My Best Friend (DVD)

My Best Friend (2007) starring Daniel Auteuil, Dany Boon. French-language film tells the story of Francois, a man who is so career-driven that he has neglected to make any friends. When his business partner challenges him to produce his best friend, he finds to his surprise that he hasn't any. So he turns to a gregarious taxi driver to help him learn the meaning of friendship. There are several small surprises in this film, but the script is pretty thin and one never really quite understands why the two men end up liking one another. It has a nice ending, though. Grade: B

Crazy Love (DVD)

Crazy Love (2007) directed by Dan Klores. Documentary tells the true story of an obsessive relationship that made for sensational headlines, and is still stranger than fiction. It's the story of Burt Pugach, a married lawyer, and Linda Riss, the young woman he falls for in 1959. When she eventually rejects him, he hires thugs to throw lye in her face, blinding her. He goes to jail for the crime, but when he gets paroled he convinces her to marry him. But wait, there's more. I'm not going to tell it all here, but this rather slow-paced film turned out to be quite entertaining. Grade: B

The Hoax (DVD)

The Hoax (2006) starring Richard Gere, Julie Delpy, Marcia Gay Harden, Alfred Molina, Stanley Tucci. Gere plays Clifford Irving, who in the 1970s wrote an "authorized autobiography" of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. It's rather entertaining to watch Gere play the consummate con-man who nearly gets his fake book published. Grade: B

Leprechaun (DVD)

Leprechaun (1993) starring Warwick Davis, Jennifer Aniston. Davis plays the title character, an evil leprechaun who goes on a killing spree when his hoard of gold is stolen. Aniston's appearance is notable mostly for this being her first movie. The script is totally laughable, and not in a good way. This might make a good scary film for 12-year-olds, except that it's rated R. Grade: D

28 Weeks Later (DVD)

28 Weeks Later (2007) starring Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Catherine McCormack, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau, Imogen Poots, Mackintosh Muggleton. The plague from "28 Days Later," which turns humans into zombies, seems to have run its course, and people are returning to repopulate Britain. But of course the plague returns and must be snuffed out again. Meanwhile, this movie is plagued by action scenes that consist of violent shaking of the camera and much gushing of blood. The director seems fond of things that flash -- jump cuts, for one, and lights that jitter on and off repeatedly. Epileptics should avoid this film. Plus, much of the "action" takes place in darkness. The whole film was so sickening and irritating that I could not watch it all the way through, so I must give it a Grade: F.

Stranger than Paradise (DVD)

Stranger than Paradise (1984) starring John Lurie, Eszter Balint. Willie isn't exactly thrilled when Eva, his cousin from Hungary, comes to stay with him in New York. But Eva eventually earns his grudging respect, and a year later Willie and a friend invite Eva to accompany them on a trip to Florida. Their destination is Miami, but suffice it to say they get sidetracked. Oddly involving little film from writer/director Jim Jarmusch, with an unsatisfactory ending. Grade: B-

Frida (DVD)

Frida (2002) starring Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina. Hayek plays Frida Kahlo, the Mexican painter, 20th century icon, communist and bisexual. Molina portrays her philandering husband, the Mexican artist Diego Rivera. Frida struggled with a life of wracking pain following a trolley accident, a miscarriage, the amputation of a leg, and finally, alcohol and pain-medication abuse that killed her at age 47. This movie is a vivid portrait of her life. Grade: B+

1408 (DVD)

1408 (2007) starring John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson. A writer and paranormal debunker (Cusack) checks into room 1408 of the Dolphin Hotel, a room purported to be "evil." Although he does not believe in "haunted rooms," he soon finds himself in his own personal hell. It's all pretty predictable and lacking in originality. Grade: C

Chocolat (DVD)

Chocolat (2000) starring Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Lena Olin, Johnny Depp. Binoche plays a wanderer, a free spirit who travels from town to town, and who changes people's lives with her chocolate concoctions. Along with her on her travels she takes her young daughter, who is not thrilled with all the constant moving. They move to a village in France where, surprisingly, everyone speaks English. She opens up a chocolate shop during lent and incurs the wrath of the mayor of the small town. It's all very whimsical and ultimately rewarding. Grade: A-