THE PANIC ROOM March, 2002
Having directed the nihilistic Fight Club. the most radical film to come out of Hollywood in ages. David Fincher turns his attention to the minutiae of human horror. The panic room belongs to Jodie Foster's mother. who had the secret compartment built within her New York Brownstone home in case of intruders. So when three burglars break in. Foster retreats to the panic room with her young daughter. Except what follows is a deadly game of cat and mouse she never foresaw. Come on. you know this'll be a great edge-of-your-seat thriller.
HEIST 23 November, 2001
What was David Mamet thinking when he took a shot at Capraesque whimsy with State And Maine? Mamet 's a tough talker. as he proved with The Untouchables and Glengarry Glen Ross. With the crime caper Heist. big-bear Dave's back doing what he does best: getting hard men to talk circles round one another. In this case. it's Gene Hackman‘s heist specialist and Danny DeVito's crime boss pulling off a job while double-crossing each other. Not for no fokin' children.
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STORYTELLI NO 30 November, 2001
‘Todd Solondz. y0u're a very naughty boy. Didn't I tell you the last time you were in my class that I will brook no more of the cruel humour you displayed in your last two pieces of homework entitled. let me see, Welcome To The Dollhouse and Happiness? But what have you done? Penned another essay on dysfunction: Storytelling. Here. class. Mr Solond/ thinks he is graduating with two tales about college life. Racism. sex. disability; is nothing sacred. Solondz? The Columbine High School massacre. for heaven's sake! l've had all I'm going to take from y0u young man. Stop fiddling with those thick black spectacles and go and see the headmaster. And take that Belle & Sebastian soundtrack with you. boy!‘
THE OTHERS 19 October, 2001
Like. but not the same as The Sixth Sense. this supernatural tale directed by Spaniard Alejandro Amenabar (Open Your Eyesl goes for chills rather than cheap thrills. Nicole Kidman follows the opulence of Moo/in Rouge With this austere drama in which she plays a mother of two livrng on the island of Jersey awaiting the return of her husband towards the end of World War II. The children have a medical condition which means they must adopt a strange set of rules in order to avoid direct sunlight. But when strangers arrive in their home the rules are broken . . .
ELOGE DE L'AMOUR IN PRAISE O LOVE) 23 November, 2001
They are suggesting that E/oge de /’Amour may well be grandfather of modern French cinema Jean-Luc Godard's finest film. At least they are in London where it premieres at its film festival. Do Godard's credentials need to be cited? A bout de souffle. Le Mépris. Bande a Part. the list is endless. Most of Godard's output over the last decade has been shons and documentaries but in this fiction feature. he explores the nature of cinema through the story of a filmmaker casting the perfect woman for a role in his new film.
‘Todd Solondz, you’re a very naughty boy. Racism, sex, disability; is nothing, sacred.’
T E PIANO TEACHER (LA PIANISTE) 9 December, 2001
Having established himself with Funny Games and Code Unknown to be the master of perfectly controlled storytelling which demands full engagement of the audience's brain. Michael Haneke sent more shockwaves through the Cannes Film Festival with this drama starring the ever-excellent Isabelle Huppert. She plays a middle-aged Vienna music tutor whose emotional life is imploding and starts visiting porn cinemas and peep shows in the city's red light district. She then graduates to spying on couples fornicating in the local park and finally turns her attentions onto a young student. Heady stuff.
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