Return to Dean's Home Page.
Go to Alphabetized List of Movies.
Note that I am discontinuing
the regular writing of movie reviews as of spring 2005. This page will remain on my site for a while but
will take a reduced profile. No new
reviews will be added.
Dean's Movie Reviews: My tastes in movies are hardly typical, and I offer no guarantees that my gems are not your bombs, or vice versa. In any case, you'll know next time whether or not to listen to me. I rate the movies from zero to four stars, but since I try to avoid movies that I suspect I won't like, most listed here tend toward the higher end of my rating scale.
Dean's rating scale: **** Exceptionally good, *** Quite good indeed, ** I liked some things about it, but found it to be something closer to average, *Not recommended.
Disclaimer:
I need to point out that I am not
actually as critical as I may sometimes sound from my reviews. Generally,
anything two stars or better is something I have enjoyed, and even those which receive only one star may have some redeeming
aspects. Those receiving less than one star (0 or 1/2) are simply not my
cup of tea, though I recognize respectfully that you may have different
tastes. See further disclaimer below.
Go to Alphabetized List of Movies.
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Downfall, Enron – The Smartest Guys in the
Room, Million Dollar Baby, Off the Map, Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill |
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The Aviator, Being Julia, Beyond the Sea, Closer,
Hotel Rwanda, Kinsey, Travelers and Magicians, A Very Long Engagement |
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After the Sunset, Delovely, The Forgotten, Garden State, Going Upriver – The Long War of John
Kerry, Incident at Loch Ness, Maria Full of Grace, Motorcycle Diaries, Open Water, Ray,
Sideways, Silver City, Team America – World Police, Unconstitutional – The War on Our
Civil Liberties, Unprecedented –
The 2000 Presidential Election, Vera
Drake |
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Coffee and Cigarettes, The Control Room, Fahrenheit 9-11, Love Me If You Dare, The Notebook, Super Size Me! |
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Barbarian Invasions, Osama, Passion of Christ |
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Bus 154, City of God, Cold Mountain, The Cooler,
The Dreamers, The Fog of
War, Girl with a Pearl Earring, In America,
Monster, Something’s Gotta Give, The Station Agent |
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Cuckoo, In This World, Lost in Translation, Luther, Magdalene Sisters, Mystic River, Pieces of April, Thirteen,
Veronica Guerin |
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American Splendor,
Capturing the Friedmans, Secret Lives of Dentists,
Swimming Pool, Winged Migration |
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Gods and Generals, Laurel
Canyon, A Mighty Wind, The Quiet American, Raising Victor Vargas, Russian
Ark, The Shape of Things |
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About Schmidt, Adaptation, Ararat, Catch Me If You Can, Chicago, Evelyn, Far From Heaven, Frida, The Hours, The Pianist, Real Women Have Curves, The 25th Hour |
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Bloody Sunday, Bowling for Columbine, Mostly Martha, Secretary, Spirited Away, White Oleander |
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The Fast Runner, Possession |
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About A Boy, Harrison's Flowers, Iris, Italian for Beginners, Kissing Jessica Stein, Monsoon Wedding, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Y Tu Mama |
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A Beautiful Mind, Ali, Black Hawk Down, Endurance, Gosford Park, Kandahar, In The Bedroom, No Man's Land, Royal Tennenbaums, Shipping News, Spy Game, Vanilla Sky, Waking Life |
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Amelie, Hearts in Atlantis, Innocence, The Man Who Wasn't There, Riding in Cars with Boys, Serendipity |
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The Circle, The Closet, The Deep End, Everybody's Famous, Shrek |
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Along Came a Spider, Chocolat, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Memento, Tailor of Panama |
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Cast Away, House of Mirth, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Quills, State and Main, Sweet November, Thirteen Days, Traffic, You Can Count on Me |
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Almost Famous, Bedazzled, The Contender, Girlfight, Not of This World, Pay it Forward |
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The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Chicken Run, The Color of Paradise, Croupier, High Fidelity, The Kid, Me Myself and Irene, Passion of the Mind, The Perfect Storm, Space Cowboys, The Virgin Suicides |
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The Cup, East is East, East-West, Time Code |
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All About My Mother, Cider House Rules, Cradle Will Rock, Galapagos, Hurricane, Magnolia, Snow Falling on Cedars, Topsy Turvy |
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American Beauty, Being John Malkovich, Boys Don't Cry, The King of Masks, The Red Violin, The Sixth Sense, The Straight Story |
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Analyze This!, Austin Powers II - The Spy Who Shagged Me, Blair Witch Project, Bowfinger, Election, Eyes Wide Shut, Run Lola Run, Tea With Mussolini, The Three Seasons, Twin Falls Idaho |
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American History X, Central Station, Elizabeth, Hilary and Jackie, Life is Beautiful, Matrix, Pleasantville, Rushmore, Saving Private Ryan, Shakespeare in Love, Tango, Thin Red Line, Waking Ned Devine, West Beirut, Windhorse |
For a second opinion plus many additional reviews, check out my friend Tony Porco's movie reviews. He tends to provide more insight and analysis than my reviews do. Note that he uses the 5-star rating (which seems to be evolving into a 0 to 10 rating scale) system while I use 4 stars.
Further Disclaimer: These reviews are not written in stone; they are written in cyber purely for entertainment purposes ... both mine and yours, and primarily for my family, friends and acquaintances. So, please don't put a lot of weight in the words. I certainly don't. Secondly, it should be noted that I sometimes read the comments of professional reviewers before seeing a film. I check their comments mainly to avoid seeing movies that don't interest me, a luxury they may not have. I make no pretense that I write reviews that remotely approach the quality of a professional reviewer, and while I do my best to capture my own views exclusively, I may sometimes make reference to their views. Still, similarities between their words and mine are generally unintentional and inadvertent on my part, though I cannot guarantee I have studiously avoided all comparisons.
Go to Alphabetized List of Movies.
Return to Dean's Home Page.