| M - ALL FILMS 2003-6/2009 |
| M FOR MOTHER (d. Rasool Mollagholi Poor; Iran) * 3/4 |
| MA VRAIE VIE À ROUEN (d. Ducastel and Martineau) Coming of age video diary by a proto-gay ice skater, wonderfully observent, my cuppa! *** 1/2 |
| MACHINIST, THE (d. Brad Anderson) This director makes creepy films, and this is one of the most. Christian Bale is phenomenal, but viscerally hard to watch. *** |
| MACHUCA (d. Andrés Wood) Chilean AFF: an 11 year old privileged boy's pov of society at the end of Allende's regime. Politically slanted left, but powerful stuff. *** |
| MAD DETECTIVE (Shentan) (d. Johnnie To & Wai Ka-Fai) *** |
| MAD HOT BALLROOM (d. Marilyn Agrelo) The kids and their dreams raise this docu out of the ordinary. Wilson is a star. *** 1/2 |
| MADAME SATA (Brazil/France d. Karim Ainouz) Period biopic of famous drag queen in Rio in the '30s. Steamy sex, well made film. *** 1/4 |
| MADE IN AMERICA (d. Stacy Peralta) Flashy docu of history of gangs in L.A., affecting, frightening & ultimately uplifting. *** 1/4 |
| MADE OF HONOR (d. Paul Weiland) V. Horribly clichéed and predictable if slick romantic comedy. Even McDreamy couldn't save this one. * 3/4 |
| MADE OF HONOR (d. Paul Weiland) V. Horribly clichéed and predictable if slick romantic comedy. Even McDreamy couldn't save this one. * 3/4 |
| MADE UP (d.Tony Shalhoub) Clever, well made mockumentary about making a documentary about women aging. *** 1/4 |
| MADEINUSA (d. Claudia Llosa) ** 3/4 |
| MADELEINE (d. Park Kwang-Chung) Korean story of kooky, modern young romance. Simple story, fun and touching. *** |
| MADISON (d. William Bindley) Slick, banal, feel-good period (early 70s) film about speed boats in Madison, IN. Nothing original. * 3/4 |
| MAGDALENE SISTERS (UK d. Peter Mullan) Disturbing drama about the abuses of the Catholic "fallen women" nunneries in Ireland. Fine acting. *** 1/4 |
| MAGIC BOX, THE (d. Ridha Behi) Tunisia AFF. Drama about film director writing a script about his childhood. *** 1/4 |
| MAGIC FLUTE, THE (d. Kenneth Branagh) ** 3/4 |
| MAGIC OF ORDINARY DAYS, THE (d. Brent Shields) V. Hallmark romantic feel-good tv pic with an excellent Skeet Ulrich & Keri Russell looking '40's pretty. ** 1/2 |
| MAGNUS (d. Kadri Köusaar) ** 3/4 |
| MAID, THE (d. Sebastian Silva) *** |
| MAISON DE NIÑA, LA (d. Richard Dembo) *** 1/2 |
| MALAS TEMPORADAS (Hard Times) (d. Manuel Martín Cuenca) ** 3/4 |
| MALFUNKSHUN: THE ANDREW WOOD STORY (d. Scot Barbour) Interesting docu about Seattle grunge rocker Wood, who died at 24. ** 3/4 |
| MAMAY (d. Oles Sanin) Gorgeous to look at; but fatally pretentious and opaque Cossack legend, or something like that. * 1/4 |
| MAMBO ITALIANO (d. Émile Gaudreault) Gay family comedy, nice performance by Luke Kerby which almost makes up for clichéd ethnic coming out plot. ** 1/2 |
| MAMBO ITALIANO (d. Émile Gaudreault) V.+ Enjoyable gay family dramedy with a nice, sympathetic perf by Luke Kerby. ** 3/4 |
| MAMMA MIA! (d. Phyllida Lloyd) Silly plot, ABBA music which doesn't add to story...the cast gives all; but the direction is so lame. ** |
| MAN ABOUT DOG (d. Paddy Breathnach) Irish film greatly in need of subtitles. An occasionally funny comedy about dog racing betters. ** |
| MAN EXPOSED, THE (d. Aku Louhimies) ** 3/4 |
