Liam Maguren
@liammaguren.bsky.social
Writer for Flicks (NZ/AU/UK). Māori (Ngā Rauru) Pākeha (Irish) animation filmmaker for himself.
Reposted by Liam Maguren
As we enjoy our summer, Flicks editor @stevenewall.bsky.social shares some of his favourite reads of the year.
Here, @liammaguren.bsky.social masters a self-assigned task of epic proportions
Here, @liammaguren.bsky.social masters a self-assigned task of epic proportions
The best moments from every Taskmaster NZ contestant ever
Everyone gets their dues, whether they like it or not, in our list of Taskmaster NZ’s Greatest Hits.
www.flicks.co.nz
December 26, 2025 at 10:48 PM
As we enjoy our summer, Flicks editor @stevenewall.bsky.social shares some of his favourite reads of the year.
Here, @liammaguren.bsky.social masters a self-assigned task of epic proportions
Here, @liammaguren.bsky.social masters a self-assigned task of epic proportions
💪
A highly subjective list? Well, of course it is.
That’s what we wanted from the 16 writers who submitted picks, 88 films jockeying for position in this final top 20.
That’s what we wanted from the 16 writers who submitted picks, 88 films jockeying for position in this final top 20.
Counting down our favourite movies of 2025 – and where you can watch them
In a year of great cinema, one thing’s for sure: the best of the best grabbed hold of us and never let go.
go.weareflicks.co
December 17, 2025 at 9:14 PM
💪
Reposted by Liam Maguren
Most of the things I make with Jess Johnson could be called music videos but this is the first actual, for real, music video we've made together.
It's for Moritz Simon Geist's dreamy new single, from his upcoming album that Jess provided the cover art for. ⚱️
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZU2...
It's for Moritz Simon Geist's dreamy new single, from his upcoming album that Jess provided the cover art for. ⚱️
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZU2...
Moritz Simon Geist – Calibration / Declaration (Ambient / Experimental Electronica)
YouTube video by Moritz Simon Geist
www.youtube.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:54 AM
Most of the things I make with Jess Johnson could be called music videos but this is the first actual, for real, music video we've made together.
It's for Moritz Simon Geist's dreamy new single, from his upcoming album that Jess provided the cover art for. ⚱️
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZU2...
It's for Moritz Simon Geist's dreamy new single, from his upcoming album that Jess provided the cover art for. ⚱️
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZU2...
Reposted by Liam Maguren
REFLECTION IN A DEAD DIAMOND plunges the golden age of spy cinema into a quivering nuclear reactor, says @liammaguren.bsky.social of Shudder's latest gem.
Streaming service Shudder ends the year with a mind-melting spy thriller throwback
Reflection in a Dead Diamond has us reflect on the year of a living gem—genre-focused streaming service Shudder.
go.weareflicks.co
December 8, 2025 at 11:56 PM
REFLECTION IN A DEAD DIAMOND plunges the golden age of spy cinema into a quivering nuclear reactor, says @liammaguren.bsky.social of Shudder's latest gem.
Reposted by Liam Maguren
Woah, Maaori Plus has Merata Mita's PATU if interested!
Watch Patu | MĀORI+ | Whakaata Māori
A startling documentary record of the mass civil disobedience that took place throughout New Zealand during the winter of 1981 in protest against a South African rugby tour.
www.maoriplus.co.nz
December 8, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Woah, Maaori Plus has Merata Mita's PATU if interested!
Watch this in the dark with headphones by yourself.
@toxiquefilmbro.bsky.social and I are premiering a new short film in a couple hours (6PM ET / 3PM PT / 12PM NZ), enjoy it before YouTube very plausibly takes it down for content reasons www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDMa...
SIREN [animated short film]
YouTube video by Andrew Todd
www.youtube.com
December 7, 2025 at 5:54 AM
Watch this in the dark with headphones by yourself.
Had to be said.
Though it’s not controversial to say pop stars ooze sex appeal, there’s a palpable mood shift in saying the same about an anthropomorphised antelope, says @liammaguren.bsky.social
Let’s all just admit it: cartoon characters can be sexy
We shouldn’t feel weird about sexiness being in animation. In fact, it’s been a part of the medium since its inception.
go.weareflicks.co
December 2, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Had to be said.
