Safety Not Guaranteed
Delightful, quirky film about a guy who claims he is building a time machine, and the tabloid team sent to check it out. He just needs the right companion to help him. Doesn’t everyone. Playful, sweet, and entertaining. **

Ploy
Surreal Thai film about a couple back in their home town for a funeral. She’s a former movie star and he owns a restaurant, and their relationship has problems. Everything else is fantasy and illusion, and it’s hard to tell what happens and what doesn’t. Well done enough. **

From Up On Poppy Hill
Exquisite, lovely love story set in 1960s Japan from Studio Ghibli. Wonderfully nostalgic and endearing. Excellent graphics and narrative. Absolutely loved it. ***

Adrift in Tokyo
Outstanding, off-beat Japanese film about two guys walking across Tokyo. Very entertaining and enjoyable. Wished it wouldn’t end, but of course it had to. Lot of fun. **

Oblivion
Deeply disappointing Tom Cruise science fiction film about a future earth. Fragmented narrative and shallow characters, though the acting wasn’t bad. Implausible ending. Kept thinking throughout how much better it could have been. Too bad. **

Killing them Softly
Entertaining Brad Pitt vehicle about a hit man working a job. Very interesting treatise on the nature of America as corporation. Excellent monologue by Pitt’s character at the very end. Glad I saw it. **

The Sessions
Beautifully and courageously acted film about a polio-crippled guy who works with a sex therapist. Helen Hunt and Hawkes were superb. Got a little unbelievably wonderful at the end, but it is a Hollywood production. Good. **

The Man with the Iron Fists
So bad, I stopped watching after only a few minutes. Outstanding cast completely wasted. Absolutely terrible.

G. I. Joe: Retaliation
Took Elijah to see this one since I gave him the DVD of the first one. They are geared to guys his age, and he loved it. I didn’t mind it too much. Really expensive for two people, even when one is a kid. Glad we did it. **

Clash
Interesting Vietnamese movie about an assassin who works for a crime boss who has kidnapped her daughter. Very violent Asian action. Pretty entertaining, if a bit over the top. The actress is stunning, and a good fighter. **

Vampire Diary
Independent-level movie about a woman making a film about people who pretend to be vampires. Then she falls in love with one of them, a woman who claims to be a real vampire. That’s when things start to come apart. Kind of OK. **

Headhunters
Entertaining thriller based on a Jo Nesbø novella about a head hunter who gets involved in a violent corporate power play. Well done enough. Enjoyed it. **

Miao Miao
Taiwanese movie about the school year a Japanese student spends in Taipei with Miao Miao. Hints of lesbian relationship, but nothing more. A little adolescent, but good at what it attempts. Not a waste of time. **

Silver Linings Playbook
Excellent character study of a guy trying to cope with the loss of his girlfriend while his mom and another woman try to help. The cast and acting was superb. Cooper was as good or better than Lawrence, who won the academy award. Ending is a little too easy as you would expect from Hollywood. Glad I saw it. **