Movie Reviews — www.ddmcd.com

Dennis D. McDonald (ddmcd@ddmcd.com) consults from Alexandria Virginia. His services include writing & research, proposal development, and project management.

All in Drama

David Cronenberg’s SPIDER

Apr 17

Apr 17 David Cronenberg’s SPIDER

Dennis D. McDonald

David Cronenberg’s SPIDER is a brilliant, grim, and deliberate observation of a schizophrenic’s attempt to return to society after having been institutionalized since childhood. Society in this case is represented by a halfway-house lorded over by a relentless Lynn Redgrave.

Apr 3
Apr 3 Phil Morrison's JUNEBUG

Dennis D. McDonald

Drama, Spouse Approved

It’s a pleasure to see a movie where stereotypes play a less important role than real relationships.

Memoirs of a Geisha

Jan 5

Jan 5 Memoirs of a Geisha

Dennis D. McDonald

Drama, Disappointing

How could I resist a film starring Ziyi Zhang, Michelle Yeoh, and Gong Li? Especially when they frequently appear on screen in the same scenes together? When it’s a film about slavery.

Zhang Yimou's THE ROAD HOME

Jan 5

Jan 5 Zhang Yimou's THE ROAD HOME

Dennis D. McDonald

Chinese, Sentimental, Drama

A businessman returns to his country home in rural China to bury his recently deceased schoolteacher father. He finds his distraught mother insisting on a long funeral procession with friends and former students bearing the coffin. The road to be taken has special meaning dating back to the parents' courtship. It is the courtship in flashback that dominates the film.

Yasujiro Ozu's FLOATING WEEDS

Dec 6

Dec 6 Yasujiro Ozu's FLOATING WEEDS

Dennis D. McDonald

Drama, Emotional, Japanese, Ozu

This 1959 film follows a down on its luck troupe of actors as they visit a small Japanese seaside village in the late 1950’s to perform popular plays on a small community stage.

Yasujiro Ozu's TOKYO STORY

Dec 6

Dec 6 Yasujiro Ozu's TOKYO STORY

Dennis D. McDonald

Drama, Japanese, Ozu, Sentimental

This 1953 classic by Yasujiro Ozu (Floating Weeds) is a masterpiece of elegant, artistic, and human filmmaking.

Yasujiro Ozu's EARLY SUMMER

Dec 5

Dec 5 Yasujiro Ozu's EARLY SUMMER

Dennis D. McDonald

Drama, Japanese, Ozu

In this Japanese film from 1951, 28-year-old Noriko (played by Setsuko Hara, who also appeared in Ozu’s Tokyo Story) lives with her three-generation family. She helps support them with the wages she earns in her downtown Tokyo clerical office job. Her family decides that she is getting along in years and needs to get married. The wheels of an arranged marriage start turning. This leads to complications.

Nov 12
Nov 12 Tom Tykwer's HEAVEN

Dennis D. McDonald

HEAVEN is an almost leisurely emotional odyssey of two seemingly dissimilar people — one a murderer, the other a young police officer — that evolves into a meditation on the relationship between morality and … gorgeous aerial photography?

Vidhu Vinod Chopra's “MISSION KASHMIR”

Oct 21

Oct 21 Vidhu Vinod Chopra's “MISSION KASHMIR”

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Drama, Indian, Music

I rented this film because I was reading a book (Maximum City) by one of the screenwriters (Suketu Mehta) and because, let’s face it, I crave a Bollywood fix from time to time. I was not disappointed. This is now one of my favorites.

The Upside of Anger

Oct 11

Oct 11 The Upside of Anger

Dennis D. McDonald

Drama, Spouse Approved

My wife is always pestering me to rent movies SHE will like, so I used the Netflix "recommendation" feature and found "Upside of Anger." A wise choice.

Oliver Stone's “ALEXANDER” (Director's Cut)

Sep 5

Sep 5 Oliver Stone's “ALEXANDER” (Director's Cut)

Dennis D. McDonald

Antiquity, Drama, History

Contrary to popular opinion, it IS possible to find positive reviews of this movie onlne.

William Wellman's “ISLAND IN THE SKY” and “THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY”

Aug 13

Aug 13 William Wellman's “ISLAND IN THE SKY” and “THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY”

Dennis D. McDonald

Aircraft, Drama

These two long-out-of-circulation movies present a version of John Wayne to the public that we have all but forgotten: the strong silent type who doesn’t go around smashing people with fists or blasting them with a gun. Instead he exerts his authority through quiet determination and professionalism.

Jasmin Dizdar's “BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE”

Jul 18

Jul 18 Jasmin Dizdar's “BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE”

Dennis D. McDonald

This movie is filled with angry, argumentative, strange, cruel, and just plain mean characters. Ultimately, it is profoundly humane.

Mike Leigh’s “Vera Drake”

Apr 3

Apr 3 Mike Leigh’s “Vera Drake”

Dennis D. McDonald

Drama, Spouse Approved, Class Warfare

One depressing thing about this movie is what it points out about "developed" Western societies: there are two levels of access to medical services, one for the rich, and one for the poor.

Mar 17
Mar 17 Mani Ratnam's YUVA

Dennis D. McDonald

Thoroughly undistinguished music aside, Yuva is an engrossing melodrama that combines politics with brutality, intellectualism, social activism, soap opera, and young love.

Sue Brooks’ “Japanese Story”

Feb 14

Feb 14 Sue Brooks’ “Japanese Story”

Dennis D. McDonald

Drama, Comedy, Quirky

Toni Colette (About a Boy) shines in this fishes-out-of water story.

Feb 8

Feb 8 Ray

Dennis D. McDonald

I remember a couple of years ago Diana Krall came to the DC area, headlining for Ray Charles. I didn't go to the concert, I was only interested in Krall. Paying so much to see what I considered to be a "vintage" act just didn't seem like a good idea.

Robert Bresson's “A MAN ESCAPED”

Jan 25

Jan 25 Robert Bresson's “A MAN ESCAPED”

Dennis D. McDonald

Prison, Drama, War

The Passion of Joan of Arc

Dec 5

Dec 5 The Passion of Joan of Arc

Dennis D. McDonald

Classic, Drama, Emotional, History

This 1928 silent film is emotionally wrenching. We follow a fictionalized account of the “trial” of Joan of Arc by an English-controlled religious court. The “trial” spans a day leading up to her being burned at the stake.

Nov 23
Nov 23 Nowhere in Africa

Dennis D. McDonald