The World of Henry Orient

The World of Henry Orient (1964) starring Peter Sellers, Tippy Walker, Merrie Spaeth, Paula Prentiss, Angela Lansbury. Mildly amusing comedy in which Sellers, as eccentric concert pianist Henry Orient, becomes the object of fascination for two 14-year-old girls (Walker, Spaeth). They follow him all over New York City, while he fruitlessly pursues the very married Prentiss. The movie has a simple story arc, and Sellers' more zany comedic talents aren't made use of much. In fact, the movie really focuses on the two girls, and neither one of them has much in the way of charisma. The film makes for a passable evening's entertainment, but it doesn't seem to aspire to, and certainly doesn't reach, greatness. (English subtitles are available, as are closed captions for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B  

Tampopo

Tampopo (1986) starring Ken Watanabe, Tsutomo Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto. Set in Japan, this is a movie about food in all its glory. This movie has been referred to as the first "noodle Western," because it shows properties of Western movies (one protagonist wears a cowboy hat) and because it is mostly about the search for the perfect recipe for a bowl of noodles, Japanese style. There are also several interesting vignettes about people interacting with food in various ways -- using it erotically, feeling it up in the store, ordering it at a fancy restaurant, learning how to eat it properly. In the main story line, two truckers (Watanabe, Yamazaki) pull up on a rainy night at the noodle shop of a recently widowed -- and none too skilled -- woman named Tampopo (Miyamoto). They become involved with her and set out to make her shop a big success by finding the perfect recipe for a bowl of noodles. It's a delightfully entertaining film with appealing characters, and it really makes you hungry to try a bowl of noodles. (In Japanese, with English subtitles.) Grade: B+

The Glenn Miller Story

The Glenn Miller Story (1954) starring James Stewart, June Allyson, Henry Morgan, Charles Drake, George Tobias. The music is the real star of this biopic about popular big-band leader Miller (Stewart), whose music was a smash in the early '40s. Some of the hits re-created for the movie include "In the Mood," "String of Pearls" and "Moonlight Serenade." Stewart is good as Miller, although his life is mostly fictionalized for this film. Allyson does a good job as his wife, Helen, in this sentimental movie. The film ends with Miller's death as he flies across the English Channel in 1944. He is officially listed as Missing in Action. (Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are included, although closed captions are not.) Grade: B+  

Working Girl

Working Girl (1988) starring Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, Melanie Griffith, Alec Baldwin, Joan Cusack. Directed by Mike Nichols. Although Griffith is listed third in the credits, this is her movie. She stars as Tess McGill, a New York secretary who has the ambition (and the intelligence) to want to be  more. She hooks up with Jack Trainer (Ford) to make a business deal she has cooked up, and falls in love with him at the same time. Weaver has a sly time playing the villain, Katharine Parker, an executive who tries to steal her secretary's idea. Music by Carly Simon, featuring Oscar-winning song "Let the River Run." This movie is truly a great entertainment, and really evokes the feeling of the '80s. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+   

Women in Trouble

Women in Trouble (2009) starring Carla Gugino, Connie Britton, Adrianne Palicki, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Sarah Clarke, Simon Baker, Josh Brolin. Directed by Sebastian Gutierrez. One day in the life of ten women in Los Angeles features high drama, soft-core sex, soap opera, and one pregnant porn star (Gugino). Large ensemble cast manages to make this movie entertaining, kind of in the mold of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. To be honest, I didn't recognize most of the actresses and actors in this movie, especially Gugino, who is a porn-star version of herself. I did recognize Britton and Baker, and I was glad to see the familiar faces among the ensemble. The film is not high art, nor does it aspire to be. I think Gutierrez was going for a fun romp with a few serious moments thrown in. At least, that's what he has delivered. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B  

Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas (2012) starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess. Cloud Atlas is really six (or seven) movies in one, all interwoven through time by the fact that the same actors appear as different characters in different time periods. The action skips back and forth in time, from 1849 to the distant future. Several different realities are portrayed in a dazzling kaleidoscope that keeps the viewer guessing. Some viewers will be put off by the effort required to follow the six plot lines, but I was drawn in and, ultimately, moved. This is one of those movies that you have to see more than once, and I anticipate seeing it again -- when I have nearly three hours to devote to it. The disc I rented had no Extras. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available, but not closed captions.) Grade: A-   

Women in Love

Women in Love (1969) starring Alan Bates, Oliver Reed, Glenda Jackson, Jennie Linden. The novel by D.H. Lawrence is the inspiration for this movie, set in 1921, in which two men and two women fall in love. Their relationships go off in vastly different directions, one ending in marriage and the other in death. The British can be quite inscrutable, and I had rather a hard time figuring out what was going on in this movie. All the words were there, but they didn't quite fit together. Jackson won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance, but otherwise the film is undistinguished. It is, however, justly famous for a nude wrestling scene between Bates and Reed. (Subtitles in English are offered, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B 

Repo Man

Repo Man (1984) starring Harry Dean Stanton, Emilio Estevez. Repo Man is a cult film, which by definition means it has a small, rabid following, while everyone else is indifferent to it. Put me in the "indifferent" group. While the movie has some interesting scenes, and the basic premise is kind of fun, it doesn't hang together very well, the script is weak, and most of the acting is so-so. This is a low-budget film, with only one  interesting special effect. The premise of the film: A man is driving a 1964 Chevy Malibu to Los Angeles from Area 51, and he has something in the trunk (supposedly four dead aliens) that is lethal to anyone who opens the trunk of the car. Bud (Stanton) and Otto (Estevez) play two repo men whose job it is to find the car and collect the $20,000 reward. The film has a punk sensibility that I found off-putting, and a lot of scenes that go nowhere. Like I said, it's a cult film. (Subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired are available, but closed captions are not.) Grade: C   

The Women

The Women (1939) starring Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland, Joan Fontaine, Paulette Goddard. An all-woman cast makes up this film, and not a single man appears on screen. But all the women talk and think about is the men in their lives. In particular, Norma Shearer stars as Mary Haines, wife of Stephen Haines (who never appears on screen). When she finds out he's been having an affair with a chippie (Crawford), she divorces him. Quaintly, all the women who get divorces have to travel to Reno to get them. There's even a good cat fight, although I can't tell you why they were fighting. This is, perhaps, the ultimate chick flick, and as such my enjoyment was minimal. Still, it was interesting to see all those old-time actresses together on screen. (The film has subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired, and is also close-captioned.) Grade: B  

Woman of the Year

Woman of the Year (1942) starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn. First on-screen pairing of Tracy and Hepburn is a disappointment. Episodic plot wanders from one scene to another, not much happens. The pair play rival journalists who meet and fall in love, and soon get married. That's when the trouble starts. Her career gets in the way of the marriage, and she doesn't really know how to be a wife. Various complications ensue, but really the only reason to watch this is for the star power of the legendary duo. They would go on to make nine movies together, and have a storied relationship off-screen. But this film doesn't live up to the hype. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available, and the movie is closed-captioned.) Grade: B- 

White Hunter, Black Heart

White Hunter, Black Heart (1990) starring Clint Eastwood, Jeff Fahey, George Dzundza. Directed by Clint Eastwood. Eastwood is always watchable, and here he portrays John Wilson, a thinly disguised version of John Huston, during the days leading up to the filming of The African Queen. It's based on a 1953 novel by Peter Viertel about his experiences during the making of Queen. The film's main thrust is to portray Huston, er, Wilson as a monomaniac who becomes obsessed with shooting an elephant while on location in Africa, to the detriment of the movie he is supposed to be shooting. It's fairly entertaining, but mostly just filled me with a desire to see The African Queen. (English subtitles are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B 

