Sons of Anarchy (Season 5)

You know you’re watching a good show when each season moves the story forward instead of repeating itself. Kurt Sutter is storyteller gold right now, spinning this down-and-dirty tale about the rise of a young biker prince who continues to fall into a pit of corruption even as he yearns to get away. Charlie Hunnam delves even darker into his character and Katey Sagal complicates everything by turning into a real bitch. I mean, I hated her by the end of this season and I’m hoping she is killed off next season. How is this possible? I used to like her character. Not anymore. Yet that’s why I know I’m watching a great show because I’m emotional tested and thinking of these characters like real people. I’m glad I get a break from this show though because I know it’s only going to get nastier. Grade: A

Los Cronocrímenes [Time Crimes] (2007)

I love time travel films and this mystery box of a story is an enjoyable example of the sub-genre. Hector lives with his beloved wife out in the Spanish country and he’s just trying to enjoy his afternoon while his wife goes shopping. Yet his curiosity is tweaked when he sees through binoculars a woman out in the woods take off her closes. He decides to investigate only to become a victim to a crazy masked killer. He is stabbed and is able to escape to a science complex. It’s here that he becomes trapped in a time loop and where the adventure and the film’s many fun twists begin. I think this is a great little movie well worth checking out. Grade: B+

24 Hour Party People (2002)

British director Michael Winterbottom is a fascinating artist. Even his choice of films is odd. He’s done drama, science fiction and comedy. But when he’s doing comedy he smartly teams up with Steve Coogan. This is a semi-fictional retelling of Tony Wilson, reporter and music promoter, and how he helped support Manchester's music scene from the late ‘70s all the way to the ‘90s. The improvisational nature of the film doesn’t always work but the overall feel is that you’re watching a badly edited documentary. I enjoyed it but mostly because of Coogan’s performance, not the music history. If you like this music then you’ll probably be even more entertained than I was. Grade: B+

The Imposter (2012)

I can’t really tell if I liked this film. It’s a documentary that tells the strange story of Frédéric Bourdin. A French con man who succeeds to convince a Texas family that he’s their missing son. In many ways it’s a riveting story but the interviews from the real people mixed in with the recreations kind of annoyed me. It seemed artificial and made me wonder why these people would participate in such a project. While the unbelievable details at the beginning are very entertaining at first the way the story unravels isn’t as interesting. Grade: B

Andrei Rublev (1966)

Andrei Tarkovsky, the masterful Russian director of other such boring films as Solaris and The Stalker, delivers us another slow-moving epic. To be fair though I do believe this one is actually pretty good. Yes, I strained to watch it without falling to sleep but this meditation on the life of a Russian painter from the 15th Century is beautifully captured in black and white and I thought the various chapters were memorable with stories that actually interested me. My favorite story dealt with the scenes about the making of the bell. Grade: B

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

I’m a big fan of Gary Ross and was bummed that he left this film series with Francis Lawrence attached to direct. I had yet been impressed with Mr. Lawrence, finding his biggest hit I am Legend a disappointing mess. How delighted I was to witness not only a better film than the first one (which I liked a lot) but one of the best book adaptations I’ve ever seen. I remember reading the book by Suzanne Collins and thinking it was almost un-filmable, that the action would have to be toned down some to make a plausible film. Wrong. This film matched my imagination almost to the exact detail. Katniss and Peeta survived the first Hunger Games and now they must parade about as celebrities, all to bolster the Capitol’s agenda. One problem: Katniss is a force of inspiration for a growing rebellion and that will force President Snow to change the rules. With an excellent cast of new characters and Jennifer Lawrence giving another memorable performance this series just became a contender for one of the best series made. Grade: A

Idiocracy (2006)

This might go down as Mike Judge’s masterpiece. A cautionary joke that seems to be coming true: we are getting dumber as a society. Luke Owen, a modern day Rip Van Winkle, wakes up to discover that he’s the smartest man in the world because everyone else is a moron. Smart and crude at the same time, this is the kind of comedy that will stand the test of time, unless we do get so stupid not to see the humor in it. Grade: A-