| I - ALL FILMS 2003-6/2009 |
| I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SAINT (d. Geneviève Mersch) Luxembourg AFF (though Belgian), about disfunctional family from the pov of the daughter. *** |
| I AM (d. Dorota Kedzierzawska) *** 1/4 |
| I AM DAVID (d. Paul Feig) V. Moving, if fairly pat, story of boy who escapes from Bulgarian camp in '52. *** |
| I AM LEGEND (d. Francis Lawrence) Too similar to 28 Days Later; but effective filmmaking, fine f/x. *** |
| I CAPTURE THE CASTLE (United Kingdom d. Tim Fywell) Three hankey weeper, British upper class period romance better than most. *** 1/4 |
| I DON'T WANT TO SLEEP ALONE (d. Tsai Ming-liang) ** 1/2 |
| I IMAGINE A DREAM LIKE THAT (Pense che un sogno cosi) (d. Marco De Luca) ** 1/2 |
| I JUST DIDN'T DO IT (d. Masayuki Suo) Japan Academy foreign film submission *** 1/2 |
| I KNOW YOU KNOW (d. Justin Kerrigan) *** |
| I LOVE CINEMA (d. Osamma Fawzy) Egypt AFF. Annoying comedy about a kid raised in a raucus Coptic Christian family in 1966. * 3/4 |
| I LOVE YOU BETH COOPER (d. Chris Columbus) Horrible teen nerd+cheerleader comedy. Jack Carpenter as gay best friend can't redeem it. * |
| I LOVE YOU, MAN (d. John Hamburg) Great to see an endearing, straight male bonding flick not based on homo panic! Rudd & Segal are wonderful. *** 1/4 |
| I MURDER SERIOUSLY (Mex. d. Antonio Urrutia) Off kilter serial killer film, midnight movie fare. W/O |
| I NOT STUPID (Singapore d. Jack Neo) Raucus, amusing comedy about 3 educationally challenged kids in a Singapore school & their zany parents. ** 1/2 |
| I REALLY HATE MY JOB (d. Oliver Parker) * 3/4 |
| I REMEMBER (d. Edgard Nevarro) ** |
| I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND (d. Jiri Menzel; Czech Republic) *** 1/4 |
| I WAS HERE (d. René Vilbre; Estonia) *** |
| I ♥ HUCKABEES (d. David O. Russell) Who green lighted this script? Russell's style and his fine cast can't overcome the silly, pseudo profound script. ** |
| I, ROBOT (d. Alex Proyas) Surprisingly good adaptation of Asimov, though also filled with cheesy movie clichés and some ragged CGI f/x. ** 1/2 |
| I.O.U.S.A. (d. Patrick Creadon) Very well made pov docu about the crushing future economic deficits facing the U.S. Nobody wants to hear this, but everybody should. *** 1/2 |
| ICE AGE THE MELTDOWN (d. Carlos Saldanha) Funny, silly, watchable 3-D animated Road-Runnerish film. ** 3/4 |
| ICE AGE (d. Chris Wedge) DVD. Animated film, road trip with Mammoth, Sabre Tooth, Sloth & Neanderthal baby ** 1/2 |
| ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS (d. Carlos Saldanha) Nice 3-D animation...but boring, clichéd and not up to previous. * 3/4 |
| ICE CREAM, I SCREAM (d. Yüksel Aksu; Turkey) * 1/4 |
| 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. ** |
| ICEBERG (d. Abel, Gordon & Romy) ** 1/2 |
| IDENTITY (d. James Mangold) Stifling psycho thriller which holds together pretty well, considering it's pure claptrap. Figured it out too early. ** 1/2 |
| IDIOCRACY (d. Mike Judge) Intriguing, clever set-up, well written; ok f/x; just sort of boring and disappointing. ** 1/4 |
| IDIOT LOVE (Amor Idiota) (d. Ventura Pons) *** 1/4 |
| IDLEWILD (d. Bryan Barber) Annoying, overly stylish film with lousy songs by Outkast...but Big Boi can act. ** |
