Latest – Page 577
-
Reviews
881
Dir. Royston Tan. Singapore / Japan, 2007. 105 min.Oozing sweet smiles and made-up grimaces, a myriad of glittering colours, low-brow humour and an endless string of easily hummed tunes, 881 is already a major hit in Singapore. Despite the lack of any plot to speak of, Royston Tan's film is ...
-
Reviews
The Assembly (Ji Jie Hao)
Dir. Feng Xiaogang. China, 2007. 125 min. Feng Xiaogang's fiercely patriotic war picture, is set to become a blockbuster at home, offering China its own Private Ryan. But while the film standards may be technically impeccable, it could do with more story and characters to carry its audience through a ...
-
Reviews
Crows: Episode 0 (Kurozu 0)
Dir. Takashi Miike. Japan, 2007. 120 min. What is there left to say about Takashi Miike that hasn't been said yet, in ample detail and often in learned studies' He is, without any doubt, the most prolific filmmaker around, barely 47-years-old and credited with 85 feature films. Only ...
-
Reviews
Echo
Denmark/Germany/Sweden 2007. 84 mins.An edgy, horror-tinged thriller about a divorced father's abduction of his young son is marred by a heavy-handed use of backstory in Anders Morgenthaler's Echo. But the second film of the versatile Danish director still has enough going for it as a twisted take on the Scandinavian ...
-
Reviews
Estomago
Dir. Marcos Jorge. Brazil-Italy. 2007. 111 min.A melange of food, sex and power not seen since Peter Greenaway's The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover, Marcos Jorge's feature film debut is a sleeper mystery. Fashioned less as a 'whodunnit'' than a 'what-he-done'', like a delicious meal in a ...
-
Reviews
Soul Carriage
Dir: Conrad Clark. UK/China 2007. 82 mins.A surprise winner of the Altadis new directors' award at the San Sebastian film festival, Conrad Clark's Soul Carriage is original in two important ways. Firstly because the 28-year-old British director's debut film is entirely set in south-eastern China , with Chinese actors and ...
-
Reviews
The Heartbreak Kid
Dir: Peter and Bobby Farrelly. US. 2007. 116 mins.A story of awkwardly overlapping romances liberally seasoned with the over-the-top humour patented by the Farrelly brothers, The Heartbreak Kid reunites the behind-camera comedy specialists with star Ben Stiller in a careening showcase for serial outrageousness. The film is a loose update ...
-
Reviews
Sigur Ros Heima
Dir: Dean DeBois. Iceland 2007. 97 mins.The haunting music of Reykjavik-formed band Sigur Ros and the breathtaking beauty of the Icelandic landscape are showcased to impressive effect in the concert film Sigur Ros Heima. Taking its title from the Icelandic for 'At Home' or 'Homeland', the film follows the four-member ...
-
Reviews
The Seeker: The Dark is Rising
Dir: David L Cunningham. US. 2007. 102 mins.Hollywood 's latest take on a cherished fantasy novel series has a modern American teen hero battling ancient evil forces in a Christmassy British setting. That mix of elements should lead to a respectable theatrical showing and a decent video performance for The ...
-
Reviews
Battle for Haditha
Dir. Nick Broomfield . United Kingdom, 2007. 94 minsBattle for Haditha dramatises one of the most notorious atrocities of the Iraq War, the alleged massacre of 24 Iraqis by American marines in the city of Haditha on November 19, 2005 , for which five marines stand trial at Camp Pendleton ...
-
Reviews
Shadows in the Palace (Goong Nyeo)
Dir: Kim Mi-jung. South Korea 2007. 111 mins.To get a handle on Kim Mi-jung's impressive debut, imagine The Name of the Rose set it in a Korean royal court of the Joseon dynasty. The big difference, apart from the cultural transposition, is that this historical murder mystery takes place in ...
-
Reviews
Flawless
Dir: Michael Radford. UK/Luxembourg 2007. 105 mins.A diamond heist thriller set in pre-swinging London circa 1960, Flawless is polished but hollow. It's not just the setting that is retro: the story itself feels a little old-fashioned, like The Day they Robbed the Bank of England or Rififi with fewer accomplices ...
-
Reviews
Heavy Metal in Baghdad
Dir. Eddy Moretti, Suroosh Alvi. Canada/US. 2007. 84 min.Its title promises little but this big-hearted documentary delivers much. Beginning as a misguided if not utterly foolhardy travelogue - risking one's life in the world's most dangerous city to track down an amateur music group - it segues into a potent ...
-
Reviews
Flash Point (Aka City With No Mercy)
Dir. Wilson Yip. Hong Kong/China. 2007. 87 mins.Wilson Yip's new martial arts extravaganza is action-packed and honed along well-tested genre formulas, with an adrenalin-pumping soundtrack and a story that moves ahead with the speed and ruthlessness of a runaway train. It will leave its audience breathless after seeing so much ...
-
Reviews
Glory To The Filmmaker (Kantoku Banzai)
Dir. Takeshi Kitano. Japan. 2007.Takeshi Kitano's last couple of films confirm that Japan 's maverick filmmaker is having a hard time deciding which way to go next and feels the urgent need to share it with his audience. After the jaundiced look at the film industry in general, and his ...
-
Reviews
Encarnacion
Dir: Anahi Berneri. Argentina 2007. 96 mins.A subtle character study of a once-famous TV actress who is past her sell-by date, Encarnacion confirms Anahi Berneri as one of the most promising of Argentina 's new wave of directors, after her well-received AIDS-themed debut A Year Without Love (2005). Though the ...
-
Reviews
Intimate Enemies (L'ennemi intime)
Dir: Florent Siri. France . 2007. 108 min.A gritty and realistic depiction of a French platoon during the final stages of Algeria 's war of independence, Intimate Enemies is an assured and well-crafted drama that is sure to cause a stir in its native France . Featuring strong lead performances ...
-
Reviews
La Maison
Dir: Manuel Poirier. France 2007. 96 mins.French director Manuel Poirier delivers his most convincing feature since the bittersweet 1997 road-movie Western with La Maison, an emotionally delicate romantic comedy that once again features Poirier regular Sergi Lopez in the lead role. A rural house that's up for sale becomes a ...
-
Reviews
Mataharis
Dir: Icair Bollain. Spain 2007. 94 mins.A bittersweet tale of frustrated lives and loves centring on three female private investigators, Mataharis is a decently plotted but decidedly tame follow-up to Icair Bollain's previous film, the convincing 2003 wife-abuse drama Take My Eyes. A leading Spanish actress, Bollain was inspired to ...
-
Reviews
Tovarisch, I Am Not Dead
Dir: Stuart Urban. UK 2007. 83 minsStuart Urban's documentary is the latest in an increasingly lengthy list of films made by children about their fathers (Mark Wexler's Tell Them Who You Are, Nathaniel Kahn's My Architect and Doug Block's 51 Birch Street are three other recent examples.) Tovarisch, however, is ...