“Let this be the beginning now”: A Conversation with Ramin Bahrani
October 28, 2015
The director of 99 Homes on his film’s moral tightrope, New Zealand’s current housing bubble, and the trouble with John Key.
Archives by Category » In Cinemas
Turning Points: Mr. Turner and Selma
March 25, 2015
By focusing on pivotal segments of their subjects’ lives, two recent biopics capture an historical imprint rather than a personal saga.
The pictorial beauty of Ida
December 15, 2014
On the aesthetic asceticism of Pawel Pawlikowski’s formally brilliant film.
Harun Farocki: Three films,
plus Beatriz’s War
December 4, 2014
Celebrating the late, great German media artist, critic, editor, and curator; plus, notes on East Timor’s first ever feature film.
Interstellar: an introspection on fatherhood
November 13, 2014
Christopher Nolan’s love for the mosaic and manifold takes a step back in his new film, an empathetic study of human emotions and relationships.
Uncommon Bond: Pride
October 23, 2014
Different breeds of underdog find something worth celebrating in Matthew Warchus’s new period comedy.
Conversations: The Tone of Things
June 19, 2014
DOUG DILLAMAN and TIM WONG talk Jake the movie, scriptwriting as a means to an end, collaboration vs. authorship, and finding the right tone.
National Theatre Live: War Horse
March 31, 2014
A review of National Theatre Live’s production of Michael Morpurgo’s powerful war story for the stage.
National Theatre Live: Coriolanus
March 19, 2014
A review of National Theatre Live’s production of Shakespeare’s searing political tragedy, featuring Tom Hiddleston and Mark Gatiss.
All Is Lost in fragments
March 3, 2014
J.C. Chandor and Robert Redford’s bold new collaboration; plus, thoughts on this year’s Oscar race.
The Coen Brothers
February 7, 2014
Directors Joel and Ethan Coen share thoughts on Inside Llewyn Davis at the 51st New York Film Festival.
27 Years a Wife
February 1, 2014
Naomie Harris, fearless force of nature, on playing Winnie in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.
Notes on Nebraska
January 30, 2014
Alexander Payne’s new road movie returns to the Midwest.
Check the Fine Print: What Exactly is The Wolf of Wall Street Selling?
January 27, 2014
Does the razzle-dazzle beauty of Martin Scorsese’s new film seduce in a way that obscures the horrors within?
Obsession, Ambition, Lust, Love:
Kill Your Darlings
January 14, 2014
John Krokidas’s worthy addition to the Beat canon.
Cycle of Life: Short Term 12
January 9, 2014
“Just once take the advice that you give your kids every fuckin’ five minutes and learn to talk about what’s going on inside your head.”
You can’t beat the view: the beautiful emptiness of Gravity
December 18, 2013
Alfonso Cuaron’s new film soars as a 3-D spectacle, but it explores the human dimension through a clichéd and un-critically gendered lens.
The Smuggler
October 21, 2013
Paul Greengrass on the romance of New York, and how it inspired the gripping Captain Phillips
Brief notes on Blue Jasmine, Woody Allen’s fraudulent new film
September 23, 2013
Film review of Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine.
The Master:
An Interview with Park Chan-wook
August 8, 2013
In conversation with Asia’s biggest filmmaker ahead of the New Zealand release of Stoker and his appearance at Auckland’s Big Screen Symposium.