T H U R S D A Y 1 7 M A Y -
W E D N E S D A Y 2 3 M A Y 2 0 1 2
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The Wellington Film Society, Paramount Monday 21 May at 6.15pm:
WORLD ON A WIRE Part Two
(Rainer Werner Fassbinder, West Germany 1973)
With its paranoid streak and its foreshadowing of Avatar and Shutter Island, German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder's science-fiction thriller from 1973,
may be even more timely now than when it was made... The plot centers on an engineer who begins to suspect that the vast top-secret computer project he's working on,
Simulacron - which brings to virtual life a community of ten thousand robotic humanoids - is being used for evil. When one colleague dies and another disappears
along with all traces of his existence, the engineer investigates by means of a mental-transport helmet that allows him to enter the mind of one of his creations.
Fassbinder's brilliantly sardonic approach decks the future out in high-gloss seventies kitsch (Plexiglas and mirrors, lacquered wood and chrome) and ubiquitous video screens,
which reflect, distort, and multiply identities as readily as his panoply of zooms, pans, tracking shots, and shock cuts; his vision of a world out of joint resembles a video game
gone haywire. - Richard Brody, New Yorker.
In co-operation with the Goethe-Institut.
Members free. Public admitted by donation (notes only) at the door.
The NZ Film Archive's Mediatheatre, 84 Taranaki Street. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, a delightful mix of comedy clips and short films in the
Travelling Film Show series:
FUNNY HA HA (NZ 1930 - 2008).
For details of all Mediaplex events check the Archive's events calendar.
Upcoming Film Festivals to note in your diary:
Latin American Film Festival. 23 May - 26 May, NZ Film Archive
Out Takes Film Festival. 31 May - 10 June, Paramount, Courtenay Place
BANFF Mountain Film Festival. Paramount 12 and 19 June.
If your festival is not listed here, please advise the Cinemaster
This site relies on the various cinemas having their own websites up to date to access their screening times. The paragraphs describing the
films starting this week are in most cases adapted from the linked reviews.
For comments and movie news, contact the Cinemaster at filmster@gmail.com.
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s t a r t s t h i s w e e k!
THE DICTATOR -
This is Sacha Baron Cohen's most conventional film. It has a plot, it has a romance, it sticks to the story. Not that it's mainstream, although judging by the laughter of a
preview audience, who knows where the stream is anymore? He also wisely gets in, gets his laughs, and quits. The movie falls short of 90 minutes,
in an era where too many comedies run on relentlessly.
Also Roxy, Readings, Queensgate and Ascot.
SHIHAD: BEAUTIFUL MACHINE -
It's not a perfect documentary, but it's pretty damn good. If you're a Shihad fan, you've got to see this film. If you're not, and want to understand why they're an enduring
New Zealand favourite, here's your chance to catch up on the back-story.
A recurring theme is the determination Jon, Tom, Karl and Phil have to keep working on the dream, whatever it takes. Sometimes it has taken everything.
Also Empire, Readings and Queensgate.
DOCUMENTARY EDGE FESTIVAL -
Runs till 3 June - with weekday daytime sessions also at the City Gallery. With 72 films to choose from, both from New Zealad and around the world,
there is sure to be something for everyone. There are no individual reviews. The 'Website' link goes to the Festival's own website.
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