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513,241 | 3,223,254 | 366,777 | 10 | Faith , Hope , and Charity - with a little help from the Saints | Danny Boyle ( ' 28 Days Later ' , ' Trainspotting ' , ' A Life Less Ordinary ' ) has a way with stories that transports a good script ( in this case one by Frank Cottrell Boyce ) into a cinematic range that creates magic . MILLIONS may seem like a little family tale on the surface , but in Boyle's hands this story abou... |
512,646 | 3,223,254 | 435,479 | 10 | Conrad , Chéreau , Huppert , Greggory : Exquisite Quartet for GABRIELL | Patrice Chéreau is one of the giants of entertainment , whether in his direction of operas ( his Wagner RING remains a gold standard ) , plays , or his films . He is a thoroughgoing artist , one who combines great intellect with a keen ear for music , camera movement , atmosphere , the spoken and unspoken word , and fo... |
513,071 | 3,223,254 | 890,885 | 10 | Appreciating and Celebrating the Extended Family | Ferzan Ozpetek understands as well as any writer / director today the concept and attending importance of Extended Family . Much as he spoke about the importance of friends who are often more supportive than genetic family in his beautiful film HIS SECRET LIFE , he explores a similar topic in his latest exceptional fil... |
513,516 | 3,223,254 | 107,276 | 10 | ' Look to the sky , and never ever hate ' | LOOK TO THE SKY ( ' Jona che visse nella balena ' ) is a little marvel of a film , one that stays with the viewer long after the credits are completed . Originally made in 1993 in Italy from a story by Hugh Fleetwood and Roberto Faenza ( who also directs ) , this honored film re-visits the Holocaust but almost entirely... |
512,900 | 3,223,254 | 366,721 | 10 | A Grecian Threnody | THE WEEPING MEADOW ( ' Trilogia I : To Livadi pou dakryzei ' ) is writer / director Theodoros Angelopoulos ( with influences from Tonino Guerra plus assistance from Petros Markaris and Giorgio Silvagni ) creating a personal vision of the 20th century . The incredibly gifted Greek poet of a filmmaker mirrored the life a... |
513,325 | 3,223,254 | 810,988 | 10 | A Splendid Little Film the Challenges the Mind and Forges New Ground | THE NINES is a film that may seem like a tough story to follow , but the concept and the ' autobiographical ' script by the gifted John August are so fine that once seen , this film demands re-visiting . It is tremendously entertaining , blessed with a superb cast , and offers food for thought far beyond the running ti... |
513,075 | 3,223,254 | 860,866 | 10 | A Concerto for Trio and Arctic Tundra | FAR NORTH is a bleak , disturbing story about isolation , relationships and revenge . Director Asif Kapadia adapted this minimal dialogue screenplay with Tim Miller based on the story ' True North ' by Sara Maitland , and even with the strong trio of actors , have managed to maintain the main character as the vast , na... |
512,908 | 3,223,254 | 475,276 | 10 | Paul Greengrass Creates the Impossible : Capturing the Horror of | Though it has been over five years since the devastation of the memory lives on , a day no one will ever forget - nor should we . This viewer waited until UNITED 93 was released on DVD to view it , thinking that watching the film in the security of the home might make it less threatening . But what Paul Greengrass has ... |
512,956 | 3,223,254 | 418,004 | 10 | Making the Ordinary and the ' Unordinary ' Extraordinary | NEVERWAS , a little miracle of a movie written and directed by Joshua Michael Stern , is an allegory , a fairytale , a dissection of the impact of mental illness on parents and children , and story of compassion , believing , and blossoming of character that was created with a sterling ensemble of actors in 2005 , fail... |
512,692 | 3,223,254 | 326,664 | 10 | Where does Championship Lie - in the Body or in the Head ? | SWIMMING UPSTREAM is a brilliantly acted , deeply involving and ultimately uplifting film from Australia that deserves major audience exposure . Based on a true story of one of Australia's many championship athletes , this story is not merely another biopic ( although it was autobiographically written by Anthony Fingle... |
512,872 | 3,223,254 | 332,285 | 10 | ' New Mexico can overwhelm you . . . ' | OFF THE MAP is so unique a film that comparisons pale . Adapted from her own play Joan Ackermann has written a screenplay whose main character is the high desert of New Mexico and the magical influence that natural beauty and tranquility of the place has on people . Campbell Scott directs this intimate little story wit... |
512,835 | 3,223,254 | 477,348 | 10 | ' To this we've come ' | Cormac McCarthy's novel NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN has been successfully transformed into a film in the skilled hands of Ethan and Joel Coen . The story is intact , the characters are given the dialog so uniquely McCarthy's invention , and the horror of the message of the book - that we have come to a point in time when cr... |