| MAN FROM LONDON, THE (d. Bela Tarr) *** |
| MAN IN THE CHAIR (d. Michael Schroeder) *** |
| MAN OF MY LIFE, THE (d. Zabou Breitman)+ *** 3/4 |
| MAN OF THE HOUSE (d. Stephen Kerek) Utterly stupid and exploitive film about a cop tending cheerleader witnesses. 1/2* |
| MAN OF THE YEAR (d. José Henrique Fonseca) Fine Brazilian film about a guy who bleaches his hair and turns into a cold killer anti-hero. *** 1/4 |
| MAN ON FIRE (d. Tony Scott) Another rage/revenge story, stylishly made with another great Denzel performance, though ending a cop out. ** 3/4 |
| MAN ON WIRE (d. James Marsh) *** 3/4 |
| MAN WHO LOVES, THE (L'uomo che ama) (d. Marie Sole Tognazzi) *** |
| MAN WITHOUT A FACE, THE (d. Mel Gibson) V. Well intended film about a troubled boy & the troubled tutor who helps him. Nick Stahl was wonderful at 13. *** |
| MAN WITHOUT A PAST, THE (d. Aki Kaurismäki) Finland AFF. Amnesiac man builds a new life. ** 3/4 |
| MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, THE (d. Jonathan Demme) OK thriller, except for the incoherent narrative lapses and utter inferiority to the original. ** |
| MANCORA (d. Recardo de Montreuil) ** 3/4 |
| MANDERLAY (d. Lars Von Trier) *** |
| MANOS VACIAS, LAS (d. Marc Recha) Silly "lost dead body" farce (in French) with a plot I found impossible to follow. * 1/4 |
| MAN'S BEST FRIEND (d. Rob Lundsgaard) Fun, screwball romantic comedy about straight guy who is supposedly gay. . *** |
| MAN'S JOB, A (d. Aleksi Salmenperä) Finland's foreign film submission *** |
| MANSFIELD PARK (d. Iain MacDonald) V. Short & sweet. But Blake Ritson made a remarkably good Edmond. *** |
| MANSFIELD PARK (d. Patricia Rozema)V. Not Austen's best story; but a fine "film of quality". Jonny Lee Miller especially noteworth. *** 1/4 |
| MANSION BY THE SEA (d. Lester James Peries) Sloooooow, well shot but overdrawn Sri Lankan AFF about the economic upheavals in that country. * 1/2 |
| MANSLAUGHTER (Drabet) (d. Per Fly) Another Danish mid-life crisis film...teacher falls for eco-terrorist former student. Stark, fine drama. *** 1/4 |
| MANUELA AND MANUEL (d. Paul Marchand Sanchez) *** |
| MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES (d. Jennifer Baichwal) *** |
| MARCELLO MARCELLO (d. Denis Rabaglia) *** 3/4 |
| MARCELLO MARCELLO + *** 1/2 |
| MARCH OF THE PENGUINS (d. Luc Jacquet) Involving nature docu done beautifully in extraordinarily difficult shooting conditions. *** 1/4 |
| MARGOT AT THE WEDDING (d. Noah Baumbach) Dysfunctional sisters squared. Fabu acting, ugly story. *** |
| MARIA FULL OF GRACE (d. Joshua Marston) Straightforward audience pleaser about a Columbian girl who becoms a drug mule. *** |
| MARIE ANTOINETTE (d. Sofia Coppola) Sort of boring, sort of frivolous, sort of anachronistic. But fun. ** 3/4 |
| MARION BRIDGE (d. Wiebke Von Carolsfeld) 3 sisters play out their neuroses as mother lay dying in bleak Nova Scotia. Molly Parker was fine. *** |
| MARIO'S WAR ( La Guerra Di Mario) (d. Antonio Capuano) ** 3/4 |
| MARKET - A TALE OF TRADE, THE (d. Ben Hopkins) ** 1/4 |
| MAROA (d. Solveig Hoogesteijn; Venezula) *** 1/4 |
| MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN, THE (d. W.R. Fassbinder) V. Schygulla's riviting perf lifts this post-WWII German reconstruction epic to greatness. *** 1/2 |
