easy a

I wanted to really really love this movie but I had too many nagging doubts. why would such an intelligent girl have such an idiotic 'best friend'? are any parents on earth really that cool? and is the whole scarlet letter tie-in meaningful in any way? nonetheless, Emma Stone is sassy and the story moves so quickly it doesn't leave you with enough time to ponder these inconsistencies for any distracting length of time. and I admit I kind of felt myself falling for lonely boy. in a if-I-were-16-again kind of way.

the town

if you go in expecting even a fraction of the entertainment Affleck delivered in Gone Baby Gone you'll be disappointed, but standing alone this is a solid entry into the gritty heist romance gangster genre. Ben does a pretty good job of directing himself and an even better one of directing Jeremy Renner, who seems consistently outstanding these days. Chris Cooper is brilliant as always, but the charms of Rebecca Hall escape me.

animal kingdom

I'm going to call this one the best movie of the year so far. in spite of the violence, it finds the perfect balance between action and character tossed with a little suspense, two completely shocking moments, and a healthy dose of horrified fascination. it's Australian.

solitary man

I started watching this at the Angelika in NY in May and just finished it on my computer in San Diego, so something may have been lost along the way. Michael Douglas excellently portrayed a sleazeball with a good reason, Susan Sarandon was charming as always, Jessie Eisenberg strayed not one iota from the character he always plays, and Mary Louise Parker took her Weeds character to the big screen. It just didn't add up to anything emotionally striking. By the end, I was bored.

greenberg

considering the pedigree (Noah Baumbach, Jennifer Jason Leigh) I really wanted to like this movie, but it just kind of dragged on in an annoying way until it ended just as uneventfully as it began. Ben Stiller is an expert moper, but it doesn't carry a film.

the back-up plan

come on Lopez. you had twins, you know what it's like! it's nothing like the idyllic, just slightly uncomfortable pregnancy you winkingly portray in this fairy tale about a woman who wants and gets it all. you're cute but I'm still disappointed. and I really didn't need to see another movie mocking advocates of natural childbirth and breastfeeding. they're just not that funny.

kick-ass

another comic book movie with too much action and violence and not enough personality. there's no doubt about the charms of young Hitgirl but the amusingness stops there. superheroes, fake superheroes, wannabe superheroes, really cool assassins, people fighting each other: I'm kind of over all of you.

the last song

I've only recently discovered the pleasures of Nicolas Sparks' melodramas with pretty teenagers and tragic events. Miley Cyrus is a cute rebel with a heart of gold and Greg Kinnear is an utterly earnest father in this movie that I could not conscionably recommend. but that won't stop me from watching the next one.

the ghostwriter

I liked this little thriller about a corrupt british politician and a low-key writer but, in the end, I thought maybe I missed something: the ultimate revelation seemed neither particularly shocking nor significant. I enjoyed the ride though.

winter's bone

this story of a poor isolated teenager struggling to find her father before his failure to appear in court causes the utter destruction of her family's life is grim. chilling. unnerving. disgusting. engaging, but not necessarily worth it.

the kids are all right

with few exceptions, any movie starring Julianne Moore is alright, and any movie starring Julianne Moore as a hot hippie lesbian is more than alright. thoroughly enjoyable, with predictable plot twist and resolution, and a glimpse into middle class marital problems so earthily glamorous you feel like you'd be lucky to have them.

inception

thank you Christopher Nolan for making an original movie that's deep but not too deep, just a little bit annoying, and features the lovely and talented Ellen Page, not to mention Marion Cotillard and studly Tom Hardy. this is the perfect summer movie.

babies

it's a shame Balmes didn't get an editor that could have turned this charming panorama into something meaningful. I mean, babies are cute and all but I could have witnessed a lot more cuteness staying at home. that said, the interaction between animals and babies was fairly breathtaking, and I saw one of my babies attentively watch a film for the first time, so maybe that's the real target audience.

date night

I'm a fan of neither Tina Fey nor Steve Carell but I still got a few smiles out of this little comedy. unfortunately I saw the movie over a month ago and its so insubstantial that none of the parts I liked stuck. oh well.

the runaways

so much better to see Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett than as Bella - it reminded me she could actually act. Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie discovering her sexual power and losing herself because of it was pretty convincing. also, I love Michael Shannon. overall, a pretty satisfying rock and roll movie experience.

pontypool

movie about three people in a radio station in remote rural Ontario reporting strange events outside...until they come inside. it's a slightly original idea and Stephen McHattie is great as a grizzled radio host whose prospects have sunk. worth a watch, especially for fans of zombie movies and Canadian cinema.

runaway train

somehow I missed this one in the eighties - Kurosawa script about two convicts (Jon Voight and Eric Roberts) on a runaway train - suspense! drama! the music is dated and it's one of those movies that's been copied so many times it doesn't feel fresh even though it was original at the time - but it's still good.

bright star

although I've always loved Jane Campion, unfortunately this movie is just dull.