Latest – Page 648
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Reviews
Les Soeurs Fachees
Dir/scr. AlexandraLeclere. Fr. 2004. 93mins.A vehicle for theconsiderable thespian prowess of Isabelle Huppert, film-maker Alexandra Lecleremakes an effective debut with Les Soeurs Fachees, a family drama thatshould play well in mainstream Francophone markets.The traditional French feeland the cast attraction of Huppert (enjoying a higher profile of late through IHeart Huckabee's) ...
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Reviews
Machuca
Dir: Andres Wood.Chile-Spain. 2004. 120mins.Originally screened inDirectors Fortnight at Cannes this year, Andres Wood's Machuca haspicked up steam throughout the year, is the official Chilean selection for theforeign language Academy Award and was recently picked up for US distributionby Menemsha Films.It's an unsettling piece seton the eve of the military ...
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Reviews
The Alzheimer Case (De Zaak Alzheimer)
Dir:Erik Van Looy. Belgium. 2003. 120minsEveryoneis looking for the fresh twist that can raise a thriller out of the ranks ofthe ordinary. Erik Van Looy appears to have found it in The Alzheimer Case.The twist here is a hired killer turned avenging angel struggling with theonset of Alzheimers. His faltering ...
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Reviews
Silver City
Dir/scr/ed: John Sayles.US. 2004. 128minsWith his political satireslash noir murder mystery Silver City, American maverick John Saylesmight just have made his most commercial movie to date. While much of the film'stopicality, especially in the US, might have rested on last month's USelection, the return of George W Bush to power ...
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Reviews
The Great Water (Golemata Voda)
Dir: Ivo Trajkov.Macedonia 2004. 90minsSet in Yugoslavia duringthe immediate aftermath of World War II, when Stalin was extending his reachover Eastern Europe, The Great Water concerns an all too real subject:orphans who were rounded up and sent to labour camps to be indoctrinated withCommunist ideology.Containing elements of bothdrama and surrealism, ...
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Reviews
Tell Them Who You Are
Dir/prod/cine:Mark SWexler. US. 2004. 95minsA son's search for hisfather, even a famous one, might appear to be too narrow a theme for atheatrical documentary were it not for the recent success of theOscar-nominated feature My Architect.Tell Them Who You Are, which has been shortlisted for Best DocumentaryFeature for this season, ...
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Reviews
Blood And Bones (Chi To Hone)
Dir: Yoichi Sai.Jap.2004. 144mins.Known in Japan as a TVcelebrity, actor and director of both commercial hits (Quill) and awardwinners (All Under The Moon), Yoichi Sai resembles friend and colleagueTakeshi 'Beat' Kitano in not only his resume but his earthy,quick-witted public persona.He is now building asimilarly high international profile with his ...
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Reviews
Eyes Of Crystal (Occhi Di Cristallo)
Dir: Eros Puglielli.It-Sp-UK. 2004. 110mins.The latestCattleya-Alchimia co-production (after Callas Forever, Don't Moveand I'm Not Scared), Eyes Of Crystal is a declared attempt torevive the horror-thriller genre that, in Italy, is virtually synonymous withDario Argento. Though uneven, second-time director Eros Puglielli's serialkiller yarn is a stylish and enjoyable essay in shock ...
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Reviews
It's All Gone Pete Tong
Dir/scr: Michael Dowse.Can-UK. 2004. 90minsCanadian writer-directorMichael Dowse first came to attention with the quirky heavy metal comedy Fubar(2002), but with It's All Gone Pete Tong (rhyming slang for "it's allgone wrong") he turns his sights on DJ producer-performers.The result is a tuneful,spirited rag tag of a movie with an obvious ...
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Reviews
Christmas With The Kranks
Dir: Joe Roth. US. 2004.98minsThe holiday-themed comedyChristmas With The Kranks sees itself a big-hearted, slightly sappymovie about family and community, shared values, good cheer and the true spiritof the season. But the story's Stepford Wives-like emphasis ontraditional values and communal approval is enough to make one queasy.Considering the cultural climate ...
