Latest – Page 715
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Reviews
Hannibal devoured by UK audiences
Despite Hannibal taking a large bite out of the UK box office over the weekend, four other openers faired well, no doubt owing a debt of gratitude to sell-out screenings of the UIP monster, which turned hungry audiences toward other titles. As reported on screendaily.com yesterday, Hannibal became the highest ...
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Reviews
Disco Pigs
Screened at Berlin(Panorama). Dir: Kirsten Sheridan. Ireland-UK. 2001. 94mins.First films invested with passion are not rare, but those supported by the skill to go with it are few and far between. Disco Pigs, Kirsten Sheridan's debut feature from Ireland, has moments which herald the emergence of a real film-maker of ...
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Reviews
Italian For Beginners
Screened at Berlin (Competition). Dir: Lone Scherfig. Denmark. 2000. 118mins.Judging by the applause and peels of laughter that greeted the press screenings this week for Lone Scherfig's Italian For Beginners at Berlin, a festival where such spontaneous outbursts are rare, it is clear that there is plenty of life yet ...
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Reviews
In The Bedroom
Dir: Todd Field. US. 2001. 135mins.Indie actor Todd Field makes an impressive feature directorial debut with In The Bedroom, a sharply-observed portrait of how one upper-middle-class family comes to terms with sudden tragedy. Set in New England, this meditative, multilayered drama is as much noteworthy for its accomplishments, providing a ...
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Reviews
Hannibal
(The following is an extract from a review that ran in the weekly edition of Screen International. For the full review see Screen International, Feb 9-16)Dir: Ridley Scott. US. 2001. 141mins.The dark shadow of The Silence Of The Lambs looms large over Hannibal, the eagerly-anticipated sequel to the 1991 ...
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Reviews
Mortal Transfer
Screened at Berlin (Panorama). Dir: Jean-Jacques Beineix. France-Germany. 2000. 122mins.Marking Jean-Jacques Beineix's return to theatrical features after an eight-year absence, Mortal Transfer is a disappointingly minor excursion into black comedy-cum-psycho-thriller territory. Taken at its most undemanding level of entertainment, the film's macabre farce and its cast of eccentrics are mildly ...
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Reviews
Battle Royale
Screened at Rotterdam (main programme). Dir: Kinji Fukasaku. Japan. 2000. 113mins.With its story of teenagers killing each other in a government-sponsored murder game, Battle Royale generated an unprecedented brouhaha following its December release in Japan, with members of parliament and even the minister of education decrying its ultra-violence as a ...
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Reviews
My First Mister
Screened at Sundance (Opening night premiere). Dir: Christine Lahti. US. 2001. 109mins.My First Mister, actress Christine Lahti's feature directorial debut, is a decent, mildly-engaging melodrama about the unlikely bond that develops between a rebellious high-school graduate and a sensitive, dying older man. Strong acting by both the up-and-coming Leelee Sobieski ...
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Reviews
Some Body
Screened at Sundance (Dramatic Competition). Dir: Henry Barrial. US. 2001. 80mins.Henry Barrial's Some Body is an admirable example of how a low-budget production, shot on digital video, can also be a dramatically satisfying movie. Much of the credit for that should go to Stephanie Bennett, the lead actress who also ...
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Reviews
Head Over Heels
Dir: Mark Waters. US. 2000. 110 mins. There's more than a little of There's Something About Mary (and a self-conscious touch of Alfred Hitchcock) in Head Over Heels, a bouncy but messy romantic comedy/thriller that pools the off-screen talents of Adam Sandler's regular producer Robert Simmonds, House Of Yes director ...
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Reviews
Valentine
Dir: Jamie Blanks. US. 2000. 96mins. Compared to most of today's amped up teen slasher flicks, Valentine stands out in its restraint and subtlety. The approach takes a while to pay off and may, together with the relative dearth of sex'n'gore, test the patience of some members of the target ...
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Reviews
The Deep End
Screened at Sundance (Dramatic Competition). Dirs: Scott McGehee, David Siegel. US. 2001. 99mins.Without the brilliant Tilda Swinton, The Deep End, Scott McGehee and David Siegel's neo-noir, would have been just another technically accomplished thriller. With her, however, the film assumes a strong dramatic center and emotional resonance that elevates ...
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Reviews
The Invisible Circus
Screened at Sundance (Premieres). Dir: Adam Brooks. US. 2001. 98mins.Adam Brooks' The Invisible Circus is a total miss, both as a potentially intriguing look into the tumultuous politics of the 1960s and 1970s, and as a coming of age of a young girl obsessed by the mysterious death of her ...
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Reviews
The Believer
Screened at Sundance (Dramatic Competition). Dir: Henry Bean. US. 2001. 99 mins.The most provocative feature in competition at this year's Sundance Film Festival was The Believer, Henry Bean's mesmerising drama about neo-fascism in America, this time propagated by a Jewish youngster who rebels against his own tradition. Loosely based on ...
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Reviews
Intimacy
Screened at Sundance (Premieres). Dir: Patrice Chereau. UK. 2001. 119mins.Based on short stories by famed UK writer Hanif Kureishi, Intimacy, Patrice Chereau's first English-speaking feature, is a stunningly-made film that explores the mysteries of sexual desire in a dauntless way. This audacious treatment, accompanied by graphic portrayal of sex (showing ...
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Reviews
The Wedding Planner
Dir: Adam Shankman. US. 2001. 100 mins.The Wedding Planner is an exceptionally lame romantic comedy only partially redeemed by a charismatic turn from lead actress Jennifer Lopez. Lopez rises above the sub-standard material and shows great promise as a romantic comedy star. The film opened with a respectable $13.5m over ...
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Reviews
Dead Babies
Dir: William Marsh. UK. 2000. 105mins.Successful as they may be in the literary world, Martin Amis' books have proved resistant to cinema adaptation, the sole previous attempt being the anodyne and poorly-received 1989 version of The Rachel Papers. Dead Babies, Amis' second novel, written in 1974, has been a long ...
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Reviews
The Caveman's Valentine
BEST PICTURE:Chocolat (Prods: David Brown, Kit Golden, Leslie Holleran)Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Prods: Bill Kong, Hsu Li Kong, Ang Lee)Erin Brockovich (Prods: Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher)Gladiator (Prods: Douglas Wick, David Franzoni, Branko Lustig)Traffic (Prods: Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, Laura Bickford)DIRECTING:Stephen Daldry - Billy ElliotAng Lee - Crouching Tiger, ...
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Reviews
Hedwig And The Angry Inch
Screened at Sundance (Dramatic Competition). Dir: John Cameron Mitchell. US. 2001. 95 mins.A conceptually bold, visually striking production - a style often associated with the work of indie producer Christine Vachon and brilliant designer Therese DePrez - marks Hedwig And The Angry Inch an impressive screen adaptation of the long-running, ...