"Another Year" (PG-13, 129 minutes). Tom and Gerri (Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen) and long and happily married. Their frequent visitor is Mary (Lesley Manville), a unhappy woman with a drinking problem who needs shoring up with their sanity. Mike Leigh's new film is one of his best, placing as he often does recognizable types with embarrassing comic and/or dramatic dilemmas. One of the year's best films. Four stars
"My Dog Tulip" (Unrated, 83 minutes). The story of a man who finds love only once in his life, for 15 perfect years. It is the love of a dog. It may be the only love he is capable of experiencing. This is an animated film combining elating visuals with a virtuoso voice performance by Christopher Plummer. Nor for children. Foe adults who will admire its beauty and profundity. Directed and animated by Paul and Sandra Fierlinger. Four stars
"Inspector Bellamy" (Unrated, 110 minutes). Gerard Depardieu stars as a famous Parisian police inspector who is on holiday when a man tells him, "I committed murder...sort of." Claude Chabrol's final film, written with Depardieu in mind, is inspired in part by Simenon's Inspector Maigret, and follows Bellamy as he unwinds the strange story of the murder, while also, like Simenon, becoming fascinated by side characters, such as Bellamy's troubled half-brother. Marie Bunel is warm and supportive of her husband, and a good confidant during pillow talk about crime. Three and a half stars.
"The Illusionist" (PG, 90 minutes). A magician named Tatischeff fails in one music hall after another, and ends up in Scotland, where a young woman takes care of him and believes in him, even when he's reduced to performing in store windows. An animated film based on the final screenplay of Jacques Tati, and directed by Sylvain Chomet ("The Triplets of Belleville"). Four stars
"Barney's Version" (R, 132 minutes). Paul Giamatti stars as an unremarkable Montreal TV producer who drinks too much, smokes too many cigars, and discards two women in quick divorces before finding at last one far too good for him (Rosamund Pike). Dustin Hoffman has a smallish but particularly good role as his father. Giamatti won the 2011 Golden Globe award as best actor. Three and a half stars
"All Good Things" (R, 101 minutes). David (Ryan Gosling) is the rebellious son of a wealthy Manhattan family that owns sleazy 42nd Street real estate. He marries Katie (Kirsten Dunst), and they move to Vermont to open an organic products store. But his father (Frank Langella) pressures him to return to the family business, and he undergoes alarming changes eventually connected to two murders. Based on one of those true stories Dominick Dunne used to write about in Vanity Fair. Three and a half stars
"Blue Valentine" (R, 120 minutes). Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams as Dean and Cindy in two seasons of marriage: Six years ago when love was fact, and today, when love proves unable to support the weight of real life. Director Derek Cianfrance closely observes the details as his couple fail to comprehend the larger picture. Dean thinks marriage is the station. Cindy thought it was the train. Three and a half stars
"The King's Speech" (R, 118 minutes). After the death of George V and the abdication of his brother Edward, Prince Albert (Colin Firth) becomes George IV, charged with leading Britain into World War Two. He is afflicted with a torturous stammer, and his wife (Helena Bonham Carter) seeks out an unorthodox speech therapist (Lionel Logue) to treat him. Civilized and fascinating, this is the story of their unlikely relationship. (The R rating, for language, is absurd; this is an ideal film for teenagers.) Four stars
"True Grit" (PG-13, 110 minutes). An entertaining remake of the 1969 film, and more. Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn easily fills John Wayne's boots, and Hailee Steinfeld is very special as young Mattie Ross, who hires the old marshal to help her hunt down the varmit what killed her old man. Not a "Coen Brothers Film," but a flawlessly executed Western in the grand tradition. Strong support from Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper. Three and a half stars
"Somewhere" (R, 96 minutes). Johnny Marco Stephen Dorff is a movie star. He has access to sex, booze, drugs, but feels no pleasure. He sits in a Los Angeles hotel room, stuck. His 11-year-old daughter (Elle Fanning) comes to stay for a few days, but he clearly has no feeling for fatherhood. He's given an award in Milan but hardly notices in the confusion of strangers around him in a hotel suite. He retreats to the same famous West Hollywood where John Belushi died, which for him might have been a recommendation. Sofia Coppola's film, winner of the Golden Lion at Venice, is a masterpiece of observation of hopelessness. Four stars
"Rabbit Hole" (R, 91 minutes) Becca (Nicole Kidman) and Howie (Aaron Eckhart) are trying their best to get on with things. This is the tricky and very observant story of how a married couple is getting along, eight months after their 4-year-old ran out into the street and was struck dead by a car. They were leveled with grief. Their sex life stopped. They lived for a time in a daze, still surrounded in the house by the possessions of the child who no longer lives there. I know all this sounds like a mournful dirge, but in fact "Rabbit Hole" is entertaining and surprisingly amusing, under the circumstances. Three and a half stars
"Black Swan" (R, 108 minutes). Natalie Portman in a bravura performance as a driven perfectionist, a young ballerina up for a starring role at Lincoln Center. Her life is shadowed by a smothering mother (Barbara Hershey), an autocratic director (Vincent Cassel) and a venomous rival (Mila Kunis) and her deposed predecessor (Winona Ryder). A full-bore melodrama, told with passionate intensity, gloriously and darkly absurd. Directed by Darren Aronofsky. Three and a half stars
"Carlos" (Unrated, 332 minutes). A remarkable portrait of a despicable man, the terrorist Carlos ("the Jackyl"), who from 1975 to 1994 directed a shadowy group of violent militants that dealt in kidnapping and murder. Edgar Ramirez is powerful in the title role, as an egomaniac whose primary cause seems to be himself. With reckless boldness he eludes an international manhunt until finally even his masters grow tired of him. Unflinching, detailed, absorbing. Directed by Oliver Assayas. Three and a half stars
"White Material" (Unrated, 105 minutes). Isabella Huppert plays a French woman in Africa, managing the coffee plantation that was her ex-husband's. War stirs in the land, and she is warned to evacuate. She finds that unthinkable. This is her home, this is her farm, and she will bring in the crop. The movie doesn't sentimentalize or make a political statement; like its heroine, it doesn't have theories. A beautiful, puzzling film; the enigmatic quality of Huppert's impassivity draws us in. Three and a half stars
"I Love You Phillip Morris" (R, 98 minutes) Jim Carrey in the true life story of outrageous con man Steven Russell, who impersonated doctors, lawyers, FBI agents, and corporate executives. He convinced prison officials he had died of AIDS, successfully faked a heart attack, and escaped from jail four times (hint: always on Friday the 13th). Ewan McGregor plays his cellmate Phillip Morris, who Steven falls in love with. Thereafter his life consists of trying to get Steven out of jail, or trying to escape to be with him. Audacious. Jim Carrey's mercurial personality was almost necessary to even make this movie. Three and a half stars
"Hereafter" (PG-13, 129 minutes). Clint Eastwood considers the idea of an afterlife with tenderness, beauty and a gentle tact. Matt Damon stars as a man who believes he has a genuine psychic gift, and suffers for it. Cecile de France is a French newsreader who has a near-death experience. Frankie McLaren is a small boy seeking his dead twin. The stories converge, but in a way that respects the plausible. Not a woo-woo film but about how love makes us need for there to be an afterlife. Four stars
"Made in Deganham" (R, 113 minutes). Delightful serious comedy about the historic 1968 in Ford's British plant that ended its unequal pay for women, and began a global movement. Sally Hawkins plays Rita O'Grady, who caught the public fancy as a strike leader. Bob Hoskins is a sympathetic union organizer, and Miranda Richardson plays Barbara Castle, the minister of labor who unexpectedly sided with the striking women. Three and a half stars
"Monsters" (R, 93 minutes). An American photojournalist (Scoot McNairy) shepherds the daughter of his boss (Whitney Able) north from Mexico though a dangerous Infected Zone occupied by an alien life form. But this isn't a "monster movie," or an exploitation film. It's an uncannily absorbing journey transformed by the fact of Beings who are fundamentally different from any life form we have imagine. Writer-director Gareth Edwards, who also created the special effects, builds toward a climax combining uncommon suspense and uncanny poetry. Three and a half stars
"Unstoppable" (PG-13, 98 minutes) A runaway train hurtles at 70mph, and the movie is as relentless as the train. Denzel Washington and Chris Pine try to stop it, and Rosario Dawson is the hard-driving dispatcher. In terms of sheer craftsmanship, this is a superb film. Directed by Tony Scott. Three and a half stars
"Morning Glory" (PG-13, 110 minutes). Rachel McAdam transforms a conventional plot into a bubbling comedy with her lovable high energy. She plays an ambitious young producer on a last-place network morning news show, who forces a reluctant TV veteran (Harrison Ford) to do the kind of TV he despises. A lot of laughs, including Diane Keaton as Ford's veteran co-anchor, Matt Malloy as a goofy weatherman and Jeff Goldblum as the boss who considers the show dead in the water. Three and a half stars
"127 Hours" (R, 93 minutes). The harrowing true story of James Franco, a rock climber whose arm was pinned to a Utah canyon wall by a boulder. In desperation he amputated his own arm to free himself. James Franco stars in Danny Boyle's film, which is gruesome but not quite too gruesome to watch. It's rather awesome what an entertaining and absorbing film Danny Boyle has made here. Yes, entertaining. Four stars
"Buried" (R, 93 minutes). Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is a truck driver working for a private contractor in Iraq. He comes to consciousness in blackness. He feels around and finds a lighter. It its flame his worst fears are realized. He has been kidnapped, buried alive, and is a hostage. Taking place entirely within the coffin, this is a superior suspense picture that's ingenious in devising plausible events inside the limited space. Three and a half stars.
