3:10 to Yuma

3:10 to Yuma (1957) starring Van Heflin, Glenn Ford, Felicia Farr. Suspenseful Western based on an Elmore Leonard story. Heflin plays rancher Dan Evans who, desperate for money (and his sons' respect), takes on the job of guarding killer Ben Wade (Ford). The plan is to put Wade on the 3:10 train to Yuma before his gang shows up to free him. When seven of his gang ride into town, the tension mounts. I'm partial to Westerns, and this one is nearly perfect. Grade: A-

Three Sisters

Three Sisters (1970) starring Who Cares. Filmization of Chekhov play is marred by the fact that it has no subtitles for the hearing impaired and no closed captions. It's a total waste. Grade: F

The Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers (1974) starring Oliver Reed, Raquel Welch, Richard Chamberlain, Michael York, Charlton Heston, Faye Dunaway, Christopher Lee. Part swashbuckling and part slapstick, this movie is a fresh take on the musketeers' legend. Curiously enough, they always use swords, never muskets. The plot is of little significance, but suffice it to say that there are lots of sword fights, lots of romance and lots of intrigue. A fun film. (Subtitles are not offered, but closed captions save the day.) Grade: A-

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) starring Tommy Lee Jones, Barry Pepper, January Jones, Melissa Leo. Mike (Pepper), a gung-ho border security agent, accidentally kills a friend of Pete (Jones), a bilingual ranch boss. Pete forces Mike to help him take the body of Melquiades back to Mexico for burial. This is a fairly entertaining, colorful Western set in modern times, but the pace lags at times. (English subtitles are offered on the disc, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

This Man Must Die

This Man Must Die (1970) starring Michel Duchaussoy, Jean Yanne, Caroline Cellier. French film about a man whose young son is killed by a hit-and-run driver. The man swears vengeance, and sets out to find the driver responsible. When he finds him, the situation proves more complicated than he might have anticipated. In French, with English subtitles. Grade: B+

This is Spinal Tap

This is Spinal Tap (1984) starring Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner. Directed by Rob Reiner. Rock "mockumentary" makes fun of the declining fortunes of a formerly popular metal band called Spinal Tap. There are some funny moments, but the movie is surprisingly depressing as the band breaks up when Nigel (Guest) walks off stage. Still, it's a landmark film, with some famous bits in it (the amplifier that's better because it goes up to "11"). (The disc doesn't offer English subtitles, but closed captions save the day.) Grade: B

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) starring Van Johnson, Robert Walker, Spencer Tracy, Phyllis Thaxter. Unfortunately, the title is almost literally true. About 30 seconds of this movie is devoted to the actual raid on Tokyo during World War II. The rest of the movie consists of the lead-up to the attack and the aftermath. Still, it's an engaging story which has the virtue of being based on true events. There's a rising sense of excitement as the film builds to the bombing raid on Japan. Then, afterwards, there's something of an anticlimactic feeling to the rest of the movie. We never do find out just how much actual damage the attack achieved. (The disc offers English subtitles, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+

The Iron Lady

The Iron Lady (2011) starring Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent. This film makes the unfortunate choice to start with Maggie Thatcher in her dotage and show her life in too-brief flashbacks. We spend more time with her in her senility than in the rest off her life combined. Although Streep won an Oscar for her portrayal of the British Prime Minister, I wasn't entirely convinced by her performance. To top it off, I don't like Thatcher's politics. (The disc offers English subtitles, but not closed captions.) Grade: B-

This Island Earth

This Island Earth (1955) starring Jeff Morrow, Rex Reason, Faith Domergue. Human-looking aliens "recruit" Earth scientists to help in the development of sources of atomic power. It turns out the aliens need help fighting an interplanetary war in a solar system far away. There's no getting around it -- this is a hoakey movie. The plot is silly and the special effects are primitive. Yet still I found myself watching compulsively. It's definitely not for sci-fi purists, but for campy entertainment it would be hard to beat. (Subtitles are available; closed captions are not.) Grade: B

This Gun for Hire

This Gun for Hire (1942) starring Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Robert Preston. Killer-for-hire named Raven (Ladd) does a job for traitor Willard Gates (Preston) and gets paid in "hot" money. On the run, Raven travels to Los Angeles to get revenge on Gates and expose his plan to sell poison gas to the Japanese. In the course of events, nightclub entertainer Ellen Graham (Lake) gets mixed up in the deal. The film mixes crime and war themes with only partially successful results; its principal claim to fame is being Ladd's movie debut. (The subtitles included on the disc are adequate. No closed captions.) Grade: B

We Need to Talk About Kevin

We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) starring Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller. Directed by Lynne Ramsay. Swinton plays a mother named Eva whose son Kevin (Miller) seems to hate her from the moment he is born. Kevin acts perfectly normally towards his father, Franklin (Reilly), but seems to do everything in his power to aggravate his mother. Eventually he grows into a sociopathic monster. Director Ramsay, for some reason, has chosen to tell the story in a loopy, non-linear manner. Having read the book, I always knew what was going on, but I'm not sure the artificial confusion was necessary to make a good film. The book was dynamite, but I don't think the movie even comes close to doing it justice. The ultimate, necessary massacre scene, especially, I felt fell short of having the full impact it could have had. (English subtitles are furnished and are adequate. Closed captions are not offered.) Grade: C

This Boy's Life

This Boy's Life (1993) starring Robert De Niro, Ellen Barkin, Leonardo DiCaprio. Based on Tobias Wolff's autobiography, this movie tells the story of Toby (DiCaprio), a boy who does battle with his abusive stepfather (De Niro). Toby's mother, Caroline (Barkin), is an optimistic spirit who eventually runs out of energy to move on and settles on Dwight (De Niro), a mean-spirited, even depraved man who courts her nicely and then turns abusive. The film is compulsively watchable, and all in the cast deliver fine performances. (Subtitles are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: A

