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Heath Ledger’s stunning performance as Batman’s iconic nemesis The Joker has been immortalised in Lego.
A new Lego figure – known in the Lego world as a “minifig” – depicts The Joker with the jagged, disturbing face make-up that was distinct to Ledger’s portrayal.
Ledger played The Joker in the 2008 film
Who knew so many people want to be killed off by George R. R. Martin
Martin’s
REVIEW:
Begin Again, much like writer/director John Carney’s 2007 effort Once, is going to polarise audiences.
The grumps and the cynics – those people who like to describe themselves as “realists”; the ones you don’t want to get stuck next to at a dinner party – will say it’s a sappy load of old hoo-hah which only goes to prove that Carney is fatally afflicted with dewy-eyed romanticism, and that his leading lady Keira Knightley has the acting chops and the intellectual gravitas of a concussed rabbit.
But then there are those – and I like to include myself in this second group – of a sunnier disposition, who will see in Begin Again a simple, sweet natured, and altogether agreeable romantic musical drama. Light as a feather it may be, and relentlessly optimistic about the human animal, but Begin Again never quite strays into pure hokum, and not once does it fail to be a well made, economically written, and charmingly performed film.
Knightley plays a young English singer/songwriter stranded in New York. Her boyfriend has vaulted from making demo tapes in his flat, to genuine pop-superstardom in a dizzying few months, and the relationship has crumbled around them. Heartbroken and furious, Knightley spends her last night in the city at an open mic night, is convinced by a friend to perform one of her own tunes, and is spotted by Mark Ruffalo’s charmingly rumpled and utterly sozzled ex-record label owner.
From here on, a not-quite-romance breaks out, as Knightley and Ruffalo collaborate on the business of recording an album, getting to know characters played by Mos Def, Catherine Keener, and Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), and healing each other a little of what hurts them.
I liked that Begin Again never became the film the trailer threatens, that a couple of the most important moments were wordless (it takes talent to know what not to write), that it finally gave Knightley a role that she is right for, and that by the end everybody was allowed some resolution.
Begin Again is a deceptive film, with some fine tuned storytelling machinery purring away beneath its facade of naivety. There’s a couple of perfectly hummable tunes, good performances right across the cast, and a nicely ramshackle and independent air that suits the story well.
Begin Again (M), 104 mins, directed by John Carney
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– Stuff
Radio programmer Miles Buckingham loves films.
He loves them so much that during the two weeks of this year’s international film festival his days will consist of little more than home, work and the cinema.
“I think I’m probably going to see close to 45 films [in the festival] this year,” Buckingham said.
“I just enjoy the film festival.”
What it means is that Buckingham will see about three films a day from July 23 till August 10.
And this is a quiet year for him.
“I must have got pretty close to 60 in 2003,” he said.
“I’ve had other years that I’ve gotten pretty close to 60 as well, but that was back in my days of gainful unemployment.”
These days Buckingham programmes the airwaves at Radio Active, which means easing up a little on his passion for the silver screen– but not too much.
“I just am either at work or at a film for 2 weeks.”
So what’s the allure of the film festival All to do with the type of films in the programme, he said.
“It’s where I know I’ll find films that I can engage with, that I’m interested in seeing on a big screen, in a darkened room with strangers.”
For Buckingham that means documentaries.
“You don’t get great, long-form documentaries on television. You tend to have to seek them out. It’s just the ease of having them at the film festival and there’s an audience for them.
“For the other 11 months of the year it’s superheroes biffing each other or films aimed at elderly people who don’t want to be too challenged.”
Buckingham said the key to watching so many films was getting a little space between the screenings, sitting outside or going for a walk.
“Sometimes they do blur [together].”
But that “vague mash of films” was part of the experience according to Buckingham, and being deeply affected by the films was the point.
“Sometimes you leave a film knowing that you will see it again if the opportunity presents itself.
“Or in the case of Werner Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams [in 2011’s programme] you see it and wake up the following morning and see it again because you can, and it blows your mind twice within 24 hours.”
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– The Wellingtonian
REVIEW:
You probably know that Agnes Brown is the creation of Irish writer and comedian Brendan O’Carroll. You also know that the TV show Mrs Brown’s Boys has been running for the last few years. You may have watched it. In which case, you are one up on me. Personally, I haven’t found a TV comedy series on New Zealand TV that I’ve really liked since Black Books finished, Mrs Brown’s Boys included.
So I didn’t walk into D’Movie with any great expectations, but the Irish write comedy like the Kenyans run marathons, and you ignore them at your peril.
Within ten minutes I was grinning, and more than a few times I laughed out loud. Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie is affectionate, genuinely funny, well put together, and has enough flourish and flare about it to make it much more than just a 90 minute version of a 30 minute TV show.
The plot is that old one about the evil property developer and how he is thwarted by the community, but the telling is nicely done. There are ongoing gags, inspired physical comedy, enough swearing to justify that ‘M’ Rating, and a way of incorporating the blooper reel into the film’s action that I haven’t seen since Blazing Saddles.
I liked it. And the row of women behind me were laughing so hard I swear I left with gobs of macerated popcorn stuck to the back of my head. Take that as a recommendation.
Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie (M), 94 mins, directed by Ben Kellett
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– Stuff
Robyn Malcolm is stepping back from the screens and onto the stage for her performance in Bertolt Brecht’s Good Soul of Szechuan.
The play, which opens to the public this Saturday at Auckland’s Q Theatre, explores the line between good and evil.
Malcolm plays dual roles of Shen Te who she calls a “tart with a heart” and Shui Ta (“a total hardass”).
The play is set in a geographical combination of China and post-earthquake Christchurch, says Malcolm.
“So we’re in a devastated part of the world that is racked with poverty. Three gods appear and need somewhere to stay the night but no one will take them in because everyone is too poor.”
Prostitute, Shen Te, offers some hospitality and in return is gifted money. As a way to help her world she buys a tobacco shop.
“But because she’s surrounded by incredibly poor people who are only interested in their own survival she gets taken for a ride and her goodness is exploited.”
To survive she creates an alter-ego – her cousin, Shui Ta.
“He comes in and kicks everybody out and runs the business successfully,” says Malcolm.
The
Who knew so many people want to be killed off by George R. R. Martin
Martin’s
