See It 1/17/10

An Education (2009)
Directed by: Lone Scherfig
Written by: Lynn Barber; Nick Hornby
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Alfred Molina, Peter Sarsgaard, Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike, Olivia Williams, Cara Seymour, Emma Thompson, Sally Hawkins
It's England in the early 60's, and a young, impressionable but headstrong student gets courted by an older man she meets one day walking home from school. She loves everything about his cultured lifestyle, the music, the parties, the people etc. Soon she abandons her schooling in favor of spending time with him in his world, unaware he is hiding something. Carey Mulligan, and Alfred Molina as her protective father, are both excellent in this wonderfully made coming-of-age cautionary tale. A-



Whip It (2009)
Directed by: Drew Barrymore
Written by: Shauna Cross
Starring: Ellen Page, Alia Shawkat, Marcia Gay Harden, Daniel Stern, Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis, Eve, Zoe Bell, Drew Barrymore, Andrew Wilson, Jimmy Fallon, Ari Graynor
A rebellious Texan girl feels trapped in her small town life of beauty pageants and lower middle class boredom. After seeing a flyer for a roller derby in a nearby city, she and her friend sneak out and attend the event. Soon she becomes part of the team and has to hide her involvement with the raucous league from her family. This isn't as funny as it could have been, given the cast, but the performances are all really good, the derby scenes exciting, and first time director Drew Barrymore proves herself to be more than capable behind the camera. B



Sorority Row (2009)
Directed by: Stewart Handler
Written by: Mark Rosman, Josh Stolberg, Pete Goldfinger
Starring: Briana Evigan, Leah Pipes, Jamie Chung, Rumer Willis, Margo Harshman, Audrina Patridge, Matt O'Leary, Julian Morris, Caroline D'Amore, Matt Lanter, Carrie Fisher
A group of tight knit sorority sisters decide to play a prank, and as things usually go in these movies, everything goes horribly wrong when one of the sisters is killed. The sisters decide to cover up the killing and never speak of it again. Cut to a few months later, and the girls start getting mysterious text messages and warnings. Someone knows what they did. During the big end of the year graduation party, a cloaked killer starts offing the sisters, and their boyfriends, one by one. Unlike 2005's dreadful 'Black Christmas,' another sorority set slasher, this is a fun, fast paced, gory whodunit filled with well rounded (for a horror film) characters and some actual scares. It's one of the best slasher movies in over a decade. B+



Avatar (2009)
Directed by: James Cameron
Written by: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephan Lang, Joel Moore, Giovanni Ribisi, Michelle Rodriguez, Laz Alonso, Wes Studi, CCH Pounder
James Cameron creates a visually stunning film with 'Avatar,' fully realizing a world of lush jungles, magical trees, flying dragons and tons of other fantastical elements that literally jump from the screen. But the story is pretty basic and at times seems a little drawn out. On the distant planet of Pandora, a human is synced into the mind of an avatar and becomes one of the native people. Soon he realizes that the humans who are mining the planet plan on destroying the native's land and he manages to get the natives to fight back. Even though the story is pretty simple and left me kind of cold, the film is still a must see while it's still in theaters. It features the absolute best, most convincing special effects to date. A-
(EDIT 2/5/10: After a couple weeks, I've come to the conclusion that 'Avatar' is stupid. Click Here to see why.)


The Blind Side (2009)
Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Written by: Michael Lewis; John Lee Hancock
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron, Jae Head, Lily Collins, Ray McKinnon, Kim Dickens, Adriane Lenox, Kathy Bates
In the south, a wealthy white woman offers a helping hand to a homeless black teenager. She and her family eventually consider him one of their own, giving him a roof over his head, a private tutor and getting him involved with football. At times the movie does seem pretty manipulative and 'feel good,' but despite the cynic in me, I enjoyed it. I don't think Sandra Bullock has ever been better and I think it's her performance that makes this enjoyable. I read that Julia Roberts turned down the chance to be in this, and I cannot imagine how awful this would have been with her in it. Oh God. B

See It 1/7/10

Thrashin' (1986)
Directed by: David Winters
Written by: Paul Brown + Alan Sacks
Starring: Josh Brolin, Robert Russler, Pamela Gidley, Brooke McCarter, Josh Richman, Brett Marx, Sherilyn Fenn
A hilarious time capsule of a movie. In Los Angeles, a skateboarder (Brolin) falls in love with the sister of the leader of a rival skate-gang. So it's pretty much Romeo & Juliet with skating instead of suicide. This isn't a good movie by any means, but it's really entertaining. B



They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
Directed by: Sydney Pollack
Written by: Horace McCoy; James Poe and Robert E. Thompson
Starring: Jane Fonda, Michael Sarrazin, Susannah York, Gig Young, Red Buttons, Bonnie Bedelia, Michael Conrad, Bruce Dern, Al Lewis
One of the more depressing films I've seen recently. This grisly film follows a group of desperate people who enter a three day dance marathon during the Great Depression. Throughout the film the various contestants drive themselves to the brink of physical, and in some cases mental, exhaustion in order to win a cash prize. A-



