Easy A (DVD)

Easy A (2010) starring Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Dan Byrd, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Lisa Kudrow, Malcolm McDowell, Aly Michalka, Stanley Tucci. High school girl Olive (Stone) lies about having slept with a college guy (she didn't), and soon develops an (undeserved) reputation as the school slut. She decides to go with it, and starts making money by letting losers pretend they have "fooled around" with her. It's never really fun, and when things spin out of control she decides to tell her story in a webcast, which makes up the framework of the movie. This film has lots of good parts, which make it worth watching, but also its fair share of parts that don't work, which lowers its grade. There are some good performances, especially Stone in the lead role, who proves that she can carry a movie. The subtitles are excellent. Grade: B

Nowhere Boy (DVD)

Nowhere Boy (2009) starring Aaron Johnson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Anne-Marie Duff, Thomas Sangster. John Lennon's (Johnson) teen years, just before the formation of The Beatles, are depicted in this biopic. He lives with his Aunt Mimi (Scott Thomas), and just as he is getting to know his biological mother (Duff) she is killed in a car accident. The movie does a pretty good job of capturing what we might imagine Lennon's early life was like, but who really knows? Sangster has the thankless role of a young Paul McCartney. He does a good job of playing left-handed guitar. The subtitles are very good. Grade: B+

The American (DVD)

The American (2010) starring George Clooney, Violante Placido, Paolo Bonacelli. Assassin for hire Jack (Clooney) ends a difficult assignment in Sweden and flees to Italy, where he hides out in a small town waiting for his next assignment. It's hard to like a movie when the protagonist (Clooney) is not a sympathetic character. How can we root for a man who, in the first five minutes of the film, shoots his girlfriend in the back? The subtitles are not good -- when someone speaks in Italian, the original film's captions appear, too tiny to read, at the bottom of the screen. Grade: C-

Salt (DVD)

Salt (2010) starring Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor. When CIA agent Evelyn Salt (Jolie) is accused of being a Russian spy, she goes on the run. What follows is an hour and a half of nearly non-stop action in which she shows herself to be a killing machine. I found myself a little lost -- there are still some things she did which I don't understand -- but it was fun to watch Jolie in action. I couldn't suspend disbelief on some of the action though; when Jolie encounters three men with guns and defeats them with her bare hands, it's a bit hard to buy into. Still, if you like lots of action, this movie might be for you. The subtitles are quite adequate. Grade: B

Forbidden Planet (DVD)

Forbidden Planet (1956) starring Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Robby the Robot. In the 23rd century, an advanced spaceship arrives on Altair IV to investigate the disappearance of a ship that landed there earlier. The commander of the ship (Nielsen) encounters the one survivor of the earlier voyage, Dr. Morbius (Pidgeon), and his daughter Alta (Francis). There are strange forces at work on the planet, and the visiting spacemen must investigate. Morbius reveals that an ancient race known as the Krell once occupied Altair IV, and rose to great heights. But there is also a sinister, invisible monster which stalks the crew of the spaceship. This must have been quite the sensation in 1956, but today it comes off as crude special effects, bogus reasoning and a weak script. Kind of fun to watch, but not a great movie. The subtitles are good. Grade: B-

Animal Kingdom (DVD)

Animal Kingdom (2010) starring James Frecheville, Guy Pearce. When his mother overdoses on heroin and dies, a 17-year-old boy named Josh (Frecheville) finds himself drawn into her family of origin, which is riddled with crime. His uncles are a scary bunch, but soon after he arrives they start dying as police pick them off one by one. Then they turn on Josh, suspecting him of talking to the cops. A sympathetic detective (Pearce) takes Josh under his wing, and tries to help him survive. In a twist worthy of "The Godfather," Josh's grandmother decides that he is expendable and "has to go" because she's afraid he'll testify against her sons (Josh's uncles). I felt that the movie was compelling, but the last 15 minutes or so left me befuddled. What happened, and why? I couldn't figure it out. The subtitles are very good. Grade: B

The Town (DVD)

