06/05
THE SIXTH OF MAY (d. Theo Van Gogh) ** 3/4 |
| 10th DISTRICT COURT (d. Raymond Depardon) Docu of the quotidien goings on in a local
Parisian court. Illuminating...better than Judge Judy. *** |
| 2046
(d. Wong Kar-Wei) Ravishingly beautiful romantic film, Tony Leung beds
several women and androids, and as usual I lost the narrative thread.
*** |
| 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 (d.
Ilya Khzhanovsky) Allegorical Russian film, lots of symbolism of items of 4;
but stupefyingly repetative, overlong and obscure. * |
| 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN, THE (d. Judd Apatow) * 1/4 |
| 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. *** |
| 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 |
| 9
SONGS (d. Michael Winterbottom) Video verité about a couple, she American, he
English, into Sex, Antarctica, and Rock & Roll. *** 1/4 |
| A
DIOS MOMO (d. Leonardo Ricagni) W/O |
| ABSOLUT
(d. Romed Wyder) Fascinating, complex thriller about 2 computer hacker
political terrorists & memory restoration. *** 1/4 |
| ADAM
& STEVE (d. Craig Chester) Silly at times, but also funny & touching
romantic comedy about 2 quirky, mature gay men. ** 3/4 |
| ADAM'S
APPLES (d. Anders Thomas Jensen) *** |
| ADDICTION
(d. Minna Virtanen) ** 3/4 |
| AE FOND KISS
(d. Ken Loach) Ill fated love of a young 2nd generation Paki for a white
woman in today's Scotland. Subtle & affecting. *** |
| AFTER INNOCENCE (d. Jessica Sanders; docu) V. *** 1/4 |
| AFTER
MIDNIGHT (d. Davide Ferrario) Whimsical paean to film à la Amélie without the
irony, a charmingly cockeyed love triangle. *** 1/4 |
| AHEAD
OF TIME (d. Ágúst Güdmundsson; Iceland) * 3/4 |
| ALBINO ALLEGATOR (d. Kevin Spacey)V. Hostage film in a bar with some good perfs,
but pretty average script and direction. ** 1/2 |
| ALMOST
BROTHERS (d. Lúcia Murat) Confusingly structured Brazilian story mixing City
of God with Carandiru and inferior to both. ** |
| ALONE
(d. Thomas Durschschlag) 2nd film in a row about a wounded girl: this one a
German who cuts herself from psychotic low self esteem. ** 3/4 |
| ALZHEIMER
CASE, THE (d. Erik Van Looy) Polished thriller about a French mafia assassin
whose Alzheimers is affecting his contract hit in Antwerp. *** |
| AMERICAN
HAUNTING, AN (d. Courtney Solomon) * 3/4 |
| AMERICAN RULING CLASS, THE (d. John Kirby)V. *** 1/2 |
| AMERICANO
(d. Kevin Nolan) Contrived travelog with little plot (young Americans in
Spain finding themselves) and some poor acting. * 1/2 |
| ANOTHER
LIFE (d. Michele Placido) Stephano Accorsi's makes it worth sitting through
this strange, eerie romantic film. ** 3/4 |
| ANTARES
(d. Götz Spielmann) Circularly constructed, sexually explicit slice of life
drama about denizens of a Vienna housing development. *** |
| ANTIBODIES
(d. Christian Alvart) *** 1/2 |
| ARISTOCRATS,
THE (d. Paul Provenza) 100 great standup comedians do history's worst
dirty in-joke. 90 minutes of constant wracking laughter. *** 3/4 |
| ARSÈNE LUPIN
(d. Jean-Paul Salomé) Big film, bigger mess. Anachronistic narrative, a lead
actor without enough gravitas, but gorgeous production design. * 1/2 |
| AS IT IS IN HEAVEN (d. Kay Pollack)+ Watched again; some of the plot manipulations
more obvious a 2nd time; but still fine, affecting film. *** 1/4 |
| ASYLUM (d.
David Mackenzie) ** 3/4 |
| AVELLANEDA'S
MOON (d. Juan José Campanella) Long, high-gloss social comedy about an
Argentine social club & its member's struggles to survive. ** 1/2 |
| BAD SPELLING
(d. Jean-Jacques Zilbermann) Fun, homoerotic black comedy, a French boys
school where students rebel led by the weird son of the headmasters. *** |
| BALL IN THE HOUSE (d. Tanya Wexler) V. *** |
| BANLIEU
13 (d. Pierre Morel) Fast paced, superior martial arts action film set in a
lawless 2010 Paris. Vivid, realistic characters. *** 1/4 |
| BARS
IN THE MEMORY (d. Manuel Palacios) Dry Spanish docu about the concentration
camps and privations during the Franco years. ** 1/2 |
| BASED ON A TRUE STORY (d. Walter Stokman) Partially successful doc about the
"real" story behind Dog Day Afternoon. ** 1/2 |
| BATMAN BEGINNINGS (d. Christopher Nolan) Noisy comic entertainment with a
narratively cohesive plot & great design. *** |
| BE COOL (d.
F. Gary Gray) Hipper than thou spoof of gangsta music biz and Hollywood.
Enjoyed the settings (around the corner from my apartment). ** 1/4 |
| BE
WITH ME (d. Eric Khoo; Singapore) ** 3/4 |
| BEAT
THAT MY HEART SKIPPED, THE (d. Jacques Audiard) Frenetic drama based on
Fingers with a magnetic perf by Romain Duris. *** |
| BEAUTIFUL
COUNTRY, THE (d. Hans Petter Moland) Involving, well acted adventure of
a half-American Vietnamese boy's emigration to the US. *** |
| BERTIE AND ELIZABETH (d. Giles Foster) Masterpiece Theater schlock. Fine acting,
good script. ** 3/4 |
| BEST
OF YOUTH, THE 1 & 2 (d. Marco Tullio Giordana) Liked part 1 better than
originally, and part 2 dragged a little. Still, overall fabulous
film. **** |
| BEYOND OUR KEN (d. Pang Ho-Cheung) Frothy, insubstantial girl buddy and revenge
(against common boyfriend) comedy from Hong Kong. * 3/4 |
| BLOOD
AND BONES (d. Yoichi Sai) ** 1/2 |
| BLOW DRY (d.
Paddy Breathnach) V. Funny slice of life (e.g. Full
Monty) British comedy about hair contest. Note Bill
Nighy & Josh Hartnett as cockney. ** 3/4 |
| BLUEBIRD
(d. Mijke de Jong) Emotionally shattering, excellent drama about a 12 year
old girl who is the brunt of bullies in her jr. high class. *** 1/2 |
| BOATS
OUT OF WATERMELON RINDS (d. Ahmet Uluçay) A Turkish Cinema Paradiso, terrible
digital photography, but the 2 boys were charming. ** 1/4 |
| BOMB THE SYSTEM (d. Adam Lough) Mark Webber is outstanding in this arty, nicely
made indy about radical grafitti artists in NYC. *** |
| BOMBÓN,
EL PERO (d. Carlos Sorin) Like director's Historias Minimas, a fun film
without irony about a poor man who is given a show dog. *** |
| BOOKIES (d.
