0-9 All Films 2003-6/2009

10 (d. Abbas Kiarostami) Ten vignettes of lady cab driver & her passengers (including her son). Static camera, droning voices. I snoozed. * 1/2

10.5 (d. John Lafia) V. The most epically ridiculous, scientifically absurd, horribly written & acted mini-series in tv history. But the f/x were pretty awesome. *

100 MILE RULE (d. Brent Huff) Caper film about a salesman at a conference who is entrapped into an illicit affair. *** 1/4

10th DISTRICT COURT (d. Raymond Depardon) Docu of the quotidien goings on in a local Parisian court. Illuminating...better than Judge Judy. ***

11'9''01 (France doc. d. various) 11 short films by various directors based on 9/11. Mostly a waste of celluloid. ** 1/2

12 (d. Nikita Mikhalkov; Russia) ***

12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST (d. Camelia Porumboiu) **

13 GOING ON 30 (d. Gary Winick) Another ridiculous kid in a grownup's body fantasy, though Mark Ruffalo is always worth watching. * 1/2

13 TZAMETI (d. Géla Babluani) V. Fr./Georgian variation on Intacto. Suspenseful +Giorgi Babluani is a find! *** 1/4

1408 (d. Mikael Hafström) ** 3/4

17 AGAIN (d. Burr Steers) Absurd wish fullfilment fantasy revisiting hi-school with hints of incest. Strangely enjoyable since Zac Efron pulls it off; ** 3/4

2 DAYS IN PARIS (d. Julie Delpy) ***

2 FAST 2 FURIOUS (d. John Stockman) Great action & sound; but the longest 65 minutes of repetitive testosterone tweaking ever. * 3/4

2 MINUTES LATER (d. Robert Gaston) * 1/2

2:37 (d. Murali K. Thalluri) *** 1/2

20 CENTIMETERS (d. Ramón Salazar) ***

20 FINGERS (d. Mania Akbari) Tight close-ups of a couple in motion, arguing shrilly, incessantly, boringly. Like recent Kiarostami, only feminist. * 3/4

20:30:40 (d. Sylvia Chang) Interwoven, soapy comedy about 3 varied aged women neighbors in modern Taipei. Somewhat superficial and overly long. * 3/4

2046 (d. Wong Kar-Wei) Ravishingly beautiful romantic film, Tony Leung beds several women and androids, and as usual I lost the narrative thread. ***

21 (d. Robert Luketic) A slam dunk for me both in subject & Jim Sturgess; but so logically flawed it's a shame. ** 3/4

21 GRAMS (d. Alejandro Gonzálas Iñárritu) Art film about love & dying with a choppy non-linear narrative & some great acting by all involved. *** 1/2

23 (Germany d. Hans-Christian Schmid) True life story of youg German hackers who provide crucial passwords to the Russians. ***

24TH DAY, THE (d. Tony Piccirillo) Excellent 2-person gay-themed drama with incredibly good acting by Scott Speedman & James Marsden. *** 1/2

25 CENT PREVIEW (d. Cyrus Amini) **

25 DEGREES IN WINTER (d. Stéphane Vuillet) Fun comedy about a Spanish family who has an adventure helping a Ukranian illegal immigrée in Brussels. ** 3/4

27 CLUB, THE (d. Erica Dunton) ** 1/4

28 DAYS LATER (d. Danny Boyle) DV looked terrible, but story gripped and terrific visuals. Cillian Murphy, so great in Disco Pigs, is hot! ***

28 WEEKS LATER (d. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo) Spare, horrifying, pessamistic...Michael Haneke would be proud. ***

3 LITTLE PIGS, THE (Les 3 p'tits cochons) (d. Patrick Huard) Fr. Canadian sex comedy which somehow works. ***

3 NEEDLES (d. Thom Fitzgerald) *** 1/4

3:30 TO YUMA (d. James Mangold) A perfect Western, until unmotivated ending spoiled it. *** 1/4

300 (d. Zack Snyder) Spectacular design, coherent narrative, even good dialog well presented. Comic book gore, but wow. *** 1/4

32A (d. Marian Quinn) ** 1/2

36 QUAI DES ORFÈVRES (d. Olivier Marchal) Auteuil & Depardieu in a French noir that could have been a Michael Mann film, dark & violent. ***

39 POUNDS OF LOVE (d. Dani Menkin)V. ***

3-IRON (d. Kim Ki-Duk) Fascinating, but weird Korean thriller about a silent young guy who breaks into houses. Very filmic and mysterious. *** 1/4

4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS (d. Cristian Mungiu; Romania) *** 1/4

4 (d. Ilya Khzhanovsky) Allegorical Russian film, lots of symbolism of items of 4; but stupefyingly repetative, overlong and obscure. *

4: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER (d. Tim May) **

40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN, THE (d. Judd Apatow) * 1/4

4400, THE (d. various)V. "Limited" tv sf series about returned alien abductees with strange powers. Compelling serial tv and I hope it continues. ***

49 UP (d. Michael Apted) *** 1/2

50 FIRST DATES (d. Peter Segal) V. Adam Sandler & Drew Barrymore bring out the best of each other. This film mines gold out of a weird concept. ***

54 (d. Mark Christopher) V. Finally caught this interesting film. Ryan Phillippe never hotter; Mike Myers never better. ***

5x2 (d. François Ozon) Unsparing, fascinating film about a dissolving marriage told in 5 reverse vignettes. Ozon's best in years. *** 3/4

7 VIRGINS (d. Alberto Rodríguez) *** 1/4

7 YEARS (d. Jean-Pascal Hattu) *** 1/4

800 BULLETS (d. Alex de la Iglesia) Comedy moden day homage to spaghetti Westerns & their genre. Funny, poignant. *** 1/2

881 (d. Royston Tan; Singapore) W/O

9 SONGS (d. Michael Winterbottom) Video verité about a couple, she American, he English, into Sex, Antarctica, and Rock & Roll. *** 1/4

9 SOULS (d.Toshiaki Toyota) A comedy about escaped convicts rampaging. I was bored and unamused and walked after an hour. W/O

9 (d. Umit Unal) Turkey AFF. Docudrama. Videotaped interrogation of 6 suspects in murder rape. ** 1/2

99 FRANCS (d. Jan Kounen) ***

9TH COMPANY (d. Fyodor Bondarchuk; Russia) *** 1/2