All articles by Allan Hunter – Page 59
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News
Edinburgh to open 60th year with The Flying Scotsman
The2006 Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) will open with the worldpremiere of The Flying Scotsman. Thefilm tells the true story of champion cyclist Graeme Obreeand marks the feature directorial debut of Douglas MacKinnon. Jonny Lee Miller plays Obree andthe cast also includes Brian Cox, Billy Boyd and Laura Fraser.The60th Festival ...
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Reviews
Summer 'O4 (Sommer 04 An Der Schlei)
Dir: Stefan Krohmer. Ger. 2006. 97mins.The certainties of life are shattered bythe presence of a disturbingly mature adolescent girl in Summer 04, aconstantly engrossing tale of shifting relationships and challengedperceptions. A smartly observed screenplay places well-developed charactersinto a series of situations that never unfold entirely as the audience mighthave predicted.There'sa ...
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Reviews
Uro
Dir: Stefan Faldbakken. Nor. 2006. 104mins.A rogue undercover cop pursues a muddle-head path towards redemption in URO, a solidly commercial first feature from Stefan Faldbakken. Familiarity hasn't blunted the appeal of a character type that has been a fixture of police thrillers from the glory days of Sidney Lumet through ...
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News
$1.2m Gaelic language feature shoots on Scottish island
BAFTA-nominated producer Chris Young is currently shooting the Gaelic language feature Seachd-The Inaccessible Pinnacle on the Scottish island of Skye. The $1.2m (£655,000) production is being financed by BBC Alba, Serbheis Nam Meadhannan Gaidlhlig(GMS), Scottish Screen and the Glasgow Film Office.Directed by Simon Miller is tells of a young boy ...
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Reviews
Exterminating Angels (Les Anges Exterminateurs)
Dir/scr: Jean-Claude Brisseau.Fr. 2006. 100mins.One audience's erotic fantasy is another's cold shower in Exterminating Angels (Les Anges Exterminateurs), the latest overcooked psychodrama fromveteran writer/director Jean-Claude Brisseau. Theconcept of a fifty-something male filmmaker exploring transgressivefemale behaviour may sound like a venture into Catherine Breillatterritory but here it seems like a fig ...
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Reviews
Babel
Asingle gun shot reverberates around the world in Babel, unexpectedly uniting disparate lives in Morocco, Mexico and Japan. Thethird collaboration between director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu andscreenwriter Guillermo Arriaga initially seems to lack the bravura edge ofCannes discovery Amores Perros or the soulfulintensity of 21 Grams but it matures into amelancholy ...
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Reviews
The Singer (Quand J'Etais Chanteur)
Sadsongs say so much in The Singer, an unashamedlysentimental love story that features one of Gerard Depardieu's most fully-realisedand endearing performances in recent years. Hismelancholy, smalltime singer has the same weary charm as Burt Lancaster's ageinghood in Atlantic City. Depardieu is well matched by Cecile de France andtogether they transcend ...
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Reviews
The Singer (Quand J'Etais Chanteur)
Sadsongs say so much in The Singer, an unashamedlysentimental love story that features one of Gerard Depardieu's most fully-realisedand endearing performances in recent years. Hismelancholy, smalltime singer has the same weary charm as Burt Lancaster's ageinghood in Atlantic City. Depardieu is well matched by Cecile de France andtogether they transcend ...
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Reviews
The Singer (Quand J'Etais Chanteur)
Sadsongs say so much in Quand j'Etais Chanteur, an unashamedlysentimental love story that features one of Gerard Depardieu's most fully-realisedand endearing performances in recent years. Hismelancholy, smalltime singer has the same weary charm as Burt Lancaster's ageinghood in Atlantic City. Depardieu is well matched by Cecile de France andtogether they ...
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ReviewsPan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto Del Fauno)
Dir: Guillermo del Toro. Spain / Mexico.2006. 112 mins
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Reviews
The Singer (Quand J'Etais Chanteur)
Dir/Scr: Xavier Giannoli. France. 2006. 112 minsSad songs say so much in The Singer, an unashamedly sentimental love story that features one of Gerard Depardieu's most fully realised and endearing performances in recent years. His melancholy, smalltime singer has the same weary charm as Burt Lancaster's aging hood in Atlantic ...
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Reviews
Jindabyne
Dir: Ray Lawrence. Australia. 2006. 123 minsIn a time of uncertainty or crisis, the only things you can cling on to are personal integrity and a sense of community. That is the hard lesson learnt by the residents of Jindabyne in director Ray Lawrence's haunting companion piece to his award-winning ...
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News
Ambitious auteurs at Cannes still lack the 'wow factor'
It only takes two or threefilms to bring a festival alive. They don't even have to be touched bygreatness, just talking points that make everyone glad to be here. Cache set Cannes buzzing last year. The Brown Bunny managed it on an unforgettable scale in 2003. This year, a respectableroll ...
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Reviews
Marie Antoinette
Dir/scr: Sofia Coppola. US. 2006. 123 minsIt's history but not as we know it in Marie Antoinette, Sofia Coppola's frivolous, fun-filled attempt to make 18th century Versailles accessible to 21st century audiences.Her version of Marie Antoinette is more Paris Hilton than Paris, France as we meet a shallow young woman ...
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News
Irvine Welsh to direct The Man Who Walks
Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh is to make his directorial debuton TheMan Who Walks.The $3.7m (£2m) productionwill be made for his own company4way Pictures and is an adaptation ofthe 2002 novel by fellow Scottishauthor Alan Warner, who also wrote MorvernCallar. Producer Catherine Aitken iscurrently in Cannesfinalising finance.A blackly comic road moviethriller,the ...
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Reviews
Fast Food Nation
Dir: Richard Linklater. US. 2006. 116mins.The American Dream is full of shit but everyone stillwants a slice of it in Fast Food Nation,an uneven attempt to pick the dramatic meat from the bones of Eric Schlosser's2001 non-fiction bestseller. Following the multi-story template established by Traffic, it traces the food chain ...
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Reviews
Bug
Dir: William Friedkin. US. 2006. 102mins.An old dogtries to show off some new tricks in Bug,as veteran director William Friedkin (The Exorcist) attempts the trickytransfer of a bizarre theatrical hybrid to the cinema screen. The back-to-basicsapproach pays dividends in terms of the intensity of the performances and thesustained sense of ...
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Reviews
Summer Palace
Dir: Lou Ye. Chi-Fr. 2006.140mins.Social upheaval and sexual liberation make for areasonably potent cocktail in SummerPalace, an ambitious attempt to convey the sweep of recent world historythrough the life and loves of a young Chinese woman. The fourth feature from Suzhou River director Lou Ye is easily hismost accessible, although ...