All articles by Allan Hunter – Page 67

  • Reviews

    Phone Booth

    2002-09-17T00:00:00Z

    Director: Joel Schumacher. US. 2002. 80minsA slick, Twilight Zone-style premise is stretched to the limit of narrative credibility in Phone Booth, a trim, trashy little thriller that reunites the Tigerland team of director Joel Schumacher and star Colin Farrell. A compelling central performance and energetic direction serve to distract from ...

  • Reviews

    Antwone Fisher

    2002-09-17T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Denzel Washington. US. 2002. 117minsAn assured directorial debut from double Oscar-winner Denzel Washington, Antwone Fisher is an inspirational true story of one man's struggle to overcome the legacy of an abused childhood. It may sound like the subject matter of countless TV-movies dramas but, handled with discretion and sensitivity, ...

  • Reviews

    In America (Working Title)

    2002-09-13T00:00:00Z

    Director: Jim Sheridan. Ire-UK. 2002. 103 minsA heart-warming portrait of an Irish family's life and death struggles, In America marks another uplifting human drama from writer-director Jim Sheridan. Beautifully acted by the entire cast, its sure-footed mixture of laughter and tears is on the sentimental side but should win over ...

  • Reviews

    11' 09' 01

    2002-09-13T00:00:00Z

    Directors: various. France. 2002. 135minsTrailing controversy and accusations of a vicious anti-American sensibility, portemanteau production 11'09''01 proves to be a much more measured, wide-ranging and humanist response to the events of September 11, 2001. Commissioned to make a short film, eleven directors of international standing have created a collection ...

  • News

    Toronto Comment - The British Are Screening!

    2002-09-11T00:00:00Z

    It is just 20 years since screenwriter Colin Welland held an Oscar aloft and famously declared: "The British are coming!" Chariots of Fire was the Oscar Cinderella story that year, Gandhi was waiting in the wings and filmmakers as diverse as Bill Forsyth and Peter Greenaway were about to leave ...

  • News

    Toronto: A Festival Of Quiet Americans

    2002-09-11T00:00:00Z

    Last year at Toronto, the events of September 11 pushed everything else into numbed insignificance. This year, the Festival offered a comforting sense of business as usual - Miramax and Lion's Gate cherrypicked the top titles, celebrity-spotting recaptured the front pages and the old, familiar debate resumed over whether the ...

  • Reviews

    The Four Feathers

    2002-09-10T00:00:00Z

    Director: Shekhar Kapur. US-UK. 2002 125minsThe question of whether the world really needs another version of The Four Feathers is convincingly answered by Shekhar Kapur's stirring approach to the venerable tale of Empire and honour. Boasting a strong cast of rising young stars and handsomely captured locations, the classic adventure ...

  • Reviews

    The Four Feathers

    2002-09-10T00:00:00Z

    Director: Shekhar Kapur. US-UK. 2002 125minsThe question of whether the world really needs another version of The Four Feathers is convincingly answered by Shekhar Kapur's stirring approach to the venerable tale of Empire and honour. Boasting a strong cast of rising young stars and handsomely captured locations, the classic adventure ...

  • Reviews

    The Good Thief

    2002-09-09T00:00:00Z

    Director: Neil Jordan. UK-Fr-Ire. 2002. 108minsA loose-limbed, shaggy dog reworking of 1955 French crime classic Bob Le Flambeur, The Good Thief (previously known as Double Down) is writer-director Neil Jordan's most enjoyable and commercial feature for several years. Subverting the conventions of the heist caper with sly humour and a ...

  • Reviews

    The Good Thief

    2002-09-09T00:00:00Z

    Director: Neil Jordan. UK-Fr-Ire. 2002. 108minsA loose-limbed, shaggy dog reworking of 1955 French crime classic Bob Le Flambeur, The Good Thief (previously known as Double Down) is writer-director Neil Jordan's most enjoyable and commercial feature for several years. Subverting the conventions of the heist caper with sly humour and a ...

