| 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. * |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 24TH DAY, THE (d. Tony Piccirillo) Excellent 2-person gay-themed drama with incredibly good acting by Scott Speedman & James Marsden. *** 1/2 |
| 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 |
| 4400, THE (d. various)V. "Limited" tv sf series about returned alien abductees with strange powers. Compelling serial tv and I hope it continues. *** |
| 9 SOULS (d.Toshiaki Toyota) A comedy about escaped convicts rampaging. I was bored and unamused and walked after an hour. W/O |
| A FATHER, A SON, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (d. Lee Grant) V. Insider docu about Kirk and Michael Douglas, interesting but not great. ** 3/4 |
| AFTERMATH (d. Paprika Steen) Emotionally shattering, beautifully acted chamber drama about the affects of grief on a couple & the people around them. *** 1/2 |
| AGENT CODY BANKS 2 (d. Kevin Allen) Silly, but coherent kids film. At least miles better than Inspector Gadget, which is saying something. ** 1/4 |
| AGRONOMIST, THE (d. Jonathan Demme) V. Doc. about Haitian radio radical good guy Jean Dominique. Interesting, but slow mid-section disappoints. ** 3/4 |
| AKA (d. Duncan Roy)V.+ Complete re-edit from multi-screen festival version 2 years ago. Well done British lower class gay imposter story. ** 3/4 |
| ALAMO, THE (d. John Lee Hancock) Mediocre script with too many levels of flashbacks; but otherwise fairly well made historical pic. ** 1/2 |
| ALEGRE MA NON TROPPO (d. Fernando Colomo) Slick, high gloss '94 Spanish sex farce on confused sexuality with clever plot and some fine acting. *** |
| ALEXANDER (d. Oliver Stone) Epic with a confusingly constructed script but some great battle scenes. Jolie's accent inexplicable; but Farrell is pretty good. ** 3/4 |
| ALFIE (d. Charles Shyer) Jude Law is an attractive star playing a cad in this somewhat boring, mediocre comedy. Shyer is a hack director; but his casting works. ** 1/4 |
| ALL OR NOTHING (d. Mike Leigh)V. Finally caught Leigh's miserabilist version of Life is Sour. As usual, fine filmmaking; but depressing. *** |
| ALONG CAME POLLY (d. John Hamburg) Big stars, but a terribly tasteless script...even Philip Hoffman overdid his slob schtick. * 1/2 |
| AMERICAN JOBS (d. Greg Spotts) V. Informative, reasoned docu about the effect of NAFTA etc. on the American worker. Good polemics and filmmaking. *** |
| AMERICAN WEDDING (d. Jesse Dylan) V. A new scatological nadir for this series; but I have to admit that I laughed at some situations despite myself. * 1/4 |
| AMNESIA (d. Nicholas Laughland) V. BBC mystery-thriller about an amnesiac cop on the trail of a possible wife murderer. Nice script, but too pat. ** 3/4 |
| ANATOMY OF HELL (d. Catherine Breillat) Opaque narrative about a girl who hires a "gay" man to ravage her. Squickily sexually explicit. ** |
| ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY (d. Adam McKay) Totally unfunny (for me) silly, even stupid comedy take on '70s newscasters. * |
| ANNIVERSARY PARTY, THE (d. Leigh & Cumming) V. An almost perfect video film of today's Hollywood creative types & their screwed-up fabulous lives. *** 1/2 |
| ANONYMOUS (d. Todd Verow) Verow tries arty French porn (a la Porn Theater). He's not up to it as director or actor. Degrading, despicable disaster. 1/2* |
| APRÈS VOUS (d. Pierre Salvadore) Annoying and contrived French farce. * 3/4 |
| AROUND THE BEND (d. Jordan Roberts) 4 generation of a family's secrets made into a road picture, similar to Last Orders, but rather pedestrian. ** 1/4 |
| AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (d. Frank Coraci) A ridiculously overblown remake of a movie which didn't need to be remade. * 1/4 |
| ARYAN COUPLE, THE (d. John Daly) Sometimes cheesy melodramas just work, as this well-cast, politically incorrect Holocaust story does for me. Judy Parfitt is wonderful. *** |
| AS IT IS IN HEAVEN (d. Kay Pollak) Uplifting & emotionally satisfying drama about an artist who brings enlightenment to his backwater Swedish home town. *** 1/2 |
| ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON, THE (d. Niels Mueller) Sean Penn is remarkable as a '70s loser who becomes a plane hi-jacker. *** |
| ASTRONAUTS (d. Santi Amodeo) Slight, wry romantic comedy about an ex-junky and a 16 yr girl. Not as cute as it tries to be. ** |
| AVIATOR, THE (d. Martin Scorsese) Powerful biopic, visually splendid with great perfs by Di Caprio and Blanchett. Too sprawling, but it worked magic for me. *** 1/2 |
| BAD EDUCATION (d. Pedro Almodovar) Pedro's gayest film since Law of Desire. Silly noirish plot; but total fun with an extraordinary Gaël Bernal. *** |
| BAJARSE AL MORO (d. Fernando Colomo) A low-budget '88 comedy about Madrid druggies. Even a young Antonio Bandares couldn't elevate it. ** |
| BALSEROS (d. Bosch and Doménech) V. Absorbing doc. which explores the lives of several Cuban raft people who eventually come to the U.S. over 9 years. *** 1/4 |
| BEAR CUB (d. Luis Miguel Albaladejo) An honest, moving, straightforward Spanish film about a gay man thrust into caring for his 9 yr old nephew. *** |
| BEFORE SUNSET (d.Richard Linklater) Talky sequel to one of my all-time fave films. Satisfying in context; but not as good a film. *** |
| BEING JULIA (d. Istvan Szabo) Overwrought, entertaining period melodrama about a monster actress in 1938 London. Benning's performance: Oscar bait tour de force. *** |
| BELIEVER, THE (d. Henry Bean) V.+ I appreciated the quality of the filmmaking more the 2nd time around. One hell of a script, well executed. *** 1/2 |
| BENEATH HER WINDOW (d. Metod Pevec) Screwball Slovenian comedy about a 30ish woman's romantic entanglements whose evident charms escaped me. ** 1/4 |
| BEREFT (d. Tim Daly, Clark Mathis) Overwrought drama about a young woman driven crazy with grief by the auto accident death of her husband. ** 1/2 |
| BEREFT (d. Tim Daly, Clark Mathis)+ Oops! I forgot I'd seen this grief drama at SIFF and was unimpressed. Here the beauty of the images made up somewhat. ** 3/4 |
| BEST DAY OF MY LIFE (d. Cristina Comencini) Splendid and moving, complex Italian disfunctional family saga, 2 sisters and gay son & their lives and loves. *** 1/4 |
| BEST OF YOUTH #1 (d. Marco Giordana) Part one of this sprawling family saga propulsively sets up the drama & characters. *** |
| BEST OF YOUTH #2 (d. Marco Giordana) In part two the emotional rewards so carefully plotted are huge. A totally satisfying 6 hour epic of late 20th Century Italy. **** |
| BEYOND THE SEA (d. Kevin Spacey) The most off the wall musical biopic since Delovely. Spacey makes a better lounge singer than director! ** 1/4 |
| B-HAPPY (d. Gonzalo Justiniano) Another periled latina teen girl film, this time a poor girl whose father is in prison. Simple, effective filmmaking. *** |
| BIRTH (d. Jonathan Glazer) Heavy duty, eerie psychological drama. Nicole Kiddman fine here, script has a nicely satisfying ambiguity & interesting direction. *** 1/4 |
| BLACK ROBE (d. Bruce Beresford) V. Gut-wrenching '91 film with Lothar Bluteau playing a jesuit priest in New France pre-revolution. *** |
| BLACKWATER LIGHTSHIP (d. John Erman) V. An Early Frost, updated...but still a little out of date. I'm too emotionally fragile for AIDS stories like this. *** 1/2 |
| BLOOM (d. Sean Walsh) Earnest adaptation of the unadaptable Ulysses, using lots of voiceovers for interior monologue. Well made; but not my cuppa. ** 1/2 |
| BLUEBERRY (d. Jan Kounen ) A psychedelic westen which, though overlong and undiciplined, delivers the goods with fabulous f/x & a superb Vincent Cassell. *** |
| BODYSONG (d. Simon Pummell) V. Hypno-docu, sort of a Family of Man of found film clips to music (cf Koyaanisqatsi). Fascinating and a little boring. ** 1/2 |
| BONJOUR M. SHLOMI (d. Shemi Zarhin) A superbly observed film about a 16 year old boy whose specialness has been hidden in his disfunctional family. *** 3/4 |
| BORED IN BRNO (d. Vladimir Moravek) An earthy Czech multi-character sex comedy which got better as it went along. Too bread for my tastes. ** 1/4 |
| BOURNE SUPREMACY, THE (d. Paul Greengrass) Superior thriller, greatest auto chase scene since Ronin. Some plot holes; but editing pace hides them. *** 1/4 |
| BOYS (d. Stacy Cochran)V. A TiVo loser. Mysterious Winona Ryder ends up in a boys boarding school dorm tempting rebellious Lucas Haas. No chemistry. * 1/2 |
| BOYS FROM COUNTY CLARE (d. John Irvin) Predictable, clichéd Irish trifle about dueling traditional Irish bands. * 3/4 |
| BRIDE AND PREJUDICE (d. Gurinder Chadha) Hollywood meets Bollywood, and I suspect becomes a surprising hit. It works after a fashion. *** |
| BRIDGET JONES: EDGE OF REASON (d. Beeban Kidron) Dreadful film. Poor Renée Zellweger wasted all that weighty effort. Horrendous script, no romantic chemistry. * |
