280 characters

My Week with Marilyn (2011)

2012-02-12T04:56:00.011-05:00

Michelle Williams doesn’t have Marilyn Monroe’s body or smile, but she does capture the icon’s madness and insecurities during the filming of “The Prince and the Showgirl.” The best parts are Williams’ musical numbers at the beginning and end.

d: Simon Curtis | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose | Heatwave

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

2012-02-07T23:03:00.000-05:00

The Cold War spy picture intends to be slow and unretired spy Gary Oldman intends to be quiet. But without knowledge of the source material — the 1974 novel or the 1979 British miniseries — the film plays cold, overly complex and even boring.

d: Tomas Alfredson | imdb.com | trailer | I’m retired.
Smiley is suspicious. | The scalp hunters | Belinda the Blonde

The Descendants (2011)

2012-02-05T01:46:00.011-05:00

George Clooney, looking as weathered as he can, mourns the loss of his comatose wife through ponderous voice-over and discovers her recent affair in a soapy comedy set in Hawaii. Clooney and teenager Shailene Woodley are excellent, but the film is cold.

d: Alexander Payne | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose
Mom was cheating on you. | Stalking. | We’ll surprise your sister.

The Artist (2011)

2012-02-02T23:31:00.010-05:00

A silent movie about the end of silent movies — a sort of prequel to “Singing in the Rain” — features a bouncy score, dance numbers and two winning performances by Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo, who prove just how much can be said with their faces.

d: Michel Hazanavicius | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose
Screen dance | Breakfast table | Taking bows

The Help (2011)

2012-01-30T21:54:00.016-05:00

Based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett, director Tate Taylor makes an overwrought tear-jerker with some bathroom humor about Southern black maids in the early 1960s. But the movie is well executed, thanks to good performances, especially by Viola Davis.

d: Tate Taylor | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose | Let’s begin.
I need your help. | I got a job. | You is important.

Contagion (2011)

2012-01-21T00:08:00.010-05:00

Steven Soderbergh directs an international thriller about a pandemic that kills millions of people in a few months, capturing all the ensuing paranoia, as if Hitchcock came back to make one of those zombie apocalypse movies. But Jude Law is just awful.

d: Steven Soderbergh | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose
Don’t touch anything. | I think I’m sick. | It came from here.

Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979)

2012-01-19T18:44:00.006-05:00

Richard Pryor masters the art of autobiographical comedy, inhabiting and impersonating white people, squirrel monkeys and body parts — the most stunning, his heart during his heart attack. It is, quite possibly, the best stand-up concert ever.

d: Jeff Margolis | imdb.com | Kids lying | Pet monkeys | Ali

The Tree of Life (2011)

2012-01-15T14:31:00.011-05:00

Terrence Malick directs a beautiful piece of something about creation, life and afterlife and a love letter to hard-ass fathers from the 1950s starring Brad Pitt, who overcomes his good looks, using his square jaw to suggest and different time and man.

d: Terrence Malick | imdb.com | trailer | Creation | Hit me.
Lived it | Brahms | Help each other. | Gone to the dogs

Page One: Inside the New York Times (2011)

2012-01-14T11:42:00.005-05:00

This documentary is all over the place, a mish-mosh of ideas surrounding the paper’s survival, its newly formed media desk and the unlikable David Carr. If the Times wants to save money, it should move out of its post-modern palace.

d: Andrew Rossi | imdb.com | trailer | Tick-Tock | Charlie Rose

Angel (1984)

2012-01-11T23:38:00.007-05:00

Donna Wilkes is a 15-year-old, straight-A student (Molly) by day and a hooker (Angel) at night in an almost-good exploitation film with several nude scenes. She is also the target of necrophiliac serial killer John Diehl, who disguises himself as a Hare Krishna.

d: Robert Vincent O’Neill | imdb.com | trailer | whole movie
trailers | Angel | Avenging Angel | Angel III: The Final Chapter

Tower Heist (2011)

2012-01-09T00:20:00.008-05:00

Eddie Murphy’s anticipated return to actual entertainment is mostly unfulfilled promise. Murphy isn’t nearly funny enough, and neither is Ben Stiller, thanks to a lackluster script. The best part is the heist, a farcical version of the “Ocean’s” movies.

d: Brett Ratner | imdb.com | trailer | Slide trains the crew.
We’re undefeatable. | Never give your wallet ... | Lunch is on me.

Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop (2011)

2012-01-07T04:59:00.006-05:00

The documentary of Conan O’Brien’s 32-city, post-“Tonight Show” tour is a road picture full of backstage preparation and post-show whining, a portrait of Conan, circa 2010. But director Rodman Flender has edited the life out of the concert bits.

d: Rodman Flender | imdb.com | trailer

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

2012-01-02T01:05:00.007-05:00

In this origin story and second “Planet” redux, scientist James Franco raises an ape with the help of a super drug. During Caesar’s maturation, the film does the near-impossible, humanizing the ape as it displays and elicits real emotions.

d: Rupert Wyatt | imdb.com | trailer | Ape escape | Charlie Rose

Win Win (2011)

2012-01-01T05:27:00.011-05:00

Paul Giamatti plays exasperated and put-upon like no one else, but he is calmer and more natural this time as a struggling lawyer and high school wrestling coach. Giamatti is great, and so is newcomer Alex Shaffer in comedy about trying to do the right thing.

d: Thomas McCarthy | imdb.com | trailer | Heart attack
Eminem | Beat the crap | Give me a slap. | JBJ | She’s a druggie.

Margin Call (2011)

2011-12-31T06:24:00.005-05:00

Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Simon Baker and Demi Moore negotiate the end of a fictional investment bank (Lehman Brothers) during the 2008 financial crisis, and writer-director J.C. Chandor uses taunt dialogue and few sets to make a thriller.

d: J.C. Chandor | imdb.com | trailer

The Ides of March (2011)

2011-12-19T23:39:00.008-05:00

George Clooney directs an elementary story of an idealized presidential candidate (played by Clooney) who turns out to be just as human as any politician, and aid Ryan Gosling realizes what everyone already knows — that politics is a cynical business.

d: George Clooney | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose
the State of the Union | Make it mandatory. | My name is Molly.

Young Adult (2011)

2011-12-18T02:02:00.006-05:00

Jason Reitman directs another script by Diablo Cody (“Juno”), a dark comedy about high school — 20 years later. Charlize Theron is an understated force, a desperate, alcoholic who wants her old boyfriend back, while Patton Oswalt adds truth and humanity.

d: Jason Reitman | imdb.com | trailer | Do I know you? | Adorable
Checking in | Looking for a dress | Wedding photo

50/50 (2011)

2011-09-29T20:55:00.008-04:00

Moneyball (2011)

2011-09-27T01:43:00.007-04:00

Based on the book by Michael Lewis, the baseball film asserts that the Oakland A’s won 103 games with only their “Island of Misfit Toys,” not with the best player and best pitcher in the league. But Brad Pitt is believable as general manager Billy Beane.

d: Bennett Miller | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose
Biggest fear | Player evaluations | He plays for Detroit now.

Drive (2011)

2011-09-15T23:54:00.007-04:00

Ryan Gosling — stuntman, wheelman, real man — channels Clint Eastwood and Steve McQueen, and Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn provides the highly stylized Los Angeles backdrop and brutal violence. Even better, Albert Brooks exacts some of it.

d: Nicolas Winding Refn | imdb.com | trailer | Get away
He’s a good guy. | My hands are dirty. | Put him behind the wheel.

The Guard (2011)

2011-09-04T00:04:00.011-04:00

Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle play mismatched buddy cops — a smart Irish Archie Bunker and an affluent American FBI agent — familiar archetypes with new chemistry, and John Michael McDonagh directs with bright colors and even brighter dialogue.

d: John Michael McDonagh | imdb.com | trailer
It hurts. | Street value | Disney World | Gaelic

30 Minutes or Less (2011)

2011-08-27T19:32:00.005-04:00

Director Ruben Fleischer and Jesse Eisenberg — an unwilling bank robber with a bomb strapped to him — don’t deliver another “Zombieland,” but there are some cool moments, like the bank robbery and “The Heat Is On” car chase in the middle 30 minutes.

d: Ruben Fleischer | imdb.com | trailer | This time, it's personal

Bad Teacher (2011)

2011-08-16T23:03:00.006-04:00

Cameron Diaz is a teacher in search of a boob job and game for anything, even writhing on the hood of a car, in her first R-rated comedy since “There’s Something About Mary.” The movie is so much fun it hardly matters that bad triumphs over good (Lucy Punch).

d: Jake Kasdan | imdb.com | trailer | There she is. | Car wash

Horrible Bosses (2011)

2011-08-14T19:07:00.003-04:00

Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day play regular guy Three Stooges who plot to kill their bosses — Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell and sexual harasser Jennifer Aniston — with deft comic timing, cocaine slapstick and murder consultant Jamie Foxx.

d: Seth Gordon | imdb.com | trailer

Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)

2011-08-11T22:17:00.008-04:00

The best parts of this almost winning romantic comedy are Ryan Gosling teaching Steve Carell how to dress and pick up women. Gosling also romances the (Emma) Stone. But Julianne Moore is barely there, and Jonah Bobo, 13, is an annoying sitcom character.

d: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose

Limitless (2011)

2011-06-19T23:20:00.003-04:00

Bradley Cooper takes a super drug that helps him reach his full potential (as a writer and financial genius), and while the film doesn’t quite do the same, it’s an entertaining yarn and more than believable in the cynical present when (legal) drugs are cool.

d: Neil Burger | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose

Green Lantern (2011)