The Town (2010) starring Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Hall, John Hamm. Gang led by Doug (Affleck) pulls a bank heist, takes an employee (Hall) hostage. After letting the hostage go, they realize that she lives close to where they hang out, so Doug (no longer wearing his mask) befriends her, then falls in love with her. The gang soon attempts another robbery, but this one goes very, very wrong. The FBI (Hamm) is on their ass, and things are about to get hairy. This is a good movie, but the ending left me a little puzzled. The subtitles are good. Grade: B+

Lebanon (DVD)

Lebanon (2009) starring an Israeli cast of unknowns. During the 1982 war with Lebanon, four young Israeli's are shown in the confines of the tank they are manning. They do not seem prepared for war. The gunner refuses to fire when ordered. The movie becomes increasingly claustrophobic as the members of the tank crew begin to argue among themselves. We never see the exterior of the tank, until the very end -- all the action takes place in the interior. This film just did not work for me. I never felt like I got to know the four crewmen of the tank. They were barely differentiated from one another. And the ending seemed very flat to me. There were some suspenseful moments, but not enough to add up to a coherent whole. The movie is mostly in Hebrew, with English subtitles. Grade: C

Queen Margot (DVD)

Queen Margot (1994) starring Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil. This film is set in 1572 in France, a time when Protestants and Catholics were warring with one another, both between nations and within nations. The plot is set in motion by the wedding of Margot de Valois (Adjani) and Henri de Navarre (Auteuil), a marriage between a Catholic and a Protestant that it is hoped will bring peace. The result, however, is the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre, in which thousands of prominent Protestants were assassinated by the Catholics. Queen Margot helps her Protestant lover escape, resulting in boiling palace intrigue. To put it in historical perspective, ponder the fact that the Protestants were also known as Huguenots, and many of the Huguenots ended up fleeing the persecution and emigrating to America. Henri de Navarre eventually became King Henry IV of France. Although the movie is rather hard to follow at first, it eventually becomes an involving and dramatic, suspenseful and romantic epic. It doesn't have a happy ending. In French, with English subtitles. Grade: B+

The Other Guys (DVD)

The Other Guys (2010) starring Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg. Two police officers, desk jockeys who can't get no respect (Ferrell and Wahlberg), fight with each other while trying to get involved in serious police work. A series of set pieces makes fun of police movies and TV shows that have gone before, and Ferrell and Wahlberg crank up the crazy in a desperate effort to be funny. The people who made this movie seem to think the height of humor is a car chase in a Prius. There are some funny moments, but too many of the jokes just fall flat. The chemistry between Ferrell and Wahlberg never quite gels. The subtitles are good. Grade: C+

Cyrus (DVD)

Cyrus (2010) starring John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, Jonah Hill. John (Reilly) is thrilled to meet Molly (Tomei) at a party. He soon learns, however, that she has a grown son named Cyrus (Hill) who is living with her. Cyrus acts friendly, but his secret agenda is to prevent anything serious from developing between John and his mother. Soon, open warfare breaks out between John and Cyrus. I really didn't enjoy this movie, and I wouldn't recommend it. Good subtitles, though. Grade: B-

Despicable Me (DVD)

Despicable Me (2010) with the voices of Steve Carell, Julie Andrews, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig, Will Arnett. Ineffectual villain Gru (Carell) adopts three orphan girls as part of his nefarious plan to acquire a shrink ray so that he can steal the Moon. This is that rarity, an animated film that is not from Pixar but is still good. Gru and the girls are developed as characters so that we really care about them. The story is rather silly, but it's fun and entertaining to watch. A good children's movie that can be enjoyed by adults, too. Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are included, although the bonus features are reserved for those who go out and buy the disc. Grade: B+

Queen Christina (DVD)

Queen Christina (1933) starring Greta Garbo, John Gilbert. Garbo stars as Queen Christina of Sweden, who ascends to the throne in 1632 as a girl. After she has grown up, she falls in love with the ambassador from Spain (Gilbert) -- but they meet at a country inn, and he doesn't know that she is the queen. Christina faces the classic conflict of wanting to seek her personal happiness vs. the need to do her duty as a sovereign. Specifically, her people do not want her to marry a Spaniard, because Sweden is a Protestant country and Spain is Catholic. Garbo is splendid in this movie, but the plot is a timeworn story that is familiar and predictable. The disc offers English subtitles, as well as closed captions. Grade: B

