T H U R S D A Y 1 2 O C T O B E R -
W E D N E S D A Y 1 8 O C T O B E R 2 0 1 7
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The Wellington Film Society. No film this week. Next screening at Te Papa Soundings.
Tuesday 24 October, 6.15pm: THE HITCH-HIKER
(Ida Lupino, USA 1953).
By the late 1940s, the superb, husky-voiced noir actress Ida Lupino was growing restless, tired of standing around on set while, in her words, "someone else seemed to be doing
all the interesting work." In 1949, she formed Filmmakers, her own production company, with her second husband; over the next few years, Lupino helmed a handful of socially
conscious melodramas. But she was just as adept in films about psychopaths, as is amply evident in this, her finest work as auteur. This taut desert noir - one with no femme,
fatale or otherwise - tracks two buddies en route to a fishing trip in Mexico who unknowingly pick up a palsy-eyed murderer. The vast expanses of arid landscape, where captor
and captives bunk for the night, are just as confining as the automobile they're stuck in.
- Melissa Anderson, Village Voice.
Anyone can join in the half hour before the screening starts, or anytime, on line.
Nga Taonga Sound and Vision. In the Main Cinema at 7.00pm until Saturday 21 October: Roger Donaldson's
McLAREN (NZ 2017).
Check out Nga Taonga's calendar of screenings for full details.
Film Festivals to note (they come in threes in November!):
Cinema Italiano Festival 2017. Empire 1 - 14 November.
Find the schedule on the Empire site here.
Polish Film Festival 2017. Roxy 3 - 12 November. Details of the films have now been released.
Show Me Shorts 2017. Embassy 9 - 22 November. The programme has been announced.
If your festival is not listed here, please advise the Cinemaster
This site relies on the various cinemas having their own websites up to date to access their screening times.
The paragraphs describing the films starting this week are in most cases adapted from the linked reviews.
If you are looking for a new web host, by using Host Bee, linking from their graphic at the foot of this page, the small commission we receive will help offset the cost of
running this website.
For comments and movie news, contact the Cinemaster at filmster@gmail.com.
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s t a r t s t h i s w e e k!
THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US -
Kate Winslet and Idris Elba star as two plane crash survivors who find their way to romance in director Hany Abu-Assad's adaptation of Charles Martin's novel.
With another cast or another director this would all be pure fluff, but Abu-Assad has both a lightness of touch and a visceral sense of place. But what really helps the film
overcome its far-fetched scenario is the pairing of Winslet and Elba, who know how to turn up the charm tenfold yet make Alex and Ben seem (mostly) like real people.
Also Penthouse, Empire, Roxy, Readings, Monterey and Coastlands.
ANOTHER MOTHER's SON -
Jenny Seagrove excels in this true-life tale of a mother who hides a fugitive Russian in the Channel Islands during the second world war.
Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. A decent, heartfelt, robustly presented drama.
Also Lighthouse and Shoreline.
FRANTZ -
After a couple of weeks at the Shoreline, this NZIFF entry now has a season in town. Francois Ozon's black-and-white period piece is arguably one of the straightest films
he has made, but his complex sensibilities and fine-tuned irony are very evident in a mature work that transcends genre pastiche to be intellectually stimulating and
emotionally satisfying.
Also Lighthouse Petone.
HAPPY DEATH DAY -
As a cycle of living, dying and repeating plagues a college student, viewers can be forgiven for feeling their own sense of deja vu. Thankfully never taking itself too seriously,
the latest Jason Blum-produced comedy-thriller is happy to carve out its spot as the horror-themed, millennial-focused Groundhog Day, and to have fun doing so.
A dynamic lead performance by Jessica Roth and a willingness to keep things short and snappy also ensure viewers won't mind venturing into rehash territory.
Also Monterey, Reading Porirua and Coastlands.
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