Quills

Grade: C-

There are few things I hate more than being hit over the head with a shovel for 2+ hours. This earnest work is also pretentious and overbearing, so full of its own self importance that it never stops to question whether or not it’s actually saying anything. None of the major themes of the piece – sexual hypocrisy, the oppressive state, the need for self-expression – are ever fully developed or realized here, and have been done better in a list of other movies – “The Madness of Kink George” and “Amadeus” both come to mind. The movie even rips off the “play’s the thing” scene from “Hamlet.” Poorly. Geoffrey Rush is fine if one note as the Marquis De Sade, Michael Caine is completely wasted, and Joaquin Phoenix continues to irritate – what do critics see in this guy? Get him to a speech pathologist quick. This is a long haul of a movie, and the final scenes are so over the top, the only real pay-off is irritation.

More Movie Info: http://imdb.com/title/tt0180073/

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Grade: C

Well, it’s not truly terribly, and it IS sit-throughable -- barely. It’s also heavy handed and schticky as all get out, and parents should be warned that watching the Grinch eat glass and put red-hot objects in his mouth may not be a great example for kids. Jim Carey is a total yawn, and Whoville looks like a big, clunky set on some movie studio back lot. It’s got BIG production values, BIG stars, a BIG director in Ron Howard, and absolutely no magic. It does, however, make me reminisce about how much I loved the ½ hour cartoon version growing up. I even think I’ll watch it this Christmas.

More Movie Info: http://imdb.com/title/tt0170016/

Bounce

Grade: B-

Sweet but contrived. Nice performance by Ben Affleck, the best of his career to date, so-so phoned-in job by Gwyneth Paltrow (can she really act, or was “Shakespeare in Love” some sort of fluke? I really can’t tell yet). Nice, slow-moving, earnest love story, with some plot twists that are clunky as all hell. For example, I for one can’t really imagine a recently hired gay employee lecturing the boss he’s just met in a men’s room about sexual harassment, alcoholism, and 12-step programs right off the bat. And the smoking gun (in this case a video showing Ben and GP’s plane-crashed hubby on tape together), would just have to arrive right before the planned confession, right? As ever, a screenplay is everything, and this one isn’t. But Ben is so charming and smitten it’s a pleasant afternoon, with some really sweet moments (just loved Gwyneth running to step on the toilet paper she sees a fellow dater dragging on the floor) adding to the pleasantness. Really, it’s pleasant.

More Movie Info: http://imdb.com/title/tt0186894/

You Can Count on Me

Grade: A+

Whenever I complain that a screenplay is either contrived, dripingly sentimentalized, manipulative, or just typically Hollywood mediocre, it’s because I know screenplays like this one exist. Honest, simple, breathtakingly human – there’s not a false word on paper. Nor is there a false moment on the screen. The acting is subtle and painfully moving, so much so that even unsympathetic characters manage to be sympathetically human nonetheless. Both the direction and art direction are so fine you forget that you’re just watching a movie. Instead, one is drawn in to a specific town, a specific family, and a specific way of life. These people feel so completely real, so genuine in their struggles to survive damaged lives -- lives wounded by fate and their own life choices -- it’s a deeply haunting and moving experience. Special kudos to writer-director Kenneth Lonergan, and Mark Ruffalo and Laura Linney for simply beautiful performances. This one isn’t just the best thing I’ve seen this year, it may be the best thing I’ve seen it several years. It’s gonna’ be really hard to knock this Indy stunner from my top pick of the year.

More Movie Info: http://imdb.com/title/tt0203230/

Charlie's Angels

Grade: C-

A total mess of a movie is partially redeemed in the final half hour, which is sorta’ fun, action-packed and campy – precisely what the rest of the movie shoulda’ been. Too bad, for the first ¾ of the movie is a royal mess – confusing, badly edited, cheesy, stupid, with a plotline that meanders all over the place – for a while there I thought I had a prime candidate for “worst movie of the year.” It’s not quite that bad by the end, just not very good either. Nice comic performance by Cameron Diaz, okay performance by Drew Barrymore, snores from Lucy Liu and Bill Murray. If it was three cute men – maybe.

More Movie Info: http://chevy.imdb.com/title/tt0160127/