
An analysis of the style and vision of Abbas Kiarostami, the world’s most iconic Iranian filmmaker, through the lens of his earliest work, including his first short film (Bread & Alley, 1970) and, particularly, his first feature, The Report. This early example of Kiarostami’s work gives insight into his poetic, humanistic tendencies, combining allegorical storytelling with a documentary, neo-realist sensibility, and often exploring the very nature of film as fiction, that have pervaded his work ever since, including such recent international sensations as A Taste of Cherry and Certified Copy. Exclusive interviews with film critics, historians and scholars (including the late great Andrew Sarris) and those directly involved in the making of The Report provide a look at how the career of this master independent auteur began and was shaped.
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Tag Archives: 2000s
Warriors of Terra (2006) Robert Wilson, Edward Furlong, Ellen Furey, Andrea Lui, Horror, Sci-Fi

A headstrong animal-rights activist group plans a raid on a bio-tech company to stop the cruelty. They discover the true nature of the experiments that are really taking place. As they break into a biotech lab only to have their idealism crushed by the terrifying things they find inside. But when a genetically mutated human with a taste for human flesh gets released, they all struggle to survive!
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The Reef (2010) Andrew Traucki, Damian Walshe-Howling, Gyton Grantley, Adrienne Pickering, Horror, Thriller

Luke welcomes his friend Matt and his girlfriend Suzie that come from London and Matt’s sister and Luke’s former girlfriend Kate that comes from Sydney to sail with him and the sailor Warren in a sailboat. However, the vessel hits an underwater rock and capsizes with an opening on her bottom. Luke advises that they should swim in the north direction to reach the Turtle Island, in Queensland, Australia, while they have strength since there is a current moving the boat in the opposite direction of land but Warren prefers to stay on the hull waiting for help since there are sharks in the water. The quartet swims, but they are hunted by a great white shark.
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Tomcats (2001) Gregory Poirier, Shannon Elizabeth, Jerry O’Connell, Jake Busey, Comedy

Seven years ago, a bunch of friends make a bet that’ll give the last remaining bachelor a ton of money. Now, after losing a ton of money at a Vegas Casino, Michael Delaney has to quickly get his friend Kyle married so that he can collect the prize money to pay back his debt.
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Down in the Valley (2005) David Jacobson, Edward Norton, Evan Rachel Wood, David Morse, Drama, Romance, Thriller

Tobe is a teenage girl in a dysfunctional American family, but one that appears both realistically normal and deeply embedded in suburbia. This is the landscape of Spielberg, but the family, inadequate father, rebellious daughter and quasi-autistic stepson, seems alienated and distant from the world around it. Into this milieu drifts Harlan, a young man whose roots are at least partially fantasised, part cowboy part movie cliche, and whose reality remains unclear. The pair embark on a romance that threatens her father, captivates her little brother and is destructive to them all. The sparse writing avoids cliche in this subtle, ethereal, independent film that is thought provoking in its mock simplicity.
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Smoking Room (2002) Roger Gual, Julio D. Wallovits, Miguel Ángel González, Francesc Orella, Francesc Garrido, Drama

A man tries to get a smoking room approved at the company he works at. While there is initial support from other employees, many end up backing out and change their opinions towards how the company should be run.
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Le doux amour des hommes (2002) Jean-Paul Civeyrac, Renaud Bécard, Claire Pérot, Marie-Joséphine Crenn, Drama

It’s a story about Raoul, a young man living at the beginning of the 21st century, who is part of the most fragile, unnecessary and appealing fragment of society. He goes from woman to woman, looking for love that seems unobtainable. But then he meets Jeanne, destined for freedom and tragedy…
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Saving Grace (2000) Nigel Cole, Brenda Blethyn, Craig Ferguson, Martin Clunes, Comedy, Crime

Unexpectedly widowed, prim and proper housewife Grace Trevethyn finds herself in dire financial straits when she inherits massive debts her late husband had been accruing for years. Faced with losing her house, she decides to use her talent for horticulture and hatches a plan to grow potent marijuana which can be sold at an astronomical price, thus solving her financial crisis. Grace and her gardener’s efforts to hide their illegal enterprise from the quaint and curious townsfolk and market their product comprise the remainder of the film.
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Dorm Daze (2003) David Hillenbrand, Scott Hillenbrand, Tatyana Ali, Boti Bliss, Gable Carr, Comedy, Crime, Mystery

As Christmas break approaches, the dormitories at Billingsley University are restless with sex-crazed students. Although eager to relinquish his burdensome virginity, Booker (Chris Owen) has thus far failed in this endeavor. His charitable older brother, Styles (Patrick Renna), does the sensible thing and hires a prostitute (Boti Bliss) to usher Booker into the realm of manhood. Unfortunately, some misunderstandings complicate this procedure, prompting sophomoric shenanigans.
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TANGUY (2001) Étienne Chatiliez, Sabine Azéma, André Dussollier, Éric Berger, Comedy

Edith and Paul Guetz are so happy with the birth of their son Tanguy that they promise he can live with them forever. Twenty-eight years later, Tanguy, a cultivated intellectual, is still ensconced in the family home – and his parents can hardly wait to see the back of him. When Tanguy reveals that it will be at least another year before he can complete his doctoral thesis and start looking for a full-time job, Edith’s nerves finally give way. She persuades her husband that the time has come to drive their stay-at-home son away, by whatever means possible..
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