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Note:
links in archived stories may have expired due to the removal of the stories
from, or changes to, the websites from which they were derived.
Where can Jackson go from here?
If anyone wants
Citizen Kane remade, here is the man
"Potter was made by a committee masquerading as a director. Rings
is made by a genius masquerading as a normal human being....it takes a scapegrace to
deliver true grace, as it has always taken artistic outlaws to rewrite the laws of art."-
Financial
Times
(13 December 2001)
Jackson
wizard director
Kiwi film guru Peter Jackson is in Empire Magazine's poll
of the top 50 directors.
(November 2001)
Whale
of a tale
A combination of German
and New Zealand investors will finance Whale Rider, the film adaptation
of Witi Ihimaera's much loved book. Whale Rider is a contemporary tale
about a girl whose relationship with a whale ends up saving her village.
Niki Caro (Memory and Desire) adapted the novel for the screen
and will helm the pic.
Archived
story
(20 September 2001)
A combination of German
and New Zealand investors will finance Whale Rider, the film adaptation
of Witi Ihimaera's much loved book. Whale Rider is a contemporary tale
about a girl whose relationship with a whale ends up saving her village.
Niki Caro (Memory and Desire) adapted the novel for the screen
and will helm the pic.
Archived
story
(20 September 2001)
Kiwi
Koala
New Zealand film company Daybreak Pacific imported actors and animatronic
Koala's to Auckland for the shooting of Ozzie, a New Zealand made
film featuring an Australian icon.
(18 August 2001)
Tamahori, Lee
Tamahori
New Zealand director picked as front-runner to direct next Bond movie, with
Pierce Brosnan still in the hot seat as 007.
(31 July 2001)
The
Kiwis are Coming
"Russell Crowe won't be the only brand-name export to the United
States if New Zealanders get their way. The island country is aggressively
pursuing foreign markets by liberalizing trade policies and encouraging
smaller firms to take the plunge into exporting."
(30 July 2001)
Fairytale victory
Kiwi co-directed Shrek is "a computer-generated miracle. Based
on William Steig’s 28-page book, the film puts forward the most marvellous
case for the craziness of repressing fairytales since Sondheim’s musical Into
the Woods."
But, in Salon,
not everyone buys the computer hype.
(28 June 2001)
Ancient forest
Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World filmed in New Zealand "where there
are still forests that resemble those of the Cretaceous Period when the great
dinosaurs walked the land".
(18 June 2001)
All that is golden...
The Lord of the Rings (the book) - boyish fantasy or "true
myth" that is a modern masterpiece?
(4 June 2001)
A piece of Martin
Ex-Shortland Streeter Martin Henderson toplines indie A Piece of My Heart and
plays opposite Nicolas Cage in Windtalkers,
currently in production.
Register and search under Archives
(25 May 2001)
Lording
it at Cannes
Which was hotter - the Rings preview or the bash after? Twenty minutes
of Rings footage had seasoned critics standing to applaud; the
party, complete with sets shipped from New Zealand, was the one ticket no-one
could bear to miss. Check out the official site for Cannes footage and photos.
(May 2001)
In over his depth
Sam Neill stars as the ingenious and courageous
Lt. Commander Charles
"Swede" Momsen in New England submarine drama Submerged.
(18 May 2001)
Phil's Crazy Club on Oprah
Kiwi Phil Keoghan chats with the first lady of US TV about how "passion became his purpose" after a near-death
experience as a 20-yr old. Talking Oprah through a group bungee, dinner atop a volcano, and
hand-feeding wild sharks, he confirmed NZ's place as the adventure capital of
the world. Phil's new show, "Amazing Race" is to screen
an CBS in the northern summer.
(26 April 2001)
Curtain falls for Nyree Dawn Porter
"Forsyte sex symbol who conquered the
world", Kiwi-born and raised star of the
60's TV show The Forsyte Saga (watched by 100 milllion people in 26
countries) remembered in The
Telegraph, The
Guardian and The
Times. As Irene, the wronged wife of a Victorian 'man of property', Dorothy
Porter's "classical good looks" became
known world-wide and her performances "gripped a generation of viewers".
(12 April 2001)
Serve up Sam
Sam Neill, currently showing in The Dish, is major star material: "Like Harrison Ford, he's an Everyman
with gravitas. Like Tom Hanks, he engages our sympathy innately. He's masculine
without being macho, handsome without being pretty, decent without being a
scold, and he's a fine, versatile actor."
(6 April 2001)
Russell's leg up
Russell's main rival for the little naked gold man was "Tom Hanks, who
wears very little for much of Castaway. To the Academy this shameless
overexposure smacked of desperation, an all-shorts-off attempt to counter
Crowe's Gladitorial mini."
(31 March 2001)
Crowe 007
Will it be "Crowe, Russell Crowe" next time 007 hits the big
screen? "To play Bond, you need a man who has great screen presence and is
believable in the part. Looking at him, you could easily believe Russell capable
of savagely bumping off bad men with a wry comment. For my money, at the moment,
he's the only man for the job." - Octopussy director John Glen.
(20 March 2001)
Kidnappers couldn't take me
Russell Crowe laughs off kidnap threat: "Quite frankly, if they had to
spend that much time in a small room with me... one of them might end up saying,
'Look, pass the hat around, and for a couple of hundred dollars you can take him
off our hands!"
(15 March 2001)
Dishy
Sam Neill transmits tension in The Dish, the story of how Neill
Armstrong came to be broadcast from a giant dish in the middle of the Australian
desert.
(15 March 2001)
Russ of the jungle
Russell: Charismatic, attractive and talented, but also fearless, said
Sharon Stone years back. He proves her right on the screen and in the jungles of
Ecuador.
(3 March 2001)
Ciao, Gladiatore!
Crowe-band Thirty Odd Foot of Grunts gig Milan for Children in Crisis
fund-raiser.
(27 February 2001)
Milk magic
Director Harry Sinclair explains the magic behind The Price of Milk:
"We put a window frame on a dolly and sat Danielle Coramck and
the camera on the dolly. And they were moving along Karl as he walks across the
field." Also, Milk makes a great shake and gets bottled by
soured critic.
(15 February 2001)
Star of the year
Russell Crowe named "Male Star of the Year" at
ShoWest
2001, the largest motion picture industry convention.
(14 February 2001)
Acting love
British actor Toby Stephens "sips cranberry and soda in restaurants with
his girlfriend, the New Zealand actress Anna-Louise Plowman (Flick, The
Adulterer)", and enjoys "choosing colour schemes for his new
north London flat."
(28 January 2001)
Political thrills
"I felt that this picture was made for me, because I love politics and I
love making thrillers," says Kiwi-spawned director Roger Donaldson of
missile-drama Thirteen Days, reviewed
as "a sleek, fast and clean race through the facts".
(29 January 2001)
Dinosaur amore
Sam Neill confesses to feeling something for his Jurassic co-stars: "There
was one little female velociraptor who had a cute haircut, but it was never
anything more than holding hands… holding claws."
(27 January 2001)
Change your life
Get prepared for Rings-mania: Brush up on your Tolkien makes number 16 on the
list of 99 ways to change your life.
(7 January 2001)
Vertical exhilaration
NZ-filmed and directed Vertical Limit goes public. The scenery scores
universal acclaim: Ottawa
Citizen,
Chicago Sun-Times, USA Today, ctnow,
entertainmentnewsdaily, National
Post, Chicago
Tribune, the
Star, Washington
Post. Scott Glen battled Mt
Cook, the entire crew battled the weather. The Chicago Sun-Times
says VL is "the closest viewers will get" to the disastrous 1996
expedition that killed kiwi Rob Hall.
(2001)
In the pink of elf
"Cate Blanchett is looking particularly ethereal...perhaps it's just a
little leftover glow from the four months spent in New Zealand playing the Lady
Galadriel..."
(26 December 2000)
Manly, subtle Crowe
"We already knew from The Insider that Crowe was a fine, subtle, vanity-free
actor, happy to ruin his looks to play pudgy and useless. But Gladiator and
Proof of Life prove that he's also a great movie star. One is not the same as
the other, and the two rarely combine in one actor. Crowe is as manly as Connery
and as subtle as Robert Ryan."
(15 December 2000)
Price of Milk
"So this film is my dream
about New Zealand, this make-believe country that seems almost empty of people"
- director Harry Sinclair on his dairy-tale romance, The
Price of Milk.
(December 2000)
Punitive Damage
New Zealander Helen Todd's documentary inditing the Indonesian military for
the Dili massacre screens at the Las Vegas CineVegas festival.
(27 November 2000)
O'Donnell's limit
"As star of the (Kiwi-directed) mountain-climbing epic Vertical Limit
Chris O'Donnell had been helicoptered to the edge of a jagged rock formation in New Zealand's
rugged Southern Alps and deposited to "hang out'' for the rest of the day."
(20 November 2000)
Xena kills jiggle TV
"Is it the end of the Baywatch phenomenon? In place of the silicon-
enhanced
charms of David Hasselhof's babes is the well-toned New Zealander who
yells yi-yi-yi-yi when vanquishing an opponent, leaps through the air, backflips
like a pro and generally strides about like Hercules."
