Airplane!

Airplane! (1980) starring Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Leslie Nielsen. One of the funniest comedies ever, laugh-a-minute humor coming at you for practically the entire movie. At one point it made me laugh out loud, which is really hard to do. The presence of "serious" actors Stack, Bridges, Graves and Nielsen adds to the humor as they all play it straight and in various ways make fools of themselves. This is a spoof of all the "Airport" type films that appeared in the '70s, and it hits the mark far more often than it misses. A very funny comedy. (English subtitles are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+   

Agnes of God

Agnes of God (1985) starring Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft, Meg Tilly. A young nun (Tilly) gives birth to a baby in the convent and then, apparently, murders the baby. A court-appointed psychiatrist (Fonda) is sympathetic, but finds no easy answers. Based on a stage play, the film is only partially satisfying, leaving many questions unanswered. Still, three strong performances from the lead actresses make this a movie worth viewing. (English subtitles are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

Aimee & Jaguar

Aimee & Jaguar (1999) starring Maria Schrader, Juliane Kohler. In 1943 in Berlin, two women fall in love with one another. One is a young German hausfrau with a husband and four children, the other turns out to be a Jew. Even though war is being waged all around them, they try to love each other through it. It might sound like an outlandish plot, but it has the virtue of being true. Unfortunately, it does not have a happy ending -- another characteristic of true stories. The movie is quite well made, and the love scenes between the two women are tastefully done. In German, with English subtitles. Grade: B+ 

Alice in Wondreland

Alice in Wonderland (1951) starring the voices of Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Richard Haydn, Sterling Holloway, Jerry Colonna. Episodic animated rendering of the Lewis Carroll classic, with memorable sequences including the Cheshire Cat, the unbirthday party, the hookah-smoking caterpillar, and the Queen of Hearts. Although truly weird, the movie does little to engage the heart, and thus fails a achieve high art. Entertaining pretty much all the way through, though. (Subtitles are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

Aguirre: The Wrath of God

Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) starring Klaus Kinski, Ruy Guerra, Del Negro, Helena Rojo. Directed by Werner Herzog. In the 1560s, a mad group of Spaniards set out from Peru, after conquering the Incas, to seek El Dorado, the fabled city of gold. A man named Aguirre (Kinski) takes over part of the expedition and sets off on his own with a cohort to seek to conquer all of South America (although he has no idea how large it is). The expedition, of course, is doomed, and this movie can be watched as an example of the dangers of pride and ambition. It's a tense film, and you may leave it with a feeling of doom. It's in German, with English subtitles. Grade: B+  

The Agony and the Ecstasy

The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) starring Charlton Heston, Rex Harrison, Diane Cilento. From Irving Stone's book, which covered Michelangelo's entire life, comes this adequate movie depicting the battle between Pope Julius II (Harrison) and Michelangelo (Heston) over the  painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The depictions of Michelangelo's works are inspiring, without a doubt, but the plot of this movie is lacking in inspiration. It's only a so-so entertainment, and not one of Heston's greatest performances. Harrison is lacking in gravitas in the role of the pope. I was a bit disappointed in the film. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B  

Dog Day Afternoon

Dog Day Afternoon (1975) starring Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, James Broderick, Chris Sarandon. Directed by Sidney Lumet. Sonny (Pacino) and Sal (Cazale) team up to try and rob a bank, and it turns into a media circus when all the police show up. It turns out that Sonny is doing it to try and get money for his homosexual lover's (Sarandon) sex-change operation. Durning and Broderick play cops who try to negotiate with Sonny for the release of hostages that Sonny and Sal are holding in the bank. It's a pretty entertaining movie, thanks to Pacino's performance as the conflicted Sonny. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+ 

After the Thin Man

After the Thin Man (1936) starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart. Sequel to the first Thin Man movie has Nick and Nora Charles (Powell and Loy) journeying to San Francisco, determined to put detective work behind them. But it is not to be as a murder occurs right in their own circle and Nick is called on to solve it. The murder mystery is really just a backdrop for "snappy chatter" between Nick and Nora and the rest of the cast, but it has lost some of its snap in the last 75 years and is only mildly amusing. This is a fairly diverting movie, but nothing to write home about. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B 

After Life

After Life (1998) starring Aarata, Erika Oda, Susuma Terajima. Japanese fantasy film about workers at a way station for the dead, who spend one week with the newly deceased and help them choose one best memory from their lives, which the agents will then film and send on with the dead to the afterlife. The dead will then spend eternity experiencing this memory, and forget about the rest of their lives. It's an interesting conceit, but I found this movie to be pretty limp and not terribly engaging. It's in Japanese, with English subtitles. Grade: C

Back to the Future

Back to the Future (1985) starring Michael J. Fox, Lea Thompson, Christopher Lloyd, Crispin Glover. Young Marty McFly (Fox) accidentally travels back in time from 1985 to 1955, in a time machine built by Doc Brown (Lloyd). In 1955, he encounters his own parents (Thompson, Glover) -- when they were young. He gets enmeshed in their lives, and realizes that he must go back to the future after he manages to get them together. Although this movie is riddled with paradoxes and inconsistencies, it is nevertheless one of my favorite movies. There is so much good stuff here that it cancels out the bad. (Subtitles in English are available, but not closed captions.) Grade: A-   

The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1952) starring Dan O'Herlihy. Directed by Luis Bunuel. Sometime in the 1600s, a man named Robinson Crusoe (O'Herlihy) leaves home to sail the seas. Much to his dismay, his ship is blown far off course by a storm, and he is stranded on an uninhabited island. By pluck and quick wits, he manages to survive, and eventually ends up spending 28 years almost completely alone on the island. His only relief from loneliness is his man Friday, a native who shows up on the island about half-way through the film. It's a moderately entertaining movie, although there's only so much you can do with one man cast away, alone on an island. In the end, his exit from the island seemed a bit anticlimactic, and the film overall was kind of a downer. (Captions in English are available for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B 

