sione 's 2 : unfinished business is a 2012 new zealand comedy film and the sequel to the hugely successful 2006 film sione 's wedding .

it was produced by john barnett and paul davis , directed by simon bennett , co-produced by south pacific pictures and new zealand film commission with music by don mcglashan and written by oscar kightley and james griffin .

the film stars oscar kightley , shimpal lelisi , robbie magasiva , iaheto ah hi , dave fane , teuila blakely , madeleine sami , pua magasiva , mario gaoa , nathaniel lees , david van horn , ayse tezel , dimitri baveas , kirk torrance and te kohe tuhaka .

sione 's 2 : unfinished business was filmed at auckland , new zealand .

the film was theatrically released on january 19 , 2012 , by sony pictures and was released on dvd and blu-ray on june 13 , 2012 , by sony pictures home entertainment .

the film has received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $ 723,000 in new zealand .

sione ' s 2 : unfinished business

sione ' s 2 : unfinished business <EOT> sione ' s wedding star oscar kightley returns for the sequel sione ' s 2 : unfinished business .

madeleine sami and oscar kightley star together in sione ' s 2 : unfinished business .

sione’s 2 unfinished business has taken $ nz1 . 4m in new zealand to date .

sione ' s 2 : unfinished business - behind the scenes ( ft . official trailer )

all black jerome kaino and partner at the sione ' s 2 : unfinished business premiere .

shimpal lelisi , oscar kightley and robbie magasiva star in sione ' s 2 : unfinished business .

sione ' s 2 : unfinished business , the sequel to the kiwi comedy hit of 2006 .

southpacficpics . ( 2011 , october , 24 ) . sione’s 2 unfinished business official trailer . retrieved from urltoken

ayse tezel , who plays maria in sione ' s 2 : unfinished business , arrives at the premiere .

from the new zealand comedy team the naked samoans and south pacific pictures , sione’s 2 : unfinished business is the sequel to sione’s wedding .

oscar kightley , iaheto ah hi and shimpal lelisi star in the sequel to sione ' s wedding , sione ' s 2 : unfinished business .

oscar kightley , who plays albert in sione ' s 2 : unfinished business , strikes a pose at the premiere .

looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing sione ' s 2 : unfinished business near you .

the antics have been taken up a notch but not for the better in sione ' s 2 : unfinished business . photo / supplied

sione ' s 2 : unfinished business , the sequel to new zealand ' s blockbuster film sione ' s wedding is coming to a cinema near you - january 19 , 2012 .

not funny : sione ' s 2 : unfinished business misses the mark . from left , shimpal lelisi , oscar kightley and robbie magasvia .

sione ' s wedding 2 : unfinished business , written by james griffen and oscar kightley , will be showing in cinemas from january 19 .

sione ' s 2 : unfinished business is the film sequel to the new zealand box office smash hit sione ' s wedding - coming to a cinema near you on january 19 , 2012 .

robbie magasiva , who plays michael in sione ' s 2 : unfinished business , arrives with his family at the premiere at st lukes cinemas in auckland .

what : sione ' s 2 : unfinished business , the sequel to hit local film sione ' s wedding ( 2006 ) when : opens january 19 . sione ' s wedding is also screening on tv3 this sunday at 8 . 55pm

sione’s wedding ( 2005 ) was the first pacific island - themed film to do extremely well at the local box office . it was followed by the sequel sione’s 2 : unfinished business in 2012 .

movie sequels are a rare thing in new zealand , but the duckrockers of sione ' s 2 : unfinished business are back and making up for lost time .

they ' re back ! 5 years older but are they wiser ? from the producers of sione ' s wedding comes sione ' s 2 : unfinished business . in cinemas january 19 , 2012 . urltoken

back on screen : david fane , iaheto ah hi , robbie magasiva , oscar kightley and shimpal lelisi , the cast of sione ' s 2 : unfinished business .

the stars walked the red carpet in auckland last night for the world premiere of sione ' s 2 : unfinished business , the sequel to one of new zealand ' s biggest box office hits , sione ' s wedding .

it ' s one of the most quoted lines of the first instalment of sione ' s wedding and it ' s more of these lines that audiences can expect to be in stitches over when sione ' s 2 : unfinished business opens in cinemas this week .

sione ' s wedding 2 : unfinished business is written by james griffin and oscar kightley , who wrote sione’s wedding and will be directed by simon bennett , who has a number of awards for his tv direction , including outrageous fortune .

before establishing libertine pictures , paul was a freelance producer and executive producer , with credits including sione’s wedding , the tattooist , we’re here to help , my wedding and other secrets , sione’s 2 : unfinished business and the last ocean .

the linguistic feature addressed in sione’s wedding is when the duck - rockers refer to themselves as boys rather than men . whereas in sione’s 2 unfinished business one of the duck - rockers announces that paul is god and not google maps .

sione’s 2 : unfinished business ( pictured ) was the most successful domestic theatrical release earning it the number 10 spot on the all - time new zealand box office list of nzfc supported films .

returning to the familiar surrounds of grey lynn , as sione ' s 2 : unfinished business begins , they ' re brought back together by a tragedy , and their minister sends them on another quest .

it ' s not often a film succeeds in insulting its own cast . sione ' s 2 does just that .

magasiva , 38 is looking forward to sione ' s wedding 2 , which starts filming in april .

sure , it tries hard to move things on from the wedding - themed first movie but unfinished business lacks the spark and the smarts of sione ' s wedding . it ' s no honeymoon .

oscar kightley , shimpal lelisi , robbie magasiva and jerome leota filming sione ' s wedding 2 . photo / doug sherring

giveaway : the western leader has a double pass to see sione ' s 2 : unfinished business to give away . to enter , email your name and phone number to edwl @ urltoken with sione ' s 2 in the subject line . or send it to the editor , po box 21 - 167 , henderson , to arrive by 9am , january 24 .

from left , sione ' s 2 stars robbie magasiva , shimpal lelisi , oscar kightley , dave fane and laheto ah hi . photo / supplied

now the law has passed , production will begin on the rebooted first movie of the sione series , sione ' s gay wedding .

double trouble : a sequel to sione ' s wedding will start shooting soon .

, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that they’re talking about box office , rather than funny business .

essentially , sione ' s 2 becomes a quest movie , sending the boys off on a mission designed to show that they ' ve finally grown up .

sione ' s 2 won ' t and never could have attained quite that status , but seen on its own merits , it proves worth the wait .

teuila blakely began her tv career presenting c4’s live music show freestyle , before landing an extended role on shortland street . blakely has shown her versatility by appearing in comedy shows ( bro’town , radiradirah and funny girls ) , dramatic series ( this is not my life ) and films ( sione’s wedding and sione’s 2 : unfinished business ) . she also made a splash as a contestant on dancing with the stars . in this screentalk , blakely talks about :

both films were shot around inner - city auckland , with sione ' s 2 showcasing the auckland cbd ' s st kevins arcade , karangahape rd , ponsonby rd and the grey lynn area .

shooting will start soon on a sequel to hit kiwi comedy film sione ' s wedding .

the film stars james rolleston ( boy , the dark horse ) , lawrence makoare ( die another day , lord of the rings : return of the king ) , te kohe tuhaka ( sione ' s 2 : unfinished business ) , george henare ( once were warriors ) , xavier horan ( dean spanley ) and rena owen ( once were warriors ) .

the first film was a breath of fresh air for the new zealand comedy film scene and while sione’s 2 continues the positive momentum it doesn’t improve on the first film and should have been funnier given its hugely talented cast . ultimately , though , sione’s 2 is local , laugh - out - loud comedy at its best . definitely worth seeing .

art & business dude brian steele shows us a world of opportunity beyond traditional funding channels .

. . . & amp ; da oscar 4 best film goes 2 - siones 2 [ nek minute ! ] oooooh wat a dream i just had . . . . .

* are you keen to see a second sione ' s wedding film ? post your comments below .

i hope it ' s as good as sione ' s 1 - but the jokes in this trailer are a bit lame . . .

cinema - goers will face a mobile phone ban and the scrutiny of security guards at the premiere of sione ' s wedding 2 , the sequel to the hugely popular local release that was undermined by piracy problems .

also new are sione’s 2 : unfinished business , which should look sensational on blu - ray judging from its hd trailer on other releases ; the vow ( “a fantastic transfer , with an image that’s crystal clear but still retains a nice cinematic appearance ) ; blackthorn ( “ looks great on blu - ray if still displaying smidgeon of the waxiness of the hd camera used” ) ; and the direct - to - disc the aggression scale ( “ incredibly crisp and very well defined” ) .

choose 1 of 2 free * posters with ticket purchase ( * shipping & handling not included ) . buy tickets

the first single from the sione ' s 2 : unfinished business official soundtrack . single available now on itunes : urltoken producer & director : olivia laita ( getgood . co . nz ) shot by & dop : askew one ( askew1 . com ) edit & effects : haimona ngata ( haimonangata . com ) production assistant : brendan kitto ( route52 . co . nz ) lighting : askew one hairstylist : lina rose make - up : hiria faofua thanks to ria courtesy of m4u records .

a film set in auckland ' s pacific island community wouldn ' t be complete without a pumping soundtrack , and the sione ' s 2 : unfinished business soundtrack fits the bill , diving into our deep well of local urban and hip - hop music . featuring a swag of dawn raid and frequency media group artists such as savage , mareko , home brew , david dallas , pnc , p - money , vince harder and more , it cements the sense of place for audiences , and informs the film with a certain rhythm .

auckland mayor len brown and his daughter olivia on the red carpet at the premiere for the sequel to sione ' s wedding .

pua magasiva , who stars as sione , and his partner at the red carpet event .