513,245 | 3,223,254 | 382,073 | 10 | Serendipity as Chamber Music | Often a film succeeds because of the story , or the writing , or the cast , or the direction . HEIGHTS succeeds brilliantly because of the combination of all of these elements in one of the finest films of the past few years . Beginning with the play and screenplay by Amy Fox , and as carefully and lovingly directed by... |
512,983 | 3,223,254 | 104,545 | 10 | A Very Dark but Enormously Successful Unique Film | ' Jamón , jamón ' is a tremendously creative movie by director José Juan Bigas Luna and his writing partner Cuca Canals ( Son de mar , Volavérunt , Bámbola , Lumière et compagnie , La Teta y la luna , and Huevos de oro ) , a film that is a dark comedy but not in the ho-ho manner : the comedy is the human comedy and wat... |
512,876 | 3,223,254 | 401,248 | 10 | ' Beautiful Boxer ' is a Beautiful Film Indeed ! | Rising even higher than the greatest expectations engendered by the International Press when it became a favorite of the film festivals , BEAUTIFUL BOXER is one of the more poetic , sensitive , luxuriously vivid and colorful films to come out of Thailand - and that is saying a lot , given the extravagant epics that yea... |
513,389 | 3,223,254 | 91,763 | 10 | Remembering | Twenty years later , after PLATOON was released in 1986 and brought some of the horrors of the Vietnam experience to the public's media-jaundiced eye , at last the film can be seen and discussed critically . ' At last ' , in this viewer's vocabulary , includes the fact that more time for healing from actually being in ... |
513,416 | 3,223,254 | 115,988 | 10 | The Inquisition , The Salem Witch Trials , McCarthyism , etc ! | Arthur Miller's powerful play from 1953 became his screenplay in 1996 for this devastatingly gritty film THE CRUCIBLE . While some may make negative comparisons between the power of the theatrical piece versus the immediacy of the film , it really matters little . The story , based on fact , is terrifying and all too f... |
512,796 | 3,223,254 | 758,784 | 10 | ' The Madness of Art ' | STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING is a quietly moving work of art , a film adapted from Brian Morton's novel by screenwriters Fred Parnes and Andrew Wagner and directed by Andrew Wagner that dares to take us to the wall with decisions we make about how we conduct our lives and negotiate the changes that can either be stumbli... |
513,573 | 3,223,254 | 454,776 | 10 | Unsung Heroes sing Amazing Grace | AMAZING GRACE is a beautifully mounted , well-scripted , powerful film that reminds us that there were heroes in the late 1700s who vehemently fought the fight for abolition of slavery . Benefiting from a tight intelligent script by Steven Knight and directed with great sensitivity and fluidity by Michael Apted , the f... |
512,677 | 3,223,254 | 1,068,649 | 10 | A Brilliant Film on Every Level | I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG ( ' Il y a longtemps que je t'aime ) is novelist Phillipe Claudel's first screenplay ( he also serves as director ) . If this film is an indication of the themes and stories he has to tell then a new and gifted artist has come our way . Claudel knows how to take his audience along what appears to... |
513,706 | 3,223,254 | 401,085 | 10 | A Celebration of Familial Love and Individual Resilience | C . R . A . Z . Y . is a miraculous little film from Quebec written with pitch perfect dialogue by Jean-Marc Vallée and François Boulay , on whose memories of his own experiences the story is based , directed with tremendous zest and sensitivity by Jean-Marc Vallée , and with a cast of fine actors that would be impossi... |
512,921 | 3,223,254 | 765,443 | 10 | ' Eastern Promises ' Delivers ! | EASTERN PROMISES as written by Steven Knight and directed by David Cronenberg is one of the grittiest , insightful , and well-acted films of the year . Maintaining his keen eye for the dark side of life and the people who dwell in its shadows , Cronenberg has once again brought us characters so strongly etched on film ... |
513,419 | 3,223,254 | 408,777 | 10 | The Idealism of Youth and the Realism of Adulthood : Tempering the Blazes | ' Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei ' or THE EDUKATORS has a message , a message that deals with the ' education ' of the captains of industry by the idealistic socially conscious rebels among the youth AND the ' education ' of those rebellious youths by the world wise / weary hoarders of wealth whose life change resulted f... |
512,766 | 3,223,254 | 367,082 | 10 | Learning the Meaning of Life in a Concentration Camp | ' Sorstalansag ' ( FATELESS ) is an inordinately powerful , quiet journey through a year in Nazi Concentration Camps at Auschwitz , Buchenwald , and Zeitz . Adapted by Imre Kertesz from his first novel , the story is semi-autobiographical as Kertesz spent a year of his youth in Auschwitz as a Hungarian Jew . Though Ker... |
513,359 | 3,223,254 | 326,977 | 10 | A Triumphant Achievement ! This is a Brilliant Film ! | IO NON HO PAURA ( I'M NOT SCARED ) is a radiant film by director Gabriele Salvatores based on the novel by Niccolò Ammaniti ( who also wrote the screenplay ) that quietly puts the premise ' greater love hath no man than he lay down etc ' into the desperately gentle innocence of children . The impact is overwhelmingly b... |