Mark Illsley)V. ** 3/4 |
| BORN INTO BROTHELS (d. Kaufmann & Briski) Kids born in Calcutta brothels get a
chance for a life through photography. Interesting & well edited. *** |
| BOYS OF BARAKA, THE (d. Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady; docu) V. *** 3/4 |
| BREAKFAST ON PLUTO (d. Neil Jordan) *** |
| BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (d. Ang Lee) *** 1/2 |
| BROKEN FLOWERS (d. Jim Jarmusch) *** 1/2 |
| BROTHERS
(d. Susanne Bier) Shattering drama about a good man who commits an act beyond
redemption. Incredible acting and fine direction. *** 3/4 |
| BROTHERS GRIMM, THE (d. Terry Gilliam) * 3/4 |
| BUFFALO
BOY (d. Minh Nguyen-Vo; Vietnam) *** |
| BUT FOREVER
ON MY MIND (d. Gabriele Muccino)V. Finally this 1999 coming of age
masterpiece about youthful exhuberance is out on DVD! *** 3/4 |
| BYRON (d.
Julian Farino) V. ** 3/4 |
| C.R.A.Z.Y.
(d. Jean-Marc Vallée; Canada) *** 3/4 |
| CAESAR (d.
Uli Edel)V. ** 3/4 |
| CAMP HOLLYWOOD (d. Steve Markle)V. Superb personal DV docu about a nearby hotel
& its denizens, many trying to make it in Hollywood. *** 1/2 |
| CAPE
OF GOOD HOPE (d. Mark Bamford) Harmless S.African ecuminical romantic
comedy, sort of predictable. ** 1/2 |
| CAPOTE (d.
Bennett Miller) *** 1/4 |
| CASANOVA (d.
Lasse Hallström) *** |
| CHANGING DESTINY (d. Daniele Gaglianone) Jagged, cutty, edgy story of 3 teenage
northern Italian boys who drop out and get into various kinds of trouble. *** |
| CHILD,
THE (L'enfant) (d. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne) *** 1/4 |
| CHILDHOOD
OF MAXIM GORKY (d. Mark Donskoy) Classic Russian film from the writer's
memoire of his peasant Volga family. *** |
| CHILDSTAR
(d. Don McKellar) Funny, trenchant and occasionally silly satire about a 12
yr. old movie star & his kooky mom. *** |
| CHOK-DEE (d.
Xavier Durrenger) The French Rocky, a French street criminal becomes a world champ Thai
boxer...written & acted by the guy himself. ** 1/2 |
| CHRONICALS OF NARNIA (d. Andrew Adamson) ** |
| CHUMSCRUBBER, THE (d. Arie Posin) Wonderful suburban satire cult-type film in Donnie Darko mode. Jamie Bell: #1 actor
of his generation. *** 1/2 |
| CINDERELLA MAN (d. Ron Howard) Moving story of James Braddock with a searingly
honest portrayal by Russell Crowe. *** 1/2 |
| CLEAN
(d. Olivier Assayas) Maggie Chung is superb as a junkie trying to go clean to
reclaim her son from her inlaws in this wonderful drama. *** 1/2 |
| COLLECTOR,
THE (Komornik) (d. Feliks Falk; Poland) ** 1/4 |
| COME
INTO THE LIGHT (Alla Luce Del Sol) (d. Roberto Faenza) ** 1/2 |
| CONSTANT GARDNER, THE (d. Fernando Meirelles) *** |
| COOL MONEY
(d. Gary Burns ) V. Modestly involving TV caper film about some losers
knocking off N.Y. hotels. ** 1/2 |
| COTE
D'AZURE (d. Ducastel & Martineau) Entertaining French farce about an
family on vacation whose sexuality is mutable & evolving. ** 3/4 |
| COUPERET, LE
(d. Costa-Gavras) More black comedy than the usual Costa-Gavras, entertaining
film which takes Time Out
to a higher level. *** |
| COWBOYS AND ANGELS (d. David Gleeson)V.+ *** |
| CRANE
WORLD (d. Pablo Trapero) Slow, Argentine neo-realist B&W film about a 49
yr. old construction worker ex-rock guitarist. ** 1/2 |
| CRASH (d.
Paul Haggis) Superb Short Cuts type multi-character, roundabout drama...modern day L.A. as
racial dystopia. I need to leave L.A.! *** 1/2 |
| CRUEL
BUT NECESSARY (d. Saul Rubinek) Innovative video about a woman secretly
recording her life for 2 years on a hidden camera. ** 3/4 |
| CRYING
LADIES (d. Mark Meily) Three Philippine women hired as cryers for a Chinese
funeral. I was uninvolved; but the film wasn't that bad. W/O |
| CSI: GRAVE DANGER 1
& 2 (d. Quentin Tarantino)V. ** 3/4 |
| DALECARLIANS,
THE (d. Maria Blom) Involving family drama about 3 sisters and the
small Swedish town that the youngest returns to. *** |
| DARK
HORSE (Voksne Mennesker) (d. Dagur Kári) ** |
| DARWIN'S NIGHTMARE (d. Hubert Sauper; docu) V. *** |
| DAYS
AND HOURS (d. Ademir Kenovic) Talky, slow paced slice of life story about
family coping with consequences of Bosnian war 7 years earlier. * 3/4 |
| DEAD
MAN'S SHOES (d. Shane Meadows) Paddy Considine is the nemesis of group of
guys who tortured his brother. Violent and bloody. ** 1/2 |
| DEAR WENDY
(d. Thomas Vinterberg) *** |
| DEATH
OF MR. LAZARESCU, THE (Moartea domului Lazarescu) (d. Cristi Puiu;
Romania) *** 1/2 |
| DEEPWATER
(d. David Marfield) A superior psychological thriller disguised as a gothic
noir. Great performance by Lucas Black. *** 1/4 |
| DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON, THE (d. Jeff Feuerzeig)V. *** |
| DIRTY WAR
(d. Daniel Percival) V. Dirty bomb terrorist attack on central London. BBC
film, a good suspenser and scary as hell, though nothing special filmwise. **
3/4. |
| DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (d. Giacomo Campiotti) V. Why the David Lean film needed a
remake is questionable; but this one is well made, intimate &
emotional. ** 3/4 |
| DOING TIME ON MAPLE DR. (d. Ken Olen)V. *** 1/4 |
| DON'S PLUM
(d. R.D. Robb) V. B&W indie near masterpiece, a 20-something My Dinner With André with a hard edge.
