All articles by Allan Hunter – Page 63
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News
Arthouse films benefit from Edinburgh exposure
Speaking at last year's Edinburgh premiere of All Or Nothing, Mike Leigh declared that he could think of no better event in Britain to launch a new film. His words might yet come to be seen as the guiding ethos of this year's Festival where Jim Sheridan's warm-hearted family drama ...
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Reviews
Intermission
Dir: John Crowley. Ireland. 2003. 106minsAn abrasive, sour-tasting ensemble piece, Intermission is a giddy Irish attempt to muscle in on the kind of territory previously mined by the likes of Amores Perros and Happiness. Ambitious in its scope, it has a confident swagger to its execution but lacks the originality ...
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News
Stroke Of Genius tees up in Scotland
Scottish-based production company McDongall films is to co-ordinate the Scottish element of the $15m US indie biopic Bobby Jones - Stroke Of Genius, which starts shooting in St Andrews on August 24. Directed by Rowdy Herrington, the LLC, Dean River Productions film stars Jim Caviezel as the legendary American golfer ...
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News
Eastwood's Mystic River pulls out of Edinburgh
The critically acclaimed Clint Eastwood thriller Mystic River has been pulled from the Edinburgh International Film Festival (Aug 13-24) programme. One of the Festival's star attractions, the film was set for two sell-out screenings next week but has been withdrawn by distributor Warner Brothers who have claimed 'unforeseen scheduling conflicts' ...
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Reviews
Wondrous Oblivion
Dir: Paul Morrison. UK. 2003. 106minsA poignant, warm-spirited coming-of-age drama, Wondrous Oblivion represents a significant advance in the career of writer-director Paul Morrison. Oscar-nominated for his melodramatic Welsh language feature debut Solomon And Gaenor (1998), Morrison now reveals a much more assured touch in balancing personal dilemmas with wider social ...
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Reviews
Calendar Girls
Dir: Nigel Cole. UK. 2003. 108minsThe timing could not be more auspicious for Calendar Girls. A summer of under-performing one hit wonders suggests an audience that is weary of empty spectacle and hungry for old-fashioned entertainment. Calendar Girls isn't cutting edge. It can't boast state-of-the-art effects. It hasn't been inspired ...
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Reviews
Charlie: The Life And Art Of Charles Chaplin
Dir: Richard Schickel. US. 2003. 125minsAn admiring portrait of an artist who helped create the language of film comedy, Charlie: The Life And Art Of Charles Chaplin does an honourable job of covering the many facets of a complex and controversial figure. A straightforward mixture of talking heads and extensive ...
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Reviews
Japanese Story
Dir: Sue Brooks. Australia. 2003. 107minsA seemingly conventional mixture of life-changing road movie and cross-cultural romance becomes something much more interesting and intense thanks to an unexpected plot twist in the final third of Japanese Story. It may come too late for some viewers who will have already lost patience ...
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Reviews
Kiss Of Life
Dir: Emily Young. UK-Fr. 2003. 86minsA slender but soulful feature debut from award-winning shorts director Emily Young, Kiss Of Life attempts to grapple with the big issues of life, death, love and family. An overly cerebral approach to what could have been quite emotionally-charged material means that the film feels ...
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Reviews
Struggle
Dir: Ruth Mader. Austria. 2003. 74minsThis is one of those strange films that leaves you scratching your head and wondering 'now what the heck was that all about'' What initially seems like a glum exercise in sub-Dardennes brothers-style neo-realism eventually becomes closer in spirit to Ulrich Seidl's Dog Days (Hundstage, ...
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Reviews
Veronica Guerin
Dir: Joel Schumacher. US. 2003. 98 minsSeemingly content to seesaw between vapid commercial fare and grittier personal projects, director Joel Schumacher follows the spy game misfire Bad Company with a heartfelt salute to a true-life heroine. The story of a fearless Irish journalist's crusade against the evils of ...
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News
Young Adam to open Edinburgh film festival
David Mackenzie's critically-acclaimed Scottish drama Young Adam will open next month's Edinburgh International Film Festival. A dark, disturbing adaptation of the Alexander Trocchi novel starring Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton, the production is part of a strong line-up of premieres that underline the event's importance as a showcase for British ...
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Reviews
Bright Leaves
Dir: Ross McElwee. US. 2003. 107minsBright Leaves may start out exploring the deadly allure of tobacco but it soon mushrooms into an engaging mixture of family album, social history and human eccentricity. Best known as the award-winning director of Sherman's March (1986), Ross McElwee now has an enviable track record ...
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Reviews
Deep Breath
Dir: Parviz Shahbazi. Iran. 2003. 86minsThe most acclaimed Iranian films of recent years have opened the world's eyes to the plight of women in a brutal patriarchal society. Deep Breath widens the debate by reflecting the experience of a defiantly apathetic younger generation who feel no investment in the system ...
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News
Edinburgh unveils first festival titles
British premieres of Cannes competition entry Swimming Pool, Jim Sheridan drama In America and Lucas Belvaux's La Trilogie are among the first titles confirmed for the 57th Edinburgh International Film Festival which runs August 13-24. Adding to its previously announced retrospective devoted to French master of suspense Henri-Georges Clouzot, the ...
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Reviews
S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine
Dir: Rithy Panh. France. 2003. 101minsA sincere and honourable attempt to fathom the depths of human evil, documentary S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine offers eyewitness testimony to the painstaking system of torture and repression that existed in Cambodia during the 1970s. The film returns victims of the regime and ...
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News
Edinburgh film festival to hold Clouzot retrospective
French master of suspense Henri-Georges Clouzot is the subject of a comprehensive retrospective at the 57th Edinburgh International Film Festival (August 13-24). Running in conjunction with the National Film Theatre in London, the retrospective salutes a director whose body of work is among the most influential in European cinema. Dogged ...
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Reviews
The Last Customer/Il Grido D'Angoscia Dell'uccello Predatore 20 Tagli D'Aprile
Dir: Nanni Moretti. Italy 2003. 23/27minsSometimes a short work from a major film-maker can give more pleasure than an epic feature from a lesser talent. That is certainly the case with Nanni Moretti's The Last Customer, a warm-hearted salute to a family pharmacy business that had become an institution in ...
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Reviews
The Mother
Dir: Roger Michell. UK. 2003. 112minsA finely-shaded performance from veteran British actress Anne Reid is the shining centre of The Mother, a shrewd and believable portrait of an older woman's belated revolt against a life of quiet desperation. A thoughtful companion piece to the kind of themes previously explored in ...
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Reviews
Mystic River
Dir: Clint Eastwood. US. 2003. 137 minsAnyone seeking lessons in the graceful art of the selfless auteur need look no further than Clint Eastwood. The producer, director and composer on Mystic River, Eastwood serves the story rather than indulges his ego and creates the framework for a fine ensemble cast ...