| "A" Films Watched 2000-2009 |
| In the decade of 2000-2009 I watched approximately 223 films starting with "A". |
| All films are rated on a scale of **** (A+), *** 3/4 (A), *** 1/2 (A-), *** 1/4 (B+), *** (B), ** 3/4 (B-), ** 1/2 (C+), ** 1/4 ( C), ** (C-) , * 3/4 (D+), * 1/2 (D), * 1/4 (D-), * (F) |
| Links are to longer reviews on site. A film defined as 70 min.+ visual event. |
| The year included with the film is the year I watched each film. |
| (V) = TV, Video or DVD ( +) = repeat viewing (W/O)= walked out |
| A DIOS MOMO (2005, d. Leonardo Ricagni) W/O |
| A FATHER, A SON, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (2004, d. Lee Grant) V. Insider docu about Kirk and Michael Douglas, interesting but not great. ** 3/4 |
| A SIDE, B SIDE, SEA SIDE (2006, d. Wing-Chiu Chan) ** 1/4 |
| Ŕ TOUT DE SUITE (2007, d. Benoît Jacquot) V. Jacquot doing 60's Godard pretty darn well. *** |
| A WOMAN IN BERLIN, A (Anonyma - Eine Frau in Berlin) (2009, d. Max Färberböck) *** |
| AACHI & SSIPAK (2007, d. Joe Bum-jin) 1/2* |
| ABANDON (2002, d. Stephen Gaghan) *** |
| ABANDONED (2001, d. Arpad Sopsits) *** 1/4 |
| ABBUFFATA L' (2008, d. Mimmo Colopresti) *** |
| ABOUNA (2003, d. Mahamet Saleh Haroun) Chad AFF. Two young brothers and their trials finding their father. ** |
| ABOUT A BOY (2002, d. Chris & Paul Weitz) *** |
| ABOUT ELLY (2009, d. Asghar Farhadi) *** |
| ABOUT SCHMIDT (2002, d. Alexander Payne) *** 1/4 |
| ABOUT THE LIVING (2002, d. Jorge Aquilera) ** |
| ABSOLUT (2005, d. Romed Wyder) Fascinating, complex thriller about 2 computer hacker political terrorists & memory restoration. *** 1/4 |
| ACCEPTED (2007, d. Steve Pink) V. ** 1/2 |
| ACCORDING TO SPENCER (2001, d. Shane Edelman) *** |
| ACNÉ (2008, d. Federico Veiroj) *** |
| ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (2007, d. Julie Taymor) The '60s film I've been waiting 40 years for. **** |
| ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (2008, d. Julie Taymore) + Even on 2nd view, this is my fave film of decade so far. **** |
| ADAM & STEVE (2005, d. Craig Chester) Silly at times, but also funny & touching romantic comedy about 2 quirky, mature gay men. ** 3/4 |
| ADAM (2009, d. Max Mayer) *** 1/4 |
| ADAM'S APPLES (2005, d. Anders Thomas Jensen) *** |
| ADAPTATION (2002, d. Spike Jonze) *** 1/2 |
| ADDICTION (2005, d. Minna Virtanen) ** 3/4 |
| ADMIRAL, THE (2009, d. Andrei Kravchuck) *** 1/2 |
| ADORATION (2008, d. Atom Egoyan) *** 1/2 |
| ADORATION (2009, d. Atom Egoyan) + Not quite as stunning the 2nd time around...but worse: 2nd time this week I went to a film I didn't realize I'd seen before! *** 1/4 |
| ADVENTURELAND (2009, d. Greg Mottola) Jesse Eisenberg, like Michael Cera is the ideal pomo hero. Pleasant, if subdued, rom-com. ** 3/4 |
| ADVENTURES OF FELIX, THE (2001, d. Olivier Ducastel & Jacques Martineau) *** 3/4 |
| ADVENTURES OF SEBASTIAN COLE, THE (2003, d. Tod Williams) V. Coming of age/disfunctional family story nicely, if eliptically realized. Adrian Grenier! ** 3/4 |
| AE FOND KISS (2005, d. Ken Loach) Ill fated love of a young 2nd generation Paki for a white woman in today's Scotland. Subtle & affecting. *** |
