100 Essential New Zealand Films

100 Essential New Zealand Films

By Hamish McDouall

Awa Press, 16 Walter Street, Wellington - Copyright October 2009
Gatefold Paperbound: - 180mm x 128mm - 276 pages - 150 illustrations
ISBN: 978-0-9582750-9-5; RRP - $28.95us, $40nz, 18.90#uk, $31.95ca, 20.99eur



This is a collection of 100 films - features, documentaries and shorts. As such, it is a subjective list of "essential" titles and since limited to 100, some of your favourites will be missing. Given that, it contains some very helpful summaries and reviews of films you should experience. The author states that he "make(s) no apologies for not including ... 'Footrot Flats', but does not explain why. If you meet him, will you ask him and let me know. That aside, perhaps this book is covering too much ground and would have been better off limiting its coverage to feature films, even if that included feature documentaries. Given the number of New Zealand short films, that group should have its own book. An excellent index has been included, but more viewing, rental and purchase sources are needed. With the shortage of reviews for many of these titles, the major contribution of Mr. McDouall's book is his commentaries on the films. They will assist in helping you learn about some New Zealand film gems and just might give you that push to see something you have yet to experience. Do yourself a favour and start by giving this a read.




Table of Contents

002 - Introduction
004 - An Angel At My Table
007 - Angel Mine
009 - Avondale Dogs
011 - Baby Farmer
013 - Bad Blood
016 - Beautiful...
018 - Beyond Reasonable Doubt
020 - Blue Willow
022 - Braindead
024 - Broken Barrier
026 - Came A Hot Friday
029 - The Coaster
031 - A Colour Box
033 - Crush
036 - A Death In The Family
038 - The Departure Of The Second Contingent For The Boer War
040 - Derek
042 - Desperate Remedies
044 - Drum/Sing
047 - The End Of The Golden Weather
049 - The Feathers Of Peace
052 - Flying Fox In A Freedom Tree
054 - Footage
056 - Forgotten Silver
059 - Fracture
061 - Free Radicals
063 - The Frog, The Dog And The Devil
065 - A Game With No Rules
067 - Gone Up North For A While
069 - Goodbye Pork Pie
072 - Haunting Douglas
075 - Heavenly Creatures
077 - I Want To Be Joan
079 - Illustrious Energy
081 - In My Father's Den
084 - In Spring One Plants Alone
086 - Infection
088 - Jack Be Nimble
090 - Kaikohe Demolition
093 - Kingpin
096 - Kitchen Sink
098 - The Little Things
100 - The Lord Of The Rings
103 - The Lounge Bar
105 - Lovelock
107 - Magik And Rose
109 - The Maori Merchant Of Venice
112 - Meet The Feebles
114 - Memory And Desire
116 - Middle Age Spread
118 - Mr Wrong
121 - The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey
124 - The Newest City On The Globe
126 - Ngati
129 - Once Were Warriors
132 - Out Of The Blue
134 - Patu!
137 - The Piano
140 - Punitive Damage
143 - The Quiet Earth
146 - Rain
149 - Rain Of The Children
152 - The Road Back
154 - Ruby And Rata
156 - Runaway
158 - The Sadness Of The Post-Intellectual Art Critic
160 - The Scarecrow
163 - Second-Hand Wedding
166 - The Singing Trophy
168 - Sione's Wedding
170 - Skin Deep
173 - Sleeping Dogs
176 - A Small Life
178 - Smash Palace
181 - Snakeskin
184 - Someone Else's Country
187 - Stickmen
190 - Still Life
192 - Strike Zone
194 - Sweetness
196 - Take 3
198 - Talkback
200 - Tama Tu
202 - The Te Kooti Trail
206 - This Is New Zealand
208 - Tongan Ninja
210 - Topless Women Talk About Their Lives
212 - The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls
214 - Turangawaewae/A Place To Stand
216 - Two Cars, One Night
218 - Utu
221 - A Very Nice Honeymoon
223 - Vigil
226 - The Waimate Conspiracy
228 - Walkshort
230 - War Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us
232 - Whale Rider
235 - Why Can't I Stop This Uncontrollable Dancing?
237 - Woodenhead
240 - The World's Fastest Indian
245 - How to watch these films
247 - Acknowledgements
248 - Illustrations
254 - Index



REVIEWS AND RETAIL LINKS

Abe Books - links to International booksellers

Mighty Ape NZ Online



OFF-LINE REVIEWS

* The October 2009 issue of Investigate Magazine
* The October 2009 issue of Metro Magazine
* The 8/10/09 issue of the Gisborne Herald
* The October 2009 issue of Kia Ora Magazine
* The October 18th 2009 issue of the Sunday Star Times had a two page article written by Hamish about the book in the entertainment/escape section.





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