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Martin Paule's Micro Movie Reviews: A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z-

Dizzy's Dream Band 1982

A jazz lover's delight, this is a straight-ahead recording of trumpet titan Dizzy Gillespie fronting a big band of stellar musicians. The program puts an emphasis on Latin-tinged numbers; Gillespie was responsible for introducing Afro-Cuban elements into bebop back in the 1940s. Between-song patter reveals a man of enormous wit and vitality.

Diamond Men

Robert Forster with his sad face and dignified bearing was made to play the lead role in this story of a veteran traveling wholesale jewelry salesman who is being forced out of his territory while breaking in a callow young replacement (Donnie Wahlberg). Ultimately a character piece, the writing is good and the dialogue is well observed. An undernourished subplot involving robbery detracts a little from the story, but Forster continues to show why he is among the most accomplished and unheralded players while portraying a decent man—one who strongly recalls his role in Jackie Brown.

Deterrance

It’s 2007 and the president is stranded in a Colorado diner during a snowstorm. Iraqi troops, upon the order of Saddam Hussein’s son and successor, have invaded Kuwait annihilating a small American peacekeeping force. The president, a former vice president who took office upon the death of the sitting executive, and who is now in the midst of a tough election campaign, finds himself in a rapidly escalating and tense international situation in which his advisers are at odds with one another and with him over the best course of action. Though this setup is entirely credible, its resolution ultimately strains credulity. But with a measure of verisimilitude, this low-budget one-set movie which was made for chump change offers a lot of tension with a fine ensemble of actors giving their all. Just don’t think too hard about the logical inconsistencies once the show’s over.

The Defiant Ones

Though this story of two prisoners, one black and one white, shackled together and on the lam in the Deep South may seem a little obvious today, Stanley Kramer's 1959 film still has a lot of impact. The action scenes and black and white photography are both handled expertly. Stars Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis are very good together though each struggles to maintain a Southern drawl that is convincing with Curtis in particular lapsing into Brooklynese all too often.

Dodsworth

This 1936 Hollywoodization of the Sinclair Lewis’s novel is extremely well done and offers a pair of fine performances from Walter Huston and Ruth Chatterton. Dodsworth is a tycoon who abruptly retires from auto manufacturing and then tours Europe with his wife where the couple’s differences are brought into sharp relief as they enter into new relationships. Timeless stuff directed by William Wyler.

The Devil's Backbone aka El Espinazo del Diablo

With the release of this involving Jamesian-flavored gothic tale, Spanish director Guillermo del Toro, who earlier gave us Cronos and Mimic, is now batting three for three. Set in a ramshackle, remote orphanage posing as a Catholic school, the action takes place in the closing days of the Spanish Civil War. The orphanage houses a group of boys who are the offspring of Republicans fighting a losing battle against the fascist Franco government. Though a ghost is a significant player in the events that unfold, this is not a typical gothic tale. At its heart, the orphanage stands as a reflection of the horrors going on in the outside world and delves deeply into the imaginations and fears of childhood. As with his other work, del Toro demonstrates a brilliant grasp of techniques that shape mood and texture.

A Decade Under the Influence

The 1970s marked a tidal shift in the way films were made as the traditional Hollywood studio system gave way to edgy, independent productions. The socio-political turmoil of the era provided the creative compost from which sprang films such as Easy Rider, Midnight Cowboy, and The Last Picture Show. This well-conceived documentary consists of a series of interviews with the leading directors of the era interspersed with clips of groundbreaking films. Be warned that you will probably have a long list of '70s classics to revisit after watching Decade.

Dirty Pretty Things

Director Stephen Frears (The Grifters, My Beautiful Laundrette, High Fidelity, and Liam—all reviewed here) has had an eclectic career making accomplished films that deal with vastly differing subjects. Here, he explores the life of London’s illegal immigrant community focusing on two sympathetic characters: an African doctor with a troubled past who works an exhausting schedule as a cab driver and hotel night clerk, and a young Turkish woman struggling to get by as a cleaner at the same hotel. The doctor is played with great dignity and strength by Chiwetel Ejofor while the woman’s role is handled by Audrey Tautou who offers a performance that’s strikingly different from, yet as equally appealing as her title role in Amalie. He catches snatches of exhausted sleep on her couch and they share a relationship, that at least as movies go, is unorthodox and quietly convincing. His discovery of a human heart clogging a hotel toilet sets a suspenseful plot in motion that serves as the vehicle to illustrate the wretched lives of undocumented and exploited workers and depicts London as a city awash with immigrants struggling to survive and stay a step ahead of the authorities. The Spanish actor Sergi Lopez is a standout in the supporting cast, playing a venal manager at the hotel.    

Day of the Jackal

The search for a professional hit man hired to assassinate Charles DeGaulle is meticulously detailed in this Fred Zinnerman film from 1972. The well-wrought screenplay based on a Frederick Forsythe bestseller recounts how police and other government agencies in several countries joined forces to find the nearly transparent killer played with intentional anonymity by Edward Fox. Despite the fact we know that DeGaulle will survive, plenty of suspense is generated making it a must for fans of this genre.