Advise and Consent

Advise and Consent (1962) starring Henry Fonda, Don Murray, Charles Laughton, Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lawford, Gene Tierney, Franchot Tone, Lew Ayres. Long but interesting drama about wheeling and dealing (and blackmail) in the U.S. Senate. Fonda plays a man who is nominated by the President (Tone) to be Secretary of State, and most of the rest of the cast play senators who must deliberate and decide whether to confirm him in the office or not. The movie borders on melodrama, but is still absorbing enough to hold the viewer's attention and to make sense. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

The Adventures of Robin Hood

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Claude Rains, Basil Rathbone. The classic movie has all the Robin Hood stories you'll remember, unless you're a Robin Hood scholar. Flynn is the definitive Robin of Locksley, and de Havilland is lovely as Maid Marian. Rains and Rathbone are fine as the villains, Prince John and Sir Guy, who try to take over England and raise taxes while Richard the Lion Heart is gone to the Crusades. Filmed in glorious Technicolor, the movie is a little too colorful. But it certainly provides a fine evening's entertainment, with lots of '38 Extras. (Subtitles are available in English, as well as closed captions.) Grade: A- 

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989) starring John Neville, Eric Idle, Sarah Polley, Oliver Reed, Charles McKeown, Jonathan Pryce, Uma Thurman, Sting, Robin Williams. Directed by Terry Gilliam. Typical Gilliam fare has Baron Munchausen (Neville) riding in to save a city from the depredations of the Turks in the late 18th century. Everything about the film is fanciful, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I found it to be a mildly diverting evening's entertainment, certainly not one of the great films, but worth watching for the most part. (The supplied English subtitles are very legible, and the disc also offers closed captions.) Grade: B

The Bling Ring

The Bling Ring (2013) starring Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson, Clair Julien, Taissa Farmiga. Based on actual events that happened in 2008-9, this movie tells the story of a small group of Southern California teens who targeted celebrities for burglaries. The film commits the cardinal sin of being repetitive and boring for the first hour, then depressing for the next half-hour. The viewer is really given nothing to care about, as none of these teens has much depth or any distinguishing characteristics at all. It's not a terrible movie, it's just not very good. (Subtitles in English are available, as are closed captions.) Grade: B-   

Zorba the Greek

Zorba the Greek (1964) starring Anthony Quinn, Alan Bates, Irene Papas, Lila Kedrova, George Foundas. A young Englishman (Bates) arrives in Greece, on his way to the island of Crete, where he has inherited a lignite mine. On the way there, he meets a Greek named Zorba (Quinn), who attaches himself to him and whom he hires to try and bring the  mine up to working order. Once in Crete, the young Englishman gets involved in the affairs of the people of the small village to which he travels. The movie has a certain earthy zestfulness, courtesy of Quinn and Kedrova, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of a dying prostitute. The film also won Oscars for cinematography and art direction-set decoration. Grade: B

The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) starring Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Richard Greene, Wendy Barrie, Lionel Atwill, John Carradine. Sherlock Holmes (Rathbone) investigates a murder on the moor. When an old family legend is revealed (the Hound of the Baskervilles), Holmes is not fooled, and uses his deductive powers to catch the murderer. It's a very atmospheric movie, with lots of mist and howling by the hound. Oddly enough, Rathbone has little actual screen time. Mostly Holmes is in London while Watson (Bruce) is on the moor acting as his eyes and ears. This is not a great film, but is notable for being the first pairing of Rathbone and Bruce as Holmes and Watson in a Sherlock Holmes mystery. (Subtitles in English are available, but not closed captions.) Grade: B  

Adam's Rib

Adam's Rib (1949) starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Holliday, Tom Ewell. Tracy and Hepburn appear together in one of their celebrated pairings, as two lawyers on opposite sides in a murder case.  Tracy appears for the prosecution and Hepburn for the defense in the case of a woman (Holliday) who shot her cheating husband (Ewell). Of course, the case bleeds over into Amanda (Hepburn) and Adam's (Tracy) marriage because yes, they happen to be married to each other. I found this to be a pretty good entertainment, and you can't fault the star power of the actors. (Subtitles are available in English, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B 

The Absent Minded Professor

The Absent Minded Professor (1961) starring Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn, Tommy Kirk, Ed Wynn. Professor Brainard (MacMurray) is so preoccupied with his research that he forgets his wedding -- three times. His bride-to-be (Olson) gives up on him, but then he invents flubber (short for flying rubber) and the plot thickens. When he puts flubber on the soles of his college's basketball team, the fun starts. The team is able to bounce around the basketball court like kangaroos. Then the professor figures out how to use flubber to make a car fly, and we're off to the races. This movie is silly, but still a lot of fun. It's short, at an hour and 36 minutes, which is something I like in a movie. There's lots of slapstick and funny situations, and everything works out in the end. What more could you ask for? (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+

It's Complicated

It's Complicated (2009) starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, John Krasinski, Lake Bell. Jane (Streep) falls into an affair with her ex-husband Jake (Baldwin), who has remarried to a younger woman (Bell). Meanwhile, Jane is beginning to feel attracted to Adam (Martin), the architect who is designing an addition to her house. Since Jane and Jake have three grown children, it's a bit of an understatement to say it's complicated. This movie showcases Streep's talent, and has warmth and humor. I liked it, aside from the presence of the odious Alec Baldwin. It certainly provides an evening of diverting entertainment. (English subtitles are available, but not closed captions.) Grade: B+  

