P - ALL FILMS 2003 - 6/2006

p.s. (d. Dylan Kidd) Kidd makes movies smack dab in my wheelhouse. I loved the film (and Grace and Linney) more than its problematic script deserved. ***

PAINTED VEIL, THE (d. John Curran) Old fashioned story telling, but beautiful and nicely done. ***

PALAIS ROYAL! (d. Valérie Lemercier) * 3/4

PALENDROMES (d. Todd Solondz) Ebony black comedy with Solondz's patented mordant sardonic wit. Uneven, but always interesting. ** 3/4

PALM BEACH STORY (d. Preston Sturges) V. Amiable, wordy, classy screwball comedy with finally made me see why Sturges has such a rep for wit. ***

PAN'S LABYRINTH (d. Guillermo del Toro) *** 1/2

PAPA (d. Maurice Barthélémy) Touching, nicely made, well observed French road pic, sort of young boy Ponette travels with his father. ***

PAPER DOVE (d. Fabrizio Aguilar) Campañeros in the Andes: gorgeously photographed drama about a small town & boy 11 under seige by terrorists. ***

PAPER HEART (d. Nicholas Jasenovec) *** 1/4

PAPER WILL BE BLUE, THE (Hirtia va fi Albastra) (d. Radu Muntean) ***

PAPRIKA (d. Satoshi Kon) **

PA-RA-DA (d. Marco Pontecorvo) *** 1/4

PARADISE NOW (d. Hany Abu-Assad; Palestine) *** 1/2

PARANOID PARK (d. Gus Van Sant) Spare, non-acted skate board epic. Gabe Nevins a natural. *** 1/2

PARANOIDS, THE (Los Paranoicos) (d. Gabriel Medina) ** 3/4

PARC (d. Arnaud des Pallières) * 1/2

PARENTS (d. Ragnar Bragason) *** 1/4

PARIS, JE T'AIME (d. various) *** 1/4

PARTICLES OF TRUTH (d. Jennifer Elster) V. Insufferably pretentious film with amateurish direction, though the actors are interesting. W/O

PARTING SHOT, A (d. Pas douce) (d. Jeanne Waltz) *** 1/4

PARTS LEFT OVER, THE (d. Roy Wageman) ** 3/4

PARTY MONSTER (d. Bailey & Barbato) Witty, trueish story of '80s legendary partyboy & murderer. Seth Green superb, Macaulay Culken less so. ** 3/4

PASSCHENDAELE (d. Paul Gross) ** 1/2

PASSION OF THE CHRIST, THE (d. Mel Gibson) Effective filmmaking, if long on sadism. But too many repetitive images, and left me cold. ** 1/2

PAST IS A FOREIGN LAND, THE (Il passato e'una terra straniera) (d. Daniele Vicari) *** 1/2

PAST, THE (El Pasado) (d. Héctor Babenco) *** 1/2

PATER FAMILIAS (d. Francisco Patierno) Complex multi-threaded drama about a group of doomed Neapolitan ragazzi. ***

PATERNAL INSTINCT (d. Murray Nossei) Wonderful, emotionally satisfying doc. about a gay couple who employ a surrogate mother to have children. *** 1/2

PATRIK, AGE 1.5 (d. Ella Lemhagen) *** 1/2

PATRIK, AGE 1.5 (d. Ella Lemhagen) + Second time around even better...this time I could appreciate more the outstanding filmmaking. *** 1/2

PAYCHECK (d. John Woo) Phil Dick story, full of paranoia & plot holes; but Woo does great action flicks, even if the slo-mo dove is forced here. ** 1/4

PEACEFUL WARRIOR (d. Victor Salva) Setting aside the New Agey hokum, thrilling film. Mechlowicz amazes. ***

PEAS AT 5:30 (d. Lars Buechel) Richly rewarding, intensely moving romantic road pic about a newly blind stage director & the blind woman that fate brings him. *** 3/4

PEDRO (d. Nick Oceano) *** 1/2

PEDRO (d. Nick Oceano) V.+ MTV is a natural place to show this superior biopic. Dustin Lance Black should now add an Emmy to his Oscar for Milk. *** 1/2

