Film Dictionary

May 4, 2006

Le Secret de ma mère (2006) ***

April 4, 2006

I Dream Of Driftwood (2006) ****

Superb experimental documentary about apartment buildings in Winnipeg and their grandiose names.

Où est Maurice? (2006) ****

A wonderful pastiche of, simultaneously, German expressionism and the French cinema in general.

Poison d'avril (2006) ***

Short film about a babysitter and a hidden camera.

Fergalicious (2006) ***

A Fergie music video directed by Fatima Robinson.

Buttons (2006) ***

Sexy music video directed by Francis Lawrence.

Nous sommes tous les jours (2006) ***

Brassens (2006) ***

Fake documentary short about French singer Georges Brassens giving a concert at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal in 1978.

SexyBack (2006) ***

A Justin Timberlake music video directed by Michael Haussman.

A l'ombre (2006) ***

Touching film about a mother and her son.

Vilar Workbook (2006) **

Short pastiche of "The Golden Girls". Amusing.

Le Rat (2006) *

A short film about a garbage collector. Part of the "Chambre 13" series.

The Little Matchgirl (2006) ***

An adapation of the famous Hans Christian Andersen's story. Incredibly sad and profoundly moving.

Maestro (2006) ***

Hungarian cartoon about a famous singer. The ending is spectacular. Nominated for an Academy Award.

Un, deux, trois, crépuscule (2006) ***

No Time For Nuts (2006) ***

Scrat (the prehistoric squirrel from "Ice Age") finds a time machine. Nominated for an Oscar.

The Danish Poet (2006) ***

Oscar-winning cartoon about true love, great writers and coincidences.

Lifted (2006) ***

Wacky Pixar cartoon about an alien failing an exam of trying to abduct a little boy.

March 3, 2006

The Sopranos: Season 6.1 (2006) ***

Norymberga (2006) *****

Fascinating Polish TV movie about a retired Communist secret service agent confessing his crimes.

Manhunters (2006) ***

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

The Wire: Season 4 (2006) ***

In the Season 4, the focus moves to the school system, but politics remain front and center as well.

March 2, 2006

February 2, 2006

Strange allegory about terrorism, with a terrorist as a good guy. Never boring, but probably the most pro-Nazi film ever made in Hollywood, celebrating violence as the best way to overthrow a government. It's all about the triumph of the will of a single strong leader inspiring an army of faceless followers, and willing to terrorize not only the powerful, but the powerless as well. Andrew Klaven wrote a strong denunciation of the film's fascist sympathies here.

Bambi II (2006) **

A sequel to "Bambi".

An Inconvenient Truth (2006) **

The only inconvenient truth about this documentary is that while it raises a fascinating subject and is quite convincing in its arguments, it's simply not a very good movie, cinematographically-speaking. Most Michael Moore's documentaries (except for "Fahrenheit 9/11"), while equally committed to its ideals, are far more impressive cinematographically (and far more entertaining) than this undeserved Oscar-winner.