two lovers: neurotic bachelor torn between love & duty; james gray takes to limp perfection a brooklyn genre: yiddish melodrama

7 pounds: one of those dramas which require multiple laughs; gabriele muccino wallows in rains & tub water, final twist c/o a jellyfish

300: grand entertainment reinventing peplum with CGI eye to muscle detail & unearthing history at its bravest

broken embrace: almodovar’s muddiest & most labourious to-date; gorgeous penelope cannot save convoluted melodrama

auf der anderen seite: f akin fails with intercultural mix wh looks like pc speech @ ngo conf on migrations; too bad slut mother dies soon

the manchurian candidate: clumsy misfire c/o j demme wh tries 2 make serious points but ends up like ‘desperate housewives’ gone cold war

tales from the golden age: romanian palme d’or mungiu provides bitterfunny omnibus therapy with 6 sketches on ceausescus romania, 1 too many

tales from the golden age: romanian palme d’or mungiu provides bitterfunny omnibus therapy with 6 sketches on ceausescus romania, 1 too many

manderlay: lars von triers useless sequel 2 dogville runs like same on automatic pilot, with bryce dallas howard as 2nd best 4 nicole kidman

cache: paranoid paris story by haneke peels off layers of french 50s guilt with chilling accuracy; slasher scene auteuil & binoche stand out

atonement: lavish adaptation of mcewan novel seems like dull remake of losey & pinter go-between, without the brains; keira knightley a bore

lord of war: (another) nicolas cage dud by a niccol of brilliant gattaca fame, who left subtlety behind & chose inyrface propaganda instead

babel: inarritu/arriaga most ambitious effort not their best but this world map connecting people by accident has its moments; b pitt shines

babylon a.d.: ponderous script tall on technomystic babble with vin diesel sent by french kassovitz 2 distopian future; expect flawd ending

my enemy’s enemy: barbie (nazi, not doll) chased by k macdonald in biased docu raises tough question: how shd democracies fight terrorism?

the boss of it all: von trier technical joke (cam device chooses angle) reinvents sitcom with mixed results; best line: life’s a dogma movie

the break-up: j aniston/v vaughn vehicle has more than meets the eye working best as movie therapy for the 2 stars @ start of relationship

bridget jones 2: ‘like a version’ (thai hookers version of maddona anthem) = best moment in this sequel; same cast, same rain, some new gags

bruno: better than borat! sacha baron cohen @ his most hilarious & politically incorrect (hooray!); no child was harmed during shooting ;P

georgia rule: j fonda f huffman l lohan team up 4 good turns in smalltown story of 3 generations with lohan providing best lines

infamous: 2nd take on capote is better & more glamourous than seymour hoffman one c/o toby jones outshining oscar winner + great cameos

che: s soderberghs film crush on guerilla leader (intense del toro) looks digitally great but otherwise more like ‘che’ tshirt which talks

cheri: frears take on colette novel no masterpiece still pfeiffer gorgeous as frothy courtesan having late crush on colleagues (k bates) son

burn after reading: story of cia as confederacy of dunces td by coens w devilish verve & superb cast /clooneymalkovichmcdormandpittswinton

the reader: fine adaptation of novel about 2nd world war guilt; ones life may become chapter in a trial but no life shd be read as just that

no country for old men: coens best (& darkest) since fargo knocks off as greek tragedy in cowboys hats; cast good, bardem great

brokeback mountain: long lovestory of ledger & gyllenhaal (on proulx shortstory) becomes quiet porcelain in everversatile ang lees direction

cinderella man: russell crowe burns the screen with rugged impersonation of depression-era boxer in ron howard movie; boxing scenes = wow

elizabethtown: terrible cam crowe misstep as long as its bad with kirsten dunst wasted in paperthin part; soundtrack great /as usual with cc

tideland: morbid gilliam (adapted) story of abandoned lil girl in isolated house runs more like ‘psycholand’ & goes freakin nowhere

collateral: stylish haunting thriller from m mann follows hitman cruise (best perf since magnolia) followed by cabdriver foxx in nightlit la

because i said so: avoid all movie feat. diane keaton & mandy moore as mom & daughter, indigestion awaits @ the exit!

pieces of april: moving turkey from 1 floor to next on thxgiving; peter hedges (this is 1st film) has great cast with pat clarkson greatest

man on fire: tony scott back to drab routine after good ‘spy game’ in unending movie (146 min!) on nap-inducing kidnapping (dakota fanning)

the black dahlia: ellroy adaptation goes briandepalmaesque (as in grotesque); high on style (those slo-mos!), short on substance=nothing new

the dark knight: heath ledger mesmerizes with eerie turn as the joker in chris nolans darkly realistic 'batman' /probably best from series

de-lovely: poor cole porter! the flashy/flamboyant composer fell into hands of irwin winkler. musical comedy nitemare meeting biopic in hell

the aviator: bold biopic of howard hughes c/o scorsese flies high, especially compared to oscarwinner ‘million $ baby’; unjustly underrated

pirates of the caribbean2: depp a hoot in sequel but gore verbinskys clever take has lots of laughs c/o cartoonish humor. great fun allround

the orphanage: impressive debut of spanish bayona has atmosphere to spare in deft mix of family drama, gothic story & supernatural suspense

les chansons d’amour: alex beaupains catchy songs carry characters in this parisian story of love&death. dir. christophe honores best 2date

kinsey: intelligent biopic of sex pioneer alfred k gives bill condon chance to question todays sexual mores. great story, so-so direction

fish tank: she-billy elliot waiting 2 get laid (newcomer katie jarvis v good) in kenloachish sliceoflife drama; arnolds red road was better

thirst: park chan wook's priest-turns-vampire extravaganza has blood galore & imagination to match it; crazy but fun, with eyepopping ending

bright star: jane campions portrait of poet keats & sweetheart fanny brawne is like ornate cookie under glass in a museum. not for diabetics

taking woodstock: sweetsmart&humorous look @ hippy utopia centering on efforts to find place for historic gig; ang lee @ his most versatile

agora: portrait of 4th c/a.d. astronomer hypathia (rachel weisz) turns intellectual peplum in amenabars bold take on timeless fundamentalism

antichrist: von trier goes once more kamikaze in desperate story of couples grief (part parable/part horror) with sex-as-sickness @ its core

looking for eric: cantona ordered, ken loach obliged: catering cinema runs like tv movie with all twists&turns expected & pub humour tagged

inglourious basterds: qt’s metaplay with history has hitler die in cinema & jewish executioner squad; greatest fun comes c/o christoph waltz

the white ribbon: b&w story of violent children in pre-ww1 germany has haneke as master in command of austere study; sort of prequel 2 cache

enter the void: dazzling&dizzying descent in2 afterlife is like von trier on acid. gaspar noes most ambitious 2date is eyetreat & asstorture