N - ALL FILMS 2003 - 6/2009

NAKED BOYS SINGING (d. Schrock & Christian) Gimmicky staged musical review. Good songs, not cinematic. **

NAKED IN ASHES (d. Paula Fouce) V. Instructive, if slow docu about several yogis in India. ** 1/2

NAKED PROOF (U.S. d. Jamie Hook) Amateurville romantic comedy about a blocked PhD candidate whose life is in upheaval. * 3/4

NAMESAKE, THE (d. Mira Nair) Terrific immigrant family drama with a surprisingly fine perf by Kal Penn. *** 3/4

NANCY DREW (d. Andrew Fleming) V. Poorly acted, silly, misjudged and failed attempt at a film series for girls. * 1/2

NANKING (d. Guttentag & Sturman) Horrific pictures & well cast readings by actors make effective docu. *** 1/4

NANNY DIARIES, THE (d. Shari Singer Berman, Robert Pulcini) ** 3/4

NAPOLA (d. Dennis Gansel) Story of a teenage boxer given a scholarship to an elite Nazi school. Incredibly involving, one of those films I flip out over. *** 1/4

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (d. Jared Hess) Weirdly episodic, but very funny geek chic teen flick. We laugh at the hick characters; but it works. ** 3/4

NARNIA 2: PRINCE CASPIAN (d. Andrew Adamson) Much better than the 1st; but still pallid & a little boring in the mid section. ** 3/4

NARROWS, THE (d. François A. Velle) ***

NATE DOGG (U.S. d. Thomas Farone) El cheapo digital production about a boy with ADHD who goes bad. **

NATHALIE (d. Anne Fontaine) Very French adult drama about a wife's strategy for a finagling husband. Overlong and left me cold. ** 1/2

NATIONAL TREASURE (d. Jon Turtletaub) Totally implausable pastiche of Indiana Jones & Da Vinci Code. But I loved it anyway, esp. Justin Bartha, quite a find. ** 3/4

NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS (d. Jon Turteltaub) Excessive, ridiculous, a 2 Excedrin mess. * 1/2

NEARING GRACE (d. Rick Rosenthal) Excellent Gregory Smith & David Morse perfs. raise this coming-of-age story. ***

NECESSITIES OF LIFE (Ce quíl faut pour vivre) (d. Benoit Pilon; Canada) *** 1/2

NED KELLY (d. Gregor Jorday) True, though suspiciously sympathetic story of Australian version of Jesse James gang. A downer despite attractive leads. ** 1/2

NEMESIS GAME (d. Jesse Warn) V. Silly, poorly acted thriller about a group obsessed with a game of riddles which turn fatal. Jay Baruchel is creepy, nerdy here. ** 1/2

NEST, THE (d. Florent Emilio Siri)V. Above average, tense French action flick about a warehouse under seige with lots of anonymous bad guys. ** 3/4

NEVER AGAIN AS BEFORE (Mai più come prima) (d. Giacomo Campiotti) *** 1/4

NEVER BACK DOWN (d. Jeff Wadlow) Karate Kid on steroids. Way better than expected, esp. actingwise. ***

NEW MAN, THE (d. Klaus Haro) *** 1/4

NEW TWENTY, THE (d. Chris Mason Johnson) Involving story of 5 college friends nearing 30 encountering NY business & sex life. ***

NEW WORLD, THE (d. Terrence Malick) ** 3/4

NEW YORK SERENADE (d. Frank Whaley) ***

NEWCASTLE (d. Dan Castle) ***

NEXT (d. Lee Tamahori) Deja Vu with none of that films brilliant f/x & an inferior Phil Dick concept. **

NEXT DOOR (d. Pol Sletaune) ***

NICELAND (d. Fridrik Thór Fridriksson) A strange but pleasant fable about a boy (Martin Compston) searching for the purpose of life. ** 3/4

NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST (d. Peter Sollett) "Nice" NYC version of Superbad. Fun and funny, even smart wasted teens story. Cera's a true pomo hero. ***

NICOTINA (d. Hugo Rodriguez) Black comedy noir - misadventures of gang of cyberthieves. Diego Luna fine; Lucas Crespi a future latino star. ***

NICOTINA (d. Hugo Rodriguez)+ Worth a 2nd look, never underestimate the babe factor and Lucas Crespi is for me the ultimate. A real audience film. ***

NIGHT BUS (d. Davide Marengo) ***

NIGHT LISTENER, THE (d. Patrick Stettner) Echos of JT Leroy. Collette great. I felt I lived this story once upon a time. ***

NIGHT WATCH (d. Timur Bekmambetov) Messy Russian pastiche of every big f/x film from The Omen to The Matrix. Vampires rule for 1000 years. **

NIGHTS IN RODANTHE (d. George C. Wolfe) Every romantic cliché. Nicely acted, but unbelieveable, contemptuous script. * 3/4

NIGHTWATCHING (d. Peter Greenaway) ** 1/2

NINA'S TRAGEDIES (d. Savi Gavison) Involving coming of age story of 14 year old boy and his crush on his pretty aunt (and weird family dynamic). ***

NINE DEAD GAY GUYS (d. Ky Mo Lab) Fun, frothy comedy: People keep dying all around 2 Irish hustlers in London. Some yuks pretty silly stuff. ** 1/4

NINE QUEENS (d. Fabián Bielinsky) V. + Fine Argentinian caper film worth a 2nd look via TiVo. I expect a Hollywood remake is in the cards. ***