  • Reviews

    The Quiet American

    2002-09-09T00:00:00Z

    Director: Phillip Noyce. US-UK. 2002. 101minsThe fatal global consequences of blundering American naivety are brought into sharp focus by Phillip Noyce's elegantly understated adaptation of the Graham Greene novel. First published in 1955, Greene's spare, prophetic fiction told of America's misguided adventures in the politics of Indo-China through a love ...

  • Reviews

    The Quiet American

    2002-09-09T00:00:00Z

    Director: Phillip Noyce. US-UK. 2002. 101minsThe fatal global consequences of blundering American naivety are brought into sharp focus by Phillip Noyce's elegantly understated adaptation of the Graham Greene novel. First published in 1955, Greene's spare, prophetic fiction told of America's misguided adventures in the politics of Indo-China through a love ...

  • Reviews

    The Magdalene Sisters

    2002-08-30T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Peter Mullan. UK-Ireland. 2002. 118minsShocking true events are transformed into a powerful and moving human drama in The Magdalene Sisters. The second feature from writer-director Peter Mullan, the film is an angry cry from the heart rendered all the more effective by its restraint and burning sense of injustice ...

  • News

    Scottish Screen appoints new Chair

    2002-08-29T04:05:00Z

    Ray McFarlane has been appointed as the new Chair of Scottish Screen.Currently senior director of business banking at the Bank Of Scotland, she replaces James Lee whose four year term of office ended in May. McFarlane has been a member of the Scottish Screen Board since its inception in 1997 ...

  • Reviews

    The Last Great Wilderness

    2002-08-29T00:00:00Z

    Dir: David Mackenzie. UK. 2002. 90minsAn idiosyncratic combination of stalled road movie and psychological drama, The Last Great Wilderness marks a promising feature debut from director David Mackenzie. The dry, dark wit and unpredictable nature of the narrative reveal it to have more in common with the sensibility of early ...

  • News

    UK documentary scheme emerges from Edinburgh

    2002-08-28T04:05:00Z

    A proposed pilot scheme to boost UK theatrical audiences for documentaries was unveiled at Edinburgh during the closing weekend of the Film Festival.Inspired by the Docuzone initiative in the Nederlands and growing figures for the Sheffield Touring Festival, the scheme, titled Docuspace, is ultimately intended to devise a dedicated exhibition ...

  • Reviews

    Volcano High (Whasango)

    2002-08-28T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Kim Tae-gyun. Korea. 2001. 99minsA manic, manga-style mixture of frenzied fight sequences and hysterical comedy, Volcano High makes Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon seem like a sedate stroll in the park by comparison. Downplaying narrative cohesion in favour of spectacular martial arts moves, it should find an eager audience among ...

  • News

    Edinburgh: Out Of Control wins best British film award

    2002-08-26T04:05:00Z

    Dominic Savage's Out Of Control received the Michael Powell Award for Best British Film at the 56th Edinburgh International Film Festival which closed on Sunday with the British premiere of Christopher Nolan's thriller Insomnia. Savage's improvised drama, that tells of a teenage boy whose life is made a living hell ...

  • News

    Edinburgh: UK creative talent back on song

    2002-08-23T04:05:00Z

    What a difference a year makes. Last year at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, there was much talk of a British section that was considered lightweight and lacking in quality. Inevitably, it was seen as a reflection on the whole industry.This year, Morvern Callar, All Or Nothing, Heartlands and My ...

  • Reviews

    Heartlands

    2002-08-23T00:00:00Z

    Director: Damien O'Donnell. UK. 2002. 98minsAnswering the question of how you follow an international success like East Is East (1999), director Damien O'Donnell's second feature Heartlands is a slow-burning delight that will steal audience hearts just as effectively as his broader, more obviously crowd-pleasing debut. A gentle road movie filled ...