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Title Year Rating Thumbnail Summary and Review
50/50 [Fifty-Fifty] 2011 ]]] Well done story of a young man who is diagnosed with a serious form of cancer, his reactions, and the reactions of those around him - good acting except for the usual chewing of the scenery by Seth Rogen - this prevented the fourth star for me
Abduction 2011 ]]] A teenager at risk from the CIA and foreign bad guys - totally improbable but very entertaining with lots of action and likeable stars
Amigo 2010 ]]]] Grim look at the US occupation of a Philippine village at the beginning of the Twentieth Century - great acting and characters
Another Earth 2011 ] Romantic sci-fi mess with bad production and acting
Another Happy Day 2011 ]]] An emotionally unstable woman goes with the children she has made emotionally unstable to a family wedding and all hell breaks loose - very good acting in this dark drama
Borgia 2011 ]]]] French - an English language look at two years in the lives of the famous family - graphic with lots of sex - entertaining
Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star 2011 ] Distasteful comedy about an idiot who goes to Hollywood to be a porn star - it is a mystery that anyone would waste a single dime on a film such as this
Caterpillar [Kyatapirâ] 2010 ]]] Japanese - in 1940 a Japanese soldier is returned home deaf, unable to speak, and with no arms or legs - his wife's motives as to her overly negative reactions becomes clear throughout the drama - strange, dark tale
Chateau Meroux, The 2011 ] Insipid fish-out-of-water romance
Contagion 2011 ]]]] Story of a new virus and how it spreads across the world - fascinating with lots of excellent performances by know and unknown actors
Cooking with Stella 2009 ]] Canadian - a supposed comedy about a Canadian minister in India who is cheated by her housekeeper - the minister also has a milquetoast idiot of a husband who learns how to cook Indian food from the housekeeper - a muddled mess of sketchy characters
Courageous 2011 ]]] Mildly entertaining Christian-based film about several men who learn to become better fathers - very hokey
Cowboys & Aliens 2011 ]]] Old West tale with the cowboys and Indians against aliens - fun but nothing special
Debt, The 2010 ]]]] Three Mossad agents keep a thirty year secret - good acting, but the producers made little effort in finding the two generations of characters look like each other - people don't change that much in three decades
Dirty Girl 2010 ]]] Another film about teenagers finding themselves - this one is fairly entertaining focusing upon the school's bad girl and her overweight gay companion - would have been four stars except for the over-the-top, hokey ending
Drive 2011 ]]]] Moody piece about a stunt car driver who moonlights as a diver for robberies and his relationship with a woman and her child who live in the same apartment house - slow moving but entertaining
Even the Rain [También la Lluvia] 2010 ]]]] Spanish - a film company is in Bolivia to make a film about how Columbus and his men exploited the natives while a parallel modern-day exploitation is taking place - great characters
Greening of Whitney Brown, The 2011 ] Insipid self-centered teenager finds her true self story
Guard, The 2011 ]]]] Irish - an FBI agent tracking drug smugglers goes to a small Irish village and hooks up with an unconventional Guard sergeant - great characters
Happy, Happy [Sykt Lykkelig] 2010 ]]] Norwegian - a unfulfilled housewife has an affair with her neighbor - interesting characters in this drama
Hell and Back Again 2011 ]]]] Brittle and chilling look at the life of a young marine both in Afghanistan and in the US after he returns home with major injuries - this surely is the most realistic and believable documentary I have seen about the war
How I Killed My Father [Comment J'ai Tué Mon Père] 2001 ]]] French - an emotionally distant son deals with the return of his father after many years of absence - interesting French characters
I Don't Know How She Does It 2011 ]]] Mildly pleasing flick about a couple trying to balance their stressful jobs with family life - good characters and acting
Ides of March, The 2011 ]]]] Superior acting and production in this look at political double dealings
In My Sleep 2010 ]] Cardboard characters make this thriller about a man who sleepwalks a real snooze
Mildred Pierce 2011 ]]]] Mini-series about a woman who sacrifices for a selfish, hateful daughter - great acting and production
Moneyball 2011 ]]]] Very good acting in this bio-flick about baseball manager Billy Beane
Mysteries of Lisbon [Mistérios de Lisboa] 2010 ]]]] Portuguese - this is a long, long movie - four and a half hours - with stories revolving around a boy left to grow up in a monastery and the priest who is his mentor - I was dissatisfied with the ending, but the whole thing certainly holds your interest
One Way 2006 ]] Wooden acting by the lead makes this mystery pretty much unwatchable
Puncture 2011 ] Drug-addicted attorney fights the good cause - main character is just to slimy for my liking
Red Hill 2010 ]]] Australian - modern day wild west tale taking place in the outback - lots of violence and a shaky plot but mildly entertaining
Rise of the Planet of the Apes 2011 ]]]] Well done film about how the apes on Earth gained intelligence - very good acting and effects make for an entertaining guilty pleasure flick
Smell of Success, The 2011 ] This supposedly ironic comedy about the manure business is just a big stinker
Stoning in Fulham County, A 1988 ]]] A prosecutor fights prejudice against the Amish in a small North Carolina community - this television flick contains an early performance by Brad Pitt
Substance of Fire, The 1996 ]]]] Excellent family drama about a domineering and distant father and his three adult children - great acting
Tenth Man, The 1988 ]]] Television flick based upon Graham Greene's novel about a French lawyer who pays a poor man to take his place in a German firing squad during WWII - good acting and interesting characters
Toast 2010 ]]]] Nigel Slater is a well-known British chef and media personality - this is a view of his life as a young man - filled with superior acting and interesting characters, this film is a feast
Today's Special 2009 ]]] Fairly standard fare of a man of Indian heritage reconciling his view with those of his family - good characters gives it its third star
Trust 2000 ]]] British mini-series about a lawyer whose husband is accused of murder - mildly entertaining look at three disreputable characters
Waiting City, The 2009 ]]] Australian - a couple goes to India to wait in the process of adopting a child - a look at their personalities
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