George Harrison: Living in the Material World

George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2011), documentary. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Archival film, video, still photos, music and interviews are used by Scorsese to illustrate Harrison's life as a Beatle and later as a solo act. Extensive coverage goes to George's spiritual evolution and his involvement with Eastern religions. The second half of the movie (after he leaves the Beatles) tends to be slow in parts, but overall it's an excellent and moving portrait of Harrison, the "Beatle who changed the most." (The supplied subtitles are adequate. Closed captions are not furnished.) Grade: A-

Thirteen

Thirteen (2003) starring Holly Hunter, Evan Rachel Wood, Nikki Reed, Jeremy Sisto. Troubled young Tracy (Wood) spins out of control under influence of "bad" girl (Reed), while her mom Melanie (Hunter) just tries to keep her little single-mom household together. Complicating matters is the fact that Melanie is a recovering alcoholic, always just one step away from taking that first drink. It's a scary, believable look at how one girl from a broken home runs off the rails. To the filmmakers' credit, there's not a happy ending to be found. (The supplied subtitles are adequate, the closed captions are better.) Grade: B+

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011) starring Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, John Goodman, Max von Sydow, Viola Davis, Jeffrey Wright. A weird kid named Oskar (Horn) loses his father (Hanks) in the terrorist attack on 9/11. Oskar finds a key among his father's belongings, and sets about searching all of New York to find the lock that it goes to. Along the way, he is helped by an old man who doesn't speak (von Sydow). Although this movie has many flaws, I still found it moving in the way it protrays the grief of one young boy who has lost his father on a fateful day. (The subtitles furnished on the disc are pretty good; closed captions, not offered, would have been better.) Grade: B+

The Third Man

The Third Man (1949) starring Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Valli, Trevor Howard. American writer Holly Martins (Cotten) arrives in Vienna to meet his friend Harry Lime (Welles) only to find that Lime has been killed in a traffic accident. Martins smells something fishy about Lime's "death," and decides to stay on in Vienna and find out what's going on. This is one of the better movies I've seen lately, full of iconic imagery and carried along by a fast-moving plot. Based on a novel by Graham Greene, adapted for the screen by Greene. (The furnished subtitles are at times hard to read. Closed captions are not available.) Grade: A

The Thin Blue Line

The Thin Blue Line (1988) Documentary. Directed by Errol Morris. An investigation into a murder in Dallas, in which an innocent man was convicted of the crime. After this movie came out, the evidence was revisited, and the innocent man was exonerated. I found the film modestly entertaining, although I had some trouble following it. (Subtitles and closed captions are both offered on the disc.) Grade: B+

The Thin Man

The Thin Man (1934) starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan. Nick and Nora Charles (Powell and Loy) get involved in a murder case, but they don't allow the investigation to come between them and their drinking. This was the first in a highly successful series of movies teaming up Powell and Loy, and it features some snappy dialogue and comedy along with the mystery, which is actually of secondary interest. (English subtitles are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

The Thing from Another World

The Thing from Another World (1951) starring Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, Robert Cornthwaite, Douglas Spencer, James Arness. Now-classic sci-fi about a flying saucer crashing near the North Pole; creature (Arness) found in a block of ice turns out to be vegetable in origin -- and lives on blood. This is a rather entertaining early movie about the dangers in the skies -- i.e., what if a superior, space-faring race comes to Earth and wants to dine on us? This is a seminal film which any fan of sci-fi/horror would probably enjoy. (The subtitles are adequate; closed captions, easier to read, are also available.) Grade: B

Thieves Like Us

Thieves Like Us (1974) starring Keith Carradine, Shelley Duvall, John Schuck, Bert Remsen, Louise Fletcher, Ann Latham, Tom Skerritt. Directed by Robert Altman. In the 1930s, three career criminals (Carradine, Schuck and Remsen) escape from prison in Mississippi and go on a crime spree, mostly robbing banks. One of them, Bowie (Carradine) falls in love with a simple-minded girl named Keechie (Duvall) and they pair off. Unfortunately, he can't break away from his partners in crime, and that fact leads to his downfall. This movie is basically a remake of They Live by Night, and it doesn't improve much on the original. (The subtitles are good, and closed captions are also available.) Grade: B+

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011) starring Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara. This version was pretty good, but I liked the Swedish version better; and I liked the book better than that. Good subtitles. Grade: B+

They Were Expendable

They Were Expendable (1945) starring Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed, Jack Holt, Ward Bond. Directed by John Ford. The story of PT boats in the early days of World War II in the Phillipines, this movie seems to love war a little too much. It has history on its side -- it was made after the war had been won -- but to me it seemed to take a little too sentimental a view of war and the men who fought them. The romance between Rusty Ryan (Wayne) and a nurse (Reed) seems contrived. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

The Muppets

The Muppets (2011) starring the Muppets, Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Rashida Jones. The Muppets, made irrelevant by the passage of time, must find a way to put on a show to save their theater from an evil oil man (Cooper) who wants to demolish it and drill for petroleum. That's the bare bones of the plot, and there's not a whole lot more to it. Young children being introduced to the Muppets for the first time may like this movie, as well as those adults who grew up with the Muppets and feel nostalgic for their youth. But for most adults it has little to offer. What it does offer is wholesome, family-friendly entertainment which is, at its worst, harmless. (Good subtitles and closed captions.) Grade: B