| BRIGHT FUTURE (d. Kiyoshi Kurosawa) A straightforward (for this director) slacker story about disaffected youths in Japan. ** 1/4 |
| BRIGHT LEAVES (d. Ross McElwee) V. Personal docu about McElwee's family connection to tobacco. Slowly paced, but interesting & beautifully shot. *** |
| BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS (d. Stephen Fry) Fast paced story of the mad upperclass in England just pre-WWII. Gorgeous period stuff, well played. *** |
| BUKOWSKI: BORN INTO THIS (d. John Dullighan) V. I've never much been into Bukowski; but this compelling docu presents him well. ** 3/4 |
| BUS 174 (d. José Padilha) V. Brazilian doc which examines thoroughly the background of a publically televised bus hijacking and relives the tragic events. *** |
| CALENDAR GIRLS (d. Nigel Cole) Mediocre female version of The Full Monty. ** |
| CAMPFIRE (d. Joseph Cedar) Involving family drama about a woman with 2 daughters coping with social and relational problems. Nicely acted. *** |
| CAPONE (d. Jean Marc Brandolo) Buddy road trip film...two lost souls taking a race horse from Paris to Finland. Good film, but I dozed. ** 3/4 |
| CAPTIVE (d. Gastón Biraben) Moving & beautifully acted film about an Argentine teenage girl who discovers her parents are not her real parents. *** 1/4 |
| CARANDIRU (d. Hector Babenco) A Brazilian prison worse than Oz, from doctor's pov. Involving, occasionally wrenching, well acted, nicely put together. *** 1/4 |
| CARD PLAYER, THE (d. Dario Argento) Ludicrous, but well directed Italian policier about a maniac serial woman killer using the internet to play games with police. * 1/2 |
| CARNAGE (d. Delphine Gleize) V. Visually stunning film about, well, bull. And how all is connected in the world. Or something. *** |
| CASH TRUCK (d. Nicolas Boukhrief) Effective, beautifully shot film noir, violent and unpredictable. *** |
| CAVEDWELLER (d. Lisa Cholodenko) Sometimes annoying but satisfying drama about woman who ran away with a rock band returning home to Georgia. ** 3/4 |
| CELESTE IN THE CITY (d. Larry Shaw) V. Queer Eye for Straight Girl makeover ABC Family film abounding with simplistic stereotypes. Another great Ethan Embry role. ** |
| CELLULAR (d. David Ellis) More plot holes than Swiss cheese in this silly variant on Phone Booth; but Chris Evans is going to be a star. * 3/4 |
| CHARLIE: THE LIFE & ART OF CHARLES CHAPLIN (d. Richard Schickel) V. Fascinating, if facile doc about the great film artist. *** 1/4 |
| CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN (d. Shawn Levy) I expected to hate it; but instead I was enchanted by the story & actors. Funny and emotionally satisfying. *** |
| CHORISTES, LES (d. Christophe Barratier) Franch AFF: moving drama of a teacher who tames the boys in a reform school through music. *** 1/2 |
| CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS (d. Joe Roth) Horrendous, embarrassing, utterly offensive (to this Jewish observer), silly, unfunny. Did I love it? 1/2* |
| CHRONICALS (d. Sebastian Cordero) Equador's Acad. entry is a superb psychological thriller about a child serial killer's manipulation of tv pop news. *** 1/4 |
| CHRYSTAL (d. Ray McKinnon) Southern gothic story of the effects of an auto accident on a couple after 20 years of the husband in prison. ** 3/4 |
| CLEARING, THE (d. Pieter Jan Brugge) Hi-gloss kidnap film, Redford victim, Mirren the suffering wife. "Without a Trace" does it better. ** |
| CLOSER (d. Mike Nichols) Four loathsome characters well acted and beautifully photographed (cf similar Carnal Knowledge!) Portman & Owen never better. ** 3/4 |
| COAST TO COAST (d. Paul Mazursky) V. Judy Davis & Richard Dreyfuss are excellent in this moving, adult drama about a couple devastated by their son's death. *** 1/2 |
| CODE 46 (d. Michael Winterbottom) One, of the greatest examples of cyberpunk ever put on film. Winterbottom's future imagery is amazing. *** 3/4 |
| COLD LIGHT (d. Hilmar Oddsson) Iceland's AFF is a dour tragedy about a 40ish man finally facing a tragedy of his youth. *** |
| COLDEST DAY, THE (d. Xie Dong) A somewhat boring film about mutual infidelity in a modern Chinese marriage. ** |
| COLLATERAL (d. Michael Mann) L.A. is the star here; and Mann doesn't cheat the geography. Mann's best film in a while. *** |
| CONNIE AND CARLA (d. Michael Lembeck) Silly, if intermittantly funny, script. I liked the music; but the film is excessivly clichéd. * 3/4 |
| CONTROL ROOM (d. Jehane Noujaim) Doc. about Al-Jezeera's coverage of the current Iraq War. Good footage, though repetitive. ** 3/4 |
| CORPORATION, THE (d. Achbar & Abbott) Overlong but fascinating Canadian documentary about "corporations" as psychotic people. *** 1/2 |
| COST OF LIVING (d. Phillippe Le Guay) Vivid, beautifully realized multi-character story connected by the theme money for love. *** 1/4 |
| COWBOYS AND ANGELS (d. David Gleeson) Beautifully written & acted Irish coming-of-age gay/straight romantic comedy. Michael Legge is wonderful. *** 1/4 |
| CRIMINAL (d. Gregory Jacobs) A faithful remake of Nine Queens, which means a good, if familiar script. A sympathetic cast, still this one doesn't quite jell. ** 1/2 |
| CUBA LIBRA (d. Juan Gerard) Nostalgic, but too pat, reminiscence of an 11 yr. old boy coming of age in '58 small town Cuba prior to revolution. ** |
| DANDELION (d. Mark Milgard) Well acted, somewhat pointless coming of age story of boy who sacrifices much for his dysfunctional family. ** 3/4 |
| DAY AFTER TOMORROW, THE (d. Roland Emmerich) Cliché story (though involving & well done), fantastically realistic special f/x. ** 3/4 |
| DAYBREAK (d. Bjorn Runge) Three cleverly interwoven stories of strange relationship angst in Sweden. I couldn't relate to the stories. ** 3/4 |
| DAYS OF BEING WILD (d. Wong Kar-wei) I was carried away by the plot, actors & especially the cinematography. Now I must reassess In The Mood For Love. *** 1/2 |
| DEAL, THE (d. Harvey Kahn) Wall Street shenanigans in the oil patch in the near future. Slickly made, good cast, but probably straight to video. ** 1/2 |
| DEAR FRANKIE (d. Shona Aurbach) Tender and moving drama of deaf boy's bonding with a surrogate father. *** 1/4 |
| DEATH AND TEXAS (d. Kevin DiNovis) Satiric, pointed but understated mockumentary about a famed football player on death row in Texas. *** 1/4 |
| DEBUTANTES, LOS (d. Andres Waissbluth) Strong, multi-POV, sexy drama about 2 naive brothers who become involved with a porn boss and his mistress. *** |
| DEEP BREATH (d. Parviz Shahbazi) Iran's AFF is a road picture about disaffected college students, amazingly secular for an official submission. ** 1/2 |
| DEKADA '70 (d. Chito Rono) Melodramatic saga of 15 years of a Philippine family, 5 boys & Ozzie & Harriet parents. Too long and overamped. ** |
| DE-LOVELY (d. Irwin Winkler) Massively over-written Cole Porter biopic. Good music and singer cameos; but otherwise bloated and pretentious. ** 1/4 |
| DIG! (d. Ondi Timoner) Extraordinary video documentary about two current retro 60's underground bands. Fabulous footage well edited. *** 1/4 |
| DIRTY DANCING: HAVANA NIGHTS (d. Guy Ferland) Pretty much cookie cutter plot, but fun. Diego Luna: Latin lover for the 2000's. ** 1/4 |
| DIRTY SHAME, A (d. John Waters) Utterly transgressive sex farce which takes Waters' anarchic style to its untoppable culmination. Still, never boring. ** 3/4 |
| DISTURBING BEHAVIOR (d. David Nutter) V. Mind control '98 horror flick, a teenage Stepford High, good cast, well directed, but way over the top. ** |
| DODGEBALL (d. Rawson M. Thurber) Silly, amiable entertainment. I didn't find it funny; but it sure tries hard enough. Stiller still has "it". ** 1/2 |
| DOGVILLE (d. Lars von Trier) A malevolent Our Town, more tv throwback than film, Kidman and Bettany are really good. *** |
| DONAU, DUNA, DUNAJ, DUNAV, DUNAREA (d. Goren Rebic) Beautiful;y done story of a "ship of fools" and romantics heading down the Danube. *** |
| DONKEY SKIN (d. Jacques Demy) A gentle fairy tale. Demy has style to spare; but other than the costumes I wasn't blown away. ** 1/2 |
| DONNIE DARKO: DIRECTOR'S CUT (d. Richard Kelly) Improved comprehensibility; but I really missed some scenes. Still a fantastic film. *** 1/2 |
| DOOR IN THE FLOOR, THE (d. Tod Williams) Superbly acted drama of a family's corrosive grief & a boy's (the promising Jon Foster) coming of age. *** 1/2 |
| DORIAN BLUES (d. Tennyson Bardwell) A genuinely funny coming out comedy, a crowd pleaser with a brilliant script and assured acting & direction. *** 1/4 |
| DOS TIPOS DUROS (d. Juan Moreno) A Guy Richie type bloody, gang-who-couldn't-shoot-straight comedy, only totally diverting. Jordi Vilches wonderful. *** |