513,498 | 3,223,254 | 414,413 | 10 | LA PROMESA : The Spanish Way with Gothic Thrillers | Some of the most intellectually terrifying films , stories that are imbued with religious symbolism , mysticism , and surrealism , are products of Spanish filmmakers and LA PROMESA is no exception . Writer / Director Héctor Carré finds just the right amount of credibility in the prelude to his psychological thriller to... |
512,787 | 3,223,254 | 322,674 | 10 | Twin Views of Altered Lives : A Triumphant Film | DE TWEELING ( TWIN SISTERS ) , based on the highly successful novel by Tessa de Loo and adapted brilliantly for the screen by Marieke van der Pol , is assuredly one of the most touching films to date about the strength of family bonds decimated by the horrors of WW II . Director Ben Sombogaart follows Dutch writer de L... |
513,148 | 3,223,254 | 206,634 | 10 | One of the Most Important Films in Recent Years | CHILDREN OF MEN is a masterpiece of cinematic artistry . Director Alfonso Cuarón , using a screenplay he co-wrote with Timothy J . Sexton , has done what few artists have been able to achieve before - create an apocalyptic experience that is almost devoid of extraneous material meant to terrify the audience and focused... |
512,708 | 3,223,254 | 416,320 | 10 | An Engrossing , Brilliantly Played Work of Chamber Music | Woody Allen is always at his finest when he stays away from self-parody : the man can write and direct brilliantly and create solid gems of cultural / society examinations with the best of them ! MATCH POINT is a case in point . From the opening credits , to the keenly meaningful voice-over about the significance of lu... |
513,596 | 3,223,254 | 452,623 | 10 | One of the Year's Best Fims : Oscar Ignored ! | Ben Affleck has written ( with Aaron Stockard ) a superb screenplay adaptation of Dennis Lahane's novel GONE BABY GONE and has proceeded to direct this tough tale with an ensemble cast of both well-known actors and unknown actors and walk-ons from the streets of the Boston area where they grisly story takes place . The... |
513,208 | 3,223,254 | 412,536 | 10 | Revisiting Brideshead Offers New Insights into Waugh's Novel | BRIDESHEAD REVISITED is one of those epic films that travels the globe seeking adventure , finding glorious locations for telling a story , and offers a cast of outstanding actors to reexamine a tale known to most of us through not only the novel by Evelyn Waugh , but also by the very popular miniseries for television ... |
512,756 | 3,223,254 | 437,447 | 10 | A Journey of the Heart : Reconciling Distances | ' Qian li zou dan qi ' ( ' Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles ' ) is a little miracle of a film by the gifted Chinese director Yimou Zhang , an artist highly respected for his films of passion and martial arts captured in richly symbolic fashion and spectacular color . But in this film the director joins in writing a ... |
513,658 | 3,223,254 | 212,712 | 10 | Bits and Pieces of Love Stories from a Writer's Mind : A Wondrous Journey | Kar Wai Wong is more than a film director ( though he is one of the finest directors working today ! ) : he is a visual , poetic , creative and daring artist capable of more cinematic miracles in one isolated film than most directors achieve in a lifetime . ' 2046 ' is a visually stunning , intellectually challenging ,... |
513,405 | 3,223,254 | 331,811 | 10 | An Absolutely Fascinating Little Film | Greg Marcks offers us in ' 11 : 14 ' that rare breed of film that keeps us on the edge of our seats for the entire 95 minutes running time . This strangely wonderful tale embraces the ideas of consequences and serendipity by unraveling a story of two deaths that affect the lives of eight kids and two parents , each wit... |
512,775 | 3,223,254 | 420,223 | 10 | Brilliant Script , Superb Direction , Best Ensemble Cast Performance : Why no Oscars ? | STRANGER THAN FICTION is one of the more wise , conceptually stunning , finely executed original films to come to the screen in a long time . How this little gem of a film went unnoticed by the Academy is anyone's guess , but viewers ' alert : spend an evening viewing this film and new standards for excellence will be ... |
513,295 | 3,223,254 | 494,834 | 10 | ' Come back or I shall die ' | For those who fell under the spell of Alessandro Baricco's novel SILK , a meditation about love , desire , and conflict , this cinematic transformation adapted as a screenplay and directed by François Girard will not disappoint : reservations about making Baricco's poetry visual are for the most part put to rest . The ... |
513,162 | 3,223,254 | 431,979 | 10 | A Deeply Touching View of Policemen | Director Xavier Beauvois , with the intelligent and sensitive script he co-wrote with Cédric Anger , Guillaume Bréaud and Jean-Eric Troubat , allows us , the viewers , to look inside the minds and lives of those people who commit to police work in a manner that pays homage to a maligned group and reinstates our viscera... |