| IF I HAD YOU (d. John Deery) V. Underplayed English murder mystery with triple whammy. Nice script. *** |
| IL DIVO (d. Paolo Sorrentino) ** 3/4 |
| I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD (d. Mike Hodges) Atmospheric Brit revenge thriller. Works despite disappointingly abrupt ending. *** |
| ILLUSION OF FEAR, THE (d. Aleksandr Kirienko; Ukraine) * 3/4 |
| ILLUSIONIST, THE (d. Neil Burger) *** |
| I'M FROM TITOV VELES (d. Teona Mitevska; Macedonia) ** |
| I'M NOT SCARED (d. Gabriele Salvatores) 10 year Sicilian boy makes friends with victim of his village's kidnapping plot. Beautiful & well acted. *** |
| I'M NOT THERE (d. Todd Haynes) Fascinating, but completely inscrutable, just like most of Dylan's songs for me. *** |
| I'M TARANEH, 15 (d. Rassul Sadr-Ameli) Iran AFF. "Good" young girl gets in trouble in modern Iran. *** |
| I'M THE FATHER (Germany d. Dani Levi) A German Kramer vs. Kramer, which ultimately worked for me, though it sometimes flagged. *** |
| I'M THE KING OF THE CASTLE (d. Régis Wargnier) Gothic thriller cum Lord of the Flies with some remarkably naturalistic acting by 2 French kids. *** 1/2 |
| IMAGINARY HEROES (d. Dan Harris) Fabulous script, an enthralling & moving disfunctional family black comedy with an awesome ensemble cast. *** 3/4 |
| IMAGINARY HEROES (d. Dan Harris) V.+ 2nd time around some of the acting & direction came off stilted. Still, great script and a moving very realistic drama. *** 1/2 |
| IMPULSOS (d. Miguel Alcantud) Thriller about a Ted Bundy type of serial killer who meet his match with a suicidal woman. ** 3/4 |
| IN A DREAM (d. Jeremiah Zagar) Raw nerve of a docu about Phila mosaic artist Isiah Zagar & his wife by the 2nd son. Fascinating but difficult. *** |
| IN AMERICA (d. Jim Sheridan) Tender weeper which earns tears honestly with flawless performances & heartfelt script. A near perfect little gem. *** 1/2 |
| IN BRUGES (d. Martin Mcdonagh) Witty, terrific black comedy thriller with Colin Farrell's best perf. *** 1/2 |
| IN GOOD COMPANY (d. Paul Weitz) Clever office comedy with Dennis Quaid's best performance in years & a charming Topher Grace. It really worked for me. *** 1/4 |
| IN GOOD COMPANY (d. Paul Weitz) V.+ Watched this well written & acted comedy again, and appreciated Scarlett Johanson more this time. Good ensemble. *** 1/4 |
| IN HER SHOES (d. Curtis Hanson) ** 3/4 |
| IN HIS HANDS(d. Anne Fontaine) ** 1/2 |
| IN JULY (Germany d. Fairth Akin) Delightful road film. *** |
| IN MEMORY OF MYSELF (d. Saverio Costanzo) ** 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 |
| IN SEACH OF KENNEDY (d. Chuck Workman) * 1/2 |
| IN THE ARMS OF MY ENEMY (d. Micha Wald) *** |
| IN THE CITY (d. Cesc Gay) 3 couples explore variations of marital infidelity in modern Barcelona. Mostly boring, til it clicked after an hour. ** 3/4 |
| IN THE CUT (d. Jane Campion) Stylish, creepy, sexy, edge of seat thriller. Meg Ryan is Oscar-worthy, Ruffalo miscast, but fine. *** 1/4 |
| IN THE HELIOPOLIS FLAT (d. Mohamed Khan; Egypt) ** 1/4 |
| IN THE LAND OF WOMEN (d. Jon Kasdan) Brody is legitimate leading man. Ryan impressive. Fine debut by young Kasdan. *** 1/4 |
| IN THE LOOP (d. Armando Iannucci) *** |
