Currently browsing the "New Zealand" tag.

Review: Juniper

It’s probably just the films I am choosing to watch these days, but it is a great time for older actresses. Juniper stars Charlotte Rampling and she hasn’t lost an iota of her screen charisma at the ripe old age of 76. Here she plays Ruth, an alcoholic grandmother who has come to New Zealand to recuperate after breaking a leg. She’s not an easy person to be around. Her son skips town almost immediately, leaving her with his teenage son and her nurse. And neither of them really wants to be around her much. You sense from the setup that it’s going to be one of those curmudgeon changling plots with everyone all lovey by the end, and it is somewhat that, but so much better in large part because of Rampling’s presence.

2fer review: Settlers and Cousins

I watched these two indie films back to back. Both of them deal with a girl growing up with just about every kind of obstacle thrown in her way. One takes place on a planet far away in a not so distant future. The other takes place within the Māori community of New Zealand in the mid-20th century.  Young Remmy in Settlers is played by Brooklynn Prince who made her splashy debut in The Florida Project four years ago as a kid running around looking for adventure and getting into trouble. She’s more serious this time around, but still pretty much doing the same thing, only on a desolate planet instead of backwater Orlando. Young Mata (Te Raukura Gray) in Cousins is not so lucky. She’s been ripped from her Māori family (including two female cousins) and adopted by a loveless white woman. Both girls weather adversity as they grow to adulthood, but both come out of it all battered but still standing.

Mainstream Chick’s Quick Takes: Barbershop: The Next Cut; The Dark Horse; First Monday in May

Barbershop: The Next Cut is the second sequel (or maybe the third if you count the spin-off, Beauty Shop) to the 2002 surprise hit, Barbershop, about a day in the life of a barbershop on the South Side of Chicago. The shop, run by Calvin (Ice Cube) serves as a lifeline to the community. But the community is changing. And in The Next Cut, Calvin is contemplating moving his family, and the shop, to the North Side to protect his teenage son from the gang violence permeating the streets. Cedric the Entertainer is back as the comic relief, playing Eddie, a barber who can’t be trusted with scissors or a razor, but is there to tell it like it is. The movie gets a bit heavy-handed with the messaging and a few sub-plots are more of a distraction than a delight. But it means well. It’s got heart, and enough humor to prevent it from being another Chi-Raq. It ties up way too neatly in the end, given the current climate on the South Side, but overall, the movie provides an accessible and timely message worth sharing with teenagers, regardless of demographic and locale.