White Dog (1982)
Directed by: Samuel Fuller
Written by: Romain Gary; Samuel Fuller and Curtis Hanson
Starring: Kristy McNichol, Paul Winfield, Jameson Parker, Samuel Fuller, Lynne Mooder, Martine Dawson, Burl Ives
A girl (McNichol) in Los Angeles is driving along Mullholland one night when she hits a large stray white German Shepherd. After getting it some medical attention she adopts it. Soon, to her dismay, she realizes the dog has been trained by it's previous owner to attack and kill black people. She does whatever she can to retrain the dog, and ends up taking it to an experienced animal trainer (Winfield) who specializes in breaking 'white dogs.' What follows is a heartbreaking meditation on racism. B+

Skip It 1/4/10

Taking Woodstock (2009)
Directed by: Ang Lee
Written by: Elliot Tyber and Tom Monte; James Schamus
Starring: Demetri Martin, Imelda Staunton, Henry Goodman, Emile Hirsch, Paul Dano, Kelli Garner, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Eugene Levy, Jonathan Groff, Mamie Gummer, Liev Schreiber
A gay jewish guy manages to get the Woodstock festival to take place in his sleepy town in upstate New York, unaware of the cultural significance the event will gain. While dealing with permits, hippies, war vets, and angry locals, he meets various weird characters, the most interesting being a drag queen played by Liev Shreiber. What hurts this film is it's insistence on following a boring character around instead of focusing on more interesting people, and clocking in at two hours, it takes too long to tell its story. Also, the usually great Imelda Staunton plays the grossest, most stereotypical jewish person I've seen on film, who literally cannot control herself around money. The 'Woodstock' documentary remains the best window into this historic concert. C



Dorian Gray (2009)
Directed by: Oliver Parker
Written by: Oscar Wilde; Toby Finlay
Starring: Ben Barnes, Colin Firth, Richael Hurd-Wood, Rebecca Hall, Emilia Fox, Ben Chaplin, Caroline Goodall, Fiona Shaw, Maryam d'Abo, Douglas Henshall
A pretty boy (Barnes) gets his portrait painted and it somehow gives him immortality. After getting endlessly talked at by a rich dapper gent (Firth) about morals and beauty, he fucks anything that moves. When sex with women isn't enough he resorts to S&M, gay sex and getting tattoos, and eventually murder, all while his portrait shows the strain all this bad behavior. The film starts off alright, but halfway through it just becomes a hokey, badly acted mess. D



Up In the Air (2009)
Directed by: Jason Reitman
Written by: Walter Kim; Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, Amy Morton, Melanie Lynskey, J.K. Simmons, Sam Elliott, Danny McBride, Zach Galifianakis
George Clooney plays a guy who flies all over the country to assist companies with the laying off of their employees. He gets assigned an 23 year old ingenue by the company to train, while developing a romance with a fellow traveler he frequently meets at airports. And then nothing very interesting happens. This could possibly be the most overrated movie of 2009. It's not bad, but it's nowhere near as good as the ads and critics would have you believe. The only standout here is Anna Kandrick, who plays the trainee. C+

See it 1/3/10

The Earrings of Madame de... (1953)
Directed by: Max Ophuls
Written by: Louise de Vilmorin; Marcel Achard, Max Ophuls and Annette Wadermant
Starring: Danielle Darrieux, Charles Boyer, Vittorio De Sica, Jean Debucourt, Jean Galland, Mireille Perrey
Beautifully filmed and wonderfully acted story about Louise, a wealthy woman who sells a pair of her earrings to pay back some debts. After her husband buys them back and gives them to his mistress, the earrings find their way to a wealthy man who falls in love with Louise. A-



Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985)
Directed by: Tim Burton
Written by: Phil Hartman, Paul Reubens, Michael Varhol
Starring: Paul Reubens, Elizabeth Daly, Mark Holton, Diane Salinger, Cassandra Peterson, Alice Nunn, Jan Hooks, Judd Omen
Bizarre, sometimes annoying, but altogether entertaining story about a weird man-child who gets his prized bicycle stolen. He goes on a long journey in order to get it back, crossing paths with several strange characters. B



The King of Comedy (1982)
Directed by: Martin Scorcese
Written by: Paul D. Zimmerman
Starring: Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Diahnne Abbott, Sandra Bernhard, Shelley Hack, Ed Herlihy
Rupert Pupkin is a desperate wannabe comedian who goes to great lengths to impress his idol Jerry Langford, the host of a late night talk show. After trying repeatedly to get close to him, Rupert and Jerry's number one stalker, played by Sandra Bernhard, team up and kidnap him. The acting is great in this dark, but hilarious, film. A-