Latest – Page 623
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Reviews
Little Miss Sunshine
Dirs: Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris. US. 2006. 100mins.The first big hit of the 2006 SundanceFilm Festival, sold the night after its first screening last Friday to FoxSearchlight for over $10m, Little MissSunshine is a genuinely delightful comedy about a family of misfits on a roadtrip to a beauty pageant.Playing ...
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Reviews
Friends With Money
Dir/scr: Nicole Holofcener. US. 2006. 88mins.Nicole Holofcener's thirdfemale-skewed ensemble piece confirms her as a distinctive, urbane commentatoron the life of (affluent) women in America today. An incisive snapshot ofcontemporary values as grappled with by four Los Angeles women, Friends With Money is only her thirdfilm, but stints on episodic television ...
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Reviews
The Illusionist
Dir.Neil Burger. US. 2005. 110mins.Magic is the artof distraction. The Illusionistsucceeds because writer-director Neil Burger has his audience concentrate onEdward Norton's title character while Paul Giamatti'sfoil bustles around the picture providing the drama. The resulting periodromantic thriller is an attractive after-dinner treat which not only tastesdelicious but lingers on the ...
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Reviews
Underworld: Evolution
Dir: Len Wiseman. US. 2005.106mins.The mostly young male horror fans who turned 2003vampires-vs-werewolves saga Underworld into a surprise hit will probably find what they'reafter in this sequel: plenty of gory action, some cool effects and even a bit ofsex.Broader audiences won't havemuch patience with the tediously convoluted plot and unvarying ...
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Reviews
Last Holiday
Dir: Wayne Wang. US. 2006.111mins.Queen Latifah came of age,as an actress, in 2002's Chicago (whichtook $306m worldwide) and the following spring's Bringing Down The House (a global $162m), which collectively helpedlaunch her film career into more rarified air.From her earliestdays, though - whether on her platinum-selling rap albums or in ...
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Reviews
Gitmo
Dirs: Erik Gandini,Tarik Saleh. 78mins. Den-Swe. 2005.There is something Kafka-esqueabout the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba. Despitebeing part of the War On Terror, prisoners detainedhere in their strident orange suits are not given "Prisoner Of War" status butare treated as "Unlawful Combatants." Many have been left in limbo for ...
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Reviews
KZ
Dir/sc: Rex Bloomstein. UK.2005. 97mins.Initially KZ,Rex Bloomstein's harrowing documentary, appears tocover seemingly familiar territory. His subject is the former concentrationcamp of the title, located at Mauthausen in UpperAustria, and the last of the Nazi death camps to be liberated after the war.Thousands of men, women and children from more than ...
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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 ...