All articles by Allan Hunter – Page 63
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Reviews
Cheeky
Dir: David Thewlis. UK/France. 2003. 94 minsTen years ago, Mike Leigh's Naked confirmed David Thewlis as one of the most electrifying actors of his generation. His tour de force earned him a Best Actor prize at Cannes and a far from satisfactory international career that includes the disastrous remake ...
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Reviews
Love Actually
Dir: Richard Curtis. UK. 2003. 129 minsLike a latter-day Frank Capra, Richard Curtis believes in the innate decency of the ordinary individual. His films salute the power of love and the possibility of harmony in a world riven with division. His vision may not be dark or cutting-edge but it ...
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News
Verve takes UK rights to Edinburgh winner Afterlife
Verve Films have acquired UK theatrical rights to Gabriel Films' Afterlife, the winner of the Standard Life Audience Award at the 2003 Edinburgh International Film Festival. Written by Andrea Gibb and directed by Alison Peebles, the low-budget digital feature is the first title created under the New Found Films scheme ...
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Reviews
11:14
Dir: Greg Marcks. US. 2003. 95 minsThe random acts of desperate individuals propel the frantic, fashionably dark-hued ensemble 11:14. The first feature from writer-director Greg Marcks is distinguished by the intricacy of its plotting and a fondness for bad taste humour. A calling card for Marcks abilities, it lacks the ...
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News
Toronto restores faith in festival experience
There are times this year when Toronto must have felt like a city under siege - the combination of SARS, a strong Canadian dollar and a power blackout had a devastating effect on the city's allure. The film festival circuit has been suffering from a similar cocktail of misfortune with ...
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Reviews
The Boys From County Clare
Dir: John Irvin. Ireland/UK/Germany. 2003. 90 minsWarm in spirit but slight in terms of substance, The Boys From County Clare is a lightweight period charmer. Attractively photographed and ably performed, it is a nice little inoffensive film that lacks the bite or grit to make much headway in theatrical terms. ...
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Reviews
8.17pm, Darling Street (20.17, Rue Darling)
Dir: Bernard Emond. Canada. 2003. 101minsInexplicable tragedy prompts a soul-searching quest for the meaning of life in 8.17pm Darling Street, a modestly effective but resolutely glum second feature from writer-director Bernard Emond whose debut, La Femme Qui Boit also screened in Critics' Week in 2001. Addressing the guilt of those ...
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Reviews
Vodka Lemon
Dir: Hiner Saleem. France/Italy/Switzerland/Armenia. 2003. 84minsThe bittersweet realities of a post-Communist world are threatening to create a mini movie genre. A good deal of the sly humour in Good Bye, Lenin! stemmed from a nostalgic longing for life before the fall of the Berlin Wall. In Vodka Lemon, a snowy, ...
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Reviews
Touching The Void
Dir: Kevin Macdonald. UK. 2003. 106 minsAn extraordinary story of human survival is transformed into an exceptional human interest documentary in Touching The Void. Director Kevin Macdonald's first theatrical project since the Oscar-winning One Day In September is as dramatic and compelling as any Hollywood fiction but carries a much ...
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Reviews
Underworld
Dir: Len Wiseman. US-UK-Germany-Hungary. 2003. 121 mins.A laughable exercise in Gothic gloom and pulpy horror movie cliches, Underworld is strictly for genre fans. The potential novelty of an age old blood feud between vampires and werewolves quickly fades in a film that sticks rigidly to the tried and trusted elements ...
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Reviews
Shattered Glass
Dir: Billy Ray. US. 2003. 99 mins.An utterly absorbing dramatisation of contemporary true events, Shattered Glass is a welcome reminder of the serious-minded venture that was once more prevalent in mainstream American cinema. A modern morality tale that reflects the clash between ambition and integrity, it recalls the kind of ...
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News
Girl With A Pearl Earring
Dir: Peter Webber. UK/Luxembourg. 2003. 95 mins Crafted with all the delicate judgement and fine brushstrokes of an Old Master, Girl With A Pearl Earring is an exquisitely understated period drama rich in atmosphere and emotion. A faithful adaptation of the Tracey Chevalier best-seller, this marks an auspicious feature debut ...
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Reviews
Girl With A Pearl Earring
Dir: Peter Webber. UK/Luxembourg. 2003. 95 mins Crafted with all the delicate judgement and fine brushstrokes of an Old Master, Girl With A Pearl Earring is an exquisitely understated period drama rich in atmosphere and emotion. A faithful adaptation of the Tracey Chevalier best-seller, this marks an auspicious feature debut ...
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Reviews
Bright Young Things
Dir: Stephen Fry. UK. 2003. 105 mins Actor, author, wit and incomparable awards host, Stephen Fry can now add auteur to his considerable list of achievements. The renaissance man of British entertainment, Fry has captured all the anxious, frazzled spirit of Evelyn Waugh's novel Vile Bodies in an exuberant directorial ...
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Reviews
Afterlife
Dir: Alison Peebles. UK. 2003. 104 minsMaterial that might seem hackneyed or maudlin in less skilful hands emerges as a moving, emotion-charged drama in Afterlife. The story of a journalist torn between professional ambition and family responsibilities is distinguished by intelligent writing, sensitive direction and stand-out performances from Kevin McKidd ...
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News
Edinburgh closes with Splendor
It may have been a tough year for securing titles and attracting talent but the 57th Edinburgh International Film Festival closed in style on Sunday with the British premiere of Sundance prize-winner American Splendor. Earlier in the day star Paul Giamatti and cartoonist Harvey Pekar, the subject of the film, ...
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Reviews
Solid Air
Dir: May Miles Thomas. UK. 2003. 113minsA doleful examination of social injustice and family heartache, Solid Air is a remarkably polished and painfully personal second feature from BAFTA-winning Scots director May Miles Thomas. Dedicated to her father and others who have suffered from asbestos-related illnesses, the film's unrelenting intensity creates ...
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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 ...