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) starring Jane Fonda, Michael Sarrazin, Susannah York, Gig Young. Directed by Sydney Pollack. A Depression-era dance marathon is the backdrop for drama, and one shocking act of violence. Young won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as the slimy emcee of the proceedings. Fonda and Sarrazin star as contestants who go up against about 50 other couples to try to "dance" the longest without passing out. It's a pretty entertaining movie, with several separate plot lines going on simultaneously. It's one of those movies that makes you wonder, "Did people ever really live this way?" (The supplied subtitles are adequate; closed captions are also available.) Grade: B

They Live by Night

They Live by Night (1949) starring Farley Granger, Cathy O'Donnell, Howard da Silva. After a successful bank robbery, Bowie (Granger) gets in a car accident. His partners leave him behind, and the next day he and Keechie (O'Donnell) go on the run together. The rest of the movie is about Bowie and Keechie and their adventures running from the law. It's a surprisingly well acted, well scripted and well directed movie. Although an unhappy ending is guaranteed, the film still hangs together and makes for compelling viewing. (The subtitles supplied are somewhat hard to read. Closed captions are not available.) Grade: B+

They Drive by Night

They Drive by Night (1940) starring George Raft, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart. Well-acted, well-written melodrama about Joe and Paul (Raft and Bogart), two brothers who are in the trucking business together. Mrs. Carlsen (Lupino), the wife of a trucking firm owner, is in love with Joe, but he doesn't return her feelings. She resorts to murder to try to win him, but it doesn't work. This is really a movie that flies mostly on the strength of its cast, and it only goes so far. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B-

There's Something About Mary

There's Something About Mary (1998) starring Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, Ben Stiller. Thirteen years after high school, Ted (Stiller) is still pining for his crush (Diaz), whom, but for an unfortunate accident, he would have taken to the prom. So he hires a private detective (Dillon) to track her down in Florida. Nobody is who he seems to be in this gross-out comedy from the Farrely brothers, and although it has some funny moments (Ted's epic fight with a little dog stands out), it doesn't really hold up all that well. This disc from Netflix was in terrible shape, and the subtitles didn't function correctly either. For that I give the film a Grade: C.

Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey

Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey (1993), Documentary. Interesting movie examines the life and work of Leon Theremin, best known today as the inventor of the first electronic musical synthesizer -- a primitive device that is nevertheless still in use, and was the inspiration for the Moog synthesizer. Theremin came to the United States from Russia early in the 20th century, and was a prolific inventor of electronic devices. In the '20s he was kidnapped by Soviet agents and spirited back to Russia, where he was forced to work for the KGB. This film features many of the applications of the musical instrument that bears his name, including its use in movie soundtracks and in music such as the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations." There seems to have been a paucity of material for this movie -- it's only 82 minutes long -- but that which was available has been put to good use. (Closed captions are available.) Grade: B

The Terrorist

The Terrorist (1999) starring Ayesha Dharkar. A young woman (Dharkar), a member of an unspecified rebel movement, is recruited to carry out an assassination using a suicide belt. But will she go through with it? This is an interesting movie on a fairly unusual topic, and I found it absorbing. It's in Hindi, with English subtitles. Grade: B

Theodora Goes Wild

Theodora Goes Wild (1936) starring Irene Dunne, Melvyn Douglas. Dunne plays a small-town girl who secretly writes a steamy novel. When she goes to New York to meet with her publisher, she meets the man who illustrates the book jackets (Douglas), with whom she eventually falls in love. Screwball comedy is Dunne's first film, sets the pattern for many to follow. I found it to be a comfortable evening's entertainment. (The disc has good, readable subtitles in English, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

Them!

Them! (1954) starring James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness. Giant mutant ants, created by nine years of exposure to the radiation of the first atomic bomb test, menace the Southwest. Naturally, man's first reaction is to try to exterminate all the ants, first with cyanide, then with flame throwers. The special effects are primitive by today's standards, but the finale -- fought in the storm drains under Los Angeles -- is a real corker. (The disc features subtitles in several languages, including English, plus closed captions.) Grade: B

La Terra Trema

La Terra Trema (1947) starring a non-professional cast. Tired of being exploited by wholesalers, a poor Italian family of fishermen tries to mortgage their house to buy a boat and go it alone. But when they lose everything in a storm, they must find work to pay their debts. I wasn't expecting to get absorbed in this movie, made in Italy, in 1947, about fishermen -- but I did. My only complaint is that it is relentlessly downbeat, and certainly can't be accused of having a happy ending. (In Italian and Sicilian dialect, with English subtitles.) Grade: B+

That's Entertainment, Part II

That's Entertainment, Part II (1976) starring a galaxy of MGM stars. Sequel to 1974's That's Entertainment! features Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Leslie Caron, the Marx Brothers, Bing Crosby, Eleanor Powell, Laurel and Hardy, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Durante and more. Most of the ground was covered in the first movie, but still there are good numbers here and there. (The furnished subtitles are not very good, but closed captions are available.) Grade: B-

Then She Found Me

Then She Found Me (2008) starring Helen Hunt, Colin Firth, Bette Midler, Matthew Broderick. Directed by Helen Hunt. After her husband (Broderick) leaves her and her adoptive mother dies, April Lepner (Hunt) is accosted by a stranger (Midler) who claims to be her birth mother. After April falls for a new guy named Frank (Firth), she learns that she is pregnant -- by her ex-husband. It's a wish come true, but a complicated situation. This is a fairly amusing little movie, but certainly not one for the ages. Hunt's attempt to star in and direct a film produces mixed results, and the movie seems very ragged in tone. Hunt herself is less than spectacular. (Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are provided. They are adequate, which is good since closed captions are not offered.) Grade: B

That's Entertainment!

