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Latest reviews – Page 429
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Reviews
Kilometre Zero
Dir/scr: Hiner Saleem. Fr-Kurd. 2005. 96minsOne person's illegal war is another's act of sweetliberation in Kilometre Zero. Inspired by the toppling of SaddamHussein, Iraqi Kurdistan director Hiner Saleem has made a film that vividlyilluminates the brutal realities of life under the tyrant's rule. Pettydictators lurk at every checkpoint, people are ...
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Reviews
Lemming
Dir: Dominik Moll. Fr. 2005.129minsFive years ago, Cannes helped to put Dominik Moll on theinternational map with the rapturous response for Harry, Un Ami Qui VousVeut Du Bien. The response to his eagerly awaited follow up is likely to bemore equivocal. A psychological thriller with a peppering of Bunuellian blackcomedy, ...
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Reviews
The Bow (Hwal)
Dir/scr/ed:Kim Ki-duk. S Kor-Jap. 2005. 90mins.South Korean festival favourite Kim Ki-duk has two modes:the island film (The Isle; Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter' And Spring),and the urban film (Bad Guy; Samaria; 3-Iron). It lookedfor a while as if his city tales were a progression from the fishhooks andBuddhist isolation of his ...
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Reviews
Match Point
Dir/scr: Woody Allen. US.2005. 124mins.Match Point would seem to prove the theory that youcan't teach new tricks to old dogs. Quintessential New York filmmaker WoodyAllen may have relocated to London but his eternal preoccupations with love,death, broken hearts and guilty minds remain central to the story. However, MatchPoint does show ...
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Reviews
Last Days
Dir/scr/ed: Gus Van Sant. US. 2005. 96minsWe sort of suspected that Gus Van Sant would not pull offanother Elephant: he's one of those directors that needs a littlebreathing space between masterpieces. But Last Days, Van Sant's newfilm, which is inspired (in the words of the final disclaimer) "in part... bythe ...
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Reviews
Hooligans
Dir. Lexi Alexander.US-UK. 2005. 108mins.An exciting, if superficial, exploration of footballviolence in the UK, this tight little drama is a showcase for an exceptionalpair of young British actors and German-born debut feature director LexiAlexander. Lord Of The Rings star Elijah Wood, clearly eager to breakout of hobbit mode, acquits himself ...
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Reviews
The Longest Penalty In The World (El Penalti Mas Largo Del Mundo)
Dir. Roberto Santiago.Sp. 2005. 101mins.A very local comedy withstrong remake potential, The Longest Penalty In The World has provedthis year's Spanish box office hit to date taking more than $6.5m.Although perhaps tooanchored in Madrid to travel past Spanish-language territories, that'sconversely Penalty's greatest strength - this could be remade more thanonce ...
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Reviews
The Great New Wonderful
Dir. Danny Leiner. US. 2005.89minsThe Great New Wonderful is thetitle but "new" is the only adjective of the three that describes this filmfrom the director of Dude, Where's My Carand Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle.A story that aims to encapsulate the ennui of post-9/11 New York City, itsucceeds ...
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Reviews
By The Pricking Of My Thumbs (Mon Petit Doigt M'a Dit)
Dir: Pascal Thomas. Fr.2005. 105mins.A French adaptation ofAgatha Christie's same-named novel, By The Pricking Of My Thumbs findsthe right balance between silly humour and creepy mystery. Directed by PascalThomas (La Dilettante) and starring Andre Dussolier - best known outsideof France as the unseen narrator of Amelie - and Catherine Frot ...
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Reviews
Mindhunters
Dir:Renny Harlin. UK-Neth-Fin-US. 2005. 108mins.Finallyemerging in the US theatrical market after a year or more on the shelf, RennyHarlin's Mindhunters is a serial killer thriller offering a few decentthrills, some fairly gruesome chills and more than its fair share of laughablyoverblown moments.Financierand international seller Intermedia has already reaped revenues from ...
