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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

67
$9.99
75
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66
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48
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56
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82
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Brothers Bloom, The
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Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
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Song of Sparrows, The
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22
What Goes Up
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57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
91
Hurt Locker, The
89
Goodbye Solo
88
Tulpan
87
Gomorrah
86
Seraphine
84
Summer Hours
83
U2 3D
83
Revanche
83
Tyson
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
Hunger
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
Il Divo
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
Tokyo Sonata
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
O'Horten
77
Every Little Step
77
Sin Nombre
75
24 City
74
Treeless Mountain
74
Afghan Star
74
Two Lovers
74
Song of Sparrows, The
74
Lemon Tree
71
Pressure Cooker
71
Jerichow
70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
End of the Line, The
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
69
Unmistaken Child
67
$9.99
67
Rudo y Cursi
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
Sex Positive
65
Departures
64
Outrage
64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
Lymelife
63
Tokyo!
63
Cheri
63
Dead Snow
63
Tetro
63
Great Buck Howard, The
62
Cherry Blossoms
62
Big Man Japan
62
Not Forgotten
61
Sunshine Cleaning
60
Under Our Skin
59
Sleep Dealer
58
Julia
58
Easy Virtue
57
Away We Go
57
Merry Gentleman, The
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
56
Girl from Monaco, The
56
American Violet
55
Brothers Bloom, The
54
Is Anybody There?
54
Pontypool
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
52
Quiet Chaos
50
Management
48
Alien Trespass
45
Whatever Works
42
Little Ashes
42
Tennessee
40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
12:08 East of Bucharest
Tartan USA
MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring
Mircea Andreescu,
Teodor Corban,
Ion Sapdaru,
Mirela Cioaba,
Cristina Ciofu,
Constantin Dita,
Luminita Gheorghiu,
and
Lucian Iftime
Sixteen years after the Revolution and just days before Christmas, a local television station in Bucharest has invited several guests to share their moments of glory, as they allegedly stormed city hall, chanting “down with Ceasescu!,” before Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, and his wife fled the presidential palace by helicopter so many years ago. (Tartan USA)
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
Drama
|
Foreign
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Corneliu Porumboiu
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Corneliu Porumboiu
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
Theatrical: June 6, 2007
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
89 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
Romania |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
Romanian (with English subtitles) |
Original title "A fost sau n-a fost?"; Golden Camera, 2006 Cannes Film Festival; Nominated, Best Foreign Film, 2007 Independent Spirit Awards

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
New York Post
V.A. Musetto
Porumboiu, who also produced and wrote, elicits remarkably deadpan performances from Teo Corban (as the show's host), Ion Sapdaru (the professor) and - especially - Mircea Andreescu, as the old man. Even the subtitles cracked me up.

100
San Francisco Chronicle
Leba Hertz
It's a movie that seems simple, yet its subtle and brilliant complexity is not to be denied.

91
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Noel Murray
Porumboiu starts off making a mordant slice of life, but he gradually entwines the personal and the historical, then ends on a poignant note. The story and situation are slight, but in the best possible way.

88
TV Guide
Ken Fox
Wonderfully droll, Cannes Camera d'Or winner.

88
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
For all its pessimism, the movie prompts a viewer to search his or her own memories for actions rather than reactions, and to mull over the differences between the two. It's a dark little ride, but at the end the lights hesitantly flicker back on.

80
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
This brilliantly caustic movie -- easily the best in a burgeoning and fertile effort to come to grips with post-Soviet malaise in Central and Eastern Europe -- offers living proof that when it comes to politics, comedy is the sincerest form of dissidence.

80
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
It's clear that an exceptional body of work is coming out of this country at this particular time and place. It's not necessary to categorize these films to enjoy them, it's just necessary to go.

80
Washington Post
Philip Kennicott
A remarkable film from Romania.

78
Austin Chronicle
Toddy Burton
While 12:08 East of Bucharest could take more than one viewing to truly appreciate, it’s worth the commitment.

75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips
Porumboiu's picture, small and pungent, lacks the resonance of "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu," Cristi Puiu's masterpiece of contemporary Romanian malaise released in the U.S. last year. But this one's less forbidding, and it has a satisfying shape and fullness.

70
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
A casually bleak and neatly structured ensemble comedy--at once deadpan and bemused.

70
Variety
Justin Chang
The buoyant little comedy 12:08 East of Bucharest puts its finger on the problem in the best tradition of East European humor, savvy but concrete, gentle but sharp as a knife.

70
The New York Times
A.O. Scott
Though it is modest, almost anecdotal, in scale, 12:08 East of Bucharest is also characterized by a precise and sneaky formal wit.

67
Entertainment Weekly
Scott Brown
12:08 East of Bucharest is a shrewdly built comedy, but the characters are broad-verging-on-cheap unholy hick fools.

50
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Part of the minimalist humor growing out of this small-scale event is that they can barely remember anything, because the revolution scarcely made any difference.


The average user rating for this movie is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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