Ponyo (DVD)

Ponyo (2008). Japanese anime, translated into English, about a boy who captures an enchanted fish which he names Ponyo. Ponyo loves the little boy and wants to become human, but her wishes threaten to upset the balance of nature. I could detect no subtext which would make this movie especially appealing to adults -- it seems like a straight magical tale for children, well and beautifully told. It does have good subtitles, however. Grade: B+

Nobody's Fool (DVD)

Nobody's Fool (1994) starring Paul Newman, Jessica Tandy, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Dylan Walsh. Newman stars as ne'er-do-well Sully, a 60-year-old who deserted his family years ago, then unexpectedly finds himself spending time with his grown son, Peter (Walsh), and grandson, Will. Tandy plays the elderly lady he rents a room from, and Willis plays the mush-for-brains owner of the construction company Sully works for. The plot of the movie takes many delightful, unexpected turns. Based on a novel by Richard Russo. The subtitles are the best kind -- yellow letters outlined in black. Grade: B+

The Ninth Configuration (DVD)

The Ninth Configuration (1980) starring Stacy Keach, Scott Wilson, Jason Miller, Ed Flanders, Neville Brand. Promising movie about Vietnam-era psychiatric hospital is marred by the fact that it has no subtitles for the hearing-impaired, not even closed captions. Grade: F

Ninotchka (DVD)

Ninotchka (1939) starring Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire. Soviet apparatchik Ninotchka (Garbo) arrives in Paris to negotiate the sale of confiscated royal jewels. By coincidence, she meets the lawyer for the other side (Douglas), and they fall in love. But then she learns who he is and tries to distance herself from him. Although much of the banter seems dated, Garbo and Douglas together make a charming couple. One scene, where they get drunk together, is particularly memorable. Garbo was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance, and the movie was nominated for Best Picture. The subtitles are OK. Grade: B

The September Issue (DVD)

The September Issue (2008). Directed by R.J. Cutler. Documentary follows Vogue editor Anna Wintour and creative director Grace Coddington as they work on the annual September issue -- a really big deal in the fashion world. As I have no interest in fashion as such, I had to wonder what I had gotten myself into. Could a movie like this engage my interest? The answer is -- just barely. Every once in a while there is something to grab your interest -- a photo shoot, perhaps, or a visit to Paris. But overall my feeling was, Who cares? It's a fashion magazine being made. Whoop-de-do. I give the movie credit for having good subtitles, however. Grade: C

Nights of Cabiria (DVD)

Nights of Cabiria (1957) starring Giulietta Masina, Francois Perier. Directed by Federico Fellini. Waif-like prostitute Cabiria (Masina) dreams of fortune and love, but finds only heartbreak and misery. Alternately comic and tragic, the movie won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Masina won Best Actress at Cannes Film Festival. The subtitles are white on a black-and-white background -- merely adequate. Grade: A-

A Night at the Opera (DVD)

A Night at the Opera (1935) starring Groucho, Chico, Harpo Marx, Kitty Carlisle, Allan Jones. The Marx Brothers take on the world of opera, and opera will never be the same. Filled with classic scenes, this movie is considered by many to be the Marx Bros. best. The script is razor-sharp, with scarcely a dull moment. Even the music works; even the romantic subplot, between Carlisle and Jones, works. The subtitles are fine. Grade: A

Surrogates (DVD)

Surrogates (2009) starring Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, Ving Rhames, Boris Kodjoe, Michael Cudlitz, James Cromwell, James Francis Ginty. It's sometime in the future, and something like 98 percent of the population are living their lives vicariously, through robotic surrogates. The "surries" or "synths," as they are known, allow one to look any way one wants, to take risks one normally wouldn't take, without risk to the human body. Willis plays Tom Greer, an FBI agent who gets involved in a case where someone has invented a weapon that kills, not just the surrie, but the human operator. Through a series of events, he also loses his synth, so he must face the world in his original human body (or "meatbag"). It's all kind of creepy, and maybe it was meant to be. But I also found it chaotic, compressing too much action into too little time -- the rare instance of a movie being too short -- and it was hard to keep the characters straight and to make sense of it all. The subtitles are rather good. Grade: C+

The Invention of Lying (DVD)

The Invention of Lying (2009) starring Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner. Right off the bat, this disc puts you in a bad mood by forcing you to sit through 15 minutes of previews and advertisements. You have no choice -- pressing the Menu button on the remote control produces no results. ... The movie itself, however, improves on this state of affairs. Mark Bellison (Gervais) lives in a world in which no one fibs. As an unsuccessful screenwriter, he finds himself unable to impress the girl of his dreams (Garner) and fired from his job. Then the idea occurs to him -- if you say something that is not true, people will believe you. At first he uses his gift to make small amounts of money. Then he ends up inventing a new history of the 1300s; and then he invents religion, God, heaven and hell. Will all this help him win Anna, the girl of his dreams? Well, maybe. This is a sweet little movie, with loads of stars in small roles. I enjoyed it. Grade: B+

The Remains of the Day (DVD)

The Remains of the Day (1993) starring Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, James Fox, Christopher Reeve, Hugh Grant. Directed by James Ivory. Novelistic story, set in the 1930s, about servants at a great English manor house. The home in which they labor is fabulous -- practically a character in the film itself. The dutiful butler, Stevens (Hopkins), and the efficient head housekeeper, Miss Kenton (Thompson) clash early on. But they soon grow comfortable with each other. Lord Darlington (Fox), the head of the household, has unfortunate Nazi sympathies. Later, the action shifts to the postwar period, at which time Stevens and Miss Kenton try to reconnect. The film was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture. It has exemplary subtitles. Grade: A-