Dirty Filthy Love

Obsessive-compulsive disorders are no laughing matter and this made-for-British-TV feature treads a delicate line in portraying the tragedy and absurdity of these conditions. Mark is riddled with tics and twitches, has endless obsessions, and compounding matters, suffers from Tourette’s Syndrome causing him to yelp like a dog and shout obscenities at all and sundry. As the film opens, his marriage is kaput, he has been fired from architectural job, and his life is rapidly coming apart. Joining a support group offers him the solace of knowing he’s not alone and even presents a romantic possibility though his condition continues to deteriorate.  A bit reminiscent of the classic British tragi-comedy Morgan, there is a lot of humanity in this production.

David Holzman's Diary

Today, anyone with a video camera is a potential indie moviemaker. Back in 1968 when Holzman set out to document his day-to-day existence, the cost of cameras and film represented a serious investment that would prove daunting to all but the most daring artists. Thankfully Holzman had the chutzpah and today we are the beneficiaries of this funny, groundbreaking work.
 

28 Days After

Comparisons with George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead are inevitable in discussing this film by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting and Shallow Grave). It’s certainly a more polished movie that delivers just as much tension as Night. The film begins with a break-in at an animal lab where a group of radicals liberate some chimps that a lab employee warns are infected with a disease called Rage. We then move forward 28 days. A bike courier awakens in an abandoned hospital 28 days after being struck by a car. Walking through the empty streets of London he discovers that the vast majority of the population is dead while the remainder have become frenzied, red-eyed zombies intent on the destruction of any non-zombie. He hooks up with a small group of non-infected people, and together they make their way towards Manchester where some soldiers are garrisoned. This segment of the film merges the post-apocalypse and road-movie genres and allows some character development among the group of survivors. Boyle manages to milk a lot out of his time-worn premise; there are moments of excruciating tension, especially one in which the survivors frantically try to change a tire while the zombies bear down on them. A rather forced attempt at romance and a final act involving sex-starved soldiers work less well. In balance though, it’s a nifty accompaniment to popcorn munching.

Deep Crimson aka Profundo Carmesi

Arturo Ripstein’s Mexican remake of The Honeymoon Killers is significantly more unpleasant than the creepy American original, which in turn was based on actual events that transpired in the 1950s. A lumpish nurse falls for a smarmy gigolo, promptly abandons her children, and enters into a life of crime with her paramour. Posing as brother and sister, they prey on wealthy widows. As they fleece these women, their schemes spiral crazily out of control and justice is finally and pragmatically delivered by a Mexican lawman. Along the way, there are some scenes of breathtaking cruelty amid desolate Sonoran Desert landscapes.

La Discrete

Rather similar in tone and theme to Neil LaButte’s In The Company of Men, (also reviewed here) this is the story of a French novelist who manipulates the emotions of a young woman in order to develop material for his next book.

DIG!

Director Ondi Timoner spent seven years filming the exploits of two highly creative bands, The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre.  The film focuses on the bands’ respective leaders: the arrogant and ambitious Dandy’s frontman Courtney Taylor and the awesomely creative but mentally unstable Anton Newcomb. The two musicians and their bands constitute a mutual admiration society that sometimes becomes competitive. As their names imply, they share an appreciation for ‘60s culture and music and a well-honed sense of the ironic.  It is Newcomb who offers the more fascinating portrait as a prodigiously talented musician who consistently derails his career with onstage antics that piss off his ever-changing bandmates and audiences as well as, for a time, a debilitating smack habit. Running through the film is the question of shaping one’s music to commercial templates versus following one’s own muse at all costs. A lot of good songs, harrowing moments on the stage and on the road, and a nearly invisible cinema verité camera offer a vivid and perhaps candid portrait of life as a rocker at the turn of the century.   

Downfall aka Der Untergang

Based in part on the recollections of Traudl Junge as told in the documentary Blind Spot: Hitler’s Secretary (also reviewed here) this is a dramatized chronicle of the final days of the Third Reich. With Russians flooding into Berlin, Hitler grows more delusional by the minute alternating between issuing orders for decimated army units to attack the Soviets and angry tirades against his generals and the German people for failing to make his megalomaniacal aims a reality. Bruno Ganz is chillingly believable as Der Fuehrer and the film is suffused with moments of enormous surrealism as the Nazis cling to their madness in the final moments of the war. The sprawling story is well handled by focusing on a handful of key players inside the Third Reich as well as those of some ordinary Berliners. Especially disquieting are two scenes in which Josef Goebble’s wife first administers a soporific to their six young children then later steals into their bunker bedroom and methodically murders each by placing cyanide capsules between their teeth and snaps their jaw shut on the poison.

