Latest – Page 633
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Reviews
Citizen Dog (Ma Nakorn)
Dir/scr: WisitSarasatieng. Thai-Fr. 2004. 100mins.Co-produced by LucBesson's EuropaCorp, Wisit Sasanatieng's follow-up to Tears Of The BlackTiger is a film of undeniable charm: a romantic fantasy already touted bysome as a Thai equivalent to Amelie. Shot in the same iridescent coloursas Black Tiger, full of surrealistic humour and musical interludes, itis ...
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Reviews
Wah-Wah
Dir/scr: Richard E Grant.UK-Fr-S Afr. 2005. 97minsAdd the name of Richard EGrant to the roster of actors who have made a successful transition to thedirector's chair. His feature debut Wah-Wah is an affectionate, keenly-observedportrait of a family's life set against the dying days of the British Empire.Working from autobiographical material, ...
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Reviews
Rag Tale
Dir. Mary McGuckian.UK-Lux. 2005. 123mins.Bashing newspapers hasalways been popular sport for film-makers. But Mary McGuckian's Rag Taleadds nothing to the genre, despite its radically different technical approach,and ultimately only results in a muddle.Shot mostly in hugeclose-ups by three madly swinging HD cameras and using every type of distortinglens to twist ...
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Reviews
The Constant Gardener
Dir: Fernando Meirelles.2005. UK-Ger. 125mins.Proving that City OfGod was no one-hit-wonder, Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles delivers avivid tapestry of international intrigue set against the backdrop of Africa anda pharmaceutical industry in The Constant Gardener, based on spyspecialist John le Carre's novel of the same name.Part retrospective lovestory, part political mystery, ...
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Reviews
Red Eye (S Korea)
Dir: Wes Craven. US.2005. 81mins.Screen elitists arealways decrying the feckless over-complications of modern action movies, butWes Craven's air-bound Red Eye strikes a blow for old-fashionedentertainment, even as it unfolds against a decidedly contemporary setting. Athriller cast as a breathless nouveau labyrinth dash, the movie delivers solidgenre jolts in a tight, ...
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Reviews
A Perfect Couple (Un Couple Parfait)
Dir/scr. SobuhiroSuwa. Fr-Jap. 2005. 104mins.Tailor-made for film festivals and those with apenchant for obscure material, Sobuhiro Suwa's A Perfect Couple is the sort offeature that will deter audiences whose patience is tried by films that delaydelivering their message.Shot in Paris with aFrench cast, this chiaroscuro (more scuro than chiaro) portrait ...
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Reviews
Familia
Dir. LouiseArchambault. Can. 2005. 102mins.Louise Archambault's cheerful debut may bebookended by some ambitious statements about the inevitability of geneticinheritance, but by the end has proved to be a light romp that is more than happyto settle for crowd-pleasing solutions.If audience responseat Locarno, where Familia played last week, is any indication, ...
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Reviews
The 40 Year-Old Virgin
Dir: Judd Apatow. US.2005. 116mins.Marking the featuredirecting debut of acclaimed TV comedy writer Judd Apatow and the featurestarring debut of in-demand comic actor Steve Carell, The 40 Year-Old Virginis a sex comedy that's sweet-natured one minute, enthusiastically raunchy thenext and sporadically very funny. Relatively subtle and character-driven by sexcomedy standards, ...
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Reviews
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
Dir: Mike Bigelow. US.2005. 83mins.The comic novelty ofshort, dark and not so handsome Rob Schneider playing a likeably inept'man-whore' helped turn 1999 gross-out comedy Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolointo a surprise hit - but it's wearing pretty thin in this belated sequel.Schneider and co attempt to make up the difference by ...
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Reviews
The Piano Tuner Of Earthquakes
Dirs: The Brothers Quay.UK-Ger-Fr. 2005. 99mins.A decade after theirdebut feature Institute Benjamenta (1994), Stephen and Timothy Quay havemade their second full-length film. As one might expect from film-makers widelyacknowledged as masters of stop-motion and miniaturisation, this is a richlydetailed affair. It is crammed full of literary, cinematic and fine artreferences. ...
