At The Movies for Wednesday 29 September 2021

 

AT THE MOVIES #851                    HALF A CENTURY ON

 

Simon Morris looks back to 1972, when the first Wellington Film Festival opened with just seven titles!   And he reviews two rather less challenging films – a Liam Neeson suspenser, and belated parenting from a hippie mother.

 

The Ice Road sees Liam Neeson lead a group of truckers on a rescue mission across a frozen lake in northern Canada.   Also featuring Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) and Amber Midthunder (Roswell New Mexico).

 

In Ride the Eagle a Californian musician – Jake Johnson (New Girl) - is sent by his late mother on a voyage of self-discovery.  With Susan Sarandon (Thelma and Louise) and J K Simmons (Whiplash).

 

 

And the first director of the Wellington (later New Zealand) Film Festival, Lindsay Shelton talks about how the Festival changed our viewing habits, and also started the local movie industry when it championed films like Peter Jackson’s Bad Taste.