The Last Picture Show (DVD)

The Last Picture Show (1971) starring Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn. Beautifully realized, absorbing portrait of life in the early '50s in a small Texas town -- and how the lives of its inhabitants intertwine. Based on the novel by Larry McMurtry. Johnson and Leachman won well-deserved Oscars for their supporting roles. The subtitles are very good, although certain songs aren't captioned. Grade: A-

Julia (DVD)

Julia (1977) starring Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Jason Robards, Hal Holbrook, Maximilian Schell. On the heels of her first play's success, playwright Lillian Hellman (Fonda) journeys to Europe, where her friend Julia (Redgrave) enlists her help in antifascist activities. Julia wants Lillian to travel through Berlin on her way from Paris to Moscow -- a considerable risk, since Lillian is Jewish, and Hitler has risen to power. Travel in those days (the '30s) was mainly by rail, and the train ride from Paris to Berlin and beyond is harrowing. The film was nominated for several Oscars, and won three. Meryl Streep has a brief appearance -- her first movie role. The subtitles are unobtrusive. Grade: A

Never on Sunday (DVD)

Never on Sunday (1960) starring Melina Mercouri, Jules Dassin. Directed by Jules Dassin. Homer Thrace (Dassin) arrives in Greece from the States, meets free-spirited prostitute Ilya (Mercouri). Ilya is happy with her carefree life, but Homer decides she must be educated, she must be reformed. He briefly succeeds, but then his plan backfires on him. The film received several Oscar nominations, including a win for Best Song. The movie is now 50 years old. Some of the magic, and some of the shock value, has been lost. The subtitles are very good -- even though the film is multilingual, the captions never miss a beat. One quibble: The songs, in Greek, are not subtitled. Grade: B

Terminator: Salvation (DVD)

Terminator: Salvation (2009) starring Christian Bale, Sam Worthington. The year is 2018. John Connor (Bale) leads the Resistance as the humans fight Skynet. When Marcus Wright (Worthington) appears, he poses a puzzle: Is he human or machine? Does he come from the past or the future? Meanwhile, Kyle Reese has been captured by Skynet and transported to headquarters in San Francisco. What the heck is going on? Will anybody watching this movie really care? Much to my surprise, I did care -- a little bit. And there is one dynamite cameo that makes the movie. The subtitles are good. Grade: B

A Serious Man (DVD)

A Serious Man (2009) starring Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, Sari Lennick, Aaron Wolff, Jessica McManus, Adam Arkin. Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Larry Gopnik (Stuhlbarg) is suffering a spot of bother. His wife wants a gett (ritual Jewish divorce), a student where he teaches is trying to bribe him, and his children (Wolff and McManus) are constantly bickering; he gets into a car accident, and he has nightmares. He finds himself consulting a series of rabbis and smoking pot with one of his suburban neighbors. He sees a lawyer (Arkin) about the divorce. What does it all mean? I couldn't tell you, because the movie comes to an abrupt and maddening end. What the ending means, or what it is supposed to mean, I couldn't figure out. Grade: B-

Network (DVD)

Network (1976) starring Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty, Beatrice Straight. Written by Paddy Chayefsky. Directed by Sidney Lumet. Prophetic movie about Number Four TV network that will put anything on the air for ratings, including the ravings of a news anchor (Finch) who has gone slightly mad. This movie features one of the most famous quotes in film, as people stick their heads out the window and yell, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore." Chayefsky, Finch, Dunaway and Straight won Oscars. The subtitles are just barely adequate -- but essential. Grade: A

Nashville (DVD)

Nashville (1975) starring Henry Gibson, Karen Black, Ronee Blakley, Keith Carradine, Geraldine Chaplin, Lily Tomlin, Michael Murphy, many more. Directed by Robert Altman. Giant jigsaw puzzle of a movie features a couple of dozen lead characters, all of whose paths cross continuously. Set in Nashville, it blends the music scene with politics, circa 1975, with often hilarious results. Now seems a little dated. Main drawback of film is length, at two hours and forty minutes. The subtitles are excellent. Grade: A-

The Naked Spur (DVD)

The Naked Spur (1953) starring James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Ralph Meeker, Robert Ryan, Millard Mitchell. Bounty hunter (Stewart) is forced to team up with two strangers to capture wanted outlaw (Ryan). Trouble is, they have to take the outlaw back to Kansas, where he is wanted, and he is clever enough to sow dissension among his captors along the way. Leigh provides the love interest, and a lot of the tension. Ryan makes a suitably despicable villain. The movie was beautifully photographed on location in the Rocky Mountains. Subtitled in English for the hearing-impaired. Grade: B

My Left Foot (DVD)

My Left Foot (1989) starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Ray McAnally, Hugh O'Conor, Fiona Shaw. True story of Christy Brown (Day-Lewis), Irish artist and writer who was born with cerebral palsy and could only write and draw with his left foot. Not some happy-ending fairy tale, but a powerful and fascinating portrait of an artist who could only overcome some of his shortcomings. Fricker and McAnally play Christy's mother and father. Day-Lewis and Fricker both won Oscars for their performances. The subtitles are very good -- and absolutely essential, since everyone talks in an Irish accent, except Christy, who can only speak in what frequently sounds like grunts and moans. Grade: A-

Cold Souls (DVD)