"Tamara Drewe" (PG-13, 110 minutes) A mischievous British comedy, set in a rural writer's retreat where egos and libidos are in contention. When a once-homely local girl returns home with newfound fame and an improved nose, all the men perk up with unfortunate results. With Gemma Arterton, Roger Allam, Dominic Cooper, Luke Evans and Tamsin Greig. Directed by Stephen Frears. Delightful. Three and a half star
"The Social Network" (PG-13, 120 minutes). The life and times of Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), who created Facebook, became a billionaire in his early 20s, and now has 500 million members on the site he created. A fascinating portrait of a brilliant social misfit who intuited a way to involve humankind race in the Kevin Bacon Game. Everybody likes Facebook--it's the site that's all about you. With Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker, the Napster founder who introduced Zuckerberg to the Silicon Valley fast lane, Andrew Garfield as the best friend who gets dumped, and Armie Hammer as the Winklevoss twins, who sued Zuckerberg for stealing their idea. One of the year's best films. Four stars
"Secretariat" (PG, 116 minutes). A great film about greatness, the story of the horse and the no less brave woman who had faith in him. Diane Lane stars as Penny Chenery, who fell in love with Secretariat when he was born, and battled the all-male ring fraternity and her own family to back her faith in the champion. A lovingly crafted film, knowledgeable about racing, with great uplift. Also with John Malkovich, Scott Glenn, James Cromwell, Nelsan Ellis, Dylan Walsh. One of the year's best. Four stars
"Last Train Home" (Unrated, 87 minutes). Begins as a documentary about an annual New Years migration from cities to villages by 180 million Chinese, and focuses on one family; the parents have labored at low factory wages for 15 years to pay for their children's education back home, and now, as their daughter graduates high school, they may find only heartbreak as repayment. Shot over three years, it's one of those extraordinary films, like "Hoop Dreams," that tells a story the makers could not possibly have anticipated in advance. Works like stunning, grieving fiction. One of the year's best. Four stars
"Inside Job" (Unrated, 108 minutes). Exactly how Wall Street thieves eagerly sold bad mortgages, bet against them, and paid themselves millions in bonuses for bankrupting their own companies. And the Street is having another good year at our expense, because Financial Reform is as far away as ever. An angry, devastating documentary. Four stars
"Let Me In" (R, 115 minutes). A well-made retelling of the Swedish "Let the Right One In," which doesn't cheapen the original but respects it and adds some useful events. Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a bullied, neglected boy, and Abby (Chloe Grace Moretz of "Kick Ass") is the girl who moves into the next apartment and has "been twelve for a very long time." The same cold, dark atmosphere of foreboding, in a doom-laden vampire drama. Not for Team Edward. Three and a half stars
"Scrappers" (Unrated, 90 minutes). A portrait of Otis and Oscar, two self-employed collectors of scrap metal, who troll the alleys in their trucks and vacant lots of Chicago for metals that can be sold. They work hard, they support families, they perform recycling on metals that might end up buried in garbage, and they like the work--its freedom, its independence. But metals dropped from $200 to $300 a ton to $20 with the economic collapse, and now their trade is desperate. See this and you'll never look at a scavenger with the same eyes. Three and a half stars
"Never Let Me Go" (R, 104 minutes). In an alternative time line, test-tube babies are created solely for the purpose of acting as Donors for body parts. Raised in seclusion, they accept their role. Are they really human, after all? In this sensitive, teary adaptation of the Kazuo Ishiguro novel, three of them begin to glimpse the reality of their situation, and its tragedy. With Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley, Charlotte Rampling, Sally Hawkins. Four stars
"Nowhere Boy" (R, 97 minutes). The Beatles are only distantly on the horizon in this deeply-felt biopic of young John Lennon growing up in Liverpool. He's at the center of a tricky relationship involving his mother, who he didn't know growing up, and his aunt, who raised him. From these years perhaps came and simultaneous elation and sadness of many of his songs. Aaron Johnson as John, Kristin Scott Thomas as his Aunt Mimi, Anne-Marie Duff as his mother Julia. Three and a half stars
"Waiting for Superman" (PG, 102 minutes). The new documentary by Davis Guggenheim ("An Inconvenient Truth") says the American educational system is failing, and dramatizes this failure in a painfully direct way, saying what is wrong, and what is right. He points to existing magnet schools that draw their students by random lottery and virtually guarantee high school graduation and acceptance by a college. He explains why bad teachers who cannot be fired are a national scandal. The film is alarming, fascinating, and in the end hopeful. Three and a half stars
"Easy A" (PG-13, 93 minutes). Funny, star-making role for Emma Stone, as a high school girl nobody notices, until she's too embarrassed to admit she spent the weekend home alone and claims she had sex with a college boy. When word gets around, she uses her undeserved notoriety to play the role to the hilt, even wearing a Scarlet Letter. And she's able to boost the reps of some of her pals by making up reports of their process. Sounds crass. Isn't. Three and a half stars
"The American" (R, 95 minutes). George Clooney is starkly defined as a criminal as obedient and focused as a samurai. He manufactures weapons for specialized jobs. He lives and functions alone. He works for a man who might as well be a master. He used few words. Only his feelings for a prostitute named Clara (Violante Placido) supply an opening to his emotions. Zen in its focus. Four stars.
"Flipped" (PG-13,90 minutes) Juli (Madeleine Carroll) has adored Bryce (Callan McAuliffe) ever since he moved into the neighborhood in the second grade. Bryce has been running away from her ever since. Now they're 14 and they seem to be flipping: he more interested, she less. Rod Reiner's warm human comedy tells their stories by showing the same crucial events from both their points of view. He returns to the time of his "Stand By Me" with the same endearing insights. Rating: Four stars
"Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1" (R, 133 minutes). Continuation of the brutal life of France's most notorious criminal, who survived a 20-year series of bank robberies, kidnappings, prison breaks and murders. Vincent Cassel makes him brutal, ugly, powerful and inscrutable. Winner of French Oscars for best director and actor. Three and a half stars
"Mesrine: Killer Instinct" (R, 113 minutes) He was a ruthless killer, bank robber, kidnapper and prison break artist--and a self-promoting egomaniac who wrote books some compared to Camus. Vincent Cassel stars in a hard-boiled performance as the French criminal who killed on three continents and was in love with his image. Three and a half stars
"Salt" (PG-13, 100 minutes). A damn fine thriller. It does all the things I can't stand in bad movies, and does them in a good one. Angelina Jolie stars as a CISA agent fighting ingle-handedly to save the world from nuclear destruction. Hardly a second is believable, but so what? Superbly crafted, it's a splendid example of a genre action picture. Directed by Philip Noyce. Four stars
"Inception" (PG-13, 148 minutes). An astonishingly original and inventive thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a men who infiltrates the minds of others to steal secrets. Now he's hired to implant one. Ken Watanabe is a billionaire who wants to place at idea in the mind of his rival (Cillian Murphy). DiCaprio Assembles a team (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Ellen Page) to assist him, in a dazzling achievement that rises above the thriller level and enters the realm of mind control--in the plot, and in the audience. Written and directed by Christopher Nolan ("Memento," "The Dark Knight"). Four stars
"The Kids are All Right" (R, 104 minutes). A sweet and civilized comedy, quietly satirical, about a lesbian couple, their children, and the father the kids share via sperm donation. When they meet him, they like him, he likes them, and their moms are not so sure. What happens is calmly funny, sometimes fraught, and very human. With pitch-perfect performances by Julianne Moore and Annette Bening as the moms, Mark Ruffalo as the dad, and Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson as the 20-something children. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko. Three and a half stars
"The Girl Who Played with Fire" (R, 129 minutes). Noomi Rapace, electrifying in last year's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," returns for the second film drawn from Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy. Once again she's following the same crimes as journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), but they don't meet until late in the game as a murder trail leads to old family secrets. Well constructed, good cast, not quite up to the "Dragon" standard. Three and a half stars
"Restrepo" (R, 94 minutes). A documentary shot during the 15 months an American company fought under almost daily fire in Afghanistan's Korangal Valley, described as "the most dangerous place on earth." The Taliban is a constant presence; the Americans take fire three, four, five times a day; they establish the strategic Outpost Restrepo, named for the first of their number to die, and it seems to turn the tide in the Valley. The 15-month tour is hard duty, and our admiration grows for these men. The film is non-political; the men are fighting above all to simple survive. Four stars
"9500 Liberty" (Unrated, 80 minutes). A law similar to Arizona's controversial recent measure was passed and briefly enforced a few years ago in Virginia's Prince William County, and what happened there may be instructive. This documentary shows the rise and fall of a movement led by a right-wing blogger, and the groundswell of opposition (including many whites and Republicans) that ended it. The cost of the law in higher taxes, exposure to lawsuits and the city's image was startling. The doc shows the rise and fall of the county law, and centers on the American tradition of citizens speaking out in town hall meetings. Three and a half stars