| MARRIED LIFE (d. Ira Sachs) Elegant adult dramedy which copped out and wasted some fine actors. ** 1/4 |
| MARS (d. Anna Melikian) A totally incomprehensible allegorical comedy about today's Russia. Sort of poor man's Kusterica. * 1/4 |
| MARTIAN CHILD (d. Menno Meyjes) How this script aborted my friend David Gerrold's true story! ** 1/2 |
| MARUJAS ASESINAS (d. Javier Rebollo) V. 2001 black comedy...murderous, crazy wife, and her loser friends. ** 1/2 |
| MASCULIN FEMININE (d. Jean-Luc Godard) I wanted to like this '60s Godard b&w film; but it's pretty boring. ** 1/2 |
| MASQUERADES (d. Lyes Salem; Algeria) *** 1/4 |
| MASSEUR, THE (Masahista) (d. Brillante Mendoza) Another naive Philipine gay film with bad acting & predictable story. * 3/4 |
| MASTER & COMMANDER (d. Peter Weir) Rip-roaring seafaring epic, no disappointments here. Crowe does it again. A 2nd viewing seems called for. *** 1/4 |
| MATADOR, THE (d. Richard Sheperd) ** |
| MATAHARIS (d. Isiar Bollain) *** |
| MATCH POINT (d. Woody Allen) *** 1/2 |
| MATCHSTICK MEN (d. Ridley Scott) Morally ambiguous multi-level con scam film - good performances and solid direction, but a hole-filled script. ** 1/2 |
| MATRIX RELOADED, THE (d. Bros. Wachowski) About what I expected: fun; but the novelty of invention has worn thin. Dynamite effects, too wordy. ** 3/4 |
| MATRIX: REVOLUTIONS, THE (d. Washovski Brothers) Another visual & sonic tour de force. Much better than the 2nd film, though slow parts boring. *** |
| MATTI (d. Aleksi Mäkelä) ** 1/4 |
| MAX HAVELAAR (d. Fons Rademakers) *** |
| MAX RULES (d. Robert Burke) Silly kids movie, sort of a cheezy Spy Kids without the special effects budget. The audience ate it up, though. * 1/4 |
| MAXED OUT (d. James D. Scurlock) ** 1/2 |
| McLIBEL (d. Franny Armstrong) Docu about famous British libel case won in a truly Pyrrhic victory by McDonalds. Engaging, but familiar stuff. *** |
| ME AND ORSON WELLES (d. Richard Linklater) *** 1/4 |
| ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW (d. Miranda July) Uniquely voiced comedy about a broken family & connecting. *** |
| ME TWO (La personne aux deux personnes) (d. Bruno Lavaine, Nicolas Charlet) ** |
| MEAN CREEK (d. Jacob Estes) Involving indie, sort of Rivers Edge mixed with Deliverance. Scott Mechlowicz is a find! *** |
| MEAN GIRLS (d. Mark Waters) Well written, trenchant high school satire reminiscent of Heathers. Silly fun, but smart. *** |
| MEDIATOR (d. Dito Tsintsadze; Georgia) *** |
| MEETING RESISTANCE (d. Connors & Bingham) Excellent, scary docu about Iraqi resistance fighters. *** 1/2 |
| MELINDA AND MELINDA (d. Woody Allen) Will Farrell is a strange Allen avatar; but this overly clever, hit-&-miss dual-plot film worked for me. ** 3/4 |
| MELODRAMA HABIBI (d. Hany Tamba) ** |
| MELODY'S SMILE (La chambre des morts) (d. Alfred Lot) *** |
| MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (d. Rob Marshall) ** 3/4 |
| MEMORIES OF MURDER (d. Bong Joon-ho) Diverting, comic Korean policier about a serial killer and the Keystone Kops who hunt him. ** 1/2 |
| MEMORIES OF TOMORROW (Ashita No Kioku) (d. Yukihiko Tsutsumi) *** |
| MEMORY THIEF, THE (d. Gil Kofman) *** 3/4 |
