A group of London teens find themselves in the middle of an alien invasion and fight to defend their tower block from some evil extraterrestrials.

For months I have been hearing a lot about Attack the Block. The mash up descriptions have been amusing: The Goonies meets The Wire. Shaun of the Dead meets District 9. (My friend who attended the screening with me last night said Boyz n the Hood meets Cloverfield.) So what exactly is Attack the Block? It is an often hilarious, occasionally touching and–most excitingly–wholly original alien invasion story.

I’m hesitant to divulge too much of the films’ finer points, as it’s best to see this movie as fresh as possible. I’m not sure what the distribution plan is for the U.S., but I guarantee you will be hearing about Attack the Block for months to come.

A drag race turns to tragedy when one car, with three young women inside, topples over a bridge and into the muddy river below. The authorities drag the river, but the search is fruitless and the girls are presumed dead until a single survivor stumbles out of the water with no recollection of how she escaped.

Carnival of Souls was a bore to watch. With a very short runtime of seventy-eight minutes, I couldn’t believe how eager I was for it to be over. Perhaps the best thing I can tell you about Carnival of Souls is that the director’s name is Herk Harvey and one actor’s name in the film is Larry Sneegas.

A plastic surgeon becomes obsessed with making things right after his daughter Christiane’s face is terribly disfigured in a car accident that he caused. Overcome with guilt, Dr. Genessier and his vicious nurse concoct a plan to give Christiane her face back by kidnapping young girls and removing their faces– and then grafting them onto Christiane’s.

I was pleasantly surprised how effective this fifty-year-old horror film was. Without the benefits of being able to pause and rewind scenes (as well as watch at home) to notice the makeup and effects in certain shots, it must have been pretty frightening to see some of the more graphic scenes in Eyes Without A Face. The theme by Maurice Jarre is so similar to Luciano Michelini’s for Curb Your Enthusiasm that I couldn’t help but be taken out of the movie every now and then. Regardless, this slow but entertaining, fairty tale-esque dark film makes me glad to have my own face.

A parking garage attendant and lifelong New York Giants fan finds his life spinning out of control following an altercation with his favorite football player.

Big Fan offers very little into the psyche of an obsessive sports fan. Director Robert Siegel (who wrote this as well as Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler) shows little respect for his characters, thus making it difficult to get behind anyone. It seemed to me that Patton Oswalt’s Paul is meant to be looked at as pathetic, which I take no issue with– it’s the fact that not a single person in the film is treated any better that makes Big Fan hard to enjoy.

An Ivy League classics professor becomes mixed up in his lawless identical twin’s drug dealings after receiving word that his brother has been murdered, and returning to Oklahoma to discover he’s been hoodwinked.

Leaves of Grass is a film full of very talented actors. Edward Norton is excellent as usual, playing twin brothers. Tim Blake Nelson (who also directed), Susan Sarandon and Richard Dreyfuss all make good contributions as well. It is unfortunate, then, that the film is such a mess. It’s jarring tonal shifts is one thing, but the fact that Leaves of Grass doesn’t have any consistency from scene to scene means either Nelson couldn’t make sense of the screenplay he wrote or he isn’t very good behind the camera.

[Side note: is Steve Earle obligated to have his songs play over credits in every film or show he acts in?]

After years of dating white women, an unconventional “brotha” vows to try his luck with some “sistahs” of his own race. But when he falls for a self-described “half-Rican Canadian”, is it possible he’s found his soul mate?

I’m through with finding a description ridiculous enough to warrant sitting through an entire film like this.

Since the end of WWII, one copy of a 60-minute (unfinished) propaganda film, shot by the Nazis in May 1942 (a year prior to the uprising), labeled simply “Ghetto,” sat undisturbed in an East German archive.

A Film Unfinished shows the Nazi propaganda machine in full effect, as Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto are forced to participate in scenes creating a false history. Almost sixty years later, some of the Jews who experienced the horror are interviewed and view footage from the unfinished film as the reflection of the projected images appear on their faces. The haunting effect is one of the many things in A Film Unfinished that will likely stay with me for a long time.

It is one thing to watch horrific acts depicted in fiction. It’s another to see the real thing in a documentary. The bastardized blending of fiction into propaganda in A Film Unfinished is especially difficult to watch. One scene depicts Jews supposedly bustling along the street as their day would normally go when, in actuality, they are moving hurriedly because a gun was fired off screen to get them to move quickly. There are a lot of graphic scenes in the movie and I strongly urge caution before watching (though I do believe it is incredibly important for people to see). I’ve long been fascinated with what goes into making a film, but I wish could unsee what occurs in this particular documentary.

A bullied young boy befriends a young female vampire who lives in secrecy with her guardian.

Having loved the original Swedish film Let The Right One In, I brought a lot into seeing Let Me In. Comparisons would be inevitable and I grappled with considering some often asked questions in regards to remakes– is there a necessity to this film being made and does it add anything to the original?

