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