Latest – Page 636
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Reviews
Three Dollars
Dir: Robert Connolly.Aus. 2005. 119mins.Based on an award-winning 1998 Australian novel, ThreeDollars is about a good, honest man utterly unable to compromise hisintegrity. David Wenham is sensitively intelligent in a role that requires himto bravely suffer a variety of modern economic tortures, from sacking andbetrayal to bankruptcy and destitution.Made with ...
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Reviews
Monster-In-Law
Dir: Robert Luketic. US2005. 95mins.Jennifer Lopez may get top billing, but Jane Fonda is theonly conceivable reason to see Monster-In-Law, a tepid romantic comedyabout a bride-to-be locking horns with her boyfriend's mum.In the US, where the filmsopens on May 13, box-office may be mixed. Thirty years after the US pulled ...
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Reviews
Gamblers (Les Mauvais Joueurs)
Dir. Frederic Balekdjian.Fr. 2005. 85mins.Taking place entirely ina garment district of Paris, Gamblers is a French Mean Streets, amessy, gratifying film about life in an ethnically-mixed neighbourhood and theart of making a living however one can. The first feature by the promisingFrederic Balekdjian, it makes for an assured, exciting drama ...
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Reviews
The Baxter
Dir. Michael Showalter.US. 2005. 91mins.The debut feature fromMichael Showalter, The Baxter harbours noble ambitions - but therein liemost of its problems, with what appears to be an attempt at mixing classicHollywood screwball comedy with elements of Billy Wilder's The Apartment(Jack Lemmon's character was named CC Baxter).In the US, distributor IFCFilms ...
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Reviews
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith
Dir/scr: George Lucas.US. 2005. 145mins.Movies don't come muchmore 'event' than the final instalment of Star Wars. But thankfully, StarWars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith has a good deal to offer besidesits cachet as the farewell to a pop culture phenomenon, a phenomenon that began28 years ago and has ...
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Reviews
Almost Brothers (Quase Dois Irmaos)
Dir: Lucia Morat. Braz-Fr-Chile. 2004. 102minsAlmostBrothers, whichfollows two childhood friends as they confront Brazil's social apartheid, maybe flawed but it is consistently compelling. Political activist-turned-directorLucia Morat has been perhaps overly ambitious in the task she sets herself, butwhen the film gels, it is gripping stuff.One of the best films to ...
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Reviews
Almost Brothers (Quase Dois Irmaos)
Dir: Lucia Morat. Braz-Fr-Chile. 2004. 102minsAlmostBrothers, whichfollows two childhood friends as they confront Brazil's social apartheid, maybe flawed but it is consistently compelling. Political activist-turned-directorLucia Morat has been perhaps overly ambitious in the task she sets herself, butwhen the film gels, it is gripping stuff.One of the best films to ...
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Reviews
The Wolf (El Lobo)
Dir. Miguel Courtois. Sp. 2004. 122minsA cracking period political thriller, The Wolf (ElLobo) is the type of intelligent drama rarely seen these days - a throwbackto Costa Gavras's Z or Missing, in which director Courtoisevidently holds his audience in high esteem and rewards those willing to take achance with complex ...
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Reviews
The Ax (Le Couperet)
Dir. Costa-Gavras.Fr-Bel-Sp. 2005. 122mins.A wickedly black comedytailored in a slick thriller style, The Ax marks a welcome return tocomedy for Greek auteur Costa-Gavras after his 1986 feature Family Business.Powered by an outstanding lead performance from Jose Garcia, the film hasalready proven itself at home in France.Prospects in other Europeanterritories are ...
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Reviews
Negotiator (Koshonin Mashita Masayoshi)
Dir: Katsuyuki Motohiro. Jap. 2005. 127minsKatsuyuki Motohiro's Negotiatoris an action spin-off from his major hits Bayside Shakedown (1998) and BaysideShakedown 2 (2003), the latter of which set a record $162m at home for aJapanese live-action film. But this time, the bumptious detective of before(who faced off against the entire Tokyo ...