If someone were to ask me which of the two films I’d recommend, I would say both, and that’s perhaps the biggest compliment I could give Let Me In. Then again, you could always go ahead and read the book on which both movies were based on.

The story of the period between two world wars–an interim during which insanity cut loose, liberty took a nose dive, and humanity was kicked around somewhat.

Over the course of the last six decades, the concept of physical comedy has de-evolved into gross gags that don’t require much imagination. One needs only to look back at Charlie Chaplin to see how physical comedy can be done successfully without having to offend for the sake of laugh.

The Great Dictator is more than just a showcase of Chaplin’s comedic talents– it is at turns a dramatic, romantic and political satire film. The frequent tonal shifts may turn some off, but I was pleased with how cohesive the whole movie felt. Gluing together everything are Chaplin’s two performances as Adenoid Hynkel and the Jewish Barber. Besides being a daring film to make in 1940, The Great Dictator stands as a great achievement in cinema that I take to be the highlight of Chaplin’s career.

The epic adventure spans the Marvel Universe from present day Earth to the mystical realm of Asgard. At the center of the story is The Mighty Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. As a result, Thor is banished to Earth where he is forced to live among humans. When the most dangerous villain of his world sends its darkest forces to invade Earth, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero.

When it was announced that Kenneth Branagh was to direct Thor, it seemed to be a perfect match of director and material. With his background as actor and director of many Shakespeare adaptations, Branagh would be able to get the best performances from his actors. Considering he’s never worked on a project with such a large budget and expectations, the only worrisome factors were whether or not he’d be able to handle the fight sequences and find a way to make the Asgard sequences and costumes not look cheesy. For the most part, he succeeds.

It’s frequently said that summer blockbusters should be mindless entertainment that allow the audiences to turn off their brain for two hours. On top of that sentiment being insulting to film viewers, it perpetuates the notion that there should be a four month lull of intelligent filmmaking. Thor challenges this idea by rooting the central conflict in Shakespearean themes. Though the film has an abundance of special FX shots and the origin tale of this nature has been done before, Thor is a step above the rest of its class by pushing what is to be expected of a comic book film.

A year with one platoon in the deadliest valley in Afghanistan.

Restrepo is an incredibly intimate portrayal of the Afghan war that, regardless of your thoughts on the subject, will likely move you in some fashion. Going into the film, I had no idea what I was in for. How all of this footage was shot is beyond me. In one scene, a soldier speaks of the psychological damage he and the members of his platoons have suffered, and how there aren’t sufficient studies done yet to help them. The looks on their faces are enough to fill you with dread.

An upper-class sextet sits down to dinner but never eats, their attempts continually thwarted by a vaudevillian mixture of events both actual and imagined.

Do you know those dreams you have in which you attempt to speak but can’t get out a word? For the rich folks in Luis Buñuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, their re-occurring nightmare is having society’s lower classes and issues get in the way of their cherished dinner parties. No stone is left unturned in Bourgeoisie, as everything from Vietnam to an odd bishop gets touched on. Though Buñuel is doing biting, humorous satire here, I found the surreal film to be occasionally bleak, especially with the lack of score. The nightmare he portrays is that of a class which freely dabbles in hypocrisy while never learning anything of consequence, nor having to deal with any sort of consequences.

A troubled actor, a television show runner, and an acclaimed videogame designer find their lives intertwining in mysterious and unsettling ways.

Movies that are intended to be interpreted and deal with “big ideas” are quite tricky to discuss. While it’s certainly preferable to see someone with a vision create something original as oppose to a retread on any number of genres and films, at what expense does it come?

The Nines did not work for me on virtually any level. I have no objection to admitting that I was l largely confused at times. Is there a larger meaning, some theme throughout that pulls everything together? Perhaps, but I didn’t find it. Even worse, I wasn’t entertained in the slightest. Intertwining stories can work (see Go), but often are lazy messes (see Crash–no, don’t actually see that film). The Nines also lacks a single sympathetic character, and that’s a problem for a movie like this. Of course, someone else may interpret that otherwise.

A semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun.

Featuring dazzling fight sequences, the semi-biographical Ip Man becomes a bit too over the top to be taken seriously. With shades of Seven Samurai, the high energy martial arts battles are much more interesting to watch than all of the conventional genre and well-worn territory scenes that pad out the film’s runtime. Donnie Yen performs well as the titular character, the very man who would go on to mentor Bruce Lee.

The Illusionist is one of a dying breed of stage entertainers. He is forced to accept increasingly obscure assignments in fringe theatres, at garden parties and in bars and cafés. Then, while performing in a village pub off the west coast of Scotland, he encounters Alice, an innocent young girl, who will change his life forever.