| MEN AND WOMEN (d. Claude Lelouch) Somewhat foced amalgam of 2 complex relationship films, nicely done until it turns too meta midway. ** 1/4 |
| MEN IN THE NUDE (d. Károly Esztergályos) *** |
| MERCHANT OF VENICE, THE (d. Michael Radford) "The quality of this film is strained; it droppeth like a gentle thud from pretention." ** 1/2 |
| MERCI DOCTEUR REY (d. Andrew Litvack) Farce, a fine international cast but plot holes and a silly resolution kept it from living up to promise. ** 3/4 |
| MERMAID, THE (d. Anna Melikyan; Russia) *** |
| MERRY GENTLEMEN, THE (d. Michael Keaton) ** 3/4 |
| MESRINE: PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE (Part 1) (d. Jean-François Richet) *** 1/2 |
| MESRINE: PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE (Part 2) (d. Jean-François Richet) *** 1/4 |
| MESSIAH 1: THE FIRST KILLINGS (d. Diarmuid Lawrence)V. *** 1/4 |
| MESSIAH 2: VENGENCE IS MINE (d. David Richards)V. *** 1/4 |
| MESSIAH 3: THE PROMISE (d. David Drury)V. ** 3/4 |
| METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER (d. Berlinger & Sinofsky) A fascinating documentary that really examines the angsts of aging rock idols. *** 3/4 |
| MIAMI VICE (d. Michael Mann) More plot holes than Swiss cheese; but usual Mann atmosphere makes a good film. ** 3/4 |
| MIAO MIAO (d. Hsiao-Tse Cheng) *** |
| MICHOU D'AUBER (d. Thomas Gilou) *** 1/4 |
| MID-AUGUST LUNCH (d. Gianni di Gregorio) *** |
| MIDDLE OF THE WORLD, THE (d. Vicente Amorim) V. A family bicycles through Brazil in this beautifully shot road film. ** 3/4 |
| MIDWINTER'S NIGHT DREAM, A (d. Goran Paskaljevic) Depressing, if beautifully acted, drama about a luckless Serbian man. ** 3/4 |
| MIGHTY HEART, A (d. Michael Winterbottom) Great docu like feeling; but film failed to affect me emotionally. ** 3/4 |
| MIGHTY WIND, A (d. Christopher Guest) Folksinging mocumentary. Not as funny as Guest's previous...sort of forced. But enjoyable. ** 1/2 |
| MILA FROM MARS (d. Zornitsa Sophia) An involving love story, a Christ allegory, a post-modern road trip all rolled into one. ** 3/4 |
| MILANO PALERMO - IL RITORNO (d. Claudio Fragasso) *** 1/4 |
| MILK (d. Gus Van Sant) *** 3/4 |
| MILK (d. Gus Van Sant) + A 2nd viewing discloses subtleties unseen before. Superb script, direction & acting make this the year's most important film. **** |
| MILLION DOLLAR BABY (d. Clint Eastwood) Beautifully realized drama about a female boxer who is all heart. Stunning cinematography & great acting. *** 1/2 |
| MILLIONS (d. Danny Boyle) Gentle fable about a kid finding stolen money. Technically adept & well made; but I'm too cynical for the message. ** 1/2 |
| MILWAUKEE, MINNESOTA (U.S. d. Allan Mandel) Quirky character study of greedy people trying to fleece a somewhat retarded young man. *** 1/4 |
| MINIMAL STORIES (Argentina d. Carlos Sorin) Road pic about 36 hours of nice ordinary people living ordinary lives, only without irony. *** |
| MINOR MISHAPS (d. Annette Olesen) An eccentric family comedy which put me to sleep. I couldn't follow it when I awoke so I walked. W/O |
| MINUS MAN, THE (d. Hampton Fancher) V. Ted Bundy type serial killer (good job Owen Wilson!), great Brian Cox role, stylish well made thriller. *** |
| MINUTE OF SILENCE, A (Une Minute de silence) (d. Florent Emilio Siri) ** 1/2 |
