August: Osage County

August: Osage County (2013) starring Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson, Sam Shepard. The all-star cast is almost reason enough to see this movie about a dysfunctional family in Oklahoma. When the patriarch of the family (Shepard) kills himself, all the daughters (Roberts, Lewis and Nicholson) return home to be with their mother (Streep). The mother, who has mouth cancer, proceeds to rip everyone in the extended family with vicious criticisms under the guise of "telling the truth." Streep and Roberts are excellent as the mother and daughter who practically can't stand the sight of each other. The rest of the cast is close behind, with every performance clearly delineating one of the characters in the extended family. This film is well written, with dialogue that regularly cuts to the quick. Sometimes it's not pleasant to watch, but it ultimately rewards the viewer with deep insights into what makes a family so dysfunctional. I liked it. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc.) Grade: A-  

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

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+  

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 

Ruby Sparks

Ruby Sparks (2012) starring Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Chris Messina, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Steve Coogan, Elliot Gould. A novelist named Calvin (Dano), starved for inspiration, starts writing about his dream girl, Ruby Sparks (Kazan). When she shows up in his apartment, he freaks out. He soon realizes, however, that she is real. She is his perfect mate -- until she starts pulling away from him. Then he can't resist the urge to rewrite her so she'll stay with him. And then things get really weird. This movie is a tour de force for Kazan, who wrote the script, produced, and stars. Although the film has its dark moments, it has a satisfying ending, and the more I think about it, the more I like it. The one "flaw" in the script that I noticed was that Calvin never took Ruby to meet his psychiatrist (Gould). I think that would have offered exquisite opportunities for plot development. (The disc offers subtitles for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: A-

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012) starring Steve Carell, Keira Knightley, Connie Britton, Adam Brody. An asteroid is hurtling toward Earth, with three weeks to go before Armageddon. Dodge (Carell) and Penny (Knightley), newly thrown together by circumstances, go on a road trip to try to find lost loves and say goodbye to family. Along the way (of course) they fall in love with each other. This movie has some pretty funny bits having to do with impending doom, and also some pretty alarming bits. Ultimately, though, I found the ending to be a little downbeat. It's not a feel-good film. It sends mixed messages, which may explain why it did rather poorly at the box office. (The subtitles are good, but closed captions aren't offered as an option.) Grade: B-

Nora's Will

Nora's Will (2010) starring Fernando Lujan, Ari Brickman, Silvia Mariscal. Although the literal translation of the title (and the one that appears onscreen) is "Five Days Without Nora," it makes little difference in the enjoyment of this movie. Nora (Mariscal) carefully plans her suicide so that her death will draw the disparate elements of her family together for Passover. Her ex-husband Jose (Lujan) sees through her ploy and is highly resistant to the idea of her manipulating him from beyond the grave. But he finds himself powerless against the forces arrayed against him. This is a quiet, gentle comedy that entertains through the power of being rather unique. In Spanish, with English subtitles. Grade: B+

The Player (DVD)

The Player (1992) starring Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, many more. Directed by Robert Altman. Robbins plays Griffin Mill, a Hollywood producer who is being harassed by a writer whom he apparently brushed off. When the harassment goes on too long, it starts to drive Mill crazy, and he starts to act crazy. Vincent D'Onofrio (of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent") appears as David Kahane, the writer who's mad at Mill because he said he would get back to him and didn't. The real story of this movie, for me, was the amazing, large cast and the plethora of celebrity cameos that Altman managed to shoehorn in -- just incredible. The DVD includes an Extra that shows all the cameo players and lists their film credits. The movie itself drags a little in spots, but I'm sure it's full of movie in-jokes and references. I caught a few of them. The ending is killer. The subtitles are OK. Grade: A-

Nurse Betty (DVD)

Nurse Betty (2000) starring Renee Zellweger, Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock, Greg Kinnear. Betty Sizemore (Zellweger) is in love with a soap opera star (Kinnear) whom she has seen only on TV. When she sees her husband killed while she is watching a tape of the soap, it pushes her over the edge, and she decides she must travel to Los Angeles to find the soap star -- who, she is convinced, is her ex-fiance. But wait, there's more! Due to circumstances beyond her control, she is pursued from Kansas to California by two hit men (Freeman and Rock) who think there are stolen drugs in her car. The script takes unexpected twists and turns, right up until the end. All of the actors deliver very good performances, and the film gets funnier and funnier as it goes along. Main shortcoming is the lack of subtitles for the hearing impaired -- but the DVD does have closed captions, which are adequate. Grade: A-

The Informant! (DVD)

The Informant! (2009) starring Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, Melanie Lynskey. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. An executive with Archer-Daniels Midland (Damon) is prodded by his wife (Lynskey) into telling the FBI about price-fixing in the vast food-processing industry. But the informant turns out to be a schmuck who was taking bribes and kickbacks the whole time he was cooperating with the government. As the story unfolds, we discover lies within lies, until it's hard to know what to believe. I finished the movie with smiling eyes, just purely astonished by the extent and magnitude of the crimes that had been revealed. Although this movie started slowly, it just got better and better as time went by. The subtitles are good. Grade: B+

Burn After Reading (DVD)

Burn After Reading (2008) starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton. A computer disk falls into the hands of a pair of not-too-bright private gym employees (Pitt and McDormand), and they conclude that it contains top-secret data. Hoping to turn a profit, they first try to blackmail the man who wrote the disk (Malkovich), then try to sell it to the Russians. It's a Coen brothers film with an all-star cast, so it is rather disappointing when it turns out to be not very entertaining or funny. Worst, perhaps, is the ending, which seems abrupt and fails to satisfy with any decisive climax. Grade: B-

Brazil (DVD)

Brazil (1985) starring Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Michael Palin, Kim Greist, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm. At the beginning of "Brazil," a card proclaims that it takes place "Somewhere in the 20th Century." Where that could be, it scarcely matters. But it seems to take place in an alternate universe where '30s styles prevailed and where technology advanced in a wacky way. And where fascism prevailed. It's a darkly funny fantasy which ultimately doesn't quite work, but it's a fun ride if you're in the right mood. Grade: B+

In Bruges (DVD)

In Bruges (2008) starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes. After a murder goes wrong, two gangsters from London (Farrell and Gleeson) are sent to Bruges, Belgium to lay low for a while. Their boss (Fiennes) is still pulling the strings from London, however, and he has some nasty business in mind. It makes for a curious mixture of humor and violence which only works because, gradually, one comes to care about the characters. Grade: B+