513,395 | 3,223,254 | 414,344 | 10 | The View from the Other Side of the Bridge | THE WAR WITHIN is a profoundly disturbing movie while at the same time a film that should be seen by as wide an audience as possible . Wearing blinders in an era when terrorism is such a threat does not make fear go away . Learning the mindset of those who perpetrate terrorist acts provides some invaluable insights tha... |
512,857 | 3,223,254 | 463,998 | 10 | An Important Film from a Committed Company | FREEDOM WRITERS produces more catches in the throat than many a film in years . This viewer avoided the film , thinking it was yet another in a long line of ' bad school kids with criminal instincts ' brought around by a champion teacher ( starting with ' Blackboard Jungle ' the same story has been told almost yearly !... |
513,522 | 3,223,254 | 778,784 | 10 | A Winning Combination of Talent and Tenderness | MON MEILLEUR AMI ( MY BEST FRIEND ) is a gift from France to movie lovers . Though it can be considered a ' comedy ' in the French tradition , it is also a fine examination of the importance of friendship in a world too cluttered with ' acquaintances ' passing as friends . Just what a ' friend ' means is only one impor... |
512,786 | 3,223,254 | 280,523 | 10 | Trajectory : The Pulsing Global Balls of Coincidences | CARNAGE is a stunning film - though from the outset it should be made clear that it is not a film for all audiences . For those who cringe at gore , those who are frustrated by nonlinear storyline , and those who feel uncomfortable with magical realism - beware . This is a two-hour plus journey that demands concentrati... |
513,021 | 3,223,254 | 107,012 | 10 | A Five Hour Epic Graced with Superb Acting and Historical Recreation | In 1993 Gianluigi Calderone directed this biography of Benito Mussolini ( script by Vincenzo Cerami and Mimmo Rafele ) as a three-part television series , wisely electing to engage one Antonio Banderas , fresh from his triumph in the film ' Philadelphia ' in the States , to tackle the legend of one of the treacherous l... |
513,379 | 3,223,254 | 408,664 | 10 | Survival : Abandoned Children Bonding in the Streets of Tokyo | ' Dare mo shiranai ' ( NOBODY KNOWS ) is a gleaming little film by writer / director Hirokazu Koreeda that offers a version of a true story so simply and eloquently that by the end of the film the audience is powerfully moved - without gimmicks , without imitation emotional devices , without major stars . It just simpl... |
512,819 | 3,223,254 | 772,157 | 10 | A Little Zoë Cassavetes Triumph | BROKEN English has so many of the elements of films that are becoming difficult to find these days - superb intelligent script , a story that is frankly what it is instead of an overdone parody of itself , a director who knows how to pace a storyline to keep it compelling , and a cast of first class actors who have the... |
512,996 | 3,223,254 | 864,770 | 10 | Alimentation Generale : Epicier Volante | Le Fils de l'épicier ( The Grocer's Son ) is one of the loveliest films of the year . Written ( with Florence Vignon ) and directed by Eric Guirado , this little taste of French life is as refreshing as the fruits and vegetables on the traveling grocery van that is a focal point of the story . Though at first glance it... |
512,661 | 3,223,254 | 362,582 | 10 | A Fine Study of the Wounds of Abandonment | El Día que me amen ( WHEN SOMEBODY LOVES ME ) is an important film from Argentina that bravely examines the spectrum of the effects of ' abandonment ' in childhood and how that seemingly minor act can transform lives . Based on a story idea by lead actor Adrián Suar and written for the screen by Marcos Carnevale and Ma... |
512,858 | 3,223,254 | 464,049 | 10 | A Brilliant Play Transforms Magically into a Brilliant Film | Anyone who can watch the rolling credits at the end of THE HISTORY BOYS without tearful eyes simply hasn't been paying attention to this intelligent , richly comic , philosophical and tender tale of eight boys ostensibly preparing for exams but also preparing for life . The writing by Alan Bennett closely adapted from ... |
513,182 | 3,223,254 | 386,651 | 10 | The Magnificence of Man's Bond with Animals and the Perpetuation of Life | ' Kekelixi ' ( ' Mountain Patrol ' ) is one of those quiet , quasi-documentary films that now and then rises out of nowhere and has such an impact on the viewer that it has the potential for creating some global change action . Written and directed by Chuan Lu from China and sponsored in part by National Geographic the... |
513,641 | 3,223,254 | 150,433 | 10 | A Seeringly Poignant Examination of Religious Factions of India | Deepa Mehta has such a commanding presence in her films that she is able to leave her audience both educated and devastated by her stories and by the ingenious ways in which she tells them . EARTH is a magnificent example of her gifts and while it may not be as visually luxurious or as touching as her subsequent WATER ... |
513,194 | 3,223,254 | 395,169 | 10 | I promise to tell your story | With these words written on a visitors ' log in a memorial site in Rwanda , the reason for making this stunning film is posed . HOTEL RWANDA is not only a well written ( Keir Pearson ) , well directed ( Terry George ) , well acted ( entire cast ) work of cinematic history , it serves as a thunderingly loud announcement... |
