March’s must-see movies a varied mix of flicks
With the awards season done and dusted, Kiwi cinemas will be home to a variety of movies. For fans of big dramas, there’s the Ben Affleck-starring redemption tale The Way Back (March 5), a series of intertwining love stories feature in The Photograph (March 5), a first date goes terribly wrong in Queen & Slim (March 19) and the lives and loves of Polish scientist Marie Curie are explored in Radioactive (March 26).
From Russia comes The Humorist (March 19), a 1980s-set tale about a standup comedian unravelling under the weight of fame and censorship, there’s Bafta-winning British black-andwhite fishing drama Bait
(March 26), and the Oscarnominated documentary Honeyland (March 5) looks at the work of the Macedonian-based last female bee-hunter in Europe.
Returning from last year’s inaugural British Film Festival are choir comedy Military Wives
(March 12) and oldies-behavingbadly in All at Sea (March 19). Nicolas Cage headlines the cosmic horror Color Out of Space
(March 12), which debuted at the 2019 Terror-Fi Festival.
Stuff has singled out eight great releases we believe are well worth viewing.
Guns Akimbo (March 5)
Daniel Radcliffe, Ready or Not’s
Samara Weaving and a host of familiar Kiwi faces star in this anarchic action-comedy about a video game developer whose trolling lands him a role as an unlikely participant in a deadly gladiatorial-style combat competition.
Written and directed by Deathgasm’s Jason Lei Howden.
Dark Waters (March 5)
Todd Haynes’ environmental courtroom drama details Cincinnati lawyer Robert Bilott’s crusade to get justice for the residents of West Virginia ‘‘poisoned’’ by the chemical giant DuPont’s negligence.
A kind of Erin Brockovichmeets-John-Grisham-esque drama, it stars Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins and Bill Pullman.
Downhill (March 5)
Will Ferrell and Julia Louis Dreyfus headline this Englishlanguage remake of the hit 2014 Swedish black comedy Force Majeure. As with the original, it follows the marital fallout from decisions made during a family ski holiday when they narrowly avoided dying in an avalanche.
Bloodshot (March 12)
Vin Diesel stars as an elite soldier who is brought back to life by an advanced technology that gives him the ability of super human strength and fast healing. His first order of business? Hunting down the man who killed his wife.
Guy Pearce, Toby Kebbell and Eiza Gonzalez also star in this action movie based on the popular Valiant Comics series.
I Still Believe (March 12)
New Zealand’s own Riverdale star KJ Apa joins Tomorrowland’s Britt Robertson in this romantic-drama inspired by the life story of Christian music star Jeremy Camp.
The cast also includes Gary Sinise, Manifest’s Melissa Roxburgh and veteran singing star Shania Twain.
A Quiet Place Part II (March 19)
Emily Blunt is back to battle more alien invaders in this follow-up to the surprise horror hit of 2018. Forced to venture into the unknown, the Abbott family realise the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats lying in wait for them. New to proceedings are Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou.
Mulan (March 26)
Partly shot in New Zealand and directed by Whale Rider’s Niki Caro, this is the latest Disney animated feature to get the liveaction treatment.
As before, it’s the story of a young woman who joins the Imperial Army to save her ailing father.
The Personal History of David Copperfield (March 26)
The Death of Stalin, Veep and The Thick of It’s Armando Iannucci offers up a comedic take on Charles Dickens’ classic 1850 novel about a young man’s journey from impoverished orphan to burgeoning writer. Dev Patel, Hugh Laurie, Peter Capaldi and Gwendoline Christie star.