| DOWN TO THE BONE (d. Debra Granik) Bare bones video verité of a woman drug addict that spares nothing. Some incredible acting here. *** |
| DREAMERS, THE (d. Bernardo Bertolucci) I just about lived this movie 5 years earlier...and this excellent film couldn't be more true to life. *** 3/4 |
| DRIFTERS (d. Wang Xiaoshuai) Slow drama about a Chinese guy who had a kid as an illegal in the U.S. and then is kept from his son when he's deported. ** |
| DUCK SEASON (d. Fernando Eimbcke) Two 14 year old boys left alone in an apartment on a Sunday get into trouble. Wonderfully observent and affecting. *** 1/4 |
| EAGER BODIES (d. Xavier Giannoli) Love Story with a particularly French twist. Great acting. *** 1/2 |
| EARTHSEA (d. Robert Lieberman) V. Surprisingly together, if hokey, sf miniseries, mediocre acting...but the f/x are fine and the project works. ** 1/2 |
| EAT THIS NEW YORK (d. Novack and Rossi) V. Pre-The Restaurant docu about building a neighborhood bistro in Brooklyn & the viscissitudes of the big NYC chefs. *** |
| EATING OUT (d. Q. Allan Brocka) Sparkling, well cast lo-budget gay/straight sex farce. Emily Stiles' clever faghag steals the movie from some good looking guys. ** 3/4 |
| EFECTO IGUAZÚ, EL (d. Pere Joan Ventura) Doc. about 1800 striking Spaniards who camped out in a Madrid shanty town for 6 months in 2001. *** 1/4 |
| EL ALAMEIN (d. Enzo Monteleone) Spare and powerful story of Italian platoon on the losing side at the battle of El Alamein. *** |
| ELINA (d. Klaus Haro) Like Evil, a story of schooling in Sweden in the '50's, only this time a stubborn little girl vs. a stubborn teacher. Academy bait left me cold. ** 3/4 |
| EMPEROR'S WIFE, THE (d. Julian Vrebos) Stylized modern dress story of court intrigue. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers charismatic as chancellor to Max Beesley's emperor. ** 1/2 |
| END OF THE CENTURY (d. Fields & Gramaglia) V. The Ramone's were never my cuppa musicwise; but this informative, of uninspired docu about group digs deep. *** |
| ENDURING LOVE (d. Roger Michell) Dynamite, kinetic opening leads to a story of divinely inspired romantic obsession. Daniel Craig is wonderful. *** 1/4 |
| ENVY (d. Barry Levinson) It started ok, clever with some good yuks. Black & Stiller are a great comedy team & Walken rules; but the film totally falls apart in 3rd act. ** |
| ERES MI HEROE (d. Antonio Cuadri) Excellent coming of age story of 13 year old boy during the death of Franco era. Manuel Lozano is great as the kid. *** 1/2 |
| ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (d. Michel Gondry) Writing, acting, directing, f/x tour de force; also an affecting love story. **** |
| ETHAN MAO (d. Quentin Lee) Involving drama in the Araki mode of a Gay Asian boy kicked out of home into life of street hustler. ** 3/4 |
| EULOGY (d. Michael Clancy) A screwball family comedy with an outstanding cast, entertaining, but a ridiculous script and only intermittently funny. ** 1/4 |
| EVERGREEN (d. Edid Zentelis) A low-budget Seattle HD video/film about a lower class girl who is ahamed of her family. Good acting. ** 1/4 |
| EVERYDAY PEOPLE (d. Jim McKay) Pleasant enought HBO tv movie about a Brooklyn deli and the consequences of its closing. ** 3/4 |
| EVIL (d. Maiael Hafström) A 50's Swedish boarding school's sadistic system and its affect on a rebellious kid. A cross of If and Rebel Without a Cause. *** 1/2 |
| EXTREME OPS (d. Christian Duguay)V. Silly, unlikely action film: extreme sports vs.Serbian terrorists. Good cast (Devon Sawa, Rupert Graves, Rufus Sewell) wasted. ** 1/4 |
| FACING WINDOWS (d. Ferzan Ozpetek) Resonant, multilevel story of a modern day couple who become involved with a Holocaust survivor. *** 1/4 |
| FAHRENHEIT 9/11 (d. Michael Moore) Slam dunk politically; but doc could be structured better for my taste. *** 1/4 |
| FATHER & SONS (d. Michael Boujenah) A feel good, amusing French comedy road picture about a father and his squabbling sons. Beautifully acted. *** |
| FEAR AND TREMBLING (d. Alain Corneau) A fascinating French office film set in a Japanese office. Sylvie Testud is wonderful. *** 1/4 |
| FEATHERS IN MY HEAD (d. Thomas de Thier) Compelling, beautifully shot film about a family torn by the consequences of a missing child. *** |
| FEELING MINNESOTA (d. Steven Baigelman)V. '96 Keanu Reeves/Cameron Diaz screwball dumb guy/bad girl comedy. Watchable, but ridiculous plot. ** |
| FERPECT CRIME (d. Alex de la Iglesia) Another zany film by Iglesia, high gloss comedy about a Lothario salesman's comeuppence. Good fun, but a trifle obvious. ** 3/4 |
| FESTIVAL EXPRESS (d. Bob Smeaton) Wonderful footage of 1970 rock festival train across Canada. Great The Band & Janis performances. *** 1/2 |
| FIDEL (d. David Attwood)V. TV mini-series biopic of the Cuban revolution...diffuse script, but good performances by Victor Martin and, of course, Gael Bernal as Che. ** 1/4 |
| FINAL CUT, THE (d. Omar Nïam) Unsatisfying, psychological sci-fi melodrama about saving memories. Poor Robin Williams comes a cropper again. ** |
| FINDING NEVERLAND (d. Marc Forster) Emotionally powerful, unlikely romantic film based on J.M. Barrie's life. Depp is outstanding in a muted perf. *** |
| FIRST DAUGHTER (d. Forest Whitaker) Utterly predictable, slick romantic comedy. I like Marc Blucas; but Katie Holms is awfully plastic. * 1/2 |
| FIRST NIGHT, THE (d. Luis Restrepo) Columbian AFF about the uprooting effects of a local rebellion on a rural family. Somewhat overamped, but moving. ** 1/2 |
| FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS, THE (d. Lars von Trier, Jorgen Leth) Von Trier as tyrant making Leth redo his seminal short 5 times. Both boring & interesting. ** 1/2 |
| FLAQUEZA DEL BOLCHEVIQUE, LA (d. Manuel Cuenca) Luis Tosar shines again as conflicted man who gets involved with teenage girl. ** 3/4 |
| FOG OF WAR, THE (d. Errol Moris) More than a talking head doc, the film is a valuable primer on the responsibilities of leadership and frailty of human nature. *** 1/2 |
| FORGOTTEN, THE (d. Joseph Rubin) Eerie, scary psychological sci-fi melodrama about losing memories, very effectively filmmaking. Julianne Morre simply great. *** 1/4 |
| FORMULA 17 (d. D.J. & Yin-Jung Cheng) V. Silly gay Taiwanese comedy with lavish photography, but dreadful acting and line readings. * 3/4 |
| FORSYTE SAGA, THE: TO LET (d. Andy Wilson) V. Incredibly involving 5 hour followup to original. Glorious production, superb acting. **** |
| FRANCE BOUTIQUE (d. Tonie Marshall) Fast paced but empty comedy about the people doing a French cable tv shopping channel. ** |
| FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (d. Peter Berg) One of the all-time great sports films, wonderfully directed and edited (great music, too). Thornton & Lucas Black shine. *** 1/2 |
| FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (d. Peter Berg) V.+ Even more impressive on video, certainly the best sports film I've ever seen and the best edited film of the year. *** 3/4 |
| FUSE (d. Pjer Zalica) A confusing, but effective satire about post-war reconciliation in Bosnia. ** 3/4 |
| GARDEN STATE (d. Zach Braff) Likable young man comes home to N.J. when his mother dies and finds himself. Inventive details, I just like this film. *** |
| GIRL NEXT DOOR, THE (d. Luke Greenfield) I expect to like it; but instead I was offended by the ridiculous plot, though Olyphant and Hirsch were good. * 3/4 |
| GO FURTHER (d. Ron Mann) Entertaining doc. about Woody Harrelson emulating Kesey's Prankster bus in a trip & bike ride for the environment. ** 3/4 |
| GODSEND (d. Nick Hamm) Almost a good film, sort of a secular Omen, effectively and darkly shot, directed & acted. But can't surmount its ridiculous premise. ** |
| GOOD BYE, LENIN! (d. Wolfgang Becker) A political satire about the Wall and German unification which is amusing and affecting. *** 1/4 |
| GOOD LAWYER’S WIFE, A (Im Sang-soo) Very sexy drama about the corrosive effects of marital infidelity by a lawyer & his wife. *** |
| GRAFFITI ARTIST, THE (d. James Bolton) Slow, hypnotic digital video about a young, gay graffiti artist who befriends another boy & tags the NW. *** |
| GRAN GATO, EL (d. Ventura Pons) Doc. about songwriter in vein of Shadow of Motown & Buena Vista Club. Good music. *** |
| GREEN BUTCHERS, THE (d. Anders Jensen) Dutch black comedy about a couple of losers who make a macabre go of a new butcher shop. ** 3/4 |
| GRID, THE (d. Mikael Salomon)V. Mini-series about a multi-national war on terrorism involving the CIA, NSC, FBI, MI-5 & MI-6. Gripping, with some fine performances. *** |
| GUILTY, THE (d. Anthony Waller)V. Totally contrived murder mystery thriller with a good cast, Bill Pullman and Devon Sawa especially. ** 1/2 |
| GUYS, THE (d. Jim Simpson) An emotional, talky film about FDNY coping with 9/11. Anthony LaPaglia great, Sigorney Weaver also pretty good. ** 1/2 |
