Something to watch tonight: Tuesday 11 February

The Smurfs 2 (Gosnell, 2013)

I was chatting to friend of the newsletter MC of Mt Victoria the other day and he suggested that we are overdue for a subscriber drive.

This is an excellent idea and if every reader recommends Funerals & Snakes to one more person then – counts fingers – our readership here will double. Wouldn’t that be awesome?

Just in time for the announcement yesterday that Chris Miller (Puss in Boots, Shrek the Third) is directing a reboot of the Smurfs universe – a teaser played during yesterday’s Super Bowl with Rihanna taking over the iconic role of Smurfette from Katy Perry – the previous three Smurfs movies have dropped on to Neon in Aotearoa.

I’m not sure why it is that the second film in a semi-animated franchise should be the best. Perhaps the lesson is to cast Brendan Gleeson who stole Paddington 2 and who brings more heart and soul to The Smurfs 2 than anyone has a right to expect. From my original review in Capital Times:

I was no great fan of the first Smurfs live-action film (“lumpy … utterly charmless”) but the second outing took me very by surprise. Hank Azaria’s wicked wizard Gargamel has hatched another dastardly plan to capture the Smurfs and squeeze their essence out of them like blueberries at breakfast time, therefore refuelling his magic dragon-wand. To the rescue comes Neil Patrick Harris, this time with his stepfather played by Brendan Gleeson. Their relationship is a rocky one but its resolution ably reinforces the main theme of the movie – that the family you choose is more important than the family you were born into. I cry at movies all the time but was not expecting to cry at this one.

Also featured in that October 2013 column: Chris Hemsworth as British Formula 1 driver James Hunt in Ron Howard’s Rush; Snow White story Blancanieves from the director who brought us Robot Dreams last year, Pablo Berger; Michael Gondry’s Mood Indigo; “naked cash-grab” Planes from Disney; Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters; One Direction: This Is Us, directed by the late Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me fame; and another music movie, the wackadoodle concert film Metallica: Through the Never.

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Where to watch The Smurfs 2

Aotearoa: Streaming on Neon, Netflix, Prime Video and ThreeNow (free with ads)

Australia: Streaming on Netflix, Binge, Foxtel and Stan

Canada: Streaming on Starz

Ireland & UK: Streaming on Sky

India: Streaming on SonyLIV

USA: Streaming on Paramount+

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Further listening

Now that my summer stint on At the Movies is over, I'm back at my weekly Friday gig on Nights. Last Friday, I chatted with Mark Leishman about Alien Weaponry: Kua Tupu Te Ara (in cinemas), Broadway musical Come From Away (Apple TV+) and my free streaming option was Nicolas Cage in Pig (Māori+).