THE ARTIST is a charming film and one of two movies (Hugo is the other) that serves as a love letter to movie making. The  Artist explores the film industry’s transition away from silent movies to “talkies” and yes, The Artist is a (mostly) silent movie, but you should NOT let that keep you away. This movie has great performances, is beautiful to behold, and is a good old-fashioned love story. The Artist may prove that silence is indeed golden. (The favorite for Best Movie.)

Q quotient: QQQQQ

THE DESCENDANTS is the George Clooney film about a work-alcoholic dad that is thrown into full-throttle parenthood when his wife is injured and he has to take over. Mr. Clooney delivers the best movie line of the year when talking about his kids (one teenager and one close enough) — he explains to a friend that he has these two kids and “there’s something wrong with them.” This line alone was worth the price of admission. (If you have teenagers you know what I’m talking about.) Mr. Clooney was very good and is nominated for best actor, but I was slightly disappointed with the director’s pacing — probably because I expect so much from the great Alexander Payne (Sideways, Election). (Mr. Clooney’s performance makes this movie, but he may get edged out for best actor by Jean Dujardin from The Artist.)

Q quotient: QQQQ

EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE — my least favorite of the nominated films — advertises Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock as its stars, but sadly, they have very small parts. The film is carried by a their on-screen son that may or may not be autistic, but is definitely annoying. Ms. Bullock’s performance in the last 15 minutes of the film saved it from complete disaster for me. (I can’t believe this movie even got a nomination — no chance of winning.)

Q quotient: QQq

THE HELP was adapted from the very popular book of the same name but is even better in its movie form. While The Help purports to be a story about racism in Mississippi circa the 1960′s, it’s instead a story about mean girls. That being said, it’s a very entertaining movie.  The Help is a good story that is well-produced and rife with great performances. (Look for a best actress win and possibly a best supporting actress win.)

Q quotient: QQQQ

HUGO is directed by Martin Scorsese, takes place in a train station, and has movies and love at the center of its plot — what’s not to like? Mr. Scorsese is known for his dedication to restoring and preserving old films and his direction of Hugo is a love song to movie-making. This film is truly for the whole family:  grandparents will love the nostalgia, parents will enjoy the interesting plot, and kids will be swept away by the magic. It should not escape your attention that you are watching a movie that has a subplot about the genesis of film making, through 3-D glasses! (And the Oscar for best director goes to: Martin Scorsese.)

Q quotient: QQQQq

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS  Oh la la how I loved this movie! Set in present day Paris but juxtaposed to Paris in the 1020′s, “midnight” proves to be a magical time, indeed. A writer visiting Paris gets to meet icons from his favorite era — Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Picasso. As he steps back in time he comes to realize that he needs to make changes in his present to be happy in his future.  (This magical movie gets my vote for best original screenplay.)

Q quotient: QQQQQ

MONEYBALL stars Brad Pitt but Jonah Hill is the man to watch. Mr. Hill’s character is a pudgy number-crunching nerd that was surely the last one picked to be on any team (other than debate) when he was in school . I’m not the biggest baseball fan and I tend to favor my intuition over statistics, but I do love a good underdog.  Mr.Pitt and Mr. Hill’s movie personas work the stats to overcome their financial shortcomings to give the Oakland A’s a winning season — too bad it took so long, literally, the movie would have been much better with fifteen minutes cut out. (Mr. Hill should win best supporting actor but sentimental favorite, Christopher Plummer {Beginners}, will likely take the golden statue home.)

Q quotient: QQQq

THE TREE OF LIFE , an amazing film by the great director Terrence Malick, is part 2001: A Space Odyssey and part Leave it to Beaver. This is probably not a movie for beginning movie goers. When Mr. Malick delves into his beautiful creation scene you may think someone has slipped some LSD into your Jr. Mints. However, if you are a lover of letting visuals tell a story, this is the movie for you. Mr. Malick‘s imagines are so powerful he needs very little dialogue to communicate. The Tree of Life is an appropriate title for a grand and complex movie that explores themes that range from the meaning of existence to the loss of innocence. This is a movie that will be taught in future film classes — not perfect, but certainly profound. (This film is probably too abstract for the Academy to give it best picture, but hopefully they will see fit to reward it with best cinematography.)

Q quotient: QQQQQ

WARHORSE is Steven Spielberg’s WW1 movie based on a popular Broadway play.  At his best Mr. Spielberg is wildly creative and entertaining, but at his worst, he is over-the-top and schmaltzy. Warhorse is not Mr. Spielberg’s best effort: The performances are so-so and the direction overly sentimental. Fortunately the heartwarming story and the handsome horse offset  the negatives giving the movie goer an overall positive viewing experience. (Warhorse is destined to go home empty- handed.)