| IN THE REALM OF THE UNREAL (d. Jessica Yu) Docu with weird, unsavory subject matter but interesting art and fine animation. I just didn't enjoy the experience. ** |
| IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON (d. David Sington) ***1/4 |
| IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH (d. Paul Haggis) Strong perfs, especially Tommy Lee Jones. Resonant script. *** 1/4 |
| IN THIS WORLD (d. Michael Winterbottom) Quasi-documentary style film about 2 refugees trip from Pakistan to England. I wasn't engaged enough. ** 3/4 |
| IN YOUR ABSENCE (d. Iván Noel) *** |
| INCIDENT AT LOCH NESS (d. Zak Penn) Amusing, slick mockumentary in the Charlie Kaufmanesque mode. *** |
| INCONVENIENT TRUTH, AN (d. Davis Guggenheim) V. More than a slide show, America's fall happened in Nov. 2000. *** 3/4 |
| INCREDIBLE HULK, THE (d. Louis Leterrier) King Kong meets Godzilla except they're people. Good f/x, Norton fine, film flawed. ** 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 |
| INDIANA JONES & THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (d. Steven Spielberg) Great f/x can't mask stupid escapist fantasy story. ** 1/4 |
| INFAMOUS (d. Douglas McGrath) V. Better in every particular than Capote. Stunning acting by Jones & Craig. *** 1/2 |
| INFERNAL AFFAIRS #1 (d. Andrew Lau) + Thriller that is only slightly clearer watching it a 2nd time. Still rivitingly fascinating. *** 1/4 |
| INFERNAL AFFAIRS #2 (d. Andrew Lau) A prequel to the initial film which does explain some of the backstory. Still confusing, but entertaining. ** 3/4 |
| INFERNAL AFFAIRS #3 (d. Andrew Lau) An expansion of the first film, fleshing out some of the events and going a little haywire psychologically. ** 1/2 |
| INFERNAL AFFAIRS (Hong Kong d. Andrew Lau, Alan Mak) High production value policier about long-term moles infiltrating an evil gang. *** 1/4 |
| INFORMERS, THE (d. Gregor Jordan) Glossy, trashy film based on Bret Easton Ellis depraved L.A. novel. More meandering than Crash. Nobody wins. * 1/2 |
| INHERITANCE (d. Per Fly) Heavy, well made drama about scion of a steel factory owning family and his choice between business and happiness. *** 1/4 |
| INHERITANCE: A FISHERMAN'S STORY (d. Peter Hegedus) V. Australian doc about an ecologic disaster in Hungary. Well put together, somewhat slight. ** 3/4 |
| INJU, LA BÊTE DANS L'OMBRES (Inju, the Beast in the Shadow) (d. Barbet Schroeder) ** 3/4 |
| 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 |
| INSIDE MAN (d. Spike Lee) Close to perfect bank heist film: original, unpredictable, involving. Clive Owens...wow! *** 1/2 |
| INTERMISSION (d. John Crowley) Unsparing Irish film which might be called Hate Actually. Good acting, inventive script. *** |
| INTERNATIONAL, THE (d. Tom Tykwer) Competent, disappointingly concluded thriller with 1 great shoot-out at the Guggenheim Museum, NY. ** 3/4 |
| INTERPRETER, THE (d. Sidney Pollack) Disappointing thriller pastiche (Man Who Knew Too Much + 3 Days of Condor). Star power aint enough. ** |
| INTERVIEW (d. Steve Buscemi) *** |
| INTIMATE ENEMIES (L'ennemi intime) (d. Florent-Emilio Siri) *** 1/4 |
| INTIMATE STRANGERS (d. Patrice Leconte) Talky, if nicely written 2-character unconventional love story. Too one-note and buttoned-up for my taste. ** 3.4 |
