| D Films January, 2003-June, 2009 |
| DA VINCI CODE, THE (d. Ron Howard) The con of film. Turgid, overlong...nice historical f/x, though. ** 1/4 |
| DALECARLIANS, THE (d. Maria Blom) Involving family drama about 3 sisters and the small Swedish town that the youngest returns to. *** |
| DAN IN REAL LIFE (d. Peter Hedges) Emotionally satisfying, breakthru film for Hedges (and for me, Carell). *** 1/4 |
| DANCERS (d. Pemille Fischer Christensen) ** 1/2 |
| DANCING ACROSS BORDERS (d. Anne H. Bass) *** |
| DANDELION (d. Mark Milgard) Well acted, somewhat pointless coming of age story of boy who sacrifices much for his dysfunctional family. ** 3/4 |
| DANIKA (d. Ariel Vromen) * 1/2 |
| DANS PARIS (d. Christophe Honoré) ** 1/2 |
| DAREDEVIL (d.Mark Steven Johnson) Better stunts than Spiderman; but rather wan story. I enjoyed it, especially Affleck. ** 3/4 |
| DARJEELING LIMITED, THE (d. Wes Anderson) Better than his last one; but I need more than a train & exotica. ** 3/4 |
| DARK AGES, THE (d. Chris Cassel) V. Standard issue History channel docu. Lots of info well presented. ** 3/4 |
| DARK HARBOR (d. Naito Takasugu) *** |
| DARK HORSE (Voksne Mennesker) (d. Dagur Kári) ** |
| DARK KNIGHT, THE (d. Christopher Nolan) Surprisingly dark and dense, some narrative glitches, but Ledger is as good as the hype. *** 1/4 |
| DARK STREETS (d. Rachel Samuels) Rarely has so much stylishness been put in aid of such a lame story. Only singers & prod. designers come out ok. ** |
| DARKBLUEALMOSTBLACK (d. Daniel Sánchez Arévalo) *** 1/2 |
| DARWIN'S NIGHTMARE (d. Hubert Sauper; docu) V. *** |
| DASEPO NAUGHTY GIRLS (Dasepo Sonyo) (d. E J-yong) * |
| DAUGHTER FROM DANANG (d. Dolgen and Franco) (V) docu. Mixed race Viet Nam war child sent to US at 7 meets her mom. *** 1/4 |
| DAVID COPPERFIELD (d. Simon Curtis) V. The first half, Daniel Radcliffe as young Copperfield, is fine. Then it all turns to treacle and sentiment. ** 1/2 |
| DAY AFTER TOMORROW, THE (d. Roland Emmerich) Cliché story (though involving & well done), fantastically realistic special f/x. ** 3/4 |
| DAY AT THE MUSEUM, A (Musée haut, musée bas) (d. Jean-Michel Ribes) ** 1/4 |
| DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, THE (d. Scott Derrickson) Good f/x; but sappy, incredulous script a million times inferior to original.* 1/2 |
| DAY WATCH (d. Timur Bekmambetov) *** |
| DAYBREAK (d. Bjorn Runge) Three cleverly interwoven stories of strange relationship angst in Sweden. I couldn't relate to the stories. ** 3/4 |
| DAYS AND CLOUDS (d. Silvio Soldini) *** |
| 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 |
| DAYS OF BEING WILD (d. Wong Kar-wei) I was carried away by the plot, actors & especially the cinematography. Now I must reassess In The Mood For Love. *** 1/2 |
| DAYS OF DARKNESS (d. Denys Arcand; Canada) *** |
| DAYS OF GLORY (d. Rachid Bouchareb; Algeria) *** |
| DEAD GIRL, THE (d. Karen Moncrieff) *** 1/4 |
| DEAD MAN'S HAND (d. Boon & Brandenbourger) Luxembourg AFF. High gloss consumerist satire. ** 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 |
| DEAD SILENCE (d. James Wan)V. Stylish horror flick with ridiculous seen-before "dummy" plot. Looks great, less filling. ** 1/4 |
| DEADGIRL (d. Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel) ** 1/2 |
| DEAL (d. Gil Cates, Jr.) Predictable, but the poker was realistic & Bret Harrison is a winning actor. ** 3/4 |
| DEAL, THE (d. Harvey Kahn) Wall Street shenanigans in the oil patch in the near future. Slickly made, good cast, but probably straight to video. ** 1/2 |
