Auteur House

Auteur House Hamilton's Premiere Independent DVD rental store!

Today's obituary in the Waikato Times is my final one. It has been a privilege to celebrate some of the lives of those ...
25/09/2026

Today's obituary in the Waikato Times is my final one. It has been a privilege to celebrate some of the lives of those in the region for the last five years and often a very satisfying and fulfilling experience as well, especially on those occasions when a good rapport was established with the family of the deceased.

Unfortunately, I made an unforgivable error in a recent obituary that, taken together with earlier mistakes and the stresses involved in the process, led to my decision to resign. Those with better time management and interpersonal relationship skills than I may well find the challenges of a weekly obituary comparatively easy. For me it was taxing and there were all too obvious consequences.

That said, I found it particularly cathartic to write the obituaries of friends and acquaintances. It was an especial honour to celebrate the lives and noteworthy achievements of Frank Bailey, Norman Simms, Geoff Lealand, Dean Ballinger, Lester Davey, Doug Wright, Martin Fisher, Terry Bishop, Bill Lindberg, Don Grigg and Stan Jones.

I did not know Brian Sherborne personally. A soldier and veteran of the Malayan conflict, he was employed at the Ministry of Works and its post-Rogernomics equivalent for almost 40 years and thereafter made a meaningful contribution to the Hamilton RSA. His is a good, rich life to end on: not a person of public deeds and widespread recognition, more a pragmatic, hard-working family man, who just got on with things but had an awful lot of fun along the way.

My favourite film screened during the Hamilton expression of the New Zealand International Film Festival was Rose of Nev...
23/09/2026

My favourite film screened during the Hamilton expression of the New Zealand International Film Festival was Rose of Nevada (2025). Quite apart from its atmospherics and structural strengths, the folk horror or folk fantasy set on the Cornish coast, in a small fishing village, was a fascinating piece of formal film making. Director/co-writer Mark Jenkin also served as cinematographer and editor as well as personally developing the 16mm film stock on which he shot and supervising the post-synchronised soundtrack.

For those sensitive to such things this was more than mere gimmick. The actual film grammar - the combination and juxtaposition of images by which the story was told - owed something to silent cinema, not least that of Eisenstein.

Rose of Nevada is actually the concluding film in Jenkin's Cornwall trilogy. The opening instalment, Bait (2019), has long been stocked by Auteur House and today we take receipt of the middle film, Enys Men (2022), in a dual disk edition with options to watch on DVD or Blu-Ray.

I have yet to have the opportunity to watch myself but this is certainly a case of an auteur's reputation preceding him. Given his multiple skill-set, few if any filmmakers in the world could challenge Jenkin in terms of style and world view, let alone technique. An IMDB rating of 5.6 aside - there are a lot of cine-illiterates out there - this 1970s set folk horror could not promise more.

Steven Spielberg's return to science fiction, almost a half century after he popularised close alien encounters of a cer...
22/09/2026

Steven Spielberg's return to science fiction, almost a half century after he popularised close alien encounters of a certain kind, was not universally praised but at least connected the filmmaker which a much larger audience than he had enjoyed since his last foray into the genre, Ready Player One (2018).

If Disclosure Day (2026) is indisputably wedded to late 20th century sci fi tropes and ideas about pop culture - the centrality of television, for one thing - there is much to enjoy: most of the performances, Emily Blunt in particular, an unexpectedly subtle score from 94 year old John Williams and set pieces that don't feel like set pieces, growing more organically out of the material, like a Hitchcock movie. Whilst the religious subplot failed to convert this non-believer there was at least some pleasure in seeing Eve Hewson as a fallen nun.

Thanks to Lee Dyer, Auteur House stocks Disclosure Day on both DVD and Blu-ray.

Two recent additions to Auteur House New Release section reflect polar opposites of contemporary cinema.Both F1: The Mov...
20/09/2026

Two recent additions to Auteur House New Release section reflect polar opposites of contemporary cinema.

Both F1: The Movie (2025) and Sirat (2025) attracted attention from the Academy at the 98th Oscars earlier this year, one the very definition of "popcorn entertainment" the other edgy, if not experimental, a gripping narrative whose the end point remains unknown until the last.

Formulaic Hollywood entertainment, when done with style and on a grand scale, can be fun, especially if harnessing a veteran star like Brad Pitt. Older men redeeming themselves, mentoring young hotshots. Cars driven fast. Macho posing. It's more of a miracle that Jerry Bruckheimer is still alive than that this kind of stuff - produced by him since the 1980s - continues to attract audiences.

Sirat, set largely in the Moroccan desert, could be mistaken for another apocalyptic thriller, yet its tale of a father and son looking for a daughter and sister amongst rave music freaks, whilst the wider world apparently descends into international conflict, has a vibe all its own. Will anyone get out alive? Kudos for the use of cast of nonprofessional performers, ones which seem at least to hail directly from this subculture.

Did Gerry Marsden have car trouble in Matamata in early September, 1964? This intriguing possibility is the basis for a...
18/09/2026

Did Gerry Marsden have car trouble in Matamata in early September, 1964? This intriguing possibility is the basis for and spine of today's Waikato Times history column as I discuss two touring shows from earlier that year, neither of them the famous Beatles concerts of June.

It always astonishes me that the likes of Gerry and the Pacemakers, Roy Orbison, Gene Pitney, Dusty Springfield and The Beach Boys toured together in that era, offering the likes of Invercargill and - on occasion - Hamilton a taste of the international hit parade. Not all were receptive, as any who might be inspired to negotiate the pay wall can discover for themselves.

Accessed directly via the Waikato Times website. Link provided as a guide only - clicking on it may provide inconsistent results.