512,803 | 3,223,254 | 364,961 | 10 | The Gradual Disintegration of " Little Man's " Mind and Life | THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON is clearly one of the most profoundly disturbing films of the past few years . It is a shocker that is all the more powerful for the low-key presentation that acts as a prelude to a pitiful tragedy . The added fact that this story , so creatively written for the screen by Director Nie... |
513,065 | 3,223,254 | 362,506 | 10 | A Film as Subtle and Intelligent as a Fine Novel : Gothic Realism | It is rare to come across films as unique and fine tuned as CHRYSTAL , even more so when the only recognizable feature is the big name star on the film's cover . But in this first cinematic outing by the enormously gifted Ray McKinnon there are so many sparks of greatness that they dwell on the screen like glowing embe... |
513,076 | 3,223,254 | 490,234 | 10 | Longing and Loving and the Precipice of War | Claude Miller has created one of the more challenging and intensely human dramas about World War II in his film UN SECRET ( A SECRET ) . Though one of many stories about the plight of Jews during the events that lead up to and exploded into WW II , Miller's story is less about the cruel destiny of the Jews in Hitler's ... |
513,639 | 3,223,254 | 424,136 | 10 | A Tightly Written , Directed and Acted Controversial Thriller | HARD CANDY is one of those films that took enormous courage on the part of the writer ( Brian Nelson ) , director ( David Slade ) , and producers - let alone the actors - to bring a tale of pedophilia to the mainstream audience . Made for a small budget ( yet the production values are so very artistic that it feels lik... |
513,339 | 3,223,254 | 940,585 | 10 | Cultural Transplantation : How to Create a New Life | BRICK LANE is one of the more satisfying films about our remaining cultural identity crises . Based on the novel by Monica Ali and adapted for the screen by Laura Jones , this film flows through the lives of young Bangladeshi sisters - one married off to a successful older obese fellow countryman living in London and t... |
513,336 | 3,223,254 | 388,795 | 10 | Discovering Love : The Longing to Make It Fit | E . Annie Proulx visited a cowboy bar in Wyoming and felt an underlying eroticism seething in that most macho of possible places . That observation translated into a courageous short story in 1997 , a study of love between two cowboys whose world would never condone such feelings ( remember Laramie ? ) , and so ' Broke... |
513,246 | 3,223,254 | 388,789 | 10 | Art is the Common Denominator | BORN INTO BROTHELS won the Academy Award for documentaries : it should have also won the Humanitarian Award . Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman have not only created a captivating film about the plight and survival instincts of a group of eight children who were born to prostitutes in the red light district of Calcutta : t... |
513,543 | 3,223,254 | 449,467 | 10 | Global Coincidences Tied Brilliantly Together in a Stunning Film | Alejandro González Iñárritu and his creative partner Guillermo Arriaga are becoming two of the more significant artists in film of this century . They have worked together on ' Amores perros ' then ' 21 Grams ' , gradually going from independent low budget , highly sophisticated controversial films to the point where t... |
513,684 | 3,223,254 | 115,722 | 10 | A Brutally Powerful Documentary : Wiktor Grodecki's Precursor to MANDRAGOR | Wiktor Grodecki is a brave filmmaker , one who is unafraid to address a controversial subject , yet one who is able to make a powerful sociological statement by creating a metaphorical art film that demands respect . Grodecki interviews young boys ( ages 14 - 17 ) who are male hustlers in Prague : he wisely removes ( f... |
513,501 | 3,223,254 | 375,679 | 10 | ' In LA , people don't touch . They're separated by glass and steel . . ' | and the only time they come into contact is by crash ' . And with these words Paul Haggis tears open the box of CRASH , one of the most searingly vital and important films of the year . This is a film that explores prejudice , racism , fear , hate , bigotry , random violence and all of those barriers we people of the c... |
513,011 | 3,223,254 | 783,233 | 10 | Cinematic Splendor : ATONEMENT reaches the standard of the novel | For those who have had the immense pleasure of reading Ian McEwan's ATONEMENT not once but several times , basking in not only the brilliant story / mystery but also in the inordinately beautiful language , rest assured that the film not only does the book justice in the transference to the screen , but in the hands of... |
513,080 | 3,223,254 | 783,238 | 10 | The Search for Ways to Fill Holes in the Soul | Karen Moncrief has written and directed this terrifying , searching , agonizing , and exceptionally fine story of the responses of five different people to the discovery of a dead girl . By dividing her story into chapters named after The Stranger , The Daughter , The Mother , The Wife , The Sister , and The Dead Girl ... |