"A Small Act" (Unrated, 98 minutes). A documentary about a Kenyan boy named Chris Mburu who grew up in a mud house, graduated from Harvard Law School, and is today a United Nations Human Rights Commissioner. His education was made possible by a $15-a-month gift from Hilde Back, a Swedish schoolteacher whose parents were Holocaust victims. Mburu started a foundation in her honor to grant more scholarships, and in the film they meet and she is honored by his village. To call it "Heartwarming" would be an understatement. Three and a half stars
"Cell 211" (Unrated, 111 minutes). Very effective thriller about a man's attempt to save his life by thinking quickly. A new prison guard, being given a tour, is left behind when a riot breaks out. Pretending to be a new prisoner, he improvises well enough to become a de facto leader of the riot, and develops a subtle relationship with the rock-hard leader of the prisoners. Winner of eight Goya awards, the Spanish Oscars, this year, including Best Picture. Three and a half stars
"I am Love" (R, 120 minutes). A sensuous and fascinating story about a modern family of Italian aristocrats. Tilda Swinton plays a Russian who has married the oldest son, learns her husband and their son will take over the family textile business, then suddenly finds herself in the middle of an unexpected affair. Masterfully direct by Luca Guadagnino. One of the year's best. Four stars
"Cyrus" (R, 91 minutes). Two lonely people (John C. Reilly and Marisa Tomei) meet at a party and like each other. She has a 20ish son (Jonah Hill) who welcomes Reilly to their home and invites him to stay for dinner. But a comedy of social embarrassment develops when it becomes clear that the son is jealous and possessive of his mother, and perhaps to physically familiar with her. No, it's not incest; let's call it inappropriate behavior that his mom doesn't seem to discourage. Reilly is caught in an awkward position, which the film simply regards, leaving us to wince in a fascinated way. Three and a half stars
"Winter's Bone" (R, 99 minutes). Jennifer Lawrence is brilliant as a 17-year-old girl who father has skipped bail and left his family threatened with homelessness. In a dirt poor area of the Ozarks, she goes seeking him among people who are suspicious, dangerous and in despair. Winner of the Grand Jury prize at Sundance 2010 and the screenwriting award, this film by Debra Granik is one of the year's best. Four stars
"Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work" (R, 84 minutes). Rivers was 75 in this film, and never tires of reminding us of that fact. She remains one of the funniest, dirtiest, most daring and transgressive of standup comics, and she hasn't missed a beat. The doc follows her for a year as she relentlessly pursues the career that her daughter, Melissa, says was like having another sister. She violates her own privacy, speaks from the heart, does not know tact, and makes us laugh a lot. If you've only seen Rivers on TV, you ain't seen nothing' yet. Three and a half stars
"The Karate Kid" (PG, 126 minutes). Faithfully follows the plot of the 1984 classic, but stands on its own feet and takes advantage of beg shot on location in China. Jackie Chan dials down convincingly as the quiet old janitor with hidden talents, and Jaden Smith (son of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith) holds the screen with glowing charisma. The obligatory final fight climax is unusually well-handled. Three and a half stars
"Solitary Man" (R, 99 minutes). Michael Douglas in one of his best performances, as a once rich and famous car dealer, now in hard times but still tireless as closing the hardest sell of all--himself. He's a seducer, a cheater, a user, but running outgo of options, in a smart comedy/drama with an excellent supporting cast including Jesse Eisenberg, Jenna Fischer, Danny DeVito and Susan Sarandon. Three and a half stars
"Please Give" (R, 91 minutes). Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt play a Manhattan couple who have a daughter and run an antique store and live next to a mean-tempered old lady (Ann Morgan Guilbert) . When she dies, they can buy her apartment. The old lady has two granddaughters, played by Rebecca Hall and Amanda Peet. When the couple invites everyone over for dinner, events are set in motion that are true, funny, and ruefully observant. Writer-director Nicole Holofcener is so perceptive about women whose lives are not defined by men; that's rare in the movies. Three and a half stars
"Death at a Funeral" (R, 92 minutes). The best comedy since "The Hangover." A big family home is the setting for a funeral that's just one damn thing after another. Remake of a 2007 Brit comedy, but a lot funnier. All-star cast includes Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, James Marsden, Peter Dinklage, Loretta Devine, Regina Hall, Zoe Saldana, Tracy Morgan, Luke Wilson and on and on. Three and a half stars.
"Home" (Unrated, 98 minutes) A family live in a small home in the middle of vast fields and next to the highway, which hasn't been used for ten years. Then big trucks arrive to lay down a fresh coating of asphalt, and the arrival of traffic puts unbearable pressure on a family that seems a little strange from the first. With Isabelle Huppert and Olivier Gourmet. 2008 winner of the Swiss Film Prize. Three and a half stars.
"Date Night" (PG-13, 88 minutes) Steve Carell and Tina Fey play a perfectly nice married couple from New Jersey who simply want to have a great night out together in Manhattan. Mistaken for another couple, they're spun into a nightmare involving a mob boss and an unpaid debt. Funny, because they seem halfway plausible. With Ray Liotta, Mark Wahlberg, James Franco. Directed by Shawn Levy ("Night at the Museum"). Three and a half stars
"Greenberg" (R, 107 minutes). Ben Stiller in one of his best performances as a chronic malcontent who returns to L.A. to house-sit, nurture his misery, and reconnect with people who quite rightly resent him. With Greta Gerwig as an aimless but pleasant young college graduate who feels sorry for him, and Rhys Ifans and Jennifer Jason Leigh as survivors of his troublesome past. Directed by Noah Baumbach, of "The Squid and the Whale." Three and a half stars.
"Vincere" (Unrated, 128 minutes) The long-suppressed story of Mussolini's early mistress, who bore him a son and then was pushed into the shadows after he made a respectable marriage. She obsessively follows him, confronts him with their child in public, and is finally locked away by the fascists in an asylum. Giovanna Mezzogiorno's performance as Ida, the mistress, reminds me of Sophia Loren in the way she combines passion with dignity. Directed by the legendary Marco Bellocchio. Three and a half stars
"Leaves of Grass" (R, 105 minutes). Edward Norton plays a dual role as brothers: One a professor of philosophy at Brown, the other still back home in Little Dixie, Oklahoma, growing the best marijuana in the state. He may be the better philosopher. With Susan Sarandon as their mother, and Richard Dreyfuss as the state's drug kingpin. Norton gives two inspired and entirely different performances. Written and directed by Tim Blake Nelson, who also plays the best friend. One of the best films of 2010. Four stars
"45365" (Unrated, 90 minutes). An achingly beautiful portrait of small town America. The title is the zip code of Sidney, Ohio, and brothers Bill and Turner Ross grew up there and spent seven months on 2007 creating this portrait in sound and images of ordinary people, mostly nice, living their lives. No obvious structure, no message, just an appreciation of daily life that becomes haunting in its poetry. Winner of the Truer than Fiction Award at the 2010 Independent Spirits. Four stars (3/27/10)
"Mother" (R, 128 minutes). A mentally-deficient 27-year-old seems almost certainly guilty of murder. His mother, who has protected him all his life, is determined to prove his innocence. She is a remorseless force of nature, in a South Korean thriller that moves far beyond our expectations, into labyrinths deeper than reality. Written and diffracted by Bong Joon-ho ("The Host"). Three and a half stars
"Chloe" (Unrated, 96 minutes). A woman doctor (Julianne Moore) suspects her husband (Liam Neeson) of cheating, and hires a young call girl (Amanda Seyfried) to test how he might respond. She is fascinated by the girl's reports. Her jealousy shifts into curiosity. And the call girl? What's in this for her? Egoyan weaves a deceptive erotic web. Three and a half stars
"Waking Sleeping Beauty" (PG, 86 minutes). A privileged inside look at the Disney animation studio from 1984 to 1994, a golden age that essentially recreated feature animation in the form we know it now. From "The Little Mermaid" to "The Lion King," interviews, archives, home movies and interviews recreate a time of creative turmoil and backstage rivalries. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Three and a half stars.
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (Unrated, for adults, 148 minutes). Compelling thriller with a heroine more fascinating than the story. She's Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace), a 24-year-old Goth girl with body piercings and tattoos: thin, small, fierce, damaged, a genius computer hacker. She teams up with a taciturn Swedish investigator to end a serial killer's 40 years of evil. Based on the international best-seller. Intense and involving. The planned Hollywood remake will probably have to be toned down. Four stars.
"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" (PG, 92 minutes). Nimble, bright and funny comedy about the hero's first year of middle school. Zachary Gordon stars as the uncertain newcomer, and Robert Capron is his pudgy best pal, who still acts like a kid. Chloe Grace Moretz sparkles as the only student who's nice to them, and the movie amusingly remembers the tortures of early adolescence. Based on the books by Jeff Kinney. Three and a half stars.
"The Green Zone" (R, 114 minutes) Matt Damon and his two-time "Bourne" director Paul Greengrass team up for a first-rate thriller set early in the war in Iraq. Damon's chief warrant officer finds that U.S. intelligence is worthless, and his complaints lead him to discover the secret conspiracy intended to justify the American invasion. Greg Kinnear is the deceptive U.S. intelligence puppet-master, Brendan Gleeson is a grizzled old CIA hand whose agency has always doubted the stories sabot Saddam's WMD, and Amy Ryan plays a newspaper reporter who served Kinnear as a pipeline. Four stars.