(19 November 2000)
Whitewash
Maori cut from crowd scenes in Her Majesty, US-funded feature film
set in New Zealand c.1953-54. Producer Walter Coblenz (All the President's
Men), said historical accuracy motivated the cutting.
(16 November 2000)
Sam Neill is in LA filming Jurassic
3
The grounds of his temporary
residence are described as "park-like"...
(29 October 2000)
Devils' Playground
"If they were human they would be regarded as severely dysfunctional."
New Zealander Rod Morris on Tasmanian Devils, the stars of The Devil's
Playground, which has won him a Wildscreen Panda - wildlife film's most
coveted award.
(16 October 2000)
Truman to Simone
Oscar-nominated Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, The Truman Show) has
scripted and will helm Simone. Al Pacino stars
alongside an mysterious actress who may or may not be real.
(30 September 2000)
The purloined piano?
The Piano secured Jane Campion as a major director and
catapulted her from the art-house to the multiplex, but the Oxford
Companion to Australian Film recently cast doubt over the originality of the
screenplay for which she received an Oscar. The resulting investigation into the
links between the "strange and mesmerising film" and the novel The Story of a New Zealand River, by Jane
Mander, resulted in Oxford University Press Australia issuing a full apology to
Campion over the claims.
(September 2000)
Flaming Fox
"It's difficult
to pin down Kerry Fox. For every film-goer who knows her as the murderous
medical student in Shallow Grave, there's another who remembers her as
the dumpy author Janet Frame in An Angel at My Table, or the hardbitten
journalist in Welcome to Sarajavo." Kerry Fox is currently playing
in Charlotte Jones's new work In Flame at the New Ambassadors as Alex, a
thirtysomething, childless career woman with a married boyfriend and a mother in
a home.
(31 August 2000)
Russell Crowe: Hollywood Actor of the Year
Russell Crowe was named Hollywood Actor of the Year at the Hollywood Film
Festival Awards held at the Beverly Hilton on August 7th. Internet users voted
online at Entertainment Tonight site ETonline.com and Reel.com for the awards.
The actress award went to Angelina Jolie.
(7 August 2000)
Natural History New Zealand double Emmy nomination
Natural History New Zealand writers Ian McGee (who won NZ's first Emmy last
year) and Quinn Berentson were nominated for their for an
episode "The Rat" in the 13 part series Twisted Tales
co-produced by Animal Planet and the acclaimed Kiwi production company.
Cinematographer Mike Single was also nominated for television's most prestigious
prize for his innovative timelapse work in Antarctica.
(27 July 2000)
Bean says Boromir no gamble in Lord of the Rings
Sean Bean has trodden the tightrope between Hollywood Bond villain and small
budget independent movies enough times to know that the movie world has its ups
and downs, but he says "it's definitely worth the risk" to be involved
in the biggest, longest, most expensive piece of Hollywood risk taking in
history. Bean plays the role of Boromir for "the demanding and incredibly
talented Peter Jackson."
(16 July 2000)
Bilbo buzz spawns rumour about a hoard of treasure
The Lord of the Rings folklore continues to spread. Fox chronicles the
Ring rage: the record breaking previews, websites, esoteric and precious fans,
mammoth investment and eager anticipation that the project has spawned. "To
outpace Star Wars by such a large margin is a great indication of the popularity
of this franchise."
(7 July 2000)
Rogue Anna Paquin is Premiere Cover mutant
Playing the character of 'Rogue' in Bryan Singer's (Usual Suspects)
blockbuster adaptation of comic legend X-Men, Anna Paquin makes the
special edition cover of July's Premiere. Like Paquin's Oscar
winning acting talent, Rogue is known for her ability to 'absorb'. Find
out how Paquin's 'endowment' became a point of controversy on the set.
(July 2000)
From one edge to another to take up the Haka challenge
From Vancouver on the edge of the Atlantic, director Jonathan Tammuz will
continue a global roll to the edge of the Pacific to direct "Haka" an
1850s-set $30million British production. The production will be filmed in New
Zealand later this year.
(30 June 2000)
Sam Neill: walking with the dinosaurs ... again
Kiwi Neill has become the first major actor to sign on for more encounters
with a blue screed/rampaging dinosaurs in Jurassic Park 3. He will reprise his
role as Dr. Alan Grant from the 1993 original.
(28 June 2000)
Maclean movie puts the art before the horse
Feed gets a shot in the arm from director Alison Maclean. "We
all know what to expect from '70s smack movies. So why is Jesus' Son so
unexpectedly good? Maclean's movie, like the much revered short story
collection on which it is based, happens to be a real work of art..."
(23 June 2000)
Gandalf: Lord of the Seas
Sir Ian McKellen takes a break on Auckland Harbour from playing the
wise wizard Gandalf in the 16 month long shoot of Peter Jackson's Lord
of the Rings. He is immersing himself in the NZ/Middle Earth
edge experience, "... this is the biggest film ever made, in terms of
logistics and technology ... and they're happening in New Zealand, away
from any sense that there's a world outside Middle Earth".
(6 June 2000)
Niccol turns into Hollywood gold
Kiwi Andrew Niccol is to write and direct 'the Hollywood project',
rumoured to star Al Pacino as a down and out movie producer. Niccol
was Oscar nominated for the screenplay to The Truman Show and
directed the acclaimed sci-fi thriller Gattaca, starring Uma
Thurman and Ethan Hawke.
(22 May 2000)
Rome with a view
Ridley Scott's exhilarating
and ferocious Gladiator brings the epic back to life. The movie is
dominated by Russell Crowe's towering Maximus, a man of intelligence, probity
and Roman virtue. He's the most virile presence in a film of this kind
since Richard Burton ... Crowe confirms his status as one of the best
star character actors around.
(14 May 2000)
Fresh Crowe conquers in revival of old-genre
"I just thought he was
fresh, a new generation, he's a man who's on his way up," says Ridley
Scott, of Russell Crowe, the Gladiator's 36-year-old New Zealand
star.
(6 May 2000)
One of these days I'm gonna get myself maximised
Here is man who would not take it anymore ...
Crowe makes the cover
of Empire (the magazine - not the Civilisation). "The man
exudes the physicality of a wild animal. Shifting testosterone like a
pre-bloated Brando, he holds the screen with such assuredness and force you
simply can't rip your eyes away from him."
(May 2000)
"To die or not to die - very good question"
Gladiator features breathtaking photography, sets and computer
generated images. But the real glory of the show is Russell Crowe who is simply
magnificent ... Like James Mason, he is one of those actors who can make the
lamest line (and like its sword-and-sandal predecessors, Gladiator has
some clunkers) sound like Shakespeare.
(May 2000)
Short Infection bugs Cannes Festival
New Zealand director James Cunningham's short film - a digital action
thriller about a mutant hero that invades a computer system to destroy student
loans - has been selected to compete in the prestigious 53rd Cannes Film
Festival.
(May 2000)
Crowe does the hard yards to re-visit grandeur of Rome
"I broke a bone in my foot, I fractured a hip-bone, I
had both bicep tendons pop out of their shoulder sockets - fortunately for me at
different times so I could still use one arm ... It
was a challenge, I'll say that".
(27 April 2000)
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Russell Crowe gets inside his character's head
Jeffrey Wigland, real-life whistleblower says Crowe, 22 years junior and a
native of New Zealand "did a remarkable job .. he did things that made it
feel very surreal for me, emotionally retching and uncomfortable."
(15 April 2000)
Spider pic hatched - New Zealander to direct
Hollywood: the duo behind Independence Day and Godzilla are
producing "Arch Attack", an f/x driven comedic thriller about a toxic
waste spill that causes giant spiders to go on a rampage. Will shoot in
Australia and be directed by New Zealander Ellroy Elkayem, who co-wrote the
script.
(30 March 2000)
Justine Wright nominated for Oscar
New Zealander Justine Wright has been nominated for this
year's Oscar Awards for her editing of a dramatic documentary One Day in September, an
account of the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.
(10 March 2000)
Postscript: Wright won the Oscar for her contribution to the film.
Sam Neill
brings Thomas Jefferson to Life
Growing up in New Zealand, Sam Neill was aware of Thomas Jefferson
merely as "writer of the Declaration of Independence, architect,
politician, two-time U.S. president and big cheese on Mount Rushmore."
(5 February 2000)
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Fellowship of the Rings?
Our neighbours across the Tasman have always thought of themselves as Big
Brother, now they want to share toys: "anything which is good for Australia
is good for New Zealand, and vice versa. Anyone who's been in those parts of New
Zealand knows how magnificent it is, and we shouldn't resent that, we should
wish them luck and do cross-promoting with them...Now is the opportunity to get
in and just remind the world that Australasia is a great place for a
holiday", declares Christopher Brown, of Tourism Task Force Australia.
(17 December 2001)
The Land of the Rings
"The first thing I thought when Peter showed me
the pictures of the locations in New Zealand was: this is Middle-earth,"
says Elijah Woods. "I mean, it has every sort of geographical, geological
formation and landscape; its got everything. So, it's absolutely perfect." USA
Today agrees, as does The
Independent, while Metromix
gives a location by location account of how NZ was transformed into
Middle-earth.