| HANGING OFFENSE (d. Guillame Nicloux) Atmospheric, puzzling thriller about possible murders and the woman Colombo-like detective on the case. *** |
| HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE (d. Danny Leiner) Silly teen farce with too many stupid bathroom & fag bashing jokes...but fun anyway. ** 1/4 |
| HARRY AND MAX (d. Chris Munch) Brutally honest, well written story of 2 boy-band brothers with incest overtones. Bryce Johnson is a major find! *** 1/4 |
| HARRY AND MAX (d. Christopher Munch) + Still one of the most truthful & insightful films about boybands and gay life in general. Better the 2nd time. *** 1/2 |
| HARRY POTTER #3 (d. Alfonso Cuarón) Darker, better directed; but still relatively uninvolving. Maybe I should read the books. ** 1/2 |
| HAWAII, OSLO (d. Erik Poppe) Norway AFF: slick, complex multi-strand drama of a group of Oslo residents as they play out one character's portentious dream. *** |
| HEAD IN THE CLOUDS (d. John Duigan) Old fashioned big WWII romance, a tear jerker that didn't jerk but never bored. Theron fine; but Townsend too callow for role. ** 3/4 |
| HEAD-ON (d. Fatih Akin) Off center love story about troubled German Turkish couple. Good film, but not as good as rep. *** 1/4 |
| HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS, THE (d. Asia Argento) Mind blowing adaptation from life of a young boy being raised by his disaster of a mother. *** 1/2 |
| HENRY VIII (d. Pete Travis) V. Abridged PBS version of British series with an interesting Ray Winstone perf. Pop history, but too short to be meaningful. ** 1/4 |
| HIDALGO (d. Joe Johnston) Entertaining western variant, true (if transparently enhanced) story of a mustang competing with thoroughbred Arabians. ** 3/4 |
| HIDING AND SEEKING (d. Menachem Daum) V. Enormously moving docu about a family of Holocaust survivors and their reconciliation with the past. *** 3/4 |
| HIGH TENSION (d. Alexandre Aja) Vividly graphic and gory mass-murder horror thriller, well made, but based on a cheat which compromises it. *** |
| HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD, A (d. Michael Mayer) Extraordinarily well made, literate gay film which nails its '60s-'80s eras. Great acting. *** 3/4 |
| HOME OF THE BRAVE (d. Paola di Florio) V. Well made docu, informative & emotionally powerful about civil rights martyr Viola Liuzzo & her surviving family. *** 1/2 |
| HOMEGROWN (d. Stephen Gyllenhaal) V. Authentic '98 pot growing paranoia movie thriller/comedy with good cast (Ryan Phillippe is fine). ** 3/4 |
| HORAS DEL DIA, LAS (d. Jaime Rosales) Boring (cf. Bruno Dumont) film about the boring quotidien life of a boring shopowner with one little quirk. ** |
| HOTEL RWANDA (d. Terry George) Epic, shocking and sad. Don Cheadle towers as a strong man in a crumbling society. Maybe too much on target. *** 1/4 |
| HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS (d. Zhang Yimou) Visually stunning, emotionally resonant, remarkable f/x; but too much of a good thing is too much. *** 1/4 |
| HUDSON RIVER BLUES (d. Nell Cox)V. '95 film chick flick about a large family. Some good actors, and a script with possibilities; but mostly mediocre filmmaking. ** |
| HUNTING OF THE PRESIDENT, THE (d. Perry & Thomason) V. Docu which nails slimy Ken Starr and his corrupt attack dogs as they tried to get Clinton. *** 1/4 |
| I LOVE CINEMA (d. Osamma Fawzy) Egypt AFF. Annoying comedy about a kid raised in a raucus Coptic Christian family in 1966. * 3/4 |
| I ♥ HUCKABEES (d. David O. Russell) Who green lighted this script? Russell's style and his fine cast can't overcome the silly, pseudo profound script. ** |
| I, ROBOT (d. Alex Proyas) Surprisingly good adaptation of Asimov, though also filled with cheesy movie clichés and some ragged CGI f/x. ** 1/2 |
| I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD (d. Mike Hodges) Atmospheric Brit revenge thriller. Works despite disappointingly abrupt ending. *** |
| IMAGINARY HEROES (d. Dan Harris) Fabulous script, an enthralling & moving disfunctional family black comedy with an awesome ensemble cast. *** 3/4 |
| IMAGINARY HEROES (d. Dan Harris) V.+ 2nd time around some of the acting & direction came off stilted. Still, great script and a moving very realistic drama. *** 1/2 |
| IN GOOD COMPANY (d. Paul Weitz) Clever office comedy with Dennis Quaid's best performance in years & a charming Topher Grace. It really worked for me. *** 1/4 |
| IN GOOD COMPANY (d. Paul Weitz) V.+ Watched this well written & acted comedy again, and appreciated Scarlett Johanson more this time. Good ensemble. *** 1/4 |
| IN THE REALM OF THE UNREAL (d. Jessica Yu) Docu with weird, unsavory subject matter but interesting art and fine animation. I just didn't enjoy the experience. ** |
| INCIDENT AT LOCH NESS (d. Zak Penn) Amusing, slick mockumentary in the Charlie Kaufmanesque mode. *** |
| INFERNAL AFFAIRS #1 (d. Andrew Lau) + Thriller that is only slightly clearer watching it a 2nd time. Still rivitingly fascinating. *** 1/4 |
| INFERNAL AFFAIRS #2 (d. Andrew Lau) A prequel to the initial film which does explain some of the backstory. Still confusing, but entertaining. ** 3/4 |
| INFERNAL AFFAIRS #3 (d. Andrew Lau) An expansion of the first film, fleshing out some of the events and going a little haywire psychologically. ** 1/2 |
| INTERMISSION (d. John Crowley) Unsparing Irish film which might be called Hate Actually. Good acting, inventive script. *** |
| INTIMATE STRANGERS (d. Patrice Leconte) Talky, if nicely written 2-character unconventional love story. Too one-note and buttoned-up for my taste. ** 3.4 |
| IRISH EYES (d. Daniel McCarthy) Daniel Baldwin vehicle...he's a Boston Irish gangster. But it wasn't holding my interest, though it wasn't all that bad. W/O |
| IRON JAWED ANGELS (d. Katja von Garnier) V. Sufferagette biopic about fight for 19th Amendment. Good cast, clichéd filmmaking. ** 1/4 |
| IT'S ALL ABOUT LOVE (d. Thomas Vinterberg) Pretentious, opaque melodrama about a near future world catastrophy. Nobody comes out a winner here. * |
| JACK (d. Lee Rose)V. Beautifully written coming of age story of 15 year old boy coming to terms with his father's gayness in 1982. Anton Yelchin is perfect. *** 1/4 |
| JAGGED HARMONIES (d. Dominique de Rivaz) Nicely done historical drama: J.S. Bach meets Frederick II. *** |
| JERSEY GIRL (d. Kevin Smith) So kill me, I loved this film. Sure it's sappy & Affleck is supposed to be washed up. But it worked for me. *** |
| JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM (d. Ivan Nichev) Bulgaria AFF. Strong narrative about a gypsy troupe which adopts 2 Jewish refugee kids in 1940. ** 3/4 |
| JUST MARRIED (d. Shawn Levy) V. Cookiecutter, predictable plot. Kutcher is an amiable comedian/romantic lead. ** |
| KEYS TO THE HOUSE, THE (d. Gianni Amelio) Quietly moving, beautifully made film of a father getting to know his 15 yr. old disabled son for the first time. *** 1/2 |
| KILL BILL - VOL. 2 (d. Quentin Tarantino) Unlike Vol. 1, this one has a real story to go with Terantino's obvious filmmaking genius. *** |
| KING ARTHUR (d. Antoine Fuqua) Stirring mideval action film which takes the legend and gives reality to it. Great sequence on ice; but the rest is ordinary. ** 3/4 |
| KINSEY (d. Bill Condon) Another groundbreaking biopic, this time about the polarizing sex researcher. Fine script, acting & direction (I love Peter Sarsgaard here). *** 1/4 |
| KITE, THE (d. Randa Chahal Sabbag) Lebanese AFF, bettersweet comedy about girl coming of age on Israel-Lebanon border. ** 3/4 |
| KOPS (d. Josef Fares) Genuinely funny farce about a small town police force trying to avoid getting shut down for lack of crime. A big step up from Jalla Jalla. *** |
| L.A. PLAYS ITSELF (d. Thom Anderson) V. Fascinating docu of clips from movies about L.A. Anderson's droning, but brilliant narration is key. *** 1/2 |
| LADDER 49 (d. Jay Russell) Straightforward feelgood drama about firefighters with a fine perf by Joaquim Phoenix and some great fire f/x. *** |
| LADY EVE, THE (d. Preston Sturges)V. Romantic comedy old style. The abrupt ending breaks the spell of a good Stanwyck-Fonda pairing. ** 3/4 |
| LAST KING, THE (d. Joe Wright) Excellent tv mini-series about Charles II and his court. Rufus Sewel was splendid, as was the production. *** |
| LAST SHOT, THE (d. Jeff Nathanson) Occasionally funny comedy about FBI mob sting creating a fake movie. Alec Baldwin especially good. ** 3/4 |
| LAST TRAIN, THE (d. Alexei A German) B&W bleak, brutal, boring Russian WWII film about a German doctor stuck in the winter retreat. ** |
| LATTER DAYS (d. C.J. Cox) The perfect festival gay film, sexy, sweet, sentimental and realistic with some star-making performances. *** 1/4 |
