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.

the invention of lying

not up to Gervais' usual quality but full of amusing cameos that kept me going through the weak plotline.

cop out

a very silly buddy cop movie that never finds its tone and has about 2.5 laughs.

alice in wonderland

the movie is lovely but the story is insubstantial. of course, it's hard to imagine any script that could even come close to the book. Johnny Depp mumbles a lot but Helena Bonham Carter pulls off the Red Queen beautifully.

the last station

starts promising with James McAvoy as a young ingenue ready to assist and worship Tolstoy and the conniving Paul Giamatti sporting a spiffy moustache but deteriorates into marital melodrama.

the damned united

excellent true story about an egomaniac who lets one brush-off guide the rest of his life, for the better and worse of all of English football.