The Woman in the Window

The Woman in the Window (1944) starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey, Dan Duryea. Middle-aged psychology professor (Robinson) kills a man in self-defense, then tries to cover it up instead of calling in the authorities. One of his friends (Massey) is the prosecutor, and the bodyguard (Duryea) for the dead man tries to blackmail the professor. Tension-packed film concludes with surprise ending that totally changes things. Very enjoyable entertainment. (Subtitles in English are offered for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Andy Serkis. Directed by Peter Jackson. Frodo Baggins (Wood) continues his quest to destroy the evil One Ring, accompanied by Sam Gamgee (Astin) and Gollum (Serkis). Meanwhile, the forces of men, led by Aragorn (Mortensen) and Gandalf (McKellen), take on the armies of Sauron in battle after battle. It's hard to say enough about this movie, which is so beautifully rendered and faithfully adapted from the book by J.R.R. Tolkien. It won 11 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. It's long at three hours and twenty minutes -- something I usually object to strenuously -- but in this case I think every minute is justified. This movie has no boring stretches, and I would gladly sit through it at a theater if my bladder would hold out. (Subtitles in English are available on the disc for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: A   

A Woman in Berlin

A Woman in Berlin (2008) starring Nina Hoss, Yevgeni Sidikhin. In May of 1945, near the end of World War II, the Russian army advances into Berlin. All the German women who remain in the city are subject to being raped, including the protagonist (Hoss). She realizes that the only way to survive is to find a Russian protector -- a lover of high rank who can prevent her being gang-raped. This movie is based on an anonymous diary published in 1959, purportedly  written by the  woman of the title. It was condemned at the time as an affront to German women, because so many of them had gone willingly with Russian soldiers. The film is rather depressing and not uplifting in its portrait of the human spirit. It's in German and Russian with English subtitles. Grade: B-

Wolfen

Wolfen (1981) starring Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Gregory Hines, Edward James Olmos. A previously unknown species of predator is prowling the streets of New York City, and detective Dewey Wilson (Finney) is on the prowl trying to find out what's going on. Suspenseful, occasionally gruesome horror flick has its moments, but fails to fully capture the spirit of the book (The Wolfen, by Whitley Strieber) on which it is based. (English subtitles are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B   

Wolf

Wolf (1994) starring Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, James Spader, Kate Nelligan, Christopher Plummer, Richard Jenkins. Mild-mannered book editor (Nicholson), going through personal and professional crises, is bitten by a wolf. Suddenly his senses are heightened and he becomes very aggressive on the job and off. Far from sensational, this movie is a thoughtful examination of what life would be like if you were bitten by a (were)wolf. Nicholson is restrained in his role, and only Spader goes over the top. (Subtitles in English are not offered, but closed captions are.) Grade: B

Seabiscuit

Seabiscuit (2003) starring Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, Gary Stevens, William H. Macy. Set in the late 1930s, this movie tells the true story of how a horse named Seabiscuit provided inspiration to a nation going through the Great Depression. Three men -- jockey Red Pollard (Maguire), owner Charles Howard (Bridges), and trainer Tom Smith (Cooper) -- came together and took a horse that everyone had given up on and made him into a champion. The movie can't measure up to the book, of course, but writer and director Gary Ross makes a valiant effort to bring the spirit of the story to the screen. I found that, having read the book by Laura Hillenbrand (who also acted as an advisor on the film), I was able to appreciate the movie more than I did the first time I saw it. It makes for very enjoyable viewing. (English captions for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc.) Grade: A-    

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (1997) starring Steve Coogan, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Antony Sher, Nicol Williamson. Children's movie in which Rat, Mole and Badger team up to save Mr. Toad from losing his estate to the weasels, who want to blow it up and replace it with a slaughterhouse. I found that this film had little to offer for adults, and was mostly just silliness. Fans  of the Monty Python troupe might be more amused, as practically all the Python members make appearances in this movie. (Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: C

The Witches

The Witches (1990) starring Anjelica Huston, Mai Zetterling, Jasen Fisher, Rowan Atkinson, Brenda Blethyn. After his parents die in an accident, young Luke (Fisher) and his grandmother (Zetterling) go on vacation to a seaside hotel in England. But not before Luke's grandmother tells him all about witches, and how they love to do harm to children. Much to Luke's dismay, the hotel is hosting an all-England witches' convention, and the Grand High Witch (Huston) is in attendance. She has a plot to turn all the children of England into mice, and Luke is one of her first targets. This is essentially a children's movie, based on a book by Roald Dahl, and it takes twists and turns that adults probably won't buy. I know I didn't. It's not even one of those children's movies that is fun for adults -- it's strictly for the kiddies. (Subtitles in English are not offered, but closed captions are available.) Grade: B-

Witness for the Prosecution

Witness for the Prosecution (1957) starring Charles Laughton, Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich. Directed by Billy Wilder. Based on an Agatha Christie play, this movie tells the story of a man (Power) accused of murder. It's a courtroom drama, with Laughton as Wilfrid Robarts, the defense attorney, and Dietrich as the wife of the accused. The twist is that the wife of the accused takes the stand against him and gives damning testimony. It's a great performance by Dietrich, and Laughton is also excellent as the barrister, who is recovering from a heart attack. In the final analysis, though, all the parts didn't fit together for me, and I felt ever so slightly manipulated. (English subtitles are not offered, but closed captions save the day for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B  

The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz (1939) starring Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Frank Morgan, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton. Directed by Victor Fleming. A great American movie, in which Dorothy (Garland), a young teen from Kansas, goes "over the rainbow" to the magical land of Oz. Grade: A

Hitler's Children

Hitler's Children (2012) Documentary. Descendants of Himmler, Hans Frank (governor general of occupied Poland), Hermann Goering (founder of the Gestapo), Amon Goeth (commandant of Plaszow concentration camp), and Rudolf Hoess (of Auschwitz) come forward and are interviewed about what it is like to carry such a heavy heritage. It turns out that it is not an easy thing, in fact can be very painful. The descendants of these Nazi monsters feel, largely, a profound sense of guilt, even though it was not they who carried out the evil acts of their fathers or grandfathers. This is an effective, though brief, documentary which has the power to make you cry. (Subtitles in English, as well as closed captions, are available.) Grade: A-

Wise Blood

Wise Blood (1979) starring Brad Dourif, Daniel Shor, Amy Wright, Harry Dean Stanton, Ned Beatty. Directed by John Huston. Southern Gothic story, based on a novel by Flannery O'Connor, in which Dourif plays a military man returning home from duty who decides that he will become a preacher of the "Church of Jesus Christ Without Jesus," or something like that. He travels to the nearest large town, where he meets up with various weird characters. Wright plays the young girl who initially falls for him, and Stanton and Beatty play rival preachers. It's all very amusing, in an odd sort of way, and if nothing else it's watchable. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B 

Winchester '73

Winchester '73 (1950) starring James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally. Directed by Anthony Mann. Classic Western in which Stewart plays Lin McAdam, a man who is searching for the man (McNally) who killed his father. He rides into Dodge City and enters a shooting contest, in which he wins a prize rifle called a Winchester '73. The priceless gun is soon stolen from him, and his search now becomes two-fold: find the gun and the man who stole it. In 1950, Westerns were on the wane, and this movie is credited with giving the genre a big boost, giving rise to the many great Westerns that were made in the '50s. Winters supplies Stewart's love interest, and it's interesting to see her in an early movie, before she lost her looks. This movie is beautifully photographed and directed, and the acting is fine. (English subtitles are available, but not closed captions.) Grade: A- 

Angels in the Outfield

Angels in the Outfield (1951) starring Paul Douglas, Janet Leigh, Keenan Wynn, Donna Corcoran. The Pittsburgh Pirates are sinking towards last place in the league, but fortunately for them a little orphan girl (Corcoran) has been praying for them. Their manager, Guffy McGovern (Douglas), is visited by an angel who tells him that if he cleans up his language and stops slugging people, the Heavenly Choir will help out his team. Meanwhile, a lady journalist (Leigh) has been assigned to cover the team. This is a feel-good movie in which everything works out for the best. It's a lot of fun to watch, and it's also good family entertainment. (Subtitles in English are available on the disc, as well as closed captions for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: A- 