The Young Philadelphians

The Young Philadelphians (1959) starring Paul Newman, Barbara Rush, Alexis Smith, Brian Keith, Robert Vaughn. Newman stars as a young man named Tony Lawrence in Philadelphia in the late 1940s through the 1950s. Something goes horribly wrong between his  parents on their wedding day, with the result that his father turns out to be someone other than the man who married his mother. It's all about social climbing and career success, however, and Tony learns his lesson early. Later, he goes on to act as defense lawyer for a friend (Vaughn) who is falsely accused of murder. It's all one great big melodrama, which is another way of saying it ain't art. But it is an entertaining movie, and I didn't feel like I had completely wasted my time. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B   

Absence of Malice

Absence of Malice (1981) starring Paul Newman, Sally Field, Bob Balaban, Melinda Dillon, Wilford Brimley. A reporter (Field) is fooled into printing a story that is critical of an innocent man (Newman). Offended by the cruel power of the press, he decides to get even -- and succeeds. Newman and Field have one love scene together, but frankly there's not much believable chemistry between the two. The main plot, with Newman setting up the government officials who are harassing him, is pretty nifty. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B  

The Wrong Man

The Wrong Man (1957) starring Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Unusual entry in the Hitchcock body of work has Fonda playing real-life musician who was falsely accused of a series of crimes. Strongest performance of the movie comes from Miles, who plays his wife who cracks under the strain of the wrongful prosecution of her husband. The film is generally rather low-key and grim, with the steely bands of justice slowly closing around Fonda's character, even though we are pretty sure he is innocent. The real core of the film is his wife's breakdown, which persists even after he is exonerated. Definitely not a feel-good movie, but one well worth seeing. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

The Longest Day

The Longest Day (1962) starring John Wayne, Rod Steiger, Robert Ryan, Peter Lawford, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, many others. This World War II epic takes a sweeping view of June 6, 1944, the day of the Normandy invasion -- the day when the Allies finally struck back at Hitler's Germany and began the process of ending the war. Numerous well known actors and future stars appear, many of them in roles so brief that they can only be called cameos. The combat scenes are very effective, and in many cases you get the feeling of actually being there. For anyone who loves history, and especially the history of World War II, this is must-see viewing. Not necessarily a great movie, but definitely an epic. (Subtitles in English are available, as are closed captions.) Grade: A-  

The Addams Family

The Addams Family (1991) starring Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Dan Hedaya, Elizabeth Wilson. The macabre humor of the Addams family takes center stage as the family lawyer (Hedaya), coveting the Addams' wealth, plants a phony Uncle Fester (Lloyd) in their midst. Huston and Julia are excellent as Morticia and Gomez, who are absolutely in love with each other and share a morbid sense of humor. The script is a little weak in spots, but the movie is a fun watch. (Subtitles are available in English, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B 

Stories We Tell

Stories We Tell (2012) Documentary. Directed by Sarah Polley. The stories in question are Polley's family stories, the stories told by her siblings and her father about her late mother. The big reveal in this movie is that Polley's father Michael was not her biological father; she discovered in her 20s that her biological father was a man whom her mother had met while acting in a play in Montreal (the family lived in Toronto).  I found this movie mildly interesting, but hardly earthshaking. To Polley it must seem like a big deal that her father was not her biological father, but in today's society it seems like a commonplace. The film is well produced and clearly plotted, so it is something of a pleasure to watch. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

L'Avventura

L'Avventura (1960) starring Monica Vitti, Gabriele Ferzetti, Lea Massari. A small group of idle rich arrive on a deserted Mediterranean island for a lark, only to find excitement when one of their group (Massari) disappears. The rest of the film is ostensibly about the search for the missing woman, except that it soon branches off into a romance between her boyfriend (Ferzetti) and her friend (Vitti). The commentary track on this DVD makes the case that it is a great film, but I couldn't quite see it. It's certainly an interesting film, but I predict that most American viewers won't like it much. It's in Italian, with English subtitles. Grade: B

The Young Lions

The Young Lions (1958) starring Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin, Hope Lange, Barbara Rush. World War II study has Brando as a German who is conflicted about the war, Clift and Martin as American G.I.s who fight prejudice in basic training, then end up fighting together in Normandy. It's a pretty good movie, one of the better ones to look at WWII. It even shows the liberation of a concentration camp. (English subtitles are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+

Adaptation

Adaptation (2002) starring Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Tilda Swinton, Cara Seymour, Brian Cox, Judy Greer. Directed by Spike Jonze. In a unique melding of screenwriter's and director's sensibilities, Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief is brought to the screen -- in unrecognizable form. Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman becomes a character in his own screenplay, as he struggles to adapt The Orchid Thief into a movie. The book is a nonfiction account of John LaRoche, a real-life orchid collector who lives in Florida, and has scarcely any plot to speak of. It's beautifully written, however, which is probably why it got optioned to be made into a film. Kaufman apparently struggled with finding a way to convert the book into a movie, and ended up writing his struggles into the plot of the film. Jonze, to his credit, goes with the idea and enthusiastically directs it into this twisty, turny, weird movie. This is a crazy mixed-up film, and it won't be to everyone's taste. As for me, I was somewhat disappointed. (Subtitles are available in English, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

Ace in the Hole

Ace in the Hole (1951) starring Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling. Cynical New Mexico reporter (Douglas) sees a chance to revivify his once-thriving career when he stumbles on an Indian ruin with a man trapped inside. He manipulates the situation to stretch out the story, so that he can reap more glory, but the strategy ends up backfiring on him. The whole story takes on a carnival atmosphere as people come from miles around to witness the rescue of the trapped man.  As a former newspaperman, I found this story less than believable, but it made its point fairly effectively. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired, but not close captions.) Grade: B-   