Why is it banned? *** 1/2 |
| DON'T MOVE
(d. Sergio Castellitto) Obsessive adultry-romance with a superb perf by
Penelope Cruz. Involving and interestingly structured. *** |
| DOT THE I
(d. Matthew Parkhill) Clever script with double & triple crosses galore a
la Nine Queens. Bernal is a
star in English, too. *** 1/4 |
| DOWNFALL
(d. Oliver Herschbiegel) Well made drama of last days of 3rd Reich in
Hitler's bunker. Bruno Ganz is amazing. Authentic, gripping. *** 1/4 |
| DUST TO GLORY (d. Dana Brown)V. ** 1/2 |
| DYING
GAUL, THE (d. Craig Lucas) Until a very unsatisfying ending this was an
extraordinary noir with fabulous acting (Sarsgaard! Scott! Clarkson!) *** 1/4 |
| EARTH
AND ASHES (d. Atiq Rahimi) Wide screen Afghanistan AFF plays like a
despairing Irani film: old man & young boy war victims wandering
desert. *** |
| EARTHLING
(d. Tristan & Wolfgang Bayer) Stunning, fascinating docu about family of
nature photogs on a 7 year adventure journey. *** 3/4 |
| EDEN'S CURVE
(d. Anne Misawa)V. 1/2* |
| EDUKATORS,
THE (d. Hans Weingartner) Gripping drama of 3 foolish young German
revolutionaries & their caper gone wrong. *** 1/2 |
| EL
AURA (d. Fabián Bielinsky; Argentina) *** 1/4 |
| EL
REY (d. Antonio Dorado) Involving history of a '60s Columbian drug lord,
Scarface revisited. ** 3/4 |
| ELIZABETHTOWN (d. Cameron Crowe) ** 3/4 |
| ELLIE
PARKER (d. Scott Coffey) Home movie quality video with a stupendous
performance by Naomi Watts which lifts the film to watchability. *** |
| EMPIRE FALLS
(d. Fred Schepisi)V. HBO family saga of small town New England doings. Fine
cast, sprawling, unfocused script. ** 3/4 |
| EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED (d. Liev Schreiber) ** 1/2 |
| EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, THE (d. Scott Derrickson) ** 3/4 |
| FAMILY STONE, THE (d. Thomas Bezucha) ** 1/2 |
| FANTASTIC FOUR (d. Tim Story) Fun, if silly super-character comic story. Chris
Evans is a star. ** 3/4 |
| FAR
SIDE OF THE MOON (d. Robert Lepage) Quirky comedy based on 1-man play. Lepage
plays 2 leading roles & he must be an acquired taste that I don't
share. ** |
| FATELESS
(Sorstalanság) (d. Lajos Koltai; Hugary) *** 3/4 |
| FATHERS AND SONS (d. various)V. ** 3/4 |
| FAVELA RISING (d. Mattt Mochary, Jeff Zimbalest; docu) V. *** |
| FEMME DE GILLES, LA (d. Frédéric Fonteyne) Formally terrific, if slow, drama about a
laborer obsessed by his plain wife's beautiful sister. Emmanuel Devos rules.
*** |
| FEVER PITCH
(d. Farrelli Bros.) Gets everything right in a delightful romantic comedy.
Fallon is a star in the Hanks mode. *** 1/4 |
| FIGHTER PILOT: OPERATION
RED FLAG (d. Stephen Low)V. ** 3/4 |
| FIRST TIME I WAS TWENTY, THE (d. Lorraine Lévy) Enormously entertaining coming of age in mid
'60s of a portly girl jazz musician. *** 1/2 |
| FLIGHTPLAN
(d. Robert Schwentke) ** 3/4 |
| FORTY SHADE OF BLUE (d. Ira Sachs) *** |
| FOUR BROTHERS (d. John Singleton) * 1/2 |
| FRANK MILLER'S SIN CITY (d. Robert Rodriguez) Super stylish pop-art graphic novel the
way it should be filmed. But I was bored. ** 1/2 |
| FROZEN
(d. Juliet McKoen) Mysterious, sort of pointless English film with Shirley
Henderson as a woman mourning her lost, presumed dead sister. ** 1/2 |
| GAMES
OF LOVE & CHANCE (d. Abdellatalfi Kechiche) Teenagers in the
projects in Paris, variation of Romeo & Juliet...talkiy but fun. **
3/4 |
| GARÇON STUPIDE (d. Lionel Baier) ** 1/2 |
| GAY
SHORTS (d. various) 6 quite ordinary to poor gay short films. Only
"Postmortem" and "Just Pray" were worth watching.
** |
| GEMINIS
(d. Albertina Carri) ** 3/4 |
| GIE
(d. Rira Riza) ** 3/4 |
| GIGOLOS,
THE (d. Richard Bracewell) ** 1/2 |
| GIRL IN THE CAFÉ, THE (d. David Yates)V. Bill Nighy is great as a financial dweeb. But
simplistic politics sink this Richard Curtis written romance. ** 1/4 |
| GITS,
THE (d. Kerri O'Kane) Compelling counterpoint to Malfunkshun, a docu about a
Seattle punker lead singer who was raped & murdered. *** |
| GOING
THRU SPLAT: STEWART STERN (d. Jon Ward) Conventional docu about embittered
ex-film screenwriter, only occasionally interesting. ** 1/4 |
| GOOD BOYS
(d. Yair Hochner) * 3/4 |
| GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK (d. George Clooney) *** 1/2 |
| GOOSE
FEATHER (d. Ljubisa Samardzic; Serbia) Psychologically iffy, soapy melodrama
about a peasant who loves one woman but marries another rich one. ** 1/4 |
| GRAND
VOYAGE, LE (d. Ismael Ferroukhi) Involving, picturesque road pic of father
& son driving Paris to Mecca. *** |
| GRANDE ÉCOLE
(d. Robert Salis)V. Empassioned film about young people's sexual obsessions.
Arty bi-sexual frontal nudity a plus. ** 3/4 |
| GREAT RAID, THE (d. John Dahl) *** |
| GREAT
WATER (d. Ivo Trajkov) Nicely directed and acted drama about a dying
Macedonian politician recalling his youth. *** |
| GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED, THE (d. Bill Paxton) *** |
| GREEN
HAT (d. Liu Fendou) Quirky dramedy about 3 inep bankrobbers & a cuckolded
cop with marital impotence. Amusing, but confusing, script. * 3/4 |
| GRIZZLY MAN
(d. Warner Herzog) *** 1/2 |
| GRÖNHOLM
METHOD, THE (El Metodo Grönholm) (d. Marcelo Piñero) *** |
| GUESS WHO
(d. Kevin Sullivan) Unfunny, borderline offensive...but Ashton Kucher
actually desplays some talent for timing & star quality. ** 1/2 |
| HANA
& ALICE (d. Shunji Iwai) Intermittantly clever & interesting, quirky
film about two teenage girls & their crush on a reserved boy. **
1/2 |
| HAPPILY
EVER AFTER (d. Yvan Attal) Ironically titled, interesting enough film about 2
married guy & single friend and their failing relationships. ** 3/4 |
| HAPPY ENDINGS (d. Don Roos) Somewhat sprawling, well observed black comedy of
21st century families with a brilliant perf by Maggie Gyllenhaal *** 1/2 |
| HARD PILL
(d. John Baumgartner) *** |
| HARI
OM (d. Bharatbala Ganapathy) Another travelog, this one better, though also
contrived: French girl roving thru India with a rickshaw driver.
** 1/2 |
| HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF
FIRE (d. Mike Newell) *** |
| HATE CRIME
(d. Tommy Stovall) * |
| HE KNEW HE WAS RIGHT (d. Tom Vaughan) Psychologically modern Trollope novel of 4
Victorian relationships given average Masterpiece Theater treatment. ** 1/2 |
| HEAVEN'S BURNING (d. Craig Lahiff)V. Russell Crowe & Japanese chick in a
corkingly over-the-top (a la Robert Rodriguez) violent road pic from Oz. *** |
| HEIGHTS
(d. Chris Terrio) + Second time to watch this one. Superbly well done.
Another great Glenn Close role. My kinda film! *** 1/2 |
| HEIGHTS
(d. Chris Terrio) Multi-character 24 hours in the lives of N.Y. arty types.
Superbly well done. My kinda film! *** 1/2 |
| HER
MINOR THING (d. Charles Matthau) Silly romantic comedy with a trite,
predictable story but nice production values. * 1/2 |
| HIDDEN
(Caché) (d. Michael Haneke) *** 1/2 |
| HIGHWAY (d.