Cold Souls (2009) starring Paul Giamatti, Emily Watson, Dina Korzun, David Strathairn, Lauren Ambrose. To begin with, you have to accept the premise that the technology exists to extract a human soul -- and that the subject goes on living after his or her soul has been removed. Giamatti plays an actor named Paul Giamatti who decides that his soul is weighing too heavily on him, and he decides to have it removed and stored by a company called Soul Storage. He soon comes to regret his decision, but his soul has gone missing. He rents the soul of a Russian poet instead. Meanwhile, there is a sub-plot concerning the illegal trafficking in souls by the Russian mob. Turns out, the Russians have stolen Giamatti's soul -- not a pleasant prospect, when you think about it. The movie is intermittently amusing, mostly entertaining, but ultimately pointless. The subtitles are barely adequate -- but kudos to the disc-makers for including subtitles for the hearing-impaired. Grade: C+

My Brilliant Career (DVD)

My Brilliant Career (1979) starring Judy Davis, Sam Neill. Young woman named Sybylla (Davis) lives in 19th-century Australia, bucks social conventions in pursuit of her dream of doing "great things" with her life. She is determined that her career will take precedence over all things, including marriage. Then she meets Harry (Neill), and her feelings are thrown into turmoil. Based on the true story of Australian writer Miles Franklin. The disc does not offer subtitles, but it does have closed captions. Grade: B

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-

Murphy's War (DVD)

Murphy's War (1971) starring Peter O'Toole, Sian Phillips, Philippe Noiret. Near the end of World War II, a German submarine sinks a British boat, and the Germans savagely machine-gun all the survivors in the water. The only one to escape with his life is Murphy (O'Toole), who washes up on the remote jungle coast of the Orinoco River. He is tended to by a Quaker doctor, and no sooner are Murphy's wounds healed than he begins to make plans to take revenge on the Germans. His apparent success, however, only brings down the wrath of the Germans upon the village which has been sheltering him. It soon becomes clear that Murphy has taken leave of his senses, and nobody plays a madman better than O'Toole. Murphy's war ends with a bang. The subtitles are good. Grade: B+

Murphy's Romance (DVD)

Murphy's Romance (1985) starring Sally Field, James Garner, Brian Kerwin, Corey Haim. Low-key story in which divorcee Emma (Field) moves to small town, is attracted to older, laid back pharmacist Murphy (Garner) -- and the feeling is mutual. Some dramatic tension sets in when her ex-husband (Kerwin) drops in, hoping to stay. But he's a thief and he cheats at cards, so there's never much doubt that he's going to be vanquished. Interestingly, Field is 39, playing 33, while Garner is 57, playing 60. This movie really ends strongly. The subtitles are excellent. Grade: A-

Muriel's Wedding (DVD)

Muriel's Wedding (1994) starring Toni Collette, Bill Hunter, Rachel Griffiths. Australian loser Muriel (then-unknown Collette), from a highly dysfunctional family, decides she must escape her home town of Porpoise Spit if she is to get on with her life. She moves to Sydney where, with friend Rhonda (then-unknown Griffiths), she starts a new existence -- one where she has a job and gets asked out by blokes. The film soon takes a dark turn, however, and everything is not lollipops and rainbows for Muriel. The plot is baroque and festooned with interesting characterizations, and there is never a dull moment. Both actresses, Collette and Griffiths, are real finds. The subtitles are excellent, and are supplemented by closed captions for viewers who prefer them. The music of ABBA plays a prominent role in the movie, and all the lyrics are included in the subtitles. Grade: A

Extract (DVD)

Extract (2009) starring Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Ben Affleck, Kristen Wiig. Bateman stars as Joel, the owner of a factory that makes food extracts, and Kunis plays Cindy, a young con artist who gets herself hired on at the factory with an eye to horning in on an accident settlement. Affleck plays Dean, Joel's friend and confidant, who somehow manages to talk Joel into hiring a gigolo to have sex with Joel's wife (drugs are involved). There is one genuine laugh-out-loud moment in this comedy, but otherwise it is not well written, loosely edited and carelessly directed. The separate elements that go to make up the film are entertaining, but they don't hang together very well. It's obviously a low-budget independent film, and it has the look and feel of a made-for-TV movie. Still, I rather enjoyed it, or at least parts of it. It was nice to see Kristen Wiig in something besides "Saturday Night Live." And the subtitles are very good -- yellow outlined in black, very legible. Grade: B

(500) Days of Summer (DVD)

(500) Days of Summer (2009) starring Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Directed by Marc Webb. Adorable Summer (Deschanel) is the girl who Tom (Gordon-Levitt) falls in love with -- and the girl who breaks Tom's heart. She tells him she doesn't want a serious relationship, then sleeps with him, which confuses him no end. The story is told in flashback, with their breakup coming in the first five minutes of the film. It is also told in non-linear fashion, with the numbered days of their romance being shown out of chronological order. It all makes sense, though, and the ending seems just about right. The subtitles are great -- even the songs on the soundtrack are captioned. Grade: B+

Horse Feathers (DVD)

Horse Feathers (1932) starring the Marx Brothers, Thelma Todd, David Landau. Professor Wagstaff (Groucho) somehow gets himself appointed president of Huxley College, and soon he is involved in scheming involving the upcoming football game against Darwin College. Groucho, Chico and Harpo are in fine form, and Zeppo serves his usual function as wet blanket. Expect the customary Marx Brothers wackiness, and all I can say is, it's good for what ails you. This movie also has the rare virtue of being very short; at 68 minutes, it leaves you wanting more. The subtitles are very good, and a great help in several spots where the soundtrack of this 1932 film is not in such great shape. Grade: A-

Muriel (DVD)