The Abyss

The Abyss (1989) starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn. In an underwater sci-fi adventure, a crew of divers on an oil rig goes down to investigate a nuclear submarine which has been sunk. While investigating, one of the crew (Mastrantonio) sees an underwater UFO. Meanwhile, a Navy SEAL team which has been sent to check out the status of the nuclear sub begins to interfere with the crew of the oil rig. Biehn gets to pull his favorite assignment as an actor by playing a member of the SEAL diving team who gets "pressure psychosis." I watched the "extended" video version of the movie, which, at two hours and forty-five minutes, is a bit too long. Also, the film kind of goes overboard in depicting the underwater aliens and their concern for mankind. It would have been fine just to know they're there and that they are aware of us. Still, a rather enjoyable viewing experience. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B        

About Schmidt

About Schmidt (2002) starring Jack Nicholson, Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, Kathy Bates. Shortly after Warren Schmidt (Nicholson) retires from his job in the insurance business, his wife dies, and he embarks on a personal journey of discovery which has plenty of funny aspects, as well as plenty of poignant facets. His daughter Jeannie (Davis) is on the verge of marrying a hopeless loser (Mulroney), and Schmidt decides that his mission in life is to stop the marriage from going forward. His attempts to intervene, however, only go to show what a chasm has opened between him and his daughter. This is a funny and sad movie, and Nicholson turns in a very good performance as Schmidt. I found it well worth the investment of time to watch. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+  

About a Boy

About a Boy (2002) starring Hugh Grant, Toni Collette, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult. A totally self-absorbed bachelor named Will (Grant), who lives off the royalties from a song his father wrote, decides to pose as a single dad in order to pick up women. What he doesn't count on is Marcus (Hoult), a 12-year-old boy who meets him and decides that he, Will, would make a good addition to the small family of Marcus and his mother (Collette). Marcus starts coming over to Will's flat uninvited and watching TV with him. Will resists, but eventually is won over. This movie is a pleasant story of how two people can form an attachment without the usual Hollywood trappings, and how that attachment can be a benefit to everyone involved. It's also a funny film. I enjoyed it quite a bit. (Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are offered on the disc.) Grade: B    

American Graffiti

American Graffiti (1973) starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul LeMat, Charlie Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Wolfman Jack, Harrison Ford. Written and directed by George Lucas. Outstanding, groundbreaking film is about a group of teens in 1962 and their activities on the last night of high school. The soundtrack of the movie is made up entirely of rock 'n' roll music from the era 1955-62, so this is a real nostalgia piece for those who went through their teens in the late '50s or early '60s. The film also launched the careers of many of the main actors who appear in it. The disc also features a fine making-of documentary which is over an hour long and includes all of the principals involved in the making of the movie. (Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available, and the songs are captioned.) Grade: A    

You Can Count on Me

You Can Count on Me (2000) starring Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo, Matthew Broderick, Rory Culkin. Directed by Kenneth Lonergan. Siblings Sammy (Linney) and Terry (Ruffalo) are orphaned at a young age, and this of course affects the whole course of both their lives. Sammy becomes ultra-responsible, trying to keep everything normal, while Terry becomes a classic fuck-up. When he comes to visit her in the small town where she lives, they get quickly entangled in each other's lives, and Uncle Terry forms a bond with Sammy's son (Culkin). Meanwhile, Sammy embarks on an ill-advised affair with her married boss (Broderick), and her long-suffering boyfriend asks her to marry him. The script is very well written and the movie is expertly directed. It's a small, dramatic story that is very well told and acted. Good film. (Both subtitles for the hearing-impaired and closed captions are available.) Grade: A-  

The Magnificent Ambersons

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) starring Tim Holt, Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Agnes Moorehead. Directed by Orson Welles. Story, set in 1873 and the following years, about two families -- one on the way up and one on the way down. It all starts with an innocent incident in which Morgan (Cotten) falls on his bass fiddle while courting Isabel Amberson (Costello). She marries a different man, one whom she does not truly love, and all the complications that follow arise from that one decision. The story is told rather elliptically, and the dialogue struck me as old-fashioned -- not always a fatal flaw, but in this case I think it detracted from the movie's effect. The film would probably benefit from repeated viewings. (Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available, but not closed captions.) Grade: B

No Place on Earth

No Place on Earth (2012) Documentary. A true story of survival dating back to World War II, when 38 Jews managed to survive the Nazi occupation of Ukraine by hiding in a cave for 18 months. It's a rather well made film, mixing current action (five of the people who were in the cave still survive, and tell their story for the camera) with reenactment of what life in the cave was like. Those who survived the war in the cave now have 125 descendants, mostly in Canada and the United States. I found the movie to be moving and uplifting. (Subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc.) Grade: B+ 

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) starring Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles, James Fox, Robert Morley, Terry-Thomas. Rather long but enjoyable comedy about a 1910 London-to-Paris air race, with international competition, cheating and romance. The filmmakers built several reproductions of actual early airplanes and used them in the film to nice effect. The humor is a bit broad, but it's all in good fun and the actual race is somewhat exciting. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

The Young Poisoner's Handbook

The Young Poisoner's Handbook (1995) starring Hugh O'Conor, Antony Sher, Ruth Sheen, Roger Lloyd Pack. Young Graham (O'Conor) decides to become the world's greatest poisoner, starting with his stepmother. The film goes on in some detail about his stay in a psychiatric facility after he is convicted of murder, but I had trouble following it because THIS FILM HAS NO SUBTITLES OR CLOSED CAPTIONS. Nothing. Nada. Zip. For that reason it gets a Grade: F

