| B - ALL FILMS 2003-6/2009 |
| BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX, THE (d. Uli Edel; Germany) *** 1/4 |
| BABEL (d. Alejandro González Iñárritu) Circular script like Before the Rain. Fabulous direction. Gut wrenching tension. Great film. *** 1/2 |
| BABY LOVE (d. Vincent Garenq) *** |
| BACK SOON (d. Rob Williams) ** 3/4 |
| BACKSTAGE (d. Emmanuelle Bercot) ** 3/4 |
| BAD BOYS II (d. Michael Bay) A new morally reprehensible low for the Hollywood mega-violent film. Only Jordi Molla, a kick-ass baddy is worth it. 0* |
| BAD EDUCATION (d. Pedro Almodovar) Pedro's gayest film since Law of Desire. Silly noirish plot; but total fun with an extraordinary Gaël Bernal. *** |
| BAD FAITH (Mauvaise foi) (d. Roschdy Zem) *** |
| BAD GUY (S. Korea d. Kim Ki-duk) Circular, confusing story: ruthless pimp subjugates a college girl & makes her into a cooperative prostitute. ** 3/4 |
| BAD SANTA (d. Terry Zwigoff) Funny, profane, wonderfully perverse comedy about group of innately bad losers. Kid who could see no evil was great! *** |
| 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. *** |
| BADLAND (d. Francesco Lucente) Except for the overamped score a fine film with a searing perf by Jamie Draven. *** 1/4 |
| BAGHDAD, TX (d. David H. Hickey) * 1/2 |
| BAJARSE AL MORO (d. Fernando Colomo) A low-budget '88 comedy about Madrid druggies. Even a young Antonio Bandares couldn't elevate it. ** |
| BALL IN THE HOUSE (d. Tanya Wexler) V. *** |
| BALLAST (d. Lance Hammer) ** 1/2 |
| 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 |
| BANDE À PART (d. Jean-Luc Goddard) V. A '60s version of the gang who couldn't shoot straight, a cockeyed noir which holds up well. *** |
| BAND'S VISIT, THE (d. Eran Kolirin) ** 3/4 |
| BANISHMENT (Izgnamie) (d. Andrey Zvyagintsev) *** 1/4 |
| BANK JOB, THE (d. Roger Donaldson) Surprisingly predictable, I've seen this heist film several times before. ** 1/4 |
| BANLIEU 13 (d. Pierre Morel) Fast paced, superior martial arts action film set in a lawless 2010 Paris. Vivid, realistic characters. *** 1/4 |
| BANQUET, THE (d. Feng Xiaogang; Hong Kong) ** 1/4 |
| BARBARIAN INVASIONS, THE (d. Denys Arcand) Art film about love and dying, literate script, excellent ensemble acting, enormously moving *** 1/2 |
| BARBARIAN INVASIONS, THE (d. Denys Arcand) + Worth a 2nd viewing, just for the philosophy. *** 3/4 |
| BARS IN THE MEMORY (d. Manuel Palacios) Dry Spanish docu about the concentration camps and privations during the Franco years. ** 1/2 |
| BASAIN (d. Subash Prasad Gajural; Nepal) W/O |
| 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. *** |
| BATTLE FOR TERRA (d. Aristomenis Tsirbas) Excellent 3D animation plus superior SF script with subtle issues of loyalties & humanity. *** 1/4 |
| BATTLE IN SEATTLE (d. Stuart Townsend) ** 1/2 |
| BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS (d. Potelle & Rankin) Indispensible companion to Proj Greenlight. Shia Lebeuf incredible, movie better than expected. ** 3/4 |
| BATTLE OF WITS (d. Jacob Cheung) *** |
| BE CALM AND COUNT TO SEVEN (d. Ramtin Lavafipour) ** 1/2 |
| 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 KIND REWIND (d. Michel Gondrey) Gondrey's silly creativity works here. Mos Def surprised me. *** |
| BE LIKE OTHERS (d. Tanaz Eshaghian) *** 1/4 |
| BE WITH ME (d. Eric Khoo; Singapore) ** 3/4 |
