Hugo

Hugo (2011) starring Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jude Law, Emily Mortimer, Christopher Lee, Ben Kingsley, Sasha Baron Cohen. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Young Hugo (Butterfield), an orphaned boy, lives "between the walls" in a train station in 1930s-era Paris. He keeps the clocks running because his late father (Law) taught him how, and now he feels that it is his best chance to stay out of the orphanage. Isabelle (Moretz) is a young girl who befriends him, and together they explore the wonder of the movies. In this way Hugo becomes Scorcese's paean to the cinema, and to the importance of preserving old films. It is also a tribute to George Melies, an early pioneer in movie-making. At the same time, it is the story of one boy's struggle to find his purpose in the world. The film has few flaws and deserved it's nomination in the Best Picture category. This disc has both subtitles in English (and other languages) and closed captions. Grade: A

The Sugarland Express

The Sugarland Express (1974) starring Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, Michael Sacks, William Atherton. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Hawn stars (above the title!) as a young mother, just released from prison, whose baby has been taken away from her by social services. She breaks her husband (Atherton) out of prerelease from the prison where he is incarcerated, and the couple is off on a cross-country chase to try to get their baby back from foster parents who live in Sugarland, Texas. Things get complicated when they kidnap a highway patrolman (Sacks) and force him to drive them across Texas. The fact that the film is based on true events makes it all the more entertaining. This was Spielberg's debut feature film, and it gained critical praise although it didn't do too well at the box office. The subtitles are adequate, but closed captions are not available. Grade: B+

A Streetcar Named Desire

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) starring Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden. Two clashing personalities, Blanche DuBois (Leigh) and Stanley Kowalski (Brando), are brought together by their relationship to Stella Kowalski (Hunter), Stanley's wife. They meet in the slums of New Orleans during a hot summer, when Blanche comes to stay with her sister Stella after the family estate is lost. As with other films made during this time period, Streetcar is marred by the necessity to conform to the Hollywood Production Code. Certain scenes with sexual references are just not clear. Leigh, Hunter and Malden all won Oscars. Brando lost to Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen. Subtitles are available, also closed captions. Grade: B

Suddenly, Last Summer

Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) starring Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift. A neurosurgeon (Clift) at a state institution is asked to court a rich widow (Hepburn), who promises to donate money to the hospital if he can help her niece, Catherine (Taylor). Catherine, however, does not appear to be mentally ill. Based on a Tennessee Williams stage play, this movie does seem stagey, but the script is excellent. My one objection is that Taylor smokes throughout the movie -- not objectionable when the film was made, but it bothers me now. The disc comes with excellent subtitles, and closed captions are not needed. Grade: A-

The Stunt Man

The Stunt Man (1980) starring Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsback, Barbara Hershey. Vietnam veteran Cameron (Railsback) is on the run from the police when he stumbles onto the set of a movie directed by megalomaniac Eli Cross (O'Toole). Cameron is recruited to replace the film's stunt man, whom he has accidentally killed. I saw this movie at the theater and recall enjoying it immensely. Only problem is, this disc has no subtitles, no closed captions, nothing. Grade: F

Stray Dog

Stray Dog (1949) starring Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura. Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Tokyo homicide detective Murakami (Mifune) loses his gun, goes on search throughout city to try and find it. Old hand Sato (Shimura) helps him out in his quest. When Murakami learns that his gun has been used in a homicide, the search intensifies. The story gives Kurosawa an opportunity to explore post-war Tokyo and the underbelly of society in the late '40s; it's a Japanese film noir. In Japanese, with English subtitles. Grade: B

The Stratton Story

The Stratton Story (1949) starring James Stewart, June Allyson, Frank Morgan, Agnes Moorehead. Based on a true story, Stewart plays Monty Stratton, a pro baseball player who loses a leg in a hunting accident. Embittered at first, he later comes around and makes a comeback. Although he would not pitch in the major leagues again, he would go on to pitch several years in the minors. Allyson plays his faithful and supportive wife. This disc has good subtitles, as well as the preferable closed captions. Grade: B

