Latest – Page 643
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Reviews
Changing Times (Les Temps Qui Changent)
Dir: Andre Techine. Fr.2004. 98mins.The title of Andre Techine's new film has an ironicmeaning its makers certainly never intended: times indeed have changed when theFrench star system, as epitomised by the screen reunion of two of France'sbiggest motion picture icons - Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu - havelittle impact on ...
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Reviews
Elektra
Dir:Rob Bowman. US. 2005. 96mins.Sheappeared - and apparently died - in last year's Ben Affleck vehicle Daredeviland now Marvel Comics character Elektra gets her own movie, withJennifer Garner, from TV's Alias, once again playing the mysteriousaction heroine with the sexy costume and lethal martial arts skills.This comics-to-screen transfer, however, produced ...
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Reviews
Assault On Precinct 13
Dir: Jean-FrancoisRichet. US. 2005. 109mins.One of the first filmsproduced under Focus Features' genre division Rogue Pictures, Assault OnPrecinct 13 is an efficient action feature which might not break any newground in the genre, but will keep a male action-loving audience happy.Theatrical results will be good, if not spectacular; audiences will ...
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Reviews
Racing Stripes
Dir: Frederick Du Chau.US. 2005. 102mins.A talking zebra picture which borrows liberally from Babe, NationalVelvet, Doctor Dolittle, Ice Age, The Incredible Journeyand every Disney movie on record, Racing Stripes may not be a familyfilm on the Pixar level of sophistication, but it generates enough of its owncharm to score with ...
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Reviews
White Noise
Dir: Geoffrey Sax.UK-Can. 2004. 98mins.The idea of communicatingwith the dead has always had an irresistibly spooky appeal and with WhiteNoise production outfit Gold Circle and a team of mainly Britishbehind-the-scenes talents do a decent job building a movie around the hi-techequivalent of ouija boards and seances.Financed as a UK/Canadaco-production but ...
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Reviews
I Am Cuba, The Siberian Mammoth (Soy Cuba, O Mamute Siberiano)
Dir: Vicente Ferraz.Brazil. 2004. 90mins.Saddled with an unhelpfuland slightly repellent title, I Am Cuba, The Siberian Mammoth isn'tactually a wildlife film but an intelligent making-of documentary which alsomanages to examine a particularly-interesting slice of Cold War history.And although it can getbogged down in its own minutae, Mammoth is fascinating enough ...
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Reviews
Olga
Dir Jayme Monjardim.2004. Brazil. 144minsAn adaptation of areal-life story set between Germany's concentration camps, Moscow, and aturbulent Rio de Janeiro, Olga was Brazil's box office champ of 2004 (atleast 3m admissions) and the country's official entry in the Oscar stakes.But despite a clutch ofsales to smaller territories, though, its telenovella-ish ...
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Reviews
Deck Dogz
Dir/scr: Steve Pasvolsky.Aust. 2004. 88minsOscar-nominatedlive-action short director Steve Pasvolsky graduates to full-length featureswith Deck Dogz, a small-scale teen action drama that confidentlytranscends its narrow focus of three Australian adolescents on a skateboardingodyssey.Opening wide (150 screens)at home on Jan 6 during school holidays, it's unusual for an Australian movieto so aggressively ...
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Reviews
Holy Lola
Dir: Bertrand Tavernier.Fr. 2003. 128mins.At times Holy Lolafeels closer to fly-on-the-wall documentary than dramatic feature as it followsa handful of French couples in Cambodia on the trail of children to adopt. Thefilm's worthy subject matter and the reputation of veteran director BertrandTavernier may get it some play at smaller festivals. ...
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Reviews
The Ritchie Boys
Dir/scr. Christian Bauer.Ger-Can. 2004. 90mins.The Ritchie Boys is the documentary ideal: at once a broad canvas andan intense personal journey, as rich in historical detail as it is in humanistresonance. The film profiles the experiences of several emigre German Jews whofled their nation during Hitler's 1930s rise to power and ...