" but auckland looks amazing on the screen , " magasiva points out . " because we ' re having such a rubbish summer , go and see sione ' s 2 to see what an auckland summer looks like , just to remind yourself . "

the sequel to the sione ' s wedding picks up five years after the original and sees the gang getting into more hilarious hijinks .

sione ' s wedding - new zealand ' s fifith highest - grossing film - was released in 2006 and starred oscar kightley , madeleine sami , david fane and robbie magasiva .

joint managing director paul davis has been involved in international film sales and marketing since 1984 . he is an experienced film marketer and producer , with credits including sione’s wedding , the tattooist , we’re here to help , my wedding and other secrets , sione’s 2 : unfinished business and the last ocean . creative director neil cross is an internationally - acclaimed screenwriter and novelist , whose work includes the multi - award - winning bbc crime thriller luther , starring idris elba , the international hit film mama , and the bbc spy drama spooks . neil is based in new zealand and writes for the screen in both britain and the united states . for more information visit : urltoken

the dead lands stars james rolleston , now aged 16 and last seen as the 11 - year - old star of the nz box office hit boy ( 2010 ) and lawrence makoare ( die another day , lord of the rings : return of the king ) . it also stars te kohe tuhaka ( sione’s 2 : unfinished business ) , xavier horan ( dean spanley ) , george henare ( once were warriors ) and rena owen ( once were warriors ) . former kiwis and auckland warriors rugby league star wairangi koopu makes his acting debut .

so an example of feminism for sione’s 2 unfinished business is the ladies who sefa think are drag queens may not be drag queens at all and might not want to be categorised as such . because of some samoan men just wanting to have sex with samoan ladies and not realising they have feelings to , because of what they see on television ladies as naked sex symbols who are only on earth to full - fill their every desires . their desires would include wanting them to have an experience of giving birth to 6 or 7 children maybe .

when samoan - born magasiva looks back on the year , he says his highlight was reprising his role as michael in the sequel to sione ' s wedding in sione ' s 2 : unfinished business . " catching up with the boys and filming sione ' s 2 , " was the funniest moment of the year , says magasiva . " they really are hilarious to hang out with and make every day working on the film nothing like work at all . " magasiva also took on one of the ' ' greatest roles in theatre ' ' when he starred in the jesse peach production of othello . no word whether either of the roles were responsible for magasiva ' s response to if he has been naughty or nice this year : " 50 / 50 " , he says . after what appears to be an action - packed year , magasiva is looking forward to hitting the beach this summer . " [ i plan to ] get out in to the surf . . . a lot , " he says . his favourite spot ? " it ' s not a secret anymore but shipwreck bay is my favourite surf spot . " it ' s a passion which has obviously translated over to his daughter who is also a keen surfer . when asked what ' s the best present he ' s ever given , he says : " my daughter says it was a surfboard i gave her , she loves it ! " . no word on whether the one secret fact he shared about himself is also hereditary though . " i can ' t cook to save myself . cleaning i ' m great at , cooking . . . not so much ! " * sione ' s 2 : unfinished business is released in cinemas january 19th .

men on a mission : despite the five years that elapsed since sione ' s wedding , the boys still haven ' t quite grown up .

despite a somewhat darker plot , it retains the resolutely cheerful , upbeat tone of sione the first .

sione ' s wedding , filmed in 2006 , was new zealand ' s fifth highest grossing movie , a fact magasiva believes is owed to the chemistry he and the naked samoans already had .

sione’s 2 is an entertaining film incorporative of a humour that is both slapstick and yet very familiar to kiwi audiences . international crowds will like the film due to the banter the boys use and with great shots of the auckland location , many will appreciate the simplicity of the story .

men on a mission : despite the five years that have elapsed since sione ' s wedding , the boys still haven ' t quite grown up .

" the film industry locally was burned quite badly with sione ' s wedding , which was obviously a huge hit here . so it ' s definitely a concern for the local industry too . "

sione ' s 2 unfinished business is the sequel to the 2006 film sione ' s wedding . i saw this film at its recent premiere in auckland and all i have to say is that this film tries to set itself up as something like ' the blues brothers ' with the whole ' we ' re on a mission from god ' schtick when its really the equivalent of ' dude where ' s my car ' with david fane playing the missing car . i think film makers were more concerned with trying to avoid leaking this film to the internet rather than writing a quality script . terrible film please avoid . new zealand films can do so much better than this trainwreck . its shame really with all of the excellent talent here being wasted like this . two out of ten .

didn’t quite make the economic or cultural impact expected . one school of thought blames piracy for the former , but the latter is more readily explained by the film doing merely an average job at charting overly familiar comedic territory ( albeit with a polynesian auckland twist ) . so what’s this ‘unfinished business’ referred to in the title of its sequel then ? upon seeing

the cast of hit movie sione ' s wedding have given their families and friends in samoa an excellent start to the year with a red carpet premiere of their new sequel sione ' s 2 : unfinished business . it has been five years since they were last in apia and the duckrockers were welcomed back with open arms . a little bit of rain on the siones’ parade did nothing to dampen the spirits as the cast arrived on the wet tarmac to a warm samoan welcome , samoa is home to many of them and essentially the spiritual home of the sione ' s story itself and bringing their new film back country was a humbling experience . “it was quite overwhelming getting off the plane to the welcome , seeing the dancers and the chief , ” says robbie magasiva . after the huge success of sione ' s wedding , the boys return to the big screen with a very different story and a different kind of quest . “it’s not just a film about a group of polynesian boys being silly . we’re trying to tell stories about what it’s like living in new zealand and we hope those stories resonate with everybody in new zealand , ” says oscar kightley .

campbell walker said of his films : ‘most people … make movies about the kind of events that change people ' s lives . my films are about events that can spoil your week . ’ 2

in particular , they ' re duty - bound to seek out their missing friend paul ( dave fane ) , who seemingly blames himself for sione ' s death .

it ' s been five years since those duckrockers were told to grow up and find girlfriends to bring to sione ' s wedding . and when we left them , it seemed they ' d made a promising start .

of course , they haven ' t quite . one of the appeals of sione ' s 2 is that the entire core cast have returned , and we know their characters so well : nerdy albert ( kightley ) , pants - man michael ( robbie magasiva ) , drunk sefa ( shimpal lelisi ) , impressionable stanley ( iaheto ah hi ) and dave fane ' s otherworldly bolo .

it ' s been six years since the cheeky stars of hit kiwi film sione ' s wedding had us in stitches , and next week they return in a sequel . lydia jenkin asks what brought them back for another chapter ?

after i paid for my ticket to today ' s film , sione ' s 2 , it struck me that i was about to see a rare commodity in nz cinema , a sequel . i , like many others , thoroughly enjoyed sione ' s wedding . though not perfect , the comedy was fresh , and whilst the culture was primarily samoan , it felt quintessentially kiwi . with the knowledge that the new instalment was in the can , i , along with three hundred thousand other kiwis re - watched the first film when it recently screened on new zealand television .

toa fraser ( giselle , dean spanley , no . 2 ) directs from a script by glenn standring ( perfect creature , the irrefutable truth about demons ) .

a personal experience for me is being at my first ever wedding this year for sione’s wedding and for sione’s 2 unfinished business it was an experience where my mother was worried about me as i had not turned up at the place she wanted me to after school one day as i was 11 years old . so what she did was phone the staff at my intermediate school to see if they could find me but they could not . as i thought i had missed my bus to halsey drive primary school i took a car ride with a friends mum who eventually phoned my mother to tell her i was fine to send me home so she could have grounded me for it but she did not and i have not done that since . i have not done it since as i see now it would be a stupid idea as i have grown up a lot since then .

the other challenge of a five - year gap is the anticipation involved . sione ' s wedding , fresh , genuinely funny and innovative , was something special in new zealand cinema .

based in auckland and wellington , libertine pictures was formed last year by internationally experienced film makers , with backing from the new zealand film commission’s new business development scheme , to produce feature film and television for audiences here and internationally .