Tiny Furniture

Tiny Furniture (2010) starring Lena Dunham, Laurie Simmons, Grace Dunham, David Call, Alex Karpovsky. Directed by Lena Dunham. Young woman named Aura (Lena Dunham) arrives home from college, tries to adjust to post-graduate life in New York City. She moves back in with her mom (Simmons), gets a job, quits the job, dates a couple of losers (Call, Karpovsky), and generally rattles around, unsure about her future. The movie has no plot, but a plot isn't really required. It's obviously an extremely low-budgeted film, but it holds up pretty well. I think women will appreciate it more than men. The disc has pretty good subtitles, but does not offer closed captions. Grade: B-

Take Shelter

Take Shelter (2011) starring Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain. Curtis (Shannon) starts having disturbing, apocalyptic dreams and feeling sick; he thinks he may be going crazy. Soon his wife Samantha (Chastain) begins to agree with him -- after he starts building a gigantic storm shelter in their back yard. To top it all off, his bizarre behavior gets him fired from his job. The whole movie seems designed to show that yes, he is losing his mind. Then, and I don't want to spoil anything, but there's a not-unexpected twist at the end of the film. It's the ending I was hoping for, but I felt that it was under-written -- maybe they didn't have the special effects budget they needed, I don't know, but the ending wasn't spelled out quite as I would've liked. Otherwise, this is a very interesting film. Chastain, by the way, is very alluring. The disc comes with excellent subtitles, but no closed captions. Grade: B

Strangers on a Train

Strangers on a Train (1951) starring Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Two men meet on a train and talk turns to what they have in common -- Guy (Granger) has a wife he wants to get rid of, and Bruno (Walker) wants his father dead. Bruno cooks up a scheme in which they will exchange murders; "crisscross" he calls it. Guy doesn't take him seriously, but Bruno soon follows through with his half of the "deal," and Guy feels trapped in the situation. There are several examples of brilliant cinematography in this movie, and the tension is palpable. The grand finale on a merry-go-round is a bit overdone, but basically the film is very entertaining. If you're a Hitchcock fan you've got to see this one. The DVD offers English subtitles and even better, closed captions. Grade: B+

The Story of Qiu Ju

The Story of Qiu Ju (1993) starring Gong Li. After her husband is kicked in the gonads by the village chief, a pregnant Qiu Ju (Li) goes on a quest for justice. Qiu Ju just wants an apology, but the village chief is stubborn. Qiu Ju appeals her case to ever-higher levels of the bureaucracy, all the while spending money she can ill afford. In the end, she hires a lawyer to sue the chief. You just know this isn't going to end well. This movie surprised me, and I ended up liking it more than I expected to. It's in Chinese, with English subtitles. Grade: B+

Stolen Kisses

Stolen Kisses (1968) starring Jean-Pierre Leaud. Directed by Francois Truffaut. Antoine Doinel (Leaud) is booted out of the Army, and quickly lands a job as a night clerk -- from which he is quickly fired. He then gets a job in a detective agency, and that's when things start to really go wrong. Honestly, I'm at a loss when it comes to evaluating this film. It doesn't really have a plot. It's more like a slice of life. It's fairly entertaining to watch, but after it was over I kind of found myself scratching my head and wondering what I had just seen. Some critics have called it Truffaut's best movie. I guess I just don't "get" Truffaut. He is French, after all. This film was nominated for an Oscar as Best Foreign Film. The movie is in French, with English subtitles. Grade: B

Stage Door

Stage Door (1937) starring Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou. Hepburn plays an aspiring actress in New York who, though her family is wealthy, chooses to stay at a cheap boardinghouse with other young women who are seeking careers in show business. Unknown to her, her father tries to interfere in her career by buying into a theatrical production. She gets the part, but at what price? This is a fine old movie with much to recommend it, not least Hepburn in the starring role. Several stars-to-be have small roles, including Lucille Ball and Eve Arden. The subtitles are adequate, but the closed captions are better. Grade: B