The Witches of Eastwick

The Witches of Eastwick (1987) starring Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer. Three women in a picturesque New England town summon the man of their dreams and -- surprise! -- he turns out to be the Devil (Nicholson, of course). This movie was one of the most sloppily made I have ever seen. The stars are first-class, but the script is a mess. The magic that takes place isn't adequately explained, and scene follows scene in a disconnected, chock-a-block fashion. It really wasn't enjoyable to watch. (Subtitles in English are available, as are closed  captions.) Grade: C

The Terminator

The Terminator (1984) starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton. Arnold is perfectly cast as a cyborg from the future who is sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor (Hamilton), mother-to-be of the leader of the future human resistance to the rise of the machines. Biehn is a standout in his role as Kyle Reese, the soldier from the future sent back to defend Sarah Connor from the terminator. This is a classic science-fiction movie made on a small budget but very tightly scripted and directed by James Cameron. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: A- 

Winning

Winning (1969) starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Richard Thomas, Robert Wagner. Frank Capua (Newman) is a race-car driver who meets and marries a woman (Woodward) and adopts her son (Thomas). He is so focused on winning that he neglects his wife and she ends up in another man's (Wagner) arms. Big climax of the film (and much screen time) is provided by the running of the Indianapolis 500, with Capua trying to win and beat the man who took his wife. This is a pretty good movie, with the impact somewhat diluted by the knowledge that Newman and Woodward are happily married in real life. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available.) Grade: B  

Broken Arrow

Broken Arrow (1950) starring James Stewart, Jeff Chandler, Debra Padget. In 1870 in Arizona, war rages between the white man and the Apaches. One white man, Tom Jeffords (Stewart), becomes intrigued with the idea of making peace with Cochise (Chandler), the great Apache leader. Along the way, Jeffords falls in love with an Apache girl (Padget). Sincere film has authentic feel, is said to be based on true events. All that's lacking is a truly happy ending. (Subtitles are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957) starring Jayne Mansfield, Tony Randall, Betsy Drake, Joan Blondell. Directed by Frank Tashlin. A convincing case can be made that this is a clever satire of 1950s morals, television, sex and business. In fact that seems to be the prevailing opinion. However, I can't help but treat it as a viewing experience, and from that angle I find it highly lacking. It's a silly movie, and Mansfield is supremely irritating with her constant squealing. I really just didn't enjoy it, although I found it memorable. (Subtitles in English are offered, as are closed captions.) Grade: C  

Wings of Desire

Wings of Desire (1988) starring Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Bois, Peter Falk. A pair of angels wander around the streets of Berlin and wonder what it would be like to be human. One of them (Ganz) finally decides to take the plunge and takes human form, falling in love with a beautiful human woman. The movie has many good parts, switches back and forth between black-and-white and color, and shows people at their best and worst. But it didn't really work for me. Perhaps it was all that translation from German to English that threw me off. It's mostly in German, with English subtitles. Grade: B-

The Wind That Shakes the Barley

The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006) starring Cillian Murphy, Padraic Delaney, Liam Cunningham, Orla Fitzgerald. In the 1920s in Ireland, a young doctor (Murphy) is radicalized by the fight against the British oppressors, and gradually goes over to being a Republican guerilla fighter. Frankly, I found the politics hard to follow, and the uniforms of the British hard to distinguish from the later uniforms of the Irish. This is an intense drama, with deep feelings on both sides, but here we are clearly supposed to sympathize with the Irish. I did. (Subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired are available.) Grade: B+

Will Penny

Will Penny (1968) starring Charlton Heston, Joan Hackett, Donald Pleasence, Lee Majors, Bruce Dern, Ben Johnson. Aging, loner cowboy Will Penny (Heston) is thrown together with a woman (Hackett) and her young son in a remote cabin. They fall in love, but can Penny change his ways at this late stage in his life? The answer may surprise you. Well written, well acted movie hardly sounds a false note; cowboys and the cowboy life are as accurately portrayed as is possible for us in modern movies. One of the great films about cowboys on the frontier. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: A- 

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick. A "good" terminator (Schwarzenegger) is sent back in time to protect John Connor (Furlong) against the bad terminator (Patrick) that Skynet has sent back to kill him. The action is practically non-stop, and the movie almost lives up to the original "Terminator" film. What it lacks in freshness it makes up for with special effects, especially the liquid-metal terminator effects of Patrick. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired, but not closed captions.) Grade: A- 

The Bravados

The Bravados (1958) starring Gregory Peck, Joan Collins. Jim Douglass (Peck) rides into a small town to witness the hanging of the four men who raped and killed his wife. But the four who are to be hanged manage to escape, and Douglass joins the posse that is chasing them. As he hunts them down, the truth slowly emerges, and after he kills three of them, he learns that reality is more morally ambiguous than he had imagined. An interesting movie with a thought-provoking ending. (Subtitles are available in English, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+

Willow

Willow (1988) starring Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Warwick Davis, Jean Marsh. A little person named Willow (Davis) becomes the protector of a baby who is destined to overthrow the Evil Queen (Marsh). Of course the Evil Queen is pursuing the baby throughout her kingdom with the object of killing her before she can grow up. Willow gets the help of a human-sized person named Madmartigan (Kilmer), who turns out to be a great warrior. He also has magical help from the queen of the fairies. This film is targeted mostly at a young audience, not adults, but suffers from the flaw of having some scenes that might be too intense for younger viewers. For adults, it is a little too silly to be taken seriously. The movie's main distinction is that it contains the first known instances of morphing, wherein a character changes shape onscreen -- e.g., from a human to a tiger, or the like. The Extras  make much of this fact, but of course it seems rather passé now. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

Wild Reeds

Wild Reeds (1994) starring Elodie Bouchez, Gael Morel, Stephane Rideau, Frederick Gorny. Four young students at a rural French boarding school in 1962 come of age and explore their sexuality. Set against the backdrop of the Algerian war, the students experience ideological and emotional turbulence related to the war. Frankly, I didn't totally "get" this movie. I think it's because it involves so much of French politics in the 1960s, a subject which I am totally unfamiliar with. The film is in French, with English subtitles. Grade: B- 

Broken Lance

Broken Lance (1954) starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters, Richard Widmark. So-so Western in which Tracy plays the patriarch of a cattle empire, and his four sons fall out with him and among themselves. Shades of King Lear! Tracy is in fine form as the father of the clan; Widmark is especially good as the ungrateful son who turns out to be evil. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook (2012) starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, Jacki Weaver. Pat (Cooper) comes out of a mental hospital after being institutionalized for eight months for beating up his wife's lover. He meets Tiffany (Lawrence) and they seem to clash, while also seeming to be attracted to each other. Meanwhile, Pat's father (DeNiro) has become a bookie, and believes that Pat is his good-luck charm. Complicating everything is the fact that Pat is bipolar, and refuses to take his medication. He longs to get back together with his wife, Nikki, but she has a restraining order out against him. This movie deserves credit for treating mental illness with neutral respect. Lawrence won an Oscar for her portrayal of the maybe-crazy Tiffany. Grade: B+  

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm. Frodo Baggins (Wood), a hobbit, sets off on a quest to destroy the evil One Ring. He is joined by Gandalf, the wizard (McKellen); Aragorn, son of Arathorn (Mortensen); a dwarf, an elf, a man, and three other hobbits. They journey through dangerous lands to find shelter in elf lands, then through the mines of Moria, where Gandalf battles with a balrog. It's all executed with the greatest of the cinematic arts, and the movie's only flaw is that it is so long, at three and a half hours. Yet even at that length, I never grew bored.  Grade: A

Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken

Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken (1991) starring Gabrielle Anwar, Michael Schoeffling, Cliff Robertson. Based on the real-life story of Sonora Webster, a teen-age girl (Anwar) during the Depression runs away from her aunt's house to apply for a job as a girl who rides diving horses. Through pluck and persistence, she gets a job with the man who owns the act (Robertson), and when the regular diving-horse riding girl quits, Sonora gets the job. She also falls in love with Al (Schoeffling), the son of the owner. I found this movie, in the beginning, to be off-putting, but as I watched it grew on me. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good, inspiring family movie. The plot takes some unexpected turns, so it is definitely not boring. (Subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+  

The Wild One

The Wild One (1954) starring Marlon Brando, Mary Murphy, Robert Keith, Lee Marvin. A motorcycle gang, led by Johnny (Brando), roars into a small town, bent on raising hell. Strangely enough, it is Johnny who ends up seeming like the victim, as a mob of townspeople chase him down and beat him up. This is the original biker movie, but it doesn't follow the trajectory one would expect. The bikers seem really tame compared to today's breed. The film is worth watching to see the young Brando. (Subtitles in English are available, as are closed captions.) Grade: B 

The Wide Blue Road

The Wide Blue Road (1957) starring Yves Montand, Alida Valli. An Italian fisherman (Montand) persists in the practice of dynamite fishing, even though it is against the law and the other villagers don't approve of it. This movie is a lovely slice-of-life style flick in which the lives of the people in an isolated Italian fishing village are portrayed. The focus is on Montand and his family -- his wife Rosetta (Valli), his beautiful  daughter Diana and his two young sons, whom he takes with him when he goes fishing. It's shot in expressive color, and the photography is striking. I really got absorbed in this movie, and found it highly entertaining -- even though it ends tragically. (In Italian, with English subtitles.) Grade: A-

The Impossible

The Impossible (2012) starring Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland. A family, consisting of husband Henry (McGregor), wife Maria (Watts) and their three young sons, is vacationing at a resort in Thailand in 2004 when the tsunami strikes. This movie tells the story of how they survived and were (eventually) reunited. The focus of the first part of the film is on Maria and her oldest son Lucas (Holland), who get swept away but somehow hold on to each other. But they are separated from the rest of the family, and the bulk of the movie consists of the different parts of the family searching for each other in Thailand, a land where they don't know the language. I found this film to be pretty much a standard disaster movie, well executed but with not much original to distinguish it. Still, it made for a tolerable evening's entertainment. (Subtitles in English are available on the disc, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+

Les Miserables

Les Miserables (2012) starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried. This movie was a big disappointment. Of course, I've listened to the London stage  production soundtrack for years, so my expectations were that this film would measure up. Unfortunately, it doesn't. Director Tom Hooper's decision to record the actors as they sing just doesn't work. Crowe and Seyfried, in particular, don't seem to have the chops to sing in a musical, while Jackman is just passable. Also, a lot of detail had to be left out to get the film to a watchable length, and the plot suffers because of it. And yet ... despite my criticisms, the movie did bring me close to tears a couple of times, especially in Valjean's (Jackman) death scene. All in all, I can't recommend this film. (Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are offered, but not closed captions.) Grade: C+ 

Django Unchained

Django Unchained (2012) starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Johnson. Directed by Quentin Tarantino. In 1858, two years before the Civil War, a slave named Django (Foxx) is bought and later freed by a bounty hunter named Schultz (Waltz). Django learns how to handle a six-shooter, and they go into business together as bounty hunters. But Django's one overriding concern is to get his wife, Broomhilda (Washington), out of the hands of an evil slaver named Calvin Candie (DiCaprio). Schultz and Django concoct an elaborate scheme to buy Broomhilda from Candie, but in the end they have to resort to violence to free her. The violence in this film is trademark Tarantino -- when somebody gets shot, blood spurts or sprays out of him. And a lot of people get shot, mostly by Django. It's an extremely violent movie, but Django and Broomhilda have been badly mistreated and the shooting seems justified. Basically, it's a revenge flick and can be enjoyed on that level. (Subtitles are available for the hard of hearing, but not closed captions. There are several songs in the movie that could have profited by being subtitled, but they are not.) Grade: B+

South Pacific

South Pacific (1958) starring Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr, Ray Walston. In the early days of World War II, on a Polynesian island, American sailors and nurses and French plantation owners pursue romance. Every once in a while, someone breaks out into song. The cast gives it their best shot, but the star wattage is low. You'd almost hardly know there's a war on, since about 90 percent of the movie is about two romances. The songs, by Rodgers and Hammerstein, are fine (highlights include "Some Enchanted Evening," "There is Nothing Like a Dame"). This is a likable movie, just not quite as great as it could have been. (Subtitles in English are available, as are closed captions.) Grade: B  

The Professionals

The Professionals (1966) starring Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode, Burt Lancaster, Jack Palance, Ralph Bellamy, Claudia Cardinale. Rich man (Bellamy) hires four mercenaries (Marvin, Ryan, Strode and Lancaster) to save his wife (Cardinale), who has been kidnapped by the Mexican bandit Raza (Palance). Unfortunately, when the gringos get to Raza's camp, they discover that the lady does not wish to be rescued.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) starring Martin Freeman, Ian Mckellan, Richard Armitage, Andy Serkis, Ian Holm, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Elijah Wood. Directed by Peter Jackson. The decision was made by Jackson to turn The Hobbit, a fairly long novel, into a three-movie extravaganza. This first installment proves to be a slight disappointment, since we've seen many of the tricks in previous Lord of the Rings films. Jackson does manage to get to the crucial encounter between Bilbo Baggins (Freeman) and Gollum (Serkis), in which Bilbo acquires the One Ring around which the entire set of books revolves. There are also some good action scenes, mostly battles with Orcs, but for my taste the fight scenes were a bit too "busy." They might have looked better in a movie theater, rather than on my 22-inch TV screen, so I can't really hold that against him. All in all, I love the Hobbit and all things Middle Earth, so this movie succeeded in pleasing me despite its shortcomings. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc; closed captions are not.) Grade: B+   

The Wild Bunch

The Wild Bunch (1969) starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson. Directed by Sam Peckinpah. A gang of outlaws, led by Holden, works the Texas-Mexico border during the time of the Mexican Revolution. The movie is marked by several big shoot-outs between the outlaws and the "good guys," who really aren't all that good. The film generated controversy when it was released because of the realistic depiction of violence, but doesn't seem so bad today. My problem with the movie was that there really aren't any "good guys" -- nobody with whom we can identify and root for. But that is only a minor complaint about what is a rip-roaring classic of a Western, and I would recommend that you see this movie and decide for yourself. (Subtitles in English are available; closed captions are also offered.) Grade: B+ 

Judgment at Nuremberg

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) starring Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Maximilian Schell, Montgomery Clift, William Shatner. Directed by Stanley Kramer. A judge, played by Tracy, journeys to Nuremberg, Germany in 1948 to preside over a tribunal passing judgment on several German judges. The judges presided over trials in Nazi Germany in which innocent people were sentenced to be sterilized or put to death, or were sent to concentration camps. The movie has a powerful impact, although perhaps its power has been reduced somewhat with time. The performances of all the principles are good, and the script is top-notch. The film won two Academy Awards. (Subtitles in English are available, as are closed captions.) Grade: A- 

The Wicker Man

The Wicker Man (1973) starring Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento. Upright Scottish policeman (Woodward) travels to an isolated island to investigate the disappearance of a 12-year-old girl. He is shocked to discover that the people on the island are pagans who no longer practice Christianity. Continuing his investigation, he searches the entire island for any sign of the missing girl. The people of the island seem to be curiously unwilling to cooperate in his search, and he finds increasingly disturbing evidence as he keeps on investigating. The ending of the movie has a surprising twist. I found the film disturbing but ultimately satisfying, in a perverse sort of way. (Subtitles are not provided, but closed captions are available.) Grade: B+

