Patton (DVD)

Patton (1970) starring George C. Scott, Karl Malden. Stirring biographical war drama about General George S. Patton (Scott) and his drive for glory -- and victory -- in World War II. Patton was a great general, but he also got in trouble because of his rigidity and his temper -- and because he loved war too much. Malden makes a good foil for Scott in his role as Gen. Omar Bradley, who ultimately gets the assignment that Patton craves. The movie won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Actor, Director, Screenplay. Good subtitles. Grade: A

My Darling Clementine (DVD)

My Darling Clementine (1946) starring Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, Victor Mature, Walter Brennan, Cathy Downs. Directed by John Ford. Classic Western has Wyatt Earp (Fonda) and Doc Holliday (Mature) facing off against the Clanton gang, climaxing in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Downs plays Clementine, the young woman who travels from Boston to Tombstone to find Doc Holliday, whom she loves. This movie is a little rough around the edges, but it's an American gem nonetheless. The subtitles are very good -- although they don't include the songs. Grade: A-

Lorna's Silence (DVD)

Lorna's Silence (2008) starring Arta Dobroshi, Fabrizio Rongione, Jeremie Renier. Albanian immigrant Lorna (Dobroshi) wants to start her own business, so she goes for Belgian citizenship by entering into a sham marriage with Claudy (Renier), a drug addict. Fabio (Rongione), a gangster, thinks she should get out of the marriage by arranging for Claudy to die of a drug overdose. Lorna would just as soon get a quickie divorce by accusing Claudy of beating her, but he refuses to hit her. The situation gets complicated when Claudy turns up dead, and Lorna learns that she is pregnant. She wants to keep the baby, but the gangsters she's involved with want her to have an abortion. The movie's ending seems rather abrupt. The subtitles are good -- and essential, since the film's in French. Grade: B-

My Best Friend's Wedding (DVD)

My Best Friend's Wedding (1997) starring Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, Rupert Everett. Food critic Julianne Potter (Roberts) learns that her longtime platonic friend Michael (Mulroney) is getting married. Suddenly it occurs to her that she can't let him get away, and she sets about trying to break up his engagement to young Kimmy (Diaz). Julianne cannot, however, bring herself to tell Michael that she loves him, so she adopts underhanded means of trying to effect the breakup. Naturally, everything goes dreadfully awry. The movie makes creative use of music, especially songs written by Burt Bacharach. The subtitles are very good. Grade: B+

My Father's Glory (DVD)

My Father's Glory (1990) starring Philippe Caubere, Nathalie Roussel, Didier Pain, Therese Liotard. Charming film, set in rural France in the early 1900s, about a precocious young French boy named Marcel and his memorable holiday in Provence. Based on the immensely popular (in France) memoirs of novelist Marcel Pagnol. In French, with English subtitles. (The subtitles are adequate, but a bit hard to read.) Grade: B+

Bright Star (DVD)

Bright Star (2009) starring Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw, Paul Schneider. Directed by Jane Campion. Nineteenth-century Romantic poet John Keats (Whishaw) meets and falls in love with his great passion and muse, Fanny Brawne (Cornish). Their brief union (Keats dies three years after they meet) is problematic -- because Keats is in debt, has no income and no prospects, and because his friend and literary companion Charles Brown (Schneider) does not approve of Fanny. So Keats and Brawne can never be fully united, and their romance is primarily a sad one. Oddly enough, the focus of the movie is on Fanny, not Keats, and Cornish gets the bulk of the screen time. The subtitles are very good -- large, bold, readable type. Grade: B

Outrage (DVD)

Outrage(2009) by Kirby Dick. Documentary which sets out to explore the issue of closeted gay politicians who vote against gay marriage and other questions of interest to gay and lesbian Americans. Most interesting claim is probably the one that Charlie Crist, currently governor of Florida, is secretly gay. This movie goes into some detail about other politicians who have been forced out of the closet or who have resolutely denied being gay (Larry Craig of Idaho is the principal example). Either way, it's an interesting film. Not subtitled, but does have closed captions. Grade: B+

A Room with a View (DVD)

