TV
Reviews - Harry
Reviewed by Michele Hewitson, NZ Herald.
Quite enough has been written (some of it by me) about Sam Neill's moustache in Harry (last night, TV3) but really it should have its own show. It possibly already does.
Sam Neill's moustache (actually it belongs to Jim "Stocks" Stockton, his old-school police detective character) is a very clever actor.
It is a generous moustache and Neill is a generous actor. He's so good, so cool, so nipped-in emotionally that he is, - paradoxically given that standing back from anything that looks like acting - capable of stealing the show from its lead, Oscar Kightley, who is Harry.
Neill is too clever and decent an actor to do such a thing, even if he's had the best lines so far. When Stocks is told by his boss that he wants results, he says: "Right. Then I'll just pull a rabbit out of my arse, shall I?"
Harry is set in 2002, so the moustache and the tone make sense.
Read the full review here.
Read the On the Box review here.
Read the NZ Herald, Paul Casserly, review here.
myFanbase interview - Antony Starr
Taken from myFanbase, by Nicole Oebel.
1. Lucas Hood on Banshee is your first TV role in the US. What was it about the character that got you hooked?
From the moment I read the pilot script and saw the names involved it was a no brainer. The script was interesting, fun and original and immediately distinguishable as something unique and with a massive potential.
2. In the first half of the season we had fun watching Lucas as this rad, cool, tough guy who would lunge into a fight and never give in no matter his opponent. But it was Ep. 1x06 that we viewers could finally unleash our love for the guy. The moment when you add the new layer of vulnerability to your portrayal. How important was that for you and the development of the character?
Interestingly I never saw it like that. While I agree episode six shows Lucas younger and less world weary/wary and streetwise, I would say Lucas is vulnerable right off the bat from the first episode. We see him struggle to come to terms with what is left of his life fresh out of prison (confronting Carrie in the backyard). In episode two he has intimacy with Deva towards the end of the episode. These are two examples but there are many more if you look. We wanted Lucas to feel human and not comic character. Obviously the show is heightened but there is an emotional reality that we wanted to reflect in the characters.
3. To dart for the exposed position of assuming someone else's identity to become sheriff is something of a bold move for an ex-con. Did that sort of set the tone for the whole show, to enjoy the ride and not take it too seriously.
Yes for sure. Once you accept that notion, that someone could pull that off, you accept the heightened reality of the show and what happens within the world is accessible and entertaining rather than excessive and or dangerous.
Read the full article here.
Kightley & Neill star as partners in crime
Taken from NZ Herald, by Scott Kara.
Lately, comedian Oscar Kightley has been far too busy being a serious actor to have a laugh with his boys. The boys, of course, are the other Naked Samoans with whom, over the past 15 years, he has had many laughs and wreaked comedy havoc.
But his lead role in new six-part crime drama, Harry, is no joking matter. He reckons he's never worked so hard in his life - physically and emotionally - as he has as Detective Harry Anglesea.
"I'm in every scene. I had two days off in nine weeks of filming. It kind of chewed me up, and I only started emerging once we finished shooting. I've hardly seen the boys," he says in his laid-back, almost lazy, lilt at a cafe overlooking Myers Park in inner city Auckland.
"But as David Duchovny's daughter says in Californication, 'Sometimes you grow up whether you're ready to or not', and doing Harry is a little bit like that," he says with a laugh.
Read the full article here.
NZ Herald Review - Go Girls
Reviewed by Rebecca Barry Hill, NZ Herald.
"Stink, don't think any of these girls will punch anyone out like cody, they may break their pretty nails. Same goe's for the males on the show too, lol" [sic]
So said a loyal Go Girls fan on the show's Facebook page, the equivalent of standing up for your mates by preparing to hate the new kids. One episode in, let's hope they've at least offered to sit with them at lunchtime.
In case you've been "totes" under a rock, Go Girls, (Tuesdays, 8.45pm, TV2) has a fresh core cast, the result of the previous stars moving on and their characters outgrowing the quarter-life crises the show was based around.
