The Lives of Others (DVD)

The Lives of Others (2006). In 1984 in East Berlin, a secret police spy bugs the apartment of a high-profile couple. He spies on the successful playwright and his actress companion, but begins to feel himself drawn into their lives. Frankly, I didn't know quite what to make of this movie. It got excellent reviews elsewhere, but I felt that I missed something when I watched it. Grade: B

Fracture (DVD)

Fracture (2007) starring Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling. Legal thriller with Hopkins as the man who shot his unfaithful wife, Gosling as the prosecuting attorney who is trying to convict him of the crime. The twists and turns of the plot are too many to detail here, but when you think about it, it all doesn't quite hang together. Grade: B-

Sweetie (DVD)

Sweetie (1989) starring Karen Colston, Genevieve Lemon. Jane Campion's directorial debut plumbs the depths of a dysfunctional Australian family. There are no subtitles, and the Australian accents are impossible to understand. What would otherwise be just a strange movie becomes incomprehensible. Grade: D

Zodiac (DVD)

Zodiac starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Chloë Sevigny, Brian Cox, Dermot Mulroney, John Carroll Lynch. Gyllenhaal plays Robert Graysmith, a cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle in the 1960s and '70s who becomes obsessed with the Zodiac killer and eventually writes a book about the still-unsolved case. Unfortunately, this movie, which runs over two and a half hours, spends most of its second half showing him doing research for his book -- not exactly riveting viewing. Dates and places where action takes place are shown in fine white type which is not legible while viewing the DVD. Grade: B

Days of Glory (DVD)

Days of Glory (2006) starring a cast of unknowns. North African soldiers join the French army to help liberate France from Nazi occupation during World War II. The film dramatizes a lost chapter of history and pays tribute to the heroism of these forgotten troops. It also shows how little gratitude France showed to her Colonial soldiers. In various languages, with English subtitles. Grade: B

They All Laughed (DVD)

They All Laughed (1981) starring Ben Gazzara, John Ritter, Audrey Hepburn, Dorothy Stratten. A private eye team is hired to track down two women suspected of infidelity, but they can't seem to separate business from pleasure. Makes great use of Manhattan locations, and many pretty actresses are on display, but mostly falls pretty flat. Hepburn and Gazzara both look past their sell-by dates. Notable for appearance by Stratten, young actress who was killed before the film was released. Grade: C+

Hot Fuzz (DVD)

Hot Fuzz (2007) starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost. A top London cop (Pegg) is transferred to a bucolic village because he's making everyone else on the force look bad. He gets more action than he bargained for when a series of grisly "accidents" starts hitting the people of the hamlet. Brought to you by Edgar Wright, director of "Shaun of the Dead," this is part action movie, part murder mystery, but mostly just goofy fun. Grade: B-