| AFFAIR OF LOVE, AN (2000, d. Frédéric Fonteyne) *** |
| AFFAIR OF THE NECKLACE, THE (2001, d. Charles Shyer) ** 3/4 |
| AFGHAN STAR (2009, d. Havana Marking) *** |
| AFTER INNOCENCE (2005, d. Jessica Sanders; docu) V. *** 1/4 |
| AFTER MIDNIGHT (2005, d. Davide Ferrario) Whimsical paean to film ŕ la Amélie without the irony, a charmingly cockeyed love triangle. *** 1/4 |
| AFTER THE WEDDING (2006, d. Susanne Bier; Denmark) *** 1/2 |
| AFTERLIFE (2003, d. Alison Peebles) Affecting drama: ambitious man forced to care for Down's Syndrome sister. Tear jerker, never goes over the top. *** 1/4 |
| AFTERMATH (2004, d. Paprika Steen) Emotionally shattering, beautifully acted chamber drama about the affects of grief on a couple & the people around them. *** 1/2 |
| AFTERSCHOOL (2008, d. Antonio Campos) *** 1/4 |
| AFTERWARDS (2008, d. Gilles Bourdos) ** 1/4 |
| AGAINST THE CURRENT (2009, d. Peter Callahan) *** 1/2 |
| AGENT CODY BANKS 2 (2004, d. Kevin Allen) Silly, but coherent kids film. At least miles better than Inspector Gadget, which is saying something. ** 1/4 |
| AGITATOR (2002, d. Miike Takashi) ** 3/4 |
| AGRONOMIST, THE (2004, d. Jonathan Demme) V. Doc. about Haitian radio radical good guy Jean Dominique. Interesting, but slow mid-section disappoints. ** 3/4 |
| AGUA (2007, d. Verónica Chen) *** |
| AHEAD OF TIME (2005, d. Ágúst Güdmundsson; Iceland) * 3/4 |
| AHIMSA STOP TO RUN (2006, d. Leo Kittikorn; Thailand) * |
| AI (2001, d. Steven Spielberg) **** |
| AIME TON PERE (2003, d. Jacob Berger) Swiss AFF. High gloss road picture about Literature Nobelist and his estranged son. *** 1/4 |
| AIMÉE & JAGUAR (2000, d. Max Färberböck) ** 3/4 |
| AIMÉE, L' (2008, d. Arnaud Desplechin) ** 1/4 |
| AIN'T SCARED (2008, d. Audrey Estrougo) ** |
| AIRES DIFICILES, LOS (2006, d. Gerardo Herrera) ** 3/4 |
| AJAMI (2009, d.Scandar Copti & Yaron Shani; Israel) *** 3/4 |
| AKA (2004, 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 |
| AKEELAH AND THE BEE (2006, d. Doug Acheson) Predictable, manipulative, moving film about an 11 yr. old black girl spelling genius. ** 1/2 |
| AL FRANKEN: GOD SPOKE (2006, d. Nick Doob, Chris Hegedus) *** 1/4 |
| ALAMO, THE (2004, d. John Lee Hancock) Mediocre script with too many levels of flashbacks; but otherwise fairly well made historical pic. ** 1/2 |
| ALATRISTE (2006, d. Augustin Diaz Yanes) ** 3/4 |
| ALBINO ALLEGATOR (2005, d. Kevin Spacey)V. Hostage film in a bar with some good perfs, but pretty average script and direction. ** 1/2 |
| ALCATRAZ AVE. (2000, d. Tom Edgar) *** |
| ALEGRE MA NON TROPPO (2004, d. Fernando Colomo) Slick, high gloss '94 Spanish sex farce on confused sexuality with clever plot and some fine acting. *** |
| ALEX & EMMA (2003, d. Rob Reiner) Romantic comedy. A novelist & a steno who are writing and acting out a novel. A real turkey, both novel and script. * |
| ALEXANDER (2004, 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 |
| ALEXANDRA (2008, d. Alexander Sokurov) *** |
| ALFIE (2004, 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 |
