Latest – Page 620
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Reviews
Running Scared
Dir/scr: Wayne Kramer. US-Ger. 2006. 122mins.Film-maker Wayne Kramer follows up hisOscar-nominated film noir The Cooler withRunning Scared, a hyper-charged,ultra-violent thriller that opens in frantic fashion and never slows down.While Kramer succeeds insetting a relentless narrative pace and shows plenty of flair for stagingbloody set-pieces, his sledgehammer approach has obvious drawbacks. ...
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Reviews
Tristan & Isolde
Dir: Kevin Reynolds. UK-Ger-CzRep. 2005. 125mins.It's not the Wagner opera but the original Tristan& Isolde legend that gets the Hollywood treatmentin this period romance from 20th Century Fox and Scott Free Entertainment. Inthe hands of Kevin Reynolds (director of RobinHood: Prince Of Thieves) the Dark Ages legendbecomes a tragic love ...
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Reviews
Day Watch (Dnevnoy Dozor)
Dir: Timur Bekmambetov. Russ. 2006. 135mins.A solid piece of escapist entertainment, Day Watch, the sequel to Night Watch, again demonstrates howRussia is capable of making special effects-laden fare on a par with Hollywoodproductions.While its main audienceis likely to be fans of the first film, returns at home especially will behelped ...
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Reviews
Glory Road
Dir: James Gartner. US. 2006. 115mins.Playing out like Remember The Titans for basketball fans,Glory Road is yet another would-beinspirational true story which follows Hollywood sports-movie conventions somechanically that it feels more generic than stirring.Opening on January13 in the US, the same weekend that the hoops-themed Samuel L Jackson feature Coach ...
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Reviews
BloodRayne
Dir: Uwe Boll. US. 2006. 94mins.If there is an Ed Wood working in Hollywood todaythen surely it is film-maker Uwe Boll, who over thepast few years has made several critically panned videogame film adaptationsthat have floundered at the box office but done little to dent his career.His latestfeature, the avenging ...
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Reviews
A New Day In Old Sana'a
A classic star-crossed-romance-cum-travelogue set in thealluring capital of Yemen, Bader Ben Hirsi's A New Day In OldSana'a skims over the lives of a doomed couple in a restrictive society.Fascinating forits glimpses into the lives of women in one of the Arab world's poorestcountries, it may prove too light for pure ...
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Reviews
The Promise (Mo Gik)
Dir/scr: Chen Kaige. China. 2005. 102 mins.Chen Kaige's first attemptat the Chinese adventure epic which has become a global box-office staple sinceAng Lee's CrouchingTiger, Hidden Dragon and Zhang Yimou's Hero and House Of FlyingDaggers is a commercial, entertaining addition to the genre.Already hyped as one of themost expensive films ever ...
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Reviews
Angel-A
Dir/scr: Luc Besson. Fr. 2005. 90mins.Absent from behind the camera since his 1999 medievalepic, The Messenger: The Story of Joan ofArc, Luc Besson makes a modest directorialcomeback with Angel-A.The French film industry'sbest-kept secret of 2005, the offbeat romance was shot on the sly in Paris last summer(while media attention was ...
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Reviews
Fun With Dick And Jane
Dir: Dean Parisot. US. 2005. 89mins.For such a big star, Jim Carrey's career has featureda remarkably stark push-and-pull between appreciative audience reception andstubborn resistance to his whims. While his comedies as a leading man havetypically made a mint, more dramatic-minded turns in The Truman Show, Man On The Moon and ...
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Reviews
Spanish stars head home for new projects
Spain's most exportable filmtalent, led by Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz,are going back to their roots for their most recent productions.Cruz has signed on to star oppositeAdrien Brody in English-language bullfighting biopic Manolete, whichbegins shooting on March 21 in Cordoba, Seville and Madrid.Meanwhile, Banderas began filming in his hometown of ...
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Reviews
Looking For Comedy In The Muslim World
Dir/scr: Albert Brooks.2005. US. 98mins.The title LookingFor Comedy In The Muslim World is perhaps the bravest part of AlbertBrooks' new film, in which he plays himself, travelling to India and Pakistanon behalf of the US government to research what makes Hindus and Muslims laugh.Also brave was Brooks'decision for his feature ...
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Reviews
Rumour Has It...
Dir: Rob Reiner.US. 138mins.Invoking the spirit of a classic featurecan be a precarious business for a new movie, inviting inevitable comparisons.It's something that Rumour Has It' -whose plotline was inspired by The Graduate, Mike Nichols' far more spirited, witty anddaring film - does at its peril, falling flat not only ...
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Reviews
Hoodwinked
Dir: Cory Edwards. US.2005. 81mins.Written and directed by a trio of virtually unknownfilm-makers, computer animated family comedy Hoodwinked feels like a cheap and cheerful cross between Shrek and Looney Tunes. The cheapness - mostlyexposed in relatively rudimentary CG work - makes Shrek-level theatrical successunlikely; but the cheeriness of this sassy ...
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Reviews
Lassie
Dir/scr: Charles Sturridge. UK-Ire-Fr-US 2005.Hansomely crafted, full of lively performancesfrom both animals and humans, and with far more satirical bite than might havebeen expected, Charles Sturridge's Lassie is a richlysatisfying affair.In drawing his inspirationdirectly from Eric Knight's 1938 story, Sturridge hastaken the famous collie away from Hollywood and back to ...
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Reviews
The New World
Dir/scr: Terrence Malick. US. 2005. 150mins.A sweeping historical narrative and exquisitely renderedlove story, Terrence Malick's The New World is a majestic, electrifying feature experience that forsome will rank as the most artistically accomplished US studio release this year.Demanding and complex, it possessesextraordinary beauty and comes close to silent cinema, with ...
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Reviews
Munich
Dir: Steven Spielberg. US.2005. 165 mins.It's a bold and courageous move for Steven Spielbergto address the 100-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a $70mHollywood movie, and he has already stirred up advance controversy for thestory he opted to tell - that of the Israeli government's secret hit squadsallegedly formed in the aftermath ...
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Reviews
The Family Stone
Dir: Thomas Bezucha. US. 2005. 104mins.The Family Stoneis a serio-comic story about the holiday gathering ofa chatty, mildly bickering bohemian New England brood, and the straight-lacedgirlfriend that the eldest son brings home. A sort of mash-up of The Myth OfFingerprints and Home For TheHolidays, it's also a rich reminder of ...
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Reviews
The Producers
Dir: Susan Stroman. USA.2005. 135mins.The strange, zany trip of Mel Brooks' The Producers - which began in 1968 as amovie about a Broadway musical; morphed into a Tony-winning smash hit Broadwaymusical about a Broadway musical; and now reincarnates itself on film withalmost the entire creative team behind that stage adaptation ...
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Reviews
Munich
Dir: Steven Spielberg. US.2005. 165 mins.It's a bold and courageous move for Steven Spielbergto address the 100-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a $70mHollywood movie, and he has already stirred up advance controversy for thestory he opted to tell - that of the Israeli government's secret hit squadsallegedly formed in the aftermath ...
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Reviews
King Kong
Dir: Peter Jackson. US.2005. 189mins.Peter Jackson's KingKong is Jurassic Park, War Of The Worlds, Jaws, ET and Raiders Of The Lost Ark allrolled into one mammoth, three-hour rollercoaster ride. As if saying to StevenSpielberg "Anything you can do, I can do better", Jackson delivers a resoundingaudience-pleaser which pushes the boundaries ...