2011-06-17T14:59:00.004-04:00

The latest $150 million comic book fanboy inside joke isn’t good enough to be bad. It’s just boring — and it looks cheap. Ryan Reynolds, a maverick test pilot, finds this ring and then ... there’s this backstory, and you’ll wish you’ve never heard of planet Oa.

d: Martin Campbell | imdb.com | trailer | WonderCon 2011

Streets of Fire (1984)

2011-06-16T17:39:00.007-04:00

Director Walter Hill (“Warriors”) shoots post-World War II America like a film noir MTV video, a world where Willem Dafoe’s shotgun-wielding gang kidnaps rock star Diane Lane, and the brooding Michael Pare saves her in a kick-ass sledgehammer fight.

d: Walter Hill | imdb.com | trailer | Inside “Streets of Fire”
“Tonight Is What It Means to Be Young” | “I Can Dream About You”
The Independent | Roger Ebert | Salon

Bridesmaids (2011)

2011-06-13T02:13:00.004-04:00

Kristen Wiig, a comedy virtuoso on “Saturday Night Live” for years, writes and stars in a vehicle tailored to her subtle talents, the story of a maid of honor for whom everything goes wrong. It isn’t just a great comedy featuring women. It’s a great comedy.

d: Paul Feig | imdb.com | trailer | First class | About last night

Super 8 (2011)

2011-06-12T06:40:00.006-04:00

Steven Spielberg presents and J.J. Abrams directs a crappy mash-up of Spielberg’s early work — the kids (including a fat one) on an adventure in “Goonies,” the lens glare in “Close Encounters” and an alien who wants to go home. Naturally, it’s set in 1979.

d: J.J. Abrams | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose

X-Men: First Class (2011)

2011-06-03T03:22:00.007-04:00

Matthew Vaughn directs the “X-Men” prequel, the sort of corny comic book movie that he satirized so well in last year’s “Kick-Ass.” This time, Vaughn provides the fodder, including hackneyed dialogue and 12 mutants who rewrite the Cuban Missile Crisis.

d: Matthew Vaughn | imdb.com | trailer | Training montage

The Hangover Part II (2011)

2011-05-27T10:42:00.007-04:00

The second “Hangover” is darker (with more male nudity) and better than the first, thanks to Bangkok, where Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis find violent monks and a drug-dealing monkey — and Helms reworks Billy Joel’s “Allentown.”

d: Todd Phillips | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose
I think it’s happened again. | Pig! | “The Hangover”

Hall Pass (2011)

2011-05-04T12:55:00.010-04:00

The Farrelly Brothers latest effort feels dated and tame in the era of Judd Apatow, the new king of comedy via dick jokes. Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate live in sitcom world, where men are stupid and women are shrews.

d: Farrelly Brothers | imdb.com | trailer | I got a hall pass.

Your Highness (2011)

2011-04-27T02:48:00.005-04:00

The stoner fantasy features a sorcerer’s tale and a sorcerer’s tail (Natalie Portman’s bare ass), but director David Gordon Green, James Franco and Danny McBride can’t recapture the high times of “Pineapple Express.” You may have to be stoned to enjoy it.

d: David Gordon Green | imdb.com | trailer | Advice for Isabel

Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011)

2011-03-23T00:47:00.001-04:00

Lauded as the world’s most beautiful woman (Oh, those violet eyes!) and chided for her eight marriages (two to Richard Burton), Elizabeth Taylor could also act. She proved her mettle mostly as wanting women, full of drama and so good at being bad.

imdb.com | Time | The New York Times

Take Me Home Tonight (2011)

2011-03-08T01:31:00.006-05:00

A cheesy love letter to the 1980s, the film doesn’t really care about the decade, except to mine the era for its one-hit wonders, skinny ties and popped collars. The worst part: Eddie Money’s “Take Me Home Tonight” wasn’t even used in the movie.

d: Michael Dowse | imdb.com | trailer | “Don’t You Want Me”

My favorite movies (2010)

2011-02-15T06:26:00.004-05:00

The Mechanic (2011)

2011-02-02T22:36:00.006-05:00

Jason Statham plays Jason Statham, the baddest man in movies, but this time he’s a hitman in a remake of a 1972 Charles Bronson film. Ben Foster ups the acting ante as Statham’s less professional protégé. The whole thing is an effective bloody mess.

d: Simon West | imdb.com | trailer | You owe me.

The King’s Speech (2010)

2010-12-24T00:02:00.000-05:00

Colin Firth’s King George VI and commoner speech therapist Geoffrey Rush form a contentious friendship across social boundaries, humanizing the king and uplifting Rush in a real crowd-pleaser. Ultimately, though, what do kings do besides speak?

d: Tom Hooper | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose
Enemy | Bertie | Exercise | Common man | It’s just a chair.

