Latest – Page 642
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Reviews
Towards Mathilde (Vers Mathilde)
Dir: Claire Denis. Fr.2005. 86mins.Claire Denis' career asdirector has seen her bounce back and forth between challenging butwell-crafted feature films (Beau Travail, Vendredi Soir) andother, less accessible stories that seem wilfully abstruse (Trouble EveryDay, L'Intrus).Vers Mathilde suggests that the more experimental, conceptual sideof the director's character may eventually find its ...
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Reviews
Hating Alison Ashley
Dir: Geoff Bennett. Aus.2004. 102mins.Australiansinger, soap star and media darling Delta Goodrem makes her feature debut in HatingAlison Ashley, an uneven teens-at-school feature in which she looks like anundernourished member of staff rather than one of the gang.Thebuild-up buzz to the 250-screen Hoyts rollout in Australia on March 17 has ...
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Reviews
Turkish Gambit (Turetskii Gambit)
Dir: Dzhanik Faiziyev.Russ. 2005. 132mins.The new epic-scaleRussian detective yarn set during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, TurkishGambit grossed $6.1m in its opening weekend, eclisping the success offantasy feature Night Watch. But despite such hallmarks of world-classshowmanship as Indiana Jones-style action, creative Amelie-like visualeffects and unique subject matter, Dzhanik Faiziyev's , ...
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Reviews
Lorelei: The Witch Of The Pacific Ocean (Rorerai)
Dir: Shinji Higuchi Jap.2004. 128minsLorelei may have the typical elements of a submarine movie(exploding depth charges, steely-jawed captain), but is nonetheless a genrestandout. Produced by Fuji TV's Chihiro Kameyama - the Japanese JerryBruckheimer, who was also responsible for the megahit Bayside Shakedownfilms - Lorelei is the first Japanese film of ...
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Reviews
Accused (Anklaget)
Dir. Jacob Theusen. Den.2005. 105mins.Jacob Theusen's debutfeature Accused, which competed in Berlin, initially looks like awell-intentioned TV drama on the topical subject of child molestation. Butwhile in its early stages it tries to depart from the genre's usual formula,this event-driven drama ultimately deviates from its course after the first andsecond ...
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Reviews
The Hero (O Heroi)
Dir: Zeze Gamboa.Ang-Port-Fr. 2004. 97mins.African cinema should geta healthy shot of international exposure and a boost of self-confidence fromZeze Gamboa's self-assured directorial debut The Hero. Directed by theAngolan Gamboa, produced by a Portuguese producer, Vendrell, who is dedicatedto producing films from Portugese-speaking African countries and written byPortugese writer Baptista, it ...
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Reviews
Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room
Dir: AlexGibney. US. 2005. 110mins.The Enronscandal may have happened mostly behind closed doors - but that doesn't stopdocumentary film-maker Alex Gibney from finding the visual drama to tell asthrilling a tale of corporate malfeasance as any Hollywood blockbuster with Enron:The Smartest Guys In The Room. Here he creates a sense ...
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Reviews
Unleashed (Danny The Dog)
Dir: Louis LeterrierFr-UK. 2005. 103mins.The latest action vehicleto roar off the assembly line at Luc Besson's EuropaCorp, Unleashed -known in France as Danny The Dog - is a wonky mixture of bone-crunchingviolence and mawkish sentiment. It casts martial arts star Jet Li as asub-human fighting machine who finds that music ...
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Reviews
Adam and Paul
Dir:Lenny Abrahamson. Ire. 2005. 86mins.Imaginea full-length Laurel and Hardy film set in Dublin's junkie netherworld andscripted by the bastard son of Samuel Beckett. If you like the sound of that,then you'll love Adam and Paul, Irish commercials director LennyAbrahamson's first feature.Abrahamsondoes a grand job, but it's scriptwriter and co-star Mark ...
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Reviews
Junebug
Dir: Phil Morrison. 2005.US. 102mins.Actress Amy Adams pullsoff a small miracle in Junebug, an ensemble comedy-drama about whathappens when a golden boy-turned-prodigal son brings his cosmopolitan bridehome to meet his working class North Carolina family.Adams (The Wedding Date)takes centre stage as Ashley, a sweet, naive Deep South chatterbox whoinstantly idolises ...
