Blue Valentine (2010)

My problems with this movie were legion. This is what I *think* the filmmakers hoped would be running through my head: "why can't they work it out?" "Look, they were so in love!" But instead I was just thinking "ugh -- I hate everyone on the screen."

I think that starting the narrative near the end of the relationship was a mistake. When we meet Ryan Gosling's character, he seems like dead weight in the relationship, so I was against him before I saw anything that might have made me root for him. I'm also not sure why the costume designer thought that traveling to a mid-eighties flea market to pick up his wardrobe (where else could they have found a bald eagle sweatshirt and rapist glasses?) was the perfect stylistic choice. And then what was up with the camera work? The fact that we were right up in everyone's faces made it almost impossible to watch and extremely hard to take.

But the biggest problem? It was boring.

D

Surrogates (2009)

This is a interesting idea: most people choose not to risk their bodies out in the world, opting instead to have realistic avatars, controlled from home, do the first-hand living for them. In our shop-at-home, chat-room world, it doesn't seem all that far-fetched. Gary and I paused the film several times while viewing to discuss what we were seeing and to explore what our own choices/feelings would be.

Surprisingly effective and enjoyable movie.

B+

Lebanon (2010)

I have no idea how much time had already passed for the four-man crew manning a tank in the First Lebanon war (1982). I also wasn't sure how much time was supposed to have passed over the course of the film. The unexplained timeline, claustrophobic setting and growing filth of the space, rather than making for a tense story, just became elements that added to my annoyance and confusion.

All of the men seemed to be losing their minds to some degree and I wasn't sure exactly why. It's hard to criticize it because, you know, war is hard and all that, but I just don't think this story was well-told.

C-

Rabbit Hole (2010)

I know that the death of a child can be hell for a couple -- but I wondered if the couple at the center of this movie might have been in hell even before they lost their young son when he ran out into the street. It's hard to imagine Nicole Kidman's character, Becca, ever having been anything other than repressed and, even as I say that, I know it's not exactly fair. People deal with grief in different ways yada yada, but I couldn't get any empathy going for her or her similarly bland husband.

The only times that the movie really became worth watching was in the scenes with the teen driver who hit the boy. That kid was brilliant and, even though he seemed to have been deeply affected by the accident, he also seemed to be alive...as though he was incorporating the pain into himself rather than either ignoring or letting it take over completely.

It's not bad, but the couple was just too generically sad.

C

The Proposal (2009)

"Hey -- The Proposal is coming on Starz in a few minutes. Wanna watch it?"

"Uh, I guess so."

And I felt much the same once it was over. I didn't mind watching it, but I wouldn't have minded not watching it either.

Convoluted "green card" rom-com that had a smaller allotment of giggles than it needed with about 80 percent of those portioned to the first 30 minutes or so. Things just got increasingly stupid as it wound down to its predictable conclusion. But Ryan Reynolds was pretty appealing.

C+

The Fighter (2010)

I'm well aware that I'm in the minority with this opinion, but I think this whole movie is a mess. The characters are outlines of people, the timelines are extremely unclear, and the out-of-nowhere brawls (cops breakin' hands just because yo -- catfight on the porch just because ho) added up to a couple of hours of eye rolling.

Another minority opinion: there's more method than acting in Christian Bale's method acting. Sure he lost the weight and learned the accent, but it felt like a stunt rather than like he WAS Dicky.

C-

127 Hours (2010)

Although I'm almost positive the real-life Aron Ralston would annoy me (in his pre-accident incarnation, at least), James Franco does a wonderful job making him likable.

The movie is, quite simply, an achievement of storytelling. A guy gets trapped...but rather than having the audience remain trapped along with his body, we were allowed to tag along with his mind instead. It's an emotional, tense, and affecting journey. Even though I'm still not sure how much I'd like Ralston, I know I like the movie he inspired.

A-

Another Year (2010)

Another Year is presented season by season starting with Spring...and I thought, halfway through. "oh no! we've still got Fall and Winter to go!"

Tom and Gerri are a married couple in their late 50s/early 60s and they still enjoy each other's company. The problem is that this is less about Tom and Gerri, who simply serve as an anchor, than about the desperately needy and bordering-on-manic Mary. I simply don't know anyone like Mary -- but that might be because I instinctively walk the other way if I meet anyone even half as self-centered as she is. I could barely take her drunken whining for the duration of the film, so the prospect of actually having her be an interloper into my private life for an entire year would make me seriously contemplate moving (though, to be fair, Tom and Gerri had had enough of her by Autumn, too).

As Gary said on the way out of the theater, "It might be a slice of life, but what's interesting about this particular slice of this particular life?" Personally, I was interested in the life of Imelda Staunton's depressed housewife, introduced at the beginning of the story only to vanish after her second scene. I kept hoping she'd come back.

C

Duplicity (2009)

There's this pretty woman -- and she's some kind of insider corporate mole chick. And there's this prettier man -- and he's some kind of inside-man corporate mole guy, but not as clever as she is. She beds him to steal a file and his feelings get all hurt. And then they start working together and become lovers and design some fierce "let's get rich by finding some corporate patsies" plan, but they can't really trust each other because they double-cross for a living and -- oh -- I'm tired.

The timeline isn't linear and I had a hard time keeping track of "when" we were and what I knew. I was often confused and never quite sure of who to trust...all of which would've been fine if I cared a fig about our devious couple. Since I didn't (I mean, this pair seemed more compatible in Closer, for crying out loud), I just became increasingly frustrated at the twists and turns and double-backs. I think the plot was convoluted enough without screwing around with the timeline.

C

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

I was really looking forward to this movie -- I'd heard all kinds of good things about it. Unfortunately, I saw it in my living room rather than in a theater wearing 3-D glasses, and I'm thinking that rather robbed the film of what made it so special to the first-round reviewers.

It was adequate, sure, but it wasn't original or very funny (a chuckle here and there was all I could muster) or transportive. I also found Jay Baruchel's vocal stylings as the hero Hiccup (um...har har?) less endearing than grating.

C-

The King's Speech (2010)

Colin Firth was my choice for the Oscar last year, but lost out to Jeff Bridges. No matter -- he's got it sewn up this time around with the more showy role of the stammering Prince Albert, Duke of York.

The speech impediment, which has plagued him since childhood, is a particular embarrassment since he's pressed to speak publicly with more frequency as the king, his father, ages and his elder brother is away sowing copious wild oats. Firth does an amazing job garnering sympathy with his panic-stricken eyes and then slapping down that pity with his undeniable royalty. This is a man with a problem, but he's no commoner. His new therapist, however, demands a more familiar relationship -- another hurdle for the irritable Albert.

I do have one question...if the "headphone" anecdote is true, why the heck didn't he simply wear them every time he was to record a royal speech?

A-