All articles by Allan Hunter – Page 53
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Reviews
Ocean's Thirteen
Dir: Steven Soderbergh. US. 2007. 122mins.Thirteen should produce some lucky numbers for Warner Brothers and maintain the muscular box-office momentum in the current summer of threequels. The third entry in the crime caper franchise, Ocean's Thirteen marks a return to form after the self-indulgent tomfoolery of its globe-hopping predecessor, even ...
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Reviews
Mister Lonely
Dir: Harmony Korine. UK/Fr/Ire/USA. 2006. 112 mins It's a playful, romantic Harmony Kormine who emerges for inspection with Mister Lonely, his first film as a director since Julien Donkey Boy in 1999. The story of a lonely Michael Jackson impersonator who finds a fleeting tenderness with a Marilyn Monroe impersonator ...
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Reviews
Back To Normandy (Retour A Normandie)
Dir: Nicolas Philibert. Fr. 2006. 113 mins Any documentary is an act of remembrance. Back To Normandy has a special personal significance for director Nicolas Philibert because it allows him to return to the scene of his earliest filmmaking experiences and also to pay homage to his mentor Rene Allio. ...
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Reviews
After Him (Apres Lui)
Dir: Gael Morel. Fr. 2007. 90 mins A mother's grief warps into a suffocating obsession in Apres Lui, a sombre study of aching loss and broken hearts. The latest feature from Gael Morel (Le Clan, A Toute Vitesse etc) is a typically dour, unsentimental drama that refuses to sweeten the ...
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ReviewsThe Diving Bell And The Butterfly (Le Scaphandre Et Le Papillon)
Dir:Julian Schnabel. 2007.France 112 mins
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Reviews
A Mighty Heart
Dir: Michael Winterbottom. US. 2007. 108 mins Michael Winterbottom has become a master at relating dramatic true stories in a documentary style. He brings a typical intelligence and urgency to A Mighty Heart, the 2002 case of the kidnap and execution of American journalist Daniel Pearl. The star casting of ...
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Reviews
XXY
Dir: Lucia Puenzo. Arg/Sp/Fr. 2007. 91 mins The familiar agonies of adolescence are given a fresh slant and a perceptive treatment in XXY, a quietly impressive first feature from novelist and documentary maker Lucia Puenzo, daughter of The Official Story (1985) director Luis Puenzo. Refusing to sensationalise the subject of ...
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Reviews
Actresses (Actrices)
Dir: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi. Fr. 2007. 110mins Facing 40 becomes a wake-up call for a neurotic self-absorbed performer in Actresses, the second feature from Valeria Bruni Tedeschi. Previously entitled Dream Of The Night Before, the film mines autobiographical material to explore the eternal conflict between professional success and personal happiness. ...
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Reviews
Savage Grace
Dir: Tom Kalin. US. 2007. 87 mins Fifteen years after his eye-catching debut Swoon, Tom Kalin returns with a second feature that also addresses a story of true-life transgression and its lethal consequences. The inspiration this time is the rise and demise of 1940s socialite Barbara Daly and the increasingly ...
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Reviews
Terror's Advocate (L'Avocat du terreur)
Dir: Barbet Schroeder Fr. 2007. 135 mins Renewing his fascination with monsters of modern times, Barbet Schroeder has created a weighty, wide-ranging portrait of devil's advocate Jacques Verges. It could also stand as a complex guide through the rise and rise of global terrorism. The controversial subject matter and Schroeder's ...
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Reviews
The Banishment (Izgnanie)
Dir: Andrey Zvyagintsev. 2007. Russ. 150minsThe Banishment struggles to carry the burden of expectations surrounding the second feature from writer-director Andrey Zvyagintsev. Like his Venice Golden Lion winner The Return, it offers a tale of pride and patriarchy illuminating the dark soul of the Russian male. It confirms Zvyagintsev as ...
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News
Soda strikes UK deal for Gaelic-language Seachd
Seachd -The Inaccessible Pinnacle has become the first Gaelic-language Scottish feature to secure UK theatrical distribution. Produced by Christopher Young and directed by Simon Miller, it has been acquired by Soda Pictures for an autumn 2007 release in the UK.The film has its first Cannes market screening on Monday and ...
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Reviews
My Blueberry Nights
Dir: Wong Kar Wai. 2007. US. 111mins Life is as plaintive and banal as a country western ballad in My Blueberry Nights. Wong Kar Wai's English-language debut may have all the trappings of an American road movie but at the core it is a characteristically dreamy exploration of love, loss ...
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News
Cannes Film Festival: 60th may be a dignified affair
Emir Kusturica returns but Francis Ford Coppola's comeback is nowhere to be seen. The British have not received an invitation to the party but Stephen Frears will still sit at the top table. The French presence does not display an unseemly bias towards the home team but the Italians are ...
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Reviews
Spider-Man 3
Dir: Sam Raimi. 2007.US. 140mins.The financial reasons for making Spider-Man 3 require no explanation; the artistic reasons are a little harder to discern. Taking some inspiration from Superman 3, director Sam Raimi has chosen to explore the dark side of his superhero. Burdening Peter Parker/Spider-Man with endless personal issues and ...
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News
Scottish Screen pushes diversity in exhibition strategy
After a lengthy process of consultation Scottish Screen has announced a new Cinema Exhibition Strategy designed to extend the reach and diversity of films available to Scottish audiences. The core of the strategy is the development of 'cultural cinema hubs' strategically placed around the country. Each one will serve as ...
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Reviews
Mr Bean's Holiday
Dir: Steve Bendelack. UK-US. 2007. 85mins If Rocky Balboa and John McClane can hit the comeback trail after a lengthy absence then who would deny a similar opportunity to Rowan Atkinson's one man disaster area' Ten years have passed since Bean but the public's affection for the gurning, bug-eyed loon ...
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Reviews
Becoming Jane
Dir: Julian Jarrold. UK-US. 2007. 120mins Fact proves just as charming as fiction in Becoming Jane, a beautifully crafted biography of Jane Austen that will hold an irresistible appeal to global audiences who swooned over big screen adaptations of Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Sense & Sensibility (1995). Charting the ...
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News
Change of direction for UK French Film Festival
The 2007 edition of the UK's annual French Film Festival is to focus exclusively on titles that have not secured a British distribution deal. The move is seen as a response to the revitalised Rendez-vous with French Cinema (29 March -April 1) in London which boasts a succession of star-studded ...