Indexed and cross-referenced capsule reviews of every film seen by Lumière staffers at the Telecom New Zealand International Film Festivals 2006. At-a-glance review links and pseudo-ratings included.
Indexed and cross-referenced capsule reviews of every film seen by Lumière staffers at the Telecom New Zealand International Film Festivals 2006. At-a-glance review links and pseudo-ratings included.
Film Features published by The Lumière Reader – including interviews, essays, articles and memoirs – are grouped by New Zealand and General Cinema; Years in Review; and Festival Features. More features under The Arts Reader.
Film Reviews published by The Lumière Reader, grouped by theatrical and festival context, indexed alphabetically. For additional reviews, see our ongoing Film and Festival Columns + our DVD Reviews.
DVD Reviews published by The Lumière Reader, covering primarily Region 4 releases, with occasional offshore imports reviewed. For additional reviews, see our ongoing Film and Festival Columns + our theatrical and festival Film Reviews.
The Lumière Reader publishes a selection of informal, ongoing Film Columns to complement its Film and DVD Reviews, broadly encompassing cinema primarily outside of the ‘current release’ sphere. Supplementing these is a year-round Festival Column surverying the local film festival scene, published separately under The Festival Reader.
Festival Features published by The Lumière Reader – including interviews, articles, and festival reports – grouped by the Telecom New Zealand International Film Festivals [2004-2007], and other festivals. More features under The Film Reader.
Festival Reviews published by The Lumière Reader, grouped by the Telecom New Zealand International Film Festivals [2004-2007], and other festivals. More reviews under The Film Reader.
The Lumière Reader publishes a year-round Festival Column surveying the local film festival scene, indexed alphabetically and by film. It devotes annually to the Telecom New Zealand International Film Festivals [2005-2007]. Further capsules, columns and editorials under The Film Reader.
Sidebar
- Auckland and Wellington Festivals have now concluded. Lumière's NZIFF coverage continues through August.
- Browse NZIFF Coverage
- NZIFF Dates:
- » Hamilton, August 14-31
- » Napier, August 20-Sept 7
- » Tauranga, August 28-Sept 10
- » New Plymouth, Sept 4-17
- Ben Russell on We Can Not Exist in This World Alone
- Interviews and editorial from the NZ International Film Festivals:
- » Adam Wingard on Pop Skull
- » Yung Chang on Up the Yangtze
- » Benjamin Gilmour on Son of a Lion
- » Kathy Dudding on The Return
- » Gregory King on A Song of Good
- » NZIFF '08 Dispatch #2: Priming the Melbourne International Film Festival
- » NZIFF '08 Dispatch #1: Auckland, and onwards
- » New Directions: the New Zealand International Film Festivals 2008
- Head-to-Head—dueling perspectives on festival films:
- » Water Lilies: David Levinson / Brannavan Gnanalingam
- » The Hollow Men: Nina Fowler / Danyl McLauchlan
- » Hunger: David Levinson / Brannavan Gnanalingam
- » Bigger, Stronger, Faster*: Tim Wong / Caleb Starrenburg
- Guide to NZIFF reviews:
By Brannavan Gnanalingam
Flight of the Red Balloon: Hou Hsiao-hsien captures Juliette Binoche and Paris at their best. "A masterpiece by one of cinema's great filmmakers... the intricate rhythms of daily life captured in a way that leaves you speechless."—Brannavan Gnanalingam- A Gentle Breeze in the Village: "A rich and infectiously charming celebration of youth... Simply put... a joy to watch."—Caleb Starrenburg
- In the City of Sylvia: "Guerin's camera remains a vital commentator, from the way it lingers poignantly in suppressed alleyways... to its uncanny ability to record the most delicate of impressions"—David Levinson
- La France: Trench warfare, androgyny, and twee musical numbers. "A strange delicacy among war movies."—Tim Wong
- Let the Right One In: "Could this be the best vampire movie since Near Dark or Herzog's remake of the classic Noseferatu?"—Jacob Powell
- My Winnipeg: Guy Maddin's unauthorized history of 'The Peg'. "Hilarious... an outrageous documentary tease, the Canadian's most hysterical film to date."—Tim Wong
- Night and Day: Hong Song-soo's latest man-flick. "A sharp, hilarious take on relationships and loneliness... that is much more complex than it looks."—Brannavan Gnanalingam
- To Each His Own Cinema: 36 auteurs on cinema. "You'll come away from the experience feeling invigorated about movie going."—Jacob Powell
- Up the Yangtze: "Chang's personal investment with his subjects pays an emotional mother-lode. Honouring him with their trust, one could sometimes mistake this documentary for a cinematic drama with performances worthy of an Oscar."—Roseanne Liang
- Waltz with Bashir: "The end... leaves no doubt as to what Folman's intention is in making the film. His restored memory detonates something universal. It is devastating to experience."—Catherine Bisley
The Edge of Heaven: Raw and urgent as a bullet to the jugular. Head-On's Fatih Akin plumbs Turkish-German family, politics, faith and love with uncompromising, edgy intensity. In striking contrast to Acid Reflux, aka Ashes of Time Redux, it does much more than look pretty.—Alexander Bisley
Do you love movies and movie memorabilia? We have many kinds of original movie posters and vintage posters for you to browse through online.
