High Powered Praise from Leonard Maltin for Local Filmmaker

High Powered Praise for Local Filmmaker

Writer and Director Mike Wallis appears alongside Quentin Tarantino and Ang Lee in Leonard Maltin’s 2013 prestigious film list for his debut, Good For Nothing.

Media release - Jan 22, 2102

One of the world's top film critics, Leonard Maltin, has included Wellington-based Wallis and his Kiwi Western Good for Nothing in his 2013 category of Fifty Notable Debut Features of the Past Twenty Years. The list appears in Maltin’s New York Times bestseller, Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide (2013 edition).

The prestigious list has Wallis appearing alongside some of the biggest filmmakers working today, including Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs 1992), Sam Mendes (American Beauty 1999) Christopher Nolan (Following 1999), Darren Aronofsky (PI 1998), Danny Boyle (Shallow Grave 1994), Ben Affleck (Gone baby Gone 2007), Guillermo del Toro (Cronos 1992), David O. Russell (Spanking the Monkey 1994) and Ang Lee (Pushing Hands 1992).

Wallis, whose charming and highly original Western is generating a lot of acclaim, said of the news, "It's an incredible honour and I'm a bit star-struck to be to be honest. I remember watching Leonard Maltin on Entertainment Tonight with Leeza Gibbons when I was a kid in Mosgiel.

“To be on this list is wonderful recognition and it is also testament to the crew who all worked extremely hard with little money to create Good for Nothing," he said.

The accolade follows glowing reviews for Good For Nothing from critics including The New York Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Ain't It Cool News. New Zealand critics have given it four-star reviews including Kate Rodger (3News), Graeme Tuckett (RadioNZ & Dominion Post), The Press and Stuff.co.nz.

Wallis, along with fiancée and lead actress Inge Rademeyer, produced and funded the movie instead of buying a house. After selling the film to the United States the couple chose to self distribute in New Zealand due to changing distribution models.

Good for Nothing has played in over 75 cinemas across the country last year and is now available on DVD or available to download to own from www.goodfornothingmovie.com

ENDS

Background for editors:

Leonard Maltin is an American film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is known for writing the shortest review in the U.S [1] and creating the Walt Disney Treasures series. In the mid-1990s, Maltin became the president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and is on the Advisory Board of the Hollywood Entertainment Museum. For nearly a decade, Maltin was also on the faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York City. He currently teaches in the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California.

As an author, Maltin is best known for Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, a compendium of synopses and reviews that first appeared in September 1969 and has been annually updated since October 1987.

Since May 29, 1982, Maltin has been the movie reviewer on the syndicated television series Entertainment Tonight. He also appears on the Starz cable network. Maltin currently hosts a television show called Secret's Out on ReelzChannel movie network.

[1] Isn't It Romantic? is a 1948 film from Paramount Pictures, It is notable for having the shortest review ever given to a motion picture, according to Guinness World Records; well-known critic Leonard Maltin simply replied "No" as a response to the film's title.

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