The Spy Who Loved Me

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) starring Roger Moore, Barbara Bach. Agent 007 (Moore) must team up with a Russian spy (Bach) after two nuclear submarines -- one British, one Russian -- go missing. It's a typical James Bond movie, with lots of action in picturesque locales, and a scary villain named Jaws, plus plenty of gadgets provided by Q. There's plenty of guns and explosions, if that's what you like, but not much in the way of clever dialogue or script. English subtitles are available, as well as closed captions. Grade: B-

Splash

Splash (1984) starring Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, John Candy, Eugene Levy. Directed by Ron Howard. Hanks and Hannah star as Alan and Madison, love-at-first-sight lovers of different species -- he's human and she's a mermaid. Levy plays the bad guy, a scientist who is determined to prove that there is a mermaid in New York City -- a task made difficult by the fact that on dry land, Madison has legs instead of fins. I found this movie utterly charming, and the chemistry between the stars really convinced me that they were in love. Candy, as Alan's screw-up brother Freddie, has a lot of funny moments. The film has subtitles for the hearing-impaired and closed captions. Grade: B+

One Day

One Day (2011) starring Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Patricia Clarkson. Emma (Hathaway) and Dexter (Sturgess) almost, but not quite, have sex on the night of their college graduation on July 15, 1988. They become best friends, and the movie revisits them every year on July 15 to trace the progress of their relationship and their progress in the world. Emma seems to be in love with Dex, who is in love only with himself. She struggles in a job at a Mexican restaurant, while he becomes a semi-famous TV personality. Ultimately, what I felt the movie lacked was chemistry between the stars. Hathaway is appealing, but Sturgess just doesn't succeed in making you care about him. In the end, I did find the film as moving as the book, although of course something is almost always lost in translating from page to screen. The movie has good subtitles, but no closed captions. Grade: B+

The Spirit of the Beehive

The Spirit of the Beehive (1973) starring Ana Torrent, Fernando Gomez, Teresa Gimpera. In 1940 in Spain, a young girl (Torrent) sees the film Frankenstein, and later becomes convinced that the spirit of Frankenstein's monster is alive and living outside her village. A lot of stuff happens in the film after that, but it's disjointed and there's no real plot. Other reviewers have analyzed the movie as an allegory for Franco's Spain, but I lack the insight to see it. The film is in Spanish, with English subtitles. Grade: B

Margin Call

Margin Call (2011) starring Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto, Simon Baker, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci. In 2008, at the very beginnings of the current financial crisis, an analyst (Quinto) at a big investment bank realizes that the sub-prime mortgage situation is about to blow. The big shots at the company are called in, and they decide that to survive they have to dump their bad investments on the market -- without telling anyone what they are doing. Many heads roll, and it's an uncomplimentary look at what happens when a giant firm goes under. The film is well made and well acted, though the subject matter may prove a little esoteric for many viewers. Good subtitles, as well as closed captions. Grade: B+

The Help

The Help (2011) starring Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone, Jessica Chastain. In 1963 in Jackson, Miss., Miss Skeeter Phelan (Stone), an aspiring writer, gets the idea of telling the story of "colored" maids from the perspective of the help. She enlists Aibileen (Davis) to tell her stories, and through her a number of other maid/nannies. The movie does a pretty good job of reproducing the book, although of course few films ever live up to the books they're based on. There are some notable changes in this movie, but I won't go into them in detail. You have to give the film credit for providing acting jobs for women, and for black women. It was enjoyable to watch. The subtitles are good, but I chose the closed captions, which I prefer when they are available. Grade: A-

The Spiral Staircase

The Spiral Staircase (1946) starring Dorothy McGuire, George Brent, Ethel Barrymore. A mute young woman named Helen (McGuire) works in a house where a serial murderer may be lurking. A kind doctor wants to take Helen away for treatment, but will he get her out of the house in time to save her? Or will she have to face the killer alone? It's a dark and stormy night all through this movie, and the atmosphere pretty much works. It's basically a pretty routine murder mystery, and you'll likely guess the killer early on. The film has subtitles, but the closed captions are preferable. Grade: B

