Inception is worth seeing not only so you can join the conversation of what it means (I like the theory that it’s about filmmaking, with the DiCaprio character as director; and I like the idea that it’s cinematic jazz) but also to enjoy the dream-sequence visuals of folding cities, exploding café scenes and falling in ultraslow motion. It’s beautiful, thrilling and baffling.
Grade: A
By my count, this is the fifth film in the Predator series and the viewer still knows practically nothing about this turgid species of alien hunters — where do they come from, why do they hunt things, do they have an actual language or just stand around and screech at each other like idiots? When you come right down to it, they’re not even very good hunters — they use laser-guided shoulder cannons and invisible armor and still get their asses kicked by human ex-marines armed with nothing but tree branches.
Grade: D
-
Despicable Me is an endlessly clever summer confection that had all the adults, teens and kids in the showing I attended laughing uproariously (me included). The film is just as touching and inventive as Toy Story 3, but packed with twice as many wonderful nicknacks (the villain’s car is the best Hollywood auto since the Batmobile).
Grade: A+
-
An excellent script explores the relationships of mothers and daughters (male characters not so much) in this thoughtful, emotionally powerful film. All the acting is good, but Annette Bening really stands out as she takes her character through a transformation that is complete yet completely believable.
Grade: B+
This documentary confirms what I’ve always believed about Joan Rivers — she’s a vicious, self-obsessed, unforgiving old shrew who puts on a particularly vile and malignant stand-up comedy act. I will give her this: At 75, she works harder and longer than a harbor full of longshoremen.
Grade: B+
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This Oscar-winning film from Argentina (in Spanish, with English subtitles) tells a powerful tale of murder, romance and revenge. Unlike so many movies where crimes are driven by greed and solved by intellect, here motives flow from the heart and secrets are revealed in the eyes.
Grade: A
At the risk of agreeing with Bill, Toy Story 3 is as close to a perfect movie as you can get. Joyously inventive and deeply touching, it had this old curmudgeon laughing out loud and crying like a toddler.
Grade A+
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Andy’s going off to college, and the question of what will happen to Woody, Buzz and all his other toys makes this the sweetest and saddest Toy Story yet. As always, Pixar holds to the highest standards of visual wit and clever characters – I especially loved the Ken and Barbie dolls.
Grade: A+
Writer/director Nicole Holofcener, who wrote and directed Friends with Money, has created another morality play with more shades of gray than black-and-white lines. The excellent cast includes Catherine Keener as a Manhattan liberal trying to donate away her guilt, Oliver Platt as her pleasantly puzzled husband, and Amanda Peet as an evil bitch you can’t help but like.
Grade: B
In this Korean movie set in a small rural town, a slow-witted young man is accused of a vicious murder, and his fanatically devoted mother tries to prove his innocence. As the mystery unfolds with a strangeness reminiscent of Hitchcock or Lynch, keep in mind one character’s warning: “Don’t trust anyone, including me.”
Grade: B+
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