True Grit (2010)

2010-12-22T05:34:00.009-05:00

Based on the Charles Portis novel (not the John Wayne film), the Coen Brothers obey Western genre constructs while deftly adding their own sense of dark irony and violence. Jeff Bridges steals many scenes, but Hailee Steinfeld, 14, is the heart of the story.

d: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen | imdb.com | trailer | “Charlie Rose”
You’re not going. | I’m a Texas Ranger. | Your eye. | No affidavit.

Black Swan (2010)

2010-12-17T00:54:00.000-05:00

Director Darren Aronofsky presents “Swan Lake” as a psychological thriller, “Carrie” in a tutu — the sheltered innocent, the creepily overbearing Mommy Dearest and blood. It’s either homage or derivative or something else, but Natalie Portman is quite good.

d: Darren Aronofsky | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose
Black swan | Attack it. | Passerby | Fitting | Hot for teacher

The Fighter (2010)

2010-12-17T00:37:00.000-05:00

Mark Wahlberg plays real-life welterweight Micky Ward in “Rocky” meets desperate Lowell, Mass., and he is supported by three super performances — gaunt, funny, crack-addicted Christian Bale, unsunny Amy Adams and overbearing mother Melissa Leo.

d: David O. Russell | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose
What’s the problem? | You can’t be me. | I’m the one fighting.

Blake Edwards (1922-2010)

2010-12-16T04:39:00.011-05:00

Blake Edwards directed enduring slapstick farces like the “Pink Panther” movies with Peter Sellers, “10” and “Victor/Victoria” and also excelled in other genres — the iconic “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and the alcoholic drama “Days of Wine and Roses.”

imdb.com | The New York Times | The Washington Post | Time
Honorary Academy Award speech | press conference | “Biography”

Leslie Nielsen (1926-2010)

2010-11-29T02:40:00.011-05:00

Serious character actor Leslie Nielsen became a comic star when he spoofed his image in “Airplane!” (“… and don’t call me Shirley”) and as bumbling Det. Frank Drebin in the television series “Police Squad!” and the successful “Naked Gun” movies.

imdb.com | The Washington Post | Los Angeles Times
“Airplane” | Det. Frank Drebin | Three strikes

127 Hours (2010)

2010-11-12T00:17:00.000-05:00

Danny Boyle uses too-frenetic direction and flashbacks and James Franco employs a method all his own to play the real-life Aron Ralston, making the story of the 27-year-old hiker who cut off his right arm inspirational. But they don’t capture the solitude.

d: Danny Boyle | imdb.com | trailer | Wow | Aron falls. | Aron’s bag
I love you. | We have to do it again. | I aim to shave 45 minutes off.

Due Date (2010)

2010-11-05T00:42:00.000-04:00

Director Todd Phillips doesn’t deliver the same laughs he did with “The Hangover,” because these gags — a masturbating dog and Robert Downey Jr. punching a child — aren’t good enough and the furry Zach Galifianakis is more palatable in small doses.

d: Todd Phillips | imdb.com | trailer | Restroom? | Father’s ashes

Fair Game (2010)

2010-11-05T00:24:00.000-04:00

Noami Watts plays exposed CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson with smarts and steely determination and Sean Penn is himself as her husband — swaggering liberal Joseph Wilson — in a real-life spy thriller and the story of a marriage under extreme duress.

d: Doug Liman | imdb.com | trailer | Breaking point
It’s everywhere | Joe Wilson vs. the White House | Saddam

Red (2010)

2010-10-15T00:24:00.000-04:00

Morgan Freeman sums up the spy game, saying “we’re getting the band back together,” and it’s a likeable bunch — Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren (with a machine gun) and Brian Cox — in a likeable movie. It’s likeable but not much more.

d: Robert Schwentke | imdb.com | trailer | Dunning

The Social Network (2010)

2010-10-01T00:02:00.000-04:00

Tension-building director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, equipped with his machine gun-paced dialogue, turn the story of Facebook — invented (mostly) by Mark Zuckerberg — into a zeitgeist thriller and a post-modern revenge of the nerds.

d: David Fincher | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose
Sign | Equation | The Sopranos | Sean Parker | Bosnia

The Town (2010)

2010-09-17T00:45:00.000-04:00

Ben Affleck directs and stars in a bank heist picture set in Charlestown, Mass., the capital of bank heists, with average results. Affleck can’t find the right tone for the film or his complicated character, and only Blake Lively gives an interesting performance.

d: Ben Affleck | imdb.com | trailer | My bank was robbed.
You dummies shot a guard. | I never asked you to. | Six inches

Easy A (2010)

2010-09-17T00:24:00.000-04:00

Screenwriter Bert V. Royal’s loose high school adaptation of “The Scarlet Letter” isn’t quite as smart as he thinks it is, but Emma Stone is a charming smartass. She leads a fun, breezy 90 minutes, complete with knowing nods to those cheesy John Hughes films.

d: Will Gluck | imdb.com | trailer | “Pocketful of Sunshine”
There’s a higher power. | Olive & Brandon | Woodchuck Todd

Machete (2010)

