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NEWS
EXTRAS
GO, GO POWER RANGERS!
S
inger turned actor Becky G.
calls
Power Rangers
“a cool
coming of age story" – albeit one
in which the fate of the world rests
on the shoulders of five teenaged
superheroes that discover strength
in unity, and consequently their
own identities.
It’s this journey of self-discovery
that defines all five characters –
ordinary high school kids who must
become something extraordinary
in order to defeat an alien threat
and the villainous Rita Repulsa
(Elizabeth Banks).
In this big screen reimagining
of the long-running ‘90s TV show,
Becky G. plays Trini, aka The Yellow
Ranger. “Trini is a badass, she says.
“She's a loner who's constantly
moving around with her parents.
When she meets these
other incredible people,
they bring out the best
in her.”
Keeping things
real was the mission
statement for director
Dean Israelite, whose
previous film,
Project
Almanac
, featured a
young ensemble cast
and a credible teen dynamic.
“It’s important for it to be real,”
agrees Becky G. “These characters
are dealing with issues that
teenagers deal with. It’s genuine.
It’s an imaginary world but there’s
so much heart to it.”
With its multicultural cast,
Power Rangers
celebrates
diversity, but not as a
means of satisfying
political correctness.
“We all come from
different cultures and
backgrounds and
that’s the story of our
characters as well,” she
confirms.
Power Rangers
is in
cinemas on March 23
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Ken
Loach’s seminal debut
Cathy Come Home
– and the radical filmmaker's latest film
I,
Daniel Blake
suggests things haven't gone
much better for England's poor in the last five
decades. “They are both stories of people
whose lives are seriously damaged by the
economic situation they’re in,” Loach agrees.
“It’s been an idea we’ve returned to again
and again but it’s particularly sharp in
I, Daniel
Blake
. Certainly politically the world that this
film shows is even more cruel than the world
that Cathy was in.”
I, Daniel Blake
, which last month won
the BAFTA for Best British Film, tells the
story of the titular character (played by Dave
Johns), who becomes mired in an uncaring
bureaucratic system when he becomes jobless
after a suffering a heart attack.
Loach says: “If we look hard enough, we can
all see the conscious cruelty at the heart of the
state’s provision for those in desperate need
and the use of bureaucracy, the intentional
inefficiency of bureaucracy, as a political
weapon: ‘This is what happens if you don’t
work; if you don’t find work you will suffer’. The
anger at that was the motive behind the film.”
Adam Colby
I, Daniel Bake
is out on DVD/Blu-ray on March 22.
N
adia Reid’s sophomore album
Preservation
finds the acclaimed Kiwi singer-songwriter in
a rockier mode. However, she insists that is not a
case of trying to distance herself from the ‘folk’
tag she is usually associated with.
“I don’t think about ‘genre’ at all when I am
writing or recording,” Reid says. “I think when
people reference me as a folk artist, it’s because
these songs have storytelling qualities, and they
are truthful. I don’t mind being called a folk singer, I
like it. But I want to be able to push the boundaries
as time goes on.”
Nevertheless, she admits she has enjoyed
experimenting with electric guitar on
Preservation
,
which, like her debut, was recorded with Ben
Edwards at his Sitting Room Studio in Lyttleton.
“I write mostly on acoustic guitar but I play
electric for some of the album, which is an exciting
progression,” Reid says. “I’m about to buy an
electric guitar and I feel excited. It opens up new
sounds.”
Reid is also looking forward to taking the album
on the road in March. "For this tour in NZ, I am
playing with a full band; it’s nice to honour the
record like this, and play it the way it sounds on
record."
John Ferguson
Preservation
by
Nadia Reid
is out on March 3.
BROKEN BRITAIN
REID RELUCTANT TO BE PIGEONHOLED
It's Morphin time - Becky G. talks about the big screen reboot of the kidsTV series.
Words Scott Hocking
Ken Loach on the award-
winning
, I, Daniel Blake
.