Large MPU – Page 2149
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Reviews
Mr Deeds
Dir: Steven Brill. US. 2002. 96 mins. The Adam Sandler hit factory appears to be back in business. After falling way short of their usual box office standards with 2000's surreally wacky Little Nicky, the boyish star and his regular writing and producing partners revert to much safer material with ...
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News
Taviani wins top Moscow film festival prize for Resurrection
The 24th Moscow International Film Festival once again boasted a host of international celebrities at its closing ceremony with Harvey Keitel, Holly Hunter, Jacqueline Bisset, Atom Egoyan and Bob Rafelson turning up as well as Vittorio Taviani who collected the main prize for the film Resurrection.Based on a novel by ...
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News
Coronation, Little Bird to form international film finance company
South Africa's Coronation Capital and Irish production company Little Bird are to set up a financial services company that will structure and raise finance for international film producers.The two companies recently signed an agreement to produce a feature documentary on the legendary 1950s music of Sophiatown which will be produced ...
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News
Australian film investment fund falls short of target
The ambitious joint bid by Australia's Macquarie Bank and the Nine Network to raise $35.1m (A$62.5m) from private investors has fallen considerably short of the target with the result that only two features will be produced rather than the hoped-for eight.But although only $13.3m (A$23.6m) was raised by the time ...
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News
EM.TV boss doubts company's chances of survival
Werner E. Klatten, CEO of the beleaguered German media concern EM.TV & Merchandising, has expressed his doubts about the chances of his company emerging from restructuring after the bursting of the Neuer Markt bubble and the Kirch crisis.In an interview, he stated that the restructuring of EM.TV "has become enormously ...
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News
BrekFest celebrates film soundtracks
The importance of soundtracks to film will be the focus of the BrekFest Film & Music Festival to be held on Sunday 4 August at the Valhalla Cinema Glebe, Sydney.The festival is a one-day event that involves an industry discussion forum, short film and music video screenings and live soundtrack ...
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News
Cockram gets top job at Australian Film Institute
Felicity Cockram is leaving her job as senior business manager with the Montecito Picture Company in Los Angeles and returning home to take up the role of general manager of the Australian Film Institute (AFI) from July 29. During the past six years Cockram has worked as executive liaison for ...
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News
Messier steps down from Vivendi Universal
Jean-Marie Messier has exited his post as chairman of Vivendi Universal following a board meeting yesterday, according to widespread, but still officially unconfirmed, reports.French daily newspaper Le Monde said that Messier had agreed, albeit reluctantly, to quit his position, but that negotiations concerning his severance package could delay an official ...
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Reviews
Chicken Heart
Dir: Hiroshi Shimizu. Japan. 2002. 105 mins.Hiroshi Shimizu is a Takashi Kitano protege, having worked as an assistant director on several of his films, including Hana-Bi, Kikujiro and Brother. At the same time he has also received backing for his first two features from Kitano's production company, Office Kitano. Shimizu's ...
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Reviews
Apartment 5C
Dir: Raphael Nadjari. US/Fr/Israel. 2002. 93 mins. Two qualities distinguish this grungy, ultra-low-budget New York production: John Surman's gorgeously moody saxophone jazz score and the fact that the film, set during last year's cold, grey Thanksgiving celebrations, was apparently one of the first shot to be in the city after ...
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Reviews
Bridget
Dir: Amos Kollek. Fr-US. 2001. 90mins.Amos Kollek is one of the great wonders of the film festival world. Each new film seems virtually guaranteed of a slot on the A-list (the last two, Queenie In Love and Fast Food, Fast Women, both premiered in Cannes), yet none has broken though ...
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Reviews
17 Fois Cecile Cassard
Dir: Christophe Honore. France. 2002. 105mins. A patchily promising first feature from writer turned director Christophe Honore, 17 Fois Cecile Cassard charts a woman's agonising struggle to rebuild her life after the devastating death of her husband. Told in 17 snapshots of moments that define her journey from abject misery ...
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Reviews
The Abduction Club
Dir: Stefan Schwartz. Ire-UK. 2001. 96mins. Based on an amusing plot premise - "the 18th century's answer to Dateline" - The Abduction Club avoids the music-vid gimmickry of previous attempts to bring the costume romp to the youth market such as Jake Scott's Plunkett And Macleane. The gentle tone of ...
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Reviews
Lilo & Stitch
Dirs: Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois. US. 2002. 85mins.Lilo & Stitch may not push the animation envelope much, but with its modestly scaled story and retro cartooning techniques, this endearing ugly duckling tale could still give Disney its biggest traditionally animated summer hit in years. The film's $35.3m opening weekend US ...
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News
Vivendi shares plummet amid accountancy queries
Vivendi Universal shares crashed today (July 2) as the company became the latest to be tinged by questions over its accountancy policies.At 1215 GMT today the shares were down 35% at Euros15.53 having been suspended four times by stockmarket regulator, the COB, which limits violent price movements. The shares had ...
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Reviews
Fate (Yazgi)
Dir. Zeki Demirkubuz. Turkey. 2001. 115mins.The first of three Tales Of Darkness features by Zeki Demirkubuz, Turkey's most promising new film-maker, this free adaptation of Albert Camus' novel The Stranger is bound to attract plenty of festival activity. The best indication of the film's nature and eventual future comes with ...
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Reviews
El Bonaerense
Dir: Pablo Trapero. Argentina 2002. 92mins. The Buenos Aires police department comes under wry satirical scrutiny in the second feature by the director of the highly-acclaimed Mondo Grua (Crane World). The business of crime-fighting has rarely looked so farcically disreputable outside the Police Academy series, but the humour here is ...
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Reviews
Happy Times (Xingfu Shiguang)
Dir: Zhang Yimou. China-US. 2000. 96minsThe first film from Edward R Pressman and Terrence Malick's Sunflower Productions, Zhang Yimou 's Happy Times is a Chaplinesque sentimental comedy which has its moments of greatness. Even during the more pedestrian scenes, it is difficult not to be warmed by this winning tale ...
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Reviews
Just A Kiss
Dir: Fisher Stevens. US. 2001. 90mins.This New York ensemble comedy is like a drunk at a party. It thinks it's being witty, kooky and perceptive, but to those of us on the other side of the cranium, it's just slurring its speech. Director Fisher Stevens is a stage, film ...
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Reviews
L'Adversaire (The Adversary)
Dir: Nicole Garcia. France 2002. 120 mins.A slow, sombre drama about a mythomaniac in crisis, the latest film by actress-turned-director Nicole Garcia is a stolid effort that additionally suffers by covering too-familiar material. Its story is fundamentally the same as the one told by Laurent Cantet in his recent L'Emploi ...