Well, it’s been a good week for Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel as they follow up their success at the 2015 Golden Globe Awards with nine nominations each for The Oscars. Not surprisingly Boyhood received six nominations, including best picture and best director for Richard Linklater, and the British film-of-the-moment The Imitation Game received seven. Great to see Whiplash being recognized with five nominations, especially for best picture – it was one of the best films of 2014. The biggest snub is Selma, the handsome and well acted biopic about Martin Luther King Jr. The film received a nod for best picture and best original song, but that’s it. Kind of feels like a token gesture to me. Anyway, I can’t wait for the awards on Monday 23rdFebruary (NZ time) – worthy films might just win!
Well, it’s been a good week for Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel as they follow up their success at the 2015 Golden Globe Awards with nine nominations each for The Oscars. Not surprisingly Boyhood received six nominations, including best picture and best director for Richard Linklater, and the British film-of-the-moment The Imitation Game received seven. Great to see Whiplash being recognized with five nominations, especially for best picture – it was one of the best films of 2014. The biggest snub is Selma, the handsome and well acted biopic about Martin Luther King Jr. The film received a nod for best picture and best original song, but that’s it. Kind of feels like a token gesture to me. Anyway, I can’t wait for the awards on Monday 23rd February (NZ time) – worthy films might just win!
Here are a few of my highlights for the week:
The Double
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg & Mia Wasikowska
Directed by: Richard Ayoade
Screening: Saturday 24th January, 8.30pm
With it’s highly stylized art direction and moody soundtrack this noir-like thriller from British comedian and director Richard Ayoade (Submarine) is a satirical adaptation of a tale by Fyodor Dostoevsky. A bleak, off-kilter comedy, this nightmare of paranoid bureaucratic alienation tells the story of Simon (Eisenberg), a timid, isolated young man who works for a government-like department where he comes face to face with his double, James. Simon and James look exactly the same, but personality wise are complete opposites. Much to Simon’s horror, this bolder, brasher version of himself, begins to take over his life. Jesse Eisenberg does a brilliant job in both roles, and is very nicely supported by Mia Wasikowska.
Le Weekend
Starring: Lindsay Duncan, Jim Broadbent & Jeff Goldbum
Directed by: Roger Michell
Screening: Rialto British, Sunday 25th January, 8.30pm
A poignant, witty and honest story, Le Week-End is about a couple approaching retirement who travel to Paris to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary, only to find themselves asking why they’re still married. If you enjoyed the ‘Before …’ film trilogy staring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy you’ll likely fall for Le Week-End’s charm as well. Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan are convincing and brilliant together as a married Nick and Meg who walk and talk their way around Paris, spending money they don’t have and discovering they want different things out of life. An insightful script by Hanif Kureishi and an unsentimental approach by director Roger Michell (Notting Hill, Hyde Park on Hudson) also mean this romantic comedy packs a good punch. It may be bittersweet, there’s as much regret and sadness as there is hope and love, but this is one trip to Paris you should definitely make.
Goodbye Pork Pie
Starring: Tony Barry, Kelly Johnson, Claire Oberman
Directed by: Geoff Murphy
Screening: Monday 26th January, 6.45pm
OK, so this iconic New Zealand road trip movie is screening next week, but I wanted to give all you ‘Blondini’s’ plenty of notice. Written by Geoff Murphy and Ian Mune, and directed by Murphy, this comedy caper about three anti-heroes on a mission to drive from Auckland to Invercargill in a stolen rental Mini is a classic. It was the first New Zealand film to go Cannes in 1980, where it sold to 20 territories, before becoming a smash hit back home selling 600,000 tickets. Not bad for 1981. Read the credits and you’ll see plenty of familiar names were involved in the making of this film. Alun Bollinger was the cinematographer, Stuart Dryburgh (who went on to DOP The Piano, Once Were Warriors, Portrait of a Lady, and Bridget Jones' Diary) was the gaffer, and Lee Tamahori was the boom operator. I was only nine when this film was released, and considering the brazen language and nudity, obviously didn’t see it until I was older. However, even today there’s something still wonderfully audacious and shocking about this film – it really is worth a trip down memory lane.