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'.
The New World: The Extended Cut ( Blu-ray ) (2005)
6.7/10
Director: Terrence Malick
Starring: August Schellenberg, Ben Mendelsohn, Brian O'Byrne, Christian Bale, Christopher...
Terrence Malick's epic dramatization of the mythical story of Pocahantas and John Smith (Colin Farrell) is just his fourth feature, coming more than 3... Read more
Battle in Heaven (2005)
5.7/10
Director: Carlos Reygadas
Starring: Marcos Hernandez, Anapola Mushkadiz, Bertha Ruiz, David Bornstein
Marcos is the chauffeur of a general with a secret that only he and his wife know - they kidnapped a baby for ransom, and the child died in their care... Read more
Metal: A Headbanger's Journey (2005)
8.1/10
Director: Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen, Jessica Joy Wise
Starring: Tony Iommi, Dee Snider, Ronnie James Dio, Alice Cooper, Bruce Dickinson, Lemmy ,...
Anthropologist and life-long Heavy Metal fan, Sam Dunn, sets out on a global mission to discover why the headbanging music so adored by its millions o... Read more
The Method (2005)
7.3/10
Director: Marcelo Pineyro
Starring: Eduardo Noriega, Najwa Nimri, Eduard Fernandez, Pablo Echarri, Ernesto Alterio,...
A cutting corporate satire from Spain, based on a famous play by Jordi Galceran, it features seven job applicants who turn up for an interview and fin... 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
Maxed Out (2005)
7.3/10
Director: Jamed D Scurlock
Takes the viewer on a journey deep inside the American Style of Debt. Casting a harsh light on 'hard times, easy credit, and the era of predatory lend... 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
Black Sun (2005)
7.5/10
Director: Gary Tarn
Starring: Hugues de Montalembert
While living in New York in 1978, British painter and filmmaker Hugues de Montalembert fell victim to a random mugging, paint remover was thrown in hi... 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
The Heart of the Game (2005)
7.6/10
Director: Ward Serrill
Starring: Narrated by, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges
What started out as a small documentary about an eccentric, middle-aged tax professor coaching a Seattle girls basketball team, the Roosevelt Roughrid... Read more