Once (DVD)

Once (2006) starring Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova. A sort of musical in which the actors play aspiring musicians, and they perform songs that they have written themselves. They meet as strangers, and you expect them to fall in love, but the film goes in a different direction. Very interesting. I wasn't that crazy about the music, however. Grade: B

Interview (DVD)

Interview (2006) starring Steve Buscemi, Sienna Miller. Directed by Buscemi. Hard-nosed journalist (Buscemi) is forced by his editor to interview seemingly vapid B-movie and slasher-flick star (Miller). The two clash at first, but then by chance end up spending the evening together. They both end up revealing unplumbed depths -- or do they? The movie starts slowly, and both characters are somewhat irritating. The verbal games they play hold only passing interest. Grade: B-

Vitus (DVD)

Vitus (2007) starring Fabrizio Borsani, Teo Gheorghiu, Julika Jenkins, Urs Jucker. Swiss film about a young boy named Vitus who is a virtual genius and piano prodigy. His parents try to nurture his talent and push him to succeed, but he seems to have other ideas about what to do with his life. So he feigns ordinariness, and turns himself into a different sort of prodigy altogether. There are some problems with pacing, motivation and believability in the latter half of the film, but still it builds to a satisfyingly triumphant conclusion. Grade: B+

Paprika (DVD)

Paprika (2007). Japanimation -- also known as anime -- about a team of psychiatric researchers who develop a device known as a DC-Mini. The DC-Mini can record dreams, and allows people to share dreams. But when it is stolen, the thief begins intertwining the patients' nightmares with the staff's dreams. The avatar Paprika, a female psychiatrist's alter ego, takes on the task of catching the person who took the device. This movie is unintentionally amusing for the disconnect between what the characters are saying and what the subtitles say they are saying, which adds another layer of entertainment. Some of the animated sequences are terrific, but the script leaves much to be desired. Grade: B-

Miss Potter (DVD)

Miss Potter (2006) starring Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, Emily Watson. Charming exploration of the private life of Beatrix Potter (Zellweger), author and illustrator of the Peter Rabbit children's books. It's a gently told tale, occurring during the genteel age of the late 19th and early 20th century. There is little in the way of drama, though tragedy does strike at midpoint when Miss Potter's unexpected fiance (McGregor) dies suddenly at a young age. All in all, this movie meets with my approval, and I dare say it would be suitable for children, especially those who have been raised on Peter Rabbit. Grade: B+

The Nanny Diaries (DVD)

The Nanny Diaries (2007) starring Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney, Paul Giamatti. Johansson stars as a young woman, fresh out of college, who can't decide what to do with her life. To fill the void, she takes a job as a nanny for wealthy Manhattanites. Johansson is appealing in the role as Nanny, but Linney and Giamatti are mostly just irritating as the parents of the child that Nanny is responsible for. Most telling, perhaps, is that the child actor portraying the young boy is lacking in appeal, and acting skill, and there's not much that can make us care about what happens to him. One thing for sure, this "comedy" isn't funny. Grade: C

Rescue Dawn (DVD)

Rescue Dawn (2006) starring Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davies. Directed by Werner Herzog. Fighter pilot Dieter Dengler (Bale) is shot down in 1965 over Laos. Captured by the Viet Cong, he is imprisoned in a Laotian torture camp near the Ho Chi Minh Trail. From his first day as a prisoner, Dengler thinks of nothing but escape and, amazingly, his escape plan succeeds. But once outside the prison camp, he still must survive the monsoon, the jungle and the Viet Cong. Against all odds, he is rescued by an American helicopter, and it's an inspiring, uplifting event. Never boring, this movie is a great piece of story-telling. Grade: B+

The Namesake (DVD)

The Namesake (2006) starring Kal Penn, Irfan Khan, Tabu. A family of immigrants from India is torn between traditions of their homeland and the modern American lifestyle. The story is told gently and feelingly, with genuine emotions arising from modest events. The namesake of the title is the son of the family, who is named Gogol after the Russian writer. Grade: B+

Manufactured Landscapes (DVD)

Manufactured Landscapes (2007). Documentary about Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky, who finds often strange beauty in large industrial vistas. More than just a photographer, Burtynsky is a student of industrialization and globalization. The film begins and ends in China, which is in the midst of an industrial revolution. Burtynsky shows and verbalizes how much each one of us is responsible for the damage being done to Mother Earth. It's all quite unsettling, if not terribly original. Similar themes have been explored in earlier films, and this is not the best. Grade: C+

Knocked Up (DVD)

Knocked Up (2007) starring Katherine Heigl, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann. In a drunken night of celebration over her job promotion, Alison (Heigl) ends up sleeping with slacker Ben (Rogen). As you can tell from the title of the movie, she gets pregnant. There's a huge subplot about Alison's sister Debbie (Mann) and her husband Pete (Rudd), which is kind of entertaining, but it elevates the running time of this movie to over two hours. Never for one minute did I believe the romance between Heigl and Rogen, and this movie did not make me laugh. Grade: C