(12 December 2001)
More
to Crowe about
Russell Crowe excels on the screen, and now with his band 30-odd Foot
of Grunts he is tackling the music scene as well. The bands first album,
Bastard Life of Clarity, was released this month.
(24 September 2001)
Amazing Race amazing
TV
"More than a thrill a minute" is packed into The Amazing Race,
a "dazzling and fascinating show that brings new energy and respectability
to the reality genre." Contestants are sent around the world - literally
- to compete for a million-dollar prize. It's all held together by Kiwi
presenter Phil Keoghan, who is now based in the US and loving the challenge.
(5 September 2001)
The X-factor
From sword and sorcery to the paranormal, Lucy Lawless moves from Xena to The X-Files, where "we're
thrilled to work with Lucy, whose work we've admired for a long time," says X-Files
producer
Frank Spotnitz.
(30 July 2001)
Chill of Fame
Russell Crowe would be the crowd-pulling choice to play Earnest Shackleton
in the bio-pic Endurance, about the ill-fated South Pole expedition of
1914-15. Did you know: captain of Shackleton's epic Artic voyage was NZ
adventure hero Frank Worsley? (below)
(19 July 2001)
Russell cooking
Russell Crowe's Thirty Odd Foot of
Grunts hots up Texas barbeque with proceeds going to the city's Settlement Home
for troubled youth. As well as being a New Zealander and an Australian, Crowe
has also been declared "an honorary Texan" by the mayor of Austin.
(23 June 2001)
Docu prize
New Zealand co-production Wild Asia: Creatures of the Thaw wins
Canada's Banff Television Festival President's Prize, worth C$25 000.
(12 June 2001)
Shrek at Cannes
Kiwi Andrew Adamson is co-director of Dreamworks' hit Shrek, the
first animated movie to make competition at Cannes since Dumbo 50 years ago. Guardian
picks it as a Cannes top ten. Shrek "deliciously yucky" and
"most unanimously
loved film among the critics". Plot synopsis and cast
and crew round-up.
(May-June 2001)
Wellywood
Dead oliphants at Plimmerton, hobbit cities and epic battles: just the
beginning for "Wellywood".
(21 May 2001)
Rings pics
A gallery of stills from the preview.
(18 May 2001)
Campion cuts Kidman
New Zealand director Jane Campion nabs red-hot Nicole Kidman for upcoming In
the Cut.
(15 May 2001)
Crowe's Anzac
Stan Wemyss, Russell Crowe's Grandfather, was a soldier and cinematographer
- a key influence on the star.
(22 April 2001)
Actress remembered
International
tributes continue for "cucumber-cool" New Zealand-born Forsyte
star Nyree Dawn Porter.
(12 April 2001)
Along came Lee
Along Came a Spider, edge-director Lee Tamahori's
Kiss the Girls
follow-up "skillfully builds the action" and "gives sequels a
good name".
(6 April 2001)
Kiwi batter?
Will Russell Crowe step up to the crease for Somerset this season, or is
it just that funny time of year?
(1 April 2001)
Edge in the heart of Tinseltown
Russell Crowe and Crouching Tiger herald a takeover of Hollywood by
the rest of the world.
PDF Copy
(31 March 2001)
Everyone's Crowing
An examination post-golden Gladiator coverage on both sides of the Tasman.
(30 March 2001)
Milk in Hawaii
Price of Milk
plays at the Hawaii International Film Festival.
(19 March 2001)
Victory: the aftermath
More stories from across the globe: "this moment is directly connected
to those childhood imaginings" quotes The
Advertiser; Crowe "shocked and emotional" in the LA
Times; "I was thinking this is one of those bad taste gags the
world plays on you," in Virtual
New York; Empire
Oscar special; he's still an ordinary bloke says SMH
and the LA
Times agrees; "I had to find a way to keep Maximus constant
throughout,"; "Oscar won't change me" Russ tells The
Age.
(March 2001)
Here with Lee Majors
NYNZer Brendan Donovan scores Best
Cinematography award for his short film Here at the Angelciti Film Festival LA
and his star Lee Majors wins Best Actor at the Santa Monica International Film
Festival. Majors plays an aging hit man stranded in Niagara searching for a
reason to change. Donovan is credited with reclaiming the actor’s career. He
also features in Oyster’s
spread of Kiwis and Aussies making it big in NY (survey also includes uber-make-up
artist Aaron de May
ex-Tauranga).
(March 2001)
Intimacy and success
New Zealander Kerry Fox wins Silver Bear (best actress) at the Berlin Film
Festival for her "searing
and explicit" performance in Intimacy, winner of the Golden Bear
for best film. Fox was unable to collect her prize personally - she was in a hot
bath preparing to give birth.
(20 February 2001)
Go Russell, go!
"What we do in life/echoes in eternity." Russell "Maximus" Crowe gets a second
Best Actor nomination (last year was for The Insider), continuing a fine run of Wellington actors and filmmakers who
have been nominated or won Oscars
(Jane Campion, Anna Pacquin, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Andrew Niccol)
(13 February 2001)
Web savvy
Lord of the Rings producers have played it cool with net
marketing - giving
away photos and info titbits to keep the fans keen. The redesigned Rings site
has already clocked over 41 million hits, while teaser
trailers pull in cinema crowds.
(23 January 2001)
Ringing up the gold
Lord of the Rings has brought the gold into Wellington, the city of
"tearooms and sea views". View the New Zealand setting
in the round at the official site.
(20 January 2001)
Maclean, you've done it again
Alison Maclean's Jesus' Son: "scruffy, loopy and terrifc" on
video.
(11 January 2001)
Trailer Lords
"There's an advert currently going out on Virgin radio encouraging
listeners to go to the cinema this Friday. It does urge you go to a film but
only because this is the first opportunity to see the trailer for The
Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of the Lord of the Rings
trilogy being shot back-to-back in New Zealand." Also entertainment
news daily, Empire,
(9 January 2001)
488 160 minutes to go
Rings hype has generated over 400 websites, countless
articles and minute-by-minute countdowns.
Pdf Copy
(20 December 2000)
Vertical #2
"Vertical Limit has its flaws - but they're not enough to dim
rousing, old-fashioned escapism which uses modern techno-skills to really put
you in the picture and on the mountain peak."
(24 December 2000)
Finding Forrester
"I knew that if Gus Van Sant was wanting to make the movie, then it definitely
meant there was something special about it," says Anna Paquin. She plays opposite co-Oscarites Sean Connery and
F. Murray Abraham in Finding Forrester.
(13 December 2000)
Shifty Crowe
New DVD's reveal Crowe's dark, pre-Gladiator side: "With his
shifty eyes, stocky frame and ready fist, he was born to be the heavy. His roles
have included portrayals of a neo-Nazi skinhead (Romper Stomper), a
computer-generated serial killer (Virtuosity), a brutal cop (L.A.
Confidential)
and a self-important whistle blower (The Insider). He's the guy the real hero is
supposed to save people from."
(1 December 2000)
Fantastically weird
"The Price of Milk is a fantastically weird and funny little film. Boasting
the sort of edgy, quirky slant usually only maintained in short film, it never
compromises its oddness which is a joy."
(December 2000)
Sincere flattery
Gladiator's next move is into surround-screen IMAX theatres. In real
life, Russell Crowe's "punchy" about the buzz he's generating. Crowe
spent Halloween marvelling at imitators: "So many gladiators," he said
of the Greenwich Village parade, including "a guy with an ice cream bucket
and a piece of plastic sticking out the top for a helmet".
PDF File
(24 November 2000)
Location #2
"As globalisation impacts mainstream Indian cinema, one of the early
fall-outs is a flight of locations, with Indian film-makers snapping up every
excuse in the book to shoot everywhere - from Alaska to New Zealand."
(19 November 2000)
Vertical limit
The stunning slopes of Aoraki (Mt Cook) backdrop Kiwi Martin Campbell's ice
action thriller, Vertical Limit. Starring Chris O'Donnel and Nicholas
Lea, Vertical Limit is scheduled for 15 December release.
(November 2000)
Counting Crowe
Amazon keeps count of DVD pre-orders. Gladiator gores Perfect
Storm 80 000 to 30 000. Also due out on DVD is Crowe's
"breakthrough performance" in Romper
Stomper.
(Ongoing)
Top Class
Chopper, New Zealand-born director Andrew Dominik's acclaimed bio-pic of
the maniacal murderer, has received Australian
Film Institute noms for Best Film and Best Direction, plus eight other
nominations including Best Screenplay (penned by Dominik).
(18 October 2000)
Tamahori:
Edge iconoclast
The Boston Globe profiles the
Boston Film/Video Foundation, mentioning Kiwi Lee Tamahori, along with Rose
Troche (Go Fish) and Whit Stillman (Barcelona) as an "international
iconoclast" from their "Meet
the Director" series.
(24 September 2000)
Praise for the "Dark
Vision" of Jackson’s Middle Earth
The Sydney Morning
Herald discusses the huge Lord of the Rings phenomenon, and lauds director Peter
Jackson’s ability to create fantasy on film. "His calling card is Heavenly
Creatures, a remarkable 1994, Jackson suggested the kind of alchemical powers and visionary technique
that will be necessary to make compelling cinema out of Tolkien's long-winded
storytelling."
