Roy Höllsdotter (Darren Casey) is a stand-up comedian in his late 30s making an adequate living as a pub performer. However, all is not well in his personal life – he’s drinking too much and has been stalking his ex-girlfriend Cate (Asher Keddie). When his best friend Simmo (Luke Elliot) finds out what Roy is doing, he tries to intervene, but Roy’s problems only worsen and begin to affect his ability to create and perform his stand-up routines.
Fat middle aged 24/7 drunkard Les Patterson represents Australia at the UN where his fart literally incinerates an Arab ambassador. Patterson is reassigned to the Middle East so he can be tortured to death by the country he insulted. Patterson's arrival is the prefect distract of a coup and he is spared. At a bar Patterson meets a bio weapons scientist who's developed a horrific disease for the KGB whom plan to distribute it to the Pentagon via toilet seats. Patterson of course is far too drunk to understand anything happening and teams up with Dane Edna to save the world.
Investigative journalist Alf Winters (Morrison), meets his American girlfriend, Melissa Jones (Eilbacher), at Auckland airport. As they park outside Alf's house, it explodes. It is soon apparent that persons unknown want them dead, but the police are either skeptical or in the pay of those responsible. They play hide and seek around New Zealand with the stalkers, all the while coping with car chases, plane crashes, bullets and explosions.
1981. A summertime day in the life of a Samoan kid in West Auckland touches on wider conflict and grief. A simple story perfectly told.
Auteur filmmaker Paul Cox contemplates his own mortality and his life's work as he wits for a life saving liver transplant.
The political adviser to Australia's Minister of the Arts investigates the suspicious death of a disgruntled artist.
Documentary by John Clarke about his greatest creation - Fred Dagg.
Featuring the characters from Murray Ball's "Footrot Flats" (New Zealands most beloved local cartoon strip), questions to be answered include: Will Wal Footrot win the affections of Cheeky Hobson over the sleazy Spit Murphy? Will the Dog win the affections of the lovely Jess? Will Wal make a good impression on the selectors at Saturday's rugby match? Can Rangi and Pongo save Cooch's prize stag from the depths of Blackwater Station, home of the Murphys, their vicious dogs and deadly croco-pigs? All this and more will be answered as the small town of Raupo comes to life on the big screen.
On an obscure Pacific Island just north of Australia, the Japanese Empire has operated a prisoner of war camp for Australian soldiers. At the close of World War II, the liberated POWs tell a gruesome tale of mass executions of over eight hundred persons as well as torture style killings of downed Australian airmen. In an attempt to bring those responsible to justice, the Australian Army establishes a War Crimes Tribunal to pass judgement on the Japanese men and officers who ran the Ambon camp. In an added twist, a high ranking Japanese admiral is implicated, and politics become involoved with justice as American authorities in Japan lobby for the Admiral's release. Written by Anthony Hughes
Frank Mollard, divorced but still attached, can't move on and also can't sell a house in a property boom, much less connect with his teenage son. One night Frank gets a phone call from his mother. Nothing out of the ordinary there – apart from the fact that she died the year before.
A reserved man in need of a job, Carl Fitzgerald finds employment at a Greek restaurant. Upon meeting waitress Sophie, Carl begins dating the attractive woman. Though it seems things are improving for Carl, an unexpected situation leads to the death of Mustafa, a shady coworker, and Carl must figure out how to cover up the incident. Unsure of what to do, Carl enlists the help of his buddy, Dave, to get rid of Mustafa's corpse.
When dwindling membership and increasing overheads makes a local bowling club a prime candidate for a takeover, it's all hands on deck to save the club, in what turns into an epic battle where young meets old, greed meets good and people rise to the occasion in extraordinary circumstances.
A disturbed woman murders her husband, and others, so that she can be haunted by their "wronged" spirits.
Since 1989, before many of you were born, John Clarke and Bryan Dawe have broadcast a weekly interview in which prominent figures speak about issues of the day. After 20 years this idea is getting into its stride nicely. In the interviews, John makes no attempt to look or sound like the person he is pretending to be, but deals with matters as he sees fit. Bryan persists with dignity and strives for understanding.
Barry McKenzie sets off for England with his aunt, Edna Everage, to advance his cultural education. Bazza is an innocent abroad, fond of beer, Bondi and beautiful sheilas, but he soon settles into the Australian ghetto in Earls Court, where his old mate Curly has a flat.
The story of two itinerant con men, the Wild Man and the Colonel, who operate on the West Coast gold mining towns of the New Zealand South Island during the latter part of the last century.
The Sounds of Aus tells the story of the Australian accent: how it came about, how it has evolved over two hundred years of colonial and cultural history, and how it is today.
A series of sketches about Kiwi extraordinaire Fred Dagg's secret mission to find a "bionic sheep" which has been lost by the government.
In this offbeat comedy, an unlikely romance develops between a flamboyant, middle-aged piano tuner and an extremely timid office worker.
This Artsville documentary profiles Roger Hall, New Zealand’s most successful playwright. Three decades after Hall's early play Middle Age Spread became a hit, the original cast return for 2006 follow-up Spreading Out. Director Shirley Horrocks explores the secrets behind Hall’s successful brand of comedy (which includes dozens of stage plays, and TV hit Gliding On), while closely exploring Middle Age Spread and Spreading Out. Alongside excerpts from both, there are interviews with John Clarke, Grant Tilly, Ginette McDonald on Hall's role in the birth of her character Lynn of Tawa, and Hall himself.
For over 40 years, the iconic John Clarke tickled the funny bones of Australian and New Zealand audiences. Now, in this intimately produced documentary, hear his story in his own words. In a remarkable series of recorded conversations between John and his daughter, writer/director Lorin Clarke, he traces his steadfast resistance to authority back to his childhood and offers delightful insights into his four decades in the entertainment industry.