Life of Pi

Life of Pi (2012) starring Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall, Adil Hussain, Tabu. Directed by Ang Lee. Life of Pi is the curiously disappointing story of a boy named Pi (Sharma) who survives a ship's sinking and is stranded on a lifeboat with a tiger named Richard Parker. We know that he is going to survive, because the story is told in flashback by his adult self. The section of the film that covers the time spent at sea in the lifeboat is great -- lyrical and richly imagined -- but the last part of the movie, which is a sort of coda, dilutes the power of the story and brings it back to earth with a thud. While I enjoyed the film, I was not transported. (Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are provided, and closed captions are also available.) Grade: B 

Manon of the Spring

Manon of the Spring (1986) starring Yves Montand, Emmanuelle Beart, Daniel Auteuil. Ten years after his death, Jean de Florette's daughter, Manon (Beart), still lives and tends goats on the land where he died. When she learns that the source of water was cruelly hidden from her father by her neighbors (Montand and Auteuil), she is heartbroken. But then one of her goats wanders into a cave, and she finds the secret source of the spring -- giving her the power to exact revenge, not only on her two neighbors, but on the whole village which helped them carry out their plan. In its last third, the film takes an additional twist which absolutely blows away all that went before. Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring, taken together, make up one of the most powerful and moving movie-viewing experiences I have ever had. They are simply two great films. (In French, with English subtitles.) Grade: A 

Jean de Florette

Jean de Florette  (1986) starring Yvez Montand, Gerard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Elisabeth Depardieu. When Jean de Florette (Depardieu) and his small family move to the farm he has inherited, he is unaware that his evil neighbor (Montand) has secretly blocked his spring so that he cannot get water. Jean ends up praying for rain when the dry season hits, but rain does not come. This is a beautifully shot, well scripted story that really has the power to draw the viewer in. It's continued in Manon of the Spring, so don't be disappointed that the end of this movie isn't the end of the story. (In French, with English subtitles.) Grade: A-

What a Way to Go!

What a Way to Go! (1964) starring Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Bob Cummings, Dick Van Dyke. MacLaine stars as serial widow who marries four different men for love, each of whom ends up dying and leaving her ever richer. All she wants is the simple life, and she tries to give her money away. But this gets her sent to a psychiatrist (Cummings), to whom she narrates her marriages in flashback. Fairly entertaining movie, with film parodies thrown in to enhance the experience, but suspense is nonexistent since we know each husband will die. The four husbands are played by Van Dyke, Newman, Mitchum and Kelly. (English subtitles are available for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

Whose Life Is It Anyway?

Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981) starring Richard Dreyfuss, John Cassavetes, Christine Lahti, Bob Balaban. A talented sculptor (Dreyfuss) is injured in a traffic accident and ends up paralyzed from the neck down. After six months in the hospital, receiving the best of care, he realizes that he is, for all intents and purposes, already dead. He decides to fight for his right to be released from the hospital and allowed to die. Well acted drama features plenty of humor as Dreyfuss interacts with hospital staff, fellow patients. In fact, he doesn't seem depressed, although the court case deciding whether he should be freed hinges on that question. This is an excellent film about a serious subject, and I liked it a lot. (English subtitles are available on the disc, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+ 

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) starring Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy. Humans and cartoons co-exist in the universe of this noir comedy, which has Hoskins playing Eddie Valiant, a Los Angeles detective who "doesn't work for toons" after a toon killed his brother. Delightful mixture of live action and animation has you really believing the the animated characters are as real as the humans. Many funny sequences and inside jokes make for a most enjoyable evening's entertainment. (Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+

Lincoln

Lincoln (2012) starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Day-Lewis won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in this movie, which is mostly about the passage in the House of Representatives of the 13th Amendment, outlawing slavery. Sometimes the subject matter of a movie elevates it to greatness, and I think that is what happened here. Though it is mostly about parliamentary maneuvering and the procurement of votes, this film shows Lincoln's greatness and highlights a moment in out history which will always stand out as a proud one. A thoroughly enjoyable movie. (English subtitles are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: A

White Oleander

White Oleander (2002) starring Alison Lohman, Robin Wright Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Renee Zellweger. After her mother Ingrid (Pfeiffer) murders her lover, Astrid (Lohman) is chucked into the foster care system and has a variety of experiences, all bad. Ingrid remains a strong influence in her daughter's life, and she is not a good influence. Astrid's struggle to find herself and escape her mother's influence makes up most of the plot of this movie. It's a surprisingly good film, with good acting throughout. (Subtitles in English are offered, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+ 

White Heat

White Heat (1949) starring James Cagney, Myrna Loy, Edmond O'Brien. Cagney plays a gangster named Cody Jarrett with serious mommy issues. When he goes into the joint, his ma gets killed trying to protect him. But he escapes and continues his life of crime. Pretty standard hard-boiled gangster movie has a historical place on the cusp of the '50s, but offers little beyond the rantings and ravings of Cagney as the unhinged bad guy who suffers from serious headaches. This film didn't really do much for me, and seems to have lost something with the passage of time. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B-  

Argo

Argo (2012) starring Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman. When Iranian revolutionaries take over the American embassy in 1979, six Americans manage to escape to the Canadian ambassador's house, where they are sheltered. But Canada decides that they must leave, and CIA agent Tony Mendez (Affleck) is called on to concoct a plan to get the Americans out of Iran before they are caught and executed by the Revolutionary Guard. The idea he comes up with is so crazy it might work: Pose as a Canadian film producer, and have the six American refugees pose as Canadian members of the movie production team. This film is great fun, while at the same time supplying many moments of electrifying tension. Even though we know from history that the Americans will escape, the movie is a real nail-biter and provides both moments of high comedy and moments of high suspense. The acting is great, and this film really deserved the Best Picture Oscar which it won for 2012. (Subtitles in English are available, but not closed captions.) Grade: A

Holiday Inn

Holiday Inn (1942) starring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, Virginia Dale. Flimsy plot has Crosby and Astaire rivals for same woman's heart. Upshot is that Crosby sets up a country inn in Connecticut which will be open only on holidays -- the rest of the time he'll be able to goof off. The Holiday Inn forms the setting for a series of Irving Berlin holiday songs, including the classic "White Christmas," which won an Academy Award. The main attraction of this movie is the pairing of Crosby and Astaire on screen, which only happened in one other movie. They play off of one another pretty well, and this film makes for an acceptable, light evening's entertainment. (The DVD includes good subtitles for the hearing-impaired. Closed captions are not offered.) Grade: B    

The Flat

The Flat (2011) by Arnon Goldfinger. After his grandmother dies in Israel, filmmaker Goldfinger takes part in the task of sorting her possessions. Among the many things she has saved he finds a relic of his grandmother's life in Germany before World War II. She and her husband were good friends with a Nazi official named von Mildenstein who, during the war, worked for Goebbels' propaganda ministry. Incredibly, the Tuchlers and the von Mildensteins renewed their friendship after the war. Goldfinger is puzzled by this, and troubled. How could his Jewish grandparents have been friends with a Nazi official? In this film he tries to answer the question, but at the end he is not able to get anyone in von Mildenstein's family to confirm that he was a pretty high-ranking Nazi. This is certainly an interesting movie, though it will prove somewhat sedate for many tastes. It's in a variety of languages with good English subtitles. Grade: B

Three Colors: White

Three Colors: White (1993) starring Zbigniew Zamachowski, Julie Delpy, Janusz Gajos. Hapless Pole name Karol (Zamachowski) is divorced and humiliated by his beautiful French wife Dominique (Delpy). Returning to Poland, he makes good and becomes a rich man. Then it occurs to him: He can get revenge on Dominique. Dark comedy works most of the time, although in totality the plot doesn't hold up. Good entertainment for the most part. In French, with English subtitles. Grade: B 