The Daytrippers

Built around a slender sit-com premise involving marital infidelity, this is a great little road movie in which a woman and her relatives drive into Manhattan so she can catch her husband in the act. Nice performances and excellent direction by first-timer Greg Mottola. 

Dead Alive

Long before director Peter Jackson was blessed with the high-dollar budgets that went into his Lord of the Rings pictures, he made this Grade Z horror flick that's laden with wonderfully gory, grossout violence, zombies, rat monkeys, and the scariest mother in all of cinema history. A decidedly guilty pleasure.
 

Dead Calm

Phillip Noyce's tense film about a  couple (Nicole Kidman and Sam Neill) whose yacht is invaded by a scary psychopath (Billy Zane) is notable for its claustrophobic atmosphere and unrelenting tension.

Dead Man Walking

Susan Sarandon plays a nun who becomes the spiritual advisor to a death-row prisoner (Sean Penn) in this resonant drama. The story, based on actual events, concerns the nun's having to come to terms with her revulsion for his brutal crimes while recognizing his largely obscured humanity. Sarandon won a richly-deserved Oscar for her work. 

Dead of Winter

Though it isn't terribly hard to figure out where the plot of this thriller is going, the tension never lets up in this eerily-effective thriller. Mary Steenbergen plays a desperate actress who agrees to star in a film being financed by a creepy guy who is holed up in a Gothic mansion.  

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Dead Presidents

Directed by the Hughes Brothers, this film casts a wide net in chronicling the life of a black man from the wrong side of the tracks in and out of the thug life and through Vietnam and back to a life of crime. The film is riddled with grinding violence and lapses into standard caper fare on occasion, but it is highly watchable as an imperfect yet accomplished work. A plus in the non-stop music mostly drawn from the classic soul era.

Death and the Maiden

Roman Polanski's filmed version of a successful play keeps up the tension despite its claustrophobic, one-room setting in which a woman (Sigourney Weaver) a former political prisoner, confronts the man who tortured and sexually abused her (Ben Kingsley). While Kingsley turns in a sure-handed performance, Weaver becomes somewhat shrill in spots. Yet the revenge story is compellingly wrought to keep us entranced by the proceedings.

The Dancer Upstairs

John Malkovich's directorial debut is an impressive one, at least where his management of actors and scenery is concerned. The story itself, based on a novel by Nicholas Shakespeare about the hunt for a shadowy South American terrorist leader is another matter. Based loosely on the search for the Peruvian Maoist Shining Path leader, Abimael Guzman, the police procedural aspect is a muddle and the story moves along with little tension or suspense. The political dimensions are also blurred; though it is clear that the events unfold in a country that has endemic corruption and repression, there is no clear expression of these factors. What does work wonderfully is Javier Bardem's performance as a police detective who is a former lawyer who quit the profession due to corruption. He brings great dignity and commitment to a role that transcends the film's flaws.

Delusion

This is a dandy little low-budget thriller about a business executive who rips off a bundle of money and then becomes embroiled with a Las Vegas showgirl and her hit-man boyfriend. Great desert visuals, a snappy script, and solid performances by all the players.

The Devil's Advocate

This modern reworking of the Faust story has a young Southern lawyer (Keanu Reeves in a reasonably good performance) recruited by a sinister New York law firm headed by you-know-who (Al Pacino in full scenery-chewing mode). The film would have benefited from some cuts but the familiar storyline is well handled, the scenery is eye-popping, and Charlize Theron acquits herself well as the Reeve's wide-eyed wife.

Dinner at Eight

This classic from 1933 is a showcase for MGM's lineup of stars and formidable writing talent. It’s a great period piece with typical brash dialog and rapid pacing that looks at the multi-layered New York social scene of the day.

The Dinner Game aka Le Diner de cons

A group of Parisian sophisticates hold a weekly dinner to which each brings the stupidest person they know. When one of them, an egoistic publisher, invites along a boorish civil servant, it results in big trouble. Farcical, mean-spirited, and funny in a particularly Gallic manner that's probably not for all tastes. 

Don Juan DeMarco

Though it's far from his finest work, Marlon Brando's turns in a good performance as a psychiatrist obsessed with a patient (Johnny Depp) who is convinced that he is the world's greatest lover. Faye Dunaway is fine as the shrink's wife and all parties seem to be having a lot of fun with director Jeremy Leven's imaginative script.

Don't Look Back

Documentarian D.A. Pennebaker's profile of the young Bob Dylan touring England in the mid-60s is a wonderfully candid look at an enigmatic artist at the height of his creativity. There are fascinating glimpses of his relationship with Joan Baez and with his avuncular manager Albert Grossman as well as some notable performance footage.
 

Double Indemnity 

Billy Wilder's sure-handed direction coupled with good  performances by Fred MacMurray, Edward G Robinson and Barbara Stanwyck  makes this a classic suspense tale of the 1940s. MacMurray is an insurance salesman who is sucked into a murder/fraud scheme by Stanwyck that's investigated by his co-worker Robinson. James M. Cain's novel was reworked for the screen by Wilder along with Raymond Chandler and it's brilliant.

