The Kiwi comedy This Town which opens at the Regent Theatre in Pahiatua Friday, August 14, is the first New Zealand film to be released following the three-month lockdown. The film was originally set to be released in April but put on hold at the end of March. Described as a "comedy about love, murder and finding the one", the movie was filmed on locations in and around Waipukurau, the home-town of director David White who also plays a lead role in the movie. Robin Malcolm, who plays the part of a feisty Kiwi cop, said: "We are really proud that this will be the first local movie to be released since lockdown; it's a great opportunity for New Zealanders to support the NZ film industry and their local cinema". The film also features stage and screen veteran Rima Te Wiata and Toi Whakaari graduate Alice May Connolly. Rated M. 91 minutes.
Also opening this week at the Regent is the comedy-drama Military Wives. Inspired by true events, the film follows a group of women in England whose partners are away serving in the military in Afghanistan. Faced with the men's absence, they come together to form the very first military wives choir and find that singing together helps each one of them through some of life's most difficult moments. They also find themselves unexpectedly on national TV and at the centre of a media sensation and global Military Wives Choir movement. Directed by Academy Award winner Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty), the movie opens at the Regent this Thursday. Rated M. 112 minutes.
Opening later this month is the inspiring drama The King of Staten Island. The title character, Scott (played by Pete Davidson) has been a case of arrested development ever since his fireman father died in the 9/11 tragedy when Scott was 7. He's now reached his mid-20s and has achieved little. As his ambitious younger sister heads off to college, Scott is still living with his exhausted ER nurse mother and spends his days smoking weed, and hanging with the guys. But when his mother starts dating a loudmouth firefighter it sets off a chain of events that will force Scott to come to terms with his grief and take his first tentative steps toward moving forward in his life. The King of Staten Island opens in Pahiatua on August 28. Rated R16. 137 minutes.
Inspired by stories from New Zealand's boys' homes, Savage follows the character Danny across three different stages of his life. Each chapter of Danny's life is a complete short story: from the abusive state-run borstals of the 60s; to the emerging gang scene in the 70s, to the 80s when gangs became more structured, criminal, and violent. Together the three chapters combine to create a deeper look at a boy who grows up to become a gang leader, to understand how he got there. Exploring the notion of whānau in today's New Zealand, Savage opens at the Regent on September 3. Rated R16. 99 minutes.