| K - ALL
FILMS 2003-6/2009 |
| KABEI - OUR MOTHER
(d. Yôji Yamada) *** 3/4 |
| KABLUEY
(d. Scott Prendergast) Amusing Woody Allenish comedy. Prendergast is an
actor/writer/filmmaker to watch. *** |
| KAIFECK MURDER (d.
Esther Gronenborn) ** 1/2 |
| KAMATAKI
(d. Claude Gagnon, Takako Miyahira) *** 1/4 |
| KAMCHATKA
(d. Marcelo Piñeyro) Argentina AFF. Superb family drama about "The
Disappeared" from the pov of a 10 year old. *** 3/4 |
| KANCHIVARAM (d.
Priyadarshan) ** 3/4 |
| KARAMAZOVS,
THE (d. Petr Zelenka; Czech Republic) ** 1/2 |
| KARL ROVE I LOVE YOU (d. Butler & Leirness) Trenchant mocumentary, fun and
just real enough to fool me for a while. *** |
| KATYN (d.
Andrzej Wajda; Poland) *** 1/2 |
| KEKEXILI:
MOUNTAIN PATROL (d. Lu Chuan) Vigilante group patrols Tibetian plains to
catch antelope pelt poachers. Disturbing, gorgeous. *** |
| KEN
PARK (d. Larry Clark)V. The king of transgressive pedo-cinema is in fine form
in this pornographic film of skater youths in extremis. *** 1/4 |
| KEPT
AND DREAMLESS (d. Fogwill & Desalvo) 9 yr. old girl comes of age among
poor Argentine extended family. Good characters but uninspired. ** |
| KEYS
TO THE HOUSE, THE (d. Gianni Amelio) Quietly moving, beautifully made film of
a father getting to know his 15 yr. old disabled son for the first
time. *** 1/2 |
| KHAMSA (d. Karim Dridi)
** 3/4 |
| KICKING IT
(d. Susan Koch) Uplifting, if predictable docu about contestants at the 2006
Homeless World Cup soccer tournament in Capetown. *** |
| KID
& I, THE (d. Penelope Spheeris) ** 3/4 |
| KIKI & TIGER (d. Alan Gsponer) Boring, ugly DV about a straight Albanian
illegally in Germany and the Serb closet case who loves him. * 1/2 |
| KILL
BILL - VOL. 2 (d. Quentin Tarantino) Unlike Vol. 1, this one has a real story
to go with Terantino's obvious filmmaking genius. *** |
| KILL BILL VOL. 1 (d. Quentin Tarantino) Stylized violence to no purpose. Looks
great, but empty and boring...but then I'm no fan of the genre. ** |
| KILL
ME TENDER (d. Ramon de España) Another Spanish winner, a sexy, romantic
black comedy, a gentle farce, well acted with a good script. *** |
| KILL THEM ALL (d.
Esteban Schroeder; Uruguay) *** |
| KILLER, THE (Le
Tueur) (d. Cédric Anger) ** 3/4 |
| KING AND CLOWN
(d. Lee Jun-ik) *** 1/4 |
| KING
ARTHUR (d. Antoine Fuqua) Stirring mideval action film which takes the legend
and gives reality to it. Great sequence on ice; but the rest is
ordinary. ** 3/4 |
| KING
KONG (d. Peter Jackson) **** |
| KING OF
ANTS (U.S. d. Stuart Gordon) Weird midnight movie type noir
about young guy turned hired killer who wrecks revenge. Gruesome fun.
*** |
| KING
OF FIRE (d. Chatrichalerm Yukol; Thailand) *** |
| KING OF KONG (d.
Seth Gordon) *** |
| KING OF PING PONG
(Ping Pong Kingen) (d. Jens Jonsson) ** 1/2 |
| KING OF THE
HILL (El Rey de la Montaña) (d. Gonzalo López-Gallego) *** 1/4 |
| KING
OF THIEVES (d. Ivan Fila) Energetic, splendid drama-2 Ukranian kids sold by
father to Berlin circus & into life of thievery & prostitution.
***1/4 |
| KING, THE (d.
James Marsh) *** 1/4 |
| KINGDOM
OF HEAVEN (d. Ridley Scott) Bloom is charismatic, if a trifle lightweight in
this spectacular period epic which transports. *** |
| KINGDOM, THE (d. Peter Berg) Berg's docudrama style works; but the film's
script is problematical. ** 3/4 |
| KINGS &
QUEEN (d. Arnaud Desplechin) Well acted drama with farcial overtones &
plot holes: an extended family facing death, taxes & insanity. ***
1/4 |
| KINGS (d.
Tom Collins) Ireland Academy foreign film submission ** 3/4 |
| KING'S GAME
(d. Nicolai Arcel) Beautifully constructed political thriller about high
level Danish politics and a reporter caught in the middle. *** 1/4 |
| KINKY BOOTS (d. Julian Jerrold) Predictable, Full
Montyish film about making boots for drag queens.
Chiwetel Ejiofor fabu! ** 3/4 |
| KINSEY
(d. Bill Condon) Another groundbreaking biopic, this time about the
polarizing sex researcher. Fine script, acting & direction (I love Peter
Sarsgaard here). *** 1/4 |
| KISS
KISS BANG BANG (d. Shane Black) ** |
| KISS THE BRIDE
(d. C. Jay Cox) ** |
| KISSED
BY WINTER (Vinterkyss) (d. Sara Johnsen; Norway) *** |
| KISSES (d.
Lance Daly) *** 1/2 |
| KIT KITTREDGE: AN AMERICAN
GIRL (d. Patricia Rozema) Fine depiction of '30s
Depression, kid's film with adult resonance. ** 3/4 |
| KITCHEN
STORIES (d. Bent Hamer) Minimalist, wry comedy about a '70s Swedish
"scientific" study of single men's activities in the kitchen.
** 3/4 |
| KITE RUNNER, THE (d. Marc Forster) No big name stars; but boy what an
emotional wallop. *** 1/2 |
| KITE,
THE (d. Randa Chahal Sabbag) Lebanese AFF, bettersweet comedy about girl
coming of age on Israel-Lebanon border. ** 3/4 |
| KNOCKED UP
(d. Judd Apatow) *** 1/4 |
| KNOT, THE (d.
Li Yin) China Academy foreign film submission *** |
| KNOWING
(d. Alex Proyas) Good f/x, great sound; but Proyas is no Spielberg.
Distubing plot which only fitfully holds water. ** 1/2 |
| KONTAKT
(d. Sergej Stanojkovski; Macedonia) ** 3/4 |
| KONTROLL
(d. Nimród Antal) Hungarian AFF. Well shot but overly bleak and obscure
allegory of hell in the Budapest subway. ** 1/2 |
| KOPS
(d. Josef Fares) Genuinely funny farce about a small town police force trying
to avoid getting shut down for lack of crime. A big step up from Jalla
Jalla. *** |
| KRABAT (d. Marco
Kreuzpaintner) *** 1/2 |
| KRABAT (d. Marco Kreuzpaintner) + ***
1/2 |
| KREUTZER
SONATA, THE - WHAT IS LOVE? (Quale amore) (d. Maurizio Sciarra) *** 1/2 |
| KUNG
FU HUSTLE (d. Stephen Chow) People enjoy this? Not me. Of course
I rooted for Willie Coyote against Roadrunner. ** |
| KUNG FU PANDA (d. Osborne & Stevenson) Fine opening dream animation; but
rest of film is quite ordinary 3-D with silly story. ** 1/2 |
| KYLE (d. John Bradburn)
1/2* |
|