All articles by Allan Hunter – Page 64
-
News
Cannes goes from feast to famine
You win some, you lose some. Last year, Cannes was basking in an abundance of riches that ranged from Palme d'Or winner The Pianist to dazzling documentary Bowling For Columbine and red hot discovery City Of God. This year, the collective Competition choices were considered the worst in living memory ...
-
Reviews
Elephant
Dir: Gus Van Sant. US. 2003. 81minsIn recent years Gus Van Sant's erratic career has had all the hallmarks ofan amnesiac desperately seeking clues to his true identity. He has assumedthe ill-fitting personalities of Hitchcock imitator (Psycho) and Dogme-styleexperimenter (Gerry) and even appeared to try cloning himself with a GoodWill ...
-
Reviews
Who Killed Bambi' (Qui A Tue Bambi')
Dir: Gilles Marchand. France. 2003. 126minsStrip away the veneer of sophisticated film technique and the delusions of artistic merit and Who Killed Bambi' is just another crude scary movie. Best known as the co-writer of the Hitchcockian delight Harry, A Friend Who Is Happy To Help, Gilles Marchand displays an ...
-
Reviews
Strayed (Les Egares)
Dir: Andre Techine. France. 2003. 95minsTender and tasteful, Strayed (Les Egares) takes a conventional approach to what will seem familiar material to most international audiences. Set amid sun-dappled vistas of rural France, it captures the conflicting emotions and underlying tensions of a lyrical interlude stolen from the chaos of wartime ...
-
Reviews
Strayed (Les Egares)
Dir: Andre Techine. France. 2003. 95minsTender and tasteful, Strayed (Les Egares) takes a conventional approach to what will seem familiar material to most international audiences. Set amid sun-dappled vistas of rural France, it captures the conflicting emotions and underlying tensions of a lyrical interlude stolen from the chaos of wartime ...
-
Reviews
Dogville
Dir: Lars von Trier. Denmark. 2003. 177minsThe 900lb gorilla of this year's Cannes Competition, Lars von Trier's Dogville is a typically uncompromising experiment in stripped down narrative. Excessive in its running-time and highly theatrical in its execution, it ultimately emerges as a vivid and thoughtful exploration of a world condemned ...
-
Reviews
Swimming Pool
Dir: Francois Ozon. France. 2003. 102minsNobody is better qualified than Francois Ozon to speculate on the sources of an artist's creativity. Six features in as many years have made him one of the most prolific and admired of European young guns. Swimming Pool is an entertaining and initially intriguing exploration ...
-
Reviews
I Capture The Castle
Dir: Tim Fywell. UK-South Africa. 2002. 112mins.A handsome feature debut from director Tim Fywell, I Capture The Castle offers a sensitive, sympathetic adaptation of a much loved British novel. Boasting an acute sense of period trappings and lush locations, it also showcases a memorably engaging performance from newcomer Romola Garai ...
-
Reviews
The Actors
Dir: Conor McPherson. UK-Ire-US-Ger. 2002. 92minsThe Actors is the kind of film that was more fun to make than to watch. A ragged, lightweight romp with more energy than credibility, it is a curious disappointment considering the track record of the talents involved. Based on a story by Neil Jordan, ...
-
News
Terence Davies' Sunset Song to shoot this summer
Terence Davies' adaptation of the classic Scottish novel Sunset Song is on track to start shooting on location in Scotland from August or September, according to producer Bob Last.A global casting search is under way for a lead actress and Last will announce funding partners at Cannes. Scottish Screen has ...
-
Reviews
To Kill A King
Dir: Mike Barker.UK. 2003. 105mins.An ambitious, solidly executed period drama, To Kill A King represents a daunting marketing challenge. Charting the close personal friendship and bitter ideological differences between Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Fairfax in 17th-century England, it is a history lesson propelled by ideas rather than action. A sober, ...
-
News
First digital features announced for Scotland's New Found Films
Peter Mullan, Shirley Henderson and Kevin McKidd are among the Scottish stars to appear in the first two digital features produced under the country's New Found Films scheme. Financed by Scottish Television, Grampian Television and Scottish Screen, the three year New Found Land scheme was previously responsible for producing six ...
-
Reviews
Johnny English
Dir: Peter Howitt. UK. 2003. 89mins.More Carry On Spying than Austin Powers, Johnny English is a surprisingly tentative spy spoof that should still prove a licence to print money for production company Working Title. A family-friendly version of Mike Myers' racier, more inventive espionage antics, the combination of local comedy ...
-
News
Plans unveiled for Scottish facilities centre
Scottish producer Gillian Berrie of Sigma Films has revealed plans to develop Film City Glasgow in the city's Govan Town Hall. Backed by Scottish Enterprise Glasgow, Glasgow City Council and the European Regional Development Fund, the £3m project was inspired by Zentropa's facilities in Denmark - Film City Copenhagen. A ...
-
News
Another major film studio proposed for Scotland
The ongoing story of constructing a major film studio in Scotland added a further chapter on Wednesday with the announcement of a new $411.5m (£250m) development near Gleneagles, which includes provision for a $49.4m (£30m), 100-acre film studio. A private consortium of unnamed financiers would operate The Gleneagles Film Studio ...
-
Reviews
Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself
Dir: Lone Scherfig. Den-UK. 2002. 111minsA bittersweet reflection on love and death, Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself should beguile the same sophisticated audience who warmed to Italian For Beginners and also win writer-director Lone Scherfig a fresh wave of admirers. Displaying the same quirky charm and bone dry humour of ...
-
News
Late Night Shopping bags BAFTA Scotland award
Ideal World's critically acclaimed Late Night Shopping was named best feature Film at the 2002 BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards held in Glasgow on Sunday night. The quirky tale of fraught friendships starring Luke de Woolfson, James Lance and Heike Makatsch also won best director for Saul Metzstein and the ...
-
News
Scottish short to get feature-length US remake
New York-based Kinetic Arts is to produce a feature-length version of the award-winning Scottish short Leonard. Written by Richard Smith and directed by Brian Kelly, the Stella Maris production tells of a lonely middle-aged man at the mercy of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and his reunion with a long lost ...
-
News
Scottish film production enjoys mini-boom
Swimming against the tide of downbeat news from the UK sector, Scotland is currently experiencing a mini-boom in film and television production.Basking in the continuing festival acclaim and awards buzz for The Magdalene Sisters, Morvern Callar and Sweet Sixteen, Scotland was hailed as 'the new hotbed for British filmmaking' by ...
-
News
Flying Scotsman grounded until next year
Scottish Screen and Bronco Films' Peter Broughan have confirmed that the filming of The Flying Scotsman has now been postponed until the Spring. The£3.3 million biography of champion Scottish cyclist Graeme Obree, pitched as "Shine meets Chariots Of Fire", was originally set to start filming on November 11 with a ...