"A Prophet" (R, 154 minutes). An unformed young man is imprisoned, and behind bars he terrifyingly comes of age. A remorseless consideration of the birth of a killer. With Tahar Rahim as the clueless young prisoner and Niels Arestrup as the powerful boss of the gang controlling the prison. Swept the 2010 Cesar awards ("the French Oscars"), won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes 2009, a 2010 Oscar nominee for best foreign film. Directed by Jacques Audiard. Four stars
"The Ghost Writer" (PG-13, 124 minutes). In Roman Polanski's thriller, a man without a past rattles around in the life of a man with too much of one. Ewan McGregor plays a ghost writer hired by a former British prime minister (Pierce Brosnan), whose previous ghost has mysterious drowned. In a rain-swept house on Martha's Vineyard, McGregor meets the PM's wife (Olivia Williams) and his assistant/mistress (Kim Cattrall), as an international controversy swirls. A splendidly acted and crafted immersive story. Four stars
"Red Riding Trilogy" (Unrated, for adults, 302 minutes). An immersive experience based on the infamous Yorkshire Ripper killings and the subsequent revelations about deep corruption in the Yorkshire Police Departments. Brilliantly cast, filmed in segments each offering a distinctive look and feel, beginning with a serial killer and then tangling the investigation with deep-seated local corruption. Not so much about what happens objectively as about its surrounding miasma of greed and evil. Four stars
"The Art of the Steal" (Unrated, 101 minutes). The most valuable collection of modern and impression art in the rod, valued at $250 billion, was intended by its rich collector, Dr. Albert C. Barnes, to reside forever in the Barnes Foundation in suburban Philadelphia. He hired the best lawyers to draw up an iron-clad will to assure that would happen after his death. He specified it not go to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which he felt had scorned him and his collection. This absorbing documentary tells the story of how and why his art is in that museum today, the film calls it the "art theft of the century." Three and a half stars
"Shutter Island" (R, 135 minutes). Leonardo Di Caprio and Mark Ruffalo are U.S. Marshals called to a forbidding island in Boston bay, the home of an old Civil War fort now used as a prison for the criminally insane. A child murderer has escaped her cell. Martin Scorsese relentlessly blends music, visuals, special effects and all of film noir tradition into an elegant horror film as fragmented as a nightmare. If you're blind-sided by the ending, ask yourself: How should it have ended? How could it have? Three and a half stars
"Fish Tank" (Unrated, adults, 123 minutes). The harrowing portrait of a 15-year-old girl on a reckless path toward self-destruction. Her mother, only about 30, is a drunken slut and she seems on the same path. Covers a few days of fraught experiences with sex and anger. Superbly acted by newcomer Katie Jarvis. Winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes 2009. Directed by Andrea Arnold. Four stars.
Buy from Amazon.com
Sad to say, the economic situation - and a lingering case of unemployment - is keeping me at home. I haven't been to see a movie this summer and, from what I've seen, it looks like I'm not missing much. I have every intention of seeing "Toy Story 3" and "Inception", but it is starting to look like I may have to wait for Netflix.
This is a strange turn because usually I have about five or six films that I am really looking forward to. This year *sigh* the pickin' look a kind of slim.
This is a really helpful list. It's hard to find good reviewers who can generate a list of diverse and compelling movies that you can add to your "to watch" list.
A few interesting discoveries here. Several I've never heard of.
Thanks for posting this.
Buddy
I would just like to point out that there is a typo in the review of Salt. It appears that the "S" that should be "Single-Handedly" has somehow worked its way between CIA. As it appears, I am not sure what "CISA" or "Ingle-Handedly" means.
What a great idea, Roger. People using their phones to check reviews on their way to a movie palace will find this very helpful. Quick and to the point-which is very fitting for the "frisson" generation.
Readers of Roger, when you like what he says about the films mentioned here, click on the title which will link to the full and more intriguingly insightful reviews.
Best Regards,
Wael Khairy
While I do agree with many of these picks, I find it odd enough to see kid movies on here, such as "Diary of a Wimpy Kid". When I saw it with my kids, I found it to be both immature and repulsive to my taste. I sometimes have to question if it is possible to make a good children's movie due to its juvenile context.
I would, along with my wife like to thank you Mr.Ebert for giving us years and years of wonderful movie viewing. Your reviews are insightful,honest and consistent. We both wish you all the best and hope you continue to keep on keepin on. God Bless.
Inception is no surprise due to its original premise.
I was reticent to see Salt, but I think Angelina Jolie made a wise choice with this movie. This is a perfect example of a roller-coaster ride gone wild that never stops, but does not fail to add the required emotional moments along the way. And the successive twists put a proper cherry on top of this delicious cake. Rare. :-)
Roger! Are you going to double-back at some point and review any of the movies you missed during your time off? Specifically Scott Pilgrim vs. The World? I mention it specifically not only because I loved it, and because it didn't do very well at the box office, but because it kind of ties into the Neverending Video Game Debate.
Also because, when I watched the film, I felt like it was building up to a totally different ending - and just found out that they changed the ending at the last minute, in a way you might find interesting to discuss.
Sad news, Roger - it appears that Leaves of Grass (which I agree is one of the best films of the year) is going straight to DVD.
http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/leaves-of-grass.html
I hope that your review and promotion of the film, and the other enthusiastic reviews I've read of the film, will get it to the masses. It really deserves to be a hit.
Dear Roger,
I understand from a dear friend (Betsy H.) that you were present at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. There I saw one of the best films that still doesn't seem to have a distributor: Gaspar Noe's "Enter The Void." This film was easily the best of about 35 films I saw at TIFF 2009, and probably the best I have seen in my least 10 years of movie watching. Alas, Noe's cinematographic techniques are antithema to those with seizure disorders or motion sickness (see for example the wild camera work in his previous film "Irreversible"). But in "Enter The Void," the cinematography meshes perfectly with the absolutely spell-binding story of what happens to those left behind from the perspective of a person who has just died. Those who remained until the incredibly unexpected and masterful ending of the film emerged from the theater in a trance, unable to perceive the world around them because their immersion in this film was so complete. I hope you will be able to review this truly unique and wonderful film at some future showing.
I hope to finally meet you in Toronto this September. I'll be attending with my good friend Betsy H. from Champaign yet again.
Best regards!
Looks like the good movies comment system is finally working again!
I'd tried it as recently as 3 weeks ago and it wasn't working.
Glad it seems to be working now, as there are recent posts!
At any rate, on to "Inception."
I'm glad I saw this movie. Very well done.
(I suppose there are spoilers here.)
I actually DO feel the characters ignoring their moral lives and the moral implications of their tasks is a negative (I remember that coming up in your essay on the film and its critics), but I think that the film overcame it.
Why do I feel that's a negative? Because I like to see movies where I can either root for the central characters, or can take delight in their degeneration and defeat. (Great example of the latter: Goodfellas.) Sometimes, I suppose, a movie where I can cynically watch the characters' actions and their fates unfold without feeling about it one way or the other can work. ("In Cold Blood" is an example, I guess.) But usually I want to root for, or against, the protagonists.
"Inception" overcame this flaw by hinting that it may not have always been like this for the characters. That the situation is forced on them somehow, at least for the main protagonist.
The film has a "trick ending," and the fact that the "trick ending" thrilled rather than annoyed me is a testimony to one of the most basic rules in film: Things that are a source of criticism in bad films are, or can be, a source of praise in good ones. No narrative trick or special effect is inherently good or bad. This rule, I think, deserves to be right up there with "a film isn't about what it's about, but is about how it's about it." (Or however the proper phrasing goes.)
As soon as I realized that the director wasn't going to tell us if the top was going to fall down or not, I thought of your reviews of "Basic Instinct" and "Jagged Edge," wherein the manipulative trick endings did NOT work (in both your judgment and mine). But in "Inception," an ending no less tricky or manipulative does indeed work. Indeed, it could not end in any other way. The film telling us one way or the other simply wouldn't work as well. The film's ultimate subject matter is the uncertain division between dream and reality.
I'm very glad I saw this movie.
-Nighthawk
Pretty much on the money as usual.
Now if Ebert would spend more time reviewing and less time supporting liberal politics.
The Karate Kid: I agree with most of the ratings on the films, however I disagree with the Karate Kid. The acting is great but the story depicts schools in China with the same sadistic presence that US schools have. This is far from the truth. Chinese school kids are well disciplined and do not pick fights or bully. There is no violence in the schools and no violence in the streets.
To say that I know this is because I have lived in China, Beijing and Shanghai and have never seen street fights between Chinese, however I have seen foreigners fighting.
The height of two or more Chinese fighting is who can yell the loudest, no pushing or shoving, just yelling.
If this picture hadn't displayed the street violence it would be a very good picture.
Before i go to the movies i always consult with Roger and imdb, but Roger's rating gets much more weight with me. We've only disagreed on one film ever, but for the life of me i can't remember what it was. Anyway, i've seen about 20% of the films on his list and agree with every one except one. The one film that i thought was highly over-rated was Invictus, i didn't find it all that engrossing and thought Freeman was given way too much credit for a borderline accent and un-inspiring role.