PELICAN BRIEF, THE (d. Alan Pakula) V. Finally saw this; holds up well, tho Grisham stories are predictable. ** 3/4

PENELOPE (d. Mark Palansky) Modern fairy tale with great production design, but what's with the accents? ** 3/4

PERFECT DAY, A (d. Peter Levin) V. Sappy TV movie wannabe Wonderful Life. * 3/4

PERFECT DAY, A (Un Giorno perfetto) (d. Ferzan Ozpetek) *** 1/4

PERFECT MATCH (d. Anne-Marie Étienne) ***

PERFECT SCORE, THE (d. Brian Robbins) Unoriginal, but enjoyable Hughesish teener flick. Chris Evans shines and Leonardo Nam is very funny as an Asian stoner. ** 3/4

PERFECT SCORE, THE (d. Brian Robbins)V. ** 3/4

PERFECT SPORT (d. Anthony O'Brien) ***

PERFECT STRANGERS (d. Gaylene Preston) Romantic thriller about a woman kidnapped to a desert island. Unlikely, but well made. ** 1/2

PERFECTIONIST, THE (La perfezionista) (d. Cesare Lanza) 1/2*

PERFUME - THE STORY OF A MURDERER (d. Tom Tykwer) Amazing gorgeous production, creepy, original concept. *** 1/2

PERHAPS LOVE (d. Peter Ho-Sun Chan; Hong Kong) ** 3/4

PERSEPOLIS (d. Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi; France) *** 1/4

PERSUASION (d. Adrian Shergold) V. Austin is well served by this tv prod. cast, esp. Sally Hawkins. ***

PERSUIT OF HAPPYNESS, THE (d. Gabriele Muccino) Too much miserablism for too long; but Smith & son are quite good. ***

PETER PAN (d. P.J. Hogan) Wasn't enchanted by this honorable, boring attempt at authentic Pan. Sorry, every aspect seemed forced & artificial. * 3/4

PETIT LIEUTENANT, LE (d. Xavier Beauvoir) Spare, Bressonian French policier...sublimely realistic, Nathalie Baye great. *** 1/2

PETITE LILI, LA (d. Claude Miller) Amiable trifle about a group of film people cavorting in a French chateau whose story is then made as a film within a film. ** 3/4

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (d. Joel Schumacher) Maybe I'm just not into Lloyd Weber; a visual treat, great sets, costumes etc...but I was bored. ** 1/2

PHARMICIST, THE (d. Jean Veber) Entertaining claptrap, thriller/buddy comedy/policier. Guillaume Depardieu and Vincent Perez have true chemistry. ** 3/4

PHILANTHROPY (d. Nae Caranfil) Romania AFF. Black comedy about begging as theater in modern Romania. ** 3/4

PHOEBE IN WONDERLAND (d. Daniel Barnz) Simplistic psycho stuff well presented. Fine acting; but just not all that original. ** 3/4

PHONE BOOTH (d. Joel Schumacher) Taut, tense thriller about a psycho sniper in NY. Colin Farrell is great here...remember at awards time. *** 1/4

PIECES OF APRIL (d. Peter Hedges) Another cliché disfunctional family/Thanksgiving trifle until a neat ending ties it all up. Somehow it worked. ***

PIEDRAS (d. Ramon Salazar) Rapturously romantic parallel story of several women and gay men. My kind of film! *** 1/2

PIERRE RISSIENT: MAN OF CINEMA (d. Todd McCarthy) ** 1/4

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS (d. David Gordon Green) Genuinely funny stoner chase comedy with brain, wit & originality. *** 1/4

PINGPONG (d. Matthias Luthardt) *** 1/4

PINNOCHIO (VO) (d. Roberto Benigni) Italy AFF. Even with subtitles, a major train wreck of a film. *

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN (d. Gore Verbinski) 1st half is wonderful, then sort of topples from excesses; but Depp and Bloom are great. ** 3/4

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2 (d. Gore Verbinski) Exhaustingly repetitive, boring empty calories. * 1/2

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 3 (d. Gore Verbinski) Better than #2, not saying much. **