That's Entertainment! (1974) starring too many greats to mention. The actors who made the first 50 years of MGM musicals are celebrated in this look back from the vantage point of 1974 -- which now seems like so long ago itself. Among the artists whose works appear are Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Cyd Charisse, Donald O'Connor, Frank Sinatra, Clark Gable, Debbie Reynolds, Bing Crosby, Esther Williams and Jimmy Durante. It's a grand nostalgia tour for those who are old enough to remember movies of the '30s, '40s and '50s, but for younger viewers it probably won't do much. (The subtitles included on the disc are poor, but closed captions are also available.) Grade: B+

Casablanca

Casablanca (1942) starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid. A strong candidate for best Hollywood picture of all time, Casablanca won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Bogart stars as Rick Blaine, who owns Rick's American Cafe in Casablanca during the early years of World War II. Much to his surprise, who should walk through the door but his lost love Ilsa (Bergman) with her husband, Victor Laszlo (Henreid). Victor is a top leader in the underground resistance movement against the Nazis, and he and Ilsa are trying to escape to Lisbon and then to America. At first Rick is in no mood to help them, but later, after he hears the whole story, things turn around and he gets to deliver one of the greatest speeches ever. (Subtitles are provided, but the closed captions are more readable.) Grade: A

Texas

Texas (1941) starring William Holden, Glenn Ford, Claire Trevor. In 1866, former Confederates Dan (Holden) and Tod (Ford) head to Texas to try and make their fortunes. They end up on opposite sides of the law -- and in competition for the same girl (Trevor). This Western is played largely for laughs, although there's lots of good cowboy action, too. There are several shootouts, a stagecoach robbery, a cattle drive and a stampede. Altogether, it's a pretty entertaining movie, although the ending seems rather abrupt. (Subtitles are offered in English, Japanese and Spanish; closed captions are also available.) Grade: B

Moneyball

Moneyball (2011) starring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright. Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Pitt) is desperate for players because his budget is so low. In rides Peter Brand (Hill), a young Yale graduate who has statistics-based ideas about how to optimize a major-league payroll. And putting up resistance is team manager Art Howe (Hoffman), who insists on having control over the lineup card. The baseball sections of this movie are great, and Pitt seems at home in the role. But when Beane goes off the field and deals with his 12-year-old daughter, the movie tends to stall out. Still for anyone who knows baseball, who has played baseball, who follows baseball, this is a great movie. (Subtitles are available; closed captions are not.) Grade: A-

The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments (1956) starring Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson, Yvonne de Carlo. Directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Storytelling on a grand scale; even at three and a half hours it doesn't become boring, as Moses (Heston) leads the Hebrews out of captivity in Egypt. Brynner makes a great villain as the pharoah Rameses, although it's hard to understand why he doesn't kill Moses early in the action. It's all a lot of superstitious nonsense, of course, but at the same time it's a majestic story. (Subtitles in English are available; I chose the closed captions.) Grade: A-

Terms of Endearment

Terms of Endearment (1983) starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Daniels, Danny DeVito, John Lithgow. Classic tearjerker has some great moments, but doesn't really hold up after all this time. This movie won five Oscars, including Best Picture. The subtitles are good, and closed captions are available. Grade: B

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) starring Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton. Super-agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and the IMF crew set off in pursuit of some stolen Russian nuclear codes. The action is almost non-stop from beginning to end, especially during the first two-thirds of the film. During the last third the movie begins to feel a little too long, but it all works out in the end, and I suspect theater-goers left feeling they had got their money's worth. I felt that there was no real suspense -- we know that Hunt is not going to be killed, and we know that no nuclear warheads will be detonated. But in this case it's the journey, not the destination, that provides the entertainment. (Subtitles in English are offered, and also closed captions.) Grade: B+

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011) starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds. George Smiley (Oldman) learns that there is a mole in The Circus (British Intelligence) and comes out of retirement to try and track him (or her) down. The movie's attempt to condense a John le Carre novel into two hours makes it just too tough to follow. The film is long on plot and talk and short on action, though I'm not sure that's what made the difference. There are an awful lot of characters to keep track of, and even with the subtitles turned on I couldn't keep track of them all. I have the feeling that this is a really well made movie, intricately plotted, but I just couldn't follow it. Grade: B-

The Last Temptation of Christ

The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) starring Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Harry Dean Stanton, David Bowie. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Jesus (Dafoe) struggles with the conflict between his supposed divinity and his status as a human with normal feelings and desires. The movie's twist comes near the end when Jesus' "guardian angel" appears and takes him down from the cross. It's an imagined retelling of the Christ story, and at nearly three hours long it seems unnecessary to me. (Subtitles are available, but not closed captions.) Grade: B

The Teahouse of the August Moon

The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956) starring Marlon Brando, Glenn Ford, Paul Ford, Machiko Kyo, Eddie Albert, Henry Morgan. In 1946 in Okinawa, U.S. Captain Fisby (Glenn Ford) tries to "Americanize" an Okinawan village. He's supposed to deliver lectures on democracy; instead, he ends up going native in this delightful comedy from a more innocent time. Brando does a passable Okinawan accent as he plays an interpreter. (Subtitles in English are offered, as well as closed captions.) Grade: A-

