Latest reviews – Page 448
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Reviews
Nobody Knows (Daremo Shiranai)
Dir/scr: Kore-edaHirokazu. Japan. 2004. 141mins.A nightmare scenario ofparental neglect is rendered as a plaintive neo-realist ode to childhood inthis long-gestating project from writer-director Kore-eda Hirokazu. Inspired bya true event from the late 1980s, NobodyKnows offers a closely-observed portrait of four youngsters seeking tomaintain some semblance of normality after their mother ...
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Reviews
Aftermath (Lad De Sma Born)
Dir: Paprika Steen.Denmark. 2004. 100 minsAn award-winning presence in a string of Dogme films (Festen, Mifune,Open Hearts etc), actress Paprika Steen takes a very different stylisticapproach in her assured directorial debut. Aftermath is a polished, mournfulexamination of grief distinguished by its careful compositions, deeply feltperformances and rigid avoidance of sentimentality.Its ...
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Reviews
The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers
Dir: Stephen Hopkins. US. 2004. 129 minsA tour de forceperformance from Geoffrey Rush is the star attraction and saving grace of The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers, aflashy, highly selective biography of the late comedian. Sellers signaturecharacter was the defective detective Inspector Clouseau but Chance in Being There appears ...
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Reviews
The Day After Tomorrow
Dir: Roland Emmerich. US.2004. 125 mins TBA.The box office fate of TheDay After Tomorrow was sealed the moment its trailer hit theatres.Eye-popping scenes of the beleaguered streets of New York City being engulfedby a tidal wave or Los Angeles ripped apart by tornadoes created ripples ofexcitement among audiences itching to ...
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Reviews
Clean
Dir/scr: Olivier Assayas.France/Canada 2004. 80 mins.Like his film's heroine,French director Olivier Assayas returns to the straight and narrow in Clean,an emotionally fluent drama that is a world removed from his last film, theexperimental cyber-thriller Demonlover. Another predominantlyEnglish-language venture, Clean sees Assayas working again with Asianstar and ex-wife Maggie Cheung for ...
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Reviews
Exiles (Exils)
Dir/scr: Tony Gatlif.France. 2004. 103minsDirector Tony Gatlif'syearning to return to the land of his childhood is the guiding motivationbehind Exiles, a polished road movie journey of self-discovery thattakes place between France and Algeria. Unfortunately, it is the local colour,vibrant locations and use of music that linger in the memory rather ...
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Reviews
House Of Flying Daggers
Dir/scr: ZhangYimou. Chi-HK. 2004. 119minsBeyond a doubt the mostvisually ravishing film on offer at Cannes this year, Zhang Yimou's return tothe sword-fighting genre - following last year's Hero - mixes action,romance and a touch of dance to uneven but often thrilling effect.Acquired by Sony PicturesClassics in the US, the film ...
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Reviews
2046
Dir/scr: Wong kar-wai. HongKong. 2004. 128 minsThe title may suggest aspace age drama but Wong Kar-Wai's long-awaited 2046 proves to be anelaborate, languorous continuation of In The Mood For Love that revisitsthe Tony Leung character as he once again struggles with the impermanence andimpossibility of true love. The restraint and ...
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Reviews
Dear Frankie
Dir:Shona Auerbach. UK. 2004. 105minsItis unfortunate, but Dear Frankie is a perfectly good film that tells astory which has been seen too many times before. It is the eternal search ofthe child for a missing parent, accompanied by poverty and a curmudgeonlygrandparent with a heart of gold.Thatsaid, Dear Frankie, which ...
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Reviews
The Holy Girl (La Nina Santa)
Dir/scr.Lucrecia Martel Arg-Spain-It. 2004. 106minsThecombination of Catholic anxiety and female sexual awakening is hardly a novelone in auteur cinema, but it receives an idiosyncratically oblique treatment inThe Holy Girl. Director-writer Lucrecia Martel made her name with debut TheSwamp (La Cienaga), which marked her out as a central figure of thenew ...
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Reviews
Look At Me (Comme Une Image)
Dir/scr:Agnes Jaoui. France. 2004. 110minsFiveyears after her hugely successful directorial debut Le Gout Des Autres,Agnes Jaoui rewards her impatient admirers with Look At Me (Comme UneImage), a wise and witty ensemble exploration of individuals attempting toovercome their own insecurities and the wounding tyranny of other people'sexpectations. Reminiscentof vintage Woody Allen, ...
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Reviews
The Edukators
Dir:Hans Weingartner. Ger-Aust. 2004. 126minsThefirst German film to screen in competition in Cannes in a decade, HansWeingartner's second feature The Edukators is a fresh and likable taleof youthful idealism. Boosted by a standout performance by Daniel Bruehl (oneof Europe's fastest-rising stars), vigorously shot in a hand-held style - whichmight best ...
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Reviews
The Assassination Of Richard Nixon
Dir:Niels Mueller. US. 2004. 103minsLastyear at Cannes, Mystic River marked out Sean Penn as an early best actorOscar contender. This year, The Assassination Of Richard Nixon doesexactly the same. Currently in the prime of his career, Penn adds to his recentrun of outstanding work with a performance that captures every ...
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Reviews
9 Songs
Dir: MichaelWinterbottom. UK. 2004. 65minsAlthough scarcely inmid-career, Michael Winterbottom has attempted almost every available filmgenre in which to test his considerable talents. 9 Songs, filmeddigitally, like his 2003 Berlin Golden Bear winner In This World, is hisbest shot at a film about sex.You could almost call it aporn movie - ...
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Reviews
Bad Santa
Dir: Terry Zwigoff. US.2003. 91mins.With little advancepublicity, Bad Santa breezed intoNorth American theatres last Christmas like a breath of fresh air. Into a genreof films - the Christmas movie - traditionally dominated by sweetness andschmaltz (see The Santa Clause, Elf et al), Terry Zwigoff'sR-rated comedy injected a dose of profanity ...
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Reviews
Fahrenheit 911
Dir/scr: Michael Moore.US. 2004. 112minsA generation ago, thedogged, unwavering efforts of investigative journalists Bob Woodward and CarlBernstein helped to dislodge a president from power. Times change but couldhistory repeat itself with Fahrenheit 911' Probably not, but MichaelMoore's blistering documentary offers such a comprehensive assault on thefailings, lies and deceptions of ...
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Reviews
The Consequences Of Love (Las Consecuencias Del Amor)
Dir/scr:Paolo Sorrentino, Italy. 2004. 100minsAn ice-coolexistential drama neatly poised on the borderline of thriller territory, PaoloSorrentino's elegant second feature marks the Neapolitan writer-director assomeone who knows just how to impose an individual stamp on idiosyncraticmaterial. A hyper-stylised, often slyly witty portrait of a loner in crisis,the film possibly gestures in ...
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Reviews
Life Is A Miracle (Zivot Je Cudo)
Dir:Emir Kusturica. Fr-Serb-Mont. 2004. 154minsExperiencingan Emir Kusturica film is like being stone cold sober in a room of drunken,overwrought revellers. Life Is A Miracle is no exception. A boisterousbear hug of a film, it explores the bitter ironies of the Bosnian-Serbianconflict with an irrepressible appetite for the joys and sorrows ...