L’illusionniste is the type of silent film that requires you to pay close attention to the relationships and actions in order to make sense of it. Utilizing a controversial fifty-year-old screenplay by filmmaker Jacques Tati, L’illusionniste is another entertaining foray into hand-drawn animation by Sylvain Chomet. The director of The Triplets of Belleville adds his quirky vision to a story of an illusionist whose art form is on its last leg as rock’n'roll begins to grow in popularity with the masses.

An aspiring author Eddie Morra is suffering from chronic writer’s block, but his life changes instantly when an old friend introduces him to NZT, a revolutionary new pharmaceutical that allows him to tap his full potential. With every synapse crackling, Eddie can recall everything he has ever read, seen or heard, learn any language in a day, comprehend complex equations and beguile anyone he meets as long as he keeps taking the untested drug.

Narration is somewhat looked down upon in screenwriting. Like most forms of writing, the rule of “show, don’t tell” is fairly important in a screenplay. The narration in Limitless is one of the bigger abusers of the device I’ve seen, as no insight whatsoever is given from it. Furthermore, just because a film has a sci-fi bend doesn’t mean the audience needs their hand held throughout the runtime, especially when the material is as straightforward as it is here.

With the exception of one scene in which he elevates the material, Robert de Niro mostly sleepwalks through Limitless. Though the premise is intriguing, you’d likely have a longer discussion on Bradley Cooper’s wig from the first act than the content of the film.

A man and his friends come up with an intricate and original plan to destroy two big weapons manufacturers.

There is no one with a visual style like Jean-Pierre Jeunet. The director of Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children, and Amélie makes films that are a treat for the eyes, and Micmacs is no exception. Couple that with an absurdly clever script, Micmacs is the kind of fantasy revenge story that will have you smiling throughout the movie. The cast of oddities with their own individual special talents are a delight to watch, and so long as you can tolerate a bit of silliness, you’ll find yourself having a great time with Micmacs.

As the global economy teeters on the brink of disaster, a young Wall Street trader partners with disgraced former Wall Street corporate raider Gordon Gekko on a two-tiered mission: To alert the financial community to the coming doom, and to find out who was responsible for the death of the young trader’s mentor.

In a sea of endless sequels, remakes and reboots, Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps stands apart, as it had a good reason to be made. The stock market crisis of the late-2000s was ripe material to get Gordon Gekko back on the screen. This worthy follow up to the 1987 classic has its share of missteps (very long expositional scene of Gekko family drama, the ghost of a deceased character appearing), but it is still an entertaining film. One of the bigger things I can take away from Money Never Sleeps is that David Byrne’s music (which is all over the soundtrack) is meant for movie montages.

The story of a group of Norwegian film students that set out to capture real-life trolls on camera after learning their existence has been covered up for years by a government conspiracy.

At one point early on in The Troll Hunter, a character says “We are patiently waiting for something to happen.” Regardless if this was a wink at the audience or not, I certainly felt the same way. The film doesn’t add much to the shaky camera, found footage genre, and suffers most when attempting to be political. The troll CGI (that’s something you don’t say everyday) looks best in broad daylight but doesn’t fare as well when the cameraman has to turn on night-vision. For a low budget film, it’s still somewhat impressive, and makes me wish that the filmmakers took a different visual approach to the material.

A historical drama that illustrates Russian author Leo Tolstoy’s struggle to balance fame and wealth with his commitment to a life devoid of material things.

At times a bit too melodramatic for my taste, The Last Station is nevertheless a well-acted story about Leo Tolstoy’s last days. The highlights on the acting front are Christopher Plummer as the renowned writer and Helen Miren as his wife, Sofya. The Last Station is most interesting when dealing with the ideas of the author’s works and how it affects the people around him, including himself. I’m still grappling, though, with the decision to have all the actor’s speak in English accents as opposed to Russian.

As an assassin, Jack is constantly on the move and always alone. After a job in Sweden ends more harshly than expected for this American abroad, Jack retreats to the Italian countryside. He relishes being away from death for a spell as he holes up in a small medieval town. While there, Jack takes an assignment to construct a weapon for a mysterious contact.

Anton Corbijn is an exceptional photographer. His debut film Control was a beautifully shot biopic about Ian Curtis and Joy Division. The American is also a pleasure to look at, but it is awfully boring to watch. I’m not sure if it’s writer Rowan Joffé or author Martin Booth’s (whose book the movie is based on) fault, but they waited entirely too long to get the audience invested in the protagonist. Regardless, it is my hope that Corbijn can find the right material that doesn’t feel like such a chore.

Based on the novel by legendary pulp writer Jim Thompson, it’s the story of handsome, charming, unassuming small town sheriff’s deputy Lou Ford.

Casey Affleck superbly played a quiet man with an obsession in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Working in similar territory in the brutally violent The Killer Inside Me, he once again proves himself to be a very capable actor. With a voice that barely rises above a whisper, Affleck’s Lou Ford is quite frightening. Jessica Alba, on the other hand, continues to lessen the impact of every movie she appears in.

