Blitz 
Movie based on a Ken Bruen book that I really enjoyed, like most of his other books. As I expected when I saw that Jason Statham was the star, they don’t really get at how evil a character Brandt really is. Paddie Considine was very good, as usual, as the gay cop, and Aidan Gillen was excellent as The Blitz. Not too bad. Glad to see Bruen is getting a wider audience. *

Priest
Surprised that I enjoyed this movie. Paul Bettany was actually believable as the tortured priest, I really liked the art direction and visual presentation, in general, and the narrative, while really thin, didn’t irritate. Have to say though, that if Maggie Q touched my face lovingly, I’d give up pretty much everything. So, not bad for $1.50. *

Synecdoche, New York
Charlie Kaufmann is a genius, the genius of meaningful life. Deeply moved by his view of the human condition and the attempt to use art to understand it, and the need for love and the suffering that accompanies it. So unusual for Hollywood. Like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, it is now one of my all-time favorites. Very, Very good. ****

The Debt
Kind of overwrought spy thriller/historical film about Israeli agents who find and kidnap a Nazi doctor, lose him, and lie about it for 30 years. When he resurfaces, they have to deal with it. I thought the difference between the old and young versions of the protagonists was so profound that I didn’t believe they were the same people. And I found the angst over done. The acting was all very good, as you would expect from such a cast, but I just didn’t care what happened to any of these people. *

The Promise
Absolutely beautiful Chen Kaige film about a vow made by a starving girl to the goddess Manshen: she will have riches but she will lose any man she truly loves. I usually don’t like these mythical Chinese films where everyone is flying around, but this one was surprisingly wonderful. Great music as well. Surprisingly enjoyable. **

Colombiana
Stylish thriller about an assassin working to get revenge on the cartel that murdered her parents. Everything about the characters and plot is completely unbelievable, especially that Zoe Saldana could actually do any of the physical stunts portrayed. Huge holes in the narrative, stupid dialogue, and poor directing that uses jump cuts to hide inadequacies. Not just a waste of time and money, it may actually make you more stupid for having seen it. Really bad. *

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans
I had no intention of ever seeing this film, but got really bored one night and was able to see it free on cable. Then I found out it was a Herzog film, so I was pretty interested. Story of an injured and decorated New Orleans police officer struggling with pain and his morality. Other than Nicholas Cage’s clumsy over acting, it was pretty good, though it needed a bitter, ironic edge that didn’t quite materialize. Surprising and unconvincing moral optimism. Long way from Aquirre and Fitzcarraldo. Don’t regret seeing it, but not too glad either. **

Cowboys and Aliens
Jon Favreau movie based on the comic book. Title pretty much tells the story. Great cast, though Whatshername Wilde was just a face and not such a great one, adequate CGI for the aliens, and even a little back-story on the characters, though the attempts to generate sympathy for them were kind of lame. Narrative seemed much like a comic, but the movie wasn’t too bad. Wasn’t too good either, though it did pretty much accomplish what it was trying to do.*

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Movie, based on the original film from the 1960s, about the mechanisms by which apes come to be the dominant species on the planet. Wanted to see it because of the impact the original had. Unfortunately, this movie is shallow in every way, especially when compared to the original, though it does employ the fundamental fear of our time, as the original did, as the cause. The CGI is good, but the apes are still not quite convincing. Nothing particularly wrong with it, but nothing particularly good about it either. Should have passed on it. *

Captain America
Disappointing movie version of the comic. It seemed so lifeless, more moralizing than interesting action. The characters were all stereotypes, the guys he rescues and with whom he forms a fighting group, don't get even the slightest development, so all the relationships, especially with the woman, remain trivial. The evil Nazis were particularly limp and buffoonish. There was no menace in any of them, and the red mask on Hugo Weaving was much too reminiscent of Jim Carry in the movie named for what he was wearing. Like Shakespeare, I love the way comics translate to film, and I have really enjoyed many of them, but this remained too cartoonish. Too bad. *

Mr. Brooks
Kevin Costner as a wealthy serial killer and his struggle to quit. Completely unbelievable family situation for someone as psychotic as he is, Demi Moore gives her usual poor performance as the cop chasing him, and an unconvincing ending. William Hurt was excellent as the voice in Costner’s head, but overall lame and disappointing. *

Whatever Works
Absolutely delightful Woody Allen film about a quantum mechanics scientist and the young woman he falls in love with. A little too much serendipity, especially at the end, but Larry David’s pitch-perfect spewing of the bitter monologues, the outstanding performance by Rachel Evan Wood as another wonderful female character by Allen, and all the black humor make this one of Woody’s best for some time. Really enjoyed it.**

The Tree of Life
It was with great anticipation that I saw this latest of Malick’s “renewed” cinema based on how moved I was by the trailer I had watched a couple of times. Unfortunately, as is too often the case, the film itself didn’t measure up to the teaser. Like it’s two predecessors, The Thin Red Line and The New World, The Tree of Life is visually exquisite. Every shot is pretty much perfect. The camera is always in the right place, Malick shows us just the right things, the color and movement, and close-ups are perfectly accomplished as is the chaos of the beginnings of life. However, they provide an intimacy that only hints at actual characterization, and even the slim characterizations are undermined by the intrusive and clumsy voice-overs that Malick has become so enamored of. The two narrative streams, the foundations and origins of biological life, and the specific evolutionary iterations of that life presented in the O’Brien family, and even more specifically in the life of the oldest son, Jack, are not integrated. We are left expecting some confluence that remains unaccomplished. And even the narrative stream of the family is fragmented. Initially, it seems that we are inside Jack’s adult mind as he remembers the struggles of his coming of age. This is brilliantly accomplished, each scene of his youth has the feel and duration of a personal memory. But this stream devolves into a linear narrative that is too specific, detailed, and sequential to represent memory. And as this arc unfolds, I found myself disliking the characters, perhaps because we still have only stubs of them. Then there is Jack’s vision of the afterlife, that in and of itself, like the other narrative fragments, is individually very well accomplished, but which remains unconnected to either of the main, and themselves unconnected, narrative streams. The Tree of Life exemplifies what is great and disappointing in all three of these recent Malick films: stunningly, even profoundly beautiful scenes adrift without a narrative structure that even approximates their quality. I think Days of Heaven remains his best film, though the visual beauty of the three more recent films is staggering. And, even a deeply flawed film by Malick, which The Tree of Life is, stands far above most contemporary films. ***

Paris
Delightful French film depicting the search for love and connection in the lives of an ensemble of Parisians. Outstanding cast lead by Juliette Binoche and Roland Duris as siblings. Not extremely deep, but meditative, even a little reflective, and pitch perfect in acting, writing and pace. Enjoyed it quite a bit. **