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backed with music from kiwi legends dawn raid and don mcglashan , simon bennett directs a pleasant film that is comparatively effective like its predecessor sione’s wedding . i give it 3 out 5 .

when it hit cinemas in 2006 , sione ' s wedding had the biggest opening weekend of any nz film and went on to become the third highest - grossing kiwi film of all time .

south pacific pictures head of publicity tamar munch said this was routine for a premiere and the strict rules were not a reaction to the piracy problems experienced when sione ' s wedding was released .

the boys ' mission may well be a chance for them to grow up but when everything is finally resolved it ' s fairly clear they have just donned the illusion of respectability and responsibility . deep down they are waiting for sione ' s 3 .

and then there ' s stan , played by iaheto ah hi , who ' s on the hunt for love and purpose so he ' s turned to god for guidance .

sione ' s 2 unfinished business is a hilarious installment to classic nz comedies , with its famous nz actors and jokes that make you think for a second instead of screaming the obvious . this is highly enjoyable and has quite a twist for fans of the first movie that you don ' t see coming . the acting is quite believable and has spot on reactions and emotions . this movie does what it is supposed to make you laugh , make you somewhat emotional at some parts and makes you sometime uncomfortable haha . this movie may not be very popular but don ' t be discouraged go see it , it is good , but you may need to see the first movie sione ' s wedding to understand the character development , all - round development of the movie and the humor that refers to the first . like i said before only watch if you like the first movie or if you like and understand nz comedy ! ! ! 10 / 10

the english language has operated as a language in these movies as a way of getting these characters a better education than in samoa . as well as a tool of of influence by getting the samoan community to understand this language a little better by speaking it the whole way through the two trailers . an example of this is when michael hears this word bitch - cakes for the first time in his life said by derek who understands what it means i think and he does not . so this is necessarily what bitch - cakes means : it means to flip out or go a bit nuts , or to rant about something . when i was watching this movie the first time i had not heard of this word either like michael in sione’s 2 unfinished business .

sione & # x27 ; s 2 unfinished business is a hilarious installment to classic nzcomedies , with its famous nz actors and jokes that make you think for asecond instead of screaming the obvious . this is highly enjoyable andhas quite a twist for fans of the first movie that you don & # x27 ; t seecoming . the acting is quite believable and has spot on reactions andemotions . this movie does what it is supposed to make you laugh , makeyou somewhat emotional at some parts and makes you sometimeuncomfortable haha . this movie may not be very popular but don & # x27 ; t bediscouraged go see it , it is good , but you may need to see the firstmovie sione & # x27 ; s wedding to understand the character development , all - round development of the movie and the humor that refers to thefirst . like i said before only watch if you like the first movie or ifyou like and understand nz comedy ! ! ! 10 / 10

geoff steven’s strata ( 1983 ) , an existential drama filmed on the north island’s atmospheric central plateau and volcanic white island .

the urltoken office awards have been handed out at the australian international movie convention on the gold coast with the avengers predictably taking several awards while icon ' s campaign for a few best men was recognised as the best marketing campaign . the winners were : highest grossing foreign language film : the women on the 6th floor with $ 2 . 02 million ( palace films ) highest grossing australian film : red dog with $ 21 . 46 million ( roadshow ) highest grossing film in new zealand : the avengers with more than $ nz8 million ( disney ) rentrak highest grossing new zealand film : sione ' s 2 : unfinished business reald 3d award for highest grossing 3d film : the avengers with $ 53 . 25 million ( disney ) coca - cola gold award for highest grossing film in australia : the avengers with $ 53 . 25 million ( disney ) the winner of the news limited movie marketer of the year award was icon films for local film a few best men . icon films marketing director , lisa garner , accepted a novelty

this new film is set a few years after sione ' s wedding and although the guys have done some growing up they are still fairly uncommitted grey lynn boys who haven’t really got their acts together .

almost six years after sione ' s wedding took kiwi film fans by surprise , writers james griffin and oscar kightley put pen to paper once more , even though they initially tried to fight the idea .

in the five years since sione ' s wedding , the duckrocker quartet have experienced marriage , children , australians and the good lord . then their minister reunites them on a quest to find bolo ( dave fane ) — once their driver and conscience , now mia . the sequel to the break - through pi - kiwi hit reunites the original cast , and adds in a dodgy minister ( kirk torrance ) and a new director ( outrageous fortune ' s simon bennett ) . on the burden of following wedding , urltoken reviewer steve kilgallon adjudged : " seen on its own merits , it [ sione ' s 2 ] proves worth the wait " .

the screening of sione ' s wedding on telly the other night might have been part of the launchpad for this belated sequel to the 2005 local box office champ . but it was also a telling reminder .

for the theme of traditional whenever their was a problem to be solved in the samoan community in both movies everyone would consult the priest like him telling the duck rockers that they were banned from sione’s wedding .

alyx duncan’s the red house ( 2012 ) , a highly distinctive romantic drama in which the director’s parents play the lead characters .

john barnett ( ceo of south pacific pictures , which funded the film along with tv3 , and the nz film commission which pitched in $ 2 . 5 million ) , has always been keen on the sequel . sione ' s wedding broke box office records , and despite a piracy problem still took more than $ 4 million in new zealand cinemas , making it our fifth highest - grossing film .

writers james griffin and oscar kightley first proposed a sequel to sione ' s wedding back in 2006 but , despite the landmark success of that movie , nearly six years have now passed since the original was released .

sefa and leilani have had two kids , been engaged for five years , and sefa ' s business is struggling . despite this , leilani seems happy and balanced - she ' s stopped hitting sefa , spends a lot of time with her personal trainer , and " smiles all the time " , which has sefa a bit suspicious .

anna and robbie ' s favourite restaurant is kura , in queen street , auckland , but if it ' s raining home is no1 .

luscious leggy ladies in white cloche swimming caps and blood - red smiles , the whbs are inspired by the charming and spectacular aquacades of early cinema’s delightful 1930s and 1940s era , and the kaleidoscopic designs of hollywood movie director and water musical choreographer , busby berkeley . the wet hot beauties community gathers afresh each auckland summer to learn a new skill and to create a quirky new art form – the contemporary water ballet . it’s physical , it’s challenging . it’s theatrical , it’s unique . it’s glamorous and classy – but most of all – it’s fun and it’s cool .

richard worked at the new zealand film commission for three years as head of business affairs . films financed by the commission during that time included whale rider , in my father’s den and rain . before this he worked in distribution in australia for beyond films and the uk for the feature film company .

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with the characters already established from the first film , there’s little that sione ' s 2 needs to do but jump straight into the story and get the jokes flowing but , like its predecessor , the film applies the blueprint of mainstream hollywood . when the strength of your cast lies in its comedy potential , this is what needs the most screen time , rather than dramatic elements that have predictable twists and turns . better to have the most perfunctory narrative than the laboured effort that shows up here and focus on the gags .

the scarecrow ( 1982 ) , sam pillsbury’s adaptation , co - written with michael heath , of ronald hugh morrieson’s gothic novel , was the first new zealand film selected to screen in the director’s fortnight at cannes . vigil ( 1984 ) , vincent ward’s striking , expressionistic depiction of a young country girl’s coming of age , was the first to screen in competition at cannes .

about day tripper films day tripper films is a uk film production company backed by ingenious media . ingenious is a market - leading financial services group providing investment and advisory expertise and is the uk’s largest independent investor in the country’s creative industries . films and television productions supported by ingenious in the past include : avatar , life of pi , the best exotic marigold hotel , doc martin and foyle’s war . most recently , ingenious backed the fall ( bbc 2’s most watched drama ) and the heat ( starring sandra bullock and melissa mccarthy ) .

mobile phones had to be handed in before the movie and security guards watched the crowds to avoid a repeat of the problems sione ' s wedding faced , when a pirated copy of the movie circulated before it was released , damaging the box office takings .

sole and urltoken are names that were given to albert by derek as his street name and his work name as a way of telling him that he is in derek’s neighbourhood . albert does not like these names at all especially sole - man which derek refers to him as at work which makes him feel inferior to derek because he is a white man . when derek and albert have a fight over tania albert wants to prove derek wrong about him being a coward because he can’t even ask her out to sione’s wedding which is coming up soon for him . sione in albert wendt’s book son’s for the return home does not stay a coward for long after a disastrous time at sarah’s friends party as he meets up with him later to beat him up in a rest room at a bar in auckland . that was a second example for racism . which albert does do in sione’s wedding so in that respect the english language is empowering as it is a language derek and his home boys can understand .

the kiwi comedy hit of 2006 , sione ' s wedding made less of a splash on this side of the pond . confirmed fans as well as newcomers may be taken aback by the grim starting point of the sequel , directed by simon bennett : family man sione drops dead on a basketball court , leaving his mates - the same bumbling polynesian bros who appeared in the first film - to tidy up any loose ends before his funeral .

i ask him about working with oscar kightley who wrote and acted beside magasiva in sione ' s wedding and was a co - member of naked samoans , an all - polynesian comedy group that has made its mark in theatre , tv and film since 1998 .

ozon ' s provocative film can do much to improve attitudes towards lgbti people .

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at the next new zealand film awards it will be surprising if alert taxis is not entered in best supporting role for its involvement in the sequel to sione ' s wedding . the cab company vehicles make a number of appearances , including conveying the heroes around town .

fast - forward five years and things haven’t quite gone as the boys might have planned : albert is now married to tania and they are living in suburbia , both working in insurance and also trying ( unsuccessfully ) to have a baby ; sefa and leilani are still together and now have two kids although despite sefa’s proposal , they’re still not married . and while sefa’s business is falling apart , leilani seems to be living life to the full ; stanley is now a trainee deacon in the future church ; michael has moved to australia but the boys don’t hear from him often ; and bolo has thrown in his job with sefa and taken up work with sione , michael’s younger brother .

he ' s not in his publicist ' s office when i arrive at the shortland street location , and she fears he might have snuck out the back door .

it ' s the familiarity of the characters that wins over audiences , he says .

