Repulsion (1965)

In the Roman Polanski thriller about the psychosis of sexual repression, it’s difficult to say what is most scary: its isolationism, the rape scenes played without a soundtrack or that the woman gone mad is the beautiful, doe-eyed Catherine Deneuve.

d: Roman Polanski | imdb.com | trailer | the whole movie

Not Quite Hollywood (2009)

Mark Hartley affectionately directs this documentary about the Australian exploitation films of the 1970s and 80s — full of sex, violence, gore, car chases and tales of Dennis Hopper. Quentin Tarantino steals the show with his enthusiasm for the genre.

d: Mark Hartley | imdb.com | trailer

Funny People (2009)

Director Judd Apatow’s most mature work mines the dark world of stand-up comedy for dick jokes followed by moments of pathos. Adam Sandler plays a movie star — a meaner, lonelier version of himself with a leukemia-related death sentence — and he’s very good.

d: Judd Apatow | imdb.com | trailer | Kill me. | “Charlie Rose”

In the Loop (2009)

Based on the sound bites and cooked intelligence leading up to the Iraq war, the beautifully profane political satire skewers the U.S. and British governments. Peter Capaldi, playing a British press secretary, steals the show with the most inventive insults.

d: Armando Iannucci | imdb.com | trailer | The wall
Your swearing does not impress me.

The Answer Man (2009)

Irascible recluse Jeff Daniels, who wrote the definitive spirituality book “Me and God,” is bothered by lost souls who bother him for life’s answers but charmed by chiropractor Lauren Graham and her son in a formulaic yet enjoyable romantic comedy.

d: John Hindman | imdb.com | trailer

G-Force (2009)

Jerry Bruckheimer produces a movie that mixes life action — and too many extreme close-ups of Zach Galifianakis — with CGI guinea pigs who are super spies. Unfortunately, it has all the elements of a Bruckheimer production and homage to “Transformers.”

d: Hoyt H. Yeatman Jr. | imdb.com | trailer | need for speed

Shrink (2009)

After his wife commits suicide, Hollywood psychiatrist Kevin Spacey self-medicates with marijuana. Spacey brings his usual gleeful cynicism, but his patients are a depressing bunch of show-biz clichés who are all too-neatly interconnected — another movie cliché.

d: Jonas Pate | imdb.com | trailer

Orphan (2009)

Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga are nothing but props in a standard child-possessed horror film. But Isabelle Fuhrman, who plays their newly adopted daughter Esther, is charmingly creepy, and her secret isn’t possession but something much more frightening.

d: Jaume Collet-Serra | imdb.com | trailer | She needs patience.

(500) Days of Summer (2009)

A realistic (un)romantic comedy told out of order: Joseph Gordon-Levitt falls in love with the adorable Zooey Deschanel (Summer), but she doesn’t believe in love. Both give charming, natural performances, and there’s even a musical number.

d: Marc Webb | imdb.com | trailer | Sid and Nancy | Stalking
“You Make My Dreams Come True” | They used to call me anal girl.

The Great Escape (1963)

Based on a true story, Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough and Charles Bronson lead 250 soldiers out of a German POW camp in World War II. McQueen is the heart of the epic, his cool under duress a symbol of the men’s indomitable spirit.

d: John Sturges | imdb.com | trailer | The Making of ...

Brüno (2009)

The second film from satirist and provocateur Sacha Baron Cohen doesn’t hit its mark as squarely as “Borat,” but as Bruno — a gay Austrian fashionista desperate for fame — Cohen nails enough of his targets, including stage parents, the South and Paula Abdul.

d: Larry Charles | imdb.com | trailer | stage parents