The Dreamlife of Angels aka La Vie revee des anges

This ironically-titled and subtle French film tells the story of two decidedly non-angelic young women who form a powerful friendship in the face of abject poverty. They house-sit a flat together that is owned by a mother and daughter who were involved in a car accident thus setting up a curious sub-plot. The two leads give wonderfully naturalistic performances and the script leads us to wonder about the nature of friendship and loyalty.

Danzon

This entertaining and firmly feminist film from Mexico is about a telephone operator whose mundane life is ameliorated by her love of the exciting dance of the film's title. In this, it resembles the wonderful Shall We Dance also reviewed here. The film takes on the trappings of a mystery when her male dance partner suddenly disappears and she sets out to find him.

The Dreamers

As always, director Bernardo Bertolucci has created a film that is a ravishing delight to look at. The story, on the other hand, will probably appeal more to French cinema buffs than to a general audience. The setting is France in the spring of 1968. A young American student finds himself drawn to a French brother and sister with whom he shares a passion for cinema and soon finds himself living menage a trois with them. This is Bertolucci’s most overtly erotic film since Last Tango in Paris with lots of nudity and graphic sex with a strong incestuous bent, and as such, it caused a bit of a stir when released. The story, adapted from a short story, undoubtedly has a lot of personal resonance for the director who lived in Paris as a film student during the same era. It was a time of great turmoil in France as it was in the US. The firing of the erratic director of the national cinema, Henry Langlois, lead to protest marches that, due to police overreaction, developed into widespread riots and ultimately the fall of the French government. Bertolluci counterpoints his intimate relationship story with the tumultuous events occurring beyond the apartment the protagonist share. It is here that his intentions become murky; in a final scene the American begs his French "brother" not to hurl a Molotov cocktail thus setting into motion a brutal police response, and by extension, the decade of violence and turmoil that will follow. Yet Bertolucci seems to revel in the ferment of the era and generally paints the revolutionary movement in a favorable light. His painstaking re-creation of 1968 Paris, a powerful soundtrack redolent with psychedelic music, and the cunning integration of archival footage and film clips will give Bertolluci fans lots to love. Others should proceed with caution.    

Dave

In this exceedingly well acted and written political comedy Kevin Klein plays an Everyman who is chosen to impersonate an ailing president. In the course of his role, he bonds with the president's staff, the people, and even the president's embittered wife. Though the premise may seem a bit preposterous, Kline's charm and the wittiness of the script pump up enough verisimilitude to make the movie a success.

Dark Passage

Though the story is a bit hard to buy, stars Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino make a powerful screen pair in this tale of an escaped convict who gets plastic surgery to hide his felonious identity. The movie is memorable for its first third in which the POV is directly from the Bogart character’s eyes.

Double Jeopardy

Though much of the action in the revenge story is a bit hard to buy, the acting is solid and the story is a slick one that will keep you involved. Ashleigh Judd plays a woman who is framed for her husband's murder and then discovers that he's alive and thriving having taken on a new identity. She breaks out of prison with lawman Tommy Lee Jones in hot pursuit setting the story into unrelenting motion.

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Devil's Island aka Djoflaeyen (1996)
There is one hell of a lot of boozing, fighting, and yelling that goes on in
this Icelandic film which may prove off putting to some viewers.  Directed by
Fridrik Fridriksson who made "Cold Fever" (also reviewed), it takes up his
ongoing interest in how American culture has impacted Iceland for better and
worse. Set in the 50s and 60s, it is the story of a dysfunctional family that
due to straitened circumstances lives in an oppressive village of quonset
huts left over from an abandoned U.S. air base. It centers on two brothers,
one a hell-raising James Dean wannabe, and the other a quiet and socially
clumsy young man who turns out to have some surprising depth. The film traces
the the often tragic, sometimes funny trajectory of this family through a
decade with splendid photography and perceptive scripting that offers a
glimpse into a society all but invisible to Americans.

Divorcing Jack
An Irish newspaper columnist and major-league souse (David Thewlis) becomes
caught up in murderous politics during the early '80s when he takes up a
dalliance with the daughter of an Ulster politician. Alternating between the
genres of black comedy and political thriller, the film breathlessly dashes
headlong to a conclusion that is quite unpredictable. Rachel Griffiths is
fine in a supporting role as a stripper nun. (Don't ask.) If you enjoyed such
fare as "Trainspotting" or "I Went Down", this should do the trick.
Produced by the BBC, this is quite a departure from their usually  staid fare.
 

Desolation Angels (1995)
A micro-budget examination of machismo, revenge and rape, writer -director
Tim McCann borrows his title from Kerouac and his protaganist's name (Nick
Carter) from Hemingway. The gritty, realistic dialogue and brutal scenario
recalls Sorcese's "Mean Streets" and Nick Gomez' "Laws of Gravity". Nick
returns from a trip and is told by his girlfriend that while he was gone,
his best buddy, Sid, "came on" to her.
Investigating further, he discovers that Sid raped her. Nick reacts by
treating the crime as a personal attack on himself, and rather than
empathizing with Mary, he is solely concerned with exacting revenge.
Uncompromising in its outlook and raw-edged in its execution, "Angels" is a
bullet right at the heart of modern urban sensibilities.
 

