At The Movies

On At the Movies, Dan Slevin reviews three films in which change can be welcome or unwelcome but inevitable all the same. In Head South, a Christchurch teenager discovers New Wave music and a way forward to the rest of his life. Here is a simultaneously experimental and sentimental film about the multiple generations of people who pass through a simple suburban Pennsylvania living room. And in A Different Man, a New York actor with a facial disfigurement is offered a miracle cure – but will it make him happy?

Sebastian Stan stars as a struggling New York actor with a face deformed by rapidly growing tumours caused by neurofibromatosis. He is offered a miracle ‘cure’ but will the transformation make him happy? The film also stars Adam Pearson, an actor who has the same condition. Dan Slevin reviews.

An experimental and sentimental drama shot from a single point-of-view in a single location but presenting people and events over many decades. The stars, screenwriter and director of Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Eric Roth and Robert Zemeckis) are reunited (and Dan Slevin reviews it).

Dan Slevin reviews Jonathan Ogilvie’s autobiographical portrait of the Christchurch New Wave music scene in 1979. Ed Oxenbould plays schoolboy Angus, discovering the underground music scene and a community of his own.

The Critic features Sir Ian McKellen as a much-feared theatre critic who’ll do anything to keep his job, no matter who gets hurt. Also starring Gemma Arterton (Byzantium), Mark Strong (Kingsman) and Lesley Manville (Mrs Harris Goes To Paris).

Lee is the story of one of the great World War Two photographers, Lee Miller, and why she slipped into obscurity when the war was over. Starring – and produced by – Kate Winslet, with Marion Cotillard, Andy Samberg and Alexander Skarsgård.

Woman Of The Hour is a true-crime thriller about an actress who goes on a TV dating show, only to discover that one of the contestants for a date with her is a serial killer. Starring and directed by Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect). Currently showing on Netflix.

Simon Morris has a bad day at the office – three films, almost all “not in the English language”. Always a challenge for a radio show! They include festival favourites, Iranian film My Favourite Cake, a French drama called Last summer and a breezy comedy about Northern Ireland hiphop group Kneecap, who only use the Irish language.

My Favourite Cake is a bittersweet romance about two lonely 70-year-olds who hook up over cake and wine in modern day Iran. But how will the notorious Morality Police feel about it? It did well at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, despite being essentially cancelled by the Iranian authorities. What’s that line about success being the best revenge?

Last summer is the story of forbidden love between a confident teenager and his stepmother. But writer-director Catherine Breillat (2009’s Bluebeard) offers more than one twist in the tale before it finishes. Starring Léa Drucker (Close).

Kneecap tells the story of the hiphop group of the same name, starring themselves, with assistance from the likes of Michael Fassbender (Hunger) and Simone Kirby (Peaky Blinders). Kneecap’s point of difference is they rap entirely in Irish. Ireland’s submission to the next Academy Awards.

Fergus Grady, Director of the British & Irish Film Festival, previews this year’s programme. Among the highlights are Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, We Live In Time, with Florence Pugh, a tribute to the Merchant Ivory team and a documentary on the “lost Rolling Stone”, Brian Jones.

A Mistake is a New Zealand film about a medical misadventure and its consequences. Directed and written by Christine Jeffs (Sunshine Cleaning), based on the best-selling novel by Carl Shuker. It stars Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect), with Rena Owen (Once Were Warriors) and Matthew Sunderland (Out Of The Blue).