2020-02-29 New Zealand Listener

62 LISTENER FEBRUARY 29 2020

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT

Inherent Vice (TVNZ 2, 1.15am

Sun). We should be glad that it

was Los Angeles-born direc-

tor Paul Thomas Anderson

(The Master, Phantom Thread)

adapting Thomas Pynchon’s

2009 novel for the screen.

Although the plot is putatively

about sleuthing stoner Larry

“Doc” Sportello’s attempt to

investigate the disappearance

of his ex-girlfriend and her

billionaire boyfriend and the

emergence of a mysterious

organisation, both the book

and the film are admired for

capturing the atmosphere of

LA in the 1970s, when psyche-

delic culture became paranoid

thanks in part to the Manson

Family murders. It would be a

lie to say Inherent Vice is easy

to follow, but it’s one hell of a

trip. (2014)

SUNDAY MARCH 1

Chef (Choice TV, 8.30pm).

Writer-director Jon Favreau has

cooked up a film

that’s the very kind

of middling meal

it sets out to skewer.

Carl Casper (Favreau),

a head chef frustrated by

the restaurant owner’s insist-

ence on simple meals, learns a

hard lesson about blowing up

on social media, setting him

on a path to culinary redemp-

tion. It’s sugar-sweet, which is

not to say it’s not tasty. (2014)

MONDAY MARCH 2

Where to Invade Next (Māori TV,

8.30pm). An unusually breezy

and optimistic film by docu-

mentary demagogue Michael

Moore sees him travelling to

Finland, France, Germany and

other enlightened European

nations to “steal” their liberal

welfare ideas and bring them

back to the United States.

Although there are some

serious punches thrown at

his favourite targets, health

insurers (Sicko) and the

military-industrial complex

(Fahrenheit 11/9), on the whole

Moore’s tongue is planted

firmly in his cheek. (2016)

TUESDAY MARCH 3

Good Morning, Vietnam (TVNZ

Duke, 8.30pm). In a hit from

the archives of Robin Wil-

liams’ film career, he plays an

unconventional armed forces

radio host, loosely based on DJ

Adrian Cronauer, who wrote

the story on which the film is

based. Cronauer’s ranting and

raving broadcasts, which are

basically Williams’ stand-up

routines, are despised by the

military brass and loved by

the grunts on the ground.

Director Barry Levinson and

writer Mitch Markowitz could

easily have built a comedy on

this premise alone. Their

brilliant move here

was to force the

funny man to

be humbled

by the circum-

stances outside

his station and

to air an anti-war

message on the way.

(1987)

The People vs Larry Flynt (TVNZ

Duke, 10.45pm). A film on the

struggles and free-speech bat-

tles of Hustler magazine editor

Larry Flynt (Woody Harrelson).

Courtney Love stars as his

partner, Althea Leasure, and

Edward Norton is his lawyer,

Alan Isaacman. The film cul-

minates in an encounter with

odious evangelist Jerry Falwell,

whose son, in every way

his equal, unwittingly gave

Donald Trump the thumbs up

for appearing on the cover of

Playboy. Much more tasteful.

(1996)

THURSDAY MARCH 5

Anthropocene: The Human

Epoch (Rialto, Sky 039, 8.30pm).

If you scaled the history of the

universe down into one year,

with the Big Bang on January

1, the entire human era would

take place in the dying minutes

of New Year’s Eve. In that rela-

tively short time, we’ve done

an impressive number on the

planet. Anthropocene depicts

with an artist’s eye the damage

wrought – cameras soar over

staggering phosphate mines

in Florida and toxic green

lithium pools in Chile – yet it’s

informative enough to satisfy

the curious. It’s based on the

research of the Anthropocene

Working Group, which argues

that humans have ushered in

a distinct geological epoch.

After Manufactured Landscapes

and Watermark, the documen-

tary is the third collaboration

between Jennifer Baichwal,

Nicholas de Pencier and pho-

tographer Edward Burtynsky

• and the Anthropocene has
  only just begun. (2018)

FRIDAY MARCH 6

The Chronicles of Narnia: The

Lion, the Witch and the Ward-

robe (TVNZ 2, 7.30pm). When

filming began in New Zealand

of Andrew Adamson’s adapta-

tion of CS Lewis’ fantasy novel,

there was the slight difficulty

that the reindeer supposed

to pull the White Witch and

Father Christmas’ sleds were

stopped at the border by

the Ministry of Agriculture

and Forestry. Thankfully, it

didn’t stop the fun of what is

essentially a giant game of kids’

dress-up. (2005)

Jurassic Park (Three, 7.30pm).

Sam Neill, Laura Dern and

Jeff Goldblum have proved so

hard to beat that the makers of

Jurassic World 3 have brought

them back for the upcoming

instalment. Dr Ian Malcolm

was right: life finds a way.

(1993)

Films are rated out of 5:

(abysmal) to (amazing).

Inherent Vice,

Saturday.

The Lion, the Witch and

the Wardrobe, Friday.

Be

st

reality

check

ANTHR

OPOCE

NE:^

THE^ H

UMAN^

EPOCH

Rialto,^ T

hursday

,

8.^30 pm