» check out auckland now on monday for photos from the film ' s premiere .

' this is love ' is accompanied by the st . joseph ' s gospel choir

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the audience will also be watched by security guards in the theatre ' s aisles .

the latest instalment finds the friends - played by kightley , robbie magasiva , shimpal lelisi , iaheto ah hi and dave fane - five years on from sione ' s wedding , with life not quite as figured out as they might have thought . as the movie ' s tagline says : " they ' re five years older , but are they any wiser ? "

" he ' s at a bit of a low point really , and the duckrockers are spread wide and don ' t hang out as much as they did , " lelisi explains . " michael ' s overseas , albert ' s on the north shore , so sefa ' s been getting tight with stanley more than anyone i think . "

" he ' s spent a lot of time running away , " magasiva laughs . " but yeah , now he ' s fallen in love for the first time . "

" when we released sione ' s wedding cellphones weren ' t that flash . . . so it wasn ' t a problem then . the piracy problems were with regard to somebody stealing a copy of the film from the post - production house . it was quite a separate incident . "

albert ( co - writer oscar kightley ) and tania ( madeleine sami ) are now happily married , but can ' t quiet seal the deal with a baby . whilst sefa ( shimpal lelisi ) and leilani ( teuila blakely ) have got two kids , they aren ' t married despite sefa ' s proposal . stanley ( iaheto ah hi ) is now a trainee deacon in the future church , michael ( robbie magasiva ) has moved to australia , and bolo ditched his job with sefa’s failing business to work for sione . as adulthood drives them apart , a crisis brings them back together : when bolo disappears , the minister ( nathaniel lees ) gathers up the boys to find him , somewhere , in the world’s largest polynesian city - auckalangi . hide

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roger donaldson’s tense relationship drama smash palace ( 1981 ) was another early 1980s critical and popular success . the new york times selected it as one of the year’s 10 best films .

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the main problem with the film is that it is lighter on laughs than the first one , mostly due to the much darker plot , but also due to the fact that the first film was such a fresh , unique new zealand comedy made with an audience in mind . while sione’s 2 hits that same tone it doesn’t feel nearly as fresh or laugh - out - loud funny as it should , particularly given the comedic exploits of some of its stars in the period between films ( notably madeleine sami with supercity and david fane in outrageous fortune and love birds ) .

editor of thereelbits . you can see richard ' s unfiltered train of thought on twitter @ dvdbits . richard ' s first book , moving target : the history and evolution of green arrow

stars : 2 . 5 / 5 cast : robbie magasiva , shimpal lelisi , oscar kightley , dave fane , iaheto ah hi director : simon bennett rating : m ( sex scenes & offensive language ) running time : 92 mins verdict : not as funny etc etc . . .

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seeing sound at silo park , wynyard quarter - concrete seduction : space seduces s . . .

cultural identity theme shows up in sione’s wedding especially when albert discovers that derek identifies himself as being a samoan when he says “albert is in the fale” . then albert replies by saying “speak your own language derek” which translates to me as stop identifying yourself as samoan your skin is white you would not last a week in samoa .

he ' s done this before , apparently , but he gets forgiven , because of his charm .

it turns out he ' s been on set filming shortland street , so he ' s not in trouble , but trouble may be something this larger - than - life character gets into a lot .

the trailer is a bit sparse because it ' s deliberately not giving away the story . . .

songs for nobodies at circa theatre , 1 taranaki st , waterfront - harpers big ta . . .

local offices of large american production houses said south pacific ' s rules for the premiere were tame .

- it ' s a kind of a birthday present ( 2011 ) . . . just friends woman

a major search begins this week for new zealand ' s undiscovered writing talent . big break is a new initiative launched by film company libertine pictures . it ' s an open invitation to all writers to pitch

it’s been five years since the duckrockers found girlfriends to take to sione’s wedding and the boys find themselves a little isolated from each other . michael ( robbie magasiva ) has moved over to australia , albert ( oscar knightley ) has married tania ( madeleine sami ) and bought a house on the north shore , sefa ( shimpal lelisi ) has a couple of kids and stanley ( iaheto ah hi ) is a trainee deacon in the future church .

" it ' s five years on . he ' s still with leilani , they ' ve got two kids and they ' ve had the longest engagement in the history of the world , " he says .

" oscar kightley ' s a dick ! " he says , with high emphasis on the last word .

magasiva ' s mother has stayed in new zealand , and travels back and forth to visit her husband .

the successful 48hours film - making competition , which began in auckland in 2003 , was a driver behind ant timpson’s make my movie competition . the first film produced through this was dean hewison’s comedy how to meet girls from a distance ( 2012 ) . the new zealand film commission’s ‘escalator’ initiative similarly supported low - budget feature films .

nadya was a strategic business consultant to the new zealand book council following an early career in newspaper journalism in new zealand , a decade in book publishing in london and several years as a communications consultant back in wellington . at pan macmillan in the uk , she was responsible for marketing the picador list for many years and was marketing director for the group for four years . her publishing experience spans the literary and the commercial , from don de lillo , cormac mccarthy , colm toibin , john banville , michael ondaatje’s the english patient and alice sebold’s the lovely bones to international hits including bridget jones’s diary and the novels of jackie collins , ken follett , james herbert and wilbur smith .

" my mum can cook , she ' s a mean cook , man i love her chicken curries . "

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the boys are back ! five years older , but are they any wiser ? since sione ' s wedding five years ago , things haven ' t gone quite as the boys might have planned . growing up appears to be driving the duckrockers apart . but when they ' re confronted with one of life ' s unexpected turns and bolo goes missing , their minister once again brings them together and sends them on a quest . their mission : to find bolo . 2011 south pacific pictures ltd .

five years ago our heroes the duckrockers thought they had figured it all out – they had found themselves girlfriends to take to sione’s wedding and the future was looking bright . fast - forward five years and things haven’t quite gone as the boys might have planned . growing up appears to be driving the duckrockers apart but when they’re confronted with one of life’s unexpected turns and bolo goes missing , their minister once again brings them together and sends them on a quest . their mission : to find bolo .

" nah kids , jokes . he ' s a very clever man our oscar kightley , very , very clever .

audiences are rejecting this summer’s procession of tired sequels , and international grosses won’t be enough to keep studios afloat forever .

jack welsh acquired ted coubray ' s camera equipment and perfected his own sound - on - film system . he used this on new zealand ' s first film with sound , down on the farm ( 1935 ) . welsh recorded sound on two more films , the wagon and the star and phar lap ' s son ? ( both 1936 ) .

back from 20 years in hollywood , sleeping dogs director roger donaldson wrote , directed and produced the world’s fastest indian ( 2005 ) , telling the story of invercargill motorbike enthusiast burt munro who broke the land speed world record at utah’s bonneville salt flats . with british actor anthony hopkins in the lead role , it became new zealand’s highest grossing film to date .

" there ' s an accent , there ' s a central auckland brown accent , and a rhythm of speech and a carriage , which is different to south auckland polynesians and west auckland polynesians . you can tell , " he laughs .

“there’s no black crush , not even a bit of aliasing , and no sign of the hefty grain being tampered with .

kiwi male culture , reflecting the macho take on new zealand’s history that continues to pervade the way the country perceives itself .

it was burgers and bubbles for the hundreds of moviegoers at the premiere , held at st luke ' s event cinemas .

we allocate money to career and script development , short films , low - budget films , production funding , post production and film finishing grants . we also administer both the screen production incentive fund ( on behalf of the ministry for culture and heritage ) , and the large budget screen production grant ( on behalf of the ministry of business , innovation and employment ) at the top end .

" tanu and steve were always quite close . they ' re kind of the real men . steve loves the bush . he ' s inherited the bushness from tanupua and tanu is always good with his hands . he ' s a builder . "

in 1980 sons for the return home ( 1979 ) and geoff murphy ' s second feature goodbye pork pie ( 1980 ) screened at the prestigious cannes film festival in france , securing new zealand feature film’s place on the global film - makers’ map .

the 17 - year - old white fern says women ' s cricket has come a long way in terms of equal pay .

meaning you ' ll need to track it down , and be aware of it around the limited time it ' s shown .

the dark horse ( 2014 ) , james napier robertson ' s powerful film which tackled issues of mental illness and gang culture .

the fastest way to share someone else’s tweet with your followers is with a retweet . tap the icon to send it instantly .

six years ago , sione ' s wedding was a deservedly popular film . it had wit , a couple of genuinely funny and inventive moments , and a ripper soundtrack . the leads were all energetic and / or attractive , the writing was unashamedly contrived , and the film wore its massive heart on its sleeve with real conviction . it sure wasn ' t perfect , but we loved it . and quite right too .

but , nah . what was fun and subversive has become mean spirited , tasteless , and reactive . sione ' s wedding had a good time turning the stereotypes upside down . this film is happy to chase a few cheap laughs with portrayals of child - like polynesian men , always on the verge of alcohol fuelled violence , acting out a story without a plot , a soul , or any particular reason to exist .