(26 August 2000)
Sssshhh! Silence is regulated Golden
A multiplex in Birmingham banning kissing in its cinemas prompted the BBC to
investigate cinema etiquette leading them to uncover the news that an independent cinema
in Wellington, New Zealand, banned crisps from its snack bar in an attempt to
spare film fanatics from the incessant rustlings of hard-to-open foil packets.
(15 August 2000)
Gaping Gandalf
In the The Grey Book, acclaimed actor Sir Ian McKellen's
diary of the Lord of the Rings film shoot, McKellen raves about
the scenery: "New Zealand would amaze and enrapture anyone who responds to
the wild landscapes of Middle-earth." And gets a little tookish
yearning for the South Island: "I spy the interisland (fast) ferry chugging
past my Wellington window for the sail across the Cook Strait which separates
the islands. I envy the passengers."
(8 August 2000)
Cate Blanchett talks about me, my elf and I
Blanchett, Academy Award nominated for her performance in Elizabeth is in
the final stages of filming another Queen, the role of elf Galadriel in Lord
of the Rings. Blanchett explains why an attraction to Jackson's filmic edge
vision caused her to lobby hard for the role: "I heard on the grapevine
that Peter [Jackson] and Fran Walsh, his writing partner, were going to do it.
I'd long been a fan of their films."
(26 July 2000)
Island export
Treasure Island, Survivor - love them or loathe them "reality" means
ratings. With a patent on the format Treasure Island is a New Zealand
export success for Touchstone Productions.
(15 July 2001)
Rogue Paquin: mutant rebel with a cause
Paquin stars in Bryan Singer's blockbuster adaptation of the comic X-Men.
In the high tech parable of good and evil, Paquin offers "a surprisingly
poignant performance." Expressing well the hazards of being an adolescent
mutant, Rogue, when embracing a boyfriend, nearly kills him by draining his
energies so that he lapses into a coma.
(14 July 2000)
Cate's Elvish Ways: standing up for the sisters in Lord of the Rings
Cate Blanchett, playing the role of the enigmatic and beautiful elf queen
Gandriel in Lord of the Rings, found a unique way of keeping up with the
lads on set - she wore platform gold boots. She talks to E! Online about the
spiritual power of the 'White Lady', the difficulty of mastering the Elvish
dialect as well as her admiration for the talent of Peter Jackson.
(5 July 2000)
Romance and roadkill in Jesus'
Son
Director Alison Maclean's edge aesthetic gets sharper: described by
the New Yorker as having a "big messy emotional talent", she is
thrilled that audiences are connecting with the romance rather than the
wierdness. But don't expect the acclaim to have crushed her visual sensibility:
"When Alison Maclean is behind the camera, the middle of the road is
a dangerous place to be ..."
(July 2000)
The ubiquitous Crowe tabloid dispatch
"Hollywood's golden girl Meg in marriage split ... Crowe has
become Hollywood's latest heart-throb since starring as Maximus, in the summer's
most successful blockbuster. Ryan is reported to have spent considerable time
with Crowe during the filming of their forthcoming movie Proof of Life at
Pinewood Studios."
Enough Said, and he's wearing
Canterbury. (we had to put it in somewhere!)
(30 June 2000)
Tolkien epic is lord of the net
The $200m epic, in production in New Zealand and not due for release for a
year and a half, is already burgling box-office treasure and causing a storm on the internet, with a promotional
trailer breaking download records. It has also spawned a plethora of fan sites
picking over everything from Liv as a love interest, to leaked set info, and the
provision of armour for 15000 extras by the Wellington Knitting Club.
(19 June 2000)
Bonding bungee brings together father and son film-makers
Award-winning doco "Pop & Me" charts father/son relationships
around the world as the father/son makers work out their own. The film's
defining moment comes when Chris persuades his Dad join him in a tandem bungee jump
in New Zealand, when the two were
barely speaking at the time
(14 June 2000)
Russell Crowe maximises his earnings
"What we do in life echoes in eternity," Russell Crowe as General
Maximus says while admonishing his battle-ready troops in Gladiator. And
what we do at the box office echoes in our paychecks".
(19 May 2000)
Roman in gloamin' ?
Russell Crowe is being hailed here as the best-looking guy in a skirt since
Mel Gibson. The showbiz press have gone crazy over the New Zealander’s
performance in Gladiator, just like Mel’s in Braveheart.
" An understanding of
macho that only real men like jocks or antipodeans can carry off".
(17 May 2000)
Gladiator: movie to crow about
The New Zealander lends an unforgettable face to what is otherwise a
triumph of logistics. Capable
of communicating with the audience almost telepathically, Crowe is one of
those rare leading men who can blend hardcore action with internal
conflict without coming across as either deranged (Gibson) or just plain
dumb (Willis)
(12 May 2000)
The Hobbit; Or, There and Back Again ...already?
Currently being filmed in New Zealand on a mammoth 18 month shoot, the
first film won't even be released until Christmas 2001. Despite this the film's
official site is up and running. "Preview" footage shown on the
site had more than 1.7 million downloads in the first 24 hours - not bad for a
trilogy of films whose debut is still 18 months away ...
(11 May 2000)
Russell's a lot to Crowe About
"Unlikely Hollywood hunk Russell Crowe may well
have saved his best
work for his latest film, a career-capping turn as an enslaved general in Ridley
Scott's sensational sword-and-sandal epic Gladiator".
(1 May 2000)
No Roman holiday and no soccer!
Crowe show he's no slave and rebels against producer's request: ''I mean,
they'd let me run in front of chariots, wrestle tigers, and do battle with
5,000 men in the snow and mud. The memo I sent back was, 'I can wrestle
four tigers, but I can't play soccer? Get over it. Love, Russell.''
(May 2000)
An Insider's guide to Lord of the Rings
Bilbo's Buzz gets bigger: "Everything about Peter Jackson's Lord
of the Rings project is big. The stars, the buzz, the expectations -
and E! Online's exclusive coverage on the making of the trilogy. Our
monthly reports from New Zealand take you behind the scenes of the next big
thing".
(May 2000)
Call me Mr Comedy
New Zealand-born Four Weddings and a
Funeral/Blackadder
creator, Comic Relief co-founder and top scriptwriter
Richard Curtis discusses his career on BBC Radio4.
Register and search to view Archives
(16 April 2000)
Forget about the brass ring, The Lord of the
Rings looks like pure gold
Some 1.7 million fans hit the movie's new website in its first 21 hours up,
compared with only 1 million downloads the first day the Star
Wars: The Phantom Menace site was open for business.
(13 April 2000)
When in Rome ... Russell Crowe fights on in Gladiator
"Some guys are tough customers, and some are really tough
customers. Then there's Russell Crowe". Director Ridley Scott
elaborates:
(April 2000)
Russell Crowe: Heroic gladiator rises from the burger-pits of The Insider
"The people who brought you World War II now think that you are ready
for really ancient history: the Roman Empire. And, even though they're
leaving out the orgies, they may be onto something".
(29 March 2000)
Jane Campion is a model profile of a working artist
Anthropologist, artist, and award winner, internationally acclaimed New
Zealand director exercises an organic approach to her craft …
(9 March 2000)
Russell
Crowe: Inside Story
Playing a 52-year-old tobacco company executive in The Insider
is all in a day's work for 35-year-old Russell Crowe; giving up the smokes is not.
(4 March 2000)
Russell: the prequel
Oz comment: "Crowe is a national
hero" (despite "inconveniently managing to get himself born in New
Zealand"); jokes from the Katzy
kitchen; Crowe, Hillary and Rutherford make Australia green;
Crowe "a force
to be reckoned with". Pre-win: Virtual
New York profile; "international"
Oscars; Crowe triumphs in BBC
readers poll; Charlton
Heston and Tony Curtis voted for Russ.
(March 2000)
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Lord of the Screen
"The Lord of the
Rings is easily the
best film of the year" - The
Times. "Peter Jackson's adaptation of the fantasy classic is as near to
perfection as makes no difference" - The
Mail. "Don't go see your film of the Lord of the Rings, see Peter
Jackson's. Its better than than one in your head" - The
Sun. Check out the Eonline
site for a comprehensive summary of critical reviews, including
those of industry heavyweights Entertainment
Weekly and The New York
Post
(17 December 2001)
Oscar front-runner
"Oscar is no great fan of fantasy. But the Lord
of the Rings, with such Oscar heavyweights as Ian McKellen and Ian Holm, may
carry enough high-class baggage to over come that prejudice".
(13 December 2001)
X
- Woman
Anna Paquin is playing another complex and haunted character - but this
time on the New York stage. "I don't
think it's anything in my own life," she says. "Maybe it's a fascination
of getting into the head of someone who is so completely different from
myself."
Archived story
(29 September 2001)
Gandalf
writes...
"A year's work abroad isn't unusual or daunting for an actor - but
a year in New Zealand? I'm indifferent to rugby and don't eat lamb but
at least it seemed a good opportunity to visit Australia. Almost at once,
however, New Zealand's allure won over and I managed only one weekend
in Sydney for a wet and cold Mardi Gras."
(2 September 2001)
Nature
Film Fest Sucess
Natural History New Zealand walked away with two awards at at the Japan
Wildlife Film Festival, one of the industry's highest-regarded wildlife
television festivals. The Crystal Ocean won the Underwater Award, while
the nine-part Wild Asia series picked up the Asia/Oceania Award.