James Cox) V. Messy, faintly homoerotic '02 road movie with stoned out Jake
Gyllenhaal & Jared Leto looking fine. * 3/4 |
| HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, A (d. David Cronenberg) *** 1/2 |
| HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE
GALAXY (d. Garth Jennings) Banal, arch as only the Brits
can. I was incredibly bored, even with the great f/x. * 1/2 |
| HOLY
GIRL, THE (d. Lucrecia Martel) Turgid and pointless drama about the effect on
a teen girl of an almost molestation by a married older man. * 1/2 |
| HOLY LOLA
(d. Bertrand Tavernier) Just about the same movie as John Sayles' Casa de los babys except in Cambodia.
Too protracted and long. ** 1/2 |
| HOSTAGE
(d. Constantine Giannaris) Gripping based on true story variation of Bus
174. Stathis Papadopoulis wonderful as the bus hostage taker. *** 1/4 |
| HOSTAGE (d.
Florent Siri) Visually dazzling thriller with multiple layers of jeopardy.
Plot has several holes; but effective filmmaking nevertheless. ** 3/4\ |
| HOUSE OF D
(d. David Duchovny) Sappy but watchable period piece ('70s N.Y) coming of age
story. Anton Yelchin is quite good; but script has holes. * 3/4 |
| HOWARD ZINN: YOU CAN'T
BE NEUTRAL ON A MOVING TRAIN (d. Ellis & Mueller) V.
Didactic docu about a lifetime activist against war & prejudice. ** 3/4 |
| HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE (d. Hayao Miyazaki) Good story, well dubbed (especially
Christian Bale as Howl), nice animation. I was surprised. *** 1/4 |
| HUNTER,
THE (d. Serik Aprymov) A youthful juvenile deliquent in rural Khazagstan is
tought by a lone wolf hunger. Fabu scenery, not much of a plot. ** 3/4 |
| HUSTLE & FLOW (d. Craig Brewer) Effective filmmaking about Tenn. underclass
dealer & pimp (amazing Terrence Howard) & his need to be a rap star.
** 3/4 |
| ICE HARVEST, THE (d. Harold Ramis) * 3/4 |
| ICE PRINCESS
(d. Tim Fywell) Another tired teen flick about a girl's struggle against her
good mother & bad mother. Nice skating. ** |
| IN HER SHOES
(d. Curtis Hanson) ** 3/4 |
| IN MY COUNTRY (d. John Boorman) Earnest, but sporadically affecting film about
reporting on the S. African reconciliation trials. ** 1/2 |
| IN
MY FATHER'S DEN (d. Brad McGann) Involving, complex New Zealand drama with a
superb Matthew MacFadyen performance. *** 1/4 |
| INCREDIBLES, THE (d. Brad Bird) V. I guess I'm just not into Bird's genre of
animated film. Well made, but overly obvious. ** 1/2 |
| INNOCENT
VOICES (d. Luis Mandoki) El Salvador guerilla war from pov of 11 year old boy
in a small village. Shattering, powerful, excellent film. *** 1/2 |
| INTERPRETER, THE (d. Sidney Pollack) Disappointing thriller pastiche (Man Who Knew Too Much + 3 Days of Condor). Star power aint
enough. ** |
| ISLAND, THE
(d. Michael Bay) More plot holes than swiss cheese, shameful stealing from
past films; but still a diverting mishmosh. ** |
| ITALIAN,
THE (d. Andrey Kravchuk; Russia) *** 1/2 |
| IT'S ALL GONE PETE TONG (d. Michael Dowse) Funny satirical mocumentary about a deaf
disco DJ with a splendid central performance (Paul Kaye) *** |
| JACKET, THE
(d. John Maybury) Stylish timebending thriller which overcomes its unlikely
premise with some fine acting. Brody is wonderful. *** |
| JAMES DEAN: FOREVER YOUNG (d. Michael Sheridan) V. ** 1/2 |
| JARHEAD (d.
Sam Mendes) *** 1/2 |
| JE PRÉFÈRE Q'ON RESTE AMIS (d. Tolidano & Nakache) Painful to watch buddy comedy about
a shy guy & a heel looking for love in today's Paris. ** 1/4 |
| JOYEUX
NOËL (d. Christian Carion; France) *** |
| JUNEBUG
(d. Phil Morrison) Idiosyncratic No. Carolina family & the new in-law
wife that visits. Suprisingly good script & great acting. *** 1/4 |
| JUST A QUESTION OF LOVE (d. Christian Fauré)V. *** |
| JUST LIKE HEAVEN (d. Mark Waters) ** 3/4 |
| KEKEXILI:
MOUNTAIN PATROL (d. Lu Chuan) Vigilante group patrols Tibetian plains to
catch antelope pelt poachers. Disturbing, gorgeous. *** |
| KEN PARK (d.
Larry Clark)V. The king of transgressive pedo-cinema is in fine form in this
pornographic film of skater youths in extremis. *** 1/4 |
| KEPT
AND DREAMLESS (d. Fogwill & Desalvo) 9 yr. old girl comes of age among
poor Argentine extended family. Good characters but uninspired. ** |
| KID
& I, THE (d. Penelope Spheeris) ** 3/4 |
| KING KONG
(d. Peter Jackson) **** |
| KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (d. Ridley Scott) Bloom is charismatic, if a trifle lightweight
in this spectacular period epic which transports. *** |
| KINGS
& QUEEN (d. Arnaud Desplechin) Well acted drama with farcial overtones
& plot holes: an extended family facing death, taxes &
insanity. *** 1/4 |
| KING'S
GAME (d. Nicolai Arcel) Beautifully constructed political thriller about high
level Danish politics and a reporter caught in the middle. *** 1/4 |
| KISS KISS BANG BANG (d. Shane Black) ** |
| KISSED
BY WINTER (Vinterkyss) (d. Sara Johnsen; Norway) *** |
| KONTROLL
(d. Nimród Antal) Hungarian AFF. Well shot but overly bleak and obscure
allegory of hell in the Budapest subway. ** 1/2 |
| KUNG FU HUSTLE (d. Stephen Chow) People enjoy this? Not me. Of
course I rooted for Willie Coyote against Roadrunner. ** |
| LADIES
IN LAVENDER (d. Charles Dance) Well acted (Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Daniel
Brüel!) film about 2 old maids & the boy who drops in. ** 3/4 |
| LAKAWANNA BLUES (d. George Wolfe) Epatha Merkerson should win an Emmy for this
marvellous HBO tv movie of life among blacks in a small NY town. *** 1/4 |
| LAND
HAS EYES, THE (d. Vilsoni Hereniko; Fiji) ** 1/2 |
| LAND
OF PLENTY (d. Wim Wenders) John Diehl is outstanding as a Viet vet obsessed
by a mission to save the U.S. from terrorists. *** |
| LAST
DAY, THE (d. Rodolphe Marconi) Very French, very dreamlike film about a
teenage boy's coming to understand the mystery of his family. *** 1/2 |
| LAST
DAYS (d. Gus Van Sant) Slow meditative film about Kurt Cobain wandering to
his death. Michael Pitt is fine; film is pretty. *** |
| LAST
MOGUL, THE (d. Barry Avrich) Interesting docu about Lou Wasserman with
great interviews but fatally marred by the worst mix I've ever heard.