| ALI ZAOUA, PRINCE DE LA RUE (2000, d. Nabil Ayouch) *** |
| ALI (2001, d. Michael Mann) *** 1/2 |
| ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL (2003, d. W.R. Fassbinder) V. Indictment of conformest, xenophobic German character; old woman marries nice young Moroccan. *** |
| ALIAS BETTY (2002, d. Claude Miller) *** |
| ALICE AND MARTIN (2000, d. André Téchiné) *** |
| ALICE UPSIDE DOWN (2008, d. Sandy Tung) ** 3/4 |
| ALICE (2006, d. Marco Martins; Portugal) ** 3/4 |
| ALIVE (Zhivoy) (2007, d. Alexander Veledinsky) ** 3/4 |
| ALIVE! (2009, d. Artan Minarolli; Albania) ** 3/4 |
| ALL ABOUT LILY CHOU CHOU (2002, d. Shunji Iwai) ** |
| ALL HAT (2007, d. Leonard Farlinger) ** 3/4 |
| ALL IN (2008, d. Nick Vallelonga) V. I usually like poker movies; but this barely watchable drama was terrible. * |
| ALL OR NOTHING (2002, d. Mike Leigh) ** 3/4 |
| ALL OR NOTHING (2004, d. Mike Leigh) V. Finally caught Leigh's miserabilist version of Life is Sour. As usual, fine filmmaking; but depressing. *** |
| ALL OVER THE GUY (2003, d. Julie Davis)+ V. One of the better gay films...bittersweet romantic comedy which has the ring of truth and originality. *** 1/4 |
| ALL OVER THE GUY (2001, d. Julie Davis) *** 1/4 |
| ALL THE KING'S MEN (2006, d. Steven Zaillian) Why was this film critically savaged? Maybe a little over-ripe; but fantastic drama. *** 1/2 |
| ALL THE PRETTY HORSES (2000, d. Billy Bob Thornton) ** 1/2 |
| ALL THE REAL GIRLS (2003, d. David Gordon Green) Appalachian love story; poetry of the ordinary. Schneider & Deschanel are great. *** 1/2 |
| ALL WILL BE WELL (Wszystko Bedzie Dobrze) (2008, d. Tomasz Wiszniewski) *** 1/2 |
| ALLEGRO (2006, d. Christoffer Boe) ** |
| ALMOST ADULT (2007, d. Yousaf Ali Khan) ** 1/2 |
| ALMOST BROTHERS (2005, d. Lúcia Murat) Confusingly structured Brazilian story mixing City of God with Carandiru and inferior to both. ** |
| ALMOST FAMOUS (2000, d. Cameron Crowe) *** 1/4 |
| ALMOST ORDINARY STORY, AN (2003, d. Milos Petricic) Romantic comedy about a couple who may or may not be fated to marry. ** 3/4 |
| ALMOST PEACEFUL (2003, d. Michael Deville) Post WWII Jews trying to return to normal life in Paris dressmaking atelier. Gentle, pastoral, slow. ** 3/4 |
| ALONE IN FOUR WALLS (Allein in vier wanden) (2008, d. Alexandra Westmeier) *** 1/4 |
| ALONE (2005, 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 |
| ALONG CAME POLLY (2004, d. John Hamburg) Big stars, but a terribly tasteless script...even Philip Hoffman overdid his slob schtick. * 1/2 |
| ALONG THE RIDGE (2007, d. Kim Rossi Stuart) *** 1/2 |
| ALPHA DOG (2007, d. Nick Cassavetes) Better than expected. Timberlake & especially a game Ben Foster outstanding. *** |
| ALQUIMISTA IMPACIENTE, EL (2003, d. Patricia Ferreira) Thriller/policier...lurid murder of a nuclear plant worker. ** 3/4 |
| ALZHEIMER CASE, THE (2005, d. Erik Van Looy) Polished thriller about a French mafia assassin whose Alzheimers is affecting his contract hit in Antwerp. *** |
| AMANDLA! A REVOLUTION IN FOUR-PART HARMONY (2001, d. Lee Hirsch) ** 3/4 |
