Moon (2009)

Drama Rated R

There’s a tiny detail in Moon that nicely captures the unique experience of watching this tricky, twisty movie. The story is set on a lunar space station in which identifying signage appears on walls, equipment and so on. One particular note, stamped at the bottom of a ladder, caught my eye: “Mind step.” It’s a

Rabbit Hole (2010)

Drama Rated PG-13

“…avoids exploitation at all costs.

Cars 2 (2011)

Family Rated PG

“Given Pixar’s track record, it would be easy to forgive Cars 2 as a swing and a miss. Yet the movie is more disconcerting than that.

Top Ten Films of 2011 (2011)

Drama Rated NR

The best of a very good movie year.

Adjustment Bureau, The (2011)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

“Too often, Damon resembles a besotted, middle-school boy who’s chasing his crush not at recess, but in the Matrix.

Scream (1996)

Horror Rated R

“…scarily clever and cleverly scary.”

Battle: Los Angeles (2011)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

“Considering there are so many new ways to tell an alien-invasion story (found footage, mockumentary, spoof), Battle: Los Angeles is almost defiantly old-fashioned.

Waste Land (2010)

Documentary Rated NR

It sounded like a bad idea: ill-fated at best, pandering at worst. Artist Vik Muniz traveled to his native Brazil to lead an art project using materials pulled from the world’s largest landfill. After meeting the destitute people there who scavenge for recyclable items, he decided to incorporate them into the project both as portrait

Sucker Punch (2011)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

“This isn’t the imagination of a young girl; it’s the fantasy of a 14-year-old boy steeped in kung fu, Call of Duty and online porn.”

Whip It (2009)

Comedy Rated PG-13

Even as it wallows in cliches, you can sense there is something unique about Whip It, a coming-of-age sports dramedy set amidst the world of women’s roller derby. Ellen Page, less snarky than usual, stars as Bliss Cavendar, a Texas teen doomed to beauty pageants – at least until she discovers the fishnets and hard