Latest – Page 557
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Reviews
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
Dir: Patricia Rozema . US. 2008. 100 mins.Emotionally affecting but dramatically wobbly, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl was made with young girls in mind, but would have been far more effective had it shown enough courage not to play down to its audience. With that said, this adaptation of the ...
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Reviews
The Rocker
Dir. Peter Cattaneo US . 2008. 102 mins.Sitcom star Rainn Wilson (the US version of The Office) makes a disappointing transition to big-screen headlining with The Rocker, a mostly flat School Of Rock rehash directed by The Full Monty's Peter Cattaneo. The broad Fox Atomic comedy certainly won't do for ...
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Reviews
Get Smart
Dir: Peter Segal . US. 2008. 110 mins. Offering a little bit of everything but not quite enough of any one thing, Get Smart is a likable jumble of genres that could have greatly benefited from being less ambitious. Despite a strong central performance from Steve Carell, this adaptation of ...
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Reviews
The Incredible Hulk
Dir. Louis Leterrier. 2008. US. 112mins.Two big-budget, high-profile attempts later and it's perfectly clear that Marvel sincerely believes The Incredible Hulk is a viable film franchise. What's not so clear is why.Producer Gale Anne Hurd's second stab at The Incredible Hulk throws all the tricks in the blockbuster book at ...
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Reviews
The Happening
Dir: M Night Shyamalan. US. 2008. 90 mins. The phenomenon that was M Night Shyamalan is further diminished by The Happening, a paranoia-fuelled disaster movie which will leave audiences scratching their heads. Less dramatically convincing than his previous efforts and lacking the heart-thumping momentum or stunning revelations you'd expect, it ...
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Reviews
Ten Empty
Dir: Anthony Hayes. Aust. 2007. 95 minsThis is the first feature from Aussie production company Roguestar and the company's principals Anthony Hayes and Brendan Cowell are to the fore here - Hayes directing with Cowell taking a small but showy acting credit and both writing. This family reunion saga struggles ...
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Reviews
You Don't Mess With The Zohan
Dir: Dennis Dugan. US. 2008. 113 mins.A comedy built around the belief that people speaking in foreign accents is endlessly funny, You Don't Mess With The Zohan is - how you say' - not good. Aiming for an irreverent politically-incorrect tone with its story of an Israeli commando who leaves ...
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Reviews
The Strangers
Dir: Bryan Bertino. US. 2008. 85 mins.Bryan Bertino's debut feature The Strangers is an effectively grim, exceedingly well-made horror thriller. Wringing atmospheric tension out of the familiar set-up of a besieged young couple, the movie mixes pulse-pounding scenes of explicit menace with stalking scenarios more rooted in sustained dread. Opening ...
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ReviewsChelsea On The Rocks
Dir. Abel Ferrara. US. 2008. 88minsThe Chelsea hotel in New York has a global reputation as the place where artists go to enhance their notoriety. Dylan Thomas slid into alcoholic oblivion from a room at the Chelsea. Sid Vicious’s girlfriend Nany Spungen died there and its ...
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ReviewsPalermo Shooting
Dir: Wim Wenders. Germany-Italy-France. 2008. 124 mins.Wim Wenders muses on love, death and his perennial bugbear, the ‘Crisis of the Image’ in The Palermo Shooting, a metaphysical thriller cum philosophical essay that marks another step on the downwards slope for this once-vital film-maker. Unwisely cast, leadenly ...
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ReviewsParking (Ting Che)
Dir: Chung Mong-hong. Taiwan, 2008. 112 min.A man is rushing back home to his wife but a double-parked car blocks his way. He searches in vain for the driver and encounters a variety of persons who cannot or do not want to help him. When he ...
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ReviewsMy Magic
Dir: Eric Khoo. Singapore, 2008. 75 min.Eric Khoo’s films are an acquired taste, and he hasn’t moved much past the festival circuit since 12 Storeys emerged internationally in 1997. Exposing My Magic to the noise and attention of the Cannes competition doesn’t particularly benefit either this ...
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ReviewsOcean Flame
Dir: Liu Fendou. Hong Kong. 2008. 130minThis over-stylized tale of mad love Hong Kong-style, featuring gangsters and copious sex and nudity, plays like a more modest but no less ambitious companion piece of sorts to last year’s steamy Lust, Caution. Tailored for a western audience, its ...
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