Reposted by Liam Maguren
.@NZonAir Talking BLOKE OF THE APOCALYPSE with its creator Charlie Faulks, including the moments he's proudest of, what his family thinks and who his dream collaborators are. #BlokeOfTheApocalypse darrens-world-of-entertainment.blogspot.com/2025/11/blok... @liammaguren.bsky.social you'd be keen :)
Bloke of the Apocalypse: Charlie Faulks Q&A
Bloke of the Apocalypse: Charlie Faulks Q&A
darrens-world-of-entertainment.blogspot.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:48 AM
.@NZonAir Talking BLOKE OF THE APOCALYPSE with its creator Charlie Faulks, including the moments he's proudest of, what his family thinks and who his dream collaborators are. #BlokeOfTheApocalypse darrens-world-of-entertainment.blogspot.com/2025/11/blok... @liammaguren.bsky.social you'd be keen :)
With the passing of Costa Botes, I'm sharing this fascinating and insightful chat I had with him about Forgotten Silver back in 2018. I think it really shows how much he valued authenticity in his life and work. www.flicks.co.nz/features/rem...
Remembering Forgotten Silver, the Kiwi classic that Catfished the world
“Forgotten Silver actually brought home to me how important it is to tell the truth,” writes co-director Costa Botes.
www.flicks.co.nz
November 23, 2025 at 8:53 PM
With the passing of Costa Botes, I'm sharing this fascinating and insightful chat I had with him about Forgotten Silver back in 2018. I think it really shows how much he valued authenticity in his life and work. www.flicks.co.nz/features/rem...
Top five film genres:
- Animated low-on-story drama that takes place over decades
- Thrillers that sacrifice logic for absolute obedience to one gimmick
- I'm not obsessed! Everyone else is un-obsessed!
- Political talking animal films dunked in misery
- Let's hang out in Iran
- Animated low-on-story drama that takes place over decades
- Thrillers that sacrifice logic for absolute obedience to one gimmick
- I'm not obsessed! Everyone else is un-obsessed!
- Political talking animal films dunked in misery
- Let's hang out in Iran
Top five film genres:
- man whose sole mode of emotional expression is driving
- nature, but slower
- this is my conspiracy theory and you are trapped with me, buckle up
- welcome to flashing lights and vivid colours, hope you're not epileptic
- flying guillotines
- man whose sole mode of emotional expression is driving
- nature, but slower
- this is my conspiracy theory and you are trapped with me, buckle up
- welcome to flashing lights and vivid colours, hope you're not epileptic
- flying guillotines
November 16, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Top five film genres:
- Animated low-on-story drama that takes place over decades
- Thrillers that sacrifice logic for absolute obedience to one gimmick
- I'm not obsessed! Everyone else is un-obsessed!
- Political talking animal films dunked in misery
- Let's hang out in Iran
- Animated low-on-story drama that takes place over decades
- Thrillers that sacrifice logic for absolute obedience to one gimmick
- I'm not obsessed! Everyone else is un-obsessed!
- Political talking animal films dunked in misery
- Let's hang out in Iran
Reposted by Liam Maguren
The latest donor request, for @dillamonster.bsky.social, covering his own 2024 feature GUT INSTINCT and its playful formal experimentation into the "facts" behind conspiracy theories. (As disclosed in the review, he and I go back a ways to the old Usenet newsgroups.) letterboxd.com/scottrenshaw...
A ★★★★ review of Gut Instinct (2024)
[Full disclosure: The filmmaker, Doug Dillaman, has been an online acquaintance going back decades] Among the many eminently quotable moments in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to ...
letterboxd.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:22 PM
The latest donor request, for @dillamonster.bsky.social, covering his own 2024 feature GUT INSTINCT and its playful formal experimentation into the "facts" behind conspiracy theories. (As disclosed in the review, he and I go back a ways to the old Usenet newsgroups.) letterboxd.com/scottrenshaw...
This film’s doing the rounds in select cinemas and galleries with discount tickets. Really good showcase of the art from Toi Tū Toi Ora for those like me who missed it. But also a quietly incredible story of resilience from both subject and filmmaker.
www.flicks.co.nz/features/toi...
www.flicks.co.nz/features/toi...
TOITŪ Visual Sovereignty: how a film about Māori art became a story of resilience
Chelsea Winstanley’s latest feature isn’t just a celebration of Māori art but also a compelling microcosm of contemporary colonialism at work.
www.flicks.co.nz
November 12, 2025 at 5:18 PM
This film’s doing the rounds in select cinemas and galleries with discount tickets. Really good showcase of the art from Toi Tū Toi Ora for those like me who missed it. But also a quietly incredible story of resilience from both subject and filmmaker.
www.flicks.co.nz/features/toi...
www.flicks.co.nz/features/toi...
