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# View Magazine

Film and Television Reviews

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## Posts

- [Agnès Varda: The Woman Who Refused to Ask Permission](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/agnes-varda-the-woman-who-refused-to-ask-permission/) - There are filmmakers who arrive at cinema as if reporting for duty. They learn the rules, polish their shoes, wait in the corridor, and hope some important man eventually opens the door.Agnès Varda did no such thing. “Varda did not simply make films. She changed the position from which films could be made.”She appeared, almost mischievously,
- [IN MY VIEW: NGV Interview with Donna McColm](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/in-my-view-ngv-interview-with-donna-mccolm/) - The Gallery as Theatre, Sanctuary, and DreamBy Roger WyllieI asked Donna McColm eleven questions about what a gallery is now. How does a major cultural institution like the NGV stay open, useful and alive when people are distracted and every spare moment is being fought over?McColm is Assistant Director of Curatorial and Audience Engagement at
- [Obsession (dir. Curry Barker)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/obsession-dir-curry-baker/) - RATING Director: Curry BarkerCountry: United StatesWriter: Curry BarkerActor: Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper TomlinsonWritten by Tom AugustineYoutuber Curry Barker’s big screen debut is perhaps the strongest offering from this burgeoning crossover scene yet: a brutish, unsettling reimagining of the Monkey’s Paw story for an era of ‘Nice Guys’ and incels. Though stronger in direction than in
- [Twiggy (dir. Sadie Frost)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/twiggy-dir-sadie-frost/) - RATING Director(s): Sadie FrostCountry: United KingdomActor(s): Twiggy, Dustin Hoffman, Joanna LumleyWritten by Tom Augustine What a pleasure it is to see Twiggy rise above it all. At her peak, she was the kind of presence who seemed able to achieve things without any trouble at all, like water off a duck’s back. Endlessly charming, familiar, authentic and
- [The Garden of Impossible Things](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-garden-of-impossible-things/) - It begins, as all good stories should, with something faintly disreputable-a rubbish dump.Not the sort of origin one associates with grandeur, let alone with a place now spoken of in the same breath as the great gardens of the world. And yet, transformation, as filmmaker Grant Sheehan reminds us, is hardly unusual. Even Eden Park
- [The Devil Wears Prada 2 (dir. David Frankel)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-devil-wears-prada-2-dir-david-frankel/) - RATING Director(s): David FrankelCountry: United States Author: Aline Brosh McKenna, Lauren WeisbergerActor(s): Meryl Streep, Anna Hathaway, Emily BluntWritten by Tom Augustine There’s a tart, acidic nastiness to The Devil Wears Prada, the original fashion dramedy that took the world by storm in 2006, that I’ve always found fascinating and a little alienating. It’s a flavour profile that cuts
- [In My View - What Is an Art Fair?](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/19500-2/) - In My View – What Is an Art Fair? A fleeting collision of commerce and culture-where art steps into the light, and a city learns, briefly, to see itself differently. An art fair, if one is to be honest about it, is not entirely about art. It is about proximity-to money, to taste, to influence.
- [Michael (dir. Antoine Fuqua)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/michael-dir-antoine-fuqua/) - RATING Director(s): Antoine FuquaCountry: United States Author: John LoganActor(s): Jaafar Jackson, Nia Long, Colman DomingoWritten by Tom AugustineBohemian Rhapsody, the deeply-misguided Freddie Mercury biopic that ensured Rami Malek’s Best Actor Oscar, is one of those rare films that on surface-level feel consigned to their era — blips that are best left forgotten and unwatched as the world
- [We Had Not Just Attended a Screening](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/we-had-not-just-attended-a-screening/) - At the Capitol Cinema, Illustrious Energy returned not as a film-but as a memory, a reckoning, and a quiet declaration of Rialto View’s arrival. There are evenings one attends, and there are evenings one inhabits. Last night at the Capitol Cinema on Dominion Road belonged, unmistakably, to the latter. “This was not a screening. It
- [Mr Loverman (written by Nathaniel Price)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/mr-loverman-written-by-nathaniel-price/) - Director(s): Nathaniel PriceCountry: United KingdomActor(s): Lennie James, Sharon D, Ariyon BakareWritten by Tom AugustineLennie James has one of the most disarming smiles in show-business, the kind of smile that invites you to lean in, focus, and forget your troubles. It’s a smile we didn’t see much of during his tenure on The Walking Dead and Fear
- [Taki Rua: Breaking Barriers](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/taki-rua-breaking-barriers/) - Ten Questions with Director Whetu Fala The women history forgot – and the theatre they built anyway There is a particular kind of disappearance that happens in the arts. Not the dramatic kind. Not scandal, not collapse. Something quieter. More polite. The kind where names slip out of programmes, where influence dissolves into anecdote, where
- [Māoriland does not reveal itself all at once](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/maoriland-does-not-reveal-itself-all-at-once/) - Māoriland does not reveal itself all at once. It waits. It lets you arrive, take a seat, listen-before it begins to speak. And so, it felt only natural to ask Michael Grand-visitor, observer, outsider in the most honest sense-if he might help us see the festival from beyond itself. Not from within the circle, but
- [Undertone (dir. Ian Tuason)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/undertone-dir-ian-tuason/) - RATING Director(s): Ian TuasonCountry: United States Author: Ian TuasonActor(s): Nina Kiri, Michele Duquet, Adan DiMarcoWritten by Tom AugustineIn her brilliant takedown of The Drama (which I also reviewed last week), critic Angelica Jade Bastien posed a question that circled my brain as I watched undertone — ‘is austerity becoming A24’s defining brand?’ This is not so much
- [The Drama (dir. Kristoffer Borgli)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-drama-dir-kristoffer-borgli/) - RATING Director(s): Kristoffer BorgliCountry: United States Author: Kristoffer BorgliActor(s): Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Alana HaimWritten by Tom AugustineIt’s either a diabolical piece of cross-marketing or one of the more devastating moments of life imitating art in recent memory — just days before the release of Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama, which represents a moment of ascension for the
- [Viewmag's Roger Wyllie speaks to Gillian Anderson - An Exclusive Interview.](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-scent-of-damage-gillian-anderson-in-trespasses-exclusive/) - Some characters announce themselves. Others arrive quietly, like a memory you cannot quite place, and then – without permission – they stay.In Trespasses, now screening on SKY’s Rialto Channel, Gillian Anderson plays a woman who seems to carry her disappointments the way some people carry perfume: invisibly, persistently, leaving traces of herself in rooms long after she
- [Trespasses (dir. Dawn Shadforth)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/trespasses-dir-dawn-shadforth/) - RATING Director(s): Dawn ShadforthCountry: United KingdomActor(s): Lola Petticrew, Tom Cullen, Gillian AndersonWritten by Tom AugustineOne of the drawbacks of the age of digital cameras, with sensors capable of rendering everything in crisp, stark reality, is that period art design has become a hell of a lot harder to achieve with any kind of verisimilitude. Something
- [Shirley Horrocks Talks Documentary Filmmaking and Women in Film](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/shirley-horrocks-talks-documentary-filmmaking-and-women-in-film/) - In My View, we sit down on camera with Shirley Horrocks to explore documentary filmmaking, Women In Film, and the importance of arts documentary. Discover her work with 8 films now streaming on Rialto View. Sign up now for your 7 days free. Click here
- [Project Hail Mary (dir. Phil Lord & Christopher Miller)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/project-hail-mary-dir-phil-lord-christopher-miller/) - RATING Director(s): Phil Lord, Christopher MillerCountry: United States Author: Drew Goddard, Andy WeirActor(s): Ryan Gosling, Sandra Huller, James Ortiz Written by Tom Augustine A pervasive but facetious claim that has plagued cinema for decades is that the biggest blockbusters of yesteryear arrived sans-ideology, were somehow ‘apolitical’. It’s a depressingly common notion — that unless something is shouting
- [NO TEARS ON THE FIELD](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/no-tears-on-the-field/) - Girls with Mud on Their Boots Somewhere in Taranaki -where the wind has opinions and the paddocks rarely stay dry -a group of women lace up their rugby boots. No ceremony. No speeches. Just the clatter of studs on concrete, someone hunting for a missing mouthguard, and laughter that begins long before the whistle blows.
