Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)

Lots of good information here, mostly about how one percent of the population break the financial rules the rest of us follow, getting away with it by creating the rules in the first place.

I learned several things: pilots are paid almost nothing, never voluntarily leave your home in a foreclosure, and that there are still a few Washington politicians who care about doing good.  But all was nearly undone by Moore's sophomoric antics.  A citizen's arrest?  Driving an armored truck and taking money bags to the bailout banks for repayment?  Crime scene tape around suspect companies?  Come on, Michael.  Your message is strong -- you don't need tricks to sell it.  Grow up.

C+

Mildred Pierce (1945)

Mildred’s unemployed husband has walked out on her and their two daughters. The older, an ungrateful, spoiled teenager, is embarrassed by their working-class status, but Mildred still manages to make good with a chain of profitable restaurants.

It tries to be all Sunset Boulevardy with a corpse up-front and the “how it happened” unfolding afterward, but it can’t touch that masterpiece. Melodramatic and fun in its way, but pretty one-note.

C+

Here Comes the Navy (1934)

A "street-tough" type of guy gets into it with a Navy man who steals his girl -- so he decides to join the Navy to catch up to him and give him what-for. Well, somehow, he succeeds in becoming a hero twice over despite flouting all of the rules he can. I probably would've put him in the brig rather than decorating him, but whatever.

Watchable but dumb.

C-

Super 8 (2011)

Oh, I looked so forward to seeing this -- I was sure it'd be terrific.

But dang. It plays on cheap sentimentality rather than giving us something new and rich. Not much story here at all and the group of kids is both boring and cliched. Other than Elle Fanning (who finally succeeded in winning me over with this film), there's just nothing special here.

C-