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Latest reviews – Page 439
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Reviews
Rolling Family (Familia Rodante)
Dir/scr: Pablo Trapero.Arg-Braz-Fr-Ger-Sp. 2004. 103mins.Put Robert Altman's TheWedding on wheels, give it an Argentine passport and send it rolling1,000km out of Buenos Aires - and it would look pretty much like PabloTrapero's latest feature Rolling Family.While it may be less flashyand more populist than Altman's work, it still has a ...
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Reviews
The Hidden Blade
Dir/Scr Yoji Yamada.Jap. 2004. 131 mins. Best known in Japan for his 48 Tora-san films about a wandering peddler who is forever falling inlove, Yamada has scripted or directed several other successful series for theShochiku studio -- and single-handedly saved it from the financial brink. Two years ago Yamada released ...
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Reviews
Seed Of Chucky
Dir:Don Mancini. US. 2004. 87mins.Poor old Jennifer Tilly. She was turned into a doll in Bride Of Chucky,the 1998 revival of the Child's Play horror franchise, and now shesuffers even worse indignities in the follow-up. It wouldn't be so bad - forTilly or the audience - if Seed of Chucky, ...
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Reviews
La Confiance Regne
Dir: Etienne Chatiliez.Fr. 2004. 98mins.Perhaps because his featurecomedies are few and far between, French film-maker Etienne Chatiliez has notreally developed anything resembling a coherent film style.Sadly it shows with LaConfiance Regne, a weak, one-joke comedy farce about a pair of larcenoushouse servants on the make in provincial northern France.The disappointment ...
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Reviews
When Will I Be Loved'
Dir/scr: James Toback. US. 2004. 81mins.A risky title is likely to provoke a cynical responsein When Will I Be Loved', as American auteur James Toback offers anexasperating fusion of sex, lies and self-indulgence. Thriller elements in theplot might suggest that Toback is working in a more commercial vein but thefilm-noir ...
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Reviews
Jiminy Glick In Lalawood
Dir. Vadim Jean. Canada-US. 2004. 90 mins.To the immense credit of star and creator MartinShort, Jiminy Glick In Lalawood almostworks. To the discredit of Short the writer, the film falls short of thecomedian's vision because of a script that is unwilling to push the boundariesthe character does. Like most outgrowths ...
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Reviews
Return To Sender
Dir: Bille August.Den-UK. 2004. 103minsLike some fine wines,director Bille August doesn't seem totravel well. A universally admired European master for Cannes Palme D'Orwinners Pelle The Conqueror and Best Intentions, he has beenrather less admired for such ropey English-language international ventures as TheHouse Of The Spirits and Smilla's Sense Of Snow.Set ...
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Reviews
Keane
Dir/scr: LodgeKerrigan. US. 2004. 90mins.After a hiatusof six years following his not very well-received second film Claire Dolan,American independent director Lodge Kerrigan is back with Keane, an intense tale of obsession that recalls the triumph of hisdebut film, Clean, Shaven (1993).Like that earlierfilm, Keane focuses relentlessly andclaustrophobically on a single ...
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Reviews
After The Sunset
Dir: Brett Ratner. 2004.US. 93mins.Brett Ratner's capercomedy After The Sunset is a plodding, lifeless affair set on a Bahamasresort island that aspires to the level of To Catch A Thief but barelymusters the cultivated glitz of star Pierce Brosnan's Thomas Crown Affairremake.Instead it serves up anexotic Caribbean locale and two ...
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Reviews
Surviving Christmas
Dir: Mike Mitchell. US2004. 92minsAnybody hoping that thecomedy Surviving Christmas might resuscitate Ben Affleck's falteringcareer will be sorely disappointed. The very fact that DreamWorks did notrelease Mike Mitchell's feature in the heart of the season suggests they werehoping for some early holiday good cheer from audiences to buoy its chances.Sadly ...