| AMATEURS, THE (2007, d. Michael Traegar) A silly comedy with a fine cast, mostly wasted. * 3/4 |
| AMATI GIRLS, THE (2001, d. Anne DeSalvo) ** |
| AMAZING GRACE (2007, d. Michael Apted) Earnest, but sort of boring film with great perf by Ioan Gruffuid. ** 3/4 |
| AMAZING MRS. PRITCHARD, THE (2007, d. var.) V. Involving, realistic British political what-if fantasy miniseries. *** |
| AMELIA (2009, d. Mira Nair) Straightforward romantic biopic which informs rather than involves. Borderline boring for a Hollywood pic. ** 1/2 |
| AMÉLIE (2001, d. Jean-Pierre Jeunet) *** 1/4 |
| AMEN (2003, d. Costa-Gavras) Shattering Holocaust drama from pov of conscientious SS Lt. and an Italian priest with the ear of the pope. *** 1/2 |
| AMERICAN COUSINS (2003, d. Don Coutts) The mob (Ukraine and New Jersey versions) come to Glasgow. ** |
| AMERICAN FORK (2007, d. Chris Bowman) ** |
| AMERICAN GANGSTER (2007, d. Ridley Scott) A classic gangster flick, reminiscent of Heat. *** 1/2 |
| AMERICAN GUN (2002, d. Alan Jacobs) ** 3/4 |
| AMERICAN HAUNTING, AN (2005, d. Courtney Solomon) * 3/4 |
| AMERICAN JOBS (2004, d. Greg Spotts) V. Informative, reasoned docu about the effect of NAFTA etc. on the American worker. Good polemics and filmmaking. *** |
| AMERICAN OUTLAWS (2001, d. Les Mayfield) * |
| AMERICAN PIE 2 (2001, d. J.B. Rogers) * 3/4 |
| AMERICAN PRIMITIVE (2009, d. Gwen Wynne) ** 1/2 |
| AMERICAN RHAPSODY, AN (2003, d. Éva Gárdos) V. Maladjustment of child of Hungarian emigres. Well acted, subtle, true to '50s & a little stolid. ** 3/4 |
| AMERICAN RULING CLASS, THE (2005, d. John Kirby) V. *** 1/2 |
| AMERICAN SHOPPER (2007, d. Tamas Bojtor & Sybil Dessau) *** 3/4 |
| AMERICAN SON (2008, d. Neil Abramson) *** 1/2 |
| AMERICAN SPLENDOR (2003, US d. Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini) Clever biopic/documentary about Harvey Pekar, comix writer. *** 3/4 |
| AMERICAN TEEN (2008, d. Nanette Burstein) *** 1/4 |
| AMERICAN VIOLET (2009, d. Tim Disney) Prdictable "based on true" story of ACLU victory over Texas racial injustices. Good intentions & acting; but so so. ** 3/4 |
| AMERICAN VISA (2006, d. Juan Carlos Valdivia; Bolivia) ** 3/4 |
| AMERICAN WEDDING (2004, 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 |
| AMERICANESE (2006, d. Eric Byler) ** 3/4 |
| AMERICANO (2005, d. Kevin Nolan) Contrived travelog with little plot (young Americans in Spain finding themselves) and some poor acting. * 1/2 |
| AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS (2001, d. Joe Roth) ** |
| AMNESIA - THE JAMES BRIGHTON ENIGMA (2006, d. Denis Langlois) Dusan Dukic shines, based on true story. ** 3/4 |
| AMNESIA ( 2004, 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 |
| AMORES PERROS (aka "Love's a Bitch") (2000, d. Alejandro González Ińárritu) *** 1/2 |
| AMREEKA (2009, d. Cherien Dabis) *** 1/2 |
| AMY'S ORGASM (2001, d. Julie Davis) *** 1/4 |
| ANALYZE THAT (2002, d. Harold Rntwamis) ** |
| ANARCHIST COOKBOOK, THE (2002, d. Jorday Susman) *** |
| ANARCHIST'S WIFE, THE (2009, d. Marie Noelle, Peter Sehr) *** |
