Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) - Dynamite duo lead Waititi's break-out crowd-pleaser

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+ Best Adventure Comedy of the Year + Best Family Movie of the Year + Best New Zealand Movie of the Year 

 

A wide variety of elements are placed in and around a big bush that the two leads stand in front of on this infectious poster for Taika Waititi's Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Ricky Baker is an orphan and a rebel boy, who is placed with a married couple in New Zealand's bush land, but when their situation there alters, the authorities want to move the boy again ...

 

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is written, co-produced and directed by great New Zealander filmmaker Taika Waititi (Eagle vs Shark (2007)), who also has a part in the film, with Tearepa Kahi (Taua (2007, short)). It is an adaptation of Barry Crump's (Song of a Drifter (1996)) novel Wild Pork and Watercress (1986).

Waititi has created a true favorite and winner here, a heart-warming, very vivid and uplifting film with a light approach to life. The charismatic firecracker Julian Dennison (Deadpool 2 (2018)) as Ricky Baker exceeds all expectations. Sam Neill (The Piano (1993)) is splendid as uncle Herc, and several of the scenes that the two share are pure gold. In smaller roles Rhys Darby (Wild Life (2020, TV-series)) shines as Psycho Sam, and Rachel House (Millie Lies Low (2021)) as the child welfare worker and Oscar Kightley (Moana (2016)) as her sidekick Andy the police officer, - as well as Waititi himself in the part as the minister, - are hilarious, the latter in the film's funeral scene.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople has an inspired score (by Lukasz Pawel Buda, Samuel Scott and Conrad Wedde (Boy (2010), all)) and musical choices, a wild boar attack with impressively good-looking effects, and lots of breathtaking wild nature and photography (by Lachlan Milne (Minari (2020))), which also makes the film a great nature-lover's pleasure. This is a must-see.

 

Related posts:

Taika Waititi: The day after ... the 2020 Oscars 

2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2017 in films - according to Film Excess 

Thor: Ragnarok (2017) - Waititi injects franchise with a colorful, 1980s-infatuated, fun-filled blast 

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Eagle vs Shark (2007) - Waititi's witty if flawed debut

Flight of the Conchords - season 1 (2007) - Oddball musical comedy with NZ favorites a hit 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 4.5 mil. NZ$, approximately 2.8 mil. $

Box office: 23.9 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 8.53 times the cost)

[Hunt for the Wilderpeople was released 22 January (Brazil + Sundance Film Festival) and runs 101 minutes. Waititi began working on his adaptation in 2005. 2 mil. NZ$ of the film's budget was from the New Zealand Film Commission. Shooting took place around June 2015 in New Zealand. The film opened #33 to a 78k $ first weekend in 5 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #15 and in 200 theaters (different weeks), grossing 5.2 mil. $ (21.8 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 3rd biggest market. Its two biggest were Australia with 8.3 mil. $ (34.7 %) and New Zealand with 8.1 mil. $ (33.9 %). The film was the first local film to gross more than 1 mil. NZ$ in its opening film and is the highest-grossing New Zealand film to date. Waititi returned with Team Thor (2016, video), Team Thor: Part 2 (2017, video) and theatrically with Thor: Ragnarok (2017). Neill returned in Tommy's Honour (2016); Dennison in Love and Time Travel (2016). Hunt for the Wilderpeople is certified fresh at 97 % with a 7.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hunt for the Wilderpeople?

Flight of the Conchords - season 1 (2007) - Oddball musical comedy with NZ favorites a hit

♥♥♥♥

+ Best Musical Comedy of the Year + Best New TV-Series of the Year

Leads Brett and Jemaine resemble bobbleheads dumped out of the sky on this appropriate poster for season 1 of James Bobin, Jemaine Clement and Brett McKenzie's Flight of the Conchords

Duo band mates and best friends Jemaine and Brett are New Zealander expats in New York City, where they attempt to make it big with their odd folk rock group Flight of the Conchords. - Largely without luck, and their life is marred by humorous poverty, as when Jemaine decides to move out of their shared apartment, - and into a cleaning closet (episode 5: Sally Returns).