You can now watch black comedy Kiwi gem Millie Lies Low for free on Whakaata Māori. And I implore you do. It's so damn good and we, as a nation, should be talking about it more. www.flicks.co.nz/movie/millie...
Millie Lies Low | Where to watch streaming and online in New Zealand | Flicks
How to watch online, stream, rent or buy Millie Lies Low in New Zealand + release dates, reviews and trailers. When a would-be intern misses her big flight to New York City, she lies low in her hometo...
www.flicks.co.nz
November 3, 2025 at 1:41 AM
You can now watch black comedy Kiwi gem Millie Lies Low for free on Whakaata Māori. And I implore you do. It's so damn good and we, as a nation, should be talking about it more. www.flicks.co.nz/movie/millie...
CHARM OF THE MAGPIES, the short I wrote and directed, is available watch online! This weekend only. For $12. Via Show Me Shorts On Demand. Our film's part of the My Kind section which includes the wickedly good The Sentry & My Kind of People. ondemand.showmeshorts.co.nz/film/my-kind/
My Kind | Show Me Shorts On Demand
Films about finding your people, fitting in and building your community.
ondemand.showmeshorts.co.nz
October 23, 2025 at 9:36 PM
CHARM OF THE MAGPIES, the short I wrote and directed, is available watch online! This weekend only. For $12. Via Show Me Shorts On Demand. Our film's part of the My Kind section which includes the wickedly good The Sentry & My Kind of People. ondemand.showmeshorts.co.nz/film/my-kind/
It’s been on my mind for a while. Now it’s a piece for Flicks.
Today’s scattered media environment makes it easy to bypass the suffering of children.
As @liammaguren.bsky.social, fresh from seeing #BlackPhone2 observes, today’s horror movies make sure you don’t.
As @liammaguren.bsky.social, fresh from seeing #BlackPhone2 observes, today’s horror movies make sure you don’t.
The kids aren’t alright: unpacking horror’s recent mercilessness towards children
With Black Phone 2 upping the child violence on its predecessor, we look a little deeper into horror’s newest trend.
go.weareflicks.co
October 21, 2025 at 3:50 PM
It’s been on my mind for a while. Now it’s a piece for Flicks.
Reposted by Liam Maguren
Today’s scattered media environment makes it easy to bypass the suffering of children.
As @liammaguren.bsky.social, fresh from seeing #BlackPhone2 observes, today’s horror movies make sure you don’t.
As @liammaguren.bsky.social, fresh from seeing #BlackPhone2 observes, today’s horror movies make sure you don’t.
The kids aren’t alright: unpacking horror’s recent mercilessness towards children
With Black Phone 2 upping the child violence on its predecessor, we look a little deeper into horror’s newest trend.
go.weareflicks.co
October 21, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Today’s scattered media environment makes it easy to bypass the suffering of children.
As @liammaguren.bsky.social, fresh from seeing #BlackPhone2 observes, today’s horror movies make sure you don’t.
As @liammaguren.bsky.social, fresh from seeing #BlackPhone2 observes, today’s horror movies make sure you don’t.
Did a lovely Q&A with Darren Bevan about our short film The Charm of the Magpies, kicking off this week as part of Show Me Shorts' My Kind collection. The last Q's a deep-cut reference to this orange guy. darrens-world-of-entertainment.blogspot.com/2025/10/show...
October 5, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Did a lovely Q&A with Darren Bevan about our short film The Charm of the Magpies, kicking off this week as part of Show Me Shorts' My Kind collection. The last Q's a deep-cut reference to this orange guy. darrens-world-of-entertainment.blogspot.com/2025/10/show...
Unbelievably, I've been nominated for Best Director for our short film The Charm of the Magpies.
Show Me Shorts 2025 award nominees – and where to see them
“As a jury we were struck by the richness and diversity of the films presented this year.”
www.flicks.co.nz
September 30, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Unbelievably, I've been nominated for Best Director for our short film The Charm of the Magpies.
This is my masterwork.
