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Latest reviews – Page 414
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Reviews
The Promise (Mo Gik)
Dir/scr: Chen Kaige. China. 2005. 102 mins.Chen Kaige's first attemptat the Chinese adventure epic which has become a global box-office staple sinceAng Lee's CrouchingTiger, Hidden Dragon and Zhang Yimou's Hero and House Of FlyingDaggers is a commercial, entertaining addition to the genre.Already hyped as one of themost expensive films ever ...
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Reviews
Angel-A
Dir/scr: Luc Besson. Fr. 2005. 90mins.Absent from behind the camera since his 1999 medievalepic, The Messenger: The Story of Joan ofArc, Luc Besson makes a modest directorialcomeback with Angel-A.The French film industry'sbest-kept secret of 2005, the offbeat romance was shot on the sly in Paris last summer(while media attention was ...
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Reviews
Fun With Dick And Jane
Dir: Dean Parisot. US. 2005. 89mins.For such a big star, Jim Carrey's career has featureda remarkably stark push-and-pull between appreciative audience reception andstubborn resistance to his whims. While his comedies as a leading man havetypically made a mint, more dramatic-minded turns in The Truman Show, Man On The Moon and ...
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Reviews
Spanish stars head home for new projects
Spain's most exportable filmtalent, led by Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz,are going back to their roots for their most recent productions.Cruz has signed on to star oppositeAdrien Brody in English-language bullfighting biopic Manolete, whichbegins shooting on March 21 in Cordoba, Seville and Madrid.Meanwhile, Banderas began filming in his hometown of ...
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Reviews
Looking For Comedy In The Muslim World
Dir/scr: Albert Brooks.2005. US. 98mins.The title LookingFor Comedy In The Muslim World is perhaps the bravest part of AlbertBrooks' new film, in which he plays himself, travelling to India and Pakistanon behalf of the US government to research what makes Hindus and Muslims laugh.Also brave was Brooks'decision for his feature ...
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Reviews
Rumour Has It...
Dir: Rob Reiner.US. 138mins.Invoking the spirit of a classic featurecan be a precarious business for a new movie, inviting inevitable comparisons.It's something that Rumour Has It' -whose plotline was inspired by The Graduate, Mike Nichols' far more spirited, witty anddaring film - does at its peril, falling flat not only ...
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Reviews
Hoodwinked
Dir: Cory Edwards. US.2005. 81mins.Written and directed by a trio of virtually unknownfilm-makers, computer animated family comedy Hoodwinked feels like a cheap and cheerful cross between Shrek and Looney Tunes. The cheapness - mostlyexposed in relatively rudimentary CG work - makes Shrek-level theatrical successunlikely; but the cheeriness of this sassy ...
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Reviews
Lassie
Dir/scr: Charles Sturridge. UK-Ire-Fr-US 2005.Hansomely crafted, full of lively performancesfrom both animals and humans, and with far more satirical bite than might havebeen expected, Charles Sturridge's Lassie is a richlysatisfying affair.In drawing his inspirationdirectly from Eric Knight's 1938 story, Sturridge hastaken the famous collie away from Hollywood and back to ...
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Reviews
The New World
Dir/scr: Terrence Malick. US. 2005. 150mins.A sweeping historical narrative and exquisitely renderedlove story, Terrence Malick's The New World is a majestic, electrifying feature experience that forsome will rank as the most artistically accomplished US studio release this year.Demanding and complex, it possessesextraordinary beauty and comes close to silent cinema, with ...
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Reviews
Munich
Dir: Steven Spielberg. US.2005. 165 mins.It's a bold and courageous move for Steven Spielbergto address the 100-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a $70mHollywood movie, and he has already stirred up advance controversy for thestory he opted to tell - that of the Israeli government's secret hit squadsallegedly formed in the aftermath ...
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Reviews
The Family Stone
Dir: Thomas Bezucha. US. 2005. 104mins.The Family Stoneis a serio-comic story about the holiday gathering ofa chatty, mildly bickering bohemian New England brood, and the straight-lacedgirlfriend that the eldest son brings home. A sort of mash-up of The Myth OfFingerprints and Home For TheHolidays, it's also a rich reminder of ...
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Reviews
The Producers
Dir: Susan Stroman. USA.2005. 135mins.The strange, zany trip of Mel Brooks' The Producers - which began in 1968 as amovie about a Broadway musical; morphed into a Tony-winning smash hit Broadwaymusical about a Broadway musical; and now reincarnates itself on film withalmost the entire creative team behind that stage adaptation ...
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Reviews
Munich
Dir: Steven Spielberg. US.2005. 165 mins.It's a bold and courageous move for Steven Spielbergto address the 100-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a $70mHollywood movie, and he has already stirred up advance controversy for thestory he opted to tell - that of the Israeli government's secret hit squadsallegedly formed in the aftermath ...
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Reviews
King Kong
Dir: Peter Jackson. US.2005. 189mins.Peter Jackson's KingKong is Jurassic Park, War Of The Worlds, Jaws, ET and Raiders Of The Lost Ark allrolled into one mammoth, three-hour rollercoaster ride. As if saying to StevenSpielberg "Anything you can do, I can do better", Jackson delivers a resoundingaudience-pleaser which pushes the boundaries ...
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Reviews
Keeping Mum
Dir: Niall Johnson. UK. 2005. 103mins.Keeping Mum is acurious mish-mash: part morbid comedy in the vein ofold Ealing classic Kind Hearts And Coronets, part family drama, part Rowan Atkinsonvehicle, part murder mystery, part Mary Poppins, its disparate elements are thrown together withlittle craft or subtlety.Director and co-writer NiallJohnson never seems ...
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Reviews
The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe
Dir: Andrew Adamson. US.2005. 140mins.Hopes are riding high on the back of Aslan, the talking lion, for The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, the first of Disney andWalden Media's mooted adaptation of CS Lewis' seven-book series.Coming after Peter Jackson'sstorming, imaginative rendition of TheLord Of The Rings trilogy - and ...
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Reviews
Aeon Flux
Dir: Karyn Kusama. US. 2005. 92mins.A cult animated MTV series from the early 1990s getsa disappointingly dull live-action makeover in sci-fi thriller Aeon Flux, directed by Sundanceaward-winner (for her debut film Girlfight) Karyn Kusama.Teenage fanboysand their slightly older brothers will be the primary audience, and with Charlize Theron wearing the ...
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Reviews
Sogepaq announces sales for Fernando Leon's latest
Spain's Sogepaq has announced first sales in Europe and Latin America on Fernando Leon's Sundance World Competition entry, Princesses (Princesas). The film has sold to France and Belgium (ARP), Switzerland (Xenix), Greece & Cyprus (Audiovisual), Portugal (Atalanta Filmes), Mexico (Cine Video y TV), Argentina, Chile, Uruguay & Paraguay (Alfa Films) ...
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Reviews
Unknown White Male
Dir: Rupert Murray. UK. 2005. 88mins.A bizarre case of amnesia yields philosophical foodfor thought as well as an unorthodox character study in Unknown White Male, a thought-provoking documentary by Britishfilm-maker Rupert Murray.The film's subject is afriend of Murray's - a 35-year-old Englishman named Douglas Bruce who suddenlyand inexplicably lost all ...
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Reviews
Gravehopping (Od Groba Do Groba)
Dir/scr: Jan Cvitkovic. Slovenia, 2005. 103mins.A darkly comic curio, the second filmfrom Bread And Milk director Jan Cvitkovic has been flying the festival flag for Sloveniaever since its debut at San Sebastian - where it picked up the New Directors Award- and has since won best film prizes at Cottbus ...