Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx (DVD)

Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx (1970) starring Gene Wilder, Margot Kidder. This DVD has no subtitles, no closed captions, nothing to aid the hearing-impaired. Furthermore, it takes place in Ireland, so everyone speaks with an Irish accent, making it even harder to understand. I didn't even bother to watch it all the way through. Grade: F

Let the Right One In (DVD)

Let the Right One In (2008) starring a cast of Swedish actors you've never heard of. Swedish boy named Oskar is bullied at school, forms unlikely friendship with neighbor girl named Eli, who just happens to be a vampire. Will she help him fight the bullies, or will she eat him? It seems clear that Eli really likes Oskar, and will seek her needed food elsewhere. Generally speaking, I don't care for vampire-themed movies, but this one was the rare exception. I felt genuine sympathy for Oskar and Eli, right up until the very end. One funny thing about this movie -- the DVD has available a version dubbed in English, plus English subtitles. By watching the English-dubbed version and reading the English subtitles, one gets a very strange impression of the movie, because the two are comically out of synch. Which is "right"? Beats me. Grade: B+

Pursued (DVD)

Pursued (1947) starring Robert Mitchum, Teresa Wright. The Rand and Callum families are feuding, and Jeb Rand (Mitchum), the only surviving Rand, is being hunted by the Callum clan. In an odd twist, Jeb is adopted at a young age by a Callum family. He ends up fighting with his stepbrother Adam and falling in love with his stepsister Thor (Wright). When, as an adult, Jeb ends up killing Adam (in self-defense), Thor's love turns to hate. This is a psychological Western with a non-standard plot, and even though the dialogue is a bit ham-handed at times, it's interesting to watch. The only subtitle option is the closed-captions, which are good enough. Grade: B

Exit Through the Gift Shop (DVD)

Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010) documentary. Street artist Banksy introduces us to a video camera fanatic named Thierry, who films everything. Thierry gets interested in the practitioners of street art, and starts following the artists all over the world, filming all the time. Miraculously, Thierry becomes friends with Banksy, and begins to travel with him. When Banksy's fame explodes after a show in L.A., Thierry is on the spot -- now is the time to put his video together and put out his documentary about street artists, including Banksy. But Thierry is ill-prepared, because he hasn't been keeping track of his reels of film, just throwing them into boxes and storing them. As events develop, Banksy takes over the making of the film and sends Thierry back to L.A. to do his own show. At this point one begins to wonder whether this movie is a real documentary or a put-on. If it's a hoax, it's an elaborate and effective one. The subtitles are good. Grade: B+

Toy Story 3 (DVD)

Toy Story 3 (2010) with the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, John Ratzenberger, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, Ned Beatty. The toys, led by cowboy Woody (Hanks), must cope with their owner Andy's departure for college. Although Andy intends to put them in the attic, they end up getting donated to a nearby daycare center, where the kids play with them rather roughly. The toy-world of the daycare center is ruled over by an evil plush bear named Lotso (Beatty), and things look grim for Andy's toys until Woody comes up with a plan for them to escape and go home. Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of animated films, but "Toy Story 3" was a shining exception. Pixar has really made an art of animation. It's entertaining for both adults and kids, with many clever jokes and a lot of heart. The subtitles are good, too. Grade: A-

The Kids Are All Right (DVD)

The Kids Are All Right (2010) starring Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo. Same-sex parents Nic (Bening) and Jules (Moore) have two children that were conceived by a sperm donor; and the children, Joni and Laser, seek out their biological father Paul (Ruffalo) to satisfy their curiosity. While the kids are bonding with Paul, Nic finds that she resents him, but Jules, whom he has hired to do some landscaping, has sex with him. Naturally, when Nic finds out about Jules and Paul, things explode. My only complaint about this movie is that it ended too soon. I rarely complain about a film being too short, but in this case, after getting to know the characters, I didn't want to say goodbye to them. I suppose that's the mark of a good movie. The subtitles are very good. Grade: A-

Micmacs (DVD)

Micmacs (2009) starring Dany Boon. A man named Bazil (Boon) is the victim of a drive-by shooting, which leaves a bullet lodged in his head. After his recovery, he finds himself homeless and hooks up with a ragtag gang of street people. They agree to help him take revenge against the arms manufacturer who made the bullet that is stuck in his skull -- and, incidentally, made the mine that killed Bazil's father 30 years earlier. The gang of misfits are like a league of heroes, each with a special skill which can be used in getting revenge on the weapons dealers. They develop a Rube-Goldbergesque plot to bring down the bad guys, and therein lies the movie's problem. It's just too complicated to be enjoyed. Though the film is visually inventive, it seems too overtly political to suit its plot. It's in French, with English subtitles that are not very good. Grade: B-

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (DVD)

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010) directed by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg. Rivers, 75, still clings tenaciously to whatever fame she can find. The film does a brief look back at her career, including 20 years as Johnny Carson's first-string guest host, then her doomed decision to take Fox's offer of a show of her own. Following the failure of that show, her husband's suicide was a devastating blow. But she has continued to soldier on, refusing to even entertain the thought of retiring. She goes on "Celebrity Apprentice," and amazingly, wins. This is not a great movie, but is an absorbing peek into the life of a fame whore. The subtitles are good. Grade: B+

