TV Movie Guide: 15 – 21 February

• Audio Description (AD) available for The Fighter and Rurangi
  
• Closed Captions (CC) available for Rurangi, Take Heart: Deadly Heart and Tanna
  

 

WEDNESDAY 15 FEBRUARY

Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes
9:30pm, NITV

G
Switzerland, UK, USA, 2019
Genre: Documentary, Music
Language: English
Director: Sophie Huber
Featuring: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Norah Jones, John Coltrane, Miles Davis
What’s it about?
Explore the vision behind the iconic American jazz record label. Since 1939, Blue Note artists have been encouraged to push creative boundaries in search of uncompromising expressions. Through current recording sessions, rare archive and conversations with iconic Blue Note artists, the film reveals an intimate perspective of a legacy that continues to be vital in today’s political climate.

The Fighter
10:25pm, SBS VICELAND

MA15+, AD
USA, 2011
Genre: Drama, Biography, Sport
Language: English
Director: David O. Russell
Starring: Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Melissa Leo, Amy Adams
What’s it about?
Boxer “Irish” Micky Ward (Wahlberg) travels an unlikely road to the world light welterweight title. His Rocky-like rise is shepherded by half-brother Dicky (Bale), a boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded in life after nearly being KO’d by drugs and crime. Directed by David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, Three Kings) and winner of two Academy Awards for Best Actor (Bale) and Actress (Leo) in a Supporting Role.

 

THURSDAY 16 FEBRUARY

Welcome to Woop Woop
9:30pm, NITV

MA15+
Australia, 1997
Genre: Comedy
Language: English
Director: Stephan Elliott
Starring: Johnathon Schaech, Susie Porter, Rod Taylor
What’s it about?
A bird smuggler (Schaech) flees New York for Australia and ends up shackled and married to a voracious sex kitten (Porter), in outback Woop Woop. He encounters a community run by Daddy-O (Taylor) with an iron fist – usually around a cold tinny of XXXX. Writer-director Stephan Elliott’s follow-up to The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert.

 

FRIDAY 17 FEBRUARY

Belle and Sebastian
7:30pm, NITV (repeats 10:40am, Saturday 18 February)

PG
France, 2013
Genre: Adventure
Language: German, French
Director: Nicolas Vanier
Starring: Tcheky Karyo, Felix Bossuet, Margaux Chatelier, Dimitri Storoge
What’s it about?
Six-year-old Sebastian (Bossuet) lives on the mountainside with a kindly but gruff caretaker (Karyo) and no real family of his own. As such he is left to his own devices and is often found roaming the countryside. Belle is a wild mountain dog who has escaped from her cruel owner. When Sebastian first crosses paths with Belle, he must keep their new friendship a secret.

 

SATURDAY 18 FEBRUARY

The Orator
8:30pm, NITV

PG
Samoa, 2011
Genre: Drama
Language: Samoan
Director: Tusi Tamasese
Starring: Fiaula Sanote, Ioata Tanielu, Salamasina Mataia, Tausili Pushparaj, Fa’afiaula Sagote
What’s it about?
Small in stature and humble, Saili (Sanote) lives a simple life with his beloved wife and daughter in an isolated, traditional village in the islands of Samoa. Forced to protect his land and family, Saili must face his fears and seek the right to speak up for those he loves. The Orator is the first-ever Samoan language feature film.

Constantine
10:00pm, SBS VICELAND

MA15+
USA, 2005
Genre: Fantasy, Action, Horror
Language: English
Director: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Djimon Hounsou, Tilda Swinton
What’s it about?
John Constantine (Reeves) has literally been to Hell and back. When he teams up with a policewoman to solve the mysterious suicide of her twin sister, their investigation takes them through the world of demons and angels that exists beneath the landscape of contemporary Los Angeles.

 

SUNDAY 19 FEBRUARY

The Wrecking Crew
8:45pm, NITV (repeats 12:00pm, Monday 20 February)

PG
USA, 2008
Genre: Music, Documentary
Language: English
Director: Denny Tedesco
Featuring: Lou Adler, Herb Alpert, Hal Blaine, Glen Campbell, Al Casey, Cher, Dick Clark
What’s it about?
A celebration of the musical work of a group of session musicians known as “The Wrecking Crew.” a band that provided back-up instrumentals to such legendary recording artists as Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, and Bing Crosby.

Rurangi
10:30pm, NITV

M, AD, CC
New Zealand, 2020
Genre: Drama
Language: English, Maori
Director: Max Currie
Starring: Elz Carrad, Arlo Green, Āwhina-Rose Henare Ashby, Kirk Torrance, Aroha Rawson
What’s it about?
After skipping town a decade ago, transgender activist Caz Davis returns to the remote, politically divided dairy community of Rurangi, hoping to reconnect with his estranged father, who hasn’t heard from him since before Caz transitioned.

 

MONDAY 21 FEBRUARY

Take Heart: Deadly Heart
9:30pm, NITV (repeats 11:50am, Tuesday 22 February)

M, CC
Australia, 2022
Genre: Documentary
Language: English
Narrator: Stan Grant
What’s it about?
Tells the story of how remote Aboriginal communities across the top end of Australia are adopting innovative strategies to eliminate Rheumatic Heart Disease, which mainly affects Indigenous Australians. Appallingly, the infection rate is amongst the highest in the world.

 

TUESDAY 22 FEBRUARY

Tanna
10:00pm, NITV

M, CC
Australia, Vanuatu, 2015
Genre: Romance, Drama
Language: Bislama
Director: Bentley Dean, Martin Butler
Starring: Mungau Dain, Marie Wawa, Marceline Rofit, Kapan Cook, Charlie Kahla, Lingai Kowia
What’s it about?
Set on a remote South Pacific island, covered in rain forest and dominated by an active volcano, this heartfelt story tells of a forbidden love affair and the pact between the old ways and the new. Based on a true story and performed by the people of Yakel in Vanuatu. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2017.