Project Nim

Project Nim (2011), documentary. This movie takes a look back at a 1970s experiment in which a chimpanzee named Nim was taken away from his mother at age two weeks and "adopted" by a human family. The human parents, Stephanie and Wer, were not very well equipped to carry out this project; for one thing, they were supposed to teach Nim sign language, and no one in the family was fluent in sign language. They even gave Nim alcohol and marijuana. Soon Herb Terrace, Stephanie's boss, decided to take Nim out of her care. From that point on, Nim had a series of human teachers, all trying to teach him sign language. At the same time, Nim was getting larger and more dangerous. (He frequently bit his teachers.) In 1977, at about age 4, Nim was returned to the chimp habitat he had been taken from as a baby. Later, in 1982, in a horrific development, the chimps were sold to a medical lab for experimentation. The film continues, documenting the life of this badly mistreated chimp. All in all, this movie is a devastating indictment of man's inhumanity to chimps -- and most other animals. Subtitles and closed captions are both offered on the disc. Grade: B

Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford. As Luke (Hamill) prepares to confront Darth Vader, Leia (Fisher) and Han (Ford), helped by the Ewoks, prepare to take down the shield generator that is protecting the new Death Star. This movie suffers only by comparison with Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. On its own terms, it holds up quite well. The three films of the trilogy, taken as a whole, constitute one of the great achievements of 20th-century filmmaking. This DVD offers both subtitles in English and closed captions. Loved it. Grade: B+

The Sting

The Sting (1973) starring Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Ray Walston, Eileen Brennan. Directed by George Roy Hill. In 1936, small-time con man Johnny Hooker (Redford) seeks out Henry Gondorff (Newman) so that they can team up and run the "big con" on Doyle Lonnegan (Shaw), a vicious crime boss. The catch is, Hooker's inexperienced and Gondorff is out of practice. Plus, if Lonnegan catches on, they're dead. The filmmakers pull a "sting" on the audience, too, so there's suspense right up to the end. The actors, including supporting players, are all good. The Sting won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. The DVD includes subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired, but no closed captions. Grade: A

State of the Union

State of the Union (1948) starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Van Johnson, Angela Lansbury. Directed by Frank Capra. Tracy plays Grant Matthews, an industrialist running for president, and Hepburn plays his wife and conscience. Lansbury plays the "other woman," a powerful newspaper owner who wants to see Matthews elected -- and acts as a bad influence on him. This movie was adapted from a play, and seems very stagey to me. There's a lot of fast talk and gobbledy-gook about politics and politicians, which seems slightly dated in this Internet age. It was good to watch Tracy and Hepburn together on screen, but this film didn't have much else to recommend it to me. It did have subtitles for the hearing-impaired, but no closed captions. Grade: B

Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford. Directed by Irvin Kershner. Luke Skywalker (Hamill), Princess Leia (Fisher) and Han Solo (Ford) continue their adventures battling the evil galactic Empire. In this, the best movie in the Star Wars series, Han kisses Leia, and Luke travels to the Dagoba system to receive Jedi training from master Yoda. Later, in a shocking revelation, Luke learns crucial information about his father. In retrospect, several brilliant strands of the overall plot begin to bear fruit in this, the second film in the original trilogy. Great music by John Williams cranks up the wow factor another notch. The dazzling special effects earned a special Oscar. The DVD offers both subtitles in English and closed captions. Grade: A

Contagion

Contagion (2011) starring Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard. A deadly virus begins infecting people all over the world, and the death toll rises to 26 million before a vaccine is developed. People panic and begin looting stores, then stealing from each other. Who is to get the vaccine first? The authorities hold a public lottery to decide. I wish I could recommend this movie, but it just didn't seem dramatic enough. It's a fairly passable evening's entertainment, but nothing special. The subtitles on the disc are adequate; closed captions are not offered. Grade: B