Flight of the Conchords is created by James Bobin (Muppets Most Wanted (2014), director) and stars Brett McKenzie (Austenland (2013), actor) and Jemaine Clement (Divorce (2016, TV-series), who play fictionalized versions of themselves.
Kristen Schaal (The Hotwives of Orlando (2014, TV-series)) is a hilarious find as the group's married, loony and only die-hard fan.
The show also relies on a very varying bag of comedic songs, often based solidly in the creators strong preference for very obscure topics to riff on, black comedy style. There are wonderful reggae and synth-based songs,
The male-centered, nerdy-black humor sometimes nears the edge of what is still actually funny for other, not New Zealander people, (as in episode 7: Drive By, where the pair face a racist fruit-seller in Aziz Ansari (Funny People (2009))), and the series does tire a bit in energy and ideas during its run, (it begins to be felt around episode 9: What Goes on Tour.) The last episode (12: The Third Conchord) features the Conchords splitting up for a short while to work with two other musicians, who are regrettably so irritating that they dispel most of the fun. - Though McKenzie does an 'angry dance solo', which makes up some for it.
Flight of the Conchords delights as a quirky cultural comedy filled with moments of absurdity, deadpan and verbal comedy, served with an infectious enthusiasm and charming eye-twinkling. 

Best episodes:

1: Sally - Written by Bobin, Clement, McKenzie; directed by Bobin
Brett and Jemaine attend a party, where Jemaine flirts with Sally, who is Brett's ex. After a hilarious double date, she decides to end things prematurely. Featuring uproarious songs of weeping and a future with robots, which is the song used for the band's first music video.

3. Mugged - Written by Bobin, Clement, McKenzie; directed by Bobin
Brett flees, when he and Jemaine get mugged, while Jemaine winds up in jail together with the good-natured mugger for a couple of days. The Conchords sing of the tough life in the streets and finally reconcile with the mugger.

8: Girlfriends - Written by Eric Kaplan (Young Sheldon (2018-19)); directed by Bobin
Jemaine and Brett find a couple of dames out on the town, and Brett scores one of them only to find that she is only out for sex! Traditional gender roles are reversed, as he is rudely discarded. Conchords manager Murray Hewitt (Rhys Darby (A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017, TV-series))) has 2,500 CD's made by "Quincy Jones' brother", which turn out to be mostly sawdust. Hilarious.

10. New Fans - Written by Duncan Sarkies (Scarfies (1999)); directed by Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows (2014))
The Conchords play a world music gig and find two new fans, who they bring to a dinner at super-fan Mel's place, which develops into an LSD night that ends in a seemingly failed threesome. Sidesplitting fun.

11. The Actor - Written by Damon Beesley, Iain Morris (The Inbetweeners Movie (2011), both); directed by Michael Patrick Jann (Atypical (2017, TV-series))

The band hire a dry-cleaner/actor to cheer up manager Murray, who responds by giving the stranger a 2 mil. $ record deal, thus again losing lots of money. With Lord of the Rings-themed song. Very funny.

Related post:

2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

Get an idea of what the show is and who Brett and Jemaine are from this trailer for the first season

Cost: Unknown - reportedly very low
Box office: None - TV-series
= Uncertain
[Flight of the Conchords originally aired from 17 June - 2 September on HBO, lasting 12 episodes of around 26 minutes, totaling ca. 312 minutes. It is based on the Conchords' same-titled 2005 BBC radio series. Shooting took place in New York. IMDb users have rated the show so highly, it currently sits at #133 on its TV Top 250, between Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-06) and Yes Minister (1980-84). The show returned after a prolonged break with season 2 in January 2009. Clement returned in Eagle vs Shark (2007), McKenzie in Pantsed (2008, short) and The Drinky Crow Show (2008, TV-series), also with Clement. Flight of the Conchords season 1 is certified fresh at 95 % with an 8.12/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Flight of the Conchords season 1?