Small MPU – Page 2150
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Reviews
Le Pays Du Chien Qui Chante
Dir: Yann Dedet. France. 2002. 95 mins. A quirky, unassuming first feature from highly respected editor Yann Dedet, Le Pays Du Chien Qui Chante displays a number of agreeable qualities without every blossoming into compelling viewing. Possessed of a gentle nature and a quiet humour, it may charm a few ...
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Reviews
Dark Water
Dir: Hideo Nakata. 2002. Jap. 91mins.The latest film by Japanese horror master Hideo Nakata, who directed two of the celebrated Ring series, relies on classic genre staples to run its narrative motor, including a creepy old building where bad things happened, a little girl in jeopardy and parents badly in ...
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Reviews
Madame Sata
Dir: Karim Ainouz. Brazil/France. 2002. 103mins. There's a wonderful film to be made about Joao Francisco Dos Santos, otherwise known as Madame Sata, a rugged homosexual, six-foot-tall and weighing 170 pounds, who lived as a street fighter, singer, transvestite and devoted father to seven adopted children in the bohemian quarter ...
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News
Spain's Abaco to double its cinema circuit by 2005
Spanish exhibitor Cines Abaco has unveiled plans to invest Euros 48m over the next three years to grow its multiplex cinema circuit and entertainment chain.The expansion plans encompass seven new multiplexes across Spain with a total of 81 screens by 2005. Plans also include 20 new video game entertainment centres.Abaco ...
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Reviews
Road To Perdition
Dir: Sam Mendes. US. 2002. 119 mins.Brit wunderkind Sam Mendes takes another close look at warts-and-all America in his second film Road To Perdition, a Depression-era gangster movie set in and around Chicago which confirms both his command of the medium and his signature visual bravado. With a smashing cast ...
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News
Lawless Heart woos discerning UK audience
A host of new openers were unable to dislodge Columbia TriStar's Spider-Man from the top of the UK chart this week. Now in its third week on release the blockbuster dropped off 39% from its previous weekend taking $3.97m (£2.6m) from 507 situations. The film faces stiffer competition this coming ...
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Reviews
Tomorrow La Scala
Director: Francesca Joseph. UK. 2002. 108 mins. Funny, stylish and deeply moving, Tomorrow La Scala! is a little gem of a first feature from award-winning documentary filmmaker Francesca Joseph. Inspired by the director's own experiences and partially improvised over three weeks of workshops, it finds real depth and feeling in ...
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Reviews
The Uncertainty Principle (O Principio Da Incerteza)
Dir: Manoel de Oliveira. Portugal 2002. 133mins. Nowadays more prolific than ever, 93-year-old Portuguese veteran Manoel de Oliveira continues to follow his own wildly idiosyncratic path. Although in many ways decorous, even a little staid in its composure, The Uncertainty Principle is overall a characteristically eccentric venture that is as ...
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Reviews
Une Pure Coincidence
Dir: Romain Goupil. France. 2002. 92mins.Friends for more than 30 years, a group of radicals rediscover their passion for direct action in Une Pure Coincidence. The result is a timely, entertaining documentary notable for its warm spirit and light humour. Lacking a professional polish or great visual appeal, it is ...
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Reviews
A Piece Of Sky (Une Part Du Ciel)
Dir: Benedicte Lienard. Belgium-France-Luxembourg. 2002. 85mins.Defiantly out of step with the prevailing mood of the times, Une Part du Ciel makes no bones about its militant political stance nor about its intransigent art-cinema leanings. A story of two estranged female friends - one a factory worker, the other serving time ...
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News
South Africa cracks down on DVD piracy
A passenger carrying 3,800 pirate DVDs, including 1,400 copies of Men In Black II was intercepted at Johannesburg International airport over the weekend by South Africa's Federation against Copyright Theft, in its latest drive to stem the counterfeiting market which is costing the industry some $6.1m per year.In just two ...
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News
Universal reclaims international DVD distribution
Reacting to the phenomenal growth of the DVD market worldwide, Universal Pictures International (UPI) has announced the reversion of DVD distribution rights from Columbia Tri-Star Home Video, as a three-year agreement between the two studios comes to an end.Under the 1999 deal CTHV acquired international DVD distribution rights to Universal ...
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News
Japan's Toei launches Laterna animation affiliate
Toei Animation, Asia's largest animation house, has launched a wholly-owned subsidiary to produce animation for families and young adults, over a range of media platforms. Called Laterna, the new subsidiary is capitalised at $420,000 (Y50m) and is headed by Tsutomu Tomari, Toei Animation president. Instead of developing projects exclusively with ...
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News
F.A.M.E. and RTV apply to exit from Germany's Neuer Markt
F.A.M.E. Film & Music Entertainment and RTV Family Entertainment are the latest publicly listed German media companies to announce plans to exit the Neuer Markt and trade on the Geregelter Markt.F.A.M.E. stated that 'due to the high listing costs as well as the difficult market environment in the media and ...
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News
Carlos Saura readies two new feature projects
Veteran Spanish director Carlos Saura is preparing two new projects to follow his forthcoming feature Salome, slated for a September release.The first is a story about Spain's 16th century King Felipe II, a project which Saura foresees as 'complicated and expensive' to pull together.The second, Amor De Dios (Love Of ...
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News
UK's FilmFour boards Touching The Void
The UK's FilmFour and the Film Council's New Cinema Fund have boarded Touching The Void, a new feature documentary from Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald.The film, which starts production in Peru on July 22 and continues shooting in the Alps in September, tells the true survival story of two mountaineers - ...
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News
Two world premieres announced for Toronto.
The Toronto International Film Festival has announced two world premieres for its 27th outing: Peter Kosminsky's White Oleander, starring Robin Wright Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer and Renee Zellwegger, and writer-director Brad Silberling's Moonlight Mile, starring Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon and Holly Hunter. Atom Egoyan's Ararat will open the festival, which runs ...
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News
Polish media giant postpones major floatation
ITI, the giant Polish media concern today (3 July) postponed its share flotation on the Warsaw stock exchange. It blamed difficult stock-market conditions."Despite the good reception of the offering and high interest in ITI, extremely difficult market conditions, both in Poland and abroad led us to decide to postpone the ...
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News
ITV programming chief Liddiment resigns
David Liddiment, programming boss at the UK's leading commercial channel ITV1, is to resign after five years in the job. He will leave towards the end of the year once a successor has been appointed.News of his planned departure has shocked colleagues and competitors alike as Liddiment is highly regarded ...
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News
Andy Lau being sued for $19.6m
Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau is being sued by his partner in Team Work Corporation - CCT Telecom Holdings - which claims it lost $19.6m (HK$153m) when he backed out of an unanimous decision to float the company.A CCT subsidiary, Noble Trend International, made the claim in a 34-page writ ...