Latest – Page 193
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Reviews
Kill Them All (Matar a Todos)
Dir: Esteban Schroeder. Uruguay, Argentina, Chile. 2007. 97mins. In Kill Them All, Esteban Schroeder plumbs the unstable political landscape of fledgling democracies in the South America of the early '90s. His confident, dynamic investigation of the complicity of governments that succeeded the juntas in countries like his native Uruguay, Argentina, ...
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Reviews
I Am Legend
Dir: Francis Lawrence US. 2007. 100mins.Will Smith makes up what is essentially the one-man cast of I Am Legend, a darkly intense sci-fi/horror drama based on the classic Richard Matheson novella and directed, with the same kind of flair he brought to 2005's Constantine, by Francis Lawrence. Genre afficionados should ...
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Reviews
The Golden Compass
Dir: Chris Weitz US/UK 118minsA more well-tooled and expertly crafted beginning to a winter franchise is hard to imagine, yet it's this very gleaming perfection that may leave The Golden Compass open to accusations of soullessness and artifice. The perceived Americanisation of the greatest British children's publishing phenomenon since Harry ...
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Reviews
Charlie Wilson's War
Dir: Mike Nichols. US. 2007. 97 mins.In a year when big-name Hollywood talent has plunged headlong into films about war, terrorism and politics, Charlie Wilson's War is both refreshing and disappointing. Refreshing, because it tells its story with such brisk narrative skill and wit. Disappointing, because it assiduously avoids taking ...
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Reviews
Look
Dir: Adam Rifkin. US. 2007. 102 mins.Shot to give the impression its action was entirely captured by the surveillance cameras that are becoming ever present in modern life, Look is a cleverly made curio that's as entertainingly watchable as the soaps and tabloid TV shows it often resembles. Whether its ...
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Reviews
Hitman
Dir: Xavier Gens. US. 2007. 100mins.In the annals of renowned cinematic assassins, Jason Bourne needn't fear any challenge to his legacy from Agent 47, the bald-headed killing machine of Hitman. Though stylish shot and occasionally exciting in its frenetically-edited action sequences, this adaptation of the popular video game can only ...
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Reviews
There Will Be Blood
Dir: Paul Thomas Anderson US, 2007. 158minsThere Will Be Blood is a vivid, sprawling parable about greed and moral corrosion. Set in the majestic American Southwest circa 1900, Paul Thomas Anderson's film will ride to the box-office largely on Daniel Day Lewis's volcanic performance as Daniel Plainview, the monstrous rags-to-riches ...
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Reviews
Starting Out In The Evening
Dir: Andrew Wagner. US, 2007. 105minsA superb performance by Frank Langella anchors the exceedingly literate, engrossing Starting Out In The Evening, a richly drawn and for the most part artfully understated portrait of an aged novelist struggling with the flickering flame of creativity's muse. Mainstream breakout potential is highly unlikely ...
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Reviews
Bee Movie
Dir: Simon J. Smith & Steve Hickner. US. 2007. 90mins.Misguided narrative choices prevent Bee Movie, small screen king Jerry Seinfeld's sociable freshman entry into the animated fray, from fully taking flight. Spinning the story of a young bee who discovers life outside of his hive and sues humankind over their ...
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Reviews
Southland Tales
Dir: Richard Kelly, USA, 2007, 144minsSouthland Tales, re-cut since its world premiere at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, is apocalyptic vaudeville, as politicians, cops, Iraq veterans porn stars and an amnesiac actor scramble to fulfil or forestall conspiracies in Los Angeles, culminating in a world-ending Fourth of July. It's an ...
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Reviews
Martian Child
Dir: Menno Meyjes. US. 2007. 108minsWell acted if sweetly moralising, Martian Child tells the story of a science fiction writer who adopts an orphaned boy who claims to be from Mars. Based on the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning short story by genre luminary David Gerrold, the film is an extremely ...
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Reviews
Saw IV
Dir: Darren Lynn Bousman. US. 2007. 93mins.Cinematic trends come and go, but the resilience of the Saw franchise continues unabated. Grimly efficient in a manner consistent with previous installments, Saw IV demonstrates that this well-oiled horror machine is showing noticeable wear and tear, but nevertheless enough of the moving parts ...
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Reviews
City Of Men (Cidade Dos Homens O Filme)
Dir: Paulo Morelli, Brazil, 106minsA touching coming-of-age story set against the violence and poverty of Rio's favelas, City of Men is the final instalment in a cycle of work inspired by Fernando Meirelles' City of God. Featuring characters from the three-year-running TV series City of Men that was commissioned following ...
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Reviews
Lions For Lambs
Dir: Robert Redford. US. 2007. 88 mins.A talky, stagebound curio of a movie, Lions For Lambs is far from the high-octane Hollywood mega-movie its star pedigree would suggest. On the contrary, its star power - Robert Redford, who also directed, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise - may help to draw ...
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Reviews
Dan In Real Life
Dir. Peter Hedges, USA, 2007, 99 minutes, colour, 35 mm.Dan in Real Life takes on a familiar character, the seemingly omniscient newspaper advice-giver (Steve Carell), whose family life as a widower with three daughters doesn't measure up to the wisdom of his daily columns. Dan's love life is even more ...
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Reviews
American Gangster
Dir: Ridley Scott. US. 2007. 158 minsA classy gangster epic which echoes the best crime sagas of the last 35 years from The Godfather saga to New Jack City, American Gangster marks a welcome return to form for hard-working director Ridley Scott after three disappointing films. Long but never boring, ...
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Reviews
Youth Without Youth
Dir: Francis Ford Coppola. Rom/Fr/It. 2007. 124minsTen years after the polished, anonymous professionalism of The Rainmaker, Francis Ford Coppola returns with an epic, magic realist tale of miraculous rejuvenation. Anyone who hoped that life might imitate art will be sorely disappointed by Youth Without Youth. This is an amateur production ...