| "H" All Films Watched 2000-2010 |
| 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 |
| H (2003, S. Korea d. Lee Jeong-hyuk) Serial killer melodrama with the creepiest villains since Hannibal Lector. Very much in the same vein as Cure. *** |
| HABITANTE INCIERTO, EL (The Uninvited Guest) (2007, d. Guillem Morales) V. *** |
| HACHIKO: A DOG'S STORY (2009, d. Lasse Hallstrom) ** 3/4 |
| HAIKU TUNNEL (2001, d. Jacob & Joshua Kornbluth) *** |
| HAIRSPRAY (2007, d. Adam Shankman) *** 1/2 |
| HALF LIFE OF TIMOFEY BEREZIN, THE (2006, d. Scott Z. Burns) *** 1/4 |
| HALF NELSON (2006, d. Ron Fleck) *** 1/4 |
| HALF-LIFE (2008, d. Jennifer Phang) ** |
| HAMILL (2010, d. Oren Kaplan) *** 1/4 |
| HAMLET (2000, d. Michael Almereyda) ** 1/2 |
| HANA & ALICE (2005, d. Shunji Iwai) Intermittantly clever & interesting, quirky film about two teenage girls & their crush on a reserved boy. ** 1/2 |
| HANA (2006, d. Hirokazu Kore-eda) ** 3/4 |
| HANCOCK (2008, d. Peter Berg) Ridiculous premise, reasonably good f/x. Superhero with a human face; but I strongly disliked script. * 1/2 |
| HANGING OFFENSE (2004, d. Guillame Nicloux) Atmospheric, puzzling thriller about possible murders and the woman Colombo-like detective on the case. *** |
| HANGOVER, THE (2009, d. Todd Phillips) One of those great bad comedies: earned laughs, surprising plot development, fresh acting by 4 comic actors. *** 1/4 |
| HANNIBAL RISING (2007, d. Peter Webber) Now just an ordinary slasher/revenge genre pic, though Gaspard Ulliel is a very interesting actor. ** |
| HANNIBAL (2001, d. Ridley Scott) ** 1/4 |
| HANSEL AND GRETEL (2009, d. Yim Phil-sung) W/O |
| HAPPENING, THE (2008, d. M. Night Shyamalan) Good acting (Betty Buckley's classic camp), ridiculous script (plot holes to spare). ** |
| HAPPILY EVER AFTER (2005, d. Yvan Attal) Ironically titled, interesting enough film about 2 married guy & single friend and their failing relationships. ** 3/4 |
| HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS, THE (2002, d. Takashi Miike) * 1/2 |
| HAPPY ACCIDENTS (2001, d. Brad Anderson) *** |
| HAPPY AS ONE (2006, d. Vanessa Jopp) *** |
| HAPPY ENDINGS (2005, d. Don Roos) Somewhat sprawling, well observed black comedy of 21st century families with a brilliant perf by Maggie Gyllenhaal *** 1/2 |
| HAPPY FAMILY (2010, d. Gabriele Salvatores) *** 1/4 |
| HAPPY FEET (2006, d. George Miller) Simply wonderful 3-D animation combined with a timeless, appealing story. A triumph. *** 3/4 |
| HAPPY HOUR (2003, d. Mike Bencivenga) Anthony LaPaglia doing a Leaving Las Vegas dramatic turn, well acted but ultimately derivative. ** 1/2 |
| HAPPY TIMES (2002, d. Zhang Yimou) ** 1/2 |
| HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (2008, d. Mike Leigh) Formless, well acted character study centered around a happy-go-lucky young woman and her angst ridden driving teacher. ** 3/4 |
| HARD CANDY (2006, d. David Slade) *** |
| HARD GOODBYES: MY FATHER (2003, Greece/Germany d. Penny Panayotopoulou) Slight story about young boy in denial about his father's death. ** 1/4 |
| HARD PILL (2005, d. John Baumgartner) *** |
| HARD WORD, THE (2003, Australia/Great Britain d. Scott Roberts) Delightful caper film. *** |
| HARDBALL (2001, d. Brian Robbins) ** 1/2 |
| HARI OM (2005, d. Bharatbala Ganapathy) Another travelog, this one better, though also contrived: French girl roving thru India with a rickshaw driver. ** 1/2 |
| HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE (2004, d. Danny Leiner) Silly teen farce with too many stupid bathroom & fag bashing jokes...but fun anyway. ** 1/4 |
