Oct 06, 2016 Every time I go to write down the movie's name I end up missing at least one word. In fact, when I asked for a ticket at the cinema, I got half way through. This Giant Papier Mache Boulder Is Actually Really Heavy. This Giant Papier Mache Boulder Is Actually Really Heavy Movie Download; Dance Baby Dance Movie 720p. This Just In. THIS GIANT PAPIER MACHE BOULDER IS ACTUALLY REALLY HEAVY director Christian Nicholson will participate in Q&A's at the Music Hall following the 9:55. Three ordinary guys are thrust into a parallel world of an old sci-fi movie. Trapped in a low budget universe they must somehow fight their way home. ![]() ![]() THIS GIANT PAPIER MACHE BOULDER IS ACTUALLY REALLY HEAVY director Christian Nicholson will participate in Q&A's at the Music Hall following the 9:55 PM screenings on. ![]() ![]() Every time I go to write down the movie’s name I end up missing at least one word. In fact, when I asked for a ticket at the cinema, I got half way through the name and then both the teller and I went “and blah blah yadda yadda” to finish it off. It’s certainly a mouthful, but it’s also quite clever. Because before you even watch the film the name instantly gives you a sense of what you’re going to see. I figured it would be funny, self-referential, and very cheaply made. I imagined an amateur indie film, in which the props are made by the director’s flatmate’s girlfriend, and the soundtrack is recorded on an early-90s Casio keyboard with built-in drum beats. This was pretty close to the truth, though the music was marginally better than that. It’s made in New Zealand – maybe a classic Kiwi film of the future. The story begins with the three main blokes – Tom, Gavin and Jeffrey – watching an old B-grade sci-fi film ‘Space Warriors in Space’. Part way through, they are mysteriously sucked into the movie, and come under attack from the evil Lord Froth. With the help of some friends they meet along the way, not to mention the scantily dressed warrior women (obligatory for any sci-fi adventure film), they must find their way back to Earth, and back to reality. This film is done on a budget – seriously. But they’ve cleverly gotten away with it by setting the story inside a very low-budget film. It reminded me of the early seasons of Red Dwarf, when they used a computer joystick to steer the ship, and pretty much everything else was built from cardboard boxes glued together and painted grey. In TGPMBIARH the lids of pump bottles are buttons on the ship’s console; an electric egg beater is a cargo ship flying through space; lampshades (or possibly suspended baking bowls?) serve as those visor things you wear when you want to aim your ship’s cannons at another ship (you know what I mean). And no animals were harmed in the film, because they were mostly soft toys (quite cute ones, too). But the cheapness is essential for the plot, it’s part of the point. The characters, for the most part, realise they are stuck inside a budget film, and are generally stumped by the fact that a recognisable kitchen utensil actually fires a laser out its end. Which is why it’s also surprising that the “giant papier mache boulder is actually really (fucking) heavy”. I had quite a few laughs. They got the theatrical nature of an old sci-fi film right. When someone is punched in the face they don’t just drop to the ground, they fly through the air. If someone rolls down a bank then they bloody well fall off a waterfall too. That’s just common sense. However, if I’m going to pick a hole (and I will), it’s that I felt the film could do with a brutal edit. Some scenes went on too long, and some were superfluous altogether. I know that when you’ve worked closely on something for a long time you get precious, but really it could have done with a good snip snip snip. TGPMBIARH is running for another week at the Rialto in Newmarket, and also the Dunedin Rialto and the cinema in Devonport. Go out and support a NZ independent film. A gleeful celebration of cheesy science-fiction, Kiwi writer-director Christian Nicholson's low-budget action-comedy will appeal to anyone who grew up in the 1970s and '80s. Set around an Armageddon-esque festival, This Giant Papier Mache Boulder is Actually Really Heavy offers nods to everything from classic Star Trek (hence the title) to Doctor Who, Blake's 7 and 1950's B-Movies. It's the story of three 'ordinary guys' – sci-fi nut Jeffrey (Daniel Pujol), cynical teacher Gavin (Lewis Roscoe) and serial womanizer Gavin (Nicholson himself) – who suddenly find themselves not only watching a hoary old sci-fi flick Space Warriors in Space, but trapped inside it. Quickly making a moral enemy of the evil Lord Froth (Joseph Wycoff), they find themselves the unlikely saviours of space princess Lady Emmanor (Sez Niederer). But that's when things take a turn for the worse, as Jeffrey starts believing he's a space hero called Kasimir. Visually inventive and hilariously acutely aware of its own budgetary shortcomings (it finished second in the 2011 Make My Movie Competition and was made outside of any traditional funding models), Giant Boulder is at its best when sending-up typical sci-fi tropes and playing with its alternative reality setting a la The Purple Rose of Cairo or Pleasantville. The acting is appropriately broad, with Niederer's 'North Shore Princess' the standout. However, although no doubt intended as tongue-in-cheek, she's also part of an all-pervading sense of sexism that runs through the film (it doesn't help that they use the Benny Hill theme for a chase scene). From skimpy outfits to demeaning remarks, the women of Giant Boulder don't fare that well, which feels like a missed opportunity to subvert the genre's traditional leanings. That aside, it's easy to see why the film has proved popular at genre festivals around the world. In the old days, it would have been destined to become a massive hit on home video, just as The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai and New Zealand's own Bad Taste was. I've no doubt though, this is best seen with an audience of like-minded sci-fi fans.
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