The Purple Rose of Cairo (DVD)

The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) starring Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels, Danny Aiello, Dianne Wiest. Directed by Woody Allen. Farrow plays a Depression-era waitress named Cecilia who's addicted to the movies and married to an abusive lout (Aiello). The film quickly takes a quirky turn when a movie character named Tom Baxter (Daniels) steps down off the screen and proclaims his love for Cecilia. Meanwhile, Gil Shepherd (also Daniels), the actor who plays Tom Baxter, wants his alter ego to get back up on the screen and behave. The studio executives aren't too thrilled about it either. This is a delightful fantasy that plays with questions of religion, reality, and the meaning of life. The subtitles are good. Grade: A

Punchline (DVD)

Punchline (1988) starring Sally Field, Tom Hanks, John Goodman. Housewife, mother of three and aspiring stand-up comic Lilah (Field) has to contend with husband (Goodman) who wants her to be available for his needs. Meanwhile, she seeks advice from fellow comic Steven (Hanks) who is about to get his big break, and really doesn't care about anyone but himself. The problem with the movie is that none of the comedy routines portrayed is really funny. None of the comics garners a genuine laugh. We may care about the characters, because they are likable, but they aren't funny. Hanks provides an occasional spark, but it's not enough to save the movie. The subtitles are barely adequate. Grade: B-

Pulp Fiction (DVD)

Pulp Fiction (1994) starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Ving Rhames, Harvey Keitel, Bruce Willis. Directed by Quentin Tarantino. Tongue-in-cheek gangster movie features Travolta and Jackson as a couple of hit men, and Willis as a boxer who fixes a fight in reverse to make a killing from bookies. Several unforgettable sequences follow, too numerous to mention. If you've seen the movie before, you'll remember the scene with The Gimp and the cleaner named Wolf (Keitel). It's violent, it's bloody, and it's a real hoot. The subtitles are good. Grade: A-

Cairo Time (DVD)

Cairo Time (2009) starring Patricia Clarkson, Alexander Siddig, Tom McCamus. Magazine editor Juliette (Clarkson) travels to Cairo to be with her husband, Mark (McCamus), but finds him unavoidably detained. Instead, her guide to Cairo becomes Tareq (Siddig), an Egyptian man who formerly worked for Mark. Juliette and Tareq develop feelings for each other, but they never act on them -- except that Juliette goes with Tareq to visit the Pyramids, something she had promised Mark she would save for him. It's a good sort of culture-clash film, although it moves rather slowly. The subtitles are good. Grade: B+

The Public Enemy (DVD)

The Public Enemy (1931) starring James Cagney, Jean Harlow. A young hood named Tom Powers (Cagney) rises to become a gangster in the Prohibition era. Harlow plays his girlfriend. When "Nails" Nathan, the boss gangster, dies, war breaks out between the gangs. Ultimately, Powers dies. This is the movie that made Cagney a star. It's also the film in which he famously squishes a grapefruit in his girlfriend's face (not Harlow, but the girl that came before her). The ending is pretty horrifying. The quality of the script and the filmmaking are uneven. The subtitles, including closed captions, are good. Grade: B

Psycho (DVD)

Psycho (1960) starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles. Bank employee (Leigh) steals $40,000 cash, goes on the lam. Driving west, she has a few scares from an overly inquisitive cop, then decides to stop for the night in the Bates Motel. The manager of the motel, Norman Bates (Perkins), is very friendly -- at first. This movie is actually much better than I remembered it, even though there are a few improbabilities in the plotting. It's full of tension and the occasional gotcha! type scare. The only real weak point is the exposition by the psychiatrist at the end -- strictly amateur psychology. But by then we've had our thrills. Subtitled for the hearing-impaired. Grade: B+

Valhalla Rising (DVD)

Valhalla Rising (2009) starring Mads Mikkelsen. Invincible Viking warrior known only as One-Eye (Mikkelson) escapes from slavery, takes up with a band of Christians going on a crusade. They're headed for the Holy Land, but their ship gets lost in a mist, and when they find land they don't know where they are. They only know that members of their crew keep dying violently or going missing. Eventually the mystery is solved -- sort of. This film has too much bone-crunching, blood-spattering violence and too little plot for my taste. Really, don't see this movie. The subtitles are good. Grade: D

The Producers (DVD)

The Producers (1968) starring Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder. Written and directed by Mel Brooks. Washed-up Broadway producer (Mostel) talks meek accountant (Wilder) into plot to make a fortune by putting on a play guaranteed to fail. The resulting musical, "Springtime for Hitler," is a surprise smash, placing the producers in a difficult position. From that point on, the movie is largely anticlimactic, but the funny parts still make it worth seeing. The subtitles are excellent. Grade: B+

The Pacific (DVD)

The Pacific (2010) starring Joseph Mazzello, James Badge Dale, Jon Seda. This HBO production follows the battles of Marines in the Pacific theater during World War II. The first two episodes cover the battle of Guadalcanal. Although it tries mightily, somehow this miniseries failed to capture the essence of the Marines' experience for me. Most of the fighting takes place at night, and I frequently couldn't tell what was going on except that a lot of guns were being fired at advancing Japanese. There is one genuinely moving moment toward the end of Part 2, but it wasn't enough of a payoff for me. Grade: B