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'.
Friends with Money (2006)
5.8/10
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Joan Cusack, Catherine Keener, Frances McDormand, Jason Isaacs...
Jennifer Aniston, Joan Cusack, Catherine Keener and Frances McDormand headline this vibrant comedy-drama as four friends who are re-evaluating their l... Read more
Hell ( L'Enfer ) (2005)
5.9/10
Director: Danis Tanovic
Starring: Emmanuelle Beart, Karin Viard, Marie Gillain, Guillaume Canet, Jacques Gamblin,...
Three sisters, Sophie (Emmanuelle Beart), Celine (Karin Viard) and Anne (Marie Gillain) have drifted apart since a traumatic childhood incident. Plun... Read more
The Cave of the Yellow Dog (2005)
7.7/10
Director: Byambasuren Davaa
Starring: Nansal Batchuluun, Babbayar Batchuluun, Batchuluun Urjindorj, Buyandulam Daramda...
The makers of 'The Story of the Weeping Camel' have returned to Mongolia for this similarly touching tale of a young girl who finds a lone dog and bri... Read more
The Child ( L'Enfant ) (2005)
4.2/10
Director: Luc Dardenne, Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Starring: Jeremie Renier, Deborah Francois, Jeremie Segard, Fabrizio Rongione, Olivier Gou...
Sofia and her boyfriend Bruno are two irresponsible teens living on the bottom rung of the social ladder. When Sofia falls pregnant and gives birth t... Read more
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006)
7.9/10
Director: Stanley Nelson
In 1978, cult leader Reverend Jim Jones encouraged his entire congregation, including himself, to participate in a mass murder-suicide that would shoc... Read more
Event 16 (2006)
4.7/10
Director: Derek Pearson
Starring: Peter Rutherford, Jocelyn Christian, Ezra Keddell, Julian White, John Porter
Kiwi writer/director Derek Pearson's debut feature is this engrossing and effects-heavy sci-fi murder mystery set in Wellington in 1893, 2006 and 2038... Read more
Four Minutes (2006)
6.9/10
Director: Chris Kraus
Starring: Monica Bleibtreu, Hannah Herzsprung
Former pianist Traude Kruger (Monica Bleibtreu) has been driving to the same women's prison at Luckau almost every morning since 1944. She teaches her... Read more
Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006)
7.7/10
Director: Chris Paine
Starring: Ed Begley Jr, Mel Gibson, Phyllis Diller, Peter Horton, Alexandra Paul, Tom Hank...
Documenting the rise and fall of the electric car, from its inception in 1996 til the plug was pulled less than ten years later. With a host of celeb... Read more
loudQUIETloud - A Film About The Pixies (2006)
7.2/10
Director: Steven Cantor, Matthew Galkin
When college-rock innovators The Pixies broke up in 1992, fans were shocked and dismayed. In 2004 their reunion tour sold out in four minutes. This e... Read more
Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2005)
7.2/10
Director: Michel Gondry
Starring: etc ..., Dave Chappelle, Mos Def
Innovative comic Dave Chappelle treats a Brooklyn neighbourhood to a free block party with guests like Kanye West, Mos Def and, re-united after seven... Read more