CHASING GHOSTS
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  Year Released: 2006 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 90 minutes |
2007 SUNDANCE DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION FEATURE! “Chasing Ghosts” reminds us of the time when the basics were plenty fun and the kings of the arcade could rule for several hours (or days) on one quarter…
Posted on January 31, 2007 by Jeremy Mathews
SUMMER RAIN
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  Year Released: 2006 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 118 minutes |
2007 SUNDANCE PREMIERE FEATURE! Banderas, and cinematographer Xavi Giménez create some lush, alluring visuals that just cry out for the movie to be loved. But they squander them on a limp, increasingly tedious story whose climax makes you wonder why it existed at all…
Posted on January 30, 2007 by Jeremy Mathews
DRIVING WITH MY WIFE’S LOVER
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  Year Released: 2006 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 92 minutes |
2007 SUNDANCE WORLD DRAMATIC COMPETITION FEATURE! Two questions circle around “Driving with my Wife’s Lover:” What is the main character planning to do, and will he actually do it?
Posted on January 30, 2007 by Jeremy Mathews
SNOW ANGELS
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  Year Released: 2006 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 106 minutes |
David Gordon Green’s cinematic adaptation of Stewart O’Nan’s novel poetically studies the divide between innocence and tragedy, discovery and disappointment. With a deep understanding of his characters, Green has crafted a film that’s devastating and uplifting without sounding a false note…
Posted on January 28, 2007 by Jeremy Mathews
FLYING: CONFESSIONS OF A FREE WOMAN
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  Year Released: 2007 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 127 minutes |
2007 SUNDANCE SPECIAL SCREENING! Jennifer Fox’s series “Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman” may be presented as a six-hour film at the Sundance Film Festival, but I can describe it in one word: Unwatchable…
Posted on January 26, 2007 by Jeremy Mathews
CHAPTER 27
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  Year Released: 2006 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 100 minutes |
2007 SUNDANCE PREMIERE FEATURE! With the weight gain, makeup and glasses, Leto does actually look quite a bit like Chapman, but that means little in terms of the actual performance, which is limited to the script’s depth and scope…
Posted on January 26, 2007 by Jeremy Mathews
WONDERS ARE MANY
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Year Released: 2006 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 94 minutes |
2007 SUNDANCE SPECTRUM FEATURE! The film oddly attempts to combine the backstage production footage with history-lesson segments featuring voice-of-god narration by Eric Owens. While skillfully crafted, the two stories never quite mesh, and neither go deep enough to work on their own…
Posted on January 25, 2007 by Jeremy Mathews
AUTISM EVERY DAY
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Year Released: 2006 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 44 minutes |
2007 SUNDANCE SPECIAL SCREENING! The documentary is too short to really go into details with these specific people’s lives and personalities, yet the last 15 minutes still feels partly recycled…
Posted on January 24, 2007 by Jeremy Mathews
WAITRESS
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Year Released: 2006 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 104 minutes |
IN LIMITED RELEASE! Adrienne Shelly’s film is a fun but sincere exploration of this conundrum, full of off-kilter characters who don’t talk like anyone in real life, but sound a truthful chord…
Posted on January 23, 2007 by Jeremy Mathews
BANISHED
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Year Released: 2006 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 86 minutes |
2007 SUNDANCE DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION FEATURE! While Williams fails to create a compelling argument or discovery about the reparations issue, “Banished” contains enough insights into race relations to be worth watching…
Posted on January 23, 2007 by Jeremy Mathews
GHOSTS
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Year Released: 2006 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 96 minutes |
2007 SUNDANCE WORLD DRAMATIC COMPETITION FEATURE! This isn’t a movie to watch while devouring a bag of popcorn unless you have a stomach of steel or enjoy watching globs of random meat and unclean bathrooms as you swallow…
Posted on January 23, 2007 by Jeremy Mathews
HOT HOUSE
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Year Released: 2006 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 90 minutes |
2007 SUNDANCE WORLD DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION FEATURE! Whether you agree or disagree with Israel’s policies, it’s hard to argue against the imprisonment of the inmates, all but one of whom admits to involvement in terrorist attacks that killed innocent civilians…
Posted on January 22, 2007 by Jeremy Mathews
PROTAGONIST
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  Year Released: 2006 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 90 minutes |
2007 SUNDANCE DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION FEATURE! Director Yu offers no introductory overview of who the four men — all from different backgrounds — are, what they will become or why they were selected as subjects…
Posted on January 22, 2007 by Jeremy Mathews
ONCE
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Year Released: 2006 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 88 minutes |
IN LIMITED RELEASE! John Carney’s direction is unassuming and without a hint of pretension, and his short screenplay lets the music do a lot of the talking…
Posted on January 22, 2007 by Jeremy Mathews
JOE STRUMMER: THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN
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Year Released: 2006 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 123 minutes |
2007 SUNDANCE WORLD DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION FEATURE! “Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten” searches for the truth about the musician who shifted from hippie to punk, expanded the scope and possibility of his newfound genre, then quit at the pinnacle of the fame he initially craved…
Posted on January 21, 2007 by Jeremy Mathews