2020-02-29 New Zealand Listener

FEBRUARY 29 2020 LISTENER 61

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 29

Nacho Libre (TVNZ 2, 7.00pm).

From the husband-and-wife

duo behind cult hit Napoleon

Dynamite comes another story

about a bizarre, lovable main

character. Jack Black plays a

monk at a Mexican orphanage

who secretly moonlights as a

lucha libre wrestler to make

money for the children. It’s

more forgettable than Napo-

leon Dynamite, but the sight of

Black in wrestling tights will

stay with you forever. (2006)

Red Joan (Rialto, Sky 039,

8.30pm). Loosely based on the

life of Melita Norwood, Red

Joan tells the story of a British

pensioner who is accused

of having supplied secret

information to the Soviets

when she worked for the

British Non-Ferrous Metals

Research Association. Nuclear

secrets, British scientists and

Soviet spies are not usually

ingredients for a dull film,

but that’s exactly what British

theatre director Trevor Nunn

has whipped up here. Some

of the blame lies with the

script, which minimises the

intrigue of dangerous ideas

in favour of flashbacks to

hazy, romance-filled days at

Cambridge University. (2018)

Chappie (TVNZ 2, 10.55pm).

Sci-fi director Neill Blomkamp

so far hasn’t managed to rec-

reate the brilliance of his 2009

debut District 9, but not for

lack of trying. His third robot-

centred dystopia tale is about

a childlike AI robot called

Chappie, who gets kidnapped

by a group of Jo’burg gang-

sters. There’s a coming-of-age

aspect to the story, which

is quite sweet and makes it

lighter in spirit than District

9 and Elysium, but which is

utterly at odds with the gory

violence that punctuates the

film. In an interview, Blom-

kamp described Chappie as

“completely mental”, and

having now witnessed South

African hip hop duo Die

Antwoord on screen, I agree.

(2015)

AL

AM

Y

A Guide to the Week’s Viewing

TV Films

Red Joan, Saturday.

by RYAN HOLDER