NINTH DAY, THE (d. Volker Schlöndorff) Dark, slow, philosophical drama about Catholic priest on leave from Dachau & his duel of wits with an SS officer. ** 3/4

NIRVANA (d. Igor Voloshin) ***

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (d. Joel and Ethan Coen) Ultra bloody, almost perfectly achieved thriller. *** 1/2

NO DEBES ESTAR AQUI (d. Jacobo Rispa) Spanish thriller about killings in an internet chat room. Potboiler. *

NO END IN SIGHT (d. Charles Furguson) Impressive docu indicting the Bush administration. *** 1/4

NO NIGHT IS TOO LONG (d. Tom Shankland) V. + Wonderfully written & acted Ruth Rendell story; a Canadian gay TV film to be cherished. *** 1/2

NO NIGHT IS TOO LONG (d. Tom Shankland) V. Canadian TV movie: a gay psychological thriller from Ruth Rendell novel. Extraordinary acting. *** 1/4

NO ONE'S SON (Niciji sin) (d. Arsen Ostojic; Croatia) *** 1/4

NO REGRET (d. Leesong Hee-il) ***

NO SONGS OF LOVE (d. Lars Kraume) Talky, boring pseudo-docu of a guy making a doc about his brother's affair with his girlfriend. * 3/4

NO SUBTITLES NECESSARY: LASZLO & VILMOS (d. James Chressanthis) Revelatory docu about 2 Hungarian cinematographers. Fine visuals, well constructed. *** 1/4

NO. 2 (d. Toa Fraser) ***

NOBEL SON (d. Randall Miller) Absurd plot; but stylish enough to keep me interested...but just falls apart in 3rd act. * 3/4

NOBODY KNOWS (d. Hirokazu Kore-Eda) Japanese AFF about 3 kids deserted by their mother to fend. Overlong, but powerful critique of neglectful society. ** 3/4

NOBODY KNOWS HOW TO TALK TO CHILDREN (d. George Roca) The White Stripes playing a NYC club. Poor sound & picture; but the music is great. ** 1/2

NOBODY'S BABY (d. David Seltzer) V. Silly, but watchable dumb & dumber comedy melodrama with two fine leads in Gary Oldman and Skeet Urich. ** 1/2

NOI THE ALBINO (d. Kagar Kari) Bleak, but affecting, Icelandic AFF. Coming-of-age story about an underachiever small town boy. ***

NOISE (d. Matthew Saville) ***

NOITE ESCURA (d. João Canijo; Portugal) *

NOMAD (d. Sergei Bodrov; Kazakhstan) *** 1/2

NORDESTE (d. Juan Solanas) ** 3/4

NORMAL (d. Carl Bessai) ***

NORTH (d. Rune Denstad Langlo) ** 1/2

NORTH COUNTRY (d. Niki Caro) ***

NORTH FACE (d. Philipp Stölzl) *** 3/4

NORTH KOREA-DAY IN THE LIFE (d. Pieter Fleury) Docu with no narration, just showing the activities of typical N. Korean workers in one day. ** 3/4

NORTHANGER ABBEY (d. Jon Jones) V. Most minor of Austin stories despite Andrew Davies script...but JJ Field was great. ** 1/2

NORTHFORK (U.S. d. Michael Polish) Another boring allegory by the Polish brothers. *

NOT HERE TO BE LOVED (Je ne suis pas lã pour être aimé) (d. Stéphane Brizé) Slow, lugubrious; 50ish man redeemed by too much tango. ** 1/2

NOTEBOOK, THE (d. Nick Cassavetes) + Emotionally cathartic melodrama, even better the 2nd time around. Rachel McAdams a major find. *** 1/2

NOTEBOOK, THE (d. Nick Cassevetes) 3-hankey weeper, beautifully acted & directed old fashioned romantic drama. ***

NOTES ON A SCANDAL (Richard Eyre) Creepy, strange, literate writing, fabulous acting by both women. *** 1/4

NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH (d. Rod Lurie) Clever, satisfying adaptation of Valerie Plame affair. Superb acting ensemble. *** 1/4

NOTHING IS PRIVATE (d. Alan Ball) ***

NOTHING (d. Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti) Cuba AFF+. Wacky comedy set in Cuban post office. Tries too hard * 1/2

NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE, THE (d. Mary Harron) ** 3/4

NOTRE MUSIQUE (d. Jean-Luc Godard) Overly intellectualized snoozer about Bosnia...but nicer to look at and better than most recent Godard oeuvre. ** 1/4

NOUVELLE CHANCE (d. Ann Fontaine) ***

NOVEMBER (d. Greg Harrison) Pretentious and mysterious recreation of a convenience store robbery. James LeGros & Courtney Cox are just ok. **

NOVIEMBRE (d. Achero Mañas) Mockumentary about a revolutionary street theater troup in late '90s Madrid. Gorgeous wide screen & fine job all around. *** 1/2

NOWHERE IN AFRICA (d. Caroline Link) German AFF Epic of refugees in Africa during WWII. *** 1/2

NU. (d. Jan-Willem van Ewijk) ** 3/4

NUE PROPRIÉTÉ (d. Joachim Lafosse) *** 1/2

NUIT DE CHIEN (Tonight) (d. Werner Schroeter) *

NUITS D'ARABIE (d. Paul Kieffer; Luxembourg) *** 1/4

NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY (d. Charles Officer) ***