| ANATOMY OF HELL (2004, 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 (2004, d. Adam McKay) Totally unfunny (for me) silly, even stupid comedy take on '70s newscasters. * |
| AND ALONG CAME TOURISTS (Am Ende Kommen Touristen) (2007, d. Robert Thalheim) *** |
| AND NOW...LADIES AND GENTLEMEN (2003, France d. Claude Lelouch) Fine, lush melodrama about a jewel thief & a chanteuse each with memory blackouts. *** |
| ANDER (2009, d. Roberto Caston) Closeted Basque farmer tenderly falls for Peruvian immigrant. Slow, but well observed & touching. *** 1/4 |
| ANGEL EXIT (2001, d. Vladimir Michalek) ** 1/4 |
| ANGELA (2003, Italy d. Roberta Torre) Slow, impressionistic drama based on the true story of a drug running family in Sicily-a torrid love triangle. ** 3/4 |
| ANGELS IN AMERICA: MILLENIUM APPROACHES (2003, d. Mike Nichols) V. Superb adaptation, utterly absorbing, fabulous acting. Great tv. **** |
| ANGELS IN AMERICA: PARESTROIKA (2003, d. Mike Nichols) V. Uneven...some parts superlative, some long political speeches I phased out. I'm in lust with Patrick Wilson. *** 1/2 |
| ANGELS OF THE UNIVERSE (2000, d. Fridrik Thor Fridriksson) *** 1/2 |
| ANGER MANAGEMENT (2003, d. Peter Segal) Star power. Nicholson mugs & Sandler is quite fine. Embarrassingly bad script & even worse direction! * 1/4 |
| ANGST (2003, d. Oskar Roehler) Drama about a failing marriage, he has sex problems, she's an hysteric. Well acted, if over-the-top, hard to watch. ** 1/2 |
| ANIMAL FACTORY (2000, d. Steve Buscemi) ** 1/2 |
| ANIMATRIX (2003, US/JAPAN d. Various) 9 animated shorts from the Matrix universe. Some better than others. ** 3/4 |
| ANITA TAKES A CHANCE (2001, d. Ventura Pons) *** |
| ANNAPOLIS (2006, d. Justin Lin) An average, predictable film with another charismatic perf by James Franco as a boxer-plebe. A guilty pleasure. ** 1/4 |
| ANNIVERSARY PARTY, THE (2004, d. Leigh & Cumming) V. An almost perfect video film of today's Hollywood creative types & their screwed-up fabulous lives. *** 1/2 |
| ANNIVERSARY PARTY, THE (2001, d. Jennifer Jason Leigh & Alan Cumming) *** 1/2 |
| ANONYMOUS (2004, 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* |
| ANOTHER GAY MOVIE (2006, d. Todd Stephens) * 1/2 |
| ANOTHER LIFE (Ovunque Sei) (2008, d. Michele Placido) *** |
| ANOTHER LIFE (2005, d. Michele Placido) Stephano Accorsi's makes it worth sitting through this strange, eerie romantic film. ** 3/4 |
| ANSWER MAN, THE (2009, d. John Hindman) *** |
| ANTARCTICA (2008, d. Yair Hochner) Multi-character Israeli gay story of hot men & their sex lives. Well acted, somewhat involving. *** |
| ANTARES (2005, d. Götz Spielmann) Circularly constructed, sexually explicit slice of life drama about denizens of a Vienna housing development. *** |
| ANTIBODIES (2005, d. Christian Alvart) *** 1/2 |
| ANTITRUST (2001, d. Peter Howitt) * 1/2 |
| ANTWONE FISHER (2002, d. Denzel Washington) ** 3/4 |
| ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL (2009, d. Sasha Gervasi) V. Real life version of Spinal Tap, sort of sad, sort of involving; but by the end I was unaccountably moved. *** |
