Don Jon

Amiable romantic-dramedy about Jersey-boy Gordon-Levitt (also in his directorial debut) and his commendable devotion to his body, his pad, his ride, his family, his church, his boys, his girls, and… best of all (or worst of all)… his porn. Cleverly marketed, immensely unpredictable, and never ever dull. JGL may have been a little too wrapped up in trying to juggle the workload of both director and lead actor that he failed to show concern about coming off as too heavy-handed, but upon replay, it's certain this little flick has a lot more to say than what meets the eye.

Tommy Boy

Classic '90s comedy about immature Farley and snarky Spade on a road trip, attempting to save the former's late-father Dennehy's company from going under. The minor doses of emotion give this funny flick about unlikely friendship and search for self-worth some replay value. Rob Lowe and Bo Derek, both in supporting roles, help add some flavor to this outing. Not excellent, but definitely worth revisiting once every few years. The film's two leads were actually really close friends in real life before Farley's untimely death in 1997, but apparently the two got into a physical altercation on the set of this film.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Sushi-themed documentary about Jiro Ono, an 85-year-old sushi master and owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a Michelin three-star restaurant located in Ginza, Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. The film touches on the lives of Ono's two sons (particularly his older son), the art of sushi, the operation of the market and the behind-the-scenes preparation; but perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the film is Ono's continuing quest to perfect sushi and his life-long dedication to it. If you like sushi, you'll like this film. For an 81 minute documentary, the pace is terrifically smooth, with no memorable road-bumps to ruin the flow. Ono emits a curiously sweet inspiration of never being too old to learn new things; and his dedication seems to be reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's obsessiveness of filmmaking or a grandmaster's ever-evolving understanding of chess.

Hidden Away (TV)

Typical Lifetime Network nonsense about the victimized woman with terribly poor taste who hopes that running away will solve her problems only to learn the hard way when she gets tracked down. In this shameless outing, we have Vaugier faking her and her daughter's death in an attempt to escape her physically abusive husband. Blah, blah, blah; same old routine: she gets a new life, her daughter grows up not remembering anything, she meets a nice guy (Flanery), the fairy tale ending is just a grasp away, and then all of a sudden the bad guy from the past (Sergei) shows up. This cookie-cutter garbage could be somewhat bearable if it didn't consist of melodrama triggered by acts that would otherwise be considered downright moronic if only the protagonists weren't so unlucky. Nice climax—apparently, any dimwit can be inspired by watching NORTH BY NORTHWEST in film class.

The Girl Who Played with Fire

Ambitious sequel to THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO about Lisbeth (Rapace) returning home to oversee unexpected but inevitable conflicts, while Mikael (Nyqvist) starts an investigation into a sex-trafficking ring. Starts off as an impressive follow-up, making all the right moves—expanding on things foreshadowed in its predecessor while at the same time introducing new characters with equally interesting stories—but eventually proves itself to be a sufferer of "the middle chapter syndrome", leaving the audience with a cliffhanger that feels more like a legal-drama season finale than its own necessary installment in an overall larger story.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Brilliant mystery about journalist Nyqvist taking on one last case before serving a prison sentence and is unexpectedly aided by hacker Rapace who believes in his innocence. The film goes above and beyond with its beautiful scenery, numerous twists and two plots that are equally intriguing—one that involves Nyqvist's character dealing with legal conflicts, and the other that involves the investigation of a woman's disappearance 40 years prior, all while foreshadowing a bigger story with Rupace's character for future installments. The Vanger family does indeed have too many members and too much history for its own good; nonetheless, the film is rarely confusing or boring, and is ultimately executed superbly.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Congrats!  You found the ¼ star!!  Is your life fulfilled?

Sort of satisfying conclusion in THE MILLENNIUM TRILOGY offers less quality than the first installment and less ambition than the second installment, yet still ends up being a pretty decent movie. The story picks up right where the second film left off—the second film's cliffhanger was its main flaw—but pretty much finds itself devoted to wrapping things up rather than building its own story (like the first film did with the Vanger family), ultimately resorting to a theatrical courtroom showdown. The development of Hallin's character is a long overdue plus, as having her lingering in the background as Mikael's opinionated sister in the first two films was a little bothersome in hindsight. The ending seems to lack a sense of finality, but it works well in a bittersweet kind of way knowing that the novels' writer Larsson had much more up his sleeve for these characters.