513,533 | 3,223,254 | 373,747 | 10 | Staggeringly Beautiful Cinematic Epic | CASA DE AREIA ( ' HOUSE OF SAND ) is a masterpiece of film-making from Brazil . Written by Elena Soarez and Luis Carlos Barreto the story seems more a magical metaphor than a tale of real life - until the film concludes and the immediacy and universality of the messages haunt the viewer's mind for hours . It is a film ... |
512,687 | 3,223,254 | 115,591 | 10 | Transplantation Successful ! | Anton Chekhov's play ' Uncle Vanya ' has been re-written and transplanted to turn of the century South Wales in this production , which is directed by Anthony Hopkins . For all of the many translations and rebirths of this ' comedy ' by the great Chekhov , this one seems to work best . There really is very little linea... |
512,826 | 3,223,254 | 440,963 | 10 | A Breathless , Intelligent , Finely Honed Part 3 of the Bourne Series | Paul Greengrass has stepped into the director's shoes for this third installment of the Jason Bourne identity crisis and in doing so has created nearly two hours of tension that would make Robert Ludlum proud ! This is an example of how Hollywood can shine when it integrates all of the components of an ' action suspens... |
512,939 | 3,223,254 | 379,725 | 10 | The DVD Package Makes CAPOTE Even More Gripping | CAPOTE is a great movie . Let that be said at the beginning of this review . The superb screenplay by Dan Futterman based on the book by Gerald Clarke in turn based on that part of the life of Truman Capote when he was obsessed with writing his final and finest novel ' In Cold Blood ' , and the extraordinary directing ... |
513,244 | 3,223,254 | 410,848 | 10 | The Attraction of Opposites : Breaking Down Barriers | ' VERSO NORD ' ( ' Without Conscience ' ) is one of those unheralded Italian films that deal with controversial subjects while retaining a story of human compassion and love . It is a film with equal parts brutality and tenderness and the direction and writing ( Stefano Reali ) and cast that make it work exceedingly we... |
513,588 | 3,223,254 | 326,208 | 10 | If you're a white guy , you can get away with anything | So speaks Andre Stander the day after a massive riot in Johannesburg South Africa in which Stander as a police captain finds himself killing a Zulu man in a morally shattering encounter . This utter disillusionment with the police force and their responses to the Apartheid situation makes Stander withdraw emotionally a... |
513,465 | 3,223,254 | 478,829 | 10 | Giving Back the Gift : The World of the Prodigy | VITUS is a film from Switzerland that has garnered many accolades and nearly won an Oscar . And yes , it is that good ! Written by Fredi M . Murer , Peter Luisi , and Lukas B . Suter and directed by Murer , VITUS explores the life of a child genius , a lad who from the age of five is obviously gifted in that he can pla... |
513,627 | 3,223,254 | 995,829 | 10 | A Life Determining Conflict : Who Am I ? | The chromosomal abnormality of XXY has been labeled as Klinefelter's Syndrome , hermaphroditism , and Intersex . The ' conception ' defect results in a child with both male and female organs and when detected at birth usually results in a decision between physicians and parents to surgically alter the child to be one o... |
512,850 | 3,223,254 | 404,203 | 10 | In the Eyes and Minds of Little Children | LITTLE CHILDREN is one of the finest films of the past decade , a film that is intensely intelligent in concept , in writing , in acting , and in production values . It is rare to find a film so right in every aspect , dealing with aspects of living we'd all rather overlook while at the same time recognizing bits and p... |
513,490 | 3,223,254 | 377,752 | 10 | The Quiet Power of Love | DEAR FRANKIE is one of those rare films that tell a story ( by Andrea Gibb ) with such minimal extraneous effects , keeping the line of the tale clear and unfettered by bathos , and results in an emotional experience for the viewer that creates a sense of empowerment and utter commitment . While much of this effect is ... |
512,964 | 3,223,254 | 379,889 | 10 | Brilliant , Insightful , Visually Stunning Shakespeare on Film | Of all of the thankfully increasing number of adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare for the screen MERCHANT OF VENICE is surely the finest . MERCHANT is one of the more difficult of Shakespeare's play , the subject matter of Christians vs . Jews and the demands on the actors to create sympathetic characters f... |
513,201 | 3,223,254 | 978,759 | 10 | Popcorn and Tang and Other Evidences of Desperation | FROZEN RIVER marks an impressive debut for writer / director Courtney Hunt : here is a filmmaker that not only knows how to weave a powerful story with pacing that rarely takes a break for breathing , but one who also knows how to pull intensely dramatic performances from actors in that rarest arena of ensemble acting ... |
513,734 | 3,223,254 | 375,920 | 10 | The Darker , Far More Interesting Side of Restoration England | THE LIBERTINE is one of the most atmospherically captured stories / biographies / tales on film . Based on the highly regarded play of the same name by Stephen Jeffreys who thankfully transferred his poetry to the screen in a brilliant screenplay , THE LIBERTINE glows with a sense of history , of social conscience , of... |