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Reviews
House Of Wax
Dir. Jaume-Collet Serra.Aus-US. 2005. 120mins.Nicely balanced between comedy and terror, House Of Waxhas monster written all over it - box office, that is. It puts paid to thenotion that the irony-laden Scream and I Know What You Did LastSummer franchises had clipped the wings of mainstream teen-gore fests.North American numbers ...
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Reviews
House Of Wax
Dir. Jaume-Collet Serra.Aus-US. 2005. 120mins.Nicely balanced between comedy and terror, House Of Waxhas monster written all over it - box office, that is. It puts paid to thenotion that the irony-laden Scream and I Know What You Did LastSummer franchises had clipped the wings of mainstream teen-gore fests.North American numbers ...
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Reviews
Tapas
Dirs/scr: Jose Corbacho,Juan Cruz. Sp. 2004. 94mins.A crowd-pleasingslice-of-life set in Barcelona, Tapas weaves several stories into acharming, if slight, whole. Opening on May 13 in Spain, it looks good formedium local success, but better for international arthouse with several salesconcluded after its screening at the Malaga Film Festival last week ...
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Reviews
The Joy Of Tax
ScreenInternational presents its at-a-glance worldwide guide to tax based filmproduction incentives.Click onthe links below for full PDF versions of the guide.Introduction: The Joy Of Tax Tax Incentives: Europe, Australasia andSouth Africa (Part One) Tax Incentives: Europe, Australasiaand South Africa (Part Two) Tax Incentives: North America (PartOne)Tax Incentives: North America (PartTwo)Note: ...
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Reviews
Kingdom Of Heaven
Dir: Ridley Scott. US.2005. 143mins.After indulging in whatmust have almost seemed like guerilla film-making with 2003's character drama MatchstickMen, director Ridley Scott wades back into the epic breach with KingdomOf Heaven, a massive-scale historical drama sporting a reported $110mbudget. Though damaged irreparably by a sluggish first hour-plus, it remains alavish ...
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Reviews
xXx: State Of The Union
Dir: Lee Tamahori. US.2005. 99mins.Atrocious but notable in its own warped way, xXx: StateOf The Union (known as xXx: The Next Level internationally) says alot about what's wrong with some American studio film-making today, in that itsays absolutely nothing at all, doing so both loudly and with the phoney,purchased conviction ...
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Reviews
Fierce People
Dir.Griffin Dunne. US. 2005. 110mins.Griffin Dunne's fifth feature is by far his most assured,with credits both above the line and below surpassing those of his previousefforts. Set in New York City and New Jersey during the 1980s, Fierce Peopleis darkly comic drama with a decidedly more downbeat third act its ...
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Reviews
Pale Eyes (Les Yeux Clairs)
Dir: Jerome Bonnell. Fr.2005. 87mins.At just under anhour-and-a-half, Pale Eyes is exactly the right length for its intimate,austere story. Though sometimes too deliberately paced, this modest filmimpresses as it tries to get inside the head of a lovely but anguished youngwoman, thereby arriving at a sort of minimalist grace. It ...
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Reviews
The Extra
Dir:Kevin Carlin. Aust. 2004. 90minsIrish stand-up comedian Jimeoin made waves in his adoptedAustralia during the 1990s, writing and starring in his own self-titledtelevision series. Sweet-natured, with a thick Irish accent and a nice line inbemused wonderment at modern life, his decade was crowned when his small-budgetdebut feature The Craic, though ...
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Reviews
Fierce People
Dir.Griffin Dunne. US. 2005. 110mins.Griffin Dunne's fifth feature is by far his most assured,with credits both above the line and below surpassing those of his previousefforts. Set in New York City and New Jersey during the 1980s, Fierce Peopleis darkly comic drama with a decidedly more downbeat third act its ...