Film Reviews by JD

This is from exactly the same genre as Oceans... except in an overacted style. It is light hearted fun but pretty pointless and not very slick. In short, amateur but moderately amusing.

This gem is sort of a whodunnit but has angles of romance, action and memorable philosophy/morality. There is a slow quiet tension that keeps a constant draw to the plot. The acting is outstanding the plot wonderful.

A modern day French farce. A competition develops to be the more manipulative gold-digger. It does feel very amoral and cold hearted. I couldn't feel a great empathy with the characters for this reason, and so the comedy of it was slightly lost on me. The romances are so calculated, even the rather expected one at the end, that I would suggest it wouldn't appeal to the typical rom-com fans.

If you're even reading a review of a 2 hour 17 minute, German, (sub-titled), black and white film you clearly have a minority taste in film. For this small group of readers I would highly recommend this insight into strict Lutheran pre-war philosophy. Severely oppressive by today's standards but illuminating to glimpse into and speculate on how fascism grew from it, and indeed how any extremely disciplined culture spawns disastrous politics.

The characters in this film could not be more dissimilar and it is this fusion which is interesting. The direction is a bit flicky, you're never really sure what time frame you're in and whether something really happened or not. It did not really achieve the promise of Geek pie's review for me but has a peaceful exuberance worth watching.

This is truly a great film. The heat is tangible. The direction is interesting and the acting is surreal, except strangely the cameo played by Polanski. In my opinion one of Jack Nicholson's best three films (the others: a few good men and one flew over the cuckoos nest). Faye Dunaway plays an excellent 1940's style heroine. One to watch every few years.

This is an autobiography / documentary from the point of view of a boy growing up in violent surroundings. The degree of violence and the realism of many of the killings are chilling. I have never seen a more extremely violent film in the sense of feeling shocked and saddened. I really hope that Rio can pull itself out of this very bad place. It is good, but I cannot bring myself to giving such an extreme film a 5 star.

Some lurking incongruities such as why are there no insects at the lake in summer, how does this man suddenly become so athletically endowed and why doesn't he turn round in the final sequence. The ideas are however original, and the plot sufficiently full of whodunnit suspense to recommend this film.

It seems to be a hallmark of French and Italian films that the photography is often gorgeous. The plot and direction are however so bubbly as to be moderately offensive. Probably best watched when you're in a very light-hearted and juvenile mood not as a Friday night film.

For the rare opportunity of seeing a good children's cartoon with non-American values I would recommend this. It does however have American voice overs. I thought it would be like Pom poko but it is even more gentle.

This is a frantic and chaotic portrayal of Yugoslavia over the latter half of the 20th century. The pace is exhausting and exhilarating, but makes the plot difficult to follow. A comic tragedy of great worth. (Beware, also an epic.) I thought it was what world cinema was all about; the antithesis of Hollywood. Highly recommended.

The pink valentine cover may fool you into thinking that it's romantic slush. It is a comedy about romance with only a little romance involved. Roman Duris is an excellent comic actor and the sketch about trying to expose his fake numb leg with punishing stabs using a fork, although unoriginal, had me weeping with laughter.

The style of direction did not appeal to me. There are long scenes of quiet, unemotional ordinariness punctuated with extreme violence. The characters are cold and remote. I was not captured, as a previous reviewer, by any strong emotions. The main character is unlucky but any sense of compassion is lost by the constant use of flashbacks and forwards.

A lovely angle through which to view the history of a family. Poignant moments. It is surprisingly captivating. A little loss of continuity is inevitable but surprisingly important as the reaction of one family member to another changes so much between episodes. Possibly true to life but still difficult to believe. It did not attract me to a character who all seemed very self-contained and egotistical. The acting is eccentric and funny but not subtle.

There are some truly memorable moments of humour particularly if you remember woollen swimming trunks or sexual awakening as a boy. There are some cringing moments like a middle aged man dancing energetically to Middle Eastern music but it is a bit too soft to be good. The Mediterranean sun gives a wonderful light to fresh lace and linen, you can almost smell the hair lotions, but you really have to let this one come to you to enjoy it.