| 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. *** |
| BEAST STALKER, THE (d. Dante Lam) *** |
| BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED, THE (d. Jacques Audiard) Frenetic drama based on Fingers with a magnetic perf by Romain Duris. *** |
| BEAUFORT (d. Joseph Cedar; Isreal) *** 1/2 |
| BEAUTIES AT WAR (La Guerre des miss) (d. Patrice Leconte) ** |
| BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY, THE (d. Hans Petter Moland) Involving, well acted adventure of a half-American Vietnamese boy's emigration to the US. *** |
| BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES (Se souvenir des belles choses) (d. Zabou Breitman) *** 1/2 |
| BEAUTIFUL OHIO (d. Chad Lowe) ** 3/4 |
| BEAUTY IN TROUBLE (Kraska V Nesnazich) (d. Jan Hrebejk) *** 1/4 |
| BEAUTY REMAINS (d. Ann Hu) ** 1/2 |
| BECOMING JANE (d. Julian Jarrold) ** 3/4 |
| BEE SEASON (d. McGehee and Siegel) V. Involving, well acted family drama with not well defined spiritual mysteries. *** |
| BEFORE FLYING BACK TO EARTH (d. Arunas Matelis; Lithuania) *** |
| BEFORE I FORGET (Avant que j'oublie) (d. Jacques Nolot) ** 3/4 |
| BEFORE SUNSET (d.Richard Linklater) Talky sequel to one of my all-time fave films. Satisfying in context; but not as good a film. *** |
| BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD (d. Sidney Lumet) Tight thriller- 2 brothers and the "perfect" robbery. *** 1/2 |
| BEFORE THE RAINS (d. Santosh Sivan) ** 3/4 |
| BEHIND THE RED DOOR (d. Matia Karrell) (V) Showtime Aids drama. Kyra and Kiefer are 2 of my least favorite actors. * 1/2 |
| 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 |
| BELLA (d. Alejandro Monteverde) ** |
| BELLE PERSONNE, LA (d. Chrisophe Honoré) *** 1/4 |
| BELLE TOUJOURS (d. Manoel de Oliveira; Portugal) ** |
| BEN X (d. Nic Balthazar; Belgium) *** 1/2 |
| BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM (d. Gurinder Chadha) Feel good Indian girl's soccer story set in Britain. Predictable script saved by fine direction. *** |
| BENEATH HER WINDOW (d. Metod Pevec) Screwball Slovenian comedy about a 30ish woman's romantic entanglements whose evident charms escaped me. ** 1/4 |
| BENEDICT ARNOLD: QUESTION OF HONOR (d. Mikael Salomon) (V) A&E historical movie. Unwatchably bad. WO |
| BEOWULF & GRENDEL(d. Sturla Gunnarsson) ** 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 |
| BERGA: SOLDIERS OF ANOTHER WAR (d. Charles Guggenheim) (V) docu. on valium about American WWII POWs. ** 1/4 |
| BERNARD AND DORIS (d. Bob Balaban) V. Exquisitely acted (Finnes & Sarandon) but sorta boring biopic. ** 3/4 |
| BERTIE AND ELIZABETH (d. Giles Foster) Masterpiece Theater schlock. Fine acting, good script. ** 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 MAN, WORST FRIEND (d. Stefan Schwartz) V. Guilty pleasure romantic comedy; Stuart Townsend & Seth Green fine. ** 3/4 |
| BEST OF TIMES, THE (d. Chang Tso-Chi) Taiwan AFF. Family drama, kitchen sink style. *** 1/2 |
| BEST OF YOUTH #1 (Marco Giordana) Part one of this sprawling family saga propulsively sets up the drama & characters. *** |
| BEST OF YOUTH #2 (Marco Giordana) In part two the emotional rewards so carefully plotted are huge. A totally satisfying 6 hour epic of late 20th Century Italy. **** |
| BEST OF YOUTH, THE (d. Marco Giordano) V.+++ Still the most emotionally resonant film I've ever watched. **** |
| 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. **** |
