ON SCREEN
Shit worth WATCHING
FILM OF THE WEEK
THU 11 JUL PACIFIC RIM
THE LONE RANGER
GENERAL RELEASE
Like a cross between Transformers and Godzilla, this flick comes from the elaborate mind of sci-fi pioneer Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) centring on a battle for Earth between massive monsters and human-manned robots created to take them on. Stars Thor’s Idris Elba and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Charlie Day.
directed by Gore Verbinski
EPIC
Starring Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Helena Bonham Carter
GENERAL RELEASE
In a teeny miniature world, inhabited by Leaf Men and cute critters, a battle between good and evil is on that will determine the future of their world. When a teenage girl (voiced by Amanda Seyfried) finds herself transported into this secret universe, she lends a hand to the fight against the Spider Queen and her army.
WHO IS HARRY NILSSON RIALTO CHANNEL, 8.30pm
This documentary explores the enigmatic life and music of Harry Nilsson. The film includes new and archive audio and film including interviews with Robin Williams, Yoko Ono, Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman, Ray Cooper and Micky Dolenz.
You can’t fault Disney for pitching The Lone Ranger as “Pirates of the Caribbean in the Wild West”. But while you can hold a bright candle to that comparison, Gore Verbinski’s ability to imitate the earnest enjoyment of its source material is what really shines through. The familiar greed, land confiscation, political corruption, and attempted genocide that come with screen depictions of American Natives vs. The White Man serve as background fodder here. The real story comes with Johnny Depp’s Tonto moulding Armie Hammer’s goody-two-shoes John Reid into the hero he could be – though he would have preferred his brother Dan Reid. It’s all bookended by an older Tonto retelling the adventure to a young-un – a narrative device that could have been chopped off the two-and-a-half hour running time. Johnny doesn’t take his Jack
FRI 12 JUL NINA SIMONE LIVE AT MONTREUX ARTS CHANNEL, 9.30pm
Sparrow shtick to new Depp-ths, but Hammer feeds off his antics far better than Orlando Bloom ever did. William Fichtner brings a great cob of corn to his savage outlaw Butch, Helena Bonham Carter is effectively distracting as a dolledup professional “dancer” and Tom Wilkinson does a good Tom Wilkinson impression. It’s too bad that Luther’s Ruth Wilson is underused as a distressed damsel involved a weird incest-in-law romantic sub-plot. The constant wackiness of The Lone Ranger seems jarring in this modern age of frowny-faced blockbusters. Yet the cheesy tone acts as momentum to justify the creative absurdity of its finale, a dual train chase that features all manner of stunts that lean towards the right side of ridiculous. The result is an action sequence so vastly joyous that it nudges a threestar film into four-star territory. WRITTEN BY LIAM MAGUREN, FLICKS.CO.NZ
SUN 14 JUL MR SELFRIDGE TV ONE, 8.30PM
A powerful performance from one of the greatest jazz singers of all time, Nina Simone was one of the greatest female vocalists of the 20th Century. Filmed live in 1976 at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Nina sings a selection of great songs including ‘Little Girl Blue’, ‘Backlash Blues.
Entourage’s Jeremy Piven is the flamboyant and visionary entreprenuer Harry Selfridge. The series tells the story of a man with a mission to make shopping sexy. Pioneering and reckless, he created a theatre of retail in his iconic department store, Selfridges. It brings to life the rise and fall of an American retail genius.
SAT 13 JUL FLYBOYS
NEW KID
TV SHOW
REALITY TV
CINEMA RELEASE
CULT CLASSIC
ONLINE
ALL AGES
DOCUMENTRY
AWARDS
TV FILM
Inspired by the adventures of the legendary Lafayette Escadrille, a group of American soldiers that volunteered for the French military, learnt to fly and became the country’s first fighter pilots. These brave men came from very different backgrounds and decided to put their lives on the line during World War I.
Key
SKY MOVIES CLASSICS, 8.30pm
Grooveguide.co.nz
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