Rust and Bone

Rust and Bone (2012) starring Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts. A woman named Stephanie (Cotillard) loses her legs in an accident at Marineworld, and a man named Ali (Schoenaerts) befriends her and "helps" in her recovery. Ali is a street fighter with a five-year-old son whom he doesn't really know how to relate to. The portions of the movie where Stephanie are featured are compelling, but the ones with Ali are less so. Somehow the two of them come together and fall in love. I found the movie less than satisfying. The two main characters just didn't mesh in my mind. (In French, with English subtitles.) Grade: B-   

Zero Dark Thirty

Zero Dark Thirty (2012) starring Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Jennifer Ehle. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Dogged CIA agent Maya (Chastain) spends ten years hunting down the location of Osama Bin Laden, and a Navy Seal team goes in to take him out. The first half of the movie kind of drags, but in the second half it picks up momentum and the actual take-down of Bin Laden is pretty darn exciting. This movie would have been better viewed in a theater on a big screen, especially the night scenes when the Seal team is going into Bin Laden's compound. But it plays OK on TV. At over two and a half hours, it's a bit long, but you could argue that you get your  money's worth. (Subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc, and are very legible. Closed captions are not included.) Grade: B+ 

Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina (2012) starring Kiera Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson.  Anna Karenina (Knightley), a married woman, falls in love with Count Vronsky (Taylor-Johnson) and has an affair with him. Her husband (Law) is willing to forgive her at first, but she is not willing to give up Vronsky -- and besides, she has Vronsky's child. The result is that Anna is disgraced and shunned by polite society. I haven't read Tolstoy's book Anna Karenina, but I understand that it is about a thousand pages long. It would seem that any attempt to condense it into a two-hour movie would be doomed, and in my opinion this movie has not succeeded. It's a dreary affair, and Anna and Vronsky are not sympathetic figures that we can cheer for. The ending is, ultimately, just depressing. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are supplied.) Grade: C

Where Eagles Dare

Where Eagles Dare (1968) starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, Mary Ure. As World War II rages, a British commando unit, led by Burton, with Eastwood as the only American member of the team, parachutes into the Bavarian Alps to rescue a captured American general from a German fortress. Things start going wrong right from the start, and it soon becomes evident that this mission is not all it's cracked up to be. The movie is full of slam-bang action from start to finish, with scarcely ever a dull moment. It suffers only from the improbability factor -- the success of the mission is dependent on split-second timing and luck, and there's so much of it that it's just not believable. But that needn't stop you from enjoying this movie. Burton and Eastwood are real stars, and the film features top-notch  production values. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+

When We Were Kings

When We Were Kings (1996) starring Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Don King, Norman Mailer, George Plimpton. Documentary about the "Rumble in the Jungle" in 1974 between Ali and Foreman. The fight was held in Zaire, the former Belgian Congo, and much is made about the black fighters returning to clash in Africa.  More than anything, the movie is a tribute to Muhammad Ali, who used the "Rope-a-Dope" strategy to defeat Foreman and reclaim the heavyweight title. Although many thought Ali was over the hill and would retire after the Rumble in the Jungle, the film reveals that he would go on to fight 22 more professional fights, damaging himself in the process. This is a very entertaining movie, and it shows enough of the actual fight to leave the viewer satisfied. (Closed captions are available on the disc.) Grade: B+  

Skyfall

Skyfall (2012) starring Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench. Agent 007 (Craig) is back in action, with bad guy Bardem trying to get even with M (Dench) for giving him up to the enemy years earlier in a spy-world maneuver. The movie builds gradually, with plenty of action throughout, up to a rip-roaring finale at Bond's boyhood home, Skyfall. The series has been freshened up a bit, with the villain's main method becoming computer hacking, but otherwise there's nothing terribly new -- it's just 007 for a younger generation, and I suppose it works within those parameters. I certainly felt that I had gotten plenty o' entertainment for my buck. My only cavil is that Craig just doesn't seem like the best choice of actors to play James Bond. He seems too small and blond. But that's a minor complaint. (The disc offers subtitles for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+ 

What's Your Number?

What's Your Number? (2011) starring Anna Faris, Chris Evans. Single woman named Ally (Faris) realizes that her "number" (number of men she's slept with) is nearing 20, decides it's time to revisit some of those guys rather than ratchet up the number any further. She hires her neighbor Colin (Evans) to help her hunt down the old lovers, to find out if she's overlooked Mr. Right. Would it be a big surprise if she ends up falling in love with Colin? The movie carries us to the conclusion with some amusing scenes, but there's really no new ground covered here. The film asks us to fall in love with a slut, and it's not easy. Faris just seems to lack the star power to carry a movie. (Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are offered on the disc, and closed captions are also available.) Grade: B   

When Harry Met Sally...

When Harry Met Sally... (1989) starring Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby. Directed by Rob Reiner. Written by Nora Ephron. A modern classic in which Harry (Crystal) and Sally (Ryan) meet right after college and begin a long struggle to see if they can be friends without sleeping with each other. This is the movie famous for the deli scene, in which Sally shows Harry how a woman can, indeed, fake an orgasm. The movie's weak point is Crystal, who is an acquired taste, and who clearly ad-libbed some of his dialogue. I though this film made him likable enough that the ending was satisfying. The script by Ephron is quite sharp, and the movie is expertly directed by Reiner. A real winner. (Subtitles in English are not furnished on the disc, but closed captions are available.) Grade: A-         

The Sessions

The Sessions (2012) starring John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy, Moon Bloodgood. A disabled man named Mark (Hawkes), who at some point had polio, hires a sex surrogate named Cheryl (Hunt) to help him experience sex for the first time. At 38 years of age, he has never even masturbated, because his muscles are useless  -- even though he has full sensation in his entire body. Rarely do I complain about a movie being too short, but this one felt like it could have been a little longer. At 94 minutes, it's about the length I like in a movie, but it seems to end rather abruptly; it seemed like the film still had some territory to explore. Nevertheless, I was moved by the ending, and ended up feeling that this was practically a perfect little movie. The acting is very good, and the fact that it's based on a true story doesn't do any harm. Mark O'Brien was a real person, and the film rings true. (Subtitles in English are offered on the disc for the hearing-impaired, and closed captions are also available.) Grade: B+

What Just Happened

What Just Happened (2008) starring Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, John Torturro, Robin Wright Penn, Stanley Tucci, Bruce Willis.  Hotshot movie producer (De Niro) must deal with crazy directors, agents, movie stars, studio heads and -- oh, yes -- his ex-wife. The movie is based on a memoir by a real-life Hollywood film producer, so we can guess that it is a pretty accurate portrayal of what they go through -- and it is wild. The only problem I had with this movie is that a critical plot point has a director changing the ending to his film in a bad way, and the film doesn't show us the logistics of how he was able to sneak the changes past the studio bosses. It just doesn't ring true. But the rest of the film is entertaining to watch, and it gets a mild thumbs up. (Subtitles in English are not offered on the disc, but closed captions are available.) Grade: B

The Lady

The Lady (2011) starring Michelle Yeoh, David Thewlis. This movie tells the story of Aung San Suu Kyi (Yeoh), the woman who is a powerful political force in Burma and was only recently (in 2010) released from house arrest after 15 years. Daughter of Burmese founding father Aung San, she was married to a British professor (Thewlis) and had to choose between her country, Burma, and the professor when he fell ill while she was staying in Burma. She chose to stay in Burma, fearing correctly that the military rulers would not ever let her back in if she left to be by her husband's side. She also won the Nobel Peace Prize while under house arrest in Burma. This movie dramatizes her story, and it's a pretty good film, although it doesn't add anything new. It's just a straightforward telling of the events of her life, and the script is uninspired. The subtitles, when someone speaks in Burmese, are very hard to read. Grade: B

