Latest – Page 668
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Reviews
Code 46
Dir: Michael Winterbottom. UK. 2003. 92 mins.The latest product to leave the non-stop assembly line of Michael Winterbottom and Revolution Films is that rarest of creatures, the all-British sci-fi movie. Code 46 is set in 'the near future', and its evocation of this desertified world, where genetic engineering and constant ...
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Reviews
Imagining Argentina
Dir. Christopher Hampton. UK/Spain, 2002. 107 min.If there is anything disturbing in this misconceived project by celebrated scriptwriter and occasional director Christopher Hampton, it is not its contents, though it should have been, but the simple fact that an experienced person like him, who only last year was highly praised ...
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Reviews
Last Life In The Universe
Dir: Penek Rattanaruang. Thailand/US/Netherlands. 2003. 110 mins.There is a lot to be said for the theory that a territory only really comes of age when it develops a credible arthouse cinema. If this is true, then Thailand can finally join the big boys. Last Life In The Universe is the ...
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Reviews
Last Life In The Universe
Dir: Penek Rattanaruang. Thailand/US/Netherlands. 2003. 110 mins.There is a lot to be said for the theory that a territory only really comes of age when it develops a credible arthouse cinema. If this is true, then Thailand can finally join the big boys. Last Life In The Universe is the ...
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Reviews
Imagining Argentina
Dir. Christopher Hampton. UK/Spain, 2002. 107 min.If there is anything disturbing in this misconceived project by celebrated scriptwriter and occasional director Christopher Hampton, it is not its contents, though it should have been, but the simple fact that an experienced person like him, who only last year was highly praised ...
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Reviews
Intolerable Cruelty
Dir: Joel Coen. 2003. 100 mins.The Coen brothers paradox is simply stated: why have critical plaudits and a substantial international fanbase never translated into big box-office results' Fargo was praised to the skies but performed disappointingly; while O Brother Where Art Thou, the Coens' best earner to date, did what ...
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Reviews
The Dreamers
Dir: Bernardo Bertolucci. UK. 2003. mins.The Dreamers is not the masterpiece that some were expecting. But neither does it betray the return to form that was announced by Bernardo Bertolucci's 1998 chamber drama, Besieged. This is an infinitely more intelligent, edgy and intriguing film than, say, Little Buddha. Its main ...
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Reviews
The Human Stain
Dir: Robert Benton. US. 2003. 104 mins.Or The Human Blot, depending on your point of view. It's not that Miramax' early autumn Oscar rollout is a bad film: it's just that it doesn't quite work up the energy to be a good one. True, the pairing of Kidman and Hopkins ...
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Reviews
The Human Stain
Dir: Robert Benton. US. 2003. 104 mins.Or The Human Blot, depending on your point of view. It's not that Miramax' early autumn Oscar rollout is a bad film: it's just that it doesn't quite work up the energy to be a good one. True, the pairing of Kidman and Hopkins ...
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Reviews
The Return (Vozvrashcheniye)
Dir. Andrei Zvygatinsev. Russia, 2003. 105 min.This intimate, almost metaphysical study of rebellion against parental authority does everything a Hollywood picture doesn't. Not only because it is refreshing to see, for a change, that adolescence does not relate only to sexual glands, but also because it takes a considerable risk ...
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Reviews
Once Upon A Time In Mexico
Dir: Roberto Rodriguez. US 2003. 101 mins.You have to give Roberto Rodriguez his due: he's nothing if not ambitious. Take the title of his new film. With a dose of homage and a dose of parody and a slug of bare-faced presumption, Once Upon A Time In Mexico declares its ...
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Reviews
Afterlife
Dir: Alison Peebles. UK. 2003. 104 minsMaterial that might seem hackneyed or maudlin in less skilful hands emerges as a moving, emotion-charged drama in Afterlife. The story of a journalist torn between professional ambition and family responsibilities is distinguished by intelligent writing, sensitive direction and stand-out performances from Kevin McKidd ...
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Reviews
Matchstick Men
Dir. Ridley Scott. US, 2003. Paper Moon meets House Of Games in this lightweight crime caper coming from one of Hollywood's heavyweight directors, obviously on a break between his major projects. The tale of a con artist suffering from a severe case of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) who is surpassed by ...
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Reviews
Zatoichi
Dir. Takeshi Kitano. Japan, 2003. 116 min.A rousing, energetic take-off on a 19th century samurai tale which has become part of Japanese folklore, this black comedy, spurting fountains of digital blood and moving forward relentlessly at a fiery tempo, is a surprisingly entertaining departure for Takeshi Kitano from his dark ...
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Reviews
Zatoichi
Dir. Takeshi Kitano. Japan, 2003. 116 min.A rousing, energetic take-off on a 19th century samurai tale which has become part of Japanese folklore, this black comedy, spurting fountains of digital blood and moving forward relentlessly at a fiery tempo, is a surprisingly entertaining departure for Takeshi Kitano from his dark ...
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Reviews
Matchstick Men
Dir. Ridley Scott. US, 2003. Paper Moon meets House Of Games in this lightweight crime caper coming from one of Hollywood's heavyweight directors, obviously on a break between his major projects. The tale of a con artist suffering from a severe case of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) who is surpassed by ...
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Reviews
Lost In Translation
Dir: Sofia Coppola. US. 2003. 105 mins. Sofia Coppola proves defiantly that she really is a chip off the old block with her second feature, Lost In Translation. An enormously accomplished, highly affecting story of loneliness and human connection, the film possesses an originality, style and generosity which will assure ...
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Reviews
Casa De Los Babys
Dir: John Sayles. US. 2003. 95 mins. John Sayles' latest ensemble is a frustratingly undernourished work which takes a potentially fascinating milieu and merely offers a glimpse at it. Never shy in the past of running his movies to 130 or 140 minutes, Sayles stops short here at 95 while ...
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Reviews
Jeepers Creepers 2
Dir: Victor Salva. US. 2003. 106 mins.Writer-director Victor Salva's sequel to his modest summer 2001 horror hit Jeepers Creepers is as efficiently jolting as the original but not as refreshingly spare or classically creepy. Opening wide in the US (through MGM) and UK (through Pathe) this weekend in the middle ...
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Reviews
Anything Else
Dir. Woody Allen. US, 2003. 108 min.The prevalent notion that a Woody Allen comedy is just what the doctor ordered for the opening night of a major festival, may take another inauspicious turn after this year's Venice curtain raiser. Not only is the smart wit frayed at the edges and ...