70 LISTENER AUGUST 3 2019
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
always cynical in the movies)
is worn down. Thankfully,
Heigl has returned to her natu-
ral home, TV, where she can be
seen in Suits. (2008)Steve Jobs (Three, 8.55pm).
Aaron Sorkin’s abundant dia-
logue tends to turn everyone
into a genius, but in this case,
that’s not a problem, because
everyone is very smart, it’s
just that Steve Jobs is smarter.
Danny Boyle’s energetic direc-
tion suits Sorkin’s three-act
structure, which Boyle films
in three technologies suited to
their eras: 16mm, 35mm and
high-def digital. Sorkin doesn’t
sugar-coat Jobs’ capricious-
ness and cruelty, particularly
towards his daughter, Lisa,
while still acknowledging
his brilliance, and Michael
Fassbender is amazing, convey-
ing both the enigmatic genius
and inspirational futurist. Kate
Winslet, as Jobs’ confidanteJoanna Hoffman,
is terrific; the
surprise is Seth
Rogen as a soulful
Steve Wozniak.
(2015)Focus (TVNZ 2, 11.05pm). A
thriller that is more suited to
Will Smith’s slick charm than,
say, After Earth or The Pursuit
of Happyness. He’s a con artist
who devises several improb-
able long cons; Margot Robbie
is, off and on, along for the
ride. It’s quite twisty – keep up- but fun in that empty, pretty
sort of way. (2015)
Deception (TVNZ 2, 1.00am
Sun). Another con-job thriller,
although this time the audi-
ence is the mark. It’s supposed
to be a sexy psychological
potboiler, but even Hugh
Jackman, Ewan McGregor
and Michelle Williams can’t
elevate a dull script andpredictable plot. (2008)
SUNDAY AUGUST 4
To t a l R e c a l l (Three, 8.35pm).
Director Len Wiseman strips
both the bombast and pointed
satire from Paul Verhoeven’s
1990 sci-fi classic. Colin Farrell
replaces Arnold Schwarzeneg-
ger as a grunt worker plagued
by visions of a spy’s double
life. A memory-replacement
procedure goes wrong and he’s
left questioning everything he
knows. Verhoeven relied on
this existential crisis for dra-
matic tension, but Wiseman
ignores it completely, jumping
repeatedly between formulaic
action and tiresome exposi-
tion. (2012)MONDAY AUGUST 5
Terminator Salvation (Prime,
8.30pm). Christian Bale forced
a rewrite of US director McG’s
reboot of the Terminator fran-
chise when he agreed to play
John Connor, but it
still didn’t work in
his favour. Even
though the role
was beefed up,
newcomer Sam
Worthington
(who went on to
star in a little thing
called Avatar) steals the
show as Marcus Wright, the
freedom fighter with a secret.
Also good is Anton Yelchin
as a young Kyle Reese, and
the RB-FATE (the Really Big
Fight at the End) has a special
naked appearance from the
original Terminator, Arnold
Schwarzenegger. Overall,
however, the movie is too long
and a bit garbled to be really
memorable. (2009)TUESDAY AUGUST 6
Street Fighter (TVNZ Duke,
8.30pm). You may come for
the video-game fight scenes,
but you’ll stay for the hammy
acting. The hilariously terrible
film had a legendarily dif-
ficult production, includingtrying to give lead Raúl Juliá
time to put on weight after
cancer surgery by filming all
his long shots first. Steven E
de Souza had co-written 48
Hrs. and Die Hard, but never
directed before. Regardless,
Japanese video-game company
Capcom gave him $35 million
to capitalise on its success-
ful fighting video game. The
laughably wooden Jean-Claude
Van Damme at least commits
to the martial arts, but Juliá
makes the film, taking the role
of the Nazi-style villain Bison
into the realms of high camp.
(1994)WEDNESDAY AUGUST 7
She Shears (Rialto, Sky 039,
8.30pm). Only in New Zealand,
perhaps. First-time docu-
mentary director Jack Nicol
follows five women competing
at our premiere wool-based
sporting event, the Masterton
Golden Shears. They include
Jills Angus Burney, a High
Court barrister who can’t resist
coming back for another go,
and Pagan Karauria, who is
recovering from a car accident
in which two of her mates
died. They all find it difficult
to express their motivation.
“I just love sheep,” says one.
(2018)FRIDAY AUGUST 9
The Adjustment Bureau (Māori
TV, 8.30pm). A fast-paced,
mind-bending love story about
an aspiring politician (Matt
Damon) and a ballerina (Emily
Blunt) whose relationship is
thwarted by the men from
the timeline-correcting
Adjustment Bureau. Gets a
bit Inception-y, but you don’t
really need to get the “hows”
and “whys” of the plot (based
on a Philip K Dick story),
just enjoy the rare chemistry
between the leads. (2011)Films are rated out of 5:
(abysmal) to (amazing).Focus, Saturday.The Adjustment
Bureau, Friday.Bes
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