Tag Archives: Rhys Darby

Next Goal Wins – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A fun time that gets held back by some wooden acting and forced storytelling.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

The Team v the Coach.

Next Goal Wins Review –

I have been enjoying my time at the Brisbane International Film Festival, but as always, things must come to an end. But if you are going to pick a film to end it on, Taika Waititi’s romp about the American Samoa Football Team is an excellent place to do it. This is a sports story that is so infamous that even I have heard about it. With that in mind, let’s play some soccer and see how a team can come back from abject embarrassment.

So to set the scene, American Samoa has been at the bottom of FIFA’s rankings for an age and reached an even lower level in 2001 World Cup qualifiers when, during a game with Australia, they lost 31-0. Tavita (Oscar Kightley) tries to manage the club, but he has become a laughingstock in the soccer community. After some pushing from his wife, Ruth (Rachel House), he applies to the American Soccer Federation for a new coach. Well, this might be a Hail Mary, but at that moment, they have a coach who is about to get fired, and Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) has only one option: take a plane into the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

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Uproar – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An emotional punch to the face as it explores the power of finding your identity.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to see this film

A sign that says "Justice for Black South Africa, Justice for Brown New Zealand would be nice to!"

Uproar Review –

At the time of writing, we are in the middle of the Brisbane International Film Festival or, more affectionately, BIFF. So many films were on offer that you needed to sort through all the entries before being paralysed by indecision. For me this year, I decided to prioritise Aussie and Kiwi films, and with that in mind, you will see a couple of these entries over the coming days. Our first entry from BIFF explores the need to find your identity and how that shapes us as people.

So to set the scene, it is 1981, and the South African Rugby Team, the Springbok, are currently touring New Zealand. Given an intentionally racist Apartheid political system that still runs South Africa, this tour is quite controversial, and there are protests everywhere the team plays. It is within this world that Josh Waaka (Julian Dennison) is trying to find his voice. He is surviving High School by hiding in the library each lunchtime, but he is not thriving at any level. Much of his out-of-school time is spent on odd jobs helping his mother Shirley (Minnie Driver) and the family survive and assisting his brother Jamie (James Rolleston) in his physical therapy recovery from an accident. But as these protests cause a reckoning in the country, they also force Josh to reflect on his own identity.  

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The Boss Baby: Get That Baby! – TV Review

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TL;DR –  Besides one or two interesting moments, it never makes use of its formula   

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

The Boss Baby: Get That Baby!. Image Credit; Netflix.

Review –

Back in 2017 the was this odd animated film that landed in the world. Some despised it, and I found The Boss Baby to be well just fine. Since then, I have seen it pop up occasionally on Netflix where it has done well enough for a follow-up series. Today they take another step as they take on Netflix’s newest format the interactive episode.

So to set the scene, we open in on Staci (Alex Cazares) and Jimbo (Kevin Michael Richardson) as they introduce the audience to the employer training VR simulator. You are a baby, and they are trying to find which of the 16 jobs on offer you are the best fit for. You could work out in the field, in middle management, or be the titular Boss Baby (JP Karliak) themself.

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Movie Review – The Breaker Upperers

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TL;DR – At times hilarious, at times incredible farcical, and at times a deeply moving look at the trials of friendship.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit scene

The Breaker Upperers. Image Credit: Piki Films/Madman.

Review –

For a long time, there has been this growing bubble of particular dry absurdist comedy coming out of New Zealand. You see it in the work of Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement, Bret McKenzie, Rhys Darby, Rachel House, and also some of Peter Jackson’s early films. These are films that mix comedy and emotional understanding in equal measures. Whenever one of these movies like Hunt for the Wilderpeople (see review) or Hibiscus & Ruthless (see review) make it across the ditch I always really look forward to seeing it. Well, today we get the chance to look at a new entry into this wonderful genre The Breaker Upperers, from the comedic team of Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek.

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Movie Review – Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

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TL;DR – This film is an hour and a half of pure fun, and probably the first video game film to work in a very long time, and some of the best casting I have seen in a while

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle. Image Credit: Sony.

Review –

So to be honest right from the start this was a bit of a surprise. It has not been a good year for remakes in 2017, for example, The Mummy (see review) or the Ghost in the Shell (see review) all fell a bit flat on release. Add to this, it has been over twenty years since the first film, and all the information in the lead up to its release did not display Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle in a flattering light at all. Indeed, it felt like this was going to be another case of reheating an old franchise rather than trying to do something new, and we are getting a bit tired of this. However, none of this came to pass, instead what we got was a fun romp through the jungle, with superb casting, and sense of knowing exactly what it wanted to do and succeeding in it.

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Movie Review – Hunt for the Wilderpeople

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TL;DR – A beautifully filmed story, with real depth and heart, a great cast, and more so since the Lord of the Rings makes the most out of its New Zealand setting

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Image Credit: Madman.

Review – Wow, people had recommended ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’ to me, but nothing prepared me for just how good it would be. It runs the gamut of emotions from humour to sadness, from absurdity to quiet contemplation, from grief to rejoicing. Wilderpeople tells the story of Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) who is a general problem child and on his last chance when he is sent out into the bush to live with Bella (Rima Te Wiata) and Hec (Sam Neill). Bella is a loving woman who takes an immediate shine to Ricky even though Paula (Rachel House) the social worker insists he is a problem case. Hec is a more gruff character that seems to more tolerate than actual like Ricky. It is within this framework that we get the motivation for act two and three when people are propelled forward and have to fight for what they believe in.

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