Dramatic Sundays ahead
Keith Sharp picks out the best on the box for the week ahead.
A thrilling action movie, an emotional rollercoaster, and a fitting tribute to one of New Zealand’s unsung heroes all rolled into one.
With its starry cast (vast enough to include virtual cameos from the likes of Keira Knightley and Robin Wright), and intimate stories set against an epic canvas, Everest feels like a 21st century version of the 1970s-era disaster movie ( The Towering Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure), crossed with Touching the Void. We’ve come a long way from Vertical Limit and Cliffhanger in terms of mountaineering-set drama.
Even more impressively Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur ( 2 Guns, Contraband) and the team have managed to create (in postproduction) a truly immersive 3-D experience that places the viewer in the middle of the chaos, rather than just simply throwing rocks (and snow) at the audience.
Based on books about the tragic 1996 disaster on Mt Everest, including Jon Krakauer’s ( Into the Wild) much-acclaimed Into Thin Air, and Beck Weather’s Left for Dead, Everest recounts the lead-up to, and events of, May 10 when the nascent commercial guiding industry on the mountain suffered its first, and then blackest, catastrophe.
Kiwi Rob Hall’s (Jason Clarke) Adventure Consultants and Scott Fisher’s (Jake Gyllenhaal) Mountain Madness were among those attempting to reach the summit when a ‘‘perfect storm’’ of mishaps and weather conditions left all their fates in the balance.
Anyone old enough to remember what unfolded will recognise the dramatic and cinematic qualities that made it an obvious candidate for the big screen, but what Kormakur and writers William Nicholson ( Unbroken, Mandela) and Simon Beaufoy ( 127 Hours, Slumdog Millionaire) have achieved is both sensitive and nothing short of sensational.
If there’s a touch of Pearl Harbor about the triumph-aftertragedy storytelling, that quibble is erased by an intelligent script, well-rounded characters and breathtaking set pieces.
And all that is enhanced by a really deep bench of character actors, including transformative- actor-du-jour Gyllenhaal ( Southpaw), a grizzly Josh Brolin ( Inherent Vice), John Hawkes ( The Sessions), Emily Watson ( The Theory of Everything), Michael Kelly ( House of Cards), Sam Worthington ( Avatar), and our own Martin Henderson.
He also deserves credit for ‘‘coaching’’ Aussie-born actor Clarke ( Dawn of the Planet of the Apes).
His accent is simply superb and his portrayal of Hall as humble and full of humanity will gladden the heart and leave a lump in your throat.
You’ll be exhausted by the end of the harrowing final act, but the effort is worth it to see one of the most entertaining and emotionally enervating slices of cinema of the last few years.
Winter tales
We last saw Rebecca Gibney (see story above) in the one-off Australian murder mystery The Killing Field, when she introduced us to her newest screen character, Detective Eve Winter. Well, it turned out that was successful enough for Gibney to take the character on to a new series of her own, which begins this week on TV One.
Titled simply Winter, Gibney not only re-teams with former Flying Doctors co-star Peter O’Brien for the series, but also with fellow Kiwi Antonia Prebble, who plays Detective Alesia Taylor. It’s murder most foul again, with Winter investigating a killing that may be connected to a cold case.
TV One, Sunday, 8.30pm
Lies, and damned lies
Have you ever told a wee lie that has spiralled out of control? That’s the concept behind the new British drama series Ordinary Lies. This week’s episode focuses on a man on the verge of losing his job who panics and tells a porky to gain sympathy from his boss. Bad move, as the lie takes on a life of its own and wreaks havoc among all concerned.
The cast is a quality one, including Max Beesley, Mackenzie Crook, Sally Lindsay, and Michelle Keegan. Comedian Jason Manford gets the ‘‘liar, liar’’ role that kicks off the chaos.
TV One, Sunday, 9.30pm
The benefit of good neighbours
It’s been called ‘‘poverty porn’’ by its detractors, but the UK reality series Benefits Street returns for a second series this week, visiting a whole new group of British people whose lives revolve around drawing beneficiary payments.
The point of the series, though, is that those folk all live in the same street in a poor neighbourhood in Stockton-OnTees, so they are as dependent on each other as they are on the benefits.
The first series was a lightning rod for a heated debate on social welfare in the UK, so you have to wonder if the participants knew what they were letting themselves in for.
TV One, Wednesday, 8.30pm
A Jaw-dropping classic
If you are old enough to have seen Jaws on the big screen 40 years ago (Yes – 40 years ago!), then you should feel grateful to have been part of the audience that witnessed a genuine turning-point in movie history.
Even now, Jaws, directed by an up-and-coming young man named Steven Spielberg, is one hell of a scary ride, with stand-out performances by all concerned, and a theme tune that signalled approaching terror and doom like no other. Go on, watch it again. You know you want to.
Four, Saturday, 8.45pm
Arise, Texas
‘‘Remember the Alamo!’’ was the rallying cry of independenceminded Texans for a century or more, based on the legendary and ill-fated stand by Texas revolutionaries against the Mexican army in 1836.
Well, they’re at it again in Texas Rising, a new TV miniseries based on those events, beginning this week on The Box.
It may be dramatic and actionpacked, but it might pay not to put too much faith in historical accuracy for the duration of this rising. Just enjoy it as a rare bit of Western-themed TV action.
The Box, Thursday, 9.30pm.