Driving Miss Daisy
Though the title character played by Jessica Tandy is more thoroughly
worked out -she's a widowed Jewish southerner who is tightfisted and
suspicious-the film belongs to Morgan Freeman as her chauffeur. Hired to
drive her after she wrecks a car, he is illiterate, but of noble bearing.
He is faithful and dependable but is never servile in the face of the
cantankerous woman's outbursts. Over the course of their 25-year
relationship they forge a bond that is supported by superb makeup and
acting jobs.

Drop Dead Gorgeous
Given its potentially hilarious subject, this mockumentary about a teen
beauty pageant could have been funnier. As it is, the laughs are scattered
but register strongly. Two girls are the odds-on favorites to win. One is
the daughter of a former pageant winner who will stop at nothing to see
her offspring win. The other is the good hearted spawn of trailer trash.
Guess who wins... Though the film is mounted as a documentary, it sometimes
strays from that conceit abandoning the pretense of a film crew shooting in
a prototypical Minnesota town (lots of "yeah, you betcha's") by delving
into straight comedy of a truly mean-spirited sort. But you gotta like a
movie in which a lifelong boozer is involved in a trailer fire where a beer
can becomes permanently fused to her hand and is later used as a sort of
fashion accessory ashtray. Don't you?

Dogma
I didn't catch this one in its theatrical release though I was intrigued
that some local churchgoers picketed a theatre running it. Upon renting the
tape later I was both pleasantly surprised by the entertainment value it
offers and amazed that such a broad satire could have produced such wrath
in those Christians. Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) plays a cynical abortion
clinic worker who discovers that she's a distant relative of Jesus Christ.
With that realization comes a responsibility: to stop Loki (Matt Damon) and
Bartleby (Ben Affleck)-two angels on the losing side of the last war in
heaven, now exiled to Wisconsin-from using a new loophole in Catholic dogma
to re-enter the Pearly Gates. Such an event would prove God fallible,
thereby ending all existence. The movie is chaotic and there are several
scenes that go nowhere. But in the end, this audacious comedy counts as
another off-center achievement for director Kevin Smith who broke on the
scene with "Clerks" (reviewed earlier).
Darkman

One evening, looking for some mindless entertainment, I rented this
engaging B-movie that delivers far more than it promises. A scientist
experimenting with the recombination of body parts is nearly killed in a
vicious attack by the thugs of an evil inner city developer. He reassembles
himself into the title character, an avenging super hero who lives in the
dark corners of the city. Strictly comic book fare, the movie redeems
itself through great spirit and style.
 

Darling

This story of a woman of ordinary circumstances who rises through society
to become the wife of an Italian aristocrat had a lot of influence on other
films of the late 60s and 70s that shared its flashy style and cynical
stance.
 

Damage

Another Malle movie about as different in tone from the foregoing as any
two films by the same auteur might be. A British diplomat played
convincingly by Jeremy Irons become infatuated with his son's attractive,
French fiancé with tragic results. Miranda Richardson is also superb as the
betrayed wife.

Dangerous Liaisons (1988)/Valmont

Both these films derive their stories from the same French novel which
recounts the bed-hopping antics of French nobility in the 18th century. And
both are beautifully realized productions with tremendous costumes, makeup
and sets that bring the incredibly decadent lifestyles of their subjects to
the screen with great historical accuracy. I would say the first title is
slightly the better of the two given its somewhat better cast with Glenn
Close in the lead role as a countess who unmercifully toys with people
lives for her personal amusement. The younger cast of "Valmont" manages to
give the similar story a more mischievous bent; it lacks the former's
utter wickedness. They're both fun and its interesting to check out their
differences by seeing them in close proximity. If you really get into them,
there's an earlier French version from the 60s set in modern times that
isn't bad.
 

Day for Night

A lighthearted look at making movies by François Truffaut-it is the sunny
opposite of Fellini's "8 1/2". Like the director in the latter film,
Truffaut plays the part of a director who runs into all sorts of obstacles
in bringing his work to the screen. There's none of the dreamy, surreal
quality found in "8 1/2"; just fascinating glimpses into the process of
exposing illusions on film.
 

Dazed and Confused

For those who came of age 70s, this clever comedy set on the final day of
school in 1976 suburban Texas will have great resonance. Directed by
Richard Linklater who made the cult classic "Slacker", the film knowingly
captures the lifestyles and attitudes of the day. With a right-on
soundtrack and talented ensemble of young actors.
 
 

December Bride

A somewhat bleak but engaging romantic drama about an independent-minded
Irish woman who becomes pregnant and refuses to disclose the name of the
father, much to the consternation of the conservative farm community in
which she lives. Rather austere, it is lovingly directed with drop-dead
beautiful Irish landscapes.
 

