Latest – Page 625
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Reviews
Yours, Mine & Ours (Tuya)
Dir: Raja Gosnell. US. 2005. 90mins.Looking to follow the Cheaper By The Dozen formula to box officesuccess, Yours, Mine & Ours is atiresome kids comedy that's never as funny as it is loud and oddlymean-spirited.Opening Nov 23 inthe US, the film (with its PG rating) will be hoping to attract ...
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Reviews
Brothers Of The Head
Dirs: Keith Fulton, Louis Pepe. UK. 2005. 90mins.Keith Fulton and Louis Pepetake a small step from documentary to mockumentarywith Brothers Of The Head, a bizarreriff on the source novel by Brian Aldiss.The story of conjoined twinbrothers and their brief rush of rock star fame during the 1970s is technically beyond ...
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Reviews
Go West
Dir/scr: Ahmed Imamovic. Bosnia-Herzegovina.2005. 100mins.Coming after his successful short, 10 Minutes, Ahmed Imamovic's debut feature Go West shows definite promise, as he attempts to present a solidfolksy melange of sex, politics and violence in the best traditions of Balkancinema.Focussing on the gaycommunity, atrocities against who have largely been overlooked in ...
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Reviews
Hostel
Dir: Eli Roth. US. 2005.95mins.A serpentine thriller likely to both repulse andexcite, Roth's second feature - and follow-up to Cabin Fever - plays like a shotgun marriage of Eurotripand Saw, starting out confidently as an European road sex adventure beforedevolving into a mutilation splatter flick.It is not always easy totake, ...
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Reviews
The Libertine
Dir. Laurence Dunmore. UK. 2005. 114mins.Resurfacing 14 months after its Toronto premiere as awork in progress, The Libertine hasnot improved with time, even after an extra year in the editing suite.Despite a sharp bounce fromJohnny Depp's deliciously suggestive performance as the titular Earl ofRochester, Laurence Dunmore's debut feature feels lacklustre ...
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Reviews
Sky Fighters (Les Chevaliers Du Ciel)
Dir: Gerard Pires. Fr. 2005. 102mins.In Sky Fighters,two gung-ho French airforce pilots battle withterrorists out to commandeer a Mirage 2000 jet for a post-9/11 apocalypse overParis. But as with too many aviation pictures, Gerard Pires'$22m feature soars when it is airborne but is hobbled on the ground by stockmelodramatics and ...
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Reviews
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
Dir: Mike Newell. US-UK. 2005. 150mins.A solid but mostly uninspired melding of theadventure and fright that have been the benchmarks of the franchise, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire isneither as singular a film as director Alfonso Cuaron's third instalment nor askid-pleasing as Chris Columbus's first two entries.As Potter's ...
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Reviews
Zathura
Dir: Jon Favreau. US. 2005. 100mins.Family features can often fall foul to several traps.One is that they end up as showcases for bedazzling special effects thatdominate the storytelling; another is that they rely on rote bodily function humour that may be funny to a six-year-old but is indicativeof lazy and ...
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Reviews
The Headsman
Dir: Simon Aeby. Aust-Swit-Ger-Lux-Hung-U.K. 2005. 108mins.While its production values are magnificent, The Headsman is an uneven period drama,too concerned with trying to convince the audience that history is repeatingitself and investing little enough effort into its mysteriously lifelessstoryline.As such it is ofprimary interest to history buffs, although even they may ...
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Reviews
Viva Zapatero!
Dir/scr: Sabina Guzzanti. It. 2005. 80mins.Sabina Guzzanti'santi-censorship documentary Viva Zapatero! does for Italianprime minister Silvio Berlusconi what Fahrenheit 9/11 did for George Bush: itexposes the ugly subtext that, in the film-maker's view, lies behind theairbrushed public image.Like Michael Moore, Sabina Guzzanti is no shrinking violet, and there is at first ...