Whale Rider

Whale Rider (2003) starring Keisha Castle-Hughes. A Maori girl (Castle-Hughes) is born, but her twin brother and her mother both die in the birthing process. The girl, Paikea, is in line to be chief of the tribe, but she must struggle with her grandfather's disapproval because she is not male. Even when he gives lessons in the old ways to the males of the tribe, he refuses to let her participate. But Paikea hears the call of the whales, and what's more, they hear her. You will like the way things work out in this movie, and you will like the movie. It's fine, and good for family viewing. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+

Warlock

Warlock (1959) starring Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn, Dorothy Malone, Dolores Michaels, DeForest Kelley. Fonda is hired to be "marshal" of a wild west town called Warlock, and his style of keeping order involves a lot of bloodshed. Widmark steps in as the official sheriff's deputy, and tries to maintain law and order while preventing a wild gang of cowboys from riding into town and fighting it out with Fonda. This is a complicated Western with several subplots, and it makes for interesting viewing. The only complaint I have is that the script seems a little muddled -- as if the film is just too ambitious, trying to tell too complex a story, and it falls short in places. But still, I recommend this movie to anyone who likes a good Western. Kelley, known now as the doctor on "Star Trek," plays one of the bad guys who turns out to be more good than bad. (Subtitles in English and closed captions are both available on the disc.) Grade: B

Wet Hot American Summer

Wet Hot American Summer (2001) starring Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde-Pierce, Paul Rudd, Christopher Meloni, Molly Shannon, Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Elizabeth Banks. The only summer-camp movie I've ever seen was Meatballs, so I don't have much to go on, but this film is said to be a parody of summer-camp movies. It involves a bunch of young campers and their immature counselors at a summer camp in 1981, so maybe it could function as a nostalgia piece for some viewers of a certain age. There is a lot of off-the-wall humor, a lot of jokes that really push the envelope of taste, a lot of attempts to be funny. Some of them succeed. This is by no means a great movie, but it's a harmless way to spend an evening; plus, you get to see a lot of today's comedy stars back before they made it big. (Subtitles are not furnished on the disc, but it does have closed captions.) Grade: B

West Side Story

West Side Story (1961) starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, George Chakiris, Rita Moreno, Russ Tamblyn. Directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. Romeo and Juliet story is brought up to date, with story set in 1950s in New York City. Wood plays Maria, a Puerto Rican girl, who falls in love with Tony (Beymer), a Caucasian-American. The songs and the dancing are stylized, and totally involving. The movie won ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and deservedly so. Even though it's 50 years old, the film still holds up today, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreography by Robbins. Subtitles in English are available on the disc, as well as closed captions. Grade: A-

The Conformist ("Il Conformista")

The Conformist (1970) starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli. Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. In the 1930s, an Italian man named Marcello (Trintignant) seeks "normalcy" by becoming a Fascist. He becomes a member of the secret police and is assigned to assassinate a former teacher of his, an anti-Fascist who lives in Paris. Much of the story takes place in flashback as we see past traumas Marcello has suffered. The movie is so gorgeously filmed and the set design is so splendid that there is a tendency to not worry too much about the story. It's a solid story, though. To my surprise, Marcello never personally carries out the assassination of his former teacher, although he is present to witness it and doesn't do anything to stop it. The DVD offers a variety of language options; I chose to hear it in Italian with English subtitles. Grade: A-

Weekend

Weekend (1967) starring Mireille Darc, Jean Yanne. Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Experimental-feeling '60s-era movie has little relevance today, is more interesting as an artifact of a time than as a film to watch and enjoy. The fact that it's in French with English subtitles really doesn't help, and the subtitles are scarcely adequate. Grade: D+

Westworld

Westworld (1973) starring Richard Benjamin, Yul Brynner, James Brolin. Written and directed by Michael Crichton. Two men (Benjamin, Brolin) visit an adult amusement park of the future, in which fantasies can be acted out with the help of robots. Rigid safety measures are in place so that none of the human guests can be hurt, but things get hairy when the robots start to rebel. Brynner is effective as a gunslinger robot who gets tired of being killed all the time. Interestingly, within the movie the resort is called "Westernworld." Although advances in technology and special effects have made this movie look a little dated, it's still a fun thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. (Subtitles in English, supplied on the disc, are adequate. Closed captions are also available.) Grade: B+

The Master

The Master (2012) starring Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams. After serving in World War II, Freddie Quell (Phoenix) returns a damaged man. He falls in with Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman), the "Master" of a cult-like philosophy that seems to be modeled on Scientology. Dodd likes Freddie because he can make strange brews (which include ingredients as far-ranging as paint thinner) that Dodd likes to drink. The problem is, Dodd is the only one who likes Freddie, who is a drunk and has a tendency towards violence. Not to put too fine a point on it, I didn't like this movie. There was no one to really cheer for -- even Phoenix-Quell, who was the putative hero, was not a likable character. The film is quite a bit too long, and some scenes just seem to drag on forever. Although many critics greeted this movie as a masterpiece, I found that it fell well short of being interesting, much less compelling. (English subtitles are available for the hearing-impaired, but not closed captions. There are several songs, which unaccountably are not subtitled.) Grade: C

The Westerner

The Westerner (1940) starring Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Fred Stone, Doris Davenport. After the Civil War, Cole Harden (Cooper) is headed west to California when he happens through the Texas jurisdiction of Judge Roy Bean (Brennan). Harden also rides into the middle of a full-scale range war, with farmers versus cattlemen in a classic confrontation. Cooper shows why he was such a great film icon in this Western, which is now little-remembered. Brennan won an Oscar for his supporting role as Judge Roy Bean. This is a pretty standard-issue Western, but well done. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B  

Viva Maria!

Viva Maria! (1965) starring Brigitte Bardot, Jeanne  Moreau, George Hamilton. In the early 1900s, two women named Maria in a traveling carnival (Bardot and Moreau) "invent" the strip-tease, then get mixed up with a South American revolutionary named Flores (Hamilton). After Flores is killed off (surprisingly soon), the two Marias take over his Revolution and are followed by all the peasants in the country. From that point on the movie is an action-packed romp, with lots of battles, gunfire and dying on both sides. It seems churlish to say it, but this is just a silly movie, made only marginally entertaining by the idea of the two pulchritudinous females leading a revolution. It's kind of a fun film, but it seems to me to have little relevance in the 21st century. It's in French, Spanish and English, with English subtitles. Grade: B

Welcome to the Dollhouse

Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995) starring Heather Matarazzo. Written and directed by Todd Solondz.  Dawn Wiener (Matarazzo) is a 13-year-old going through junior-high hell. Unlovely and awkward, she is relentlessly bullied by just about everybody in the social hierarchy at the school, including teachers. Meanwhile, at home, Dawn is neglected by a mother who seems not to love her and to actively dislike her. Her little sister, Missy, gets all the loving attention that Dawn longs for. Her older brother Mark is focused on his future career and can only offer her the cold comfort that high school will suck a little less than junior high. This movie is kind of a slice-of-life look at Dawn's existence, and she is no better off at the end of the movie than at the beginning. We can only laugh and sigh and remember how junior high was for us. (English subtitles are available on the disc, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+  

The Wedding Singer

The Wedding Singer (1998) starring Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore. Sandler plays Robbie, a formerly aspiring musician who has been reduced to singing at weddings and bar mitzvahs. Jilted at the altar, he soon meets Julia (Barrymore), a cute girl who is engaged to be married later in the summer. Naturally, they fall in love. The story is set in 1985, so for those viewers who feel nostalgic for the '80s, this movie is bound to have a  lot of impact. There's lots of music from the '80s, so you have that to enjoy -- again, if you're nostalgic for the '80s. And Sandler and Barrymore do make a cute couple. This movie is not bad for a lightweight entertainment. (English subtitles are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

