MICHAEL WINTERBOTTOM Bil’s rating (out of 5): BB. United Kingdom, 2004. Revolution Films. Screenplay by Michael Winterbottom. Cinematography by Marcel Zyskind. Produced by Andrew Eaton. Film Editing by Mat Whitecross, Michael Winterbottom. Toronto International Film Festival 2004. The complicated path of erotic connection is lightly explored in this short feature by filmmaker Michael Winterbottom, making one of his most provocative yet least…
Category: 2004
The Intruder (L’Intrus) (2004)
CLAIRE DENIS Bil’s rating (out of 5): BB.5. France, 2004. Ognon Pictures, Arte France Cinema, Conseil Régional de Franche-Comté, Centre National De La Cinematographie, Pusan Film Commission. Screenplay by Claire Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau, based on the novel by Jean-Luc Nancy. Cinematography by Agnes Godard. Produced by Humbert Balsan, Jerome Clement, Michel Reilhac. Music by Stuart Staples. Production Design by Arnaud de Moleron. Costume Design by…
Formula 17 (17 sui de tian kong) (2004)
YIN-JUNG CHEN Bil’s rating (out of 5): BB. Taiwan, 2004. Three Dots Entertainment Company. Screenplay by Rady Fu. Cinematography by Hui-Sheng Chen. Produced by Aileen Li, Michelle Yeh. Music by George Chen, Tze-li Hung. Production Design by Zac Gu. Film Editing by Hsiao-Tong Chen. Handsome Tien comes to the big city of Taipei to escape the boredom of his small town and find…
Triple Agent
BBB (out of 5) Eric Rohmer investigates the true story of a man trying to remain apolitical in highly political times. Russian-born Fyodor lives in Paris with his Greek-born wife, retired from the Tsar’s army and now working for the Russian Military Union while, beyond their borders, Nazi power is brewing and the Spanish Civil…
Evolution Of A Filipino Family (Ebolusyon ng Isang Pamilyang Pilipino)
BB (out of 5) Intimate and interminable epic film by Lav Diaz, one of the first to establish his uncompromising devotion to mammoth running times (in this case, a whopping ten and a half hours) that effectively put one in the position of living someone else’s life along with them. Atmospheric and delicate, the film…
Wake Of Death
B (out of 5) Jean-Claude Van Damme fans don’t need the most original plot in the world to enjoy their favourite fighter, and I don’t mean that as snobbishly as it sounds, but they will be disappointed by the low amount of actual man-on-man combat in this bland thriller. A little girl witnesses a powerful gangster…
Hellbent
0 (out of 5) Two men having late-night sex in a car are beheaded by a mysterious giant with devil horns, which baffles West Hollywood police for clues but also piques the interest of Eddie and his friends. Eddie is himself a cop, relegated to desk duties after an accident left him partially blind and…
Eros (2004)
MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI, STEVEN SODERBERGH, WONG KAR WAI Bil’s rating (out of 5): BB.5. USA/Italy/Hong Kong/France/Luxembourg/United Kingdom, 2004. Block 2 Pictures, Roissy Films, Solaris, Cité Films, Fandango, Delux Productions, Jet Tone Films. Screenplay by Wong Kar Wai, Steven Soderbergh, Michelangelo Antonioni, Tonino Guerra, segment The Dangerous Thread of Things based on the novel by Michelangelo Antonioni). Cinematography by Christopher Doyle, Marco Pontecorvo, Steven…
The Raspberry Reich
BB (out of 5) A group of modern-day political insurgents take inspiration from the Baader Meinhoff crew, tearing through Berlin in the hopes of winning people over to their cause. The revolution is open sexuality: masturbation is counter-revolutionary, the most important thing is to remove the bourgeois stink of monogamy or sexual orientation from intercourse…
The World (Shijie)
BBB.5 (out of 5) World Park in Beijing is the setting of this enjoyable melodrama, in which global themes are played against personal ones. A young woman who works as a dancer in the park’s shows is having a relationship with a security guard, but has to deal with his commitment issues while also fighting…
Saving Face
BBB (out of 5) Family and cultural traditions are thrown to the wind when Chinese-American surgeon Wil (Michelle Krusiec) allows her pregnant mother (a stunning Joan Chen) to live in her apartment when her mother’s refusal to reveal the father of the child gets her kicked out of her suburban community. Wil is now in…
Shaun Of The Dead (2004)
EDGAR WRIGHT Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBBB. United Kingdom/France, 2004. StudioCanal, Working Title Films, WT2 Productions, Big Talk Productions, Inside Track 2, FilmFour. Screenplay by Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright. Cinematography by David M. Dunlap. Produced by Nira Park. Music by Dan Mudford, Pete Woodhead. Production Design by Marcus Rowland. Costume Design by Annie Hardinge. Film Editing by Chris Dickens. This witty spoof on zombie horror classics deservedly became…