Deconstructing Harry

Woody Allen has raised self-loathing to an art form in his now extensive
body of work involving autobiographical characters who obsess over sex,
failure, death and disease. In Harry Block, the central character of
"Deconstructing Harry", Allen has created a portrayal that is an amalgam of
these previous personae brought to a cynical boil. Full of references to
his earlier films, it also borrows the story line of Bergman's "Wild
Strawberries". Harry is a successful novelist who churns out seamy stories
that are thinly-veiled reflections of the lives of his friends, lovers,
ex-wives, and above all, himself. He is invited to his college (from which
he was expelled) to receive an award and such is the rage of his circle of
friends, etc. that no one will accompany him. Finally, in the company of a
hooker (Harry's only source of intimacy is paid for), his young son who he
has abducted from one of his ex-wives, and a friend who he hasn't yet
defamed in a novel, he takes a road trip to receive his award. But this is
the merest excuse of a plotline. The film constantly shifts between scenes
of Harry's actual life and those of his novels in which he skewers all who
are near and dear creating a Chinese box of interwoven plots . Daring in
conception and execution, it is Allen's most cinematically adventurous
movie and it is certainly his most profane.

The Deer Hunter

A long and involving film that tracks the lives of a group of Pennsylvanian
blue collar youths before, during and after their service in Vietnam. With
a superb cast that includes Robert DeNiro, Meryl Street and Christopher
Walken, it is an intense and satisfyingly emotional story that includes
some haunting images.
 
 

Delicatessen

For fans of quirky movies such as Peter Greenaway's "The Cook, The Thief,
The Wife & Her Lover" this will be a rewarding experience. Others should be
forewarned that it is a very strange and twisted comedy. Set in a
post-apocalyptic world, it is the story of a bizarre boarding house peopled
with a complement of weirdos, especially the landlord who slivers humans
into cutlets for his tenants. Told with a visual style all its own.
 

Deceiver

Those who like their movie viewing to offer a degree of certainty are bound
to be disconcerted by this film's enigmatic approach to what is real. A
young man (Tim Roth) is grilled by a pair of cops in connection with the
brutal murder of a young prostitute. After failing a polygraph test and
being confronted with a mountain of circumstantial evidence, it seems
obvious that he is the purpetrator. But the Roth character is a brilliant
liar and is very bright to boot. He begins to undermine the cops' certainty
in their case as well as their belief in themselves. He gets under their
skin to such a degree that they even begin to doubt their own innocence in
the crime. At times the illusory and the real become so enmeshed that any
hope of discerning what is true seems beyond reach. Though the resolution
seems to me a bit pat given what has gone on before, like "Rashomon", this
is a film that ably demonstrates the unknowability of Truth with a capital
"T".

Delusion

A decidedly different thriller cum road movie about a Silicon Valley
embezzler who becomes involved with a Vegas showgirl and her assassin
boyfriend in the Death Valley area. Taut and compelling with wonderful
location photography.
 

Detour

This is an interesting, noirish 50's Grade B picture obviously made on a
shoestring budget, but it works. At some point the negative must have been
flipped because steering wheels are on the wrong sides of cars, etc. A
down on his luck piano player hitchikes from New York to L.A. to join his
girlfriend who is trying to get into pictures. On the way he catches a ride
with a bookie who mentions that earlier he had given a ride to a hellion
who inflicted the deep scratches on his hand. The gambler dies along the
way and the piano player assumes his identity-and car and wallet, only to
later give a ride to the woman who did the scratching...

Denise Calls Up

This engaging trifle is a comedy about a group of friends and acquaintances
who stay in touch through their phones and answering machines and who just
can't seem to get together face to face. Though the premise may be thin, a
trenchant script and a fine ensemble cast keep it going.
 
 

Diary of a Hitman

Forrest Whitaker is a killer for hire who has decided to hang up his pistol
after doing one last job. But his final victim, played by Sherilyn Fenn in
an eye-opening performance, manages to put his plans asunder.
 

Different for Girls

Gender identity is the primary concern of this serio-comic yarn about a
couple of British school chums who meet by chance many years later. Paul is
a beer-swilling hard case who after a succession of nowhere jobs is a
motorbike messenger trying to stay one step ahead of repossesors out to nab
his wheels. Kim (nee Karl) is a transsexual who has undergone surgery to
become female and who works for a greeting card company churning out verse.
This reworking of the Odd Couple formula is strikingly sprightly and though
we think we know where it is going, the screenplay has a couple of
surprises up its sleeve.
Diner

Anyone who grew up in the 50s and 60s will find much to enjoy in this story
of a group of Baltimore friends facing adulthood. Made with a lot of love,
the cast of then-newcomers which included Kevin Bacon, Steve Guttenberg,
Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke, Paul Reiser and Ellen Barkin went on to much
bigger (if not better) things. Especially funny is a plotline in which one
of the buddies administers an NFL knowledge quiz to his fiancé as a
prerequisite to marriage.
 