** |
| LAYER CAKE
(d. Matthew Vaughn) Stylish Brit noir à la Guy Richie, only better. Daniel
Craig wonderful as a smart drug dealer. *** 1/4 |
| LEÓN
AND OLVIDO (d. Xavier Bermúdez) Downer but well-made drama about Downs
Syndrome brother & his normal twin sister. *** |
| LETTER
FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN (d. Xu Jinglei) Gorgeously shot kind of trivial
"woman's pic" about a lifetime of unrequited love. ** 1/4 |
| LIBERTINE, THE (d. Laurence Dunmore) ** 1/2 |
| LIFE
WITH MY FATHER (d. Sébastien Rose) W/O |
| LOGGERHEADS
(d. Tim Kirkman) *** 1/2 |
| LONESOME
JIM (d. Steve Buscemi) Depression & despair has never been more
amusing. Casey Affleck finally lives up to his promise. *** |
| LOOK AT ME
(d. Agnès Jaoui) Slice of life, bittersweet romantic about a disfunctional
French arty family & friends. Quite enjoyable, if minor. *** |
| LORD OF WAR
(d. Andrew Niccol) *** |
| LORDS OF DOGTOWN (d. Catherine Hardwicke) Fictionalized story of original Venice,
CA skateboard punks. Good acting & action. ** 3/4 |
| LOS OLVIDADOS (d. Luis Buñuel) 1950 B&W drama about disaffected teens in
Mexico City. Dali's influence felt in dream sequences. Very affecting.
*** 1/4 |
| LOST CHILDREN (d. Ahadi and Stoltz)V. ** 1/4 |
| LOT LIKE LOVE, A (d. Nigel Cole) Kutcher is turning into a major star...love his
line readings. Nicely made, predictable romantic comedy. ** 3/4 |
| LOVE SONG FOR BOBBIE LONG, A (d. Shainee Gabel) Gentle, amiable, N.O. peculiar family drama.
Fine acting ensemble (Johansson, Macht & Travolta). *** |
| LOVELORN
(d. Yavuz Turgul) W/O |
| MACHUCA
(d. Andrés Wood) Chilean AFF: an 11 year old privileged boy's pov of
society at the end of Allende's regime. Politically slanted left, but
powerful stuff. *** |
| MADISON (d.
William Bindley) Slick, banal, feel-good period (early 70s) film about speed
boats in Madison, IN. Nothing original. * 3/4 |
| MAGIC OF ORDINARY DAYS, THE (d. Brent Shields) V. Hallmark romantic feel-good tv pic with an
excellent Skeet Ulrich & Keri Russell looking '40's pretty. ** 1/2 |
| MALFUNKSHUN:
THE ANDREW WOOD STORY (d. Scot Barbour) Interesting docu about Seattle grunge
rocker Wood, who died at 24. ** 3/4 |
| MAN
ABOUT DOG (d. Paddy Breathnach) Irish film greatly in need of subtitles. An
occasionally funny comedy about dog racing betters. ** |
| MAN OF THE HOUSE (d. Stephen Kerek) Utterly stupid and exploitive film about a
cop tending cheerleader witnesses. 1/2* |
| MARCH OF THE PENGUINS (d. Luc Jacquet) Involving nature docu done beautifully in
extraordinarily difficult shooting conditions. *** 1/4 |
| MARS
(d. Anna Melikian) A totally incomprehensible allegorical comedy about
today's Russia. Sort of poor man's Kusterica. * 1/4 |
| MASCULIN FEMININE (d. Jean-Luc Godard) I wanted to like this '60s Godard b&w
film; but it's pretty boring. ** 1/2 |
| MATADOR, THE
(d. Richard Sheperd) ** |
| MATCH POINT
(d. Woody Allen) *** 1/2 |
| McLIBEL (d.
Franny Armstrong) Docu about famous British libel case won in a truly Pyrrhic
victory by McDonalds. Engaging, but familiar stuff. *** |
| ME
AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW (d. Miranda July) Uniquely voiced comedy about a
broken family & connecting. *** |
| MELINDA AND MELINDA (d. Woody Allen) Will Farrell is a strange Allen avatar; but
this overly clever, hit-&-miss dual-plot film worked for me. ** 3/4 |
| MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (d. Rob Marshall) ** 3/4 |
| MEN AND WOMEN (d. Claude Lelouch) Somewhat foced amalgam of 2 complex
relationship films, nicely done until it turns too meta midway. ** 1/4 |
| MERCHANT OF VENICE, THE (d. Michael Radford) "The quality of this film is strained;
it droppeth like a gentle thud from pretention." ** 1/2 |
| MESSIAH 1: THE FIRST
KILLINGS (d. Diarmuid Lawrence)V. *** 1/4 |
| MESSIAH 2: VENGENCE IS MINE (d. David Richards)V. *** 1/4 |
| MESSIAH 3: THE PROMISE (d. David Drury)V. ** 3/4 |
| MIDWINTER'S
NIGHT DREAM, A (d. Goran Paskaljevic) Depressing, if beautifully acted, drama
about a luckless Serbian man. ** 3/4 |
| MILA
FROM MARS (d. Zornitsa Sophia) An involving love story, a Christ allegory, a
post-modern road trip all rolled into one. ** 3/4 |
| MILLIONS (d.
Danny Boyle) Gentle fable about a kid finding stolen money. Technically adept
& well made; but I'm too cynical for the message. ** 1/2 |
| MIRACLE
ACCORDING TO SALOMÉ, THE (d. Mário Barroso) Lush, beautifully shot tragedy
about the affairs of a virtuous prostitute. ** 3/4 |
| MISS CONGENIALITY 2 (d. John Pasquin) Slick caper comedy & female buddy pic with
a ridiculous plot. Nice use of Enrique Murciano. * 3/4 |
| MISSING
IN AMERICA (d. Gabrielle Savage Dockterman) Affecting story of lost
Viet vet (Danny Glover) and the child that comes into his life. ** 1/2 |
| MONDOVINO
(d. Jonathan Nossiter)V. ** 1/2 |
| MONGOLIAN
PING PONG (d. Ning Hao) Like Weeping Camel, a charming tale of culture clash
on the Mongolian grasslands featuring 3 young kids. *** |
| MOTHER
OF MINE (d. Klaus Härö; Finland) *** 1/2 |
| MR. & MRS. SMITH (d. Doug Liman) Brad Pitt has never been better. Flawed script
with some missing pieces; but a super entertainment. *** |
| MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS (d. Stephen Frears) ** 1/2 |
| MRS. PALFREY AT THE CLAIRMONT (d. Dan Ireland) I'd give Joan Plowright the Oscar for
this. Plus Rupert Friend is a true find. *** 1/2 |
| MUNICH (d.
Steven Spielberg) *** 1/4 |
| MURDERBALL
(d. Rubin & Shapiro) Effective, emotionally satisfying & extremely
well shot docu about paraplegic wheelchair rugby at high level. *** 1/4 |
| MUST LOVE DOGS (d. Gary David Goldberg) Cookie-cutter romantic comedy. Good
perfs don't make up for clichéd script & lack of chemistry. ** |
| MY
SUMMER OF LOVE (d. Pawel Pawlikowski) More civil version of Heavenly
Creatures, only in the English moors. Nicely acted. ** 3/4 |
| MYSTERIOUS SKIN (d. Greg Araki)V. + *** 1/2 |
| MYSTERIOUS
SKIN (d. Gregg Araki) Mindblowingly accurate and well made drama about
sexual abuse & its affects on two boys. *** 3/4 |
| NAPOLA (d.