The Queen (DVD)

The Queen (2006) starring Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen. It's 1997, and shortly after becoming Prime Minister of England, Tony Blair (Sheen) is confronted with a crisis. Princess Diana has been killed in a traffic accident in Paris, and the queen (Mirren) wants to keep her funeral a private affair. Blair feels that as the "people's princess," Diana deserves a public funeral. The whole situation becomes a public-relations disaster for the royals. Mirren won an Oscar for her performance as the queen. All in all, a most excellent movie. The DVD offers subtitles for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions. Grade: B+

Quai des Orfevres (DVD)

Quai des Orfevres (1947) starring Louis Jouvet, Suzy Delair. When a rich, dirty old man is killed, there's no shortage of suspects. A French policeman becomes the protagonist as he tries to sort through the differing stories. He soon settles on a suspect he likes, but he's got the wrong man. This movie may have been original in 1947, but today it looks like just another police procedural, though artfully done. The necessary subtitles (the film's in French) are hard to read. Grade: B

The Quare Fellow (DVD)

The Quare Fellow (1962) starring Patrick McGoohan, Sylvia Syms. New prison guard (McGoohan) must deal with hanging scheduled for two weeks after he starts work. Unfortunately, this movie has no subtitles, nor any closed captions for the hearing impaired. I couldn't make out half the dialogue. Grade: F

Fight Club (DVD)

Fight Club (1999) starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf. Corporate drone with no name (Norton) starts going to support groups because they are the only way he can feel close to people. There, he meets Marla Singer (Bonham Carter), a woman who is also faking a variety of illnesses in order to attend the meetings. Then, on an airplane during a business trip, he meets Tyler Durden (Pitt). Durden is an outlandish character who claims to make and sell soap for a living. Together, the drone and Durden end up forming Fight Club. Things get increasingly strange from there. Fight Club mushrooms into a movement, which becomes increasingly anti-establishment, then violent. Tyler Durden becomes a legend. The ending is rather disappointing. The film features subtitles for the hearing-impaired, plus closed captions. Grade: B-

Inception (DVD)

Inception (2010) starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page. Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) earns a living infiltrating the dreams of corporate big-wigs to steal their secrets. Only trouble is, his activities have made him a wanted man, and he can't return to the United States without facing charges. His dead wife, whom he is suspected of killing, inhabits his subconscious, and keeps appearing in his dreams. The new architect he has hired (Page) figures out what's going on with his subconscious, and insists on going on his next mission. For a movie about dreams, this one has a surprising amount of action. The plot involves a dream within a dream within a dream, and it gets kind of complicated to follow at times, but it never ceases to be interesting. The subtitles are very good. Grade: A-

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (DVD)

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010) starring Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Scott Pilgrim (Cera) meets the girl of his dreams (Winstead), only to learn that in order to date her he has to defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends in martial arts combat. This movie is based on a comic book, er, graphic novel, and it really shows in every frame. Some viewers will no doubt find this diverting, but I found it merely irritating. This film really just didn't do it for me. The subtitles are good. Grade: C

Going the Distance (DVD)

Going the Distance (2010) starring Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Christina Applegate. Erin (Barrymore) and Garrett (Long) fall in love while she is in New York on an internship. When she goes back to Stanford to finish graduate school, they find themselves in a long-distance relationship. There is some funny stuff thrown in with Garrett's nutty male friends in New York, and later he goes to the West coast to visit Erin for Thanksgiving. Applegate is funny as Erin's uptight and protective sister. The conflict that inevitably arises comes about when Erin gets offered a job with the San Francisco Chronicle -- which normally would be a dream job for her, but which means that if she accepts it she can't move back to New York and be with Garrett. The success of a movie like this depends on the likability of the stars. How badly, really, do we want them to get together? In this case, I felt their chemistry was lacking. Neither of them really charmed me. The film is a passable entertainment, but nothing special. The subtitles are quite good. Grade: B