 

Dogfight

For some reason this sweet little story never made an impact in the
theaters and has gone on to become a certified sleeper. A group of
Vietnam-bound Marines in 1963 San Francisco concoct a nasty game in which
the winner will bring the ugliest date to a party. Lili Taylor is fine as
the plain-Jane folkie who River Phoenix targets as his "dog" for the night.
 

Desperate Living

In his book "Shock Value", John Waters described this as " ...a lesbian
melodrama about revolution...a monstrous fairytale comedy dealing with
mental anguish, penis envy, and political corruption. Its target audience
is very neurotic adults with the mentalities of eight-year olds." I guess
that about says it all. If you find deep-end Waters a bit much, you may
want to check out his more recent productions aimed at a more mainstream
audience: "Hairspray" and "Serial Mom". We were recently visited by an
Episcopalian minister while in the midst of watching the latter title on
tape. He seemed to enjoy it... B y the way, I rate "Desperate Living" only
borderline offensive; check out "Pink Flamingos" for a taste of full-bore
Waters tastelessness.

The Damned

The dark and disturbing vision of a wealthy German family, probably modeled
on the Krups, who control a munitions conglomerate. As Hitler rises they
come apart at the seams with secrets and perversions spilling out of
multifold closets. Extremely controversial when released in '69, it still
packs a wallop today.
 
 

Dark Eyes

A wonderful role for Marcello Mastroianni as a once-aspiring architect who
becomes a sort of kept man after marrying into a wealthy banking family. It
is filled with bittersweet emotion with a pervading sense of loss over what
might have been.

Desperately Seeking Susan

This could have easily have been a by-the-numbers farce about amnesia and
confused identities; overworked plot devices of Hollywood since the
beginnings of the movies. Indie N.Y. director Susan Seidelman together with
a great screenplay and delightful performances by Rosanna Arquette and
Madonna, shape a very unconventional work from this familiar turf.
 
 

The Dead

John Huston's swansong, adapted from James Joyce's short story collection
"The Dubliners", is a tightly confined, intimate movie in sharp contrast to
earlier work like "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and "African Queen". The
scene is Dublin, 1908, where a pair of dowager aunts and their niece put on
a dinner party for a collection of friends and relations. At first we are
a bit lost, uncertain as to who all these party goers are. But as the film
unfolds we begin to understand the relationships, foibles and history of
each. An expert cast of Irish theatrical actors is joined by Anjelica
Huston who is nepotistically (but deservingly) cast as a woman caught in a
humdrum marriage who is haunted by a lost love. Nothing much happens in
this glorious character piece; rather we come away knowing a great deal
about many of the participants. Altogether a masterwork by one of
Hollywood's great directors.
 

Dead Ringers

Another great effort by Cronenburg matched with a knockout performance by
Jeremy Irons as twin gynecologists who become immersed in madness and
drugs. Irons' characterizations are superb-he is able to very subtly get
across the differences between the twins, even when the plot has them
impersonating one another. Incredibly, this is loosely based on the case of
two actual NY gynecologists who went bananas and killed themselves with
barbiturates.

Dead Again

An unusual plot distinguishes this film noire thriller directed and
starring Kenneth Branagh along with his then-wife Emma Thompson. A
detective is hired to help a woman with amnesia and discovers that through
reincarnation they are both connected to a murder that occurred some 40
years earlier. Somehow, it all seems quite credible...really!
 

Death in Brunswick

If you prefer your comedy on the dark side, this should prove a treat. Sam
Neill is a loser who is still dominated by Mum and has lots of trouble
functioning in the world. Taking a job as a cook in an ultra-sleazy joint,
he falls for a Greek barmaid who is claimed by his thuggish boss. This
leads to mayhem and death. That Neill is able to make his character
appealing serves as a measure of his skill. It's all very grungy and funny
with a twisted sensibility all its own. It does sag a bit in spots though,
and isn't apt to satisfy the action lover.
 

Death in Venice

This is based on a Thomas Mann novel which was a thinly-veiled roman a clef
of the composer Gustav Mahler who goes on holiday to Venice in the midst of
a cholera epidemic that is being hushed up by the Venetians so as to not
hurt tourism. Though the film is somewhat slow going, it is a delight to
look at and is a wonderful study of an artist's ongoing search for beauty,
particularly focused on his obsessive, unrequited love for a young boy.
Dirk Bogarde delivers a tremendous performance as the disintegrating artist.
 
 

The Devils

A kaleidoscopic mix of comedy, history, religious fervor and surrealism
which deals with heresy and witchcraft in Renaissance France. Try to get
the unrated version of this; the R-rated cut has some great scenes excised
from it.
 