| BET COLLECTOR, THE (d. Jeffrey Jeturian) ** |
| BETRAYAL, THE (d. Philippe Faucon) ** 1/2 |
| BETRAYAL, THE (Nerakhoon) (d. Kuras & Phrasavath) Docu of Laotian family uprooted to U.S. after "secret" war. Moving, but confusingly cut with overdone music. ** 1/2 |
| BETTER LUCK TOMORROW (d. Justin Lin) Well directed, but confusing, Asian-American teenage gang film...only the actors looked too old. ** 1/2 |
| BETTER THINGS (d. Duane Hopkins) ** 1/2 |
| BETWEEN LAND AND SKY (d. Guiseppe Feruto ) Italian political satire about media overkill. ** 1/2 |
| BETWEEN LOVE AND GOODBYE (d. Casper Andreas) Gay relationship drama; mediocre direction & acting...but vital, sexy & powerfully realistic. ** 1/2 |
| BEYOND HATRED (d. Olivier Meyrou) ** 1/4 |
| BEYOND OUR KEN (d. Pang Ho-Cheung) Frothy, insubstantial girl buddy and revenge (against common boyfriend) comedy from Hong Kong. * 3/4 |
| 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 |
| BHAJI ON THE BEACH (d. Gurinder Chadha) V. Chadha handles ensembles well; but this Indian woman's lib story was clichéd and obvious. ** |
| B-HAPPY (d. Gonzalo Justiniano) Another periled latina teen girl film, this time a poor girl whose father is in prison. Simple, effective filmmaking. *** |
| BICKFORD SHMECKLER'S COOL IDEAS (d. Scott Lew) ** 1/2 |
| BIG BANG LOVE, JUVENILE A (d. Takashi Miike) *** |
| BIG DREAMS, LITTLE TOKYO (d. David Boyle) *** |
| BIG EMPTY, THE (d. Steve Anderson) Mixed genre. Is it a noir? Alien abduction flick? Black comedy? An honorable failure at all three. ** |
| BIG FISH (d. Tim Burton) Story of fabulist (convincingly played by Ewan McGregor & Albert Finney). Burton's most appealing and "normal" film. *** |
| BIG RIG (d. Doug Pray) ** 1/2 |
| BILINGUAL LOVER, THE (El Amante Bilingue) (d. Vicente Aranda) ** |
| BILL (d. Melisa Wallack, Bernie Goldmann) ** |
| BIRTH (d. Jonathan Glazer) Heavy duty, eerie psychological drama. Nicole Kiddman fine here, script has a nicely satisfying ambiguity & interesting direction. *** 1/4 |
| BIRTHDAY, THE (d. Diane Kurys) *** 1/4 |
| BLACK BALLOON, THE (d. Elissa Down) Australian family with autistic son from pov of younger brother. Well observed, tough, truthful. *** 1/4 |
| BLACK BOOK (d. Paul Verhoeven; Netherlands) *** |
| BLACK DAHLIA, THE (d. Brian de Palma) Fine cast, terrible script, fake noir. How can such a promising film go so wrong. ** |
| BLACK DOG BARKING (d. Mehmet Bahadir Er & Maryna Gorbach) * 1/2 |
| BLACK ICE (d. Mikhail Brashinsky) Incoherent film about something or other. Jittery camera and unengaging plot were too much to stick around. W/O |
| BLACK IRISH (d. Brad Gann) *** 1/4 |
| BLACK IRISH (d. Brad Gunn) + *** 1/2 |
| BLACK ROBE (d. Bruce Beresford) V. Gut-wrenching '91 film with Lothar Bluteau playing a jesuit priest in New France pre-revolution. *** |
| BLACK SNAKE MOAN (d. Craig Brewer)V. Ricci's perf is brave, Jackson is fine, Timberlake less so. Film: clichéd mishmash. ** 3/4 |
| BLACK SUN (d. Gary Tarn) V. Expressionistic docu about a man (writer & narrator) blinded in the '70s. *** |
| BLACK WHITE + GRAY (d. James Crump) *** 1/4 |
| BLACKMAIL BOY (Oxygono) (d. Papathanasiou & Rappas) Over-the-top melodrama about money corrupting a family with a beautiful bisexual scion. * 3/4 |
| 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 |