PIZZA (d. Mark Christopher) DV eccentric comedy: one night's adventure of a lonely fat girl turning 18 & a 30ish pizzaboy (sparkling turn by Ethan Embry). ** 1/4

PLAY (d. Alicia Scherson; Chile) *** 1/4

PLAYTIME (d. Jacques Tati) 70mm presentation of this Chaplanesque (i.e. Modern Times) large canvas, subtle, visually extraordinary slapstick comedy. *** 1/2

PLEASANT MOMENTS (d. Vera Chytilová) *** 1/2

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME (d. Weijun Chen) Illuminating Chinese docu: 3rd graders' 1st election of class monitor. *** 1/4

PLONING (d. Dante Nico Garcia; Philippines) **

PLOY (d. Pen-ek Ratanauang) ** 1/4

PLUS TARD, TU COMPREHENDRA (d. Amos Gitaï) ** 1/2

POCO PIÚ DI UN ANNO FA (d. Marco Filiberti) Oddly affecting drama about an upper class Italian gay porn star & his familial relationships. ** 3/4

POISON FRIENDS (Les amitiés maléfique) (d. Emmanuel Bourdieu) V. Literary, unpleasant story of college students taken in by a pathological liar friend. ***

POLAR EXPRESS (d. Robert Zemeckis) Nice animation, trite story...but it works on an elemental level. I enjoyed more than I expected from the lousy reviews. ***

POLICE BEAT (d. Robinson Devor) Stream of consciousness experiences of a Seattle cop originally from Senegal. Wide screen video transfer. ** 1/4

POLICE ROMANCE, A (d. Stéphanie Duvivier) *** 1/4

POLIGONO SUR (d. Dominique Abel) Doc. about Gypsy flamenco artists living in the projects and making a life of music. *** 1/2

PONIENTE (WESTERN) (d. Chus Gutierrez) Drama about labor strife in rural greenhouse farms in Andelusia. ** 1/4

POP STAR ON ICE (d. David Barba) ***

POPE'S TOILET, THE (d. Enrique Fernández) Uruguay foreign film submission. ** 3/4

PORN THEATER (France d. Jacques Nolot) Very sexy film about men making it with other men in a straight porn theater in today's Paris. ***

PORNOGRAFIA (d. Jan Jakub Kolski) Another WWII story, a drama about a group of Poles on a country farm. **

POSEIDON (d. Wolfgang Petersen) Well directed old fashioned disaster thriller, if predictable and ridiculous. ** 1/2

POSTCARDS FROM LENINGRAD (d. Mariana Rondón; Venezuela) **

POSTER BOY (d. Zak Tucker) Well acted, romantic political film about a Jesse Helms-ish senator's closeted gay son & his encounter with gay activists. ** 3/4

POWER TRIP (U.S. doc. d. Paul Devlin) Well edited documentary about an American company which buys the ex-Soviet Georgian power utility. *** 1/2

PRAGUE (d. Ole Christian Madsen) *** 1/2

PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION (d. Robert Altman) ** 1/2

PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL (d. Gini Reticker) Talky docu with important subject: women getting together to stop bloodshed in Liberia. ** 3/4

PRAYERS FOR BOBBY (d. Russell Mulcahy)V. Well acted tear jerker tv movie based on true story of gay boy's suicide. Emotionally devistating.. *** 1/4

PRESTIGE, THE (d. Christopher Nolan) Wonderfully scripted enigmatic period mystery which really delivers the goods. *** 1/4

PRETTY PERSUASION (d. Marcos Siega) Teen black comedy satire designed to offend everybody; with a great perf. by Evan Rachel Wood. ** 1/2

PRICE OF SUGAR, THE (d. Bill Haney) Admirable docu which also works: Priest in Domin.Rep. vs. sugar industry. *** 1/4

PRICELESS (Hors de prix) (d. Pierre Salvadori) Typical French romantic comedy, sumptuous but uninspired. ** 1/2

PRIDE & PREJUDICE (d. Joe Wright) ****

PRIDE AND GLORY (d. Gavin O'Connor) Good acting and produciton values don't make up for plot clichés. ** 1/2

