1. Along with the box office-busting What We Do In The Shadows, Housebound is heralding a new dawn in populist New Zealand cinema. Housebound promises broad appeal with an uncompromised sense of New Zealand-ness. As a nation, we are ready to (unironically) laugh at ourselves on the big screen for the first time in a long while.
2. Writer/director Gerard Johnstone set the current bar for biting local humour with his witty and lively TV series The Jacquie Brown Diaries. The chance to witness that talent applied to a movie is reason enough to see it.
3. It marks one of our greatest acting talent's return to the big screen. Rima Te Wiata's last film appearance was a small role in the little-seen 2005 film 50 Ways of Saying Fabulous -- she plays one of the main characters in Housebound, and is by all accounts an absolute hoot.
4. It will be looked back on as local comedy stalwart Millen Baird's breakout success. The Auckland Daze actor only plays a supporting role in Housebound, but his performance as a copper is already generating considerable buzz.
5. To see what all the American reviewers were on about when they responded rapturously to the film at this year's South By Southwest Festival. When Black Sheep (2006) was released in the US, they seemed to like it more than we did. Something tells us this will not be the case with Housebound.
