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Latest reviews – Page 430
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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 ...
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Reviews
The Wolf (El Lobo)
Dir. Miguel Courtois. Sp. 2004. 122minsA cracking period political thriller, The Wolf (ElLobo) is the type of intelligent drama rarely seen these days - a throwbackto Costa Gavras's Z or Missing, in which director Courtoisevidently holds his audience in high esteem and rewards those willing to take achance with complex ...
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Reviews
The Ax (Le Couperet)
Dir. Costa-Gavras.Fr-Bel-Sp. 2005. 122mins.A wickedly black comedytailored in a slick thriller style, The Ax marks a welcome return tocomedy for Greek auteur Costa-Gavras after his 1986 feature Family Business.Powered by an outstanding lead performance from Jose Garcia, the film hasalready proven itself at home in France.Prospects in other Europeanterritories are ...
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Reviews
Negotiator (Koshonin Mashita Masayoshi)
Dir: Katsuyuki Motohiro. Jap. 2005. 127minsKatsuyuki Motohiro's Negotiatoris an action spin-off from his major hits Bayside Shakedown (1998) and BaysideShakedown 2 (2003), the latter of which set a record $162m at home for aJapanese live-action film. But this time, the bumptious detective of before(who faced off against the entire Tokyo ...
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Reviews
House Of Wax
Dir. Jaume-Collet Serra.Aus-US. 2005. 120mins.Nicely balanced between comedy and terror, House Of Waxhas monster written all over it - box office, that is. It puts paid to thenotion that the irony-laden Scream and I Know What You Did LastSummer franchises had clipped the wings of mainstream teen-gore fests.North American numbers ...
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Reviews
House Of Wax
Dir. Jaume-Collet Serra.Aus-US. 2005. 120mins.Nicely balanced between comedy and terror, House Of Waxhas monster written all over it - box office, that is. It puts paid to thenotion that the irony-laden Scream and I Know What You Did LastSummer franchises had clipped the wings of mainstream teen-gore fests.North American numbers ...
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Reviews
Tapas
Dirs/scr: Jose Corbacho,Juan Cruz. Sp. 2004. 94mins.A crowd-pleasingslice-of-life set in Barcelona, Tapas weaves several stories into acharming, if slight, whole. Opening on May 13 in Spain, it looks good formedium local success, but better for international arthouse with several salesconcluded after its screening at the Malaga Film Festival last week ...
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Reviews
The Joy Of Tax
ScreenInternational presents its at-a-glance worldwide guide to tax based filmproduction incentives.Click onthe links below for full PDF versions of the guide.Introduction: The Joy Of Tax Tax Incentives: Europe, Australasia andSouth Africa (Part One) Tax Incentives: Europe, Australasiaand South Africa (Part Two) Tax Incentives: North America (PartOne)Tax Incentives: North America (PartTwo)Note: ...
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Reviews
Kingdom Of Heaven
Dir: Ridley Scott. US.2005. 143mins.After indulging in whatmust have almost seemed like guerilla film-making with 2003's character drama MatchstickMen, director Ridley Scott wades back into the epic breach with KingdomOf Heaven, a massive-scale historical drama sporting a reported $110mbudget. Though damaged irreparably by a sluggish first hour-plus, it remains alavish ...
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Reviews
xXx: State Of The Union
Dir: Lee Tamahori. US.2005. 99mins.Atrocious but notable in its own warped way, xXx: StateOf The Union (known as xXx: The Next Level internationally) says alot about what's wrong with some American studio film-making today, in that itsays absolutely nothing at all, doing so both loudly and with the phoney,purchased conviction ...
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Reviews
Fierce People
Dir.Griffin Dunne. US. 2005. 110mins.Griffin Dunne's fifth feature is by far his most assured,with credits both above the line and below surpassing those of his previousefforts. Set in New York City and New Jersey during the 1980s, Fierce Peopleis darkly comic drama with a decidedly more downbeat third act its ...
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Reviews
Pale Eyes (Les Yeux Clairs)
Dir: Jerome Bonnell. Fr.2005. 87mins.At just under anhour-and-a-half, Pale Eyes is exactly the right length for its intimate,austere story. Though sometimes too deliberately paced, this modest filmimpresses as it tries to get inside the head of a lovely but anguished youngwoman, thereby arriving at a sort of minimalist grace. It ...
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Reviews
The Extra
Dir:Kevin Carlin. Aust. 2004. 90minsIrish stand-up comedian Jimeoin made waves in his adoptedAustralia during the 1990s, writing and starring in his own self-titledtelevision series. Sweet-natured, with a thick Irish accent and a nice line inbemused wonderment at modern life, his decade was crowned when his small-budgetdebut feature The Craic, though ...
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Reviews
Fierce People
Dir.Griffin Dunne. US. 2005. 110mins.Griffin Dunne's fifth feature is by far his most assured,with credits both above the line and below surpassing those of his previousefforts. Set in New York City and New Jersey during the 1980s, Fierce Peopleis darkly comic drama with a decidedly more downbeat third act its ...
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Reviews
The Manual Of Love (Manuale D'Amore)
Dir: Giovanni Veronesi.It. 2005. 91mins.The big Italian successstory of 2005 so far, The Manual Of Love has taken over $15m in its fourweeks on release (almost double the total haul of Hitch). An episodic rom-comin the style of Love, Actually, the film is a cleverly populist littlenumber.Its all-star cast seems ...
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Reviews
Anthony Zimmer
Dir. Jerome Salle. Fr.2005. 90mins.From the opening BernardHermann-esque chords over shots of a mysterious woman entering a train stationcarrying a bright red sack, it's clear that we are settling into a thrillerharkening back to vintage Hitchcock - with a helping of James Bond Euro-luxurythrown in for good measure. Less cliche-ridden ...
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Reviews
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
Dir: Garth Jennings. US.2005. 108mins.Douglas Adams fans don't need to panic and neither,probably, do producers Spyglass and Disney: the long-awaited movie version ofAdams' classic British sci-fi comedy - made with US money and a transatlanticcast but directed with a definite English accent by UK pop video whiz GarthJennings - preserves ...
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Reviews
The Game Of Their Lives
Dir:David Anspaugh. US. 2005. 101 mins. This stunningly pedestrian sports movie tells the story ofthe rank outsider US football team and its surprise victory over England at the1950 World Cup in Brazil. Directed by sports movie veteran David Anspaugh (Hoosiers,Rudy) and boasting an impressive all-male cast, the film doesn't take ...
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Reviews
A Lot Like Love
Dir: NigelCole. US. 2005. 104 mins.The coupling challenges faced by ambitious andgeographically mobile twentysomethings drive the plot in A Lot Like Love, a romantic comedy that casts Ashton Kutcher in hisstraightest romantic role to date and gives British director Nigel Cole, hotoff the success of Calendar Girls,his first shot at ...
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Reviews
Snuff
Dir: Bernard Rose. 2005.UK/Romania. 93 mins.After ivansxtcproved such a cult favourite in certain territories, British director BernardRose now delivers in Snuff adeliciously Machievellian horror movie which has cult hit written all over it.Strictly for adults of a robust constitution, as opposed to the sanitized PG-13horror movies which are so marketable ...