Latest – Page 624
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Reviews
Hoodwinked
Dir: Cory Edwards. US.2005. 81mins.Written and directed by a trio of virtually unknownfilm-makers, computer animated family comedy Hoodwinked feels like a cheap and cheerful cross between Shrek and Looney Tunes. The cheapness - mostlyexposed in relatively rudimentary CG work - makes Shrek-level theatrical successunlikely; but the cheeriness of this sassy ...
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Reviews
Lassie
Dir/scr: Charles Sturridge. UK-Ire-Fr-US 2005.Hansomely crafted, full of lively performancesfrom both animals and humans, and with far more satirical bite than might havebeen expected, Charles Sturridge's Lassie is a richlysatisfying affair.In drawing his inspirationdirectly from Eric Knight's 1938 story, Sturridge hastaken the famous collie away from Hollywood and back to ...
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Reviews
The New World
Dir/scr: Terrence Malick. US. 2005. 150mins.A sweeping historical narrative and exquisitely renderedlove story, Terrence Malick's The New World is a majestic, electrifying feature experience that forsome will rank as the most artistically accomplished US studio release this year.Demanding and complex, it possessesextraordinary beauty and comes close to silent cinema, with ...
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Reviews
Munich
Dir: Steven Spielberg. US.2005. 165 mins.It's a bold and courageous move for Steven Spielbergto address the 100-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a $70mHollywood movie, and he has already stirred up advance controversy for thestory he opted to tell - that of the Israeli government's secret hit squadsallegedly formed in the aftermath ...
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Reviews
The Family Stone
Dir: Thomas Bezucha. US. 2005. 104mins.The Family Stoneis a serio-comic story about the holiday gathering ofa chatty, mildly bickering bohemian New England brood, and the straight-lacedgirlfriend that the eldest son brings home. A sort of mash-up of The Myth OfFingerprints and Home For TheHolidays, it's also a rich reminder of ...
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Reviews
The Producers
Dir: Susan Stroman. USA.2005. 135mins.The strange, zany trip of Mel Brooks' The Producers - which began in 1968 as amovie about a Broadway musical; morphed into a Tony-winning smash hit Broadwaymusical about a Broadway musical; and now reincarnates itself on film withalmost the entire creative team behind that stage adaptation ...
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Reviews
Munich
Dir: Steven Spielberg. US.2005. 165 mins.It's a bold and courageous move for Steven Spielbergto address the 100-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a $70mHollywood movie, and he has already stirred up advance controversy for thestory he opted to tell - that of the Israeli government's secret hit squadsallegedly formed in the aftermath ...
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Reviews
King Kong
Dir: Peter Jackson. US.2005. 189mins.Peter Jackson's KingKong is Jurassic Park, War Of The Worlds, Jaws, ET and Raiders Of The Lost Ark allrolled into one mammoth, three-hour rollercoaster ride. As if saying to StevenSpielberg "Anything you can do, I can do better", Jackson delivers a resoundingaudience-pleaser which pushes the boundaries ...
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Reviews
Keeping Mum
Dir: Niall Johnson. UK. 2005. 103mins.Keeping Mum is acurious mish-mash: part morbid comedy in the vein ofold Ealing classic Kind Hearts And Coronets, part family drama, part Rowan Atkinsonvehicle, part murder mystery, part Mary Poppins, its disparate elements are thrown together withlittle craft or subtlety.Director and co-writer NiallJohnson never seems ...
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Reviews
The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe
Dir: Andrew Adamson. US.2005. 140mins.Hopes are riding high on the back of Aslan, the talking lion, for The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, the first of Disney andWalden Media's mooted adaptation of CS Lewis' seven-book series.Coming after Peter Jackson'sstorming, imaginative rendition of TheLord Of The Rings trilogy - and ...
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Reviews
Aeon Flux
Dir: Karyn Kusama. US. 2005. 92mins.A cult animated MTV series from the early 1990s getsa disappointingly dull live-action makeover in sci-fi thriller Aeon Flux, directed by Sundanceaward-winner (for her debut film Girlfight) Karyn Kusama.Teenage fanboysand their slightly older brothers will be the primary audience, and with Charlize Theron wearing the ...
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Reviews
Sogepaq announces sales for Fernando Leon's latest
Spain's Sogepaq has announced first sales in Europe and Latin America on Fernando Leon's Sundance World Competition entry, Princesses (Princesas). The film has sold to France and Belgium (ARP), Switzerland (Xenix), Greece & Cyprus (Audiovisual), Portugal (Atalanta Filmes), Mexico (Cine Video y TV), Argentina, Chile, Uruguay & Paraguay (Alfa Films) ...
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Reviews
Unknown White Male
Dir: Rupert Murray. UK. 2005. 88mins.A bizarre case of amnesia yields philosophical foodfor thought as well as an unorthodox character study in Unknown White Male, a thought-provoking documentary by Britishfilm-maker Rupert Murray.The film's subject is afriend of Murray's - a 35-year-old Englishman named Douglas Bruce who suddenlyand inexplicably lost all ...
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Reviews
Gravehopping (Od Groba Do Groba)
Dir/scr: Jan Cvitkovic. Slovenia, 2005. 103mins.A darkly comic curio, the second filmfrom Bread And Milk director Jan Cvitkovic has been flying the festival flag for Sloveniaever since its debut at San Sebastian - where it picked up the New Directors Award- and has since won best film prizes at Cottbus ...
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Reviews
The White Countess
Dir: James Ivory. US. 2005.135mins.The finale to director James Ivory's longcollaboration with producer Ismail Merchant (who diedlast May, just as the film was being completed), The White Countess is an intimate period romance given historicalsweep by a script from The Remains Of TheDay novelist Kazuo Ishiguro.The tentative love affair atthe ...
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Reviews
Melissa P
Dir: Luca Guadagnino. It-Sp. 2005. 102mins. "Loosely based on" ascandalous bestselling book which purports to recount the true sexualexperiences of a 16-year-old Sicilian schoolgirl, Sony Pictures Entertainment'sfirst Italian production Melissa Pstruggles gamely to be less of an adolescent sexploitation flick and more of acoming-of-age study.True,there is some teen sex ...
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Reviews
Just Friends
Dir: Roger Kumble. US. 2005. 94mins.Sporting a rich premise, Just Friends ultimately fails to live up to its early potential,instead settling into broad comedy that shortchanges the film's romanticpossibilities.Opening in the USon Nov 23 during the packed Thanksgiving weekend, the holiday-themed film(rated PG-13) stands out as the only date movie ...
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Reviews
Syriana
Dir/scr: Stephen Gaghan. US. 2005. 123mins.Writer-director Stephen Gaghan'sSyrianasets out to do for the global oil industry what Steven Soderbergh'sTraffic - which Gaghanscripted - did for the international drug trade. But while Traffic managed to mix affecting drama with its big picturegeopolitics, Gaghan's provocative new study worksbetter as a stimulant for ...
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Reviews
Rent
Dir: Chris Columbus. US.2005. 130mins.The zeitgeist 1996 Broadway musical Rent gets a faithful and energetic filmadaptation from an unlikely film-maker in Chris Columbus, and an in-builtaudience of Rent-lovers won't bedisappointed. Columbus also has a fair shot at pulling in a new generation ofkids who don't know the show and who ...
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