a copy of the original film was stolen by an employee at digital post . dvds of the feature were burned and sold in south auckland markets a month before it was released in theatres . sione ' s wedding became the third - highest grossing new zealand film , but the producers believe the theft and illegal distribution cost investors $ 500 , 000 , with around $ 300 , 000 of that figure coming from lost box office sales .

it ' s a joke any aucklander will appreciate but which may be lost in the provinces and completely meaningless to viewers further afield .

it ' s still a comedy , and there ' s hijinks and mishaps aplenty , but the boys are all nearing middle age and the film has a noticeably darker undertone than its hit predecessor , dealing with infidelity , mortality , family ties , reputations and friendship .


ruby is a feature film , released in the united states on march 27 , 1992 , about jack ruby , the dallas , texas nightclub owner who shot and killed lee harvey oswald in the basement garage of a dallas city police station in 1963 .

the film was directed by john mackenzie and stars danny aiello ( as ruby ) , sherilyn fenn ( as sheryl ann dujean a.k.a. candy cane ) , and arliss howard .

it is based on a play written by british screenwriter stephen davis .

ruby was released three months after oliver stone 's movie jfk .

ruby ( 1992 film )

ruby ( 1992 film ) <EOT> filmmaker barak goodman discusses gaining trust and access in order to tell the story of what happened on ruby ridge in 1992 .

ruby is a peripheral player in history , and the film can ' t change that .

james n . giglio , ‘oliver stone’s jfk in historical perspective’ , perspectives , april 1992 .

with the headline : review / film : ruby ; annals of an assassin ' s assassin .

oliver stone and zachary sklar , jfk : the book of the film , applause books , 1992 , includes many contemporary newspaper and magazine articles critical of the film , along with responses by stone , sklar , and others supportive of the film .

ruby trailer 1992 director : john mackenzie starring : arliss howard , danny aiello , david duchovny , joe cortese , richard c . sarafian , sherilyn fenn official content from sony pictures home entertainment fictionalized chronicle of the events leading up to the assassinations of john kennedy and lee harvey oswald , from the point of view of oswald ' s killer , jack ruby . movie , ruby movie , ruby trailer , ruby 1992 , john mackenzie , arliss howard , danny aiello , david duchovny , joe cortese , richard c . sarafian , sherilyn fenn

the man who shot the man who shot j . f . k . was ruby . cia . mafia . jfk . conspiracy . jack ruby .

an exploration of certain conspiracy theories surrounding the jfk assassination from jack ruby’s perspective .

marty terry as mrs . ruby burke : the local schoolteacher , who is aware of the events that occurred just a couple of days ago in the first film .

in 1992 , jess walter and bill morlin worked for the spokesman - review in spokane , wa . they were among the first to report on the deadly standoff .

ray received the awards for best director and best film at the first san francisco film festival in 1957 for his debut film , ` ` pather panchali . ` ` last month he received a special oscar for lifetime achievement .

here ' s a fictionalized account of jack ruby ' s perspective of the events leading up to his assassination of lee harvey oswald . danny aiello appears convincingly as the nightclub - owner ruby who ( according to this telling ) points the finger at an fbi conspiracy as the force behind the kennedy assassination . the film includes some actual footage from ruby ' s oswald shooting .

when a scene is identified in the following text , a reference is given to the page number in the version of the screenplay included in oliver stone and zachary sklar , jfk : the book of the film , applause books , 1992 . because several versions of the film exist , it is not feasible to identify scenes by timings or scene numbers . stone and sklar’s book contains many examples of the criticism directed at the film .

for a history of the zapruder film and an account of time–life’s denial of access to it , as well as other issues raised by the film , see david wrone , the zapruder film : reframing jfk’s assassination , university press of kansas , 2003 .

an exploration of certain conspiracy theories surrounding the jfk assassination from jack ruby ' s perspective . ruby owns a run - down strip club in dallas , and does what he can for credibility . . . see full summary »

for details of julia ann mercer’s evidence and credibility , see was jack ruby involved in the jfk assassination ? .

urltoken , which gives details of “one hundred of the most egregious errors in stone’s film” .

` ` ruby , ` ` the new film about the dallas nightclub owner who shot and killed lee harvey oswald , the man named by the warren commission as the lone assassin of president john f . kennedy .

after ` ` ruby ` ` was filmed in dallas , puerto rico and los angeles , aiello made two more films .

, was identified . photographs show that the unknown man who ran up the steps was merely a spectator . in the film , jean hill identifies the man as jack ruby , for which there is no credible corroboration .

a story dealing with jack ruby , a texas nightclub owner , and the events in his life leading up to his killing of lee harvey oswald . well produced and played study of jack ruby ' s persona which merely implies certain possibilities of a conspiracy

aiello divulges the plot of the film within the film with the sort of zest some people might call relish : ` ` the pickle ` ` is about a cucumber that turns into a spaceship .

this film is not currently playing on mubi but 30 other great films are . see what’s now showing

we don ' t have enough data to suggest any movies based on ruby . you can help by rating movies you ' ve seen .

many of the events in the film are re - creations from real life . they have the same poignant reality as they do in oliver stone ' s " jfk . " there are especially touching moments showing how the mood of the city changes as the word spreads that the president has been shot . and then jack ruby , a big , genial , even kind man , a man who loves his dogs and befriends stray women at the bus station , loads up his pistol and goes off to kill oswald . ( the film ' s chronology of the scenes in which he does so does not match the historical record ; it was always said in ruby ' s defense that the timing was accidental , that he did not intend to rendezvous with oswald in that dallas basement . here , the killing is deliberate . ) do we know more about jack ruby because of this movie ? not really , because it tells us about a fictional ruby , a ruby invested by danny aiello with a great deal more substance and humanity than perhaps the historical figure would have commanded . as a film , " ruby " creates a convincing and memorable character , an essentially good man who confusedly tries to do good things . as history , the film is not much help .

mr . aiello divulges the plot of the film within the film with the sort of zest some people might call relish : " the pickle " is about a cucumber that turns into a spaceship . ' casablanca ' returns

siskel & ebert : white men can ' t jump / the cutting edge / the power of one / ruby / noises off . . .

the relationship between jack ruby and candy cane is at the heart of " ruby , " which shows how they use one another - candy , not nearly as naive as she first appears , using jack as a way to touch the lives of really powerful men , first in the mafia , and finally , it is suggested , even in the white house . since her character explains so many of the questions about jack ruby , it is a shock , at the end of the film , to learn that candy is a completely fictional creature .

the festival ' s mel novikoff award , for extraordinary contributions to film by an individual or organization , is to go to jonas mekas , the critic , film maker , preservationist and nurturer of independent cinema . paul cox retrospective

the film noir genre generally refers to mystery and crime dramas produced from the early 1940s to the late 1950s . …

with the physically impressive danny aiello in the title role , " ruby " is the story of one of american history ' s most infamous fringe characters , jack ruby , the smallish man who , on national television , shot lee harvey oswald in a dallas police station two days after kennedy ' s death .

he is then forced to return to the united states to make a commercial film called ` ` the pickle . ` `

film production began at the end of spring 1992 , and shooting began in summer 1992 in liberty , north carolina . most of the cast were locals , including the children . the scene involving an elderly woman flying through a store window after her wheelchair becomes controlled by micah was filmed in downtown ramseur , north carolina . the scene where micah and the children of the corn burn the town elders was filmed in a home at the corner of asheboro st . and luther ave . in liberty . the home was burned for the film and a vacant lot remains where the house once stood . the production crew used a local parsonage at the corner of fayetteville and raleigh sts . in liberty as its headquarters during shooting . brian yuzna ' s son xeno appears as one of the children of the corn .

the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .

a character named beverly ( pp . 119ff ; played by lolita davidovich ) describes being introduced to lee harvey oswald ( played by gary oldman ) by jack ruby ( played by brian doyle–murray ) in a dallas night club . although several other people have claimed that ruby and oswald had known each other ( see jim marrs , crossfire : the plot that killed kennedy , simon and schuster , 1989 , pp . 402–414 ) , there is no corroboration for the episode in the film , which is based on a remarkably implausible account by a woman named beverly oliver , who claimed that the incident occurred in ruby’s carousel club , and that ruby described oswald to her as a member of the cia . even if the incident in the night club occurred , and even if oswald was a member of the cia , and even if ruby had known this fact , it is hardly likely that he would have mentioned it to a seventeen–year–old singer in a night club .

to this end , " ruby " mythologizes a lot of known facts , which are then mixed with fiction to speculate in ways that suggest the movie has been sniffing glue . as crazy as it is , though , " ruby " is almost rudely entertaining . it may also indicate that we ' re attending the birth of a new movie subgenre , a specific kind of film noir devoted to an event treated earlier as an occasion to prompt sorrow and conventional sentimentality .

bill morlin , journalist : ruby ridge became a huge propaganda opportunity for people like richard richard butler , aryan nations founder : who wanted to galvanize anti - government hatred .

hollywood later revisited the kennedy assassination with winter kills ( 1979 ) , based on richard condon ' s paranoid thriller ; ruby ( 1992 ) , a stumbling biopic about lee harvey oswald ' s killer jack ruby ; and most famously in 1991 with jfk , oliver stone ' s epic mega - budget version of events . jfk is a hagiography of kennedy theorist jim garrison , a bombastic new orleans prosecutor and homophobe who tried to convict a gay cia associate , clay shaw , of the president ' s murder . garrison ' s case was ultimately unconvincing : a jury found shaw innocent , which undercuts stone ' s telling of history . nevertheless , the film provoked a public outcry and led to the release of thousands of previously secret files by the assassination records review board .