Despite having not read the 1952 novel the film is based on, I believe that the film sinks under the weight of its source material. There are wonderfully written scenes (some of which are absolutely horrifying to watch), but The Killer Inside Me may have fared better with more editing. Even still, it’s good enough to have me interested in reading the novel to see how the film fares in comparison.

A household pet goes on an adventure to discover its true self.

At times an examination of purpose and identity, the stunningly refreshing Rango is one of if not the most adult-oriented animated films to hit almost 4,000 theaters. Say what you will about director Gore Verbinski’s Pirates of the Caribbean films, but that franchise’s financial success allowed for an expensive miracle like this to be financed and released.

Featuring Hans Zimmer’s most inspired score in ages, this western was put together in an unconventional fashion: as oppose to having the actors just do their voice-over work, they got to act out their scenes on a stage and have industry magicians ILM record everything. In addition to a terrific script, I believe this process went a long way towards making the film so unique. Rango is also the first time in recent memory that an eccentric performance by Johnny Depp felt welcomed. Parents may want to think twice about taking the little ones.

It’s the eve of Christmas in northern Finland, and an ‘archeological’ dig has just unearthed the real Santa Claus. But this particular Santa isn’t the one you want coming to town.

Rare Exports feels like the work of a Finnish Steven Spielberg. With an overblown score lifted from any number of films in the 80s, this play on the myth of Santa is more homage than an original work. I appreciate what Jalmari Helander tried to do, but despite a few laughs and scares, Rare Exports doesn’t turn out to be worthy of the company of its influences.

The story of Robert, an inanimate tire that has been abandoned in the desert, and suddenly and inexplicably comes to life. As Robert roams the bleak landscape, he discovers that he possesses terrifying telepathic powers that give him the ability to destroy anything he wishes without having to move.

After reading the synopsis or watching a trailer, you have to know what you are getting into with a film like Rubber. Even still, with a run-time of just over eighty minutes, this exercise in meta manages to feel like an eternity.

Less of a movie and more of an experience, director Quentin Dupieux (who worked on the soundtrack with Justice’s Gaspard Auge) begins with a fourth wall breaking speech by Stephen Spirella’s Lieutenant Chad. Either you buy into his points about nonsense in cinema, or Rubber is going to be a terrible time for you. As a short film, it could have been terrific. Time will tell if this killer tire flick will end up as part of the art house midnight circuit (for which it seems intended).

Television reporter Angela Vidal and her cameraman are assigned to spend the night shift with a Los Angeles Fire Station. After a routine 911 call takes them to a small apartment building, they find police officers already on the scene in response to blood curdling screams coming from one of the apartment units. They soon learn that a woman living in the building has been infected by something unknown.

Having not seen Rec, the movie on which Quarantine is based, I can’t compare the remake to the original. On its own, Quarantine is an entertaining horror film with a few good scares, especially in its excellent third act. The biggest flaw of the movie are the logical lapses that take the viewer out of the tone that the first act establishes. From the beginning, the movie goes for a documentary feel, such as when the television cameraman will test volumes off-screen and the reporter will fumble her lines. Though I won’t bother getting into a dissection on the shaky camera approach (it’s been covered a lot, and particularly well here), I found the cameraman to be pretty inept at filming, even before the horror kicks in.

Quarantine is saved by its last half hour, a very well choreographed bunch of scenes in which the intensity keeps rising. The lack of score is very effective, and the infected are pretty frightening. Confined spaces can make for great horror, and Quarantine capitalizes on that with its claustrophobic feel.

After being betrayed and left for dead, members of a CIA black ops team root out those who targeted them for assassination.

Want to be a Loser? First, you have to refer to members of your team by nickname or badass last name (Roque, Clay, Pooch, and Cougar will suffice). Then, you’ll show that you’ve had a long history with your teammates by talking back and forth really, really fast, occasionally finishing each others sentences. Also, you’re going to want to be fairly annoying.

Want to be the writer for “The Losers”? Go ahead and throw in a team betrayal or two, have members in-fight and skip logic as often as possible. For example, if there are kill orders out against your character by various countries and terrorist factions, by all means have them meet someone out in broad daylight. If you’re the director, throw in slow motion shots of cockfights to establish a tongue-in-cheek tone but then go for every action cliche you can think of.

I take no issue with a film that doesn’t take itself seriously, but The Losers can’t decide what it wants to be (although if I owned the rights to The A-Team, I’d consider a lawsuit). Chris Evans shows a lot of charisma, but the rest of the team doesn’t fare so well. Idris Elba is better than this material, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan looks fairly bored throughout the film.

And then there’s Jason Patric.

In perhaps one of the worst action villains to ever grave the screen, Jason Patric is a complete bore as Max. Every time he appears on screen, the film screeches to a halt. Though the plot revolves around actions caused by his character, each Max scene feels as if it’s from a completely different movie. Perhaps Patric thought it’d be an interesting approach to play Max as the most humorless, uninteresting villain he could possibly be. If so, he succeeded.