513,321 | 3,223,254 | 443,680 | 10 | An Homage to Western History in a Moody Daguerreotype Style | THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD is one of the finer films about the history of the Old West ' heroes ' such as Jesse James . It is difficult to describe the degree of high quality of the way in which this film has been created : the script ( adapted by Andrew Dominick from Ron Hansen's novel ... |
512,925 | 3,223,254 | 486,655 | 10 | More then a whiff of stardust ! MAGIC ! | Films that depend heavily on special effects as created by computer generated graphics have never been too interesting for this viewer - and that , of late , covers a lot of territory from the Harry Potter series through the continuous glut of sci-fi films , vampire tales , and apocalyptic epics , etc . But there is so... |
513,521 | 3,223,254 | 113,720 | 10 | A Coming of Age Tale for the Characters and the World | ALL THINGS FAIR ( Lust och fägring stor ) turned out to be brilliant Swedish writer / director Bo Widerberg's elegy : after a long history of successful and emotionally captivating films , this film was his last . Watching again some twelve years later gives an entirely different level of appreciation for Widerberg's w... |
512,954 | 3,223,254 | 383,717 | 10 | A Microcosm of Deftly Drawn Characters . . . and Life | A day in the life on Wilby Island , off Nova Scotia , may not sound like a resource for rich storytelling , but in the gifted hands of writer / director Daniel MacIvor and inordinately talented Canadian cast WILBY WONDERFUL penetrates more dark secrets , exposes more astray lives , and addresses more human frailties th... |
513,470 | 3,223,254 | 417,189 | 10 | The Poetics of Dying | François Ozon ( Water Drops on Burning Rocks , 8 Women , Swimming Pool , 5X2 ) is one of the most fascinatingly talented French directors on the scene today . His films have a simplicity , a direct approach to the mind and the heart , and an extreme respect for both his actors and his audience - factors that allow him ... |
513,062 | 3,223,254 | 373,981 | 10 | A Darkly Brilliant Film from Nimród Antal | Ingredients : a bizarre story by Jim Adler and Nimród Antal , a setting completely confined to the compression world of the Budapest subway system , a group of excellent actors , a cinematographer that knows how to take advantage of this amazing setting and push it to its limits , a musical score that knows exactly how... |
513,418 | 3,223,254 | 125,439 | 10 | A Wry British Comedy with Staying Power | NOTTING HILL was a breath of fresh air when it entered the theaters in 1999 . Written by Richard Curtis ( Four Weddings and a Funeral , Love Actually , The Girl in the Cafe - as well as the Bridget Jones scripts ) and directed by Roger Michell ( Persuasion , Changing Lanes , Enduring Love ) the story is a bit cockamami... |
513,218 | 3,223,254 | 399,738 | 10 | The Impact of Love and the Ravages of Time | Writer / director André Téchiné ( Wild Reeds , My Favorite Season , Child of the Night , etc ) is able to take what appear to be simple emotional responses from complicated people and create an artwork that makes us think , become introspective , and be challenged and entertained all at the same time . His ability to d... |
513,384 | 3,223,254 | 300,270 | 10 | Lucrecia Martel : An Argentinean Filmmaker in the Vein of Buñuel and Almodóvar | Lucrecia Martel is one gifted artist . Her latest film , ' La Niña santa ' ( The Holy Girl ) was conceived , written and directed in a style that is a tough and puzzling of Luis Buñuel and Pedro Almodóvar : what you see on the screen is an enigmatic mixture of sexuality and spirituality , comedy and drama , polemics an... |
512,797 | 3,223,254 | 445,922 | 10 | ' Love is all you really need ' | Julie Taymor once again uses her considerable innovative magic to create a film that not only is mesmerizingly beautiful to watch , but also a ' semi-documentary ' about the world changes that occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s as young people for the first time spoke out against the war in Vietnam , the death ... |
512,898 | 3,223,254 | 404,032 | 10 | Possibilities : The Struggle Between Science and Faith | The timing of this film could not be more propitious as the courts struggle with Darwinism , Creationism , and separation of church and state , creating embittered conversations about fact versus faith . The fact that this film adaptation of an actual event results in a work of such touching tenderness is due to the im... |
513,702 | 3,223,254 | 280,707 | 10 | Recipe for Lasting Success | Take an ' idea ' by Bob Balaban and Robert Altman , transform that idea into a screenplay by Julian Fellowes , place Robert Altman in the director's chair , and gather many of the finest actors in England ( and the USA ) , photograph it with Andrew Dunn as cinematographer , and assign the musical score to Patrick Doyle... |
512,806 | 3,223,254 | 373,926 | 10 | Bravura Acting in a Bristling Suspense Thriller with Style | Sometimes movies can be parceled into good points and bad points : the story may be weak , the acting may be pedestrian , the camera work may be so over the top that the film is lost , the editing may cry for clarity - or the opposites can occur in one or two of these categories for critique . Not so in the case if THE... |
