Favourite Movie Friday with James Rolleston

Continuing on with theme, here are the fave picks from one of my favourite people in the world – 13-year-old James Rolleston and star of Boy. Unfortunately the Kiwi flick got pipped at the post for the Best Children’s Film last night, but here are his choices all the same:

“My favourite types of movies are comedy and army movies, you know, with the guns and stuff. Yeah. And I Love You, Man was pretty crack up.”

For mY exclusive interview with Boy writer/director Taika Waititi click here, for my exclusive with Waititi about his involvement in Green Lantern click here, for my Boy review here and Waititi’s fave movie choices here.

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Wonderous Wednesday edition of Favourite Movies

That’s right, although Friday Favourite Movies might be catchier I’m going to save Teresa Palmer’s choices for the end of the week and bring you a director’s double up now. By that I mean the favourite movies of Oscar nominee and Boy director Taika Waititi and the man with the number one movie in the country at the moment, Stuart Beattie. For those of you playing at home, said movie is Tomorrow, When The War Began, which looks likely to make its budget back within the first month of Australian and New Zealand release.

Anywho, I spoke to both of the lads recently and here is what they had to say about their fave movies:

Taika Waititi -"My favourite period is 70s cinema. I love Korean cinema and a little bit of Japanese. I'm not really into my French films, perhaps a little of the British films but not really. But I'm mainly into Korean at the moment. I’m sure it's just the kind of filmmakers you would expect me to be into based on how my films are made. People say `oh, you must love Wes Anderson' and I do, but his films are way more stylish than mine. I like anything that's original. The only thing that I've seen recently that I really liked was The Hurt Locker."


Stuart Beattie -
"Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, Jaws, Jerry Maguire, Scent of a Woman, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, anything James Cameron, even the documentaries, Tootsie, The Fugitive, Die Hard, Ghost Busters, Back to the Future, Beauty and the Beast."

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Green with envy

From his breakout hit Boy to starring in next year’s blockbuster Green Lantern (above), New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi is a shining light in Hollywood. The 35-year-old Maori writer, director, producer and artist first burst onto the scene in 2004 with his Oscar-nominated short film Two Cars, One Night and followed that success in 2007 with his debut feature Eagle Vs Shark. It starred his close friend Jermaine Clement of Flight Of The Conchords fame and Waititi also came on board to write and direct several episodes of the hit show. But it is his latest film Boy that is truly putting him on the world stage.

Whilst in competition at the prestigious Sundance film festival earlier this year, executives from Warner Brothers Studio saw Waititi performing in Boy and quickly approached him about a role in Green Lantern. Despite coming from an acting background in live theatre and perfoming in a comedy troupe with Jermaine, Waititi said it was strange to give up the creative reigns and return to performing.
“They saw Boy and were looking for someone to play this character, so I read for it and then suddenly I was an actor again,” he said.
“It was weird because it wasn’t part of the plan for me. I just wanted to do my thing and keep making films and be a director.
“It was very, very weird and I found it kind of strange to go from someone whose been in control for ages to sitting around on set waiting for your scene.
“Your part of it, but your also not part of it.
“It was fucking weird to be honest, but I loved it and watching how everything is done.”Green Lantern is the $150m mega blockbuster based on the DC Comics series of the same name and stars Ryan Reynolds in the title role (above). Waititi said he plays the role of Green Lantern’s faithful sidekick Thomas Kalmaku in the film.
“I can’t even pronounce his name properly because he’s supposed to be of Native American heritage,” he said.
“He doesn’t have any powers or do any of the action scenes.
“It’s basically that….the guy is like a tech geek. That old chestnut.
“It’s not a giant role or anything and you never know if you’re still going to be in it at the end of the movie.
“While I was shooting I was thinking, as a filmmaker, you don’t really need this scene. But I wasn’t going to tell them that.”