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Reviews
Adam & Paul
Dir:Lenny Abrahamson. Ire. 2005. 8s6mins.Imaginea full-length Laurel and Hardy film set in Dublin's junkie netherworld andscripted by the bastard son of Samuel Beckett. If you like the sound of that,then you'll love Adam & Paul, Irish commercials director LennyAbrahamson's first feature.Abrahamsondoes a grand job, but it's scriptwriter and co-star Mark ...
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Reviews
Drum
Dir: Zola Maseko. S Afr.2005. 112mins.A little-known butimportant period in South African history is brought to vibrant life in Drum,the fact-based story of Henry Nxumalo, a black journalist who was targeted bythe Nationalist government after he wrote a series of articles exposinghorrifying prison and work farm conditions.Still awaiting a USdistribution ...
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Reviews
Adam & Paul
Dir:Lenny Abrahamson. Ire. 2005. 8s6mins.Imaginea full-length Laurel and Hardy film set in Dublin's junkie netherworld andscripted by the bastard son of Samuel Beckett. If you like the sound of that,then you'll love Adam & Paul, Irish commercials director LennyAbrahamson's first feature.Abrahamsondoes a grand job, but it's scriptwriter and co-star Mark ...
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Reviews
Adam and Paul
Dir:Lenny Abrahamson. Ire. 2005. 8s6mins.Imaginea full-length Laurel and Hardy film set in Dublin's junkie netherworld andscripted by the bastard son of Samuel Beckett. If you like the sound of that,then you'll love Adam & Paul, Irish commercials director LennyAbrahamson's first feature.Abrahamsondoes a grand job, but it's scriptwriter and co-star Mark ...
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Reviews
Robots
Dir: Chris Wedge, CarlosSaldanha. US. 2005. 85mins.In the modern cinematic age, animation has become abehemoth sub-genre of its own and - if done right - a virtual licence to printmoney, as Disney's lucrative, if waning, partnership with Pixar and DreamWorks'successful joint ventures with PDI have helped prove.Of course, given the ...
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Reviews
Mongolian Ping Pong (Lu Caodi)
Dir: Ning Hao. China.2005. 102mins.A worthwhile addition tothe yurt-flick genre that has included the likes of Urga, MongolianPing Pong is one of those ethnic features that allows audiences to getinside an alien landscape and culture from the comfort of their own cinemaseat. Beautifully-shot, the film is a paean to the ...
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Reviews
Hostage
Dir: Florent Siri. US. 2005. 115mins.Hostage, the new vehicle for Bruce Willis,survives an occasionally overcomplicated plot to provide consistently solid, ifnot particularly novel, entertainment. While there is very little that is newhere, the familiar characters, story, situation and iconography of theSWAT-team genre are crisply and engagingly delivered by French director ...
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Reviews
Hostage
Dir: Florent Siri. US. 2005. 115mins.Hostage, the new vehicle for Bruce Willis,survives an occasionally overcomplicated plot to provide consistently solid, ifnot particularly novel, entertainment. While there is very little that is newhere, the familiar characters, story, situation and iconography of theSWAT-team genre are crisply and engagingly delivered by French director ...
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Reviews
The Pacifier
Dir:Adam Shankman. US. 2005. 97mins.Itworked for Arnold Schwarzenegger, so it's not surprising that Vin Diesel tooshould now take a career diversion from action into family comedy. ThePacifier, from Spyglass, Disney and Bringing Down The House directorAdam Shankman, puts the XXX muscle man together with some unruly kidsand a supporting cast ...
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Reviews
Man Of The House
Dir: Stephen Herek. US.2005. 100mins.A dispiriting tale abouta group of cheerleaders who observe a murder and then must be protected, ManOf The House is a colourless concept comedy without much else going for itoutside of concept; an artificial crowd-pleaser that throws a few feeblecharacter types at the screen and then ...