Taxi to the Dark Side

Taxi to the Dark Side (2007), Documentary. Bagram, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo ... these are the places mentioned in this Oscar-winning documentary about the use of torture under the Bush administration in the wake of 9/11. This is a distressing, disturbing and depressing movie in which the U.S. is clearly not the good guy. Most of the blame goes, fittingly, to President George W. Bush and his underlings, Cheney and Rumsfeld. The orders to "take the gloves off" came from the very top, yet only enlisted men were called to account for the crimes committed in America's name in prisons around the world. It's enough to fill a patriotic American with shame. (The DVD provides English subtitles for the hearing-impaired, but not closed captions.) Grade: A

A Taste of Cherry

A Taste of Cherry (1997) starring Homayoun Ershadi. A man (Ershadi) drives around the outskirts of a city looking for someone to bury him after he commits suicide -- or to help him if he fails. It's an Iranian film (with English subtitles), with Iranian sensibilities, and it really didn't speak to me. Grade: B-

Tarzan and His Mate

Tarzan and His Mate (1934) starring Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan. Bad white men come to the jungle hoping to steal a fortune in ivory from an elephant graveyard. They ask Tarzan (Weissmuller) for help, but once he understands what they are after, he refuses. Meanwhile, the white men try to lure Jane (O'Sullivan) into leaving Tarzan and coming back to civilization. It's kind of an entertaining movie, in a retro sort of way, but definitely not state-of-the-art. (The disc offers English subtitles, and also closed captions.) Grade: B

The Descendants

The Descendants (2011) starring George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause, Matthew Lillard, Judy Greer, Beau Bridges. Directed by Alexander Payne. Matt King (Clooney)'s wife lies in a hospital bed, in a coma after a boating accident. King is left in charge of his two daughters, Alex and Scottie (Woodley and Miller), to whom he is practically a stranger. To top it all off, he learns that his wife was cheating on him and was planning to ask him for a divorce. This movie is a very good drama in an exotic setting, and the cast does an all-around excellent acting job. (Subtitles are available, as well as closed captions). Grade: B+

Targets

Targets (1968) starring Boris Karloff, Tim O'Kelly. Directed by Peter Bogdanovich. Karloff plays Byron Orlok, a retiring movie star much like himself, and O'Kelly plays Bobby Thompson, a youngish man who likes his guns. The two are fated to meet when Thompson goes on a murderous rampage, and Orlok makes an appearance at a drive-in which is showing one of his old movies. This was Bogdanovich's first feature, and it is enhanced by an Extra on the DVD in which he describes the making and marketing of Targets. (English subtitles are available, but choose the closed captions if you can.) Grade: B

The Taming of the Shrew

The Taming of the Shrew (1967) starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton. Shakespeare's famous comedy is brought to the screen, with Taylor as the shrew of the title, and Burton as the man who marries her for her fortune. He tames her by mistreating her, and the play can easily be taken as misogynistic. I, for one, found it problematic for that reason. Also, it seems to me, it is pretty clear that Burton is a Shakespearean actor, and Taylor is ... not. Those caveats aside, the movie successfully brings the play to the screen. (Subtitles in English are available, but I chose my preferred closed captions.) Grade: B

The Talk of the Town

The Talk of the Town (1942) starring Jean Arthur, Ronald Colman, Cary Grant. Leopold Dilg (Grant), facing trial for arson and murder, escapes from jail on a rainy night. He lands on the doorstep of Nora Shelley (Arthur), who is preparing a rental house for its first tenant. She takes pity on Dilg (he is, after all, Cary Grant) and lets him spend the night in her attic. Her tenant, a law professor named Michael Lightcap (Colman), arrives 24 hours earlier than expected, and the stage is set for madcap comedy -- and a serious look at the difference between law and justice. The Talk of the Town was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture. (Subtitles in English are available on the disc, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+

Rancho Deluxe

Rancho Deluxe (1975) starring Jeff Bridges, Sam Waterston, Slim Pickens, Elizabeth Ashley, Harry Dean Stanton, Charlene Dallas. Two modern-day cattle rustlers (Bridges and Waterston) have dreams of a big score, but the rancher they plan to steal from has brought in a legendary stock detective (Pickens) to stop them. Off-beat comedy throws the audience a big curve, and it's a strike. Very satisfying overall and fun to watch. (The disc lacks English subtitles, but closed captions are available.) Grade: B+

Take the Money and Run

Take the Money and Run (1969) starring Woody Allen, Janet Margolin. Directed by Woody Allen. Incompetent criminal Virgil Starkwell (Allen) continually flubs his attempted robberies, but keeps on trying. Along the way, he (improbably) falls in love with and marries a girl named Louise (Margolin). The jokes come fast and thick, and about half of them are very funny. This was Allen's first film as writer, director and actor. It's not a great movie but provides a pleasant evening's entertainment and some good laughs. (The disc includes subtitles in English, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+

A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities (1935) starring Ronald Colman, Elizabeth Allan, Edna May Oliver, Reginald Owen, Basil Rathbone. Dickens' sweeping tale of the French Revolution and its impact on England is brought to the screen. Colman plays an alcoholic English lawyer who is drinking his life away, but finds that his love of a woman (Allan) causes him to commit a noble act on behalf of an innocent French aristocrat. (Subtitles are not included, but closed captions save the day -- again.) Grade: A-