The ones on this list that i loved the most were:
Mother
A Prophet
The White Ribbon
Salt
Inception
The Ghost Writer
Winter's Bone
Fantastic Mr. Fox
the one film that i thought was genius at the Vancouver International Film festival, despite many walking out because it was so "slow" insert rolling eyes smiley here was Police, Adj. loved it.
Now if Ebert would spend more time reviewing and less time supporting liberal politics.
I completely disagreed with his point of view about video games and art, but it was still an interesting essay. If you can look past divisive politics of your nation, you might enjoy reading even more of what Mr. Ebert has to say.
Just one request for Mr. Ebert: please review "Scott Pilgrim vs The World". I enjoyed the movie immensely, and I'm curious to hear your take on it.
I have been a fan of Mr. Roger Ebert for many years and hope that his health improves; but, I find it hard to believe that this series of movie reviews was written by him.
I realize that writers may be under deadlines; but, that doesn't excuse writing that sometimes is hard to understand and that contains many grammatical and spelling mistakes.
Whether or not this was written by him, I suggest that an editor looks at the draft before it is published.
Ebert: The links are to my actual reviews.
Take care.
Luis García
Thanks for the list; I saw two of these films and enjoyed them. Do you have a list of the funniest films you've ever seen? I can only think of about ten which are solid throughout. One suggestion, Roger; you need to get yourself an assistant/mistress to proofread your prose--the errors can be distracting.
Love all the reviews and I look forward to seeing as many of the movies as I can. But, Roger, someone needs to proofread your writing. Lots of "typos" that were hard to decipher.
I am quite angry that NONE of the reviews I read indicated the porno and excessive nudity in "The Kids Are All Right". The storyline was interesting, so I decided to see an R rated movie......it should have been X !! The basic concept is fascinating and the actors were fabulous, but the porno and nudity were not at all needed to tell the story.
Thank you Roger for years of great reviews. I miss you on TV & hope you will return soon.
I loved "Invictus" & thought it was an excellent film. Morgan Freeman did a superb job as Nelson Mandela: he had the accent & walk down pat. I also learned about rugby for the first time in my life.
I also trust Roger's reviews more than anyone else.
Thanks again.
Mr. Ebert, where or where or what oh what has happened to "Get Low"........I think it's one of best films I've ever seen. Duvall and Murray are
extraordinary. I keep reading these great reviews of Eat Pray Love and I thought it was pretty wimpy........it was painfully slow, painfully predictable and way too fluffy compared to the book. Do you know if "Get Low" is based on a book and if so what is the title and author? Please, please I hope you'll write something positive about this wonderfully tragic story..........soldier on favorite critic, soldier on!
Thanks. Mr. Ebert. This helps me to decide which movies to pick. I sure miss you doing At the Movies. Take care.
I'd like to comment about David Lynch's "The Straight Story." [NOTE: I had the good fortune of taking your workshops at the UVa Film Fest on Kane, Third Man, Sunset Blvd. and Bonnie & Clyde.]
You and I and just about every major critic liked "The Straight Story." Janet Maslin called it "eloquently simple, deeply emotional." Another reviewer found it "one man's lyrical journey across America's Heartland." But we all wondered what had become of Lynch's dark side as seen in "Blue Velvet," "Twin Peaks," etc. We've been seduced! that is, kept so busy by the folksy surface story that we fail to notice that some of the things that Alvin says don't fit the time-line of his narrative. His daughter Rose, who is slow of speech but (I believe) more capable than anyone in the film gives her credit for, has lost custody of her children because one of them was burned in a house fire when they were in the care of a babysitter. Who was that babysitter? It could have been Alvin, and he could have been too drunk to deal with the situation. On his journey, he loses control of his tractor when he sees a house burning. It's only a fire department exercise, but if you look at the panic on his face, it suggests more than a mechanical malfunction of his tractor. Moreover, Alvin's estrangement from his brother Lyle took place because of a drunken fight long after the time when he claimed he had become clean and sober. In short, David Lynch has given us a dishonest narrator. Alvin and Lyle may end up sitting together on the porch and gazing peacefully at the stars, but Alvin's family is anything but a tight bundle of sticks. We do not, in fact, get a 'straight' account on "The Straight Story."
[NOTE: These latent elements of the film were meticulously spelled out in an article in FILM COMMENT for which I've been unable to find the exact reference.]
I was happy to see this list and immediately added them to my netflix list. Just now finished watching The messenger and immediately logged in to see what Roger said about it. As usual, I agree with every word he said. Roger, thank you for your wonderful reviews. My husband and I love to read them.
Wow Ebert,
You have always been my all time favorite movie critic. It's either your mastery of the written language, your tell-it-like-it-is style, or your continued personification of the word "pundit" that demands my undivided attention concerning your reviews. I've even thought of writing a bio on you in the same tradition you did for scorsese. What a director does with a crew and a camera, you do with a paper, and pen.
I want to say thank you for making entertaining, thought provokeing, intelligent, sophisticated,tactful, laborious reviews seem--effortless!
Dear Roger,
Thanks so much for giving me the low-down on the latest films. I skip some of the high rated because I don't like the subject matter, but that's OK because I don't have to like everything even if it is a good film. For the rest, I have seen most of your good to high recommended films (and some that you didn't rate so good because I liked the subject matter). We seem to agree about 75% of the time, but only in the degree to which the films are great. Thank you so much for making my Sunday afternoons enjoyable. By the way, I couldn't agree more about the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Why Hollywood wants to redo it is more than I can fathom. There isn't enough dialog to make the Swedish distracting and NOBODY can replace Naoomi who plays Lisbet! Why doesn't Hollywood use her???
You must not be a big fan of slasher films. I just watched the recent release of 'A Nightmare on Elm Street.' Being a fan a slashers and seeing the horrible releases that have come out recently, between Rob Zombie's 'Halloween', and the new 'Friday the Thirteenth', I could not believe how well done the 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' was. You have to respect a lot of work done on this film. You tear apart the emphasis on the voice when this should be honoured for the power of the actor's performance. In a genre that is obviously on its downfall, this movie grabs a hold of the last glimpse of blood that was once a shocking point of view, but is now a desensitized viewership that should not be forgotten. This movie presents what a horror film should be, not the realty TV want a be bullshit that is presented on a regular basis.
Although I don't always agree with your reviews... I truly value them. I love and share your passion for film.
PS: I never read your reviews of a movie until I see the movie... then the moment I finish viewing the film and return to the computer I look up your review. It feels like I have a friend who will be honest with me regarding the movie.
Thank you...
The full reviews should be available for reading on SmartPhones. My blackberry could only pull the opening paragraph for the American - not enough!
[[You must not be a big fan of slasher films.]]
Look up his reviews of "The Devil's Rejects," the original "Halloween," "Wes Craven's New Nightmare," "Scream," "Scream 2," and the original "Last House on the Left." He actually gets a fair amount of crap for being able to like slasher films.
On an unrelated note, I liked "Machete." Hmm. That movie was about as violent and exploitative as many slasher films so I guess it's NOT unrelated, not entirely.
-Nighthawk
Concerning "Stone" -
A baffling and disappointing - incomplete - review. One would think that a movie with that talent and a good script (which the review seemed to imply) would warrant a better rating. What was wrong with the movie was left out of the review.
Roger, loved your review of SOCIAL NETWORK and, having just seen the film, love the fact that you mention your audience mates' being wrapped up in it. At eleven on a Sunday morning, my local theater was reasonably packed, and a diverse audience seemed to really get it, especially perhaps the Indiana University students eagerly present. Aaron Sorkin's script, as directed by David Fincher, was a story magnificently well told and shown.
Speaking of showing, I haven't seen a film in quite some time that put me in another place so completely. Maybe it's that rushing feeling of tension and possibility that comes to me on a college campus, but I do think there was something quite uniquely Harvardistic that was captured by Sorkin and Fincher and the cinematographer and the cast.
I have been a visitor at Harvard, never a student, and yet I walked out of the theater feeling like an alumnus, as though I had intimate knowledge of what it was like to wake up there, walk through doorways of that eons-old wood, regularly dash down its sidewalks filled with striving scholars, compete and fail and nervously evaluate my tenure there.
I am about to check Wikipedia to see if I am right to suspect that either Sorkin or Fincher, or perhaps both, are Harvard grads, and I will be shocked if neither is.
David Fincher's been celebrated for his ability to capture atmosphere, and I think sometimes he has earned that praise. But in terms of place, and of storytelling, this film far surpasses anything I've seen by him.
Scott wrote:
"Concerning "Stone" -
A baffling and disappointing - incomplete - review. One would think that a movie with that talent and a good script (which the review seemed to imply) would warrant a better rating. What was wrong with the movie was left out of the review"
I thought the same thing. I just saw the film, and liked it a lot. I was interested in seeing why Roger gave it only two-and-a-half stars, but the review seemed complimentary.
I also thought the new Karate Kid was unexpectedly good. I thought the love interest was weird though as Jaden is so young. And they almost ruined the whole thing with the final move in the fight scene at the end ... couldn't they have used a more believeable move?
A footnote regarding Vision:
Oliver Sacks discussed Hildegard in a chapter of his book The Man Who Mistook his Wife For a Hat.
Rather than faking, it is believed that her visions, as described, are very similar to the phenomena experienced by many migraine sufferers. Her written descriptions and illustrations of her visions, when looked at by modern neurologists, are widely believed to be the product of migraine hallucination or "auras". Hildegard naturally interpreted these experiences in light of her religious beliefs.