Muriel (1963) starring Delphine Seyrig, Jean-Pierre Kerien. Odd French film with a strange, avant-garde soundtrack which I found discordant and intrusive. A woman and an old lover are reunited, while her stepson struggles with his memories of the occupation of Algeria. The old lover arrives with his "niece." The stepson shoots movie film. I found this movie very confusing. Maybe something was lost in the translation from French to English. I couldn't make sense of it. It strikes me as surreal -- perhaps intentionally so. I really can't recommend it. Grade: C-

Murder Ahoy (DVD)

Murder Ahoy (1964) starring Margaret Rutherford, Lionel Jefferies. Miss Marple (Rutherford) investigates murder aboard a training ship. Based on the books by Agatha Christie. It's all rather silly, and I found myself marveling that anyone thought it was worth making a movie about. The subtitles are barely adequate. Grade: C+

Murder, Inc. (DVD)

Murder, Inc. (1960) starring Stuart Rosenberg, Stuart Whitman, May Britt, Henry Morgan, Peter Falk. Based-in-fact story of organized crime in the '30s in Brooklyn. Falk stands out as a sociopathic killer named Reles. Morgan plays the man who takes on the job of bringing down the Mob. The movie (in black and white) has a dated feel to it. The subtitles are good. Grade: B

Inglourious Basterds (DVD)

Inglourious Basterds (2009) starring Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger. Directed by Quentin Tarantino. Pitt plays Lt. Aldo Raine, leader of a band of Jews who parachute into occupied France in the early days of World War II on a mission to kill Nazis. As you would expect from a Tarantino movie, there is a lot of violence, blood and guts. There is also a lot of tension, as British and American characters go in undercover and the Nazis try to expose them. The centerpiece of the film is the premier of a German propaganda movie, which the "basterds" hope to infiltrate -- giving them the opportunity to assassinate a lot of high-ranking Nazis. Like Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction," there is also a lot of gruesome humor in this film. The final frenzy of violence, in which many Nazis are slaughtered, is very satisfying. ... "Inglourious Basterds" takes place mainly in three languages: German, French and English. For some reason the subtitles during the German portions are hard to read. Otherwise, the subtitles are fine. Grade: A-

Mrs. Dalloway (DVD)

Mrs. Dalloway (1997) starring Vanessa Redgrave, Natascha McElhone, John Standing, Michael Kitchen. Beautifully mounted production about middle-aged Clarissa Dalloway (Redgrave) planning a party, thinking back upon her earlier life and the two men she had to choose between. The disc is stingy with subtitles, however, offering only Spanish, and is not closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired. Grade: F

Julie & Julia (DVD)

Julie & Julia (2009) starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams. Directed by Nora Ephron. Streep portrays legendary chef Julia Child, and Adams plays Julie Powell, a Queens woman who spends a year cooking her way through Child's book, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." It's all based on the true stories of the two women -- one the story of Child living in France in the late '40s and deciding to take lessons in French cooking, and the other of Powell in 2002, learning to cook from Child's book and blogging about it on the Internet. The stories are told in parallel, alternating from one to the other. Unfortunately, the structure of the movie pits Adams against Streep, Powell against Child, and the two younger characters don't come off so well. Still, it's an enjoyable movie to watch, especially if you love food. The subtitles are superb -- yellow bold type that stands out against the film's background. Grade: A-

Public Enemies (DVD)

Public Enemies (2009) starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Stephen Dorff, Billy Crudup, Stephen Lang. Notorious criminal John Dillinger (Depp) blazes a swath through Depression-era America, robbing banks while doggedly pursued by FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Bale). Other crooks who show up in this crime saga are "Pretty Boy" Floyd and "Baby Face" Nelson. But it's basically Dillinger's story. And he doesn't get a moment's rest as J. Edgar Hoover (Crudup) brings the full weight of the FBI into the hunt to find him and bring him to justice. A couple of jailbreaks and several gun battles are shown in the film, along with some car chases. There's quite a bit of action, but the movie is overlong at two hours, 20 minutes. Good subtitles, though. Grade: B

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (DVD)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur. Directed by Frank Capra. Stewart plays Jefferson Smith, a bumpkin who is appointed to the Senate because the corrupt politicians in his home state think he will be easy to control. Arthur plays his cynical secretary, who is eventually won over by his honesty and sincerity. It's corny, but ultimately moving. Nominated for multiple Oscars, this movie won only for the original story. Good subtitles -- yellow on a black-and-white background. Grade: A

Mrs. Miniver (DVD)

Mrs. Miniver (1942) starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright, Richard Ney, Reginald Owen. Home-front story of a British family soldiering on during World War II. The son, Vin (Ney), is the first to join the war effort, becoming an RAF pilot. Soon, the patriarch of the family (Pidgeon) pitches in, helping with the rescue effort at Dunkirk. And not to be left out, Mrs. Miniver (Garson) singled-handedly captures a downed German pilot. Henry Travers, who played Clarence the angel in "It's a Wonderful Life," has a role as Mr. Ballard, a man of the village. The movie was a multiple Oscar winner, including Best Picture. Grade: B+

M. Hulot's Holiday (DVD)

M. Hulot's Holiday (1953) starring Jacques Tati. Directed by Jacques Tati. Monsieur Hulot (Tati) goes on vacation to a beach resort. While there, he gets into various kerfuffles, mostly of his own making, and we, the audience, are intended to laugh. This movie is simply absurd, and maybe that was the intent of the makers. It has its Gallic charms, and the atmosphere at the beach resort made me nostalgic for a France I have never seen, and which undoubtedly no longer exists (although I have visited Paris, I've never experienced the countryside). It didn't make me laugh, but it did make me smile. And that's nothing to sneer at. In French, with English subtitles. An alternate, English soundtrack is available on the disc. Grade: B

