I hope you’ve been enjoying all the wonderful Oscar nominated and winning documentaries, comedies, dramas and biographies Rialto Channel has been playing throughout March as part of Rialto Channel’s Oscar’s Collection.

We've one more week to go, and there's plenty to enjoy...

This week I’ve picked a couple of films to highlight that should put a smile on your face. They deal with some hefty issues, but they’ve also been loaded up with all the quirk and charm needed for heartwarming entertainment. My highlights for this week are FOOTNOTE, HELL AND BACK AGAIN, and BEGINNERS.

 

Woody Allen is an American treasure and the quintessential New Yorker. A musician, writer, director, actor and standup comedian he has since the late 60’s entertained us with his unique brand of self-depreciating humour, neuroticism and observations on relationships and human behaviour.

Rake is a new Australian drama premiering on Rialto Channel tonight at 8.30pm. It stars award winning actor Richard Roxburgh as a brilliant, witty, self-destructive and politically incorrect barrister called Cleaver Greene. Superbly written and hilariously funny – this is one of the best television series I’ve seen in ages.

Recently I had a chat to Richard Roxburgh about the origins of the show, and how he’s flying the flag for Kiwi talent in Australia.

Variety is the theme of my highlights this week: a fast paced Brazilian crime thriller, an Oscar nominated documentary about an American eco- terrorist group, and a drama in which Shakespeare is a fake.

Yes, plenty to discuss around the water cooler this week.