Film Festivals 2006
Another eclectic clutch of fine cinema from around the world. The 30th Telecom International Festival kicked off this year with Ken Loach's 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley', exploring tense Anglo-Irish relations in the 1920s; auteur Terrence Malick returned to filmmaking with a different story of colonialism, an eerily dream-like re-telling of the Pocahontas story and the 'conquering' of 'The New World'. Speaking of dreams, the innovative Michel Gondry gave us the enchanting 'The Science of Sleep', Richard Linklater came out with the animated 'A Scanner Darkly' and Korean Joon-ho Bong revisited the monster movie nightmare with fan favourite, 'The Host'. More personal stories included the excellent Canadian coming of age flick 'CRAZY', Tommy Lee Jones's 'The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada'; low-key thriller 'Keane' and a blackly humourous tale of the prodigal son, 'Lonesome Jim'.
Thank You For Smoking (2005)
7.6/10
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Cameron Bright, Adam Brody, Sam Elliott, Katie Holme...
Nick Naylor is Big Tobacco's go-to-guy when they need a good spin on something. Like premature death, lung cancer, etc. But Nick revels in the twist... Read more
Wah-Wah (2005)
6.9/10
Director: Richard E Grant
Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson, Nicholas Hoult, Emily Watson, Julie Walters,...
South African-born actor Richard E Grant makes his directorial debut with this semi-autobiographical comedy/drama set against the colonial British wit... Read more
The Passenger (1975)
7.6/10
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Maria Schneider, Jenny Runacre
Antonioni's suspenseful and haunting adventure is a portrait of a drained journalist, covering a guerrilla war in North Africa who exchanges identitie... Read more
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
7.1/10
Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr, Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder, Rory Cochrane
Director Richard Linklater returns to the animation style of his earlier 'Waking Life' for this adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novel. In the not-too-... Read more
The Host (2006)
7/10
Director: Joon-ho Bong
Starring: Kang-ho Song, Hie-bong Byeon, Ah-sung Ko, Hae-il Park, Bae Doo-na
AKA 'Gweomul'. 'Godzilla' meets 'Alien' in this monster movie with everything, from Korean director Joon-ho Bong. Following a careless toxic waste le... Read more
Sicko (2007)
8/10
Director: Michael Moore
Starring: Michael Moore
Michael Moore's scathing dissection of America's Health Insurance system showcases his characteristic combination of shock and humour, as he compares... Read more
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont (2005)
7.6/10
Director: Dan Ireland
Starring: Rupert Friend, Robert Lang, Anna Massey, Joan Plowright, Zoe Tapper, Marcia Warr...
Mrs Palfrey (Joan Plowright) has been uneasy since her husband passed away, and decides to move from her home in Scotland to London, to be nearer her... Read more
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2005)
6.8/10
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Starring: Gillian Anderson, Rob Brydon, Steve Coogan, James Fleet, Stephen Fry, Naomie Har...
As with their previous collaboration ('24 Hour Party People'), Michael Winterbottom and Steve Coogan subvert the medium; making a film about a 'docume... Read more
An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
7.5/10
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Starring: Al Gore
The history and perils of global climate change are explored in this popular and controversial documentary featuring former vice president Al Gore. Ta... Read more
Sketches of Frank Gehry (2005)
Director: Sydney Pollack
Starring: Frank O Gehry, Sydney Pollack, Dennis Hopper, Bob Geldof, etc ...
Director Sydney Pollack makes his documentary debut by following his old friend, ground-breaking, 'de-constructionist' architect Frank O. Gehry, aroun... Read more