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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…
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Theatrical Releases: ‘The Illusionist’
When you’re writer and director Sylvain Chomet, following up your universally adored and critically acclaimed first feature, whilst at the same time meeting the subsequent expectations that inherently come with such accolades, is understandably going to be an immensely difficult and somewhat daunting task.However, just as he did with Belleville Rendezvous (2003), with his latest…
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Theatrical Releases: ‘Knight and Day’
Tom Cruise often comes across as a pint-sized, arrogant, pampered Hollywood cliché, and his notorious appearance on The Oprah Winfrey show could (and perhaps should) have been the final nail in his career’s 5ft solid gold coffin, yet Cruise somehow bounced back onto screens earlier this year with the globe-trotting action adventure Knight and Day (2010). Knight and…
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DVD Releases: ‘Repo Men’
The title Repo Men (2010) brings Darren Lynn Bousman’s Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) to mind and indeed the two films share some significant similarities. Both take place in a not too distant future, where organs are sold on credit and repossessed if the patent falls behind on his payments; both boast significantly visceral scenes of gore…
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DVD Review: ‘Dogtooth’
★★★★☆ Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth (2009) is an unsettling examination of how easily the desire to control others can lead to tyranny. The film follows three teenagers confined with their parents in an isolated Greek country house. Surrounded by high fences on all sides and in possession of a carefully manicured lawn and swimming pool, their lodgings give a whole new…
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DVD Releases: ‘Largo Winch’
A conspiracy-thriller in the mould of a Bourne movie, Largo Winch (2008) is a predominantly French production based on a comic book series by Belgian writer/artist team Philippe Francq and Jean Van Hamme. The big screen adaptation features an international cast and a variety of exotic locations, as the estranged, secretly-adopted son of an assassinated…
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Cigarette Burns: Words can’t hurt you?
I’ve found that as I watch more and more films, I notice the increasing use of lazy cliche comments that act as a shorthand information provider for the viewer. You see, words come loaded with meanings, and through the arrangement and clever use of these words, meaning can be implied, suggested and even explicitly stated.…
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Film Review: "The Expendables"
★★★★☆ The intent behind The Expendables (2010) is now legendary; a chance to bring back the past action stars of yore, all heralded under heavyweight director/writer/star Sylvester Stallone’s banner. The Expendables introduces (or should that be re-introduces) us to a gang of mercenaries, hard as nails but with hearts as big as their biceps, including…
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Film Review: ‘Mother’
★★★★☆ Revered director Bong Joon-ho is one of a number of South Korean directors that have (rightly) garnered recognition for his cinematic work in the West. His latest film Mother (2009), is a wonderful achievement which deserves just as much praise as his monster hit The Host (2006), and once again utilizes scenes of both graphic violence and ingeniously…
EIFF 2026