- [Pillion (dir. Harry Lighton)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/pillion-dir-harry-lighton/) - RATING Director(s): Harry LightonCountry: United States Actor(s): Harry Melling, Alexander SkarsgårdWritten by Tom Augustine Early on in Pillion, there is a sequence of oral sex that really sets the tone for the film to come. Harry Melling’s Colin, a reserved sexual naif, has been invited (on Christmas Day, no less) for an anonymous rendezvous with Ray,
- [The Quiet Before the Collapse](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-quiet-before-the-collapse-2/) - Henrik Georgsson on Vaka, silence, and the fragile humanity inside catastrophe Some series open with noise- spectacle, urgency, the insistence that you must pay attention. Vaka does something else entirely. It moves slowly at first, almost cautiously, like someone entering a dark room and letting their eyes adjust. Atmosphere gathers. Conversations pause mid-thought. Characters watch
- [Pene Pati - A Golden Voice](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/pene-pati-a-golden-voice/) - ARRIVAL There are artists who arrive like weather – sudden, dramatic, impossible to ignore. And then there are those who arrive like a thread pulled steadily through fabric, binding past to present with quiet, tensile strength. Pene Pati belongs to the latter. The critics call it a “golden thread” of sound – but what they
- [The Bride! (dir. Maggie Gyllenhaal)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-bride-dir-maggie-gyllenhaal/) - RATING Director(s): Maggie GyllenhaalCountry: United States Author: Maggie GyllenhaalActor(s): Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Jake GyllenhaalWritten by Tom AugustineLate in The Bride!, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s remake of the beloved 1935 James Whale monster sequel Bride of Frankenstein, a doctor played by Annette Bening explains how she was inspired to explore ‘disobedient’ science, seeking what secrets of the universe could
- [The Courage to Stand Alone](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-courage-to-stand-alone/) - Three young finalists. One stage. A nation listening. “In the silence before the first note, you discover whether your inner voice can hold the room.” There is a particular stillness that settles over a concert hall just before a concerto begins. The orchestra inhales. The audience leans forward. And at the centre of it all
- [In My View: Obsession](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/in-my-view-obsession-2/) - Obsession is such an unattractive word. It suggests damp basements and unwashed teacups. Yet dress it in silk, give it a title, a camera crew, a ballot paper, and suddenly it passes for destiny. “We don’t just follow power. We fixate on it”Take a prince. Not the purple one – though he understood obsession better
- [No Other Choice (dir. Park Chan-wook)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/no-other-choice-dir-park-chan-wook/) - RATING Director(s): Park Chan-wookCountry: United States Author: Donald E. Westlake, Lee Kyoung-mi, Park Chan-wookActor(s): Lee Byung-hu, Son Ye-jin, Woo Seung KimWritten by Tom AugustineWhen people think of the Korean cinema boom of the early 21st Century, they will inevitably pay homage to three big names — Bong Joon-ho, Lee Chang-dong, and Park Chan-wook. There are of course
- [The Testament of Ann Lee (dir. Mona Fastvold)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-testament-of-ann-lee-dir-mona-fastvold/) - RATING Director(s): Mona FastvoldCountry: United States Author: Mona Fastvold, Brady CorbetActor(s): Lewis Pullman, Amanda Seyfried, Thomasin McKenzieWritten by Tom Augustine In a world full of cinema genres at risk of going extinct, perhaps none is more endangered than the musical. The 2020s has become a graveyard for musicals given extravagant budgets, only to flop miserably: West Side Story,
- [The Quietest Giant in Hollywood](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-quietest-giant-in-hollywood/) - Robert Selden Duvall1931–2026The Art of UnderstatementRobert Selden Duvall was born on 5 January 1931 in San Diego, California – a naval son who would grow up to command far larger theatres of war: Hollywood soundstages, moral battlegrounds, the fragile interiors of American men.He died on 15 February 2026 in Middleburg, Virginia, aged 95.Seven decades in
- [“Wuthering Heights” (dir. Emerald Fennell)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/wuthering-heights-dir-emerald-fennell/) - RATING Director(s): Emerald FennellCountry: United States Author: Emerald Fennell, Emily BrontëActor(s): Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, Hong ChauWritten by Tom AugustineFealty to source material is no barometer for quality in the adaptation from page to screen, something of which Emerald Fennell is sure to be pleased about. Indeed, films that cleave too closely to the books on which
- [ In My View: Lisa Beauchamp - A Gallery for the City](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/lisa-beauchamp/) - Director and Curator of Contemporary Art, Gus Fisher Gallery At the helm of one of Tāmaki Makaurau’s most quietly influential galleries, Lisa Beauchamp works where ambition meets reality. Her curatorial practice reveals how contemporary art is shaped not just by ideas, but by institutions, money, and the delicate negotiations in between. Lisa Beauchamp opens In
- [Attention, Applied: The Launch of Rialto Arts](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/attention-applied-the-launch-of-rialto-arts/) - Rialto Arts launches as a curatorial response to the Australia–Aotearoa art ecosystem, offering attention, context, and cultural memory in place of scale. There is a familiar moment in any cultural ecosystem when something new appears and everyone politely pretends it has always been there. The launch of Rialto Arts feels like that moment. Not a
- [Is This Thing On? (dir. Bradley Cooper)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/is-this-thing-on-dir-bradley-cooper/) - RATING Director(s): Bradley CooperCountry: United States Author: Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, Mark ChappellActor(s): Will Arnet, Laura Dern, Andra DayWritten by Tom AugustineMaestro, Bradley Cooper’s grandiose biopic detailing the life of Leonard Bernstein, is the kind of film a person can only make when they’ve got a head of steam about themselves, someone with total surety that they’re
- [Elvis finally speaks - and that changes everything](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/elvis-finally-speaks-and-that-changes-everything/) - As I watched Anchor Me: The Don McGlashan Story the intimate, generous portrait of a man whose voice has quietly shaped the emotional weather of this country, I found myself asking a familiar question: who gets to tell the story when a life becomes public property? McGlashan, like all enduring artists, has been interpreted endlessly.
- [Survive Until 2025](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/survive-until-2025/) - For five years, cinema waited for a reset it believed the calendar would deliver.Now, in 2026, the numbers are in, the dust has settled, and the truth is clearer – survival was never the finish line.For five years, the cinema industry clung to a single phrase with the fervour of a nation queueing for a
- [Send Help (dir. Sam Raimi)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/send-help-dir-sam-raimi/) - RATING Director(s): Sam RaimiCountry: United States Author: Damian Shannon, Mark SwiftActor(s): Xavier Samuel, Chris Pang, Edyll IsmailWritten by Tom AugustineRecently, critic Adam Nayman pointed me in the direction of A Perfect Getaway, a little-remembered but expertly constructed thriller starring Milla Jovovich from 2009. Nayman’s defense of the film, which is gleefully violent and rarely subtle, made the
- [Stress Positions (dir. Theda Hammel)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/stress-positions-dir-theda-hammel/) - RATING Director(s): Theda HammelCountry: United StatesAuthor: Theda Hammel, Faheem AliActor(s): John Early, Qaher Harhash, Elizabeth DementWritten by Tom Augustine.No one wants to think about the pandemic. The COVID-19 era of 2020 and beyond, while not technically over, is pronounced enough (and close enough) that to look at it too directly can feel a little tacky,
- [28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (dir. Nia DaCosta)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/28-years-later-the-bone-temple-dir-nia-dacosta/) - RATING Director(s): Nia DaCostaCountry: United States Author: Alex GarlandActor(s): Jack O’Connell, Alfie Willians, Connor NewallWritten by Tom Augustine Dr Ian Kelson, Ralph Fiennes’ wise and kind-hearted supporting player in last year’s masterful 28 Years Later, is the kind of performance that invites the film around it to bend to its will. Before Kelson’s appearance, Danny Boyle’s return to
- [In My View: Anchor Me](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/in-my-view-anchor-me/) - It is one of the small ironies of cultural success that the songs become famous long before the person who wrote them. In New Zealand, Don McGlashan’s music arrived early. The man followed later.There are songs that behave like furniture. You do not remember when they entered your life, only that they have always been