2010-09-03T00:30:00.000-04:00

Robert Rodriguez’s fake trailer before the “Grindhouse” double feature is now a 105-minute, ultra-violent revenge fantasy — and it’s a blast. Deadpan Danny Trejo is Machete, an expert knife thrower who makes women (Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez) melt.

d: Robert Rodriguez, Ethan Maniquis | imdb.com | trailer
Underground Network | Both cops | You’re a fighter | Sniper

The American (2010)

2010-09-01T00:12:00.000-04:00

George Clooney plays a hitman near the end, the maker of one last firearm in a smart, mannered film set in Italy, where even the prostitutes are beautiful and sophisticated. The movie is so good, so sure of itself, it could have been made in the 1970s.

d: Anton Corbijn | imdb.com | trailer

The Tillman Story (2010)

2010-08-20T00:51:00.000-04:00

The documentary isn’t just about the death of Pat Tillman, the former NFL player who was killed by friendly fire in Iraq, and the ensuing cover-up by the U.S. government. It’s also about how the surviving Tillman family kept fighting for the truth.

d: Amir Bar-Lev | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose

Piranha (2010)

2010-08-20T00:23:00.000-04:00

The problem with this exploitation remake/homage to “Piranha” (1978) isn’t the gratuitous blood and breasts. The problem is execution. Richard Dreyfus’ cameo — and eventual death — in the first scene hints at 90 minutes of fun, then the movie disappoints.

d: Alexandre Aja | imdb.com | trailer | Chew on this. | In the water.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

2010-08-13T00:03:00.000-04:00

Edgar Wright directs a mash-up of ideas — comic books, video games, Michael Cera’s deadpan comedy — into something just-right. Cera plays Scott Pilgrim, who crushes on Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who carries the baggage of seven evil ex-boyfriends.

d: Edgar Wright | imdb.com | trailer

The Other Guys (2010)

2010-08-06T00:06:00.000-04:00

Much better than “Cop Out” but no match for “Hot Fuzz,” director Adam McKay and Will Ferrell goof on the buddy cop genre. Ferrell keeps his shtick in check and Mark Wahlberg plays it straight, while Samuel L. Jackson and the Rock send up their images.

d: Adam McKay | imdb.com | trailer | Lion and tuna | Who is that?

Get Low (2010)

2010-07-30T00:50:00.000-04:00

Robert Duvall is pefectly grizzlied and Bill Murray perfectly glib in a depression-era story of a funeral party, but the performances aren’t quite enough. The movie meanders and never delivers on wild stories of a hermit, settling for a too-safe third act.

d: Aaron Schneider | imdb.com | trailer

The Kids Are All Right (2010)

2010-07-30T00:05:00.000-04:00

Lesbians Annette Bening and Julianne Moore have a complicated marriage and two kids — just like everyone else! Then the kids contact forgotten sperm donor Mark Ruffalo, who again plays a scruffy, emotionally impotent fuck-up who fucks everything up.

d: Lisa Cholodenko | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose
How did you meet? | So, Paul? | It’s her job. | Team sports

Inception (2010)

2010-07-16T00:13:00.000-04:00

Director Christopher Nolan creates a visually stunning, surrealistic dream world, then one beyond that and then another beyond that. Along the way, Leonardo DiCaprio leads a heist of another man’s mind and finds closure with dead wife Marion Cotillard.

d: Christopher Nolan | imdb.com | trailer | First lesson
The most skilled extractor | I need an architect. | Don’t be afraid.

Toy Story 3 (2010)

2010-06-18T00:00:00.000-04:00

The third “Toy Story” doesn’t have the resonance of “Up” or the imagination of “Where the Wild Things Are.” It is just cute, nothing more, nothing less, the middle half an endless prison break. Plus, the filmmakers go for too many “Is Ken gay?” jokes.

d: Lee Unkrich | imdb.com | trailer | Made for each other.
Play time. | Tea party. | Switch him back. | Welcome to Sunnyside

The A-Team (2010)

2010-06-11T00:51:00.000-04:00

Like “Charlie’s Angels,” this action-comedy is the rare movie based on a television series that honors the source material, having fun without making fun. Bradley Cooper delivers charm and smarm and director Joe Carnahan the action, including a flying tank.

d: Joe Carnahan | imdb.com | trailer | Face | Murdock | Flying tank

Winter’s Bone (2010)

2010-06-11T00:24:00.000-04:00

Jennifer Lawrence gives a breakthrough performance as Ree Dolly, a 17-year-old Ozark Mountain girl looking for her missing father. She is an everyday American hero, fighting for her life and against the antiquated social mores of her extended family.

d: Debra Granik | imdb.com | trailer

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010)

2010-06-11T00:13:00.000-04:00

The documentary follows Joan Rivers in her 76th year — at her best and worst. She wins “Celebrity Apprentice,” endures a Comedy Central roast, opens for Don Rickles, but her play bombs. Rivers will take any gig, anywhere. She is show business.

d: Ricki Stern, Anne Sundberg | imdb.com | trailer | I hate ...