| HARRY AND MAX (2004, d. Chris Munch) Brutally honest, well written story of 2 boy-band brothers with incest overtones. Bryce Johnson is a major find! *** 1/4 |
| HARRY AND MAX (2004, d. Christopher Munch) + Still one of the most truthful & insightful films about boybands and gay life in general. Better the 2nd time. *** 1/2 |
| HARRY POTTER #3 (2004, d. Alfonso Cuarón) Darker, better directed; but still relatively uninvolving. Maybe I should read the books. ** 1/2 |
| HARRY POTTER & THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 1 (2010, d. David Yates) Impeccably made, designed, acted. Fine f/x. But for me a long, one-note, loud bore. ** 3/4 |
| HARRY POTTER 5 (2007, d. David Yates) *** 1/4 |
| HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBE OF SECRETS (2002, d. Chris Columbus) *** |
| HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE (2005, d. Mike Newell) *** |
| HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE (2009, d. David Yates) Series marking time; but excellent script and f/x make it worthwhile. *** 1/4 |
| HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE (2001, d. Chris Columbus) ** 3/4 |
| HARSH TIMES (2006, d. David Ayer) Tough action film with scintillating acting and superreal dialog. Bale is a phenom. *** |
| HART'S WAR (2002, d. Gregory Hoblit) ** 1/2 |
| HARVARD MAN (2002, d. James Toback) ** 1/4 |
| HATE CRIME (2005, d. Tommy Stovall) * |
| HAVEN (2006, d. Frank E. Flowers) Good actors in a mess of a film about Cayman Island life and dire financial schemes. ** |
| HAWAII, OSLO (2004, d. Erik Poppe) Norway AFF: slick, complex multi-strand drama of a group of Oslo residents as they play out one character's portentious dream. *** |
| HE KNEW HE WAS RIGHT (2005, d. Tom Vaughan) Psychologically modern Trollope novel of 4 Victorian relationships given average Masterpiece Theater treatment. ** 1/2 |
| HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT (2003, d. Laetetia Columbani) Clever thriller about a woman literally crazy about a cardiologist. *** |
| HEAD IN THE CLOUDS (2004, d. John Duigan) Old fashioned big WWII romance, a tear jerker that didn't jerk but never bored. Theron fine; but Townsend too callow for role. ** 3/4 |
| HEAD OVER HEELS (2001, d. Mark Waters) ** |
| HEADLESS WOMAN, THE (2009, d. Lucrecia Martel) ** 1/2 |
| HEAD-ON (2004, d. Fatih Akin) Off center love story about troubled German Turkish couple. Good film, but not as good as rep. *** 1/4 |
| HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS, THE (2004, d. Asia Argento) Mind blowing adaptation from life of a young boy being raised by his disaster of a mother. *** 1/2 |
| HEART OF ME, THE (2003, Great Britain/Germany d. Thaddeus O'Sullivan) Unabashed weepy romance about 2 sisters in love with the same man. *** |
| HEART OF THE BEAR, THE (2001, d. Arvo Iho) *** 1/4 |
| HEARTBEAT DETECTOR (2008, d. Nicolas Klotz) ** 1/4 |
| HEARTBEATS (2010, d. Xavier Dolan) *** |
| HEARTBREAKER (L'Arnacoeur) (2010, d. Pascal Chaumeil) ** 1/2 |
| HEARTS IN ATLANTIS (2001, d. Scott Hicks) ** |
| HEAVEN (2002, d. Tom Tykwer) *** 1/2 |
| HEAVENS BLUE (Tengri) (2008, d. Marie Jaoul de Poncheville; Kyrgyzstan) *** 1/4 |
| HEAVEN'S BURNING (2005, d. Craig Lahiff)V. Russell Crowe & Japanese chick in a corkingly over-the-top (a la Robert Rodriguez) violent road pic from Oz. *** |
| HEDGEHOG (Le hérisson) (2010, d. Mona Ashashe) *** 3/4 |
| HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH (2001, d. John Cameron Mitchell) *** |
| HEIGHTS (2005, d. Chris Terrio) + Second time to watch this one. Superbly well done. Another great Glenn Close role. My kinda film! *** 1/2 |
