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I have become so accustomed to defining children’s or family films in this era as animated that when you come upon one that doesn’t fall into that easy definition it is a welcome shock to the system. The Legend of Ochi, premiering today in the Family Matinee section of the Sundance Film Festival, is a throwback, one of those films clearly inspired by more adventurous PG entertainments of the past and never talking down to its intended audience. As a result, the A24 release is a breath of fresh air and a stunning visual treat that will appeal well beyond the youngest members in the household.

With cinematic inspirations like The Black Stallion, My Neighbor Tortoro, Roald Dahl’s The Witches, Princess Mononoke and clearly Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, director/writer Isaiah Saxon, with his feature debut, has accomplished a striking bit of world-building,...

The story around Isaiah Saxon’s feature debut, “The Legend of Ochi,” took a drastic turn, as so many Hollywood stories did, with this month’s Los Angeles fires. Saxon lost his home in the blaze, and the film’s theatrical release was pushed back. However, having spent years developing and working on the fantasy feature, Saxon is standing steadfastly behind his film and will be present for its Sundance world premiere.

“The Legend of Ochi” is a throwback. Its aesthetics, fantasy elements and a blend of practical and digital effects will be instantly endearing to audiences of a certain age but are modern enough and so well executed as to attract younger audiences weaned on the vfx-heavy fare of more recent decades.

The film tells the story of Yuri, a shy farm in a remote village on the island of Carpathia. Born as the only child to a father who yearned for a son,...

Wicked transports audiences to the world of The Wizard of Oz, with Universal’s adaptation of the Broadway smash starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo hitting theaters Nov. 22. It’s certainly had a smoother road than 1985’s Return to Oz.

After winning a sound Oscar for Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, editor and sound designer Walter Murch was approached by Disney to discuss projects to direct. Murch expressed interest in an Oz story, and the studio was intrigued, as it owned the rights to author L. Frank Baum’s later novels The Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz, on which Return to Oz would be based.

A darker and non-musical follow-up to MGM’s 1939 classic, Return to Oz stars young Fairuza Balk as Dorothy, who is called back to the titular land that has been destroyed by the diabolical Nome King (Nicol Williamson) and Mombi (Jean Marsh). Here,...

A new episode of The Black Sheep video series has arrived online this morning, and with this one we’re looking back at one of the most fascinating “doomed productions” ever, the 1996 version of The Island of Dr. Moreau. (Watch the movie Here.) To find out why we think this one deserves more love than it gets, check out the video embedded above!

Based on an 1896 novel by H.G. Wells, the film was originally going to be directed by Richard Stanley, who was becoming a popular name in the horror genre at the time. Unfortunately, the production was a mess from the moment the cast and crew arrived on set. Stanley was fired, cast members quit, co-stars Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer exhibited strange behavior while dealing with tragedy and heartbreak. John Frankenheimer was brought on to replace Stanley at the helm, but he couldn’t save the sinking ship…...

Andrew Szusterman.

Andrew Szusterman will be the managing director of the Auckland-based South Pacific Pictures from February 2020.

Szusterman joins the company from Mediaworks, where has worked for the last 17 years, most recently as chief content officer, responsible for programming across the company’s TV, radio and digital platforms.

He will work with South Pacific Pictures’ CEO Kelly Martin and head of production Sally Campbell, bringing his knowledge of local and international audiences to the company.

“South Pacific Pictures are thrilled to have Andrew coming on board in 2020,” says Martin.

“He brings a wealth of experience and expertise, and we know he will be a huge asset to the company.”

Szusterman is looking forward to the new opportunity. “It’s great to be joining one of New Zealand’s most iconic film and television studios at such a vibrant time for the production community,” he says.

“Working with Kelly and the...

Matt Nable in ‘The Sounds’. (Photo: South Pacific Pictures).

AMC-owned streamer Acorn TV has secured a new distribution deal with ABC Commercial for a significant range of local content for its Anz-based subscription service, and has partnered with Sky Nz to commission Kiwi thriller The Sounds.