The Woman in Green

The Woman in Green (1945) starring Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Hillary Brooke, Henry Daniell. Sherlock Holmes (Rathbone) faces off against Professor Moriarty (Daniell) and his female ally (Brooke), who have concocted a scheme which involves hypnotism, blackmail and murder. It's a rather well made movie, but the sticking point for me was the hypnotism aspect, which I found totally hokey. And why the movie is called The Woman in Green makes no sense, since the film is in black and white and no reference is ever made to the color of anyone's clothes. I'm not an aficionado of Holmes movies, but this one definitely falls short. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B-  

Pollyanna

Pollyanna (1960) starring Hayley Mills, Jane Wyman, Richard Egan, Karl Malden, Nancy Olson. A young orphan named Pollyanna (Mills) arrives in town to live with her Aunt Polly (Wyman). Although the town is divided and contentious, Pollyanna gradually wins them over with her optimistic "glad girl" philosophy of always finding something in any situation to be glad about. When tragedy befalls Pollyanna, the people of the town rally round her and lift her spirits. This is a good Disney movie, suitable for family viewing. (Subtitles in English are available on the disc, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+     

42

42 (2013) starring Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie, Christopher Meloni, Lucas Black. In 1947, Branch Rickey (Ford), owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, decides it is time for an African-American to play major league baseball. The prospect he picks is Jackie Robinson (Boseman), who goes on to be the first black major leaguer in the modern era, not to mention rookie of the year for 1947. For anybody who loves baseball and social justice, this is bound to be a deeply moving film. My only criticism is that Boseman, a first-time lead actor, is a little lacking in charisma. Plus, the film ends at the finish of his first season, and I would have liked to see a little more of his career. Still, it's an excellent film. (Subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc.) Grade: A-

The Bad News Bears

The Bad News Bears (1976) starring Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal, Vic Morrow, Joyce Van Patten, Jackie Earle Haley. Losing Little League team the Bears are taken over by Coach Buttermaker (Matthau), who brings in a ringer named Amanda (O'Neal) to pitch. He also brings in a ringer named Kelly (Haley) to play center field and hit, and the team actually makes it to the playoffs. There is no feel-good ending, however, and the team stays true to its basic character. The movie makes good use of musical themes from Bizet's Carmen. The script could use some work, but it's an entertaining and off-kilter sports film which is certainly worth seeing. (Subtitles in English are available on the disc.) Grade: B    

Woodstock

Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace and Music (1970) Documentary. Performers featured in the film include Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Canned Heat, Country Joe McDonald, Ten Years After, Santana, John Sebastian, The Who, Janis Joplin, and Crosby, Stills and Nash. The music aside, the filmmakers interviewed young concert-goers as well as inhabitants of the surrounding area to get a balanced picture of what the experience was like. No movie can really hope to capture what it was like to be there, but this one comes as close as can be expected. Woodstock won the Academy Award for best documentary the year it was released. (Subtitles in English are included, and the songs are, blessedly, subtitled.) Grade: B+

Zodiac

Zodiac (2007) starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey, Jr., Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, Chloe Sevigny. Interesting drama about the so-called Zodiac killer, who terrorized San Francisco in the late 1960s, and the detectives and newspapermen who become obsessed with solving the case. Gyllenhaal in particular, as Robert Graysmith, the cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle who can't let go of the case years after the Zodiac has quit killing, stands out. Others in the cast give good performances, and the direction and attention to period detail is outstanding. This is a very involving movie which tells a riveting story. (Subtitles in English are available on the disc, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) starring Lon Chaney, Jr., Bela Lugosi, Lenore Aubert, Jane Randolph, Glenn Strange. Not only do Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein (Strange), they meet Dracula (Lugosi) and the Wolfman (Chaney) in this horror-comedy from Universal. I found it all rather silly, and the comedy routine of Abbott and Costello did not strike me as particularly clever or funny. Still, this is a film you almost have to see, just so you can say you've seen it. It's a classic of its type. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc.) Grade: B  

The Young Victoria

The Young Victoria (2009) starring Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent. During a few years in the early 1800s, there was some doubt as to whether Victoria (Blunt) would become Queen at all. Her uncle, King William, wanted her to succeed him, but her mother (Richardson), and her mother's lover, tried to force a regency on her. She refused to buckle under, and the rest is history. More than that, though, this movie tells the story of the romancing of Victoria by Prince Albert (Friend), who, as it turned out, really loved her. When they eventually marry, it is almost an anticlimax, but they, as a couple, form the heart of the film. It's a well told tale, beautifully mounted, which it was a pleasure to watch. (Subtitles in English are provided on the disc for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B+  

My Darling Clementine

My Darling Clementine (1946) starring Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, Victor Mature, Walter Brennan, Cathy Downs. Directed by John Ford. One of the great Westerns, stars Fonda as Wyatt Earp, Mature as Doc Holliday and Brennan as Old Man Clanton. Downs plays the Clementine of the title, and the woman Earp falls in love with. The movie is one long buildup to the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, where Earp and Holliday wipe out the evil Clanton gang once and for all. An interesting feature of this disc is the Extra which compares Ford's original version to the cut that was eventually released in theaters. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: A-

Bride of Frankenstein

Bride of Frankenstein (1935) starring Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, Ernest Thesiger, Elsa Lanchester. Sequel to Frankenstein picks up where the first film left off, with the monster (Karloff)  miraculously surviving the fire at the mill, and with the sinister Dr. Pretorius (Thesiger) proposing to Baron Frankenstein (Clive) that he should create a female version of the monster. This film is an improvement on the original in almost every way, adding a musical score and better quality picture and sound. The movie also has a dry sense of humor, something the original lacked. The scene of the monster encountering a blind hermit in the woods is a classic, which would later be spoofed to great effect in Young Frankenstein. In this movie, the monster even learns to talk. (Subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc.) Grade: B+   

