Small MPU – Page 1054
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ReviewsPlastic City (Dangkou)
Dir: Yu Lik-wai. Brazil-China-Japan. 2008. 118mins.An underdeveloped yakuza-in-Brazil storyline and a hip- hop VJ sound-and-image assault do not add up to a rounded arthouse film in Yu Lik-wai’s PlasticCity. Despite some moments of visual brilliance, this third directorial outing by Jia Zhangke’s regular cinematographer betrays the ...
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News
Italian sales agents announce deals on eve of Venice
Italian sales agents have announced two pick-ups on the eve of the 65th Venice Film Festival, which kicks off Aug 27.Rai Trade has picked up Pupi Avati's competition title Il papa di Giovanna, about a man who has to put his daughter in a mental institution after she murders a ...
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ReviewsA Perfect Day (Un Giorno Perfetto)
Dir: Ferzan Ozpetek. Italy. 2008. 101mins.Obsessive love, corrupt politicians, coming-of-age crisis and teenage rebellion are just some of the ingredients in Ferzan Ozpetek’s Competition entry A Perfect Day. Adapted from a novel by Melania Mazzucco, this tragic melodrama spreads itself rather thin trying to pack it ...
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News
De Angelis makes Magnificent film move
Alfonso Arau's $16m remake of The Magnificent Ambersons, a project which began life as a mini-series when it went into production this year, has now been transformed into a full-fledged feature film as part of a push into the theatrical business by its European backer, The De Angelis Group.Former RKO ...
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ReviewsGoodbye Solo
Dir: Ramin Bahrani. US. 2008. 91mins.An odd-couple relationship fuels a slow-burning but ultimately moving emotional and spiritual journey in Ramin Bahrani’s third feature. As in the well-received festival faves Man Push Cart and Chop Shop, the US director of Iranian origins unspools a story set among ...
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ReviewsL'Autre
Dirs: Patrick Mario Bernard, Pierre Trividic. France. 2008. 97mins.This rather frosty but nevertheless intriguing study of one woman’s descent into jealousy, which premiered in competition at Venice, is one of those well-crafted exercises that plays better in the viewing than in the recall. That’s because it’s ...
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ReviewsA Country Teacher
Dir: Bohdan Slama. Czech-Ger-Fr. 2008. 113mins.A bittersweet comedy about a gay teacher hiding out in a country school, Bohdan Slama’s follow-up to his award-winning Something Like Happiness feels slightly old-fashioned, going over ground that has already been dealt with in other films. The kind of gay ...
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ReviewsZ32
Dir: Avi Mograbi. Israel-France. 2008. 81mins.Avi Mograbi’s documentary essay takes the themes of Cannes hitWaltz With Bashir one step further and explores the guilt that many Israelis face every day of their lives. Mograbi films a young soldier who takes full responsibility for the war crimes ...
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ReviewsPonyo on the Cliff By The Sea (Gake No Ue No Ponyo)
Dir-scr: Hayao Miyazaki. Jap. 2008. 101minsVisually, it’s extraordinary; imaginatively, it’s daring. Once again Hayao Miyasaki is playing in a league of his own with Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea, a sweet, gentle, moving, and always delightful Japanese take on the classic Little Mermaid fable. Commercially, it has the ...
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ReviewsVegas: Based On A True Story
Dir: Amir Naderi. US. 2008. 102mins.Vegas: Based on a True Story feels like Vegas: A Shooting Experiment. Iranian director Amir Naderi - living in the US for the last 20 years - has wrapped an interesting story in a drab,DV format, framed mostly in long and ...
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ReviewsMilk (Sut)
Dir: Semih Kaplanoglu. Turkey-France-Germany. 2008. 111mins.Painfully slow but at the same time a resonant, elegiac coming of age story, the second installment in Turkish arthouse director Semih Kaplanoglu’s Yusuf trilogy shows him to be something of a magic-realist Terence Davies. But with its overlong shots in ...
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Reviews
Intrusions
Dir: Emmanuel Bourdieu. 2008. Fr. 96mins.A moody psychological thriller deftly spun around blackmail and humiliation, Intrusions is taut and slyly entertaining for almost its entire running time. Co-screenwriter/director Emmanuel Bourdieu's follow-up to his delectable Poison Friends skewers the petty annoyances of maintaining appearances among the rich and powerful while exploring ...
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News
Maple Pictures takes Canadian rights to McDonald's Pontypool
Toronto-based distributor Maple Pictures has acquired all Canadian rights in all media to Bruce McDonald's TIFF Vanguard title, Pontypool. Described as the veteran guerilla filmmaker's first foray into horror, the film explores the terrorizing effects of a strange virus in a small town. It's adapted from the novel Pontypool Changes ...
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News
Amuse, CMC join Miramax client roster
After a frantic week in London, Miramax International had closed most of its territorial package deals by the first day of play at MIFED. Two new clients - Japanese heavyweight Amuse Pictures and Taiwan's CMC - were among the regular buyers snatching the latest six-pack from worldwide distribution chief Rick ...
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News
Maximum picks up world sales to McGowan, Mehta Toronto titles
Maximum Films International has picked up world sales rights on two major Canadian titles at TIFF: Michael McGowan's gala title, One Week, and Deepa Mehta's special presentation, Heaven On Earth.The One Week deal covers all rights except for Canada while the Heaven On Earth deal covers the world ex Canada ...
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Cast lines up for Warner biopic Coco Before Chanel
Production is set to begin on Sept 15 in Paris on Anne Fontaine's Coco Avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel), a new film about the life of the legendary French fashion designer which is being produced by Warner Bros International in association with Haut Et Court, Cine-@, Warner Bros Entertainment and ...