Search

Steve McQueen's 'Hunger,' Paul Thomas Anderson's 'There Will Be Blood,' and Andrew Stanton's 'Wall-E' are considered to be the top movies in 2008. Movie critic Carmen Gray thinks that McQueen's video art background has prepared him to direct 'Hunger.' Other critics' opinions are presented.

Highlights of the Berlin Film Festival, 2006, are presented. The Road to Guantanamo is a film about three U.K. citizens by NATO forces in Afghanistan forces and taken to Guantanamo by the U.S. forces.

The efforts of Werner Herzog and his protagonist Timothy Treadwell, in presenting adventurous documentaries 'Grizzly Man' and 'Wild Blue Yonder', are presented.

Robert Mitchum is a raconteur of the bottle par excellence. The true story of the actorEs life is similar to that of the documentary. He has enriched and embellished the relationship between his on-screen and off-screen selves.

A review of Cannes 2005 is presented. The films screened at the film festival are also discussed.

The 2004 Cannes Film Festival showcased a mixture of politics, child abuse, drag and dream of 1960s Hong Kong, animal stunts and an unusually strong line-up of movies. The film festival's digital crop and the explicit sex-hype of '9 Songs' are reported.

Michel Gondry is a producer of films and music videos. Gondry wishes to make a big-budget film and always tries to ignore style when he is working as he thinks work has to be functional but it is questionable whether his film 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', a memory movie, expresses a wish for internal cosmetic surgery or the realism of the lonely.

Mel Gibson's movie 'The Passion of the Christ' has prompted some of the most considered writings on a cinema topic that Judeo-Christian culture in both its secular and religious manifestations have achieved in recent times. The movie is a vision of Jerusalem as hell, with Golgotha the purgatory that leads to the heaven of resurrection.

UK critics were asked to choose the best films of the last 25 years and chose 'Apocalypse Now' for first place and 'Raging Bull' for second place. Among the top eleven, seven are American movies and many are commonly popular.

Steven Spielberg has launched a science fiction motion picture named 'Minority Report.' The cop-chasing movie is set in the future.

Issues concerning the use of top British actors in films are discussed. Many of the country's top performers are involved in the lavish production of 'Gosford Park', which is released during February 2002.

An overview of the 2001 Cannes Film Festival is presented, including reviews of 31 films screened at the event. Films reviewed include Scott McGehee's 'The Deep End', Roman Coppola's 'CQ', and, Francis Ford Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now Redux'.

The British Film Council has moved into a new building in London, England and is financially secure enough in 2001 to help fund new films. The Council does face problems as in an attempt to please everyone it may be funding the wrong films.

Actor Michael Douglas is usually associated with strong male leads, but in his latest film he plays a grey-haired older character. The Wonder Boys, which is due to be released in November 2000, and Douglas' character are described.

The 2000 London Film Festival, England, is discussed with emphasis on the quality of the films on offer. A selection of films to be shown is reviewed including Liam and Quills.

Highlights of the 2000 Edinburgh International Film Festival are detailed. An interview with film director Wong Kar-Wai is presented.

Cannes 2000, the last to be run by the director Gilles Jacob, had many good films especially serious films and little Hollywood glamour and gossip. A number of interesting films from the festival are appraised.

Michael Mann's 'The Insider' opens in the UK on March 10 2000. The film stars Al Pacino, Christopher Plummer, Russell Crowe and Philip Baker Hall. Pacino plays an investigative journalist for the CBS '60 Minutes' programme; while Crowe plays a tobacco-industry whistle-blower who risks his own life. Although the film cannot be described as an action movie, it fits the role of a conspiracy thriller.

'The Talented Mr. Ripley' opens in the UK on February 25 2000. The film is directed by Anthony Minghella, best known for 'The English Patient' and 'Truly, Madly, Deeply', and edited by Walter Murch. Minghella's latest offering stars Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jude Law and is based on a 1956 psychological thriller by Patricia Highsmith. An interview with Minghella is included.

Stanley Kubrick's wife Christiane Kubrick and daughters Anya and Katharina agreed to an interview with 'Sight & Sound' magazine to discuss their late husband/father and set the record straight about some of the comments made about the film director in the press. Claims that Kubrick never took vacations; that he had no sense of humour; and that he could not talk to women are all refuted.

'Central Station' or 'Central do Brasil', which was directed by Walter Salles, is to be released on March 12 1999. The film has already received accolades at film festivals in Berlin, San Sebastian and Toronto. The protagonist of the film is Josue, who is orphaned at Rio's Central Station, and played by Vinicius de Oliveira. Josue represents the future of Brazil, while Dora, his saviour (albeit reluctant), represents old Brazil.

Filmmaker Todd Haynes discusses his film 'Velvet Goldmine.' He explains how he, as an American, became aware of the film's subject, the British glam rock scene of the early 1970s, and he gives his own opinion about glam rock. He describes some of the techniques he used in the making of the film, he notes the influence of other films, including Scorsese's 'The Last Waltz', and he discusses his feelings on completion of the film.

British filmmakers Eric Styles, Simon Beaufoy, Lynne Ramsay, Sandra Goldbacher, Julian Henriques, John Maybury and Carine Adler have expressed varying opinions on different issues affecting the British film industry. These include the formation of mini-studios, the growing demand for British films, the growth of a market-led industry and the alleged 'British renaissance' in motion pictures.

The Cannes Film Festival stood up to its name in 1998 as it offered attendees of the event high-quality films having standout cinematography and editing. These include Gaspar Noe's 'Seul contre tous,' Todd Solondz' 'Happiness,' Claude Miller's 'La Classe de neige' and Francois Ozon's 'Sitcom.' 'Idioterne' by Lars von Trier and 'Dong' by Tsai Ming-Liang are two movies that presented a fresh approach to filmmaking.

The film 'Nil by Mouth' marks the directorial debut of Gary Oldman. This is an autobiographically inspired film which depicts a change in the quality of British realist cinema. It recognizes an audience's need to identify their personal lives with what they see on the screen. Oldman's script exhumes anecdotes and the pattern of London street lingo in such a way that his dialogues compete with the best American screenwriting in incorporating believability and pleasure. Noticeably, Oldman regards his characters with affection and avoids moralizing at their expense.

Theaters for art movies are endangered in Great Britain. Mainstream movie houses are better funded and taking increasing market shares. Some survivors in the art-house circuit are The Triangle and The Midland Arts Centre in Birmingham, Chapter in Cardiff, The Cameo and Filmhouse in Edinburg, Cornerhouse in Manchester, The Tyneside in Newcastle, Cinema City in Norwich, Electric, Everyman, Riverside and Scala in London.