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (DVD)

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) starring Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Married couple in New York (Lombard, Montgomery) find out that, through a technicality, they're not legally married. She knows that he knows, but he doesn't know that she knows. She wants to get married again right away, but he hesitates a bit too long -- and from that point on she takes a delight in torturing him with the idea that she doesn't want him at all anymore. It's supposed to be a madcap comedy, but the pacing is too deliberate for that. Still, it makes for an agreeable evening's entertainment -- although the ending is rather abrupt and anticlimactic. The subtitles are (barely) adequate. Grade: B

Into the Storm (DVD)

Into the Storm (2009) starring Brendan Gleeson, Janet McTeer, Len Carious, Patrick Malahide, James D'Arcy. Winston Churchill (Gleeson) steers Britain through the momentous years of World War II, and finds himself often at odds with his wife Clemmie (McTeer). It's hard not to be stirred by a show (made for HBO) which depicts such historic events -- but unfortunately, Gleeson makes a less-than-convincing Churchill, and the whole production revolves around his performance. Grade: B

A Christmas Tale (DVD)

A Christmas Tale (2008) starring Jean-Paul Roussillon, Catherine Deneuve, Mathieu Amalric, Hippolyte Girardot, Emmanuelle Davos. Strange French movie about members of a dysfunctional family who come together for a strained and animosity-filled Christmas. The matriarch of the family (Deneuve) has a rare form of leukemia, and much time is spent discussing her chances of survival, and who should be the marrow donor if she chooses to try treatment. There are so many characters in this film that it is hard to sort them out. The movie has the questionable "virtue" of being very long at two and a half hours. You'd certainly get your money's worth if you enjoyed it. It's in French, with English subtitles. Grade: B

Only Angels Have Wings (DVD)

Only Angels Have Wings (1939) starring Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth. Directed by Howard Hawks. Fliers in South America brave dangerous conditions, including mountains and fog, to get the mail through. Grant is Carter, the leader of the pilots, and Arthur is the blond showgirl who arrives by boat and stays to pursue Carter. It's an entertaining movie, and some of the flying scenes are actually exciting. The subtitles are the best kind for a black-and-white movie: yellow with a black outline. Very legible. Grade: B+

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (DVD)

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) starring Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur. Directed by Frank Capra. Cooper plays Longfellow Deeds, a young small-town man who inherits $20 million and confounds the big-city folk by wanting to give it all away to needy people. Arthur plays Babe Bennett, the hard-boiled reporter who wants to get the scoop on Deeds -- and, of course, falls for him. It's an American classic. The subtitles -- yellow with a black outline -- are perfect for a black-and-white film. Grade: A-

Funny People (DVD)

Funny People (2009) starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill. Sandler plays comedian George Simmons, who has all the trappings of success but is basically miserable. When he gets a diagnosis of a potentially fatal disease, it makes him reevaluate his life. He hires Ira Wright (Rogen) to be his joke writer and assistant, and the two form an unlikely bond. Unfortunately, the "comedy" performed by the "funny people" in the movie isn't very funny. And Sandler is largely just grating. Plus, the movie is two and a half hours long. The subtitles are good. Grade: C

Gomorra (DVD)

Gomorra (2008) starring an all-Italian cast. A multifaceted look at the Neapolitan crime mob known as the Camorra, who are reputed to be more fearsome than the Mafia. The movie follows several separate characters along parallel plot-lines as they deal with different aspects of the organization. There's lots of violence and some nudity -- the film is unrated. It's no "Godfather," but it has its own gritty power. The spelling of the title is correct -- I'm guessing, an allusion to Sodom and Gomorrah. In Italian, with English subtitles. Grade: B+

Arsenic and Old Lace (DVD)

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) starring Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre, Jack Carson, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair. Directed by Frank Capra. Two seemingly harmless old ladies (Hull and Adair) poison lonely gentlemen callers, then bury them in their cellar. Their nephew, Mortimer Brewster (Grant), finds out what is going on just as he is preparing to leave for his honeymoon. To complicate matters, Mortimer's long-lost brother Jonathon (Massey) shows up -- now a criminal, made unrecognizable by plastic surgery -- and he too has a body to dispose of. Mortimer's frantic efforts to resolve all the tangled elements in the story generate the comedy, and it's funny, in a dark way. I can't say Grant is a great comic actor -- he seems more suited to the suave, debonair thing to me. But he does all right, even taking a few pratfalls. Grade: B

The Mouse on the Moon (DVD)

The Mouse on the Moon (1963) starring Margaret Rutherford, Bernard Cribbins, Ron Moody, Terry-Thomas. Lame sequel to 1959's "The Mouse That Roared"; conspicuous by absence is Peter Sellers, who played three parts in the first movie. This one is populated by no-name actors (at least to American audiences) and seems dated and not especially funny. Worst flaw is, unlike the earlier movie, this one lacks subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired. However, it does have closed captioning, so that counters the lack of subtitles. Grade: C

Humpday (DVD)

Humpday (2009) starring Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, Alycia Delmore. Low-budget indie film about a couple of old friends (Duplass and Leonard) who are reunited, go to a wild party, and goad each other into volunteering to make a sex film for an amateur porn festival -- in which they will have sex with each other. One of them, Ben (Duplass) has to explain what he is going to do to his wife, Anna (Delmore). Both of them, Ben and Andrew (Leonard), have to overcome their avowed heterosexuality. This was a hard film to watch, not least because if lacked subtitles for the hearing-impaired. Plus the last third of the film was very talkie, no actiony. Grade: D