| MIRACLE (d. Gavin O'Connor) V. Feel good replay of '80 Olympic hockey team. ** 3/4 |
| MIRACLE ACCORDING TO SALOMÉ, THE (d. Mário Barroso) Lush, beautifully shot tragedy about the affairs of a virtuous prostitute. ** 3/4 |
| MIRACLE OF BERNE, THE (d. Sonke Wortmann) Crowd pleaser about Germany's world cup victory in 1954. Made soccer interesting even to me. ** 3/4 |
| MIRACLE OF MORGAN CREEK (d. Preston Sturges) V. Nicely structured comedy, if too silly for my taste; but almost Capraesque in its earnestness. ** 3/4 |
| MIRANDA (Great Britain d. Mark Munden) Cross between a caper film and a romantic comedy. Enjoyable, but minor. ** 3/4 |
| MIRUSH (d. Marius Holst) *** |
| MISS AUSTEN REGRETS (d. Jeremy Lovering)V. Fair if fictionalized biopic in the style of an Austen novel. ** 1/2 |
| MISS CONGENIALITY 2 (d. John Pasquin) Slick caper comedy & female buddy pic with a ridiculous plot. Nice use of Enrique Murciano. * 3/4 |
| MISS ENTEBBE (Israel d. Omri Levy) Afterschool Specialish film about Israeli kids running wild during the Entebbe air hijacking. *** |
| MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY (d. Bharat Nalluri) Academy audience loved it; but sort of insipid. ** 3/4 |
| MISS POTTER (d. Chris Noonan) Sort of charming, esp. Emily Watson; but a little too sugary for my taste. ** 3/4 |
| MISSING IN AMERICA (d. Gabrielle Savage Dockterman) Affecting story of lost Viet vet (Danny Glover) and the child that comes into his life. ** 1/2 |
| MISSING PERSON, THE (d. Noah Buschel) ** |
| MISSING STAR, THE (d. Gianni Amelio) *** |
| MISSING, THE (d. Ron Howard) One of the better westerns of the last few decades, marred only by excessive spiritualty and predictability. *** 1/4 |
| MISSION, LA (d. Peter Bratt) *** 1/4 |
| MISTERIO GALÍNDEZ, EL (d. Gerardo Herrero) Competent, if turgid, political thriller based on true disappearance of Basque nationalist in the Dominican Republic. ** 1/4 |
| MIX (d. Steven Lovy) A sex and music comedy about an American boy who returns to his roots in Hungary and has quite an adventure. Great music! *** 1/4 |
| MOI CÉSAR (d. Richard Berry) A kid flick about a 10 year old chubby boy's adventures. Nothing great; but a lark. ** 1/4 |
| MOLIÈRE (d. Laurant Tirard) *** 1/4 |
| MOLLY'S WAY (d. Emily Atef) *** |
| MOMMA'S MAN (d. Azazel Jacobs) ** 1/2 |
| MOMMY IS AT THE HAIRDRESSER'S (d. Léa Pool) *** 1/2 |
| MON ANGE (d. Serge Frydman) V. Farfetched prostitute bonds with teenage boy story. Again, Vincent Rottiers steals a film. ** 1/4 |
| MON COLONEL (d. Laurent Herbiet) *** 1/4 |
| MONA LISA'S SMILE (d. Mike Newell) The Dead Poetesses Society with Julia R in the Williams role. 50's sexual politics too obvious. Pleasant. ** 1/2 |
| MONDAYS IN THE SUN (d. Fernando Leon de Aranoa) Spain AFF. Drab bar-room drama about out-of-work laborors. *** 1/4 |
| MONDOVINO (d. Jonathan Nossiter)V. ** 1/2 |
| MONGOL (d. Sergei Bodrov) ** 3/4 |
| MONGOLIAN PING PONG (d. Ning Hao) Like Weeping Camel, a charming tale of culture clash on the Mongolian grasslands featuring 3 young kids. *** |
| MONKEY WARFARE (d. Reg Harkema) * 3/4 |
| MONKEYS IN WINTER (d. Milena Andonova; Bulgaria) ** |
| MONSIEUR BATIGNOLE (d. Gérard Jugnot) Another Jews vs. Nazis (French colabos) & oldster-learns-life-lesson-from-young-kid film. ** 1/2 |