- [Sentimental Value (dir. Joachim Trier)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/sentimental-value-dir-joachim-trier/) - RATING Director(s): Joachim TrierCountry: United States Author: Joachim Trier, Eskil VogtActor(s): MRenate Reinsve, Stellan Skargard, Inga Ibsdotter LilleaasWritten by Tom AugustineThe generation from which I — and the younger members of Sentimental Value’s core cast — arise often seems to be one defined culturally by deadbeat or absentee fathers. The generation our parents came from were in turn sired
- [Best of 2025](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/best-of-2025/) - From sweeping blockbusters to modest indies, homegrown stunners to festival favourites, here’s the best cinema you can clap eyes on from this weird, wild year.By any metric that isn’t the quality of films being released in 2025, it’s been a pretty rough year. Even in the world of cinema itself, things have been bleak —
- [The Queen who learned to lie beautifully.](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-queen-who-learned-to-lie-beautifully/) - In the Finnish twilight, where secrets cling to the air like frost, Laura Malmivaara steps into Linda’s ruined world with a poise that borders on the miraculous. What emerges is a portrait of a woman stripped of love, luck, and innocence, yet somehow discovering a raw, unbreakable instinct for survival.In Queen of F***king Everything, Malmivaara
- [Summer Preview](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/summer-preview-2/) - The Christmas season is one of the most pivotal times in the cinema calendar year, with major blockbusters, awards hopefuls and crowdpleasers dropping in droves. Here’s what to prioritise at the multiplex as we say goodbye to 2025 and welcome in 2026.VIEW will be taking a break over the holiday season, which means that there’s
- [Nuremberg (dir. James Vanderbilt)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/nuremberg-dir-james-vanderbilt/) - RATING Director(s): James VanderbiltCountry: United States Author: James Vanderbilt, Jack El-HaiActor(s): Michael Shannon, Colin Hanks, Russell CroweWritten by Tom Augustine They say that history is doomed to repeat itself, all too easy to forget, and yet in 2025 I still find it totally befuddling that World War II, and in particular the ideology and atrocities of the Nazi Party,
- [Westwood | Kawakubo](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/westwood-kawakubo/) - Katie Somerville & Danielle Whitfield in conversation Two visionaries. Two revolutions. One exhibition that rewrites the language of fashion. As National Gallery of Victoria prepares to unveil Westwood | Kawakubo, curators Katie Somerville and Danielle Whitfield reveal how rebellion, philosophy and radical beauty collide across five decades of design. THE SUMMONING When Fashion Becomes a
- [When the World Feels Small, World Cinema Makes It Wide Again](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/in-my-view-why-world-cinema-matters-now/) - The world is about to widen. A new season of festival favourites, critical standouts, and world-shaping stories is coming to Rialto Film.We can’t say everything yet.But we can promise this: these films won’t leave you the same. World cinema at its sharpest. Be the first to know Preview the season → There are nights when
- [Queen of Fucking Everything (dir. Tiina Lymi)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/queen-of-fucking-everything-dir-tiina-lymi/) - RATING Director(s): Tiina LymiCountry: FinlandAuthor: Tiina LymiActor(s): Laura Malmivaara, Katja Küttner, Minna HaapkyläWritten by Tom AugustineExclusive to Rialto Channel, Finnish screenwriter and director Tiina Lymi’s dark comedy was a sensation in its home country, arriving on our shores in a wave of comparisons to Breaking Bad. Laura Malmivaara stars as an imperious, wealthy real estate agent
- [Wicked: For Good (dir. Jon M. Chu)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/wicked-for-good-dir-jon-m-chu/) - RATING Director(s): Jon M. ChuCountry: United States Author: Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox, Gregory MaguireActor(s): Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jeff GoldblumWritten by Tom AugustineAs a noted Wicked novice, having never seen the original stage musical, I wasn’t aware of the reputation the second half of that beloved show already had — that it was a downhill slope after
- [Loren Taylor & Elizabeth Hawthorne Bend Gravity in The Moon Is Upside Down](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/loren-taylor-elizabeth-hawthorne-bend-gravity-in-the-moon-is-upside-down/) - Some creative partnerships feel engineered. Others feel like gravitational accidents - two bodies colliding, rearranging the air around them. The Moon Is Upside Down is one such cosmic event. There are collaborations in cinema that announce themselves loudly – orchestrated, negotiated, strategically aligned. And then there are the rare ones, the collisions of instinct and
- [The Running Man (dir. Edgar Wright)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-running-man-dir-edgar-wright/) - RATING Director(s): Edgar WrightCountry: United States Author: Stephen King, Edgar Wright, Michael Bacall Actor(s): Glen Powell, Alyssa Benn, Sienna BennWritten by Tom Augustine It’s hard to believe, but it’s been eight years since Kendall Jenner’s abortive Pepsi ad ‘Live for Now’, which attempted to leverage a heated moment in identity politics fuelled by the murder of George Floyd to
- [The Surfer (dir. Lorcan Finnegan)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-surfer-dir-lorcan-finnegan/) - RATING When Julian McMahon passed away this year at the untimely age of 56, Lorcan Finnegan’s surreal thriller The Surfer took on an unexpected resonance as one of the Charmed and Nip/Tuck actor’s last — and best — film performances. Playing essentially what amounts to a macho cult leader for a gang of rugged Aussie
- [Bugonia (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/bugonia-dir-yorgos-lanthimos/) - RATING Director(s): Yorgos LanthimosCountry: United States Author: Will Tracy, Jang Joon-hwanActor(s): Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Emma StoneWritten by Tom Augustine When I think about the world as it stands right now, when I allow myself to wallow for a little too long, I get a feeling like I’m on the losing side of a tug-o’-war, when the rope
- [12 Questions with Dr. Alfio Leotta Associate Professor of Film at Victoria University.](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/12-questions-for-dr-alfio-leotta-on-roberto-rossellinis-cinema-on-behalf-of-rialto-film-channel/) - 1- Rossellini’s Rome, Open City exploded onto postwar screens with all the subtlety of a confession booth being kicked in. In your view, what makes this such a defining spark for neorealism and how did it rewrite the rules?The use of real locations and non-professional actors, as well as a focus on the pressing social
- [In My View: The Shepherd of Screams](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/in-my-view-the-shepherd-of-screams/) - 10 fun questions with James Partridge From chainsaws to Kiwi creatures, Terror-Fi founder James Partridge has turned fear into an artform. Between running New Zealand’s biggest genre festival and quietly sharpening the shears on a Black Sheep sequel, he talks sequels, scares, and what really makes audiences squirm. What was the first horror film that
- [Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (dir. Scott Cooper)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/springsteen-deliver-me-from-nowhere/) - RATING Director(s): Scott CooperCountry: United States Author: Scott Cooper, Warren ZanesActor(s): Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter HauserWritten by Tom Augustine Critical distance is a difficult thing to maintain when the subject matter is vital to the person you are in the moment of watching. The following is an honest attempt to wrestle with that. Springsteen: Deliver
- [TRON: Ares (dir. Joachim Rønning)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/tron-ares-dir-joachim-ronning/) - RATING Director(s): Joachim RonningCountry: United States Author: Jesse Wigutow, David DiGilio, Steven LisbergerActor(s): Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Jeff BridgesWritten by Tom Augustine There’s never been a whole lot of demand for TRON. The original, a simplistic adventure story elevated by painstaking visual effects work, is a children’s movie with an adult’s visual sensibility. Its scripting and performance are
- [Families Like Ours (dir. Thomas Vinterberg)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/families-like-ours-dir-thomas-vinterberg/) - RATING Director(s): Thomas Vinterberg Country: DenmarkAuthor: Thomas Vinterberg Actor(s): Amaryllis April Maltha August, Albert Rudbeck , Nikolaj LieWritten by Tom Augustine.It’s the kind of spine-chilling premise that manages to be both outlandish and terribly plausible — what happens to a country’s people, their very identity, when the country they live in simply ceases to exist? Of course, this
- [In My View: Thomas Vinterberg and the flood of luck](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/in-my-view-thomas-vinterberg-and-the-flood-of-luck/) - Families Like Ours is not content to be a television drama. it insists on being a mirror. Thomas Vinterberg, that Oscar crowned conjuror of frailty and foolish courage, has taken the easy certainties of modern life and pressed them until they crack.What if the country you trusted to hold you safe simply vanished under water.