| INTO THE WILD (d. Sean Penn) I've been haunted by this story of a young man's spiritual journey. *** 1/2 |
| INTOLERABLE CRUELTY (d. Joel Coen) The usual Coen Bros. hipster triumph of style over substance, only much too cynical for my tastes. ** 1/2 |
| INTOUCHABLE, L' (d. Benôit Jacquot) *** |
| INTRODUCING THE DWIGHTS (Cherie Nowlan) *** |
| INVESTIGATION (d. Iglika Trifonova) *** |
| INVINCIBLE (d. Ericson Core) Fun football true story. Mark Wahlberg is fine as Vince Papale. Well made, moving. *** 1/4 |
| INVISIBLE CHILDREN, THE (d. Lisandro Duque Naranjo) Columbia AFF. Nostalgic comedy about boys & black magic. ** 1/2 |
| INVISIBLE WAVES (d. Pen-ek Ratanaruang) ** 1/2 |
| INVISIBLE, THE (d. David Goyer) Ridiculous plot, guilty pleasure...I like Justin Chatwin, so sue me. ** 1/4 |
| INVOLUNTARY (d. Ruben östlund) *** |
| IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS (d. James Langley) V. 3 part docu about today's Iraq. Beautifully shot, difficult to follow. ** 1/2 |
| IRINA PALM (d. Sam Garbarski) *** |
| IRISH EYES (d. Daniel McCarthy) Daniel Baldwin vehicle...he's a Boston Irish gangster. But it wasn't holding my interest, though it wasn't all that bad. W/O |
| IRON JAWED ANGELS (d. Katja von Garnier) V. Sufferagette biopic about fight for 19th Amendment. Good cast, clichéd filmmaking. ** 1/4 |
| IRON MAN (d. Jon Favreau) Smart, with good script & a great perf by Downey's mature & sarcastic superhero. *** 1/4 |
| IRREVERSIBLE (d. Gaspar Noe) Assault by celluloid? Or masterpiece of modern cinema. I'm firmly in the latter camp. **** |
| IS THERE ANYBODY THERE? (d. John Crowley) *** 1/4 |
| ISKA'S JOURNEY (Iszka Utazása) (d. Csaba Bollók) ** 1/2 |
| ISLAND ETUDE (d. Huai-en Chen; Taiwan) W/O |
| ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, THE (De Fortabte Sjaeles O) (d. Nikolaj Arcel) ** 3/4 |
| ISLAND, THE (d. Michael Bay) More plot holes than swiss cheese, shameful stealing from past films; but still a diverting mishmosh. ** |
| ISLAND, THE (d. Pavil Lounguine) *** |
| ISLAND, THE (d. Sherif Arafa; Egypt) ** 3/4 |
| IT ALWAYS RAINS ON SUNDAY (d. Robert Hamer, 1947) ** 1/2 |
| IT DOESN'T HURT (Mne ne bolno) (d. Alexey Balabanov) ** |
| IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY (d. Fred Schepisi) Unaccountably entertained by this schlocky piece of emotionally manipulative crap. Family star power. ** |
| ITALIAN JOB, THE (d. F. Gary Gray) Caper thriller which works like gangbusters until it runs out of steam at the end. *** |
| ITALIAN, THE (d. Andrey Kravchuk; Russia) *** 1/2 |
| ITINÉRARIES (d. Christophe Otzenberger) *** 1/4 |
| IT'S ALL ABOUT LOVE (d. Thomas Vinterberg) Pretentious, opaque melodrama about a near future world catastrophy. Nobody comes out a winner here. * |
| IT'S ALL GONE PETE TONG (d. Michael Dowse) Funny satirical mocumentary about a deaf disco DJ with a splendid central performance (Paul Kaye) *** |
| IT'S HARD TO BE NICE (d. Srdan Vuletic; Bosnia/Herzogovina) *** |
| IT'S NOT ME, I SWEAR! (d. Philippe Falardeau) ** 3/4 |
| IT'S WINTER (d. Rafi Pitts (86 min.) ** |
| I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG (d. Philippe Claudel) Superb, original & unpredictable family drama with towering perfs from Kristin Thomas & Elsa Zylberstein. *** 1/2 |