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Reviews
Be With Me
Dir: Eric Khoo. Sing. 2005.90mins.Since it opened Directors Fortnight at Cannes, Be With Me, Eric Khoo'sthird feature has galloped from one event to another (most recently Chicago andTokyo), a festival warhorse that has gathered several favourable reviews aswell as becoming Singapore's submission for best foreign language Oscar.But while it is ...
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Reviews
Sorry, Haters
Dir/scr: Jeff Stanzler. US. 2005. 84mins.Jeff Stanzler's ambitious,unsettling second feature, Sorry, Hatersdeals in some disturbing imagery and visceral contemporary relevance,attempting to say something provocative about US culture and its frayed socialfabric in the wake of September 11.Unfortunately, its Hitchcockian treatment of sin, guilt and transferenceproduces a dramatic imbalance that undermines ...
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Reviews
What the Snow Brings (Yuki Ni Negau Koto)
Dir: Kichitaro Negishi. Jap. 2005. 112mins.What The Snow Brings pulled offa Superfecta at the Tokyo International Film Festival,winning the top prize - the Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix - on top of the best directorprize for Kichitaro Negishi,the best actor prize for star Koichi Sato and the audience award.As its haul ...
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Reviews
Derailed
Dir: Mikael Hafstrom. US. 2005. 108mins.Representing a fairly low profile debut for a highprofile operation, The Weinstein Company's Derailedis a sharp, nicely cast neo-noir thriller that loses some of its edge over thecourse of its twisting and turning plot.Swedish director Mikael Hafstrom - whose Evil (Ondskan)was a best foreign language ...
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Reviews
The Whispering Of The Gods (Germania No Yoru)
Dir: Tatsushi Omori. Jap. 2005. 107mins.An unblinking plunge into depravity, blasphemy andviolence, set in the idyllic confines of a Catholic monastery, Tatsushi Omori's debut feature The Whispering Of The Gods falls squarelyinto the love-it-or-loathe-it category.Screened in competition atthe Tokyo International Film Festival, it evoked fervent praise from some -Japanese film ...
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Reviews
The Myth (Sen Hua)
Dir. Stanley Tong. HK-China.2005. 118mins.The Myth is a misfire from three stalwarts of the martial arts genre: JackieChan, his long-time collaborator, director/screenwriterStanley Tong, and co-scenarist Wang Hui-ling,screenwriter of Crouching Tiger, HiddenDragon. An enthusiastic attempt at the Indiana Jones model, it has neither the pace, the tone nor the dialogue to ...
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Reviews
Riding Alone For Thousands Of Miles (Qian Li Zou Dan Ji)
Dir: Zhang Yimou. HK-Chi-Jap. 2005. 108mins.The opening film at the Tokyo International Film Festival,Riding Alone For Thousands Of Miles isa departure for director Zhang Yimou from the big-budgetperiod spectacles he has been making of late and a return to the themes and ruralsettings some of his most-acclaimed earlier work.But instead ...
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Reviews
Kissed By Winter (Vinterkyss)
Dir: Sara Johnsen. Nor. 2005. 84mins.A bereaved mother tries to come to terms with heranguish by seeking refuge in a snowbound northern village. There, she discoversunsuspected affinities with the local population, as well as finding romanceand becoming embroiled in a troubling mystery.As the above synopsissuggests, this year's official Norwegian submission ...
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Reviews
Bam Bam And Celeste
Dir. Lorene Machado. US. 2005. 85mins.Film-maker Lorene Machado and screenwriter Margaret Cho misfire with Bam Bam And Celeste, a featurefound wanting in too many departments, and potentially too offensive to many,to succeed.US theatrical prospects mightsee it pick up play at midnight theatres, especially on gay circuits, but fewaudiences are likely ...
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Reviews
Chicken Little
Dir: Mark Dindal. US. 2005. 80mins.For its first fully computer-animated feature, WaltDisney has turned the fable of ChickenLittle into a warm and funny comedy-adventure with an appealing energy, atouching thread of family drama and a surprising dose of War Of The Worlds-style sci-fi. After thedisappointment of some of Disney's recent ...