| HEIGHTS (2005, d. Chris Terrio) Multi-character 24 hours in the lives of N.Y. arty types. Superbly well done. My kinda film! *** 1/2 |
| HEIR TO AN EXECUTION (2003, d. Ivy Meeropol)V. Doc. Rosenberg's grandaughter searches for the truths of family's past. Moving, well made, informative. ***1/2 |
| HEIST (2001, d. David Mamet) ** 3/4 |
| HELL HOUSE (2002, d. George Ratliff) *** |
| HELL (2006, d. Danis Tanovic) *** 1/2 |
| HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY (2009, d. Guillermo del Toro) Bombastic fantasy with del Toro's nightmarish imagery, but a soporific, predictable plot. ** |
| HELLO GOODBYE (2009, d. Graham Guit) ** 1/2 |
| HENRY OF NAVARRE (2010, d. Jo Baier) *** |
| HENRY POOLE IS HERE (2008, d. Mark Pellington) Luke Wilson in a film totally without irony doesn't compute. * 1/4 |
| HENRY VIII (2004, d. Pete Travis) V. Abridged PBS version of British series with an interesting Ray Winstone perf. Pop history, but too short to be meaningful. ** 1/4 |
| HER MAJESTY (2002, d. Mark J. Gordon) * 1/2 |
| HER MINOR THING (2005, d. Charles Matthau) Silly romantic comedy with a trite, predictable story but nice production values. * 1/2 |
| HERE ON EARTH (2000, d. Mark Piznarski) ** 1/2 |
| HEREAFTER (2010, d. Clint Eastwood) Superbly written & crafted film, subtle, mature, moving and emotionally fulfilling...especially the twin boys' story. *** 3/4 |
| HERENCIA (2002, d. Paula Hernandez) *** |
| HERO (2003, d. Zhang Yimou) China AFF. Huge marshall arts epic in Crouching Tiger vein. Gorgeous & well made; but cold. *** |
| HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU (2009, d. Ken Kwapis) Attractive cast, but clichés abound in this all too clever rom-com about coupling. ** 1/2 |
| HEY, HAPPY! (2001, d. Noam Gonick) 0* |
| HI, TERESKA (2002, d. Robert Glinski) *** |
| HIDALGO (2004, d. Joe Johnston) Entertaining western variant, true (if transparently enhanced) story of a mustang competing with thoroughbred Arabians. ** 3/4 |
| HIDDEN (Caché) (2005, d. Michael Haneke) *** 1/2 |
| HIDDEN BLADE, THE (2006, d. Yoji Yamada) *** 1/2 |
| HIDDEN DIARY (Mères et filles) (2010, d. Julie Lopes-Curval) *** 1/4 |
| HIDDEN FACE (2008, d. Bernard Campan) * 1/4 |
| HIDDEN LOVE (L'amour caché) (2007, d. Alessandro Capone) * 3/4 |
| HIDEAWAY (2010, d. François Ozon) *** 1/2 |
| HIDING AND SEEKING (2004, d. Menachem Daum) V. Enormously moving docu about a family of Holocaust survivors and their reconciliation with the past. *** 3/4 |
| HIGH CRIMES (2002, d. Carl Franklin) ** |
| HIGH FIDELITY (2000, d. Stephen Frears) *** 1/2 |
| HIGH LANE (Vertige) (2010, d. Abel Feray) *** |
| HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 (2008, d. Kenny Ortega) Surprisingly good, fun and frothy. High energy, ok score, great choriography make for a diverting experience. *** |
| HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL (2006, d. Kenny Ortega) V. By far the best musical of the last year is a Disney TV film. Zac Ephron can move & even lip sync. *** |
| HIGH TENSION (2004, d. Alexandre Aja) Vividly graphic and gory mass-murder horror thriller, well made, but based on a cheat which compromises it. *** |
| HIGHER FORCE, THE (2009, d. Olaf de Fleur Johannesson) * 3/4 |
| HIGHER FORCE, THE (2008, d. Olaf de Fleur Johannesson) Silly Iceland comedy which went nowhere for 45 minutes so I walked. W/O |
| HIGHWAY (2005, d. James Cox) V. Messy, faintly homoerotic '02 road movie with stoned out Jake Gyllenhaal & Jared Leto looking fine. * 3/4 |
| HIMALAYA (2001, d. Eric Valli) *** |
| HINDENBERG, THE (2006, d. Robert Wise) V. Fairly good old fashioned disaster flick. F/x sort of lame. ** 1/4 |
| HIPSTERS (2010, d. Valery Todorovsky) *** 1/2 |