(September 2001)
"Trust me: it is
magnificent"
"At the end of this first film, Frodo and Sam are separated from the rest
and row across the river, destination Mount Doom: on even a scratchy video,
Elijah Wood and Sean Astin are heart-breaking and couldn't be better.
Trust me: it is magnificent." - Sir Ian McKellan on the wizardry of The
Lord of the Rings.
(20 July 2001)
Fox judging
Award winning edge-actress Kerry Fox sits in the judging seat for the 54th
Locarno International Film Festival.
Pdf Copy
(19 July 2001)
My brilliant career
Jurassic action hero and "rugged individualist" Sam Neill gets the NY
Daily News career
review: "tall, handsome, fiftyish, New Zealand accent". And Neill
wonders at the anonymity despite the star turns: "people will come up to me and say things like, 'Are
you from New Haven?'" says Neill. "They're not sure how they know
me. Someone once accused me of working for his bank." Also: vintage movies, vintage wine, vintage Neill in ctnow.
Jurassic stomps
on the competition and Neill's "Grant appears to be giving adventurer Indiana
Jones a run for his money."
(July 2001)
Foxing the censors
"Marvel at the ever-brilliant Kerry Fox" in style bible i-D mag's
guide to the 'future of cinema'. Fox's raw performance in Intimacy won
her best actress at the Berlin Film; i-D suggests that the explicit scenes mean
"notoriety of a different kind lurks just around the corner".
Pdf Copy
(June 2001)
Intimacy and anguish
New Zealand actress Kerry Fox's award-winning work in Intimacy continues
to generate curiosity, awe and pursed lips: Getting Intimate in the Sunday Times;
Truely, madly, explicitly in The
Observer and Hanif Kureishi talks about the book that inspired the movie
in The
Age.
(June 2001)
Goodbye Xena
Xena, shown in 120 countries, focus of fan-mania and Star Trek-like
devotion, comes to an end. "We tried to take people on journeys that
you won't go through in your real life," says Lucy Lawless, musing on the
source of the Xena phenomenon. "You're not going to battle the Hindu
god of death, but we'll all battle the theme of death at some stage of
life".
(17 May 2001)
Buzz
from Cannes
"This will be the biggest movie of all time" - John Rhys-Davis in National
Post preview and cast interviews; Rings "hottest show at
Cannes" in The
Age; BBC
reports "gargantuan bash"; preview "stunning" says New York
Post
(May 2001)
Donovan puts a hit on Roger
Inflation may have lowered the stocks of ex-Six Million Dollar Man Lee
Majors, but his new lease on life as an aging hit-man in NYC Kiwi
director Brendan Donovan's "Here" has helped the film win the
Roger for best-short at the Avignon-New York Film Festival.
(23 April 2001)
Billion dollar Bevan
Bridget Jones producer Kiwi Tim Bevan nudges the billion dollar mark
with Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and now Bridget
Jones, due to be Britain's biggest hit this year.
(8 April 2001)
Creamy romance
"In New Zealand we mostly make quite brutal social-realist films. I
think American audience are stunned to see something that romanticizes New
Zealand...I want to make films that no one else is making." Harry Sinclair,
milking his cinematic success.
(8 April 2001)
Destiny
"From the beginning he was destined to be a star," says Martin
Bedford, Russell
Crowe's agent of 17 years.
(28 March 2001)
Russell: Our Man
Winning the world from the edge, Russell Crowe walks away with Hollywood's
biggest award. It was the day the boy from the west Auckland suburbs achieved the
dream that once seemed "kind of ludicrous and completely
unattainable".
(26 March 2001)
Best Oscar Hunter
The greatest winners of all time. For best actress: Vivien Leigh, Joan
Crawford, Audrey Hepburn, Simone Signoret and Holly Hunter in The Piano.
(18 March 2001)
Reel Pianos
The Piano, Jane Campion's "hard to ignore" and "genuinely
strange" masterpiece is the star in Jerusalem's Festival of piano-films
- celebrating the filmic attraction of tormented pianists.
(14 March 2001)
Crowe's upward flight
Future films Flora Plum and John Nash biopic will "stretch
Crowe to show the extent of his capability and range".
(23 February 2001)
Tolkien talk
'I've never met or worked with a director with a more comprehensive artillery of
qualities for a big project like this than Peter Jackson. Someone should give
him a medal pretty damn quickly" - John Rhys-Davies (Gimli).
(20 February 2001)
Lost in Te Anau
New Zealand-filmed BBC production of sci-fi dino classic The Lost
World set to be "a ripping yarn with some of the most exotic locations
we've seen in television drama".
(8 February 2001)
Hunter is home from the (Beverly) hills
Rachel Hunter features in a movie about a furry antipodean who gets lost and
ends up in LA...
(1 February 2001)
In the can
"I can shut my eyes and imagine the movie playing in my head," says
Peter Jackson, spilling the exhaustion and elation of moving from filming to
post-production.
(February 2001)
Blanchettes
Maybe it was all the fresh air and vigorous activity? Cate Blanchett says
"working on the Lord of the Rings trilogy in New Zealand made her feel
especially broody".
(23 January 2001)
NZ film in NY
"2001: A New Zealand Film Odyssey" currently running in New
York festures "new, rediscovered and undiscovered" New Zealand films,
including hot-now Price of Milk and classics Utu and War
Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us.
(17 January 2001)
Going Vertical
Kiwi filmed/helmed Vertical Limit gave star Chris O'Donnell a few
moments of terror: "my next thought was, somebody better show me a copy of
my paycheck again, so I can remember why I'm doing this movie".
(4 January 2001)
Kiwi filmed/helmed Vertical Limit gave star Chris O'Donnell a few
moments of terror: "my next thought was, somebody better show me a copy of
my paycheck again, so I can remember why I'm doing this movie".
(4 January 2001)
Escape from Middle Earth
With a $100 000 budget and all the glamour Wellington could muster, the Rings wrap party was like
"something straight out of Tolkien".
(23 December 2000)
Dishy Neill
Sam Neill puts in a
"terrific performance" in The Dish, a "little-known story
of how an obscure Australian tracking station provided the crucial downlink for
the worldwide broadcast of the 1969 moon walk", which has garnered
excellent critical
reaction.
(January 2001)
Year of the Crowe
What sparked Crowe-mania?
"I don't know mate. Luck?" suggests the man himself, Entertainment
Weekly's entertainer of the year. Proof of Life co-star David Caruso disagrees:
"Once in a generation an actor will come along and set a benchmark for
everybody else to aspire to. He's the real deal". Proof of luck, Crowe is
also Hollywood Actor of the Year,
Broadcast Film
Critics Association Actor of the Year (second time running) and in the
race for the Golden
Satellite Awards Actor of the Year.
(18 December 2000)
Neill at home
"It's good to get back to New
Zealand and Australia to make a film because I feel more at home in that part of
the world," says Sam Neill, now on screen in Aussie indie My Mother
Frank.
(8 December 2000)
Proof of quality
Oscar noms tipped for Crowe's Proof of Life turn as kidnap and ransom
rescue specialist Terry Thorne.
(4 December 2000)
Location location
New Zealand is hot property, drawing location scouts who scour the
planet looking for the perfect waterfall or mountain stream.
(20 November 2000)
Shorts and sweet
Four NZ films feature in NY's Shorts International Film Festival, including Felicity
Morgan-Rhind's Donuts for Breakfast. Top
shorts will be considered for Oscar noms.
(1 November 2000)
Thirteen Days
Nuclear-brink thriller Thirteen Days, helmed by New Zealander Roger
Donaldson and tipped for awards, captures the "urgency, suspense and paralyzing
chaos of the Cuban missile crisis". Also, "What Thirteen Days sets out to do
it does admirably," says New
York mag. And, in Chicago
Sun-Times, "I'm ferocious about his movie," says Costner.
"Somebody has to fight for the good movies."
(November 2000)
Three
Foot Six and still growing
Vanity Fair estimates the cost of Lord of the Rings at NZ$623 million. If correct, Wellington company Three Foot Six is
producing the second-most expensive movie ever.
(27 October 2000)
Guy
Pearce's Kiwi Dad
Yes, Guy is an Australian (he spent fours years on Neighbours to
prove it), but his father was a New Zealander who tested planes for the Royal
Air Force. Pearce, also Russell Crowe's side-kick from LA Confidential, talks
about fame, his father and his love of
animals.
(7 October 2000)
Sam Neill’s Jurassic reprise
After a reworked script Sam Neil has signed on for his third outing as Alan
Grant in the Jurassic park trilogy.
(12 September 2000)
Rena Owen on jury at
Montreal Film Festival
Feisty Kiwi actress
Rena Owen (Once Were Warriors, What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted), sat on
the jury of the of the Montreal Film Festival. The jury awarded the festival’s
major award, the Grand Prix of the Americas, jointly to Paul Cox’s Innocence
and Agnes Jaoui’s The Taste of Others.