| LAWS OF ATTRACTION (d. Peter Howitt) Hideously bad, predictable screwball romantic comedy. Cast chemistry can't save flat direction. Ugh. * 1/4 |
| LEARNING TO LIE (d. Hendrik Handloegten) Well constructed romantic comedy about a guy who is unable to forget his first love or commit to any others. *** 1/4 |
| LEGALLY BLONDE 2 (d. Charles Herman-Wurmfeld)V. A script of such colossal stupidity that even Reese Witherspoon can't save the film. * 1/4 |
| LEGEND OF 1900, THE (d. Giuseppi Tornatore) V. Sumptuous, sentimental 1998 film about a musical progedy who never left the ship he was born in. ** 3/4 |
| LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS (d. Brad Silberling) I was *not* charmed by Carrey's overacting; but the film worked anyway. ** 3/4 |
| LET THE CHURCH SAY AMEN (d. David Petersen) V. Boring docu about a neighborhood church in D.C. and its troubled, but positive, parishoners. * 3/4 |
| LIFE & DEATH OF PETER SELLERS, THE (d. Stephen Hopkins) V. PoMo and meta biopic. Rush is amazing; but Sellers was an asshole, if this to be believed. *** |
| LIFE AQUATIC, THE (d. Wes Anderson) As his budgets go up his films become more hipster, ironic & detached. Cousteau deserves a better satire. ** |
| LIFE ON LIBERTY STREET (d. David Cass) V. Well acted if predictable Hallmark tv movie. Ethan Embry is having a great 2004 and nobody's watching. ** 1/2 |
| LITTLE BLACK BOOK (d. Nick Hurran) Good acting can't save this stupid film, though it briefly works during the climactic live tv show. * 3/4 |
| LITTLE GIRL BLUE (d. Anna Luif) Unexceptional, though well acted drama about teenage love thwarted by an affair by the kid's parents. ** 1/2 |
| LITTLE MEN (d. Nariman Turebayev) Interesting & likable character study of two salesmen in Kazakhstan, one aggressive, one passive. *** |
| LONG DARK NIGHT (d. Anton Vrdoljak) Croatia AFF. Moving and well made WWII epic of the fight between pro-Germans and pro-Communists. *** |
| LONG EMBRACE, A (d. Daniel Burman) Warm, franetic Argentine comedy about a Jewish family and their shopping mall denizen friends. *** 1/4 |
| LOVE ME IF YOU DARE (d. Yann Samuell) A wildly inventive, super-romantic trip of a film about 2 kids growing up playing an obnoxious game full tilt. *** |
| LOVER'S PRAYER (d. Reverge Anselmo)V. Boringly made pastiche of Turganev & Chekhov. Nick Stahl was good, Kirsten Dunst beautiful, but film sucked. * 3/4 |
| MACHINIST, THE (d. Brad Anderson) This director makes creepy films, and this is one of the most. Christian Bale is phenomenal, but viscerally hard to watch. *** |
| MAMAY (d. Oles Sanin) Gorgeous to look at; but fatally pretentious and opaque Cossack legend, or something like that. * 1/4 |
| MAN OF THE YEAR (d. José Henrique Fonseca) Fine Brazilian film about a guy who bleaches his hair and turns into a cold killer anti-hero. *** 1/4 |
| MAN ON FIRE (d. Tony Scott) Another rage/revenge story, stylishly made with another great Denzel performance, though ending a cop out. ** 3/4 |
| MAN WITHOUT A FACE, THE (d. Mel Gibson) V. Well intended film about a troubled boy & the troubled tutor who helps him. Nick Stahl was wonderful at 13. *** |
| MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, THE (d. Jonathan Demme) OK thriller, except for the incoherent narrative lapses and utter inferiority to the original. ** |
| MANOS VACIAS, LAS (d. Marc Recha) Silly "lost dead body" farce (in French) with a plot I found impossible to follow. * 1/4 |
| MANSION BY THE SEA (d. Lester James Peries) Sloooooow, well shot but overdrawn Sri Lankan AFF about the economic upheavals in that country. * 1/2 |
| MARIA FULL OF GRACE (d. Joshua Marston) Straightforward audience pleaser about a Columbian girl who becoms a drug mule. *** |
| MAX RULES (d. Robert Burke) Silly kids movie, sort of a cheezy Spy Kids without the special effects budget. The audience ate it up, though. * 1/4 |
| MEAN CREEK (d. Jacob Estes) Involving indie, sort of Rivers Edge mixed with Deliverance. Scott Mechlowicz is a find! *** |
| MEAN GIRLS (d. Mark Waters) Well written, trenchant high school satire reminiscent of Heathers. Silly fun, but smart. *** |
| MEMORIES OF MURDER (d. Bong Joon-ho) Diverting, comic Korean policier about a serial killer and the Keystone Kops who hunt him. ** 1/2 |
| METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER (d. Berlinger & Sinofsky) A fascinating documentary that really examines the angsts of aging rock idols. *** 3/4 |
| MIDDLE OF THE WORLD, THE (d. Vicente Amorim) V. A family bicycles through Brazil in this beautifully shot road film. ** 3/4 |
| MILLION DOLLAR BABY (d. Clint Eastwood) Beautifully realized drama about a female boxer who is all heart. Stunning cinematography & great acting. *** 1/2 |
| MINOR MISHAPS (d. Annette Olesen) An eccentric family comedy which put me to sleep. I couldn't follow it when I awoke so I walked. W/O |
| MISTERIO GALÍNDEZ, EL (d. Gerardo Herrero) Competent, if turgid, political thriller based on true disappearance of Basque nationalist in the Dominican Republic. ** 1/4 |
| MIX (d. Steven Lovy) A sex and music comedy about an American boy who returns to his roots in Hungary and has quite an adventure. Great music! *** 1/4 |
| MOI CÉSAR (d. Richard Berry) A kid flick about a 10 year old chubby boy's adventures. Nothing great; but a lark. ** 1/4 |
| MONSIEUR N (d. Antoine de Caunes) Intimate, well made, wide screen epic about Napoleon's last days on St. Helena. *** |
| MOTHER, THE (d. Roger Michell) A simply extraordinary, wonderfully done drama about an older woman's adjustment when her husband dies. *** 3/4 |
| MOTORCYCLE DIARIES (d. Walter Salles) Moving, beautiful, insightful road pic about young Che Guivara with a career perf. by Gael Bernal. Oscar calibre. *** 3/4 |
| MUNA MADAN (d. Gyanendra Bahadur Deuja) Honestly, one of the worst films I've ever seen, every aspect an embarrassment. WO |
| MY STEP BROTHER FRANKENSTEIN (d. Valery Todorovsky) Quirky, entertaining film about a psychologically damaged returning soldier & his family. *** |
| MY TINY UNIVERSE (d. Scantlebury & Phillips) American indie, a wryly clever farce, nicely written and acted, especially by newcomer lead Andy Comeau. *** |
| NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (d. Jared Hess) Weirdly episodic, but very funny geek chic teen flick. We laugh at the hick characters; but it works. ** 3/4 |
| NATHALIE (d. Anne Fontaine) Very French adult drama about a wife's strategy for a finagling husband. Overlong and left me cold. ** 1/2 |
| NATIONAL TREASURE (d. Jon Turtletaub) Totally implausable pastiche of Indiana Jones & Da Vinci Code. But I loved it anyway, esp. Justin Bartha, quite a find. ** 3/4 |
| NED KELLY (d. Gregor Jorday) True, though suspiciously sympathetic story of Australian version of Jesse James gang. A downer despite attractive leads. ** 1/2 |
| NEMESIS GAME (d. Jesse Warn) V. Silly, poorly acted thriller about a group obsessed with a game of riddles which turn fatal. Jay Baruchel is creepy, nerdy here. ** 1/2 |
| NO NIGHT IS TOO LONG (d. Tom Shankland) V. Canadian TV movie: a gay psychological thriller from Ruth Rendell novel. Extraordinary acting. *** 1/4 |
| NOBODY KNOWS (d. Hirokazu Kore-Eda) Japanese AFF about 3 kids deserted by their mother to fend. Overlong, but powerful critique of neglectful society. ** 3/4 |
| NOBODY KNOWS HOW TO TALK TO CHILDREN (d. George Roca) The White Stripes playing a NYC club. Poor sound & picture; but the music is great. ** 1/2 |
| NOI THE ALBINO (d. Kagar Kari) Bleak, but affecting, Icelandic AFF. Coming-of-age story about an underachiever small town boy. *** |
| NOTEBOOK, THE (d. Nick Cassavetes) + Emotionally cathartic melodrama, even better the 2nd time around. Rachel McAdams a major find. *** 1/2 |
| NOTEBOOK, THE (d. Nick Cassevetes) 3-hankey weeper, beautifully acted & directed old fashioned romantic drama. *** |
| NOTRE MUSIQUE (d. Jean-Luc Godard) Overly intellectualized snoozer about Bosnia...but nicer to look at and better than most recent Godard oeuvre. ** 1/4 |
| NOVIEMBRE (d. Achero Mañas) Mockumentary about a revolutionary street theater troup in late '90s Madrid. Gorgeous wide screen & fine job all around. *** 1/2 |
| OCEANS 12 (d. Steven Soderbergh) A ridiculous plot, off-hand acting and sloppy direction made for an overblown disaster, IMHO * 1/4 |
| OFF THE MAP (d. Campbell Scott) Wonderfully atmospheric coming of age story of young girl in a close rural New Mexico family. *** 1/2 |
| OLGA (d. Jayme Monjardim) Interesting, if overblown production based on true events about a Jewish Communist woman revolutionary caught in a Nazi net. ** 1/2 |
| OLIVE HARVEST, THE (d. Hanna Elias) Overwrought triangle romantic drama about 2 Palestinian brothers & the woman they both covet. * 3/4 |
| OMAGH (d. Pete Travis) Muted dramatic re-enactment of '98 N. Ireland bombing & aftermath with quietly great performance by Gerard McSorley. *** |
