New Zealand Listener - November 5, 2016

70 LISTENER NOVEMBER 5 2016

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 5

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of

Azkaban (TVNZ 2, 7.00pm) Back

in 2004, Daniel Radcliffe was

young and innocent. What

happened? Nowadays, he’s

naked, riding Equus bareback

under a midnight moon. In

Swiss Army Man, he plays a

flatulent corpse. That’s one

way to lift the curse of early

success. In The Prisoner of

Azkaban, Radcliffe as Harry

returns to Hogwarts, where

Remus Lupin (David Thewlis),

Sirius Black (Gary Oldman)

and soul-sucking dementors

make appearances. The third

instalment’s adolescent charm

ensures its permanency as a

fan favourite, even if Radcliffe

has grown up and moved

on. (2004)

Watchmen (Sky Movies

Greats, Sky 033,

8.30pm) This film

comes as close

as any other to

capturing the

texture of a

graphic novel,

while push-

ing the filmic

experience

to its gripping

limits. It stars

Malin Åkerman,

Billy Crudup, Mat-

thew Goode and

more as a team of

flawed and mostly

non-superpow-

ered heroes in

a global con-

spiracy to realign

the world powers.

(2009)

The Campaign (TVNZ 2, 9.35pm)

Seeing Kiwis’ enthusiasm

for the US presidential

election, the networks

have decided to

swamp our televisions

with political films. The

Campaign follows career

politician Cam Brady (Will

Ferrell) as he takes on

moronic newbie

Marty Huggins (Zach

Galifianakis) in a

congressional elec-

tion. Sound familiar?

Once again fiction

preempts reality as

both candidates’ cam-

paigns descend into

an ongoing litany of

dirty tricks. The

plot then quickly

diverges from real-

ity after an outburst

of honesty occurs.

Veteran critic Roger

Ebert called it “Mr. Smith Goes

to Washington if it had been

written by the Onion staff”.

(2012)

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 6

Nothing But the Truth (Choice

TV, 8.30pm) It’s clear that

director Rod Lurie (Straw Dogs,

The Last Castle) has drawn

inspiration from the case

of New York Times reporter

Judith Miller. She was held in

contempt of court and jailed

for 85 days after refusing to

reveal confidential sources

about a CIA leak. Miller is also

infamous for her reports about

the existence of weapons of

mass destruction in Iraq. So it

was inevitable that anything

based on her experience would

be wrapped up in this history.

A Guide to the Week’s Viewing

TV Films

Harry Potter and the

Prisoner of Azkaban,

Saturday.

by RYAN HOLDER

Watchmen, Saturday.

Best

mullet

LETHAL

WEAPON 3

Prime, Thursday,

8.35pm