Movies

Simon Morris is surprised at how smart the Biggest Film of the Year ™ is this year, then goes on to look at three rather smaller films. There's a local documentary about our first Maori theatre group… Audio

Suddenly sees two married adventurers sail round the world, but come adrift when they're stranded on an Antarctic island when their boat is swept away in a storm. Written and directed by the… Audio

Gladiator II sees Paul Mescal take over Russell Crowe's (unhistoric) leather wrist-straps as Son of Maximus. Directed by the tireless 86-year-old Sir Ridley Scott, it co-stars Denzel Washington, Pedro… Audio

Never look away is the story of one of CNN's first war camerawomen, Margaret Moth. Reckless, courageous and dedicated, the New Zealander's story is almost as exciting as the events she covered… Audio

Simon Morris finds himself getting picky at the end of the year as Christmas movies start to clog up the cinemas. Instead he checks out Ridley Scott's second blockbuster in a year, Gladiator II, a… Audio

Sebastian Stan stars as a struggling New York actor with a face deformed by rapidly growing tumours caused by neurofibromatosis. He is offered a miracle 'cure' but will the transformation make him… Audio

Dan Slevin reviews Jonathan Ogilvie's autobiographical portrait of the Christchurch New Wave music scene in 1979. Ed Oxenbould plays schoolboy Angus, discovering the underground music scene and a… Audio

An experimental and sentimental drama shot from a single point-of-view in a single location but presenting people and events over many decades. The stars, screenwriter and director of Forrest Gump… Audio

On At the Movies, Dan Slevin reviews three films in which change can be welcome or unwelcome but inevitable all the same. In Head South, a Christchurch teenager discovers New wave music and a way… Audio

Last summer is the story of forbidden love between a confident teenager and his stepmother. But writer-director Catherine Breillat (2009's Bluebeard) offers more than one twist in the tale before it… Audio

Kneecap tells the story of the hiphop group of the same name, starring themselves, with assistance from the likes of Michael Fassbender (Hunger) and Simone Kirby (Peaky Blinders). Kneecap's point of… Audio

My Favourite Cake is a bittersweet romance about two lonely 70-year-olds who hook up over cake and wine in modern day Iran. But how will the notorious Morality Police feel about it? It did well at… Audio

Simon Morris has a bad day at the office - three films, almost all "not in the English language". Always a challenge for a radio show! They include festival favourites, Iranian film My Favourite Cake… Audio

A Mistake is a New Zealand film about a medical misadventure and its consequences. Directed and written by Christine Jeffs (Sunshine Cleaning), based on the best-selling novel by Carl Shuker. It stars… Audio

The Apprentice is the based-on-reality story of Donald Trump's sinister mentor - notorious lawyer Roy Cohn - while the documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve story is the biopic of the actor who… Audio

Fergus Grady, Director of the British & Irish Film Festival, previews this year's programme. Among the highlights are Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, We Live In Time, with Florence Pugh, a tribute… Audio

Simon Morris previews the upcoming British and Irish Film Festival, and checks out two American movies that pay tribute to, respectively, that country's heroes and villains - Super/Man: The… Audio

Radical is a Mexican film based on real-life, following in the footsteps of To Sir With Love, Dead Poet's Society and Dangerous minds. An inexperienced teacher arrives at a poverty-stricken school and… Audio

Megalopolis is Francis Ford Coppola's multi-million dollar art film - about art, politics and the future. It stars Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman and Aubrey Plaza. It's… Audio

The Wild Robot is a heart-warming family film from Dreamworks Animation (Puss In Boots). A robot crashes on a desert island and takes on a job it's not programmed for - mother to a baby gosling. Voice… Audio