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Latest reviews – Page 420
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Reviews
The World's Fastest Indian
Dir/scr: Roger Donaldson.NZ. 2005. 127mins.The latest RogerDonaldson is a natural born winner through and through. An inspiring real lifestory of a man who dared in his late sixties not only to dream but to go on andaccomplish his dreams against all odds, The World's Fastest Indian hasall the hallmarks of ...
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Reviews
El Aura
Dir/scr: Fabian Belinsky.Arg-Sp. 2005. 129mins.A successful debut filmis always a difficult act to follow. Argentine director Fabian Bielinsky dealswith the pressure by giving us what might be described as the anti Nine Queensin his follow-up feature, El Aura. That multi-territory hit, whichspawned the US remake Criminal, was as sharp as ...
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Reviews
Manslaughter (Drabet)
Dir:Per Fly. Den. 2005. 105mins.Adark, controlled moral tragedy, Manslaughter is even more austere, evenmore relentless in its probings of the consequences of our wrong turns, thanPer Fly's previous film, Inheritance. Jesper Christensen, most recentlyseen in The Interpreter, delivers an outstanding performance as anacademic proponent of class resistance forced to live ...
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Reviews
In Her Shoes
Dir: Curtis Hanson. US.2005. 130mins.Curtis Hanson'sgenre-spanning career has included The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, TheRiver Wild, LA Confidential and 8 Mile - so it should come asno surprise that he is able to craft a superior tearjerker in his latest film InHer Shoes.The contemporary equivalentof what used to be ...
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Reviews
Obaba
Dir: Montxo Armendariz.Sp-Ger. 2005. 109mins.There are strange thingsgoing on down in Obaba, a tale of isolated village life set in thePyrenean hinterland of San Sebastian - which is why, presumably, it was chosento open the 53rd edition of Spain's A-list film festival.But although it got a warmreaction from the gala ...
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Reviews
Mistress Of Spices
Dir: Paul Mayeda Berges.UK. 2005. 92mins.A featherweight, feelgoodromance, The Mistress Of Spices is heavily reliant on the radiant beautyof Aishwarya Rai for any modest charm that it may possess. The directorialdebut of Paul Mayeda Berges promises to add a taste of India to a Chocolat-stylescenario but falls considerably short of ...
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Reviews
Bee Season
Dirs: Scott McGehee,David Siegel US. 2005. 104mins.Makers of hand-craftedindividual items rather than mass-produced merchandise, directing partnersScott McGehee and David Siegel have built a career on the unpredictable. Theirmuch admired, low-budget indie drama Suture (1993) was eventuallyfollowed by The Deep End (2001), an icily elegant re-imagining of theMax Ophuls film noir ...
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Reviews
North Country
Dir: Niki Caro. US. 2005.123mins.After scoring a worldwidehit with the Oscar-nominated Whale Rider, New Zealand director Niki Caromakes a strong follow-up with her first Hollywood movie North Country.Loosely based on the truestory of a Minnesota woman crusading against sexual harassment in theworkplace, the film is compelling social issues storytelling in ...
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Reviews
Perhaps Love (Ruguo Ai)
Dir: Peter Ho-sun Chan.HK-Ch-Malay. 2005. 108mins.The seeming Chineseanswer to Moulin Rouge, Perhaps Love is a lavish butinsubstantial musical love story with pan-Asian cinema and music stars Zhou Xun(Suzhou River, The Little Chinese Seamstress) and TakeshiKaneshiro (Chungking Express, House Of Flying Daggers) in theNicole and Ewan roles.It's an odd mix: arthouse ...
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Reviews
Initial D (Taumanchi D)
Dirs: Andrew Lau, AlanMak. HK. 2005. 107mins.After the InfernalAffairs trilogy, directing duo Andrew Lau and Alan Mak seem to have theMidas touch. This year's summer blockbuster in Hong Kong, Initial D nudged a$5m gross at home - more than War Of The Worlds and Batman Beginsput together.Loosely working from ShiuchiShigeno's ...