PRIME (d. Ben Younger) *** 1/2

PRIMER (d. Shane Carruth) Fascinating, realistic low-budget time-machine-built-in-a-garage story. I couldn't follow it; but it was entertaining as hell. *** 1/4

PRINCESS DIARIES 2 (d. Garry Marshall) Inane teenage girl wish fullfillment fantasy even dumber than part 1. Chris Pine a find, however. * 1/4

PRINCESS OF THE SUN (La reine soleil) (d. Philippe Leclerc) * 1/2

PRINCESS RACOON (d. Seijun Suzuki) **

PRINCESSES (d. Fernando de Aranoa) ** 1/2

PRISONER OF PARADISE (d. Malcolm Clarke, Stuart Sender) (V) Great Holocaust docu. about Thereisenstadt & actor/director Kurt Gerron *** 3/4

PRIZE WINNER OF DEFIANCE OHIO, THE (d. Jane Alexander) V. Sentemenatl & hokey, but Julianne Moore is fine, Woody H. is a hambone. ** 1/2

PROBLEM WITH FEAR, A (d. Gary Burns) Urban angst runs riot in this funny satire set in Canada in the near future. *** 1/4

PRODUCING ADULTS (d. Aliksi Salmenperä) Complex Finnish relationship drama about a woman's desire to have a child with a partner unable to commit. *** 1/4

PROFESSIONAL, THE (d. Dusan Kovacevic) Black comedy - secret policeman's raprochement with his prey in "new" Serbia. Obscure Balkan politics.** 1/4

PROMISE KEPT, A (d. Daniel Milligan) Turgid, predictable, badly acted and directed policier about a child molester and a mysterious avenger. 1/2 *

PROMISE TO THE DEAD, A (d. Peter Raymont) Docu: Ariel Dorfman's paean to Pinochet's Chilean disappeared. ***

PROMISE, THE (Wuji) (d. Chen Kaige; China) ***

PROMISED LAND, THE (Ziemia obiecana) (d. Andrzej Wajda) V. Epic masterpiece of 19th Century capitalism in Lodz, Poland. *** 3/4

PROOF (d. John Madden) ** 3/4

PROPOSAL, THE (d. Anne Fletcher) Adequate, if predictable romcom with revelatory leading man perf by Ryan Reynolds. ** 3/4

PROPOSITION, THE (d. John Hillcost) ***1/4

PROTEUS (d. John Greyson) Remarkably crude, but somehow effective drama about gay prisoners in 18th century South Africa. ** 1/4

PUBLIC ENEMY (S. Korea d. Kang Woo-suk) Satisfying, well written and acted policier about a slovenly policeman getting his man. *** 1/4

PUFFY CHAIR, THE (d. Jay Duplass) V. Typical talky indie, sort of annoying but occasionally quite amusing. ** 1/2

PUMP UP THE VOLUME (d. Alan Moyle) V.+ Slater's definitive perf of teen alienation still relevant & thrills. Among my top 5 fave teen films. *** 1/4

PUNISHER, THE (d. Jonathan Hensleigh) Another revenge comic novel/film. Much better than expected. Thomas Jane is perfect. ** 3/4

PUNTO ROSSO, IL (d. Marco Carlucci) ** 1/4

PUNTO Y RAYA (d. Elia Schneider) Silly Venezuelan black comedy about two opposing soldiers, one corrupt, one pure, & their adventures in the jungle. * 1/4

PUPENDO (d. Jan Hrebejk) DV slice-of-life: '80s Czech society centering on out-of-favor sculptor and circle around him. Pleasant, but minor. ** 3/4

PUSH (d. Paul McGuigan) Psi powers thriller with muddled, contradictory plot but some nifty acting, especially Fanning and Evans. ** 1/2

PUSHER (d. Nicolas Winding Refn) ** 3/4

PUSHER II (d. Nicolas Winding Refn) *** 1/4

PUSHER III (d. Nicolas Winding Refn) *** 1/4

PYTHON, THE (d. Laila Pakalnina) Boring Latvian comedy about a school where several wild animals are loose. The metaphor was beyond me. * 1/4