An eevee-lutionary month
- Mar 31
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 13
I don't know what it is about March, but year on year, it's always busy - in every sense. Busyness of the good kind, mostly, with plenty of planning, travelling around the city, and trying to stay one step ahead of my calendar - and not just the Gemini Rose availability calender either. This month has been crazy and I'm looking forward to just...chilling out...over the next few weeks. Today is my last free day to myself in Wellington - tomorrow I have a personal commitment then I'm off to Palmy. I'll be available again for bookings from April 22nd :)
I enjoyed two sessions last week with a travelling client who gifted me both times - first with the Lego Eevee and second with the insane Hitchcock books. I don't usually post about gifts because they're never expected and absolutely not something anyone needs to bring when we meet (your company is the whole point after all). But these were so thoughtful and personal that it feels only fair to acknowledge the kindness. Thank you once again!
Re the Lego - challenge accepted. After all, if you read last month's blog you'll know I'm the girl who bumped into her own reflection and apologised, so you'd be forgiven for thinking that Lego construction might prove a little too cerebral for me. Just checking though: I don't eat the pieces or put them up my nose like Ralph Wiggum, do I?
The box suggests it's suitable for someone aged 18+...again, challenge accepted...everything is fine, everything is fine...
In all seriousness though I'm looking forward to building Eevee once I get back from Palmy and will post the finished result in a future blog!
Oh, hey, before I go - have you checked out the brand new library? Wow wow wow! AND the cafe sells Southland Cheese Rolls!
March 2026 Movie Roundup:
Rounding up all the movies I've seen this month, with brief, quick fire commentary that aims to be as spoiler free as possible.
This sequel takes the franchise in a noticeably different direction, repositioning M3GAN as an action hero and shifting from horror into full sci-fi action territory.
For me, the tonal shift worked. It reminded me a lot of the pivot between The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day - the original leaning into horror adjacent territory with a villainous machine, while the sequel embraces larger scale action and repositions the once evil robot as an ally.
Judging by the box office, not everyone was on board with the shift, sadly. I enjoyed the change in M3GAN though I guess I can see why it might’ve been jarring for some viewers.
I’m not holding out much hope, but my fingers are crossed for a third installment…because I thought M3GAN 2.0 was 4W3S0M3.
A British crime thriller built around a simple premise: what happens when a cocky activist graffiti artist breaks into the wrong rich guy’s house.
As a die-hard Downton Abbey fan, I loved seeing Hugh Bonneville shine here - taking the “distinguished English gentleman” energy à la Downton and twisting it into something wholly unsettling.
My only real gripe is that the plot occasionally felt a bit loose…characters sometimes made decisions that seemed more designed to keep the story moving than to make perfect sense. A tighter script could’ve elevated this from a solid thriller to a truly great one.
Rewatch
You wake up to discover you might be the last person left on Earth.
That’s the chilling starting point of The Quiet Earth, a New Zealand sci-fi movie starring the late and great Bruno Lawrence.
As scientist Zac Hobson, Lawrence delivers a performance that shifts from manic energy as he roams a deserted Auckland, to something darker as he begins to realise his own work may have played a role in the catastrophe.
Zac’s solitude doesn’t last forever though, and the arrival of two other survivors, Joanne and Api, adds a new layer of tension.
Eerie, thought provoking, and, err, quiet, The Quiet Earth proves the end of the world doesn’t need explosions…sometimes all it takes is “the effect.”
(If you know, you know.)
Rewatch
I first watched Vigil as a teenager - it was playing at an art gallery. I remember being captivated by the rugged rural scenery, but completely lost when it came to the plot - I didn’t really have much idea what it was about, even after the end credits rolled. I moved on with my life, or rather, moved on to the nearby Burger King to (attempt to) thrash my mate at Street Fighter.
HADOKEN! SHORYUKEN!
Two decades later, I found Vigil on YouTube and decided to give it another go. Surely by now I’d be “cultured enough” for it? I did not just fart into my hand and giggle, no, not at all. I’m mature and cultured as (bro).
(It should be noted that, judging by the IMDb reviews, anyone who dares to share an honest opinion about Vigil tends to get absolutely savaged with downvotes.)
***
Visually, Vigil is striking from start to finish. The New Zealand countryside feels eerie and dreamlike, creating a sense of unease that lingers throughout. The story follows a young girl living on a remote farm whose world begins to shift after a sudden tragedy and the arrival of a mysterious outsider.
And once again, I found Vigil a strange experience because it’s both incredibly beautiful and completely baffling at the same time.
The movie clearly prioritises atmosphere over narrative. Long silences, lingering shots, and uneasy glances between characters did much to create a haunting mood, but one that was also frustratingly hard to pin down.
In terms of pacing (which is always a big thing for me)… yikes. There’s slow-burn, and then there’s no-burn. I already knew this going in, and yet…
It was honestly all I could do not to open Pokemon Go and sneak in a few rounds of Great Battle League while “watching” the movie. I managed to refrain. Barely.
I didn’t hate Vigil. I didn't even necessarily dislike it, because hey - I enjoy a sweeping rural vista as much as the next person but here, the scenery ended up doing far too much of the heavy lifting...
I came into The Buddy Holly Story not knowing much about Buddy Holly or the music of that era, just that he was a huge influence on The Beatles. That actually made the movie a really enjoyable introduction for me.
What stood out most was the energy of the performance scenes and how quickly I got a sense of Buddy’s determination and originality as a musician. It gave me a much better appreciation of how big an impact he had in such a short career.
I’d happily recommend this one to any music fan - it’s a great entry point into an important moment in rock history.
As an aside - I tried to look for the La Bamba movie (Ritchie Valens, same plane crash) for a rewatch but alas, it's no longer on Netflix. I guess I'll be hoisting the jolly roger upon my return from Palmy. Arrr, mateys!
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