A Room with a View (1986) starring Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Denholm Elliot, Julian Sands, Daniel Day-Lewis. Miss Lucy Honeychurch (Bonham Carter) is on a visit to Florence, chaperoned by her proper maiden cousin Charlotte (Smith). The times are Edwardian English, and some are trying to put behind them the Victorian mores they have formerly lived with. Among these are George Emerson (Sands), another Englishman on holiday in Florence, with whom Lucy falls in love. Based on the novel by E.M. Forster, the movie is a study in changing times and contrasting world views. The romanticism of Italy, up against the proper uptight British, has been used in other films, but in none to greater effect. The movie's subtitles are quite adequate, although there is a bit of Italian spoken without translation. Grade: B

District 9 (DVD)

District 9 (2009) starring Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Mandla Gaduka. An alien ship hovers over Johannesburg, South Africa, and the aliens prove to be surprisingly powerless. Derogatorily known as "prawns," they are forced into a large camp outside the city, where they are confined for 20 years. The action begins when one man, a rather incompetent corporate agent (Copley), becomes infected with an alien potion which begins to turn him from human to prawn. His corporate overlords quickly come to regard him as a valuable piece of biotechnology, and make plans to exploit him. But he escapes, and the action begins. The outcome always seems in doubt, but the movie progresses to a satisfying conclusion. The subtitles in this film are invaluable. Grade: A-

The Elephant Man (DVD)

The Elephant Man (1980) starring Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud. Directed by David Lynch. Based on a true story, a grotesquely deformed man named John Merrick (Hurt) in turn-of-the-century England is shown compassion for the first time in his life by a doctor (Hopkins). He is befriended by a stage actress (Bancroft), who reads about him and comes to visit him in his hospital room. At night, however, a hospital guard still abuses Mr. Merrick, bringing crowds of drunken friends to gawk at him. His troubles continue, until it seems unsure if he will ever find peace. It's a touching story, movingly told. The subtitles in this movie are very helpful. Grade: A

My Beautiful Laundrette (DVD)

My Beautiful Laundrette (1986) starring Saeed Jaffrey, Roshan Seth, Daniel Day-Lewis, Gordon Warnecke. A young Pakistani man (Warnecke) tries to make a go of it in Thatcher-era England, where he is called "wog" and worse. He starts his career by taking over management of his uncle's Laundromat, which he and his friend Johnny (Day-Lewis) renovate with stolen drug money. Things are complicated by the fact that he and Johnny are gay lovers. Johnny's friends don't want him getting involved with the "Pakis," and matters eventually escalate to violence. The subtitles are good. Grade: B

Amreeka (DVD)

Amreeka (2009) starring Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem. A Palestinian mother and son immigrate to the United States -- in a post-9/11 atmosphere, just as the war in Iraq is ramping up. As they try to reinvent their lives, they meet with prejudice and suspicion. The part of the movie where they speak Arabic is subtitled in English, but there are no subtitles for the hearing-impaired. And yet, it was not impossible to follow. Grade: B-

Howards End (DVD)

Howards End (1992) starring Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson. Set in 1910 in England, Margaret Schlegel (Thompson) wins the heart of Henry Wilcox (Hopkins), owner of Howards End, a lovely old house in the country outside London. Only trouble is, Mr. Wilcox's heart is a poor shrunken lump of coal, and he has little concept of love. Meanwhile, Margaret's sister, Helen (Bonham Carter) has taken up the cause of a lower-class couple, and all sorts of trouble ensues. Thompson won an Oscar for her portrayal of the sweet-natured Margaret. The subtitles are quite adequate, though a little hard to find. Grade: A

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (DVD)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Jim Broadbent, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith. Harry Potter (Radcliffe) enters his sixth year at Hogwarts, and dark forces are on the move. Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape (Rickman) in particular are up to no good. I found that having read the books was essential for enjoying this installment in the series, and those who are not fans of the written word will probably feel lost and disappointed in this movie. Also, large chunks of the book have necessarily been left out, including the part detailing Tom Riddle's early life. Nevertheless, I found that watching this installment in the series was immense fun. At two and a half hours, though, it's a bit long. The subtitles are good -- without them, the movie would have been incomprehensible to me. Grade: B

In the Loop (DVD)

In the Loop (2009) starring Tom Hollander, James Gandolfini, Anna Chlumsky. In the run-up to a war in an undisclosed Middle Eastern country, British and American officials fumble their way toward an agreement on the conduct of the conflict. Turf battles, personal animosity and general ineptitude do battle as the one-liners fly. The script is razor-sharp, and the only challenge is catching all the jokes as they zoom past in both British and American accents. Luckily, the subtitles help with this. Grade: B+

