crazy heart

good performances in this slow and ultimately not particularly meaningful or dramatic drama but I enjoyed the music.

shutter island

a lot of gore and melodrama for a meagre pay-off - an implausible twist ending. nothing new here.

a single man

stunningly set in the 60s, this day in the life of a professor mourning his lover seems to get everything right. Julianne Moore is glorious as his best friend.

amreeka

this Palestinian coming to America story deals a little too lightly with some serious problems but it's engaging and takes place in great part at white castle, which always adds some class to a movie.

valentine's day

since this is an ensemble/many story piece, I tried to think of the best one...and couldn't. they're just all bad. the gay story did raise a slight smile, which is a heavy price to pay for a movie that's over 2 hours long.

dear john

the hurt locker meets the notebook meets the other sister. Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum are both lovely but wow this is hardcore Holllywood goo.

cold souls

original script about Paul Giamatti putting his soul in storage for the sake of a play and ending up butting up against Russian soul traffickers.

up

I resisted watching this, as I do all cartoons, but because it made the top 10 Oscar list I gave in, to find that it was charming and heart-warming and has the best full relationship montage I've ever seen.

it's complicated

sexy swinging sixty-year olds with dating issues. I liked it.

big fan

this is a great character study of just how far an obsessive New York Giants fan will go to see his team win. one of those totally satisfying, small movies.