" ruby " doesn ' t exactly refute " j . f . k . " it seems improbable that mr . mackenzie and his associates could have seen the stone film before making theirs . yet " ruby " pares down the size of the alleged conspiracy to somewhat more manageable proportions and never overburdens the audience with historical detail . it is an expose cast in the form of a fever dream . it takes off from truth with the freedom of a poet obsessed with mob literature .

the movie ' s ruby , in his role as a fringe player , witnesses events that seem to exist just beyond the threshold of our understanding . he is summoned to las vegas , for example , for dinner with the highest members of the national mafia council ( that ' s when he sees jfk across the room - and when jfk sees candy cane across the room ) . but what is the purpose of the meeting , and what is ruby ' s role ? in one of the movie ' s least convincing moments , ruby excuses himself awkwardly and leaves the table . i do not imagine , when you are at jack ruby ' s level , that you have the nerve to leave the table .

fact and fiction are combined in this story about jack ruby and a stripper , candy cane , and how they become involved in a conspiracy to kill j . f . k .

mr . mackenzie , who made " the long good friday , " keeps " ruby " moving . it ' s unreasonably watchable from the moment its " godfather " - like theme music is heard behind the opening credits until jack ' s last defiant cry from his jail cell : " you don ' t own me . i ' m jack ruby ! "

the plot concerns hemingford , nebraska , a town near gatlin ( the original film ' s setting ) days after the events in gaitlin .

evidence of a shot from the front . the decision to purchase all rights to the film was made by c . d . jackson ,

an exploration of certain conspiracy theories surrounding the jfk assassination from jack ruby ' s perspective . ruby owns a run - down strip club in dallas , and does what he can for credibility , both by giving information to the fbi and by doing the odd favor for his mafia contacts . when hitman action jackson is hit , louie vitali asks him to help get crime boss santos out of a cuban jail . when they get back , the bosses take his headliner candy cane under their wing to develop her career in vegas . a mysterious government man named maxwell expresses his displeasure to ruby over his cuban activities . slowly all the pieces of a massive conspiracy begin to emerge to ruby , who can do nothing to stop it .

dave hunt , u . s . marshal : on the morning of the 21st of august , 1992 , we approached the mountain with two teams , six people . we followed the south trail . it was a logging trail that lead to the y area and there we split , our two teams split .

the indian director satyajit ray , named to receive the festival ' s akira kurosawa lifetime achievement award , is to be represented by several of his best - known films , including " the apu trilogy , " " charulata " and the west coast premiere of his 1991 film " the visitor , " also known as " agantuk . " mr . ray received the awards for best director and best film at the first san francisco film festival in 1957 for his debut film , " pather panchali . " last month he received a special oscar for lifetime achievement .

in the aftermath of oliver stone ' s " j . f . k . , " there is john mackenzie ' s " ruby , " the new film about the dallas nightclub owner who shot and killed lee harvey oswald , the man named by the warren commission as the lone assassin of president john f . kennedy .

bill morlin , journalist : this is north idaho , 1992 . 50 miles or so from the canadian border . here’s a man with his family , armed to the teeth…who knew that a federal judge wanted him to come to court , and he was refusing to do that . and he lived with the consequences .

according to the original draft of the script , the film was going to be called " children of the corn 2 : deadly harvest " .

" ruby " is not always easy to follow , especially when it comes to the kennedy assassination , which seems to be a mob hit carried out with some sort of participation by the c . i . a . the film pretends to an unconvincing discretion as it hints that it knows even more than it can say in all decency .

almost every film that deals with historical subjects will contain errors of fact . few such films attract any criticism at all from newspaper or television pundits .

a two–part transcript of a panel discussion on pbs , in which oliver stone is allowed to reply to some of the criticism aimed at his film .

the movie " ruby " approaches his story in much the same way that tom stoppard approached " hamlet " in " rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead " . jack ruby is at center stage . and way over there , in the corner of the vegas hotel dining room , john f . kennedy is a supporting player ; he has a bit part , and is always seen in long shot .

after eight fun - filled seasons of watching clair and cliff go through the ups and downs of raising their five kids sondra , denise , theo , vanessa , and rudy , the cosby show took its final bow and left our tv sets ( and a frown in our hearts ) on april , 30 , 1992—20 years to the day .

" the ballad of narayama " is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…

ryan bollman as micah : the leader of the new corn group , successor of isaac from the first film , who is possessed by a demonic spirit .

- ` ` the player , ` ` directed by robert altman , has been chosen to open the 35th san francisco international film festival on april 23 .

of the zapruder film for the clay shaw trial , bootleg copies began to circulate . one of these bootlegs was shown by robert groden on a national television program , and helped to generate the popular pressure that resulted in the creation of the house select committee on assassinations . the showing of the zapruder film in

describing his preparations for playing jack ruby in the film , based on a screenplay by stephen davis , mr . aiello said : " i did a lot of reading on the subject . all of us , liberal and conservative , did the same reading : stephen davis , john mackenzie . and all three of us had different ideas as to what actually happened .

in the film , one of the assistant district attorneys is a woman , ‘susie cox’ ( played by laurie metcalf ) . in reality , garrison’s assistants were all men . criticising the film for this obvious piece of dramatic licence is rather like finding fault with hamlet because the characters are speaking english rather than danish .

jfk ’s use of jean hill’s evidence illustrates one of the ways in which the film undermined its own credibility . media commentators pointed to this episode as a specific example of the film’s lack of concern for historical accuracy . an audience without specialist knowledge of the assassination might be tempted to wonder how much else was untrustworthy .

time–life’s reluctance to exploit its commercial rights to the zapruder film can only plausibly be explained as an attempt to conceal from the public the evidence contained within the film , in particular the fatal shot that sent president kennedy’s head “back and to the left” , in jim garrison’s famous phrase ( p . 165 ) , which provides

several of the essays in robert brent toplin , ed . , oliver stone’s usa — film , history , and controversy , university press of kansas , 2000 .

julia ann mercer ( pp . 117f ; played by jo anderson ) describes seeing a man who matched jack ruby ’s description helping to deliver a rifle to the grassy knoll shortly before the assassination . this is contrary to mercer’s original statements , in which she is unable to identify the man . mercer herself claimed in a later interview that those statements did not reflect her actual evidence , and that the man was indeed ruby .

early in the film , at the bidding of the mob , jack flies off to cuba to spring a mafia big - shot from prison . when his mafia connection orders him to shoot the man just freed , jack refuses on principle . he shoots the connection instead . in the fictional world of " ruby , " this independent attitude apparently earns him even more mob respect .

garrison states that “they were refurbishing the floors in the depository that week , which allowed unknown workmen in and out of the building” ( p . 162 ) . the film includes a speculative scene in which lee harvey oswald , jack ruby and several cubans discuss getting access to the texas school book depository ( pp . 134f ) . oswald offers to smuggle a group up to the sixth floor , and ruby suggests they disguise themselves as “a floor refurbishing group” . in fact , all the men who were replacing the boards on the sixth floor on the morning of the assassination were employees of the tsbd .

the attacks on the film , and especially the hostility of those attacks , were probably counter–productive . they appear to have dissuaded few open–minded people from watching the film , and may have encouraged waverers to go and see what all the fuss was about . many of those who did watch the film would have been made aware for the first time of the weakness of the case against lee harvey oswald , and would have realised also that the media are not disinterested spectators in matters that affect institutional power .

aiello said of ruby . ` ` he ran strip joints ; i ran an after - hours joint . the difference between us is that he took a different road than i . he ended up shooting someone . ` `

but he added , ` ` ruby ` ` takes the view that the assassination of kennedy was more of a gangland plot than the coup d ` etat engineered with central intelligence agency complicity that ` ` jfk ` ` propounds .

the 50th anniversary of the release of " casablanca " will be celebrated at film forum , 209 west houston street , manhattan , with a one - week presentation beginning today .

early in the film , ruby wanders into the dallas bus station and finds a forlorn young blond ( sherilyn fenn ) who says her name is candy cane . he befriends her . usually the word " befriends " is in quotes , because we know what happens to forlorn young girls who meet strip show owners in bus stations . but , yes , ruby truly does befriend her , giving her fatherly advice and letting her bed down for the night in his club . he even shows her how to lock her door from the inside . the next day , it ' s candy who has to convince jack to let her try out as a stripper .

but , he added , " ruby " takes the view that the assassination of the president was more of a gangland plot than the coup d ' etat engineered with central intelligence agency complicity that " j . f . k . " propounds .

bill morlin , journalist : we published a story in early march of 1992 saying ‘feds have fugitive under our nose’ . in that story , i quoted officials as saying that , “we don’t want to go up there and get in a gun battle with kids . ” but the marshals are stuck with a federal judge’s order saying , “go get this man . we’re a country of laws . bring him to justice” .

