Latest news with #TheSurfer
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Screentime: Conan O'Brien Must Go, The Surfer, Mountainhead,
Photo: IMDb Film and TV correspondent Tom Augustine joins Kathryn to look at New Zealand's part in Conan O'Brien Must Go , the new incarnation of horror flick Final Destination , Nicolas Cage's performance in mind-bending Aussie thriller The Surfer , tech-bro series Mountainhead and new Kiwi series The Sender . Tom Augustine is a Tāmaki based filmmaker and critic. He writes for Rialto Channel's View Magazine and Metro Magazine. Tom is the co-programmer of the Capitol Cinema Film Club, which shows rare and underseen gems from throughout cinema history monthly
Perth Now
a day ago
- Business
- Perth Now
WA's film and TV production boom is set to continue
The screen production boom looks set to continue in WA, after the State's peak funding body, Screenwest, announced on Monday the nation's richest incentive of its kind for filmmakers. The Cook Government can't afford for its ballyhooed Malaga film studio to become a white elephant, but attracting productions to the West depends less on facilities — there are already well-established options in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria — and more on the bottom line for studios. In a tacit acknowledgement of this fact, Screenwest has boosted its post-production rebate scheme, which had previously been capped at 10 per cent of qualifying expenditure for productions with budgets over $500,000. From July 1, the rebate, which is funded by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, will increase to 20 per cent, doubling the payments made to eligible bigger-budget projects for post-production, digital and visual effects carried out in WA. The new rebate is in addition to a 30 per cent post-production Federal Government offset for productions of at least $500,000. Studios spread post-production work around the globe to chase the most attractive incentives, which is why you'll see VicScreen and the South Australian Film Corporation listed in the closing credits of even the biggest Marvel movies. The increased WA incentive should see the Screenwest logo appear more frequently in the credits now, but the funding body's chief executive Rikki Lea Bestall said it's about something more than brand recognition. The second season of The Twelve. Credit: Binge 'This is . . . squarely aimed at encouraging more post-production projects to Western Australia to do business with our skilled practitioners, from editors to sound designers, VFX artists and animators,' Ms Bestall said. 'WA has a steady pipeline of scripted and documentary productions, which are being filmed on-location and in studios across our state, and that is only going to increase next year when the Perth Film Studios open in Malaga. 'But many of these projects take the next phase of their production elsewhere. We want to make sure our State is being considered as a good place to do business for all facets of screen production.' Nicolas Cage in The Surfer. Credit: Madman The WA economy received nearly $65 million worth of screen production expenditure in the past financial year, up from $41.5 million the previous year. Productions brought to WA by existing incentives in the past financial year included Season 2 of The Twelve, starring Sam Neill, and The Surfer, starring Nicolas Cage, which can currently be seen in cinemas.
West Australian
3 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Screenwest lures film and TV projects to the West with Australia's richest post-production screen incentive
The screen production boom looks set to continue in WA, after the State's peak funding body, Screenwest, announced on Monday the nation's richest incentive of its kind for filmmakers. The Cook Government can't afford for its ballyhooed Malaga film studio to become a white elephant, but attracting productions to the West depends less on facilities — there are already well-established options in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria — and more on the bottom line for studios. In a tacit acknowledgement of this fact, Screenwest has boosted its post-production rebate scheme, which had previously been capped at 10 per cent of qualifying expenditure for productions with budgets over $500,000. From July 1, the rebate, which is funded by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, will increase to 20 per cent, doubling the payments made to eligible bigger-budget projects for post-production, digital and visual effects carried out in WA. The new rebate is in addition to a 30 per cent post-production Federal Government offset for productions of at least $500,000. Studios spread post-production work around the globe to chase the most attractive incentives, which is why you'll see VicScreen and the South Australian Film Corporation listed in the closing credits of even the biggest Marvel movies. The increased WA incentive should see the Screenwest logo appear more frequently in the credits now, but the funding body's chief executive Rikki Lea Bestall said it's about something more than brand recognition. 'This is . . . squarely aimed at encouraging more post-production projects to Western Australia to do business with our skilled practitioners, from editors to sound designers, VFX artists and animators,' Ms Bestall said. 'WA has a steady pipeline of scripted and documentary productions, which are being filmed on-location and in studios across our state, and that is only going to increase next year when the Perth Film Studios open in Malaga. 'But many of these projects take the next phase of their production elsewhere. We want to make sure our State is being considered as a good place to do business for all facets of screen production.' The WA economy received nearly $65 million worth of screen production expenditure in the past financial year, up from $41.5 million the previous year. Productions brought to WA by existing incentives in the past financial year included Season 2 of The Twelve, starring Sam Neill, and The Surfer, starring Nicolas Cage, which can currently be seen in cinemas.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Nicolas Cage Thriller ‘The Surfer' Arrives On Streaming This Week
Nicolas Cage in "The Surfer." The Surfer — an acclaimed psychological thriller starring Nicolas Cage — is new on digital streaming this week. Directed by Lorcan Finnegan, The Surfer opened in theaters in limited release on May 2. The official summary for the film reads, 'A man (Cage) returns to the idyllic beach of his childhood to surf with his son (Finn Little). But his desire to hit the waves is thwarted by a group of locals whose mantra is, 'Don't live here, don't surf here.' "Humiliated and angry, the man is drawn into a conflict that keeps rising in concert with the punishing heat of the summer and pushes him to his breaking point.' Rated R, The Surfer also stars Julian McMahon, Nic Cassim, Miranda Tapsell, Alexander Bertrand and Justin Rosniak. The Surfer is expected to arrive on digital streaming via premium video on demand on Friday, June 6, per When to Stream. While the streaming tracker is typically accurate with its PVOD reports, it noted that The Surfer's studio, Roadside Attractions, and distributor, Lionsgate, have not announced or confirmed the release date of the film and it is subject to change. The Surfer will be available on such digital platforms as Apple TV, Fandango at Home, Prime Video and YouTube. The film will be available for digital purchase for $14.99 and since digital rentals are typically $5 less, viewers can expect to rent the film for $9.99 for 48 hours. In an interview with Nerdist prior to the release of The Surfer, Nicolas Cage said one of the elements of the film that piqued his interest was its unique story. 'When I read this script, I thought, 'Well, this is different. This is weird. This is the kind of story I aspire to write.' It was a non-linear narrative. I couldn't believe the whole thing took place on a beach in a parking lot. That was new,' Cage told Nerdist. 'And the more I do this, the more I want to find expressions in cinema that are unlike other things that we kind of become bored with. I wanted to find a new way of storytelling.' The Surfer has earned $1.3 million from North American theaters and more than $800,000 internationally for a worldwide box office tally of $2.1 million to date. Production budget information for The Surfer was not disclosed. The Surfer earned a collective 86% 'fresh' rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics based on 154 reviews. The RT Critics Consensus reads, 'Nicolas Cage expertly rides the waves of toxic masculinity in this sand-filled arena of torment.' Audiences on RT thought differently of The Surfer, though, giving the film a 'rotten' 46% Popcornmeter score based on 250-plus verified user ratings. The Surfer, starring Nicolas Cage, is expected to arrive on PVOD on Friday.
