Exit Out the Gift Shop (2010)

Street Artist and now film maker Banksy tells the story of Terry, video-camera addict and street-art fan turned manaic.   It's a very entertaining film that introduces novices like me to the whole street art scene as well as examines the passion of a very bizarre character.   Terry is a one-man theme park with the balls to tackle anything full-steam ahead.  If only his artistic talents matched up with his desire.  Still the point of the document is clear: the art world and the hype that can build around an artist name is all pocky cock.  Grade: A-.

Spoilers:  There's speculation that some, if not all, of this film is a fiction.  That the documentary is a hoax.  I can easily see that this might be true.  Banksy is a very mischief guy.  The fact that he keeps his identity a secret and he once almost dispersed Princess Diana printed currency makes the idea of this all being fakery very possible.  Either way it's still a very engrossing film that will have you laughing and thinking about art and those who worship it.  I suspect, although it's just a guess, that Terry is a real guy, a guy obsessed with video taping street art and that after Banksy friended him Banksy asked Terry to become an artist for the purpose of this film.   In the movie Banksy and Terry pull a stun in Disneyland that gets Terry caught by the Disney security.   The fact that Terry didn't cave in and tell on Banksy is proof enough that he is capable of acting the proxy to Banksy's illusions.

Knight and Day (2010)

Tom Cruise doesn't age.  I mean, maybe a little but he's as fit as most twenty-year-olds.  And he still has it; the talent and charm to make even a movie like this better than it deserves.  What a silly little movie that surprises with how much fun it can be if you don't take it too serious.  Just go with the flow and let Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz take you for a wild ride.  Sure the plot has its holes and the villains are as two dimensional as most villains in a typical Hollywood action movie but the tone is enjoyable enough not to offend.  Grade: B+.

Love's Labour's Lost (2000)

Certainly not the best adaptation of Shakespeare of Kenneth Branagh's directing career that's for sure.  It's a brave decision to take a Shakespeare play and turn it into a '30s musical using Gershwin songs.  Sometimes it works but mostly it just feels out of place.  Yet there is a joyful quality to this film that makes it impossible to hate it.  Even if some of the actors need to take a few more lessons on how to perform Shakespeare, their gun ho spirit is visible.  The biggest problem for me was that it felt truncated.  I understand that a modern audience won't sit through a four hour play but too much of it was cut.  I wanted more Shakespeare and less news reel footage that tells us information instead of showing us.  I would recommend if you watch this film you check out the DVD extras.  The deleted scenes are wonderful and proof that they had the material.   I'm hoping Kenneth Branagh continues directing the Barb, even if the result its like this.  Shakespeare deserves it all.  Grade: B 

Blue Valentine (2010)

Derek Cianfrance directs a film he co-wrote about the marriage between a dropout artist and a nurse, a couple played heroically by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams.  A work of art that examines love and relationships in an honest and beautiful way.  Oscar caliber film making and acting and well-worth seeing in the theater.  Grade: A.  

Spoiler alert: This is a difficult film to write about without giving away the ending.  It's a real sad film, especially painful because I left knowing that these two people were meant for each other but when someone in a relationship stops trying to improve themselves no love story can survive.  I loved how these two met and hated to see them break apart.  One part of the film that's pretty shocking and that's wonderfully controversial is how she never tells the real father that she's pregnant.  This choice really is immoral but does a lot to show how screwed up she is too.  I've discussed this with some friends and people jump on his case for being such a loser when they forget that she's just as much a flawed person as well.  Which makes this all the more devastating because they could have helped each other but they didn't and that's why they were doomed.   Heart breaking.

Micmacs à tire-larigot [Micmacs] (2009)

The makers of Amelie (aka Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain) return with this whimsical comedy of a shooting victim who sets out to destroy the weapons manufactures responsible for making the bullet that's still in his head and land mine that killed his father.  Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a genius at visual mischief.  Visual gags fill every frame of this movie.  It's so fun to watch that I found myself having to rewind at some parts because I had stopped reading the subtitles.  The film's only flaw is that Jean-Pierre under develops some of the relationships on screen, especially the love story which kind of pops up out of nowhere.  In Amelie he proved to be brilliant with ensembles but here he introduces his characters and then moves on, not allowing us anymore interactions that might allow us to fall in love with them.   Which is unfortunate because there are some really great characters in this film that remain two-dimensional clowns.   Still if you like quirky characters and inventive film making, this sort of satire on Mission Impossible like adventure films is a blast.  Grade: A-

Little Fockers (2010)

Trilogies are hard to pull off.  This is why there are so many weak, incomplete examples.  For every Toy Story or Back to the Future trio there's The Matrix and American Pie films.   Little Fockers isn't as well-crafted as the first film, Meet the Parents, but is a huge improvement over its sequel, Meet the Fockers.  Enjoyable mostly because of the comic sparring between DeNiro and Stiller, the film loses steam toward the end when the writers and multiple egos (yes, I'm thinking of you Barbara) mess up what could have been a great ending to a comedy classic.  (Why so many story lines?)  Jessica Alba impressed me again in the second time this year with a really funny performance.  I think Alba found her calling, comedy.  Really when it was over I just wanted more of a definitive moment, a lasting impressing.  Instead the film ends the same way it starts, as a rambling moment.  Perfect for leaving it open for another sequel.  Grade: B.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)

The craziest wackjob of an animated film is also one of the most funny fun-fests.   I can't believe how much I laughed.  Excellent writing and a unique look make this a must-see for any animation fan.  Unless you lack a funny bone that is.   I was especially impressed by the voice talent which performed their characters flawlessly.  Sony Pictures Animation is here and if this is any indication they're here to stay.  Grade: A