there are multiple twists and pitfalls . created at a time when hollywood still dared to challenge the " official " version of events , this is not a feel - good film . instead , it ' s one of the high points of the new american cinema , that brief decade when american film was still an art form – and a challenging , subversive art form at that .

this is a continuation of the previous article , how accurate is oliver stone’s jfk ? , which discusses the film’s treatment of the main issues in the jfk assassination , including the single–bullet theory .

garrison alleges that the zapruder film “has been kept locked in a vault in the time–life building in new york city for the last five years” ( p . 151 ) . critics objected , claiming that life magazine had published most of the relevant frames as still images , and had made them available for inclusion in the warren report . the reproductions , however , were of a relatively poor quality . more importantly , the film had never been viewed in public as a movie . time–life , which dealt only in magazines , refused several lucrative offers to allow the film to be shown .

mr . aiello said that when he was sent the screenplay of " ruby " about a year and a half ago , " i fell in love with the guy as depicted in the script , complex but ordinary in the kind of life he led . "

aiello said that when he was sent the screenplay of ` ` ruby ` ` about a year and a half ago , ` ` i fell in love with the guy as depicted in the script , complex but ordinary in the kind of life he led .

at the walter reade theater from april 24 through may 7 , the film society of lincoln center will offer a retrospective devoted to the australian director paul cox . included are mr . cox ' s first film , " the journey , " as well as " man of flowers , " " kostas , " " lonely hearts " and " vincent : the life and times of van gogh . "

shortly before dawn on august 21 , 1992 , six heavily armed u . s . marshals made their way up to the isolated mountaintop home of randy and vicki weaver and their children on ruby ridge in northern idaho . charged with selling two illegal sawed - off shotguns to an undercover agent , weaver had failed to appear in court and law enforcement was tasked with bringing him in . for months , the weavers had been holed up on their property with a cache of firearms , including automatic weapons . when the federal agents surveilling the property crossed paths with members of the family , a firefight broke out . the standoff that mesmerized the nation would leave weaver injured , his wife and son dead , and some convinced that the federal government was out of control . drawing upon eyewitness accounts , including interviews with weaver’s daughter , sara , and federal agents involved in the confrontation , ruby ridge is a riveting account of the event that helped give rise to the modern american militia movement .

parkland and other movies about jfk ' s assassination show just how far to the right hollywood has shifted . alan j pakula ' s classic film , however , is a high point of new american cinema

in turn helped to create the assassination records review board . robert groden , incidentally , played the projectionist who shows the zapruder film in the courtroom scene , as well as a couple of other non–speaking roles .

he also described parallels in their lives . " he ran restaurants ; so did i , " mr . aiello said of ruby . " he ran strip joints ; i ran an after - hours joint . the difference between us is that he took a different road than i .

as if heeding the advice of jean - luc godard , who once said that the best way to criticize a movie is by making another , the english director john mackenzie and the english writer stephen davis have concocted " ruby , " which they candidly describe as " speculative fiction . "

this densely - packed film is based on a book by tom hart about the struggles of a young yorkshire boy trying to come to grips with squabbling parents , a doctor who wants to institutionalize . . . see full summary »

la cosa empieza muy bien en plan cine negro , pero se va desmantelando según entra a tratar el asunto del crimen de jfk . sigue la versión oficial en la que ruby fue un desgraciado perdedor redimido por el asesinato patriótico de oswald . . . suena demasiado a propaganda , no me lo trago .

the unstated assumption was that the men had been involved in the assassination , and that perhaps the dallas police were helping them to flee the scene of the crime . critics of the film pointed out that the sinister interpretation was merely supposition .

ruby is in another universe from jfk . but he is on the fringes of another center of power , the mafia ( or " cosa nostra , " as joe valachi calls it in a tv clip early in the film ) . he comes from chicago . keeps telling people that . has arrived in dallas to run a burlesque club which he takes great pride in . moves on the fringes of respectability , hosting " precinct night " every tuesday , so the cops can come and ogle the strippers , and leave him alone the rest of the week .

the film ' s jack is a man of psychological stature , flawed , perhaps , but wise in the world ' s ways and kind to hungry strippers . when he loses his temper , it is because his honor has been questioned . he mercilessly beats up a husky rodeo rider , the husband of his star performer , candy cane ( sherilyn fenn ) , when the husband calls jack ' s club carousel " a sleaze pit . " says jack with authority : " make that the last time you take out your disappointment with life on jack ruby ! "

after a couple of films in 1967 – the documentary rush to judgment and bruce conner ' s experimental short film report – that critiqued the warren commission ' s findings , in 1973 a hollywood feature called executive action arrived . it mixed documentary footage with live action , and portrayed the assassination as a conspiracy by the cia and big business interests . executive action is a decent , strangely low - key film ; what ' s interesting is just how mainstream it was . burt lancaster played the cia coup leader , while robert ryan and will geer played texas oil men who want kennedy dead . dalton trumbo , once blacklisted , wrote the script , and the film was directed by david miller , whose cv contains another good picture , lonely are the brave .

i watched this as im a fan of sherilyn fenn , whilst i thought she did a good job , i found the film to be pretty boring , i dont think it ' d be of any interest to anyone other than people into jfk conspiracies .

jess walter , writer : bo gritz was a hero to the radical right . some people said he was the model for rambo . he was a third party candidate for president that year , and made his way to ruby ridge hoping that he could negotiate an end to the standoff . i think the fbi was desperate at this point .

that makes him wrong to play jack ruby . he invests the dallas nightclub owner with such stubborn dignity , even as he swims in the sleazy world of strip joints , drugs and crooked cops , that he takes on a certain nobility . he ' s like a character from shakespeare , destined for better things , blocked by a fatal flaw .

there seems to be no secret to his existence , and yet , why did he leave chicago and come to dallas ? the movie suggests he was being positioned by the mob for some purpose he was not fully aware of himself . ruby believes he is about to be drawn into higher circles of organized crime , but the film suggests it was his very lack of stature , his typecasting as an insignificant little guy , that was useful to them in their larger purposes . he is so insignificant , indeed , that there are times when the movie strains beyond any credibility in its attempts to include him in the action .

the film shows jim garrison questioning dr pierre finck ( played by peter maloney ) , one of the pathologists who had participated in president kennedy’s autopsy , during the clay shaw trial in new orleans ( pp . 158f ) . the questioning was actually done by alvin oser .

thirty years ago today , steven spielberg released his sci - fi , tearjerker adventure flick , e . t . the extra - terrestrial , which became the highest grossing film for the next decade and catapulted its cast into cinematic and pop culture history . to . . .

the film shows lee bowers ( played by pruitt taylor vince ) testifying before the warren commission that he saw “a flash of light or smoke” close to the fence on the grassy knoll ( p . 30 ) . he actually said this in a filmed interview with mark lane .

after " ruby " was filmed , in dallas , puerto rico and los angeles , mr . aiello appeared in two forthcoming films . in " the mistress , " with robert de niro , robert wuhl and martin landau , he plays a wealthy manic - depressive businessman in a story about hollywood and the sorts of people who want their mistresses to star in movies .

the film takes just two sentences to deal with the question of the paraffin tests carried out on oswald by the dallas police : “maybe oswald didn’t even pull the trigger , bill . the nitrate tests indicate he didn’t even fire a rifle on november 22nd” ( p . 57 ) .

two accusations are that the film suggests that earle cabell , the mayor of dallas and brother of the deputy director of the cia , changed the route of the motorcade in order to enable the conspiracy to take place , and that the route was changed at the last minute . the film does claim that “they changed the route” ( p . 128 ) , but does not claim that the change was done at the last minute . earle cabell is mentioned in passing , along with the secret service , the organisation which did in fact play the largest part in deciding the route .

beginning next friday , film forum 2 is to present jean cocteau ' s 1946 classic " beauty and the beast " in a new 35 - millimeter print . the weeklong run will be accompanied by a showing of the 1929 luis bunuel - salvador dali surrealist classic " un chien andalou . "

unlike " j . f . k . , " oliver stone ' s kaleidoscopic consideration of the various conspiracy theories surrounding president john f . kennedy ' s assassination , " ruby " looks at the events in dallas on nov . 22 , 1963 , from a rather more modest point of view , which is not to say that its imagination doesn ' t run amok , sometimes deliriously .

the enigma of jack ruby continues to fascinate us . who was he , where did he come from , what was his real story , why did he shoot lee harvey oswald - and , most crucially , why did he never really speak for himself and explain his motives in the years before he finally died in prison ? unlike oswald , a shadowy figure who still refuses to come into focus , ruby was a man who seemingly led a comprehensible life until his rendezvous with history . he existed in history , not outside it . his brother was in the papers not very long ago , auctioning the pistol he used on that day in dallas . people knew him . he could have spoken for himself . yet he died and we are still not sure what his motivation was .

the final scene of the film shows lyndon johnson ( played by tom howard ) signing what is presumably national security action memorandum no . 273 in the company of assorted dignitaries . he tells them : “you just get me elected , and i’ll give you your damned war” ( p . 183 ) .