Taking Lives

Taking Lives (2004) starring Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland, Gena Rowlands. FBI profiler (Jolie) travels to Canada to help investigate a serial killer. When a witness (Hawke) turns up, she fears that her attraction to him may compromise the investigation, but the Canadian police talk her into staying on. There are several twists and turns to the movie's plot from this point on, but they're just too weird to be believed. For someone who's supposed to be an FBI agent, Jolie shows surprisingly weak fighting skills. Sutherland, who appears in several key scenes, turns out to be just one gigantic red herring. (The film has subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) starring Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo. Pelham 123 is the name of a New York subway train, and it is hijacked by a group of heavily armed men headed by "Mr. Blue" (Shaw). The bad guys demand a ransom of $1 million -- to be paid within an hour. If they don't get the money on time, they threaten to kill one hostage every minute. Matthau plays a lieutenant in the transit police, tasked with getting the hostages out alive. Meanwhile, the mayor of New York, who must authorize the payment of the ransom, has a bad case of the flu. Equal parts humor and suspense make this a most enjoyable film, with good performances all around. (The DVD lacks subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired, but closed captions save the day.) Grade: B+

The Syrian Bride

The Syrian Bride (2004) starring a no-name cast. In a small city in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a young woman prepares for her arranged marriage to a Syrian TV star. Grudges spanning generations surface as various romantic entanglements alienate fathers who can see only their own anger. As with many foreign films, the difficult parts for me are the parts where the characters speak English -- heavily accented English with no subtitles, which is almost impossible to decipher. As a consequence, I'm not sure I understood the ending of the film. There was a lot of bureaucratic chicanery about the fact that the Golan Heights, won by Israel in the 1967 war, are still claimed as Syrian territory by the Syrians. Because of this, the wrong stamp on the bride's passport made it impossible for her to cross over into Syria to her wedding. But at the end of the film, we see her walking toward the Syrian side, the passport issue unresolved. I'm not sure what it was supposed to mean. All I can say is that it made for a frustrating end to an otherwise fine movie. The subtitles are a little hard to read. Grade: B

Syriana

Syriana (2005) starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, William Hurt, Christopher Plummer, Amanda Peet. The politics of the Middle East, U.S. oil interests and corruption on all sides are told in multiple parallel story lines in this complex, disturbing drama. This is the first movie which I have watched with both the subtitles and the closed captions turned on at the same time. It works quite well as many times characters are speaking in Arabic or Urdu, and the subtitles provide translation. The many story lines are a little hard to follow at first, but ultimately they do gel. Clooney won an Oscar for Supporting Actor for his role. This is a very good, but very demanding film. Grade: B+

Swiss Family Robinson

Swiss Family Robinson (1960) starring John Mills, Dorothy McGuire. Around 1800, a family traveling from Switzerland to New Guinea is shipwrecked on what appears to be a deserted island. Disney treatment of classic story is mildly entertaining; good family fare, but probably not suitable for older kids. (Subtitles in English and closed captions are both available.) Grade: B

Swept Away

Swept Away (1974) starring Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato. Directed by Lina Wertmuller. Italian film about the clash between the capitalist class (the rich) and the Communists (the poor). Crew member (Giannini) on a yacht becomes aggravated at a "rich bitch" customer (Melato), then gets shipwrecked with her on a deserted island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Once they are alone together on the island, he establishes his dominance, making her wash his clothes and kiss his hand in exchange for food (he knows how to fish, hunt and make fire). He beats her and forces her to fall in love with him. But when they are rescued, will the old class patterns be re-established? I have to say I found the movie somewhat grating, and I didn't believe the romance for a minute. (This film is in Italian with very good English subtitles.) Grade: B-

Swing Time

Swing Time (1936) starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers. Late to his wedding, hoofer with a gambling problem (Astaire) must come up with $25,000 to satisfy his prospective father-in-law. He heads to the big city, where he meets a dancing teacher (Rogers) who may just steal his heart. Featured songs include "Pick Yourself Up," "A Fine Romance," "The Way You Look Tonight." Grade: B+

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) starring Elizabeth Olsen, Sarah Paulson, Hugh Dancy. After escaping from a creepy cult in upstate New York, Martha (Olsen) goes to stay with her sister, Lucy (Paulson). But she is haunted by flashbacks of her time living with the cult members. Eventually, her sister and brother-in-law (Dancy) decide that she is too much to handle. This is a heavy-duty movie with some disturbing action -- both sexual and violent. We feel for Martha without seeing any hope for her, at least in the short term. It's a powerful statement about cults and brainwashing. (Subtitles in English are available, as are closed captions.) Grade: B+

Sweet Smell of Success

Sweet Smell of Success (1957) starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis. Powerful newspaper columnist J.J. Hunsecker (Lancaster) wants press agent Sidney Falco (Curtis) to break up the romance between Hunsecker's sister and a jazz guitarist. If Falco can't produce results, Hunsecker vows to shut him out of his column. Falco shows that he will do anything to curry Hunsecker's favor. Fairly entertaining movie seems a bit dated, and there's no one likable to cheer for. It's definitely not a light-hearted entertainment. (Subtitles in English are not available, although closed captions are.) Grade: B

The Adventures of Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin (2011) with the voices of Jamie Bell, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, Nick Frost, Toby Jones, Mackenzie Crook, Cary Elwes. Fearless young journalist Tintin (Bell) goes in search of a model ship, which holds the answer to a mystery. Comic relief is provided by two incompetent police detectives named Thomson and Thompson (Pegg). The motion capture is only partially successful. Many of the characters seem lifeless. And the treasure that the protagonists are seeking is nothing but the usual gold and jewels. Not really so much to get excited about. (The disc offers subtitles in English, and closed captioning.) Grade: B

Seance on a Wet Afternoon

Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964) starring Kim Stanley, Richard Attenborough. This film is completely lacking in aid for the hearing-impaired. There are no subtitles and no closed captions. Grade: F

