Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

3 out of 5 Stars
I enjoyed it. Though I still question why I bother to see these Harry Potter films since they are basically just a different persons' cinematic interpretation of the books. I love Bellatrix. Helena Bonham Carter needs more screen time.

Bruno

3.5 out of 5 Stars
Sasha Baron Cohen is so in the method that I worry he may actually be schizophrenic. Still, I think he is brilliant, talented, scary, wonderful, and 'watchable'. Bruno lacks the story arch of Borat, but it's worth seeing for Cohen's 'performance'.

Inglorious Basterds

3 out of 5 Stars
Some amazing acting (Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Melanie Laurent, et al). Tarantino had some excellent cinematic moments. Oddly enough, I would have thought that scalping Nazis would have made for a more in depth story arch. Instead, I left the theater feeling disappointed -- two wrongs will never make a right. Although I do respect Tarantino, I worry he will never live up to the brilliance of 'Pulp Fiction'.

Up

4 out of 5 Stars
Pixar films always end up being far more moving and visually arresting than the trailers make them out to be. I had no interest in seeing this film (or Wall-E for that matter) based on the previews. And in both cases I found myself pleasantly surprised. 'Up' is, overall, a beautiful, mature, and sentimental film about love, loyalty, adventure, fear and loss. I admit, I cried twice. The characters' facial expressions and how realistically each nuance is portrayed through animation never ceases to astound me. Of course, like all Disney films, there are several lengthy sequences involving talking dogs and chase sequences which I found dragged a bit. But by the time the credits rolled I found myself wiping away tears and wanting to applaud.

Phoebe in Wonderland

3.5 out of 5 Stars
The film critic in me had to rate this original film as 3.5 out of 5 stars. The sensitive teacher and former OCD/anxious child in me would give this 4 out of 5 stars. I loved the concept of the story enhanced by some really striking, honest and insightful lines in the screenplay. On paper, Phoebe is an extremely dynamic character. On camera, Elle Fanning portrayed the role with such subtlety and lack of melodrama that she managed to (without child actor pretentiousness) to outshine her very talented 'grown up' co stars. I did love Patricia Clarkson as the drama teacher (in 4th grade I had a teacher just like her). But her character loses steam in the final 20 minutes. Not at all Clarkson's fault, in fact the entire film crashes in on itself in those last 20 minutes. Felicity Huffman's caring and nurturing mom who wants what is best for her children falls flat, also due to the script. And Campbell Scott's talent is completely wasted in the role of the principal. In the final third of the film, the screen writer tied a beautiful and painful story together way too neatly. But days after seeing the film, I can't get the image of Elle Fanning as Phoebe counting steps, washing her hands, being unable to control her behavior and crying out for help in the world of fantasy out of my mind...

The Proposal

2.5 out of 5 Stars
Ryan Reynolds has some shirtless scenes, Betty White cracks me up and the clips during the end credits were hilarious! Not a great film but its worth it for the above 3 reasons.

The Brothers Bloom

3 out of 5 Stars
I was a fan of Rian Johnson's first film 'Brick' so I was intrigued to see what his second film would be like. I wasn't disappointed. In this day and age of remakes, sequels and retellings it was refreshing to watch a dark comedy that was well acted and original (though it should be noted that I was the only person in the theater who laughed during the film). Adrien Brody, as always, gives a great performance, Rachel Weisz is quirky and fun to watch, and best of all I adored Rinko Kikuchi as 'Bang Bang'. The film gets a bit repetitive in the third act but for the most part I solidly enjoyed the characters, the story, the setting and the originality.