the film claims that “oswald appears on a local tv debate” in new orleans with an anti–castro activist , carlos bringuier ( p . 36 ; played by tony plana ) . critics point out correctly that the debate was actually on the radio , not the television . the debate is noteworthy for two reasons :

bill morlin , journalist : and so the marshals intensified it and decided to have motion - activated cameras placed near the weaver cabin so they could figure out how many people are there , who’s carrying guns , and what are our options in terms of effecting an arrest ? the tapes showed that randy weaver was there with his wife , and his children , and a man named kevin harris , and that they frequently were armed . they have to have been shaking their heads . what are we going to do ? and then , in may of 1992 , randy did an interview , and he said , “i don’t care what you do , i’m not coming off my mountaintop . ”

stuart wright , writer : i don’t know that randy weaver knew at the time that they moved to ruby ridge…that they would be so close to the aryan nations compound , which was just 60 miles south . but they started showing up . at first it was purely social , they attended family picnics , those kinds of things . but as randy began to interact more with them , he started to buy into the message .

for more about the media , the jfk assassination and the garrison investigation , see jim garrison : interview with playboy magazine , october 1967 . for a description of jfk ’s place in the assassination narrative , and of the media’s attacks on the film , see fiction , propaganda and the media and the media and the jfk assassination .

although the film raises the possibility that shaw had played a significant role in the assassination , it does also quote the foreman ( played by loys bergoron ) of the jury that acquitted shaw : “we believe there was a conspiracy , but whether clay shaw was a part of it is another kettle of fish” ( p . 179 ) .

the program will also include mr . cox ' s latest film , " a woman ' s tale , " about the last days of a garrulous old woman , played by sheila florance . mr . cox is to introduce the screenings of " a woman ' s tale " at 8 p . m . on april 24 and 25 .

the film includes an implausible piece of speculation about the ‘umbrella man’ . jim garrison explains that “the umbrella man is signalling ‘he’s not dead . keep shooting’” ( p . 165 ) . waving an umbrella in the air would be an unnecessary and impractical way to communicate with a gunman who is presumably looking at his target through a telescopic sight .

this film is pretty to watch , but it adds nothing new to the genre ; the plot is silly as there is almost no logic in what we are watching . from the opening scenes we know this film is something by the numbers because there is no real suspense ; it fails to make sense about what we are watching . the only thing this movie has going is the different locales in which the director , and his crew , decided to take us : veracruz , berlin , athens , cairo . all in pursuit of the illusive johnny faro , the two timing man without scruples . the stars are wasted . let ' s hope they had a good time while they were in location .

and mr . aiello has just finished starring in " the pickle " for paul mazursky . in it , mr . aiello plays a once famous american director who moves to paris to become an auteur after making three bombs in a row and divorcing two wives . he is then forced to return to the united states to make a commercial film called " the pickle . "

the film attracted a remarkable amount of criticism in the media . some of the criticism was valid , and pointed to factual errors of one type or another . some criticism dealt with evidence that could reasonably be interpreted in more than one way , and some criticism was unfounded . in several cases , what were alleged to be factual errors were merely examples of dramatic licence .

the indian director satyajit ray , named to receive the festival ` s akira kurosawa lifetime achievement award , is to be represented by several of his best - known films , including ` ` the apu trilogy , ` ` ` ` charulata ` ` and the west coast premiere of his 1991 film ` ` the visitor , ` ` also known as ` ` agantuk . ` `

in the dvd commentary , director david f . price said during the shoot there was a local christian group who held a few ( low - key ) protests during filming , and he received a dead rodent on his door step as a warning . as a result , the production constructed their own church for a few scenes in the film . despite this , no actual incidents occurred .

" the player , " directed by robert altman , has been chosen to open the 35th san francisco international film festival on april 23 . the festival , which runs until may 7 , is to include a centennial tribute to ernst lubitsch ( 1892 to 1947 ) that will feature two of his rarest silent comedies , " the oyster princess " ( 1919 ) and " so this is paris " ( 1926 ) .

mr . mackenzie , mr . davis and mr . aiello attempt to impose a kind of anti - heroism on the dallas nightclub operator who , in life , was always an outsider , in part because he was jewish and in part because he was so emotionally unreliable . history ' s ruby was known as a groupie to both the mob and the dallas police , and as a hopelessly self - serving paid informant to the federal bureau of investigation . his tips to the f . b . i . were usually intended to discredit competing club operators .

it was correctly alleged that the character willie o’keefe ( played by kevin bacon ) did not exist . he is a composite of four witnesses to clay shaw’s life in new orleans : raymond broshears , david logan , william morris and perry russo . like several others whose characters appear in jfk , russo played a minor role in the film , in his case as an angry man in a bar ( p . 14 ) .

it was obvious to most readers and viewers that the allegations against oliver stone’s jfk were not the result of the media’s devotion to the cause of historical truth , even though some of those allegations were justified . none of the film’s most vociferous opponents showed any interest in applying the same critical attitude to any of the official reports , even to the warren report , a far more error–strewn , speculative and misleading work than jfk .

the film also dramatises her allegation that she was threatened both by unidentified agents immediately after the assassination and by the attorney who interviewed her on behalf of the warren commission . she was not the only witness who claimed that official investigators were unsympathetic to evidence that contradicted the lone–nut hypothesis . perhaps jean hill’s account was utilised to represent such experiences . the specific incidents she described do provide entertaining cinema , but they have no independent corroboration .

it ' s during the las vegas sequences that " ruby " really goes into orbit . as the movie pictures it , jack sits at a table in a glitzy hotel ballroom , surrounded by more mob chieftains than have come together since government agents made their memorable 1957 raid on the mafia meeting in apalachin , n . y . performing onstage is a singer who is meant to recall frank sinatra . purely by coincidence , president kennedy enters and sits with his party on the other side of the room . almost immediately candy cane is invited to join the kennedy table .

the film uses the words of dr paul peters ( played by i . d . brickman ) and dr robert mcclelland ( played by joseph nadell ) from interviews by david lifton and robert groden , respectively . the words attributed to the doctors appear to be genuine , and are consistent with their written statements on the afternoon of the assassination , which can be found at warren commission hearings , vol . 17 , pp . 1–22 ( commission exhibit 392 ) .

one of the earliest conspiracy theories had claimed that the man who is seen raising and lowering an open umbrella during the shooting was in fact using the device to fire a missile of some kind at president kennedy . as implausible as it sounds , such a device had been developed by the cia for use against fidel castro , and in the film jfk it is mentioned in that context by david ferrie ( p . 69 ; played by joe pesci ) .

after re - joining cosby to play his tv wife for a second time on his eponymous show cosby , which ran from 1996 to 2000 , phylicia went on to appear in tv shows like everybody hates chris , as well as a raisin in the sun , in which she won a tony for from her broadway performance in 2004 . most recently , she starred in tyler perry ’s 2010 film , for colored girls , for her role as gilda and garnered multiple awards .

at the beginning of the film , she ' s just a cheerful , sassy , well - proportioned stripper from rising star , tex . a little later she ' s playing the mistress of the president . still later she could be marilyn monroe . the character ' s apotheosis is complete when , at the end , she visits jack , a broken man , sentenced to death , in his jail cell . grieving but dressed in haute couture , carrying herself with dignity , candy suddenly looks like a very blond jacqueline kennedy .

classy , mysterious and compelling entry into the jfk conspiracy canon . it ' s aged handsomely and serves as another reminder of the strong independent film scene of the nineties . quite the cast of sordid characters turn up . tobin bell offers his creepy take on david ferrie , the slimeball that joe pesci played equally well in jfk . sherilyn fenn is at her finest as a platinum blonde , closer to her look from two moon junction . fascinating in every regard . so glad i gave it another look . 9 . 3 / 10

children of the corn ii : the final sacrifice is the sequel to the 1984 movie children of the corn . this sequel , directed by david f . price , stars terence knox , ryan bollman , ned romero , and paul scherrer . the film was released in theatres by dimension films in january 1993 , with the video release handled by paramount pictures . several sequels followed this movie , all but one of which were released directly to video . the series is based on the short story children of the corn by stephen king .

the main plot device in the film is the investigation and trial of the new orleans businessman , clay shaw ( played by tommy lee jones ) . shaw had a relatively minor connection to the cia ( see this cia document [ nara rif no . 1993 . 08 . 20 . 14 : 24 : 25 : 620028 ] ) , and may have known individuals such as guy banister ( played by ed asner ) , with whom oswald appears to have worked in new orleans . jfk was criticised for repeating garrison’s charges against a man who was found not guilty .

not so much a remake of joseph h . lewis ' s 1949 film noir classic as a variation on its themes , guncrazy stars drew barrymore as anita , a teenage girl who was born in a trailer park on the wrong side of the tracks and has been fighting a losing battle with respectability ever since . anita was abused sexually by her mother ' s boyfriend ( played by onetime warhol " superstar " joe dallesandro ) , is the subject of lewd advances by the school bullies , and is looked on as a slut and a loser by her peers . when anita has to find a pen pal for a class assignment , she ends up corresponding with a prisoner named howard ( james legros ) , who ' s serving time for manslaughter . howard is one of the first people to address anita with tenderness and respect , so when he gets parole , howard moves in with her . howard ' s obsessive love of guns , however , once again leads to violence , and the couple hits the road hoping to escape their fates . the debut film from director tamra davis , guncrazy was originally shown on cable television , but received enough critical acclaim to merit a later theatrical release .