| ON THE DOWNLOW (d. Tadeo Garcia) Latino gangs do an ugly gay West Side Story. Utterly talentless cast & crew. Why are we subjected to these terrible films? 1/2* |
| ON THE WATERFRONT (d. Elia Kazan) Missed this when I was 13. For my tastes overly melodramatic with an annoyingly heavy Bernstein score. I do get Brando, tho. ** 1/2 |
| ONCE UPON A TIME IN HIGH SCHOOL: SPIRIT OF JEET KUNE DO (d. Ha Yu) Sang woo Kwong great as shy high school student beset by bullies. *** 1/4 |
| OPEN WATER (d. Chris Kentis) Viscerally disturbing, small film about a scuba diving couple lost at sea. ** 3/4 |
| OSAMA (d. Siddiq Barmak) Highly politicized, simplistic indictment of Taliban as anti-women to extreme. Involving story of girl masquerading as boy. ** 1/4 |
| OTHER SIDE OF THE STREET, THE (d. Marcos Bernstein) Fine film romance about an elderly lady who gets involved in witnessing a possible crime. *** 1/4 |
| OUTRAGE AT GLEN RIDGE (d. Guy Ferland)V. Earnest, effective TV message movie with outstanding Heather Matarazzo as retarded girl raped by footall team. ** 3/4 |
| OVERTURE, THE (d. I Vichailak) Well made, if overwrought, Thai film about a traditional musician's life from child prodigy to regime threatening elder master. ** 3/4 |
| p.s. (d. Dylan Kidd) Kidd makes movies smack dab in my wheelhouse. I loved the film (and Grace and Linney) more than its problematic script deserved. *** |
| PARTICLES OF TRUTH (d. Jennifer Elster) V. Insufferably pretentious film with amateurish direction, though the actors are interesting. W/O |
| PASSION OF THE CHRIST, THE (d. Mel Gibson) Effective filmmaking, if long on sadism. But too many repetitive images, and left me cold. ** 1/2 |
| PATER FAMILIAS (d. Francisco Patierno) Complex multi-threaded drama about a group of doomed Neapolitan ragazzi. *** |
| PATERNAL INSTINCT (d. Murray Nossei) Wonderful, emotionally satisfying doc. about a gay couple who employ a surrogate mother to have children. *** 1/2 |
| PEAS AT 5:30 (d. Lars Buechel) Richly rewarding, intensely moving romantic road pic about a newly blind stage director & the blind woman that fate brings him. *** 3/4 |
| PERFECT SCORE, THE (d. Brian Robbins) Unoriginal, but enjoyable Hughesish teener flick. Chris Evans shines and Leonardo Nam is very funny as an Asian stoner. ** 3/4 |
| PERFECT STRANGERS (d. Gaylene Preston) Romantic thriller about a woman kidnapped to a desert island. Unlikely, but well made. ** 1/2 |
| PETITE LILI, LA (d. Claude Miller) Amiable trifle about a group of film people cavorting in a French chateau whose story is then made as a film within a film. ** 3/4 |
| PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (d. Joel Schumacher) Maybe I'm just not into Lloyd Weber; a visual treat, great sets, costumes etc...but I was bored. ** 1/2 |
| PHARMICIST, THE (d. Jean Veber) Entertaining claptrap, thriller/buddy comedy/policier. Guillaume Depardieu and Vincent Perez have true chemistry. ** 3/4 |
| PIZZA (d. Mark Christopher) DV eccentric comedy: one night's adventure of a lonely fat girl turning 18 & a 30ish pizzaboy (sparkling turn by Ethan Embry). ** 1/4 |
| PLAYTIME (d. Jacques Tati) 70mm presentation of this Chaplanesque (i.e. Modern Times) large canvas, subtle, visually extraordinary slapstick comedy. *** 1/2 |
| POLIGONO SUR (d. Dominique Abel) Doc. about Gypsy flamenco artists living in the projects and making a life of music. *** 1/2 |
| PORNOGRAFIA (d. Jan Jakub Kolski) Another WWII story, a drama about a group of Poles on a country farm. ** |
| POSTER BOY (d. Zak Tucker) Well acted, romantic political film about a Jesse Helms-ish senator's closeted gay son & his encounter with gay activists. ** 3/4 |
| PRIMER (d. Shane Carruth) Fascinating, realistic low-budget time-machine-built-in-a-garage story. I couldn't follow it; but it was entertaining as hell. *** 1/4 |
| PRINCESS DIARIES 2 (d. Garry Marshall) Inane teenage girl wish fullfillment fantasy even dumber than part 1. Chris Pine a find, however. * 1/4 |
| PROBLEM WITH FEAR, A (d. Gary Burns) Urban angst runs riot in this funny satire set in Canada in the near future. *** 1/4 |
| PRODUCING ADULTS (d. Aliksi Salmenperä) Complex Finnish relationship drama about a woman's desire to have a child with a partner unable to commit. *** 1/4 |
| PROMISE KEPT, A (d. Daniel Milligan) Turgid, predictable, badly acted and directed policier about a child molester and a mysterious avenger. 1/2 * |
| PROTEUS (d. John Greyson) Remarkably crude, but somehow effective drama about gay prisoners in 18th century South Africa. ** 1/4 |
| PUNISHER, THE (d. Jonathan Hensleigh) Another revenge comic novel/film. Much better than expected. Thomas Jane is perfect. ** 3/4 |
| PYTHON, THE (d. Laila Pakalnina) Boring Latvian comedy about a school where several wild animals are loose. The metaphor was beyond me. * 1/4 |
| QUICK & THE DEAD, THE (d. Sam Raimi)V. Spaghetti western takeoff with great cast (Russell Crowe!, Leo DiCaprio); Raimi channeling Richard Rodriguez. ** 1/4 |
| RABBIT ON THE MOON (d. Jorge Suárez) Superior, gripping political thriller about Mexican government corruption & its affect on innocent people. *** |
| RAJA (d. Jacques Doillon) V. Strange, incomprehensible love affair between a Frenchman & his Moroccan maid. ** 1/4 |
| RAY (d. Taylor Hackford) One of all-time best biopix with a searingly great perf by Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles. Well structured script, top flight credits all around. *** 1/2 |
| RECKONING, THE (d. Paul McGuigan) An almost can't miss genre and cast...and it misses. Too murky, though quite faithful to 14th Century. ** 1/4 |
| RECONSTRUCTION (d. Christoffer Boe) Danish wide screen experimental drama about writer manipulating a man in a love affair. ** 3/4 |
| RED LIGHTS (d. Cedric Kahn) Cautionary, spellbinding drama about a marriage in trouble and a drunken road trip where it all comes to a head. *** 1/4 |
| REMEMBER ME, MY LOVE (d. Gabriele Muccino) Fast paced troubled family drama with some great performances. *** 1/4 |
| REVOLUTION OF PIGS (d. Kilmi & Reinumägi) Ambitious, but sprawling film about an '85 Young Communist camp gone to riot in Estonia. ** 1/4 |
| RIDING GIANTS (d. Stacy Peralta) A documentary about the history and addiction of riding the biggest waves in the world. *** 1/4 |
| RING OF DARKNESS (d. David DeCoteau) Overamped Satinist "boy band" potboiler. The guys are very good looking; but the film is pretty bad. * 3/4 |
| RITCHIE BOYS, THE (d. Christian Bauer) Nicely made docu about German Jews who served in army intelligence during WWII. Great interviewees. *** 1/2 |
| RIVERMAN, THE (d. Bill Eagles) V. Murky, poor man's Manhunter tv movie about the Green River serial killer and Ted Bundy's last days on death row. ** |
| ROADS TO KOKTEBEL, THE (d. Khlebnikov & Popogrebsky) OK, if slow, kid and father road-trip-to-nowhere Russian flick. ** 3/4 |
| ROBERTO SUCCO (d. Cedric Kahn) Frighteningly real true story of an insane Italian who charms women and serial kills randomly in France. *** 1/4 |
| ROMEO IS BLEEDING (d. Peter Medak) V. Nihilistic, stylish, '93 film noir with memorable performances by Gary Oldman and Lena Olin. *** |
| RORY O'SHEA WAS HERE (d. Damien O'Donnell) Moving, uplifting disabled youths story with some great acting (James McAvoy!) and a story which sticks to the ribs. *** 1/2 |
| RUNNING ON KARMA (d. Johnny To, Wai Ka-fai) A female cop and a karma seeing ex-monk expiate past lives in this grizzly, confusing thriller. ** 1/2 |
| SACRED PLANET (d. Jon Long) IMAX doc with pretty images - an ecologic world tour; but derivitive and with nothing new to say. ** |
| SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD, THE (d. Guy Madden) Demented visual master's '30s retro fabulosity. *** 1/4 |
| SAFE PASSAGE (d. Robert Ackerman) V. A moving, if minor, '94 film dysfunctional family film with a wonderful Susan Sarandon perf. as mother of 7 boys. ** 3/4 |
| SAVED! (d. Brian Dannelly) Comedy take off on a X-tian high school which is pretty well done, some good actors but uninspired direction. ** 1/2 |
| SEA INSIDE, THE (d. Alejandro Amenábar) Spanish AFF, remarkably sentimental, but moving true story about non-state sanctioned euthenasia. *** |
| SEAWARDS JOURNEY (d. Guillermo Casanova) Slight, but revelatory pastoral road picture about a group of men from the interior who journey to the sea. ** 1/2 |
| SECONDHAND CHILD (d. Karola Hattop) German "tv afterschool special" about a troubled, fatherless 13 year old boy who bonds with a new neighbor. ** 3/4 |
| SECRET THINGS (d. Jean-Claude Brisseau) + Re-saw in theater by accident (I forgot I'd seen it) a ridiculous, if sexy, film that is way over-the-top. ** |
| SECRET WINDOW (d. David Koepp) Depp is the only reason to watch this ridiculous Stephen King story which rings psychologically false. * 3/4 |