(06 September 2000)
Edge Factor
Canadian-born, New
Zealand-raised Anna Paquin is studying English literature of Columbia
University and starring in two hot movies – X-Men and Cameron Crowe’s
Almost Famous. Winning the Oscar was "pretty much the flukiest cool
thing that's ever happened to me. I didn't know I liked acting, I didn't know
about any of this stuff before, but now I've got all these wonderful
opportunities to work with people who are the best in their field and the world
and I get to play in this really cool playground. It's really a great thing.
It's what I love doing."
(26 August 2000)
Anna's new rhythm
Vanity Fair profiles the maturing of Kiwi actress Anna Paquin, from
precocious Oscar winner in Jane Campion's The Piano, to upcoming roles in
Bryan Singer's blockbusting sci-fi flick X-Men and Cameron Crowe's 70's
rock movie Untitled. Between premieres Paquin plans to study for a
different role: freshman at Columbia University.
(August 2000)
More *Aussies* to join Star Wars
Putting more Kiwis in Kangeroo skins and
calling them Aussies, news.com.au reports that four more 'Australian' actors
have been added to the cast of George Lucas next Star Wars movie,
including Martin Coskas, formerly of Shortland
Street fame. The cast already includes Kiwis Temuera Morrison, Jay Laga'aia
and Rena Owen.
(21 July 2000)
"It'll make Star Wars look like a weekend in the
lavatory"
Ian Holm, the British actor who plays Bilbo Baggins, oozes enthusiasm about
Peter Jackson's big-budget adaptation of the Lord of the Rings. "There
are 130 special effects people and it's brilliant, absolutely brilliant."
(15 July 2000)
The outsider: Huck Finn on
heroin
Alison Maclean brings verge
vision to the story of an American outsider. Jesus' Son, an adaptation of
a story by cult American author Dennis Johnson, is about a 70's junkie who finds
redemption. The National Post writes that Maclean's deadpan surrealism
makes her "an ideal translator of Johnson's stories."
(7 July 2000)
Jesus and the second coming
Kiwi director Alison Maclean wowed Cannes with the moody Crush, then took
a seven year maturing process, through Sex and the City, Homicide
and a Natalie Imbruglia music video, to release the indie-hit Jesus' Son.
The seven year itch has been redeemed by critical and popular success. Ripe
affirmation for Maclean (and the nzedge) who, "feels happiest on the
avant-garde edge of the film industry".
(2 July 2000)
Kiwi director Alison Maclean wowed Cannes with the moody Crush, then took
a seven year maturing process, through Sex and the City, Homicide
and a Natalie Imbruglia music video, to release the indie-hit Jesus' Son.
The seven year itch has been redeemed by critical and popular success. Ripe
affirmation for Maclean (and the nzedge) who, "feels happiest on the
avant-garde edge of the film industry".
(2 July 2000)
Hollywood Hobbit brings trouble to Middle Earth
Literary fans who are devoted to the purity of Tolkien's Middle Earth ouevre
are angry at rumours that Frodo Baggins is ready to flirt. The introduction of glamorous
Hollywood stars such as Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchet is seen as
threatening cherished personal readings of the book, voted best book of the
century in many polls last year.
(25 June 2000)
Alison Maclean gives Jesus' Son the Kitchen Sink treatment
The story of a grunged out herion addict 'FH' (Billy Cudrup), based
on the stories of Dennis Johnson and inspired by the Lou Reed lyric, also stars
Oscar nominated Samantha Morton, Holly Hunter and Dennis Hopper. "A
story of levity and grace", it is directed by acclaimed New Zealand
director Alison Maclean.
(6 June 2000)
New Zealand: Hottest destination of movie makers
It's official: Bollywood star Hritihik Roshan has been made a
singing-dancing- fighting icon in the Bollywood smash hit Kaho Naa ... Pyar Hai
(Say you Love me), a romantic musical thriller shot in the lens-loving wilderness of New
Zealand.
(1 June 2000)
G'Day Caesar
Crowe's accent crosses the expanses of the globe and the distance of time in
the Gladiator - Owen Duggan corrects the notion that it's Bondi-based,
and Christine Kenneally muses on the sound of things ancient from the considered
Aussie/Brit/American dialects in Gladiator to the Actor's equity mix of
New Zealand and American accents in Hercules: the Legendary Jouneys.
(16 -18 May 2000)
Russell Crowe: a Gladiator even a woman could love
"Why would a woman want to see Gladiator: 1. It's a love story.
Really. 2. An intelligent female character. 3. Russell Crowe ...
Born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, Crowe's got that take-no-mess
Outback flava; he's attractive in a regular bloke way and doesn't look like he
spends every waking moment flexing and posing at Crunch on sunset
Boulevard".
(9 May 2000)
Magnetic Maximus unleashes Hell to please the masses in Gladiator
Apart from its spectacular visuals the film's other strength is its acting,
"... but everyone else can step aside for Crowe. "Gladiator"
should make the Oscar-nominated actor an
international star. When he's in a frame, he holds your attention like a vise.
In a word, he's magnetic."
(May 2000)
"In New Zealand if you asked for a coffee, it was a teaspoon of
Nescafe."
Kings Cross, 1986, newly arrived struggling actor waiting tables: an American customer orders a decaf
coffee. "Suddenly I'm faced with long black, short black,
cappuccino, and cafe latte - plus decaffeinated. So I take her a cup of hot
water. She says, 'This is boiling water.' I say, 'Lady, when we decaffeinate
something in Australia, we don't fuck around!"' The 22-year-old got fired.
(May 2000)
"I wanna be Marlon Brando"...
sang Russell Crowe years ago when he was an aspiring rock star in
New Zealand - the idea no longer seems absurd as Crowe brings an intensity
and commitment to his craft that sometimes led to clashes with the equally
forceful Gladiator director Ridley Scott, but as Scott says,
"He's worth it".
(May 2000)
Phantom Menace humbled by diminutive Hobbit
The record number of downloads
set by the trailer for Star Wars Episode
1: The Phantom Menace, has been dwarfed by the the Internet preview of of
Peter Jackson's epic movie trilogy The Lord of the Rings, which was
downloaded almost 1.7 million times in the first 24 hours when it became
available this month.
(29 April 2000)
`Kaho Na Pyar Hai, New Zealand se'
Indian actor sends hearts fluttering and viewers travelling: "His cool,
clean looks not only sent his heroine (Ameesha Patel) into a tizzy, it had the
entire nation echoing Haan Tumse Pyaar Hai. More importantly, the success
of the film has unleashed a brand new love affair - between India and New
Zealand, where a large part of the film was shot".
(15 April 2000)
New Zealand wilderness a hit with big-budget filmmakers
Ever since Jane Campion brought the surging savage West Coast of Auckland's
Karekare beach and the rain-soaked bush to the world in her award winning film The
Piano nearly a decade ago, more and more international film companies
have been travelling south, including 1999's most expensive film The Vertical
Limit, and the US$180million trilogy The Lord of the Rings.
(7 April 2000)
Kiwi editor of Oscar winning documentary paints LA pink
Director of the acclaimed "One Day in September" Kevin McDonald
recounts his poolside adventures at the Oscars: "At 2pm, Justine Wright,
the brilliant editor who cut our film arrives to get changed with us. Her bright
pink hair causes a bit of a stir. She takes a swim without putting her head in
the water for fear that she'll leave a pink streak up the pool."
(April 2000)
Xena: motherhood becomes her
Lucy Lawless' pregnancy not only changed scripts on Xena: Warrior
Princess, but the costume department had to 'expand' with the times
too. New to the show: Spandex.
(24 March 2000)
Alison Maclean in Time Out New York's "We told you so" list
20 to
watch in 2000: "Film's drug-subculture genre has been pretty played out lately -
really, how many times can you watch an artfully mussed stud or starlet shoot up
on screen? But director Alison Maclean's festival favourite indie Jesus'
Son stands out ... imagining what the talented Maclean will do next is just
as exciting."
(Feb 2000)
Not Crowing About Stardom
Russell Crowe was the darling of the early awards season, picking up a slew of
accolades for his role as a tobacco industry whistle-blower in The
Insider.
(21 January 2000)
Notes from Ian McKellen
"What a congenial country New Zealand is for visitors from what used to
be called "the home country ... It all seems half-familiar with a style of
friendliness that is a change from English reserve. I feel very much at
home". (McKellen is currently in New Zealand playing Gandalf in The Lord
of the Rings).
(25 January 2000)
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Floored by the Rings
"The real star of The Lord of the Rings is New Zealand. The
scenery, ranging from snowbound mountain passes to rolling grasslands, has a
beauty of jaw-dropping quality and it is all lovingly captured by Kiwi
Jackson" - relays The
Sun. "Physically the film is a triumph: an art department's dream and a
potent advert for New Zealand," - pronounces The
Guardian.
(16 December 2001)
Gladiator to Genius
Russell Crowe is tipped for repeat Oscar honours following
his fantastic performance as mathematical genius John Forbes Nash Jr in Ron
Howard's A Beautiful Mind.
(12 December 2001)
Her Majesty
A preteen girl's obsessive quest to cross paths with young
Queen Elizabeth during latter's 1953 New Zealand tour provides the charming
focus for Her Majesty, L.A based director Mark Gordon's polished feature
debut. New Zealand provides the "mildly exoctic" setting for the film,
which opens to rave reviews.