Take Shelter

Drama-thriller tells the story of family man Shannon trying to figure out if his apocalyptic visions are a sign that he needs to protect his loved ones from a natural disaster or from himself. Controlled, modest, refreshing and unique. In an age where special-effects is no longer a luxury in film, it's nice to see a movie that focuses on character-development and story. While the beginning and middle are flawless, the ending could have gone in many different directions and it's hard to decide if the one writer-direct Nichols chose was the right one. One of the best films of the last couple years!

Ghostlight

Ambitious and charming indie film from Seattle that pays tribute to HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, THE CHANGELING, THE SIXTH SENSE, and other classic ghost-horror movies. Sutherland wins a radio contest, but must spend the night in a haunted theater (filmed at the historic Everett Theater) in order to receive the $50,000 prize. Filled with genuine scares, witty dialogue and great acting—with Kleinsmith almost stealing the show as the theater's eccentric owner. The sound editing, however, is noticeably flawed even to the layman's ear, and director Ferrell's choice of the numerous fade-ins/fade-outs interferes with mood and pacing. Despite some bumps in the road, the film is an overall impressive and entertaining outing that has replay value.

Stalker

An industrial art house film—typical of Eastern European cinema—that's about as sci-fi as A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. Title character Kaidanovsky guides intellectuals Grinko and Solonitsyn through "the Zone"—an area where the laws of physics don't apply—so that they may encounter a "Room" that grants wishes to whoever enters it. Tarkovsky's signature long-takes slow the movie down, but not enough for it to seem overlong. The film's overriding flaw is the lack of payoff; even with a modestly budgeted dialogue-driven film, Tarkovsky should have found a way for the Zone to live up to what Kaidanovsky's character built it up to be. Final shot is terrific enough not to be left too disappointed and Artemyev's subtle score fits perfectly.

Insidious: Chapter 2

The Lambert family returns to dig deeper into their connection to the spirited world. Scares ensue right from the get-go, but are nothing more than an insincere sham to set the tone of a film that has far less substance than its predecessor. The premise, however, is interestingly a mixture of a sequel, a prequel and a parallel (which covers events occurring at the same time as the first film). The film seems to be inadvertently broken into halves, the first of which covers Byrne's character and the second covering Wilson's, creating an overall incoherent horror movie. It actually gets pretty interesting during the second half, but when the first half is so dull, it's a lot to expect your audience to be so gracious and maintain an open-mind the entire film. There also seems to be an effort to make this installment "the happier one of the series", and the ham-handed attempt to make as much use of the reprising characters as possible is one of the saddest things a sequel has seen since OCEAN'S THIRTEEN. Hopefully nobody will be reminded of this movie if someone ever decides to adapt HOUSE OF LEAVES to the screen.

Prisoners

After deeply religious father Jackman's daughter goes missing with a neighbor girl, he targets prime suspect Dano while detective Gyllenhaal pursues other leads. The film doesn't necessarily succeed at being epic, but it is terrifically well-paced for clocking-in at over a two-and-a-half hour runtime—director Villeneuve does an excellent job using fade-outs to skip passed the obvious melodrama. The story involves emotions and chills from all aspects of an unthinkable crime, including: the family members of the abducted children, the investigators and even those close to the suspect. Unfortunately, the movie is dragged by too many obvious detective blunders by Gyllenhaal's characters: 1) Whaaa? I can't discreetly park my car in the middle of the road in broad daylight? 2) Whaaa? I'm going to have all family members take a polygraph, but not consider looking into the fact that one of the fathers owns an abandoned building the girls may be at? 3) Whaaa? When I finally find out one of the fathers owns an abandoned building and I establish my new suspicions of him, I SHOULD call a search team? 4) Whaaa? I've been seeing a lot of mazes ever since I started investigating these girls' disappearances. There IS a connection?

Another unfortunate downfall is the annoying and awkward light adjustments between interior and exterior scenes.

The moral of a film should either raise questions, or provide answers or some sort of hope. This film just kind of confuses, as it doesn't really grasp hold of how suspects are sometimes guilty until proved innocent or how there are some ridiculous limitations the law has at preventing and/or solving crimes. Either: A) make a statement, or B) give the audience something to reflect on. This film seems to do neither. 

It would be nice to go into a crime-thriller with an open-mind and NOT have to suspend as much disbelief. But all-in-all, not a complete waste of a film.