WILD [2014]

Director Jean-Marc Vallée does the near impossible by turning Cheryl Strayed's memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail into a gracefully crafted contemplative film.
Reese Witherspoon does a wonderful job as Strayed who's walking the 2,633 miles long PCR as a way to gather her thoughts from the troubled life she hopes to leave behind.  It's a thoroughly captivating told story of a heart that opens up into the vast wilderness around it that's both dangerous and elegant.  Thankfully we're never quite sure what's around each bend and that's a rarity in such films.  Wild stumbles along here and there but Witherspoon and Laura Dern's underplayed performances make the journey well worth your time.

3½ female hobos out of 5

PAWN SHOP CHRONICLES [2013]

Director Wayne Kramer's violent comedy Pawn Shop Chronicles is pretty much trash but really really entertaining trash.
You get white supremacist wannabes, freaked out meth-heads, low-life Elvis impersonators, sadistic perverts and more, all of which are largely despicable yet oddly alluring and humorous when put in a film like this.  Each actor plays their parts with over the top enthusiasm which helps bring the misdirected script together a bit more.  It's disturbing, vulgar, creepy, disgusting and most of all really funny.

3 black Santas out of 5