If this link works - here's Sacks on the subject:
http://books.google.com/books?id=7dE7PxgnyvoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Oliver+W.+Sacks%22&hl=en&ei=X-PaTMGLCIGclgf3pK2XCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=hildegard&f=false
The Social Network is one of my favorite movies this year, and I don't think I am alone when I say that. What I have found interesting, though, is peoples' resistance to letting the film enter serious conversation. A lot of people scoffed at the sheer idea of a movie being made about Facebook. Why? Is it because we are not comfortable allowing a film about Facebook to enter the realm of dramatic cinema? Despite the films virtues, it seems counter-intuitive for people to accept it because it is not a subject we have come to expect from the genre.
I don't know if others have experienced similar reactions to the film or not. I hear most people say that they enjoyed it, but they say it reluctantly. If I bring up the films critical success, many will dismiss it. It's OK to like a movie about Facebook. Right?
I wonder if you ever consider revising your two thumbs up list, perhaps after time has passed and you reconsider. I myself find that many movies I really admired when they were first released no longer intrigue me. Those that remain I invariably re-watch, usually more than once.
Of those listed (and that I've seen), I would delete Never Let Me Go, Salt, The American, Brothers, Invictus, Up in the Air, The Kids Are All Right, Solitary Man, The Messenger (I liked Kevin Bacon's Taking Chance better) and Crazy Heart (liked Tender Mercies better). These are good movies, better than the average stuff that's being put out these days, but they all lacked a certain something or, in many cases, felt too predictable. Among them, I would perhaps watch The American again.
Of those I've seen, the movies that really stunned me are A Prophet, Mesrine 1 & 2, Shutter Island, Cell 211, Dragon Tatoo, and Inception.
I concede some due to personal taste--I didn't like the creepy Let Me In, either version, although I preferred the Hollywood to Swedish. I hated Greenberg, Leaves of Grass (and I adore Norton usually but this film felt like a joke), and Mother.
Three movies I've adored and not on your list are Carlos, North Face (I have to watch a lot of movies on Netflix as I live in a place where movies fear to come, so perhaps these are dated) and Never Forever. I also would recommend, overriding your animosity for this film, Repo Men. I'm not even going to try to explain why I loved this film--despite the violence--but perhaps I'm in an anti-corporation fit these days and the film realistically depicted the future of our health care system.
I Am Love is now a Netflix instant viewing, so I will watch it this weekend. Haven't yet made it to Secretariat or Social Connection.
I was just reading Ebert's review of Avatar and noticed that Rober wrote, "(the blue aliens) survive on this planet by knowing it well, living in harmony with nature, and being wise about the creatures they share with. In this and countless other ways they resemble Native Americans. Like them, they tame another species to carry them around--not horses, but graceful flying dragon-like creatures".
Horses are indeed native to North America, but they were extinct (there were none here anywhere in the new world when Westerners arrived) and had been extinct for around 10,000 years in the Americas. It's believed the 'wise' Natives hunted them to extinction. The picture of 'Indians in perfect harmony with the horse' is at least partly due to Western settlers reintroducing them to the new world.
Always here to help.
I saw Ken Russell's "Tommy" in a revival theater last night. It was one film that I definitely wanted to see some day on the big screen. I thought that it would only do it justice that way, having previously seen it jus on TV a few times.
Indeed, that was the case. While most films I actually prefer watching at home, and usually find that the big screen doesn't necessarily add that much -- I think "Tommy" is magnitudes better in a theater. On the small screen, the singing sounds canned to me, and the music seems somewhat disconnected from the action -- but on the big screen it all works beautifully.
And as much as I've heard some put-downs of Oliver Reed, mainly because he isn't much of a true singer -- I think he is really the connective tissue that holds it all together. Sure, his singing isn't good in a technical sense, but it fits his character -- since he is a cheesy, somewhat third-rate guy. While his performance is broad, it's exactly what is called for -- because the acting does require silent screen-type emoting to go with the absence of dialogue (and to be able to express his character when someone else is singing, too).
I think Reed is great here -- at one point he makes a grimace that is priceless -- I swear he looks just like the animated Grinch in this one moment. I think the point is that Reed shines in his acting...he's not there for singing anyway -- no more than Nicholson is. But people seem to cut Jack more slack -- maybe because he's considered a "cool" actor to like, unlike Reed (that was the sense I got when I'd hear people at the time "Tommy" was released praise Jack, and dismiss Oliver Reed.)
In any case, now having seen it on the big screen, I think "Tommy" is a great film. In comparison, I saw Alan Parker's "The Wall" (one of Roger's Great Movies) last year, and didn't think it is on the level of "Tommy." Another viewing might convince me otherwise, but I don't especially want to see "The Wall" again, particularly because there is a scene where a skinhead starts raping a girl in a taxi. As I wrote in my comment under the "Two Thumbs Down" thread ... I avoid those scenes now ever since a woman close to me told me about her brutal rape. Like I said in that comment, those scenes always bothered me, but now that I have had such a think happen on a personal level, I just can't watch anything about rape anymore. I don't think I could watch "Ugetsu" again, or "Rashomon" for that matter -- no matter how implied the violation is depicted in those films.
A lot of crap in this list. The movies that haven been worth watching this year are just a few. But they are amazingly good!
The Social Network
Inception
The Ghost Writer
Toy Story 3
Actually, no newcomer in this list, just directors that have been shown in the past how talented they are: Fincher, Nolan, Polanski and Pixar's people. I hope the next Coen Brother flick will be as great as these films. The True Grit trailer sounds very promising!
In his recent 3 star review of Outside the Law, Roger writes, "(outside the law) assumes in a straightforward manner that the National Liberation Front's attempts to throw the French out of Algeria were directly comparable to the attempts of the French Resistance to throw the Nazis out of France. . . as attitudes about colonialism shift, this view is gradually becoming more accepted".
I'd be curious to know the authors view of French efforts to throw Algerians out of France?
Roger I love your reviews and have fond memories of At The Movies, which turned me into the movie fan that I am. Best wishes for the new year and towards your good health.
I haven't seen many good movies this year: 2010, and wondered if you ever think that certain years weren't very good years in film, compared to other years, or if you just looks forward to seeing a new film, and find the quest is the gist of it all. For me it seems that there are fewer films made for adults, and the film industry churns out more blockbusters, super heroes, teen film without merit, and formula--not that I'm above any of that. It certainly makes one happy to find a gem among the all the others. Thanks for trying to point us in that direction.
Dear Mr. Ebert,
I agree in general with your ratings/reviews but there just 3 from this list (viewed on 29/11/2010) from whome I think do not belong there:
1. Salt ????
Did you actually see this movie? Was there any action-scene in here that wasn't stolen from either Bourne or Matrix?
What's with the storyline? Everyone's a double agent... is he good? oh no, Bad... oh no, he is good but pretends to be bad... AAAaahhh !!
2. The american ??
I can agree to some level about the "zen" type feel of this movie, but what a snoozefest !! They should fire anyone that was responsible for it's marketing because anyone who saw the trailers for this movie thought about a Bourne type movie. We were however intrigued about the many superfluous nude scenes in this one. : Scene => Hi, I'm Sophie (forgot the real name)... and cue sex scene for 10 minutes...
Not my cup of tea...
3. The road ??
They should have named it "the neverending road"... at least with that we'd get a fair warning about what we're getting ourselves into. What actually happens in this movie except a who dies and leaves them with total stranges. He could have done that in the beginning of the movie and save us 2 hours of our life!!
I'd rather watch The Book of Eli once more, if I want to enjoy a good post apocalypse movie.
Feel free to comment.
Best regards,
raf
Mr Ebert's 4 star review of 'Blue Collar' was recently featured on one of the main pages. In it Roger writes,
"unions and management tacitly collaborate on trying to set the rich against the poor, the black against the white, the old against the young, to divide and conquer".
This may be true. Workers at the Tappan Appliance plant in Mansfield, Oh, believed it to be true. Their union representative told them to vote yes on a new employment contract. Said it was the best deal they could get. Workers felt their rep was in bed with management, and so voted no. The plant closed. This was in 1985, a few years after this movie came out. Are there any appliances made in the USA now? Even one, somewhere?
There was a lot to question in the review about Mr. Ebert views of workers and management and I would imagine about his views on strikes (which I would guess are also pretty much mainstream views) but I really don't have anything else to say.
I will say when Mr. Ebert wrote, "It took a lot of courage to make Blue Collar" it did force a chuckle out of my throat.
Well, maybe it is true? Leftists have been bravely getting to the 'hidden truth' for 50 years now. Adversity is no obstacle!
I saw Anthony Asquith's "The Browning Version" with Michael Redgrave a few weeks ago. That's a great one.
Also saw Anthony Mann's "The Tin Star" with Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins. I think that it's underrated and unfairly in the shadow of Mann's westerns with James Stewart. Actually, I like it better than those, with the exception of "Man from Laramie." Also, I think it is interesting to compare with Budd Boetticher's films with Randolph Scott, that he filmed in mostly in town settings -- "Decision at Sundown" and "Buchanan Rides Alone." While I consider "Ride Lonesome" and "Seven Men from Now" among the best westerns ever -- I found that the others I mentioned suffered from being confined mainly to western backlots and soundstages. This made their low budgets a little too obvious. "Decision at Sundown" especially looks like a TV episode. In contrast, Mann's film, while also confined mostly to a town setting -- seems far more accomplished. It's when Boetticher set his films in landscapes, where it's just about three or four characters -- that he was able to use the widescreen to make something low budget seem downright magnificent.