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Reviews
Kings And Queen (Rois Et Reine)
Dir. Arnaud Desplechin.France, 2004. 150mins.Arnaud Desplechin'sstatus as a hero of the French intelligentsia, whose charms remain largelyunfathomable to the rest of the world, continues with Kings And Queen,which is as delightful and infuriating as his previous work.For two-and-a-half hours hespins two parallel tales that eventually converge to become one. Along ...
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Reviews
An Italian Romance (L'Amore Ritrovato)
Dir. Carlo Mazzacurati.It-Fr. 2004. 108mins.Two of Italy's hottestyoung stars combine with one of the country's most talented directors for AnItalian Romance (L'Amore Ritrovato), a disappointing melodrama whosefuture depends exclusively on their names; without them, it could not hope foranything better than a straight-to video release.As it is, the glamour ofStefano ...
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Reviews
A Way Of Life
Dir: AmmaAsante. UK. 2004. 91mins.A bruisingdrama in social realist mode, writer-director Amma Asante's A Way Of Lifetackles racism and anti-Muslim prejudice in a deprived town in South Wales.Asante's protagonists are disaffected teenagers, badly educated, strugglingwith poverty and unemployment, who blame a Turkish neighbour for theirpredicament.The film beginsin brutal fashion, with ...
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Reviews
As It Is In Heaven (Sa Som I Himmelen)
Dir/scr: Kay Pollak.Sweden-Denmark. 2004. 130minsSweden's entry in theforthcoming Academy Awards, As It Is In Heaven is an accomplishedcrowd-pleaser, and surely a front runner for this year's Film Most Likely To BeRemade By Hollywood.A tragi-comic musical romancethat shamelessly but efficiently tugs the heartstrings, the determinedlymiddle-brow offering represents a comeback for veteran ...
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Reviews
Frozen
Dir: Juliet McKoen.UK-Den. 2004. 90minsWintry and melancholic, writer-director Juliet McKoen'sdebut feature is a mood piece, exploring loss and obsession. Despite somestarkly beautiful imagery, it's a strangely cumbersome affair which soon beginsto sink under the weight of its own symbolism.McKoen has an eye for apoetic shot but is dragged down by ...
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Reviews
Red Dust
Dir: TomHooper. UK-S Africa. 2004. 100mins.While itssubject matter is almost identical to John Boorman's Country Of My Skull,the feature debut from UK TV director Tom Hooper proves far superior to thebigger budgeted Berlin competition entry, delivering a tighter and better-actedthriller drama. Itproves neither controversial nor edgy, but rather plays everything ...
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Reviews
Yes
Dir/scr: Sally Potter.UK-US. 2004. 99mins.Sally Potter can never beaccused of avoiding risks. From the magnificent Orlando on down, she hassought to push back the borders of 'acceptable' film practice, allthe while engaging herself autobiographically in the most contentious socialand political issues of the day.That noteworthy and welcometradition continues with the ...
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Reviews
The Bridesmaid (La Demoiselle d'Honneur)
Dir. Claude Chabrol.Fr-Ger. 2004. 110mins.By now veteran film-makerClaude Chabrol should be able to deliver a film like The Bridesmaid (LaDemoiselle d'Honneur) with his hands tied behind his back - so comfortableand familiar and comfortable is he with the troubled, frayed fringes of theFrench bourgeoisie and their efforts to disguise themselves ...
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Reviews
The Incredibles
Dir/scr:Brad Bird. US. 2004. 121 mins.Thesixth - and probably penultimate - Disney/Pixar collaboration is a technicallybrilliant piece of CG animation that also manages to introduce muscular actionand real family drama to a genre known mostly for bubbly fun. Not that TheIncredibles isn't also fun; it's just that in this, his ...
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Reviews
Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason
Dir: Beeban KidronUK-US-Fr 2004 107minsBridget Jones is back, as fretful and neurotic as ever,in an expertly crafted (if rather soulless) sequel which is likely to hit allthe right buttons for Working Title. Renee Zelwegger again excels as the podgy,thirtysomething London singleton with the ineffably messy love life. She is fedplenty ...