- Nina Davenport on Operation Filmmaker + Annie Goldson on An Island Calling
- » There Will Be Hope: The Films of Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
- » An Interview with Sarah Watt
- » Film Society 2008: Five Reasons to Join
- » Flight of the Conchords: "definitely in the top 3"
- » Year in Review: The Best of Film, DVD and Posters in 2007
- » Sex and Them: Californication vs Family First
- » Spike Lee's Territory
- » Syndromes of a Century: Spears, Network, and not taking it anymore
- » Fight the Power
- » Script to Screen, the Internet, and beyond
- » How irony killed satire: an earnest investigation
- » La Binoche
- » The Summer of Seth
- » Making Be Sharp, See Flat
- » The Muse of Brazilian Cinema: An Interview with Helena Ignez
- » Sign of the Times: A Struggle No More
- » Janet Goldwater on Rosita
- » Directorial Bandit: Sandor Lau on Squeegee Bandit
- » A Convenient Truth: Jeff Blitz on Spellbound
- » Year in Review: The Best of Film in 2006
- » In Praise Of: Ten Actors and Filmmakers in 2006
- » One-Sheet Wonders: The Best Movie Posters of 2006
- » Notes from the Underground: the V 24 Hour Movie Marathon 2006
- » West Coast Represent: Aunty Gaylene, Greymouth's Finest
- » The Passion of Laurie David
- » Ode to The West Wing
- Browse Film Features
By Brannavan Gnanalingam
- Selected theatrical film releases in New Zealand, rated and reviewed:
- » Dan in Real Life ***
- » I'm Not There *****
- » Rambo 4 **
- » There Will Be Blood *****
- » 2 Days in Paris ***
- » Rescue Dawn ***
- » No Country For Old Men *****
- » The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ****
- » Once ****
- » Mr Brooks ***
- » A Mighty Heart **
- » Death Proof ****
- » We're Here to Help ****
- » Venus, Evening ****/**
- » Eastern Promises ****
- » La vie en rose ****
- » Superbad **
- » Joy Division ***
- » Eagle vs Shark ****/**
- » The Simpsons Movie ***
- » Zodiac ***
- » Scoop ***
- » 28 Weeks Later ***
- » The Host ****
- » The Road to Guantanamo ****
- Short Reviews:
- » The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Get Smart, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Second-Hand Wedding, Charlie Bartlett
- » Street Kings, I'm Not There
- » Lars and the Real Girl, Gone Baby Gone, Four Minutes
- » Goodbye Bafana, Love in the Time of Cholera, Lady Chatterley, I Served the King of England
- » Michael Clayton, 30 Days of Night, Cloverfield, I Am Legend, Rescue Dawn, Red Road, Death at a Funeral
- » Into the Wild, Juno, The Golden Compass, Control, Priceless, Venus
- Browse Film Reviews
- The Films of Carl Theodor Dreyer
- Selected Region 4 DVD releases and reissues reviewed:
- » Eagle vs Shark
- » Jesus Camp
- » Sicko
- » The West Wing: The Complete Series
- » The Wrong Man, I Confess, Stage Fright, Dial M for Murder
- » Rome: The Complete First Season
- » Entourage: Season Three, Part 2
- » The Fred Dagg All-Purpose DVD
- » Rang de Basanti, Volver, Black Sheep
- » Becoming Jane
- » Wordplay
- » Rampage
- » A Scanner Darkly
- » Pan's Labyrinth
- » Sherrybaby
- » Out of the Blue
- » Flags of Our Fathers, Letters From Iwo Jima
- » Kubrick Triple Feature, Straight Time, The Yakuza, Lust for Life, Body Heat
- » The Simpsons: Season 9
- » The Pajama Game, Young Man With a Horn
- » The Queen
- Short Reviews:
- » Outrageous Fortune: Series Three
- » Mandela: The Living Legend, We're Here to Help, Death at a Funeral, Barking Dogs Never Bite
- » The Sopranos: Season Six, The Final Episodes; I Think I Love My Wife, Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten
- » Severance, La Vie en Rose, Stephanie Daley
- Browse DVD Reviews
By Brannavan Gnanalingam
- Lumière at the New Zealand International Film Festivals 2008
- Features, reviews and columns from the film festival circuit:
- » Not Miffed: Melbourne International Film Festival 2008
- » Postnatal Neglect: A Walk to Beautiful
- » Factory Girls: Maquilapolis—City of Factories
- » Left Alone: Western Sahara—Africa's Last Colony
- » Cannes 2008: Line-up
- » Interiors: Margot at the Wedding
- » Out of Sight: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
- » Midnight Cowboy: El Topo, The Holy Mountain
- » Lady-Tramp: An Old Mistress
- » Time-F**K: Southland Tales
- » Mutual Exploitation: Black, White + Gray
- » Crimes Committed: Dry Season
- » Wrong Man: Strange Culture
- » Type-Cast: Helvetica
- » Out of Africa: War/Dance
- » Eastern Promise: 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
- » World Cinema Showcase 2008
- » French Film Festival 2008: Ascenseur pour l'echafaud
- » Italian Film Festival 2007: My Best Enemy, Along the Ridge
- » Festival Notes From Abroad: Marrakech, Melbourne, Venice
- Browse Festival Coverage
– Full Coverage Inside –