| BLADERUNNER (Final Cut) (d. Ridley Scott) I had forgotten how fabu the production design was! New ending: eh!? *** 1/4 |
| BLADES OF GLORY (d. Gordon & Speck)V. Heder is fine, Ferrell barely ok in this surprisingly funny comedy. Dumb but trenchant. ** 3/4 |
| BLEAK HOUSE (d. various; w. Andrew Davis) Superb adaptation of complex Victorian novel. The Brits do it again. *** 1/2 |
| BLESSED BY FIRE (d. Tristan Bauer) *** 3/4 |
| BLESSED IS THE MATCH: The Life & Death of Hannah Senesh (d. Roberta Grossman) Enormously moving docu re: Hungarian/Palistinian WWII heroine. *** 3/4 |
| BLESSING BELL, THE (Japan d. Sabu) A formally beautiful, but boring, slow paced day in the life. *** |
| BLIND (d. Tamar van den Dop) *** 1/4 |
| BLIND LOVES (d. Juraj Lehotsky; Slovakia) *** 1/4 |
| BLIND MOUNTAIN (d. Li Yang) *** |
| BLIND SUNFLOWERS, THE (Los girasoles ciegos) (d. Joeé Luis Cuerda; Spain) *** |
| BLINDNESS (d. Fernando Meirelles) Unrealistic, but strong catastrophe film (like 28 Days Later) about mystery blindness illness & society throwing victims away. ** 1/2 |
| BLINDSIGHT (d. Lucy Walker) V. Blind children overcoming peril, gorgeous mountain photography, uplift...admirable docu. *** 1/2 |
| BLISS (d. Abdullah Oguz) *** 1/4 |
| BLOOD AND BONES (d. Yoichi Sai) ** 1/2 |
| BLOOD APPEARS (La Sangre Brota) (d. Pablo Fendik) ** 1/2 |
| BLOOD BROTHERS (Tiantang Kou) (d. Alexi Tan) * 1/2 |
| BLOOD DIAMOND (d. Edward Zwick) Despite overlength, this is a winner. Prediction: multiple Oscars. *** 1/2 |
| BLOOD OF THE LOSERS (Il sangue de vinti) (d. Michele Soavi) *** 1/2 |
| BLOOD RAIN (d. Kim Dae-seung, LeeWon-jae) ** 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 |
| BLOSSOMING OF MAXIMO OLIVEROS, THE (d. Aureas Solito) ** 1/4 |
| 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 |
| BLUE CAR (d. Karen Moncrieff) Viscerally disturbing story-troubled teenage girl and troubled broken family. Understated, with subtle acting. *** 1/2 |
| BLUE CHA CHA (d. Cheng Wen- tang) *** 1/4 |
| BLUE MOON (Austria d. Andrea Maria Dusi) Road picture about a man on a quest to re-find a woman he meets by chance. ** 1/4 |
| BLUE TOOTH VIRGIN, THE (d. Russell Brown) + *** 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. *** |
| 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 |
| BLUES, THE (d. various) PBS series edited down to 5 ahortened sequences about the blues music. Some sequences worked, some didn't. ** 3/4 |
| BLUETOOTH VIRGIN, THE (d. Russell Brown) *** 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 |
| BOBBY (d. Emelio Estevez) *** |
| BODY OF LIES (d. Ridley Scott) Entertaining star driven CIA vs. terrorist contempo thriller. Scott is a director in control of the medium. *** 1/4 |
| BODY OF WAR (d. Ellen Spiro & Phil Donahue) Another successful docu: Robert Byrd, such a hero. *** 1/2 |
| 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 |
| BOLT (d. Howard & Williams) OK if predictable script. Good vocal acting. But ultimately mediocre. Lousy year for Academy animated features. ** 1/2 |
| 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. *** |
| BON VOYAGE (d. Jean-Paul Rappeneau) Big French WWII melodrama, hugely entertaining & wellmade throwback to old-fashioned classic French cinema. *** 1/4 |
| 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 |
| BOOK OF LOVE (d. Alan Brown) V. Younger man (Gregory Smith). Older married woman. Clichés; but very nicely acted. ** 3/4 |