Dennis Gansel) Story of a teenage boxer given a scholarship to an elite Nazi
school. Incredibly involving, one of those films I flip out over. ***
1/4 |
| NEST, THE
(d. Florent Emilio Siri)V. Above average, tense French action flick about a
warehouse under seige with lots of anonymous bad guys. ** 3/4 |
| NEW WORLD, THE (d. Terrence Malick) ** 3/4 |
| NEXT
DOOR (d. Pol Sletaune) *** |
| NICELAND
(d. Fridrik Thór Fridriksson) A strange but pleasant fable about a boy
(Martin Compston) searching for the purpose of life. ** 3/4 |
| NIGHT
WATCH (d. Timur Bekmambetov) Messy Russian pastiche of every big f/x film
from The Omen to The Matrix. Vampires rule for 1000 years. ** |
| NINTH DAY, THE (d. Volker Schlöndorff) Dark, slow, philosophical drama about
Catholic priest on leave from Dachau & his duel of wits with an SS
officer. ** 3/4 |
| NINTH DAY, THE (d. Volker Schlöndorff) Dark, slow, philosophical drama about
Catholic priest on leave from Dachau & his duel of wits with an SS
officer. ** 3/4 |
| NO NIGHT IS TOO LONG (d. Tom Shankland) V. + Wonderfully written & acted Ruth
Rendell story; a Canadian gay TV film to be cherished. *** 1/2 |
| NO
SONGS OF LOVE (d. Lars Kraume) Talky, boring pseudo-docu of a guy making a
doc about his brother's affair with his girlfriend. * 3/4 |
| NOITE
ESCURA (d. João Canijo; Portugal) * |
| NORTH COUNTRY (d. Niki Caro) *** |
| NORTH
KOREA-DAY IN THE LIFE (d. Pieter Fleury) Docu with no narration, just showing
the activities of typical N. Korean workers in one day. ** 3/4 |
| NOVEMBER
(d. Greg Harrison) Pretentious and mysterious recreation of a convenience
store robbery. James LeGros & Courtney Cox are just ok. ** |
| OBABA
(d. Montxo Armendariz; Spain) ** 3/4 |
| OCCUPATION DREAMLAND (d. Olds and Scott; docu) V. *** |
| OLIVER TWIST
(d. Roman Polanski) *** 1/4 |
| ON NATIVE SOIL: THE
DOCUMENTARY OF THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT (d. Linda Ellman;
docu) *** 1/2 |
| OSSESSIONE
(d. Luchino Visconti)V. Fine, neo-realist B&W noir based on Postman Always Rings Twice. Massimo
Girotti is revelatory. *** 1/4 |
| OTHER SIDE OF HEAVEN, THE (d. Mitch Davis)V. *** |
| OTHER
SIDE, THE (Al Otro Lado) (d. Gustavo Loza) ** 1/2 |
| OUR
OWN (d. Dmitry Meskhiyev) Interesting, involving variant on the Russian WWII
film, about escaped soldiers behind German lines. *** |
| OVERLORD
(d. Stuart Cooper) 1975 B&W docudrama about a Brit soldier preparing and
participating in D-Day. No Private Ryan, sort of blah. ** 1/4 |
| PAHELI
(d. Amol Palekar; India) ** |
| PALENDROMES
(d. Todd Solondz) Ebony black comedy with Solondz's patented mordant sardonic
wit. Uneven, but always interesting. ** 3/4 |
| PALM BEACH STORY (d. Preston Sturges) V. Amiable, wordy, classy screwball comedy
with finally made me see why Sturges has such a rep for wit. *** |
| PARADISE
NOW (d. Hany Abu-Assad; Palestine) *** 1/2 |
| PERFECT SCORE, THE (d. Brian Robbins)V. ** 3/4 |
| PERHAPS
LOVE (d. Peter Ho-Sun Chan; Hong Kong) ** 3/4 |
| POLAR EXPRESS (d. Robert Zemeckis) Nice animation, trite story...but it works
on an elemental level. I enjoyed more than I expected from the lousy
reviews. *** |
| POLICE
BEAT (d. Robinson Devor) Stream of consciousness experiences of a Seattle cop
originally from Senegal. Wide screen video transfer. ** 1/4 |
| PRETTY
PERSUASION (d. Marcos Siega) Teen black comedy satire designed to offend
everybody; with a great perf. by Evan Rachel Wood. ** 1/2 |
| PRIDE & PREJUDICE (d. Joe Wright) **** |
| PRIME (d.
Ben Younger) *** 1/2 |
| PROMISE,
THE (Wuji) (d. Chen Kaige; China) *** |
| PROOF (d.
John Madden) ** 3/4 |
| PUNTO
Y RAYA (d. Elia Schneider) Silly Venezuelan black comedy about two opposing
soldiers, one corrupt, one pure, & their adventures in the jungle.
* 1/4 |
| QUEENS
(Reinas) (d. Manuel Gomez Pereíra) *** 1/4 |
| RACE YOU TO THE BOTTOM (d. Russell Brown) Surprisingly enjoyable, caustic affair of
bi-guy & faghag in wine country. Nicely written. *** |
| REAL
DIRT ON FARMER JOHN, THE (d. Taggart Siegel) Liberal crowd-pleaser docu about
an organic farmer & his collective farm in Illinois. *** |
| RED
DUST (d. Tom Hooper) Very well made and well acted, though familiar plotwise,
drama about the S.African reconciliation. *** |
| RED EYE (d.
Wes Craven) ** 3/4 |
| REDEEMER
(d. Claudio Torres) A wildly uneven, but ultimately too far-out film about a
crooked real estate empire in Rio and how God got even. * 3/4 |
| REEL PARADISE (d. Steve James)V. *** |
| RENART,
THE FOX (d. Thierry Schiel; Luxembourg) * |
| RENT (d.
Chris Columbus) * 3/4 |
| REQUIEM
OF SNOW (d. Jamil Rostami; Iraq) ** |
| RICE
RHAPSODY (d. Kenneth Biroli) Singapore woman with 3 gay sons tries to
get one to turn straight. A fun, lush foodie confection of a film. **
3/4 |
| RING TWO, THE (d. Hideo Nakata) A truly ridiculous premise so outlandish that
it's impossible to be scared. Still, effective acting & direction.
* 3/4 |
| RIPLEY
UNDER GROUND (d. Robert Spottiswoode) ** 3/4 |
| RITTENHOUSE SQUARE (d. Robert Downey)V. ** 1/2 |
| RIZE (d.
David LaChapelle; docu) V. ** 1/4 |
| ROBOTS (d.
Chris Wedge) Kinetic, beautifully designed 3-D animated roller-coaster with a
predictable script. Marred by Greg Kaneer's incipidly voiced villainy. *** |
| ROCK
SCHOOL (d. Don Argott) Enormously entertaining docu about a Philadelphia
school for kids to learn to perform rock. *** 1/2 |
| ROLE
OF A LIFETIME, THE (d. François Favat) Pleasant, involving dramidy
about a famous film actress & the woman she makes her assistant.
*** |
| ROLLING
FAMILY (d. Pablo Trapero) Earthy road pic about an extended family's 1000km
journey by camper through north Argentina. *** 1/4 |
| ROMA (d.