- [Four rebels and a punchline](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/four-rebels-and-a-punchline/) - British cinema doesn’t need explosions. It doesn’t need capes. It needs a good reason to misbehave — and preferably someone chain-smoking through it. These four films do just that. Poor Cow has a face like a bruised peach and the voice of post-war London cracking under the weight of its own regret. Ken Loach’s first feature,
- [Riffs, Rebels & Rock Gods](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/in-my-view-riffs-rebels-rock-gods/) - Plug in. Turn it up. Rialto Channel is turning the volume to dangerous.Icons, excess, and the untold stories behind the music that shaped generations this is your backstage pass to the beautiful chaos of genius.From Becoming Led Zeppelin to Blur: To the End, The Stones and Brian Jones, Brendan Gleeson’s tender Farewell to Hughes’s, and The Lost Weekend: A Love Story –
- [The Return of Superman (And the Crisis of the Male Sex Symbol)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-return-of-superman-and-the-crisis-of-the-male-sex-symbol/) - By now you’ve seen him. Pecs like polished granite. Jaw square enough to slice an avocado. Cloaked in Lycra so tight you could trace the man’s emotional trauma from outer space.Superman is back. Again.I’ve lost count how many times he’s returned. Each time they resurrect him with a new face, a new curl, and a
- [This year, Doc Edge turns 20. Two decades of truth, chaos, and films that cut to the bone.](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/this-year-doc-edge-turns-20-two-decades-of-truth-chaos-and-films-that-cut-to-the-bone/) - To mark the occasion, I thought it would be more fun — and far more revealing — to skip the usual press release and let the founders speak for themselves.So I sent ten questions to Festival Directors Alex Lee and Dan Shanan. No PR filters. No softballs. Just a chance to reflect, remember, and spill
- [What Even Is a Film Festival Now?](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/what-even-is-a-film-festival-now/) - Let’s Be Honest. Nobody knows what a film festival is anymore.A place to premiere? A vibe to consume? A soft launch for an Oscar campaign in designer loafers?Doc Edge just wrapped. NZIFF is rolling like a noir dolly shot.Meanwhile, international festivals are dropping trailers like weaponised gossip.It used to be simple.You made a film. You wore
- [In My View: The Black Swan](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/in-my-view-the-black-swan/) - There’s a chill in the air when Mads Brügger speaks. It’s not menace, more like the polite tone of a man describing a crime scene while smiling faintly at the absurdity of it all. His new work, The Black Swan, is a four-part docuseries about Amira Smadjic, a Danish lawyer with one foot in the underworld
- [African Film Festival New Zealand](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/in-my-view-african-film-festival-new-zealand/) - Ten years ago, there were barely two African films on screen in Aotearoa. Today, there’s an entire festival. A stubborn, vibrant Kaupapa that has refused to sit quietly in the margins. The African Film Festival New Zealand has never hidden its intent: to educate, to provoke, to close the gap between what Africans know of themselves
- [10 Questions with Kylie Bax](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/fd/) - The Kiwi supermodel who disappeared. And then decided not to stay gone. She once ruled the runway like a Roman highway long, lean, impossible to ignore. Kylie Bax wasn’t just a model. She was a presence. A platinum-blonde export from Morrinsville who conquered couture, charmed the paparazzi, and wore the crown of New Zealand’s original It Girl. Then, she vanished. No
- [The View Mag Cult Movie Starter Pack](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-view-mag-cult-movie-starter-pack/) - Darling, if you can’t name at least three films that never made money, confused the critics, and were banned in Finland, then I’m afraid you’re not watching cinema…… you’re grazing.Cult films are not just movies. They are rites of passage. Secret passwords whispered at parties. The difference between someone who quotes Ferris Bueller and someone
- [Father’s Day – Chords, Burdens, and Legacies](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/in-my-view-fathers-day-chords-burdens-and-legacies/) - Father’s Day is a trick of the calendar. One Sunday a year where florists and cafés do a brisk trade, and the rest of us stumble through the awkward ritual of gratitude. Yet fathers, real or imagined, hover in our culture year-round. This week, they sit in the dark of the cinema. The Son Take Life in One Chord.Shayne
- [THE THRILL OF BIOGRAPHY](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/fggf/) - We like to pretend it’s scholarship. In truth, it’s gossip with better lighting. And right now, the screens are full of it. Mr burton Post-war Wales. Soot on the windowsills. I went in with no expectations. I left thinking I’d just seen something remarkable.Harry Lawtey at first I wasn’t sure he had the weight for Burton. By
- [IN MY VIEW: TERENCE STAMP](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/in-my-view-terence-stamp/) - He never acted. He inhabited. Those cheekbones were sharper than dialogue. That voice — half prayer, half sneer — could reduce a room to silence. the rise London in the sixties crowned him king, Jean Shrimpton at his side, Antonioni pointing a camera, Fellini lurking with a cigar. Fellini, he later recalled, was “adorable to hang out
- [The Smashing Machine (dir. Benny Safdie)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-smashing-machine-dir-benny-safdie/) - RATING Director(s): Benny SafdieCountry: United States Author: Benny SafdieActor(s): Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Ryan BaderWritten by Tom AugustineThere’s a risk built into the very nature of the sports film, and it’s why so few of them ultimately stand above the pack. That risk is convention — there is a narrative that’s inherent to any sport, and that
- [One Battle After Another (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/one-battle-after-another-dir-paul-thomas-anderson/) - RATING Director(s): Paul Thomas AndersonCountry: United States Author: Paul Thomas Anderson, Thomas PynchoActor(s): Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del ToroWritten by Tom Augustine Paul Thomas Anderson makes it look easy — too easy, possibly. This was the concern I had after Licorice Pizza, a film that is enormously enjoyable but almost too good, in a traditional sense, to
- [In My View: Werner Herzog’s Holy Fools](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/in-my-view-werner-herzogs-holy-fools/) - Darling, Rialto Channel has gone and done something deliciously reckless.They are giving us Werner Herzog in full flight – not a sampler plate but the entire delirium.Nosferatu the Vampyre, Aguirre, Wrath of God, Fitzcarraldo, Heart of Glass, Stroszek, and The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser — all newly remastered in 4K.Six films, six obsessions, six fever dreams that tell
- [The List We Don’t Talk About](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-list-we-dont-talk-about/) - Or: who’s really an A-lister now?There used to be a velvet rope. It was invisible, of course — like perfume or money or inherited charm. But it was there. And you knew who stood behind it.Julia. Denzel. Leo. Clooney. Charlize.You didn’t have to Google them. You just knew.Now? The rope has frayed. Been tripped over.
- [10 questions with David Blyth](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/10-questions-with-david-blyth/) - NZ’s cult cinema provocateur speaksDavid Blyth doesn’t care if you flinch.In fact, he hopes you do.From the taboo-busting Angel Mine to the body horror of Death Warmed Up, Blyth has spent decades scratching at the underbelly of Kiwi cinema. He’s a director who thrives in the margins unafraid of controversy, allergic to convention, and deeply curious about the
- [In My View: Xavier Dolan](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/in-my-view-xavier-dolan/) - Xavier Dolan doesn’t play the game. he rewrote it, mid-sentence. At 25, he’d already made five features, won Cannes’ Jury Prize, and turned interviews into confessionals. He didn’t ask for permission. He just started talking. In rapid French. In tight jeans. With more to say than most directors twice his age. We caught him in a
- [The Great 90s Rewind](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-great-90s-rewind/) - The 80s were theatre. Billionaires playing poker with television licences. Allan Bond bought Channel Nine, Kerry Packer sold it back when the bubbles went flat. Rupert Murdoch swapped passports, bought Fox for billions, and remade himself as the most formidable media mogul on earth.New Zealand had its own tremors. Sky the brainwave of Craig Heatley,
- [A Big, Bold, Beautiful Journey (dir. Kogonada)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/a-big-bold-beautiful-journey-dir-kogonada/) - RATING Director(s): KogonadaCountry: United States Author: Seth ReissActor(s): Colin Farrer, Margot Robbie, Jennifer GrantWritten by Tom Augustine When I was sixteen I made a short film called Contemplating the View. It was a very sixteen-year-old short film, a self-serious ode from someone who hadn’t experienced much of anything up to that point to how ‘everyone is connected, man’.
- [The Long Walk (dir. Francis Lawrence)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-long-walk-dir-francis-lawrence/) - RATING Director(s): Francis LawrenceCountry: United States Author: JT Mollner, Stephen KingActor(s): Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsoon, Garrett WareingWritten by Tom Augustine Like apple pie, Donald Trump, NASCAR and September 11 (the day I watched The Long Walk), author Stephen King is American through and through. This American-ness is inextricable from the work he creates, and part of what allows
- [The Black Swan (prod. Mads Brügger et al)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-black-swan-prod-mads-brugger-et-al/) - RATING Director(s): Mads BrüggerCountry: DenmarkAuthor: BrüggerActor(s): Mads Brügger, Amira SmajicWritten by Tom Augustine.The fascinating dichotomy at the heart of the world’s obsession with Scandinavian crime dramas (or Scandi-noir) is this: stories of pitch-black darkness arise out of countries that, at least in a Euro-centric perspective, are renowned for their peacefulness, democracy and incorruptibility. How peculiar
- [Caught Stealing (dir. Darren Arronofsky)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/caught-stealing-dir-darren-arronofsky/) - RATING Director(s): Darren AronofskyCountry: United States Author: Charlie HustonActor(s): Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoe KravitzWritten by Tom Augustine‘Maybe kindness is the new punk rock’, Superman intones in his new film, aptly titled Superman. I generally enjoyed the film, but didn’t care for that line. The line is positioned as the film’s worldview, aligning itself with a countercultural
