Liam Neeson surpasses himself with his portrayal of the legendary Irish folk hero in this stirring historical drama. The controversial patriot's life, from his advent after the Easter Rising to his untimely death, is vividly depicted by a sterling cast in this passion-packed biopic. Excellent. find out more...

 

The title is misleading--there is no Spartacus to be found here--but little matter, as Gods of the Arena is a prime example of making lemonade from lemons. Faced with the unavailability of Andy Whitfield, star of Spartacus: Blood and Sand, due to a recurrence of cancer, the folks at Starz chose to go ahead without him and create a prequel, a resourceful way of buying some time until a new Spartacus could be found while employing several actors already under contract. The focus find out more...

The title is misleading--there is no Spartacus to be found here--but little matter, as Gods of the Arena is a prime example of making lemonade from lemons. Faced with the unavailability of Andy Whitfield, star of Spartacus: Blood and Sand, due to a recurrence of cancer, the folks at Starz chose to go ahead without him and create a prequel, a resourceful way of buying some time until a new Spartacus could be found while employing several actors already under contract. The focus throughout thes find out more...

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A film dominated by one performance, Forest Whitaker's turn as the infamous dictator Idi Amin. When young Scotsman Nicholas Garrigan becomes his personal physician few of us doubt that it will inevitably end in tears, but Amin, as is so often the way with monsters, has considerable charm to go with his paranoid genocidal tendencies and the naïve Garrigan is seduced. However Garrigan's role is ambiguous; is he just dumb or is he willingly looking the other way? The film also reverses the typical find out more...

A superbly crafted melodrama, even if it never manages to top the moody montage with which it opens - moon scudding behind clouds, rubber dripping from a tree, coolies dozing in the compound, a startled cockatoo - as a shot rings out, a man staggers out onto the verandah, and Davis follows to empty her gun grimly into his body. The contrivance evident in Maugham's play during the investigation and trial that follow is kept firmly at bay by Wyler's technical expertise and terrific performances, n find out more...

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In this drama directed and co-written by Claire Denis, Isabelle Huppert plays Maria, a white woman living in an unnamed francophone African country that is been falling into political chaos. Maria owns a coffee plantation and regards her property as her personal domain; she would rather fight than give up her land, though her stubborn attitude prevents her from admitting that she's putting those close to her in danger.
France continues to struggle in coming to terms with her colonial pa find out more...