| ANYTHING ELSE (2003, d. Woody Allen) A failure. Occasionally funny romantic comedy; but Allen's dialog seems false coming from 20-somethings. ** 1/4 |
| ANYTOWN (2009, d. Dave Rodriguez) ** 3/4 |
| APARTMENT, THE (2008, d. Billy Wilder) + Holds up remarkably, still Lemmon's and MacLaine's triumph; but also a fine original script. *** 1/4 |
| APOCALYPTO (2006, d. Mel Gibson) Gotta hand it to him, an art film with stretches of boredom; but overall it worked as an action film. ** 3/4 |
| APPALOOSA (2008, d. Ed Harris) I like westerns; but despite a fine cast this one seems derivative (e.g. 3:10 to Yuma) & lacking convincing motivations. ** 1/4 |
| APRČS VOUS (2004, d. Pierre Salvadore) Annoying and contrived French farce. * 3/4 |
| ARARAT (2002, d. Atom Egoyan) *** |
| ARCHANGEL (2008, d. Jon Jones) V. TV thriller from Robert Harris book with a dead fish Daniel Craig perf. pre-Bond, but quite authentic Soviet feeling. *** |
| ARCHANGEL'S FEATHER, THE (2003, d. Louis Manzo) Venezuela AFF. Allegory, maybe about Archangel Gabriel vs. Big Brother.. ** 3/4 |
| ARDILLA ROJA, LA (2003, d. Julio Medem 1993) Romantic thriller about a man's fascination with an amnesiac woman. *** |
| ARISTOCRATS, THE (2005, d. Paul Provenza) 100 great standup comedians do history's worst dirty in-joke. 90 minutes of constant wracking laughter. *** 3/4 |
| ARMIN (2007, d. Ognjen Svilicic) ** 3/4 |
| ARMY OF SILENCE (2009, d. Jean-Pierre Melville) Eerily austere depiction of French resistance cell in Lyon, fascinating and strangely moving. *** 1/2 |
| ARO TOLBUKHIN, EN LA MENTE DEL ASESINO (2003, d. Agusti Villaronga etc.) Faux documentary about mass murderer in Guatemala. ** |
| AROUND THE BEND (2004, 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 (2004, d. Frank Coraci) A ridiculously overblown remake of a movie which didn't need to be remade. * 1/4 |
| ARSČNE LUPIN (2005, d. Jean-Paul Salomé) Big film, bigger mess. Anachronistic narrative, a lead actor without enough gravitas, but gorgeous production design. * 1/2 |
| ART AND COPY (2009, d. Doug Pray) *** |
| ART OF CRYING, THE (Kunsten at Graede I Kor) (2006, d. Peter Fog) *** 1/4 |
| ART OF NEGATIVE THINKING, THE (Kunsten A Tenke Negativt) (2008, d. Bard Breien) *** |
| ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL (2006, d. Terry Zwigoff) Amusing black comedy satire. Broadbent is great; but this is no Ghost World. *** |
| ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES (2006, d. Luc Besson) Luc should stick to live action; predictable, badly acted & animated. * 1/2 |
| ARYAN COUPLE, THE (2004, 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 (2005, d. Kay Pollack)+ Watched again; some of the plot manipulations more obvious a 2nd time; but still fine, affecting film. *** 1/4 |
| AS IT IS IN HEAVEN (2004, d. Kay Pollak) Uplifting & emotionally satisfying drama about an artist who brings enlightenment to his backwater Swedish home town. *** 1/2 |
| ASH WEDNESDAY (2002, d. Edward Burns) ** 3/4 |
| ASOKA (2002, d. Santosh Sivan) *** |
| ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES (2007, d. Andrew Dominik) Great looking; but the narrator on downers annoyed. ** 3/4 |
| ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON, THE (2004, d. Niels Mueller) Sean Penn is remarkable as a '70s loser who becomes a plane hi-jacker. *** |
| ASSASSINATION TANGO (2003, d. Robert Duvall) Thriller on valium. Duvall is a fine actor; but lousy writer/director from this film. * 3/4 |
| ASTRONAUT FARMER, THE (2008, d. Michael Polish)V. Subdued Thornton in gentle mode; pretty, feel-good fantasy not typical of Polish Bros. ** 1/2 |
| ASTRONAUTS (2004, d. Santi Amodeo) Slight, wry romantic comedy about an ex-junky and a 16 yr girl. Not as cute as it tries to be. ** |
| ASYLUM (2005, d. David Mackenzie) ** 3/4 |
| AT THE DEATH HOUSE DOOR (2008, d. Gilbert & James) Low key docu about former Texas death row chaplin, esp. his remorse over past injustices & the penalty itself. ** 3/4 |
| AT WEST OF PLUTO (2009, d. Myriam Verreault & Henry Bernadet) *** |
| ATANARJUAT: THE FAST RUNNER (2001, d. Zacharias Kunuk) *** 1/2 |
| ATONEMENT (2007, d. Joe Wright) Wright's direction & McAvoy's acting make this a special tearjerker. Oscar? Maybe. *** 1/2 |
| AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE, L' (2003, France-Spain d. Cedfric Klapisch) Crowd pleasing comedy about a young Frenchman's defining school year in Barcelona. *** |
| AUDITION (2001, d. Takashi Miike) * |
| AUGUST RUSH (2007, d. Kirsten Sheridan) As delirious & affecting as Sheridan's Disco Pigs, but too many plot holes. *** |
| AUGUST (2008, d. Austin Chick) *** 1/4 |
| AURA, EL (2005, d. Fabián Bielinsky; Argentina) *** 1/4 |
| AURORA (2007, d. Oxana Bayrak; Ukraine) ** 1/2 |
| AUSTRALIA (2008, d. Bazz Luhrmann) Reminiscent of Giant, a gigantic, yet intimate epic focusing on ranching & a country's ethos. Ambitions almost fulfilled. *** |
| AUTISM: THE MUSICAL (2007, d. Tricia Regan) Moving, heart-rending docu...nice editing & photog. *** 3/4 |
| AUTO FOCUS (2002, d. Paul Schrader) * 1/2 |
| AUTUMN BALL (2007, d. Veiko Ounpuu ) * 1/2 |
| AUTUMN IN NEW YORK (2000, d. Joan Chen) ** |
| AUTUMN OF THE MAGICIAN (2009, d. Vaheh & Reuben Gevorkyants; Armenia) Fascinating docu about artist screenwriter Tonino Guerra who should be world famous. *** |
| AUTUMN SPRING (2003, d. Vladimir Michátek) Czech comedy/drama about an old couple. Academy bait...so why did Czechoslavakia nominate another film? *** |
| AVATAR (2009, d. James Cameron: 3D) The most sense-of-wonder instilling film since 2001:Space Odyssey; a visual triumph with story to match. Bravo! Cameron. **** |
| AVELLANEDA'S MOON (2005, d. Juan José Campanella) Long, high-gloss social comedy about an Argentine social club & its member's struggles to survive. ** 1/2 |
| AVENUE MONTAIGNE (Fauteuils d'orchestra) (2006, d. Daniele Thompson; France) + *** 1/2 |
| AVIATOR, THE (2004, 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 |
| AWAY FROM HER (2007, d. Sarah Polley) Julie Christie is aging gorgeously. And her Alzheimer's is totally convincing. *** 1/2 |
| AWAY WE GO (2009, d. Sam Mendes) Wildly variable road flick, social satire. John Krasinski is becoming a major star. ** 3/4 |