- [Eddington (dir. Ari Aster)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/eddington-dir-ari-aster/) - RATING Director(s): Ari AsterCountry: United States Author: Ari AsterActor(s): Joaquin Phoenix, Deirdre O’Connell, Emma Stone, Pedro PascalWritten by Tom AugustineThere are no Trump supporters in the small, desolate American town of Eddington — or at least, none of them are out and proud. That’s not to say the spectre of Trump isn’t present, a lurking ghoul that
- [Queer (dir. Luca Guadagnino)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/queer-dir-luca-guadagnino/) - RATING Director(s): Luca GuadagninoCountry: Mexico, United StatesAuthor: William S. Burroughs, Justin KuritzkesActor(s): Daniel Craig, Daan de Wit, Jason SchwartzmanWritten by Tom Augustine. We understand two things instinctually when expat Lee (Daniel Craig) first lays eyes on Eugene (Drew Starkey) in the crowd watching a cockfight in Mexico City — that this is love at first sight, and
- [Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival 2025](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/toms-review-nziff-coverage/) - From auteurs to ingénues, blockbusters to microbudget oddities, here’s what we’ve been watching at this year’s edition of the New Zealand International Film Festival. Written by Tom Augustine It’s Christmas for Kiwi cinema-lovers. The New Zealand International Film Festival has weathered many storms in recent times, but it’s returned this year with an exceptionally promising programme. What
- [The Life of Chuck (dir. Mike Flanagan)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-life-of-chuck-dir-mike-flanagan/) - RATING Director(s): Mike FlanaganCountry: United States Author: Mike Flanagan, Stephen KingActor(s): Tom Hiddleston, Jacob Tremblay, Benjamin Pajak Written by Tom AugustineAs much as Stephen King is a master of locating the perverse and terrifying in the everyday, he is also a brazen sentimentalist. It is very, very difficult to separate the man who wrote It, Carrie and
- [La Cocina (dir. Alonso Ruizpalacios)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/la-cocina-dir-alonso-ruizpalacios/) - RATING Director(s): Alonso RuizpalaciosCountry: Mexico, United StatesAuthor: Alonso Ruizpalacios, Arnold WeskerActor(s): Raul Briones, Rooney Mara, James WaterstonWritten by Tom Augustine.A while back I lived not far from Times Square, and it was the general feeling among New Yorkers that it was a space to be avoided at all costs. I would walk through it to
- [Universal Language (dir. Matthew Rankin)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/universal-language-dir-matthew-rankin/) - RATING Director(s): Matthew RankinCountry: CanadaAuthor: lla Firouzabadi, Pirouz Nemati, Matthew RankinActor(s): Pirouz Nemati, Matthew Rankin, Amir AmiriWritten by Tom Augustine‘Artificial intelligence’ is such an insistent, malignant presence in our current landscape that you don’t seem able to turn your head without being confronted by it. It is ethically and creatively bankrupt, yes. It’s ugly as
- [Superman (dir. James Gunn)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/superman-dir-james-gunn/) - RATING Director(s): James GunnCountry: United StatesAuthor: James Gunn, Jerry Siegel, Joe ShusterActor(s): David Corenswet, Alan Tudyk, Grace ChanWritten by Tom AugustineAs we were waiting for Superman to start, I asked my friend to name his favourite superhero films. It was a short list: the only real contenders were Spider-Man 2, The Dark Knight and Ang Lee’s
- [Jurassic World: Rebirth (dir. Gareth Edwards)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/jurassic-world-rebirth-dir-gareth-edwards/) - RATING Director(s): Gareth EdwardsCountry: United StatesAuthor: Michael Crichton, David KoeppActor(s): Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonatha BaileyWritten by Tom Augustine Much like Richard Attenborough’s God-complex billionaire Hammond in the original Jurassic Park, you’d think the studio heads continually resurrecting the franchise would have learned their lesson by now. There have been seven Jurassic films, and exactly one that
- [F1: The Movie (dir. Joseph Kosinski)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/f1-the-movie-dir-joseph-kosinski/) - RATING Director(s): Joseph KosinskiCountry: United StatesAuthor: Ehren Kruger, Joseph KosinskiActor(s): Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Javier BardemWritten by Tom AugustineMidway through F1: The Movie Brad Pitt, playing rebellious Formula 1 driver Sonny Hayes, stands on the balcony of a penthouse Vegas apartment looking out over the glittering skyline and delivers a monologue. What he says isn’t particularly
- [28 Years Later (dir. Danny Boyle)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/28-years-later-dir-danny-boyle/) - RATING Director(s): Danny BoyleCountry: United StatesAuthor: Alex GarlandActor(s): Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Ralph FiennesWritten by Tom AugustineThere was no better trailer for 28 Days Later, the heart-stopping, radical zombie horror of the early 2000s, than the breathless accounts of fear those who watched it passed on to the uninitiated. I was about ten when it
- [Materialists (dir. Celine Song)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/materialists-dir-celine-song/) - RATING Director(s): Celine SongCountry: United StatesAuthor: Celine Song Actor(s): Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans Pedro PascalWritten by Tom Augustine Bizarrely, as I was watching Materialists, I started thinking about I Give it a Year, a really quite bad anti-rom-com that has justifiably faded into the collective cultural ether. Starring Rose Byrne and Rafe Spall, the film was part of
- [The Embers (cr. Thomas Bidgeain, Thibault Vanhulle)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-embers-cr-thomas-bidgeain-thibault-vanhulle/) - RATING Director(s): Stephane Demoustier, Farid BentoumiCountry: FrenchActor(s): Mouna Soualem, Olivier Rabourdin, Denis EyrieyWritten by Tom Augustine Brutality is where The Embers, the new French series from famed screenwriter Thomas Bidegain, begins. The heat seems to ripple off the screen as the camera drifts between different locations in the South of France. A hospital bed, an aging
- [The Phoenician Scheme (dir. Wes Anderson)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-phoenician-scheme-dir-wes-anderson/) - RATING Director(s): Wes AndersonCountry: United StatesAuthor: Wes Anderson, Roman CoppolaActor(s): Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael CeraWritten by Tom AugustineThe Phoenician Scheme’s impermeable, cockroach-like protagonist, Zsa Zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro), almost certainly takes his name from Alexander Korda, the Hungarian film producer, director and screenwriter partially responsible for such British cinematic touchstones as The Third
- [Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (dir. Christopher McQuarrie)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/mission-impossible-the-final-reckoning/) - RATING Director(s): Christopher McQuarrieCountry: United StatesAuthor: Bruce Geller, Erik Jendresen, Christopher McQuarrieActor(s): Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames Written by Tom Augustine Before the release of a new Mission: Impossible film, there’s a ritualistic period of ranked list posting among online cinephile communities. These films, that often feel incredibly distinct from one another, reveal a lot about the
- [Final Destination Bloodlines (dir. Adam B. Stein, Zach Lipovsky)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/final-destination-bloodlines-dir-adam-b-stein-zach-lipovsky/) - RATING Director(s): Zach Lipovsky, Adam B. SteinCountry: United StatesAuthor: Guy Busick, Lori Evans Taylor, Jon WattsActor(s): Tony Todd, Brec Bassinger, Richard HarmonWritten by Tom AugustineThe best Final Destination film of the series’ initial decade-long run is Final Destination 3 (although, blasphemously, I haven’t seen 5), one of a handful of films that can genuinely be considered
- [The Wedding Banquet (dir. Andrew Ahn)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-wedding-banquet-dir-andrew-ahn/) - RATING Director(s): Andrew AhnCountry: United StatesAuthor: Andrew Ahn, James SchamusActor(s): Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran Written by Tom Augustine Over the course of four films, Andrew Ahn has emerged as one of the most quietly consistent directors of modern American indies in the game — his unassuming and proudly inclusive style modern and refreshing, yet cinematic
- [Evil Does Not Exist](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/evil-does-not-exist/) - Evil Does Not Exist (dir. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi) Director(s): Ryûsuke HamaguchiCountry: JapanAuthor: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Eiko IshibashiActor(s): Hitoshi Omika, Ryô Nishikawa, Ryûji KosakaWritten by Tom Augustine.In May, Rialto Channel is spotlighting the cinema of modern Asia, premiering four of the most significant titles to arrive from that region in recent years. Among these are The Monk and
- [The Accountant 2 (dir. Gavin O’Connor)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-accountant-2-dir-gavin-oconnor/) - RATING Director(s): Bill DubuqueCountry: United StatesAuthor: Ryan CooglerActor(s): Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-RobinsonWritten by Tom Augustine A film like The Accountant 2 is not designed to be topical, and yet by fate or coincidence it suddenly is. The film, a sequel to the solid 2016 actioner The Accountant, starring Ben Affleck as an autistic accounting genius-slash-hitman, finds itself arriving into
- [Sinners (dir. Ryan Coogler)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/sinners-dir-ryan-coogler/) - RATING Director(s): Ryan CooglerCountry: United StatesAuthor: Ryan CooglerActor(s): Miles Caton, Saul Williams, Andrene Ward-HammondWritten by Tom Augustine Around the time Moonlight won the Oscar in 2017, we saw young black auteurs assume, briefly, the forefront of American cinema in a fashion that burned brightly but flared out briefly. Between Moonlight’s Barry Jenkins, Get Out’s Jordan Peele, Mudbound’s Dee Rees, Lemonade’s Beyonce, Black Panther and Creed’s Ryan
- [La Chimera (dir. Alice Rohrwacher)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/la-chimera-dir-alice-rohrwacher/) - RATING Director(s): Alice RohrwacherCountry: ItalyAuthor: Alice Rohrwacher, Carmela Covino, Marco PettenelloActor(s): Josh O’Connor, Carol Duarte, Vincenzo NemolatoWritten by Tom Augustine. For my money, the Italian Film Festival is the best of Aotearoa’s many cultural film festivals. That’s not to disparage the wonderful work of the many other festivals in the mix — I am somewhat biased by the
- [Minecraft (dir. Jared Hess)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/minecraft-dir-jared-hess/) - RATING Director(s): Jared HessCountry: United StatesAuthor: Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil WidenerActor(s): Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Sebastian HansenWritten by Tom Augustine. Recently, when the enormous-yet-underwhelming cast of the new Avengers movie was announced, including cast members from the 2000s X-Men films, an image circulated of Ian McKellen, in Gandalf costume, sitting with his head in his hands on a set awash with