| BOOK OF REVELATION, THE (d. Ana Kokkinos) *** |
| BOOKIES (d. Mark Illsley)V. ** 3/4 |
| BORAT (d. Larry Charles) Cohen is impressive in creating consistent character; funny in a wildly tasteless way. *** |
| BORDER WAR: THE BATTLE OVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION (d. Kevin Knoblock) V. Docu looks great, too polemic. ** 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 |
| BORN AND BRED (d. Pablo Trapero) ** 1/2 |
| BORN IN 68 (d. Olivier Duscastel, Jacques Martineau) *** 1/2 |
| BORN INTO BROTHELS (d. Kaufmann & Briski) Kids born in Calcutta brothels get a chance for a life through photography. Interesting & well edited. *** |
| BORN RICH (d. Jamie Johnson) V. Doc by millionaire heir about his wealthy contemporaries. Mostly talk; but inherently interesting & well made. *** 1/4 |
| BOSS OF IT ALL, THE (d. Lars von Trier) *** |
| BOSTA (d. Philippe Aractingi; Lebanon) * 1/2 |
| BOTHERSOME MAN, THE (Den Brysomme Mannen) (d. Per Schreiner) *** 1/4 |
| BOTTLE SHOCK (d. Randall Miller) Napa vintage 1976 & wine growing. Looks good; but terrible on the palate. Terrible script. * 1/2 |
| BOURNE SUPREMACY, THE (d. Paul Greengrass) Superior thriller, greatest auto chase scene since Ronin. Some plot holes; but editing pace hides them. *** 1/4 |
| BOURNE ULTIMATUM, THE (d. Paul Greengrass) *** 1/2 |
| BOW, THE (d. Kim Ki-duk) *** |
| BOY (d. Aureaus Solito) *** |
| BOY A (d. John Crowley) *** 3/4 |
| BOY A (d. John Crowley) *** 3/4 |
| BOY CULTURE (d. Q. Allen Brocka) ** 3/4 |
| BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS, THE (d. Mark Herman) Emotionally affecting, well acted (Farmiga and the two boys especially). Too pat. *** |
| BOYFRIEND FOR MY WIFE, A (Un novio para mi mujer) (d. Juan Taratuto) ** 3/4 |
| BOYNTON BEACH BEREAVEMENT CLUB (d. Susan Seidelman) ** 3/4 |
| 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 |
| BOYS OF BARAKA, THE (d. Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady; docu) V. *** 3/4 |
| BOYSTOWN (d. Juan Flahn) ** 3/4 |
| BRASHER DOUBLOON, THE (d. John Brahm) 40's noir with George Montgomery playing Chandler's Philip Marlowl, stylish, great B&W photog. *** |
| BRAVE ONE, THE (d. Neil Jordan) *** 1/4 |
| BREACH (d. Billy Ray) Well acted (esp. Chris Cooper) true story of bringing down a spy. Also Ryan Phillippe's best work in ages. *** |
| BREAKFAST ON PLUTO (d. Neil Jordan) *** |
| BREAKFAST WITH SCOT (d. Laurie Lynd) ** 3/4 |
| BREAKING AND ENTERING (d. Anthony Minghella) I loved this film despite flaws, became emotionally involved with characters. *** |
| BREAK-UP, THE (d. Peyton Reed) Fairly clever by-the-numbers romantic dramady. No chemistry between leads. ** 1/2 |
| BREATHLESS (d. Yang Ik-june) ** 1/4 |
| BRICK (d. Rian Johnson) Overly complex, familiar noirish plot; but topflight young cast and zingy script really work. *** |
| BRICK LANE (d. Sarah Gavron) *** |
| BRIDE AND PREJUDICE (d. Gurinder Chadha) Hollywood meets Bollywood, and I suspect becomes a surprising hit. It works after a fashion. *** |
| BRIDESHEAD REVISITED (d. Julian Jarrold) Over-amped but curiously passionless & unnecessary redo of a definitive miniseries. ** 1/4 |
| BRIDGE TO TARABITHIA (d. Gabor Csupo) Xtian propaganda in a totally wonderful disguise. Moving, grounded fantasy. Hurrah! *** 1/2 |
| 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. *** |