Bruno (DVD)

Bruno (2009) starring Sacha Baron Cohen. As a flamboyantly gay Austrian TV star, Bruno (Cohen) tries to stir up trouble with the people he interviews. After failing in Europe, he comes to Los Angeles to "become a celebrity." In the process, he tries to make fools of real celebrities, with mixed results. I felt conflicted while watching this movie -- like, did I really think it was funny, or was it just offensive? There are a number of raunchy sex scenes, and the film required strategically placed black boxes to escape with an R rating. I thought the movie was just awful, yet it did provide a few laugh-out-loud moments for me. Not quite a worthy follow-up to Cohen's "Borat," but still worth seeing. Grade: B-

Star Trek (DVD)

Star Trek (2009) starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Eric Bana, Leonard Nimoy. In this reboot of the Star Trek franchise, Pine stars as a young James T. Kirk, and Quinto plays the young Spock. Urban is especially pleasing as the young "Bones" McCoy. The whole crew is united for the first time as Star Fleet cadets who are called into duty to defend against an attack on Vulcan, Spock's home planet. There's time travel involved, an alternate reality, and something called "red matter," which is never explained but is pivotal to the plot. Despite all the nonsense, as an avid fan of the original "Star Trek," I enjoyed the movie. It will be interesting to see the next installment in the series, if there is one. The DVD has excellent subtitles. Grade: B+

The Matrix (DVD)

The Matrix (1999) starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving. Reeves plays Neo, a hacker who learns that the world we live in is just a computer construct. Neo is destined to be the One, the human who can save us all from our fates as slaves to the artificial intelligence that has taken over the world. The special effects are outstanding and the action is practically non-stop in this sci-fi thriller. Even though it doesn't all stand up to close analysis (the business with the Oracle is particularly pointless), it's rollicking good kick-ass entertainment. The martial-arts scenes are killer. The helicopter flight over NYC is spectacular. The subtitles are very good. Grade: A-

Mon Oncle (DVD)

Mon Oncle (1958) starring Jacques Tati. Directed by Jacques Tati. Tati plays the title character, Monsieur Hulot, a rather simple man who finds it difficult dealing with all the gadgetry at his sister's ultramodern home. This movie, which has little dialogue, has been called a "masterpiece." It won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for 1958. It certainly has its Gallic charms, but much of the humor was lost on me. Yet another let-down from a film that was given four stars by the usually reliable Leonard Maltin. This movie is 50 years old -- that may account for some of its loss of appeal. The subtitles are only adequate. Grade: B

Mountains of the Moon (DVD)

Mountains of the Moon (1990) starring Patrick Bergin, Iain Glen. Two English explorers search for the source of the Nile River in the late 1800s. Their first attempt ends in disaster when their exploration party is attacked by hostile, fierce natives. The action then returns to Victorian England, where various maneuvering takes place as they aim to mount a second, larger and better-armed, expedition. I can't judge very well the quality of this movie, however, because the actors speak with English accents, and the disc lacks subtitles for the hearing-impaired. There was very little of it that I could understand. Plus, the disc proved to be unplayable. Grade: F

The Proposal (DVD)

The Proposal (2009) starring Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Betty White, Craig T. Nelson, Mary Steenburgen. Dragon-lady book editor Margaret (Bullock) forces her assistant, Andrew (Reynolds) to agree to marry her to keep her from being deported to Canada, where she is from. Circumstances dictate that they travel from New York to Alaska to visit his family, where Margaret re-learns the experience of being part of a family and being loved. She and Andrew, of course, fall in love. It's an OK setup, and the stars make it entertaining enough, but you just never quite believe that enough has happened between them in Alaska to constitute "falling in love." And for a romantic comedy, there aren't many really funny moments. The subtitles, however, are excellent. Grade: B-

Up (DVD)

Up (2009) with the voices of Ed Asner, Jordan Nagai, Christopher Plummer, John Ratzenberger. Do you long to be treated like a child? This Disney/Pixar DVD will fill the bill for you. Once you put it in your DVD player, you lose all control. It shows about 10 minutes of previews, which you have no option but to let play (pushing the Menu button on your remote control gets no response). Then the movie starts, and there is no menu. There is no option allowing you to turn on subtitles for the hearing-impaired. The only choice you have is to stop and start the DVD, once the movie starts. For this, I give the disc a Grade: F

Moulin Rouge (DVD)

Moulin Rouge (1952) starring Jose Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Suzanne Flon. Directed by John Huston. The 19th-century French artist Toulouse-Lautrec (Ferrer) is portrayed; like so many artists, he lived a tortured life. We see his youth in a quick flashback, which reveals how his growth was stunted as a child by an accident, and how his childhood sweetheart cruelly rejected his proposal of marriage. The movie focuses on his miserable love life, his heavy drinking, his bitterness and -- eventually, a little -- on his art. Interestingly, one thing Lautrec did not lack was money. Throughout the film, he is portrayed as quite prosperous, having been born to the aristocracy. All in all, it makes for a passable evening's entertainment, although the film does seem a bit dated. The subtitles are quite adequate. Grade: B

Mosquito Coast (DVD)

Mosquito Coast (1986) starring Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, River Phoenix. Half-crazed inventor Allie Fox (Ford) uproots his family and moves them to Central America, obsessed with his dream of building an ice factory in the jungle. Once his dream is realized, however, he becomes restless; and his quest to bring ice to a primitive tribe brings trouble for his family. They are soon clamoring to go home to the United States, but Fox will have none of it. Calamity follows upon calamity until they all reach the breaking point. The film ends in the only way it can, but it's still rather depressing. The subtitles, at least, are quite good. Grade: B+

