Latest – Page 668
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Reviews
Beyond Borders
Dir: Martin Campbell. US. 2003. 127 mins. If the sweeping war-torn romance Beyond Borders had been made in the 1940s or 1950s with Ingrid Bergman or Ava Gardner in the lead role, it might have been a beloved classic. But times and tastes have changed. The Angelina Jolie version of ...
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Reviews
The Story Of Marie And Julien
Dir. Jacques Rivette. France 2003. 150 min.For dyed-in-the-wool cinephiles it is not up for debate every new Rivette film has to be seen, at least once, preferably more - and The Story Of Marie And Julien is no exception. But less committed audiences will find the French master's latest offering, ...
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Reviews
Osama
Dir: Siddiq Barmak. Afghanistan, Japan, Ireland. 2003. 82 mins.The striking title is not the only virtue of this harrowing slice of cinema, which is the first feature film shot in Afghanistan by an Afghan director since the fall of the Taliban. In a hundred years of cinema-producing history, Afghanistan has ...
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Reviews
Infernal Affairs II
Dirs: Andrew Lau, Alan Mak. Hong Kong. 2003. 114 mins.With this kind of film, comparisons are inevitable. Infernal Affairs II (IA2) is both a companion piece to surprise hit thriller Infernal Affairs and, in style and substance, close to The Godfather series. Fortunately, it has the right looks and a ...
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Reviews
Sylvia
Dir: Christine Jeffs. UK. 2003. 110 mins. We've had Jacqueline du Pre and Iris Murdoch, so perhaps it was inevitable that a biopic of Sylvia Plath, also shot in dingy British interiors and drenched in despair, would follow. After all, Hilary And Jackie (1998) and Iris (2001) both scored multiple ...
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Reviews
Infernal Affairs II review
Dirs: Andrew Lau, Alan Mak. Hong Kong. 2003. 114 mins.With this kind of film, comparisons are inevitable. Infernal Affairs II (IA2) is both a companion piece to surprise hit thriller Infernal Affairs and, in style and substance, close to The Godfather series. Fortunately, it has the right looks and a ...
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Reviews
Singing Behind The Screens (Cantando Dietro I Paraventi)
Dir: Ermanno Olmi. Italy. 2003. 100 mins.Years ago, David Thomson wrote "A question mark hangs over Ermanno Olmi, as if he needed some gust of passion or surrealism to free him from the aspirations of realism". This gust began to blow in Olmi's last film, The Profession Of Arms, and ...
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Reviews
The Missing
Dir. Lee Kang-Sheng. Taiwan. 2003. 84 min.Sharing the top award in Pusan's New Currents competition, the debut of actor Lee Kang-Sheng as writer and director indicates beyond doubt that he shares the visual and spiritual world of his mentor and friend, Tsai Ming-Liang, in whose films he has regularly appeared ...
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Reviews
Runaway Jury
Dir: Gary Fleder. US. 2003. 127 mins.John Grisham adaptations were big box office performers in the mid-nineties but it's been almost six years since Hollywood last put one of the author's brisk legal thrillers onto the big screen. This Regency Enterprises version of Grisham's 1996 bestseller about a hijacked corporate ...
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Reviews
Rosenstrasse
Dir. Margarethe von Trotta. Germany, 2003. 136mins.A classical, straightforward, honest and deeply felt reconstruction of a little known Second World War incident, which provided a little ray of light in a sea of darkness, Margarethe von Trotta's first feature in nine years is a worthy addition to a mass of ...
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Reviews
Carmen
Dir: Vicente Aranda. Sp-UK-It. 125 minsAs in any of the dozens of previous film versions of Carmen, the revelation in Vicente Aranda's latest take on the classic Merimee novel (rather than the Bizet opera) is Carmen herself, played here by actress Paz Vega. After provocative turns in Julio Medem's Sex ...
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Reviews
Untold Scandal
Dir. E J-Yong. Korea 2003. 120 mins.E j-Yong's new film is the best proof that a good story will strike roots wherever it is planted and, once lit from the right angle, will bear fruit. Last weekend Untold Scandal enjoyed the biggest opening ever in Korean history (over $5m in ...
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Reviews
Les Sentiments
Dir: Noemi Lvovsky. France. 2003. 95mins.French director Noemie Lvovsky came to notice with two small autobiographical features set at different stages in the life of four girls. The second, Life Doesn't Scare Me (La Vie Ne Me Fait Pas Peur, 1999) earned Lvovsky a slew of festival prizes, including a ...
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Reviews
School Of Rock
Dir: Richard Linklater. USA 2003. 100 minsOne of the best things about Richard Linklater's superb new comedy, School Of Rock, is that it doesn't take itself too seriously, as director Linklater has on occasion been wont to do. Employing the highest of high concepts - failed rock guitarist impersonates ...
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Reviews
Rhinoceros Eyes
Dir/scr. Aaron Woodley. US. 2003. 92 min.Rich in atmosphere, Rhinoceros Eyes is an impressive directorial debut on many levels. The film, which premiered at Toronto, won the festival's Discovery prize for developing filmmakers as selected by the press corps. But Woodley, who is also debuting as a screenwriter, doesn't have ...
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Reviews
Doppelganger
Dir. Kyoshi Kurosawa. Japan 2003. 107 mins.After the disappointing Cannes performance of his last film Bright Future, Japan's current cult master of bizarre mystery is back on more comfortable grounds with this exploration of a classical gothic theme, transferred into the world of modern research of prosthetic machines. Kurosawa uses ...
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Reviews
Travellers & Magicians
Dir: Khyentse Norbu. Bhutan. 2003. 105 mins.Travellers & Magicians is the first feature film to be shot entirely within the secret and reclusive Kingdom of Bhutan. Like Khyentse Norbu's debut, The Cup, this magic realist fable is being handled by UK-based sales company HanWay. But buyers may find it less ...
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Reviews
Travellers & Magicians
Dir: Khyentse Norbu. Bhutan. 2003. 105 mins.Travellers & Magicians is the first feature film to be shot entirely within the secret and reclusive Kingdom of Bhutan. Like Khyentse Norbu's debut, The Cup, this magic realist fable is being handled by UK-based sales company HanWay. But buyers may find it less ...
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Reviews
Evil (Ondskan)
Dir: Mikael Hafstrom. 2003. Swe. 113 minsEvil (Ondskan), the third feature of Swedish director Mikael Hafstrom, plays well enough on the big screen but, aside from likely appearances at a few of the bigger festivals like Toronto, where it showed in the Contemporary World Cinema section, it's not sufficiently accomplished ...
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Reviews
Take My Eyes (Te Doy Mis Ojos)
Dir: Iciar Bollain. 2003.Spain. 106mins.This realist take on domestic abuse was the local favourite at last week's Donostia-San Sebastian International Film Festival, where rumour had it the film would have picked up more than the deserved best actor and actress prizes if festival rules didn't preclude giving a single competition ...