Simon Morris

Simon Morris reviews Let The Sunshine In and A Date for Mad Mary, and struggles to make sense of the French sci-fi movie Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets. Video, Audio

Bert Berns is one of the greatest songwriters you’ve never heard of. Video, Audio

We're in the middle of a new season of locally-made Sunday Theatres on TVNZ One - all, as they say, plucked from the nation's headlines. Why Does Love told the story of pop band the Dance Exponents… Audio

We make good documentaries in New Zealand, and nowhere is that more obvious than at the International Film Festival.  This year is a gala one, with over a dozen top Kiwi documentary features on… Audio, Gallery

Monsieur Chocolat plays to the French obsession with traditional mime, with the true story of the clown who became the most famous black man in France. Audio

Polina features a young Russian dancer lured away from the Bolshoi Ballet by French contemporary dance. Audio

Spider-Man: Homecoming goes back to its America comic-book roots, with a young teenage superhero, crime-fighting between homework assignments. Audio

Simon Morris reviews three films about different aspects of popular culture – the American comic-book hero (Spiderman Homecoming) Russia's fixation on ballet (Polina) and France's fascination with… Video, Audio

A new TVNZ drama Dance Exponents: Why does love? tells the story of one of our most successful pop groups. Simon Morris talks to producer Carmen Leonard and director Danny Mulheron about turning real… Audio

The House stars Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler as a suburban couple who start up a neighbourhood casino, with predictable results. Audio

The Beautiful Fantastic is a whimsical romance, a sort of English version of French favourite Amelie. Starring Tom Wilkinson, Andrew Scott and Jessica Brown Findlay. Audio