| DEAL, THE (d. Stephen Frears) V. British political true story, Labour deal to share power. Too parochial for U.S. ** 1/2 |
| DEAR FRANKIE (d. Shona Aurbach) Tender and moving drama of deaf boy's bonding with a surrogate father. *** 1/4 |
| DEAR WENDY (d. Thomas Vinterberg) *** |
| DEATH AND TEXAS (d. Kevin DiNovis) Satiric, pointed but understated mockumentary about a famed football player on death row in Texas. *** 1/4 |
| DEATH AT A FUNERAL (d. Frank Oz) *** |
| DEATH DEFYING ACTS (d. Gillian Armstrong) Excellent period piece; strong acting by Guy Pierce & Zeta-Jones! *** 1/4 |
| DEATH IN VENICE (d. Luchino Visconti) ** 3/4 |
| DEATH OF A PRESIDENT (d. Gabriel Range) *** 1/2 |
| DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU, THE (Moartea domului Lazarescu) (d. Cristi Puiu; Romania) *** 1/2 |
| DEATH SENTENCE (d. James Wan) ** |
| DEBUTANTES, LOS (d. Andres Waissbluth) Strong, multi-POV, sexy drama about 2 naive brothers who become involved with a porn boss and his mistress. *** |
| DECEMBER BOYS (d. Rod Hardy) Good performances, but a predictable clichéd script. ** 1/2 |
| DEEP BREATH (d. Parviz Shahbazi) Iran's AFF is a road picture about disaffected college students, amazingly secular for an official submission. ** 1/2 |
| DEEP WATER (d. Osmond & Rothwell) Disquieting, excellent docu: 1969 around world boat race. *** 1/2 |
| DEEPWATER (d. David Marfield) A superior psychological thriller disguised as a gothic noir. Great performance by Lucas Black. *** 1/4 |
| DEFENDERS OF RIGA (Rigas Sargi) (d. Algars Grauba; Latvia) ** 1/2 |
| DEFIANCE (d. Edward Zwick) Involving, well directed...but somewhat clichéd and old fashioned. *** |
| DÉFICIT (d. Gael García Bernal) *** 1/4 |
| DÉJÀ VU (d. Tony Scott) A superior, timebending thriller which, while totally absurd, amazingly almost holds together! *** 1/4 |
| DEKADA '70 (d. Chito Rono) Melodramatic saga of 15 years of a Philippine family, 5 boys & Ozzie & Harriet parents. Too long and overamped. ** |
| DELIRIOUS (d. Tom Dicillo) *** |
| DELIVER US FROM EVIL (d. Amy Berg) V. Gripping docu about Catholic church coverup of pederast priest. *** 1/2 |
| DE-LOVELY (d. Irwin Winkler) Massively over-written Cole Porter biopic. Good music and singer cameos; but otherwise bloated and pretentious. ** 1/4 |
| DEMONLOVER (France d. Olivier Assayas) Stylish, mysterious business scullduggery among the rich and successful international cyber-crowd. *** 1/4 |
| DENIAS, SINGING ON THE CLOUD (d. John de Rantau; Indonesia) ** 1/2 |
| DEPARTED, THE (d. Martin Scorsese) Fabulously cast, but script too eliptical...Infernal Affaires made more sense. *** 1/4 |
| DEPARTURES (Okuribito) (d. Yojiro Takita; Japan) *** 3/4 |
| DEPENDENCIA SEXUAL (d. Rodrigo Bellott) Sexual adventures of youths in Bolivia & U.S. done in split screen. Wildlly uneven, but also a turn-on. *** |
| DEVDAS (d. Sanjay Leela Bhansali) India AFF. Bollywood musical: overblown tragic love story. * 3/4 |
| DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON, THE (d. Jeff Feuerzeig)V. *** |
| DEVIL WEARS PRADA, THE (d. David Frankel) Well acted (Hathaway finally grows up, Streep perfect), funny. *** |
| DEVOTEE (d. Rémi Lange) French drama about a thalidomide 40-ish gay man (no limbs) used as a fetish object. ** 1/2 |
| DEXTER: Season 1 (d. various) V. Sympathetic serial killer sociopath...stylish, Michael C. Hall is simply amazing. *** 3/4 |
| DHAMMA BROTHERS, THE (d. Jenny Phillips) Hopeful, thoughtful docu of Alabaman prisoners who find peace thru Buddhist meditation. *** |
| DIAS DE SANTIAGO (d. Josué Méndez; Peru) ** 1/4 |