End of Watch

End of Watch (2012) starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena. Two L.A. cops (Gyllenhaal, Pena) take video of themselves as they go about their business of fighting crime. The relationship between the two cops is what makes the movie work, and it works really well. The only criticism I have is that the constant shaky camera work makes the film a little hard to watch for me. It's too bad because, that aside, it's a very well written and performed movie, with gritty details that make you feel like you're right there on the streets of South Central L.A. In fact, the violence and blood might be too much for some viewers. (Subtitles in English are furnished on the disc for the hearing-impaired; surprisingly, closed captions are not offered.) Grade: A-

We Bought a Zoo

We Bought a Zoo (2012) starring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church, Colin Ford, Elle Fanning. Directed by Cameron Crowe. Benjamin Mee (Damon), a recent widower with two children, decides that his next big adventure is going to be, literally, to buy a zoo. Johansson plays Kelly, the leader of a motley crew of zoo keeper personnel who Mee inherits along with the animals. She also, inevitably, becomes Mee's romantic interest -- although he is still too hung up on his deceased wife to be falling in love with someone new. The movie follows a predictable arc, from despair to elation, and Crowe makes you care enough about the characters that the film works. In spite of the fact that it is a "small" film, I liked it. (Subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions, are available on the disc.) Grade: B+

The Bodyguard

The Bodyguard (1992) starring Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston. Professional bodyguard Frank Farmer (Costner) takes on the job (against his better judgment) of guarding a celebrity named Rachel Marron (Houston). At first the two clash, then (surprise) they fall in love. The movie suffers from a near-chaotic script, with all kinds of odd developments going unexplained. The idea of teaming Costner and Houston must of been the main impetus behind the  making of the film, and it's not enough to sustain this or any other movie. The romance between the two almost works, but it doesn't quite ring true. Houston, unfortunately, was not much of an actress. (Subtitles in English, as well as closed captions, are available.) Grade: C+

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) starring Logan Lerman, Ezra Miller, Emma Watson, Mae Whitman, Paul Rudd, Dylan McDermott. Charlie (Lerman) is a high-school freshman who falls in with a crowd of seniors -- a note of unreality I found it hard to forget about while watching this movie. His friend Patrick (Miller) is gay, and his first love Sam (Watson) is dating someone else. Charlie himself has just come out of a mental hospital, and has a fear of "blacking out" and doing crazy things while he's out. Somehow the film comes together and makes for a touching story, which reminded me obliquely of "Ordinary People." I did find it hard to identify with high school students from the late '80s-early '90s, and their deep affection for "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" left me lukewarm. Still, this was a pretty good movie. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

Funny Girl

Funny Girl (1968) starring Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif. Streisand stars as Fanny Brice, star of the Ziegfeld stage show, whose success on stage is belied by her unhappy private life. Sharif plays Nicky Arnstein, the rich gambler playboy who comes backstage and into her life. They fall in love and get married, but then Nicky's fortunes take a bad turn and it affects their relationship. The movie takes a surprisingly dark turn in the last half-hour or so, and it definitely lacks a happy ending. Another tear-jerker from Streisand, but who can blame her? It works for her. Even when the movie is a downer, her talent is incandescent. Songs include "People (Who Need People)" and "Don't Rain on My Parade." (Subtitles are available on the DVD in several languages, including English. Closed captions are also offered.) Grade: B

The Way We Were

The Way We Were (1973) starring Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand. Opposites attract in a romance that spans decades, with Streisand the Communist crusader Katie Morosky and Redford as the straight-arrow Navy man Hubbell Gardiner. They first meet at college in the 1930s, but they don't start to get together until World War II is in full swing and they run into each other at a bar in New York. After they are involved, they realize they are not compatible and break up. Then, after a brief make-up scene, they are magically married and living in California, where Hubbell has become a screenwriter. Trouble is still brewing for them, though, because of the 1950s blacklist. You get a feeling that Katie's Communist past will come back to haunt her and Hubbell. This movie is a real tear-jerker, mainly because Katie loves Hubbell without reserve and he can't reciprocate her feelings. But I found the on-screen chemistry between Redford and Streisand to be a little hard to believe, and there were two or three spots in the film where giant jumps in time and space were made without transition. I found it very unsatisfying. Besides, I'm still not crazy about Streisand. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B-

Hello I Must Be Going

Hello I Must Be Going (2012) starring Melanie Lynskey, Blythe Danner, John Rubinstein, Julie White, Christopher Abbott. Newly divorced Amy (Lynskey) is 35, reduced to living with her parents in a house which they may have to give up, and having an on-again, off-again affair with 19-year-old Jeremy (Abbott). This is a small, independent film about relationships, but it's well done and makes for a good evening's entertainment. Lynskey is very appealing in the lead role. (Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are offered, but not closed captions.) Grade: B

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) starring Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin. Bill (Winter) and Ted (Reeves), two airheads on the verge of flunking out of high school, are given the opportunity to travel through time and gather famous figures for their final report in History. Carlin plays Rufus, a man from the far future who comes back to give them guidance. This is basically a silly movie with the most slender of plots, and little to recommend it unless you are a fan of Reeves and want to see him in an early film. (To the DVD's credit, it does offer subtitles in English and also closed captions for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: C 

Flight

Flight (2012) starring Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, Bruce Greenwood, Don Cheadle, John Goodman. William "Whip" Whitaker (Washington), an airline pilot, is forced to bring an airliner in for an emergency landing in which six people are killed. The toxicology report shows that he had a .24 alcohol level, not to mention cocaine in his blood. The movie becomes a portrait of a man who is a substance abuser, and who doesn't want to stop being a substance abuser. Mostly, he drinks. He says that he can stop whenever he wants, but he never stops -- even when the NTSB is investigating him and he faces life in prison. Even though the film starts with a slam-bang action scene, it is not an action movie. It's more of a film about addiction, and how one man comes to terms with it. I found it highly entertaining, and Washington was very good in the starring role. (Subtitles are available for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+ 

Wayne's World

Wayne's World (1992) starring Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Rob Lowe, Tia Carrere. Directed by Penelope Spheeris. Wayne (Myers) and Garth (Carvey) put on a local-access cable TV show from Wayne's basement, and it's fun -- until they are "discovered" by the evil promoter (Lowe) who wants to buy their show. This Saturday Night Live spin-off is sure to be a cult favorite for years to come as it throws in just about everything that Myers and Carvey can think of to bring their characters to life. The SNL origins show in the scatter shot nature of the jokes, but enough of the bits land to make it an entertaining movie. While it didn't get the greatest reviews, it did very well at the box office, and for fans of SNL and  heavy metal music it is not to be missed. (Subtitles and closed captions are both available for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B

Wattstax

Wattstax (1973) starring Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, Luther Ingram, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Richard Pryor. Marking the anniversary of the 1965 Watts riots, a great gathering of black people shows up in Los Angeles to hear music and celebrate the African-American spirit. Interspersed with the music are interviews with various blacks, talking about life, love and whitey. Some of the funniest bits are those with Richard Pryor. There's lots of music, culminating in an appearance by Isaac Hayes. All in all, I would recommend this movie to black people; some whites will enjoy it, but I think they would be in the minority. (Closed captions make the dialogue understandable -- even the songs are captioned.) Grade: B

The Waterboy

The Waterboy (1998) starring Adam Sandler, Kathy Bates, Fairuza Balk, Henry Winkler. Moron Bobby Boucher (Sandler) starts out as volunteer waterboy for college football team, ends up as player. Sandler plays Bobby as a stuttering fool who can only play football by getting mad at the opposing players. This is a simplistic movie with an unimaginative script; most of the jokes are just dumb. If you love Adam Sandler, you may like this movie, but all others should avoid it like the plague. This is one of the stupidest movies I have ever seen. (Closed captions are available for the hard of hearing.) Grade: D