Can prequels ever really stand alongside their original source material? Dr. Maria asks the question of Westside: Series 3, the popular prequel to NZ cultural juggernaut Outrageous Fortune.
Dr. Maria talks to us about the part biopic, part reconstruction, part pack-of-fibs that is Becoming Bond. The odd doco/bio hybrid centers on the Bond film canon's only single shot 007 player, the Australian car mechanic turned model George Lazenby. Narrated by Lazenby himself, how did Maria enjoy a film on the man Dame Diana Rigg once described as: "...obsess[ed] with himself ...utterly, unbelievably ... bloody impossible"?
Spookers follows the stories of a diverse group of amateur performers who unite to terrify punters at NZ's largest scream park, situated in a former psychiatric hospital.
Dr. Maria talks to us about the packet of amber soaked weirdness that is Neruda. The odd bio/noir/farce hybrid centers on fascist police chief Peluchonneau (Gael García Bernal) as he searches for fugitive communist poet Pablo Neruda (Luis Gnecco) in a cartoonish game of cat and mouse. The 2016 film comes widely acclaimed, but Maria... is it any good?
Adapted from playwright David Harrower's controversial work Blackbird, Una stars Ben Mendelsohn and Rooney Mara in a story of disturbing relationships and confronting the past.
For all you conspiracy theorists and anti-establishment wonks out there, Maria's got a film for you. From the brains of Michael Moore, Glenn Greenwald and Amy Goodman comes All Governments Lie, a documentary that looks at journalistic ethics in the age of spin and 'fake news'.
A star pick in this year's NZIFF, Maria reviews the roundly praised A Ghost Story. A story of death, human longing and time, David Lowery's (Pete's Dragon) latest feature stars CaseyAffleck as a besheeted ghost attempting to connect with his lost love (Rooney Mara).
Maria introduces us to That's Not Me, an Australian independent comedy film directed by Gregory Erdstein. Polly (Alice Foulcher) dreams of making it as an actor - but her identical twin sister Amy catapults to international stardom. Mistaken for her famous sister at every turn, Polly scrambles to catch up – juggling woeful auditions, painfully awkward dates and her underwhelming job at the local cinema. Maybe there’s no such thing as ‘making it’ after all...
Rob Bryden and Steve Coogan are back for the third instalment of Michael Winterbottom's Trip series: The Trip to Spain. Starring more Michelin starred restaurants, more stunning scenery, probably too much Chianti, and a painful amount of impressions... Maria, does the recipe still work?
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