Rhys Darby Movies
- 2009
- R
- Add Pirate Radio to Queue
In mid- to late-'60s Britain, an unusual yet colorful subculture sprang up and thrived as a product of the upswing in British pop music, only to meet its doom within a few short years. Though the BBC functioned as the country's main source of news and music, its programmers offered very little airtime to rock & roll -- which left an overwhelming need unfulfilled. In response, small bands of "pirate" radio enthusiasts set up broadcasting towers on boats just outside of English boundary waters, and transmitted signals to an estimated 25 million listeners, 24 hours a day and seven days per week. Unsurprisingly, the DJs who took charge of these broadcasts could rival just about anyone in terms of flamboyance and outsized personalities. With Pirate Radio (released as The Boat That Rocked in the U.K.), writer-director Richard Curtis (Love Actually) travels back to the Swinging Sixties and takes a headfirst plunge into this colorful realm.
The story opens in 1966, aboard a rusty fishing trawler christened Radio Rock and equipped with pirate broadcasting equipment. Here, the slightly daft elitist Quentin (Bill Nighy) presides over a motley crew of joint-toking, sex-hungry disc jockeys including Dave (Nick Frost), a heavyset boob who nevertheless considers himself a hot property with women and loves to chase skirts; "The Count" (Philip Seymour Hoffman), an American DJ who aspires to be the first person to drop an F-bomb over the British airwaves; the gloom-laden Irishman Simon (Chris O'Dowd); bonked-out hipster Thick Kevin (Tom Brooke); womanizer Mark (Tom Wisdom); Angus (Rhys Darby), a New Zealander whom nobody likes; and the only female member of the group, lesbian cook Felicity (Katherine Parkinson). These misfits pull off quite a show -- enough of one that they attain the status of national idols for the youth culture -- but the super-conservative government minister Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh) detests the whole business and will do almost anything in his power to shut them down. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
The story opens in 1966, aboard a rusty fishing trawler christened Radio Rock and equipped with pirate broadcasting equipment. Here, the slightly daft elitist Quentin (Bill Nighy) presides over a motley crew of joint-toking, sex-hungry disc jockeys including Dave (Nick Frost), a heavyset boob who nevertheless considers himself a hot property with women and loves to chase skirts; "The Count" (Philip Seymour Hoffman), an American DJ who aspires to be the first person to drop an F-bomb over the British airwaves; the gloom-laden Irishman Simon (Chris O'Dowd); bonked-out hipster Thick Kevin (Tom Brooke); womanizer Mark (Tom Wisdom); Angus (Rhys Darby), a New Zealander whom nobody likes; and the only female member of the group, lesbian cook Felicity (Katherine Parkinson). These misfits pull off quite a show -- enough of one that they attain the status of national idols for the youth culture -- but the super-conservative government minister Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh) detests the whole business and will do almost anything in his power to shut them down. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, (more)
- 2009
- Add Flight of the Conchords: Season 02 to QueueAdd Flight of the Conchords: Season 02 to top of Queue
In their sophomore season, the guitar-playing Kiwis continue their quest to make it big in the Big Apple. Among the highlights: With Murray (Rhys Darby) preoccupied by another band, Bret (Bret McKenzie) and Jemaine (Jemaine Clement) take advantage of his absence and pen a commercial jingle; in the episode A New Cup, an impulse purchase sets off a tempest in a teacup that inspires the Roxanne spoof "You Don't Have to Be a Prostitute"; Dave (Arj Barker{) and other unlikely gangbangers watch Bret's back after he disparages A-list rappers (watch for the 'Chords to bust some rhymes about "Hurt Feelings"); and the band, unable to pay the rent, moves in with Mel (Kristen Schaal) and Doug (David Costabile). Season 2 guest stars include Lucy Lawless, Art Garfunkel, Greg Proops, Jim Gaffigan, Kristen Wiig, and Patton Oswalt. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jemaine Clement, Bret McKenzie, (more)
Based on Danny Wallace's autobiographical book, Jim Carrey stars as a man who decides to spice up his life by saying yes to everything in his life that he would normally say no to. Fun With Dick and Jane's creative team of director Peyton Reed and writer Nick Stoller head up the production. Zooey Deschanel co-stars as the romantic interest, with Bradley Cooper appearing as Carrey's best friend. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, (more)
- 2007
- Add Flight of the Conchords: Season 01 to QueueAdd Flight of the Conchords: Season 01 to top of Queue
This rollicking HBO offering chronicled the misadventures of Flight of the Conchords, a two-man "digi-folk" band from New Zealand. It could do nothing less -- starring in the half-hour series was Flight of the Conchords, a genuine two-man digi-folk band from New Zealand consisting of comedians Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, who created the property in concert (no pun intended) with James Bobin. The two protagonists, cleverly named Jemaine and Bret, had come all the way from their mother country to hit it big in New York City. There were only two things keeping them from skyrocketing to stardom: they never seemed to get any decent bookings, and they were bloody awful. Doing rather less than his best to make household names out of Jemaine (the one with the glasses) and Bret (the one with the beard) was their agent-manager Murray (Rhys Darby), whose day job as a cultural aide at the New Zealand Consulate's tourism division gave him plenty of free time -- if not plenty of money -- to arrange such gigs as a retro rock video in which the boys were dressed in ill-fitting cardboard robot suits, and an outdoor concert in Central Park (the wrong Central Park in the wrong city, worse luck). Evidently, Murray was one of only three people in Manhattan who even acknowledged the existence of Flight of the Conchords. The other two were the president -- and only member -- of the band's fan club, an overaged groupie named Mel (Kristen Schaal), who obsessively and lustfully dogged the boys' path, usually chauffeured by her unbelievably unflappable husband; and Dave (Arj Barker), who owned the pawnshop where Jemaine and Bret's instruments were habitually in hock. The series' semi-improvised dialogue and surrealistic storylines were counterpointed by fantasy musical sequences, which gaudily spoofed the music-videos of the past three decades; these vignettes were invariably better than Flight of the Conchords' actual performances, though not by much. Though probably best appreciated by "insiders" in the music business, Flight of the Conchords was broad enough in appeal to tickle the fancy of any comedy fan, while retaining just enough deadpan subtlety to induce quiet chuckles along with the belly laughs. The series debuted June 17, 2007. - Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bret McKenzie, Jemaine Clement, (more)
