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Derek Elley

Derek Elley's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at Tomatometer-approved publication(s).
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Reviews

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Maqbool (2003) 100% EDIT “The film demands a good knowledge of the original play to work, though the running time never drags.” – Variety Sep 20, 2023 Full Review Prince of Jutland (1994) 100% EDIT “Danish director Gabriel Axel’s Prince of Jutland is a lovingly made, ultra-small-scale yarn that successfully evokes the saga tradition at the cost of jettisoning most audiences in the process.” – Variety Oct 4, 2022 Full Review Alexander Revisited: Final Cut (2006) EDIT “Two years after his director's cut, Stone has been given an unprecedented third pass at the movie that's obsessed him for two decades.” – Variety May 4, 2020 Full Review Tomorrow La Scala! (2002) EDIT “A mildly amusing comedy-drama centered on a staging of Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd" in which performances help give some shape to an all-which-ways script.” – Variety Oct 11, 2018 Full Review Jadviga's Pillow (Jadviga Parnaja) (2000) EDIT “The pic's good qualities...are spread way too thin over the two-hour-plus running time, especially for a drama that's mostly intimate and small-scale...Some good performances and interesting material are dissipated by leisurely editing.” – Variety Mar 6, 2018 Full Review Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001) 100% EDIT “Stunningly scored and costumed, and gradually bringing in all the principals as it crosscuts between the Western-influenced party and Anjali's more traditional, middle-class milieu.” – Variety Nov 1, 2017 Full Review Whispering Pages (1994) 100% EDIT “Fans of abstract helmer Aleksandr Sokurov will find much to admire in Whispering Pages, a mesmeric journey through 19th-century Russian literary themes that looks like Dostoevsky on acid. Most other auds will head for the exit fast.” – Variety Mar 3, 2015 Full Review The King of Escape (2009) 100% EDIT “Wafer-thin plot is more an excuse for parading a rich selection of character types than anything else, as, refreshingly, the movie never gets tied up in emotional angst or sexual guilt.” – Variety Apr 9, 2014 Full Review Turn Left Turn Right (2003) EDIT “A pure piece of fluff that's sustained by clever plot twists.” – Variety Feb 23, 2012 Full Review Saviors in the Night (2009) EDIT “This third feature by Dutch helmer-producer Ludi Boeken benefits from his docu background in its realistic, no-frills style and refreshingly unsentimental treatment of the subject.” – Variety Feb 23, 2012 Full Review The Power of Kangwon Province (1998) 100% EDIT “Unlike many films centered on ennui and emotional rootlessness, it's never boring.” – Variety Feb 23, 2012 Full Review Mujse Dosti Karoge (2002) EDIT “An awesome demo of how to make a pic fly for 2 1/2 hours on technique and star power alone.” – Variety Feb 23, 2012 Full Review Tashan (2008) 50% EDIT “Yash Raj's quality-control department seems asleep at the switch in the high-gloss caper-actioner Tashan.” – Variety Feb 23, 2012 Full Review The Wedding Banquet (1993) 94% EDIT “Most of this is smoothly done and scripted with plenty of incident.” – Variety Feb 23, 2012 Full Review Big Nothing (2006) 38% EDIT “Andrea's maxed-out visual style is totally at odds with the basic material, which is actually a low-key character comedy. Despite some clever plot twists, wearying result feels as phony as Pegg's and McElhone's Yank accents.” – Variety Feb 23, 2012 Full Review Soul Kitchen (2009) 73% EDIT “Nicely cast ensembler, centered on a hopelessly disorganized eatery owner and peopled by a weird collection of lovable eccentrics, is pacey entertainment that hardly puts a foot wrong.” – Variety Jan 3, 2011 Full Review Red Hill (2010) 79% EDIT “As short on originality and sustained tension as it is long on striking widescreen vistas and impressive technical smarts.” – Variety Jan 3, 2011 Full Review Dostana (2008) 81% EDIT “Pic is largely sustained by the trio's screen chemistry, with Bachchan especially good at the louche comic stuff.” – Variety Jul 7, 2010 Full Review Trainspotting (1996) 90% EDIT “Scabrous, brutal and hip, Trainspotting is a Clockwork Orange for the '90s.” – Variety Jul 7, 2010 Full Review Kaante (2002) 83% EDIT “Kaante is an involving, often kinetic 2½-hour ride for auds who can accept their entertainment overboiled as well as just hardboiled.” – Variety Jul 6, 2010 Full Review 3 Idiots (2009) 100% EDIT “3 Idiots takes a while to lay out its game plan but pays off emotionally in its second half.” – Variety Jul 6, 2010 Full Review Brassed Off (1996) 79% EDIT “Herman has come up with a neat idea in a setting he knows and understands, and the script, helped along by an excellent selection of Brit character actors, has a generally taught, well-worked-over feel.” – Variety Jul 6, 2010 Full Review The Crows (1994) 80% EDIT “A neatly observed mood piece about a prepubescent tyke's day on the lam.” – Variety Jul 6, 2010 Full Review 24 City (2008) 89% EDIT “Strongest moments are when the pristine HD lensing by Hong Kong's Yu Lik-wai (a Jia regular) and Wang Yu, and warm string music by Yoshihiro Hanno, take over in montages showing the gradual dismantling of the factory.” – Variety Jul 6, 2010 Full Review Khakee (2004) 100% EDIT “Powerhouse casting, and equally powerhouse direction by Rajkumar Santoshi, makes this an above-average example of mainstream Bollywood thrillers.” – Variety Jul 6, 2010 Full Review
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