I also saw Howard Hawks' "Rio Lobo" with John Wayne. I think that one is definitely underrated. While it's considered a reworking of "Rio Bravo," as was "El Dorado" -- it's only in the last part of the film that it follows "Rio Bravo" -- but really as a clever variation of RB's finale. But "Rio Lobo" stands on its own as a solid western (Haven't seen "El Dorado" yet). C'mon --- "Rio Lobo" is a Hawks technicolor western with John Wayne, Jack Elam -- and a young, gorgeous Jennifer O'Neill (not to mention Sherry Lansing when she was a hot starlet). What more can you ask from a movie?
Just saw Zhang Yimou's "Raise the Red Lantern." Excellent film! You are right on in calling that one a great movie. One of the very best of the past twenty years (I'd add that America has contributed very few films even approaching that level).
Mr. Roger Ebert, although I am an avid reader of your reviews and agree primarily with most of them, I find great dismay in your review of Diary of a Wimpy kid. I felt this film left a far too radical vision of teenagers and the middle school experience and left loopholes beyond measure. It did not do the books justice and felt almost a chore to sit through. I find that I rarely disagree with your reviews but I believe that this specific one was incorrectly displayed if I may be so bold.
Just a mistake in the "recent Two Thumbs Up reviews" -the description lists it as the harrowning true story of JAMES FRANCO, I think it's supposed to be the actual rock climber's name there...
"127 Hours" (R, 93 minutes). The harrowing true story of James Franco, a rock climber whose arm was pinned to a Utah canyon wall by a boulder.
Roger, I always loved your show and appreciate the fact you are still writing reviews. It takes a great talent like yours to sift through the sad state of affairs within today's writers, or is it the directors and producers who interfere with great writers.?
Regardless, you always find the gems. I took note of your entire list.
Alan
This week I'm reading The Element, by Sir Ken Robinson. It's about finding that thing in your life that makes you happy. Truth is, many of us (infact most of us) work our way through life not really knowing what we are supposed to be doing. Most of us are bored in our jobs but stick with them due to financial constrictions (usually put in place by ourselves lol), but it doesn't always have to be that way.
http://www.stephenwelby.com/?p=64
Being a writer myself, I found "Ghost Writer" a compelling tale- a modern beating of "The Tell Tale Heart" of sorts come out of the archetypal artists psyche to haunt. I am sure there are other writers out there on this blog, but to me the entire infrastructure of the film seemed to be an indepth metaphor, of one of my greatest fears. Selling myself out for another's ideological purposes, and then having to face the erosion that is sure to occur in my own life and mind-ultimately bringing about destruction. Although it had a detailed exterior plot, it reminded me a bit of a movie from long a go called "Barton Fink", or even "Shutter Island" where the audience is not sure truth from reality and thus interjects their own psychology int the film to fill the gaps. But, in the case of "Ghost Writer" this probably more a case of my own projection onto a situation that gives me the creeps. Ah...never to Ghost Write....And Ewen McGregor is never tiring to watch...he is one complex actor who always seems to pick the best gigs to be in...
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Roger Ebert ...
Sir, always a pleasure to read your reviews and recommendations.
Years ago I was fortunate to take some Film Courses at University, including a Semester with Hitchcock. Got to view and study about 15 or so of his major works, and we even spent an entire week breaking down the "Shower Scene" frame by frame (using Rothman's book "Murderous Gaze" among others).
Those Classes, by cultivating my palate, forever changed how I "see" Movies. And with my "elevated taste buds" am especially grateful for someone of your expertise to help filter the shat from the shineola (so to speak) - since, as you've pointed out often, Life and Time are limited, so why waste 2 hours we'll never get back.
Can never thank you (and Siskel, RIP) enough for giving us a "map" of which paths are worthy of our time for exploration. (should I mix in a few more metaphors ;-)
Now - and don't believe I'm telling any tales out of school - in recent years we've had the Internet with its ability to "share" and I've taken full advantage by finding *almost all* of your list of "300 Greatest Movies." Yes, a few are fairly obscure but maybe I'll get lucky (and even get the proper subtitles, in sync, with coherent English translations). What I find most interesting, and hope it makes your heart soar like the eagle - so many others around the World know the Great Movies, and are making them available TO share. Otherwise, for "an average American schmoe" like me, is very difficult to find those fine Euro/Asian Films via the "traditional channels."
It's one helluva list, and should provide years of viewing pleasure - Thanks.
But, also, thank you for this list of "recents." Truly appreciate your continuing "maps" to help guide us into the Future.
Thanks Again
BC Kelly
Tally Fla
p.s.
Still working my way through all the worthy 2010 offerings - dunno, but so far, seems tough for any of them to be *better* than Winter's Bone.
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The idea that Black Swan and The Karate Kid (2010) share three and a half stars is mind-boggling to me. Karate Kid was an awful mess of a movie, mainly due to the poor casting of Jaden Smith (I wonder who had a hand in that). Totally ruined what could've been a excellent re-make.
My wife and I saw in 2009 (I think) what we considered to be a well done and outstanding science fiction/thriller movie, but for the life of me I cannot remember it's title. Will you give me it's title (presuming you remember it).
The storyline: Two men wake up in a rocket ship; they do not remember why they are on it; they do not remember the ship's destination, nor do they remember their mission.
They think they are alone because they hear no noise, As they explore the ship, they find other men and women encased as they were, but the glass seal had been broken and all of them were dead. Then the two men began to hear noises--not machine noises, but noises that said they should fear whatever was making the noises.
The film was in black and white, which heightened the tension, and it has been many years since I saw such effective use of shadows.
Please e-mail the movie's title if you remember it.
Thank you for the many years of entertainment, and articulate reviews.
If that doesn't get the creative juices flowing, I don't know what will.
Hello Ebert,
In your "Social Network" review you mentioned that there are child prodigies in only 3 areas: math, music and chess -- computer programming falls under math FYI. Computer Programming is a branch of Dept. of Mathematics. Now you know.
I've another request for you. In Japanese movies, in great movies, you've Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu, Hiroshi Teshigahara and Kobayashi movies.
How did you miss Mikio Naruse? Check this page from Harvard University. http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/films/2005fall/naruse.html
Aloha
A shutout at the Oscars for the "American" - why is this? I would have included it for Best Picture, Best Actor or at least Foreign Film.
Your sits has been rejecting my comments (it doesn't accept my answers to the "type the letters you see" thing).
On the off-chance that this makes it, I must say: Hailee Steinfeld is not a "supporting" actress. She was the lead actress in that film, and indeed was the film's central character. She was in every scene, she was the driving force behind the story.
I hope she wins because that's a nice start to a career and because it was extraordinary to watch her.
But.....I think they need to mess with their definitions of lead and supporting a bit!
-Nighthawk
I didn't really like Hereafter. I thought the cgi at the beginning was terrible and that the little boy was a horrible actor who made the film hard to take seriously.
More could've happened in the sense of "Crash", as far as character development went. But, it didn't feel like anything had really been accomplished in the end. It especially seemed like a waste of time for the little boy who finally gets to talk to his dead brother who ends up being a jerk in the afterlife, when earlier in the film when he's alive he's really nice and looks after his brother generously. It was just too big of a character shift for me and seemed messy.
All those aspects really messed the film up and made it a waste of time.
It really didn't even make my top 10 list.
I agree with most of the others, though. And I still think Scott Pilgrim should've made the list :)
It was very stlyish and I was really impressed with the editing and visual effects. Surprised it wasn't up for an Oscar...sadly Alice in Wonderland--which is a much lesser film in terms of entertainment and purpose, in my opinion-- took its spot for lesser visual quality and a worse story.
Anyway, rants over. Good list :)
PS- didn't see Kings Speech either! Definitely my favorite film of the year, hands down.
I believe your Great Movies archive and reviews is a great gift and a resource that likely time and again will enrich my movie - and life - experience.
Best,
Scott
Roger,
I just read your most recent Great Movie note on The Circus, and your further comments on Chaplin.
There are plenty of great artists that we'd not like to have dinner with. In film Hitchcock, Welles, even Bergmann and Fellini might not meet our criteria for nice guys. Lord knows Scorcese, tho now a grand eminence, has had his days.
I've blogged before about the ending of City Lights, which I see as highly ambiguous, and moving because of its ambiguity, and what the Girl is really thinking. Maybe the flower girl couldn't act, or maybe I'm reading into it something that isn't there, but isn't it a bit like the ending of Limelight? So near and yet so far.
PS the new show is off to a great start. Congrats.
Hi Roger!
I've never commented on a post before but I feel I owe you one. I log on to your website every week to check out the new flicks and what you thought. I can sit for hours and read old movie reviews on movies that I loved...just to see what you thought and if we agree. (hehehe...we ususally do) I just wanted to thank you for always being so direct, eloquent, fiesty, and unafraid to tell it like it is. I love to read everything on your website no matter what it is. You have a writing style that I greatly admire. My favorites so far this year...The Black Swan (blew me away..WOW!!), Secretariat (actually felt my heart swell with that one), and Let me in (fantastic...just really cool). Cant wait to watch more on your list!!!