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Reviews
Stoned
Dir: Stephen Woolley. UK.2005. 102mins.Veteran UK producerStephen Woolley makes an accomplished directorial debut with Stoned, anabsorbing portrait of Brian Jones, the founding member of The Rolling Stones,and the events surrounding his death on July 2, 1969. Rich in period atmosphereand music, the film possesses the same knowing style and historical ...
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Reviews
Four Brothers
Dir: John Singleton. US.2005. 109mins.Set against a vastconspiratorial backdrop in which daylight shootouts take place with noimpunity, director John Singleton's Four Brothers is a formulaic andover-the-top crime drama that offers forth a guileless daisy chain of violentincidents with no convincing explication of place or consequence. Despite itsintriguing multi-cultural casting, it's ...
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Reviews
Secuestro Express
Dir/scr: JonathanJakubowicz. Venez-US. 2005. 86mins.The debut feature fromVenezuelan-born 26 year-old Jonathan Jakubowicz, Secuestro Express is abold warts-and-all chronicle of a commonplace kidnapping on the brutal streetsof Caracas. Shot on digital video and filled with the kind of flash kineticenergy which will get him noticed on the world map, the film ...
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Reviews
The Great Raid
Dir: John Dahl. US. 2005.130mins.The inherent messiness ofarmed combat gets a full and solemn workout in director John Dahl's detailed,solidly staged World War II liberation flick The Great Raid, anold-fashioned movie of stark moral clarity that will appeal to hardcore genrefans and flag-waving American patriots, but not likely make a ...
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Reviews
Riviera
Dir/scr:Anne Villaceque. Fr. 2005. 94mins.Emotionaldysfunction, repressed sexuality and Southern sunshine make a potentlydisturbing combination in Riviera, second feature by French directorAnne Villaceque. In her 2000 debut Petite Cherie, Villaceque establishedtroubled female sexuality as her key theme, and she returns to it with avengeance in this subtly intense portrayal of a ...
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Reviews
20 Centimetres (20 Centimentros)
Dir/scr: Ramon Salazar.Sp-Fr. 2005. 113mins.A bawdy, picaresque Spanish yarn about a transvestite whoyearns for a sex change operation (she has 20cm she wishes to dispense with -hence the title), Ramon Salazar's second feature carries obvious echoes of theearly work of Pedro Almodovar. There is the same irreverent humour, a sharedfascination ...
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Reviews
What A Wonderful Place (Eize Makom Nifla)
Dir/scr: EyalHalfon. Is-Ger. 2005. 104mins.Eyal Halfon's WhatA Wonderful Place, about the plight of foreign workers in Israel is a grim,angry and uncompromising drama. Three inter-related plots leading to violentfinal clash offer the bitterly ironic conclusion that Israel - or any othersupposedly liberal western country that treats its economic migrants in ...
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Reviews
The Rising: The Ballad Of Mangal Pandey
Dir: Ketan Mehta. India.2005. 150minsThe story of the IndianMutiny gets a swashbuckling spin, complete with musical numbers, in TheRising, a film that director Ketan Mehta originally planned to make in1988.The presence of Aamir Khan -star of Lagaan, one of the few Bollywood films to achieve a healthydegree of non-niche prominence ...
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Reviews
Transporter 2
Dir: Louis Leterrier. France.2005. 87 min.After the ill-judged mixtureof mawkish sentimental drama and martial arts mayhem of Glasgow-based Dannythe Dog/Unleashed, writer-producer Luc Besson returns to the pure actionvein with this sequel to his 2002 hit, The Transporter. With hissurrogate Louis Leterrier again handling directing chores, Transporter 2is a wholly derivative ...
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Reviews
The Dukes Of Hazzard
Dir: Jay Chandrasekhar.US. 2005. 102 mins. Itwould have been easy just to make fun of The Dukes of Hazzard, the supremely corny early eighties US TV seriesabout Bo and Luke Duke, two young buck good ole boys from deep in the heart ofGeorgia. Surprisingly though, this Warner Bros/Village Roadshow big ...