| DICKIE ROBERTS: FORMER CHILD STAR (d. Sam Weisman) Infantile, arrested-development story, occasionally funny, very meta, embarrassing to watch. * |
| DIE, MOMMIE, DIE (d. Mark Rucker) Camp take-off on Mommy Dearest, a showcase for tranny Charles Busch, which just didn't cut it. ** 1/4 |
| DIG! (d. Ondi Timoner) Extraordinary video documentary about two current retro 60's underground bands. Fabulous footage well edited. *** 1/4 |
| DIGGERS (d. Katherine Dieckmann) ** 1/2 |
| DIRT (US d. Nancy Savoca) Entertaining humanist drama about an undocumented Salvadorian family...mother a cleaning woman. *** 1/4 |
| DIRTY DANCING: HAVANA NIGHTS (d. Guy Ferland) Pretty much cookie cutter plot, but fun. Diego Luna: Latin lover for the 2000's. ** 1/4 |
| DIRTY DEEDS (d. David Kendall) V. Stupid high school caper film. Watched for Milo Ventimiglia, who is worth watching. * |
| DIRTY PRETTY THINGS (Great Britain d. Stephen Frears) Excellent romantic drama about refugees living and being exploited in London. *** 1/4 |
| DIRTY SHAME, A (d. John Waters) Utterly transgressive sex farce which takes Waters' anarchic style to its untoppable culmination. Still, never boring. ** 3/4 |
| 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. |
| DISAPPEARANCES (d. Jay Craven) ** 1/4 |
| DISTANT (d. Nuri Bilge Ceylan) Arty Turkish film about alienating effects of big city on two men, one older & established, other new to town. *** 1/4 |
| DISTANT LIGHTS (Germany d. Hans-Christian Schmidt) Hand held, documentary feel: about refugees trying to get to Germany. *** 1/4 |
| DISTURBIA (d. D.J. Caruso) Despite a star making turn by Shia LaBeouf this Rear Window update is ridiculously over the top. ** 1/4 |
| DISTURBING BEHAVIOR (d. David Nutter) V. Mind control '98 horror flick, a teenage Stepford High, good cast, well directed, but way over the top. ** |
| DIVINE INTERVENTION (d. Elia Suleiman) Palestine's AFF nomination is an unfunny absurdist comedy which didn't work for me. ** |
| DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY, THE (d. Julian Schnabel) Most expressive eye in film history. Amalric amazing! *** 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 |
| DODGEBALL (d. Rawson M. Thurber) Silly, amiable entertainment. I didn't find it funny; but it sure tries hard enough. Stiller still has "it". ** 1/2 |
| DOG EAT DOG (d. Carlos Moreno; Columbia) * 3/4 |
| DOG POUND (d. Manuel Nieto Zas) W/O |
| DOGHEAD (d. Santi Amodeo) *** 1/4 |
| DOGHEAD (d. Santi Amodeo) + *** 1/4 |
| DOGVILLE (d. Lars von Trier) A malevolent Our Town, more tv throwback than film, Kidman and Bettany are really good. *** |
| DOING TIME ON MAPLE DR. (d. Ken Olen)V. *** 1/4 |
| DOING TIME (Japan d. Sai Yoichi) Intelligent comedy about regimented life in a modern Japanese prison. *** |
| DOL (d. Hiner Saleem) ** 3/4 |
| DOLLS (d. Takeshi Kitano) Gorgeously photographed, metaphorically opaque. Three stories of regret that I regret that went over my head. ** |
| DONAU, DUNA, DUNAJ, DUNAV, DUNAREA (d. Goren Rebic) Beautiful;y done story of a "ship of fools" and romantics heading down the Danube. *** |
| DONKEY SKIN (d. Jacques Demy) A gentle fairy tale. Demy has style to spare; but other than the costumes I wasn't blown away. ** 1/2 |
| DONNIE DARKO: DIRECTOR'S CUT (d. Richard Kelly) Improved comprehensibility; but I really missed some scenes. Still a fantastic film. *** 1/2 |
| 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 |
| DONSOL (d. Adolfo Alix, Jr.; Philippines) ** 1/2 |
| DON'T LET ME DOWN (d. Cruz Angeles) *** |
