When I first read Revolutionary Road, I thought it might be too multilayered to make a good movie. But I held out hope that Richard Yates's 1961 novel of suburban discontent could really triumph visually, with its lush '50s setting, dark humor, the awkward embarrassment of characters realizing life hasn't turned out the way they planned, and the quiet resentment that breeds.

When I heard Sam Mendes was directing with Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio starring, I really yearned for this movie to be great — which probably explains why I was somewhat disappointed by an otherwise thoughtful film. To read my bittersweet reaction, read more

Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire isn't the kind of movie that sits back and waits for you to fall in love with it. It doesn't give you the chance to refuse. From the opening minutes, it washes over you, sucks you in, and spins you through a whirlwind of colors and sounds and emotions. It's a movie that is completely, gloriously alive.

The movie centers on Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), an Indian teenager who's poised to win 20,000,000 rupees in his country's version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? The movie opens with him kidnapped and tortured by police who want to know who's feeding Jamal the answers. Doctors and lawyers don't even win the way he has; how could a kid from the streets possibly know all of this? The rest of the movie unfolds around that question, as Jamal explains through flashbacks and memories how every moment of his life has brought him here.

It's a joy to watch, but that doesn't mean it's an entirely joyful movie; parts of Jamal's story are downright painful, in the same way that watching The Wire makes me ache inside. But Slumdog never falls too deeply into heartbreak. Mirroring the path of its protagonist's life, every moment is another brick building to a perfect conclusion. For the rest of my thoughts, just read more

From dime-store digests to lush graphic novels, the comic-book genre has fully established itself as part of high culture. Along with the literary upgrade have come equally artful films, including The Dark Knight and Sin City. But for all its highbrow hopes, The Spirit plays like a B movie.

Written and directed by Frank Miller of Sin City and 300 fame, The Spirit is no Sin City or even the less cerebral 300. As both artful sketch and pure entertainment, The Spirit is lacking. For all the highs and lows, read more

While there are a zillion World War II movies out there already, I kept an open mind going into the Tom Cruise star vehicle Valkyrie. Sure, this is a movie that has been dogged by bad press from start to finish (even due, in part, to the fact that Cruise is a Scientologist) but I can see that there is a fascinating movie to be made out of a German resistance movement involving Nazi officers in Adolf Hitler's inner circle.

High-ranking, aristocratic officers attempting to assassinate Hitler? There's so much to explore here! Were these men heroes? Or was it a desperate and calculated power grab when it was clear the Germans were losing the war? What did these men know about the mass murders of Jews that had taken place and when did they know it? Did any of them, including Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) who led one of the most daring plots to kill Hitler, have a genuine crisis of conscience? And if so, what does that kind of moral awakening look like?

In a war that is often depicted very starkly as good vs. evil, within the German rank and file there were shades of gray and this makes for interesting psychological thriller fodder for sure. So why did Cruise and director Bryan Singer forego that kind of film in favor of a totally reductive, shallow, glossy, big-budget flick that will leave you feeling underwhelmed and a little icky because you just spent over an hour rooting for Nazis? I really don't know, but let's talk about it. Just read more

The notion of youth being wasted on the young is a compelling one, without a doubt. It inspired a famous Mark Twain quote, which in turn inspired an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, which has now lent its name to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a film starring Brad Pitt as the title character, born old and destined to die young.

It sounds like a fairytale, and at times, the screen version feels like one, with ethereal flashbacks, eerily spot-on visual effects, and a sweet if improbable romance between Benjamin and his normally-aging love, Daisy (Cate Blanchett). But director David Fincher and screenwriter Eric Roth almost crowd out the movie's central love story with too much stuff — there's a hurricane plot, a daughter learning the truth about her family, and nearly an hour of Benjamin's wacky adventures. Instead of enveloping the audience in a mystical story, it fights against its narrative, constantly breaking its own spell. Yet there are reasons to watch Benjamin Button even when it feels like work, so to see the rest of my thoughts, just read more

In many ways, the movie Marley & Me is itself like a sweet little squirmy puppy. It's good natured and earnest, funny and cute. It turns out to be pretty much exactly what you expect if you've seen the trailers and/or read the book on which the movie is based: Literally a story about a crazy, uncontrollable dog whose life impacts a young couple's marriage in unexpected ways.

That said, the movie is often just as much about the protagonist, John Grogan (Owen Wilson) and his relationship with his wife Jennifer (Jennifer Aniston) as it is about the dog. And it's about the sacrifices we make for the ones we love — even for the ones we love who are furry and four-legged. Much of the time is spent following this husband and wife as they go through the growing pains of marriage: Finding a home (and then trying to find new homes in better neighborhoods), figuring out what they need professionally, having children, and making decisions about work goals vs. family, etc. etc. It's all very simple and normal, but there's a kind of comfort in that. For more of my thoughts on this, read more

As a simple story about a young woman having a hard time of it, Wendy and Lucy is a bit irritating at times. But after viewing this quiet little movie directed and co-written by indie darling Kelly Reichardt, I sat with it and mulled it over for a few weeks. Only then did I realize how effective it is at capturing the bitter realities and melancholy that exists for those who live at or below the poverty lines and on the edges of our society.