Get Him to the Greek (2010)

2010-06-04T00:53:00.000-04:00

Russell Brand’s portrayal of Aldous Snow — the British rocker from “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” — as both outlandish satire and human being is pitch-perfect in a wild road picture with Jonah Hill and Sean Combs, who plays a music industry executive.

d: Nicholas Stoller | imdb.com | trailer | Seattle? | Chocolate Daddy
Your last album ... | Lars Ulrich | I love this game. | Adrenaline

Splice (2010)

2010-06-04T00:09:00.000-04:00

Biochemists and lovers Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley genetically engineer an impressive human hybrid — part human, part all sorts
of animals — with myriad results, including a bizarre love triangle. It’s a B movie that delivers on some high aspirations.

d: Vincenzo Natali | imdb.com | trailer

Dennis Hopper (1936-2010)

2010-05-29T16:00:00.015-04:00

Dennis Hopper directed “Easy Rider” and often lived like the film’s drug-dealing hippie bikers, earning two exiles from Hollywood. But he returned to do sobering work — most famously as a photographer in “Apocalypse Now” and a psychopath in “Blue Velvet.”

imdb.com | Time | The New York Times | The Washington Post
Clips: “Easy Rider” | “Apocalypse Now” | “Blue Velvet”
Interviews: Charlie Rose | Bob Costas | David Letterman

MacGruber (2010)

2010-05-21T00:58:00.000-04:00

The “Saturday Night Live” sketch isn’t funny, but it is mercifully short, and the hero dies. The movie is 99 minutes, and sadly, Will Forte’s bumbling version of 1980s television icon “MacGyver” lives — for corny sexual innuendo and misguided machismo.

d: Jorma Taccone | imdb.com | trailer | Coffee shop

Solitary Man (2010)

2010-05-21T00:25:00.000-04:00

Michael Douglas plays another version of disgraced businessman Gordon Gekko, just as greedy but more hapless — 60 years old, chasing college girls, pitied by his family. It’s a good performance, but there’s nothing likeable about it. “Wonder Boys” is better.

d: Brian Koppelman, David Levien | imdb.com | trailer | I could stay.

Best Worst Movie (2010)

2010-05-14T00:45:00.000-04:00

Michael Paul Stephenson directs this happy, sad documentary about “Troll 2” — the worst movie ever made — and its bizarre cult following. Stephenson, the kid in 1990 movie, visits the rest of the cast, including the really good-natured George Hardy.

d: Michael Paul Stephenson | imdb.com | trailer | ... born an actor

Iron Man 2 (2010)

2010-05-07T00:04:00.000-04:00

The “Iron Man” sequel is a disjointed, entertaining mess — the sort of summer fun “The Dark Knight” could never have. Robert Downey Jr.’s smartass charm wears well, and he is supported by Mickey Rourke (a Russian villain) and Sam Rockwell (a clueless rival).

d: Jon Favreau | imdb.com | trailer | Plane jump
New assistant | Grab a quote | Suitcase suit | Ivan Vanko

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

2010-04-30T00:33:00.000-04:00

Jackie Earle Haley plays Freddy Krueger in another remake of a 1980s slasher film that isn’t as scary or fun as the original. Nominated for an Oscar as a pedophile in “Little Children,” the creepy, little Haley is now being typecast as one.

d: Samuel Bayer | imdb.com | trailer | Falling asleep | Drug store

Kick-Ass (2010)

2010-04-16T00:36:00.000-04:00

Based on a comic book, the movie is a violent, profane satire of comic book movies — and it’s a lot of fun. Chloe Grace Moretz, just 11 when the film was made, is a real discovery as superhero Hit Girl, walking the line between adorable and trained killer.

d: Matthew Vaughn | imdb.com | trailer | I’m Kick-Ass.
Suit up | Birthday present | Big Daddy | Mist Mobile

Date Night (2010)

2010-04-09T00:25:00.000-04:00

Excellent on television, Steve Carrell and Tina Fey are smarter than this action-comedy, which is, not ironically, standard date night material. The outtakes are the best part, a hint of what might have been had the pair been allowed to improvise the whole film.

d: Shawn Levy | imdb.com | trailer

Chloe (2010)

2010-03-26T00:40:00.000-04:00

Amanda Seyfried looks too young to be a call girl, and Liam Neeson is a colossal bore. Julianne Moore is the only believable part of this love triangle, which devolves into an intellectualized exploitation movie. At least the couple’s modern house is perfect.

d: Atom Egoyan | imdb.com | trailer | The Client

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

2010-03-26T00:13:00.000-04:00

John Cusack, Craig Robinson and the manic Rob Corddry return to 1986, when all the best sex and drugs were at ski lodges (“Hot Dog: The Movie”), where Crispin Glover (“Back to the Future”) is a bellhop in a hilarious male wish-fulfillment fantasy.