Sylvian White may know how to shoot action, but he still hasn’t proven himself as a film director. For someone who has worked under Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze, that’s quite a shame.

The first film to provide a comprehensive analysis of the global financial crisis of 2008, which at a cost over $20 trillion, caused millions of people to lose their jobs and homes in the worst recession since the Great Depression, and nearly resulted in a global financial collapse.

The aptly titled Inside Job is a highly informative documentary that will make your blood boil. I found it occasionally difficult to keep track of all the numbers and statistics presented, but found a larger issue in the tone of the documentary. Director Charles Ferguson can be frequently heard asking questions off camera, and his bitter delivery as an interviewer detracts from the incredulous answers the various financial industry workers give. Their answers are shocking enough for the audience to understand that something is wrong, and Ferguson loses some of his integrity (despite showing a willingness to ask very pressing questions) as he shows his anger.

Inside Job is still worth seeing, as you will get a good sense of the global financial crisis. Hopefully next time Ferguson puts together a documentary, he can let someone else do the interviewing.

Adopted by his grandmother, Madame Souza, Champion is a lonely little boy. Noticing that the lad is never happier than on a bicycle, Madame Souza puts him through a rigorous training process. Years go by and Champion becomes worthy of his name. Now he is ready to enter the world-famous cycling race the Tour de France. However during this cycling contest, two mysterious men in black kidnap Champion. Madame Souza and her faithful dog Bruno set out to rescue him.

Virtually a silent film, The Triplets of Belleville features stunning animation and some truly original sequences. The opening musical number featuring the triplets lets the viewer know from the onset that this is not your average animated movie. Though the triplets disappear for a while, the relationship between Madame Souza and her grandson carry the film. Discussing Champion’s love for cycling or the triplets tapping away on anything for rhythm won’t do justice to Belleville. Note: you’ll likely want to bang on a pot or any household object after watching this film.

Three teenagers are confined to an isolated country estate that could very well be on another planet. The trio spend their days listening to endless homemade tapes that teach them a whole new vocabulary. Any word that comes from beyond their family abode is instantly assigned a new meaning.

What were to happen if a father decided to raise his kids as if they were an experiment? The twisted Dogtooth puts a family like that on display, but it doesn’t succumb to simply being exploitation. Sure, there are some fairly graphic and odd scenes, but considering the circumstances these teenagers are put in, it all falls into the realm of some type of possible reality. Dogtooth doesn’t speed along, but you may find yourself engrossed by this fucked up family. By the end, you might even start appreciating your own a bit more.

In 1961 Long Island Alice is just that bit younger than her playmates. She doesn’t quite understand yet about some grownup things and is teased a lot. Her heroine is Sheryl, the teenager over the road who has a succession of boyfriends. Alice even copies her perfume and favourite records, though she has never spoken to her. When Sheryl’s father dies suddenly and she takes up with Rick, who is viewed with horror by all the parents around, she and Alice become firm friends as they try to keep the romance going.

Released a year before The Sandlot, That Night covers somewhat similar grounds. A coming of age film that introduces a young and bitchy Katherine Heigl, starts off fairly entertaining and then dips further and further into a irreversible, melodramatic territory. American Graffiti, this is not.

A factory worker fed-up with his job and tyrannical boss (who keeps an eye on all his employees via a big-brother TV monitor) meets and falls in love with an orphaned street waif. The two dream of a nice suburban existence but the cops are never far behind, chasing the vagabond couple.

Bookmarked by two phenomenal slapstick sequences, Modern Times displays Charlie Chaplin’s artistic genius. Conceptually, the film is timeless. Paulette Goddard is quite the beauty, and makes for an excellent counterpart to Chaplin’s Tramp. You can watch Modern Times with your parents, your grandparents, or your kids–all ages are likely to enjoy the comedy.

An alternate history story of a woman who, as she reflects on her private school years in the English countryside, reunites with her two friends to face the dark secrets tied to their communal past.

The one thing I appreciated about Never Let Me Go was its alternative “what if?” historical fiction slant. It took me a while to grasp that the premise is one of science fiction, though it doesn’t play out in the conventional science fiction sense. Andrew Garfield is always a pleasure on screen, but Keira Knightley doesn’t do much with the material. Never Let Me Go is a dull film, and from what I’ve read, a far better novel.

An unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact.

Though Winter’s Bone deals with film noir tropes, it isn’t apparent from the onset of the film. Set in the backwoods of Missouri, young Ree Dolly goes from trailer to trailer, attempting to find out where her missing father is. Along the way, she meets shady characters who will lead her askew, and receive violent threats and actions that fall along the lines of cinema’s classic detectives. The pace is languid, but Winter’s Bone is worth a viewing if not for Jennifer Lawrence’s subtle performance.

