Reviews Archives - ShowNews

Move over Brokenwood, Blue Murder Motel is here

Mark It — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 22:40:57 +0000

This story was originally published on The Spinoff.

Small towns can be deadly, and nobody knows that better than the residents of Brokenwood. For 11 dramatic seasons, the endangered folk of the sleepy bucolic community have been drowned in vats…

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New doco by John Clarke’s daughter finally brings Fred Dagg home

Mark It — Sat, 20 Dec 2025 19:28:16 +0000

“This is my dad,” says Lorin Clarke, in the opening scene of her new documentary Not Only Fred Dagg But Also John Clarke – an intimate portrait of the man behind New Zealand’s most famous pair of gumboots.

Lorin Clarke…

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Pike River is a perfect film

Mark It — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 18:35:39 +0000

Every now and then, a film comes along that completely satisfies; speaks to your own sensibilities and is riveting from the first to the last frame. Pike River is that film for me.

I grew up under those mountains and I can…

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Warren’s Vortex: Wellington Paranormal’s writers have another hit on their hands

Mark It — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 21:18:16 +0000

“It’s times like this, you’ve got to ask yourself: What would Liam Neeson do?”

Warren Harrison (Maaka Pohatu) might be an “ordinary human from Lower Hutt”, but the Taken-obsessed father of 18-year-old Lucy (Louise Jiang) finds himself and his daughter in…

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Everyone needs to see The Weed Eaters

Mark It — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 19:53:21 +0000

This story was originally published on The Spinoff.

I really didn’t want to see The Weed Eaters. As a “minuscule-budget stoner horror”, it falls into none of my preferred genres of film. I’m terrified of horrors (can barely watch a…

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Stranger Things star’s ‘incredibly life-changing’ film experience in New Zealand

Mark It — Sun, 10 Aug 2025 19:36:05 +0000

Stranger Things star Dacre Montgomery spent many Christmas holidays in New Zealand, where his father is from, but his first trip to the South Island was during lockdown to film a modern horror ghost story in freezing conditions.

Went Up the…

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Film Review: THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME

Mark It — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 21:22:22 +0000

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Welcome back to the chaos and comedy of Homebound 3.0

Mark It — Fri, 16 May 2025 20:55:56 +0000

This story was originally published on The Spinoff.

In a week where good news has felt scarce on the ground, it was with unexpected joy that I found myself sitting on my couch and chuckling loudly over a fake pregnancy,…

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Review: Marlon Williams finds home in Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds

Mark It — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 19:15:00 +0000

This story was originally published on The Spinoff.

One of the many crack-up conversations in Marlon Williams: Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds happens when the musician visits his mum in Lake Kaniere. They are heading out on a…

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Film Review: QUEER

Mark It — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 06:22:52 +0000

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Film Review: TINA

Mark It — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 19:51:31 +0000

Reviewed by: Philip Moore

“Tina” — which means mother in Samoan — is a beautiful and deeply moving film about Mareta, a Samoan woman played with incredible warmth by Anapela Polataivao. Mareta is a teacher whose life is turned upside…

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‘Prime Minister’ Review: Documentary About New Zealand’s Galvanizing Former Leader Offers an Intimate Look at a Woman in Power

Mark It — Sat, 25 Jan 2025 03:22:32 +0000

The word kindness comes up over and over in Prime Minister as the key to Jacinda Ardern‘s political philosophy. That sounds gooey and naive, but this disarming and intimate documentary about her six years as New Zealand’s head of government…

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Movie Review: ANORA

Mark It — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 22:49:17 +0000

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Movie Review: CONCLAVE

Mark It — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 22:43:47 +0000

Reviewed by Philip Moore.

Conclave is a great mystery thriller surrounding the choosing of a new Pope. Ralph Fiennes plays Cardinal Lawrence who is tasked with doing the voting to the select the new pope. We are introduced to a…

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‘Never Look Away’ Review: Lucy Lawless Directs a Doc About a Singular War Photographer Who Lived Life on Her Own Terms

Mark It — Sat, 23 Nov 2024 19:49:22 +0000

Margaret Moth’s life could have been ripped straight from a pulp fiction novel. The New Zealand-born photojournalist spent her youth dropping acid and skydiving before traversing the globe to blaze trails for women in the world of war photography. Rising…

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