d: Steve Pink | imdb.com | trailer | Gay ones. | John Cusack

Greenberg (2010)

2010-03-26T00:07:00.000-04:00

Noah Baumbach directs this character study of Roger Greenberg, a 40-year-old former musician turned carpenter full of regret. Greenberg is Ben Stiller’s most serious role and possibly his funniest, while newcomer Greta Gerwing is a regular-girl revelation.

d: Noah Baumbach | imdb.com | trailer | “Charlie Rose”

The Runaways (2010)

2010-03-19T00:38:00.000-04:00

Kristen Stewart is a dead ringer for Joan Jett (right down to the brooding slouch), and Dakota Fanning gives her first grown-up performance as Cherie Currie — lead singer of the Runaways. But Michael Shannon is the most watchable as their creepy manager.

d: Floria Sigismondi | imdb.com | trailer | “Cherry Bomb” video

Peter Graves (1926-2010)

2010-03-14T23:50:00.007-04:00

Best known as Jim Phelps in the classic television series “Mission: Impossible,” Peter Graves also found fame as Captain Clarence Oveur in the “Airplane” movies, lampooning his serious image and asking little Joey: “You ever seen a grown man naked?”

imdb.com | “Airplane” | “Mission: Impossible”

She’s Out of My League (2010)

2010-03-12T00:33:00.000-05:00

Jay Baruchel, one of Seth Rogen’s band of brothers in “Knocked Up,” graduates to lead loser in a generic knock-off of a Judd Apatow film. Not even romantic interest Alice Eve can explain why she’s with the dead-end, self-esteem-less Baruchel.

d: Jim Field Smith | imdb.com | trailer | Beauty and the beast

Corey Haim (1971-2010)

2010-03-10T18:00:00.009-05:00

Corey Haim died from a drug overdose at 38 years old — a lost boy and cautionary tale for child stars drunk on money and fame. He teamed with best friend Corey Feldman for four forgettable movies and finally the A&E reality series “The Two Coreys.”

imdb.com | “The Lost Boys” | “Lost Boys 2” | “The Two Coreys”

My favorite movies (2009)

2010-03-07T18:03:00.014-05:00

1. Where the Wild Things Are (Jonze)
2. Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino)
3. The Hurt Locker (Bigelow)
4. Up in the Air (Jason Reitman)
5. Funny People (Apatow)
6. A Serious Man (Coen Brothers)
7. Adventureland (Mottola)
8. Zombieland (Fleischer)
9. Goodbye Solo (Bahrani)
10. Sugar (Boden and Fleck)

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

2010-03-05T00:00:00.000-05:00

Tim Burton imagines a new wonderland — where Alice is 19, on the verge of a lifeless marriage and Johnny Depp (Mad Hatter) and Helena Bonham Carter (Red Queen) steal scene after scene. Stunning makeup and costumes accent the feminist allegory.

d: Tim Burton | imdb.com | trailer | Off with his head.

The Crazies (2010)

2010-02-26T00:07:00.000-05:00

In a remake of George Romero’s 1973 film, insanity caused by a mysterious virus via the U.S. government returns, but this B movie is executed at a high level, with understated performances by Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell and a tense car wash scene.

d: Breck Eisner | imdb.com | trailer | Car wash | The Crazies (1973)

Crazy Heart (2009)

2010-02-05T00:32:00.005-05:00

As tired, drunk country singer Bad Blake, Jeff Bridges performs his songs (written by T-Bone Burnett) like he has been singing them his whole life. He is great, but the movie is just good. Robert Duvall shows up — a nod to his country singer in “Tender Mercies.”

d: Scott Cooper | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose
No tab. | Keep after it. | “I Don’t Know” | “The Weary Kind”

The Book of Eli (2010)

2010-01-15T00:13:00.000-05:00

Thirty years after the end of the world, Denzel Washington still walks the earth in a “Road Warrior” pilgrimage, fighting off cannibals and thieves. Then he finds a town ruled by Gary Oldham, a Western ensues, and there’s one hell of a payoff at the end.

d: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes | imdb.com | trailer | That book.

Youth in Revolt (2010)

2010-01-08T00:33:00.000-05:00

Michael Cera plays Nick Twisp (not just another movie virgin) and his supplementary persona Francois Dillinger (French, confident, daring) in a winning comedy with all sorts of extreme characters played by Zach Galifianakis, Ray Liotta and Steve Buscemi.

d: Miguel Arteta | imdb.com | trailer | Francois Dillinger | Say yes.