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Reviews
Kicking & Screaming
Dir:Jesse Dylan. US. 2005. 93mins.WillFerrell's comic talents are used to very variable effect in Kicking &Screaming, a haphazard family comedy that attempts to combine kid-friendlyhumour with something a bit edgier for youngish parents. It's the kind of safefamily film that sometimes finds a surprisingly large audience, and Ferrell'sgrowing star power ...
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Reviews
Kicking & Screaming
Dir:Jesse Dylan. US. 2005. 93mins.WillFerrell's comic talents are used to very variable effect in Kicking &Screaming, a haphazard family comedy that attempts to combine kid-friendlyhumour with something a bit edgier for youngish parents. It's the kind of safefamily film that sometimes finds a surprisingly large audience, and Ferrell'sgrowing star power ...
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Reviews
Kicking And Screaming
Dir:Jesse Dylan. US. 2005. 93mins.WillFerrell's comic talents are used to very variable effect in Kicking &Screaming, a haphazard family comedy that attempts to combine kid-friendlyhumour with something a bit edgier for youngish parents. It's the kind of safefamily film that sometimes finds a surprisingly large audience, and Ferrell'sgrowing star power ...
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Reviews
The Longest Penalty In The World (El Penalti Mas Largo Del Mundo)
Dir:Jesse Dylan. US. 2005. 93mins.WillFerrell's comic talents are used to very variable effect in Kicking &Screaming, a haphazard family comedy that attempts to combine kid-friendlyhumour with something a bit edgier for youngish parents. It's the kind of safefamily film that sometimes finds a surprisingly large audience, and Ferrell'sgrowing star power ...
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Reviews
Three Dollars
Dir: Robert Connolly.Aus. 2005. 119mins.Based on an award-winning 1998 Australian novel, ThreeDollars is about a good, honest man utterly unable to compromise hisintegrity. David Wenham is sensitively intelligent in a role that requires himto bravely suffer a variety of modern economic tortures, from sacking andbetrayal to bankruptcy and destitution.Made with ...
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Reviews
Monster-In-Law
Dir: Robert Luketic. US2005. 95mins.Jennifer Lopez may get top billing, but Jane Fonda is theonly conceivable reason to see Monster-In-Law, a tepid romantic comedyabout a bride-to-be locking horns with her boyfriend's mum.In the US, where the filmsopens on May 13, box-office may be mixed. Thirty years after the US pulled ...
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Reviews
Gamblers (Les Mauvais Joueurs)
Dir. Frederic Balekdjian.Fr. 2005. 85mins.Taking place entirely ina garment district of Paris, Gamblers is a French Mean Streets, amessy, gratifying film about life in an ethnically-mixed neighbourhood and theart of making a living however one can. The first feature by the promisingFrederic Balekdjian, it makes for an assured, exciting drama ...
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Reviews
The Baxter
Dir. Michael Showalter.US. 2005. 91mins.The debut feature fromMichael Showalter, The Baxter harbours noble ambitions - but therein liemost of its problems, with what appears to be an attempt at mixing classicHollywood screwball comedy with elements of Billy Wilder's The Apartment(Jack Lemmon's character was named CC Baxter).In the US, distributor IFCFilms ...
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Reviews
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith
Dir/scr: George Lucas.US. 2005. 145mins.Movies don't come muchmore 'event' than the final instalment of Star Wars. But thankfully, StarWars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith has a good deal to offer besidesits cachet as the farewell to a pop culture phenomenon, a phenomenon that began28 years ago and has ...
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Reviews
Almost Brothers (Quase Dois Irmaos)
Dir: Lucia Morat. Braz-Fr-Chile. 2004. 102minsAlmostBrothers, whichfollows two childhood friends as they confront Brazil's social apartheid, maybe flawed but it is consistently compelling. Political activist-turned-directorLucia Morat has been perhaps overly ambitious in the task she sets herself, butwhen the film gels, it is gripping stuff.One of the best films to ...