| MONSIEUR IBRAHIM (d. François Dupeyron) Subtle coming of age film about 16 year old Jewish boy and his elderly Sufi mentor. Pierre Boulanger! *** 1/4 |
| MONSIEUR N (d. Antoine de Caunes) Intimate, well made, wide screen epic about Napoleon's last days on St. Helena. *** |
| MONSTER (d. Patty Jenkins) Excruciating (for me) to watch "true" story of a female serial killer. Theron was remarkable, but I wanted to walk out. ** |
| MONSTER HOUSE (d. Gil Kenan) Almost perfectly made 3-D animated film with levels of meaning. *** 1/2 |
| MONSTER-IN-LAW (d. Robert Lutetik) V. Totally predictable, forgettable comedy. Unwatchable. W/O |
| MOON (d. Duncan Jones) ** 3/4 |
| MOROCCAN SYMPHONY, THE (d. Kamal Kamal; Morocco) * 3/4 |
| MOSCOW, BELGIUM (d. Christophe van Rompaey) *** |
| MOSTLY UNFABULOUS LIFE OF ETHAN GREEN, THE (d. George Bamber) Bad, bad gay film which I sort of enjoyed. * 1/2 |
| MOTEL, THE (d. Michael Kang) Chinese-American chubby 13 yr. old motel owner's kid. Truthful, but sort of boring. ** 3/4 |
| MOTHER OF MINE (d. Klaus Härö; Finland) *** 1/2 |
| MOTHER, THE (d. Roger Michell) A simply extraordinary, wonderfully done drama about an older woman's adjustment when her husband dies. *** 3/4 |
| MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS (d. Carl Bessai) *** 1/4 |
| MOTORCYCLE DIARIES (d. Walter Salles) Moving, beautiful, insightful road pic about young Che Guivara with a career perf. by Gael Bernal. Oscar calibre. *** 3/4 |
| MOUSTACHE, LA (d. Emmanuel Carrère) Unsettling, atmosphericx film with unreliable narrative, who's insane? *** |
| MR. & MRS. SMITH (d. Doug Liman) Brad Pitt has never been better. Flawed script with some missing pieces; but a super entertainment. *** |
| MR. BROOKS (d. Bruce A. Evans) Wonderful script, this audacious serial killer as anti-hero film just works. *** 1/2 |
| MR. DEEDS (d. Steven Brill) V. Adam Sandler vehicle which mostly misses due to lame, unfunny script. But I like him, what can I say? * 1/2 |
| MR. LONELY (d. Harmony Khorine) Inscrutible, occasionally visually interesting, mostly boring...good actors wasted. * 3/4 |
| MR. MAGORIUM'S WONDER EMPORIUM (d. Zach Helm) Nice special f/x, but nothing else special here. ** 1/2 |
| MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS (d. Stephen Frears) ** 1/2 |
| MRS. PALFREY AT THE CLAIRMONT (d. Dan Ireland) I'd give Joan Plowright the Oscar for this. Plus Rupert Friend is a true find. *** 1/2 |
| MUDGE BOY, THE (U.S. d. Michael Burke 94 min.) Drama about a sexually confused teen-age farm boy. *** |
| MUGGER, THE (d. Pablo Fendrik) ** |
| MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR (d. Rob Cohen) Excessive use of every action cliché in the book. Corny, stupid, but good f/x. * |
| MUNA MADAN (d. Gyanendra Bahadur Deuja) Honestly, one of the worst films I've ever seen, every aspect an embarrassment. WO |
| MUNICH (d. Steven Spielberg) *** 1/4 |
| MURDERBALL (d. Rubin & Shapiro) Effective, emotionally satisfying & extremely well shot docu about paraplegic wheelchair rugby at high level. *** 1/4 |
| MUSA THE WARRIOR (d. Kim Sung-su) Well constructed epic of 14th Century Mongol-Chinese wars and a Korean delegation caught in the middle. *** |
| MUSHISHI (d. Katsuhiro Otomo) ** 1/2 |