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Reviews
Saraband
Dir/scr: Ingmar Bergman.Swe. 2003. 107mins.The valedictory work of one of the titans of the 20th century art is aminor, unsteady film that will disappoint those who expect a blazing testamentto an awe-inspiring career. But when your name is Ingmar Bergman, no matter. Saraband,upon which the Swedish filmmaker says he's bowing ...
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Reviews
Meet The Fockers
Dir: Jay Roach. US. 2004.114mins.Despite the welcomeaddition of Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand for this sequel to surpriseworldwide hit Meet The Parents, getting to know the Fockers turns out tobe less fun than meeting the original folks was four years ago.The sequel - which alsoreunites Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller ...
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Reviews
The Queen Of Sheba's Pearls
Dir/scr: ColinNutley. Swe-UK. 2004. 130mins.Lush decor,swooping cinematography and stirring music. Director Colin Nutley makes hiscanvas clear from the opening frames of The Queen Of Sheba's Pearls, apassionate 1950s-set drama about growing up, love, loss and lingering memories.The film, Nutley's first for ages set in his nativeEngland, rather than his adopted ...
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Reviews
White Noise
Dir:Vinta Nanda. India-UK. 2004. 108mins.A litmus test of how Indian cinema is changing in the MTV and satellite era,White Noise has all the New Bollywood ingredients: a feisty, sexuallyliberated, working heroine, a hip and sensitive male love interest who hasbroken away from his traditional family, satirical digs at contemporary IndianTV ...
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Reviews
Flight Of The Phoenix (Flight Of The Phoenix)
Dir:John Moore. US. 2004. 112mins.Featuringmore special effects and fewer white males, the pumped-up re-make of RobertAldrich's 1965 ensemble drama Flight Of The Phoenix is a lightweightaction adventure apparently designed to grab as broad a range of moviegoers ascinematically possible. The push to please everyone leads to some pretty daftepisodes, but ...
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Reviews
In Good Company
Dir/scr: Paul Weitz. US.2004. 106mins.A warm, timelycontemporary comedy set against a backdrop of corporate mergers and staffdownsizing, In Good Company (formerly titled Synergy), is ripewith value for its distributors both as a medium-sized theatrical performer anda robust TV and DVD title.Both a bittersweet romanticcomedy and a moral fable of keeping ...
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Reviews
Noel
Dir:Chazz Palminteri. US. 2004. 96mins.Animmensely talented cast is mostly wasted in Noel,actor Chazz Palminteri's inauspicious directorial debut. Sadly, this feel-goodfilm, set at Christmas in New York (that old movie stand-by), never rises muchabove made-for-TV fare, despite the high-voltage actors who populate it.Stalwarts like Susan Sarandon, PenelopeCruz, and an uncredited Robin ...
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Reviews
Spanglish
Dir/scr: James L Brooks.US. 2004. 131mins.Seven years after hislast movie As Good As It Gets, James L Brooks returns with asophisticated adult comedy which also looks at a bunch of misfits - only thistime they are the members of an ostensibly successful Beverly Hills family.Their world is thrown intodisarray at ...
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Reviews
Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events
Dir: Brad Silberling. US.2004. 113mins.A vast and colourfulmovie based on the sinister kids' books by Lemony Snicket aka 34 year-oldDaniel Handler, A Series Of Unfortunate Events is set to take over theworld's movie screens over Christmas and beyond. Paramount and DreamWorksco-financed this extravagantly lavish affair and returns will be considerablein ...
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Reviews
Phil The Alien
Dir/scr:Rod Stefaniuk. Can. 2004. 85mins.Canadiancomedy by nature veers toward the deadpan with a twist of wit dryer than theperfect martini. These elements are out in full force in Phil The Alien,written, directed and starring actor/musician Rob Stefaniuk.However,the whimsical yarn of an extra-terrestrial who touches down in remote NorthernOntario and changes ...