Speed

Speed (1994) starring Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock. Elite Los Angeles Police detective Jack Traven (Reeves) angers a madman (Hopper) who likes to blow things up for ransom. The bad guy has rigged a bus to explode if its speed drops below 50 mph. It falls to Traven to somehow get on the bus and prevent the bomb from going off. Bullock made her breakthrough to stardom as Annie, a passenger on the bus who is pressed into service as the driver when the regular driver gets shot. Incredibly kinetic thriller never lets up for a minute, with nearly constant action from beginning to end. My only quibble is with issues of believability (the bus stays above 50 mph while driving through downtown L.A.), but they won't likely decrease your enjoyment of the movie. Reeves is charismatic in his role and Bullock is her usual appealing self. The subtitles are good, and closed captions are available. Grade: A-

Babette's Feast

Babette's Feast (1987) starring Stephane Audran. Two Danish sisters give up love and fame to stay in their remote village and live the religious life. A French refugee named Babette (Audran) comes to stay with them and be their servant, and she serves them for 14 years -- until she wins the lottery. Babette has a secret, which she doesn't reveal until near the end of the film, but frankly it came as no surprise to me. This movie won the Best Foreign Film Oscar, but I can't quite see what all the fuss is about. It's in Danish and French, with English subtitles. Grade: B

Spartacus

Spartacus (1960) starring Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Jean Simmons, Tony Curtis, Peter Ustinov. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Douglas stars as a slave named Spartacus in ancient Rome, who escapes from gladiator school and goes on to lead an army of escaped gladiators and freed slaves against the Romans. Olivier plays the arch-villain Crassus, and Simmons is the slave woman Spartacus falls in love with. It all leads up to a big battle scene, in which the slave army is defeated by three Roman armies acting in concert. It's an epic saga, but the movie is overlong at more than three hours. The subtitles included on the disc are adequate. Grade: B

Winter in Wartime

Winter in Wartime (2008) starring Martijn Lakemeier, Jamie Campbell Bower. In German-occupied Holland during World War II, a teen-age boy (Lakemeier) tries to aid a downed English pilot (Bower). Complications arise when it is discovered that the pilot shot and killed a German soldier after parachuting into a tree. The movie is in Dutch and German, with English subtitles, which forms somewhat of a barrier to complete enjoyment; but it is filled with high drama and exciting sequences. Grade: A-

Spellbound

Spellbound (1945) starring Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Dr. Constance Peterson, a psychoanalyst (Bergman) falls in love with a patient (Peck) who suffers from amnesia and a guilt complex. Although the mental analysis seems a little crude by today's standards, this is still a pretty good psychological thriller in the Hitchcock tradition. Refreshingly, Peck was a year younger than Bergman when this film was made -- as opposed to so many films which pair an aging actor romantically with a young starlet. This is really Ingrid Bergman's film, and she is excellent in it. The disc offers both English subtitles and closed captions. Grade: B+

Fright Night

Fright Night (2011) starring Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, David Tennant, Toni Collette. Teenager Charlie Brewster (Yelchin) suspects that his new neighbor, Jerry (Farrell) is a vampire. At first he can't get anyone to believe him, but it's not long before everyone knows there's a full-blown vampire living in the neighborhood. Comparisons with the 1985 film of the same name are inevitable, especially since this movie is based explicitly on that one. My verdict: The '85 film had more humor and slightly better acting, but the '11 version has better special effects and makeup. It's really kind of a toss-up as to which film you prefer. This one has excellent subtitles, as well as closed captions. Grade: B

Spanking the Monkey

Spanking the Monkey (1994) starring Jeremy Davies, Alberta Watson, Carla Gallo. Young pre-med student Ray (Davies) is stuck at home taking care of his injured mom (Watson). Unfortunately, the film was hard to follow because it had no subtitles for the hearing impaired, and no closed captions. Grade: F