The new gang continues to perpetuate a few North Shore preconceptions in that they're all white, with the exception of Alice (J.J. Fong), the good-girl Chinese bride-to-be who'd decided she was going to break bad by the episode's end. Then there's Britta's hilariously tactless younger sister, Candy McMann (Shara Connolly), back from last season to overhaul her dodgy reputation.
Read the full review here.
Go Girls: Back with new cast, new vitality
Reviewed by Chris Philpott, On the Box.
Through four seasons Go Girls was a fun and entertaining hour of television each week. But it was clear by the end of Season 4 that it had gone about as far as it could with its current cast, both creatively and technically.
The stories involving the core characters had become a little repetitive and (dare I say it) stale, and key cast members like Jay Ryan and Anna Hutchinson had become increasingly unavailable.
So the producers for Go Girls did what anybody would do in the same situation: they pretty much rebooted their show and signed up a whole new cast.
(Warning: spoilers from last night's Go Girls premiere follow.)
Okay, "reboot" is probably the wrong word to use. The essence of Go Girls is still alive and well at the start of the fifth season: we're still firmly placed on the North Shore of Auckland, the writing is still sharp and distinctly Kiwi, the look of the show is still bright and cheerful, and the Electric Confectionaires theme song is as catchy as ever.
But there's no denying the obvious, that the new season does feel different. The new cast - George Mason, JJ Fong, Leon Wadham, Shara Connolly and Tai Berdinner-Blades - brings freshness and vitality that was sorely missing last season.
Read the full review here.
TV Review - The Forgotten General
Radio NZ review of The Forgotten General, 60 Years in the Wild, and Fry's Planet World by Phil Wallington.
Listen to the reviews here.
TV doco hails NZ war hero
Taken from NZ Herald, by Vaimoana Tapaleao.
A new documentary is set to shed light on one of the country's most distinguished yet little known Anzac heroes.
The Forgotten General, to screen on television on Sunday, pays tribute to Major General Sir Andrew Hamilton Russell.
Born in Napier, he went on to become one of the top-ranked divisional commanders in the British armies involved in World War I.
He was the commander of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles at Gallipoli and overall commander of the 20,000-strong New Zealand division on the Western Front. Sir Andrew is regarded as on of the war's greatest leaders from any nation and has been described as New Zealand's one true military genius of the 20th century.
Despite the accolades, little is known about his life and documentary film producer Karl Zohrab hopes people will be inspired by his story.
Read the full article here.
Go Girls' risky reboot with an all new cast
Taken from NZ Herald, by Lydia Jenkin.
Five mid-twentysomethings finding their way in the world, looking for love, muddling through relationships and careers, and enjoying their friendships... it's not an unfamiliar television idea, but when Go Girls began in 2009, it threw in a couple of fresh twists. It would be set on Auckland's North shore, and would tell the story of a young, diverse group of female friends, through the eyes of their male mate.
It was a likeable rom-com with occassional dramatic elements, and by the time season four wrapped last year, Kevin, Cody, Britta and Amy, along with Brad and Olivia, had become regular TV companions of many.
But when Go Girls returns at the end of the month, the producers have another twist for fans - those old friends are gone, and in their place will be five new characters: Ted, Candy, Bennie, Levi and Alice.
Read the full article here.
Shorty star follows dad's footsteps
Taken from Stuff.co.nz, by Tom Eley.
If you think one of the new faces on Shortland Street looks vaguely familiar, then you're right.
Soap newcomer Lucy Elliott is the daughter of Peter Elliott who played Shortland Street's clinic director Dr David Kearney for four years.
Lucy, 19, joins the soap as teenager Dayna Jenkins, who is attracted to another Shorty teen at a party.
"She is a bit of a crazy character," says Elliott. "She has a lot of issues that she has not come to terms with. She is very quick and a very fast thinker and something always has to be happening."
Elliott views her dad as a mentor. "It is very comforting because you have someone that can understand the business, and talk you through what is happening. He is really supportive and understands what is going to happen and how things happen."
Read the full article here.
Lucy Elliott on Good Morning
Lucy Elliott talks about her role as "Dayna Jenkins" on Shortland Street on Good Morning.
Watch the interview here.