Tipped as being the biggest blockbuster of 2011, there has been a lot of hype surrounding the special effects used on Green Lantern. Reynolds suit, for instance, is being created using CGI technology and will constantly evolve throughout the film. Although Waititi said he didn’t get to see what the suit looked like during filming, what he did see of the production was `amazing’.
“I haven’t seen any of the suit stuff because they hadn’t even decided what the suit was going to look like when we were shooting,” he said.
“They’ve had almost a year since filming to develop that now, but the art I saw was amazing.
“It’s going to look incredible.
“That was very exciting for me because although I saw some of the green screen stuff, there’s no way to imagine what it’s going to look like.
“I just gave up and said my lines.
“I imagined it would look awesome down the track but at that moment it was just a bunch of weird people in normal clothes standing around with cameras.
“I wasn’t even in those scenes, I just went to watch their spotted-suit acting.”
Being involved in one of the most highly anticipated comic-book movies was a dream come true for Waititi (above), who said he used to `collect comics’ when he was younger.
“I was not really into the Green Lantern mythology, but I was more of a Batman guy,” he said.
“Batman was just a guy with determination who was badass and good at beating people up and fighting.
“He had the dark past and that appealed to me.
“I was a little bit into X-Men, but it got quite complicated with all the characters.”

But don’t get too excited, because Waititi said he is not likely return to the superhero genre anytime soon.
“It’s not really my style,” he said.
“I’m better suited to these character pieces and its sort of my background.
“There’s less stress and less stuff that’s over my head.”Boy is in cinemas tomorrow. Green Lantern is out June, 2011.

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About A Boy

From growing up in a remote indigenous community to walking the red carpet at the Oscars, New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi’s story really is a fairytale. In its home country of New Zealand Boy has beat out blockbusters like Alice In Wonderland and King Kong to become the seventh highest grossing film ever. This is thanks to the talent of the film’s writer, director and star Taika Waititi (above).

The 35-year-old Maori filmmaker grew up in the very same community depicted in the film and a large portion of it was shot in his childhood home. After university, Waititi met Bret McKenzie and Jermaine Clement and the trio worked together on several theatre and comedy projects. Then things blew up, metaphorically of course.

Coming from a background in visual arts, Waititi decided to try his hand at movies and entered a competition with his short film Two Cars, One Night. Within the blink of an eye the film was playing at the top international film festivals and had been nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Film, Live Action. Soon his friends Bret and Jermaine were international stars with their show Flight Of The Conchords, which Waititi also came on board to write and direct several episodes. Jermaine also starred in Waititi’s debut feature film Eagle Vs Shark in 2007.

But it is his latest film Boy that could see Waititi at the Oscars once more. Set in 1984, it follows the story of Boy (James Rolleston) who’s left to look after his younger brother Rocky (Te Aho Eketone-Whitu ) (below) and cousins when his grandmother leaves town to attend a funeral. Boy was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and won a Best Feature Film award at the Berlin International Film Festival. Variety has already labelled Boy as this year’s Precious, despite the absence of obese black women eating chicken and Mariah Carey.
But for Waititi, all the overseas hype is a bit `weird’.
“I like L.A. and I liked hanging out there, but I didn’t enjoy the Oscars too much,” he says.
“I don’t like things that are really stressful, I like to relax.
“If it was just a big cocktail party and they just happened to be handing out Oscars willy-nilly then I might be into that.”

Waititi says he likes that the film `has an underdog quality to it, especially on the world stage’
“I like the idea that you can make something entertaining with a message,” he says.
“The kind of stuff that we’re portraying here is always in my mind and there seems to be two depictions of Maori - Once Were Warriors, where we’re just smashing each other all the time - or there’s Whale Rider - which is beautiful but gives the impression that all we do all day is live in this very spiritual world.
“I got a review overseas, I call it a bad review, from an American who didn’t like the film because there wasn’t enough spiritual stuff in it for him.
“Basically what he was saying was that there wasn’t enough whale riding.
“For Maoris, to be able to laugh at ourselves is a very important thing and it’s the darker situations when the bright stuff happens.
“More than anything I just wanted to reflect families in general.
“At the end of the day with the dance at the end it’s a movie that tells a story and I’m not shirking my responsibility…if my message is anything it’s be a good parent.”

The dance he is talking about is the combination of Michael Jackson’s Thriller and the traditional Maori Haka, which the cast perform at the end credits. One of Boy’s favourite people in the film is Michael Jackson, and fans of the King Of Pop are sure to be overwhelmed with the amount of MJ references.
“I’ve been a fan of his since I was a kid,” says Waititi.
“I liked watching his videos and watching Thriller for the first time in that family house where we shot the film.
“He epitomises the 80s for me, especially for kids.
“He was this guy who wasn’t white and he led this amazing life where he was rich and spent his money on stuff that kids would spend it on.
“He had fucking zoo animals, rode around on a mini-train and bought ice cream, like, why not?
“We had this idea growing up that if we had money we would spend it on ridiculous lavish stuff too.”

