Click here for a video version of this review: https://youtu.be/U7w_jcSD3iE The early 80s was a time where the New Zealand film industry began to really bud and grow. One of the classics to come out of that time was _Came a Hot Friday_. Much like _Goodbye Pork Pie_ that came before it, this is a screwball comedy full of larger than life characters and general silliness. So what exactly is the story here? _Set in post-war rural New Zealand, this film traces the efforts of two con men as they run a betting scam in a small town already rife with illegal gambling, corruption, and eccentricity._ There really isn't a lot of story here and the movie is a bit of a shambles, but in a way, that's what gives it its charm. Its poorly acted and edited, but you 100% get a real sense of 1980s New Zealand, even though the movie is set in 1949. It's hard to say whether or not I recommend this. From a strictly story and quality point of view, its a bit of a disaster looking at it through modern eyes. As a slice of what we in New Zealand call "Kiwiana" though, its a treasure trove. It was a delight to see the legendary Billy T. James in this as, no less, and Maori Mexican bandito, and along with him, there were a few other familiar, albeit, much younger, faces from the NZ film and television alumni. I came across this in full on YouTube, and apart from that, I'm not sure where on earth you would be able to find a copy these days. It's not a great movie, but does have a ton of nostalgia value.
Kye-na, an average woman in her late twenties, holds a steady job and a committed boyfriend, Ji-myoung. Yet instead of feeling content, she constantly faces uncertainty, confusion and anxiety. While struggling with personal relationships and life's woes, Kye-na finally embarks for New Zealand despite everyone’s dissuasion on leaving her home behind.
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When a young fakaleiti falls in love at St Valentine’s Highschool, she must navigate her way through a world of intolerance and bigotry to find happiness - in an unexpected place.
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This docu-drama dives beneath the sensational headlines to unravel the truth about a murder case that rocked New Zealand and catapulted teenage dominatrix Renee Chignell and cricket umpire Peter Plumley Walker into the national consciousness.
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An airplane lands. A massive cruise boat anchors off the reef, disgorging tourists for tropical island vacations. This postcard paradise depends on petroleum imports to fuel its cars, motorbikes, boats, hotels, pumps and machinery. Yet if the tourists stopped coming, what then? The film opens with the prophetic words of Niuean artist John Pule and continues as a visual tone poem, without dialogue or narration, moving forward into the past to ask questions about the future. A young man travels back in time, from luxury resorts and lagoon tours through pandemic and population exodus, to early Christianity when missionaries incinerated his island’s atua and marae. Finally he reconnects with his tīpuna who settled the island a thousand years ago.
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When estranged son, Tai, is called home to Aotearoa to his father Putty's deathbed, he is forced to confront a painful past after years of avoiding it. Once inseparable, Tai and Putty would spend hours together fishing and joking around. However, after a family secret is revealed, their relationship falls apart.
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The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle—a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967.
Movie Star Rating : 7.6 Read More
A team from the intergalactic fast food chain Crumb's Crunchy Delights descends on Earth, planning to make human flesh the newest taste sensation. After they wipe out the New Zealand town Kaihoro, the country’s Astro-Investigation and Defense Service (AIaDS) is called in to deal with the problem. Things are complicated due to Giles, an aid worker who comes to Kaihoro the same day to collect change from the residents. He is captured by the aliens, and AIaDS stages a rescue mission that quickly becomes an all-out assault on the aliens’ headquarters.
Movie Star Rating : 6.3 Read More
Thick, deadly smog blankets the globe, reducing visibility to less than a few metres. In a secluded farmhouse, a woman and her overbearing husband attempt to find resources and survive using a series of walking trails crafted from ropes and stakes. One night, the woman is alerted to the presence of someone or something else deep in the smog. Desperate to escape the farmhouse, the woman attempts to meet the unknown and risk everything to leave her loveless and abusive relationship behind.
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Ordinary people find extraordinary courage in the face of madness. On 13–14 November 1990 that madness came to Aramoana, a small New Zealand seaside town, in the form of a lone gunman with a high-powered semi-automatic rifle. As he stalked his victims the terrified and confused residents were trapped for 24 hours while a handful of under-resourced and under-armed local policemen risked their lives trying to find him and save the survivors. Based on true events.
Movie Star Rating : 6.4 Read More
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