| SEDUCING DR. LEWIS (d. Jean-François Pouliot) Small, eccentric, mediocre French Canadian town shaggy dog story à la Waking Ded Devine. ** 1/4 |
| SENTIMENTS, LES (d. Noémie Lvovsky) Two couples & the consequences of infidelity. Nice acting, but somehow unpleasant. *** |
| SEPARATE PEACE, A (d. Peter Yates) V. Nicely done TV movie from the novel. Well cast, well directed...but the script needed fleshing out. ** 3/4 |
| SEQUESTRO EXPRESS (d. Jonathan Jakubowicz) Caracas slum dwellers carjack & kidnap a priveleged couple. Frenetic, visceral, frightening film. ** 3/4 |
| SEX IS COMEDY (d. Catherine Breillat) Comedy about an annoying, talky female director making a sexy movie. Actually more fun than I expected. *** |
| SHADE (d. Damian Nieman) Interesting movie about crosses and double crosses among poker players, card mechanics & gangsters. Very entertaining. *** |
| SHARK TALE (d. Bergeron, Jenson, Litterman) Predictable, clichéd, hip-hop animated comedy with star cast & lovely 3-D computer graphics but no heart. * 3/4 |
| SHE HATE ME (d. Spike Lee) Slick, but hateful & misogynist miscalculation. One of the worst films by a good filmmaker ever. * |
| SHINER (d. Christian Calson) Horrendously directed but strangely erotic gay Fight Club imitator. Amateur boxers lovingly & boringly pummel each other. * |
| SIDEWAYS (d. Alexander Payne) A Calif. subculture comedy, like Swingers. Note perfect performances, great wine lore, but 2nd act longeurs detracted. *** |
| SILMIDO (d. Woo-suk Kang) S. Korea forms a platoon of convicted criminals to fight North, and then it goes wrong. Well directed with incredible cast. *** 1/4 |
| SILVER CITY (d. John Sayles) Boring, turgid political eco-thriller, great take-off on George W. by Chris Cooper...but otherwise too long and overly complicated. ** |
| SIMON (d. Eddy Terstall) Dutch AFF, remarkably un-sentimental story about a flamboyant dying man and state sanctioned euthenasia. *** 1/4 |
| SINCE OTAR LEFT (d. Julie Bertucelli) An old Georgian lady's triumph of the spirit when the death of her emmigré son is kept from her. *** 1/4 |
| SINGING FOREST, THE (d. Jorge Ameer) Gay melodrama about a couple of Nazi victims reunited after reincarnation. Horrendously bad in every aspect. 1/2* |
| SKETCHES (d. Neil Israel) V. TiVo found this unfairly maligned (Ebert 0 stars?! WTF!) young man dying weeper road picture with a great Jason Bateman perf. ** 3/4 |
| SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (d. Kerry Conran) Stylized, retro futuristic thriller with great sound & design but otherwise predictable. ** 3/4 |
| SLIM SUSIE (d. Ulf Malmros) Wild, sometimes clever, often not film about crazy antics of a bunch of young people in a small Swedish town. ** 3/4 |
| SNAPPER, THE (d. Stephen Frears) V. Another wonderful early Frears Irish family comedy. Humanistic, well acted, effortlessly entertaining. *** 1/4 |
| SNOW WALKER (d. Charles Martin Smith) Clichéd and unlikely story of a pilot downed in N. Canada along with an ill Inuit woman. Still, effective storytelling. *** |
| SOLDANOS DE SALAMINA (d. David Trueba) A writer gradually uncovers an enigmatic incident in the Spanish Civil War. Slow start but big pay-off. *** |
| SOMERSAULT (d. Cate Shortland) Well played slice of life about Australian runaway teenage girl. *** |
| SOUNDLESS (d. Mennan Yapo) Excellent, moody thriller about a professional assassin & the cop who hunts him. Superbly written and directed. *** 1/2 |
| SOUTH (d. Martin Koolhoven) Well made, viscerally upsetting psychological drama about a sexually wounded woman who slips into insanity. *** |
| SPANGLISH (d. James Brooks) I loved this observent dark family comedy. Téa Leoni was bravely over-the-top, Paz Vega is a star & Sandler and Leachman: wonderful. *** 1/4 |
| SPARE PARTS (d. Damjan Kozole) Slovenian version of Lichter, a bleak drama about smugglers who profit from driving 3rd world refugees into Europe. ** 1/2 |
| SPARTAN (d. David Mamet) Twisty and turny thriller about skullduggery in high places. I like Val Kilmer and this film appealed to my cynical nature. *** |
| SPEAK (d. Jessica Sharzer) Excellent, subtle, beautifully acted drama about a high school freshman traumatized by rape. *** 1/4 |
| SPIDER-MAN 2 (d. Sam Raimi) Tobey Maguire shines, the f/x much improved over the original. Satisfying Hollywood tentpole, if ultimately trivial entertainment. *** |
| STAGE BEAUTY (d. Richard Eyer) Very disappointing...Shakespeare in Love lite. Poorly paced & directed, and Crudup miscast, though rest of the cast was superb. ** 1/4 |
| STANDER (d. Bronwen Hughes) Thomas Jane is remarkable in this involving, off-center crime spree tale from S. Africa. *** |
| STARSKY & HUTCH (d. Todd Phillips) Better than I expected...no Charlie's Angels, at least. Stiller & Wilson have chemistry; but Owen is not a '70s dude! ** 1/4 |
| STEALING SINATRA (d. Ron Underwood) V. True gang-who-couldn't-shoot-straight story. I like Thomas Ian Nicholas as Sinatra Jr., but film is silly. ** |
| STEPFORD WIVES, THE (d. Frank Oz) Silly and unfunny satire, another wasted remake. Watchable for the sets and costumes at least. * 3/4 |
| STOKED: THE RISE & FALL OF GATOR (d. Helen Stickler) Nicely constructed, fascinating docu about skateboarder/murderer Mark Rogowski. *** 1/2 |
| STRAIGHT-JACKET (d. Richard Day) Horrendously banal and poorly directed gay romantic comedy about a Rock Hudson type gay '50s movie star. * |
| STRAYED (d. André Téchiné) Totally absorbing film about a family of refugees in 1940 France. Téchiné is a master of atmosphere & actors. *** 1/2 |
| STRINGLESS VIOLIN, THE (d. Sekar Ayu Asmara) An overamped melodrama mostly about a brain-damaged child and the woman who cares for him. ** |
| SUERTE DORMIDA, LA (d. Angeles Sinde) Spanish Erin Brokovich with some fine acting by Adriana Ozores, Jose Soriano, and Felix Gomez (yum!) *** 1/4 |
| SUGAR (d. John Palmer) A Canadian NC-17 afterschool special about an 18 year old from the burbs who falls for a crack addict street hustler. Brendan Fehr shines. ** 3/4 |
| SUITE HABANA (d. Fernando Pérez) Like Hukkle last year, a music & sound efx filled 24 hours in the lives of several ordinary people in present day Havana. *** |
| SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (d. Preston Sturges) I just don't find Sturges's rapid fire dialog, endless montages and liberal messaging all that interesting or amusing. ** 1/2 |
| SUPER SIZE ME (d. Morgan Spurlock ) Superb, entertaining, shocking doc about the physical effects of the director's immersion in McDonald's fast foods for a month. *** 3/4 |
| SUSPECT ZERO (d. Elias Merhige) Dour, complex SE7EN clone. Interesting visually; and Eckhart is good, as usual. But script is not up to snuff. ** 3/4 |
| SYMMETRY (d. Konrad Niewolski) Slow, bleak, well made prison drama of an innocent convict's assimilation into prison culture. *** 1/4 |
| TAE GUK GI: THE BROTHERHOOD OF WAR (d. Kang Je Gyu) Overly melodramatic Korean war film. Good, bloody battle scenes, if edited too fast. ** 1/2 |
| TAIS-TOI! (d. Francis Veber) Depardieu 100 lbs. lighter & on his game has true chemistry with Jean Reno in this fast paced buddy/chase comedy. *** |
| TAKING LIVES (d. D.J. Caruso) I intended to hate this predictable & implausable thriller; but its atmosphere & good acting (Hawke!) won me over. ** 3/4 |
| TALE OF TWO SISTERS (d. Kim Ji-woon) Boring, pointless, confusing "ghost" story mostly about hysteria, but with a few shocks. * 1/4 |
| TARGET FOR RAGE (d. Michael Watkins) V. High tension 1997 film based on N. Calif. school massacre with excellent acting by Schroder, Winkler & Prinze. ** 3/4 |
| TARNATION (d. Jonathan Caouette) Highly charged personal life docu done as experimental film. Revealing of a screwed up family life, but aroused my sympathy. *** |
| TE DOY MIS OJOS (d. Iciar Bollain) Excellent womans picture about a wife dealing with an abusive husband. Fabulous acting by Laia Marull and Luis Tosar! *** 1/2 |
| TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE (d. Parker & Stone) Surprisingly funny and relevant puppet comedy, trenchant satire on Bruckheimer films. *** |
| TELL THEM WHO YOU ARE (d. Mark Wexler) Fascinating, very personal docu about prickley liberal cinematographer by his rebellious son. *** 1/2 |
| TERMINAL, THE (d. Stephen Spielberg) Logistic triumph, great cinematography; but a mediocre script. Hanks is turning into the male Meryl Streep. ** 1/2 |
| TESSERACT, THE (d. Oxide Pang) Complex, stylish thriller about a dope smuggling deal which goes wrong. *** |
| TESTOSTERONE (d. David Moreton) Nicely done thriller about obsessive love, made in Argentina with a fine cast. Looks splendid, but some editing decisions detract. ** 3/4 |