The new ABC agreement will include Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Jungle Entertainment’s A Moody Christmas and The Moodys. The agreement also lists UK productions Kingdom, Shameless and made for television film, Churchill’s Secret. All ABC content in the agreement will be available to stream in locally September and October.

ABC Commercial has been a founding content partner for Acorn TV, which re-launched in 2018 in North America and recently hit the 1 million subscribers.

“ABC content resonates with Acorn’s core audience, so we are extremely happy to build on our partnership and see more of the ABC’s world-class list...

AMC Networks-owned streamer Acorn TV, Kiwi pay-tv platform Sky Nz, and Canadian pubcaster CBC are tuning into “The Sounds,” an original thriller set on New Zealand’s South Island.

The eight-parter will star Rachelle Lefevre (“Under the Dome”) and Matt Whelan (“Narcos”) as a couple who move to Marlborough Sounds to start a new life. When Tom disappears, unsettling facts about him soon come to light, and the search brings long-buried wounds to the surface.

Matt Nable (“Arrow”) will co-star. The cast also includes Emily Piggford (“The Girlfriend Experience”), Peter Elliott (“Tarzan”), Anna-Maree Thomas (“The Brokenwood Mysteries”), and Vanessa Rare (“Last Man Standing”).

All3Media’s New Zealand production company South Pacific Pictures and Toronto-based Shaftesbury are co-producing the show, which will bow in 2020. The project was created by bestselling author Sarah-Kate Lynch, who is also the lead writer on the series. Peter Stebbings (“Wynonna Earp”) will direct.

Acorn has rights in the U.

If I was disappointed with Jurassic Park, there was no reason for me to be hopeful about Congo. I didn’t even like the book of the latter as much as I did the dino novel, but I guess I believed it wouldn’t take as much to be faithful to Michael Crichton’s 1980 ape-filled adventure story. To me, at that time in my life, retaining and translating everything from page to screen was important. And given all that was altered in the adaptation for the worse, I would remain in that camp for a few more years. There are a lot of things that make Congo one of the most awful movies ever made, but the thing that’s always been a clincher for me is the portrayal of Amy the Gorilla. I didn’t really mind that it was a person in a costume, especially since there wasn’t much better in the movies to...

Top 10 Ryan Lambie 12 Nov 2013 - 07:05

The 1986 monster sequel King Kong Lives was a flop for producer Dino De Laurentiis, but a source of remarkable details for us...

Producer Dino De Laurentiis assembled an all-star cast and gathered a colossal budget for his 1976 remake of King Kong. Once again a story about a giant ape transported to New York and running amok, the 1976 King Kong overcame its production difficulties - including a malfunctioning 40ft tall mechanical ape designed by Carlo Rambaldi - and became a sizeable hit.

A decade later, De Laurentiis decided that it was finally time to make a sequel to King Kong, and brought back director John Guillermin (not to mention a much smaller budget of $10m) to make King Kong Lives. Unfortunately, by the middle of the 80s, nobody seemed to be particularly keen on seeing another giant ape movie - especially one full of countryside...

Carole Jahme talks to Peter Elliott about his study of chimp behaviour and how it landed him some top Hollywood roles

Ever wondered how movie directors achieve those intimate shots of actors cosying up to apes? Sigourney Weaver managed several close encounters in Gorillas in the Mist, so did Rene Russo in Buddy, and Christopher Lambert made perfect contact in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes. Adult gorillas and chimpanzees have a talent for carnage, and prized actors frolicking with real apes is an insurer's nightmare. Enter ape actor, Peter Elliott. For it was Elliott, in animated ape costume, who got to gaze adoringly at Weaver and Russo. Elliott has also choreographed hominids and played one in Jean-Jacques Annaud's 1981 film Quest for Fire.

Before Hugh Hudson's Greystoke in 1979, the apes used in movies were all youngsters. Hudson wanted his chimps to be the size of adult chimps,...