Four Lions tells the story of a group of British jihadists who push their abstract dreams of glory to the breaking point. As the wheels fly off, and their competing ideologies clash, what emerges is an emotionally engaging (and entirely plausible) farce.

The Dr. Strangelove of this generation. How could a film about jihadists possibly be this funny? Even with broad anti-US rhetoric and a handful of political statements, Four Lions somehow manages to avoid igniting a conversation about the War on Terror and the various viewpoints involved. Instead, it shows that, regardless of what nationality brings it about, nuclear annihilation could very well come at the incapable hands of some really, really big idiots.

Oshare is excited about spending summer vacation with her father, until she finds out that his beautiful, freakishly serene girlfriend Ryouko would be going as well. Oshare decides she will be going to her grandmother’s house with her friends in the country instead. However, the girls are unaware that Oshare’s grandmother is actually dead and the house is actually haunted.

The trailer to Hausu promises something surreal that the actual film doesn’t deliver. Sure, there’s absurd imagery found throughout the movies’ short running time, but none of it amounts to much. Regardless of how dated the film may be, the tricks employed in the film were likely laughable at the time of its release as well. Hausu should have been called A Guide to Poorly Use Greenscreen.

The improbable but true story of a spectacularly charismatic conman’s journey from small-town businessman to flamboyant white-collar criminal, who repeatedly finds himself in trouble with the law and on the lam, brilliantly escaping from the Texas prison system on four separate occasions – all in the name of love.

Based somewhat on a true story, I Love You, Phillip Morris finds Jim Carrey in vintage form. Unlike previous Carrey comedies, his Steven Russell is no dolt–with a high IQ and a tremendous ability to con people (including his wife over his sexuality), you’ll believe that Steven is capable of most anything; moreover, Carrey plays Steven with a determined streak that will lead to his demise. I Love You, Phillip Morris isn’t just a gay love story. Rather, it’s a testament to the length at which one is willing to go to see through a life with their lover, regardless of the cost.

Fearful that the Russians are fluoridating America’s drinking water, General Jack D. Ripper unleashes a B-52 H-Bomb attack on the Soviets, and a frantic President and Joint Chiefs of Staff must somehow find a way to stop it.

Satire at its best. One of Kubrick’s finest films, this black comedy is still relevant. Peter Sellers plays three characters (at the request of the studio, who wanted him to play a fourth) and injects humor into each while keeping them distinct from one another. I found myself laughing hysterically and shaking my head at the absurdity on display. Having heard the famous last line of the film a number of times before actually seeing it, I was pleased to find it to be every bit as memorable of a scene as I imagined it to be.

A story that centers on an English professor who, after the sudden death of his partner tries to go about his typical day in Los Angeles.

For his directorial debut, fashion designer Tom Ford employs a divisive visual aesthetic that I found to be gorgeous. The desaturated photography looks not unlike that which you’d find in a highly stylized fashion advertisement. Colin Firth really pulls you into George’s depression. This was the performance he should have won an Oscar for. If you’re ever lost a lover, beware: A Single Man might feel all too real.

When a young doctor suspects she may not be alone in her new Brooklyn loft, she learns that her landlord has formed a frightening obsession with her.

The Resident, awkward editing and all, is a generic voyeuristic thriller that has Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Comedian in Watchmen) playing a creep once again. The first act stays away from genre trappings, but the film evolves into exploitation with a bit of Psycho thrown in for good measure. Christopher Lee is wasted as a red herring. No need to watch unless you enjoy watching third acts unfold in as generic fashion as possible.

Fifteen-year-old Mia’s world is turned upside down when her mother brings home a new boyfriend.

Fish Tank hits you over the head with symbolism. There’s a chained white horse and a fish gasping for air out of water. First time actress (a casting agent found her after overhearing her fight with her boyfriend) Katie Jarvis does a fine job as Mia, but the film spirals out of control as it proceeds. You know who Michael Fassbender’s Connor is right away, and the end of his character’s arc is quite puzzling. Fish Tank is worth watching only if you wish to re-confirm that is indeed very often cloudy in England.

The story of a secret unit within the US Army called the First Earth Battalion, whose paranormal military ideas mutated over the decades to influence interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay.

The biggest problem with The Men Who Stare at Goats is that the tone shifts frequently. It volleys back and forth between straightforward storytelling and slapstick anecdotes, never quite settling as a full-blown satire. Even though Jeff Bridges is playing a hippie character with long hair and shaggy beard, he manages to avoid being Jeffry Lebowski-esque. Ewan McGregor doesn’t nail his American accent, and doesn’t quite gel with George Clooney’s manic Lyn Cassady. Even still, it’s an occasionally funny, if not frightening look at what may go behind the scenes in the government.

A high-tech adventure set in a digital world that’s unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn, the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn, looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself pulled into the digital world of Tron where his father has been living for 25 years.