Young Adult

Young Adult (2011) starring Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser. Directed by Jason Reitman. Written by Diablo Cody. Theron stars as Mavis Gary, a divorced, 37-year-old, alcoholic writer of young-adult fiction who decides to go back to her small home town and win back her high-school love, Buddy Slade (Wilson). Only problem is, Buddy is married to Beth (Reaser), with a newborn child to take care of. This doesn't bother Mavis (described by another character as "that psycho prom-queen bitch"), who blithely sets out to break up Buddy's marriage and win him for herself. Along the way, she runs into an old high-school acquaintance named Matt (Oswalt), who becomes her confidante and comforter. The whole movie is very uneven in tone, and Mavis is definitely not a likable person. How can you wish for her to succeed when what she is trying to do is so despicable? Director Reitman and writer Cody are the team that brought us "Juno," so expectations for this film might be high; but it is quite a letdown. Theron plays a character we don't like, and does it very well. But her ultimate realization that she "needs to change" is not quite enough to save the movie. (Subtitles in English are provided, and the closed captions are very good.) Grade: C

My Week with Marilyn

My Week with Marilyn (2011) starring Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne. In 1956, Marilyn Monroe (Williams) journeys to England to make a movie with Laurence Olivier (Branagh). On the scene is Colin Clark (Redmayne), a young assistant who by chance becomes Monroe's confidante and companion for a week during the production. Based on a true story, this movie appears to capture the difficulties of making a film with Monroe at this point in her career (she was 30). For Clark, it becomes a first love that breaks his heart, at least "a little." It's a fairly entertaining movie, although Williams (or anyone) is obviously no Monroe. (The DVD has subtitles for the hearing impaired, but does not offer closed captions.) Grade: B-

Melancholia

Melancholia (2011) starring Kirsten Dunst, Alexander Skarsgard, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlotte Rampling. Directed by Lars von Trier. Depressed newlywed Justine (Dunst) behaves badly at the reception following her wedding. When she learns that a previously unknown planet named Melancholia is hurtling towards Earth, she's not afraid. "Earth is evil," she says. "No one will miss it." Her sister Claire (Gainsbourg), however, is petrified that Melancholia will smash into Earth and end life as we know it. Unfortunately, von Trier is the sort of artist who will make a science fiction film and blithely ignore the science. The planet Melancholia flies by, then turns around for another pass -- simple physics will tell you this is an impossibility. I found this movie unsatisfying on many levels. Except for Justine and Claire, the characters are mere sketches. Relationships are poorly structured, or unexplained. Justine's new husband gives up and leaves; why? The Earth is destroyed; who cares? Von Trier joins Terrence Mallick among the directors whose films I will hereafter avoid. (The disc does not offer English subtitles, but is saved by closed captions.) Grade: C+

Sweet Land

Sweet Land (2005) starring Elizabeth Reaser, Tim Guinee, Alan Cumming, John Heard, Alex Kingston, Ned Beatty. In post-World War I Minnesota, a mail-order bride named Inge (Reaser) arrives. From the close-knit Norwegian community, she finds it hard to gain acceptance because, much to her prospective husband Olaf's (Guinee) surprise, she turns out to be German -- from the country we lately fought a war with -- and a socialist to boot. Inge and Olaf just want to get married, but the folks who live thereabouts just can't seem to resist standing in the way. This is a nice little movie which didn't do much at the box office but certainly deserves to be seen. (The disc offers subtitles in English, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+

Sunrise

Sunrise (1927) starring George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston. Silent film in which married farmer (O'Brien) is tempted by Woman from the City (Livingston). She tries to get him to kill his wife (Gaynor) and move to the city with her. But he can't go through with it, and the movie follows his reconciliation with his wife, until near the end when man and wife are caught in a terrible storm while boating. In this film you can see the elements of modern cinema in early form, and be enabled to witness how a movie without the human voice can still tell an effective story. I don't hold with those who say this is a great movie, however. It was a different experience, but not one I would want to repeat. (No subtitles are needed, since this is a silent film). Grade: B

Support Your Local Sheriff!

Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) starring James Garner, Joan Hackett, Walter Brennan, Harry Morgan, Jack Elam, Bruce Dern. Garner stars as Jason McCullough, something of a drifter who takes a detour into the gold rush town of Calendar, where he takes the job of sheriff because he needs the money. Luckily, McCullough is a very fast gun, and the bad guys in town -- Pa Danby (Brennan), Joe Danby (Dern), and Joe's two brothers -- are not too bright. The romantic interest -- and many of the best comic moments -- are provided by Hackett, as Prudy Perkins, the mayor's daughter. This movie is a comedy first and a Western second, and is not to be taken too seriously. That said, it makes for a most enjoyable evening's entertainment. (Subtitles are not provided, but the disc does have closed captions.) Grade: B+

The Sundowners

The Sundowners (1960) starring Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Peter Ustinov. Not really a "Western," this movie is about a family of sheep drovers in 1920s Australia. The chief conflict in the film is that the father, Paddy (Mitchum), always wants to keep moving from one job to the other, whereas the mother, Ida (Kerr), and the son, Sean, want to buy a farm and settle down. Crises they face include a bush fire along the trail while they are driving some sheep, and a sheep-shearing contest which Paddy is entered in. The movie eventually got me involved so that I cared about the characters' fates. But the ending was something of a letdown, with no real resolution to the film's conflict. (Subtitles are provided, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

The Skin I Live In

The Skin I Live In (2011) starring Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paredes. Directed by Pedro Almodovar. A famous plastic surgeon, Robert Ledgard (Banderas), keeps a woman (Anaya) captive so that he can perform experiments on her skin. A flashback shows that he is trying to improve on human skin because his wife died years earlier after being burned horribly in a car crash. The flashback reveals other things, which I will not detail here, which radically change the viewer's preception of what is going on in this movie. Suffice it to say that Dr. Ledgard is a madman, and he uses his surgical skills for revenge. I thought that there were a lot of things in this movie that didn't make sense, and overall it doesn't have much of a point. It's in Spanish, with English subtitles. Grade: B-

