T H U R S D A Y 0 5 M A R C H -
W E D N E S D A Y 1 1 M A R C H 2 0 2 6
t h e f i l m s
n e w s c l i p s
The Wellington Film Society, Embassy on Monday 9 March at 6.00pm and 8.30pm,
THE APARTMENT Billy Wilder, USA, 1960
Back in the day, this scooped the Academy Awards, taking home Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. It was a major hit and gets top ratings in all the movies-on-TV guides, yet it's not often revived. Considered as a Billy Wilder movie, it has never become as admired as Double Indentity or as beloved as Some Like It Hot. Perhaps its relative obscurity is down to the lack of a movie icon. And maybe it's that this comedy tells truths about American business and sexual mores as uncomfortable now as they were in 1960. However, since even committed Wilder fans are likely to have seen The Apartment only once, this re-release reveals a fresher picture than many a classic you can recite by rote.
- Kim Newman, Empire.
Members only.
Film Society Memberships are available at any time on line.
Film Festivals to note:
To mark it's 80th birthday, the Wellington Film Society has announced a bonus weekend-long celebration with a theme of Playing the Part. The mini-festival will feature eight films, one from each decade of its history. It will screen at the Embassy from Friday 5 - Sunday 7 June - for members only. Another reason to join. Details here:
Playing the Part.
If you have a festival due to run in Wellington and it's not listed here, contact 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.
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 BRIDE! -
Through its body horror, themes of female autonomy and empowerment, lovers on the run, and reinterpretation of Mary Shelley's words and characters, it is, above all, a tribute to cinema, whether it's musicals, detective noirs, or the classic monster movies of old. It's a very big swing from filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal: Jessie Buckley hurls herself into her erratic role with a maddening sense of freedom in her choices that's exciting to watch.
Also Penthouse, Roxy, Lighthouse, Queengate, Monterey, Reading and Coastlands.
THE MOMENT -
A big swing into the mockumentary genre satirizing the pressures of pop stardom and the struggle for creative control. It doesn't always work, but Charli xcx, as ever, throws a wild party.
Also Roxy, Queensgate, Monterey, Reading and Coastlands.
MIDWINTER BREAK -
An adaptation of a Bernard MacLaverty novel of the same name, this is a delicate film that stays in a minor key, but whose impact is profound if you can get on its level. Directed by theater veteran Polly Findlay making her feature debut in all its quietly contradictory beauty.
Also Lighthouse and Shoreline.
SIRAT -
There's a delicious touch of Paul Schraders Hardcore to the setup, but this is more in the lineage of William Friedkin's Sorcerer, even Mad Max: Oliver Laxe's story about a ragtag group attempting to move some monstrous vehicles over a landscape is so unforgiving it might actually be hell. If I see a better film in Cannes, it will have been a very good year. From the NZIFF.
THE FRENCH JOB -
Directed by Dominique Baumard, Les regles de l'art is a detective comedy inspired by the spectacular burglary of the Musee d'Art Moderne in Paris in 2010. With a tone oscillating between humor and suspense, the film follows three men embroiled in a case far too big for them. From the French Film Festival.
All Lighthouse.
I CAN ONLY IMAGINE 2 -
This movie is designed for an audience already dedicated to the music of Millard and Timmons, and to the particular Christian tradition they represent. Those who are already fans will appreciate this chance to share his story, but those who do not know him may find it uninspiring. Bart is not preaching to the choir; he's harmonizing with those who are already there.
Also Monterey and Coastlands.
u p c o m i n g f i l m s
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