Latest – Page 639
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Reviews
The Longest Penalty In The World (El Penalti Mas Largo Del Mundo)
Dir. Roberto Santiago.Sp. 2005. 101mins.A very local comedy withstrong remake potential, The Longest Penalty In The World has provedthis year's Spanish box office hit to date taking more than $6.5m.Although perhaps tooanchored in Madrid to travel past Spanish-language territories, that'sconversely Penalty's greatest strength - this could be remade more thanonce ...
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Reviews
The Great New Wonderful
Dir. Danny Leiner. US. 2005.89minsThe Great New Wonderful is thetitle but "new" is the only adjective of the three that describes this filmfrom the director of Dude, Where's My Carand Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle.A story that aims to encapsulate the ennui of post-9/11 New York City, itsucceeds ...
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Reviews
By The Pricking Of My Thumbs (Mon Petit Doigt M'a Dit)
Dir: Pascal Thomas. Fr.2005. 105mins.A French adaptation ofAgatha Christie's same-named novel, By The Pricking Of My Thumbs findsthe right balance between silly humour and creepy mystery. Directed by PascalThomas (La Dilettante) and starring Andre Dussolier - best known outsideof France as the unseen narrator of Amelie - and Catherine Frot ...
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Reviews
Mindhunters
Dir:Renny Harlin. UK-Neth-Fin-US. 2005. 108mins.Finallyemerging in the US theatrical market after a year or more on the shelf, RennyHarlin's Mindhunters is a serial killer thriller offering a few decentthrills, some fairly gruesome chills and more than its fair share of laughablyoverblown moments.Financierand international seller Intermedia has already reaped revenues from ...
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Reviews
Kicking & Screaming
Dir:Jesse Dylan. US. 2005. 93mins.WillFerrell's comic talents are used to very variable effect in Kicking &Screaming, a haphazard family comedy that attempts to combine kid-friendlyhumour with something a bit edgier for youngish parents. It's the kind of safefamily film that sometimes finds a surprisingly large audience, and Ferrell'sgrowing star power ...
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Reviews
Kicking & Screaming
Dir:Jesse Dylan. US. 2005. 93mins.WillFerrell's comic talents are used to very variable effect in Kicking &Screaming, a haphazard family comedy that attempts to combine kid-friendlyhumour with something a bit edgier for youngish parents. It's the kind of safefamily film that sometimes finds a surprisingly large audience, and Ferrell'sgrowing star power ...
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Reviews
Kicking And Screaming
Dir:Jesse Dylan. US. 2005. 93mins.WillFerrell's comic talents are used to very variable effect in Kicking &Screaming, a haphazard family comedy that attempts to combine kid-friendlyhumour with something a bit edgier for youngish parents. It's the kind of safefamily film that sometimes finds a surprisingly large audience, and Ferrell'sgrowing star power ...
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Reviews
The Longest Penalty In The World (El Penalti Mas Largo Del Mundo)
Dir:Jesse Dylan. US. 2005. 93mins.WillFerrell's comic talents are used to very variable effect in Kicking &Screaming, a haphazard family comedy that attempts to combine kid-friendlyhumour with something a bit edgier for youngish parents. It's the kind of safefamily film that sometimes finds a surprisingly large audience, and Ferrell'sgrowing star power ...
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Reviews
Three Dollars
Dir: Robert Connolly.Aus. 2005. 119mins.Based on an award-winning 1998 Australian novel, ThreeDollars is about a good, honest man utterly unable to compromise hisintegrity. David Wenham is sensitively intelligent in a role that requires himto bravely suffer a variety of modern economic tortures, from sacking andbetrayal to bankruptcy and destitution.Made with ...
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Reviews
Monster-In-Law
Dir: Robert Luketic. US2005. 95mins.Jennifer Lopez may get top billing, but Jane Fonda is theonly conceivable reason to see Monster-In-Law, a tepid romantic comedyabout a bride-to-be locking horns with her boyfriend's mum.In the US, where the filmsopens on May 13, box-office may be mixed. Thirty years after the US pulled ...