| DON'T MOVE (d. Sergio Castellitto) Obsessive adultry-romance with a superb perf by Penelope Cruz. Involving and interestingly structured. *** |
| DON'T TELL (La bestia nel cuore) (d. Cristina Comencini; Italy) *** 1/2 |
| DOOR IN THE FLOOR, THE (d. Tod Williams) Superbly acted drama of a family's corrosive grief & a boy's (the promising Jon Foster) coming of age. *** 1/2 |
| DOPAMINE (d. Mark Decina) Indie romantic comedy; 3geeky programmers in S.F. Genuine characters, well written, actors have real chemistry. *** 1/4 |
| DORIAN BLUES (d. Tennyson Bardwell) A genuinely funny coming out comedy, a crowd pleaser with a brilliant script and assured acting & direction. *** 1/4 |
| DOS TIPOS DUROS (d. Juan Moreno) A Guy Richie type bloody, gang-who-couldn't-shoot-straight comedy, only totally diverting. Jordi Vilches wonderful. *** |
| 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 |
| DOUBT (d. John Patrick Shanley) Major acting kudos (esp. Viola Davis), but film's ambiguity and murky central thesis a problem for me. ** 3/4 |
| DOWN BY LOVE (d. Tomás Sas) Weird, annoying one-actor monologue of effects of child sexual abuse. Ultimately pays off. Patricia Kovács amazing. ** 3/4 |
| DOWN IN THE VALLEY (d. David Jacobson) Weird, wonderful; Ed Norton his usual amazing. E.R.Wood more beautiful than ever. *** 1/4 |
| DOWN TO THE BONE (d. Debra Granik) Bare bones video verité of a woman drug addict that spares nothing. Some incredible acting here. *** |
| DOWN WITH LOVE (d. Peyton Reed) Retro, ironic '60s sex comedy, gorgeous production design, often ridiculous script but fun and truly hip. *** 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 |
| DR. BRONNER'S MAGIC SOAPBOX (d. Sara Lamm) V. ** 1/4 |
| DRAMA/MEX (d. Gerardo Naranjo) *** 1/2 |
| DREAM BOY (d. James Bolton) ** 1/2 |
| DREAM WEAVERS (d. Jun Gu; China) ** 1/2 |
| DREAMCATCHER (d. Lawrence Kasdan) Absurd Stephen King story, 4 boys/men against familiar movie aliens. Scary, funny, overwrought. ** 1/4 |
| DREAMERS, THE (d. Bernardo Bertolucci) I just about lived this movie 5 years earlier...and this excellent film couldn't be more true to life. *** 3/4 |
| DREAMGIRLS (d. Bill Condon) Better than average musical with fantastic casting. *** |
| DREAMING OF SPACE (d. Alexei Uchitel) ** 3/4 |
| DREAMLAND (d. Jason Matzner) *** |
| DRIFTERS (d. Wang Xiaoshuai) Slow drama about a Chinese guy who had a kid as an illegal in the U.S. and then is kept from his son when he's deported. ** |
| DRIVING LESSONS (d. Jeremy Brock) Bad coming-of-age film with over-the-top Julie Walters & a pretty good Rupert Grint. * 3/4 |
| DRUMMER, THE (d. Kenneth Bi) *** 1/4 |
| DUCHESS OF LANGEAIS, THE (Ne toucher pas la hache) (d. Jacques Rivette) ** 1/2 |
| DUCHESS, THE (d. Saul Dibb) Excellently made, authentic seeming, gorgeous and even moving historical epic with great perfs by Keira and Ralph. *** 1/2 |
| DUCK SEASON (d. Fernando Eimbcke) Two 14 year old boys left alone in an apartment on a Sunday get into trouble. Wonderfully observent and affecting. *** 1/4 |
| DUMA (d. Carroll Ballard) V. Predictably beautiful but predictable. ** 3/4 |
| DUMMY (U.S. d. Greg Pritikin 90 min.) Adrien Brody is incredible as a shy ventriloquist in this touching, truly funny romantic comedy. *** 1/2 |
| DUNYA & DESIE (d.Dana Nechushtan; Netherlands) ** 3/4 |
| DUPLICITY (d. Tony Gilroy) Script double crosses itself once too many times, but stars have chemistry & it's slick. ** 3/4 |
| DUSKA (d. Jos Stelling) The Netherlands foreign film submission. * 3/4 |
| 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 |