- [A Working Man (dir. David Ayer)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/a-working-man-dir-david-ayer/) - RATING Director(s): David AyerCountry: United StatesAuthor: Sylvester Stallone, David Ayer, Chuck DixonActor(s): Jason Statham, Jason Flemyng, Merab NinidzeWritten by Tom Augustine. One of the things I love about Jason Statham is the names of the characters he plays. Going back through his recent roles on Wikipedia is a smorgasbord. Chev Chelios, Terry Leather, Arthur Bishop, Lee
- [Never Look Away (dir. Lucy Lawless)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/never-look-away-dir-lucy-lawless/) - RATING Director(s): Lucy LawlessCountry: New ZealandAuthor: Whetham Allpress, Tom Blackwell, Lucy LawlessActor(s): Margaret Moth, Stefano Kotsonis, Jeff RussiWritten by Tom Augustine. Margaret Moth is the name of a rockstar, surely. For an alliterative name of such potent qualities, the person who claims the moniker seems predetermined to be imposing, wild, cool. Then you see a picture
- [It Ends With Us (Baldoni, 2024)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/it-ends-with-us-baldoni-2024/) - RATING Director(s):Justin BaldoniCountry: United StatesAuthor:Christy Hall, Colleen HooverActor(s): Blake Lively, Jenny Slate, Brandon Sklenar, Justin BaldoniWritten by Tom Augustine. As with director Justin Baldoni’s last film, Five Feet Apart, the adaptation of much-buzzed about Colleen Hoover novel It Ends With Us falls in line with a tradition of glossy, mostly anaemic literary adaptations more interested in transplanting the events of
- [Dune: Part Two (Villeneuve, 2024)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/dune-part-two-villeneuve-2024/) - RATING Director(s): Denis VilleneuveCountry: United StatesAuthor: David KoeppActor(s): Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte RamplingWritten by Tom Augustine. Frank Herbert’s Dune is a series of science fiction stories that common knowledge might have you group alongside the works of Tolkien, Gene Roddenberry, George Lucas,
- [Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (Miller, 2024)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/furiosa-a-mad-max-saga-miller-2024/) - RATING Director(s): George MillerCountry: AustraliaAuthor: George Miller, Nick LathourisActor(s): Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom BurkeWritten by Tom Augustine. Over the summer I read Quentin Tarantino’s Cinema Speculation. It’s not an especially great offering in its own right (if Tarantino follows through on his threats to quit moviemaking and instead focuses on books, we may be looking at
- [Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival Capsules](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/whanau-marama-new-zealand-international-film-festival-capsules/) - Director(s): VariousCountry: New ZealandAuthor: VariousActor(s): VariousWritten by Tom Augustine. Janet Planet (Baker, 2023) There’s starting your Festival off right, and then there’s starting with playwright Annie Baker’s woozily transcendent debut, a vividly rendered set of recollections that effectively transports and dumps the audience directly into a quiet summer in rural America in the early-2000s. Baker’s quiet but profoundly
- [Blink Twice (Kravitz, 2024)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/blink-twice-kravitz-2024/) - RATING Director(s):Zoë KravitzCountry: United StatesAuthor: Zoë Kravitz, E.T. FeigenbaumActor(s): Channing Tatum, Naomi Ackie, Christian Slater, Adria Ajorna, Alia Shawkat, Simon Rex, Haley Joel OsmentWritten by Tom Augustine. The much-debated subgenre of the ‘social thriller’, if you’re one of those who believes it exists at all, was popularised around the time of Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Us, but has existed
- [The Zone of Interest (Glazer, 2024)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-zone-of-interest-glazer-2024/) - RATING Director(s): Jonathan GlazerCountry: United Kingdom, Poland, United StatesAuthor: Jonathan Glazer, Martin AmisActor(s):Sandra Hüller, Christian Friedel, Johann KarthausWritten by Tom Augustine. The great Swedish filmmaker Roy Andersson, whose influence can be seen in moments of Jonathan Glazer’s latest film, has long been interested in the banality of and drudgery of fascist life, to the point that
- [Twisters (Chung, 2024)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/twisters-chung-2024/) - RATING Director(s): Lee Isaac ChungCountry: United StatesAuthor: Mark L. Smith, Joseph Kosinski, Michael CrichtonActor(s): Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, David McCormackWritten by Tom Augustine. What is the special sauce that makes one reboot more viable at the box office than another? In the early 2010s, reboots were all the fashion – we got a Total
- [Megalopolis (Coppola, 2024)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/megalopolis-coppola-2024/) - RATING Director(s): Francis Ford CoppolaCountry: United StatesAuthor: Francis Ford CoppolaActor(s): Adam Driver, Shia LaBeouf, Laurence Fishburne, Jon Voight, Aubrey Plaza, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jason SchwartzmanWritten by Tom Augustine. The only films we ever really talk about when it comes to Francis Ford Coppola are the ones he made in the Seventies. Granted, it was an historical run – The
- [The Substance (Fargeat, 2024)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-substance-fargeat-2024/) - RATING Director(s): Coralie FargeatCountry: United KingdomAuthor: Coralie FargeatActor(s): Demi Moore, Dennis Quaid, Margaret QualleyWritten by Tom Augustine. As I ploughed my way through Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival for 2024, some twenty-five films, I came to terms with a feeling I’ve been having for the past few years when it comes to the art
- [Marie Antoinette (Davis, 2024)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/marie-antoinette-davis-2024/) - RATING Director(s): Deborah DavisCountry: FranceAuthor: Deborah DavisActor(s): Emilia Schüle, Louis Cunningham, Jack Archer, Jasmine BlackborowWritten by Tom Augustine. How do you solve a problem like Marie? As an historical figure, Marie Antoinette is a contradictory one, the most significant juxtaposition being her youthful innocence and the bourgeois, aristocratic excess she came to unintentionally embody through her
- [The Apprentice (Abbasi, 2024)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-apprentice-abbasi-2024/) - RATING Director(s): Ali AbbasiCountry: United StatesAuthor: Gabriel ShermanActor(s): Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria BakalovaWritten by Tom Augustine. I confess it would certainly be nice to never think about Donald Trump again. Leaving this heinous election cycle aside, when it comes to the arts in general, confronting the spectre of this monstrous manifestation of the American id
- [Last Summer (Breillat, 2023)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/last-summer-breillat-2023/) - RATING Director(s): Catherine BreillatCountry: United StatesAuthor: Catherine Breillat, Pascal Bonitzer, Maren Louise KäehneActor(s): Léa Drucker, Samuel Kircher, Olivier RabourdinWritten by Tom Augustine. There’s a secret at the heart of Last Summer, beneath layers and layers of other secrets, that we never see. It’s the key to what drives Anne (Léa Drucker), the wealthy, high-powered lawyer whose story unfolds
- [Here (Zemeckis, 2024)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/here-zemeckis-2024/) - RATING Director(s): Robert ZemeckisCountry: United StatesAuthor: Eric Roth, Robert Zemeckis, Richard McGuireActor(s): Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul BettanyWritten by Tom Augustine. There’s been a lot of talk lately about the ‘late-style’ era that we’re in, when the titans of cinema, nearing the tail-end of life, create work reflecting on what’s come before. Late style is nothing new
- [Saturday Night (Reitman, 2024)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/saturday-night-reitman-2024/) - RATING Director(s): Jason ReitmanCountry: United StatesAuthor: Gil Kenan, Jason ReitmanActor(s): Gabriel LaBelle, Kaia Gerber, Cory Michael Smith, Jon Batiste.Written by Tom Augustine. Around the same time the all-female reboot of Ghostbusters in 2016, a not especially good but harmless comedy, awakened a venomous and embittered portion of the fandom for a film series that was never particularly good to
- [Gladiator II (Scott, 2024)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/gladiator-ii-scott-2024/) - RATING Director(s): Ridley ScottCountry: United StatesAuthor: David Scarpa, Peter Craig, David FranzoniActor(s): Connie Nielsen, Paul Mescal, Pedro PascalWritten by Tom Augustine. Now feels like the perfect time for Gladiator II. A year or so after the strikes that shut down Hollywood, the amount of massive tentpoles on hand to soak up a spectacle-hungry crowd have slowed to a
- [Black Bag (dir. Steven Soderbergh)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/black-bag-dir-steven-soderbergh/) - RATING Director(s): Steven SoderberghCountry: United StatesAuthor: David KoeppActor(s): Michael Fassbender, Gustaf Skarsgård, Cate BlanchettWritten by Tom Augustine. With the notable exception of Erin Brockovich, the very best Steven Soderbergh films are love stories, though they don’t always announce their intentions as such from the outset. Or rather; the best Soderbergh films are about the human condition called love,
- [Mickey 17 (dir. Bong Joon-Ho)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/mickey-17-dir-bong-joon-ho/) - RATING Director(s): Bong Joon HoCountry: United States, South KoreaAuthor: Bong Joon Ho, Edward AshtonActor(s): Robert Pattinson, Steven Yeun, Michael MonroeWritten by Tom Augustine. Within the oeuvre of director Bong Joon-Ho, two films continuously vie for supremacy among cinephiles. The first is Parasite, the film that represented Director Bong’s ascendancy on an international level, an airtight work of
- [Nickel Boys (dir. RaMell Ross)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/nickel-boys-dir-ramell-ross/) - RATING Director(s): RaMell RossCountry: United StatesAuthor: RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes, Colson WhiteheadActor(s): Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Aunjanue Ellis-TaylorWritten by Tom Augustine. The bold and shimmeringly gorgeous Nickel Boys is adapted from the Colson Whitehead novel. Whitehead was in Aotearoa just last year for the New Zealand Writers’ Festival — and beyond that, the subject matter that Nickel Boys tackles, with
- [Heretic (Beck, Woods, 2024)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/heretic-beck-woods-2024/) - RATING Director(s): Scott Beck, Bryan WoodsCountry: United StatesAuthor: Scott Beck, Bryan WoodsActor(s): Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East,Written by Tom Augustine.A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of watching The Remains of the Day as part of the British Irish Film Festival. An exquisite film from the Merchant Ivory stable, it features Hugh Grant in a
- [Wicked (Chu, 2024)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/wicked-chu-2024/) - RATING Director(s): Jon M. ChuCountry: United StatesAuthor: Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox, Gregory MaguireActor(s): Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan BaileyWritten by Tom Augustine.About a year ago I caught The Wizard of Oz on television. It was the first time I’d watched it in twenty or so years, and I was blindsided by the emotional wallop that it packed.