Adolfo Aristarian) Poignant, lovely, wonderful epic drama about an elderly
writer's reminiscences of his mother. Juan Diego Boto rules! **** |
| RONDA
NOCTURNA (d. Edgardo Cozaninsky) Delightful rondelay of one enchanted night
of an attractive male hustler in Buenos Aires. *** 1/4 |
| RUINS,
THE (Rusevine) (d. Janez Burger) ** 1/2 |
| RUMOR HAS IT... (d. Rob Reiner) *** |
| SABAH
(d. Ruba Nadda) Traditional Muslem woman falls for white guy in this Canadian
film. It's an old story; but done well enough here to work for me. ** 3/4 |
| SAHARA (d.
Breck Eisner) Big scope, empty calorie adventure film about skullduggery and
treasure hunting in Africa. Mindless entertainment. ** |
| SAINT
RALPH (d. Michael McGowan) Heartening, feel-good period film about a teenage
boy in Catholic School who needs to make a miracle. *** |
| SARABAND
(d. Ingmar Bergman) Starts slow; but accumulates great strength with story of
disaffected family. *** 1/4 |
| SAVING
FACE (d. Alice Wu) Lesbian approx. of The Wedding Banquet...a feelgood comedy
of a family & a girl coming to grips with being gay. ** 3/4 |
| SAY UNCLE
(d. Peter Paige) Strangely discomforting film about a naive gay man whose
innocent love for children is misunderstood. ** |
| SCHOOL TIES
(d. Robert Mandel, '92) V. Good, if predictable, drama, a prep school in mid
'50s; Jewish student (Brendan Fraser) vs. rich snob (Matt Damon). **
1/2 |
| SECOND COMING, THE (d. Jack Walsh) V. 0* |
| SECRET FESTIVAL #2 Already seen this one, admittedly at L.A.'s worst big screen
venue; but hated it and had no desire to see it again. W/O |
| SEOUL
TRAIN (d. Lubansky, Butterworth, Sleeth) Mainly talking heads docu about
plight of N. Korean refugees in China. Bad sound. ** 1/4 |
| SEPARATE LIES (d. Julian Fellowes) *** |
| SERENITY (d.
Joss Whedon) * 3/4 |
| SEUL CONTRE TOUS (d. Gaspar Noé) V. Noé is a great stylist. This film is hard to
warch, but a fascinating character study of a loser. *** |
| SHOPGIRL (d.
Anand Tucker) *** |
| SHREK 2 (d.
Adamson, Asbury, Vernon) V. Best animated film since Toy Story 2. Clever schtick, a story
which holds together & real characters. *** 1/2 |
| SHUTKA BOOK OF RECORDS, THE (d. Aleksandar Manió) V. * 1/4 |
| SHWAAS
(d. Sandeep Sawant) Overamped heart tugger about 6 year old boy with cancer
who must lose both his eyes. * 3/4 |
| SKY HIGH (d.
Mike Mitchell) Fun, unpretentious kid's flick about a school for kids with
super powers. Michael Angarano shines here...ditto Chris Wynne. ** 3/4 |
| SLIPSTREAM
(d. David van Eyssen) V. Ridiculous time travel story mixed with a Guy Richie
gang who couldn't shoot straight story. Sean Astin is good, however. *
1/4 |
| SMALLPOX 2002: SILENT
WEAPON (d. Daniel Percival) V. British tv movie, well
done fake documentary with a frightening message. ** 3/4 |
| SO
CLOSE, SO FAR (d. Reza Mir Karimi, Iran) *** 1/4 |
| SOPHIE
SCHOLL - THE FINAL DAYS (d. Marc Rothemund; Germany) ** 1/2 |
| SOUND OF THUNDER, A (d. Peter Hyams) * 1/4 |
| SPEAK (d.
Jessica Sharzer)V.+ ** 3/4 |
| SQUID AND THE WHALE, THE (d. Noah Baumbach) *** 1/2 |
| STAY (d.
Marc Forster) *** |
| STEAL
ME (d. Melissa Painter) Gem of an Amer. indie about a wandering teenage boy
klepto who gets adopted into a good Montana home. *** 1/4 |
| STEALTH (d.
Rob Cohen) Politically dubious, viscerally exciting war as video game.
Surprisingly effective entertainment. Josh Lucas & EDI rule. ** 3/4 |
| STORY OF MY LIFE, THE (d. Laurent Tirard) Fun, well made French 4-character romantic
comedy. Only flaw is too pat a resolution. ** 3/4 |
| STREET FIGHT
(d. Marshall Curry; docu) V. *** 1/2 |
| SUMMER
IN BERLIN (Andreas Dresen) ** 1/2 |
| SUMMER
STORM (d. Marco Kreuzpaintner) Pleasant, sexy, gay German American Pie type
film about youthful affairs at a summer rowing camp. *** |
| SUMMER STORM
(d. Marco Kreuzpaintner) Yes, for the first time ever I watched a film
for the 2nd time at SIFF. Blame the fabu eye candy. *** |
| SUMMER
STORM (d. Marco Kreuzpaintner)+++ Yikes! Third time the charm.
Hollywood should only make a teen sex comedy this good! As if.
*** |
| SUNSET STRIP
(d. Adam Collis)V.+ *** |
| SUPERVOLCANO
(d. Tony Mitchell)V. Scary, involving, high gloss fictionalized disaster
docudrama about Yellowstone eruption. *** |
| SWIMMERS
(d. Doug Sadler) American indie with high production values, but a slow,
trivial tv-movie plot which failed to go anyplace. * 3/4 |
| SWIMMING UPSTREAM (d. Russell Mulcahy) Pedestrian bio of early '60s Australian
swimmer (the magnetic Jesse Spenser) & his drunking & abusive
father. ** 1/4 |
| SYRIAN
BRIDE, THE (d. Eran Riklis) Well made, emotionally satisfying film about a
Druze family where the daughter must leave to wed in Syria. ** 3/4 |
| SYRIANA (d.
Stephen Gaghan) ** 3/4 |
| TATTOOED
(Tatuado) (d. Eduardo Raspa) ** 3/4 |
| TBILISI-TBILISI
(d. Zakareishvili Levan; Georgia) ** 1/2 |
| TESTOSTERONE
(d. David Moreton)V.+ Murky gay doings in Buenos Aires with an attractive (!)