The Mouse That Roared (DVD)

The Mouse That Roared (1959) starring Peter Sellers, Jean Seberg. The Duchy of Grand Fenwick, smallest country in the world, finds itself in financial straits. So what is the solution? Why, declare war on the United States, that's what. Once the war is lost, aid from the U.S. will come pouring in. But trouble arises when the Fenwickian "invasion force" arrives in New York; there is no one to surrender to, because the U.S. is holding an air raid drill. Hilarity ensues. It's nothing spectacular, but it's good, clean, silly fun. Sellers plays three separate roles, as is his wont, and Seberg plays the daughter of the American scientist who is developing the "Q Bomb." The subtitles are very good. Grade: B

Mother Teresa (DVD)

Mother Teresa (1986). Poorly made documentary with good intentions that does not include subtitles for the hearing-impaired. Mother Teresa speaks in heavily accented English which is impossible to understand. Grade: D-

Mother Night (DVD)

Mother Night (1996) starring Nick Nolte, Sheryl Lee, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Kirsten Dunst. Nolte plays Howard W. Campbell Jr., an American spy in World War II who posed as a Nazi propagandist. The only catch: His government can't acknowledge his contribution to the war effort, because they might need to use the same trick in "the next war." Campbell goes to live in New York City, where eventually his past comes back to haunt him. Ultimately, it's a very sad movie, with an ending that some will regard as a downer. I liked it, though. I thought the message was powerful -- you shouldn't do evil, even in a good cause. Plus, it had pretty good subtitles. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., author of the book on which the movie is based, makes a cameo appearance. Grade: A-

Moscow on the Hudson (DVD)

Moscow on the Hudson (1984) starring Robin Williams, Maria Conchita Alonso, Cleavant Derricks. Williams plays a Russian saxophonist who comes to visit America with the Moscow Circus. While shopping in Bloomingdale's, just before time to catch the airplane back to the Soviet Union, he decides to defect. He is befriended and taken in by a security guard at the store (Derricks), and a sales clerk named Lucia (Alonso) provides the romantic interest. Note that the movie takes place in 1984, before the fall of the Soviet Union, so defection still had some meaning. I'm not a big Robin Williams fan, but in this film he is fine. Very good subtitles. Grade: B+

The More the Merrier (DVD)

The More the Merrier (1943) starring Jean Arthur, Charles Coburn, Joel McCrea. Set in Washington, D.C. during World War II -- there's a housing shortage, and a young civil servant (Arthur) ends up renting out half of her apartment to two men (Coburn and McCrea). I think it's supposed to play out as a screwball comedy, but then there's this wartime nonsense where the FBI gets involved, and it's rather tedious. Also, this disc lacks subtitles for the hearing-impaired. Grade: C

Moonstruck (DVD)

Moonstruck (1987) starring Cher, Nicolas Cage, Danny Aiello, Vincent Gardenia, Olympia Dukakis. Simply a delightful movie, set in New York, in which a 37-year-old woman (Cher) agrees to marry an older man (Aiello), but is irresistibly drawn to his younger brother (Cage). Makes great use of music and New York settings to set a mood of mild madness, in which anything can happen, and does. It makes you wish you lived in New York, so that you could visit Little Italy. Cher and Dukakis won Oscars for their performances. Good subtitles. Grade: A

Moonlight and Valentino (DVD)

Moonlight and Valentino (1995) starring Elizabeth Perkins, Whoopi Goldberg, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kathleen Turner. College professor Rebecca Lott (Perkins) loses her husband in a car accident. Characters played by Goldberg, Paltrow and Turner form her support group in her grief. But that's all academic, because this disc lacks subtitles for the hearing-impaired. Grade: F

Monsieur Hire (DVD)

Monsieur Hire (1989) starring Michel Blanc, Sandrine Bonnaire. French thriller in which a reclusive, middle-aged bachelor (Blanc) spies on his attractive young neighbor, Alice (Bonnaire) through her undraped windows. Meanwhile, a murder has been committed in the area and Monsieur Hire is a suspect. There are two mysteries: Who committed the murder, and why is Alice so friendly to Monsieur Hire? This is a very watchable movie that doesn't really have any slow patches. Good subtitles. Grade: A-

Monkey Business (DVD)

Monkey Business (1952) starring Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Charles Coburn, Marilyn Monroe. Directed by Howard Hawks. Grant plays an absent-minded scientist named Barnaby who, while experimenting on chimpanzees, accidentally discovers a rejuvenating formula. Rogers plays Edwina, his adoring wife. After the formula gets dumped into the bottled water, both end up regressing at the same time, creating chaos in the boardroom at the company where Barnaby works. Typical '50s fare features clever writing, some funny lines and situations. The subtitles are the good kind -- yellow to stand out against the black-and-white film. Grade: B

Monkey Business (DVD)

Monkey Business (1931) starring Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo Marx. The four brothers stow away on an ocean liner. Constantly pursued by the crew, they interact in typically wacky fashion with the passengers they run into -- and with each other. Groucho flirts with a gangster's wife, Chico plays the piano, Harpo creates chaos wherever he goes, and Zeppo gets the girl -- in other words, it's a Marx Brothers movie. Grade: B+

Objectified (DVD)

Objectified (2009), documentary. This movie takes a look at how manufactured objects affect our lives, how they are designed and the thought processes that go into conceiving and making them. Unfortunately, what sounds like an interesting idea for a film ends up being largely a lot of talking heads telling us how they feel about design. It's not nearly as interesting as the concept sounds. Grade: B-