Up in the Air (2009)

2009-12-23T00:00:00.001-05:00

Director Jason Reitman captures the current zeitgeist of unemployment, and George Clooney (a corporate downsizer) delivers the bad news. Clooney is at his best — charming, perfectly dressed and engaged by smart, sexy Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick.

d: Jason Reitman | imdb.com | trailer | “Charlie Rose”
Bar club cards | I’m not a tour guide. | Miles | Something real

Brittany Murphy (1977-2009)

2009-12-21T02:25:00.012-05:00

Equipped with expressive doe eyes, Brittany Murphy played innocent in “Clueless” and forgettable romantic comedies but also found more serious work — suicidal in “Girl, Interrupted,” Eminem’s girlfriend in “8 Mile” and an abused waitress in “Sin City.”

imdb.com | The New York Times | Esquire
clips: “Clueless” | “Girl, Interrupted” | “8 Mile” | “Sin City”

My favorite movies (2000s)

2009-12-20T03:23:00.023-05:00

1. Lost in Translation (03 Sofia Coppola)
2. Juno (07 Jason Reitman)
3. Where the Wild Things Are (09 Jonze)
4. Inglourious Basterds (09 Tarantino)
5. The 40 Year Old Virgin (05 Apatow)
6. Shaun of the Dead (07 Wright)
7. Religulous (08 Charles)
8. Million Dollar Baby (04 Eastwood)
9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (04 Gondry)
10. Junebug (05 Morrison)

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953)

2009-12-17T00:35:00.007-05:00

The only film written by Dr. Seuss captures the wit, whimsy and imagination of his other work with playful musical numbers and sets straight out his children’s books. In this story, the sinister Dr. Terwilliker operates a piano academy for boys.

d: Roy Rowland | imdb.com | trailer | the whole movie
“Because We’re Kids” | “Dressing Song: Do-Mi-Do Duds”

A Single Man (2009)

2009-12-11T01:24:00.001-05:00

Fashion designer Tom Ford’s first film is a bit pretentious, but it captures the look and feel of Los Angeles in 1962 — from skinny ties to the Cuban missile crisis. Colin Firth, a gay college professor, mourns the death of his partner in a human performance.

d: Tom Ford | imdb.com | trailer | Becoming George.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

2009-11-25T00:00:00.001-05:00

Based on the book by Roald Dahl, director Wes Anderson constructs a breezy, stop-action playland — like those old “Frosty the Snowman” specials — where his family of foxes and other furry creatures act with the imagination of a child’s favorite toy.

d: Wes Anderson | imdb.com | trailer | “Charlie Rose”
You cussin’ with me? | Whack bat | Dig. | Latin roll call

The Road (2009)

2009-11-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

Director John Hillcoat paints the end of the world in brown and gray, a bleak terrain of cannibals and thieves, starvation and terror. But Viggo Mortensen and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) carry the fire, their relationship a moving tribute to the last of humanity.

d: John Hillcoat | imdb.com | trailer | You never killed a man ...
Bad guys. | He’s a god. | We did good. | They are going to kill us.

The Blind Side (2009)

2009-11-20T00:54:00.000-05:00

Based on the book by Michael Lewis, spunky Memphis mama Sandra Bullock (in a one-note performance) and her family adopt a black kid, and football success ensues in a big-budget version of a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. Michael Oher is reduced to a mute.

d: John Lee Hancock | imdb.com | trailer | New room | Lunch

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)

2009-11-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

Nicolas Cage gives a singular performance as a wonderfully unhinged cop investigating a multiple homicide. His personal life is a high-wire balancing act — Vicodin, cocaine, prostitute girlfriend and gambling on college football.

d: Werner Herzog | imdb.com | trailer

The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

2009-11-06T00:00:00.000-05:00

George Clooney, Jeff Bridges (wonderful as another version of the Dude), Kevin Spacey and Stephen Lang are members of the New Earth Army, an experimental Army program centered on parapsychology in an enjoyable war comedy with little payoff.

d: Grant Heslov | imdb.com | trailer | the book | the documentary

The Fourth Kind (2009)

2009-11-05T03:07:00.010-05:00

Milla Jovovich’s performance as Dr. Abigail Tyler — a psychologist in Nome, Alaska, who was abducted by aliens — is intercut with footage of the real Tyler and her patients’ freakout sessions. Except none of it is true, and either way, it’s not scary.

d: Olatunde Osunsanmi | imdb.com | trailer | It’s just not true.

Daniel Melnick (1932-2009)

2009-10-20T18:27:00.008-04:00

As a producer and studio executive, Daniel Melnick made the classics “Straw Dogs,” “Network,” “All That Jazz” and “The Goodbye Girl.” But coolest of all, he hosted monthly poker games that included Johnny Carson, Steve Martin, Neil Simon and Chevy Chase.

imdb.com | The New York Times | Los Angeles Times | Martin Short

Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

2009-10-16T00:00:00.003-04:00

Director Spike Jonze creates a world so fantastic that it honors a child’s imagination yet so realistic that Max, King of the Wild Things, can’t solve life’s complicated emotions even in his make-believe world. Jonze has made a little piece of joy.

d: Spike Jonze | imdb.com | trailer | featurette
What’s your story? | This is our family. | Dirt clod fight