Personal Best (DVD)

Personal Best (1982) starring Mariel Hemingway, Scott Glenn, Patrice Donnelly. Two world-class female athletes train together, compete against each other, become lovers, and break up, all while trying to get ready for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow -- which, by the way, the United States boycotted because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It's a pretty entertaining movie, with a fair amount of nudity for those who look for such things. Main problems: It seems a bit dated, and it's a little hard to buy Hemingway as an athlete in the same class as Donnelly. Grade: B

13 Going on 30 (DVD)

13 Going on 30 (2004) starring Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Judy Greer. Garner plays Jenna, who finds being a 13-year-old unbearable. Accidentally sprinkled with magic dust as she wishes she were 30, she wakes up in a grownup body and finds that being an adult isn't all it's cracked up to be. Comparisons to Tom Hanks in "Big" are inevitable, and this movie falls short in almost every category. The one aspect that doesn't disappoint is Garner herself, who is simply adorable in the title role. But that's not quite enough to make up for the far-fetched shenanigans that pass for plot in the middle part of the film, before the quickly contrived happy ending. Grade: B

The Darjeeling Limited (DVD)

The Darjeeling Limited (2007) starring Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody. Following the death of their father, three brothers from a dysfunctional family embark on a journey across India on a train called the Darjeeling Limited. Only trouble is, they soon get thrown off the train. I think their journey through India is meant to be picaresque, but I found it mostly irritating. And not funny. Anjelica Huston makes an appearance as the boys' mother. Grade: B-

The Valet

The Valet, (2006) starring Daniel Auteuil, Alice Taglioni, Kristin Scott Thomas, Gad Elmaleh. When a photo of a billionaire businessman (Auteuil) and his supermodel mistress (Taglioni) makes the tabloids, he must fool his wife into believing that the poor schlub (Elmaleh) who wandered into the picture is the supermodel's real lover. This French comedy with its European flair for the ridiculous makes for enjoyable viewing. Grade: B+

Becoming Jane (DVD)

Becoming Jane (2007) starring Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell, Maggie Smith. Novelist Jane Austen (Hathaway) faces the same choice as so many of her heroines -- whether to marry for love or money -- in this quasi historical drama. Although little is known of Austen's real life, the filmmakers have taken it upon themselves to posit a life for her which seems made up of fragments of her novels. They do not offer us a happy ending -- how could they? Jane Austen never married and died young. Grade: B

Margot at the Wedding (DVD)

Margot at the Wedding (2007) starring Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Black. Kidman plays the acid-tongued Margot in this dysfunctional family psychodrama that never actually gets to the wedding. It's fascinating watching all of these people and the fiction among them, but it doesn't actually go anywhere. Grade: B

In the Shadow of the Moon (DVD)

In the Shadow of the Moon (2007). The story of the Apollo space program, which successfully landed 16 astronauts on the surface of the Moon, is told in the words of the astronauts themselves, along with archival footage. It's an awe-inspiring story, especially for those of us who lived through it and realize what a chancy thing it was. Although I commonly think of documentaries as dry, I found this one riveting. Grade: A-

Across the Universe (DVD)

Across the Universe (2006) starring Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess. Uninspired, and uninspiring, attempt to weave a narrative around Beatles songs performed by mostly unknowns. I love the Beatles, but these pale reproductions left me cold, and the flimsy plot didn't help. The attempt to tie the Beatles' songs to the antiwar era in the United States just doesn't work. Grade: D

Black Book (DVD)

Black Book (2006) starring Carice van Houten. Near the end of World War II, a beautiful Jewish woman named Rachel Stein (van Houten) is hiding out in Holland from the Nazis. When her plan to escape goes terribly wrong, she manages to take on a new identity and infiltrate the enemy. She hooks up with the Dutch Resistance -- but of course the Nazis refer to the Resistance as "terrorists." This movie builds tension quickly and efficiently at the beginning, with scarcely a dull moment. Directed by Paul Verhoeven ("Basic Instinct," "Total Recall"). Grade: B+

Protagonist (DVD)

Protagonist (2007) by Jessica Yu. Documentary in which Oscar-winning filmmaker Yu explores parallels between human life and the formal dramatic structure of the Greek tragedian Euripides.
If that description makes the movie sound dry or boring, it's really misleading, because this is an interesting study of the lives or four men, all of whom sought control in their life, and at some point had a revelation that showed they were not in control. The men comprise a gay man who tried to deny his gayness by going into the ministry and marrying; a man who thought he had found his path through martial arts, only to realize that his teacher was a bully; a man who became a left-wing terrorist, but repudiated the movement when he saw that those he was involved with were anti-semitic; and a man who turned from a childhood of abuse into a bank robber. There's a lot of talking-heads stuff going on, but I was interested enough to watch it to the end. Grade: B

Joshua (DVD)

Joshua (2007) starring Jacob Kogan, Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Michael McKean, Celia Weston. Psychological thriller about a nine-year-old boy's jealousy over his newborn sister. Although he is a piano prodigy, Joshua (Kogan) suddenly finds that the spotlight has shifted away from him and onto his new sibling. The movie gets a little blurry from there, because the mechanisms by which Joshua pulls off his evil stunts are not apparent. It's almost like he's supposed to have supernatural powers, though there is never any basis for this possibility established in the script. There is one particularly chilling scene near the end that works well, but overall I found this movie disappointing. Grade: B