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Raindance Film Festival 2010: Preview
Amidst the backdrop of torrential rain, tube strikes and road warfare, yesterday saw the press launch of the 2010 Raindance Film Festival, at a top class May Fair hotel. First up on my personal “Must-See List” is opening film Jackboots on Whitehall (2010), Edward and Rory McHenry’s animated satirical comedy which tells the story of a Nazi-occupied, alternate reality England.Featuring…
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DVD Releases: ‘The Brit Indie Collection’
Probably the best value Blu-ray released for a long while, The Brit Indie Collection contains four of the best British films of the 1990’s/early 2000’s. Two are Danny Boyle’s initial films, Trainspotting (1996) and Shallow Grave (1994), and both are brilliant pieces of work. Although most remember Trainspotting as the first “The British are coming!”…
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Secret Cinema: ‘Lawrence of Arabia’
On Saturday, CineVue was honoured to be invited along to the latest event from Secret Cinema, “The Pioneer of Live Cinema”. For those uninitiated in the Secret Cinema experience, every few months the 60,000 strong (and rapidly growing) army of Secret Cinema devotees are invited to watch an unnamed film, at an undisclosed – yet…
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Cigarette Burns: ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ – the alternate endings
After 37 years, British TV institution Last of The Summer Wine came to a finish last week and, depending on your age, that either meant nothing or a little bit more than nothing. I’m sure more people would care if they knew the truth…Like all good television series finales, the makers filmed a few alternate…
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Theatrical Releases: ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. The World’
As the director of Channel 4’s cult comedy Spaced, Edgar Wright put a surreal, hyperactive slant on the story of a bunch of twenty-something slackers; with Shaun of the Dead (2004), he showed that he could wrench a heartfelt emotional payoff from even the most unlikely of scenarios; and with Hot Fuzz (2007), he proved himself…
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Theatrical Releases: ‘Certified Copy’
Certified Copy is the first of Abbas Kiarostami’s features to be filmed outside his native Iran. He is renowned for his use of non-professional actors, but here he employs the considerable talents of Juliette Binoche (winner of the Best Actress award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival) to work alongside British opera-singer William Shimmel, in…
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DVD Review: ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’
★★★☆☆ With such a ridiculous title, it would be unwise to enter the world of Hot Tub Time Machine with the preconception that what you are about to see is anything but lavishly ludicrous. The plot fails to stretch far beyond the fact that four guys hop into a hot tub, only to find when…
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DVD Review: ‘Four Lions’
★★★★★ It was almost inevitable that the cinematic debut from actor, writer and director Chris Morris would attract an inordinate amount of controversy and media attention. For those uninitiated in the work of British comedy’s enfant terrible, Morris kick-started his career on Armando Iannucci’s BBC Radio 4 news-spoof On the Hour as a veracious, ‘Paxman-esque’…
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DVD Releases: ‘Cemetery Junction’
There’s been a lot said about Cemetery Junction (2010), the first feature release co-written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, mostly (and to the film’s detriment) by Gervais himself. What is worth realizing before watching the film is that despite what so many reviews have failed to realize, the film is an homage to…
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Cigarette Burns: Owen Wilson: some rules…
Imagine my horror (go on, do it) when I discovered that Owen Wilson was to provide the voice for talking dog Marmaduke in the new live action/CGI film of the same name, directed by Shanghai Noon (2000) director Tom Dey. I haven’t seen, nor will I ever see Marmaduke (2010), so my opinions are based solely on…
Cannes 2026