Nick Paris from Lumière reviews three of the best from the current crop of cinema releases. Plus a neat round-up of some of the best books, albums and television to satisfy your entertainment needs.

Watching

The Peanut Butter Falcon

A down-on-his-luck crab fisherman embarks on a journey to get a young man with Down syndrome to a wrestling school and away from the retirement home where he’s lived for the past 2½ years. Starring Shia LaBeouf, Bruce Dern and Dakota Johnson, this tale through the dangerous yet relaxing vibes of the Southern Atlantic land and seascape combines the heart of the Hunt for the Wilderpeople with the ‘pages’ of a Mark Twain adventure. Look out for it in January.

Don’t Look Now

The chilling and mysterious Nic Roeg classic pitches Venice’s back alleys into a brilliant chamber piece of madness. Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie’s relationship is formed by the tragedy of the drowning death of their daughter, Christine. The watery grave symbolises birth, death, salvation and damnation, with the viewer wondering what’s around the corner.

Gaza

This film was inspired by a photo series Andrew McConnell completed in 2011 about the surfers in Gaza. Documentary filmmaker Garry Keane met McConnell in 2012: both shared a passion for the plight of the trapped and tortured people of Gaza, so they decided to combine their skill sets and make a film to highlight the issues there. The film was made between 2014 and 2018, with McConnell spending almost the entire 2014 conflict with Israel filming on the ground. Gaza is compelling because we hear of life there in the people’s own words.

Reading

Blue Moon, Lee Child

Few authors these days have fans rushing to buy their latest book as soon as it drops. That few includes Lee Child. The latest instalment in his wildly popular Jack Reacher series hit the market at the end of October and the devotees will be through it already. For the rest of us, Blue Moon finds our hero Reacher where he usually is – just on the edge of trouble and stepping in to help the helpless. This time it’s an old man sharing Reacher’s Greyhound bus ride, in a city where Albanian and Ukrainian gangs are waging war on each other.

Kiss The Girls And Make Them Cry, Mary Higgins Clark

Ripped from the news pages, the storyline for the latest thriller from always-on author Mary Higgins Clark concerns a journalist researching a piece about the #MeToo movement that includes an incident in her own life. Murder is afoot as she starts to dig into the past and becomes a threat to a major business deal. This timely novel from the Queen of Suspense is released on November 5.

BINGEWATCHING

His Dark Materials

Still mourning the end of Game of Thrones? The talk is that the new HBO and BBC adaptation of Philip Pullman’s award-winning His Dark Materials trilogy will help sate your appetite for the gothic and epic. His Dark Materials is set in an alternative world where all humans have animal companions called dæmons, which are the manifestation of the human soul. Season 1 launches on NEON on November 4.

BoJack Horseman

The humanoid horse and washed-up former 80s sitcom star has returned to Netlfix for Season 6. This animated series is definitely for the grown-ups and features the voice of Will Arnett (Arrested Development) as BoJack, with a supporting cast that includes Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) as his freeloading sidekick and Amy Sedaris as a pink Persian cat. Get the picture?

Wellington Paranormal

Officers Minogue and O’Leary are back on TV2 and TVNZ On Demand. This spin-off from Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s vam-com (that’s vampire comedy) film What We Do in the Shadows garnered a big fanbase for its first series.

Listening

Foals – Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part Two

Foals fans, buckle up because Part Two of the iconic album Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost has just dropped and it doesn’t disappoint. Their distinctive indie rock sound is back and Part Two picks up exactly where the last album left off. Expect a little more rock in this one with some strong guitar coming through, sending home the message they’re trying to portray.

Milky Chance – Mind the Moon

Edgy German duo Milky Chance return with their third studio album on November 13. Their signature sound can only be described as part alternative rock, part reggae, part indie folk and part electronic, and Mind the Moon is set to bring out the best of this melting pot of genres. The first single from the album, ‘Daydreaming’, has already dropped and includes a sweet collab with queen of chillaxified jams Tash Sultana.

Celine Dion – Courage

November is looking fabulous as the pop-queen herself, Celine Dion, is set to release her first English album in six years. The release of Courage is sure to be absolute perfection as Dion received 48 song contenders for the album but has chosen the best 12. You can expect some new musical direction as well as some of Dion’s banging signature style from albums past. With an appearance from electropopper Sia, there’s lots of little surprises along the way. Fill that Celine void in your life when the album lands November 15.

Podcasts

How I Built This

Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger, the team behind Kiwi footwear start-up Allbirds, are among the founders of world-leading companies and brands who narrate their story in How I Built This, from NPR.

The Wild Podcast

Andy McDonald and Jonathan Carson hatched the idea to start a podcast about the outdoors while tramping in Kahurangi National Park. In each episode they talk to a fellow modern explorer about our wild places.