Latest reviews – Page 471
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Reviews
Basic
Dir: John McTiernan. US 2003. 95mins In a rather odd coincidence of timing, US majors have released three military-themed thrillers in the space of a month: Tears Of The Sun, The Hunted and, now, Basic. More of a whodunnit than the previous two, Basic finds action-director McTiernan (Die Hard) ...
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Reviews
The Core
Dir: Jon Amiel. US. 2003. 136 mins. This end-of-the-world action opus is an efficiently executed but unexceptional popcorn flick, which will fail by a long way to produce the big box office numbers its studio maker Paramount Pictures designed it to. The Core's biggest problem is that it falls squarely ...
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Reviews
Pater Familias
Dir: Francesco Patierno. Italy. 2003. 94mins.For really vibrant Italian cinema, it is not a bad idea to look away from the industry hubs of Rome and Milan. Naples, in particular, has built a healthy homegrown scene around such directors as Mario Martone (L'Amore Molesto) and Antonio Capuano. Newest boy on ...
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Reviews
Salamina Soldiers (Soldados De Salamina)
Dir: David Trueba. Spain. 2003.112 mins.Based on a best-selling novel, Salamina Soldiers (Soldados De Salamina) makes the Spanish Civil War unusually accessible by weaving it into a contemporary tale less concerned with local politics and more with humanity at large. This graceful third feature film from writer-director David Trueba, seems ...
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Reviews
View From The Top
Dir: Bruno Barreto. US. 2003. 87mins.Not the absolute disaster many had anticipated, this long-delayed star-studded comedy should overcome its numerous artistic failings and produce some decent numbers on theatrical release around the world. Certainly its $7m opening from 2,508 sites in North America was nothing to be ashamed of, and ...
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Reviews
The Suit (Shik)
Dir: Bakhtiar Khudoinazarov. Russ-Ger-It-Fr. 2003. 95 mins.The latest outing by director Bakhtiar Khudoinazarov is, essentially, about three country lads fooling about, telling unlikely stories and occasionally becoming maudlin or lovestruck. Charming in its own small way, it is unlikely to have the impact of 1999's Luna Papa on the international ...
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Reviews
Valentin
Dir: Alejandro Agresti. Argentina/Holland. 2002. 82mins.Valentin is an immensely likeable if lightweight addition to the existing host of nostalgic, bittersweet comedies about growing up in a dysfunctional family. Small but perfectly formed, it is keenly pitched at middlebrow art-house audiences and quality broadcasters. Miramax, which is also funding director Alejandro ...
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Reviews
Ned Kelly
Dir: Gregor Jordan. Australia. 2003. 109mins.The lasting iconographic significance of armoured 19th-century outlaw Ned Kelly to Australian culture and mythology can not be underestimated. However, as Gregor Jordan's unromantic recreation insists, the Kelly Gang were 100% Irish, fighting age-old wars against the hated English in a hostile new land. Ned's ...
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Reviews
Dreamcatcher
Dir: Lawrence Kasdan. US. 2003. 134mins. Castle Rock's latest big-screen take on the work of author Stephen King starts out with a spooky psychological intensity that recalls some of the company's most successful King adaptations, like Misery and The Green Mile. Before long, however, Dreamcatcher degenerates into a confusing horror/sci-fi ...
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Reviews
Utopia
Dir: Maria Ripoll. 2003. Spain-France. 105mins.Utopia adds to a growing body of stylish Spanish genre films and, with the right marketing and distributor Hispano Foxfilm behind it, will likely follow in their footsteps to healthy returns at the local box office. That said, it had a downbeat opening weekend, taking ...
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Reviews
Yossi And Jagger
Dir Eytan Fox. Israel. 64mins.Just a sketch, but highly perceptive and remarkably sensitive one at that, this compact gay love story, set in a remote Israeli military outpost on the Lebanese border, has already gone down a storm at home. Produced for cable television, shot in DV and first unveiled ...
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Reviews
The Bottom Of The Sea (El Fondo Del Mar)
Dir: Damian Szifron. Argentina. 2003. 90 mins.The new independent company Aeroplano looks like it has a winner on its hands with the drama comedy The Bottom Of The Sea. This lively but mature piece combines a very individualistic vision with a firm grasp of entertainment value that will make it ...
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Reviews
Willard
Dir: Glen Morgan. US. 2003. 100minsEverybody has heard of Cinderella. She befriended the mice that lived in her attic bedroom and made them cute little outfits to wear. In return, they sang and danced and kept her company. Now comes Willard, who pals around with the rats that live in ...
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Reviews
Agent Cody Banks
Dir: Harald Zwart. US. 2003. 102mins.Teen heartthrob Frankie Muniz becomes a teen 007 in Agent Cody Banks, an energetic but overly cute and calculated junior spy adventure from Bond studio MGM and German-owned independent Splendid Pictures. Interest from teen and pre-teen audiences - in Muniz and in his co-star Hilary ...
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Reviews
The Blessing Bell (Koufuku No Kane)
Dir: Sabu. Japan. 2002. 87mins.Even those who have learned to appreciate Japanese director Sabu, his deadpan ironical portrayal of his fellow countrymen and the laconic, elliptical delivery of his films, will find that with The Blessing Bell he has gone to lengths even he has not attempted before. An almost ...
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Reviews
The Hunted
Dir: William Friedkin. US. 2003. 94minsWhen a government orders a man to kill, it is considered acceptable. When that same man, tormented by the violence he has perpetrated loses his grip and starts killing on his own, who is to blame' That is the question that should be central to ...
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Reviews
Breaking Up (Separacoes)
Dir: Domingos De Oliveira. Brazil. 2002. 110mins.A sophisticated, wordy, extremely fast-moving comedy about the loves and lusts of a group of Rio artists and intellectuals (think Woody Allen, with Manhattan angst replaced by an irrepressible Latino hedonism), Breaking Up was a great popular favourite with audiences in Mar Del Plata ...
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Reviews
Gololed
Dir. Mikhail Barshinsky. Russia. 2003. 70mins.A former film critic, who also moonlighted as a Siberian train conductor, a Turkish restaurant waiter and a DJ on Bourbon Street New Orleans, Mikhail Barshinsky's directorial debut promises that he intends to be as eccentric in his new career as he has been in ...
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Reviews
Vagabond
Dir. Gyorgy Szomjas. Hungary. 2002. 97mins.Exploring the growing worldwide phenomenon of dance houses - places where people can gather and celebrate their traditional music - the latest effort by Hungarian director Gyorgy Szomjas lavishes most of its attention on what would normally be considered background material, using a schematic plot ...
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Reviews
Seville South Side (Poligono Sur)
Dir: Dominique Abel. Spain/France. 2003. 106mins.Flamenco is fertile territory for a DV documentary crew with a mission to go beyond the tourist cliches. And this is what French actress-turned-documentarist Dominique Abel and a fast-moving group of technicians headed up by cinematographer Jean-Yves Escoffier (Good Will Hunting, Nurse Betty) have done ...