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The 2009 New Zealand International Film Festival launched last night at Lido with a screening of The September Issue, R. J. Culter's doco on Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who was allegedly the ice queen model for The Devil Wears Prada. More on the film shortly, but firstly, where were the guides?? NZFF director Bill Gosden spoke prior to the screening, mentioning that the... More >

By now chatter is spreading like wildfire across the web film community about Mark Region's After Last Season. The trailer is undeniably the most surreal thing I've seen in ages, an indescribable WTF of cardboard sets, cheap 3D simulation computer graphics, painfully am dram acting and um, moving furniture (don't ask, just watch)... The film IS real, it's not just some fake trailer;... More >

When 27-year-old London-based 12-string prodigy James Blackshaw first turned heads five or so years ago with his deft, blisteringly fast fingerpicking style, you couldn’t read a review of his music without John Fahey’s name dropped in there somewhere. Now seven albums later, his music – blending Robbie Basho’s East-meets-West modalities with the modern minimalist compositions... More >

Along with its snappy tagline “New Model. Original Parts”, Fast & Furious – the third sequel in the franchise – announces itself as some sort of fresh revamp by jettisoning the THEs from the title to give the impression that things are going to be even faster and more furious this time round (also perhaps alluding to the fact that no one actually ever refers to the films... More >

This isn't exactly news, but I just stumbled upon this killer video of Fantomas frontman Mike Patton performing live, with his Mondo Cane orchestra, a cover of Deep, Deep Down, the wonderful Ennio Morricone theme song from Mario Bava's classic 1968 pop-art super-thief flick Danger: Diabolik. Patton's passion for the material is clearly evident; his singing - in Italian! - matches... More >

Calling all future Tamahoris: registrations for the V Energy Drink 48HOURS: Furious Filmmaking contest opens April 1st (this is not a prank), so start getting your teams together to avoid missing out. The shoot will take place during the weekend of May 8 - 10. If you're a Facebooker, join their group here to get up-to-date info. Here's a peek at last year's Grand National winner,... More >

Forget Harry Potter – as far as I'm concerned, Where The Wild Things Are is the family adventure to beat this year, especially if it manages to conjure up all those hair-raising, rapturous, Neverending Story-riding-on-Falcor feelings that the trailer does. The inspired use of The Arcade Fire's Wake Up certainly got my blood pumping, and I kinda wished I had experienced it blind,... More >

WORLD CINEMA SHOWCASE 2009 The World Cinema Showcase has always been considered something of a stopgap, “something to tide you over” until the International Film Fest arrives in winter. But after perusing 2009’s meaty programme, this kind of temporary placeholder description now seems ill-fitting, as this year presents one of the strongest WSC line-ups yet, with the list of... More >