Tron: Legacy suffers from a number of problems: the plot becomes increasingly incoherent, Garrett Hedlund is incredibly stiff as the lead, and there’s no one to latch onto. The most commendable thing about the film is Daft Punk’s score. The film has a franchise feel written all over it (especially its ending), but it’s unlikely the universe is going to be worth revisiting again.

A man blinded by toxic waste which also enhanced his remaining senses fights crime as an acrobatic martial arts superhero. A man blinded by toxic waste which also enhanced his remaining senses fights crime as an acrobatic martial arts superhero.

Believe it or not, Daredevil is one of the more accurate comic book-to-film adaptations (even with a black Kingpin). Colin Farrell alone takes the film into the cheesy stratosphere, but Matt Murdock’s relationship with Elektra and his buddy Foggy Nelson (as played by Jon Favreau) doesn’t help either. Apparently, the director’s cut is much better than the theatrical release, but I can’t imagine the overall product being anything more than mediocre.

The story of how an eccentric French shop keeper and amateur film maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner with spectacular results. Billed as ‘the world’s first street art disaster movie’ the film contains exclusive footage of Banksy, Shephard Fairey, Invader and many of the world’s most infamous graffiti artists at work.

This film will make you re-examine what art is and what it is worth. Exit zigzags through street culture, exposing some key artists and a fraud along the way. Part of the films playfulness is attempting to figure out who’s in on the joke and what is real. I’d like to believe the film is one big fuck you to Thierry Guetta, but even a month removed from my initial viewing, I’m not quite sure. It makes Exit Through the Gift Shop worth repeated viewings.

A tough U.S. Marshal helps a stubborn young woman track down her father’s murderer.

I’m a huge fan of the Coen brothers, but was somewhat disappointed with True Grit. Even still, it’s an excellent film: Roger Deakin’s cinematography is as beautiful as ever (when will this man win an Oscar?!) and young Hailee Steinfeld puts in one of the best performances by a young actress I’ve seen. Carter Burwell’s score will make you want to pop in your favorite westerns from yesteryear. I can’t compare it to the original, as I haven’t seen it, but True Grit is an enjoyable western through and through.

Welcome to the terrifying Melbourne crime underworld, where tensions are on the brink of exploding between felons and renegade cops – the Wild West played out on the city’s streets in broad daylight. The Cody brothers, a gang of armed robbers, are in the process of initiating their teenage nephew Joshua ‘J’ into their frightening world after the death of his mother and under the watchful eye of his matriarchal grandmother, Smurf, a modern-day Ma Barker.

Animal Kingdom piles on one layer of fucked up after another. From the films depressing open scene, all the way to its conclusion, you won’t find yourself smiling at any point of this Australian drama. There’s a few shocking scenes that will keep you on your feet in spite of the films slow pace. The only noticeable flaw of the film is Guy Pearce’s laughable mustache.

A mountain climber becomes trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone near Moab, Utah and resorts to desperate measures in order to survive.

Perhaps I’m a sucker for a movie that features Sigur Ros’ music in its climatic scene (see: The Life Aquatic). Danny Boyle is one of the better filmmakers of his generation, and 127 Hours is an excellent addition to his filmography. James Franco has never been better as he is here. The scene–you know, that scene–is done so tastefully, and is fraught with some tension, that it may make you re-define what you consider horror in cinema.

After a sudden underwater tremor sets free scores of the prehistoric man-eating fish, an unlikely group of strangers must band together to stop themselves from becoming fish food for the area’s new razor-toothed residents.

Even though Piranha is a film that plays with its awareness of its campy tone, it’s not nearly enough to make the film entertaining. If your film’s biggest pull is a wink-so-hard cameo by Richard Dreyfuss, you’re likely to have problems. It’s enjoyable to watch Christopher Lloyd do his thing, but even that feels tired after a while. The biggest question this film raises is why people keep giving Jerry O’Connell work.

High-strung father-to-be Peter Highman is forced to hitch a ride with aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay on a road trip in order to make it to his child’s birth on time.

Derivative of director Todd Phillip’s previous film The Hangover, Due Date is a mean-spirited film with hardly any laughs. If you are tired of Robert Downey Jr. or Zach Galifianakis’ shtick, you are going to want to pass on this film.

A record company intern is hired to accompany out-of-control British rock star Aldous Snow to a concert at L.A.’s Greek Theater.

I came in to Get Him to the Greek with low expectations, and was pleasantly surprised with the film. A good look at the music industry with a number of laughs, Get Him to the Greek is an accomplishment in that Jonah Hill is somewhat tolerable and P. Diddy gains a laugh with almost every piece of his dialogue. Though there are third act issues, I still enjoyed Greek enough to want to watch it again.

A look at the early years of boxer Micky Ward and his brother, who helped train him before going pro in the mid ’80s.