| MUSIC AND LYRICS (d. Marc Lawrence) Great fake '80s music videos. Uninvolving romantic comedy. Grant's shtick is getting tired. ** 3/4 |
| MUSIC MAN, THE (d. Jeff Bleckner) (V) Disneyfied tv version. Love Matthew Broderick; but he didn't make it as Harold Hill. * 3/4 |
| MUST LOVE DOGS (d. Gary David Goldberg) Cookie-cutter romantic comedy. Good perfs don't make up for clichéd script & lack of chemistry. ** |
| MUTUAL APPRECIATION (d. Andrew Bujalski) V. Involving slice of Gen-Y life per a 3-way friends relationship. B&W, talky, ugly: Woody Allen + Cassavetes. *** |
| MY ARCHITECT (d. Nathaniel Kahn) Touching documentary of an illigitimate son searching for the soul of his famed, but flawed, architect father. *** 1/2 |
| MY BEST FRIEND (d. Patrice Laconte) *** 1/2 |
| MY BOY JACK (d. Brian Kirk) V. Beautifully written (by the actor who plays Rudyard!) teleplay. *** |
| MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD (Mio fratello è figlio unico) (d. Daniele Luchetti) *** 1/2 |
| MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY (d. Laura Poitras) V. Docu about a Sunni Iraqi family leading up to election. Gripping, informative. *** 1/2 |
| MY DAD IS INTO TERRORISM (La fille du juge) (d. William Karel) Well made docu; reminiscences by 24 yr.old daughter of suicide judge. *** |
| MY DEAR ENEMY (d. Yoon-Ki Lee) ** 3/4 |
| MY EFFORTLESS BRILLIANCE (d. Lynn Shelton) ** 1/2 |
| MY FLESH AND BLOOD (d. Jonathan Karsh) V. Heartbreaking, emotionally devastating doc - a woman raising a family of disabled adopted children. *** 3/4 |
| MY FRIEND AND HIS WIFE (Naeui Chingu, geneui anae) (d. Shin Dong-il) *** |
| MY HOUSE IN UMBRIA (d. Richard Loncraine) V. Terrorism survivors recovering in sprightly Maggie Smith's home amid gorgeous Italian scenery. ** 1/2 |
| MY LIFE WITHOUT ME (d. Isabel Coixet) Wonderful, emotionally shattering film, some great acting, esp. Sarah Polley & Mark Ruffalo. *** 3/4 |
| MY MAGIC (d. Eric Khoo; Singapore) ** 1/2 |
| MY NIKIFOR (d. Krzystof Krauze) ** 3/4 |
| MY RUSSIA (d. Barbara Gräftner) Family drama about Austrian guy marrying a Ukranian girl & the interactions of the two families. Way too long. * 3/4 |
| MY SISTER'S KEEPER (d. Nick Cassavetes) Emotionally over-the-top, but satisfying weeper. Watch "Medium" kid Sofia Vassilieva & Tom Dekker spark. *** |
| MY STEP BROTHER FRANKENSTEIN (d. Valery Todorovsky) Quirky, entertaining film about a psychologically damaged returning soldier & his family. *** |
| MY SUICIDE (d. David Lee Miller) *** 3/4 |
| MY SUMMER OF LOVE (d. Pawel Pawlikowski) More civil version of Heavenly Creatures, only in the English moors. Nicely acted. ** 3/4 |
| MY TINY UNIVERSE (d. Scantlebury & Phillips) American indie, a wryly clever farce, nicely written and acted, especially by newcomer lead Andy Comeau. *** |
| MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH (d. Rawson Marshall Thurber) ** 3/4 |
| MYSTERIOUS SKIN (d. Greg Araki)V. + *** 1/2 |
| MYSTERIOUS SKIN (d. Gregg Araki) Mindblowingly accurate and well made drama about sexual abuse & its affects on two boys. *** 3/4 |
| MYSTIC RIVER (d. Clint Eastwood) I'd read the strong book and knew all the surprises, seemed clunky and overwrought. Still, good Hollywood fare. ** 3/4 |