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Reviews
Fragile (Fragiles)
Dir: Jaume Balaguero.Sp-UK. 2005. 98mins.Fragile's the word.Spanish horror specialist Jaume Balaguero fails to impress with his follow-upto the psycho-thriller Darkness, which grossed over $22m at the US boxoffice, despite downbeat reviews. A stale spooky-hospital yarn, Fragilesuffers from poor suspense management and the gelid obnoxiousness of thecentral nurse character, played by ...
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Reviews
Separate Lies
Dir: Julian Fellowes. UK2005. 85mins.Actor-turned-screenwriter-turned-novelistJulian Fellowes adds another string to his bow with Separate Lies, anauspicious directorial debut that produces a staunchly old-fashioned butnonetheless taut and adult marital drama.Based on a 1951 novel byNigel Balchin, the film applies insightful psychological realism to tensionsbetween well-heeled middle-class adults. As such it is ...
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Reviews
Walk The Line
Dir: James Mangold. US. 2005. 135mins.More the story of the romance between Johnny Cash and JuneCarter than a straight biopic of Cash, the eagerly awaited Walk The Line isa winning Hollywood entertainment dominated by two bright star performancesfrom Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.Wide audiences will lap up the drama, especially ...
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Reviews
Just Like Heaven
Dir: Mark Waters. US.2005. 95mins.Despite another winningstar turn from Reese Witherspoon in the lead role, Just Like Heaven feelslike a convoluted blend of other movies from Ghost to While You WereSleeping to Sleepless In Seattle to What Dreams May Come.Set to be released byDreamWorks in North America on Sept 16 ...
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Reviews
Don't Tell
Dir:Cristina Comencini. It-UK-Sp-Fr. 2005. 120mins.Thestrongest of the three Italian films in competition at Venice this year, Don'tTell will nevertheless struggle to extend worthy local director CristinaComenicini's limited international appeal.GiovannaMezzogiorno's gritty performance as a soon-to-be-mother forced to deal for thefirst time with the ghosts of child abuse in her childhood netted ...
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Reviews
Capote
Dir. Bennett Miller. US. 2005. 110mins.Philip Seymour Hoffman delivers agalvanising and awards-worthy performance in Capote, the superbdramatisation of US novelist Truman Capote at the zenith of his career: the sixyears from 1959 to 1965 that he devoted to his ground-breaking 'non-fiction'novel In Cold Blood.But the real star of the show ...
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Reviews
Tristram Shandy: A Cock And Bull Story
Dir: Michael Winterbottom. UK. 2005. 91mins.Michael Winterbottom's deliriously funny film-about-a-filmof 18th century novel Tristram Shandy is the prolific director's mostenjoyable feature to date. Based around the gigantic comic talents of SteveCoogan, A Cock And Bull Story is both Winterbottom's affectionate homageto film-making itself and a snapshot of UK talent and ...
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Reviews
Mrs Henderson Presents
Dir: Stephen Frears. UK.2005. 103mins.A jaunty combination ofsocial history, screwball comedy and theatrical kitsch, Mrs HendersonPresents offers a sparkling, emotion-charged stroll down memory lane. Adeliciously witty script by Martin Sherman is seized upon with relish by JudiDench who gives a spellbinding, tour de force as the merry widow behindLondon's Windmill ...
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Reviews
Shopgirl
Dir: Anand Tucker. US.2005. 106mins.Shopgirl is a love letter to Clare Danes. The camera caressesher features, gazes adoringly into her tear-filled eyes and celebrates hertalent in a way that has rarely been seen since the MGM heyday of George Cukor.If you weren't besotted byher before then you should be after ...
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Reviews
Shopgirl
Dir: Anand Tucker. US.2005. 106mins.Shopgirl is a love letter to Clare Danes. The camera caressesher features, gazes adoringly into her tear-filled eyes and celebrates hertalent in a way that has rarely been seen since the MGM heyday of George Cukor.If you weren't besotted byher before then you should be after ...