Liberal Arts

Movies to See Right Now

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Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in LOOPER

As I wrote on Wednesday, I’m eagerly anticipating today’s release of Seven Psychopaths and Argo.   The best of the movies already in release is End of Watch, a thrilling cop movie that rises above the genre. I also liked the thinking person’s sci fi movie, Looper.   Perks of Being a Wallflower is an authentic coming of age story.

The inventive Sleepwalk With Me and Robot and Frank.are two excellent comedies that you haven’t seen before. Although there isn’t an unpredictable moment in Trouble with the Curve, it charmed me with its fine acting and baseball nostalgia. The Master is a visual and acting masterpiece, but the story fizzles out. The indie comedy Liberal Arts has some good moments, but overall rings hollow.

It’s worth seeking out the compelling documentary Searching for Sugar Man, about the hunt to uncover the secret fate of an artist that didn’t know that he was a rock star.

The stylishly violent crime drama Lawless is well-made and well-acted but predictable. The bike messenger thriller Premium Rush is nothing more than a chase scene, but it’s a cool chase. The Dark Night Rises is too corny and too long, but Anne Hathaway sparkles. The Words is a corny drama that insults the audience by over-explaining everything.

I haven’t yet seen the big Hollywood thriller Argo or the dark crime comedy Seven Psychopaths, which open this weekend.  You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is the gripping drama Detachment, a nightmare for teachers with Adrien Brody’s best performance since winning an Oscar for The Pianist.  Detachment is on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

Movies to See Right Now

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END OF WATCH

I recommend End of Watch, a thrilling cop movie that rises above the genre. I also liked the thinking person’s sci fi movie, Looper.  Perks of Being a Wallflower is an authentic coming of age story.

The inventive Sleepwalk With Me and Robot and Frank.are two excellent comedies that you haven’t seen before. Although there isn’t an unpredictable moment in Trouble with the Curve, it charmed me with its fine acting and baseball nostalgia. The Master is a visual and acting masterpiece, but the story fizzles out.  The indie comedy Liberal Arts has some good moments, but overall rings hollow.

It’s worth seeking out the compelling documentary Searching for Sugar Man, about the hunt to uncover the secret fate of an artist that didn’t know that he was a rock star.

The stylishly violent crime drama Lawless is well-made and well-acted but predictable. The bike messenger thriller Premium Rush is nothing more than a chase scene, but it’s a cool chase. The Dark Night Rises is too corny and too long, but Anne Hathaway sparkles. The Words is a corny drama that insults the audience by over-explaining everything.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is the story of aged Brits seeking a low-budget retirement in India, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It is much more than a fish-out-of-water comedy, and has deservedly become they year’s biggest indie hit.

Liberal Arts: promising, but hollow

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I liked so much about Liberal Arts that I wondered why I felt so unsatisfied leaving the theater. I finally realized that the central character just didn’t work for me, making an otherwise good movie into a hollow one.

Liberal Arts is written and directed by TV sitcom star Josh Radnor, who also plays the lead character, Jesse, a college admissions officer in NYC.  Jesse is now 35 and adrift.  He returns to his old college to speak at the retirement of his favorite professor, falls back in love with college life and meets a spirited 19-year-old coed.  As Jesse examines where he is in his life, he is book ended by his world weary professors and by the naive young students that he meets.

That’s a promising premise and the very well written supporting characters provide some funny and thoughtful moments.  Richard Jenkins is brilliant as a man grappling with the end of his career, and Alison Janney has some delicious moments as a very tough broad whose expertise is Romantic literature.  Elizabeth Olsen is very good as the coed, and Zac Efron is downright hilarious as a college age stoner dude.

But it comes down to a main character that has it pretty good, but resists acting like a grownup.  He doesn’t get credit from me for figuring it out at least thirteen years too late.  The movie wants to give him credit for that, and for a “noble” decision that is implausible.

The Wife liked it, though.

Movies to See Right Now

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Jake Gylenhaal and Michael Pena in END OF WATCH

The best of the new movies is End of Watch, a thrilling cop movie that rises above the genre.   Although there isn’t an unpredictable moment in Trouble with the Curve, it charmed me with its fine acting and baseball nostalgia.  The Master is a visual and acting masterpiece, but the story fizzles out.

We still have a couple of fine comedies in theaters, most recently Sleepwalk With Me.  Frank Langella’s performance in Robot and Frank elevates the film from a pretty good comedy to a revealing study of getting older.

It’s worth seeking out the compelling documentary Searching for Sugar Man, about the hunt to uncover the secret fate of an artist that didn’t know that he was a rock star.

The stylishly violent crime drama Lawless is well-made and well-acted but predictable. The bike messenger thriller Premium Rush is nothing more than a chase scene, but it’s a cool chase. The Dark Night Rises is too corny and too long, but Anne Hathaway sparkles. The Words is a corny drama that insults the audience by over-explaining everything.

I haven’t yet seen the screen version of the coming of age best seller The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the sci fi hitman thriller Looper or the campus comedy Liberal Arts, which open widely this week.  You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is Bernie, a very funny dark comedy by Richard Linklater, shows off Jack Black’s talents in a whole new light.  Bernie makes my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.