Boardwalk Empire

Boardwalk Empire (2010) starring Steve Buscemi. Set in 1920, the first couple of episodes of this HBO series establish the character of Nucky Thompson (Buscemi), an Atlantic City gangster who aspires to be a booze baron now that Prohibition has come in. If you've seen The Godfather or The Sopranos, you have a pretty good idea of how this is going to unfold. I watched the first two episodes, and other than the '20s ambience, I couldn't see that this series has anything special to offer. The disc does have subtitles, as well as closed captions. Grade: B-

Paradise

Paradise (1991) starring Melanie Griffith, Don Johnson, Elijah Wood, Thora Birch. While young Willard (Wood) is visiting Lily and Ben (Griffith and Johnson), he meets a neighbor girl named Billie (Birch). Willard's parents are going through a breakup, and he struggles to understand why Lily and Ben aren't getting along. This movie is a pretty good entertainment, but it's not exactly great art. It's fun to see the very young Wood and Birch in what must have been nearly the first movie for both. Oddly enough, the chemistry between Griffith and Johnson, a real-life couple, was not convincing to me -- maybe because Johnson is such a weak actor. The disc comes with good subtitles, as well as closed captions. Grade: B

Summer of '42

Summer of '42 (1971) starring Jennifer O'Neill, Gary Grimes. Is it possible to be nostalgic for a place and time before you were even born? That's what Summer of '42 goes for. Fifteen-year-old Hermie (Grimes) and his friends Oscy and Benjie are spending the summer of 1942 on an island with their parents. There are girls their own age there, but Hermie gets a crush on an "older woman" named Dorothy (O'Neill), the wife of an Army pilot who is deployed in the war. When Dorothy's husband is killed in action, Hermie's crush bears unexpected rewards. This is a lightweight coming-of-age movie which succeeds in capturing the feeling of '42, and of adolescence, but little else. The disc has adequate subtitles, and also closed captions. Grade: B

Sullivan's Travels

Sullivan's Travels (1942) starring Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake. Directed by Preston Sturges. Tired of making comedies, big-time motion-picture director John Sullivan (McCrea) decides to go slumming so that he will know what life is like for the poor and dispossessed. His plan is to find trouble, and along the way he meets an out-of-work actress (Lake), who briefly becomes his traveling companion. Thinking he has accomplished his purpose, Sullivan goes out one night handing out money to his "fellow hobos." He ends up finding more trouble than he ever imagined. This movie has a point to make, and it makes it rather well. Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are included on the disc, but not closed captions. Grade: B

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

Drive

Drive (2011) starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Christina Hendricks, Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman, Albert Brooks. A man named Driver (Gosling) works part-time as a stunt driver for the movies and part-time as a getaway driver and part-time as a mechanic. Irene (Mulligan) is the girl who lives down the hall. They go out on a few dates; then Irene's husband gets out of prison. Soon, gangsters are threatening Irene and her son Benicio, and Driver steps in to help. That's when the excrement hits the fan. There are several gruesome murders in this film, and plenty of blood, so be forewarned. I have a little trouble accepting the slight Gosling as a stone cold killer, but that's part of the role he assumes for this movie. Perlman and Brooks play West Coast gang bosses whom he comes into conflict with, and they are both well acted. The DVD offers good subtitles, but no closed captions. Grade: A-

Heavenly Creatures

Heavenly Creatures (1994) starring Kate Winslet, Melanie Lynskey. Directed by Peter Jackson. In the early 1950s in New Zealand, two teenage girls named Pauline (Lynskey) and Juliet (Winslet) form a close bond. To outside observers, the bond appears obsessive; some, including Juliet's father, suspect the girls are lesbians. Pauline and Juliet share an incredibly detailed and rich fantasy life, but they aren't doing anyone any harm -- until their parents decide that they must be permanently separated. The movie is based on true events, and excerpts from Pauline's diary serve as a framing device for the story. The DVD includes both English subtitles and closed captions. Grade: A-

Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope

Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Alec Guinness. Directed by George Lucas. This movie, also known as simply Star Wars, set box-office records back in '77, and with good reason. It has everything that the old Saturday afternoon matinees used to have, plus great special effects. The plot: Princess Leia (Fisher) has entrusted the evil Empire's plans for the Death Star to a droid called R2-D2, and Luke Skywalker (Hamill) sets out to save the princess and destroy the Death Star. He is aided along the way by Obi-Wan Kenobi (Guinness) and Han Solo (Ford). Great music by John Williams helps everything hang together. Subtitles in English are available; the disc also has closed captions. Grade: A

Start the Revolution Without Me

Start the Revolution Without Me (1970) starring Gene Wilder, Donald Sutherland, Victor Spinetti. Directed by Bud Yorkin. Two pairs of twins, switched at birth, grow up to be the noble De Sisi brothers -- and a pair of peasant brothers -- in 1789 France. Wilder and Sutherland both play dual roles as half of each pair of brothers. It's a madcap, slapstick movie about the French Revolution, none of it to be taken seriously. The King of France, Louis XVI, is made out to be the biggest fool of all. Meanwhile, the evil Duke d'Escargot (Spinetti) plots to oust the king and take over the kingdom. The movie was filmed entirely on location in France, which gives it a considerable air of authenticity. It really is a non-stop laugh-fest. English subtitles are offered, but the closed captions are better. Grade: B+