L'aventure C'est L'aventure (DVD)

L'aventure C'est L'aventure (1972) starring an all-French cast. A gang of five criminals decide that political crimes will be more profitable in the "current" climate, circa 1972. It's supposed to be a crime caper comedy, I think, but for me something has been lost in the translation. Strictly for Francophiles. Grade: C+

Mona Lisa (DVD)

Mona Lisa (1986) starring Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Michael Caine, Robbie Coltraine. Directed by Neil Jordan. Hoskins plays a small-time hood named George who is given the job of driver for a high-priced call girl (Tyson); but his time in prison has left him out of touch with the outside world, and he's naive about the depths of depravity that have been reached by his former chums (including Caine). It's definitely adult entertainment. The various English accents, especially Hoskins', are hard to understand -- which makes the subtitles for the hearing-impaired indispensable. Grade: B+

Traffik (DVD)

Traffik (1989) starring a cast of unknowns. Dramatic British miniseries which follows the heroin trade from the slums of Karachi, Pakistan to the halls of British Parliament. Served as the inspiration for Steven Soderbergh's Oscar-winning film, "Traffic." Not bad, but not really worth reviewing, either.

Modern Times (DVD)

Modern Times (1936) starring Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard. The Little Tramp takes on a factory job in this classic, semi-silent comedy. After a nervous breakdown, he is told to take it easy and get some rest, but that proves difficult for the scamp. He soon ends up in jail, which he rather enjoys. Meanwhile, there is unrest among the numerous unemployed. Goddard plays a "gamin," and she and the Little Tramp team up soon after meeting. The film becomes somewhat episodic after that, but it's still worth seeing, and the laughs are numerous. Grade: B+

Drag Me to Hell (DVD)

Drag Me to Hell (2009) starring Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Dileep Rao, David Paymer. Directed by Sam Raimi. After denying a loan extension to an old woman, loan officer Christine Brown (Lohman) comes to believe she is under a Gypsy's curse. The viewer of this movie will believe it too, as Christine is yanked into the air, thrown against the wall, and has various bodily fluids spurt out of her or be vomited onto her. She also loses the big promotion she was after, which was the reason she turned down the loan extension in the first place. After she turns to a psychic (Rao) for help, the film takes a supernatural turn, then a ghoulish turn. For horror fans, it has a fittingly horrific ending. The subtitles are good enough. Grade: B

Moby Dick (DVD)

Moby Dick (1956) starring Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, Leo Genn. Directed by John Huston. Peck stars as Captain Ahab, the one-legged whale hunter who seeks revenge on the great white whale which obsesses him. The whale-hunting scenes are terrible to behold, with the wanton slaughter of these great mammals which is portrayed. Worse, though, this disc lacks captions for the hearing-impaired. Grade: F

Gandhi (DVD)

Gandhi (1982) starring Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, Edward Fox, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, John Mills, Martin Sheen. Sweeping epic of Mahatma Gandhi, who rose from obscure beginnings to free his nation of India from British rule. A moving and inspiring lesson in the power of non-violence and civil disobedience. Winner of eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Actor, Director, Screenplay. Kingsley is remarkable in the title role. Biggest flaw is extreme length, a bladder-buster at over three hours. Fortunately, the DVD can be stopped for bathroom and kitchen breaks. The second half drags a bit. Superb subtitles. Grade: A-

The Bridge on the River Kwai (DVD)

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) starring William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins. Directed by David Lean. In 1943 in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, a British colonel named Nicholson (Guinness) finds himself locked in a war of wills with the commandant of the camp. The British POWs have been commanded to build a railroad bridge, and -- after winning the initial skirmish with the Japanese commandant -- Colonel Nicholson decides that that is just what they will do. Meanwhile, an American POW (Holden) escapes and is reluctantly recruited by British commandos to go back on a mission to destroy the bridge. The movie won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Main flaw is extreme length of almost three hours. The subtitles on the disc are good. Grade: A-

Beauty in Trouble (DVD)

Beauty in Trouble (2006) starring Ana Geislerova, Roman Luknar, Josef Abrham. An attractive young woman named Marcela lives in the Czech Republic and faces a difficult choice: Stay true to her husband (Luknar), who is in jail for car theft, or take a chance on a wealthy man (Abrham) who promises her a comfortable life, but one without passion. While she is deciding, she and her two young children are living with her mother and Marcela's creepy brother, who does everything he can to make their life miserable. Strangely enough, although the picture is in Czech with English subtitles, some of the songs on the soundtrack are in English. The subtitles are adequate, but I sense something has been lost in the translation from Czech to English. Grade: B

Mister Roberts (DVD)

Mister Roberts (1955) starring Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, William Powell. Fonda plays the title character, an officer stationed aboard a cargo ship stuck in the backwaters of World War II near the end of the war. He longs for the action of battle, but his tyrannical captain (Cagney) won't grant him a transfer. Lemmon won an Oscar for his performance as the irrepressible Ensign Pulver. Not surprisingly for a film made in 1955, this one shows its age -- but it still makes for an enjoyable evening of entertainment. The movie was enough of a hit that it was lampooned in Mad Magazine. The captions are adequate. Grade: B+

Frownland (DVD)

Frownland (Don't know) starring Who Cares. Unwatchable crap. Grade: F-

The Girlfriend Experience (DVD)

The Girlfriend Experience (2009) starring Sasha Grey. This is a low-budget film edited in a non-linear fashion using non-professional actors. It has no subtitles for the hearing-impaired, so I found it largely incomprehensible. Grade: F