| TV Films
A Guide to the Week’s Viewing
SATURDAY JULY 1
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (Maori TV, 10.00am and 7.00pm). The delightful hand-animated folk tale that took eight years to make was Studio Ghibli cofounder Isao Takahata’s final movie as director. In contrast to slightly disturbing Ghibli works such as Howl’s Moving Castle and Spirited Away (from Takahata’s partner, Hayao Miyazaki), there is beauty in every line and a sense of picture-book reverence. Nominated for an Academy Award and more besides, Kaguya enjoys the distinction of being one of Rotten Tomatoes’ 100%-rated films. (2013) The Hoax (Choice TV, 8.30pm). Richard Gere’s nervy slickness works well in this based-on-atrue-story film about author Clifford Irving, who claimed he was writing Howard Hughes’s biography and pocketed some large advance cheques to get on with it. It hardly seems credible nowadays, but in pre-internet 1972, Irving fools nearly everyone with his manuscript and scrawled notes that purport to have been written by the famous recluse. Lasse Hallström’s film is part-thriller, part-character study, as Irving’s elaborate lies, born of desperation and hubris, start to implode. (2006) Almost Famous (Three, 9.00pm). “I am a golden god!”, etc. Director Cameron Crowe (famously) mined his own experiences as a rock writer for this coming-of-age story, although he makes the whole experience seem innocent and charming. Aspiring journalist William (Patrick Fugit) is given an assignment by revered critic Lester Bangs to review Black Sabbath, but ends up on tour with support-act band Stillwater. There are great performances from Billy Crudup as Stillwater’s lead singer (the aforementioned golden god), Kate Hudson as groupie Penny Lane and Fugit – but in particular, the brilliant Philip Seymour Hoffman shines as the crazy, uncompromising Bangs. (2000)
SUNDAY JULY 2
Nick Cave: One More Time with Feeling (Sky Arts, Sky 020,
8.15pm). An extraordinary document of music and grief directed over 10 days by Andrew Dominik ( Chopper and The Assassination of
Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford). Having lost his 15-yearold son, Arthur, while recording a new album, Nick Cave commissioned the film only to avoid conducting interviews. What he got was a mesmerising 3D film that screened worldwide for one night only last September. There are interviews and a 35-minute performance amid the loss and confusion. “It’s affected me in a way that I don’t understand,” says Cave. (NB: Local film Skeptics: Sheen of
Gold plays at 6.55pm.) (2016)
Spy (Three, 8.30pm). Paul Feig may have missed the mark with his updated Ghostbusters (we’re talking script rather than cast), but this Melissa McCarthy spy spoof is a riot. Her timid CIA analyst subverts the stereotypes and the sexism of the genre when she finally gets out in the field on a mission. Mention should be made of a surprisingly funny Jason Statham as a tough-guy spy. Allison Janney, Rose Byrne and Jude Law bring the laughs, too. (2015)
Orphans & Kingdoms (Maori TV, 8.30pm). Paolo Rotondo keeps it local with his debut feature in which three runaways (Hanelle Harris, Jesse James Rehu Pickery and Calae Hignett-Morgan) break into a flash Waiheke Island house. Things go downhill when its owner, Colin Moy, returns home. It’s a New Zealand tradition to find Kids Who Can Act, and HignettMorgan, in particular, is a standout. The film flags a little in the third act, but it’s otherwise “a finely told and fine-looking debut feature”, said our reviewer. (2014)
Elysium (TVNZ 2, 8.35pm). After the thrill ride that was District 9, what does Neill Blomkamp do? A heavy-handed metaphor for universal health care. Laudable, but a desperately simple idea on which to base a $157 million movie. Blomkamp is very good at dirty sci-fi, though, and there are some terrific scenes involving Matt Damon and Sharlto Copley in bio-mechanical exoskeletons (created by Weta Workshop). Just try not to feel insulted by the thumping 1% analogy (mean old Jodie Foster, floating in a space station above the 99% below). (2013)
THURSDAY JULY 6
The World Is Not Enough (Three, 7.30pm). The 19th Bond, and Michael Apted, the director primarily known for the observational Up TV series, goes all-out with the sideshow: a boat chase up the Thames, a bungy stunt in Bilbao and skiing in Azerbaijan. Pierce Brosnan is beginning to look a little worn, but it’s ridiculous fun. Co-star Denise Richards was named worst Bond girl of all time by Entertainment Weekly. (1999)
FRIDAY JULY 7
30 Minutes or Less (TVNZ Duke, 8.30pm). Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer once again puts Jesse Eisenberg into a dark comedy caper that he keeps tightly wound and jumping. Eisenberg’s slacker pizza-delivery driver is rigged with a bomb and forced to rob a bank by two meathead criminals (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson). He ropes in friend Aziz Ansari to help; close calls and incompetent high jinks ensue. (2011)