 

Diabolique (1955)

Recently remade in the U.S. with Sharon Stone, check out the original,
genuine article which runs rings around the vapid remake. It is the story
of two women, one married to the cruel and controlling headmaster of a
French boy's school and the other a teacher. They conspire to kill the
husband and things get very strange indeed...
 
 

Diva

A very flashy, visually sumptuous mystery set in France involving a
bootlegged copy of a live performance by a superstar opera diva who has
never made a record and over which some very nasty people are battling. It
includes a fabulous motorcycle chase scene in the Paris streets and subway.
 
 

Donnie Brasco

Although Al Pacino has rightly been accused of scenery eating in many of
his roles, he is just right here as a Lefty, a small-time Mafioso who takes
the title character played by Johnny Depp under his wing. The latter is an
undercover cop who over time forms a powerful friendship with his target.
And that is what this movie's all about - friendship and loyalty - not
slam-bang action and brutality - though it has plenty of that too.
 
 

Down and Dirty AKA Brutti Sporchi e Cattivi

This aptly titled comedy from Italy focuses on a profoundly corrupt and
dissolute Italian family of four generations living cheek by jowl in a
hovel on the edge of Rome. There is no depravity beyond their bounds:
murder plots, incest, swindles and kinky sex are all on the familial menu.
If you think your family's dysfunctional, watch this and you'll feel a
whole lot better.
 

Down and Out in Beverly Hills

This is a remake of a French film called "Bodou Saved From Drowning". It
recounts what happens when a wealthy, neurotic family takes in a hobo.
Though it's all a bit predictable, the impact the bum has on the family is
hilarious. Good casting all around with the family dog perhaps having the
best role of all.
 

Dressed to Kill (1980)

Though there are a few gaps in the plotting of this story of a psychopathic
stalker, Brian De Palma's sure handed direction produces enough palpable
tension to overcome this cavil. A classic of the sicko-suspense genre.
 
 

The Dresser

Though this production feels somewhat stagebound (it is adapted from a very
successful British play) the central performances by Albert Finney and Tom
Courtenay are smashing. Finney plays a Shakespearian actor/producer who
depends utterly on his dresser's (Courtenay) obsequious attentions. In
turn, the dresser has no real life of his own, basking in the reflected
glory of his boss. A wonderful tribute to the institution of theatre.
 
 

Drowning By Numbers

Another Peter Greenaway film filled with his primary passions: stunning
visuals, lots of counting and strange games. This one involves three women
who all have the same name and who all murder their husbands by drowning
them. The lusty coroner becomes involved with each woman and helps them to
get away with murder. It's awfully tough to say just what exactly it is
that Greenaway's getting at, but whatever it is, he sure does it with a lot
of style. Every one of his films is as much a feast for the eyes as it is a
puzzlement for the mind. This may be his most accessible film, which isn't
saying much!
 

Drugstore Cowboy

This is Van Sant's magnum opus-he hasn't come close since. It is the
authentic-feeling portrait of a junkie and his "family" of friends who
knock off drugstores to keep their buzzes going. The film takes a
completely amoral stance; there are no judgments, no sermonizing which adds
to the impact.
 
 

Defence of The Realm

Gabriel Byrne is an obstinate journalist who doggedly investigates a case
that results in the toppling of a British MP. A gripping suspense piece, it
raises questions about what the press should or should not do in the name
of keeping the public informed.
 

Devil in a Blue Dress

Though the story could be a bit more compelling, not since "Chinatown" has
L.A. of the 1940s been so faithfully reproduced. Denzell Washington is an
aircraft worker who is fired as the movie gets underway. A transplant from
the South, he's intent on achieving the good life-and keeping his mortgage
current. Thus he readily goes for an offer of cash to find a white woman
who has disappeared into the seamy side of the city. Essentially a
reworking of Raymond Chandler from a black perspective, it is Washington's
performance as the affable Easy Rawlins that elevates the pedestrian story
into a highly watchable movie. Directed by Carl Franklin whose impressive
first feature, "One False Move" is reviewed elsewhere in this collection.
 
 

Divorce-Italian Style

The title refers to the Catholic prohibition on divorce which leads an
Italian scoundrel played brilliantly by Marcello Mastroianni to extreme
lengths in getting rid of his hated wife freeing him to wed the nubile
Stefania Sandrelli. A potent and wickedly funny comedy with a wonderful,
twisty conclusion.
 

Dog Day Afternoon

As unlikely as it may seem during the watching, this story of a bank holdup
that goes horribly and hilariously amiss is based on actual events and
characters. Al Pacino is a world-class loser who stages the heist to
finance a sex change operation for his male lover. Director Sidney Lumet
takes full advantage of his N.Y.C. locations in capturing the edginess of
the city.
 
 

The Dream Team

If you enjoyed the boat outing in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", you'll
probably relish this comedy about a group of nuthouse inmates who are taken
on a day trip to see a ball game in NYC where they become separated from
their psychiatrist/chaperone. Though spotty in places, the story generally
moves with great alacrity as these nuts get involved in all sorts of Big
Apple craziness.

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