As @liammaguren.bsky.social knows, "many will disagree with the choices below. Some may even write to my editor. I will then channel the spirit of Aotearoa’s #Taskmaster Jeremy Wells and his assistant Paul Williams and meet all criticisms with palpable indifference"
The best moments from every Taskmaster NZ contestant ever
Everyone gets their dues, whether they like it or not, in our list of Taskmaster NZ’s Greatest Hits.
go.weareflicks.co
September 23, 2025 at 2:37 AM
This is my masterwork.
Reposted by Liam Maguren
October brings the pain with #TheSmashingMachine, the horror with #TheBlackPhone2, the chuckles with #GoodFortune, the heartache with #EleanorTheGreat, and the... well... whatever you wanna say about #Bugonia
Get a taste for next month's cinema releases with this vid by @liammaguren.bsky.social
Get a taste for next month's cinema releases with this vid by @liammaguren.bsky.social
The BIG films hitting cinemas this October | Australia & NZ cinema release dates | Flicks
YouTube video by Flicks
www.youtube.com
September 19, 2025 at 2:50 AM
October brings the pain with #TheSmashingMachine, the horror with #TheBlackPhone2, the chuckles with #GoodFortune, the heartache with #EleanorTheGreat, and the... well... whatever you wanna say about #Bugonia
Get a taste for next month's cinema releases with this vid by @liammaguren.bsky.social
Get a taste for next month's cinema releases with this vid by @liammaguren.bsky.social
Toitū te reo ✊
Embrace the national taonga that is te reo Māori just a little tighter this te wiki o te reo Māori with some great local screen content.
@liammaguren.bsky.social is here with a selection of recent reo-revelling films and shows released in the past year available right now for you to stream.
@liammaguren.bsky.social is here with a selection of recent reo-revelling films and shows released in the past year available right now for you to stream.
Viewing guide for te wiki o te reo Māori 2025
There’s an absolute bounty of new films and shows to watch this Māori Language Week.
www.flicks.co.nz
September 15, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Toitū te reo ✊
Big and true.
Show Me Shorts schedule is out, and big congrats to GUT INSTINCT's animator @liammaguren.bsky.social whose new film THE CHARM OF THE MAGPIES premieres in the "My Kind" section.
(Gutting there's only a Friday arvo screening in Welly tho.)
www.showmeshorts.co.nz/attend/2025-...
(Gutting there's only a Friday arvo screening in Welly tho.)
www.showmeshorts.co.nz/attend/2025-...
My Kind — Show Me Shorts
Who are my people? Where do I fit in? The short films in this collection explore pressing questions of selfhood and belonging. If who we think we are is taken away, what are we left with? We can choos...
www.showmeshorts.co.nz
September 15, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Big and true.
I’ve been waiting for a good time to revive my piece from 2019 about the first three Toy Story movies.
Now 30 years young, what exactly makes #ToyStory a cinema miracle?
As @liammaguren.bsky.social details, they aren’t just films for kids - they’re films you grow up with.
As @liammaguren.bsky.social details, they aren’t just films for kids - they’re films you grow up with.
More than kids movies, the Toy Story trilogy grew with kids
Pixar’s ground-breaking turns 30. As Liam Maguren explores, the original three films went beyond being kids films by growing with their audience.
go.weareflicks.co
September 13, 2025 at 4:52 PM
I’ve been waiting for a good time to revive my piece from 2019 about the first three Toy Story movies.
Reposted by Liam Maguren
Now 30 years young, what exactly makes #ToyStory a cinema miracle?
As @liammaguren.bsky.social details, they aren’t just films for kids - they’re films you grow up with.
As @liammaguren.bsky.social details, they aren’t just films for kids - they’re films you grow up with.
More than kids movies, the Toy Story trilogy grew with kids
Pixar’s ground-breaking turns 30. As Liam Maguren explores, the original three films went beyond being kids films by growing with their audience.
go.weareflicks.co
September 12, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Now 30 years young, what exactly makes #ToyStory a cinema miracle?
As @liammaguren.bsky.social details, they aren’t just films for kids - they’re films you grow up with.
As @liammaguren.bsky.social details, they aren’t just films for kids - they’re films you grow up with.
New from me about small release Sketch, which we should all be thankful it’s found its way into NZ cinemas. www.flicks.co.nz//features/th...
This goofy family-friendly gem is also an uncompromising film about grief
Don’t let that googly-eyed blue thing fool you: Sketch is a very observant film about how we process loss.
www.flicks.co.nz
September 11, 2025 at 1:19 AM
New from me about small release Sketch, which we should all be thankful it’s found its way into NZ cinemas. www.flicks.co.nz//features/th...