| HIS SECRET LIFE ("Ignorant Fairies") (2001, d. Ferzan Ozpetek) *** 1/2 |
| HISTORY BOYS, THE (2006, d. Nicholas Hytner) Yorkshire Dead Poets Society with a fine, literate script. Totally absorbing. *** 3/4 |
| HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, A (2005, d. David Cronenberg) *** 1/2 |
| HIT AND RUNWAY (2001, d. Christopher Livingston) *** 1/4 |
| HIT, THE (2003, d. Stephen Frears) V. 1984 noir with superb performances. Wonderfully nihlistic & typical of later Frears. *** 1/4 |
| HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (2005, d. Garth Jennings) Banal, arch as only the Brits can. I was incredibly bored, even with the great f/x. * 1/2 |
| HOAX, THE (2007, d. Lasse Hallstrom) Competent, but predictable and not involving. ** 1/2 |
| HOLD MY HEART (2003, d. Trygve Allister Diesen) Norway AFF. Drama about father who kidnaps estranged young daughter. *** 1/4 |
| HOLDING TREVOR (2007, d. Rosser Goodman) *** 1/2 |
| HOLES (2003, d. Andrew Davis) It's sort of churlish to complain about a bad script with such a feel-good movie. Shia LaBeouf is great. ** 3/4 |
| HOLIDAY, THE (2006, d. Nancy Meyers) I loved every minute of this chick flick despite its flaws. *** 1/4 |
| HOLLOW MAN (2000, d. Paul Verhoeven) * 3/4 |
| HOLLYWOOD ENDING (2002, d. Woody Allen) *** |
| HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE (2003, d. Ron Shelton) Cop flick where quirky cops are more interesting than the case. Shelton better director here than writer. ** 1/2 |
| HOLLYWOODLAND (2006, d. Allen Coulter) TV director's style more suited to noir. Fine cast (esp. Brody & Affleck) good script! *** |
| HOLY GIRL, THE (2005, 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 (2005, d. Bertrand Tavernier) Just about the same movie as John Sayles' Casa de los babys except in Cambodia. Too protracted and long. ** 1/2 |
| HOLY ROLLERS (2010, d. Kevin Tyler Asch) *** |
| HOME (2009, d. Ursula Meier) *** |
| HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD, A (2004, d. Michael Mayer) Extraordinarily well made, literate gay film which nails its '60s-'80s eras. Great acting. *** 3/4 |
| HOME OF DARK BUTTERFLYS, THE (2008, d. Dome Karukoski; Finland) ** 3/4 |
| HOME OF THE BRAVE (2004, d. Paola di Florio) V. Well made docu, informative & emotionally powerful about civil rights martyr Viola Liuzzo & her surviving family. *** 1/2 |
| HOME OF THE BRAVE (2006, d. Irwin Winkler) Powerful affects-of-war film about current Iraq soldiers. Too on point, but well acted. ** 3/4 |
| HOME SONG STORIES, THE (2008, d. Tony Ayres; Australia) *** 1/4 |
| HOMEGROWN (2004, d. Stephen Gyllenhaal) V. Authentic '98 pot growing paranoia movie thriller/comedy with good cast (Ryan Phillippe is fine). ** 3/4 |
| HOMELESS TO HARVARD (2003, d. Peter Levin) (V) Lifetime tv movie (Thora Birch) about girl who surmounts incredible odds to get an education. ** 3/4 |
| HOMESICK (Koti-ikävä) (2006, d. Petri Kotwica) Superb, raw Finnish film about a teenage boy committed to a mental institution, similar plot to Manic. *** 1/4 |
| HOMME DE SA VIE, L' (2006, d. Zabou Breitman) *** 3/4 |
| HONEY (Bal) (2010, d. Semih Kaplanoglu; Turkey) *** |
| HONEY (2003, d. Bille Woodruff) Is there a cookie-cutter factory for recycled plots like this? Ok music & dancing don't make up for terrible direction. * 1/4 |
| HONEYDRIPPER (2007, d. John Sayles) Good music, but very predictable. ** 3/4 |
| HOOKED (2009, d. Adrian Sitaru) ** 1/2 |
| HOOT (2006, d. Wil Shriner) Ernest flick from teen book. Interesting young actors, but lacking directoral spark. * 3/4 |
| HOPE ETERNAL (2008, d. Karl Francis; United Kingdom) ** 1/2 |