(October 2001)
Film
Success at Montreal
Still Life, a short film that tells the story of an elderly
couple who discover that love defies even death, took out top honours
in its category at the Montreal
Film Festival. It is the first New Zealand short to win the top award.
"I am absolutely thrilled and overwhelmed with the news of the film's
success" says director Sima Urale.
(11 September 2001)
Lord
of the Spin-Offs
"The adventures of Frodo Baggins and Gandalf the wizard are proving
so lucrative to HarperCollins that, without spending a penny on promotion
or marketing, they have seen sales of the books soar by 400 per cent in
a single year."
(8 September 2001)
More Kiwi on Aussie
screens
Selling 26 episodes of Street Legal to the Aussies has quadrupled the
amount of programming NZ has over the ditch. More importantly, it
helps clear the way for further sales.
Archived story
(3 September 2001)
Awesome Enthusiasm
It’s awesome,” enthuses Middle Earth's biggest small man, Elijah Wood about
upcoming Lord of the Rings. “It’s a really, really incredible group
of people and a very brilliant, talented group of artists who were massively,
massively passionate about what they were there in New Zealand for."
(20 July 2001)
Intimate work
New Zealand actress Kerry Fox generates massive buzz for her award-winning
work in Patrice Chereau's Intimacy, based on the metro-culture sex and angst
stories of Hanif Kureishi. For Fox, the film was about "braving out a
truthful portrait of a sexual relationship", but was also "terrible to
shoot". The result is a film that forms the English language
van-guard of the "most urgent and relevant new European films".
(July 2001)
Fractured fairytale
"It's not often you can say an animated feature's rich in subtext, but
much-acclaimed fractured fairytale Shrek fits the description... beneath striking
visuals and a classic hero-princess-villain story arc, there's a frothy adult
undercurrent at work."
(22 June 2001)
The green-eyed monster
How does it feel when your pregnant girlfriend takes an acting role that breaks
all the boundaries about sex on screen in serious, mainstream films? Kerry Fox's
boyfriend answers that question.
(22 June 2001)
Cutting Edge Commercials
Saatchi & Saatchi's "Bugger" ad shows the creativity that
will save TV advertising says Jim
Aitchinson's Cutting Edge Commercials.
(13 June 2001)
At home on the edge
Sam Neill talks acting, wine and why New Zealand is home: "I just love
going back - I feel comfortable there, I am entirely relaxed there and I feel I
do much my best work there, because the best acting comes out of relaxation at
the end of the day." Plus, Neill on being "vaguely celebrated".
(22 May 2001)
Rings actors awestruck
"It seems that those involved are only starting to realise just how big a
movie project with which they have been involved. The actors were awe-struck by
look of the movie and the spectacular visual effects created by New Zealand's
WETA Limited."
(20 May 2001)
Serve up Sam
Sam Neill, currently showing in The Dish, is major star material: "Like Harrison Ford, he's an Everyman
with gravitas. Like Tom Hanks, he engages our sympathy innately. He's masculine
without being macho, handsome without being pretty, decent without being a
scold, and he's a fine, versatile actor."
(6 April 2001)
Must do today: production, script, light
Wellington-born Richard Curtis penned the Bridget screen adaptation: one of Britain's
"cleverest screenwriters" in LA
Times and "a virtuoso at devising horrific embarrassments for his
protagonists," in Slate.
Rounding out the kiwi trio, Stuart Dryburgh, nzedged oscar
nominated cinematographer(The Piano, Once Were Warriors) is charged with
lighting Miss Jones's famous curves.
(April 2001)
Graniator
"No, no leave him alone, don't hurt him," yelled Joy Wemyss, Crowe
family matriarch at a private screening in Auckland. Also, Audrey Crowe touched
by mention of her husband.
(28 March 2001)
Fresh milk
"The gorgeous landscapes of New Zealand provide the backdrop for this
peculiarity, which is like nothing else that's played in months"
(23 March 2001)
Milk free
The Price of Milk is nothing at promotional showings of the New Zealand
movie with a "cult-like" following.
(22 March 2001)
Fairy tale ending
Xena meets her doom in the
finale of the wrapped series that turned Lucy Lawless stellar.
(19 March 2001)
"I will herd sheep"
"Never doubt you can accomplish the task given to you," says
Canadian film-maker Sean Buckley. "I had barely been on a horse before, but
there I was in New Zealand, needing a job. I said, 'I will herd sheep.' So I
learned on my own time and the next thing I know, I'm racing through the
mountains, herding sheep and having an incredible experience."
(10 March 2001)
History revised?
Controversy and acclaim for edge-director Roger Donaldson's nuke-spook
Kennedy paean 13 Days. "Yet, despite these difficulties, the film works and ought to be
essential viewing for those too young to have been around in October 1962, or,
for that matter, anyone whose memories of that fearful time have grown less
acute," says the New
Statesman.
(3 March 2001)
Hollywood outgrows itself
Gladiator, filmed in Morocco, Malta and the UK, directed by a Brit,
scored by a German and "sexed up by the hottest New Zealander on the
planet" is a new breed of block-buster, a Hollywood product made without
Hollywood.
(18 February 2001)
No talk, just sex
Intimacy is a smouldering
film about a man who is living in a basement in south London who has a sex
affair with a woman at his place every Wednesday afternoon. They don't talk, they only have
sex. Based on the semi autobiographical novel by Hanif Kureishi, directed
by Patrice Chereau, starring Peter
Cullen and former Wellington actress
Kerry Fox (Shallow Grave, Welcome to Sarajevo).
Critics say Intimacy
has the best sex on screen since
Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie
met in Don't Look Now in 1973.
(16 February 2001)
Mad world of Milk
"In the real world, Lucinda probably would be in court-ordered
psychotherapy, with a restraining order or two thrown in to boot. In the
fanciful world of The Price of Milk, however, Cormack's Lucinda is a treasure of
a princess-hero who makes this little film a gem."
(13 February 2001)
Cultural resonance
''Everything I saw in this film I see in my own country,'' says Maori Jillian
White, speaking of Native Canadian films screened at Canada's Sundance festival.
(26 January 2001)
Lang may his lum reek
New Zealand's now home for Scottish actor John Cairney but he makes a yearly
return to Scotland for Burns night.
(25 January 2001)
Prehistoric background
New Zealand provided the background - and the KY jelly - for the phenomenly
successful Walking with Dinosuars, soon to be followed by The Ballad
of Big Al.
(22 January 2001)
Greenstone hit
New Zealand historical drama Greenstone infiltrates Canada's
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.
(15 January 2001)
First Baggins off the rack
"The most ambitious undertaking in the film world recently has
been Peter Jackson's filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy in New
Zealand. If the results are as epic as the production, the first Baggins off the
rank, The Fellowship of the Ring, will be worth the wait until next
Christmas."
(9 January 2001)
More Cate
"I'm so excited to be doing all three movies,'' says
Blanchett. "It's
thrilling. I wanted this project so badly. We're talking Peter Jackson. And
Tolkien - my God! That man, Tolkien, created a whole language. He created a
world within a world. He created Middle Earth. I think The Lord of the Rings
is a historic project.''
(8 January 2001)
Rings V Potter
"If the budget on Lord of the Rings is sky-high, so are expectations
surrounding the films. Fans of Tolkien's 1,000-page trilogy about hobbits and
elves in the fantasy land called Middle Earth are truly devoted. The films,
then, will have to be good to merit comparison. On paper, at least, they look
promising."
(6 January 2001)
Romper Stomper
Crowe's "breakthrough film" released on DVD: "Crowe is electrifying as the brutal head of a group of neo-Nazi skinheads
who harass the Vietnamese community in contemporary Melbourne".
(14 December 2000)
Amazon Crowe
The "Delight-O-Meter" puts Gladiator at the top on Amazon.com.
(13 December 2000)
Moko on film
Jillian White's Moko, a short documentary featuring the first
contemporary man to wear moko, included in Sundance 2001. Felicity
Morgan-Rhino's short Donuts
for Breakfast, is also on the programme
(5 December 2000)
Proof of Life
The plot goes wobbly, but Russell Crowe is the man.
Crowe is "a
powerful screen presence, the sort of fellow every man wants to befriend and
every woman wants to love": "the movie comes to life anytime Crowe is on
screen," says LVSun,
"It's his constant potential for righteous fury, mischief and unexpected sensitivity
that makes him so magnetic," according to Salon,
"Things went a little crazy on this one," says director Taylor
Hackford in entertainmentnewsdaily,
and
"Crowe is simply the real deal" for The
Times.
(December 2000)
Hrithik era
Indian tourists are awarding New Zealand an Oscar. Visitor numbers have shot
up on the back of a high-profile film starring mega-hunk Hrithik Roshan and New Zealand as the backdrop.
(17 November 2000)
It's a wrap
Lord of the Rings is due to wrap three days before
Christmas, right on schedule. Director Peter Jackson notes the authenticity
index has climbed during filming: “way back at the beginning we thought there
was quite a bit of this we are going to have to alter or change, but we've gone further and further back to the
books again.”
(14 November 2000)
PC Lost World
New Zealand will
host BBC's dinosaur/sci-fi classic The Lost World. Offensive passages, referring to "sub-humans noted
for their savage behaviour and low intellects" will be removed, cutting
down the number of politicians moonlighting as extras. Paul Riddell remains unconvinced of New Zealand's lost world credentials.
