[6] Two married couples, one new to Los Angeles, meet for dinner on a night that leads them into a marital and sexual quandary. At first, the newcomers (Adam Scott and Taylor Schilling) enjoy letting their hair down, but after their hosts (Jason Schwartzman and Judith Godrèche) cross the line of social norms a few times, they begin to wonder where the shenanigans are headed. …
[7] As their mother recuperates from plastic surgery, twin boys suspect she is not the same woman they knew — and begin to plot against her. Goodnight Mommy is a beautifully made Austrian film that pits two children and their mother against one another in a horrifying downward spiral. Writer/directors Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz are good at building storytelling momentum in a claustrophobic environment. …
[7] In this movie set in the not-too-distant future, Frank Langella stars as an aging ex-burglar whose grown son (James Marsden) buys him a caretaker robot. At first Frank isn’t too fond of his mechanical companion, but when he learns he can get the robot (voiced by Peter Sarsgaard) to learn his old criminal behavior and help in a few local heists, an unlikely friendship …
[4] Paul Rudd leads an ensemble cast in this dramedy about a naïve, aimless man who free-loads off his three sisters after he’s released from prison. Conceptually, this is the perfect ‘adorable doofus’ role for an affable actor like Paul Rudd. And he does a fine job as expected. But Our Idiot Brother is so rooted in telling the dramatic story of three sisters who …
[6] Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams star in writer/director Derek Cianfrance’s (The Place Beyond the Pines) melancholy love story, Blue Valentine. The film cuts back and forth between two timelines, with Williams and Gosling playing Brooklyn lovers at both the beginning and end of a relationship. Cianfrance brings his documentary filmmaking skills to bear, coaxing powerful, authentic performances out of his two stars, and utilizing …
[5] An aspiring writer decides to tell the stories of African-American maids during the turbulent ’60s, risking community scorn to publish the truth. The Help, based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett, weaves the stories of several black and white women in Jackson, Mississippi. Emma Stone plays the writer, with Viola Davis playing her first interview subject, a woman who recently buried her young adult …
[5] Benicio Del Toro plays the cursed title character in this remake of Universal Pictures’ famous 1941 monster movie. After his brother is discovered mutilated, Del Toro returns home to his father’s estate to find out who killed him. Anthony Hopkins brings gravitas as the father, and Emily Blunt pours her heart out in the role of the dead brother’s fiancée. In searching for the …
[7] Christian Slater and James Franco star in this true story about rival gay porn producers fighting over a rising star named Brent Corrigan (Garrett Clayton). Slater gives Corrigan his start, but when Corrigan learns he’s being paid peanuts compared to what his videos earn, he tries to escape Slater — and his contract. The legal battle gets ugly, eventually outing the two to family …
[7] Guillermo del Toro presents this creepy tale about a little girl (Bailee Madison) who discovers evil creatures live in the ash pit beneath her father’s newly acquired mansion. While the creatures try to persuade the girl to join them, they frame her for destructive deeds, turning her dad (Guy Pearce) and his girlfriend (Katie Holmes) against her. As the girl falls into despair trying …
[7] Director Alexandre Aja (High Tension) serves up a father/daughter survival thriller that takes place primarily in a basement full of alligators during a hurricane. Sound preposterous? Well, that’s part of the charm. But Aja and screenwriters Michael and Shawn Rasmussen give the tale enough verisimilitude to suck you in and make you root for these people — and their dog, too. Kaya Scodelario and …
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