It's certainly a downer — but a superbly rendered downer that may ultimately be seen as a cinematic snapshot of the times we're living in. Reichardt and her star, the impressive Michelle Williams, succeed at capturing a certain downtrodden vibe that's in the air nowadays and for that I can forgive it for being, well, boring. To see where I think it soars and where it stumbles, just read more

If you were confused by the trailer for Seven Pounds that's because the movie is mostly one long guessing game, meant to have a confusing, slow build-up to a twisty surprise ending. There seems to be such an emphasis on keeping the audience wondering what's going on, and I was frustrated not because I didn't understand the "why"s of the plot but because it's hard to care enough about these characters — even the lead played by Will Smith — to truly want to figure out what the heck's going on.

Mostly I just wished they would stop talking in gratingly general terms ("Remember that thing you took from me?" "Yes, and I remember the thing I gave you, too." "It's all about that pact we made a while ago! Remember the pact? And that other thing?"). This goes on for an absurdly long time and I just wanted to shout "Enough already! Tell us what the deal is so we can all go home!" This is not a good sign. I stuck with it until the end though, so for some of my thoughts on it all, read more

It may be a silly and simplistic movie, but Yes Man is also one of the few movies this year that left me grinning from ear to ear at the end. From the premise we know that it's about the power of positive thinking and being open to things and changing one's life for the better, etc. etc. And the crazy, great thing about this ridiculous film is that it’s actually pretty effective in making you think that you can (and should) do just that. It's funny, sure, and even more inspiring. And what’s wrong with that — especially these days?

Divorced loan officer Carl (Jim Carrey) is basically a "no man," turning down everything from invitations to parties to the loan requests he hears every day. At the suggestion of a friend, however, Carl finds himself at a self-help-type meeting all about the power of saying "yes" to every opportunity that comes around. So, Carl makes a pact with himself to say "yes" to everything. And while this leads to some bizarre (and sometimes dangerous) situations, it also frees him to try new things, which ultimately improves his attitude, his job life and his relationships. He even meets the irresistibly fun, charming and beautiful Allison (Zooey Deschanel). But it turns out there are negative things that can come from this extreme yea-saying, and Carl learns that the program has its limitations. Yup, that's about it for plot, so for more of my take on the whole thing, read more

Doubt and Frost/Nixon have a lot in common: Both are stage-to-screen adaptations, both are receiving a lot of awards buzz, and neither has a particularly compelling visual story to tell. Instead, the drama lies in the words people are saying. I've heard both of these movies referred to as "grown-up" cinema, which is probably apt given that it takes a pretty mature attention span to fully appreciate them.

All this might sound a bit boring but Frost/Nixon actually ends up being just the opposite. Playwright/screenwriter Peter Morgan is proving to be an expert at lifting the curtain on some of history's most intriguing leaders and applying his imagination to the factual outlines of their lives (he also wrote The Queen and The Last King of Scotland). To see why I think Morgan — with the help of director Ron Howard — has created another smart and absorbing movie, read more

Doubt is a tense, thought-provoking and incredibly well-written play, and it must be difficult to adapt such a dense play for the big screen. With a play there's the understanding that we're somewhat confined in terms of location and there's often a lot of talking and emoting. The film adaptation of Doubt is pretty much entirely talking and emoting. It's not that that's a bad thing, per se, it's just that it requires a bit more wrangling of the ol' attention span than most movies require. In some ways, I'm not completely sure why it was adapted for the big screen, except to cement in cinematic history these exceptional performances by some of today's Hollywood giants.

There's nothing visually interesting about it (at all), though surely the visuals aren't the focus here. The exploration of what's moral and good, which sin is greater than another sin, and the back-and-forth dance of trust and suspicion — these are central to the story that Doubt attempts to tell. But it is, well, a lot of talking. It's often absorbing because these actors so expertly guide us through the narrative, but it might take a particularly patient modern-day moviegoer to enjoy this movie. To see what it's all about and more of my thoughts, read more

The last time I chatted with my boyfriend about movies here we discussed Brendan Fraser, mummies, and Yetis and it was a lot of fun. So, I recruited him again for The Day the Earth Stood Still, a remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic of the same name.

I had a feeling that despite a pretty neat-looking cast (Jennifer Connelly, Keanu Reeves, Kathy Bates, Will Smith's kid Jaden, Mad Men's Jon Hamm, and John Cleese — John Cleese!) this movie might not turn out to be all that great. My male companion was skeptical as well but we both agreed to keep an open mind going in. Now I'm here to report that we immediately came to the same conclusion upon exiting the theater: Lame.

To see our thoughts on the film, including a debate about seeing Brendan Fraser movies for the rest of your life versus Keanu Reeves movies, just read more