T H U R S D A Y 2 5 A P R I L -
W E D N E S D A Y 0 1 M A Y 2 0 2 4
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The Wellington Film Society, Embassy 6.15pm on Monday 29 April:
MISHIMA Paul Schrader | Japan/USA | 1985.
Paul Schrader's lifelong cinematic search for God's loneliest man reached its apogee with this 1985 examination of Japanese author and eccentric Yukio Mishima. Part straight biopic, part stylised interpretation of Mishima's headspace, the film is a breathless plunge into the creative soul that is unparalleled. It's how Schrader depicts this art that provides the film's most astonishing moments, recreating key scenes from Mishima's novels on stunningly designed, luridly textured soundstages and exploring the parallels between personal and artistic development. Graced with a throbbing orchestral score from Philip Glass and John Bailey's luminous photography, this is appropriately monumental filmmaking.
- Tom Huddleston, Time Out.
Members only. Renewal and upgrades available at any time on line, and pick up the membership card at a screening.
Film Festivals to note:
Architecture and Design Film Festival Wellington 16 May - 3 June: Embassy, Light House Cuba and Petone. More details and schedule on the website.
French Film Festival 2024 Wellington 5-26 June: Embassy, Penthouse and all Lighthouse cinemas. More details and schedule on the website.
NZIFF Wellington 31 July - 11 August: Embassy, Roxy and Light House Cuba only.
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 FALL GUY -
Do you want to watch Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt be funny and badass? Do you want to watch them fall in love and save the day? Do you want an entire movie to be constructed around the mere fact that these beautiful, massively talented people ignite the screen whenever they're sharing the frame? Their sparkling chemistry is the explosive fuel that powers one of the best studio blockbusters in recent years, an engine carefully constructed to please the audience at each and every turn.
Also Penthouse, Empire, Roxy, Lighthouse, Queensgate, Monterey, Reading and Coastlands.
ORIGIN -
Ambitious, intellectual and deeply humanistic, Ava DuVernay's film is based on Isabel Wilkerson's best selling book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, which is full of the kind of big ideas that can change the world. It's a smart movie about smart people, following a brilliant Black woman distilling chaos into rationale and generously pouring her groundbreaking ideas into the world. It's a rare thing.
Also Lighthouse Petone.
ROBOT DREAMS -
Fashioned into moving form from the graphic novel by Sara Varon, this hand-drawn buddy dramedy preserves both the cartoon strip aesthetic and lack of dialogue of the source material for a delightfully bittersweet animated wonder that embodies the medium's most purely cinematic qualities. With its soulful tin heart, it moves us to appreciate the fortune of having a precious pal.
Also Lighthouse and Shoreline.
BEFORE DAWN -
For ANZAC Day. An Australian World War I drama that immerses us in the hellish trenches of the Western Front through the eyes of a young farmer named Jim Collins. Disillusioned with life on the family sheep station, Jim eagerly joins his mates in enlisting for the Great War, fueled by naive visions of glory. However, the sobering realities of trench warfare quickly shatter his ill-informed expectations.
Also Monterey and Shoreline.
GOLDA -
Helen Mirren makes a commanding Golda Meir in this historical drama about the Israeli prime minister, directed by Guy Nattiv. Despite being entombed in prop flesh and wrinkles, Mirren manages to emote very effectively with her voice, mimicking Meir's midwestern twang, gait and posture. Advance screenings this weekend.
All Lighthouse and Shoreline.
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