Mutiny on the Bounty (DVD)

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) starring Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone. Laughton is the tyrannical Capt. Bligh, and Gable plays Fletcher Christian, leader of the mutiny against him. The movie is set in 1787, and it's as interesting for historical details as for the mutiny plot. The script is very good, and Laughton makes a suitably despicable and sadistic Bligh. It's shocking at the beginning of the film to see a press gang (led by Gable) grab men out of a pub and send them off for two years at sea! The ship's visit to Tahiti is memorable. The actual mutiny takes place 90 minutes into the movie, which is a bit excessive. The film won the Oscar for Best Picture. The subtitles are just adequate. Grade: B+

Murmur of the Heart (DVD)

Murmur of the Heart (1971) starring Lea Massari, Benoit Ferreux. Written and directed by Louis Malle. In the spring of 1954, a 14-year-old French schoolboy named Laurent (Ferreux) masturbates compulsively. His two older brothers are hellions whom he's not quite sure he wants to emulate. Meanwhile, his mother (Massari) is not completely happy with her marriage to his father -- in fact, she is having an affair. When Laurent develops a heart murmur due to scarlet fever, he is sentenced to stay in bed and be waited on. Soon, he and his mother journey to a resort, where he is to take "the cure." It's a coming-of-age story such as could only happen in France. The subtitles are necessary, as the film is in French, but they are barely adequate. Grade: B+

Music of the Heart (DVD)

Music of the Heart (1999) starring Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn, Angela Bassett, Gloria Estefan, Cloris Leachman. Newly single mom (Streep) lands a job teaching violin to inner-city kids. She's not exactly welcomed by the other teachers and parents, and of course the youngsters pose a special challenge. Meanwhile, her personal life is a mess. Ten years pass, and her program is a great success. Then come budget cuts, and she must fight to save the violin lessons for the kids. Based on a true story, this movie follows the random progression one might expect from real life. Streep, who was 50 at the time the movie was made, plays a much younger woman quite convincingly. How she does it, I don't know. Could it just be her great acting ability? The second half of the film drags a bit, making it seem longer than its two hours. The concert which climaxes the film seems to come long after the movie's emotional climax. The subtitles are very good. Grade: B

An American Werewolf in London (DVD)

An American Werewolf in London (1981) starring David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne. Directed by John Landis. A young American named David (Naughton), backpacking in the English moors, is attacked by a werewolf. He survives, but his friend (Dunne) dies. The results are horrifying -- and funny. His dead friend hangs around to haunt him, and David starts turning into a werewolf during the full moon. It all culminates in a curiously satisfying -- and inevitable -- climax. I remember seeing this movie in 1981 and liking it a lot. I'm not so crazy about it now, but it's still entertaining enough. The star, Naughton, is known chiefly for this film. This disc includes quite a few Extras, but unfortunately I didn't have time to watch them. The subtitles are very good. Grade: B

Adam (DVD)

Adam (2009) starring Rose Byrne, Hugh Dancy, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving. Adam (Dancy), who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, meets Beth (Byrne), a school teacher. While their relationship is slowly building, Adam runs into financial problems in the wake of his father's death and the loss of his job. Meanwhile, Beth's father (Gallagher) is an accountant who has been indicted for some alleged wrongdoing. In the process of working out these kinks in their lives, Adam and Beth work on the kinks in their relationship. The movie doesn't have a Hollywood-happy ending, but that is to its credit. The subtitles are excellent. Grade: B+

The Music Man (DVD)

The Music Man (1962) starring Robert Preston, Shirley Jones. Flimflam man Harold Hill (Preston) arrives in the town of River City, Iowa, intent on picking the pockets of the local residents. His plan is to convince them that they need a boys' band, but his scheme is derailed when he falls in love with the town librarian (Jones), who knows he's a phony and loves him anyway. Many musical numbers, most of which are uninspired, punctuate the film. Made in 1962, and set in 1912, this movie has a musty, old-fashioned feel -- not always a disadvantage, but in this case it works against the film. Excessive length, at two and a half hours, doesn't help. The subtitles are pretty good. Grade: B-