(12 November 2000)
New Zealand will
host BBC's dinosaur/sci-fi classic The Lost World. Offensive passages, referring to "sub-humans noted
for their savage behaviour and low intellects" will be removed, cutting
down the number of politicians moonlighting as extras. Paul Riddell remains unconvinced of New Zealand's lost world credentials.
(12 November 2000)
Join the army and let the world see you!
New Zealand defence personnel will feature on big screens around the globe -
as extras in Lord of the Rings. The soldiers were perfect when the
filmmakers needed "big numbers of people who were used to operating with a
degree of discipline".
(27 October 2000)
Virtual Hobbits
"In a nondescript suburb
of New Zealand's capital, the team at Weta
Digital, an offshoot of Peter Jackson's Wingnut Films, is producing more
than 1,200 visual effect shots for the three Lord of the Rings films.
These purveyors of state-of-the-art film ingredients have as neighbour a
battered-looking old ice cream factory. But turn up the side road hill and a new
building announces that here, past the security, some extraordinary people are
producing what fans hope will be some extraordinary images."
(12 September 2000)
The Piano plays on
Holly Hunter,
who played a mute Scottish widow in Jane Campion's The Piano (1993), muses on
the unexpected success of the movies. "It was a $5 million movie in New
Zealand, and it ended up making $150 million." The Piano earned a Best
Actress Oscar for Hunter, as well as the famous awards to Campion for Best
Original Screenplay, and Anna Paquin for Best Supporting Actress.
(02 September 2000)
Still Crowe-ing
Does Bill Bryson
bring Russell Crowe to mind? For some book reviewers, anything south of the
equator can be connected with the Edge’s hunkiest export.
(24 August 2000)
Crowe songs attract flock of acolytes
Crowds packed, paid up to $300 and queued for up to 12 hours to get into Stubb's
Bar-B-Q in Austin, Texas, for a performance by an unknown country-rock band
called Thirty Odd Foot of Grunts. The catch: lead singer Russell Crowe.
"Russell Crowe, actor and New Zealand native, could have sat on stage
making noise with his armpits and still drawn a cluster at his show."
(14 August 2000)
Sam Neill: vintage celebrity
The Telegraph investigates the latest celebrity trend: the
wine-making lifestyle: accessorise with vines, winery and bottling linel. Kiwi
Sam Neill makes the star vigneron along with Aussie golfer Greg Norman, French
actor Gerrard Depardieu, and American Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola.
(3 August 2000)
The Telegraph investigates the latest celebrity trend: the
wine-making lifestyle: accessorise with vines, winery and bottling linel. Kiwi
Sam Neill makes the star vigneron along with Aussie golfer Greg Norman, French
actor Gerrard Depardieu, and American Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola.
(3 August 2000)
Wellywood
Hobbits boost the local carpentry trade: "They
haven't
begun construction of a new Hollywood sign yet on the steep hills that encircle
New Zealand`s capital city of Wellington,
but it would
not be surprising if they did. Wellington is hometown to Peter
Jackson, the writer, director and producer of the mega-Middle Earth trilogy the Lord
of the Rings."
(18 July 2000)
John Clarke throws a gumboot at Australian PM
New Zealand comedian John Clarke has demonstrated "speechwriting at its
finest" in the ABC TV spoof about the Sydney Olympics, The Games. Penning
the words for John Howard, actor, Clarke showed John Howard, Prime Minister, how
a genuine leadership speech should be written and offered an apology to the
aboriginal people. Says John Howard, actor, "For the first time I'm not
afraid to share the same name as the PM."
(8 July 2000)
Peter Jackson: "One of the most creative directors around"
Chicago Tribune, backs the talent of Jackson and a "top notch
cast" as Hollywood indemnity for the Lord of the Rings.
Jackson was recently voted 7th most promising director for the 21st
century in Empire mag ahead of the better known talents of Trainspotting's
Danny Boyle and Usual Suspect's Brian Singer and LA
Confidential's Curtis Hanson.
(2 July 2000)
"All you sweet girls with your sweet talk": New York Times
interview with Alison Maclean
Known for her
willingness to thematically peer over the edge 'to the centre in her
head', Maclean is attracting attention for Jesus'
Son (starring Billy Cudrup and Samantha Morton). The film, about alienation, ennui and drugs in 70s America, has
received outstanding reviews at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals and at
NY's Museum of Modern Art .
(11 June 2000)
Heavenly Creatures: In New York not all angels are innocent
From New York Daily News TV preview: "Lynskey
and future "Titanic" star Winslet are phenomenal as two alienated
teens in 1950s New Zealand who construct their own, ultimately lethal fantasy
world in Peter Jackson's imaginative account of an infamous real-life murder
case"
(1 June 2000)
Star Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott: an irresistible pairing
"Scott, the big name auteur, and Crowe, the acting wunderkind, in
the same room. The director, with his well-bred English manners, and
the thespian, with his New Zealander ease and laconic wit, are a sight to
behold."
(11 May 2000)
Tragic death of activist remembered in Punitive Damage.
The Kiwi-made documentary traces the life and tragic death of
Kamal Badmadhaj, slaughtered in the 1991 Dili Cemetery Massacre by the
Indonesian military. The film won the Audience Award at the 1999 Sydney
International Film Festival and the Medianet Award at the Munich film Festival,
1999, and was shown around the globe at numerous other festivals to critical
acclaim.
(9 May 2000)
Even better than the real thing: Gladiator's post-modern take on filming
history
When Ridley
Scott wanted to recreate the Colosseum he stayed well clear of Rome, preferring
to leave the real Colosseum to the tourists. Instead he
used computer imaging and sets in Malta and Surrey. The star, Russell
Crowe, a New Zealander, best known for The Insider and LA
Confidential, is keen to reassure Italians that he does value their
history.
(4 May 2000)
Down-Under achievers: Which
actor wasn't born in Australia quiz?
Answer: Russell Crowe is
originally from New Zealand.
(4 May 2000)
Edge living: Roman style
From whistle-blower to tiger-slayer, countless billboards are proclaiming a new hero. But despite the
many high-tech advances made since the earlier cinematic days of the wide-screen
Roman Empire, at least one fact remains the same: heroes still get the stuffing
beaten out of them. "Just a little bit, yeah," Crowe laughs. "Just around
the edges."
(4 May 2000)
When love comes to Boston
New Zealand film When Love Comes
about a "group of free spirits
and sexual stripes" chosen to show at Boston gay and lesbian film and video
Festival at Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The festival is known for playing
a major role in outing gay culture to a wider audience.
(3 May 2000)
Russell reasserts his edge roots
"Hollywood is carving a bust for Crowe in the action-hero pantheon, but
Crowe is keeping his distance. "I'd move to Los Angeles if Australia
and New Zealand were swallowed up by a huge tidal wave."
(May 2000)
Veni, Vidi, Vici
Russell Crowe's star-making turn reviewed in People, "Gladiator's
pull is potent, thanks to the razzle-dazzle fight scenes (the opening battle
rivals that in Saving Private Ryan) and a magnetic performance by Crowe (The
Insider), who shows just the right combination of heart and brawn".
(May 2000)
Countless billboards proclaim there's a new hero: Russell
Crowe, bigger than Ben Hur.
From Auckland Grammar to singing on 80's pop show Shazam. From
Oscar nominations to the violent centre of a decadent ancient Rome.
He's one-sixteenth Maori and registered on the Maori voting poll, but he
lives in the Aussie Outback and calls Australia home. He'd rather
have a beer with his cows, than smooze with Hollywood set. He
personifies the edge vision, roots and a global passport, massive talent,
edge spirit. Russell Crowe: a true edge hero.
(April/May 2000)
"Only a filmmaker as unique and bold as New Zealander Peter Jackson could
even think of pulling off this project".
The Sydney Morning Herald’s Stephen Turner checks out the net’s
obsession with two ‘huge’ movies – Lord of the Rings and X-Men.
(15 April 2000)
Tolkien Teaser Runs Rings around Phantom Menace
"Attention fantasy fans: New Line Cinema is about to lift the veil of
secrecy — just a little bit — that has shrouded Peter Jackson's massive
adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings since production on
the three-film epic began last October. "
(6 April 2000)
Looks wonderful
"It's not always easy to flow the tortuous intrigues, passions and deceits, but it looks wonderful, with photography by the gifted New Zealand
cinematographer and director Chris Doyle". BBC2 film preview of Temptress Moon directed by Chen Kaige
(24 March 2000)
Child superstar Anna Paquin's vampish turn
Anna Paquin has got something
tucked away in her closet: an Oscar … becoming the second-youngest Academy
Award winner is a tough act to follow.
(5 March 2000)
Angela Dotchin is the boss-fox
British secret agent / scientist with whom he's
partnered -- did someone say "prickly"?
Review of Sam Rammi (Evil Dead, Hercules) produced new TV show
Jack of All Trades.
(3–9 March 2000)
Production
designer Andrew
McAlpine has created a plausibly and attractively rough-hewn
compound for the back-to-nature frolickers
"The Beach" (Film Review)
(2 February 2000)
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