- [Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (dir. Michael Morris)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/bridget-jones-mad-about-the-boy-dir-michael-morris-2/) - RATING Director(s): Michael MorrisCountry: France, United Kingdom, United StatesAuthor: Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer, Abi MorganActor(s): Renée Zellwege, rChiwetel Ejiofor, Leo WoodallWritten by Tom Augustine.One of the great mysteries of modern cinema is the seemingly alchemical process by which Renée Zellweger, the statuesque American actress well-known for her aura of aloof and guarded inaccessibility, transforms into
- [Presence (dir. Steven Soderbergh)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/presence-dir-steven-soderbergh/) - RATING Director(s): Steven SoderberghCountry: United StatesAuthor: David KoeppActor(s): Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina LiangWritten by Tom Augustine.It’s worth thinking, now that Soderbergh has a movie with this title, what a presence the auteur himself has been in Hollywood cinema for decades. Apart from a very brief retirement between Behind the Candelabra in 2013 and Logan Lucky in 2017, Soderbergh has
- [The Best Films of 2024](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/movie-title-the-best-films-of-2024/) - Written by Tom Augustine.As with last year, the only films eligible for this list are ones that have screened to the public for the first time this year. This means that truly excellent films that I’ve seen but which are slated for a proper release next year (such as The Room Next Door, Maria, Misericordia) will need to
- [A Different Man](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/a-different-man/) - Rating Director(s): Aaron Schimberg Country: United States Author: Aaron Schimberg Actor(s): Sebastian Stan, Adam Pearson, Renate Reinsve, Patrick Wang Written by Tom Augustine. There are few times this year that I’ve felt a deeper feeling of empathetic despair than in the early stretches of Adam Schimberg’s A Different Man. Schimberg, working in tandem with actor Sebastian Stan (beneath acres
- [Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (dir. Christian Gudegast)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/den-of-thieves-2-pantera-dir-christian-gudegast/) - RATING Director(s): Christian GudegastCountry: United StatesAuthor: Christian GudegastActor(s): Gerard Butler, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Evin Ahmad Written by Tom Augustine. This review contains spoilers for Den of Thieves (2018). January has become known in the biz – notoriously – as a dumping ground, a place for scuzzy genre flicks and burnout actioners during a period where the big awards players
- [Tótem (dir. Lila Avilés)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/how-to-start-our-business-in-2024/) - RATING Director(s): Lila AvilésCountry: MexicoAuthor: Lila AvilésActor(s): Naíma Sentíes, Montserrat Marañon, Marisol Gasé Written by Tom Augustine. One of the best films of the decade passed by Aotearoa as barely a blip. Perhaps as a result of the catastrophic downturn Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival was weathering at the time, Lila Avilés
- [Maria (dir. Pablo Larraín)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/maria-dir-pablo-larrain/) - RATING Director(s): Pablo LarraínCountry: United States – Italy – GermanyAuthor: Steven KnightActor(s): Angelina Jolie, Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba RohrwacherWritten by Tom Augustine.This week, four strong, women-led or dominated films arrive in New Zealand cinemas. The most buzzed about is Babygirl, the Nicole Kidman BDSM romp that is defined by the strength of its lead performance, even if
- [The Brutalist (dir. Brady Corbet)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/the-brutalist-dir-brady-corbet/) - RATING Director(s): Brady CorbetCountry: United States, United Kingdom, HungaryAuthor: Brady Corbet, Mona FastvoldActor(s): Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy PearceWritten by Tom Augustine.‘Is there a better description of a cube than its construction?,’ waxes Lászlo Tóth, Adrien Brody’s war-ravaged architectural genius when discussing what draws him to his chosen form of expression. It is by this
- [Anora & A Real Pain](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/anora-a-real-pain/) - Boxing Day brings no less than six major new releases to the big screen, including these two awards-season heavy-hitters. Both are accomplished, rich dramas for adults – though they couldn’t be more different from each other – with each representing a distinct maturation in style and appeal from their respective directors. Date published: December 12, 2024
- [Summer Preview](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/summer-preview/) - Written by Tom Augustine. With the coming of Christmas and the New Year, there’s plenty of gold to be found on the big screen. Here’s your guide on what to watch when beating the summer heat at the multiplex. Traditionally, the summer period at the movies can be easily divided into a few comfortable categories.

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- [Up the Arts](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/up-the-arts/) - Up the Arts (Art Division) “Your magazine pretends to love art, and I pretend to hate it. Between us, we might tell the truth.” – Ava Maren It began, as most ambushes in publishing do, with a calendar invite titled simply“Meeting: Ava.”That was all. No surname. No context. Just the quiet threat of intrigue.My boss,
- [Competitions](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/competitions/) - Competitions You’ve met Ava. Now enter her world. For seven days, step inside the circle a place where cinema still believes in danger.The strange. The sublime. The beautifully unhinged.No rules. No ads. No apologies.Just art that moves, confuses, and burns slowcoming soon.Claim Your 7-Day Cultural Access Pass Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete
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## Podcasts

- [Tom Augustine](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/podcasts/business/) - Tom Augustine is an award-winning Auckland-based filmmaker and writer. Tom has been writing film criticism since 2016, including regular film column ‘The Weekend in Film’ for the New Zealand Herald’s Canvas Magazine until early 2020. Tom’s writing has appeared in Little White Lies, the New Zealand Herald, The Spinoff, North & South, Metro Magazine, The

## Episodes

- [Point of View Podcast – Ep.19: With Darren Bevan](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/point-of-view-podcast-ep-19-with-darren-devan/) - This month on Point of View, host Tom Augustine sits down with Darren Bevan, an entertainment writer specialising in film reviews, DVD releases, and gaming reviews. Darren and Tom discuss May blockbusters, The Devil Wears Prada 2, Mortal Kombat I, The Mandalorian & Grogu, Bridget Jones’s Diary 25th Anniversary, Shrek 25th Anniversary, and Top Gun
- [Tom Augustine Talks with Bart Schrijver, Director of The North](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/tom-augustine-talks-with-bart-schrijver-director-of-the-north/) - Inspired by his journey walking New Zealand’s Te Araroa Trail, director Bart Schrijver brings his personal experience of long-distance hiking to his latest immersive film, The North, shot in the Scottish Highlands. The North arrives in cinemas across New Zealand from April 2.