Thanks again Roger. Be well, have courage, and never stop writing.
Kim
Correction, in "Kids Are Alright" the kids are not twenty-something. Maybe the actors are, but in the story the girl is 18 and the boy is 15.
The King's Speech was a very realistic demonstration of not only two people, both very intelligent becoming unlikely friends, but of how genius and life experience can unknowingly birth great knowledge and transformation. The "doctor's" work was highly experimental, and one cannot help having the feeling that he was winging things on the fly, to adapt to the changing circumstances and reaction of the King-brilliant. And, despite the great historical events unfolding, the film to me revealed, especially during the last speech, that the family legacy, personal pain and his own insecurities were the greatest driving force and influence over his experiences. It showed the psychological power that our own damaged pasts can have on even the greatest souls. Even more, the connection between the two men transcended, and was more powerful to them, than the impending war. They both had a great catharsis-the doctor who was always uncertain of his own practices, and the King who was able to walk out of the many shadows into his own form.
You lost me at "Date Night", the entire strip joint scene basically ruined the movie.
In the past, when people ask you why "you only gave ____" 2 or 3 or whatever "stars" you responded with... well, they are only stars. Yet I find this answer somewhat disingenuous. For you are able, and regularly make the point to, not only discern the difference between stars but also between half-stars. Employing half-stars actually provides you with an eight point rating system, which you would have to admit is getting pretty specific for a system that is just... you know... "whatever...".
The reason I ask this is because you have given two particular movies 3 1/2 stars, or 7/8 - True Grit and Poetry. These attract my attention because they both received very favourable reviews, the former you suggested possibly being an oscar dark horse. That provides the star system you use with even more weight within context of the corresponding review. The question is begged - why did he go out of his way to give a great review and then deduct a point?
The real reason I ask this is because you appear reluctant to include in your reviews your reasoning for a diminished rating, in contrast to reviews of 1, 2, or even 3 star movies, where the criticism tends to be front and center.
Your reviews have potential to become more reflective and insightful by your willingness to engage the reader in your reasoning as why a movie made such a favourable impression on you, and yet.... Your reluctance to do so suggests you take the "stars" more seriously than your review - for, in the instances I mention above, you use the stars, rather than your review, to speak for you. And then you shrug when readers notice the importance you put on "stars".
Of course, there is the possibility that reviewers confront "that which cannot be expressed" - an intuition that is felt rather than understood cognitively. Giving a half-star to a strong review perhaps expresses that with an economy and accuracy that a few more rambling and subjective paragraphs in the review could not.
Best,
Scott
Ebert: Just pretend the stars aren't there. Everything I have to say is said in the review.
Ebert: Just pretend the stars aren't there. Everything I have to say is said in the review.
See.. you did it again: you shrugged.
Of course, I meant 9 point system.
I'll take your advice but c'mon, why mess with people's heads?
Say, how about those Muslims in the ME, eh? C ya Muammar, ya freak!
Best,
Scott
I can't believe SALT got four stars! Did you really watch the whole film? This has to be a mistake.
If you watch a film like SALT to see a hot woman in a hot outfit kick ass with great special effects - which most of us do - this story has the potential but the film falls flat. This could have rivaled Tomb Raider - but fails completely.
SALT is more like a bad spoof of formulaic thrillers, designed to make fun of the genre.
What could have been a decent, if predictable adventure flick. sinks progressively into the ridiculous with an entire cast of unsympathetic characters.
A real groaner.
I agree with Just Ali about "Salt." I wanted to like it, since Angelina Jolie can do the female super spy thing better than almost anyone and works really hard to make it work. But I couldn't get past the bad Cold War Russian stereotypes, or the premise that America has been infiltrated with untold numbers of sleeper agents bent on starting WWIII. That sort of paranoid thinking was at the heart of McCarthyism in the 1950s, and just substitute Muslims for Russians, and you can see where the same sort of thing is heading today.
Being on a writing sabbatical, fleeing the world of science to cultivate my own novel, I find myself looking towards certain movies and books for a heightened, creative expression of life and experiences to provoke thought. It seems, (thank god) sometimes we cannot escape life through art as proven by the movie "Blue Valentine". I recently saw this film, and I was quite taken with the starkness of the relationship. It seems for many in marriage and love, even the ordinary days become more dangerous and tricky before it is obvious what has overcome a once hopeful outlook. Cindy's gestures, from drinking out of her water bottle, to driving, to cleaning the dishes seem to be motivated by an acute nervousness as if she was wielding a sharp blade between her fingers, trying not to be cut. It is these subtle actions from the film, that took it away from being another exaggerated, but perhaps still poignant and powerful love story, to one of such a raw nature that it did not comfortably separate the audience from the progressive descent of two tiring hearts and minds. Very real.
Just saw "The Kids Are All Right"--very good one, as you indicated--great performances, honest, revealing and no sugar coated ending. Poor Dad, sharing the fate of millions of fathers, many of whom contribute a lot more than sperm count. Not fair, not nice, but then, that's life, or, at least life as we live it today.
Yeah, Dad blew it, but then, so did "Mom." However, because she's the "Mom", she's making her way back into the family fold with kids and partner. No such luck for Dad. He's just...gone; trash-canned. What a statement!
Is anybody else having problems with viewing this site on their Blackberry? Either way, I've got my eyes on watching The King's Speech. All this hype and awards made me more intrigued to watch it.
Your review of Forks OVer Knives follows a very common trend re the "debate" that favours veg over meat. My 2cents:
- Good points are made re the knuckleheaded addictions to fat, salt and sugar (the staples of fast/processed food industry). however, you follow the assumption that less is more. and if one is overweight and otherwise messed up because of how they eat, then yes, less is more and they will see improvements in these areas when they simply eat less. however, sometimes more is more - as in: regular strenuous physical activity (to mimic your review - oh oh, better stop reading here if you dont want to do something about it... oh wait, you did do something about: you leaped to a conclusion). most people would rather not do something than do something if the end is a positive result. i eat meat and eggs on a regular basis. i also workout very intensely on a regular basis. i have absolutely no problems with energy, weight etc and the blood levels from annual physicals come back very positive. doctors comment on the strength of my heart. sound familiar? the diets of old country farmers tended to have breakfast of bacon or sausages, eggs, and bread dipped in bacon fat. every morning. the reason they didnt keel over from their arteries etc is because they used that food for fuel. they didnt go and sit for 16 hours until they laid down for 8 more. does that sound familiar? anyway, your review and i guess the movie, contributes to the myths perpetuated mainly by those who frankly would not care to do a push-up once in a while thank you and then blame the problem on protein. please, at least be aware of your bias so you can make a more coherent argument.
- also, a common criticism of eating meat is the amount of crap added at the growing end. this is very true and worth stating. however, where do you get the idea that veggies and fruits are chemical free? i am sure you had pesticides in your fat deposits that were decades old.
Best,
Scott
I am glad he liked unstoppable. It had some good acting with Denzel and a newcomer that looks promising. A runaway train movie that had more than the usual suspense.
Fantastic...almost a list of the films I loved or wish that I had managed to see. Will bookmark it and see how many I can get through in the next couple of months.
There are a lot of good movies in this line up, but I really enjoyed The Ghost Writer. I liked the flow, feel and simplicity of the film, and I think that Polanski is one of the best geniuses of our time in this medium.
stop redirects
I appreciate Mr. Ebert's reviews very much. We liked The Kids Are All Right better than 3.5 stars (4.5 stars out of 5), but disliked Flipped because the "alternate views" scenes were so annoying. I felt those spoke to a lack of imagination and inept writing, and the time could have been used for better character development. It felt like Reiner was padding the film to get to 90 minutes. I also was disappointed in Morning Glory - it was a good story with very competent actors, but dragged badly in spots and was therefore very frustrating. The King's Speech was interesting and well-done. I myself wish the cursing had been left out. I have difficulty believing the King really did that, and a better writer would not have needed it to convey the feelings. Finally, lately I have been watching re-runs of Fraiser on TV and laughing out loud, it is so very clever and well done by the actors. How is it that level of pure comedy with literary allusions is so lacking these days? Maybe I date myself, but I miss the really educated writers of the past. We lack a certain civility, I feel... .
Thanks so much for this help finding movies to see.
I have to say that 'The kids are all right' was a bit of a disappointment for me. The Kings Speech was, on the other hand, a total surprise. I didn't expect it to be that good at all.
Great reviews overall!
Jack,
I was pretty surprised with the Kings Speech as well. My girlfriend sat me down and forced me to watch it. It was superb. As an Aussie I was really glad to hear that they had hired real Australian actors which made their accents far more natural.
Top movie all round.
Cheers,
Don.
Roger,
I was really loving Moneyball until the moment when the movie undermined its entire premise. Brad Pitt's character makes a key decision that leads to the team winning based on gut instinct rather than the cool numbers-driven calculations he was arguing for. In such an intelligent movie, this breakdown in logic spoiled things for me. Especially since he could have made the same decision studying spreadsheets on the computer instead of doing donuts in an empty parking lot and looking off into the sunset.
Keith
Was it MOON? Very weird and amazing film.