An Education (2009)

I knew after just two minutes of hitting the play button that I was going to enjoy An Education, and that even if it didn't wound my heart completely it would at least leave a lasting footprint or two in my sand.
It's a coming of age drama set in London, 1961. Schoolgirl Jenny (Carey Mulligan) has a bright future, but love gets in the way, as it often does at that age. The focus of her affections is the older and more worldly David (Peter Sarsgaard), a well-dressed cad who deems it appropriate to date schoolgirls.
Carey Mulligan is phenomenal as the youth who makes adult decisions based on feelings and intuition. She reminded me of a young Jenny Agutter in many ways, channelling the same kind of captivating sincerity and believability. To experience her performance is reason enough to watch it, but there's the added draw that it was scripted by author Nick Hornby.

4 French phrases out of 5

The Ghost (2010)

The 'ghost' of the title is of the writer variety, semi-reluctantly penning the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister at a time that coincides with a political and personal upheaval for the very public figure.
Polanski is a master of his craft and I feel that all the actors gave great performances with varying levels of subtlety, together achieving a believable kind of 'filmic harmony', but overall I just wasn't gripped by any of it. It's now a part of the 'watch once and pass onto someone else' stack of discs.
Strangely, what I'll remember most is the view through the PM's study window; the blustery beach environment with sporadic tufts of grass atop sandy dunes was in some way a kind of unspoken commentary on the life he was living.

2½ cures for insomnia out of 5

Seventh Son (2014)

Adapted from the children's novel The Spook's Apprentice, this epic fantasy tale follows Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) as he trains a seventh son of a seventh son (Ben Barnes) in his monster-fighting ways. While fitting for such an eccentric character, Bridges muffled accent is utterly distracting. While Barnes fits the role of the over-zealous Tom Ward, his performance is somewhat stiff and bland. The master/apprentice interactions lacked a good amount of humor leaving many scenes dull. Surprisingly the CG heavy action scenes were the highlight. As the story takes place in a different realm it was fun learning some of the world's mysteries and meeting a good variety of its creatures, but overall the coming-of-age fantasy plot was pretty standard.

2 werebears out of 5

MAPS TO THE STARS [2014]

Director David Cronenberg douses Hollywood in gasoline and takes a match to it in the satirical thriller Maps To The Stars.
It tells the tale of a dysfunctional celebrity family that all live in some sort of drugged up hyper-reality that refuses to serve it's lunatic inhabitants any sort of meaningful purpose.  Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska and Evan Bird all turn in some pathologically chilling performances that you can't help but be drawn to while Cronenberg's direction has enough venom in it to make it funny, disturbing, depressing and downright insane.  This isn't a film for everyone, seeing as it is difficult to enjoy if you're not already a little off your rocker but definitely an impressive trail to take if you're morbid curiosity gets the best of you.

3½ bad babysitters out of 5

SABOTAGE [2014]

The shittiest part about David Ayer's dirty DEA agent thriller, Sabotage, is that it's quite obvious something good was buried underneath the huge mess that it became.
Why anybody thought Arnie could carry a film that requires a lead to act well is beyond me.  Infact The Governator seems to have completely rewritten the film himself to turn it into his own vapid vanity project of shittiness.  Jam-packed with a host of wonderful character actors, many whom seem embarrassed to be involved, it frequently shows some glimmer of promise but that's quickly diminished by some obvious last second reshoots.   I don't usually have a problem with strong violence and language but here it's so forced you just feel bad for anyone involved that wasn't in Predator.

1½ shitty places to park your RV out of 5

THE LAST DAYS ON MARS [2013]

If you've seen any horror/thriller films placed in outerspace in the past 40 years or so then you really don't have to see Ruairi Robinson's ho-hum space zombie flick The Last Days On Mars.
The word "generic" is a nice way of describing this snoozefest.  It's a colossal waste of the talents of Liev Schreiber, Olivia Williams & Elias Koteas that I couldn't---...yawn.
I think I hear a bunny calling.

1 dust storm of death out of 5

THE SIXTH SENSE [1999]

Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan's knack for telling creepy bedtime stories has become somewhat of a joke as of lately but that doesn't take anything away from the power that is The Sixth Sense.

This creepy and heartbreaking ghost story (as all ghost stories should be) about the need for communication serves the scares a plenty all the while grounding it with just the right amount of heart.  Shyamalan lays on the atmosphere something fierce with his beautiful, yet dismal, photography, keen sense of space & lack of and the command of excellent performances, particularly Toni Collette.

Years later and this film still sends chills down the spine while tugging at the heartstrings.  

5 shades of red out of 5

HANNA [2011]

Actress Saoirse Ronan continues to impress me more and more with each role I see her in. Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana, Olivia Williams and Jason Flemyng all talented actors, take the back seat to allow Ronan to really shine here.
Hanna is more a character study thriller rather than the action-packed Bourne-esque flick it was advertised as in the misleading trailers. While not really original or groundbreaking it perfectly paces each plot reveal, is beautifully shot and entertains with out ever getting too heavy.
Unfortunately it falls apart at the very end and becomes a series of mesmerizing location shots stitched together with an unintentionally comedic chase scene.
Once you get past the boring climatic sequence and a few plot holes, I can highly recommend this film if it's a smart, well crafted thriller that you're looking for.

3 ½ bleeding gums out of 5