- [Point of View Podcast – Ep.17: With Rebecca Tansley (Director)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/point-of-view-podcast-ep-17-with-rebecca-tansley-director/) - This month on Point of View, host Tom Augustine sits down with Rebecca Tansley, director of Tenor: My Name Is Pati. Directed by Rebecca Tansley, TENOR: My Name Is Pati is a feature documentary that follows Pene Pati’s story from humble origins in the South Pacific to the world’s greatest opera stages. Weaving intimate family
- [Point of View Podcast – Ep.16 with Taratoa Stappard (Director) & Ariāna Osborne (Star)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/point-of-view-podcast-ep-16-with-taratoa-stappard-director-ariana-osborne-star/) - This month on Point of View, host Tom Augustine sits down with Taratoa Stappard and Ariāna Osborne to discuss their new film, Mārama. Mārama tells the story of a young Māori woman lured to Victorian England under false pretenses, and her fight to hold on to her identity. The film follows a young Māori wāhine’s
- [Point of View Podcast – Ep.15: Best of 2025 | Must-Sees for Christmas and New Year](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/point-of-view-podcast-ep-15-best-of-2025-must-sees-for-christmas-and-new-year/) - Welcome to this month’s episode of Point of View! In Episode 15, host Tom Augustine takes a look back at the best films of 2025, sharing his top picks and some of the standout moments that made this year so memorable in cinema. From unexpected surprises to crowd favorites, we’ll highlight the must-sees for the
- [Point of View Podcast – Ep.14 with Rob Sarkies (dir.) Pike River](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/point-of-view-podcast-ep-14-with-rob-sarkies-dir-pike-river/) - This month on Point of View, host Tom Augustine sits down with acclaimed New Zealand filmmaker Rob Sarkies to discuss his powerful new film Pike River currently the #1 film in New Zealand. Based on the tragic 2010 Pike River Mine disaster, the film follows the years-long fight for justice led by Anna Osborne (Melanie
- [Point of View Podcast – Ep.13 with Samuel Van Grinsven (dir.) & Dacre Montgomery (star)](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/point-of-view-podcast-ep-13-with-samuel-van-grinsven-dir-dacre-montgomery-star/) - This month on Point of View, host Tom Augustine sits down with Samuel Van Grinsven and Dacre Montgomery to discuss their new film Went Up the Hill — a psychological drama inspired by Van Grinsven’s memories of childhood in New Zealand’s South Island. An intimate, modern ghost story, Went Up the Hill explores the extremities
- [Behind the Film: PRIME MINISTER with Michelle Walshe](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/behind-the-film-prime-minister-with-michelle-walshe/) - Join Tom Augustine in conversation with Michelle Walshe, co-director of the documentary PRIME MINISTER. In this episode, they explore the making of the film that follows Rt Hon Dame Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s 40th Prime Minister, over seven years from her meteoric rise to the top of politics at just 37, to her historic time
- [Point of View Podcast – Ep. 12 with Gina Dellabarca](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/point-of-view-podcast-ep-12-with-gina-dellabarca/) - This month on Point of View, host Tom Augustine sits down with Gina Dellabarca. Gina co-founded Show Me Shorts in 2006 and has been the driving force behind the festival ever since. She is an experienced marketing and communications professional as well as a film programmer. Gina also serves as Vice-Chair of the Board for
- [Point of View Podcast – Ep.7 with Paolo Rotondo](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/point-of-view-podcast-ep-7-with-paolo-rotondo/) - This month on Point of View, join host Tom Augustine as he sits down with Paolo Rotondo, an award-winning director, writer, and actor with over 20 years in the film industry. Paolo’s screen credits include feature films The Ugly and Stickmen, as well as television series like Shortland Street, The Making of the Mob: Chicago, and the BBC’s The Luminaries. His successful acting career has
- [Point of View Podcast – Ep.11 with Sophie Henderson & Curtis Vowell](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/point-of-view-podcast-ep-11-with-sophie-henderson-curtis-vowell/) - On the latest episode of Point of View, host Tom Augustine chats with Curtis Vowell (director) and Sophie Henderson (writer/star) of Workmates. Inspired by real-life experiences, this romantic dramedy celebrates the legendary theatre spaces of Tāmaki Makaurau. Workmates premiered in New Zealand at The Civic on 1 August 2025 during the New Zealand International Film
- [Point of View Podcast – Ep.10 with Edward Sampson](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/point-of-view-podcast-ep-10-with-edward-sampson/) - This month On Point of View, Join host Tom Augustine in conversation with Edward Sampson — accomplished filmmaker and director of Devils on Horses (2025). With credits including The Story of Rugby and Turn of the Screw, Sampson discusses storytelling through film, historical memory, and the craft of documentary-making. Devils on Horses premiered at Doc
- [Point of View Podcast – Ep.9 with Kath Akuhata-Brown](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/point-of-view-podcast-ep-9-with-kath-akuhata-brown/) - This month on Point of View, Tom Augustine chats with acclaimed New Zealand filmmaker 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗸𝘂𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗮-𝗕𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻 (Ngāti Porou), known for her powerful storytelling rooted in Māori culture. In this episode, Kath shares insights into her latest film Kōkā — a moving story of healing, connection, and transformation. Kōkā follows Māori elder Hamo and local teen Jo, who form an unexpected bond on
- [Tom Augustine Talks Horror with Bring Her Back Directors Danny & Michael Philippou](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/tom-augustine-talks-horror-with-bring-her-back-directors-danny-michael-philippou/) - Australian twin brothers Danny and Michael Philippou are the visionary directors behind Bring Her Back, the chilling new horror film hitting New Zealand cinemas on Thursday, 29 May. Best known for their early success on YouTube as the creators of the popular RackaRacka channel, the Philippou brothers have transitioned into critically acclaimed filmmakers. With their
- [Point of View Podcast – Ep.8 with Diana Wichtel](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/point-of-view-podcast-ep-8-with-diana-wichtel/) - This month on Point of View, host Tom Augustine sits down with Diana Wichtel—acclaimed journalist, author, and beloved cultural commentator. For 36 years, Diana’s sharp wit and moving prose illuminated the pages of the Listener, earning her a place as one of New Zealand’s most distinctive voices. She is the author of the award-winning memoir Driving to Treblinka:
- [Point of View - Ep.1: The Curse of Franchise Media, Megalopolis, The Substance and AI](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/point-of-view-episode-1-the-curse-of-franchise-media-megalopolis-the-substance-and-ai/) - Welcome to the First Episode of Point of View We’re excited to launch our brand-new podcast, where we explore all things entertainment. In this inaugural episode, host Tom Augustine is joined by Luke Murray, Theatrical Sales Manager at Madman NZ, to discuss: The role of AI in modern filmmaking The highs and lows of franchise
- [Welcome to Point of View Podcast](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/welcome-to-point-of-view-podcast/) - Point of View offers an in-depth exploration of the film industry, focusing on award-winning movies, independent films, and compelling documentaries. Tune in for engaging discussions on current trends, standout performances, and behind-the-scenes stories that resonate with audiences worldwide. The podcast also features movie reviews, offering fresh insights into the latest releases and cinematic masterpieces. Whether you're
- [Point of View Podcast – Episode 6: Maddy Hakaraia de Young](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/point-of-view-podcast-episode-5-maddy-hakaraia-de-young/) - This month on Point of View, join Tom Augustine as he chats with Maddy Hakaraia de Young (Ngati Kapu), a Producer at Maoriland Productions and Festival Director of Maoriland Film Festival. Maddy is a founding member of Maoriland and leads festival programming. Year-round, she supports the work of the MCT as a producer. Supported by a team of rangatahi,
- [Point of View - Ep. 4: "Storytelling: A Fire That Fuels Life" with Ramon Te Wake](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/https-youtu-be-8k0e5chdeuksiwgqosrvz8o3upgfs/) - This month on 'Point of View', join Tom Augustine as he chats with the incredible Ramon Te Wake, a trailblazing storyteller, award-nominated screen director, presenter, and advocate for untold stories. From the groundbreaking project Takataapui, the world’s first Indigenous queer TV series, to the thought-provoking documentary Trans & Pregnant, Ramon shares a creative journey that
- [Point of View - Ep.3: Behind the Scenes of Our November Film Fest with Kate Rodger](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/episode-3/) - Join Tom Augustine and special guest Kate Rodger as they dive into the world of film this November! Kate shares insights on interviewing and holiday season favorites, while Tom talks about film highlights, holiday classics, and what’s hitting the silver screen. Get the scoop on films like Saturday Night, Wicked: Part 1, No Other Land,
- [Point of View - Ep.5:Katie Wolfe on Filmmaking, Writing & Acting](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/point-of-view-podcast-episode-5-katie-wolfe/) - This month on Point of View, join Tom Augustine as he chats with Katie Wolfe, a director, writer, and actor from Aotearoa New Zealand with an impressive career in film, television, and theatre. Kiwi director Katie Wolfe discusses her powerful new film, The Haka Party Incident, coming to cinemas on January 30th. Recently awarded the Human Rights Award at the LA Independent Women
- [Point of View - Ep.2: Terror-Fi Film Festival, Black Sheep and movies that commit to the bit](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/point-of-view-episode-2-terror-fi-film-festival-black-sheep-and-movies-that-commit-to-the-bit/) - Welcome to the second episode of Point Of View! This episode, Tom is joined by James Partridge, the founder/director of Terror-Fi Film Festival! Stay tuned for next month! Stay Connected: Don’t miss next month’s updates—follow us on social media: Facebook: @viewmagnz Instagram: @viewmagnz Website: www.viewmag.co.nz Speakers: Tom Augustine – @thaugustine @terrorfifest @terrorfifest
- [A Cosmic Journey](https://www.viewmag.co.nz/episodes/a-cosmic-journey/) - In this episode, we uncover the secrets of galaxies, black holes, and the wonders of space exploration. Description: In this episode, we embark on an exciting journey into the world of [topic]. Join us as we explore [brief description of the episode content]. We'll delve into various aspects of [topic], providing valuable insights and engaging

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