Latest – Page 687
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Reviews
Crackerjack
Dir: Paul Maloney. Australia. 2002. 92mins.Relying heavily on the shambling amiability of its co-writer/co-producer/ star, this easy-going comedy will register with local audiences familiar with comedian Mick Molloy's unkempt persona, developed during a decade of TV, radio and stand-up appearances. With Roadshow investing in a wide Australian release (it opened ...
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Reviews
Kamchatka
Dir: Marcelo Pineyro. Argentina-Spain, 2002. 104m.Argentina's selection for the foreign-language Oscar, Kamchatka has good worldwide potential for arthouse and foreign-language theatres thanks to hot lead actor Ricardo Darin (Nine Queens, The Son Of The Bride) and universal themes of family, childhood, love and loss. A heartfelt, intelligent and well-intentioned film ...
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Reviews
Die Another Day
Dir: Lee Tamahori. UK/US. 2002. 129 mins. Die Another Day has a lot to live up to: the hoopla surrounding the fortieth anniversary of the James Bond franchise, a box office track record that has seen each of the last three entries gross around $350m worldwide, and the expectations of ...
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Reviews
Mon-Rak Transistor
Dir: Pen-ek Ratanaruang. Thailand. 2002. 120 mins. Monrak Transistor may win a few friends on the strength of its ingenuous charm and attractive performances, but the shapeless direction and meandering story make this dark musical comedy unlikely to have much impact on arthouse audiences outside its home turf. Its best ...
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Reviews
In This World
Dir: Michael Winterbottom. UK 2002. 87mins.It's a road movie to end road movies: two Afghan refugees' long, life-threatening overland journey from Pakistan to London, shot with a small DV camera but a big wide-screen sweep. World premiered at the London Film Festival - where it played as a last-minute addition ...
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Reviews
Anita And Me
Dir: Metin Huseyin. UK. 2002. 93mins. With its blend of elements from the successful recent comedies East Of East and Bend It Like Beckham, Anita And Me is intent on riding on the current public appetite for all things Asian-British. In the UK, where it world premiered at the London ...
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Reviews
Nobody's Life (La Vida De Nadie)
Dir: Eduard Cortes. Spain. 2002. 103 mins.The only Spanish film in competition at last week's Valladolid International Film Week, Nobody's Life (La Vida De Nadie) marks the impressive feature film debut of Catalan TV director Eduard Cortes. A suspenseful adult drama anchored by strong performances from lead actors Jose Coronado ...
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Reviews
Bus 174 (Onibus 174)
Dir: Jose Padilha. Brazil. 2002. 150mins.Jose Padillha's excellent documentary about a gunman holding up a bus in Rio de Janeiro boasts extraordinary footage and tells a remarkable story. While it covers some of the same ground as Fernado Mereilles much acclaimed slum drama City Of God, it also stands on ...
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Reviews
House Of Fools (Dom Durakov)
Dir. Andrei Konchalovsky. Russia-France. 2002. 104mins.Released from the strict disciplines of Hollywood film making, to which he adhered during his Western exile, veteran Andrei Konchalovsky, now firmly re-established back in Moscow, lets his hair down and plunges into a very personal exploration of the Russian experience with House Of ...
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Reviews
Broken Wings (Knafayim Shevuroth)
Dir. Nir Bergman, Israel, 2002. 87mins.Having already secured top awards first in Jerusalem and then in Tokyo, this coming-of-age story in a dysfunctional family mourning the accidental death of the father, is bound to become Israel's film of the year for 2002. The auspicious debut of Nir Bergman, a ...
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Reviews
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets
Dir: Chris Columbus. US/UK. 2002. 161 minsIf it ain't broke, don't fix it. That seems to be the guiding philosophy behind the second instalment of the gilt-edged boy wizard franchise. Scrupulously faithful to the J K Rowling book, director Chris Columbus does nothing that will disappoint fans or alarm exhibitors ...
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Reviews
I Spy
Dir: Betty Thomas. US. 2002. 96 mins.At the end of a year of box office disappointment, Eddie Murphy could certainly do with the kind of boost promised by a big screen version of a popular TV show and a teaming with an up-and-coming younger star. Sporadically effective action comedy I ...
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Reviews
8 Mile
Dir: Curtis Hanson. US. 2002. 110 mins.Flashdance gets an electrifying sex change and upgrade courtesy of director Curtis Hanson and rap icon Eminem in 8 Mile. A loose retelling of Eminem's own troubled youth in the run-down 8 Mile district of Detroit, the film is a downbeat, but not depressing, ...
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Reviews
The Santa Clause 2
Dir: Michael Lembeck. US. 2002. 98 mins.Eight years after the original family comedy became, in the US at least, a surprise Christmas smash, The Santa Clause 2 finds star Tim Allen back in the red and white suit for a pleasantly warm 'n' fuzzy - if typically overstuffed - holiday ...
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Reviews
Hukkle
Dir: Gyorgy Palfi.. Hungary. 2002. 75mins.An authentic one-off - think Microcosmos meets Twin Peaks - Hukkle starts out as a serene, naturalistic portrait of rural life. But it slowly morphs into something much more sinister, as apparently disconnected scenes gel into a murder investigation whose key events unfold in the ...
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Reviews
The Sea (Hafid)
Dir: Baltasar Kormakur. Iceland/France/Norway. 2002. 109minsThe wicked sense of humour that helped make his sprightly debut feature, Reykjavik 101, an off-the-wall delight is all but submerged in Baltasar Kormakur's follow-up, which offers an even bleaker portrait of Icelandic desperation and dysfunction. As a roiling family psychodrama, The Sea brings to ...
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Reviews
Evelyn
Dir: Bruce Beresford. US-Ire. 2002. 94 mins. Evelyn might well benefit from a worldwide roll-out in the wake of unlikely box office blockbuster My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It has the same softness of touch, dearth of dramatic conflict and ethnic cutesiness which is obviously proving reassuring and heartwarming to ...
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Reviews
Story Of A Kiss (Historia De Un Beso)
Dir: Jose Luis Garci. Spain. 2002. 105 mins.When a character, a novelist, in Jose Luis Garci's Story Of A Kiss (Historia De Un Beso) says of his art, 'I try to entertain and to move, never to persuade,' it could easily be Garci himself speaking. A romantic and meditative period ...
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Reviews
The Truth About Charlie
Dir: Jonathan Demme. US. 2002. 104minsIf Steven Soderbergh can gross $400m worldwide with a remake of Ocean's Eleven, then why can not Jonathan Demme do the same with a remake of Charade' The reason is simple: the first Ocean's Eleven is a movie which never inspired much love and Soderbergh ...