All articles by Allan Hunter – Page 53
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Reviews
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Dir: Shekhar Kapur UK, 2007. 114 minsIt seemed an impossible hope that The Golden Age could match the achievements of its illustrious predecessor. Elizabeth (1998) was a huge international success that earned 7 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and confirmed the radiant star-quality of Cate Blanchett. That's a tough act ...
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Reviews
Margot At The Wedding
Director/Scr: Noah Baumbach US . 2007. 91minsBaumbach's ambitious follow-up to the much admired The Squid And The Whale (2005) has echoes of Rohmer and vintage Woody Allen in its depiction of the affairs of the heart but lacks the laser-like precision, economy and easy approachability of his earlier hit. A ...
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News
Corbijn takes major honours at Edinburgh
Anton Corbijn's Control emerged as one of the major winners at the 61st Edinburgh International Film Festival. Corbijn's stunning monochrome biopic of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis was one of the discoveries at Cannes this year and has continued to build critical acclaim and industry buzz. In Edinburgh it won ...
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Reviews
Saxon
Dir/scr/ed: Greg Loftin. UK. 2007. 92mins.Evoking resonances of vintage Clint Eastwood fare like High Plains Drifter, Saxon stars Sean Harris as Eddie, a prodigal son who returns to the council estate of his youth. An ex-con, he has recently parted company with an eye and is desperately seeking cash to ...
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Reviews
And When Did You Last See Your Father'
Dir: Anand Tucker. UK. 2007. 92mins.Anand Tucker's gentle touch and lush tone proved the perfect fit for the wistful romantic comedy Shopgirl but the same approach tends to dull the pain and deaden the impact of writer Blake Morrison's bestselling memoir And When Did You Last See Your Father' Morrison's ...
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Reviews
Special People
Dir/scr: Justin Edgar. UK. 2007. 78mins.Few films successfully negotiate the tricky expansion from short to feature but Special People is a happy exception. Justin Edgar's adaptation of his 12 minute 2005 short builds on the original material without diluting any of its sharp humour and also provides a deeper sense ...
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Reviews
Waz
Dir: Tom Shankland . UK. 2007. 103mins. Blend together elements of Seven, Saw and the CSI television franchise and sprinkle liberally with torture porn nastiness and you have the recipe for WAZ, a grimy, unremarkable serial killer thriller that looks like the kind of derivative material destined for an early ...
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Reviews
The Waiting Room
Dir/scr: Roger Goldby. UK. 2007. 96mins.A chance encounter changes lives and re-defines relationships in The Waiting Room, a mawkish, low-key ensemble piece that marks the debut feature of writer/director Roger Goldby. Stray moments of touching emotion and accomplished lead performances are some compensation for a central premise that is hard ...
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Reviews
3:10 To Yuma
Dir: James Mangold US . 2007. 117minsThe western has become the most unfashionable of genres, with a reputation for box-office poison that persists despite the relatively recent success of Open Range (2003). The fiftieth anniversary remake of 3:10 To Yuma is sturdy enough to withstand the jinx. Handsomely crafted, it ...
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News
Edinburgh Film Festival: by populist demand
With a new director, the Edinburgh Film Festival (Aug 15-26) is hoping to enhance its reputation as the home of British film. Allan Hunter reports. Everything is different and everything is the same at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) this year. The first festival under artistic director Hannah McGill ...
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Reviews
Sparkle
Dir/Scr: Tom Hunsinger & Neil Hunter UK. 2007. 104minsTom Hunsinger and Neil Hunter have built a reputation for making exceedingly engaging, increasingly polished ensemble pieces on the vagaries and vulnerabilities of the human heart. Despite critical acclaim for Boyfriends (1996) and especially The Lawless Heart (2001), they have yet to ...
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News
McGill's first Edinburgh programme to close with Two Days In Paris
The 2007 Edinburgh International Film Festival (Aug 15-26) will have a special focus on Cinema and the Written Word. The first Festival under new artistic director Hannah McGill will celebrate the art of screenwriting with a series of events that run across the major Edinburgh arts festivals. There will be ...
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Reviews
Captivity
Dir: Roland Joffe. US. 2007. 84 minsThe controversy surrounding the marketing of Captivity proves to be more interesting than the film itself. Banned American billboard images considered too intense for public display earned Captivity the kind of notoriety that publicity budgets cannot buy. Anyone seduced by the whiff of scandal ...
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News
Cinefile takes UK rights to True North and Change Of Address
Scottish-based distributor Cinefile has acquired the UK theatrical rights to Emmanuel Mouret's Change Of Address (Changement D'Adresse) and Steve Hudson's drama True North. As a specialist in French-language titles, Cinefile is best known for the UK release of Cedric Klapisch's L'Auberge Espagnole (also known as The Spanish Apartment or Pot ...
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Reviews
We Own The Night
Dir/scr: James Gray. US. 2007. 105mins.A self-conscious evocation of the crime and punishment police thrillers that were once a speciality of Sidney Lumet, We Own The Night is an average B-movie with delusions of grandeur. Transparent plotting and dubious moral grand-standing are the main drawbacks in a film that lacks ...
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News
Quality and diversity ensure it was a Cannes to remember
Special occasions always provoke unrealistic expectations but Cannes rose to the challenge of a landmark 60th festival with a programme that had distinction in abundance.Opening with Wong Kar Wai's underwhelming My Blueberry Nights was still a statement of intent, underlining the belief that auteur-cinema matters and that the festival was ...
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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. ...