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Reviews
Gamblers (Les Mauvais Joueurs)
Dir. Frederic Balekdjian.Fr. 2005. 85mins.Taking place entirely ina garment district of Paris, Gamblers is a French Mean Streets, amessy, gratifying film about life in an ethnically-mixed neighbourhood and theart of making a living however one can. The first feature by the promisingFrederic Balekdjian, it makes for an assured, exciting drama ...
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Reviews
The Baxter
Dir. Michael Showalter.US. 2005. 91mins.The debut feature fromMichael Showalter, The Baxter harbours noble ambitions - but therein liemost of its problems, with what appears to be an attempt at mixing classicHollywood screwball comedy with elements of Billy Wilder's The Apartment(Jack Lemmon's character was named CC Baxter).In the US, distributor IFCFilms ...
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Reviews
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith
Dir/scr: George Lucas.US. 2005. 145mins.Movies don't come muchmore 'event' than the final instalment of Star Wars. But thankfully, StarWars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith has a good deal to offer besidesits cachet as the farewell to a pop culture phenomenon, a phenomenon that began28 years ago and has ...
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Reviews
Almost Brothers (Quase Dois Irmaos)
Dir: Lucia Morat. Braz-Fr-Chile. 2004. 102minsAlmostBrothers, whichfollows two childhood friends as they confront Brazil's social apartheid, maybe flawed but it is consistently compelling. Political activist-turned-directorLucia Morat has been perhaps overly ambitious in the task she sets herself, butwhen the film gels, it is gripping stuff.One of the best films to ...
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Reviews
Almost Brothers (Quase Dois Irmaos)
Dir: Lucia Morat. Braz-Fr-Chile. 2004. 102minsAlmostBrothers, whichfollows two childhood friends as they confront Brazil's social apartheid, maybe flawed but it is consistently compelling. Political activist-turned-directorLucia Morat has been perhaps overly ambitious in the task she sets herself, butwhen the film gels, it is gripping stuff.One of the best films to ...
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Reviews
The Wolf (El Lobo)
Dir. Miguel Courtois. Sp. 2004. 122minsA cracking period political thriller, The Wolf (ElLobo) is the type of intelligent drama rarely seen these days - a throwbackto Costa Gavras's Z or Missing, in which director Courtoisevidently holds his audience in high esteem and rewards those willing to take achance with complex ...
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Reviews
The Ax (Le Couperet)
Dir. Costa-Gavras.Fr-Bel-Sp. 2005. 122mins.A wickedly black comedytailored in a slick thriller style, The Ax marks a welcome return tocomedy for Greek auteur Costa-Gavras after his 1986 feature Family Business.Powered by an outstanding lead performance from Jose Garcia, the film hasalready proven itself at home in France.Prospects in other Europeanterritories are ...
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Reviews
Negotiator (Koshonin Mashita Masayoshi)
Dir: Katsuyuki Motohiro. Jap. 2005. 127minsKatsuyuki Motohiro's Negotiatoris an action spin-off from his major hits Bayside Shakedown (1998) and BaysideShakedown 2 (2003), the latter of which set a record $162m at home for aJapanese live-action film. But this time, the bumptious detective of before(who faced off against the entire Tokyo ...
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Reviews
House Of Wax
Dir. Jaume-Collet Serra.Aus-US. 2005. 120mins.Nicely balanced between comedy and terror, House Of Waxhas monster written all over it - box office, that is. It puts paid to thenotion that the irony-laden Scream and I Know What You Did LastSummer franchises had clipped the wings of mainstream teen-gore fests.North American numbers ...
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Reviews
House Of Wax
Dir. Jaume-Collet Serra.Aus-US. 2005. 120mins.Nicely balanced between comedy and terror, House Of Waxhas monster written all over it - box office, that is. It puts paid to thenotion that the irony-laden Scream and I Know What You Did LastSummer franchises had clipped the wings of mainstream teen-gore fests.North American numbers ...