Crazy Heart (2009)

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”

Away We Go (2009)

John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph search for the perfect place to raise their expected baby in a sweet road picture, and both deliver unaffected comic performances. Allison Janney, Jim Gaffigan and Maggie Gyllenhaal provide wonderful satires of bad parenting.

d: Sam Mendes | imdb.com | trailer | You got lucky, sister.

The Dark Knight (2008)

Christian Bale’s Batman voice veers toward self-parody, Heath Ledger’s Joker sounds like he has peanut butter stuck to the roof of his mouth and the action is a loud mess. The most unbelievable part: An attorney (Aaron Eckhart) is the city’s supposed savior.

d: Christopher Nolan | imdb.com | trailer | Crying on the inside.