| BRITZ (d. Peter Kominsky) V. Shattering, scary story of Pakistani/Brit brother & sister caught up in modern terrorism on opposite sides. *** 1/2 |
| BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (d. Ang Lee) *** 1/2 |
| BROKEN (d. Alan White) ** 1/4 |
| BROKEN ENGLISH (d. Zoe Cassavetes) *** 1/2 |
| BROKEN FLOWERS (d. Jim Jarmusch) *** 1/2 |
| BROKEN SKY (El Cielo Dividido) (d. Julián Hernández) Gorgeously photographed and scored gay art film of gestures. *** 1/4 |
| BROKEN WINGS (d. Nir Bergman) Israel AFF. Drama about family riven by grief after father's death. *** 1/4 |
| BRONSON (d. Nicolas Winding Refn) *** |
| BROTHER BEAR (d. Blaise, Walker) Traditional Disney animation with overly simplistic amerind legend theme. Still, I was move. Good kid film. ** 3/4 |
| BROTHERS (d. Susanne Bier) Shattering drama about a good man who commits an act beyond redemption. Incredible acting and fine direction. *** 3/4 |
| BROTHERS BLOOM, THE (d. Rian Johnson) Silly, slapsticky, anachronistic fantasy which wastes a good cast. A strange comedown for the director of Brick. * 1/4 |
| BROTHERS GRIMM, THE (d. Terry Gilliam) * 3/4 |
| BROTHERS OF THE HEAD (d. Keith Fulton, Louis Pepe) ***1/4 |
| BRUNO (d. Shirley MacLaine) V. Limp, soppy comedy - 8 year old spelling genius boy (phenom kid actor Alex Linz) who needs to compete in a dress. * 3/4 |
| BRÜNO (d. Larry Charles) Über confrontationalist Cohen manages ütter tastelessness. Funny in a transgressive way, but sort of a mess. * 3/4 |
| BUBBA HO-TEP (d. Don Coscarelli) Horror comedy in an old-folks home: Elvis & JFK take on an Egyptian mummy. Silly fun. ** 3/4 |
| BUBBLE, THE (d. Eytan Fox) *** 1/4 |
| BUCKET LIST, THE (d. Rob Reiner)V. Only for old folks; but a great travelogue. ** 3/4 |
| BUDDENBROOKS (d. Heinrich Breloer) *** 1/4 |
| BUDDHA COLLAPSED OUT OF SHAME (d. Hana Makmalbaf) *** 1/4 |
| BUDDY (d. Marten Tyldum) Young guy turns his & 2 eccentric roommates liver into a commercially successful video journal. Touching, fun comedy. *** |
| BUFFALO BOY (d. Minh Nguyen-Vo; Vietnam) *** |
| BUFFALO SOLDIERS (US d. Gregor Jordan) Glossy, high-budget, somewhat over-the-top satire about army corruption in German occupation in '89. *** 1/2 |
| BUKOWSKI: BORN INTO THIS (d. John Dullighan) V. I've never much been into Bukowski; but this compelling docu presents him well. ** 3/4 |
| BULGARIAN LOVERS (d. Eloy de la Iglesia) Tongue in cheek drama about a straight Bulgarian expat in Madrid taking advantage of a gay Spaniard. ** 1/4 |
| BUM'S NAME, THE (Civico 0) (d. Citto Maselli) *** |
| BURN AFTER READING (d. Joel & Ethan Coen) Silly, but quite entertaining farce about CIA snafu involving a computer disk & some greedy Washingtonians. *** |
| BURNING IN THE WIND (d. Silvio Soldini) Bleak but well acted story of East Euro life transported into France along with ill-fated love ***. |
| BURNING PLAIN, THE (d. Guillermo Arriaga) *** 1/4 |
| BURNT OUT (d. Fabienne Godet) *** |
| BUS 174 (d. José Padilha) V. Brazilian doc which examines thoroughly the background of a publically televised bus hijacking and relives the tragic events. *** |
| 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 |
| BUTTERFLY, THE (France d. Philippe Muyl) Sappy, Kolya type drama about old butterfly collector & the little girl who runs away with him. ** 1/2 |
| BYRON (d. Julian Farino) V. ** 3/4 |