Frankenstein

Frankenstein (1931) starring Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff. The original monster movie, with Clive as the mad scientist, Henry Frankenstein, and Karloff as the monster he creates from dead body parts. Of course, he doesn't intend the monster to be a monster, it's just that his assistant provides him with an abnormal brain to use in his effort to revivify dead tissue. This is a classic, almost must-see movie, with many memorable moments. (Subtitles in English are available for the hard of hearing.) Grade: B  

Young Mr. Lincoln

Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) starring Henry Fonda, Alice Brady. Directed by John Ford. Surprisingly effective look at a few days in the life of a young Abe Lincoln. Most of the film is taken up with a jury trial, in which Lincoln defends two brothers who are accused of killing a man. Fonda does a good job of portraying Lincoln during the days before he even dreamed of running for president. (The disc includes subtitles in English, which is a good thing because it doesn't have closed captions.) Grade: B+  

You Kill Me

You Kill Me (2007) starring Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni, Luke Wilson, Philip Baker Hall, Dennis Farina. Lukewarm black comedy in which Kingsley plays a hit man who botches a job because he's an alcoholic. His Polish crime family banishes him from Buffalo to San Francisco, where he is supposed to dry out. There he meets a woman (Leoni) and falls in love. But there is still unfinished business in Buffalo, and he is obliged to go back and set things right. Attempt at comedy flops mostly because one has trouble feeling sympathy for a hit man. On top of that, it's just not believable, even if you accept the premise. (Subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired are available, which is a good thing because closed captions are not provided.) Grade: B-

Young Frankenstein

Young Frankenstein (1974) starring Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman. Directed by Mel Brooks. Frederick Frankenstein (Wilder), grandson of Victor Frankenstein, returns to Transylvania and again takes up the work of bringing the dead back to life. Once again, things go terribly, hilariously wrong. If you're familiar with the work of Mel Brooks, you know that his movies are laugh-out-loud funny, and Young Frankenstein is one of his more successful films. It's a delightfully daffy spoof of Frankenstein films, and every actor's work is spot-on -- especially Teri Garr, who gives a breakthrough performance. Shot in beautiful black-and-white, the movie captures the mood of an old monster movie, and then goes off on zany tangents. It's a great comedy, and holds up as well today as it did in 1974. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+  

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) starring James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O'Brien, Andy Devine. Directed by John Ford. Tenderfoot lawyer Ransom Stoddard (Stewart) arrives in the old west town of Shinbone aiming to help bring civilization to the territory, but he must contend with the evil Liberty Valance (Marvin), who challenges him to a gunfight. Luckily, Stoddard has the backing of he-man Tom Doniphon (Wayne). This movie got little respect when it was first released, but is now regarded as one of the great Westerns. One of Wayne's best performances -- he really dominates the screen in every scene where he appears. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: A 

You Can't Take It With You

You Can't Take It With You (1938) starring James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore, Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold. Directed by Frank Capra. Typical Capra fare has Stewart and Arthur falling in love -- but they come from contrasting households. Stewart works at his father's (Arnold) bank, while Arthur lives in a household, overseen by Barrymore, where free expression reigns supreme. The twist is that Arnold wants to buy Barrymore's property to cement a colossal business deal, but Barrymore refuses to sell. It all works out in the end, of course, but the ending seemed a bit contrived to me. (English subtitles are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B 

The Searchers

The Searchers (1956) starring John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, Natalie Wood. Wayne stars as Ethan Edwards, whose young niece Debbie is kidnapped by the Comanches during a raid on Edwards' brother's farmstead. Edwards, an avowed Indian hater, sets off on a mission to find Debbie (Wood) and free her from the Comanches. Widely praised movie strikes me as not that great. There are many fine sequences, the photography and action are good, but it just doesn't all come together for me. It's an epic Western, for sure, but the script seems lacking in clarity. (Subtitles in English, as well as closed captions, are available.) Grade: B  

Yes Man

Yes Man (2008) starring Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel. Carl (Carrey) attends a seminar and makes a pact to start saying "Yes" to everything. When a hobo asks him for a ride, he says "Yes." When the hobo asks him for all the money in his wallet, he says "Yes." And so on. Deschanel provides the romantic interest as a motorcycle-driving singer in a weird band. The movie moves along at a nice clip for about an hour, then hits a roadblock when the characters travel to Lincoln, Nebraska. Suddenly, everything goes wrong, and the film never quite recovers. Still, it's a sweet, likable movie. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc.) Grade: B 

A Year of the Quiet Sun

A Year of the Quiet Sun (1984) starring Scott Wilson, Maja Komorowska. In 1946, an American serviceman in postwar Poland finds himself attracted to a Polish woman who has been widowed by the War. He tries to take her back to America with him, but she says it is hopeless. What really irritated me about this film is that it is partly in Polish and partly in English, and there are no aids to help the hard of hearing to understand the English parts (the Polish sections are subtitled in English). So I missed a lot of dialogue. That aside, it was an intense, affecting film to watch. Grade: B-

Working Girls

Working Girls (1986) starring Louise Smith. A fictional film that takes a look at the lives of "high class" prostitutes in Manhattan. Don't let the setup fool you, this is a down and dirty film. The action almost all takes place in a small apartment where a number of prostitutes hang out and receive clients. There's  plenty of bare skin for people who are inclined to enjoy that sort of thing. For me, the movie was spoiled by the fact that there are no subtitles for the hearing-impaired, and no closed captions. For that, I give the film a Grade of D-

The Yearling

The Yearling (1946) starring Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman, Claude Jarman, Jr. A boy named Jody (Jarman) becomes attached to a fawn whom he adopts and names Flag. But Flag grows into a yearling, who gets into Jody's family's crops and threatens their livelihood. Eventful, richly textured movie is definitely not just for kids. Shot in beautiful Technicolor on locations in Florida. Peck won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Pa, and Jarman won a special young-actor Oscar. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: A-