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (2011) starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson. Harry (Radcliffe), Ron (Grint) and Hermione (Watson) hunt down and destroy Horcruxes, which contain pieces of Voldemort's soul. Meanwhile, Hogwarts comes under attack from Voldemort and his multitude of minions. Ultimately, of course, Harry must face Voldemort mano a mano. Or wand to wand, as the case may be. The bottom line is, if you're a Harry Potter fan, you'll love this movie. If you're not, I think you'll find this movie to be of indifferent entertainment value. The disc comes with subtitles for the hearing impaired, but not closed captions. Grade: B+

The Sorrow and the Pity

The Sorrow and the Pity (1970) documentary. Part 1: The Collapse shows how France fell under Nazi sway at the beginning of World War II, and how an uncomfortably large number of the French collaborated or at least cooperated with the Germans. Anglophobia and anti-Semitism ran rampant, even in Vichy France. Part 2: The Choice deals with life in France during the occupation. The choice in question seems to be whether to join the Resistance or not. Several former members of the Resistance are interviewed. Also: A Frenchman who joined the Nazis. And further discussion of anti-Semitism in France, then and now. All of this is followed by interviews about the repercussions that came after the Liberation by Allied forces. At four hours, this movie is plenty long, and you have to be dedicated to history to be able to enjoy it. But if you're into it, it's fascinating. It's in French, with English subtitles. Grade: B+

Sounder

Sounder (1972). This movie has no subtitles, no closed captions, nada, rien, zilch. Grade: F

The Sons of Katie Elder

The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) starring John Wayne, Dean Martin. The four sons of Katie Elder (including Wayne and Martin as the eldest) reunite in their small Texas home town for her funeral -- only to find out that their ranch has been taken over and their father murdered. When they set out to find out what happened, they meet opposition every inch of the way. The four brothers fight among themselves, but you just know they'll pull together before the movie is over. I was hoping for a rousing Western, but I was mostly disappointed -- this film has plenty of gunplay, but so many guys are shot, both good- and bad-guys, that it gets boring after a while. There are several strands of the plot that are never satisfactorily resolved. This is just an OK Western. Good subtitles. Grade: B-

The Song of Bernadette

The Song of Bernadette (1943) starring Jennifer Jones. In 1858 in France, young peasant girl named Bernadette (Jones) has a vision of a lady who talks to her. Bernadette does not claim the lady is the Virgin Mary, but others in her village make that assumption. Naturally, the authorities in the town try to oppose her at every turn. The movie tells the story of the Miracle of Lourdes in a very moving and convincing fashion -- enough so that the film won 12 Oscar nominations and four wins, including Best Actress for Jones. A quote used twice in the film is telling: "For those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who don't believe, no explanation is sufficient." The movie is two and a half hours long, but doesn't seem that long -- a rarity with me. It has good subtitles, as well as closed captions. Grade: A

The Future

The Future (2011) starring Hamish Linklater, Miranda July. I didn't totally understand this film. Jason (Linklater) and Sophie (July) are a 35-ish couple who live together. They try to adopt a cat, but the cat has to be held at the animal shelter because it is injured. They can pick it up in 30 days. The cat talks to the camera. Jason and Sophie decide that they have 30 days in which to live their lives, and then it's all over, so they quit their jobs and disconnect from the Internet. Sophie has an affair. Jason talks to the moon. And various other weird stuff happens. I wanted it to all come together and make sense, but it just refused. Even so, this is a movie that will stay with me as a unique experience, and certainly was unlike any movie I've ever seen before. It has good subtitles, as well as closed captions. Grade: B

Crazy, Stupid, Love

Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011) starring Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling. Cal Weaver's (Carell) wife, Emily (Moore) suddenly asks him for a divorce. Cal starts going out to bars, where he meets Jacob (Gosling), a real playa. Jacob decides to "help" Cal by teaching him all his tricks for getting ladies into bed. The plot is much more complicated than just that summary would suggest, however. Cal's son, Robbie, is in love with the babysitter, Jessica; and Jessica has a crush (never reciprocated) on Cal. Meanwhile, other characters who seem unconnected to the main plot are dealing with their unhappy love lives. Everything comes together in a grand cluster fuck finale which is truly hilarious, and at the same time moving. This movie gets top marks from me. It has subtitles, but not closed captions. Grade: A-