The New Zealand International Film Festival has rolled out across the land, with a huge array of cinematic morsels to tempt even the most jaded of moviegoer.
Two from that vast array are Jeremy Renner in Wind River, and Salma Hayek in Beatriz at Dinner.
When he's not mixing it with his other Marvel mates, Renner likes to remind us he was nominated for an Oscar by taking on more challenging roles. Wind River is one of those.
From the writer of the most excellent Sicario and Hell or High Water, Taylor Sheridan has a crack at directing his own material this time, and while it's nowhere as good a film as it could have been it's still a good watch.
Sheridan buries us in the Wyoming snow in his latest tale. Renner is a hunter, drawn into the hunt for a killer after the body of a local girl is found on the nearby tribal reservation.
Fellow Avenger Elizabeth Olson is an FBI agent sent to investigate, left out in the cold literally and figuratively when it comes to local knowledge, and becomes increasingly reliant on her hunter.
The story gets quite dark on a number of levels, but a disjointed and often heavy-handed tone and narrative take the air out of this a little, squandering its full potential.
So yes, not the experience I'd hoped for, but Wind River is still a worthy watch.
Three-and-and-half stars.
And if you prefer something entirely different, try Hayek in hypnotic form, in Beatriz at Dinner.
Reminding us how formidable she can be at close range, Hayek plays the titular Beatriz - a very centred, very spiritual Mexican woman who works as a massage therapist and self-proclaimed healer.
When her car breaks down at the home of a very wealthy client (Connie Britton) she's invited to stay on for a dinner party they're throwing for an even more obscenely wealthy business partner (John Lithgow).
It's a confronting clash of culture, personality and morals, the film a bristling and searing intimate social commentary that is still prickling my conscience. Just excellent.
Four stars.
Newshub.