Something to watch tonight: Tuesday 27 May

Scratching around the archives for something to recommend that’s actually available online in Aotearoa, I wondered whether you’d be more interested in something commercial and family-friendly or an obscure but effective Icelandic thriller.

Then I thought – why not both?1

Zach Galifianakis pretty much phones in his performance in the new Lilo & Stitch but back in 2009 he was a bit more reliable. It helps that in G-Force he’s part of a much more high-powered vocal ensemble:

In G‑Force 3D guinea pigs save the world from – actually I can’t tell you as the twist is quite a good one. A top secret research project involving Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) and rodents with the voices of Nic Cage, Sam Rockwell and Penélope Cruz is pressed into service when an entire consumer brand (toasters, coffee makers, etc) goes berserk. The animation is first class (and CGI rodents are always cute) but the film as a whole never really gets going. It’s a Bruckheimer production so was probably consumer tested beyond endurance.

Also reviewed in that October 2009 Capital Times school holidays column: Robert Rodriguez’ Shorts (“worth a look”); The Secret of Moonacre; Miyazaki’s Ponyo; Jack Black and Michael Cera play cavemen in Year One; inspired by High School Musical, Fame gets a reboot; a terrific documentary about the 2007 Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, Every little Step; Nazis and the resistance race to the top of the Eiger in North Face (“It’s definitely not for vertigo sufferers but the alpine scenery is stunning. Sadly, the film fails to manufacture much tension back down on the ground.”); John Malkovich in the feature adaptation of J.M. Coetzee’s Booker Prize-winning Disgrace; Michelle Pfeiffer, Stephen Frears and Christopher Hampton reunite for Chéri.

Or maybe you would prefer this (from my preview of the 2013 NZIFF Autumn Events festival):

I was a little snarky towards the NZFF on Twitter when they announced that Baltasar Kormákur’s The Deep was going to play. After all, the last film of his that local audiences got to see was the woeful Contraband starring Mark Wahlberg. It turns out that was a Hollywood remake of an already successful Icelandic thriller that Mr. Kormákur produced and very likely his director’s fee made The Deep possible. So, snark withdrawn.

The Deep (otherwise known as the typographically challenging Djúpið) is the true story of a fishing boat that sinks off the coast of Iceland in 1984 and the remarkable story of the sole survivor, played by Ólafur Darri Ólafsson. After watching his colleagues expire one by one in the freezing North Atlantic, he managed to swim to shore and then stumble barefoot across the volcanic terrain back to town. His reward: scientists poking him like a circus freak and the guiltiest of guilty consciences. The Deep is a very good film and among other things it gives the lie to that myth that Icelanders are the best trawlermen in the world.

Autumn Events (and its predecessor, the World Cinema Showcase) was a terrific festival and there’s nothing quite like it for New Zealand audiences now. In that preview I mention the 4K restoration of Lawrence of Arabia (Embassy Theatre); Asghar Farhadi’s About Elly; chilling documentary about American incarceration, The House I Live In; and behind-the-scenes documentary Where the Condors Fly2.