Q quotient: QQQq 

Buy your popcorn and chill some champagne. The Oscar telecast is next Sunday evening on ABC — may the best movie win.

Kristen Wiig, of Saturday Night Live fame, co-wrote the movie and stars as Annie, old friend, maid-of-honor, and loser at love.  Helen (Rose Byrne) is the bride’s new (and perfect) friend, and the maid of honor wanna be. Bridesmaid number three, Whitney, is a mom of several small boys and would love a few days of being single. Becca, the newlywed bridesmaid, is naive but headed to naughty. But the funniest bridesmaid is Megan played by Melissa McCarthy.  Ms. McCarthy is perfectly cast as the less-than-feminine sister of the groom who is anything but uncomfortable or un-confidant around the more traditional bridesmaids.

The groom and groomsman don’t play much of a role in Bridesmaids but debonair John Hamm as Ted, a Porche-driving egotist that likes Annie for the occasional booty call, and Rhodes (Chris O’Dowd) a renaissance cop, fill the men’s roles nicely.

This movie has been called the female version of The Hangover and that’s a fair comparison. There is also a debate over whether or not Bridesmaids is a chick flick. This is a tough one. If The Hangover is not a guy movie then Bridesmaids is not a chick flick. But the fact remains: it’s a little tough watching the opposite sex expose their bawdy side in such a big way.

I really liked this movie and I’m tempted to give it four Q’s. However,  I had to cover my eyes during a bathroom scene and the movie was ten to fifteen minutes too long, so the very funny Bridesmaids gets:  QQQq

If you think The Beaver sounds like a comedy you would be oh-so-wrong.  Mel Gibson’s character, Walter, is suffering from depression, and while he resorts to using a beaver hand puppet to express himself, the result is heartbreaking, not funny.  Mr. Gibson is very good in this role (possible Oscar nod?) – a role his real life seems to have been preparing him for. Mr. Gibson doesn’t hold anything back — he is a man that is broken.  His disease tears his family apart. The theme of this movie is very clear: people in a great deal of pain have a hard time expressing themselves and often need a device.  The problem with the movie for me was that it seems to suggest that love can cure depression. In short, the movie was very good, but ultimately it couldn’t live up to Mr. Gibson’s very honest performance.

Very good performances and an interesting, if not honest, look at depression.  QQQq

If you think The Princess of Montpensier sounds like a romantic drama you’d be right. A beautiful aristocrat, Marie, is in love with a handsome and fearless warrior. Her father however, is more interested in politics than love and marries her off to the Prince of Montpensier. It’s the 16th century and the Protestants and Catholics are fighting and her prince goes off and leaves his bride with his former teacher/mentor who also falls in love with her — it’s tough being a princess, but someone has to do it.

Conflict between love and duty makes for a great story. Throw in a castle and religious wars and you’ve got yourself a movie.  QQQq

If you can hold your eyes open tonight (I know you’re tired from getting up before daybreak to catch the royal wedding) you should take yourself out to the movies. Depending on your mood, all three of these films are good for a Friday night when you may be a little tired from a hard week of work…or a busy week of royal watching.

Water for Elephants is a love story.  A man and a woman fall in love over a horse and continue their courtship over an elephant.  There is a bad guy, a good guy, a pretty woman, a train, and a circus in this movie; the depression era setting gives urgency like only desperation can, causing characters to love more, lose tempers faster, and drink to forget. Although I am often disappointed by the movie version of a good book, this movie’s director, Francis Lawrence, gave my imagination a run for its money: Water for Elephants was well cast, and the sets and costumes were Oscar nomination worthy. Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson have nice chemistry, bad guy Christoph Waltz is despicable, and the cast of circus characters is charming. The “biggest star” in the movie, Rosy the elephant, is beautiful, soulful, and smart — you will fall in love with her instantly. I LOVE this movie’s tag line: “Life is the most spectacular show on earth.”