Yellow Sky

Yellow Sky (1948) starring Gregory Peck, Anne Baxter, Richard Widmark. In 1867, a gang of outlaws led by Peck turns up in a ghost town called Yellow Sky. Living in the town is a young women (Baxter) and her grandfather, who have a secret -- they have a gold mine up in the hills. The gang determine to steal the gold, and they fall out with each other over how to divvy up the booty. This is a serviceable Western, but a little too scattered to be first class. Its real assets are Peck and Baxter, who light up the screen with their chemistry. (Subtitles in English, as well as closed captions, are available on the disc.) Grade: B  

Ziegfeld Girl

Ziegfeld Girl (1941) starring James Stewart, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr. Three young women (Turner, Garland and Lamarr) find their lives changed when they become performers in the Ziegfeld Follies. There's lots of singing and dancing, and plenty of subplots, but for my money Garland is the star of the movie. She's also the one, thanks to her singing talent, who becomes a star in the Ziegfeld Follies. It's all good clean fun for the most part, it's just too bad it was shot in black and white. Such a subject seems to call for color. If you enjoy old movies, this one might be good for a look. (English subtitles, as well as closed captions, are available on the disc.) Grade: B   

The Truth About Cats and Dogs

The Truth About Cats and Dogs (1996) starring Janeane Garofalo, Uma Thurman, Ben Chaplin. An on-air radio veterinarian (Garofalo) gets a call from a man with a charming English accent (Chaplin), and he expresses a desire to meet her. But when he asks her what she looks like, she lies and says she is a tall, willowy blonde. Out of this lie grows all of the comedy of The Truth About Cats and Dogs. It's a slender deception, and it stretches the bounds of believability out of all proportion. On the plus side, Garofalo has never been more charming than she is as the self-effacing Abby. Thurman is serviceable as the tall, willowy blonde who steps in and pretends to be Abby, and the movie touched me even though it made no sense. (Subtitles in English, as well as closed captions, are available.) Grade: B-  

Love Finds Andy Hardy

Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938) starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland. In a throwback to a more innocent time, Andy Hardy (Rooney) finds himself in a pickle -- he has two dates to the big Christmas dance. In the final reel, it's girl-next-door Betsy (Garland) who steps in and saves the day. Judy performs three songs, and is charming as heck in this movie made the year before The Wizard of Oz. Also featured is Lana Turner as one of the girls whom Andy has invited to the dance. Although some might find this movie corny, I found it lighthearted and somewhat charming. Even Mickey Rooney wasn't too terribly irritating. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+ 

Yankee Doodle Dandy

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) starring James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston. Cagney won an Oscar for his portrayal of George M. Cohan, the hyper-patriotic king of Broadway from the early 20th century. Many singing and dancing numbers are featured, and Cagney shows a surprising ability as a hoofer. (Subtitles are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B 

Yojimbo

Yojimbo (1961) starring Toshiro Mifune. Directed by Akira Kurosawa. An itinerant samurai (Mifune) wanders into a town where there are two warring gangs. He is instantly the best fighter in town, and he offers his services to both sides, playing them off against one another. This film was the inspiration for the spaghetti Western, A Fistful of Dollars. If you like Japanese films at all, this one's a gem. The photography is excellent, and Kurosawa's direction is nearly flawless. The movie is in Japanese, with English subtitles. Grade: B+  

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963) starring Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni. Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film is entertaining trio of tales featuring Loren as a woman who uses sex to get what she wants. In the first part, she's a woman who must stay pregnant to avoid jail. In the second part, she's a rich bitch. In the third, she plays a prostitute who chooses a seminary student over one of her favorite customers. In all cases, Mastroianni is the man whom she uses/victimizes. I found the film to be well made (in Technicolor, no less!) and amusing from start to finish. Maybe not a great film, but a fun one. In Italian, with English subtitles. Grade: B+ 

Yes

Yes (2005) starring Joan Allen, Simon Abkarian, Sam Neill, Shirley Henderson. A married Irish woman (Allen) falls in love with a Lebanese man (Abkarian), and their affair brings to the surface feelings about class, race and nationalism. The movie's most novel quality is that it  is written in rhyming verse, and the characters must seem natural while spouting poetry. It works pretty well, and is certainly well written. I didn't really get very emotionally involved in the movie, though. It's not an easy film to watch. I give it marks for originality, but it lacks naturalism. (No subtitles in English are offered, but closed captions save the day.) Grade: B   

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Season 2, Disc 1. Tom and Dickie Smothers perform in several episodes of their groundbreaking, heavily censored, short-lived late '60s TV show. It ran on CBS, and I remember it being really funny at the time. Today, it has lost a lot of its edge, but you can get a feeling for what things were like in 1967-69, when the show was on the air. My main objection to this DVD is that it has no subtitles for the hearing-impaired, and no closed captions. For that I should give it an F, but I just can't do that to the Smothers Brothers. Grade: B+

Saturday Night Fever

Saturday Night Fever (1977) starring John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney. The movie that ignited the disco craze and made Travolta a star. Travolta plays Tony Manero, a 19-year-old in a dead-end job whose self-worth is tied up in his weekly performances on the dance floor of a local disco club. He teams up with Stephanie (Gorney) to compete in a dance contest at the club that boasts a $500 prize for the first-place finisher. But there's more to this film than dancing; there's a lot of drama about Tony's family and about the small gang that he hangs out with. It's really a pretty entertaining movie, now that disco is just a distant memory. (Subtitles in English are offered, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B 