512,867 | 3,223,254 | 469,071 | 10 | An Extraordinary Mastering of a Challenge | Thom Harp is a major talent . Not only did he ( and his excellent crew ) meet the demanding standards of this entry into Seattle International Film Festival's Fly Film-making Challenge 2005 , Harp surpassed this test and created a short film that is better realized than many a full length feature film on the big screen... |
512,713 | 3,223,254 | 206,866 | 10 | Childhood Dreams and Fantasies / Adult Recriminations and Realities | ' Koenig der Diebe ' ( ' King of Thieves ' ) is a powerful indictment dealing with child slavery in the German marketplace . The subject is a tough one to watch but the writing , direction , acting , scenic design , and production of this brilliant film is so incredibly fine that is commands attention . The story is a ... |
512,720 | 3,223,254 | 762,110 | 10 | The Practicalities of Desperation | IRINA PALM may be a film too many people will overlook , thinking it either empty headed or pornographic . But word of mouth should correct those misconceptions , as this little quiet film is a tender story of an aging woman's sacrifices and healthy outlook in the face of adversity . IRINA PALM is that happy marriage o... |
513,171 | 3,223,254 | 274,407 | 10 | A Fitting Crown to a Phenomenal Career : Callas Lives . . . Almost | CALLAS FOREVER is a beautifully written , tenderly directed and acted tribute to the immortal Maria Callas by a man who knew her as well as anyone - Franco Zeffirelli . The fantasy of placing Callas on film for posterity in the last year of her life , the year she died of heart failure , when her voice was gone but her... |
513,364 | 3,223,254 | 339,419 | 10 | A Quietly Brilliant Little Film About Coping and Other Atrocities of Living | Michael Burke both wrote and directed this first class , finely wrought exploration of coming of age in the emotional battlefield of rural bigotry . Rarely has so much been said so successfully with so little dialogue . Burke is clearly a gifted filmmaker about whom we should be hearing much ! The film opens with what ... |
513,703 | 3,223,254 | 408,236 | 10 | The Many Facets of Stephen Sondheim's SWEENEY TOD | When it comes to a work of the musical stage it is difficult to imagine a finer one than Stephen Sondheim's SWEENEY TODD : THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET . For those who saw the original 1979 Hal Prince extravagant production starring Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou / George Hearn , and then the 2005 revival as conden... |
512,958 | 3,223,254 | 389,557 | 10 | A Stunning , Compelling Film on Every Level | Just when we think we have read about or seen all of the stories there are to tell about courageous heroes / heroines who sacrificed much for the sake of many during World War II , along comes BLACK BOOK ( ZWARTBOEK ) with another dramatic ' biography ' of a significant figure . Director Paul Verhoeven ( Basic Instinct... |
512,660 | 3,223,254 | 119,711 | 10 | Silences and Merging with Nature Create This Luminous Elegy | Aleksandr Sokurov in MAT I SYN ( MOTHER AND SON ) has succeeded in capturing those brief , breathing moments that surround death , freezing them in an timeless mold like a shell in a crystal mass , something that goes beyond the passage of time and captures the essence of extended farewells . This brief film is one of ... |
513,493 | 3,223,254 | 345,032 | 10 | The Keys to the House Open the Heart | LE CHIAVI DI CASA ( THE KEYS TO THE HOUSE ) is a brave , humble , simple , eloquent work of art . Director and writer ( with Sandro Petraglia ) Gianni Amelio has the courage to address a subject that is difficult for most viewers and has created one of the more tender love stories on film . Aided by an incomparably fin... |
513,645 | 3,223,254 | 402,230 | 10 | The Little Stories : Aftershocks | Danny Leiner has provided us with a quiet little collection of stories written by first-time writer Sam Catlin in the form of overlapping lives of people one year from the trauma of . Though billed as a comedy , the ' comedy ' comes more from the nuances of reality that has settled into Manhattan and the world since th... |
513,649 | 3,223,254 | 387,131 | 10 | An Old Fashioned Thriller with a New Fashioned Approach | John le Carré's novel THE CONSTANT GARDENER is one of his finer suspense / spy / thriller stories and screenwriter Jeffrey Caine kept the story and the technique of telling it intact in this successful film . Director Fernando Meirelles was an excellent choice for director , bringing a fresh new look to Hollywood actio... |
513,020 | 3,223,254 | 82,846 | 10 | Some Treasures Refuse to Tarnish | ON GOLDEN POND may be twenty-five years old but the film is of such high quality that it has retained the luminous quality that garnered so many awards when released . It not only has a fine script adapted by the playwright Ernest Thompson from his own play , but it benefits from the sensitive direction by Mark Rydell ... |
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