Spit sees low-life criminal John Spitieri (Gettin’ Square) return after 20 years for his own movie. Can Spit conquer the bad guys, bond with his young nephew, get his new Syrian mate safely employed, all the time staying out of jail? As he says, everyone deserves a seventh chance. Stars David Wenham (Lord of the Rings).

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Simon Morris glances at the recent Oscars, and finally gets to see the last nominee for Best Picture, Amazon Prime’s Nickel Boys. Also on this, the Millenial At The Movies, Swedish mockumentary The Last Journey, and a new take on legendary Swiss hero William Tell.

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Nickel Boys may have been overshadowed at the Oscars, but it was already a critical favourite before it finally dropped on Amazon Prime this week. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead (The Underground Railroad), it’s directed by RaMell Ross and stars Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (King Richard).

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The Last Journey is a Swedish The Trip-style blend of fact and fiction by popular TV documentary stars Filip and Fredrik (Hasselhoff – A Swedish Talkshow). Filip wants to retrieve his father’s lust for life, and comes up with a novel way of doing it.

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William Tell rounds up some big theatre names (Jonathan Pryce, Rafe Spall, Sir Ben Kingsley) to back up Danish star Claes Bang (TV’s Bad Sisters) as the famous Swiss archer and rebel. Directed by former resident director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Nick Hamm, it surprisingly does without Rossini’s well-known Overture.

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Neneh Superstar is a French film about a little, second-generation African girl who aspires to dance at the world-famous Paris Opera Ballet. It seems all the odds are against her – particularly her hostile teacher, ballet superstar Marianne, played by French superstar Maïwenn (Jeanne du Barry).

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Simon Morris checks out another week entirely devoted to women-driven movies, and wonders if, finally, it’s no longer an issue. They include Mozart’s Sister, Neneh Superstar, New Zealand-Samoan feelgood tale Tinā, and Oscar-nominee I’m still here.

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Mozart’s Sister is a documentary of the other Mozart, Wolfgang’s sister Maria Anna. Like her famous brother, she was a child prodigy musician, by all accounts she was a very talented composer, so why is she all but forgotten? Until now, that is.

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I’m Still Here is a multi-award winning film from Brazilian director Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries). It stars Oscar nominee Fernanda Torres as a mother whose husband has been “disappeared” by the military dictatorship, and what she has to go through to find the truth.

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Tinā is another crowd-pleasing Kiwi Samoan film, like Three Wise Cousins, Sione’s Wedding and The Orator. Directed by Miki Magasiva (TV’s The Panthers), it stars the great Anapela Polataivao as a grieving Mum who forms a choir at an exclusive – and very white – school in Christchurch.

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