| THEY (d. Robert Harmon)V. Atmospheric but shlocky horror flick about some college students who had night terrors as kids & now they're being harvested by "they". ** |
| THIS GIRL'S LIFE (d. Ash)V. Extraordinarily powerful film about a girl in the internet porn biz. Great perfs by James Wood, Kip Pardue and esp. Juliette Marquis. *** 1/4 |
| THOUSAND CLOUDS OF PEACE, A (d. Julio Hernandez) Pretentious B&W gay reverie about a teen boy's troubles coming out. Mala Noche from the chicken's POV. ** 3/4 |
| TILL HUMAN VOICES WAKE US (d. Michael Petroni)V. My low expectations for this moody romance (man & ghost) were exceded. Bravo Guy Pearce! *** |
| TILSAMMANS (d. Lukas Moodysson) V.+ Undeminished a 2nd time. The best film about the leftist collectives of the '70s ever made. **** |
| TIME OF THE WOLF (d. Michael Haneke) Contextless, disturbing apocolyptic drama of society's breakdown in rural France. Strong stuff. *** |
| TO SERVE & PROTECT (d. Jean de Segonzac) V. Competent '98 tv movie about a family of Dallis cops & a serial killer targeting them. James Franco's 1st role. ** 3/4 |
| TORREMOLINOS 73 (d. Pablo Berger) Fun satire about an ordinary couple making home pornos for the Scandinavian market. Candela Peña a standout! *** |
| TOUCH OF PINK (d. Ian Iqbal Rachid) Witty, skillful comedy much like The Wedding Banquet: gay man's Muslim family unaware he's gay. *** |
| TOUCH OF SPICE, A (d. Tassos Boulmetis) Large scale but intimate picaresque à la Junot: a Turkish-Greek family, a boy's coming of age with a heavy food metaphor. ** 3/4 |
| TOUCHING THE VOID (d. Kevin Macdonald) V. Recreated docu (with interviews with original mountain climbers.) Suspenseful, nicely shot, but more fiction than doc? *** 1/4 |
| TRACKER, THE (d. Rolf de Heer) Spare, well shot drama of white power in Australia in 1922. The Aboriginal hero was the best thing in the film. *** |
| TRAFFIC (d. Eric Bross, Stephen Hopkins) V. 3 part mini-series: new story, many threads, volently cross-cut, high tension, good acting. *** |
| TRIPLE AGENT (d. Eric Rohmer) Cerebrial, talky, involving pre-WWII thriller about a White Russian general and his Greek wife. *** |
| TROLLYWOOD (d. Madeleine Farley) Poorly edited and photographed doc. about the homeless in my neighborhood of L.A. * 3/4 |
| TROY (d. Wolfgang Peterson) Much better than expected...a psychologically apt script and some great battles and superb acting (esp. Peter O'Toole). *** 1/2 |
| TULSE LUPER SUITCASES 1, THE (Peter Greenaway) Ambitious multi-media project, visual jumble, I just couldn't take it for long. W/O |
| TUPAC: RESURRECTION (d. Lauren Lazin) V. Superbly made docu about life & death of 2Pac Shakur, ultimately too hagiographic. *** 1/4 |
| TURN LEFT, TURN RIGHT (d. Johnny To, Wai Ka-fai) Exhillerating romantic comedy in the Lelouchian And Now My Love mode. *** 1/4 |
| TWILIGHT SAMURAI, THE (d. Yoji Yamada) A masterpiece set in same era as Last Samurai. Intimate, truthful and emotionally fulfilling. **** |
| TWIN SISTERS (d. Ben Sombogaart) 20th cent, epic of 2 twins separated at 6 yr., one German, one Dutch. Beautifully made in every department. **** |
| TWIST (d. Jacob Tierney) A very bleak, but truthful digital variant on Oliver Twist characters as Toronto street hustlers. Great acting, but unremitting. ** 3/4 |
| TWIST OF FATE (d. Kirby Dick) V. Downer docu about angry men who were molested as teenagers by a Catholic priest in Toledo OH. Incendiary, but sort of boring. ** 1/2 |
| TWISTED (d. Philip Kaufman) Utterly predictable, unlikely policier thriller. Ashley Judd fares well; but the film is pretty bad. * 3/4 |
| UNDERTOE (d. David Gordon Green) Green has such a unique style. It works here, with nice acting turns by Jamie Bell and Josh Lukas. Quite affecting. *** 1/2 |
| UNITED STATES OF LELAND, THE (d. Matthew Ryan Hoge) Fine cast, but overwritten and predictable. Manic was similar, but better. Still Ryan Gosling rules! ** 3/4 |
| UNTOLD SCANDAL (d. E J-yong) Ravishingly visual Korean adaptation of a 17th century Dangerous Liasons. It translates well. *** 1/4 |
| UP AND DOWN (d. Jan Hrebejk) Involving multi-character comedy about the intertwined life in Prague today among refugees, emigrées, and all stratas of society. *** 1/4 |
| VALENTIN (d. Alejandro Agresti) An extraordinarily sympathetic look at a crisis in the life of an 8 year old boy. *** 1/2 |
| VANITY FAIR (d. Mira Nair) Much better than average Masterpiece Theater for large screen. Reese Witherspoon luminous; and the time flew by. *** 1/4 |
| VERA DRAKE (d. Mike Leigh) Superb, utterly right period drama about an ordinary abortionist. Imelda Staunton perfect. Mike Leigh's most assured film. **** |
| VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT, A (d. Jean-Pierre Jeunet) Remarkable film, over-the-top (of course), unabashedly in Jeunet's postmodern style. Superb filmmaking. *** 1/2 |
| VIDA MANCHA, LA (d. Enrique Urbizu) Nicely acted drama about two half-brothers involved with the same woman. Good chick flick. *** 1/4 |
| VIE PROMESSE, LA (d. Olivier Dahan) Isabelle Hupert once again is great, though the film, a lost souls road picture isn't. ** 1/4 |
| VILLAGE, THE (d. M. Night Shyamalan) Atmospheric thriller which got to me. Ron Howard's daughter is wonderfully charismatic. *** |
| VODKA LEMON (d. Hiner Saleem) A nicely shot but pointless dark comedy about a poor Armenian village and its benighted inhabitents. ** 1/4 |
| WALK ON WATER (d. Eytan Fox) A truly exceptional film from Israel about a Mossad assassin. Great script and fine job all around. *** 3/4 |
| WAR ZONE, THE (d. Tim Roth) V. Miserabilist film about a troubled family in Devon. Superb acting, though tough to take. *** |
| WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH (d. He Ping) Gorgeous and gripping, if somewhat confusing, wide screen Chinese epic historical battle film. *** |
| WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH (d. He Ping)+ I had forgotten I'd seen it before...not worth another view, though visually it's a treat. ** 3/4 |
| WATERMARKS (d. Yaron Zilberman) V. Interesting docu about a Vienna Jewish swimming club in the '30s & the far-flung survivors' reunion in today's Vienna. *** |
| WE DON'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (d. John Curran) Well acted but relentlessly downbeat story of 2 couples and their mutual adulteries. *** |
| WELCOME TO MOOSEWOOD (d. Dan Petrie) Silly, utterly predictable Hollywood fare. Hackman good, as always; but Ray Romano should stict to TV. * 3/4 |
| WELTS, THE (d. Magdalena Piekorz) Polish AFF. Dour, involving story of a boy whose path to manhood was fixed by his physically abusing, but well-meaning, father. *** 1/4 |
| WHATEVER IT TAKES (d. David Ranyr)V. Horny teenage comedy variant on Cyrano. Trivial stuff; but Shane West and James Franco raise its level a tad. * 3/4 |
| WHISKY (d. Rebella & Stoll) Observent, touching slice-of-life film about two competitive brothers & their pretenses. *** |
| WHO KILLED BAMBI (d. Gilles Marchand) Creepy, atmospheric French thriller about a craftily crazy surgeon and an intern nurse. *** |
| WICKER PARK (d. Paul McGuigan) And Now My Love for Gen-Y. Loopy structure and overall good acting and direction. Absurd; but it kept getting better as it went along. *** |
| WILD SIDE (d. Sébastien Lifshitz) Affecting drama about an unconventional three-way relationship between 2 guys and a pre-op transexual *** |
| WIMBLEDON (d. Richard Loncraine) Genuine chemistry between Bettany and Dunst makes for a good romance; but the tennis isn't very realistic. *** |
| WINNING SEASON, THE (d. John Kent Harrison) V. Sappy nostalgia baseball flick about a 1985 boy thrown back to 1909 to relate to Honus Wagner. * 3/4 |
| WONDROUS OBLIVION (d. Paul Morrison) Heartwarming English film about a post-War Jewish immigrant family whose son loves cricket. *** |
| WOODSMAN, THE (d. Nicole Kassell) Excellent, if dour drama about a man fighting his pederast proclivity with a great perf by Kevin Bacon. *** 1/4 |
| YOU I LOVE (d. Olga Stopovskaja & Dimitru Troitskji) Screwball modern day Russian comedy about a bisexual commercial maker who falls for a guy. * 3/4 |
| YOUNG ADAM (d. David Mackenzie) Dark Scottish film, slow & sexy, visually dull, but unexpectedly poignant. Ewen has never been more attractive. *** |
| YOUR NEXT LIFE (d. Manuel Aragón) A satisfying romance/drama about two feuding farming families in the Pyrannies. ** 3/4 |
| ZATOICHI (d. Takeshi Kitano) Sorry, I was sort of bored...but the Japanese "Riverdance" rhythmic stuff was fun, if weird. ** 1/2 |
| ZELARY (d. Ondrej Trojan) Beautifully realized WWII story of a nurse who escapes from the Gestapo to a small Czech village & finds herself. *** 1/2 |
| ZHOU YU'S
TRAIN (d. Sun Zhou) Elliptical romantic drama about
a woman torn by conflicting love for two men. Confusing and
overwrought. * 3/4 Return to Ken Rudolph's home page. |