Latest movies

I've only gotten to the theater a few times recently, but have seen several  movies On Demand (this is sort of in order of how much I liked them):

That Guy . . . Who Was in That Thing - I stumbled onto this fabulous documentary about character actors, so glad I saw it! Must See for all film lovers. (Only bad thing about it is the awkward title.)


Wreck-It Ralph - maybe the most entertaining film I've seen lately; lots of references to older games (for the older members of the audience) and a terrific story about persistence, friendship, and being yourself.

Game Change - terrific performances of course, but this is really "The Sarah Palin Story," which we mostly already know; I'm glad I watched it, but it could have covered more ground and been more compelling

Arbitrage - definitely a matter of too high expectations; Richard Gere gives a bravura performance (and  Susan Sarandon is wonderful, but rather wasted in a tiny part), but there's not much "there" there - very little commentary on the fiscal behavior of the Masters of the Universe, rather just a tired retread of adultery among the privileged class; really wish I'd waited for this on video

The Secret Life of Arietty - a Japanese film based on a British book (The Borrowers) dubbed into English; charming but not as creative as others of this genre, like Ponyo.

Abduction - in search of family friendly entertainment, we gave this a try; Taylor Lautner is perfectly adequate, and the secondary roles are played by a pantheon of great actors like Sigourney Weaver (who should have demanded a better script), but the biggest problem with this ho hum film is epitomized by the fact that no one is actually abducted - in other words, it mostly makes no sense. Not bad, but certainly not memorable.

Eight Crazy Nights - another attempt to find family entertainment; Adam Sandler's animated film from 2002; not at all what I expected from the title; a rather cliche story of an adult who has never recovered from the death of his parents when he was 12, the only twist is that they died during Hanukkah; several Hanukkah references, which are fun, but otherwise very predictable and nothing special, and some of the humor is way too crude for a family film.