| HORAS DEL DIA, LAS (2004, d. Jaime Rosales) Boring (cf. Bruno Dumont) film about the boring quotidien life of a boring shopowner with one little quirk. ** |
| HORIZON OF EVENTS, THE (2006, d. Daniele Vicari) ** 3/4 |
| HORNBLOWER: DUTY (2003, d. Andrew Grieve)V. #8, not quite up to #7. Still, this series is best thing ever to happen on high seas, despite Russell Crowe. *** |
| HORNBLOWER: LOYALTY ( 2003, d. Andrew Grieve) V. #7 in the series, and one of the best. Ioan Gruffudd was born to play this role. *** 1/4 |
| HOST AND GUEST (2006, d. Shin Dong-il) ** 3/4 |
| HOST, THE (Gue-Mool) (2006, d. Bong Joon-ho) ** |
| HOSTAGE (2005, d. Constantine Giannaris) Gripping based on true story variation of Bus 174. Stathis Papadopoulis wonderful as the bus hostage taker. *** 1/4 |
| HOSTAGE (2005, d. Florent Siri) Visually dazzling thriller with multiple layers of jeopardy. Plot has several holes; but effective filmmaking nevertheless. ** 3/4\ |
| HOT TUB TIME MACHINE (2010, d. Steve Pink) I have no nostalgia for the '80s and this The Hangover wannabe was raucus, homophobic & ugly. * 3/4 |
| HOTEL RWANDA (2004, d. Terry George) Epic, shocking and sad. Don Cheadle towers as a strong man in a crumbling society. Maybe too much on target. *** 1/4 |
| HOTTEST STATE, THE (2006, d. Ethan Hawke) ** 3/4 |
| HOUNDS (2007, d. Ann-Kristin Reyels) *** 1/4 |
| HOURS, THE (2002, d. Stephen Daldry) *** 3/4 |
| HOUSE OF ADAM, THE (2008, d. Jorge Ameer) Gay ghost story. A film of towering badness in every aspect: acting, direction, script, all the technicals, yet somehow watchable. * |
| HOUSE OF D (2005, 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 |
| HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS (2004, d. Zhang Yimou) Visually stunning, emotionally resonant, remarkable f/x; but too much of a good thing is too much. *** 1/4 |
| HOUSE OF FOOLS (2002, d. Andrei Konchalovsky) ** 1/2 |
| HOUSE OF FOOLS (2003, d. Andrei Konchalovsky) Russia AFF. Off-center drama. Chechan war comes to insane asylum. ** 1/2 |
| HOUSE OF MIRTH, THE (2000, d. Terence Davies) ** 1/2 |
| HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG (2003, d. Vadim Perelman) Classic tragedy: good but flawed people who make fateful mistakes. Incredibly well acted & directed. *** 1/2 |
| HOUSE OF SAND (2006, d. Andrucha Waddington) *** 1/4 |
| HOUSE ON THE CLOUDS, THE (La casa sulle nuvole) (2009, d. Claudio Giovannesi) *** |
| HOUSE WITH A VIEW OF THE SEA, A (2001, d. Alberto Arvelo Mendoza) ** 1/2 |
| HOUSE! (2000, d. Julian Kemp) * 1/2 |
| HOUSEBOY, THE (2008, d. Spencer Schilly) Totally realistic & sexy portrayal of 20-ish gay boy's life & times. Watch for actor Nick May. *** 1/4 |
| HOUSEKEEPER, THE (2003, France d. Claude Berri) Wry, romantic comedy about a May-November romance. *** |
| HOUSEWARMING (Travaux, on sait quand ça commence...) (2006, d. Brigitte Roüen) Silly Paris apt. money pit/illegal alien worker comedy. ** 1/2 |
| HOW DO YOU KNOW (2010, d. James L. Brooks) V. Cookie-cutter romcom with wildly divergent acting styles. Silly set-up, sappy ending. Disappointing. ** |
| HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER (2010, d. Alexei Popogrebsky) Tense, well acted Russian film about conflict between 2 men serving in Arctic weather station. *** 1/2 |
| HOW I KILLED MY FATHER (2002, d. Anne Fontaine) *** |
| HOW IS YOUR FISH TODAY (Jin tian de yu zen me yang?) (2007, d. Xiaolu Guo) ** 3/4 |
| HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE ME (Combien tu m'aimes?) (2006, d. Bertrand Blier) Monica Bellucci as sexy prostitute; fun, not my cuppa. ** 3/4 |
| HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (2000, d. Ron Howard) ** 1/2 |
| HOW THE WEST WAS WON (2003, d. Henry Hathaway et al)+ Pristine print in 3-screen Cinerama of gorgeous overblown star-driven turkey. Great experience. ** 1/4 |
| HOW TO COOK YOUR LIFE (2007, d. Dorris Dörrie) *** 1/2 |
| HOW TO DEAL (2003, d. Clare Kilner) Rather innocuous teen romantic comedy. Mandy Moore is OK, Trent Ford one to watch; but Nina Foch steals the film. ** 1/2 |
| HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS (2003, d. Donald Petrie) Fairly clever high concept romantic farce: 2 people trying not to fall in love. Empty calories. ** |
| HOW TO ROB A BANK (2007, d. Andrews Jenkins) Talky, pretentious caper thriller that doesn't work at all. Even Nick Stahl can't save. * 1/2 |
| HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (2010, d. Sanders & DeBlois) At times thrilling 3D amusement park ride & Baruchel is fine. But story is sketchy & silly. ** 1/2 |
| HOWARD ZINN: YOU CAN'T BE NEUTRAL ON A MOVING TRAIN (2005, d. Ellis & Mueller) V. Didactic docu about a lifetime activist against war & prejudice. ** 3/4 |
| HOWL (2010, d. Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman) *** 3/4 |
| HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE (2005, d. Hayao Miyazaki) Good story, well dubbed (especially Christian Bale as Howl), nice animation. I was surprised. *** 1/4 |
| HUACHO (2010, d. Alejandro Fernandez & Almendras) *** |
| HUDDERSFIELD (Hadersfild) (2008, d. Ivan Zivkovic) ** 1/2 |
| HUDSON RIVER BLUES (2004, d. Nell Cox)V. '95 film chick flick about a large family. Some good actors, and a script with possibilities; but mostly mediocre filmmaking. ** |
| HUGH HEFNER: PLAYBOY, ACTIVIST AND REBEL (2010, d. Brigitte Berman) *** 1/2 |
| HUKKLE (2002, d. György Pálfi) ** 3/4 |
| HULA GIRLS (2006, d. Lee Sang-il; Japan) ** |
| HULK (2003, d. Ang Lee) Turgid, overlong King Kong vs. Crouching Tiger takeoff. Good effects, but constant barrage of novel transition device wearing. * 1/2 |
| HUMAN NATURE (2002, d. Michel Gondry) * |
| HUMAN RESOURCES (2010, d. Laurent Cantet)V. Beautifully underplayed labor vs. management, father vs. son drama. Ambiguities abound to the novice director's credit. *** 1/4 |
| HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER, THE (2010, d. Eran Riklis; Israel) *** 1/4 |
| HUMAN STAIN, THE (2003, d. Robert Benton) Surprisingly effective melodrama with a star-making debut by Wentworth Miller and another Kiddman triumph. *** |
| HUMANITÉ (2000, d. Bruno Dumont) *** 1/2 |
| HUMPDAY (2009, d. Lynn Shelton) *** 1/4 |
| HUNTED, THE (2003, d. William Friedkin) Well made, exciting chase film: army trained killer on a rampage hunted by his teacher. *** 1/4 |
| HUNTER, THE (2005, 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 |
| HUNTING AND GATHERING (Ensemble, c'est tout) (2007, d. Claude Berri) *** 1/2 |
| HUNTING OF THE PRESIDENT, THE (2004, d. Perry & Thomason) V. Docu which nails slimy Ken Starr and his corrupt attack dogs as they tried to get Clinton. *** 1/4 |
| HUNTING PARTY, THE (2007, d. Richard Shepard) ** 1/2 |
| HURT LOCKER, THE (2010, d. Kathryn Bigelow) + Still amazing, definitive war film 1 1/2 years later; but now I notice episodic structure & middle drags a little. *** 3/4 |
| HURT LOCKER, THE (2008, d. Kathryn Bigelow) **** |
| HUSH! (2002, d. Ryosuke Hashiguchi) ** 1/2 |
| HUSH! (2002, d. Ryosuke Hashiguchi) ** 1/2 |
| HUSTLE & FLOW (2005, d. Craig Brewer) Effective filmmaking about Tenn. underclass dealer & pimp (amazing Terrence Howard) & his need to be a rap star. ** 3/4 |
| HYPNOTIZED & HYSTERICAL (HAIRSTYLIST WANTED) (2002, d. Claude Duty) ** 1/2 |