Interesting story; great setting and characters photographed beautifully = QQQq

The Conspirator is Robert Redford’s historical drama that is relevant today. Robin Wright plays Mary Surratt, a woman who is rushed to justice with a military trail instead of a jury of her peers. Tossing the Constitution aside, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (Kevin Kline) is eager to settle the case of President Lincoln’s assassination and start healing a war-ravaged country. (The argument over whether to try Guantanamo Bay detainee Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a military court or civilian court is an interesting parallel, but ultimately not one that I’m buying–Mary Surratt was a citizen and KSM is not.) Mary Surratt’s son is accused of helping John Wilkes Booth plot against Mr. Lincoln. The son goes missing and Mary is charged as a co-conspirator. Ms. Wright’s Mary is understated; she is a woman resigned to her fate and resolute in her protection of her son. If you are a history buff this is the movie for you.

Smart film with interesting historical costumes and sets, but a little slow = QQQ

Source Code is a fun movie! It’s science fiction, action and adventure, and love story all rolled into one movie. Jake Gyllenhaal is great as Captain Colter Stevens, a man who finds himself on a train talking to a woman that clearly knows him, but he has no recognition of.  He rushes to the bathroom, looks in the mirror, and doesn’t recognize himself. He soon finds out that he is on a mission to find the bomber of the train he’s on. This movie is unique and begs the question:  Is there a parallel universe?  Source Code is well worth your ten bucks — it’s fun and it gives you something to think about.

Groundhog Day meets The Matrix = QQQQ

Director Cary Fukunaga does a good job of keeping our emotions on edge with great music, beautiful photography, and nice pacing.  Miss Wasikowska’s Jane is strong without being defiant and plain without being dowdy.  Mr. Fassbender as Rochester is smoldering, and yes, tortured.

A lot of guys will refuse to see this “chick flick” — instead opting for an action movie that will leave you dizzy from a harrowing car chase rather than emotion.  Let me give you something to think about: This is a Victorian era film.  The characters’ wild desires are suppressed throughout the movie. The pent-up sexual tension is passed right along to the audience, an aphrodisiac of sorts — why not take advantage. Or, you could go see that car chase movie — zoom! bang! crash! — but you should know: car chases give us a HEADACHE!

A great story, good acting and beautiful scenery = QQQq

Lots of laughs, good story, strong performances, and a human touch = QQQQq

I love the movie’s theme — destiny vs. free will —  but unfortunately, the plot got in the way.  David Norris (Matt Damon) is a politician destined to do great things, and Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) is a dancer destined for a big stage.  They meet in a bathroom as Norris practices a concession speech and it’s love at first sight. Destiny has been hijacked. A group of hat-wearing men from the adjustment bureau are sent in by the Chairman (God?) to get everything back on track.  The romance starts and stops, the hatted men go in-and-out of mysterious doors, and you’re thinking you’re glad Matt Damon is the protagonist because almost anyone else would have been totally unbelievable.

The movie tries to do too much — romance, mystery, action — but ends up not doing enough of any one thing.

First of all, does the Chairman (God?) really care more about who’s president or creating great dancers than love?  I would hope not!  If love at first sight isn’t destiny then surely destiny doesn’t exist.  Interesting, but left unexplored, was the difference in the men at the adjustment bureau. Some were enlightened and some were very rigid — they were like religions that answer to the same God but interpret the “word” differently.   The movie seemed content to pass these guys off as fedora wearing angels.   Why did they show us a politician and a talented dancer?  Why not a school teacher and a plumber–destiny isn’t just for people that get their pictures in the paper.  Bottom line — I was more interested in what the movie didn’t do than what it did.

Good acting, great theme, but no real soul =  QQQ

A friend aptly described this movie as The Hangover meets Fargo.  Ed Helms (The Hangover) plays Tim, a naive small town boy off to the “big city” for an insurance convention.  He rooms with straight arrow Ronald (Isiah Whitlock) and party-boy Dean (John C. Reilly), and is seduced by Joan (Anne Heche).  This is not a slapstick, gross-out comedy.  (There was one scene in the credits that made me cover my eyes!)  It’s got solid writing and four main characters that have back stories and character arcs.  Rather than the all-bad or all-good characters we usually see in movies (but rarely in real life) these people are shades of grey.  Joan was especially interesting:  In a role that is usually reserved for men, Ms. Heche’s character is happily married but looking for a little excitement (what happens in Cedar Rapids, stays in Cedar Rapids).  It may have been easy to not like Joan if she had just been “one of the boys” but in a scene where she talks to her family back at home you know that her life is complicated and that she is not just some floozy.

Joan, Ronald, and Dean all educate Tim in the ways of the world and his naivete brings out the best in his new friends.  Most people go home from conventions with a hangover, Tim goes home a new man (with a hangover).

Great characters, good writing, nice acting, and good laughs = QQQQ