cast & a story of lust and longing which doesn't work. ** 1/2 |
| THAT
MAN: PETER BERLIN (d. Jim Tushinski) Interesting docu about male porn
object of the '70s. Nicely made with excellent interviews. *** 1/4 |
| THING
ABOUT MY FOLKS, THE (d. Raymond De Felitta) Touching family comedy
written & acted by Paul Reiser with the great Peter Falk. *** |
| THIS
CHARMING GIRL (d. Lee Yoon-ki) Tedious, pointless film about a quietly
suffering S. Korean girl wounded inside by sexual abuse. ** 1/4 |
| THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES
ESTRADA, THE (d. Tommy Lee Jones) *** |
| THREE
DANCING SLAVES (d. Gaël Morel) Three attractive brothers and their somewhat
eliptical stories. Morel should quit directing & return to acting. ** 1/4 |
| THREE
OF HEARTS (d. Susan Kaplan) Interesting docu about a 3-way
"marriage" between two gay men & a straight woman. Fascinating
outcome. *** 1/4 |
| THUMBSUCKER
(d. Mike Mills) ** 1/2 |
| TOM BROWN'S SCHOOL DAYS (d. Dave Moore) V. *** 1/4 |
| TOTALLY
PERSONAL (Sasvim Licno) (d. Nedzad Begovic) ** 3/4 |
| TOUT
UN HIVER SANS FEU (d. Greg Zglinski; Switzerland) ** 3/4 |
| TRANSAMERICA
(d. Duncan Tucker) *** 1/4 |
| TRANSPORTER 2, THE (d. Louis Leterrier) ** 1/2 |
| TRANSPORTER, THE (d. Louis Leterrier)V. ** 3/4 |
| TRISTRAM
SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY (d. Michael Winterbottom) *** |
| TROPICAL
MALADY (d. Apichatpong Weerasethakul) Very strange, beautiful film which
starts as a simple gay friendship film & ends as an allegory. **
3/4 |
| TRUE LOVE
(d. Michael J. Saul)V. *** |
| TRUE STORY OF ALEXANDER THE
GREAT, THE (d. Jim Lindsay) V. Quite informative History
Channel 2 1/4 hr. opus, better than the recent feature. *** |
| TSOTSI
(d. Gavin Hood; South Africa) **** |
| TURTLES
CAN FLY (d. Bahman Ghobadi) Powerful, wrenching drama about damaged Kurdish
children in a refugee camp just before Gulf War 2. *** 1/4 |
| TWO FOR THE MONEY (d. D.J. Caruso) ** 1/2 |
| TWO
GREAT SHEEP (d. Liu Hao) Visually stunning Chinese shaggy sheep story about
collectivism gone nuts. I was a little bored. ** 1/2 |
| TWO
SONS OF FRANCISCO (Dois Filhos de Francisco) (d. Breno Silveira; Brazil) **
3/4 |
| UNCONSCIOUS
(d. Joaquin Oristell) Sometimes funny, lush Spanish period farce about
sexuality in the days when Freud was current. ** 3/4 |
| UNFINISHED LIFE , AN (d. Lasse Hellstrom) ** 1/2 |
| UNKNOWN WHITE MALE (d. Rupert Murray) V. *** 1/2 |
| UNO (d.
Aksel Hennie) Tough, violent drama about a good man who can't escape the
consequences of acts beyond his control. *** |
| UNTOLD STORY OF EMMETT LOUS
TILL, THE (d. Keith and Kevin Beauchamps) V. *** |
| UPSIDE OF ANGER, THE (d. Mike Binder) John Gissing was so bad
that I dismissed Binder as a director...mistake. Fine ensemble comedy. *** |
| VENTO
DI TERRA (d. Vincenzio Marra) Quiet, slow, sad film about a young Napolese
boy & his poor family ekeing out a proud existence. *** |
| VENUS & FLEUR (d. Emmanuel Mouret) Female buddy flick French style...shy
French girl meets vivante Russian girl & blossoms. ** 3/4 |
| VICTOIRE (d.
Stéphanie Murat) Even with Silvie Testud as a serial killer, this silly black
comedy is a waste of time. * 1/4 |
| VIRGIN QUEEN, THE (d. Coky Giedroye) V. ** 3/4 |
| VIVA
CUBA (d. Juan Carlos Cremata) ** 1/4 |
| WAITING
FOR THE CLOUDS (d. Yesim Ustaoglu) Slow film about an old lady's guilt at
staying in Turkey during the great 1916 expulsion to Greece. ** 1/2 |
| WALK THE LINE (d. James Margold) ** 3/4 |
| WALLACE & GROMMET:
CURSE OF THE WERE RABBIT (d. Nick Park) V. *** |
| WANDERING
SHADOWS (d. Ciro Guerra) Unconventional buddy flick amidst the squalor of
Bagota, Columbia. B&W looked digitized. ** 3/4 |
| WAR OF THE WORLDS (d. Steven Spielberg) Until the mushy, unlikely ending, one of
the great scary thriller SF films ever. Remarkable f/x. *** 1/4 |
| WARM SPRINGS
(d. Joseph Sergeant) Emotionally satisfying well acted HBO tv movie about
Roosevelt's early years of polio recouperation. *** |
| WARRIOR
(d. Asif Kapadia) Slow, meditative, almost silent period piece about a
warrior in Kashmir who wants to quit killing. ** 3/4 |
| WARSAW
(d. Dariusz Gajewski) Slightly amusing story of several assorted characters
wandering around Warsaw & sort of connecting one snowy day. ** 1/2 |
| WATERLOO (d.
Sergei Bondarchuk) 1970 epic with some incredibly great battle footage &
Steiger's wonderful portrayal of Napoleon. *** 1/4 |
| WEATHER MAN, THE (d. Gore Verbinski) ** 3/4 |
| WEDDING CRASHERS, THE (d. David Dobkin) ** 3/4 |
| WELL, THE
(d. Kristian Petri) Extremely well written documentary tone poem about Orson
Welles' relationship to Spain. *** 3/4 |
| WHAT
A WONDERFUL PLACE (d. Eyal Halfon) ** |
| WHEN WILL I BE LOVED (d. James Tobak) V. ** 3/4 |
| WHERE THE TRUTH LIES (d. Atom Egoyan) *** |
| WHISKY
ROMEO ZULU (d. Enrique Piñeyro) Fascinating aircrash drama based on fact. The
whistleblower pilot (also acted & directed) is amazing. *** 1/4 |
| WHITE COUNTESS, THE (d. James Ivory) *** 1/4 |
| WILBY WONDERFUL (d. Daniel MacIvor) Slice of life film on the Canadian island of
Wilby. Pleasant trifle with nifty perfs from Paul Gross & Sandra
Oh. ** 3/4 |
| WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON (d. Robert Lukatik) Fun, if predictable, romantic comedy which
brings stardom to Topher Grace. ** 3/4 |
| WINTER SOLSTICE (d. Josh Sternfeld) Quintessential Sundance indie film, quiet,
revelatory, fine acting (Mark Webber & Aaron Stanford rule!) ***
1/4 |
| WOMEN, THE
(d. George Cukor)V. *** |
| WONDERFUL
NIGHT IN SPLIT, A (d. Arsen Anton Ostojic) Gorgeous, noir B&W film about
a two hour period from 3 different points of view. *** 1/4 |
| WORLD
WITHOUT THIEVES, A (d. Xiaogang Feng) Clever variant on martial arts film
about thieves on a train going after an innocent patsy. *** |
| WRONG
SIDE UP (Pribehy Obycejneho Silenstvi) (d. Petr Zelenka) ** |
| WTC VIEW (d.
Brian Sloan) Emotionally shattering, brilliantly written & acted (watch
for Michael Urie) story of 9/11's effects on some gay NYers. *** 1/2 |
| YASMIN
(d. Kenny Glennan) Drama about a family of Pakis in England after 9/11. Scary
and truthful, but as a film sort of primitive. ** 3/4 |
| YEAR
WITHOUT LOVE, A (d. Anahi Berneri) Quietly affecting, often raunchy film
journal about an S&M bottom with AIDS. *** 1/4 |
| YES (d.
Sally Potter) Romantic woman's pic in rhymed verse. Joan Allen exudes
sex; but for me Potter remains an elusive taste. ** 1/2 |
| YESTERDAY
(d. Darrell Roodt) Picturesque & heartfelt So. African AFF about a rural
Zulu family ravaged by AIDS. *** |
| Z CHANNEL: A MAGNIFICENT
OBSESSION (d. Alexandra Cassavettes)V. Well made,
informative docu on Jerry Harvey with great movie clips. *** 1/2 |
| ZIM
AND CO. (d. Pierre Jolivet) *** |
| ZOZO
(d. Josef Fares; Sweden) *** |
Return to Ken Rudolph's movie home page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|