70 LISTENER SEPTEMBER 14 2019
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
iconic death soliloquies in
film history, some of it his
own invention, and Harrison
Ford’s Rick Deckard is vulner-
able and heart-wrenchingly
human; ironic, considering
what director Ridley Scott has
subsequently revealed. The
film is set in 2019, so we’ve
run out of time to build repli-
cants, although we’re well on
the way to ruining the planet.
(1982)SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 15
Masterminds (TVNZ 2, 8.00pm).
Jared Hess’ status as the king
of eccentric cinema finally
dies – after Gentlemen Broncos
and Don Verdean, the Napoleon
Dynamite director shouldn’t
have been let near the story of
the so-called “Hillbilly Heist”
in Charlotte, North Carolina,
in 1997. The movie is just an
excuse for Zach Galifianakis,
Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig
and Owen Wilson to put onterrible southern
accents and
wear horrific 90s
clothes, although
to be fair, Galifiana-
kis is a gifted physical
comedian. (2016)Suffragette (Māori TV, 8.30pm).
Writer Abi Morgan doesn’t
focus on the leaders of the
suffragette movement in
Britain in 1912, although
Meryl Streep makes a memo-
rable appearance as Emmeline
Pankhurst. She focuses on
laundress Maud Watts (Carey
Mulligan), who is beaten,
imprisoned, force-fed and
chucked out of her home.
There isn’t even a crown-
ing celebratory moment
when women get the vote;
Morgan and director Sarah
Gavron, who previously
worked together on Brick Lane,
purposely chose a protest
period that culminated inthe shocking death of Emily
Davison (Natalie Press) at the
Epsom Derby. It would be
another 16 years before British
women gained universal suf-
frage in 1928, which was, we
can smugly note, 35 years after
New Zealand women were
enjoying that right. (2015)Blade Runner 2049 (TVNZ 2,
9.50pm). Oh, the planet is
really ruined now, and rep-
licants are still slaving away
building better worlds for real
humans. After the travesties
that were Prometheus and
Alien: Covenant, we can be
thankful that Ridley Scott did
not direct this long-awaited
sequel; since Arrival, Denis Vil-
leneuve has become the go-to
guy for thoughtful sci-fi and
he delivers an atmospheric,
visually stunning movie
(cinematography by the great
Roger Deakins) that pays
homage to the origi-
nal. Ryan Gosling
is the blade runner
who is hunting
down old model
replicants until
his world is rocked
by the discovery of
something impossible.
Jared Leto is a little over-
the-top as replicant creator
Niander Wallace and his
assistant, Luv (Dutch actress
Sylvia Hoeks), is quite the
Terminator, but really, apart
from its length, the movie is
near-perfect. (2017)MONDAY SEPTEMBER 16
Jim: The James Foley Story
(Māori TV, 8.30pm). A tribute
to American journalist Jim
Foley, who was killed by Isis
in 2014, by his childhood
friend Brian Oakes. Terribly
sad, not only for the manner
of Foley’s death, but because
of the agony of his family and
the testimony of hostages who
were kidnapped in Syria with
Foley and made it out alive.The footage of the carnage in
Syria brings home the horror
of the conflict and reminds us
why war journalists are impor-
tant. (2016)TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 17
Fair Game (TVNZ Duke, 8.30pm).
The Bourne Identity director
Doug Liman uses the marriage
of Valerie Plame and Joseph
Wilson as a way into the
story that became known as
“Plamegate”, which, you may
recall, was when Plame was
outed as a CIA operative by the
George W Bush administration
because her diplomat husband
disputed the President’s asser-
tion that Iraq was trying to
procure uranium from Niger.
Poor form, you might say,
although these days the moral
compass is swinging so wildly
in Washington it would hardly
register. The movie works
because of the mix of domestic
and national drama and the
terrific skill of Naomi Watts
and Sean Penn as Plame and
Wilson – she is circumspect,
measured; he is outspoken, a
bit of a blowhard, but a cham-
pion nonetheless. “Terrifically
entertaining,” said the New
York Times. (2010)FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 20
Warrior (Māori TV, 8.30pm).
Rocky meets MMA: an intense
family drama featuring Tom
Hardy and Joel Edgerton, rising
stars at the time, as brothers
who train for a big-money
MMA tournament. Nick Nolte
plays the deadbeat dad and
director Gavin O’Connor packs
in a lot of backstory to make
the brothers’ inevitable face-off
in the ring emotional as well as
physical. Hardy in particular is
pumped: he packed on 13kg of
muscle for the role, which was
useful for his next turn as Bane
in The Dark Knight Rises. (2011)Films are rated out of 5:
(abysmal) to (amazing).Masterminds, Sunday.Bladerunner 2049,
Sunday.
Best
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