The Age
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
Sick puppy: Is Australian cinema on its last legs?
Australian cinema has always been an up-and-down affair in terms of quality and box office, with our share ranging from 23.5 per cent in 1986 to 2 per cent in 2023. And, of course, the global spectacles of Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge, Australia, The Great Gatsby, Elvis) and George Miller (the Mad Max, Babe and Happy Feet franchises) have existed in a realm that you would barely call Australian films. But I cannot recall a time when Australian movies have generated so little interest, with the latest batch of releases — Magic Beach, The Lost Tiger, Spit and The Correspondent — barely registering on the consciousness of local filmgoers, despite stars such as David Wenham and Richard Roxburgh touring the country, attending previews and Q&A sessions and appearing on television and radio talk shows. The most vivid example of the lack of engagement Australian audiences have with their own cinema is the WA-set The Surfer, a Wake in Fright -inspired freak-out in which Nicolas Cage's increasingly frazzled businessman tangles with xenophobic surfers fighting to stop him from buying a beachside home. Even though The Surfer features an Oscar-winning movie legend whose arrival in Yallingup whipped up global Instagram interest and was rapturously received at the Cannes Film Festival, it went out on just 76 screens in Australia — Hoyts and Event Cinema are not even bothering — which means it was destined to attract only a tiny audience. While the loss of interest in Australian cinema is in lockstep with the demise of non-blockbuster movies across the globe caused by the COVID lockdown and, more significantly, the proliferation of streaming, that decline is more keenly felt here than in other territories because of our size and total immersion in American popular culture. Every now and then an Oz movie will conquer the world and fill us with pride. We all beamed with pride as George Miller's Fury Road leaped to the top of the lists of the greatest action films ever made. But the default source for big-screen entertainment in Australia is Hollywood, which is why both our film and television industry have been swamped by the streaming tsunami. Does it matter that audiences are no longer seeing movies on the big screen? The Surfer will soon be on Stan, where it will be watched by many more people, here and around the world, than during its brief window at the cinemas. What it means is that Australian movies are no longer part of the conversation as they were during the 1970s, when films such as Newsfront, Picnic At Hanging Rock and The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith were integral to our national cultural revival, or the early 90s, with that explosion of lurid comedies (Muriel's Wedding, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, Strictly Ballroom) that turned our passion for kitsch into a badge of honour. Even if a movie does get a screening it is quickly sucked into the streaming vortex, joining the dozens of series that simply never get talked about, even if they are high quality. I recently asked a group at a lecture I was giving if they had heard of the recent WA-made series Scrublands. They looked at each other, then at me with a deep sense of confusion, as if I was asking them if they had seen a black-and-white Hungarian art movie from the 1930s instead of a television series based on a popular novel and shot in Augusta. How little cultural impact Australian film and television makes once it enters the streaming black hole can be measured by Kurzel's The Narrow Road to the Deep North. Despite being one of the best dramas in memory, and based on a celebrated novel, it has barely been discussed. Here in WA the situation is even more dire, with the cross-border cultural cringe so intense that we get ignored by the country. Dirt Music, The Furnace, Sweet As, Blueback, Kid Snow, H is For Happiness – all major disappointments. Even David Vincent Smith's stunning He Ain't Heavy — for my money the best-ever film produced in WA — made pennies at the box office. Ironically, the decline in interest in Australian movies comes at a time when we are in the final stages of building a long dreamed-about movie studio in Malaga. Its purpose is to attract major productions from overseas (movies and television series) so that local talent can learn from the big boys and bring those skills to bear on their own productions. How will it look when we have a state-of-the-art movie filmmaking facility welcoming lavishly funded productions from around the world when our own films play to near empty cinemas? Loading Unless something is done about Australian cinema we risk looking like an offshore factory for Hollywood, a place that provides labor but none of the artistry and ideas. Or am I writing off Oz movies too quickly? Have we lost interest in Australian movies or are Australian filmmakers not giving us the kind of rich, full-blooded narratives that are entertaining as they are culturally relevant, as we have done at points in our history? Australian filmmakers need to once again make the kinds of movies that still audience who are still going to see sophisticated non-blockbuster films from the United States and Europe, such Conclave and A Complete Unknown, two hugely entertaining movies with a lot on their minds that managed to lure viewers off couches and into cinemas and take part in a conversation.
