Movie Reviews
Titles starting with D
Dumbo
In 1941 the Disney Studios were in trouble from two financial failures in a row, Pinocchio and Fantasia, films that would go on to be regarded as classics but that didn’t bring in that much at the box office. They needed some hits, and they needed them now, and they needed them cheap. The first attempt was another failure: Read more »
Dumbo
The list of classic movies Disney has been making over the last decade or so continues to lengthen, with mixed results. So far, I’ve been surprised at the quality of some of these “live-action” (and brimming with CGI enhancements) remakes. I thought Beauty and the Beast and The Jungle Book were pretty damn good. Read more »
Dummy
Probably would never have been released on DVD if Adrian Brody hadn’t won the Oscar for The Pianist. It tries to be a sweet little study of some oddballs, but doesn’t really work. The best thing about the movie is Milla Jovovich, who is the lead singer of an in-your-face punk rock band so desperate for gigs that she agrees to play at a Jewish wedding where they ... Read more »
Dunkirk
We recently enjoyed Their Finest, a film about the making of a blatantly false propaganda piece about Dunkirk. Since Lee has sworn off war films, I went to see this one by myself, and it’s a very good one. One of the best things about it is that it doesn’t concentrate on phony heroics. It acknowledges that most soldiers, most of the time, are frightened to death ... Read more »
Duplex
Duplex (2003) We rented this on the strength of it being directed by Danny de Vito, whose dark sense of humor syncs closely with mine. I thought The War of the Roses was a masterpiece, and Throw Momma From the Train was brilliant. We even liked Death to Smoochy, and were apparently just about the only ones ... Read more »
Duplicity
Duplicity (2009) A movie that refuses to dumb down to the comic-book audiences of today is a pearl beyond price. This one is insanely complicated, but stays just within the bounds of something you could figure out. It aspires to be a romantic thriller like Charade, and though it’s not quite in that league, it is smart and nice to look at with all its foreign ... Read more »
The Dust Bowl
It must be admitted that there is a certain sameness, a certain formula if you will, in the historical documentaries of Ken Burns. First you select a mournful tune to be played on solo violin as your theme. Then you interview and film some historians and, if the event is recent enough, as this one is, some people who were alive and have memories of it. You hire a few good voice actors—Tom ... Read more »
Dust to Glory
Previous movies by this guy, Dana Brown, include The Endless Summer 2 and the highly-regarded Step Into Liquid. I haven’t seen either one, and probably won’t. I try not to be prejudiced, and I’ve heard the latter film has some awesome footage of waves, dude, but frankly, the only activity using a board that I have the least interest in ... Read more »