. Fortunately, she has lots of guns.
The buzz: 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. “Nothing more than a pointless exercise in brutal, nasty style” reckons Entertainment Weekly.
Open Windows – May 13th
The basics: A popular starlet (Sasha Grey) and her fan (Elijah Wood) are thrown into a cyber cat-and-mouse game in this thriller from the director of Timecrimes, shot entirely from the perspective of viewing a computer monitor.
The buzz: 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. Variety calls it “A fiendishly inventive thriller built around an audacious if unsustainable gimmick”.
The Green Prince – May 14th
The basics: Sundance Audience Award-winning documentary about the extraordinary tale of Mosab Hassan Yousef – oldest son of a founding Hamas member, turned double agent by the Israeli secret service.
The buzz: 78% on Rotten Tomatoes. “Mostly it’s the two men speaking at us, and our interest ebbs and flows depending on which parts of the tale they’re telling” says Time Out.
Korengal – May 14th
The basics: Follow-up to the 2010 Oscar-nominated war documentary Restrepo, revisiting the same group of men in the same valley but yielding a different experience.
The buzz: 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. According to Los Angeles Times, “The focus is on the psychology of wartime existence, descriptions of sights, sounds and feelings, girded by the vérité footage rather than driven by it”.
The Riot Club – May 14th
The basics: An upper-class Oxford University boys club turns vile and nasty in one evening in this tertiary thriller from the director of An Education.
The buzz: 66% on Rotten Tomatoes. Variety suggests “Brits might object to such an enraging portrayal, which veers between salacious and cynical”.
Shield of Straw – May 14th
The basics: Crime thriller from Japanese filmmaking extraordinaire Takashi Miike (13 Assassins) following four cops who must protect a murderer when his victim’s father puts a $1mil. open bounty on his head.
The buzz: 44% on Rotten Tomatoes. Hollywood Reporter’s take is that Shield of Straw is “A diverting but generic dose of psychologically thin B-movie suspense from the normally more outré Takashi Miike”.
Tokyo Tribe – May 14th
The basics: Japanese sci-fi, gangster, hip-hop musical from Sion Sono (Why Don’t You Play in Hell?). Honestly, there’s no “basic” way to sum up this film. You’re better off watching the trailer below.
The buzz: 57% on Rotten Tomatoes. “An often fun, thoroughly brainless movie” says AV Club.
I Survived a Zombie Holocaust – May 22nd
The basics: While filming a zombie movie, a film set becomes overrun with actual zombies in this undead comedy.
The buzz: Not yet reviewed on Rotten Tomatoes – but we’ll be weighing in on it soon!
See it in cinemas / get it on DVD / watch on demand
Starry Eyes – May 27th
The basics: Hollywood-based horror about a hopeful young starlet who sees her shot at fame, only to lock herself into a deadly agreement.
The buzz: 76% on Rotten Tomatoes. “Though it’s a tad overcranked in the final furlong, the sheer energy on display and a devilishly compelling plot ultimately win the day” says Variety.
The People Under the Stairs
Wes Craven’s 1991 follow-up to the painful Shocker is a claustrophobic suburban horror that didn’t set the box office on fire. and preceded Craven’s return to success with the Scream films. Framed around a break-in gone wrong, the would-be robbers of a fortune in gold find themselves trapped in a chamber of horrors that delivers plenty of scares and gross outs as it reveals its secrets.