Waititi also stars in the film as Boy and Rocky’s absentee father, Alamein, who is essentially a child himself. Erratic and immature, Waititi says he is a `mixture of people’ he knew. He says the biggest compliment of his performance is the fact he was nominated for best supporting actor at the 2010 New Zealand Film and TV award alongside his 10-year-old co-star Te Aho Eketone-Whitu.

In the mean time, Waititi says he plans on taking a long break before his next project but audiences can be sure he will continue to deliver his unique brand of comedy.
“I tend to like anything that feels a little new and blurs the lines a bit,” he says.
“Flight Of The Conchords is a straight comedy, but this is more subtle and can have darker elements to it.
“It’s not hammering someone over the head with jokes…we don’t need laugh track to tell someone it’s funny.
“It’s treating the audience with more respect; if they don’t get something they will, they don’t have to over-think everything.”

Boy is out in cinemas on Thursday. Keep your eyes peeled for my exlusive interview with Waititi about his role in GREEN LANTERN! Yeah boi! Also, for shits and giggles watch the Haka/Thriller dance below and my online video review of Boy here. For my full written view click here.

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Boy oh Boy

Boy is the little film that could. In its home country of New Zealand it beat blockbusters like Alice In Wonderland, King Kong and The Lord Of The Rings trilogy to become the highest grossing film ever. It is easy to see why. Boy is a touching, hilarious, imaginative and often-tragic tale that follows 11-year-old Boy (James Rollestone) who lives in a Maori community and is left to look after his younger brother Rocky (Te Aho Aho Eketone-Whitu) and cousins when his grandmother leaves town for a funeral. Set in 1984, Boy’s favourite people are Michael Jackson, who has just released Thriller, and his absentee father who he imagines to be everything from a war hero to top rugby player. However, his illusions are shattered when his dad, Alamein (writer/director Taika Waititi), returns from prison and into their lives to searches for a stash of money he hid at their farm (above).

The first thing that jumps out at you about Boy is its heart; it is displayed proudly on its sleeve for all the audience to see. This is largely thanks to the original and honest script by Waititi, whose past credits include Eagle Vs Shark and Flight Of The Concords. It is story that not only New Zealanders can relate to, but Australians too, with words like honky, egg and choice sure to get a knowing chuckle from both nationalities. However, for the international audience who wouldn’t perhaps get all of the cultural in-jokes, this is a tale about the ability of a child’s spirit and imagination to overcome adversity. Much like the characters in aboriginal film Samson and Delilah, the children live in a remote indigenous community surrounded by poverty, abuse, neglect, drugs and crime. But unlike its Australian counterpart, which confronted these issues with darkness, a touch of redemption and then more darkness, Boy manages to be highly enjoyable without shoving a social message down your throat.

Plucked from communities identical to those in the film, the cast of young actors are amazing, Rollestone and Eketone-Whitu especially. Rocky isn’t a character with a lot of dialogue, but Eketone-Whitu is able to get across so much with his facial expressions and mannerisms that his character becomes one of the most interesting and comical (above). Rollestone too is exceptional, endearing audiences at first with his winning smile, childish naivety and innocence, and then with his maturity when he realises that between he and his father, he is not the child after all. As one of the few grown-ups in the movie, Waititi proves himself a triple threat with a performance that is flamboyant, complex and down-right hilarious as a man-child with more than a few issues. It would be hard to steal this film from the kids, but he gets close.

As a director he knows exactly what he wants from each shot and gets it. Shooting everything in a subtle and skilled fashion, Waititi also incorporates some animated sequences, which are a nice touch and prove to be quite insightful. He has come a long way from his Oscar-nominated short film Two Cars, One Night (on which this film is based), but carries on with his slightly autistic and sarcastic brand of humour that has seen Flight Of The Concords become a worldwide success. Although this is a lot more accessible than the work of Jermaine and Bret, people who remember the eighties are likely to revel in the volume of pop culture references mention everything from The Hulk to E.T.

Boy is charming film that will leave you laughing and sniffing in equal measure. Likely to be the sleeper hit of the year, it might just see its team trotting up the red carpet at the Oscars once more. Be sure to stay for the end credits, which feature the cast doing a hilarious combination of the Haka and Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Boy is out in cinemas on Thursday, August 26. Stay tuned for my exclusive, extensive and awesome-ive interview with the lovely Taika Waititi next week.

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