The Fighter presents an interesting conundrum: are memorable performances enough to make a cliche-ridden film worthy of praise? It gets more difficult when considering that The Fighter is based on a true story. Christian Bale as Dicky Ecklund is worth the price of admission alone. Mark Walhberg was robbed of an Oscar nomination with his subdued performance as Micky Ward. Top to bottom, The Fighter is a terrific exercise in acting; however, this is just another boxing redemption film. Nothing more, nothing less.

Britt Reid is the son of LA’s most prominent and respected media magnate and perfectly happy to maintain a directionless existence on the party scene – until his father mysteriously dies, leaving Britt his vast media empire. Striking an unlikely friendship with one of his father’s more industrious and inventive employees, Kato, they see their chance to do something meaningful for the first time in their lives: fight crime. To get close to the criminals, they come up with the perfect cover: they’ll pose as criminals themselves.

Michel Gondry’s usual visual assault takes a backseat to a fairly entertaining comic book action film. Sure, “Kato-vision” could likely only be pulled off by someone of his talent, but The Green Hornet looks more generic than Gondry’s other films. Though Seth Rogen covered similar ground in Observe and Report, his portrayal of Britt Reid rises above all of the skepticism prior to the films release. Christopher Waltz has some entertaining scenes, but it occasionally seems as if he is taking the material more serious than the rest of the cast.

Two young people try to avoid the entrapment of middle-class relationships through purely casual sexual encounters but are confronted with the possibility of love when they unexpectedly connect.

Lie With Me is glorified soft-core pornography. It moves from scene to scene without a clear purpose, and is devoid of a single character worth latching onto. In a film where Eric Balfour is too good for the material, you know that you are going to have a problem.

A 1995 cyberpunk film, loosely based on the short story by William Gibson. The film portrays Gibson’s dystopian view of the future with the world dominated by megacorporations and with strong East Asian influences.

I imagine Andy and Larry Wachowski watched Reeves’ performance in Johnny Mnemonic and knew they had their lead for The Matrix. To call this “Phillip K. Dick-lite” would be an insult. In more capable hands, Mnemonic may have been an interesting watch, but it suffers from awful acting.

The story of how the young poet’s seminal work broke down societal barriers in the face of an infamous public obscenity trial. In his famously confessional style, Ginsberg – poet, counter-culture icon, and chronicler of the Beat Generation – recounts the road trips, love affairs, and search for personal liberation that led to HOWL, the most timeless work of his career.

For full disclosure, Howl is my favorite piece of poetry. That’s why it disappoints me so that this film was such a mess. James Franco has little to work with, and appears lost in trying to capture Ginsberg’s spirit. Jon Hamm is in Don Draper-mode as Ginsberg’s defensive attorney and general voice of the freethinking person. The biggest missteps are the animated sequences that attempt to give life to the jazzy freeform of the poem. Don’t let the film discourage you from checking out Ginsberg’s work.

After the death of his father King George V and the scandalous abdication of King Edward VIII, Bertie who has suffered from a debilitating speech impediment all his life, is suddenly crowned King George VI of England. With his country on the brink of war and in desperate need of a leader, his wife, Elizabeth, the future Queen Mother, arranges for her husband to see an eccentric speech therapist, Lionel Logue.

In spite of excellent performances, some films are plagued with the notion of being “Oscar bait.” Unfortunately, The King’s Speech is no exception. Frequently utilizing portrait-esque close-ups, director Tom Hooper doesn’t elevate a terrific script with any visual flair. Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush play very well off each other, but ultimately, the film doesn’t rise above its one memorable scene– a scene, in fact, that is now cut out of the film.

The tale of four men — thieves, rivals and friends — being hunted through the streets of Boston by a tenacious FBI agent and a woman who might destroy them all.

Perhaps you’re tired of Ben Affleck, movies with loads of Boston accents, and heist dramas. With its relentless pace and superb acting, The Town will let you put your (read: my) biases aside for two hours. Affleck proves himself as a fine director, also turning in his best screen performance to date. As the violent “Jem” Coughlin, Jeremy Renner steals every scene he appears in. Though the final shot is arguably its biggest flaw, The Town is still one of the better heist films of the last few years.

Nic and Jules are married and share a cozy suburban Southern California home with their teenage children, Joni and Laser. Nic and Jules – or, when referred to jointly by Joni, “Moms” – gave birth to and raised their children, and built a family life for the four of them. As Joni prepares to leave for college, 15-year-old Laser presses her for a big favor. He wants Joni, now 18, to help him find their biological father; the two teenagers were conceived by artificial insemination.

The Kids Are Alright wants you to know that gay parents have regular family issues too. Other than that, the film doesn’t have much to say. Mark Ruffalo’s Paul glides through the film with a laundry list of coolness (leather jacket- check. motorcycle- check. sex with a lesbian- check.), but his unwillingness to put long thoughts together becomes grating as the film progresses. By the time the hamfisted ending comes around, you’re likely to be as ambivalent about the film as Paul is with life.