The African Queen

The African Queen (1951) starring Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn. Directed by John Huston. An unlikely duo -- riverboat scamp (Bogart) and missionary woman (Hepburn) -- team up to take the boat African Queen down a river in Africa with plans to torpedo a German gunboat during World War I. It was the first time Bogart and Hepburn appeared in a movie together, and the chemistry is good. The trip down river lets them go through some difficult times together, and the ending of the film is a slam dunk. I had seen this movie once a long time ago and remembered it as being good, but I had forgotten how the ending was resolved. The film was shot in Africa, in beautiful Technicolor, and in 1951 that was quite a feat. Bogart won an Oscar for his performance. (Subtitles in English and closed captions are both available.) Grade: A-   

Yellow Submarine

Yellow Submarine (1968) Animated. The Blue Meanies invade Pepperland and turn most of the inhabitants to stone, and it's the Beatles to the rescue. John, Paul, George and Ringo are recruited by one of the inhabitants of Pepperland, who fetches them in a yellow submarine. Best feature of the movie is the Beatles songs which are played frequently throughout, and the animation is ... psychedelic. It's certainly very colorful, at any rate. For fans of the Beatles, this is probably a must-see, and you've probably seen it already. I happen to know that the actual Beatles had very little involvement in this movie -- it's not even their voices that you hear when the animated Beatles talk. So I find it lacking in that respect. But it's an OK entertainment, and the kids might even enjoy it. (English subtitles are available, but not closed captions.) Grade: B   

The X-Files

The X-Files (1998) starring David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Martin Landau, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Blythe Danner, William B. Davis, John Neville, Mitch Pileggi. After surviving a bomb blast at a building in Dallas, Mulder and Scully (Duchovny and Anderson) set off on a quest to unravel a worldwide conspiracy involving extraterrestrials and a virus that invades humans and turns them into ... something not human. I think this movie will appeal mainly to fans of "The X-Files" TV show, and even they will be disappointed. Sure, it's nice to see all those  familiar faces again and to have some of the secrets of the conspiracy revealed, but this is basically a preposterous film. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B-  

The Wrestler

The Wrestler (2008) starring Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood. Over-the-hill professional wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Rourke) suffers a heart attack, and decides to try and deal with the mess he has made of his life. He tries starting a relationship with a stripper he knows (Tomei) and he tries to patch up his relationship with his daughter (Wood). He retires from wrestling and takes an extra shift in the deli section of the grocery store where he works. But nothing seems to go right. Rourke is pretty great in this role, and he and Tomei were both nominated for Academy Awards. Sadly, though, this movie just didn't grab me like it did the first time I saw it. It was good but not great. (Closed captions are available.) Grade: B+ 

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) starring Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones, Jennifer Grey. A flawed masterpiece of a film, with some great moments and some not-so-great. Most unforgettable is the scene where Ferris (Broderick) takes a place on a parade float and sings "Danke Schoen" and "Twist and Shout." It's a transcendent moment, and never fails to cheer me up. On the other hand, the film drifts at times, and it's hard to buy the cluelessness of Ferris's parents. All in all, this is a movie that I always enjoy, and who wouldn't want to be like Ferris? (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+   

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) starring Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, Maria Barranco. Directed by Pedro Almodovar. Interesting Spanish comedy about a rather eccentric woman (Maura) and how she reacts when she is abandoned by her longtime lover. The movie features a bright color palette and is peopled with odd characters. It's in Spanish with English subtitles, and I think a little something was lost in translation, still I will remember this movie fondly. It's definitely one-of-a-kind and worth seeing. Grade: B+

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) starring Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Mickey Rooney. Directed by Blake Edwards. Delightful story of country girl (Hepburn) who moves to New York City and goes "wild," with a cat named Cat. Peppard plays her neighbor, who falls in love with her. I've seen this movie before, but was surprised this time by all the clever twists and turns the plot takes. The only jarring note was the horrible racial stereotyping involved in having Rooney play a Japanese man who lives upstairs in the apartment building. That one misstep was not quite enough to spoil the film for me. Oscar winner for music by Henry Mancini and song ("Moon River"). (English subtitles are provided, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+   

World Trade Center

World Trade Center (2006) starring Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello. Directed by Oliver Stone. Tightly focused film looks at 9/11 from the point of view of two Port Authority police (Cage and Pena) who are trapped under tons of rubble when Building 5 collapses. Gyllenhaal and Bello provide the counterpoint as the men's wives, who agonize over whether their husbands will come home alive or not. Although calling the movie World Trade Center seems a bit grandiose to me, the film still succeeds in its main story-telling task, and the viewer does find him/herself caring about the people involved. The movie has the virtue of being based on the true story of two port-authority cops, John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno. (Subtitles for the hard of hearing are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B  

The World's Fastest Indian

The World's Fastest Indian (2005) starring Anthony Hopkins, Diane Ladd. Hopkins stars as an old man in New Zealand who dreams of taking his 1920s Indian Scout motorcycle to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah and trying to set a new land-speed record. Along the way, he meets and befriends a variety of characters, most of them American, and all of them interesting. This is a fairly entertaining, straight-line movie that provides an evening's divertissement and doesn't challenge the intellect too much. (Subtitles in English are not offered on the disc, but closed captions make up for the loss.) Grade: B

Side Effects

Side Effects (2013) starring Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Catherine Zeta-Jones. Psychological thriller in which Emily (Mara) stabs her husband (Tatum) to death while taking an anti-depressant that has been prescribed to her by her psychiatrist (Law). The angle is that she was sleepwalking when she killed her husband, and she gets off on an insanity defense. This is a muddled movie in which some things happen for unexplained reasons, and the tangled plot becomes uninteresting about half-way through. It seems like it's going to be a good movie, but it just doesn't follow through. (Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc, but not closed captions.) Grade: B- 

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