The Mist (DVD)

The Mist (2007) starring Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Andre Braugher. After a violent storm pounds a small town, a deadly mist moves in to cover everything, and there are monsters in the mist. Though based on a Stephen King novella, most of the blame for this schlock horror show should probably go to writer-director Frank Darabont. There may be some hard-core horror fans who will enjoy this low-budget attempt, but I found it (horror!) mostly boring. Grade: C-

Far from Heaven (DVD)

Far from Heaven (2002) starring Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Patricia Clarkson, Dennis Haysbert. Shot in the style of a 1950s "women's movie," this film takes a '50s look at homosexuality and racism. It's beautifully filmed, and always maintains a 21st-century sensibility. Grade: B+

Jumper (DVD)

Jumper (2008) starring Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Lane, Tom Hulce, Rachel Bilson. Young David Rice (Christensen) discovers that he has the amazing ability to teleport himself, and any objects he is touching, anywhere in the world. At first he uses his powers for purely hedonistic, selfish purposes -- "jumping" into bank vaults, seducing women, reclaiming his high-school crush. But then he finds out that there is a war going on -- that there are other Jumpers, and a group called the Paladins, who hunt down and kill the Jumpers. It's all pretty silly, really, but makes for an amusing couple of hours. Grade: B

Rebel Without a Cause (DVD)

Rebel Without a Cause (1955) starring James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus. Juvenile delinquency rears its ugly head in this laughable "classic." Attempts at replicating teen jive talk are hilarious, Dean looks his real age (24), and the plot is incredibly tame by 21st Century standards. The film is principally notable for being one of only three that Dean starred in before his death in a car crash in 1955. He received a posthumous Oscar nomination. Grade: C

Bend of the River (DVD)

Bend of the River (1952) starring James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Julie Adams, Rock Hudson, Lori Nelson. Once a Missouri bushwhacker, Stewart now leads a wagon train through Indian country up to northern Oregon, where he hopes to settle in to a peaceful life. Naturally, the settlers run into trouble when they get to Portland, and it's up to Stewart to lead them through it. Mildly entertaining Western. Grade: B

The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (DVD)

The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (2006) starring Michel Joelsas, Germano Haiut. Fleeing political repression in Brazil in 1970, a couple leave their 11-year-old son to stay with his grandfather. Unknown to them, the grandfather has passed away the same day, and the boy is left without a home. The film is a curious mixture of soccer madness, life in a dictatorship, and poignant coming-of-age story. Grade: B+

The Great Debaters (DVD)

The Great Debaters (2007) starring Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker. The year is 1935, and all-black Wiley College has a debate team that is up to all challenges. And there are plenty of challenges in Wiley's home state of Texas, what with lynchings and police raids on political gatherings. This movie is a combination of intense racial drama and sports movie, with the grand finale being a debate between little Wiley and Harvard, the number one debating team in the land. Grade: B+

Chop Shop (DVD)

Chop Shop (2007) starring Alejandro Polanco, Isamar Gonzales. Ambitious, twelve-year-old street orphan and his teen-age sister struggle for a better life amongst the mass of auto shops and junkyards known as the "Iron Triangle," just outside Queens, N.Y. A tough, eye-opening look at life on society's margins. Nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. But ultimately, not much fun. Grade: B-

The Sixth Sense (DVD)

The Sixth Sense (1999) starring Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette. Director M. Night Shyamalan's first, and best, movie; stars Willis as a child psychiatrist, Osment as a child who sees dead people, and Collette as the child's mother. This is really a masterpiece, filled with unexpected turns and one big twist. Osment makes the film work with his extraordinary performance, and Willis and Collette are both excellent. Even though I've seen this movie before, I still found myself caught up in the plot by the time it reached its climax. Grade: A

The Far Country (DVD)

The Far Country (1955) starring James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Corinne Calvet, Walter Brennan, John McIntire. Confirmed loner Stewart drives a herd of cattle from Wyoming to Seattle, then by boat to Alaska. He learns -- almost too late -- that folks got to stick together. Grade: B

In Bruges (DVD)

In Bruges (2008) starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes. After a murder goes wrong, two gangsters from London (Farrell and Gleeson) are sent to Bruges, Belgium to lay low for a while. Their boss (Fiennes) is still pulling the strings from London, however, and he has some nasty business in mind. It makes for a curious mixture of humor and violence which only works because, gradually, one comes to care about the characters. Grade: B+

Annie Hall (VHS)

Annie Hall (1977) starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton. Allen's brilliant portrait of the neurotic, sad and funny relationship between two New Yorkers, Alvy Singer (Allen) and Annie Hall (Keaton). There are too many funny moments to list, but something can be said about the medium. Seeing this movie on VHS, as I did today, definitely doesn't measure up. The picture is cropped at the sides, and the sound quality is poor. I hope to see it on DVD soon, in order to make the comparison -- if only it could be seen in a theater! Nevertheless, it is a masterpiece (and winner of the Best Picture Oscar for 1977). Grade: A

Dirty Harry (DVD)

Dirty Harry (1971) starring Clint Eastwood. Eastwood plays Harry Callahan, a cop who refuses to play by the rules. Scorpio, a vicious serial killer, is terrorizing San Francisco, and it falls to Callahan to track him down and bring him to justice. But the constitution gets in the way, and Dirty Harry has to play dirty to bring down the psychopath. If a real cop operated this way, he'd be drummed out of the force, if not jailed. But it makes for an entertaining movie. Grade: B