James Whale is today remembered by a wider public for two things. Firstly, as the inspired director of the initial inst...
17/09/2026

James Whale is today remembered by a wider public for two things. Firstly, as the inspired director of the initial instalments in Universal's Frankenstein cycle, the ones with Boris Karloff and iconic makeup that has come to transcend Mary Shelley's writing in representations of the titular scientist's monster. Bride of Frankenstein (1935) is Whale's masterpiece, a blend of stylish horror, wit, gentle-self parody, poignancy and a touch of eroticism.

Whale's name also got a boost decades after his death with the release of the largely fictionalised biographical drama, Gods and Monsters (1998). Ian McKellen gave an Oscar-worthy performance as the melancholy, retired filmmaker who becomes fixated on his gardener. It's a fine movie, one that stands up to multiple viewings.

Whale himself, as Gods and Monsters makes clear, resented that his reputation had been reduced to that of Shelley's adaptator. A new Blu-Ray box set, compiling four films he directed between 1932 and 1940, amply demonstrates the point.

The Old Dark House (1932), the best known of these, is a hugely atmospheric comic horror, based loosely on a J.B. Priestley novel, an early showcase for the enormous talents of Charles Laughton. This title is offered in both Blu-Ray and 4K and will eventually take its place in our new 4K section; the print contains some extra material not seen in earlier DVD releases.

The Kiss Before the Mirror (1933) is an equally stylish thriller, also featuring an actress whom Whale cast repeatedly in this era, Gloria Stuart, who would be rediscovered by a much later generation some 64 years later as "Old Rose" in Titanic (1997).

The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), as its name implies, is an adaptation of the Dumas novel, if heavily influenced by Douglas Fairbanks' version, The Iron Mask (1929), from a decade earlier. Some felt Whale's film suffered in comparison but many of its artistic choices concerning how to tame unwieldy material were themselves repeated by later movie makers.

Finally, Green Hell (1940), Whale's penultimate feature, is a handsomely mounted "jungle picture" with Fairbanks' son Doug, Jr. in the lead and the young Vincent Price amongst the supporting cast.

Green Hell has a somewhat notorious reputation, known for its stiffness and cliches and its failure no doubt contributed to Whale's early retirement. However, it does have the makings of a guilty pleasure!

Auteur House is once again indebted to Lee Dyer for the donation of these films, which will be hired out individually. We also stock all the other titles referenced above, on both DVD and Blu-Ray.

Bill Murray falls into that select category of stars that seldom get leading parts commensurate to their talents. Sure,...
17/09/2026

Bill Murray falls into that select category of stars that seldom get leading parts commensurate to their talents. Sure, everyone remembers Lost in Translation (2003) and Groundhog Day (1993), he made a good Steve Zissou in the largest of the many roles written for him by Wes Anderson and I was much amused as a youngster by Stripes (1981).

What else? What About Bob (1991)? Get Low (2009)? Pretty good films, I grant you. But the one leading role of substance that is often overlooked is Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers (2005). As the wealthy retiree looking up old girlfriends whilst in search of the teenage son he never knew he had, Murray has a deadpan field day.

Frankly, I'm not a huge Jarmusch fan. However, Broken Flowers is a personal favourite amongst his work, with a female supporting cast of the first rank, Sharon Stone, Jessica Lange, Tilda Swinton and Julie Delpy among them.

The film has been acquired this week by Auteur House on Blu-Ray. Recommended.

A few weeks ago Lee Dyer made a donation to Auteur House of such magnitude that words fail me. Selected works by Akira ...
13/09/2026

A few weeks ago Lee Dyer made a donation to Auteur House of such magnitude that words fail me.

Selected works by Akira Kurosawa were given the 4K restoration treatment last year and have been issued in two separate box sets, one Blu-Ray, one 4K. The former collects these films in one box and will be rented out collectively, truly a $10 weekly bargain given there are 8 titles in all.

The 4K box set enables individual hiring. It means that Auteur House now has the following films on the higher definition format: Ikiru (1952), Seven Samurai (1954), Throne of Blood (1957), The Hidden Fortress (1958), Yojimbo (1961), Sanjuro (1962) and High and Low (1963). Additionally, Red Beard (1965) and the 2002 documentary series about Kurosawa, It is Wonderful to Create, featuring late interviews with the master, are available on Blu-Ray individually, as well as within the aforementioned box set.

The films themselves require no embellishment from my humble words. The donation, however, needs public acknowledgement. Thank you, Lee.

Auteur House will not open this morning until after the Baltimore extravaganza has concluded.I wanted to illustrate this...
12/09/2026

Auteur House will not open this morning until after the Baltimore extravaganza has concluded.

I wanted to illustrate this post with a photograph of a great purchase I made yesterday, one that features the handiwork of two distinct generations of All Blacks. A copy of I, George Nepia, secured from Browsers Bookshop was graced with the autographs not only of Nepia and two of his Invincibles teammates from 1924/1925 but that of Billy J. Wallace, who played in the very first All Black international in 1903 and later with The Originals, touring the UK in 1905.

Let us hope the spirit of Billy wills us to victory in the USA. After the last test, we could certainly use his place kicking.

The Auteur House All Stars defended their Hamilton Film Society/Hamilton Film Festival Quiz title this afternoon, scorin...
12/09/2026

The Auteur House All Stars defended their Hamilton Film Society/Hamilton Film Festival Quiz title this afternoon, scoring 76 out of a possible 80 points.

Many thanks to quiz master Peter Farrell for another entertaining and well researched effort and to all 11 teams who participated.

Pictured, (L to R) on the right, AHAS members Nathan Higgins, Matty Taylor, Dan Inglis, Richard Swainson, Ferdinand Swainson, Janine Swainson-Betts, James Robertson.

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