Russian drama set in an isolated orthodox monastery. Father Anatoly (Pyotr Mamonov) lives uneasily alongside the other monks at the monastery, his seemingly bizarre conduct at odds with his celebrated powers of healing and clairvoyance. When a prominent admiral (Yuri Kuznetsov) arrives to see Anatoly with his daughter Nastya (Viktoriya Isakova), whom he believes to be possessed by demons, the events that shaped Anatoly's troubled past come to the fore as he strives for redemption before his death, which he has foreseen to be imminent.
| Starring: |
Pyotr Mamonov, Viktor Sukhorukov, Dmitriy Dyuzhev, Yuri Kuznetsov, Viktoriya Isakova, Nina Usatova, Yana Yesipovich, Olga Demidova, Timofei Tribuntsev, Aleksei Zelensky, Sergey Burunov, Grigori Stepunov |
| Director: |
Pavel Lungin |
| Languages: |
German, Russian |
| Distributor: |
|
MyMovies
One thing that's guaranteed when we see the name Michael Bay on a movie poster is that the next two ...
One thing that's guaranteed when we see the name Michael Bay on a movie poster is that the next two hours or so is going to be loud. And violent. And probably pretty dumb. So we were rather surprised when we heard that the director behind such classics as "Pearl Harbor" and "Armageddon" was to tackle controversial sci-fi project "The Island". And how does he fare when it comes to cloning? Well Bay does exactly what we'd expect him to - he blows things up and crashes cars.The movie centres on a man called Lincoln Six-Echo (Ewan McGregor) who lives - along with similarly strangely named folk - in a high-tech facility where every aspect of their well-being is monitored. You see, these men and women are the survivors of a global contamination that has left just one solitary tropical island habitable. One by one these survivors are selected by a lottery to go to 'the island' and help re-populate the planet. But Lincoln suspects all is not what it seems and he soon discovers a terrible truth. Cue much mayhem as he and friend Jordan Two-Delta (Scarlett Johansson) make a run for it.Made for big bucks "The Island" starts off promisingly - but then descends into your stock chase thriller as various baddies try to bring in the errant "products". Now while this is all fairly standard, you certainly can't deny that Bay can direct action. The crash, bang, wallop aspect of the script will easily entertain the multiplex crowds on Saturday night. However the rest of the film is rather a mess. Overlong, full of obvious product placement and sporting a truly laughable script which is a bizarre mix of "The Matrix", "Logan's Run" and "Coma", "The Island" throws up more questions than it answers and fails to really say anything about the contentious issue of cloning. But who really cares, when Ewan and Scarlett spend most of their time waving guns, being chased and running around in tight fitting tracksuits?
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Press Association
Hip indie director Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited) is an odd fit for Roald Dahl's classic children's ...
Hip indie director Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited) is an odd fit for Roald Dahl's classic children's story. The film-maker certainly brings his offbeat and distinctly adult sensibilities to bear on Fantastic Mr. Fox, creating another portrait of familial dysfunction and miscommunication. Anderson imprints his personality so indelibly on the script, co-written by Noah Baumbach, that it's hard to see children enjoying the film. The simplicity and sweetness of the original story, which ran to less than 100 pages with illustrations from Quentin Blake, becomes obscured by rewrites and additions. Unlike his previous films, Anderson chooses stop-motion animation as his medium here and it works a treat. Visually, the months of painstaking effort have been worthwhile, including fast-paced action sequences of the wily vulpine sneaking around farmyards in search of a tasty treat. Mr Fox (voiced by George Clooney) is never content with his life, always looking to move up in the world with his long-suffering wife, Mrs Fox (Meryl Streep). He plots a daring raid on the chicken coop only to get caught in a trap. "If we're still alive tomorrow, I want you to find another line of work," seethes Mrs Fox. Two years later, Mr Fox has followed his wife's dictate and is the bread-winner for his family, including a disgruntled son Ash (Jason Schwartzman) who just wants to win the respect of his old man. Tension between the generations flares when nephew Kristofferson (Eric Anderson) comes to stay and puts poor Ash in the shade. Mr Fox cannot completely shy away from his animal instincts, and he turns to stealing from farmers Bunce (Hugo Guinness), Bean (Michael Gambon) and Boggis (Brian Cox), ropi, ng in Kristofferson to his hare-brained schemes. Having been humiliated by the fox, the trio lay siege to the trees where the family resides and open fire on Mr Fox, shooting off his bushy tail. Luckily, neighbouring critters including Badger (Bill Murray) rally around Mr Fox in his hour of need to help him elude the pursuers. Fantastic Mr. Fox is a visual triumph, let down slightly by a screenplay that doesn't know to which audience it is trying to appeal. The articulated characters have plenty of personality and there are some neat flourishes like when Mr Fox compliments his wife, "You're practically glowing, maybe it's the lighting", and her head is suddenly illuminated from within. The climactic escape is mind-boggling, leading to another cute gag reminiscent of Wallace and Gromit when Mr Fox races towards Bean's motorcycle and sidecar and drives away in an exact miniature replica hidden behind the hulking machine. The vocal performances from Clooney and Streep lend warmth to their warring couple, with fine support from Schwartzman, Murray and co, who are all regular collaborators on Anderson's films. For its technical ingenuity, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a film you admire and marvel at rather than unreservedly love.
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