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Reviews
Alexander
Dir: OliverStone. UK-Fr-Neth. 2004. 165mins.Alexander is a magnificent mess of a movie, a wildly ambitiousold-style epic filled with as many moments of greatness as creative mis-steps.The first feature film in five years from Oliver Stone, produced and financedindependently to the tune of $160m by Moritz Borman and Intermedia, Alexandercertainly won't ...
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Reviews
Closer
Dir:Mike Nichols. US. 2004. 98mins. Adouble love story with a brutally forthright view of modern relationships, thescreen version of British writer Patrick Marber's acclaimed stage play Closer,incisively directed by stage-to-screen expert Mike Nichols, is not a film forthe faint hearted. And that may prove to be a mixed blessing at ...
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Reviews
Childstar
Dir:Don McKellar. Can. 2004. 98minsFollowingup on his auspicious directorial debut Last Night, Don McKellar plungesinto a movie about movies focusing on a 12-year-old star and his circle offamily, reps and general hangers-on. While the territory has considerablepotential both dramatically and in humorous insights, McKellar fails to plumbits depths. The film ...
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Reviews
National Treasure
Dir: Jon Turteltaub. US.2004. 131minsWalt Disney Picturesexperiments with a PG-13-rated adventure movie for all the family in NationalTreasure delivered by the studio's in-house stalwarts producer JerryBruckheimer and director Jon Turteltaub. The result is an efficientlycrowd-pleasing, wholesome popcorn picture short on violence and long onmystery, although it is also short on ...
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Reviews
Rolling Family (Familia Rodante)
Dir/scr: Pablo Trapero.Arg-Braz-Fr-Ger-Sp. 2004. 103mins.Put Robert Altman's TheWedding on wheels, give it an Argentine passport and send it rolling1,000km out of Buenos Aires - and it would look pretty much like PabloTrapero's latest feature Rolling Family.While it may be less flashyand more populist than Altman's work, it still has a ...
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Reviews
The Hidden Blade
Dir/Scr Yoji Yamada.Jap. 2004. 131 mins. Best known in Japan for his 48 Tora-san films about a wandering peddler who is forever falling inlove, Yamada has scripted or directed several other successful series for theShochiku studio -- and single-handedly saved it from the financial brink. Two years ago Yamada released ...
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Reviews
Seed Of Chucky
Dir:Don Mancini. US. 2004. 87mins.Poor old Jennifer Tilly. She was turned into a doll in Bride Of Chucky,the 1998 revival of the Child's Play horror franchise, and now shesuffers even worse indignities in the follow-up. It wouldn't be so bad - forTilly or the audience - if Seed of Chucky, ...
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Reviews
La Confiance Regne
Dir: Etienne Chatiliez.Fr. 2004. 98mins.Perhaps because his featurecomedies are few and far between, French film-maker Etienne Chatiliez has notreally developed anything resembling a coherent film style.Sadly it shows with LaConfiance Regne, a weak, one-joke comedy farce about a pair of larcenoushouse servants on the make in provincial northern France.The disappointment ...
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Reviews
When Will I Be Loved'
Dir/scr: James Toback. US. 2004. 81mins.A risky title is likely to provoke a cynical responsein When Will I Be Loved', as American auteur James Toback offers anexasperating fusion of sex, lies and self-indulgence. Thriller elements in theplot might suggest that Toback is working in a more commercial vein but thefilm-noir ...
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Reviews
Jiminy Glick In Lalawood
Dir. Vadim Jean. Canada-US. 2004. 90 mins.To the immense credit of star and creator MartinShort, Jiminy Glick In Lalawood almostworks. To the discredit of Short the writer, the film falls short of thecomedian's vision because of a script that is unwilling to push the boundariesthe character does. Like most outgrowths ...